When we are preparing a message there are many ingredients. Biblical explanation, various forms of illustrative support materials, a variety of means of communicating application, etc. A question worth asking ourselves is “where is the burden of the authority in this message?” By this I mean, what part of the message carries the authority of the message? There are, again, various message components that can carry the authority. These are all possible, but are not equal:
Authority Through Illustration – While most preachers will claim that the authority lies in the Biblical text, some will put the burden on an illustration that “drives home” the message. This can be particularly effective if the illustration is especially touching, moving or exciting. It can stir people who may yawn at the same old biblical content, but sit on the edge of their seats for the sensational story or anecdote. But think carefully, while a powerful illustration may be helpful, are you putting too much weight on it? What if the report you read of the revival in such and such a place turns out to be fraudulent or exaggerated? What if the story so overwhelms the message that listeners lose the Bible bit in the flashing brilliance of the illustration? In the end, what authority is there in that moving story? What if a false teacher down the road had a more moving or more exciting story, would people be right to follow them instead of your Jesus?
There’s a weightier version of the same:
Authority Through Personal Experience – There is certainly great need for genuine testimony, both as an evangelistic methodology, and as sermonic support material. However, we need to be very careful not to shift the burden of authority from the Word of God to the experience of me. It can be a hard balance to find. After all, you’ve experienced the power of this teaching in a contemporary situation. People can be encouraged to know that this truth still works today. Just look at what happened during my ministry in such and such a place. Careful. Be very careful. The added weight of the personal experience can make such an illustration carry too much responsibility in the message. It is certainly not wrong to use personal experience in preaching, I encourage it. But I encourage it with a caution – don’t shift the authority from God’s Word to your own word.
Let’s prayerfully strive to never take away from the Word of God the authority for the message, either deliberately, or by accident.
Biblical Preaching 
Good comments.
Regarding illustrations, I remember hearing John MacArthur say once that, the longer he’s in the ministry (and he’s just celebrated his 40th anniversary at Grace Community Church [in February] and his 70th birthday [now, in June]) the fewer illustrations he uses, and that most of the illustrations he does use come straight from the Bible itself.
Thanks Richard. John MacArthur is quite strong on his use of the Old Testament as illustration for New Testament teaching. While this adds to the chances that the authority of a message is more biblical than anecdotal or testimonial, it isn’t a complete solution. For instance, some will argue with the idea of using Old Testament as illustration of New Testament teaching – isn’t the Old Testament legitimate teaching material in its own right? Others have pointed out that going to elsewhere in the Bible to illustrate something is going in the wrong direction – if people don’t understand the preaching passage, stay where you are and explain it better (don’t confuse by going elsewhere and creating the need for further explanation); and if people do understand it, then don’t stay in the comfort zone of biblical illustration, but get into the less comfortable application to contemporary life.
Here are a couple of older posts that address this issue, in case you’re interested:
https://biblicalpreaching.net/2008/11/18/presumed-knowledge/
https://biblicalpreaching.net/2007/09/17/cross-referencing-in-preaching-%e2%80%93-part-2/
Thanks, Peter.