The Ten Commandments of Preaching
Introduction
Robert F. Kennedy on June 6, 1966 in Jameson Hall at the University of Cape Town in South Africa delivered this message of hope:
Let no one be discouraged by the belief there is nothing one man or one woman can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills – against misery and ignorance, impatience and violence.
Each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all these acts will be written the history of this generation.
Each time a man stands up for an ideal or acts to improve the lot of others or strikes out against injustice, he sends a tiny ripple of hope and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
RFK was assassinated two years later to that very day in Los Angeles at 42 years old. He lived out this speech as he paid the ultimate price for the convictions to change the world and that the world could be changed.
1) PREACH THE WORD – 2 Timothy 3:16 - 4:5
“All Scripture is inspired by God!” Preach the Scriptures!
John 1:14 Latin Motto of ICCM “Venia et Veritas” – “Grace and Truth”
Jesus is “the Word become flesh.” Therefore: Jesus = Holy Spirit = Word of God
The Bible is the eternal truths of God. The teachings of the Scriptures are not simply ideals, but they are God’s standards for our lives. The preacher must call his audience to obey God’s Word.
In Acts 6:4, the Apostles chose to focus their energies on “prayer and the ministry of the Word.” We too must gain the conviction that a preacher’s devotional life and preaching is the “spiritual ceiling” for his congregation.
2) PREACH BELIEVING – Romans 10:16-17
The Word produces faith. But to produce faith, the Word must be preached with faith.
Faith comes from preaching the Word with faith!
We need to preach with all belief.
You can go to the most faithless of places and preach faith to the people!
3) PREACH EFFECTIVELY – Acts 14:1-2
One can preach the Word with faith, and still not be effective.
To be effective, one must practically apply the Scriptures to the audience challenging them to do something great! For example: For non-Christians challenge them to change their false doctrines of salvation as well as to change any and every aspect of their lives. For remnant (veteran) disciples challenge them to go back to their “first love” by overcoming their fears and lack of trust, and to dream again by joining God’s new movement. In finances, inspire disciples to go beyond what they initially “feel” they are able to give by sharing the needs that the money will go toward and “to be generous on every occasion.” (2 Corinthians 9:11)
When you preach effectively, fruit comes, but also enemies of God.
4) PREACH UNHINDERED – 2 Timothy 4:5
Phone calls, texts and emails returned within 24 hours.
Excellent finances - playing bills on time.
Awesome attitude toward paperwork and housekeeping.
Current news, knows the recent social and political issues.
Excel in Marriage (or Dating) and Family Life.
Spells: PEACE When you have peace in your life, you can be focused to “discharge all the duties of your ministry.”
5) PREACH DAILY – Acts 5:40-6:1
Preach to the lost and remnant daily. Set an example in getting visitors to church – non-Christians, fall-aways or remnant disciples. Have you been fruitful this year?
6) PREACH BY BUILDING SERMONS – 2 Timothy 4:2-4
Always preach to the needs.
In building a sermon, there are three sections:
1) INTRODUCTION – attention grabbing
2) BODY – based on the Scriptures
3) CLOSE – A thought-through conclusion that ideally is attention grabbing with a crescendo of inspiration!
Points in the BODY of the sermon may vary… from one to well as in this sermon – 10! (Usually 2 to four is ideal.) Your points should have some degree of “memorability.” In other words, your audience can easily remember them.
In building each point, the following pattern should be used in most cases:
1) Read the passage of Scripture that applies to your point. Reading is an acquired skill. (1 Timothy 4:13) Practice reading your Scriptures right before you teach or preach so that you will not be “tongue tied” over names or difficult words. Read with deep conviction – varying your voice and tone to help to fully convey the meaning of the Scripture.
2) Preach/Teach explaining the passage in its Scriptural context and its historical setting if necessary.
3) Illustrate your point. Humor is often a good way to pull the audience in and to help them remember your point. Jesus – since He was a carpenter – used humor to illustrate “hypocritical judgment” in His Sermon on the Mount! Jesus portrayed a rather absurd scene of a man with plank in his eye confronting a man with only a “speck of sawdust” in his eye!
4) Call the audience to obey the Scripture – through correction, rebuke or inspiration.
5) Practically apply this call to obedience – ask something great of them!
Lastly, always try to put a “morsel” in for the remnant in each sermon. A “morsel” being described is something the remnant (and you) did not know about the Scriptures that you are presenting.
So these “tasty morsels of insights” will perk up the remnant during your lessons! Also, putting something you have discovered (learned) into each sermon keeps preaching “fresh” for you!
7) PREACH WITH OR WITHOUT MONEY – 2 Timothy 4:2; 1 Corinthians 9:4-12
“Preach in season and out of season…” Preach with pay and when you are not paid!
Paul states that one should be able to “reap a material harvest” from one’s “spiritual harvest” of souls. Interestingly, the “Apostolic Model” of pay was for one’s wife to work so the Apostle could be free to win souls and to meet the needs of the disciples.
Someone once said, “Time is money!” We pay Evangelists and Women’s Ministry Leaders for their time. The more time, the more souls can be won. Unpaid interns should work as few of hours as possible to have the most hours possible to train.
Sometimes a minister must work, because there are no funds. (Acts 18:1-5) Another occasion that a minister must work is for a “genuine cover” in particularly difficult countries to evangelize.
God calls you to be a preacher! Preach with or without money!
8) PREACH TO YOURSELF – 1 Corinthians 9:19, 26-27
Often one’s best sermons happen when you preach to yourself. If you are discouraged, distressed or discontented, preach to yourself a message that meets your needs. Usually, you will find several in your audience that are touched by the Scriptures and your openness.
There are times to share about your example, but most times it is best to share about yourself in humorous and not very flattering ways. As Paul said, “I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses… I delight in weakness, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10) This makes you “one of them” and not some “super Christian.” You become very relatable! Another important aspect of preaching is confessing your sins. (For me, this includes anger, impatience, lust and acedia.) After all, openness breeds openness.
9) PREACH TO PRODUCE MORE PREACHERS – 2 Timothy 2:2
I am in the process of selecting my “Twelve.” That said, the ICCM students are my “72!” (Luke 10:1-3)
Two Challenges:
1) Convert someone better or more talented than you.
As spiritual parents, dream for your disciples to do “even greater things” than you! (John 14:12)
10) PREACH FOR GOD – 2 Timothy 4:1
God’s man or God’s woman should preach as if he or she has just come down from the mountain top from being face to face with God! There should be a re in your heart before you preach. Pray before you preach that God will pour out upon you an extra measure of His Spirit!
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 Paul shared that in his preaching there was “weakness, fear and much trembling!” Most of my “best lessons” started with me “feeling this way.” However, that’s when preaching becomes “a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.”
Conclusion:
RFK “preached” in Cape Town in 1966 that one person can make a difference in this world. But you must ask yourself the question, “What can one man or one woman do?” One man led 2,000,000 people to freedom by crossing the Red Sea! One young man with just a slingshot killed the giant Goliath and inspired all Israel to victory! One woman boldly went before the Persian King risking her life but in the end she saved all her people! What can one man do? Anything God wants him to do!