The Preacher's Emotional Condition, #2

In this part of the sermon: He logically demonstrates this duty through a syllogism on self-control and then turns to specific biblical passages, beginning with Joel's call to weeping and mourning, and…

Martin uses a logical syllogism (major premise: self-control is a biblical duty; minor premise: emotions are part of self; conclusion: control of emotions is a duty) to demonstrate the biblical basis for emotional control.

As surely as the Scriptures present us with the fact that our emotions are part of the creation, fall, redemptive, or redemption complex, or they come within that complex, the Scriptures also lay the groundwork for our actions. They lay before us our duty with respect to this matter of the cultivating, controlling, and finding appropriate expression of our emotions. Now this position could be demonstrated, first of all logically, by the use of a syllogism. Self-control, major premise, is a biblical duty.

3:37 - 4:13 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He logically demonstrates this duty through a syllogism on self-control and then turns to specific biblical passages, beginning with Joel's call to weeping and mourning, and…

God's description of Ezekiel's wife as 'the desire of your eyes' is used as a lovely description of a wholesome marriage, illustrating the depth of Ezekiel's loss and the severity of God's command for emotional restraint.

So I spoke unto the people in the morning, and that even my wife died, and I did in the morning, as I was commanded. Now the command of God touched the man of God at the point of the control of his emotions in the face of the most grievous stroke of God upon him, and the expression of those emotions. I will take away, and let me say by an aside, may your wife always be the desire of your eyes. What a lovely description of a wholesome marriage relationship. He still looked at her and ogled. She was the desire of his eyes. And the best way to keep yourself from looking at the things you shouldn'...

8:57 - 9:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin continues with Nehemiah's command to the people to cease weeping and rejoice, Jesus' command to rejoice under persecution and to redirect weeping, and Paul's mandates in…

Martin shares an anecdote about Nehemiah's anger and physical threat against those violating the Sabbath, illustrating Nehemiah as a man of great sensitivity who could also righteously express anger.

Now then, turn over to the book of Nehemiah. We're reading Nehemiah in our own family worship, and I have been absolutely fascinated with the tremendous principles of godly leadership seen in Nehemiah. He was a man of prayer, a man of great sensitivity, and yet a man who could get angry and show his anger. I was just sharing with Mr. Waldron when these characters started gathering around the gate on the Sabbath, he warned them. He said, the next time you do this, I'll come and lay hands on you. He said, I'll run you guys off physically if you don't behave yourself. Well, this man, Nehemiah, ch...

11:29 - 12:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Maintain good emotional health in general through wholesome diversion, music, laughter, and healthy marital relationships.

The analogy of general and specific conditioning in athletics is used to distinguish between overall emotional health and the particular emotional cultivation needed for preaching.

The first will be the general cultivation and control of our emotions, and then the second area will be specific emotional cultivation and control in the act of preaching. And I'm making that distinction that is present in athletics. And brethren, don't ever let me hear you say athletics. If you want to add two more gray hairs to my temples, say athletics. No, there is no A in there. It's athletics. Three syllables. Don't put a fourth in, all right?

26:12 - 26:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Engage in regular, serious, unhurried biblical meditation, especially on the Lord's Day, to feel the warmth, weight, and pressure of truth on your whole being.

Martin suggests meditating on passages about the final judgment (Revelation 20, Matthew 25) not just to understand details, but to 'feel upon your spirit the weight of the reality,' illustrating how to engage emotions in biblical meditation.

let me suggest if you've not done anything like this that you actually put into your calendar something like this that this Lord's Day I will try to take a half an hour in the afternoon to just read over and reflect upon some of the most vivid passages in the Old and New Testaments on the doctrine of the final judgment and you're just going to let your mind and spirit as it were come into close proximity to that one truth the final judgment you may want to take just one great passage such as Revelation 20 verses 11 through 15 or Matthew chapter 25 31 to 46 and read it over and over again and r...

32:27 - 33:54 Read in full sermon

The point: Exercise your imagination and empathetic faculties when reading Scripture, seeking to 'feel what is throbbing through that passage.'

The parables in Luke 15 are used as an example of Scripture throbbing with emotion, urging the listener to use imagination and empathy to feel the joy of finding what was lost.

not only the imagination but the empathetic faculties particularly when reading the gospel and also reading the epistles reading anywhere but you'll find it more so perhaps in the gospels there was a dealing with real people in the real life of our Lord with real needs real unbelief real faith real desire real indifference all of these things and what we need to do in reading the passage is seek to empathize with the emotional current that runs through that passage put out as it were our own inner sensors until we begin to feel what is throbbing through that passage for instance how can someon...

35:23 - 36:50 Read in full sermon

The point: Exercise your imagination and empathetic faculties when reading Scripture, seeking to 'feel what is throbbing through that passage.'

Martin recounts his own devotional experience of trying to 'relive by imagination' the death of John the Baptist, illustrating the exercise of imagination and empathetic faculties to feel the horror and nobility of the event.

with that lost sheep upon his shoulder and when we read that the father ran to that returning prodigal and threw his arms around him brethren open his arms as it were your inner being use your imagination and empathetic faculties to feel the pressure of that passage upon your spirit this came on to me again so forcefully yesterday in my own devotional reading I'm reading through the gospel of Mark at present as part of my devotional reading and I was seeking to do this not thinking so much of the lecture but it's something I try to do continually but in that whole incident of the death of Jesu...

36:50 - 38:20 Read in full sermon

The point: Give vent to appropriate emotional expressions in the midst of these activities, especially in secret disciplines with God.

An anecdote about listening to Mendelssohn's Elijah and how it enabled listeners to enter more fully into the spirit of the passage illustrates the power of music and the opening of imagination and empathy.

we had an expression of this last night we had the joy of having the Nichols and the Youngs over to our home for the evening meal and we put on various forms of music afterward and one of the things I put off was the fact that someone with an excellent bass baritone voice singing very movingly from Mendelssohn's Elijah the prayer of Elijah Lord God of Abraham Isaac and Jacob let it be known this day that I am thy servant I've done these things according to thy word and both of the brethren spontaneously expressed how it enabled them to enter in more fully to the whole spirit of that passage he...

39:48 - 41:18 Read in full sermon

The point: In sermon delivery, seek a free but real and controlled flow of emotions, balancing 'quench not the spirit' with 'self-control,' and avoiding feigned emotions.

Martin shares a personal story about his daughter Heidi as a baby, who could cry or laugh without corresponding facial expressions or tears, illustrating the incongruity of feigned or disconnected emotions in a preacher.

vent to our emotions now you talk about being on the razor's edge brethren that's where we are in our preaching quench not grieve not and the scripture gives us both of those mandates and then of course they must be real emotions why? because the bible says lie not one to another and to feign emotions is the highest form of dishonesty to feign excitement where there is none is to lie because in communicating we not only communicate by the substance of our words but by the manner in which we convey them as I was reflecting on this trying to illustrate it I can remember so vividly when Heidi was...

53:08 - 54:37 Read in full sermon

The point: In sermon delivery, seek a free but real and controlled flow of emotions, balancing 'quench not the spirit' with 'self-control,' and avoiding feigned emotions.

Martin quotes Taylor on the 'twin sources' of earnestness (intellectual conviction and loving realization of hearers' need), emphasizing that genuine earnestness cannot be counterfeited and possesses the preacher.

of the mystery of the soul and the body and the tear ducts and all those things how can you tell when there's laughter in the eyes I mean you talk about we're fearfully and wonderfully made but you know what I meant when I said that the laughter in the eyes well since then of course all those systems are well hooked up and when she cries now it's very evident that her whole person is crying and when she laughs but we can remember that well that's something of what it's like you see when a preacher knowing that this point in the sermon ought to elicit a certain emotion tries to effect it it's l...

54:37 - 56:05 Read in full sermon

The point: In sermon delivery, seek a free but real and controlled flow of emotions, balancing 'quench not the spirit' with 'self-control,' and avoiding feigned emotions.

Martin quotes Gardner Spring on the happy influence of due interest in the subject matter on a preacher's elocution and manner, stressing naturalness, earnestness, simplicity, and truth over artificiality.

he says truly believe what you speak and truly feel that what you speak is essential to the well being of your hearers and you will be engaged at the level of your affections and your emotions alright now listen to Gardner Spring his power in the pulpit is page 256 one of the effects of a due interest in the subject matter of the pulpit would be the happy influence it would exert upon the elocution and manner of the preacher he would not utter his discourse carelessly nor would the rapidity with which a school boy recites his lesson he would not become an imitator but utter God's truth in his ...

57:34 - 59:02 Read in full sermon

The point: In sermon delivery, seek a free but real and controlled flow of emotions, balancing 'quench not the spirit' with 'self-control,' and avoiding feigned emotions.

The example of Jonathan Edwards, who had no action but moved crowded assemblies to weeping due to his deep interest in his subject, illustrates that powerful preaching stems from a heart alive with the truth.

and sometimes like the still small voice the elder Edwards had no action at all yet such was his interest in his subject that crowded assemblies burst into one universal weeping under his discourses such a preacher may not be accomplished but he will be forcible there may be classic there may be classical embellishment where the heart is cold as marble he may even be awkward but if his subject first live in his own heart he will be effective he will not be vain nor ambitious of distinction of any sort save to win souls he will not go out of his path in search of adornment and flowers though he...

59:02 - 60:32 Read in full sermon

Driving home: the element of pathos was lacking and I must say though I don't think it's true to the same degree here in the states how we long to see men who do have clear minds who are always in control who are not ranters but men w…

Martin quotes Martyn Lloyd-Jones on the necessity of 'warmth' and 'pathos' in preaching, citing Paul's tears and Whitefield's ability to utter 'Mesopotamia' with pathos, lamenting the lack of this quality among Reformed people.

let the doctor speak to us page 89 at the bottom of the page this whole matter of the free but controlled flow of the emotions in preaching he's speaking in the act of preaching the chapter on the act of preaching and the various elements that need to be present and he calls this one warmth to use a term that is common today the preacher must never be so often the preacher is everything he does is right indeed is almost perfect but it's clinical it's not living it is cold and not moving because the man has not been moved himself but that should never be true of the preacher if he really believ...

60:32 - 62:01 Read in full sermon

Driving home: the element of pathos was lacking and I must say though I don't think it's true to the same degree here in the states how we long to see men who do have clear minds who are always in control who are not ranters but men w…

The quote about Robert Murray McShane preaching 'as if he was dying to have you converted' is used as an ideal for the kind of genuine passion that should breathe through a preacher's delivery.

though I don't think it's true to the same degree here in the states how we long to see men who do have clear minds who are always in control who are not ranters but men who have some degree of genuine passion breathing through their preaching it was said of McShane by one of the women who heard him when he stood and pleaded with sinners he preached as if he was dying to have you converted now when could someone say that of you or of me that we preached as though we were dying to have our hearers converted well surely as truth is the grand instrument in God's hands it is that truth which is so...

63:30 - 65:00 Read in full sermon

The point: Gain an accurate assessment of your basic emotional constitution (e.g., placid or volatile) and deal with yourself accordingly, recognizing potential dangers and areas for growth.

The analogy of riding a placid horse with a loose rein versus a volatile horse with a tight rein illustrates the need for preachers to understand their own emotional constitution and apply appropriate self-control.

and cautions now you've heard that heading before when I don't know how to categorize some more things I want to say and don't know where to fit them I stick them under that heading miscellaneous observations and cautions a few remarks about the woman of Samaria alright number one seek to gain an accurate assessment of your basic emotional constitution and deal with yourself accordingly seek to gain an accurate assessment of your basic emotional constitution and deal with yourself accordingly now the few times I've gone horseback riding I always ask the person who's encouraging me to ride such...

65:00 - 66:29 Read in full sermon

The point: Gain an accurate assessment of your basic emotional constitution (e.g., placid or volatile) and deal with yourself accordingly, recognizing potential dangers and areas for growth.

The scenario of a burnt roast and spilled vegetables is used to contrast a 'laid back' person's reaction with a 'volatile' person's reaction, illustrating different emotional constitutions.

and cramped fingers but I tell you whatever I'm doing I am going to keep a rein on that horse okay now some of you are like the former horse and some of you are like the latter emotionally you're much more naturally placid there is very little danger that you will be guilty of sinful emotional excess in preaching God's just made you very laid back is the in term you're a laid back person you're the kind of person that if your wife has just burnt the roast and your kid comes in and knocks the bowl of vegetables off the table and everything shattered all around you you just stand there and scrat...

66:29 - 67:58 Read in full sermon

The point: Consciously work at mending any broken circuits between proper emotions and their appropriate expression, whether it's passion obscuring reason or restraint obscuring all expression.

A pastoral anecdote about a wife who had never seen her husband cry in 17 years of marriage illustrates a 'broken circuit' where legitimate emotions are not expressed, highlighting a potential problem for a preacher.

someone said to me, and I tried not to look shocked and fall off the stairs, or sit on the seat and onto the stairs, that they'd been married for 17 years, and the wife said, in 17 years, I've never seen my husband shed a tear.

71:19 - 71:35 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He advises consciously mending 'broken circuits' between proper emotions and their appropriate expression, illustrating with examples of passion obscuring reason, or restraint…

Martin tells of a preacher friend who felt deeply but delivered sermons in a monotone, illustrating a 'short circuit' between felt emotion and its physiological expression in the voice, and the need to work on such issues.

Now, some of you have heard me mention one of my dear friends who's a very able preacher who had to work self-consciously at this in his early ministry. He felt things deeply. But the relationship between what he felt and its physiological effect upon the vocal cords and the larynx and the stomach muscles, all of the things that produce levels and tones in preaching, there was a short circuit. And it wasn't until he heard himself on tape and heard himself as a monotone, he was absolutely horrified.

72:59 - 73:30 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: He advises consciously mending 'broken circuits' between proper emotions and their appropriate expression, illustrating with examples of passion obscuring reason, or restraint…

The analogy of a tone-deaf person singing a hymn, seeing the notes go up and down but producing a monotone, further illustrates a 'short circuit' between internal perception and external expression.

Almost a perfect monotone. Just like the person who's tone deaf. When he's sitting there singing a hymn, we've got a few dear souls like that in the...

73:40 - 73:50 Read in full sermon

Driving home: When passion becomes a helpless agitation, destroying the poise and self-command of the memory, understanding and imagination, precipitating, facilitating the preacher into disorder and mental anarchy, the impression of …

Martin quotes Dabney on the need for the preacher's emotional disclosure not to 'outrun the temper of the congregation,' emphasizing gradual emotional elevation to avoid appearing extravagant or alienating hearers.

quoting now from page 250 and 251. For acting through the law of sympathy upon your audience, certain practical cautions are necessary. The disclosure of your own emotion must not too far outrun the temper of the congregation, lest it should appear to them from their cooler position, extravagance. The effect of such an impression would be that the chasm between them and yourself would be widened instead of being closed by their elevation to your level.

77:23 - 77:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Beware of your peculiar vulnerability after the emotional expenditure of preaching, recognizing the toll on emotional resilience and guarding against discouragement, despondency, and sensuality.

The story of Elijah's despondency under the juniper tree after his triumph on Mount Carmel is used as the 'great example' of a preacher's peculiar vulnerability after emotional expenditure in ministry.

Beware. Beware of your peculiar vulnerability after the emotional expenditure of preaching. Beware of your peculiar vulnerability after the emotional expenditure of preaching. And the great example of this, of course, is Elijah and his juniper tree.

81:38 - 82:02 Read in full sermon