Preach the Word: Essays on Expository Preaching: In Honor of R. Kent Hughes

by Leland Ryken, Todd A. Wilson (Editor)

Over the years, author, editor, mentor, and pastor R. Kent Hughes has shared the gospel with thousands of men, women, and children all over the world. His legacy of expository preaching, now celebrated in this volume, is a precious heritage that will benefit preachers for years to come.

In Preach the Word, fifteen of Hughes’s friends and colleagues, including J. I. Packer, Wayne Grudem, John MacArthur, and D. A. Carson, examine what it means to be an expository preacher. They study subjects such as biblical and historical perspective, hermeneutical principles and practices, contemporary challenges, and training and example. Through this book, one man’s passion to preach the Word faithfully will spread to readers, motivating and equipping them to do the same.

Genres: Christianity

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

About the author

Dr. Ryken has served on the faculty of Wheaton College since 1968. He has published over thirty books and more than one hundred articles and essays, devoting much of his scholarship to Bible translations and the study of the Bible as literature. He served as Literary Chairman for the English Standard Version (ESV) of the Bible and in 2003 received the distinguished Gutenberg Award for his contributions to education, writing, and the understanding of the Bible.

He is the father of Philip Graham Ryken

Reviews

[Peter Krol · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is good stuff here on preaching. I only scanned the essays that didn't captivate.

[Justin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This collection honoring Kent Hughes was hit and miss. Or more accurately, hit and 'meh'. Because it's a festchrift-like collection of disparate essays, there is some repetition, as well as essays which really pop and those which fizzle.

Some of the themes of quality preaching advice: Keep it expository. There's a lot of ways that term is described, but it amounts to working to really discover what's in a text, and giving preference and priority to the text itself, and then working to apply it.

Also, the importance of training new pastors. There's a dearth of quality pastors who focus on Biblical preaching - and this seems to be a timeless challenge. One of the timely difficulties brought to the fore is how the function of preaching within the repetoire of a pastor has increasingly taken a back role. There's not a detailed exploration of why, but I suspect that with the growth of mega churches, preaching opportunities have dwindled while pastoral care opportunities remain as great as ever. However, even with the lead pastor-preacher, much of his role has now swiveled to a leadership/ management focus. The habit of emphasizing the importance of bringing out and applying truth from the Bible has slipped, and could only be revived through more adoption and dedicated focus by more pastors, churches, and seminaries.

[Michael Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many interesting and challenging incites about the Scripture, interpretation and preaching. Many of the contributors are prominent theologians and preachers who have had a impact on the evangelical world. A worthy read for those who communicate God's Word. I always appreciate the variety in these festschrifts.

[Earl Pestano · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an outstanding material! Best Hermeneutics book I have ever read!

[Peter Mead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kent Hughes is a name I have been aware of for many years, but honestly I have never heard him preach or read any of his books. Still, this book of essays written in his honor caught my attention. Collections of essays in honor of individuals of spiritual stature range in quality from excellent to extremely ordinary. Sometimes their quality of production falls far short of the person’s life and ministry they are intended to honor. Not so in this case. This book is a quality production from Crossway and a decent collection of essays from an impressive list of contributors. This book is worthy of our attention.

Divided into four parts, the book contains sixteen essays, culminating in a gracious and encouraging biographical essay on the life and influence of Kent Hughes. By the end of this book, you will have greater motivation to pursue the exposition of God’s Word, and a greater passion to expand that ministry by influencing the next generation. Not a bad legacy to honor Kent Hughes’ ministry.

The first part is concerned with Interpretive Principles and Practices. The book begins with a call to expository preaching from David Jackman. John MacArthur offers a sound although very basic introduction to inductive Bible study. Paul House considers the preaching of Old Testament narratives with a focus on three sermons from Acts. Wayne Grudem offers a helpful chapter on rightly interpreting the Bible. The only chapter to surpass Grudem’s contribution in this section is the excellent offering on “The Bible as Literaure and Expository Preaching” by co-editor, Leland Ryken.

The second part focuses on Biblical and Historical Paradigms. Bruce Winter helpfully considers Paul’s approach to warfare in reference to the thought processes of his listeners – how to preach to minds not fully renewed. Duane Litfin’s chapter on Paul’s kerygma foolishness in 1Cor.1-4 is superb. In my notes I remarked the book was worth the price for this chapter alone. Wallace Benn moves the book into church history with a straightforward summary of Richard Baxter’s classic, The Reformed Pastor. J.I.Packer then adds another heavyweight and inspiring article (in power, not in density), a delight of a chapter on Charles Simeon.

The third part concerns Contemporary Challenges and Aims. Here you find Phillip Jensen and D.A.Carson’s more engaging lecture on contemporary challenges in ministry. Philip Ryken then offers a very good call for expository preaching that is evangelistic, doctrinal and practical.

The fourth and final part focuses on Training and Example. Peter Jensen considers the seminary setting, where he rightly wishes that expository preaching were the primary goal of the entire faculty. Jon Dennis offers a detailed list of eight principles for multiplying ministers from 2Tim.2:2 and its surrounding context. David Helm brings in British church history again, in an engaging article that looks for a generation of preachers to be trained.

This is a solid book, well worth buying and reading. The essays are all decent and worthy of their place, although it must be recognized that the offerings of Leland Ryken, Duane Litfin and J.I Packer (perhaps with David Helm’s historically birthed effort attached to Packer’s consideration of Simeon) – these stand out as especially worthy of note and worth the price of the book!

Originally reviewed on http://www.biblicalpreaching.net

[Joseph Simmons · Rating 5 out of 5]

The message of this book is simple and it's in the name: preach the word. This is a fairly simple idea, but it is a hard thing to practice. I'm not a preacher by profession or hobby, but this book is for more than just preachers.

This book has challenged me:
* To read the Bible better to learn what a text means and its implications, and to only speak of those.
* To value and study the Old Testament more and to see Christ there.
* To be a herald of the Gospel message and to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit to convince and sanctify rather than my own power.
* To learn more about history and the present culture and to believe that the Gospel is still sufficient.
* To value discipleship more.

I happened to have known all of these things before reading this book. Even still, this book was wonderful informative and convicting.

[Andrew Canavan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an overall very good collection of essays on preaching from biblical, theological, historical, and practical angles. Most of the contributions are very strong; several are first-rate (D.A. Carson, Duane Litfin, and Philip Ryken). I really enjoyed Randy Gruendyke's biographical sketch of Kent Hughes and I was glad that so many of the contributors are pastors of churches that take preaching seriously (Ryken, Dennis, Helm). This is worth a read for seminary students and pastors seeking to fine tune their preaching.

[Peter Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Many of the essays were superb. I especially enjoyed the last section on how to train ministers and pastors. A lot of food for thought in the book, even though I did not agree with it all.

[Michael Vincent · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent work with a variety of scholars writing on different topics concerning expository preaching. It is interesting how people define expository preaching. A good encouragement to stay with the task! Mine is the hardback edition.

[J.T. · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars. Chapters 12 and 14 were absolutely 5 stars and worth the price of the book between the two of them. Reformation in preaching and the need for preaching workshops and development. So needed. Other essays were a bit hit or miss.

[Ryan Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like any collection of essays, there will be some chapters that hit and some that miss. Pretty decent collection of essays on expository preaching with some really good chapters that make it worth the read.

[Trish]

Expository preaching's contemporary aims and challenges, and the priority of training.

[Kyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Several strong essays, only a couple of weaker ones. Good resource,

[Peter Hofstra]

Cannot read a book with stars, especially of this type, a lot of essays some spoke to me, some were useful, some may speak in the near future. It was a fitting tribute to a pastor I wish to know.

[John Dekker · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the best Festschrift I've ever read: unlike most Festschriften, the contributions are uniformly excellent. It's also just about the best book on preaching I've ever read. Highly recommended!