A Test of Good Preaching  
 

by Cled E. Wallace

A good brother with a sizable amount of common sense suggested a very good test of good preaching. He thought the business of a preacher was to preach the gospel. He was listening to a certain preacher through a meeting. He applied this test. "I just imagined I was a sinner with little or no knowledge of the gospel and listened to see if I could learn enough from his preaching to intelligently obey the gospel. I was somewhat taken back to discover that information along that line was entirely too meager to get the job done."

In a lot of present day preaching references to the plan of salvation are entirely too casual and abbreviated to properly instruct people in the right way of the Lord. Eloquent and heated lectures on the state of the nation and the decline of public morals may be interesting but pulpit autopsies of that character fall short of furnishing the information that both sinners and saints must have to establish and maintain fellowship with God. The old fashioned Methodist circuit-rider could beat most of us at that sort of thing, but he fell far short of ringing the changes on the gospel.

 Sinners need to be told what to do to be saved, and saints need to be told over and over how to live soberly, righteously and godly in this present world. There is nothing that beats preaching the Bible to the people, giving to each and all their portion in due season. Sectarian preachers can preach morals and many of them are extra good at it. They can tell us that the nation is headed straight for hell without a return ticket and why.

People need to know about the establishment of the church, the change in covenants, the conditions of salvation and other vital issues that pertain to life and salvation. Who is going to tell them if we become too squeamish or prudent to venture out on controversial issues? It would be a revelation to some members of the church, including some preachers, to know of the bitter battles over matters of doctrine that brought the church to its present strength which is far short of what it ought to be. If a preacher can be eloquent at all, he ought to wax eloquent over the divine offer of salvation to sinners and the conditions upon which it can be enjoyed.

Original Article titled “Sighting-in Shots”

Bible Banner – March 1942

 

 

 Other Articles by Cled E. Wallace

Vital Points in Worship
Present Day Church Problems (Part 1)
Prayer
Put Up Thy Fist, Brother
The Simple Power of the Lord's Supper
The Entrenched Position of Religious Error