Category Archives: Preaching

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The Best Book[let] on Preaching

9781848710658mWhat is one thing the great apostle said faithful preaching must be? Clear.

In Colossians 4:3-4 he writes,

“Pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ, on account of which I am in prison—that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.”

The old Puritan divines, channeling the spirit of Paul, said the plainer the preaching the better.

What is one necessary component of preaching that is both clear and plain? Sermons marked by simplicity.

And it’s here that every preacher would be wise to purchase good Bishop Ryle’s delightful little feast entitled, Simplicity in Preaching. The 24-page booklet packs a punch that will bruise and then mend your preaching in all the right ways.

Before offering five brief hints for attaining simplicity in preaching he gives two towering theses for the paper:

  1. For one thing, I ask all my readers to remember that to attain simplicity in preaching is of the utmost importance to every minister who wishes to be useful to souls. Unless you are simple in your sermons you will never be understood, and unless you are understood you cannot do good to those who hear you.
  2. The next thing I will say, by way of prefatory remark, is, that to attain simplicity in preaching is by no means an easy matter. No greater mistake can be made than to suppose this.

Preach on Mr. Ryle!

Preachers of all experience and education will be helped by Ryle’s appropriately simple style and arguments. So grab a copy today or read it online.

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7 Qualifications for Soul-Winning

Spurgeon on Soul-Winning

Paul commanded young Timothy to “do the work of an evangelist.” Every gospel ministry ever since has labored under the shadow of such an awesome command.

Perhaps no minister has done so with as much visible success as The Prince of Preachers. Charles Spurgeon delighted in soul-winning, his 19th century phrase for “evangelism.” In one lecture to his pastoral college students he said, “Our main business, brethren, is to win souls . . . so we must know about souls, and how to win them for God.”

The lecture proceeds to outline seven “Qualifications for Soul-Winning Godward”; in other words, which qualifications would God naturally look for in His servants, which qualifications He would be likely to approve, and most likely to use. Let me repackage them here with choice comments from The Prince in the hopes they will stir your soul for successful soul-winning.

7 GODWARD QUALITIES FOR SOUL-WINNING

#1: A man who is to be a soul-winner must have holiness of character. No wise man would pour his wine into foul bottles; no kind and good parent would allow his children to go to see an immoral play; and God will not go to work with instruments which would compromise His own character. In God’s school, the teachers must be masters of the art of holiness.

Dear brethren, I do beg you to attach the highest importance to your own personal holiness. Do live unto God. If you do not, your Lord will not be with you; He will say of you as He said of the false prophets of old, “I sent them not, nor commanded them: therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord.” You may preach very fine sermons, but if you are not yourselves holy, there will be no souls saved.

#2: He must have spiritual life to a high degree. You see, brethren, our work is, under God, to communicate life to others. Life must be communicated by a living instrument, and the man who is to communicate the life must have a great deal of it himself. You remember the words of Christ, “He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water,” that is, the Holy Spirit, when He dwells within a living child of God, afterwards rises out of the very midst of him as a fountain or a river, so that others may come and participate in the Spirit’s gracious influences.

#3: He must have a humble spirit. Certainly, the great God has a predilection for those who are humble. He loathes the proud; and whenever He sees the high and mighty, He passes them by; but whenever He finds the lowly in heart, He takes pleasure in exalting them. He delights especially in humility amongst His ministers.

In the matter of soul-winning, humility makes you feel that you are nothing and nobody, and that, if God gives you success in the work, you will be driven to ascribe to Him all the glory, for none of the credit of it could properly belong to you. If you do not have success, humility will lead you to blame your own folly and weakness, not God’s sovereignty. Why should God give blessing, and then let you run away with the glory of it? The glory of the salvation of souls belongs to Him, and to Him alone.

#4: He must have a living faith. If you have genuine faith in your call to the ministry, you will be ready, with Luther, to preach the gospel even while standing within the jaws of the leviathan, between his great teeth. You may depend upon it that souls are not saved by a minister who doubts; and the preaching of your doubts and your questions can never possibly decide a soul for Christ. You must have great faith in the Word of God if you are to be winners of souls to those who hear it.

That is the essential point, you must believe in God and in His gospel if you are to be a winner of souls; some other things may be omitted, but this matter of faith must never be.

#5: He must be characterized by thorough earnestness. The Lord Jesus Christ wept over Jerusalem, and you will have to weep over sinners if they are to be saved through you. Dear brethren, do be earnest, put your whole soul into the work, or else give it up.

#6: He must have a great simplicity of heart. By simplicity of heart, I mean, that a man evidently goes into the ministry for the glory of God and the winning of souls, and nothing else. There are some men who would like to win souls and glorify God if it could be done with due regard to their own interests. If a man seeks to serve himself, to get honour to himself, instead of seeking to serve God and honour Him alone, the Lord Jehovah will not use that man.

#7: He must be completely surrendered to God. I mean surrender in this sense, that from this time you wish to think, not your own thoughts, but God’s thoughts; and that you determine to preach, not anything of your own invention, but God’s Word; and further, that you resolve not even to give out that truth in your own way, but in God’s way.

I am sure this self-surrender is one of the essential qualifications for a preacher who is to be a winner of souls. There is a something that must be said if you are to be the means of saving that man in the corner; woe unto you if you are not ready to say it, woe unto you if you are afraid to say it, woe unto you if you are ashamed to say it, woe unto you if you do not dare to say it lest somebody up in the gallery should say that you were too earnest, too enthusiastic, too zealous!

I see now that preaching once on a Sabbath may work God’s purpose as well as if I preached from morning to night. For, if God speaks from heaven once, and for only a minute, yet that voice should be felt in the parish all the week, yea, for months after. – Andrew Bonar

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In Need of a Good Commentary?

We just wrapped up a ten-month series in Mark and will soon move on, Lord willing, to a study of Job. And so I find myself in a grand stage of sermon prep when hefty shipments of commentaries land on the doorstep.

Nothing shakes the book budget like starting a new sermon series, for good commentaries are no cheap addition to one’s library. Discerning which resources are worth the cash money can be difficult for preachers young and old. Thus, it is always good to have a few friends on speed dial when deciding on which commentaries to purchase. Here are a few companions I have found most helpful:

COMMENTING ON COMMENTARIES

9780801039911mOld Testament Commentary Survey by Tremper Longman. Even though Longman has, in the past decade, gone too far in questioning things like the historicity of Adam his survey of OT resources is still quite useful. The publisher says, “The fifth edition has been updated to assess the most recently published commentaries, providing evaluative comments. Longman lists a number of works available for each book of the Old Testament, gives a brief indication of their emphases and viewpoints, and evaluates them.”

9780801039904mNew Testament Commentary Survey by D.A. Carson. Carson’s survey is an absolute must have for every pastor. Exactly how the man continues to publish individual works, teach, preach, and still stay up to date on the most recent works published on each NT book is beyond me. The man is, flat out, a gospel-drenched machine. If you are soon to preach a series on any New Testament book, buy Carson’s survey before you purchase anything else.

Keith Mathison’s Top 5 Commentaries on Every Book of the Bible. Mathison is academic dean and professor of systematic theology at Reformation Bible College. He is author of many books, including From Age to Age: The Unfolding of Biblical Eschatology and a personal favorite on the Lord’s Supper entitled, Given for You: Reclaiming Calvin’s Doctrine of the Lord’s Supper. A few years ago he started a series of posts over at Ligonier on the top five commentaries on particular books of the Bible and I find myself rarely disagreeing with his assessments. If you are looking for quick hit, trustworthy recommendations Mathison is a fantastic friend to consult.

Challies’ Best Commentaries on Each Book of the Bible. Challies writes, “Over the past couple of years I have focused on building a collection of commentaries that will include only the best volumes on each book of the Bible. I know when I’m in way over my head, so before I began I collected every good resource I could find that rated and reviewed commentaries. I studied them and then began my collection on the basis of what the experts told me. Since I did all of that work, and since I continue to keep up with the project, I thought it might be helpful to share the recommendations.” His focus, admittedly, is on recent publications, but it is nonetheless helpful in synthesizing the various recommendations of conservative evangelical scholars. Very useful.

Commenting & Commentaries by Spurgeon. If you’ve never used it before, spend some time with Commenting and Commentaries for two reasons: 1) Spurgeon will point you to valuable and lesser known commentaries from centuries gone by, and 2) his remarks are pointing and often funny. Consider what he says about Caryl’s infamous work on Job, “Caryl must have inherited the patience of Job to have completed his stupendous task (it took Caryl over twenty years to get through the book). It would be a mistake to suppose that he is at all prolix or redundant; he is only full. In the course of his expounding he has illustrated a very large portion of the whole Bible with great clearness and power. He is deeply devotional and spiritual. He gives us much, but none too much. His work can scarcely be superseded or surpassed.”

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Saying Goodbye

MARK - Slider NT

Over the weekend I said goodbye to a friend with which I had become unusually close named Mark. The gospel of Mark that is.

For 315 days his account of Jesus’ life and ministry occupied my thinking in all manner of ways. Sometimes I could have exploded in joy at the discoveries of Mark’s unique portrayal of Christ. Other times I nearly cried out in frustration, wanting the earliest gospel writer to give me more on a particular topic. But overall, I have deep gratitude for Mark. What clarity he gives us about Christ! Is there anything more valuable in a friendship?

In eighteen months of church planting we have preached through 1 Timothy, Ruth, Haggai, and Mark. Yet, for some reason saying goodbye to Mark has affected me in ways I couldn’t put into words.

Until yesterday.

EXPOSITION AS THE MINISTRY OF ETERNITY

On the way home from picking my wife up at the airport1 I realized just what was pricking my soul: I probably will never preach on Mark again. Sure, I may preach a sermon here or there on a particular passage, but I would be quite surprised if I walk through the whole book again. The finality of it all is quite saddening, but oh so useful.

For I have uncovered what is, at least for me, yet another benefit of systematic exposition: it is a powerful reminder of death. Realizing that you may never preach through the book again, never get a chance to do it over and improve it, helps a man learn to number his days and get a heart of wisdom (Ps. 90:12). It helps the preacher minister God’s eternal word with the weight of eternity on his heart. Such a lesson couldn’t have been learned anywhere else than befriending God’s word.

Mark has been a wonderful friend. If you haven’t gotten to know him well, I commend him to you with the highest regards. He will teach, warn, and encourage you in unexpectedly glorious ways.

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  1. She spent the weekend at TGC’s National Women’s Conference. ↩
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Experience and Preaching

Preach_the_Word_wide_t_nv

Last year I said one of the most difficult distinctions in preaching is the one between preaching among the congregation not just at the congregation. Earlier this month I offered up another vital nuance: preaching in the text not merely about the text.

Today I want to highlight another one. You gotta love precision.

The Framian perspectivalists might smell something here, but rest assured I have no intention of turning these distinctions into some homiletical triad. If you can do it, I’m all ears.

Here then is the distinction I want to briefly consider today: preaching from your experience versus preaching about your experience.

DANGER LURKS AROUND THE CORNER

A tweet by Piper actually stirred up my thinking on this issue. He wrote,

Screen Shot 2014-06-25 at 10.32.12 AM

Amen. Nothing will teach a man to preach like the experience of cross-bearing. Sorrows will bend and break the preacher in ways no techniques of homiletics can. Lord willing, those formations of experience create Christlike pulpiteers.

But we need to recognize that experience is a dangerous thing when it comes to preaching. In an evangelical culture that craves authenticity, preachers will be tempted to include many personal anecdotes to connect with a congregation. Over and over, we are told, “You must be transparent. Transparency moves.” And they are right, it does move! Yet, we are preachers of the word, not self. Too many personal illustrations will lead a discerning hearer to say, “It seemed like there was more of Preacher in that sermon than Jesus.”

One of my favorite preachers growing up, who is still extremely popular, often gave sermons which felt like “The Story Factory.” His strength of illustration was, and is, astounding. To his credit, every illustration clearly illuminated biblical truth. However, as I matured what I craved was not hearing his personal experiences, but hearing a word-saturated sermon empowered by cross-shaped experience.

We need pastors who preach from their experience not just about their experience.

HUMBLE EXPERIENTIAL PREACHING

Here’s what I am trying to get at. Faithful preachers are obedient preachers. Obedient preachers are those who take up their cross and follow Christ. Such men will inevitably face hardship, pain, and suffering in the ministry. We need to let those trials function as something like sermonic seasoning. Open up a faithful preacher’s Homiletical Pantry and what should we find? Holy spices named Humility, Tenderness, Earnestness, and Reverence. Those qualities ordinarily come through Spirit-wrought experience and flavor the sermon with tasty holiness. And that, to update Mr. M’Cheyne, is what my people need most.

So how exactly does God’s mortal and pestle grind out godly sermons? Consider these examples:

  • We have seen the ghastly stain of sin that still mars our heart. So when we preach on sin we do so from experiential humility.
  • We have seen infants die and cancer afflict too many bodies. So when we preach on suffering we do so from experiential tenderness.
  • We have seen friends and family, whom we’ve loved, dilly dally with the things of God and His gospel. So when we we call sinners to faith and repentance we do so from experiential earnestness.
  • We have seen, through study, the blinding holy-love of God and the preciousness of His truth. So when we preach His word we do so from experiential reverence.

Preacher, don’t fall into the modern morass calling for sermons saturated with stories of your experience. Sprinkle them in when its wise. What’s best is saturating your sermons with the truth of God’s word falling from a soul shaped by the cross. Preach from your experience rather than about your experience.

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The Interrogation Room

Interrogative Preaching

It’s not uncommon today to find people, Christians even, who view the preaching event as a mere monologue. But faithful preaching is far from a banal harangue.

In his masterful book Between Two Worlds John Stott advocates a “silent dialogue” in preaching. He writes,

[In every sermon a] silent dialogue should be developing between the preacher and his hearers. For what he says provokes questions in their minds which he then proceeds to answer. His answer raises further questions, to which he again replies. One of the greatest gifts a preacher needs is such a sensitive understanding of people and their problems that he can anticipate their reactions to each part of his sermon and respond to them. . . . We want to provoke people to think, to answer us and argue with us in their minds, and we should maintain such a lively (though silent) dialogue with them that they find it impossible to fall asleep.

Amen. A proper “silent dialogue,” in its most basic form, anticipates the audiences struggles with the text and offers clarity from the text.

But let me take the silent dialogue further in order to ramp up the congregational conversation.

INTERROGATION, INTERROGATION

Maybe it’s because I read too many detective novels or grew up watching too many detective novels, but I love a good interrogation. I appreciate an interrogation scene with such masterful attention to nuance that falsehoods unravel in an instant. Or clarity cuts through the cloud with precision.

Faithful preachers will give such attention to nuance in pursuit of clarity as they preach. We do this by asking our congregation questions. Rhetorical, interrogative questions engage the hearer’s heart and mind, amplifying the silent dialogue, and saving Eutychus.

It’s not uncommon for me to listen to a dozen or so sermons throughout the week, from outstanding preachers no less, and the use of the interrogative seems to be heading the way of the saber-toothed tiger. In other words, it’s vanishing.

But let me offer a small attempt to save the species from extinction.

HONING YOUR QUESTIONING SKILLS

It could be that those expert preachers I listen to are, well, expert in their delivery. So forceful and attractive are their expositional skills that they need not pursue the silent dialogue to keep attention. But we lesser men need to use all the tools at our disposal and thus need to sharpen our interrogation skills.

In every text we have an abundance of opportunities to question our congregation. Sometimes those questions address objections, other times it points to common shortfalls in understanding, or they point the hearer to faithful application of the truth.

Here are a few examples, from recent sermons, of how I tried to engage my congregation in silent dialogue via interrogation:

  • After reading about Jesus’ silence before Pilate I asked that age old, elementary question of, “Why?” Saying, “Why did Jesus not open His mouth?”
  • When meditating on Jesus’ silence in the face of false accusation (Mark 15:5) I asked, “When was the last time your were falsely accused? What was your immediate reaction?”
  • When showing how the crowd in Mark 15:12-15 call for the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus I asked, “Every day the enemy of mankind and Lord of mankind call you to follow, whom will you choose? False saviors that make promises they never can fulfill, or the Savior who Himself is the greatest promise?”
  • When talking about the people’s ironic mockeries thrown at Jesus while he was on the cross (Mark 15:26-23) I asked, “Do you see here how the human heart can stand right in the face of truth and yet utterly miss the truth? Could the truth of Christ possibly be staring at you in the face tonight and yet you still miss it?”
  • When explaining how the wrath of God fell on Jesus to such a degree that the land went dark for three hours (Mark 15:33) I asked, “What do you think about this wrath of God? Is it an attribute to be announced and amplified? Or minimized and muted?”
  • This week I, Lord willing, will preach on Joseph of Arimathea and his burial of Jesus. After explaining who Joseph was from Mark 15:42-44 I hope to say, “I wonder if any of you are quite like Joseph. Are you settled in your faith, but somewhat secret with it?”

A TOOL NOT TO BE UNDERESTIMATED

Interrogation is one of the most basic parts of human conversation. From their earliest ability to speak children ask their parents, “Why?” We preachers need to seize on this ordinarily element of humanity and employ it unto congregational engagement.

When you ascend to the sacred desk this week, reverently think about it as though you have come to the interrogation room. Question them, poke, prod, and uncover their soul so they might discover the glorious of Christ.

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Reading for Preaching

Saving-EutychusI’ve heard many preachers offer some variation on this comment, “Don’t read books on preaching, just listen to good preaching.”

And that’s sound advice for sure. Because certain aspects of good preaching can be taught, but so much of it is caught. Thus, the best thing young and aspiring preachers can do is regularly sit under sound preaching. This is even one reason why pastors ought not fill the pulpit every single week, for they too need to sit and be sharpened. Listening to podcasts or mp3s is all fine and dandy, but it is still no replacement for the visual event of preaching.

YET, ONE COMES ALONG WORTH READING

Every once in a while, however, a book comes along on the topic of preaching and it falls into the “must read” category. For me, those books usually are not methodologies of preaching nor theologies of preaching1, they are better categorizes as “experiences of preaching.” These books come from seasoned pastors who have the correct principles of preaching in place, but the bulk of the work offers up practices for consideration. How do you prepare a sermon? Structure a sermon? Deal with discouragement in preaching?

One recent book worthy of any preacher’s attention is Gary Millar and Phil Campbell’s Saving Eutychus: How to Preach God’s Word and Keep People Awake.

As a rule of thumb, if D.A. Carson endorses a book, you need to pay attention. His recommendations are few and thoughtful. Consider what he says about Saving Eutychus:

I have read books on how to make sure your sermon is interesting, and I have read books on how to make sure your sermon is faithful to the text, but this book wants your sermon to be both. If I could, I would make this little book mandatory reading for seminarians everywhere, and then urge them to read it a couple more times during the course of their ministry. It avoids cutesy and manipulative suggestions, and makes its practical points while urging integrity, faithfulness, and imagination. Many books on preaching are published every year; this one is a ‘must.’

PUT IT INTO YOUR SHOPPING CART

Filled with humor and immediately employable wisdom, I can’t see how any preacher wouldn’t benefit greatly from this book. I found it so compelling and challenging that my prayers before preaching regularly include a petition that God would “save Eutychus.” We need more preaching books like this one.

If you haven’t read it yet, make sure to buy a copy today.

  1. Yet, such books are valuable. Click here to see my post “3 Books Every Pastor Should Read: On Preaching.” ↩
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Sermon Preparation as Thanksgiving

Sermon Preparation as Thanksgiving

Pastor, have you ever thought of sermon preparation as a weekly Thanksgiving holiday? Let’s just briefly consider how the work of sermon prep is high octane fuel for gratitude.

OCCASIONS FOR THANKSGIVING

If you get illumination into the text’s truth – give thanks.

If you receive heart-searching application to give to your congregation – give thanks.

If you understand how your text organically points to Christ – give thanks.

If you gain a deeper understanding of God’s character – give thanks.

If you have a sermonic structure that’s memorable and persuasive – give thanks.

If you see how your text uniquely heralds the gospel to an unbeliever – give thanks.

If your affections for God’s glory in Christ increase through the preparation – give thanks.

If your heart is moved to confess sin in light of your text – give thanks.

If you gain helpful illustrations or metaphors to adorn the passage – give thanks.

We could go on and on. If we see sermon preparation as a powerful means of grace, what type of people ought we pastors to be but those “always abounding in thanksgiving?”

We are often for preaching to awaken others; but we should be more concerned with prayer. Prayer is more powerful than preaching. It is prayer that gives preaching all its power. . . . Prayer must be added to preaching, else preaching is in vain. . . . O believing brethren, what an instrument is this which God hath put into your hands! Prayer moves him that moves the universe. – Robert Murray M’Cheyne