Although there are, strictly speaking, no prophets or apostles today, I fear there are false prophets and false apostles. They speak their own words instead of God's Word. Their message originates in their own mind. These are men who like to ventilate their own opinions on religion, ethics, theology or politics. They may be conventional enough to introduce their sermon with a Scripture text, but the text bears little or no relation to the sermon which follows, nor is any attempt made to interpret the text in its context. It has been truly said that such a text without a context is a pretext.

--John R.W. Stott, The Preacher's Portrait (London: Tyndale Press, 1961), p. 13.

Filed under: * Theology • Pastoral Theology • Theology: Scripture

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