This is a collection of assorted quotations from mostly famous people, past and present, on the subject of preachers and preaching. I am adding to the collection over time, almost always placing the most recent quotation at the top.

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A man with God is always in the majority.

John Knox (1514-1572), Scottish preacher and a leader of the Scottish Reformation. Source: AZ Quotes

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When Martin Luther Was Asked to Recant

Unless I am convinced by the testimony of the Holy Scriptures or by evident reason – for I can believe neither pope nor councils alone, as it is clear that they have erred repeatedly and contradicted themselves – I consider myself convicted by the testimony of Holy Scripture, which is my basis; my conscience is captive to the Word of God. Thus I cannot and will not recant, because acting against one’s conscience is neither safe nor sound. God help me. Amen.

Martin Luther (1483-1546), Roman Catholic priest who became the leading figure of the Protestant Reformation. He made this statement at the Diet of Worms in 1521. Source: Christianity Today

Whether Luther also said the words “Here I stand. I can do no other” at this time is a matter of contention.

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Brother Lawrence on Preachers

Brother Lawrence was a lay brother who lived in and served a 17th-century monastery in Paris, France. He is noted for the book The Practice of the Presence of God, which was compiled posthumously from his private letters and notes. He did not have a public ministry.

Were I a preacher, I would, above all other things, preach the practice of the presence of God.

Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)

Notice the similarity between his 17th-century view of preaching and that of 19th-century American revivalist Peter Cartwright below.

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Peter Cartwright on Preachers

Peter Cartwright, who had himself been a Methodist circuit-riding preacher in America in the wake of John Wesley’s ministry, wrote in his autobiography (The Autobiography of Peter Cartwright, 1856) about what happened during his time when a man felt called of God to preach.

[I]nstead of hunting up a college or Biblical Institute, [he] hunted up a hardy pony, and some traveling apparatus, and with his library always at hand, namely, a Bible, Hymn book, and Discipline, he started, and with a text that never wore out nor grew stale, he cried, “Behold, the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world.”

Peter Cartwright (1785-1872), John 1:29

Note the similarity with Brother Lawrence’s view above. To “Behold the Lamb of God” is to “practice the presence of God.” The simplest things are the ones we most easily miss.

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Martyn Lloyd-Jones on Preachers

Martyn Lloyd-Jones was a prominent 20th-century British evangelical Protestant minister. He was widely and highly respected for his preaching and for the book he wrote on the subject, Preachers and Preaching (1971).

What is the chief end of preaching? I like to think it is this. It is to give men and women a sense of God and His presence.

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (1899-1981)

Connect this perspective with those of Peter Cartwright and Brother Lawrence above it. These three men lived in very different times and had very different ministries, making their agreement on this point all the more noteworthy.

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