How to Develop Sermon Subjects
I. Introduction:
This is a very broad subject. We all have varied experiences, training, background, etc. What would work for one man may not work for another. Some men are more logical and methodical than others are. Some men have more access to books and other helps. Some men are familiar with the original languages of Scripture to one degree or another, while others are only familiar with the translations in their native tongues. Some men have been preaching for years and have a vast reservoir of Scriptural knowledge and life experience from which to draw. Some men have been preaching to a particular congregation for years, while others are newly come to a congregation. Individual congregations have different make-ups. Some may have many young families. Others may have a large percentage of older people. Some congregations are rural and some are urban.
Each man has to develop his own method of selection, preparation, and delivery of sermons as he prayerfully searches the Scriptures and seeks the face of God in prayer. It is better for each man to “be himself” rather than try to imitate others. This is not to say that we cannot and should not closely observe others and benefit by following good examples. But no man should slavishly try to imitate another. God has given to each of us unique gifts. This can be seen in 1 Cor. 12: 11, where, speaking of the distribution of spiritual gifts, Paul says, “But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.” The word translated “severally” is i;dioj (idios). This means, “pertaining to one's self, one's own, belonging to one's self.” As John Gill says about the dispensing activity of the Holy Spirit in this verse, “so his gifts, ordinary and extraordinary, are severally distributed, according to his sovereign will and pleasure.”
The knowledge of this should exclude jealousy and dissatisfaction from us as we preachers work together in preaching the glorious gospel of the blessed God. All the various kinds of true gifts of God are needed in His churches. One man, with a particular type of gift, may be able to reach someone that another could not reach. The reverse is also true. We should not exercise our God-given gifts in rivalry. Our gifts should complement each other. We must remember what is said in 1 Peter 4:11, “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”
The man who is truly called of God and has an extensive formal education is needed. However, the man who does not have much formal schooling, but who has been gifted by God, also has a vital place in the work of the gospel. The Lord Jesus called men of varying backgrounds to preach. Many of them were fishermen, of whom it was said “that they were unlearned and ignorant men.” This does not mean that the apostles were stupid. They just did not have formal training in the schools of the day. According to Thayer, the word translated “unlearned” means they were “unversed in the learning of the Jewish schools.” The word translated “ignorant” means “a person without professional knowledge, unskilled, uneducated.” We must remember that our Lord Jesus did not have much formal education. Concerning our dear Lord, “the Jews marvelled, saying, How knoweth this man letters, having never learned?” (John 7: 15). Commenting on this verse John Gill says, “that is, he had not had a liberal education, but was brought up to a trade; he was not trained up at the feet of any of their Rabbins, in any of their universities, or schools of learning…” On the other hand, some of the disciples were men of much formal education. Paul and Luke are two good examples.
In my opinion, in the matter of theological education there are two extremes to be avoided. One extreme is to put a premium on ignorance. Sadly, some Primitive Baptists have done that in days past. When we had the split with the Modern Mission Movement in the early 1800’s in the United States, we rightly took a stand against Theological Seminaries. There are simply no such seminaries in the New Testament. However, some of our brethren went to extremes and began to denigrate much education of any kind. Some of them virtually quit studying in any systematic manner and just preached whatever text happened to come to mind. Not every preacher was guilty of this, but this type thing was pervasive. Many men were guilty of not preaching all the counsel of God. Our people greatly suffered from this lack.
On the other hand, we have some people among us today who tend to overreact to this neglect of study. They don’t think a man can preach unless he has an extensive formal education. Some of them seek theological degrees from religious organizations that do not preach the truth about many Biblical basics. I believe that this is potentially dangerous. It would be very easy for a man to almost unconsciously imbibe subtle error from a persuasive and impressive teacher who is tainted with error. The Lord knew what He was doing when He did not set up formal schools of theology. If we try to “second guess” Him we do so to our own peril. I am not against a man reading books written by those who are not Primitive Baptists. I am not against a man “gleaning” even from some formal theological study. I myself have studied New Testament Greek up to the intermediate level in two theological schools. However, I believe extreme caution should be exercised when a man pursues such a course.
According to the Scriptures the church is the “pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Tim. 3: 15). Also according to the Scriptures the New Testament way of training ministers of the gospel is the apprenticeship method. A young gift is to study under a man who has been in the ministry for some time. This is plainly taught in 2 Tim. 2: 2, where Paul instructed Timothy, “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.” This was obviously to be done in the context of the local church, which is the pillar and ground of the truth. There is not a hint of a Bible College or a Theological Seminary in the pages of the New Testament.
I am thankful to see an interest in proper ministerial
education in my day. I know several older, established ministers who are
diligently trying to help younger ministers whom God is raising up in the
churches they serve. I believe that one
reason the New Testament does not condone seminaries is because a seminary
education, particularly a theological academic degree, can easily lead to pride
and to the sense that a man with a degree is somehow superior to his brethren
who are not so formally trained. I really believe that the Lord Jesus was
referring to this sort of thing when He said in Matthew 23:8-10, “But be not ye
called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. And
call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in
heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.”
Speaking of the title of “rabbi,” John Gill said, “Do not be ambitious of any
such title, fond of it, or affect it, or be elated with it, should it be given
you…” I realize that Gill, himself, was awarded an honorary doctor’s degree by
a university, but he said that he “neither thought it, sought it, nor bought
it!” We ministers of the gospel must
ever keep in mind that according to Romans 1:1 we have been “separated unto the gospel of God” not elevated to it above our brethren.
The Bottom Line
When considering the development of sermons I believe that there are several basic things that should characterize each of us, no matter what is our background or level of education.
First, we should each do the very best that we can possible do. There is no place in the gospel ministry
for a lazy or self-indulgent man. When the Lord Jesus was exhorting the
disciples to pray that God would raise up preachers of the gospel He said in
Matthew 9:38, “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send
forth labourers into his harvest.”
Paul said in speaking of ministers of the gospel, 1 Thessalonians 5:12, “And we
beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour
among you…” The word translated “labour” here is kopia,w
(kopiao), and means “to grow weary, tired, exhausted (with toil or
burdens or grief).” This is the same word used referring to ministers of the
gospel in 1 Timothy 5:17, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of
double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” Brethren,
if we are not working hard at preparing to preach, we are not pleasing God.
Another basic is that we must live a life in close fellowship with God. We are not like Greek orators, who made a profession of making beautiful speeches. We are more like Hebrew prophets who come from the presence of God with weighty divine truths. Our words may be beautiful but they will lack power and conviction if our lives are not what they ought to be. We must be men of prayer. Only then will we have the assistance of the blessed Holy Spirit as we try to find the meaning of God’s Word to preach to His people. It is significant that prayer and preaching are brought together in Acts 6:4, “But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word.”
We must not allow sin to dominate our lives. Paul instructed the young preacher in 1 Timothy 4:16, “Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.”
The final basic element in the development of sermons is that we must preach the Word. Paul made this plain in 2 Timothy 4:2, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” We are not to preach contemporary politics. We are not to preach the latest ideas of sociologists, psychologists, etc. We are not to preach our dreams or our own ideas. I love the way Peter expressed this. He said, “we have not followed cunningly devised fables…” Instead of these fables he had declared the “more sure word of prophecy…” (2 Pet. 2: 16, 19). No matter what our method of sermon preparation, our material must be none other than the all-sufficient, inspired word of the living God!
The Actual
Development of Sermons