New Book by James Coates! Preaching and Hearing God’s Word

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The following is Steven Lawson’s Foreword to a new book coming soon from G3 Press: Preaching and Hearing God’s Word by James Coates.

It would be virtually impossible for us to overstate the importance of preaching in the life of the local church. It was the famed expositor of Westminster Chapel, Martyn Lloyd-Jones, who declared, “The work of preaching is the highest and the greatest and the most glorious calling to which anyone can ever be called.” Lloyd Jones then added, “The most urgent need in the Christian church today is true preaching; as it is the greatest and most urgent need in the church, it is obviously the greatest need of the world also.”

I believe that Lloyd-Jones is right. His words are just as relevant today as when they were first issued over a half century ago. What the church so desperately needs to recover today is true preaching—that is, biblical preaching, expository preaching.

As the pulpit goes, so goes the church. No church will rise any higher than its pulpit. A congregation may not rise to the level of its preaching, but no church will grow beyond it. That is how important preaching is in the spiritual life of every local church. 

When the pulpit is right, worship is elevated to the highest level of transcendence. When the pulpit is right, the pursuit of holiness is properly directed and powerfully energized. When the pulpit is right, believers are joined together in deeper and more meaningful fellowship. When the pulpit is right, the saints are equipped and mobilized to do the work of ministry. And when the pulpit is right, the gospel spreads swiftly to the lost and transforms perishing souls. 

If you value the life of the church, what James Coates has written in this book should be of greatest importance to you. I highly recommend its message to you. How the church follows the truth in these pages will affect its internal purity and its external impact upon the world. This book should capture your attention and direct your understanding in what should be the first and foremost ministry of the church. May it be so in every place, beginning with where you worship.

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Steven Lawson

Steven J. Lawson is founder and president of OnePassion Ministries, a ministry designed to equip and energize a new generation of Bible expositors. Dr. Lawson is a Teaching Fellow with Ligonier Ministries, Professor of  Preaching and Dean of the Doctor of Ministry program at The Master’s Seminary, and Executive Editor for Expositor magazine. He is also on the board of The Master’s University and Seminary, Ligonier Ministries, and Reformation Bible College.