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More Than Word Studies: What I’m Learning from Reading Jonathan Edwards’s Early Sermons

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Comprehensive Meaning Means More Than Word Studies.

It’s been a long time since I have mentioned the fact that Jonathan Edwards did not do a lot of word studies. This caught my eye again in his sermon, Christian Safety. The sermon covers Proverbs 29:25, “But whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe” (using the old language).

First, you might appreciate reading what I consider to be my favorite quote so far from Edwards. It pertains to how God keeps His children safe in a badly broken world where so many bad things happen. In footnote 1 on page 453 (Kimnach’s volume 10 of The Works of Jonathan Edwards) is:

“Though they ben’t safe from those things that are in themselves evil, yet they are safe from the evil of those things.”

It’s the best explanation I’ve ever read or heard. I hope you like it and can use it.

Second, when Edwards defines “trust,” he moves way beyond a word-study approach. He asks the simple question, “What is trust in God?” (p. 454). He answers the question first, by what it is not and then what it is. I probably would have only hit the second part.

But Edwards talks about trust “not barely” desiring or hoping that God would deliver and bless us. It’s like saying, “Well, I hope so.” That’s not biblical trust.

Then, he moves to present seven characteristics of true trust. The one that surprised me was #5: “A love to God: there is no such thing as trusting in God, as long as we are enemies to him and hate him” (p. 455).

Very little of this involves word studies; most of it requires intense thinking about the nature of saving faith–what it isn’t and what it is. All this results in a comprehensive understanding of a crucial Christian concept.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we try to present comprehensive understanding the mirrors much of Edwards’s genius.

Randal

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An Unexpected Source for Learning how the Cross Gives Life

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Some Cross-Eyed Readings

A few years ago my youngest daughter and her husband bought me a copy of, The Valley of Vision: A Collection of Puritan Prayers & Devotions. In the prayer, Love Lustres At Calvary, I came across an unexpected tutorial in how to move from the cross of Christ to the benefits His death provides.

I find that these kind of examples help me connect text to Christ to some element of salvation contained in the text.

In that prayer there are 18 “that I might” statements. In general they’re like: Christ died “that I might” experience some benefit of His death.

Here are a few of them to give you a sense of what this move might sound like:

“Christ was all anguish that I might be all joy,

cast off that I might be brought in,

trodden down as an enemy that I might be welcomed as a friend,

surrendered to hell’s worst that I might attain heaven’s best,

stripped that I might be closed,

wounded that I might be healed,

athirst that I might drink,

tormented that I might be comforted…” (pp. 76-77)

I have found that this kind of formula helps me know what to look for in a preaching portion. The text contains some link to Christ-crucified and that link moves me to a “that I might…” statement of an element of salvation.

Watch your congregants’s faces reflect their gratitude to God for providing His Son. The author of the prayer states,

“All this transfer thy love designed and accomplished; Help me to adore thee by lips and life.” (p. 77)

Not only do cross-eyed readings like this illicit faith-first response to the text, but they also urge our listeners to love God more.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we perform cross-eyed readings each Sunday.

Randal

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We Practice Theological Interpretation When We Preach (whether we know it or not)

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For the past several years, because of my preaching and teaching duties, I have been enamored with theological interpretation (TI). My recent Ph.D. studies at LBC|Capital created even more time to investigate this as part of my dissertation.

Is it important? Yes, it is.

Because while TI might be more than showing how Scripture functions for the church, it can’t be less than that according to all my research to date. This means that TI forms a foundation for any attempts to apply Scripture.

So, if you asked me, “What kind of book on TI should I read first?” I would answer:

Scripture As Real Presence: Sacramental Exegesis in the Early Church by Hans Boersma.

The reason is because pre-modern interpreters–and Boersma–understand Christ to be the key to interpreting Scripture for the church.

If you’re interested in preaching or teaching from the Old Testament, you should note Boersma’s argument:

“that the church fathers were deeply invested in reading the Old Testament Scriptures as a sacrament, whose historical basis or surface level participates in the mystery of the New Testament reality of the Christ event.” (p. xiii)

Some of the primary material is tough to read through, but the book is so helpful for those of us who feed flocks on Sunday from the Old Testament. And, if you’ve studied preaching with me then you will appreciate another look at a hermeneutic that arrives at application “by moving from the Old Testament, via Christ, to the situation of today” (p. xiv).

Well, anyway. When you read, Scripture As Real Presence, you will encounter hermeneutical/homiletical concepts such as:

“sacramental hermeneutic” (pp. 12-13)

“christological/ecclesial allegorizing” (p. 91) [which is important because most of our exposure to the allegorical method is from a “what’s wrong with it” perspective.

“‘christo-ecclesiological’ form of exegesis (p. 148)

“the doctrine of totus Christus–the ‘whole Christ'” (p. 152)

All these concepts will help you think about the relationship between meaning and application, something that you and I engage in every week.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as you communicate the results of theological interpretation.

Randal

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Ready for Another Year of Fast-Paced Weeks of Sermon Prep?!

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Sunday’s come so quickly!
Suggestions to handle the pace

Are you ready for another year of preaching Sunday to Sunday?

If you are a preaching pastor, you know that Sundays come so quickly. It is tough to keep up this pace week after week. Here are some things I do to work effectively and efficiently each week:

  1. Keep improving your own exegetical skills. This takes time, but saves time in the long run when it’s time to consult commentaries (later in the post). The more quality exegesis you do, the less you need the help of scholars.
  2. Identify the big idea (or whatever you call it) and intention of the preaching portion on Monday morning. For years I have taught a Monday morning ritual to aspiring and accomplished expositors that reverses normal sermon preparation sequencing (begin by gathering exegetical fragments, but wait until the end of the week to put it all together). Try locating the meaning of the pericope and what it intends to do to the church early. Then you will know how the fragments fit. It addresses the ole, “I’ve got lots of notes but no sermon yet,” end of the week syndrome.
  3. Use the best commentaries efficiently. This implies that you know how to find them. Access copies of the two OT and NT commentary surveys by Longman and Carson, respectively. Since you’re improving your exegetical skills, you read the best commentaries to locate only what you’ve missed. You can read faster than you would if you were relying on the commentators to find meaning and intention.
  4. Write your sermon while you study. This is the best thing I have learned through the years. I never study for a sermon without creating the manuscript in real time. As I execute my method, I write as if I were preaching.

Sundays come so quickly. I hope you will consider these four tips and I know our Lord will receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus through your efforts (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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Lessons from Listening to Student Sermons

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Two Observations and Suggestions from Watching Another Round of Student Sermons.

No offense to my recent students, but my mentor and long-time homiletics professor, the late Dr. Haddon Robinson, once said:

“I’ve listened to so many bad sermons in my lifetime, it’s a miracle that I am still a Christian.”

I’m pretty sure he was only half joking.

Last week I had the privilege of listening to many good sermons preached in my Advanced Homiletics class. Here are a couple of observations and suggestions:

  1. Introductions usually are too long in proportion to the number of sermon minutes. Novice preachers tend to create sermon introductions that are too long. This tendency might be caused by a failure to think carefully about what introductions must do. It also appears that preachers think introductions are more valuable than they really are. A sermon introduction must do two things: (1) introduce the subject of the sermon and (2) tell why listeners need to hear that subject matter [a bonus (3) could be telling them the worship response: “We worship this morning by ____________.” In light of what I just experienced, my suggestion is to shorten your sermon introductions.
  2. The segment between the introduction and the first point is too long. Again, the more inexperienced preachers seem bent on spending precious sermon minutes on contextual or background information. Part of the reason might be what the students are used to hearing from their professors or from reading commentaries. My standard rule in class is, only supply contextual/background-type information that is critical for interpreting your preaching portion. My suggestion is before placing contextual or background information in the sermon, ask yourself, “Could I understand the meaning of this text without this piece of background information?” If the answer is, “yes,” then leave it out of the sermon.

As you can tell, I am a huge fan of saving sermon minutes for the theological interpretation of Scripture. And that clock sure moves quickly on Sundays!

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as a result of our evaluations and striving to preaching well.

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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Why BAGD Is Important For Preaching

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The standard Greek Lexicon is extremely helpful for the definition of key terms.

I currently have the privilege of teaching another Advanced Homiletics class to Masters level students at Lancaster Bible College | Capital Seminary & Graduate School.

During a recent residency I warned the class that an annual complaint of mine is that students at this level are rarely using the best sources for conversation partners (commentaries, etc.).

One of those quality sources is an old standard lexicon I call BAGD.

I wrote it out that way when I was in seminary in the ’80’s after the order of the last names of the four authors listed on the front cover of the book. Many called it, BDAG (pronouncing it “bee-dag”). As you can see from the image, only half as many authors are listed now.

But, what is more important is how useful this tool is for foundational exegetical work. Here’s an example…

This past Sunday I was preaching Colossians 1:9-11 which contains the concept of God’s will. Listen to the precision of BAGD’s definition:

“What [God] wishes to bring about by the activity of others, to whom [He] assigns a task.”

I think many of us could have gotten the part of God’s will reflecting what He wants to do. But notice how BAGD includes the thought of what He wants to do through an assigned task. It was a simple step for me to recite this definition and then ask all of us if we are aware of the task God has assigned to us. Then, one step further, of course, to accomplishing that task.

You might be one of my readers who regularly uses such lexicons like this. You know how valuable it is. If you are not in the habit of using it, consider it. The Logos version is helpful because of how everything is linked to biblical texts. The search-ability is priceless.

And you will be rewarded with precise definitions that will add clarity to your preaching. That, in turn, will help ensure that God receives glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21).

Randal

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At the Start of a New Homiletics Class I Am Reminded That…

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There’s nothing better than studying preaching together!

I am extremely fortunate for another opportunity to meet a class of preaching students at LBC|Capital. We are just completing week #2 and are headed into residency week. It will be great to see everyone face-to-face.

Gearing up for the course and evaluating the work being turned in provides a chance for me to review some of the more important aspects of preaching. So, at the beginning of this new Advanced Homiletics class I am reminded that…

  1. it’s extremely helpful to think about intention as a part of your exegesis. That way you don’t separate your exegesis from your application and application doesn’t have to come last in the process.
  2. the amount of verses you select for preaching can either help or hinder your ability to identify the theology of a preaching portion. Cutting the text too short or too long can create problems.
  3. your method of sermon preparation should include a way for you to distinguish between big and little ideas in your text. And, then, of course, you need to be able to show how all sized ideas interrelate to make meaning.
  4. finding the meaning of a passage begins, not by searching for what the meaning is, but how the meaning is made (how the structure of the particular genre of your preaching portion communicates).
  5. when Christ-centered preaching is done well, your listeners will never leave church as good moralists.

That’s probably enough for now, but I do love thinking about some of the key elements to developing a sermon that represents God well.

And may our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus as a result of the way in which you read and communicate the sacred Scriptures (Ephesians 3:21),

Randal

P.S. If you’re free this coming Friday or Saturday, whether for the day, half-day, or even an hour or so, find PAS 513 Advanced Homiletics in LBC|Capital’s Lancaster campus (2nd floor of the academic building).

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How What Evangelicals Currently Believe Affects Our Preaching

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The current State of Theology helps us know the doctrines in danger.

In preparing for some new disciple-making initiatives in the coming year, a colleague of mine at church and I have been collecting some data on what Evangelicals believe. In the process of skimming some of the findings, I realized how important this data can be for our preaching.

[For years, I have watched the survey results reveal a slow, but steady movement away from orthodox beliefs. This has caused me to see at least part of my preaching ministry as an attempt to keep my listeners from losing important aspects of the Christian faith.]

If you’re interested, I suggest you look at what Ligonier and Lifeway present about the State of Theology (thestateoftheology.com).

What you will find is that Evangelicals are moving away from traditional beliefs about Christology, including things as foundational as whether or not Jesus was created by God.

When I presented some the findings to our Wednesday night crowd, two folks quickly replied: “Well, I wonder how the survey defined ‘Evangelical’?” That’s a very common Fundamentalist reaction. My reply was that it doesn’t matter. Even if the word wasn’t defined as tightly as some of us might want, the stats still show that some of our parishioners might be experiencing a similar shift.

If you’ve used such info before, then you know that the survey answers help us know what doctrines we need to highlight in our preaching. For instance, in one recent survey I saw, three of the five questions/answers involved the Person and work of Christ.

May our Lord receive glory in the church and in Christ Jesus (Ephesians 3:21) as we accurately preach Christ as God portrays Him in His Word.

Randal