The Purpose of Preaching

C.H. Spurgeon has been called the prince of preachers. But, the real prince of preachers has to be Jesus Christ himself. Jesus' method of preaching was through parables. In fact Matthew tells us in Matthew 13:34 that "All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable."

In Luke 8, we hear his definition of the parable and his idea of preaching.

Luke 8:9-10 And when his disciples asked him what this parable meant, he said, "To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of God, but for others they are in parables, so that 'seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand."

At least 3 questions arise in my mind from this passage of Scripture that we will look at over the next few days, in order to reiterate what you heard, if you were with us, this past Sunday at Cleary. The first question is…."What is preaching's purpose?"

The purpose of Jesus' preaching is both to reveal and to conceal the truth. His teachings were a way of revealing or concealing the secrets of the kingdom of God. Do you mean to say that Jesus wanted to conceal the truth from some people? That is what he said. Jesus said that he spoke in parables so that seeing they may not see and hearing they may not understand. That seeing (the story) they may not see (the secrets), and hearing (the story) they may not understand (the secrets). The fact of the matter is, much of God's word is meant to conceal, rather than reveal. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:3, "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing."
Preaching is not just to conceal though. It is to reveal as well. Jesus' preaching, His parables, were to reveal, not the secrets of the kingdom, but the seekers of the kingdom. Jesus was not revealing secrets to some and not to others in his preaching. He was revealing those who were really seeking through his preaching. You see, the disciples did not understand or they would not have had to ask. That is the key! Not that they mysteriously understood what Jesus said and the others missed it because they had special insight. No, the key is that they did not understand any more than anyone else in the crowd. The key is, they asked. This is what set them apart. They didn't just turn around and walk away saying, good sermon Jesus. They inquired of Him what he was talking about.
This method of preaching protected the glorious gospel. Jesus said in Matthew 7:6, "Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you." He did not give the holy Word of God to the dogs or throw the priceless pearl before the pigs. He simply threw some lamb bait out. The dogs and the pigs walked away, but the sheep took the bait and wanted more. Nicodemus was one of those lambs that took His bait. We read the account in John 3:1-2. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Nicodemus was seeking, so Jesus revealed the secrets to him. The purpose of preaching is not only to reveal….but to conceal. The next question we must ask is, "What does preaching produce?" We will look at this question later in the week…so be on the lookout!