The word 'persuade' means to cause a person to believe, to convince or to induce. Clearly it is only the power of the Holy Spirit that can prevail on people to believe. For the Christian, believing means more than giving intellectual assent to doctrine. It has to be more than merely acknowledging the veracity of truth, because in James we read, 'You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that – and shudder' (2:19). It is possible that a person could be intellectually convinced of the soundness of an argument and even be convicted of his condition before God and yet not be converted.

Ancient Greek and Roman civilization was devoted to the dynamics of public speaking. Plato, Aristotle, Cicero and others contributed to the development of the rhetorical art form. Aristotle's seminal work, Rhetoric, was the standard text for the times. Aristotle had a particular genius for systematizing knowledge, and in this work he categorizes the rhetorical art of persuasion into three divisions. Firstly, he deals with ethos, which focuses on the integrity of the speaker. Secondly, he deals with logos, which is about the inherent logic of the message itself. Thirdly, he deals with pathos, which is about the emotions evoked by the oration. Aristotle asserted that ethos was the most significant and influential constituent in the rhetorical art of persuasion.

We can see certain parallels between this Aristotelian contribution to rhetorical analysis and preaching. The integrity of the preacher, the authority of the Word, and the appeal to emotions are all relevant factors in preaching. We would want to stress the authority of the Word above the others (ethos and pathos). Firstly, because the Word of God (logos) quickens the souls of men, and secondly, because God may use a man in preaching despite his deficiencies (ethos). We would also like to emphasize that the appeal of preaching (whether to the converted or unconverted) is to the intellect, emotions and will (pathos plus!).

We cannot underestimate the importance of the preacher's integrity. His moral character may influence how the message itself is perceived.

Augustine said,

The life of the speaker has greater weight in determining whether he is obediently heard than any grandness of eloquence.On Christian Doctrine, 4.27.59

Certainly a lack of integrity undermines credibility. There is a connection between preaching and practice insofar as the moral stature of the messenger contributes to enhancing the reception of the message. However, preaching is primarily a supernatural activity, and, as such, its effectiveness is ultimately determined by the Holy Spirit, rather than the virtue or eloquence of the preacher.

The apostle Paul lived in that world where rhetoric was revered. He was deemed to be a failure as an orator by some. He alludes to this issue when he says, 'For some say, "His letters are weighty and forceful, but in person he is unimpressive and his speaking amounts to nothing"' (2 Cor. 10:10). Paul did not employ the oratorical skill of the sophist in seeking to convey the gospel. Conscious of his inadequacies he asserts that it was the power of God that penetrated the carnal hearts and heads of the Corinthians.

Thus we read,

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing, while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power1 Cor. 2:1-4

Paul was very conscious that it was not enticing words, eloquence, and human philosophy that prevailed upon the hearts of men to respond to God's overtures of grace. He does not attribute their conversion to plausible argumentation. He attributes the 'success' of his preaching to the operation of the power of the Holy Spirit in stirring the minds and emotions of his hearers to persuade them to yield their wills to the will of God. Paul never set out to impress the Corinthians with semantics. He was aware of the reality of what is expressed by the writer to the Hebrews: 'For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart' (Heb. 4: 12).

God has promised that his Word will not fail to yield a harvest. We may be experiencing a season of spiritual drought. At times we may despair of our preaching producing a crop. We may be staring failure and spiritual famine in the face, but let us hold to the promise of God, who is faithful and true in name and nature (1 Cor. 1:9; Rev. 3:14; 19:11), for he has said,

As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.Isa. 55:10-11

Paul preached with passion and power and sought to be as persuasive as possible in the manner in which he presented the gospel. Thus we read, 'Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks' (Acts 18:4). His discourse was rational and coherent and characterized by a fervent desire to see people coming to faith in Christ. It is obvious that others recognized this tone in his preaching. Thus we read, 'Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?"' (Acts 26:28). In his second letter to the Corinthians Paul explicitly states that he intentionally set about seeking to persuade people of the truth of the gospel. Therefore we read, 'Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men' (5:11).

Paul's approach to presenting the gospel involved reasoning, explaining, and proving in an effort to see people persuaded. He used his intellectual faculties and theological training to demonstrate the truth of his message by drawing on evidence from Old Testament Scripture. The Bereans tested the accuracy of his claims by searching the Scriptures for themselves, in order to establish the validity of his assertions. A number of them found that there was sufficient evidence to warrant a verdict of 'proven', and yielded to its consequential demand for faith (Acts 17:10-12).

For Paul, the gospel made sense as the logical conclusion of Scripture, which is only another way of saying the fulfillment of Old Testament Scripture. There was nothing absurd about it. He was aware that the truth of the gospel is not discovered through deductive or inductive reasoning and that understanding the things of God is a matter of spiritual discernment rather than of cerebral perception. He was aware that comprehending divine truth was not the result of speculation, but rather the result of revelation. He clearly communicated this to the Corinthians when he said, 'The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned' (1 Cor. 2:14).

Nevertheless, he did what he could to make the message clear and intelligible. Thus we read, 'As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women' (Acts 17:2). This does not mean that he depended on his cerebral skills, cognitive capacities and oratorical experience to achieve results. Nevertheless, he used his abilities and his education to serve the Lord and trusted in the power of the Holy Spirit to bless his preaching. Whether it was in the synagogue or the marketplace, Paul laboured day after day to present the gospel in as persuasive a manner as possible (Acts 17:17). This was his typical approach in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1-4), Athens (Acts 17: 16-21), Corinth (Acts 18:1-4) and Ephesus (Acts 18:18-19).

God himself reasons with sinners: "'Come now, let us reason together", says the Lord. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool"' (Isa. 1:18). He is not negotiating terms and conditions, or conferring with man in order to reach a mutually satisfactory agreement. Nevertheless, God graciously invites sinners to consider their wretched condition in a proposition that promises the wonderful prospect of cleansing.

It is instructive to note how frequently Paul uses the phrase, 'I beseech you.' He is unashamed to implore, entreat, and earnestly beg believers to become what God wants them to be. If this tone of urging and exhorting is absent from preaching, it becomes less than it ought to be. So passion is an important element of preaching. If preaching is didactic and pedagogical, people may understand but fall short of undertaking the demands of the message. If a sermon is delivered like a dissertation on a theme, it may convince the intellect but not captivate the soul. On the other hand, a highly charged and histrionic harangue, however earnest it may be, might electrify the emotions without engaging the mind.

If preaching is to be persuasive, the preacher must be able to identify with the needs of the congregation. If a man is distant and aloof in pastoral ministry, and if he is unaware or unconcerned about the welfare of the people, then his preaching will have very little impact. That kindred spirit, where the man in the pulpit shares the concerns of the congregation in the pews, is an important factor in determining how persuasive his preaching will be. If that note of empathy is absent, then the majestic melody of preaching will become discordant and cacophonous. What is needed is well-prepared sermons that exposit the Word of God, and that are delivered passionately by men of good moral character who identify with the people in the pews.

There is an ethical dimension to this issue of persuasion. The preacher must not seek to pressurize or manipulate people into making decisions that they do not fully understand. We are not seeking to entrap people by enticement. People are neither saved nor sanctified by the seductive charms of so-called preachers who delude and beguile with mesmerizing methods. The Word of God must be preached faithfully, by explaining the meaning and implications of the text. When this is done with passion, in the power of the Holy Spirit, by men of integrity, who expect that Word to work efficaciously in the hearts of their hearers, it can be very persuasive. We are not marketing a product; we are not trying to soft-soap or sell to potential consumers. Persuasive preaching is not about trying to clinch deals. Nevertheless, it is as Christ's ambassadors that we implore others on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20).