Steven J. Lawson - The Expository Genius of John Calvin ((A Long Line of Godly Men Profile))

"Through an introductory study of John Calvin's preaching, Steve Lawson provides a practical Homiletics I refresher course that can be read in one evening, but should be read annually for lifelong impact. Factual yet stimulating, simple yet penetrating, The Expository Genius of john Calvin contains many scriptural and theocentric golden nuggets and hands-on practical tips for beginning expositors and seasoned preachers alike. May God use it to revitalize Christ-centered and Spirit-empowered applicatory preaching in our needy day."

- DR. JOEL R. BEEKE, Professor

Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

"An infectious appreciation of the preaching of John Calvin from the pen of Steven Lawson. No one reading this volume can fail to appreciate the debt we owe to the `Genevan Reformer.' Lawson has consulted the best of current scholarship and has produced a comprehensive distillation of the contours of the Reformer's preaching and, with it, a compelling advocacy of consecutive expository preaching. A magnificent achievement."

- DR. DEREK W H. THOMAS, Professor

Reformed Theological Seminary

"Calvin's commitment to `the word of God,' whether as inscripturated or incarnate in Christ, is well-known. What has not been given its due, however, is his high regard for `words'both the words of the Old and New Testament in their original languages and of the preacher in his sermons on the sacred text. Steve Lawson's study treats the second closely, and this is where this book will prove most valuable and is most urgently needed."

- DR. HYWEL R. JONES, Professor

Westminster Seminary California

"The cure for the `dys-exposition' that afflicts today's pulpits has been available for five hundred years, as Steve Lawson so clearly documents in The Expository Genius of john Calvin. Preachers reading this book will be moved to take to heart Calvin's encompassing belief in the sovereignty of God's Word-as to its total sufficiency and massive potency. Further, they will be inspired to pursue the deep, enriching paths of lectio continua. This is a beautifully written, powerful, and convincing book. It is a must read for all who aspire to preach the word."

- R. KENT HUGHES, Senior pastor emeritus College Church, Wheaton, 111.

"In this book, Dr. Steve Lawson has masterfully presented us with thirty-two keynotes that made Calvin the best preacher of the Reformation, all of them centered around the Word of God preached expositorily. He describes for us in a powerful as well as profound way how Calvin brought his congregation upward to gaze upon God's glory as he preached verse by verse, then ended his sermons with prayers filled with the Word! Dr. Lawson is right in saying that because of the spiritual bankruptcy of our time, we need Calvins once again. I would make this book recommended reading in courses such as homiletics and missions for any serious pastor and student of theology."

- DR. ALONZO RAMIREZ, Professor

Biblical Reformed Seminary, Peru

A Long Line of Godly Men Profile

S T E V E N J . L A W S O N

To John MacArthurfaithful shepherd, peerless expositor, defender of the faith.

For almost forty years, Dr. MacArthur has stood in the pulpit at Grace Community Church and has been the gold standard of biblical exposition for an entire generation of preachers. His masterful preaching through books of the Bible, as well as his New Testament commentaries, study Bible, seminary, college, missionary academy, and worldwide radio ministry, make him, I believe, the John Calvin of our day.

(2 COR. 4:5, NASB)

.................... xi

Chapter 1: ................... 1

Chapter 2: .................. 21

L BIBLICAL AUTHORITY

2. DIVINE PRESENCE

3. PULPIT PRIORITY

4. SEQUENTIAL EXPOSITION

Chapter 3: ................... 39

5. DILIGENT MIND

6. DEVOTED HEART

7. RELENTLESS WILL

Chapter 4: ................... 53

8. DIRECT BEGINNING

9. EXTEMPORANEOUS DELIVERY

10. SCRIPTURAL CONTEXT

II. STATED THEME

Chapter 5: .................... 65

12. SPECIFIC TEXT

13. EXEGETICAL PRECISION

14. LITERAL INTERPRETATION

15. CROSS-REFERENCES

16. PERSUASIVE REASONING

17. REASONABLE DEDUCTIONS

Chapter 6: .................... 83

18. FAMILIAR WORDS

19. VIVID EXPRESSIONS

20. PROVOCATIVE QUESTIONS

21. SIMPLE RESTATEMENTS

22. LIMITED QUOTATIONS

23. UNSPOKEN OUTLINE

24. SEAMLESS TRANSITIONS

25. FOCUSED INTENSITY

Chapter 7: ..................... 103

26. PASTORAL EXHORTATION

27. PERSONAL EXAMINATION

28. LOVING REBUKE

29. POLEMIC CONFRONTATION

Chapter 8: ............... 119

30. SUCCINCT SUMMATION

31. PRESSING APPEAL

32. CLIMACTIC PRAYER

.............. 131

................................... 134

................................... 136

o step into the pulpit is to enter onto holy ground. To stand behind an open Bible demands no trifling with sacred things. To be a spokesman for God requires utmost concern and care in handling and proclaiming the Word. Rightly does Scripture warn, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness" (James 3:1).

But sad to say, we live in a generation that has compromised this sacred calling to preach. Exposition is being replaced with entertainment, preaching with performances, doctrine with drama, and theology with theatrics. Desperately does the modern-day church need to recover its way and return to a pulpit that is Bible-based, Christ-centered, and life-changing. God has always been pleased to honor His Word-especially His Word preached. The greatest seasons of church history-those eras of widespread reformation and great awakening-have been those epochs in which God-fearing men took the inspired Word and unashamedly preached it in the power of the Holy Spirit. As the pulpit goes, so goes the church. Thus, only a reformed pulpit will ultimately lead to a reformed church. In this hour, pastors must see their pulpits again marked by sequential exposition, doctrinal clarity, and a sense of gravity regarding eternal matters. This, in my estimation, is the need of the hour.