But that is the wrong order. The rule therefore should always be that the truth must be pre-eminent and have great prominence, and illustrations must be used sparsely and carefully to that end alone. Our business is not to entertain people. . . . A preacher should go into the pulpit to . . . Everything else is but to minister to this end.
Illustrations are just servants. . . .
I am prepared to go so far as to say that if you use too many illustrations in your sermon your preaching will be ineffective. To do so always means loss of tension. There is the type of preacher who after saying a few words says, I remember then out comes the story. Then after a few more remarks again, I remember . If such preachers become popular, and they frequently do, they are popular only in a bad sense, because they are really nothing but popular entertainers.