Preaching that Boils the Pot

THE WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME A SECOND TIME, SAYING, “WHAT DO YOU SEE?” AND I SAID, “I SEE A BOILING POT, FACING AWAY FROM THE NORTH.” THEN THE LORD SAID TO ME, “OUT OF THE NORTH DISASTER SHALL BE LET LOOSE UPON ALL THE INHABITANTS OF THE LAND.

Introduction

God will later tell Jeremiah in chapter four, verses five through nine, to utter forth what is in essence the same message revealed to the prophet in chapter one. It is a message of destruction. It is a message of desolation. It is a message of doom.

So I ask the question, does our preaching today look anything like that of Jeremiah’s? Do we too preach forth a message of destruction and desolation to the world today? Let me share with you two observations and then a follow-up question that might get you to think a little more about this question.

Jesus Preaching Boiled the Pot

An initial observation comes from a brief glimpse upon the preaching of Jesus. Jesus preaching, in no uncertain terms, was one that was much like a boiling pot.

In Luke 4:23, Jesus says to the people in the Synagogue that day, “You will surely say this proverb to Me, ‘Physician, heal yourself! Whatever we heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Your country.” Notice that Jesus in essence tells the people, they will not accept Him. And as it was in Elijah’s day, even the pagans would respond, but God’s people would not. Look at the reaction then Jesus received from this bold word, “So all those in the synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath.” “Ugh, did you just here what this Jesus said?! He told us that we’re just like those stubborn forefathers who rejected Elijah the prophet! And He even had the audacity to compare us to those pagan sinners outside of Judah!” So here is how they responded to Jesus preaching in verse twenty-nine, they “rose up and thrust Him out of the city, and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.” Yes, you heard it right, when they heard Jesus preach, they thrusted Him out, and they tried to throw Him down!

In Luke 6, as Jesus popularity begins to grow, the Son of Man was found once again in the Synagogue. Emphasis is now on the Sabbath. Luke’s account says that Jesus told a man with a withered hand to rise up and stand, and He asked His adversaries a simple question, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil…” And with these words He restored the man’s hand as whole as the other. What was the reaction this time to Jesus’ preaching? Verse eleven, “they were filled with RAGE, and discussed with one another what they might do to Jesus.” Did you hear that friend? They were filled with RAGE! Anger is certainly an understandable thing. The Bible says, “be angry, and do not sin” (Eph. 4:26). But to rage is to be filled with an anger that has spilled over into sin, and is GUSHING over. This is violent, uncontrolled, vehement anger.

Jesus preaching was bold! It was in part destructive. It could make a person upset. It could make a person enraged. It could make a person react with the most vehement and violent of desires. Jesus intent was not to make people mad, but it did make people mad. He understood this came with the territory, “Woe to you,” Jesus said, “when all men speak well of you” (Luke 6:26).

The Disciples’ Preaching Boiled the Pot

But then let's turn for a moment to the disciples preaching also. Those who followed, especially after Jesus own departure.

Notice Luke 17:3, Jesus says, “If your brother sins against you, rebuke him.” It doesn’t get more plain than that. To rebuke is to reprimand sharply. It is to pull down, destroy, throw down, and overthrow. Even Paul the apostle plainly exhorted his young proteges in the preaching of God’s word among the churches of Christ, “Speak these things, exhort, and rebuke with all authority” (Titus 2:15). “Rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith” (Titus 1:13). Paul himself even said on one occasion that as he ministered unto the Corinth church after sending them a very harsh and rebuking letter, “Even if I made you sorry with my letter, I do not regret it” (2 Cor. 7:10). The disciples of Christ did and the disciples of Christ do have an authority and even an obligation to preach forth the message of Christ with encouragement, but also reprimand, destroy, thrown down.

Perhaps Stephen’s preaching is the closest of them all to Jeremiah’s preaching.

Acts 7:51, the early Christian martyr Stephen, concludes his sermon to the unbelieving Jews saying these words, “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you… And they killed those who foretold the coming of the Just One, of whom you now have become the betrayers and murderers, who have received the law by the direction of angels and have not kept it.”

Well, no wonder Stephen was the first Christian Martyr one might say! Such words are piercing, they are cutting, and the people’s reaction is one that gnashes with the teeth.

But rest assured, Stephen was a righteous man. His intent was not to assail. His sermon was not led upon baseless emotion. Rather, Scripture says from the outset that all who saw him saw him having the “face of an angel.” I take that to mean that his countenance was one of sincere, genuine, heartfelt love and desire for the people.

And his logic and reasoning that followed for nearly an entire chapter before closing his sermon was sound, indefensible, and could hardly be challenged. It rang of truth. It could not be denied.

But why go the extra mile one might say? Why end on such a harsh note? Let me answer that now as we proceed with a concluding follow-up question that I hope will get you to think and to contemplate this subject more seriously and thoroughly…

Must Our Preaching Boil the Pot?

I believe the answer to this question unequivocally is, “YES.” We do and we must bring forth a message today that in part, like Jeremiah, is destructive in nature. It tears down. It uproots. It speaks against sin.

I believe one reason our preaching today must “boil the pot,” so to speak, is because raw food makes you sick. If you choose to serve up a piece of raw, instead of throwing it in the boiling pot to cook, you are likely to the get the other person sick. You might say, “Oh, but I like raw food! I like how soft it is. I like the way it tastes.” Yes, it might taste good. Yes it might feel good. But Paul called this, “itching ears,” in 2 Timothy 4, and He plainly condemned it!

Isaiah spoke of Israel’s sickness in Isaiah 1:5-6, “Why should you be stricken again? You will revolt more and more. The whole head is sick, And the whole heart faints. From the sole of the foot even to the head, There is no soundness in it, But wounds and bruises and putrefying sores; They have not been closed or bound up, Or soothed with ointment.” (Isaiah 1:5–6, NKJV).

And why were they sick?… Verse four, “Alas, sinful nation, A people laden with iniquity, A brood of evildoers, Children who are corrupters! They have forsaken the Lord, They have provoked to anger The Holy One of Israel, They have turned away backward.”

Notice that in that list of spiritual viruses and disease, among them was their “forsaking of the Lord.” The fact of the matter is, they were not listening to God anymore. They were listening to the false prophets. They were eating soft food.

If there is no greater reason we can come to terms with when considering the difficulty of boldly proclaiming the word of repentance, it should be this… We are not the chef, we are the servants. That means that our preaching is not our own, it is God’s. What we believe preaching can or should look like is ultimately irrelevant. God told Jeremiah, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth” (Jer. 1:9). Paul told the young preacher Timothy, “Preach the Word!” (2 Tim. 4:2). Command GOD’S word, exhort GOD’S word, teach GOD’S word!

CONCLUSION

The purpose of this message is to equip you for bold service to God. Bold service requires bold preaching. Jesus preaching was bold. The disciples teaching was bold. And the Scriptures all confirm the need to follow suit and be bold in our speech.

Does that mean our preaching is always bold and often offensive? Absolutely not! We meet every situation with the tool that best fits the job. But certainly there will be many occasions where difficult things will have to be said.

May God grant to each of us the love and strength that is needed to speak His truth in love, and to bring more souls to Christ. Scripture says, “He who rebukes a man will find more favor afterward than he who flatters with the tongue” (Proverbs 28:23).