The Power of Preaching

Understanding the source of the power

In Preaching and Preachers, Martyn Lloyd-Jones also speaks of what he calls "the romance of preaching." In this he uses a definition of the word "romance" that is not often employed today, but is still in the dictionary. He refers by that term to the exciting and mysterious quality of preaching, the unpredictability of it. The preacher should never think he knows what is going to happen when he enters the pulpit, he says. He never knows how the act of preaching and the content of the message will affect the preacher himself, or affect his hearers. And, the preacher should never attempt to control things to the extent that preaching becomes a sterile and clinical exercise. The preacher never knows exactly who is listening, or how they are listening. He never knows how God may use even just one particular phrase out of an entire sermon to meet a particular heart's need.

During his decades of ministry, Martyn Lloyd-Jones typically met privately for counseling with a thousand or more individuals each year. But he said that he firmly believed that God the Holy Spirit could do more in the hearts and lives of his congregation through the preaching of the Word in one service, than he could in all of those counseling sessions in an entire year.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones concludes the book with a chapter titled "'Demonstration of the Spirit and of the Power". Here he calls attention once again to "the greatest essential in connection with preaching, and that is the unction and the anointing of the Holy Spirit."

He uses the illustration of Elijah at Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18). The right way to look at the unction of the Spirit, he says, "is to think of it as that which comes upon the preparation...We are told that Elijah built an altar, then cut wood and put it upon the altar, and that then he killed a bullock and cut it in pieces and put the pieces upon the wood. Then, having done all that, he prayed for the fire to descend; and the fire fell. That is the order."

He goes on: "We all tend to go to extremes; some rely only on their own preparation and look for nothing more; others, as I say, tend to despise preparation and trust to the unction, the anointing and the inspiration of the Spirit alone. But there must be no 'either/or' here; it is always 'both/and'. These two things must go together." He concludes with this exhortation to the preacher and the congregation:

What then are we to do about this? There is only one obvious conclusion. Seek Him! Seek Him! What can we do without Him?...But go beyond seeking Him; expect Him...Are you expecting [this week's preaching] to be the turning point in someone's life? Are you expecting anyone to have a climactic experience? That is what preaching is meant to do. That is what you find in the Bible and in the subsequent history of the church. Seek this power, expect this power, yearn for this power; and when the power comes, yield to Him. Do not resist. Forget all about your sermon if necessary. Let Him loose you, let Him manifest His power in you and through you...He is still able to do "exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think."

 

References:

The material in this article is escerpts from:  Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1971),  D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones: The First Forty Years (Banner of Truth, 1982).

A Growing Trend; A Growing Concern

This is going to be a very lengthy topic.  I will be presenting it in several posts--over the course of the next month and as time allows.  I will begin with a few somewhat provocative statements followed by some questions to ponder.

The bible saves no one!  It is the gospel (the message of the Cross - the "good news") that saves by the power of the Holy Spirit.

I do not want people "churched".  I want them saved and then to attend worship services with me.

Questions to ponder:

1.  Is the gathering on Sundays for believers or for all people?

2.  Is the written Word (the bible) for believers or for all people?

3.  What is God's purpose and intent for Sunday gatherings?

4.  What is God's purpose and intent of the written word?

5. Were the early Christians, and all Christians for that matter for 1500 years, who did not have the written word in their own language, less effective for the cause of Christ then we are?  Was their Christianity sub-standard?

6. Throughout the history of the Christian church, who was it that "gathered on Sunday" and why?  - even when it meant the possibility of losing their life.

I don't think that these should be difficult questions to answer.  The confusion, I believe, is the result of two things: first, our lack of zeal in doing what we should be doing; that is sharing the gospel with others outside of church; and, second our zeal for defending the authority and inerrancy of scripture - which I wholeheartedly affirm.   But, I do not believe it is a book for the unregenerate.

What I see happening is that the church is becoming a place to bring people that are not saved, to get them saved; and, the Bible (the actual printed book) being given power, in and of itself, as a means of salvation.

more to come...

(If I am really off track here, please take the time to set me straight, as these matters are weighing very heavy on my heart.)

Continuing awhile with Philpot

In the words, from which I hope, with God’s blessing, to speak this morning, we have this union with Christ very experimentally and sweetly set forth. And depend upon it, friends, unless we know something in our souls of the solemn realities that are set forth in these words of Scripture, there is no evidence that the God of all grace has begun his work upon our hearts. We will then, with God’s blessing, endeavour, so far as the Lord shall enable us, to trace out, how this union with Christ is manifested in the way of experience, that the Lord may encourage us to believe, that we have felt and known something of the fruits of an eternal union with the Lord of life and glory.
He goes on later to explain that it is through the experiences of life, i.e. suffering, that we gain knowledge of our Union with Christ.  I have a feeling that more than just eyebrows were raised while he preached this sermon.

In proportion, then, as we suffer with Christ in these things, shall we reign with him, that is, his powerful reign and government and authority are made manifest by means of, and amidst the suffering. It is impossible to know anything of the reign of Christ in the soul, as Lord of all might and power, unless we are placed in circumstances where that reign is needed. What a flimsy, scanty, superficial thing is modern Calvinistic religion! I do not mean what is called "moderate Calvinism," but what is often called "high Calvinism," such as most of my hearers here profess. What a flimsy, superficial thing this for the most part is! Men take certain truths out of the word of God, and they hammer this pure gold upon the anvil of hard hearts and seared consciences, until it becomes as thin and as light as gold leaf. This gold leaf they spread over their hearers, and they go forth in all the gilded glare of gospel truth; But how different is this outside gilding, these plates from Uphaz, from the massive, weighty gold which the Spirit inwardly communicates! But those that preach and those that profess this flimsy, superficial religion, if they are of God’s family, will be thrown into the furnace with their book of gold-leaf in their hands, that the fire may burn up the ochred pages, and melt the gold-leaf down into one solid ingot. If any of you have a work of grace in your hearts, and yet are gilded over by doctrinal truth beyond your experience, you will be thrown into the furnace of affliction and of fiery temptation; and this furnace will burn away everything but the gold that is within you, though it may melt into the gilding that is without you. But depend upon it that the furnace will bring your religion into a very small compass, as the gold-leaf, which covers such an extent of surface, would make but a very small piece when reduced to a solid shape.

Spurgeon on the Holy Spirit!

How little we truly understand about the Spirit of God and how influenced is our understanding by the current Christian culture that we swim in.  As I was reading a sermon by Spurgeon on "And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption."—Ephesians 4:30; the following excerpt made me pause. I am almost certain that most modern "orthodox" Christians, who think that they have a grasp on the indwelling, sealing, and filling of the Spirit of God, would read the following and object.

Our graces are much like the flower called the Hydrangea, when it has plenty of water it blooms, but as soon as moisture fails, the leaves drop down at once. And so when the Spirit goes away, faith shuts up its flowers; no perfume is exhaled. Then the fruit of our love begins to rot and drops from the tree; then the sweet buds of our hope become frostbitten, and they die. Oh, what a sad thing it is to lose the Spirit. Have you never, my brethren, been on your knees and have been conscious that the Spirit of God was not with you, and what awful work it has been to groan, and cry, and sigh, and yet go away again, and no light to shine upon the promises, not so much as a ray of light through the chink of the dungeon. All forsaken, forgotten, and forlorn, you are almost driven to despair. You sing with Cowper:—


"What peaceful hours I once enjoyed,
How sweet their memory still!
But they have left an aching void,
The world can never fill.
Return, thou sacred dove, return,
Sweet messenger of rest,
I hate the sins that made thee mourn,
And drove thee from my breast.


The dearest idol I have known,
Whate'er that idol be,
Help me to tear it from its throne,
And worship only thee."


Ah! sad enough it is to have the Spirit drawn from us. But, my brethren, I am about to say something with the utmost charity, which, perhaps, may look severe, but, nevertheless, I must say it. The churches of the present day are very much in the position of those who have grieved the Spirit of God; for the Spirit deals with churches just as it does with individuals. Of these late years how little has God wrought in the midst of his churches. Throughout England, at least some four or five years ago, an almost universal torpor had fallen upon the visible body of Christ. There was a little action, but it was spasmodic; there was no real vitality. Oh! how few sinners were brought to Christ, how empty had our places of worship become; our prayer-meetings were dwindling away to nothing, and our church meetings were mere matters of farce.

You know right well that this is the case with many London churches to this day; and there be some that do not mourn about it. They go up to their accustomed place, and the minister prays, and the people either sleep with their eyes or else with their hearts, and they go out, and there is never a soul saved. The pool of baptism is seldom stirred; but the saddest part of all is this, the churches are willing to have it so. They are not earnest to get a revival of religion. We have been doing something, the church at large has been doing something. I will not just now put my finger upon what the sin is, but there has been something done which has driven the Spirit of God from us. He is grieved, and he is gone. He is present with us here, I thank his name, he is still visible in our midst. He has not left us. Though we have been as unworthy as others, yet has he given us a long outpouring of his presence. These five years or more, we have had a revival which is not to be exceeded by any revival upon the face of the earth. Without cries or shoutings, without fallings down or swooning, steadily God adds to this church numbers upon numbers, so that your minister's heart is ready to break with very joy when he thinks how manifestly the Spirit of God is with us. But brethren, we must not be content with this, we want to see the Spirit poured out on all churches.

As I reflect back on my past experience in local churches, I recall (years ago) heralding this very same warning and then being corrected by the church leadership and accused of having a "critical spirit".  I am daily thankful that we have a endless multitude of godly men, who have already left this earth to be with the Lord, to turn to for encouragement, edification and affirmation, when the modern church is in a decline and the teaching is limited.

It doesn't "feel" good; but, it is good!

The Spirit of God often sends home the reproofs of Scripture to our hearts; while we are reading the word we feel that it searches us and rebukes us. So also the Lord will employ his ministers to chide us. Little is that ministry worth which never chides you. If God never uses his minister as a rod, depend upon it he will never use him as a pot of manna, for the rod of Aaron and the pot of manna always go together, and he who is God’s true servant will be both to your soul.

The Lord will also chide you through your own conscience, causing you to judge and condemn yourself. The Spirit of God will quicken your understanding, and then it will be said of you as of David, “David’s heart smote him.” It is hard hitting when the heart smites, for it comes to such close quarters, but blessed is that man who can thus be corrected: it is a sad sign when conscience is too dead to be of any service in this direction.

From a sermon by Charles Haddon Spurgeon entitled "The Lord Chiding his People," delivered May 3, 1874.

Do you live constantly acknowledging the reality of the presence of Christ?

When Christ is with us we are safe, for what wolf can rend a sheep when it is close to the shepherd’s hand? When we are away from Jesus, we are not only in peril, but are already despoiled; to lose fellowship with Jesus is loss enough in itself, even if no further calamity occur. Ships without a pilot, cities without watchmen, babes without a nurse, are we without Jesus. We cannot do without him, the less we attempt it the better. Samson without his locks is the sad type of a believer out of fellowship.

How dare we go forth to business on any one day without the presence of the Lord? As well might the warrior go to battle without shield and buckler. Should we not daily pray, “If thy presence go not with me, carry me not up hence”? How can we go to our beds till he has kissed us with the kisses of his mouth? May not even the dreams and visions of the night prove our bane if our souls be not committed to his keeping? For my part, I love to murmur to myself, as I place my head on my pillow, those charming lines —

“Sprinkled afresh with pardoning blood,
I lay me down to rest,
As in th’ embraces of my God,
Or on my Savior’s breast.”

C. H. Spurgeon

Speaking the Truth in Love - 2

If you think you have been ill treated, you will have an opportunity of showing that you are a disciple of Jesus, who "when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not." . . . The wisdom that is from above is not only pure, but peaceable and gentle; and the want of these qualifications, like the dead fly in the pot of ointment, will spoil the savor and efficacy of our labors.

If we act in a wrong spirit, we shall bring little glory to God, do little good to our fellow creatures, and procure neither honor nor comfort to ourselves. If you can be content with showing your wit, and gaining the laugh on your side, you have an easy task; but I hope you have a far nobler aim, and that, sensible of the solemn importance of gospel truths, and the compassion due to the souls of men, you would rather be a means of removing prejudices in a single instance, than obtain the empty applause of thousands. Go forth, therefore, in the name and strength of the Lord of hosts, speaking the truth in love; and may he give you a witness in many hearts that you are taught of God, and favored with the unction of his Holy Spirit.

John Newton, Works, Vol 1 (Banner of Truth, 1985), p. 269f. The complete letter is available online.

Speaking the Truth in Love

I remember once reading a phrase in an article written by a man about a meeting in which he had listened to two speakers. It was a political, not a religious meeting, but what he said about those two speakers came to me as a conviction from the Holy Spirit. He said that, as he listened to the two men, he felt that this was the main difference between them: the first had spoken brilliantly as an advocate; the second had spoken as a witness. And I asked myself, which am I? Am I an advocate of these things or am I a witness? You can be an advocate of Christianity without being a Christian

You can be an advocate of these things without experiencing them. If you have intelligence, if you have been rightly trained, you can understand the Scriptures in a sense, and you can lay them out before others. You can present all the arguments, you can put the case for a kind of Christian philosophy. And it may sound wonderful. But you may be standing outside the true experience of it the whole time. You may be talking about something which you do not really know, about Someone you have never met. You are an advocate, perhaps even a brilliant advocate. But note what the Lord said to the apostles: ‘Ye shall be my witnesses.’

Let us go on and seek knowledge and equip ourselves as perfectly as possible. But, in the name of God, let us not stop at that. Let us realize that even that, without the authority and the power of the Spirit, is of no value at all. ‘Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love (a product of the work of the Spirit), I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal’

Let us remind ourselves that the God who in the past has come suddenly and unexpectedly upon the dying Church and has raised her to a new period of life and victory can do the same still, that His arm is not shortened, nor His power in any sense diminished. Let us wait upon Him, let us plead with Him, let us learn to agonize in prayer and let our one prayer be:

Revive Thy work, O Lord,
Thy mighty arm make bare;
Speak with the voice that wakes the dead.
And make Thy people hear.

‘O Lord, I have heard thy speech, and was afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, in the midst of the years make known; in wrath remember mercy’ (Habakkuk iii. 2).

Lloyd-Jones - The Authority of the Holy Spirit