PREACHING may well determine not only the present spiritual prosperity of those who sit under your ministry but also their eternal destiny. What we preach is of no small significance. I have heard hundreds of different preachers the past forty years and thank God for the high caliber of pulpit preachers with which God has blessed this church. Most all I have heard sent me away with a warm desire to be a better man, a more effective minister, a more tender father, a more loving husband, a more understanding friend. These men do not just "take the hour" or "fill the pulpit." They are God's messengers with God's message.
There are, of course, a few Pastor Shallows. Brother Shallow was a speaker of no mean ability. Words flowed like a cataract from his lips. But ministerial students in the training school didn't miss the mark far in analyzing his preaching. In a class quiz one day the young men were asked to describe briefly different preachers who visited the college. Pastor Shallow's presentations were described in their language as "interesting but not very profitable." In this late hour we could wish there were few Pastor Shallows to "take the hour."
The apostle Paul uplifts the high calling of the man who stands in God's pulpit, declaring him to be "the man who speaks, as we do, in the name of God, under the eyes of God, as Christ's chosen minister" (2 Cor. 2:17, Phillips).*
Christ's chosen minister speaks in the name of God to the desperate needs of souls in the pews.
Marjorie Lewis Lloyd states it well in her book, Love on Fire. "People . . . come to church hoping, desperately hoping, that the sermon will get into their hearts and meet their needs and change their lives. People want to be changed. They are tired, so tired, of the defeated lives they live."
Some time ago, I received a letter from a friend of mine who holds a position of responsibility in our church organization. What he wrote caused me to again think seriously about our preaching. "A large number of our ministers, including some of our finest speakers," he wrote, "are becoming news commentators, psychiatrists, and welfare counselors during our eleven o'clock Sabbath preaching hour instead of preachers of the Word."
Preaching is not lecturing about God. Preaching is not plumbing the sawdust pits of philosophy. Preaching is God speaking through a man to the hearts of both saints and sinners. True Bible-based, Christ-centered preaching helps those who listen solve their problems and find their way out of the labyrinth of discouragement and defeat into the very vestibule of God. Spirit-inspired preaching will move men and women out of the pews and the parlors into the market place, into the highways and byways, to tell others "how great things God hath done unto thee."
People have magazines and books without end that are filled with dissertations on psychology, people's problems, and philosophy. I do not in any sense wish to demean such literary offerings. Many people find these most helpful, and no doubt they have helped thousands. What I am trying to say is simply that our members have access to these sources six days a week. Keep the eleven o'clock worship service and the midweek prayer meeting for the study of God's Word.
The sheep whom the Great Shepherd has entrusted to our care need feeding. They are sinners who need saving. They are defeated saints needing help and victory. They are the salt of the earth needing encouragement and counsel.
Listen to Paul "Preach the Word!"
How about it, fellow preacher, whether you be an ordained minister, an intern, or a local elder, what kind of sermons are you preaching? Are you feeding or fooling the people who sit under your ministry? Think it over! Your public work plays an important role in your leadership your ability to persuade men and women, boys and girls, to live better lives, and to bestir themselves to do God's work. Preach the Word. Pray over your preaching constantly.
