All the things to do in a sermon.
Richard Baxter, a 17th century preacher, had some timeless advice that every preacher should seriously consider.
To preach a sermon I think is not the hardest part. And yet what skill is necessary to make plain the truth, to convince the hearers, to let in the irresistible light into their consciences and to keep it there, and drive all home, to screw the truth into their minds and work Christ into their affections, to meet every objection that gainsays [1]gainsay – to declare untrue and clearly to resolve it, to drive sinners to a stand and make them see there is no hope, but they must unavoidably be converted or condemned, and to do all this so for language and manner as is worthy of our work, and yet as is most suitable to the capacities of our hearers. This, and a great deal more that should be done in every sermon, should surely be done with a great deal of holy skill. So great a God, whose message we deliver, should be honored by our delivery of it! [2]Elliot Ritzema and Elizabeth Vince, eds., 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Puritans, Pastorum Series (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
Let’s unfold this.
Make the truth of God’s word plain.
The Bible’s teaching about God are often wrapped in complex history and unfamiliar literary forms. The preacher’s job is to unravel and unpack them so their profound principles are clearly revealed then show how people can use them to guide their reactions and behaviors in the situations they are living out right now.
However sometimes pride and the desire to appear competent can tempt us to impress people with our grasp of the Scripture’s complexities and forget to make God’s principles easily absorbed and useful. No matter how intriguing and complex our study of a text’s background may be, Baxter admonishes the preacher to boil it down to clear, digestible conclusions about what God is communicating for our souls.
Convince hearers to “let in” irresistible light into their consciences and keep it there.
The words “let in” stand out to me as a reminder of two things. First, Christian preaching is not simply an exercise in logic and performance. It is first and fundamentally a spiritual undertaking. As God’s words are presented, God’s Spirit works in the hearts of people to convict, reprove, encourage, and prompt the inner person of every hearer. The preacher is the prompt God uses to keep people focused on truth rather than error.
Second, the Spirit of God works hand-in-hand with the preacher’s effort to persuade by engaging the mind, imagination and emotions. So the preacher’s goal is to convince people that God is worth listening to and that His words apply to their thinking, wishes, sensibilities, passions and actions at this moment.
Drive every point of truth home. Screw the truth into their minds.
A partially driven screw is not only useless, it is a hazard. We may think it’s doing doing useful work, but it doesn’t actually tie anything together. In fact the only thing it may accomplish is injuring people who get snagged on it. Likewise some sermons may may impart a bit of Bible knowledge, but never make it an inseparable part of people’s lives. They go away thinking they are Godly because they know something, but haven’t actually learned to think and act Godly. When that happens they are usually a snare to others rather than a help.
Illustrations are a good tool to help people feel Scripture’s principles, see how they can be applied and give people a moment to reflect and absorb them.
Work Christ into their affections.
And I find this admonition more humbling than the rest. The preacher must measure effectiveness not on popularity, size of staff or salary, but by the degree to which his hearers find themselves easily turning to God’s principles when some difficulty challenges them so they demonstrate God-like character in their homes, schools, jobs, charity, recreation and associations. One of the most pleasing things a preacher can hear is someone sincerely asking how to be godly in a some situation they are facing.
Bring every objection that says “that can’t be true” to resolution in favor of God’s truth.
Christians can be overwhelmed by the many objections that resist and bombard us when we try to reach people with God’s message of reconciliation and eternal life with Him. It’s more than a full-time job just to help people carefully evaluate all the false teaching within so-called Christianity as well as all the ways people have taken half-truths and lies as truth in their relentless attacks on Jesus.
Fortunately the Word of God and His Spirit have the power to reach into the souls of individuals in every culture and lead all who desire to know God to His truth. But as Paul said,
“How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.” [3] Romans 10:14–17 NASB95
The point is that God uses the preacher, the teacher, the evangelist, and every child of God to engage people with His message of reconciliation (2Cor 5:17-21). But it is particularly the job of the preacher to understand what his hearers are facing, anticipate objections and address them so at the very least, God’s children are more fully prepared.
Drive every sinner to a stand and make them see there is no hope.
I think Baxter is using a hunting metaphor familiar in his time. People would drive wild game birds toward a “stand” where shooters were waiting. The birds would find no escape. Baxter is telling every preacher that their sermons should leave no logical escape for those determined to evade God’s law and final judgement.
It seems that many sermons I’ve heard in recent years miserably fail to drive people to see that their their refusal to trust God’s promises and principles have put them in an inescapable situation before the true God.
In fact many preachers today seem to be shunning any mention of God’s ultimate judgement of rebels. They only want to talk about God’s love. However, consider the difference between grace and love. Grace involves granting something favorable when it is not, in any way, deserved. If we only talk of love, then we necessarily rule out grace. For God’s grace is granting His acceptance and the joy of His presence despite the fact that by His own standard we deserve everlasting repudiation. His grace is an offer to rescue us from deserved wrath and be enfolded in total love. So talking of love alone and making love the lens through which all else is interpreted is a false Gospel.
Do all this with language and manner that is above reproach and shows our love and respect for every soul.
It is often easy to hammer on people’s impending eternal doom in an angry, an uncaring manner. Some preachers today have imitated the culture with vulgarisms and words that do not reflect what we see of Jesus’ behavior. However we must remember that God is patient and prefers to encourage and attract people because His goal is that we truly would enjoy His presence and His love forever. The preacher should always try to be considerate and exemplary of God’s patient grace.
Honor God by our delivery because the Word of God is His word, not ours.
Good words to finish with. When any of us stands before others to preach or teach the words in the Bible, we must remember they are not our words. They have power in that they come from God alone. We all must not only seek to be faithful in content but remember that the manner of our presentation is as much a part of what persuades people to follow God’s as our words.