“Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, 2 in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began 3 and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior.” (Titus 1:1–4 (ESV)
“He (a pastor or elder) must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.” (Titus 1:9 (ESV)
In his letter to Titus, the Apostle Paul immediately emphasized the priority of preaching and teaching in the church. Paul gave several reasons for this God directed methodology (2 Tim. 4:1-5).
First, preaching the Word of God is for the sake of the faith of God’s elect. Second, preaching is the means by which God’s Gospel is proclaimed. Third, preaching is a sacred trust. Fourth, God commands preaching.
“Preaching is the proclamation of the word of God to men by men under assignment from God. It is the ordained means for the transmission of the word of God to a lost world; it serves also as an official means of grace for the building up and strengthening of the church of Christ….Preaching is essential, a sine qua non for the church; without it the people of God will languish. Where true biblical, systematic and expository preaching is present the church will thrive,” explains Pastor Paul Mizzi.
“Some preachers, it is true, seek a mode of preaching that avoids any exercise of power, or any exalted theological claims for the content of the sermon. In sermons like these, the preacher comes not proclaiming, declaring, exhorting and rebuking, but sharing, musing, reflecting and imagining. The main problem with preaching in this ‘weak’ style is that it is not weak for any of the same reasons that the apostle Paul judged his own preaching to be weak,” states Pastor Timothy Ward.
“The work of the Spirit, then, is joined to the word of God. But a distinction is made, that we may know that the external word is of no avail by itself, unless animated by the power of the Spirit. All power of action, then, resides in the Spirit himself,” explains John Calvin.
God has not only decreed the message of the Gospel, but also the method by which the Gospel message is to be communicated; preaching (Rom 10:14-17). Preaching is a God called man, equipped by the Holy Spirit, to herald a Christ-centered message from the Word of God; the Bible.
Pray for your pastor that he would continue, or begin, to preach the Word. Remember, the church is not to be audience driven but message driven by the preaching of God’s Word.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 