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Originality in Preaching
Every preacher wishes to be original. That is a proper desire, within limits. One does not care to be bizarre or grotesque. He cannot, if loyal to Christ, be original in his creed. But he can be individual in his grasp of the truth and in his presentation of his message. Originality is relative after all. The ancients have stolen all our best ideas from us. But on can be himself. That is precisely what people like most about us.
A.T. Robertson, The Minister and His Greek New Testament, 20.
Enrichment of One’s Own Mind
The trouble with translations is that one’s mind does not pause long enough over a passage to get the full benefit of the truth contained in it. The Greek compels one to pause over each word long enough for it to fertilize the mind with its rich and fructifying energy. The very words of the English become so familiar that they slip through the mind too easily. One needs to know his English Bible just that way, much of it by heart, so that it will come readily to hand for comfort and for service. But the minute study called for by the Greek opens up unexpected treasures that surprise and delight the soul.
Three of the most gifted minsters of my acquaintance make it a rule to read the Greek Testament though once a year. One of them has done it for forty years and is as fresh as a May morning to-day in his preaching. One of them is a man of marked individuality and he has added to undoubted genius the sparkling exuberance from the constant contact of his own mind with the Greek text. There is thus a flavor to his preaching and speaking tat makes him a marked man wherever he appears upon the platform. He makes no parade of his learning, but simply uses the rich store that he has accumulated through the years. He brings out of his treasure things new and things old. [Matthew 13:52] And even the old is put in a new way. Light is turned on from a new angle of vision. The old has all the charm of the old and the glory of the new.
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