Christian Theology - Media Sabda Org

Avoid paraphrasing a whole book or epistle in a set of discourses; it is
tedious, and often produces many sleepers.
From one of the royal household of George III., I have received the
following anecdote: "The late Bishop F., of Salisbury, having procured
a young man of promising abilities to preach before the king, and the
young man having, to his lordship's apprehension, acquitted himself well,
the bishop, in conversation with the king afterward, wishing to get the
king's opinion, took the liberty to say, 'Does not your majesty think that
the young man who had the honour to preach before your majesty is
likely to make a good clergyman, and has this morning delivered a very
good sermon?' To which the king, in his blunt manner, hastily replied, 'It
might have been a good sermon, my lord, for aught I know; but I consider
no sermon good that has nothing of Christ in it!'"
In 1790 the conference was held in Bristol, the last in which that most
eminent man of God, John Wesley, presided; who seemed to have his
mind particularly impressed with the necessity of making some
permanent rule that might tend to lessen the excessive labour of the
preachers, which he saw was shortening the lives of many useful men. In
a private meeting with some of the principal and senior preachers, which
was held in Mr. Wesley's study, to prepare matters for the conference, he
proposed that a rule should be made that no preacher should preach thrice
on the same day. Messrs. Mather, Pawson, Thompson, and others said
this would be impracticable; as it was absolutely necessary, in most cases,
that the preachers should preach thrice every Lord's day, without which
the places could not be supplied. Mr. W. replied, "It must be given up; we
shall lose our preachers by such excessive labour." They answered, "We
have all done so; and you, even at an advanced age, have continued to do
so." "What I have done," said he, "is out of the question; my life and
strength have been under an especial Providence; besides, I know better
than they how to preach without injuring myself; and no man can preach
thrice a day without killing himself sooner or later; and the custom shall
not be continued." They pressed the point no farther, finding that he was
determined; but they deceived him after all, by altering the minute thus,