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Preaching the Bible (Part 2) 1 SPRING 2017 • VOLUME 14, NUMBER 1 Preaching the Bible (Part 2) Spring 2017 • Vol. 14, No. 1 The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Editor-in-Chief 2017 EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD Charles S. Kelley, ThD Bart Barber, PhD Executive Editor First Baptist Church of Farmersville, Texas Steve W. Lemke, PhD Rex Butler, PhD Editor & BCTM Director New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary Adam Harwood, PhD Research Assistant Nathan Finn, PhD Hoyt Denton Union University Book Review Editors Eric Hankins, PhD Archie England, PhD First Baptist Fairhope, Fairhope, Alabama Dennis Phelps, PhD Malcolm Yarnell, PhD Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry is a research institute of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. The seminary is located at 3939 Gentilly Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70126. BCTM exists to provide theological and ministerial resources to enrich and energize ministry in Baptist churches. Our goal is to bring together professor and practitioner to produce and apply these resources to Baptist life, polity, and ministry. The mission of the BCTM is to develop, preserve, and communicate the distinctive theological identity of Baptists. The Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry is published semiannually by the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry. Copyright ©2017 The Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. All Rights Reserved. This peridiocal is indexed in the ATLA Religion Database® (ATLA RDB®), http://www.atla.com. CONTACT BCTM (800) 662-8701, ext. 8074 [email protected] www.baptistcenter.com SUBMISSIONS Visit the Baptist Center website for submission guidelines. TABLE OF CONTENTS Editorial Introduction 1 Adam Harwood and Dennis Phelps With Christ on the Road to Emmaus 3 Russell L. Meek Sermon: O God, Break the Teeth in Their Mouths 13 Russell L. Meek Preliminary Considerations in Preparing a Sermon from the Gospels 19 Robert H. Stein Sermon: If This Were My Last Sermon 26 Robert H. Stein Preaching the New Testament Letters 35 David L. Allen Sermon: Wanted: Dead and Alive! Romans 6:1–14 47 David L. Allen Greek Apocalyptic 56 Gerald L. Stevens Sermon: "The Third Nativity" Rev 12:1–6, 13–18 68 Gerald L. Stevens Book Reviews 75 1 Editorial Introduction Adam Harwood, PhD Adam Harwood is Associate Professor of Theology, occupying the McFarland Chair of Theology; Director of the Baptist Center for Theology and Ministry; Editor, Journal for Baptist Theology and Ministry at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. & Dennis Phelps, PhD Dennis Phelps is Director of Alumni Relations and Church-Minister Relations; J. D. Grey Professor of Preaching at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. n the fall of 2014, Nathan Finn, a member of the JBTM editorial advisory board, emailed Ime (Adam) to suggest that the journal dedicate one or two issues to the topic of preaching the various types of biblical texts, soliciting articles from pastor-scholars who would address preaching the specific literary genre, or types, as well as provide sermons which illustrate those principles. I presented the idea to colleague and friend Dennis Phelps, who serves as J. D. Grey Chair of Preaching at NOBTS. After a period of prayer, reflection, and discussion, we extended invitations to a group of experts in the field of biblical studies and/or preaching to contribute articles and sermons for a two-volume release of JBTM. The present issue represents the second installment of that series. The first issue contained the following articles by these contibutors: • Introduction – Jim Shaddix, W. A. Criswell Professor of Expository Preaching at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina • Hebrew Historical Narrative (in Pentateuch and Historical books) – Robert D. Bergen, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs; Distinguished Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Hannibal-LaGrange University in Hannibal, Missouri • Hebrew Poetry (in Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs) – Jeffrey G. Audirsch, Associate Professor of Christian Studies at Shorter University in Rome, Georgia • Hebrew Wisdom (in Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Songs) – Daniel I. Block, Gunther H. Knoedler Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois • Hebrew Prophecy (in the Major and Minor Prophets) – Paul D. Wegner, Director, Academic Graduate Studies Program; Professor of Old Testament Studies at Gateway Seminary in Ontario, California 2 Each essay in the previous and current issues provides guidelines for exegesis, hermeneutics, and homiletics that are significant for that particular literary genre. The view which underlies all the articles and sermons is that each genre should be interprted and applied according to different priniciples. All the contributors assume a high view of Bible-driven preaching and are in general agreement with the Baptist Faith and Message. The present issue of the journal features the following articles and sermons by these contributors: • Preaching Christ from the Old Testament – Russell Meek, Assistant Professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana • Gospels – Robert H. Stein, Senior Professor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky • Greek Epistles (in Pauline & General Epistles) – David Allen, Dean of the School of Preaching; Distinguished Professor of Preaching; Director of the Southwestern Center for Expository Preaching; and George W. Truett Chair of Ministry at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas • Greek Apocalyptic (in Revelation) – Gerald L. Stevens, Professor of New Testament and Greek at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in New Orleans, Louisiana It was our desire to include an article and companion sermon on Greek Narrative (in Acts), but circumstances did not allow the content to be ready in time for publication. The articles and sermons are followed by a large number of book reviews in the fields of theology, biblical studies, history, and Christian ministry. It is our desire that the articles, sermons, and book reviews in this issue will spur Christian leaders toward improved exegetical and hermeneutical work which will result in the bold proclamation of God’s Word and multitudes of changed lives. JBTM 14.1 (Spring 2017) 3 With Christ on the Road to Emmaus Russell L. Meek, PhD Russell L. Meek is assistant professor of Old Testament and Hebrew at Louisiana College in Pineville, Louisiana. he idea that we should preach Christ from the Old Testament,1 once a given in church Thistory, has recently experienced a rebirth after its near death at the hands of modern critical biblical studies.2 This return to the Emmaus road is most welcome, especially for ¹It may be important to distinguish briefly between the terms Christocentric/Christ-centered and Christotelic as applied to preaching from the Old Testament. Some authors prefer to avoid the former two terms (Christocentric/Christ-centered) because of associations its inherent dangers (discussed more fully in the body of this essay below). The thought is that a self-consciously Christocentric sermon runs the risk of allegorization, avoiding the moral instruction of the Old Testament, and flattening the theology of the Old Testament. I’ve heard the Christocentric hermeneutic referred to as the “Christ under Every Rock” hermeneutic. A Christocentric, or Christ-centered, sermon on the Old Testament will seek to preach Christ as the center of the particular Old Testament passage under consideration. In contrast to this method, some scholars have proposed a Christotelic hermeneutic, or a hermeneutic that sees Christ as the telos, or end, of all Scriptures. The terms refer to very similar ways of interpreting and preaching the Old Testament, and in the end Christocentric and Christotelic sermons end up in the same place—pointing to Christ as the fulfillment of the Old Testament. The term Christotelic is the more accurate term for the methodology presented here, which sees Christ as the ultimate fulfillment of the entire Old Testament. That said, it may rightly be asked whether the Old Testament can be Christotelic without being Christocentric. That is, if Christ is the end of the Old Testament—and he is—is he not also its center? Thus, it may be best to talk generally about preaching Christ from the Old Testament, even though the phrase becomes unwieldy. This debate is ongoing and would require far too much space to flesh out fully here. Ultimately, those who would use Christotelic and those who would use Christocentric have the same goal, namely to see the Old Testament rightly preached, the church edified, and the gospel spread around the world. ²This essay will interact with but a small portion of the plethora of resources that demonstrate this trend. In addition, note that B&H Academic is in the process of publishing an entire commentary series devoted to preaching Christ from the Bible, Old Testament included (Christ-Centered Exposition; edited by David Platt, Daniel L. Akin, and Tony Merida). As of the time of writing this, Zondervan has published the first Old Testament volume in its Story of God Commentary, which seeks to “not only [examine] the ancient message of the Old Testament but also [look] at the text from a New Testament perspective to describe its continuing relevance for Christian life and, most importantly, how this ancient text anticipated the coming of Jesus” (Tremper Longman III, Genesis, Story of God Bible Commentary [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016], xi). WITH CHRIST ON THE ROAD TO EMMAUS 4 those of us whose career is to teach the Old Testament.3 The current essay will attempt to answer a few questions about preaching Christ from the Old Testament, such as why it should be done and what some of its inherent dangers are, and provide a methodology for doing so. The methodological reflections are by no means novel or unique but are rather developed from principles taught in hermeneutics and homiletics classes and books around the world.
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