A Dangerous Call

     Because this is my first blogpost, I need to give forewarning that I'm attempting to kill two birds with one stone here. I want to provide an answer to why I'm doing this (blogging),  and then hopefully provide some encouragement and direction on considering certain necessities in our life, this one addressing the importance of Word of God.

     Most of the people reading this and who know me are probably wondering why I'm starting a blog. It seems silly to most people, and even to myself I must admit, to think that anyone has much of an interest in what I have to say. But as 2013 began, one of my convictions was that I needed to share more. Share thoughts, share time, share THE GOSPEL with others. So I started to think of new ways in which I can engage people and the culture around us and one of my ideas was to start a blog. So here we are. My goal  is twofold: 1. To fill up Christians with encouragement and exhort them with the grace that the Good Lord has given me and 2. To point the lost to Christ. After all, He is the one who said, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." So then, It would make sense that if we want to consider necessities to this life and the next, that Christ would be the center.

     So that leads me to my next subject. If you are familiar with the recent events in my life, then you know that I plan to enter into vocational ministry when I finish school. And in my training to teach and preach the Word of God, I took a class last semester that gave me great insight into the call of preachers and teachers alike. I read several books of some of the greatest preachers in the world to find that they stood united on this issue-- the full authority of the Word of God.

     It is evident that our world is encountering a serious epidemic. The effects of Postmodernism has pushed people to compromise time and time again and to question if even there is such a thing as absolute truth. But the problem has not just stopped in the world. Its worked its ways into the churches and has consumed the lives of the congregation and even pastors! This is DANGEROUS! The church has become desperately sick today because they have lost trust in the power of the Word of God. A greater part of churches today have pastors who do not preach the Scriptures and this malady is starving the body of Christ of its nourishment.

     Exposition, preaching and explanation of the Word, needs now more than ever to be reinstated to its rightful position as the heart of worship. Preaching is not the task of saying something interesting about God, nor is it delivering a religious discourse or narrative story. Biblical preaching is declaring the revealed Word of Almighty God and explaining the meaning ant its implications to "the sheep", the congregation.

     Expositional preaching, is the only genuine type of preaching.  The church must be careful not to corrupt the worship of God, because the saints are called to worship in spirit and in truth.  How can anyone worship if they do not know the truth of whom it is they are worshiping?  Christians must know the God of scripture to worship Him.  Huges had it right when he said, “Our confused worship corrupts our theology, and our weak theology corrupts our worship.”  The personal event of worship must be pronounced on the central truth of God who has revealed Himself through His Word.  Authentic worship preceded by a true vision of the living God will be followed by a confession of sin.  Through a sinner’s confession, God displays His redemptive power, which enables the proclamation of the gospel.  Dr. Mohler explains, “If our worship is weakened, our missionary witness will be weakened as well.  We will forget the God who has sent us, and we will neglect the content of the message of redemption with which He has sent us.”  The Word of God is central to the church’s worship.

            

     By taking The Word out of preaching, there is no longer preaching at all, and as John Stott said, “Preaching is indispensable to Christianity.”  Therefore it is vitally important that preachers keep God’s Word at the heart of every sermon. Deuteronomy chapter four demonstrates the importance of preaching with several key elements.  Firstly, the Israelites knew that their God was the One true and living God because He spoke to them.  They did not see him or speak to him as the pagans did, but their God revealed His will to them and continues to do so today.  Therefore if the church has received the revealed Word of God by His grace, why would they ever substitute anything else in place of the expository preaching of the Bible?  The second point the passage makes is that God’s people will hear His voice.  The teaching of revelation is directly tied to the teachings of election.  God’s people are those to whom He speaks.  Preachers are to faithfully preach the Lord’s Word so that His sheep are continually fed.  Thirdly, God’s people are fully dependent upon hearing His Word.  Once again, Dr. Mohler exclaims, “We know who God is only through the Scriptures, and we know who we are in Christ only through the Scriptures.  Preaching is therefore always a matter of life and death.”  If the people do not know who God is, how then can they know His wrath toward sin, or His grace outstretched to the humble and broken?

     Dr. Mohler notes in his book, He is Not Silent, that expositional preaching will be noted by three definite characteristics: authority, reverence, and centrality. In genuine exposition, there will always be the note of authority because the preacher speaks on behalf of the Almighty God.  He is a steward of the riches and mystery of the Lord declaring the truth of His Word and the power of His Word.  Secondly, authentic exposition cultivates a sense of reverence among God’s people.  As Dr. Mohler explains, “Reverence is the only appropriate response to the acknowledgement that the Bible is the Word of God and that preaching is the proclamation of that Word to God’s people.”  And Thirdly, exposition must be at the center of the church’s worship.  It is worth stating again that the Word of God will make its home at the center of Christian worship.  Just as the Israelites were dependent upon the bread that God provided for them in the wilderness, the church is dependent daily upon its nourishment from the Word of God.  Without it being read and explained faithfully, the people will surely die.

     In my closing, please understand that this is not a rant so that people will think highly of my opinions. This is meant to be a loving warning and exhortation to find a church that preaches the Word of God faithfully, and to be careful in your theology, because it does matter! And if you have found a church that is faithful to Scripture... Praise God!!! Let us then be active to encourage others to think rightly upon the Almighty, and never assume anything about our God unless it is taught in His Word.