Preaching with Authority
The key distinguishing factor about Jesus was that He taught as one who had authority. Many people were teaching the scriptures, but none were preaching with boldness, conviction, and authority.
“When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.”
Authority on a topic comes from revelation and experience with the topic. When you’re speaking with borrowed knowledge or second-hand news, you don’t have the same authoritative voice. And when you don’t live congruent with your message, it eliminates authority from your preaching.
Jesus spoke from a first-hand account because He is The Word became flesh, and He lived congruently with the message vs. the Pharisees who looked good on Sunday but lived apart from God in their hearts.
As a preacher, it’s key that you and I live close to the presence of God through spending time in worship, prayer, Bible reading, fasting, and all spiritual disciplines that help us stay close to God. When we do this, we’ll preach from that place of overflow and first-hand experience.
The other element is to commit to a life of devotion and purity as a preacher that is congruent with The Word of God! If we have sin in our lives, there’s grace, but we must confess and come back in alignment with God for Him to be able to continue to work through your life. And even more important, confess so that you can stay close to the heart of God.
When you know the Author and live congruently, then you can boldly and with authority preach the Word! And don’t hold back! Let the Word of God be released, and the audience you’re preaching to will feel the difference just like they did with Jesus!
