Reformed Preaching

What would the Reformers say about how we proclaim God’s word today? In Reformed Preaching, Joel Beeke writes on the art of proclaiming God’s word from the heart of the preacher to the heart of his people.

Reformed Experiential Preaching 

Part One delineates reformed experiential preaching. It is preaching that applies the truth of God to the hearts of people to show how things ought to go, do go, and ultimately will go in the Christian’s experience with respect to God and his neighbors. The reformed experiential preacher receives God’s word into his heart, and then preaches it to the minds, hearts, and lives of his people. When examining the traits of the experiential preacher, I was challenged for more authenticity in my preaching about knowing God himself and not just talking about him, as well as exemplifying growth in my personal experience of my sin and Christ’s grace.

Lives and Examples

Part Two examines, the lives and examples of great reformed preachers through the centuries. When moving to the Puritan preachers, Beeke highlights their primacy of preaching, their program for preaching, their passion for preaching, their power in preaching, and their plainness in preaching. He also emphasizes the overwhelming personal quality in the life of the Puritan preacher. Ending with Lloyd-Jones, I was inspired to preach with the unction of the Holy Spirit. It is preaching through the enabling of the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, and having his presence through his word rest heavily on the hearts of the hearers.

Preaching Experientially Today

Part Three concludes the book with what it means to preach experientially today. I was most impacted by Beeke’s exhortation to embrace diversity and application. Preachers need to be aware of always addressing the same cases in the congregation or the same spiritual problems. Beeke goes on to explain that application starts in the heart of the preacher. He calls us to walk closely with God, study books and people, pray for dependence on the Spirit, speak from our hearts, and cultivate pure motivation. 

Proclaiming Christ Across the Centuries

After reading this book, I am better prepared to proclaim God’s word with authenticity, conviction, and enduring relevance. I am better equipped to bridge divine truths with the lived experiences of believers. Reformed Preaching offers profound riches that proclaim Christ across the centuries and continue in our churches and congregations today.

I received a media copy of Reformed Preaching and this is my honest review. Find more of my book reviews and follow Dive In, Dig Deep on Instagram - my account dedicated to Bibles and books to see the beauty of the Bible and the role of reading in the Christian life. To read all of my book reviews and to receive all of the free eBooks I find on the web, subscribe to my free newsletter.