Illuminating Devices

Driving home: If the sermon has as its raw materials the thick, reinforced concrete of biblical truth, then these devices are the windows in the structure which let in light and make the construction pleasant.

The sermon's substance is likened to reinforced concrete (solid biblical truth), and illuminating devices are the windows that let in light, making the structure pleasant and illuminating the truths within.

the solid substance of the sermon, whether in the exposition or in the application of the truths proclaimed. Into this category fall such linguistic devices as similes, metaphors, analogies, parables, illustrations, anecdotes, and imaginative description. And if the sermon has as its raw materials the thick, reinforced concrete of biblical truth, then these devices are the windows in the structure which let in light and make the construction pleasant. A structure made only of reinforced concrete is solid and safe, but rather drab and dull. A structure made only of windows may be bright and che...

1:24 - 2:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Always seek to honor the God of general revelation when handling the sacred realities of special revelation.

Blakey's quote emphasizes that the mind's capacity for resemblances and contrasts allows preachers to lay stepping stones for hearers, lend bright hues to somber subjects, and catch attention.

Blakey, in his excellent work on preaching, writes as follows, The capacity of the human mind to appreciate resemblances and contrasts is one of its most invariable characteristics, and it may readily be turned by the preacher to valuable account. It enables him to lay stepping stones along paths where otherwise he could not hope to conduct the larger portion of his hearers. It lends bright hues to subjects which would otherwise be too somber, and catches the attention that in cases innumerable would sure to be lost. It is in this light that we speak of it now. When ordained to the charge of h...

10:06 - 11:15 Read in full sermon

The point: Always seek to honor the God of general revelation when handling the sacred realities of special revelation.

Dr. Guthrie, upon observing that illustrations captured his hearers' attention most, resolved to cultivate that department with peculiar care, becoming a master of illustration to rivet audience attention.

Blakey, in his excellent work on preaching, writes as follows, The capacity of the human mind to appreciate resemblances and contrasts is one of its most invariable characteristics, and it may readily be turned by the preacher to valuable account. It enables him to lay stepping stones along paths where otherwise he could not hope to conduct the larger portion of his hearers. It lends bright hues to subjects which would otherwise be too somber, and catches the attention that in cases innumerable would sure to be lost. It is in this light that we speak of it now. When ordained to the charge of h...

10:06 - 11:15 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second argument for desirability is the scriptural mode of preaching itself. Martin illustrates this by asking what the prophecies of Jeremiah, Hosea, and Isaiah would be…

The basket of figs, marred girdle, and broken potter's vessel are cited as examples of Jeremiah's use of object lessons to make his prophecy vivid and understandable.

If we are to proceed on the premise that the Bible is an adequate guide for a theology of preaching as we mentioned yesterday, then turning to the scriptures we cannot escape the mass of evidence which supports this axiom. For example, what would Jeremiah's prophecy be if stripped of its object lessons of the basket of figs, the marred girdle, and the broken potter's vessel? What would Hosea's prophecy be if stripped of the extended analogy between his unfaithful wife and Israel's infidelity to Jehovah? What would Isaiah's prophecy be if denuded of its vivid poetic imagery, its graphic imagery...

13:46 - 15:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second argument for desirability is the scriptural mode of preaching itself. Martin illustrates this by asking what the prophecies of Jeremiah, Hosea, and Isaiah would be…

Hosea's prophecy is highlighted for its extended analogy between his unfaithful wife and Israel's infidelity to Jehovah, demonstrating a scriptural illuminating device.

If we are to proceed on the premise that the Bible is an adequate guide for a theology of preaching as we mentioned yesterday, then turning to the scriptures we cannot escape the mass of evidence which supports this axiom. For example, what would Jeremiah's prophecy be if stripped of its object lessons of the basket of figs, the marred girdle, and the broken potter's vessel? What would Hosea's prophecy be if stripped of the extended analogy between his unfaithful wife and Israel's infidelity to Jehovah? What would Isaiah's prophecy be if denuded of its vivid poetic imagery, its graphic imagery...

13:46 - 15:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second argument for desirability is the scriptural mode of preaching itself. Martin illustrates this by asking what the prophecies of Jeremiah, Hosea, and Isaiah would be…

Isaiah's vivid poetic imagery, such as nations as grasshoppers, a drop on a bucket, and God as a street hawker, illustrates the scriptural use of graphic language to convey truth.

If we are to proceed on the premise that the Bible is an adequate guide for a theology of preaching as we mentioned yesterday, then turning to the scriptures we cannot escape the mass of evidence which supports this axiom. For example, what would Jeremiah's prophecy be if stripped of its object lessons of the basket of figs, the marred girdle, and the broken potter's vessel? What would Hosea's prophecy be if stripped of the extended analogy between his unfaithful wife and Israel's infidelity to Jehovah? What would Isaiah's prophecy be if denuded of its vivid poetic imagery, its graphic imagery...

13:46 - 15:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second argument for desirability is the scriptural mode of preaching itself. Martin illustrates this by asking what the prophecies of Jeremiah, Hosea, and Isaiah would be…

A list of Christ's parables and metaphors (lost sheep, lost coins, wayward sons, importunate widows, etc.) is given to show how insipid His ministry would be without these devices, establishing Him as the model preacher.

if we took out lost sheep and lost coins and wayward sons and importunate widows and carefree birds and moats and beams and houses built on sand and rock, gnats and camels, seed and sower, bride and bridegroom, mothers in the throes of birth pangs, and a host of parables, and metaphors and verbal imagery? How insipid would be the recorded ministry of our Lord if stripped of these devices? And surely, if we are not prepared to make the Lord Jesus the model preacher, pray tell who will be our model. And therefore I say the very mode of preaching recorded in Scripture, in the prophets, in our Lor...

15:13 - 16:39 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The third argument for desirability comes from the history of preaching, noting that effective preachers throughout history, from the Puritans to Whitefield, profusely used…

John Bunyan is praised for taking one illuminating device (allegory) and turning it into two masterful treatises (Pilgrim's Progress, Holy War), which have been a legacy to the Church.

While some were stronger and more at home with illustration and anecdote, and others were more inclined to simile and metaphor, and others to vivid imaginative description, nonetheless, leading those who held congregations to the spiritual profit of those congregations over the long haul, whatever has come down to us and there's much that has not, but whatever has come down to us almost without exception indicates that men who were popular preachers and I use that term in its right sense, the sense in which it is said of our Lord, the common people heard Him gladly. Those who were popular prea...

17:19 - 18:47 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They were so possessed by the truth and so convinced that the man in the pew is not so much impressed by accurate philosophical statement as he is by vivid imagery, by these legitimate and judicious illuminating devices …

Ryle's quote describes Whitefield's singular power of description, likening it to the Arabian proverb: 'he is the best speaker who can turn men's ears into eyes,' making his subject move and walk before the audience.

to the Church of Christ for several hundreds of years. In a masterful little book that emphasizes the characteristics of the preaching of those men greatly used of God in the eighteenth century, the book by Ryle called Eighteenth-Century Leaders, he says of Whitefield these very perceptive things. Another striking feature in Whitefield's preaching was his singular power of description. The Arabians have a proverb which says he is the best speaker who can turn men's ears into eyes.

18:47 - 19:27 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They were so possessed by the truth and so convinced that the man in the pew is not so much impressed by accurate philosophical statement as he is by vivid imagery, by these legitimate and judicious illuminating devices …

Whitefield's description of a blind beggar near a precipice was so vivid that Lord Chesterfield, carried away by the preacher, rushed forward exclaiming, 'He is gone! He is gone!' demonstrating the power of imaginative description.

Whitefield seems to have had a peculiar faculty of doing this. He dramatized his subject so thoroughly that it seemed to move and walk before your eyes. He used to draw such vivid pictures of things he was handling that his hearers could believe they actually heard and saw them. On one occasion, says one of his biographers, Lord Chesterfield was among his hearers.

19:27 - 19:53 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They were so possessed by the truth and so convinced that the man in the pew is not so much impressed by accurate philosophical statement as he is by vivid imagery, by these legitimate and judicious illuminating devices …

An old Puritan preacher is described impersonating God and a brokenhearted nation in a dialogue about despised privileges, alternately standing as God and kneeling as the nation, showing dramatic engagement with truth.

And at length, when the beggar was about to take the last fatal step which would have hurled him down the precipice to certain destruction, Lord Chesterfield actually made a rush forward to save him, exclaiming aloud, He is gone! He is gone! The noble Lord had been so entirely carried away by the preacher that he forgot the whole was a picture. I was reading yesterday, and again I had for the sake of time to pass over it, an incident of one of the old Puritan preachers, and they described him in a situation where he was having a dialogue between the people of God and God himself and how God in...

20:29 - 21:29 Read in full sermon

The point: When deciding on illustrations, ask: 'What decision will best serve the interest of truth?'

A quote states that 'reasons are the pillars of the fabric of a sermon, but similitudes are the windows which give the best lights,' reinforcing the primary function of illustrations in clarifying truth.

Because the common denominator is the words cannot be understood. That's the baseline of Paul's concern in 1 Corinthians 14. And therefore, since all things must be done unto edification, and only what is clearly understood can edify, then these devices must be regarded as subservient to that great end of edification by means of clearly perceived, as one author has said, reasons are the pillars of the fabric of a sermon, but similitudes are the windows which give the best lights. Now, if we always keep this fact before us, that is, that the primary function is the clarification of truth, eithe...

24:05 - 25:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Let your soul burn with disinterested love for your people, and let your mind and spirit be permeated with the truth, to guide the judicious and legitimate use of devices.

When a preacher sees a 'long-ago and far-away look' or a 'glassy stare' in the eyes of his people, he will 'fish on his feet' for a simile, analogy, or illustration to clarify the truth, even if crude.

of these devices. The truth has gripped you. It's warming you as it enters into friction with your own mind and spirit in the act of preaching. But there's that long-ago and far-away look on the eyes of your people.

27:17 - 27:31 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to know how to make surprise attacks upon the consciences of men by the judicious use of these devices.

The prophet's use of images like a mother forgetting her suckling child or a bride forgetting her ornaments is cited as a way to touch heartstrings and make a surprise attack on the conscience.

And there are examples of this in the Scriptures. You see the prophet speaking to a people who've become indifferent and hardened. And what does the prophet do? Under the guidance of the Spirit, he takes images that would touch the heartstrings of every mother.

31:37 - 31:55 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to know how to make surprise attacks upon the consciences of men by the judicious use of these devices.

Nathan's parable to David is presented as a classic example of making a surprise attack on a dulled conscience by finding a 'chink in his emotional and ethical armor' before declaring, 'Thou art the man.'

Can a mother forget her suckling child? Can a bride forget her ornaments or her bridal gown? What did Nathan do to get to the seared, or at least if not seared, to the dulled conscience of David? He told a parable that found a chink in his emotional and ethical armor.

31:55 - 32:23 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to know how to make surprise attacks upon the consciences of men by the judicious use of these devices.

Jesus' parable of the householder and the vineyard is used to show how He drew self-condemnation from the Pharisees, making them pronounce judgment on themselves before He applied it to them.

He still had the ability to be stirred to anger in the area of social injustice. And he told a parable which stirred him up. And having done so, he then turned and said, Thou art the man. Likewise, our Lord Jesus, in the midst of Pharisees ready to catch Him in His words, He drew out of them self-condemnation without them knowing it.

32:23 - 32:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to know how to make surprise attacks upon the consciences of men by the judicious use of these devices.

A quote from a hymn, 'how wonderful, how beautiful the sight of thee must be, thine endless wisdom, boundless power, and awesome purity,' is used to argue that sermons should reflect God's pleasantness and beauty.

Now, does that sound strange and carnal? Well, it's very interesting. I don't have time to read it to you, but I commend what Spurgeon says in his lectures to his students on this point, that our sermons, our preaching, should, above all other things in the world, be that which is pleasing and attractive and pleasurable, even though in its substance it may wither carnal desires and perspectives. God Himself is the sum of all that is pleasant and proportionate and beautiful.

33:46 - 34:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to know how to make surprise attacks upon the consciences of men by the judicious use of these devices.

Dull, lifeless sermons are compared to elephants plodding through a jungle, knocking down trees. While awe-inspiring, no one writes poetry about their beauty, emphasizing the need for sermons to be interesting.

Let's not make it doubly offensive by dull, lifeless, unilluminated sermonic exercises that are like elephants plodding through the jungle, knocking down trees that are in their paths. We may stand in awe of the great beast, but no one will ever write poetry about its beauty. And brethren, our sermons ought to be in so much as they can be without sacrificing truth or our fidelity to the souls of men, interesting, pleasurable, and attractive. And then these devices, in the fourth place, tend to aid the memory. The Baptist says a most interesting thing that time won't let me quote him, but you k...

34:59 - 36:21 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to know how to make surprise attacks upon the consciences of men by the judicious use of these devices.

An illustration of a 14-year-old boy, struggling with puberty, misapplying 1 Corinthians 7 to justify marrying his sweetheart, is used to show how illustrations can convince where logic alone might not, by demonstrating the need for wisdom and timing.

And there's another use that I didn't list that I ought to list. It's just come to my mind, so I'm going to practice what I preach. An illustration would be, it will often convince where logic does not. I remember when teaching the series on pre-adult membership, laying out all the exegetical materials, and I could still sense that some people in their sentiments felt, well, if my darling is saved, why can't they be baptized and be made a church member even though they're only 11 years old?

36:59 - 37:31 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin outlines four secondary functions: gaining/regaining attention, making surprise attacks on the conscience (citing Nathan and Jesus), making sermons interesting and…

An illustration of a 12-year-old patriot wanting to join the Marines is used to further demonstrate how illustrations can persuade those not convinced by biblical arguments alone, by showing the need to encourage disposition while discouraging premature action.

Everything in its time. 1 Corinthians 7 must be brought against the backdrop of other considerations of a man's fitness to take on the responsibilities of a wife. And so you do not discourage his zeal to do what the Scripture says, but you say, everything in its right time. And then I used a similar illustration of a country at war and a 12-year-old young patriot going down to sign up with the Marines and how he would be treated by the recruiting sergeant, encouraging his disposition of patriotism, but discouraging him from going into the trenches where there's real bullets and real blood and ...

38:47 - 39:30 Read in full sermon