Atlantic Union Gleaner
¢ Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields ; for they are while already to harvest’
Vor. X
SoutH LANCASTER, Mass., May 2, 1911
Extra No. 3
THE GOSPEL MINISTRY—NO. 6
Securing and Holding an Audience
A. G. DANIELLS
HOUSE-TO-HOUSE VISITING
I cannoT present anything stronger
in the way of helping a minister to
hold his audience than the matter of
meeting them face to face in their
homes. Itis as natural as anything
can be that the minister who meets
his audience in their homes, and has
a heart-to-heart talk with them, is the
one who will hold that audience while
he goes on with his work. But he
cannot do that by proxy. The man
who puts forth the greatest endeavor
and activity, and knows where his
audience live, and runs in and has a
word and a season of prayer with
them, as soon as he is well enough
acquainted to do it, is the man who
will get a hold upon his audience, and
keep them together. Such an impor-
tant element of success in a minister’s
work, should not be neglected. The
people everywhere are hungering and
thirsting for the Living Water, and
the minister who goes about visiting
and praying with them, will have a
great power for good. The young
men and Bible workers may help, but
the minister himself must get on to the
ground. His coming into contact
with the people, will give him material
for his sermons.
GOOD PREACHING
Good preaching is a minister’s best
advertising medium. Next to house-
to-house work in importance, is the
preaching of the gospel with the
power of the Holy Ghost sent down
from heaven—preaching with that
earnestness and seriousness that will
take hold of the hearts of the people.
When a preacher gets up to preach,
he is under bonds to God to exert
himself. A man should exert himself
all through his ministry to rise above
a sluggish manner—to speak to the
people so forcibly that he will make
them feel he is a messenger from God.
He must summon all his energies
and all his attention. His inherited
tendencies that are not given for
public exhibition must be overcome,
I do not advocate the making of ges-
tures in a stiff, formal way; but I do
believe that a minister needs to sum-
mon his energies, put his wisdom into
it, and then come before the people
and deliver his message in the best
way he possibly can, and do the best
work for God that it is possible for
him to do.
The minister should strive to im-
prove. - A man who can learn the al-
phabet, can learn to read; and if
he can learn to read, he can
learn the use of the English language;
and there 'is no limit. He ought to
do better evening after evening. The
fact is, many of us do not keep on
improving. We are very anxious
about making a good start. We want
the first two or three sermons to be
good, and so we make great prepara-
tion perhaps for a year. But when
we find that we are able to deliver a
list of sermons well, our great effort
ceases; and after two or three years,
we find that we are not any stronger
in public effort than we were at the
end of the first year.
LENGTH OF THE SERMON
Bz brief. If a minister will study
as he should, and make the effort that
he should, he will be able to crowd
into a forty-five minute sermon all
that the people can get ho'd of to ap-
propriate. If a minister will limit the
length of his sermon to forty-five
minutes, I believe he will have better
success. It will be better for the
audience, and they will get a better
idea of what he is trying to teach.
These truths are new to the people,
and we must avoid wearying them.
IMPORTANCE OF EARNEST PRAYER
We can win great victories on our
knees with God in our tent efforts.
Never give up in defeat, but press
the battle with God until the victory
is won. I believe that many a tent
effort has closed in humiliating defeat
that might have closed in glorious
triumph, if the men had taken them-
selves to the woods, and there prayed
most earnestly with God to move the -
hearts of those people. If God sends
us out to warn souls, it is evident that
he wants us to save some of them. If
people attend our meetings eight or
ten weeks, and listen to us, why can
not they be prevailed upon to obey?
I believe it is the Spirit of God that
causes people to go to our humble
tent meetings night after night, and
week after week ; and, if it is, it must
be that that same spirit will lead peo-
ple to decide for the truth.
LEADING PEOPLE TO DECIDE TO
OBEY THE TRUTH, AND BINDING OFF
THE EFFORT :
Anybody can lead people fo decide ;
but they must be led #o decide to obey
God. It makes no difference whether
we have five or five hundred, we want
every one of them to decide for the
truth. How can we get that de-
cision? We do not expect that every-
body that hears us will obey. There
are things working in the hearts and
lives of people which prevent that;
but we must expect God to give us a
reasonable amount of fruit for our
labor. -
The first item, and one of the chief -
elements in this, is the earnestness of