33b) Argument of a Textual Sermon, Part 2

The point: Begin sermon preparation with earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit's presence and assistance.

Martin quotes Shedd, who states that an hour of sincere prayer and self-discipline teaches more and quickens religious affections more effectively than a year of study, emphasizing prayer's role in preparing the preacher's mind and spirit.

the very perceptible, Probably, therefore, no better advice can be given to the preacher in respect of which we are speaking than the same advice which he gives to the common Christian when he asks for the best means and methods of quickening his religious affections. It has been said by one of the most profound and devout minds in English literature that an hour of solitude passed in sincere and earnest prayer or an hour of silence passed in sincere and earnest prayer. For the conflict with and conquest over a single passion or subtle bosom sin will teach us more of thought and more effectual...

1:26 - 2:11 Read in full sermon

The point: Begin sermon preparation with earnest prayer for the Holy Spirit's presence and assistance.

Martin quotes Augustine, who advises Christian orators to pray before they speak, lifting their thirsty souls to God, underscoring the necessity of spiritual preparation for preaching.

Augustine says, Let our Christian orator who would be understood and heard, with pleasure, pray before he speaks. Let him lift up his thirsty soul to God before he pronounces anything. And then he goes on to elaborate on that theme. And then Professor Murray, in his Collected Writings, Volume 3, page 212, has an excellent statement on the function and ministry of the Holy Spirit and the careful exegetical theologians, theologian, yet godly, saintly man, writes as follows.

2:55 - 3:33 Read in full sermon

The point: Engage in attentive and repeated reading of the text in its native setting to gain a general acquaintance with its overall pattern of thought.

Martin quotes Professor Murray on the continuous function of the Holy Spirit in helping teachers of the Word understand Scripture and in empowering their communication, ensuring faith rests on God's power, not human wisdom.

We may not suppress the distinctive way in which the disciples were partakers of the Holy Spirit, but there is also the continuous function of the Holy Spirit for our appropriation. The greatest task of a teacher of the Word is to understand the Scriptures himself. There can be no communication without understanding. There will be in the discharge of your tasks, blood, sweat, toil, and tears.

3:34 - 4:02 Read in full sermon

The point: Use multiple sheets of paper (exegesis, homiletical, miscellaneous) to conserve the fruits of labor during textual investigation.

Martin describes his method of building a commentary library by purchasing the best commentaries on a specific book when he preaches through it, rather than trying to acquire all the best commentaries at once.

And there will be illustrations of its use in the Septuagint, which we will find to be most helpful. Our grammatical aids, our more technical commentaries, and I will not give you a list of those. You will get those in the various exegesis courses. And over the years, as you begin to build up your library, what I've done, rather than trying to get the best commentaries on all the books, and I may never really use them, when I come to preach through a given book, then enhance my library with the best commentaries on that particular book and try to have a good collection of both the more technic...

7:58 - 8:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Use multiple sheets of paper (exegesis, homiletical, miscellaneous) to conserve the fruits of labor during textual investigation.

Martin cites Johnstone's commentary on Philippians and John Brown's writings as examples of resources that effectively bridge technical linguistic studies with homiletical application.

as textual problems, go into the technicalities of grammar, and then more, I should say, the balanced commentaries that have the technical background and yet are more popular, such as Hendrickson's and Lenski's and then those that may even be collections of sermons, so that you'll see how someone moved from exegesis into homiletics and the actual preaching of those things. And, for example, when preaching through Philippians, I found Johnstone's commentary tremendously helpful. And anything that you're preaching on that John Brown has written on, you have a marvelous example of someone who wen...

8:42 - 9:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Use multiple sheets of paper (exegesis, homiletical, miscellaneous) to conserve the fruits of labor during textual investigation.

Martin humorously debates with 'Bart' about the efficiency of word processing versus pen and paper for sermon preparation, particularly regarding having multiple screens for different types of notes.

and you write them down. But have some paper in front of you. There are few men who can work efficiently without conserving the fruit of their labors at this stage in some visual way. And I would say at this point, I'm not sure how I would handle all of this if I became convinced of going in the word processing direction.

10:10 - 10:35 Read in full sermon

The point: Allow the text to determine the sermon divisions, avoiding forced or unnatural structures.

Martin uses the metaphor of constructing a house (foundational, framing, finishing materials) to describe the difficult process of moving from exegetical analysis to homiletical structure in sermon preparation.

But now, how do we make the bridge from exegesis analysis of the meaning of words into homiletics? And this is most difficult, to take the raw materials and separate the foundational from the framing to the finishing materials so we can construct a house that will be called a sermon. And in preaching a textual sermon, you must allow the text to determine the divisions and not force unnatural divisions upon the text. Let the text determine the divisions.

11:50 - 12:27 Read in full sermon

The point: Allow the text to determine the sermon divisions, avoiding forced or unnatural structures.

Martin quotes Lloyd-Jones on the vital importance of sermon headings arising naturally from the text, not being forced or added for artificial completeness.

Now, Lloyd-Jones spoke very precisely to this issue, or wrote, on page 207 in his Preaching and Preachers in the Chapter The Shape of a Sermon. He said, let us turn to something more important. The important thing about these headings is they must be there in your text, and they must arise naturally out of it. This is vital.

12:27 - 12:51 Read in full sermon

The point: Allow the text to determine the sermon divisions, avoiding forced or unnatural structures.

Martin recounts the saying about Alexander McLaren having a 'golden hammer' that made texts divide themselves into inevitable headings, illustrating the ideal of natural sermon divisions.

The actual division into headings, as I'm going to show you, is not as easy as it may sound. Some people seem to be gifted with an unusual facility in this respect. It used to be said of Alexander McLaren, the Baptist preacher in England at the end of the last century and beginning of this, and whose volumes of sermons are still being reprinted, that he seemed to have a kind of golden hammer in his hand with which he just tapped a text, and immediately it divided itself up into inevitable headings. However, it is not given to many of us to have this golden hammer.

12:51 - 13:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Allow the text to determine the sermon divisions, avoiding forced or unnatural structures.

Martin recommends Leupold on the Psalms as a valuable resource, noting how Leupold often borrows from McLaren's divisions, validating the point about natural textual divisions.

The headings should be natural and appear to be inevitable. Now, it's interesting. I constantly keep at hand Leupold on the Psalms. This is one volume I'd urge all of you brethren to purchase.

13:49 - 14:02 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first intermediate step is to reduce sermon materials to their natural divisions, allowing the text to dictate the structure rather than forcing artificial headings. Martin…

Martin shares his personal struggle and fear that purchasing McLaren's sermons might make him lazy, as McLaren's divisions are so clear they could become a 'crutch' rather than encouraging his own work.

And here's this Lutheran continually borrowing from McLaren, validating this point that we've made. And so I've been wondering where I could sit McLaren in my library now that I have some more bookshelves and when I see the goodbyes they have on it from the outfit up there in Massachusetts, I'm getting very close to taking the plunge and purchasing McLaren. But then I've drawn back and said maybe it'll make me lazy because the little I have read in McLaren, his divisions are so clear that once you read him, you say how in the world could you divide it any other way? And I'm fearful he might be...

14:35 - 15:10 Read in full sermon

The point: Work in clear connections and transitions between sermon points to guide the audience through the argument.

Martin uses the metaphors of 'invisible glue' and 'transparent mortar' to emphasize that sermon connections and transitions should be visible and clear, holding the sermon's parts together like mortar between bricks.

Work in the connections and the transition. Don't put sermons together with invisible glue or transparent mortar. Now that's my imagery. That's original with me.

30:01 - 30:17 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to expose yourself to a variety of good models of textual preaching by reading sermons of masters.

Martin mentions Spurgeon's humorous comments about organs, noting that Spurgeon preached to 5,000 people without special music or an organ, highlighting his focus on the Word.

And I would urge you to make yourself acquainted with Spurgeon. Anyone who, under the blessing of God, could hold 5,000 people morning and evening for several decades is no mean preacher, especially when he was an unashamed Calvinist and didn't even have an organ, didn't have special music. What he had to say about organs is really funny, about filling up the pipes with concrete, etc. He just had a presenter, a man who had a little pitch pipe, and they sang their psalms and their hymns a cappella, and he would stand and open up the Word of God.

34:16 - 34:52 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin offers miscellaneous suggestions, first urging preachers to expose themselves to a variety of good models of textual preaching, as effective preaching is an acquired…

Martin commends Warfield's sermon collections, 'Faith in Life' and 'The Savior of the World,' as excellent models of preaching, particularly for how Warfield combined explication of a passage's setting with the introduction.

And then coming down into more recent times, I've already alluded previously, but I'm so delighted to see Faith in Life by Warfield reprinted in such a good, substantial binding. And then the newer reprint, The Savior of the World. Both of these are collections of sermons preached to the students at Princeton on Sunday afternoon in the little Puritan chapel that still exists there on the campus. And these are wonderful examples of good preaching, especially I commend to you how he combined the explication of the setting of a passage as the introduction.

36:02 - 36:44 Read in full sermon

The point: Continually read authors who have written on the subject of textual preaching, striving for ongoing improvement.

Martin shares how a friend sent him an old book, 'A Manual of Preaching' by Professor Fiske, and how reading its table of contents validated his own homiletical principles.

Give thyself wholly to these things that your own progress as a preacher, as a good textual preacher may be evident unto all. In 2 Timothy 2.15, do thine utmost to show yourself approved unto God, a workman who needs not to be ashamed, handling aright, cutting a straight course in the word of truth. Just this week, a friend of mine who for years has kept his eyes open for books, old books on preaching and pastoral theology, sent me a manual of preaching by a man named Fiske, and this man Fiske was professor of sacred rhetoric

38:19 - 39:04 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Secondly, Martin advises continually reading authors who have written on textual preaching, emphasizing the goal of lifelong progress in ministry. He shares personal anecdotes of…

Martin recounts finding a collection of William Cunningham's sermons, noting how this great theologian was also a powerful preacher with clear, three-point structures, serving as a good model for sermon construction.

He clarifies it and then a little slip will go into this lecture so the guys who are here, if the Lord spares us all, next time around, we'll have some additional material that includes some quotes out of Fisk and pick up this stuff. This particular preacher got this stuff out of a library being sold by the pound. So he picked up a few pounds worth of books for a pittance and sent this one to me. At the same time, I was browsing in the bookstore and I saw, oh, William Cunningham, sermons, 1828 to 1860.

40:56 - 41:29 Read in full sermon

The point: Welcome and judiciously receive the criticism of competent critics on your preaching efforts, discerning what feedback is accurate and helpful.

Martin uses the metaphor of critics being 'sandpaper' to help sanctify a preacher, even when their criticism is unwarranted, encouraging a gracious response.

in opening yourself to their criticism because you know from the patterns of their supportiveness and their love and their encouragement that they're not out to get you. Some people it's hard to take their criticism because you always have a suspicion founded on the fact that you can do something right for a decade and they never say thank you but drop a stitch once and they're right there to pounce on you. It's awfully hard to take and you're going to have people like that and you've got to learn to live peaceably with them brethren. It ain't easy I'll tell you but God can give you grace and ...

45:09 - 45:52 Read in full sermon