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PROPHETIC PREACHING then and now
by Roland Q. Leavell
Copyright © 1963
In this 9 chapter work by Leavell (Southern Baptist), he presents various aspects of prophetic preaching, including the problems of a prophet, his role in national crises, his duty in addressing social unrighteousness, he rebuke of sin, his proclaiming of the love of God, etc.
By Baker Book House Grand Rapids, Michigan
edited for 3BSB by Baptist Bible Believer in the spirit of the Colportage Ministry of a century ago
http://www.baptis J * )
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\$ %O09. Preparing the Way of the Lord
-_08. Pleading with Men to Accept Salvation #K07. Promising a Glorious Future#K06. Proclaiming the Love of GOD7s05. Prophesying Downfall Because of Spiritual Decay1g04. Protesting against Social Unrighteousness(U03. Preaching during National Crises?02. Problems of a Prophet;01. Prophetic Preaching# Title Index
\$ %O09. Preparing the Way of the Lord
-_08. Pleading with Men to Accept Salvation #K07. Promising a Glorious Future#K06. Proclaiming the Love of GOD7s05. Prophesying Downfall Because of Spiritual Decay1g04. Protesting against Social Unrighteousness(U03. Preaching during National Crises?02. Problems of a Prophet;01. Prophetic Preaching# Title Index
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01. Prophetic PreachingCHAPTER ONE PROPHETIC PREACHING “We have also a more sure word of proph +c #1
Title IndexPROPHETIC PREACHING then and now by Roland Q. Leavell Copyright © 1963 In this 9 chapter work by Leavell (Southern Baptist), he presents various aspects of prophetic preaching, including the problems of a prophet, his role in national crises, his duty in addressing social unrighteousness, he rebuke of sin, his proclaiming of the love of God, et [ Z
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of-print and in the public domain ~
No Evidence of a Current Copyright for the Printed Book Found
During online Internet searches of the Library of Congress database in Washington D.C., performed on 03-10-2008, no evidence of a current copyright was found for this publication.
CONTENTS
01. Prophetic Preaching
02. Problems of a Prophet
03. Preaching during National Crises
04. Protesting against Social Unrighteousness
05. Prophesying Downfall Because of Spiritual Decay
06. Proclaiming the Love of GOD
07. Promising a Glorious Future
08. Pleading with Men to Accept Salvation
09. Preparing the Way of the Lord
FOREWORD
"The bugle call to a heavenly warfare must be given with no uncertain sound" is a typical word from Dr. Roland Q. Leavell's Prophetic Preaching, Then and Now. There is a challenge to preachers in this book. It is stirring. It is both practical and lofty, both convicting and loving, both pungent and i nspiring. All of us preachers need its message.
This book in its entirety is built upon The Word. The author exalts JESUS and Moses as the supreme examples of prophetic preachers. Out of the words of these great preachers and those who have followed in their train he builds messages that deal with preachers' problems frankly, unflinchingly, and evangelistically.
Dr. Leavell's remarkably rich and varied experience prepared him in a peculiar sense to speak to his fellow preachers as he does in this work. The lives of few men have embodied so much experience from the pastorate, the evangelistic ministry, the responsibilities of a denominational leader, the visions of a seminary president, the passion for teaching Biblical truth, and the arts of an author of books designed to aid preachers.
Dr. Leavell's determination to spend his energies and talents to the utmost in the prophetic ministry is represented by this book. It was brought to a conclusion in the midst of many months of Bible teaching in the churches combined with continual preaching. Though in retirement because of his health, it was his joy to continue this kind of ministry. Two weeks before the Lord's call came to a ministry in Heaven, he wrote at length to the author of this foreword to express his appreciation for suggestions concerning the text and to indicate his own efforts in bringing it to a completion.
To those who knew Dr. Leavell well and who loved him deeply this work will remain as his challenge to us to preach like the prophets.
J. Wash Watts
New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
INTRODUCTION
The importance of preaching cannot be exaggerated.
God-called preachers must fulfill their sacred missions in the pulpit if the Kingdom of GOD is to be advanced. In today's crisis-ridden world and in a nation where paganism is progressing with monstrous strides, the bugle call to a heavenly warfare must be given with no uncertain sound.
There is an ever-increasing displacement of GOD through the idolatr y of money-worship and materialistic greed. The nation is suffering from secularism in education, from decay of home life and tragic divorces, from increase in delinquency and crime, from the fearful ravages of the age-old demon of alcoholic drinking, from the sordid sins of sensuality and sexual promiscuity, from mere formality or gross negligence of worship of GOD, from positive agnosticism or practical atheism.
There are no new sins; these sins have just changed their outer garments. No sins have passed away; all the distressing trends of today were prevalent in Old Testament times and denounced by the prophets. The antidote for these social and spiritual diseases is the same as it was then, namely, GOD's Gospel preached by holy men under the direction of the Holy Spirit.
This study of Old Testament preaching has been impelled by a heart full of genuine love for young preachers and genuine prayer for their effectiveness through their sermons. GOD has matched their glorious powers with this chal lenging hour. False religions, distorted thinking, and corrupt living can be defeated only by sincere worship of the GOD of righteousness and truth, by earnest searching for direction in the infallible Word of GOD, and by the Spirit-guided proclaiming of the Gospel of the Son of GOD.
The ideal of preaching like the Old Testament prophets can be attained very rarely, if ever at all. Shakespeare expressed it strikingly:
"If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do,
chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces."
-Merchant of Venice Act I, Scene ii
But every preacher can commune with GOD like a prophet, can build character like a prophet, can pray like a prophet, can abhor sin like a prophet, can love souls like a prophet, and can try under the Holy Spirit to preach like a prophet.
May Heaven's choice blessings of wisdom, power and grace rest upon every preacher whose ideal is to scale the lofty heights of prophetic preaching.
Roland Q. Leavell
The Lord JESUS CHRIST, the prophet of Galilee, is the divine pattern for all preachers. He was sent by the Heavenly Father to preach. He was anointed by the Holy Spirit to preach. Preaching was the chief method by which he implanted the truth of GOD into the minds and hearts of his believing followers. He lit his torch with fire from off the altar of Heaven, and took the light into a benighted, sin-darkened world. The flaming words of truth which he preached attracted the attention of the multitudes, for fire is easily noticed in the darkness.
The sacred eloquence of the young prophet of Galilee attracted “great multitudes of people from Galilee, and from Decapolis, and from Jerusalem, and from Judaea, and from beyond Jordan” (Matthew 4:25). The multitudes flocked to hear him because he preached a sure word from GOD in Heaven to hungry-hearted men on earth. He preached eternal truth, the glad news of the Gospel.
Second only t o JESUS, Moses was the tallest in the mountain range of the prophets, the most august character in antiquity. He brought vital messages directly from GOD to the people, messages about monotheistic theology, about morals, about social righteousness, about legal justice, about national policies and military strategy.
Moses' sermons in Deuteronomy form the text book from which so many prophets in the succeeding generations learned the rudiments of their mission and messages. This is especially true of the great prophets of the Eighth Century B.C.-Isaiah, Hosea, Amos and Micah. The Lord JESUS knew the writings of Moses intimately, quoted his sayings frequently, adhered to his teachings loyally, and fulfilled his prophecies gloriously.
Moses had the grandeur of Isaiah, the vision of Ezekiel, the passion for righteousness of Amos, the tender love of Hosea, the intense patriotism of Jeremiah, and the erudite mind of the Apostle Paul.
“And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face” (Deuteronomy 34:10).
Clarion Call for Prophetic Preaching There is a current and constant call for prophetic pulpit preaching. People have a genuine hearthunger for the meat of the Word and the bread of life. A. T. Robertson, far-famed teacher of New Testament a generation ago, had a quaint way of sadly bemoaning the fact that the “poor hungry sheep look up to the food rack, and are not fed. All they hear is the wind whistling through.”
Preachers are divinely called to preach, to preach in power and demonstration of the Spirit. Too many sermons are bland, innocuous, soporific. They deal in vague abstractions, pleasing platitudes, psychological theories, and watered-down theology, instead of telling people how to get the righteousness of GOD in their hearts through CHRIST. The water of life should not be handed out in half-pint cups.
When a prominent or desirable church pastorate becomes vacant, usually there are sc ores and perhaps hundreds of recommendations or personal applications for the place. However, a pulpit committee often takes months upon months searching for a man whom the church desires for pastor. Why do they search so long? They are looking for a man of GOD with a message from GOD, a man whose heart is ablaze with spiritual zeal to lead men to GOD. A congregation will overlook some other deficiencies and even some faults in a pastor if only he is a good preacher, with GOD's message. They want assurance from GOD that they have received the gift of salvation personally. They see a decaying society, and they want to hear the causes exposed, the remedy explained. Most churches are ready to call a man who has a soul burden, a heart passion and a prophetic urgency.
What Is Prophetic Preaching?
Prophetic preaching is preaching like the prophets.
Preaching was one of the most unique and distinguishing characteristics of worship during Old Testament times. Who can measure the influence of these hol y men of old on their generations and throughout the centuries which have followed? “Thus saith the Lord” was their message, and preaching was their method of communicating it.
Preaching has been and still is pre-eminently vital to the spreading of the Christian faith. In order to build the Kingdom of Heaven, JESUS established the Gospel as the essential message, the church as the promotional agency, and preaching as the principal means of persuasion. The early Christian fathers knew that CHRIST would save men's souls and that his Gospel would save society from ignominy, despair, and decay. They preached that the Kingdom of Heaven was at hand. They predicted a new Heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness would reign.
What is prophetic preaching? What is good preaching?
Good preaching is a sermon that is preached with a good delivery, but much more. It means a well-prepared message with food for thought which is organized in proper homiletical form, but much more. Lack of some of these qualities can be forgiven if the preacher's soul is burdened with a message from GOD to men, and if his soul is ablaze with zeal to deliver it. His heart must be “pregnant with celestial fire” (Gray's Elegy).
One can learn something about the meaning of the term “prophetic preaching” from the Old Testament word nabhi, translated prophet. Hebrew scholars say this word means a speaker, an announcer, a proclaimer, a herald. It is used nearly three hundred times in the Old Testament. A nabhi, a prophet of GOD, is a forth-teller. He is GOD's mouthpiece who delivers a message of GOD, when he is possessed with absolute certainty that it is divine truth coming directly from GOD, and when a Heaven-born compulsion to deliver the message is upon him. When the inspiration for preaching is from GOD, it will be delivered authoritatively and with urgency. One preaches prophetically when he is under authority like Amos, “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants th !e prophets. The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken, who can but prophesy?” (Amos 3:7-8).
The preacher who merits being called a prophetic preacher must feel that he is under a spiritual compulsion like Paul when he said: “Necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is me, if I preach not the gospel” (I Corinthians 9:16).
Prophetic preaching is not something merely thought out, or inferred, or hoped, or feared. It is directly inspired by the Spirit of GOD, an inspiration which gives power to a preacher's sermon preparation through study, meditation and prayer.
Some people think prophetic preaching always means foretelling future events. Frequently GOD
used current conditions and events to open a prophet's vision to foresee results in the future. This is only a part of the meaning of the term, and not necessarily the major part. Old Testament prophets were not like almanac makers, p "redicting dates and events. They were forth-tellers more frequently than foretellers. They were truth-tellers, message-bearers, mouthpieces for GOD. Prophetic preaching dealt with the past and the present as well as the future. The Old Testament prophets were interpreters of history's lessons about moral and spiritual issues. They were “seers,” men who knew the condition of their present world, in the light of which they praised or denounced or instructed people about their way of life. They had an understanding of the past and present when they “dipped into the future” to foretell the impending judgments of GOD.
The ideal is for a preacher to step forth like a herald with a personal message from the King of kings for each individual listener. It is said that once while Charles Haddon Spurgeon was preaching with impassioned earnestness a little girl in the vast audience asked with anxious concern, “Mother, is Mr. Spurgeon speaking to me?” Prophetic preaching did not inspire the phrases #dull as a sermon” and “prosaic as a parson.” Jeremiah said GOD asked the question: “Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh a rock in pieces?” (Jeremiah 23:29).
Prophetic preaching does not just happen. It does not come automatically with a seminary degree, nor with ordination to the ministry, nor with a call to a pastorate. It is not by intellectual might nor by ecstatic emotion, but by the Spirit of GOD when he lays hold upon a preacher to deliver a life-and-death message to men. Sometimes prophetic preaching is abrupt, often it is explosive, frequently it is disturbing, but always it is moving and purifying and refreshing. It will not return void, but will accomplish GOD's purpose in the lives of men and nations (Isaiah 55, 11).
The Gospel should be communicated boldly, fearlessly, simply, earnestly, lovingly, “as from a dying man to dying men.” There is no po $wer in vague generalities, nor irrelevant theories, nor that which creates doubt in the minds of the hearers. People have doubts and theories enough; they are hungry-hearted for the truth from Heaven. An ideal sermon is delivered in the language understood by the people, answers some problem of the people, and inspires a more godly life by the people. The poet beautifully describes the aims of a worthy preacher, “Unskilled he to fawn, or seek for power By doctrines fashioned to the varying hour, For other aims his heart had learned to prize, More bent to raise the wretched than to rise.
“And, as a bird each fond endearment tries To tempt its new-fledged offspring to the skies, He tried each art, reproved each dull delay, Allured to brighter worlds, and led the way.”
- Goldsmith, The Deserted Village The content of prophetic preaching always is built around some profound doctrine which is pertinent to everyday life. Theology is the steel structure upon which every message is built. Not every %preacher can preach a great sermon every time, but there is no excuse for preaching on a little and unimportant subject. There is no time for drivel when people are confused and frustrated and lost. May GOD deliver such people from clever entertainment, or mere reviewing current events, or “pink tea” dissertations on recent theories about psychology. Prophetic preaching is based on “Thus saith the Lord.”
The prophets used apt illustrations and graphic metaphors in order to fix spiritual truth in the minds of the hearers. A well-built sermon is like a well-built house. It has doctrinal structure like steel, able discussion like well built walls, and illuminating illustrations like clear windows.
JESUS set the divine pattern in how to illustrate spiritual truths. Who could fail to understand what the Saviour was teaching when he gave such illustrations as that of the prodigal son, or the good Samaritan, or the rich farmer fool who died?A number of the prophets even dramatized their illustrat &ions in order to make them more effective.
- Jeremiah put a yoke about his neck while urging Judah to submit to Babylon (Jeremiah 27:2; 28:10).
- Ezekiel cut his hair and beard with a razor and divided it into three parts (Ezekiel 5:1-4). One part he burned, one part he smote with a knife, one part he scattered to the wind-illustrating how Judah would be treated.
- Isaiah walked the streets of Jerusalem barefooted and stripped of his outer garments, to declare dramatically how Assyria would lead the Egyptians as prisoners in shame (Isaiah 20:2-4).
It is entirely too frequent that people leave a preaching service, saying, “What in the world was the preacher driving at?” The people who hear Hosea or Jeremiah or John the Baptist most surely did not say that about the preaching they heard. The Old Testament prophets s 'poke in graphic language about things relevant to the daily living of their hearers, and made their sermons effective by pointed, personal application.
For example, John the Baptist not only denounced sin and demanded repentance, but he told exactly what sins the people were committing and exactly how they should act to prove that they were repentant.
Permanence and Power of Prophetic Preaching The throb of a true prophet's heart can be heard and felt throughout the ages to come. Truth can be hidden but it cannot be killed. Nothing can be an adequate substitute for prophetic preaching in advancing the Kingdom of GOD.
The printed page is a mighty instrument in propagating truth, but it cannot substitute for the flash of a speaker's eye, the sincerity in a prophet's voice, the pathos of a preacher's appeal, and a loving message which comes from the heart of a man of GOD. Pastoral ministries are useful and influential and quite necessary. Organization is effective and promotion can be dynamic.