As noted in our review of John A. Broadus: A Living Legacy, edited by David S. Dockery and Roger D. Duke in the previous issue of AISI (12:8), John Albert Broadus (1827-1895) was the quintessential Baptist leader in America in the second half of the 19^th century. And though Broadus was famous as a teacher of homiletics, and was very much in demand as a preacher and public speaker, yet he published only one book of his sermons and addresses. This is no doubt in large measure due to his practice of almost always speaking extemporaneously, without manuscript and with only brief notes, if any. There are twenty-one messages in all here, some from as early as the 1850s when, at barely thirty years old, Broadus pastored in Charlottesville, Virginia; some are from as late as 1886, the year of publication.

The sermons, the first eleven of the twenty-one messages, can be characterized as good to fair, though none was what I would call striking or outstanding. The addresses are to me of greater interest, and include such subjects as “Ministerial education,” “American Baptist Ministry in A. D. 1774” (which gives brief biographical accounts of numerous notable colonial era Baptist preachers), “College Education for Men of Business,” and “Education in Athens.” Also included are several memorial addresses/funeral sermons, including those for Dr. Gessner Harrison (Broadus’ professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Virginia, and his first father-in-law), G. W. Riggan (a promising young OT professor at Southern Baptist Seminary who died barely into his 30s), and A. M. Poindexter (a prominent Virginia Baptist preacher of the 19th century).

There are apparently numerous editions of this book by several publishers, but all seem to be identical in contents and pagination (it is a fairly easy volume to find through internet book dealers). The similarly named volume, Favorite Sermons of John A. Broadus, edited by Vernon L. Stanfield (New York: Harper and Bros.; 147 pp.), contains reprints of just four sermons from the 1886 volume, eight additional sermons which Broadus left in manuscript at his death, and his sermon notes on twelve more sermons (according to Stanfield, Broadus left in manuscript notes to more than 300 sermons).

Some quotations from Sermons and Addresses

“It is easy to talk nonsense on the subject of church music. It is very difficult to talk wisely. But I think we sometimes forget in our time that there is a distinction between secular and sacred music. I have seen places where they did not seem to know there was such a distinction.” (p. 18)

“Mr. Spurgeon tells us that he requests his teachers, and his wife, and various other friends to hunt up illustrations for him. He asks them, whenever they have come across anything good in reading or in conversation that strike them as good, to write it down and let him have it, and whenever he sees a fit opportunity he makes a point of it.” (p. 41)

“Our advocate [Jesus] does not argue that we are innocent, but confessing our guilt, pleads for mercy to us; and he does not present our merits as a reason why mercy should be shown us, but his merits…. And God is made propitious, favorable to us, not when he is willing to save, but when it is made right that he should save us…” (pp. 77, 78)

“Bearing in mind the difference between the pleading of our great Advocate and any parallel which human affairs present, we may look at a story of Grecian history, which has been often used to illustrate the Savior’s intercession. The poet Aeschylus had incurred the displeasure of the Athenians. He was on trial before the great popular tribunal, consisting of many hundreds of citizens, and was about to be condemned. But Aeschylus had a brother, who had lost an arm in battle—in the great battle of Salamis, where the Greeks fought for their existence against the Persian aggressors. This brother came into court, and did not speak words of entreaty, but letting fall his mantle, he showed the stump of his arm, lost in his country’s defense, and there stood until the Athenians relented, and Aeschylus was suffered to go free. So, my brethren, imperfect and unworthy as is the illustration, so we may conceive that when we are about to be condemned, and justly condemned for our sins, our glorious Brother stands up in our behalf, and does not need to speak a word, but only to show where he was wounded on the cross—
Five bleeding wounds he bears,
Received on Calvary;
They pour effectual prayers,
They strongly speak for me;
’Forgive him, O forgive,’ they cry,
’Nor let the ransomed sinner die!’” (pp. 78, 79)

“We must be, ought to be, intensely dissatisfied with ourselves; but let us be satisfied with our Savior, and have peace with God through him; not content with the idea of remaining such as we are, but, seeing that the same Gospel which offers us forgiveness and acceptance offers us also a genuine renewal through our Lord Jesus Christ, and promises that finally we shall be made holy, as God is holy, shall indeed be perfect, as our Father in heaven is perfect.” (pp. 94-5)

“Oh, ye people that have to do with the world’s young men, you never know what some little word you speak is going to do I shaping the whole character and controlling the whole life of the man who walks by your side!” (p. 172)

“But, in one sense, every man is self-educated who is ever really educated at all.” (p. 251)

“We remember, gentlemen, those of us particularly who were deficient in early advantages, the delusive hope of boyhood, that there would come a time when we should have read all books, and become masters of all knowledge. We learned long ago that this can never be; yet often one re-awakes to fresh disappointment, and finds that he has been dreaming that sweet dream of childhood still. It is painful to think that we must live on and die, and leave many a wide field of human knowledge untraversed and unknown. This longing to learn everything is in itself a noble element of our nature, and leads to noble results; but it requires to be checked by the stern voice of duty.” (pp. 294-295)

“In every grade of teaching it is perhaps even more important to consider what your teacher is than what he knows.” (p. 346)

“[God] can determine better than we, in what ways we shall be most useful. He knows whether it is best for us to labor in one part of his vineyard or another, in one or another sphere and method of Christian exertion.” (p. 353)

“Whatever is worth teaching at all is worth teaching well; and there is no really good teaching without an enthusiastic interest in the subject, and a passionate desire to give the pupil all possible assistance.” (p. 360)

Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted by permission from Warren Vanhetloo’s Cogitations.

“In the last days scoffers will say, Where is the promise of His coming?” (2 Pet. 3:3-4).

Years ago, we heard a great deal of preaching about the possibility of the rapture occurring in our lifetime. As I remember, 1980 was about as long as we expected to have to wait. World affairs were such that, to our eyes, the tribulation following the rapture would soon come about. And then the world situation changed. Things settled down, and new disruptions arose. And for the last three decades, there has been little preaching on the imminent any-moment return of the Lord Jesus Christ in the air for church saints. Men’s predictions and analyses failed. God’s plan was not adjusted a bit. He didn’t change as the world changed. So many had been so wrong; it was best to keep quiet.

We cannot today predict any more accurately than those of the last century. We can be more cautious of the conclusions we reach. The one thing we ought to avoid is that of neglecting to preach of the coming rapture just because some have overstated some things about it in the past. If it is in the Word of God, it is a part of what we are to proclaim as the whole counsel of God. From our human point of view, it is just as possible of occurring any moment now as three decades ago. We know no more of God’s schedule than did our fathers or their fathers. We do have the same Scripture they had.

Smith, Robert. Doctrine that Dances: Bringing Doctrinal Preaching and Teaching to Life. Forward by Dr. James Earl Massey. Nashville, Tenn: B & H Academic, 2008. Paperback, xiv + 207 pp. $19.99

(Review copy courtesy of B&H Academic.)

Leaving Christ Out of His Story

Read Part 1.

Leaving Christ Out of His Story

Are morals overrated? Is it a waste of time and energy to lead a morally pure lifestyle? Should youth pastors exhort their students to obey their parents, to tell the truth, and to read their Bibles? Or are Christians somehow beyond those rules now? These types of questions are inevitably asked of those who speak out against moralistic preaching. But these questions betray an underlying misunderstanding of the dangers of moralism.

Expository preaching has been succinctly defined as preaching in which the point of the text is the point of the sermon. In this sense, all preaching should be expository, whether it handles a topic, a verse, or an extended passage of Scripture. If a preacher uses God’s words to make his (the preacher’s) point, then how does God get a word in edgewise?

Reviewed by Doug Smith.

Lawson, Stephen J. The Expository Genius of John Calvin. Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2007. Hardcover, 142 pages. $15.00.

(Review copy courtesy of Reformation Trust.)