Christ Portrayed in Preaching

Here is a sweet quote from Ryken's book on Galatians where Paul says that Christ was "clearly portrayed before the Galatians' eyes." Ryken says,

When people visit 10th Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia they sometimes wonder where the cross is because there is no physical representation of a cross in the sanctuary. Indeed, part of the church's beauty is that it has no icons to distract the congregation from the worship of God. But there is a cross. Every time the Scriptures are opened and Christ is preached, the message of the cross is lifted high for all to see.

He goes on to quote Calvin,

When the church has such painters as these [i.e. ministers who faithfully preach the gospel] she no longer needs wood and stone, that is, dead images, she no longer requires any pictures.

These are powerful words, especially for our image filled culture (and church). I like the fact that Ryken says that there are "no images to distract the congregation." Truly, Christians today are more mesmerized by flashing projectors and quick takes than by sound exposition. Christ is dull in their hearts because he is not expressly "seen" in the pulpit.

Old Words, Contemporary Significance

His words sound all to contemporary. Speaking against one who advocated the new methods so rapidly catching on in the 19th century R.L. Dabney wrote,

Since the question is raised why the church does not grow faster, we are persuaded that the real answer that needs looking to is the one our author dismisses most hastily. The cause is not ecclesiastical. It is spiritual. The real need is not new methods, but fidelity to the old [ones]. [The real need is] a true revival in the hearts of ministers and Christians themselves, a fear of the power of the world to come and deep love for souls. What we most need is repentance, not innovation.

Luther on Preaching

Here is the article that I quoted from this morning on Luther's view of preaching. The quotes in this article are enough to make you want to read Luther's sermons for yourself. I just wish I had Luther's wit and ability to make a point. His ability to mix comedy with serious gravity is a gift that really helps to drive a point home.

Scratching over the Dung

I don't doubt that the average American church-goer finds church quite burdensome. If it isn't entertaining and/or edifying, then it should be scrapped. But let this anecdote from Spurgeon's autobiography change your mind on how to attend to the Word of God.

When he was a boy Spurgeon once asked a godly woman, "Why do you go to such a place?" referring to the church of poor quality that she attended. She replied, "Because there is no other place to go to worship." She went on to explain, "You will see a hen scratching over a pile of dung to get a piece of corn, and when it is had her spirit is warmed. That is how I treat the church. I scratch over all the dung to find the grain of truth. When I find it my spirit is warmed."

Christ in the Pulpit

I submitted an article to the Times Gazette for the pastor's column this week. It will be pulished Friday, but you can view it by clicking here.

I entitled it "Christ in the Pulpit." It is a re-work of an earlier post I put on this blog, but it is much more eloquent and structured. Pray that this will awaken souls in the devil's grasp and lead them to a Christ affirming church.

Recycled Words Still Productive

George Mueller was asked to preach for a certain congregation, but there was a problem: He didn't know how to preach.

Having never preached before he thought it would be best to memorized another preacher's sermon. He worked all week to secure it in his mind and delivered it on the appointed day. For years he looked back on that day with a bit of nausea as he thought it was ill to do such a thing.

Later in life though, he came to find out that there were at least 19 people who were greatly affected by the message!

The power is not in the man, it is in the word! It never returns void.

Preaching Christ from the OT

Yes this is for preachers, but anyone who is a person of the Book will find it helpful for personal study.

Making Wise the Simple

"The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple."
Psalm 19:7

What a good argument for having children in church. If children are anything, they are simple. The remedy? A pew.

One of the things that distresses me has to do with the lack of children that sit in the worship services. I honestly believe that we are training our children to be heathens. Parents drop their children off in the nursery for some free babysitting and then head off to another part of the church. Then, for the next hour, the children learn the basic theology of clay, Lego's, and various other forms of hedonism.

This from a so-called "family friendly" church. Let's be clear, any church that promotes the separation of parent and child is not pro family.

I have heard the argument so many times, "But they don't understand what is going on in the service." But we all know that's a big lie. Kids are as keen as hawks. Sure, they might not get it all, but they pick up quite a bit, even from very young ages.

Moreover, it is the parents duty to review the services with the children. In prior days families would discuss the points of the message they just heard over lunch. This way parents could keep a watchful eye on the development of the child's spirituality as well as assist them in their learning (And if the kids know that they will be quizzed, then they'll be more likely to stay a bit lively too!).

Obviously I'm not down with the "they don't get it" excuse. I honestly believe that, as long as the Bible is being preached in the right way, a child will be able to understand. That's because God gave the Bible to children too, to make them wise.

Moreover we can think of Jesus' preaching. His messages were simple, vivid, instructive (shall we say doctrinal?), and powerful. I don't see him organizing the disciples into a nursery duty rotation. I see him speaking to fathers and mothers, sons and daughters.

Certainly the church in Ephesus serves as an example for having children in church. In the book of Ephesians the Apostle Paul spoke directly to the children. We can safely assume that they were right there by mama and papa. They might have even received a "did-you-hear-that?" elbow in the ribs.

With our children in the pews we can have faith that God will speak to them (much more than He would through a crayola crayon and a ditto sheet with a Bible picture on it), for faith cometh by hearing.

"But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus."
2 Tim. 3:14-15

Nothing New Under the Sun: Preachers as Entertainers

Another interesting gem from Sproul's chapter in Feed My Sheep,

"The temptation to turn the pulpit into theater and the church building into a place of entertainment is not something that just happened a few decades ago. It was a problem that Luther struggled with in the 16th century. He said, when he preached his most powerful sermons on justification by faith alone, that people fell asleep in his congregation. he maintained that the people in the parishes came to be entertained. Even in the 16th century, the pastors, during the middle of the Reformation, were struggling with the demands of their congregations that they entertain them with their preaching."

Give Me Jesus!!!!!

"But we preach Christ crucified."

1 Corinthians 1:23

"I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified."

1 Corinthians 2:2

"And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself."

Luke 24:27

"Sir, we would see Jesus."

John 12:21

I am sick of Christless churches and Christless preaching. It irks me to no end. I have left different churches (liberal and supposedly evangelical), never to return because Christ was never mentioned in the sermons (and in some cases entire services!)

How can you call such a thing "Christian" if Christ is never mentioned. Better yet, how can you tolerate a preacher who would even think about going 1 sermon without talking about him?

The Scriptures clearly say that Christ is the content of the Scriptures and is to be the subject of the preached word. It doesn't matter if you are in the Levitical laws or those tedious genealogies, Jesus is the point!

People often say that context is king when it comes to Scripture interpretation. Well, let me rephrase: the King is the context.

Spurgeon is noted to have said that once you start preaching, your are to make your point and then run to the cross. In other words, let the people hear about Jesus.

If Christ is not in the pulpit on Sunday mornings, you should run out of the sanctuary like Christian did when he was fleeing the City of Destruction: with your fingers in your ears and screaming "Eternal life! Eternal life! Eternal life!"

The one who does not preach Christ is a devil. The devil is the anti-Christ and he will give you anything but Christ. He wants you to come with him to hell, so he will withhold the antidote.

My friends, if you are reading this and you have not heard about Jesus lately--his work, his cross, his empty tomb, his glorious person, his infinite deity, his spear torn flesh--then worry about your soul, run to safe ground, search for him! He is the pearl of great price, sell all!

Gospel Propagation

I think that this is my new favorite verse. At least this is my favorite verse for prayer.

"Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, even as it is with you."

2 Thessalonians 3:1 (KJV)

The ESV translates it that the word may "speed ahead." Literally it means "to run." Paul wants us to pray that the ministry of the gospel would shift into high gear and spread with a rage that would compete with a forest-fire.

You see why Paul prays this in the first chapter of the book Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching. Albert Mohler writes of the primacy of preaching in the church and says,

When you hear people speak about how to grow a church, how to build a church, and how to build a great congregation, few and far between are those who say it comes essentially by the preaching of the Word. And we know why, because it comes by the preaching of the Word slowly; slowly immeasurably, sometimes even invisibly, and hence we are back to our problem. If you want to see quick results, the preaching of the Word just might not be the way to go.

Gospel ministry is slow. That's why it needs our prayers.

This last Lord's Day I asked the congregation to be praying for the Lord to give us some ideas for gospel ministry this summer. We want the gospel to "run" here in Ashland. Building a church based on the Word of God is not easy, but it is the way to make a church. Mohler continues,

If you are going to find results in terms of statistics, numbers, and visible response, it just might be that there are other mechanisms, other programs, and other means that will produce that faster. The question is whether it produces Christians.