Teaching Biblical Preaching...

"But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into him who is the head—Christ.” ()

"Now the goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.” ()

Our Aim is NOT:

Our aim in preaching is NOT preaching that fills the head but not the heart. We’re NOT looking to inform and educate people apart from them being moved by God’s glory to do God’s will! This preaching that we’re NOT aiming at, puffs people up with knowledge. At best, it’s light without heat.

Our aim in preaching is NOT to touch the heart but not the head. We’re NOT interested in helping people have an emotional moving experience. We’re NOT aiming at having folks leave the service excited, fired up, and feeling good and having zeal without knowledge. Like cotton candy, such preaching has lots of flavor but no nutritional value. It might bring people back for more (until they get sick), but it will not nurture life or develop maturity.

It’s not just that we need both truth and love. Gospel truth has not reached its goal until it produces love. Love has no living roots without gospel truth. Therefore, the truth of Christ must be brought home to the heart by the Holy Spirit in order to produce love.

True Biblical Preaching is NOT merely aesthetic, causing people to walk away thinking, “What a beautiful idea!” It is NOT merely informative, imparting knowledge about the Bible and theology. It is NOT merely emotional, warming hearts and producing strong feelings. It is NOT merely moralistic, instructing and exhorting in what is right and wrong. All of these elements are present in good preaching, but none of them is the heart of the matter.

Start Reading pp 24–27 Tuesday ×

not merely emotional, warming hearts and producing strong feelings. It is not merely moralistic, instructing and exhorting in what is right and wrong. All of these elements are present in good preaching, but none of them is the heart of the matter.

Our Aim IS:

Our aim in preaching IS preaching that uses the truth of Scripture to shine the glory of God into the depths of the soul to call people to live solely and wholly for God. It breaks us and remakes us. It is both exhilarating and humbling. Such preaching brings us face to face with the most glorious and delightful Being in the universe, and also face to face with our own profound wickedness. By such preaching, the holy God binds himself to sinful men heart to heart with a word of blood-bought grace.

Let’s break down some thoughts of Biblical Preaching...

Beeke, J. R. (2018). Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God’s Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People (pp. 23–24). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

EXPERIENTIAL.

We’re striving to observe the distinction between the theoretical knowledge received from the Word of God and what is called the experimental knowledge of His grace. It’s the knowledge of Christ’s death and resurrection an effectual and living knowledge, working in us, as preachers, new affections and inclinations.

DISCRIMINATORY.

Not against skin color. Nor do I have in mind bigotry and hatred of any sort. But our aim at discriminating preaching aims at distinguishing the Christian from the non-Christian so that people can diagnose their own spiritual conditions and needs. The preacher applies biblical truth to help his hearers test whether they belong to Christ and have his Spirit (; ).

the Christian from the non-Christian so that people can diagnose their own spiritual conditions and needs. The preacher applies biblical truth to help his hearers test whether they belong to Christ and have his Spirit (; ).

Ministers use the “keys of the kingdom of heaven” (), entrusted to us by Christ, to open or shut the door of the kingdom by the preaching of the gospel of the forgiveness of sins ().

Through this type of preaching, the Holy Spirit brings judgment day near to the consciences of men, either to their vindication and joy or to their guilt and terror.

The Word of God is to be so handled that “little children…fathers…young men…children...” () must all be fed with milk and strong meat as well as making specific applications to the backsliding, the worldly minded, the afflicted, and the dying believer.

Think of those categories of peoples that assemble with us each gathering, as described in Scripture: They are described by their state before God, as righteous or wicked (; )—by their knowledge or ignorance of the Gospel, as spiritual or natural men ()—by their special regard to Christ, as believers or unbelievers (; , )—by their interest in the Spirit of God, being “in the Spirit”, or having not the “Spirit of Christ” ()—by their habits of life, “walking after and minding, the things of the Spirit, or the things of the flesh” () — those at peace and filled with hope and those that aren’t (, )—by their respective rules of conduct, the word of God, or “the course of this world” (; )—by the Masters whom they respectively obey, the servants of God, or the servants of Satan ()—by the road in which they travel, the narrow way or the broad road ()—by the ends to which their roads are carrying them, life or death—heaven or hell (; ).

"Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith. Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless you fail the test.” ()

As preachers, we aim to help our hearers rightly examine themselves. Pastors must not assume or presume that all churchgoers, including children, are saved. They also are to avoid presumed church “unregeneration,” as if only a few who have professed faith in Christ are truly saved. Rather, preachers are to present repeatedly before their people the biblical marks of those who have been born again and have come to Christ by way of saving faith and genuine repentance.

I’m always trying to regard the different individualities of professions w/in our church family. Like Jesus, preachers must distinguish between the blade, the ear, and the full corn in the ear (). Like Paul, they must differentiate between babes and adults in grace (). Like John, they must preach to various believers as little children, young men, and fathers in grace ().

In short, discriminatory preaching must remain faithful to God’s Word. Grace is to be offered indiscriminately to all (); however, the divine acts, marks, and fruits of grace that God works in his people must be explained to encourage the elect to know themselves aright and to uncover the false hopes of the hypocrites. As preachers, we must be honest with every soul and strive to bring them and the touchstone of Holy Scripture together.

Such preaching teaches us that unless our religion is genuinely experienced, we will perish. Experience itself does not save us, but the Christ who saves us must be experienced personally as the foundation of our eternal hope ().

Beeke, J. R. (2018). Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God’s Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People (p. 29). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Beeke, J. R. (2018). Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God’s Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People (p. 28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Beeke, J. R. (2018). Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God’s Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People (p. 28). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.

Beeke, J. R. (2018). Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God’s Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People (p. 23). Wheaton, IL: Crossway.