“Charles Spurgeon tells of the most extreme case, the man who ‘preached so well and lived so badly, that when he was in the pulpit everybody said he ought never to come out again, and when he was out of it, they all declared he never ought to enter it again'” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, …
A Structural Servant
“Tricks of homiletics were repugnant to Lloyd-Jones. This does not mean he had no interest in structure. The reverse was the case. But form in a sermon is to be the preacher’s servant and not his superintendent” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 115).
The Smile of God
“There is all the difference in the world between preaching merely from human understanding and energy, and preaching in the conscious smile of God” (Martyn Lloyd-Jones, as quoted in Tony Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 79)
Righteousness, Peace and Joy
INTRODUCTION:The apostle spends quite a bit of time and energy on this question, and this is why we are doing the same thing. What will distract us from those things on which God places great value? It will be those things on which we try to place high value, and all on our own authority …
In Such a Way as to Catch Fire Itself
“‘Preaching,’ exclaimed Lloyd-Jones, ‘is theology coming through a man who is on fire'” (Sargent, The Sacred Anointing, p. 62).
How Can the Spirit be Missing . . . and No One Notices?
“Most books on preaching stress the need for preparation, for programmes and working to a clearly defined timetable. A random reading of modern contributions confirms the point. If reference is made to unction and dependence on the Spirit in the act of preaching, it tends to be incidental, a secondary feature for consideration. Lloyd-Jones would …
Powder Puff Pulpits
“Is there a place in your preaching for such strong language? . . . In brief, in Scripture such language is designed to elicit from the hearer or reader an emotional reaction — laughter, revulsion, terror, etc. — which corresponds to the spiritual nature of the thing being described . . . Such language is …
For To This End . . .
INTRODUCTION: We are continuing on the same theme so that we might remember the importance of loving our brothers and sisters in the faith, but doing so in a very spacious context. Learning the extent of that context will be what enables us to live rightly with one another in close quarters.
Types of Preaching
Preachers need to remember that the way to the heart is through the head, but the preacher is to take that route and drive toward the heart without stopping. Too many turn aside at the head to eat bread and drink water, and that is why a lion kills them (1 Kings 13:9-10). Too many …
Paul is the Key
When something gets off kilter, and we react to it, we generally fix it wrong. Previous reaction fixes are probably the reason things are off kilter now, and a new reaction fix is just rearranging the problem furniture — and not fixing the problem furniture. I have been preaching in Romans for over a year, …