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Bible Readings — How to Prepare Them
T ^H E Bible'reading is probably the simp- lest form o f gospel address. It is, nev ertheless, one o f the most effective ways of preaching., Mr. Moody scarcely used any pther method. It will be helpful, therefore, to the Christian layman, arid to the minister too, to deal with thè subject o f Bible read ings. I Concisely stated, the difference between a Bible reading and a textual sermon lies in this : that the former consists in the com pilation of a greater or less number of Scripture" passages, and their comparison one jvith another ; while the latter usually consists in the exposition o f a single text. L ADVANTAGES OF A BIBLE READ ING OVER TEXTUAL SERMON The complexity so characteristic o f the textual sermon is, for the" most part,.absent in the Bible Reading. Multiform divisions and minute analysis are not, usually, required. It is, therefore, a good style of preaching for the beginner in homiletics to adopt.- (b) It prevents mind-wandering . ' The preacher is not cpnfined to a single text. He cannot very .well be accused o f thè fault into which the old colored preacher is said to have fallen, namely, that o f tak ing a text, then o f departing from it, and finally, o f not coming back to it. (c) It helps to keep the preacher biblical. It is possible in the preparation of a text ual sermon to read the Bible for the text, then to close if, and not look at it again during the preparation of the sermon. This 1. For the Preacher Himself. (a) It is simpler and easier.
is hardly possible in the preparation o f a Bible Reading, for one is compelled to con stantly turn from.one part o f the Bible to another. Scripture must be compared with scripture. To do. this means to become a biblical preacher. (d) It has the tendency to prevent one sided views of Bible truths. One" can scarcely fail to get a full-orbed view o f the truth selected fo r'th e Bible Reading so long as he is compelled to search from one end o f the Bible to the other for his sermon material. He will have a clear conception o f the “analogy o f faith.” 2. Advantages with Reference to the People. (a) By this style of preaching 'the people- will -continually be instructed in divine truth. They will be likely to know“ much more o f God’s W ord and will than by listening to textual sermons only. -It may truly be said that there is a sad lack o f Bible instruc tion in the average sermon. Very- often the only biblical thing about the sermon is the text. If the sermonizing o f the past few years had had a much greater supply o f Bible instruction in it, the number of people who have left our churches and joined some o f the misleading and errone ous sects, would have been far less. (b) It keeps the people in a spirit of con - stant expectancy. They will be wondering what is in reserve; they will be desirous of knowing what phase o f the truth is to be presented next. This, in itself, is o f great advantage to the preacher.
These notes are irom “How to Prepare Sermons and Gospel Addresses,” by Dr. Evans
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