Now is the age for prophetic preaching. People who come to hear the Word are looking for conviction from their spiritual leaders. They are so weighed down with one burden or another that they cannot tolerate some wimpy preacher. In some places, if anyone shows up for worship it is to get hold of power from the pulpit. Consequently, a renewed power must return to the weekly sermon. That will in turn give practical guidance to weary travelers for another week of battling against the invisible powers of darkness.
Ezekiel's example of powerful preaching
Ezekiel provides an excellent example of powerful preaching.
First, he was not "doing his own thing" when he got behind the pulpit. Instead, he was surrendering to the inrush of the Holy Spirit: "the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me ... and I heard Him who spoke to me" (2:2, NKJV). We are to be so close to the mouth of God that we pick up His words for our people. That means basically a life of ongoing prayer. It seems that many preachers want to do anything else but pray: duplicate flyers, play with computers, drive around town, dial numbers, and so on.
This kind of thing goes on among us when there is so much God wants to reveal by way of divine secrets (Amos 3:7; Ps. 19:1; Dan. 2:10, 22, 28).
Second, Ezekiel confronted a spiritually stiff-necked people. "T am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me'" (2:3). Rebellion is the mark of our time. Religious profession without religious conviction is part of our problem.
We seem to want the fruit of faith but not the obligations. We profess to revere the Bible, but don't read it. We believe in God, but we do not allow Him to command our complete allegiance.
This rotting under heaven spelled doom for Israel; can many of the nations of our world be far behind?
Third, Ezekiel lived out the prophetic presence. "'As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse—for they are a rebellious house—yet they will know that a prophet has been among them'" (2:5).
The prophetic preacher is not to carry the weight of others' decisions. Each person will answer for his own choices. However, the mouthpiece of God will be expected to stand firm, communicating with certainty that the standard of the Lord has been erected amidst the people.
Do our congregations realize that we are holy before God? Can they know assuredly that we are utterly focused on Heaven's will for our calling? Deep down, most parishioners have had it with "good buddy" preachers who stroke, play up to them, and coddle; these do not command respect from thinking people. Today's demand is for a preacher who is unreservedly on the line for truth.
Fourth, Ezekiel was not to flinch when cold-eyed lookers-on tried to stare him down. "'Do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks'" (2:6). Having preached for 40 years, if looks could have killed, I'd have been dead a thousand times. What about the person who slides behind another human body so that the preacher cannot see him while the sermon is delivered? Have you ever noticed that happening as you preached? What about that individual in the back of the sanctuary who locks his eyeballs against yours for the 30- minute fight against truth? "'Behold, I have made your face strong against their faces, and your forehead strong against their foreheads. Like adamant stone, harder than flint, I have made your forehead; do not be afraid of them, nor be dismayed at their looks'" (3:8, 9).
Finally, Ezekiel was cautioned to watch out for smoothies who gushed over his sermons but purposefully concluded not to act upon them. "'So they come to you as people do, they sit before you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain'" (33:31). These are the parishioners who paw us in public but push us aside in their hearts. "'Indeed you are to them as a very lovely song of one who has a pleasant voice and can play well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not do them'" (33:32).
Speak God's Word
Today's preachers may be tempted to blur God's message. There is great pressure to soft-pedal truth, accom modate Scripture, slice out the more severe passages. God warned Ezekiel not to join the rebellious house of Israel: "'Hear what I say to you. Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you'" (2:8).
To eat God's Word is to sit at His table more than we ever have before. The food is strong, healthy, and nourishing. God's menu will give the might to withstand; but it must be devoured as those who are starving. To be effective in proclaiming the message with Ezekiel's candor requires that we be filled with the Word of God.
When God's preacher gives the message, he will certainly feel the outside press of "lamentations and mourning and woe" (2:10). This is the expected impact of God's Word against the world's word. One force will contend against the other. The preacher will certainly feel the conflict and be tempted to withdraw from it, to ease back from it.
Yet the longer the biblical prophets remain unmoved by the world's indifference, the more they taste within their souls the reward of staying true to heaven's menu: "So I ate it, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness" (3:3). There is no trade-off for God's "honey in sweetness."
So it is that present-day preachers will spend the rest of their ministry amidst turbulent times that will no doubt grow more threatening. Yet as we climb higher into the heart of God, we will discover there the "'plain'" (3:22). There God will talk with us. There we will "behold the glory of the Lord ..." and with Ezekiel exclaim: "I fell on my face" (3:23).
Isn't that what is most needed? Isn't that enough?
Preaching Examples
