My goal in this series is to list and briefly explain how three effective pastors reach both insiders and outsiders with the same insider-directed message. In other words, how do Edwards (as in, Jonathan), Lloyd-Jones, and Keller preach theologically loaded sermons to the saints and still manage to reach sinners? The three are not your typical seeker-sensitive preachers.

So far we’ve looked at the following aspects of their method:

1. Categorizing listeners according to their spiritual condition
2. Searching the hearts with probing questions
3. Motivating listeners through both love for God and fear of God
4. Attacking the sin behind the sins
5. Speaking the thoughts of sinners (both the justified and unjustified)
6. Identifying our idols
7. Showing how the Gospel works to recreate the human heart.

Now, #8 is: Contrasting what the world says with what God says.

A few weeks ago the concept of meekness came up in a preaching portion. Almost everyone knew the world’s take on it: meekness is________? Right. Meekness is weakness. Defining what biblical meekness is is one thing, a good and necessary component of biblical preaching. However, we are more effective when we can contrast God’s view of meekness with the world’s view on it.

Why does God’s salvation include such a character trait (another way of getting at #7 above)? Why does the human heart have an allergic reaction to it (another way of thinking about #5 above: “Because the weak get run over in the ‘real’ world!”)? Let your listeners see just how diametrically opposed God’s kingdom and the kingdom of darkness are. Let them know why the two are opposite and why the kingdom of God is the better quality of life (both here and now and in eternity). That kind of analysis is good for saint and sinner alike.

Preaching well for the sake of God’s reputation.

Randal