I LOVE preaching, I am a preacher, I listen to a lot of preaching. I mean, I literally listen to hours of sermons via Mp3, and internet streaming. So much, thankfully so, is available today. Some of the preaching I hear is good and some of it is downright bad, by bad I don’t necessarily mean doctrinally incorrect, rather its boring, dry, impotent and ineffectual. The thing that I ponder as I listen is, “you know”, there is no lack of “entertaining” preaching, no lack of “informative” preaching, there’s lots of supposed “Relevant” preaching. BUT! What’s missing in my opinion is “POWERFUL” preaching”. The internet dictionary defines powerful as:
1. Having great power or force or potency or effect.
2. Strong enough to knock down or overwhelm.
3. Having great influence.
2. Strong enough to knock down or overwhelm.
3. Having great influence.
What
makes preaching powerful? In other
words, what gives preaching potency and effect?
What factors make preaching strong enough to knock down or
overwhelm? What causes preaching to have
great influence? Is it the style of the
preacher? Is it the content of the
preaching? Is it the personality or
antics of the preacher? I’ve been
reading through one of my favorite books of the New Testament, the books of
Acts. I like the book of Acts because it
gives us an inspired history of the way the church used to be, warts and all.
Unfortunately, the modern church in my opinion pales in comparison. As I
have been slowly working through Acts, I’ve observed some examples of “powerful” preaching. Again, what's meant By powerful is, that which is "potent, effectual, overwhelming, influential". For example, Peter’s sermon in Acts 2 ends
with his audience being, “pierced to the heart” (2:37). The word for pierced is the word: Katanussomai, meaning “to pierce through with compunction and pain
of heart”. The word compunction
means, “anxiety arising
from awareness of guilt”. Peter’s
preaching caused the people in his audience to experience deep anxiety and guilt to the point that all they could say is,
“Brethren, what shall we do? Peter’s
second sermon in Acts 3 ended with Peter and John being arrested and thrown
into jail (4:1-3). The reason for their imprisonment was because their
powerful preaching caused their listeners great vexation. In other words, they were
greatly annoyed and irritated with what they were hearing so much so that they were compelled to do away with the source of their vexation. As I reflected on Peter’s preaching, as well as the others who preached throughout Acts, I began
asking myself, “What made their preaching so powerful”? I’ve discovered several
principles that characterized the powerful preaching of Peter and the early
Christian community:
Principle Number One:
It
was Christ centered preaching
22 "Men of Israel, listen to these words : JESUS THE NAZARENE, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know - 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death. 24 "But God raised Him up again, putting an end to the agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held in its power. 25 "For David says of Him, 'I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS IN MY PRESENCE ; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. 26 'THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED ; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO WILL LIVE IN HOPE ; 27 BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. 28 'YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE ; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.' 29 "Brethren , I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 "And so, because he was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. 32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 33 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. 34 "For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says : 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."' 36 "Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ -this Jesus whom you crucified." (Acts 2:22-36)
11 While he was clinging to Peter and John, all the people ran together to them at the so-called portico of Solomon, full of amazement. 12 But when Peter saw this, he replied to the people, "Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this, or why do you gaze at us, as if by our own power or piety we had made him walk ? 13 "The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him. 14 "But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 but put to death the Prince of life, the one whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses. 16 "And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know ; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all. 17 "And now, brethren, I know that you acted in ignorance, just as your rulers did also. 18 "But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord ; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22 "Moses said, 'THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN ; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. 23 'And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' 24 "And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. 25 "It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.' 26 "For you first, God raised up His Servant and sent Him to bless you by turning every one of you from your wicked ways (Acts 3:11-26).
Fred A. Malone writes, “Dear preacher, is this how you preach Christ in all the Scriptures? Is this your controlling principle as you study each text? Is this how you preach “the whole counsel of God”? If it is not, you may be guilty of hiding Christ from your hearers. Instead, consider the whole message of the Bible as you preach each text. Let Scripture interpret Scripture!
Christ-centered preaching is mandated biblically and theologically in the Bible. We must be men saturated with Scripture and saturated with Christ revealed in Scripture so that we can set Him before the lost and found ears of our hearers".
As an old Anglican, Bishop Reynolds, exhorted preachers:
Preach Christ Jesus the Lord. Determine to know nothing among your people, but Christ crucified. Let his name and grace, his spirit and love, triumph in the midst of all your sermons. Let your great end be to glorify him in the heart, to render him amiable and precious in the eyes of his people, to lead them to him, as a sanctuary to protect them, a propitiation to reconcile them, a treasure to enrich them, a physician to heal them, an advocate to present them and their services to God, as wisdom to counsel them, as righteousness to justify, as sanctification to renew, as redemption to save. Let Christ be the diamond to shine in the bosom of all your sermons"(1).
Principle number Two:
It was authoritative preaching
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12)
17 "But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name." 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:17-18).
What does, "in the name of Jesus" mean?
One writer puts defines it this way, "If a wealthy man hires me and gives me a power of attorney to purchase real estate, and if I act within that authorization, I could purchase a shopping mall in his name. I would receive no benefit from that transaction, except for his gratitude and the salary he chooses to pay me. If I tried to buy a shopping center on my own, they’d laugh me out of the bank. But if I go in his name, they would do business with me.
If you appoint someone to act in your name, it means that they can act as your agent within the restrictions you impose. Jesus has empowered His followers to act in His name to do certain specified deeds: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, preach the gospel, and so on.
If you do something in Jesus’ name it means that you do it with the authority He gave you and not on your own authority, and that you act within the limits of your authorization, whatever those limits may be. You act as His agent, in His stead, to His credit and for His benefit. You have no benefit from your deeds except His thanks and whatever reward He chooses to give you"(2).
The powerful preaching seen throughout the books of Acts was done by men who understood that they were not preaching under their own authority, but under the authority of Christ, meaning they weren't preaching themselves or their own ideas. They were under orders to Christ and accountable for His message.
Shawn Chancellor writes,"preaching that is authoritative appeals to Divine authority rather than stories and illustrations. In many pulpits, preaching has become storytelling. Stories are crafted to tug at the heart strings, fan the emotions and generate a shallow short lived burst of zeal. However, such an approach fails to appreciate a simple fact; emotionalism is a self-centered reaction and can never produce true service to anyone other than self. Certainly illustrations are useful in preaching, the Lord Himself employed them often, however illustrations prove nothing. At the close of the Sermon on the Mount the audience responded in surprise to the greatest preacher who ever spoke, not because of His great stories but because of the authority with which He spoke. For preaching to be powerful it must appeal to the Word and demonstrate the truth of the message by Divine authority"(3)
One other thought about authoritative preaching. If you read the OT you will NEVER, EVER find a prophet of God saying, "In my opinion, God is saying" or "What I feel or think God is saying is......" No, the OT prophet ALWAYS prefaced his preaching with "Thus saith the Lord".
Principle Number Three:
It
was Holy Spirit empowered preaching
"...but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be
My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:31)
"But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking" (Acts 6:10).
Pastor John MacArthur emphasizes
the preacher’s complete reliance upon the Holy Spirit. “Powerful preaching
occurs,” he writes, “only when a Spirit-illumined man of God expounds clearly
and compellingly God’s Spirit-inspired revelation in Scripture to a
Spirit-illumined congregation.” The Holy Spirit, who inspired the biblical
text, is the same Spirit who must enlighten the preacher and the
congregation. MacArthur clarifies: “Illumination is the work of the Holy
Spirit that opens one’s spiritual eyes to comprehend the meaning of the Word of
God. It involves the preacher of Scripture and his audience. God’s objective
and historically past revelation in Scripture cannot be understood accurately
apart from the present, personal, and subjective work of the Holy Spirit.”
Without the Spirit teaching both the preacher and the listener, the Bible
remains something of a closed book. Without His empowerment, the preacher will
resort to manipulative techniques and fleshly coercions with the listener. In preaching, MacArthur affirms that the
preacher must not depend upon mere rhetoric, but upon the Holy Spirit:
“Regardless of the erudition, the compelling logic, the soaring rhetoric, or
the clever and interesting communication style, if the truth spoken is not
accompanied by the power of God, it accomplishes nothing. But when empowered by
God as it enters the prepared soul, the gospel truth saves.” To this end,
MacArthur stresses that the Spirit must be at work, or preaching is vain:
“Genuine soul-transforming power accompanying gospel preaching is the work of
the Spirit energizing both the preacher and the hearer.” The preacher can
deliver the truth to the listener’s ear, but the Holy Spirit must take it to
the mind and heart. Aware of his
vulnerability, MacArthur states: “I just pray that my own church would be a
place of powerful preaching, and that we would never substitute anything for
the Spirit-energized preaching of Christ, His cross, and the Word of God.” No
amount of truth, if delivered without the Spirit’s ministry, can impact those
who hear it (4).
Principle Number Four:
It
was prayer based preaching
"And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness (Acts 4:29-31).
“Praying gives sense, brings wisdom, and broadens and
strengthens the mind. The prayer closet is a perfect schoolteacher and
schoolhouse for the preacher. Thought is not only brightened and clarified in
prayer, but thought is born in prayer” (E.M. Bounds).
One writers writes the following, "The most important preparation is the preparation of the preacher. That has to happen in relationship with God, and prayer is an important part of that love relationship. By prayer, we invite the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts and lives, to impress us with the truths of a passage. The sermon needs to be born of prayer and bathed in prayer. The Holy Spirit knows the needs of my listeners, and He will reveal to me the things that they need to hear. Then when we deliver the sermon, the Holy Spirit comes in response to our prayerful invitation and anoints us with power and freedom.
One writers writes the following, "The most important preparation is the preparation of the preacher. That has to happen in relationship with God, and prayer is an important part of that love relationship. By prayer, we invite the Holy Spirit to touch our hearts and lives, to impress us with the truths of a passage. The sermon needs to be born of prayer and bathed in prayer. The Holy Spirit knows the needs of my listeners, and He will reveal to me the things that they need to hear. Then when we deliver the sermon, the Holy Spirit comes in response to our prayerful invitation and anoints us with power and freedom.
Bounds puts it this way, “Prayer, in the preacher’s life, in the preacher’s study, in the preacher’s pulpit, must be a conspicuous and an all-impregnating force and an all coloring ingredient.” He continues, “The text, the sermon, should be the result of prayer. The study should be bathed in prayer, all its duties impregnated with prayer, its whole spirit the spirit of prayer”(5).
Principle Number Five:
It
was Signs and Wonders accompanied preaching
29 "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and
grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, 30 while
You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place
through the name of Your holy servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed,
the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled
with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness. 32 And the congregation of those who believed
were of one heart and soul ; and not one of them claimed that anything
belonging to him was his own, but all things were common
property to them. 33 And with great power the apostles
were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and
abundant grace was upon them all (Acts 5:29-33)
John Piper another favorite preacher
next to John MacArthur has some interesting thoughts on the place of signs and
wonders in the 21st century church. “Why Do Signs and Wonders Not
Compromise Preaching? The answer to
the question—why signs and wonders do not have to
compromise the power of preaching the gospel—goes like this: Acts 14:3 says that Paul and Barnabas
"remained a long time [in Iconium] speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore
witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by
their hands." This is utterly crucial: Signs and wonders are God's witness
to his Word. They are not in competition with the Word. They are not against
the Word. They are not over the Word. They are divine witnesses to the value
and truth and necessity and centrality of the Word. Here is the way I would sum up the
relationship between the gospel and signs and wonders: signs and wonders are
not the saving Word of grace; they are God's secondary testimony to the Word of
his grace. Signs and wonders do not save. They are not the power of God unto
salvation. They do not transform the heart—any more than music or art or drama
or magic shows. What changes the heart and saves the soul is the
self-authenticating glory of Christ seen in the message of the gospel (2 Corinthians 3:18–4:6). But
even if signs and wonders can't save the soul, they can, if God pleases,
shatter the shell of disinterest; they can shatter the shell of cynicism; they
can shatter the shell of false religion. Like every other good witness to the
Word of grace, they can help the fallen heart to fix its gaze on the gospel
where the soul-saving, self-authenticating glory of the Lord shines....“What is needed is some mighty demonstration
of the power of God, some enactment of the Almighty, that will compel people to
pay attention, and to look, and to listen . . . That is why I am urging you to
pray for this. When God acts, he can do more in a minute than man with his
organizing can do in fifty years. (Revival, pp. 121–122) [6]. May I add this as a disclaimer. I appreciate John's perspective, but I don't share it. I'm not Charismatic and therefore do not believe that the miraculous gifts (i.e., healings, tongues and prophecy) further serve a New Testament purpose. At that time in the church's history the Gospel needed supernatural authentication and so did it's messengers. Since that foundation has been laid, Signs and wonders are no longer necessary to authenticate or affirm God's message. It is the lifestyles of believers that add credibility to the preaching of the Gospel. In today's dispensation truly powerful preaching is accompanied by truly transformed lives. I sincerely believe that a Gospel transformed life although unable to save a soul can indeed, "shatter the shell of cynicism, shatter the shell of false religion and can help the fallen heart to fix its gaze on the Gospel where the soul-saving, self-authenticating glory of the Lord shines...."
Principle Number Six:
It
was Scripture saturated preaching
14 But Peter, taking his stand with the eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: "Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, let this be known to you and give heed to my words. 15 "For these men are not drunk, as you suppose, for it is only the third hour of the day ; 16 but this is what was spoken of through the prophet Joel : 17 'AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,' God says, 'THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND ; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS ; 18 EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy. 19 'AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE. 20 'THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. 21 'AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.'
……"For David says of Him, 'I SAW THE LORD ALWAYS
IN MY PRESENCE ; FOR HE IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, SO THAT I WILL NOT BE SHAKEN. 26
'THEREFORE MY HEART WAS GLAD AND MY TONGUE EXULTED ; MOREOVER MY FLESH ALSO
WILL LIVE IN HOPE ; 27 BECAUSE YOU WILL NOT ABANDON MY SOUL TO HADES, NOR ALLOW
YOUR HOLY ONE TO UNDERGO DECAY. 28 'YOU HAVE MADE KNOWN TO ME THE WAYS OF LIFE
; YOU WILL MAKE ME FULL OF GLADNESS WITH YOUR PRESENCE.' 29 "Brethren , I
may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and
was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 "And so, because he
was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF
HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection
of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER
DECAY. 32 "This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses.
33 "Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having
received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth
this which you both see and hear. 34 "For it was not David who ascended
into heaven, but he himself says : 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY
RIGHT HAND, 35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET (Acts
2:17-21,25-35).
19 "Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord ; 20 and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21 whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time. 22 "Moses said, 'THE LORD GOD WILL RAISE UP FOR YOU A PROPHET LIKE ME FROM YOUR BRETHREN ; TO HIM YOU SHALL GIVE HEED to everything He says to you. 23 'And it will be that every soul that does not heed that prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.' 24 "And likewise, all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and his successors onward, also announced these days. 25 "It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'AND IN YOUR SEED ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED (Acts 3:19-25).
The Apostle Peter in these two recorded sermons
references from all three types of Old Testament literature: The Law, Prophets
and Psalms. He was a diligent student of
Scripture and it reflected in his preaching.
The great American revivalist Jonathan Edwards held
the firm conviction that good preaching is saturated with Scripture. “Every
sermon must steadily, constantly and frequently quote the Word of God. This
truth will ensure that we stay on track as faithful ministers of the Word”(7).
"this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death" (Acts 2:23).
Principle Number Seven:
It was sovereignty oriented preaching
“For
truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy
servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along
with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur" (Acts 4:27-28).
“So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let
them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God" (Acts 5:38-39).
Roger Ellsworth writes, "God is to be the focus of our preaching. We are to preach the sovereign God who sovereignly gave His Word and sovereignly saves through that Word. The fact is that God is the hero of every Bible passage, But, what strange days these are! God is conspicuously absent from much of our preaching. Jesus feeding the 5000 has become more about the little boy than about the Lord. David slaying Goliath has become how to kill the giants in your life. Bishop John R. Moore has rightly said: "We've humanized God, deified man, and minimized sin."
If we truly understand and appreciate the sovereignty of God, we will preach…
- the Bible as the Word of the sovereign God.
- man as the creation of the sovereign God.
- sin as rebellion against the sovereign God.
- eternal destruction as the just judgment of the sovereign God.
- the incarnation as the sovereign God taking our humanity.
- the life of Christ as the sovereign God providing the perfect righteousness that He Himself demands.
- the cross as the atonement of the sovereign God.
- the resurrection as the sovereign God declaring His satisfaction with Christ.
- faith as the gift of the sovereign God.
- sanctification as the ongoing, sure work of the sovereign God.
- heaven as the victory of the sovereign God (8).
Principle Number Eight:
It was bold and courageous preaching
"When they had brought them, they stood them before the Council. The high priest questioned them, saying, “We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.......They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (Acts 5:27-29, 40-42)
David Dewan writes, "Courageous preaching has never been popular. Declaring the truth of
the Scriptures has never "won friends and influenced people." John R.
W. Stott said in his classic book on preaching, Between Two Worlds, that
we are called to the sacred task of biblical exposition and
commissioned to proclaim what God has said, not what human beings want
to hear. Many modern churchmen suffer from a malady called "itching
ears," which induces them to accumulate for themselves teachers to suit
their own likings (2 Tim 4:3). "But we have no liberty to scratch their
itch or pander to their likings," according to Stott.
The Bible is full of men who did not "pander" to what people wanted
to hear. There were many "lone voices" that spoke with power and
authority. We can also look in church history at men and women who
spoke with great courage to a dark and sinful world The Word of God is
our only source of inspiration, which is as it should be (9).
During the Italian campaign, Zwingli saw 6,000 Swiss
youth die, in the service of the Pope, at Marignon. He returned home
convinced that “selling blood for gold” was not only a waste of young
manhood through senseless violence, but also it was corrupting the men’s
souls through avarice, pride and greed. He observed that the entire
country was deteriorating spiritually and morally under the lure of gold
from foreign princes. Zwingli spoke out boldly: “The situation is very
serious, we are already contaminated. Religion is in danger of ceasing
amongst us. We despise God…” Zwingli’s outspoken preaching against
this lucrative profession cost him his pulpit in Glarus. Forced out of Glarus, he was able to secure a pastoral position at
Einsiedeln - where he continued to preach against mercenary service (10).
Principle Number Nine:
It was confident preaching
"Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus" (Acts 4:13).
It goes without saying that powerful preaching is confident preaching. The Greek word for confidence here is the word "parresia" and means, "freedom in speaking". These first century preachers weren't cocky or arrogant, in other words they weren't confident in their own ability or credentials. The text states that these men were uneducated and untrained meaning they didn't have the benefit of formal theological education, therefore their confidence (i.e., freedom to speak) could only be credited to the fact that they had been with Jesus. The commentator Barnes writes the following: "They gave evidence that they had seen him, been with him, heard him, and were convinced that he was the Messiah. We may learn here:
(1)
That if men wish to be successful in preaching, it must be based on
deep and thorough conviction of the truth of what they deliver.
(2)
they who preach should give evidence that they are acquainted with the
Lord Jesus Christ; that they have imbibed his spirit, pondered his
instructions, studied the evidences of his divine mission, and are
thoroughly convinced that he was from God.
(3) boldness and
success in the ministry, as well as in everything else, will depend far
more on honest, genuine, thorough conviction of the truth than on the
endowments of talent and learning, and the arts and skill of eloquence.
No man should attempt to preach without such a thorough conviction of
truth; and no man who has it will preach in vain.
(4) God often employs the ignorant and unlearned to confound the wise, 1 Corinthians 1:27-28.
But it is not by their ignorance. It was not the ignorance of Peter and
John that convinced the Sanhedrin. It was done in spite of their
ignorance. It was their boldness and their honest conviction of truth.
Besides, though not learned in the schools of the Jews, they had been
under a far more important training, under the personal direction of
Christ himself, for three years; I and now they were directly endowed by
the Holy Spirit with the power of speaking with tongues. Though not
taught in the schools, yet there was an important sense in which they
were not unlearned and ignorant men. Their example should not,
therefore, be held in favor of an unlearned ministry. Christ himself
expressed his opposition to an unlearned ministry by teaching them
himself, and then by bestowing on them miraculous endowments which no
learning at present can furnish. It may be remarked, further, that in
the single selection which he made of an apostle after his ascension to
heaven, when he came to choose one who had not been under his personal
teaching, he chose a learned man, the apostle Paul, and thus evinced his
purpose that there should be training or education in those who are
invested with the sacred office (11).
Principle Number Ten:
It was conscience pricking preaching
Principle Number Ten:
It was conscience pricking preaching
Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified (Acts 2:36).
The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified His servant Jesus, the one whom you delivered and disowned in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release Him.“But you disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked for a murderer to be granted to you (Acts 3:13-14).
if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, let
it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the
name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised
from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health (Acts 4:9-10).
Powerful preaching is NOT like a Shotgun, meaning "wide and general", rather powerful preaching is like a Lazer, "focused and direct". Powerful preaching is not afraid to point the appropriate finger like Nathan did to David and proclaim, "You are the man" (2 Sam 12:7).
The
Late Great C.H. Spurgeon preached the following on the Lords day in
1889 concerning Peter's first sermon in Acts 2. Pastor Spurgeon's words
have great application to preachers today, "May it ever be the preacher's one desire to win men to
repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ! May no
minister wish to be admired, but may he long that his Lord and Master
may be sought after! May none bewilder their people with the clouds of
theoretic philosophy, but refresh them with the rain of revealed truth?
Oh, that we could so preach that our hearers should be at once pricked
in their hearts, and so be led at once to believe in our Lord Jesus, and
immediately to come forward and confess their faith in his name" (12).
Principle Number Eleven:It was persuasive preaching
And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation! (Acts 2:40).
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in
order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord (Acts 3:19).
Powerful preaching doesn't take "NO" for an answer. Powerful preaching is not satisfied with JUST disseminating information, rather it seeks a decision. Larry Overstreet writes, "Vines and Shaddix are examples of modern homileticians who identify that
the motive of biblical preaching is "to see people respond positively
to God's Word," the "eliciting of behavioral change," and that "every
sermon must be prepared and delivered with the intent of persuading
people to say yes to the message" .
In closing, for years I've heard about the desire to see real revival in America. Both individuals and groups have prayed feverishly for God to pour out revival on this needy nation, yet revival has not come. I believe the reason revival has NOT broken forth is NOT because God is not willing but because the conduit of revival is MIA. I believe that conduit is preaching, not just any ole preaching, but the kind of powerful preaching spoken of in this article. Much Preaching today is nothing more than aimless dialogue that could never spark real revival, the kind of revival experienced in the first Great Awakening.
Shawn Chancellor has hit the nail on the head, "Perhaps if we sought and practiced powerful preaching, preaching the way men of old preached today we could persuade people as they did, convert and convict people as they did. Perhaps if we thought less of modern trends and more of scriptural examples we would see the power of preaching in our lives and churches today"(14).
For His Glory,
Todd
Footnotes:
1. Founder's Journal article, #65, summer 2006, by Fred A. Malone
2. From the web site of Ken Collins in an article entitled, "What does it mean to do thingss
in Jesus' name".
3. From the blog of Shawn Chancellor, Faith and reason in the Modern world", Feb 2011.
4. From the blog, Expository thoughts, an article, The role of he Holy Spirit and preaching, by Caleb Kolstad, Sept 27th, 2011.
5. From the website, Ministry, international journal for Pastors, this article written by Derek Morris entitled, Prayer saturated preaching, July, 2009.
6. A sermon by Pastor John Piper, entitled, How signs and wonders helped add multitudes to the Lord, (Acts 5:12-16). Preached on Feb 17th, 1991. www.desiringGod.org.
7. From the website, songtime.com. This article written by Steve Cornell, entitled, Jonathan Edwards on the attributes of good preaching.
8. An article written by Roger Ellsworth entitled, The sovereignty of God and pastoral ministry, winter 2003 (Founder's Journal).
9. From an article written by David Dewan, entitled, Courageous preaching. Published in the online magazine, "The Arminian", a publication of the fundamental Wesleyan society, (vol 22, issue 1, Spring 2004).
10. From the website, "Christianhistorymagazine.org", entitled, "Zwingli: Father of teh Swiss reformation",(issue 4).
11. From the Barnes commentary on Acts.
12. A sermon by C.H. Spurgeon from Acts 2 in 1889, at Metropolitan Tabernacle, London.
13. From the blog of Shawn Chancellor, Faith and reason in the Modern world", Feb 2011
14. ibid.
