Strive with all the strength you have to know God and to humble yourself under his mighty hand. Read books that were written by men or women who bleed Bible when you prick them and who are blood-earnest about the truths they discuss.ĭirect your mind often to the contemplation of death.Ĭonsider the biblical teaching that as a preacher you will be judged with greater strictness. Make your life – especially the life of your study – a life of constant communion with God in prayer. Strive for practical, earnest, glad-hearted holiness in every area of your life. “If you don’t give gladness, you don’t give the gospel you give legalism” (57). “Gladness and gravity should be woven together in the life and preaching of a pastor in such a way as to sober the careless soul and sweeten the burdens of the saints” (55). Trust a specific promise where I can bank my hope for that hour.Īct in the confidence that God will fulfill his Word. Relying on the Gift of the Spirit’s Power in PreachingĪdmit to the Lord that I can do nothing without him. “The work of the Holy Spirit in the process of interpretation is not to add information, but to give us the discipline to study well, and the humility to accept the truth we find without twisting it, and often a desperately needed discovery or insight in his providential guidance of our work” (46). Quote words of Scripture don’t just summarize passages.

Relying on the Gift of the Spirit’s Word – the Bible The Gift of Preaching: The Power of the Holy Spirit “The cross is the power of God to crucify the pride of both preacher and congregation” (36). The Cross as the Ground of the Humility of Preaching

“God designed a way to vindicate the worth of his glory and at the same time give hope to sinners who have scorned that glory – and what he designed was the death of his Son” (35).

The Cross as the Ground of the Validity of Preaching The Ground of Preaching: The Cross of Christ “The only submission to the Lordship of Christ that fully magnifies his worth and reflects his beauty is the humble gladness of the human soul in the glory of God in the face of his son” (28-29). Throughout the book, exhortations to an earnest preaching ministry abound, filling out the practical counsel with solid motivation. Also, the pairing of gladness and gravity as the two essential things to communicate is a useful guard against both externalism and flippancy. The goal is God’s glory the foundation is Jesus’ cross-work the power is the Holy Spirit. The Trinitarian view of preaching presented in The Supremacy of God in Preaching (John Piper) gives a clear God-ward focus to this part of ministry.

The supremacy of god in preaching