{"id":238,"date":"2011-10-25T19:00:10","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T19:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/articles1\/?p=238"},"modified":"2014-10-21T13:10:43","modified_gmt":"2014-10-21T13:10:43","slug":"priority-of-preaching","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/priority-of-preaching\/","title":{"rendered":"The Priority of Preaching"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Alan Dunn<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s my delight to be with you once again this year. Last year, when we were together, I was assigned the topic of the priorities of the pastor. And this year I\u2019m going to resume on that subject picking up where we left off. Last year, we considered the priorities of the pastor in relation to himself, the care of the pastor to himself and then we saw the priority of the pastor in relation to his family and then we invested two studies on the priority of worship.<\/p>\n

This year we\u2019re going to consider the priority of preaching, in this hour,
\nand then the priority of prayer and then the priority of shepherding and,
\nlastly, the priority of our witness to the world.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

In this hour we look then, to the priority of preaching.<\/p>\n

Charles Spurgeon writes, \u201cWe want again Luthers, Bunyans, Calvins,
\nWhitfields, men who are fit to mark their errors, whose names breathe terror
\ninto our enemies ears.[\u201d?] We have dire need of such men, from where will
\nthey come? They are gifts of Christ to the church and will come in due time. He
\nhas given\u2014He has power to give us back again a golden age of preachers, a
\ntime as fertile of great divines and mighty ministers as was the puritan age.
\nAnd when the good old truth was once again preached by men whose lips are
\ntouched as with a life coal from off the altar. This shall be the instrument in
\nthe hand of the Spirit for bringing about a great and thorough revival of
\nreligion in the land. I do not look for any other means of converting men
\nbeyond the simple preaching of the gospel and the opening of men\u2019s ears to
\nhear it. The moment the church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will
\ndespise her. It has been through the ministry of preaching that the Lord has
\nalways been pleased to revive and bless His churches.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pastor Meadows is going to be focusing in his survey on 2nd Timothy with
\nour stewardship of the gospel and the content of that gospel. My focus in this
\nhour is more as to the method by which that gospel is to be communicated
\nand so we\u2019re going to survey several passages as to what the Bible has to say
\nabout this method, the method of preaching.<\/p>\n

So we look first of all at the priority of preaching in the history of God\u2019s
\npeople. We want to look to the ancient past for a moment and recognize God\u2019s
\ndealings with His people has always been through preachers. We read of
\nEnoch in Genesis chapter 5 and verse 24 that he walked with God and he was
\nnot for God took him. God demonstrated His power over death in His dealings
\nwith Enoch. A very mysterious man, a significant man, and Jude tells us in Jude
\n1 and verse 14 that Enoch was a preacher.<\/p>\n

Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied or preached,
\nsays Jude in June [Jude] 1:14 and his message is that of judgment, that God
\nwould come to exercise judgment. We look at the Old Testament character of
\nNoah, we both, most remember him for his constructing of the arc, but Peter
\ntells us in 2nd Peter 2:5 that he was a preacher of righteousness.
\nAbraham, whose life is given to us again in the pages of Genesis. We read
\nin Genesis 18:19, \u201cI have chosen him in order that he may command his
\nchildren and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing
\nrighteousness and justice in order that the Lord may bring upon Abraham
\nwhat he has spoken about him. Abraham was entrusted with the word of God
\nthat he commanded to his family and his family, his household, consisted of
\nseveral hundred people. In Genesis 14, we are told that from his household,
\nthree hundred eighteen men were raised to fight against the four kings.
\nHe commanded his children and his household to keep the way of the
\nLord, Abraham is said in Genesis chapter 20 and verse 7 to be a prophet.
\nAbraham was a preacher of the Word of God.<\/p>\n

Likewise, Moses was a preacher. He received words from God and then
\nproclaimed those words to the Israelites. Much of the Pentateuch, the first five
\nbooks of the Bible records the words of Moses to the children of Israel. He
\npreached to the assembled people of God.<\/p>\n

When we consider the Old Testament prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
\nJonah, Amos, Haggai, Malachai, Habbakuk. We look at these men and see
\nsomething common to each one. Although they lived in different situations
\nand ministered in different circumstances, they were each preachers,
\nproclaimers of the Word of God.<\/p>\n

We turn in our Bibles to the first of several passages that I want us now to
\nsee and read from Scripture when we consider the ministry of John the Baptist
\nin Mark chapter 1 and verse 4. Mark 1 and verse 4. John the Baptist appeared
\nin the Wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sin.
\nThe ordinance of Baptism defined John\u2019s ministry. That was the activity that
\ncharacterized John. He is called the Baptist, but his ministry was that of a
\npreacher. He was one who preached a baptism of repentance for forgiveness
\nof sins.<\/p>\n

When we look at our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ we know that the
\nsupreme purpose for which He came was to make atonement for our sins by
\nHis death on the cross and His triumph over death in the resurrection, His
\nvictory over Satan as our deliverer, but the ministry of Jesus made priority of
\npreaching.<\/p>\n

In Mark chapter 1, we read in verse 14 and 15, \u201cNow after John had been
\ntaken into custody, Jesus came into Galilee preaching the gospel of God and
\nsaying, \u2018The time is fulfilled and the kingdom of God is at hand, repent and
\nbelieve the gospel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jesus came preaching. Again, chapter 1, verse 38 of Mark\u2019s gospel. \u201cJesus
\nsaid to them, \u2018Let us go somewhere else to the towns nearby so that I may
\npreach there also, for that is what I came for and he went into their
\nsynagogues throughout Galilee, preaching and casting out demons.\u201d
\nJesus\u2019 works of power were demonstrations of validating, validating the
\nWord that He was proclaiming.<\/p>\n

In Luke chapter 4 we\u2019re given the message of Christ to His home town of
\nNazareth. We read in verse 18 and 19 that which is His Messianic mandate
\nderived from the prophet Isaiah, \u201cThe Spirit of the Lord is upon Me because
\nHe has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to
\nproclaim to the captives, release to the captives and recovery of sight to the
\nblind. to set free those who are oppressed, to proclaim the favorable year of
\nthe Lord.\u201d Jesus\u2019 ministry is one of proclamation, it is one of preaching and the
\ngospels record to us many of Jesus sermons.<\/p>\n

In Matthew chapter 7 we come to the conclusion of the Sermon on the
\nMount and we read the final words in verse 28 and verse 29, \u201cWhen Jesus had
\nfinished these words the crowds were amazed at His teaching for He was
\nteaching them as one having authority and not as the scribes. The people were
\nastonished, not only at what He said but the way in which He said it, the
\nmethod of His communication. It was a manifestation of power. It was a
\nmanifestation of authority.<\/p>\n

Those in John 7, verse 46, who were sent to capture Jesus were met up by
\nHis preaching. They heard Him preaching and they returned empty handed
\nand they said, \u201cNever did a man speak in the way that this man speaks.\u201d
\nWhen He was brought before Pilate in John 18, He tells Pilate in verse 37,
\n\u201cFor this I have been born and for this I have come into the world to bear
\nwitness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.\u201d
\nTo bear witness to the truth requires a voice. It is describing Jesus
\npreaching ministry, a ministry of words that made men accountable to God
\nhaving heard His witness to the truth.<\/p>\n

Jesus was a preacher and He commissioned His apostles, likewise, to be
\npreachers.<\/p>\n

Again, in the gospel of Mark chapter 3, Mark 3, verse 14 and 15. \u201cAnd He
\nappointed twelve so that they would be with Him and that He could send them
\nout to preach and to have authority to cast out demons.\u201d
\nThe powers of darkness are attacked through the medium of preaching
\nthe gospel.<\/p>\n

When we come to the ministry of these men in the book of Acts, we
\nturn to Acts chapter 1 reading from verse 8. \u201cYou will receive power when the
\nHoly Spirit has come upon you and you shall be My witnesses both in
\nJerusalem and in all Judea and Samara, Samaria and even to the remotest part
\nof the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n

To be a witness is to take responsibility for the message, for the Word, to
\npreach this gospel and this, indeed, becomes the focus of apostolic ministry.
\nIn Acts chapter 2 we see Peter doing what? He is preaching. We notice, in
\nverse 14, Peter taking his stand \u201cwith the eleven raised his voice and declared
\nto them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter proclaims a message, he preaches a sermon, a sermon derived from
\nthree Old Testament texts with three main points in his sermon, the
\napplication driving to men\u2019s consciences to bring them to faith in Christ Jesus.
\nWe read verse 40, \u201cand with many other words he solemnly testified and kept
\non exhorting them saying, be saved from this perverse generation.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Acts chapter 2 is considered and the only thing recognized there is
\nthat people spoke in tongues, you\u2019re not seeing what the Spirit has given to us
\nin Acts chapter 2. It is a record of a sermon. It is the account of a preacher who
\nopens the Word of God and preaches from Joel and preaches from the Psalms
\nand declares Christ crucified, risen and urges men to repentance and faith.
\nIn Acts chapter 3 the Lord uses Peter to heal a lame man and what does
\nthat bring? An opportunity for preaching, the second sermon recorded in Acts
\nchapter 3. It\u2019s described for us in Acts 4 and verse 2. What was it that was
\npreached? They were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the
\nresurrection from the dead. They were teaching; they were proclaiming.
\nPeter\u2019s preaching was then opposed by the Sanhedrin. In Acts chapter 4
\nreading in verse 18:<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when they had summoned them they commanded them not to speak or to teach at all in the name of Jesus, but Peter and John answered and said to them, \u2018whether it is right in the sight of God to heed to you or rather to God, you be the judge for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Peter realizes that it is his preaching that is being opposed and he
\ndetermines to be obedient to God even in the face of opposing authorities and
\nresolves to continue speaking to continue bearing witness so in Acts 4, verse
\n33, \u201cwith great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection
\nof the Lord Jesus and abundant grace was upon them all.\u201d<\/p>\n

I have come to bear witness. You are My witnesses. Proclaim. Declare.
\nPreach. Teach. Give testimony.<\/p>\n

The preaching brought on more persecution. In Acts chapter 5 verse 42, in
\nthe midst of the opposition and persecution we read, \u201cAnd everyday in the
\ntemple and from house to house they kept right on teaching and preaching
\nJesus as the Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Satan here then changes his strategy. He\u2019s not able to shut them up by
\nopposition and persecution so in chapter 6, he decides to distract them and
\nattempt to silence them by a good reason that they might neglect preaching
\nhaving been caught up in other legitimate kingdom pursuits. We read in Acts
\nchapter 6, \u201cNow at this time while the disciples were increasing in number a
\ncomplaint arose from the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native
\nHebrews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of
\nfood. So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, \u201cIt is
\nnot desirable for us to neglect the Word of God in order to serve tables.
\nTherefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation full
\nof the Spirit and of wisdom whom we may put in charge of this task, but we
\nwill devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. The
\nstatement found approval with the whole congregation and they chose
\nStephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit, and Philip, and Prochorus,
\nand Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolaus, a proselyte of Antioch.
\nAnd these they brought before the apostles and after praying, they laid
\ntheir hands on them.\u201d<\/p>\n

The apostles here were wise enough to see the importance of ministering
\nto the needy widows among them. They do not neglect that need, but rather
\ndirect the congregation to recognize men who are servants who will be able
\nthen to take responsibility to meet that need for this is a necessary gospel
\nconcern, a necessary church ministry, but as necessary as that ministry is, it
\ncannot distract from the preaching of the Word of God. It cannot displace the
\nattentions of the apostles and cause them to neglect the Word of God in order
\nto give themselves to these very good and legitimate concerns so the apostles
\nmaintain the priority of preaching and they don\u2019t allow even a good and
\nnecessary thing to distract them from the Word of God.<\/p>\n

Luke tells us the result of that decision, verse 7, \u201cThe Word of God kept on
\nspreading, and the number of the disciples continued to increase greatly in
\nJerusalem and a great many of the priests were becoming obedient to the
\nfaith.\u201d The Word of God kept on spreading.\u201d That is Luke\u2019s way of describing
\nthe success of the preaching of the Word of God: the Word of God being
\nproclaimed publicly from house to house, testifying, preaching, witnessing, all
\nof these vocabulary that describe the Word being advanced.<\/p>\n

We look at the example of the apostle Paul when he describes his ministry
\namong the Ephesians in Acts chapter 20, look at the words, look at his
\nvocabulary and notice in Acts chapter 20, beginning in verse 18, how many
\nways he describes verbal declaration, proclamation of the Word of God. When
\nthe elders from Ephesus arrive at Miletus, they came to Paul and he said to
\nthem, \u201cYou yourselves know from the first day that I set foot in Asia how I was
\nwith you the whole time serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and
\nwith trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews, how I did not
\nshrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable and teaching you
\npublicly and from house to house, solemnly testifying to you to both Jews and
\nGreeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul says, \u201cRemember when I first came among you. What is it that stands
\nout in your mind when you saw me in the public setting, when you saw me
\nprivately from house to house, where were your eyes focused? My lips,\u201d said
\nPaul, \u201cmy lips, they were always moving. I was declaring, I was teaching. I was
\nsolemnly testifying, I was endeavoring at every point to get the words into
\nyour ears through verbal proclamation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verse 24, \u201cI did not consider my life of any account as dear to myself so
\nthat I may finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord
\nJesus to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God. Here is Paul\u2019s focus,
\nhere is his priority, to testify of the gospel of the grace of God.<\/p>\n

Verse 25, \u201cBehold, I know that,\u201d \u201cBehold I know that all of you among
\nwhom I went about preaching the kingdom will no longer see my face.\u201d I went
\nabout preaching.<\/p>\n

And again, verse 27, \u201cI did not shrink from declaring to you the whole
\npurpose of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

Paul describes his ministry at every point, public, private, from the
\nbeginning all the way through the end, all to the end of his life, what he\u2019s going
\nto do is preach, declare, proclaim, testify, teach, instruct, constant, continued,
\nverbal communication of the Word of God.<\/p>\n

When he comes to the last letter of his life, when he now stands on the
\nbrink of eternity, what does he define himself to be?<\/p>\n

2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 11, we saw it this morning, how does he
\ndescribe himself? Verse 11, \u201cI was was appointed a preacher and an apostle
\nand a teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here is my ministry. It is a ministry of proclamation. It is a ministry of
\ndeclaration. It is a life that is given to a particular kind of communication:
\npreaching, preaching.<\/p>\n

When we turn from our Bibles to consider, secondly, the history of the
\nchurch and I, I cannot presume to survey the history of the church in its
\ncenturies, but I submit to you, brethren, to think for a moment of a time in the
\nhistory of the church that attracts your attention.<\/p>\n

Think for a moment of some period in the history of the church that has
\npeculiar interest to you and I will venture to say whatever you\u2019re happening
\nto think about right now you can associate that period of history with
\npreaching, you can name someone in the early church who was useful and
\nsignificant because of the foolishness of preaching.<\/p>\n

You think of the Reformation and you can think of men who were
\npowerful in the pulpit, men who opened the Word of God and proclaimed it.
\nYou think of the Great Awakening. you think of the Second Great Awakening;
\nyou think of the of the movements of the Spirit in revival, regional, national,
\nand what do you see in your mind\u2019s eye? You see a pulpit and you see a
\npreacher.<\/p>\n

Whenever God has been pleased in history to advance the gospel, He has
\ndone so through preaching. It\u2019s our prayer in this place that the Spirit would
\ncome upon us and enable us to be mouthpieces for the God who lives, the God
\nwho speaks, the God who has given us a book, the God who has given us
\nwords that we might be His heralds, His proclaimers, preachers in our day.
\nConsider with me the priority of preaching in the life of God\u2019s people. The
\npriority of preaching in the life of God\u2019s people. The church as a community is
\nresponsible to proclaim the gospel. The church as church has as stewardship
\nfor the advancement of the gospel through the ministry of preaching. The
\nchurch has several tasks assigned to it by her exalted Lord, but central to
\nthose tasks is the advancement of the gospel through the proclamation of a
\npreacher.<\/p>\n

In 1st Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15, \u201cI write so that you will know how
\nto, how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God which is the
\nchurch of the living God, the pillar and the support of the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n

The church is the platform upon which the truth is erected and launched.
\nThe church is responsible to maintain the integrity of the doctrine of the truth
\nand the church is responsible for the launching forth, the advancement of that
\ntruth.<\/p>\n

In 1st Peter chapter 2 and verse 9, Peter describes the church as church as
\nresponsible for this proclaiming ministry. You are a chosen race a royal
\npriesthood a holy nation, a people for God\u2019s own possession so that you may
\nproclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His
\nmarvelous light.\u201d<\/p>\n

The people of God as a community are responsible to see that the Word of
\nGod is proclaimed and their identity as a gathered community is for the
\nproclamation of that gospel for the declaration of the excellencies of the God
\nwho is our Savior. There is no other institution in the planet who is given that
\nresponsibility. There is no other organization who is assigned the task of the
\nresponsibility for truth and for its maintenance and for its proclamation and
\nadvancement in the world. If the church does not ensure that the gospel is
\nproclaimed then the gospel will not be proclaimed. The church therefore must
\nmake preaching a top priority. The church must establish a biblical preaching
\nministry and seek to send forth biblical preachers: the priority of preaching in
\nthe life of God\u2019s people.<\/p>\n

Which brings us, then, to consider, thirdly, the pastoral ministry must
\nfocus on preaching and teaching. If it is the responsibility of the people of God
\nand they exercise that responsibility in recognizing us as men gifted, as men
\nas men endowed of the Spirit to proclaim and they set us aside for this task,
\nthen we must make preaching and teaching primary focus of our labors. We
\nmust preach the gospel, certainly, then to those who have never heard or
\nnever believed in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

We must, in 2nd Timothy chapter 4 and verse 5, we must do the work of
\nan evangelist. We must seek opportunities to do the work of gospelling those
\nwho are outside of Christ, seeking to preach to the unconverted, seeking to
\naddress the consciences of the unsaved when they assemble with us in our
\nworship services so that there is a word to those who are outside of Christ to
\ncall them to faith and repentance and bring them into union with Christ and
\nwe must seek opportunities whenever and wherever God gives us
\nopportunity, house to house or in a public setting in our Athens, where there
\nare discussions, where there is a forum for the voice of the gospel to be heard.
\nWe need to take aggressive steps to proclaim the gospel into the ears of
\nthose who are outside of Christ. Paul makes this evident when we read in
\nRomans chapter 10 and verse 13 and 14, \u201cwhoever will call upon the name of
\nthe Lord will be saved. How then will they call upon Him in whom they have
\nnot believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard and
\nhow will they hear without a preacher?\u201d<\/p>\n

A preacher. Not a movie director, a preacher. Not a puppeteer, a preacher.
\nNot a dance choreographer, a preacher. That\u2019s how they will hear. And
\nthrough the foolishness of preaching preached the Spirit sovereignly will open
\ntheir ears and they will come to believe in Him whom they hear. Notice the
\nwords. Not, in Him of whom they hear but Him whom they hear for the
\npreaching of the gospel by the Spirit is the very voice of Christ to those who
\nare assembled underneath this form of communication. They hear Christ in
\nSpirit empowered preaching. Not of Him, not about Him, not concerning Him,
\nthey hear Him through preaching. We must therefore endeavor to preach to
\nthe unconverted.<\/p>\n

We must also preach for the edification of those who believe, giving to
\nthem what Paul calls the whole counsel of God. We read in 1st Timothy
\nchapter 4 the mandate of the apostle Paul to Timothy in 1st Timothy chapter 4
\nreading from verse 13. \u201cUntil I come give attention to the public reading of
\nScripture to exhortation and teaching. Do not neglect the Spiritual gift within
\nyou which was bestowed on you through prophetic utterance with the laying
\non of hands by the presbytery. Take pains with these things. Be absorbed in
\nthem so that your progress will be evident to all. Pay close attention to
\nyourself and to your teaching, persevere in these things for as you do this you
\nwill ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you.\u201d
\nTimothy, you\u2019re a minister of the Word of God in the assembly of God\u2019s
\npeople. Give attention to the Word of God. Read it. Read it publicly. Don\u2019t
\nneglect the public reading and exhort and teach and preach. Make this your
\nfocus. Be absorbed in this, so much so that people who sit under your ministry
\nover a lengthy period of time can recognize that you\u2019re making improvement,
\nthat you\u2019re growing, that your progress is evident toward all. Watch yourself,
\npay attention to yourself, because you are the instrument through which the
\npreaching comes and you yourself must commend the preaching. You are the
\nmeans as we learned in the last hour. The man of God is the means that God
\nuses to advance His kingdom in any generation.<\/p>\n

John 1:6, \u201cThere came a man sent from God whose name was John.” That\u2019s
\nGod\u2019s method.<\/p>\n

The man, Timothy, watch yourself as the man because you\u2019re the
\ninstrument. For what? For the sounding of the Word of God through the
\npreaching of the gospel. Be absorbed in this. Make this your focus. Make this
\nthe driving goal of your time. So many things I can say personally that I would
\nlike to have an interest in that over the years that have just fallen to
\nthe side. There was a one point in my life I thought I would like to have been
\nsomething of a musician; it\u2019s just fallen to the side. I thought at one point I\u2019d
\nlike to be something of of an artist. I would like to have learned how to draw
\nand, and, and do nice art work. How can I do that and be absorbed in the
\nministry of the Word of God? The ministry of the Word of God is an all
\nencompassing endeavor.<\/p>\n

Whatever I read I always have a mind, how can I bring this material to
\nbear upon my sheep? I very seldom read anything except it is not in relation to
\nhelping my people, to feed them. When I read news magazine, I am looking for
\nsomething to bring to my people to help them understand the Word of God in
\nrelation to the days in which we live. So many other interests and focus go off
\nto the side because we have to pay attention to ourselves, we have to pay
\nattention to our doctrine and we have to labor in such a way that our progress
\nbecomes evident and we become that much more focused on this priority of
\npreaching, which is to bring us to this last consideration.<\/p>\n

We must withstand the temptation to neglect the priority of preaching. The
\nwords preach, preaching, proclaim, testify, declare, herald, announce, all of
\nthese terms can be found over one hundred times in the New Testament. In
\nfact, the New Testament uses thirty-three different verbs to describe the
\nactivity of preaching, thirty-three different verbs. Now, anybody who reads
\ntheir Bible with some honesty is going to come to the conclusion that
\npreaching is very important. Preaching is very important, and yet we live in a
\nday where increasingly the message that we\u2019re being told as preachers is that
\npreaching is not important to Paul. if there\u2019s one thing that is irrelevant in our
\ngeneration, increasingly, it seems, preaching. Don\u2019t you feel that sometimes?
\nYou sit down next to somebody in the airplane, \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

And they tell you, \u201cI sell widgets. I wanna sell as many widgets as I can and
\nI\u2019m getting everywhere I possibly can to sell widgets. Widgets are great, let me
\ntell you about my widgets. What do you do?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a preacher.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n

You feel like a window gets rolled up, right? Very seldom do you meet
\nwith a warm welcoming interest, \u201cReally? Tell me about that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Increasingly we\u2019re living in a day where preachers and preaching is
\nlooked down upon and sadly that happens even in the church. That happens
\neven among those who profess to be Christians, who if they are Christians
\nbecame Christians because somebody proclaimed the Word of God to them.
\nHow else could they have believed unless they hear Him speaking through,
\nwhat? A preacher. A testifier. A proclaimer.<\/p>\n

And yet it seems that Satan has been able to influence many to convince
\nthem that the thing that we can take for granted, the thing that we can neglect,
\nthe thing that we can discard is preaching. So, don\u2019t be surprised that the
\nenemy of men\u2019s souls takes every measure to discourage preachers and to
\nsilence preaching.<\/p>\n

Sometimes his opposition is very direct, very aggressive. He arouses
\nreligious opposition to preaching and he arouses political opposition to
\npreaching and he brings the combination of religious and political opposition
\ntogether in order to aggressively persecute and silence the preaching, the
\nbeast of Revelation 13 and the false prophet, political and religious forces
\ncome together in a strategy to persecute and silence out of fear of bodily harm.
\nThis is the strategy in the Easter, the church in the East, in Asia, in Islamic
\ncountries.<\/p>\n

Our situation is one where Satan uses a more indirect strategy, not the
\nbeast in Revelation but the Babylonian harlot is the indirect strategy that
\nattempts to silence the voice of preaching in the West, the seductive enticing
\nallurement of affluence and convenience and self-centered indulgences that
\nrise up and urge preaching to be diminished and entice us to make
\ncompromises in order that we might become more popular and appealing.
\nHere is the strategy in the West. I fear we\u2019re living in a day when many
\nprofessed Christians are compromising not only the content of the gospel but
\nthe method by which the gospel is to be communicated. Many are telling us in
\nour day that the method doesn\u2019t matter as long as somehow the message is
\ncommunicated, the way in which it\u2019s communicated is irrelevant, but I submit
\nto you that the Bible teaches not only the content of the message but the
\nmethod by which the message is to be declared, is to be advanced. You see the
\nmessage is the message of the cross and the method is the foolishness of
\npreaching and both the message and the method scandalize the unconverted
\nmind. In 1st Corinthians chapter 1, Paul writes in verse 21, \u201cFor since in the
\nwisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God
\nwas well pleased through the foolishness of the preaching preached to save
\nthose who believe, for indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for
\nwisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to
\nGentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks,
\nChrist the power of God and the wisdom of God.\u201d<\/p>\n

You see, those at Corinth not only had difficulty with the idea of a crucified
\nMessiah, they also were not, they we\u2014they were not very pleased with Paul.
\nThey didn\u2019t think that Paul was very impressive, they didn\u2019t think that Paul,
\nthat Paul really satisfied their understanding of what oratory should be.
\nYou see, these are people, they didn\u2019t go down to a movie theater on
\nFriday night, they didn\u2019t turn on their television, they didn\u2019t have any of that,
\nwhat they would do was that they would go down to the, to, to the theater and
\ngather by the hundreds and listen to grand and great rhetoric for three, four
\nhours at at time. Men who would come in with eloquent language and
\neloquent speech and who had certain forms and structures that followed and
\nthe audience sat and then they would judge and they would make assessments
\nof the way the man spoke and Paul would come and talk to them and here\u2019s
\nthis man and I think Paul, frankly, was a very ugly little man, he had been
\nbeaten up how many times? I mean if you had been beaten up as many times
\nas Paul had been beaten up, I imagine your body was looking a bit worn, hm.
\nHe didn\u2019t impress anybody by his appearance and he didn\u2019t follow the rules of
\nGreek rhetoric, he would start to speak and his passions would get so riled up,
\nhe would begin and he would say, \u201cFirst of all,\u201d and then he would go and he
\nwould never get to a second of all. And everybody sitting, \u201cThat\u2019s not the rules.
\nThat\u2019s not how this is to be done. This man isn\u2019t following the structure and
\nthe beauty and the arrangement of Greek rhetoric. He\u2019s not very impressive at
\nall.\u201d<\/p>\n

And they didn\u2019t like the way Paul communicated and Paul says, \u201cI\u2019m not
\ngonna compromise. I\u2019m not here in order to comply with Greek culture and
\nwith its definitions of what good entertainment is all about and its
\nexpectations about what is necessary in order to gather a crowd and please an
\naudience.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s not the game that we\u2019re playing here. We\u2019re dealing with men\u2019s
\nsouls. We\u2019re dealing with the Word of God. We\u2019re speaking to people who are
\nonly seconds away from eternity and we have a stewardship. We\u2019re not here
\nto entertain. We\u2019re not hear to tickle ears. We\u2019re not here to satisfy an
\naudience. We\u2019re here to declare the Word of the Living God and in so doing
\nwe\u2019re going to speak in such a way that\u2019s going to target not men\u2019s aesthetic
\nartistic taste of presentation, we\u2019re going to target their consciences. We\u2019re
\ngoing to speak to the issues of their sin and we\u2019re going to talk with a zeal and
\na passion that communicates an authority that comes from the very throne of
\nGod and we\u2019re going to speak a message that is going to humble men\u2019s pride
\nand we\u2019re going to call them to measure their lives by the standard\u2019s of God\u2019s
\nlaw and discover themselves wanting, to learn that their sinners, lawbreakers
\nand to bring them in that condition of brokenness to see that grace of God
\ngranted in a crucified Messiah by whose blood sin is atoned for, by whose
\ndeath the wrath of God is propitiated, by whose resurrection death has been
\nconquered, Satan has been vanquished and the new world has dawned upon
\nus through the gift and ministry of the Spirit.<\/p>\n

This is not going to fit in to the categories of cultural entertainment. This
\nis a word from heaven, this is an announcement from God and it comes
\nthrough a medium, its comes through a vehicle, it comes through a man and it
\ncomes by proclamation and the message itself aligns with the method, for the
\nmethod looks foolish. The method looks foolish and the message sounds
\nfoolish but in the wisdom of God, His foolishness is wiser than the wisdom of
\nmen and both the message and the method are designed to humble men and
\nto bring them to a place of repentance and faith in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n

I appeal to you brethren to hear the voice of your Master and to take stock
\nof your heritage, to identify yourselves as I\u2019ve attempted to do in this hour and
\ntrace the pedigree, the honor, the dignity of your labor all the way back to
\nEnoch and follow the hall of honor given to preachers, the most honorable
\nbeing Christ Himself and turn your ears away from the voices that are crying
\nout today often times even from our pews that are telling us, \u201cLet\u2019s push
\npreaching off to the side, let\u2019s not be that serious about preaching. Let\u2019s not be
\nthat focused upon preaching, let\u2019s not be that committed to preaching. Maybe
\nwe should be using another method, maybe we should be trying a different
\nway to communicate.<\/p>\n

Brethren, maybe one of the reasons that preaching is being attacked in
\nour day is because there are so few men that are giving themselves to the hard
\nwork invalid in preaching, who are studying to show themselves approved,
\nworkmen who need not to be ashamed, ha\u2014 accurately handling the Word of
\nGod who gives themselves to these things and make sure their progress is
\nobvious toward all. Maybe one of the reasons preaching has fallen into
\ndisrepute is our fault because we\u2019re not working hard at preaching! So, we
\nought not to be surprised sometimes when people say, I\u2019m not interested in
\nthe preaching, but we need to become better preachers, not to discard
\npreaching and we need to be warned not to replace preaching with music, not
\nto replace preaching with drama and dance and video and testimony times.<\/p>\n

We need to give ourselves to preaching.<\/p>\n

We look at what Paul tells us in 2nd Timothy chapter 4, the mandate of
\nthe man about to die, what does he say to his young son in the faith? 2nd
\nTimothy 4 and verse 1, \u201cI solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of
\nChrist Jesus who is to judge the living and the dead and by His appearing and
\nHis kingdom, preach the Word. Be ready in season, out of season, reprove,
\nrebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction for the time will come
\nwhen they will not endure sound doctrine but wanting to have their ears
\ntickled they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their
\nown desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to
\nmyths, but you be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an
\nevangelist and fulfill your ministry.\u201d Which is what? Preach the Word.
\nPreach the Word. Amen.<\/p>\n

This is a lightly edited transcript of a sermon. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Alan Dunn It\u2019s my delight to be with you once again this year. Last year, when we were together, I was assigned the topic of the priorities of the pastor. And this year I\u2019m going to resume on that subject picking up where we left off. Last year, we considered the priorities of the pastor … Continue reading The Priority of Preaching<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[22],"class_list":["post-238","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-preaching","tag-alan-dunn"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=238"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":559,"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/238\/revisions\/559"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=238"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=238"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/heraldofgrace.org\/biblicalexpositions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=238"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}