Category Archives: preaching

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Edwards’s Take on Slavery to Sin: What I’m Learning from Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Earliest Sermons

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Those Righteous-in-Christ Freed From Sin’s Slavery

I continue to read and study Jonathan Edwards’s earliest sermons as a way to feed my own soul and mind. He is making me a better theologian because of the depth of his thinking.

For instance, in the second recorded sermon in Kimnach’s volume 10, The Works of…, Edwards preaches from John 8:34 where Jesus says, “Whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin.”

Now, if you’ve spent some time preaching and teaching God’s Word you’ve probably encountered the concept of slavery to sin. Maybe in Paul’s letters? I have, but I’ve also struggled to drill down deep enough to be able to sufficiently explain the extent of spiritual slavery to sin.

Edwards states,

“Other masters have only the outward actions and have no dominion over their thoughts and wills, but sin enslaves the very soul, so that he believes, wills, loves, nor thinks nothing but what sin allows of and commands….”

and…

“Sin commands him to think of the pleasantness, of the enjoyments, of his lusts, the sweetness of sensual pleasure, of worldly riches, prosperity and ease, and herein the sinner obeys this tyrannical master.” (p. 344)

Edwards begins by contrasting human slave owners to sin. Since sin works from the inside out, it controls beliefs, wills, affections, and all thinking.

That’s deep.

The second quote shows how temptation works in our lives. It is frightening to think about having no ability to disobey such a cruel master.

Of course, all that explaining is designed for one thing: deter us from sinning. Or, turn it positive: to encourage our praise for so great a redemption!

So, I continue to read Edwards and ask myself things like: “Why don’t I think like that? Keep thinking about why he thinks like that. And don’t forget to do all that so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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If Ever Local Churches Needed Theologians, It’s Now!

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That’s Thomas Aquinas by the way.

I don’t know if you sense this, but it seems like the folks entrusted to our care need theologians more than ever. The circumstances of the past several months and now leading up to the inauguration of President-Elect Biden have created a kind of perfect storm in the country and in the Church.

As I’ve read the news and listened to some pulpit plans, including some actual sermons, I was feeling tempted to become something other than a theologian for the faith-family.

The topics being discussed were relevant for the day–COVID-19, severe racial, and political tension. Most parishioners were hearing and talking about it. However, I was struggling to prepare sermons in such a way that I could say, “This is what the Lord is saying…” At least to the degree that some parishioners wanted to hear.

For instance, one sermon I heard on politics began:

“You are welcome to disagree with me.”

So much for “Thus saith the Lord.”

It was important for me to keep focused in another direction. I quickly realized I wasn’t smart enough to sort through varying opinions about all these volatile matters. I was and remain convinced that the Holy Spirit could provide insight into what our faith-family needs to hear in order to flourish spiritually during turbulent times.

First, I set out to record the way in which the elements creating the perfect storm were affecting Believers.

Second, I set out to select the best Bible pericopes to address how the church was being affected.

By the grace of God may we continue to flex our God-given theological muscles at a critical moment in our church histories so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

P.S. I am praying now for you as you communicate God’s Word this coming week.

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Has the pandemic created any new preaching series?

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Don’t we wish!
Photo by Immo Wegmann on Unsplash

This morning was my second in a relatively short, but still-being-planned, preaching series that is the result of crazy times. My wife, Michele, created this title slide for the series:

Last Sunday the pollutant was unpredictability and we anchored ourselves in the sovereignty and providence of God. So many of our plans last year were disrupted by the virus but not His.

This morning we adjusted our focus away from physical health, the talk of virtually every day’s news, and onto our relationship with God who, according to Psalm 73 is the “strength of our heart” which may indeed fail, virus or no virus.

Never in my lifetime have I seen the quality of the air we breathe so poor. While I’m tired of remembering to take a mask everywhere I go and putting one on, the mask reminds me that there are toxins in the air attacking my faith. So, before resuming our Psalms series, I thought it best to address the church with such things.

How about you? I was wondering if you have already preached or plan to preach some kind of series based upon the unique context in which we’re walking with God.

May our Lord continue to give you wisdom to navigate more-difficult-than-normal times so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. I’d love to hear from some of you, but know your lives are extra busy too!

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“everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live”: Preaching Through Numbers

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When you preach through Numbers you’ll get a chance to preach about the fiery serpents!
Scary stuff, I know, right?!

Numbers 21 is famous for the fiery serpent scenes, culminating in the odd instruction from the Lord: “Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole, and everyone who is bitten, when he sees it, shall live.” (21:8)

The instruction from the Lord to Moses is the result of God’s people becoming impatient during their journey (v. 4). One of the most rewarding things about preaching through Numbers is the opportunities to address our common emotional reactions during our faith-journey in a badly broken world. Verses 4-5 describe our tendency to be short on patience.

This functions as one of those, “Go and do otherwise,” examples.

The Lord’s reaction to impatience seems excessive, don’t you think? I mean, the sin is only impatience. But, we’ve already seen in Numbers how the Lord feels about our grumbling and complaining. We shouldn’t be surprised by v. 6,

“Then the Lord sent fiery serpents…and they bit the people, so that many…died.”

You and I know the sequence all too well: we sin, God chastises us, and…

we confess our sin to the Lord (v. 7).

You’ll want to continue to allow your listeners the opportunity to think through the OT concept of a mediator–in this case Moses. They know God will listen to Moses. We know God hears our prayers.

Finally, the Lord’s answer and our hope is in vv. 8-9. As I said above, the Lord’s instruction is odd. Your favorite commentators will help you with the details and significance of the “bronze serpent.”

John 3:14-15 will show you how John reads those scenes and your parishioners will hear the call to faith once again as the key to their own daily spiritual healing and victory. Take a quick look at the immediate context before and after the famous scene and you’ll see victory for God’s people. God gives victory over sin and grace when we sin.

Our Christian experience, like that of our forefathers, is like that. May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you encourage your listeners every day to look and live.

Randal

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Ask a Lot of Great Questions: What I’m learning from reading Jonathan Edwards’s earliest sermons

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If you want to keep your worshipers engaged during the sermon, then…

I can’t remember the source and it’s been years. But someone rated the best sermons and discovered that one thing that they shared in common was a noticeably greater number of questions than lesser rated sermons.

Jonathan Edwards’s sermon, Value of Salvation, could qualify for an effective sermon that effectively uses questions to keep listeners engaged.

In the Doctrine section, Edwards’s second particular is: “The whole world shall have an end with respect to every particular person at death…all worldly pleasure…come[s] to an end.” (p. 313 in Kimnach’s volume 10 of The Works of Jonathan Edwards)

After stating that particular doctrine, Edward bombards his listeners with seven straight questions. He leads off with, “To what advantage, then, will be bags of gold and silver?” (p. 313). Then, six more questions follow, often a variation of, “What good will it do him then that…?” (p. 314). The seventh and final question ends the second particular doctrine and comes directly from Luke’s parable in chapter 16 about the rich man who built more barns to store all his goods: “…then whose shall those things be…?”

Each question drives home the point of doctrine. And if you and I ask the right questions at the right time, we are forcing our worshipers to engage.

There’s a reason why the best sermons contain the most questions. Engaging preachers and teachers engage their listens with great questions.

Lord willing, tomorrow many of us will begin preparing for the fourth Advent Sunday of this year. As you write your orascript, think about the kinds of questions you can ask your listeners to force them to think along with you about the greatest gift of our Lord Jesus Christ.

And may our God receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) by our attempts to bring our listeners into heartfelt worship.

Randal

P.S. And one more thing, when you ask questions during the sermon, ask them in a way that lets them know you really expect an answer. I actually expect them to answer, but whether you do or not, it’s critical to ask the question so they know you want them to think with you.

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Learning the Goodness of God in Joining Happiness to our Duty: What I’m Learning from Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Earliest Sermons

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What obeying God’s commands feels like unless we consider…

It still surprises me that Edwards’s first recorded sermon might be, Christian Happiness. That’s the last thing I expected out of such a serious Puritan!

What I now do expect from Edwards is rigorous theological thinking that urges me to love God supremely for all the right reasons.

Since God says in Isaiah 3:10 that it shall be well with the righteous person Edwards reasons, “They certainly are the wisest men that do those things that make most for their happiness.”

Makes perfect sense. When temptation strikes and I feel the pull toward unrighteousness, I am headed for unhappiness. Obedience to God–righteousness–seems very difficult. Edwards’s fourth inference is:

“Hence learn the great goodness of God in joining so great happiness to our duty” (p. 303, emphasis added).

It’s one thing to be motivated to right living by eternal happiness or it’s opposite, eternal torment. But Edwards says God has motivated us in a number of ways pertaining to this life now including…

“…but the thing required of us shall not only be easy but a pleasure and delight, even in the very doing of it. How much the goodness of God shines forth even in his commands!” (p. 304)

And, finally…

“All that he desires of us is that we would not be miserable, that we would [not] follow those courses which of themselves would end in misery, and that we would be happy” (p. 304).

Edwards has helped me see the importance of following God’s example of motivating obedience from the angle of our own happiness. And may our Lord use our efforts so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

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Thinking With Jonathan Edwards: What I’m Learning From Reading Edwards’s Earliest Sermons

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Jonathan Edwards certainly could have been called, The Thinker!

Quite often as I’m reading Jonathan Edwards’s sermons I come across the magnificent fruits of his capacity to think. Like this…

“…though they ben’t safe from those things that are in themselves evil, yet they are safe from the evil of those things” (Kimnach, vol. 10, p. 453, note 1).

The quote is from the sermon, Christian Safety, an exposition on Proverbs 29:25 “But whoso putteth trust in the Lord shall be safe.”

Our faith-family has heard this quote a few times in the past few years. I will probably mention it again tomorrow morning, Lord willing, because Psalm 48 highlights the protective power of God with all its imagery of citadels, fortresses, towers, and ramparts.

What I love about the quote is how succinctly and precisely Edwards stated what has been difficult for me to articulate. During COVID-19 times, think about how powerful this logic is. Though God’s children are not safe from the virus that is in itself evil, yet they are safe from the evil of that thing.

Last Sunday I tried my best in the pre-sermon–which, by the way, doesn’t technically count against my sermon time!–to ask the faith-family what they think about God being stronger than the virus. As expected, they got it. They said things like: God is strong enough to keep me from getting it, strong enough to get me through it, strong enough to take me home because of it. And if He chooses that route, He receives me unto Himself where we worship and await the new heavens and new earth.

“…though they ben’t safe from those things that are in themselves evil, yet they are safe from the evil of those things

In that sermon on Proverbs 29:25 Edwards said to his hearers:

“how happy it is to be so safe. Who would not get into that tower that will defend us from every evil thing?” (p. 462).

May God help us to think hard like Edwards did so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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“the people quarreled with Moses”: Preaching Through the Book of Numbers

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Preaching Numbers Prepares Us for Times When Leadership and Laity Butt Heads
Photo by Uriel Soberanes on Unsplash

If you’re reading some of these posts, I hope you’re getting a sense that there are lots of great reasons for preaching through Numbers. If not, I’m failing miserably!

You could preach through Numbers if you knew for sure that the narrative was relevant. However I also believe that some simply are not sure about how to make sense of such narratives.

So, with Numbers 20 as an example, can you see the following?

First, that what is happening between Moses and the people represents certain testing in the life of the people of God. In this case I labeled vv. 1-6 as the test of “this evil place.”

Second, that what God does is something that He always does. He keeps His promise to His own children. No child of God will ever experience lacking any good thing God ordains for them, including, of course, life eternal when all things are made new. I labeled vv. 7-9 as a glimpse of how our Lord provides. Look at the raw power God has at His disposal to meet our needs!

Third, that my own carnality could get in the way and I could be guilty of unbelief. Verse 12 says the leadership didn’t believe in God and present Him as holy to the people. Extremely sad. This is an example of almost believing in Him (vv. 10-13). No one is exempt from God’s punishment due to rebellion against Him.

I chose to preach all this under the umbrella of: “He will bring us into this land”: But Our Faith Will Be Tested.

Now, there are certainly other ways to preach this section. That means there are other connections between this narrative and your listeners. Without such connections, this can’t preach beyond being a history lesson. With such connections instead of talking to your listeners about the Bible, you are talking to them about them from the Bible.

To the degree that we do that, God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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The Two-Sided Benefits of Finding God: What I’m Learning From Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Earliest Sermons

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Learning to Preach Both Sides…

In Kimnach’s volume 10 (The Works of Jonathan Edwards), he includes a Fragment: On Seeking.

Even though we can’t read the usual doctrinal section, we have this fragment of a sermon application that shows Edwards preaching the two-sided benefits of seeking and finding God.

The two sides are: “…if you find God….

  1. You will find a Savior, and an everlasting sure defense from all evil…which when obtained, will effectually deliver one, and when delivered will eternally preserve and defend one, from all manner of evil.” (p. 382)

Edwards does his best to prove to his listeners that they would certainly seek after something that would do that in the physical realm (such as seeking after a medicine that would protect from a disease–think COVID-19!)

But it’s the second answer that helped me the most in my preaching.

2. “But second, if you find God, beside that you will find all good; you will not only be freed from all evil, but be brought to the possession of all good.” (p. 383)

And this is exactly what every one of our listeners is listening and looking for. And, of course, this is what temptation promises to give: ultimate happiness.

Edwards is a master at convincing his listeners that it is in their best interest to love God supremely. So, he defines God as “an infinite, self-sufficient, all-sufficient, essential, overflowing good: he is the source of all good.” (p. 383)

Thanks to Edwards I’m learning to preach both sides, protection from evil and possession of good.

May our Lord help us preach both sides of the same coin so He receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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What We Preach No Matter the Preaching Portion/Pericope

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Abe’s new book is very helpful, especially in the discussion about theology and application.

I decided to select Abe’s new book, A Manual for Preaching: The Journey from Text to Sermon, as one of the required textbooks for my upcoming sections of PAS 513 Advanced Homiletics (Lancaster and D.C. locations of Lancaster Bible College|Capital Seminary & Graduate School).

Abe does an excellent job summarizing the preaching task with respect to what happens each Sunday in church. Think about your preaching portion from this morning or the one you will be preaching on this coming Sunday. Can you see your preaching fitting into the following description?

“So each pericope [the section you’ve selected to preach on] is God’s gracious invitation to humankind to live in his ideal world by abiding by the thrust/force of that pericope–that is, the requirement of God’s ideal world as called for in that pericopal world segment (e.g., listening to/obeying only God’s voice, from 1 Sam. 15 [where King Saul failed miserably!]. And as humankind accepts that divine invitation and applies the thrust/force of the pericope, week by week and pericope by pericope God’s people are progressively and increasingly inhabiting this ideal world and adopting its values” (p. 29).

If we’ve selected them properly, our preaching portions contain “God’s gracious invitation” to our listeners to inhabit “his ideal world.”

That happens when we urge them to be or do what the pericope is requiring (what Abe calls its “thrust/force”).

Sunday after Sunday the cumulative affect is growing more and more into the likeness of Christ (“inhabiting this ideal world and adopting its values”).

Can you see why it’s impossible for congregations composed of some with “ears to hear” not to grow into a mature Body?

I can’t think of anything more fulfilling than being the mouthpiece for God’s invitation to live in his ideal world. And as we do that each weekend, may He receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal