Spirit-Led Preaching: The Holy Spirit's Role in Sermon Preparation and Delivery (Paperback)

~ (Author) "I can still remember the conversation to this day: "Preacher, all these people haven't come today to hear you preach..." (more)
Key Phrases: empowerment for preaching, sin detector, incarnational preaching, Holy Spirit, Spirit of God, God's Word (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

In the words of author Greg Heisler, "Spirit-Led Preaching is a call issued to preachers, pastors, and teachers of homiletics to recover the Holy Spirit for expository preaching in the same way we have recovered the biblical text. . . . My plan for doing this is to recover the doctrine of pneumatology (the study of spiritual beings/phenomena) for our theology of preaching, resulting in a renewed emphasis on the powerful combination of Word and Spirit working together as the catalyst for powerful expository preaching."

Heisler thoroughly examines how the Holy Spirit illuminates and empowers the preacher, opens the hearts of the hearers, and applies the message to their lives. Indeed, to ignore the Holy Spirit's role in sermon preparation and delivery would be a considerable oversight.

About the Author

Dr. Greg Heisler serves as assistant professor of Preaching at Southeastern Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and was previously a senior pastor for eight years at churches in Kentucky and Florida. He holds two degrees (M.Div. and Ph.D.) from Southern Seminary. Heisler and his wife, Laura, have two sons.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: B&H Books (February 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805443886
• ISBN-13: 978-0805443882
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #270,947 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heisler Hits a Home Run!, December 21, 2007

By	Matthew R. Perry "himweproclaim.com" (Lexington, KY United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Dr. Greg Heisler (Ph.D., The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Louisville, KY) serves as assistant professor of preaching at the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. His passion for the nature of preaching is quite clear:

Our students need to see the complementary relationship between the Word and the Spirit and to understand the proper function of sermon mechanics and sermon dynamics for preaching. They need to have as much zeal for the theological realities as they do for the dependence on the Holy Spirit (15).

He states this because the previous generations of homiletics professors and their works only offer a "passing reference to the Spirit" (11). In this volume, Heisler admirably makes the case in how the Holy Spirit must not be an afterthought in sermon preparation and delivery, but he must stand in the forefront in every step of the process of constructing a sermon as well as a holy life.

The preacher will appreciate Heisler's chapter on "What is Spirit-Led Preaching?" He illustrates two differing models of expository preaching: "text-driven preaching" (18) in which the focus is on presenting the biblical text correctly, with the Spirit's role seen as implicit; and "spirit-driven preaching" in which the focus is "on the dynamic of the Spirit and the Spirit's text" with the result being a "Christological witness and Spirit-filled living" (19). He uses a picturesque illustration to drive home this concept:



I imagine the Holy Spirit's power touching down on the tracks of the biblical text, and suddenly the combination of Word and Spirit together ignite into sermonic propulsion. The preacher's
responsibility is not to push the train in his own strength; nor it is the preacher's responsibility to build new tracks to new places. The preacher's responsibility is to keep the train on the tracks (19)!

Preachers would do well to internalize this concept and embrace this powerful picture. Heisler rightly reinforces the complementary relationship between the Scriptures and the Spirit in Chapter Five. Given the problematic theology of the charismatic movement who puts the Spirit and the Word against one another, Heisler gives a strong argument demonstrating the harmony between the two.

Together Word and Spirit form the powerful catalyst that serves as the theological foundation for
Spirit-led preaching. The Word activates the Spirit, and the Spirit authenticates the Word. The Word is the instrument of the Spirit, and the Spirit is the implement of the Word. The Word is the written witness, and the Spirit is the inward witness. In terms of preaching, the Word is the source and substance of our preaching, and the Spirit is the supernatural power of our preaching (62).

He rightly notes how the three testimonies of preaching (Scripture, the Spirit, and the Preacher) come together toward a Christological witness. "The Spirit's ministry is a continuation of Jesus' ministry, as the Spirit stands in place of Jesus until Christ's triumphant return" (57). Heisler is correct when he says that preaching which claims to be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led but fails to preach Christ-centered sermons are not Spirit-led sermons.

The strongest chapter in this volume is Chapter Seven where Heisler addresses "The Preacher and the Spirit." Heisler makes a stunning statement that the preacher must absorb:

I believe that the passion and confidence the prophet of God experiences in his preaching ministry are directly proportional to the daily obedience and surrender to the call of God on the preacher's life. . . . It's as if God has subpoenaed us to stand before him, not in a courtroom in front of a jury but in a pulpit in from of his people. We are there by divine calling, and we are there by divine authority (72).

Heisler sounds a clarion call for ministers to incorporate the Spirit into their personal lives before they attempt to incorporate him into areas of their professional lives such as preparation, presentation, and delivery. Personal obedience to Christ and preaching the Word of Christ must coincide.

The only weakness found in this work is the lack of conciseness in Heisler's working definitions. For instance, when he presents his definition of expository preaching, he states:



Expository preaching is the Spirit-empowered proclamation of biblical trust derived from the illuminating guidance of the Holy Spirit by means of a verse-by-verse exposition of the Spirit-inspired text, with a view to applying the text by means of the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, first to the preacher's heart, and then to the hearts of those who hear, culminating in an authentic and powerful witness to the living Word, Jesus Christ, and obedient, Spirit-filled living (21).

While the construct of this definition reminds one of the Greek sentence construct of the Apostle Paul (see Ephesians 1:3-14), this structure does not allow for the reader to absorb the definition easily. Breaking this sentence down into two, three, even four sentences would be helpful. His vision of teaching homiletics commits the same faux pas -- to which he readily admits (75).

Even so, this reviewer plans on using this book as a textbook in training expository preachers in his local church setting. The evangelical world in general and preachers specifically should be grateful to Greg Heisler for re-introducing the Spirit to expositorypreaching. Along with this volume, Arturo G. Azurdia's book on Spirit-Empowered Preaching serves as an excellent compliment. Praise God for raising up Spirit-led preachers in our present age.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential work on the Spirit's Role in Preaching, March 16, 2007

By	moviemusicbuff (Walnut, CA United States) - See all my reviews

I was pleasantly surprised that I picked up this book a couple of weeks ago at a local bookstore. This is an excellent primer on the role of the Holy Spirit in preaching. Heisler reminds us that most seminaries today focus almost solely on training students to be good expositors of the biblical text but neglects to mention the all-important role of the Spirit's illumination, empowerment, and character-building of the preacher. He tells us the goal of preaching is not to preach a good message but the goal should be Christological witness and life-transformation (Spirit-filled obedient living). In terms of delivery, Heisler advocates the "incarnational" approach to sermons, where the preacher "incarnates" the very message he/ she is to preach. Rather than relying solely on notes or a manuscript, the preacher speaks from the life-lessons learned from the Spirit's work in his/her life.

Here are the chapters of this book:

Introduction What Spirit-Empowered Preaching Looks Like

Chapter 1 Missing in Action: Where is the Holy Spirit When We Preach?

Chapter 2 What is Spirit-Led Preaching?

Chapter 3 The Biblical Foundation for Spirit-Led Preaching: Paul, the Prophets, and Jesus

Chapter 4 Recovering the Doctrine of Illumination for Spirit-Led Preaching

Chapter 5 Word and Spirit Together: The Theological Foundation for Spirit-Led Expository Preaching

Chapter 6 The Spirit and the Preacher's Sanctification

Chapter 7 The Spirit and the Sermon's Preparation

Chapter 8 The Spirit and the Sermon's Presentation

Chapter 9 The Holy Spirit and the Anointing: Understanding the Spirit's Empowerment for Preaching

All the chapters were excellent; I really enjoyed and benefitted from the chapters that talked about the Word and Spirit working together, the Spirit's role in illumination, and the Spirit's role in the sanctification of the preacher.

This is an excellent supplement to Haddon Robinson's Biblical Preaching. It is very clear, concise, and helpful in addressing a very neglected aspect in expository Bible preaching. The goal of expository Bible preaching should not be just to give a good message but to transform the hearers to be good witnesses for Christ and obedient, Spirit-filled disciples. It is essential reading for those who wish to be used by the Spirit to preach God's Word. Highly recommended!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Spirit-Led Preaching review by Keith D. Church, Ph.D., August 10, 2007

By	Keith D. Church "byhisgrace" (Selma, NC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

In Spirit-Led Preaching Heisler has provided readers with a concise yet informative look into the role of the Holy Spirit in Christian preaching. Writing from a mainstream Baptist perspective with a leaning towards a Reformed theology of Word/Spirit, this book tackles the tough questions most other preaching books leave unattended. Heisler retains the strengths of solid biblical preaching and challenges his readers to not only be unafraid of God's Spirit, but to passionately pursue the work of the Holy Spirit in every aspect of the preaching task. Where books abound on the mechanics of preaching, this work addresses the more dynamic, less easily defined aspects of Spirit prepared, Spirit empowered, Spirit led preaching. It is from this area, however, that many Christian preachers need a strong word from one who has applied his heart, mind, and life to the subject. This word, Heisler supplies. If you are content with simply crossing the homiletical i's and crossing the hermeneutical t's, then don't read this book. But if you are hungry for a fresh anointing in your calling as a Christian preacher, then devour this book at least once a year, and rejoice in the power of God that still fills the pulpits where the man of God, brings the Word of God, to the people of God, by the Spirit of God, to the glory of God. Pastor Keith, Live Oak Baptist Church