Proclaimer Blog
Preaching Christ from the OT, part 4
Summer series #1. Some years ago, we asked Sinclair Ferguson to write a brief paper for us on preaching Christ from the Old Testament. Over the next week or so, we’re going to publish an edited version online as part of our summer series. It’s worth some time. Christ is the prism where all light converges Given that we are not to become ‘method’ preachers applying a programmatic formula for biblical preaching, there are nevertheless very important principles that help us to develop Christ-centred expository skills. As we work with them, and as they percolate through our thinking and our approach to the Bible, they will help us develop the instinct to point people to Christ from the Old Testament Scriptures. The most general principle is one for which we might coin the expression fillfulment: Christ fulfils or ‘fills full’ the Old Testament. He came ‘not to abolish the Law or the Prophets but to fulfil them’ (Matt. 5:17). As Christians standing within the light of New Testament revelation and looking back on the Old Testament, Christ himself acts as a hermeneutical prism. Looking back through him, we see the white light of the unity of the truth of Jesus Christ broken down into its constituent colours in the pages of the Old Testament. Then, looking forwards we see how the multi-coloured strands of Old Testament revelation converge in him. When we appreciate this we begin to see how the constituent colours unite in Christ and are related both to each other and to him. In this way we see how the Old Testament points forward to him. We see how sometimes one ‘colour’, sometimes another, or perhaps a combination of them, points forward to Jesus Christ, is related to Jesus Christ, and is fulfilled by Jesus Christ.
Proclaimer Blog
Preaching Christ from the OT, part 3
Summer series. Some years ago, we asked Sinclair Ferguson to write a brief paper for us on preaching Christ from the Old Testament. Over the next week or so, we’re going to publish an edited version online as part of our summer series. It’s worth some time.
For us as preachers, this whole issue is a much bigger one than how we preach Christ from the Old Testament, for at least two reasons.
1. First, because (if my own assessment is correct) many sermons from the Gospels —where the focus is explicitly on the person of Jesus—never mind from the Old Testament are far from Christ-centred.
How is this possible? The preacher has looked into the text principally to find himself and his congregation, not to find Christ. The sermon is consequently about ‘people in the Gospels’ rather than about Jesus Christ who is the gospel. The real question the preacher has been interested in asking and answering, is not ‘How do we find Christ in this Gospel?’ but ‘Where am I in this story? What have I got to do?’ Even although an entire series of such sermons on a Gospel is preached (as in the lectio continua method), we will not necessarily have communicated the basic life of Jesus. Instead we have been given an exploration of the human condition.
So there is a confused mindset here that raises a deeper question than, ‘Is there a formula that helps us to preach Christ from the Old Testament?’ The more fundamental issue is the question, ‘What am I really looking for when I am preaching on any part of the Bible? Am I really looking to tell people what they are like and what they must do—that is, am I really stressing the subjective and the imperative—or am I talking about Jesus Christ himself and the gospel? Do I stress the objective and the indicative of the gospel in the light of which the subjective and imperative are to be considered? After all it is not the subjective (my condition) or the imperative (respond!) that saves or transforms people’s lives, but the objective and the indicative of God’s grace received subjectively in the light of the imperatives of the gospel.
2. A second observation worth noting in this connection is that many (perhaps most) outstanding preachers of the Bible (and of Christ in all Scripture) are so instinctively. Ask them what their formula is and you will draw a blank expression. The principles they use have been developed unconsciously, through a combination of native ability, gift and experience as listeners and preachers. Some men might struggle to give a series of lectures on how they go about preaching. Why? Because what they have developed is an instinct; preaching biblically has become their native language. They are able to use the grammar of biblical theology, without reflecting on what part of speech they are using. That is why the best preachers are not necessarily the best instructors in homiletics, although they are, surely, the greatest inspirers of true preaching.
Most of us probably develop the instinct for biblical-theological and redemptive-historical preaching best by the osmosis involved in listening to those who do it well. It is always wise to listen to such preachers and their preaching as though we had two minds—one through which the preaching of the word nourishes us, the other through which, simultaneously or on later reflection, asks: ‘Why did this exposition nourish me in that way? What dynamics and principles were operative?’ Seeing how the hidden principles work out in practice is the best way to make those principles our own so that they become the grammar of our preaching.
Proclaimer Blog
Preaching Christ from the OT, part 2
Summer series. Some years ago, we asked Sinclair Ferguson to write a brief paper for us on preaching Christ from the Old Testament. Over the next week or so, we’re going to publish an edited version online as part of our summer series. It’s worth some time.
Preaching Christ must become instinctive, not formulaic
Young preachers are often told, ‘You must preach Christ from the Old Testament.’ But having just finished preaching on (for example) Psalm 121, and realising that we have said little or nothing about Jesus (perhaps not explicitly mentioned his name!), we may be in great agitation, and search desperately for a magic formula which will help us to preach Christ from the Old Testament.
It would be possible, of course, to provide a kind of formula, a kind of homiletical version of Thomas’s five ways, such as: Point to Christ by showing: (1) the passage is a direct prophecy of him; or (2) the passage shows why Jesus is needed; or (3) the passage speaks about something that reminds us of Jesus; or (4) the passage speaks about something that could not be accomplished without Jesus; or (5) the passage shows us an individual/group unlike Jesus.
The point here is not to comment on whether these five ways are helpful or not so much as the inherent danger in the approach. It is likely to produce preaching that is wooden and insensitive to the rich contours of biblical theology. Its artificiality would lie in our going through the motions of exegeting and expounding the Old Testament and then, remembering the formula, tidying our notes in order to align them with it. The net result over an extended period of time might be akin to that produced by children’s sermons in which the intelligent child soon recognises that the answer to the minister’s questions will always be one of: 1: God; 2: Jesus; 3. Sin; 4. Bible; 5. Be Good!
Of course we need to work with general principles as we develop as preachers; but it is a far greater desideratum that we develop an instinctive mindset and, corresponding to that, such a passion for Jesus Christ himself, that we will find our way to him in a natural and realistic way rather than a merely formulaic way.
Proclaimer Blog
Preaching Christ from the OT, part 1
Summer series . Some years ago, we asked Sinclair Ferguson to write a brief paper for us on preaching Christ from the Old Testament. Over the next week or so, we’re going to publish an edited version online as part of our summer series. It’s worth some time.
The discipline of biblical theology has slowly but surely found a place in evangelical preaching. As a result, it has now become a commonplace in the teaching of homiletics to stress that we must preach Christ in all the Scriptures in a manner that takes account of the flow of redemptive history. In particular we must learn to preach Christ from the Old Testament without falling into the old traps of an artificial exegesis.
But how do we legitimately preach the text of the Old Testament as those who stand on this side of Pentecost? What difference does it make to expound Genesis or Psalms as believers in Jesus Christ? Or, to put it in a more graphic way, how can we reconstruct the principles of Jesus’ conversation in Luke 24:25-7 and 45, and learn to follow his example of showing how all the Scriptures point to him so that hearts are ‘strangely warmed’ and begin to burn? In particular, how may we do this without lapsing into what we (sometimes a little too cavalierly) deem to be either patristic allegorising or post-reformation spiritualising? If only we had heard how Jesus did this on the Emmaus Road, in the Upper Room, during the forty days between his resurrection and his ascension, we might grasp the principles by which it is done, so that we too could genuinely preach the text of the Old Testament as Christian preachers and not as rabbis!
Yet we must also preach the Scriptures without denuding them of the genuine historical events they record and the reality of the personal experiences they describe or to which they were originally addressed. How, then, do we preach Christ, and him crucified without leapfrogging over these historical realities as though the Old Testament Scriptures had no real significance for their own historical context?
In discussing the pre-Christ revelation of God as Trinity B.B. Warfield describes the Old Testament as a richly furnished but dimly lit room. Only when the light is turned on do the contents become clear. That light has been switched on in Christ and in the New Testament’s testimony to him. Now the triune personal being of God becomes clear. To read the Old Testament with the light switched off would be to deny the historical reality of our own context. On the other hand, we would be denying the historical reality of the text and its context if we were to read and preach it as though that same light had already been switched on within its own pages.
Thus our task as Christian preachers must be to take account of both. Fulfilling that task drives us back us into the basic hermeneutical question for the Christian exegete: How do we relate the Old Testament to the New Testament? The longer we labour in ministry, the more we ask that question. The more we know about the answer to it, the more we realise there is so much more left to explore. It is a life-long pursuit. Over the next few days, I’m going to make a few comments and suggest some principles that are generally applicable and may be specifically helpful to the preacher.
Proclaimer Blog
Why reading is so good for me. And you?
I love reading. I don’t think that comes as a surprise to many who know me or visit my office where I am trying to cultivate a Polytechnic version of a Oxbridge Don’s study with various piles of books scattered around. I can’t help it. I love reading.
But you may be surprised to know why.
I had a day off this week to do some home things with Mrs R, getting ready for our holiday in a few weeks time. Afternoon came around and England were bowled out. What next?
I’m really very bad at doing nothing. I can’t stand it, in fact. That, coupled with the Messiah complex that all of us have, at least in part, could be very bad news. It would make me a workaholic. Someone who can’t switch off but constantly needs to be checking emails and the like. That could easily be me.
Neither can I just zone out. I love sitting by the pool, but I can’t do that with nothing in my head. I’m always mulling over things, checking them over in my mind, rehearsing and repeating events of this day and tomorrow. That’s a real hiding to nothing, I can tell you for free. Or, worse still, my attempts to empty my head lead to all kinds of unhelpful stuff drifting in that I do well to avoid. You get the drift.
And so I read. It helps me fill my mind with useful stuff. Not junk. And not sin. And not work. It’s a switch off. And for that reason alone (even though there are others), I love it.
So I commend reading to you. A guard against too high a view of self, sinful thoughts and workaholic-ism. It’s why I’m taking away a few books this holiday.
Proclaimer Blog
2 Cor 4.7-18
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2 Cor 4.1-6 at the EMA
Proclaimer Blog
2 Cor 3.1-18 at the EMA
We had a great time at the EMA and I’m truly sorry if you could not join us. One of the clear highlights was Mike Cain’s expositions on 2 Cor 3-4. They are – I believe – essential listening for those in any kind of word ministry, but particularly those, perhaps, who feel beleaguered or worn down. Here’s part 1.
Proclaimer Blog
Just….wow
Mr Preacher. Here’s a thought. Chief amongst your applications arising from any passage in the Scriptures should be this: to encourage and help your congregation lose themselves in wonder at the majesty and glory of God.
I wonder if we’re too quick to “do” “think” applications. We assume that people need to go away with something concrete.
But, in fact, nothing is better than a deeper appreciation and awe-filled wonder at the triune God who has revealed himself in Christ Jesus.
Sometimes it’s OK to say, just….wow.
Proclaimer Blog
Using the NIV audio Bible
Finally, this week, a third use for this superb resource or, for that matter, any decent audio Bible.
3. Use it in your church
We’ve just finished a Bible study series on Numbers using this resource – highly commended ;0
I had a lovely email from a mature Christian lady in our congregation who confided that, as we started out, she felt overwhelmed by the prospect of 36 chapters of counting. She wrote to tell me what a surprise and delight it had been. Good result.
Nevertheless, she has a point. The first study was spread over four intense chapters. How do you manage that? Add to the length the complication of names and it does become overwhelming. How did we do it? We listened to the passage being read by someone else. Here’s a really great use for an audio Bible. You wouldn’t want to do this all the time, as I think we ought to get real live people reading the Bible. Nevertheless, at times like this, what a resource to call upon!
And for those in your congregations with failing eyesight or reading difficulties or time pressure, recommending an audio Bible is a great release. They are not disenfranchised from the church’s commitment to the word. Quite the opposite.
You will gather I’m a great fan. Correct. And not ashamed to be. This is how the word of God first came to the people of God – as they listened to it being read. And it’s no bad thing to reclaim some of that lost ground.