To preach the Word of God
Passionate preaching almost always comes from a man who, by having the truth, proclaims it with deep personal convictions. They are the truths by which I would die. Men hold opinions but convictions hold man. Convictions are spiritual principles that lead us to act regardless of the circumstances. At present, unfortunately we need convictions in our pulpits about the truths that are preached. At this time there are many preachers in our pulpits, lacking in character, sometimes firm, sometimes not, undecided, timid and even cowardly; and a pulpit devoid of character produces people without character. The state of conviction, firm belief, being convinced of a truth.
The Bible is replete with examples of men and women who stood firm in what they believed, who were willing to suffer untold hardship for their convictions, and who were still willing to die for what they believed was right. I put them as a model for us. Consider the passionate convictions of the following servants of God:
• Joshua's conviction: "Choose today whom you will serve: yes to the gods who served you
parents, who were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you live; but me and
my house, we will serve the Lord "(Joshua 24:15).
• Samson's conviction restored: "And Samson said, Let me die with the Philistines!" (Judges 16:30).
• Ruth's conviction: "So let the Lord do with me, and even worse, if something, except death, separates us" (Rt 1:17).
• Samuel's conviction: "And Samuel said: Is the Lord pleased in both burnt offerings and sacrifices?
as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He has also rejected you from being king "(1 Sam. 15: 22-23).
• Elias' conviction: "How long will you hesitate between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; and if Baal, follow him "(1 Kings 18:21).
• Esther's conviction: "And if I perish, I perish" (Est 4:16).
• Job's conviction: "Will we accept the good of God and not accept evil?" (Job 2:10).
• Daniel's conviction: "Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself" (Daniel 1: 8).
• The conviction of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego: "But if he does not, you must know, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up" (Daniel 3:18).
• The conviction of John the Baptist: "Lives of vipers, who taught you to flee from the wrath to come?" (Mt. 3: 7) and "because John was saying to him: It is not lawful for you to have it" (Mt. :4).
• The conviction of the apostles: "You yourselves judge whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God; because we can not stop saying what we have seen and heard. " (Acts 4: 19-20) and "We must obey God rather than men" (5:29).
• Stephen's conviction: "You who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears,
you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so you also do "(Acts 7:51).
• Paul's conviction: "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Phil 1:21).
• John's conviction: "I, John ... I was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus" (Rev. 1: 9).
• The conviction of our Lord and Savior: "The Son of Man must suffer a lot, and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests and the scribes, and be killed, and be resurrected on the third day" (Luke 9:22).
Men who have convictions and live them, will preach with conviction. But, there is a separation in some preachers between preaching the Word of God and preaching passionately. We preach His Word, but not passionately. We preach the truth, but not with energy or burning fire in our being. A lot has to do with what we preach, but not so much with what we truly believe.