the attentive ear that which will be of solid benefit. How
shopkeepers strive to strike the eye of the passengers by skilfully
dressing their windows, so as to catch the attention! Shall it be said
that they take more pains to sell their goods than we do to get the
gospel into the hearts of our hearers!

III.--Make your hearers conscious of the supernatural.

"Sir," said the woman, "I perceive thou art a prophet." And this we can
all do. We can every one be on such terms with heaven as to make those
who listen to us know that we hold commerce with the skies. We may not
be eloquent or learned, but we may be prayerful and impassioned.
Preaching is unlike all other kinds of speaking. We have no business in
the pulpit except when under the direct influence of the Holy Ghost. We
knew a man who, for some years of his ministry, was dull and unpractical,
but there came upon him a baptism of power, and then we heard his
preaching described as "white heat." Why should not this be in every one
of us? It is not possible for us to be alike, nor is it desirable, but
we may all make our hearers say, "This man comes from God. His prayers
and his preaching convince us that he is owned by the God of Elijah."

IV.--Set your converts to work.

We read "The woman then left her waterpot, and went into the city," and
soon there was a crowd round the Saviour. It is not said that Jesus told
her to do so, but she had heard words that were like fire in her bones.
She had been convinced of sin, and knew that God had spoken to her. Is
not this the way to fill our chapels? Say things that wake up the
conscience, and alarm the sinner, and he must tell about it. Or shew the
cross so plainly that the anxious one finds the Lord, and is able to
rejoice, and very soon there will be an unpaid agency at work. Of course
it will not obtain to the same extent in every case. We are among those
who have to mourn that our preaching is not as effective as it ought to
be, but we are taking our own physic, and can testify that since we have
acted on the lines we have laid down, God has been pleased to give us
greater power over our congregations, and we have seen greater results
follow the preaching, poor as it is.

FOR PREACHERS WHO MAKE THE
PEOPLE THINK.

THE GRINDSTONE IS THE MOST
USEFUL TOOL IN THE
CARPENTER'S SHOP.

XXXIII. ANSWERED PRAYER.

"_And the Lord heard the voice of Elijah_."--1 KINGS xvii. 22.

Yes,