Allan Taylor: Speaking for God

Speaking for God is a serious matter and should not be taken lightly.  To stand flippantly before a class and present a lesson is a mockery to the Almighty.  He has created us with the ability to use and understand words.  Words are a prominent way that God communicates with us; that we communicate with Him; and that we communicate with each other.

The Teacher’s Response and Responsibility toward the Word

1. The Teacher’s Attitude toward the Word

A teacher should never underestimate the power of the Word.  It does have the power to transform lives.  The Bible has been in the life-changing business for millennia.  Therefore, a teacher should walk into the Bible study with bold confidence in the power of the Word.  If a teacher does not have this confidence, then he or she should not be teaching.  The Word of God is not a product we use on Sunday mornings; it is a power we allow to work in the hearts of our people.  Our attitude toward the Word will have everything to do with how we teach the Word!

2. The Teacher’s Action with the Word

The teacher’s job each week is to unleash the Word.  What does a teacher do each Sunday morning?  He unleashes the Word of God and turns it loose to do its eternal work in the human soul!  Our action plan is to prepare and present the Word so that we do not hinder its work in the soul of man.

3. The Teacher’s Appreciation for the Word

The Word must be his constant companion and the delight of his life.  As Job stated, “…I have esteemed the words of his mouth more than my necessary food” (Job 23:12).  As law books are to a lawyer and tools are to a mechanic, the Word of God must be to the teacher.  If he is to “speak for God,” then he must be constantly hearing from God.

4. The Teacher’s Ammunition Is the Word of God

“And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:32, emphasis mine).  Paul encouraged the elders from Miletus to rely on “the word of his grace,” not man’s philosophies and psychology.  He did not depend upon man’s strategies to build people up.  His sole trust was in the Word.

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God….And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (1 Corinthians 2:1, 4-5).

Dear teacher, when you prepare your lesson, load it full of the Word and then fire away when you present it.  It is the only ammunition that can penetrate a hard heart!

5. The Teacher’s Ally Is the Spirit of God

“But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.  But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.  For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God.  Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:9-13).

God’s Holy Spirit is the ultimate teacher.

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you” (John 14:26).

“Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come” (John 16:13).

6. The Teacher’s Audience Is the People of God

The purpose of our teaching is not to have a platform for ourselves but to serve God and others.  We are there to serve God by teaching His Word and loving the people.  We are there to serve the people by preparing a biblical lesson, allowing God to work within us, and then sharing with others for their benefit.  Ezra, the priest of God, was faithful to present Scripture to needy people:

“And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.  And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law” (Nehemiah 8:2-3).

7. The Teacher’s Aim Is the Truth of God

When it comes to our lesson presentation and methodology, we should not first ask: Does it work?  Does it relate?  These are two valid questions.  However, we must first ask: Is it true?  The most important ingredient of any lesson is the presentation of truth!  A teacher’s most sacred trust with God is to uphold His truth.  The integrity of the Word is to be maintained, and the teacher is its guardian.  Once we have asked the question: Is it true?, we now can ask: Does it work?  Does it relate?

“When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him” (Deuteronomy 18:22).

Allan Taylor is the author of Sunday School in HD and The Six Key Values of Sunday School. He will will be doing an All Star Sunday School Training event July 26 - 27 in Oxford Mississippi. He also scheduled to do an All Star Training in Ohio April 11, 12, 2014

To schedule an All Star Sunday School Training event, see http://allstarsundayschool.com/ or contact Josh Hunt at josh@joshhunt.com 575.650.4564