Page:Heralds of God.djvu/168

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HERALDS OF GOD

earliest recollections is of a day when Dr. Alexander Whyte of St. George's, Edinburgh, visiting the church in which my parents were members, preached his famous sermon on Micah vii. 18. Everything in the discourse that day has long since faded from memory, but still across the years there come the tones in which the preacher repeated over and again his mighty text: "Who is a God like unto Thee?" Whatever you do, never forsake the custom of preaching week by week from the very words of Scripture. Surely the faithful preacher, with such soul-piercing weapons in his armoury, can never ultimately fail!

There are times when two weapons are better than one; and you may occasionally vary the traditional method by taking two or more texts together. This—if used sparingly—can be very effective. Thus, for a sermon on the spiritual pilgrimage of the human soul in its apprehension of the fact of Christ, you might bring together the four brief, dramatic utterances: "Behold the Man," "Behold the Lamb," "Behold your King," "Behold your God." For has not that precisely been the pilgrim's progress of many a soul in relationship to Jesus Christ—fascinated by His manliness, moved to the depths by His sacrifice, surrendering to His sovereignty, confessing His divinity? Or you may sometimes set two texts side by side by way of contrast. The wonder of the divine welcome to sinners will stand out arrestingly if you link Jephthah's curt demand to the elders of Israel, "Why are ye come unto me now when ye are in dis-

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