Here, then, is the preacher’s authority. It depends on the closeness of his adherence to the the text he is handling, that is on the accuracy with which he has understood it and on the forcefulness with which it has spoken to his own soul. In the ideal sermon it is the Word itself that speaks…the less the preacher comes between the Word and its hearers, the better. The Christian preacher is best satisfied when his person is eclipsed by the light which shines from the Scripture, and when his voice is drowned by the Voice of God.