Bittersweet Farm

“The kind of sermon which is likely to break the hearer’s heart is that which first has broken the preacher’s heart, and the sermon which is likely to reach the heart of the hearer is the one which has come straight from the heart of the preacher.”

“Surely if men’s heart were right, short sermons would be enough.”

“If you always enjoy sermons, the minister is not a good steward. He is not acting wisely who deals out nothing but sweets.”

“You are listening to a man who professes to speak by God, and for God, and to speak for your good and his heart yearns over you. Oh, it is solemn work to preach, and it should be solemn work to hear.”

“It is not the bigness of’ the words you utter, but the force with which you deliver them.”

“The preacher’s work is to throw sinners down into utter helplessness that they may be compelled to look up to Him who alone can help them.”

“The power that is in the gospel does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher; otherwise men would be the conveners of souls. Nor does it lie in the preacher’s learning; otherwise it would consist in the wisdom of men. We might preach until our tongues rotted, till we would exhaust our lungs and die, but never a soul would be converted unless the Holy Spirit be with the Word of God to give it the power to convert the soul.”

“We hear complaints that the minister speaks too harshly and talk too much of judgment. Saved sinners never make that complaint.”

“If some men were sentenced to hear their own sermons, it would be a righteous judgment upon them; but they would soon cry out with Cain, “My punishment is greater than I can bear.”

I was present with my son, his pastor, and seven thousand others to hear this powerful testimony of God’s sustaining grace in suffering. This is worth watching.

T4G 2010 — Special Session — Matt Chandler from Together for the Gospel (T4G) on Vimeo.

This week I have scheduled some spiritual refreshment. I need it. I have learned over the years that to be spiritually dry is dangerous.

We were given a nice used couch years ago. We put it in the family room. It had about five good years left in it when it came to us. When it finally reached the point of no return we needed to think of a dignified way to discard it. We didn’t want to spend money on it. I decided to burn it. We hitched the wagon to the old Ford tractor and drove it up into the yard. We wrestled that old, tired couch out onto the wagon and took it for its last drive. There was an old burn pile back in the woods. I would burn it there.

This would be an adventure. The children came along. We wrestled the couch off the wagon and onto the ground. I thought about putting some kerosene on the couch to see to it that it would burn well, but I didn’t. I just lit a match and tapped it on the bottom corner of the couch. What happened next shocked me. It was as if I had saturated the couch with lighter fluid. It shot into flame. Within seconds the flame was leaping thirty feet high and the heat from the fire drove us all back. We all stood in shocked silence while the couch burned in a couple minutes down to a small mess of blackened coils.

If you are spiritually dry you should do something about it quickly. It is a dangerous position to be in. Your life can go up in flames in a shocking fury. Spiritual dryness is no trifle. High doses of the Word can be helpful. Psalm 1 says of the one who meditates on the Word of God; “He will be like a tree planted by rivers of water.” If you are spiritually dry get with people who aren’t and let them influence you. When you walk in the counsel of the wicked, stand in the way of sinners, or sit in the seat of scoffers you are in trouble. Get out your Bible and get alone with God or spend some time with godly, righteous, people who praise and honor God and see if you don’t get your color back.

Ken Pierpont
Granville Cottage
Riverview, Michigan
April 12, 2010