Daily EncouragementSample

The precise nature of the gift of prophecy which Paul is exalting here may be debatable. “It denotes something rather like our preaching, but not identical with it,” comments Leon Morris. “It is not the delivery of a carefully prepared sermon, but the uttering of words inspired of God.”

Yet if prophecy is basically telling forth the word of God, effective preaching will come pretty close to it. It will not invent the divine word but it will expound it. And for the Reformers at least, “the preaching of the divine word is the divine word.”

And it will have the same effect - speaking to men with “intelligible words,” building up, imparting courage and tenderly comforting. “Preach to broken hearts” was a maxim of Joseph Parker, one of the greatest of preachers.

And it will come with the same authority and power. “He looked,” said someone of George Whitefield, “as if he was clothed with authority from the great God.” And Sarah, Jonathan Edward’s wife, described his preaching thus: “It is wonderful to see what a spell he casts over an audience by proclaiming the simplest truths of the Bible. I have seen upwards of a thousand people hang on his words with breathless silence, broken only by an occasional half-suppressed sob.”

Don’t worry about prophecy; eagerly desire to preach!