Karaoke Then Lecture — E.A. Johnston

Preaching That Leaves Hearers Unchanged

An Oriental pastor visited some churches during his stay in America and when asked what he thought about the preaching, he replied, first karaoke, then lecture. We prepare sermons today as essays to consider.

Whitefield's Call to Be Born Again

You can take or leave them, and either way, you leave the sanctuary the same way you came in, unchanged. But George Whitefield was a powerful preacher in his day who probed his hearer's conscience with the doctrine of regeneration.

Whitefield cried across two continents, you must be born again. Whitefield preached for spiritual change because he knew personally what it was like to have a form of religion without being born again.

While he was preaching on Boston Common in 1740 to 20 ,000 hearers, a minister asked him, Mr. Whitefield, how many converts have you had since you've been among us? To which Whitefield replied, I don't know, sir, but I shall pass these parts again in a year or so, and I will then look for the evidence of their salvation.

Examining the Foundation of Faith

Searching preaching leads men to examine their hearts, to test the foundation they rest upon, like the Apostle Paul warned his hearers in 2 Corinthians 13 .5, examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith, prove your own selves, know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates.

Revival Preaching That Confronts Sin

But I fear, friends, I'd have to agree with the Oriental pastor, because we in our churches in America today, it's first karaoke, then a lecture. The probing preaching of former days, that birth revival, was searching preaching from men like Jonathan Edwards and Asahel Nettleton.

Their messages dealt with sin, and God's justice, and man's inability, and man's duty of repentance. Their searching sermons were like a hammer that broke up all false foundations, like a fire that alarmed.

Does not God's word in Jeremiah describe it so? It's not my word, like as a fire, saith the Lord, and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. Preachers whom God has used in powerful revivals, like John Song, who shook all of China for God.

John Song's Sermon on Sin and Repentance

Song's searching preaching dealt with sin and repentance. He had a sermon entitled, Open Your Coffin, and while he preached, he held a little wooden casket in his hand, and he would open the lid and pull out pieces of paper that had sins written on them.

He would read the sin, like adultery, or fornication, or lying, and then he would ask his audience to raise their hand when they heard their sin. The Holy Spirit often descended on a John Song meeting because Jesus came to save sinners from their sin, and Song preached on sin.

He dealt with his listeners' sins. People would weep like babies over their sins in his meetings. But we don't like to talk about sin today, because we don't want to preach disturbing messages, for if we did, we may upset some of our deacons, and we can't have that.

The Fear of Men in the Pulpit

Our hands are tied because we fear men more than God. It's like the story Sam Jones used to tell. I once knew a pastor who, upon taking charge of his church, was met by a delegation of the deacons previous to delivering his inaugural sermon.

Deacons Who Wanted Safe Sermons

They said, Now, brother, you mustn't preach against fashion, because our fashionable members will be out to hear you. You mustn't preach about tram drinking or liquor selling, because several of our members who are liquor sellers will be out to hear you.

You mustn't preach about covetousness, because several of our millionaire members will be out to hear you. Well, what can I preach about, he asked in great perplexity? About the Mormons, replied the good deacons.

Give them places. There won't be a Mormon to hear you. Now, fear, friends, that's our trouble today. We give out nice little lectures to consider that don't offend anybody. The trouble is they don't change anybody either.

The Church's Self-Preservation

First keroke, then a lecture. That's where we are today. I fear in America today the bane of the church is self-preservation. The gospel message is all about us, served on a platter at a sumptuous banquet table laden with appealing delicacies.

The Blood, the Cross, and the Cost of Discipleship

Other generations preached up the blood and the cross and called sin black and hell hot. John the Baptist had a platter with his head upon it. Stephen was baptized with stones. Paul finished his ministry, not with accolades and applause, but with a falling ax.

The blood of the martyrs cries out against the self-absorbed church of this generation. Let us pray.