Today's Expositor's Quote comes from the the great Puritan, John Owen:
A man preacheth that sermon only well unto others which preacheth itself in his own soul. And he that doth not feed on and thrive in the digestion of the food which he provides for others will scarce make it savoury unto them; yea, he knows not but the food he hath provided may be poison, unless he have really tasted of it himself. If the word do not dwell with power in us, it will not pass with power from us.
John Owen, as quoted by John Piper in his 1994 address to the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors, "The Chief Design of my Life -- Mortification and Universal Holiness: Reflections on the Life and Thought of John Owen." The original source for the quote is The Complete Works of John Owen Volume 16 (Banner of Truth), p. 76.
[May the word dwell with power in you this week, and pass with power from you on Sunday. Coty]