Experimental Preaching. 2

But of the three it is experimental preaching which is given least place in our day. So much so is this the case, that many of God's poor people and not a few preachers themselves, have never so much as heard the expression. Yet this is scarcely to be wondered at, for experimental preaching is by far the most difficult of the three. A little reading and study is all that is required to equip one naturally (we do not say spiritually) to prepare a doctrinal sermon, while a novice, a "young convert," is deemed capable of standing at a street-corner and urging all and sundry to receive Christ as their personal Savior. But a personal experience of the Truth is indispensable before one can helpfully preach along experimental lines—such sermons have to be hammered out on the anvil of the preacher's own heart. An unregenerate man may preach most orthodoxly on doctrine—but he cannot describe the operations of the Spirit in the heart to any good purpose.

Though experimental preaching be the hardest task which the preacher has to perform, yet it is needful he attend to it, and when the blessing of God rests thereon, beneficial are its effects. It is calculated to expose empty professors—both to themselves and others—more effectually than any other type of sermon, for it shows at length that the saving of a soul is very much more than a sudden "decision" on my part or believing that Christ died in my room and stead; for it is a supernatural work of the Spirit in the heart. Such preaching is most likely to open the eyes of sincere but deceived souls, for as they are shown what the work of the Spirit is, and the effects it produces, they will discover a miracle of grace has been wrought in them. While nothing is so apt to establish trembling believers, above all, it honors the Spirit Himself.

Let us now point out along what lines experimental preaching is to proceed, in order to be most helpful to the saints. First and primarily, its business is to show of what "Salvation" consists in its actual application to the individual. Doctrinal preaching lays the foundation for this by an exposition of the grand truth of Election (which makes known the blessed fact that God has chosen a people unto salvation—2 Thess. 2:13), and by opening up the subject of the Atonement, showing how Christ has fully satisfied every requirement of Divine justice upon the elect, thereby purchasing redemption for them. Doctrinal preaching is the means which the Spirit uses in the enlightenment, conviction and conversion of the elect, and the practical value of experimental preaching is that it enables concerned and attentive hearers to ascertain what stage has been reached in the Spirit's work in them.

In taking up the Spirit's application of that salvation which the Father ordained and the Son secured, the preacher first shows how the soul is prepared to receive it. By nature his heart is as hard and unresponsive to the Truth as the "highway" is to the reception of wheat—so there has to be a preliminary plowing and harrowing, a breaking up and turning over of the soil of his soul before the Word will obtain entrance and take root therein.

Experimental preaching, then, will show which of his hearers is still accurately pictured by the "wayside" ground, namely, those whose hearts are thoroughly antagonistic to God's claims upon them, those who are unconcerned about their eternal interests, those who wish to be left alone and undisturbed in their pleasures and worldly interests. The preacher will then press upon them the woeful state they are in, the terribleness of their condition, that they are dead toward God, devoid of any actual interest in spiritual things.

As the preacher develops and follows out the above line of thought, those who have been quickened and awakened by the Spirit of God will be better able to place themselves.

As they measure themselves by the message, as they apply to themselves what the minister is saying (which the hearer should ever do if he is to "take heed how you hear"—Luke 8:18), he will perceive that by the sovereign grace of God it is now no longer with him—as it once was. He will recall the time when he too sat under the preaching of the Word with stoic indifference, when it was a meaningless jumble to him, a weariness to sit through. He will remember he rarely gave more than a passing thought as to where he would spend eternity. But now it is otherwise. He is no longer unconcerned—but is truly anxious to be saved. The preacher will point out that this is a hopeful sign—but must press the fact that it is not one to be rested in, that it is the height of folly and most dangerous, to be contented with anything short of the full assurance of faith.

Again; the preacher will show that the great work of the Spirit in preparing the heart for a saving reception of the Gospel, consists in revealing to the individual his dire need of Christ, and this is accomplished by His making him to see and feel what a vile sinner he is in the sight of God. A life belt receives little notice from those who are safe on dry ground—but let a man be drowning in the water and he will eagerly grasp at and deeply appreciate one. Those who are whole need not a physician; but when they are desperately sick—he is most welcome. So it is spiritually. Let a man be unconscious of his moral leprosy, unconcerned of how he appears in the eyes of the Holy One, and salvation is little considered by him. But let him be convicted of his lifelong rebellion against God, let him discover that there is "no soundness" in him, let him realize that the wrath of God abides on him—and he is ready to give the Gospel a sincere hearing.

Now the great instrument or means used by the Spirit in bringing the people to see their ruined and lost condition is the Law, for "by the Law is the knowledge of sin" (Romans 3:20). A striking illustration of this is found in Nehemiah 8. There we read of Ezra ministering to those who had returned from the Babylonian captivity, "Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, which was made up of men and women and all who were able to understand. He read it aloud from daybreak till noon as he faced the square before the Water Gate in the presence of the men, women and others who could understand. And all the people listened attentively to the Book of the Law" (vv. 2, 3). He, in turn, was assisted by others, who "instructed the people in the Law while the people were standing there. They read from the Book of the Law of God, making it clear and giving the meaning so that the people could understand what was being read" (vv. 7, 8). And what was the outcome? This, "all the people wept when they heard the words of the Law" (v. 9). The Spirit had applied it to their hearts in power; they were convicted of their wicked self-will and self-pleasing, their disobedience and defiance to the Lord, and they repented of the same and mourned before Him.

God wounds before He heals, and abases before He exalts. When the Spirit applies the Law to a sinner's heart, his self-delight is shattered and his self-righteousness receives its death-wound. When he is brought to realize the justice of the Law's requirements, discovers that it demands perfect and perpetual conformity to the revealed will of God in thought and word and deed—then he perceives that "innumerable evils have encompassed him about," his iniquities "take hold of him" so that he cannot look up, and he recognizes that his sins are "more than the hairs of his head" (Psalm 40:12). Such an experience is beyond misunderstanding—those subject to the same cannot mistake it. Unspeakably painful though it be, it is most necessary if man's proud heart is to be humbled and made receptive to the Gospel of God's grace. Such an experience evidences that God has not abandoned him to a heart that is "past feeling" (Eph. 4:19)—yet this is not to be rested in as though the goal had been reached.

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