The Preacher and the Scriptures
The minister of the Word is called by God to steward the mysteries of the Gospel (1 Cor 4:1). The man of God is afforded an intimacy with Christ that must be his magnificent obsession (Acts 5:42). Therefore, the preacher is first a student of the Bible. Then, he is granted the responsibility to teach the Bible to others (1 Tim 3:2; 2 Tim 2:24). He must show himself to be an unashamed workman, who rightly divides the Word of truth (2 Tim 2:15).
If any man thinks he is a preacher and labors not in the diligent study of the Scriptures, he is deceived. Like a skilled tradesman, the preacher has one instrument that he must master — the Holy Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16). He must learn Christ, who is the subject of the 66 books of the Bible (Lk 24:27; Jn 5:39; Acts 18:28). Intimate knowledge of Christ’s natures, names, offices, excellencies, and perfections are mandatory. As a wife spends years with her husband, she knows him as no one else. So is the preacher familiar with the sacred text.
The preacher studies not for his profit, alone, but he labors to know, so that he may then labor to show forth the excellencies of his Master.
As the preacher knows Christ more intimately, the man of God is himself mastered by the God-Man. “Christ lives in me,” is how the Apostle Paul spoke of this mastery (Gal 2:20). Christ is being formed in the preacher, who glows with the light of Christ, who is the Light of the world (Jn 8:12).
Because the preacher serves as an ambassador for Christ (2 Cor 5:20; Eph 6:20), he must present the King of kings, clearly, honestly, accurately, humbly, rightly, and zealously. Apollos was mighty in the Scriptures (Acts 18:24), and Jeremiah had the Word of God burning in his bones like a fire (Jer 20:9). Ezra set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, to practice it, and to teach it in Israel (Ezra 7:10). Timothy was told to preach the Word (2 Tim 4:2).
Woe to the man who does not restrict himself to prayer and the ministry of the Word (Acts 6:4). Woe to the selfish shepherd, who uses the sheep to gain for himself the best life that he can in this world (Ezek 34). Judas Iscariot and Simon Magus-types are prevalent in the church. They lust for power and prestige. They are lovers of money more than lovers of truth.
He who wins souls is wise (Prv 11:30), and the building up of souls requires the same mastery of the Word, for it is the Spirit who regenerates (Jn 3:1–8; 1 Pet 1:3) and sanctifies (Rom 15:16; 1 Thess 4:3, 7; 5:23; 2 Thess 2:13; 1 Pet 1:2). The sword of the Spirit is the Word of God (Eph 6:17), which is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Heb 4:12). What else can do that?
The preacher must have utmost confidence in his weaponry. Otherwise, he will host rock concerts, manage endless programs, and parade leadership gurus before the flock. The endless gimmicks of today’s church is one sad indicator of the lack of confidence in the Spirit and the Word, to accomplish the will of the Lord, in fulfilling His promise to build His church (Mt 16:18).
People will only rise to the height of their preacher/teacher. If the pastor has lost confidence in Scripture, the people will surely do the same (Amos 8:11). If the famine for the Word of God is elongated, the people will destroy the next preacher who comes to revive them with the water of life (Mt 23:37; Lk 11:49). They will have no tolerance for truth, as it is in Jesus Christ (Eph 4:21).
Woe to the preacher who schemes toward self-preservation, by lessening the offense of the Law, removing the scandal of sovereign grace, or preaching anything other than Christ crucified (1 Cor 2:2). The preacher must deny his comforts in his office as elder, and he must take up his cross, by teaching the hard sayings and difficult doctrines. May it never be that the preacher is a man-pleaser.
As a slave of Christ (Eph 6:6), the minister of the Word is constrained by the love of Christ, to preach the Word (2 Tim 4:2), being instant in season and out of season. As a clean vessel, himself being daily washed by the water of the Word (Eph 5:26), the preacher is a living sermon, of him who is the greatest good. Nothing competes and nothing compares with the Person and work of Jesus Christ. Here is the preacher’s greatest joy and awful responsibility. He cries out, “Woe to me if I do not preach the Gospel (1 Cor 9:16).”
The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the power of God unto salvation for those who believe (Rom 1:16). People will not believe in Christ, unless they hear of Him, and how will they hear without a preacher (Rom 10:14–17)? The preacher is sent to an assembly of people, by the grace of God and under the direction of the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28; Rom 10:15).
Every preacher is an imperfect saint, who needs an eager congregation, hungering and thirsting for the bread of life and living water. The man of God does not preach himself (or use his family for sermon illustrations!), but he faithfully points the people to Jesus Christ (2 Cor 4:5).
Only God can judge the ministry of His servant (1 Cor 4:3–4). Just as Christ is forming the preacher, so the man of God travails until Christ is formed in others (Gal 4:19). We learn the faith, walk by faith (2 Cor 5:7), live the faith (Hab 2:4; Rom 1:17; Gal 2:20), and preach the faith (Rom 10:8; Gal 1:23), always trusting that God will give the increase in the harvest of His elect souls.
To God be the glory, for giving us the Bible and the Bible preacher. We need to acknowledge them both, as God’s grace to His church. How will we hear without God’s man being sent? How will we know the truth, unless that man preaches the Bible? Here is the vital union between the preacher and the Scriptures.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
September 22, 2022
