Seven Questions to Ask Before You Preach or Teach the Bible

by: Jonathan Parnell

In his message at the National Conference, Francis Chan highlighted the importance of loving the people to whom he preaches. He mentioned seven questions that he asks himself in preparing to preach. Here are the seven questions:

1. Am I worried about what people think of my message or what God thinks? (Teach with fear)
2. Do I genuinely love these people? (Teach with love)
3. Am I accurately presenting this passage? (Teach with accuracy)
4. Am I depending on the Holy Spirit's power or my own cleverness? (Teach with power)
5. Have I applied this message to my own life? (Teach with integrity)
6. Will this message draw attention to me or to God? (Teach with humility)
7. Do the people really need this message? (Teach with urgency)
   

Resource: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/seven-questions-to-ask-before-you-preach-or-teach-the-bible

Many Advisors Make Victory Sure (Proverbs 11:14)

In Proverbs 11 (1-31), as in 10:1-32, there are many sayings that contrast the ways of rigteousness and wickedness. (As is often the case in the Bible, the chapter divisions are rather arbitrary and do not aid the analysis of the text.) 11:14 and 11:30 address 2 important aspects of life and how to attain them: Victory and a Measure of our Wisdom.

• "For lack of guidance a nation falls, but many advisors make victory sure" (11:14 NIV).
• "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise" (11:30 NIV)

11:1 "(Dishonesty--no fear of God) is an abomination to the Lord." (11:20)

11:2 The proud must have everything their own way--"It's my way or the highway." True humility is NEVER self-generated. Ultimately, humility must be before God and directed toward God, and that genuine humility comes from God, expressed through Jesus who is "gentle and lowly (humble) in heart" (Matthew 11:29).

11:3-9 Righteousness delivers (3-6,8,9), implying that God delivers the righteous, while the wicked fall by their own wickedness (5b).

11:10,11 A city benefits or suffers from the presence of the righteous or the wicked. If our cities are deteriorating and declining, what does it tell us about its inhabitants and its rulers?
11:12,13 Would you belittle or slander someone else to make yourself feel better and superior, or remain silent?

11:14 From counsel and advice, wisdom emerges. So, get all the advice you can. It's just fatally too easy to shut out disquieting voices. (15:22; 24:6)

11:15 Treated at length in 6:1-5. For the most part, don't do it.

11:16-21 The consequences of righteousness and wickedness is not a small matter; it's a matter of life or death (19). Getting rich deceptively might seem rewarding for the time, but not in the end (20,21).

11:22 Beauty and the Beast. There's always more to beauty than meets the eye. How tragic, even monstrous, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion or modesty!

11:23-31 The ultimate destinies of the wicked and the righteous is determined by God (23,31).

11:24-26 The rewards of generosity. The paradox of life that you must sometimes lose to gain (24). Jesus, the kernel of wheat is the ultimate example (John 12:24).

11:30 A righteous man has a life giving influence, and a wise man wins others to wisdom. Only in Christ, can a Christian "be catching men" (Luke 5:11).

The Righteous and the Wicked (Proverbs 10)

So far, the book of Proverbs may be broadly outlined as follows:

1:1-7 Introduction: Title, Goal, Motto - The fear of the Lord

1:8-9:18 Wisdom poems: A Father's Invitation to (Praise of) Widsom

10:1-29:27 Proverbs proper:

• 10:1-22:16 From Solomon
• 22:17-24:34 From Wise Men
• 25:1-29:27 From Solomon collected by Hezekiah

Proverbs 10:1 opens this section of the proverbs of Solomon (10:1-22:16) with a proper response to the previous section's repeated appeals of a father and a mother (1:8) to be a wise son (1:8-9:18). Chapter 10 is SO LONG (but good); it may be divided into:

10:1-5 Pursue righteousness. "Righteousness" (2b) rather than "treasures" (2a) is the best security because "the Lord does not let the righteous go hungry" (3a). But even though God provides for the righteous, there is no excuse for laziness, for "lazy hands makes a man poor" (4a, NIV). Thus, while poverty is no disgrace, laziness or slackness is (5b). No wise person is ever lazy (5a).

10:6-32 Contrast the righteous and the wicked.

10:6-11 Blessing and "a fountain of life" (11a) is upon the righteous (6a,7a), the wise obey (8a), integrity brings security (9a), but with the wicked and his speech there is violence (6b,11b), rotting (7b), ruin (8b, 10b), shame (9b), and trouble (10a).

10:12 The wicked conceal violence (6b,11b) to deceive others for their own sinful purposes, while the wise in love seeks the good of others, even when personally offended. "Love covers (or conceals) all offenses" (ESV), or "Love covers over all wrongs" (NIV).

10:13 Man--God's mouthpiece or God's mule.

10:14 Proper reticence or reserve--what I need.

10:15 Don't despise money/wealth (in contrast to poverty from laziness). Although they are benefits to wealth, don't place your trust in money.

10:16 Earnings--their use and abuse. Poverty or wealth should not be blamed for the quality of one's life. A man uses money according to his character: as tools for good or ill.

10:17 Stay teacheable, you'll be progressive and not stuck.

10:18 Hatred never wins. The good man will not vent his hate.

10:19-21 Words, good and bad. Use words sparingly (19). Your words are worth what you are worth (20). The righteous get nourishment to feed others; the fool not enough even for himself (21).

10:22 Wealth without sorrow comes from God's blessing.

10:23-25 What no one wants to experience, the wicked do (24). Their basic error is to base everything on the temporal, which the righteous do not (25).

10:26 Lazy people are irritating because they can never be relied upon.

10:27-30 Massive certainty. "Life" (27), "joy" (28), and security (29,30) come from a righteous life, rooted in "the fear of the Lord" (27).

10:31,32 "The mouth (lips) of the righteous" (11,31,32) and "the mouth of the wicked" (6b,11b) frames this part (10:6-32) and concludes by drawing the contrast in focus.

Are You Wise, or Are You Foolish? (Proverbs 9:1-18)

While preparing this post, I accidentally deleted everything after I had finished typing out all of Proverbs 9 with much research and thought. I felt so foolish and stupid and shocked when everything I had typed suddenly disappeared in a flash! Now I have to do it all over again. Oh, what an exasperation! Someday, I may retrive what I had lost. Now I have to start all over again.


The wise, through prudence, enjoy life to the full; the foolish, through stupidity, plot their own demise. Proverbs 9 concludes the first section of Proverbs (1:8-9:18). It personifies Wisdom (1) and Folly (13) as women inviting us to a feast (5,17). Interestingly, Wisdom and Folly's words of invitation are exactly the same: "'Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!' And to him who lacks sense she says..." (4,16). Proverbs 9:1-18 can be divided into:

1) The feast of wisdom (1-6).
2) Are you wise or wicked? (7-12)
3) The feast of folly (13-18)

9:1-6 "Seven" (1) is symbolic of perfection. Wisdom's invitation to "come, eat...drink" (5; Isaiah 55:1,2) is for us to find joy and satisfaction in life. This invitation finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ, who said, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never be thirsty" (John 6:35).

9:7-12 How can you tell the difference between the wicked and the wise? Observe their response to correction and rebuke (7-9). They each respond in the 3 ways. When rebuked, the wicked:
1) insult (7a)
2) abuse (7b)
3) hate (8a).
In contrast, when rebuked, the wise:
1) love (8b)
2) become wiser (9a)
3) increase in learning (9b).

9:10 "The fear of the Lord" (also 1:7) is the foundation, grounding and basis for all of the appeals to wisdom throughout this first section of Proverbs (1:1-9:18). When we have no fear of God, we cannot but become increasingly foolish, especially regarding the ultimate things in life.

9:13-18 The ultimate tragedy of the foolish is that they have no clue and no idea whatsoever of the death and destruction that they are reaping and heaping upon themselves (18). They even think they are so much smarter than the foolish!

Through Wisdom, God Created the World (Proverbs 8:1-36)

All men have this in common: they want to be happy. But to most people, happiness is as elusive as the clouds and as transient as eating a good meal, only to be hungry again. Probably, we agree that we need wisdom to be happy, for if we say and do dumb things, happiness will not likely be the result. Also, wisdom comes by revelation, "For the Lord gives wisdom" (2:6). Yet wisdom cries out to us, and we are encouraged to seek it.

In Proverbs 8, verse 35 says, "For whoever finds me (wisdom) finds life and obtains favor from the Lord." In the book of Proverbs, wisdom is closely related to and used synonymously with the following (1:2-6):

• Instruction or training (1:2a, 3a),
• Understanding or insight (1:2b, 6),
• Wise dealing (1:3a),
• Schrewdness or prudence (1:4a) and discretion (1:4b),
• Knowledge and learning (1:5).

Thus, wisdom is for anyone who wants it bad enough. In Proverbs 8, the progress of the thought regarding wisdom may be traced somewhat as follows:

1. Wisdom is a guide for everybody (8:1-5).
2. Wisdom is the partner of morality (8:6-13).
3. Wisdom is the key to all success (8:14-21).
4. Wisdom is the principle of creation (8:22-31).
5. Wisdom is the one necessity of life and the key to everything (8:32-36).

8:1-5 Wisdom is: 1st, for the common man (2,3); 2nd, for the simpletons (5); 3rd, wisdom is actively seeking us (1,6, etc), so that our search, as earnest as it has to be, is a response.

8:6-13) Wisdom and knowledge is inseparably connected with the fear of the Lord (1:7; 9:10). Thus wisdom and godliness always wholy coincide; nobility and morality are intertwined (6-8). "The fear of the Lord is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate" (13).

8:14-21 Wisdom's rewards and blessings are both material (14-18) and immaterial, with the latter being the far greater blessing and reward (19-21; 10,11).

8:22-31 Wisdom was present with God when He created the world (22,30). "Wisdom personified claims credit for everything that God created, so that wisdom was first, as God was eternally first. Christ used His eternal wisdom in creation." (Jn 1:1-3; 1 Co 1:24,30) (John MacArthur) The New Testament, likely drawing from Proverbs 8, insists that Jesus Christ is the incarnation of that divine person through whom God made the world.

8:32-36 Those who heed wisdom's call are "blessed" (32,34), and "finds life and obtains favor from the Lord" (35). Those who don't "injures himself" and "love death" (36).

A Hollywood script from the Bible

• My hope and goal (achievable or not) is to post an overview or synopsis of one chapter of the Bible daily.


• Since there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible, this should take four years (3.3 years).


• Last month I began sending out the 1 chapter overview/synopsis via email and covered all 16 chapters of 1 Corinthains, and the first 6 chapters of Proverbs.


• I am continueing today with Proverbs 7:1-27.


• My primary reference sources for Proverbs are the commentary by Derek Kidner, an Old Testament scholar, and the ESV Study Bible.

7:1-27 The argument against sexual seduction is presented dramatically and graphically, almost like a contemporary Hollywood movie. (It resembles Proverbs 6:20-35).


7:1-5 The best advice is useless against "irresistible" sexual temptation unless it is thoroughly taken to heart and translated to one's personal life habits (1-5). We should care for this as we care for "the apple (pupil) of your eye" (2), and "write them on the tablet of your heart" (3).


7:6-23 A young man ruled by his sex hormones is mince meat before his seductress.

• The victim (6-9).


• The huntress (10-12).


• The tactics (13-21). Isn't verse 13 just like Hollywood?


• The kill (22,23).

7:24-27 Epilogue: What to do?

1. Guard your heart (25a; 4:23).


2. Keep away from her, literally (25b).


3. Look past her sexuality to the consequences, casualties, chamber of death (26,27).

How Does John Piper Prepare a Sermon?

Question for John Piper: How do you go about writing your sermon manuscripts?

My pattern is not to be followed by anybody except those who are wired exactly like I am, which is probably no one. We are all so different. When I teach preaching to the guys, I really stress, "Look how I do it and take that into account. But please don't try to imitate me, because it might not work for you."

This is my approach. If I know my text fairly well and it is familiar to me, I don't work on it until Friday. I pick out the title and text either weeks or days ahead of time because I have to get it to the worship guys by Tuesday. But I don't study it, and I don't write or work on a sermon until Friday morning. I devote all of Friday to sermon preparation.

If I need to I will stay up all night. I've never stayed up all night on Friday, but I've stayed up until 2am when I didn't know what I was going to say and needed more time to study. Or I might get an interruption because of a ministry crisis during the day that is totally unexpected, which causes me to stay up late studying on Friday. The nights are always there as buffers, however, I almost never stay up that late.

So I start on Friday by putting the text up on my computer in English-Greek or English-Hebrew. I read through the original language getting all the help I need with my mouse. I will also have a half sheet of paper in front of me on the desk where I write out the text and make comments as I go. As I write out the text I'm praying, "God show me what's here for my people. Show me what's really here, not something in my head that I force inside the text. Let me see new things that I've never seen before."

And as I write, for whatever reason, I see things. The pen, the computer, the Greek, the Hebrew, the writing it out. I circle things and make little comments in the margin. The little half sheet looks like an absolute jumble when I'm done, and I've generally got a whole slug of questions that can be answered. I've got lines drawn all over the place.

Then I step back and say, "Lord, what am I going to do with all that? I could talk on that for three hours, but I've only got 35 or 45 minutes to do this." In prayer and thought some of those circles come together, and I say, OK, I'm going to make those two, three, or four points. And I take out another sheet of paper and try to figure out how those points should fit together. Backwards? Forwards? Should I start in the middle? All of this may happen by lunch time.

Then I go eat lunch, and when I get back I put up my word document and I just start writing. I take my thoughts that I scribbled out and I compose straight on to the computer, editing as I go. As I write I think and preach out loud, feeling it and praying. That takes four, five, six, seven, or even eight hours to get written. And after it is written I print it out and go to bed, or go to be with Noël or whatever.

Then Saturday after lunch, after Talitha and I go to Leanne Chin or Jimmy John's, I come home and I really go to work on internalizing it with all my little markings. What I take into the pulpit on Sunday is about 10 double-spaced pages that are so marked up they look like chicken scratch, and they function as my outline while I'm talking.

It works for me. Most people who hear I do it that way say, "No way can I start on Friday." Or, "No way can I take a manuscript into the pulpit and not have it be canned." No problem. Wear your own armor, not mine.

Resource: http://www.desiringgod.org/Blog/2556_how_does_john_piper_prepare_a_sermon/