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Philip Arthur Bence PhD Thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

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79<br />

theology, and church history." (Ironically,<br />

Lloyd-Jones did not feel one could be taught to preach.<br />

He saw preaching as a God-given gift. While the gift<br />

should be developed, primarily by following worthy<br />

examples; he felt that preaching could not profitably be<br />

taught as an academic subject.'''')<br />

Preparation for preaching, however, continues<br />

throughout ministry. Through disciplined prayer, Bible<br />

reading, reading of other Christian and secular writing,<br />

the preacher is always preparing himself for his<br />

work.."<br />

In discussing actual sermon preparation, Lloyd-Jones<br />

combined his ideas of the authority of Scripture and the<br />

anointing of the Spirit. On the one hand, "the matter<br />

should always be derived from the Scriptures, it should<br />

always be expository." Here Lloyd-Jones emphasizes<br />

a proper contextual interpretation. "You must take your<br />

text in its context, and you must be honest with it. You<br />

must discover the meaning of the words and of the whole<br />

statement." .5° In applying this statement, however,<br />

Lloyd-Jones rejected any interpretation of Scripture<br />

which denied its verbal inspiration and authority; he<br />

approved little of the last two centuries' Biblical<br />

criticism. Thus, the crucial meaning the preacher looks<br />

for and preaches is a meaning derived by spiritual<br />

perception, or "unction." "What determines the accuracy<br />

of your understanding of particular words ultimately is<br />

not scholarship, but the spiritual meaning of the

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