Ministerial Godliness and Powerful Preaching

A life of piety, purity and personal devotion is indescribably important to the man of God who would preach powerfully. Prayer is also crucial. "If you want to know how popular church is, go on a Sunday morning; if you want to know how popular the preacher is, go on Sunday evening; but if you want to know how popular God is, go to the prayer meeting," (Ravenhill). No man will preach with unction without prayer and an atmosphere of prayer which hangs in the air when a man studies and preaches. 

The ministry of the Holy Spirit is also essential. Dr Wayne Detzler, "This is an obvious invasion of the Holy Spirit on the preaching process." S. Briscoe said, "Unction is clearly the relationship of the preacher to the Holy Spirit. It means to have a healthy balance between doing your homework and being prepared and yet at the same time recognising that unless the fire falls from heaven, then it was all in vain. "This is a good balance to strike. We need to preach with dependence upon the power of God, and of a recognition of our own need of that power. It is possible to prepare exemplary sermons with studied correctness, and yet preach them without the fire of God being upon them. Such 'dead orthodoxy' is a profanation of true preaching. How we need to lean heavily upon, submit to, and depend upon the Spirit's ministry as we declare the wonderful Word of the Lord. 

Ravenhill warns against trying to work up an atmosphere through singing, testimonies, lighting effects, etc. This can be done to the detriment of the work of God! When the Spirit comes upon a preacher and congregation, He comes as an act of sovereign bestowal on the part of our sovereign and gracious God and Father. We cannot force God to meet with us, but we can ask God to do so.

There is also the power of the Scripture as it explodes in the lives of both minister and congregation. Richard Baxter spoke of planting time-bombs in the hearts of his hearers that will go off at God's appointment. Unction comes in the unique power of the Word of God. The whole ministry must be "bathed in prayer,"(Briscoe). James Denney wrote, "The preacher's peril is the peril of coming to men in word only, saying things which he does not feel, and which they will not feel..." (Thes.p.48). Criswell argues that education per se does not enable a man to preach with power, (though it is a very good servant to that man). The three things which he says are needed are prayer, preparation, and the endeavour to win souls to Christ through the Gospel.

Churchmen and Terrorists

Churchmen are notorious for using softly softly tactics on republicans but seem to be totally unbalanced when it comes to their criticisms of their own flocks. These 'social gospellers' are the darlings of the establishment, and their analysis is taken almost without question.

However, the churches are not so quick to give support to the victims of terrorist violence, at least not at institutional level. Ministers 'on the ground' may play their part when their help is required. But social gospelling church establishments know on which side their bread is buttered and when they go 'cap in hand' to politicians who were either actively involved in terrorism and others who now support these terrorists and keep them in office, they have lost any voice they might otherwise have had.

Our country is in a very sad state because our churches have lost the plot altogether. Instead of pursuing Gospel matters, they prefer rather to persecute Gospel ministers. And when Gospel ministers are persecuted by their churches, may the Lord have mercy on us all, for we dare not ask Him for justice!

The Evangelical Climate Today

The evangelical climate today has been permeated by existentialism, and people seek experiences continually. When there is a mind-set that is experience-orientated, there is a necessary downgrading of anything propositional! The Bible is propositional, as is great preaching, says Dr Henry Drummond. Existentialism is one of the factors that have made the charismatic movement so successful, he says. All that many people want today when they come to worship is to have a spiritual experience.

The music that is used today is designed for this very purpose. It is chosen to have an affect on those who sing or hear it. It touches the emotions and has a conditioning effect on those who participate in such events. There is a tendency to be repetitive in which verses and choruses are sung over and over again.  Very often the theology in such 'worship songs' leaves a lot to be desired. At times it is misleading - but it has the desired effect on the worshippers. To top it all, sometimes the songs are virtually unsingable. An enjoyable atmosphere is created artificially that leaves those present open to all kinds of psychological suggestions, some of which can be very harmful to the spiritual life of the person who have been affected by it. This is true in so many evangelical churches and meetings.

Therefore the people do not come to church to be taught God's Word, but to feel good, and have their needs met. I said in an earlier post that Reformed preaching is often justifiably criticised for being too cerebral; this must be qualified by saying that there can be no Biblical preaching without a certain cerebral element. Drummond is surely correct when he says that both the Bible and preaching are propositional. In order for it to be presented to intelligent men, it has to be directed primarily to the intellect. But if all that many church members want today is to have a spiritual experiences of some sort, then propositional truth will be seriously discounted. They have forgotten that they are called to love God "with all their mind," (Mt.22:37). When Christians refuse to use their minds in their devotions, either public or private, it should not surprise us that this will have a destructive impact on preaching, thus rendering it impotent. God does not just want to inform men, but to transform them. He wants to move through the Word by His Spirit and grip their hearts so that they will never again be the same. God does not want to negotiate, but to nullify; not stimulate our minds, but rather strip us of our sin and self-righteousness; we do not need lectures about God, but we do need great preaching that will confront us with the revelation of the Living God of heaven.

Puritan Preachers

"The difference between the Puritan preachers and us, is that they lived six days in eternity, and came down on Sunday to deliver the goods," (Dr Leonard Ravenhill). We often fail in this very matter. These men were great men of God, men who know God intimately. They lived and worked as in His presence. They sought His face continually and looked intently into the face of Christ. No wonder the Word of God came in power to their people through them!

Ravenhill exposes the fact that preachers do not know what it is to pray or to worship the Lord. There is a glaring lack of discipline in our lives.                                                                  

"The secret of the Puritans was not that they had more time on their hands but that they had more eternity in their hearts! They had an eternity consciousness," says Ravenhill. The need is surely great for a fuller awareness of eternity than perhaps anything else.

It may be objected that we are living in different times from the Puritan era, and there are pressures upon people today that were not evident 350 years ago. Also, ours is a technological and scientific age that has advanced beyond recognition from the days of the Puritans. Surely, you cannot expect people to come and sit through very long sermons that are minutely argued and penetratingly applied to the conscience?

Yes, there are great differences between these two eras, but these are not material and certainly do not necessitate any change in the message that is to be addressed to the men of this generation. Why? Because man is still the same sinful man, and God is still the same holy God, and the Gospel is still the same power of God for the salvation of the believing sinner. There are superficial changes, but no deep changes, except, perhaps, to say that men today may well be in a worse mess on account of sin than they were before; yet it is impossible to conceive of anything worse than to be a sinner, regardless of the external circumstances that surround him.

Voluntary Ministerial Blindness

Keswick at Portstewart has come and gone for 2013 and enjoyed, in God's blessing, the heatwave that blanketed the UK this July. The main preachers during the week were Rev Allister Morrice, Scotland, and Rev. Dr Liam Goligher, Philadelphia, and the preaching was of the highest standard, as you would expect, and the sense of the Lord's presence with us was captivating. It was biblically sound and balanced - in the main - and the application of God's Word to all present was precise. The Bible Readings each morning were rigorous and deeply insightful and sanctifying. The evening meetings were also pointed, although the singing programme was repetitive, very subjective, and somewhat annoying.

The really sad thing about it was that despite mention of the persecution of Christians in far-away lands and in totalitarian regimes by some speakers, there was simply no recognition that this is happening under their noses and within their own churches, and with some of the persecutors being actively involved in working against the Gospel and its hard-pressed servants.

Why is this? Well, persecutors, like all bullies, do not recognise as persecution the persecution in which they are involved. They speak against it in conventions yet use this role as cover for their persecution of brother evangelicals when they return to "the firm" that employs them.

The sheer blindness that accompanies these ministers is visible only to those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear."  Others simply do not suspect that good men at Portstewart would work against brother evangelicals who are being ill-treated by and in their congregations, or simply ignore their plight.  But that is the reality.  Being first and foremost the good churchmen that they are and want to continue to be, they will not stand up for their ministerial brethren if by so doing they might jeopardise their promotion prospects within the churches.

This ministerial blindness can be explained: persecution of Gospel ministers is something that only happens in far away lands, not within their churches.  Theologically liberal churches never persecute their own, but they always persecute evangelicals.  Too much ministerial wreckage is lying about Northern Ireland for this to be denied.  Liberal ministers are not persecuted by their denominations because such ministers do not preach the biblical Gospel.  But Gospel ministers within liberal denominations can expect to be ill-treated by such church systems, and not even their evangelical colleagues will stand up for them.

Preachers and the Judgment Seat of Christ

What preachers have lost sight of today is “the judgment seat of Christ,” says Dr Leonard Ravenhill. They have forgotten that one day they will give an account of their stewardship to their Master, as they stand before Him. What He has given to us we will give back to Him with or without interest.

What a difference it would make if we all had an eye on the judgment day! Rev Dick Lucas encouraged young preachers always to keep the "eschatological perspective" before their minds, as men who must give an account.  Martin Luther spoke of the two days in his life - THIS day and THAT Day.

Our service will be revealed on that day, and our work will be fully known. Nothing can bring greater seriousness to our preaching than that thought.

Expository Preachers

One of the essential qualifications of expository preachers whose preaching station is within a congregational setting is surely toughness of hide to take the persistent criticism of spending too much time in the study and not spending enough time with the congregation. His whole week seems to be taken up with study.

Now it is important that a proper balance is reached if the relevance of the message to the congregation is not to suffer. A minister who divorces himself from his congregation is liable to become so bookish that his preparation and sermon delivery is lost on those to whom he was called to minister. Whilst the Word had its own inbuilt relevance, the minister must come between the relevance of the Word and the people to whom that word comes.

But the preacher must be well-disciplined so that he can take such criticism graciously, and go on with the ministry to which God has called him. If Christians want good preaching, they must be prepared to give their minister time and freedom to study so that he can feed their hungry hearts. Only when the preacher himself receives from God can he give to his people. If he does not take the time to feed his own soul, he will have nothing worthwhile to give to others. If he does not labour to prepare a good meal for his guests on Sundays, he cannot complain if they have no appetite for what he has for them! A well-prepared dish is most appetising; but an ill-prepared one, even though it has all the necessary ingredients, will turn them off! Preachers must pay the price for their preaching. They must keep themselves fresh.

Preparation for preaching is the most laborious thing the minister will do, therefore, it is so important that both people and pastor have a right grasp of what preaching is all about. Only then will they be able to submit themselves to the rigorous demands of that preaching.