Our Worship Is Poor Because Our Knowledge Is Poor

John Stott

From: The Desk of John Stott

The ‘message’ is God’s own Word. For the people have not gathered to hear a human being, but to meet with God. They desire like Mary of Bethany to sit at the feet of Jesus and listen to his teaching. They are spiritually hungry. The bread they desire is the Word of God.

What, then, are the code and channel of communication? Obviously the code is words and the channel speech. Yet the communication is to be understood neither in physical terms (from pulpit to pew), nor even in human terms (one mouth speaking, many ears listening), but in divine terms (God speaking through his minister to his people).

It is this total context which makes preaching unique. For here are God’s people assembled in God’s presence to hear God’s Word from God’s minister.

That is what I mean when I claim that, even in this age that is saturated with the most elaborate media of communication, preaching remains sui generis. No film or play, no drama or dialogue, no seminar or lecture, no Sunday School or discussion group has all these elements in combination. What is unique is not an ideal or an atmosphere, but a reality. The living God is present, according to his covenant pledge, in the midst of his worshipping people, and has promised to make himself known to them through his Word and sacrament. Nothing could ever replace this.

Although in the rather flowery language of a century ago, Matthew Simpson gave an admirable summary of the uniqueness of the sermon event. He wrote of the preacher:

“His throne is the pulpit; he stands in Christ’s stead; his message is the word of God; around him are immortal souls; the Saviour, unseen, is beside him; the Holy Spirit broods over the congregation; angels gaze upon the scene, and heaven and hell await the issue. What associations, and what vast responsibility!”

Thus Word and worship belong indissolubly to each other. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the Word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which accounts for the low level of so much contemporary worship. Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fulness, and the congregation begin to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before his throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. That is why preaching is unique and irreplaceable.

John Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century, Eerdmans, 1982, p. 81-82. (This book was originally published under the title I Believe in Preaching). The Simpson quote is from his Lectures on Preaching, 1879.

One King Will Reign By Charles Spurgeon

God’s good pleasure is, that this world will one day be totally redeemed from sin; God’s good pleasure is, that this poor planet, so long covered in darkness, will soon shine out in brightness, like a new-born sun. Christ’s death has done it. The stream that flowed from His side on Calvary will cleanse the world from all its wickedness. That hour of mid-day darkness was the rising of a new sun of righteousness, which will never cease to shine upon the earth. Yes, the hour is coming, when guns and cannons will be forgotten things, when the harness of war and the pageantry of pomp will all be laid aside as food for the worm or the contemplation of the curious. The hour approaches when old Rome will shake on Her seven hills, when Mohammed’s crescent will no longer increase on the earth, when all the gods of the heathens will lose their thrones and be cast out to the moles and to the bats; and then, from the equator to the poles Christ will be honored, the Lord paramount on earth, when from land to land, from the river even to the ends of the earth, one King, will reign, one shout will be heard, “Hallelujah, hallelujah, the Lord God Omnipotent reigns.”

Quoting Governor Bobby Jindal

Bobby Jindal

Who amongst us would ask our children for a loan so we could spend money we do not have on things we do — we do not need? That is precisely what the Democrats in Congress just did. It’s irresponsible. And it’s no way to strengthen our economy, create jobs, or build a prosperous future for our children. . . .

We need to bring transparency to Washington, D.C., so we can rid our capital of corruption and ensure that we never see the passage of another trillion-dollar spending bill that Congress hasn’t even read and the American people haven’t even seen.

As we take these steps, we must remember, for all of our troubles at home, dangerous enemies still seek our destruction. Now is no time to dismantle the defenses that have protected this country for hundreds of years or to make deep cuts in funding for our troops.

America’s fighting men and women can do anything. If we give them the resources they need, they will stay on the offensive, defeat our enemies, and protect us from harm.

In all these areas, Republicans want to work with President Obama. We appreciate his message of hope, but sometimes it seems like we look for hope in different places.

Democratic leaders in Washington, they place their hope in the federal government. We place our hope in you, the American people.

In the end, it comes down to an honest and fundamental disagreement about the proper role of government. We oppose the national Democratic view that says the way to strengthen our country is to increase dependence on government. We believe the way to strengthen our country is to restrain spending in Washington, to empower individuals and small businesses to grow our economy and create jobs. . . .

Read the entire article here. . . .

A Contented Man Is Thankful

Quoting Arthur W. Pink:

Instead of complaining at his lot, a contented man is thankful that his condition and circumstances are no worse than they are. Instead of greedily desiring something more than the supply of his present need, he rejoices that God still cares for him. Such an one is “content” with such as he has (Heb. 13:5).

Not Rich – But Stupid!

Mark Steyn

Quoting Columnist Mark Steyn:

“2008: We’re rich enough that we can afford to be stupid. 2009: We’re not so rich so let’s be even more stupid. The Obama narrative as packaged by the American media (another all-but-bankrupt industry, not coincidentally) is very appealing. Wouldn’t it be so much nicer if a benign paternalist sovereign could take care of all the beastly grown-up stuff like mortgages and health care, like he’s gonna do for Henrietta Hughes, while simultaneously blowing gazillions on ‘green’ initiatives and other touchy-feely things? America has a choice: It can reacquaint itself with socioeconomic reality. Or it can buckle its mandatory seat belt for the same decline most of the rest of the West embraced a couple of generations back. In 1897, troops from the greatest empire the world had ever seen marched down London’s Mall for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee. Seventy years later, Britain had government health care, a government-owned car industry, massive government housing, and it was a shriveled high-unemployment socialist basket-case living off the dwindling cultural capital of its glorious past. In 1945, America emerged from the Second World War as the preeminent power on Earth. Seventy years later… Let’s not go there.”

Always Obey The Impulse To Pray

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

From: The Desk of Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Always respond to every impulse to pray. The impulse to pray may come when you are reading or when you are battling with a text. I would make an absolute law of this – always obey such an impulse. Where does it come from? It is the work of the Holy Spirit; it is a part of the meaning of ‘Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure’ (Phil 2:12-13). This often leads to some of the most remarkable experiences in the life of the minister. So never resist, never postpone it, never push it aside because you are busy. Give yourself to it, yield to it; and you will find not only that you have not been wasting time with respect to the matter with which you are dealing but that actually it has helped you greatly in that respect. You will experience an ease and a facility in understanding what you were reading, in thinking, in ordering matter for a sermon, in writing, in everything which is quite astonishing. Such a call to prayer must never be regarded as a distraction; always respond to it immediately, and thank God if it happens to you frequently.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Preaching and Preachers (Zondervan, 1972), p. 170-171; from Chapter 9, “The Preparation of the Preacher.”

Washington’s War On God

Spurgeon On Imitating Christ

Quoting Charles Spurgeon:

My brethren, let me say, be like Christ at all times. Imitate him in “public.” Most of us live in some sort of public capacity-many of us are called to work before our fellow-men every day. We are watched; our words are caught; our lives are examined-taken to pieces. The eagle-eyed, argus-eyed world observes everything we do, and sharp critics are upon us. Let us live the life of Christ in public. Let us take care that we exhibit our Master, and not ourselves-so that we can say, “It is no longer I that live, but Christ that lives in me.”

False Conversions By Ronald Reagan

“Bitter as it is to accept the results of the November election, we should have reason for some optimism. For many years now we have preached ‘the gospel,’ in opposition to the philosophy of so-called liberalism, which was, in truth, a call to collectivism. Now, it is possible we have been persuasive to a greater degree than we had ever realized. Few, if any, Democratic Party candidates in the last election ran as liberals. Listening to them I had the eerie feeling we were hearing reruns of Goldwater speeches. I even thought I heard a few of my own. Bureaucracy was assailed and fiscal responsibility hailed. … But let’s not be so naive as to think we are witnessing a mass conversion to the principles of conservatism. Once sworn into office, the victors reverted to type. In their view, apparently, the ends justified the means.”

Finding The Power To Live

Do you grow impatient with God sometimes? I know I do. After all, no one wishes to wait when they believe they have “important matters” that need to be taken care of. We live in an “instant answer” culture. What we expect, we expect immediately. We live by our own self-centered priorities.

Waiting requires submission to God’s Word, God’s Will, and God’s Ways. Murmuring, complaining, and impatience are contrary to this process. Our obsession with pleasing self results in weariness. Waiting on God, however, results in a prosperous spirit – “renewed strength.” Divine power overshadows our weakness as we “wait for the Lord.”

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” (Isaiah 40:30-31, ESV)

Waiting on the Lord requires self-discipline and dependence. Patience is difficult but our own powers are insufficient to carry out God’s plan and purpose for our lives. Paul writes, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10, ESV) We need to be strong enough to cast aside our own self-sufficiency in order to receive overcoming strength by our dependence on the Lord. This is the only way to the real power we all need for living. This strength comes only by waiting for the Lord.

Nurse Suspended From Job After Offering To Pray For Patient’s Recovery

The Telegraph.co.uk reports that Caroline Petrie, a Christian, is accused by her employers of failing to demonstrate a “personal and professional commitment to equality and diversity.” She could lose her job over the incident.

Mrs Petrie, a married mother of two, says she has been left shocked and upset by the action taken against her.

She insists she has never forced her own religious beliefs on anyone but politely inquired if the elderly patient wanted her to pray for her – either in the woman’s presence or after the nurse had left the patient’s home.

“I simply couldn’t believe that I have been suspended over this. I knew I hadn’t done anything wrong. All I am trying to do is help my patients, many of whom want me to pray for them,” she said.

Mrs Petrie, 45, is a community nurse employed by North Somerset Primary Care Trust to carry out home visits to sick and elderly patients.

Choosing To Be Miserable

Quoting Robert Leighton:

“The Christian and the carnal man are most wonderful to each other. The one wonders to see the other walk so strictly, and deny himself to those carnal liberties that the most take…. And the Christian thinks it strange that men should be so bewitched, and still remain children in the vanity of their turmoil, wearying and humoring themselves from morning to night, running after stories and fancies, and ever busy doing nothing; wonders that the delights of earth and sin can so long entertain and please men, and persuade them to give Jesus Christ so many refusals-to turn from their life and happiness, and choose to be miserable, yea, and take much pains to make themselves miserable.”

The Answers Are Simple But Not Easy By Ronald Reagan

“For many years now, you and I have been shushed like children and told there are no simple answers to the complex problems which are beyond our comprehension. Well, the truth is, there are simple answers — they just are not easy ones. The time has come for us to decide whether collectively we can afford everything and anything we think of simply because we think of it. The time has come to run a check to see if all the services government provides were in answer to demands or were just goodies dreamed up for our supposed betterment. The time has come to match outgo to income, instead of always doing it the other way around.”

Who Will Tell The People?

From: The Desk of John Piper

Christian preachers, more than all others, should know that people are starving for God. If anyone in all the world should be able to say, “I have looked upon thee in the sanctuary, beholding thy power and glory,” it is the herald of God. Who but preachers will look out over the wasteland of secular culture and say, “Behold your God!”? Who will tell the people that God is great and greatly to be praised? Who will paint for them the landscape of God’s grandeur? Who will remind them with tales of wonder that God has triumphed over every foe? Who will cry out above every crisis, “Your God reigns!”? Who will labor to find words that can carry the “gospel of the glory of the blessed God”?

If God is not supreme in our preaching, where in this world will the people hear about the supremacy of God? If we do not spread a banquet of God’s beauty on Sunday morning, will not our people seek in vain to satisfy their inconsolable longing with the cotton candy pleasures of pastimes and religious hype? If the fountain of living water does not flow from the mountain of God’s sovereign grace on Sunday morning, will not the people hew for themselves cisterns on Monday, broken cisterns that can hold no water . . .?

We are called to be “stewards of the mysteries of God.” . . . And the great mystery is “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” . . . And that glory is the glory of God. And “it is required of stewards that they be found faithful” – faithful in magnifying the supreme glory of the one eternal God, not magnifying as a microscope that makes small things look bigger; but as a telescope that makes unimaginably great galaxies of glory visible to the human eye.

John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching (Baker, 1990), p. 108-109.

Hypocrisy And Big Government Spending

From: The Desk of Gary Bauer

President Obama had some harsh words [recently] over a reported $18 billion in corporate bonuses paid out last year. His populist rhetoric may have even gotten a few conservatives to nod approvingly, but don’t fall for it, my friends. It was nothing more than the typical liberal appeal to class warfare, and an invitation to Big Government control over the economy that all of us will regret. Railing against corporate bonuses in an economic downturn makes for great sound bites, but it ignores reality. Here are a few facts the media won’t tell you.

• A lot of people on Wall Street receive modest salaries, but get most of their annual income through year-end bonuses. That is true for employees from the boardroom to the mailroom. Did you know that the $18 billion covered over 165,000 people or were you left with the impression that just a handful of “Wall Street fat cats” laughed all the way to the bank?

• It is the height of hypocrisy for this president to rail against $18 billion in corporate bonuses while he is pitching an $800 billion bailout of Big Government and billions in “bonuses” to leftwing special interest groups.

• President Obama complains about excess and extravagance on Wall Street. This is coming from the man whose inaugural celebrations were the most expensive in our nation’s history, costing taxpayers well over $100 million in the middle of an economic downturn.

• President Obama says there will be a time for profits and bonuses, but this is not it. Really? Now would be a great time for profits. How does he think the economy is going to turn around without corporate profits? I guess companies will now have to wait for his permission before they can earn a profit.

• The salary structures of private companies are none of the government’s business. That’s up to the shareholders. Do we really want the government policing and dictating salaries in the private sector? It already impacts your standard of living enough when it comes to the amount of withholding in your paycheck. Wait until some bureaucrat knocks on your door and says, “Sorry, but we think you’re paid too much.”

Speaking of “shameful bonuses,” try this: Congress is going to give itself a $4,700 pay raise this year AND that’s in addition to a whopping $90,000 increase in the budgets for each congressional office! According to the Capitol Hill newspaper, Roll Call, “In recent years, the [office budgets] have increased each year by about $25,000-$30,000 per office, several sources said, making this year’s increase remarkable.” There are no layoffs, cutbacks or belt-tightening for Big Government, but there are plenty of harsh words for Corporate America, which actually creates jobs. A wise man once said, “Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem.” Liberals have it backwards.

In A Manner Becoming The Gospel

Quoting Albert Barnes:

“In our manner of speech, our plans of living, our dealings with others, our conduct and walk in the church and out of it-all should be done as becomes the gospel (Phil. 1:27).”

The Loss Of Limited Government

James Madison

Quoting James Madison:

“If Congress can do whatever in their discretion can be done by money, and will promote the General Welfare, the Government is no longer a limited one, possessing enumerated powers, but an indefinite one….”

Walking Where The Way Is Good

Have you ever been told to do something because it is good for you? Did you verbally say “Yes,” while your heart was saying “No”? I have done this many times in my life – even after becoming a Christian. Therefore, you know that I am a sinner saved by the mercy of God’s grace. We cannot, however, stop at this point and say, “That’s all there is to it. Things are fine as they are.” The Christian life calls us to more. Christians are called to be “disciples” of Christ.

“Thus says the Lord: ‘Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls.’ But they said, ‘We will not walk in it.’” (Jeremiah 6:16, ESV)

A disciple is a person who submits to the authority of another in order to receive instruction which encourages proper conduct and behavior. Although Christian discipline is often frowned upon as legalistic, Christianity calls for a change that should be seen in our behavior. This change is part of the process known as “progressive sanctification.”

Today, the philosophy of instant gratification has crept into the Church. Hype and sensation are sought out. There appears to be no concern about working “out your own salvation with fear and trembling.”“to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” (Philippians 2:12, ESV) Even less considered is Paul’s appeal (Romans 12:1-2, ESV)

Faith and good works are often misunderstood by Christians. Good works add no merit to our faith in God, but if good works do not follow our profession of faith, it is clear that we do not have saving faith. True justification always leads to the process of sanctification.

It is a terrible error to think that when you are justified, you are as sanctified as you ever will be. This is absolutely contrary to the doctrine of “progressive sanctification.” It is like saying “Yes” to Jesus, but refusing to do what He asks you to do (refusing His Lordship).

Progressive sanctification is the process in a Christian’s life by which he becomes more (holy) like Jesus. “Sanctify” means to “set apart, make holy.” It has three facets: (1) Positional sanctification, (2) Progressive sanctification, and (3) Ultimate sanctification.

Positional sanctification takes place the moment you believe in Christ. God looks at the Christian, and sees the righteousness and holiness of Christ. Ultimate sanctification occurs at death, when a Christian is absolutely perfected in God’s presence. Progressive sanctification is the process of living what we are positionally, and what we will be ultimately – and progressively making it a reality in our own Christian lives.

The process of progressive sanctification is described in Galatians 5:19-23. Progressive sanctification is the life journey of producing less and less of the acts of the sinful nature (Galatians 5:19-21) and more and more of the fruit of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). Progressive sanctification is a process empowered by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 5:18), prayer, and the study of God’s Word. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17, ESV)

Let us not be like the people of Jeremiah’s day. We must learn to take the Biblical path where the good way is. If we tread that narrow, ancient path, we will grow in holiness and find rest for our souls. “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?” (James 2:14, ESV)

Blissful Ignorance Of Radical Islam

Quoting Kathy Shaidle:

Today many Americans are either blissfully ignorant of, or simply indifferent to, the slow, incremental growth of radical Islam in their midst.

We sometimes hear about terrorist cells or suspicious Muslim “compounds” on the news. However, these stories represent merely the tip of an Islamic iceberg that could very well doom America. Not today or tomorrow. But in our lifetimes? That is a real possibility.

And don’t shrug off Islam as “just another religion.” Muslim sharia law deems women to be inferior to men, and allows husbands to “lightly” beat their wives. Polygamy and child bride marriage are condoned and encouraged, due to the example of Mohammed himself, whose many wives included a nine year old. Anti-Semitism and slavery are enshrined in the Koran, as is exploitation of and even violence against all “unbelievers.”

Radical Muslims have learned they don’t require bombs or hijacked airliners to destroy America. They can just use America’s own ideological infrastructure against itself.

Using a kind of ingenious political jujitsu, radical Muslims rely upon everything from the rights to freedom of speech and worship enshrined in the U.S. Constitution to the current atmosphere of hypersensitive political correctness to push their agenda.

For example, the “Islamification” of the educational system is now underway. Textbooks whitewash Islam’s bloody history. Public school children forbidden to pray or recite the Pledge of Allegiance are, however, obliged to play “Muslim for a Day.” Meanwhile, universities eagerly introduce footbaths, Muslim prayer rooms and hallal cafeteria food.

Increasingly, Muslim employees are suing companies for the “right” to refuse to handle “unclean” pork or alcohol, or the “right” to wear headscarves. It is no coincidence that these companies include household names like UPS, Wal-Mart and McDonalds’s – radical Muslims are sending a message to smaller firms who won’t have the means to fight similar suits in the future.

Continue reading here. . . .

Drawing Near To Christ

Richard Sibbes

Quoting Richard Sibbes:

We are only safe when we wisely make use of all good advantages that we have access to. By going out of God’s ways we go out of His government, and so lose our good frame of mind, and find ourselves overspread quickly with a contrary disposition. When we draw near to Christ (James 4:8), in His ordinances, He draws near to us.

A Letter To My Daughter

Quoting Elias Boudinot:

“You have been instructed from your childhood in the knowledge of your lost state by nature – the absolute necessity of a change of heart and an entire renovation of soul to the image of Jesus Christ – of salvation through His meritorious righteousness only – and the indispensable necessity of personal holiness without which no man shall see the Lord [Hebrews 12:14]. You are well acquainted that the most perfect and consummate doctrinal knowledge is of no avail without it operates on and sincerely affects the heart, changes the practice, and totally influences the will – and that without the almighty power of the Spirit of God enlightening your mind, subduing your will, and continually drawing you to Himself, you can do nothing. . . . And may the God of your parents (for many generations past) seal instruction to your soul and lead you to Himself through the blood of His too greatly despised Son, Who notwithstanding, is still reclaiming the world to God through that blood, not imputing to them their sins. To Him be glory forever!” (President of Congress, Framer of the Bill of Rights)

Preaching Sovereign Grace

John Piper

From: The Desk of John Piper

My burden is to plead for the supremacy of God in preaching — that the dominant note of preaching be the freedom of God’s sovereign grace, the unifying theme be the zeal that God has for his own glory, the grand object of preaching be the infinite and inexhaustible being of God, and the pervasive atmosphere of preaching be the holiness of God. Then when preaching takes up the ordinary things of life — family, job, leisure, friendships; or the crises of our day — AIDS, divorce, addictions, depression, abuses, poverty, hunger, and, worst of all, unreached peoples of the world, these matters are not only taken up. They are taken all the way up into God.

John Piper, The Supremacy of God in Preaching, Baker Books, 1990, p. 20.

The Manipulation Of Tolerance

Quoting John Hawkins:

Despite America’s inspirational legacy, this has not always been an exceptionally tolerant nation and there are few Americans who would deny that. That being said, we’ve now gone so far in the opposite direction that it has become problematic as well. Tolerance taken to an extreme has actually impeded our ability to rationally discuss vitally important issues that will determine whether our country continues to be successful and prosperous over the long haul.

For example, the debate over gay marriage consists largely of one side talking about thousands of years of human experience and a potential devaluing of marriage that could lead to more society-damaging out-of-wedlock births in the future — while the opponents of traditional marriage throw tantrums, try to get people fired for disagreeing with them, and shriek “homophobe” at the top of their lungs. . . .

Then there’s immigration. The whole point of allowing people to immigrate to this country is to benefit the people who are already here. Yet, if you try to have any sort of substantive conversation about how many people we are allowing into the country each year, where they should be coming from, or how we should choose them, the screaming starts again. “Why do you hate immigrants . . . ?”

Then there’s the dilemma posed to us by the war on terror. Most Muslims are moderate and are not hostile to our country. However, there is no reliable way to tell the moderate Muslims from the Islamic radicals who want to see us dead. Moreover, the moderate Muslims are usually very silent about the actions of the radicals and even tend to quietly support them when they engage in objectionable practices that have been previously held in contempt by Western civilization. In European nations, we’ve seen unconscionable restrictions imposed on free speech, Sharia tacitly accepted as the law of the land in certain areas, significant Islam related increases in rape and violence, and in some cases, non-Muslim women forced to take up the veil for their own protection. Shouldn’t we be having a real back-and-forth exchange, free of shouts of “Islamophobia” — about how to avoid importing the problems we’re seeing in France, Britain, and the Netherlands into our country?

If you’ll notice, these are all extraordinarily important issues that will ultimately have a great deal to do with whether our children live in a nation as great as the one we grew up in. Can we continue to be the pre-eminent nation in the world if we give the short-shrift to these momentous topics just because a few people claim to be offended?

Make Plain What Is Obscure

John Stott

From: The Desk of John Stott:

All true Christian preaching is expository preaching. . . . To expound Scripture is to bring out of the text what is there and expose it to view. The expositor prizes open what appears to be closed, makes plain what is obscure, unravels what is knotted and unfolds what is tightly packed. The opposite of exposition is ‘imposition’, which is to impose on the text what is not there. But the text in question could be a verse, or a sentence, or even a single word. It could equally be a paragraph, or a chapter, or a whole book. The size of the text is immaterial, so long as it is biblical. What matters is what we do with it. Whether it is long or short, our responsibility as expositors is to open it up in such a way that it speaks its message clearly, plainly, accurately, relevantly, without addition, subtraction or falsification. In expository preaching the biblical text is neither a conventional introduction to a sermon on a largely different theme, nor a convenient peg on which to hang a ragbag of miscellaneous thoughts, but a master which dictates and controls what is said.

John R.W. Stott, Between Two Worlds: The Art of Preaching in the Twentieth Century, Eerdmans, 1982, p. 125-126. Originally published in Britain by Hodder and Stoughton under the title I Believe in Preaching.

God Hears By Charles Spurgeon

Our God is not a god who sits in one perpetual dream; nor does He clothe Himself in such thick darkness that He cannot see; He is not like Baal who does not hear. True, He may not be concerned about battles; He does not care for the pomp and pageantry of kings; He does not listen to the sound of military music; He does not regard the triumph and the pride of man; but whenever there is a heart full of sorrow, wherever there is an eye filled with tears, wherever there is a lip quivering with agony, wherever there is a deep groan, or a sorrowful sigh, the ear of Jehovah is wide open; He marks it down in the registry of his memory; He puts our prayers, like rose leaves, between the pages of His book of remembrance, and when the volume is finally opened, there will be a precious fragrance springing up from there.