September 17, 2024
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Midwestern Seminary welcomed more than 200 guests on Tuesday, Sept. 10, for an on-campus preaching workshop led by Steven Lawson, in partnership with The Institute for Expository Preaching.
Lawson serves as founder and president of OnePassion Ministries and The Academy for Expository Preaching and as lead preacher for Trinity Bible Church in Dallas, Texas. During the workshop, Lawson taught four sessions on the Holy Spirit’s role in preaching, emphasizing the example of the Spirit’s activity in the preaching of Charles Spurgeon.
“It is always a delight to have great preachers on campus. When that preacher is also your friend, it is altogether special,” said President Jason Allen. “Dr. Lawson has been a constant source of encouragement and friendship over the years. We are not only grateful at the institutional level to have him here, but we are grateful at the personal level as well.”
For the first session, held in concert with Tuesday’s chapel service, Lawson preached a sermon from John 16:7–11 titled “The Preacher’s Advocate.” The sermon addressed how Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit to His disciples should encourage preachers today.
“The Spirit of God will do what methodology and technique cannot do,” Lawson said. “The Spirit of God alone can open blind eyes and deaf ears and hardened hearts. The Spirit of God alone can regenerate and impart repentance and saving faith. The Holy Spirit is the preacher’s advocate.”
Lawson noted that Jesus’ promise to send the Holy Spirit gave the disciples a threefold advantage over His remaining with them in the flesh, as the Spirit ensures that Christ is present with all His servants, indwells them with His power, and convicts the world through their witness.
Describing the Holy Spirit’s work to convict the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment, Lawson reminded preachers that He accomplishes this work through their preaching.
“No one will ever enter the Kingdom of heaven without being convicted of sin and righteousness and judgment,” Lawson said, adding, “We must preach on sin, we must preach on righteousness, and we must preach on judgment. If the Spirit of God is to be at work with us, and if we are to work in tandem with the Spirit of God, we’re going to have to preach on what the Spirit of God has been sent into this world to do.”
Concluding the sermon, Lawson encouraged preachers to respond with confidence, courage, and comfort in the person and promise of the Holy Spirit. “The Spirit of God goes before us, and He is already at work preparing hearts.”
Following chapel, Lawson delivered the remaining three sessions in the Spurgeon Library, where guests had begun the day with a guided tour.
Noting the significance of teaching on Spurgeon’s ministry from within the Spurgeon Library, Lawson said, “There’s something special about connecting Church history with theology. It’s motivational for me to put myself into the skin of the person we’re talking about.” He added, “It is a joy and privilege for me to be able to talk to you about Charles Haddon Spurgeon, who is unquestionably the Prince of Preachers.”
During the library sessions, Lawson addressed how the Holy Spirit ministered through Spurgeon’s preaching in his study, his pulpit, and his pews.
To begin, Lawson asked the question, “How can Spurgeon be explained?” Noting Spurgeon’s intellectual giftings to preach, Lawson said, “We could say these things about Spurgeon from a human perspective, and God does work through means to accomplish His ends.” He added, “But from a divine perspective, it boils down to the simplicity of the ministry of the Holy Spirit upon the life of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I don’t think he can be explained otherwise.”
In the first library session, Lawson examined Spurgeon’s sermon preparation, offering five truths about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the preacher’s study. “Every time we step into the study, we need the Spirit of God to be directing us,” Lawson said.
Next, Lawson addressed the ministry of the Holy Spirit in the pulpit. He shared several ways in which Spurgeon saw the Holy Spirit at work when he was preaching, such as sharpening his thoughts and giving him zeal for the lost to hear of Christ.
Lawson shared, “Spurgeon was consciously aware that we don’t just preach to people or for people, but we preach into people, and that is thrust by the Holy Spirit of God.” He quoted Spurgeon, saying, ‘I am distinctly conscious of a power working upon me when I am speaking in the name of the Lord, infinitely transcending any power of fluency.’”
After a time of Q&A between Lawson and participants, the final session addressed how the Holy Spirit’s ministry in preaching extends to the lives of those who sit in the pews. With illustrations from Spurgeon’s preaching of the Word, Lawson showed how the Holy Spirit convicts, calls, regenerates, converts, and gives faith to sinners through the preached gospel.
“The Spirit alone has power over a man’s heart,” Lawson said. “We cannot reach the soul, but the Holy Spirit can.” Asking participants to consider whether anyone has come to faith in Christ through their preaching, Lawson said, “If so, it is exclusively by the Holy Spirit of God working in their hearts as you present the gospel.”
To watch Dr. Lawson’s chapel sermon, click here.
