10 Reasons to Read Preaching and Preachers

I am excited to launch our study on Martin Lloyd-Jones’ classic Preaching and Preachers. We will discuss the first chapter next Friday. That should give you plenty of time to get the book in the mail and to read through chapter one. My friend, Terry Delaney, is a big fan of Lloyd-Jones and has read through the book several times. So, I felt it would be helpful to hear from someone like him on why you ought to read this book. If you haven’t signed up to go through the book with us you can do so here.

Early in my academic studies for ministry, I was challenged by a professor to adopt a “dead theologian” to read and learn from. There are so many wonderful dead guys to choose from; men like John Bunyan, Charles Spurgeon, Jonathan Edwards, and Richard Sibbes. I struggled to choose only one, until I found Martyn Lloyd-Jones. He has become one of my “best friends”. Because I desired to be a pastor, the very first book I read was Preaching and Preachers.

Though I could list many more, here are ten reasons why every pastor should read MLJ’s classic Preaching and Preachers. In no particular order:

1. These lectures come from an experienced preacher – The content of this book was originally a series of lectures given at the Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia in the Spring of 1969. He only decided to then speak on preaching because he spoke from “an experience of some forty-four years.” He had declined numerous opportunities to lecture on this very topic because he did not believe he was experienced enough to speak adequately to the subject.
2. Preaching and Preachers has withstood the test of time – This book was originally published in March of 1972. This is the edition I first read back in 2007. In 2012, Kevin DeYoung teamed up with Zondervan to offer a 40^th anniversary edition complete with essays by Ligon Duncan, Tim Keller, John Piper, Mark Dever, and Bryan Chapell. The book is still recommended reading in many preaching classes and those who read it will usually hand it off to someone else.
3. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was influenced by “a great cloud of witnesses” as well – He is quick to point to the preaching of others that influenced his own style. Many of those were of the Puritans. His love for the Purtians is why he was instrumental in the founding of The Banner of Truth Trust. You can read about that here. This is important to me personally because it shows that we are always being influenced and we are always influencing.
4. Many of our modern day heroes of faith label this book as influential to them– I read a lot. Many of my modern day heroes look back to Preaching and Preachers as well as the ministry of Martyn Lloyd-Jones as having been very influential in their own ministry. Here is only a sampling of those who have been influenced by The Doctor.
5. His passion for Christ – As one who preaches on most Sundays, I find myself listening to MLJ sermons on Monday mornings to keep myself nourished. It isn’t long in each of these sermons before MLJ takes his listeners to the gospel. Even in a book on preaching you’ll hear the gospel.
6. His passion to see souls saved – Why else preach if not to see lost souls come to Christ and the Christian to be edified and strengthened? In his chapter on Calling for Decisions, he argues that “the appeal [to salvation in Christ] should be implicit throughout the whole body of the sermon, and in all that you are doing” (p. 282). Regardless of his (or your) view of an altar call, it can never be said of Martyn Lloyd-Jones that he did not care about the lost coming to Christ in salvation.
7. He holds a high view of the sermon as central to worship – Why do we gather together to worship if not to hear from the Lord? Jones does not believe he is the reason people gather. Instead, he holds that he is only a vessel the Lord uses in order to deliver His message to His people. He states in the first paragraph of the book, “The work of preaching is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called…the most urgent need in the Christian Church today is true preaching” (p.9). If this was true in the 1960’s, how much more true is it today when cultural Christianity is no longer the norm?
8. Martyn Lloyd-Jones exudes humility – He asks the rhetorical question “who is qualified for such a task?” over and over in many ways throughout the book. I say it is rhetorical because those who preach understand the weight of the task at hand. We know the answer. There are many who will discuss preaching clinically because they see the Lord’s Day worship as an event to be put on. Dr. Lloyd-Jones sees it as an opportunity to approach the throne of grace because of our great need of a savior’s willing forgiveness.
9. It is practical yet theologically rich – The doctor was a huge proponent of experiential theology. This means he strongly believed that one’s theology ought to lead to practical living. As you read the book, you will find nuggets of truth like “if a man has not got the gift of speech he cannot be a preacher” (p. 111). Or, this truth that many would do well to heed, especially if you come direct from seminary – “the preacher must never be ‘clinical’” (p. 89).
10. So that’s where I got that! – I have easily read this book a half dozen times since 2007. Every time I read it, I will think to myself, I wondered where I arrived at that particular conviction. When I read back through Preaching and Preachers I realize again how formative this book has been for my ministry.

Will you join us?

Terry Delaney has been married to his wife, Krista, since 2002. They had five children, three boys and then two girls, between the years 2004 and 2010. He serves as the pastor of Union Baptist Church in Mexico, Missouri. He also maintains a book review website, ChristianBookNotes.com, where he has published over 1,000 book reviews since 2008.