“No syllable ought to end in a large number of unaccented syllables, as ‘comparable,’ ‘exquisitely,’ ‘agreeableness.’ It is best to end with a word which accents the last syllable, or any any rate to have the accent only one syllable from the end. In like matter, we must not close the sentence with a large …
Love is not Furtive
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #155 “Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up” (1 Cor. 13:4). We have come to a famous and very exalted passage, the apostle Paul’s paean to love. Given the …
Keeping It Punchy
“Anglo-Saxon words are often more forcible than the corresponding words of Latin origin. In some cases they are more specific, the Latin having furnished the general term. In other cases they have the power of association, having been connected in our minds from childhood with real objects and actions, while the Latin term represents only …
Many Mansions
Introduction Today is Ascension Sunday, the time when we remember the ascension of the Lord Jesus into the heavenly realms, where He was ushered on the clouds of heaven into the presence of the Ancient of Days, where He was given universal power, authority, and dominion. From that place, He rules on earth, but also …
The Preacher’s Tachometer
“If a man has not force of character, a passionate soul, he will never be really eloquent” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 358).
Ascension Gifts
Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, and now ascended to the right hand of God the Father, at whose right hand is a torrent of everlasting pleasure. Greetings in the grace and peace that come from the Father, and also from His Son, our Lord, the Lord Jesus …
A Preacher’s Task
“It is not enough for a speaker to say what the hearer may understand if he attends; the point is to arouse him, to put life into him, to make attention easy and pleasant, and inattention difficult” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 357).
Never in Shadow
“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11) The Basket Case Chronicles #154 “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and …
Inscrutable Justice and Mercy
Introduction This passage concludes the narrative of the book of Samuel, and it does so with a story that sounds odd to modern ears—for various reasons. Some of those reasons have to do with the coming of the gospel, and some of them have to do with us drifting away from a biblical understanding of …
Mental Markers
“In . . . extemporaneous speaking, it is practically better, though amounting to the same thing, to fix the mind on points, rather than on paragraphs” (Broadus, Preparation and Delivery, p. 351).