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THE PREACHER'S TECHNIQUE

This brings another important matter into view–the value of "courses" of sermons. Much is to be said for the tradition of intimating from time to time a connected sequence of studies on one particular theme or section of Scripture. For one thing, this method gives scope for that systematic instruction in Christian truth which forms so essential a part of any vital ministry. Moreover, it is an immense gain to the preacher himself to have his path for the next six or seven Sundays clearly mapped out in advance. Not only does it mean a saving of valuable hours which he might otherwise waste in a haphazard and fruitless search for texts; there is also the fact that, once the subject is fixed, his mind keeps working at it subconsciously, gathering materials and hammering them into shape. Spurgeon argued against courses of sermons on the ground that the Holy Spirit does not work that way: to prescribe a route in advance by announcing a list of projected themes is to lay a fetter upon one's own soul, and to limit the possibilities of divine inspiration. That is, to say the least of it, debatable–did not an apostle once describe the Holy Spirit as the "Spirit of saving discipline" (sophronismos)?—but perhaps there is enough truth in it to serve as a warning. Just as it is unwise, as a general rule, to give away your proposed divisions or heads at the outset of a sermon, so the announcement of a consecutive series may seem to involve surrendering that invaluable 167