Effectively Preaching the Gospel 2 Cor.12:15 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO of Preach the Gospel

There are three things we are going to see from the Bible today that will help you effectively preach the gospel.  These three things have to do with the attitude of your heart toward the people to whom you preach.  You can have the best message that you’ve ever preached. And you can have the best presentation of any preacher who has ever lived. Furthermore, you can have the best voice of even the greatest orators. But if you don’t do these three things found in the Bible you will not be as effective as a marginal preacher who does.  These things have to do with your heart and what your heart compels you to do when you are preaching.  To effectively preach the gospel:

You must spend yourself – 2 Cor 12:15. The Corinthian church was carnal, at best, and there were some in the church who didn’t like Paul. He had to straighten out a number of messes in the church because they were so carnal and ignorant of sound doctrine. Nevertheless, Paul didn’t hold back from this congregation just because they were a bunch of babes in Christ. He said he would “very gladly spend and be spent” for them. And their response was not reciprocal. He said, “the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved”.

When you spend yourself for the sake of others and expect nothing in return you are doing all that you can do for them. When an athlete or a soldier has given his all, he says, “I’m spent”. That’s the way Paul was. And that’s the way you need to be if you want to effectively preach the gospel. You have to put your whole effort into it.

You must impart yourself – 1 Thes 2:8. Paul didn’t just impart the gospel to the Thessalonians, he imparted his own soul to them. He loved them dearly. By comparison, Paul loved the Jews so much that, against the warnings of the Holy Spirit, he traveled to Jerusalem. He didn’t count his own life dear unto himself, but rather he counted those to whom he ministered dear unto him. If you are ever going to effectively preach the gospel, you must impart yourself to those to whom you preach. You have to put your whole heart into it.

You must offer yourself – Phil 2:17. Paul offered himself upon the sacrifice and service of the Philippians’ faith. That is the Philippians’ faith was so strong that it led them to serve and sacrifice for the Lord. It was upon their sacrifice and service that Paul offered himself. Like Rom 12:1-2 says, he offered his body a living sacrifice. If you are going to ever preach effectively, you must offer yourself to God for the sake of those to whom you are ministering. A missionary to Fiji showed us his presentation recently. He told of a missionary years ago who heard that the Fijians might kill him and eat him (years ago they were cannibals). He replied, “I died before I left home to go there”. To effectively preach the gospel you have to put your whole body into it.

Conclusion: If you will do these three things, not only will your preaching be more effective, but your rejoicing in the ministry will increase immensely [Phil 2:17].  There is more joy in spending, imparting and offering yourself than there is in holding back. For more on this topic see Why We Preach The Gospel.