Plainness in Preaching

The point: If there is a kind of speech that is peculiarly pulpit speech, then we've missed the element of the incarnation as it touches upon the regulation of our form of preaching.

Though preaching originates and aims for heaven, it must engage with the 'earthy' realities of human life, like assassination attempts, strikes, inflation, homework, and TV, to be effective.

In the age to come. But though the origin of preaching is in heaven, and though the goal of preaching is preparing men for heaven, it does its work on earth among men who are earthy. Hence the word which has heaven as its origin, its theme and its end, comes to people enmeshed in this present, present world. A world in which assassination attempts on presidents are very real commodities.

4:09 - 4:48 Read in full sermon

The point: If there is a kind of speech that is peculiarly pulpit speech, then we've missed the element of the incarnation as it touches upon the regulation of our form of preaching.

The earthiness in preaching should mirror the incarnation of Christ, who took on a form that did not set Him apart from common people, making heaven touch earth.

makes it plain that heaven indeed comes down to earth in real preaching. So that the real world, of the real heaven, touches the real earth of the real people to whom we preach. There should be then nothing that is stilted and artificial about our preaching. The earthiness should give to our preaching what the incarnation gave to our Lord Jesus Christ.

5:32 - 6:07 Read in full sermon

The point: If there is a kind of speech that is peculiarly pulpit speech, then we've missed the element of the incarnation as it touches upon the regulation of our form of preaching.

The familiar Christmas account of Luke 2, where Mary unilaterally brought forth Jesus, apparently without a midwife, illustrates the Lord of Glory's true, unadorned earthiness from birth.

And I was struck with this afresh in reading with my family last night the familiar Christmas account of Luke's Gospel, Chapter 2, trying to picture what it was like for the Lord of Glory to be brought forth apparently even unattended by a midwife. She brought forth her firstborn son, and she wrapped him. And it seems that the emphasis of the text is upon the unilateral activity of Mary in the bringing forth of her own child. And here the Son of God didn't even have the dignity of a midwife to attend him at his birth.

6:51 - 7:28 Read in full sermon

The point: We ought to avoid simplistic preaching at all costs, which means giving shallow, inaccurate, and incomplete answers to complex questions and issues.

Simplicity is contrasted with ideas 'lurking in the murky shadows' of imprecise language; instead, it makes ideas 'stand out in blazing sunlight under a clear blue sky,' so only those who willfully close their eyes can miss them.

Here are some ideas just desperately trying to get out of the fog and the murky shadows of imprecise verbiage, abstruse imagery and dense vocabulary. Rather, simplicity is that ability to speak so as to make our ideas stand out in blazing sunlight under a clear blue sky so that the only ones who can miss their identity are those who willfully close their eyes. A man may have 20-20 vision and find it difficult to identify something

9:15 - 9:59 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They carried out the maxim of Augustine, a wooden key is not so beautiful as a golden one, but if it can open the door when the golden one cannot, it is far more useful.

Ryle quotes Augustine: 'a wooden key is not so beautiful as a golden one, but if it can open the door when the golden one cannot, it is far more useful,' illustrating that usefulness in understanding trumps aesthetic elegance in preaching.

To attain this, and here's a very perceptive comment, they were not ashamed to crucify their style and to sacrifice their reputation for learning. To attain this, they used illustrations and anecdotes in abundance, and, like their divine master, borrowed lessons from every object in nature. They carried out the maxim of Augustine, a wooden key is not so beautiful as a golden one, but if it can open the door when the golden one cannot, it is far more useful. They revived the style of sermons in which Luther and Latimer used to be so eminently successful.

11:12 - 11:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: They carried out the maxim of Augustine, a wooden key is not so beautiful as a golden one, but if it can open the door when the golden one cannot, it is far more useful.

Ryle quotes Luther: 'No one can be a good preacher to the people who is not willing to preach in a manner that seems childish and vulgar to some,' emphasizing the necessity of simplifying speech for the common person.

In short, they saw the truth of what the great German reformer meant when he said, No one can be a good preacher to the people who is not willing to preach in a manner that seems childish and vulgar to some. Now, not vulgar in the sense of unclean, but vulgar in the sense of a bit uncultured. Luther said, No one can be a good preacher to the people who is not willing to preach in a manner that seems childish and vulgar to some. So when I speak of simplicity,

11:54 - 12:37 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin demonstrates that earthiness, simplicity, and plainness are the scriptural style of preaching, evident in God's communication in the Bible, Christ's incarnate speech, and…

God condescended to speak in the 'tent Hebrew of the wilderness' and the 'market Greek of any metropolis,' setting a pattern for preachers to use earthy, simple, and plain language.

There is no special God Hebrew or God Greek. It is my understanding that what we have in the Greek, we have likewise in the Hebrew as best we are able to examine the structure and compare the forms of ancient languages, that there was no special God language by which the living God communicated his mind to his people. If I may say so. If I may say it without being irreverent, it was the tent Hebrew of the wilderness

17:19 - 18:02 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin demonstrates that earthiness, simplicity, and plainness are the scriptural style of preaching, evident in God's communication in the Bible, Christ's incarnate speech, and…

Jesus, reared in a peasant village, observed mundane matters like digestion, mothers, sown fields, and fishermen, which became the 'raw materials' for His sermons, demonstrating His earthy speech.

of evidence is the way in which our Lord himself spoke. He was reared in the despised peasant village amidst a world of the disciplines of the artisan class, the carpenter's son. He observed such mundane matters of processes of digestion, prevailing mothers, sown fields, fishing and fishermen, and these things became the raw materials out of which his sermons took substance. He was in his speech what he was in his person,

18:47 - 19:28 Read in full sermon

The point: It's a terrible thing to see a man spend hours sharpening his arrows in his study and then when he gets in the pulpit putting big wads of cotton around the arrows when he goes to shoot them.

Micah's shocking statement about spreading dung on the faces of those who ought to be mourning illustrates the 'gutsy, earthy directness' found in prophetic preaching.

Oh Micah says to those people that are doing nothing but filling up their bellies with food when they ought to be mourning that I'll take the dung of your feast and spread it on your faces. That's pretty earthy stuff. I don't know if I've got the guts to speak quite that earthy, but there it is. And you find other things just as earthy.

21:02 - 21:27 Read in full sermon

The point: It's a terrible thing to see a man spend hours sharpening his arrows in his study and then when he gets in the pulpit putting big wads of cotton around the arrows when he goes to shoot them.

John the Baptist's plain and simple speech to a heathen leader, which cost him his head, exemplifies the directness required in preaching.

Often the simplicity of analogy and the plainness of speech could not be misunderstood. And then of course that great prophet who rounds out the prophetic ministry, John the Baptist, he did not stand in the presence of that heathen leader and just talk in vague generalities, but he used such simplicity and plainness of speech as resulted in losing his head. And of course I always like to take the example of Nathan when standing before David. He didn't say, now David, there's a certain homo sapien whose contemporary

21:27 - 22:12 Read in full sermon

The point: It's a terrible thing to see a man spend hours sharpening his arrows in his study and then when he gets in the pulpit putting big wads of cotton around the arrows when he goes to shoot them.

Nathan's direct address to David, 'Thou art a man,' after a parable, is contrasted with a hypothetical, overly academic approach, highlighting the power of plain speech.

Often the simplicity of analogy and the plainness of speech could not be misunderstood. And then of course that great prophet who rounds out the prophetic ministry, John the Baptist, he did not stand in the presence of that heathen leader and just talk in vague generalities, but he used such simplicity and plainness of speech as resulted in losing his head. And of course I always like to take the example of Nathan when standing before David. He didn't say, now David, there's a certain homo sapien whose contemporary

21:27 - 22:12 Read in full sermon

The point: It's a terrible thing to see a man spend hours sharpening his arrows in his study and then when he gets in the pulpit putting big wads of cotton around the arrows when he goes to shoot them.

The metaphor of sharpening arrows in the study but putting 'big wads of cotton around the arrows' in the pulpit illustrates how sermons lose their point due to a lack of earthiness, simplicity, and plainness.

No, he didn't do that. He gave the parable and when David was incensed he simply turned and said, thou art a man. You know, it's a terrible thing to see a man spend hours sharpening his arrows in his study and then when he gets in the pulpit putting big wads of cotton around the arrows when he goes to shoot them. And that's what happens with many a sermon.

22:31 - 22:54 Read in full sermon

The point: It's a terrible thing to see a man spend hours sharpening his arrows in his study and then when he gets in the pulpit putting big wads of cotton around the arrows when he goes to shoot them.

Sheb's quote, comparing rhetoric to Jael's driving a nail through Sisera's head, emphasizes the need for truth to penetrate the hearer's mind directly.

It loses its point in the actual preaching because of the absence of earthiness, simplicity and plainness of speech. Sheb said, and I may have quoted him last week in this, but he bears repetition, he must employ rhetoric which resembles Jael's treatment of Sisera. That is, put the nail of truth to the head of the hearer and drive it clear through to his brain. One has said, the clerical mind which is sworn only to the traditional and speaks only in the code language of tradition is mortally sick.

22:54 - 23:34 Read in full sermon

The point: Be real in your language. Shun everything stilted, grandiose, insipid or pedantic.

An anecdote about a learned preacher using the obscure term 'Eutychianism' in a village church illustrates the danger of pedantic language that is above the heads of the hearers.

And I said, say amen to his statement. Stuart, in his excellent work that I refer to from time to time, says on page 34, be real in your language. Shun everything stilted, grandiose, insipid or pedantic. Don't be like the learned preacher who in the course of a sermon in a village church remarked, perhaps some of you at this point are suspecting me of utiki utiki utikianism.

23:34 - 24:08 Read in full sermon

The point: It is sheer slackness to fling at your people great slabs of religious phraseology derived from a bygone age and leave them the task of retranslation into terms of their own experience. That is your task not theirs.

Spurgeon's quote warns against grand orations that 'fire over the head of his congregation,' stating that such elocution should not be ascribed to the Holy Spirit.

Eliminate everything which does not ring the bell of the gospel of the blessed God. You are not worthy of the gospel which does not ring true. Be chary of indulging in oratory. If a learned brother, said Spurgeon, fires over the head of his congregation with a grand oration he may trace his elocution if he likes to Cicero and Demosthenes but do not let him ascribe it to the Holy Spirit.

24:56 - 25:27 Read in full sermon

The point: It is sheer slackness to fling at your people great slabs of religious phraseology derived from a bygone age and leave them the task of retranslation into terms of their own experience. That is your task not theirs.

John Bunyan's declaration that he 'could have stepped into a style much higher' but refused 'tricks of elegance' because God did not play in tempting him, illustrates a commitment to plainness over artistry.

If you have a tendency toward purple passages that's the old way of describing flights of excessive rhetoric, which is suspicious and impatient of high-sounding declamatory language in Parliament and press and on the public platform is not likely to be impressed by it in the pulpit and if you once give men the idea that you are indulging in self-conscious artistry they will hardly believe that the things of which you speak are over-mastering realities. John Bunyan declares this abounding quote I could have stepped into a style much higher

25:27 - 26:12 Read in full sermon

Driving home: If you once give men the idea that you are indulging in self-conscious artistry they will hardly believe that the things of which you speak are over-mastering realities.

Stuart's quote about breaking down 'lath and plaster of old externals and formalities' to reveal the 'granite walls of reality' illustrates the need to strip away artificiality to expose God's truth.

Stuart, in another place, has said, It is a pleasure to break down the lath and plaster of old externals and formalities in order to make room for the granite walls of reality. There you picture, you see, God's truth is the granite wall, and over it there is lath and plaster. Tear it all away and express it in such a way that the granite wall is seen in its strength and in its beauty. Some of you will remember that in Hugh Martin, in his treatment of the atonement, where he's dealing with federal theology in relationship to the atonement, several times he alludes to this fact.

27:57 - 28:38 Read in full sermon

The point: You must again and again come back to this great issue, what am I doing behind the sacred desk? Is it a platform on which to display myself, or is it a marvelous platform from which to bring to bear with utmost clarity a…

Ryle's anecdote about the painter Turner, who mixed his colors 'with brains, sir,' illustrates that achieving simplicity in preaching requires arduous mental effort and 'pains and trouble.'

When Turner, the great painter, was asked by someone how it was he mixed his colors so well, and what it was that made him so beautiful, he said, What made them so different from those of other artists? Mix them? Mix them? Mix them? Why with brains, sir?

35:09 - 35:30 Read in full sermon

The point: You must again and again come back to this great issue, what am I doing behind the sacred desk? Is it a platform on which to display myself, or is it a marvelous platform from which to bring to bear with utmost clarity a…

Like an artist, a preacher might find a word aesthetically satisfying but must 'swallow' it if it won't communicate to the people, demonstrating the self-denial required for plain preaching.

I am persuaded that in preaching little can be done except by trouble and by pains. In other words, you see, when the artist was mixing his colors, there was arduous mental activity going on, and that made him different. From the ordinary artist. And I say there's much self-denial involved in this, because like an artist, there are times when in painting verbal pictures, there's a certain word that gives just the stroke of color that satisfies you aesthetically. But the problem is it will say nothing to your people.

35:31 - 36:12 Read in full sermon

The point: You must again and again come back to this great issue, what am I doing behind the sacred desk? Is it a platform on which to display myself, or is it a marvelous platform from which to bring to bear with utmost clarity a…

Martin's experience speaking in Sweden, where English was a second language, forced him to continually replace multi-syllable words with one-syllable alternatives, illustrating the 'mental agony' and self-denial involved in simplifying speech.

And you have to swallow the very word that natively comes to your mind that says what you want to say precisely. I'm struck with this every time I have to do what I did when I was over in Sweden. I didn't preach, and I kept to my mandate not to preach, so I came back with a good conscience. I cheated a little bit the last time I was away.

36:13 - 36:36 Read in full sermon

The point: As words come to mind in preaching, ask: Not only does it accurately express the thought as it is resident in my mind, but will it accurately implant that thought in the mind of the average listener? And if it doesn't, t…

Speaking through a translator is described as even more mentally agonizing than simplifying for a second-language audience, further emphasizing the difficulty of clear communication.

That's not too bad. But now if I have to take that same thing and find a different word for flow of thought, sentence structure, the mind can retain, so that you're not only holding it back, but you're not only holding it back, but you're not only holding it back, but you're not only holding it back, but you're not only holding it back, but you're not only holding it back, but you're not only holding it back, but you're not only holding it back, but trying to reduce it all into something smaller. I tell you, it's mental agony. And that's why speaking through a translator is even worse than tha...

38:24 - 39:04 Read in full sermon

The point: As words come to mind in preaching, ask: Not only does it accurately express the thought as it is resident in my mind, but will it accurately implant that thought in the mind of the average listener? And if it doesn't, t…

The illustration of a boy running and 'plopping' into a mud puddle, rather than just 'sitting down,' demonstrates how conscious labor with words can make an illustration more vivid and earthy.

But again, love will demand, that you are willing to undergo that self-denial. It will cost you constant labor. How can this be said in a way that is simple, that is plain, that is earthy? For instance, if you're using an illustration, and in your illustration you're going to talk about a little boy who runs out of the house and gets in a mud puddle.

40:09 - 40:35 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He outlines the costs of cultivating this style: sacrificing the pride of elegance, enduring much self-denial and labor in word choice, and facing opposition from peers in…

Bunyan's use of the 'different cockings of a hen' to explain effectual calling illustrates how he made sacred things plain, drawing criticism from professional religionists but making truth stick.

And you read Bunyan's Apology, page two of Pilgrim's Progress, and again on pages three and four, I didn't bring it along to weary you with the quotes, but he was very conscious when he sent forth his Pilgrim's Progress, that he was going to have some people get all upset with him because he was taking such sacred things as effectual calling, and making them plain by such matters as the different cockings of a hen. You remember the section, where the hen has different cockings, and he says there is a general call, and then there is a comforting call, and then there is a special call. Well, for...

43:18 - 43:59 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He outlines the costs of cultivating this style: sacrificing the pride of elegance, enduring much self-denial and labor in word choice, and facing opposition from peers in…

Bunyan's allegorical interpretation of the clean beast (parting the hoof and chewing the cud) to represent walking and speaking rightly, illustrates his use of natural analogies to make spiritual truths memorable.

And then you'll know there are places along the way where he uses sort of an allegorical interpretation, he says, for all I know, that may be the gospel sense of that passage. One that sticks in my mind is the difference between the clean and the unclean beast. And you remember he spoke of the fact the clean beast not only parted the hoof, but also parted the lip. Wasn't that it?

44:15 - 44:39 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Love's manner of addressing men disregards all the dignities and fineries of language, and only cares to impart its meaning and infuse the blessing. To spread our heart right over another heart is better than adorning it…

Spurgeon was lampooned for taking high doctrines like the covenant of grace and bringing them down to the language of ordinary Londoners, showing the opposition faced by plain preachers.

Not to show his cleverness, but to make things stick, and stick they did, and stick they do, even to this very day. This was true of Spurgeon, one of the things that caused him to be lampooned. And if you've seen any of the drawings that occurred in some of the religious and secular periodicals, when he came to London as a young man, oh, they lampooned him for taking the high doctrines of the covenant of grace and all of the rest, and bringing it down into the language of the ordinary person in the streets of London. Listen to the words of Spurgeon,

44:56 - 45:34 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Love's manner of addressing men disregards all the dignities and fineries of language, and only cares to impart its meaning and infuse the blessing. To spread our heart right over another heart is better than adorning it…

Spurgeon quotes an 'admirable divine' saying, 'when duty is embodied in a concrete personality, it is eminently simplified,' then translates it to 'example is better than precept,' illustrating the need to simplify academic language.

I must not point out that recondite difficulty, for yonder trembling soul might be staggered by it, and might not be relieved by my explanation. I heard a sentence the other day which struck me because of its finery, rather than its weight of meaning, an admirable divine remarked, when duty is embodied in a concrete personality, it is eminently simplified. You all understand the expression, but I don't think that the congregation to which it was addressed had more than a hazy notion of what it meant. It's our old friend, example is better than precept.

46:01 - 46:42 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Love's manner of addressing men disregards all the dignities and fineries of language, and only cares to impart its meaning and infuse the blessing. To spread our heart right over another heart is better than adorning it…

Spurgeon's analogy of a mother speaking to her child in 'childish' or 'babyish' ways because she loves him, illustrates that love for souls should lead preachers to disregard 'dignities and fineries of language' for clarity.

If you love men better, you'll love phrases less. How used your mother to talk to you when you were a child? There, do not tell me, don't print it, it would never do for the public ear. The things she used to say to you were childish, and earlier still babyish.

47:05 - 47:25 Read in full sermon

Driving home: Love's manner of addressing men disregards all the dignities and fineries of language, and only cares to impart its meaning and infuse the blessing. To spread our heart right over another heart is better than adorning it…

Owen's famous quote about giving up all his learning to preach like 'the tinker of Bedford' (Bunyan) highlights the high estimation of Bunyan's ability to preach simply, plainly, and earthily.

Well, some of it will come from jealousy because people will see you're being heard and dare not. Some of it because people have a false notion of what preaching ought to be. You remember Owen's famous quote that he would give up all his learning to be able to preach to the hearts of men like the tinker of Bedford. Well, I'm glad Owen didn't give up all his learning, but that showed his estimation of Bunyan's ability to preach simply, plainly, and with an earthiness that caused common people to hear him.

49:10 - 49:52 Read in full sermon

The point: Consciously work at this grace in your sermon preparation.

John Brown's quote warns that adhering to 'technical artificial theological language' can make a preacher seem plain but often fails to convey clear truth, instead furnishing an 'apology for not thinking.'

There is a technical artificial theological language the language neither of common life nor of the Bible but that of catechisms confessions of faith and bodies of divinity to which many of us have been accustomed from our infancy. And if a minister in preaching carefully adhere to this phraseology he generally passes for a plain preacher. He uses words and phrases which are familiar to the ear and we too readily conclude that he conveys clear and important truths to the mind. In many cases however instead of helping us to think he but furnishes us

59:20 - 60:03 Read in full sermon

The point: We must constantly work at the matter of simplicity, asking ourselves, 'Do I really know what that means? How can I express that concept in terms simple enough for a ten year old to grasp?'

Brown suggests an experiment: ask a hearer to express in other words what they thought they understood from a sermon, to reveal if technical theological language truly conveyed distinct truth.

with an apology for not thinking. In such instances little or no truth is conveyed to the mind and the hearer might easily convince himself of this if he were but disposed by a very simple experience of discernment. Let him try if he can express in other words what he has heard from the preacher and thinks he well understands and he'll probably find that the information he has got is neither so extensive nor so distinct as he had supposed. Preaching in a continued figure is also not unfrequently considered as plain simple preaching.

60:03 - 60:44 Read in full sermon

The point: We must constantly work at the matter of simplicity, asking ourselves, 'Do I really know what that means? How can I express that concept in terms simple enough for a ten year old to grasp?'

Brown's quote cautions against 'wire drawn illustrations of scriptural figures' that occupy the imagination with the sign, causing the understanding to lose the 'distinct apprehension of the thing signified.'

The judicious use of figures greatly contributes to the illustration of abstract truth. The great teacher often employed them. He who spake is never man spake often spake in parables but those wire drawn illustrations of scriptural figures which delight many minds generally serve any purpose rather than making truth more plain. The imagination is so occupied with the sign that the understanding loses the distinct apprehension of the thing signified.

60:44 - 61:16 Read in full sermon