Ed. D A Carson
IVP
192, £9.99
ISBN: 978-1-84474-628-6
Star Rating: 3
As a preacher, I value any book that helps me preach Christ more effectively. This one is particularly helpful, because it will help preachers preach Christ from the Old Testament. It contains the transcript of addresses, given in April 2011, at the national conference of the Gospel Coalition in Chicago.
All the contributors live and minister in the USA, apart from Conrad Mbewe who is from Lusaka in Zambia.
The title describes its theme. Preaching Jesus and the gospel from the Old Testament is something, I’m sure readers will agree, every preacher needs help with. The book gives examples of how to do this from a variety of texts. We have one example from the law, two from the prophets and the rest from what are known as ‘the writings’ in the Hebrew Bible.
All these sermons vary in length, approach and quality, although none are a disappointment and all achieve their aim of preaching Christ.
The introductory opening chapter examines John 5:31-47. This message alone is worth the book’s price, as reasons are given why the Old Testament has been used and misused by Christian preachers throughout history.
For me, the most moving and challenging chapter is the message given by Matt Chandler on Ecclesiastes 11:8–12:8. This is a fine example of moving, in a reasoned way, to the New Testament and Christ and the gospel.
The book demonstrates a number of ways of getting from the Old Testament text to Christ, but none of these were forced. I recommend this to all preachers. It is also suitable for anyone who simply wants to enjoy and benefit from good Old Testament preaching that is Christ-centred.
Noel Ramsey
Leyburn
