The kind of preaching that God wants
There are many people in the world that have their own opinions on what kind of preaching they desire, but the real question is what kind of preaching does God want? There are many in the religious world who are not that concerned about wanting to know how God wants it done because we live in time where people just want feel good about the message they hear and they don’t want to hear how they need to change things in their lives to be right with God. Of course, this is not a new problem because this idea has always been around. For instance notice what,
Isaiah 30:8 Now go,
write it before them on a tablet, And note it on a scroll, That it may be for
time to come, Forever and ever: 9
That this is a rebellious people, Lying children, Children who will
not hear the law of the LORD; 10
Who say to the seers, "Do not see," And to the prophets, "Do not
prophesy to us right things; Speak to us smooth things, prophesy deceits. 11 Get out of the way, Turn aside
from the path, Cause the Holy One of
These people would rather have lies told to them than the truth and this is the same problem that many are guilty of today. We also have example of this in the NT and comes as warning to Timothy from Paul.
2 Timothy 4:1 I charge
you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the
living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in
season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering
and teaching. 3 For the time
will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own
desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for
themselves teachers; 4 and
they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to
fables. 5 But you be watchful
in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your
ministry.
Again as you read in
verses 3 and 4 sometimes people don’t want God’s truth taught, instead they
want the preacher to preach sermons that will tickle their ears even if what
they are preaching will lead many down the wide road that leads to destruction.
So as Christians we must
stop asking what we desire to hear preached and instead we need to open up our
Bibles and find out what God wants preachers to preach. A great place to begin
is by reading 1 and 2 Timothy because Paul gives a great deal of instruction to
Timothy on what he should preach and how he should live his life by what he
preaches.
The first thing we see
Paul telling Timothy in our passage we just read was to preach the Word of God
because it will convince, rebuke and exhort Christians to stay the course with God’s
doctrine. God’s Word should be the main thing that is taught. Those preachers
who get up and tell stories and only briefly mention any Scriptures are
certainly not preaching the Word. When preachers do it their way instead of
God’s way it causes congregations to lose respect for God Word and it opens the
door false doctrines to enter in. This is why Paul warns Timothy that if the
Word is not taught then people will go astray. In fact, Paul tells Timothy at
lest 12 times in his letters for him to keep the doctrine and teach other to
keep the doctrine of God.
1 Timothy 4:6 If you instruct the brethren in these things,
you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith
and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed.
A good minister is one
that instructs the brethren with the Word of God. When this is done, this will
help equip the saints with what they need to hear and not necessarily what they
want to hear. God wants a preacher who will convict people of sin through His
Word, so their hearts will be pricked
and they will realize that they need to repent and change their ways. This is
not something that a preacher enjoys doing, but if he is preaching the whole
council of God, he will preach on topics that will eventually touch everyone
because we all have our different weaknesses and strengths and God’s Word
covers them all as Peter says,
2 Peter 1:2 Grace
and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
Lord, 3 as His divine
power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness,
through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue
Paul gives a great
example of this in,
2 Corinthians 7:8 For
even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it; though I did
regret it. For I perceive that the same epistle made you sorry, though only for
a while. 9 Now I rejoice, not
that you were made sorry, but that your sorrow led to repentance. For you were
made sorry in a godly manner, that you might suffer loss from us in
nothing. 10 For godly sorrow
produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the
sorrow of the world produces death. 11
For observe this very thing, that you sorrowed in a godly manner: What
diligence it produced in you, what clearing of yourselves, what indignation,
what fear, what vehement desire, what zeal, what vindication!
In all things you proved yourselves to be clear in this matter.
Notice, Paul took no
personal satisfaction in pointing out the sin these people were guilty of, but
at the same time he also rejoiced knowing that the words he said, which came
from God caused these people to be lead to repentance and that is the same
attitude that all preachers should have.
Another thing we can
learn about doctrinal preaching is that should be preached in such a way that
everyone can understand what you are talking about. Some preachers like to show
how intelligent they are and their lessons will be full of difficult terms and
terminology that most people cannot follow. I remember talking to a Christian
lady once who told me about how they had preacher once that could speak
beautifully, but the problem was he kept speaking over everyone’s head and they
would get lost in his message because he used so many words that most had not
heard of and he used them as if everyone understood them. God doesn’t want His Word
preached this way because He wants people to understand what His Word is saying
and He wants it to be clear and plain.
How many times have you
heard lesson preached where the preacher sounds more like a politician than a
preacher? I know I have. There has been some lesson that I have listened to
where the sermon had a title, but the lesson preached was so disorganized that
by the time the preacher got finished with his lesson I didn’t have a clue what
it was about just like a politician who says a lot but yet says nothing.
Again this is not the
kind of preaching that God wants for His people because this kind of preaching
even if it uses Scriptures is so confusing and undefined that it doesn’t do
anybody any good and will cause you to walk away feeling empty. So God wants
preachers to preach the Word and to do it plainly with clarity.
Another thing we learn
about God’s doctrine is that is to be taught with love for the brethren. If a
preacher’s main goal is to belittle and make people feel low, then they have
the wrong attitude. God wants preachers who have love for the God’s people and
who wants them to be right with God. They should not gloat in the sins of
others instead they should rejoice in the righteousness of others. When a
preacher speak out of love for a person’s soul, he is going to do his best to
reach that person at their level just as Paul did.
1 Corinthians 9:19 For
though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that
I might win the more; 20 and
to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under
the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the
law; 21 to those who are without
law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward
Christ), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as weak,
that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I
might by all means save some. 23
Now this I do for the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.
Now Paul is not saying that
he would engage in sinful activates to reach these people, but that he would
relate with them and come down to their level so that he might get them to
listen to the Gospel. Again this shows how a preacher should preach with love
for the lost and for the brethren.
Another problem some preachers
have is they want to jump on a hobby horse and they want to ride it until it
dies. It may be the case what they are pounding on needs to be taught, however
it should not be the main focus of every message. When someone does this and
even if they use lots of Scripture and it’s simply to understand it can turn
into something that God doesn’t want because God wants all of His word preached
and not just one part of it. I believe this shows lack of love on the preacher’s
part since he is neglecting other important issues that need to be preached
about.
So God wants a preacher
who preaches out of love for the brethren and who preaches the whole council of
God.
Another thing we learn
about what kind of preaching God wants is that he wants preachers to preach
things that please God and not man. Now this can be a challenging task for some
preachers because some are afraid to preach the whole truth especially if they
are concerned about losing their job. Others have fear of offending someone and
so they will tread in Gods’ Word lightly so they don’t offend.
The first thing preachers
need realize is that if they offend someone while preaching the truth then they
didn’t offend that person, God’s Word did. Preachers and teachers need to
realize that we are vessel for God’s Word and if we don’t preach or teach it
than we are neglecting our duty. Notice what Paul says about this in,
Galatians 1:6 I marvel
that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of
Christ, to a different gospel, 7
which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert
the gospel of Christ. 8 But
even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what
we have preached to you, let him be accursed.
9 As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone
preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be
accursed. 10 ¶ For do I
now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased
men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
11 ¶ But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel
which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man,
nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus
Christ.
Paul emphasizes twice
that there is only one doctrine and we must not teach another, but he also is
teaching us that that God’s Word cannot be watered down to please other people.
This is area that all preachers and teachers need to understand. We don’t preach
to people for the sole purpose of being pleasing to them, instead we must be
bold and preach the Word of God. As Jesus told His disciples,
Matthew 10:27
Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the
ear, preach on the housetops. 28
"And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But
rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. 29 "Are not two sparrows sold
for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your
Father's will. 30 "But
the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 "Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than
many sparrows.
We can see that His
disciples took this advice to heart because when Peter and John were arrested
for preaching about Jesus and they Jews threaten them they said,
Acts 4:19
"Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to
God, you judge. 20 "For
we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard."
This is the attitude that
every preacher and teacher should have. We have to learn to set aside our own
personal thoughts and desires and simply preach the truth. We should never
avoid preaching against things that we are struggling with. I can tell you there
has been lessons that I have preached that probably stepped harder on my toes
than it did anybody else.
Preachers and teachers
must not avoid talking about those things that difficult for people to hear. It
is very tempting to avoid difficult and controversial topics that affect many
people in one way or another and I can tell you when I preached sermons like
this it made me uneasy because I certainly don’t enjoy preaching on difficult controversial topics, but its
necessary if all God’s Word is going to be preached.
1 Peter 4:11 If
anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers,
let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things
God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the
dominion forever and ever. Amen.
How can we follow what
Peter has said here if we are not willing to speak all of God’s Word? You
cannot. That’s why it’s so important for all of God’s Word to be preached and
it should not be mixed with false doctrine.
One last point I want to
make about what kind of preaching God wants is that he wants those who preach
His word to live by what they preach because they are to be example of holy
living as Paul told Timothy.
1 Timothy 4:12 Let no
one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct,
in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.
If the preacher isn’t
living his life according to God’s Word, yet he teaches others that they must
then they are no better than the Pharisees of Jesus time because that is
exactly what they were guilty of.
Matthew 23:1 Then
Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, 2 saying: "The scribes and
the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3
"Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do,
but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. 4 "For they bind heavy
burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves
will not move them with one of their fingers. 5 "But all their works they
do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the
borders of their garments. 6
"They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the
synagogues, 7 "greetings
in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, 'Rabbi, Rabbi.'
It not going to take long before people figure out if the preacher is living by his preaching and when they do his words become less effective because if he isn’t living by them then people are going to start to think that they don’t have to live by them. That is why it important that preachers practice what they preach. I read a story that illustrates this and it goes like this,
A preacher presented a sermon on honesty one Sunday. On Monday he took the bus to get to his office. He paid the fare, and the bus driver gave him back too much change. During the rest of the journey the preacher was rationalizing how God had provided him some extra money he needed for the week.
But, he just couldn’t live with himself, so before he got off the bus he said to the driver, “You’ve made a mistake. You’ve given me too much change.” And he preceded to give him back the extra money. The driver smiled said, “There was no mistake. I was at your church yesterday and heard you preach on honesty. So I decided to see if you practiced what you preached.”
If this preacher had not been honest then this man would have lost respect for this preacher and either stop going to church or stop listening to what this man had to say. Since he was honest and practiced what he preached this bus driver would have gained a deeper respect for the preacher and would learn from him that he does practice what he preaches and that he should do the same.
This is not just a lesson for preachers and teachers, but it also a lesson for every Christian because in one way or another we are all representing God in our lives and if we call ourselves Christians then we must also be willing to live like Christians so that we can all be good examples to those around us and so that people can see that we are practicing what we preach.
In conclusion, the kind of preaching that God wants is preaching that comes from His Word and He want all of His word preached. He wants it preached with clarity and by people who are motivated by love for the lost and for the brethren. He wants preaching that is pleasing to Him and that is not watered down to please others. Finally, he wants those who preach His Word to live by it and to be good examples to others.