Do you ever sit in church on a Sunday or listen to a keynote speaker at a conference and find yourself wondering what it is that stirs, provokes and motivates you towards action and life change?
Well, from his four decades of experience behind the pulpit, Sinclair Ferguson, Senior Pastor at First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, shares what he describes as the ‘Ten Commandments of Preaching’.
After having many years to reflect on his own preaching, he speaks of one day asking himself the question,
“What rule of preaching-life, do I wish someone had written for me to provide direction, shape, ground rules, that might have helped me keep going in the right direction and gaining momentum in ministry along the way?”
In response to his own question, he penned a really helpful article. Below is my attempt at summarising what he wrote.
1. Know your Bible better
This seems obvious, and that’s precisely why it’s worth stating.
For though we’ll never fully understand all things in scripture, it should be a heartfelt desire to have the words we preach to others, illuminate, grip, and consume us first.
As Ferguson so rightly says, “As an observer as well as a practitioner of preaching, I am troubled and perplexed by hearing men with wonderful equipment, humanly speaking (ability to speak, charismatic personality, and so on), who seem to be incapable of simply preaching the Scriptures. Somehow they have not first invaded and gripped them.”
2. Be a man of prayer
As prayer for God to illuminate our minds (as we delve into his word) and to prepare us to skilfully deliver his truth is important, so too is a recognition that we’re part of a family whose prayers we’re in need of, not only for our own sakes, but for the sake of our listeners too.
Ferguson implies that Spurgeon had grasped this all too well when he cleverly replied, “My people pray for me” when questioned about the success of his ministry.
3. Don’t lose sight of Christ
Here Ferguson gives a simple reminder about the importance of keeping the person of Christ at the centre of all preaching. He points out that,
“Systematic exposition did not die on the cross for us; nor did biblical theology, nor even systematic theology or hermeneutics…”
By not only helping people to see how the text relates to them, but by steering them towards the risen Lord, who is both their example to follow and the one through whom they find power to live a transformed life, we bring glory to Christ and equip our listeners for godly living.
4. Be deeply Trinitarian
Ferguson encourages us to consider whether our sermons are effective in elevating the triune nature of God, as will be seen by the sense of awe and worship stirred in the hearts of those who listen.
He says that, “Our people need to know that, through the Spirit, their fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.”
5. Use your imagination
In having invested time and energy in our endeavours to understand a text, we’re to be creative in how best to convey to our listeners the rich truths that God reveals to us.
We want to engage them as we share and impart to them the out-working of our time in God’s presence, in order that they too will know the all engulfing power of his life changing word.
Ferguson summarises it better than I could in saying that,
“Imagination in preaching means being able to understand the truth well enough to translate or transpose it into another kind of language or musical key in order to present the same truth in a way that enables others to see it, understand its significance, feel its power—to do so in a way that gets under the skin, breaks through the barriers, grips the mind, will, and affections so that they not only understand the word used but feel their truth and power.”
6. Speak much of sin and grace
Ferguson expounds on the challenge of us rightly balancing the exposure of the condition of the human heart with the ability to tenderly bring about restoration and healing.
So whilst we ought to communicate the origins, nature and effects of sin, there should at the same time be a bringing to the fore the significance of God’s grace. Not only for forgiveness and freedom from sin and its consequences, but for the power it provides for the reclamation of the spiritual condition.
7. Use the plain style
Getting the main thing across to our listeners must be the preachers goal – not fine sounding eloquence!
Ferguson makes reference to J. C. Ryle’s helpful counsel:
“Have a clear knowledge of what you want to say. Use simple words. Employ a simple sentence structure. Preach as though you had asthma! Be direct. Make sure you illustrate what you are talking about.”
8. Find your own voice
Though preachers do well to learn from others, and though it’s true that growth often starts with imitating that which is positive, it’s also true that the danger for many preachers is the desire to be like someone else.
But this desire to be someone else is not only emotionally and spiritually draining, it’s lacking in authenticity.
The last thing anybody needs, or indeed wants, is a clone. Simply put – we need to be ourselves!
9. Learn how to transition
This is about helping people move from, ‘what does the text say to my heart?’ to, ‘how do I respond?’. Sinclair describes it as preachers being able to communicate truth from scripture in such a way to effectively empower listeners to ‘make the transition from the old patterns of life in Adam to the new patterns of life in Christ‘.
In doing so, preachers show listeners how the scriptures are able to equip them to live as disciples, whilst encouraging them to develop confidence in the word of God as being sufficient for all things relating to life (2 Peter 1:3-11).
10. Love your people
Here we are reminded that the motivation behind wanting to communicate truth well to our listeners ought to be love.
Ferguson, referring to the Apostle Paul, points to a deep sense of wanting what is best for those who hear, and a belief that God will take what he’s prepared in the heart of the preacher and use it to make known his love and grace to those who hear him.
In (very brief) summary
As someone who has the privilege of communicating God’s word to others, I found this article to be informative and challenging, so would recommend that you read the full article here.
Either from your own experience of preaching, or from being on the receiving end of speakers, can you share anymore?
