Our Scripture verse on preaching is 1 Corinthians 2:13 which reads: "Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual."
Our quote on preaching today is from Herman Melville. He said, "The pulpit is ever this earth’s foremost part; all the rest comes in its rear. The pulpit leads the world… The world’s a ship on its passage out, and not a voyage complete; and the pulpit is its prow."
In this podcast, we are using as our texts, the following three books: "Lectures to My Students" by Charles H. Spurgeon; "The Preacher and his Preaching" by Alfred P. Gibbs; and "Biblical Preaching" by Haddon W. Robinson. And, I want to remind you to take advantage of our special offer. If you enjoy this podcast, please feel free to purchase any one of these books for your personal library from the resources page on our website -- ProclaimPodcast.com.
Our first topic is titled "The Minister's Self-Watch, Part 5" from "Lectures to My Students" by Charles H. Spurgeon. He writes:
Let each man here whisper to his own inmost soul, "What a dreadful thing it will be for me if I should be ignorant of the power of the truth which I am preparing to proclaim!" Unconverted ministry involves the most unnatural relationships. A graceless pastor is a blind man elected to a professorship of optics, philosophizing upon light and vision, discoursing upon and distinguishing to others the nice shades and delicate blendings of the prismatic colors, while he himself is absolutely in the dark! He is a dumb man elevated to the chair of music; a deaf man fluent upon symphonies and harmonies! He is a mole professing to educate eaglets; a limpet elected to preside over angels.
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Our second topic is titled "The Qualifications of the Preacher, Part 5" from "The Preacher and his Preaching" by Alfred P. Gibbs.
This section is titled: THE PREACHER MUST LOVE SOULS (PART 1)
1. It is possible to love to preach, without loving those to whom we preach. A lawyer may develop great ability in his profession without necessarily loving his clients. A physician may enjoy great success without loving his patients. A businessman can rise to great heights of prosperity without loving his customers. But a preacher can never be a real worker for Christ without a deep passion for the lost souls to whom he preaches the Gospel of God’s grace.
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Our third topic is titled "The Definition of Expository Preaching, Part 3" from "Biblical Preaching" by Haddon W. Robinson. He writes:
The Expositor Communicates a Concept: The definition of expository preaching also emphasizes that an expositor communicates a concept. Some conservative preachers have been led astray by their doctrine of inspiration and by a poor understanding of how language works. Orthodox theologians insist that the Holy Spirit protects the individual words of the original text. Words are the stuff from which ideas are made, they argue, and unless the words are inspired, the ideas cannot be guarded from error.
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