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 The art of sermon 
 il lustration 
 
THE ART OF SERMON 
 ILLUSTRATION 
 
 BY 
 
 '* JUN 24 1910 
 
 H. JEFFS 
 
 EDITOR OF "the CHRISTIAN WOKLD PULPIT 
 
 !^^e/CAL s£^?.>^\>' 
 
 ** Storied windows richly dight."— Milton 
 
 New York Chicago Toronto 
 
 Fleming H. Revell Company 
 
 London 
 
 AND Edinburgh 
 
SECOND EDITION. 
 
FOREWORD 
 
 Every preacher covets the power to illustrate his 
 sermons and addresses. Few preachers possess it in 
 any marked degree. A fertile illustrator, like the 
 poet and the painter, is born, not made. None the less, 
 it is possible to cultivate the art; and the purpose of this 
 book is to assist those who realise the necessity of being 
 interesting, and are not destitute of imagination, to 
 develop what gift they have. There are pitfalls in the 
 way of the sermon and address illustrator, and the 
 preacher and speaker will be put on their guard against 
 them. The author has gone to the Bible as a store- 
 house of illustrations by inspired writers who possessed 
 the art in perfection. Most of all he would send 
 preachers to the Gospels, to Him who " spake as 
 never man spake," and " without a parable spake He 
 not unto them," for matchless examples of the illustra- 
 tion of spiritual truth. None realised as the Master 
 
 realised how 
 
 " Truth embodied in a tale 
 Shall enter in at lowly doors." 
 
 It has been a protracted but pleasant labour to search 
 for illustrations in the sermons of preachers of the past 
 and present, and the harvest has richly repaid the 
 labour. It is hoped that preachers will learn much 
 of the art of illustration from the examples, many of 
 
 5 
 
Foreword 
 
 which have been grouped in the chapters, still leaving 
 a large residue for the Appendix of Illustrations. To 
 each illustration a text has been appended, and an 
 Index of Texts is supplied. The author has ventured 
 to include original illustrations, from sermons and 
 addresses he has delivered. He is indebted to preachers 
 and literary friends for the gift of other original illustra- 
 tions that enrich the book. Illustrated outlines and 
 addresses to children are included to show how illustra- 
 tions arise out of the subject, and serve the double 
 purpose of lighting up a point and investing the 
 subject with colour and dramatic interest. 
 
 The Sunday morning address to children is in increas- 
 ing demand, but there are few who really succeed in 
 capturing the attention of the eager-minded and keen- 
 witted modern child. The author expresses his thanks, 
 and the thanks of his readers, to the masters of the art 
 who have favoured him with suggestions and presented 
 him with model addresses, from which the preacher, 
 who finds the children " do not listen " when he talks 
 to them, will learn much. The bouquet of " Flowers 
 from Old English Gardens " will, it is hoped, be relished 
 for the quaintness of the illustrations from imagina- 
 tive preachers and writers of the Golden Age of the 
 seventeenth century. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CRAPTEH rAOB 
 
 5 
 
 Foreword ....•- 
 
 I. "Truth Embodied in a Tale" , 
 
 II. General Principles of Illustration 
 
 III. Bible Methods of Illustration . 
 
 IV. The Illustrative Use of Fiction 
 
 V. The Preacher among the Poets • 
 
 VI. Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 VII. Illustration of Addresses to Men . 
 
 VIII. Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 Appendix I. Illustrated Sermon Outlines 
 
 I. A Basket of Fruit. 2. ** He Wrote on 
 THE Ground." 3. The Multitude and the 
 Man. 4. The People's " Amen, Amen ! ' 
 5. The Fire in the Bones. 6. Heavenly 
 Thrift. 7. The Saviours of the City. 8. No 
 more Sea. 
 
 7 
 
 9 
 19 
 
 44 
 
 55 
 68 
 
 8z 
 
 103 
 
 121 
 
 141 
 
Contents 
 
 PACK 
 
 Appendix II. Illustrated Addresses to 
 
 Children 167 
 
 I. Carrying a Cross, by Rev. E. W, 
 Lewis, M.A., B.D. 2. The Magic Pen, 
 BY Rev. E. W. Lewis, M.A., B.D. 3. The 
 Young Heart for Jesus, by Rev. W. Kings- 
 cote Greenland. 4. Concerning a Toad, 
 by Rev. J. G. Stevenson. 5. The Rose and 
 the Express Worm, by Rev. J. G. Stevenson. 
 
 6. " As in a Mirror," by Basil Mathews, B.A, 
 
 7. Ye Must be Born Again, by Basil 
 Mathews, B.A. 8. The Right Way and 
 THE Wrong Ways, by H. Jeffs. 
 
 Appendix III. Illustrations from Genesis to 
 
 Revelation 185 
 
 Index of Texts and Subjects Illustrated , . 249 
 
 Index of Illustrations .... • 257 
 
 8 
 
THE ART OF SERMON 
 ILLUSTRATION 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 " TRUTH EMBODIED IN A TALE " 
 
 ** Please tell me a story," says the child; and "the 
 child is father to the man." It is a common remark of 
 preachers that nobody listens more eagerly to the 
 children's address, with its anecdotes, on Sunday morn- 
 ing than the grown-up people. Mr. G. K. Chesterton 
 said that when a grey-bearded gentleman goes into a 
 book-shop just before Christmas and says he wants to 
 see the fairy-books, as he desires to buy some for his 
 nephews and nieces, he is really intending to buy them 
 for himself. The books that are most circulated from 
 the free libraries are novels ; the magazines that circulate 
 the most are story magazines. We may look askance at 
 the people who read little besides stories, but their 
 fondness for stories is inherited from their ancestors 
 hundreds of generations back. Before Abraham was. 
 Oriental story-tellers amused and instructed the 
 peoples of the East. Centuries before Moses, the 
 novelette, often with a "moral," was the popular 
 reading of the Egyptians. Homer and the rhapsodists 
 told their stories of the war of Troy to the soldiers 
 
 9 
 
 f) 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 round the camp fires and to the grouped peoples of the 
 villages and towns of Hellas. Plato, the supreme 
 teacher and preacher of Greece, charmed his age, 
 and every following age has been charmed, by his 
 stories " with a moral." In the Middle Ages the tales 
 of chivalry were listened to by barons bold and bright- 
 eyed ladies in castle halls, and the " common people " 
 had their legends of the saints and their boisterous tales 
 that often conveyed shrewd wisdom in homely language 
 and with rough humour. We live now in the age of 
 science, of machinery, of education, of philosophy, the 
 age of " the march of the men of mind," and yet people 
 are fonder of stories than ever. They seek escape in 
 stories from the dull grey monotony of the routine of 
 toilsome lives, and the writer who knows how to tell 
 stories that appeal to them is certain of an exceeding 
 rich reward. 
 
 But what about the preacher ? Is he to put to no 
 account the average man and woman's love of a tale ? 
 He wants to open their mind and heart to truths of the 
 most solemn import, on the reception of which the 
 happiness of their lives here and the shaping of their 
 destiny depend. How is he to make them listen, to 
 make them comprehend " the mystery of love," to make 
 them realise that God is their Father, that Christ is the 
 Life and the Light of men, that they are all members of 
 each other, that they are builders of a New Jerusalem ; 
 that as they are the heirs of ages of men and women 
 who have created for them a splendid inheritance, so 
 they are bound to add to the inheritance and pass it on 
 to those who come after them, that so they may hasten 
 
 10 
 
'* Truth Embodied in a Tale^' 
 
 the time when the dreams of prophets and apostles, of 
 saints and martyrs, of heroes of the faith and warrior 
 knights of the Holy Ghost, shall be glorious realities ? 
 
 Preachers always need to remember that the con- 
 gregation consists of *' the common people," that is, 
 average people. The congregation is not a congrega- 
 tion of scholars, of theologians and philosophers, whose 
 primary interest in religion is the intellectual interest. 
 It is a congregation of men and women who feel rather 
 than reason their way to faith, whose interest in religion 
 is the practical interest of men and women who feel 
 their need of the help in the crises of life that only a 
 vividly realised supernatural power can give. That 
 power has to be presented to them in concrete 
 dramatic forms rather than in the abstract conceptions 
 of the intellect. They can understand the Christ who 
 walked the holy fields of Galilee, who was a Man with 
 men and yet more than man, who "wrought with 
 human hands the creed of creeds " ; but they are listless 
 or impatient when the preacher — who has lived more 
 among books than among men, and is more interested 
 in philosophies, ideas, thoughts, criticism, questions, 
 and what not, than in people, in the colour and drama 
 and crowded incidents of human life — is expounding his 
 thoughts to them, in however well-informed, logical and 
 literary a way it may be. Should such a preacher treat 
 the congregation to an illustration that has a human 
 touch in it, at once they prick their ears, and the 
 illustration will be remembered, with the point illus- 
 trated, for years perhaps, whereas the ''thoughtful 
 sermon " as a whole will scarcely survive the following 
 
 II 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 week. It is worth the while of preachers to study 
 the psychology of the congregation, and to condescend 
 to that psychology, for it is the psychology of men and 
 women as God has made them, rather than for them to 
 expect the average people in the congregation ever to 
 be able to take the thoughtful preacher's interest in the 
 mainly intellectual aspects of religion. Let no dull 
 reader imagine that this is a plea for " anecdotal 
 preaching," the stringing together of ear-tickling stories 
 for their own sake, or that it is a condemnation of the 
 preacher's intellectual self-cultivation. On the con- 
 trary, in these days the preacher's brain needs the most 
 intensive cultivation, and the mere pulpit anecdotist 
 is a desecrator of the pulpit and a cheater of the con- 
 gregation out of its most precious rights. But the 
 preacher preaches for results, and even to get his 
 thoughts infixed he must know how to impress them in 
 ways that will commend them to the common mind, 
 and make a lasting impression on the memory ; and 
 there is no way that does this so surely as the way of 
 apt and attractive illustration. 
 
 In the " White City " there were English and French 
 pavilions devoted to the " Applied Arts." The gift of 
 illustration is a fine art, and it should be applied to the 
 noblest use — that of elucidating and adorning the 
 points of the preacher's messages. Such masters of 
 the art as Rev. J. H. Jowett, Rev. F. B. Meyer, and 
 Dr. W. L. Watkinson are welcomed by crowded con- 
 gregations, and they find that the most intellectual 
 people, as well as the less educated, delight in their 
 unforgettable stories and comparisons, by which, as 
 
 12 
 
44 
 
 Truth Embodied in a Tale*' 
 
 nails driven well home, they fix their lessons in the 
 hearers' memories. 
 
 What a field for illustration the preacher has in these 
 days, when we have come to see, as never before, that 
 Christ is the Lord of all life, and that His religion 
 should touch and transform life in all its expressions ! 
 The "spiritual" is not now regarded as a tiny circle 
 in the centre of a great sphere of the " secular " all 
 round it. "The earth is the Lord's and the fulness 
 thereof" — not merely "the cattle upon a thousand 
 hills," and the fruits and the flowers; but "the King of 
 kings and the Lord of lords " claims to rule by right 
 Divine not only over the saints in the churches, but 
 in Parliament, in the county and borough council and 
 the board of guardians, in the factory, the shop and 
 the counting-house, in the home, in literature and the 
 theatre, in the football field and every other field. 
 But if this be so — if, in the words of the Latin poet, 
 nothing human is foreign to him — then the preacher 
 may gather his illustrations from every field. No novel, 
 no play, no book of science or travel, nothing that 
 happens in common life, no process of art or industry, 
 but will yield its telling illustrations to the skilful 
 preacher. If there is natural law in the spiritual 
 world, there is spiritual law in the natural world, 
 and the natural world will give the preacher innumer- 
 able concrete illustrations of spiritual truths. Dr. W. 
 L. Watkinson is particularly happy in his illustra- 
 tions from science. The illustrations that follow, from 
 Dr. Watkinson and others, will repay study as examples 
 of natural analogies of spiritual truths. 
 
 13 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 THE PROCESS OF SIN 
 
 In South America a phosphorescent spider is found that 
 attracts and dupes its prey by successive flashes of light ; the 
 moth is apparently dazed, and with the emission of each gleam 
 creeps closer to the transfigured assassin. This is a parable of the 
 process of sin. By successive radiations it also hypnotises its 
 victims to an awful doom. The broad road is a path of enchant- 
 ment to the natural man even when he treads it with bleeding feet ; 
 but when the promenade is gold, broidered with roses and enhvened 
 by applause, it is irresistible except one is arrested as Balaam was 
 (Job xxiv. 6). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 "BROTHERED TO FORGIVE." 
 I have read that when a sea-worm perforates the shell of an 
 oyster, the oyster immediately closes the wound with a pearl. 
 I think it is something like that which happens when God helps 
 me to forgive a man who has wronged me to the very heart. For 
 thine own sake, forgive. And for thy brother's sake, forgive. 
 "What am I brothered for.?" says George Macdonald, "if not to 
 forgive " (Matt, xviii. 21, 22). — Rev. George Jackson. 
 
 HOPE TO THE END 
 
 They tell us that there is a mountain in the swampy districts 
 of Central Africa that people only see for an hour or two in the 
 morning, and as soon as the mists drawn up by the sun rise from 
 the swamps round about it, it is shrouded in cloud. That is like the 
 hopes of a great many Christian people, gleaming out now and 
 then, and then shrouded, and shrouded by the mist that comes 
 up from the undrained swamps. Hope perfectly (i Pet. i. 13).— 
 Dr. Maclaren. 
 
 DWARF CHRISTIANS 
 
 One of the strange freaks of Japanese horticulture is the cultiva- 
 tion of dwarf trees. The Japanese grow forest-giants in flower-pots. 
 Some of these strange miniature trees are a century old, and are 
 only two or three feet high. The gardener, instead of trying to get 
 them to grow to their best, takes infinite pains to keep them little. 
 His purpose is to grow dwarfs, not giant trees. From the time ox 
 their planting they are repressed, starved, crippled, stunted. When 
 buds appear they are nipped off. So the tree remains only a 
 
 14 
 
44 
 
 Truth Embodied in a Tale'' 
 
 dwarf all its life. Some Christian people seem to do the same 
 thing with their lives. They do not allow themselves to grow. 
 They rob themselves of spiritual nourishment, restrain the noble 
 impulses of their nature, shut out of their hearts the power of the 
 Holy Spirit, and are only dwarf Christians when they might be 
 strong in Christ Jesus, with the abundant life which the Master wants 
 all His followers to have (2 Pet. iii. 18). — Dr. J. R. Miller. 
 
 THE VALUE OF RESTS 
 
 " There is no music in a rest, but there is the making of music 
 in it." In our whole life melody the music is broken off here and 
 there by " rests," and we foolishly think we have come to the end 
 of the tune. God sends a time of forced leisure, sickness, dis- 
 appointed plans, frustrated efforts, and makes a sudden pause in 
 the choral hymn of our lives, and we lament that our voices must 
 be silent, and our part missing in the music which ever goes up to 
 the ear of the Creator. How does the musician read the rest? 
 See him beat the time with unvarying count and catch up the 
 next note true and steady, as if no breaking-place had come in 
 between. Not without design does God write the music of our 
 lives. Be it ours to learn the time, and not be dismayed at the 
 ** rests." They are not to be slurred over, not to be omitted, not 
 to destroy the melody, not to change the key note. If we look up, 
 God Himself will beat the time for us. With the eye on Him, we 
 shall strike the next note full and clear. If we say sadly to our- 
 selves, " There is no music in a rest," let us not forget " there is 
 the making of music in it." The making of music is often a slow 
 and painful process in this hfe. How patiently God works to teach 
 us ! How long He waits for us to learn the lessons (Ps. xxxvii. 7). 
 — RUSKIN. 
 
 THE STAIN OF SIN 
 
 Pilate thought it an undertaking simple enough when " he took 
 water and washed his hands before the multitude." Many to-day 
 count it easy. Yet the washing of the hands is a sterner task than 
 at first sight appears. Dr. Leedham-Green, in his work on " The 
 Sterilisation of the Hands," proves the extreme difficulty, nay, the 
 veritable impossibility, of cleansing the hands from bacteria. 
 Simple washing with soap and hot water, with use ot sand or 
 marble dust, however energetically done, does not materially 
 
 15 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 diminish the number of microbes ; the mechanical purification is 
 practically useless. Turpentine, benzolene, xylol, alcoholic dis- 
 infection, and various antiseptics equally failed to render the 
 hands surgically clean. Is not this unsuccessful quest for physical 
 purity a vivid metaphor of the impossibility of cleansing the 
 hands from the stain of sin and the heart from its virus? 
 (Matt, xxvii. 24).— Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 THE LIVING BIBLE 
 
 Professor Plateau, of Ghent, who was well known for his 
 remarkable series of observations and experiments on the relations 
 between insects and flowers, tells of an interesting fact in his 
 researches. For a certain purpose he determined to find out how 
 far insects could be attracted by the reflection of flowers in a 
 mirror. A mirror being placed behind the plant in flower so as to 
 give a good reflection, the visitants were watched. It was all in 
 vain ; the insects went straight to the real flowers, and occupied 
 themselves on them without paying any attention to the reflection. 
 Whilst duly appreciative of all aids to Biblical interpretation, let 
 them not divert you from the living flowers wet with dew, rich 
 with honey, and whose leaves are for the healing of the nations 
 (John vi. 63). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 GOD'S JEWELS 
 
 A newspaper not long ago contained an article on "The Humble 
 Gems." It was directed to condemn the prevailing fashion of 
 afTecting rare and garish jewellery, whilst the more modest gems 
 were neglected. The article proceeded to explain that numbers ot 
 jewels hitherto known only to the lapidary are yet of exceeding 
 beauty. "Cinnamon stones," which afford a perfect series of 
 chrome shades from fiery red to golden orange, the white sapphire, 
 the blue spinel, the whole chromatic gamut of zircons, white and 
 pink topazes, and many other tertiary-tinted gems, we were assured 
 await the prevalence of a purer taste. The writer proceeded to 
 say that in Ceylon there is a perfect waste of most beautiiul 
 material. Part of a railway is ballasted with white crystalline 
 limestone studded with lovely blue spinels ; the foundations of a 
 bridge were laid in a bed containing myriads of decomposed rubies 
 in rose-red flakes of singular beauty ; sapphires were found in the 
 broken metal used to mend the roads ; and whole lengths of rose 
 
 16 
 
** Truth Embodied in a Tale** 
 
 quartz were laid in the ruts to be ground to powder by bullock carts. 
 Just as there are heaps of modest jewels of special beauty entirely 
 overlooked, and cart-ruts gleaming with disregarded treasure, so 
 are there humbler gems of humanity whose strong pure life is the 
 poetry of city street and obscure hamlet. These lowly toilers 
 reveal the rarest qualities of conscience and heart; and although 
 they do not captivate the carnal eye as do fashionable brilliants 
 and historic diamonds, yet are they His jewels who knows the 
 exact v^alue of us all, and they shall have their honoured place in 
 His diadem in the great day (Mai. iii. 17). — Dr. W. L. 
 VVatkinson. 
 
 The illustrations given should open the preacher's 
 eyes to the use he can make of facts of science, art and 
 industry. The study of science and nature books will 
 have the incidental advantage of opening his eyes to 
 the wonders of the world he lives in, and he will 
 cultivate his own powers of observation in order to 
 collect original illustrations, for none are so effective 
 as those of the preacher's own finding. The late 
 Dr. C. A. Berry was keenly interested in machinery, 
 and often drew illustrations from what he had noticed 
 at a railway station or in going over some works. He 
 used to tell how once he went over a works and was 
 nearly deafened by the rattle of the machinery. He 
 was finally taken into a room where there was very 
 little noise, although poweriiil engines were at work. 
 *' This," he was told, " is the power house, that keeps 
 all the machinery going." The spiritual power house, 
 Dr. Berry said, is the prayer meeting or the chamber 
 where the Christian in secret pours out his soul in 
 prayer. All there is quiet, a solemn hush, and 
 apparently little is being done or produced ; but stop 
 the engine of prayer, and all the machinery will come 
 
 17 B 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 to a standstill ; let down the fires in the power house, 
 and all the machinery will slacken. 
 
 Another excellent machinery illustration, teaching a 
 different lesson, is this by Dr. Lyman Abbott : — 
 
 OUT OF GEAR WITH GOD 
 
 Go into a factory full of spindles and wheels and all intricate 
 machinery ; all are connected with some great driving wheel, and 
 when the band is connected all the wheels begin to revolve and 
 all the spindles to play their music. Now imagine every wheel 
 and spindle with a will and purpose of its own, and keep the bands 
 off and let every spindle dance to its own tune — what product 
 would you get from your factory ? The world is out of gear with 
 God, that is the trouble ; and you and I, if we are lawless, are just 
 in so far out of gear with God, and nothing can make our life 
 right save by swinging back into oneness with God, to will what 
 He wills, to do what He would have us do (i John iii. 4). — Dr. 
 Lyman Abbott. 
 
 Such illustrations, to a congregation that includes 
 employers and working men in the great industries, cannot 
 fail to strike home. They will be impressed by the 
 essential reasonableness of the appeal to keep the power in 
 adequate supply, and the machinery, on the working of 
 which progress and profits depend, in good going order, 
 and all the processes of industry well co-ordinated. 
 An incidental advantage will be that their respect 
 will be increased for a preacher who is not too 
 much absorbed in other-worldly concerns to take an 
 interest in such matters. 
 
 18 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ILLUSTRATION 
 
 Illustrations have been called windows. The 
 primary purpose of an illustration, from which it takes 
 its name, is to light up that which is being illustrated. 
 Usually something that is less familiar and more remote 
 from common experience is made clearer by the analogy 
 of something that is more familiar and within the range 
 of common experience. Spiritual truths require deeper 
 insight for perception and realisation than things that 
 make themselves known to us through our physical 
 senses. After all, however, our spiritual nature is as 
 substantial a reality as our physical nature, and as 
 Henry Drummond demonstrated in *' Natural Law in the 
 Spiritual World," the methods of Providence in the 
 higher spiritual realm follow much the same course as 
 the laws of Nature in the realm of things physical and 
 material. And in the Bible there is continual illustra- 
 tion of the ways of God to man and the relations of God 
 to His children from the experiences of our common 
 physical life. The Fatherhood of God Himself can only 
 be understood by reference to fatherhood in the ordinary 
 human family. Spiritual realities have to be tested 
 and tried in just the same way as we test and try things 
 that are necessary to the maintenance of a healthy 
 physical life. We are to " taste and see how gracious 
 
 19 B 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 the Lord is." The preacher who is impressing spiritual 
 truths on the minds of people who are living in the 
 material world, and whose minds are continually occupied 
 with material interests, will feel himself under continual 
 necessity to translate the spiritual into the terms of the 
 material, and this means illustration. Without the 
 illustration the minds of many in the congregation will 
 find the spiritual truths too elusive for their grasp. If 
 they are of quick intelligence, and are naturally elect 
 souls, with keen appetites for the spiritual, and with the 
 inner vision which pierces through the material veil of 
 the things seen to the things unseen beyond, then the 
 preacher may content himself, perhaps, with delivering 
 his messages in the dialect of the purely spiritual, 
 relying on the quick apprehension of his congregation 
 to follow him. But where is the elect congregation to 
 be found who can be trusted to apprehend and com- 
 prehend the spiritual without the material analogies ? 
 The preacher must always assume that his congrega- 
 tion consists of average people, and that the spiritual 
 truth he has to communicate needs the mediation of 
 material illustration. 
 
 The preacher endeavouring to illustrate a spiritual 
 truth must take care that the illustration is such as 
 will really let in light upon the truth, as would limelight 
 turned upon a dimly seen object, and especially must he 
 turn the light upon those features of the object which 
 it is desired to make prominent. The parables of Jesus 
 remain the matchless models of the illustration that 
 clearly and sharply defines the object, and at the same 
 time casts no illusive and misleading shadows. Very 
 
 20 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 often, however, illustrations are used that, instead of 
 making the spiritual truth more definite, really distort 
 it, or confuse the hearer by the introduction of irrelevant 
 details that may distract his attention from the essential 
 point, and perhaps send him av^^ay with a false concep- 
 tion of the truth, which it may take years to correct, if 
 it is ever corrected at all. 
 
 The story or simile used for an illustration should be 
 simple. It should make clear just what it is desired to 
 make clear and no more. It should be precisely adapted 
 to serve the purpose for which it is designed. Often, 
 instead of a story, some fact of Nature or of science 
 may be used to illustrate a law^ of the spiritual life. 
 Dr. W. L. Watkinson and Dr. A. Maclaren have made 
 particularly profitable use of simple illustrations from 
 books of science and travel. Some illustrations of this 
 kind were given in the previous chapter. I add a 
 further selection : — 
 
 BLIND EYES AND EYES THAT SEE 
 
 In the deep seas are creatures which have dwelt so long in the 
 darkness that it has put out their eyes. They had perfect eyes 
 once, but these have atrophied in the persistent gloom ; the organ 
 of vision has perished — only the socket remains. It is thus to-day 
 with thousands of men and women, and these the most reflective 
 and serious. They have pondered the things of anguish and death 
 until their eyes have been quenched in a gulf of dark despair. 
 They no longer can behold God ; they are unable to recognise the 
 Divine government ; they can see no prospect of a rational issue to 
 a chaotic world. There has befallen them the terrible curse of 
 spirit-blindness ; the eyes of their heart are sightless. 
 
 There is, however, another strange fact. In the same sunless 
 deeps are animals with eyes of extraordinary size. But the mar- 
 vellous thing is that these particular creatures have in a high 
 
 21 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 degree the power of manufacturing their own light, and the 
 economising of the delicate phosphorescence has developed in 
 them eyes of remarkable magnitude and power. With their self- 
 created luminousness these abyssal fish withstand the blackness of 
 their environment, and indirectly the darkness has secured for 
 them eyes far more splendid than those of their shallow water 
 relatives. Thus is it in the abyss in which we live, and which 
 proves to so many a gulf of dark despair. There are thousands ot 
 noble men and women with splendid eyes. They see God as 
 clearly as any angel in Heaven can see Him ; they behold His 
 government over them causing all things to work together for their 
 good ; they view the golden consummation to which the universe 
 tends. The very darkness that presses upon them has taught them 
 the secret of making light in themselves, and it has developed 
 in them a power of vision that pierces to the heart of things 
 (Matt. xiii. 13, 14). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 THE CEASELESS FLOW OF LOVE 
 
 Niagara stopped once ; owing to an ice dam thrown across the 
 river the waters failed, the rainbow melted, the vast music was 
 hushed. But there has been no moment in which the love of God 
 has failed toward the rational universe, when its eternal music has 
 been broken, or the rainbow has ceased to span the throne. There 
 never will be such a moment. The crystal tide flows richly and 
 flows for ever (Jer. xxxi. 3). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 THE WEAPONS ON THE WALL 
 
 Brothers ! who is there amongst us that has worked and fought 
 up to the edge of his capacity ? There is no more wasteful instru- 
 ment, they tell us, than a steam-engine ; so little motive power 
 comes out for so much heat applied, and such a quantity is lost. 
 So it is with us. All the warmth that radiates from Jesus Christ 
 is poured into the icy deadness of the reservoirs of our hearts, and 
 the effect is only to raise the temperature such a very little, and to 
 get two or three feeble strokes of the piston. We hang our weapons 
 on the wall, as they do in baronial mansions, for ornament, instead 
 of taking them down for use. None of us can plead " not guilty " 
 to the charge of neglected opportunities and unused powers, and 
 talents hid in a napkin, and there are some of us to whom this 
 
 22 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 charge of my text comes with a very special weight of accusation 
 and condemnation. What a dead mass of idle people there are 
 
 in every Christian congregation and Church ! (Ps. Ixxviii. 9). 
 
 Dr. Maclaren. 
 
 IN CONTACT WITH CHRIST 
 
 I have seen a heavy piece of solid iron hanging on another, not 
 welded, not linked, not glued to the spot ; and yet it cleaved with 
 such tenacity as to bear not only its own weight, but mine too if I 
 chose to seize it and hang upon it. A wire charged with an 
 electric current is in contact with its mass. Cut that wire through, 
 or remove it by a hair's breadth, and the piece drops dead to the 
 ground like any other unsupported weight. A stream of life from 
 the Lord, brought into contact with a human spirit, keeps the spirit 
 cleaving to the Lord so firmly that no power on earth or hell can 
 wrench the two asunder. In that circuit the feeblest Christian is 
 held safely; but if the circuit be broken, the dependent spirit 
 instantly drops off (John xiv. 20). — Dr. Arnot. 
 
 THE UNSEEN RESULTS 
 
 We ought to know better than to despair over the visible result 
 of spiritual endeavour. During a recent visit to Johannesburg I 
 spent a day at one of the gold-mines. There was immense activity, 
 gangs of workers, clouds of dust, hissing steam, deafening stamps, 
 heaps of quartz, torrents of water and cauldrons of slime ; but I came 
 away without having seen a single speck of gold. The engineer 
 touched the bottom of a turbid stream, and exclaimed, " There is 
 a particle " ; it was, however, as invisible to me as the same metal 
 usually is on the collection-plale. Yet, when on the return journey 
 our ship anchored at Southampton, we discharged boxes of gold- 
 dust to the tune of a million. Thus to-day our evangelical work 
 proceeds with noise of machinery, smoke and stir, sweat and blood, 
 and a thousand things that are trivial and trying to the carnal eye, 
 but the practical spiritual gain is often depressingly dubious 
 (Isa. Iv. 11). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 SOFT-BONED CHRISTIANS 
 
 One of the great cities of our island was recently concerned with 
 the softness of the children's limbs. Their limbs were threaded 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 with bending gristle rather than with firm and well-knit bone. And 
 what is the explanation ? That the water they drink is too soft, 
 destitute of the harder elements, lacking the lime which goes to the 
 making of bone. Aye, and in the Christian life, when the bones 
 are too soft and gristly, or when the backbone is altogether want- 
 ing, the cause may frequently be found in too soft a water supply, 
 in the ignoring of the hard and severer elements of Christian truth. 
 The water of Calvinism was hard, hard enough, but it made bone, 
 fine bone, bone that never would bend, bone that could only be 
 broken (Rom. xi. 22).— Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A. 
 
 Sometimes, instead of a single illustration, the truth 
 may be more indelibly impressed on the memory, and 
 the imagination of the hearers be more effectively 
 stimulated, by using a sequence of similes or short 
 illustrations. This was a favourite method of Jesus 
 Himself, as in the trilogy of Parables of the Lost Things, 
 and in the succession of parables with which He 
 describes the Kingdom of Heaven. The preacher who 
 can pile up illustrations that reinforce each other, and 
 produce a cumulative effect, is a happy man. It is 
 a method that requires a skilful workman to use it, 
 because the illustrations which will reinforce each other 
 must not too closely resemble each other. The}^ will 
 be illustrations drawn from different fields, and their 
 effect is produced by showing how the same law worlds 
 under various conditions. As examples of the cumula- 
 tive method, take the following extracts from sermons 
 of Dean Farrar and Dr. Maclaren : — 
 
 *'SOME USE TO SOMEBODY" 
 
 " Do you ken, sir," a voice called out at a Glasgow operative 
 meeting, " do you ken, sir, how the streets of the New Jerusalem 
 are kept clean?" "No," said the clergyman. "Well," replied 
 the man, "each one aye sweeps before his own door." 
 
 24 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 " If I go out," said John Newton, " and see a child crying because 
 it has lost a ha'penny, and by giving it another ha'penny can dry 
 its tears, I do not consider the day to have been absolutely wasted." 
 *' O God ! " so some of the French nuns are taught to pray, " O 
 God, grant that this day I may be of some use to somebody." 
 
 St. Theresa once wanted to build an orphanage, but she had only 
 three shillings, and someone jeeringly said to her, " What can you 
 do to build an orphanage with only three shillings ? " " Theresa 
 with three shillings," was the answer, *' can do nothing, but with 
 three shillings and with God to help her there is nothing that 
 Theresa cannot do ! " (John vi. 28). — Dr. F. W. Farrar. 
 
 <*GIRD UP THE LOINS" 
 
 A loose robe tangles a man's feet, trips him up if he tries to run, 
 gets caught in the thorns, may be laid hold of by an enemy that 
 wants to drag him back ; and every toil, and every travel, and every 
 battle you have got to tuck it up well from the waist. It is a very 
 Eastern metaphor. May I substitute an English vulgarism for it 
 which means precisely the same thing ? — Pull yourselves together, 
 that is to say, you will get no radiance of Christian hope in your 
 lives without making a great effort for it. A sixpence held close to 
 a man's eye will shut out the sun from him. There is only a certain 
 quantity of energy and power of attention given to us, and if we 
 direct it all in one quarter there will be none of it left for the other. 
 You may take all the water out of the river and turn it in by a sluice 
 into a miller's lake to grind his corn, and then the bed of the stream 
 is left empty, and that is what a great many of us do. " Gird up 
 the loins of your mind " ; make the effort, for without the effort you 
 will never rise into the great region of this hope (i Pet. i. 13). — 
 Dr. Maclaren. 
 
 A warning should be given against using illustrations 
 that are too obvious. The illustration should aim, not 
 only at directing a ray of light upon the truth, but at 
 interesting the hearer, and if it is obvious and hackneyed, 
 it is not likely to interest. This does not mean that 
 illustrations should not be drawn from the things and 
 incidents of common hfe, for Jesus Himself drew His 
 
 25 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 illustrations from the things that were famihar to the 
 average man and woman among His hearers. It does 
 mean, however, that the preacher should invest the 
 commonplace with the dignity and romance that are 
 given by showing their relation to spiritual truth — in 
 other words, the preacher must be an artist in his use 
 of illustrations. An artist will paint a bit of common- 
 place country landscape in such a way that everybody 
 who sees his picture will wonder that they never saw in 
 the bit of country the beauty and significance with which 
 the artist has invested it. He will paint a portrait of 
 some child whom nobody but its mother had ever dis- 
 tinguished from a crowd of children, and when we see 
 his picture we understand why Jesus took the children 
 into His arms and blessed them. He will paint some 
 weather-worn old fisherman or farm labourer, or some 
 grannie with withered cheeks and furrowed brow, and 
 in his pictures of the man of the soil and the man of 
 the sea we shall have symbols of the dignity of the toil 
 that wrings from the soil and the sea its harvest for the 
 food of man, and the picture of the grannie will touch 
 and soften the heart of the spectator by its revelation 
 of the soul of the woman who has faithfully done her 
 duty in her day and generation, has worked unremit- 
 tingly without complaint, has won the undying love of 
 her children and her grandchildren, and at eventide it 
 is light with her as calmly she awaits the summons to 
 join those who have gone before her to the land of 
 eternal re-union. Everything in God's world is divine 
 if seen in ** the light that never was on sea or land," 
 and the preacher will take the most commonplace 
 
 26 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 things as illustrations of spiritual truths, and the things 
 will be glorified by the use he makes of them. 
 
 The striking use that may be made of things that are 
 essentially commonplace, but may be glorified by their 
 association with spiritual truths, is shown in the 
 following examples : — 
 
 "I AND THE CHILDREN" 
 
 The other day I saw a woman who was carrying a child slip on 
 the pavement. In the act of falling, with a dexterity they could 
 not teach in a gymnasium in twenty years, she held up the child 
 unharmed ; and when the people gathered about her, forgetting 
 her own bruises, she gaily boasted, " Never mind, I've saved the 
 child." Whatever be our present struggles and trials, all will 
 quickly be forgotten if we may only boast before the Throne, 
 "Behold, I and the children which God hath given me" (Heb. 
 ii. 13). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 THE NEW HEART 
 
 A man has bought a-farm, and he finds on thatTarm an old 
 pump. He goes to the pump and begins to pump. And a person 
 comes to him and says, " Look here, my friend, you do not want 
 to use that water. The man that lived here before, he used that 
 water, and it poisoned him and his wife and children — the water 
 did." "Is that so?" says the man. "Well, I will soon make 
 that right. I will find a remedy." And he goes and gets some 
 paint, and he paints up the pump, putties up all the holes, and fills 
 up the cracks in it, and has got a fine-looking pump. And he 
 says, '*Now I am sure that it is all right." You would say, 
 "What a fool, to go and paint the pump when the water is bad ! " 
 But that is what the sinners are up to. They are trying to paint 
 up the old pump when the water is bad. It was a new well he 
 wanted. When he dug a new well it was all right. Make 
 the fountain good and the stream will be good. Instead of painting 
 the pump and making new resolutions, stop it, and ask God to 
 give you a new heart (Ps. li. 10). — D. L. Moody. 
 
 27 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 WEAKNESS LINKED TO STRENGTH 
 
 I observed on one of our new trams — a great heavy electric 
 tram pursuing its ponderous way along the metals — a young fellow, 
 who was not a very good hand at bicycling, come up and catch 
 hold of the iron rail, and as the great tram swung on, he went with 
 it. He was not fool enough to try and make the tram come his 
 way, and as we swept round curves he swept round also, and the 
 speed we went he went, and his bicycle just followed suit so easily, 
 swiftly, and naturally. And as I saw him speeding along I said : 
 " May I link on with the movement of Thy mighty purpose on the 
 iron rails of justice and love ! Sweep on, O Son of God, in Thy 
 great work for men, and let me be linked with Thee for ever " ( i Cor. 
 xii. 6).— Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 BREEZES FROM THE EVERLASTING HILLS 
 Said an old villager to me, concerning the air of his elevated 
 hamlet, "Ay, sir, it's a fine air is this westerly breeze ; I like to 
 think of it as having travelled from the distant fields of the 
 Atlantic!" And here is the Apostle Paul, with the quickening 
 wind of redemption blowing about him in loosening, vitalising, 
 strengthening influence, and to him, in all his thinking, it had its 
 birth in the distant fields of eternity! (Eph. iii. ii). — Rev. J. H. 
 JOWETT, M.A. 
 
 JESUS CHRIST A CANDIDATE. 
 
 A deacon of a Congregational church in the North of Scotland 
 v/as canvassing at a Parliamentary election. He was canvassing 
 for — I will not say which party. He went in to see an old man 
 who was so very spiritual that he would not concern himself at all 
 with the national welfare, and he asked this old man for whom he 
 intended to vote. At first the old man said, " I am not going to 
 vote at all." Then this canvasser urged upon him the claims of 
 the candidate on whose behalf he had called, and the old man 
 again answered, " So-and-so is not my man. The Lord Jesus 
 Christ is my Man." This deacon, a Congregational deacon, made 
 this foolish answer : " Jesus Christ is not a candidate in this 
 election." That is where all the mischief comes in. We say that 
 Jesus Christ is not a candidate in this election because we are often 
 a people without vision. Jesus Christ is a candidate in every 
 election (Luke xix. 14). — Dr. A. E. Garvie. 
 
 28 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 THE LORD'S HONEY 
 
 Billy Bray said that when he was converted he felt like a man i; 
 a new world, and years afterwards testified, "Well, friends, V\e 
 taken vinegar and honey, but, praise the Lord ! I've had th< 
 vinegar with a spoon and the honey with a ladle." He had cauglw 
 the spirit of the Master ; for none entered into the gladness i* 
 living more fully than Jesus, who graced with His presence a 
 marriage feast, and associated so freely with His fellow men even 
 in their social enjoyment, that His critics exclaimed, *' He eats ami 
 drinks with publicans and sinners" (Luke vii. 34). — Rev. J. H. 
 Rush BROOKE, M.A. 
 
 THE SPIRIT'S WOOING 
 
 When shall we begin the wooing ? When I had written that 
 sentence 1 chanced to lift my eyes from the paper, and I saw a 
 tender fruit-sapling just laden with blossom ! At what age may a 
 sapling blossom ? At what age may a young life begin to blossom 
 for the King,'' To revert to my figure — when shall we begin the 
 wooing? Plato said: "The most important part of education is 
 right training in the nursery." And Ruskin said : " When do you 
 suppose the education of a child begins ? At six months old it can 
 answer smile with smile, and impatience with impatience." Per- 
 haps we have to begin the wooing even in the speechless years. 
 In the life of the Spirit I believe in early wooings because I believt 
 in early weddings ! The wooing and the wedding become increas- 
 ingly difficult when we pass the age of twelve. As for the weddin^^ 
 itself, the betrothal to the Lord, I would have it a very decisive 
 act. It must be a conscious, inteUigent consecration (Hos. ii. 19). 
 — Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A. 
 
 WEEDS IN NEGLECTED SOIL 
 
 Some time ago I reviewed a book by a clergyman who found 
 that his glebe land had been left for many years uncultivated. He 
 wanted to cultivate it, but found that the soil was so knotted 
 together with squitch and was so poisoned with noxious weeds that 
 it took years to clean it and prepare it for the cultivation of any- 
 thing that was worth cultivating. So it is, only much more so, 
 with the man or woman who has allowed heart and mind to be 
 overgrown with the rank weeds ot self-indulgence. Those weeds 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 are deeply rooted, and they need painful pulling and digging out, 
 so painful that one needs almost superhuman strength of will to 
 accomplish the operation (Gal. v. 19 — 21). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 GOD WANTS US 
 
 Dr. Parker once in my hearing used a beautiful illustration. 
 He was spending a holiday somewhere. He went with a little 
 child into the fields. She showed her devotion to him by running 
 and gathering posies of wild flowers which even embarrassed him 
 to carry them all. "Did I need them?" said he in his charac- 
 teristic fashion. "Did I need them?" No. "Did I want them?" 
 Yes. " Does God need us ? " No. " He has chosen the weak 
 things to confound the mighty." "Does He want us?" Yes, 
 yes, praise to His name. He does want us. From the humble 
 gathering of the fishermen down to us the commission runs 
 (John xxi. 19; Luke vii. 37). — Rev. R. J. Campbell, M.A. 
 
 THE MUSIC OF HEAVEN. 
 
 You have heard Santley or Madame Patti sing. Oh, is it 
 possible that there could be such notes in a human throat ? What 
 God can do ! You have heard some of the sweet singers ot 
 Nature. One beautiful evening in the gloaming I was cycling in 
 the South of England with a friend. We were shooting down a 
 hill. On either side of us there were the woods. And by-and-by 
 he jumped off his machine, and he said : " Stop I " And I 
 stopped. I said, " What is the matter ? " " Can't you hear, man ? " 
 ** Hear what ? " I listened, and from the woods on either side 
 there came the song of the nightingales — one, two, three, four, 
 five, six. If you have never heard the nightingale sing you don't 
 know how much music God can cram into a little bird's throat. 
 " Ear hath not heard " the wondrous music, that music of heaven ; 
 neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive (i Cor. ii. 9). 
 — Rev. Samuel Horton. 
 
 PAPER FLOWERS AND GARDEN ROSES 
 
 In winter-time one occasionally sees in a flower-glass an 
 artificial rose made of paper, with a green stem very green, and a 
 red leaf extremely red — horrid things, I think them — and we 
 cannot help remembering the beautiful rosebud that blossomed in 
 
 30 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 the garden a few months ago. What is the difference ? The first 
 required clever workmanship, it was the task of patient fingers, and 
 yet we hesitate' not a moment to give the prize to the second. 
 What is the difference? The first was made and the other grew. 
 That is all. Even so there is a difference of worlds between 
 artificial characters and characters in Christ. The one is made 
 like the rough marble block chiselled and hammered and hewn 
 into shape, indeed a wonderful testimony to human industry and 
 skill ; but, after all is said and done, it is made^ it is made; while 
 the other is born of the Spirit, shooting out in dainty lines and 
 lineaments, taking on a graceful shape, putting forth beautiful 
 features, rounded in a charming manner — a full and finished life. 
 The one suggests strain, the other suggests peace (i Kings vii. 21, 
 22). — Rev. Frank Y. Leggatt. 
 
 If the preacher is teUing a story by way of illustra- 
 tion, he should be able to tell it in such a way as to 
 excite the curiosity of the congregation and keep its 
 interest and attention until the story is completed. 
 The story may not be much in itself, but it may gain a 
 very great deal by the manner in which it is told, while 
 the best of stories may lose most of its effect if it is 
 related mechanically and without any dramatic effect. 
 Nothing is so wearisome as a badly told story, and a 
 preacher who has not acquired the art of story-telling 
 had better limit himself to an occasional simile. If the 
 congregation can guess as soon as the story begins what 
 the end is going to be their interest is not excited or is at 
 once exhausted. The skilful illustrator makes the con- 
 gregation wait for the point of the story which, like 
 that of an epigram, should not be clearly realised until 
 the end. The element of surprise is an invaluable 
 element in a story illustration. The fact that the 
 curiosity of the audience has been set on edge fixes the 
 
 31 
 
V 
 
 The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 story in the memory, and sets the imagination of the 
 
 hearers at work. 
 
 I put together some story illustrations as good 
 
 examples of the artful maintenance of the interest by 
 
 keeping the congregation waiting until the story was 
 
 finished. 
 
 THE HUNTED SOUL 
 
 A very dear and intimate friend of mine only this last week 
 related to me a dream which had been blessed by God to the 
 redemption of his own father. The father dreamt that he was a 
 hare, and a hare he was. So real and so graphic was the conscious- 
 ness of the dream that he felt he could almost smell the dewy 
 turnip-tops of the fields amongst which he hopped. Suddenly 
 he heard the cry of the hounds. He pricked his ears, listened, 
 and bolted full pace across the fields. The hounds drew nearer 
 and nearer, and came at last so close to him that he could feel 
 their hot breath. Then he found that he was leaving the green 
 pastures and was reaching bare and rugged heights ; and just when 
 he had reached those bare and rocky heights he became conscious 
 that his pursuers were not hounds. They were his sins, and he 
 was a flying soul ! Away up, away up, away up towards the 
 summit he saw a cave, and terrified beyond measure he made 
 for the cave and then turned round. The entrance to the cave 
 was flooded with a most unearthly light, and just in the centre of 
 the opening there shone resplendently a cross, standing between 
 him and the awful things that pursued. He awoke, and behold, it 
 was a dream. But he was redeemed. 
 
 •* Rock of Ages, cleft for me, 
 Let me hide myself in Thee ! " 
 
 (Col. ii. 14).— Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A. 
 
 THE INFLUENCE OF ONE MAN 
 
 During a lull in the battle of Magersfontein, when it almost 
 seemed as if the Highlanders had lost heart, there came wandering 
 into an open space a piper with his pipes under his arm. An 
 officer, Major Anson, who was killed an hour later, rushed up 
 
 32 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 to him and said in the Scotch dialect, " Blaw, man, blaw your 
 pipes ! " The piper replied, *' I canna ; my lips are dry." The 
 officer tried to pull out his water-bottle from his belt and give the 
 poor fellow a drink, but he was unable to do so. The man knelt 
 down, and putting his mouth to the neck of tl)e bottle drew a long 
 draught. Then into the muggy, misty air the skirl of the pipes 
 was heard once more, playing the well-known tune, " Hey, Johnny 
 Cope, are ye wakin' yet ? " As he stood there marking time with 
 the stamping of his foot, gradually from different places his com- 
 rades began to gather round him. Other pipers joined in the tune, 
 and presently the tide was stemmed once more. The men were 
 sifted into regiments, and then into companies. Parched with 
 thirst and weary with the long fight, they stood there in the 
 lines mopping their faces on their coat-sleeves. And once more 
 they charged, and although at enormous loss, the advance was 
 made. It is a vivid picture of the influence of o?ie 7min in the 
 supreme moment of necessity. Who can tell — God knows — but 
 that this evening that man may be here, through whose stand, open 
 and confessed, for Christ, not one but many souls will be turned to 
 righteousness (Heb. xi. 34). — Rev. Donald Sage Mackay. 
 
 THE MOTHER HEART 
 
 A friend of mine some years ago came to the knowledge about 
 sundown that her only child was lost. They lived near a very 
 large swampy section of the country, and she thought, " If that 
 child of mine is in that swamp, there's no telling whether I'll ever 
 see him any more."' And she began to send the news around. She 
 did not wait for someone to come and interrogate her ; she started 
 from house to house, until she gathered together a band ot more 
 than three hundred men and women. And they did not have to 
 be persuaded, you know. Just as soon as that mother heart went 
 out to them, each man got him a lantern and started. They made 
 a drive through that great swamp. All the night long they were 
 marching, marching, marching, through mud and water and cold, 
 looking here and there and there — until, about sunrise, moiher 
 heard the child cry, and I need not tell the rest of that story. 
 If that mother were here this afternoon, and 1 should ask her to 
 stand up and tell this audience how Jesus felt that d:iy when He 
 laid aside all of Heaven, and came down to this world of sin, 10 
 
 33 c 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 seek and to save that which was lost, I think she could make a 
 much better job of it than I am making to-day (Luke xix. lo). — 
 Dr. Len. G. Broughton. 
 
 From the point of view of the window which serves 
 to let in light upon the truth to be made clear, it is 
 often better to use plain glass, a pure transparency that 
 admits the white light without any stain of colour. 
 Illustrations, however, are ornaments as well as win- 
 dows, and it is sometimes legitimate to use an illustra- 
 tion largely for the sake of ornament, to relieve the 
 tension of listening to a sustained argument, or the 
 preacher introduces a bit of colour on to a surface that 
 would otherwise be too much of a monotone. The 
 ornamental illustration should, of course, be avoided if 
 it will in any way distract attention from the argument 
 or line of thought, but there is no necessary reason why 
 light admitted through a coloured window should not 
 illustrate a truth quite as clearly as light admitted 
 through a colourless pane of glass. Milton tells of 
 ** storied windows richly dight," and an illustration 
 may be such a storied window, that not only illumines 
 the truth, but serves the purpose of attractive and 
 ingratiating ornament. 
 
 The preacher who uses the ornamental illustration 
 needs, however, to be an artist, for nothing is more 
 irritating than a bungling attempt to tell a story, or to 
 indulge in allegory that will sound fustian unless the 
 story is perfectly told, and the allegory is skilfully 
 carried through. As examples of the extended orna- 
 mental and the allegorical illustration, take those that 
 follow : — 
 
 34 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 THE TEMPLE IN PARADISE 
 
 Let me remind you of that legend about the temple in Paradise. 
 This record is not found in the Book, but to-day we know a great 
 deal that is not there. Tradition says that there was a temple in 
 Paradise for Adam and Eve to worship in. The place would 
 certainly not be crowded ! But this temple was built of pearl, and 
 was the most magnificent shrine that ever stood on this planet. 
 The foundations were diamonds, and the dome was a mighty flash- 
 ing sapphire. It was the most majestic temple the world has ever 
 seen. But the story says that on the day when Adam sinned it fell 
 into ruin and was strewn all over the planet. So the diamonds and 
 pearls, the topaz and beryl, and all the rest of the precious stones 
 found to-day are the remnants of the primitive shrine. There is a 
 profound lesson under that legend. Through human sin and folly the 
 temple of truth has been shattered, and in the creeds and philoso- 
 phies of men of all nations you find the scattered remnants mixed 
 with rubbish, yet shining in the dust. But on the day when our 
 Lord stepped into our midst and said, " I am the Truth," we got the 
 temple back in more than fabled splendour, let down from God out 
 of Heaven. It makes all the difference whether you get the whole 
 truth or only a bit of truth, a glittering speck of truth ; it is another 
 thing when you get the whole redeeming truth set forth in the 
 majestical figure which stands in the midst of the Christian 
 revelation (John xiv. 6). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 DO THEY MISS US? 
 
 Once there gathered on a southern shore a group of men and 
 women. They watched three small craft stand out to sea. They 
 saw them vanish into the great and vast western ocean. Whether 
 they passed into the Heaven above, whether they floated on the sea 
 below, who could tell ? And many a time amid western isles 
 Columbus and his men thought, Do they miss us at home? Do 
 they think of us as still living amid these western isles ? When 
 they returned as men from death, what did they return to ? To 
 love, to home, to all that meant for them fame and immortality. 
 So often on earth we think of our loved dead, now floating on 
 earth, now passed into Heaven. Wherever they are, let us lift 
 our hands and say, " Thou art still in the keeping of Him who says 
 
 35 C 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 the first is the last. The will of God still remaineth the will that 
 saves. Thou art in His eternal keeping. Has He not said, " I 
 have the keys of death and of hell"? (Rev. i. 17 — 18).— Dr. 
 Fairbairn. 
 
 EVERY SOUL ITS OWN JUDGE 
 
 A modern volume of sermons gives this Buddhist story to 
 illustrate this text. The subject had lived wickedly, and became 
 very ill and nigh unto death. In the fever he had a dream, and in 
 this dream he was conducted through the under-world to the hall 
 of justice in which the judges sat in curtained alcoves. He came 
 opposite his judge, and was told to write his misdeeds upon a slate 
 provided for that purpose. Sentence was then passed that he 
 should be thrice struck by lightning for his sins. The curtain was 
 then drawn back, and he faced his judge, to find there seated the 
 very image of himself, and he realised that he had pronounced the 
 verdict. He had unconsciously judged himself (Prov. viii. 36). — 
 Rev. Rocliffe Mackintosh. 
 
 The allegorical illustration has the advantage that the 
 preacher can make it himself, with every detail of the 
 allegory precisely adapted to the purpose it is designed 
 to serve. The Miracle Play and " Morality " of the 
 Middle Ages, w^ith all their crudities, v^ere very effective 
 allegorical methods of presenting spiritual truth to the 
 minds of the people, who could take in nothing that 
 was not given concrete embodiment. Who can measure 
 the influence of Bunyan's allegories in elucidating and 
 popularising the Biblical theology of "grace abound- 
 ing"? The allegory, however, needs skilful handling. 
 Nothing is duller and flatter and more nauseating than 
 a badly conducted allegory. The allegory should have 
 the romance of the fairy tale, it should be realistic, 
 it should excite curiosity and sustain attention, and it 
 should be told with conviction and dramatic effect. 
 
 36 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 The success on the stage of "Everyman" shows that 
 dramatically presented allegory can be made as popular 
 in our days as ever it w^as. Some of the best speakers 
 to children make large use of the allegorical method. 
 Addison, v^hose Spectator allegories are the best of their 
 kind in our literature, says : " Allegories, v^hen well 
 chosen, are like so many tracks of light in a discourse, 
 that make everything about them clear and beautiful ; 
 and noble metaphor, when it is placed to an advantage, 
 casts a glory round it, and darts a lustre through a 
 whole sentence." 
 
 Every preacher should be familiar with "The Pil- 
 grim's Progress," and " The Holy War," and he will 
 draw many a telling illustration from Bunyan's mar- 
 vellous incarnation of the friends and foes of the 
 Christian in his pilgrimage and warfare. Various uses 
 of allegory are illustrated in the following examples : — 
 
 NEAR THE CROSS 
 
 Where has the sanctifying, hopeful comfort of the Church been 
 found to-day ? Not far away from the cross ! 
 
 " As I saw in my dream that just as Christian came up to the 
 cross his burden loosed from off his shoulders and fell from off his 
 back, and began to tumble, and so continued to do until it came to 
 the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in and I saw it no more. 
 Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said with a moving 
 heart, * He has given me rest by His sorrow and life by His 
 death!'" 
 
 That is an experience to which a great number here can shout 
 "Amen!" 
 
 But I will turn away from John Bunyan, who might be thought 
 to be a very faithful witness to the power of his Lord, and I will turn 
 to a little-frequented path, to Goethe, perhaps Goethe's master- 
 piece. Let me give you just a short extract from those wonderful 
 " Confessions of a Beautiful Soul :" 
 
 37 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 " I leaned on a little table beside me and I hid my tear-stained 
 face in my hands, and who could ever express even in the dimmest 
 way the experience that came to me then? A secret influence 
 drew my soul to the cross where Jesus once expired, and which 
 was an inward leaning — I cannot give it any other name — an 
 inward leaning like that which draws the heart to its beloved in its 
 absence. As my soul drew near to Him who became mine and 
 died upon the cross, in that moment I knew what faith meant, and 
 in that moment my spirit received a wholly new power of uplifting '* 
 (i Cor. i. 23, 24).— Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A. 
 
 CAPTAIN RESISTANCE 
 
 ':" ••I.. 
 
 Man is not bound hand and foot as the slave of circumstances. 
 He is able to assert himself, to resist, to fight and to conquer. 
 Bunyan, in "The Holy War," tells how the city of Mansoul was 
 besieged by Diabolus and his host. The city was garrisoned on 
 behalf of King Shaddai and the king's son Immanuel. It was 
 surrounded by a strong wall in which were five gates — Ear-gate, 
 Eye-gate, Mouth-gate, Nose-gate, and Feel-gate. The city was 
 impregnable against any siege if it refused even to parley with its 
 crafty enemy. It possessed in Captain Resistance a man that 
 Diabolus and his band more feared than they feared the whole 
 town of Mansoul besides. Captain Resistance was strongly backed 
 by Mr. Recorder, whose name was Conscience. It was only when 
 Captain Resistance was killed in a parley from the wall with an 
 arrow fired from an ambuscade that " poor Mansoul was wholly 
 left naked of courage, nor had she now any heart to resist." The 
 first thing that Diabolus did on taking possession of the town was 
 to depose Mr. Recorder and to place a servant of his own in 
 Mr. Recorder's place. What we have to do is to keep Captain 
 Resistance ahve, to keep Mr. Recorder in office, and then, when 
 Diabolus comes and tells us, "You cannot do what is right; God 
 expects too much of poor human nature," you can reply defiantly, 
 *' I can, because I am a man " (i Pet. v. 8, 9). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 "THE PILGRIM'S PROGRESS" UP TO DATE 
 
 I wonder how many of you have read a very clever and very 
 keen satire upon religious life to-day, written by an American 
 writer, Nathaniel Hawthorne, entitled " The Celestial Railroad." 
 
 3S 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 He tells us how once, in a dream, he visited the City of Destruc- 
 tion, and he found that now there had been opened from the City 
 of Destruction to the Celestial City a railroad, and things were 
 greatly changed, changed for the greater comfort and convenience 
 of the pilgrims. Instead of the quaking morasses of the Slough ot 
 Despond there was good, firm ground. No pilgrim need carry 
 his burden upon his back, there were arrangements made for 
 relieving pilgrims from all such needless incumbrances. As for 
 the Hill Difficulty, why, they had tunnelled it, and the Valley of 
 Humiliation had been filled up with the debris. And when he 
 reached Vanity Fair, he found that now, instead of the old feuds 
 between the pilgrims and those that dwell in Vanity Fair, a 
 perfectly good understanding had been arrived at. Trade was 
 brisk between them that dwell there and the pilgrims. Nay, 
 indeed, the Lord of the Town was himself the chief supporter of 
 the railroad. It brought so much traffic to the place. And the 
 chief nobles were the main stock-holders in the railroad. There 
 was wisdom under the satire and deepest piercing truth that some 
 of us would do well to take home unto ourselves. Nay, you know 
 that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Go to, go to, 
 we say ; should not the Church and the world go into partnership .? 
 Time was when the old distinction between the Church and the 
 world had blood in it. It was real. For then things were black 
 or they were white ; to-day they shade off into a sort of neutral 
 grey, and now the wisest cannot tell where the world ends and the 
 Church begins (James iv. 4). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 THE ANGEL OF MERCY 
 
 Somewhere there is recorded the legendary experience of some 
 ancient mystic who early in his life turned from baseness and 
 degradation to Christ and to sweetness and light. To him in the 
 crisis of his repentance came the Angel of Mercy, who explained 
 to him the things of Calvary and helped him to believe both that 
 God was willing to forgive and that the Angel himself would bear 
 away his sins for ever. The aged saint passed many years that 
 were restful with the peace of a great forgiveness, but as he drew 
 near to the hour of his dying, fear came upon him lest after all his 
 misdeeds would be remembered against him. Even as he feared 
 he was aware that the Death Angel was casting a shadow across 
 
 39 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 his bed, and when he looked through dimmed eyes, lo ! the Angel of 
 Death was his former friend, the Angel of Mercy. Together they 
 went along that white road of time that leads to the City of God, 
 and as they walked the great fear fell upon him again. He hardly 
 dared to speak of what was in his heart because it showed such 
 lack of faith, but at last his trembling voice faltered out, " O, 
 Mercy, where did you bury my sins ? " The Angel of Mercy, who 
 was wise as well as tender, understood, and looked at him, and 
 smiled, and said, "Is it thus with you, my brother? I have for- 
 gotten where I buried them, and the Father has long since ceased 
 to remember that ever you sinned at all," This can be at the best 
 but allegory, yet it is an allegory with a true soul of wonderful 
 spiritual suggestion. If sadness by reason of recollected sin 
 hinders the coming of the radiant mood, let us see God as what 
 He is and know Him for a loving Father who has put the 
 transgressions of the penitent far beyond the area of Divine 
 remembrance (Isa. xliii. 25). — Rev. J. G. Stevenson. 
 
 THE THATCH AND THE MOSS 
 
 I have met a beautiful parable. " Dear moss," said the old 
 thatch, " I am so old, so patched, so ragged, really I am quite 
 unsightly. I wish you would come and cheer me up a little. You 
 will hide my infirmities, and through your love and sympathy no 
 finger of contempt or dislike will be pointed at me." " I come," 
 said the moss ; and it crept up and over and in and out till every 
 flaw was hidden, and all was smooth and fair. Presently the sun 
 shone out, and the old thatch looked glorious in its golden rays. 
 " How beautiful the thatch looks ! " cried one. " How beautiful 
 the thatch looks ! " cried another. " Ah ! " said the old thatch, 
 " rather let them say, ' How beautiful is the love of the moss which 
 spreads itself and covers over my faults, and keeps the knowledge 
 of them all to herself, by her own grace casting over me a beautiful 
 garb of freshness and verdure !' " In every true friendship there 
 must be much of the charity that covereth, concealing where 
 it cannot help the minor imperfections (i Cor. xiii. 7, 8).^ 
 Dr. Wayland Hoyt. 
 
 Very effective use can be made of Christian biography, 
 and of the testimonies and confessions of spiritual men. 
 
 40 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 Dr. Alexander Whyte is a master of this method of 
 illustration, and so also is Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A., two 
 
 of whose illustrations follow : — 
 
 SUFFERING WITH CHRIST 
 There is a sentence in David Hill's biography — that rare, gentle, 
 refined spirit who moved like a fragrance in his little part of China 
 • — a sentence which has burnt itself into the very marrow of my 
 mind. Disorder had broken out, and one of the rioters seized a 
 huge splinter of a smashed door and gave him a terrific blow on 
 the wrist, almost breaking his arm. And how is it all referred to ? 
 " There is a deep joy in actually suffering physical violence for 
 Christ's sake." That is all ! It is a strange combination of words 
 — suffering, violence, joy ! And yet I remember the evangel of the 
 apostle, " If we suffer with Him we shall also reign with Him," 
 and I cannot forget that the epistle which has much to say about 
 tribulation and loss, has most to say about rejoicing! (Col. i. 24). 
 — Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A. 
 
 THE OPEN EYES 
 When I was preparing this sermon I took down from my shelves 
 a volume of James Smetham's letters. James Smetham, never 
 rich in this world's money, always poor, but the friend of Ruskin, 
 and therefore unspeakably rich ! And James Smetham was once 
 asked by a friend to accompany him to Rome and Venice, and he 
 answered his correspondent . " I ought to go with you to Rome, 
 but my difficulty is to appreciate my own little back garden, our 
 copper beech, onr weeping ash, our little nailed-up rose tree, and 
 twisting nailed-up creepers. INiy diiticulty is to get all out of that. 
 I think when I have finished with the back garden I will go as far 
 as Rome ! " In another letter he adds these wonderfully fine words : 
 ** I have just been down to the end of Church Street to get a blow 
 before settling down for the night, and as I looked at the wild, 
 wintry clouds I had a new feeling of immortality." My brothers, 
 I would sooner have James Smetham's little back garden, with 
 his appreciation of the copper beech, and the weeping ash, and the 
 little rose tree, and the creepers, than all Whitaker Wright's great 
 gardens and lakes with all their barbaric splendour, and yet be 
 destitute of the power of appreciating the religious and aesthetic 
 
 41 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 « 
 
 significance of the meanest flower that blows (Matt. xx. 32, 33). — 
 Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A. 
 
 It should already have suggested itself to the reader 
 that the preacher w^ho is successfully to illustrate his 
 sermons will have to take pains w^ith his sermons. 
 Illustrations do not grow on every bush, and they are 
 not to be plucked and forced into use at a moment's 
 notice. The hurriedly prepared sermon will lack illus- 
 tration unless it be the sermon of the man who is always 
 preparing himself, by reading, thinking, and observation, 
 for any emergency. A man who keeps his mind full, 
 who is always feeding his imagination, will have a 
 store of illustrations laid up ready to be drawn upon, or 
 that will spontaneously suggest themselves, when his 
 heart is warmed and his brain is active, even in hasty 
 preparation or in the inspiration of actual delivery. 
 The sermons of the average preacher will be bare and 
 bald of illustration unless he has had his text ready and 
 his line of thought in his mind for a reasonable time 
 before he goes into the pulpit to deliver the sermon. 
 Henry Ward Beecher used to say that he had many 
 sermons in various stages of preparation, like apples 
 ripening in a drawer, and he never preached a sermon 
 until it was ripe. The illustrations do not appear as a 
 rule until the ripening stage has arrived. But then no 
 preacher ought to enter the pulpit to feed the congre- 
 gation with green fruit. If preaching is the absorbing 
 passion of his life, if the burning and yearning desire of 
 his heart is to influence and help the congregation, he 
 will always be jotting down thoughts for sermons. He 
 will always be on the look-out for suitable illustrations, 
 
 42 
 
General Principles of Illustration 
 
 and if he realises the value of the imaginative element 
 in preaching, and subjects his imagination to intensive 
 cultivation, he is not likely to have to complain of the 
 scanty crop of illustrations that his imagination and his 
 reading produce. His own interest in his subjects will 
 be intensified by the illustrations that come to him, and 
 his own enjoyment of his sermons — and nobody will 
 grudge enjoyment to the man who preaches them — will 
 be all the keener as he notices how the illustrations 
 grip the congregation, arouse their attention, and drive 
 home and fix his points in their minds. There may be 
 preachers, of course, who are not imaginative men, 
 whose method is the method of logic and calm appeal 
 to reason, and to such men illustrations will rarely 
 come ; but there is much more latent imagination in the 
 average preacher than even he himself suspects. It 
 should be his ardent desire and his energetic determina- 
 tion to raise his imagination to its highest power. In 
 the chapters that follow suggestions will be given that 
 may help him to make his imagination a fruitful con- 
 tributor to the interest and the impressiveness of his 
 preaching. 
 
 43 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 BIBLE METHODS OF ILLUSTRATION 
 
 Much may be learned by the preacher of the art of 
 illustration from the example of the Bible writers. 
 The Orientals in all ages have been passionate lovers of 
 stories and poetry, and their religious teachers have 
 made large use of stories as vehicles of religious 
 instruction and inspiration. He who " knoweth our 
 frame and remembereth that we are dust " chose men 
 to receive the revelations of His character and His will 
 who were specially fitted to present those revelations in 
 the forms that would commend them to the people 
 of their times. The writers of the Old Testament 
 especially were intensely impressionable men, of a vivid 
 imagination, and much of their teaching is given in 
 imaginative forms — that is, in the way of illustration. 
 The Hebrew language peculiarly lends itself to the 
 illustrative method. It is a language that loves the 
 concrete rather than the abstract, a language of highly- 
 coloured picture words. Read any Psalm, any chapter 
 of Proverbs, the Book of Job, Ecclesiastes, or any of 
 the prophets, and you will find that illustrations are as 
 plentiful as blackberries on bramble bushes in October. 
 Hosea, in his twelfth chapter, represents Yahweh as 
 saying, " I have also spoken by the prophets, and I have 
 multiplied visions and used similitudes by the ministry 
 
 44 
 
Bible Methods of Illustration 
 
 of the prophets." The visions and similitudes were 
 pictures internally seen, and striking analogies, by 
 which the prophets illustrated the revelations communi- 
 cated to them. The preacher with imagination will 
 find hundreds of short similitudes and thousands of 
 picture-words that at once suggest illustrations. Take, 
 for instance. Psalm Ixxxv. What a dramatic picture of 
 the New Testament gospel, already existing in germ in 
 the Old Testament, we have in the figures — '* Mercy 
 and truth are met together ; righteousness and peace 
 have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of 
 the earth, and righteousness shall look down from 
 heaven " ! 
 
 The Old Testament illustrations are often similitudes 
 beginning with an illustration and concluding with the 
 truth illustrated. As examples of such illustrations we 
 have these : — 
 
 " As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul 
 after Thee, O God" (Ps. xHi. i). 
 
 " He hath not dealt with us after our sins ; nor rewarded us 
 according to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above the 
 earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As 
 tar as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our 
 transgressions from us " (Ps. ciii. lo — 12). 
 
 In verses 15 to 17 of Psalm ciii. we have an illustration 
 in which the similitude emphasises a contrast : — 
 
 " As for man, his days are as grass ; as a flower of the field, so 
 he flourisheth. For the wind passelh over it, and it is gone ; and 
 the place thereof shall know it no more. But the mercy of the 
 Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear Him, 
 and His righteousness unto children's children." 
 
 The " As — so's " of the Old Testament will furnish 
 
 45 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 the preacher with a very pleasant and profitable study 
 of the art of illustration by similitudes. 
 
 Amos, in chapters vii. and viii., gives a sequence of 
 four illustrations, designed to impress on apostate and 
 profligate Israel that it had worn out the patience 
 even of long-suffering Yahweh, and that it was ripe, and 
 rotten ripe, for chastisement. There is the invasion of 
 the grasshoppers that devour the aftermath, the fire 
 that licks up the waters of the great deep, the picture 
 of Yahweh standing on a wall with a plumb-line measur- 
 ing the wall for destruction, and the basket of summer 
 fruit that typifies that the time of the ingathering 
 of the ripened harvest of the " fruits of the flesh " has 
 arrived. Amos, Micah and Hosea are particularly worth 
 studying for the realism of their illustrations drawn from 
 common life. They were men of the people and they 
 use the language of the people and illustrations that 
 appeal to the common man. It is very interesting to 
 notice how Amos the herdsman and cultivator of 
 sycamores uses illustrations that are racy of the soil, 
 drawn from his intimate knowledge of agricultural and 
 shepherd life. He makes Yahweh say, " Behold, I 
 am pressed under you, as a cart is pressed that is full 
 of sheaves." And surely we have a vivid reminiscence 
 in the picture, " Thus saith Yahweh : As the shepherd 
 taketh out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece 
 of an ear ; so shall the children of Israel be taken out 
 that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in 
 Damascus in a couch." So to-day the farm labourer local 
 preacher will use illustrations that smack of the good 
 brown earth and have in thern the perfume of the hay 
 
 46 
 
Bible Methods of Illustration 
 
 field, and the fisherman preacher will ozonise his sermons 
 
 with illustrations of experiences on sea and shore. 
 
 The Old Testament sometimes gives us illustrations 
 
 in the shape of fables or parables. In Judges ix. 7 — 15 
 
 Jotham rebukes Abimelech and his followers with a 
 
 notable fable. 
 
 "The trees went forth on a time to anoint a king over them ; 
 and they said unto the olive tree, ' Reign thou over us.' But the 
 olive tree said unto them, * Should I leave my fatness, wherewith 
 by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the 
 trees ? ' And the trees said to the fig tree, * Come thou and reign 
 over us.' But the fig tree said unto them, ' Should I forsake my 
 sweetness and my good fruit, and go to be promoted over the 
 trees ? ' Then said the trees unto the vine, ' Come thou and reign 
 over us.' And the vine said unto them, ' Should I leave my wine, 
 which cheereth God and man, and go to be promoted over the 
 trees ? ' Then said all the trees unto the bramble, ' Come thou and 
 reign over us.' And the bramble said unto the trees, 'If in truth 
 ye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust in my 
 shadow ; and if not, let fire come out of the bramble, and devour 
 the cedars of Lebanon ' " 
 
 Nathan the prophet brought David's sin home to 
 him in 2 Samuel xii. i — 4 by a parable. It is worth 
 noting that Nathan left David himself to make the 
 application, and that the point was sharp and pierced 
 him to the heart is shown by the statement that 
 " David's anger was greatly kindled against the man." 
 
 The major prophets — Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel — 
 are very rich in exquisitely beautiful illustrations, and 
 illustrations of wonderful force and aptness in driving 
 home their teaching. When Isaiah, for instance, had to 
 deliver a crushing rebuke to Judah for its forgetfulness 
 of God, and to prophesy the punishment which that 
 forgetfulness was destined to bring upon Yahweh's 
 
 47 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 favoured but faithless people, he used an illustration 
 that is unsurpassed in the Old Testament for beauty 
 and point, the 
 
 SONG OF THE VINEYARD 
 
 Now will I sing to my well-beloved a song of my beloved touch- 
 ing his vineyard. My well-beloved hath a vineyard on a very 
 fruitful hill. And he fenced it and gathered out the stones thereof, 
 and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the 
 midst of it, and also made a winepress therein; and he looked 
 that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 
 And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, judge, I 
 pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard. What could have been 
 done more to my vineyard that I have not done in it ? wherefore, 
 when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth 
 wild grapes ? And now go to : I will tell you what I will do to my 
 vineyard : I will take away the hedge thereof and it shall be eaten 
 up ; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden 
 down ; and I will lay it waste ; it shall not be pruned, or digged ; 
 but there shall come up briars and thorns : I will also command 
 the clouds that they rain no rain upon it. For the vineyard of the 
 Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his 
 pleasant plant ; and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression ; 
 for righteousness, but behold a cry. 
 
 This illustration of Isaiah's is in many ways a model 
 illustration. It is drawn from one of the most familiar 
 sights of the country, the vineyard. It is exquisite in 
 its beauty ; it is marvellously compact ; it illustrates 
 exactly the things Isaiah wanted to impress, and it does 
 not confuse by the introduction of superfluous details ; 
 at once it excites interest, it arouses curiosity, it 
 stimulates imagination, and it artfully postpones the 
 " moral " until the story is completed. It carried the 
 consent of the hearer with it, and made the hearer 
 condemn himself in his own case. 
 
 48 
 
Bible Methods of Illustration 
 
 There are many illustrations in Isaiah which the 
 preacher can study with the greatest profit and which 
 should give him many a hint that he could put to 
 good use. Isaiah, in predicting the downfall of Babylon, 
 Chapters xiii. and xiv., might have contented him- 
 self with simply saying that the power of the king of 
 Babylon should be broken, and that his pride should 
 be punished by the ruin of his empire. He uses, how- 
 ever, in his great ode, one of the most audacious and 
 most unforgettable illustrations in literature — that in 
 which he pictures the scene in Hades when the 
 humiliated tyrant of the East is received and taunted 
 by the dwellers in the under-world. 
 
 Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, 
 and say, " How hath the oppression ceased ! the golden city 
 ceased ! The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, and the 
 sceptres of the rulers. He who smote the people in wrath, with a 
 continual stroke ; he that ruled the kingdoms in anger, is persecuted 
 and none hindereth. The whole earth is at rest and is quiet ; they 
 break forth into singing. Yea, the fir trees rejoice at thee, and 
 the cedars of Lebanon, saying, " Since thou art laid down, no 
 feller is come up against us." Hell from beneath is moved for 
 thee to meet thee at thy coming. It stirreth up the dead for thee, 
 even all the chief ones of the earth : it has raised up from their 
 thrones all the kings of the nations. All they shall speak and say 
 unto thee, " Art thou also become weak as we? Art thou become like 
 unto us ? And thy pomp is brought down to the grave and the 
 noise of thy viols, the worm is spread under thee, and the worms 
 cover thee. How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, son of 
 the morning ; how art thou cast down to the ground which didst 
 weaken the nations. For as thou hast said in thine heart, ' I will 
 ascend into Heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God : 
 I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of 
 the earth. I will ascend above the height of the clouds ; I will be 
 like the most High,' yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to 
 the sides of the pit. They that see thee shall narrowly look upon 
 
 49 ^ 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 thee, and consider thee, saying, ' Is this the man who made the earth 
 to tremble, that did shake kingdoms ; that made the world as 
 a wilderness and destroyed the cities thereof ; that opened not the 
 house of his prisoners ? ' All the kings of the nations, even all of 
 them lie in glory, every one in his own house. But thou ait cast 
 out of thy grave like an abominable branch and as the raiment of 
 those that are slain, thrust through with a sword, that go down to 
 the stones of the pit : as a carcase trodden under feet. Prepare 
 slaughter for his children for the iniquity of their fathers, that 
 they do not rise nor possess the land, nor fill the face of the 
 world with cities." 
 
 When we come to the New Testament we come to 
 Him who *' without a parable spake not unto them." 
 It is the illustrations of Jesus that have done most to 
 commend His teaching to the common people. And 
 how simple, and apparently how commonplace, His illus- 
 trations usually are ! A story is told in half-a-dozen 
 sentences and " on the stretched forefinger of old 
 Time it glitters for ever," and for ever teaches its 
 unforgettable lesson to an eagerly listening world. 
 
 THE HOUSES ON ROCK AND SAND 
 
 " Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of Mine and doeth 
 them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon 
 a rock : and the rain descended, and the winds blew, and beat 
 upon that house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock. 
 And every one that heareth these sayings of Mine, and doeth them ' 
 not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house 
 upon the sand : and the rain descended, and the floods came, and 
 the winds blew, and beat upon that house ; and it fell ; and great 
 was the fall thereof." 
 
 THE RICH FOOL 
 
 " The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully : 
 
 and he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I 
 
 have no room where to bestow my fruits ? And he said, This will 
 
 I do ; I will pull down my barns, and build greater ; and there v\ill 
 
 50 
 
Bible Methods of Illustration 
 
 I bestow all my fruit and my goods. And I will say unto my soul, 
 Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years ; take thine 
 ease, eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool, 
 this night thy soul shall be required of thee : then whose shall 
 these things be, which thou hast provided ? '' 
 
 What knells of doom are the words in these parables : 
 '* And it fell " ! and '' But God said unto him " ! 
 
 Luke XV., with its sequence of Parables of the Lost 
 Things, is a most striking example of Christ's use of the 
 cumulative method of illustration. In the Parable of 
 the Lost Sheep we have the yearning love of the shepherd 
 who cannot rest with a great flock when a single one is 
 missing. In the Parable of the Lost Piece of Silver we 
 have an illustration of the determination to find a lost 
 thing of comparatively small value, and of what seems 
 like disproportionate joy over its recovery; but the 
 piece of silver stands for the soul of man, and the 
 heavenly treasury would be the poorer if a single soul 
 were missing. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, which 
 has so deeply touched the heart of the world and 
 brought countless prodigals out of '' the far country," 
 we have a composite illustration dramatically picturing 
 to us the feelings of the sinner who has discovered his 
 folly, of the self-righteous whose life has been formally 
 correct but whose heart is cold towards the strayed 
 and fallen, and of the father who keeps an ever open 
 door to the wild and wanton boy, who cannot exile 
 himself from the father's heart however he may exile 
 himself from the father's home and reject his authority. 
 All are illustrations of the tireless love of God, of His 
 unwearying resolve to save the sinner from himself, 
 of the *'joy in heaven" when the "lost is found," and 
 
 51 D 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 " the dead is alive again," but what a Divine miniature 
 masterpiece each story is, and how they complement each 
 other by their differences in likeness — the subtle differ- 
 ences of children who are all like their father and mother ! 
 One other illustration of Jesus only can here be 
 quoted, for the sake of the comparison with Isaiah's 
 " Song of the Vineyard," to which it is a Gospel 
 pendant. 
 
 CHRIST'S PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD 
 
 " Hear another parable : There was a certain householder, 
 which planted a vineyard, and hedged it round about, and digged 
 a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, 
 and went into a far country ; and when the time of the fruit drew 
 near, he sent his servants to the husbandmen, that they might 
 receive the fruits of it. And the husbandmen took his servants, 
 and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another. Again, he 
 sent other servants more than the first : and they did unto them 
 likewise. But last of all he sent unto them his son, saying, They 
 will reverence my son. But when the husbandmen saw the son, 
 they said among themselves, This is the heir ; come, let us kill 
 him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, 
 and cast him out of the vineyard, and slew him. When the lord, 
 therefore, of the vineyard cometh, what will he do unto those 
 husbandmen ? They say unto him, He will miserably destroy 
 those wicked men, and will let out his vineyard unto other 
 husbandmen, which shall render him the fruits in their seasons. 
 Jesus saith unto them. Did ye never read in the Scriptures, The 
 stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of 
 the corner ; this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our 
 eyes .'' Therefore say I unto you, the kingdom of God shall be 
 taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits 
 thereof" (Matt. xxi. 33—43). 
 
 The illustrations of Jesus are never "literary "in the 
 sense of being deliberate artistic creations. They are 
 the impromptus of the preacher whose eyes and ears 
 
 52 
 
Bible Methods of Illustration 
 
 are open to everything that is going on about Him, and 
 who finds God in everything. The parables are wild- 
 flowers that spring up in the Gospel soil, and wildflowers 
 that by their unstudied beauty have never ceased to 
 charm and make their simple appeal to the heart. The 
 best illustrations, like the best songs, are not the fruits 
 of effort, but the fruits of the deeply stirred heart that 
 is in tune with Nature and with God. 
 
 A word should be said about the illustrations of Paul. 
 He is not the poet but the theologian, the strenuous 
 thinker ; but he is in dead earnest, and he knows the 
 value of illustrations. The Isthmian Games gave him 
 such illustrations as this from running: — ** Not as though 
 I had already attained, either were already perfect, but I 
 follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also 
 I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count 
 not myself to have apprehended ; but this one thing I do, 
 forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching 
 forth unto those things which are before, I press toward 
 the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in 
 Christ Jesus." 
 
 Perhaps from the boxing contests in the same games 
 he got the illustration in 2 Timothy, when the candle 
 of his- life has burnt to the socket : *' I have fought a 
 good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the 
 faith : henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of 
 righteousness." 
 
 From the familiar spectacle of the Roman soldiers 
 he gathered such illustrations as that of ** the whole 
 armour of God " and ** who shall deliver me from the 
 body of this death ? " 
 
 53 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 It may well be that from the marble temples of 
 Athens, Corinth and Ephesus he drew the illustration 
 in Ephesians ii. 19 — 22: — 
 
 " Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and 
 foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the 
 household of God ; and are built upon the foundations 
 of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being 
 the chief corner-stone ; in whom all the building fitly 
 framed together groweth into a holy temple in the Lord ; 
 in whom also ye are builded together for an habitation 
 of God through the Spirit." 
 
 Speaking humanly, had the Bible been given in the 
 dry forms of pure theology it could never have become 
 the book of universal humanity in all its varieties, in 
 every stage of civilisation and class of society, the book 
 of old and young, of men and women, the book of the 
 disinherited of the earth, of the philosopher, and of the 
 old woman who painfully spells out its words in her 
 cottage. The illustrations make it a living book, 
 throbbing with " red-veined humanity," and the preacher 
 who would convey its messages should study to convey 
 them by the illustrative methods that are so splendidly 
 exemplified in the Bible books. Those methods, well 
 managed, have never failed, and never will fail ; for the 
 heart of the world is the child's heart that is always 
 pleading for a story. 
 
 54 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 THE ILLUSTRATIVE USE OF FICTION 
 
 The library of the preacher should be well stocked 
 with works of imagination. If he reads the best novels, 
 the best plays, the best poetry, always with an eye to 
 the enrichment of his sermons, he will not only be 
 cultivating his own imagination, but he will be con- 
 tinually drawing treasure trove out of the imaginative 
 creations of men and women who have studied human 
 nature sympathetically, and have reproduced human 
 nature in vivid transcripts in their works. The common 
 fault of the preacher is to devote his reading too exclu- 
 sively to Biblical and theological works. He ought, of 
 course, to spare no pains in making himself familiar 
 with the text of the Bible, in getting an intelligent 
 understanding of the meaning and messages of the 
 Bible books, as they were written by men of their 
 times to the men of their times, and as they convey 
 Divine revelation to the men of all times. It is well 
 that he should have a consistent and convincing 
 theology rooted in the personality, the self-sacrificial 
 life, the inspiring example, the teaching and the crown- 
 ing sacrifice on Calvary of Him who is the summit and 
 the completion of the revelation of the Old Testament, 
 and the Light and the Life of the world. But the 
 preacher, if he is to touch the human heart, if he is to 
 
 55 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 convey the messages of the Bible and the Gospel to the 
 average man, must be also a keen and sympathetic 
 student of human nature. He must know how to get 
 into his sermons those touches of Nature that make the 
 whole world kin. Any one man or woman is an epitome 
 of the race. The joys and sorrows of one are the 
 joys and sorrows of all. All human hearts are in 
 relationship to each other. The inspired novelist, 
 the inspired dramatist, the inspired poet in his crea- 
 tions, studies human life under all conditions and cir- 
 cumstances, and gives us living pictures in which, so 
 far as they are living, we recognise ourselves as we 
 should or might be under similar circumstances and 
 conditions. The popularity of novels and plays is 
 due largely to this self-identification of the reader, or 
 the spectator, with the characters who play their parts 
 in the story or the drama. We ourselves are the hero, 
 the lover, and, though we would not admit it to anybody 
 else, we are also the villain. The novelist, the drama- 
 tist, and the poet present to us people of every class, of 
 every temperament, of every country; but there is always 
 the common human heart. Their works are mirrors of 
 human nature. Our own environment is a narrow one. 
 We live and move in our own limited circle. The 
 imaginative creators take us out of our circle and 
 enlarge our experience of life. They go deep down 
 into the heart, and show us the comedies and the 
 tragedies that are always working themselves out where 
 good and evil are in conflict for the mastery of a soul. 
 Of course there are novelists and novelists, dramatists 
 and dramatists, poets and poets, and their pictures of 
 
 56 
 
The Illustrative Use of Fiction 
 
 life are coloured by their own temperament and their 
 own peculiar outlook on life ; but these varieties of 
 temperament and outlook only add to the human 
 interest of the pictures, for the authors are revealing 
 themselves as well as revealing the humanity they 
 study and transcribe. John Bunyan, in ** The Pil- 
 grim's Progress " and ** The Holy War," is giving 
 us dramas of the pilgrimage and the warfare of his own 
 soul, but it is also the pilgrimage and the warfare of all 
 other souls. Milton, in " Paradise Lost," was painting 
 in Adam and Eve not only our first parents, but all 
 their sons and daughters. They were novelist and 
 dramatist as much as Walter Scott and Shakespeare. 
 Every story and every play is really a drama, alle- 
 gorical or realistic, of the human soul. The preacher 
 who appreciates this and reads fiction, drama and 
 poetry for revelations of the human heart will never 
 lack illustrations, though, of course, he should be 
 always himself a student of human life and always 
 creating illustrations of his own out of what he finds 
 in the human nature of the people among whom he 
 lives and moves. 
 
 Such novels as those of George Eliot, in which charac- 
 ters are created directly from life by a creator with a 
 wonderful intuition of the workings of the human 
 heart, and with a wonderful power of identifying herself 
 sympathetically with the characters she creates, are 
 rich treasure-houses of materials for illustration. Take 
 ** Adam Bede," for instance : what a variety of human 
 character and experience is brought before us in that 
 sto y]! The man who believed in the gospel of work, 
 
 57 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 simple-hearted, strong, with deep human affection ; the 
 weak-willed, hot-blooded Hetty Sorrel, more sinned 
 against than sinning, the victim of passion driven 
 like a dried leaf in an autumn gust to her doom ; the 
 young squire, as weak of will, who plays with fire, sins 
 greatly and repents bitterly when it is too late ; the 
 inimitable Mrs. Poyser, sharp of tongue but kindly of 
 heart, a model housewife, who rules with a strong 
 hand, a type of the English home-maker who has 
 made the English home the world over the symbol 
 of domestic comfort — all these are more or less our- 
 selves drawn by the brush of a master artist. The 
 preacher who reads such works gets an insight into 
 human nature which will enable him to make his 
 sermons intensely human, and he will draw from such 
 studies illustrations that will go straight to the hearts 
 of his hearers as reproductions and revelations of their 
 own intimate experience. 
 
 It is not only the classic creator of works of imagina- 
 tion, however, who will supply the preacher with 
 splendid and telling illustrations. There are many 
 transcribers of life who are none the less faithful 
 transcribers because they are not endowed with 
 genius of the first order. Any observant student ot 
 life who pictures what he has seen and felt in his 
 studies of humanity is contributing to the illustrative 
 resources of the pulpit. Novelists of to-day can often 
 be drawn upon with profit, all the more so because 
 their names and their works are familiar to men in the 
 congregation, and because they are transcribing life in 
 its various aspects and in various conditions of t^eir 
 
 58 
 
^1 Illustrative Use of Fiction 
 The li. 
 
 s us, an' He starves us, an' He hurts our 
 
 own time. The uSl^j says He's a dunderhead at runnin' a 
 
 tive literature in sermould run a sight better, if we was able 
 
 1 4.U d. r ^^ ^avy, does His day's work in a sea- 
 
 examples that lollow, som, ' , , "^ , , 
 
 ^ Ved backs an' empty stomachs an 
 
 some from recently publisheQNan He can help. 'Tis little we 
 
 'tis wise, I'm thinkin', not t' 
 REST IN SACRl>rt' let Him steer His own 
 In that marvellous story of" Kim," the la'^^ He was up t' some- 
 fatigue, and the weight beyond his years, brokt^® hymn, lad, about 
 at the feet of the aged man for whom he begged 4^^'^<^^- -^^j Davy, 
 the weary head on his lap during the noonday heatb^^^ Duncan 
 the flies during the heat till his wrist ached, begged 
 evenings, and rubbed the tired, aged feet at night, 
 blessedness it meant to the young heart ! Did he ever cc. 
 cost of the travail and labour which he bore day after day thr«. 
 their memorable trudge amid the plains of India.? And w'^" 
 could estimate his joy when the old man said gently : " Thou hast 
 never stepped a hair's breadth from the Way of Obedience. Child, 
 I have lived on thy strength as an old tree lives on the lime of a 
 new wall. Therefore, not through any sin of thine art thou 
 weakened. Be comforted." That is only a story told by a master 
 hand, but it is true to the deepest life. The soul forgets weariness, 
 privation, pain — all, if only it may give itself to the one it loves 
 (2 Cor. xii. 9, io).^Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 CHRIST THE COMPANION 
 
 In the Styrian highlands there lived a peasant who was nick- 
 named "The Pair." He gained the name through his curious 
 conduct. He was a well-to-do landowner, had a family, a large 
 number of servants, numerous friends, and yet he was scarcely 
 ever seen in society. He always went about alone, and yet not 
 alone. When he walked along the road, he always took the worst, 
 the rough or wet path, so that the good path on his right remained 
 free, as if for a companion, whom he wished to honour. And yet 
 no one was ever seen walking by his side. At home, at every 
 meal, a special cover was laid in the place of honour ; it consisted 
 of white china, and silver which had always to be bright and clean. 
 The large table was well filled, the father sat at the top, but the 
 place Qn his right hand remained empty. And yet the peasant 
 
 59 
 
The Art of Sermon Illus'stration 
 
 simple-hearted, strong, with deep hcinguished guest sat there, 
 weak-willed, hot-blooded Hett^ invisible guest was given to 
 
 against than sinning, the ^anionship with an invisible being 
 like a dried leaf in an aut he Pair." If he was asked what it 
 young squire, as weak of-P^y o^ said mysteriously: *' But He is 
 
 ,1 J i. t. 1 whom he meant — the Lord Jesus. The 
 
 greatly and repents ^ ^, ,, ^^. 
 
 . . , out of love and honour to Him, out of love 
 
 inimitable l^irs. P^ pia.ce was set at the table ; and whether he 
 
 heart, a model iking his rest, he was always calm and cheerful, 
 
 hand a tvDe "^ ^^ ^^ were in company with another, a person of 
 
 , ,.rhom no one ever saw. Before he had attained a 
 
 , the man fell mortally sick. Then a chair was placed by 
 
 of domfiide, and he put out his arm as if he were holding some- 
 
 selve? hand and carried on a low-toned conversation with the 
 
 /isible occupant of the chair. When he was dead, no one 
 
 ^ v^entured to move the chair from the bedside. His grave in the 
 
 •^ churchyard was near a white marble monument representing the 
 
 Good Shepherd. And as the peasant's coffin sank into the earth 
 
 it seemed to me as I stood there that a white light gleamed into 
 
 the open grave from the figure of the Good Shepherd, shining 
 
 brilliantly in the sun. 
 
 And this peasant was one who was happy upon earth in the 
 belief of Jesus Christ (Rev. iii. 20).— Peter Rosegger (" My 
 Kingdom of Heaven "). 
 
 GOD'S MYSTERIOUS WAY 
 
 " Ah, Davy, the ways o' God is strange. He manages somehow 
 t' work a blessin' with death an' wreck. ' I'm awful sorry for they 
 poor children,' says He, * an' for the owners o' that there fine ship ; 
 but I got t' have My way,' says He, 'or the world would never 
 come t' much ; so down goes the ship,' says He, ' an' up comes 
 that dear mother t' My bosom. 'Tis no use tellin' them why,' says 
 He, 'for they wouldn't understand. An', ecod ! ' says He, 'while 
 I'm about it I'll just put it in the mind o' that doctor-man t' stay 
 right there an' do a day's work or two for Me.' I'm sure He 
 meant it — I'm sure He meant to do just that — I'm sure 'twas all 
 done o' purpose. We thinks He's hard an' a bit free an' careless. 
 Ecod ! they's times when we thinks He fair bungles His job. He 
 
 60 
 
The Illustrative Use of Fiction 
 
 kills us, an' He cripples us, an' He starves us, an' He hurts our 
 hearts ; an' then, Davy, we says He's a dunderhead at runnin' a 
 world, which, says we, we could run a sight better, if we was able 
 t' make one. But the Lord, Davy, does His day's work in a sea- 
 manlike way, usin' no more crooked backs an' empty stomachs an' 
 children's tears an' broken hearts than He can help. 'Tis little we 
 knows about what He's up to. An' 'tis wise, I'm thinkin', not t' 
 bother about tryin' t' find out. 'Tis better t' let Him steer His own 
 course an' ask no questions. I just knowed He was up t' some- 
 thing grand. I said so, Davy ! 'Tis just like the hymn, lad, about 
 His hidin' a smilin' face behind a frownin' Providence. Ah, Davy, 
 He'll take care o' we!^^ (Mark vii. 37). — NoRMAN Duncan 
 ("Doctor Luke"). 
 
 INTO THE SUNSHINE 
 
 My mother turned her face from us. She trembled, once, and 
 sighed, and then lay very quiet. I knew in my childish way that 
 her hope had fled with ours — that, now, remote from our love and 
 comfort — alone — all alone — she had been brought face to face with 
 the last dread prospect. There was the noise of rain on the panes, 
 and wind without, and the heavy tread of Skipper Tommy's feet, 
 coming up the stair, but no other sound. But Skipper Tommy, 
 entering now, moved a chair to my mother's bedside, and laid 
 a hand on hers, his old face illuminated by his unfailing faith in the 
 glory and wisdom of his God. 
 
 " Hush ! " he said. " Don't you go gettin' scared at — the thing 
 that's coming — t' you. 'Tis nothin' t' fear," he went on, gloriously 
 confident. " 'Tis not hard, I'm sure — the Lord's too kind for that. 
 He just lets us think it is, so He can give us a lovely surprise, when 
 the time comes. Oh, no, 'tis not hard! 'Tis but like wakin' t' the 
 sunlight of a new, clear day. Ah, 'tis a pity us all can't wake with 
 you t' the beauty o' the morning ! But the dear Lord is kind. 
 There comes an end to all the dreamin'. He takes our hand. 
 ' The day is broke,' says He. * Dream no more, but rise, child o' 
 Mine, and come into the sunshine with Me.' 'Tis only that that's 
 comin' t' you — only His gentle touch — an' the wakin'. Hush ! 
 Don't you go gettin' scared. 'Tis a lovely thing — that's comin' 
 t' you ! " 
 
 " I'm not afraid," my mother whispered, turning. " I'm not 
 
 61 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 afraid, Skipper Tommy. But I'm sad — oh, I'm sad — to have to 
 
 leave '' 
 
 She looked tenderly upon me (Rev. xxi. 4). — NORMAN DUNCAN 
 ("Doctor Luke"). 
 
 THE POISONED WELLS 
 
 The man who agitates for any particular reform must always 
 be prepared to meet, not only with the hostility of those who will 
 be hurt and sacrificed for the good of the community, but also with 
 the indifference of the mass of people who will acquiesce with them. 
 Perhaps there never has been a finer illustration of the difficulty 
 that besets the agitator than that which the keen-sighted critic 
 of society, Henrik Ibsen, gave in his play, "An Enemy of tha 
 People." Some of you are familiar with that remarkable story. 
 You know how in a little Norwegian town there is a doctor whose 
 brother is burgomaster of the town. The doctor is anxious for the 
 town's real prosperity, and that prosperity depends upon some baths 
 which he himself originally suggested. It is found, however, that the 
 people who bathe in the baths are attacked by all sorts of dreadful 
 diseases. The water is analysed and is discovered to be simply 
 crowded with poisonous infusions, owing to the water coming from 
 a disease-laden swamp, poisoning the baths at their source. The 
 doctor, being a simple-minded man and a lover of truth, and not a 
 practical man and a lover of compromise, stands out in that little 
 community as a great agitator. His brother is disgusted with him. 
 Finally he is called " the enemy of the people." " The source is 
 poisoned, man ! Are you mad?" cries the doctor. "The whole 
 of our flourishing social life is rooted in a lie ! " The burgomaster 
 answers, " Idle fancies, or worse. The man who makes such 
 offensive insinuations against his native place must be an enemy of 
 the people ! " (i Kings xviii. 17).— Rev. J. E. Rattenbury. 
 
 THE SAVING POWER OF LOVE 
 
 There is a book which I should like to make you all read, 
 if I could, written by that brilliant novelist, Mr. Anthony Hope — 
 the book that is called " The Intrusions of Peggy." It is the story 
 of a miser, the story of a man who gradually lost his soul through 
 the love of gold, and the accumulation of money. He had a great 
 safe in his room. He was believed to be poor, because he lived so 
 
 62 
 
The Illustrative Use of Fiction 
 
 poorly, but in that safe he gradually piled up documents that 
 entitled him to property here, there, and everywhere, and only one 
 man knew how rich a man he was. And there came into his home, 
 and into his life, this young girl, with the perfectly unselfish and 
 disinterested soul, who was willing to give everything that she 
 possessed away, in order that she might help another and bless 
 another ; and gradually this Christ-like influence broke him down 
 with shame, melted his heart, until at last he began to propose 
 to himself a veritable crucifixion, that he too should begin to live 
 for the sake of others, that he too should take up the life of the 
 Cross in order that he might be saved from this body of death 
 and know the meaning of that life which is life indeed. He had 
 everything, humanly speaking, that men seek for most. All power 
 was his, and yet he had missed the secret of life, because until love 
 came into his very soul, and he saw the love of God and man, he 
 did not realise what life means, and what life is given for Qohn x. 
 lo). — Rev. C. Silvester Horne, M.A. 
 
 "WHAT SHALL IT PROFIT A MAN?» 
 
 G. F. Watts's great picture in the Tate Gallery of the ** Rich 
 Young Ruler" is an excellent illustration of this text. The young 
 man who clung to the material in life when Christ called him to 
 embrace the spiritual is portrayed in this picture — " For he had 
 great possessions " — with singular force. The head is bowed, the 
 face turned from view, but Watts, with his genius for " expression 
 in the back," imparts a world of sadness into the slack, bent 
 shoulders of the young man who found the sacrifice of his wealth 
 too great even to save his soul. An even grander illustration of 
 this text is to be found in Paul Neumann's newly published novel, 
 •*Dominy's Dollars.'' Dominy is a young Jew in the New York 
 ghetto. He is an orphan, cared for by a Jewish family from 
 Poland. Dominy dreams of untold wealth — his goal is riches 
 beyond dreams of avarice. The business instinct of his race is 
 strong in him, and first in a stockbroker's office, then as a speculator 
 on options, and finally as a buyer of virgin forest lands, he piles 
 up fabulous wealth. He comes to England, and while in the 
 midst of his early prosperity with his dreams within realisation he 
 meets again one of the daughters of the Pohsh Jew family who 
 had befriended him in his ghetto days. She has become the 
 
 63 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 greatest operatic singer of her day. The world is at her feet, but 
 while sojourning in Paris with Roman Catholic friends she had 
 become a convert to Christ. She read the story of the rich young 
 ruler, and though she had the finest voice in Europe she came to 
 see that its possession was her curse, and that she should renounce 
 it. Dominy, who had loved her when they were boy and girl in 
 the ghetto, proposes marriage. She agrees — on conditions. She 
 will renounce her art and abandon the stage if Dominy will 
 abandon his ambition to be the richest man in the world. He is 
 already rich. All night long Dominy wrestles with the alternatives. 
 On the one hand love and happiness ; on the other the possibilities 
 of untold wealth and all the power that goes with wealth. He 
 reads the Gospel story of Christ's interview with the rich young 
 ruler, and resents what he thinks was Christ's unjust demand for 
 renunciation. At last Dominy decides. He must pursue his 
 career — he must renounce his love. The opera singer goes into a 
 convent. Dominy goes on piling up millions upon millions,' 
 hardening as he lives his loveless life and finds that what he had 
 sold his soul and his love to gain brought neither happiness nor 
 regard. He suffers from insomnia, has recourse to drugs to induce 
 sleep, becomes physically depressed and mentally distraught. 
 Driven to desperation, he seeks change and rest ; but returns to 
 renewed insomnia and depression. Tidings reach him of the 
 death of the girl whose love he had bartered for his wealth. The 
 end is tragedy — suicide off the rocks of Guernsey. He had 
 gained the whole world, had realised his vision of wealth beyond 
 dreams of avarice, but had lost his own soul (Matt. xvi. 26 ; 
 Mark viii. 36).— Arthur Porritt. 
 
 PETERKIN'S PUDDING 
 *♦ The proof of the pudding is in the eating," says the proverb, 
 but there is a good deal in what you put into the pudding. People 
 complain that religion is insipid, that they get little out of it; but 
 what have they put into it ? They have grudged the expense, and 
 yet they expect the blessing. A cheap religion, like most cheap 
 things, is of little value. " Then said Jesus unto His disciples. 
 If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and follow 
 Me." '* Give and it shall be given unto you." To those who try 
 to be Christians on the cheap, let me commend Mr. Zangwill's tale 
 of Peterkin's pudding. 
 
 64 
 
The Illustrative Use of Fiction 
 
 "You never heard of Pcterkin's pudding," says Mr. Zangwill, 
 
 " but there is a fine moral baked in it. Johannes came to his wife 
 
 one day and said, ' Liebes Gretchen, could you not make me a 
 
 pudding such as Peterkin is always boasting his wife makes him? 
 
 I am dying of envy to taste it. Every time he talks of it my chops 
 
 water.' ' It is not impossible I could make you one,' said Gretchen 
 
 good-naturedly. ' I will go and ask Frau Peterkin how she makes 
 
 it.' When Johannes returned that evening from the workshop, 
 
 where Peterkin had been raving more than ever over his wife's 
 
 pudding, Gretchen said gleefully, ' I have been to Frau Peterkin. 
 
 She has a good heart and she gave me the whole recipe for 
 
 Peterkin's pudding.' Johannes rubbed his hands, and his 
 
 mouth watered already with anticipation. ' It is made with 
 
 raisins,' began Gretchen. Johannes' jaw fell. ' We can scarcely 
 
 afford raisins,' he interrupted ; * couldn't you manage without 
 
 raisins.'" 'Oh, I daresay,' said Gretchen doubtfully. 'There 
 
 is also candied lemon peel.' Johannes whistled. ' Ach ! we can't 
 
 run to that,' he said. ' No, indeed,' assented Gretchen ; ' but 
 
 we must have suet and yeast.' ' I don't see the necessity,' quoth 
 
 Johannes. 'A good cook like you ' — here he gave her a sounding 
 
 kiss — ' can get along without such trifles as those.' 'Well, I will 
 
 try,' said the good Gretchen, as cheerfully as she could ; and so 
 
 next morning Johannes went to work lighthearted and gay. 
 
 When he returned home, lo ! the long desired dainty stood on the 
 
 supper table, beautifully brown. He ran to embrace his wife in 
 
 gratitude and joy ; then he tremblingly broke off a hunch of 
 
 pudding and took a huge bite. His wife, anxiously watching his 
 
 face, saw it assume a look of perplexity, followed by one of disgust. 
 
 Johannes gave a great snort of contempt. ' Liebes Gott ! ' he 
 
 cried, 'And this is what Peterkin is always bragging about!'" 
 
 (Matt. xvi. 24, 25 ; also Luke vi. 38). 
 
 OUR DAILY BREAD 
 I hope, friend, you and I are not too proud to ask for our daily 
 bread, and to be grateful for getting it? Mr. Philip had to work 
 for his in care and trouble, like other children of men — to work tor 
 it, and I hope to pray for it too. It is a thought to me awful and 
 beautiful, that of our daily prayer and of myriads of fellow-men 
 uttering it, in care and in sickness, in doubt and in poverty, in 
 health and in wealth. Panein nostrum da nobis Jiodie. Philip 
 
 65 E 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 whispers it by the bedside, where wife and child lie sleeping, and 
 goes to his early labour with a stouter heart ; as he creeps to his 
 rest, when the day's labour is over, and the quotidian bread is 
 earned, he breathes his hushed thanks to the bountiful Giver of 
 his meal. All over this world what an endless chorus is singing of 
 love, and thanks and prayer I Day tells to day the wondrous story, 
 and night recounts it unto night. How do I come to think of a 
 sunrise which I saw near twenty years ago on the Nile, when the 
 river and sky flushed with the dawning light and, as the luminary 
 appeared, the boatmen knelt on the rosy deck and adored Allah ? 
 So, as the sun rises, friend, over the humble housetops round about 
 your home, shall you wake many and many a day to duty and 
 labour. May the task have been honestly done when the night 
 comes ; and the Steward deal kindly with the labourer (Matt vi. ii). 
 — W. M. Thackeray (" The Story of Philip ")• 
 
 One incidental gain to the preacher of the reading of 
 good fiction is that it will teach him the art of telling a 
 story well, and will generally liven up his pulpit style. 
 The style of the preacher whose reading is mainly 
 homiletical and theological tends to a grey monotony. 
 It lacks picture words and vivid phrases that strike the 
 hearer's imagination and linger in his memory. The 
 preacher, of all public speakers, should be the most 
 human and dramatic, for no speaker deals so much and 
 so directly with subjects of the most vital import to his 
 audiences. His theme is life in its myriad manifesta- 
 tions — life as it sinks to the deepest depths and rises to 
 the loftiest heights, life ruined and life redeemed, the 
 thrilling soul dramas of humanity, the blighting shadows 
 and the glorious sunshine. All comedy and all tragedy 
 are his to deal with. He deals with death also — the 
 ** death of the righteous" and the death of the man who 
 has "missed the mark." He deals with what lies 
 beyond the grave — at any rate, he should be prepared to 
 
 66 
 
The Illustrative Use of Fiction 
 
 deal with " the four last things," though most preachers 
 in these days shrink from peering beyond the veil. But 
 death is always there, at the end of life, and while guard- 
 ing against " other-worldliness," over-curious prying into 
 the mysteries of the beyond, the preacher is bound to 
 impress on his congregation that this life does not 
 last for ever, that it is an opportunity to be used "while 
 it is called to-day," and that it should be used in train- 
 ing the soul for its future destiny, so that when the time 
 comes for " meeting the Pilot face to face " there shall 
 be no bankrupt's account to render of talents wasted, 
 of suffering brethren unhelped, of nothing done to 
 realise the prayer, "Thy will be done on earth as it is in 
 heaven." With such themes, and all life to draw upon, 
 the preacher should find it an impossibility to be dull 
 and drab, dry and flavourless ; but too many congrega- 
 tions know to their cost that the seeming impossibility 
 is often accomplished. The judicious reader and user 
 of fiction will learn how to recreate dramatic episodes 
 of the Bible, to put the men and women of the Bible 
 before the congregation as they lived and moved, to 
 introduce local colour, and to make the congregation 
 realise that there is no more intensely human and 
 thrillingly dramatic book in literature than the Bible. 
 From the literature of imagination and from his own 
 observation and imagination he will present striking 
 parallels to the Bible characters, for these characters 
 stand out as eternal types of universal humanity. The 
 characters themselves will become more real as the 
 preacher, by modern illustrations, demonstrates the 
 fidelity of the portraiture of the inspired artists. 
 
 ^ E2 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE PREACHER AMONG THE POETS 
 
 The preacher is wise who spends much time in the 
 company of the poets, for various reasons. His 
 familiarity with the poets will enable him the better to 
 understand the poetical books of the Old Testament. 
 Much mischief has been done by the dull, prosaic, 
 literal interpretation of highly poetical expressions. 
 Figures of speech have been commented upon, and 
 systems based upon them, as if they were statements of 
 hard fact. Poetry further gives the preacher a sense of 
 the colour and music of words, it awakens what latent 
 poetry there may be in his own soul, it refines his thought 
 and expression and gives wings to his imagination. The 
 poets are themselves preachers and prophets, and their 
 method of preaching is largely the method of illustra- 
 tion. The poet is often the seer, the watchman on the 
 tower, who stands above the crowd and the dust and 
 the noise of the streets, and sees and hears things that 
 are invisible and inaudible k) those engaged in the 
 rough-and-tumble of the struggle for existence. He is 
 the voice of the best thought and aspiration of the 
 crowd. Who like Milton interpreted what was loftiest 
 and most enduring in the Puritanism of the seventeenth 
 century ? Who like Wordsworth, Tennyson and 
 Browning interpreted the nineteenth century to itself 
 
 68 
 
The Preacher Among the Poets 
 
 and to all future ages ? They were the prophets who 
 purged its thought of all that was vulgar, frivolous, 
 and temporary, and set to music what was noblest and 
 most divine in the hearts and minds of its deepest and 
 purest thinkers. The supreme poets have always been 
 deeply religious men, for only to the man whose heart 
 is pure comes " the vision and the faculty divine " that 
 makes the poet whose name is to be enrolled among 
 the classics. 
 
 Among the poets the preacher in search of illustra- 
 tions will find rich material, but it needs a skilful hand 
 to use the material wisely in preaching. The preacher 
 may take a poem that is a story, and tell the story in 
 his own way. In Browning and in Tennyson there are 
 many stories that are really parables, or easily conver- 
 tible into parables, on which the preacher can lay a 
 reverent hand. Here, for instance, is how one preacher 
 utilises the story of ** Enoch Arden." 
 
 THE BURNT-OFFERING AND THE SONG 
 
 One of the most beautiful things I know in Tennyson's works is 
 the story of Enoch Arden. The sailor goes away and does not 
 return for years : his wife meanwhile marries again and has 
 children ; and when Enoch Arden comes again to the little fish- 
 ing port he hears the story in the inn from the garrulous landlady, 
 and one evening steals up to see. He hides himself in the gloaming, 
 so that he can watch Philip and the queen of his heart. How happy 
 they are, and how Philip takes the boy upon his knee, and what 
 perfect peace and joy reign there ! If he were to show himself he 
 would shatter it with a blow. But he abstains, and after waiting a 
 little wistfully he goes back to the village and hides himself ; but 
 Tennyson says he was not all unhappy, but, just as in the briny 
 sea there are fountains of pure, sweet water that rise up perennially, 
 so amid the brine of his unutterable grief there rose up joy, pure 
 
 69 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 aud blessed, that crowned all, and when the burnt-offering began 
 the song of the Lord began (2 Chron. xxix. 27). — Rev. Harris 
 Lloyd. 
 
 Often the preacher, instead of taking a poetical 
 stor}^ and telling it in his own way, will quote a 
 passage ; and congregations like such quotations in 
 illustration of a point, if they are beautiful, well 
 chosen, and do really serve the purpose of illustration. 
 What congregations resent is the tinsel use often made 
 of passages of poetr}^ that are worn threadbare in the 
 pulpit. Such use suggests that the preacher owes all his 
 poetr\' to some " Dictionary of Quotations," or volume 
 of '' Elegant Extracts," or that he has cut out and 
 treasured bits that he has found in other men's sermons. 
 Poetr\- is not to be used just as ribbons and rosettes to 
 decorate the preacher's prose, but must be used with 
 taste and intelligence, for the definite purpose of lighting 
 up a point and commending it by the poet's perfect illus- 
 tration of the truth in his own way. It often happens 
 that a poet gives us his own rendering of an incident or a 
 passage of Scripture, and the preacher dealing with that 
 incident or passage can make very effective use of the 
 poem. Tennyson, for instance, in "In Memoriam," makes 
 exquisite use of the Bible, in a poem that is itself a 
 theology of Christian consolation. John's doctrine of 
 the " Word " is put in stanzas which teach that God, 
 in His infinite condescension, reveals Himself to 
 humanity by an incarnate illustration of His love. 
 
 ** For Wiidoni dealt with mortal powers, 
 Where truth in closest words shall fail 
 WTien truth embodied in a tale 
 Shall enter m at lowly doors. 
 
The Preacher Among the Poets 
 
 ** And so the Word had breath, and wrought 
 With human hands the creed of creeds 
 In loveHness of perfect deeds, 
 More strong than all poetic thought ; 
 
 " Which he may read that binds the sheaf, 
 Or builds the house, or digs the grave, 
 And those wild eyes that watch the wave 
 In roarings round the coral reef" (John i. i). 
 
 A few sections earlier, in " In Memoriam," we have a 
 
 lovely imaginative representation of the return to his 
 
 sister's house of Lazarus, after his calling from the 
 
 tomb : — 
 
 ** When Lazarus left his chamel cave. 
 And home to Mary's house return'd, 
 Was this demanded — if he yeam'd 
 To hear her weeping by his grave ? 
 
 " * Where wert thou, brother, those four days ? * 
 There lives no record of reply, 
 Which telling what it is to die 
 Had surely added praise to praise. 
 
 •* From every house the neighbours met. 
 The streets were fill'd with joyful sound, 
 A solemn gladness even crovvn'd 
 The purple brows of Olivet. 
 •* Behold a man raised up by Christ! 
 The rest remaineth unreveal'd ; 
 He told it not ; or something seal'd 
 The lips of that Evangelist " (John xii. 2). 
 
 Illustrations of Scripture passages or incidents by 
 other poets follow : — 
 
 "At the Devil's booth are all things sold, 
 
 Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold ; 
 For a cap and bells our lives we pay, 
 
 Bubbles we buy with a whole soul's tasking : 
 *Tis Heaven alone that is given away, 
 
 'Tis only God may be had for the asking." 
 
 (Isa. Iv. I, 2). — Lowell. 
 
 71 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 ** She sat and wept, and with her untressed hair 
 Still wiped the feet she was so blest to touch ; 
 And He wiped off the soiling of despair 
 
 From her sweet soul, because she loved so much. 
 I am a sinner, full of doubts and fears : 
 Make me a humble thing of love and tears." 
 
 (John xii. 3). — Hartley Coleridge. 
 
 •* Speak low to me, my Saviour, low and sweet 
 From out the hallelujahs, sweet and low, 
 Lest I should fear and fall, and miss Thee so 
 Who art not missed by any that entreat — 
 Speak to me as to Mary at Thy feet." 
 
 (Luke X. 3, 9). — Mrs. Browning. 
 
 •*The Saviour looked on Peter. Ay, no word — 
 No gesture of reproach ! The heavens serene, 
 Though heavy with armed justice, did not lean 
 Their thunders that way. The forsaken Lord 
 Looked only, on the traitor. . . . 
 . . • • • 
 
 ** I think that look of Christ might seem to say — 
 ' Thou Peter ! art thou then a common stone 
 Which I at last must break My heart upon. 
 For all God's charge to His high angels may 
 Guard My foot better ? Did I yesterday 
 
 Wash thy feet, My beloved, that they should run 
 Quick to deny Me 'neath the morning sun — 
 And do thy kisses, like the rest, betray ? ' " 
 
 (Luke xxii. 61). — MRS. BROWNING. 
 
 CONSCIENCE MAKES COWARDS 
 
 As they looked at that Face, which man was bound to honour 
 and woman instinctively to trust, they slunk out like whipped curs. 
 For " conscience doth make cowards of us all." The oldest, with 
 the largest list of sins, led the way in their retreat. The long robes 
 and broad phylacteries did not look quite so imposing as when 
 they first arrived. These men came to judge another. They left 
 self-condemned. 
 
 72 
 
The Preacher Among the Poets 
 
 ** Her hands were clasped downwards and doubled ; 
 
 Her head was held down and depressed ; 
 Her bosom, like white billows troubled, 
 
 Fell fitful and rose in unrest. 
 Her robes are all dust and disordered ; 
 
 Her glory of hair and her brow ; 
 Her face that had lifted and lorded 
 
 Fell pallid and passionless now. 
 
 " All crushed and stone-cast in behaviour, 
 
 She stood as a marble would stand. 
 For the Saviour bent down, and the Saviour 
 
 In silence He wrote on the sand. 
 What wrote He .'' How fondly one lingers, 
 
 And questions what holy command 
 Fell down from the beautiful fingers 
 
 Of Jesus like gems in the sand. 
 
 " O better that Homer uncherished, 
 Had died, ere a note or device 
 Of his poems was fashioned, than perished 
 
 The only line written by Christ. 
 And He said, ' She hath sinned ; let the blameless 
 
 Come forward and cast the first stone ' ; 
 But they, they fled shamed and yet shameless, 
 And she, she stood white and alone." 
 
 (John viii. 9). — Dr. F. W. Aveling. 
 
 Robert Browning is perhaps the most frequently used 
 poet in the pulpit, not so much because of his poetical 
 presentation of Scripture incidents and portrayal of 
 characters, as because of his rare imaginative use of the 
 incidents and characters to express his own religious 
 ideas, which were pre-eminently the most progressive 
 ideas of his time. 
 
 Browning grapples v^ith all the problems of the age 
 of science and criticism, and maintains his unshaken 
 hold of Christ as the Light and Life of the world. In 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 **A Death in the Desert," for instance, he puts into the 
 mouth of the dying apostle John : — 
 
 •* For life, with all it yields of joy and woe 
 
 And hope and fear, — believe the ayed friend, — 
 Is just our chance o' the prize of learning love, 
 How love might bo, hath been indeed, and is ; 
 And that we hold thenceforth to the uttermost 
 Such prize despite the envy of the world, 
 And, having gained truth, keep truth : that is all. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 * I say, the acknowledgment of Clod in Christ 
 Accepted by thy reason, solves for thee 
 All questions in the earth and out of it, 
 And has so far advanced thee to be wise." 
 
 (i John ii. 35). 
 
 Some of Browning's poems that are not directly 
 religious liaVe yet an effective religious application as 
 illustrations. What better illustration is there of the 
 injunction, " Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it 
 with thy might," than that of the Renaissance scholar, 
 who devoted his life to the clearing up of the mysteries 
 of Greek grammar. He dies half blind, racked with 
 cough, worn out ; but he had set himself a task to do, 
 and he did it with a single eye and a steady hand, until 
 death overtook him, and his disciples bore him to a 
 iitting grave on a mountain top. 
 
 ** That low man seeks a little thing to do, 
 Sees it and does it : 
 
 This high man, with a great thing to pursu^ 
 
 Dies ere he knows it 
 That low man goes on adding one by onCt 
 
 His hundred's soon hit : 
 This high man, aiming at a million, 
 
 blisses an unit. 
 
 74 
 
The Preacher Among the Poets 
 
 That, has the world here — should he need the next, 
 
 Let the world mind him ! 
 This, throws himself on God, and imperplexed 
 
 Seeking shall find him." 
 
 (Eccles. ix. lo). 
 
 In "The Patriot" Browning shows how true to life 
 was the fickleness of the crowd that shouted *' Hosanna! " 
 to Jesus on the Sunday, and howled " Crucify Him ! " 
 on the following Friday. I quote the first, second, and 
 last two of the six stanzas : — 
 
 " It was roses, roses, all the way. 
 
 With mjTtle mixed in my path like mad : 
 The house-roofs seemed to heave and sway. 
 
 The church-spires flamed, such flags they had 
 A year ago on this very day. 
 
 *' The air broke into a mist with bells, 
 
 The old walls rocked with the crowd and cries. 
 Had I said, ' Good folk, mere noise repels — 
 But give me your sun from yonder skies ! ' 
 They had answered, ' And afterward, what else ? * 
 
 ** I go in the rain, and, more than needs, 
 A rope cuts both my \^Tists behind ; 
 And I think, by the feel, my forehead bleeds. 
 
 For they fling, whoever has a mind. 
 Stones at me for my year's misdeeds. 
 
 " Thus I entered, and thus I go ! 
 
 In triumphs, people have dropped down dead. 
 * Paid by the world, what dost thou owe 
 
 Me? ' — God might question ; now instead, 
 'Tis God shall repay : I am safer so." 
 
 (^latt. XX. 8, 9 ; also Matt, xxvii. 20 — 22). 
 
 " The peace of God that passeth all understanding " 
 is perfectly illustrated in a stanza of one of Keble's 
 poems in " The Christian Year ' — a stanza that, to 
 
 75 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 borrow a phrase of Dr. Maclaren, is " like a handful of 
 snow pressed on a fevered brow." 
 
 "There are in this loud stunning tide 
 Of human care and crime, 
 With whom the melodies abide 
 
 Of the everlasting chime ; 
 Who carry music in their heart 
 Through dusky lane and wrangling mart, 
 Plying their daily task with busier feet, 
 Because their secret souls a holy strain repeat." 
 
 (Phil. iv. 7). 
 
 Shakespeare, who was a diligent Bible reader, will 
 often give the preacher a telling illustration. He was a 
 student of the human heart who has never been excelled 
 outside the inspired Bible writers for knowledge of its 
 most secret and subtle workings. His best plays are 
 dramatic sermons — ** Macbeth " against ambition, 
 "King Lear" against unfilial behaviour, *' Othello" 
 against base passion and treachery in lago, and 
 against jealousy in the Moorish hero. The workings 
 of a guilty accusing conscience have never been pictured 
 so realistically as by Shakespeare. Macbeth's " Duncan 
 hath murdered sleep," and Lady Macbeth's hopeless 
 attempt to wash the invisible bloodstains from her 
 hands, show how true it is that " the wages of sin is 
 death " (Rom. vi. 23). Shakespeare is very rich in the 
 poetical presentation of eternal ethics. Here are two 
 examples of how Dr. Gore, the Bishop of Birmingham, 
 presses Shakespeare into use : — 
 
 NO "INDEPENDENCE" OF GOD 
 
 Independence of God in any part of our being, in any faculty, 
 in any capacity, in any enterprise — is, of all the silly delusions 
 
 76 
 
The Preacher Among the Poets 
 
 which have ever visited the imagination of man, the silliest and 
 the most false. You know how Shakespeare put the truth in lines 
 so solemn and so searching : 
 
 ** Heaven doth with us as we with torches do, 
 Not light them for themselves ; for if our virtues 
 Did not go forth of us, 'twere all alike 
 As if we had them not. Spirits are not finely touch'd, 
 But to fine issues ; nor Nature never lends 
 The smallest scruple of her excellence, 
 But like a thrifty goddess she determines 
 Herself the glory of a creditor — 
 Both thanks and use " (Matt. xxv. i8). 
 
 SIN AND CONSCIENCE 
 
 We must see clearly in the page of history from generation to 
 generation what sin really means to man; we must see, we must 
 recognise clearly and distinctly in the page of literature, as well as 
 in our own experience, what sin means to man in the light of con- 
 science. You remember, do you not .'' the way in which this is 
 brought before us by Shakespeare in "Richard III." It is the 
 night before Bosworth Field ; Richard is alone in his tent, and 
 thus he soliloquises : 
 
 " My conscience hath a thousand several tongues ; 
 And every tongue brings in a several tale, 
 And every tale proclaims me for a villain, 
 Perjury, perjury, in the high'st degree, 
 Murder, stern murder, in the dir'st degree ; 
 All several sins . . . 
 
 Throng to the bar, crying all. Guilty, guilty ! 
 • • • • • 
 
 Methought the souls of all that I had murder*d 
 Came to my tent, and every one did threat 
 To-morrow's vengeance on the head of Richard." 
 
 (Gen. iv. 13). 
 
 Sometimes a little-known poet rewards the preacher 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 with an unfamiliar illustration that the congregation 
 will not easily forget. Take these examples : — 
 
 JOHN BROWN AND THE REDEEMING KISS 
 
 It is a peril, it is a temptation to enthusiasts, that they are often 
 stung by pity into a rage which leads them to use rash words and 
 to adopt indefensible methods. Among such men was John Brown 
 of Ossawatomie, who was bargee at Harper's Ferry. He had 
 indeed used violent means to encompass hallowed ends, but for all 
 that he will, even from his gibbet, take his place among brave souls 
 who, believing that God is God, trample wicked laws under their 
 feet. You know the touching incident of his execution : 
 
 "John Brown of Ossawatomie 
 Spake on his dying day, 
 *I will not have to shrive my soul 
 A priest in slavery's pay. 
 But let some poor slave mother 
 Whom I have striven to free, 
 With her children, from the gallows stairs 
 Put up a prayer for me.' 
 John Brown of Ossawatomie, 
 They led him out to die. 
 And lo ! a poor slave mother with 
 Her little child passed by. 
 Then the bold blue eye grew tender 
 And the old harsh face grew mild, 
 As he stooped between the jeering ranks 
 And kissed the negro's child. 
 The shadows of his stormy life 
 That moment fell apart, 
 And they who blamed the bloodstained hand 
 Forgave the loving heart ; 
 That kiss from all the guilty means 
 Redeemed the good intent, 
 And round the grisly fighter's hair 
 The martyr's aureole bent." 
 
 (Rom. xii. ii). — Dean Farrar. 
 
 78 
 
The Preacher Among the Poets 
 
 Here is a little poem called " Opportunity," by an 
 American minor poet, E. R. Sill. It pictures admir- 
 ably what one man can do who is only courageous 
 enough to take advantage of the opportunity to do it. 
 
 THE PRINCE HERO 
 
 •* This I beheld, or dreamed ft m a dream :^— 
 There spread a cloud of dust along a plain ; 
 And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged 
 A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords 
 Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner 
 Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes. 
 A craven hung along the battle's edge, 
 And thought, 'Had I a sword of keener steel — 
 That blue blade that the king's son bears, — but this 
 Blunt thing — ! ' he snapt and flung it from his hand, 
 And cowering crept away and left the field. 
 
 *^Then came the king's son, wounded, sore bestead, 
 And weaponless, and saw the broken sword, 
 Hnt buried in the dry and trodden sand. 
 And ran and snatched it, and with battle shout 
 Lifted afresh, he hewed his enemy down. 
 And saved a great cause that heroic day" (Eph. vi. 17). 
 
 With two other illustrations from the poets, one a 
 modern - day writer who has revived the mystery 
 play, this chapter must conclude. 
 
 BURDENS CHANGED TO WINGS 
 
 In one of Schiller's poems a beautiful story is told to this effect : 
 When God made the birds He gave them gorgeous plumage and 
 sweet voices, but no wings. He laid wings on the ground and said, 
 " Take these burdens, and bear them." They struggled along with 
 them, folding them over their hearts. Presently the wings grew 
 fast to their breasts and spread themselves out, and they found 
 that what they had thought were burdens were changed to pinions. 
 
 79 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 Surrender to God and obedience to Him are not grievous sacrifices, 
 but life and growth and activity (Isa. xl. 31). — Dr. A. T. 
 
 PlERSON. 
 
 EAGER HEART 
 
 Some of us have been watching within the course of the last 
 month or two a beautiful Christmas mystery play, which was called 
 " Eager Heart." I am thankful to think that that play, which 
 moved some of us at this end of London to tears, has been since 
 then performed in the heart of East London, and, please God, 
 has brought home the message of Christmas through the eye 
 to thousands who perhaps would not have accepted it through 
 the ear. 
 
 When Eager Heart had prepared her dwelling for the coming of 
 the king on that wonderful night when he was expected to pass 
 through the town, she saw at her door a poor tired woodman and 
 his wife and a little child. They begged to be taken in. But poor 
 Eager Heart had the lamp there, and the food, and the couch pre- 
 pared for someone else. " Oh ! not to-night, not to-night — any 
 night but to-night ! " " Ah ! " they said, "but everyone says that ; 
 wherever we go that is the answer." After a struggle with herself, 
 the little generous soul gives up her dream. " My dream," she said, 
 " my foolish dream ! Come in and rest in my home." She goes 
 out with the lamp to try and meet the king outside. She meets the 
 shepherds, she meets three kings looking also for the King of kings. 
 And when, led by the Christmas star, she comes round again in her 
 search to her own little humble dwelling, " Nay, sirs," she said, " it 
 is impossible. This is my little home ; my humble home." And 
 when they persisted, when they said " It must be ; the King must 
 be here," and the door was thrown open, there in a blaze of light 
 woodman and wife and child were transfigured, there was the 
 Infant King on her couch, and in her home. What a surprise ! 
 (Heb. xiii. 2, ; also Luke ii. 7).— Dr. A. F. Winnington-Ingram. 
 
 80 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 ILLUSTRATION OF ADDRESSES TO CHILDREN 
 
 The Sunday morning address to the children is 
 expected in many churches, but it often happens that 
 the preacher, with the best will in the world, fails to 
 interest the childrt-n. Children need to be understood 
 before they can be interested, and the deliverer of the 
 children's address must understand the workings of the 
 child's mind, and the child's outlook upon life. He 
 must *' be converted and become as a little child " if he 
 would captivate the boys and girls, in the seven or ten 
 minutes which he devotes to the address. Too often 
 the preacher, w^ho is successful enough with the con- 
 gregation as a whole, has forgotten his own childhood, 
 and even the fact that he is a father does not always 
 save him from talking to the children as if they were 
 grown-up people in knickerbockers and short frocks. 
 To be successful wath the children, you must be able, 
 for the time being, to look at the world through a child's 
 eyes. You must clearly understand that the children 
 are interested in things, in sights and sounds, and not in 
 thoughts, theologies and philosophies. Whatever lesson 
 you wish to impress must be dramatised. Illustration, 
 and plenty of it, is absolutely essential to the children's 
 address, and the illustration must be such as children 
 will be naturally interested in. One Sunday morning a 
 small boy plucked his father's sleeve, while the children's 
 
 8i F 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 address was being delivered, and said, '* Daddy, there 
 are twenty-five people in the choir. I have just 
 counted them ! " That was a most damaging criticism, 
 which the deliverers of children's addresses will do well 
 to take to heart. A little girl, who was asked by the 
 minister, at dinner with her parents, what she remem- 
 bered of the sermon, said frankly, but brutally, "I don't 
 remember anything. I didn't listen. I never do." 
 
 Children have a wonderful capacity for not listening 
 and thinking of something else, and the world, as 
 R. L. Stevenson said, ** is full of a number of things" 
 for children to think about when they are not being 
 interested. The child is a born poet and dramatist. 
 Everything is new and wonderful and everything is 
 seen in the mystic light of fairyland. The child makes 
 believe, and its make-believe is often more real to it 
 than the realities of life are to its elders. The preacher 
 who addresses children must take into account the 
 poet and the dramatist in the child. Children believe 
 in fairies, and a fairy-story often makes a good lead 
 off CO a children's address. At " Once upon a time " 
 they prick their ears, and fix their eyes upon the pulpit, 
 and the preacher who can tell a fairy-story with con- 
 viction and dramatic effect has captured his youthful 
 audience. As examples of fairy-tale openings of 
 children's addresses take those that follow : — 
 
 THE CONTENTED HEART 
 
 A Japanese fairy-tale tells how a man who was poor, and had to 
 work very hard, heard of a Land of Everlasting Felicity, where 
 people had no illness, no poverty, and did not die. He wished 
 greatly that he might find his way to that land, and one day there 
 
 82 
 
Illustration of Addresses xo Children 
 
 appeared a magician who told him he would give him one wish, 
 and his wish was that the magician should convey him to the Land 
 of Everlasting Felicity. The magician produced a paper bird, a 
 stork, which he unfolded, and told the man to get astride its back 
 as if it were a horse. He did so, and the stork flew upwards and 
 then swiftly carried the man over land and sea until he came to 
 the Land of Everlasting Felicity. For a few years he lived there 
 contentedly, but then he began to grow discontented, for it seemed 
 dreadfully wearying to have summer all the year round, to 
 have always flowers and fruit, and the fact that there was no 
 anxiety about sickness and about poverty only robbed his enjoy- 
 ment of the good things of life of their zest. At the end of a 
 hundred years or so, the man, like all the other inhabitants of the 
 country, was bored to death, and wished that something would 
 happen to bring a little variety into the life. When a quack 
 doctor came into the country and sold some pills that gave people 
 a little pain in the inside, and caused their hair to turn slightly 
 grey, he did a roaring trade. The man longed at last to go back 
 to Japan, and was delighted when he woke up and found it was all 
 a dream ! The story has a moral which a good many small 
 people, as well as big people, would do well to take to heart. 
 Don't let us always be complaining because we have not every- 
 thing that we should like to have. The great advantage of not 
 having things is that we enjoy all the more the things that we 
 have. If there were no winter, we should get no pleasure out of 
 spring or summer. If we did no work, there would be no fu. in 
 holidays. Even sickness makes health ever so much more delightful 
 when we get about again. Do not let us think the world is all 
 wrong because God does not let us have our own way in every- 
 thing. The world is God's school, and the difficulties, the hard- 
 ships, the pains of life, are God's means of training us and making 
 our character robust as the oak that has braved the storms of the 
 winters of a hundred years. Let us take the good that God gives 
 us with a thankful heart, and have faith to believe that many things 
 that seem evils are God's good things in disguise (Phil. iv. ii). — 
 H. Jeffs. 
 
 THE JUGGLER'S OFFERING 
 
 A beautiful story of the Middle Ages has been retold by a 
 French writer. There was a juggler who went about to fairs, 
 
 83 F 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 carrying with him a mat and the metal balls and other things that 
 he juggled with. He lived a hard life, and when he began to grow 
 old, he turned his thoughts more and more to religion. At that 
 time the only religion was the Roman Catholic religion, and it 
 was believed that the best thing a man could do was to enter a 
 convent and live what was called the religious life. One day the 
 juggler met a monk and told him of his desire to enter a convent. 
 The monk took him to his own convent, where the juggler was 
 received and became a monk himself. He found that the other 
 monks were all busy on some work or other for the glory of God. 
 One would be illuminating manuscripts of the Scriptures or lives 
 of the saints with beautiful pictures. Another would be engaged 
 in carving exquisitely beautiful woodwork. Others would be 
 creating glorious stained-glass windows, and so on. The poor 
 juggler could do none of these things, and he was ashamed and 
 humbled. One day, however, the juggler was missed when the 
 abbot wanted to speak to him. Somebody said they had seen him 
 go into the chapel in which was the statue of Mary, the mother of 
 Jesus. The abbot made his way to the chapel, and was astonished 
 at what he saw there. On the floor, before the statue of Mary, the 
 juggler had spread his strip of carpet, was lying down upon it on 
 his back, and with his hands' and his feet was tossing his metal 
 balls with the greatest skill that he had ever shown at any fair in 
 his best days. The abbot was very cross at what he considered 
 such very irreverent behaviour, and was just about to call out in 
 angry tones to the juggler-monk to rise and leave the chapel, when 
 the statue of Mary seemed to become alive, stepped down from its 
 place, descended the steps to where the juggler was tossing his 
 balls, and the statue, taking the mantle of purple and gold from 
 its shoulders, cast it over the juggler as a sign that what he had 
 done was accepted. He had done the best that he could do, 
 the one thing that he could do better than anyone else, and the 
 lesson, of course, to all of us, is that we should do what we 
 can, and do it as well as we can, and God will accept our best 
 (Mark xiv. 8).— H. JEFFS. 
 
 THE MAN WITH THE STONE HEART 
 
 Years ago in a German fairy-book I read a story of " The Man 
 with a Stone Heart." A charcoal burner in a great forest was 
 
 84 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 very, ery poor. He had a kind heart, however, full of love for 
 others, and he won the love of others in return. Sometimes he 
 wished that he were richer that he might be able to get a little more 
 enjoyment out of life for himself, and for those dependent on him.. 
 One day, while alone in the forest, underneath a fir tree, a queer 
 little old man appeared to him and got into conversation. The 
 old man told him at last that he could and would make him rich on 
 one condition. When the charcoal burner asked what the condition 
 was, the old man said, " You must give me your heart of flesh for 
 a heart of stone that I have." The charcoal burner did not like 
 the condition, but the old man, who was a gnome, and lived in a 
 cave under the wood, persuaded him to go to the cave, and there 
 showed him the stone heart, which was wonderfully constructed 
 and beat as naturally as a real heart of flesh. He persuaded the 
 charcoal burner at last to strike the bargain. He put the poor man 
 into a deep sleep and when he woke up he found that he had got a 
 heart of stone. It worked beautifully, but it seemed very cold 
 within him. When he got home a great change had come over 
 him. He spoke harshly, he thought only of himself, he was unkind 
 toothers. Instead of thinking that the chief thing worth having 
 was the love of dear ones, he thought only of getting money. And 
 he did get money. Everj'thing he touched seemed to turn to gold. 
 He became richer and richer, but somehow his riches brought him 
 no joy. The more he had the more he wanted. He had no friends 
 and did not seem to want any. The heart seemed to get colder and 
 colder within him. At last, when age crept upon him, all the joy 
 seemed to have gone out of his life. One day he began to think of 
 the days when he was poor, and the more he thought the more he 
 began to think that those were his best days. The story tells how 
 at last he got rid of the stone heart and regained his heart of flesh, 
 and though he became poor again he got love back again into his 
 life and happiness that his prosperity had failed to give. That 
 story is a parable. There are men with stone hearts going about 
 to-day, and it would pay them to sacrifice all the riches they possess 
 to exchange their hearts of stone for hearts of flesh. Let the boys 
 and girls here, when they grow up, take care to keep the heart 
 warm and tender. The way to keep it so is to let Jesus come into 
 it and make it His home (i John iv. 7). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 The child, as has been said, takes an interest in 
 
 83 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 things, and especially in things that are alive, whether 
 belonging to the animal or the vegetable world. If the 
 preacher is interested in gardening and is a student of 
 the fields and of the woods, he can get a good address 
 out of an account of the characteristics and the ways of 
 some plant or flower or vegetable. Plants, flowers and 
 vegetables have characters of their own, and the ways 
 of their growth and their general behaviour appeal to 
 the child mind. The popularity of books published 
 during the last few years, dealing in simple and 
 picturesque fashion with the life of the garden, the field, 
 the wood and the water, is largely due to the interest of 
 young folks in things that grow. Every child, of course, 
 is interested in animals, both tame and wild, and no 
 home is without its four-footed or two-footed pets in 
 the way of animals or birds. There is " a lot of human 
 nature " in animals or birds, as Louis Wain has shown 
 in his pictures, and the child will always listen to the 
 speaker who knows how to press natural history into 
 the service of illustrating his addresses. 
 
 JEsopf had he been a modern Christian minister, would 
 have been magnificent in addresses to children ; but there 
 is no reason why every preacher should not be his own 
 -^sop. 
 
 The speaker to children should not use dictionary 
 words, and he should not choose subjects that cannot 
 be dealt with without the use of dictionary words. 
 He must limit himself to the vocabulary of children, or 
 he will soon find that his words are falling on deaf ears. 
 Nothing is more tragi-comic than the spectacle of a 
 preacher endeavouring to make himself simple to the 
 
 86 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 children and unconsciously using words and phrases 
 that are as foreign to the average boy or girl in the con- 
 gregation as would be French or German words or 
 phrases used without translation. The language of the 
 children is the homeliest Anglo-Saxon, the words of the 
 mother-tongue pure and undefiled, without mixture of 
 the words invented to express the conceptions of the 
 theologian and the philosopher. The child is interested 
 in the concrete, and not in the abstract. The dictionary 
 words, the words expressive of the results of reflection, 
 will come to the child when he is " farther away from 
 Heaven than when he was a boy," when life has become 
 complex and puzzling and the light of fairyland has 
 faded into the grey sky of routine reality. 
 
 The child is a cheerful being. He lives in the sun- 
 shine ; he does not brood over the problems of pain and 
 evil. It is a mistake on the part of the preacher to 
 attempt to introduce him to the problems of pain and 
 evil too early. Let him enjoy his childhood in the 
 sunshine as long as possible. Let him abound in the 
 fulness of his growing powers, and romp as a young 
 animal, and sing with the birds. 
 
 In one of his sermons in St. Paul's Cathedral Canon 
 Scott Holland says : — 
 
 The notes of this child temper are therefore wonder and trust. 
 Wonder ! have we, who are grown up, let life cease to be wonder- 
 ful ? Has the earth grown drab and hard and naked to us ? Are we 
 aware of no strange secrets that haunt it, or of giants that come 
 and go, and call on us to follow? Have we despaired of being sur- 
 prised at anything ? Have we lost hope ? Then we are no child. 
 The child ever walks a-tiptoe in a fairy world, trembling at the 
 mysteries that encompass it about within the magic of their delight. 
 
 87 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 Oh, what will come next ? Who can guess ? What paths will open 
 out? Into what tempting recesses? What are those eyes that 
 follow it about, peeping through guarded trees ? What are those 
 voices that haunt the delicate air ? 
 
 Ah ! walk warily ! 
 
 With round eyes expectant ! 
 
 Nursing a heart big with unutterable thoughts, 
 
 Dreaming ever of what might be. 
 
 That is how a child fares forward in this amazing world of ours ; 
 and if we were but as children in it, we should know and perceive 
 that it is all alive with wonder still ; that it is one undying miracle ; 
 that it is still charged with all the old mystic powers. God is in 
 this place and we knew it not ; angels pass and repass up and down 
 the living stairs ; bushes still burn with revelations, voices cry to us 
 under the stars, God moves about the gardens like a breath through 
 the trees ; the flowers speak of it, the sea knows it, the heavens 
 brood over it, and the heart of man hides it. It is all still about us, 
 this heaven of our infancy, if only we will open our eyes, if only we 
 will listen and watch (Rev. xii. 7, 8 ; also Matt, xviii. i, 3). 
 
 The child is a humourist, fond of a joke and a laugh, 
 and a preacher with no sense of humour, who cannot 
 wreathe young faces in smiles and provoke hearty 
 laughter, had better not attempt children's addresses. 
 Once upon a time it was considered right and proper 
 for the preacher to tell doleful stories to the children 
 about boys and girls who were stricken with mortal 
 sickness and died young, and to warn children of the 
 possibility of themselves being taken away from a world 
 full of snares and pitfalls to their heavenly home. It 
 is to be hoped that that style of children's address, and 
 that kind of illustration, are entirely things of the past. 
 Many a testimony has been given by grown-up people 
 of their early life having been shadowed by thoughts and 
 dreams stimulated by the doleful addresses, illustrations, 
 
 88 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 and exhortations to which they listened in their 
 childhood. 
 
 Let the brightness of life be shown to the children. 
 Let them revel in the joy and gladness of the world. 
 Let them believe that the world is a good world to 
 live in, because their Heavenly Father made it, and 
 because He has given them the faculties to enjoy 
 it. The time will come all too soon when the ** shades 
 of the prison-house " will ''close around the growing 
 boy," and when he will be forced to see the gloom and 
 the tragedy of life ; but until that time comes he will 
 be all the better, and all the healthier, for basking 
 in the sunshine and the gladness. Here are some 
 examples of illustrations that have a dash of humour 
 in them : — 
 
 THE ONE DOOR 
 
 Sir Isaac Newton had a cat which he liked to have always with 
 him in his study. This cat had a kitten, and Sir Isaac used to 
 be sometimes troubled when he heard the two mewing on the 
 wrong side of the door, waiting to come in. So in an absent mood 
 of mind he ordered the carpenter to make two holes in the door, 
 a big one for the mother cat, and a smaller one for the kitten. He 
 did not realise at the moment, till the astonished carpenter 
 explained to him, that one hole would suffice for both, that the 
 kitten could go in at the same door as its mother. Now, the 
 moral of this homely story is that there are not two doors to 
 religion, one for parents and another for children. Jesus is the 
 door for all. Children, indeed, have the advantage, for grown-up 
 persons have to come down to the condition of children. It is 
 not by the big hole in the door that you get into Heaven, but by 
 the little door ; for it is said to everyone, " Except ye be converted 
 and become as little children, ye cannot enter into the Kingdom 
 of Heaven " (John x. 9).— Rev. Hugh Macmillan. 
 
 89 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 *'SOLD AGAIN, SATAN" 
 
 A very dear friend of mine died in Inverness the other day, 
 Dr. Black, one of the most distinguished ministers in the North of 
 Scotland, and he once told me a story of how wrong-doing affects 
 even a little child. One day the Doctor was preaching in a 
 country church. He came home to the house where he was 
 staying and had dinner, and after dinner was over he was very 
 tired, as he was an old man, and he said he would lie down for a 
 rest befoie the evening service. He was told just to lie on the 
 sofa, and the lights in the room were put down and he had a little 
 rest. No one ever was told not to disturb the Doctor. As he lay 
 on the sofa waiting for sleep to come, he heard the door open 
 softly, and he looked up and saw a little girl's head peep in. He 
 wondered what she was wanting, and he watched. The room was 
 very dark and the little girl could not see him. She crept in on 
 tiptoe, very quietly, up to the table ; then she hesitated, and then 
 pushed a chair in to the table, and climbed up on it, and put her 
 hand out and took a bunch of grapes off a plate in the centre of the 
 table. She then slipped away quietly out of the room and closed 
 the door ever so gently. She had never closed it so gently before 
 — she usually banged it ! Dr. Black knew she had been told never 
 to touch the fruit after dinner, and he was disturbed, and wondered 
 what he should do. Should he go after the little girl and tell her 
 she had done wrong ? He decided not, and just lay still. But a 
 little while afterwards the little girl entered, with tears in her eyes, 
 looking very, very penitent, and very miserable, and after putting 
 the fruit back again with a sigh of relief. Dr. Black heard her say, 
 " Sold again, Satan ! " And she jumped down off the chair, and 
 ran out of the room and the door went bang! (Matt. vi. 13).— 
 Rev. S. G. Maclennan, M.A. 
 
 THE DOVE THAT WENT TO CHURCH 
 
 The sluggard, in the Proverbs, was told to *' go to the ant : 
 consider her ways and be wise." Some people of to-day might 
 learn a lesson from a dove whose story is told in an American 
 paper. A Newton (Mass.) young lady tells how she attended a 
 church in a Maine town which she visited. Hearing the cooing of 
 a dove, she looked around and saw a white dove perched on the 
 
 90 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 organ and listening to the music with great appreciation. She 
 learned afterward that the dove had been a regular attendant at 
 church for eight or ten years, being attracted by the music, of 
 which it was very fond. It was twelve years old, and was the pet 
 of a lady who lived near. After church the dove was taken to his 
 Sunday school class by a boy, and seemed to enjoy the proceed- 
 ings. Unlike many church goers, the weather made no difference 
 to the dove, as every Sunday, summer and winter, he was at his 
 post on the organ (Ps. xxix. 2 ; also Ps. Ixxxiv. 3). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 THE PRETTIEST HANDS 
 
 I read this story the other day. Three ladies were once dis- 
 cussing who had the prettiest hands. One washed her hands in 
 milk, and so she said hers were the prettiest ; another dipped hers 
 in juice — she was picking strawberries — and they were all pink with 
 strawberry juice ; and the third was gathering violets, and her 
 hands were fragrant with the perfume of those beautiful flowers, 
 just then, up came a poor old widow body and she asked bread of 
 these ladies ; and they were so occupied with their beautiful hands 
 that they could not give any. Another woman was standing by. 
 Her hands were not beautiful, save by marks of honest toil among 
 them, but this humble woman gave to the poor widow what she 
 asked, and fed her and spoke kindly to her. Then the poor old 
 widow asked what the three ladies were disputing about, and they 
 said, " You shall decide who has the prettiest hands." She 
 looked at the milk-white hands and she said " No." She looked 
 at the pink hands and she said "No." She looked at the violet- 
 perfumed hands and she said "No." Then she turned to the 
 working woman, and taking her hands said, " The hands that are 
 beautiful are the hands that gave " (Matt. xxv. 34 — 40). — Rev. J. D. 
 Jones, M.A., B.D. 
 
 The " Sold again, Satan ! " illustration shows how 
 the preacher can help train the conscience of the child. 
 At the tenderest age the child begins to know the 
 difference between right and wrong, and has many a 
 battle to fight between inclination and desire, and the 
 sense of what is right, before conscience becomes the 
 
 91 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 ruling power of its life. There is a good deal of the 
 young animal about the child, and it has to learn that 
 its supremacy to the animal lies just in its possession 
 of the power to choose the good and reject the evil, 
 and that its character will grow stronger for each 
 victory over the selfishness and cruelty and meanness 
 that belong to the animal nature. Dean Farrar, in 
 a Westminster Abbey sermon, told a story that is 
 worth repeating : — 
 
 THE AWAKENING OF CONSCIENCE 
 
 This is the story told of the first awakening of conscience in one 
 who afterwards grew up to be an eminently brave and good man. 
 " When I was a child," he said, "about four years old, my father 
 led me by the hand to a distant part of the farm, but sent me home 
 alone. On my way I had to pass a little pond then spreading its 
 waters wide. A rhodora in full bloom, a rare flower in my 
 neighbourhood, and which grew only in that locality, attracted me 
 to the pond. I saw a little spotted tortoise sunning himself in the 
 shallow water at the root of the flaming shrub. I lifted the stick I 
 had in my hand to strike the harmless reptile, for though I had 
 never killed any creature, yet I had seen other boys out of sport 
 destroy birds and squirrels, and the like, and I felt a disposition to 
 follow their example. But all at once something checked my arm, 
 and a voice within me said, loud and clear, ' It is wrong ! ' I 
 held my uplifted stick in wonder at the new emotion, the con- 
 sciousness of an inward but involuntary check upon my own action, 
 until the tortoise and the rhodora both vanished from my sight. 
 I hastened home and told the tale to my mother, and asked her 
 what it was that said to me it was wrong. She wiped a tear from 
 her eye with her apron and said, ' My child, some may call it 
 ^conscience, but I prefer to call it the voice of God in the soul of 
 man. If you listen and obey it, then it will speak clearer and 
 clearer, and always guide you aright ; but if you turn a deaf ear 
 and disobey it, then it will fade out little by little and leave you all 
 in the dark, and without a guide. Your life depends on heeding 
 that little voice.' 
 
 93 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 This story may serve as an illustration of Genesis iii., the story 
 of the eating of the forbidden fruit ; and of Rom. vii. 21 — 24, 
 Paul's contrast of the " delight in the law of God after the inward 
 man," and the " other law of the members, warring against the 
 law of the mind." 
 
 There is an excellent illustration to enforce the duty 
 and the beauty of unselfishness, and the necessity of its 
 culture by children, in a sermon of Dr. N. Dwight 
 Hillis:— 
 
 " GIVE AND IT SHALL BE GIVEN" 
 
 Some scholars speak of this as a dark saying, an enigma, at best 
 a half truth. For others, the words, " Give, and it shall be given 
 unto you," are simple as sunshine. I can best state my own 
 interpretation of them by recalling an incident in the life of Agassiz. 
 When he was a boy of ten years he went with his mother to 
 Grindelwald. One day the woman and the child visited the Echo 
 Valley. Knowing that the boy had never heard the echo, the 
 mother told the child that for men there was an old man in the 
 mountain ; that for boys there was a boy who dwelt in the mountain, 
 who would answer any one who spoke to him. So the boy lifted 
 up his voice and cried aloud. At once the mountain echoed back 
 the greeting. Surprised, the child called out, " Who are you.''" 
 And the mountain answered, "Who are you .? " Irritated, Louis 
 Agassiz cried out, "I don't like you!" Straightway the voice 
 answered, '' I don't like you ! " The reply was too much. The 
 child's lips began to quiver and his eyes filled with tears. " I 
 think that is a very disagreeable boy ! " Then the mother took a 
 part in the controversy. She advised the child to give kind words 
 to the unseen stranger. But when he sent a kindly greeting the 
 stranger echoed the overture of friendship. When the child 
 offered to show his things to his new friend, the mountain echoed, 
 " I will show you my things." The boy gave one call, one cry, but 
 the mountain echoed it several times, in voices that grew ever 
 fainter and sweeter. For this is the way of God and Nature. 
 Give kindness, and kindness is received. Give disobedience, and 
 Nature answers with antagonism, (Luke vi. 38). — Dr. N. Dwight 
 Hillis. 
 
 93 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 Here are two other stories, from life, of the awakening 
 of youthful conscience : — 
 
 A GOOD CONSCIENCE 
 
 Frank Gordon was reckoned to be the most skilful player of peg- 
 in-the-ring of any boy in the town. Nine times out of ten he would 
 hit the top in the centre of the ring, and on more than one occasion 
 had split it in two. The game was at its height one day, and it 
 was Frank's turn. He told the boys to keep a sharp look out on 
 the top in the ring, as he meant to split it ; but as he wound the 
 string round his top he did not notice that it had got slightly 
 twisted, and when he hurled the top with all his might, instead of 
 hitting the one in the ring it jerked back over his shoulder, and 
 went crashing through a grocer's shop window. ' There were seven 
 boys standing round the ring when Frank took aim, but when the 
 grocer, who hurried to the door, arrived there, there was not a boy 
 to be seen anywhere. They had all disappeared in different direc- 
 tions. Frank got clear away along with the rest, and took refuge 
 in a stable. He had only been there a few minutes when the 
 thought struck him that it was a very mean, shabby thing he was 
 doing, and for ten minutes a mighty struggle went on in his heart. 
 He felt that it was his duty to go right back and acknowledge to 
 the grocer that it was he who had broken the window. ^ Then 
 something seemed to whisper in his ear, telling him what a donkey 
 he was to dream of such a thing. Let the grocer find it out if he 
 could ; if not, there would be an end to the matter. Then his 
 conscience seemed to tell him that that was cowardly and wicked, 
 and so the struggle went on. Finally, he decided that he would 
 do what he felt to be the right thing. He went back to the grocer's 
 shop and confessed, and undertook to pay the damage if the grocer 
 would only give him time. It swallowed up his pocket-money for 
 a good many weeks, but he went bravely through it. Some of the 
 boys chaffed, and declared what a silly he was ; but in after years 
 Frank came to see that it was the great crisis of his life. He had 
 many a fierce struggle between right and wrong after that, but 
 each victory gained made it all the easier next time (l Tim. i. 19) 
 — William Ward. 
 
 94 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 GODLINESS BEFORE GAIN 
 
 It was a great day at the school, when the result of several com- 
 petitions was to be declared, the chief of which was a gold medal 
 to be awarded to the finest penman in the school. The mayor of 
 the town was to be there to distribute the prizes and awards. The 
 gold medal for the best penman was to be held back to the last. 
 There was deathly silence among the boys and their friends when 
 the head master rose to announce the award. He declared that 
 the judges had had very great difficulty in deciding between the 
 merits of two of the competitors. Every page of each of their 
 copy-books had been written with great care and had followed the 
 copy almost perfectly. There was one page, however, in one of 
 the books that was so superior to any other that the judges had 
 decided that the gold medal should go to this one, and he called 
 upon William Lake to step forward to receive the medal. William 
 came up with a beating heart amid the plaudits of his school 
 fellows. Instead, however, of going right up to the mayor to 
 receive the medal, he went to the head master and asked if he 
 might be allowed to see the special page to which he had referred. 
 The copy-book was produced, and when the boy examined it he 
 turned to the master and said, '* That is not my writing, sir. One 
 day the copy-books got mixed; I got Frank Johnson's book and 
 he got mine ; that is Frank's writing." " Oh ! '•* said the master, 
 "that alters the case." The judges then put their heads together 
 and decided that the medal must go to Frank. Frank was called 
 up and received the medal at the hands of the mayor. Many of 
 the boys subsequently called Willie a great booby for having acted 
 as he did, but in after years he came to look upon what he did that 
 day as one of the best things he ever did in his life (i Tim. i. 19). 
 — ^WiLLiAM Ward. 
 
 Every child is a hero-worshipper. His first hero and 
 heroine are his father and mother, the noblest and 
 cleverest man, and the kindest and most beautiful 
 woman, in the world. Turn his hero-worship to good 
 account. Let Jesus be presented as the Hero of heroes, 
 who loved the children, and came into the world to set 
 
 95 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 them an example of how they may rise to the noblest 
 heights of manhood and womanhood, by walking in 
 His footsteps. The talker to children cannot do better 
 than take some Christian hero or heroine, some mis- 
 sionary, statesman, or Christian soldier or sailor, some 
 man or woman who has done noble things and lived the 
 life heroic, in whatever station of life, and hold up that 
 man, or that woman, as an example to be imitated, 
 telling as dramatically as possible stories of their deeds. 
 Let the children learn that heroism is not limited to 
 the doing of doughty deeds, but that there are heroes 
 and heroines of faith and noble endurance. Some 
 illustrations follow: — 
 
 THE HERO CARDINAL 
 
 I stood one day in a crypt in Milan Cathedral, before a tomb 
 which was richly bespangled with gold and silver and precious 
 stones. It was the tomb of a man who had been dead three hundred 
 years and more, but it was like a wedding-chamber. His body 
 had been embalmed ; it lay in a coffin with a glass lid, and the 
 tomb was simply covered with precious jewels. Once every 
 year the children and people of Milan march in procession to this 
 cathedral and round this crypt, singing a memorial song and a 
 song of grateful gladness to the Lord ; for this man. Carlo 
 Borromeo, three hundred years ago, when the black plague visited 
 Milan, and priests and parents and merchants and princes were 
 flying to the hills, and the children were left behind — this man 
 stayed at home and gathered the children together, three hundred 
 and seventy of them, and turned the cathedral into a Sunday- 
 school teacherate — even a nobler occupation ! — and the people 
 could not let him die (John xxi. 15).— Dr. C. A. Berry. 
 
 THE MIGHT OF SILENT PRAYER 
 
 Long, long ago, when the preaching friars were in this land 
 carrying the Gospel to the ignorant, neglected multitude with great 
 
 g6 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 demonstration of power, it was the custom to send out these mis- 
 sionaries two by two as in the early disciples' days ; and it came 
 to pass that one of these preachers, who -was renowned for his gift 
 of utterance, for the converting grace that was upon his lips, was 
 sent out with a blind brother, well-nigh speechless, who never 
 uttered a word, but simply stood or knelt by the side of the gifted 
 one and gazed in silent prayer. The people often wondered why 
 one so gifted had been sent out with one so apparently useless, 
 and the preacher himself often asked why they two had been so 
 unequally yoked together. It came to pass one day that a great 
 multitude were assembled, and the speaker spoke with unusual 
 inspiration. The crowd was moved just as a cornfield is swept 
 before the wind. Men, women, and children were crying under 
 conviction, and the preacher was lifted up and perhaps exalted 
 above measure by the triumph which his words had gained. In 
 his rapture he looked up and cried, " Sun of God, shine on us ! 
 Jesus, Saviour, shine on us!" And suddenly the heavens were 
 opened and from the Great White Throne there came a shaft of 
 pure heavenly light which fell upon the face of the blind brother, 
 the face that was uplifted in silent prayer, making it beautiful with 
 the very glory of the Lord ; and then the light passed to the 
 preacher's face and played in sacred fire about his lips, and then 
 from that face to the faces of all the crowd. So did they learn, and 
 so did the preacher himself know, that the power which they had 
 all felt and enjoyed had come straight from Heaven in answer to 
 the silent prayers, and had come first to the humble brother, and 
 passed from him to the preacher and the multitude (Matt. xxi. 22). 
 —Rev. J. G. Greenhough, M.A. 
 
 FOLLOWING CHRIST 
 
 You remember the old story of the Scottish knight, with the 
 king's heart in a golden casket, who, beset by crowds of dusky, 
 turbaned unbelievers, slung the precious casket into the serried ranks 
 of the enemy, and with the shout, " Lead on, brave heart ; I follow 
 thee ! " cast himself into the thickest of the fight, and lost his Hfe 
 that he might save it. And so, if we have Christ before us, we 
 shall count no path too perilous that leads us to Him, but rather, 
 hearing Him say, " If any man serve Me, let him follow Me," we 
 
 97 G 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 shall walk in His footsteps and fight the good fight, sustained by 
 His example (Matt. xvi. 24). — Dr. Maclaren. 
 
 Illustrations that catch and hold the attention of 
 children may be got out of their play. From their play 
 many lessons may be deduced — the necessity of good 
 temper, "fair play," co-operation, training for endurance 
 and skill, mutual encouragement, and so on. To 
 exemplify the use that may be made of play, I give 
 here the outline of an address by my friend Mr. Basil 
 Mathews, B.A. 
 
 LET'S PRETEND I 
 
 What sport you can have playing " Let's Pretend." At home, 
 with an old orange-box, a tea-tray, a comb covered with paper, a 
 nightgown and a clothes-prop we can play pirates or the band in 
 the park, " chapels," or St. George charging the dragon water-butt 
 with the clothes-prop spear. Every time you girls play with your 
 dolls you play " Let's Pretend," with yourself as mother and the 
 dolly as baby. Quote Robert Louis Stevenson's " Block City " and 
 " Land of Story Books " from his " Child's Garden of Verses." 
 The best verse is : — 
 
 * Let the sofa be mountains, the carpet be sea. 
 There I'll establish a city for me, 
 A kirk and a mill and a palace beside. 
 
 And a harbour as well where my vessels may ride." 
 
 Jesus used to stand in the market-place and watch children play- 
 ing " Let's Pretend." And when some children said " Let's play 
 at funerals" and "Let's play at weddings" some of the others 
 wouldn't. Jesus said that was like some nasty grown-up people. 
 Jesus didn't like spoil-sports (Luke vii. 32). 
 
 The other day I saw scores of boys and even grown-up men at 
 a railway station going away to play " Let's Pretend " for a whole 
 week. The day before those boys and men had been office-boys, 
 errand-boys and schoolboys, clerks and shopmen. But now they 
 had smart little hats on one side of their heads, belts roiind their 
 
 98 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 waists and some had fifes and drums. They were the boys' brigade 
 going to camp like soldiers. They went to a great open field by the 
 sea with lovely bell-tents where seven of you sleep in a circle on 
 straw palliasses with your toes to the central pole and earwigs 
 crawling over you. Then the stars twinkle and the sea-waves 
 come on the beach with a " hushshshsh " till you go off to sleep. 
 
 In the morning a bugle is blown, you look out and rub your eyes 
 and see how fine the weather is. Then you roll up your straw 
 mattresses and fold the blankets while some boys get the 
 breakfast and then wash up — all of you enjoying the things you 
 are too lazy to do at home. Then you all meet in a big tent for 
 morning prayers, and thank God for the roaring sea, the birds and 
 flowers, the fields and the open sky. Then you have drill and play 
 games. 
 
 While you are playing " Let's Pretend " at camp you find that 
 it isn't a bit brave and soldier-like to lounge along the street with 
 a cane, a cigarette and a high collar, but that it is true courage to 
 hold up your head, throw back your shoulders, tell the truth, look 
 the world in the face and love and serve God and your fathers and 
 mothers. You are iust going to sing 
 
 ** Soldiers of Christ, arise ! 
 And put your armour on." 
 
 Shall we do that ? Let's ! We shall have even a jollier time 
 than they do in camp if you put on as Paul says (Eph. vi. lo -i8) 
 the belt of truth, the breastplate of goodness, peace for shoes, faith 
 in your Captain Jesus as a shield. His salvation as your soldier's 
 helmet, and in the grip of your fist the sword of the Spirit. 
 
 Girls, do you think that leaves you out ? (Tell the story of 
 Florence Nightingale.) The other day I saw a great hall full of 
 children. When a piano played a boy fell down as if he were 
 wounded. Some girls ran in with a stretcher and bandaged him 
 so beautifully that I wished I had a broken leg, a dislocated 
 shoulder, a sprained wrist and a black-eye to be bandaged. 
 They were playing a Florence Nightingale "Let's Pretend" at 
 their Life Brigade. 
 
 Do you ever feel as if there's a bruise right inside you when 
 somebody has been nasty to you ? You look at father's face when 
 he comes home at night and you'll see he feels like that sometimes. 
 
 99 G 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 He wants the ointment of little girls' kisses and to be bandaged 
 with loving hugs. Can't we be Jesus' Life- Brigade girls while the 
 boys are soldiers of Christ ? God wants a City in which the boys 
 and girls will be playing in the streets (Zech. viii. 5). 
 
 The illustration that follows shows what use may be 
 made of children's sports : — 
 
 RUNNING TO OBTAIN 
 
 There were seven of them on the line — five boys and two girls. 
 It was the Sunday school treat in the big field, and after tea there 
 were races. *' One, two, three and away ! " Off they go ! They 
 have to turn round a teacher fifty yards away and return to the 
 starting point. Soon Jim Tomkins and Pollie Jones take the lead, 
 and keep it nearly to the teacher. Then Pollie breaks the mock 
 pearl necklace she is wearing and, girl-like, stops to pick up the 
 pearls, and runs no more. Tomkins has turned the teacher, but 
 he pulls up suddenly, nearly doubled with pain. At tea he had 
 thoroughly enjoyed himself — three buns, very large and very new, 
 and heaps of bread and butter ! A wiry little chap, Jack Smith, 
 and a short chubby-cheeked girl, Maggie Peters, were now leading. 
 Jack had been sparing at tea, saving his buns till the racing was 
 over. He had been practising running for a fortnight. Maggie had 
 taken off her hat and jacket, and had on a pair of light running 
 boots. She had no necklace on to break. She had started steadily, 
 saving herself for a final spurt. The other boys were seen to be 
 *' out of it." It was fine to see the splendid finish of Jack and 
 Maggie, who were cheered with "Go it, Jack ! " " Go on, Maggie ! " 
 by their admirers. Neither could pass the other, and they crossed 
 the line a dead heat. Jack's prize was a pocket-knife that was his 
 joy and pride till he went to work, and Maggie took home a 
 splendid doll which she called " Wendy," after the heroine in 
 "Peter Pan." Both had "run so that they might obtain," and 
 had " laid aside every weight " to " run the race that was set before 
 them" (i Cor. ix. 24 ; also Heb. xii. i). 
 
 Two illustrations are added as the contribution of a 
 minister who is very happy in his talks to children : — 
 
 100 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Children 
 
 THE FACE OF JESUS 
 
 At one place where I preached on a very hot Sunday the con- 
 gregation were very sleepy except one little girl, who was gazing 
 at me and listening most intently. I preached to her, and she 
 helped me so much that the congregation woke up and we all had 
 what we preachers call *' a good time." I did not know the little 
 girl, but some time after, when I was preaching at the same place, 
 I was told she was not there. Just as I was leaving, however, her 
 father told me his daughter was very ill, and not expected to live, 
 and he begged me to go and see her. I went and found it was my 
 little friend, and to my surprise I found she was stone blind, but 
 somehow her eyes had kept their brilliance. I chatted with her 
 and sang a hymn, and then I said, ** You are not going to be long 
 here now, dearie. But you are not afraid to die, are you ? " And 
 the old smile lighted up her face as she replied, *' Oh, dear, no, 
 sir ! Don't you know that in Heaven I shall see f^"* And soon the 
 Lord's angel came and took her away, and Jesus said once more 
 " Ephphatha " : Be opened. And the first thing she ever saw was 
 the wondrous face of the great King, and the Palace Beautif .i 
 (Rev. xxii. 4).— Rev. Samuel Horton. 
 
 GOD RESISTETH THE PROUD 
 
 One day as I lay in a wood I heard a strange voice speaking. 
 It was a tall foxglove which grew on a sunny bank. It was 
 addressing a violet, and this is what it said : '* Oh ! you poor wee 
 mite ! why don't you grow tall like me, and then you would be seen 
 and admired ? Nobody sees you down there, and if it were not 
 for your perfume we should not know of your existence." Before 
 the violet could reply a young man came along the path swinging 
 a stick which struck the stalk of the foxglove and cut off its head. 
 As it lay by the side of the violet the latter said : *' Had you been 
 content to be small and humble, as I, you might have had a 
 happier fate " (James iv. 6). — Rev. Samuel Horton. 
 
 The Bible itself is a splendid book of stories, and the 
 talker to the children who knows how to dramatise will 
 always capture their interest by some vividly-told story 
 
 lOI 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 of Joseph or David, oi Peter or Paul, or of Jesus 
 Himself. Children have their favourites among the 
 characters of the Bible, and their favourites are the 
 men and the women and the children who did things, 
 and left themselves an everlasting name 
 
 102 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 ILLUSTRATION OF ADDRESSES TO MEN 
 
 The Brotherhood and the Adult School movements 
 are now gathering in, every Sunday, between six hundred 
 and seven hundred thousand men. The methods of 
 the two movements differ, but they attract the same 
 types of men, and in each movement one of the chief 
 attractive elements is the homely and practical nature 
 of the expositions of Scripture, and treatment of various 
 questions affecting individual and social morals, from 
 the Christian standpoint. The address to men differs 
 from the sermon in several particulars. It is not 
 usually attached to a text, it deals less with the gene- 
 ralities of religion and more with its particular appli- 
 cations. It is free and easy in style, and it gives full 
 play to whatever sentiment and humour there may be 
 in the speaker. The address to men, like the address 
 to children, must take account of the psychology of the 
 hearers. These will generally be working men, who 
 have had only the elementary school education, who 
 are working long hours daily, in occupations that are 
 usually humdrum and not of a kind to quicken their 
 intelligence. They have many difficulties and tempta- 
 tions, they are mostly family men, or young fellows who 
 are looking forward to having homes of their own. 
 Their presence at the Adult School or Brotherhood 
 
 103 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 meeting shows that they are interested in religion, that 
 they feel they need all the support that religion can 
 give them, and it testifies to their sense of the need and 
 value of comradeship in living a religious life. 
 
 The speaker to men must be intensely sympathetic. 
 He is not to talk down to them as if they were grown- 
 up children. He is to credit them with intelligence 
 — and intelligence highly developed many of these men 
 have, even without the advantage of much education. 
 He is to talk to them in a manly, brotherly way, with 
 that shrewd knowledge of the ways into their mind and 
 heart which only intimate association or sympathetic 
 intuition can give. The speaker to men will find that 
 religion as theology only faintly interests them. It is 
 religion as life, religion as work, religion as helpful, 
 religion as warfare against the enemies of purity and 
 justice, religion as presenting to them a Father in Heaven 
 and a Christ who is their Elder Brother, and who came 
 that all men might be brethren, to which they enthu- 
 siastically rally. Rehgion on its human side, with its 
 romance, its heroism, its drama, its self-sacrifice, its 
 poetry, its colour : religion that takes the whole of life 
 for its province, that sanctifies every day of the week, 
 and every occupation and interest of life, is what appeals 
 to these men. The speaker needs to be very open- 
 minded, very human-hearted, very catholic in his 
 interests, with intimate and varied knowledge of 
 humanity, who addresses such meetings. He will soon 
 find that his addresses must have " body " — that is, they 
 must deal concretely with definite subjects, and not 
 lose themselves in vague generalities. The men are 
 
 104 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Men 
 
 willing and eager to be taught, and if they are sent 
 empty away they keenl}^ resent the waste of their time. 
 They like to hear a man who knows something, and 
 can speak with authority about things of which they 
 know little or nothing themselves, and they will listen 
 attentively to a speaker who is not very bright if he is 
 communicating facts to them, and giving them food for 
 thought and for conversation among themselves after- 
 wards. They do love, however, to hear a speaker who 
 has the gift of story-telling, who knows how to point 
 his moral with a tale or an illustration drawn from 
 human nature, from natural history or from mechanical 
 processes with which they are familiar. A Midland 
 Brotherhood listened with all its ears to the principal of 
 a theological college who discoursed to them on the 
 romance of the manuscripts of the New Testament. 
 They were keenly interested as he told them of 
 ** palimpsests " — writings of the New Testament, 
 written over the faded or partly rubbed out MSS. of 
 secular works, prorane tales, lives of the Saints or 
 commentaries of earlier writers — as he explained the 
 difference between "uncial" and "cursive" writing. 
 The principal drew lessons from the palimpsests, uncials, 
 and cursives, and the men went away feeling that they 
 had had a royal feast. 
 
 I have said that the speaker to men can give free 
 play to his humour and sentiment. The Rev. F. B. 
 Meyer, B.A., is first favourite among ministers as a 
 speaker to men. He has told how he was born without 
 humour in his composition, but he came to realise that 
 humour is a means of grace. It opens the heart of a 
 
 10=^ 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 man which is closed to all serious appeal because 
 humour is " the touch of Nature that makes the whole 
 world kin," and so Mr. Meyer cultivated the faculty of 
 humour, with what successful results all who hear him 
 are pleasantly aware. A speaker who can tell a 
 humorous story or illustrate a point with a humorous 
 analogy can convey much-needed warnings to men 
 about their faults and foibles, which they would 
 probably resent if the admonitions were given in a 
 solemn lecturing fashion. Here is a story that has done 
 excellent service in my own addresses to men, and has 
 never failed to make its effect ; — 
 
 RECLAIMED TO HOME LIFE 
 
 In one of his amusing and sympathetic stories of working life in 
 London, Mr. W. Pett Ridge tells how a working man, who was a 
 merry companion at the " Pig and Whistle," startled his wife one 
 evening by spending the evening at home. He liked it so much 
 that he did the same thing the next night, though during the day he 
 had to threaten he would knock down the next man who referred to 
 his absence from the "Pig and Whistle" and accused him of 
 being a teetotaller. "Reminds me," he said to his wife on the 
 second evening, " of our old courting times. 'Appy days ! 'Appy 
 days ! Not too late for them to come again." They had no 
 children. Her sister had nine — blessings are very unequally dis- 
 tributed in this world. She had wanted to adopt one of the nine, 
 and he had refused, but on this second evening of restored domes- 
 ticity he announces that he is in favour of the idea of taking one, 
 and calls " Hands up, all who vote for the resolution. All !" he 
 announced jovially. "Carried! Now, is there anything else.'"' 
 *' I wish — I wish, Thomas, that every woman had as good a 
 husband as I've got." "After you," he said in a husky voice; 
 " after you with the handkerchief." 
 
 This story makes its direct appeal to the domestic 
 
 sentiment of the working man, and the speaker to men 
 
 io6 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Men 
 
 need never be afraid of wearing his heart upon his 
 sleeve in the matter of the display of sentiment provided 
 it is healthy sentiment ; and all sentiment that makes 
 for the strengthening and sw^eetening of home life is 
 healthy sentiment. With all fiction, all poetry, and his 
 own observation of home life and of the ways of men, 
 women, and children to draw upon, the speaker to men 
 ought to have little difficulty in keeping up a supply of 
 telling domestic illustrations. The Brotherhoods and 
 Adult Schools themselves afford many illustrations to 
 speakers who know their work. They have drawn men 
 in who, before they were brought back under the 
 influence of religion, had not attended any place of 
 worship for many years, and made sad messes of their 
 lives for lack of the moral support and guidance that 
 religion gives. There are few Brotherhoods and Schools 
 that have not trophies, in the shape of men who had 
 wasted their lives, and neglected their homes, with 
 terrible and tragic results. Men have been pointed out 
 to me in many meetings whose homes had been little 
 hells upon earth, whose wives trembled and turned pale 
 at the sound of the husband's staggering steps at the 
 door, and whose children, at the sound of the father's 
 drunken oaths, hid their frightened heads under the bed- 
 clothes, but in the Brotherhood or School they "came to 
 themselves " ; their lives were transformed, their warm- 
 hearted comrades helped to make new men of them, 
 and their homes were changed into little heavens here 
 below. The men listen eagerly to stories of such trans- 
 formations, as illustrative of the power of the Gospel 
 and the power of Brotherhood. A speaker need not 
 
 107 / 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 be afraid of putting his teaching into the concrete 
 form of such a story, though he will, of course, avoid 
 any indication of the man whose story he is telling. 
 
 An appeal to chivalry in the men's meeting, illus- 
 trated by a romantic mediaeval story or a " modern 
 instance " of chivalrous conduct, is always heard with 
 approval, and makes its deep impression. There is 
 need for the revival of chivalry among the men of all 
 classes. Chivalry means gentleness of heart combined 
 with manly courage, it means the tender concern of the 
 strong for the weak, the suffering, and the oppressed, 
 and it means the respect which the true man always 
 pays to womanhood and childhood. Here is another 
 story from a famous living novelist that has been a 
 favourite at men's meetings : — 
 
 CHIVALRY 
 
 There is a fine imaginative portrait of a mediaeval knight in the 
 Sir Nigel Loring of Sir Conan Doyle's fourteenth-century romance, 
 " The White Company." Sir Nigel lived in his castle at Christ- 
 church with his lady, a gaunt, forbidding woman, harsh of feature 
 and figure, with a sharp tongue and yet a warm heart. Sir Nigel, 
 because she was a woman and his wife, elevated her to a pedestal 
 of honour which, to us in our prosaic days, seems absurd. He 
 regarded his lady as the most beautiful and the most virtuous lady 
 living, and was prepared to defend her name for beauty and virtue 
 against any man who dared to say that his lady or any other lady 
 excelled Sir Nigel's lady. The lady herself one day, when he was 
 praising her beauty, said that people would laugh at him for 
 doing so. Sir Nigel bade his trusty squire to take particular note 
 of anybody who ventured to smile when he was vaunting his lady's 
 beauty and he would have debate with the rash man, and by 
 debate Sir Nigel meant a bout with broadsword or lance. When 
 Sir Nigel was leading his White Company to the coast to embark 
 for the wars in France and Spain, his lady rode with him part of 
 
 io8 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Men 
 
 the way. When they came to the place where she was to turn 
 back, Sir Nigel bent low in his saddle, kissed her gloved hand, 
 begged for the glove, and attached it to his cap to wear through 
 his campaigns. — H. Jeffs. 
 
 Modern chivalry includes zeal for social reform that 
 will rescue the victims of a fiercely competitive system 
 of industry from conditions that stunt manhood and 
 womanhood, and prevent the healthy development of 
 the faculties of mind and heart, and by demoralising 
 the individual tend to the corruption of society. The 
 speaker to men cannot avoid touching on questions of 
 social and moral reform, but he will do little good if he 
 is not primed with facts and cannot illustrate every 
 point by a statement of facts, and by vividly-told stories 
 picturing the conditions — and the ruin wrought by the 
 conditions on the manhood, the womanhood, and the 
 childhood living in them. Mr. William Ward, the lay 
 speaker who is most in demand at Brotherhood meet- 
 ings the country over, makes his strong impression on 
 the men by the building up of his addresses from facts 
 he has carefully collected, and then putting the facts 
 in the strong light of the teaching of the prophets and 
 the teaching of Jesus. No one illustrates his facts by 
 Scripture, and his Scripture by his facts, more effectively 
 than Mr. William Ward, and he is easily first among 
 Brotherhood speakers in the use he makes of illustra- 
 tions culled from the poets. The men at such meetings 
 like poetry that has the prophetic note and the note of 
 optimism in it. Mr. Ward's two books, *' How Can I 
 Help England ? " and " Religion and Labour," contain 
 collections of addresses that are models of the art of 
 practical illustration. Mr. Ward does not deal much 
 
 109 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 in stories as stories, but there is a story in the intro- 
 duction to " Religion and Labour " which is perfect 
 for the purpose for which it was intended. 
 
 A LESSON IN THE SEWERS 
 
 A short time ago one of the members of the London County 
 Council brought forward a resolution which, if passed, would have 
 pledged the Council to pay to the whole of the workmen in their 
 employ a minimum wage of thirty shillings per week. The proposal 
 met with strenuous opposition and, on being put to the vote, was 
 lost. In arguing in favour of his resolution, the Labour member 
 had pleaded particularly on behalf of the men employed in the 
 sewers. He contended that these men needed special considera- 
 tion, owing to the dangerous and disagreeable character of their 
 occupation and the value of their work to the community. He was 
 astounded to find that his proposal to better the condition of the men 
 did not receive the support of a member who was well known as a 
 man of high character, actuated by lofty and noble motives, and 
 prominently identified with the philanthropic life of London. The 
 Labour member was at a loss to understand how such a man 
 could hesitate to support a resolution that meant doing so simple 
 an act of justice, and he determined to find out the reason, which 
 he discovered was lack of knowledge concerning the nature of the 
 duties, and a lack of serious consideration ; also that the sewer 
 men were already receiving the rate of pay ordinarily given to men 
 for doing this class of work. " Do you know what kind of work it 
 is ? " asked the Labour member. ** Have you ever been down a 
 sewer?" He laughingly repHed that he had not. " Well, then," 
 said the Labour member, " will you come with me down one of 
 the sewers and see for yourself the kind of work these men do, 
 often while you and I are asleep. After you have seen it, if you 
 still think it is not worth thirty shillings a week, I'll admit that you 
 were justified in voting against it." What could an honourable man 
 do but accept the challenge ? Arrangements were accordingly made, 
 and guided by one of the sewermen, the excursion was undertaken. 
 They descended a sewer through a manhole in Russell Square. 
 They waded through indescribable filth and had to protect them- 
 selves with stout sticks from the innumerable rats with which the 
 
 no 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Men 
 
 sewers were infested. Sometimes they were able to get along 
 fairly comfortably with stooping a little, but in some parts the 
 sewer was so low they had to stoop considerably, and travelling 
 was particularly painful and slow, and on one occasion our friend, 
 who is six feet in height, got wedged in one of the four- feet six-inch 
 drains. Every now and then an unexpected rush of water would 
 invade the sewer, and he often wondered if he would get out alive. 
 After wading through it for at least an hour, and having travelled 
 upwards of a mile, they emerged through a manhole in Clerken- 
 well. " Well," said the Labour member, when they saw daylight 
 once more, " is it worth thirty shillings a week ? " He gasped, " I 
 wouldn't do it for thirty pounds a week. I shall support your 
 resolution next time you bring it on." And he did, If you ask 
 him why he changed his mind, he will tell you he did it on religious 
 grounds. 
 
 One invaluable result of the Brotherhood and Adult 
 School movements is their bringing into " the fighting 
 line " of distinguished men in various walks of life such 
 as Sir Oliver Lodge, Mr. Jerome K. Jerome and 
 Mr. Arthur Henderson, M.P., v^ho in their various ways 
 present religion in its practical aspects, and by their 
 mere presence and speech at the meetings make an 
 immense impression by dissipating the notion that men 
 of science, literature and affairs have rejected religion. 
 From a Brotherhood address of Sir Oliver Lodge I 
 quote an extract, and add a little sheaf of illustrations 
 of the kind to which men eagerly listen. 
 
 A PARABLE OF THE POLES 
 
 The way to warm up tbe Arctic Ocean, and melt all the ice there, 
 and make the land inhabitable, would be to submerge the Antarctic 
 continent. Why ? Whit is that Antarctic continent ? It is a 
 tremendous area, abou', one-fortieth of the whole circumference 
 of the globe, it is said, and it is piled up with snow and ice, moun- 
 tains high ; there is a mountain as high as Mont Blanc at the fringe, 
 
 III 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 and in the interior it is very much higher. That means an immense 
 volume, and what would be the effect if that became liquid and 
 came into the sea ? If that snow and ice disappeared the ocean 
 would rise. Moreover, by its gravitative attraction — I do not know 
 whether everyone will follow this, but you know that all matter 
 attracts all other matter by gra\'itative attraction, and if the sea is 
 kept piled up in the southern hemisphere in that frozen condition it 
 is much higher than it would otherwise be. If that Antarctic 
 continent disappeared, subsided, was submerged, all that water, 
 not only the water packed up as snow, but the water of 
 the ocean, attracted by this gravitative attraction, would be 
 released and flow up here, and some of our lowlands would be 
 submerged. In addition, the Antarctic Ocean would be no longer 
 land-locked ; a hot- water circulation from the tropics would belaid 
 on. and the Arctic ice would disappear. If I have made that quite 
 dear, I only mean it as a parable — you cannot have even the 
 North Pole isolated from the South Pole ; what happens to one 
 affects the other. It may affect it for good, or it may be for iU, but 
 it affects it. So it is with us. Our life cannot be isolated. Whether 
 we are millionaires, or whatever we are, we are bound up with the 
 rest of the human race, and if one member suffer, all suffer with 
 him (i Cor. xii 26}. — Sir Oliver Lodge. 
 
 SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE BAND 
 
 WTiat was the matter with the orchestra ? Usually it was in fine 
 form, playing with exhilarating spirit and the delicacy of expression 
 and light and shade that revealed men who had music in their 
 souls. There was a splendid conductor, who wielded a baton that 
 the men watched, and he infused his own rapture in the music 
 into the band. That afternoon, however, nobody paid any 
 attention to the baton. It seemed as if an evil spirit had 
 entered into every man — a spirit of disobedience, of jealousv, of 
 self-will. A programme of pieces had been arranged, but nobody 
 troubled about the programme. Each man chose his own favourite 
 solo, and they all played their solos at once, each getting the 
 greatest noise possible out of his instrument so as to dro-^Mi the 
 efforts of his companions. The big drummer brought his stick 
 down with thunderous " booms " on the beats of the " Marseil- 
 laise," the comet blared out '" The Lost Chord," the trombonist 
 
 112 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Men 
 
 nearly split his cheeks v.-ith a noisy bit of the " Tannhauser " 
 overture, the man vrith the piccolo shrilled out -with ear-piercing 
 gusto "The Campbells are coming," the little drum kept up a 
 continuous mad tattoo. Each man was playing music, but the net 
 result was a Bedlam discord '"' Sweet bells jacgled out of tune"' 
 were nothing to it \Miat had happened ? ^^Tiy, they had ceased 
 to be '• brethren dwelling together in unity " ; there was no longer 
 any unit>- of the musical faith and spirit ; they had said to each 
 other, about the conductor, " vre will not have this man to reign 
 over us." Even-body put his hands to his ears and fed from the 
 hall. The ston-, of course, is a parable. In industrial life, in 
 political life, in family life, in church life, we hear the same 
 horribly discordant music because those who should '•' dwell 
 together in unity " of affection and in lo\-ing obedience to Christ 
 the great example, are fighting and intriguing for their own selfish 
 ends, and a world that should be filled with heavenly harmony is 
 filled with clashing discords that send shivers through the soul that 
 has become sensitive to heavenly song and symphony. Let us call 
 a silence, and look to Jesus, and obey His bdian. " Let earth and 
 heaven agree, angels and men be joir.ed to celebrate with me the 
 Saviour of Mankind" fPs. cxxxiii. i ; also Eph, iv. 3 — 13). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 GOD'S HIDDEN TREASURE 
 
 Two or three years ago it was my pri\41ege to stand opwDn one of 
 
 the most interesting spots on the eanh's surface, on the lid of the 
 world's great diamond vault in Kimberiey. There beneath my feel 
 were uncounted treasures, and yet only thirty years ago no one 
 believed there were any diamonds in Kimberiey ; in fact, it was 
 ridiculed by the wise geologists of the day, who said it was uneriy 
 impossible that diamonds should be found in Kimberiey, the 
 stratification of the soil was such, and the configuration of the 
 land was of such a nature, that it could not be that diamonds 
 were there. The few precious stones which had been found on 
 the surface of the earth there they thought must have been brought 
 by someone from a long distance in the interior, and somehow 
 dropped upon the soil there. Bu: as men began to dig beneath the 
 surface they found more diamonds, and as they went deej>er still 
 they found more diamonds still ; the deeper they have gone into 
 God's great diamond vault the larger are the diamonds and the more 
 
 113 H 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 precious and beautiful. When men got down into the yellow soil 
 beneath the surface they found more glittering gems, and when 
 they got into the diamondiferous blue they found greater treasures 
 still. God has been showing the world in this and a thousand 
 other ways what He is able to do. He can keep His diamond 
 vault sealed until the right moment comes ; for hundreds and 
 thousands of years He can padlock the vault, but the time comes 
 when His time is ripe, when the clock has struck, for the lid to be 
 lifted off, and for men's eyes to be dazzled by God's hidden treasure 
 (2 Chron. xxv. 9). — Dr. F. E. Clark. 
 
 KEEP OUT OF DEBT 
 
 " Owe no man anything." It is that young couple, and they 
 begin life on a competence — enough if they would be modest 
 in their requirements. But they have richer friends, and they think 
 the good things of the world are meant for them, too. Why should 
 they not have them ? And so they find themselves living beyond 
 their income. There are bills they cannot pay, and then begins 
 that long period of bondage, of misery, that sense of guilt, that 
 misery which comes when we cannot, and ought not to, look 
 people in the face. 
 
 *' No debtors' hands are clean, 
 However white they be ; 
 Who lives and pays his way 
 
 True gentleman is he " (Rom. xiii. 8). — Dr. Gore. 
 
 THE END OF THE UNRETURNED PRODIGAL 
 
 There was one born to a title, bearing a great name, beautiful 
 in outward seeming, a man for whom society waited, at whose feet 
 it was prepared to fall and proclaim him indeed a genius ; and he 
 expressed his genius in poetry that many still admire, and all then 
 thought wonderful. He expressed it in dolorous melodies, and by- 
 and-by in darker and more dismal numbers. He had a home that 
 could not satisfy ; he had affection, but too pure to be esteemed; he 
 had praises, but not loud and fulsome enough to be precious ; he 
 panted for vaster things, for an intenser life. And then he went 
 from his native shores, bidding them in his scorn, " Good-night," 
 and seeking, as he phrased it, " for change of scene, even the 
 
 114 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Men 
 
 shades below." In a moment of fired and transient heroism he 
 sprang to call an ancient people to arms, but sprang too late into 
 the ranks of the noble and chivalrous, and ere his sun had reached 
 its meridian he had to express the moral of his life in the miserable 
 stanza : 
 
 My days are in the yellow leat, 
 
 The fruits and flowers of love are gone ; 
 
 The worm, the casket and the grave 
 
 Are mine alone. 
 The light that on my bosom plays 
 Is like as some volcanic isle, 
 No torch is lighted at the blaze 
 But a funereal pile. 
 
 (Luke XV. 13).— Dr. A. M. Fairbairn. 
 
 DO YOUR OWN BIT OF WORK 
 
 On the walls of London lately a new kind of advertisement has 
 appeared. There is only a face and a hand and a foot — nothing 
 more. I never see that without thinking it resembles the life of a 
 young man. He sees a bit here and there of his destiny, but what 
 is to weld them together and fill in he does not see yet, but he 
 waits. If you cannot perceive you must trust, realising that God 
 is working out His plan in the little things of daily life. He does 
 not show you the whole, but gives you the glimpse of a bit. He 
 says : " Make that ; do yonder piece of work, which lies next to 
 your hand. Do not rush it, or slur it ; do your duty, and your 
 best." Thus, as every day we fulfil the day's demand, we fill in a 
 little more of the perfect plan, and suddenly one day, as we are 
 fulfilling some trivial round, it will prove the connecting link, and 
 we shall find all the disconnected fragments combined in perfect 
 symmetry, and exclaim : " I never saw it before, but I perceive 
 God's purpose in my life" (John ix. 4). — Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 STRENGTH MULTIPLIED IN COMRADESHIP 
 
 You know that large collection of errors, the multiplication table 
 It is as full of mistakes as it is of figures, but it contains no bigger 
 mistake than this, that twice one are simply two, and that ten times 
 one are ten. Nonsense ! Twice one now is not simply two, but 
 
 115 H 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 two plus their unity. Ten men working together, each man work- 
 ing heartily, what have you? You have ten times one man plus 
 the unity — plus the enthusiasm born of co-operation, plus all the 
 incalculable energies that are only born when heart is joined to 
 heart and soul is joined to soul (Eccles. ii. 9, 10).— Rev. J. Morgan 
 Gibbon. 
 
 CHRIST'S TRANSFORMING KISSES 
 
 There is an old wild legend that tells of how a knight found, 
 coiling round a tree in a dismal forest, a deathly dragon breathing 
 out poison ; and how, undeterred by its hideousness and foulness, 
 he cast his arms round it and kissed it on the mouth. Three times 
 he did it undisgusted, and at the third the shape changed into 
 a fair lady, and he won his bride. Christ " kisses with the kisses 
 of His mouth " His enemies, and m.akes them His friends because 
 He loves them (Song of Songs i. 2).— Dr. Maclaren. 
 
 ONE COURAGEOUS MAN 
 
 I remember in those memoirs of Napoleon which Lord Rosebery 
 has just lately brought before us and revived again in our minds* 
 Napoleon has one or two suggestions to offer about the successful 
 conduct of war, and there is one suggestion in these memoirs which 
 appeals to me as a very pertinent thing even in the life of the spirit. 
 Napoleon says : " There is a moment in every great war when the 
 bravest troops feel inclined to run ; it is the want of confidence in 
 their own courage," and then Napoleon says : " The supreme art of 
 generalship is to know just when that moment will come and to 
 provide for it. At Areola" — I am quoting the words exactly — " I 
 won the battle with twenty-five horsemen. I anticipated the 
 moment of fright and flight, and I had twenty-five men ready 
 of cool nerve and decision, and just at the appropriate moment 
 I turned the twenty-five into the host, and the battle was won." 
 Twenty-five men who had not lost their nerv'e brought back confi- 
 dence to a host who were inclined for fright and flight. The man 
 who was cool for fight brought back the hordes that were ready for 
 flight. Has that no analogy in the realm of the spirit ? One brave 
 member of a family may save the whole household from moral 
 perdition ; one young fellow in a warehouse may save all his mates 
 from the timidity which means hell ; one fine, brave lad in a school 
 
 116 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Men 
 
 — will the lads listen to this? — who will despise all meanness and 
 set his eyes upon the true and follow it, may gain a whole form for 
 the army of the Lord (Ps. xxvii. 14). — Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A. 
 
 THE EAGLE IN CAPTIVITY 
 
 I looked not long ago with genuine pity on a noble eagle, caged 
 in a public park, as an exhibition for schoolboys. The old grey 
 mountaineer felt its galling imprisonment and occasionally flapped 
 its wings as if it v;ere homesick for the skies. " Loose him and let 
 him go," was the thought inspired by the sorry sight, and how he 
 would have sailed off to fly in company with the sun ! Eagles were 
 not born for slavery. I thought, too, as I looked at the .chained 
 bird, how much he resembled some fettered souls, yes, some 
 Christian souls that are terribly tied down by unbelief. Too many 
 people have enrolled themselves in the Church — some have entered 
 the ministry — with a heavy clog that binds them to the lower earth. 
 It hampers them, hinders them, and is fatal to all spiritual joy or 
 growth in holiness (John xi. 44). —Dr. Cuyler. 
 
 THE FORCE OF GENTLENESS 
 
 I read a story not long ago about Richard Weaver, who was a 
 great Methodist evangelist. In his young days he was a great 
 pugilist. He was always getting drunk, and then quarrelling with 
 somebody, until he was hated and feared by all. But God touched 
 his heart, and then Richard Weaver became a changed man. He 
 was down the pit one day and saw a collier trying to take a boy's 
 waggon from him by force. " Tom," said Weaver to him, " you 
 mustn't take that waggon." The man swore at him and told him 
 he would push the waggon over him. But Weaver took hold of it, 
 and the man was unable to move it. '* I've a good mind to smack 
 thee on the face," said the angry collier. "Well," said Weaver, 
 *' if that will do thee any good, thou canst do it." And so he 
 struck him on the face. Five times he did it, and then turned away 
 cursing. And Weaver cried after him, " The Lord forgive thee, 
 for I do ! " That was on a Saturday. Monday came, and when 
 Weaver came back to work, with his face still bruised and swollen 
 from the blows he had received, the first man he met with was 
 Tom — the man who struck him. " Good morning, Tom," said 
 
 117 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 Weaver to him, but lie got no reply. Tom went down the pit 
 first ; when Weaver followed he found Tom waiting for him on the 
 waggon-way, and as soon as Weaver got up to him, he burst into 
 tears and said, " Richard, forgive me for striking you." " I have 
 forgiven thee," was Weaver's reply, and with that he gave him his 
 hand. Gentleness, you see, was repaid with gentleness (Luke vi. 29). 
 —Rev. J. D. Jones, M.A., B.D. 
 
 FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH 
 
 There was an old gatekeeper in the town of Yen Shan. He was 
 a very simple man, and nobody had ever credited him with very 
 special religious convictions, but he knew whom he had believed, 
 and when the Boxers came they set the old man in the middle and 
 began to torment him before they put him to death. They asked 
 him to sing to them, and in a quavering voice — for he had never 
 learned to sing — he began to sing " He leadeth me." And then at 
 the end they called for more, and he sang " Heaven is my home." 
 The man who told the story said it was the strangest scene — this 
 old man with the quavering voice, ringed round with faces that 
 were like fiends from hell, singing in their midst, " Heaven is my 
 home." And then they killed him (Rev. ii. 10). — Rev. C. Silvester 
 
 HORNE. 
 
 The growing success of the Brotherhoods and Adult 
 Schools is building up a bulwark of defence against the 
 attacks made on Sunday as a day of rest and worship. 
 I conclude this chapter with some illustrations of the 
 value of Sunday to the working man and the community 
 at large. 
 
 HOW SUNDAY CLEARS THE PATHS 
 
 Away in the Alps in the winter the snow falls, and in a very few 
 hours road and pathway and mountain track will be absolutely 
 blocked out, and if you force your way into the village and speak 
 to some of the country folk concerning it, they will smile and say, 
 "Wait until the people go to church on Sunday." And you wait, 
 and on Sunday you see, there from the house on the heights, there 
 from the chalet in the valley, moving dots that mean men dressed 
 
 118 
 
Illustration of Addresses to Men 
 
 in brown, or women clad in black, and all turn their steps to 
 a little church, whose bell echoes through the mountains and sends 
 its reverberations over the vastness of the snow-clad Alps ; and as 
 their paths converge together, the people tread the snow under foot 
 and trample it into firmness, so that those on the heights can come 
 down, and when Monday morning comes the paths and tracks 
 are open again, and sledges can go up and down in comfort. 
 
 My brethren, we also must learn a lesson from the people of the 
 whitened hills. We want to see to it that when we are seeking the 
 best and highest for ourselves, that which we do not only opens a 
 way for other people to follow us into the presence of Christ, but 
 that all that we do confers some benefit upon the common roads 
 and ordinary ways and everyday doings of humanity (Mark ii. 27). 
 — Rev. J. G. Stevenson. 
 
 SUNDAY enrich:\ient of all life 
 
 There is a myth concerning an old painter, that by a happy 
 chance he compounded one day a certain mordant, which, colour- 
 less itself, possessed the power of heightening every colour with 
 which it was mixed. By the help of his discovery, from being a 
 commonplace artist he rose to the position of a noted master. 
 His works were renowned for the marvellous brilliancy of their tints. 
 On his canvas were produced, in exactest hue, the waving emerald 
 of the forest, the silver gleam of the river, the rosy light of the 
 sunset, and the infinite azure of the sky. Everywhere and always 
 the charm of the picture was due to that colourless fuse of colour 
 which by its strange alchemy transfigured the crudeness and the 
 coarseness of the common tint. It is not mere ecclesiastical pre- 
 judice which asserts that the Christian Sabbath has silently and 
 similarly wrought vigour and attractiveness and power into our 
 modern life. All fair-minded judges pronounce it our social 
 mordant. Unrecognised in its workings, the Christian Sabbath 
 is the element that has wrought out the choice beauty of the things 
 of which we boast in our civilisation (Mark ii. 27), — Dr. D. Gregg. 
 
 SUNDAY AS A DISINFECTANT 
 
 There is a great humanising, disinfecting effect in our Sunday 
 services that in the aggregate it would be hard to compute. If 
 thousands of tons of quicklime were to be strewn in the gutters of 
 
 119 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 a plague-stricken city, a handful at a time, the purifying effect 
 would afford a good simile. I believe that if on Saturday night our 
 police judges could sentence to church those miserable objects that 
 appear in their courts on Monday morning, they would have no 
 occasion to hold police courts on Monday morning (Mark ii. 27). — 
 Rev. John F. Cowan. 
 
 SLAVES OF THE MINE 
 
 Years ago I paid a visit to the mining regions of Pennsylvania 
 at the time of a threatened strike. I said to one of the miners, 
 " Why don't you go out West, and take a farm and work there, 
 and be independent ?" He replied, ** We don't want to work out- 
 of-doors. We want to work down in the mines, where it is nice 
 and dark, and the sun doesn't shine, and it isn't hot, and when it 
 rains we are dry." When I see a man to whom God has said, 
 " You may have one day on the hilltop, where the birds are singing 
 and the sun is shining, and the heavens are full of the liberty of 
 the glory of the sons of God — when I see him sit down and read 
 the Sunday paper full of the news of the factory and the market, 
 and the turmoil and strife of politics, I think, " There is another 
 miner who doesn't care to live out-of-doors" (Exod. xx. 8). — 
 Dr. Lyman Abbott. 
 
 Z20 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 FLOWERS FROM OLD ENGLISH GARDENS 
 
 Illustrations are not plants that do well when 
 bedded out from the garden plots of an earlier age into 
 the preacher's garden of our own times. The best 
 illustrations are those that grow in the soil, and in 
 the atmosphere, of the time in which they are used. 
 Still it is interesting to study the preachers of former 
 times and to note their methods of illustration. The 
 sermon volumes of the eighteenth century are arid 
 reading. In the early part of that century the chilly 
 air of rationalism was fatal to the feeling which 
 generates illustrations. The appeal of the preachers 
 was to the head and not to the heart. There was no 
 mysticism in religion, no poetry, no New Jerusalem all 
 radiant with jasper walls and with foundations of 
 precious stones. As there was no deep feeling, senti- 
 ment and humour were alike lacking, for humour is the 
 sunny side of sentiment. Later in the eighteenth 
 century, when the ice of the long winter of rationalism 
 began to melt in the spring of the Evangelical Revival, 
 flowers began to bloom again in the preachers' gardens; 
 but Whitefield and John Wesley were far too intent on 
 getting souls saved to give much attention to the orna- 
 mentation of their sermons. We have to go back into 
 the seventeenth century to find preachers who were 
 masters of the art of illustration. Such masters there 
 
 121 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 were indeed even in the sixteenth century, when the 
 early Protestant preachers were making their messages 
 known to " the common people," to whom the open 
 Bible was a wonderful new revelation. Honest Hugh 
 Latimer, like Luther in Germany, was rich in homely 
 illustrations drawn from common life, and some- 
 times his illustrations were amazingly audacious. In 
 his famous " Card Sermon " he drew upon the pack of 
 cards and the gambling methods of the time to play a 
 winning game with the sinners whose souls he was 
 seeking. When denouncing the absenteeism of bishops 
 and clergy who were negligent shepherds, he held up to 
 them the devil as a model bishop who was always in 
 his diocese and always at work. Such illustrations 
 drove in his teaching as a hammer drives in nails, and 
 none who heard them could ever forget them. Let us 
 confine ourselves, however, to the seventeenth century. 
 A search through the volumes of the great Anglican 
 and Nonconformist preachers, down to the time when 
 the first chilly blasts of rationalism began to be felt, 
 discovers a rich store of illustrations racy of the soil in 
 which they were grown. We soon find that the seven- 
 teenth century preachers were very scholarly men. 
 They had the contents of the Bible at their finger ends, 
 but they knew the classical writers of Greece and Rome 
 almost as well as they knew the Bible. They seem to 
 have read everything in Greek and Latin literature, 
 from Homer and Herodotus, Virgil and Tacitus, down 
 to the decadent writers of the latest age. We are dazed 
 by the display of their learning, and amazed and amused 
 at the use they made of it in the illustration of their 
 
 122 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 sermons. We wonder what the congregations made of 
 their classical illustrations. Doubtless the congrega- 
 tions liked to hear them as evidences of the weight of 
 learning of the preachers, and as compliments paid to 
 their own intelligence, but it is permitted to question 
 whether the illustrations did not oftener confuse than 
 enlighten. Often they quote passages in Greek, Latin, 
 or Hebrew, without troubling to translate them for the 
 benefit of the congregation. And they continually 
 introduce names and references, assuming that the 
 congregation will readily understand them without 
 explanation, as, for instance, Jeremy Taylor, condemn- 
 ing contemporary fondness for fashions, says, " Menan- 
 der in the comedy brings in a man turning his wife 
 from his house because she stained her hair yellow, 
 which was then the beauty " ; and in his " Apples of 
 Sodom" sermon, "What man is there in the world 
 that thinks himself covetous or proud ? and yet millions 
 there are who, like Heiphaste, think that the house is 
 dark but not themselves." Thomas Adams shows him- 
 self a prodigy of classic learning, which he pours out in 
 such illustrations as these: "Philip was wont to say 
 that an ass laden with gold would enter the gates of 
 any city, but the golden loads of bribes and extortions 
 shall bar a man out of the city of God. All that is so 
 gotten is like quicksilver, it will be running." "The 
 Christian seeks, like Mary, that better part which shall 
 never be taken from him. The wise man's mind is 
 ever above the moon, saith Seneca. Let the moon 
 make never so great a noise as if it all ran upon coaches, 
 and all these full of roarers, yet all peace is there." 
 
 123 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 The pedantry of classical quotation disfigures the ser- 
 mons of most of the early and middle seventeenth 
 century preachers, but we do in some of them find 
 plenty of native English wildflow^ers. 
 
 Foremost among these is Jeremy Taylor, who has 
 been styled " the Shakespeare of the English pulpit." 
 As a prose writer, Taylor is the Ruskin of the seven- 
 teenth century. His imagination runs riot, and he 
 often indulges in illustrations with such prodigality that 
 his hearers must have been embarrassed by the riches 
 placed at their disposal. 
 
 Some of the illustrations, however, are brief enough, 
 little more than a simile, as "He that wishes his sin big 
 and prosperous wishes his bee as big as a bull and his 
 hedgehog like an elephant " ; " Great knowledge, if it 
 be without vanity, is the most severe bridle of the 
 tongue. For so have I heard that all the noises and 
 prating of the pool, the croaking of frogs and toads, is 
 hushed and appeased upon the instant of bringing upon 
 them the light of a candle or a torch." Jeremy Taylor 
 was not gifted with a sense of humour, or he might have 
 avoided such remarkable illustrations as that in which 
 he says some men never trouble about religion until 
 they are sick or in adversity, '* as the hog never sees 
 the sky until it is turned upon its back." 
 
 When we come, however, to Jeremy Taylor's extended 
 illustrations, then we understand why he has been called 
 the Shakespeare of the English pulpit. They are pure 
 poetry, "linked sweetness long drawn out" ; and there 
 is a dash of Milton as well as Shakespeare. Peculiar 
 to Jeremy Taylor is the opening ** So have I seen," 
 
 124 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 evidently an imitation of the epic simile method of 
 Homer and Virgil. Readers will thank me for extract- 
 ing four examples of Jeremy Taylor's illustrations, 
 showing the characteristics that have been described. 
 
 SOARING PRAYER 
 
 Anger is a perfect alienation of the mind from prayer, and 
 therefore is contrary to that attention, which presents our prayers 
 in a right line to God. For so have I seen a lark rising from his 
 bed of grass, and soaring upwards, singing as he rises, and hopes 
 to get to heaven, and climb above the clouds ; but the poor bird 
 was beaten back with the loud sighings of an eastern wind, and 
 his motion made irregular and inconstant, descending more at 
 every breath of the tempest, than it could recover by the libration 
 and frequent weighing of his wings ; till the little creature was 
 forced to sit down and pant, and stay till the slorm was over, and 
 then it made a prosperous flight, and did rise and sing as if it had 
 learned music and motion from an angel, as he passed sometimes 
 through the air about his ministries here below : so is the prayer 
 of a good man ; when his affairs have required business, and his 
 business was matter of discipline, and his discipline was to pass 
 upon a sinning person, or had a design of charity, his duty met 
 with infirmities of a man, and anger was its instrument, and the 
 instrument became stronger than the prime agent, and raised a 
 tempest and overruled the man ; and then his prayer was broken, 
 and his thoughts were troubled, and his words went up towards a 
 cloud, and his thoughts pulled them back again, and made them 
 without intention ; and the good man sighs for his infirmity, but 
 must be content to lose the prayer, and he must recover it, when 
 his anger is removed, and his spirit is becalmed, made even as the 
 brow of Jesus, and smooth like the heart of God ; and then it 
 ascends to heaven upon the wings of the holy dove, and dvsells 
 with God, till it returns like the useful bee, loaden wiih a blessing 
 and the dew of heaven (John ix. 31). 
 
 ABOUNDING GRACE 
 
 Pardon of sins is a grace that the most holy persons beg of God 
 with mighty pai-.sion, and labour for with a great diligence, and 
 
 12^ 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 expect with trembling fears, and concerning it many times suffer 
 sadness with uncertain souls, and receive it by degrees, and it 
 enters upon them by little portions, and it is broken as their sighs 
 and sleeps. But so have I seen the returning sea enter upon the 
 strand ; and the waters rolling towards the shore, throw up little 
 portions of the tide, and retire as if Nature meant to play, and not 
 to change the abode of waters ; but still the flood crept by little 
 steppings, and invaded more by his progressions than he lost by 
 his retreat, and having told the number of its steps, it possesses its 
 new portion till the angel calls it back, that it may leave its 
 unfaithful dwelling of the sand : so is the pardon of our sin ; it 
 comes by slow motions,, and first quits a present death, and turns, 
 it may be, into a sharp sickness ; and if that sickness prove not 
 health to the soul it washes off, and it may be will dash against the 
 rock again, and proceed to take off the several instances of anger 
 and the periods of wrath ; but all this while it is uncertain con- 
 cerning our final interest, whether it be ebb or flood ; and every 
 hearty prayer, and every bountiful alms, still enlarges the pardon, or 
 adds a degree of probability and hope ; neglect of religion makes 
 the pardon retire ; and while it is disputed between Christ and 
 Christ's enemy who shall be Lord, the pardon fluctuates like the 
 wave, striving to climb the rock, and is washed off like its own 
 retinue, and it gets possession by time and uncertainty, by difficulty 
 and the degrees of a hard progression (Heb. xii. 28, 29). 
 
 PREVAILING PRAYER 
 
 The river that runs slow and creeps by the banks, and begs leave 
 of every turf to let it pass, is drawn into little hoUownesses, and 
 spends itself in smaller portions, and dies with diversion ; but when 
 it runs with vigorousness and a full stream, and breaks down every 
 obstacle, making it even as its own brow, it stays not to be tempted 
 by little avocations, and to creep into holes, but runs into the sea 
 through full and useful channels : So is a man's prayer. If it 
 moves upon the feet of an abated appetite, it wanders into the 
 society of every trifling accident, and stays at the corners of the 
 fancy, and talks with every object it meets, and cannot arrive at 
 Heaven ; but when it is carried upon the wings of passion and 
 strong desires, a swift motion and a hungry appetite, it passes on 
 through all the intermedial regions of clouds, and stays not till it 
 
 126 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 dwells at the foot of the throne, where mercy sits, and thence 
 sends holy showers of refreshment (Eph. vi. i8). 
 
 THE MUSIC OF THANKSGIVING 
 
 So have I seen the sun kiss the frozen earth, which was bound 
 up with the images of death, and the colder breath of the north ; 
 and then the waters break from their enclosures, and melt with 
 joy, and run in useful channels ; and the flies do rise again from 
 their little graves in walls, and dance a while in the air, to tell that 
 there is joy within, and that the great mother of creatures will open 
 the stock of her new refreshment, become useful to mankind, and 
 sing praises to her Redeemer : so is the heart of a sorrowful man 
 under the discourses of a wise comforter ; he breaks from the 
 despairs of the grave, and the fetters and chains of sorrow ; he 
 blesses God, and he blesses thee, and he feels his life returning ; 
 for to be miserable is death, but nothing is life but to be com- 
 forted ; and God is pleased with no musick from below, so much as 
 in the thanksgiving songs of relieved widows, of supported orphans, 
 of rejoicing and comforted and thankful persons (Isa. Ixi. 3). 
 
 The sermons of Thomas Adams were repubhshed in 
 1861, in three volumes. He was minister of St. Benets 
 in the City. Even his titles are illustrations. For 
 instance, two sermons on Gen. xxvii. are entitled 
 " Politic Hunting " and " Plain Dealing." Four ser- 
 mons on Prov. ix. 17 — 18 are entitled "The Fatal 
 Banquet," with a sub-title to each, viz., " The First 
 Service," " The Second Service," " The Breaking up 
 of the Feast," " The Shot." The sermon on Eccles. ix. 3 
 is entitled "The Mystical Bedlam." Adams has a dry 
 humour which he often uses with good effect, as the 
 following illustrations will show : — 
 
 PRAY AND FIGHT 
 
 Fables are not without their useful morals. A boy was molested 
 with a dog j the friar taught him to say a gospel by heart, and 
 
 127 
 
The Art of Sermon Illttstration 
 
 warranted this to allay the dog's fury. The mastiff, spying the 
 boy, flies at him ; he begins, as it were, to conjure him with his 
 gospel. The dog, not capable of religion, approacheth more 
 violently. A neighbour passing by bids the boy take up a stone ; 
 he did so, and throwing it at the dog, escaped. The friar demands 
 of the lad how he sped with his charm. "Sir," quoth he, "your 
 gospel was good, but a stone with the gospel did the deed." The 
 curs of Antichrist are not afraid of our gospel, but of our stones : 
 let us fight and they will fly (Judges v. 8, 9). 
 
 GREAT VOWS AND SMALL PERFORMANCE 
 
 It is storied of a merchant that in a great storm at sea he vowed 
 to Jupiter if he would save him and his vessel, to give him a heca- 
 tomb. The storm ceaseth, and he bethinks that a hecatomb was 
 unreasonable ; he resolves on seven oxen. Another tempest comes, 
 and now he vows again the seven at least. Delivered then also, 
 he thought that seven were too many, and one ox would serve the 
 turn. Yet another peril comes, and now he vows solemnly to fall 
 no lower ; if he might be rescued, an ox Jupiter shall have. Again 
 freed, the ox sticks in his stomach, and he would fain draw his 
 devotion to a lower rate ; a sheep was sufficient. But at last being 
 set ashore, he thought a sheep too much, and purposeth to carry to 
 the altar only a few dates. But by the way he eats up the dates, 
 and lays on the altar only a few shells. After this rate do many 
 perform their vows. They promise whole hecatombs in sickness, 
 but they reduce them lower and lower still as they grow well 
 (Ps. Ixvi. 13). 
 
 MAN'S INGRATITUDE 
 
 There is a story of a poor man that went often to a forest to 
 gather sticks, where suddenly one day he heard the voice of a man 
 in distress. Making towards it, he found a rich neighbour fallen 
 into a deep pit ; and together with him an ape, a lion, and a serpent. 
 He made his moan, being endangered both of the pit and of the 
 beasts. Pity and charity moved the poor man to help the rich, 
 and that seldom moves the rich to help the poor. He lets down 
 the cord wherewith he bound his sticks, and up comes the ape. 
 Again he puts for the man, and the lion ascends. A third ofler he 
 makes, and the serpent takes the advantage. Last he draweth up 
 
 128 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 the man, who, freed by his help from instant death, promised him 
 a bounteous requital, if on the next day he did visit him. The poor 
 man affying his word, came to him accordingly in a hopeful 
 expectation of reward. But now the rich man would not know 
 him. He hath forgotten that ever he stood in any need of him, 
 and impudently denies him any recompense. The discomforted 
 poor man is fain to travel the forest again for his fuel, where the 
 ape spying him, had ready broken, with his teeth and nails, sticks 
 enough for his burden ; there was his utmost gratitude. Anothei 
 day coming, the lion approacheth him, presenting to him divers 
 laden camels, which driving home and disburdening, he found 
 precious treasure that enriched him. A third time, upon other 
 occasions travelling the forest, the serpent, creeping, salutes him 
 with a precious stone in her mouth, letting it fall at her saver's 
 feet. The intent of the fable is to demonstrate that beasts and 
 serpents condemn man of ingratitude (Ps. cxviii. 27). 
 
 THE PRINT OF THE WOUNDS 
 
 It is storied of a certain king, that fighting a desperate battle, 
 for the recovery of his daughter injuriously stolen from him, found 
 ill success, and the day utterly against him ; till by the faithful 
 valour of a strange prince, disguised in habit of a mean soldier, 
 that pitied his loss, and bore love to his daughter, he recovered 
 both her and victory, the prince interposing himself to hazard of 
 death and many wounds for the other's redemption. Not long 
 after, this prince received some wrong concerning his honour, 
 which he deservedly prized. He made his complaint to the king, 
 and besought him to give a just censure of his cause. The forgetful 
 king put him over to a judge. The prince replies, ** O king, when 
 thou wast lost, I endangered myself for thy rescue ; I did not bid 
 another save thee, but I saved thee myself. Lo, the scars of those 
 wounds I bore to free thee and thy state from inevitable ruin. 
 And now my suit is before thee, dost thou shuffle me off to another ? " 
 (John XX. 25). 
 
 « BUT ! " 
 
 As in a fair summer's morning, when the lark hath called up the 
 sun, and the sun the husbandman ; when the earth hath opened 
 her shop of perfumes, and a pleasant wind fans coolness through 
 
 129 I 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 the air ; when every creature is rejoiced at the heart, on a sudden 
 the furious winds burst from their prisons, the thunder rends the 
 clouds, and makes way for the lightning, and the spouts of heaven 
 stream down showers ; a hideous tempest sooner damps all the 
 former delight than a man's tongue can well repress it. With no 
 less content do these guests of sin pass their life ; they eat to eat, 
 drink to drink, often to sleep, always to surfeit ; they carol, dance, 
 spend their present joys, and promise themselves infallible supply. 
 On a sudden this but comes like an unlooked-for storm, and turns 
 all into mourning, and such mourning as Rachael had for her 
 children, that will not be comforted, because their joys are not 
 (Eccles. xi. 9). 
 
 A seventeenth century preacher who was a great 
 favourite with Charles H addon Spurgeon was Thomas 
 Brooks, who made it his special business to track Satan 
 through his windings, and to expose the subtle snares 
 by which he sought to trap the soul of the unwary 
 sinner. Brooks had the soul of a poet. Like Jeremy 
 Taylor, he heaps illustration on illustration, seeming to 
 strip whole gardens of their flowers in order to deck his 
 sermons and writings. The modern preacher will 
 possibly find himself able to adapt some of Brooks's 
 illustrations to present use much more easily than he 
 could those of Jeremy Taylor or Adams. Here is a 
 little bunch of simple flowers from Brooks's garden : — 
 
 THE SOUL'S LOOKING-GLASS 
 
 It was a speech of a German divine in his sickness : '* In this 
 disease I have learned how great God is, and what the evil of sin is ; 
 I never knew to purpose what God was before, nor what sin meant, 
 till now." Afflictions are a crystal glass, wherein the soul hath the 
 clearest sight of the ugly face of sin. In this glass the soul comes 
 to see sin to be but a bitter sweet ; yea, in this glass the soul comes 
 to see sin not only to be an evil, but to be the greatest evil in the 
 world, to be an evil far worse than hell itself (Heb. ii. 10). 
 
 130 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 DAY COLDNESS AND MIDNIGHT WARMTH 
 
 I have read of a fountain that at noonday is cold, and at mid- 
 night it grows warm ; so many a precious soul is cold Godwards 
 and heavenwards and holinesswards, in the day of prosperity, 
 that grows warm Godwards and heavenwards and holinesswards 
 in the midnight of adversity (Heb. xii. 6, 7). 
 
 THE STARS IN THE PUDDLE 
 
 Although you see the stars sometimes by their reflections in a 
 puddle, or in the bottom of a well, aye in a ditch, yet the stars have 
 their situation in heaven. So, though you see a godly man in a 
 poor, miserable, low, despised condition for the things of this world, 
 yet he is fixed in Heaven, in the region of Heaven. " Who hath 
 raised us up," saith the apostle, "and made us sit together in 
 heavenly places in Christ Jesus" (Eph. ii. 6). 
 
 OUR ADVOCATE 
 
 Mrs. Catherine Bretterege once, after a great conflict with Satan, 
 said, "Reason not with me, I am but a weak woman ; if thou hast 
 anything to say, say it to my Christ ; He is my Advocate, my 
 strength, and my Redeemer, and He shall plead for me" (i John ii. i). 
 
 ROSES AND GARLIC 
 
 They say roses grow the sweeter when they are planted by 
 garlic. They are sweet and rare Christians indeed who hold their 
 goodness, and grow in goodness, where wickedness sits on the 
 throne; and such a one the young man Abijah, the son of Jeroboam, 
 in the text was. 
 
 To be wheat among tares, corn among chaff, pearls among 
 cockles, and roses among thorns, is excellent. 
 
 To be a Jonathan in Saul's court, to be an Obadiah in Ahab's 
 court, to be an Ebed-melech in Zedekiah's court, and to be an 
 Abijah in Jeroboam's court, is a wonder, a miracle. 
 
 To be a Lot in Sodom, to be an Abraham in Chaldea, to be a 
 Daniel in Babylon, to be a Nehemiah in Damascus, and to be a 
 Job in the land of Husse, is to be a saint among devils ; and such 
 a one the young man in the text was. 
 
 131 I a 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 The poets affirm that Venus never appeared so beauteous as 
 when she sat by black Vulcan's side. Gracious souls shine most 
 clear when they be set by black-conditioned persons. Stephen's 
 face never shined so angelically, so gloriously, in the church where 
 all were virtuous, as before the council where all were vicious and 
 malicious (i Kings xiv. 13). 
 
 THE OLD DISCIPLE 
 
 It is a very great honour to be an old disciple. Now this honour 
 none reach to, but such as are converted betimes, but such as 
 turn to the Lord in the spring and morning of their youth. It 
 is no honour for an old man to be in short coats, nor for an old 
 man to be a babe in grace. An A B C old man is a sad and 
 shameful sight. Oh ! but it is a mighty honour to be a man, when 
 he is old, that he can date his conversion from the morning of his 
 youth (Jer. iii. 4). 
 
 "FOR HE HAD GREAT POSSESSIONS" 
 
 The young man in the Gospel took many a step towards Heaven. 
 " All these things have I kept from my youth up. What lack I 
 yet.'"' (Matt. xix. 16 — 24). Christ makes a very fair offer to him in 
 the next words : "Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go 
 and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have 
 itreasure in Heaven ; and come and follow Me." Thou shalt have 
 Heaven for earth, a sea for a drop, a treasure for a mite, a crown for 
 a crumb. Ay, but the young man's affections were strongly engaged 
 to the things of the world, and therefore he turns his back upon 
 Christ, and goes away sorrowful, because he had great possessions. 
 Though the loadstone cannot draw the iron when the diamond is 
 in presence, yet earthly possessions did draw this young man's soul 
 away when Christ the pearl of price was present. The world is a 
 silken net, and this young man found it so ; the world is like sweet 
 poison, and this young man found it so ; for he had drunk so large 
 a draught of it, that there was no room in his soul for Christ, or 
 Heaven, for grace or glory. Some say, that when the serpent Sey- 
 tale cannot overtake the flying passenger, she doth with her 
 beautiful colours so astonish and amaze them, that they have no 
 
 132 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 power to pass away till she have stung them. Such a serpent the 
 world proved to the young man in the Gospel ; it did so affect him 
 and take him, so amaze him and amuse him, that he could not stir 
 till it stung him to death (Matt. xix. i6 — 24). 
 
 There was no sweeter spirit in the seventeenth cen- 
 tury than Richard Baxter who "sought peace and 
 ensued it " in a time when party drew the sword 
 against party, and sect against sect, with a fury 
 unexampled in English history. Baxter's masterpiece, 
 " The Saint's Everlasting Rest," was once, next to 
 " The Pilgrim's Progress," the most eagerly read 
 book in every Christian English home. It is a book 
 that might well be read in our own time when the 
 swords of the churches are again too frequently 
 drawn against each other. A famous anecdote of 
 Baxter is that of his retort to the savage Judge Jeffreys. 
 Baxter was before the judge as a Nonconformist and 
 Jeffreys said, ** Richard, Richard, I see a rogue in thy 
 face." Even a saint will turn, and Baxter's instant 
 reply was, '* My lord, I never knew till now that my 
 face was a mirror." We are dealing, however, with 
 illustrations, and the seventeenth century bouquet 
 would lack completeness if there were no examples 
 of Baxter. He is not so much a poet as a practical 
 preacher, and of the two illustrations selected the first 
 may well be taken to heart by preachers of to-day who 
 fail to realise the heavy responsibility of their calling. 
 
 COLD-BLOODED PREACHING 
 
 If you be busy, writing or reading, and one friend comes to you 
 to call you away to some great business, and useth very weighty 
 arguments, yet if he speak them coldly and sleepily, you 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 perhaps may not be moved by him ; but if another come and call 
 you but upon a lesser business, and speak loud and earnestly, and 
 will take no denial, though his reasons be weaker, he may sooner 
 prevail. Do we not feel that the words of a preacher do take more 
 with our wills and affections, from the moving pathetical manner 
 of expression, than from the strength of argument (except with very 
 wise men) at least, how much that furthers it, when the best 
 arguments in the mouth of a sleepy preacher, or unseasonably and 
 ill-favouredly delivered will not take ? And why should we think 
 that there is so great a difference between other men's reasonings 
 prevailing with our wills, and our own reason's way of prevailing ? 
 (2 Cor. V. 20). 
 
 HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD 
 
 Can a man be at the fire, and not be warm ? or in the sunshine 
 and not have light ? Can your heart be in Heaven, and not have 
 comfort ? The countries of Norway, Iceland, and all the north- 
 ward, are cold and frozen, because they are farther from the power 
 of the sun ; but in Egypt, Arabia, and the southern parts, it is far 
 otherwise, where they live more near its powerful rays. What 
 could make such frozen uncomfortable Christians, but living so far 
 as they do from Heaven ? And what makes some few others so 
 warm in comforts but their living higher than others do ? And 
 their frequent access so near to God ? When the sun in the 
 spring draws near our part of the earth, how do all things con- 
 gratulate its approach? The earth looks green and casteth off 
 her mourning habit ; the trees shoot forth ; the plants revive ; the 
 pretty birds how sweetly sing they ; the face of all things smiles 
 upon us, and all the creatures below rejoice. Beloved friends, if 
 we would but try this life with God, and would but keep these 
 hearts above, what a spring of joy would be within us, and all our 
 graces be fresh and green ! (Col. iii. 3). 
 
 Other seventeenth century sermon illustrators who 
 deserve rLpitsentation in this bouquet of flowers are 
 Henry Smith, known by his contemporaries as *' Silver- 
 tongued Smith," David Clark, who is as poetical as 
 Brooks, and the rarely quaint Thomas Fuller. 
 
 134 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 OWLISH INQUIRERS 
 
 As an owl peeps at the sun out of a barn, but dares not come to 
 it, so we peep at religion and will not come near it, but stand 
 aloof off, pinking and winking, as though we were more afraid of 
 God than the devil. For self-love and regard of persons, and fear 
 of laws, and sway of time, more are afraid to be too holy than to be 
 profane, because holiness is worse entreated than profaneness. 
 (Acts xxvi. 27, 28). — Henry Smith, 
 
 "ALMOST" BORN 
 
 What is it to be born almost ? If the new man be but born 
 almost he is not born. What is it to be married almost unto 
 Christ ? He which is married but almost is not married. What 
 is it to offer sacrifice almost ? The sacrifice must be killed ere 
 ever it can be sacrificed. He which gives almost gives not, but 
 denieth. He which believeth almost believeth not, but doubteth. 
 Can the door which is almost shut keep out the thief.'* Can the 
 cup which is but almost whole hold any wine? Can the ship which 
 is but almost sound keep out water? The soldier which doth 
 almost fight is a coward. The physician which doth but almost 
 cure is but a slubberer. The servant which doth almost labour is 
 a loiterer. I cannot tell what to make of these defectives, nor 
 where to place them, nor how to call them, nor unto what to liken 
 them (Acts xxvi. 27).— Henry Smith. 
 
 PRYING INTO THE INCOMPREHENSIBLE 
 
 Commonly the simplest men busy their heads about the highest 
 matters ; so that if they meet with a rough and crabbed question, 
 like a knob in the tree, and while they hack and hew at it with 
 their own wits to make it plain, their saw sticks fast in the cleft, 
 and cannot get out again ; at last in wrath they become like mal- 
 contents with God, as though the Scripture were not perfect, and 
 either fall into despair or into contempt of all. Therefore it is 
 good to leave off learning where God has left off teaching ; for 
 they which have an ear where God hath no tongue, hearken not 
 unto God but to the tempter, as Eve did to the serpent (Mark ix. 
 38— 40).— Henry Smith. 
 
 135 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 GOD'S WORD MADE CURRENT COIN 
 
 The Gospel preached is the Word of God, not of man, though 
 by man ; God is the fountain, man but the conduit pipe ; He the 
 Author, man the instrument ; it is the sun His light, they the 
 medium. He gives His Word in Scripture as a lump of precious 
 metal, more precious than gold, appoints ministers to beat it out 
 into large plates ; and as gold is the same in the lump and mass 
 and in the plate, so is the Word the same Word of God as it is read 
 and as it is preached ; He gives us His Word in the Scriptures as 
 honey in the comb, He appoints the ministers of the Gospel to 
 squeeze it out, it is the same honey in the comb as out. Only take 
 this caution, that the Gospel preached be received as the Word of 
 God, it is required he that preaches it should be sent by God, 
 invested with His authority, appointed to be His vicegerent, sent 
 as ambassador from Him, otherwise doctrine agreeable to God's 
 Word cannot be delivered authoritatively as the Word of God ; it is 
 like silver, though precious in itself, yet not current, not money, 
 without the magistrate's stamp and impression (Luke viii. i8). — 
 David Clarkson. 
 
 THE TWO HANDLES OF FAITH 
 
 That God is willing and able are two ansas^ two handles, on 
 which both the hands of faith may take hold, and so act more 
 strongly (as we do) than if it use but one. A man ready to drown, 
 if he can lay hold upon anything with both hands to keep him from 
 sinking, is more secure than if he can but stay himself by one. 
 Faith is but weak when it fastens but upon one of these ; the 
 doubting of either will keep off faith from its steadfastness. 
 Martha's faith was not steadfast Qohn xi.) when she questioned 
 whether Christ was able ; and the leper's faith staggered when he 
 doubted whether Christ was willing (Matt. viii. 2) : " If Thou wilt, 
 Thou canst." — David Clarkson. 
 
 THE OFFERED JEWEL 
 
 If a man should hold out his hand and offer you a jewel, you 
 would think that a sufficient ground to take it, though he should 
 not express by any special qualifications that he intended it for you 
 
 136 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 in particular ; nay, though he should speak never a word, yet being 
 one who is not wont to delude any, his holding it out and offering 
 it to you would be a sufficient encouragement to receive it. So it 
 is here : the Lord holds out Christ to humbled sinners in the 
 general offers of the Gospel ; and He never is wont to delude any, 
 much less those that are returning to Him. Is not His offer a 
 sufficient ground for you to receive what He offers ? (Rev. xxii. 17). 
 — David Clarkson. 
 
 WASTED TIME 
 
 Coming hastily into a chamber, I had almost thrown down a 
 crystal hour-glass. Fear lest I had made me grieve as if I had 
 broken it. But, alas ! how much precious time have I cast away 
 without any regret ! The hour-glass was but crystal, each hour a 
 pearl ; that but like to be broken, this lost outright ; that but 
 casually, this done wilfully. A better hour-glass might be bought ; 
 but time lost once, lost ever. Thus we grieve more for toys than 
 for treasure. Lord, give me an hour-glass, not to be by me, but to 
 be in me. *' Teach me to number my days." An hour-glass, to 
 turn me, "that I may apply my heart to wisdom'' (Eph. v. 16). — 
 Thomas Fuller. 
 
 "WE LOOK FOR A CITY" 
 
 Travelling on the plain (which, notwithstanding, hath its risings 
 and fallings), I discovered Salisbury steeple many miles off. 
 Coming to a declivity I lost the steeple thereof ; but climbing 
 up the next hill, the steeple grew out of the ground again. Yea, I 
 often found it, and lost it, till at last I came safely to it, and took 
 my lodging near it. It fareth thus with us, whilst we are way- 
 faring to Heaven ; mounted on the Pisgah-top of some good 
 meditation, we get a glimpse of our celestial Canaan ; but when 
 either on the flat of an ordinary temper, or in the fall of some 
 extraordinary temptation, we lose the view thereof. Thus in the 
 sight of our soul Heaven is discovered, covered, and recovered ; 
 till, though late, at last, though slowly, surely, we arrive at the 
 haven of our happiness (Heb. xi. 10). — Thomas Fuller. 
 
 GREEN WHEN GREY 
 In September I saw a tree bearing roses, while others of the same 
 kind round about it were barren. Demanding the cause of the 
 
 ^Z7 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 gardener why that tree was an exception to the rule of the rest, this 
 was rendered : because that alone being clipped close in May, was 
 then hindered to spring and sprout, and therefore took this advan-' 
 tage by itself to bud in autumn. Lord, if I were curbed and' 
 snipped in my younger days, by fear of my parents, from those 
 vicious excrescences to which that age was subject, give me to' 
 have a godly jealousy over my heart, suspecting an autumn spring,! 
 lest corrupt nature (which without Thy restraining grace will havei 
 a vent) break forth in my reduced years into youthful vanities) 
 (Ps. xc. 12 ; also Ps. xcii. 13, 14).— Thomas Fuller. 
 
 INIQUITIES OVER THE HEAD 
 
 I have observed that children, when they put on new shoes, are 
 very curious to keep them clean. Scarce will they set their feet onj 
 the ground for fear to dirty the soles of their shoes. Yea, rather 
 they will wipe the leather clean with their coats, and yet perchance 
 the next day they will tramp with the same shoes in the mire up to 
 the ankles. Alas ! children's play is our earnest. On that day' 
 wherein we receive the Sacrament we are often over-precise,* 
 scrupling to say or do those things which lawfully we may. But 
 we, who are more than curious that day, are not so much as 
 careful the next, and too often (what shall I say ?) go on in sin up 
 to the ankles ; yea, our sins go over our heads (Ps. xxxviii. 4). — 
 Thomas Fuller. 
 
 Study of the seventeenth century preachers inspires 
 us with an immense respect for the men who pressed 
 into their preaching all the power of brains cultivated 
 to the highest pitch, and all the intensity of their devout 
 souls. Such study raises the question whether preachers 
 of to-day sufficiently credit their congregations with 
 intelligence to receive and digest the best that it is in 
 them to give. Modern congregations possibly have 
 neither the patience nor the appetite to receive and 
 digest sermons so full of meat and marrow as those of 
 the seventeenth century preachers ; but is it not true 
 
 138 
 
Flowers from Old English Gardens 
 
 that much of the absenteeism of men from public worship 
 in these days is due to their complaint that the meat 
 given IS not nourishing enough, and that the sermons 
 give them so little to feed their minds and set their 
 imagination at work ? If men such as Jeremy Taylor, 
 Adams and Brooks preached to-day, what use they 
 would make in the way of illustration of the wealth 
 placed at their disposal by modern literature, modern 
 science and modern industrial conditions ! The men of 
 England will be won back to the churches when the 
 preachers feed their minds and hearts alike with 
 appetising and nourishing food. 
 
 139 
 
APPENDIX I 
 
 ILLUSTRATED OUTLINES OF 
 SERMONS 
 
 L— A BASKET OF FRUIT 
 
 " But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, 
 gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance "(Gal. v. 22, 23). 
 
 What a lovely basket of summer fruit ! And it is 
 mixed fruits, not a basket of apples, or pears, or grapes 
 only. In a horticultural show you will see plates of 
 particular fruits, to which prizes have been awarded. 
 Sometimes you will see a plate heaped up with all kinds 
 of fruit, to which a prize has been given for the best 
 assortment. All the prizes offered in the Heavenly 
 Horticultural Exhibition are for collections of mixed 
 fruits. The fact is that in spiritual horticulture it is 
 difficult, if not impossible, to grow one kind without 
 the others. It is true we have the figure of Jesus as the 
 vine, and we as the branches ; but the branches, vita- 
 lised by the Divine sap, bear all the fruits of the Spirit. 
 John, in his vision of the New Jerusalem, saw on the 
 banks of the river the Tree of Life, " which bare twelve 
 manner of fruits," and you will note that it yielded its 
 
 141 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 fruit every month — that is, it was always bearing. The 
 trouble is, that so many Christians think they can make 
 a fair show of one kind of fruit, without trying to grow 
 the rest. A man, for instance, will specialise on 
 temperance, in the limited modern acceptation of 
 temperance, and he might feel disposed to enter as a 
 competitor in the Heavenly Horticultural Show in the 
 class " Temperance " ; but when it came to long-suifer- 
 ing, gentleness, meekness, he would probably say, 
 " H'mph, no ; I don't think I have anything worth 
 showing in those classes.** 
 
 You will note that the text begins with a "but." 
 The " but " implies comparison and contrast. The 
 comparison is with " the fruits of the flesh " ; and 
 what a dreadful catalogue of these fruits Paul gives 
 us ! Before we grow the fruits of the Spirit we must 
 clear the ground and pluck up the roots of the trees 
 that bear the fruits of the flesh. I read in the 
 memoirs of a country vicar that he found the glebe-land 
 had been neglected for years, and the soil was so knotted 
 with squitch and bindweed, and so choked and poisoned 
 with rank weeds, that it took a very long time to clear 
 it and prepare it for the production of useful crops. It 
 is just so with the heart of man. The evil growths have 
 to be plucked up by the roots, and this is a painful pro- 
 cess, that will leave the heart bleeding — so painful that 
 many content themselves with just cutting down the 
 plants to the surface of the ground. No wonder the 
 plants soon begin to shoot up again and choke the 
 plants which should be bearing the fruits of the Spirit. 
 
 Before fruit there is blossom, but blossom does not 
 
 142 
 
Appendix I 
 
 always form itself into fruit. All Wales, during the 
 revival, was pink and white with blossom, but much of 
 it was blighted and frost-bitten before the time of the 
 ingathering of the ripened fruit. The blossom is often 
 frost-bitten in the atmosphere of a cold church. 
 
 In the g2nd Psalm there is a beautiful promise that 
 " those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall 
 still bring forth fruit in their old age." This reminds 
 us again of John's Tree of Life that bore fruit all the 
 year round. Sometimes you will go into a garden and 
 find an old fruit tree with gnarled trunk, and the 
 owner will tell you, " That tree used to bear splendid 
 apples, but it has seen its best days and bears little or 
 nothing now. I shall have it cut down." The trees in 
 the Lord's garden, however, the older they get are the 
 more fruitful. Their boughs are never so heavily laden, 
 nor with such luscious fruit, as when they are 
 approaching the end of the allotted span of earthly 
 life. 
 
 How shall we be fruit-bearers ? Only by union with 
 Him who is the vine. The closer our communion with 
 God the more fruitful are we. If we are bearing little 
 fruit, and that of poor quality, it shows that our attach- 
 ment to the vine is a very slender one. There are some 
 who bear fruit indeed, but it is scarcely worth the 
 gathering. There are apples, but they are crab-apples, 
 and unfortunately the crab-apple crop in the churches 
 is often too plentiful; there are pears, but they are 
 tasteless and woody. Let us all aim to be fruit-bearers, 
 and we shall be helping to convert the world into 
 ** Eden the Garden of God." 
 
 143 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 II.— *'HE WROTE ON THE GROUND' 
 
 "But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the 
 ground as though He heard them not" (John viii. 6). 
 
 This is the only bit of writing by Jesus that is 
 recorded ; and even here we do not know what Jesus 
 wrote on the ground. It would have been interesting 
 to know what He wrote ; but it is of thrilling interest 
 to know what He said and what He did. Jesus stands 
 before us in the circle of the self-righteous scribes and 
 Pharisees, with the shrinking and shame-faced woman 
 who was a sinner, and He shows Himself to be the 
 soul of chivalry, the Gentleman of gentlemen. He 
 was infinite purity, the woman was stained with sin ; 
 but she was not more sinful than the whited sepulchres 
 who accused her. Jesus wrote on the ground and 
 spoke, and again He wrote on the ground, and the 
 convicted hypocrites slunk away leaving Him alone 
 with the woman. One question He asked her and 
 received her answer, and spoke the word: " Neither do 
 I condemn thee. Go, and sin no more." 
 
 What does it matter that we know not what He 
 wrote ? We know what He was and what He says, and 
 every repentant sinner is to " go, and sin no more." 
 Has the world outgrown the need of His message ? 
 Suppose Jesus to-day stood in the midst of the circle 
 of money-makers, the men engaged in trade and com- 
 merce who are growing rich by practising '* the tricks 
 of the trade," and they dragged into the circle some 
 cowering, shabbily-dressed wretch whom they accused 
 of pilfering, and perhaps snatching the watch from the 
 
 144 
 
Appendix I 
 
 pocket of one of the burly gentlemen standing around. 
 The big sinner whose sins are respectable is in every 
 age the most merciless judge of the man whose sins are 
 of the vulgar order. The magistrate on the bench may 
 be a director of the brewery whose beer has maddened 
 the disorderly drunkard in the dock ; or he may be a 
 shareholder in some company that systematically over- 
 works and underpays its employees, and one of the 
 employees has been tempted to theft or embezzle- 
 ment ; or he may be the owner of rack-rented slum 
 property that is the haunt of vicious people ; but the 
 drunkard, the embezzler, the immoral person before 
 him will get stern justice from the magistrate. The 
 fashionable lady gives a wide berth to the flaunting 
 Magdalen of the pavement ; but that woman may have 
 been led into her evil life by the terrible hardships she 
 endured in a sweated industry. Suppose to-day the 
 eminently respectable rich and the ornaments of fashion- 
 able society formed a ring, and the criminal or the 
 vicious person stood in the centre with Jesus. What 
 would He write on the ground ? To Jesus sin is sin in 
 the mansion as well as in the cottage ; in the West-end 
 square as well as in the Bermondsey courts and alleys ; 
 and He would read the hearts of those who stood 
 around, as well as the hearts of those with Him 
 in the centre; and it may be now, as then, that 
 when He wrote on the ground and then stood and 
 invited the guiltless to cast the first stone, the circle 
 would dissolve like snow in the sunshine, and only the 
 vulgar criminal or vicious person would remain. Not 
 ** the righteous*," by which Jesus meant the self- 
 
 ^^ K 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 righteous, but the sinner Jesus came to save ; and the 
 sinner, when he stands alone with Jesus, feels His 
 eyes piercing through, realises the infinite pity in His 
 heart, sees the foulness of his own life in the white 
 radiance of His purity, then he is broken down, and 
 goes away with bowed head and His words ringing 
 in his ears, " Neither do I condemn thee ; go, and sin 
 no more." 
 
 Jesus is always in our midst, and always the crowd is 
 gathering around some trembling, wretched sinner. Some 
 crime or some scandal fills the columns of the papers 
 with sensational news, over which the readers gloat, and 
 the circulation of the paper mounts up by thousands. 
 Everybody as he reads drapes himself in his robe of 
 self-righteousness and wonders that such things can be 
 in this Christian land. They stand around the sinner, 
 pointing the finger of scorn and demanding that justice 
 be done. Suppose Jesus stood by the side of the sinner 
 and wrote on the ground. How many, when He rose 
 and asked the one whose conscience was clear of offence 
 to cast the first stone, would dare to remain and look 
 steadfastly into the mild eyes of the Master ? We need 
 to search our own hearts and see what evil thing there 
 is in us and to look upon our fellow sinners with the 
 Master's eyes. It may be that then, instead of walking 
 away, we should step into the dock, as Hawthorne's 
 minister did in "The Scarlet Letter," and take our 
 stand by the side of the sinner* If we did so, surely 
 the Master would speak the same words to us both : 
 *' Go, and sin no more,*' 
 
 146 
 
Appendix I 
 
 III.— THE MULTITUDE AND THE MAN 
 
 '* But when He saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion 
 on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad as sheep 
 having no shepherd " (Matt. ix. 36). 
 
 From the window of my room in Fleet Street, on 
 Lord Mayor's Show day, I saw the pageant of English 
 men of letters, poets and dramatists, with characters 
 from their works, and English men of music. It was a 
 brilliant show, and had more brains put into its con- 
 ception and execution than is usual with Lord Mayor's 
 Shows. Much more interesting than the show, how- 
 ever, was the crowd. The crowd lined the pavements 
 of Fleet Street twenty to twenty-five deep, and was 
 densely packed to a depth of something like fifty yards 
 up Chancery Lane. It occurred to me, as it has often 
 occurred in bustling Fleet Street, that every man and 
 woman in that crowd was a story, a drama, a poem 
 incarnate. The crowd as a crowd suggests little except 
 mass and number. All the romantic interest, all the 
 possibilities of comedy and tragedy, were in the 
 individuals. 
 
 The multitudes, the crowds, flocked to Jesus, while 
 He was in the flesh, and He was the first wnc in the 
 crowd clearly saw and understood the individual. If 
 you read the chapter from which the text has been 
 taken, you will discover why Jesus was able to dis- 
 tinguish the man and the woman in the crowd. He 
 had been dealing with the individuals — had healed the 
 woman with the issue of blood, had given back living 
 to the ruler his dead daughter, had opened the eyes of 
 
 147 K 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 the two blind men, had cast out the devil from the 
 dumb man and given the man speech. Jesus under- 
 stood that the crowd was made up of individuals who 
 needed helping, and His heart went out to the indi- 
 viduals. Nineteen centuries have passed, and the crowd 
 is ever with us ; and to-day the crowd is making its voice 
 heard, often in tones of menace. The crowd is becoming 
 conscious of its rights, perhaps more conscious of its 
 rights than of its responsibilities. How do we regard 
 the crowd ? Is it only a mass and number of humanity 
 to us, or is it composed of men and women who have 
 hearts to feel, bodies to suffer pain, souls to be saved or 
 lost ? Parliament, Government departments, county 
 and borough councils administer laws and levy rates, 
 churches gather congregations, and ministers preach 
 to the crowd. Perhaps if in our minds we took 
 samples of the crowd and thought more of the man and 
 the woman, we should be more successful in our attempts 
 to deal with the mass. In the mass too often we sum 
 up the crowd in a phrase, as the Northern Farmer who 
 said, " The poor in a lump is bad." The upper classes 
 are luxurious and tyrannical, the middle classes are 
 snobbish and vulgar, the working classes are sottish, 
 ignorant and lazy — so we sum up the crowd. We 
 ourselves, of course, stand outside the crowd and are 
 no part of it. If we could only imaginatively see 
 ourselves in the crowd and take ourselves as a sample 
 of it, our political, social reform and religious activities 
 might be a good deal more successful, for then we 
 should understand the needs of the crowd, because 
 in the crowd we were studying ourselves. 
 
 148 
 
Appendix I 
 
 " Jesus was moved with compassion, because they 
 fainted." Oh, that hungry, fainting, helpless crowd — 
 what a problem it is ! There are some who think the 
 crowd can be made happy by building up a brand new 
 order of society out of bricks baked of the clay of 
 Utopia. We need only to see that the crowd has its 
 regular supply of bread and butter, and it will be satisfied 
 and smiling. The needs of the crowd are not so easily 
 satisfied. You cannot abolish sickness, death, sin, by 
 Act of Parliament. Let Parliament and county 
 councils do everything in their power to improve 
 social conditions and develop the intelligence of the 
 people ; but when all is said and done, the great need 
 of the crowd is shepherding. Who are to be the 
 shepherds? It must be men who look on the crowd 
 with the eyes of Jesus, who with the ears of Jesus hear 
 the moans and the inarticulate cries of the crowd that 
 feels its urgent need of something, but often does not 
 know what the something is. How much one wise and 
 compassionate shepherd can do for the fainting and 
 scattered sheep ! He can guard the flock against 
 ravening wolves and against those false shepherds 
 whose only interest in the sheep is their fleeces. He 
 can feed the sheep with the food that will nourish 
 them. Perhaps the greatest benefit he can bestow on 
 the sheep is to restrain them, and defend them against 
 their own wild wanderings from the fold. It is for the 
 churches to train shepherds, not only for service in the 
 churches themselves, which are the spiritual sheep- 
 folds, but to be with the sheep in the pastures and on 
 the hill-sides. Which, being interpreted, means that 
 
 149 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 men in whom is the Spirit of the Chief Shepherd are 
 needed as labour leaders, as captains of industry, and 
 as members of Parliament and municipal councils. 
 Only the man who can separate the man and the 
 woman from the crowd can minister to the crowd's 
 deepest needs and convert the crowd from being a 
 many-headed monster into a family of brothers and 
 sisters linked to each other by the bonds of natural 
 affection. 
 
 IV.— THE PEOPLE'S "AMEN, AMEN I" 
 
 "And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God. And all the 
 people answered, Amen, amen, with lifting up their hands, and 
 they bowed their heads, and worshipped the Lord, with their faces 
 to the ground " (Neh. viii. 6). 
 
 The people's "Amen, amen!" Do we realise how 
 important it is that when the preacher " blesses the 
 Lord, the great God," all the people should answer 
 " Amen, amen " ? That was a wonderful service which 
 Nehemiah describes. It lasted from morning unto mid- 
 day, and nobody complained ofthe length of the service. 
 People who occupy pulpits might take to heart the 
 verse in which we are told of the men who " caused the 
 people to understand the law," and " read in the book 
 ofthe law of God distinctly, and gave the sayings and 
 caused them to understand the reading." The point of 
 the text is, however, that the people listened with ears 
 eagerly attentive, and they signified not only their 
 approval, but their acceptance of the messages, and 
 their determination to practise what they had heard, 
 by answering "Amen, amen ! " 
 
 150 
 
Appendix I 
 
 We want the " Amen, amen ! '* spirit in our churches 
 to-day. How it would help the preacher ! The evan- 
 gelical preacher does not stand above the people as a 
 man apart clothed with the exclusive authority of 
 priestly ofBce, talking down to the people, who are 
 expected simply to shut their eyes and open their 
 mouths and take whatever he pleases to give them. i 
 The evangelical preacher is a brot her beloved , who i' 
 thinks with the people, feSTswith them, and endeavours f^^ 
 to direct their thoughts and feelings into helpful \ Oi 
 channels. The people must come, however, in the '^ 
 "Amen, amen!" spirit, if they are to receive the 
 blessing. Too often, in these days, they come listlessly, 
 reluctantly, as to the discharge of a duty. They are 
 critical and seem to have little or no appetite for the 
 food with which they are being fed. The preacher is 
 only a man like themselves, and if there is no answering 
 " Amen, amen ! " from the people's hearts, his own 
 heart is likely to be chilled and his inspiration damped 
 down. 
 
 When the good man of the house grows critical 
 about his food, when nothing that is set before him 
 pleases him, when the joint is served half raw or 
 burned to a cinder, or the porridge at breakfast is half- 
 cooked and lumpy, and the coffee is badly brewed and 
 lukewarm, the wife who is a wise woman, whose 
 "price is far above rubies," does not argue with 
 him. She says, " John is evidently run down. He is 
 in bad condition. He has not been taking sufficient 
 exercise. He needs a tonic or a holiday," and she 
 begins to contrive, to manoeuvre how she can induce 
 
 151 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 him to take exercise, or a tonic, or a holiday. It is 
 exactly so in the churches when the people have lost 
 the " Amen, amen ! " spirit, and have developed to the 
 sharpest point the faculty of criticism. They need 
 exercise and a tonic. They need " the practice of the 
 presence of God," the individual soul-wrestling. They 
 need to recover their relish for Bible reading, their 
 fervency in prayer, their quiet meditation upon the 
 deep things of God. In these days of increasing stress 
 and strain, of hurry and worry ; these days of hustling 
 and bustling, of multiplied distractions in the way of 
 recreations, piquant literature and amusements of every 
 kind, it is only too easy to lose the " Amen, amen ! " 
 spirit, to get out of touch with God, and to become 
 spiritually anaemic with the consequent flabbiness of 
 fibpe-and petulant irritability. The problem of the hour 
 in the religious world is to discover how to revive the 
 " Amen, amen ! " spirit. We have splendid churches, 
 reverent and stately services, magnificent choirs, organs 
 with the latest thing in modern improvements, learned 
 and eloquent preachers ; but there is something lacking 
 in the congregation, that prevents the congregation 
 receiving the inspiration that should come to them from 
 the hours of Sabbath worship. Let me suggest that it 
 is only in the private cultivation of the devout life that 
 they will recover the " Amen, amen ! " spirit. Thomas 
 Brooks, the Puritan preacher, in a memoir of his wife 
 tells how she was many a whole day " pouring out her 
 soul before God for the nation, for Zion and the great 
 concerns of her own soul." Of another lady he says, 
 " She wac much in secret duties, in close communion 
 
 152 
 
Appendix I 
 
 with God, and this did very much enrich her, and 
 advance her in spiritual experience, when she had once 
 found the secret of enjoying Christ behind the door. 
 She was a Christian all over. She was a Christian in 
 profession and a Christian in practice ; a Christian in 
 lip and a Christian in life ; a Christian in word and a 
 Christian in work ; a Christian in show and a Christian 
 in power and spirit. She drove a thriving private busi- 
 ness with her Saviour." We shall not get that revival 
 of religion in the churches and in the nation till we get 
 *'the practice of the presence of God," and the driving 
 of a thriving " private business with the Saviour " in the 
 homes. It is then that the people in the church will 
 answer " Amen, amen ! " and the inspiration that goes 
 out from them as a cloud to the pulpit will return to 
 them in showers of blessing. 
 
 v.— THE FIRE IN THE BONES 
 
 " Then I said, I will not make mention of Him, nor speak any 
 more in His name. But His word was in mine heart, as a burning 
 fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I 
 could not stay" (Jer. xx. 9). 
 
 Jeremiah is the most autobiographical of the pro- 
 phets. His prophecies are wrung from him by the 
 pressure of painful personal experiences. Judah in his 
 time was like men in a boat approaching the rapids. 
 Jeremiah was with them in the boat, and in an agony 
 of apprehension pointed out the danger, but the men 
 were drunken revellers and let the boat drift, brutally 
 ill-using the troublesome interrupter in order to silence 
 him. 
 
 153 
 
The Aft of Sermon Ilustration 
 
 Sometimes Jeremiah lost heart as he saw Judah with 
 heart hardened and ears deaf to the messages that 
 came to her from Jehovah. He longed for a lonely hut 
 in the waste wilderness where he might be out of sight 
 and out of hearing of what was going on in Jerusalem, 
 where king, priests and nobles were setting the worst 
 example to the common people, and lent greedy ears 
 to the false prophets who prophesied pleasant things, 
 and cried, " Peace, peace," when there was no peace. 
 Jeremiah was not gifted with great patience, or with the 
 sweetest of tempers. He was not a mealy-mouthed 
 prophet. If you are trying to save a madman from 
 murder or suicide you resort to rough methods. In the 
 chapter from which the text is taken Jeremiah is put 
 into the stocks as a warning that he must either keep 
 his mouth shut, or must not speak so as to offend the 
 susceptibilities of people whose policy was the policy of 
 the ostrich. They preferred to bury their heads in the 
 sand rather than look at the dangers that were menacing 
 them. Jeremiah in the stocks rages and roars like a 
 forest lion captured and caged. He has preached, and 
 preached, and preached, but preached in vain, and 
 recalls how he had been tempted to preach no more. 
 " But His word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut 
 up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing and I 
 could not stay." 
 
 Of course he could not stay. What prophet of 
 God could ever be silent ? No great reform has ever 
 been carried out without the experience of Jeremiah 
 being repeated. Jeers and sneers, insult and contempt, 
 are the lot of the reformer and the philanthropist. 
 
 15-^ 
 
Appendix I 
 
 Columbus, who gave a new world to Spain, was put in 
 chains, the reformers of religion were burned at the 
 stake, the Puritans were clapped into dungeons, the 
 abolitionists of the slave trade in England were 
 denounced as lunatics and robbers for half a century. 
 John Brown was hanged when he staked his life on the 
 venture of rousing the Northern States to a sense of 
 the iniquity of slavery. The temperance pioneers in 
 England were the butt of every drunken wit, and were 
 cruelly caricatured even by such a kind-hearted novelist 
 as Dickens. It was not pleasant to be labelled as a 
 hypocritical Stiggins. General Booth, when he set out 
 to capture for Christ the classes who had ceased to be 
 touched by the ministrations of any church, was the 
 laughing-stock of the country, and the bands of 
 Salvationists were legitimate game for the violent 
 horseplay of the rowdy hooligan. 
 
 Would it have been strange if any of these reformers, 
 in a fit of depression and pessimism at the apparent 
 hopelessness of their crusade, stung by the opposition, 
 the contempt and persecution by the very people in 
 whose interest they were working, had said, '* We have 
 done our best. We have delivered our message again 
 and again. Why should we go on working for the 
 ungrateful and the wilfully blind " Our conscience is 
 clear. Now we will wash our hands of the whole busi- 
 ness, and seek our rest in some lodge in the wilderness." 
 If such men yielded there would be no hope for the 
 world, but they cannot yield. *' His word was in their 
 heart as a burning fire shut up in their bones, and they 
 could not stay." 
 
 155 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 Jeremiah died a stranger in a strange land, still faith- 
 fully delivering his messages to the exiles, who, even in 
 their banishment, w^ould not listen to them, and he w^as 
 buried in a nameless grave. But his w^ork was not 
 wasted. He saved Israel, and Israel, in after years, 
 recognised how great a prophet in Jeremiah God had 
 given to her. When Jesus came and His wonderful works 
 and words set people talking, some said it was Jeremiah 
 come again. So it will always be with those to whom 
 the word of God is a flaming fire. They in Christ's stead 
 are the world's saviours, and some day the world will 
 give them their honour. Let no faithful worker for God 
 give way to discouragement ; let him work on, and he 
 will have his sure reward. 
 
 VI.— HEAVENLY THRIFT 
 
 ** Lay not up for yourselves treasure upon earth .... But lay 
 up for yourselves treasure in Heaven " (Matt. vi. 19, 20). 
 
 The cynical man of the world curls his lips into a 
 scornful smile when he hears the counsel, " Lay not up 
 for yourselves treasure on earth." Did he not, in his 
 boyhood, read the books of Samuel Smiles, and gather 
 from them that the chief duty of men in England was 
 to succeed in life, which means laying up treasure on 
 earth ? Is not our whole social system based on the 
 notion that the laying up of earthly treasures, the safe- 
 guarding of them, and their exchange and transmission, 
 is the one object to be kept always in view ? The man 
 who " succeeds in life " is the man whom everybody 
 honours, and his success makes everybody charitable 
 
 156 
 
Appendix I 
 
 towards any little peccadilloes he may have, or to any- 
 thing that looks dubious in the means by which his 
 success was attained. Christ's measurement of success, 
 however, is not the world's measurement. Success with 
 Him means the man's success in the making of himself, 
 and not his success in the making of money. In making 
 the money he may lose himself and then, judged by 
 Christ's standard, though he lives in a mansion, and 
 drives in a motor car, the man is a bankrupt. When a 
 successful man dies, the world asks, " What has he left ? '* 
 The angels ask, " What has he sent on ? '* His will on 
 earth may mean half-a-million in death duties to the 
 Exchequer ; his will in Heaven may be a blank sheet. 
 
 But " lay up for yourselves treasure in Heaven." Six 
 hundred thousand old people are now enjoying their 
 pensions provided by the Government from the 
 fund laid up by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. 
 Even those who opposed the Old Age Pensions Bill 
 will wish the old people a happy enjoyment of their 
 good fortune. But what, after all, is five shillings a 
 week, or five pounds, or fifty pounds, a week, for the 
 matter of that, as provision for old age ? It will provide 
 porridge and a buttered crust, it will keep a roof tree 
 over the home, it will remove the dark cloud of poverty 
 that embittered men and women who in their declining 
 years, after lives of ceaseless toil, saw no prospect 
 ahead but the open doors of the workhouse. But 
 ** man does not live by bread alone." He needs provision 
 for the mind, provision for the heart, provision for the 
 fcoul, if he is to enjoy a cheerful old age. Is there any- 
 thing more tragic on earth than the old age of a starved 
 
 157 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 heart and a starved soul ? Many successful men have 
 let the rust of gold eat into their hearts, and when such 
 men retire from business to leisure they are of all men 
 the most miserable. In our family relationships we 
 should be laying up treasure in Heaven. All human 
 love that opens and warms the heart is treasure 
 being laid up in Heaven. Is there any more miserable 
 spectacle than the old age of the selfish man or 
 woman, whose thought has only been for themselves 
 and who have alienated the respect and affection of 
 even their own children ? But what more beautiful 
 sight on earth is there than that of Darby and Joan 
 who, at their golden wedding, gather around them their 
 children and grand-children, and reap a golden harvest 
 of love from the seed of love that they sowed in their 
 children's hearts ? After all the best old age pension 
 for Darby is just Joan and the children whom God 
 gave them. 
 
 If we are laying up treasure in Heaven we do not have 
 to wait till we reach Heaven before we enter upon its 
 enjoyment. The beauty of a heavenly old age pension 
 is that we begin to receive it, and to receive it on a 
 scale of heavenly generosity, the very moment that we 
 begin laying it up. 
 
 "The Kingdom of God is within you.'* As the world 
 counts success we may have failed, but as Heaven counts 
 success we have gloriously succeeded. Do not we know 
 at a glance the people who have treasure laid up in 
 Heaven ? Their lives are radiant. They are ** fat and 
 flourishing " of soul, though their tables are scantily 
 provided. The best things of life are not so unevenly 
 
 158 
 
Appendix I 
 
 divided as most people suppose. Many a man and 
 woman in the poorest cottage possess a heavenly 
 cheque-book, and their drafts are always honoured at 
 the bank. That bank never breaks. " Neither moth 
 nor. rust doth corrupt and thieves do not break through 
 and steal.* 
 
 VII.— THE SAVIOURS OF THE CITY 
 
 ** There was a little city, and few men within it ; and there came 
 a great king against it and besieged it, and built great bulwarks 
 against it : Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by 
 his wisdom delivered the city ; yet no man remembered the same 
 poor man *' (Eccles. ix. 14, 15). 
 
 Curiosity is aroused by this strange little story 
 embedded in the Book of Ecclesiastes. We should like 
 to know what quarrel the great king had with the city, 
 what was the name and the trade of the poor wise man, 
 what was the scheme by which he delivered the city in 
 its desperate straits. Imagination pictures the scene 
 when the poor wise man appeared upon it. Everything 
 has been tried and failed to beat off the besieging army, 
 and a council of war is called. Assembled are all the 
 colonels, and the captains, and the city fathers. There 
 are very clever men there, with very clever schemes, 
 but everyone who has served on a committee knows 
 that clever as are the men who devise schemes, there 
 are still cleverer critics to tear them to tatters. The 
 councillors are at their wits* end, when there is a knock 
 at the door, the sentinel on guard enters, and says, 
 ** There is a man outside shabbily dressed. He doesn't 
 look anybody of importance, but he says he's got a 
 
 159 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 scheme to save the city." After some debate if it were 
 worth while listening to a poor man, they let him enter, 
 he propounds his scheme, and it is so self-evidently 
 practical that they cannot but accept it. 
 
 Now, I don't know what the scheme was, but I am 
 pretty certain that it was exceedingly simple, and 
 because it was so simple none of those clever men had 
 thought of it. Ellen Thorneycroft Fowler introduces 
 a character in one of her books, *' who w^as so 
 exceedingly clever that she never could perceive thv 
 obvious." The world is full of such clever people, — 
 the inventors who are always out at elbows ; the men 
 who write books on how to make money, and always 
 want to borrow half-a-crown ; the politicians who 
 would revolutionise the State on Utopian principles 
 but are ghastly failures when elected to the parish 
 council ; the people in the churches who dream of great 
 revivals but will not take a Sunday-school class. The 
 poor wise man has more wisdom in his little finfj:er 
 than an army of these clever people have in all their 
 heads. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tells a story at his 
 own expense. There was a burglary in his village, and 
 the people thought it would be a good thing to induce the 
 creator of " Sherlock Holmes " to discover the burglar. 
 Sir Arthur sat down to work out a theory, but while he 
 was working it out, the stout red-faced village constable 
 laid his hand on the man. The constable was just "a 
 poor wise man " who used his native wit, and native 
 wit is often a surer guide than the wisdom of the 
 philosophers. The poor wise man, with whom should 
 be included the poor wise woman, is always saving the 
 
 i6o 
 
Appendix I 
 
 city, and unless he takes his part in saving it, all that 
 Parliament and county and borough councils can do 
 will be in vain. There is a growing tendency to expect 
 the "great and eminent men " to save the city off their 
 own bat, so to speak. You might as well expect the 
 officers of an army to win battles without the rank and 
 file. 
 
 Let us take a look at three or four of the questions 
 concerning the saving of the city that are now being 
 hotly debated. There is the temperance question. 
 Governments devise Licensing Bills and the House of 
 Lords rejects them. What does the poor wise man 
 say ? "I will pass a Licensing Bill of my own without 
 a time limit and without compensation, and no House 
 of Lords on earth can veto it." There is the education 
 question. Churches are quarrelling as to who shall 
 bring up the boys and girls in the religion of their 
 parents. What does the poor wise man say ? "I will 
 educate my children in my own religion by my example 
 and their mother's." Unless the children are so 
 " educated in the religion of their parents " I have not 
 much hope of either day-school teacher or Sunday- 
 school teacher succeeding in the business. The child 
 should be daily and hourly i .liuenced by the example 
 of the parents. If they are a Christian man and 
 woman they should exhale an atmosphere of cheerful 
 piety that will be in the home as the fragrance of roses, 
 and children breathing that atmosphere cannot but be 
 educated in the religion of their parents. 
 
 Then with regard to the " arrested progress of the 
 Church," and how the arrest can be arrested and the 
 
 i6i L 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 Churches started on the march again. What does 
 the poor wise man say ? He says, " I will cultivate my 
 own soul with intensive cultivation. I will do my 
 utmost so that any chill in the spiritual temperature of 
 the Church, any slackening of its moral fibre, any half- 
 heartedness in its Christian activities, shall at any rate 
 not be traceable to shortcomings on my part.'* Not 
 long ago I heard a minister tell of a revival at a church 
 in a highly respectable suburb, at which he was asked 
 to conduct a mission. On arriving his host, a deacon 
 J. P., threw all the cold water he could on his expecta- 
 tions. On the Sunday morning, however, as soon as 
 he entered the pulpit, he was conscious of something 
 electric in the air. It became evident that there was 
 the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. Before 
 the service closed, five people expressed their desire to 
 commit their lives to the Master and devote their lives 
 to His service, and among the five were two young 
 men, sons of the pessimist J. P. What was the secret ? 
 It was found that five old men, among the poorest of 
 the congregation, had agreed weeks before to meet 
 together daily for supplication that the Spirit of the 
 Lord might be poured out at that mission. They were 
 " the poor wise men," and such men and such women 
 in every church would soon create a revival in a natural 
 spontaneous way. 
 
 The poor wise men and women who live lives of 
 simple goodness are the salt that saves the community 
 from moral putrefaction. Ten just men would have 
 saved Sodom, but Sodom lacked the ten men, and it 
 perished in a rain of fire. Let no man or woman think 
 
 162 
 
Appendix I 
 
 that they are so unimportant that they do not count. 
 They may be the saviours of the city. 
 
 VIII.-— NO MORE SEA 
 
 "And there was no more sea " (Rev. xxi. i). 
 
 To a people whose glory is in their supremacy on the 
 seas, who sing " Rule Britannia, Britannia rules the 
 waves," who draw their wealth from the ends of the 
 earth in ships that fly their flag, a heaven in which 
 there is no more sea seems a heaven incomplete. To 
 the Jews, however, as to most Orientals of the ancient 
 world, the sea was a treacherous monster, never to be 
 trusted, smiling with waves lightly rippled in the sun- 
 shine when you embarked for a voyage, and when you 
 were scarcely out of sight of the shore rising in tempest 
 and tossing the cockleshell of a ship ruthlessly on to a 
 rock, or on to some hostile shore, where, if you escaped 
 the waves, you were barbarously received by wreckers, 
 who if they did not murder -you enslaved you. The 
 sea became the symbol of all that was most faithless 
 and merciless. " The wicked," said Isaiah, " are like 
 the troubled sea that casts up mire and dirt." Those 
 who were on the sea thought longingly of a safe 
 haven. 
 
 The sea even to-day has not lost its terrors. The 
 ocean liner is the last thing in luxury to the passengei 
 with, money, but there is never a day of storm but wha 
 the sea reaps its dread harvest of lives. Norman 
 Duncan, in one of his Newfoundland and Labrador 
 .stories, tells how two lads went out in a fishing boat 
 
 163 L 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 and were caught in a fog and drawn into a resistless 
 current, which they knew would dash their boat to 
 pieces on a rock or ice. " The sea 've cotched us, the 
 sea 've cotched us," they cried, as they drifted swiftly 
 to their doom. Rudyard Kipling wrote : — 
 
 " If blood be the price of admiralty, 
 O God, we have paid the price." 
 
 In the Tate Gallery one of the pictures that attracts 
 the most attention is " Hopeless Dawn." There is a 
 spread breakfast table, and the candle burned low in the 
 socket tells of a sleepless night. Morning has come 
 after a night of storm, and a fishing boat is missing. 
 An old wrinkled grannie sits in a chair, and kneeling 
 on the flioor with her head on the grannie's lap is 
 the fisherman's wife, a pathetic picture of despair. 
 Even to-day the ocean proves himself a *' mighty 
 monster." 
 
 ** And there was no more sea." What does it mean? 
 It means that in the Jerusalem above " God shall wipe 
 away all tears from their eyes ; and there shall be no 
 more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall 
 there be any more pain, for the former things are 
 passed away." While we are in the flesh, however, 
 there is always the sea, and always the danger of moral 
 and spiritual shipwreck. We are all on the sea. In 
 olden times there was no mariner's compass, and the 
 vessels had to hug the land as far as possible, but the 
 danger of hugging the land might be even greater than 
 that of sailing out into the ocean. To-day, with steel- 
 built vessels and scientific construction, the results of 
 
 164 
 
Appendix I 
 
 centuries of evolution, with the seas thoroughly charted, 
 with steam power and perfect machinery, with the 
 mariner's compass and other instruments to guide him, 
 the navigator has reduced the perils of the sea to a 
 minimum, but there are perils all the same. He may 
 go to sea in a coffin ship with machinery that long ago 
 ought to have been scrapped. The navigator may be 
 incompetent or careless. The magnetic needle may be 
 deflected either by the metal of the ship or by the 
 magnetic powers of rocks, when the ship is near the 
 land. One of the most terrible wrecks of recent years 
 is believed to have been caused by the magnetic; 
 influence of the rocks into the neighbourhood of which I 
 the ship had been steered during a fog. Then there' 
 are shifting currents that may carry a ship in foggy 
 weather out of her course. 
 
 Are there not analogous perils in the voyage of life 
 on which we are all engaged ? We have a chart, indeed, 
 in the Word of God, but we often roll up the chart and 
 fling it on to a top shelf where it remains dusty and 
 forgotten. We have a compass, in the light of con- 
 science, but the hand of the compass is easily deflected 
 by the magnetism of powerful temptations. We get 
 into dangerous currents and drift on to rocks or into 
 shoals, and when we strike we w^onder; but it would 
 have been more wonderful if we had not struck. How 
 can we make sure of reaching *' the desired haven " ? 
 There is a Pilot who is waiting and willing and eager to 
 come on board, if we will let Him. I read of a Scotch 
 pilot who had so often carried ships up the St. Law- 
 rence that he was never at a loss, even in the thickest 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 fog, and said he could take a boat, he believed, even if 
 he v^^ere blindfolded. 
 
 •'With Christ in the vessel 
 We laugh at the storm." 
 
 He may be an invisible Pilot, but He v^ill carry us 
 safely through all the perils of the sea, and when we 
 reach the desired haven we shall " see our Pilot face to 
 face." • 
 
 X66 
 
APPENDIX II 
 
 ILLUSTRATED ADDRESSES TO 
 CHILDREN 
 
 For the Illustrated Addresses to Children that follow 
 I am indebted to the kindness of the authors whose 
 names appear, with the exception of the last. Rev. E. 
 W. Lewis, M.A., B.D., has published a volume of his 
 children's addresses, "The Invisible Companion, and 
 other Stories for Children," through James Clarke & Co., 
 price IS. 6d. net, and the two addresses by Rev. J. G. 
 Stevenson are taken, somewhat condensed, from his 
 volume ** The Challenge," published by James Clarke 
 & Co., price 2s. 6d. net. The address by Rev. W. 
 Kingscote Greenland is condensed, with his permission, 
 from a published report. Mr. Greenland is most 
 popular throughout the Wesleyan Methodist Connexion 
 as the author of the weekly Methodist Recorder children's 
 article, " From Eight to Sixteen." That weekty article, 
 and the volumes of Messrs. Lewis and Stevenson, are 
 models of the methods of talking and writing that 
 fascinate children. My friend Mr. Basil Mathews is 
 a student of child psychology who well understands 
 the art of finding ways into the child's mind. 
 
 167 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 I.— CARRYING A CROSS 
 By Rev. E. W. Lewis, M.A., B.D. 
 
 The other morning I came into my study a little bit 
 earlier than usual, and I saw a very young sparrow 
 sitting on the window-sill, and looking exceedingly 
 down in the dumps. The window was open, and as I 
 walked towards it I said in a low, friendly sort of voice 
 so as not to disturb him, ** Hullo, my boy, and what is 
 the matter, pray ? '* 
 
 He evidently wanted someone to talk to, for he did 
 not fly away as I came still nearer, but sniffled in his 
 nose a bit as if he had been crying. So I sat down on 
 the ledge of the window, and without looking at him — 
 for sparrows do not like to be looked at when they have 
 been crying — I said in the most comfortable, confiding 
 voice I could, " Well, tell me about it." 
 
 Then he began to make a funny sort of noise ; some- 
 times it was like a muffled twitter, and sometimes it 
 was like a lot of jerky little snorts, which you probably 
 would not have understood, but it was quite plain to 
 me, for I have studied the language of sparrows almost 
 as much as I have studied Hindustani. And what he 
 said was this : 
 
 " I think it is really too bad ; yesterday evening fathei 
 and mother went off somewhere, and left me, and they 
 haven't come back this morning, and I have searched all 
 about for them, and I cannot find them. I am alone in 
 the world" ; and he stopped a little because of a lump 
 in his throat, which you boys and girls know all about. 
 
 " Dear, dear ! " I said, just to give him time. 
 
 1 68 
 
Appendix II 
 
 u 
 
 I have nobody, now," he went on, " to bring me 
 food, or to show me where to find it, and every bird I 
 meet seems to want to pick a quarrel with me, and 
 fight, and I can't fight, and there is nobody to stand up 
 for me. And the nights are getting so long, and are 
 beginning to get cold, and I do not know what I shall 
 do. I wish I could die." 
 
 He was clearly in a very bad way. 
 
 " Come, come," I said to him in my best coaxing 
 manner, " you are young and strong ; you have a sharp 
 beak and two quick eyes, and a fine crop of feathers ; 
 and you have had a wonderful stroke of luck in finding 
 out this garden, which is a perfect storehouse of treasures 
 for you. Things are not nearly so bad as you make out. 
 Blow your father and mother, and keep your tail up." 
 
 He still looked very limp and woe-begone, however, 
 and snorted out : 
 
 " I don't think anybody has so rough a time of it as 
 I have." 
 
 " Oh, nonsense ! " I said, rather sternly. " Look at 
 that spider down there on the top of the laurel bush ; 
 somebody smashed his web to bits this morning, and 
 he has got to weave another, and he has only got a 
 certain amount of stuff to do it with, and if this web 
 gets broken, he will have to starve to death." 
 
 " Oh," says the sparrow, " that is very hard." 
 
 " I should think it is hard," I replied; " and see that 
 old bluebottle crouching behind that ivy stalk ; all his 
 friends have left him. He is too old and fat to help 
 himself; he is so blind he can scarcely see; he is 
 frightened to death for fear you will catch sight of him ; 
 
 169 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 and if he gets inside this room of mine I shall chase 
 him round with a duster ; and the winter is coming and 
 he has not got a nest, nor even feathers." 
 
 " Poor soul ! " murmured the sparrow. " It must be 
 very hard to be old, and hated, and forsaken." 
 
 " And look at that butterfly," I continued, warming 
 up like I do when I am half-way through a sermon. 
 " Look at him ; he looks gay and happy, doesn't he ? 
 And yet if there is a frost to-night, it will pinch his 
 little heart, and he will drop down among the soil and 
 the dead leaves." 
 
 " Poor thing ! " sighed the sparrow. 
 
 ** And look at me," I cried. 
 
 ** You ? " chirped the sparrow. 
 
 " Yes, me ! Everybody has their troubles, and yours 
 are a fleabite to them. Here am I on Saturday 
 morning, and I have got to talk to some boys and girls 
 to-morrow, and I haven't a single idea in my head to say 
 to them, and they'll never like me any more if I miss a 
 Sunday. There's real trouble, if you like ! " 
 
 ** Tell 'em about me," he said, and his eyes twinkled 
 and he seemed to be getting quite perky. 
 
 " Great idea!" I cried. *' Here, wait a bit"; and I 
 slipped downstairs before the breakfast table had been 
 cleared, and made him some crumbs which he ate out 
 of the palm of my hand. When he had finished, I said : 
 
 '* Do you see that glass dish of water down there on 
 the grass? That's for the dog; but you can go and 
 stand on the rim and wash your breakfast down ; only 
 watch out for the cat." 
 
 And down he flew. 
 
 170 
 
Appendix II 
 
 Some of you boys and girls are a bit like that sparrow, 
 sometimes. You are inclined to think that you have a 
 very bad time of it, and are very hardly done to, and 
 that nobody could have such parents as yours for 
 sending you errands when you want to play, or keeping 
 you at lessons when you want to be larking, and you 
 look glum, and you grouse,and grumble, and imagine that 
 there is nobody has so heavy a cross to carry as you have. 
 
 Oh ! if you could only see the crosses that other 
 people have to carry ! 
 
 If you could only see the burdens that lie all the time 
 on the shoulders of your father and mother, and on the 
 shoulders, too, the little shoulders of other children 
 sometimes. You would begin to see how fortunate and 
 blessed you are. 
 
 There was once a girl whose cross was so heavy 
 that she fretted a great deal over it. One night she 
 dreamed that it was taken away, and that she was visited 
 by an angel who talked to her about carrying crosses. 
 
 " Everyone," said the angel, "carries a cross. But 
 you shall have your choice." 
 
 So the girl was taken to where the crosses of the 
 world are kept. She saw them — great huge heavy 
 crosses which, when she touched them, she could not 
 move. In a corner stood a beautiful tiny cross. 
 
 " May I carry that one ? " 
 
 " That one ? " said the angel, " certainly. It is the 
 very cross you were fretting over. It is the lightest 
 cross we have in the whole place." 
 
 And I should not wonder if the same is not true of 
 some of you (Luke ix. 14). 
 
 171 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 II.— THE MAGIC PEN 
 By Rev. E. W. Lewis, M.A., B.D. 
 
 I HAVE a quill pen which came out of the left wing of 
 a grey goose. This is a long time ago, for I myself 
 have used the pen until it won't write any more. But 
 I have not thrown it away, for — if I may whisper it in 
 your little ear — it is a Magic Pen. In children's stories 
 you will always notice that anything wonderful is spelt 
 with a capital letter. I am afraid that it is not a 
 Magic Pen when I am writing with it, but it is magic 
 whenever I put it behind my ear. 
 
 This has been one of my great secrets for many 
 
 years, and one day I will tell you how I discovered it. 
 
 Whenever I put the Magic Pen behind my ear, off I 
 
 go quicksticks into fairyland ! And so it happened on 
 
 New Year's Eve I was sitting in my room late at night, 
 
 and very tired, and I placed the pen, which I had been 
 
 using as a book-marker, behind my ear. No sooner 
 
 had I done so than my study, with its books and 
 
 mantelpiece, and pictures, and the dog stretched on the 
 
 hearthrug, suddenly disappeared, and I found myself 
 
 in what turned out to be the entrance-hall of a most 
 
 wonderful castle. And the door opened and in came a 
 
 shining personage, whom I at once knew to be the 
 
 Lord of the Manor; he carried in his arms a huge 
 
 sheaf of flowers ; and he came forward to me smiling. 
 
 " My name is Time," he said to me in a beautiful, 
 
 kind voice. 
 
 " This is a fine old place," I replied, scarcely 
 knowing what to say to him. " May I ask its name ? " 
 
 172 
 
Appendix II 
 
 " It IS called," he said, ** the House of Ages ! This 
 hall in which we are now standing is in the centre ; on 
 that side lie all the Ages that have been, on this side 
 lie all the Ages that are to come." 
 
 '* What a wonderful place ! " I said, in a soft, awesome 
 voice. 
 
 " Come and let me show you a little," said Time, and 
 he put his foot on the first step of a marble staircase. 
 I followed him. When we got to the landing, I found 
 myself standing at the end of a long corridor, stretch- 
 ing right away in the distance in a mist of light ; it 
 was for all the world like a corridor in a big hotel, I 
 thought ; and there seemed to be a good many rooms 
 with closed doors. Just near at hand was a room or 
 which the door was not quite closed, and before this 
 one Time stopped. ** Let us go in here," he said, and 
 he led the way. I noticed on the door a number, like 
 you see on the bedrooms in an hotel ; and the number 
 was igo8. So I knew why the door was nearly closed. 
 
 We went in, and all around the room there hung 
 pictures in long rows. Time was silent, and I looked 
 first at one picture and then at the other, and another, 
 and another, and I found that they were all portraits 
 of myself! Some I rather liked, for in this one my 
 face was very happy, and in that one a kind look shone 
 in my eyes. 
 
 *' You remember this ? " said Time. *' This was You 
 when you won that golf match after a great fight ; you 
 were nearly beaten, but you stuck to it, and just 
 managed to pull it off." 
 
 Then we passed on, 
 
 ^7Z 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 " And this was You after you had spent the afternoon 
 romping with the children ; you see how dusty your 
 knees are, and your coat-collar is turned up at the 
 back, and your tie is all out of place, through playing 
 bears." 
 
 " What a jolly room this is ! " I said to myself. But 
 I am afraid that we soon came to the end of the nice 
 portraits. 
 
 " You remember this one ? " asked Time. Yes, I did ; 
 it was a very sour, angry, ugly face; it was one day 
 when I had not been able to have my own way, and 
 had got into a nasty temper — ratty, as the boys call it. 
 
 " Did I ever really look like that ? " I cried ; for it 
 was a proud, scornful face, and you could almost see 
 the unkind, cutting word coming out through the lips. 
 I began to be ashamed. I looked round to see where 
 the door was. I tried to hurry Time on. 
 
 " No, don't let us look at that," I said, as he stopped 
 in front of another. " I am sure the door will shut, 
 and we shall be locked in, unless we are quick. It is 
 very kind of you to take this trouble, but you will be 
 tired." 
 
 But he led me round the room, and before it was 
 all over my heart was very sad and heavy because I 
 had looked upon the record of so much that was selfish, 
 and thoughtless, and cruel, and ugly. 
 
 Then I heard a clock somewhere out in the corridor 
 striking the hour. It was twelve o'clock. I saw the 
 door begin to shut. We were just in time ; we slipped 
 through, and, with the last stroke of the bell, ** click" 
 went the lock which could never be unbolted. 
 
 174 
 
Appendix II 
 
 And as this door closed behind us for ever I saw 
 another door right opposite to us on the other side of 
 the corridor standing ajar, as if it had just opened. 
 And I read its number. It was igog. 
 
 ** Ah ! " I said with a cry of joy, ** that is the New 
 Year." " Yes," repHed Time, " it is. Would you like 
 to see it." And he took me just inside. It was a room 
 very like the one we had left. And its walls were 
 covered over with long rows of picture-frames. But I 
 saw that there was nothing in them yet. They were 
 empty frames waiting for the pictures ; and I knew 
 that I was the painter, busy every day with my life, 
 who was to put the pictures in. 
 
 No word was spoken, but every boy and girl will 
 know what was in my heart as I looked along those 
 silent walls, and those vacant picture-frames. 
 ' Then I found myself saying in a low voice, quickly, 
 with a burning at my heart, and a hope shining like a 
 bright light within me : " They shall all be happy, jolly, 
 kind, beautiful, and good this year ! None of your 
 ugly ones ; none of your bad-tempered ones ; none of 
 your selfish ones ! I am not good-looking to start with, 
 but I mean to take jolly good care not to make it 
 worse by unkind thoughts, and sinful desires, and 
 unlovely deeds. I will be very careful. I will make 
 the very best of myself every time. I will " 
 
 And then suddenly I awoke, to find that Jock, the 
 Aberdeen terrier, had got tired of waiting for me to 
 come out of my dreams, had jumped up on to my knee, 
 and in licking my cheek with his ticklish tongue had 
 knocked the Magic Pen from behind my ear. It was 
 
 ^75 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 already New Year's Day. A Happy New Year to yon 
 all ! If you have read this story carefully you will know 
 how to make it happy (Ps. xc. 9). 
 
 III.— THE YOUNG HEART FOR JESUS 
 
 By Rev. W. Kingscote Greenland 
 [Summarized, with introduction, by H, Jeffs."] 
 
 A SPEAKER who " can do anything he likes " with 
 children is Rev. W. Kingscote Greenland. His 
 addresses, with their illustrations, are inimitable, 
 because they are so completely the expression of Mr. 
 Greenland's personality and of his absolute self-identifi- 
 cation with the children to whom he is talking. In this 
 address he urged that people should be Christians while 
 they are young because it is easy. He told how, as a 
 young minister, he was ambitious to play some musical 
 instrument at concerts, and bought a beautiful violin. 
 He took lessons, but found he was not getting on, and 
 when he pressed his teacher to tell him if he should 
 ever be able to play, the teacher, said Mr. Greenland, 
 
 began, "*Well ' * Honour bright,' I said. * Must 
 
 I tell you ? ' * You must.' * Well, you never will.' 
 *I thought so.' He was quite right. I never have. 
 They never ask me to play at church socials. Now, 
 boys and girls, there were many reasons why I was 
 unable to learn the vioHn, although I tried, and put a 
 lot of time into it. One reason was : I began to learn 
 too late. My joints were stiff, my fingers were not — 
 What is the word, boys and girls ? — [* supple '] — that 
 is a good word. I did not expect it. Another. Well, 
 they were not loose enough." Against his own failure, 
 
 176 
 
Appendix II 
 
 he placed the case of a girl of ten who used to play to 
 him, and who was doing one splendid thing — she was 
 learning while a child, when her little fingers could be 
 moved freely, and her mind was free from a thousand 
 things. 
 
 Another reason why people should be Christians 
 while they were young was because they were never so 
 generous as when they were children. Jesus wanted 
 them to give Him something, and Mr. Greenland 
 skilfully extracted from the youthful audience that the 
 something was themselves. He said : 
 
 " I was in a house the other day where there was an 
 old-fashioned little girl. There are only about six left 
 — she is one. I will tell you how I know. She was 
 telling me of a birthday present she was going to 
 give to her father. It was an old-fashioned present — a 
 pair of slippers. In the dear old days they used to 
 give us slippers, now they give us typewriters and 
 other murderous things. I asked her a question. It 
 troubled her. I did not know what was the matter. 
 Perhaps I had got up that morning on the wrong side 
 of the bed. Which is the wrong side of the bed, by the 
 way ? [* The left.'] I'll tell you — it's the linoleum side ! 
 The cold side. Anyhow, I said to the girl : * You are 
 going to give a pair of slippers to your father ? * * Yes.' 
 * Where will you get the money to buy them ? * She 
 opened her eyes like saucers, and she said : * Why, 
 father will give me the money.'' And just for half a minute 
 I was silent as I thought the dear man will buy his own 
 birthday present. I was not in the house when she 
 gave him the slippers. But I suppose when the father 
 
 177 M 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 came down in the morning there was the parcel between 
 his knife and fork. You know the kind of parcel a girl 
 wraps up. You girls cannot pack. We boys are the 
 packers — though we are not Chicago packers. You 
 know the sort of parcel, three times too much string, 
 and then a lot of pins, and the heel poking out of one 
 end and the toe the other. But no matter how it was 
 packed, the father loved his little girl for her gift, 
 although he had had to pay for it. She had not 
 anything in the world that he had not given her. 
 
 "That is just what I want to say as I finish. You 
 have not got anything of your own to give to Jesus 
 Christ. You can only give Him back what belongs to 
 Him. When Christ says, * Give Me something,' and 
 you say, * I have nothing to give,' He further says, * I 
 will put you back into your own care and keeping — into 
 your own proprietorship, and you may give yourself to 
 whom you like, and if you really love Me for love's sake, 
 you may give yourself back to Me " (i Sam. ii. ii ; and 
 Matt. xix. 13 — 15). 
 
 IV.— CONCERNING A TOAD 
 By Rev. J. G. Stevenson 
 
 A BOY named Huggins caught a toad, took it home 
 and fed it, and got quite fond of it. This was during 
 his school holidays. When he had to return to school 
 he cried because he would not be allowed to take his 
 pet with him. It happened that the Duke of Welling- 
 ton, who beat Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo, was 
 going down the road. He saw Huggins crying and 
 
 178 
 
Appendix II 
 
 asked what was the matter. The boy told his sad stor3\ 
 The Duke looked quite troubled, put his hand on 
 Huggins' shoulder and said, " Never mind, my lad ; 
 nobody shall hurt your toad while you are away. The 
 day before you go to school you bring it up to my house 
 and we will look after it for you, until the holidays come 
 again.*' Huggins went to school happy, but more than 
 once during the term he received a letter with a crest 
 on the envelope, and when he opened it, it read, 
 ** Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington presents his 
 compliments to Master Huggins, and begs to inform 
 him that his toad is quite well." 
 
 You cannot help smiling at Huggins, but wasn't it 
 just splendid of the Duke to look after the toad ? Yet 
 some girls, if they saw a toad, would say, " Nasty, ugly 
 thing ! " and run away, and some boys would call out 
 ** Look at that ugly beast. Let's get some stones and 
 shy at him." The best children are kind to every 
 animal they know. What happens to the cat while you 
 are away ? Children sometimes, when they return from 
 the summer holiday, count pussy's ribs and say to one 
 another, " Dear me ! she was quite fat when we went 
 away ! '* It is not fair that people should behave in 
 that way even to a cat. 
 
 v.— THE ROSE AND THE EXPRESS WORM 
 By Rev. J. G. Stevenson 
 
 The first rose of summer was nodding saucily as if 
 to say, ** Was there ever so fine a flower in the garden 
 
 179 M 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 before? " She suddenly saw a little red thing sticking 
 out of the earth. It twisted and twirled and got longer, 
 and when the rose asked "Whoever are you ? " "I," 
 came the answer, " am the Express Worm." The Worm 
 begged the Rose to give him a summer lodging in one of 
 her petals, and prom.ised he would defend her against 
 her enemies. She hesitated, but the Worm slithered up 
 the tree, and curled up in the centre of the blossom. 
 She soon began to feel not at all well, for the Worm 
 began to eat one of her leaves, and when she asked him 
 to move, he just munched another petal. She asked 
 her friend the Bee to help her. The Bee looked solemn 
 and said, " Let me see. Why, that's no Express Worm, 
 that is Sin." The Rose said, " Oh no, he told me his 
 name himself." "Stupid!" retorted the Bee, "Sin 
 never gives his real name. He always pretends that he 
 is someone else. What were you doing when he 
 came ? " "I was feeling proud, and I didn't think 
 there was so much of him. There was only a very 
 little of him that peered from the ground at first." " It 
 is always like that," was the answer. " To be naughty 
 always gives sin a chance. And sin takes in everybody, 
 when it promises them revenge against their enemies. 
 And no sin seems so big at first as it becomes after- 
 wards. But keep your petals up ; you will know better 
 another time." The Bee advised the Rose to pray for 
 pardon to Someone who is often called the " Rose of 
 Sharon." The West-wind blew and swept the Express 
 Worm right away. 
 
 i8o 
 
Appendix II 
 
 VI.— "AS IN A MIRROR" 
 By Basil Mathews, B.A. 
 
 " We all, reflecting as a mirror the glory of the Lord, become 
 transformed into the same image" (2 Cor. iii. 18, R. V.). 
 
 (i) Take a bar of soft iron. Put it among iron filings 
 and it does nothing. Put the soft iron on to a magnet 
 and that iron bar draws the fiHngs. It has become a 
 magnet by contact with a magnet. 
 
 (2) Photographic plate : a perfect blank. Take oft 
 the cap of the camera and then the plate has received a 
 perfect picture of what was in front of it. Inside your 
 head is a brain more sensitive than a photographic 
 plate, taking in pictures faster than a cinematograph. 
 
 (3) Story of ** Silas Marner." The weaver caring 
 only for gold becomes hard like the gold. Loses the 
 gold and finds golden-haired child. So becomes kind, 
 trustful, helpful, considerate. 
 
 (4) "The Great Stone Face " (story told by Nathaniel 
 Hawthorne). In a Swiss valley was a village. Above 
 was a mountain, on a rock of which was carved a fine, 
 strong, calm, loving face. The people said that some 
 day a man would come to the village with a face like 
 the Great Stone Face, and would lead them and make 
 them happy and strong. A boy, Ernest, was told this, 
 and always watched for that man, looking up to the 
 rock and then at the face of every stranger who came 
 to the village. But he was always disappointed. At 
 last, one day, when he was a young man addressing a 
 meeting, a man jumped up and cried out, " Behold ! 
 Ernest is himself the likeness of the Great Stone Face." 
 
 181 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 He had reflected as a mirror its glory and was gradually 
 changed to the same image. 
 
 VII.— "YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN" 
 By Basil Mathews, B.A. 
 
 Being born is just coming into life. 
 
 We all want to see life. 
 
 Point : To be born simply to let the Light of the 
 World shine on you. 
 
 (i) You discover in the garden a thing like a brown 
 torpedo. Last summer it was a caterpillar. God tells 
 it that it must be born again. So in the spring it will 
 come up unto the sun and let the sun shine on it and 
 will then be born again to fly over the tree-tops rejoicing 
 as a butterfly. 
 
 (2) The bulb in the garden lets the sun shine on it 
 and warm it, and in the spring it is born again into 
 a beautiful, brilliant flower. Even the blossom on the 
 apple tree is born again into lovely fruit. 
 
 " Ye must be born again," therefore, means let your 
 whole life get warm, glowing and growing into blossom 
 and coming to fruit in the sunshine of Jesus' love 
 (John iii. 7). 
 
 VIIL— THE RIGHT WAY AND THE WRONG 
 
 WAYS 
 " Jesus saith unto him, I am the Way " (John xiv. 6). 
 
 In a new fairy-book I found a story of a boy and 
 girl, brother and sister, who lived just outside the 
 frontier of a country that was ruled by a very beautiful 
 and kind princess. They heard how anyone who visited 
 
 182 
 
Appendix II 
 
 the princess's castle was received in the most hospitable 
 way by the princess, and was sent away laden with 
 gifts. The boy and giri thought how much they would 
 like to go to the castle and see the princess. One day, 
 when they had a holiday, they slipped over the frontier, 
 and walked on and on until they came to a place where 
 many roads and lanes met. They did not know which 
 was the right road to take ; but there was a sign-post 
 with a board pointing in the direction of each road and 
 lane. They read the direction on each board; but 
 what was their surprise to find that the direction on 
 each pointer was no direction at all, but simply these 
 
 words — " THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO THE CASTLE." 
 
 They sat down in despair, not knowing what to do, 
 until a kind old gentleman came along, and when they 
 told him their wish and their difficulty, he took each of 
 them by the hand and led them along the right road 
 until they came to the castle. There they found that 
 the princess w^as even more beautiful and gracious and 
 kind than they had imagined, and they had a royal time 
 as her guests. 
 
 Every boy and girl should have a still more eager 
 desire to find their way to the Heavenly City, and to 
 the Great King, who reigns over the city, and who is 
 kinder and more gracious than the most kind and 
 gracious princess that ever lived. Those that set out 
 on the journey, however, as Christian in " The 
 Pilgrim's Progress," may easily get into a wrong road. 
 There is only one right road; but how many wrong 
 ones ! There is One, however, who is willing to be your 
 Guide. Jesus said, **I.am the Way." If in trustful 
 
 183 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 confidence you will put your hands in His, He will 
 lead you, and you will never miss your way until you 
 enter the gates of the Heavenly City. 
 
 There are dangers and difficulties many on the way, 
 and we need a guide. In my house there is a 
 photograph that was taken last July at Grindelwald, 
 in Switzerland, and it shows a group standing on a 
 glacier on the side of a mountain. Those in the group 
 are roped together, and in front of them is a guide 
 with an axe. In the streets of Grindelwald you will 
 see little groups of the guides, each with his axe and a 
 coil of rope. The guides know the dangerous places, 
 and if you entrust yourself to their care they will take 
 you up the mountains and guard you against any danger 
 of falling into a deep crevasse in the ice, or slipping 
 over a cliff, or being buried in an avalanche of snow. 
 While we were at Grindelwald two parties went up the 
 mountains without guides, and in one case two men 
 were killed by falling over a cliff, and in the other one 
 perished on the snow of exhaustion, and another only 
 just escaped with his life. Jesus is a Guide who never 
 will fail to save any who trust themselves to Him, and 
 if the boys and the girls will take Him as their Guide 
 He will lead them over every Hill Difficulty ana lound 
 every Slough of Despond, until at last they are 
 welcomed home by the Great King in his City of 
 Light. 
 
 184 
 
APPENDIX III 
 
 ILLUSTRATIONS FROM GENESIS TO 
 REVELATION 
 
 The illustrations in this Appendix have been selected 
 from a great variety of preachers and volumes. There 
 are a considerable number of original ones by the author 
 and his friends. The illustrations are grouped in the 
 order of the books of the Bible from which the texts are 
 taken. In many cases the text appended is different from 
 that of the sermon in which the illustration was used, but 
 the point illustrated seemed to the author — separated 
 from the sermon — to make the text here selected a 
 more suitable one. 
 
 "AND HE DIED" 
 
 Archbishop Leighton, in the seventeenth century, 
 tells us of a man who entered a church in Glasgow 
 one day when the same chapter, the fifth Genesis, was 
 being read — the patriarchs who lived for hundreds of 
 years — and the man left the church converted. Arch- 
 bishop Leighton tells us that what converted him was 
 the perpetual recurrence of the phrase, " And he died " 
 (Gen. v.). — Dr. Horton. 
 
 185 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 WRESTLING PRAYER 
 
 ** There's nae gude done, John, till ye git into the 
 close grups," so said Jeems, the doorkeeper of his 
 father's church, to Dr. John Brown, the immortal 
 author of " Rab and his Friends." None but a Christian 
 of long and deep experience would have said that. It 
 was not a slight and transient touch of the angel of the 
 Lord that gave Jacob the victory at Penuel ; the per- 
 sistent wrestler's words : " I will not let Thee go except 
 Thou bless me," showed the close grip. That was a 
 prevailing prayer (Gen. xxxii. 26). — Dr. Cuyler. 
 
 THE FIFTH COMMANDMENT 
 
 Barrie says in his life of his mother : *' Everything 
 that I could do for her I have done since I was a boy. 
 I look back through the years, and I cannot see the 
 smallest thing left undone." Happy son, to feel in 
 that way towards the mother that has vanished out of 
 sight (Exod. XX. 12). — Dr. Hugh Macmillan. 
 
 "WHAT HATH GOD WROUGHT?" 
 
 When Cyrus Field was laying the first Atlantic 
 cable, the world looked on, doubtful that so strange 
 and bold an undertaking could be carried forward, and 
 the first failure was accepted by most people on both 
 sides of the ocean as only what might have been 
 predicted. But Mr. Field had vision and had courage. 
 He rose undaunted and tried again. When final 
 success came and the message, " What hath God 
 
 186 
 
Appendix III 
 
 wi lught ? '* was flashed beneath the waves from one 
 half the world to the other, the nations had a red-letter 
 day, the glow of which has never faded (Numb, xxiii. 
 23). — Margaret E. Sangster (" The Little Kingdom 
 of Home "). 
 
 DISCIPLINE AND OBEDIENCE 
 
 I suppose every man here was thrilled in his boyhood 
 days by the story of how Wolfe took Quebec. Who 
 has not read the story alone, perhaps in some field or 
 meadow, or in some lonely corner of the schoolyard, 
 and lived the scene over again — how the boat dropped 
 down the river St. Lawrence, and the one order to the 
 men was this : " Perfect silence." No shout, no whisper, 
 but wait. And then, in the dead silence, the awfully 
 perilous ascent of the heights of Quebec, a company of 
 men through the night winding their way up the narrow 
 pathway. If the enemy once hear them, if the enemy 
 once suspect their presence, nothing can save them, 
 for half-a-dozen men can hold the defile at the other 
 end. Everything depends upon discipline, silence, — the 
 mounting of the heights until the last man is ready for 
 the captain's word to strike the blow. And we know 
 how those men ascended ; no sound was heard, up and 
 up while the hours passed on until, when the last man 
 was upon the height, the word was given, and Quebec 
 was taken. It was a perfect picture of the truth that 
 consecration to work expresses itself in discipline and 
 obedience, something that we ever need to remember 
 (Neh. vi. 15). — Dr. Campbell Morgan. 
 
 187 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 "LIKE HINDS' FEET" 
 
 " He will make my feet like hinds' feet," that is, He 
 will give lightfootedness in the else weary path of 
 plodding life. The stag is the very emblem of elastic, 
 springing ease, of light, bounding gracefulness that 
 clears every obstacle, of sure-footed swiftness. And 
 that is how men who live near God, and have His 
 strength in them because they do, will go along their 
 life-path. What a contrast to the way in which most 
 of us get through our day's work ! We plod along, 
 heavy-footed and spiritless, like a ploughman in clayey 
 furrows, with a pound of soil clogging each boot. The 
 monotony of our constantly-recurring small duties, the 
 ups and downs in our spirits, the stiff bits of road that 
 we have all to pass some time, and, as days go on, the 
 stiffer muscles which make us like to walk rather more 
 slowly than we once did — all these make our feet very 
 unlike hinds' feet (Ps. xviii. 33). — Dr. Maclaren. 
 
 THE SHEPHERD PSALM 
 
 I have seen a woman take some querulous, fretful 
 child, oh, when the little thing was just a bundle of 
 crossness, and, instead of thrashing it — you cannot do 
 without thrashing sometimes, but it does not do always 
 — instead of taking the cross little thing and thrashing 
 it, she just lifted that little bundle of wretchedness, and 
 laid it on her lap and drew it into her bosom, and just 
 hummed away. Do you know what happened ? In 
 about ten minutes that little bundle of wretchedness 
 was lying straightened out, drowned in a blissful sleep. 
 
 t88 
 
Appendix III 
 
 Oh, that God the Holy Ghost, that nursing mother in 
 God's household, would take somebody to-night that is 
 tired, and weary, and cross, and wretched, and miserable, 
 just draw you into it, and croon, croon into your ear the 
 matchless music of the twenty-third Psalm ! (Ps. xxiii. i). 
 — Rev. John McNeill. 
 
 "THE LORD IS MY STRENGTH" 
 
 " The Lord is my strength." Is the conjunction pre- 
 sumptuous, to bring the Almighty into communion with 
 me ? I made a little toy water-mill the other day for 
 my little girl, and I used the water from the Welsh hills 
 to work it. And we can let in the River of Water of 
 Life to work the little mill of our life, to make all its 
 powers fruitful and effective. Our God is 
 
 " A gracious, willing Guest, 
 While He can find one humble heart 
 Wherein to rest." 
 
 (Ps. xxvii. i). — Rev. J. H. Jowett, M.A. 
 
 "TASTE AND SEE r 
 
 The Divine regard ! It is eleven o'clock on a cold 
 winter night. The stars twinkle in the distance as if 
 they shivered in the cold. The frost is in the air, and 
 there are icicles upon your beard and icicles hang from 
 the houses and from the branches of the trees. You 
 walk hard and yet you are cold. At last you arrive at 
 your own welcome door. The light is in the window ; 
 you are met by those you love. The fire laughs in the 
 grate. You take your own armchair. Well, now, do 
 
 189 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 you ask your wife, " Will you prove that it is good for 
 me to be here ? " Your wife would have a lower 
 opinion of you than ever she had before. '' Why, bless 
 you ! you are in your own armchair " ; the icicles are 
 gone, the supper is on the table. Your wife and 
 children smile upon you, your youngest puts her hand 
 upon your knee and prattles away. Do 3^ou want any 
 proof that it is good ? I am giving you exactly what I 
 feel. I don't want anyone to prove to me that the 
 Gospel is good — I know it. May the Divine regard 
 beam like the light of heaven upon your troubled 
 breasts ! (Ps. xxxiv. 8). — Rev. Thomas Jones, " the 
 Poet Preacher." 
 
 *'OUT OF A HORRIBLE PIT" 
 
 I knew a man who had a bit of board. He said, 
 " When they pulled down the old chapel, I went in and 
 sawed it out ; it was the board from the kneeHng part 
 of the Communion-rail, where," he said, " I was kneel- 
 ing when God spake pardon to my soul. Whenever 
 the devil comes and says it was all a delusion, I say, 
 * Never'; I up and at him with the bit of board on which 
 I was kneeling when God saved me " (Ps. xl. 2). — Rev. 
 Marshall Hartley. 
 
 "HOPE THOU IN GOD!" 
 
 You may have seen that picture by Mr. Watts, of 
 Hope, in which she is depicted as a blindfolded maiden, 
 with downcast face, sitting upon the axis of the earth. 
 Above her shines the morning star, and already the air 
 
 190 
 
Appendix III 
 
 is blue with translucent light ; she, however, sees it not, 
 whilst the earth is making her difficult progress through 
 a sea of floating cirri. In her left hand she is holding 
 her lyre, every string is broken except one, and she is 
 intently hearkening to its vibration, as though it lay 
 between her and absolute despair. I say to you, my 
 friend, take these words, take this sermon, and above 
 all, take the thought of the great God, from whom you 
 come and to whom you will go, and let that chord 
 vibrate until the bandage is torn from your eyes and you 
 find yourself bathed in morning light (Ps. xlii. 5). — 
 Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 SAIL SOUTHWARDS! 
 
 Sometimes, said Dr. W. J. Dawson, the fishermen 
 of the Newfoundland cod fishing fleet are so numbed 
 and dazed by the cold that they are no longer able to 
 keep at work. What they do, when body and brain are 
 both disabled, is to sail southwards till they get into 
 warm water, and feel the softer breezes blowing on 
 them and the warmth of the sun. A few days in the 
 genial southern waters restores their courage and their 
 nerve, and they return to the fishing banks. Is it not 
 so in the spiritual sphere ? Sometimes an individual, 
 or a church, in a cold spiritual temperature, becomes 
 inert and powerless. Let the man or the church sail 
 southwards — in other words, get into the atmosphere of 
 prayer, and feel the warm breath of the Spirit beam- 
 ing on and " restoring the soul" (Ps. li. 11, 12; Ps. 
 xxiii.). 
 
 191 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 ASSURANCE OF ANSWERED PRAYER 
 
 I heard the Rev. Dr. Bates, of Boston, U.S.A., 
 say that when he had charge of the Boston Bethel, 
 where Father Taylor preached his wonderful sermons 
 that brought Emerson and the various literary men of 
 Boston to hear him, one night a Vermont mother 
 knocked at his door and said, " The ship is lost ; my 
 sailor boy was on board, but he is saved. I have given 
 God thanks, but I have not found him yet." He 
 inquired, *' How do you know the ship is lost, and how 
 do you know your boy is saved ? " She looked at him as 
 if to read him through and through, to see if he knew 
 anything of the deep things of God, and then she said, 
 *' Because God told me so before I left home, when I 
 was praying to Him." He went down to the offices 
 and they said, "Yes, Dr. Bates, the ship is lost and 
 every soul on board ; not one is saved." He came back 
 and told her the news. He said she fell on her knees 
 and poured out such a prayer that he had seldom heard, 
 and closed by thanking God that her sailor boy was 
 safe and asking Him to bring him to her. He kept the 
 woman over night, and went down next day to the 
 offices for news, and waited long until they said, " It is 
 no use waiting, Dr. Bates. If there is any news we 
 will let you know at once." That evening as they were 
 sitting down to tea there came a telegram saying, 
 ** There is a boy down at Cape Cod saved from the 
 wreck ! " Next morning the train brought the boy in, 
 and Dr. Bates said you should have seen that mother — 
 that little woman — as she took the great strapping 
 
 192 
 
Appendix III 
 
 fellow, her sailor boy, in her arms and fairly lifted him 
 off his feet, and heard him tell how, when the storm 
 struck the ship, and the ship went down, he clung to a 
 spar and was drifted to shore, the only one saved of all 
 on board. That mother's prayer held up her boy 
 when the ship was going down in an ocean sepulchre 
 (Ps. Ixxviii. 13). — Dr. Hugh Johnston. 
 
 THE CUP OF SOLOMON 
 
 You know the old legend about an enchanted cup 
 filled with poison and put treacherously into the hand 
 of a king. He signed the sign of the cross over it and 
 named the name of the Lord, and it shivered in his 
 grasp. Now take the name of the Lord in that way, 
 reverently and seriously, when you are in doubt about 
 an amusement or about an undertaking. Take the 
 name of the Lord as a test. Name Him over many 
 a cup that other hands will offer to you (Ps. cxvi. 12, 13). 
 — Rev. Marshall Hartley. 
 
 RICHES OF THE WORD 
 
 There is a beautiful Eastern story of a child walking 
 Deside the sea, who saw a bright spangle lying in the 
 sand. She stooped down and picked it up, and found 
 that it was attached to a fine thread of gold. As she 
 drew this out of the sand there were other bright 
 spangles on it. She drew up the gold thread and 
 wound it about her neck and around her head and her 
 arms and her body, until from head to foot she was 
 covered with the bright threads of gold and sparkled 
 
 193 N 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 with the brilliance of the silver spangles. So it is when 
 we lift out of God's Word an ornament of beauty to 
 put into our life, we find that other fragments of loveli- 
 ness all bound together on the golden chain of love are 
 attached to the one we have taken up (Ps. cxix. 14). 
 — Dr. J. R. Miller. 
 
 "OPEN THOU MINE EYES" 
 
 In this great Book of Righteousness, this Old Testa- 
 ment, a good many of us see but little into the gleam 
 here and there ; our eyes have not been opened to its 
 breadth and depth and significance. I remember once 
 looking over a magnificent piece of scenery — mountains, 
 rocks and sea — and all of it bathed in the splendours of 
 the setting sun. And I heard a lady close to me 
 complain that she did not think much about it because 
 it was all land and water. Exactly. But, I say, what 
 if Claude had been there ? What if Turner had been 
 there ? What would they have seen in that panorama 
 of splendour and delight ? What did your Master see 
 in the Old Testament ? If it is all land and water to 
 you, what was it to your Master ? How Christ 
 appealed to these prophets, minstrels, and seers, and 
 how He brought out of this Old Testament all the won- 
 drous things of the Sermon on the Mount ! (Ps. cxix. 18). 
 — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 THE DANGER AND THE LIGHTHOUSE 
 
 The passengers on an Atlantic liner are straining 
 their eyes to catch the first glimpse of the Welsh coast. 
 
 194 
 
Appendix III 
 
 Right in the steamer's path, off the coast of Anglesey, 
 is a group of dangerous rocks called the Skerries, twice 
 each day covered by the tide. Someone calls out, 
 " There are the Skerries ! " And presently over the 
 steamer's bows all fix their gaze upon a bright point of 
 light gleaming far away on the darkening horizon. 
 " But where are the Skerries ? " " There are the 
 Skerries." Long before you reach them their presence 
 and position are disclosed to you, but only by the light- 
 house that has been placed in the dangerous spot to 
 render them harmless. So the Word in which God 
 announces peril to the voyager on the sea of life is a 
 Word which spells refuge. Before He announces the 
 danger He announces the deliverance (Ps. cxix. 105). — 
 Rev. C. S. Pedley, B.A. 
 
 THE MEMORY OF THE JUST 
 
 There is a man in my church who said : " The 
 memory of my father is a sacred influence to me ; 
 yet I can remember the day when I was hungry 
 because of my father's conduct, and I could not under- 
 stand it. I can remember my mother crying as she cut 
 the last loaf, keeping none for herself, and gave to us 
 what there was. My father had been turned from his 
 business rather than do a mean and shabby thing. 
 They gave him three days to think of it, and then he 
 came home with no prospects and no money. I 
 remember my mother taking the two eldest of us to 
 one side, and saying, * It breaks my heart to see you 
 hungry, but I will tell you what kind of man your father 
 is ' ; and she told us. Many a time since I have been 
 
 1^5 N 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 tempted to do wrong, and there rose before me the 
 figure of the man who dared even to see his children 
 suffer before he could sully his conscience and sin 
 against God " (Prov. x. 7). — Rev. R.J. Campbell, M.A, 
 
 A LION IN THE WAY 
 
 In Princeton College one of two most intimate friends 
 was afraid to divulge to the other that he had deter- 
 mined to begin a new life and to serve Christ. At 
 length he mustered courage to make the confession, 
 and to his wondering delight he found his friend in 
 the same state of mind. Each one had been a lion in 
 the way to the other. A timid, shrinking wife is often 
 afraid to expose her secret anxieties to an irreligious 
 husband's laugh. A father who would not be afraid to 
 face a cannon on a battlefield finds it no easy bit of 
 bravery to call in his children and offer his first family 
 prayer. When a certain pastor invited every anxious 
 inquirer to retire with him to his study for conversation 
 and prayer, one young man moved stealthily up the aisle 
 until his eye met the eye of a companion, who gave him 
 a look of surprise and contempt ; and he slunk back 
 again to hide his confusion and to stifle the conviction 
 of conscience. "What a fool!" you may say. Very 
 true ; but, good reader, have you never played the 
 coward at the bray of an ass who wore the skin of a 
 lion ? (Prov. xxii. 13). — Rev. John Robertson. 
 
 RETURNING AFTER MANY DAYS 
 
 Bread cast upon the waters may come back after 
 many days. A good man, in the period of his affluence, 
 
 196 
 
Appendix III 
 
 poured out lavishly on friends, kindred, and the poor 
 his bounty, considering himself God's almoner. A 
 sequence of untoward events, for none of which he was 
 responsible, left him poor, and he moved from his home 
 town to a great city, where in an obscure clerkship 
 he died. On the day of the funeral, the widow and 
 daughters had neither loaf nor purse in the house. As 
 they sat together in the gathering dusk, a neighbour 
 tapped at the door. " I knew you would be too tired 
 to prepare a supper," she said, " so I ventured to bring 
 you one." She set down a dainty tray and departed 
 noiselessly. " Girls," said the mother, ** we have 
 nothing, but I can trust your father's God." Early 
 the next morning a messenger left a box. It was sent 
 by their father's fellow-clerks and salesmen, and, with a 
 letter of regret and appreciation, contained fifty dollars. 
 " We send it instead of flowers, which we did not send 
 yesterday, thinking they would soon fade." The first 
 mail brought a letter from an old friend, enclosing a 
 cheque for two hundred dollars. " Once," said the 
 writer, " when I was in straits, Ralph helped me." In 
 three days six hundred dollars came to the widow, every 
 dollar a surprise, and every one a testimony to the 
 radiance of the life torch that had lighted others in dark 
 hours (Eccles. xi. i). — Margaret E. Sangster (" The 
 Little Kingdom of Home"). 
 
 THE LITTLE FOXES THAT SPOIL THE 
 
 VINES 
 
 You need not break the glasses of a telescope, or 
 coat them over with paint, in order to prevent you from 
 
 197 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 seeing through them. Just breathe upon them, and the 
 dew of your breath will shut out all the stars. So it 
 does not require great crimes to hide the light of God's 
 countenance. Little ifaults can do it just as well. 
 Take a shield and cast a spear upon it, and it will leave 
 in it one great dent. Prick it all over with a million 
 little needle shafts, and they will take the polish from 
 it far more than the piercing of the spear. So it is not 
 so much the great sins which take the freshness from 
 our consciences, as the numberless petty faults which 
 we are all the while committing (Song of Songs, 
 ii. 15). — Henry Ward Beecher. 
 
 SWORDS INTO PLOUGHSHARES 
 
 In all the war in South Africa there was nothing 
 which made so deep an impression upon me as one 
 little incident. Our men were in loose skirmishing 
 order, scattered over a kopje, firing at the enemy on 
 the other hill at a distance from them. And while one 
 of our men was firing from behind a rock, a Boer had 
 somehow or other contrived to creep under the scrub, 
 and to come quite near him. And suddenly the enemy, 
 the Boer, sprang up from a rock twenty paces off, and 
 the two men, practically there alone on the kopje, Boer 
 and Briton, did not shoot each other, because they 
 looked into each other's faces, and they could not forget 
 that they were men. And neither fired; both came 
 forward and shook hands. Humanity was too strong 
 for them (Isa. ii. 4). — Dr. R. F. Horton. 
 
 ig8 
 
Appendix III 
 
 "A LITTLE CHILD SHALL LEAD" 
 
 One day I saw a big blacksmith bend over his little 
 child in a cot, and the child got his tiny hand entangled 
 in the blacksmith's long beard. Presently his wife came 
 in, saying, " Come away to tea." ** I cannot," he said, 
 " the child has fast hold of me." It was quite clear the 
 child had not got him by the sense of power ; but in a 
 way it had, by its yearning, helpless need. A cripple 
 child will pull God down out of Heaven (Isa. xi. 6). — 
 Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 THE LAME TAKE THE PREY 
 
 In human life a man who is lame any way misses the 
 prey, misses the prize ; but weakness has a fascination 
 for God, and those who have lost everything that this 
 world can give come off best with our Heavenly Father. 
 I got an illustration of this the other day when I 
 happened to be staying at a farmhouse. With one ex- 
 ception the family consisted of robust, hearty children, 
 but there was one little lame boy. Whilst I was stay- 
 ing there came in a great hamper of apples, and at once 
 all the boys and girls in the family, having eyed them 
 wistfully, proceed to take the apples. The little lame 
 fellow, with his puny, wan face, looked eagerly as the 
 apples disappeared, and no one thought of him till 
 mother came, a bustling, quick-tempered woman. She 
 said, " What is that you are doing ? Put all those 
 apples back again, I tell you." And very ruefully they 
 replaced them. ** Now," she said, "Jimmy, you come 
 and lake your pick." And the little lame fellow on the 
 
 199 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 crutch took the ripest and juiciest, and went back with 
 a flush on his pale cheeks. Then mother said to the 
 other children, " Now, do what you like with the rest." 
 I saw how in mother's love the lame take the prey 
 (Isa. xxxiii. 23). — Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 THE HIGHWAY IN THE HEART 
 
 Some of us in connection with this fellowship have 
 been reading recently anew the story of Gilmour of 
 Mongolia and his wonderful work. In missionary 
 enterprise he seems to me to be a wonderful illustration 
 of the true pilgrim of the Cross at all times. He 
 packed up the things that were necessary, and strapping 
 them on his back started into the lone land alone. No 
 road, no pathway, no announcement of his coming, no 
 pioneer to run before him to discover the way ; alone 
 he went to Mongolia, and for long weary years denied 
 himself the common rights of a man in order that 
 he might find the highway of God into that lone and 
 hidden land ; and, thank God ! he found it. But the 
 highway was in his heart, and this is a perpetual 
 illustration of the pilgrim character (Isa. xl. 3). — 
 Dr. Campbell Morgan. 
 
 TREADING THE WINEPRESS ALONE 
 
 Have you ever tried to do a piece of work for others 
 
 all alone ? I know some people that have. Most 
 
 generally it is a woman. She takes up this work, and 
 
 her husband wishes she would leave it alone. He scoffs 
 
 at her ; it is no use. Her children wish she would leave 
 
 200 
 
Appendix III 
 
 it alone ; they think she is wearing herself out in vain. 
 Her neighbours don't see what she is trying to do 
 down there ; she could not accomplish anything any- 
 way. And still she works away. By-and-by some 
 person gets her vision and comes and lends her a hand, 
 and then another and then another, and then at last 
 +here is a group of three or four. How every one that 
 nes lightens something of the load and adds something 
 / the inspiration ! 
 
 Do you remember the story — I was reading it last 
 week — Whittier, the young poet, writes the first anti- 
 slavery poem, and his sister gets it, I believe, unbeknown 
 to him, and carries it to the newspaper and slips it 
 under the door, and Garrison gets it and reads it and 
 prints it, and forthwith writes his letter back to the 
 unknown poet thanking him for that contribution. The 
 man, that had been all alone fighting the battle against 
 slavery, has now gotten one man to fight with him, 
 and his heart is full of cheer and hope because he has 
 joined hands with him (Isa. Ixiii. 3). — Dr. Lyman 
 Abbott. 
 
 EYES THAT HAVE SEEN THE KING V 
 
 A story is told by Mr. Silvester Home of a college 
 professor who often told in the class-room of thoughts 
 that had come to him in his garden. The thoughts 
 were often so beautiful, and opened up such vistas to 
 the imagination, that the students, none of whom had 
 visited the professor at his home, pictured the garden 
 as a very Eden — spacious, and a glory of trees and 
 flowers. One day two of the students made a pretext 
 
 201 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 to visit the professor and get a glimpse, if possible, of 
 the garden. They were received, and taken into the 
 garden, which, to their surprise, they found was the 
 narrowest of strips shut in by high brick walls. " But, 
 professor," they said in their pained disillusion, " surely 
 this is not the garden you are always talking about, in 
 which such fine thoughts come to you ? " " Oh, yes, it 
 is," he said with a smile. " But it is so small. We 
 had imagined quite a large garden." " But," replied 
 the professor, pointing to the clear sky studded with 
 stars, "see how high it is ! " (Isa. vi. 5). 
 
 y A PARDONING GOD 
 
 We have a custom in Massachusetts on Thanksgiving 
 Day which prescribes that our Governor should go to 
 the penitentiary and give a free pardon to any one 
 of the prisoners to whom such exceptional clemency 
 might be shown. You can imagine how anxious each 
 man is to know whether he is the one chosen ; it is a 
 pathetic moment when the announcement is made. 
 Well, they tell the story of a man — let us call him 
 Jasper. On a certain Thanksgiving Day the warder 
 read the proclamation, that exceptional clemency was 
 being extended that day to one who had been in the 
 penitentiary twenty years, by name Jasper. The man 
 stood perfectly still. Then the order was given to the 
 men to leave their seats and to march out. They all 
 turned, and Jasper turned with the rest, keeping step 
 as he had done for twenty years. Then the warder 
 called out, "Jasper, the Governor has granted you 
 pardon." *' Me 1 It cannot be me ; it must be some 
 
 2,02, 
 
Appendix III 
 
 other Jasper ! Me ! '* The very thought of it broke 
 the poor man down, and he wept and wept. *' Me ! 
 Me ! Me ! " It is the hardest thing for any of us to 
 believe that God out of His holiness looks down on us 
 individuals and says, " Yes, Jasper, you are forgiven ; 
 justified this very day." That is what we need 
 (Micah vii. i8). — Dr. Lo rimer. 
 
 THE BLESSING OF THE HUMBLE 
 
 I think if I were a little bolder the Lord would 
 have some amazing surprises for me. I wish I could 
 be something like Samuel Rutherford was with John 
 Gordon, that wealthy laird who was getting a little 
 wrong in his spiritual life. In one letter he said, 
 *' Read over your life with the light of God's daylight 
 on it. Be humble, man ; walk softly. Down, down, 
 for God's sake, with your top-sail. Stoop, man, stoop ; 
 it is a low entry at Heaven's gate " (Matt. v. 3). — Rev. 
 J. H. JOWETT, M.A. 
 
 THE GLORY OF THE FLOWER 
 
 Ruskin has a beautiful story of a flower. It was 
 told him by a friend, whom he asked to write it down 
 for the benefit of Ruskin's St. George's Guild. I can- 
 not give it to you at full length, but here is the gist of 
 it. It is the story of his first flower. He was a poor 
 boy at the time and in a needy state, when he became 
 the owner of his first flower, "a poor, peaky, little 
 sprouting crocus." He tells of the care with which he 
 tended it, protecting it from the searching March winds, 
 
 203 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 covering it with a flower pot till the season got milder. 
 It was ever uppermost in his thoughts, whether sleeping 
 or waking. Until, at length, one sunny, silent Sunda}' 
 morning it opened its glowing, golden sacramental cup, 
 gleaming like light from heaven dropped in a dark place 
 — living light and fire. So it seemed to his poor vision; 
 and he called the household and the neighbours from 
 their cares to share his rapture. But, alas ! his dream 
 was ended : the flower had no fascination for those who 
 came at his call. It was but a yellow crocus to them. 
 Some laughed, some tittered, some jeered him, and old 
 Dick Willis, poor man ! who got a crust by selling soft 
 water by the pail, he only rubbed his dim eyes, and 
 exclaimed in pity : " God bless the poor boy ! " Little 
 thinking — adds Ruskin — how much he was already 
 blessed (Matt. vi. 28). — Rev. J. S. Maver. 
 
 THE WOOER OF POVERTY 
 There was a young Italian keeping feast with his 
 friends one night, seven hundred years ago, and he 
 wearied of the wine and wearied of the jests. Nothing 
 wrong ; a friendly feast. He went out and stood beneath 
 the blue Umbrian sky. By-and-by his friends came 
 out, and they walked home together, and they said to 
 him, " You are in love." But he was saying nothing, 
 and he had that distant look upon his face of a man 
 who is looking into another world. *' You are in love. 
 Who is it } " "I am," he said, "and my bride is called 
 Poverty. No one has been anxious to woo her since 
 Jesus lived, and I am going to serve her all my days " 
 ('Matt. viii. 20). — Dr.John Watson ("Ian Maclaren"). 
 
 204 
 
Appendix III 
 
 THE SAINTSHIP OF SERVICE 
 
 There is a legend in the Greek Church about the two 
 favoured saints, St. Cassianus — the type of monastic 
 asceticism, individual character, which " bids for 
 cloistered cell its neighbour and its work farewell " — 
 and St. Nicholas — the type of generous, active, unselfish 
 laborious Christianity. St. Cassianus enters Heaven 
 and Christ says to him, " What hast thou seen on 
 earth, Cassianus? " ** I saw," he answered, **a peasant 
 floundering with his waggon in the marsh." " Didst 
 thou help him?" "No!" *' Why not?" "I was 
 coming before Thee," said St. Cassianus, "and I was 
 afraid of soiling my white robes." Then St. Nicholas 
 enters Heaven, all covered with mud and mire. " Why 
 so stained and soiled, St. Nicholas?" said the Lord. 
 ** I saw a peasant floundering in the marsh," said St. 
 Nicholas, " and I put my shoulder to the wheel and 
 helped him out." " Blessed art thou," answered the 
 Lord; *'thou didst well; thou didst better than 
 Cassianus." And He blessed St. Nicholas with four- 
 fold approval (Matt. xii. ii). — Dean Farrar. 
 
 "^THE BRIDGE OF BROTHERLINESS 
 
 You remember that story of Tolstoy's early days, 
 how the young count went out of doors from the 
 palace on a bitter morning, and passed the beggar at 
 the gate starved and blue and well-nigh dead with the 
 cold and the hunger. And the young count hastily felt 
 in all his pockets, but he had no coin with him. He 
 felt to see if he had any piece of jewellery, but he had 
 
 205 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 not even that ; and he stood before the beggar fumbling 
 for the gift that he fain would give. At last, with a 
 burning face, he said to the poor starved man, " I have 
 nothing with me, my brother." And he passed an hour 
 afterwards into the palace, and at the gates he found 
 the beggar, but not starved and blue, but warm and 
 glowing and happy. And the young count said, as he 
 heard the beggar's benediction upon him as he passed, 
 " But I gave you nothing." " Yes," said the beggar ; 
 " but you called me brother." Oh, love and sympathy 
 that day bridged a social chasm that seemed unbridgable 
 (Matt, xxiii. 8). — Rev. Thomas Yates. 
 
 THE PREACHER IN THE POTATO PATCH 
 
 I have a friend, a minister, who hears the wishes of 
 Jesus Christ. He is in His secrets. He was going one 
 week-day afternoon to preach in a certain village, and 
 was visiting from house to house before the service. 
 He went into one house where he found an old man 
 sitting over a fire in very great trouble. " How is it," 
 my friend said, " that you are so unhappy ? " And the 
 reply was, " Everybody's got their 'taters in but me." 
 He was in trouble because his rheumatism prevented 
 him setting his potatoes. Now it nowhere says in the 
 Minutes of Conference or in Wesley's " Twelve Rules 
 of a Helper " that a minister has to go and dig some- 
 body else's potato patch, but my friend said, " Where 
 is the spade ? " And he took off his ministerial collar, 
 and went into the garden and put the potatoes in, row 
 after row, row after row. 1 take it that that was a 
 service that the angels watched. He did not wait foi 
 
 206 
 
Appendix III 
 
 a commandment; he followed the wishes of God 
 (Matt. XXV. 36). — Rev. Thomas Champness. 
 
 "YE DID IT UNTO ME" 
 
 There is no legend which has so constantly appeared 
 as that — in one form or another — of a sufferer who 
 appeals for help under a disguise, and then when the help 
 has been given or refused, it proves to have been the 
 Lord. In Norway the pied woodpecker is explained as 
 being a woman who on one occasion was asked by the 
 Lord in disguise for a little meat, and in His goodness 
 He multiplied her store; and then she in the churlish 
 thriftiness of a good housewife refused to give Him 
 anything, and in consequence she was transformed into 
 the pied woodpecker, half white and half black, and she 
 was condemned to seek her own food between the bark 
 and the tree, and whenever she should become com- 
 pletely black, that is completely penitent, she should 
 be restored. In the south of Europe this kind of story 
 takes sometimes the most lovely and poetical form. 
 For instance, in the story of Santa Zeta, the patron 
 saint of the town of Lucca in Italy, we are told how 
 the saint, who was a servant-girl, had been clothed by 
 her master in the storm with his jewelled cloak, and she 
 had given the jewelled cloak away to a beggar whom 
 she met in the street : 
 
 ** But just as Zeta trembling passed the door, 
 Her master met her and, with searching eye. 
 
 He looked to see if still the cloak she wore. 
 'Twas gone ; at which his anger rose so high 
 
 "With bitter words he did his rage outpour, 
 And sharp reproof, while she made no reply. 
 
 207 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 But while in loud and angry voice he spoke, 
 Behold, appeared the beggar with the cloak, 
 Who, thanking Zeta kindly as he might, 
 
 Gave back the cloak like one in haste to go ; 
 His face all changed, and shone with heavenly light, 
 
 And lighted hers with its reflective glow. 
 They tried to speak but he had passed from sight 
 
 No beggar he of those that walk below. 
 Great comfort had he left their hearts within, 
 A.n angel of the Lord had with them been." 
 
 (Matt. XXV. 40).— Dr. R. F. Horton. 
 
 NOTHING BUT LEAVES 
 
 It is probable that all who think of conduct at all 
 think of it too much ; it is certain we all think too much 
 of sin. We are not damned for doing wrong but for 
 not doing right. Christ would never hear of negative 
 morality ; " thou shalt " was ever His word with which 
 he superseded " thou shalt not." To make our idea of 
 morality centre on forbidden acts is to defile the 
 imagination and to introduce into our judgments of 
 our fellow-men a secret element of gusto (Matt. xxv. 
 45). — R. L. Stevenson. 
 
 PILATE'S HAND-WASHING 
 
 In that weirdly realistic book which Dr. George Mac- 
 donald a few years ago introduced to English readers, 
 " Letters from Hell," we read, in plain reference to the 
 narrative before us, these words : " Groans broke upon 
 the silence about me. I started and perceived a strange 
 figure, strangely occupied. It was a man of command- 
 ing aspect, handsome even, but in most painful plight. 
 
 208 
 
Appendix III 
 
 He sat by the river washing his hands, which dripped 
 with blood. But for all his washing the dread crimson 
 would not leave his fingers ; as soon as he lifted them 
 above the water the red blood trickled down afresh. 
 It was a pitiful sight. He seemed to be aware of my 
 presence, for he turned upon me suddenly, saying, 
 ' What is truth ? ' I did not reply at once, feeling it to 
 be a question that should not be answered lightly ; but, 
 raising his voice, he repeated impatiently, * What is 
 truth ? * * Well,' I said, ' it is a truth, and a sad one, 
 that it is too late now for us to be seeking the truth.' 
 This answer did not appear to satisfy him " (Matt, xxvii. 
 24). — Rev. T. Gasquoine, B.A. 
 
 LOVE'S " WASTEFULNESS " 
 
 Our God has never been accustomed to do things m 
 a beggarly way, in a mean and parsimonious and nig- 
 gardly and stingy way. He exhibits a magnificence 
 that is princely. One has indeed heard of sceptics who 
 blamed Him for this very matter, and said that He should 
 have been more careful. They asked us to remember 
 all the force that is wasted by the wind currents that 
 sweep across the face of the country. They asked us to 
 remember all the energy that is wasted in the cooling of 
 this earth. What if it had been captured and employed 
 to do some good and useful work instead of being 
 allowed to expend itself before it did any good in the 
 world? Look at the windmills that would have been 
 driven, and look at the furnaces that would have been 
 heated. To what purpose this waste ? 
 
 2og O 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 Sir Robert Ball, who is fond of the big fact, enlarges 
 upon the wastefulness of the sun when it sends its light 
 and heat to this earth. It is a s.trange story. He tells 
 us that the sun is so liberal that it could heat and light 
 two thousand million globes, each one as large as that 
 we presently occupy. There is, that is to say, such an 
 amount of solar radiation given off ewery hour, every 
 minute, every second. And yet I need hardly add, we 
 are not able to make use of more than the smallest 
 fraction of it. Just suppose a man to be left eight 
 million pounds, and of that eight millions to spend a 
 penny wisely, but all the rest to waste and throw away. 
 You would say that of all extravagant people you had 
 ever heard of, he was the most spendthrift and extrava- 
 gant. Well, he tells us — does Sir Robert Ball — he tells 
 us that if eight million pounds worth of heat emanated 
 from the sun, we would not be able to secure and make 
 use of on this earth more than the value of a penny. 
 There may be other planets which use it, of course, but 
 when every allowance is made for what they consume, 
 there cannot be a doubt that by far the greater quantity 
 of the heat and light given out by the sun is wasted. It 
 isn't needed in this worM, and what becomes of it the 
 most recent science has not been able to tell. It is 
 love's wastefulness, and as in the realm of Nature, so in 
 the realm of grace. God has not spared Himself 
 (Mark xiv. 4). — Rev. Frank Y. Leggatt, M.A. 
 
 "AS A HEN GATHERETH HER CHICKENS" 
 
 I have been raising chickens this year, and I have 
 
 devoted a part of my pear orchard to the chicken coops ; 
 
 210 
 
Appendix III 
 
 and I have been accustomed to go out mornings and 
 evenings to see that the boy took care of the chickens. 
 I think I have now about ten or fifteen broods. The 
 old hen, when watching them, would cluck ; and it was 
 to them a warning of danger, I suppose. They under- 
 stand it to mean that they are to come in. I could not 
 understand that language ; but these little things that 
 had never been to school understood instantly just what 
 she said. She gave her whole self to them, and their 
 instinct was to run under her, and when there to lift 
 themselves close up to her body and get their warmth 
 from her. I have watched them as they did this again 
 and again. " How often would I have gathered thy 
 children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens 
 under her wings, and ye would not ! " What an idea 
 of the intimate and clear relationship between the soul 
 and the Lord Jesus Christ is conveyed in that figure 1 
 (Luke xiii. 34). — H. Ward Beecher. 
 
 \\ "GOD SO LOVED" 
 
 If God is the great Giver, it is because He is the great 
 Lover. The story is told by Luther that when his 
 translation of the Bible was being printed in Germany, 
 pieces of the printer's work were allowed to fall care- 
 lessly upon the floor of his shop. One day the printer's 
 little daughter coming in picked up a piece of paper on 
 which she found just the words, " God so loved the 
 world that He gave " — the rest of the sentence not 
 having yet been printed. It was a veritable revelation 
 to her, for up to that time she had always been told 
 that the Almighty was to be dreaded, and could only 
 
 2X1 O 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 be approached through penance. The new hght thrown 
 upon God's nature by the scrap that had fallen into her 
 hands seemed to flood her whole being with its radiance, 
 so that her mother asked her the reason of her joyful- 
 ness. Putting her hand in her pocket, Luther tells us, 
 the girl handed out the little crumpled piece of paper 
 with the unfinished sentence. Her mother read it, and 
 was perplexed : " He gave — what was it He gave ? ' 
 For a moment the child was puzzled, but only for a 
 moment; then, with a quick intuition, " I don't know; 
 but if He loved us well enough to give us anything, we 
 need not be afraid of Him " (John iii. i6). — Dr. J. 
 Warschauer. 
 
 A BURNING AND SHINING LIGHT 
 
 A good picture for every pastor's study is the scene 
 at Newburyport with Whitefield, on the last night of his 
 life, *' weary in his Master's work, but not of it," stand- 
 ing on the stairs of his humble home, holding a light in 
 his hand and talking to the people till the candle burned 
 to its socket and went out. Then the old hero goes up 
 to his chamber. As the light of the morning breaks, 
 the lamp of his life goes out. There you have your 
 burning and shining light (John v. 35). — Dr. C. L. 
 
 GOODELL. 
 
 THE LAMENT OF JESUS 
 
 I have searched through literature, I have read many 
 a touching and tender passage, I have read the tear- 
 awakening lament of " In Memoriam," I have been 
 
 212 
 
Appendix III 
 
 stirred to generous passion by the loving lines of Hood 
 over the unfortunate for whose life society seemed 
 responsible, I have listened to the frenzied w^ail of 
 Hecuba in her abounding grief, I have seen the old 
 Greek hero dazed by the darkness and I have heard 
 his cry for light ; but I have never met with pathos so 
 moving as the cry of Omnipotence and Love, " Ye will 
 not come to Me, that ye might have life ! " (John v. 40), 
 — Dr. W. Boyd Carpenter. 
 
 "I AM THE DOOR" 
 
 Dr. George Adam Smith was looking at a sheepfold 
 on a hill in Palestine. And as he was talking to the 
 shepherd, he noticed the hole in the wall around the 
 fold through which the sheep went. He looked about 
 for the piece of wood that would be used for the door. 
 Seeing none, he turned to the shepherd and said, " Where 
 is the door." ** Oh," replied the shepherd, " I am the 
 door *' (John vii. 9). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 FLORIST'S CATALOGUE AND FLOWER 
 
 GARDEN 
 
 There is the same difference between theology, as 
 theology, and the facts of vital religion as there is 
 between the florist's catalogue and the flower garden. 
 When Christ said, " Ye shall know the truth, and the 
 truth shall make you free," He did not mean by "the 
 truth " either Calvinism or Arminianism, Old Theology 
 or New Theology, but " the truth as it is in Jesus," the 
 freedom of the abounding life of those who are branches 
 
 213 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 of the vine. Read the list of the roses in the florist's 
 catalogue — " Gloire de Dijon," *' Marechal Niel," 
 " Crimson Rambler," " General Jacquemines," and so 
 on. The names convey no idea to those v;^ho do not 
 know the roses, though they may conjure up pleasant 
 recollections to the man v^ho is an amateur rose-grower. 
 The names in the catalogue are names, and the names 
 may be attached to the rose-trees as labels, but there 
 is no colour and no perfume in the name and the label. 
 But go to a garden in the country in June, what the 
 Germans call the Rosenmonat, the Month of Roses, and 
 the garden is a glory of crimson, pink, white and yellow 
 roses, and the air is aromatic with their fragrance. 
 "The truth that makes us free" is the life that buds 
 and blooms into beauty and fragrance. Let us never 
 imagine that any theology, however Old or however 
 New, can take the place of the life. It may endeavour 
 to define the life, but it is the life itself we must have 
 (John viii. 32). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 LIVING, BUT DEAD 
 
 The Bible says, " She that liveth in pleasure is dead 
 while she liveth." Just look at a woman or a girl who 
 liveth in pleasure. Why, is not she the very picture of 
 life? Her body is so glowing with life that her beauty 
 attracts all who see her ; her mental life may also be so 
 rich that, wherever she moves in the circles where she 
 seeks her pleasures, she is accompanied by a crowd who 
 admire her wit and cleverness ; and her emotional life 
 may be in so healthy a condition that she has a heart 
 rich in love to give to the happy man who is able to win 
 
 214 
 
Appendix li. 
 
 it. She seems to be the very picture of hit.. 
 
 follow her into another section of existence, \ , 
 
 '''^re 
 different set of powers come into operation, and tn 
 
 you will find that she prays not, she thinks not of God, 
 
 she neither loves nor serves Christ, and she is not 
 
 laying up treasure in Heaven, and she is not prepared 
 
 to die ; in short, her spirit, the finest thing in man, the 
 
 true glory of womanhood, is dead ; and so the Scripture 
 
 says, "She is dead while she liveth" (John x. lo). — 
 
 Dr. J. Stalker. 
 
 "WE WOULD SEE JESUS" 
 
 In one of his books. Archdeacon Wilson, lately 
 master of Clifton College, tells a significant story. 
 Some of the best and ablest of the students at a 
 women's college opened a class for teaching the poorest 
 of the men in a neglected suburb. They were fired by 
 the noblest impulse — to give themselves to work for 
 their unfortunate brothers. They read to them, they 
 taught them reading and writing, they sang to them, 
 and the men gathered to them in increasing numbers. 
 After some months they asked the men whether there 
 was anything in particular that they wanted to hear 
 more about. There was silence ; and then a low 
 whisper was heard from among them. One of the 
 women went up to the speaker. " What was it you 
 wished specially to hear about ? " " Could you tell us," 
 he replied, "something about the Lord Jesus Christ ? " 
 (John xii. ai). — Rev. D. M. Ross, M.A. 
 
 215 
 
yi A of Sermon IIIustrat:on 
 
 of the p^E SHOCK OF NEW TRUTH 
 
 On the great moors where I would wander in the 
 summer-time, fifty or sixty years ago, there was one 
 plant whose roots sent down no feelers after the eager 
 springs that make the heather bloom. It was of rare 
 worth and beauty once, the shepherds used to say, but 
 the Fiend bit off the root so that it should never come 
 CO the better and the best. So we may bite off the root 
 of the fair flower of promise between the door and the 
 jamb of the heart when we shut it in the face of the 
 messengers. A new truth will always shock us at the 
 first impact, and the men and women who bring a new 
 message are the angels of God in human guise (John 
 xii. 29). — Dr. Robert Collyer. 
 
 THE VANQUISHER OF DEATH 
 
 One of the most beautiful of the Greek pla3^s, the 
 " Alcestis " of Euripides, tells how Herakles, the 
 Samson of Greek story, on one of his journeys called 
 at the palace of his friend King Admetus, who had once 
 done him a great service. He found the king and 
 everybody in the palace wild with grief because the 
 young and lovely Queen Alcestis had been taken away 
 by Death, who was regarded as a mighty monster, so 
 strong and fierce that no man had ever been able to 
 overcome him. Herakles, however, who had fought 
 and slain many monsters, said he was not afraid of 
 Death, and he would go to the tomb and grapple with 
 Death, and he would rescue the queen from his 
 clutches. He goes to the tomb and grapples success- 
 
 2l5 
 
Appendix III 
 
 fully with the monster, whom he compels to give up his 
 prey. The most beautiful scene in the play is where 
 Herakles stands with the silent woman completely 
 covered by a white veil in the presence of the heart- 
 broken king. He lifts the veil and there stands Alcestis 
 smiling with the bloom of health upon her cheeks. 
 That is a fable ; but it is no fable that One stronger 
 than Herakles has grappled with and overthrown Death. 
 *' I am the Resurrection and the Life," said Jesus. ** He 
 that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall 
 he live." " O death, where is ^y sting ? O grave, 
 where is thy victory ? " cried I^aul (John xi. 25 ; 
 I Cor. XV. 55). 
 
 THE MASTER CALLETH 
 
 Is there anything that appeals to the general heart 
 of man like some manifestation of the spirit of Christ ? 
 Sister Dora, after her long day's work in her Walsall 
 hospital for waifs and strays, for poor souls beaten down 
 in the battle of life, often went to rest too tired to 
 sleep. But over her head was a bell, to be sounded in 
 spite of all her weariness, when any sufferer needed 
 her. And the bell bore this inscription : " The Master 
 is come and calleth for thee." Is there any heart 
 insensible to the appeal of such toil and sacrifice ? 
 (John xi. 28). — Rev. Bernard J. Snell, M.A. 
 
 . THE DIVINE MOTHER-HEART 
 
 Out in Tennessee, when it was a very rough country 
 ^t is now one of the most noble commonwealths of 
 
 217 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 the Union — there was an Indian band come in upon a 
 settlement, and after murdering nearly everybody, this 
 band snatched up the little children and made away 
 into the forest. There were two or three mothers left, 
 and these mothers always kept in their minds the 
 pictures of the little children. Many a child had been 
 lost in that way, and lost at such an early age that it 
 was impossible in after years to get the child out of the 
 wild habit it had acquired. Years went by, and there 
 came one with his band of warriors and routed this 
 band of Indians, and, taking all of them prisoners, 
 they brought back with them middle-aged men, men 
 that had faces almost as white as the faces of the old 
 women who looked for their sons among them. One 
 woman who had lost her boy, who had been taken 
 almost from her breast, looked along the line and found 
 him not. By-and-by an old man said to her, " Is not 
 there some melody you could sing as you go up and 
 down that way ? " Then she thought of a crooning 
 melody which sobbed its way out from the dear old 
 soul. She pushed her grey hairs back, and the tears 
 were running down her cheeks as her voice trembled 
 on, and all at once a great stalwart man, that the forest 
 had not entirely put back into a barbaric condition, 
 broke from the rest and with a great cry stood in the 
 presence of his mother. The dear old soul was soon in 
 his arms. She was singing still, and the great savage 
 man wept on her shoulder and cried for joy. So far 
 has Jesus Christ come — as a hen gathereth her brood — 
 carrying Fatherhood so far that it touches your heart 
 and mine, and when we see Him doing a noble thing, 
 
 2i8 
 
Appendix III 
 
 some Divine thing, all the latent forces of the soul that 
 belong to God rise, and we begin to sing too (John xiv. 9). 
 — Dr. F. W. Gunsaulus. 
 
 CHRIST'S LEGACY OF PEACE 
 
 There is only one power that can draw after it all the 
 multitudinous heaped waters of the ocean, and that is 
 the quiet silver moon in the heavens, which pulls the 
 tidal wave into which merge all currents and swell 
 breakers, as it rolls around the earth. And so, Christ, 
 shining down, lambent and gentle, but changeless, will 
 draw in one great surge of harmonised motion all the 
 else contradictory currents of our stormy souls. " My 
 Deace I give unto you " (John xiv. 27). — Dr. Maclaren. 
 
 THE VINE AND THE FRUIT 
 
 I asked a man the other day which was the most 
 important end of a bough, the end where the fruit hung 
 or the other ? Looking extremely wise, he said, " Of 
 course the end where the fruit came." Do you think 
 so ? Ay, but surely the important end of the bough is 
 not where the fruit hangs, but where it touches the 
 trunk, because if that connection is unhindered then 
 through it the sap will pour, and you may leave the 
 bunches of fruit to take care of themselves if its boughs 
 only are united and kept united to the trunk (John xv. 5). 
 — Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 "JUST JESUS AND ME" 
 
 I read somewhere that a traveller came on a clearing 
 in the backwoods of one of the Southern States, where 
 
 219 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 a little hut stood, and a poor old woman, bent double 
 with age, was gathering sticks for a fire. *' Do you live 
 here all alone, auntie ? " he said. "Yes, massa," she 
 replied ; " just Jesus and me." There are some souls 
 to whom Christ is so real that they need none else 
 (John XV. 14, 15).— Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 THE HEAVENLY VISION 
 
 There is a story told by a soldier of the Civil War in 
 America, that, in a critical pause in one of the great 
 battles, a regiment to which he belonged was lying 
 down in a wood, in imminent peril of collapse, when 
 suddenly, in the tense silence, a bird sent forth a joyous 
 trill of song. Instantly the soldiers in their agony of 
 suspense thought of homes and little ones, and all that 
 depended on their remaining firm and immovable under 
 attack, and instantly they regained their confidence, 
 and when the rebel attack was renewed they invincibly 
 sent it rolling back on the foe. So, in the battle of 
 life, we need a glimpse of Divine incentives, of human 
 love, of the ideal purity of holiness, to quicken our 
 swooning hearts, lest we utterly fail in the hot and 
 teeming strife (Acts xxvi. 19). — Principal E. Griffith- 
 Jones. 
 
 SAINTSHIP IN COMMON LIFE 
 
 One bright Saturday afternoon, when the river 
 Mersey was full of traffic and the feny boats were 
 crowded with pleasure-seekers, almost opposite my 
 study windows a tug was hauling a great liner to her 
 
 220 
 
Appendix III 
 
 berth, when the rope fouled, the liner quietly pushed 
 the tug over, and she disappeared like a pebble beneath 
 the waves. It was one of the incredible, unforgettable 
 sights of a lifetime — the way in which men from 
 surrounding craft were in the boats or in the river in 
 the twinkling of an eye. Never did squirrel climb a 
 tree as rapidly as these men leaped at the chance — to 
 live or die : what mattered it when life was to be 
 lovingl}^ saved or life to be loyally sacrificed ? Hearts 
 of gold, how well we know these men — and yet we 
 know them not (Rom. i. 7). — Rev. C. F. Aked, D.D. 
 
 THE DYNAMIC OF SCRIPTURE 
 
 How often even a single phrase of Scripture has 
 revolutionised a life ! It would seem that Scripture 
 possesses the vitalising power of that elixir we read of 
 in the mediaeval romances of chivalry, a single drop of 
 which sufficed to draw from the very jaws of death a 
 knight whose life was escaping through a gaping wound, 
 or whose strength was all bespent with hardships and 
 hunger. *' The just shall live by faith," — that phrase 
 flashed on the soul of Luther, and Luther sounded his 
 trumpet against the Vatican, and the miracle of the 
 ramshorns at Jericho was repeated. ** Look unto Me 
 and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth," — that 
 phrase, uttered by a Primitive Methodist local preacher 
 in a village chapel, brought the fulness of Gospel light 
 to Charles Haddc^ 3purgeon, and who but God knows 
 what blessing came to the world through Spurgeon ! 
 (Rom. i. 17; Isa. xlv. 22). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 221 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 MORE THAN CONQUERORS 
 
 The Indians say that when a man kills a foe the 
 strength of the slain enemy passes into the victor's 
 arm. In the weird fancy lies a truth. Each defeat 
 leaves us weaker for the next battle, but each conquest 
 makes us stronger. Nothing makes a prison to a human 
 life but a defeated, broken spirit. The bird in its cage 
 that sings all the while is not a captive. God puts His 
 children in no position in which He does not mean 
 them to live sweetly and victoriously. So in any 
 circumstances we may be " more than conquerors 
 through Him that loved us" (Rom. viii. 37). — ^J. R. 
 Miller..' 
 
 WHO SHALL SEPARATE? 
 
 On one occasion I went to see an Etruscan tomb in 
 the neighbourhood of Rome. It consisted of two 
 chambers. In the outer one the bodies of the dead 
 were laid ; in the inner, the articles which the dead had 
 used and prized most in life were stored up. I noticed 
 below the roof of the inner chamber small holes in the 
 wall. These were the places in which the nails had 
 been put in order to hang upon them some of the most 
 precious and fragile things that belonged to the dead 
 when living. The nails had long ago fallen out and 
 rusted away into dust ; and when the tomb was opened 
 the visitor who first entered it found the floor strewn 
 with fragments of the beautiful Etruscan vases that had 
 tumbled to the ground. All earthly hopes and helps 
 are like nails in the walls of a tomb. In the course of 
 
 222 
 
Appendix III 
 
 time they all rust and fall out ; the air of change and death 
 breathes upon them and they perish, and the precious 
 things of Hfe that were suspended upon them are broken 
 and destroyed. The earth is strewn with the wrecks 
 of things that have fallen from insecure earthly 
 supports. 
 
 But we need not fear for the stability of the nail 
 upon which our salvation depends. All God's nails 
 hold. Having loved His own which were in the world, 
 He loves them to the end ; and neither death nor life, 
 nor things present, nor things to come, can separate us 
 from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our 
 Lord, or from the love of one another in Him (Rom. 
 viii. 35). — Dr. Hugh Macmillan. 
 
 OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD 
 
 Mr. Kay Robinson, the naturalist, describes a com- 
 petition witnessed by him in the fields. Owing to a 
 peculiarity of weather the poppies had managed to 
 get a start of an inch or so in the matter of height over 
 the wheat and barley, and the obnoxious flowers were 
 just beginning to burst into bloom that would have 
 converted the stunted grain into lakes of scarlet, when 
 down came the rain ; in a single day and night the 
 wheat shot up above the poppies, and for the rest of 
 the season the poisonous things were overwhelmed in 
 a wavy sea of prosperous green and yellow gold. A 
 similar competition is going on between our good and 
 bad qualities ; it is a rivalry between the wheat and the 
 tares as to which shall get on top and smother the 
 other. What is the true course to adopt whilst this 
 
 ^23 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 struggle proceeds? Let us concentrate ourselves on 
 the corn. We overcome the evil in the good (Rom. 
 xii. 21.) — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 GOD'S USE OF WORTHLESS THINGS 
 
 You have heard the story of the artist who was build- 
 ing a coloured window. As he went on with his work 
 he kept breaking bits of glass and throwing them aside. 
 His apprentice, who was with him, thought he could 
 make tise of these broken bits. He asked his master's 
 permission, and having got to work, he made with the 
 broken bits a more beautiful window than his master 
 did with the choice pieces. And just like that God can 
 make use of the refuse and broken bits of life. There is 
 nothing too poor for God to use ; there is nothing toe 
 weak and worthless for Him to employ (i Cor. i. 27, 28). 
 —Rev. J. D. Jones, M.A., B.D. 
 
 EARTHLY PICTURES OF ETERNAL 
 REALITIES 
 
 When we look at the photograph of a friend, our 
 minds, while quite alive to the merits or defects of the 
 artist's work, do not rest upon what is presented to our 
 eyes. We look through it, beyond it, to the person it 
 represents. To anyone who is a stranger to our friend, 
 the picture is simply a photograph and no more ; but to 
 our gaze it brings before us familiar features on which 
 we look no more, it recalls happy fellowships in days 
 bygone. We gaze upon it, yet as we do so we are 
 scarcely thinking of it at all. Memory and heart are 
 
 224 
 
Appendix III 
 
 busy with the incidents it recalls,, and our minds are 
 carried away to the dear old days when that face was 
 the sunshine of the home. Similarly when a painter 
 places a landscape before us, what woiild he think if we 
 only saw certain effects of colour ? He would have 
 failed of his purpose if his canvas did not set imagina- 
 tion astir, to wander over these sunlit slopes, or to sit 
 by the banks of that limpid stream, or to follow the 
 progress of yonder shepherd with his flock. And 
 earthly things are a Divine picture in like manner of 
 things heavenly (i Cor. vii. 31). — Dr. W. Ross 
 Taylor, D.D. 
 
 THE LUNACY OF DISUNION 
 
 A visitor to one of our county asylums was being 
 conducted over the premises by the governor. On 
 going the rounds he was forcibly struck with the 
 strong physique of many of the men and with the 
 comparatively small number of officials who were 
 employed to maintain order and discipline. ** What 
 would happen," he asked the governor, " if a revolt 
 were to break out in the asylum and all these strong 
 able-bodied men were to combine against the authority 
 of the small number of officials ? " " My dear sir," 
 replied the governor, ** lunatics never combine " 
 (i Cor. xii. 14 — 20). — William Ward. 
 
 FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE 
 
 Faith, hope and love may be likened to three threads 
 of silk : purple and silver and gold. Look at these 
 
 225 p 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 and tell me if you can into how many forms of fabric 
 they may be woven by the cunning hand of the artificer 
 from the spools on which they have been wound. Do 
 you suppose that you can interpret, from looking at 
 them, what infinite combinations can be wrought out 
 of them ? The artist brings his palette, and here are 
 the red, the yellow and the brown, the whole range of 
 colours. Now look at this palette, and you may say, 
 " There is the brown, there is the yellow, and there is 
 the red," but does that give you any conception of the 
 painting which may be produced from them by a Titian, 
 a Rubens or a Turner ? What infinite forms and tints 
 can come out of that little scale of colours ! So no man 
 can tell what vast disclosures and combinations and 
 developments shall come out of these graces of faith 
 and hope and love (i Cor. xiii. 13). — H. Ward 
 Beecher. 
 
 VALIANT-FOR-TRUTH CROSSES THE RIVER 
 
 After this, it was noised about that Mr. Valiant-for- 
 Truth was taken with a Summons by the same Post as 
 the other, and had this for a Token that the Summons 
 was true — that his pitcher was broken at the fountain. 
 When he understood it, he called for his Friends and 
 told them of it. Then said he, " I am going to my 
 Father's ; and tho' with great Difficulty I am got hither, 
 yet now I do not repent me of all the Trouble I have 
 been at to arrive where I am. My Sword I give to him 
 that shall succeed me in my Pilgrimage, and my Courage 
 and Skill to him that can get it. My Marks and Scars 
 
 226 
 
Appendix III 
 
 I carry with me, to be a witness for me that I have 
 fought His Battles who now will be my rewarder." 
 
 When the day that he must go hence was come, 
 many accompanied him to the River Side, into which 
 as he went he said. Death, where is thy sting ? And 
 as he went down deeper he said, Grave, where is thy 
 victory? So he passed over and all the trumpets 
 sounded for him on the other side (i Cor. xv. 55). — 
 John Bunyan. 
 
 COULD NOT SAY NO TO GOD 
 
 It so happened that I heard the last address which 
 was given by a man whose name is very dear and 
 precious to many of you. Dr. A. J. Gordon, of the 
 Clarendon Street Church, of Boston. This was the 
 dying message of Dr. Gordon to the young men of 
 Boston, which I believe he would have me pass on to 
 you, the young men of London : " Never say No to 
 God ! " He said that, when William Carey died, one of 
 his fellow ministers preached a funeral sermon con- 
 cerning him, in which he made the very singular state- 
 ment that William Carey, though a good man, had one 
 serious defect of character : he was an inconstant man, 
 and did not know his own mind. "To think," said 
 Dr. Gordon, with fine irony, " to think of saying this of 
 William Carey of all men, that he was an inconstant 
 man, and did not know his mind ! " But this was the 
 way in which this brother minister came to that con- 
 clusion. Said he : " Mr. Carey himself acknowledged 
 this defect. He said, * I left the shoemaker's bench 
 because I could not say No; I went to Kettering 
 
 227 P 2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 because I could not say No ; I was ordained for mis- 
 sionary work in India because I could not say No ; and 
 I engaged in the translation of the Bible because I could 
 not say No ; and all my life long I have been doing 
 things because I could not say No * " (2 Cor. v. 14). — 
 Dr. F. E. Clark. 
 
 THE NEW CREATION 
 
 I have seen a stream sink down into the tiniest 
 volume, and I have seen it trailing through the mud in 
 disgrace ; and then, far away on the mountain range, 
 clouds gathered and burst, and it was not many hours 
 before the stream came down with the first wave six 
 feet high, and the banks were full of sweet, clean, 
 rejoicing water before the evening. So did Christ come 
 in to this poor human race, and behold the veins have 
 swollen again, not with unclean blood. We can stand 
 and say to the tempted man, Christ died on the cross 
 to conquer sin, and He sits on God's right hand to 
 administer the effects of His victory. And we can tell 
 the chief of sinners through Christ he can be made a 
 new creation (2 Cor. v. 17). — Dr. John Watson. 
 
 GRACE ON THE SURFACE 
 
 Grace does not go very deep with most of us. We 
 are not thawed out more than an inch or two, and down 
 below that is the ice as it is in Alaska, where the sun 
 never thaws out the ice very far down, but only to a 
 little depth on the surface. We think ourselves to 
 be Christians because we have a little excitable sym- 
 pathy, and because we do some good things ; but who 
 
 228 
 
Appendix III 
 
 of us carries steadfastly considerate thoughtfulness, 
 gentleness, meekness, and helpfulness towards others ? 
 (Gal. V. 22, 23). — H. Ward Beecher. 
 
 "EXCEEDING ABUNDANTLY" 
 
 " You are coming to a king, 
 Large petitions with you bring." 
 
 But the large petitions must be winged with large 
 expectations or they will rise no higher than the roof. 
 Dr. C. A. Berry told how, during a hard winter at 
 Wolverhampton, soup kitchens were opened for the 
 relief of distress. The people brought their cans for 
 the soup. One boy always took a can that held about a 
 couple of gallons. The quart of soup poured into it 
 always looked such a little in the can that for very 
 shame the dispensers of the soup poured into it another 
 couple of quarts to make the can look as if there was 
 something in it. When we make our petitions to God, 
 let us take large cans (Eph. iii. 20). — H. Jeffs. 
 
 THE MINERS' CLEAN EYES 
 
 While in the mountains of Colorado I noticed the 
 miners going into the mine at the beginning of their 
 "shifts." Their hands and faces were clean as they 
 could make them ; but at the end of the " shifts " it 
 would be difficult to tell whether they were by nature 
 black or white, and yet there was one part of the face 
 which was just as clean as when they entered the mine ; 
 that was the ball of the eye ; and that not because no 
 impurities had touched it, for the mine was filled with 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 such, but because there is a little tear-gland, which 
 keeps working all the time, and when the least speck 
 touches the eye it washes it away. We are in the midst 
 of sin and uncleanness in this world, but we may be 
 kept clean every whit if we be only " filled with the 
 Spirit" (Eph. v. i8). — Dr. Chapman. 
 
 HOW TAULER BECAME A PREACHER 
 
 Tauler, who was almost contemporary with Luther, 
 was one of the greatest orators of his time, a man deeply 
 and wondrously eloquent, and whenever he mounted his 
 pulpit at Strasburg Cathedral it was crowded with all 
 sorts and conditions of men, from the mayor downwards. 
 And across the hills of Switzerland there came Nicholas, 
 the Switzer. He sat amid the crowd, and found his 
 way to Tauler. He said " I want to confess to you." 
 ** Certainly," said Tauler. But after the first confession 
 Tauler found that it was he who needed to confess, 
 rather than Nicholas. He told Nicholas that his life 
 was a failure, that beneath the outward splendour of it 
 there was a hungry heart. He had not found the pivot, 
 the centre of rest, and he said, " What must I do ? " 
 " You must die. Master Tauler." " Die ? " said he. 
 " Ah, ah, you will never get the true source of power 
 till you have died to your own." And for a year the 
 pulpit missed the great preacher, and in his soul he was 
 empty of all faith in his eloquence and learning, and 
 became but a little child. And again he went back to 
 his pulpit, and the place was crowded again, and five 
 minutes after he started preaching he broke down, and 
 buried his face in absolute confusion ; and the people 
 
 230 
 
Appendix III 
 
 as they passed out disappointed said, " Our great 
 preacher is spoiled." And then he began simply, and 
 talked to the poor people that gathered round him once 
 or twice in the church, and the fame of it spread, and 
 those sermons were preached which Miss Winkworth 
 has translated for us, and which Charles Kingsley 
 wrote the introduction to — sermons which the heart of 
 man will never allow to die until sin and sorrow have 
 fled away for ever. Don't you see how sometimes it is 
 necessary for a man to empty himself, even as Christ 
 did, of his reliance upon his native power, that being as 
 a little child he may get power back from God after 
 another sort ? (Phil. ii. 8, 9). — Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 EXALTATION THROUGH ABNEGATION 
 
 Supposing a woman, when she is dying, calls her 
 eldest daughter to her side and says, " You will stop 
 with the children till they are wed, and you will see to 
 your father ? " She says, " Yes, mother; I will." She 
 does not know what she is promising. Shortly after, 
 love looks in at the window of her life and says, " Will 
 you follow me, will you wed me ? " And she loves, and 
 her heart leaps out to the love of her life. " Will you 
 come now ? " "I can't." " Make haste ! " "I can't ; 
 I must stay here." **Then I can't wait." And the love 
 fades away and her heart dies. And she pursues her 
 path, a lonely woman. And the boys marry, and the 
 girls go into homes of their own, and the father dies, 
 blessing her for her care. And in late middle life, she 
 looks around upon other girls whom she has known in 
 their happy homes ; and often her heart sinks — ** Never 
 
 231 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 for me ! '* but as she goes to and fro amongst these 
 children, and the babes are called by her name, and the 
 little boy and the young fellows grow up almost to 
 worship the ground on which she treads, she is the 
 queen of the whole family. Don't you see that by her 
 absolute self-abnegation for others she has become 
 lifted to the throne, and every knee bows to her, and 
 every tongue in the family confesses that she is sweet 
 and true? (Phil. ii. 8, 9).— Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 •'WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION" 
 
 A clipper ship crossing the banks of Newfoundland in 
 heavy weather strikes an iceberg. She settles rapidly 
 at the bows, and her captain and crew have barely time 
 to leap into the lifeboat. The question *' What must 
 we do to be saved ? " is answered by their prompt leap 
 into the lifeboat (committal of the soul in trust to 
 Christ), which is an act of faith. But after the ship 
 has sunk the crew are still out in the deep and 
 dangerous sea. There is a second process necessary. 
 In order to keep out of the trough of the sea and to 
 reach the distant shore, they must stick to the boat and 
 pull lustily at the oars. They must ** work out their 
 own salvation " now by hard rowing. But this is a 
 continued process of salvation day after day, until they 
 reach the shores of Nova Scotia (Phil. ii. 12). — 
 Dr. Cuyler. 
 
 DAYS OF TRANSFIGURATION 
 
 You pace the seashore over the pale yellow innumer- 
 able sands, and here and there you see a sparkle as if 
 
 232 
 
Appendix III 
 
 some sand grain were a ruby or an emerald ; you go to 
 it and take it up — it is no iridescent opal, it is no 
 spark of fire, it is only one of those pale yellow innumer- 
 able grains of sand; but for one instant the sunbeam 
 has smitten it, and it has been transfigured in its 
 insignificance into living splendour. It is even so some- 
 times with human lives. There comes a day sometimes 
 to the humble, if they deserve it, when, as to the humble 
 shepherds on Bethlehem's plain, the angel of the Lord 
 stands over them, and the glory of the Lord shines 
 round about them; they leap into instantaneous 
 heroism, they are transfigured into children of immor- 
 tality; they need no sceptre and no purple then to 
 invest them with the grandeur and the pathos of truth. 
 It is an unknown Eastern monk who springs into the 
 arena and thrusts himself between the gladiators ; he is 
 martyred ; the gladiatorial games cease for ever, and 
 Telemachus has bought his eternity with a little hour. 
 It is a poor Russian slave ; on the track of his master 
 and children the wolves are howling in the snow ; he 
 springs out among the yelling pack and is torn to pieces ; 
 but his master and children are saved, and his deed 
 thrills through the world. It is a very humble, ungifted 
 Belgian priest who goes to die, a leper, among the 
 hopeless lepers of the Pacific isle, and the world cares 
 more for him than it cares for emperors. It is a pilot on 
 Lake Erie in the burning ship who clings to the tiller, 
 and safely steers to the jetty, though he drops a 
 blackened corpse ; he knows that Christ will not turn 
 His back on a man who died for men. It is a poor little 
 maid-of-all-work ; the house is in flames, the rooms are 
 
 233 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 filled with blinding smoke, but at all costs she will save 
 the last of her master's children ; she does save the 
 child, and is killed, and the poor East-end *' slavey" 
 has laid on the haughty palace gate of humanity a 
 service and an example worth cartloads of diamonds, 
 and the lives of thousands of selfish or arrogant grandees 
 (Phil. ii. 17).— Dean Farrar. 
 
 FLOWERS OR WEEDS ? 
 
 I remember how, when the Great Central Railway 
 made their trunk line through the Rugby district, they 
 had to carve their way through a solid fold in the 
 country. It was said to be the biggest cutting on the 
 line. I watched carefully the banks of that cutting and 
 the earth heaps that were thrown up. At first, they were 
 as bare as could be, but presently here and there the 
 seed of a thistle or a dandelion or a knotweed would 
 find a lodgment, and, before many months elapsed, the 
 whole space was overspread with flowers and grasses 
 and herbs. There was no emptiness. Before one could 
 well believe it, the bare banks were covered with young 
 seedlings that had drifted against it by chance on the 
 wings of the breeze. The human mmd is like that cut- 
 ting. It cannot remain unpossessed. It is always 
 receiving, never empty (Phil. iv. 8.) — J. Lew^is Paton, 
 M.A. 
 
 "THROUGH CHRIST WHICH 
 STRENGTHENETH ME" 
 
 I crossed the ocean lately on a powerful steamship, 
 which weighed over twenty thousand tons, and pushed 
 
 234 
 
Appendix III 
 
 her way against winds and waves at the rate of twenty 
 knots an hour. I could not see the propelling force : 
 that was hidden deep down in the glowing furnaces, 
 heaped constantly with fresh coal. As long as the coal 
 lasted the steamer could hold on her victorious way. 
 That illustrates the spiritual life of every strong, healthy 
 Christian. His strength is measured by his inward 
 supply of Divine grace (Phil. iv. 13). — Dr. Cuyler. 
 
 THE FRUITFUL LIFE 
 
 We are told of a man who served and blessed 
 humanity by drifting down a great river in a virgin 
 country in a boat filled with apple-seeds. His plan was 
 to go in advance of the settlers, planting orchards m the 
 wilderness. When he had found an open glade in the 
 forest, he dug up the soil, planted several thousand 
 apple-seeds, wove a brush fence to keep the deer away, 
 then drifted down the river to repeat his work in another 
 Dpen glade. When the early settlers came to these 
 open glades they found the fruit trees that to them 
 seemed to have been let down from God out of 
 Heaven. 
 
 If we cannot plant a tree we can plant a flower. 
 Everything beautiful is like a blessing let down by God 
 from Heaven. The more beautiful and fruitful we can 
 make the earth the more we shall see of God. He steps 
 down from the stars and meets us among the flowers 
 (Col. i. 10). — Dr. J. M. Farrar, Brooklyn, U.S.A 
 
 235 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 HID WITH CHRIST IN GOD 
 
 " Our life is hid with Christ in God." It is the 
 passionate and unceasing insistence on the Christ- 
 nature within every man as such which gave dignity 
 and power to the preaching of the early Quakers. Read 
 George Fox's journal, and this emerges out of an 
 astonishing amount of fanaticism and unfairness. It 
 runs like a thread of gold through the whole narrative. 
 On all hands religious men were disputing about the 
 limits of Church membership, the rights of hierarchies, 
 the importance of sacraments, the decrees of God in 
 election and reprobation, and so forth ; and there was 
 immense excitement and vehemence and partisanship ; 
 Cui'iztianity seemed to have lost its moral force alto- 
 gether ; and the Image of Christ had faded from view. 
 Then came this strange, youthful-looking man, with 
 his long hair and brilliant eyes, and courage of a martyr 
 blended witii an extraordinary tenderness, and a fervent 
 eloquence wl ich held men spell-bound and called them 
 away from the quarrelling Christians and their churches, 
 and pointed them to Christ within themselves. This 
 is his habitual phrase. " I directed them to the light of 
 Christ in them." '* I exhorted the family to turn to the 
 Lord Jesus Christ and hearken to His teachings in 
 their own hearts." "I directed them to Christ, the 
 true Teacher within " (Col. iii. 3). — Canon Hensley 
 Henson. 
 
 GOOD SOLDIERS OF CHRIST 
 
 At the battle of Missionary Ridge a regiment made a 
 desperate attack upon the enemy. "Who ordered that 
 
 236 
 
Appendix III 
 
 charge ? " cried the commanding general of an officer 
 who galloped up to him. " No one, sir," was the 
 response ; ** the men saw the need and the opportunity, 
 and they dashed forward without waiting for orders." 
 The world wants thousands of Christian warriors thus 
 to see *' the need and the opportunity," and to act 
 promptly ! Many of us are slow of heart and blind 
 (2 Tim. ii. 3). — Rev. Allan Sutherland. 
 
 MINISTERING ANGELS 
 
 I went once to see a dying girl whom the world had 
 roughly treated. She never had a father, she never 
 knew her mother. Her home had been the poorhouse, 
 her couch the hospital cot, and yet, as she staggered 
 in her weakness there, she picked up a little of the 
 alphabet, enough to spell out the New Testament, and 
 she had touched the hem of the Master's garment and 
 had learned the new song. And I never trembled in 
 the presence of majesty as I did in the majesty of her 
 presence as she came near the crossing. ** Oh, sir," she 
 said, " God sends His angels. I read in His Word : 
 * Are they not ministering spirits, sent forth to minister 
 to them who shall be the heirs of salvation ? ' And 
 when I am lying in my cot they stand about me on this 
 floor, and when the heavy darkness comes and this poor 
 side aches so severely He comes, and He says, * Lo, I 
 am with you,' and I sleep, I rest " (Heb. i. 14). — 
 Bishop C. H. Fgv^^ler. 
 
 237 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 SAVED BY ANOTHER'S SUFFERING 
 
 The mother who has tried talking, and talking has 
 not done any good, who has tried serene living, and 
 serene living has not done much, until at last the evil 
 of her son enters like the iron into her soul, and she, 
 alone in her closet, agonises and weeps and prays, and 
 thinks she is not doing anything, now first is beginning 
 to do something. For, though her boy never sees the 
 tear glistening on her cheek, and never hears the prayer 
 that goes up from her agonised heart, he knows the 
 difference, and he begins to feel only when she has 
 begun to suffer with him, and for him, and in him 
 (Heb. ii. g — 13). — Dr. Lyman Abbott. 
 
 THE LORD'S CHASTENINGS 
 
 When I was in Kimberley I was taken to the great 
 diamond mine there, and saw first the blasting of the 
 rocks; then that they took those rocks and laid them 
 out under the sky to be desiccated. And after six 
 months these rocks, full of diamonds, were placed in 
 mighty crushing machines, driven by an engine of 1,000 
 horse-power. This grinding process was intended to 
 rub down the rocks till they became dust. Out of the 
 dust diamonds were caught on the grease of the 
 pulsating machine, whereas the garnets passed on and 
 were lost. God grinds us to the very dust, because it is 
 only out of the dust He gets His diamonds. Out of 
 the dust He can mould and fashion us (Heb. xii. 6), — 
 Rev. F. B. Meyer, B.A. 
 
 238 
 
Appendix III 
 
 WORKS WITH FAITH 
 
 I can imagine a listless, indolent person sitting within 
 reach of a tumbler of water, and saying to the servant, 
 " Hand me that tumbler of water " ; and I can imagine 
 someone giving the answer, " It is within your reach, 
 take it if you want it. If it is not worth taking, it is 
 not worth having." There are many people who pray 
 to God for things that are within their reach. All that 
 is necessary is that they should find out how to procure 
 them. There are some people who want their prayers 
 answered at a jump, just as when we go to a post-office 
 for our letters they are handed right out to us; or just 
 as when we go to the bank with a cheque we receive the 
 cash instantly. Oftentimes, however, God answers 
 more through discipline (James ii. 14). — H. Ward 
 Beecher. 
 
 THE UNRULY MEMBER 
 
 There are some lines, crude and homely enough, but 
 sensible enough, written by Mr. Will Carleton, the 
 American, which I am very fond of recalling : — 
 
 " Boys flying kites haul in their white-winged birds ; 
 You can't do that way when you are flying words. 
 ' Careful with ' is good advice, I know ; 
 * Careful with words' is ten times doubly so. 
 Thoughts unexpressed may sometimes fall back dead ; 
 But God Himself can't kill them when they're said." 
 
 Oh 1 young men and women, learn to hold the tongue. 
 You may do injustice by a thoughtless word to some- 
 one that you will be sorry for all your days (James iii. 
 5, 6). — Rev. C. Silvester Horne, M.A. 
 
 239 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 GROWTH IN GRACE 
 
 People think that if they are going to have the 
 graces of the Spirit they must pray and pray for them, 
 and that somehow God will put them on them ; as if a 
 daughter should say to her mother, " Oh, mother ! that 
 scarlet shawl," and the mother should come to her 
 some day and say, " My daughter, for a good while you 
 have been asking me for a scarlet shawl, and here it is." 
 Persons go on praying to God for various Christian 
 states of mind, and they have an idea that some day He 
 will touch them and they will have them ; whereas all 
 high religious states are the result of education, just as 
 a knowledge of music, or painting, or history, or 
 philosophy, or science is (2 Peter iii. 18). — H. Ward 
 Beecher. 
 
 THE GRACE OF OUR LORD 
 
 What is " grace " ? It is several things. First, the 
 kindness of an exalted person to those below him. We 
 sing " God save our gracious King." Then grace is a 
 gift, a favour, a pardon, granted as an act of pure 
 benevolence. The King, as an " act of grace," allows 
 gentlefolk in poor circumstances to occupy rooms in 
 some of the royal palaces. As an " act of grace," too, 
 he may remit or cancel a sentence passed by a judge. 
 Then " grace " means beauty, elegance : as a ** grace- 
 ful " person. Queen Alexandra is both '* gracious " and 
 " graceful." All these meanings, and much more, are 
 implied in " the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ." Let 
 
 240 
 
Appendix III 
 
 I* 
 
 us think for a moment, however, of His grace as His 
 
 beauty. We are reminded of Psalm xxvii., and the 
 Psalmist's desire '' to behold the beauty of the Lord," 
 and of the invocation of Psalm xc. : " Let the beauty 
 of the Lord our God be upon us." The " grace of our 
 Lord Jesus Christ" does come upon those who are 
 His in a very peal sense. Old couples who have lived 
 long together in perfect affection are said to grow like 
 each other. Old saints who have long lived in com- 
 munion and love with Christ grow hke Him. There 
 is an unearthly beauty in the faces of these people in 
 moments of rapt devotion. Some day they will be 
 fully "like Him, for they will see Him as He is" 
 (i Cor. xvi. 23 ; i John iii. 2). 
 
 THE LOVELESS LIFE AND THE LIFE IN 
 
 GOD 
 
 It is told of the Greeley expedition to the Arctic 
 regions, in search of the North Pole, that the weary 
 months of waiting for their rescuers told on the men in 
 a fearful manner. Some died from starvation ; others 
 were almost crazed by the hunger experienced and the 
 intense cold ; others were driven to the realm of deceit 
 and cruelty ; and Greeley himself was in a struggle to 
 keep up his courage and fortitude. At last the rescuers 
 arrived ; but the group of men were so dazed by their 
 cold, desolate surroundings that they scarcely realised 
 what it meant. They were led away from the Arctic 
 night to the land of sunshine and plenty, where no cold 
 could freeze their bodies nor lack of food bring them 
 
 241 Q 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 starvation. Day and night would come and go and 
 the world look new, bright and joyful. 
 
 Man, without the ideal of right living which Christ 
 gives, is in the grip of moral starvation and in the realm 
 of spiritual cold. He needs to be rescued and led away 
 from this condition to the region of life and joy. He 
 needs the sunshine of God's love and tenderness to 
 warm his heart and beautify his soul (i John iv. 7, 8). 
 — Dr. Wayland Hoyt. 
 
 THE HEART'S CRY OF LOVE 
 
 How common, how persuasive, is this love-life, even 
 in its first realm, the love of kindred! I was once 
 summoned to the poor little home of a labouring man. 
 The doctor had just left with his fatal verdict : " Nothing 
 more can be done." On an impoverished cot in the 
 cleanly kitchen, the only room with light and air, lay a 
 beautiful boy of eighteen months. The young father 
 was pacing the room in a man's mute agony. The 
 mother kneeled by the poor little cot and smoothed the 
 coverlet with her work-roughened hands, and touched 
 gently the fair face already sharpening to the stillness 
 of death. Her breaking heart burst out in a terrible 
 cry : " Oh, my love, my little one, how can I live 
 without you ! " 
 
 Not long after I was called to a palatial home. I 
 entered a sumptuous apartment. Trained nurses sat 
 with folded hands in an adjoining room, their work 
 over. A council of eminent physicians had just left 
 
 242 
 
Appendix III 
 
 the house. The fatal word had been spoken : " Nothing 
 can be done ; it is a question of only an hour, possibly 
 less." There again was the father pacing in a man's 
 mute agony. There again the mother kneeled by the 
 dainty couch, touching aimlessly with her delicate 
 shapely hands the coverlet, or lifting the masses of 
 bright hair tossed upon the pillow. There again lay 
 the beautiful child, the flower-like face touched with 
 that appealing pathos, which is only seen upon the face 
 of a dying child. Again the heart-breaking cry, " Oh, 
 my beauty, my blessing, my life ! Why cannot I die 
 for you ? '* 
 
 Explorers opened an Egyptian tomb, a tomb shut 
 hard and fast by the iron silence of three thousand 
 years. There stood the exquisitely carved sarcophagus 
 of a little child, and over it this inscription: " Oh, my 
 life, my love, my little one ! Would God I had died for 
 thee!" Instinctively the men uncovered their heads, 
 and with dim eyes stepped silently out into the light. 
 They replaced and sealed the portal and left love and 
 death to their eternal vigil. How old is love ? Old as 
 the human heart, old as God ; " for God is love, and 
 he who loveth is born of God, and knoweth God " 
 (i John iv. 8). — Dr. J. H. Ecob. 
 
 THE CHRIST WITHIN 
 
 Olive Malvery has told us how that once, when she 
 was living the life of the women in the East-end, she had 
 worked and walked for a whole day without being able 
 
 243 Q2 
 
The Art of Sermon Illustration 
 
 to earn enough money to get a bed ; the very little she 
 had she spent on food ; and then she wandered along 
 and at last found herself on the Embankment, and 
 sank down on to one of the benches, wearied, exhausted, 
 depressed, bitter in spirit, and, with the weight of it all 
 upon her sensitive heart, buried her face in her hands 
 and was weeping. 
 
 And by chance there came her way a poor, ragged, 
 outcast woman, who had loved the garish day, and had 
 had her garish day; but upon that day a night had 
 fallen, and she was abandoned, homeless, friendless, 
 hopeless, penniless, save for a solitary halfpenny which 
 she clutched in her hand, and was about to spend at a 
 coffee-stall. She saw the tiny slip of a young girl cry- 
 ing on the bench, and came up to her, bent over her, 
 put her hand on her shoulder, and said, " Never mind, 
 dearie, you will soon get used to it." 
 
 Olive Malvery looked up at her through her tearful 
 eyes ; and, less because of her sorrow than because of 
 her wonder at this woman's tenderness and compassion, 
 could not speak a word. The woman hesitated an 
 instant, and then pressed into the hand of this chance- 
 met fellow-sufferer the only coin she had, and dis- 
 appeared swiftly into the night. Christ was there, 
 present in that wretched, pleasure-ruined woman ; we 
 know Him by that sign ; the Eternal Spirit of light and 
 love ; who shines in the highest, but is not absent from 
 the lowest, but glints there also as the gold among the 
 heavy dust (i John iv. i6).— Rev. E. W. Lewis, 
 M.A., B.D. 
 
 244 
 
Appendix IL 
 
 LONDON FLOWERS ^^ 
 
 Some time a^o there was a flower show m Loi r. 
 and the singularity was that all the flowers were grow . 
 in London. It is not much for you to grow flowers 
 in the country, in your blue skies, your sweet air, your 
 bright light, and your silver dew. It is nothing to you to 
 rear magnificent blossoms and perfect forms of elegance 
 and of colour. But think of growing prize lilies and 
 roses and orchids and palms on narrow window-sills, 
 and in dingy cellars, and in dusty attics, and amongst 
 chimney-pots ! Ah ! there was a pathos about those 
 flowers that can never be about the flowers grown here 
 in the country under blue skies. No wonder the Queen 
 went to see those flowers. They had been reared in 
 defiance of the breath of the million, the smoke of a 
 myriad chimneys, dust, shade, darkness ; and they had 
 brought those things of beauty to perfection amidst 
 those discouraging conditions. And just so, when John 
 went to Heaven, the Elder did not show him angels 
 and principalities and powers — they have all been 
 grown in the everlasting sunshine. No wonder that 
 they are what they are. But the Elder was proud to 
 show John the blossoms that had been grown down 
 here amongst trouble and conflict and coffins. " These 
 are they which came out of great tribulation " (Rev. vii.. 
 14). — Dr. W. L. Watkinson. 
 
 245 
 
The Art ^x Sermon Illustration 
 
 to earn enou^-j^^j^ ^^^^^ ^^ CRYSTAL 
 
 had she sv 
 
 and at^ast week one of the members of this church, a 
 san^and old woman, who had suffered through weeks 
 rx irremediable pain, which prevented sleep and even 
 rest, passed into the rest, the sleep of death. A few 
 days before she died, one of our members visited her, 
 and, seeing that she was in a doze, sat down to wait. 
 And presently a smile played over the worn face of the 
 sick woman, a smile which became quite radiant, and 
 then with a start she awoke, and she said, ** Was I 
 dreaming ? " " You seemed asleep," was the answer, 
 "and you smiled." "Ah!*' she said; "I saw Jesus and 
 the river as clear as crystal. Oh ! it was beautiful ! 
 beautifull" (Rev. xxii. 2). — Dr. R. F. Horton. 
 
 "IN THE MORNING" 
 
 In one of his sermons Rev. R. J. Campbell told of 
 a father who every night went to the bedroom of his 
 little daughter to wish her " Good-night!" She usually, 
 as she returned his kiss, said, " Good-night, father 
 dear ! I shall see you in the morning." The child fell 
 ill, and it became evident that the Master was calling 
 for her. One night her father kissed her as usual, and 
 she said in a faint voice, but with a smile on her wan 
 face, " Good-night, father! I shall see you in the morn- 
 ing." During the night the Shepherd took the lamb 
 unto His bosom. But her word was true. There is 
 reunion where "there is no night there" and *'joy 
 Cometh in the morning" (Rev. xxii. 5; Ps. xxx. 5). 
 
 246 
 
Appendix III 
 
 HEAVEN SEEN FROM EARTH 
 
 On a cold, windy day in November, a gentleman 
 spoke kindly to a poor Italian whom he had often 
 passed without a word. Seeing him shiver, he said 
 something about the dreadful English climate, which 
 to a son of the sunny South must have seemed terribly 
 cruel that day. But to his surprise the man looked up 
 with a smile, and in his broken English said, " Yes, yes, 
 pritty cold ; but by-and-by ! tink of dat." He was 
 thinking of warm skies and flowers and songs in the 
 sunny land to which he hoped soon to return, and he 
 little imagined how all that day and for many a day his 
 words would ring in the Englishman's heart ; " By-and- 
 by, tink of dat." 
 
 " Oh, could we make our doubts remove, 
 Those gloomy doubts that rise. 
 And see the Canaan that we love 
 With unbeclouded eyes. 
 
 •* Could we but stand where Moses stood, 
 And view the landscape o'er, 
 Not Jordan's stream nor death's cold flood 
 Should fright us from the shore." 
 
 (Rev. xxi. lo). — Dr. Alfred Rowland. 
 
 247 
 
INDEX OF TEXTS AND 
 SUBJECTS ILLUSTRATED 
 
 In the following Index, enough of the verses is given to 
 indicate the verse or verses illustrated. Where two texts are 
 illustrated by the same illustration, both are given, one following 
 the other. A very few illustrations could not conveniently be 
 attached to texts. In a few other cases where a passage of 
 Scripture or a subject is illustrated, the chapter and verses of the 
 books given are to be regarded as readings rather than texts. 
 
 Genesis iii. ... 
 
 f> 
 
 IV. 13 
 
 I) V. ^... ... 
 
 „ xxxii. 26 ... 
 
 Exodus XX. S 
 
 Numbers xxiii. 23 ... 
 Judges v. 8, 9 
 I Samuel iL 11 
 
 1 Kings vii. 21, 22 ... 
 
 „ xiv. 13 
 „ xviii. 17 
 
 2 Chronicles xxv. 9... 
 
 ,, xxix. 27 
 
 Nehemiah vi. 15 ... 
 
 M viii. 6 ... 
 
 The awakening of conscience, 
 Romans vii. 21 — 24. — The law of 
 God and the law of members . 
 
 The punishment greater than I can 
 bear 
 
 And he died .... 
 
 I will not let Thee go, except Thou 
 bless me 
 
 Remember the Sabbath day 
 
 Honour thy father and mother . 
 
 What hath God wrought ! . 
 
 Offered willingly among the people 
 
 The child did minister unto the Lord 
 Matt. xix. 13 — 15. — There were 
 brought unto Him little children 
 
 Lily work on the pillars 
 
 Abijah at Jeroboam's court 
 
 Art thou he that troublest Israel? 
 
 The Lord's ability to give . 
 
 The burnt-offering and the song 
 
 So the wall was finished 
 
 The people an^^wered, Amen, amen ! 
 
 PAGE 
 
 92 
 
 n 
 
 i8s 
 
 186 
 120 
 186 
 186 
 127 
 
 176 
 
 30 
 
 131 
 62 
 
 113 
 
 69 
 
 187 
 
 ISO 
 
 249 
 
Index of Texts and Subjects 
 
 Job xxiv. 6 ... 
 
 • •• 
 
 Psalm 
 
 xviii. 33 
 
 • •• 
 
 j> 
 
 xxiii. I 
 
 ... 
 
 >> 
 
 xxiii. 3 
 
 ... 
 
 » 
 
 xxvii. I 
 
 ... 
 
 n 
 
 xxvii. 14 
 
 ... 
 
 »j 
 
 xxix. 2 
 
 ... 
 
 » 
 
 xxx. 5 
 
 ... 
 
 >» 
 
 xxxiv. 8 
 
 ... 
 
 » 
 
 xxxvii. 7 
 
 • •• 
 
 »f 
 
 xxxviii. 4 
 
 • •• 
 
 )) 
 
 xl. 2 ... 
 
 
 »> 
 
 xlii. 5 
 
 ... 
 
 j> 
 
 li. 10... 
 
 • •• 
 
 »> 
 
 li. II, 12 
 
 • •• 
 
 >j 
 
 Ixvi. 13 
 
 • •• 
 
 j» 
 
 Ixxviii. 9 
 
 • •• 
 
 jj 
 
 Ixxviii. 13 
 
 ... 
 
 »» 
 
 Ixxxiv. 3 
 
 • •• 
 
 )i 
 
 xc. 9 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 » 
 
 xc. 12 
 
 ... 
 
 '» 
 
 xc. 13, 14 
 
 ... 
 
 »» 
 
 cxvi. 12, 13 
 
 ... 
 
 » 
 
 cxviii. 27 
 
 ... 
 
 j» 
 
 cxix. 14 
 
 ... 
 
 » 
 
 cxix. 18 
 
 • • • 
 
 >» 
 
 cxix. 105 
 
 • • • 
 
 » 
 
 cxxxiii. I 
 
 ... 
 
 Proverbs viii. 36 
 
 ... 
 
 » X. 7 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ xxii. 13 
 
 .*• 
 
 Ecclesiastes ii. 9, 
 
 10 
 
 
 „ ix. 10 
 
 ... 
 
 
 M ix. 14 
 
 ,15 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The vintage of the wicked . , .14 
 He maketh my feet like hinds' feet . 188 
 The Lord is my Shepherd . . .188 
 He restore th my soul . . . .191 
 The Lord is the strength of my life . 189 
 Be of good courage . . . .116 
 Worship the Lord .... 90 
 Joy Cometh in the morning , . 246 
 Taste and see that the Lord is good . 189 
 Rest in the Lord and wait patiently for 
 
 Him .... 
 Iniquities gone over mine head 
 Out of an horrible pit . 
 
 Hope thou in God 
 Create in me a clean heart 
 
 Restore the joy of Thy salvation 
 
 I will pay Thee my vows . 
 
 Carrying bows but turning back 
 
 Divided the sea, and caused them to 
 pass through .... 
 
 A nest at God's altars 
 
 Our years as a tale that is told . 
 
 Teach us to number our days . 
 
 Fruit in old age .... 
 
 I will take the cup of salvation . 
 
 Bind the sacrifice 
 
 Rejoice in Thy testimonies as in riche 
 
 Open Thou mine eyes. 
 
 A light unto my path. 
 
 How pleasant for men to dwell in 
 unity. — Eph. iv. 3 — 13 . 
 
 Wronging our own soul 
 
 The memory of the just is blessed 
 
 There is a lion without . . 
 
 Two are better than one . . 
 
 Do it with thy might . . 
 
 A poor wise man , . , delivered 
 the city . .... 159 
 
 250 
 
Index of Texts and Subjects 
 
 Ecclesiastes xi. i ... 
 
 „ xi. 9 ... 
 
 Song of Solomon i. 2 
 
 ii. 15 
 
 Isaiah ii. 4 
 
 » 
 if 
 
 VI. 5 ... 
 xi. 6 ... 
 xxxiii. 23 
 xl. 3 ... 
 
 xl. 31 
 xliii. 25 
 
 xlv. 22 
 
 >1 
 
 Iv 
 
 1,2 
 
 »> 
 
 Iv. 
 
 II 
 
 »» 
 
 1X1 
 
 .3... 
 
 »» 
 
 Ixiii. 3 
 
 Jeremiah 
 
 iii. 4 
 
 » 
 
 
 XX. 9 
 
 »» 
 
 
 xxxi. 3 
 
 Hosea ii. 
 
 19... 
 
 Micah 
 
 vii 
 
 . 18 
 
 Zechariah viii. 5 
 
 Malachi iii. 17 
 
 Matthew 
 
 V. 3 
 
 » 
 
 
 vi. II 
 
 »» 
 
 
 vi. 13 
 
 » 
 
 
 vi. 19, 20 
 
 » 
 
 
 vi. 28 
 
 *) 
 
 
 viii. 2 
 
 »• 
 
 
 viii. 20 
 
 IX. 
 
 XIU II 
 
 Cast thy bread upon the waters 
 
 But God will bring thee into judgment 
 
 Kissing of the mouth . 
 
 The little foxes that spoil the vines 
 
 They shall beat their swords into 
 
 plough-shares .... 
 Mine eyes have seen the King . 
 A little child shall lead them 
 The lame take the prey . . 
 The desert a highway 
 Mount up with wings as eagles . 
 Transgressions blotted out and 
 
 forgotten .... 
 
 Look unto Me and be ye saved. 
 
 Rom. i. 17 
 Without money and without price 
 My word shall not return void . 
 The oil of joy for mourning 
 Trodden the wine-press alone 
 The guide of my youth 
 As a burning lire shut up in my 
 
 bones 
 
 God's everlasting love 
 
 I will betroth thee unto Me for ever 
 
 A God that pardoneth iniquity . 
 
 Boys and girls playing in the streets 
 
 God's jewels .... 
 
 Blessed are the poor in spirit 
 
 Our daily bread .... 
 
 Deliver us from evil . 
 
 Lay up . . . treasure in Heaven 
 
 Consider the lilies 
 
 If Thou wilt, Thou canst . 
 
 The Son of man . . . not where to 
 
 lay His head 
 When He saw the multitude He was 
 
 moved with compassion . 
 Sheep in a pit on the Sabbath • 
 
 251 
 
 PAGE 
 196 
 129 
 116 
 197 
 
 198 
 201 
 199 
 199 
 200 
 
 79 
 
 39 
 
 221 
 70 
 
 23 
 127 
 200 
 132 
 
 153 
 
 22 
 
 29 
 
 202 
 
 98 
 
 15 
 203 
 
 65 
 90 
 
 156 
 
 203 
 136 
 
 204 
 
 147 
 205 
 
Index of Texts and Subjects 
 
 Matthew 
 
 xiii. 13, 14 
 
 n 
 
 xvi. 24 
 
 M 
 
 xvi. 24, 25 
 
 W 
 
 xvi. 26 
 
 )} 
 
 xviii. I, 3 ... 
 
 » 
 
 xviii. 21, 22 
 
 »» 
 
 xix. 13 — 15 
 
 M 
 
 xix. 16 — 24 
 
 f* 
 
 XX. 32, 33... 
 
 •> 
 
 XX. 8, 9 ... 
 
 » 
 
 XXI. 22 
 
 „ xxiii 
 
 .8 
 
 ... 
 
 „ XXV. 
 
 18 
 
 ... 
 
 „ XXV. 
 
 34- 
 
 -40 
 
 „ XXV. 
 
 36 
 
 ... 
 
 „ XXV. 
 
 40 
 
 ... 
 
 „ XXV. 
 
 45 
 
 ... 
 
 „ XX vi 
 
 1. 20 — 22 
 
 „ xxvii. 24 
 
 ... 
 
 Mark ii. 27 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 » vii. 37 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ viii. 36 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ ix. 38- 
 
 ■40 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ xiv. 4 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ xiv. 8 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 Luke ii. 7 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ vi. 29 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ vi. 38 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ vii. 34 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ vii. 37 
 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ viii. 18 
 
 
 ♦ •• 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Eyes, but they see not . . .21 
 Take up thy cross and follow Me • 97 
 Let him deny himself. — Luke vi. 38 . 64 
 What shall it profit a man ? — 
 
 Mark viii. 36 63 
 
 A little child in the midst of them . 87 
 
 Forgiveness 14 
 
 There were brought unto Him little 
 
 children . . .176 
 
 For he had great possessions . .132 
 That our eyes may be opened . . 41 
 Also xxvii. 20 — 22. " Hosannah ! '* 
 
 and " Crucify Him ! " . . .75 
 Whatsoever ye ask, believing, ye shall 
 
 receive 96 
 
 All ye are brethren .... 205 
 Hiding the Lord's talents ... 76 
 Ye have done it unto Me . • • 91 
 Sick and ye visited Me . • • 206 
 Unto one of the least of these • . 207 
 Inasmuch as ye did it not . • , 208 
 
 Crucify Him ! 75 
 
 Pilate washed his hands . . 15, 208 
 The Sabbath made for man • 118,119 
 He doeth all things well ... 60 
 What shall it profit ? . . . .63 
 One casting out devils and we forbade 
 
 him 
 
 Why was this waste ? 
 
 She hath done what she could , 
 
 No room in the inn . 
 
 Offer the other cheek . 
 
 Give and it shall be given unto 
 
 you 
 
 Friend of publicans and sinners . 
 
 The alabaster box 
 
 Whosoever hath not from him shall be 
 
 taken .«•«•• 
 
 135 
 209 
 
 83 
 
 80 
 
 117 
 
 93 
 29 
 
 209 
 
 136 
 
 25a 
 
Index of Texts and Subjects 
 
 Luke ix. 23 
 
 X. 3— 9 
 
 xiii. 34 
 
 XV. 13 
 
 xix. 10 
 xix. 14 
 xxii. 61 
 
 John i. I 
 „ iii. 7 
 
 iii. 16 ... 
 
 V. 35 — 
 „ V. 40 ... 
 
 vi. 28 ... 
 
 vi. 63 ... 
 
 vii. 9 ... 
 
 viii. 6 ... 
 „ viii. 9 ... 
 „ viii. 32... 
 „ ix. 31 ... 
 „ ix. 4 ... 
 „ X. 10 ... 
 „ X. 10 ... 
 „ xi. 25 ... 
 
 t* 
 
 xi. 28 ... 
 
 xi. 44 ... 
 xii. 2 ... 
 xii. 3 ... 
 xii. 21 ... 
 xii. 20... 
 
 „ xiv. 6 ... 
 
 „ xiv. 6 ... 
 
 „ xiv. 9 ... 
 
 ,, xiv. 20 
 
 upon 
 
 Let him . . . take up his cross daily 
 
 and follow Me . 
 Mary at Jesus' feet 
 As a hen doth gather her brood 
 Wastes his substance with riotous 
 
 living .... 
 To save that which was lost 
 Would not have Christ to reign 
 The Lord turned and looked 
 
 Peter .... 
 The Word was God . , 
 Ye must be born again 
 God so loved the world 
 A burning and a shining light 
 Ye will not come to Me 
 Working the works of God. 
 The Spirit that quickeneth 
 Also X. 9. — I am the Door . 
 Jesus . . . wrote on the ground 
 Convicted by their own conscience 
 The truth shall make you free 
 Doers of His will 
 Work while it is day . 
 Life abounding through love 
 Come that they might have life 
 I am the Resurrection. — i Cor. xv. 55 
 
 O death, where is thy sting.? 
 The Master calleth for thee 
 Loose him, and let him go. 
 The silence of Lazarus 
 Mary's anointing of Jesus' feet. 
 We would see Jesus . 
 They said it thundered ; others 
 
 angel spake . , , 
 I am the Way . , , 
 I am the Truth. . . , 
 Hast thou not known Me ? 
 In Christ and Christ in us • 
 
 253 
 
 PAGB 
 
 168 
 
 72 
 
 210 
 
 114 
 
 33 
 
 28 
 
 An 
 
 . 72 
 
 • 70 
 
 . 182 
 
 . 211 
 
 . 212 
 
 . 212 
 
 24 
 
 16, 32 
 
 89j2I3 
 
 144 
 
 72 
 
 213 
 
 125 
 
 115 
 62 
 
 214 
 
 216 
 217 
 117 
 
 69 
 
 72 
 
 215 
 
 216 
 
 182 
 
 35 
 217 
 
 23 
 
Index of Texts and Subject?, 
 
 John XIV 
 
 . 27 
 
 „ XV. 
 
 5 
 
 „ XV. 
 
 14, 15 - 
 
 „ XX. 
 
 25 
 
 „ xxi 
 
 . 15 
 
 Acts xxvi. 19 
 
 ,, xxvi. 27, 28 ... 
 
 Romans 
 
 i- 7 
 
 t» 
 
 i. 17 
 
 f> 
 
 vi. 23 
 
 »» 
 
 vii. 21 — 27 
 
 *> 
 
 viii. 35 
 
 ♦> 
 
 viii. 37 
 
 »> 
 
 xi. 22 
 
 »» 
 
 xii. II 
 
 » 
 
 xii. 21 
 
 j> 
 
 xiii. 8 
 
 I Corinthians i. 23, 24 
 
 » 
 
 1. 27,28 ... 
 
 ») 
 
 ii. 9 
 
 »» 
 
 vii. 31 ... 
 
 ft 
 
 ix. 24 ... 
 
 it 
 
 xii. 6 
 
 t» 
 
 xii. 14—20 
 
 » 
 
 xiii. 7,8... 
 
 »» 
 
 xiii. 13 ... 
 
 »» 
 
 XV. 55 ... 
 
 *» 
 
 xvi. 23 ... 
 
 2 Corinthians iii. 18 
 
 Peace I leave with you; • 
 I am the Vine .... 
 Ye are My friends . . , 
 The print of the nails. • • 
 
 Feed My lambs .... 
 Not disobedient unto the heavenly 
 
 vision ..... 
 Almost persuaded . . 
 Called to be saints. . 
 The just shall live by faith. — Isaiah 
 
 xlv. 22 . . . . . 
 The wages of sin is death . 
 The law of God and the law of mem 
 
 bers. Flesh and spirit . 
 Who shall separate ? . 
 More than conquerors . 
 The goodness and severity of God 
 Fervent in spirit 
 But overcome evil with good • 
 Owe no man anything . • 
 We preach Christ crucified 
 Things which are despised hath God 
 
 chosen 
 
 Ear hath not heard . 
 
 The fashion of this world passeth away 
 
 So run that ye may obtain. Hebrews 
 
 xii. I. Lay aside every weight 
 God which worketh all in all 
 The body is not one member but 
 
 many 
 
 Charity never faileth . • • • 
 Faith, hope, and charity. . • . 
 O death, where is thy sting ? 
 The grace of our Lord. — i John iii. 2. 
 
 Like Him for we shall see Him as 
 
 He is 
 
 Beholding, as in a glass, the glory of 
 
 the Lord • • • • • 
 
 PAGE 
 
 219 
 219 
 219 
 129 
 96 
 
 220 
 
 135 
 220 
 
 221 
 
 76 
 
 92 
 
 222 
 
 222 
 
 23 
 
 78 
 
 22^ 
 
 114 
 
 37 
 
 224 
 
 30 
 224 
 
 100 
 
 28 
 
 225 
 
 40 
 
 225 
 
 226 
 
 240 
 181 
 
 254 
 
Index of Texts and Subjects 
 
 2 Corinthians V. 14 ... 
 
 >» 
 
 V. 17 ... 
 
 » 
 
 V. 20 ... 
 
 »» 
 
 xii.9, 10 
 
 Galatians v. 19 — 21 
 
 >» 
 
 V. 22, 23 ... 
 
 Ephesians ii. 6 
 
 »> 
 
 iii. II ... 
 
 f> 
 
 iii. 20 ... 
 
 >» 
 
 iv. 3—13 
 
 >» 
 
 V. 16 
 
 }) 
 
 V. 18 ... 
 
 >» 
 
 vi. 17 ... 
 
 » 
 
 vi. 18 ... 
 
 Philippians ii. 8, 9 ... 
 
 >i 
 
 ii. 12 ... 
 
 *f 
 
 ii. 17 ... 
 
 ft 
 
 iv. 7 ... 
 
 iv. 8 
 
 ♦» 
 
 IV. II 
 
 l» 
 
 iv. 13 
 
 Colossians 
 
 i. 10 
 
 » 
 
 i. 24 
 
 » 
 
 ii. 14 
 
 J) 
 
 iii. 3 
 
 I Timothy 
 
 i. 19 
 
 j> 
 
 i. 19 
 
 2 Timothy 
 
 ii-3 
 
 Hebrews i. 
 
 14 
 
 •> ii 
 
 9—13 
 
 », ii 
 
 10 
 
 „ ii. 
 
 13 
 
 „ xi 
 
 . 10 
 
 141 
 
 XI. 34 
 
 The love of Christ constraineth us 
 If in Christ a new creation . 
 Ambassadors for Christ 
 Glory in infirmities for God 
 The works of the flesh 
 The fruit of the Spirit 
 Sit together in heavenly places 
 God's eternal purpose 
 Able to do exceeding abundantly 
 Unity of the Spirit and the faith 
 Redeeming the time . . • 
 Filled with the Spirit . . • 
 The sword of the Spirit . , 
 Praying with perseverance • 
 
 He became obedient unto death 
 Work out your own salvation. . 
 Offered upon sacrifice and service 
 The peace which passeth understand 
 
 ing 
 
 Whatsoever things are true . . . think 
 
 on those things 
 Learn to be content . 
 Through Christ which strengtheneth 
 
 me 
 
 Fruitful in every good work. 
 
 Fill up the afflictions of Christ 
 
 Our sins nailed to the Cross 
 
 Hid with Christ in God . . 134 
 
 A good conscience 
 
 Holding ... a good conscience 
 
 Endure hardness as a good soldier 
 
 Ministering spirits sent forth to 
 
 minister .... 
 Suffering but crowned. 
 Perfect through suffering . 
 I and the children given me 
 A city which hath foundations 
 Valiant in fight • • • 
 
 PAGE 
 227 
 228 
 
 59 
 
 29 
 
 , 228 
 
 131 
 
 28 
 
 229 
 
 112 
 
 137 
 229 
 
 79 
 
 126 
 
 230, 231 
 
 232 
 
 232 
 
 75 
 
 234 
 
 82 
 
 234 
 
 235 
 
 41 
 
 32 
 
 236 
 
 94 
 
 95 
 
 236 
 
 237 
 
 238 
 
 130 
 
 27 
 
 137 
 32 
 
Index of Texts and Subjects 
 
 Hebrews xii. i 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ xii. 6 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ xii. 28, 29... 
 
 „ xiii. 2 
 
 • •• 
 
 James ii. 14 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ iii. 5, 6 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ iv. 4 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ iv. 6 
 
 ••• 
 
 I Peter i. 13 
 
 ••• 
 
 » i- 13 
 
 • •• 
 
 „ V. 8, 9 
 
 • •• 
 
 2 Peter iii. 18 
 
 • •• 
 
 I John ii. I ... 
 
 • • 
 
 „ ii. 5 ... 
 
 ... 
 
 yy iii. 2 ... 
 
 •• 
 
 „ iii. 4 ... 
 
 *. 
 
 „ iv. 7 ... 
 
 a. 
 
 „ iv. 7, 8 
 
 ... 
 
 „ iv.8... 
 
 ..1 
 
 „ iv. 16 
 
 ..1 
 
 Revelation i. 17 
 
 ,18 
 
 „ ii. 10 ... 
 
 „ iii. 20 ... 
 
 *t vii. 
 
 14.. 
 
 „ xxi. 
 
 I .., 
 
 „ xxi. 
 
 4.. 
 
 „ xxi. 
 
 10.. 
 
 „ xxii 
 
 .2.. 
 
 1 xxii 
 
 4.. 
 
 „ xxii 
 
 •5" 
 
 « xxii 
 
 .17 
 
 Let us lay aside every weight . 
 Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth 
 
 Grace to serve God acceptably . 
 Angels unawares. — Luke ii. 7 , 
 Faith and not works . . , 
 The tongue is a fire . 
 Friendship of the world enmity with 
 
 God . . . • « 
 God resisteth the proud . • 
 Hope to the end . . . < 
 Gird up the loins of the mind « 
 Be vigilant ; resist the devil « 
 Grow in grace .... 
 An advocate with the Father 
 Love perfected by keeping the word 
 Like Him, for we shall see Him as 
 
 He is 
 
 Sin the transgression of the law 
 Love one another, for love is of God 
 He that loveth not knoweth not God 
 For God is Love 
 He that dwelleth in love, dwelleth in 
 
 God ..... 
 Having the keys of hell and death 
 Be thou faithful unto death 
 Christ the Guest and Companion 
 Out of great tribulation . • 
 And there was no more sea • 
 No more death .... 
 Showed me the New Jerusalem . 
 River clear as crystal . 
 And they shall see His face • 
 No night there . . • • 
 Whosoever will . • • • 
 
 PAGE 
 
 100 
 
 131, 
 
 238 
 
 125 
 
 80 
 
 239 
 239 
 
 38 
 
 lOI 
 
 14 
 25 
 
 38 
 
 240, 14 
 
 131 
 
 74 
 
 240 
 18 
 
 84 
 241 
 
 242 
 
 243 
 
 35 
 
 118 
 
 59 
 
 245 
 
 163 
 
 61 
 
 247 
 246 
 
 lOI 
 
 246 
 136 
 
 256 
 
INDEX OF ILLUSTRATIONS 
 
 A Burning and Shining Light, 212. 
 
 A Good Conscience, 94. 
 
 A Lesson in the Sewers, 110, 
 
 A Lion in the Way, 196. 
 
 A Little Child shall Lead, 199. 
 
 A Parable of the Poles, 111. 
 
 A Pardoning God, 202. 
 
 Abounding Grace, 125. 
 
 "Almost" Born, 135. 
 
 And he Died, 185. 
 
 "As a Hen Gathereth Her 
 
 Chickens," 210 
 Assurance of Answered Prayer, 192. 
 
 Blind Eyes and Eyes that See, 21. 
 Breezes from the Everlasting 
 
 Hills, 28. 
 Brothered to Forgive, 14. 
 Burdens Changed to Wings, 79. 
 •' But," 129. 
 
 Captain Resistance, 38. 
 Chivalry, 108. 
 Christ the Companion, 59. 
 Christ's Legacy of Peace, 219. 
 Christ's Parable of the Vineyard, 
 
 62. 
 Christ's Transforming Kisses, 116. 
 Cold-Blooded Preaching, 133. 
 Conscience Makes Cowards, 72. 
 Could Not Say No to God, 227. 
 
 Day Coldness and Midnight 
 
 Warmth, 131. 
 Days of Transfiguration, 232. 
 Discipline and Obedience, 187. 
 Do They Miss Us? 35. 
 Do Your Own Bit of Work, 115. 
 Dwarf Christians, 14. 
 
 Eager Heart, 80. 
 
 Earthly Pictures of Eternal 
 
 Realities, 224. 
 Every Soul its Own Judge, 36. 
 Exaltation through Abnegation, 
 
 231. 
 " Exceeding Abundantly," 229. 
 Eyes that have Seen the King, 
 
 201. 
 
 Faith, Hope and Love, 225. 
 
 Faithful Unto Death, 118. 
 Florist's Catalogue and Flower 
 
 Garden, 213. 
 Flowers or Weeds, 234. 
 Following Christ, 97. 
 For He had Great Possessions, 132. 
 
 Gird up the Loins, 25. 
 
 " Give and it Shall be Given," 93. 
 
 God Resisteth the Proud, 101. 
 
 " God so Loved," 211. 
 
 God Wants Us, 30. 
 
 God's Hidden Treasure, 113. 
 
 God's Jewels, 16. 
 
 God's Mysterious Way, 60. 
 
 God's Use of Worthless Things, 
 224. 
 
 God's Word made Current Coin, 
 136. 
 
 Godliness before Gain, 95. 
 
 Good Soldiers of Christ, 236. 
 
 Grace on the Surface, 228. 
 
 Great Vows and Small Perform- 
 ance, 128. 
 
 Green when Grey, 137. 
 
 Growth in Grace, 240. 
 
 257 
 
 R 
 
Index of Illustrations 
 
 " He "Wrote on the Ground," 144. 
 Heaven seen from Earth, 247. 
 Hid with Christ in God, 134, 236. 
 " Hope Thou in God," 190. 
 Hope to the End, 14, 
 How Sunday Clears the Paths, 
 
 118. 
 How Tauler became a Preacher, 
 
 230. 
 
 "lam the Door," 213. 
 " I and the Children," 27. 
 In Contact with Christ, 23. 
 » In the Morning," 24(5. 
 Iniquities over the Head, 138. 
 Into the Sunshine, 61. 
 
 John Brown and the Kedeeming 
 
 Kiss, 78. 
 " Just Jesus and Me," 219. 
 
 Keep Out of Debt, 114. 
 
 Let's Pretend, 98. 
 Like Hinds' Feet, 188. 
 Living but Dead, 214. 
 London Flowers, 245. 
 Love's "Wastefulness," 209. 
 
 Man's Ingratitude, 128. 
 Ministering Angels, 237. 
 More than Conquerors, 222. 
 
 Near the Cross, 37. 
 
 No " Independence " of God, 76. 
 
 Nothing but Leaves, 208. 
 
 One Courageous Man, 116. 
 Open Thou Mine Eyes, 194. 
 Our Advocate, 131. 
 Our Daily Bread, 65. 
 " Out of an Horrible Pit," 190. 
 Out of Gear with God 18. 
 Overcome Evil with Good, 223. 
 Owlish Inquirers, 135, 
 
 Paper Flowers and Garden Roses, 
 
 30. 
 Peterkin's Pudding, 64. 
 Pilate's Hand-washing, 208. 
 Pray and Fight, 127. 
 Prevailing Prayer, 126. 
 Prying into the Incomprehensible, 
 
 135. 
 
 Reclaimed to Home Life, 106. 
 Rest in Sacrifice, 59. 
 Returning after Many Days, 196. 
 Riches of the Word, 193. 
 Roses and Garlic, 131. 
 Running to Obtain, 100. 
 
 Sail Southwards 1 191. 
 
 Saintship in Common Life, 220. 
 
 Saved by Another's Suffering, 238, 
 
 Sin and Conscience, 77. 
 
 Slaves of the Mine, 120. 
 
 Soaring Prayer, 125. 
 
 Soft-boned Christians, 23, 
 
 " Sold Again, Satan," 90. 
 
 Something Wrong with the Band, 
 112. 
 
 " Some Use to Somebody," 24. 
 
 Song of the Vineyard, 48. 
 
 Strength Multiplied in Comrade- 
 ship, 115. 
 
 Suffering with Christ, 41. 
 
 Sunday as a Disinfectant, 119. 
 
 Sunday Enrichment of All Life, 
 119. 
 
 Swords into Ploughshares, 198. 
 
 " Taste and See," 189. 
 Treading the Winepress Alone, 200, 
 That Ceaseless Flow of Love, 22. 
 The Angel of Mercy 39. 
 The Awakening of Conscience, 92. 
 The Blessing of the Humble, 203. 
 The Bridge of Brotherliness, 205. 
 The Burnt-offering and the Song, 
 69. 
 
 258 
 
Index of Illustrations 
 
 The Christ Within, 243. 
 
 The Contented Heart, 82. 
 
 The Cup of Solomon, 193. 
 
 The Danger and the Lighthouse, 
 
 194. 
 The Divine Mother Heart, 217. 
 The Dove that went to Church, 
 
 90. 
 The Dynamic of Scripture, 221. 
 The Eagle in Captivity, 117. 
 The End of the Unreturned 
 
 Prodigal, 114. 
 The Face of Jesus, 101. 
 The Fifth Commandment, 186 
 The Force of Gentleness, 117. 
 The Fruitful Life, 235. 
 The Glory of the Flower, 203. 
 The Grace of Our Lord, 240. 
 The Heart's Cry of Love, 242. 
 The Heavenly Vision, 220. 
 The Hero Cardinal, 96. 
 The Highway in the Heart, 200. 
 The Houses on the Kock and on 
 
 the Sand, 50. 
 The Hunted Soul, 32. 
 The Influence of One Man, 32. 
 The Juggler's Offering, 83. 
 The Lame take the Prey, 199. 
 The Lament of Jesus, 212. 
 The Little Foxes that Spoil the 
 
 Vines, 197. 
 The Living Bible, 16. 
 The Lord is My Strength, 189. 
 The Lord's Chastenings, 238. 
 The Lord's Honey, 29. 
 The Loveless Life and the Life in 
 
 God, 241. 
 The Lunacy of Disunion, 225. 
 The Man with the Stone Heart, 84. 
 "The Master Calleth," 217. 
 The Memory of the Just, 195. 
 The Might of Silent Prayer, 96. 
 The Miner's Clean Eyes, 229. 
 The Mother Heart, 33. 
 The Music of Thanksgiving, 127. 
 
 The New Creation, 228. 
 
 The New Heart, 27. 
 
 The Offered Jewel, 136. 
 
 The Old Disciple, 132. 
 
 The One Door, 89. 
 
 The Open Eyes, 41. 
 
 "The Pilgrim's Progress" up to 
 
 Date, 38. 
 The Poisoned Wells, 62. 
 The Preacher in the Potato Patch, 
 
 206. 
 The Prettiest Hands, 91. 
 The Prince Hero, 79. 
 The Print of the Wounds, 129. 
 The Process of Sin, 14. 
 The Rich Fool, 50. 
 The River Clear as Crystal, 245. 
 The Saintship of Service, 205. 
 The Saving Power of Love, 62. 
 The Shepherd Psalm, 188. 
 The Shock of New Truth, 216. 
 The Soul's Looking-glass, 130. 
 The Spirit's Wooing, 29. 
 The Stain of Sin, 15. 
 The Stars in the Puddle, 131. 
 The Temple in Paradise, 35. 
 The Thatch and the Moss, 40. 
 The Two Handles of Faith, 136. 
 The Unruly Member, 239. 
 The Unseen Results, 23. 
 The Value of Rests, 15. 
 The Vanquisher of Death, 216 
 The Vine and the Fruit, 219. 
 The Weapons on the Wall, 22. 
 The Wooer of Poverty, 204. 
 "Through Christ Which Streng- 
 
 theneth Me," 234. 
 
 Valiant-for-Truth 
 River, 226. 
 
 Crosses the 
 
 Wasted Time, 137. 
 
 We Look for a City, 137. 
 
 " We would See Jesus," 215. 
 
 Weakness Linked to Strength, 28, 
 
 259 
 
Index of Illustrations 
 
 Weeds in Neglected Soil, 29. 
 "What hath God Wrought?" 
 
 186. 
 " What Shall It Profit a Man ? " 
 
 «3. 
 " Who Shall Jsepaiate I " 222. 
 
 " Work Out Your Own Salvation," 
 
 232. 
 Works with Faith, 239. 
 Wrestling Prayer, 186. 
 
 " Ye Did It Unto Me," 207. 
 
Date Due 
 
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