portrayal of its own potency challenges us always to remember that the Word preached, rather than the preaching of the Word, accomplishes heaven’s purposes. Preaching that is true to Scripture converts, convicts, and eternally changes the souls of men and women because God’s Word is the instrument of divine compulsion, not because preachers have any power in themselves to stimulate such godly transformations (although human powers can certainly bring about all kinds of worldly changes, including those that masquerade as the products of heaven).
