09 -- PREACH IT SERIOUSLY
Preach it seriously, not as a joke, but as a serious eternal issue. There is too much chaff inour modern pulpits. Many try to tickle and
amuse people rather than bless them. If we are blessed,we do not need to be amused and entertained. It is all right to be cheerful, but
not chaffy. They saidthat Jesus often wept but never laughed. How could He? A young man was seriously affected by anevangelist's
message, and went over to the parsonage after the service to inquire more about thetruth; but the pastor and evangelist cracked jokes
and cut up so much that the hungry soul wentaway grieved, disappointed and starved, wondering if there was anything to it after all. No
onewas ever saved or sanctified in a jocular mood. We must be sane and serious. There may be anoccasional use of wit to embarrass
the adversary, but holiness is not a joke. Some cowards in thepulpit crack a joke and explode their occasional denunciations of the
world. Many, or most, of ourmodern once-holiness preachers vie with each other in keeping their hearers laughing and roaring
with fun. Is this why the "glory has departed?" The world stresses amusement and entertainment,while the world is lost, and communism
is rushing in on us. They want to forget their sins and sorrows. They need deliverance from slavery of sin, and the impartation of a holy
nature so thatthey can live a holy, happy life free from all sinful strife. Only miserable people have to beamused and entertained.
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