LET IN THE LIGHT

Spurgeon had this to say about the use of illustrations in a sermon:

We are of the same mind as Joshua Shute, who said: "That sermon has most learning in it that has most plainness. Hence it is that a great scholar was wont to say, Lord, give me learning enough, that I may preach plain enough.'" Windows greatly add to the pleasure and agreeableness of a habitation, and so do illustrations make a sermon pleasurably interesting. A building without windows would be a prison rather than a house, for it would be quite dark, and no one would care to take it upon lease; and, in the same way, a discourse without a parable is prosy and dull, and involves a grievous weariness of the flesh. The preacher in Solomon's Ecclesiastes "sought to find out acceptable words," or, as the Hebrew has it, "words of delight": surely, figures and comparisons are delectable to our hearers. Let us not deny them the salt of parable with the meat of doctrine. Our congregations hear us with pleasure when we give them a fair measure of imagery: when an anecdote is being told they rest, take breath, and give play to their imaginations, and thus prepare themselves for the sterner work which lies before them in listening to our profounder expositions.  

Riding in a third-class carriage some years ago in the eastern counties, we had been for a long time without a lamp; and when a traveler lighted a candle, it was pleasant to see how all eyes turned that way, and rejoiced in the light: such is frequently the effect of an apt simile in the midst of a sermon, it lights up the whole matter, and gladdens every heart. Even the little children open their eyes and ears, and a smile brightens up their faces as we tell a story; for they, too, rejoice in the light which streams in through our windows. We dare say they often wish that the sermon were all illustrations, even as the boy desired to have a cake made all of plums; but that must not be: there is a happy medium, and we must keep to it by making our discourse pleasant hearing, but not a mere pastime. No reason exists why the preaching of the gospel should be a miserable operation either to the speaker or to the hearer. Pleasantly profitable let all our sermons be. A house must not have thick walls without openings, neither must a discourse be all made up of solid slabs of doctrine without a window of comparison or a lattice of poetry; if so, our hearers will gradually forsake us, and prefer to stay at home and read their favorite authors whose lively tropes and vivid images afford more pleasure to their minds.  

Every architect will tell you that he looks upon his windows as an opportunity for introducing ornament into his design. A pile may be massive, but it cannot be pleasing if it is not broken up with windows and other details. The palace of the popes at Avignon is an immense structure; but the external windows are few that it has all the aspect of a colossal prison, and suggests nothing of what a palace should be. Sermons need to be broken up, varied, decorated, and enlivened; and nothing can do this well as the introduction of types, emblems, and instances. Of course, ornament is not the main point to be considered; but still, many little excellences go to make up perfection, and this is one of the many, and therefore it should not be overlooked. When wisdom built her house she hewed out her seven pillars, for glory and for beauty, as well as for the support of the structure; and shall we think that any rough hovel is good enough for the beauty of holiness to dwell in? Certainly a gracious discourse is none the better for being bereft of every grace of language.  

Meretricious ornament we deprecate, but an appropriate beauty of speech we cultivate. Truth is a king's daughter, and her raiment should be of wrought gold; her house is a palace, and it should be adorned with "windows of agate and gates of carbuncle." 

Illustrations tend to enliven an audience and quicken attentions.  Windows, when they will open, which, alas, is not often the case in our places of worship, are a great blessing by refreshing and reviving the audience with a little pure air, and arousing the poor mortals who are rendered sleepy by the stagnant atmosphere. A window should, according to its name, be a wind-door, through which a breath of air may visit the audience; even so, an original figure, a noble image, a quaint comparison, a rich allegory, should open upon our hearers a breeze of happy thought, which will pass over them like life-giving breath, arousing them from their apathy, and quickening their faculties to receive the truth. (Lectures to My Students, Charles Spurgeon, Kindle edition, pp. 350-351). 

SUBLIME TRUTHS SIMPLY TOLD

 

We have likely heard the definition of a parable, “An earthly story with a heavenly meaning.”  Jesus utilized parables in His teaching. The wisdom with which He spoke stopped the mouths of the Bible scholars of His day, and yet it was conveyed in a manner so as to be received gladly by the common folk who swarmed Him to hear Him. Jesus had a way of reaching into heaven for the most sublime truths and express them in such simple terms that His point was clear. 

Seminary students have studied the Lord’s teaching and volumes of commentaries have been written on the parables, along with countless sermons preached from them, yet by no means has their profound message been exhausted.  But, one may share the story with a child and they get it, or tell it to an uneducated adult and they grasp it.

It is the standard set for the preacher—to teach like Jesus. The late Stephen Olford, a master expositor, said that Jesus used three books that are available to us: “God's Book, the Book of Creation, and the Book of Human Life,” (According to Your Word, Kindle edition, p.21).

We begin with the Book of Inspiration. The message is drawn from exposition. It is based on the Bible. We start with the truth of Scripture and let it shape the subject of the sermon.  This is transcendent truth from the spiritual realm.

We illustrate with the Book of Creation. The message is illumined by illustration. Truth can be explained through creation. Insight is given from the natural realm. Jesus did that in the parables.

We conclude with the Book of Life. The message is directed to application. Truth is applied to daily living. This is the practical truth that shapes us in the human realm.

I want to put the cookies on the shelf where the people can reach them. The best compliment I ever receive is when someone says, “God spoke to me from your sermon,” and as they affirm, “When you preach I understand the Bible.”  May that ever be our goal as preachers—as we employ those three books and preach like Jesus!

BUILDING A SERMON

 In building a sermon, the foundation is the most crucial component—and the foundation is exposition. What does it mean?  What was God saying to the people of that time. Without a solid grasp of the original interpretation, then we have no Biblical basis in the sermon.

Yet, on that foundation, there is the frame. That is the outline.  The framework is organization.  It is a systematic way of framing the truth so that it would have made sense to those who first heard it, to ourselves as a preacher presenting it, and to those who will hear our sermon.  Apart from this it is difficult for the congregation to have retention of the truth.

The building of a sermon next demands the finish work—and that is application. Having understood what the text originally meant, then organizing that in a manner that will enhance presentation, we must move to show what the text means to our listeners in our day. Without this, we my have accomplished teaching, but not preaching. Consider this reality conveyed here by Spurgeon and Stott:

Then, it is completed with furnishing the sermon construction. That is illustration. This adorns the message and gives the listener a place to sit down and ruminate, chewing over the bread of heaven, a place to lie down and meditate, to rest in the reality of eternity.

Exposition, organization, application, illustration: these are essential components in building a sermon.  To this we might add that an introduction that captures the attention of the listener and a conclusion that calls for decision enables the congregation to “nail it down.”

PREACH LIKE JESUS

People gathered—not in an air conditioned auditorium in comfortable seats, but on a hillside in open air to sit on the grass—all to hear Jesus. They were captivated by His words and “astonished at his teaching.”  It was the greatest sermon ever preached by the greatest Man who ever lived. 

We will not preach a sermon to compare to that one, but there are some things we can learn that will help us be more like Jesus in our preaching.  Let me begin with the foundational principle mentioned in these verses.  It is stated positively and negatively.

The negative aspect stated was, “not as their scribes.”  The manner of the scribes was to do meticulous research and ground their authority in what other scholars had said—to quote from this rabbi or that rabbi as they droned on. While there is nothing wrong with quoting commentators and doing research as to what others have said about the text, when we get up to preach it is likely no one will be impressed by the underpinnings of the sermonic house you have constructed. If you moved into a new home, would you expect to take people into the crawl space, shine a spotlight, and say to your friends, “Would you look at those floor joists! Man, they nailed them! Have you ever seen any like them?”  Rather, I would expect you to show them the rooms and furnishings where you will live.

That brings me to the positive dimension of this—that the people were impressed “for he was teaching them as one who had authority.”  Our Lord’s authority did not rest in human opinion about God, but in heavenly revelation of God. Now, before you protest that Jesus had the advantage of being God—I know.  He spoke directly from the Father for whatever the Father said to Him, He spoke. This we cannot claim and we cannot do.

Yet, we do have His Gospel. We have the Word of God. Our authority rests in God, if we begin with study of the text for God’s Spirit to teach us and guide us into all truth. Then as we preach, we expound the text—with illustration and application that connects eternal truth with the daily life of the audience. Jesus certainly did that—using salt and light to explain influence and fowl and flower to discuss faith, for instance.  People will respond to such clarity and authority.

Let us preach with the confidence that Christ indwells us to speak through us and that we have an authoritative Word that when proclaimed in the unction of the Spirit will make an impact.