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LEADER.L11
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1992-10-28
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TO THE GLORY OF GOD
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Study No 11 THE MESSAGE
C. Preparation Of The Message
1. The Birth Of The Message
a. The preacher must develop his seed-thoughts and ideas for the
message in prayer. Without the sense that God is providing
the inspiration for the subject, the preacher becomes a speech
maker deciding at his own discretion the points to be made and
so speaking from the mind will only reach minds. However, the
preacher is essentially the mouthpiece of God. He should
speak as the oracle of God. 1 Peter 4:11 and Ex. 4:12.
b. Once having prepared his own heart to receive a seed-thought
from God, he should develop a sensitivity to the ways in which
the Holy Spirit will generally bring that seed-thought to him.
a) The prevailing needs of the hearers
b) Current events or circumstances
c) Direct inspiration from personal study or prayer or
revelation
d) God's dealing with the preacher
2. The Theme
a. Every message must have a specific aim. This should be able
to be stated in a few words. A smorgasbord of truths will
generally be more confusing than helpful.
b. Aim to get one major concept across. To do this successfully
you will need to package that "Big Idea" in a number of
illustrations and subsidiary points which will all help to
expose and promote the central truth and theme of the message.
c. Generally this theme will be expressed in, or launched from a
specific text or brief passage of scripture.
d. Avoid including material, however good, which will develop a
second theme. Keep to the point.
3. Collecting The Material
a. From the time that the seed-thought is clear until the message
is preached keep a file (or notebook) on that theme. Every
day add to it the thoughts gained through prayer and study, or
the illustrations from life or your own experience which occur
to you.
b. The preacher should give himself to diligent specific study of
the subject in the following ways:
1) Reading scriptures associated to the subject and comparing
the text or preaching passage with similar passages or
Biblical events.
A cross reference Bible and concordance will be a useful
tool in this type of research.
2) Check the background to the text or passage of scripture
by:
i) Its relationship to the context
ii) The use of Bible dictionaries
iii) Check key words and the meaning of names in a Hebrew or
Greek lexicon which will often bring out hidden truths
or illustrations.
iv) The use of your library and resource file to support and
illustrate the message
v) Reading the passage in various translations can also
throw new light on it.
vi) Drawing on memory for key illustrations to give the
message relevancy
3. Collating The Material
a. The message should have a logical sequence and progression or
points. The preacher should ensure that it makes sense and is
easy for his hearers to follow and remember.
b. The message will generally have:
a) A specific introduction. An interesting story, an
attention arresting point, a gripping title or
announcement, or the use of some humorous illustration can
help to gain the attention of the hearers.
b) The aim or theme of the message should be clearly spelled
out in the introduction or immediately following it.
c) The various main points illustrating, developing or
explaining the theme should then fill up the body of the
message:
i) There should not be too many.
ii) Each of these points should be titled to give them
clarity. Sometimes the use of alliteration or associated
titles will help organize the message and give it
clarity.
iii) Use the listeners general knowledge to lead them from
the known to the unknown or from the natural to the
spiritual.
d) The conclusion of the message will generally take the form
of a gripping story which sums up the theme and brings the
message to a climax or a re-iteration of the points covered
to establish them in the minds of the hearers.
e) The conclusion should have a natural and smooth progression
to the altar call as you apply the message to the hearers.
D. Different Types Of Preaching
The preachers should use a variety of styles in preaching, ie, he
should approach his subject in differing ways, rather than having a
stereotyped routine to his message.
There are basically six ways in which his message may be
presented:
1. Textual Preaching
This message is generally confined to a verse or two of
scripture and all of the points are drawn exclusively from that
section of scripture alone.
ie. Isaiah 45:22 - "Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of
the earth; for I am God, and there is none
else."
a. The Greatest Blessing - "Be ye saved"
b. To The Greatest Number - "all ye ends of the earth"
c. With The Greatest Security - "For I am God"
d. On The Easiest Terms - "Look unto me"
e. Through An Exclusive Way - "There is none else."
This method of preaching cracks open a verse of scripture to
discover its central truth. There are literally hundreds of
texts which are best developed by this method. Some good
examples would be: John 3:16, Romans 6:23, Ephesians 2:8-9, Rev.
3:20, etc.
2. Topical Preaching
This method seeks to develop the message from the perspective of
a subject rather than a specific text. Even if a text is used as
the rationale of the message it is generally only as a
foundation to the message or a springboard to other points.
a. The preacher may use a number of texts to build up a subject,
ie. Salvation, Justification by Faith, The Baptism of the
Spirit, Healing, etc.
b. Alternatively he may begin with various points he wishes to
convey and then seek to support these points from scripture.
An example of a topical message on Salvation could be:
a) Salvation from the Power of Sin
b) Salvation from the Person of Sin
c) Salvation from the Penalty of Sin
d) Salvation from the Presence of Sin
Or on Sin:
a) The Cause of Sin
b) The Curse of Sin
c) The Cure of Sin
Or on the River of the Holy Spirit (Ezek. 47):
a) The Source
b) The Course
c) The Force
The preacher may preach on current events, prophecy, or
against the Occult or Humanism, or How to Win over Worry, or
How to have Victory in the Thought Life, etc, and then back up
these points from scripture.
This type of message would generally draw heavily on
illustrative material, either from the Bible or other sources.
This would be the most common form of preaching.
3. Expository Preaching
This is the message based on a complete passage of Scripture. It
may be a chapter, or a book or a section of a chapter, but it
will be a section with a common theme.
eg. "The Christian' Armour" - Ephesians 6:10-18
"The Fruit of the Flesh and the Spirit" - Galatians 5:16-23
or Romans, chapters 6-8
Isaiah 53, etc.
Much expository preaching would concentrate on extracting the
main message from a whole book of the Bible in either or two
ways:
a. One message on the central truth of the Book, ie, an overview
of it.
b. A series of messages - chapter by chapter, or section by
section to extract all the major ideas from the Book.
The word "expository" (from "Exegesis") means an exposure,
exhibition, a setting forth a description, explanation or
commentary. While topical preaching is generally a declaration
of truth, exegetical preaching is more of an explanation of truth
and an attempt to demonstrate the harmony of the passage preached
on. It is interpretative and leans heavily on the context rather
than external illustrations.
This type of preaching more naturally suits the "Teacher" and
should only be attempted by experienced preachers as it is prone
to dullness.
4. Biographical Preaching
This message is based on the life and experiences of a Biblical
character. The events of his/her life or the dealings of God in
him or her are used as illustrations of Biblical truths.
eg. Faith under Fire - from the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego. Daniel 3
Victory over Temptation - from the life of Joseph and the
event of Potiphar's wife. Gen. 39
Overcoming Insurmountable Odds - from the event of David and
Goliath
This type of preaching would draw most of its
illustrative materials from the person's life and experience.
The biographical message leads itself to being made interesting
as it is easy to weave the storytellers skill into it.
However, this advantage can also lead to its major disadvantage -
It can become wearisome and over long if every point in the
person's life is strained out for some truth.
5. Typographical or Interpretative
This type of message is one in which the "hidden" truth is
extracted through interpretation. Much of the Bible is written
in this obscure form and the Laws of Interpretation need to be
applied to it in order to understand what the passage is really
saying. For example, the account of the building of the
Tabernacle in Exodus is not just a record that it was done and
how. Each part has a special significance. This type of
preaching is Revelatory. It concentrates on bringing to light
hidden things. The typographical or Interpretative areas include
the Tabernacle, The Song of Solomon, The Parables, The Book Of
Daniel, Revelation, and much of Ezekiel.
In addition to this many of the experiences of people are also
typical rather than merely illustrative, eg, Elijah and Elisha,
and the double portion anointing, Ruth and Boaz, Esther, Isaac
and Rebekah, etc.
6. Series Preaching
While this type of preaching may include all of the types listed
above, it is different in that each message, while being complete
in itself, is essential to the next stage in the series. There
would usually be a brief recapitulation of the points covered so
far before each new message was begun.
One of the advantages of series preaching is the opportunity to
cover a number of subjects cohesively, or without anyone feeling
that you singled them out to preach at ie, if you preach a series
on the Ten Commandments, when you cover lying or adultery, etc,
these cannot be seen to be a personal attack.
The series should not be over-long, except for very gifted
preachers.
END of LEADERSHIP Study. May the Lord Bless you. Amen
