CHAPTER 1

The Assignment of Preaching:Ezekiel 37:1-10

Let's begin with the Command to Preach. It is vital tounderstand that preaching is not voluntary. It is not a careerchoice, nor is it something that Mom or Dad or family membersconvince you that you ought to be doing. True preachers are sentfrom God. Romans 10:15 says, "how shall they preach exceptthey are sent?" Now this "sent" does not mean sent by any earthlyhuman, but it refers strictly to the true and living God. OnlyGod can call, appoint, and ordain, and heaven knows only Godcan anoint a person to preach the gospel. Only God can put inpreachers what it takes to be a preacher.

Now let's talk about the preacher and the preaching. Thepreacher proclaims the gospel, God's saving work through JesusChrist. The Old testament mentions several prominent preachers.Noah, who was warned of the impending flood and proclaimedGod's ark of safety, was called "a preacher of righteousness."Solomon described himself as a preacher who taught "words oftruth." At God's direction, Jonah made a preaching mission toNineveh, declaring God's judgment and mercy. And just likeJonah, all the prophets of the Old testament were regarded aspreachers, particularly Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, and Micah.

In the New testament, the gospel advanced on the wingsof preaching. The zeal generated by Pentecost, coupled with thegrowing persecution of the young church, led the disciples topreach everywhere in the known world. With a sense of urgency,Jesus and the apostles preached in homes, by the seaside, on thetemple steps, and in the synagogues. Wherever you can get peopletogether, remember there is an urgency to preach.

Jesus connected his ministry with that of the prophets andidentified his mission as one of proclaiming deliverance (Luke4:18-19).

Jesus was under a divine order to spread the gospel by means ofpreaching (Luke 4:43-44). Phillip, the preaching deacon, "preachedthe things concerning the kingdom of God and the name of JesusChrist." In sending out the twelve, Jesus commanded them, "asyou go, preach, saying, the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Theapostle Paul proudly declared his credentials as one whom God"appointed a preacher and apostle." Virtually all New testamentpreaching carries an evangelistic thrust. Paul declared, "it pleasedGod through the foolishness of preaching that man can be saved."

The distinction between preaching and teaching made inthe church today is not evident in the New Testament. Somepeople today say, "It's time out for preaching and the ministerjust needs to stick to teaching," but both Jesus and Paul regardedthemselves as preachers and teachers. Luke reports that Jesus wasappointed "a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles"(2 Timothy 1:11). The best New Testament preaching, whileaimed at motivating sinners to receive Christ, had a strong elementof teaching. Paul charged young Timothy to preach the Word!Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering and teaching,teach if you have to sometimes, but remember the command is topreach.

Now, when God calls and commands us to preach, we mayrun like Jonah, but when God gets through with us, we have to dowhat he says. Many think the running will be over after we acceptthe calling, but some pastors still run every now and then. It isimportant to understand that we're not always running by choice.Sometimes the members, deacons, and trustees cause us to run.

Some may ask, "Run from what, Reverend?" Run from hard,piercing, and cutting messages that God sends to the church, butwe're not always free to preach to them because of the repercussionswe may have to suffer. So we run from that message for the peoplein fear of what may happen to us, just like Jonah. We don't alwaysrealize that when we run, God will deal with us, just like he dealtwith Jonah when he ran.

So, Reverend, always preach the word that God gives you,even if you have to preach it in tears on your way out the door!

You know, I've always found it strange how church folks cangive preachers so much trouble, not realizing or caring that theyhave got it hard enough just doing what God wants them to do.You see, the problem is that people don't know everything thepastor preacher has gone through. They see the glamorous side ofpreaching, the monetary gifts, hugs, scattered love, recognition,and the elevation in ministry. Yes, they know about the glamour,but they don't know about the sleepless nights, the toiling andlabor, the wet pillows at night, the loss of family time, the criticismand insults they have to endure, all the hindering spirits they haveto fight, the days and nights traveling with no money in theirpockets. Few people know what preachers have to go through. Andin spite of all of this on Sunday morning, guess what? they have topush all of that aside and preach to a dying world.

Why? It's because preaching is above all. It's sad to say butpreaching is more important than what they go through. Preachingis more important than how they feel. Preaching is so importantthat John lost his head. It's so important that Peter and the apostleskept doing it even though they were threatened and ended up injail. It's so important that Paul decided, even in the face of death,to preach Jesus.

Preaching is so important that God told the prophet, "Yourwife is going to die in the morning; bury her and in the eveningPREACH to my people."

Preaching is so important that the Bible states that duringone of Paul's long sermons, a man sitting in a high window fellasleep and dropped to the ground, but that didn't stop Paul. Ithad nothing to do with the preacher; preaching is so importantbecause of the peril of the soul. Preachers continue to do what theydo. And that's why preaching is a command. There is no choice.Pastors, you have to preach.

Tertullian said it best: "there is no other way to convert theworld other than by the preaching of the gospel." There may bemany ways to teach us how to succeed in life. There may be manyways that we are taught to preserve the economy and to enhancethe temporal things in life. But there is only one way to turn manaway from his sins, and that is what the apostle Paul calls thefoolishness of preaching.

It has been said that the most effective way to diffuse religionis by preaching; not by the rituals of the church, and not bythe human doctrines, because we can have a doctrine with nopreaching. We can have laws with no preaching, but in order toconvert folks from their sins, there must be preaching.

We cannot ignore the fact that Christianity owes its origin, itscontinuation, and its progress as it is to the act of preaching. Itis preaching that has caused the cathedrals and synagogues to bebuilt on millions of dollars. It is not the choir. It is not the churchdoctrine, it is the preaching of the gospel. It is preaching thatcaused the winos to lay down their liquor bottles. It is preachingthat caused drug addicts to lay down their needles and crack pipes.It is preaching that pulls you up out of the muck and mire. It isbiblical preaching that people need to hear on Sunday morning.People need to hear what God has done for them. They need tohear that God will open doors for them. They need to hear thatGod can heal their bodies. They need to hear that God can deliverthem. They need to hear that God will touch them. They need tohear that God loves them. They need to hear that God cares forthem, and most of all, they need to know that Jesus died just forthem.

There is power in preaching. When Paul preached in Athens,they said, "His preaching turned the city upside down." Preachinggives life to any dead situation. When it looks like there is no hope,when it looks like there is nothing that can be done, preachingdoes strange things. Preachers must understand that there is powerin the preached Word. Therefore, they must keep themselvesprotected by the Word of God. Preachers must keep themselvesemerged in prayer, and every now and then, preachers need to beanointed so that the grace of God may rest upon them.

I want you to know that no preacher will be successful if theydo not allow the Word of God to percolate their heart. If preachersdon't study and seek higher learning through biblical training inthis new age, they will have an unrelated message; their gospelwill fall on deaf ears. They must remember that their calling is thehighest calling in the world. It is the highest level in life: moral,social, and professional. To be one of God's chosen is indeed anhonorable profession, even though some may object to the classand say, "He's just a preacher or he's just the pastor." God puts thehighest regard on preachers because so much has been invested inthem.

I want to remind you of the fact that doctors have been givena talent, but you can't find where God called the doctor. Lawyerspractice the law, but you can't find where God called the lawyer.Magistrates judge the affairs of man, both right and wrong, butyou can't find where God called the judge. But if you read theBible, it tells you that God called Moses and said, "Moses, stopwhat you're doing, turn from where you're going, and come here.I've got a job for you. I've got work for you. I want you to go downto Egypt and tell Ol' Pharaoh to let my people go."

Preachers are emancipators. They are deliverers, and they havea message from God. They may not look like much to you, buttheir lips have been touched with tongues from the altar. Just likeAaron, they've had the oil poured on their head. Like Jeremiah,they've got the fire burning in their soul. Like Ezekiel, they haveseen the vision of a dying people; they heard God say, "Ezekiel, canthese bones live?" And Ezekiel said, "Lord, you know," and Godsaid, "Ezekiel, preach until the graves come open, preach until thebones come out of the grave, preach until the head bone, the neckbone, the shoulder bone, the arm bone, the backbone, the hipbone, the thigh bone, the leg bone, the foot bone, the toe bone,all get together. Preach until the wind blows. Preach until helltrembles. Preach until the storm rises."

Someone may be asking, "How shall I preach?" Preach in thename of the Lord. Preach in the strength of the Lord. Preach onthe power of the Lord. The world is a valley of dry bones, butthese dry bones can live if you preach. Every sinner can be savedand every drunk can be saved. If anybody ask you who told you topreach, if anybody asks you what you are doing, tell them, "I AMtold me to preach! I AM told me to go! I AM told me to say it!"and no matter who comes or goes, PREACH!

Preachers have been called to do many things and to be manythings to their people and their community. Preachers mustunderstand that they are called to be a light and a leader, not onlyin the church but also in their community. The tragedy of thechurch today is that pastors have become selfish in the ministryand with the ministry. But the ministry that they are in is first ofall not theirs. They are in the Lord's ministry, and it's a ministryof unity. Preachers should do the best that they can to bond withother ministries in the area, while at the same time maintainingtheir integrity.

It is together that we can tear down Satan's kingdom. Theyhave been called to be at this place in the ministry known aspastor-ship, and above all they seek to do, they should never, everforget that they have been given the command that God gave toEzekiel. God commanded him to prophesy and preach.

CHAPTER 2

A Dual ResponsibilityWho Is on Your Left andWho Is on Your Right?

This chapter deals with the responsibility of the preacher to thepeople and the responsibility of the people to the preacher. It willbe disturbing to those laypeople whose proclivity is not to honorthe pastor, which is birthed out of ungodly teachings or their ownanalysis of the unworthiness of the preacher.

Many people do not understand when a day has been set asideto biblically honor the pastor. Many people do not understandwhy churches take time to honor their pastors. The real truth issome people do not even have a desire to honor the pastor of God'schoosing. Churches suffer and many times perish because of thelack of the people's acceptance of knowledge. Sister Salle Mae Dewstill engages in good old tongue speaking, crossover foot dancing,head shaking, body jerking, and long dress wearing; she is saidto be saved, sanctified, holy Ghost filled, and fire baptized, butshe still raises the most hell. She refuses to give during any type ofcelebration (or honoring) for her pastor of fifteen years. We needto understand that it is God's will according to 1 Timothy 5:17and also Hebrews 13:7:

Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of doublehonor, especially they who labor in the word and doctrine.

1 Timothy 5:17 (KJV)

Elders who do their work well should be paid well,especially those who work hard at both preaching andteaching.

1 Timothy 5:17 (NLT)

Remember them which have the rule over you, who havespoken unto you the word of God: Whose faith follow,considering the end of their conversation.

Hebrews 13:7 (KJV)

Remember your leaders who first taught you the word ofGod. Think of all the good that has come from their lives,and trust the Lord as they do.

Hebrews 13:7 (NLT)

I am convinced that due to ignorance, the local church oftenmisses the time God sets to honor and take care of the man ofGod. The tragedy of the church, the downfall of vision, and thestunted growth of ministry can be largely attributed to the churchlosing sight of the spiritual identity of its leaders.

As you sit and read this book, i only ask that you picture inyour mind the face of your pastor and ask yourself, Who is thisman? Not according to what you think, what you feel, or thatwhich might be preprogrammed by disgruntled members alongwith what you heard about him, but according to what God sayshe is. Do you know in full revelation who your pastor is? Fortoo long we have responded to pastors according to how we feelabout them and what we think about them, and in response to thepastor's decision on matters or the aim of his messages.

At one time the children of Israel got upset about the wayMoses was treating them, and they said that he was a hard taskmaster; they thought it seemed right to respond to Moses accordingto the way he treated them.

We treat pastors accordingly because we feel it seems right. Yes,it may very well seem to us that we are right in the way we handleGod's anointed; however, it would be wise to recall the words ofProverbs 14:12: "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man.But the end thereof is the ways of death." Just because we feelsomething to be right in our spirit does not make it right. Proverbs12:15 says, "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but hethat harkeneth unto counsel is wise." Just because something is inyour spirit does not mean that God put in there. 1 John 4:1 says,"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether theyare of God." We cannot respond to pastors like we handle ordinarymen. In a spiritual sense, they are not ordinary.

This was something that Miriam had to find out the hard way.Miriam had the gall to rebuke and verbally scorn Moses because hemarried a Negro woman, a Cushite. In Numbers 12:1-5, you seethat Aaron and Miriam were older than Moses, so Moses shouldhave been subject to their authority. However, after the calling andwork of God in the life of Moses, they ought to subject themselvesto Moses' authority. They were not happy with the man of God'sdecision, so they thought it seemed_right to speak out against theleader, saying, "hath Jehovah indeed spoken only with Moses?Hath he not also spoken with us?"

Now, what I'm trying to show you is that he was not anordinary man. As his older sister, Miriam could have reprimandedher brother on the basis of their family relationship. But when sheopened her mouth to slander him, she touched upon the work ofGod, challenging the position of Moses.