A QUESTION ESPECIALLY FOR PREACHERS AND THOSE WHO WITNESS.

You will have noticed I have been endorsing and promoting recently some awesome statements written by great men of God from past generations. I was impacted by this statement I read today by Charles Spurgeon:
“No Christ in your sermon, sir? The go home and never preach again, until you have something worth preaching”.
Can I ask you a question preacher? and to those who seek to witness to others.
WHAT IS THE REAL CONTENT OF YOUR SERMON ?
I had the privilege in 1978 to attend the first English speaking Church Growth Conference in Seoul Korea at Dr.Yonggi Cho’s church. This is now the largest Christian congregation in the world. I heard Dr. Cho say I will never enter the pulpit to preach unless I have received a Rhema word (quickened word) that God has ministered first to my spirit.
When we preach that type of word we always will preach with AUTHORITY.
But, why did Cho say that ? I think this is the answer.
You are preaching an anointed word from God and the Bible
It is only the Word of God that changes people’s lives,
Whether they are a believer or a non believer. 1 Peter 1.23 we are told the Word ( I believe the Rhema word) is a seed (GK sperma), that when conceived in the heart of man spiritual conception takes place, not only to cause a person to be born again but as believers hear the Word preached, it produces life in their spirit which encourages them to move to the next level in their walk with God. In a recent blog I mentioned the importance of letting the Logos word become a Rhema word, so we can use it as a sword against our enemy Eph.6.17.
So many sermons are full of statements from Commentaries, and the latest news heard on tv, or even the preacher’s hobby horses. I was taught to not look at Commentaries until I had meditated on the Word and let the Holy Spirit speak to me personally and give me illumination on the text or the passage, and only then see what other men have said about it. We must learn to break the bread of life to God’s people and not just craft a fancy sermon. The elders in Acts 20 were told to feed the flock of God. We must learn to be good Dieticians and give God’s people a balance diet of the Word of God.
When we witness to people what is our main goal ?  to get them to join our church and believe our doctrines, or to see them truly born again of the Spirit of God. Peter says it is only the Word that causes a person to be saved. So whether it is in our preaching or our witnessing, we should be sharing the living Word of God with them, believing the Holy Spirit will water that Word and bring about true spiritual change.
I visited a church recently whilst on holiday, and was horrified that only one verse of scripture was used in the Introduction, and not another scripture was mentioned or communicated in any way. The Preacher gave an appeal and numerous people responded. I trust they had been effectively witnessed to prior to their attending church because there really wasn’t sufficient Word in the preaching to cause a spiritual decision. O how important good follow up and Discipleship is needed following a person’s initial decision to follow Christ.
This blog, may be considered negative, it is not meant to be, but an appeal to get back to basics, and truly preach Christ, the only Saviour of the world who suffered and died and rose again, that we can be translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of God.
My last blog on revival, is all about God’s people returning to their first love, and getting desperate to see God move in our world. People coming to Christ in great numbers is NOT revival, but the fruits (the by-product) of God’s people being revived.
I ache to see our generation coming to Christ, but it will not happen, until the Church comes back to what a New Testament church  is meant to be.
Will you pray with me, the prayer of the prophet Habbakuk 3:2.
O LORD,REVIVE YOUR WORK IN THE MIDST OF THE YEARS, IN WRATH REMEMBER MERCY.
Your comments and response are always appreciated.