In one, we define the predication as follows:
“Preaching is the communication in the form of oral discourse of a message drawn from the Holy Scriptures through careful exegesis, delivered with authority, conviction, boldness, passion, urgency, and compassion, through the entire personality of a man called and qualified by God, under the influence and power of the Holy Spirit, in order to meet the needs of an audience.”
The method par excellence
Biblical truth is the content of preaching. But if it is preaching, it must be presented in the form of oral discourse. This has been the method par excellence that God has chosen to communicate his revealed will to men. God spoke to our first parents in paradise (Gen 3:8). God spoke with Noah, with Abraham and Jacob. God spoke to Moses, and he spoke to the prophets, and through them he revealed his will to the people.
Already from patriarchal times we come across in biblical history with the first preacher of whom we have news: Enoch. Of him it is said:
“Of these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with tens of thousands of His holy ones, to execute judgment against all, and to convict all the wicked of all their wicked deeds which they have done wickedly, and from all the harsh things that wicked sinners have spoken against him” (Jd 14-15).
Enoch warned his generation of the judgment to come. But what I want to highlight is how old oral instruction is as a vehicle for the transmission of God’s truth. With this I am in no way minimizing the value and usefulness of the printed page. We wholeheartedly believe that books are a powerful instrument for propagating truth and combating error – the book has advantages that oral instruction does not. The Protestant Reformation owed a great deal to the invention of the printing press. But even so, preaching out loud continues to be the means par excellence that God uses to save souls and strengthen the faith of the saints. In fact, there is a very close relationship between the solidity of the pulpit and the good reading habit of the believers who make up a congregation.
Gardiner Spring said the following: “It is not saying much, that those who become proficient readers of religious books, become so because they have been previously taught by the pulpit. There is very little religious reading where the mind has not been awakened and prepared for it by the instruction of the sanctuary” (“Power of the Pulpit”, p. 56). The oral communication of God’s truth is the means par excellence that He uses to save sinners and build up saints. “He pleased God to save the believers from the madness of the preaching» (1 Cor 1:21). The word used in this text is kerugma, the proclamation as a herald. That is why Scripture emphasizes over and over again the importance of listening attentively, because faith comes by hearing, not primarily by reading.
Of thousands and thousands who can testify that they were converted through the preaching of the Word of God, you will find a few who will tell you that they were converted by reading. And if you dig deeper into the history of those few, you will probably discover that some had previously been exposed to the Word preached and had their hearts impacted by what they had heard.
Puritan Thomas Watson said: “It was by ears, because our first parents heard the serpent, that we lost paradise; and it is also through the ears, by listening to the Word preached, that we reach heaven. ‘Hear, and your soul shall live’ (Is 55:3)» (R. Bruce Bickel, “Light and Heat”, p. 12).
the need to hear
The Bible emphasizes the need to hear, because it presupposes that its servants will fulfill the mandate they have been given to preach the Word. If you ever want to do an interesting and very instructive study, take a concordance and look for the texts that emphasize the importance of hearing the Word preached and putting it into action. Here are some, only in the gospels:
- “Whoever therefore hears these words of mine and does them, I will compare him to a prudent man who built his house on the rock… But whoever hears these words and does not do them, I will compare him to a foolish man who built his house on the sand” (Matt. 7:24, 26).
- “He who has ears to hear, let him hear” (Mt. 11:15).
- The parable of the sower emphasizes hearing the Word of the kingdom and understanding it so that they can bear fruit (Mt. 13:18-23).
- “And calling the crowd to himself, he said to them, Hear, and understand” (Mt. 15:10).
- «He also said to them: Look what you hear; for with the measure with which you measure, it will be measured back to you, and it will be added to you who hear” (Mark 4:24).
- “Take heed then how you hear” (Luke 8:18).
- “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28).
- “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life; and he will not come into condemnation, but he has passed from death to life »(Jn. 5:24).
- «He who is of God, hears the words of God; therefore you do not hear them, because you are not of God» (Jn. 8:47).
- «My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me, and I give them eternal life; and they will never perish, nor will anyone snatch them out of my hand” (Jn. 10:27-28).
There is an obvious emphasis in these texts on the need to hear in order to be saved, and in particular to hear the voice of Christ. And how do we hear the voice of Christ today? As we listen to the preaching of his Word (Lk. 10:16; Ro. 10: 14-15, 17; Eph. 2:17). Undoubtedly there is a mystery in this that we cannot understand, but what is clear from the Scriptures is that we must preach and men must hear. God has decreed to work in the souls of men through this simple transaction. And there are many who throughout history have questioned the wisdom of God in this matter. “And it would not be better to use other resources to impress more deeply the soul of men.” That is the idea behind the Roman Catholic cult. The design of its cathedrals, the clothing of the priests and bishops, the murals, the carved images, the incense, the ceremonies, everything is designed to produce an impact in the eyes of those who come to its sanctuaries.
Now, I wonder, are the Catholics the only ones to be blamed for this? Isn’t it true that many evangelical churches have taken the preaching of God’s Word out of the spotlight, and are using other things to attract and make an impact? As a result of the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century, the pulpit began to occupy a central place in the churches, unlike the Catholic churches that had the altar in the center for the celebration of the mass. There was a theological reason behind that change. The most important part of Roman Catholic worship is the mass; that is why the altar is usually in the center and the pulpit to one side, as we can see in our cathedral. But the Protestants gave prominence to the preaching of the Word, and that is why they placed the pulpit in the center. These men understood the relevance they should give to preaching in their worship services. But sadly this is no longer the case in many churches that call themselves evangelical. They no longer trust God’s method, because it doesn’t seem so impressive.
Why does God give prominence to the oral communication of His truth? Gardiner Spring gives the following reasons. First, oral communication reaches the largest group of people at once. That is crucial to the unity of the church. Second, oral instruction is easier for most to understand. Not everyone knows how to read, and not everyone who knows how to read is a good reader; that is a reality. In oral instruction, a communication class is established that allows us to adapt to the audience that we have ahead of us. And third, oral communication has the power to affect listeners more deeply. The truth must first affect the intellect, but through the intellect it must also affect our affections. It is God who makes his Word prosper, but in doing so he takes into account the nature of our humanity that He himself created.
It is very difficult for the printed page to affect its readers as profoundly as the oral communication of a Spirit-filled man who with authority, conviction, passion, a sense of urgency, and compassion faithfully preaches God’s truth as revealed in His Word. But we cannot continue to expand this matter further. For now, all that remains is to beg God that God send a revival to his people, and that many pastors take up again the ground they have lost.
May the voice of the preachers be heard again in the churches, delivering the message of the Scriptures with power, and not anything else, for the salvation of souls and the edification of saints.
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© By Sugel Michelen. All thought captive. You can reproduce and distribute this material, as long as it is not for profit, without altering its content and acknowledging its author and origin.