Sermons and Biblical Studies

Among the countless gifts of God, one of the most precious to us is our beautiful, expressive English tongue. That such a gift should be neglected by busy men and women in their wild race to make a living is at least understandable, if unfortunate; but that it should be neglected as well by the … Continue reading “PREACHING:
PREPARATION FOR; PREACHING: NEED FOR SKILL”

Frankly, I am too busy serving Jesus to spend my time and energy engaging in contemporary dialogue. I think I know what “contemporary dialogue” means. It means that all of those intellectual preachers are busy reading the news magazines so they will be able to comment on the world situation from their pulpits on Sunday … Continue reading “PREACHING:
PREACH THE WORD; DIALOGUE”

We must face up to what is going on in the churches and meet it as men and women of God. It is not enough just to show a smiling countenance and insist that we are hoping for the best. Where we see there is wrong, we must face up to it, show why it … Continue reading “PREACHING:
PREACH THE WORD; CHURCH: CURRENT CONDITION; PASTORS: PROPHETIC MINISTRY”

I heard of one graduate of a theological school who determined to follow his old professor’s advice and preach the Word only. His crowds were average. Then one day a cyclone hit the little town and he yielded to the temptation to preach on the topic “Why God Sent the Cyclone to Centerville.” The church … Continue reading “PREACHING:
PREACH THE WORD”

Some preachers have such a phobia for repetition and such an unnatural fear of the familiar that they are forever straining after the odd and the startling. The church page of the newspaper almost any Saturday will be sure to announce at least one or two sermon topics so far astray as to be positively … Continue reading “PREACHING:
ORIGINALITY IN”

It would probably be an oversimplification to name any single cause as being alone responsible for the dullness of our preaching, but I nevertheless venture to suggest that one very important factor is our habit of laboring the obvious.… This engrossment in first principles has an adverse effect upon the evangelical church. It is as … Continue reading “PREACHING:
NEED FOR FRESHNESS”

There is scarcely anything so dull and meaningless as Bible doctrine taught for its own sake. Truth divorced from life is not truth in its biblical sense, but something else and something less.… By far the greater portion of the book is devoted to an urgent effort to persuade people to alter their ways and … Continue reading “PREACHING:
NEED FOR APPLICATION; TRUTH: NECESSITY OF RESPONSE; OBEDIENCE: NEED FOR”

A church can wither as surely under the ministry of soulless Bible exposition as it can where no Bible is given at all. To be effective, the preacher’s message must be alive—it must alarm, arouse, challenge; it must be God’s present voice to a particular people. Then, and not until then, is it the prophetic … Continue reading “PREACHING:
NEED FOR APPLICATION; PASTORS: PROPHETIC MINISTRY”

The great American evangelist, Charles Finney, went so far as to declare bluntly that it is sinful to teach the Bible without moral application. He asked what good is accomplished merely to study a course in the Bible to find out what it says, if there is to be no obligation to do anything as … Continue reading “PREACHING:
NEED FOR APPLICATION; BIBLE: TEACHING OF”

God’s Word says that a faithful and wise steward gives the people their meat in due season. Some people preach the Bible all right, and you cannot deny that. But they go to the Bible as you would to a medical book to find out what you should prescribe. But instead of prescribing to suit … Continue reading “PREACHING:
NEED FOR APPLICATION”