Lesson Two FOCUSED PREACHING by Given O. Blakely INTRODUCTION When you preach, you are unlocking the door to the mind and purpose of God. You are bringing salvation within the grasp of your hearers. Remember, this is the means God has chosen to fully deliver believers--whether they are believing for the first time, or are fighting the good fight of faith. You are giving people something to believe, something faith embrace. Your message may make the difference between your listeners overcoming or being defeated by the devil. It may very well be the catalyst for a turning point in their lives, an adjustment of their perspective, and a release from delusion. When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, 3,000 people were redelivered from darkness and translated into the kingdom of God's dear Son (Col 1:13)--because of what he preached (Acts 2:10-40). An Ethiopian dignity went back to Ethiopia in fellowship with the living God--because of what Philip preached (Acts 8:29-40. In the idolatrous citadel of Athens, "A few men became followers of Paul and believed, with Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, also a woman named Damaris, and a number of others"--because of what Paul preached (Acts 17:1-34). Take up preaching like you would a powerful and effective tool. Handle it wisely and with spiritual expertise. The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are involved when you are preaching the Word. In this lesson we will deal with "FOCUSED PREACHING." My aim is not to teach a method, but a concept--and there is a big difference. Declaring a method assumes a number of things. Among them--(1)That the listeners are unlearned in the area being addressed. (2) That there is a perfect procedure that guarantees effectiveness. I am not questioning these conditions can, and most probably do, exist. I am not even questioning that there are some merits to this approach. It is not, however, the superior approach, because it does not capitalize on man's strengths. You are made "in the image of God." As such, you have designed strengths, calculated to enable you to have fellowship with God, and to be a co-worker with Him (1 Cor 3:9). The ability to understand is your strong point. Ultimately, you have been created to understand God Himself (Jer 9:23-24; John 17:3). That is a staggering consideration! When we teach concepts (versus methodology), we are appealing to the Divine imagery in you. We acknowledge that you have the capacity to comprehend the very Word of God, to say nothing of the lesser things of this world. We are appealing to your ability to adapt the truth of God to your own capabilities, given to you by the Lord. God has made you with remarkable capabilities! At this point, it will suffice to state the case in a short paragraph. When you preach the Word (2 Tim 4:2), or preach the Gospel (1 Cor 1:17), you are not declaring methodologies. Rather, you are appealing to the cognitive powers of the people; i.e., to their ability to understand, then act upon what they understand. You are informing them of something God has provided for them in Jesus Christ--something that can be personally appropriated by faith. In order to preach effectively, you yourself must be focused, having some facet of truth within your view and grasp--some Kingdom reality that is dominating your thoughts. In the Kingdom, the more focused the preaching, the more powerful its effects. When your intellectual and intuitive abilities are focused on a particular facet of Gospel truth, they are brought to the peak of power. Coupled with the Holy Spirit, you become an instrument in God's hand. WHAT IS FOCUS? There are at least two perspectives to focus. First, it has to do with what you are doing. Second, it has to do with what you are seeking to accomplish. It is staggering to consider how much preaching has no apparent focus. What the preacher is doing is not clear, and where he is taking the people is equally obscure. Compare preaching to a life guard saving a drowning man. The life guard swims out to the poor soul, struggling to keep his head above water. The man's only hope is this life guard. When the life guard arrives, he begins by giving a dissertation to the drowning man about the quality of the life preserver in his hand. He tells him what material it is made of, and of the material's origin. He also shares some of the great rescues accomplished with this preserver. He carefully notes the soothing color of the preserver, together with the accommodating way it can be firmly held. With gusto the life guard tells how durable the preserver is, and sufficiently large it is, and how comfortable it will be to an already weary man. In the midst of his dialog, the gasping man drowns. From an academic point of view, the life guard had a focused presentation. From the practical point of view, he missed the whole point. The objective was to save the man. His focus should have been making the life preserver accessible to the man, and assisting him in getting a affirm hold on the preserver. The aim was to save the man, not acquaint him with the attributes of the preserver. He really was not focused at all. Focus always has the circumstance in view, as well as the text or truth being expounded. Mind you, the circumstance does not dominate the message, but the message can dominate the circumstance. Focus has an objective in mind. That objective includes clarifying the truth so it can be kept in the heart of God's people. It also includes speaking so the sinner cannot forget what has been declared! Focus includes a concentration on some facet of truth. It includes a close examination of the theme, magnifying it, so to speak, for the hearers. The preachers message revolve around his focus--like the spokes of a wheel to its hub. Your sermon can be like a shotgun blast, scattering pellets all over the place, but hitting nothing. Or, it can be like a rifle shot, straight and to the point. Most sermons probably fall somewhere between these two marks--but that should only be the case for a short time. Strive to hit the target every time in your preach. Be focused! Aim at something specific! Load your preaching gun with something specific! Now, you have some liberty in this area. Remember, we are not teaching a methodology, but a concept. Your use of the concept will be according to your grasp of it. It will also be in harmony with your own gifts and abilities. The hearers you are addressing will also have a bearing on your focus. These are all things you can, with the help of God, resolve. AN OVERVIEW OF FOCUS Your presentation should be entirely focused introduction, body, and conclusion. All of them should be tied together. If this is not the case, your message will not work effectively in the hearts of the hearers. If people cannot make some sense out of what you say, you will not have their hearts or hears. This assumes they have an interest in eternal things. If they do not, your sermon or lesson should be able to whet their appetite for "the things of the Spirit of God" (1 Cor 2:14). Your introduction opens the door to your subject. It does this by helping the people to rise above the world. When you deal with spiritual things, you are in another dimension--one that conflicts with the course of this world. Get the people pointed toward heaven in your introduction. Sharpen their conscience so God can speak to them through your presentation. The body of your message moves about the room of truth you are exploring. You are acquainting them with some facet of God's mind . . . His eternal purpose . . . His great salvation. Your sermon is wiping away the fog and mist created by this "present evil world" (Gal 1:4). It is bringing the things of God into clearer focus. The body of your presentation is bringing Divine provision within the reach of the people. To be more specific, it is bringing some aspect of God's "great salvation" within their reach. The conclusion constrains the hearers to take advantage of what you have presented, appropriating it for themselves. Your introduction pointed them in the right direction, and made a way for them to enter into the subject. The body of your message clarified the theme, bringing it within their reach. Now you are going to urge them to take it--to obtain it for themselves. The Example of Peter Think of Peter's epochal message on the day of Pentecost from this perspective. Remember, we are talking about a concept, not a methodology. Peter's sermon did not follow a prepared outline, but it was in strict comportment with the principles we are addressing. He preached it in the Spirit, thoroughly and effectively. His introduction was an analysis of the startling events that were taking place (Acts 2:14-21).The body of His message was an exposition of God's accomplishments through Christ (Acts 2:22-35). His conclusion was that God has exalted Christ in spite of the malicious deeds of the people (Acts 2:36). He provided a way of escape for the people (Acts 2:38-39), and urged them to continue in their quest for glory(Acts 2:40). He opened the door for them to enter into sacred contemplation. He walked them around the room of Divine purpose. And, he put it all within their reach, making a way for them to enter into the blessing, and exit the bondage of sin. It is fashionable these days to rely on speaking techniques and curious anecdotes to get and keep the people's attention. Some resort to humorous stores to get people's attention, while others use contemporary events. Often such approaches are like throwing dust in the eyes of the people. They tend to disorient them for the reception of God's Word, rather than prepare them to enter into the "courts of the Lord" (Psa 84:2). COME BACK TO THE POINT Focused preaching always comes back to the point. You have probably heard what I call "spring board preaching." That is preaching that gives the text, then springs from it, never to return to it. After such messages, the Scripture that was read remains a mystery. It may have been used to clarify some other texts, or broaden the perspective of the hearer, but it was put on the shelf by the hearers. There may very well betimes when such preaching is profitable. It is not, however, the norm for you. This is not how you should plan to preach, knowing God can change your plans. When you take a text, you can go from it, or come to it. You can use it as a means to enter into and expound other passages of Scripture, or you can bring other passages to the text and expound it. Focused preaching clarifies the room you have entered. Unfocused preaching stands in one room and talks about another. A sermon is like a load of bricks. You're going to build something with the materials--something that is both durable and helpful. You can take those bricks and build a number of small walls or buildings. You can also use them to build a larger and more central structure, using materials from other sites as it is appropriate. The kind of focus we are speaking about puts together a main thought. The Example of Paul Take Paul's discourse on Mars hill as an example of focused preaching. His audience was not acquainted with the things of God, but they were capable of thought. His introduction opens the door to the consideration of Deity. "For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you" (Acts17:23, NIV). His theme is God--the one true God. He does not take for granted the people know anything about God. He is going to proclaim or announce a message that has power to change the individual. In summary, he elaborates on his focus. (1. God made the world and everything in it (v. 24a). (2. He does not live in temples made with hands (v. 24b). (3. He is not served or worshiped with men's hands (v. 25a). (4.He gives life and breath to all men (v. 25b). (5. God made all men from one man (v. 26a). (6. God determined the times and places they were to occupy (v. 26b). (7. God did this in a manner that would encourage men to seek Him (v. 27a). (7. God is reachable, or not far from every one of us (v.27b). (8. We owe our existence to Him, and Him alone (v. 28a). (9. Some Grecian poets are cited to show the universality of this truth (v.28b). (10. Because we have our origin in God, we should not think of Him in terms of something man-made(v. 29). (11. There was a time when God overlooked man's spiritual ignorance of Himself (v. 30a). (12. God no longer overlooks this condition, but requires that men repent (v. 30b). (13. All of this makes perfect sense, because God has appointed a day of universal accountability (v. 31a). (14. The appointed Judge is a man, thus bringing God now within our reach (v. 31b). (15. God has provided proof of these things by raising Jesus Christ from the dead, a state common to all men (v. 31c). Paul's point was the living God! He kept coming back to His point! What God did . . . where He resides. . . how He is served . . . How He sustains . . . How He created mankind . . . What He determined . . What His objectives are . . . How accessible He is to us now . . . How even people that do not know Him acknowledge Him . . . How we should think about Him . . . How He viewed humanity in the past . . . how He views humanity now . . . What He has determined to judge humanity . . . The One through Whom God will judge humanity . . . How God has assured us this will occur. That is focused preaching! He always brought the people back to His subject . . . His theme . . . His message. SOME SEED THOUGHTS The texts on which your thoughts are being presented are key texts in Scripture. They are the sort of texts that should dominate your preaching. They are foundational texts that bring you into the larger room of God's eternal purpose. They are also texts that show salvation, with all of its greatness, to be accessible to all mankind. The following thoughts are not intended to identify the only way of seeing these texts. These represent my own perceptions of them--perceptions I expect to enlarge as I grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. These reflect my own walk with the Lord. You will see these texts from the place in the Kingdom you presently occupy. I am careful to add this is not a license to "go every where preaching," so to speak. Our preaching must always be harmonious with Divine objectives, and never contradictory of them. The truth of God is like a multi-faceted jewel. Each facet is glorious, enhancing our appreciation of salvation. The facets are also perfectly harmonious with each other. One valid view of the Gospel will never conflict with another valid view--just as one affirmation of Scripture will never conflict with another one. Wesley preached holiness, Spurgeon preached grace, Calvin preached sovereignty, Luther preached faith . . . etc. The kernel of what each man proclaimed did not contradict what the others taught. Seen properly, they were complementary of each other. When you preach truth, with a godly emphasis, it will blend with all other truthful preaching. Romans 1:16-17 (NIV)I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written:"The righteous will live by faith."Focus: The Gospel of Christ. It is God's means to salvation. It is universal in its offer. It is powerful when believed. It reveals God's righteousness. It makes known how that righteousness can be appropriated by everyone. It is confirmed by Scripture. Romans 2:28-29 (NIV). A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God. Focus: How God sees men. God does not classify men by race. External conformity does not bring real distinction. The real sign and seal is in man's basic constitution--his heart. The source of the change is the Holy Spirit. Written codes cannot reshape men. God's approval is the issue. Romans 3:21-23 (NIV)But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Focus: God's righteousness. It is a righteousness that is revealed. It is made known independently of Law. Both the Law and the Prophets pointed to this righteousness, but did not give it. It is given by God. It is appropriated by means of faith. It is effectualized through Jesus Christ. It is for everyone that believes. It is our sin that qualifies us for the blessing, because sin is the common factor. Romans 4:5-6 (NIV)However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works. Focus: The justification of sinners. Man cannot be justified by working. Trusting God is the means. Even the wicked can be brought to trust God. Men are righteous because they believe. Scripture fully supports this affirmation. God credits righteousness, He does not award it. Men appropriate righteousness independently of their accomplishments. Romans 4:20-24 (NIV)Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised. This is why "it was credited to him as righteousness." The words "it was credited to him" were written not for him alone, but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness--for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. Focus: Imputed righteousness. Abraham is an example of the possibility of believing God. Faith does not balk at God's promise. God is glorified by our faith. Faith is convinced God can do what He says. God honors such faith by credited righteousness to the believer. Abraham's case is not a point of history, but an example of how God gives righteousness. God will credit righteousness to those believing what He has said about His Son. Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Focus: Your salvation. You can truthfully acknowledge Jesus is Lord. You can believe this in your heart, without doubting. Believing centers in God's view of Jesus as demonstrated in His resurrection. The heart is what is convinced of the truth of Jesus. Justification results from believing. Salvation results from confession, or heartfelt acknowledgment. CONCLUSION Our next lesson will be "PREACHING WHAT YOU CAN SEE." The most powerful preaching occurs when you yourself understand what you are saying--when you are communicating something you have perceived. We will touch on HOW you can obtain a larger understanding. We will also emphasize the importance of staying within the range of your spiritual vision. Remembering that our textbooks are Romans and First Corinthians, review the following texts. Select one with which you are comfortable. Prepare a five minute presentation that shares what you have seen. This is to be a straight-forward sharing of your insights. Seek to express yourself in Scriptural terms as best you can. Ask the Lord to help you project your heart, and to do so in language that pleases Him. He will see to it that it gets through to the people. Determine what you CAN see in these texts--not what you WANT to see. Say it as succinctly as you can, in a few words. This is to be a PIECE of a sermon, and not the sermon itself. Romans 14:1: Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. Romans 15:1: We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves. Romans 7:18: I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. Romans 8:28: And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:38-39: For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 1 Corinthians 1:18: For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 1 Corinthians 2:12-13: We have not received thespirit of the world but theSpirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. 1 Corinthians 3:21-23: So then, no more boasting about men! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God. 1 Corinthians 5:9-101. I have written you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people--not at all meaning the people of this world who are immoral, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters. In that case you would have to leave this world.