Piling On . . . . 

Rhetorical Techniques add variety, change, interest, clarity, connection, accent, power, furtherance, progression and/or amplification midst the general flow of the sermon content. — Dr. Martens

There is a difference between repeating and restating.

• Repeat: We duplicate the wording.
• Restate: We say the same thing in a different way.

There is a rhetorical effect that comes with repeating the initial part of a sentence, and thereby “piling on” one connected thought after another — therefore I call this technique “Piling On.”

Dr. Monroe, in the introduction of “The Family” – Ephesians 5 . . . .

“The principal place for the spiritual moral and emotional training of our children is within the familyit’s within the family where we learn to love and care for others

• it’s within the family where we begin to understand what it means to be masculine and what it means to be feminine
• it’s within the family where we learn how to communicate and how to resolve conflict in a correct way
• it’s within the family when we first begin to understand about respect and authority and
• yes, it is within the family where we develop our sense of humor.”

Now let’s take this same technique and use it in a completely different context.  That is the point of these rhetorical techniques.  It is not so we mimic the content of Dr. Monroe, but that we see what he is doing and apply the same technique to what we are speaking about.

Okay . . . her goes – let’s try it with the topic of “the church.” – If we were preaching from Matthew 16 / Ephesians 3 / The book of Acts / The Seven Churches of Revelation

• It is the church which . . . .
• It is the church which . . . .
• It is the church which . . . .
• It is the church which . . . .
• It is the church which is our place of fellowship
• It is the church which is the basis of our unity
• It is the church which grows us up in the Lord
• It is the church which is the place to use our gifts

Let’s try it with the Christian’s Walk.

• It is our walk which . . . .
• It is our walk which . . . .
• It is our walk which . . . .
• It is our walk which . . . .

• It is our walk which is designed to influence our family
• It is our walk which is designed to influence our friends
• It is our walk which is designed to influence our fellowship
• It is our walk which is designed to influence our fallen world

• It is our walk which will change
• It is our walk which will shine to others
• It is our walk which has the ability to convict others
• It is our walk which Jesus died to accomplish
• It is our walk which will speak of a changed heart

• It is by our walk that . . . .
• It is by our walk that . . . .
• It is by our walk that . . . .
• It is by our walk that . . . .

• It is by our walk that we say something has happened
• It is by our walk that we please or fail to please our Lord
• It is by our walk that we demonstrate that we have victory in Jesus
• It is by our walk that we find ourselves looking more and more like Jesus

A little twist in the technique – the last half of the sentences creates the “piling on.”

Let’s try it with “loving one another”

• It is by ________ that we show our love for one another
• It is by ________ that we show our love for one another
• It is by ________ that we show our love for one another
• It is by ________ that we show our love for one another

Another twist . . . . (woman  – mother – wife – woman)

• To be a good woman is to be a godly woman
• To be a godly woman is to be a godly mother
• To be a godly mother is to be a godly wife
• To be a godly wife is to be a godly  woman

It is very common for preachers, teaching, and writers to use this kind of repetition in the statement of their main points and give a sense of parallelism of thought.  However, the kind of repetition used by Dr. Monroe is not about parallel main points which give the impression that there is a connection or continuity.  This technique is not about creating the typical topical sermon with parallel sounding main points.

This technique is concentrated in a small portion of the flow of general content and is done to quickly pepper the landscape with a number of concentrated and connected observations which develop a single idea  — in Dr. Monroe’s example it is about the idea of what happens in the “family.”

{Just heard this message } — Here is Tony Evans using this technique from his message titled — Jehovah Nissi: The Lord’s Banner of Victory – October 9, 2017

“Even if your situation doesn’t change He can change you in your situation . . .  so you can have . . .

• Peace when you ought not have peace
• Joy when you ought not have joy
• Power when you ought not have power
• Patience when you ought not have patience”

By the way, notice the turn of the phrase — “Even if your situation doesn’t change He can change you in your situation.”

Stop back tomorrow as we look at that technique and how to use it and also give it a twist.