The Necessity of Relevant Truth in Preaching

Driving home: The proclamation, explanation, and application of the scriptural truths most needed by our regular hearers must constitute our constant goal.

Martin quotes William Taylor's definition of effective preaching as that which convinces the intellect, stirs the heart, and quickens the conscience, moving hearers to believe and obey. This sets the standard for the sermon's discussion of relevant truth.

Now, once again, brethren, we address the comprehensive subject of the essential elements of effective pastoral preaching. And as we do, let me underscore at the outset what I mean by the term effective preaching. William Taylor, in his first-rate book entitled The Ministry of the Word, put it this way on page 107. That is, effective preaching which convinces the intellect, stirs the heart, quickens the conscience of the hearer, so that he is moved to believe the truth which has been presented to him, or to take the course which has been enforced upon him.

0:01 - 0:46 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The first biblical root for the axiom is the nature of preaching in relation to Christ's prophetic office. Christ, present in His church, exercises His prophetic ministry through…

Martin shares his personal experience of being a Christian for 20 years before becoming aware of the special presence of Christ in His people's gatherings. This highlights the importance of this truth and the potential for pastors to miss foundational doctrines.

the prayers, and it's one of those things that I trust will be a precious, permanent deposit of truth in your heart and in your mind before ever you leave this place. I was at least probably 20 years as a Christian before I even began to be aware of the truth to any degree whatsoever. A terrible thing, terrible thing, but that's reality. And growing out of that glorious truth of the special presence of Christ in the gatherings of his people is the fact that when he is present

5:38 - 6:17 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second root is the implications of the pastoral office, requiring shepherds, fathers, and governors to be sensitive to the state of their flock, household, or commonwealth…

Martin uses the analogy of a shepherd with a club, acting inappropriately for the flock's actual needs (e.g., beating the air when sheep need quiet waters, or being passive when wolves attack). This illustrates how a pastor out of touch with his congregation's needs loses confidence and preaches irrelevant messages.

to shepherd the flock of God. And here I let my mind do a little, I hope, sanctified ruminating on how ridiculous. It would be if we took the 23rd Psalm and think of their celebration of David, of Jehovah as his shepherd. What kind of shepherd is it that when the sheep needs to lie down by quiet waters,

15:30 - 15:54 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The second root is the implications of the pastoral office, requiring shepherds, fathers, and governors to be sensitive to the state of their flock, household, or commonwealth…

The 'take care' in the parable of the Good Samaritan is used to illustrate the elder's role in being sensitive to the present needs of the church, just as the Samaritan was sensitive to the injured man's needs.

we were as a father among his children, encouraging, admonishing, etc. And isn't that what an elder's supposed to do? According to 1 Timothy 3.5, if a man knows not how to rule well his own house, how shall he epimelomite? How shall he take care of the church of God? And that take care is the

17:23 - 17:43 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin warns against 'ironclad rule-makers' (like those who demand only consecutive exposition) and 'legalistic inflexibility' with one's own plan. He also cautions against…

Martin discusses Spurgeon's strong opposition to preaching sermon series, preferring to wait for an 'elect word' to drop from heaven, sometimes even an hour before the service. This serves as an example of an extreme approach to sermon selection, which Martin labels as 'enthusiasm'.

There are those who say anyone who does not start consecutive, verse by verse, paragraph by paragraph, expository preaching, and go clean through the Bible in 20 years, has no business being in a Christian pulpit. I've read things that almost absolutize in that in a way that is frightening. And then there are others on the other end of the spectrum, Spurgeon, one of them, who would abominate the thought of setting down on any course of serpents. And as you read his chapter this week, I hope you come away from it saying, well, God bless Spurgeon.

28:04 - 28:41 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: Martin warns against 'ironclad rule-makers' (like those who demand only consecutive exposition) and 'legalistic inflexibility' with one's own plan. He also cautions against…

Martin critiques Lloyd-Jones's statement about Spurgeon being 'the greatest preacher of the last century,' calling it 'Western chauvinism.' This illustrates the need for humility and a broader perspective, even when discussing esteemed figures.

One of the greatest preachers of the last century, if not the greatest of all. And whenever I read that, I say that shows what I call English preachers speaking Western chauvinism. I always read into this one of the best-known preachers in the English-speaking world of the last century. Who knows what kind of preachers may have been loose in the woods in some jungle somewhere to make the rest all of us look like pygmies.

29:29 - 29:55 Read in full sermon

Driving home: there is a world of difference between a de facto expectation of direct revelation and a confident expectation of specific guidance trust in the Lord with all your heart lean not upon your own understanding in all your w…

Martin recounts his personal agony in the itinerant ministry, spending hours waiting for a 'direct impression' from God about what to preach, leading to crippling subjectivism and wasted time. This illustrates the danger of 'enthusiasm' and the self-defeating nature of expecting direct revelation.

I know what it is literally, brethren, to go into a place to pray at one o'clock in the afternoon and come out at four or five in the afternoon still totally uncertain as to what I ought to preach that night when I was used to be in the itinerant ministry and spinning my wheels for three or four hours at a stretch waiting for that impress that I could be certain was of God humming over text after text going over notes of old sermons and because there was not by whose standard I don't know but somehow at any given point I had some standard by which I was to know that the impression was of God u...

36:09 - 36:53 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to be consistently prayerful for divine guidance in sermon selection, recognizing the profound impact of the spiritual diet you provide.

Martin shares how he received specific guidance for a Sunday morning sermon after praying for direction and then observing specific pastoral needs (people calling for appointments, a four-year-old wanting to talk about her soul). This illustrates how God answers prayer for guidance through providential circumstances and a prepared heart.

to know what God would have you bring to your people and when it's there it's amazing you'll be in a pastoral situation and you weren't even conscious that you had prayed that prayer perhaps even for days consciously and something will be said and immediately you'll say Lord that's the answer to my prayer to my oh yes I have really been it's been a disposition of soul that I've been holding up before God and almost unconsciously holding it there so that when the answer comes you recognize it is from the Lord that's the answer that's what I ought to do that's what happened with this matter of S...

45:02 - 45:47 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to be aware of the overall, specific, and occasional needs of your flock, as a shepherd must know the state of his sheep.

Martin quotes Thomas Brooks, who advises preachers to 'read and study his people as diligently as any book in his study.' This emphasizes the importance of pastoral awareness for effective sermon selection.

when he knows they are distraught that he's about to leave them he gives his great sermons or homily on the coming of the paraclete so seek to be aware of the needs of the flock burn them out burn all in his massive treatise the Christian in complete armor he gives counsel with respect to this matter in these words page 231 the preacher must read and study his people as diligently as any book in his study and as he finds them dispense like a faithful steward unto them end quote

50:13 - 50:57 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to be aware of the overall, specific, and occasional needs of your flock, as a shepherd must know the state of his sheep.

Martin quotes Richard Baxter, who states that 'necessity should be the great disposer of a minister's course of study and labor.' This highlights the importance of being aware of the flock's needs in determining sermon content.

the preacher must read and study his people as diligently as he finds them as he finds as diligently as any book in his study and as he finds them dispense like a faithful steward unto them Richard Baxter speaking to the same issue of seeking to be aware of the needs of the flock in his reform pastor page 113 says this throughout the whole course of our ministry we must insist chiefly upon the greatest most certain most necessary truths and be more seldom and sparing upon the rest if we can but teach Christ to our people we shall teach them all get them well to heaven and they will have knowle...

50:57 - 51:42 Read in full sermon

The point: Be alert to the indications of your people's needs, listening directly and indirectly, and praying for spiritual antennae to pick up signals.

Martin recounts preaching on the assassination of President Kennedy, emphasizing God's sovereignty even in such a tragic event. This illustrates the need for pastors to be sensitive to 'occasional needs' arising from national emergencies and to provide biblical perspective.

don't you know that our hearts are bleeding? don't you know we're in a state of shock? our minds and our spirits are all enmeshed with the fact that a giant among us is gone a well beloved and esteemed saint is gone we feel all of that what's the word of God to us? so seek to be sensitive to the occasional needs those needs arising perhaps from a national emergency I was alive and old enough to appreciate the shock that came upon President Kennedy's death I had to preach on it the next Sunday said some things that shocked some people for the first time were becoming aware that this is God's wo...

56:22 - 57:07 Read in full sermon

The point: Be alert to the indications of your people's needs, listening directly and indirectly, and praying for spiritual antennae to pick up signals.

Martin describes receiving a sermon on justification from Donald McLeod, which resonated with his own soul, and then subsequently counseling two young men struggling with resting in alien righteousness. This illustrates how God uses various means (other preachers, counseling) to signal the specific needs of the flock.

it has been reported unto me of the household of Chloe that there are divisions among you so he got his sermon by listening by listening by listening be alert to the indications of need some of them will come directly some of them will come indirectly for example and I'm preaching this stuff to myself here I'm listening to Donald McLeod on the tape last week someone just sent me a copy of his masterful sermon on justification that he brought it to Cary conference just a few weeks ago they air mailed a copy to me and since I've got to preach three times at Leicester on justification I'm getting...

59:20 - 60:05 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to be sensitive to God's dealings with your own heart and mind as a Christian man, allowing personal spiritual experiences and insights to legitimately influence sermon selection.

Martin quotes John Owen's preface to 'Spiritual Mindedness,' where Owen explains that his treatise originated from private meditations during a time of weakness, later preached due to personal benefit and an apprehension of the duties' seasonableness for his congregation. This illustrates how God's dealings with a preacher's own heart can legitimately influence sermon selection.

in the vicissitudes of your own spiritual experience you will come through certain times when God is unusually present in your own experience at a certain point of redemptive privilege well those things will legitimately influence the whole matter of sermonic selection for example in John Owen in volume 7 in his preface to his masterful treatise on spiritual mindedness which about a month ago I completed

65:12 - 65:56 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I acknowledge that these are the two things whereby I regulate my work in the whole course of the ministry here's the two things number one to impart those truths of whose power I hope I have had in some measure a real e…

Martin quotes Gardner Spring on the importance of ministers observing God's dealings with them and using their own experience (smiles, frowns, temptations, views of sinfulness, experience of Savior's love) to instruct their charge. This reinforces the idea that personal spiritual experience is a legitimate factor in sermon selection.

no one could accuse Owen of being an enthusiast but you can't accuse him of being a rationalist either and you see a beautiful fusion of those two and then he goes on even to amplify that further and but you can read it yourself in the preface it's on well it's it doesn't have a page number on it but you'll find in the preface to volume 7 it's page 263 though the page number is not listed 264 is and 261 is you have a beautiful statement of this in Gardner Spring and again in the interest of time I'll not read the entirety of it but on page 230 231 Gardner Spring who was such a powerful preache...

68:09 - 68:54 Read in full sermon

Driving home: I acknowledge that these are the two things whereby I regulate my work in the whole course of the ministry here's the two things number one to impart those truths of whose power I hope I have had in some measure a real e…

Martin recounts John Bunyan's experience of preaching 'as in chains' when under the lash of the law, and then preaching 'freely' after experiencing joyous liberation in Christ. This illustrates how a preacher's personal spiritual state and experience of truth profoundly impact his preaching.

where Paul says whatever happens to us happens to us that in turn we may be able to minister appropriate grace to others and then he goes on to make some very astute observations in general principles and then moving from the general principles on page 233 and following he has some wonderful quotes out of John Owen I mean out of John Bunyan and how when Bunyan was under the lash of the law and no peace of conscience he said I went into the pulpit as in chains to preach to those who were in chains and he preached the terrors of the law and he said then when God brought me to joyous liberation i...

69:39 - 70:24 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to be sensitive to your present development as a preacher, humbly assessing your abilities and not attempting sermon series or texts for which you are not yet ready.

Martin uses the example of opera singer Richard Tucker, who waited until his early 60s to sing a role he had longed for, feeling he had not matured enough as a singer and man. This illustrates the humility required for preachers to assess their own development and not attempt roles (sermon series) for which they are not yet ready.

the humility to recognize the same Richard Tucker who was probably the outstanding singer of the of the Puccini Puccini and Verdi roles in particular up until he died some 10 years ago he died in 1975 oh it's 12 years now almost but he was just about prepared to sing a role he'd longed to sing all his life and here he was in his early 60s but he felt he had not matured as a singer as a musician and as a man to attack the particular role and he was to sing it publicly for the first time two weeks after he died and you see this in terms of wise singers

71:53 - 72:37 Read in full sermon

The point: Seek to be sensitive to your present development as a preacher, humbly assessing your abilities and not attempting sermon series or texts for which you are not yet ready.

Martin shares his personal reason for not preaching through a Gospel until recently: he didn't feel he had developed sufficiently as a homiletician to do so without monotony, and he feared abusing his imaginative faculty. This illustrates the importance of sensitivity to one's own development and potential temptations.

and any thought that I might bring a series on them has well nigh been smashed for probably another decade I was beginning to get up courage that I might be able to preach with prophets maybe just a sermon or two on each of the minor prophets a broad overview but re-reading them has humbled me again and I've just said Lord ain't no way Jose just I just stand intimidated before it so seek to be sensitive to your own development some have asked me why have you never preached through a gospel until now well frankly I didn't know how I could do it without killing the people with monotony I just di...

74:06 - 74:51 Read in full sermon

In this part of the sermon: The fourth guideline is to be sensitive to one's present development as a preacher, recognizing that homiletical and exegetical abilities grow over time. This means humbly…

Martin mentions George Whitfield's vivid descriptive and imaginative faculty in preaching, which, while powerful, also highlights the potential dangers of such a gift if not properly harnessed. This serves as a cautionary tale for preachers with similar natural abilities.

and some faculty of description it is not it is that which when exercised properly can make preaching very attractive and it can also cause you to make an idol of your gift cause your people to make an idol of you and kill both you and them in the process and I've been scared to death of that faculty I've held it in tight reign at times I feel maybe I've sinned by not using it for the sake of truth but I've been so afraid of its abuse and when I read how vividly Whitfield used it and I've just been doing some reading this week in a biography of a man who heard Whitfield preach many times and h...

75:35 - 76:19 Read in full sermon