ENCOURAGEMENT FOR PASTORS (BY SPURGEON)
An average hearer, who is unable to follow the course of thought of the preacher, ought not to worry himself, but to blame the preacher, whose business it is to make the matter clear.
If you look down into a well, if it be empty, it will appear to be very deep; but if there be water in it, you will see its brightness. I believe that many “deep” preachers are simply so because they are like dry wells with nothing whatever in them, except decaying leaves, a few stones, and perhaps a dead cat or two. If there be living water in your preaching, it may be very deep, but the light of the truth will give clearness to it. At any rate, labor to be plain, so that the truths you teach may be easily received by your hearers.
SERMON ILLUSTRATION (BY SPURGEON)
Spurgeon was a master illustrator. You can use this illustration in your own preaching to describe the bondage of sin.
If you had a bird here—say, a canary—and it was all free except one leg, it would not be a free bird then. ‘It is only held by a single bit of cotton,’ you say. Still the bird is not at liberty: it cannot fly as it pleases. As long as a man is held a captive by a single vice, no matter how small it is, he is still in bondage to iniquity. If any one sin binds him, masters him, he is not the Lord’s free man. He is still a slave in the worst form of slavery: he is under the dominion of evil.
THANKS FOR READING
Brothers,
We don’t need to be complicated in our preaching. God’s Word has power, we don’t need to help it by being overly deep or spiritual. Don’t succumb to the temptation to offer a lot of seemingly impressive head knowledge: just preach the Word — it will never return void.
In your preaching this weekend, don’t strive to be impressive, strive to show the Lord to be impressive.
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Blessings to your ministry,
Doug H.
Creator of SpurgeonBooks