Earthiness, Simplicity, and Plainness

Defining Earthiness, Simplicity, and Plainness in Preaching

0:03 Well, we come now, brethren, to axiom number six. As I've already indicated, axiom number seven, which deals with the vexing question of how long should I preach, is available on tape, and I do believe that there are some workable suggestions and principles in that lecture that may be of help to some of you and commend it to you for purchasing it and listening to it at your leisure. But as we come to axiom number six, we are concerned to address the matter of the proclamation, explanation, and application of scriptural truths with earthiness, simplicity, and plainness of speech. And this, like the other axioms, ends with the words, This goal must constitute our continuous labor. Once again, I begin with explaining the key words, The word earthiness. In the same way, I would, in some ways, I would like to use the word worldliness, but because of the connotation of that word in scripture and in our common parlance, the word earthiness, I believe, is a better word.

1:23 By using this word, I'm adapting the dictionary definition of the word earthy, which speaks of that which is either coarse or unrefined, or that which is simple and natural and hearty. And obviously, I am not encouraging coarse and unrefined preaching, but that which is simple and natural and hearty. Now, I believe we all agree that all true preaching has its origin in heaven and its end in heaven. It comes from the God of heaven who has revealed his mind in the word of God.

2:02 It comes from the words of scripture, 1 Corinthians 2, 12. Its true nature is known only when it is carried to the hearts of men by the power of the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, 1 Peter 1 and verse 2. And its great end is to bring men to enjoy the life of heaven now and to enter heaven when they die or at the return of the Lord Jesus. However, though its origin and end are heavenly, preaching does its work on earth among those who are of the earth and in the language of Paul are earthy.

2:45 It must do its work in the theater of the real world of real human existence in which there are broken homes, broken vows, broken lives, political and social upheaval, inflation, recession, a world in which kids have homework, exams, peer pressures, passing and failing, etc., etc. And therefore, effective preaching is preaching which in its choice of language, its illustrations, its analogies, and its applications makes it clear that heaven indeed has come down to earth in the proclamation of the word of God. The incarnation, the incarnation of the eternal word, our Lord Jesus Christ, should always condition our preaching. Our Lord Jesus was born in very humble circumstances amidst the ordinary groans and cries and sighs of a travailing mother, covered with blood and mucus as any baby, no halo around his head. He was not born fully washed and with a saintly, glow upon his face.

4:05 There was no shimmer to the rags in which he was wrapped. He was all man, true man, and to the appearance of men, nothing but man.

4:21 Now that's exactly what our preaching ought to have as its fundamental paradigm. Though he was the Lord of heaven who came from heaven, in the incarnation, there was such identification with us in our true human condition that scripture does not scruple to say he was made in the likeness of sinful flesh. He was in every sense made like unto us, sin accepted. So by earthiness, I'm speaking of that preaching that doesn't have a sanctimonious, ecclesiastic, fantastical halo around it. I'm speaking of that preaching that does not take the things of God and do with it what people have done with the incarnation when they would have our Lord born while Mary was singing lullabies and Jesus was born fully washed and with a glow upon his cheek. Our preaching should be earthy. And then by the word simplicity, I am not speaking, I am speaking of simplistic.

5:38 Simplistic preaching is preaching in which shallow and unrealistically simple answers are given to complex questions and issues. The dictionary definition of simplicity suits my purpose. Simplicity is freedom from intricacy and complexity. Freedom from affectation, subtlety.

6:01 It is artlessness. Simplicity of expression is that quality of expression that is not the quality of expression. It is the quality of speech in which ideas do not lurk in the murky shadows of imprecise verbiage, abstruse imagery and esoteric vocabulary. We don't want truth lurking in such shadows.

6:25 But rather we want truth so to be spoken as to have our ideas stand naked under the blazing light of the new world. Noon, day, sun, on a cloudless day, so that none can fail to see our ideas but those who deliberately and willfully shut their eyes once we've spoken them.

6:52 Real genius is the ability to take the profound and to make it readily accessible to the masses by a cultivated simplicity of speech. Back again to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 14.9 Unless you utter words easy to be understood shall it be known what is spoken.

7:19 And again Bishop Ryle emphasizes this principle with regard to the preachers who were mightily used of God in the 18th century. He says on page 24 of 18th century leaders with respect to all of them they preached simply. They rightly concluded that the very first qualifications to be aimed at in the sermon is to be understood. They saw clearly that thousands of able and well composed sermons are utterly useless because they are above the heads of their hearers.

7:54 They strove to come down to the level of the people and to speak what the poor could understand. To attain this they were not ashamed to crucify their style and to sacrifice their reputation for learning. To attain this they used illusion. They used illustrations and anecdotes in abundance.

8:13 And like their divine master they 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 where the golden one cannot it is far more useful.

8:34 They revived the style of sermons in which Luther and Latimer used to be so eminently successful. In short they saw the truth of what the great German reformer meant when he said quote 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. Not vulgar in the sense of unclean but vulgar in the sense that the common riffraff can possess it. 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.

9:11 not willing to preach in a manner that seems childish and vulgar to some. Simplicity. And then by the word plainness, I think of those texts in John chapter 10 and verse 24. John chapter 10 and verse 24. The Jews therefore came round about him and said, How long do you hold us in suspense? If you are the king, you cannot mistake. John 11 and verse 14. Then Jesus therefore said unto them plainly. Verse 11. He had not spoken plainly. He had

10:11 deliberately spoken in veiled and what we might say enigmatic language. Our friend Lazarus is fallen asleep. He did not plainly tell them he was dead. He used imagery, language language. He used imagery. He used imagery. He used imagery. He used imagery. He used language that could have meant something other than the dark naked reality. And in contrast between verse 11 and verse 13, the Holy Spirit says, Now, verse 14, Lazarus is dead. And in that very contrast, we have what I regard to be a most helpful illustration of what I mean by plainness. It is the opposite of obscurity and vagueness.

11:02 It is a matter of holy bluntness. Plain preaching is preaching in which the listener must labor not to understand it rather than labor to understand it. Spurgeon said in a very cavalier way, If I give my attention to a man for five minutes and can't understand him, I never blame myself. I blame the preacher. Well, I think he's right. It's serious, intelligent, spiritually intelligent listeners. Labor to understand us, and they do not. The fault lies with us. And if we are to preach with earthiness, simplicity, and plainness of speech, we will have to labor at it. Because

11:49 you see, to have substance to our preaching, we must be men who live in our Bibles and in our books. And when in our Bibles and in our books, we are continually trafficking in the code language of our trade. Theological terminology, references to things that are beyond the ordinary mental interaction of our people. And we must labor to have two working sets of vocabulary, two working sets of intellectual furniture, one that we use when we're among our hooks, and another that we use when we are among our people. Now that does not mean that our preaching cannot elevate the working vocabulary of our people by using a new word and explaining it. I am not in any way inferring that. But the overall tenor of our ministry, if it is to be earthy, simple and plain, it will only be so as the fruit of continuous labor if we are men who are doing our task in seeking constantly to fill our minds and hearts with an ever-growing knowledge of the truth of God. Now so much for what I mean by the words of the axiom. Now then, secondly, I want to give

Scriptural Demonstration of Earthy, Simple, and Plain Preaching

13:13 what I hope will be a convincing demonstration that this is the scriptural style of preaching. Believing, as I have said several times, that any theology of preaching must come from the Bible, when we turn to the Bible, what kind of preaching do we find? Well, first of all, it is the very way in which our spiritual teaching is being taught. When we turn to the Bible, what kind of preaching do we find? Well, first of all, it is the very way in which we are taught. It is the very way in which our spiritual teaching is being taught. And this which God spoke in giving the scriptures. When God spoke in Hebrew and some Aramaic and in Greek, he was speaking with respect to the Hebrew in the language of the wilderness, the villages in Israel, and in the Aramaics, the language that would have been found in the court of Nebuchadnezzar.

13:59 And because he speaks in that language, we are to reflect God in our speaking. When God spoke in Greek to give us the New Testament, it was not Attic Greek, the Greek of the scholastic world of the Greco-Roman Empire, but it was the Koine Greek, the Greek of the street and of the marketplace in first century Rome. Believing then 1 Corinthians 2, 12, which things we speak in words, which the Holy Ghost teacheth, we are under obligation to seek to be like God,

14:38 to speak and communicate in the earthy, the simple, and the plain. Secondly, it was the way in which our Lord spoke. Incarnate wisdom in whom are hid all treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And yet surely, if anything, mark the speaking of our Lord next to that authority that caused him to stand out above the scribes and the Pharisees who were in the kingdom of God.

15:05 Who were always quoting Rabban. And so says, he said, I say unto you. And what he said was marked by earthiness, simplicity, by plainness of speech. He was reared in a despised peasant village.

15:26 He moved with an inner circle of disciples, taken almost exclusively from the artisan class. Furthermore, it's clear as a keen observer of life, as it was taught, lived, sowing their seeds. Kids playing in the marketplace and fussing because they can't agree whether to dance or whether to mourn. Merchants in pursuit of gain. Men and women in their various social and domestic activities. Therefore, when he who was the Lord of glory spoke, there is a patent earthiness, simplicity, and plainness in his speech. His speech personified his person. As God of gods, he spoke with absolute authority and undiluted truth. As true man, he spoke in the

16:20 language patterns of his own day with the imagery that impinged upon the real world in which his hearers lived. There was gripping earthiness. And lucid simplicity. And then thirdly, it's the way in which the prophets and apostles spoke.

16:41 When we turn to the prophets, we do find enigmas in apocalyptic visions, sections of Ezekiel and Daniel and the book of the Revelation. And they are deliberately ambiguous in their nature as far as their specific details are concerned. But when addressing their contemporaries in exposing sin, calling them to repentance and reformation and to covenant fidelity, pleading that they return to Jehovah as their God, there was an earthiness, borderlessness, which makes us in our consecutive reading through the Old Testament at times wonder if we should read what's there. Isaiah did not say that all of the earthinesses are as dirty rags. He said they're like menstruous cloths. And imagine, saying that in Israel, with all of the ceremonial rituals that made a woman in her impurity ceremonially unclean. And God says, pile up all the best things you do. And God says through the

17:55 prophet, they're like a pile of menstruous cloths. God says through Malachi, I'll spread the dung of your feast upon your faces. Malachi 2.3. That's pretty earthy. You people sitting around sting when you ought to be. Fasting and mourning and seeking God. I'll take the very excess dung from your gluttony and I'll spread it on your faces. That's earthy, folks. That's plain speaking. We might say course. Psalm 50, God says that he will treat the wicked like an enraged lion. He said, I will tear them in peace. Brethren, that's blunt. That's plain. That's vivid. That's

18:46 earthy language. Now, there is a way to use words so that they blunt the sharp edges of the word which God says is to be what? It's to be a sharp, two-edged sword. And there is a way of giving the semblance of fidelity to the text of Scripture while dulling the edge of that sword that is to cut and to pierce.

19:17 After Nathan used, this parable with David, suppose he had said, well, David, there is a certain homo sapien whose contemporary situation is quite analogous to my parabolic description. Upon thoughtful reflection and personal scrutiny, you may find yourself amazed at some of the striking similarities.

19:42 Now, break that all down and you know what that says? You are the man. But after David had been enraged with that parable, I doubt the kind of verbiage that acted like so much foam rubber surrounding the sword. In truth, were he to say, David, there is a certain homo sapien whose contemporary situation is quite analogous to my parabolic description. That would be true.

20:20 That would not be plain, simple, earthy, straightforward speech. Nathan says, David, you are. The man. And what was true of the prophets was true of the apostles as well. Take Peter's Pentecost sermon as a specimen. We aren't drunk with wine. The ninth hour. He heard them and their cackling at what was going on, and he stood right up and addressed it in a straightforward way.

20:53 Rather, he says, this is that which was spoken. And right on through the passage, Paul on Mars Hill, as I pass by and beheld your devotions, I perceive that in all things, you are very religious. And I have found this particular altar to this particular God. Him I proclaim. Yes, there are, according to Peter, certain things in Paul's epistles hard to be understood. I take great comfort from that. But the vast majority of it is Mark Twain said, it's not what I can't understand in the Bible that troubles me. It's what I do understand. And when we read through the vast, the apostolic epistles, it is. Clear that they were communicating to the churches in plain, straightforward language with reference to the concerns of their heart.

The Cost of Cultivating Earthy, Simple, and Plain Preaching

21:52 Brethren, we need to back and reread Richard Baxter in his section on the reformed pastor, where he pleads with men to exercise great plainness in our preaching. I would urge you to get into Baxter if it's been a while since you've read him, because not only, does he exhort us to plainness of speech he exemplifies it in a most unusual way but now i come thirdly in dealing with this matter of earthiness simplicity and plainness of speech having sought to demonstrate that this is the scriptural style of preaching i want to demonstrate something of the cost of cultivating such a style of preaching and first of all it will cost you elegance is defined as that which is characterized by dignified richness and grace a polished fastidiousness now polished fastidiousness will not break in upon men's hearts and consciences it will not awaken it will not alarm it will not comfort it will not bless we must be willing to die to any determination

23:15 to be known as elegant preachers and rather we must be willing to stand with our lord have the common people hear us gladly and speak play earthiness to our people there's a marvelous tribute paid to jw alexander by nicholas murray in one of those rare books that someone has put in my hands called preaching and preachers by nicholas murray this is what he says of jw alexander he was a student of rare industry the evidence of this we have in the number of languages he acquired in his published works in the sermons he preached each of which seemed to be a model in their way and exhaustive of their subjects and to meet the wants of such a congregations as a congregation as was his and the calls made upon his time he must have been as industrious a pastor as he was a student we've never heard of any interest of his congregation suffering for lack of attention while he carefully prepared his sermons now here's a man who had acquired facility in a number of languages a true scholar his thoughts and language were as

24:33 clear as the water of the river of life he gave not the processes by which he reached conclusions but the results he often extemporized and well because his mind was full and his tongue fluent and this is the reason why he was so important to him and he was so important to him that he did with universal satisfaction and this is very very interesting save in the case of the black congregation at Princeton which he served as a pastor when there is professor they thought they needed written sermons as well as the white congregations in other words when he preached extempore they thought he was giving them second-rate stuff because he didn't have a manuscript and they wanted to have their minister dignify his exercises with a manuscript the very simplicity which was one of his great charms everywhere else was there regarded as a defect which it was thought might be remedied by writing nor are they the only people who esteem a man profound in the proportion of his big words and obscure sentences and unlearned in the proportion of his simplicity and clearness brethren if any of you have been blessed of God with a good mind and a good heart and a good heart and a good heart and a good heart and a good heart tinker with good mind and with an appetite to read it and with some ability to express your thoughts

25:55 if you are to be a plane Ernie simple you must die to get a reputation as being an elegant 즐ally it will cost you much self-denial in labor to be a plane will cost you much Self-denial Often the lack of clarity in our preaching Is the result of an unwillingness To work through the barrier of muddled thinking You know what I mean by the barrier of our own muddled thinking? And we say, well I have a general conception of that And I'll just trust that somehow When I try to articulate It'll come out in such a way That people will understand No, what we've done is we've hit the wall As the runner hits the wall in the marathon And no man's the marathon Or even completes it with respectable time Who does not have the discipline To drive himself through the wall At which everything in him says quit And so it is In seeking to be clear And earthy And simple There are times when we hit the wall And we say there's just no way I can break that down Without destroying the element of truth In its essence If I try to make it any more simple or clear And we bail out of the race At mile 19

27:24 We don't push through the wall To the 26th mile And brethren, it'll cost us Much self-denial and labor If we are to be characterized By earthiness Simplicity And plainness of speech Bishop Ryle underscores this In his own experience Having in his background The disciplines to be a true scholar And to speak as a scholar He speaks of the tremendous blessing It was to be thrust among Simple people And people who were not formally educated And how it forced him to cultivate A simple and a plain style And long after some of the great pulpiteers Of the 19th century And there were some great pulpiteers Who held people in the mesmerized And their sermons are not read by anyone today And Bishop Ryle is still loved By the common people Because he was willing Not only to die To the pride of elegance But willing to deny himself And labor at being simple Clear and earthy And then This may sound strange But it will cost you opposition From your peers In organized religion It will cost opposition From your peers In organized religion You see

28:53 As long as religious truth Floats by people In terminology And in concepts And in a manner of speaking That the common people do not Nice religion will leave you alone Let the mass Common people begin to understand And then you're in trouble That's what got our Lord in trouble And with all accusations Brought before him at his trial I love that statement that says I mean Pilate wasn't confused by all of this It says he knew that for envy They had delivered him And that envy Is extremely Expressed in their own words They said what are we going to do The whole world We're losing our following Because he spake As one having authority He spoke Bringing heaven Upon various kinds of soil He took heaven down to a master And his slaves And the stewardship of talents While they were quoting Rabbi Rabbi Ben so and so Ad nauseum

30:20 And this was not only true of our Lord It was true of Bunyan I love to read this book I love to read this book I love to read this book I love to read this book I love to read this book I love to read this book I love to read his apology At the front of book one Pilgrim's Progress Where he struggles He's seeking counsel Shall I take my dream Which is flowered Far beyond anything I expected And printed Some said printed Some said printed not My wife and I had a good chuckle Reading that A couple of months ago When we started through Pilgrim's Progress together again No wonder Owen said I would give up all of my learning To be able to preach like the tinker Now I'm glad he didn't give up his learning But you see When Owen would go and listen to Bunyan What was it that drew him? It was not only the reality Of his spiritual experience But his ability to preach In an earthy, simple manner That caused the truth of God To come home with freshness to the heart And you see in the early days Spurgeon was lampooned And caricatured in the newspapers Why? They said who is this young Tyrell Taking the great doctrines of election And the covenant of grace And the covenant of grace And the covenant of grace And the covenant of grace And inner Trinitarian council And bringing it down Shopkeepers and boot blacks Are rejoicing in this truth He suffered For breaking the back Of all religious terminology And taking biblical truth

Practical Cautions for Earthy, Simple, and Plain Preaching

31:48 And making it accessible to the common man By an earthy, simple, and plain speech And so brethren If you are determined That this will mark your ministry Existence Expect opposition From your peers In organized religion Born on the one hand Out of jealousy That people will get excited About your ministry And out of a convicted conscience That there is something defective In their own ministries That they are either unwilling Or unable or both To be able to bring the truth of God down To where it impinges Upon the world In which the hearers live But then let me give you Yes we do have time Some practical cautions Some practical cautions With respect to this matter Of earthiness Simplicity And clarity In preaching Three simple but crucial words of caution Number one Do not stereotype What this principle will mean In the real and varied situations Of preaching Do not stereotype What this will mean What might be Earthy Simple and plain In one setting Might be stilted elegance In another For example I don't preach The same way When I'm in a

33:14 Small culturally insulated Midwestern or southern Rural congregation As I preach here at Trinity I don't preach If I'm preaching To a group of men In a jail And I've had that experience The same way I would preach Here in this situation We might be preaching here in this situation We might be preaching here in this situation We might be preaching here in this situation We might be preaching here in this situation We must adapt What is earthy Simple and plain In one cultural setting Would be offensively crude In another And you and I must seek under God To be wise And I'm assuming for the most part That as resident pastors Who really seek to understand Our situation We will apply this principle In the realistic setting In which we find ourselves And not in a stereotyped notion That we either picked up From our early training Some men can never preach Beyond the preaching they heard When they were young kids And young men And that becomes The standard in the model And they never break out of it Go beyond it Or if necessary Come down beneath it In terms of what plainness Simplicity and earthiness Will mean for them In the context in which God has placed them I believe this is the case Is just an adaptation Of Paul's determination To the Jew I became as a Jew To the Greek

34:43 I became as the Greek I became all things To all men That I might by all means Win some Secondly Do not despise Sanctified elegance In those situations Where it is warranted Whitefield speaking Before Lady Huntington Would be a different Whitefield From Whitefield Among the Welsh miners And the English tradesmen And we need that Sanctified accommodation And therefore I am not in any way Saying that we must have A wooden inflexible Standard Earthiness and simplicity And then do not Thirdly make the mistake Of thinking earthiness Simplicity and plainness Mean coarseness Vulgarity Simplistic or shallow Preaching Remember the injunction Of Paul to Timothy Hold fast The form Of soundness Of sound words The sermons marked By these qualities Of earthiness Simplicity and plainness Will not disgust Or offend Hungry hearted believers Of the highest culture Nor will they fail To feed Humble minded believers Of the highest intellectual Capacity and culture The true people of God Plainness

Materials and Suggestions for Cultivating Earthy, Simple, and Plain Preaching

36:10 People of refinement And culture Will not be offended If they are the true people of God Now if they are not And they don't have a hunger For the truth But they have an artificial standard Of what is and is not proper In a pulpit Then you may offend them And as Calvin said He said I never scruple At offending Pharisees I never scruple At offending Pharisees And if you've got Pharisees Who want stilted Empty religion With its proper forms And with its pre-cultivated Cast mold Offend them every Lord's day If necessary Well those words of caution And then finally Some materials to help us Some concrete suggestions To help us In the cultivation Of these qualities In our preaching Number one Expose your mind To good models Whether sacred or profane Lay your own mind Next to those minds Disciplined in the art Of simplicity Clarity and earthiness Though Spurgeon Takes off on flights Of Victorian semi-poetic rhetoric And it's interesting to read it And it smells fragrant And it sounds good When you read them out loud Obviously you don't want To imitate that It would be out of place

37:38 Just as much as if I were to wear The kind of clothes That Spurgeon wore In the pulpit But learn Principle beneath What you're reading Bishop Ryle Brooks Flavel Bunyan And in our own day A writer like Packer With all of his solid scholarship Though I am concerned At some of the trends In his writings In recent days This is not a blanket endorsement Of Dr. Packer Yet in this area He can greatly help us He has learned how Without sacrificing The proven terminology Of historical theology And the And biblical concepts Yet he has learned How to take those things And express them In a contemporary idiom That makes him a popular writer And you and I Must read men like that To have our mind And influenced By their style Then listen to preachers I cannot understand preachers That don't listen to other preachers Listen to preachers And learn from other preachers Find out preachers That under God Are holding on to the truth The minds of their congregations Because they are Among other things Beginning to at least Master some dimensions Of this earthiness And simplicity And expose your own mind To their influence Then secondly Read and re-read

39:07 The best authors On the subject Periodically read Ryle's essay On simplicity and preaching Read Bridges His section on Plainness in preaching Re-read those Things periodically It's amazing As some of us The students have said They've come up to me And said Pastor I can see that the lectures Have undergone refinement And additions And the rest Since I heard them But I couldn't believe That I'd forgotten So many of those things It's been a refresher course Well we all need that Because in the labor The sheer pressure Of producing Week after week We can let a thread drop here And a thread drop there And we don't realize How much of the fabric Has become undone Till we sit down And read a treatise That brings it all together And then we say Wow I've come a long way In the wrong direction And then we begin By the grace of God By prayer and pains To shore up Those areas Of weakness And then I would counsel you Also To By God's grace To Give yourself To the constant Reading Of the word of God Not only to feed Upon its truth But with an eye To the truth And to discern How did the prophets Bring the truth of God To the consciences Of their hearers How did our Lord speak How did the apostles speak And I never feel more safe In this matter Than when

40:36 I have some degree Of confidence That I'm expounding The scriptures In the scriptural model Of plainness Earthiness And simplicity Of speech Well our time has gone We have these few minutes Remaining minutes For