J.C. Ryle

J.C. Ryle, the great Anglican preacher, continues to explain how to attain simplicity in preaching:¹

And now bear in mind that my five points are these—

Illustrations are important. But, busy preachers sometimes forget to use them. I think a preacher could save himself several minutes of explanation if he can fasten upon a good illustration to drive the point home. I tried this myself a few weeks ago, and it worked very well. It took a few minutes to think of something appropriate, but that illustration was worth 10 minutes of explanation. Here, J.C. Ryle explains why illustrations are so important:¹

J.C. Ryle continues dispensing some advice for preachers:¹

The fourth hint I will give is this: If you wish to preach simply—use a DIRECT style. What do I mean by this? I mean the practice and custom of saying “I” and “you.”

Ryle, the great Anglican bishop, offers some more advice for preachers:¹

The third hint I would offer, if you wish to attain simplicity in preaching, is this—Take care to aim at a SIMPLE style of composition. I will try to illustrate what I mean.

Preachers should use simple words. J.C. Ryle explains why:1

Ryle, the great Anglican Bishop, continues his advice on preaching for younger ministers:¹

My first hint is this—If you want to attain simplicity in preaching, take care that you have a clear view of the subject upon which you are going to preach. I ask your special attention to this. Of all the five hints I am about to give, this is the most important.

In 1882, J.C. Ryle published a little booklet entitled Simplicity in Preaching. In this excerpt, he makes some introductory remarks to preachers about how to preach clear and accurate sermons:¹