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Originally Posted by Brian Withnell  Quote:
Originally Posted by KMK Quote:
Originally Posted by Brian Withnell the object is not the proclamation to the lost so they might hear and repent. | When are the lost going to hear the preaching of preachers sent by God so that they might be saved? (Rom 10)
Which includes the call. Are you saying that preaching of the word is not for the lost, but only for the converted? | The preaching of the word is not specifically for the lost. The main form of bringing people into the church is through birth, those that are not covenant members come to Christ through the preaching of the word, but a well established church is negligent if it is always preaching messages geared toward the lost. |
I don't want to touch that with a 10 foot pole.
However, what I think I hear from you is frustration over a trend in churches to be 'seeker sensitive' and provide only milk and never strong meat. This I agree with.
I think it would be good to stay away from such a rigid distinction between 'lost' and 'saved'. The Puritans saw several distinct groups within a church, all of which needed to be addressed on a regular basis. Puritan preaching was heavy on application and would be 'geared' to many different types of hearers in each sermon. (See Perkins "The Art Of Prophesying"
The bottom line is, the lost and the saved need to hear the same things, law and gospel, but the applications need to be varied.