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A Book Review

Evangelistic Preaching And


The Old Testament
Eddie Cloer
Whitesell, Faris D. Evangelistic Preaching and the of God as is the New Testament. “The New
Old Testament (Chicago, Ill.: Moody Press, 1947). Testament,” he said, “can be understood and
properly interpreted only against the background
HIS PURPOSE of the Old Testament,” because the New Testa-
Lloyd Perry said he could only find five ment is rooted in the Old Testament. The Old
books which have been written on evangelistic Testament, therefore, provides perfect illustra-
preaching.1 If such a scarcity of books on evange- tions of New Testament truths, even though it is
listic preaching does exist, how much more would not our standard to live by today. In addition to
it exist in the field of evangelistic preaching and this biblical type of rationale, he suggested that
the Old Testament. To my knowledge this is the well-known preachers of the past and in his day
only book that has been written on evangelistic made heavy use of the Old Testament.
preaching and the Old Testament.
Faris D. Whitesell said he wrote this book for HIS DEFINITION
two reasons: to urge “more and better evangelistic OF EVANGELISTIC PREACHING
preaching” and to inspire “a wider use of the Old Whitesell said evangelistic preaching differs
Testament.” He believed that preaching in his day from other types of preaching but it is not easy to
(1947) was deficient both in evangelistic thrust and point out the difference. “Evangelistic preaching
in the use of the Old Testament. Believing in the is more easily heard and experienced than de-
inspiration and integrity of the Old Testament, he fined,” he said. He pictured evangelistic preach-
believed the entire Old Testament is authentic and ing as preaching at its highest and best. He said,
worthy of preaching authoritatively.
It is preaching adapted to the highest ends of the
HIS RATIONALE gospel—turning men from sin and darkness to
salvation and light. Evangelistic preaching is
As a rationale for preaching evangelistically preaching with a mission—an immediate and all-
from the Old Testament, Whitesell contended important mission—winning a verdict in favor of
“that Old Testament teachings are not outmoded the Lord Jesus Christ. The evangelistic sermon is
by the New Testament but rather are completed an all-out effort to bring the lost to Christ. . . . The
true evangelistic sermon is a planned, organized
and perfected” by them. He said “the Old Testa- and concentrated drive toward the goal of decisions
ment is glowingly interesting if properly inter- for Christ.
preted and applied.” He saw the Old Testament’s
attack against idolatry and sin as unique in liter- Whitesell listed thirteen characteristics of evan-
ary records. He also pointed to Jesus and the gelistic preaching:
apostles as setting the pattern in using the Old
Evangelistic preaching presses the claims of the
Testament in preaching and teaching. He argued living God upon sinful man. . . . The evangelistic
that the Old Testament is just as much the Word message proclaims God’s holiness, justice,
righteousness, wrath, and judgments. . . .
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Lloyd M. Perry and John R. Strubhar, Evangelistic Evangelistic preaching in the power of the Holy
Preaching (Chicago. Ill.: Moody Press, 1979), 7. These au- Spirit unmasks sin and human selfishness.
thors found Ozora S. Davis, Evangelistic Preaching; D. P. Evangelistic preaching magnifies the grace of
Thompson, ed., The Modern Evangelistic Address; Roy H. God. . . . Soul-winning preaching attacks the
Short, Evangelistic Preaching; Faris D. Whitesell, Evangelis- doctrine of good works, ceremonialism, and
tic Preaching and the Old Testament; and V. L. Stanfield, human merit as a basis of salvation. . . . This
Effective Evangelistic Preaching. preaching exalts Christ. . . . The cross dominates
1
evangelistic preaching. . . . Evangelistic preaching His suggestions for the construction of evan-
aims to produce repentance toward God and faith
toward the Lord Jesus Christ. . . . The evangelistic
gelistic sermons and getting the lost present to
sermon makes its appeal to backsliders as well as hear the preaching, though old, are worthy of
to lost sinners. . . . The evangelistic sermon must the consideration of every preacher serious about
be intellectually respectable. . . . Evangelistic
preaching will appeal to the whole personality—
soul-winning from the pulpit.
intellect, emotions, conscience, and will. . . . The
evangelistic message should be amply HIS METHODOLOGIES
illustrated. . . . Evangelistic preaching must conform
to good ethics. . . . Evangelistic preaching should
The remaining part of his book emphasizes
hold to the great central verities and doctrines of the “how-to” of evangelistic preaching from the
the gospel, and avoid hobbies, pet theories, and Old Testament. He discussed preaching on Old
lop-sidedness. . . . Evangelistic preaching should Testament characters, types, institutions, doc-
culminate in a public invitation.
trines, events, ages, books, chapters, paragraphs,
Whitesell did not argue that every evangelis- texts, and words. He devoted a chapter to each of
tic sermon must have all of these characteristics; these approaches. In each chapter he mentioned
he did insist that “an evangelistic sermon must the characteristics of this type of preaching which
make the hearers conscious of their need, reveal are needed, mistakes to avoid, lists of subjects
God’s gracious provisions to meet specific needs, for that particular type of preaching (giving usu-
and urge an immediate acceptance of the divine ally a “most popular” list plus a much longer
provisions.” “average list”), and a sample outline or two.
After defining evangelistic preaching, White-
sell offered suggestions on the elements of the AN EVALUATION
evangelistic sermon. He claimed that the evangel- Whitesell’s discussions would have had more
istic sermon should contain all the parts that balance if he had given more attention to the
belong to any other well-constructed sermon. Zeal inclusion of the context and flow of thought of
cannot make up for a lack of preparation. He the Old Testament passages in the sermon. For
provided a short but interesting approach to con- the Old Testament to be dealt with fairly and
structing sermons. He believed the conclusion is responsibly the actual context of the type, para-
especially important in evangelistic preaching. It graph, word, etc., being preached must be clearly
should be a conclusion which summarizes the acknowledged lest the congregation be misled
address and clearly calls for a response in har- on what the Holy Spirit intended the purpose of
mony with the thrust of the sermon. the passage to be. On the whole, his discussions
Whitesell included a list of methods for get- are good, but more consideration given to the
ting the lost present to hear evangelistic preach- grammatical, contextual, and historical settings
ing. This, he said, is the hardest problem the would have given his discussions more balance
preacher faces. He suggested: and would have promoted a more accurate
preaching of the Old Testament.
Maintain a good relationship with each member. One strength of the book is the numerous
Visit them, counsel them, and help them. . . .
Organized personal visitation and evangelism. . . .
lists of different preaching subjects from the Old
Seek drives for bigger Sunday schools. . . . Increase Testament. His lists are thought-provoking and
the intercessory prayer life of the church. . . . show the possibilities of preaching in various
Provide good church music. . . . Keep an active and ways from the Old Testament.
growing prospect list. . . . Sustain a healthy social
life. . . . Broadcast one of the regular services of the Although his book is old, I found it to be
church on the radio. . . . Assist in arranging special stimulating and helpful. Since the type of
evangelistic services and revival meetings. . . . Keep preaching I do is mainly evangelistic preach-
working at it. . . . This work of winning the lost can
be done; it should be done; and it must be done. ing, I found his book particularly instructive,
practical, and encouraging. I would highly rec-
Whitesell concluded this section with a list of ommend its reading to every preacher. It will be
books which he believed will be helpful for evan- especially valuable to those preachers attempt-
gelistic preaching from the Old Testament. His ing to improve their evangelistic preaching. It
list concentrates on books which are conserva- is one of the best books on preaching I have
tive and evangelical. read. It made sense.
2 ©Copyright, 1989, 2005 by Truth for Today
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

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