BIBLICAL PREACHING

INTRODUCTION

Paul's admonition to Timothy is still appropriate.

“I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

In my next few blogs I want to share with you with you some foundations, preparations, and suggestions for improving biblical preaching.

I am including them here in my Thinking In The Spirit blog because I don't want to start a new Blog for something that will be short term. I believe I have some things to share with you. And I pray that God will bless your ministry through them.

FOUNDATION

The first thing you need to settle is why you are preaching. You need to ask yourself several questions here. It may benefit you greatly to ask yourself these questions even if you have your sermon together for this Sunday.

Have you been born again? In John 3:3 Jesus said you cannot even see the kingdom of God if you have not been born again. A call to preach must be linked in your mind to the calling to be a child of God.

Do you have a vital relationship with Jesus Christ? If you are not in tune with Him, you will not touch lives. In Matthew 23:8-10 Jesus said.

“But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ.” 

We have one teacher. If He does not speak through you, you are wasting your t

Is God telling you to preach? I remember God calling me to preach my freshman year in college. His call was as clear to me as Isaiah's call in Isaiah 6. Proclaiming God's word is my life calling. And it may be yours. But I believe God tells others of us to preach in different ways. Some of you may have been asked by your church or your pastor to preach, not necessarily as a life calling. Others may have been led to start a home church. And you have to fill the needs of those who have gathered with you. But you need to settle this issue.

Do you care about the people you preach to? My pastor when I was in high school once told me, “David, you cannot preach to people that you don't love.” Many years ago I was in a preaching slump. I talked to an experienced preacher about it. He suggested something that proved to be powerful for me. He said, “In the early part of the worship service, look into the eyes of individuals in the congregation.” It is amazing what you will see, when you really look at people. I found myself understanding and connecting with them. This will not keep you from worshipping. In fact, you can pray for each of them while you praise God.

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THE SERIOUSNESS OF HYPOCRACY

It is interesting how we rank sins. My nephew has noted that different Christian denominations rank sins differently. He said divorce is about at the top in the denomination we belong to. But he told me a story of a similar church in a different denomination that was considering making someone he knew a deacon. They never questioned his divorce, but they would not ordain him, if he couldn't quit smoking.
I don't mean to minimize these or any other practices God's people treat as serious. But we often overlook hypocrisy, which is the sin Jesus condemned most severely. Jesus spoke so much about hypocrisy that I will not attempt to draw out everything He said about it. That might be a worthwhile subject for future blogs. But looking at one passage we can see some crucial reasons it is such a plague on our spiritual lives.
In Matthew 23:25-26 Jesus condemns the Pharisees because of their hypocrisy.

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean.”

Hypocrisy is devastating because of
The Seriousness Of Whom You Impress.

I am too horrified at the ways I have been a phony in my life to share them with you here. But I can tell you, I often catch myself trying to impress other people. I want others to think I am smart, or honest, or manly, or good. Trying, even wanting, to impress people makes them into false gods. God sees into your heart. He is not pleased with what impresses other people.

Hypocrisy is dangerous because of
The Seriousness Of Whom You Deceive.

You know that being a fake doesn't fool God. You may deceive other people some. Probably the more people you deceive, the worse the cancer in your soul. But the person you deceive most is yourself. The Pharisees were blind to the fact that appearing to be good, or close to God, didn't make it so.

And hypocrisy kills because of
The Seriousness Of What You Miss.

Pretending to be smart may not always keep you from learning. Pretending to be strong may not always make you week. Pretending to be rich, may not always make you poor. But pretending to be holy always offends God. Trying to appear good to people will cause you to overlook the corruption in your heart. Hypocrisy will make you miss God's forgiveness. And there is nothing worse in this life or the next than missing a relationship with God. And even as a child of God, a fake spiritual life will corrupt your relationship with Him and stunt spiritual growth.

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TO YOU

Several months ago I wrote a blog post that was primarily on Jeremiah 29:11. I was reacting to something I heard said from the pulpit. The preacher said we could not take this as a promise if we were not Israelites being sent into exile. I took exception to this in my blog, showing that this verse has universal application. But in this post I want to apply this truth to Scripture as a whole. Look with me at something Jesus said in Matthew 22:31-32

And as for the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was said to you by God: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living.”

Jesus addresses the Sadducees in these verses. But he quotes the words spoken to Moses at the burning bush in Exodus 3. Jesus asks them, “Have you not read what was said to you by God.”
It is crucial to understand that God speaks to you in His word. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 10:11 that,

“These things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.”

Some of you are rightly thinking, “But we need to approach Scripture with spiritual discernment.” Most of us know examples of misusing Scripture. The old joke tells of someone opening the Bible for direction and blindly stabbing his finger in and landing on, “Judas went out and hanged himself.” This startled him enough that he thought he had better look for another. So he stabbed his finger again. This time he landed on, “Go thou and do likewise.”

But God's people can discern. We are enlightened by the Spirit of God. 1 Corinthians 2:14-16 reads,

“The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. ‘For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?’ But we have the mind of Christ.”

That is a powerful statement. “We have the mind of Christ.” Let me point out how these verses say God speaks. Verse 14 concludes that the things of God are, “spiritually discerned.” Let me suggest what this means. Spiritual discernment is only given by the Holy Spirit. It means the Spirit of God speaks to us personally and as gathered believers in the church. This does not mean we will never misunderstand Scripture. But it does mean He will speak to me in His word correcting my thinking.

You might ask, why then do we have so many denominations? I don't think I am qualified to answer that comprehensively. But let me tell you an experience I have had. Many years ago our church participated in a National Day of Prayer gathering and another pastor invited me to join a pastors’ prayer meeting. I started meeting with them weekly. The group had two Episcopalian pastors. There were some Congregationalists. There were a few more Presbyterians from several Presbyterian groups. There was a Lutheran pastor. And in those early days, I was the only Baptist. I prayed regularly with those men for over ten years. A week never went by when we did not quote or read aloud some scripture. And my impression was that we never disagreed on how to apply a verse in our lives. That was because God speaks through His word.

More than 40 years ago I was leading a group of adults in my church to memorize Scripture in our mid-week services. One week I was helping them memorize Acts 27:25.

“Wherefore sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God that it will be even as he has told me.”

A lady in the group shook her head saying, “What does it mean?”

I answered, “God has said some things to you, too.” And this truth immediately dawned on her. God will speak to you in His word. And you can confidently apply it to your life.

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THE WEDDING GARMENT

What is the wedding garment in the parable in Matthew 22:12? In the parable recorded in the first verses of Matthew 22, when those who would not come to the king's wedding feast were destroyed, the servants were sent out to bring anyone they found, good or bad, to the wedding feast. But when the king came in to see his guests he found one without a wedding garment. “Friend,” he said, “how did you get in here without a wedding garment?” And there was nothing the man could answer. The king commanded his servants to bind him hand and foot and send him out into the outer darkness where there would be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Jesus consistently uses this phrase for those who will be excluded from the kingdom of God. I believe it has to describe hell.

I think the wedding garment represents three things in our lives.

I believe it must represent intimacy with Jesus Christ. In Matthew 7:23 Jesus said the problem with many who preached and healed and did miracles in His name was that He had never known them. I am told by reliable sources that the wedding garments may well have been supplied by the king himself. You did not get one because you were born into a wealthy family, or because you knew the best tailor in town. You could only get one from the King. Salvation is not simply affirming a creed or even mouthing a prayer. It is a relationship where in we know Him because He knows us intimately.

I believe the wedding garment must also represent the transformation of life that intimacy with Jesus produces in us. Romans 12:2 calls us to be transformed by the renewal of our minds. And new birth must include such life transformation.

Finally, I believe it represents the fruit of the Spirit produced in and through us. In Matthew 7:16-20 Jesus said we would know false prophets, and I assume true disciples, by their fruit. I believe this begins with love, joy, peace, and such in us. But it also includes such fruit in those we influence by the Holy Spirit of God.

Jesus applies this parable by saying, “for many are called but few are chosen.” I don't believe it is consistent with the gospel to say that those who are chosen are chosen because of their good works. In that parable we would assume that there were bad people who had a wedding garment. And we are not told that this man was better or worse than others at the table. I rather think Jesus is saying we will know those who are truly chosen by God from the fruit His personal intervention produces in our lives.

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YOUR ANGELS SEE HIS FACE

God has been showing me something in scripture this week that I just have to share with you. In Matthew 18 the disciples asked Jesus about greatness.

“At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, ‘Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me.’”

Jesus answered by saying that we cannot even enter the kingdom of heaven unless we repent and become like little children. And He said whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.

Now let me point out the humility that is like the child Jesus stood before them. Even a newborn baby is not innocent. He is selfish to the core. But he is absolutely dependent. And we must humble ourselves to become dependent upon God to enter the kingdom of heaven. Our salvation, and everything in our lives depends upon Him.

When Jesus says, “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me,” who is he speaking about? I believe Jesus must first be referring to literal children, especially those who have already accepted Him as Savior. But I also believe Jesus is speaking of those of us who have entered the kingdom in childlike dependence. When people receive us as we go to them with the gospel, they receive Him.

Now look just a little further down the passage to verse 10

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.”

Again, who is Jesus talking about? I believe He is telling us that children have guardian angels who always see our Heavenly Father's face.

We do not yet see Him face to face. 1 John 3:2 says we will be made like Jesus when we see His face. But could it also be that as we become children of God, we too are surrounded by Heavenly angels who continually see His face?” And of course Jesus Himself is always interceding for us before the Father. You are well-represented before the throne.

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CALVINISM!

In some places there is a fairly great division in the church over Calvinism. Many are staunch Calvinists and many others are fierce anti-Calvinists.

I feel that this and similar issues should not be approached from the point of view of an overall theology. Although to be honest, I think it is suspect to take any theological system whole cloth. Rather, we should seek to come to understanding of scriptures that lead to certain positions.

Possibly the thornyest issue is the question of limited atonement. How do you reconcile John 3:16 and John 6:44?

John 3:16 tells us God loves the entire world, and gives life to all who believe in Him.

“For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”

But in John 6:44 Jesus said,
“No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him.”

Can you honestly say God loves people He is not calling to salvation? I think you can, but you cannot say this is simple.

Some years ago there was a fire on the hill that stretches above the houses on our street. They managed to get the fire out without losing any houses, but it was close. After the fire, the Fire Chief held a town meeting to answer people's questions about how they had addressed the fire. One of the homeowners was angry. He demanded to know why the fire fighters had not sprayed water on his house but they had his neighbor's.

The Fire Chief said, “We didn't see any point in hosing down houses that have cedar roofs or Juniper trees because we couldn't have saved them anyway if the fire hit them.” I am pretty sure that was simple reality rather than some biased intention on the part of the fire department. And we have to assume that God knows who would respond if they were called. There may also be other reasons why He does not call some that we don't and probably couldn't understand. We have to trust that to Him.

I am convinced that praying for people may remove some of the barriers to a person's being drawn to Christ. Of course, some will argue that God's choosing took place before the foundation of the world. There is some legitimacy to this. Ephesians 1:4 says, “He chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world.”

But I believe it is wrong to press God and eternity into the sequence of time. Before the
foundation of the world God had already heard my prayer for a person whose heart is hard. And because God loves that person, I am convinced my prayers for people who need Jesus are obedient to Him.

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YOUR PEACE

God's peace is a powerful thing in the life of a Believer. It can affect the lives of everyone around you. When He first sent the 12 disciples out to preach the gospel Jesus taught this amazing truth. In Matthew 10:13 we read,

“And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.”

So, let me ask you, How do you allow your peace to rest on another person or home? This is important for us to understand, especially in these days when our world is so divided and disturbed. Let me point out three ways in which we allow our peace to rest on other people. But before I can do this we need to understand two things. First, we need to know that God's peace only flows out of a vital relationship with Him through our Lord Jesus Christ. His peace balances and stabilizes everything in our lives. And we also need to understand what makes others worthy of our peace. The next verse explains.

“And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town.”

We can know people are worthy of God's peace when we realize that they are receptive to what we have to say about Jesus. This may be a matter of timing. Had Ananias, who went to Paul after he saw Jesus on the Damascus road, gone one day earlier, he would not have found him receptive. This usually requires some conversation. You may need to tell someone something about the gospel to understand how responsive they might be. And you will need some spiritual discernment which comes through prayer.

Communion

When you realize someone is at least open to hear the things of God, you can open yourself up to communion with them. One of the most effective tools of evangelism is our own vulnerability with others. And after people receive Christ our peace with Him is shared with them. You may be familiar with Philippians 4:7 where Paul spoke of peace that comes from prayer.

“And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Note that this peace is plural. It does not simply guard your heart. It stands guard over “our hearts and minds.”

Assurance

Next we share God's peace as we teach the foundations of His truth. We can share God's love and grace by assuring people of the implications of the gospel. We can say things to them like, “God will hold you tightly in His hands.” or “Nothing will ever separate you from God's love.”

Prayer

Finally, the peace that transcends understanding is supernatural. We touch hearts with God's peace when we pray with them and for them. People often become receptive when we pray for them. People who are not yet Believers are often moved when someone prays for them in their hearing. And of course, we help new Believers grow in the assurance of God's peace as we pray together.

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