Nathan E. Lewis

Dr. Dennis Johnson has compiled a selection of sermons published by Crossway that is a must read for anyone looking for Christ in the whole of the Bible (or seeking to deliver sermons that are truly preaching, that is, proclamations of the gospel.) I am not one given to reading sermons or texts on how to preach, but I read this book as Dr. Johnson kindly gave me a copy (not only to me but to everyone who attended a luncheon hosted by Westminster Seminary at the General Assembly meetings of the Presbyterian Church in America this past June in Orlando.) The book is a tribute to the gospel preaching of Dr. Edmund P. Clowney.
The book is well worth its price to read and read again Tim Keller’s sermon on Genesis 29: 15-35, titled, “The Girl Nobody Wanted.” If you have ever wondered how it is that some of us see every text of the Bible connected to Christ (or as some have criticized, “seeing Jesus under every rock in the Bible), then Keller’s sermon and the whole of this book will be not only a persuasive read, but also a refreshing and inspiring experience.
Dr. Johnson has aptly chosen preachers who learned how to preach under the teaching and preaching of Dr. Edmund P. Clowney. He directed each preacher to write an introduction presenting his debt and gratitude for Clowney’s brilliant and Christological coaching. As one who has labored for years to teach in the redemptive historical tradition, this book was reassuring and instructive to say the least.
I was privileged to study preaching under Dr. Clowney at Westminster Seminary in California, and to take his course on I Peter as well. Better than the teaching was my privilege to hear Dr. Clowney preach in our congregation, New Life Presbyterian Church in Escondido in the late 1980’s into the early 90’s. In 1992, at my ordination service, Dr. Clowney delivered the charge to me as a new Minister of the Gospel - an unforgettable moment.
My favorite memory of Dr. Clowney occurred in the deep emerald forests of Oregon, in the Coastal Range. In 1994, one year into our work to establish Evergreen Presbyterian Church in Beaverton, Oregon, I had planned a men’s retreat at the Flying M Ranch. The guest speaker, two weeks prior to the event, cancelled and so I called Dr. Clowney in Escondido to beg him to be the speaker on short notice. To my amazement he accepted. In my Oregon limo, a nearly broken down red suburban, that looked like a meth van, I drove Dr. Clowney to the Flying M Ranch, getting lost twice on gravel roads. He was delighted with the back road adventure giggling at every hairpin turn and clouds of dust and my frustration to find this rustic resort. The men, a mixture of new Christians and roughly independent Oregonians, sat enraptured late into the night as Dr. Clowney opened the Holy Scriptures displaying Christ as the climax, the fullfillment, and yes, under every rock. Early Sunday morning all of us returned to Beaverton where Dr. Clowney preached from the text telling the story of the demon possessed man from Decopolis. 16 years later members of Evergreen still remember this sermon as if it were preached yesterday.
Dr. Clowney’s voice (at least in his later years) was thin but his smile was big. His knowledge and insight into the Bible was rich but most impressively was his consistent preaching of “Christ and him crucified.”
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Dr. Edmund P. Clowney’s Sermons