Archive for the ‘Sermons’ Category
Sermon Worth Hearing on Racism
I’m not always the biggest Jordan Hall fan but this sermon he preached on racism is worth hearing. I subscribe to his podcast and enjoyed this sermon very much. I agree with him. The answer to our national troubles (and world for that matter) is simple: the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Nothing else can transform like the gospel (2 Corinthians 5:17).
My prayer is that the Church will preach the gospel. The answer is not found in summits, endless articles on race, giving in to socialists like #blacklivesmatter but rather the answer for the Christian is simple: preach the gospel. Preach the gospel to all men (Matthew 28:19-20) and make disciples of all men. Jesus died so that all colors of people can come and be one in Christ Jesus. Just as the Lord divided the people because of their sins in Genesis 11 so the Lord reunited His people in Acts 2. That is the power of the gospel.
We Will Not Bow
Here is a link to a sermon by Dr. John MacArthur called “We Will Not Bow.” I highly recommend it.
You can find the sermon here.
Why I Prefer Expository Preaching Over Series Preaching
Expository preaching is the art in preaching verse by verse through the Bible. Typically the Bible teacher will spend their time reading commentaries, examining the context over and over again, re-reading the text over and over again and meditating on the Word of God until the text is their own. They begin to preach the text by showing how this section of Scripture fits not just within the context in which it is found but also how it fits into the overall plan and purposes of God. Expository preaching seeks to teach the Word of God, to explain the Scriptures, and to show New Testament disciples who Christ is in the text and how it exalts Him.
Series preaching has become the new passion for evangelicals. In my city I know of only a few expository churches. Nearly all the churches in my area are series sermons and almost all are topical in nature. The topics vary. For example, a large Pentecostal church near us is preaching on heaven right now. I suppose they are basing it off the horrible book, Heaven is for Real. I hope not. Another church is doing a series on Samson. Another church is doing a series called “Real Life.” Another church is doing their “summer” series and focusing on “Faith and Family.”
Sermon series are popular for several reasons all of which would be pragmatic. Some preachers buy their sermon series’ from people such as Rick Warren. Some steal sermons from famous preachers such as Ed Young. Some will simply read a book and borrow concepts from that book. Leonard Ravenhill use to say that he could listen to a preacher for five minutes and discern if his sermon came from God or a book. Some preachers will do sermon series’ because they actually have a sermon committee who helps them plan preaching. They will take a calendar and plan out their preaching. Other churches have given surveys of their churches or even their area to see what people want the preacher to preach on and then he prepares sermons based on the surveys. Other preachers just copy what the more successful churches are doing in hopes that they too can be that big. Again, pragmatism is the dominant rule here.
Expository sermons are not popular for the above reasons and more. For one, expository preaching requires you to work the text. Sadly, few preachers seem to want to do that. For instance, John MacArthur spends nearly 40 hours a week on his sermons. Now obviously most churches are not as big as MacArthur’s church and MacArthur has the luxury of being able to have a staff that allows him to prepare that much. Most do not. Sermon series’ are easier to prepare than expository sermons and they require little from the preacher other than his ability to speak. Expository sermons require labor in the Word, labor in word studies, labor in reading Bible commentaries, labor in developing the outline of the text and working through the text with the people. In short, expository sermons do not feed the weak preacher and his desire to be “relevant” but instead force the preacher to actually wrestle with the Word of God. Something that is not always easy nor fun (Hebrews 4:12-13) especially if the preacher is living a shallow life.
Expository sermons also typically drive off the goats. Let’s face the fact that most churches are full of goats. They are not following Christ at all during the week and show up either thinking that they are pleasing God by being at church or they just come because of habit. Yet their hearts are far from God. They don’t pray, don’t spend time in His presence during the week, never share their faith even to the own family members, and they don’t even think about God much during the week unless they use His name in vain or they get into trouble. These goats love sermon series preaching. They love having their ears tickled by the shallowness of the preaching (2 Timothy 4:3-4). The last thing they want to hear is an expositor opening the Word of God to them and confronting them in their sins.
For the sheep, however, expository preaching is refreshing and it feeds them (John 21:15; 1 Peter 2:1-3). Sheep long to move from milk to meat (Hebrews 5:11-6:3). Sheep long to hear the voice of God speaking to them from His Word (John 8:47; 10:27). Sheep are not sitting under godly leadership (Hebrews 13:7) because it is cool or relevant but they long to know Jesus and bless His name and make Him known among the nations. Expository preaching opens the Word of God to the sheep and allows the Holy Spirit to do His deep work of convicting and sanctification (John 17:17). Expository preaching develops the sheep to love Jesus more and more and to love His Word more and more and to seek to see Him in all the Scriptures.
By the way, an expositor can do sermon series’ based on their studies. For example, one could find so many sermon series’ by preaching verse by verse through the sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7. One could literally spend many mouths camped out in Matthew 5-7 working through the text.
My prayer is that God will raise up more expositors of His Word. We have thousands of churches that are pragmatic churches focused on numbers and on money but oh to have godly churches that are focused on the glory of God and living out the New Testament. Oh to have men of God who are broken by the Word of God and long to make known God’s Word to both the lost and to the redeemed. Oh to have men of God who labor in prayer and in study over the Word of God and who are passionate to make known the truth of God verse by verse to the people of God. Oh to have churches that love Jesus more than anything and who are not interested in worldly results, milking goats, and living off stale bread.
The Pulpit: Its Powers and Pitfalls by Alistair Begg
I would encourage you whether you are a Bible teacher or not to take a listen to Alistair Begg preaching on the subject of preaching from 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. Brother Begg speaks on biblical preaching and what is the source of our power. His sermon is right on and I enjoyed it tremendously.
You can listen to part B here which I considered the best portion of the sermon.
Distractions in the Holy Place by David Wilkerson
Here is a great sermon from the late brother David Wilkerson. When I first heard this message, I was on my face in repentance (Acts 3:19-20). God often used brother David to pierce my hard heart and to show me my sins. I praise God that though he is dead, he still speaks (Hebrews 11:4).
You can find the sermon here.