The gift of preaching, as Piper says, is the power of the Holy Spirit. We are dependent on the Spirit in both our study of the word and our proclamation of it. “Unless we learn how to rely on the Word of the Spirit and the power of the Spirit in all lowliness and meekness, it is not God who will get the glory in our preaching.” (pg. 43). If God is to be glorified in preaching (and this is the aim of all preaching) then we must preach the word inspired by the Spirit in the enabling power of the Spirit. Paul commands Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:2, “preach the word!” There would be no true preaching without the Bible. The inspired word of God is our only message and proclamation. “All Christian preaching should be the exposition and application of biblical texts.” (pg. 44). The authority of what we say in the pulpit is determined by our allegiance to the text of Scripture. Our preaching is meaningless if we do not ground our assertions explicitly in the text (pg. 44). If we as preachers are to “preach the word” and not our own opinions, then we must pore over the text steadily, constantly, and frequently. There is no substitute for meditating on the word of God day and night (Ps. 1:2). “The really effective preachers have been ever-growing in the Word of God.” (pg. 46). Like John Bunyan, our life-blood must be Bibline, because our souls are full of the Word of God (pg. 46).
In our preaching we must also rely on the gift of the Spirit’s power. John Piper’s acronym APTAT is an excellent example for us in this way. Prayerful dependence on God should saturate all stages of our sermon preparation, including the moments before we step into the pulpit. APTAT is admitting to the Lord that without Him we can do nothing, praying for help, trusting in a specific promise from God’s Word, acting in confidence that God will fulfill His Word, and thanking God at the end of the message that He sustained us to preach His Word.
“Gladness and gravity should be woven together in the life and preaching of a pastor in such a way as to sober the careless soul and sweeten the burdens of the saints” (pg. 55). Gladness and gravity are equally necessary in the preaching task. Gladness without gravity would not build up the saints or sober the soul who is careless about Christ and their eternal destiny. Gravity without gladness “would be of no benefit” (Heb. 13:17) to the saints, and a pastor who is not glad in God does not glorify God. Piper’s discussion of the gravity of preaching is so necessary for me to hear. As he says, “Gravity in preaching is appropriate because preaching is God’s appointed means for the conversion of sinners, the awakening of the church, and the preservation of the saints.” This should make me very serious about what is happening in the pulpit every Sunday morning. As one preacher said, “No man can give the impression that he himself is clever and that Christ is mighty to save” (pg. 59).
I especially appreciated Piper’s seven practical suggestions for cultivating gladness and gravity in our preaching. What he says about striving for earnest, glad-hearted holiness in all of life is seminal to the preacher’s entire life calling: “You can’t be blood-earnest in the pulpit and habitually flippant at the board meeting and the church dinner” (pg. 63).
