PREACHING TO A - R. L. Hymers, Jr
PREACHING TO ADYING NATIONbyR. L. Hymers, Jr.M.Div., D.Min., Th.D.andChristopher CaganPh.D., M.Div., Ph.D.“The dark days that preceded the Great Awakening will comeagain unless somebody stands firmly and clearly and decidedlyby the doctrine of a converted church-membership”– F. L. Chapell, Baptist pastor,The Great Awakening of 1740 (written in 1903).
R. L. Hymers, Jr. is a graduate of the California State University atLos Angeles (B.A.), Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, SouthernBaptist (M.Div.), San Francisco Theological Seminary, UnitedPresbyterian (D.Min.) and Louisiana Baptist Theological Seminary, BaptistBible Fellowship (Th.D.). He and his wife, Ileana, are the parents of twinsons, Robert Leslie III and John Wesley. Dr. Hymers worked withSouthern Baptist churches for many years. He became a fundamentalist byreading the books and sermons of the late Dr. John R. Rice. Dr. Hymers isthe founding pastor of the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle, the onlyBaptist church in the civic center of Los Angeles. Known for his strongstand for Biblical inerrancy and inner-city evangelism, Dr. Hymers is anunashamed old-time fundamentalist, who earnestly contends for the faith inthe tradition of J. Frank Norris, John R. Rice, Bob Jones, Sr., and “FightingBob” Shuler. He has been in the ministry for forty-one years.Christopher Cagan is a graduate in mathematics from the Universityof California at Los Angeles (B.A., M.A., Ph.D.). He was a teachingassistant in mathematics at UCLA for several years prior to his conversion.He is also a graduate of Talbot Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and theClaremont Graduate School (M.A., Ph.D.). His second Ph.D. dissertationwas written on the subject of apologetics. He is a published expert in thefield of stock market analysis, and is currently employed as a statisticalanalyst. Dr. Cagan’s wife, Judith, is a medical doctor. They are theparents of two boys, John Samuel and David. Dr. Cagan is the director ofeducation at the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle. He is also a deacon ofthe church. He has been Dr. Hymers’ associate for more than twentyyears.
This book is dedicated to the memory ofC. H. SPURGEON(June 19, 1834 – January 31, 1892)Though pastor of the largest Baptist church of his day,he loved his people enough to listen to them andevaluate each one’s testimony.and toDr. Hymers’ motherCECELIA(May 20, 1913 – December 18, 1997)She sat beside him and encouraged him as he worked onthis book. Her own remarkable conversion atthe age of eighty was instrumental inmotivating us to write it.
Quotations in this book, from sources other than the Bible, do not implyour full endorsement of everything the person we have quoted has writtenor said, even in the same book we have cited. We have quoted menfavorably who hold various views. We ourselves are independentfundamental Baptists. We hold the historic Baptist position on all essentialpoints. We strongly believe in baptizing the saved, and baptizing themonly by immersion. We hold to the autonomy and absolute authority of thelocal church. We quote only from the KJV, though we reserve the right torefer to the Masoretic Text Hebrew and the Textus Receptus Greek, fromwhich the King James Bible was translated, as did our Baptist forefathers.This book gives names of those who are in error, as the Bible does.Matthew names Judas and names his sin (Matthew 26:14-16, 47-49);Genesis names Adam and names his sin (Genesis 3:6-19); the Bible givesDavid’s name and his sins (II Samuel 11:1-12:18); the Bible namesAnanias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11), Herod (Acts 12:1), Demetrius thesilversmith (Acts 19:24-28), Alexander the coppersmith (II Timothy 4:10),Cain, Balaam, Korah (Jude 11) and many others, in nearly every book ofboth the Old and New Testaments. We follow the example of God’s Wordand give the names of those who are in error.The people or sources mentioned in this book do not necessarily carry theendorsement of Dr. Hymers, Dr. Cagan, or the Fundamentalist BaptistTabernacle of Los Angeles. To correspond with Dr. Hymers and Dr. Cagan, write to TheFundamentalist Baptist Tabernacle, P. O. Box 15308, Los Angeles,California 90015. Copyright (c) 1999 by R. L. Hymers. Jr. and Christopher CaganPublished by the Fundamentalist Baptist Tabernacleof Los AngelesCover design: Lee Fredrickson,21st Century PressISBN
FOREWORDbyPastor John S. WaldripCalvary Road Baptist ChurchMonrovia, CaliforniaOur nation is dying. Our way of life has almost disappeared from thescene. Our culture has been wrenched from our grasp and replaced by acruel and hateful paganism. This has happened because Christianity inAmerica has become impotent. The problem began when pastors stoppedpreaching the gospel strongly and listening to the sinners who responded totheir evangelistic sermons after they stepped down from their pulpits. As aresult of not listening to sinners who responded to the call of the gospel,preachers gradually lost touch with those to whom they were preaching.R. L. Hymers has a vigorous church in the civic center of Los Angelesbecause he has resorted to an old fashioned practice employed by nearlyevery gospel-preaching, Christ-exalting pastor in the English speaking worldbefore Charles G. Finney changed evangelism in the last century. Instead ofshaking everyone’s hand after church, Hymers actually listens to sinners. Hestays behind in his office for an hour or so after every service to do this.That’s something every preacher used to do, but few do it today. Dr.Hymers listens to sinners.The goal of this book is to get pastors to preach the gospel strongly andthen listen carefully. Why? Dr. Hymers and Dr. Cagan show the horribleresults of not doing so. Not preaching hard and then listening carefully hasproduced hundreds of thousands of lost church members, including lostpreachers. It is not at all uncommon these days to hear of pastor afterpastor falling into adultery, and then resuming his pastorate at anotherchurch, too often with another wife! And it’s really no different withchurch members. How many medium to small sized churches have agroup of qualified deacons anymore? Many of our churches are dyingbecause pastors are not preaching hard enough and then taking time tolisten and make sure the people are in Christ.Read this book, brother preacher. Turn off the TV. Shut down the computer.Put the cat in the backyard, and read this book carefully. It could be the mostimportant thing you read this year, because it will make you think abouteffective evangelism. It is also chock-full of sermon-starters, sermonillustrations and even sermon outlines. It will help your preaching. Read it.v
TABLE OF CONTENTSSectionPageFOREWORDby Rev. John S. WaldripvREVIEWby Dr. D. A. WaiteviiiBORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS IGNORANT OF FAITHReprinted with permission from the Baptist Bible Tribune1PREFACEby Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.3CHAPTER 1THE BARBARIANS ARE COMINGby Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.7CHAPTER 2NEEDED – A VIOLENT BREAK WITH DECISIONISMby Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.27CHAPTER 3LATE TWENTIETH CENTURY PREACHINGCOMPARED TO THAT DURING PAST REVIVALSby Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.51CHAPTER 4A FAMINE OF REAL GOSPEL PREACHINGby Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.107CHAPTER 5WHAT IS KILLING AMERICA – THE HISTORICALIMPLICATIONS OF DECISIONISMby Dr. Christopher Cagan147EPILOGUEby Dr. Christopher Cagan191vi
APPENDIX 1TESTIMONY OF DR. MONROE “MONK” PARKERby Dr. Christopher Cagan195APPENDIX 2SOUTHERN BAPTIST SEMINARY CONSULTANTQUESTIONS NUMBER OF CONVERTS IN SBCby Jim Elliff197APPENDIX 3SHAM CONVERSION (i.e. False Conversion)by C. H. Spurgeon199APPENDIX 4HOW SPURGEON COUNSELLED INQUIRERSby Dr. R. L. Hymers, Jr.201APPENDIX 5NINETEEN BOOKS THAT WILL HELP A PREACHER204APPENDIX 6W. P. NICHOLSONby Dr. Christopher Cagan209APPENDIX 7WE NEED MEN OF GOD AGAINby Dr. A. W. Tozer213APPENDIX 8A MANUAL ON CONVERSIONby Dr. Christopher Cagan215APPENDIX 9DECISIONAL REGENERATIONby James E. Adams228APPENDIX 10EDITOR OF SOUTHERN BAPTIST “FOUNDERSJOURNAL” GIVES ALARMING BAPTISM FIGURESby Dr. Thomas K. Ascol230BIBLIOGRAPHY233vii
REVIEWby D. A. Waite, Th.D., Ph.D.Director of The Bible For Today,900 Park Ave., Collingswood, New Jersey 08108This is admittedly an iconoclastic and controversial book. Theunderlying passion of the authors is to see a revival of sound evangelisticpreaching in America and Great Britain – evangelistic preaching that willend up in Holy Spirit regeneration rather than merely human “decisions.”The reason for this plea is twofold: first, the moral and spiritual decadencein the unchurched millions, and second, the deplorable moral and spiritualconditions in the churches themselves. Whether you agree with thepercentages which are quoted or not, here are some of the estimates of thenumber of lost people in the membership of our churches: (1) Dr. B. R.Lakin – 75%; (2) Dr. W. A. Criswell – 75%; (3) Dr. Billy Graham – 85%;(4) Dr. A. W. Tozer – 90%; and (6) Jim Elliff, a Southern Baptistconsultant – 90%.Though a recent Gallup poll cited 74% in America as having made acommitment to Jesus Christ, it is the opinion of many cited in this bookthat only a fraction of that number has ever been regenerated by the HolySpirit, justified by the Lord Jesus Christ, and thus soundly converted. Thereason for this is given. After 150 years of Charles Finney’s “decisionism”and after 50 years of Billy Graham’s similar “decisionism,” and variousgimmicks used in evangelism, this method has failed miserably to changethe lives of people in our churches. The church in America is like theTitanic, according to pollster George Barna: “It is large, elegant, andsinking fast.”Though at the beginning of his forty-one years in the ministry, Dr.Hymers practiced Finney’s “decisionism” and built (largely on sand) achurch of over 1,000, he has turned from this defective methodology andhas followed the Biblical plan of hard preaching against sin, a clearpresentation of the gospel, and several sessions of personal pastoral followup with those who come forward.As the Bible does, the authors name names, exposing the errors ofHyles on gimmicks, of Billy Graham on evangelism, and of JohnMacArthur on decisionist Lordship salvation, the incarnational Sonshipof Christ, and the Blood of Christ. Those who “preach the Word” are tofollow strictly II Timothy 4:2-3 and include reproving, rebuking andexhorting. Appendix 8 contains an excellent “Manual on Conversion” byDr. Cagan.viii
BORN AGAIN CHRISTIANS IGNORANT OF FAITHBaptist Bible TribuneApril 15, 1996page 28(Reprinted by permission from the Tribune)Survey Also Finds Hell’s Description Divides AmericansGLENDALE, CA – The majority of born again Christians (87%) indicate theirreligious beliefs are very important in their lives today. However, claiming thatreligion’s influence is significant doesn’t necessarily translate into a personalfaith consistent with biblical teaching. A new national survey of Americanadults by the Barna Research Group found that eight in ten (84%) born againChristians hold the non-biblical view on at least one of eight statements ofbiblical teaching tested in the survey.“Born again Christians” are defined as individuals who say they have“made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in (your) lifetoday” and who chose one of seven alternatives posed regarding life after death.That alternative reads “when you die you will go to Heaven because you haveconfessed your sins and have accepted Jesus Christ as (your) savior.”Respondents were not asked to categorize themselves as “born again.”Survey resultsBorn again Christians exhibit surprisingly high levels of ignorance on thefollowing core Christian tenets:Ɣ Eight in ten (80%) born again Christians agree with the statement, “theBible teaches that God helps those who help themselves.”Ɣ Half (49%) agree with the statement, “the devil, or Satan, is not a livingbeing but is a symbol of evil.”Ɣ By definition all born again Christians believe they, personally, will goto heaven because they have “confessed their sins and accepted Jesus Christ astheir savior.” However, four in ten (39%) of the born again segment alsomaintain that “if a person is generally good, or does enough good things forothers during their life, they will earn a place in heaven.”Ɣ Three in ten (30%) claim that “Jesus Christ was a great teacher, but hedid not come back to physical life after he was crucified.”Ɣ Twenty-nine percent contend that “when he lived on earth, Jesus Christwas human and committed sins, like other people.”Ɣ The same percentage (29%) assert that “there are some crimes, sins, orother things which people might do which cannot be forgiven by God.”1
Ɣ One-quarter (26%) disagree that “(they), personally, have aresponsibility to tell other people (their) religious beliefs.”Ɣ Fifteen percent disagree that “the Bible is totally accurate in all of itsteachings.”Bible reading in the surveyThe survey findings also highlighted patterns in the Bible readership ofAmericans. One-third of all Americans (34%) have read from the Bible in thelast seven days. That figure is essentially unchanged from the 1995 level, butreflects a sharp decline from 47% in 1992.More than half of all born again Christians (57%) had read the Bible in thelast week. Even among born again Christians, Bible readership is a shade lowerthan the percentage measured in 1993 (58%).Americans’ views of hellThe survey also found much disparity among Americans’ views of hell.Three in ten adults (31%) see hell as an actual location: “a place of physicaltorment where people may be sent.” Slightly more adults, nearly four in ten(37%), say “hell is not a place, but it represents a state of permanent separationfrom the presence of God.” Describing hell as merely a symbolic term, notreferring to a physical place was true for two in ten Americans (19%). Tenpercent of adults were undecided on their views of hell.2
PREFACEI regard the subject of this book, Biblical conversion, to be the most importantpractical topic of our time. Many errors are embraced on this subject byevangelicals and fundamentalists today. I did not start the confusion regardingconversion and I wish it were not necessary to discuss it. The only way to avoiddebate would be to remain silent, and silence would be a great sin.This is a book that will upset some “big” preachers. It has to be so. Wehave quoted and named some of the leading figures who have promoted falseideas concerning conversion. We are all responsible for what we say and write.Anyone who doesn’t like being quoted should not blame us for printing hisopinions. We didn’t say those things. The people we quote said them. Andanything people write is subject to analysis, including what we write.This book was written for a preacher who has courage, that increasinglyrare quality of mind which enables one to meet difficulties with bold and braveresolution, mettle and tenacity. It was written for such a preacher, and for noone else. If you have a fearful, apprehensive, worrisome personality, this bookis not for you. I suggest you pass it on to someone else. Why do I say that?Because this book contains iconoclastic ideas: it attacks the falseness of manycherished beliefs; it breaks the icons of evangelicalism; it shatters the idols andthrows the shards out of the Temple. Don’t read it if the thought of breakingthings and throwing out rubbish disturbs you.President Theodore Roosevelt spoke of “those cold and timid souls whoknow neither victory nor defeat.” This book was not written for such men. Itwill frighten them. If you are disturbed by the thought of radical change, if youare interested in a safe and relatively easy ministry, followed by an uneventfulretirement, we advise you to leave this volume unread. Pass it on to someoneelse. It will only alarm and upset you.If, on the other hand, you have become disgusted and dissatisfied with thevarious idiotisms of the ministry in our time, you may find it refreshing, in adangerously thought provoking way.“Little preachers” will be more apt to find this book helpful than those whoare satisfied with their ministries. “Bigger” preachers, who want things toremain as they are, will probably dislike it, although I would rejoice if somepreacher in a larger church hears our message. Probably those who are verydissatisfied will be helped most by reading it.After many years in the ministry, I found that I myself was not satisfied.While reading the Bible one night, I came to this verse in Jeremiah, “Andseekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for behold, I will bring evilupon all flesh” (Jeremiah 45:5).I decided then and there that I would no longer seek “great things” for3
myself. Instead, I would turn back to the all but forgotten methods employed byour Baptist and Protestant forefathers.I must admit that giving up decisionism and going back to the oldfashioned method of winning souls has been difficult. But even if I knewbeforehand the trials that would come by returning to the old paths I would do itagain, because it has produced a lively congregation made up of highlydedicated people who love their church, attend every meeting, work tirelessly towin the lost, and pray constantly for revival. My own mother faithfully attendedfour services each week, and enjoyed every minute of it.Our critics may feel that this book is too negative. But I want you to knowthat we have really tried to give positive illustrations from past and presentpreachers, such as our description of emotion in the preaching of Dr. R. G. Lee, Dr.W. A. Criswell, and Dr. Jerry Thorpe, given on pages 125-128. We havementioned 200 people by name in this book. We referred to 153 of them positivelyand named only 47 negatively. We hope you will notice our emphasis on thepositive. Three-fourths of those we cited are referred to positively. We hope youwill agree that we have made an attempt to be balanced.Other critics may say that we believe people have “to get saved again.” Butwe do not believe this. We are convinced that the Bible teaches “once saved,always saved.” Others may say that we are attacking “easy believism,” but wenever use that term in this book. We dislike that term because it confuses theissue. It is easy to believe in Jesus, if a person will actually do that. We prefer theBritish term “decisionism,” which better describes what we are against.In recent times we have heard many answers to the problems facing ourchurches. Some advocate the principles of church growth; others are talking aboutlowering standards and making the churches “user friendly” and “up to date.” Weare proposing a completely different approach, one which has not been tried bypastors for a very long time.I wish I could make you understand how difficult it has been to write thisbook. I have quite literally burst into tears time after time, because I feel thatGod’s judgment may soon fall on our nation. If you have become asdisenchanted as I am with the modern techniques of evangelism, and if you havedecided to read this book, may God stir your heart to throw out fearfulness andgo back with us to the ways of olden times. Then, even if we fail, we will atleast have the satisfaction of knowing that we tried, an inner gratification neverexperienced by “those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nordefeat.”– R. L. Hymers, Jr.The Pastor’s StudyFebruary 20, 19994
“I am not a religious man, but America is now in moral anarchy.I do not believe it can even survive without a sweeping spiritualrevival.”– Judge Robert H. Bork,nominee to the Supreme Court.5
“Not until all is lost will many awake to the painful reality thatAmerica as we once knew it is gone.”– Dr. Erwin Lutzer,Pastor of Moody Memorial Church, Chicago“A whole generation is growing up with no awareness ofregeneration. Savages are stirring the dust of a decadentcivilization and already slink in the shadows of a disabledchurch.”– Dr. Carl F.
Hyles on gimmicks, of Billy Graham on evangelism, and of John MacArthur on decisionist Lordship salvation, the incarnational Sonship of Christ, and the Blood of Christ. Those who “preach the Word” are to follow strictly II Timothy 4:2-3 and include reproving, rebuking and exhorting. A
MacArthur/Preaching, pp. 136-170 10. Notes: Preaching with and without notes Bridges/Christian, pp. 286-296 . Evaluating Preaching PREACHING COURSES John Piper’s Sermon Preparation Alex Chediak Don Carson’s Lectures On Preaching Fundamentals Of Expository
Mar 13, 2021 · Speaking-Preaching Huddle March 13, 2021 Part 1: The Art Of Preaching “The Power Of Preaching” by Tony Evans, Chapter 1: “Foundations” 1. “The call to preaching is a personal invitation by God that you cannot run from If you are called by God to preach, He will give you an insatiable passion to preach.” (pp.13-14) These quotes
JETS 61.4 (2018): 825–46 TIME TO KILL THE BIG IDEA? A FRESH LOOK AT PREACHING ABRAHAM KURUVILLA* Abstract: This essay traces the history and development of the “Big Idea” in preaching and reviews its methodology—the distilling of a text of Scripture and the preaching of that distillate.
principles and skills of biblical exegesis, and it looks into the major influence on Piper's biblical exegesis. It also describes Piper's philosophy of preaching: Piper's motivation and purpose of preaching, and it investigate great preachers who impacted Piper's preaching. It then discuses Piper's skills of expository preaching .
Christ-Centered Expository Preaching - Tony Merida This talk is for anyone who will teach the Bible, but especially for those aspiring to the . Sidney Greidanus defines preaching Christ "as preaching sermons which authentically integrate the message of the text with the climax of God's revelation . in the person, work, and/or teaching .
Preaching) o John MacArthur, “The only logical response to inerrant Scripture is to preach it expositionally. By expositionally, I mean preaching in such a way that the meaning of the Bible passage is presented entirely and exactly as it was intended . 5 by God. Expository prea
Preaching, John MacArthur 76 Part 2: Biblical and Historical Paradigms 6. Paul’s Paradigm for Preachers, Bruce Winter 93 7. Swallowing Our Pride: An Essay on the Foolishness of Preaching, Duane Litfin 106 8. Preaching with a Pastor’s Heart:
Expositor’s Fellowship, ‘Preaching the Gospel’, Kisumu, April 2015 12 STEP 1 Step 1: Study the Passage – humble, careful listening 1. Introduction 1.1. Expository preaching preaching what the text says Titus demands to
