Next Monday I heard two or three men stand up and say, "We had a new minister last Sunday--the same old minister, but he had got new power," and I firmly believe that is what we want to-day all over America--new ministers in the pulpit and new people in the pews. We want people quickened by the Spirit of God.
Neglecting Church
A minister rebuked a farmer for not attending church, and said:
"You know, John, you are never absent from market."
"Oh," was the reply, "we _must_ go to market."
Oratorical Preaching
My friends, we have too many orators in the pulpit, I am tired and sick of your "silver-tongued orators." I used to mourn because I couldn't be an orator. I thought, Oh, if I could only have the gift of speech like some men! I have heard men with a smooth flow of language take the audience captive; but they came and they went. Their voice was like the air--there wasn't any _power_ back of it; they trusted in their eloquence and their fine speeches. That is what Paul was thinking of when he wrote to the Corinthians: "My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
Take a witness in court and let him try his oratorical powers in the witness-box, and see how quickly the judge will rule him out. It is the man who tells the plain, simple truth that has the most influence with the jury.
Suppose that Moses had prepared a speech for Pharaoh, and had got his hair all smoothly brushed, and had stood before the looking-glass, or had gone to an elocutionist to be taught how to make an oratorical speech and how to make gestures. Suppose that he had buttoned his coat, put one hand in his chest, had struck an attitude, and begun:
"The God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, has commanded me to come into the presence of the noble King of Egypt."
I think they would have taken his head right off! They had Egyptians who could be as eloquent as Moses. It was not eloquence they wanted.
To Which Class Do You Belong?
Some one has said that there are three classes of people: the "wills," the "won'ts," and the "can'ts"; the first accomplish everything, the second oppose everything, and the third fail in everything.
Sunday Work
A Christian man was once urged by his employer to work on Sunday.
"Does not your Bible say that if your ass falls into a pit on the Sabbath, you may pull him out?"
"Yes," replied the other; "but if the ass had the habit of falling into the same pit every Sabbath, I would either fill up the pit or sell the ass."
There Must Be Roots
Suppose I hire two men to set out trees, and after a day or two I go out to see how they are getting along. I find that one man has set out a hundred trees, and the other only ten. I say:
"Look here; what does this mean? That man has set out a hundred trees, and you have set out only ten. What does it mean?"
"Yes, but he has cut off all the roots, and, just stuck the tops into the ground."
I go to the other man, and say: "What does this mean? Why have you planted all of these trees without roots?"
"I don't believe in roots; they are of no account. My trees look just as well as his."
But when the sun blazes upon the trees, they all wither and die.
There are a lot of people running around who haven't got any roots. A good many live on negations. They are always telling what they _don't_ believe. I want a man to tell me what he _does_ believe, not what he does not believe. And I like to meet a positive man. We just want to know what men do believe. We don't want trees that haven't any roots, for they will dry up when the sun blazes on them. There are a good many persons that are going on without any foundation; they have no faith.
The Path of Obedience
Whatsoever He tells you to do, do. But be sure He says it. Don't take your ideas. Go and live right at home, go and treat your wife and children right, pay your debts, and do some things of that kind.
A colored man said he had seen a sign; he said it read, "G. P. C," and he understood it to mean, "Go preach Christ."
Another man got up, and said. "No, that ain't it; it is 'Go pick cotton.'"
If it is preach the gospel, go preach the gospel; and if it is pick cotton, then pick cotton.
Calling a Man a Liar
You cannot offer a man a greater insult than to tell him he is a liar. Unbelief is telling God He is a liar.
Suppose a man said, "Mr. Moody, I have no faith in you whatever." Don't you think it would grieve me? There is not anything that would wound a man much more than to be told that you do not have any faith in him.
A great many men say, "Oh, I have profound reverence and respect for God."
Yes, profound respect, but not faith. Why, it is a downright insult!
Suppose a man says, "Mr. Moody, I have profound respect for you, profound admiration for you, but I do not believe a word you say."