“Yet further, do not repeat the same idea over and over again in other words. Let there be something fresh in each sentence. Be not forever hammering away at the same nail: yours is a large Bible; permit people to enjoy its length and breadth” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 134).
The Preacher’s Responsibility to be Interesting
“If men’s minds are wandering far away they cannot receive the truth, and it is much the same if they are inactive. Sin cannot be taken out of men, as Eve was taken out of the side of Adam, while they are fast asleep” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 127).
Holiness Becomes Common
This great vision is presented to us in apocalyptic form. This means it belongs to a certain literary genre, just like parts of Daniel, the Gospels, and the book of Revelation. The word apocalypsis (just like the Latin revelatio) refers to an unveiling, or lifting of the curtain. This enables us to see what is …
Warm to the Work
“Do not start at the highest pitch as a rule, for then you will not be able to rise when you warm with the work; but still be outspoken from the first” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 117).
The Shepherd is Struck
As the burden continues, God promises blessings mixed with chastising refinements. God promises judgments from which great blessings come. “‘It shall be in that day,’ says the Lord of hosts, ‘that I will cut off the names of the idols from the land, and they shall no longer be remembered…'” (Zech. 13:2-9). Remember that in …
So Don’t Drone On, Like a Bee in a Pitcher
“Scarcely one man in a dozen in the pulpit talks like a man” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 111).
They Will Look on the One They Have Pierced
The second oracle, the second “burden,” begins. Now a burden is a negative prophecy. In some sense, this contains hard words for Israel, but in another sense it is full of consolation. “The burden of the word of the Lord against Israel. Thus says the Lord, who stretches out the heavens, lays the foundation of …
Spiritualize It
“Within limit, my brethren, do not be afraid to spiritualize, or to take singular texts. Continue to look out passages of Scripture, and not only give their plain meaning, as you are bound to do, but also draw from them meanings which may not lie upon their surface. Take the advice for what it is …
That Princely Sum!
In this oracle, we have seen the conquests of Alexander, the great contrast with the humility of Christ, and the success of the Maccabean revolt against the Seleucid dynasty. We come now to the next stage of redemptive history — the apostasy of the Jews and God’s judgment against them in the time of the …
Prepare the Preacher, Not Just the Sermon
“Read also good suggestive books, and get your mind aroused by them . . . Your pulpit preparations are your first business . . . I have no belief in that ministry which ignores laborious preparation” (Charles Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 93).