But there are yet other seasons—let us describe them as seasons of) the soul—moods and conditions which call for a special message. These may, or may not, have any references to outward circumstances They often arise within the per There are, for ex-of doubt. Some of us are so made that we have been sympathy with those who paar through a time of intellectual doubt, We know that they are often, amongst the most enlightened: of those with whom we have to do. Some of those people who have not.
doubt to bless themselves. with are also without an intelligent. season for the hope that is within them. Those who have never experienced it, have no idea of the cuteness of the sufferings of those Who pass "through the night of doubt." 'They are entitled to demand that their doubts should not bbe scoffed at, and that they should not be faced' with arrogant dor-matism. They should rather be met with understanding sympathy, in the hope that the night of doubt may merge into the niorning of en-tightened faith.
Then there are seasons of sorrow. During my first term here in 1026 there was hardly @ Sunday when there were not present in the church. People who had suffered bereavement during the preceding week. And that is but one form of sorrow. Moreover, the sorrow that is known to any one person is but a small proportion of that which exists By far the greater proportion is suffered in silence and is too sacred to be made known. "The heart knoweth its own bitterness and a stranger intermeddleth not therewith." In an average congregation there is hardly a.person who is not carrying some heavy load for which they nessd support and many of the ows contain a broken heart. And these needs, though inarticulate, make their silent appeal for a word jin season. And no man, should be impertinent enough to enter a pulpit who has not heard the divine mandate "Comfort ye, Comfort ye my people, saith the Lord." And a. suitable prayer for every preacher But there are also seasons of another kind altogether: there are what we might call seasons of circus tance. There are outward conditions which call for a special message.- This congregation is composed mainly of people connected with commerce. Those of you who have been here for several years have known periods of prosperity; years when you were able to look ahead and make your plans gine Thine nm suet rer to me woofd in santon a The Preacher's Task Now seeing that life for all of us contains the many seasons of which we have spoken, and many others besides, it must be clear to any one how dificult is a preacher's task, If he has any gift of imagination, and unless he has become hardened [by constant custom, the socie faces: him.any Sunday morning very moving one. Just think of variety of mental and emotional condition that is"represented in the pews: the differences of age and training, of outward material cir. cumstances and of inward feeling. It is, T suppose, because of this intensity of human need that most, churches invite pastors instead of depending upon the ministrations of merely brilliant speakers, The passing preacher, who has a few thoroughly worked up orations can easily impress a congregation ina, way impossible to the man who address the same people week in and week out. The regular man may exhaust his stock of ideas within the first few weeks, but his Intercourse with his members enables him to sense their needs in a way impossible to the brilliant visitor. The pastor may not always deliver a great oration but it is not unlikely that he may sometimes speak a word in season, A Glance at the Congregation Preaching is a strange experience, You stand up and throw out eer tain ideas, most of them quite familiar to you congregation al-Ready. You fling them out at a venture, You look at your congregation. Some of the members are soon in a deep sleep, others look at their watches; others find the next hymn in readiness for the end which they hope will not be unduly: delayed, while one here or there is: arrested. and gives the impression that the word was personal to himself. The arrow has hit the mark, And success of that kind appears not to depend upon the general excetlenee of the sermon, from hhomiletical point of view. The all important question is, does it contain the word in season? Por that reason the very same utterance may eave one congregation cold and move another to its deepest depth: It is seasonableness that counts, and it counts more than most other quantities put together.
It ought of course to be remem~ bered that the word which sults one person's mood may not help An other. Is it not asking tuo. much to expect that everyone will hear hhis own seasonable word Sunday. Would not this request to you: if on some gi Sunday you are left unmoved, ti be generous enough to think that perhaps sumoone-else has heard his word in season. But sometimes we epenk better than we know. In our deliberate attempts at appropriatahess we are often-clumsy, and often the very people we had in mind are not present when our Inboriously and supposedly selected seasonable word is uttered but there are times when all unknown to ourselves (and. Userefore with no credit to ours selves) a word goes home.
But what I want to make plain to you before we part this morning is that, whatever your need, your mood, " your circumstance, your sorrow, the wrod in season has been spoken. Yon may wait a long time before you hear it. But spoken it assuredly' has been. Tt is this that. keeps the Bible in circulation more than all your theories of inspira tion. The Bible will live because somewhere or other hidden within. its pages the exact word for every emotion is to be found, Your sorrow has been met before, your mood has been felt, your circumstance encountered, your need anticipated, And the solution has been discovered. fand announced. "A" word spoken due season, how good in it."
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.