some pertains to the intrinsic qualities of the Christian orator. They would make their voice heard in behalf of those elements of power which lie at the foundation of sacred eloquence. But the voice of others arrests our attention to things which are only exterior or incidental. Perhaps they find something indispensable in the sharp, quaint style of a Thomas Fuller, or a Hugh Latimer. Some regard the pulpit as tame and jejune, unless it receive a plentiful infusion of the "satire and invective" of South. There are others who would impart new interest to the old truths of Christianity by creating a new vesture with which to clothe them-a vesture of mystic, ethereal texture. Such prescriptions fall short of the necessity. The character and relations of the pulpit conduct us to things that lie deeper; to the springs of mental effort, and the fundamental sources of moral power. They have a just appreciation of what is needed for the pulpit in this country, who demand more of that sound teaching and holy unction which a large infusion of the Biblical element would give it. They affirm that it has come under the influence of a corrupt public sentiment, so as either to supplant in a measure the spiritual themes of the Gospel, or promote a style in preaching them which is less direct and pungent than that of our fathers. Who will say this charge of accommodation to the spirit of a false liberality is altogether without foundation? Who will disregard these words of warning, as if they were not the dictate of a righteous sensibility? The place which God has given to the Christian ministry forbids us to wink at the tendency to put in the back-ground his written Word. In every just analysis of the constituents of effective preaching, we must give the supremacy to the faithful, skillful use of that Word. It is not then without reason that we propose to show the nature and value of Biblical Preaching.

I. The primary idea in Biblical Preaching is a theology derived directly from the Bible. This will be the result of a reverent, earnest purpose to get lessons for the pulpit in the form and relation in which God has given them, instead of accepting as a guide any system constructed by a human mind. It will be the fruit of close sympathy and contact with the thoughts

of the Spirit in their original dress. However varied and accurate may be the preacher's knowledge of systems of doctrine, if he is intent on preaching a Biblical theology, and successful in it, he will be the student of the text, with a trained intellect and a loving devotion. Doctrinal formulas and treatises have their value. As they represent the theological development in different periods of the past, they are an important department of the history of the Church. They are a study for the Christian scholar. But often in the crude fancy and false philosophy which they contain, they warn us against trusting to human teachers. The Scriptural preacher will elevate the Bible alike above ancient and modern systems, by whatever names they are certified, so that they shall not be the source or guide of his teaching.

But it is important to define more particularly the process of developing a theology out of the Bible, and the form in which the Bible will manifest its presence and agency in preaching.

There are two modes of using the Bible in the work of preaching. One consists in reasoning truth directly out of the Scriptures; the other, in reasoning into them what we conceive to be truth. The first was the method of Paul. Thus it is said of him when at Thessalonica: "He went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the Scriptures, opening and alleging" the truth respecting Christ. This implies an exposition and enforcement of the divine declarations on that subject. The foundation of such reasoning is laid in Biblical interpretation. Its positions are determined and fortified by unfolding the sacred text.

We have here a guide for the use of reason in preaching the Gospel. Its decision being given that the Bible is a divine revelation, the preachers must consecrate it as the servant of inspired truth, to define and enforce the import of the language in which God has communicated it. It is not its office to institute hypotheses or frame propositions outside the teachings of the Spirit; but as an instrument in the use of those teachings, to accomplish the end for which they were given. It must work under all the restrictions which the divine au

thority of revelation imposes. It must bow with reverence and docility in the presence of the "Great Teacher," and receive its lessons from him. As it hears the cry from inquiring minds, "What is truth?" it must give the answer by interpreting the voice of the Holy Spirit.

While reason is thus guided, it can work with the scope and freedom demanded by the relations of truth to the intellect, the conscience and the heart. It is God's appointment that through the pulpit truth should be established and applied in the way best adapted to conviction. Men are not reasoned into the kingdom. No urgency of human persuasion achieves the subjection of the will to divine authority. Depravity will never succumb under the force of logic. It directly affects the action of mind in relation to truth. Man is a doubter, not because he is a reasoner, but because he reasons under the influence of a corrupt bias. At the very threshold of the understanding, truth is questioned and resisted. The intellect, clear and keen in the discernment of what is true on the other subjects, falters here. But while human reasoning is in itself powerless in respect to this moral blindness and corruption, it is, in connection with truth, clear and well-defined that God achieves the submission of the heart. It is according to the divine economy in saving souls, that the truth should be so exhibited as not only to make men think, but think rightly; confounding their false reasoning, and exacting the tribute of the intellect to the voice of God, as preparatory to their feeling the power of truth.

In Biblical reasoning, this simple question determines the action of the preacher's mind: What is the exact meaning of the Word, and how can it be made clear and convincing to the minds of the hearers? He never leaves the stronghold of inspiration. There he lays his foundations; there he finds the substantial material for building the superstructure. This doctrine shines on every side with the light shed upon it by the Spirit. As he unfolds its nature, defines its boundaries and presses its claims, he marshals his thoughts in the order and majesty of a Scriptural demonstration. This is very dif ferent from a cold, abstract ratiocination—a form dry and stiff,

into which a living soul has not been breathed. Such reasoning may have auroral brilliancy, but it has no genial, penetrating sunlight. It may dazzle, but it does not pierce. It may make a large draft on mind to comprehend it, but its force is expended without reaching man's deep, inner convictions. It takes a form and direction foreign to the sympathies and cravings of the soul. Those persons are prone to this style who, in their fondness for great elaboration in reasoning, are chiefly employed with what have been called the "interior truths" of revelation. This is a restriction in the range of pulpit themes which is apt to be fatal to simplicity and unction. A corrective for this tendency may be found in the habit of John Owen, who said he "delighted in a more free and wider scope of ranging through the most pleasant meads of the Holy Scriptures, and contemplating in these the transparent fountains of life and rivers of consolation."

But we need to mark more carefully that reasoning which is not "out of the Scriptures." Reason sometimes elevates itself as a discoverer. Truth is treated as a matter of speculation, or the result of human search, rather than the direct revelation from Heaven. To expound unto men the ways of God more perfectly, is made to consist in piercing into regions beyond the disclosures of the Spirit. The preacher who carries out this idea is indebted to the Bible for little besides his text. He puts his subject in every light but that reflected from the sacred page. He does not construct his theories on a divine foundation. The movements of his mind are not guided by the authority of the Word. Difficulties in religion are met with little regard to the decision of the Divine Mind. He answers the question, "How can these things be? as if man was wise beyond what is written, and able to solve all questions which the Bible has left unsolved. His periods rise, but the climax is not radiant with heaven's light. One position after another is taken, but no one in the series is made strong with the defenses of revelation. There may be bright intellection and confident assertion; but the Word of God does not pervade the whole with its light and power. Such a mind, in its independence, working out an answer to

an im

It bounds into a sphere points of calculation are

portant question, is likely to strike a blow at some point in the foundations of the system of truth. We sometimes see it turn away entirely from the central source of light, and lose itself in a trackless region of fancy. for which no chart is made and no given. While embosomed in clouds, it professes to have light within which the uninitiated can not perceive; though, when regarded from a Scriptural position, it is plain that it puts darkness for light. Warped by a deranged moral nature, or captivated with the charm of novelties, it casts off the sacred barriers of principle, bounds onward with fearful strides, and sheds around an atmosphere deleterious to the spiritual health of all who breathe it. The multitude may not follow such a preacher in all the range of his discoveries; yet he sends back the fruit of his search, commended to the general taste by their novelty, and the fragrance of that paradise of the imagination in which he is revelling. At length, reputed as the "Priest of certain mysteries," which common sense fails to penetrate, he gathers some sympathizing minds into the outer court of the temple, who blindly accept the responses of the self-constituted oracle. Instead of bringing reason into the service of truth, to open and enforce it in its original simplicity, he has assigned it the office of an explorer beyond the lines of revelation.

We can now present, in few words, the method in which the Biblical preacher will execute his trust. (1.) It will be his great, chosen work to expound the language of the Holy Spirit. Either by consecutive exposition, or in the use of selected portions of Scripture, he will give to his people a theology which has the stamp, and is full of the essence, of the divine Word. Exegesis will be a characteristic of his pulpit. (2.) In enforcing doctrine and duty he will use the Bible as the grand source of argument and motive. His reasoning and persuasion will have the impress of a reverent intellect which exalts divine authority. (3.) His preaching will abound in illustrations drawn from the Scriptures, which are full of picture, incident and varied moral scenery, adapted to make truth vivid and impressive. (4.) The spirit of the Word will per