A Directory For Preaching: Directions Concerning the Preaching of the Word of God According to the Westminster Assembly of Divines in their Directory of Public Worship

The 16th and 17th centuries produced some of the greatest preachers the world has ever seen. The English Puritans and the Scottish Covenanters stand at the front of the line in church history when it comes to exegetical rigor, doctrinal precision, affectionate application, and zealous delivery. Reading the sermons of such men as Thomas Manton, Jeremiah Burroughs, Samuel Rutherford, and George Gillespie, is like taking a journey into the depths of the Bible in understanding and instruction, as well as to the center of your soul as they apply the truths to your conscience. These men, and others like them, excelled not just in explanation but in application. They did not preach to the ceiling or the clouds, but directly to the minds, hearts, and hands of men and women, boys and girls. In addition, they labored to be understood, speaking naked words in plain language rather than words dressed in human philosophy or artistry. These men were mightily apt in handling the word of God. If we would have been able to walk through England or Scotland, listening to their preaching in church buildings or the open air, I think we would have exclaimed, “There are giants in the land!"
I would argue that the greatest preachers of the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries owe a good deal of their greatness, humanly speaking, to their love for and learning from the Puritans and Covenanters of the 16th and 17th centuries. Who can think of 18th century preaching without mentioning George Whitefield and Jonathan Edwards? or 19th century preaching without Robert Murray M’Cheyne, J.C. Ryle and Charles Haddon Spurgeon? or 20th century preaching without Dr. Martyn Loyd-Jones and John MacArthur? or 21st century preaching without Joel Beeke, Sinclair Ferguson, John Piper, Steven Lawson, and Paul Washer? These men loved and still love the Puritans. They have all devoured their sermons in printed form, and no doubt were greatly influenced by them, most of them making that explicit from their own mouths or pens.
It is my conviction that what is most missing in my day was most present in the day of the Puritans and Covenanters. Would that preachers today would learn from these giants, and the Lord would bless us as we recover their plain style, warm affection, piercing application, and holy zeal. By the loving kindness of God, these stalwarts of the faith wrote a Directory for Public Worship as many of them were together in the Westminster Assembly from 1644-1652. This Directory for Public Worship, which was to replace the Book of Common Prayer , was a priority for the assembled theologians, so they published it first and foremost in 1644. It was passed by Parliament on January 3rd, 1645. Part of this directory has a section titled Of the Preaching of the Word . This means we can learn straight from these faithful preachers not only by their example, but also by their directions and counsel. What lies before you in this booklet is the section from their directory which focuses on preaching. I have lightly updated a few words, and added clarifying points, hoping to help the reader see what these divines were getting at in their directions. I have also added points such as 1. and 1.2, 1.3 etc. to help those who use this for study or training to find their places easier when discussing. The parts of this booklet that are bold are my words, and the rest are of the Assembly.
May God be pleased to answer my prayers for Christ’s sake, and raise up men in this day and the days that follow who will be, like these courageous men of the past, rigorous in exposition, precise in doctrine, affectionate in application, and zealous in delivery. More than that, may God cause fruit to grow by His Spirit from the Christ-exalting seeds that will be planted through the preaching of the Scriptures for ages to come, and thereby glorify His name among the nations! Soli Deo Gloria. Brett A. Baggett
Oct. 20th, 2022