“The preacher’s life must be a life of large accumulation . . . He must not be always seeking to make sermons, but always seeking truth, and out of the truth which he has won the sermons will make themselves . . . Here is the need for broad and generous culture. Learn to study …
Conviction is Not Delivered Shrink-wrapped
“Our task as preachers, then, is neither to avoid all areas of controversy, nor to supply slick answers to complex questions in order to save people the bother of thinking” (Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 173).
Silent Pulpits Not Really Silent
“What is certain is that the pulpit has political influence, even if nothing remotely connected with politics is ever uttered from it . . . The neutrality of the pulpit is impossible” (Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 168).
As a Political Prisoner
“As for our Lord Jesus Christ, his message had more far-reaching political implications than is commonly recognized. His contemporaries certainly thought so, for they had him arrested, tried and condemned on a charge of sedition” (Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 164).
Universal Sexual Application
“Moreover, since marriage is an ordinance of creation rather than of redemption, these divine standards apply to the whole human community, and not merely to a diminishing religious remnant . . . [speaking of sexual ethics, the ‘dispensibility’ of marriage, divorce and remarriage, and homosexual partnerships] Christians should enter vigorously into these debates, and fearlessly …
Application is Not Legalism
“There are many pastors today who, for fear of being branded ‘legalists’, give their congregation no ethical teaching. How far we have strayed from the apostles! ‘Legalism’ is the misguided attempt to earn our salvation by obedience to the law. ‘Pharisaism’ is a preoccupation with the externals and minutiae of religious duty. To teach the …
The Necessity of Application
“When we proclaim the gospel, we must go on to unfold its ethical implications, and when we teach Christian behaviour we must lay its gospel foundations” (Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 157).
The Word Earthed
“This earthing of the Word in the world is not something optional; it is an indispensable characteristic of true Christian preaching” (Stott, Between Two Worlds, p. 145).
Do It Right, Not Wrong
“Beware of stuffing the text. And yet it is the true excellence of an exposition to see remote connections. The text should not be evacuated” (John Brentnall, “Just a Talker”: Sayings of John (“Rabbi”) Duncan, p. 141).
Landing the Application
“On the one hand, conservatives are biblical but not contemporary, while on the other liberals and radicals are contemporary but not biblical . . . Is it not possible for liberals to learn from conservatives the necessity of conserving the fundamentals of historic, biblical Christianity, and for conservatives to learn from liberals the necessity of …