THE PROCLAMATION OF THE PREACHER

 

When a preacher speaks—whether in the pulpit or outside it—his words convey not only the content of Scripture, but of his own heart. Jesus was addressing a group of “preachers,” called Pharisees. They were twisting truth to build their own kingdom rather than the kingdom of God, and Christ called them a “brood of vipers!”  They were the spawn of the old Serpent, the Devil.  Let us explore further the Lord’s message in Matthew 12:33-37.

Consider THE POTENTIALITY OF OUR SPEECH.  “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit,” (v.33).  Our words have such potential for help or harm. The fruit that our words produce will be good or bad, but never neutral. Faithfulness to the Scriptures will yield fruitfulness in the saints. Likewise, if our message is perverse, the fruit will be poisonous!  It is poison for it contains the venom of the Serpent.

There is also THE TRANSPARENCY IN OUR SPEECH.  “You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.” (v.34-35).  The fruit from our sermons will be evil or good depending on the root of our speech. What we say is a window into our soul. There is a transparency when we speak. When a preacher fills his heart with the study of and submission to the Scriptures, there will be treasure to give to those in the congregation. Likewise, if he is Biblically bankrupt in content and conduct, he will impoverish his audience.

Weigh THE ACCOUNTABILITY FOR OUR SPEECH. “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” (v.36-37). What a serious and searching reality!  Those who sit in the audience will evaluate our sermons. It is possible to gather a great throng by telling them what they want to hear in appealing to their carnal passions. Likewise, we can build up people in the faith by our fearless and faithful preaching of Scripture. This may or may not increase the numbers of hearers, but is assured to increase the faith of those who receive the Word, and for that we will give account at the Judgment Seat.  Whatever sentence the congregation passes on our preaching, what ultimately matters is the sentence that Christ proclaims about our preaching!