Alex Montoya’s Preaching With Passion is a defense of preaching and a practical how-to. One of Montoya’s concerns is that the preacher preach with authority. Here is a short quote in which he writes about the importance of serving as an ambassador of the Lord.
Listen to what Lloyd-Jones says, and dare never to be wishy-washy again:
The preacher should never be apologetic, he should never give the impression that he is speaking by their leave as it were; he should not be tentatively putting forward certain suggestions and ideas. That is not to be his attitude at all. He is a man, who is there to “declare” certain things; he is a man under commission and under authority. He is an ambassador, and he should be aware of his authority. He should always know that he comes to the congregation as a sent messenger.
Hence, as an ambassador,
- preach the Word of God authoritatively, and use the expression “Thus saith the Lord”;
- preach to represent your Lord authentically (cf. 1 Cor. 4:1-4);
- preach in the second person; do not be afraid to say, “you!”;
- preach to apply the text; a prophet speaks to his generation (cf. Luke 3:10-14);
- preach for a personal and visible response; refuse to let people “hesitate between two opinions” (cf. 1 Kings 18:21);
- preach to be clearly understood and not to please the audience; and
- preach fearlessly and flawlessly; don’t let the messenger influence the message negatively (cf. 1 Tim. 4:11-16; 2 Cor. 13:10).
