John Gerstner Lectures

If you’ve never listened to the later Dr. John H. Gerstner you are neglecting a benefit for your soul from one of God’s wonderful gifts to the church. Dr. Gerstner (1914-1996) was “Professor of Church History at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary. He was an authority on the life and theology of Jonathan Edwards. Gerstner counted among his students R.C. Sproul and wrote several books, including Primitive Theology.” The principle work for which he is remembered is The Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards. You can read a short memorial of his life and work here.

You can read two of Dr. Gerstner’s articles over at Lionier’s website. The first is “God’s Providence: a Two Edged Sword (Part 3),” and the second “True and False Assurance.”

Ligonier has also posted several of Dr. Gerstner’s audio lecture series:

• The Westminster Confession of Faith with Dr. John Gerstner

  The Westminster Confession of Faith has, for hundreds of years, served as the doctrinal foundation of the Reformed churches. In this series, Dr. John Gerstner focuses his lifetime of scholarship on a comprehensive treatment of the meaning and application of …Read More 
  
  Continue at Nicholas T. Batzig

Preach: Theology Meets Practice

Two preachers talk shop:

Mark Dever and Greg Gilbert. Preach: Theology Meets Practice. 9Marks. Nashville: Broadman & Holman, 2012. 212 pp. 27-page sample PDF.

Excerpts:

What expositional preach is and is not (pp. 36–38):

Expositional preaching is preaching in which the main point of the biblical text being considered becomes the main point of the sermon being preached. . . .

1. We’re not saying expositional preaching has to go verse by verse through a book of the Bible. . . .
2. We’re not saying expositional preaching rules out topical preaching as a legitimate practice. . . .
3. We’re not saying expositional preaching is just a series of lectures, the main goal of which is information transfer. . . .
4. We’re not saying expositional preaching is marked by any particular style. . . .
5. We’re not saying expositional preaching is not evangelistic preaching.

On using the original languages (p. 83):

One of the preacher’s greatest enemies is familiarity: He thinks he understands a particular text because he has known its meaning all his life, and because of that he winds up missing its point when he preaches it. Looking at a text in the original languages helps minimize that kind of mistake.  Continue at Andy Naselli

Are Your Sermons Too Long?

Here’s a bit of wisdom from the Prince of Preachers on sermon length:

Brethren, weigh your sermons. Do not retail them by the yard, but deal them out by the pound. Set no store by the quantity of words which you utter, but strive to be esteemed for the quality of your matter. It is foolish to be lavish in words and niggardly in truth. -C.H. Spurgeon, Lectures to My Students, p. 71

 

There is no intrinsic value in an overlong sermon. Nor is there anything to boast about that a congregation has become conditioned to endure them. What constitutes a long sermon is a relative term anyway, isn’t it? In any case, a long-winded preacher is just as capable of wispy words as a short-winded one. 

Likewise, a short sermon is just as capable of filling a room with hot air as is a long one. Twenty minutes of gospel power would do far more for a congregation than forty minutes of gospel lite. Likewise, forty minutes of Biblical exhortation would hold the attention of God’s people far more than twenty minutes of pointless patter.  Continue at Denny Burk

Derek Thomas & Ligon Duncan Lectures on the Songs of Christmas