“And it is undoubtedly a chief defect in the sermons even of evangelical pulpits, that there is not enough of Christ in them . . . Flavel was right: ‘The excellency of a sermon lies in the plainest discoveries and liveliest applications of Jesus Christ'” (Fish, Power in the Pulpit, p. 6).
Because Some Scholars Are Stuck, Right Up to the Axle
“Some scholars are so fearful of leap-frogging the original meaning [of the OT] that they never get past it” (Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 43).
Don’t Be That Preacher
“Dropping buckets into empty wells,And growing old in drawing nothing up” (William Cowper, as quoted in Fish, Power in the Pulpit, p. 5)
So Preach the Gospel
“Human philosophy, the wisdom of the world, has never converted a soul” (Fish, Power in the Pulpit, p. 3).
Chopping the Onions Vs. Serving the Stew
“Exegesis is not the finished product but rather a servant to it. It is not th end of the road but the road to the end — the preached sermon” (Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 39).
Preaching a New World
“God’s word at first created the world, and His word, from the lips of His servants, is to re-create it” (Henry Fish, Power in the Pulpit, p. 1).
A Mallet and Pliers are Not Homiletical Tools
“A sermon should not forced into a text but should be derived from it in a plain, natural and obvious manner” (Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 32).
Like Bees on a Branch
“The right text is the one which comes of itself during reading and meditation: which accompanies you in walks, goes to bed with you, and rises with you. On such a text thoughts swarm and cluster, like bees upon a branch” (J.W. Alexander, quoted in Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 29).
Fertilizing the Soil So No One Will Ask “Why Cumbereth It the Ground?”
“As time for reading is limited, the preacher should make sure he is reading the books that will produce the most sermons” (Murray, How Sermons Work, p. 27).
Not Beyond What Is Written
“When he enters the pulpit, he is not an entirely free man. There is a very real sense in which it may be said of him that the Almighty has set him his bounds that he shall not pass . . . It is a great thing to come under the magnificent tyranny of the …