THE SUPREMACY OF THE PREACHING IN THE CHURCH OF CHRIST
2 Timothy 4:1-2:
I
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, and exhort, with complete
patience and teaching.
Faithful
preaching of the gospel is the method that God has given His church to dispense
the riches of His grace to the world. The power and authority of the church is
in the preaching of God’s Word!
Paul,
by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit stated so unequivocally, that he was not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power
of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom.1:16, emphasis mine). He gave at least two important reasons:
(1) in it the righteousness
of God is revealed and
(2) in it the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom.1:17).
For
the same reasons, I write to exhort you to take back your pulpit to the centre
of public worship because there is eternal good to be gained – the
righteousness of God, but also to escape the wrath of God! Therefore, he was called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, and he was
eager to preach the gospel to all (Rom.1:1,15).
Preachers, you must not be ashamed of the gospel by turning to the man-centred
‘gospels’ like philosophy, or ear-tickling business, rather be eager to preach
the gospel to all and sundry every time.
Human
beings are busy supressing the truth of God by their thoughts, words and
actions. Introduce them to God by the message of the gospel of salvation by
grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. When there is a failure by
the church on this point, the only door of hope for sinners is shut, and the
shackles of sin are tightened. This is the backdrop upon which the passage
before us is written.
Therefore,
1.
Here is a the most serious charge to preach the Word (v.1)
This is a most explicitly solemn and divine charge. You notice it is given before God the Father and in the presence of
Christ the great and eternal Judge. God’s all-seeing eye is keen to see if His
Word is being preached faithfully. All this accumulation of words in the
statement is meant to show the full intensity of this instruction. This is not
something that we can ignore or forget. It must be remembered and obeyed by all
at all cost for God will require an account. It is a serious charge, given by
the Sovereign King of kings.
This is a perpetual
charge. Timothy, you and I, are to bear in mind that this
will be required by the Lord Jesus Christ, the Judge. For this reason, Paul
mentions Christ’s second appearing and His kingdom. As long as we await this
world changing event of the second coming of Christ, as long as we are part of
the commonwealth of the kingdom of Christ, as long as Christ is our delight, we
have both His mandate and a responsibility to sinners to make Christ known. It
is a serious charge with eternal ramifications.
Paul charges that Jesus Christ will judge both the
living and the dead. Why is Paul saying this? To make Timothy and us
be sure that we will give an account before Christ on whether we sounded the gospel
trumpet clearly, as faithful watchmen or not. If we persist in this, we will save both ourselves and our hearers
(1Tim. 4:16) It is a serious charge
for we will be held accountable by Christ in so far as our faithfulness is
concerned.
2.
Here is the most forthright charge to preach the Word
… preach
the word…(v.2a) The Apostle does not mince the words given to Him by the Master, and in
so doing sets an excellent example. He directs Timothy to preach. He is to
declare and proclaim the message as one who has divine authority.
The word preach here means is to be an ‘herald’, one who has been given both the
message and the commission of the Sovereign King, to speak on His behalf, marching
forth without delay, with the unaltered message. In this charge authority,
faithfulness and urgency are urged. These constitute what it means to be a
herald. The work of a preacher of the gospel is not an indifferent thing; it is
absolutely important and necessary with the mandate of the King of kings. Woe
be to him who does not preach the gospel, (1Cor.
9:16). The redeemed church of Christ is urged to carry on with this immediate
commission – preach the word!
The church is not charged to sing the word, or
dramatize or do social gospel. If this is what the Lord expects of us, He would
have instructed us. While philanthropic activities have their place, they must
not be the central business of the church. The church must, as of first
importance, deliver the message of the gospel across the world, not by singing
or dramatizing or modelling, but by preaching. It is possible to have singing,
music and all the rest of them mistaken for entertainment. Don’t turn the
gospel call into a lullaby to put the unbelieving world to sleep! The faithful
preaching of the gospel cannot be mistaken by the world because it is the very
equipment that the Holy Spirit uses to open the eyes, minds and hearts of the
spiritually dead sinners. The Spirit administers the gospel as the sole
medicine to the dead sinner. Unless we use the sovereignly appointed tool of
preaching the gospel, we have nothing to give that has eternal value.
History shows that there is a great need for every true
church of Christ to deliberately make preaching the centre of worship. Students
of history know of the effects of the Reformation and Puritan preaching in the
16th and 17th Centuries. The Great Awakening of 18th
Century, humanly speaking, could be attributed to the preaching of George
Whitfield, John Wesley and Jonathan Edwards and other faithful preachers. C. H.
Spurgeon was such a preacher and God blessed his labours in London. The same is
true of men like J.C. Ryle in Liverpool, and Martyn Lloyd Jones in London. Can
we do less, if we pray for the salvation of souls?
If preaching is not highly valued, then churches
greatly risk falling off the cliff. There are too many examples of churches that
have made preaching secondary – please do not add to their number! They regard
singing so highly that their choirs are heard practising within the week but
only give twenty minutes to the preaching (which their minister has barely
prepared!) They would buy wonderful roses to decorate their halls but would not
spare thirty minutes to hear gospel-centric, Christ-saturated Word!
In the Roman Catholic Church, the Lord’s Table was
elevated too high that it became the apex of their worship, to a point that
they confused the elements of the Eucharist with Christ! In most Kenyan
churches music is the main thing (considering the amount of time allocated in
their worship service, practicing, the amount of financial investment on buying
instruments or paying workers and the number of music personnel). This is not
meant to question the sincerity of worship leaders. Rather it is meant to bring
a redress in this vital area of church life. This ‘worship’ sooner rather than
later becomes an entertainment muddle. When the Lord Jesus, through Apostle
Paul, says, “Preach the word”, He is
instructing us to push the pulpit to the centre of the church life and of
worship. Nothing is more important! Woe to the church that does not preach the
gospel!
3.
Here are the most clear
instructions on how to preach the word
… be ready in season and out of season; reprove,
rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching (v.2b).
It behoves
both ministers and the church, to seriously consider the account that they must
give shortly to the Lord Jesus Christ, of the good news entrusted them. The church, by her
ministers, is called to press all God’s message with all earnestness upon this world.
Preach the whole Bible – Genesis to Revelation, verse by verse – precept upon
precept, line upon line, until the whole counsel of God is given. Do not withhold
anything profitable by either adding (and so obscuring the gospel) or subtracting
(by preaching what you like). Yes, exegetical accuracy is absolutely necessary.
Be sure you have the right hermeneutic tools before venturing up the pulpit. This
is what it means to be faithful – to be a consecutive expositor of the whole
counsel of God.
When
are you to preach the gospel?
The call is to be ready in season and out of
season. The gospel never runs out
of season. The gospel, as long as it is preached will be fruitful. We must
never be tired of proclaiming it for the it is the only medicine for a
terminally ill world. We desire that there would be more churches open for ‘morning
glory’ where there is preaching and prayer. We pray that more churches would
open their doors for lunch-hour meetings where men and women are exhorted to be
under the wings of Christ. O that the Lord may kindle a desire for preaching
every night and that preachers would be untired of preaching the excellences of
Christ!
What is the content of the preaching?
Christ and Him crucified
is the content of preaching. But there is no relevance of Christ where sin is
not singled out and rebuked. Therefore, Paul impresses on preachers very
specific actions of reproving, rebuking, and exhorting with all fervency of spirit.
Specifically, the message is to call on their hearers to be aware of sin, to
repent of it t Christ. It is to exhort them to behold the Lamb of God who takes
away the sins of the world. It is to encourage sinners to believe in the Lord
Jesus Christ as their only of hope. Sin must be purged from the midst of God’s
people. And how is this to be done? By rebuking it. Rebuke those who sin and
persist in it. They are to be rebuked and admonished for their waywardness and
to be pointed to Christ.
How
are the preachers to do this?
The preachers are to do this with complete patience – do not demand immediate result. Much
patience is necessary with all. Paul demonstrates this when he says, “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the
idle, encourage the faith-hearted, help the weak, be patient with them all (1
Thess. 5:14). There is a clear call to be patient with people because some
are slow of understanding, but because the work of conviction of sin belongs to
the Holy Spirit.
Good preaching demands sermons that are well
structured and vividly illustrated. Every sermon ought to reach every ear
present and this requires pointed application. Complete teaching demands a well-balanced doctrinal diet or in
other words, every sermon must be saturated with doctrinal substance.
In
and out of season
means that it is to be given when welcome
and even when unwelcome. There was no invitation letter from the Assyrian king inviting
Jonah to preach in Nineveh, but there was the word from God. Usually sinners
are not going to invite us to preach to them, although there are times when
special events occur, e.g. deaths and weddings! When they come calling you for
these events, milk these opportunities to the last drop.
Many are the times when we have to press the
message upon them. We have to acknowledge that the world is too chained,
blinded and stifled by devil’s deception to call out for help. It is for this
reason that we should not sugar-coat the gospel with any worldly glaze. We must
not make things comfortable for them; rather, our call is to preach pure and
unadulterated Word of God. Moreover, let us not slip any opportunity. Do not
shift off the duty, under pretence that it is out of season, it is a serious
message that must not be delayed.
It is a direct message of “reproving, rebuking…”
– tell people of their faults with gravity and authority, in Christ's name.
“Exhorting…” – Convince wicked people
of the evil and danger of their wicked courses. Endeavour in teaching, by speaking
simply but profoundly; directly but wisely; urgently but patiently, in order to
bring them to repentance. Do not leave them in ignorance, rather instruct them
so that they may be made wise for salvation.
In conclusion, you have read the most serious,
forthright and clear instructions on what is to be done in the church of
Christ.
v If you are a pastor, labour in preaching, because
your duty and business is to preach – do
your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need
to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
v If you are Christian, let the word of God dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one
another in all wisdom. But if you find yourself in a church that is
malnourished of God’s Word – leave it before you starve to death. Look for a
church that is deliberate in the faithful and expository preaching of the God’s
Word.
v Every true church of Christ must endeavour to have
the pulpit at the centre – therein lies your authority and the power. The
church is the beautiful bride of Christ when it is ‘bibline’ that is, speaking
the language of the Groom as in His Word.
