Book Review—Preaching the Cross

Reviewed by Matt Christensen

Dever, Mark, et al. Preaching the Cross. Wheaton, Ill: Crossway Books, 2007. 176 pages, Hardcover. $19.99 USD.

(Review copies courtesy of Crossway Books)

Purchase: Crossway | CBD | CVBBS | Amazon

Special Features: Appendix: Together for the Gospel Affirmations and Denials (2006); General Index; Scripture Index

DCN: 251

LCCN: BV4211.3.P735

Mark Dever is senior pastor of Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC and Executive Director of 9Marks Ministries.

J. Ligon Duncan III is senior minister of First Presbyterian Church of Jackson, Mississippi, Chairman of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, and Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of America.

R. Albert Mohler, Jr. is President of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky.

C. J. Mahaney is Director of Sovereign Grace Ministries.

There are four friends who are leaders in their churches and love to discuss theology. Imagine those four friends deciding to take their discussions to a crowd in a conference titled Together for the Gospel. Then imagine those talks being written down for even more to enjoy. This book is that writing. Each chapter is a talk from a different speaker. The original four friends whose meeting experiences are talked about at the beginning of the book are Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan III, R. Albert Mohler Jr., and C.J. Mahaney. Those four, along with John MacArthur, John Piper and R.C. Sproul, took part in the 2006 Together for the Gospel conference, and all are in this book.

Altogether the book has seven chapters by seven different church leaders who give different aspects of what the gospel is and how the gospel should be part of a pastor’s life. I will briefly touch on each of the chapters so you can get a better understanding of the book’s layout.

Chapter One: Mark Dever—A Real Minister: 1 Corinthians 4

Mark Denver touches on how Christ needs to be the center of the gospel and emphasizes how pastors are to be servants of Christ. Mark makes a good point in the question of why people in the church are not giving their all to follow Christ. He states that it boils down to “pastors who—with the best of motives—have given themselves to everything in the world before giving themselves to the study and preaching of God’s Word!” (p. 21)

Chapter Two: by J. Ligon Duncan III—Preaching Christ from the Old Testament

Duncan sums up how the Old Testament is often neglected in the church and how it is important to preach Christ, redemption, grace, the character of God, and the Christian life. These topics should also be preached expositionally.

Chapter Three: R. Albert Mohler Jr.—Preaching with the Culture in View

Albert Mohler describes the two extremes pastors can take when responding to culture. Either it becomes dominant in their ministries, or it becomes irrelevant. He tells us how to avoid either extreme.

Chapter Four: R.C. Sproul—The Center of Christian Preaching: Justification by Faith

R.C. Sproul covers how important it is to believe that salvation is by faith alone and to understand what Roman Catholics believe and don’t believe. He reminds us that justification is easy to grasp but must be possessed as well to be of any good.

Chapter Five: John Piper—Preaching as Expository Exultation for the Glory of God

Piper talks about how the atonement and hell should not be downplayed. He mentions that too many get their theology from TV, emergent conversations, and church growth movements. These all end up taking away from the gospel.

Chapter Six: C.J. Mahaney—The Pastor’s Priorities: Watch Your Life and Doctrine

Using verses like James 1:22 to back up his point, C.J. Mahaney talks about how pastors often forget that “knowledge of the scripture alone” is insufficient. Also he talks about how pastors need to have accountability and to make sure they don’t fall into repeated sins. It is all too easy for pastors to be blind to their own sins.

Chapter Seven: John MacArthur—Why I Still Preach the Bible After Forty Years of Ministry

John MacArthur points out that many pastors and seminars are teaching how to keep up with cultural fads. As a result, many neglect the exposition of God’s Word. MacArthur gives 10 reasons to preach the Word of God. In the book, he talks about each as follows:

1. Because the message of God’s Word is timeless and truly powerful.
2. Because God’s Word is the good news of salvation.
3. Because God’s Word sets forth divine truth with clarity and certainty.
4. Because God’s Word stands as the authoritative self-revelation of God.
5. Because God’s Word exalts Christ as the head of His Church.
6. Because God’s Word is the means God uses to sanctify His people.
7. Because God’s Word rightly informs our worship and our walk.
8. Because God’s Word brings depth and balance to my ministry.
9. Because God’s Word explained ignites interest in personal Bible study.
10. Because God’s Word builds a ministry with a divine foundation.

Overall, I believe the book to be a good read. As someone who ministers to people over the Internet, there are a lot of things I can apply to my own life to make sure the ministry work I do doesn’t sway to the side of error and to make sure the gospel message I give is solid. John MacArthur says on page 153, “Pastors, then should study to know God, not just to make sermons.” I need to make sure my relationship with God increases as I continue with my ministry. I need to make sure I don’t get stuck in the rut of just preaching to others while my relationship with God dwindles. Also, sometimes I find myself not witnessing to those who know the Scriptures better than I do and convincing myself that they must be Christians. C.J. Mahaney states on page 120, “Pastors often forget that a knowledge of scripture alone is not sufficient.” A head knowledge of theology does not make one a Christian.

The only negative comment I can make about the book is that the authors follow Reformed theology, which I have problems with in some aspects. They don’t dive into it too much in the book, so I won’t make a big issue of it.

In conclusion, I believe this book should be on every pastor’s shelf and should be read with eyes of close self-examination. Even if you’re not a pastor, this book is still worthy of the time to read it.

Matthew Christensen is a support and I.T. professional for a software company in Bloomington, Minnesota. He is married to Christa, and they have a son named Malachi. Together they run the online ministry Issues That Matter and volunteer at Fourth Baptist Church (Plymouth, MN).