PREACHING A BALANCED SERMON
Matthew 6:33-34 (AMPC)
33 But seek (aim at and strive after) first of
all His (God’s) kingdom and His righteousness (His way of doing and being
right), and then all these things taken together will be given you besides.
34 So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for
tomorrow will have worries and anxieties
of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble.
Dear people of God, very few preachers in today’s Christendom are
preaching a balanced sermon. A balanced sermon captures all aspects of
Christianity as it is stated in the Holy Bible.
The Words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in today’s lead Holy
Bible text tells us what is the main issue we should strive for and focus on –
the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
The Lord did not stop there but made a concrete promise that the
material benefits over which we seek and worry, God would give to us as a
result of first seeking His kingdom and His righteousness.
It is therefore sad to see majority of preachers focusing on the
material things of life in almost all their sermons to the exclusion of the
most important thing, seeking FIRST the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.
As a result, their congregation are not enlightened on the dangers of
sin and of living a sinful life and so whilst they claim Christianity, their
conduct clearly shows a dire need for God’s righteousness in their lives.
The danger with such one sided focus on the gospel of prosperity is that
the congregation will not care how the money comes as long as they have it
readily available to show as a proof of their “blessings” from God Almighty,
even when God would never be involved in shady dealings with anyone.
There is therefore an urgent need for preachers of prosperity to repent
and do what exactly what God has demanded in today’s lead Bible text, otherwise
they and their congregation would ultimately miss the way to heaven at the end
of their stay here on earth.
On the other hand, the preacher who focuses alone on righteousness and
holy living according to God’s commandments is helping the congregation to
prepare for heaven because without the pursuit of peace in our relationships
with all humans and pursuit of holiness, no human would see God as His Word
states in Hebrews 12:14.
The preacher of righteousness is the kind of preacher that God loves
because God wants every human to become enlightened on the grave dangers of
sin, to repent from sin, to have a great desire for and attain Salvation found
only in Christ Jesus and then to live a disciplined Holy Spirit filled life in
obedience to God’s commandments.
Such preacher of righteousness becomes acceptable to God as long as he
or she is also a practitioner of righteousness and holy living according to
God’s Word. If the preacher only preaches but fails to practise righteousness
and holy living, he would be pointing others to the way of eternal life but
moving in the direction of eternal damnation.
In addition, the preacher of righteousness also needs to show the
congregation from God’s Word in the Holy Bible what is their victory and rights
in Christ Jesus and how to appropriate it by faith and action.
Where he or she fails to do this, the result would be a congregation that
is prepared to enter heaven but struggling in ignorance with spiritual attacks
of the devil and his demons culminating in severe health problems and poverty
in particular.
A Christian who knows and understands the way to God’s kingdom, God’s demands
for righteousness and who is both healthy and financially stable because he knows
his right in Christ Jesus according to God’s Word is the most fortunate of all
the groups of Christians.
Such Christian cannot be defeated by sickness or poverty. Such Christian
cannot compromise his faith for any material favour because he knows the consequence
as far as God’s Word is concerned.
Moreover, it is only a physically healthy, financially buoyant and
spiritually sound Christian that can take active and effective part in the work
of the Gospel involving Evangelism, raising a godly personal family and financial
support (tithes, offerings and donations) to the many projects all aimed at recovering
the spiritually sick and lost into the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dear friend, the solution to every problem of this world lies in the
Word of God in the Bible. This is why preachers of the Gospel must study it to
show themselves approved (2 Timothy 2:15), practise and also teach same to his
congregation.
This is what a balanced sermon should contain.
This is also why the Lord Jesus says in Matthew 4:4, “Man shall not live and be upheld and sustained by bread alone, but by
every Word that comes forth from the mouth of God.”
The Word of God in the Bible is the ultimate solution. Seek it and
practise what it says and you would always be an overcomer in this life and
enter heaven to be forever with the Lord Jesus Christ.
May the good Lord bless you as you heed His Word today, act on it and
share with others in Jesus’ Most Holy Name, Amen.
Gabriel Ama.
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