Easy or Difficult Preaching
Good Morning,
In the early months after my salvation, there were times I read some Bible or heard a sermon that was difficult to grasp. The simple truth was that my knowledge was so limited that I had little to use, as Paul wrote, in “comparing spiritual things with spiritual.” (1 Corinthians 2:13) As the years passed, and I began to read volumes of Scripture, learning and understanding became increasingly easier.
The idea that every sermon needs to be easy to follow, and that nothing that demands thought and study should be brought up is immature, at best. Consider these passages:
John 16:12 “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.”
Jesus had much to tell the twelve apostles, but at this point in their spiritual lives, they simply were not able to “bear” them; for some reason, they were not ready so the Lord did not reveal the new truth. The same is taught by Paul to the Corinthian believers.
1 Corinthians 3:1 “And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.”
vs. 2 “I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able.”
The trouble with understanding was the immaturity of the listener. One day, as they grew in grace and knowledge they would be better prepared to hear and understand. Peter taught this simple principle:
2 Peter 3:16 “As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood…”
Peter make it clear that some Scripture is difficult to understand, and that they should “grow in grace and knowledge,” (vs.18) then they would be more able to understand.
Matthew 13:14 “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:”
vs. 15 “For this people's heart is waxed gross…”
The trouble here was that the listener had heart trouble not understanding trouble. Their hearts were hard and would not receive the truth.
The book of Hebrews tells us that there is a time when we ought to be able to teach, but because we have not used what we know, we have need to be taught again the first principles of the faith.
Hebrews 5:12 “For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. “
Putting this all together, we observe some great lessons:
There are some principles that we do not need to understand right now, but understanding will come later as we continue to learn.
Some scriptural truth is simply difficult to grasp, and will take much learning before it “clicks.
Some people struggle with understanding because their hearts are hard. They do not want to learn, and they resist the things God is teaching them.
We do not want a church that is all “pablum” or soft, easy-to-swallow teaching. We want to be able to “study to show ourselves approved.”
We do not want a church that is all strong meat; for the young Christian needs to gain basic truths.
We will not get it all in the first months or even years of our Christian growth, and that is not wrong; we should just keep growing.
In reality, there will always be some who need the most basic teaching, and they will not grow without the most basic teaching.
Whatever level of Christian growth you are at, grow and do not panic if things seem difficult or other things seem simple. We do not want to ignore simple truths because others still need them. Be willing to listen and say to yourself, “Some truths will sink in another day. Today, I simply do not have the background to grasp that truth.”
Pastor