Category Archives: theology

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Preaching Why It’s Good To Be Godly: What I’m Learning from Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Early Sermons

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The Theology in, “Christian Happiness,” Edwards’s First Sermon

Edwards chose Isaiah 3:10 for his first text to preach on:

“Say unto the righteous, it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.”

As far as I can tell so far, Jonathan Edwards did not preach through books of the Bible. He selected texts very carefully. His texts were short like Isaiah 3:10. But they were theologically significant for providing foundations for Christian living.

Edwards’s sermon on Isaiah 3:10 is titled, Christian Happiness. The sermon shows Edwards’s skill at philosophy and theology. His philosophical side comes out in the first sentence:

“Reasonable beings, while they act as such, naturally choose those things which they are convinced are best for them…” (p. 296).

A large part of Edwards’s ministry is built on the assumption that “God always deals with men as reasonable creatures, and ever [word] in the Scriptures speaks to us as such” (p. 296).

Over and over again you’ll find Edwards reasoning at length with his listeners about every important matter of Christian faith and practice.

Part of Edwards’s genius–his theological side–is that his comprehensive knowledge of Scripture allows him to choose theologically loaded texts that display God’s reasonableness. So, in light of Isaiah 3:10 Edwards writes in the fourth sentence,

“in commanding of us he desires us to do nothing but what will be for our own advantage, our own profit and benefit, and frequently uses this argument with us to persuade us to obey his commands….and God, in our text, gives it as a special charge to assure the godly from Him that his godliness shall be of great advantage to him” (p. 296, emphasis added).

Look at this reasoning and ask yourself how many times it might find its way into other Scriptures and sermons. Before Sunday see if there are any commands. Remember that most of our listeners struggle with the notion that God’s commands are unreasonable. But we keep telling them otherwise!

May our Lord receive glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you apply such beautiful reasoning.

Randal

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Edwards’s Study Method: What I’m Learning From Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Early Sermons

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Apart from reading commentaries, how do you study?

On October 19, 1757 Edwards wrote to the trustees of the College at Princeton:

“My method of study, from my first beginning the work of the ministry, has been very much by writing….penning what appeared to me my best thoughts on innumerable subjects for my own benefit.” (Kimnach, p. 71, emphasis added).

Edwards didn’t say, “for sermon preparation.” He was preparing for sermons, of course, by studying for his own benefit. The sermon material was the result of all Edwards’s explorations of theological subjects.

I believe I’ve written before that many pastors are not reading substantial theological material and, therefore, not advancing their own theological understanding. It’s tempting, of course, to read church growth, leadership material, and other areas of interest.

But Edwards?

He was reading and writing all the time. You might be interested in one of his writing projects he called, “Harmony of the Old and New Testament” (p. 72). It had three parts:

  1. OT prophecies of the Messiah and how they came true.
  2. OT types of Christ and how so many objects, events, and people pointed to the Gospel.
  3. The final and longest portion was a harmony of the Old and New Testaments.

And if you’re wondering how comprehensive this study was and how it connected to preaching, Edwards continued:

“In the course of this work, I find there will be occasion for an explanation of a very great part of the holy Scriptures…to lead the mind to a view of the true spirit, design, life and soul of the Scriptures, as well as their proper use and improvement” (p. 72).

I guess I’ve got some work to do!

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) because of the way you study each week, first for your own benefit and then for your listeners.

Randal

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Becoming a Deep Theologian for Your Faith-Family

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Your Stack of Good Pastor-Theologians

Over the past several weeks these posts have been switching back and forth between help on preaching through Numbers (Ouch!), what I’m learning from Jonathan Edwards’s early sermons (Yes!), and what I’m learning from, Preaching That Matters (Interesting!). This week I’m combining the second and third categories. Here’s why…

Carrell writes,

“If your sermon communication content is going to be deeper, you are going to have to be deeper. Depth isn’t something you can borrow from a source you find on a website. As a spiritual leader, you must go as far below the surface as possible.” (p. 113).

I’m all in when it comes to having to become spiritual, intellectually, exegetically, and theologically deeper. It’s the middle sentence that arrested me, so let me nuance it a bit.

It’s true: you can’t borrow depth that doesn’t belong to you. Carrell states, “Speakers who live and breathe their subject matter are deeper” (p. 113). But you can gain depth through reading someone like Jonathan Edwards.

Certainly. Pick another pastor-theologian if you like or at least settle for a theologian. But have your favorites and read your favorites so that you learn to think like they think about the Scriptures and their listeners. You can’t borrow depth, but you can burrow deep into the depths of someone like Edwards on a regular basis.

“Why did he say that? What caused him to think like that?” That’s what I ask while I read him. And, over time, I begin to find myself going deeper.

I know I’ve said this before, but you realize that most pastors are reading more church growth and leadership material than they are reading deep theologians. Our deep preaching comes from deep thinking, which, for me, comes in a large part to deep reading.

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as a result of our Spirit-driven efforts.

Randal

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How Did He Think Like That?!?!: What I’m Learning From Reading the Early Sermons of Jonathan Edwards

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Christian Happiness, a sermon based on Isaiah 3:10, may be Edwards’s earliest sermon on record. The verse reads,

“Say unto the righteous, it shall be well with them: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.” (emphasis added)

The sermon begins with,

“Reasonable beings, while they act as such, naturally choose those things which they are convinced are best for them, and will certainly do those things which they know they had better do than leave undone.” (p. 296, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Vol. 10)

In typical Edwards fashion, he methodically unloads his logic on his listeners (two propositions of “doctrine,” five inferences of “use,” and two exhortations). Surely, every listeners is convinced that it’s in their best interest to be righteous!

But what caught my attention was the fourth inference:

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

How did Edwards think of this? What got him to this inference? And is it important for you and me that we figure this out?

Edwards thinks that there can be no happiness in this life if that happiness does not include doing the things righteous people do.

He states as Gospel fact:

“…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)

Imagine a God–Edwards refers to Him as “a master of extraordinary goodness”–who only desires our happiness and out of His goodness commands “us to do those things that will make us so” (p. 304)!

Well, not only do we imagine our God like that, we praise Him because He is like that. And we evaluate whether our attitude towards doing the will of God–“a pleasure and delight”–reflects that reality.

May that kind of deep thinking be a part of our weekly preparation and result in God receiving glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Deep And Clear Preaching: Developing Flathead Sermons

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I love this picture of Flathead Lake in Montana. It’s deceptively deep because it’s so clear. I want my sermons to be like that.

I’m not happy with this after-sermon comment: “Wow, Pastor! That sermon was deep!” There’s so many things potentially wrong with that as I’m sure you know.

What I treasure is the kind of comment I received recently from someone who visited our church when I was preaching a series of sermons through Romans 1-11. That morning I was preaching the middle of Romans 9 and that “easy” section on God’s prerogative to harden the heart of whomever He wants. A few weeks later he told me:

“I couldn’t believe you would preach that text. It was so clear. Thank you.”

“It was so clear.” Thank you, Lord!

Carrell (Preaching That Matters) has a chapter, Going Deeper, Not Wider. In the chapter she confirms our aversion to “deep” sermons, but urges: “when you are aiming for spiritual transformation and you have a choice between breadth and depth, go for depth” (p. 103).

Our allergic reaction to “deep” stems from confusing deep with confusing. I’m arguing for both deep and clear.

I guess we don’t have to worry about being too deep. Carrell writes,

“Not once in the comments from the more than thirty thousand listeners who have responded to sermons over these past several years has anyone ever said something that even begins to suggest: ‘That sermon content was just too deep for me'” (p. 104). [Of course, that could be a reflection of what a steady dose of topical preaching is doing to us!]

Depth will require that we be the best theologians we can be. Clarity will require us to be the best communicators we can be.

Flathead Lake reaches a depth of around 370 feet. It is also clear as crystal. Lord willing, in a couple of days we’ll be able to preach Flathead sermons.

Before Sunday check your manuscript for depth and clarity so God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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What I Learned From Listening To Nine Sermons In One Day!

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I recently returned from teaching a fine class of Doctor of Ministry students (Preaching the Literary Forms of the Bible track) at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. It’s always enjoyable and a privilege each May to join my good friend, Dr. Jeffrey Arthurs, for these days.

However, one of our responsibilities is listening to their sermons. My mentor, Dr. Haddon Robinson, once said that he had listened to so many bad sermons over the years, it’s a wonder he was still a Christian. He was half-joking. Thankfully, these students preached well.

But here’s what I observed from listening to nine of ten sermons in one day (All the sermons were dealing with preaching a narrative text.):

We have a tendency to spend too much time retelling the history of the text and not enough time telling the theology of the text.

If I remember correctly, I wrote that comment on virtually every sermon evaluation form.

It seems that instinctively (or due to training/modeling) we believe our task as preachers is to rehearse past redemptive history. Preachers keep their listeners in the past, learning about what happened in the Story.

WE’RE THEOLOGIANS, NOT HISTORIANS

I encouraged the class to think of themselves as theologians, not historians. That means, of course, that we’re able to write the sermon from the perspective of conveying theology, not history. That means we know how each part of the Story is functioning for the Church. That means we know how each part of the Story addresses our human condition as churchgoers. That means we are always talking to us about us from God’s Word. It’s never about God’s Word.

Next time you preach try to monitor yourself in the moment–are you sounding like a history lecture or a theologian/pastor?

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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When Our Theology Waters Down Christ’s Warnings

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If we’re not careful, our theology may cause us to water down Christ’s warnings in the Gospels. Let me give you two examples. I believe genuine Believers are eternally secure. But that belief can cause me to water down Jesus’ warnings. I believe in dispensationalism with a small “d.” But that belief can also cause me to water down Jesus’ warnings.

In Luke 17:20-37 Jesus answers a question about when “the kingdom of God would come” (v. 20). A strong warning is found in v. 32 “Remember Lot’s wife.” Like all of Luke’s Gospel (cf. 1:4 “that you may have certainty concerning the things you have been taught.”), Luke records this discussion about the arrival of the Kingdom of God so we would be sure we will enter it when it comes.

However, it’s possible that our theology might cause us to say to our congregants: “That’s a warning that need not be heeded.”

Over the years, I’ve tried not to allow my belief in eternal security or my brand of dispensationalism to water down Jesus’ warnings. Rather than allow my theology to cancel out the warnings, I’ve worked hard to give the warnings full force while maintaining my theology.

That means the question for me is no longer, “Are we eternally secure?”, but, rather, “How are we eternally secure?” Part of being eternally secure means heeding Jesus’ warnings and not being like Lot’s wife. In order to be ready for the arrival of the Kingdom of God, I must not allow anything in this fallen world to capture my affections.

And, as far as dispensationalism goes, the mindset and faith Jesus describes as necessary for salvation at His Second Coming is the same mindset and faith needed to be ready for salvation-by-Rapture. V. 33 makes this clear: “Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”

Before Sunday, see if your preaching portion contains any warnings and ask yourself if you are giving them full force.

Preach well for the sake of God’s reputation.

Randal

This post originally appeared on December 14, 2014.

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Preaching the Davidic/Solomonic Kingship: Preaching Through 1 Chronicles

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I admit: the title of this blog post is not sermon-friendly.

My own title for 1 Chronicles 17:1-15 was: “Direct our hearts toward you, Lord”: Living Life In God’s Eternal Kingdom.

1 Chronicles 17 is one of the more significant chapters in the OT. That’s because it contains information about the promises God made to David concerning his dynasty.

The most important aspect of preaching the Davidic/Solomonic Covenant is showing how everything God promised us in Christ, the Son of David, is guaranteed because of what God promised to do for David and his son, Solomon. David’s dynasty would be eternal which means it’s still active every Sunday morning.

This is a case where biblical theology is as important, if not more important, than exegesis.

 

So, here’s a way to approach this chapter:

  1. Our need for God’s kingdom (vv. 1-10a). Verses 8-9 describe the fact of God’s powerful presence to defeat Israel’s enemies (especially, “violent men”). The warfare which began in Genesis 3:1ff. and the promised victories of Gen. 3:15 and 1 Corinthians 15:24ff. provide the context for the Church’s current situation and ultimate hope.
  2. Our need for a King in God’s kingdom (vv. 10b-12). It is very difficult to preach this point in a democratic society like the U.S. I spent some minutes reviewing why Israel wanted a king in the first place (cf. 1 Sam. 8:20, “…fight our battles”). Most important is the fact that God’s chosen king rules in a “kingship within God’s kingly rule” (Bock & Blaising). The Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology speaks of the significant “role of a royal covenant mediator in the person of the king.” We don’t access God’s kingdom and all the benefits of God’s rule apart from a Mediator.
  3. Our life as citizens in God’s kingdom (vv. 13-15). Here is the place to show that the special adoption language describing God’s relationship to the king applies to us (“…I will not take my steadfast love from him…”).

Finally, you may want to move from the son of David (Solomon) to the Son of David (Christ in Matt. 1:1, 17, 20) who is declared the Son of God (Matt. 3:17) who makes living in God’s kingdom possible.

I hope this provides the kind of framework that can help the Church make sense of the Davidic Covenant so God receives glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Utilize This Resource To Add Practical Theology To Your Sermons

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1108.LutherSCex.jpg-550x0

Two things have come together to create this post: reading Joel Green’s, Practicing Theological Interpretation and Trueman’s, Luther on the Christian Life.

Well, actually, three things. The third one is my discussion last week with a young pastor who will begin his first pastoral post in about a month.

Let me start with the third factor. In talking about how to gain depth for preaching, I mentioned how important it is to read theology. The temptation for pastors is to read only for church growth, leadership, or commentaries for sermon helps. Over the years I’ve discovered how important it is to find in-depth theological works. These aids are tremendously helpful as a supplement to what would be considered normal exegetical work.

One place you may want to turn is to ancient catechisms. Green writes, “a theological hermeneutic might be well advised to ask, ‘What do we see as we read Scripture through the prism of the creeds that we would not otherwise see?'” (p. 80). Just as the creeds help flesh out interpretation and application of Scripture, so do catechisms.

Take, for instance, Luther’s catechism. Our Theology Readers’ Breakfast just completed a study of Trueman’s book, Luther on the Christian Life. The entries contain an intriguing combination of theology and practical application–practical theology.

Luther’s catechism is especially helpful because as Trueman states, “Luther was the first author of a catechism in the history of the church who came to the task as a father.” (p. 111) He writes for his children. But listen for the combination of theology and practical application.

“You shall have no other gods.”

What does this mean?

Answer: We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things.

Or…

“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain.”

What does this mean?

Answer: We should fear and love God, and so we should not use his name to curse, swear, practice magic, lie, or deceive, but in every time of need call upon him, pray to him, praise him, and give him thanks.” (p. 111).

In both cases, notice that Luther begins with fearing and loving God. I would normally begin discussion of the first commandment with some minutes devoted to worshiping God. In the second case, notice the list of positive applicational actions.

So, as you study for Sunday’s sermon(s), ask yourself if anything in your preaching portion might necessitate some help from a good theology book or from an ancient catechism like Luther’s. And may our preaching contribute to God receiving glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal