Quotations and Illustrations
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If it is true, as Jesus said, endorsing Deuteronomy, that human beings do not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God' (Mt 4:4; Dt 8:3), it is equally true of churches. Churches live, grow and flourish by the Word of God; they wilt and wither without it. The pew cannot easily rise higher than the pulpit; the pew is usually a reflection of the pulpit. -- John Stott, From Contemporary Christianity (IVP, Downers Grove) 1992, p. 208
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It is true that the church has suffered from pugnacious men who would rather fight than pray, but she has suffered more from timid preachers who would rather be nice than be right. The latter have done more harm if for no other reason than that there are so many more of them. I do not think, however, that we must make our choice between the two. It is altogether possible to have love and courage at the same time, to be both true and faithful. “Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt.” It is the absence of salt that makes so much of our preaching vapid and dull. “Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there any taste in the white of an egg?” [Job 6:6]. —A. W. Tozer
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One of the most popular current errors, and the one out of which springs most of the noisy, blustering religious activity being carried on in evangelical circles these days, is the notion that as times change the church must change with them. Christians must adapt their methods by the demands of the people. If they want ten-minute sermons, give them ten-minute sermons. If they want truth in capsule form, give it to them. If they want pictures, give them plenty of pictures. If they like stories, tell them stories. If they prefer to absorb their religious instruction through the drama, go along with them-give them what they want. “The message is the same, only the method changes,” say the advocates of compromise. —A. W. Tozer
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To preach is to open up the inspired text. A high view of
the biblical text, as being unlike any other text, unique in its origin, nature
and authority, is indispensable to authentic preaching. Nothing undermines
preaching more than skepticism about Scripture. -- John Stott, From Contemporary Christianity (IVP, Downers
Grove) 1992, p. 209
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George Whitefield preached judgment in the fields of both old and New England. Near the end of his life, a friend advised him to go to bed rather than keep a preaching appointment. But Whitefield prayed, “Lord Jesus, I am weary in Thy work, but not of it. If I have not yet finished my course, let me go and speak for Thee once more in the fields, seal Thy truth, and come home and die!” A few hours later he preached his last sermon, then died the following morning.
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A faithful class leader thought it worthwhile to hold a service with seventeen present in a little Wesleyan Chapel in Colchester, England, on a stormy Sunday. A young man present accepted Christ at the meeting. His name was Charles H. Spurgeon.
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The television performer watches his ratings, the politician his votes, the public speaker his applause, but the prophet who speaks for God is not governed by such responses. He delivers his message though it may fall on deaf ears and gain him only scorn and maybe a prison cell. Amos did not rate with the bigwigs of Bethel, nor did John the Baptist win applause in the courts of Herod. The forerunner had crowds but he stepped aside and left the center of the stage to One greater than himself. We live in a day when men will not endure sound doctrine but look instead for pleasant ticklers of itching ears. Is there not somewhere a coming prophet who will forget comfort and security and status and retirement benefits for the loneliness of a Jeremiah, the perils of a Savonarola, the conflicts of a Luther, to speak for God in these last days? Barclay says that the settled ministry has always resented wandering prophets who disturb their congregations. So the wilderness voice is not welcome either at home or abroad. But his reward is in the approval of God and the verdict of history. —Vance Havner
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We are familiar with the story of the street preacher who was interrupted by a heckler saying, "You've been preaching the gospel for nearly two thousand years and the world is still not converted," to which the preacher replied, "We've had soap longer than two thousand years and people are still dirty."
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I used to go to the old Bible conferences and at the end of a message I didn't want to speak to anybody. I wanted to go home and pray. Now we go out and say, How did you like the speaker? The preaching of the Word should send us to our homes in no mood for trivial conversation, but ready to do business with God. —V. Raymond Edman
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Daniel Webster frequently went out from Washington to hear a country preacher. When asked why, he replied, "Other ministers preach to Daniel Webster, the statesman, but this man preaches to Daniel Webster, the sinner."
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I have always used notes in my preaching. After hearing some who glory in not using them, who wander all over creation, I decided long ago that a good outline would prevent such meandering. Jonathan Edwards read a sermon that will never be forgotten for its impact. An old Scottish lady who had greatly enjoyed a sermon was reminded that the preacher had read it. She replied that she wouldn't have cared if he had whistled it! Some ministers preach from notes and some don't. They have argued about it for centuries. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. Two Welsh preachers were on their way to a meeting. One noticed that the other carried written outlines. "Ah," he remonstrated, "you cannot carry fire on paper." "True," replied his companion, "but you can use paper to start a fire!" —Vance Havner
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Years ago, when I was pastor of the old First Baptist Church in Charleston, South Carolina, I preached the commencement sermon once and conducted chapel several times at the Citadel, the military college. The Commandant was General Surnmerall, once Chief of Staff, a fine old soldier. I remember that he turned to me after one of the services and said simply, "You get under these boys' skins." I have wished many times since to be the kind of preacher who would always do just that. Too much preaching nowadays pats the back and tickles the ear but does not get under the skin. There is no conviction and therefore no conversion. I am thinking not only of the ministry of reproof and rebuke but also of the message of inspiration, of encouragement, of comfort. People go out of church at noon with the depths unstirred, the heart untouched, the conscience unpricked. Of course, it is dangerous preaching at times. When Stephen preached, the people were cut to the heart and he died for it. He got under the skin. Paul was good at getting under the skin and the world gave him no plaques or dinners in his honor. And the Greatest of all got under so many skins that the crowds crucified Him. He set the example and His gospel does no good until it gets under the skin. —Vance Havner
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“Do your best. If you cannot preach an hour, then preach half an hour or a quarter of an hour. Do not try to imitate other people. Center on the shortest and simplest points, which are the very heart of the matter, and leave the rest to God. Look solely to His honor and not to applause. … Although I am old [he was 48] and experienced, I am afraid every time I have to preach.” —Martin Luther
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Of Mr. John Shepherd, of the United States, it is recorded that he was greatly distinguished for his success in the pulpit. When on his death-bed he said to some young ministers who were present, “The secret of my success is in these three things: “1st. The studying of my sermons very frequently cost me tears. 2nd. Before I preached a sermon to others I derived good from it myself. 3rd. I have always gone into the pulpit as if I were immediately after to render an account to my Master.” All who knew that devoted man would have united in expressing his secret in three words—”In the closet.” —Clerical Library
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When liberty was offered to John Bunyan, then in prison, on condition of abstaining from preaching, he consistently replied, “If you let me out to-day I shall preach again to-morrow.”
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I have heard many great orators, said Louis XIV to Massilon, and have been highly pleased with them: but whenever I hear you, I go away displeased with myself. This is the highest accolade that could be bestowed on a preacher. —C. Simmons
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Said Dr. Joseph A. Parker: “Some have found fault with me. They say I am old-fashioned and out of date; I am always quoting the Bible; why not turn to science this morning. “There is a poor widow here who has lost her only son. She wants to know if she will see him again. Science shall give the answer, and I will put the Book away.” So he took the Book and put it on the seat behind. “Will this woman see her son again? Where is he? Does death end all? What has science to say?” Here a long pause. “We are waiting for an answer, the woman is anxious.” Another long pause. “The woman’s heart is breaking. Science must speak. Nothing to say? Surely? “Then we must take the Book,” and here he reverently replaced it, and with great deliberation opened it and read: “I shall go to him, but he shall not return to me … The dead shall arise … for this corruptible must put on incorrruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. O death, where is thy sting. … I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God.” Closing the Book, and patting it affectionately, he said, “We will stick to the Book!”
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Last night I took that book from the shelf again and looked at the question I had written inside the cover: “Would I come to church twice on Sunday to hear myself preach?” I was preparing for the ministry when my former pastor, then quite old, wrote those words. We had been talking about preaching, and I was showing him a college textbook, The Preparation of Sermons, by Andrew Blackwood. Suddenly he took the book from my hands and wrote. When I read what he had written, I was startled. Since that day, I have often asked myself that question as I stood up to preach. It has had a profound effect upon my ministry. —Robert L. Owen
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Alexander Maclaren was one of the greatest preachers of the nineteenth century. “A man who reads one of Alexander Maclaren’s sermons,” said Robertson Nicoll, “must either take his outline—or take another text.” How did he do it? The answer is simple: Through hard work, disciplined study, and concentration on the one important thing—preaching the Word. He turned down most speaking and social invitations. He stayed home, did his work, and built a great church. “I began my ministry,” he told a group of young preachers, “with the determination of concentrating all my available strength on the work, the proper work of the Christian ministry, the pulpit … I have tried to make my ministry a ministry of exposition of Scripture.” To Alexander Maclaren, preparing messages was hard work. He often said he could never prepare sermons while wearing slippers; he always wore his outdoor boots. He was known to devote sixty hours to the preparation of a single sermon.
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Matthew Henry used to be in his study at four, and remain there till eight; then, after breakfast and family prayer, he used to be there again till noon; after dinner, he resumed his book or pen till four, and spent the rest of the day in visiting his friends. —Foster
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Many of the great preachers of the past had the practice of spending extended time in preparation. Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, for example, closeted himself with the Bible and his study aids every morning. He did not permit anything to interfere unless it was a genuine emergency. And when this well-known British preacher arose to preach he had something to say that had value for his listeners. —Robert Wilson
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When one addresses an audience of one hundred people for thirty minutes, it is equivalent to taking 3,000 minutes of one person’s time. That means fifty hours, or more than six days of eight hours each. It would be little short of criminal deliberately to waste one person’s time for six working days. Yet that is precisely what happens when a speaker without complete and thorough preparation takes the time of an audience of one hundred persons. —Herbert V. Prochno
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I preached as never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying men. —Richard Baxter
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"Take Heed How Ye Hear"
But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves (James 1:22).
It is important that we hear. It is important what we hear. It is important how we hear what we hear.
1. Consider the privilege of hearing the Word of God.
We take it for granted in America. Few people would want to five where there are no churches but millions live as though there were no churches. Multitudes the world around cannot hear the truth of God for various reasons. As lightly as we regard it now, this privilege cost aplenty in days gone by. And how grateful we ought to be that God has spoken both in His Book and in His Son! What if He had remained silent and there were no word from heaven!
2. Along with privilege goes responsibility.
Where much is given, much shall be required. Today sees a famine of the hearing of God's Word, not because we cannot hear it, but because we do not listen to it. Moreover, as the text declares, there is the duty of doing it when we hear it. Throughout the Bible runs the note, "My commandments to do them"; "Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you."
3. Often overlooked in our text and almost never
quoted is the penalty for not doing
the Word we hear, "Deceiving your
own selves. "
Away with the notion that it does not matter much how we hear! The man who hears and refuses to obey walks out of church having betrayed himself into deception. One cannot hear the truth and remain the same.
—Vance Havner