More Powerful Preaching

A panel discussion on the elements of powerful.

A panel discussion

Presiding Chairman: F. G. Clifford

Panel Personnel:

IntroductionJ. A. Buckwalter

Moderator—W. R. Beach

R. A. Anderson

H. W. Kibble

C. E. Bradford

G. D. King

E. E. Cleveland

R. H. Pierson

M. K. Eckenroth

C. A. Reeves

Edward Heppenstall

H. J. Westphal

J. A. BUCKWALTER: "A little girl after her first few weeks at school asked her teacher: 'Do I know as much now as I don't know?' The poor little dear did not know that she would never reach that attainment. None of us knows all there is to know about preaching, and we are painfully aware of the contrast between the power of the gos­pel of God, and the weakness of much of our presentation.

"'The dogmas of the quiet past,' Abra­ham Lincoln once said, 'are inadequate for the stormy present.' If that is true of the dogmas of the state, how much more is it true of the preaching of the gospel? The preaching of the past is not adequate for the hour to which we have come today. There must be a growing awareness of our need for greater preaching. The Bible con­tains the great cardinal principles that un­derlie more powerful preaching. And these are re-emphasized in the writings of the messenger of the Lord.

"The first prerequisite for more power­ful preaching is more dependence upon the Spirit of God. Paul declared that his preaching was 'in demonstration of the Spirit and of power' (1 Cor. 2:4). It was not a fanciful interpretation of human philosophy or wisdom. It centered in asso­ciation and relationship with God's Spirit.

"The indwelling Spirit of the hying God is the secret of the preacher's power. 'God can teach you more in one moment by His Holy Spirit than you can learn from the great men of the earth.'—Testimonies to Ministers, p. 119. All human philosophies are wholly inadequate for powerful preach­ing. Only the religion that comes from God can lead to God. When it comes to the ministry 'the same spirit that dwelt in Christ,' we are told in The Acts of the Apostles, page 365, 'is to be the source of their knowledge and the secret of their power.' Powerful preaching of the Word of God comes from the same spirit that dwelt in Jesus. This is the secret of power­ful preaching. Again we are told: 'The secret of success is the union of divine power with human effort.'--Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 509.

"The secret of powerful preaching, there­fore, calls for more communion with Christ because that is the way we achieve union with the divine power of the Spirit of God. A Western rancher, a big, tall, strapping fellow, went to ask for a preacher for his local church. The district superintendent looked up into his face and said: 'I suppose you want a big man.' To which the rancher replied: 'Well, I don't care about his size; all we want is when he is on his knees we would like to have him reach heaven.' More communion with God will sanctify our ministry with the merit of Christ.

"More powerful preaching calls for more uplifting of the Christ. We are to take hold of the hand of Jesus Christ and the hand of our fellow men for whom we are working, and bring them together. The apostolic concept of preaching was to lift up Jesus. In 1 Timothy 2:5 the apostle Paul declared that he was 'ordained a preacher' of the 'one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.' The ordained preacher is to uplift Christ and set Him before men as the one who unites human and divine love and brings humanity into contact with divinity—into union with divinity. Power­ful preaching is 'not in the art of display, but in lifting up Christ, the sin-pardoning Redeemer.'—Testimonies, vol. 9, p. 142. One of the Christian leaders of the past once observed: 'Today, I preached Bernard and all the scholars came up and praised me; yesterday, I preached Christ and all the sinners came up and thanked me.'

"More earnest study of the Word of God is a vital need in the ministry. Biblical preaching is the only true preaching. To lecture on philosophy and all that sort of thing is not preaching. In Prophets and Kings we are told: 'The words of the Bible, and the Bible alone, should be heard from the pulpit.'—Page 626. We are to grap­ple with the great themes of the Word of God. There is too much 'cheap fodder' brought into many of our sermons. Several of our physicians have spoken to me on this point. One doctor said to me: 'Elder, I go to church Sabbath after Sabbath, and I never find anything that can help my soul. Our minister is a good man, but he is loaded down with promotion and does not study to bring us the great things from God's Word.' What a tragedy!

"I remember hearing how a man down in the old Southland once introduced a preacher. He said: 'We are glad to have our brother preach to us this morning. He is well reversed in the Scriptures.' There is too much 'reversed' preaching in the pul­pit today. We need to put our whole heart into searching the Scriptures, and a new power will attend our preaching of the Word of God.

"More powerful preaching calls for more love for souls. We need to feel more of the burden of lost humanity resting upon us. The preacher needs to identify himself with his people. Charles Kingsley once in­troduced his sermon by saying: 'Here we are again to talk about what is really going on in your soul and mine.' He identified himself with his people and he poured out a heart of love and compassion that won them to Christ. Every minister could well test the value of his Sabbath morning ser­mon by asking himself: 'Did my people meet God in my service this morning?' This is the prime purpose of preaching. The one great fundamental fact of Christ's min­istry as described in The Desire of Ages, page 678, Was that 'during every hour of Christ's sojourn upon the earth, the love of God was flowing from Him in irrepress­ible streams. All who are imbued with His Spirit will love as He loved.' Jesus' love was imparted to everyone with whom He came in contact. His was the overwhelm­ing, irrepressible love of eternity reaching out to His fellow men. When we as min­isters love as Jesus Christ loved, there will be more powerful preaching.

"Another principle of more powerful preaching is more surrender of self. The apostle Paul revealed his love for his fellow men and the attitude of the minister of Christ as he ever seeks to uplift the Lord Jesus. The great goal of the ministry he declared to be 'that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus' (Col. 1:28). To this end he could say of apostolic preaching: Tor we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord' (2 Cor. 4:5).

"Preaching is a revelation of God through human personality. It is not a revelation of self under the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. A brother who was pray­ing for a minister who was about to deliver the message at the morning worship said: 'Lord, we thank Thee for our brother; now please blot him out.' How important it is to realize that no man can glorify Christ and himself at the same time. Self-renuncia­tion is a factor in more powerful preaching.

"We also need more clarity and fervency in the preaching of the Word of God. We need to make our explanations clear and forceful. The great truths in our sermons should stand out like mileposts, clear and positive. Every outline of a sermon should provide four things: I. Definition, 2. De­velopment, 3. Direction, 4. Destination. Clarity and definiteness in outlining ser­mons will help to make the essential points stand out clearly. One preacher once prayed: 'Lord, give me learning enough to preach plain enough.' The kind of learn­ing imparted by the grace and the Spirit of God will enable us to make truths stand out so plainly that the uneducated hearers can know the great essentials of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, and be warmed by the great heart of God's matchless love. This, too, is an essential factor in more powerful preaching.

"Every time you preach, your mind is on parade and every time you preach, your heart is revealed. The fervency that trans­forms preaching into a living experience is not in the mouth, important as that may be; it is not in the words of the preacher's vocabulary, important as they are; it is found in the thought, in the feeling of the soul of the speaker. When a man gets on fire for God, as John Wesley said, 'people will come to see him burn.'

. . heart to heart ye will not sway and fashion, Save in your heart you will feel it first. . .

All unrefreshed the soul still sickens,

Till from the soul itself the fountain burst!'

"So, as we come to the pulpit to proclaim the words of the Eternal God, let us re­member four things: 1. What?—our subject. 2. For whom?—our God. 3. To whom?—our people. 4. What for?—our purpose in the sermon. We are ever to win and hold men and women for the Lord Jesus Christ, and we must remember that only God can make a powerful preacher."

THE MODERATOR thanked Brother Buck-waiter, then asked: "Just what is more powerful preaching? How can we define more powerful preaching?"

G. D. KING: "Well, that is a hard ques­tion, but I have a quotation here from Gospel Workers, page 61, that I think does crystallize it: 'Men in whose hearts Christ is formed, "the hope of glory," and who with lips touched with holy fire will "preach the word."' How can we judge the power of preaching? We could say by the results. In Evangelism page 700 we read: 'The truth, the Word of God, is as a fire in their bones, filling them with a burning desire to enlighten those who sit in darkness. Many, even among the unedu­cated, now proclaim the words of the Lord. Children are impelled by the Spirit to go forth and declare the message from heaven. The Spirit is poured out upon all who will yield to its promptings, and casting off all man's machinery, his binding rules and cautious methods, they will declare the truth with the might of the Spirit's power. Multitudes will receive the faith and join the armies of the Lord.'"

EDWARD HEPPENSTALL: "What constitutes a great preacher? I think a man should have a sense of claim on human hearts when he stands up to speak. This is not achieved by shouting, nor is he a man who is concerned with his notes. His people are more important to him than his notes. How does a preacher come to have this sense of claim? We all know very well that we can stand up sometimes and beat the air, but at the end of the sermon we realize that we simply haven't communicated any­thing to the hearts of the people. When a man presents the truth it must have become to him more than a set of ideas. A powerful preacher is the one who has the ability to actually reproduce the truth that he is pro­claiming. This cannot be done by preach­ing other men's sermons—no matter how excellent they may be. This merely re­produces words, not a living truth. I realize that we cannot become completely original; there is no such thing. Sometimes I think I have an original idea and then a few months or years later I come across some­body who has had the same thought. But we do need a deeper, more profound, study of the Word of God. One will never feel the sense of claim unless the truths he studies have claimed him."

C. A. REEVES: "Every great reform move­ment and every great revival in the history of the church have been brought about through preaching that has been Bible cen­tered. True preaching will, of course, be filled with the Spirit of the Scriptures. I am sure all of us desire the reputation that Seventh-day Adventist preachers of a few decades ago had when they were known as real students of the Bible. We should pre­pare our spiritual treatment as skillfully as a medical doctor plans for his patients. I would like to suggest that one of the great­est incentives and one of the best moves to encourage stronger preaching, more power­ful preaching, would be for us all to take out our Greek Testaments and pursue a careful analysis of the New Testament. Per­haps we could have a reading course that consisted of the Greek Testament alone. Such a probing would bring a new content into our preaching that would rejoice the hearts of our congregations."

H. W. KIBBLE: "It has been well said by the messenger of the Lord that a revival of true godliness among us is the greatest and most urgent of all our needs. More victory in the preacher's life would mean more power in his preaching. Ministers must be converted men, consecrated men, dedicated to their sacred task of preaching this everlasting gospel. They must dem­onstrate by their lives that which they pro­claim from the pulpit. They must be aflame with holy fire, for the gospel food is of little use when served cold. The preacher's heart must be overflowing with the richness of the Word of God. It takes a man to roll a wheelbarrow; it takes steam to move a steamboat; it takes gasoline to move an automobile; it takes electricity to move a locomotive; and it takes the Spirit of God to move the church, to move the hearts of men."

R. H. PIERSON: "Paul said, 'Those things . . . seen in me, do.' One version says: 'Be imitators of me.' Of the Saviour, the servant of the Lord said: 'What He taught, He lived. . . . What He taught, He was.' It was this that gave His preaching power. It seems to me that one of the most important things in our preaching is that our message must first have a living connection in our own experience. We must be what we desire to have others be. Then we may have a powerful ministry."

H. J. WESTPHAL: "The more Christlike we are, the more we will produce. Christ's method alone will give true success in reach­ing the people. The Saviour mingled with men as one who desired their good. He showed His sympathy for them, ministered to their needs, and won their confidence. Then He bade them: 'Follow me!' It would be a mistake to preach first, and then hope that our lives will drag the people along with us.

"It might be said that Christ was the greatest strategist who has ever lived upon this earth. Military strategists of old usually sought for the weak spot in the enemy forces, then drove a wedge into it, separated them into groups, and then picked them off one by one. And that was the strategy of our Lord. He came close to the individ­ual. Let us read it: 'Our Saviour went from house to house, healing the sick, comforting the mourners, soothing the afflicted, speak­ing peace to the disconsolate. He took the little children in His arms and blessed them and spoke words of hope and comfort to the weary mothers. With unfailing tender­ness and gentleness, He met every form of human woe and affliction.' In other words, He searched for the tender spot in humanity and drove His wedge of love there. Yes, of course, Christ preached some great sermons, but largely His ministry was a demonstration of love. And when a min­ister demonstrates this love by visiting the sick and comforting the mourners, soothing the afflicted and speaking peace to the disconsolate, bringing comfort and hope to the weary mothers, taking chil­dren in his arms and loving them—when a minister does that, though he may not be a great public speaker, he will have power in his life and in his preaching."

J. L. SHULER: "I have a suggestion on how to be a powerful preacher. In Acts 18:24-28 we read that Apollos mightily convinced the Jews. Why? Because he was mighty in the Scriptures. Powerful preach­ing is preaching that moves people along the line that God wants them to move. Powerful preaching is preaching that lodges the all-powerful Word of God in people's hearts. Powerful preaching is what gives the people what they need most, rather than what they might like the best."

R. A. ANDERSON: "Brother Moderator, I notice what the apostle says: 'We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.' There is the secret, I believe, of powerful preaching. How was he able to do this? Because he had seen Christ. He lived in the memory of that. I note these significant words by the messenger of the Lord written back in 1892, at the very time when she was writing such books as The Life of Christ (or rewriting it), The Desire of Ages, Thoughts From the Mount of Blessing, and Steps to Christ. There is a statement in one of the letters: 'I know not how to speak or trace with pen the large subjects of the atoning sacrifice. I know not how to present subjects in the living power in which they stand before me.' Then she adds this thought: 'I tremble for fear lest I shall belittle the great plan of salvation by cheap words.'

"If one chosen of the Lord to pen such messages as she wrote, trembled for fear of using cheap words, it should drive every minister to his knees to ask God to give him words with the right ring and thus help him to present Christ in all His beauty.

"Powerful preaching is not merely clever words, but making truth stand out before people so that they can grasp it; not preaching ourselves but preaching Christ Jesus the Lord. Paul says: 'We preach Christ,' then he adds one more word—'crucified.' To enable people to see a cru­cified and risen Saviour, the One who sends forth His Spirit as the Comforter into hearts that they may have victory, this is powerful preaching. 'With what burning language' the apostles 'clothed their ideas as they bore witness for Him!'—The Acts of the Apostles, p. 46. Those just heralds of the cross proclaimed the truth with 'burning language' because it was the Spirit of God who spoke through them."

MODERATOR: "Thank you, Brother An­derson. Now we have mentioned clarity in our expression, the choice of words and many other things, but I'd like to ask someone on the panel, Is there any relation­ship between powerful preaching and cor­rect preparation? Would there be any re­lationship there? For instance, How much time do you men spend on sermon prepara­tion?"

FROM THE FLOOR: "It takes a lifetime—years of background and preparation." The average time for the actual preparation seemed to be between twenty and thirty hours. One suggested that we have need for more training in the techniques of ser­mon preparation. Perhaps a portion of our institute time could profitably be used in the study of better methods of sermon organization.

E. E. CLEVELAND felt that making a sermon Christ centered and using the love of and for Christ in the appeal, would do much toward more effective preaching.

H. W. KIBBLE added the thought that much depends upon our sermons being beamed to meet the peculiar needs of the people of that hour. "A sermon should solve some problem for the people in the congregation," he said. "Have you noticed that when Peter preached at Pentecost he preached to the needs of the people? They were pricked in their hearts, and multitudes were moved, and said, 'What shall we do?' John the Baptist, by Jordan, preached of the sins of the people and called them to repentance, and they cried out: 'What shall we do?' Elijah on Mount Cannel exalted the true God, called the people for a deci­sion, and they were moved to come over on the Lord's side and acknowledge the true God. Jonah when he went to Nineveh cried out and preached with such earnestness, impressing the need for repentance so fer­vently that the whole city fell upon their knees. Daniel before Nebuchadnezzar preached to meet the particular need of the moment. The king was worried about the hereafter. Daniel explained the mean­ing of the image down to the coming of Christ; it was a powerful presentation to a one-man audience. The results—a king bowed in worship to the true God. Beaming our messages to the needs of the people will bring power to our ministry."

M. K. ECKENROTH: "It has been said: 'If the pulpit is on fire, and the man is on fire, the people will come to see him burn.' I think it is still apropos. You remember the example of Abraham when he took Isaac to sacrifice. As they were going up the side of Mount Moriah, Isaac said: 'Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb?' We have a lot of fire, a lot of wood, a lot of the institutional structure and the skel­etal framework, but where is the Lamb? If you have fire, and still do not have the Lamb, you do not have a sacrifice. Christ came not to reveal the gospel, He is the gospel. Jesus Christ and the preaching of Him, the wonderful truth of righteousness by faith, and all of its kindred truths, will produce powerful preaching.

"Now, on this question of preaching a Christ-centered message—a Christ-centered sermon. We had a whole course in the Seminary on this theme and it took months to get through. We cannot give it here in a few minutes. But the Christ-centered ser­mon as it is outlined in the Spirit of proph­ecy certainly must include seven very funda­mental facts. The messenger of the Lord says they must be included in every sermon we preach. They are listed in the book Evangelism. You will notice they are all related—the love of God, conversion, the cross, .practical godliness, the second com­ing of Christ, a corner for children (prob­ably one of the hard ones to get into every sermon), and finally the appeal. If you get those seven points into your sermon, you are bound to have a Christ-centered sermon. You can't miss."

G. D. KING: "Mr. Moderator, we prob­ably all think our preaching is fairly good, at least it would be human to think so. Per­haps, though, we can recognize that there may be some lack of quality and depth in our preaching. I think it is a reflection, to some extent, of the times in which we live. We are living in a very superficial age and people are superficial in their appreciation. I suppose it would be true to say that never has the church been so magnificently equipped with all kinds of aids and gadgets as it is today. I am for all the visual aids and all the helps we can get, but brethren, let us watch particularly that in the use of gad­gets we are not letting the gadgets become our master rather than our aid.

"I want to tell you one experience. When I was a student in college, Dinsdale Young, seventy-three years of age, was preaching in London. It was at the time when Modern­ism was rife and people were losing their hold on the Word of God. We used to go to Westminster Hall to hear Dinsdale Young preach. Other churches were almost empty, but he kept the Westminster Hall full, mainly of young people, because he was a powerful preacher under the Spirit of God and by the Word. He had no gadgets. He was a master of the Holy Scriptures. There was the secret of his power."

J. A. BUCKWALTER: "If you will allow me, I would like to come back for a moment to the Christ-centered preaching. We often hear it said that there are some preachers to whom you listen, there are some to whom you cannot listen, but the real test of preaching is whether you get the people to listen to Christ. If your sermon helps them to listen to Christ and His gospel, and it has the science of salvation, it is Christ centered. Coming back to this ques­tion about the preparation of a sermon, I would like to inject this thought. I think it is very great folly for men to sit down and try to prepare a sermon all in one sitting. There ought to be several times at least during the week in which they are giving thought and meditation to their Sabbath morning sermon. A crowded program dur­ing the week, allowing little or no time for spiritual study, leaves the heart and mind thin and shallow."

R. H. PIERSON: "I would like to say a word about the content of our preaching. It seems to me that if we are going to have powerful preaching and present the mes­sage in a powerful way, we ought to avoid speculative preaching. We would better spend our time on some of the themes that will help us to be prepared for the tre­mendous events that are just before us. We need to remember that our preaching is to convict sinners and to comfort and counsel saints. We must keep in mind both soul conquest and soul conservation, and if we are going to be able to convict sinners with our preaching, and if we are going to be able to hold those who have already made their decision for the Lord, our preaching will follow deeply into the Word of God. All our preaching should be with love; however, if we are not careful, we can get over so far on the side of love that we fail to point out sin. Isaiah admonished: 'Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their .. . sins.' I believe that if we are going to get ready a people for the coming of Jesus, we must clearly, yet with compassion and love, point out sin in the lives of individuals. This will ensure powerful preaching with eternal re­sults."

E. E. CLEVELAND: "Just a minute, please. I would like to go back to the question raised from the floor, because I think it is very vital—it was about allowing a congested, crowded program to strangle our spiritual preaching power. I pastored eight churches at one time; had to raise Ingathering goals and everything else, but, breth­ren, I refused to allow anything to interfere with my running a twelve-week evangelistic campaign and keeping up my own personal preaching. I think that if we delegate more authority to others, it will give the minister more opportunity for meditation, study, and personal visitation that is being denied to some. We cannot let down on the world's programs. So let us enlist our capa­ble laymen to share the load.

"Here is a practical suggestion of a dif­ferent nature; how to rescue a flat sermon in the middle of the sermon. I developed a little technique of my own and I call it: 'Pray while you preach.' Brethren, I think of some sermons that were headed nowhere, not because I didn't prepare them but be­cause they just weren't catching fire while I was preaching. In the middle of such a sermon, I just breathe a little prayer to the Lord: 'Power, Lord, power.' The people think I am resting, but I am praying.

That, my friends, has rescued many a ser­mon of mine. Only as God gives us the power can we have powerful preaching." MODERATOR: "Now that was fifty seconds, and it was worth it."

R. A. ANDERSON: "Mr. Moderator, I'd just like to make a little observation. I do not believe that John the Baptist preached simple sermons, and I'm sure Peter didn't preach a simple sermon on the day of Pentecost. They were preaching out of a full heart. I don't know that Peter spent twenty hours in preparation for that particular sermon. He spent several years. He spent many years, and that is what makes a powerful sermon. It must flow out of the life. 'It takes twenty years to make a sermon,' says E. M. Bounds, 'because it takes twenty years to make a man.' If the sermon is not the outffowing of a life it will never be powerful, no matter how simple or how complex it may be. But if it is the outflowing of a sacrificial life, it can be the deepest sermon you ever listened to, and it can be powerful. It may be on a simple theme, but sermons that are powerful are never simple. They come out of the depths of men's souls."

MODERATOR: "And they are fruitful, aren't they?"

F. F. Busch (from the floor): "I would like to mention one or two things that I have found very helpful to me, and on which I have convictions on the matter of preaching. Nothing has been said here this morning about the advantage and superior­ity of expository preaching, but I believe that our preaching as pastors is going to become more powerful, our people are go­ing to be more spiritually fed, and there will be more worship in our services if our preaching is expository. I think our students in college often get the wrong im­pression about preaching, because they hear a great many sparkling, brilliant speakers. I am not so sure that they hear very much really sound, expository preach­ing of the Word as it ought to be preached in Sabbath morning services.

"The second thing that I think we often notice in our churches is that our ministers, because of certain evangelistic methods, have lapsed into the method of presenting doctrinal subjects by proof texts. The preacher will take a text and use only the most obvious and common thoughts that can be derived from it. This is because very often our preaching is mostly topical preaching. I believe that we need to do more textual preaching, or expository preaching. And I find that in doing this, there are a few rules that, if followed, are very rewarding.

"First, in preparing a textual sermon, I try to study what is the real thought and meaning of the text. Second, How does this text reveal Christ? Third, Is the gospel in­vitation to a needy soul in this text? I do not consult commentaries or books or anything else until first of all I have spent consider­able time, possibly hours, meditating and studying that text, noting all of its implica­tions. Not until I have first of all found to my own satisfaction a sketchy, broad out­line, do I go to commentaries. This, I think, has enabled me to preach some orig­inal sermons on all themes, using texts that are common, but bringing from them thoughts both new and old.

"Not long ago I completed a series of eight Sabbath-morning sermons on the gospel invitation of Matthew 11:28-30. This proved a most rewarding experience to me, and, I believe, to the congregation. This, I feel, is what we need, more tex­tual preaching, more pondering on a single text or a short passage, until we find the riches and the depth there is in it, rather than a casual or superficial use of texts in a proof sense. I feel that this would improve our preaching. I know that it has mine."

G. D. KING: "Just thirty seconds, Mr. Moderator, to set forth a practical thing, but I believe it has an influence on our preaching. There is growing among some a habit of reading sermons rather than preaching sermons, and I wonder whether that makes for power. One great American preacher recently said that the business of an essay is elucidation. The business of a sermon is transformation. We need to re­member that. He also said that some ser­mons are deadly dull because they are little essays on pious subjects. Let's avoid that, brethren.

"A young preacher, not long ago, in his new church visited one of his members, an old Scotch woman. Rather unwisely he asked her what she thought about his ser­mon, and this is what she said: 'First of all you read it; second, you didn't read it very well; and third, it wasn't worth read­ing.' "

H. W. KIBBLE: "When the officers who were sent out to arrest Christ returned and were asked why they didn't arrest Him, they said, 'Never man spake as this man.' No, never man spake as He spake, because never man prayed as He prayed. He spent whole nights in prayer. In Adlai Esteb's words I would say:

The final scenes on the stage are set,

The time and the need and the men have met:

The world at its worst needs men at their best,

We are called for this hour; shall we stand the test?

"More powerful preaching does not need to be lengthy preaching. Someone said: 'If you don't strike oil in twenty minutes, stop boring.' Or, 'The longer the road, the greater the tire.' Remember, a sermon does not need to be eternal in order to be im­mortal.

"In order to have a powerful sermon I have felt for a long time that we must have the ability to create an atmosphere when we stand up that is more than religious. It is so easy to be religious, so difficult to be spiritual. And we must make a great effort to understand the difference. I think Brother Bietz this morning set it forth when he talked about being a surrendered man. Unless a man is surrendered to God when he stands in the pulpit, he isn't a Christ-centered man and he can't preach a Christ-centered sermon. He won't have power, will he?"

J. J. AITKIN (from the floor): "I just want to say this, that in Europe we have found the most powerful thing in our preaching is living close to the Lord. The apostle Paul said: 'If God be for us, who can be against us?' We rejoice to realize that Europe today is finding out that the Seventh-day Adventist minister knows the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the sooner we as a ministry find out that we have the heritage of the ages—the 'cloud of wit­nesses,' as the apostle Paul expressed it—the better."

MODERATOR: "That's the old fighting spirit, and that's the way the work ad­vanced in Europe. I think we are very grateful for this fine panel. Let me sum up in a few sentences.

"Powerful preaching is purposeful preaching. When we enter the pulpit or the place where we are to speak, if the angel of the Lord should say: 'Stop, what does t thou here today?' we should be able to reply: 'Lord, Thou knowest why I am here!' That will give us power and purpose in our preaching. It will make us persuasive, effective, fruitful—and that is powerful preaching. Ours must be Spirit-guided preaching. Only the Spirit of God can convince, convict, and convert. Results will be seen when people are con­vinced, convicted, and converted. Then, there must be more of a worshipful at­titude in our preaching, more love for souls, more understanding of Scripture.

"The great preachers of the past have been men of a deep understanding of the Word. They did not just quote texts, or marshal texts, but poured out their souls through those texts, giving the impression that those passages of Scripture were writ­ten for that very discourse.

"More clarity in our presentation is needed. It was intimated, but not stated, that we should be more interesting in what we say. I tell you, brethren, a sermon that isn't interesting cannot be powerful. We must be interesting or the people will not listen, their hearts will not be stirred.

"More victory in our living was men­tioned. We must be able to say as one preacher did when asked: 'What is a Seventh-day Adventist?' he replied: 'A Seventh-day Adventist? That is what I am.' And as we seek to betroth men to Christ, and to God in Christ, man must see evi­dence of that betrothal in our own lives.

"Correct strategy was mentioned. A happy preacher with a happy message will be a powerful preacher. He may not be a powerful theologian but he will exert a powerful influence on his hearers. If we want long-faced people, we can go out to the stable and get the horses, but our con­gregations want preachers with round, happy faces, and with a happy sermon. People must meet God. They must find a hook in every sermon; something they can hold on to.

"Originality, interest, fire—these are the things a preacher must have. His subject, his God, his people, and his purpose were all mentioned. We must have sermons beamed to certain people. Well-chosen words, not cheap words, words that stir and convict; these are essential if we would communicate our message. Words bedecked with flaming brands are a vital part of powerful preaching.

"And one last point—a realization of the great moment in which we live; a sense of time. Shakespeare spoke of a time and a tide in the affairs of men. There is a time; we must recognize it. It is the last hour. As we go out from this convention I believe there will be more power in our preaching, and there will be more souls for our service. May God bless to this end."


Ministry reserves the right to approve, disapprove, and delete comments at our discretion and will not be able to respond to inquiries about these comments. Please ensure that your words are respectful, courteous, and relevant.

comments powered by Disqus

A panel discussion

October 1958

Download PDF
Ministry Cover

More Articles In This Issue

The Minister

Preaching is no mere profession. But what is it?

Have You Seen the King?

A devotional talk given at the Ministerial Convention preceding the General Conference session in Cleveland, Ohio.

Pastoral and Personal Evangelism

Is Paul's method still up to date?

Evangelistic Vision

God's word of prophecy will surely come to pass.

Entering Into Our Opportunities

Bible instructors are needed—both men and women—for the personal touch. We need workers who love to slip into the homes of the people and open the Scrip­tures and tell the wonderful but simple story of salvation.

Radio, Television, and Film Evangelism

A panel discussion on new mediums of evangelism.

Bible Instructors at Cleveland

The Cleveland General Conference was an inspiring occasion for our Bible instructors who arrived from near and far. How we were happily surprised at the number in attendance.

Reaching the Masses

How should we go about reaching the masses?

Our Worship of God

A panel discussion on how and why we are to conduct our worship of God.

View All Issue Contents

Digital delivery

If you're a print subscriber, we'll complement your print copy of Ministry with an electronic version.

Sign up
Advertisement - RevivalandReformation 300x250

Recent issues

See All