Preach the Word! — Chapter 11

Giving the Sermon Purpose

This article is part of a series of articles on how to preach written by Jess Hall, Jr. and originally published in The Firm Foundation.

Choosing the purpose of the sermon is one of the most important aspects of its preparation. Failure to properly state a purpose and develop the sermon based upon that purpose is one of the primary causes of sermon failures. Like the unclean spirit in Luke 12:43, the purposeless sermon wanders through dry places without finding a home. The purposeless sermon is like a Sunday driver who has been described as having nowhere to go and all day to get there. Stated differently, the preacher who doesn’t know where he is going isn’t going to know when he arrives. A well stated purpose helps to identify the sermon’s main lines of development to which all other points are subordinated. Those thoughts that do not advance the sermon’s main lines of development are eliminated no matter how brilliant. They are not useless, however, because they provide seed thoughts for future sermons.

What is the purpose of the sermon? While the subject of the sermon is a broad statement of the sermon’s concept designed to convey to the hearer some notion of the sermon’s topic; the purpose (sometimes also called ‘theme’) is the preacher’s objective in the sermon. The subject may embody a number of themes; the purpose is the specific theme that the preacher chooses to develop. The purpose delineates the subject’s development and limits the subject’s discussion.

How is the purpose of the sermon determined? Since a good purpose statement relates God’s truth to God’s people, ask yourself questions that center on two vital themes – the text and the hearers. First, ask what you hope to accomplish in your hearers. What do you want to go on in their minds as they listen to your sermon? Do you wish to inform them? Inspire them? Persuade them? What aspect of this subject will help your hearers? Encourage them? Strengthen them? Second, ask yourself what is going on in your hearers lives right now to which this subject speaks? What temptations and trials are they facing? Third, ask yourself about the text. Why did the writer pen these words? What did he hope to accomplish in the minds of his readers? No inspired writer ever rambled without purpose. Paul wanted Timothy to know how to behave himself in the house of God. (1 Tim. 3:15.) Jude’s original purpose was laid aside and another chosen. (Jude 3.) John wrote to produce faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. (John 20:31). Thus, while a purposeless sermon may be filled with scripture, it does not follow the example of scripture.

The statement of the sermon’s purpose may be a phrase or a sentence, but it must with brevity, clarity, and simplicity state the sermon’s primary intent and direction. If the purpose is too broadly stated (e.g., “The purpose of this sermon is to inform the hearers about prayer.”), it imposes no practical limitations. The result is a Great Commission sermon that takes a text and goes everywhere preaching the word. If the purpose is too narrowly stated (e.g., “The purpose of this sermon is to inform the congregation of the meaning of the Greek word translated ‘prayer.’”), it results in either constant repetition, inability to confine the sermon to the stated purpose, or a really short sermon. Neither approach meets the needs of or helps the hearers. For instance, a sermon on prayer may always be needful, but will it be helpful to the hearers if it covers the subject in seven-league boots? The sermon may have many well-stated points (Prayer is powerful; Prayer is prevailing; Prayer is practical; Prayer is promising; Prayer is pleasing; Prayer is importunate; Prayer is potent; Prayer is planned.), but by covering so much ground it confuses the hearers and leaves them dazed. They learn absolutely nothing about everything. Of course, it is easy for the preacher. He doesn’t have to study as hard or spend as much time in preparation. He can spend three minutes on each of eight points and, with a brief introduction and conclusion, occupy his thirty minutes. Such an approach indicates either a lethargic preacher or a preacher who does not know how to prepare a sermon and has never taken the time to learn. The former, after appropriate admonition, needs to be terminated. The latter needs to be trained.

It may take several efforts to develop a brief purpose statement. You may wrestle with the text, the subject, and the hearers needs before you settle on exactly what your purpose is, but once you know your goal it will be much easier to reach.

The preacher in the pulpit should be there with a purpose. As Henry Ward Beecher suggested, a sermon is not a Chinese firecracker that is fired off for the sake of the noise it makes. It is a hunter’s gun, and at every discharge the preacher should look to see his game fall. To attain this goal, however, the preacher must know what he is hunting and take deadly aim.

God's Plan of Salvation

You Must Hear the Gospel

You must hear the gospel and then understand and recognize that you are lost without Jesus Christ no matter who you are and no matter what your background is. The Bible tells us that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) Before you can be saved, you must understand that you are lost and that the only way to be saved is by obedience to the gospel of Jesus Christ. (2 Thessalonians 1:8) Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” (John 14:6) “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

You Must Believe

You must believe and have faith in God because “without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) But neither belief alone nor faith alone is sufficient to save. (James 2:19; James 2:24; Matthew 7:21)

You Must Repent

You must repent of your sins. (Acts 3:19) But repentance alone is not enough. The so-called “Sinner’s Prayer” that you hear so much about today from denominational preachers does not appear anywhere in the Bible. Indeed, nowhere in the Bible was anyone ever told to pray the “Sinner’s Prayer” to be saved. By contrast, there are numerous examples showing that prayer alone does not save. Saul, for example, prayed following his meeting with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), but Saul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always, and yet there was something else he needed to do to be saved (Acts 10:2, 6, 33, 48). If prayer alone did not save Saul or Cornelius, prayer alone will not save you. You must obey the gospel. (2 Thess. 1:8)

You Must Confess

You must confess that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. (Romans 10:9-10) Note that you do NOT need to make Jesus “Lord of your life.” Why? Because Jesus is already Lord of your life whether or not you have obeyed his gospel. Indeed, we obey him, not to make him Lord, but because he already is Lord. (Acts 2:36) Also, no one in the Bible was ever told to just “accept Jesus as your personal savior.” We must confess that Jesus is the Son of God, but, as with faith and repentance, confession alone does not save. (Matthew 7:21)

You Must Be Baptized for the Remission of Sins

Having believed, repented, and confessed that Jesus is the Son of God, you must be baptized for the remission of your sins. (Acts 2:38) It is at this point (and not before) that your sins are forgiven. (Acts 22:16) It is impossible to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ without teaching the absolute necessity of baptism for salvation. (Acts 8:35-36; Romans 6:3-4; 1 Peter 3:21) Anyone who responds to the question in Acts 2:37 with an answer that contradicts Acts 2:38 is NOT proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ!

You Must Be Faithful Unto Death

Once you are saved, God adds you to his church and writes your name in the Book of Life. (Acts 2:47; Philippians 4:3) To continue in God’s grace, you must continue to serve God faithfully until death. Unless they remain faithful, those who are in God’s grace will fall from grace, and those whose names are in the Book of Life will have their names blotted out of that book. (Revelation 2:10; Revelation 3:5; Galatians 5:4)

What is the church of Christ?

In Matthew 16:18, Jesus promised to build a church. In Acts 2:47, Luke tells us that people were being added to that church. Thus, we can conclude that Jesus built His church sometime between His promise in Matthew 16 and Luke’s statement in Acts 2. Indeed, a closer study of the events in Acts 2 reveals that the Lord’s church was established on that first day of Pentecost following the Lord’s resurrection when Peter preached the first gospel sermon. That church is the church of Christ.

A common misconception about the church of Christ is that “The Church of Christ” is its name. It is not. The “church of Christ” is its description. The church of Christ is the church that belongs to Christ, that was established by Christ, that was built by Christ, and that was bought by Christ. It is not our church; it is His church, the Lord’s church. We are not voted into the church by men, and we do not join a church the way some might join a country club. Instead, God adds us to His church when we obey His gospel.

Are those in the church of Christ the only people who are going to be saved? Of course they are! God adds people to His church when they are saved. If you are not in the Lord’s church, then you are not saved. If you are saved, then you are in the Lord’s church. To be saved outside of the church of Christ is to be saved outside of the body of Christ – and that can never happen. Jesus is not just a way to the Father; he is the way to the Father. As Jesus said in John 14:6, “ I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Thus, the real question is not what is the church of Christ, but is rather how do you become a part of the church of Christ? That question was asked in the first century as it is asked today, and the answer remains the same. We are saved and added to the Lord’s church when we obey the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like the Apostle Paul, we are saved when our sins are washed away at our baptism.

There is one church of Christ. If you are a member of something else or something more or something less, then you are not serving God according to His plan or according to His will. He wants you to be a Christian and only a Christian, wearing only the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the head and the savior of the church, His body.

Want to know more? Here are 10 things everyone should understand about the church, here are some common misconceptions about the church, and here is how God views the church.

What Must I Do?

What must I do? That same question was asked in Acts 2:37 at the end of the very first gospel sermon ever preached. Before we look at Peter’s answer in verse 38, let’s look at some answers Peter did NOT give.

What must I do? John Calvin answers, “Nothing!” According to Calvin, there is nothing we must do and nothing we can do. Each of us has already been personally predestined to Heaven or Hell without regard to anything we do on Earth, and so, logically, according to Calvin, the only answer to the question in Acts 2:37 is “Nothing.” But that is NOT how Peter answered that question.

What must I do? Many preachers today answer, “You must make Jesus the Lord of your life.” But that answer makes absolutely no sense then or now! Peter had just said in Acts 2:36 that “God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” Jesus was already Lord of their lives! Jesus is Lord of lords and King of kings, which means he is your Lord and your King whether or not you obey him or believe him. We obey Jesus because he is Lord and King – not to make him Lord and King.

What must I do? Many preachers today answer, “You must pray the sinner’s prayer and invite the Lord Jesus into you heart.” But no one in the Bible was ever told to do that. In fact, Paul prayed after he saw Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:11), and yet Paul was still in his sins when Ananias met him three days later (Acts 22:16). Cornelius prayed to God always (Acts 10:2), and yet there remained something he still had to do after calling for Peter (Acts 10:6). If praying the sinner’s prayer was all that Paul and Cornelius needed to do, then why were Ananias and Peter needed?

What must I do? Listen as Peter answers that question: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38) That answer has not changed one bit in the intervening 2000 years. If your preacher is telling you something different, then you need a new preacher! “And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.” (Acts 22:16)

Want to know more? Here is God's Plan of Salvation.

Preach the Word!

These 35 essays on preaching by Jess Hall, Jr. were originally published in the Firm Foundation.

Baptism in the Bible

Matthew 28:19

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.

Mark 16:16

He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

Acts 2:38

Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Acts 8:36

And as they went on their way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?

Acts 22:16

And now why tarriest thou? arise, and be baptized, and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Romans 6:3

Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

Romans 6:4

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

1 Corinthians 12:13

For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

Galatians 3:27

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

Ephesians 4:5

One Lord, one faith, one baptism.

Colossians 2:12

Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.

1 Peter 3:21

The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Want to Know More?

Please read this lesson on baptism from our series of lessons on Thought Provoking Questions.

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We have many audio gospel sermons available in MP3 format. We also have a selection of articles on how to preach, and we have over 650 sermons by Cecil Hutson.

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