When God’s word is
preached and taught, God is honored and glorified. During the
preaching of a sermon, the hearers feast on the word of God. 1
Corinthians 1:21, 23 says, "It pleased God
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who
believe…but we preach Christ crucified." The preaching
of Christ crucified is pleasing to God, but is foolishness to many
people. It is only by this kind of preaching and teaching that man
will be saved.
The kind of
preaching God wants is not always pleasant to hear, but it is for our own
good. As we read in 2 Timothy 4:2-4, "Preach the
word. Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke,
exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come
when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their
own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap to them
teachers; and they will turn their ears from hearing the
truth." The kind of preaching God wants must convince,
rebuke, and exhort. We must be careful that we do not turn our ears
from hearing the truth by having someone preach what sounds good to us,
but contradicts what God says in the Bible.
Much of the
preaching today does not teach God's word, but mainly tells stories of
humor. There is no Bible doctrine taught that might upset someone,
but only things that tickle people's ears to make them feel good and
comfortable in order to keep them coming back. Their souls are
starving for the truth. Because of this they will be lost
because only the truth can make us free.
In preaching and
teaching God’s word, we must never shun to declare all of it. If one
does, he will have the blood of lost souls on his hands. Paul told the Ephesian elders, "I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I have not
shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God" (Acts
20:26-27). There is really no difference in one shunning to teach
the whole counsel of God than in one teaching false doctrine. Both will
cause people to be lost and the one responsible will be held accountable
for his teaching or lack of teaching.
No man has the
right to pass off as truth things that contradict the Bible, but many
do. All you have to do is look around at all the many different
doctrines which are being taught. Do all these differing
doctrines come from God’s word? Absolutely not. In Jeremiah
5:31 God says, "The prophets prophesy falsely; and my
people love to have it so." Why do people desire to be taught
falsely? Because they are not interested in what God has to
say. The reason for all the religious division we see in the world
today is people will not accept all that God says in the Bible as final
authority. They have become their own authority.
Jesus says in John
8:32, "And you shall know the truth, and the truth
shall make you free." Only by believing and obeying the truth
can we be made free from sin. But what is the truth? Jesus
says in John 17:17, "Sanctify them by your truth, your
word is truth." The word of God is the only truth that will
make us free so we can go to Heaven. The word of men cannot make us
free, but will cause us to be lost.
All things preached
must come from the word of God. We are told in 1 Peter 4:11, "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of
God." The pulpits of our land ring out with what speakers
personally think and believe. But how do we know whether a preacher
is preaching from God’s word or from his own opinion? We must do as
the church at Berea did concerning the apostle Paul’s preaching in Acts
17:11, they "searched the scriptures daily to find out
whether these things were so."
But many men today,
as they did in the first century, are preaching a perverted gospel.
In Galatians 1:6-8 we read, "I marvel that you are
turning away so soon from Him that called you in the grace of Christ,
to a different gospel, which is not another, but there are some
who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But
even though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you
than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed." One
who preaches a perverted gospel is to be accursed. A perverted
gospel will not only cause the one preaching it to be lost but those who
are listening to it will also be lost. Jesus says in Matthew 15:14,
"And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into
a ditch." This becomes very serious.
Mankind has always
sought to glorify himself. In Psalms 111:9 (KJV) in describing God
we read, "Holy and reverend is His name."
"Reverend" refers to God and no one else. Do we want to take a
quality of praise which is applied only to the name of God and apply it to
our own name? How presumptuous can we be? When men use the
word "Reverend" in front of their name, they are taking glory and honor
that belongs only to God and are trying to apply it to themselves.
They might as well also call themselves God.
Men try to glorify
themselves with other names. Jesus in speaking in a spiritual sense
says in Matthew 23:9, "Do not call anyone on earth
your father; for one is your Father, He who is in Heaven."
Why do men in seeking to glorify themselves continue to ignore what the
Lord says? Why do men want to refer to themselves as Father so and
so? They want to receive glory that only belongs to God. King
Herod in Acts chapter 12 took glory upon himself which belonged to God and
we read in verse 23, "And immediately the angel of the
Lord struck him, because he did not give glory to God, and he was eaten by
worms and died." Today God does not immediately deal with sin
as He did then, but will deal with it in the Judgment. Claiming
glory that only belongs to God is a very serious matter. But why do
men do it today? Also the classification of "clergy" and "laity" is
foreign to the word of God. It is another invention of man. We
are warned in Romans 12:3 that a person is, "Not to
think of himself more highly than he ought to think."
Sometimes a
preacher is held up on a "pedestal" and idolized. When some
preachers leave a congregation, whether he is relieved of his job or
whether he leaves because he has a job with another congregation, some
people become devastated. It seems their world has fallen in around
them. Because of this some will even quit the Lord or go
elsewhere. We should never idolize a man. This is wrong.
We are to only worship God. Jesus says in Matthew 4:10, "You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall
serve."
God is pleased only when we are
fully obedient to His will. When His will and only His will is
preached, we then "worship Him in spirit and in truth."
Questions Lesson 21
Preaching In Worship
(click on the button of the answer of your
choice)
1) (1 Corinthians 1:21,
23) The preaching of Christ crucified
Is not well pleasing to God.
Is well pleasing to God.
Is foolishness with God.
2)
The preaching of Christ crucified is foolish to many
people?
3) (2 Timothy 4:2-4) People who will not endure
sound doctrine
Will want to hear the truth.
Will turn their ears from hearing the truth.
Don’t need the truth.
4)
We should want someone to preach what sounds good to
us even though it
contradicts what God says in the Bible.
5) (Jeremiah 5:31) When the prophets prophesied
falsely
The people did not listen to them.
The people loved to have it so.
The people were shocked.
6)
The reason for the religious division we see in the world is
people will
not take all that God says in the Bible as final
authority.
7) (John 5:32, 17:17) The truth that will make us
free is
The word of God.
What we personally think.
What the preacher says.
8)
The word of men will make us free.
9) (1 Peter 4:11) When preachers preach they must
preach
Only the oracles or word of God.
What they think.
According to their creed book.
10)
All things preached must come from the word of God.
11) (Galatians 1:6-8) What will happen to those who
preach a perverted
gospel?
God will overlook it.
They will be saved.
They will be accursed, in other words lost.
12)
A perverted gospel will not only cause the one preaching it
to be lost but
also those who listen to it will be lost.
13) (Psalms 111:9) The name reverend
in the Bible
Is only applied to God.
Is also applied to men.
Is not applied to God.
14)
When men use the word "Reverend" in front of their name,
they are taking
glory and honor that belongs only to God.
15) (Acts 12:23) What happened to King Herod when he
took glory and
honor upon himself that belongs only to God?
Nothing
God honored him.
He was eaten of worms and died.
16)
Claiming glory and honor that belongs to God is sinful.
17) (Matthew 23:9) Religiously speaking, Jesus says
that we are
Not to call any man Father.
Not to humble ourselves before God.
To think of ourselves better than others.
18)
It is Biblically correct to call the preacher Father.