Nothing is more important to the long-term health of this congregation than the preachers that fill the pulpit and the sermons that they preach. That is why when we started this series on the marks of a healthy church that we started with this whole area of truth. We looked initially at: what is a preacher? Today we look at the question: What is preaching? What should healthy preaching sound like?

We are doing this in connection with Lord’s Day 21.

Question: What do you believe concerning the holy catholic church of Christ?

The answers go on to speak of various marks of a healthy church, one of which is this emphasis on the Word of God.

Answer: I believe that the Son of God, from the beginning to the end of the world, gathers, defends, and preserves to Himself, by His Spirit and Word, out of the whole human race, a church chosen to everlasting life, agreeing in true faith that I am and forever shall remain a living member thereof. Question 54, Heidelberg Catechism, 1563.

You see how utterly pivotal to everything in that answer is the Word of God. And the primary way that Word is ministered to us is through preaching. So I would like to ask that question today: What is healthy preaching? We would like to answer that under two main headings. First of all, healthy preaching is biblical. Secondly, healthy preaching is balanced.

Healthy Preaching Is Biblical⤒🔗

First of all, healthy preaching is biblical. You may say, “Well, surely that is just an obvious answer. Surely every preacher will say that his sermons are biblical.” And you would hope that would be true. But the question is: what does biblical mean? And that question really revolves around a preacher’s view of the Bible. Biblical is determined by how you view the Bible. Preaching will be determined by the preacher’s view of the Bible. What does the preacher believe the Bible is all about, and what does the preacher believe the Bible actually is? I would like to show you how our view of the Bible will determine our view of preaching, both in the delivery of it and in the listening to it. So what should our view of the Bible be, and how does that impact preaching – both the doing of it and the hearing of it?

The Word of God←↰⤒🔗

First of all, we believe the Bible is the Word of God. If a preacher does not believe that the Bible is the Word of God, then he is really going to give most of his time and attention to his own views. To human opinion, to human ideas. He will put his own views and human opinion on the same level as the Bible. If the Bible is not the Word of God, then we might as well bring in other words of men. However, if we believe the Bible is the Word of God, then we will treat it with the utmost reverence and respect. We will not dare to treat any other book on any human opinion on the same level as this book. The Word of God will be transcendently and infinitely above human opinion and human ideas, and it will put all human opinion way down in the shade. So first of all, the Bible is the Word of God.

Inspired←↰⤒🔗

Secondly, the Bible is the inspired Word of God. As Paul said to Timothy, every Scripture is inspired by God. That means literally "breathed out" by God. He is saying every single word in this book has been specifically individually and carefully breathed out by God. If we do not believe this book is the inspired Word of God – that every word in it has been carefully chosen by God and breathed out by Him – then that is going to affect our preaching, isn’t it? We are not going to treat these individual words with the utmost care. And we are not going to study every single word in this book; we will skim over the surface. We will treat these words in a very shallow way. We might deal with generalities, but we are not going to drill down specifically into specific words and specific phrases, because we believe that these could be expressed in any kind of way.

Whereas if we believe the Word of God is inspired, that every single word is inspired, then that is going to affect how a preacher will study and how a preacher will preach. He is going to pause at every single word. He is going to look, for example, at verse 18 and he is going to say, “Well, this begins with ‘for’; that means that there is something that comes in front of that that has a consequence in verse 18. What is it in verse 17 that is important?” And then he will say, “The preaching of the cross.” He will say, “Well, there is preaching, and then there is the preaching of the cross.” What is that? What is the cross?” And then he will look at “to them that perish” – what does that mean? He is going to drill down into each word and phrase and treat it as vital and important for our full understanding. The Bible is the inspired Word of God. That is going to impact our view of preaching.

Perfect←↰⤒🔗

Thirdly, we believe the Bible is the perfect Word of God. If we do not believe that – if we do not believe that every single word in this book is perfect – then we are going to come to this book as critics rather than students. We are going to come and look down on it with our superior wisdom and decide what is right and what is wrong, what is wise and what is foolish, what we will accept and what we will reject. We are going to come to this book and we will speak of problems in the Bible. And we will speak of these problems in such a way that we will not only weaken our own faith, but weaken the faith of everybody who hears. And that is what goes on in multiple pulpits around the country – people who are preaching do not believe that the Bible is perfect.

But if we believe that the Bible is perfect – that not just every word in here is put by God, but every word is perfect and without error – then that is going to affect the way we preach. We are going to stick with this Bible whatever anyone else says out there. Whatever even our own thoughts and opinions are. We are going to come to this Bible not as critics, but as students. Not as proudly looking down, but as humbly sitting under it. Not saying, “Well, I am going to criticize this book,” but rather, “Let this book criticize me”! We won’t speak of problems in the Bible; we will speak of problems in our own understanding. We will speak of problems regarding our own lack of knowledge. We will speak of problems in terms of our own ignorance, but not of problems in the Bible. We are going to come humbly to this book and sit under it. That will be reflected in the preaching that believes this is a perfect book.

Sufficient←↰⤒🔗

Fourthly, we believe the Bible is sufficient for every area of faith and life. If we do not believe that, then what are we going to do? Well, when we have a problem or a question about religion, about spiritual things, about eternity, about God, about sin, about evil, about salvation, if we do not believe this book is sufficient we will turn to human wisdom for our answers. We won’t believe that this book is worth studying for these answers. We might give a cursory look and then put it aside and look elsewhere. But if we believe this book is sufficient, then whenever we have a question, an issue, a problem, a difficulty, we are going to scour this book from cover to cover, because we believe it has the answer. That God has given us the answers to every question that we need to ask and answer. There are some questions God does not answer. Well, that means we do not need to know. But every answer we need to know God has provided an answer for it, and it is in this book. And that means we are going to search the Scriptures. We are going to study this book constantly and earnestly and seriously, believing that this is sufficient and we do not need to supplement this book.

Authoritative←↰⤒🔗

Fifthly, we believe the Bible is authoritative. If we do not believe this book has final authority on what is right and wrong, what we should believe or not believe, then what is going to happen in preaching? Well, you won’t have men standing [in the pulpit] saying, “Thus sayeth the Lord,” speaking with God-given authority. No, instead you will have people here saying, “My opinion is…” or “Might I suggest to you…” or “Here is something for you to discuss…” It will all be up in the air and up for debate. “Here are some things for you to think about. If you like it, then good. If you don’t, well, too bad.” That is the kind of preaching that will be here if we do not believe that this book has authority – divine authority – behind it.

But if we believe that this book is authoritative, that will be reflected in preaching. You won’t have somebody standing [in the pulpit] hesitating, questioning, doubting, wondering, putting things up for debate and discussion. No, he will stand [in the pulpit] and he will say, “Thus sayeth the Lord. God has said it and we believe it. That is the end of it.” We won’t, of course, preach with arrogant self-confidence. No, but with bold courage, knowing that this book, if rightly explained, is nothing less than the authoritative Word of God, and therefore binding upon us when preached as well. It has authority to determine what we believe and what we do in our lives.

Clear←↰⤒🔗

Sixthly, we believe this book is clear. It has clarity. This is often called by theologians the perspicuity of Scriptures. Perspicuous. It is clear. Meaning that anybody, any human being, with the help of God’s Spirit and prayer, can understand what this book’s message is. Now, that is not a common belief. Think of the Roman Catholic Church, for example. They say that you need the church, you need these experts to tell you what the Bible means and says. And of course, God does give us helps. He does give us preachers to help us explain and understand God’s Word. But we believe the Bible teaches that anyone, with the help of God’s Spirit and prayer, can understand this book. If you don’t believe that, then what you end up with in the pulpit is mystery. It is all a mystery. Who knows? Who can be sure? Or you end up with a pulpit filled with high academic language and concepts that are way above the level of people’s understanding, and the preacher feels no obligation to help people understand the Word, because “they can’t understand anyway. This is something for experts, for academics, for scholars, for pastors and priests. The people just need to listen and pick up what little crumbs they can!”

No, we as the Reformed church believe the Bible is clear. The Bible has a clear message. The Bible can be understood. And therefore preaching will be clear and will be simple. Even when dealing with the most profound matters, preachers will endeavor mightily to make it accessible and understandable in order that God’s people can go away and study it for themselves and check it for themselves. They are giving their people tools and helps and keys to help their own Bible study and understanding. The Bible is clear, and that should be reflected in preaching.

Relevant←↰⤒🔗

Seventhly, the Bible is relevant. If we do not believe that the Bible is relevant, then we will just treat this book like some kind of historic document that is studied for interest and to stimulate the mind a bit, but it will all be in the third person past tense. It will all be about the Amalekites or the Israelites or the Jebusites. It is all about they and them, way back there and then, if we do not believe the Bible is relevant. Or else, the other extreme will be we will just speak about the newspaper headlines of that week and the news of that week and offer a bit of Christian commentary, but really this book has nothing to say to the world’s problems and issues and the things that people are facing today.

But if we believe God’s Word is relevant – that is has something to say to us today and we need to hear it – then that will change everything. Yes, we will go back and we will study the Israelites and we will study the Jebusites and we will study the Philistines. We will study the New Testament world. And we will try and figure out: what was the original message to the original audience way back then? But we won’t stop there. Having got there and figured out what God’s message was to these people then, we bring that and say, “Therefore, this is God’s message to us today in this situation.” We believe that all that history, all that past tense third person narrative, has vital necessary relevance for you and me in our lives today. That will be reflected in preaching. Preaching will interact with the past and the present, and preachers will show how that ancient narrative has such modern relevance for our lives.

Powerful←↰⤒🔗

Lastly, we believe the Bible is powerful. This is what comes across really in 1 Corinthians 1 so clearly. In that verse 18 we read, “The preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but to us who are saved it is the power of God.” Later on in verse 24, after Paul has said that Christ crucified is to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, he says, “But to us which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” We believe the Bible is the powerful Word of God. A sword sharper than any other two edged sword that cuts asunder. It has a powerful influence and impact on our lives. And if we do not believe that, that is going to impact the way a preacher prepares his sermons, the way he preaches them, the way he pours himself into them, and the way looks for results afterwards.

If a preacher does not believe the Bible is powerful, he is not going to study it very much. What is the point? He is not going to value preaching very highly is he? He is not going to be passionate about his message. He is not going to be really looking for results, because “The Bible is not very powerful, is it?” But if a preacher believes the Bible is as powerful as it says it is, then he will study it intensely and will preach it passionately. He will preach it feelingly and will look expectantly for mighty, powerful results. The Bible is powerful.

So I hope you can see that our view of the Bible determines our view of preaching. A high view of the Bible results in a high view of preaching. And that is why in the reformed church historically (which has had such a high view of the Bible) there has been such a massive emphasis placed on the centrality of the preaching of the Word. Because the Bible is all these things, therefore it should be preached and it should be preached in these ways. A high view of preaching can only exist in this church if we, you and me, have a high view of the Bible. And that means we start with the Bible. We start with biblical texts. Our sermons are focused on the Bible and text or doctrinal themes of Scripture. We of course use creeds and confessions, but only to help us understand the Bible. Never above it; always serving the Bible. Always brought in to help us understand the Bible. Not the Bible helping us understand the creeds, confessions and catechisms, but the creeds, confessions and catechisms helping us to understand the Bible. That always being clear. However much we treasure and value these wonderful documents, this has always to be supreme.

And you will be able to tell over time, my view of the Bible and any man’s view of the Bible who stands [in the pulpit] by how they preach. You will be able to tell if I believe the Bible is the Word of God. If I believe the Bible is inspired – every word of it. If I believe the Bible is perfect. If I believe the Bible is sufficient and authoritative and clear. If I believe the Bible is relevant and powerful. You will be able to tell that. You should be able to tell that from my preaching.

But you will also be able to tell your own view of the Bible by how you respond to such preaching. If preaching has these characteristics reflecting the nature of the Bible, then the ball is in your court. Then the onus is on you. If this is true of the Bible and this is true of the preaching of the Bible in this church, how are you responding to it? And we will look at that more detailed on another occasion – how to listen to such preaching of such a Word of God. But really do challenge yourself. You can test, you can tell your view of the Bible by how you respond to the preaching of it.

Healthy Preaching Is Balanced←⤒🔗

Secondly, healthy preaching is not only biblical, but it is balanced. Preaching can be biblical without being balanced. You could have a man that would preach on the same text for years. Or the same kind of text, the same theme, for years. And it is biblical, but it is not balanced. It is not reflecting the whole counsel of God. So what is biblical balance? What should be the balance of preaching that is heard from the pulpit? It is not an easy thing to achieve, because the person preaching it has to be balanced. And that is a rare thing in this world. All of us are on one side of the scale. None of us, at least for any length of time, finds our self in that place of perfect biblical balance. We are such extremists. We are so ignorant, for a start, as to even where the place of biblical balance is. It is something you learn over life, isn’t it? Most of us can look back at periods of our lives and think, “Oh, I just went overboard there!” It is a really tough thing to achieve, and preachers are really up against it.

Factors That Cause Unbalanced Preaching←↰⤒🔗

Let me tell you some of the battles that preachers have just so that you can pray for us much more.

Firstly, factors which cause imbalance in preachers include their personality. Some preachers are more naturally happy or sad, more optimistic or pessimistic. That is going to affect their preaching. Some are introverted and some are extroverted, and that is going to affect their preaching.

Secondly, the preacher’s own experience. The way he was brought up. The kind of preaching he heard as a child. The way that preacher was converted. The kind of trials the preacher has gone through and is going through. Again, this will have a tendency to knock that preacher one way or another. It is very hard to escape one’s own experience.

Thirdly, the preacher’s own models also tend to imbalance a preacher. Maybe he is listening to a certain kind of preacher on the internet and it is pulling him in a certain direction. Maybe that preacher’s professors that he was taught under might pull him in a certain direction.

Fourthly, the preacher’s preferences. Some preachers prefer more doctrinal preaching. Some prefer more practical, others more devotional, and others more academic. Again, all these preferences are going to have a pulling effect on the kinds of texts that he selects and the kinds of preaching that he will preach.

Fifthly, a preacher’s gifts also has a big impact. You may have preacher who is a very gifted teacher but he is not a very good evangelist, and vice versa. That too is going to influence and impact what he preaches on and how he preaches.

Sixthly, a preacher’s fears. Yes, they come into the equation when picking a text and when deciding what to say and what not to say. If that preacher is thinking, “Oh no, if I say this then so-and-so will leave the church,” then that is going to impact him, isn’t it? Especially if that person is there continually on his shoulder in his study, as it were. And that fear and that anxiety and that respect of persons begins to dominate. It is a dangerous thing.

Seventh, maybe a preacher’s isolation also can impact the balance of a preacher. If a preacher is isolated from his people – he is not mixing with them, he is not meeting with them face-to-face – then his preaching is going to reflect that. It is going to become abstract and philosophical and theoretical and hypothetical, and it will lack reality. It will lack the “rubber hits the road” kind of contact with people and their needs.

So you see, there are so many factors and so many difficulties that tend to balance or imbalance a preacher. And that is a number of see-saws he is on, isn’t it?

Areas That Need Balance←↰⤒🔗

Let me give you areas that should be balanced in preaching for you to test over a period of time as you listen to the preaching from the pulpit.

First of all, there has to be a balance between the Old and New Testament. You can’t have all the preaching from the Old, nor all from the New. Their proportion will vary depending on maybe a preacher’s gifts, but certainly a congregation’s needs. But maybe a rough guide might be something like this: Over a period of time, maybe a third of sermons from the Old Testament, a third from the Gospels, and a third from the Epistles, the letters. That may be a rough guide of a biblical balanced diet of preaching from both Testaments.

Secondly, there is a balance between teaching Christians and evangelizing unbelievers. Now of course, teaching sermons should have an appeal to the unconverted. And evangelistic sermons will hopefully contain teaching as well. It is not just a rant or just an emotional appeal. There is content and there is substance. But I think we can all tell the difference between sermons that are primarily teaching and sermons that are primarily evangelistic – reaching out and going after lost souls with the gospel. There should be a balance between these two. Never all one; never all the other. For myself, I believe the balance is fifty-fifty – teaching one sermon, evangelism another. In order that both God’s people may be fed, but also lost souls may feel this is something for them to help them spiritually as well. So there is a balance between teaching Christians and evangelizing the unconverted.

Thirdly, there is a balance between teaching young Christians and teaching old Christians. Old Christians need meat; young Christians need milk. Some sermons should be very much full of meat to exercise and satisfy the mature Christians in a congregation. But mature Christians have to be patient too, because the young need some milk. They need to be fed in smaller mouthfuls maybe. More digestible food. Broken down. Something stating the very obvious. But that is what they need as well. There should be a balance. Not always leaning towards the mature who will lap it up, but also seeking to educate and form and mature the young in the faith.

Fourthly, there should be balance between preaching to churched unbelievers and un-churched unbelievers. There are unbelievers in this congregation. Baptized yes, brought up in the church yes, but you are not believers. You are not converted to Christ. You do not have living faith. But you know a lot. You have vast amounts of knowledge and information in your head. And preaching can take a lot of that for granted and seek to call you to respond to all that you have been given. That kind of preaching to the churched unbelievers is very different to the kind of preaching that is directed to un-churched unbelievers who know nothing. Where we can take nothing for granted. And there has to be preaching like that from time to time. It might seem to those of us who have been in the church for many years that this is so obvious and it is so basic. But do we have no concern, compassion and care for those who know nothing? Who have never had our privileges? Who have, as it were, a blank slate? In fact, they have loads of error we have got to get rid of first! There has to be preaching to both kinds of unbelievers.

Fifthly, there is a balance between preaching to just old and young. We spoke earlier of young believers and old believers, but in general terms preaching has to feed both young and old in terms of age. There are young people here, and their cares and concerns and problems and challenges are very, very different to the senior in the nursing home and to the mother and father who are wrestling to bring up teenage children. Therefore, preaching has to seek to meet. And sometimes that means you are going to sit there and you are going to think, “There is nothing here for me. This is for young people; I am an old person.” Or vice versa. Well, that is part of being part of a community and a family, isn’t it? And it should not breed bitterness; it should breed thankfulness! “I am so glad the young are getting fed!” or, “I am so glad the preacher’s helping my grandpa or my grandma to press on in their old age and to be encouraged in the midst of many trials,” and so on.

Sixthly, there has to be a balance between conviction of sin and the free offer of the gospel. We have to preach the law, of course. We have to show where people are wrong. We have to expose sin. We have to highlight disobedience. We have to show how people are estranged from God and enemies to God. But we also need to preach the gospel. We need to offer the gospel through the preaching of Christ, as Paul makes so clear here. He is saying, “Baptism is important, but Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” And as you go through this chapter you see so much. The conviction of sin as he challenges the Greeks and he challenges the Jews about their particular failings and faults. But also holds out such hope to the poor and the needy and the helpless. He holds out the power of Christ, the power of the gospel to save any who believes! So there has to be that balance between conviction of sin and the preaching of Christ as available, as accessible, as suitable and as sufficient for every sinner who seeks Him.

Seventhly, there has to be a balance between discriminating and assuring. We have to do discriminating. We have to separate the precious from the vile. We have to expose hypocrisy. We have to help every one of us to examine ourselves whether we are in the faith. Not just assume and presume, but we have to challenge. Are you really in the faith? Are you showing marks of grace? Are you showing evidences that you are Christ’s? There has to be challenge. There has to be a call to be serious and abandon all false confidence. But while we want to undermine the hypocrite and expose the hypocrite for his good and her good, we also want to comfort the tremblers. We need to seek to build up the weak faith of those who lack assurance and show the way to a greater, a more confident, a more assured, a more steady faith. Again, that is a difficult balance to achieve, isn’t it?

Eighthly, we need to balance between narrative preaching, doctrinal preaching, practical preaching, and devotional preaching. We need them all. That is why we need to preach from all parts of the Bible.

Ninthly, we need to also balance between preaching on each person of the Godhead – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. What should that balance be? You think, “Well, there is three Persons, therefore there should be a third, a third and a third.” I do not believe that is what the Bible is teaching us. If you take the balance of the Bible, the focus is on Christ. The Father comes and says, “This is my beloved Son. Hear Him!” And we are told the Spirit does not speak of Himself, but speaks of Christ and points to Christ. It is as if the Father and the Spirit are both together shining the spotlights on the Son, because they know that the way to knowledge of the Father and the Spirit is through the Son. The focus is on the preaching here, as Paul says, of Christ and Christ crucified. His Person; His work. Yes, we preach the Father, but the Father points to the Son. Yes, we preach the Spirit, but the Spirit points to the Son. And the Son is exalted, the Son is preeminent, because the Son is our hope. No man comes to the Father but by Him. The Spirit does not work but by pointing us to Christ. But there has to be a balance – each Person reflected in His biblical role and focus.

Tenthly, there has to be a balance between the ancient world and modern life. We have already mentioned this. Yes, we need to go back and learn from the past, but we need to live in the real world. We need to recognize that we are living with others. And in this specific age, the sermons of the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, nineteenth, and even the twentieth century will not do for today. We have to live today. We have to apply this Word not the last century or previous centuries, but to today. The world we are living in. We need to know what is going on. We need to know how to connect this truth with this modern life. Yes, we need biblical illustrations, but we need modern illustrations as well. We need to show how this book is relevant, how it connects. How it has something to say about every life situation we can ever face and about everything that is going on in the world today. We do not want to come to church and just hear all the news that we heard In the last week on the internet, but neither do we want to come and just hear about all that happened in the past. There needs to be some kind of balance between these. A biblical balance.

Eleventh, there needs to be a balance between heaven and hell. We need to preach hell. We need to preach the warnings. We need to preach the threats. But we need to preach heaven too, and the promises and the hope of eternal life.

Twelfth, we need to balance between textual exposition and thematic preaching. This is thematic today, but the vast majority of preaching should be textual. It should be explaining a text. It is good to go through the Bible and gather together the teaching scattered throughout Scripture and show it all coming together in one beautiful, systematic, logical way. That is beautiful and it is necessary and it is helpful. But there is something about not just the doctrines God has put in the Bible but the way He has put them in the Bible. It is not just that we want to hear what God has taught, but we want to hear how He has taught it. How He has presented it. And He presented it, generally, textually. And that should be our ultimate focus – the exposition of texts of Scripture. Of paragraphs of Scripture. We need a balance, though, between these two.

Thirteenth, we need a balance between helping people to live now and helping them to prepare for eternity. There is no point in just all speaking about heaven. There is no point in all speaking about now. We need both – to live now and prepare for later, for eternity. I need help to live in my day-to-day life, but if I do not prepare for the future, eternity, what good will all that do me? We need a balance.

Fourteenth, we need a balance also in manner, not just in matter. Some sermons will be calm, quiet, slow, and methodical. Others will be loud and passionate and urgent and appealing. All depending on the subject matter.

What Does This Mean for the Listener?←↰⤒🔗

You see how many balances that preaching must accomplish? What does that therefore mean for you? This is a big challenge to me; of course it is. To every preacher, everywhere. And we are called to account, and that weighs heavenly on every preacher. I must be so careful not to let my personality, my experience, my models, my preferences, my gifts, my fears imbalance me. I have to try and achieve that biblical balance in all these areas. It is a number of see-saws that a preacher has to ride and that he will give an account for. But this also impacts you. In what way?

First of all, in prayer. If you know all this, then you must pray. You must pray for me; you must pray for every man that fills the pulpit. In the short term, and over the long term. You see how many balances he has to achieve and how many difficulties and obstacles he has to overcome in himself and in other ways. He needs prayer. I need prayer, if I am to come close to this.

Secondly, there is a call here to patience. You are to be patient. Do not judge any man by one sermon. He is never going to achieve all this balance in one sermon! It would be utterly foolish to try! But over the medium- to long-term. Be patient. Wait. Gauge. Take these biblical balances and weigh the sermons over a period of time. Do not jump if one sermon goes one way too much one day. Wait. See if over time there is that balance. And remember, a preacher might decide (hopefully prayerfully and conscientiously) that there is such an imbalance in one area in a congregation’s life that he may have to preach on the opposite side of the see-saw for a while or from time to time in order to strike that balance again. So be patient.

But thirdly, there is also a call to you to persuade the preacher. If you have prayed and if you have been patient and only if you meet these two qualifications; then you are well within your rights to approach a preacher you feel is imbalanced. If you feel I am going awry on one or more of these issues, you have to come to me. And we will look at this in more detail the next time on how to listen and how to respond when you are grieved by what you hear. About how to do that in a biblical, constructive way. But you are certainly within your rights, if you have prayed for the preacher and if you have been patient, to then come. And not, “This is wrong; that is wrong,” but rather, “Do you think that perhaps you have maybe gone a bit far here for too long?” And so on. Just do it in a Christian, charitable way. In a way that is hoping to win and gain the person rather than win the argument. Yes come. It is important. The preacher will hopefully take that into account prayerfully and decide if this is the truth and he has to heed it.

So I hope you can see that while this lecture is about what is preaching, it is also for your sakes too. That responsibilities result from our view of the Bible and our view of preaching and our view of biblical balance. I said at the beginning that there is nothing more important for the long-term health of the congregation than the preachers that preach here and the sermons they preach. Two things. But I missed a third. Nothing is more important for the long-term health of the congregation than the preachers, their preaching, and thirdly, the way you listen to that. Because you can have the best preachers and the best preaching, but without having the best listening it is all in vain. That is why [in the next lecture] I want us to really examine this question: What is it to listen? We talk about expository preaching; what is expository listening? What does it mean? If that is a preacher and that is preaching, what does that mean for you?