Quotes from Steven J. Lawson

We do not merely add Jesus Christ to our lives and continue in the same direction. Following Christ means we stop, turn around, and pursue Him.

If you please God, it does not matter whom you displease. And if you displease Him, it does not matter whom you please.

May I beg you carefully to judge every preacher, not by his gifts, not by his elocutionary powers, not by his status in society, not by the respectability of his congregation, not by the prettiness of his church, but by this—does he preach the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation?"43

You cannot have Christ for your Savior unless you also have Him as your Lord.

Every decision and direction must come under this overarching goal of bringing glory to God.

All men of God must take forth the banner of truth, and once more valiantly proclaim the magnificent sovereignty of God in man's regeneration. May such preaching ring from pulpits today.

It matters to God what is preached. And it matters to Him how it is preached. No man is free to preach whatever and however he so chooses.

For many years I thought I was a Christian when in fact I was not. It was only later that I came to see that I had never been a Christian and became one.… What I needed was preaching that would convict me of sin.… But I never heard this. The preaching we had was always based on the assumption that we were all Christians.

To be like Christ requires us to be full of joy and gladness.

The pastor who cares about the spiritual growth of his people must make God and His Word the centerpiece of his ministry.

The blessing of heaven will not accompany the preaching that is done in a worldly manner.

It is desperately essential in this hour that preachers recover a soaring vision of the supremacy of God. Life-changing, history-altering preaching will come only when pastors reclaim a high view of God's blazing holiness and are overshadowed by His absolute sovereignty. Towering thoughts of God's transcendent glory must captivate preachers' souls.

In Christ God loved us, His elect and chosen, before the world began, and reserved us unto the knowledge of his Son and of His holy gospel.30

No preacher, regardless of where he serves, is free to reinvent preaching.

No man is too weak for God to use, only too strong.

None of us can ever humble ourselves too much.

o step into the pulpit is to enter onto holy ground. To stand behind an open Bible demands no trifling with sacred things. To be a spokesman for God requires utmost concern and care in handling and proclaiming the Word. Rightly does Scripture warn, "Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness" (James 3:1).

Lloyd-Jones believed the man who is called to preach comes under a sobering humility. He believed that this person is overwhelmed with a deep sense of his own personal unworthiness for such a high and holy task and is often hesitant to move forward to preach for fear of his own inadequacies.

He who has ceased to learn has ceased to teach. He who no longer sows in the study will no more reap in the pulpit.

Souls must be converted here, and if there be not many born to Christ, may the Lord grant to me that I may sleep in the tomb and be heard of no more. Better indeed for us to die than to live, if souls be not saved.

If we want revivals, we must revive our reverence for the Word of God. If we want conversions, we must put more of God's Word into our sermons."8 His gospel preaching was grounded

The doctrines known as Calvinism are not something that emerged late in church history, but rather are that which takes its origins in the teachings of Jesus.1 —James Montgomery Boice

The only true reformation is that which emanates from the Word of God.

God does not command what he does not make possible.