PREACHING CLASS NOTES:
1. The Word of God is the Will of God. Revelation is the key to understanding it. Knowledge and intellect have their place, but the God-breathed or inspired Word of God is first received in the heart and only later understood by the mind.
2. Read out of it, not into it. What it really says rather than what you assumed it says. This will address any unconscious prejudices or preconceived ideas that you may have held about God and the Bible.
3. Make a distinction between what is literal and what is figurative. Will Jesus really return riding on a white horse with a sword in his mouth? Or does the white horse symbolize total victory and the sword the triumphant Word of God?
4. The early chapters of Genesis are historical, not figurative; and are certainly not mythical. The First Adam was as real as Jesus, the Last Adam. Unbelievers scoffed at the thought of God creating the first woman, Eve, from a rib taken from the first man, Adam — until medical scientists long after discovered that DNA comes from bone marrow — and then created a sheep in much the same way
The books of Esther and Jonah are true stories, not allegories. We might wonder why the genealogies in the Old Testament seem almost endless, but they were inserted there to authenticate familial bloodlines.
‘Spiritualising’ truth through allegory mythologizes it and in the process makes it irrelevant to real life situations and circumstances. An allegory likens one thing to another, a metaphor speaks of them as the same — “The setting sun was a ball of fire in the sky”. Allegory says “like”, metaphor says “was”. Neither is literal.
Symbols, such as those used in the book of Revelation, make truth more dramatic visually, and increase the impact.
“Nuts and Bolts” secrets for public speaking:
1. Start Strongly.
Have a headline. Make a statement. Open with a quick quote. Then back it up with one or more Bible references on the subject. I wondered why my preaching had little effect until the Lord gave me this sequence: 1. Challenge! 2. Confront! 3. Conflict. 4. Conquest! The sequence worked (so well that some people thought it a bit aggressive but it was just more assertive — and it worked!
2. Have a Theme
Sum the message up in your mind. Say it to yourself in one sentence before you speak.
What’s the Bottom Line? An elderly African-American preacher’s method was:
“Tell ’em what you’re gunna tell ’em; tell ’em; and then tell ’em you told ’em.”
3. Speak in the Active Voice, not the Passive Voice by placing verbs up front in sentences and nouns more toward the end. Verbs are doing words; nouns are naming words. Avoid words that end with “ation” – they lose their dynamic. Jesus didn’t say, “This brings finalization.” He said, “It is finished.”
“There is a great deal of difference between a tired man who wants a book to read and an alert man who wants to read a book.” (Winston Churchill) Note the important placings of the noun “book” and the verb “read” in the Active sentence.
Unload excess baggage: Drop Therefore and instead use So. Drop However and instead use But. Drop Nevertheless and instead use Still. Do these while speaking, as well as when writing.
4. Show & Tell.
(a) Paint a Picture; (b) Put in a Person; (c) Pull out a Principle. Abraham with Vision and Faith. The Exodus with Moses and Law. Joshua with Possession of Promises. Joshua and New Generation vision and tactics. David’s Rise to King and Fall into Sin with “the mercies of God.
5. Tell Stories of Failure and Success. Stories like the Prodigal Son. Act out what you are preaching. Clark Taylor’s preaching was more of a performance. Make it visual!
6. How to Defend the Bible:
The best way to defend a caged lion is to release it. Likewise, the best way to defend the Bible is to expound it. God’s Word needs no defence — itl vindicates itself by its effects. The best defence of Christianity is not a clever argument but rather the power of a life set free. The Bible’s best defence is that when preached with unrestrained power it produces holy terror! and deep repentance!
How to Use the Bible:
Move the “s” from the end to the beginning of “words” and you have “sword.” The Bible is the Sword of the Spirit. It is a two-edged sword. But in the mouth of a “bible basher” it becomes a blunt instrument!
Fill yourself with what you want to say, open your mouth, and let the Spirit of God speak! (Matthew 10:19-20 applies to witnesses brought before hostile rulers, not unprepared preachers in the pulpit.)
Let your heart “bubble up” with a good theme, and your tongue will be “the pen of a ready writer.” (Psalm 45:1) It will speak with inspiration!
Jesus said: “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34) Surplus words overflow! Precious thoughts fill the heart, overflowing in the form of spoken words. Thoughts become words (and words things).
You cannot overflow if you are half empty! Hear an old-time preacher’s view:
“Whatever may be the subject…when a man is full of it, when he is wrapped up in it, when it lies very near to his heart, when he dwells upon it day and night and can think of nothing else, he has only to open his mouth and it will flow liquid gold. The subject is revolved over and over in his mind, he is acquainted with it in every respect, it opens out before him of its own accord, he knows his way through it, and at every turn it glimmers and gleams with illustrations which do not need to be hunted for, but which present themselves in numerous and sparkling array in response to the warmth of his interest in the subject he seeks to expound.” – M. Anstey.
There is a big difference between “having to say something” and “having something to say.” Be fully informed on your subject and your message is soaked in prayer to avoid embarrassment. God is with you, so give Him your best!