Preaching: Speaking for God E-Book

Dr. Brian J. Bailey

• Herausgeber: Zion Christian Publishers
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2017

Beschreibung

Dr. Bailey’s manual on preaching has been used by many succeeding classes of Bible school graduates who have studied the art of making and delivering sermons. You will learn practical tips and methods from one who has preached and taught for over fifty years in churches, Bible schools, seminars, and crUSDdes around the world.

Leseprobe

PREACHING

Speaking for God

Version 1.0

“Preaching Speaking for God”

 © 1992 Brian J. Bailey

Front cover design:

 © 2017 Zion Fellowship, Inc.

All Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the

King James Version Bible unless otherwise stated.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews.

All Scripture quotations in this book are taken from the

King James Version Bible unless otherwise stated.

Published as an e-book on August 2017

in the United States of America

E-book ISBN 1-59665-684-0

For more information, please contact:

Zion Christian Publishers

A Zion Fellowship ® Ministry

P.O. Box 70

Waverly, New York 14892

I. Being God’s Mouthpiece

Preaching

The art or skill of preaching, the science of making a sermon and delivering it, is known as homiletics.

Paul declares, “How shall they hear without a preacher?  And how shall they preach except they be sent?”  Also he explains, “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe”  (Rom. 10:14-15, 1 Cor. 1:21).

Preaching is God’s major method of communicating truth, either by speaking or by a secondary means such as the printed page.  However, preaching is more than just the ability to convey truth.  Secular teachers and politicians seek to convey a message, but they are not preachers.

When you stand to preach, you stand literally as God’s mouthpiece.  “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God (or as God’s mouthpiece)” declares Peter in his first epistle (1 Pet. 4:11).  As a preacher you will be judged far more heavily than anyone else, and the judgment will be dependent upon the way you have influenced others (Jas. 3:1 2, Mt. 5:19).

There is no greater profession than preaching.  It is the way that God has chosen to save men and move them on unto Himself.  If Christians are to mature and grow in the Lord, it is vital that they hear good, sound Biblical preaching week by week.

“And He gave some teachers” (Eph. 4:11).  Some Christians have a ministry gift of teaching. God anoints them, gives them great revelation and insight into His Word, and then He uses them in a special way to explain and impart His truths to others.

Not many have this ministry gift.  But there is a place in God’s plan for teaching and sharing what you have been taught by others, not necessarily as a ministry gift.  Paul told Timothy, “And the things that thou has heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).

A pastor is a shepherd, one who looks after and feeds his sheep. The Lord entrusts a congregation, or flock of sheep, to a pastor, and the Lord watches in love to see that the pastor looks after His sheep well, and that he feeds them with good spiritual food from the Word of God.

Paul gave this instruction to Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15, NASB).  From this scripture we see that the first priority of a pastor or missionary is to preach.  It is the prime consideration.  If you are going to build a strong church you will have to work hard in this area.  A sermon may take eight to ten hours to prepare.  A lawyer takes hours to prepare his brief – a pastor must be prepared to work at least as hard.

Nobody arrives overnight at being anything.  You cannot walk into an airport and overnight become a pilot. Hard work is required, and it is the same with preaching.  Work very hard, and God will honour it.  As you do, you will improve and the people will grow.  And remember this, “The Spirit helps our infirmities” but not our laziness.

Many pastors find it best to shut themselves away from all distractions each morning so they can spend time seeking the Lord and preparing messages for the Sunday services.  If you do not have a room where you can be undisturbed, perhaps you can study in your church.  Just let everyone know that you do not want to be interrupted in the mornings as you are seeking the Lord.

Preparation

Be constantly reading the Bible through from Genesis to Revelation. Do not come to the Word just to get sermons – study it! Take good notes. Make headings in your notebook for each book of the Bible.  Have a special compartment for Genesis, Exodus and all the books of the Bible.  Seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as you study.

If you are always studying the bible you will constantly be receiving thoughts, ideas and insights.  Pray much! The man who would speak for God must learn to speak much to God. Often during a time of praying in the Spirit and waiting upon God, the Lord will speak to you about some avenue of truth.  But if God does not give definite direction, look for an area of need, and after you have studied and prepared your subject, preach to meet that particular need.

Get your mind on the Lord, realizing that you are a channel to deliver His message.  Seek God’s key for the message, something that will appeal to every heart.  Do not get up and speak in a loose, disjointed way.  Work hard to produce the best possible message.

Opposition

It is a struggle and a battle to bring forth the message of God.  Satan will do anything he can to hinder your preparation and get you away from the message.  He will try to make your mind wander.  He will bring interruptions.  He will make you feel tired, or he will cause you to believe that the Holy Spirit is not leading you.

Because of this opposition you must have set times for preparation.  Shut yourself in with God every morning.  It is essential that you do this because of the absolute importance of preaching the Word.  As you are preaching you are literally fighting the enemy.  At times evil spirits may even come over you to take away your thoughts as you preach.  Preaching is a battle, but remember God uses the foolishness of preaching to save those who will believe.

The Man

A preacher’s life should show what his lips say.  You are your sermon.  When you speak your whole being should speak.  Your life and example often influence people more than the words you preach. The young preacher Timothy was instructed.  “Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching” (2 Tim. 4:16).  Paul also exhorted all the elders and leaders of Ephesus, saying first of all, “Take heed therefore unto yourselves (but then he adds) and to all the flock” (Acts 20:28).

If a preacher’s life is right, God will use and bless what he speaks.  Unless you preach by your life everywhere you go, there is no use in going anywhere to preach with your mouth.