( CHRISTIAN LEADERS OF THE 18 CENTURY ) - { PT. 7 }


 { PT.  7 } - To attain this, they used illustrations and anecdotes in abundance, and like their divine Master, they borrowed lessons from every object in nature. They carried out the proverb of Augustine: A wooden key is not as beautiful as a golden one, but if it can open the door when the golden one cannot, it is far more useful. These men revived the style of sermons in which Martin Luther and Hugh Latimer used to be so eminently successful. They saw the truth of what the great German reformer meant when he said, No one can be a good preacher to the people who is not willing to preach in a manner that seems childish and common to some. This was all new again a hundred years ago.                                                                                  THEY PREACHED FERVENTLY AND DIRECTLY. They cast aside that dull, cold, heavy, lifeless mode of delivery that had long made sermons a very proverb for dullness. They proclaimed the words of faith with faith and the story of life with life. They spoke with fiery zeal, like men who were absolutely convinced that what they said was true and that it was of the utmost importance to your eternal interest to hear it.                                                                                                    _______________________________________________________   

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