Jesus told the story about two sons who were told to go work in the vineyard (Matt. 21: 28-32). One said he would go and didn’t, and the other said that he wouldn’t go, and then did. Thus far the parable is a familiar one. But I was recently struck by how the son who …
The Priestly Work of Evangelism
INTRODUCTION:We have seen that we should not have lethargic or anemic views of evangelism. God is in the processing of saving the world, and that has ramifications for the town in which we live. But we must also be careful to not have irreligious views of evangelism. Evangelism is not mere recruitment; in this text, …
How God Smiles on a Sermon
“The congeniality of the Spirit affects the preacher at the point of proclamation and the hearer at the point of reception. It is not argument, nor logic, nor eloquence that eventually wins the day” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 235).
The Spirit Works from Beginning to End
“If the Holy Spirit inspired the Scriptures, it is reasonable to assume that his help will be required in growing into an understanding of them and in applying them to the immediate, contemporary situation” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 232).
Clarity From Heaven
“The task of the preacher is to make the message of the Bible plain. It has to be clear to him in order that it can be so for the hearer” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 217).
Doctrinal Leaven
Jesus teaches his disciples to guard against the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees (Matt. 16:6), by which He meant their teaching or doctrine. This refers to false teaching, but a similar point is made concerning the leaven of the Word of God (Matt. 13:33). Doctrine is leaven, and it works like leaven. This means …
And Lots of Texts Don’t Say Lots of Things
“Getting rid of what the text does not say is essential preparatory work” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 196).
No Reason to Get Up There Just to Talk
“His belief was that the passage at hand was the Word from God which had to be preached on that occasion. His sentiments ran close to the Reformed Second Helvetic Confession of 1566, that the preaching of the Word of God is the word of God. Thus Lloyd-Jones’s close alignment of preaching with prophesying; without …
Which Can, Of Course, Be Taken Wrong
Dr. Lloyd-Jones believed preaching involved communication through personality” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 187).
Each Sermon Should Be a One-Off
“The summary was especially for the benefit of those for whom the address would be a one-off and not part of a series. Each sermon had to be self-contained and able to stand on its own feet, even though it was part of a prolonged series” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 183).