The other day I pulled a book off the shelf of my library that I hadn’t opened for over 35 years. When I’d first read it as a college student, it’d made a big impression on me. Now, over three decades later, I find it no less insightful. It’s Preaching & Preachers by the Welsh expositor, Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones.
I’ve been re-reading it in the evenings. As usual, the good doctor has a few peculiar ideas sprinkled among the rest. But I love his high view of preaching. Here are some excerpts:
The preaching of the Gospel from the pulpit, applied by the Holy Spirit to the individuals who are listening, has been the means of dealing with personal problems of which I as the preacher knew nothing…
It is quite astonishing to find that in expounding the Scriptures you are able to deal with a variety of differing conditions all together in one service…. It saves the pastor a lot of time. If he had to see all these people one by one his life would be impossible, he could not do it; but in one sermon he can cover quite a number of problems at one and the same time.
It is preaching that lays down the essential principles by which alone personal help can be given…. I maintain that ultimately the only true basis for personal work, unless it is to degenerate into purely psychological treatment, is the true and sound preaching of the Gospel.
From Preaching & Preachers by D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1971), quotes from pages 37-40.