Nielsen’s Nook

In The Supremacy of God in Preaching, John Piper has a chapter on the marriage of gravity and gladness in God glorifying preaching.� Often there is an imbalance, according to Piper, in pulpits today.� “Gladness and gravity,” Piper writes, “should be woven together in the life and preaching of a pastor in sch a way as to sober the careless soul and sweeten the burdens of the saints” (p. 52).� Later in the chapter he suggests seven practical suggestions for cultivating this warp and woof in our preaching.

1. Strive for gladhearted-holiness.� “You can’t be blood-earnest in the pulpit and habitually flippant at deacons’ [= elders' in the Presbyterian world] meetings and church dinners.”
2. Make your life and especially your study one of constant communion with Christ.� May we spend ten hours on our knees over our books as B. B. Warfield urges.
3. Read inspiring edifying books.� Read works written by authors who bleed bibline and are blood-earnest about the truths they discuss.
4. Contemplation of death.� Directing our minds to the contemplation of death, reminds us of the gravitas of our depravitas as Dr. Sinclair Ferguson used to tell us in classes at Westminster Seminary.
5. Higher standards.� Scripture teaches us that teachers of Christ’s people will be judged with greater strictness (James 3:1).
6. The Example of Jesus.� Jesus was evidently the most profound and prolific preacher that ever lived.� He wept often, was approachable even by children, was humble and yet boldly preached on things like hell in even horrible terms.
7. Humble yourself.� “Don’t be content to guide people amont the foothills of God’s glory.”� Lead them to the heights of his majestic transcendence (c.f., 1 Pet 5:6).

I would encourage those of us who have the privilege of preaching to cultivate in our own minds a healthy fear of God.� My own thoughts are that we do not fear God as we should.� We do not sense the dangerous business it is to be an instrument in the hands of a holy God when we preach.� We are not the physicians, we are the surgical instruments in the hands of the Great Physician.� O God have mercy that when you come to find this scalpel, that I will not be dull and tarnished but sharp and holy, for Christ’s sake.� Amen.