HOW TO DISEMPOWER A SERMON

Someone one said to a preacher: “You often bring in something comical to create a smile, and this frequently destroys the force of your whole discourse.” Many who regularly listen to preaching know that this is something that could, and probably should, be said to more than a few preachers.

A joke, or an attempt to be comedic at the beginning of a sermon to “warm up the congregation” is probably more often than not, used by the devil to turn people off to whatever else a preacher has to say. A few comedic words said at the conclusion of a sermon is often used by Satan like a wet blanket to quench any fire kindled in hearts during the course of the sermon. Unsanctified humor in the pulpit is equivalent to the fowl that the wicked one sends to snatch away the seed of God’s Word from people’s hearts (Matt. 13:4, 19).

There is such a thing as sanctified humor that is complementary and relevant to the communicating of God’s Truth through preaching. Such humor can be wielded by the Holy Spirit like a gardener’s hoe at the beginning of a sermon to prepare hearts for what is to come, and used like a tool at the end of a sermon to tamp seed, already sown, more solidly and deeply into hearts. But all indications from Scripture are that this kind of humor is used sparingly by the Holy Spirit in the work of the ministry

Wise and conscientious preachers who walk in the fear of the Lord will be careful not to calculatedly use humor as a mechanism to bring about outcomes. The Holy Spirit doesn’t need an injection of fleshly humor to supplement or augment the power that He alone is intended to bring, and is intent on bringing, to preaching.

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