There are preachers who imagine that preaching is easy for them—and the longer they are in the ministry, the easier preaching becomes. They believe that if only they are careful to preach nothing but the pure Word of God—without adding any heresy—that must be enough. Such preachers have given in to a horrible and very dangerous error. Mere pious talk without any purpose or logical order is not genuine preaching.
Rather, only the Holy Spirit through His Word inspires genuine preaching. Accordingly, a genuine sermon comes about only after all the spiritual and intellectual energy of a truly believing preacher has been applied to the utmost, after passionate prayer, after all earthly cares have been chased from his mind, and after the preacher has been freed from all vain desires. This is a difficult task.
Rather, only the Holy Spirit through His Word inspires genuine preaching. Accordingly, a genuine sermon comes about only after all the spiritual and intellectual energy of a truly believing preacher has been applied to the utmost, after passionate prayer, after all earthly cares have been chased from his mind, and after the preacher has been freed from all vain desires. This is a difficult task.
C.F.W. Walther, Law and Gospel: How to Read and Apply the Bible,
(trans. Christian C. Tiews; St Louis: Concordia, 2010), 272
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