preaching Archives - Pastor Marvin McKenzie

2 Corinthians 13:10 A Wiser Course of Preaching

2 Corinthians 13:10 (KJV)
Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to the power which the Lord hath given me to edification, and not to destruction.

There is a power that comes with the call to preach, a power of persuasion, rhetoric and influence. Not all preachers have this power to the same degree or over the same number of people but we all possess it. A preacher is wise to recognize it and to handle the power carefully.

Paul classifies the power into just two groups:

The power to edification
The power to destruction

He does not say a preacher must always use the power to edification. There is an appropriate time to pull down and destroy. However he does indicate a desire to edify rather than destroy. I have met some preachers whose whole ministry is focused on destruction. Every message is meant to condemn intimidate cast down and tear up.

A wiser course would be to plow up only so you can plant, water, nurture and grow.

To my readers:
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For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

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2 Corinthians 13:10 A Wiser Course of Preaching

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2 Corinthians 4:1-5 Paul’s Plan for Preaching

2 Corinthians 4:1-5 (KJV)
Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not;
But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.
But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.

This passage lays out clearly the work of the ministry. Paul had no intention of:

Manipulating his message to please people
Tweaking the sermon to fit the culture
Avoiding topics that would be less popular

Paul’s ministry plan was to:

Bring everything into the open,
Expose all he could to all of the Word of God he could and
Commend the results of that to the Lord

Paul did not preach himself. He wasn’t trying to build himself up as a leader and role model (other than that he did encourage people to follow him as he followed Christ). His only purpose was to clearly, completely and honestly preach Christ and trust that souls would respond. He also trusted that, if they did not, that would be the work of the devil. It wasn’t his place to “make” people believe. He did not concern himself with that. He only preached the truth and gave the results of that truth to God.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

2 Corinthians 4:1-5 Paul’s Plan for Preaching

1 Corinthians 14:6 New Testament Preaching

1 Corinthians 14:6 (KJV)
Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine?

The focus of this chapter is the edification of the church. At the time of this writing the gift of tongues, as it was found in the Book of Acts, still existed (or at least some still remembered when it existed) but it was fading away. It was a gift exclusively belonging to those of the apostolic era. It had no value after the Word of God was finalized and so ceased. That doesn’t mean people who liked to be seen didn’t make up their own versions of the gift.

Paul’s instructions in the chapter are intended to build maturity in the believers; stop focusing on yourselves and put your efforts into the church God has made you a member of. In this regard Paul writes of the four styles of message that profits a church. No doubt they had unique meaning to the apostles but they also have value today:

Revelation
Means to reveal a thing. It’s opening the Bible and making it plain. A difficult passage brought to light.

Knowledge
This word is related to science (the real kind, not falsely so called). I think it could relate to application. People profit when the preacher can show them how to live out the Bible.

Prophesy
This word means prediction. Here is the preacher reminding his congregation of Bible promises yet to be fulfilled.

Doctrine
It means instruction but I want to keep it at its root. Every preacher needs to teach his congregation the doctrinal truths that give his faith: distinction, justification and grounding.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

1 Corinthians 14:6 New Testament Preaching

Ezra 5:2 The Preacher’s Best Function

Ezra 5:2 (KJV)
Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them.

I have long contended that the prophets of the Old Testament had ministries comparable to that of the New Testament preacher.

They were not priests (though they could be from priestly families)
They were not regulated
They were not employees but Servants of God
They were often contemporaries and worked side by side
They sometimes were contemporaries but had little to no relationship with one another

Here we find two prophets who were contemporaries, knew each other and worked together for a common purpose. Could this be viewed as a rudimentary fellowship?

The Bible says these prophets instructed the people to begin work on the Temple again and that they helped them build. I have my suspicions that they picked up tools from time to time. I doubt that they were afraid to get dirty. But the most valuable help they could give, and that help that all of the commentaries point to, is help to:

Inspire
Motivate
Guide and
Maintain focus on the work

No preacher should mind picking up a hammer and saw. But the preacher’s best function (and probably most challenging) is in keeping others at the work.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

Ezra 5:2 The Preacher’s Best Function

Romans 12:3 The Grace to Preach

Romans 12:3 (KJV)
For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.

It is generally agreed that the grace to which Paul refers is his authority as one called of God into the ministry.

He did not speak from an educated position
Though Paul was the most educated of the apostles.

He did not speak from the perspective of personal experience
Though Paul had witnessed a great deal from which to draw in his years as a Christian.

He did not speak as one who was beloved of his audience
Though there were some whose love for Paul would have motivated them to act.

Paul spoke as one with authority due to his office
A preacher is wisest when he speaks from this same grace. Though he may be able to lead people to action by other means, the only long-term results of his ministry will come from his study of the Scriptures and authoritative, confident declaration of them.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

Romans 12:3 The Grace to Preach

Romans 1:2 Rooted to the Old Testament

Romans 1:2 (KJV)
(Which he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures,)

The apostle insisted, and will spend a great deal of this book proving, that the gospel was no new thing but promised in the Old Testament.

There is too much disparaging of the Old Testament in today’s Christianity. There is:

Too little preaching of it
Too little application of it
Too little instruction concerning its place in New Testament faith

The foundational truths of the gospel are rooted in the Old Testament. Therefore a proper understanding of the gospel is not possible without an understanding of the Old Testament.

Paul, preaching to a Gentile church, began by assuring his audience his message was rooted to the Old Testament. We must do no less.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

Romans 1:2 Rooted to the Old Testament

Acts 26:22 What the Faithful Preacher Preaches

Acts 26:22 (KJV)
Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come:

There is no doubt that Paul was:

Called of God
Filled with the Holy Ghost and
Possessed gifts of the Spirit

Paul was used of God to record for us more than half of the New Testament. God spoke to him directly and through dreams and visions. Peter testified that what Paul wrote is Scripture. But Paul carefully explained that nothing he said crossed outside the parameters of what was already the revealed Word of God in the Old Testament.

The modern day Charismatic and Pentecostal preachers should have taken a cue from Paul. Their claims at having the spiritual gift of prophecy and then to preach things not found in the Bible and, in some cases, contrary to the Bible, abuse and dishonor the very Spirit they claim has gifted them. Paul practiced what preachers today are bound to practice; the careful study of God’s Word and the exposition of that Word. Paul preached with confidence and authority but never with arrogance. He never strayed outside what God had already said. He never contradicted the prophets or countermanded their message.

A faithful preacher preaches “none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come.”

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

Acts 26:22 What the Faithful Preacher Preaches

Acts 10:6 What We Ought To Do

Acts 10:6 (KJV)
He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.

God told Cornelius that there was a man who would tell him, “..what thou oughtest to do.“

He would not tell him what he had to do.
He would not tell him what others thought he should do.
He would not tell him what the philosophers and scholars suggested he do.

He would tell him what he ought to do.

Peter’s words would come not from books or traditions handed down from Judaism. Peter’s words would come from:

His three years experience with Jesus,
His own understanding of the Word of God and
His anointing with the Holy Spirit of God

Very few people like to be told what to do but everyone needs a preacher to tell them what they ought to do.

To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

Acts 10:6 What We Ought To Do

John 7:4 (KJV) Developing Faithful Followers

John 7:4 (KJV)
For there is no man that doeth any thing in secret, and he himself seeketh to be known openly. If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world.

The methods and tactics of Christ are foreign and strange to those of the world. Jesus, his brethren believed, was full of self ambition yet He had the perfect opportunity to spread His name worldwide if He did His miracles in Jerusalem during the feast, when Jews from around the world were gathered there.

Jesus did not go with them but He did go. When He arrived He did not do miracles but taught the Word of God.

Men who do not believe become easily frustrated with God because He doesn’t do things as they would.

He doesn’t make a huge show
He doesn’t build crowds with impressive deeds
He doesn’t impress souls with pomp and splendor

Jesus uses simple, quiet consistent methods of teaching preaching and encouraging. These methods do not build the great crowds but they do develop faithful followers.

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others

John 7:4 (KJV) Developing Faithful Followers

John 6:30-32 (KJV) Preach Eternal Messages

John 6:30-32 (KJV)
They said therefore unto him, What sign shewest thou then, that we may see, and believe thee? what dost thou work?
Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.
Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.

John chapter six demonstrates the challenge every preacher has when communicating with people who claim to be followers of Christ but are carnal in nature. They wanted to speak about earthly/”relevant” things. Jesus was speaking about heavenly/eternal things.

Jesus’ tactic was to refuse to bow to their level. He kept the message on the:

Heavenly
Spiritual
Eternal
Essential

things.

This is exactly what the man of God must do.

The result was that there was a dramatic thinning of followers. By the time the chapter is finished only the twelve remained (and one of them was a devil). Though we all desire to win as many to Christ as we can, we must remember that our job is not to assemble a crowd but to gather those who cannot leave because they know we have the words of eternal life.

Give them those words or else have no ministry at all.

To my reader:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.

For this and more than 3000 earlier Daily Visits with God visit Marvin McKenzie’s blogger page. There you will find daily visits going back to 2006.

If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others