Our Scripture verse on preaching is Galatians 1:8-10 which reads: "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ."
Our quote on preaching today is from Tim Keller. He said, "Expository preaching should provide the main diet of preaching for a Christian community… It is the best method for displaying and conveying your conviction that the whole Bible is true. This approach testifies that you believe every part of the Bible to be God’s Word, not just particular themes and not just the parts you feel comfortable agreeing with."
Our first topic is titled "The Minister's Piety Must be Vigorous, Part 6" from "Lectures to My Students" by Charles H. Spurgeon. He writes:
Even in little things the minister should take care that his life is consistent with his ministry. He should be especially careful never to fall short of his word. This should be pushed even to scrupulosity; We cannot be too careful; truth must not only be in us, but shine from us. A celebrated doctor of divinity in London, who is now in heaven I have no doubt–a very excellent and godly man–gave notice one Sunday that he intended to visit all his people, and said, that in order to be able to get round and visit them and their families once in the year, he should take all the seatholders in order. A person well known to me, who was then a poor man, was delighted with the idea that the minister was coming to his house to see him, and about a week or two before he conceived it would be his turn, his wife was very careful to sweep the hearth and keep the house tidy, and the man ran home early from work, hoping each night to find the doctor there.
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Our second topic is titled "The Qualifications of the Preacher, Part 13" from "The Preacher and his Preaching" by Alfred P. Gibbs.
This section is titled: HE MUST BE CLEAN IN LIFE (PART 2)
--- The Menace of Inconsistency
More damage has been brought to the cause of Christ through the inconsistent lives of those who profess His name and preach His Word than anything else has. Paul, by the Spirit, asks some searching questions, “Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal?…Thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonorest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written”.
Note also that inconsistency of life causes both God’s doctrine and His Word to be blasphemed. It is recorded that Nathan said to David, concerning his double sin of adultery and murder, “Because of this deed, thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme”. Time has proved how true this statement was. A man once said of a loose-living, but eloquent preacher, “When he is in the pulpit, I wish he’d never get out; when he’s out, I wish he’d never go back again!”
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Our third topic is titled "What's the Big Idea?, Part 4" from "Biblical Preaching" by Haddon W. Robinson. He writes:
--- The Definition of an Idea
What do we mean by an idea? A glance at the dictionary demonstrates that defining an idea resembles trying to package fog. A complete definition could send us into the fields of philosophy, linguistics, and grammar. Webster ranges all the way from “a transcendent entity that is a real pattern of which existing things are imperfect representations” to “an entity (as a thought, concept, sensation, or image) actually or potentially present to consciousness.”
The word idea itself moved into English from the Greek word eido, which means “to see” and therefore “to know.” An idea sometimes enables us to see what was previously unclear. In common life when an explanation provides new insight, we exclaim, “Oh, I see what you mean!” Still another synonym for idea is concept, which comes from the verb to conceive. Just as a sperm and an egg join to produce new life in the womb, an idea begins in the mind when things ordinarily separated come together to form a unity that either did not exist before or was not recognized previously.
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