There are all types of preachers and a variety of delivery styles. For years I told young men in homiletics that the important thing was that they become a Bible preacher, and I believe that more now than ever before. The power in in the Word.
Yet I see a grave danger in our preaching deteriorating into a purely academic exercise. The preacher must read, study, and write. But a sermon may be homiletically sound and spiritually empty. This is the difference in my own thinking between a sermon and a message. A man may get a sermon but lack Holy Spirit power. When the message “gets” him then the Lord is working on the heart level.
Hearers need more than a nice outline and an articulation of Bible facts. Preaching must engage the intellect but it cannot stop there. Preaching may touch the emotion but it must go deeper. In a day of shallow substitutes the need is for heart preaching.
This does not mean that the preacher simply “shares his heart.” I have learned by experience that I cannot trust my own heart (Jeremiah 17:9)! Nor do I mean that we should aim at simply getting people worked up emotionally. G. Campbell Morgan said, “Painted fire never burns.”
True heart preaching is marked by three things:
- It means that we have discovered God’s heart in the passage. In every Scripture there is a divine intent. Seek the Lord for His heart and let it become your own. What is God’s design in the text? What is God’s desire for the hearers? His Word reveals His heart.
- It means that the truth of the passage has affected our heart. Do not preach a passage until it has come real to your own heart. Pray through the passage. Meditate on it. Apply it to your own life. There can never be “overflow” until there is an inflow.
- It means that the Scripture is presented with the aim of touching the heart of the hearers. Entertainment and education are not enough! What should the hearers believe and how should they respond?
Only preaching from the heart accurately reveals the passion and purpose of the God of Scripture. Only preaching from the heart goes to the heart. Take it from a heart preacher named Jeremiah: when you feed your own heart on the Word you will be prepared to feed others with the same Word. “Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart: for I am called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts” (Jeremiah 15:16). A prepared heart is more important than a prepared sermon.
Be a Bible preacher…and preach it from the heart.
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Brother Pauley – that is rich! I’m only a Sunday School teacher, but I believe this is my biggest struggle. Thank you so much for the encouragement and the challenge.
I thank the Lord that you are a true Bible preacher who teaches from the heart; which the Lord has used much over this past year to touch my heart!
God bless you. I appreciate your prayers.
Yes, this principle applies to all of us who communicate God’s Word in any way. May the Lord use you!
So good. Amen.
Thank you for reading the posts.
Preacher this helped me.
I’m so glad!
Good insight. There are so many preachers who I call brainiacs. They just want to share how much they know. Knowledge puffeth up but love edifies as the scripture says. Getting a heart message from God and having a prepared heart to share it is essential to a powerful delivery of scripture. Where the messenger becomes a vessel to deliver what God wants and desires. They come prepared and are also surrendered. Working with the Holy Spirit to deliver the message in a way that changes hearts, minds, and lives.