Meet The Puritans

A Meditation Upon Preaching

Posted on 17. Sep, 2009 by Danny Hyde in Book Reviews

If you have never heard a sermon from Edward Donnelly you are missing out. Rev. Donnelly is the pastor of  Trinity Reformed Presbyterian Church, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland, as well as Professor at Reformed Theological College in Belfast. In the latest issue of The Banner of Truth, Rev. Donnelly has an article entitled, “A Master Preacher” (The Banner of Truth 553 [October 2009]: 14–15), in which he says the following:

Many speak from pulpits—but they do not preach the gospel. They suggest that their hearers try to be good. They recommend self-fulfilment and getting rid of inhibitions. They may offer whimsical comments on current events or new-age spirituality with a Christian veneer. Some choose to ridicule the supernatural or attack the absolutes of God’s law. But there is no declaration of what God has done in Christ for the salvation of the lost. There is not a word of grace or of real hope. Their poor people listen in ignorance and die in their sins.

Some do preach the gospel—but not powerfully. These are good men, eager to be faithful. They have trusted Christ for themselves and know that they are commissioned to proclaim him as Saviour to others. But most of their regular listeners are professing Christians and there seems little point in telling them again what they already know. So the gospel tends to be tacked on to sermons which are designed primarily for believers. It becomes the predictable formula with which every message closes. The idea is that, if a casual visitor attends the service, enough information will be provided about salvation to enable him or her to come to faith. But no-one really expects this to happen. Many ministers will admit that they feel more comfortable in teaching Christians than when they are preaching evangelistically. This awkwardness is reflected in their sermons and they communicate the gospel in a hesitant and ineffective way.

Rev. Donnelly’s words have humbled me today. I pray the Holy Spirit works in me and that I fan into flame my gift to preach the gospel and to do so with power. This article has also done what a good article should do: lead me back to Scripture. As I prepared to prepare a sermon today, I meditated upon the words of 1 Corinthians 1:18–2:5 for the umpteenth time. What have I learned again?

I have learned just how amazing our God is! Pause and reflect with me upon the depths of his wisdom. He has chosen a message—the work of our Lord Jesus Christ—he has chosen a method—audible preaching—he has chosen messengers—men like Paul, men like you, men like me, whom Paul calls “fools for Christ” in 4:10—and he has chosen masses—those who are saved through the above—and all of these are admittedly weak, lowly, despised, and powerless as far as human opinion goes.

Because of this I have learned that I need to trust God’s promise to work through me, his messenger here at the Oceanside United Reformed Church, and to be obedient to his calling upon my life to utilize his method and to preach his message. Period. End of story! I need to get out of the way and let God do his work. I need to decrease so that he can increase. I need to become a fool that his wisdom may shine. I need to be humbled that he may be exalted.

I have also learned how to preach and to do so in power. As Paul says in these verses—and as Hywel Jones once preached at the Chapel of Westminster Seminary—the keys are two: close living and plain speaking. We as pastors need to live “among” our people as Paul did, as a shepherd does with his sheep, as our Lord has done with us. We need to be among our people in “weakness and fear,” being humble yet reverent, accessible yet serious. We need to preach Christ in plainness of speech that there is no doubt that what people have heard is not only words about Christ but the word of Christ.

Will you fall down with me in adoring this amazing God? Will you believe with me that our God can and will do amazing things through us when we get out of his way? Will you dedicate yourself alongside of me that we will live among and love our people and that we will preach Christ and the riches of our life in him?

May God grant his Spirit to me, to you, and to a generation of pastors to do so. Amen.

Tags: pastoral ministry, preaching