Illustrations for Biblical Preaching. Edited by Michael P. Green. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1989. 448 pages.  

In preaching class a student asked Dr. Jesse Northcutt about the value of books of sermon illustrations. Dr. Northcutt paused for a moment and said, “In every book of that sort, I’ve almost always found at least one illustration I could use.” Many could echo his report.  

Illustrations for Biblical Preaching rises far above that disappointing level. It contains 1,508 illustrations arranged by subject and another seventy-five arranged by biblical texts. A general index and a Scripture index cover all 1,583 illustrations. It includes many fresh, incisive quotations, analogies, and anecdotes. It also has its inevitable share of shopworn “preacher stories/’ which, like Melchizedek, have neither beginning nor end.  

Students at Dallas Theological Seminary collected these illustrations and the DTS preaching faculty organized them. They were sold as a card file called The Expositor’s Illustration File. Michael P. Green, who is associate professor of field education at DTS, revised the card file for this book.  

The best illustrations come out of the preacher’s own experience, observation, and study. Yet collections like this one can help a hurried pastor preach better. Because homiletical tastes vary, preachers should never expect to use more than a fraction of what they find in a volume like this one. Preachers who accept that reality may well be surprised at how much useful material they find here.