preaching naturally | F.W. Robertson (1877)

Looking at the history of preaching, I find that I identify with streams of thought that are more minority than some of the more common Greek-rhetoric influenced theories of how preaching should work. But occasionally I find quotes that really match my heart on this stuff, this one from 1877 England:

I think one great need in our pulpit ministrations is naturalness. ... Many are miserable in their inmost hearts, who are light-hearted and gay before the world. They feel that no heart understands theirs, or can help them. Now, suppose a preacher goes down into the depths of his own being, and has the courage and fidelity to carry all he finds there, first to God in confession and prayer, and then to his flock as some part of the general experience of Humanity, do you not feel that he must be touching close upon some brother-man's sorrows and wants?... Does not the man feel that here is a revelation of God's truth as real and fresh as if he had stood in the streets of Jerusalem, and heard the Savior's very voice?

(F. W. Robertson, Sermons Preached at Brighton. 1877. Preface, ix)