Reformed Preaching: Proclaiming God's Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People

“In this latest book, Joel Beeke warmly welcomes us into his pulpit, his study, and even the place of his private prayers. To accept his invitation is to discover what it means for a sermon to offer both light and heat, and to learn how to preach the gospel as food for the hungry rather than as dessert for the deserving. In Reformed Preaching, Beeke introduces favorite figures from church history to form a composite picture of the experiential expositor. Even experienced expositors will find much to learn in this book from both the author and his friends.”

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“Having known Joel Beeke for nearly fifty years, both as a personal friend and as a fellow minister of the gospel, I can unhesitatingly affirm that Reformed preaching has been, and continues to be, the passion of his ministry. Frequently I have had the privilege of hearing him preach from his heart to the hearts of his audience, preaching the unsearchable riches of Christ to poor, needy, and guilty sinners in need of precisely such a Savior. I am therefore delighted that in Reformed Preaching he is passing on to the next generation of preachers what it means to preach Christ scripturally, doctrinally, and experientially, and how to effectively aim such preaching at the hearts of those who hear themdoing so in complete dependence upon the Spirit of Christ for explication and application. May many younger (and older!) ministers of the gospel benefit richly from the ripe fruit of Beekes lifelong commitment to experiential preaching.”

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“If Reformed experiential preaching sounds dull or dry, or just difficult, then you ought to read this book. As a true instructor, writing with real warmth and insight, Joel Beeke opens up enduring principles, spans the centuries to survey practitioners and identify patterns, and then earnestly urges us to the lively practice of such preaching. He carries us from the lecture room to the training ground and then sends us out into the field, humbled and yet hopeful, to preach from our hearts to the hearts of others.”

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“I am very pleased to endorse this book by Joel Beeke because it is an invaluable contribution to Reformed preaching. While some in the Reformed community tend to associate experiential preaching with pietism and mysticism, Beeke shows that generations of Spirit-anointed Reformed preachers have employed the biblical experiential method. Beekes book represents the culmination of what has been on the authors mind for many years, namely, to come to a clear biblical understanding on what the gospel is and by whom, to whom, and especially how it is to be preached. This latest homiletical contribution by Beeke deserves to be read by all seminary professors, theological students, pastors, and all who are hungry for the true Bread of Life. The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the Lord! May your hearts live forever (Ps. 22:26).”

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“I have yet to come across a preaching resource so helpful, poignant, biblical, and even devotional as Joel Beekes Reformed Preaching. The breadth and depth of historical weight and confessional integrity make this book a superb volume for any pastor, teacher, or layperson. I will certainly be using this in both my preaching classes and pulpit preparation!”

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“It has been one of the great privileges of my life to teach homiletics alongside Joel Beeke at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary for the past ten years. Ive not only witnessed his expertise and passion for the subject, but Ive also seen and felt the ministry-transforming effects of this upon my own preaching, as well as upon hundreds of students from all over the world. Its a joyful answer to prayer to see his lectures now in print for the benefit of thousands more preachers of the gospel.”

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“It is said that a sermon is as good as a sermon does. Joel Beekes book will greatly help Gods servants minister the Word to this end: to the head, heart, and life. Here he scripturally defines Reformed and experimental preaching, surveys its foremost exponents from church history, and searchingly persuades us of the need for this kind of preaching today. Reading this, no preacher can fail to be challengedbut also encouraged and helpedto preach this way more than ever before. With the Lords blessing, this book will do untold good for ministers and churches everywhere. This is a much-needed and unique volume. I wholeheartedly commend it to ministerial students as required reading, and to all of us who proclaim the unsearchable riches of Christ.”

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“Reformed Preaching is grand, sweeping, and engaging. It is at once substantive theology, a church-historical survey, and a book of practical divinity on experiential, Reformed preaching. No one has written anything quite like it. Subtitled Proclaiming Gods Word from the Heart of the Preacher to the Heart of His People, Beekes book breathes the air of its theme. This book is excellent in every way; it is all doctrine and all application. Reformed Preaching challenges the church with the indispensable necessity of preaching that is biblical, doctrinal, and experiential, preaching that leads Gods people to taste and see that the Lord is good (Ps. 34:8). While Beeke addresses ministers and hearers of the preached Word alike, as a gospel preacher, I found myself worshiping the triune God on every page and humbled in the dust with gratitude for the privilege of proclaiming Gods truth. This is a book to be read over and over again. I pray that this volume will be widely and extensively read. I pray as well that Reformed Preaching may be a spark to revive the old Reformed commitment to experiential preaching in a new day.”

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“Reformed preaching is simply ordinary preaching. Sermons that are faithful in their exposition and application to the hearers, rich in gospel content, Christ-centered in focus, and earnestly evangelistic in their calls to sinners to repent and entrust themselves to Jesus Christthis is Reformed preaching. It is not long sermons and heavy preaching. It is the pulpits pastoral and reviving ministry to the body of Christ, most frequently on the Lords Day, generally to the assembly of the faithful, but mighty in addressing the world. It is delivering compassionate and heart-warming sermons, sometimes profoundly solemn sermons. It is, most of all, interesting, gripping preaching and life-changing pulpit fare; and once it has been heard, nothing else will ever satisfy an awakened soul that hungers for the living God. It is the believers weekly feast. How does one preach like that? Read this book for starters. You will be enlightened and motivated, and you will especially become prayerful, longing for the spread of this kind of ministry throughout the whole world.”

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“A preacher who does not practice what he preaches is a hypocrite; a preacher who does not preach what he himself has practiced is a mere theorist. A good preacher gives to others the overflow of what he himself has taken in from Gods Word. Effective preaching is from heart to heart, as suggested by the subtitle of Joel Beekes Reformed Preaching. Preaching is more than simply a verbal book report; it is a God-ordained means of bringing Gods truth to bear on the hearts and in the experience of the hearers. Beeke effectively underscores this powerful function of preaching both with models from past preachers and clear instructions for modern preachers. Beekes passion for experiential preaching is obvious, exposing his heart to ours.”

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“The ethos of this soul-satisfying book on preaching is not fast forward to the new and fanciful but turn your affections back to the solid theological foundations of the past. Too much modern-day preaching aims to attract the undiscerning hearer with exciting and flossy novelties. But godly church members hunger and thirst not for shallow novelty, but for real, solid, biblical preaching and genuine food for the soul. The authors message is to open out the excellencies of the model preachers of the pastfrom Luther and Calvin to the great Puritans and right down to the beloved Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who died in 1981. Here is a book ideally suited to the reader who longs for solid preaching in the pulpit for his soul. For this reason, this is also an ideal book to place in the hands of the serious student for the ministry.”

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“Faithful preaching is intimately bound up with the heartbeat of faithful Christian living. The proof of this is seen throughout the history of the church. Wills, affections, lives, churches, and entire communities have been transformed when the proclamation of Gods Word has reached beyond the mind to the heart. This was true during the Protestant Reformation, was repeated under the influence of the Puritans, and has been witnessed during times of revival. Joel Beeke mines the theology and practice of the great preacher-pastor-theologians of the past in a way that is guaranteed to bless and equip those who carry the baton for the generation they serve in the present and beyond.”

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“Reformed Preaching is unique for its emphasis on learning to preach experientially from the Reformers and their theological successors through the centuries. Joel Beeke convincingly shows that Reformed preaching is doctrinally sound, profoundly personal, and effectively practical. Far from being a contemporary model, this work presents the preaching of the Reformation, which encompasses head, heart, and hands, as the enduring way to proclaim Scripture. This is a very foundational understanding of the Reformation impact on the history of the church.”

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“Heart to heart: this is the preaching that cuts us to the quick and applies the balm of Gilead. And it is marvelously modeled in this book. Having appreciated every sermon Ive heard from Joel Beeke, I am sure that you will discern a refreshing connection between doctrine, experience, and life in his writing.”

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