Sermon Tone Analysis

The preaching of the Gospel

What does it entail?

!!! /Morning Worship, Lord’s Day 21 January 2007, 9.00am/

!!! Announcements

!!! Silent Prayers

I do not concern myself with great matters or things too wonderful for me.

But I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with its mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

O Israel, put your hope in the Lord both now and forevermore.

(Psalm 131:1-3)

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The word of God in our midst

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Call to worship

For this is what the Lord says— He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited— He says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other.

(Isaiah 45:18)

!!! Blessing

Grace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

!!! Doxology Hymn:                       /“We praise You, our Father”/                                                                             /(//Psalm Praise – 4 verses)/

!!! Forgiveness

Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way and the evil man his thoughts.

Let him turn to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

(Isaiah 55:6-7)

!!! Prayer of Confession of sin

!!! Hymn No 527:                            /“It passes knowledge”/

!!! Prayer of Adoration, Thanksgiving

!!! Hymn:                                            /“Healing God, almighty Father” /

!!! /(MP 226, Tune Hyfrydol 87.87.D – 4 verses)/

!!! Prayer for others

!!! Tithes, offering and dedication

While stewards wait upon the offering, reaming seated we sing:

!!! Hymn:                                            /“Lord, for the years”/

!!! /(MP 428 – 5 verses)/

!!! Scripture Readings                   /Psalm 119:129-136; Colossians 1:24-29/

!!! Sermon                                          /The preaching of the Gospel:  /

!!! /what does it entail?/

My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord Jesus Christ, today I have the privilege to once again proclaim the Gospel of our Lord to you.

Our theme for this sermon is:  /The preaching of the Gospel:  what does it entail?/

Last Lord’s Day morning, as the Word of God came to us from the first few verses of Chapter 1, we looked at the /effect/ of the Gospel, the /demand/ of the Gospel and the /content/ of the Gospel.

Then, during evening worship, the message came to us from the next paragraph and the theme was the /origin/ of the Gospel:  we understood from the Bible that Jesus Christ, as the origin of all things and therefore also of the Gospel, is at the same time the main theme of the Gospel.

This morning we ask the question:  /“What does the preaching of the Gospel entail?”/

What do ministers do when they preach when they preach?

Who are ministers and who gives them the right to preach?

!!!!!! ; Who are ministers and who gives them the right to preach?

Let’s start with the last question:  Who are ministers and who gives them the right to preach?

The Bible is clear about the fact that God calls to people to the ministry of the Word.

; God ordained certain tasks for certain people and He also equips and empowers them to fulfil their ministry.

God specifically called Moses to be a mediator between Him and his people.

God called the sons of Aaron to be the priests.

God called specific people to be the prophets of his Word to the people, and He ordained that there would be elders who would lead the people.

There was a day in the history of Israel when some rebelled against Aaron and Moses.

They were not happy with the idea that they had to submit to the authority of these men.

Listen to what they said:

They came as a group to oppose Moses and Aaron and said to them, “You have gone too far!

The whole community is holy, every one of them, and the Lord is with them.

Why then do you set yourselves above the Lord’s assembly?”

(Numbers 16:3)

God dealt with these rebels; they went alive into the ground through and earthquake and 250 others were swept away in fire.

This very same principle is continued into the New Testament.

The Apostle Paul asks this question in Romans:

And how can they preach unless they are sent?

As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Romans 10:15)

Here he quotes a verse from Isa 52:7.

The feet of those who proclaimed the Word of God were those ; called by God to be His mouthpiece to the people.

The backdrop of all the charges against the people in the time of Isaiah was exactly that they lent and ear to anyone who proclaimed himself a prophet.

The Word of God is clear in many passages: Not anyone can go to the people as prophet, and no prophet may proclaim anything else that what God charged him to proclaim.

Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord.

“They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them.

They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord.

(Jeremiah 23:32)

In the case of the Apostle Paul he refers to ; himself as “/a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the Gospel of God./” (Rom 1:1).

So then, when in Colossians 1:24-25 he refers to his ministry in Jesus Christ for the sake of the Church, he clearly wants all to understand that he was doing God’s work.

He actually puts it more specifically in verse 25:

I have become its servant by the commission God gave me to present to you the word of God in its fullness— (Colossians 1:25)

God commissioned him.

What did God commission him with?

The task to present the Word of God.

Only bits and pieces of the Word?

No, in its fullness.

The Church through the ages understood this to be an ordination of God for his church until the return of Christ:  God called prophets, then apostles, others to be evangelists, others to be pastors and others to be teachers.

It is in the understanding of this principle that not everyone waltzing into a church may present himself as a minister of the Lord.

There is usually a very stringent process to determine the authenticity of the call of a person presenting himself for the ministry.

After equipping and study, the church, through its courts then ordains a minister into the ministry of Word and Sacrament.

What does all of this mean?

It at least means that the ministers, for as long as he is faithful to the Word and his calling before God is the mouthpiece of God to the people.

The people understand it to be this way when they induct their ministers into the office and they pledge to follow the leadership of the minister – /of course only for as long as it is based on the Word of God!/

The implication is that when the minister proclaims the Word he is doing far more that just giving a talk.

Too many ministers have gone down this path.

Is it perhaps in reaction to some colleagues who might have all the right robes and apparel, but lack godliness, still preaching a gospel that I dead and unattractive?

Or is it because they don’t want to offend the people in the pew by leaving the impression that they might elevate themselves above the rest of the congregation?

They then don’t preach or proclaim the Word of God; they give a talk or just share a thought with the people.

They avoid the pulpit like the plague out of ear that people might think they are different from them.

They shun all forms of “official” dress, and don themselves in clobber to not really stand out as the minister.

They deliver their talk without being acceptably dressed, in some cases with no socks on, shirts hanging out and no tie in sight.

They are acceptable to the people with a user-friendly attitude, but, they forget one major point:  they are God’s representative to the people.

They command no respect, and their message becomes their opinion about a portion of the Word of God.

Does God look at apparel?

Does what one puts on make a difference?

No, God looks at your heart, but the problem is that people can’t see your heart.

What they see on the outside to them in most cases is a reflection of what they think is going on in the inside.

!!!!!!

The proclamation of Christ Jesus

When the apostle then says acts as the commissioned minister of God, he assumes a few things as his prophetic calling.