Pulpit Aflame

“When you mention the name Steven J. Lawson, one word comes to mind: preaching.  But with Dr. Lawson one word won’t do.  It’s passion-filled-to-overflowing preaching. It’s bold, persuasive, and powerful preaching.  Above all, it’s expository preaching.  These essays by Dr. Lawson’s friends honor
him and the legacy of his ministry in the best possible way by offering an exposition of expository preaching. May these essays, like
Dr. Lawson’s ministry, bear much fruit in the life of the church.”

Stephen J. Nichols, President of Reformation Bible College and Chief Academic Officer of Ligonier Ministries


The apostle Paul instructed Timothy to “preach the word! . . . Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Tim. 4:2). This instruction is in keeping with the principle reflected in the book of Acts that the proclamation of God’s Word is the heart of corporate worship. Yet in many churches, preaching is in decline under the influence of a culture that prefers entertainment to exposition. In this volume, fourteen experienced preachers reaffirm the centrality of preaching in the life of the church as they explore what the Scriptures have to say about the mandate, meaning, motivation, and method of preaching. With wisdom and conviction, the authors remind the church that God works through the faithful preaching of His Word, no less in the twenty-first century than in the first.

C O N T E N T S

Foreword     Ian Hamilton
1. Steven J. Lawson: Knowing the Man and His Message     Dustin W. Benge

Part 1: The Mandate of Preaching
2. A Biblical Priority: Preach the Word     John MacArthur
3. A Pastoral Preeminence: Feed My Sheep     R. C. Sproul
4. A Historical Pedigree: Sixteenth-Century Reformed Preaching     Joel R. Beeke

Part 2: The Meaning of Preaching
5. Preaching as Exposition     R. Albert Mohler Jr.
6. Preaching as Transformation     Derek W. H. Thomas
7. Preaching as Worship     Sinclair B. Ferguson

Part 3: The Motivation of Preaching
8. The Aim of Preaching: The Glory of God     W. Robert Godfrey
9. The Foundation of Preaching: The Cross of Christ     John J. Murray
10. The Power of Preaching: The Presence of the Holy Spirit     Michael A. G. Haykin

Part 4: The Method of Preaching
11. Preparing the Sermon     Iain D. Campbell
12. Building the Sermon     Geoffrey Thomas
13. Delivering the Sermon      Conrad Mbewe

C O N T R I B U T O R S

Joel R. Beeke is president and professor of systematic theology and homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, a pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and editorial director of Reformation Heritage Books.

Dustin W. Benge received his MDiv from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky, where he is currently a PhD candidate. He is the editor for Expositor Magazine and the director of operations for One Passion Ministries, Dallas, Texas.

Iain D. Campbell is the minister of Point Free Church, a congregation of the Free Church of Scotland on the Isle of Lewis. He is also adjunct professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary.

Sinclair B. Ferguson is dean of the doctor of ministry program at Ligonier Academy of Biblical and Theological Studies and a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow. Prior to moving back to his native land of Scotland, Sinclair served as minister of First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina.

W. Robert Godfrey is president and professor of church history at Westminster Theological Seminary in California. He is also a minister in the United Reformed Church and a Ligonier Ministries teaching fellow.

Ian Hamilton is the minister of Cambridge Presbyterian Church in Cambridge, England. He serves on the boards of the Banner of Truth Trust and Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, South Carolina, where he is also an adjunct teacher.

Michael A. G. Haykin is professor of church history and biblical spirituality at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He also serves as the director of the Andrew Fuller Center for Baptist Studies at the same institution and as an adjunct professor at Puritan Reformed Theological
Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

John MacArthur is the pastor-teacher of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California. He also serves as president of the Master’s Seminary and College and is the featured teacher with Grace to You media ministry, which is heard around the world.

Conrad Mbewe is pastor of Kabwata Baptist Church in Lusaka, Zambia, and is widely regarded as the “African Spurgeon.” His PhD is in the area of missions. He serves as the principal of Lusaka Ministerial College and the chancellor of the African Christian University in Zambia.

R. Albert Mohler Jr. serves as president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, Kentucky. He also serves as professor of Christian theology at Southern Seminary. He is the host of two programs: The Briefing, a daily analysis of news and events from a Christian worldview; and Thinking in Public, a series of conversations with the day’s leading thinkers.

John J. Murray joined the Banner of Truth Trust in London as an assistant editor in 1960. He trained for the gospel ministry at Edinburgh University and at the Free Church College. He served congregations of the Free Church of Scotland in Argyll and Edinburgh. Since retiring he has assisted in several congregations in Glasgow, where he now resides.

R. C. Sproul is founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries and is featured daily on the radio program Renewing Your Mind. He is also chancellor of Reformation Bible College and co-pastor of Saint Andrews Chapel in Sanford, Florida.

Derek W. H. Thomas serves as the minister of preaching and teaching at First Presbyterian Church, Columbia, South Carolina. He is also professor of systematic and pastoral theology at Reformed Theological Seminary in Atlanta, Georgia, and as an adjunct professor at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Geoffrey Thomas has served as the pastor of Alfred Place Baptist Church in Aberystwyth, Wales, for over fifty years. He is also visiting professor of historical theology at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, Michigan.


“This book marks well the ministry of Steve Lawson. His example of exegetically grounded, doctrinally informed, homiletically precise style of energetic proclamation has been one of the most salutary phenomena in Christian preaching in decades. . . . This book not only draws immediate attention to the faithful ministry of Steve Lawson, but should serve perennially as a guide from mature and holy minds on how best to obey the divine mandate, “Preach the word.””

 Tom J. Nettles, retired Professor of Historical Theology from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY