Effective Preaching

Biblical preachers have a unique effect on their audience because of their declaration of the powerful Word of God. The key to effective preaching is to say what the Bible says and to apply it the way the passage intends. The Lord told Jeremiah that if the preachers in his day would have declared the counsel of God’s Word, they would have changed the hearts of the people who heard them.

Jeremiah 23:22 “But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.” The “they” refers to the false prophets, who routinely declared a message of peace and safety to the lost: “all is well; God is blessing you.” Had they preached what God said to preach and caused the people to hear God’s actual words, they would have been effective in their preaching to turn the hearts of the people back to God.

Preaching is effective when it declares what God says in its context. That is why Jesus was so powerful and effective in His preaching: “He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes” (Mt. 7:29). Preaching is also effective when it makes the point the passage is saying. When that point is exposed, explained, and driven home, the people know it. It is persuasive. God is speaking to us through His Word, and He uses the preacher as His mouthpiece.

Our responsibility as preachers is to declare the message that the Bible is saying. The responsibility of the hearers is to “receive with meekness the engrafted word.” When the Word is preached and the Word is received, Christ is glorified, and our lives are changed.