Preaching with Evangelistic Persuasion

Paul says For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance. (1 Thess. 1:5)Why are so many pulpits today void of effective evangelical gospel preaching, preachers of power and much assurance? Is the Holy Spirit totally at fault here? We dare not think so. Rather, this purpose of this book is to be a clear guide for preachers today, using the Scriptures to create a basis for persuasive evangelistic preaching.

One of the primary needs in the effort of evangelistic preaching is to establish the relative place of the mind, the conscience, the emotions and the will in one's appeal. Many criticize proclamation evangelism as securing decisions by appeals largely emotional and generally void of any intellectual involvement. It is therefore necessary to establish the truth that true evangelistic preaching involves each of the elements of man's soul and not just his emotions. Through effective evangelism, the Holy Spirit touches each aspect of man's makeup and enables his decision for salvation, as is expounded in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The subject of this book is limited to one type of sermon… the evangelistic sermon. Four basic appeals in evangelistic preaching are expounded and organized in useful format. Actual sermon structure and delivery of the sermon will be much more obvious after the very foundation of an effective sermon is dealt with as spelled out in this book.

Chapter One deals with Gospel preaching and its appeal to the intellect. Chapter Two discusses Gospel preaching and its relationship to the conscience. Chapter Three examines Gospel preaching's appeal to the emotions of man. In Chapter Four scrutinizes the appeal of Gospel preaching to the will of man.

In each chapter the writer gives a definition of the moral element dealt with in the study. Then the design of the preacher in dealing with that element is stated. Next the direction to be taken by the preacher is described. Finally, the writer demonstrates the use of appeals to man's moral elements by using examples of great evangelists of the past and present. The conclusion includes general observations and pragmatic applications of the subject.