In Lloyd-Jones’ fifth lecture he begins his discussion on the act of preaching. His aim is to give a general picture of what preaching is and then to move on from there. He offers a few different definitions throughout but at the beginning he simply notes that, “preaching is something that one recognizes when one hears it”.
It is something which involves the whole personality of the preacher. Also, the preacher who is truly preaching has a sense of authority and control. As Lloyd-Jones notes, “he should never give the impression that he is speaking by their leave”. God has tasked that man who is up there with delivering His timeless message to them.
There is also something to be said about freedom in the pulpit. While the minister prepares the sermon it becomes something different in the pulpit and at times the pastor can deliver it with freedom and at other times he feels as it were a bit hindered. Freedom does not equal looseness, though. There is a way in which the pastor is to be most serious and lively. “He must never give the impression that preaching is something light or superficial or trivial”. (99) That does not mean morbidity or dullness it means passionate and serious preaching.
A man ought to be moved by the things which he is preaching. If he is not moved he cannot be said to be preaching. This Lloyd-Jones covers in his sections on zeal, warmth, and urgency. And this is not some mere emotion. It is grounded in the preachers love for God and love for the people he is proclaiming the gospel to.
Lloyd-Jones closes by reminding his hearers that the sermon and preaching are not the same thing. When unction departs many pastors will rely on their sermon and they’ll realize that they don’t have much to stand upon. The Doctor closes by making one of his most known declarations from this book, “What is preaching? Logic on fire! Eloquent reason!”
Tweet Note for Chapter Five:
At the end of every chapter I like to put together what I call a Tweet Note. A simple 140 character or less summary of the chapter. Here is the Tweet Note for chapter five:
The act of preaching is logic on fire which consumes the whole person.
Quotables:
- You have no self-confidence, but you are a man under authority, and you have authority; and this should be evident and obvious.
- The preacher must be lively; and you can be lively and serious at the same time.
- I would say that a ‘dull preacher’ is a contradiction in terms; if he is dull he is not a preacher.
- A preacher who seems to be detached form the Truth, and who is just saying a number of things which may be very good and true and excellent in themselves, is not a preacher at all.
- A man who imagines that because he has a head full of knowledge that he is sufficient for these things had better start learning again.
- What is preaching? Logic on fire! Eloquent reason!…It is theology on fire. And a theology which does not take fire, I maintain, is a defective theology; or at least the man’s understanding of it is defective.
Discussion Questions:
- How would you define preaching?
- Give an example of a time when you realized all you had to stand upon was your sermon and you realized it was very weak. Have you experienced the opposite as well—when you felt the sermon wasn’t so good but you had a unique freedom in your preaching?
- What does MLJ mean by saying preaching is logic on fire?
- Are some personalities just not fit for preaching? (112)
- What is the chief end of preaching?
