Devoted to the Propagation and Defense of New Testament Christianity
VOLUME 14
NEED_DATE
NUMBER 28, PAGE 5

Preaching To Please The Lord - (No I)

Thomas G. O'neal

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, declared to the Corinthians, 1 Cor. 1:21, "....it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." It is the Lord's will to have the gospel preached unto every creature, Mk. 16:15. In this series of articles our purpose shall be to study the kind of preaching that pleases the Lord.

Preaching that pleases the Lord must be preaching that is directed by the Holy Spirit.

Two Ideas

The world has two ideas toward the operation of the Holy Spirit. It is the contention of some that the Holy Spirit operates directly upon the heart of the sinner in conversion. Others contend that the Holy Spirit operates upon the heart of the sinner in conversion through the written Word of God. Of course, both of these ideas cannot be taught in the Word of God! One of them could be taught in God's Word or neither of them could be taught therein, but it is certain that both cannot be found in the Book of God.

The Lord's Promise

Before going back to the right hand of God, Christ promised the Apostles that He would send them the Holy Spirit when He went back to the Father. "And I will pray the Father and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him; but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you and shall be in you....But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (Jno. 14:18, 17, 26) "Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come." (Jno. 18:13) Jesus commanded the Apostles to remain in Jerusalem until they were given power from on high. Lk. 24:49) When these things were accomplished, one learns of the Apostles speaking upon the day of Pentecost as they were directed by the Holy Spirit. (Acts 2:4)

Apostles Were Spirit Guided

Having received the promise of the Holy Spirit, the Apostles spoke not according to their own learning and wisdom, but as they were directed to speak by the Holy Spirit. The Apostles, along with others, were inspired in the things they taught so that they could make no mistake in their teaching. (Lk. 1:1-5; 1 Cor. 14:37)

The Holy Spirit was given to the Apostles to guide them in their revelation of the will of God. (1 Cor. 11:23; Gal. 1:11-12) We cannot be guided by the Holy Spirit today in our preaching as the Apostles were since the Holy Spirit was promised to the Apostles.

This does not mean that our preaching cannot be guided by the Holy Spirit! The Apostles and other inspired men wrote the things they knew by the revelation of God and we can read and understand those same things today. (Lk. 1:1-5; Eph. 3:3-4) So when we read and study the will of the Lord, we can know the things the Apostles knew.

When we preach only those things that are revealed unto us through the writings of inspired men, then the Holy Spirit is guiding our preaching today. The Scriptures revealed unto us will adequately furnish us in every activity engaged in when we are doing the will of the Lord. (2 Tim. 3:16, 17)

Anything, doctrine or practice, that is not authorized in the revelation of the Holy Spirit cannot be taught today! Through the written word, the Holy Spirit guides and directs our preaching today. If what we teach or practice cannot be documented by a citation of the Holy Spirit, then we are teaching or practicing something that the Holy Spirit has not authorized. This does not please the Lord. The Holy Spirit searched and revealed the mind of the Lord to man. (1 Cor. 2:6-12) To do something that the Spirit has not found in the mind of the Lord brings the displeasure of the God of heaven upon us.

Our preaching to please the Lord must be that which the Lord has authorized in His Word!

— Box 763, Jasper, Alabama