Persuasion, Illustration, and Earnestness in Successful Sermons

Lloyd M. Perry’s Biblical Preaching for Today’s World contains a section that caught my attention as a young preacher. It’s called “Why Do Some Speeches Fail?” I adopted his premise for a lecture I regularly gave my seminary students entitled “Ten Reasons Why Sermons Fail.” Though not exhaustive, these 10 reasons are among the top reasons our sermons may fail as we preach to our churches throughout our ministry.

In the last article, I presented reasons 5-7 on why sermons fail. Here are reasons 8-10. You can also read part 1 here.

8. The preacher does not know the techniques of persuasion

Biblical preaching is an extremely difficult, if not impossible task. A preacher lives in a delusion if he thinks the average person can understand God’s Word clearly, hungers with the desire to hear from God, and is ready to obey the truth God imparts through preaching. Preaching is a battle for the hearts and minds of people. The history of redemption is that of resistance to preaching God’s Word. The preacher must find ways to tear down the walls of resistance we have all built up against God and His Word. This is called persuasion. Effective sermons are not just didactic; they are persuasive. The preacher must find a way to scale the walls of resistance and break through the barricades of opposition formed in the human heart.

Every sermon is an effort to persuade the audience to obey Biblical truth. We must begin with the realization that God is the ultimate persuader and will use His Word, His Spirit, His instrument, and His ultimate purpose to draw hearts to Himself (I Cor. 2:1-5; I Thess. 2:1-4). Paul does not argue against persuasion but against human persuasion by deception and wrong motives. He says elsewhere, “Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:11). When King Agrippa replied to Paul, “In a short time you will persuade me to become a Christian,” Paul did not deny persuasion but affirmed it (Acts 26:28-29).

The preacher must think of persuasion in his sermons and s make ample use of the various forms of argumentation and persuasion available. A close examination of the Lord’s sermons will reveal His use of the classic forms of argumentation, from the lesser to the greater (Luke 15) to the horns of dilemma (Mat. 21:23-27). We are, by nature, obstinate, self-righteous, and apathetic. We need deliverance from our enslavement to our passions and desires. Our sermons must not fail for lack of persuasion.

9. The preacher fails to illustrate in his sermon

Sermons preached in the abstract will undoubtedly fail because people do not think or live in the abstract. Our audiences live and think in the concrete, not the abstract. The abstract is the condensation of life, the removal of the flavor, the color, the feeling, and the garb of life to get to the core and essence of life. Biblical preaching takes the “mysteries of the Kingdom” and clothes them in the color, the flavor, the feeling, and the garb of life to explain them to humanity. Preaching explains the unknown by that which is known. That is what is meant by preaching with illustration: to add light to the subject by comparison to what is already known.

Preachers do not illustrate because they fail to understand the importance of illustrations in preaching. Illustrations have multiple uses in preaching. They clarify, explain, secure, and maintain interest. They make a lasting impression on the listener and even render the discourse pleasing to the senses. Only those who are not communicators fail to understand the importance of illustrations.

Great and effective preaching is illustrative preaching. Consider the discourses of our Savior, and His use of illustrations in his sermons will impress and impact you. Hence, preachers must learn the art of illustrating since it is not easy for many of us. Remember that illustrations are not the main dish; they are simply tools to communicate effectively the central truth in Scripture. We do not form a sermon around a “good illustration.” Rather, the truth we teach needs a “good illustration” to help communicate it. If you fail to illustrate in your sermon, your sermon is doomed to failure.

10. The preacher fails to preach with earnestness

Sermons fail because the preacher does not deliver them passionately. Richard Baxter described a preacher without passionate delivery as a “cadaver in a casket” (pulpit). Movement awakens and alerts. Movement involves emotion, range in voice, eyes flashing, arms and torso moving to the theme of the sermon, and expression of feeling in the choice of words. A dead preacher produces a dead sermon, and a dead sermon results in a dead congregation.

Not all persons are passionate by nature. Nevertheless, every preacher needs to develop passion in their personality and, thus, in their preaching. Passion in preaching begins with God and His Word. God is passionate, and His Word produces passion. A view of man’s condition and the need for regeneration and sanctification should make us earnest preachers of His Word. Preaching demands passionate delivery as we interact with sinners on their way to a godless eternity or saints on the difficult journey to the celestial city.

A sermon succeeds when the audience senses the preacher is in dead earnest that he says what he means and means what he says, that he sincerely cares for the eternal welfare of his audience, and that he has poured out his soul in the proclamation of the truth. I will close with the memorable words of Richard Baxter: “I preach as a dying man to dying men, as though never to preach again.” Preach your heart out, preacher. It may be your last sermon. Such a sermon will surely not fail.