This sermon is from the Rev. Charles G. Dennison sermon archive, part of “The Most Excellent Way” series, and was preached at Grace Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Sewickley, PA, during a worship service on Sunday, January 5, 1986.

2. And when I came to you, brothers and sisters, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

True faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Yet we do seek wisdom among those who are mature, a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are passing away. We speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory. This wisdom is unknown to the rulers of this age, for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of Lords.

But as it is written: “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” For to us God revealed them through the Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, even the deepest things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. For we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. But the natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised. But the spiritual person appraises all things, yet he himself is appraised by no one. For who has known the mind of the Lord, that he should instruct Him? But we have the mind of Christ. And then from 1 Corinthians 13, beginning with verse 8.

Love never fails, but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will come to an end. If there are tongues, they will cease. If there is knowledge, it will be done away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away. When I was a child, I used to speak as a child, think as a child, reason as a child. When I became a man, I put away childish things. For now we see through a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know fully, just as I also have been fully known.

But now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Father, truly we have believed in keeping with what the Apostle has taught. And though our habit may well have been to follow after the wisdom of men, to surround ourselves with those who speak pleasantly and apparently wisely in the ways of the world, in this time we have realized that our hope is in the gospel of Jesus Christ, our boast is found in him. And Lord, we ask you now that having learned this lesson, we would see clearly how the message of the gospel is to go forward, with what force it is to go forward, how it is to be conveyed. Lord, we ask that we might have discernment as your people, and that your people might also have great preachers who can deliver to them the word week by week, so that they are strengthened in the knowledge of those things that are eternal, those things that pertain to you. We ask this in Jesus’ name, amen.

Tonight I am engaging in a form of foolishness, and I hope that you will bear with me, because there is likely no better example of the very thing I am speaking against than what I am about to do. I feel, however, compelled to do it. You might compare this to the sentiments of the Apostle Paul as he speaks in 2 Corinthians. He asks the Corinthians to tolerate a small amount of foolishness from him, but he feels constrained to act in this way because of those who have come and disturbed the congregation in Corinth. It is not that anyone here is disturbed, but the Church as a whole may be said to be disturbed in our generation—disturbed by the traditions it has inherited from previous generations, especially in regard to preaching.

So, a brief reflection on preaching tonight. Perhaps even a small measure of foolishness in preaching. Unfortunately, few, if any, have the courage to speak what now needs to be said about preaching. Even fewer, tragically, are able to offer a genuine critique of contemporary preaching. Preaching is in a poor state. So much has declined that truly great preaching no longer captures the interest of the Church.

You may wish to know what truly great preaching is. There are remarkable examples of it in Scripture. For instance, the entire book of Deuteronomy serves as an example of great preaching. Some of the Psalms are also examples of great preaching. Consider the psalm we read tonight, even though it is written in the form of a psalm, it contains a recurring refrain throughout. It is, for the most part, a straightforward account of God’s mighty and wondrous acts on behalf of His people.

You think of some of the passages in the Prophets. They contain powerful preaching. Then consider Jesus’ message, especially the Sermon on the Mount. You find examples in the Book of Acts. You have Peter on the day of Pentecost preaching with great clarity, declaring to the Jews gathered the marvelous, mighty works of the Lord, set for the redemption of His people. Is there any sermon like the one found in Acts 7? Read that sermon. It is excellent preaching. What is truly great preaching?

Simply this: having examined these examples throughout Scripture, great preaching is that which, by the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the preacher’s heart, seeks to place the listeners within the flow of the drama of salvation. Great preaching intends for the hearers to participate in the text of God’s Word and to encounter the certain realities of God’s justice and His marvelous grace in the history of His dealings with His people. Great preaching draws the listener in, so that they begin to understand that they live within the Word, and that Word is about them.

Great preaching is also God-centered. This is very important, for much preaching today is man-centered, focused on human needs, however small those needs may be. Great preaching is God-centered, it is Christ-centered. It is centered upon redemption, salvation, and grace—things that come to us through Christ. Great preaching is Scripture-centered, covenant-centered, and Church-centered.

Most preaching today is not like this. The Church now occupies itself with sermons based on the text of this world, as if the task of preachers were to interpret society and the circumstances that confront us in this world. The Church occupies itself with sermons based on the text of this world. The world brings strain, stress, questions, and fear, rather than the text of Scripture.

Be they liberal or conservative, preachers have all become amateur historians, cultural anthropologists, sociologists, politicians, psychologists, musicians, and promoters of the modern popular culture. They have become heralds of relevance and apostles of an anti-doctrinal version of the Christian faith. They are neither mystics nor intellectuals. Nevertheless, they are servants of subjectivity and hopelessly enslaved to the latest opinions of experts. Modern preachers are style conscious. They are severely superstitious. They are preoccupied with the remnants of adolescence. The modern preacher is obsessed with statistics and neurotic about other people’s opinions. He craves acceptance, a trait psychologists have identified as most evident in teenagers and actors.

With regard to the latter, he is preaching, after all, as one evangelical leader has described it, an art, an art form. Does its power ultimately rest in its resonance, its rhetorical skill? Does it rest in the personal charm and charisma of the preacher, his personality, and his influence?

Now, as distressing as this picture is—this picture I have painted for you—there is, penetrating this cloud, this vaporous cloud, an arrogance that creates an illusion among the people, among those who fear, an illusion of certainty. People sitting beneath this foolishness week after week are convinced they have heard something important, something profound. They have become convinced that they have heard the word of the Lord. Now, symptomatic of our general malaise with regard to preaching is a phenomenon that is gaining strength and influence year by year. Or if you are in the habit of listening to preachers, turning on the radio, watching television, or simply reading recently published collections of sermons.

What seems to be happening increasingly is that sermons are being overrun with illustrations. You might feel you have a case against me. This is the last time you will hear an illustration from this pulpit. And of course, I am not here to defend my lack of use of illustrations. But what is happening is that illustrations and illustrative material are overtaking sermons in their construction, and congregations have developed an insatiable appetite for such material. So bad have things become that illustrations now can be said to dominate preaching among men.

Some preachers actually allow illustrations to function as their texts, while the Bible becomes supportive material. I am going to use an illustration. During the Middle Ages, the Church claimed that images were actually books for the illiterate. People could not read, so it was proper to use images, statuary, and religious art. These things served as books for the unlearned, for those who could not read. Protestants, it seems, have their own version of this sort of thinking. In their use of illustrations, Protestants are making similar claims. These are what the people really remember. These are what they walk away with.

If you do not give them a few illustrations, what will they have when they go home? If they remember the stories, the jokes, the tear-wrenching tales, and forget the text, is it any wonder that preaching is in such a sad state? You cannot live in the text if you have forgotten the text. You cannot live in the Word if you have forgotten what the Word says. The widespread use of illustrations is merely a means by which people live more in the world and less in the text. What are these illustrations about? They are about the world. They become the focus. But did not Jesus tell stories? Anyone who believes that Jesus’ parables were merely entertaining tales meant to make his message easier to understand for the unlearned had better go back and re-read those parables and Jesus’ own explanation of them.

To give you an idea of how widespread this reliance on illustrations has become, I recently received a copy of a new magazine titled Now. In this magazine, they claim to have collected for you a number of sermons that you can use throughout the year. They include a sermon for every Sunday, and it costs only thirty-six dollars per year. I can spend thirty-six dollars and provide you with dynamic preaching, and you will go home well fed, I am sure. Here is the first sermon in the first edition of Dynamic Preaching. In that sermon, illustrations are drawn from the lives of Howard Hughes, Elvis Presley, John Belushi, Karen Carpenter, Adolph Root, John Davis, and Mother Teresa—all in a single message.

We also have a story from an anonymous source who does not wish to be named, about a man who froze to death in a refrigerator boxcar, even though the refrigerating unit was turned off. That is an illustration. If you believe it, then it is true to you. He believed the refrigerating unit was still on. You get the point.

We also heard about the All-American Coffin Match at the University of Kentucky in the mid-fifties. A man who was not an All-American was made to be one, even though he did not meet the criteria. He was a player on the University of Kentucky basketball team with only average ability and limited skill. However, because his coach contacted all the press agencies and promoted him as an All-American—Cotton Nash—he became known as an All-American in the eyes of many. People believed him. There were appeals to Charles Allen and his recent book, to Shel Silverstein and his 1960 novel, and even to the New York Daily News.

Therapist Peter Hanson, psychiatrist Robert Taylor, researchers from the University of California at Berkeley, and psychologists at Harvard—when they include a few sentences about Jesus and quote John 3:16—can conclude with a moral and form a sermon.

Do not worry that you did not recognize all the names mentioned above. You may not know anything about some of the institutions referenced. That should not alarm you. The cumulative effect of all this is to convince you that while you might be uncertain, the expert and the preacher can create the illusion of certainty.

But I have fallen into this trap myself, have I not? Here I am, speaking to you about it. In order to redeem myself somewhat, it would be helpful for us to examine the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 13, beginning at the 11th verse, where he uses an illustration. Please do not misunderstand. The use of an illustration is not wrong or evil. But I believe it should be clear to you how limited the scope and meaning of that illustration truly are. The tragedy is that during my reading of commentaries on this passage last week, some of them suggested that this passage should be understood in terms of Paul’s own approach to child psychology.

When I was a child, I did as children do. I became a man and gave up childish things. He transformed the illustration into the main point of the text. It no longer serves as an illustration; it becomes the central subject. The Apostle Paul uses illustrative material, but his use of it is very limited and quite confined.

This is consistent with what we find throughout Scripture, for by and large the Bible uses few genuine illustrations, at least as they are currently understood. We often think of preaching in Scripture, and we have already noted how there are references to past events in God’s dealings with His people. These past events are used by the preacher in the present context to emphasize the certainty of God’s actions. There is a rehearsal of God’s mighty acts on behalf of His people. I might also say that the Bible is filled with imagery, and more imagery than illustration. An example of imagery, and Paul’s use of it, is found in verse twelve.

But is it not clear to us that in these two verses we cannot reasonably suggest that Paul’s intent is to present his view on child development or the process of growing from childhood to adulthood? Nor can we say that in verse twelve Paul’s intent is to comment on the temporary or fleeting nature of goods sold in the marketplace of Corinth at that time.

And do not laugh. In hearing sermons on these texts and in reading commentaries on them, this is precisely what some preachers and commentators choose to emphasize. Therefore, I will not spend any more time this week discussing the intent behind Paul’s use of the illustration in verse eleven or the image in verse twelve. But I urge you, as you have opportunity to hear preaching and are exposed to it, please do not be misled by the current trend of overusing illustrations.

It is devastating the Church. It is removing the text further and further from the people of God. There are now great obstacles to gaining access to that Word because of this kind of foolishness. As you prepare yourself for worship, you come to hear the preaching of the Word.

My plea for you is that you come as those who are listening for God and are eager to live in and from the Scripture, so that you may become the text of your life. Our Father, we pray that we might know the Bible better and better. Truly, there are many things around us in the world that grab at us and claim our attention, and as important as those things are, there is nothing more important than Your Word, and therefore our God. We ask that we, as Your people who have our lives in Your Word, may live there contentedly and live from that Word for the benefit of those around us and for Your glory. Father, we pray that You would also be gracious to Your Church and revive faithful preaching for Your children. Grant them discerning hearts and discerning ears, and raise up servants who recognize the supreme importance of Your Word and are committed to preach it faithfully, week after week. We ask, Father, that in this session, we as a denomination might be strengthened, and that Your Church as a whole, beyond the boundaries of our local church, might be refreshed by the mercies that come to them through Your ordained means—the means of preaching.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.