Biblical Preaching

Nathaniel R. Jolly

Biblical Preaching • Sermon • Submitted 5 years ago • Presented 5 years ago

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Biblical Preaching.

Now, more than ever in our generation, we need Solid Biblical Preaching. That’s my assignment for this time together, to answer the question, what is Biblical Preaching.

I admit, that, this was a somewhat difficult assignment. Not because of any lack of material but rather because an abundance of material.The conclusion that I came to, was that there is much already written on the mechanics of preaching, much spoken about concerning the methods of preaching, there is a ton of material accessible on how to put together a sermon, and so I’ll leave those things of another time. I am thoroughly convinced, as I look around at pulpits today, that we need to emphasize 3 areas of preaching, which I hope to do during this talk.

The matter of preaching, in other words, what should be the Subject of our Preaching.

The mission of Preaching, that is, why do we preach.

The mark of preaching, what effects should our preaching have.

The matter, the mission, the mark.

3) The mark of preaching, what effect should our preaching have. The mission, the matter, and the mark.

2) The matter of preaching, in other words, what should be the subject of our preaching.

It’s no secret that a great many preachers rarely preach the Bible. Notice, I didn’t say “from” the Bible, or uses Biblical texts. If you look around the great majority of what you will see from the pulpit is a single verse of two ripped out of context, or even more popular, a clever story that moves emotions. I’ve sat in services where the preacher used worldly movie clips to illustrate something while his Bible remained in the background, mind you, movies I wouldn’t even watch as a Christian, period.

We find little theatre plays, pep talks and the like, really anything and everything except Biblical Preaching. It seems rare to see a preacher who opens the Bible, reads the text and exposits the text, to exposit means to add details, to clarify the meaning, to expound upon, flesh out, to expand on, to explain clearly what it means and how it applies to the body of Christ. This is Biblical Preaching, it is Scripture focused, text driven, and authoritative, because it is the Word of God.

Turn with me to

2 Timothy 4:2 NASB95

2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.

As Paul Washer often says, “It’s all about Sola Scriptura.” It means Scripture Alone! It is the preacher's Lifeline; if you ever forget Sola Scriptura, then you have become unfit to be a preacher. If Sola Scriptura doesn’t become your battle cry, then you have left the word of God for the word of the world. Our Job as preachers in the Chruch is to herald the Gospel of Jesus Christ and truth, and the only source of absolute truth necessary for preaching is contained within the pages of this book!

The command in 2 Timothy is to Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, so that means we are always ready to preach. We preach, and in our preaching we reprove, we rebuke, we exhort, and give instruction, all focused on the word of God. So it seems fitting that if we are to speak about preaching then Sola Scriptura, Scripture alone must take precedents .

Our Job as pastors and leaders in the church is to herald the Gospel of Jesus Christ and truth, and the only source of absolute truth necessary for our role as pastors is contained within the pages of this book!

This brings us or our first point: The matter of preaching, the subject of our Preaching. The Scriptures Alone should be the foundation, the source, the focal point of all of our preaching.

Sola Scriptura, Scripture Alone,

For this time together, I want to talk about the written word of God, the Bible.

Without which, the preacher has nothing to say.

Without which, the Pastor cannot guide those under his care

Without which, the church is left with no direction.

Sola Scriptura, Men died and others devoted their lives during the reformation to redeem a dependency on the Word of God, this was their battle cry and as a preacher it must be ours. It is meant to communicate that the Scriptures alone are sufficient as our supreme authority in all spiritual matters. That all truth necessary for our salvation and spiritual life is taught either explicitly or implicitly in Scripture, and that is what needs to be preached.

There are two types of preaching, preaching that has Authority and preaching that does not have Authority, the difference is preaching the Bible as it is written as the author meant the text or preaching something else, the Bible is the only authority a preacher has.

We as preachers, outside of the word of God are nothing, we have nothing, we are but sinners, that were destined for hell, that indeed, deserved hell. Then the power of the Gospel saved us, and God called us as broken vessels, and empowered us by His Holy Spirit to proclaim His word. But His Word. Not our word. Our cleverness doesn’t have the power to save, whatever ability to speak well you have doesn’t have the power to save, the Scriptures alone contain the Gospel that is the power of God unto salvation.

It is Christ that makes us fit for service. Before Christ we were only fit for hell and because of that Men don’t need what we know, they need to know what God knows. Men don’t need our wisdom; men need the wisdom of God, there is nothing that we can give men that can bring them into the saving grace of our heavenly father apart from God’s word, Men do not need to know us, they need to know God.

Therefore, the Bible is what must be dearer to us as preachers than all other things, for it is the very Word of God, the one whom we serve. The Bible is so necessary that a preacher without a Bible is nothing more than a blind man leading the blind. A preacher without a Bible has nothing to say that is worth saying ,and a preacher who leaves His Bible behind is a preacher doomed to failure.

Now, I’m not saying that illustrations that we come up with do not have a place, they do. I’m not saying that we cannot give wisdom and counsel as we exposit the text, there is a place for that, but the text must have the primary place in preaching, we are command to preach the Word.

Unfortunately, this primacy of the word of God in Preaching seems largely absent today. We see this failure all over the world right now, and it is an attack on the sufficiency of Scripture. Why do I say it is an attack on the sufficiency of Scripture? I say that because to preach anything else, means that you have no real confidence in the Word of God, it means that practically you do not find the Word of God necessary enough that it is your primary source in preaching, and that, is an assault on the sufficiency of Scripture.

Many Pastor’s seem to believe that they don’t need to preach out of the word of God. Pastor’s who believe they can use the world’s way to communicate God’s truth. There are pastors all over the world who never even use their Bible during their sermon. Many pastors do not even reference scripture anymore, must less preach through an entire text.

Part of this problem comes from a wicked belief that says that you need more than the Bible because God’s written word is not enough or that God has secret knowledge that we can get from Him that is not in the Bible, That idea is straight from the pit of Hell! This is why Sola Scritptura is so important. By definition it is against the idea of any kind of Special Revelation.

I love what a dear Brother, Justin Peters said:, I can’t quote him exactly, but basically he said that until you have mastered every gram of truth in the Bible, understand it completely and fully, you don’t need to worry about any other type of revelation. And Brothers, you will never exhaust the mysteries of Scripture while you are still living.

Once the Bible is no longer our source of preaching, you can guarantee that at some stage you will begin teaching error. To error is human, we have a fallen nature and the only source of absolute truth we have is found in Scripture. Once you leave the source of truth, error will eventually creep in. Which means, the preacher that leaves behind Scripture and Sound doctrine will be guilty of leading God’s people astray. That thought should terrify any God Fearing preacher.

Now, let me be clear on what I am not saying. I am not saying that other books aren’t useful; I’m not saying that gospel tracks can’t be helpful, I’m not saying that conferences such as this aren’t edifying and educational, what I am saying is that the Preacher must see the Bible for what it claims to be! The Bible is inerrant/Infallible, the Bible is sufficient, and the Bible is Authoritative and should be the Primary source from which the Preacher preaches and teaches from.

This book is the only book that has truth by which we are sanctified, it’s the only book that has the truth for salvation, it’s the only book that is wholly sufficient for life and Godliness ,every other source of information falls short.

Listen to thorugh 4:1-3

-3 "All scripture is Inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in Righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work." I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom; preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

What I want you to understand is that the Apostle Paul is writing this letter, and he is writing it from a prison in Rome where he is about to be executed for being a Biblical Preacher, a faithful follower of Christ. We know this because in chapter four and verse 6 Paul says, “For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. And as Paul is preparing to die, he decides that what he needs to write to Timothy is that the Scriptures are sufficient, and He must preach them as they are, using them to reprove, rebuke, and exhort and warning him that a time is coming when people will want false teachers rather than the word of God.

Now look, let me describe for you the condition and prison that Paul was in. Paul is in a Cell that was round in shape, it didn’t have much room. Typically, this was a short stay, before the prisoner was executed. It was cold and wet, now it wasn’t we because of rain. You see the city sewage ran just on the outside of the cell wall, and so it was a jail of filth. There were times where they would pack in many prisoner and when the execution order came, they would open this small door on the side of the cell and let the sewage water run into the cell until the prisoners were drowned in a cell of human waste water, then would then re-open the door and let the water drain out. Of course this meant that is was always disgusting. Now this is where we believe the Apostle Paul was at as he is writing to Timothy. He knew he time was near and end and you would assume that he would be writing things of the utmost importance and this is where he writes to timothy, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom; PREACH. THE. WORD; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.”

Paul, with the weightiest language he could use, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Charges Timothy, in the Presence of the Sovereign, Almighty God and Christ Jesus, to PREACH THE WORD.

How important to you think Sola Scriptura, really is. How important do you think Preaching the Scriptures must be, if Paul, in his dying days is writing with such strong language.

Paul wants to make sure that young Timothy knows that the scriptures are sufficient! And that is the message of Sola Scriptura, the scriptures Alone! This is what you must come to know, this is what you must come to believe, and this is what you must come to live by as a preacher of God’s Word. This is what we must specialize in, the preaching and teaching of the word of God, the Bible, and nothing else!

The passage we’ve just read says that “All scripture is inspired by God! The original language here literally means breathed-out by God. This book is not a book written by men; this is a book written by God, through men. This is essential to understand; it means that the Bible is more than a collection of mere thoughts from Godly men; it means that the Bible is, in its entirety, the very words of God Himself.

He used men, their minds, their vocabularies, and their life experience to write down exactly what He wanted us to have, His own perfect, Inerrant Word. When we open the pages of scripture and read, God Himself has spoken to us. Voddie Baucham says this about the Bible: “I choose to believe the Bible because it is a reliable collection of historical documents, written by eye witnesses during the lifetime of other eye witnesses. They report supernatural events that took place in fulfillment of specific prophesies and claim that their writings are divine rather than human in origin.”

The very words of God, How dare any Preacher place something of more importance over the Word of God. How presumptuous and arrogant is the Preacher who handles God’s word carelessly and twists it any way he chooses to make it say what he wants. I’ll tell you right now, proof that God is long suffering, is that many Preachers today aren’t struck down as dead, like Ananias and Saphira, right in their pulpits.

The Bible is wholly sufficient for everything we need, for everything those we preach to needs.

Now, there is no shortage of men who believe that they need some special revelation from God, things that cannot be found in scripture and this is a problem. Paul didn’t tell Timothy to “so-called, Hear From God and Preach what you Think He is Saying,” He told Timothy to PREACH THE WORD. Paul recieved special revelations as an Apostle and he commanded Timothy to Preach the word.

If you believe you need a special revelation from God, beyond that of the written word, you deny what the Bible claims about itself; namely, that it is adequate (sufficient)

In other words, you are calling God a liar, because you are saying His word is not true, and the Bible is not sufficient that you somehow need more than what is in the Bible. Does the Bible not say in

2 Timothy 3:17 NASB95

17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

EVERY GOOD WORK, not some, not a few, not most, EVERY

One of the great heresies of today, which is, in fact, an old heresy called Gnosticism, is that God is giving out special Revelation to certain individuals, outside of the written word of God.

The Bible is divine instruction from Genesis to Revelation and provides us with comprehensive and a complete, lacking nothing, body of divine truth that is necessary for our life and godliness. It lacks nothing; nothing is missing from the Bible that we need to get somewhere else. If it isn’t in the Bible, then God didn’t believe it was necessary for us for life and godliness.

Again, I’m not saying that outside material isn’t useful, but I am saying that it is not necessary to live pursuant to godliness.

Biblical Preaching reproofs, it exposes sin and rebukes wrong behavior, wrong beliefs, and wrong lifestyles because it is the Word of God. The reproof is meant to led those who are convicted to repentance, turning away from those things which God does not approve.

If you never preach the Word of God, then how can Scripture convict?

Biblical Preaching is good for correction, not only does it rebuke wrong, but it corrects the hearer, it shows them the right behaviors, the right beliefs, the right lifestyles, helping them to get back to the Godly way of living should they have strayed from it.

The Bible claims to be good for correction, not only does scripture rebuke wrong, but it corrects us, it shows us the right behaviors, the right beliefs, the right lifestyles, helping us to get back to the Godly way of living should we stray from it.

Biblical Preaching is good for training in righteousness, this is the idea of training a child, not only does scripture rebuke and correct ungodly living and beliefs, but it trains the hearer in the Godly ways they should live.

Our passage goes on to say that it is good for training in righteousness, this is the idea of training a child, not only does scripture rebuke and correct ungodly living and beliefs, but it trains us in the Godly ways we should live.

Biblical Preaching adequately equips the man of God for every good work. There is nothing that we must have, pertaining to faith, that cannot and is not found in the scriptures.

That means the word of God enables us as Preachers of the Word to meet all the demands of godly ministry and righteous living. Not only does God’s word accomplish this for the man of God but for all of those who follow God.

As preachers, we absolutely must see the Bible for what it is, God’s Word, and since it is God’s word we cannot ever add to it or take away from it, EVER! This is the problem with the idea that God gives some men a secret or special revelation. Or the belief that after hours of prayer or maybe days of prayer on the hills some man all of a sudden has secrets revealed to him from God. That’s really just a bunch of nonsense, perhaps in some cases, comes from demonic influence, because there are no apostles or Prophets Today.

If someone claims that they hear from God, outside of Scripture, they are literally adding to God’s word, and it is deceitful, manipulative and from the very pit of hell. The scriptures are complete; the canon of Scripture is closed. God is not giving out new information.

This is why expository preaching is so powerful, it remains true to the text. It safeguards fallen men from inserting their own ideas into the text. We are meant to exegete the text, take the meaning from the text. Rather than eisegete the text, meaning to insert your own meaning into the text. Unfortunately this is what a great majority of Preachers do.

Turn with me quickly to . “I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

When a Preacher says “God told me” or “God said to me”, if his next words are not found in the Bible then that man has just added to the words of this book and is in danger of having his share removed from the tree of life. We ought to stay away from terminology like “God told me”, or “God said”, those are dangerous terms that we should not be using today, because God does not give out revelation like that today.

To borrow a phrase from a friend, “If you want to hear God speak, then read your Bible. If you want to hear God speak Audibly, then read it out loud.”

Preachers who claim to have messages from God have abandoned Sola Scriptura and are found all over the world. . Many of the preachers that come to you from America are heretics. They come, preaching false doctrine, and many African Preachers take that false teaching and re-preach it from their own pulpits the very next Sunday. You’ve probably seen this yourselves.

We must teach the body of Christ to judge every teaching, our own included. After every session during this conference you ought to go check everything, I’ve preached concerning our passages against scripture to see that they are true for yourselves. Do not just take my word for it. Many men preach error and the people of God just believe it because they did not check against the scriptures.

If you are Preaching Biblically, Expository Preaching, then everything you say is grounded, rooted, in the text and it is a safeguard from error. It also teaches your people to be in the word and how to understand the text.

Remember, the Apostle Paul said that the Bereans for more noble than those in Thessalonica, because when they heard Paul preach, they received it with gladness but then they checked the scriptures to see if it were true.

If you hear a man say that God gives him a special revelation, or that He hears from God, outside of the word of God, then he is no better than the witch doctor in the village and you should run away from that ministry because they are adding to the word of God. The Prosperity Gospel, the word of faith movement, the New Apostolic Reformation, these are all heresies that seek to add to or subtract from the scriptures and when they do use scripture they often twist its meaning.

Before we move on to our next point, I want to look at one last example. We are talking about the subject Biblical Preaching being God’s Word.

Turn with me to Matthew Chapter 4. This is the most authoritative example I can think of, which demonstrates the need to know the word of God and Preach the Word of God as it is written in proper Context,

This example demonstrate the need to meditate night and day on the word of God.

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after He had fasted forty days and forty nights, He then became Hungry. And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” But he answered and said, “It is written, “ MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.” Then the devil took Him into the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to Him, “ If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, “ HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU; AND ON Their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP, SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.” Jesus said to him, “ On the other hand, it is written, “YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.” Again, the devil took Him to a very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory; and he said to Him, “ All these things I will give You, if you fall down and worship me,” Then Jesus said to him, “ GO Satan! For it is written, YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY.” Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.

Did you catch the fact that at every point of temptation Jesus, the living God, truly man, truly God, quoted the scripture directly in opposition to Satan? Look at the first temptation of Jesus. Jesus had been fasting, and now he is hungry, Satan comes to him and says. Hey Jesus, if you are the son of God then turn these stones into bread. You realize that Jesus had the power to do that, but what was His response? “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. Jesus quotes .

We talked about how some Preachers twist Scripture to accomplish their own purpose, this is exactly what Satan was doing. If you ever do this, it’s Satan’s example you are following. This is why we know that guys like Benny Hinn, Joel Osteen, TD Jakes are false, they are following their father, the devil.

If you’ll notice, Jesus, puts Satan in His place by using Scripture in its proper context. This is the aim of the Biblical Preacher, to preach the Word of God as He meant it.

Look at the second temptation. Satan took Him to the pinnacle of the temple and said, “ Jesus if you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you and On their hands, they will bear you up so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

Notice here that Satan himself quotes directly from scripture , but he twists its meaning. This is why we, as preachers, must learn to Preach the Word of God accurately, lest we be found guilty of the very thing Satan tried.But look at Jesus’ response, “ He says “ You shall not put the Lord your God to the Test,” He quotes .

But look at Jesus’ response, “ He says “ You shall not put the Lord your God to the Test,” He quotes .

But look at Jesus’ response, “ He says “ You shall not put the Lord your God to the Test,” He quotes . Look at the third temptation, Satan takes Jesus to a very high mountain and says “ All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me, then Jesus says“ Go Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. Again quoting from Deuteronomy. At every single temptation Jesus, replies with, “ IT IS WRITTEN, IT IS WRITTEN, IT IS WRITTEN, and so I want to say to you dear pastor,

Look at the third temptation, Satan takes Jesus to a very high mountain and says “ All these things I will give you, if you fall down and worship me, then Jesus says“ Go Satan! For it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.

Again quoting from Deuteronomy. At every single temptation Jesus, replies with, “ IT IS WRITTEN, IT IS WRITTEN, IT IS WRITTEN, and so I want to say to you dear pastor,

Preach what is written........................(pause)......................... Preach what is Written.

How can we dare to preach anything other than the written word of God?

Expository Preaching helps to avoid pitfalls and error in preaching, we must revive the art of Expository preaching. Preaching through entire books, whole sections in Scripture as the normal way of preaching. I want to end this section of our talk with four (4) very brief reasons we should do Expository Preaching.

1) It is imperative that we interpret the text accurately, Expository Preaching lends itself to this more than all of forms of Preaching.

2) The primary thesis of a sermon and it’s focal points must come from the text itself, Expository Preaching forces you to Preach what is in the text.

3) The Principle of Lectio continua requires it. It means Continuous reading. It is defined as, “ the practice of reading Scripture in sequence over a period of time. Each reading etc. begins where the previous session ended. For instance, every Sunday a section of the Bible can be read such that each reading resumes where the previous one ended. The congregation will have a better understanding of the text when it is preached in its immediate context and Expository Preaching provides the whole context of Passages, Paragraphs, and books.

In Christianity, Lectio continua refers to the practice of reading Scripture in sequence over a period of time. Each reading etc. begins where the previous session ended. For instance, every Sunday a section of the Bible can be read such that each reading resumes where the previous one ended.

4) If we are to bring the text to bind the conscience of believers, the applications must come from the text itself. In other words, it is only after the text has been exegeted properly that you can then see how to apply it to the people. Expository preaching forces a focus on exegesis rather than eisegesis, enable you to give appropriate applications.

The necessity of the sermon’s central idea and the sermon’s main points to be derived from the text.

The necessity of the sermon’s application to come from the text, and for the text to be brought to bear on the congregation.

More tenuously, the priority of lectio continua, or sequential, verse-by-verse exposition.

All of that to simply say, PREACH THE TEXT.

“ I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book, and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.”

This is the The Matter(subject) of Biblical Preaching, the Written Word of God,

Dear Preacher, preach in fear and trembling before a mighty God, careful to rightly divide the word of truth knowing that if you dare stray from the written word of God you are in danger of losing your share in the tree of life.

The Matter(subject) of Biblical Preaching is the Written Word of God,

SOLA SCRIPTURA, Scripture Alone, the Bible is sufficient

Number Two - The mission of Preaching, that is, why do we preach.

2) The mission of Preaching, that is, why do we preach.

Turn with me to , (Pause)

We are going to back up a little and read from verse 1-16.

Romans 10:1–16 NASB95

1 Brethren, my heart’s desire and my prayer to God for them is for their salvation. 2 For I testify about them that they have a zeal for God, but not in accordance with knowledge. 3 For not knowing about God’s righteousness and seeking to establish their own, they did not subject themselves to the righteousness of God. 4 For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. 5 For Moses writes that the man who practices the righteousness which is based on law shall live by that righteousness. 6 But the righteousness based on faith speaks as follows: “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’ (that is, to bring Christ down), 7 or ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’ (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).” 8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call on Him; 13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!” 16 However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “Lord, who has believed our report?”

Romans

Romans 10:14 NASB95

14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?

The mission of preaching is that the Lord would be Glorified , as those the Father has given to the Son, comes into His possession, He is glorified. As He, Jesus, receives the rewards of His suffering He is glorified.

We Preach because we are commanded to. As Dr. Mohler says, Preach the Word! That simple imperative frames the act of preaching as an act of obedience. That is where any theology of preaching must begin.”

The mission of preaching is that the Lord would be Glorified , as those the Father has given to the Son, comes into His possession, He is glorified.

The mission of preaching is to herald the truth. We hold out the truth of God

We Preach for the Glory of God and the benefit of man in their salvation, sanctification, and edification. If Preaching were a diamond, every side, every facet must bring Glory to Christ.

Preaching

We are commanded to Preach and look at our passage at 13. “for, WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.”, how will they hear without a preacher? How ill the preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “ HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”

Preaching is the primary means by which God uses to save his elect. It’s the foolishness of men and the wisdom of God. It heralds the truth of God, bring that truth to bear upon the depravity of man and beckon Him to God through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

We do not Preach because it is cleaver, or the best rhetorical device. We do not Preach because it was developed in a University somewhere and tested for effectiveness. Preaching has not been invented and developed and now available for public use. It is the creation of God, for man’s good and His own Glory. We Preach because our Lord Himself came, Preaching. The Apostle’s followed in Christ’s example and Preached, and they in turned command us to Preach.

It is the ordained way of communicating God’s sovereign truth. Preaching is rooted in the Scriptures, focused on the Word of God, for disseminating the truth of God to all of those who hear. The only time a church is faithful is when there is Biblical Preaching.

I remember a time when a friend of mine, who was the senior pastor of a church, had one of their elders preach in the Wednesday meeting. The elder preached, the service was closed and all seemed to be well, but a few days later, my friend called the elder in to have a talk with him, he proceeded to tell the elder that someone had complained that he “Preached,” of course the Elder was unsure of why this was a problem and here is where the rubber meets the road.. My friend went on to rebuke the elder because he didn’t want preaching done in his church, he didn’t want the people to be preached to, he wanted to have talks, discussions, dialogue, give insight, but no preaching. I counseled my friend that he was the one, in fact, opposed to God’s will and that we are not only meant to preach but commanded to preach.

Let me tell you where that church is today. My friend after almost 40 years in that church is no longer pastoring, the church as gone more liberal doctrine and has adopted insane heresies doctrinally and is about to have a church split. This is partly due to the fact that there was never Preaching in that church. It really is quite simple, we preach and we preach to people, at people, whatever language you want to you, because the truth is meant to be directed to people.

If you are having pep talks from the pulpit, if you are simply giving lectures, if you are having dialogues, then what you are doing is not Biblical Preaching and is opposing the direct command of God.

John Calvin said this concerning the preaching of God’s Word "The Word goeth out of the mouth of God in such a manner that it likewise goeth out of the mouth of men; for God does not speak openly from heaven, but employs men as His instruments."

This the “why” of Preaching, it is the means by which God has chosen to speak, through the weakness and frailty of Men.

Brothers, let us Preach, and Preach the word, as it is written, that GOD would receive the Glory that is due Him and that man would be come to hear the Gospel and some be saved.

The matter, or subject, of Preaching, Sola Scripture, the Scriptures.

The mission, or why, of Preaching - God’s Glory and the benefit of mankind through salvation, sanctification and edification.

and Lastly

The mark, or effects, of Preaching.

With your Bible still in our Romans passage, let’s look back to verse 13-15

Romans 10:13–15 NASB95

13 for “Whoever will call on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14 How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? 15 How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news of good things!”

Preaching is meant to cause men to hear the Truth, that they might believe in Christ. This is the desired effect of preaching on the unregenerate. We preach so that the unsaved man may be confronted with the love of God, faced with the reality of his own depravity and come to understand the loving act of God through the life, death, and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That man would know the Gospel, the good news. We Preach so that man, through, repentance and faith in Christ, may be reconciled to God, saved by Christ and made new creature.

How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard, says the Scripture. God has ordained preaching as the method of proclaiming His truth, His Gospel. I don’t at all believe that God is going around bringing people to himself by dreams, visions, animals talking to them, etc. The Scripture here implies that the only way God speaks today is through His word and that by His Preachers, it goes on to explicitly say, “ And how will they hear without a preacher? In other words, if there has been no preacher, no preaching, no word then they cannot hear and if they cannot hear they cannot believe.

Biblical Preaching, preaches because this is how men here the Gospel! Let’s go a couple of Chapter’s to the right, Chapter 12 in Romans and verse 2.

The mark of preaching, what effects should our preaching have.

Romans 12:2 NASB95

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

The matter, the mission, the mark.

Not only Does Biblical Preaching herald the Gospel to the unsaved, but also to the saved. I’ve heard it said that after you are saved that you no longer need the Gospel, you just need the rest of the Bible. That’s Blasphemy. We will forever need the Gospel! Take away the Gospel and all we have is Hell, and the depravity and sinful beings we are.

The Preaching to believers should have the effect of renewing the mind as in our passage. This is how we fight the principalites and darkness of this world, we tear down strongholds, not by casting out demons but by tearing down the strongholds of the mind. False doctrines, false beliefs.

Biblical Preaching binds the conscience to truth and that truth transforms the man or woman of God by renewing their mind. This is why I run from churches that say we don’t “preach” at people here, we have talks. In other words you are simply playing church like little children and you can be sure that church is filled with worldly people that are conformed to this world and not the image of christ and where there is no Biblical Preaching there can be no renewing of the mind.

When we preach we are not simply giving historical background and going through passages as though we are giving a mere lecture, we are preaching at the people, to there mind and soul, beckoning them, pleading with them to engage the text. To obey the word of God, to learn the word of God, to be convicted by the Word of God.

Too many preachers out there are giving Expositional lectures from the pulpit, never giving real applications or bringing about implications of the text in such a way that the people are truly confronted with the Word of God. If the unbeliever can sit under your preaching and consider it nothing more than an interesting lecture and be perfectly comfortable in having a difference of opinion, you are not Preaching.

If a believer can sit in the pews for 30 years and never be challenged, remaining comfortable and unchanged, year after year, you are not preaching. Biblical Preaching makes the sinner uncomfortable, Biblical Preaching beckons the believer to greater faithfulness. Biblical Preaching never waters down, changes, or apologizes for the text.

If our people are to be transformed by the word of God then we must be preaching the word of God. Listen, the great majority of people rarely read their Bibles, we can’t afford to let those people come to church and not be confronted by the word of God. If we never give application to the text, how will people truly understand how it is meant to apply to their lives. This is what a shepherd is meant to do. We Sanctify our members by giving them the full counsel of God, by helping them to understand the text and how to apply it to their lives.

Remember the Word of God is just that, God’s Word. We are asking people to consider what the text says and decided whether they want to obey or not, we are presenting the truth of God’s and saying this is what God requires, period. We aren’t presenting ideas and clever speeches for the people’s consideration, we are heralding the truth of God that is meant to change their lives, meant to renew their minds, meant to bring conformity into the image of Christ.

The style of preaching isn’t that important, in terms of your demeanor. If you’re excitable and passionate, like Paul Washer, then be that. If you are calm and “matter of fact” like John MacArthur, then be that. If you are very precise and articulate carefully like Voddie Baucham, then me that. or maybe you are seemingly very happy, like Conrad Mbewe, then be that, but whatever your personality is, what style you bring to the pulpit, Please, Preach to the people! Preach at the People! Preach the word of God and insist that it applies to the life of every person hearing you.

We aren’t preaching so that people can come and be entertained by speeches every sunday. We aren’t preaching so that people can simply get an educations in scripture. Hell will be filled with people who know the Bible. Satan knows the Bible better than any human, I imagine, and yet he will end in the lake of fire, for eternity. There will be plenty of entertained so-called Christians who attended church almost every Sunday of their lives. We Preach so that the word of God is heard, is understand, and applied to the lives of the people so that God is glorified and man is sanctified.

1) The mission of preaching, that is, why do we preach.

And

3) The mark of preaching, what effect should our preaching have. The mission, the matter, and the mark.

mission (why) of preaching, the matter (subject) of preaching, and the mark(effect)

I want to read a few quotes on preaching by some of the early Church fathers.

St. Augustine, an African early church father, in the late 300’s said this:

“You have had to acknowledge and complain that often, because you talked too long and with too little enthusiasm, it has befallen you to become commonplace and wearisome even to yourself, not to mention him whom you were trying to instruct by your discourse, and the others who were present as listeners.”

Biblical Preaching Preach’s though lives depend on, because they do!

John Chrysostom, born in Antioch, in modern day Turkey, in the 300’s

“Unless the man who means to win understands every aspect of the art (of preaching), the devil knows how to introduce his agents at a single neglected spot and so to plunder the flock.”

Our entire profession revolves around preaching, what worldly profession teachings that you do not need to know your craft well. Even the world knows that a craftsman must know his work in and out, how more so should we, as those who handle the world of God, aim to know the word and Preach with excellence.

CS lewis says

“The preacher should be sensitive to the mind of his hearer and never overtax it, for the string of the soul when stretched more than it can bear can very easily snap…For all deep things should be covered up be

“ A man who first tried to guess ‘what the public wants,’ and then preached that as Christianity because the public wants it, would be a pretty mixture of fool and knave.(nave- a dishonest man)”

Martin Luther, the Champion of the Reformation, having posted his 95 thesis on the castle door

“To preach Christ is to feed the soul, to justify it, to set it free, and to save it, if it believes the preaching.”

Charles Spurgeon, the prince of preachers

“The preaching of Christ is the whip that flogs the devil. The preaching of Christ is the thunderbolt, the sound of which makes all hell shake.”

A.W. Tozer

“To be effective the preacher’s message must be alive; it must alarm, arouse, challenge, it must be God’s present voice to a particular people.”