Preaching

 

Preaching at one of our Bible conferences several years ago, Pastor Scot Richardson made a profound statement about preaching. He said, “Preaching is getting a message from God’s heart to my heart and delivering it to your heart. Anything else is just filling in time.” What a profound, insightful, needful statement! The Lord God promised to give his church pastors after his own heart, who would feed his people with knowledge and with understanding (Jer. 3:15). He commands his prophets, “Speak ye comfortably” (to the heart) to my people (Isa. 40:2). That is the responsibility of every gospel preacher every time he speaks to eternity bound men and women in the name of God. But it is a task no man can accomplish. The only way any mere man can speak the things of God to the heart of another is if God himself is please to speak through him.

 

When God Puts A Man Into The Ministry

 

“How does a man know if he is called of God to preach the gospel?” “How does God put a man into the ministry?” I have been asked those two questions many times by many men. I gave up the notion of telling others what God’s will is for them a long time ago. Because I am aware of the fact that the Scriptures do not give precise answers to those questions, I cannot speak with absolute certainty about them.

 

In the Old Testament prophets were called immediately by God himself, by a direct, unmistakable revelation—(Moses—Isaiah—Jeremiah—Ezekiel). In the New Testament the apostles were called directly by Christ. The first seventy preachers were sent out by the Master’s direct command. Other pastors and elders were chosen and ordained by the Apostles.

 

Today we do not have such advantages; and the Scriptures give us no clear instructions in the matter. The Scriptures tell us the kind of man a pastor must be, and tell us clearly what a pastor’s responsibilities are. But they do not specifically tell us how God puts a man into the ministry, or how a man knows that he is called of God to preach the gospel. So my answers to those questions are just that, “my answers.” They arise from both my understanding of the Scriptures and the observation of experience. But this is my best perception.

 

1.      If God puts a man into the ministry he first puts grace in his heart. No man is called OF God to preach the gospel who does not know the gospel both doctrinally and experimentally.

2.      Before God puts a man into the work of the ministry he proves him as a faithful servant[1] in his church. —“Not a novice!” No man will be faithful as a pastor who is not faithful before becoming a pastor. A man who puts other things before the worship of Christ, the cause of Christ, and the church of Christ will do no better because someone gives him some ordination papers. He may be more regular in outward attendance and in things seen and approved of by men, but he will be the same, self-serving man he was before.

3.      If the Lord God puts a man into the ministry he gives him his message (Isa. 40)—Redemption Accomplished! —Salvation Free! —“All Flesh is Grass!”—“Behold, Your God!”—Christ Enthroned!

4.      If God puts a man into the ministry he gives him the gifts necessary for the work. He makes him “apt to teach.” God called men are gifted with an understanding of the Scriptures and the ability to communicate the message of the Scriptures to others clearly.

5.      If God puts a man into the ministry he gives him a place to preach. As one old preacher put it years ago, “God never made a possum without a persimmon tree; and he never made a preacher without a pulpit.” No man has been called into the ministry who is not in the ministry.

6.      If God puts a man into the ministry he gives him a hearing. God’s preachers never have to look for a place to preach or for people to hear them. When a man is sent of God, he is sent to a people who want to hear his message. (Acts 10:33—“Now therefore are we all here present before God to hear all things that are commanded thee of God.”) God’s servants look to him to open doors before them, and wait for him to do so. They do not make a way for themselves. A man’s gift makes room for him (Pro. 18:16).

7.      When God puts a man into the ministry he gives him the support of his fellow-laborers in the gospel. All God’s prophets see eye to eye with regard to the gospel (Isa. 52:8) and labor together as one in the cause of Christ.

 

Preaching From The Heart

 

When I hear a man preach, I want to hear a man preach from his heart. When I preach, I want to preach from my heart. Let no one mistake my meaning. I do not suggest or imply that doctrine is secondary. It is not. Gospel doctrine is vital. But the gospel must be preached from the heart, passionately.

 

            Two hundred years ago John Rusk wrote, “I want an experimental preacher, one who, when he has had one meal, is tried how he shall get the next; one who is tormented with devils fit to tear him limb from limb; one who feels hell inside himself and every corruption in his nature stirred up to oppose God’s work; one who feels so weak that every day he gets over he views it as next to a miracle.”

 

Made A Minister

 

Paul said, “I was made a minister according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.” God had called him to preach the gospel. He knew it. He was humbled by it. He rejoiced in it. And he trembled because of it. Only God himself can make a man a preacher. That man who is called of God to the work of preaching the gospel has a direct commission and call from Christ, and it is unmistakably clear. He knows that he has been sent of God. Any man who is called of God to this great work takes the work seriously and earnestly seeks a message from Christ as he stands to speak for Christ. God called men preach with urgency because they have experienced in their souls the message they preach. They carry in their souls “the burden of the word of the Lord.” They preach with urgency because they know for whom they speak and because they know the serious consequences of their message.

 



[1] The fact is—If we are born of God we are his servants. He has put us into the ministry. Some serve in one capacity and some in another. But we are all his witnesses and his servants. And each of us is useful only in the place God has put us.

 

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