Quotations and Illustrations on
Preaching
* * *
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
* * *
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
* * *
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
* * *
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
* * *
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.
* * *
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.
* * *
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
* * *
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."
* * *
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
* * *
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."
* * *
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
* * *
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
* * *
“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
* * *
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
* * *
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.”
* * *
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
* * *
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!”
* * *
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
* * *
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.
* * *
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
* * *
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
* * *
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
* * *
I preached as
never sure to preach again, and as a dying man to dying
men. —Richard Baxter
* * *
"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
