Another preacher
who stands among the giants of the nineteenth century is Alexander Maclaren
(1826–1910). Maclaren was committed to the ministry of the pulpit and studied
to equip himself for the role.[1]
Where Spurgeon held the title of “Prince of Preachers,” Maclaren held the title
of “Prince of Expositors.” He proved the title’s truthfulness through his
commitment to exegeting Scripture with his sermons—he stayed with the text. His
preaching held to the power of the text, so he required nothing else for his
sermons.[2]
While describing Maclaren, Dargan stated, “[He had] a keen, trained,
disciplined intellect, accurate knowledge of the original languages, easy
acquaintance with the best Biblical scholarship, and, above all, an ardent love
for the Bible, made him an incomparable explorer into its storehouse of truth
and a wonderful expounder of that truth to others.”[3] He was not negligent of the
necessity of the appeal to his congregation. In fact, he held the primary role
of a preacher as evangelist, teacher, and prophet.[4]
I offer three lessons we can learn from Maclaren’s preaching.
Appeal to Scriptural Authority
Historically, we
can know that Maclaren approached the Bible as the inspired, inerrant Word of
God. He preached with a conviction
rooted in its truth, with confidence that it was able to speak afresh and anew
to the congregation. Michael Mills wrote, “He believed the Bible still speaks
relevant wisdom to contemporary problems because the reality of sin remains in
people’s hearts.”[5] As
such, he understood that the application must be anchored to the theological
truths of the passage in order to have any lasting effect. The power of transformation
flows through the Word of God by the power of the Holy Spirit. We must appeal
to the authority of Scripture to break the bondage of sin over our lives.
Appeal to Hope in Christ Alone
The appeals
clung to the hope of Christ alone within Maclaren’s sermons. A prime example is
his sermon “Seeking and Seeing.” Maclaren appealed to his congregation through
eloquence grounded in the perspicuity of Scripture. He argued, “You cannot make
a blind man know the glories of the sunshine, nor a deaf one understand the
magnificent roll of the thunder. I beseech you, dear friends, to answer
Christ’s invitation as promptly and as fully as these two did; and then their
blessed experience will be yours.”[6] The
vivid imagery employed reinforced the impact of his exegesis. Expositing John
1:38–39, he anchored his appeal to his congregation with the call of Christ
himself. Once he posed the question, Maclaren tethered to the exhortation of
the text: “come” and follow Christ. He declared, “It is His solemn voice that
sounds to each of us in what we call conscience.”[7] Maclaren rightly connected
his sermon’s appeal to the very appeal from the text as the necessity of
answering the call of Christ to his contemporary hearer.
Appeal to Freedom in Christ Alone
In Maclaren’s
sermon “Slaves and Free,” he exposited 1 Corinthians 7:22 and drew upon the
dichotomy of being a slave of Christ and, in the same fashion, being free in
Christ. He asserted, “And so, brethren, ‘choose you this day whom ye will
serve.’ You are not made to be independent. You must serve something or person.
Recognize the narrow limitations within which your choice lies and the issues
that depend upon it. It is not whether you will serve Christ or whether you
will be free.”[8] His
purposeful call to the congregation was for them to see the contrast between
bondage to sin and bondage to Christ. The former “binds men to the details and
accidents of outward life,” while the latter “if we are the servants of Christ,
we shall be set free.”[9]
Maclaren sought to persuade his hearers of the paradox within the text,
appealing to the importance of every person’s relationship to Christ.
Conclusion
Maclaren’s style
was rooted in classical rhetoric over romanticism.[10] Maclaren exemplified his ethos through his life’s character.
Dargan noted that his character rested upon “singular purity, depth,
simplicity, and humility.”[11] He
was, by all accounts, a man of great moral character. Maclaren was well-reputed
as a man committed to the faithful exposition of Scripture. He approached the
study of Scripture with the same voracious rigor that a world-class pianist or
vocalist would.[12] His
preparation culminated in his dependence upon Scripture through extemporaneous
preaching as the foundation of his logos.
Moreover, Maclaren evidenced his pathos
in his commitment to the infallible Word of God proclaimed from the recesses of
his heart.
[1] Edwin
C. Dargan, From the Close of the Reformation to the End of the Nineteenth
Century, vol. 2 of A History of Preaching (New York: Hodder and
Stoughton, 1912), 574.
[2]
Hughes Oliphant Old, The Modern Age, vol. 6 of The Reading and
Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church (Grand
Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 2007), 395.
[3]
Dargan, Close of the Reformation to the End of the Nineteenth Century, 576.
[4] Michael
Hawk Mills, Secrets of the Prince of Expositors: Applying the Bible Like Alexander
Maclaren, Eugene, OR: Wipf and Stock, 2026), 15.
[5]
Mills, Secrets of the Prince of Expositors, 20.
[6]
Alexander Maclaren, “Seeking and Seeing,” in The Beatitudes and Other Sermons (London: Alexander and Shepheard,
1896), 155–56.
[7]
Maclaren, “Seeking and Seeing,” 149.
[8]
Alexander Maclaren, “Slaves and Free,” in The
Beatitudes and Other Sermons, 116–17.
[9]
Maclaren, “Slaves and Free,”116.
[10]
Old, Modern Age, 395.
[11]
Dargan, Close of the Reformation to the End of the Nineteenth Century, 576.
[12]
Old, Modern Age, 396.
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