Book Review: Preaching – Pure and Simple
Author: Stuart Olyott, Publisher: Brytirian Press, Length: 188 pages, Available From: Evangelical and Covenanter Bookshops
Stuart Olyott is some bloke, not only does he preach Biblically accurate, heart-searching sermons, he also writes books about how to preach them. While those of us who do not aspire to the ministerial office may question the point of reading a book on preaching, we should remember that the preaching of the word occupies the central place in both New Testament and historic Protestant worship; and for this reason it is absolutely requisite that those of us who adhere to the regulative principle of worship correctly understand the place of preaching in worship. Mr. Olyott helps us in this respect in part one of the book where he examines precisely what preaching is. By focusing on the four Greek words used for preaching in the New Testament (kerusso, euangelizo, martureo, and didasko) the author explains that preaching must always include: declaring the King’s message exactly (kerusso), bringing good news (euangelizo), bearing witness to the facts (martureo), and spelling out in concrete terms what the message means as far as living is concerned (didasko). In order for a minister’s sermon to preaching (in the Biblical sense), then it must contain all of the above. This means that there is not one form of preaching to the saved in the morning, and then another for the unsaved in the evening; all sermons, whether preached to the saved or lost, must contain all four of these elements.
In part two the author then examines what makes good preaching. Firstly, exegetical accuracy is vital to preaching. One of the things I loathe most is when some clown (I will not give him the dignity of the title ‘minister’) dares to get into a pulpit and deliberately lifts verses of Scripture out of context to speak, not preach, on whatever he wants – regardless of whether or not it is coming out of the text. Thankfully, for the four years that I have been in the Reformed Presbyterians I have never heard a minister do this; and long may it continue. Such a man, when he does this, is little better than a liberal; because what is the point of believing that the inspiration of Scripture extends to each and every word, if he can profanely lift these words out of their context and use them as a springboard for whatever he likes. Consequently, the preacher needs to consider the wider and narrower context in which a particular text appears, and to consider what it meant to the original writer and audience. If a minister doesn’t do this then he can get the Bible to say whatever he wants, because as Don Carson once put it ‘a text without a context is a pretext for a proof text.’ Obviously preaching which lacks doctrinal substance is certainly unedifying; one wonders how a man can claim to be preaching the Bible and yet try not to be too doctrinal?
Other important factors in good preaching include a clear structure, the author favours the three point system – which I believe is to be preferred to the Puritan method of having hundreds of points, sub-points, and sub-sub-points – accompanied with suitable and useful illustrations to assist the memories of the congregation. Pointed application (not ignorant or ranting) and a helpful method of delivery are also essential; although it is really supernatural authority that puts the icing on the cake of a good sermon.
In the final section Mr. Olyott suggests a very practical method of sermon preparation and, dare I suggest, that every minister read this every week before he writes his sermons. Finally there is a short biography of Hugh David Morgan (1928-92), a Welsh Evangelical and Reformed preacher who exemplified the principles of this book. Written in a very clear and comprehensible style Preaching – Pure and Simple is well worthy of prayerful consideration, even by those of us who are not ministers.
Rating: 9/10
