I am currently reading Him We Proclaim: Preaching Christ from All the Scriptures by Dennis E. Johnson. The good folks at Presbyterian and Reformed Publishing kindly supplied me with a review copy.
In a chapter contrasting different approaches to preaching, Johnson picks Tim Keller’s preaching style as exemplary of his ideal view. What distinguishes that style is primarily that the gospel is preached to both saved and unsaved alike in the congregation. Johnson describes this view as follows:
What both the unbeliever and the believer need to hear in preaching is the gospel, with its implications for a life lived in confident gratitude in response to amazing grace. Christians are constantly tempted to relapse into legalistic attitudes in their pursuit of sanctification…. We need to repent not only of our sins but also of our righteousness–our efforts at self-atonement in lieu of surrender to the all-sufficient grace of Christ.
Johnson then points out that Keller traces his discover of the need of “two-fold repentance” to George Whitefield’s sermon, “The Method of Grace”. In the footnotes, Johnson provides the following quote from that sermon. This is the quote that arrested me and I pray will impact you as well.
When a poor soul is somewhat awakened by the terrors of the Lord, then the poor creature, being born under the covenant of works, flies directly to a covenant of works again. And as Adam and Eve hid themselves… and sewed fig leaves… so the poor sinner, when awakened, flies to his duties and to his performances, to hide himself from God, and goes to patch up a righteousness of his own. Says he, I will be mighty good now–I will reform–I will do all I can; and then certainly Jesus Christ will have mercy on me.
I found Whitefield’s sermon available online here. If you have some time, you may be blessed by reading the entire sermon.
To get your own copy of this great book on redemptive-historical, gospel-centered preaching, compare prices at Amazon.com with the Christian bookseller Westminster Bookstore. The quotes above are from pages 55-57 of my copy.
The preaching of grace NEVER grows old…It keeps us and continually washes us bringing the realization of new mercy EVERY morning… There is nothing we can do to make Him love us more…nothing we have done that will make Him love us less…He paid it all…He gave it all…And He opens our hearts by His Holy Spirit that we may receive it all.
Thanks for your thoughts Nancy. That is so true. Blessed be His name.