Life of Christ 43
The best homiletics
textbook in the world is the Bible because in that Book we find the record of
the best preacher, Jesus. One of the features that marked His preaching was
authority (Mark 1.22, Matthew 7.29) and that authoritative preaching was
powerful preaching.
Jesus spent much of his
first year traveling through Galilee and preaching in various synagogues of a
Sabbath. One day, after preaching in Capernaum, Luke records that 'they were
astonished at his doctrine: for his word was with power' (Luke 4.32). This is
the twin passage to Mark 1.22, and a careful student will notice that the word
'authority' is missing and has been replaced with the word 'power.' I believe
every word in the Bible was carefully and purposefully chosen. In choosing to
change those words from one gospel to another, God is teaching us that there is
a direct connection between authoritative, scriptural preaching and powerful
preaching.
Preaching is supposed to
be powerful. Paul said in I Corinthians 1.18, 'For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power
of God.' This kind of preaching has the power to produce in people a deep sense
of specific sin. It has the power to move people to stop something, start
something, change something, or decide something. It has the power to break
through whatever walls and defenses the sinful heart of the listener had
previously erected.
John the Baptist
preached authoritatively with power. 'And he shall go before him in the spirit
and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the
disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the
Lord' (Luke 1.17).
The Apostles in the
early Church preached authoritatively with power. 'And with great power gave
the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus and great grace was
upon them all' (Acts 4.33).
Paul preached
authoritatively with power. 'And my speech and my preaching was not with
enticing words of man's wisdom; but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power:' (I Corinthians 2.4).
There are several
different aspects to preaching with power, but one of the absolute necessities
is a holy and fearless boldness based upon the fact that you aren't speaking
your own opinion, but rather giving the people exactly what God has said. Wishy washy
speechifying, in which everybody and their brother's opinion is presented as
equally valid, changes very few people. By definition, there cannot be a
trumpet clarion call to change when everybody is an authority. But confident,
assertive preaching, grounded firmly on the authority of God's Word, changes all kinds of people.
Beloved, don't fence
your preacher in. Don’t tell him to quiet down. Don't tell him to relax. Don't
tell him to lighten up. Don't get mad at him when he expresses a confident and
assertive statement about something you are doing wrong that must needs be
changed and fixed. When he challenges you, challenge yourself. Don't run from
such authoritative preaching. Don't resist it. Instead, welcome it open arms,
and embrace it warmly.
Some will say, in
response, 'But what balances this? In your scenario what prevents my preacher
from becoming a dictator that essentially runs roughshod over everybody?' My
answer is simple. You do. How? By constantly checking what he is preaching
against the Book. When a church is filled with Bereans, who are always
searching the scriptures whether the things they are hearing from the pulpit
are so or not (Acts 17.11), the wrong tendencies of a preacher are held in
check by the very thing that allows him such authority – the Word of God.
Jesus was the best
preacher the world has ever seen, and one of the great keys to this was that He
preached with authority. Yes, it often rubbed people the wrong way, but it was
tied tightly to Scripture, and it was powerful indeed.
If you would like to hear the audio version of this blog you may find it here on our church website. Just press 'launch media player' and choose We Preach Christ 18, 'He Taught Them As One That Had Authority'.
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