Tim Bergsma is a 2nd year seminary student at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary. There he is studying for his Masters of Divinity, and is a member of the Free Reformed Churches in North America.
Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones’ book, Preaching and Preacher’s, is a remarkable book and should be high on the “must read” list for both aspiring and current seminary students, and pastors alike. It is noticeable while reading through it that there is much in the feel and approach of this book that makes one think of Spurgeon’s, Lectures to My Students. But this would make sense because both books aim to instruct their “students” on the art of preaching and of the relevance of the office of the ministry. However this book by Dr. Lloyd-Jones has somewhat more of an organized and professional air about it. Perhaps this is due to it being written more recently and so in a manner closer to our current scholarly style. But still, if there is any fault with this book (and this is not my criticism, but one that I have been told of by others) it is that there are no footnotes.
In response to this criticism I would point out that Lloyd-Jones, as did Spurgeon, wrote from years of extensive experience in the ministry—he states this in his preface that he has learned something from preaching for forty-four years. And not just on Sunday’s but several times during the week as well, and so up to five or six times per week. So then a legitimate question is, how do you footnote your own experience? My second response to this criticism is to ask if there is to be any benefit derived from reading and studying this book? I do not believe that much, if at all, has been lost because of a lack of footnotes and cited sources, and if a person is concerned about them it seems they could be missing the importance of this book.
There are in this book as well what I amusingly picture as Lloyd-Jones-“ism’s.” Such as his thought that the taping of sermons is a “peculiar and special abomination” of the time. (p. 18) Or whether or not you should announce the subject of your sermon, before you preach it. Lloyd-Jones says, “no.” (p. 244) But these add to the character of the book, rather than detract from it, and we should not be too quick to think critically.
There is a slight but definite progression in Preaching & Preacher’s, from chapter one, “The Primacy of Preaching,” through until the last chapter, chapter sixteen, “’Demonstration of the Spirit and of the Power.’” and Lloyd-Jones gives a good reason for why he would start on the primacy of preaching—that is because he has noticed in his day, a rapid decline in the pulpit ministry. And he gives a variety of reasons for why this is so: the desire for more interaction for the people in the pew; the desire for films and worship leaders during the public service; the giving of testimonies. All of these Lloyd-Jones classifies under entertainment—entertainment that has been replacing preaching. And preaching the Word of God is what is to be the “primary task of the Church and of the Christian minister.” (p. 19) To Lloyd-Jones this is the clear teaching of Scripture of the Jesus Himself, as well as the lesson we receive from the history of the Church.
He further develops this position in chapter two, “No Substitute.” Here Lloyd-Jones brings in the argument of biblical theology as proof that it is the preaching of the Word that is needed and not, as is being called for, another “new approach.” Man’s condition remains the same, that is, he remains a rebel against God and therefore is under the wrath of God. And who but the Church and the preacher is going to tell this to lost men? Certainly our affluent society, which does not see this as the problem, will not do it. And preaching from the television, and instruction from books is not the same as a gathering of two or three “in My name,” where Christ is present. Lloyd-Jones writes, “This is the great mystery of the Church. There is something in the very atmosphere of Christian people meeting together to worship God and to listen to the preaching of the Gospel.” (p. 43)
Having therefore argued for the primacy preaching, and preaching alone as the normal God-given means for giving the Gospel, Lloyd-Jones moves on to answer the question “what is preaching,” and then in chapters four and five, to give us the form and act of preaching. So then, what is preaching according to Lloyd-Jones? Preaching is a man, standing in front of a group of people, delivering a message sent from God. He is not there to talk or to entertain, but to deliver his sermon so that there is a change in the people in a “vital and radical manner.” (p. 53)
In order for there to be true preaching there must be an important distinction made between two major parts of the sermon—its content and its form. The content is to be the Gospel. Not current events or interesting stories, but the “whole counsel of God.” This means preaching about Salvation as well as preaching to the edification, or to the building up, of the saints. An evangelistic type of preaching, and a teaching type of preaching. Lloyd-Jones further breaks down the teaching sermon into two categories, experimental and instructional, and with that comes up with three different types of sermons, two of which fall under the category of teaching, and one that is primarily evangelistic. And these three make up the content of true preaching.
Lloyd-Jones considers the form of preaching to be both the most difficult and the most important. A sermon is not to be an essay. It’s not be be a lecture. Rather, a sermon should always be expository. That is, a sermon needs to start with the text and draws its subject from out of it. But it is not to be merely a running commentary on a text—that is just the beginning. After exposition, you need to isolate the main doctrine and consider how it is relevant to the people to whom you will preach it. Creating headings and divisions are useful in order to help bring home this central doctrine and should progress until you end on a climax.
After dealing with the form of the sermon, Lloyd-Jones move on to speak about how it is to be delivered—with the preacher’s whole personality, with authority and control, and (even though carefully prepared) with freedom. Speaking on this freedom in preaching Lloyd-Jones writes, “Regarding preaching as I do as an activity under the influence and power of the Holy Spirit, we have to emphasise this point because the preparation is not finished just when a man has finished his preparation of the sermon.” (p. 84) Preaching is always to be under under the Spirit, and the Spirit does not always act in accordance to how we have prepared the sermon. And still there is more—a preacher in the pulpit is to be serious. He is not to be boring, nor dull, nor heavy and there is to be an urgency in his voice. He should be zealous for what he is proclaiming—the Word of God should be like a fire in his bones. Lloyd-Jones, while giving this list of what preaching must be, or of what preaching must include, is also careful to say that even he himself has never been able to make and preach a perfect sermon. But it is in this too that we are able to see the hand of God, that despite sermons that are made and delivered at a level less than par, the cause of God has not fallen.
But if this is what preaching is, then who is to be the preacher who may deliver it? Certainly not everyone says Lloyd-Jones. First, a preacher is a man who has been called. He may question whether he is called or not and he may (and should) feel an inability, and an inadequateness, but yet he will answer this call. However, as Lloyd-Jones writes it, “nothing but this overwhelming sense of being called, and of compulsion, should ever lead anyone to preach.” (p. 107) Second, a preacher is a man who has been trained, both with general training and special training. Special training should involve study in the original languages of the Scriptures, in theology, in Church history and lastly in homiletics.
In the preparation and the delivery of the sermon, Lloyd-Jones says that the minister needs to keep the condition of the people in the pews in mind. What does he mean by this? This does not mean that the listeners control the sermon, or demand what the preacher is to preach. Rather, the preacher should assess the condition of the people, what they are able to understand, what they need to hear, and so on. And they need to be sure to make a correct assessment—not all are most likely to be Christians, and not all are likely to unbelievers in a Church—so do not neglect either the evangelistic, nor the teaching messages by creating wrong assumptions of the people in the pew.
Also to be in consideration, while Lloyd-Jones says that it may sound un-spiritual, nevertheless believes to be important, is the acoustics of the church building, and the central positioning of the pulpit. Even the height and the dimensions of the pulpit should be considered important, for if preaching is the greatest function of the Church, then certainly these details should be not brushed aside.
After considering the important place of preaching and how it can have no substitute, as well as the general form and message of the sermon, and the environs where it is preached—having laid the foundation—Lloyd-Jones then begins to look in more detail at the preparation of the preacher and the sermon. A minister is always preparing. And before anything else, this mean preparation of himself. A minister’s daily activities must be disciplined and his time must be guarded. He should be a man of prayer. He should read the Bible systematically to avoid reading only his favorite passages, and he should read it—not because it’s his job—but because it is the Word of God. He should read devotional literature, and sermons, and reading that will stimulate his intellect—theological, church history, apologetics, in that order. But also journals and periodicals that might be relevant to his work.
Lloyd-Jones ends his work with a wonderful chapter on the demonstration—or the unction—of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, he says, is the greatest need in preaching, and therefore it should be a minister’s greatest desire to have it every time he preaches. The unction of the Holy Spirit is God giving His power to the preacher and the preacher becoming the channel through which the message flows.
And so Lloyd-Jones begins this book with the primacy of preaching and he ends it with the urging for minister to seek for the power of the Holy Spirit as the greatest need for every sermon. I myself have greatly benefited from reading this book and I find something new in it every time I read it. I would warmly recommend it to anyone.
