“…[O]ld things are passed away: behold, all things are become new.”                                                                                                                             (2 Corinthians 5:17b)

 

Most likely preachers talked about the New Year last Sunday morning during Church services.  One question I always have on holidays like Easter, Christmas, & New Years is if it be God’s will that preachers speak on the holiday at hand.  In other words, does God want all preachers to preach upon the same topic in every church, nation wide if not world wide?

I know this article may be offensive to some but it need not be. We were told recently and a few times before that, we are “old school.” One time it was an insult and the other a great compliment from someone who reads these articles, the other times it was simply a comment in passing.

Being “old school” means that i’m completely dependent upon God for a message and the power to minister that message to His sheep. Being dependent upon God also means I will and have held up a service for over (20) minutes and I was horror struck waiting on God, thinking He may not enable me.  We have cut services short because we sensed God’s departure. We have also canceled services as well because of the absence of power.  This is unheard of today because the contemporary minister is more than happy to use other men’s books and outlines prepared by other men. I believe God does this to remind me of my absolute need of His Presence and Power. It also shows me the Reality that is God’s Presence and Power as well as proving to me that we are called.

To preach from another’s works is “preaching plagiarism” and intellectual dishonesty, and an offense to the Holy Spirit of God. It is also an offense to the Spirit of God to preach one’s own will and one’s own message. In my over (2) two decades of preaching and teaching God has never directed me to preach about a holiday on that holiday.  One year we preached about (s)atan on Easter.  At first one might think the devil has nothing to do with Easter, but one would be wrong for the devil is Christ’s defeated foe and he was defeated on Easter, if you will.

God does not allow us to preach the same message twice. We did that (20) twenty years ago.  we preached a message that stirred the emotions of God’s people.  So we thought we would preach it again at a different church…preachers like to see the people weep.  Dead, dead, dead…the message was dead AKA no life. God left me alone that time and taught me a valuable lesson.  He moves the hearts of His people and I do not.

I know the argument some preachers would use in support of their holiday sermons/lectures. That argument being, “A lot of people only come to church on Christmas and Easter, so I need to preach on what they are expecting.”  My reponse is simply this, “Since when do the C & E crowd out rank the will of God and since preachers believe this way, the C & E crowd have heard only (1) one message ever!!!

Another thing I have wondered about preachers and that is the preachers “preparations for service.” I’m not saying a preacher shouldn’t be prepared.  I also understand that many preachers use power point and other tools like that so I can understand that kind of preparation.

My preparations include being studied up at all time so that God can direct my preaching and my thoughts.  Many times in fact, God has changed the message as I stepped into the pulpit and also during the preaching of a message.  He does this, I believe, to reward me for my studies.  He does this, I believe, to let me know He’s listening!!! What encouragment. I have known men that use notes (and that is fine) but if they were to lose them they too are lost.  Some men are so dependent upon notes that God is not needed.  I have seen some men imitate other preachers which is a sad thing to behold. I have known some men to have upwards of (6) six months of notes prepared and these notes were not even their own!!! Please note I used the word men and not preacher because, they were fine men but not preachers.  As to men imitating others, I heard about a man at a “camp meeting” that was imitating a preacher…even preaching that preacher’s sermon, everyone knew he was imitating because the the preacher delivered that same message only the year before. God loves variety in His servants to imitate is to offend God.  The sin is called emulation, whereas it is called imitation today.

A man once told me that he was told by an aunt that he should be a pastor because he speaks well and is good with people…I did everything I could to keep my composure. This man said this with such pride and arrogance. Little does Aunt Silly know about the ministry.  I’ve also been told that anybody could be a preacher by a man I worked with.  I asked him what the (3rd) third book of the Bible is…he couldn’t answer the question. I then kindly suggested to him, “You must be the stupidest man on earth, you obviously could not be a preacher…you must by your own admission be the only person that doesn’t know what the (3rd) third Book in the Bible is.”  I can “be good with people,” I chose not to be so good that time.

Notes do not make a preacher, schools do not make a preacher, the ability to speak well in front of others do not make a preacher, knowledge of the Scriptures do not make a preacher, Salvation does not make a preacher.  A man’s desire does not make a preacher. God and God Alone can make a preacher. The only man that is a preacher is the man that has been called to preach. The only man that can be a preacher is the man that has been made willing by a sovereign act and gifting of the Sovereign Spirit of God Who gifts “severally as [H]e wills.”  A man may be called years before God uses him and before God makes him willing.

I think I was called at my conversion, but it would be years before God put the willingness in me. I remember negotiating with God. I asked if I could do a few things first before entering the ministry.  I would not advice this today as I was a young and foolish convert then.  However, He was and is longsuffering with His unprofitable servant and reader, He allowed me all that I asked!!! What a life He has given me…what a life.

The God made and Spirit gifted preacher trusts God with all things. This man does not rely on fancy words, emotion stirring songs, guilt, or tricks…”I see that hand” when there is no raised hand. This trick and or deception…this false witness is taught in some schools.  The God called man trusts God to work in the heart(s) of those within the preacher’s hearing. That is not to say that the preacher should not use truths that God may use to convict or cause fear but to use guilt and fear on a flesh level is not depending upon God. This method may get hands raised but little else.

I’m not a preacher that is a big fan of the alter call. I think it can be used if so led of God. I once had an alter call, God compelled it and it was open for (20) twenty minutes!!!  You see, God was in it.  Believers kept coming and coming. Some came (15) fifteen minutes into the invitation. We saw the white knuckles of some and read the body language of others…they wanted to come forward but were holding back. We were relentless. They were coming and confessing sin and God was dealing with His people that night.  I was overwhelmed and greatly humbled to say the least.

I’m not alone in my preaching philosophy.  Charles Spurgeon did not begin his preparations until Saturday evening.  Martyn Lloyd Jones would wait on the empowerment of the Spirit before he would begin preaching…he would pray (30) thirty minutes before beginning. These men understood something that few understand today, if God is not enabling the minister to speak to the people of God, If God is not in it, it is only a man giving a lecture. The people may learn something but there is nothing happening in the spirit or the soul.

Consider our Lord Jesus and His Apostles, do you think they “prepared”  By the way, before I forget, I am not comparing myself to Spurgeon, Lloyd Jones, the Apostles or my Master.  I’m not for a second claiming to be on their level but I would suggest their method is the best. Their method is to be studied in the Word and to be instant in season and out of season.  That word instant is also use in a passage that exhorts us to “be instant in prayer.” This means always be in the spirit of prayer. The preacher should always be instant in preaching. The God chosen, the God called, the God gifted, the God dependent preacher is a preacher 24/7 and not just on Sunday. The preacher never retires and would never consider a higher paying position in the world. The preacher was born in Eternity past and he will be a preacher through Eternity future. Preaching is not what he does but who he is.