Nothing But Jesus Crucified

Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes about the great Welsh revival which broke out in the early 20th century, simultaneously with the Azusa Street revival in California. Here again, the Spirit of God transcended geographaphy. It would be hard to imaging any contact between such isolated places. Lloyd-Jones talke about the preacher of the Welsh revival. He had had a long and middling career as a minister. There was nothing to distinguish him. But all of the sudden, the Spirit broke out and the Lord used this man to preach mighty messages which were far above his capacity. The revival died out, and the minister returned to the same minister he was before. It is not about learning or the lack of learning. It is the demonstration od the Spirit and power.

So if I were to make recommendations to ministers about getting education I would say that one should get all the learning one can as cheaply as one can. Wesley was educated. But he also called himself “A man of one book.” That book was the Bible. As Albert Outler mentions, this was certainly not the only book he read. However, this one book was central to his learning. One needs to be grounded in this book before reading other books. We see in Lloyd-Jones an example as well. He said he enjoyed reading history as well as medical journals (He was a surgeon before his call). But he also said he did not have all that much time to read these things because his study in the Word came first.

So when we preach, do people hear Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Or do they hear the polished prattle of a philosopher? Do they hear the Gospel or a storyteller? Do they hear powerful preaching or the humor of a comic? Let us resolve like Paul to make whatever gifts we have been given servants of the powerful Word of God.