“Poetry is also good, for it stimulates the imagination, a faculty sadly neglected by the majority of preachers . . . the preacher ought never to part company with the poets. The objective is not to quote poetry in sermons — there is altogether too much of this — but to find worth-while sermon ideas, …
Gathering Comes First
“But this much certainly is true — wide reading in any worth-while field stimulates the mind and gives the reader something of use to him when he comes to prepare his sermon” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 76).
Imagine
“Napoleon said, ‘Men of imagination rule the world.’ The preacher of imagination is the prince of the pulpit” (Macartney, Peaching Without Notes, p. 75)
Witchery of Words
“Some of the greatest preachers have been metaphorical preachers . . . They understood, or had an unconscious instint for, the witchery of words” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 59).
The Ark of the Gentiles
INTRODUCTION:We now can see the shape of an interesting storyline taking place. We see Israelites acting like faithless Gentiles, and Gentiles acting like faithful Israelites. In the pages to come, we are going to see quite a bit of this. THE TEXT:“And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven …
What Illustrations Illustrate
“The purpose of illustration is not merely to make the truth clear, but to heighten its nobility and glory” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 32).
The Ark of Authority
INTRODUCTION:Recall that the elders of Israel had summoned the ark of the covenant to the battlefield (1 Sam. 4:3), and the entire army of Israel was full of confidence that it would “do” something (1 Sam. 4:5). But it didn’t do anything, and Israel was decisively defeated and the ark captured. And so then it …
So Preach the Blood
“Evangelical preaching is the answer for all our church problems. It is the solvent of all heresies; and the drier and stonier the soil, the more solemn is the duty and responsibility of the preacher to sow the seed of the gospel” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 27).
Being Sincere Without Being Earnest
“A preacher can be sincere on the low ground of prudential ethics and morals, but he becomes earnest only when he seeks the salvation of the souls of his hearers” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, p. 23).
Why Some Ministers Avoid Some Things
“If the life within the minister’s own heart is not right, it will be natural and easy for him to avoid and omit the great searching truths of the gospel” (Macartney, Preaching Without Notes, pp. 21-22).