Preaching the Cross

by Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan III, C.J. Mahaney

Book Overview

Proclaiming the gospel is without a doubt the most important task of pastoral ministry, yet often other, seemingly more urgent activities obscure it. From time to time all pastors and preachers need to be reminded of the primacy of the gospel.

Preaching the Cross does just this. It is a call to expository, gospel-centered preaching as the center of pastoral ministry. This volume showcases an unprecedented combination of pastors representing...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1581348282
• ISBN13: 9781581348286
• Release Date: April 2007
• Publisher: Crossway Books
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.1" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Great Service, Great Product!

I recieved my order promptly and in marvelous condition. The book itself hits on the centrality of the Cross to the Christian life. A great book for preachers or for any serious minded follower of Christ.

A Refreshing Tonic for the Gospel-Centered Pastor

Preaching the Cross is the compilation of the sermons that were given at the general sessions of the 2006 Together for the Gospel Conference (T4G). Chapters include messages from the faces of T4G, Mark Dever, Al Mohler, CJ Maheney and Ligon Duncan; as well as contributions from John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul and John Piper. Also included is the T4G Affirmations and Denials. This book was enjoyable and edifying for me as I did not attend the conference. I took a message a day and enjoyed interacting with the various preachers. Particular personal favorites included John MacArthur's chapter entitled, Why I Still Preach the Bible after Forty Years of Ministry. This was just littered with pithy MacArthur quotes that serve to simultaneously convict and encourage you. Here are some examples: "Faithfully preaching and teaching the Word must be the very heart of our ministry philosophy. Any other approach replaces the voice of God with human wisdom....The preacher's task is not to be a conduit for human wisdom; he is God's voice to speak to the congregation. No human message comes with the stamp of divine authority--only the Word of God. How dare any preacher substitute another message?" (p. 143) "When I preach, one response that always pleases me most is, `The message was clear.' Clarity is critical and basic. Ambiguity is deadly and produces nothing." (p. 148) "When I started in ministry, I committed myself to expository preaching, just explaining the Bible, because I knew that there was nothing I could say that was anywhere near as important as what God had to say. The real goal of my ministry has always been to keep my opinions out of it as much as possible--to get the meaning of the passage right and to make it clear to my hearers." (p. 148) "Show me a church where there is strong Bible teaching over an enduring period of time, and I will show you a congregation that is studying the Word of God on their own skilled in the science of interpretation that has been modeled for them by their pastor. But show me a church where the Word of God is not taught in the pulpit, and I'll show you a place where biblical illiteracy, doctrinal confusion, and spiritual apathy at the personal level is rampant. The people will not rise to a level that is higher than their teacher. They will follow the example of their leaders. So, if we love God's Word, our people will too. If we don't they won't either." (p. 157) And there is more where that came from; this chapter is a great encouragement to pastors. It makes you want to study, practice and teach. R.C. Sproul also provides a helpful explanation of the important distinctions between the Roman Catholic doctrine of justification and the Protestant doctrine and in so doing shows why it is so important to understand and proclaim the biblical distinctives. Al Mohler's chapter entitled Preaching with the Culture in View was also quite helpful. Mohler demonstrates careful and thoughtful biblical fidelit

Keeping the Cross Central

Nothing today in the church is needed more than a clear proclamation of the cross. Because every generation needs a fresh discovery of the gospel, Preaching the Cross is good food for this generation. The book is the collection of the sermon manuscripts from the 2006 Together for the Gospel Conference, encouraging pastors to preach and live the gospel. The book covers various gospel-related concerns, including: - the real minister (Mark Dever) - preaching Christ from the Old Testament (Ligon Duncan) - preaching with the culture in view (Albert Mohler) - the center of Christian preaching: justification by faith (R.C. Sproul) - preaching as expository exultation for the glory of God (John Piper) - the pastor's priorities: watch your life and doctrine (C.J. Mahaney) - why I still preach the Bible after forty years of ministry (John MacArthur) Especially beneficial are the chapters by Piper, Sproul, and Mahaney. Every chapter, however, coupled with prayer will encourage the pastor to boldly preach and live the gospel. A must read for every pastor.

A Call to Faithfulness

Preaching the Cross By Dever, Duncan, Mohler, Mahaney Review by A.A. Carr In April of 2006, over 2000 Christian leaders (most of them pastors) gathered for a conference entitled Together for the Gospel. This was a momentous event, as four men from different theological and ecclesiastical backgrounds (Mark Dever, J. Ligon Duncan III, Al Mohler Jr., and C.J. Mahaney) united, along with three special guests, (R.C. Sproul, John Piper, and John MacArthur) by a common passion for the gospel. Preaching the Cross presents the content of the messages delivered at that conference. While books detailing preaching methodology are legion, books of this sort are hard to find. Preaching the Cross will challenge preachers to consider the foundational issues of their calling. This book is a clarion call to biblical fidelity, passionate preaching, doctrinal and personal purity. Chapter 1 A Real Minister: 1 Corinthians 4 by Mark E. Dever Challenges those who stand behind the pulpit to examine their calling in light of 1 Cor. 4. Mark Dever argues very persuasively that our churches need to be recovered, and for this to happen we need real ministers who follow the example of the Apostle Paul. This will result in pastors and congregations who place the word of God at the center and faithfully proclaim the glories of the cross. Chapter 2 Preaching Christ from the Old Testament by J. Ligon Duncan III Is a brief but excellent study in hermeneutics with a view toward preaching. Duncan exhorts his audience to preach the whole counsel of God -including the Old Testament! The pulpiteer who takes this chapter seriously will model good interpretation, a high view of all of Scripture, and feed many souls. Chapter 3 Preaching with the Culture in View by R. Albert Mohler Jr. Is an astute analysis of culture and its implications for all Christians, but especially those who minister to God's people. The wise preacher will be aware of the impact of culture in preaching dynamics without being enslaved to it. Chapter 4 The Center of Christian Preaching: Justification by Faith by R.C. Sproul Awakens the complacent from their slumber and arouses them to proclaim justification by faith. Evangelicals often assume this without warrant. Justification by faith is seldom denied outright, but rather eclipsed by doctrinal subtleties, love of technique, and passivity. The Scriptures and history show that justification by faith alone is always prone to various attacks because it cuts across the grain of human nature and offends religious sensibilities. We are all legalists at heart. An examination of Romans and Galatians will quickly bear this out. Two good questions to ask yourself: 1) When was the last time you were in awe of the grace of God? 2) When was the last time you were misunderstood or criticized for preaching grace (Rom.3:8;6:15)? Chapter 5 Preaching as Expository Exultation for the Glory of God by John Piper Will challenge all who speak for God to return to a passion

A Call to the Gospel

You may experience a sense of deja vu when reading Preaching the Cross since this book is the product of last year's Together for the Gospel conference. Several thousand men were in attendance and many have since read summaries of the sessions or have listened to the audio recordings. While the chapters are not mere transcriptions of the messages delivered at the conference, they are, as we would expect, very similar. Of course they are also more polished and are now nicely packaged in a hardcover book. The task of overseeing the book, which is dedicated to "the next generation of preachers of the cross," and of writing its introduction fell to Mark Dever. He explains the connection between the book and the conference in this way: Every once in a while God uses a conference such as this in a strategic way to put new heart in his under-shepherds and so bless his people. We prayed that this would be such a conference, that through it God would tune our hearts and minds to him as we thought and talked together about preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We prayed that those who attended would know great blessing from it. Now, long after the conclusion of that event, we want to give thanks to God for the encouragement many did indeed experience as a result of that gathering and for the instruction given and friendships made there. In introducing this volume, which is comprised of the conference addresses, I want to say a little bit more about the history of the conference, the "heroes" we invited to join us, and the hopes that we had for the conference attendees--and for you as you prepare to read these messages. Dever goes on to share the history of the conference, explaining how the four men came to know each other and to share a common desire to put together this conference. It was at one of those meetings that, during our typically long, enjoyable, question-then-anecdote-then-straight-into-argument and- then-into-passionate-agreement conversations, one of us (I think it was Al, but we all were making the same kind of noises) remarked on the edifying nature of our conversations, and we all expressed a desire for pastors to experience this same sort of fellowship. As we talked, we came up with the idea of holding a conference at which the four of us would speak and afterward sit around and talk about the talks in front of our audience. (We talk about the talks late at night anyway, whenever we find ourselves together at a conference, although we do it without the audience!) We weren't sure what kind of audience we would get for our event, but we knew that we'd enjoy it no matter who came; any benefit accruing to others would be a bonus. And just like that a conference was born. Though there were and still are several important theological disagreements between these men, they gladly laid aside these secondary issues for the sake of the gospel. "We thought that interest in the conference might be generated in part because