One of the most enjoyable and profitable activities I can recommend is the reading of older sermons – especially classic sermons by pastors from previous generations. Following are several reasons for it, and then a listing of a few of my favorites to get you started:

1) Spiritual nourishment.

Unfortunately, too many Christians try to make it on one “meal” a week – the Sunday morning message. Hint: it’s not enough! If you are doing that, you are starving spiritually, and need more – primarily from your own personal devotional time, as well as from sources like podcasts and printed sermons. Reading sermons from a previous generation can help feed you spiritually. And may I add, as a pastor, that local ministers should not be “jealous” that their members are reading or listening to other sermons; they should be glad that their members are enhancing their spiritual diet.  They shouldn’t worry that they are going to be “replaced”.  No recorded or written sermon can address a member’s needs like that of a pastor who knows and prays for them, and who is led by the Spirit of God to preach to the specific needs of his flock. A minister should rejoice in, and encourage, the reading of other sermons by his people!

2) Perspective

But why OLDER sermons specifically? Because reading messages from a previous generation gives us a perspective that is beyond the latest trends and short-sighted prejudices of our current generation. Some problems we face are not new – and these older messages help us to understand that. And some contemporary “fads” are just that – passing fads. We can get a much broader perspective on a number of issues – as well as a good dose of humility — by reading how God was speaking to previous generations about them, and remembering that we are not the first to ever have faced these difficulties.

3) Variety

Related to the point on perspective is that these messages will often be from a different theological persuasion, and render applications and interpretations which differ from those we are used to. This is not a bad thing. We may or may not be persuaded to adopt these differing viewpoints, but we are enriched by pondering them and expanding our horizons. There is a lot of “inbreeding” that takes place when one is only exposed to one stream of theological thinking, from one denomination or generation or particular theological viewpoint. It tends to keep the practice of one’s faith – and even God — in a box, where He absolutely cannot be contained! “Variety is the spice of life”, the hymnist Cowper wrote, and we can get a veritable smorgasbord of variety from a book like Warren Wiersbe’s Treasury of the World’s Great Sermons, which I am currently reading. It contains messages from early church fathers, like John Chrysostom, reformers like Luther, and many lesser-known preachers throughout history as well.

4) Illustrative material

Whether it is for sermons or Sunday School lessons or just for spiritual conversation, these older sermons will give you a store of stories, verses, and illustrations that will be helpful. Just the other evening I was looking for a quote that I thought might have been from a particular book of old sermons. I never did find it, but just in the perusing I discovered several very good stories and quotes I just had to record. These old sermons are a gold mine of material for sermons and lessons – and for just enriching our daily conversations as well!

5) Enhancing “Market Day”

When we were in England, we enjoyed visiting several of the local markets there. Theologian J.I. Packer says that in the olden days, every town in England had a “market day” when businesses were set up, and people could buy their supplies for the coming week. In that same vein, Packer writes that we should see Sunday as the “market day for the soul” and spend it in godly activities which would feed and equip us for the coming week. Wouldn’t it be helpful towards that end if every Christian spent Sunday afternoon reading at least one sermon – instead of spending the bulk of the day watching golf or football or whatever inane offering is on television … how much better of we’d be! Reading an old sermon on Sunday afternoon would be a good first step towards making Sunday more of a “market day for our souls.”

I’m sure you can think of other reasons to add to this brief list. If so, feel free to post them in the comments below. But for all of the above reasons and more, I’d encourage you to get a book of classic sermons – and preferably one with a variety of preachers and messages, like Wiersbe’s, and read them. Don’t use them in place of your personal devotional time – nothing should replace that – but use them to enhance the spiritual food you are already getting. Maybe you could start by reading one of these message each Sunday afternoon instead of some of your television watching – and then add others on Sunday and during the week as well. I have no doubt that you will reap great benefits from it!

Epilogue:

Some of my personal favorite “vintage” sermons include:

“Jesus Christ is the Shining Forth of the Father’s Glory” by Jonathan Edwards.  I read this message in The Glory & Honor of God, a book of previously unpublished Edwards sermons edited by Michael D. McMullen.  You can read my review of the sermon here:  https://shawnethomas.com/2011/03/11/the-glory-of-god-in-christ-a-sermon-review/

“Songs in the Night” by Charles Spurgeon.  You may read it here:  http://www.spurgeon.org/sermons/2558.htm

“The Weight of Glory” by C.S. Lewis, found in the book The Weight of Glory and Other Addresses.  I found a link to an online text of it here: http://ericredmond.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/the-weight-of-glory-by-c-s-lewis/

“Excessive Grief at the Loss of Loved Ones” by John Chrysostom.  This is from the Wiersbe-edited Treasury of the World’s Great Sermons I referenced earlier.  You may also read it at the Biblos site: http://christianbookshelf.org/various/the_worlds_great_sermons_volume_i/chrysostom__excessive_grief_at.htm