3) Some practical directives concerning the construction of the conclusion
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a) Positive directives
1- Construct a conclusion that truly concludes the sermon.
2- Labor under the restraint of the discipline of exclusion.
William G. T. Shedd, Homiletics & Pastoral Theology, (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), p. 183.
3- Choose a method of conclusion which assumes a state of heightened emotion and passion.
Robert L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1979), pp. 176-177.
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b) Negative directives
1- Do not skimp on the labor connected with a well-prepared conclusion.
John A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2005), pp. 300-301.
Robert L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1979), p. 175.
John A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2005), p. 299.
2- Do not be too long in your conclusion.
William G. T. Shedd, Homiletics & Pastoral Theology, (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), pp. 178-179.
Robert L. Dabney, Sacred Rhetoric, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1979), p. 178.
John A. Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, (Birmingham, AL: Solid Ground Christian Books, 2005), pp. 303-304.
3- Do not be bound by one method or pattern of conclusion.
Austin Phelps, The Theory of Preaching, (New York: CharlesScribner’s Sons, 1882), p. 520.
(a) Vary the placement of the elements of conclusion.
(b) Vary the focal point of the conclusion.
William G. T. Shedd, Homiletics & Pastoral Theology, (London: Banner of Truth Trust, 1965), p. 180.
(c) Vary the emotional pattern of the conclusion.
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c) Final exhortation:
Grasp this fundamental principle: Perhaps in no division of the sermon is the true spiritual state of the preacher’s soul more patent than in the conclusion.
Gardiner Spring, The Power of the Pulpit, (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1986), pp. 126-127.