An experienced pastor of good reputation, John Newton found himself consulted by young men preparing for the ministry. One anxious fellow had asked him particularly how to become a spiritually-useful preacher and how to prepare sermons. Newton’s answer is timeless and sound. I offer a paraphrased abridgement and brief comment, but please read the original letter. The paragraphs are numbered for convenient comparison.
“Extract of a Letter to a Student in Divinity”
1. I have shared your anxiety about this. I don’t know whether to grieve with you or to congratulate you. I hope your care will lead to spiritual benefits.
2. Acquiring knowledge is a good thing, but many young men are hurt by it. They start seminary with a good heart and leave it much worse off spiritually, though they know more. They fall from glory like Lucifer.
3. This may not be the seminary’s fault but rather a result of cramming information in the head without enough grace in the heart and deep spiritual experience. You have encouraged me by admitting a felt need for something more than academic instruction to prepare well for the ministry.
4. We do not need to understand exactly how the Holy Spirit helps us in preparing and delivering sermons. It is hard to draw a line between our part and His. The best policy is to give Him all the credit for anything good and to accept all the blame for our shortcomings.
5. If you ask, “How much do I need His help?” the answer is, “It is absolutely indispensable and cannot be exaggerated” (Jn 15.5). If any man thinks the Spirit is only an optional enhancement, I do not envy him at all.
6. If you ask, “Can the Spirit’s blessing take the place of using the ordinary means of good preaching?” I say, “Not in the least.” The means and the blessing are still connected. Don’t expect the blessing without them.
7. After the Spirit, the next thing you need is spiritual diligence. By this I do not mean sixteen hours every day in your study, but a steady habit of gaining and strengthening a heart that loves God, prizes souls, wastes no time, and feels the weight of eternity. Without this, time in your study is wasted. You will continue to be like Pharaoh’s skinny cows (Gen 41.21) no matter how many hours you keep your nose in your books (Psa 127.2).
8. You will gain wisdom mainly by Scripture and prayer—your well of living water and your bucket to draw it up. Experience shows the most eminent ministers are the ones devoted to fervent prayer and Bible study. Meditation is also very important, especially upon human experience and how Scripture relates to it (Prov 16.23). By using these means, depending on the Lord, and gaining spiritual experience, we will have the growing resources we need to serve people as true ministers of Christ.
9. After spiritual diligence, there is great potential benefit in literary studies, including a knowledge of languages, history, natural philosophy, etc., as long as you do not become obsessed with them or get puffed up as a know-it-all. Maintain a spiritual mindset lest your sermons become unedifying and an opportunity to show off rather than commending the gospel of Christ.
10. Concerning your future studies, I give my advice.
11. Study Scripture in its original languages. There is a beauty, fullness, and spirit in them beyond even the best translations. No translation always makes the right choice in its rendering, but remember, too, that neither are your judgments infallible. As an exegete and interpreter, depend on the Holy Spirit and draw from your experience of walking with God.
12. Logic will also help you speak and compose properly with an organized presentation. You must include some ideas and leave out others. Arrange them in a way that is clear and compelling. But don’t go to the other extreme where you are so afraid of the tiniest inaccuracy that you lose freedom and fire in study and in the pulpit. You must learn the best place between these extremes by experience, observation, and prayer.
13. Once you have a sermon outline, each point requires elaboration. For this draw from your firsthand knowledge of the souls under your pastoral care without violating their confidence. Doubtless you try to help all kinds of people with widely varying spiritual needs. You will learn by practice what helps them most, whatever their spiritual condition. Constantly resort to the Scriptures for wisdom, and then, when you preach, remember that your hearers are just like your counselees.
14. Remind the tempted and distressed that their troubles are common to God’s people. Warn the careless and backsliders of their danger. Tell the happiest Christians to prepare for low times and to guard against pride. Preach the law to the unconverted; urge them to seek Christ. Let Him always be your main subject, and always aim for God’s glory and the good of souls.
15. You will benefit from hearing the best preachers as long as you appreciate each one’s particular strengths and slavishly imitate none of them.
16. I rely on the Lord for the choice and management of subjects while exercising my best judgment of the present circumstances. I use few books besides a Bible and a concordance. I write in the study and then preach without notes. Luther said, “To have prayed well is to have studied well.”
17. Your sincere master-motive must be to promote God’s kingdom.
18. Trust in God (not books or men), and He will increasingly help you.
19. Our true success depends on the spirituality of our walk before God and man. If we make it our great business and pleasure to fellowship with Jesus, He will bless us and prosper the work of our hands.
Signed, JN.
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This letter’s advice is worth more than many typical seminary lectures. Ω