BIBLE READING: Rom. 1:9-11, 16-18

All believers should endeavour to understand what we are discussing today to be able carry out the great commission given to us all.  So many have been talking about Jesus, telling others about Him but getting no one to identify with this Jesus. Let’s see some ways one can preach to achieve the desired objective of winning the sinner to Christ and establishing the new converts in our environment.

TALKING ABOUT HIM EXPERIENTIAL (Rom. 1:16; Jn. 15:16)

Paul did not talk of salvation as one that heard it from another person but as one that has experienced it.  In all his preaching, he preached what he has experienced (cons. 1 Tim. 1:12-16).  Many Christians are preaching the Christ they have not encountered but the Christ they have read or heard so much about.  They can be likened to the Samaritans of Jesus day’s who worship the God they did not know (cons. Jn. 4:22).  Many who go to church and preach cannot minister salvation or make any one a real child of God through their preaching.  This is because they cannot give what they do not have (Rom. 1:11; Acts 3:6).

To talk about Jesus effectively therefore, you must preach experimentally, the Jesus know.

PREACHING AUTHORITATIVELY (Rom. 1:1, 5-6, 15; Matt. 7:28-29)

Authoritative preaching is a preaching that is filled with authority.  It is the preaching that affects the mind of the listeners (Jn. 7:45-46).  The preaching of Jesus was with authority.  That authority was from the Father that sent Him.  Paul, the apostle, and other soul winners of his day had this authority and as a result bore much fruits (Rom. 1:5-6; 1 Thess. 2:13; Jn. 20:21).

This power and authority comes from the Spirit of God and it is meant to activate when one becomes born again (cons. Eph. 1:18-19; Tit. 3:5-6).  Those that are not born again do not have the Spirit, power and authority (Rom. 8:9).  They can only teach and preach like the Scribes of Jesus’ day and such preachers are not sent by God.  It could be dangerous to preach without this authority.  One could have the experience of the sons of Sceva in the book of Acts (Acts 19:13-16) without knowing it.  Such preachers cannot profit their hearers (cons. Jer. 23:21-22, 28-29).

Note:  A child of God may lose this authority as a result of sin without knowing it and could still be preaching (cons. Judg. 16:19-20).

Other ways is to talk about Him with compassion towards the sinner knowing his end and predicament if he does not come out of sin and to get the confidence of those you are preaching to (Rom. 1:9-12)