哥林多前书14 章的主题是作先知讲道。这是什么意思？是预言未来还没有发生的事吗？还是其他的意思？
以下是 14 章对作先知讲道的描述：
1）说造就、安慰、劝勉人的话（林前 14:3）
2）是造就教会的话（林前 14:4）
3）是教导人的话（林前 14:19）
4）是给其他信徒的印证（林前 14:22）
5）是为了劝勉不信的人（林前 14:24）
6）在一个聚会里只有两个，最多三个人说的，而且是轮流的，不是同声的（林前 14:29）
7）是教导人道理和劝勉人的（林前 14:31）
8）是要规规矩矩，按着次序行的（林前 14:40）
根据这些描述，我们可以知道在新约教会时代里，作先知讲道不是预言未来还没有发生的事，而是讲造就教会的话。
陈忠道对新约作先知讲道定意的好：“新约先知的讲道只是照着圣灵的教导，运用神赐的智慧与悟性领会神的话，解明神的信息。（圣灵的工作，陈终道，108）。
Pastoral ministry is tough, what must you do to be a good servant of Christ Jesus?
Author: Ken Yeo
Date: 2022-11-26
Preaching is in danger in the 21st century. In his 1982 influential book, John Scott laid out three contemporary objectives for preaching.[1] First, society is increasing anti-authority. People believe everything is relative and subjective.[2] Second, technology like television and computer has distracted people’s attention from preaching. It is even more true today with the explosive use of mobile phones with videos and social media apps. Third, the Church has lost its confidence in the Gospel. As a result, many pastors are constantly tempted to rob their time of sermon preparation to serve in other capacities like administration, running church programs, counseling, and visitations. My thesis of this paper is to present biblical, theological, and logical arguments on why preaching is still necessary for the 21st century.
Since I will be arguing for the necessity of preaching, it is important to have a definition of it. Preaching is one of the many different types of ministries of the Word. The New Testament primarily uses three Greek verbs for preaching: euangelizomai, katangello, and kerysso.[3] The most prominent of the three is kerysso.
I will use Dr. Warren’s definition of expository preaching for this paper: “The communication of a biblical proposition discovered from a Spirit-directed exegetical/theological interpretation of a biblical text (or texts) and applied by the Holy Spirit through a preacher to a specific audience for the glory of God.”[4]
God is the God who speaks. He spoke this universe into existence (Gen 1:1-31; Ps 33:9; Heb 11:3) and used His Word to make covenants with men (Gen 12:1; Ex 24:3-8; 2 Sam 7:8-16). In the Old Testament, God spoke through His chosen prophets. In the New Testament, God spoke through Christ and His disciples.
God did not only speak; He also instructed His messengers to write down His Word. For example, God instructed Moses, “Write these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and with Israel.” (Ex 34:27). Similarly, God instructed Jeremiah, “Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you.” (Jer 30:2).
Likewise, in the New Covenant, God continued to speak through the first generation of Christ’s disciples, and they wrote down God’s Word so that future generations would know about the person and the work of Christ (Luke 1:1-4; Col 4:16; Rev 1:3). Paul as a minister in the New Covenant, taught that all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness for the church (2 Tim 3:16).
God spoke through the prophets in the Old Testament and through His Son in the New Testament (Heb 1:1-2). Jesus’s preaching is a crucial part of His ministry. When people heard that Jesus could perform miracles, they started to look for Him. But Christ told his disciples, “Let us go on to the next towns, that I may preach there also, for that is what I came for.” (Mark 1:38-39).
Jesus did not only preach the Word of God; He also called and sent His disciples to preach His Word (Mark 3:14-15). Preaching became even more important after Christ ascended into heaven because He was no longer physically present on earth. Preaching has been vital in the assembly of God’s people since the beginning of the church. A significant event at the church’s beginning was Peter’s preaching, which converted 3000 (Acts 1:41). When the apostles faced other responsibilities, they recognized that their primary ministries were to preach and pray (Acts 6:2-4).
Not only did the apostles view preaching as their primary calling, but they also instructed the next generations of preachers to do the same. Paul urged Timothy to be ready in season and out of season to preach the word to reprove, rebuke, and exhort the church (2 Tim 4:1-2). The training of preachers is to be continued from one generation of preachers to the next (2 Tim 2:2).
Before the Christian canon was completed, Christ spoke directly to the apostles (Gal 1:11-12). The apostles’ ministries were to write (Rom 1:2; 4:3) and preach (Acts 17:2) the revealed Word of God. However, after the Christian canon was completed, God no longer gave new revelation to His church. Therefore, the preacher’s task is not to preach new revelation but to preach God’s written Word in the Scripture and apply it to their listeners.
God has called men as pastors to preach His Word throughout the church’s history. Although Pastors have other responsibilities, their chief task is “fully carry out the preaching of the word of God” (NASB, Col 1:25). They will be judged by their faithfulness to that calling.[5]
My biblical argument is that preaching is necessary for the 21st century because it is God’s ordained method of communication to His church. God has spoken, His Word has been written, and He has called His messengers throughout biblical history to speak His Word. After the close of the Christian canon, God continues to speak when preachers faithfully expound and apply God’s written Word to listeners. Next, we will discuss the theological arguments.
First, preaching is necessary because preaching is theological. Lloyd-Jones wrote, “the ultimate justification for asserting the primacy of preaching is theological.”[6] He argues that men’s real needs are not physical but spiritual. The only real solution to men’s needs is for them to hear and understand the theology in the Scripture[7]. Many agencies in the world can solve men’s many problems. But only the Church alone can solve the spiritual problem, the real needs of men. And the primary method God has ordained the church to deliver the theology is through preaching (1 Tim 2:3-7).
Second, preaching is necessary because the doctrine of inerrancy demands the primacy of preaching in the church. John MacArthur wrote, “the only logical response to inerrant Scripture, then, is to preach it expositionally.”[8]
Third, preaching is necessary because it is the means of salvation, both in justification and sanctification (Cor 1:28). We are saved on the redemption work of Christ on the cross. But if there is no preaching, the cross of Christ would be emptied of its power. When the word of the cross is preached, the power of God is manifested to us who are being saved (1 Cor 1:17-18). Furthermore, young believers are like newborn infants, they need pure spiritual milk, the word of God, to grow up into salvation, and the word is delivered through preaching (1 Pet 1:25-2:2).
Fourth, preaching is necessary because it is one of the marks of the church. Referring to Martin Luther, Edmund Clowney wrote, “The ministry of the Word and sacraments is, he says, ’a perpetual mark and characteristic of the Church.’”[9] Without preaching, there is no church.
In summary, preaching is necessary because it is theological, it is the practical expression of the doctrine of inerrancy, and it is one of the means of salvation and marks of the church. Next, we will discuss the logical arguments.
First, preaching is necessary in this postmodern world because God’s Word is better than the world’s philosophy. Paul wrote in response to the Greek philosophers’ scoffing at his preaching (Acts 17:18), “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?” (1 Cor 1:20). Tim Keller, who preached in New York, a hotbed for worldly, made an experienced observation, “No one believes those worldviews anymore. Such will always be the case. The philosophies of the world will come and go, rise and fall, but the wisdom we preach – the Word of God – will still be there.”[10]
Second, preaching is necessary because teaching is not preaching. The fact that preaching and teaching often appear together in Scripture (Matt 4:23; 1 Tim 5:17) implies they are related but different. Preaching involves three characteristics that are not always involved in teaching: exhortation, evangelism, and exultation. Exhortation urges hearers to repent and obey; evangelism heralds the Gospel to non-believers, and exultation leads God’s people to worship.[11]
Third, preaching is necessary because the testimony of the church’s history is that the strength of the church is directly related to the strength of the pulpit. John Broadus wrote in 1870, “When the message from the pulpit has been uncertain and faltering, the church has been weak; when the pulpit has given a positive, declarative message, the church has been strong.”[12] Almost a hundred and fifty years later, Steve Lawson made the same observation: “No church can rise any higher than its pulpit. The spiritual life of any congregation and its growth in grace will never exceed the high-water mark set by its pulpit.”[13] A revival of true preaching has always heralded the revival in the church’s history.[14] Without preaching, there will be no revival in the church.
Fourth, preaching is necessary because God’s people need a bridge to connect the biblical world to their world. That is the thesis of John Stott’s book, Between Two Worlds. Preaching connects two worlds divided by a deep rift of time, the biblical and modern. Without preaching, many people will find the Bible irrelevant.[15]
Fifth, preaching is necessary because the Word of God needs to be proclaimed. People are confused about what the truth is. They are taught that truth is relative to the viewpoint of the person. Fake news on the Internet makes things worse. Personal and small group bible study is not sufficient. People are hungry for the truth to be heralded from the pulpit in a public setting. John Woodbridge wrote, “In today’s spiritually starved world, the need is patent for preachers of unimpeachable integrity who preach with full confidence in the authority and power of the Word of God and who desire to witness Scripture’s “great and glorious fruit” poured out.”[16]
Lastly, preaching is necessary because no other method of communication can replace preaching. In today’s environment, anyone can get any information from books or online media. However, none of these media can substitute preaching. Paul wrote in the epistle to the Romans that he longed to be present with them to preach the Gospel (Rom 1:15). That means even reading an inspired letter will not substitute preaching.[17]
In summary, my logical arguments for the necessity of preaching are that God’s Word is better than the world’s philosophy, teaching is not preaching, no church can rise any higher than its pulpit, preaching makes the Bible relevant, and the Word of God needs to be proclaimed.
In this paper, I have presented the biblical, theological, and logical arguments on why preaching is still necessary for the 21st century. If you are reading this paper, chances are you have been called to preach. Preaching is hard work. Sometimes you will be tempted to work on something else instead of preaching. I hope this paper will encourage you not to give up on your calling. By the grace of the Lord, continue to press on. Preach the Word!
I like to conclude with these words from Martyn Lloyd-Jones, “without any hesitation that the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching; and as it is the greatest and the most urgent need in the Church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also.”[18]
Allen, Lewis. The Preacher’s Catechism. Wheaton, Illinois: Crossway, 2018.
Broadus, John Albert. On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons. Edited by Vernon L. Stanfield. 4th ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979.
Clowney, Edmund P. The Church. Contours of Christian Theology. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1995.
Forrest, Benjamin K., Kevin L. King, William J. Curtis, Dwayne Milioni, and Timothy George, eds. A Legacy of Preaching: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers. Vol. 2. 2 vols. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018.
Griffiths, Jonathan. Preaching in the New Testament: An Exegetical and Biblical-Theological Study. New Studies in Biblical Theology 42. Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2017.
Keller, Timothy. Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism. New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2016.
Kuruvilla, Abraham. A Vision for Preaching: Understanding the Heart of Pastoral Ministry. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015.
Lawson, Steven J. The Kind of Preaching God Blesses. Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 2013.
Lloyd-Jones, Martyn. Preaching and Preachers. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1971.
MacArthur, John. “The Mandate of Biblical Inerrancy.” In Rediscovering Expository Preaching. Dallas: Word Pub, 1992.
Merida, Tony. The Christ-Centered Expositor: A Field Guide for Word-Driven Disciple Makers. Nashville, Tennessee: B & H Academic, 2016.
Mohler, Albert. “The Primacy of Preaching.” In Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching, edited by Don Kistler. Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2002.
Robinson, Haddon W. Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages. Third edition. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014.
Stott, John. Between Two Worlds. Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982.
Warren, Timothy. “PM5252 Topical Preaching Class Notes Parts 1-4.” Dallas Theological Seminary, 2022.
[1] John Stott, Between Two Worlds (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1982), 50–88.
[2] Lloyd-Jones made the same observation, see Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1971), 13.
[3] Jonathan Griffiths, Preaching in the New Testament: An Exegetical and Biblical-Theological Study, New Studies in Biblical Theology 42 (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2017), 132.
[4] Timothy Warren, “PM5252 Topical Preaching Class Notes Parts 1-4” (Dallas Theological Seminary, 2022), 2.
[5] Mohler, “The Primacy of Preaching,” in Feed My Sheep: A Passionate Plea for Preaching, ed. Don Kistler (Morgan, PA: Soli Deo Gloria Publications, 2002), 16.
[6] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 26.
[7] Kuruvilla urged preachers to preaching the pericope theology of a text, see Abraham Kuruvilla, A Vision for Preaching: Understanding the Heart of Pastoral Ministry (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, 2015), 106.
[8] John MacArthur, “The Mandate of Biblical Inerrancy,” in Rediscovering Expository Preaching (Dallas: Word Pub, 1992), 23.
[9] Edmund P. Clowney, The Church, Contours of Christian Theology (Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press, 1995), 101.
[10] Timothy Keller, Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (New York, NY: Penguin Books, 2016), 156.
[11] Tony Merida, The Christ-Centered Expositor: A Field Guide for Word-Driven Disciple Makers (Nashville, Tennessee: B & H Academic, 2016), 10.
[12] John Albert Broadus, On the Preparation and Delivery of Sermons, ed. Vernon L. Stanfield, 4th ed (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1979), 7.
[13] Steven J. Lawson, The Kind of Preaching God Blesses (Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Pubblishers, 2013), 16.
[14] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 25.
[15] Stott, Between Two Worlds, 137–38.
[16] Benjamin K. Forrest et al., eds., A Legacy of Preaching: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018), 18.
[17] Haddon W. Robinson, Biblical Preaching: The Development and Delivery of Expository Messages, Third edition (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 3.
[18] Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers, 9.
Preached on November 8, 2022 in Dallas Theological Seminary.
In 1967, a young man graduated from DTS at age 26. He returned back to his hometown to teach in a bible college for a few years. And then, he was called to be the pastor of a Baptist church in Chicago. It was a large church. After a few years of ministry, he became weary of the many details and responsibilities expected of a pastor. His wife thought they were too young and unqualified for the role.
Pastoral ministry is tough. You are expected to teach and preach weekly in various situations. If preparing for three sermons is tough in a preaching course, think about how much tougher it will be to prepare for sermons, or bible study or devotion every week. You are expected to work with, learn from, and care for the elders, the deacons, and various ministries leaders. You are expected to shepherd the people under your care, be it a small group, a man’s group, a youth group, or even the entire congregation if it is a small church. No matter how much you try to do your best, somebody will criticize you for not doing enough.
Pastoral ministry is tough. The Barna group, the famous evangelical polling firm, had a survey and March 2022 on pastors with this question, “Have you given real, serious consideration to quitting being in full-time ministry within the last year?” 42% answered yes. Up from 29% in 2021. And then, the survey asked, “what is the reason they considered quitting full-time pastoral ministry?” 59% answered, “the immense stress of the job.” The survey also asked the pastors who have not considered quitting full-time ministry this question, “what is the factor that has negatively impacted your ability to lead at the church?” The number one reason is “the immense stress of the job.”
Pastoral ministry is tough, and it is even tougher when you are young and inexperienced in life and ministry. They are many needs in the church that will demand your time and energy. There are programs to run, events to host, marriage issues to counsel, sick people to visit, children to care for, church politics to navigate, and senior pastors and elders to submit. Are you worried? Will you be frightened? Will you be able to handle the pressure? Are you prepared? What do you need to focus your energy on as a pastor?
The subject I want to talk to you about is “What must you do to be a good servant of Christ Jesus?” Again, “What must you do to be a good servant of Christ Jesus?” Why do I choose a good servant of Christ Jesus? Because that is what a pastor is, a good servant of Christ Jesus. Because it was what Paul told the young Timothy to be in 1 Timothy 4:6. Looks at 1 Timothy 4:6 with me. “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus.” Therefore, I will be sharing with you what I learned by studying the two letters from Paul to the young preacher, Timothy, when I was preparing for this sermon. We will be looking at three texts today. All of them are in 1 and 2 Timothy. They are 1 Tim 4, 2 Tim 2, and 2 Tim 4. We will look at three principles of how to be a good servant of Jesus Christ based on the two letters from Paul to Timothy.
First thing first. What is the most important principle for a good servant of Christ Jesus? It is to receive strength by grace that is in Christ Jesus. I get this principle from 2 Tim 2:1. Please look at 2 Tim 2:1 with me. It reads, “You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus.”
The first thing this verse tells us is our strength ought not to come from ourselves but from the Lord Jesus Christ. Pastoral ministry demands a lot of strength from us. If you serve with your own strength, you will be weary eventually. If you serve with your own power, you will eventually feel powerless. If you serve by drawing from your own well, you will eventually be dry as the desert. If you serve by drawing from the deep well of Christ, you will never be dry. You need to be constantly connected to the power source, the Lord Jesus Christ. If you serve with your own strength, you will be like mowing a lawn with a small manual hand-push lawnmower. If you serve with the strength from Christ, you will be like mowing a lawn with super powerful diesel power, riding lawn mover. Our strength ought not to come from ourselves but from the Lord Jesus Christ.
The second thing I learned from this verse is we need to be strengthened by Christ continuously, all the time. Paul used a present passive imperative here. Present tense means we not only need Christ’s strength on Sunday when we preach, we need Christ’s strength on Monday when we rest. We need Christ’s strength on Tuesday when you prepare the next sermon. We need Christ’s strength on Wednesday when we visit the people under our care. We need Christ’s strength continuously, all the time.
The third thing I learned from this verse is we need to be in a posture to receive strength from Christ by grace. The verb “be strengthened” is a passive verb. Christ is active in this power-generating process. Christ wants to empower you to serve Him! All you need to do is to be in a posture to receive strength from Christ. If Christ wants to empower you, it does you no good when you are not in a posture to receive His strength. It is by grace. It is not something we earn but something we receive from Christ. A good preacher knows how to be in a posture to receive strength from Christ by grace.
Where did Paul get his enormous strength to preach, to serve, and to face challenges faithfully in ministry? Paul knows how to be in a posture to receive strength from Christ. Look at 1 Tim 1:12 with me. 1 Tim 1:12 reads, “I thank Him who has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because He judged me faithful, appointing me to His service.” Paul thanks the Lord Christ Jesus because it was Christ who supplied the strength to Paul so that Paul could be faithful to his calling. Now I want us to look at the end of 2 Timothy. 2 Tim 4:17 reads, “But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.” Again, Christ is active in the strengthening process. Paul knew to be in the posture to receive strength from Christ by grace.
A young preacher who was mightly used by God in the mid-19th century Scottland is Robert Murray M’Cheyne. Although young, he preached powerful sermons and lived a godly life for Christ. His biographer, Andrew Bonar, wrote this about M’Cheyne, “he must first see the face of God before he could undertake any duty.” The young Robert Murray M’Cheyne knew to be in the posture to receive the strength from Christ by grace to serve His church.
How about you? Are you in a continuous posture to receive strength from Christ by grace? No matter how busy you are, you need to make your relationship with Christ your first priority in life. If you developed the habit of drawing from your own strength to write sermon outlines and manuscripts now, to do research, to crank out papers, what is preventing you from drawing from the same power in ministry? I read an article today. If you want to care for your aging parents, you need to care for yourself first. If you want to provide soul care for others, you need to care for yourself first. If you constantly draw from your own strength, you will grow weary in ministry, and you will be burned out. The air plan safety emergency plan always tells you to put on your oxygen mask first before you can help others. The Lord Jesus is your oxygen mark. Jesus is your spiritual air supply. Without air, you will die very quickly. You need to slow down in seminary. Take a deep breath. Spend some quiet, quality time alone with the power source. Make sure you see the face of Christ first before you see the face of man. Learn from Paul, Timothy, and Robert Murray M’Cheyne. Be in a continuous posture to receive strength from Christ by grace.
Once you are in the continuous posture to receive the strength by grace from Christ, you will have the power to live the word faithfully. The second principle of a good servant of Christ Jesus is to live the word faithfully. Please look at 1 Timothy 4:6-8. 1 Timothy 4:6-8 reads, “If you put these things before the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, being trained in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine that you have followed. Have nothing to do with irreverent, silly myths. Rather train yourself for godliness; for while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come.”
Paul instructed Timothy in order to be a good servant of Christ Jesus, he needs to focus on training himself for godliness. It means to live a godly, sanctified, holy life. It means to live the word that he preached. It means to apply the Scriptures first to ourselves first before we apply to others. John Calvin said, “It would be better for him to break his neck going up into the pulpit if he does not take pains for him to first follow God.”
Paul gave the reason why preachers need to train for godliness. It is because God gave premises to godly people in this life and the life to come. As a preacher, we do not only preach the word faithfully; we need to live the word faithfully. We are not only called to deliver the word of God with our mouths; we are called to deliver the word of God with our life. Your life is to be an example for the flocks of God. Please look at verse 12 with me. 1 Timothy 4:12 reads, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” Do you see this, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example!”.
How do you live the word faithfully? We need to train for godliness. Paul used this illustration of bodily training to help us to understand this spiritual truth. He compares spiritual exercise with physical exercise. In the physical realm, if you want your weak bicep to be stronger, you train for it. You go to a gym, you lift weights, starting from lighter weights. You break the bicep muscle down so that it can be rebuilt into stronger muscle. And then you add more weight to your training. It is similar in the spiritual realm. If you want godliness in your speech, you train for it. You speak edifying words to your classmates. And then you add more weight to your training. You speak encouraging words for your friends and family to lift them up, to point them to Christ. If you want godliness in your love, you train for it. You start to pay attention to the needs of the people God has put into your life. And then you add more weight. You can show the love of Christ by sincerely asking how they are doing and offering to pray for them. If you want godliness in your purity, you train for it. You start to take an inventory of movies that you watch or websites that you visit that are affecting your purity for Christ. And then you add more weight. You can make a commitment to Christ that you will keep your purity for your future spouse for the glory of God. Think about one weak area in your spiritual life, and train for it, starting now.
I read an interesting article lately. It says some people are addicted to exercise. But I think the issue for most people is not addiction to exercise. The issue for most people is we do not exercise enough, physically and spiritually. We like to parse the verb for apagao, but we don’t want to train to love our neighbors. To be a good servant of Christ Jesus, we need to train for godliness.
Living the word faithfully will give you the ethos, or the credibility, to preach the word faithfully. The third principle of being a good servant of Christ Jesus is to preach the word faithfully. When I hear preach the word, my heartbeats rise up. I think you all may feel the same as me. After all, this is an advanced preaching course. You do not have to do this, but you choose it. After all, this is why we are here at DTS, right? What is the motto of DTS? κήρυξον τὸν λόγον, preach the word! This verse is from 2 Timothy 4:2. Let go there with me. I like to read 2 Timothy 4:1-5 for us. “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.”
A full exposition of this passage will require another sermon. I just want to point out one thing, some people do not like sound teaching, they have itching ears, and we will be tempted to preach to please men instead of to please God. Alistair Begg said this in his recent sermon, some people will come to church with this thinking, “tell me lies, tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies.” Chuck Swindoll said something like this at the most recent chapel. He was fired up in the sermon, “there is a famine in the land, and people are hungry, feast on the word and lavishly serve the banquet of God’s Word to God’s people.”
You will be tempted to water down the word of God. You will be tempted to focus on other things in ministry. Commit to κήρυξον τὸν λόγον, preach the word! Write it down in your bible. To be a good servant of Jesus Christ, you need to commit to preaching the word faithfully.
The young DTS graudate in 1967 was Erwin Lutzer. To prepare for this sermon, I read his autobiography, “He Will Be The Preacher: The Story of God’s Providence in My Life.” It was a fascinating read. When facing pressure from pastoral ministry, he received his strength from the Lord by grace, lived the word, and preached the word faithfully. The testimony of his life is that God used him mightily as senior pastor for the Moody Church for 35 years. Imagine if you faithfully obey these principles from the Word of God, how you can be a good servant of Crist Jesus, and how God will mightily use you for His glory in your life and ministry.
This research paper is for the course PM5510, Spiritual Formation in Historical Perspective, conducted in the Fall of 2022 at Dallas Theological Seminary. My topic is Martin Luther’s teaching on preaching for spiritual formation. First, I will situate him within his historical context and consider the historical stream from which he emerges. Second, I will summarize and critically interact with Luther’s teaching on preaching for spiritual formation. Third, I will compare Luther’s teaching with selective earlier church figures before Luther. Finally, I will conclude with an application to those called into the preaching ministry.
Martin Luther was born in Eisleben, Germany, on November 10, 1483. He died in the same town 66 years later, on February 18, 1546. When Luther was born, there was only one church in western Europe, the Romans Catholic Church. However, when Luther went home to be with the Lord, there were other churches in the land, namely the reformed churches. Luther was one of the leading reformers in this movement of God.
Luther wanted to reform the church because the Romans Catholic Church’s theology and practices had deviated drastically from the Scriptures. For example, the church taught Christians to pray to patron saints instead of directly to God the Father through Jesus. This practice caused Luther to pray to St. Anne, the patron saint of his family, to protect him in a storm in 1505 at 22 years old. “Help me, St. Anne, and I will become a monk!”. He survived the storm and kept his vow to become a monk of the Augustinian order.[1]
As an Augustinian monk, Luther lived in constant fear of the righteousness of God. He was known to wear out his confessor. Luther’s Abbot, Staupitz, hoping to help Luther, sent him to study Scriptures at the University of Wittenberg. Luther was fervent in studying the Scriptures and eventually obtained a Doctor of Theology in 1512. In the same year, he joined the University of Wittenberg as a professor of the Bible and lectured on the Scriptures, including Psalms (1513-1515), Romans (1515-1516), Hebrews (1517), and Galatians (1519). During these studies and lectures, especially on Romans, Luther rediscovered the doctrine of justification by faith.[2]
The unscriptural practice that sparked the Reformation was the indulgence practice. The church sold indulgences as a means to redeem the sins of people. The practice became rampant when Leo X (1475-1521) was the Pope between 1513 to 1521. His extravagant lifestyle, especially the building of St. Peter Basilica in Rome, led to his greed for wealth. Therefore, he approved Albert of Mainz’s high-price bribery to become the Archbishop of Mainz. Therefore, Albert hired the Dominican friar Johann Tetzel to sell indulgences to gather money for the bribery. The Roman Catholics Church’s penance system consists of four steps: contrition, confession, satisfaction, and absolution. What Tetzel did was short circuit the penance to one step. The purchase of indulgence will be sufficient to come to full absolution, which means complete forgiveness of all sins.[3]
That practice of indulgences drove Luther to post the Ninety-Five Theses at the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, with the intention to ask for open debates on the practice. Unknown to Luther at that time, the posting of the Nine-five Theses started the Reformation.
What enabled Luther’s to question the practices of penance and indulgences was the publication of the Greek New Testament by Erasmus. With access to the original language of the New Testament, Luther discovered that the Romans Catholic Church took advantage of the inaccurate translation of the Vulgate to promote the practice of penance, which eventually led to the practice of indulgence.”[4]
Luther’s went back to the source, the Scriptures, for his theology. The movement of “to the sources” (ad fontes in Latin) was the battle cry of the Renaissance. For architecture and arts, it was a return back to Greco-Roman design. For philosophy, it was a return to the Greek’s great philosophers, like Plato and Aristotle. For theology, it was the return to the Scriptures and earlier theologians, especially Augustine of Hippo.[5]
Luther’s conviction on the authority of the Scriptures is famously recorded in the Diet of Worms in 1521. When the Roman Catholic Church representatives asked Luther to recant his writings, he responded with this, “Unless I am convicted by Scripture and plain reasons-I do not accept the authority of popes and councils, for they have contradicted each other-my conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. God help me. Amen.”[6]
Before the Reformation, the Mass was conducted in Latin, even though most people did not understand. Ironically, many priests only knew enough Latin to conduct the Mass. Luther wrote that in many towns, one would only hear a sermon at Lent.[7] People learned from the church mostly from the biblical stories and the saints painted on the walls because most people never own a bible.[8]
In 1521, Luther was “kidnapped” to Wartburg Castle in Eisenach by his prince, Elector Frederick the Wise, for his protection from the attack of the Romans Catholic Church. Luther took advantage of this time to translate the New Testament into German in eleven months. In 1532, Luther, with his friends, finished the Old Testament translation into German as well. His German translation sparked a movement of bible translation into vernacular languages across Europe. Now that we know about Luther’s historical context, we will look at Luther’s teaching on preaching as a means for spiritual formation.
Luther has an extremely high view of preaching. “Preached messages that were well grounded in Scripture texts were seen themselves as events of grace.”[9] He believed preaching is Deus loquens, God speaking, through people to people. Luther believed that beside the preacher, God himself is also active in preaching, communicating and seeking responses from the listeners. [10] He was driven by the conviction that preaching is God’s ordained way to deliver His words to people (Rom 10:14-17).
When a student asked Luther, “Is the Word that Christ spoke when he was on earth the same in fact and in effect as the Word preached by a minister?” Luther answer, “Yes, because he said, ‘He who hears you hears me’” (Luke 10:16).[11]
This understanding of preaching is foreign to many evangelicals because a lot of evangelicals think preaching is the preacher talking to the listeners about God, instead of God is speaking through the preacher. I think the spiritual condition of believers will be more mature if the congregations believed in Deus loquens, and seriously listen to the voice of God in sermons. However, I think Luther at times was too idealistic regarding the preachers’ motive and ability to expound the true meaning of the Scripture. The view that God speaks in preaching needs to be balanced with the listener’s discernment on the truthfulness of the sermon (1 Cor 14:29; 1 Thess 5:19-20; 1 John 4:1).
Because Luther believed that God primarily communicates with human beings through preaching the Word, he viewed preaching as one of the primary means of spiritual formation. Consequently, Luther elevated preaching to an indispensable means of grace. When preaching is neglected, the spiritual formation of the congregation suffers.[12] Therefore, Luther believed that preaching is one of the marks of the church.[13] I believed Luther’s restoration of preaching as a means of spiritual formation is one of Luther’s greatest contributions to the church.
Luther believed that Scripture must be interpreted according to its sensus literalis, meaning interpret Scripture based on its ordinary sense of the words, according to its genre. He mainly used literal and spiritual interpretation and was against the allegorical interpretation of the Scriptures, the prevalent hermeneutic of the medieval church.
Luther believed that the gospel is clearly promised in the Old Testament[14] and fulfilled in the New Testament.[15] He called the Psalms the “Little Bible” because it clearly proclaimed the death and resurrection of Christ.[16] He used this metaphor to describe the Bible and Christ, “the Bible was the manger in which Christ lay, the swaddling clothes he wore.” He believed Christ is the central point of the circle around which everything else in the Bible revolves.[17]
Luther believed in Christ-centered preaching. He believed, to preach the Bible without seeing Christ, was not preaching.[18] To Luther, preaching the Word meant preaching Christ.[19] He believed that preachers should preach Christ as the Savior and the ultimate man as the example for Christians to follow. The sequence is important. A preacher must preach Christ as the Savior first before he preaches Christ as an example. He often preached these two mean aspects of believers’ relationship with Christ. For example, regarding Gal 2:20, Luther explained,
“Saint Augustine teaches that the suffering Christ is both a sacrament and an example… a sacrament because it signifies the death of sin in us and grants it to those who believe, an example because it also behooves us to imitate him in bodily suffering and dying.”[20]
Luther believed that it is the preacher’s responsibility to preach the Word of God, but it is the Holy Spirit’s responsibility to convict and convince the listeners’ heart to submit to the Word of God. Luther said, “We have the jus verbit (right to speak) but not the executio (power to accomplish).[21] Luther believed that it is the work of the Holy Spirit to give faith to a person to believe in Christ. It is not only true for justification but also true for sanctification.
He believed the Holy Spirit does not necessarily need to work on the believers at the time he heard the sermon. Instead, the Spirit could choose to work on the believers’ heart years later. Therefore, all the preacher needs to do is to faithfully preach the Word and leave the result to the Holy Spirit. [22]
Luther believed a preacher must preach the law and the Gospel. The law of God is to convict sinners of their sins, and the Gospel of God is to lead the listeners to justification and sanctification.[23]
Luther’s pastoral theology is the theology of the cross. Lehmann described Luther’s theology of the cross this way, “It is precisely in the dark moments of life, in suffering, sorrow, and helplessness that trust in God is created and strengthened. Thus, conformity to Christ as His disciples becomes a reality in our lives by the power of the Holy Spirit.”[24] The theology of the cross gave direction to Luther’s preaching and pastoral care.[25] I think Luther’s theology of the cross is very biblical (Matt 16:24), and are greatly needed in some of today’s church that emphasized blessings at the expense of the message of the cross.
Luther believed that it was the preaching of the Word of God that reformed the church. He wrote, “I simple taught, preached, and wrote God’s Word; otherwise, I did nothing.”[26] Luther began preaching regularly at the Black Cloister when he was named subprior at the monastery in 1512.[27] He preached extemporarily with an outline without a manuscript. He preached in common German so the congregants could understand. One estimates Luther preached over 4000 sermons during his life, most of them in the town church at Wittenberg. Two thousand three hundred of the sermons’ transcriptions have survived. He preached an average of 120 sermons in a year.
The preachers at the Castle Rock Church at Whittenburg preached many sermons throughout the week. Luther preached a big portion of that. They had three services on Sunday. From five to six in the morning on the Pauline epistles. From nine to ten on the Gospel. And in the morning, continue on the theme or catechism. On Monday and Tuesday, there were sermons on the catechism. On Wednesday, preaching on the Gospel of Matthew, Thursdays, and Fridays on the apostolic letters, and Saturday evening of the Gospel of John.[28] Luther preached expository on a pericope of Scriptures on Sunday. However, he also preached catechetical and topical doctrinal sermons on other occasions.[29]
Although the Scriptures does not have clear commands on the style of preaching, I do believe Luther’s expositional preaching through books of the Bible is the best preaching style for church. I also agree with Luther that there is place for occasionally topical sermons to meet the needs of the congregation.
Luther employed many tools in his preaching to convince people of the truth and move them into action. When his student asked him what the secret of good preaching is, Luther answered, “God is firm and unbending towards the wicked; God is kind and merciful towards the righteous. This explains why we preach hellfire to the proud and haughty, paradise to the godly, reproof to the wicked, comfort to the righteous.” He advocated using different tools in his sermons. He wrote about a method for preaching effectively:
“First bring the concern into clear focus. Second, define the concern visually, and then make it walk, so men see it in action. Third, show that the concern is scriptural, which gives it authority. Fourth, give examples to explain and thus burn it onto minds. Firth, make it aesthetic with tropes and metaphors. Sixth, warn the unaware, wake up the sleepy, and shake up the disobedient.”[30]
Luther believed that sermons should be targeted at the audience. He warned against long and uninteresting sermons that bore the people. He wrote, “Don’t torment your hearers, or keep them sitting in church with long, tedious sermons. Such preaching robs the pulpit of delight.” Instead, he advocated colorful preaching to make biblical characters and stories come to life. He suggested that the service should be one hour long with a sermon half the time so as not to overload souls or wear them.[31]
Luther believed preaching should result in life change. Therefore, he did not only explain the Scriptures, but he also applied the Scriptures to the listeners. Inevitably, there were times he became frustrated because he did not see the life change in the congregation. At one point, he was so disappointed that he stopped preaching for a year or so at the Cattle Church.[32] Now that we have looked at Luther’s teaching of preaching as a means for spiritual formation, we will compare Luther’s teaching with selected figures in church history before his time.
We will start our comparison with the apostles. Christ called the apostles to dedicate their life to prayers and preaching (Acts 6:3-4). Their preaching was centered on Christ. They aimed to convert unbelievers and to present believers mature in Christ (Acts 2:14-36; Col 1:28).
When the apostles trained the next generation of preachers, they taught them the same principle (2 Tim 4:2). Luther has successfully reformed the importance of preaching as a means of spiritual formation back to the apostolic age. Next, we will examine the preaching of the early church fathers.
Like the apostles, the early church fathers also focused on preaching the Scriptures for spiritual formation. One of the important figures was Origen (ca. 185-254) of Alexandria. Most early church fathers employed at least two ways to interpret the Scriptures, literal and spiritual. It was Origen who introduced allegorical hermeneutic in the patristic period. Although Origen’s interpretation was fanciful at times, he did focus on preaching the Scriptures within the contours of the entire biblical narrative with the goal of spiritual edification.[33]
Now let’s look at a representative from the eastern church, Basil of Caesarea (330-379). Unlike Origen, Basil mainly employed literal and spiritual hermeneutics, with some allegorical interpretation when appropriate. He preached the Scriptures and aimed to point the hearer to Christ.[34] For Basil, to preach the Scriptures is to preach Christ. He had little patience for theological abstraction and preferred to preach sermons that could be understood and applied to the listener’s daily lives. He had two overarching purposes for his preaching: doxology and discipleship.[35]
Another eastern church father worth mentioning is John Chrysostom (349-407), the bishop of Antioch and Constantinople. He was known as the Golden-Mouthed because of his powerful preaching. His preaching “was essentially the interpretation of a text from scripture and its application to a particular congregation.” He preached the Scriptures with an emphasis on doctrinal precision and aimed to change life of the listeners.[36]
Discussion on the patristic period will not be completed without mentioning Augustine of Hippo (354-430). Augustine employed Christocentric hermeneutics. He believed every Scripture should be read in light of the person and work of Christ. Therefore, his sermons were Christocentric. He was trained in the ancient art of rhetoric and employed it in his preaching. He preferred clarity and simplicity to help the congregation grasp the meaning of the Scripture. He aims to move the listeners to love God and their neighbors.[37]
This brief overview of the early church fathers reveals that although some of the early church fathers adopted allegorical on top of literal and spiritual hermeneutics, most of them continued the belief of the apostles in believing preaching the Scriptures is an indispensable means of spiritual formation for believers. Other than the allegorical hermeneutic, Luther would be very pleased with the preaching of the early church fathers, especially with the Christ-centered preaching of St. Augustine of Hippo. Next, we will examine the preaching of the medieval church.
In the massive seven volumes on the history of preaching, Hughes Oliphant Old listed five characteristics of medieval preaching. First, there was a variety of preaching as the variety of architecture, cultures and across a thousand years. Second, illiteracy became a widespread issue; therefore, the church developed liturgy and liturgical calendar to help the people to understand the biblical stories. However, preaching eventually took a backseat to liturgical symbols. Third, instead of preaching through the books of the Bible, the sermons followed the liturgical calendar. Fourth, the raised of the spiritual catechism of the monastic orders and revival preaching for the common people by the mendicant orders like Franciscans and Dominicans. Fifth, the development of the sermon outline.[38]
The focus of the late medieval church’s preaching is to urge people to obey the law of God to merit God’s grace. Luther hated this approach to preaching. Hermann Sasse examination of medieval preaching is helpful:
For all medieval men the gospel was essentially the lex Christi, the law of Christ that man must fulfill if he wants to be like the rich young man in Matthew 19. It is not accidental that just this story together with Matthew 10 made such a deep impression on all medieval men. This was to them real gospel, the answer to the question, ‘What shall I do to inherit eternal life?’… Medieval men knew that only grace could save him, but he was to do something to merit God’s grace. ‘No one who tries to do his best will be denied grace’.[39]
During the Middle Ages, the central of church worship is the altar, both in architecture and church practice. In the Reformation, Luther reformed preaching in the church. The pulpit took the place of the altar. The preaching became the center of the worship service. But it was not done to neglect the sacraments, which made visible what the preaching made understandable.[40] Now that we have compared Luther’s teaching of preaching as a means of spiritual formation with the apostles, the early church fathers, and medieval church, we will turn to reflect on preaching as a means of spiritual formation for those who are called to this task.
Luther’s reformation of preaching as the center of Christian worship has positively shaped the protestants’ worship for the last 500 years. He has restored preaching as a means of spiritual formation in Christian’s worship back to its prominent position as in the Apostolic and patristic eras.
Today society is an ever-increasing anti-God society. The media, universities, and the business world are increasingly anti-Christians. The sexual revolution is aggressively attacking God ordained sex and marriage. Books, movies, news, and social medias are increasingly filled with messages that reject the authority of God. Therefore, God’s church needs godly preachers who are willing to put in the hard work to write and preach Scriptures-based, sins-convicting, Christ-centered, Spirit-filled, and God-glorifying sermons to evangelize the lost and to sanctify God’s people.
All of us who are called to this task need to take it seriously because preaching as a means of spiritual formation is God’s plan. To be called by God as his preacher is one of the greatest honors anyone can get. If you are called for this task, you will undoubtedly face many difficult challenges as you preach and live out God’s Word in our ever increasing pagan society. But do not give up. Trust that God who called you will also equip you and sustain you.
My topic is Martin Luther’s teaching of preaching as a means of spiritual formation. First, I have situated him within his historical context. Second, I have summarized and critically interact with Luther’s teaching on this topic. Third, I have compared Luther’s teaching with selected earlier church figures. Finally, I have concluded with an application for those called into the preaching ministry.
Bibliography
Allen, David. “Expository Preaching and The Mission Of The Church.” Journal for Baptist Theology and Missions 6 (2012).
Bainton, Roland. Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther. Nashville, TN: Abingdon Cokesbury Press, 1950.
Forrest, Benjamin K., Kevin L. King, William J. Curtis, Dwayne Milioni, Timothy George, and John D. Woodbridge, eds. A Legacy of Preaching: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018.
Lehmann, Martin E. Luther and Prayer. Milwaukee, Wis: Northwestern Pub. House, 1985.
Lohse, Bernhard. Martin Luther. Translated by Robert Schultz. 7., Überarb. Aufl. der dt. Ausg. Lese-Zeichen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1986.
Luther, Martin. Luther’s Works, n.d.
Marty, Martin E. Martin Luther. A Penguin Life. New York: Viking Penguin, 2004.
Ngien, Dennis. “Theology of Preaching in Martin Luther.” Themelios 28, no. 2 (2003).
Nichols, Stephen J. Martin Luther: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought. Phillipsburg, N.J: P&R Pub, 2002.
Oberman, Heiko Augustinus. Luther: Man between God and the Devil. Translated by Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart. Paperback edition. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006.
Old, Hughes Oliphant. The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church. Vol. 1. Grand Rapids (Mich.): W. B. Eerdmans, 1998.
———. The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church. Vol. 3. Grand Rapids (Mich.): W. B. Eerdmans, 1999.
Pless, John T. Martin Luther: Preacher of the Cross: A Study of Luther’s Pastoral Theology. St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2013.
Sittser, Gerald L. Water from a Deep Well. IVP Books, 2013.
Sproul, R. C., ed. The Legacy of Luther. First edition. Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2016.
Wengert, Timothy J., ed. The Pastoral Luther: Essays on Martin Luther’s Practical Theology. Lutheran Quarterly Books. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017.
[1] Erfurt was the town where Luther first became an Augustinian monk. See R. C. Sproul, ed., The Legacy of Luther, First edition (Orlando, FL: Reformation Trust, 2016), 17.
[2] Sproul, 99.
[3] Stephen J. Nichols, Martin Luther: A Guided Tour of His Life and Thought (Phillipsburg, N.J: P&R Pub, 2002), 34.
[4] Particularly, Luther discovered that the Greek word for “repent in Matthew 4:17 is Μετανοεῖτε (metanoeite), but the Latin translation was poenitentiam, which could be translated in English as “do penance”. Luther’s knew the Latin was a mistranslation because do penance is an outward act, where else repent is “a whole-souled heart change that results in outward acts of obedience.” See Sproul, The Legacy of Luther, 24.
[5] Heiko Augustinus Oberman, Luther: Man between God and the Devil, trans. Eileen Walliser-Schwarzbart, Paperback edition (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2006), 161.
[6] Roland Bainton, Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Cokesbury Press, 1950), 185.
[7] Sproul, The Legacy of Luther, 97.
[8] Sproul, 98.
[9] Martin E. Marty, Martin Luther, A Penguin Life (New York: Viking Penguin, 2004), 113.
[10] Timothy J. Wengert, ed., The Pastoral Luther: Essays on Martin Luther’s Practical Theology, Lutheran Quarterly Books (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2017), 109–11.
[11] Ngien, 30.
[12] Wengert, 111.
[13] Sproul, The Legacy of Luther, 269.
[14] Martin Luther, Luther’s Works, 35:235-333.
[15] Luther, 35:358-59.
[16] Luther, 35:254.
[17] Marty, Martin Luther, 84.
[18] Sproul, The Legacy of Luther, 108.
[19] Nichols, Martin Luther, 211.
[20] As quoted by Ngien, “Theology of Preaching in Martin Luther,” 39.
[21] Wengert, The Pastoral Luther, 109.
[22] Ngien, 45-47.
[23] Ngien, 34.
[24] Martin E. Lehmann, Luther and Prayer (Milwaukee, Wis: Northwestern Pub. House, 1985), 110.
[25] John T. Pless, Martin Luther: Preacher of the Cross: A Study of Luther’s Pastoral Theology (St. Louis, MO: Concordia Pub. House, 2013), 22–23.
[26] Luther, Luther’s Works, 51:76-77.
[27] Nichols, Martin Luther, 211.
[28] Gerald L. Sittser, Water from a Deep Well (IVP Books, 2013), 210.
[29] Sproul, The Legacy of Luther, 176.
[30] Nichols, Martin Luther, 216.
[31] Nichols, 212.
[32] Nichols, 212-214.
[33] Benjamin K. Forrest et al., eds., A Legacy of Preaching: The Life, Theology, and Method of History’s Great Preachers, vol. 1 (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018), 92.
[34] Forrest et al., 1:116.
[35] Forrest et al., A Legacy of Preaching, 1:119.
[36] Forrest et al., A Legacy of Preaching, 1:133–36.
[37] Forrest et al., 1:155.
[38] Hughes Oliphant Old, The Reading and Preaching of the Scriptures in the Worship of the Christian Church, vol. 3 (Grand Rapids (Mich.): W. B. Eerdmans, 1999), introduction.
[39] As quoted by Ngien, “Theology of Preaching in Martin Luther,” 35.
[40] Sittser, Water from a Deep Well, 210.
