Ministry of the word - Taylor - VIII - Lecture 8

Required reading
Ministry of the word by William Taylor (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Lecture VIII (On the use of illustrations in preaching).

My summary
Now Taylor turns to the use of illustrations in preaching.

After initially warning that illustrations ought not to form the staple of the sermon, Taylor firstly looks at what is the use of illustrations.  He suggests that illustrations:
(i) help make your thought clear;
(ii) have the force of proof;
(iii) are of great service in awakening and sustaining the interest of an audience;
(iv) make your discourses memorable.

Secondly we are given advice on how to get illustrations from:
(i) whatever we see;
(ii) books and other sermons.

Thirdly Taylor offers a few cautions on the use of illustrations.  You should not:
(i) attempt to illustrate that which is already perfectly plain;
(ii) use too many illustrations for the same purpose;
(iii) employ illustrations which are recondite and obscure, needing first to be explained themselves;
(iv) be afraid to use illustrations which have a dash of humor;
(v) give inaccurate illustrations;
(vi) stop the full force of the illustration from illuminating the truth.

What grabbed me
Great advice in today's reading.

One good point was to be accurate in our illustrations: 'Farther, when we use a fact in science, or an incident in history, or a story from common life, or a process in some ordinary occupation, we must be sure that we have got it accurately. I was one day trying to illustrate something to my Liverpool people, who were familiar with everything about shipping, I by the setting sail of a vessel. I used the word "shrouds" as if it had been synonymous with "sails," and when I saw the smile, half-compassionate, and half-contemptuous, with which my error was received by my hearers, I mentally resolved that I would never again venture on anything in the way of illustration with which I was not absolutely familiar. The auditors must be acquainted with everything which we use for that purpose, that they may feel its force ; but we must be accurate in its statement, that we may retain their confidence, for if they see that we cannot be depended on in their department, they will place no reliance on us in our own. '

So true.  If you show ignorance in one domain, you give people reason to think that you may be ignorant in your theology too.

Next week's reading
Read Lecture IX (The conduct of public worship-reading of the scriptures).

Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.