“There are plenty of popular preachers, but not many powerful ones, who preach in the power of the Spirit. Is it because the cost of such preaching is too great? It seems that the only preaching God honours, through which His wisdom and power are expressed, is the preaching of a man who is willing …
Preaching, Not Negotiating
“We are called to proclaim Christ, not to discuss Him” (John Stott, The Preacher’s Portrait, p. 110).
Faith Overcomes the World
“God’s plan is to save through the gospel not those who are clever and learned, but those who believe. The condition of salvation is faith, not intellectual brilliance” (John Stott, The Preacher’s Portrait, p. 110).
The Only Font of Our Authority
“Granted that only the power of God can make the blind see and the dead live, where is this power to be found? How can preachers become such channels of it as to be ‘servants through whom’ others will believe? There is no clearer exposition in the New Testament of the place of divine power …
Improper and Unbecoming
“The shameful cult of human personalities which tarnished the life of the first century Corinthian church still persists in Christendom, and a most improper and unbecoming regard is paid to some church leaders today” (John Stott, The Preacher’s Portrait, p. 101).
Preaching, Not Preening
“If we love them, our objective will not be to impress them with our learning but to help them with theirs . . .J.C. Ryle, formerly Bishop of Liverpool, has asserted that one of the secrets of the evangelistic revival in eighteenth century England was that its leaders preached simply. ‘To attain this’ he wrote,’they …
The Preacher As Father
“But St. Paul did not hesitate to call himself the ‘father’ of the Corinthians, the Galatians and the Thessalonians, as well as of certain individuals, and there is no doubt that a father’s qualities, particularly of gentleness and love, which the Apostle mentions, are indispensable to the preacher as portrayed in the New Testament . …
And A Slippery One
“Every preacher knows the insidious temptation to vainglory to which the pulpit exposes him. We stand there in a prominent position, lifted above the congregation, the focus of their gaze and the object of their attention. It is a perilous position indeed” (John Stott, The Preacher’s Portrait, p.77).
Therefore We Have Spoken
“Our task is not to lecture about Jesus with philosophical detachment. We have become personally involved in Him. His revelation and redemption have changed our lives. Our eyes have been opened to see Him, and our ears unstopped to hear Him, as our Saviour and our Lord. We are witnesses; so we must bear witness” …
Double Witness
“This brings us at last to the fifth aspect of Christian witness, which concerns the preacher . . . We may summarize the biblical view of Christian witness by saying that it is borne before the world by the Father to the Son through the Spirit and the Church . . . This double witness …