Types of Sermon-Structure
Ermons may be comprehensively
divided into textual, topical, and
typical.
Textual preaching. — First, the textual, so called because directly derived from, and closely associated with the text of the sacred Word. Whatever may be said of other forms of sermons, this presents the undoubted ideal. As Kepler said, in astronomic studies, “I am thinking God’s thoughts after God,” so may the true preacher say; for his object is to get at the Divine mind in the Divine Word, comprehend and appreciate it, and then embody and express it. This conception of a sermon will first give inspiration to the work as essentially a Divine work; secondly, authority to the utterance as essentially a Divine utterance; thirdly, originality, and that of the highest sort, being the originality, not of
y THE DIVIXE ART OE PREACH I XG.
invention, but of discovery, that is, an unfolding of the mind of God as discovered by the study of the sacred Scriptures; and fourthly, power, as the channel of the Spirit, and therefore communicating an influence which is essentially Divine. It was the beloved Arnot who said that he had discovered that what actually brings souls to Christ is not our words in the sermon, but some word of God that is in the midst of our words. A noted pastor has testified that in a long pastorate he had never known a soul to be brought to Christ except through some testimony of the Holy Scriptures. What then is the use of human words? To quote Arnot again, they are “the feathers which carry the divine arrow straight to its mark.”
Laws of Textual Preaching. — The first law is, acquaint yourself with the text, its letter, its meaning, its spirit. We must remember that the italicised words are supplied by translators, and there are many cases in which their utility is doubtful. It is only the uneducated that take them to represent the emphatic words, as in the case of the ignorant exhorter who road, “And he said unto his sons, ’ saddle me the ass,’ and they saddled hivt.” John iii. 34 maybe cited as a possible example of the italicised words giving a new and, it may be, untrue meaning. The intention may have been to say that God does not dole out the Spirit by measure, that is, in limited supplies, and the words “unto him” may wrongly limit the application to Christ Jesus.
All divisions of chapters and verses, and even punctuation marks, are human devices. In Luke xiii. 24, 25 the substitution of a comma for a period gives an entirely different sense. “Strive to enter in at the strait gate, for many I say unto you shall seek to enter in and shall not be able, when once the master of the house had risen up and hath shut to the door.”
We must note changes of meaning in English words; for example, the word “conversation,” which means course of life, or conduct, and in one case, citizenship. Compare Hebrews xiii. 5, Philippians iii. 20.
Our English Bible is only a translation, more or less complete as the case may be. The true preacher of the Word should get at the original if possible, and study such commentators as bring him into closest contact with the original, like Bengel and Alford, etc.
We should find out the central and emphatic words which are the pivots or hinges of the meaning. This can be ascertained only by a very careful and even critical examination.
We must study the grammatical and rhetorical structure, which are an immense help to exegesis. For instance, where imperatives and participles are found together, the imperative usually represents the stress of the paragraph, and the participles subordinate clauses. Compare I Peter i. i, 15. The emphatic word is “hope.” In the original there are three participles, “girding up,” “being sober” “not fashioning yourselves,” which represent the ways of cultivating hope. Compare Jude, twentieth and twenty-first verses. The emphatic word is “keep.” The subordinate participles are “building, praying, looking,” which are means of keeping.
Wherever we detect parallel structure it will assist us in exposition. The parallelism demands corresponding members, and hence the correspondence must be sought for. In Matthew vii. 6: “Give not that which is holy unto the dogs,” etc., the first and last clauses correspond as do the two middle
TYPES OF SERMOJSr-STRUCTtJRE. 39
clauses. It is the dogs that turn again and rend you, and the swine that trample pearls under their feet. Compare I Tim. iii. 16, where there are three pairs of clauses:
“God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the spirit;
Seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles;
Believed on in the world, received up into glory.”
In the last commission as given in the twenty-eighth chapter of Matthew, the grammatical structure shows us that the stress of the command lies on “Go, disciple.” The subordinate duties are, “baptizing” and “teaching.” The parallel structure also shows us that the declaration: “All power is given unto Me,” which begins the commission, and the promise, “Lo, I am with you alway,” which ends the commission, are the encouragements to the command which constitutes the body of the commission. Because all power is Christ’s, and He will always be with us, tJicrefore we are to go forward and carry the gospel to all parts of the earth.
Acquaintance with the text demands that we study the context. For example: In which Testament is a text found? Again, in
40 THE Dl I -JXE A A’ T OF PRE A CUING.
what particular book? Who is the author? Where was the book written? When? For what purpose, and to whom? Again, what is the exact point in the argument, and what is the rekition of the context to the argument as a whole. A faithful expositor never overlooks any of these minor details, for all this will guide in exposition.
2. A second law of textual preaching, is, seek a textual division for a textual discourse; one that is natural and not artificial; one that is exhaustive and complete; one that is climacteric, advancing from weaker to stronger, from lower to higher points and considerations.
We add a few examples of textual outlines. Gen. xlii. 21: “We are verilj’ guilty concerning our biother,” etc. Here we have the three elements which enter into man’s natural retribution •. first, meuiory, “We saw the anguish of his soul,” twenty years before. Secondly, conscience, “We are verily guilty concerning our brother.” Thirdly, reason, “Therefore is this distress come upon us.”
Acts i. 25: “Judas by transgression fell that he might go to his own place.” I. Here is sin, represented as a fall. First, faster and farther; secondly, no self-recovery possible, as in a falling body; thirdly, ultnnately fatal; and yet fourthly, responsible because caused by transgression. II. Every sou goes to his own place. First, every soul has his own place; secondly, makes his own place; thirdly, fnds his own place; fourthly, feels that it is his own place when he gets there. (Dr. Alex. Dickson.)
2 Tim. i. 12. The four principal words of this text suggest the four degrees of faith: belief, persuasion, commitment, and knowledge or certainty.
John xii. 24. “Except a corn of wheat tali into the ground and die.” First, what is it to abide alone? A life kept for selfish ends. Secondly, what is it to die? A life voluntarily lost or sacrificed for God and men. Thirdly, what is it to yield fruit? A life regained and reproduced, in fruit, in service. In our Load’s Intercessory prayer in John xvii. the four thoughts are, “separated,” “sanctified,” “unified,” and “glorified,” and these four are in their natural and normal
order.
Acts xiii. 36, “David served his own generation by the will of God.” Here we have first, the true object of life, service. Sec-
42 THE D/r/,VE ART OF PREACUhXG.
ondly, the sphere of life, our own generation. Thirdly, the secret of life, the will of God.
A true Bible reading is a textual discourse, only it is founded upon comparison with Scripture and the accumulation of Scripture testimony. Take, for instance, “Christ also suffered for us.” There are eight passages of Scripture that throw light upon this statement: I Pet. iii. 18, “To bring us unto God.” I Pet. ii. 24, Our “death unto sin and unto life.” 2 Cor. 5. 21, “That we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Gal. iii. 13, 14, “That we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.” I Pet. ii. 21, That he might “leave us an example.” Titus ii. 14, “That he might redeem us from all iniquity.” Gal. i. 4. “That he might deliver us from this evil world.” I Thess. v. 10, “That we might live together with him.” Here it will be seen that we have eight intents and results of Christ’s vicarious death; a new access, a new death and life, a new spirit, a new example, a new redemption, a new deliverance, a new fellowship.
Topical preaching. — This is, of course, preaching from a topic, a scriptural theme, in which the testimony of the Word is col.
lated, compared, and arranged with reference to completeness and climax.
There are certain advantages in topical preaching:
First, the aggregation of scriptural testimony on any one subject. Single texts generally present only a phase, others are needful for a complete and well rounded view, and one text may mislead if it be not off-set and interpreted by others.
Secondly, there is increased range and scope of view. The horizon commanded by a single text is comparatively narrow, but the consideration of a topic may often lead us to a point from which we command a vaster horizon.
Thirdly, in the application of the truth, the object to be accomplished by the preacher may not always be covered by a single text; and it may be needful beside, to defend, discriminate, limit, and guard from misconception by arraying and arranging the testimony of several texts.
Fourthly, as to conclusiveness of argument, single texts, like single threads in a cable, may not always bear the strain or tension of argument, but combined they are like those threads brought together in one strand. That is to say, that where a single text may not be conclusive, the drift or common tendency of different texts combined may lead to an unquestioned and unmistakable result.
There arc many manifest disadvantages and risks in topical preaching:
P’irst, the risk of approaching the Word with a bias, a preconception of what we wish to find, a prepossession that, if it does not blind, at least blurs the judgment. There is danger of warping of Scripture to fit the crook of our dogma. Aristotle was deductive; Bacon inductive. Deductive method starts with an hypothesis. The Baconian starts with facts and makes an induction from facts. Hence, we can understand how the Papacy should be perversely Aristotelian, starting jvith an hypothesis and adapting and adjusting the testimony of Scripture to the hypothesis. Protestantism is inductive; it aims to compare Scripture with Scripture, and so infer what is Scripture teaching.
Secondly, there is risk of artificial and superficial arrangement and treatment of texts, and the disregard of the usus loqiicndi of Scripture. Some exegesis has been called “grasshopper exegesis,” and even “kangaroo exegesis,” because of the monstrous leaps that it takes, disregarding all intermediate and independent testimony, to lay hold of similar words or apparently similar lines of thought.
Thirdly, the risk of merging the discourse into an essay, a treatise, or a theological discussion, and so losing sight of that oratorical feature which we have seen to be the highest mark of a true sermon.
Fourthly, the risk of dogmatic controversialism, more anxiety to define and defend a theological position or creed than to learn the witness of the Word of God, and so sinking the preacher into the theologian.
There are certain rules that ought to be regarded in topical preaching:
First, find your topic in the Word of God. Let the topic itself be a Scriptural one.
Secondly, give your topic a biblical rather than a moral, theological, or philosophical form and expression, and if you adopt a biblical terminology be sure that your terms have a scriptural meaning. We question, for instance, whether the words, “effectual calling” as used in theology have any such meaning in Holy Scripture.
Thirdly, aim at a scriptural division of your topic. That is, let your different divisions be suggested by different but related texts. Thus, your topical sermon will in a sense be a textual sermon.
Fourthly, aim at a complete presentation, if not exhaustive, at least exhaustive for the purpose which you have in view.
Fifthly, hence carefully define and limit your topic and treatment before you begin. For example, if you are treating faith as a topic, take some of the aspects or relations of faith; for instance, faith in connection with prayer, faith as related to justification, sanctification, and good works, or service.
Sixthly, never dodge a difficulty. It is where a difficulty is to be confronted that your discussion is needed. A traveler needs no guide in the Alps so long as his path is perfectly plain and safe, but it is where he comes to crevasses, and glaciers, and chasms, and dangerous places, that the guide is necessary. Remember that for every difificulty there is a Biblical solution; and, instead of evading a difficulty, search out the proper remedy for, and resolution of, the difficulty.
Seventhly, have firm faith in the Word and in the Si)irit of God. Conceive yourselves not as the defenders of weakness, but rather as the discoverers of the refuges and defenses which are to be found for yourselves and others in the Word of God.
Eighthly, aim at climax. Never put your strongest argument or position first and foremost, but carefully arrange to conduct your hearer up to the highest and most convincing summits of truth.
Ninthly, reserve your strength for the less obvious and the more important things. Assume all that needs no argument, prove only what needs proof; and what is obvious and axiomatic do not seek to prove, but only to illustrate, enforce, and apply.
Tenthly, Bible readings are probably the best form for topical treatment, as already suggested.
Eleventhly, the whole of a Gospel or Epistle may be very successfully treated under the head of the topic of that Epistle or Gospel, finding the key word and key thought which furnish the solution to the enigma, the clew to the maze, the key to the lock.
Twelfthly, a series of topics will aid and compel the treatment of practical things. If there be a subject that you conceive to be
48 7 HE DI J ^INE A R T OF PRE A CUING.
desirable to treat and yet which you cannot treat in its solitariness without invidiousness, and misrepresentation of your motives, it may be sometimes successfully treated and inevitably treated in the course of a series; as for instance the seventh commandment, which cannot be well evaded if you are preaching a series on the Decalogue.
Topical discourses really comprehend various sorts of sermons, such as the historical and biographical; the doctrinal; the ethical, moral, and practical; the occasional — such as are suggested by current events, Providential judgments and interpositions; and the spiritual, having to do with the secrets of the highest spiritual life. We give a few examples of topics: What is it to become a disciple of Christ? There are six great steps or stages in discipleship, any one of which may be more or less distinct or definite, but all of which exist in the case of every true or normal disciple. First, conviction of truth. Second, contrition for sin. Third, confession of sin to God and to man so far as man has been wronged thereby. Fourth, conversion from sin and unto God. Fifth, confession of Christ, and sixth, consecration to service, involving separation from the world and sin, unto holiness and service.
An interesting topical study might be found in the doctrine of angels and the doctrine of demons, as presented in the Scripture, comparing such passages as Eph. iii. 10, vi. 12, and Col. i. 16. It will be found that there are apparently seven grades of angels in the hierarchy, both of unfallcn and fallen angels.
Again, justification by faith. There are four instances in which the same sentence occurs in the Bible — “The just shall live by faith”: Hab. ii. 4, where the question is answered, “Whom does God justify?”; Rom. i. 17, where the emphasis is on “just”; Gal. iii. 11,12, where the emphasis is on “faith”; Heb. x. 38, where the emphasis is on “live,” that is, be kept alive.
Again, the law of God. First, it is inexorable, it allows no violation even in the minutest particular. Second, it is inevitable; its demands and sanctions must be supported. Third, it is irretrievable; no transgressions can ever be atoned for by the transgressor. Fourth, it is impeccable, demanding absolute purity of motives and perfect obedience.
so THE DIVINE ART OF PREACIIIXG.
Again, i. By the law comes the knowledge of sin. 2. It condemns; it cannot justify, but rather increases condemnation. 3. It avenges, it works wrath, and justifies God. 4. It conducts (Gal. iii 24), “leads us to Christ.”
Another example of topical treatment may be found in the subject of rewards:
I. How they consist with a system of grace. 2. What are the Divine principles of administration. 3. What is the time of their bestowment.
Other most interesting topics ma)’ be found in Doing the will of God; Service as related to the Christian life; The seven sentences of Christ on the cross; The Holy Spirit’s work in the believer: i. Salvation, convincing of truth, regenerating the heart, leading to confession. 2. Sanctification, including illumination, mortification, vivification. 3. Service, involving the intellect, the heart, the tongue, and the handiwork.
Typical Preaching. — By this we mean to include sermons in which a form of precept or promise, an historic event, or character, etc., is treated as a type of moral or spiritual truth, whether with or without an explicit ‘■•arrant from the Scripture itself.
We are not disposed to deny advantages of this method of preaching, such as: i. Variety in presentation of truth; 2. The element of surprise or novelty, awakening the attention of the hearer; 3. The play afforded for imagination and illustration; 4. The effect in training to elaborate, careful, and discriminating thinking; 5. Making permanent impression upon the memory by associating truth with a picture; 6. Stimulating to a searching study of the Bible, by finding hidden meanings. 7. A good illustration sometimes has the force of an argument. Compare John iii. 19 — 2T. “The evil doer hates the light,” etc. As Dr. O. W. Holmes said, “The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye: the more light you pour upon it, the more it contracts.”
Compare Lev. xiii. 1-13, the law concerning leprosy, with Francis Bacon’s remarks, that, when the leper was entirely unclean, he was allowed to go free, but when there was but a spot of leprosy he was shut up or shut out as unclean; which Bacon says illustrates the principle of morals, that the most flagrant and open sinners do not so much harm as those that under an appearance of morality hide an immoral heart.
There arc also disadvantages and dangers in typical preaching:
1. There is danger of a fanciful style of pulpit discourse.
2. There is risk of giving undue prominence to the poetic, or imaginative element, degenerating into superficial and unpractical forms of discourse.
3. Risk of ingenuity displacing ingenuousness, elaborating of fancy rather than exalting of truth.
4. Liability of treating a figure or simile as though it were an analogy, insisting that it shall fit the truth at all points, thus pressing what is designed as a resemblance into a minute correspondence in detail.
5. Risk of appealing to mere curiosity and love of novelty rather than to the conviction, the conscience, and the will of the hearer.
6. The loss of oratorical power in excessive poetical and imaginative elaboration.
7. Uncertainty as to discerning the mind of the Spirit, substituting one’s own thoughts for God’s thoughts.
8. The consequent risk of sacrificing the unique authority of God’s ambassador; for in proportion as we fail to impress others as speaking authoritatively, we are unable to disarm criticism, which, on the contrary, we rather challenge.
9. The risk of exhausting an effective illustration at the outset; for instance, suppose Jonah and the gourd be taken as the theme of a typical sermon, on murmuring in affliction, and idolizing good gifts of God. How much better to take some such text as “Love not the world,” or “The fashion of this world passeth away,” using Jonah with the gourd as an illustration of the subject.
10. What may be accepted without question when used as an illustration, may be very questionable as a source from which to derive a doctrine, or statement of truth. There is a difference between interpretation and application of a text.
1 1. There is consequent risk of inversion of the laws of discourse. The foundation of all true sermons must be doctrinal and exegetical. The pinnacle may represent the imaginative, the illustrative and the typical; we want rough blocks at the foundations, huge square stones at the basis, and the chiseled lance-like spires at the summit. These two cannot exchange places without an inversion and a subversion of the true laws of preaching.
12. Finally, typical prcachintr is apt to lead to the use of motto texts, which disregard textual connection and the real meaning of Holy Scripture, and separate the words of God from their obvious, literal, and even spiritual meaning. We have known Philemon 15 to be used as the basis of a funeral discourse: “A beloved member of a family removed for a season that he should be received back again forever,” etc. Such applications of texts, as mere mottoes, are always of questionable propriety, and sometimes decidedly irreverent.
We add a few rules for typical discourses:
1. We should never drawdoctrinal teaching from a doubtful source. Base )’our statement Df truth on an unmistakable foundation, and then, if you please, use types to represent or illustrate that truth in new and striking forms. If you are treating of the atonement, it is far better to take your text from Isa. liii. and your illustration from Lev. xvi., than to reverse the process.
2. Typical texts are always safely used as such, when explicitly declared to be typical. e. g., Gal. iv. 24. “which things are an allegory”; Heb. ix. 8, 9, 24. where the tabernacle is declared to be a type of higher things; John i. 51, where the obvious reference is to Jacob’s ladder. The story of Jonah and the great fish Christ declares to be a type of His burial and resurrection. In Revelations viii. the incense and the censer are interpreted as referring to the “prayers of saints.”
3. Types are safely used when evidently, though not expressly, treated in the Word of God, as typical. Compare Rom. xi., the “olive tree,” which is one of the finest types in the New Testament; also the priest’s garment in the Levitical dispensation, all of whose parts were obviously typical, the clasps with the onyx stones on the shoulder, the stones in the breastplate, and eveji the blue ribbon in the hem of the garment.
4. Figurative language is sometimes obviously used in a typical sense, as in Eph. ii. 13, “Ye who were sometimes afar off,” where the reference appears to be to the treatment of the leper, in the ceremonial dispensation. In Heb. xii. 18 and following verses, “The mount that might be touched,” the comparison of Sinai and Zion is implied; i Pet. ii. 5, “The spiritual house with spiritual sacrifices and priesthood and ceremonies,” is prefigured in the tabernacle.
5. Always avoid mixing figures. When you are using a type keep to that type, and trace the correspondence between it and the truth which it represents.
6. Study carefully and closely the whole Bible as to the unannounced types; for instance, forms, such as the circle, the square, and the cube; and numbers, such as 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 40, 70, 144, etc.; and colors, white, black, red, green, blue; and the compound colors, purple and green, etc.
We add a few examples both of good and bad typical treatment, leaving the reader to make his own discriminations.
Isaiah viii. 6, “This people refuseth the waters of Shiloah.” Here is a fine figure or illustration, of hidden sources of spiritual life, their concealed channels and occasional revelations. Compare Matt. vi. 6, and Col. iii. 4.
In Rom. xi. 16-25 the olive tree is made the type of Israel. There are ten correspondences here which are quite remarkable: first, the root; second, the soil; third, the branches; fourth, the flower; fifth, the fatness; sixth, the excision; seventh, the grafting; eighth, the reingrafting; ninth, the husbandman; and tenth, the final glory and fruita<re.
The Holy Ghost is presented under the emblem of FIRE; conveying first, light; second, warmth; third, life; fourth, purifying; fifth, destroying; sixth, glorifying. In Lev. xx. 24-26, the law of separation between the clean and the unclean is typical. Again, Heb. xii. 24, suggests comparison of the blood of Abel and the Blood of Christ: the blood of Abel connected with accusation and vengeance or vindication, and the Blood of Christ with justification and reconciliation.
Again Eliezer and the jewels. Compare Gen. xxiv. 53 with John xvi. 14, 15.
Samson and the lion’s carcass in Judges xiv. 14, hints: first a formidable foe, second his roar, third, his rending, and fourth, the honey in the carcass. We can discover here suggestions of the following truths. First, we must meet the devil; second, temptation does not come unwarned; third, it is possible to overcome by the Spirit and the Word; and fourth, it is possible to get blessings out of trials and strength out of temptation.
Judges xvi. 2 1: Samson in the mill, blinded, bound, grinding, mocked, shorn; afterward, praying, his hair grown, his strength renewed, destroying his enemies, and dying in the effort.
Rev. V. the Hon-lamb.
2 Chron. xxvi. 20, Uzziah and the leprosy. Compare Luke v. 8.
Again, the manna: falling from Heaven; the dew resting upon it; gathered early in the morning; only so much at a time; and during the whole journey. Compare II Cor. viii. and John vi.
Again Marah and the branch, Ex. xv. 25. Compare, “who comforteth us in all our tribulation.”
Interesting typical subjects may be drawn from historical characters; such as the correspondence between Christ and Adam, Joseph, Joshua, Moses, David, Daniel.
I heard a sermon on the waters in Ezek. xlvii., in which the ankles, knees, loins, were treated as types of the Christian’s walking, the Christian’s praying, the Christian’s overcoming all lusts; and the swimming in the water was made to represent the Christian’s ecstasy in Christ — a very questionable treatment, to say the least.