Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church
The man of God who preaches the Bible must have conviction. When Jesus taught those who heard him said that he taught them with authority — not as their teachers. To fully understand that we speak of eternal things demands our passion, our conviction, our urgency. We preach to persuade. We preach to call sinners to Christ. To preach the Word requires conviction. I want to speak of this kind of conviction in four ways.
1. conviction in PASSION
The herald of the Word must have conviction in his passion. He must preach as a man who believes what he says. How tragic for someone to speak of the glories of Christ in a half-hearted way or in an emotionless way. Sad is the congregation who has a man bored in the pulpit and who speaks of gospel-truths in apathetic ways. Let God’s men rise with passion, with earnestness, with confidence. Like the old skeptic who rose early to go hear George Whitefield preach in the open air. Someone saw him and said: Hume, you don’t believe in the gospel. To which Hume replied, “I don’t, but Whitefield does.” Let us preach as men on fire as the divine truths have burned deeply into the very souls of our being.
2. conviction in CERTAINTY
Men must know truth and be convinced of truth. Men hold opinions but convictions hold the man. We need men who stand and confidently speak forth the gospel truths with certainty, with courage and with conviction. The church does not need man-pleasers who sway their opinions to the tune of culture and to the sound of the day. We need men with convictions in the certain truths of Scripture. Men are desired who stand and speak forth with unflinching courage.
3. conviction in FULLNESS
Every man who has the Word of God should speak forth the Word with conviction in the fullness of divine truths. He must be convinced of the fullness of divine power that goes forth and will assuredly accomplish what God desires. There must be a great fullness consuming the man who stands before the people as he is a called man by the Almighty King to speak forth the glorious excellencies of Christ. The preacher must be filled with divine truths, with eternal glories, with everlasting hope, and with Spirit-given power to speak forth the gospel in all the rays of beauty.
4. conviction in PERSUASION
The Apostle Paul sought to persuade King Agrippa. Let all men of God follow Paul’s example to persuade sinners of their lost condition and plead with them to repent from sin and turn to Christ. There should be a great polemic in our preaching as we argue forth the reasons for Christ’s glory, the benefits of trusting in Christ, and the folly of rejecting Him. We must speak with great persuasion as dealing with men’s everlasting souls. Never should a man stand and herald the gospel in a ‘take it or leave it’ sort of way. Preachers must say: “this is the truth. You must believe it!” The preacher stands between frail men and soon-coming eternity. He knows he stands as a bridge bringing God to men and bringing men to God. O may we increase in our conviction as we preach the Word. May we preach with passion, with certainty, with divine fullness and with great persuasion. May God’s men say with Paul: the Word of God came with power, with the Holy Spirit and with full conviction! May God give more men with the towering conviction of the saving truths of the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ.
