J.C. Ryle on preaching

[Poimen]

I just posted this excellent quote by J.C. Ryle on our church blog (from his devotional on Luke 4:43):

We read that He said, “I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also–for therefore was I sent.” An expression like this ought to silence forever the foolish remarks that are sometimes made against preaching. The mere fact that the eternal Son of God undertook the office of a preacher, should satisfy us that preaching is one of the most valuable means of grace. To speak of preaching, as some do, as a thing of less importance than reading public prayers or administering the sacraments, is, to say the least, to exhibit ignorance of Scripture. It is a striking circumstance in our Lord’s history, that although He was almost incessantly preaching, we never read of His baptizing any person. The witness of John is distinct on this point–”Jesus baptized not.” (John 4:2.)

Let us beware of despising preaching. In every age of the Church, it has been God’s principal instrument for the awakening of sinners and the edifying of saints. The days when there has been little or no preaching have been days when there has been little or no good done in the Church. Let us hear sermons in a prayerful and reverent frame of mind, and remember that they are the principal engines which Christ Himself employed, when He was upon earth. Not least, let us pray daily for a continual supply of faithful preachers or God’s word. According to the state of the pulpit will always be the state of a congregation and of a Church.

 

[Pergamum]

How did Christ preach? He merely declared the truth. This was not restricted to the Lord's Day or behind a pulpit.

Often we restrict preaching to these means.

Whenever we stress the importance of preaching we ought to stress exactly WHAT preaching is and HOW it can be done. I see Jesus and Paul in markets, on streets, at the sides of rivers, in synagogues, in temples, among crowds, and hardly ever restricted to behind a pulpit.


What is preaching, how can do it, when can it be done, and how can it be done?


Before I say amen to any quote on preaching, I want to make sure that it does not restrict the spread of God's Word to those arenas that lie outside the assembled congregation on a Sunday.

 

[Pilgrim]

To put Ryle's words in context, he was writing during the Romanizing Tractarian controversy that tended to denigrate preaching in favor of sacramentalism, an emphasis on ceremony, etc.

Of course, we also see this with the FV. I remember a year or so ago reading a FV oriented blog where a woman mentioned not being able to stand preaching for more than a few minutes and wishing they'd just get on with it and celebrate the Lord's Supper.