The marks of what true Biblical, expository preaching is being neglected all over the countr. The dilemna that we see today is the same dilemna that Spurgeon saw in his day, remarking, - “We want again Luthers, Calvins, Bunyans, Whitefields, men fit to mark eras, whose names breathe terror in our foemen’s ears. We have dire need of such. Whence will they come to us? They are the gifts of Jesus Christ to the church, and will come in due time. He has power to give us back again a golden age of preachers, and when the good old truth is once more preached by men whose lips are touched as with a live coal from off the altar, this shall be the instrument in the hand of the Spirit for bringing about a great and thorough revival of religion in the land. . . .I do not look for any other means of converting men beyond the simple preaching of the gospel and the opening of men’s ears to hear it. The moment the church of God shall despise the pulpit, God will despise her. It has been through the ministry that the Lord has always been pleased to revive and bless His churches.”
Once someone fails to believe in the authority and sufficiency of Scripture, the preaching will lack all authority.
We have seen the majority of preaching go from
- Monologue to a dialog.
- Theology has been turned into theatrics.
- Worship has been turned into entertainment.
- Doctrine has been turned into drama.
- Explanation has been replaced with illustration.
- The pulpit has been replaced with a stage.
- Proclamation has become “calm, Larry King live, fireside, chatty intimacy” as John Carrick of GPTS puts it.
The local church gives the Pastor/Teacher the authority as the Pastor/Teacher to be the Pastor/Teacher of the local church. But the authority of what he teaches is the Word of God. When the authority of the Bible is question, then the authority of the preacher's preaching is going to be question.
Yet what bothers me the most, so much error is found in preaching, using the Word of God. That is a major problem with creditability of preaching. Every speaker believes what he says should be viewed as creditable. How then can those who hear the preaching or teaching from these preachers, know what they are saying is TRUTH as found in the Scripture?
"How can we know that you have the truth of the Word of God?" And this is a fair question. And believe me, I ask my self that a lot. What gives me the assurance that I do have a good understanding of what God is sharing in His Word.
And I believe the best possible way of preaching the truth of God in the Word is to know the Word from a careful study of the Word.
SO WHY DO I PUT SO MUCH EMPHASIS ON THE TEACHING OF THE WORD?
- Without the authority of the Word I have no authority to speak for God.
