The Bible is an Oriental book in its way of putting things.  Its story is built upon the habits of those Eastern peoples.  While it is full of simple teaching easily understood, one needs to understand those habits to get the real meat of the meaning.  This means a habit of hard work for him who would be a winner of men.  He should have an ambition to know the Bible story thoroughly, and to get it from the Bible itself.

But, whatever your particular message may be at any time, let it lead up by a straight road to Jesus.  Follow the rule of the Book itself here.  The Old Testament all points to Jesus.  It can be understood only as He is understood.  And the New is aflame with His presence.  Tell the story of Jesus to men.  They never tire of that.  Tell it accurately.  Tell it simply.  Tell it with endless variety.  Put it in simple every-day words, so they think about the story and not about you or your words.

Tell Jesus’ life; His characteristics; how He mingled among men, and talked with them.  Take up the Gospel incidents, and give them their natural flavoring and coloring in present-day speech.  Tell of the Nazareth life, in home and carpenter shop and village.  Go through those wondrous three and a half years, bit by bit.

Go into the temptation wilderness, out on the blue waters of Galilee, and into Gethsemane’s olive-grove.  Climb that bit of a rise of ground called Calvary.  Wherever you are in that story, make sure that the coloring of Calvary gets distinctly in, by word or phrase or climax or somehow.

Now, of course, there will be some theology in your telling.  You will make comments and explanations.  And preachers call that theology.  That is unavoidable.  That is the place for such teaching, as it naturally grows out of the story.  But the story should be the main thing.  Men should be sent away thinking about a Man, Jesus; not about a theory of doctrine.

How Peter Told Paul.

I remember very distinctly one time Mr. Moody was speaking at the Ohio Sunday-school Convention in Cleveland.  He was saying that teachers should open up the Bible and make it attractive.  Then he told the story of how, in ’84, in London he was talking with a lawyer friend who had just come down from Edinburgh.  He had been hearing Andrew Bonar preach up there, and was greatly taken with his way of preaching.

Mr. Moody told the story something like this: 

“Bonar was preaching in Galatians, where it says that Paul went to Jerusalem to see Peter, and he said that he could imagine Peter saying to Paul, ‘Would you like to take a walk?’ and Paul said he would, so they went down through the streets of Jerusalem, over the brook Kidron, arm in arm, and Peter stopped and said, ’Look, Paul, this is the very spot where He wrestled and where He suffered, and sweat great drops of blood.  There is the very spot where John and James fell asleep, right there.  And right here is the very spot where I fell asleep.