The Divine Calling and Power of Preaching

The parable of the sore as Jesus gives us it is one sore and four soils right a Communications expert telling this story today would tell the story The completely other way around there is one soil and four source the first sword came along and tried his technique and it wasn't very good the second sword tried a different technique and it was a little better but not particularly good and eventually the fourth technique finally worked Christian conversion is not the result of human persuasion it is a manifestation of divine grace. [00:04:39]

Christian conversion is not the result of human persuasion it is a manifestation of divine grace 2 Corinthians 4 6 let light shine out of Darkness now it is for this reason that the monologue is actually the ideal communication technique for the function of the word of God is to make the person in whom God is already secretly at work by his spirit to make that individual self-conscious of their need of a savior. [00:05:11]

Preaching will be effective not because by all accounts is the best means of communication but because it's God's chosen method by which he opens people's eyes and brings them to an awareness of his grace so that's why we preach they say well you know there's a lot of other things you could do you know we could do dramatic things and we could hang things from the ceiling and we could dance around and attract attention and do all manner of things yes I understand that and I think a lot more people may be immediately drawn to that I understand that too but I can do that at the moment why because that's not what God has asked me to do he's asked me to be a Herald of the word. [00:07:26]

But as useful as any of those constituent elements may be in certain controlled settings they cannot ever be regarded as a substitute for preaching and the reason is because we're to be setting forth the truth plainly and the task of the Evangelist is to press the truth on the minds of people and on people's consciences in the plainest way and the test of our Effectiveness is not how much did the non-christians enjoy that that's irrelevant the test is how much did they learn from that the test is not how electric was the atmosphere but how clear was the Gospel. [00:08:59]

It's just not true to say that people won't listen to preaching they will if people are being awakened spiritually to their need of God they're going to listen and if they're not no amount of gospel entertainment or Evangelistic gimmickry will make them listen let's see that's the flaw in the whole method see if the people of God are being spiritually quickened they will listen to the Bible being preached if they are not being spiritually quickened you can entertain them into Oblivion but it will not do one thing to remove the veil from their eyes. [00:10:40]

There are two things that are indispensable to the preacher and teacher one is that he would have a framework with which he comes to the Bible and then two is that he would be dealing with the text of the Bible when he comes to the people now there are all kinds of theological Frameworks that are helpful there are others that are not so helpful but each of us has a certain understanding of how the Bible Works otherwise we cannot come to it with any sense of logic at all. [00:14:01]

The key issue is that the content of the sermon is determined by the scripture itself that scripture is a self-interpreting book and that the text must always predominate over the framework so in actual Fact one of the great dangers is that we possess a large f and only a small t and that what we need to do is to bring our Frameworks into subservience to the text and not the Bible into subservience to our Frameworks nor are we to preach our Frameworks because if we preach from the framework it will eventually run dry whereas when we preach from the text it will constantly change it will develop and it will reconfigure the framework. [00:15:56]

Finding the melodic line in the passage is is the place I want to go finding the melodic line in the passage some of you are Hi-Fi enthusiasts and for those of us who are not have not had our ears cauterized in the way that yours have been done we're just basically listening to see if we can hear the words or maybe the melody line you're sitting there having an experience all of your own that has to do with tweeters and woofers and so on and you you you said did you did you hear that there that woofer and uh the average person said no I have no clue what you're talking about well that was not the woofer that was the Tweeter you know and so the person says okay fine I'm just trying to listen to The Melody line here you sit over in the corner and do as you choose. [00:20:03]

Theologians biblical teachers are in grave danger we are in grave danger of becoming the tweeters and the woofer guys okay and our congregations are trying to find the melody line what is all this mother say now for example let's just go to something very straightforward First Corinthians 15 this is the gospel he says verse 1 this is the gospel it is the foundation upon which we build and our abounding in the work of the Lord verse 58 derives its impetus from the gospel that's the melody line of First Corinthians 15. [00:20:55]

Preaching is not a marketing exercise; it is a divine calling where the preacher acts as a herald of God's word, allowing the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts of listeners. The effectiveness of preaching lies in the condition of the listener's heart, not the skill of the preacher. [00:03:28]

The parable of the sower illustrates that the success of preaching depends on the soil's condition, not the sower's technique. This highlights the importance of divine grace in conversion, as human persuasion alone cannot bring about spiritual transformation. [00:04:39]

While drama, music, and other elements can complement preaching, they cannot replace the power of the preached word. The task of the preacher is to present the truth plainly and press it upon the conscience of the listener. [00:12:26]

The preacher must approach the Bible with a framework that allows for a logical understanding of the scriptures, but this framework should never overshadow the text itself. The content of the sermon must be determined by scripture, which is self-interpreting. [00:16:03]