This book is filled with important information for the pastor who desires a more effective preaching ministry. To fully understand the following quotes, they should be read in context.
“When you preach in the energy of the flesh, you feel exalted and lifted up. When you preach in the power of the Spirit, you are filled with humble awe at the work of God.” – Martin Lloyd-Jones (front fly page)
“…the preached word will transform lives only as the Spirit uses it.” (front fly page)
As Spurgeon climbed the fifteen steps to the platform of the Metropolitan Tabernacle, he repeated with each step, “I believe in the Holy Ghost!” (front fly page)
“If your people would hear God, not just you the preacher, you must bring more to the art of preaching than orthodoxy.” (the anointing of the Holy Spirit) p. 10
“What kind of preaching is it that causes men and women ‘to feel the overwhelming power of the sheer loveliness and enthrallment of Jesus Christ…?’ It is preaching that emerges from diligent exegesis, to be sure. But more than that, it is preaching that is infused with power, a vitality that infinitely exceeds the scope of human strength…a vitality that originates from heaven itself.” p. 11, 12
“…the efficacious empowerment of the Spirit of God is indispensable to the ministry of proclamation.” p. 13
“If Pentecost is not repeated, neither is it retracted…This is the era of the Holy Spirit.” – John Murray, p. 17
The Christian Counseling Movement – “…even a cursory review of their literature reflects an attempt, whether consciously or unconsciously, to do the work of God apart from the truth and the power of the Spirit of God.” p. 20
“Apart from the Spirit the Bible is opaque; with the Spirit it becomes translucent.” – Donald Bloesch. p. 29
“Piper is right when he says that all genuine preaching is rooted in a feeling of desperation.” p. 92
“I see that a man cannot be a faithful, fervent minister until he preaches just for Christ’s sake, until he gives up trying to attract people to himself, and seeks to attract them to Christ. Lord, give me this.” p. 93
“The scriptures should be read with the aim of finding Christ in them.” John Calvin, p. 48
“…there is an interpretive question to which every Christian can ask of any ministry purporting to be a work of the Holy Spirit: Does this ministry reveal and glorify Jesus Christ?” p. 50
“If ever we are to expect the Spirit’s enablement, we must be resolutely wedded to His purpose; to glorify Jesus Christ through the instrumentality of the scriptures.” p. 63
“…preaching was a prominent feature in the ministry methodology of Jesus….” p. 85
“An absence of preaching is often the means now employed to attract people to the assembly on the Lord’s Day.” p. 86
“Marcel states… ‘Preaching is the central, primary, decisive function of the Church.’ Lloyd – Jones adds, ‘…the decadent periods and eras in the history of the Church have always been those periods when preaching had declined.’” p. 88
“It must be understood that the preacher does not share, he declares. This is the reason that small group Bible studies can never replace the preaching of the gospel.” p. 88
“Christian preaching consciously renounces all dependence upon humanly-devised techniques of persuasion.” p. 89
“…a preacher ought never to preach in a manner that consciously draws attention to himself.” p. 91
“Christian preaching demands a holy correspondence between message and method.” p. 91
“It may be surprising for some to discover that when the Spirit of God powerfully attends the preaching of the word, one of the common indicators is a heightened sense of quiet; not shouts and ecstasies, rather an unnatural silence.” p. 111
“Do you long for the voice of God to be heard when you preach? Then this must be your credo: ‘I believe in the Holy Spirit.’” p. 112
“Christian preachers must never assume that a mutually exclusive decision needs to be made between painstaking exegesis and reliance upon the Spirit.” p. 141
“Labor in the preparation for the pulpit, as if our whole success depended on it. Pray, and depend wholly upon Christ; as feeling, that ‘without him we can do nothing.’” p.142.
“Seldom does a book arise of which one can say, ‘This should be essential reading for preachers at whatever stage of their ministry!’” Derek Prime, (back cover)
“Piper is right when he says that all genuine preaching is rooted in a feeling of desperation.” p. 92
“I see that a man cannot be a faithful, fervent minister until he preaches just for Christ’s sake, until he gives up trying to attract people to himself, and seeks to attract them to Christ. Lord, give me this.” p. 93
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