Preaching and Preachers

Illustrations, Eloquence, Humourpainful experience, even as I did. You must work out your points, themain headings, in a number of subordinate or subsidiary headings. Inother words you must make sure that you have sufficient matter andmaterial. The main headings can be elaborated and worked out andillustrated in various ways. Be very careful to make notes of that. AsI have advised with regard to the skeleton itself, here again I emphasisethe importance of putting it down on paper, so that you will bereminded as you are preaching, of what you wanted to say under thisparticular heading. The rule is not to let your preparation be toobrief; work out your message in these sub-headings as best you can,and then you will not be short of matter. Many a preacher has reliedupon the inspiration that has come to him when a text has suddenlyspoken to him in the way I have described, and has found that itrecurred when he was in the pulpit while actually preaching. He hasthen fallen to the foolish temptation of imagining that that will alwayshappen, and that careful preparation is therefore not necessary.Experience will soon disabuse him.Another factor which operates in this connection can be best illustratedby my telling the story of a minister I knew in South Wales. Itshows how there are times and seasons, or ebb and flow, in one'sspiritual experience. This particular preacher had had a great experiencein the religious awakening and Revival in Wales in 1904-5. Hewas an able man and a good student. The Revival broke out while hewas a student and he and others were greatly affected by it. Quitecommonly during a time of Revival people are given an unusual easeand facility in speech, in prayer, and in preaching; and the testimonyof the ministers in Wales at that time was that they had to spend verylittle time in preparation. Everything seemed to be given to them;they were full of matter, and out of the fullness of their hearts andtheir Christianjoy, and their love to the Lord, they spoke without anydifficulty or restraint.But a problem often arises when a period like that comes to an endand the Revival subsides. Many of these men fail to realise that thatwas an exceptional time, and that now having returned to more225