Get it on Amazon Kindle

Paperback
144 pages
4.72" x 7.48"

A blog post by Jeffery Smith Whose Sanctification Is It, Anyway?

Description

Jeffery Smith argues that faithful preaching is more than interpretive fidelity to the text of Scripture and an engaging delivery. It encapsulates a preacher’s heart and soul and involves nothing less than a rigorous regimen of proclamation, pleading, and prayer.

"By preaching for conversions, I mean that we should preach sermons aimed at bringing sinners to Christ. I'm not referring to sermons that tack on an evangelistic application at the end, nor am I talking about those that include evangelistic applications here and there. There is certainly a place for that. There is a real sense in which every sermon should have an evangelistic element in it. If we preach biblical sermons, we are constantly preaching the gospel and applying the gospel in our sermons, whether we preach on the family, church order, Christian work ethic, or any other aspect of practical Christian living or Christian doctrine. People are sometimes converted under such sermons as the gospel is marbled within the message."

— from Chapter 1, Are We Preaching for Conversions?

Endorsements

"I cannot think of a more necessary message to be given to churches and ministers of all types and kinds. For the pragmatist, it is a call to abandon the carnal strategies of the secular world that have no power to convert the soul. For the solidly Reformed, it is a call to stand and preach the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit and to earnestly and urgently call men to repentance and faith. In this brief work, Jeff Smith proves that true gospel preaching is not less than accurate exposition, but it is much more—it is prayer, proclamation, persuasion, and pleading. This book will wake you from the deception of pragmatism and the comfortable slumber of orthodoxy. It will bid you stand in a valley of dry bones and call the dead to live."

—Paul Washer

Founder, HeartCry Missionary Society

"If most pastors are anything like me, they find preaching to build up the saints far, far easier than preaching to win lost men and women to saving faith in Christ. In his new book, Preaching for Conversions, Jeff Smith provides us with a stimulating series of chapters, all aimed at helping men preach more deliberately and more persuasively the saving gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. This is not just another primer on “How to”; it is a pastor teaching us from God’s Word and from examples in church history and, out of his own experience, the biblical pattern and privilege of preaching evangelistically. It is a pleasure to commend Preaching for Conversions."

—Ian Hamilton

Teaches historical theology at Greenville Presbyterian

Theological Seminary, South Carolina, and Westminster

Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Newcastle, England

"Many who preach evangelically fail to preach evangelistically. Perhaps, sadly, we do not know quite what to do or where to begin. Without for a moment denying the sovereign majesty of a saving God, Jeff Smith presses home the beauty, clarity, and urgency of the gospel on all who are called to preach it, and underlines the necessity of cultivating a convicting and converting intent in our preaching. We are to preach for conversions, so to speak, under God, as to be his means of bringing the dead to life, those in darkness to light. This is a holy skill we need to cultivate today, and these pages will help you understand both what you are to do and how to do it."

—Jeremy Walker

Pastor, Maidenbower Baptist Church (UK)

"I see Jeff Smith as an impressive kingdom warrior—a Captain America, running among us foot soldiers. I highly respect him, his opinions, his convictions, and his ministry. When he speaks or writes, I listen. Here, he calls us to preach for conversions, to plan determined and continuous gospel assaults on the souls of lost sinners, keeping in mind that many who think they’re safe for eternity are deceived by the enemy. He emboldens us to bring hurt before healing, conviction before comfort. He drives us to helpless dependence, then directs us to Almighty power. Read this, pastor! It will galvanize you to fight a better fight for your hearers and our King."

—Mark Chanski

Pastor, Harbor Church in Holland, MI

Professor of Hermeneutics at Reformed Baptist Seminary

Author Bio

Jeffery Smith has contributed to and authored several books, including The Rich Man and Lazarus: Plain Truth about Life after Death. He serves on the governing board of Reformed Baptist Seminary and is a pastor at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Coconut Creek, Florida, where he resides with his wife, Kelly, and their six children.