Category Archives: Thinking

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Learning 21st Century Characteristics From 18th Century, Jonathan Edwards?!? Who Knew?!?

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A Look at What’s in the Heart of all of Us

Over my recent vacation I was able to order a few new books and finished George Marsden’s, An Infinite Fountain of Light: Jonathan Edwards for the Twenty-First Century. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you know how much I love reading Edwards. Marsden’s book offers something unique: a look at the abiding influence of Edwards because of how similar today’s mindset is to Edwards’s. I didn’t expect that. I certainly didn’t expect that the similarity is due to the influence of Ben Franklin’s thinking.

I read this kind of material to continue learning about the kinds of listeners I preach to (and the kind of man I am). When we preach God’s Word, what kinds of influences affect the way we fight for faith and righteousness?

How about this list?

  • ever-increasing technology
  • aggressive market capitalism
  • celebration of self
  • trying to balance liberty and equality
  • materialism
  • permissive sensuality
  • nationalism

Sound familiar?

If you enjoy history, you’ll appreciate Marsden’s work on Edwards and Franklin. If you enjoy thinking about preaching to your listeners, you’ll benefit from keeping these cultural characteristics in mind. They influence all of us; they’re in the air we breathe. And Marsden suggests that all of this 18th century “semi-Christian or cultural Protestant” outlook continues today.

If he’s correct, this means that many of our listeners each Sunday believe in God but are most concerned with their own personal flourishing.

And if you have teenagers in your church, here’s their “most typical religious outlook…even those who had been reared in traditionalist Christian churches… ‘moralistic therapeutic deism.’ They tended to believe that there was a benevolent , mostly distant God who wanted people to be good and who might be called on in times of sickness or crisis for help and comfort. At the same time they believed in developing one’s now self-identity.” (p. 26, Marsden quoting Christian Smith’s, Soul Searching: The Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers)

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you and I continue to exegete our listeners while expositing sacred Scripture.

Randal

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Why It’s Important to Preach the Implications of Your Text (part 2)

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I am attempting to put some finishing touches on this Sunday’s message on Hebrews 10:19-27. The summer series is, Hard-Working Faith.

Hebrews 10:23 reads,

23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.

The first implication in this verse can be asked this way (I teach students to formulate these implications in the form of a question to help their listeners come along with them during the sermon):

What is it about “the confession of our hope” that is worth holding onto?

Don’t assume that every congregant is aware of the inestimable worth of the Gospel and faith in Christ. Better to take a moment and remind them of what this confession means and why it is linked to biblical hope (desire and expectancy).

The same goes for the second implication in v. 23 which is connected to the first one. The only reason why any of this matter is because God promises something you and I really care about. And we’re going to help them care about it.

This illustration may help. If my wife, Michele, said to me, “I promise we’ll have lots of vegetables for lunch today,” I wouldn’t be too excited. I am not a huge fan of vegetables, except for corn, but being diabetic squashes that appetite! But, if she said, “I promise we’ll have lots of ice cream for lunch (notice I didn’t say, “with lunch”) today.” Then, because I love ice cream and because I know Michele keeps her word, I am going to believe her and be at the table at lunchtime [Yes, i realize I am being very inconsistent about being diabetic!].

So, whenever you can, search for meaning at the level of implications from the text. Usually those implications will make your sermon more robust theologically as you show how the text penetrates the heart of a listener.

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through your careful exposition of Sacred Scripture (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Learning to Think (and Preach?) Like Edwards: What I’m Learning From Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Early Sermons

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Edwards displayed comprehensive knowledge of Scripture and reasoning abilities.

A couple of weeks ago I posted the observation that Jonathan Edwards’s preaching did not spend much time on word studies. Instead, he used numerous Scripture to buttress his explanations of his selected text. Then, he bombarded his main concepts with powerful, but simplistic reasoning.

Let me show you a quick example from, what is so far, my favorite sermon of Edwards, Christian Safety, on Proverbs 29:25 “But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.”

God’s message is clear: “All those that thus trust in God are safe.” Edwards attacks the reality this way: “We shall show, first, what they are safe from; second, how they are safe.” (p. 456)

That outline is typical of Edwards. (An aside: if you’ve heard or read many of Tim Keller’s sermons, you might recognize some similarities in their approach.)

The first point contains four things: temporal evils, death, the devil, and hell. Edwards uses no proof-texts for these paragraphs. The first in the list, temporal evils, presents the toughest challenge for me. As I’ve mentioned before, what I love about this sermon is the way Edwards explains safety in a world of dangers: “worldly afflictions do often happen to them, but the evil of them don’t befall them. They may be exposed to difficulties, losses, and troubles, but he is not properly in danger of them.” (p. 456) I found this so helpful.

The second point contains three cross-references: 1 Peter 3:13; Isaiah 11:6-9; Mark 16:18. [Dispensationalists with a capital “D” will cringe reading Edwards’s statement: “That prophecy in Is. 11:6-9 is fulfilled upon all true Christians…”

Edwards’s third major point is, “Now follow the reasons of the doctrine.” (p. 459) This section is also loaded with proof-texts about how God protects us and Christ overcomes our enemies.

Anyway, every time I read Edwards’s sermons, he teaches me how to think better. I need that in order to keep functioning well as a pastor/theologian.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus as we work hard by His Spirit to preach and teach His Word (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Expository Preaching Should Always Reach Beyond Our Comprehension: What I’m Learning From Jonathan Edwards’s Earliest Sermons

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We are, after all, preaching about “God’s excellencies” every Sunday!

It’s been some time since I have written about what I’m learning from reading Jonathan Edwards’s earliest sermons.

One of those sermons was, God’s Excellencies, on Psalm 89:6

“For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord, and who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?”

Well, the answer, of course, is “Nobody can be compared to our Lord!”

In his introduction to that sermon, Kimnach, using Edwards’s own words, describes it as,

“a sermon in which the subject matter is frequently beyond ‘the outmost verge of our most outstretched thoughts.'” (p. 413)

Kimnach explains that one of Edwards’s favorite sermon themes was “the grandeur of God” (p. 414). No wonder Edwards spoke of going beyond the outer edges “of our most outstretched thoughts”!

This reminded me of the balancing act we attempt every Sunday with respect to expository preaching. If we are really preaching the Bible, not just from the Bible, our task requires finesse. We need to communicate the excellencies of our God, but those excellencies, according to Edwards, often extend beyond “the outmost verge of our most outstretched thoughts.”

Think Advent and incarnation!

One way to think about the effectiveness of our preaching is to assess the degree to which we can clearly present the excellencies of our God and just as clearly state that we haven’t done Him justice.

This gives our listeners the opportunity to worship in two ways. First, they can worship the Lord according to what they have just learned. Second, they can also worship the Lord by acknowledging that what they just learned doesn’t match His greatness.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus because of this exhilarating, Sunday morning tightrope walk (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Why I Encourage Preachers to Read the Best Theologians

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Bavinck’s one-volume is certainly a good one to read!

If someone asked me to suggest one thing to do to help improve their preaching, I would say:

“Be an avid reader of the best theologians.”

Here’s an example that shows the potential payoff…

The first part of Genesis 3:15 reads,

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring

Bavinck makes a very simple, but profound observation. He says that this is one of the earliest references to the grace of God in the Bible. He reminds readers of a kind of relationship that the serpent and Eve (and Adam) had earlier in the chapter. They were in agreement.

But God announces what He would do from that moment on in redemptive history: “I will put enmity between you and the woman…”

What would have happened to that relationship if God hadn’t graciously stepped in? The fact that God did step in and created enmity explains all dimensions of spiritual warfare and victory in the Christian life.

Sermons that say this are better. Period. I should have observed this through the years, but didn’t. I am indebted to Bavinck for seeing what I missed. This has happened a lot to me this past year as I have read him bit by bit.

Preachers who want to function as theologians for their flocks do well to devour the best theologians they can access and/or afford. Because…

  1. This helps stem the tide of theology-lite sermons created by steady diets of topical preaching in the name of almighty relevancy.
  2. It forces us to think theologically at a depth beyond the norm.
  3. It supplements our exegesis like nothing else I know of.

May our Lord continue to receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we do our best by His Spirit and with our Spirit-given abilities/opportunities to be the best theologians we can for the faith-families entrusted to our care.

Randal

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How Rules for Exegesis Affect Preaching

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The Implication of “Scripture’s exactness” on our preaching

If you’ve read some of my material through the years, you know that most of my reading centers on hermeneutics, exegesis, and theological studies. The reason is because I put a premium on those topics in the context of my preaching and teaching homiletics. The reason is because I value their contribution over most, purely homiletical writings. The reason is because of my conviction that precision is more important than presentation.

[Caveat: however, I work hard at both precision and presentation and realize that poor preaching can eclipse the exegetical/theological precision used in the sermon development stage.]

Last week I began reading, Biblical Reasoning: Christological and Trinitarian Rules for Exegesis, by R. B. Jamieson and Tyler R. Wittman.

Chapter 3 contains an interesting discussion of “Scripture’s Exactness” (p. 50). The section begins:

“Early Christian interpreters often spoke of Scripture’s ‘exactness’…to underscore divine teaching’s intentionality, reliability, and attention to detail” (p. 50).

The authors explore two implications of this concept.

First, God chooses His words very carefully. This is especially important when considering how many different authors, styles, and genres are in Scripture. God chooses those words very carefully (you will, no doubt, read this through the grid of your own view of inspiration).

Second, and I will quote them here, “what is taught carries a degree of precision that we must grasp” (p. 51).

Therefore, during sermon development it is important that I pay close attention to the words God uses to reveal Himself and His plan for His people. I cannot be a lazy reader, but a close reader of Scripture. That will serve my faith-family well as I prepare to read with them each Sunday.

The second implication for preaching is that, by God’s grace and the Spirit’s enablement, my precise understanding of Scripture must match Scripture’s precision. That almost always requires me and you to paraphrase and restate what God is saying precisely. That means you and I must choose our words and illustrations very carefully to be as precise as we can be. An example is our use of the word, trinity, or nature, words which may not be found in Hebrew, Aramaic, or Greek.

Anyway, I hope you get a taste of how a doctrine such as Scripture’s exactness affects our preaching. May our contemplation of God’s inspired revelation and its implication result in God receiving glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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You’ve Heard of Thinking on Your Feet, but What About Listening on Your Feet?

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Are you able to listen to the Lord while you preach?

A couple of Sunday’s ago I experienced one of those times when I thought of something new while I was preaching. It wasn’t in my notes; it wasn’t even on my radar (I hadn’t had a fleeting thought that didn’t make it into my notes, only to be recalled while preaching.) In this case it was an illustration that came to me, one that really helped drive home the point in the text. I attributed it to the Holy Spirit’s help, not to something gastro-intestinal.

You too have probably had this happen. While you’re preaching or teaching you think on your feet. It can be described just as accurately as listening on your feet.

So, what has to happen for you and me to listen to the Spirit and learn while I’m preaching?

First, I do not think we can control this. If I remember correctly, the wind blows wherever it wants to. There is no formula that guarantees the Spirit will teach you something new, something substantial, every time you preach/teach.

But here are some things that may make it possible for the Spirit to teach me while I preach.

  • I choose to believe that just because my official study time and sermon prep is over, I am not done learning. I want to remain teachable and eager to learn from the Lord, especially while I am preaching.
  • The better I know my material, the better I am able to listen to the Lord while I am preaching. A good handle on the material means I don’t have to think about what to say next.
  • My congregants have some good insights that teach me while I am preaching. There are many times when dialogue teaches me. I had not thought of it and the thought of it added to my sermon. Technically, you might say that that was not the Spirit but another Christian. I agree. For the sake of this post, let’s say that the Spirit taught them, so He indirectly taught me.
  • Finally, I can preach and think at the same time. I don’t mean thinking about what to say, but really think about the Text and what it means. Ask yourself whether you are able to think and learn while you’re preaching. I don’t have to stop studying, stop listening to God, because I started to preach.

Anyway, I hope that you are able to invite the Spirit of God to teach you while you preach and teach His Word. In my case a couple of Sunday’s ago, the Lord received glory in the church and Christ Jesus because I was listening on my feet (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Theological Depth By Implication

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Theological Depth Is Often Found Through Implication.

I have the privilege recently to be preaching through the early chapters of the Gospel of Matthew. In verses 13-16, Jesus teaches His listeners that they are salt and light.

Explicitly this teaches us about ourselves and how Christ has transformed us into new creations with new spiritual properties.

Implicitly this teaches us about our world.

One sermon segment then can focus attention on what our being salt and light implies concerning the condition of the world in which we live. The logic goes like this:

if we function as salt and light in the world this must imply something about what the world is made of.

The world must need salt and the world must need light. The world needs salt because the world’s substance is subject to decay, let’s say. The world needs light because it is in darkness (I found that one easier).

My point is that as you prepare for this coming Sunday, you can add some theological depth to your sermon by observing implications. God may be stating some things explicitly and you are able to draw conclusions even though God didn’t state that conclusion explicitly.

As is always the case when providing extra-textual data, the way to remain theologically sound is to be sure your implications can be substantiated in the broader context of Scripture. The case above, the implication might not be in Matthew 5:13-16, but it could be in other places in Matthew or in other places in the Canon of Scripture. This gives implication the same authority as the information in our preaching portions.

As you study this week look for strong implication and may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Continuing to Dig Deeper with our Exegesis: More Examples from Preaching Matthew

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Attempting to Add Additional Depth to our Exegetical Practices for Sermon Development

I am hoping that providing these examples of asking and answering questions as part of exegesis will help you dig deeper as you prepare to preach and teach the Scriptures.

I encountered another example as a result of preparing to preach today from Matthew 3:1-12, the John the Baptist narrative.

One of the key exegetical/theological aspects of the preaching portion is in v. 2, John’s sermon:

“Repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

If you’ve preached or taught this before then you’ve defined “repent” and also announced the logical connection created by the connector, “for.” It is because the kingdom of heaven has come near that everyone is called to repentance. You have also defined the kingdom of heaven.

Now, I have been promoting the need to dig a bit deeper by asking and answering additional “why” questions. The analysis above, while important, is not sufficient. In this case I want to ask,

“Why does the arrival of the kingdom of heaven warrant repentance?”

Could you answer that question? Do you see why that question is important for the sermon/lesson? Imagine critical sermon minutes devoted to things like an explanation of the kind of King Jesus is or the kind of kingdom He is creating or the kind of citizen that can occupy this kingdom.

An attempt at an answer is something like: “Only repentance from sin, a true turn from sin and turning to God, creates the kind of citizen that can inhabit the kind of Kingdom God is creating for His new world.”

I am hoping you can see how God can receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) with that kind of exegetical and theological depth.

Randal

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Adding Theological Depth To Your Preaching: Asking The “Why” Question Continued

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Learn to get below the surface of theological concepts like “sin.”

A couple of weeks ago I posted on how answering the “why” question can add theological depth to our preaching.

First, when I advocate adding theological depth, I am not talking about the common notion that “deep” preaching is difficult to understand. I am talking about fleshing out the implications of key doctrines in a preaching portion. One way to do that is to look for unanswered “why” questions.

For instance, this coming Sunday, Lord willing I will be preaching Matthew 1:18-25. Verse 21 reads,

“She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”

One question and answer that adds theological depth to preaching this section is,

“Why is being saved from our sins so important?”

The text does not tell us. We add theological depth by answering that question for our listeners.

Probably our theologically astute listeners will respond with something like: “Having Jesus save us from our sins is important because we are under the condemnation of God.”

Very true, of course.

But what about the sanctifying effect of being saved from our sins? Most of our listeners will not think about the devastating effects of sin in our daily lives.

Consider this standard definition of sin:

any lack of conformity to the character of God, whether by act, disposition, or state (a definition that I still remember from my first year of ministry training back in 1980!).

Notice what is missing in this definition. It’s not that it’s not accurate; it’s just not accurate enough. What’s missing is the soul-destroying, joy-destroying effect of sin. And so in a sermon we could say something like:

“Having Jesus save us from our sins is important because not only are we under the condemnation of God, we are also slaves to soul-destroying, joy-destroying sins.”

My point is that many preaching portions demand us to answer this kind of “why” question. And when we do, our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal