True preaching must have a true man behind it. True preaching always involves personality and truth. So the truth always must be scriptural truth.
In Mark 1:14 we find these words: "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God." That's our introduction to Him. Our Savior's first appearance in this world after He began His public ministry was as a preacher. He came preaching. The word for "preaching" in this passage means "to proclaim," "to herald;" in fact, the word used for herald in its other form is to "cry aloud." The very heart of Jesus' message as given here in this passage is:
"The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:15).
Prophetic preaching. The first fact that we have to notice about the preaching of Jesus is that His preaching was based upon the fulfillment of prophecy, upon the inspiration of the Scriptures of the Old Testament. It was a call to repentance and a call to faith. These four things are clearly discerned in that text. The time prophecy of Daniel 9, the great 70- week prophecy that we all know, had met its fulfillment in the anointing of Jesus by the Holy Ghost at the Jordan River.
In Acts 10:38 we read that Jesus was anointed by the Holy Ghost and went about healing the sick and all who were oppressed of the devil, "for God was with Him." He was anointed at the Jordan by the Holy Ghost and immediately He began to preach, "The time is fulfilled: repent ye, and believe the gospel." He came preaching that message. As He began His short but mighty ministry His first preaching was an announcement of the fulfillment of prophecy. It was an official proclamation to the world that the prophecy was fulfilled and was being fulfilled, and that He was here to fulfill it.
Definite preaching. The second fact we find in the preaching of Jesus is that it was definite, very definite. Just look at that text again: "The time is fulfilled." It is definite, and it is scriptural.
Biblical preaching. Jesus based His whole preaching on the Scriptures of the Old Testament; and it was prophetic. Now I believe that these three points, if we could remember them and follow them in our preaching, would be enough to help us all in our preaching. Christ's preaching was definite, scriptural and prophetic. It wasn't based on some finespun theory or philosophical argument. It was based upon fact, the fact of His presence. "I am here. Here I am. Repent therefore. Believe this message. The prophecy is fulfilled. I am here in fulfillment of the prophecy." His preaching was based on the fact of His presence, the fact of the prophecy that had been made long ago, and the fact that it was time for great things to take place. It was effective. True preaching is always effective. There is either an outward effect or an inward change.
Proclamation. The preaching of Jesus was a proclamation of fact; we cannot emphasize that too much. It was also an appeal for action. "Repent," He demanded. "Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." It was also a command from God. For "God commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30). Sometimes in our preaching we plead with people to repent, and that's right. We ask them to repent. We suggest that they repent. We try to induce them to repent. We do everything but command them to repent. God commands all men everywhere to repent. Remember that. We must have in our preaching a note of command from God, a note of authority, a command to repent.
Personal. There is a second point to be considered. The preaching of Jesus was from personality to personality; it was from man to men. It is this communication of truth from man to men that Phillips Brooks speaks of in his Yale Lectures on Preaching, which many people think is the greatest volume so far in the Yale series. Preaching, per se, is the communication of truth by man to men. It involves both truth and personality. God might have written His message in letters of fire upon the sky, but that wouldn't have been preaching. Man had to come and speak words to other men.
There are speakers today who interest people, who dazzle people with their oratorical fireworks; there are those who philosophize and propound speculations. But that is not preaching, because it is not a presentation of the truth. It's merely the twisting and turnings and effervescence of the human mind. True preaching must have a true man behind it. True preaching always involves personality and truth. So the truth always must be scriptural truth. So dear friends, true preaching must be definite, personal, truthful, and scriptural.
H. M. S. Richards presented a lecture on preaching at Columbia Union College, in Takoma Park, Maryland, in 1957. This article is taken from that presentation.
