The only thing that makes preaching worthwhile to me is for Christ to speak through my sermon, because I don’t like preaching enough to put myself through such a painful process for any goal lower than that.
On the other hand, when the goal is to preach Christ, when the passage is studied through and prayed through and practiced through to provide the venue for Jesus to speak to the congregation, then the process is worth the effort. The congregation figures out that the sermon is dead-serious business; pretty soon they begin listening for the voice of Christ. Eventually people invite their friends, because something important is happening at worship, as opposed to something enjoyable.
Speaking through the preached Word, Christ speaks to listeners personally, drawing them to himself for salvation, for repentance from sin, for comfort, for commitment to ministry. Every sermon, no matter how much exposition or story-telling it contains, must have as its goal Revelation 3:20: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (KJV).
But the voice of Christ in the sermon is hidden. It is difficult to know how it works, let alone how to prepare a sermon so it will happen. But Christ does speak, when we exposit the Word properly and when we preach with the desire that he speak.
But how does he speak? How does Christ call sinners to himself? It’s easy to get lost in this task without some idea of how Christ works in it. No one analyzed it better than the Puritans.
Flavel’s dews and sunbeams
The best account of how Christ speaks to us personally in the preached Word is a collection of twelve sermons on Revelation 3:20 preached by John Flavel in 1689. These sermons can be found in The Collected Works of John Flavel, volume IV, but far better is a slightly edited version published by Baker Books in 1978: Christ Knocking at the Door of Sinners’ Hearts (out of print).
Preaching Christ will always be intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually demanding.
Flavel was born in 1628, the son of a Puritan minister. He studied at Oxford and was ordained in 1650. Flavel preached during a dangerous era for Noncomformist ministers and spent much of his career trying to pastor and avoid jail. The sermons, from the last two years of his life, were preached following the restoration of religious liberty.
Flavel is perhaps the most accessible of all Puritans; you won’t have to hack your way through the thick underbrush of Puritan verbiage. But Flavel’s readability does not imply shallowness. He was a favorite Puritan of Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield, Robert Murray M’Cheyne, and Charles Spurgeon.
Proceeding with inimitable sensitivity to detail and orientation to power, Flavel exposits Revelation 3:20 word by word, describing how Christ speaks through preaching in the work of conversion:
“Christ’s knocking at the door of the soul implies the immediate access of the Spirit of God to the soul of man. He can come to the innermost door of the soul at his pleasure, and can make what impression upon it he pleases. … Ministers can but knock at the external door of the senses. We can see their persons and hear their voices—we can reason with sinners, and plead with their souls; but awaken them we cannot … we can only lodge our message in their ears, and leave it to the Spirit of God to make it effectual . …
“The Spirit knocks by the gracious invitations of the word; and without this, no heart would ever open to Christ. It is not frost and snow, storms and thunder, but the gentle distilling dews and cherishing sunbeams that make the flowers open in the spring. The terrors of the law may be preparatory, but only the grace of the gospel is that which effectually opens the sinner’s heart . …
“By such a ministry Christ knocks powerfully: this is one of the greatest blessings God can bestow upon a people, when he sends among them powerful and judicious preachers of the gospel, under whose ministry their consciences cannot sleep quietly. These are the instruments by which Christ knocks at men’s hearts; and as for those [who] sew pillows for drowsy sinners to sleep quietly upon, the Lord owns them not as his.”
Worthy enterprise
Flavel’s sermons make me want to preach! If that is what preaching is, let me at it. I’ll do it with all the strength I possess, no matter how demanding the enterprise.
Preaching Christ has always been and will always be intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually demanding. Adjectives such as easy, enjoyable, pleasant, and pretty never apply to this kind of preaching. However, the words satisfying, overwhelming, life-changing, and hot do apply; and they make every effort expended to preach the Word of the living Christ eternally valuable.
Recognizing Christ’s Voice
Its 8 distinctive qualities.
In “None Receive Christ Until His Spiritual Quickening Voice Is Heard,” Flavel describes what he calls the “special properties” of the spiritual voice of Christ in a series of eight theses:
1. It is a secret and still voice, whereby somewhat is communicated to the soul, making a particular application of what is spoken to the soul. … This voice of God sounds to the very center of the soul. … What is spoken externally dies in the ear that hears it, but this still voice of the Spirit makes its way to the heart.
2. The spiritual voice of Christ is personal, speaking distinctly and particularly to the state of the soul, as if by name. Ministers must speak in general; they draw the bow of the gospel at a venture, not knowing to whom God will direct the arrow; but the Spirit guides it to the mark.
3. This spiritual voice of Christ is distinguishable by the soul that hears it from all other voices. The sheep know his voice.
4. This spiritual voice of Christ is a surprising voice, altogether unexpected by the soul that hears it. Little do we foresee the designs God has in bringing us to such a place, and under such a sermon, at such a time; even as little as Saul thought of a kingdom when he was seeking his father’s asses.
5. This spiritual internal voice of Christ is energetical; mighty in power, piercing the heart … full of efficacy to the soul that hears it.
6. The spiritual voice of Christ is convictive to the conscience of a sinner, so that it puts a final end to all evasions.
7. The voice of Christ is generally conveyed to the souls of men through the word preached which is the chosen instrument of its conveyance.
8. The voice of Christ leaves abiding effects upon the soul that hears it. … [T]he effects of Christ’s voice are durable: “I will never forget thy precepts; for with them thou hast quickened me” (Ps. 119:93).
Dave Hansen is pastor of Belgrade CommunityChurch in Belgrade, Montana. In this column, he explores how church leadersfrom earlier generations can mentor us today.
1997 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. For reprint information call 630-260-6200 or contact us.
