Sullivan church of Christ – Sullivan, MO
Date: February 18, 2007
QUESTIONS ABOUT PREACHING AND
PREACHERS (Part 2)
Ben Justice
4.) What is the main purpose in preaching? God-ordained preaching serves to
accomplish two things: (1) Save the lost, (2) Keep the saved, saved. In giving the
great commission, Jesus said, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to
every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth
not shall be damned” (Mark 16:15-16). The very first step toward salvation is
hearing and learning God’s Will. This is the only way we can come to Jesus.
Jesus declared in John 6:45, “It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all
taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father,
cometh unto me.” Christianity is a taught system. One must be taught the saving
gospel before they can be saved. The book of Acts clearly demonstrates this
fundamental truth. Paul put it like this in Rom. 10:14-17, “How then shall they
call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom
they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? (15) And how shall
they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them
that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (16) But they
have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah said, Lord, who hath believed our report?
(17) So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” In v. 14, Paul
pointed out the fact that one cannot even come to believe unless they have
heard. Faith comes by hearing God’s word (v. 17). God has chosen the preaching
of his word to save (I Cor. 1:18, 21). He has manifested his word through
preaching (Titus 1:3).
Preaching also serves to keep the saved, saved. In Titus 2:1ff, Paul pointed out
the effects of speaking sound doctrine. He said to Titus, “But speak thou the
things which become sound doctrine:” (v. 1). Beginning with v. 2, Paul pointed
out the results of sound doctrine. The “aged men” will become what they are
supposed to be before God (v. 2). The “aged women” will also be what they are
supposed to be before God (v. 3). The same applies to the “young women” (v. 4-5)
and the “young men” (v. 6).
In I Tim. 4:13-16, Paul said to Timothy, “Till I come, give attendance to reading, to
exhortation, to doctrine. (14) Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee
by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery. (15) Meditate upon
these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all. (16)
Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou
shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” See also Col. 1:28; Rom. 1:16.
Since preachers must preach with salvation in view, it is imperative that
preachers preach what people need to hear and not necessarily what they want to
hear. We need preachers who are willing to speak the truth, the whole truth,
and nothing but the truth so that souls can be saved. It is sad indeed when so
many (even in the Lord’s church) have a disdain for “God-bidden preaching.”
Many frown upon hard, bold, and straightforward preaching. It ought to be the
case that every time I come to the assemblies that I look forward to hearing the
Word of God proclaimed! With every sermon preached, I ought to strive to learn
from it and make application where needed. The poem below pretty much sums
it up with how many regard preaching today.
5.) Can a person be lost because of a preacher? Most certainly! Let me say
before I go any further that everyone is personally accountable before God. We
all will be judged on an individual basis (2 Cor. 5:10). Everyone has the
responsibility to investigate the Will of God and “come unto the knowledge of the
truth” (I Tim. 2:4). With that said, the preacher plays a pivotal role. The apostle
Paul clearly understood this, when he said, “Wherefore I take you to record this
day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto
you all the counsel of God” (Acts 20:26-27). When Paul said, “I am pure from the
blood of all men,” he simply meant that he would not be held responsible by God
if some were lost. Paul had fulfilled his responsibilities. How did he do this?
The answer is given in v. 27. Paul had declared all or the whole counsel of God.
Paul knew that he had the responsibility to preach the whole truth. Implied in
this is that Paul knew that if he had not preached the whole counsel of God,
some would have indeed been lost because of his neglect. There is a parallel to
this given in Ezek. 3:15-21 and 33:1-16. Please read these verses in view of what
Paul said.
Preaching the whole counsel of God entails two basic things: (1) Preaching the
whole truth, and (2) Exposing error (cf. Rom. 16:17; Eph. 5:11; 2 Tim. 4:2). Some
do not like to have error exposed. How many say, “Just preach the truth; Don’t
expose error or call names.” The fact of the matter is this: THE WHOLE TRUTH
OF GOD’S WORD CANNOT BE PREACHED UNLESS PREACHERS EXPOSE
ERROR AND CALL THE NAMES OF FALSE TEACHERS! Would to God that all
preachers in the church realize this! Indeed, many will be lost because of the
preacher’s failure to preach the whole truth! How sad! [more next week]
Preach A Sermon, Preacher
Preach a sermon, Preacher, but don’t preach very long;
Just tell the love of Jesus Christ but don’t condemn the wrong.
Say not a thing of doctrines false, lest others be offended;
Then turn away from us today, and call us narrow minded.
Preach a sermon, Preacher, but don’t preach very plain;
Let others guess at what is meant, don’t ever call a name.
We’ll sing your praises long and loud, we’ll keep you many a day,
But make it clear, and you’ll hear, “Brother, be on your way!”
Preach a sermon, Preacher, but say nothing of our sins;
Let us keep on as though we have none, perhaps we’ll make amends.
Please, let us dance, gamble, wear shorts, and take in every show,
Make us secure and very pure, we’re humans, don’t you know.
Preach a sermon, Preacher, but speak not to us duty,
Just preach about the grace of God, and picture heaven’s beauty.
Leave out the things that we must do, we’re busy making money;
We haven’t time, can’t spare a dime, won’t even be there Sunday.
Preach a sermon, Preacher, when it comes mine to die,
Tell all my kith and kin about my home beyond the sky.
Preach the sermon, make strong, preach me straight to heaven;
That’s my only way to get to stay, where Christ’s reward is given!
—via Gospel Digest, April, 1958