Grosey's Messages

Five Things to Avoid in Your Preaching
How to Stay Faithful, Clear, and Spirit-Led in the Pulpit

Every preacher has a voice. Some have volume too. But what matters most isn't how loud you are or how smooth you sound—it's whether your message is anchored in Scripture, fueled by the Holy Spirit, and aimed at the hearts of real people in real pews.

Over the years, I've heard sermons that sizzled but didn't stick. I've watched rookies fresh out of seminary swing for the theological fences and completely miss the congregation. I've sat through messages that felt more like lectures, and others that felt more like TED Talks with a verse taped on at the end.

If God has called you to preach, then preach with all your might—but preach with wisdom, humility, and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. That means knowing what to pursue, and just as importantly, what to avoid.

Here are five things to steer clear of if you want to preach faithfully, fruitfully, and powerfully.

1. Avoid Preaching Without Prayer
The first step in sermon preparation isn't pulling out the commentaries or opening up Logos. It's hitting your knees. If the sermon isn't born in the prayer closet, don't be surprised when it falls flat in the pulpit.

Preaching is not merely a transfer of information. It is a spiritual transaction. You are declaring the Word of the living God to a congregation filled with souls who need encouragement, conviction, direction, and transformation.

2 Timothy 4:2 says, "Preach the word!" Not perform the word. Not pontificate about the word. Preach it—with urgency, clarity, and the unction of the Spirit.

Charles Bridges wrote, "Prayer is the conduit through which all real preaching flows."

No prayer, no power. No fire, no fruit. Period.

You may study for hours, polish every point, and rehearse your delivery, but if you haven't pleaded with God for His hand to rest on your message, you've missed the main ingredient. Ask God to prepare the soil of the congregation's heart before you cast the seed.

Pray before you study. Pray while you study. Pray after you study. Pray before you preach. Pray during the invitation. Pray for the Spirit to do what only He can.

2. Avoid Preaching Over People's Heads
God didn't call you to impress a room full of scholars. He called you to feed His sheep. If your message is too complex for the average 14-year-old in your congregation, you've likely missed your audience.

Sermons shouldn't require a theological dictionary and a decoder ring. Clarity isn't compromise. Simplicity isn't shallowness. Jesus used everyday language about sheep, coins, fish, and farmers.

"Profound truth, simply stated." That's not just a clever phrase—it was Adrian Rogers' entire approach to preaching. He believed that the deeper the doctrine, the clearer the delivery ought to be. You're not watering down the Word when you speak plainly—you're making it livable.

As Haddon Robinson once said, "Get the hay down where the sheep can eat it."

Use Greek only when it brings light—not to show off. If you need to define a word, define it simply. Don't teach people a vocabulary lesson. Teach them how to obey Jesus.

And remember Spurgeon's warning: "Some preachers put the food so high that neither sheep nor lambs can reach it. They seem to have read the text, 'Feed my giraffes.'"

You're not watering down the Word when you make it understandable. You're lifting it up so people can see the glory of Christ more clearly.

3. Avoid Preaching Without a Text
You don't have to preach verse by verse through books to preach the Bible. But if your sermon doesn't come from the text, it's not a sermon—it's a speech with a few verses tacked on.

You might have some good stories. You might even have some good advice. But if you don't start with the Bible, center your message in the Bible, and let the Bible shape your sermon's flow, tone, and aim—you're off the rails.

Hebrews 4:12, "For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword..."

Your words aren't living and powerful. His are.

As Martyn Lloyd-Jones insisted, true preaching is not man's ideas lightly seasoned with Scripture. It is the heralding of divine truth with authority and power. It is text-driven, Spirit-empowered, and Christ-centered.

Start with the passage. Stay with the passage. Let every point, illustration, and application serve the text.

4. Avoid Preaching Without Application
Sermons aren't term papers. They're not designed to be admired for their structure and citations. They're meant to move people.

Biblical preaching should be rooted in truth and aimed at transformation.

Every sermon ought to answer the basic question: So what?

What does this mean for my marriage?
How does this shape how I raise my kids?
What should I repent of?
How should I respond?

Al Mohler once told our preaching class, "In every text, there is something to learn and something to do."

Warren Wiersbe added, "Truth without application leads to pride. Application without truth leads to error. But truth applied leads to transformation."

Don't let your people walk away thinking, "That was interesting." Let them walk away thinking, "That changes how I live."

Show them how to take the truth and walk it out in traffic, at the ball field, in the break room, and around the kitchen table.

5. Avoid Preaching Without the Gospel
If Jesus isn't the center of your sermon, you're telling the wrong story.

You can preach about marriage and miss the true Bridegroom. You can preach about parenting and never point to the Father. You can preach on finances and ignore the Treasure in Heaven.

We are not life coaches. We are not moral cheerleaders. We are preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ—crucified, risen, reigning, and returning.

You may not extend a full-blown crusade-type invitation every week, but every sermon should breathe gospel air. Don't assume the people in the pew already know the gospel—or that they've truly responded to it. Don't save it for a special Sunday. Weave it into every sermon like salt in a good meal—subtle, essential, and always present.

As Adrian Rogers rightly said, "The gospel is not the ABCs of Christianity. It is the A to Z."

Preach Jesus. Preach the cross. Preach grace. Preach repentance and faith. Preach the gospel until people see that their only hope in life and death is Christ alone.

Final Word: Preach With Purpose
Preaching isn't a performance—it's a stewardship. When you stand in the pulpit, you're not giving a talk. You're delivering a word from the throne room of Heaven.

Don't get distracted. Don't get detoured. Don't get diluted. Preach the Word with clarity, courage, compassion, and conviction.

Stay close to Jesus. Stay in the Word. Stay on your knees. Love your people well. And when you step into the pulpit, preach—as Richard Baxter said—like a dying man to dying men, never sure to preach again.

https://apologeticspress.org/publication/reason-revelation/

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CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS,   SERMONS, AND CONVERSIONS.       A Sermon       DELIVERED IN REGENT SQuaRE CHURCH on Sunpay,       Marcu 9TH, BY THE       REV, JOHN McNEILL.       "Now therefore are we all here present before God, to hear all things   that are commanded thee of God."—Acrs x. 33.       Tus chapter, as you are aware, notes for us the beginning,   the entering-in of the Gospel among the Gentiles. That is   its great interest. That is why, no doubt, so much detail is   given of this gathering and of this sermon. The Lord is   here doing a new thing. For generations, for centuries, He   had committed the revelation of Himself and the working-   out of. His gracious purpose among men, to one narrow   channel. To Israel's people mainly He had confined Him-   self; but now that Christ has come, that narrow channel   was to be broken down, and the stream that was flowing in   it was to overflow all its banks. Here, in this chapter, is   the beginning of the breaking down of all Jewish dykes, and   the outbursting and overflowing of that brimming river   of grace and salvation, the waves of which are gently lap-   ping at our feet to-day. So we have a special interest       No. 18.       274 CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS,       in taking up this text, because the Spirit of God seems   to point to this audience through it, and to be saying to us,   «'Now, watch this people; see how they gathered together,   and learn from them something about audiences and   preachers and sermons, as long as audiences shall gather,   and preachers shall confront them, to open their mouths,   like Peter, to testify of God and His Son Jesus Christ."   May we be helped to-day with this familiar Scripture   to see where we are, and to know that this is no vain   gathering. It is not a gathering of chance, neither is it   a gathering entirely explained by long familiar custom and   routine. The arm of the Lord has been shepherding you to   meet me, and the same arm of the Lord has brought me   forth, as out of His own very presence, to speak to you;   and the Spirit of God, who fell upon the hearer's heart then,   is the same Spirit who seeks to-day to fall, with all His   gracious power, upon thy heart and life, even while thou art   waiting here.     ''Now therefore are we all here present before God, to       hear all things that are commanded thee of God." |       There is something unusual in the text, in this, namely,   that before the preacher began his sermon this '' innovation"   takes place—the audience spoke up to the preacher, the   pew spoke up to the pulpit, and said, '' Now therefore are   we all here present." It was a splendid audience, though   not so very large; but splendid when you look at it from       the point of view of the narrative. How earnestly they |   came together! What a solidarity there was in this |   company! How these people were all bound together as |       one! lyes front, heart front, mind front, conscience front.       No wandering thought or eye, but all was focussed and |       settled; calm and purposeful both in body and soul; so       that ere the preacher began, one man could speak for the |       whole company, and say in truth and soberness, '"' Now   therefore, are we all here present before God.' I should   like to have seen that company, Well, I trust I see it as       often as I am here, and that all of us preachers have the —       SERMONS, AND CONVERSIONS. 975       'same conditions given us, in the midst of many difficulties       with which we have to contend, without and within. May   this audience bring its contribution to the preacher and the   sermon, while it expects the preacher certainly to bring his!   The contribution he has a right to expect is, that the   people should come to hear—that the people should come       united, full of expectation, led into the temple like Simeon   of old, who was led into the temple by the Spirit of God, at       the very moment when the parents of Jesus came to present       Him before God, according to the custom of the law. No   chance, no hap-hazard in this gathering. We have not     'come here to spend an idle hour. It is wrong to say, as, _   perhaps, some may say carelessly, when they go out of   this place and are asked, ''Where have you been this   morning ?"'—it is wrong to answer the question by saying,       "Qh, I dropped in to Regent Square.' You did not drop       in, my friend, nor drop out. You came in purposely. The   Lord's providences for the whole of the week, like so many   collie dogs, have been barking you in here, hedging up your   way, and securing that to-day, at a certain time, you should   be here. Fall in with God's arrangement. Let all depress-   ing feeling which comes from custom and routine be taken   away. I know you are apt to say, 'Yes, there is some-   thing very vivid and fresh in this idea, as it relates to   the first gathering; but you know, preacher, that was   many centuries ago, and to come to church is now   so regular and steady a thing, that it is hardly just to   apply this text to this gathering to-day." My friend, all   things here are spiritual, and belong to faith ; they do not   belong to sense and sight and mere human arrangement.   Do not regard your presence here, on this lower plane   of your own habit and intention ; but see how the Word of   God sets this hour in a strong, clear, and eternal light.   God brought the people there, and had a great purpose in   view concerning them. As it was then, so it is for ever—   God has a purpose in bringing us to His house this day       and hour.       276 _ CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS,       I like to dwell on the word all, The people were invited.   Cornelius invited his kinsmen and his near friends, and the   invited people came. This morning the very hour invites us,   'the bell invites me" to this place. I trust we have all   come—that we are all here present. The husband is here,   the wife is here, the children are here—no, they are not.   it is of no use pretending they are, for they are not. That   is one of the drawbacks in the gathering. We have   not the young people as we should have them. We are not   all here, and I feel when we haven't the children we   lack a splendid part of the audience. I know   there are explanations. -I do not go into them,   but let us try our utmost to fulfil this condition: '' We are   all here present before God.' I know there are many   excuses. I know you can tell me about young children,   and sickness, and waiting on the sick; about fogs, and   bitter east winds, and long distances, and wet days, and I   don't know what besides. But making full allowance for   all these things, there is still great need for the preacher,   now and again, even with a full congregation, to take up   this text, and insist upon this word being repeated every   Sabbath as far as may be, '' We are all here present before   God." For there is often, with all our talk about this place       and day, when you come to the practical point, there is       often a heavy discount to be taken off. There is a great   discrepancy between our creed about the Sabbath day and   our actual conduct. In many families, at ten o'clock on the   Sabbath morning, attendance at church is still an open   question. Often in a working man's house, and in others   that are not working men's, after waking, after dressing,   after breakfasting, it is an open question, '' Will you go out   to-day?" It is no open question o2 the Monday morning,   "' John, will you go to work to-day ?'' They never dream   of asking such a thing. ' Oh," said a farmer in Scotland,   when a minister rebuked himfor not attending church, and   said, '"'You know, John, you are never absent from the   market." <' Oh," was the repiy, ''we maun gang to the       L       market." (We must go the market.) Unconsciously it came     out. But to come to the house of God was not to be put   on the same level, for urgency. Oh, there is a difference   between our creed and our actual conduct and custom.   But when we look at this audience we see the great benefit   of continually setting ourselves the task of coming with a   purpose to God's house. It will need plan and purpose to   accomplish this. Some of you are here to-day only because   you have trampled upon a hundred obstacles in order to get   here. If you had given way you would not have been here.   And some are not here who might have been included in   this '' all here present,' because they have given way to   things which will not be allowed for a moment to stand in   the way of the world's engagements to-morrow. I know   there are difficulties and obstacles and young children, and   so on; but in the case of many there are no difficulties that   could not be overcome. You have not all young children     -and babies at the breast. In many households 'the key   could keep the castle," and nothing would either burn   or boil over if all came out, and not a hoof was left   behind.     And then, when we do that, when we all come, don't you   think the Lord notices that, and marks how we have pressed   forward to meet Him. I think there is no sweeter sight to   His holy eyes in London and in England to-day than to   see the people wending their way to the house of God—   to see them in cities and towns and villages and in   quiet hamlets all going up to worship the Lord. All   things the same as on another day, and yet all things   different.       SERMONS, AND CONVERSIONS. OTT       '¢ How sweet the morning of the Sabbath day !   Hushed the ploughboy's whistie, and the merry milkmaid's song,   The scythe lies glittering in the dewy wreath of tedded grass,   Which yestermorn bloomed, waving in the breeze,   The blackbird's note comes mellower from the dale,   And sweeter from the sky the gladsome lark pours forth his       song."       >       , 278 CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS, |       All thé same, and yet all different, on the Sabbath dey   And says another :—       "* O sweeter than the marriage feast,   *Tis sweeter far to me,   To walk together to the kirk with a goodly company !   To walk together to the kirk, and all together pray,   While each to his great Father bends,   Old men, and babes, and loving friends,   And youths, and maidens gay !"       Long may such gatherings be the crown and flower of   our land! 'Forsake not the assembling of yourselves   together, as the manner of some is, and so much the more, ©   as ye see the day approaching." Oh, there isa great dealin —   determining to be there, and to be always there, and making   it the key-note of all Sabbath morning arrangements.     You womenfolk, my heart is with you. You have great   burdens in connection with domestic arrangements, and I   would sometimes that you could get a longer sleep and take   it easier; but not on the Sabbath morning, if you please.   Be up a little earlier, and see to it that that day you take   everything into prayerful hands, and shape and guide every-   thing to help me and my Master behind me. You have a   great deal in your hands—a great deal of responsibility   And when you come in this expectant way, how it helps the   reception of the sermon! How we have all suffered from   coming to the house of God in a disorderly, hurried way,   both as regards body and soul! We come tumbling in late,   because we only made up our minds half an hour ago that   we would come at all, and the service is half over before   you know where you are, or what you are, or how you are,   or what is being said. Then you look up to the preacher   and expect him to work miracles on your higgledy-piggledy   soul. Your very clothes are not on as well as you would   like, and you are distressing yourself as to whether your   personal attire is becoming? And yet you look to me,   and expect me to soothe and smoothe you, and make you       iz       : SERMONS, AND CONVERSIONS. 279       feel that this is the house of God and the gate of heaven,     It is not so in our text. What a sight is here—every eye     eager; everything prompting with the suggestion, a great     business is on hand, and God and man are straitened till it     be accomplished. '' Now, therefore, are we all here present     before God," they said. Ah! thereis another point. They     realized God's presence. May He grant that we may   realize it to-day and always!     Try to realize God's presence; get past outward and   temporal things, and call upon your soul to pass into the   secret place of the tabernacle of the Most High. Compel   your soul to grasp the thought-—-God is here! God is here!   Iam in His presence. Thisis the house of God; the Lord   is with us in this place. '' Surely God isin this place;" and   instead of.saying, ''I knew it not,' our heart is saying   eagerly, ''We know it, and wait to see a still clearer   revelation of His presence. He made me, and redeemed     me, and sustains me, and before Him ere another Sabbath   I may stand-in judgment. This is holy ground. The   burning bush is here, with the voice of God speaking out   of it, and saying '' Draw not nigh rashly, heedlessly ; put   off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou   standest is holy ground."     Do you know that where you are sitting God, by His   Word, has converted men ere now? Canst thou come   and sit in these pews, where God has done His mightiest   work, carelessly, heedlessly, and merely as a matter of   custom and routine?' Yes, here and there, and all over   —could we see this holy place with God's eyes—we should   see that this man, and that man, was born there, and   there, for God is present in this place. How canst thou   sit carelessly, when right from where thou art souls have   gone to their eternal home? Thou art occupying the   room and space of men and women who to-day are before   the eternal throne. The church is a grand place; it is   the house of God. 'This word is true: '' We are all   present before God''—and therefore let there be nothing       a   980 CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS,       mean or low; nothing unworthy of such a Presence and   such a place.     And how' the thought of God's presence will help still   further to focus our attention; to take our eyes off each   other, and off the preacher! How it will help to prepare   us to receive God's Word! How it will reduce to the   irreducible minimum the over-critical spirit! Said a   preacher to myself, ''I notice when I give out my text,   my people settle down and settle back; but, I am afraid,   not so much to hear what I have to say as to watch how   I get through." I wonder if that is how the congregation   does at Regent Square—if they settle back to see how I   get on, and to observe with what dexterity, or want of it,   I shall handle the theme? Ido not wish that we should   turn the pulpit into a coward's castle, in which, speak as I   may, I am safe from remark as to my message—either its   matter or delivery. Yet there is a bound to be set to our   critical tendencies—a very definite bound; and many of   us every day overstep it, sadly overstep it, and we get no   good, but much harm, thereby. Now, the thought of   God's presence puts us in our right place as regards   our neighbour and our minister, and the minister in   his right place as regards the audience. May the Holy   Ghost come upon us, and the power of the Highest over-   shadow us! Oh, what a place this would be now, if He   came into our hearts! He 7s here; and we are here, in the   sight of God.     And then Cornelius said further, '' Now therefore are we   all here present before God, to hear all things that are com-   manded thee of God." They came to listen, to hear God's   Word. You know that to-day there is a tendency to revise   the Directory for Public Worship; to say, '' Oh, the hearing"   —meaning the hearing of God's Word at the preacher's   mouth—'*' has been too much magnified. We shall change   all that." We have made a mistake. '' What I come to   God's house for," says one, 'is to worship; what I come   for is to join in prayer and in praise. The preacher getg       : SERMONS, AND CONVERSIONS. 981       |far too much place and far too much space. There is so   |much room given to him in the programme that it is no   | wonder if he exalts himself and wearies or bewitches us   | with the display of his eloquence or learning, or both."'   |There may be something in that, but it is seriously   exaggerated. What was central here, and what must   always be central ina gathering of saints or sinners, in   evangelistic missions, or regular services like our own;   what must always be central is the preaching of God's   Word, and the attending thereto by the hearer. That is   worship at its highest. All the powers of the soul get their   highest use and their fullest freedom when God's Word is -   faithfully and lovingly proclaimed. We are here to hear.   Faith cometh by hearing. The large, central, integral,   essential part of our work is to preach and to hear what is   'commanded from God.     And Cornelius said they had met to hear "all things that   are commanded thee of God.'' I have been speaking strongly   and straightly to you, but now your turn comes. This   is the portion for the preacher, when the pew says to   the preacher, '' Now, give us to-day what God has told you.   There are many things that might interestingly occupy   an hour; give us, however, the thing that brought us here,   that for which the house is built, and for which the ministry   is appointed—the Word of God, the Gospel of the grace   of God that bringeth salvation untomen. We need that to-   day." And I should like always to be kept right by   being pushed hard here. We must study. We look ahead   to the Sabbath day. It is our special work: we are not   engaged in secular work. There were great preachers   in olden days who worked at, say, tent-making through the   week, and did not utter slim discourses either when the   Sabbath day came round. We haven't got to the bottom   of them yet. But, so itis; we preachers are given up to   this business. Now, out of this room and time for study   there may come a serious detriment tothe Gospel. We get   s0 immersed in favourite lines of reading and study, and       282 CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS,       this may so unconsciously tincture and colour our utterances   on the Sabbath day, that we may need, severely need, that   the audience should approach us here, and say, "' Now,   preacher, God's Word and truth; all things from Him to-   day, and nothing else—nothing else. Never mind about   reconciling science and revelation to-day ; we can live with-   out that; we can get that in our own magazines and   periodicals for sixpence a month. We can read that at   home, on the sofa, in the afternoon, when dinner is over,   unless we fall asleep. We are really so little concerned   about it that we give it the sleepy hour. But give   us to-day what really concerns us—the Word of God   as the Word of God, and what is meant to save our   souls, to purify our hearts, and to guide the practical daily   life we are living—' All things commanded thee of God.'"' |   Oh, see what it suggests! It suggests that the preacher     comes from God's hand. I say it suggests that the     preacher comes from the secret place. '' Now, then, we are     ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by     us, we pray you, in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."     Before we came to meet you this morning, we were in before     the Lord the King, and had our message from Him. Aye,     we do need to be reminded, sharply in these days, that we     exist to feed the hungry with bread.     Peter needed that. It needed a great work of God's   Spirit and providence on Peter's mind and heart and   imagination to enable him to preach that day. Peter was   a narrow, bigoted Jew, if left to himself, and he would never,   of himself, have preached to Cornelius and his company the   sermon they needed. And so the Lord had to widen the   preacher's views, and by a vision from heaven He had to   prepare Peter to preach to the Gentiles salvation through   faith in Jesus Christ. At the best we are but men,   and of narrowness and prejudice we have our share. There-   fore there is tremendous need that the preacher should be   in God's hand, and come frem God's presence with his soul   and voice attuned to a large, full, free, and glorious utter-       4 SERMONS, AND CONVERSIONS. 283       ice of the Gospel of the grace of God. Leave us to   urselves, and even the largest heart and most liberal   ulture may be found preaching away at something that is   8 Narrow as a razor's edge, and quite '' Rom the purpose'"'   f preaching. There may be some little glimmering light   fin it, but it is only a little; there may be light from every —   iquarter, to use the phrase of the day; from every quarter—   isave the Sun! The-Lord blow out all our penny candles,   'His light has come.     We need to come forth from God, He having poured into   us something of the breadth and fulness of God's mind and   heart, and of God's love for those to whom we are to speak.   * All things commanded of God.'' What a word for the   preacher! How it humbles us, and makes us tremble!   'How it would make Peter stand at ' Attention!'' as he   looked into hungry eyes and hungry hearts, and said to   himself, '' What am I to say?" I stand before you to-day,   and the very look is enough to shake either man or angel to   the very foundation. What have you come for? Why are   you there? Why are you there, and why am I here?   Almighty God, give us the explanation! You are here   because God has a purpose to save and bless you, and that   purpose is to be accomplished by my mouth to-day.       Now, what was the sermon? 'Then Peter opened his   mouth.' Do not run over that phrase and say, '' Of course   Peter opened his mouth." Not 'of course" at all. A       number of us cannot open our mouths when we preach—it   is the most pitiable mumbling ever was heard. It is said   of our Lord, He went up into a mountain, and, when His   disciples were gathered around Him, '' He opened His mouth   and taught them." Donotrun overit. It is not an " of   course." Sabbath-school teacher, Bible-class teacher,   when you meet with your company to-day, preacher—for I   speak to brethren here who before this sun sets will be doing   the very thing I am trying to do now—to all of you I say   «Open your mouth, and teach the people.' Let it be seen   in the very manuer of our speech that our mouth is open,       984 CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS,       for our heart is enlarged; that it comes, not feebly and   faint and constricted, but glad and full and free, for the   Lord is with us. Do not say, 'I have no eloquence." I   could say it, and with truth. Do not say, '' I have a stam-   mering tongue." Who made man's mouth? "Have not I   the Lord? Open thy mouth; behold I put My words into   thy mouth." What does Isaiah say? 'Lift up,'' he says—   and how much it is needed in this namby-pamby, over-   refined, hypercritical age —'' Lift up thy voice with   strength, lift it up; be not afraid; say unto the cities of   Judah, Behold your God." It is as if Isaiah had seen the,   nineteenth century, and had seen that we have fallen upon)   such over-refined times, that to speak with open mouth and   full heart is to be vulgar, and lacks refinement; and that   to chirrup, chirrup, chirrup, so as not to be heard beyond   the choir seats, or to be as white in the face as the paper   you are reading from, is to be surrounded by tokens of   thoughtfulness ; aye, that is the word, thoughtfulness, and   culture. '' Peter opened his mouth.' He lifted up his   head, and let go! We put down ours, and hold on/     I won't go into his sermon, but will only read from the   forty-third verse: ''To him gave all the prophets witness,   that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall   receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these   words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the   word." There is the sermon, and the effect of the sermon.   We have spoken of the audience; then the preacher; now   the sermon, and the result of the sermon. What was the   sermon? It was the Gospel, the old Gospel. It was new   and fresh then; it had only been '" finished" a few weeks   before! That is one thing that one does sometimes envy   the first preachers for. They had seen Him; they were   with Him on the holy mount, and had seen His glory ; they   heard His words, they were at the Cross, and saw Him   crucified, dead, and buried. He appeared unto them after   His Passion; as Peter say's here, ' not to all people," but   to us, His witnesses, who did eat and drink with Him after       ' SERMONS, AND CONVERSIONS. ; 985       Me rose from the dead. He preached Christ, you see.     # is not theology, not a creed. I am fond of theology,   md have a very definite creed, as many of you, and   those in my communicants' class well know. I have     definite theology and creed; I took it in with my   other's milk, so to speak, and I believe it as strongly as   ever, though perhaps with more charity towards people   whose creed has not at all the points the firm, sharp out-   ine of my own. But what Peter preached was not so much   ereed or formulated truth as Jesus, sent for a particular   purpose from God and by God ; how that, carrying out that   irpose, He had died on the cross and risen again, and that   hrough Him is preached forgiveness of sins. It was no   ewish ritual. The Jewish ritual is for ever swallowed up   and done away with. You have simply to bow your heart,   and give your heart to this Jesus whom I, Peter, saw on   the cross, and after He came out of the tomb. I am witness   for Him. I am His witness, and this is the burden of my   message to you to-day, ''that through Him you may re-   eeive forgiveness of sins."'     That is where the Gospel began then, and where it begins   to-day—forgiveness of sins to the man who is described in   the same passage as being a devout man, and one that   feared God, and made prayers, and gave alms. Yet he   needed to have forgiveness of sins, if he would become a   true evangelical believer. Here was one who prayed and   cave alms, yet Peter dared to begin with Him at this low   level of remission—forgiveness of sins. '' Oh," people would   have said to-day, '' with an audience like that, what you   want to do is not to take them to the cross; do not begin   with them at forgiveness of sins, you will only make them   stumble. Show them Christ, of course; but Christ as the   sreat ideal and embodiment of all that is pure and noble   and beneficent; and ask them to be loyal to Him, and as   like Him as possible. Show him Jesus Christ, and a   devout, God-fearing man like Cornelius will be enamoured   with Christ and make Him his Leader and Pattern. Preach       286 CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS,       _ Christ to him, but not Christ crucified." '' No," says Peter;   "" we preach the Christ who died for sin to everybody, to   everything human." Do not dare to begin, unless you begin   down there, and at men's sins—preach forgiveness through       a crucified, divinely-appointed Redeemer. If not, the people   will be still in the gall of bitterness and in the bond of |       iniquity. j     By Him I preach the forgiveness of sins, men and   brethren. Now, are you forgiven? After coming forty   years to Regent Square, are you forgiven? Christ is our   atoning Redeemer first, or He is nothing —nothing.     Woe be unto us if we do not preach Christ and Him       .       crucified ; not because you are good, but because you are ©   bad, and nothing less could satisfy either your conscience —   or the justice of God. A French officer, whose ship had —       been taken by Nelson, was brought on board Nelson's   vessel, and he walked up to the great admiral and gave him   his hand. '' No," said Nelson; '' your sword first, if you   please." That is the Gospel. Oh, there are great com-   panies of people to-day who are going to take the preacher's   hand and Christ's hand! '' Jesus is such a noble character,"   say they; ''we are enamoured with Him; we will walk   with Him." Nay, nay! not so fast. Your sword first,   please. Give up your rebellious will first; admit your   guilt, then Christ will take your hand with a grip that He   will never relinquish. Thatis the Gospel. You are either   forgiven through faith in His blood, or you are remaining in   your sins. Where are you? 'To Him gave all the   prophets and apostles witness;" and I stand 'in the   Apostolic succession, in a straight line from the cross and   the resurrection, down and down and down, through the   great roultitude of witnesses,     I speak to-day as with a thousand tongues, when I speak   with heart and voice, and say that the Gospel is this—   That Jesus died for our sins, that He lives again, and is   with us, and begins by blotting out all our sins for His own   great name sake. And when I utter that Paul is with me,   and Peter, and John, and Isaiah, and David, and Moses—   all are standing with me in this pulpit. 'To Him gave all   the prophets and apostles witness." There is no doubt   about it. Forgiveness of sins is preached through Him   who died and rose again. Now, are you giving up the   sword? Are you giving up yourself to Him as a poor lost       SERMONS, AND CONVERSIONS, 28%       sinner? I believe I am speaking this to not a few   (Dorneliuses. You are devout men and women, and fear   rod to such an extent as makes you depart from flagrant   iniquity. You conform your ways wonderfully in some   hings, outwardly, to the ten commandments. You pray   mand give, and your prayers and alms are come up for a   emorial before God. He would not have you standing in   the outer court. He has sent me to-day to ask you to   ome in, but you can only do so as a poor sinner. Oh, be   washed from sin ; be saved by the pardoning grace of Jesus   Christ to-day!     While Peter yet spake these words—there is a new name   \brought in here. I have talked of Cornelius and of the   jaudience. I. have talked of Peter and of Jesus. I have   jtalked of God the Father, but here is another name.   | While Peter yet spake these words about Jesus, '' The Holy   'Ghost fell on all them that heard the word," on Cornelius   'and his kinsmen and his near friends round about him. There   was no visible flame, as at Pentecost; but they felt the fire   'in their hearts. Cornelius possibly had only heard of Jesus   'as a name of reproach and rebuke and blasphemy. Now,   Jesus leapt up into his heart as his Friend and Saviour, and   Redeemer and God. That is the miracle of the Gospel.   That is the miracle of to-day. That was the miracle   wrought for me on a day never to be forgotten.     I heard these words, or truths conveyed in words like   them, and the Holy Ghost fell along with the word; and   that Jesus, who before was only a name in history to me,   became my Redeemer, who died for me, who lives for me,   who is with me here, and intercedes for me yonder. That   is what the Holy Ghost does. If you know Jesus Christ,   flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto you, but the Holy   Ghost. Peter was there, as the preacher is here; and the   sermon, with its appeal and arguments and illustrations ;   but the Holy Ghost gives the increase and blesses the word.   The Holy Ghost brings forth fruit unto everlasting life ;   and without Him fruit cannot be.     I am not going to leave youina puzzle. I used to get   puzzled between Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I was told   (and it is true), '"' You are saved by Jesus. He died; He   has done the work ; His blood and righteousness are your   salvation; and you have nothing to do but to believe in   Him." But I was also told I could not trust Him without       288 CONCERNING AUDIENCES, PREACHERS, ETC.       the help of the Holy Spirit ; and what between looking to   Jesus and the Spirit one gets into a little dilemma. My   friend, you have nothing to do with the Holy Spirit—not   mow. You have not to do directly with Him. The Holy   Spirit does His work by getting you to look to Jesus; but   when, by this sermon, He lifts up Jesus before you, and —   seeks to fasten the eyes of your understanding upon Him, |   this word comes in as the explanation of the great result —   that follows. As an explanation to serve for all time, and —   to give us the assurance that it was not the eloquent   preacher, nor wonderful arguments, nor special appeals, but   the supernatural work of the Holy Ghost on an otherwise .   dead and dark heart, that revealed to us Jesus as our   Saviour, who loved us and gave Himself for us. So do not   be in a dilemma.     I preach to you Jesus; but I tell you to encourage you     that there are more at work upon you than myself. The   Holy Spirit is preaching to you Jesus. Would you obey the   Holy Spirit and satisfy all that He requires? Then simply   say in your heart, '' Yes, I take this Jesus to be my Saviour,   I give up myself into His hands." Then all Godhead ic   satisfied. Oh, how familiar! Will you believe Him to-   day? Cometo Him. Here is no room for the display of   eloquence. Will you believe in Christ to-day? Hear the   word of this salvation: believe in Him to-day; trust in   Him to-day; then thy sins are blotted out. It will have   to be done some day, if ever it is to be done. While these   words are being spoken may the Holy Ghost fall upon your   hearts, and all who receive the word will be saved! God could   save the whole congregation at once. May God come and save   this twelve hundred in Regent Square! It would only be a lift   for the little finger of such a mighty Saviour. We can   hardly take it in. We think God comes to pick out one   here, and another over there. We think that God's election   is a narrow thing. We have forgotten the sweep and scope   and embrace of the Gospel. We have forgotten that there   is One amongst us to-day whose arms are long enough and   whose heart is big enough to draw all within these four walls   into His embrace and keep us there for ever and for ever.   O Blessed Spirit, we have lifted up Christ! Now, let sin-   ners find a refuge in His cleansing blood. Amen.       Henderson & Spalding, General Printers, Marylebone Lane, London, V       Regent Square Pulpit.       'SANS EYES, SANS TASTH, SANS EVERYTHING"   —-BUT GOD AND HOPE.       A Sermon       DELIVERED IN REGENT SQUARE CHURCH ON SuNDAY,   ths Marcu 16TH, BY THE       | REV, JOHN McNEILL.       "And even to your old age I am He; and even to hoar hairs will I   carry you: I have made, and I will bear; even I will carry, and will   'deliver you."—IsA. xlvi. 4.