I invite you to say God's word this morning and with me to Second Timothy, chapter four. Verses 1 through 5 form a section, and that's where we have had our attention directed for the last few Sundays and where we will continue to direct our attention. Let me read verses 1 through 5. And again, it's a unit, and so I trust that God will take it and press it to our hearts, giving us greater understanding. The apostle begins in verse one, I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom. Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Well, again, verses one through five of this fourth chapter form a unit. Paul is charging Timothy as one who has been entrusted with the preaching of the word. Now, he had just concluded in chapter three. I know I say this a lot, but the chapters and verses were not a part of the original. So it's a it's a it's an epistle. It's a letter. that Paul has written to Timothy. And so what we call chapter three is just simply the previous section of the letter. And Paul had just reminded Timothy of the nature of the Bible, the nature of the scripture, that it's inspired of God, that it flows forth from God, which makes it infallible and absolute. With absolute authority it is thee, thus saith the Lord. And he's also told Timothy of the necessity of scripture both in the salvation of the elect and in their progress towards maturity. And so chapter 4 verse 1 opens with, I solemnly charge you. In other words, because it is the infallible word of God, And because of God's charge upon the life of Timothy as a preacher of the word, it is essential that Timothy faithfully discharge his duty. So there you have it. That's the intent and the purpose and the scope of verses 1 through 5 of chapter 4. But understand this, Jesus Christ loves his bride. You understand the identity of the bride of Christ. It's you and I. It's the people of God. It's the body of Christ. It's those for whom the Lord Jesus Christ has died, those who are the believing. He loves his bride, meaning he loves his church. I've got a book in my office by Earl Blackburn that's titled Jesus Loves the Church, and so should you. So he loves his bride, and he has provided for her care. And one of the ways that he has provided is to provide shepherds for his church. These shepherds or pastors have a particular calling and a particular work and the chief calling of the pastor. is to preach. So that's, you know, these are the pastoral epistles and Paul is writing to Timothy and then to Titus. And he's reminding them of this great work that is before them, this particular calling and particular work. So Paul sets forth the primary work of the pastor, preach the word. And he gives it eschatological significance. All these fancy words, eschatology is merely speaking of the end. And so in verse one, he says, Jesus Christ is judged the living and the dead and by his appearing and his kingdom. In other words, this is the activity of the pastor that God has given to the church and it will continue until the end of the age. It's God's purpose. It's God's purpose for bringing the elect to faith. And it's God's purpose for their maturity as Christians. I appreciate Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 1 21, for after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save those that believe. So in these opening verses, Paul is directing Timothy's attention to this high divine calling. And he divides it into three categories or three areas. Now, first of all is the commission to preach. And then second of all, we see the focus of preaching, the focus of this call to preach. And then thirdly, the scope of the message that is to be ready in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience that instruction. Last week, I began by giving the commission for the work. And I had originally planned to do the commission and to focus at the same time in a single sermon. But as it sometimes happens, it did not work out that way. And I really didn't even finish truly giving the exposition of the commission to preach. Gasper quite proudly informed me yesterday that I broke my record in the longest sermon that I'd ever preached. dealing with the commission to preach the word. And so instead of doing the commission and the focus in a single sermon, I decided to break it up. Although the bulletins are prepared two weeks in advance, so your bulletin this morning speaks of the scope of preaching. And next week's sermon is going to be off too, but then we'll be back in order again. And so this this whole idea of the commission is very important. It is a point that is, in many circles, dismissed or misunderstood in our generation. And it's led to many corrupting influences in the church, even including women serving as pastors. We really don't understand the importance of the commission, even in reformed congregations. We don't understand the commission. That it is a divinely ordained calling. And again, we must always get our instruction out of the Bible. Not what you think, not what others have done, not what might seem good. We get our instruction from the Bible and we believe in the plenary, we looked at this in chapter 3, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Not some scripture, not most scripture, but all scripture. And we believe in the verbal plenary inspiration of scripture. Again, fancy words. By verbal, we're simply talking about words. We believe that the words are inspired. And then by plenary, we simply mean all of the words. So all of the words of scripture are inspired by God. which means words are important. We can't go around redefining words. And I mentioned last week, it's like in our state, redefining gambling with the word gaming and thus usurping our own constitution by simply renaming what it is. And people are doing that with the office of pastor today. They're just redefining it. But you cannot redefine and you must have a clarity on the word. And so I mentioned last week or in the course of the preaching, the word preach here. Again, we believe in the verbal plenary, but we've got an English translation. And I don't often hold the Greek before you because in many times it's irrelevant to the text. The English translation is good. So there's no reason in every sermon to say, but the Greek says this and the Greek says that when the English translation is sufficient. But there are times that the nuance of the Greek is not carried forth into our English translations. And this is one of those times. The word preach is very important and very significant and very particular here. We just can't take preach and figure that it just means that this is a charge to everybody to preach. It's very particular and very significant. And the word is keruso, a very particular word, and it refers to a herald or the work of a herald. Herald, the word, is literally what it's saying. As the herald of God, the verbal form is keruso, and the noun form, speaking of the individual, is kerux. And so the herald, heralds the word of God. It's interesting. Does everyone know what the Septuagint is? And I'm sure there are many that are scratching their heads. I would have heard the word before, but I don't quite remember what it means. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures. The Bible is not just translated into English. Though we're all very grateful to the sacrifice of William Tyndale that made it possible, who gave his life so that we might have our English translation. Luther translated it into German. But going way back, even before the time of Christ, or shortly thereafter, they were translating the, or before, I'm sorry, they were translating the Hebrew scriptures into Greek. And in many times in the New Testament times, they are reading the Hebrew scriptures in the Greek. thus the Septuagint. And the reason I bring that out, it's interesting in Daniel chapter 3. Now in Daniel chapter 3, we're all familiar with what's going on in Daniel, and Nebuchadnezzar sets off his golden statue. And he commands everyone in the kingdom to bow before that statue. And the scripture says, the herald, Daniel 3, 4, then the herald loudly proclaimed, to you the command is given, O peoples, nations, and the men of every language. the Greek translation of the Hebrew here, that we translate in our English, herald, is kerux. In other words, this was a particular individual with a particular charge, with a particular word, representing the king, and he went forth, charged by the king, to deliver this proclamation to the people. He was a herald. And so the pastor is a herald of God's Word. The call of the pastor is a call upon man to give himself as the herald or to give himself to preaching and teaching the Word of God. And verse 2 describes it. Preach the Word. And I also pointed out last time that verse 2 is a particular charge to Timothy As a pastor, you have to ask yourself, because we tend to read the entirety of the New Testament as if it is written to the individual. So we internalize each passage when we fail to give it the proper hermeneutic or the proper system of translation or interpretation. I'm sorry. So we have to understand that the Gospels are of a particular genre. And the epistles are a particular genre. The epistles are the letters. And the letters are written primarily to the church, secondarily to individuals. So there are times as you read the New Testament that it's written for the benefit of the pastors who are teaching the church. 1 Timothy chapter 3, Paul tells Timothy, Timothy, I expect to come to you soon, but in case I'm delayed, here's why I'm writing to you. That you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and support of the truth. In other words, he's saying, Timothy, I'm writing this that you might be better equipped to lead the church. And he says that right after giving the qualifications for pastor and deacon. So the point is, verse 2 here, though we read it as individuals and we glean from it, and there are principles that apply to the individual, this is not written to Christians in general, not verse 2. He's not commanding every Christian to go out and preach the word. He is using a particular word writing to Timothy, particularly as a pastor, to take this word and preach it because he has been charged. He has been enlisted as the herald of God to preach the word. That's important to understand this. Because what ends up happening is you find a lady that says, well, I'm being commanded here to preach the Word, and I'm going to go out and preach the Word, because after all, 2 Timothy 4, verse 2 commands me to preach the Word. This is not given to Timothy as a Christian. It is given to Timothy as one charged with the preaching of the Word of God. And we can see this over and over and over. It's a divine charge. It is a divine calling. And it is thrust upon the individual. And many times the individual holds back. I did. When God started calling me to pastoral ministry. Boy, I didn't have the clarity, exactly what it meant and what I should do. But more importantly, I always felt insignificant and insufficient for so high a charge, feeling completely inadequate for the task. And to this day, I feel inadequate for the task. I do not feel that I am up to or adequate for this task of preaching and leading the people of God. But I feel compelled to do so. That's what Paul says. He says in 1 Corinthians 9, 16, For if I preach the gospel, have nothing to boast of, For I am under compulsion. You hear that? I'm under compulsion. For woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. Jeremiah says, Jeremiah 20 verse 9. But if I say I will not remember him or speak any more in his name, Then in my heart it becomes like a burning fire, shut up in my bones, and I'm weary of holding it in, and I cannot endure it. In other words, like Paul, I am under compulsion. So I would tell any man that feels a call to the gospel ministry, first of all, it's a good thing, and you should feel inadequate, because you are. Second of all, though, if you do not feel compelled to do it, don't do it. Charles Spurgeon to his students said, if you, quote, if you can do anything else, do it. And if you can stay out of the ministry, stay out of the ministry. That sounds kind of strong, doesn't it? Martin Lloyd-Jones says, The man who is called to preach is the man who cannot do anything else in the sense that he is not satisfied with anything else. This call to preach is so put upon him and such pressure comes to bear upon him that he says, I can do nothing else but preach. That's what we're finding here with Timothy. Timothy feels inadequate. He says, I'm young. It's difficult. It's hard. But Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 4, Do not neglect the spiritual gift in you, which was bestowed on you through the prophetic utterance with the laying on of the hands by the presbytery. Timothy, you have been called. You have been charged. So faithfully discharge your calling. Give yourself to it. Preach the word. So now, once again, Paul is directing Timothy's attention on this divine calling. I solemnly charge you, Timothy says. Or verse 5 of this text. Remember, verse 1 through 5 is a unit. Verse 5 says, But you, Timothy, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. You've been called, set apart as the herald of God. So what do you do? Fulfill your ministry. Preach the Word. Give yourself to it. Be instant. when it's popular and when it's not. In season and out of season. Timothy, give yourself to this divine charge. Alright, I think that I've finished last week's sermon now, so we can move on. But I'm going to move on quickly, that's right. I'm not setting out to break any further records. By the way, I've got a friend There are several pastors that are meeting on Monday via Zoom, studying the London Baptist Confession, and he's broken a record too. And his record for the length of a sermon, he said, quote, Tom just got away from me, three hours. I see some of you, three hours. So I promise I will never, ever seek to break his record. Someone asked him, did your congregation stay with you? Oh yeah, they were with me. They were on top of it. They were, you know, three hours. So I know that the apostle Paul preached so long one evening that around midnight, as he's preaching strong, a young man by the name of Eudicus fell out of the window of sleep and they presumed he was dead. And Paul stopped preaching long enough to go down and heal the young man. And then he went back up and continued preaching until dawn. So three hours, I guess, isn't really that long. We have a good representative and a good example of one who preached until he was through. So I will preach until I'm through, but I trust I will be through long before three hours. So this morning, I want to continue looking at the text and look at the focus of the commission of God upon the life of Timothy. And it's a very clear focus. And it's very simple. It's simply this. Preach the word. That's the focus. Preach the word. The man that God calls as a herald is the man that must give himself to preaching. And I can appreciate what Charles Spurgeon says, and I believe that what he says is true. If this man can do anything else, he should do it. But I think it is absolutely wrong for a plumber to decide, I'm going to go on Sunday mornings and I'm going to preach and then get back to my plumbing work. It's very easy for him to just do his plumbing work. But the man who is charged, he might be bi-vocational by the way, he might be a plumber, but he is a pastor first and foremost. And he gives himself to preaching first and foremost because he can do nothing else. I would say to this plumber that takes up preaching as a side note, I would ask him, are you called to shepherd God's people? And if you are called to shepherd God's people, give yourself to shepherding God's people. You may be a plumber, but give yourself to the divine calling and stop pretending otherwise. If you can do anything else, do it. Don't be a pretender. Our confession says it's not just pastors that are called to preach, but other gifted men. But I believe with all my heart, those other gifted men are those who feel that God's charge upon their life and they are beginning the preparation to enter the gospel ministry. They are under the watch care of the other elders. And at some point, the other elders give him the authority, if you will, to preach, to come to the pulpit, to exercise their gifts, to continue the preparation for the gospel ministry as they are carefully and cautiously under the watch care of other pastors. I think these are the men that God has raised up to preach and none other. Well, again, Preach the word using the word K-Russo, literally carrying the idea of a town crier or one sent to announce the important news from the king. But there's one more word. Well, there's several. All the words surrounding this are very important. They're very distinct. The word K-Russo is distinct. The word K-Rux, which is referring to the herald, is distinct. But what about the message? So you have K. Russo. That's the activity. Preach the word. You have K. Rooks that is speaking of the individual, the one that's been charged. And then you have the message. And the message is the word K. Rookma. And it's the word that we find in 1 Corinthians 1.21. Now, in the King James Version, it's translated preaching. You see, in the English, we just keep getting the word preaching over and over. But here's what we read in 1 Corinthians 1.21. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. to save them that believe. The new American standard on this verse, I like the King James because it, you know, the foolishness of preaching. But the new American standard says by the foolishness of the word preached, it is the kerugma. And the definition of kerugma is twofold. The one that I have is number one, that which is proclaimed by a herald, or a public crier, a proclamation by a herald, the kerugma. But then the secondary translation is this. In the New Testament, it's the message or proclamation of the heralds of God. So the heralds of God, the kerugs, preached the message of God, the Kerygma, and the message itself is the word of the herald that is given to the people of God. We find it again in verse 17 of this very chapter where Paul says, but the Lord stood with me and strengthened me so that through me the proclamation That's the kerygma, that's the word translated preaching in 1st Corinthians. So that the proclamation might be fully accomplished, that all the Gentiles might hear, and I was rescued out of the lion's mouth. Listen to Titus chapter 1, Paul writing to Titus. Remember, Timothy is in Ephesus. Titus is in Crete, but they're both doing basically the same work, correcting false doctrine and confirming and laboring for the well-being and building up of the church. So in Titus, Paul writes, this is verses two and three of Titus one in the hope of eternal life, which God who cannot lie promised long ages ago. but at the proper time manifested even his word in the proclamation." Again, 1 Corinthians would translate that preaching, but it's referring to the word that the herald brings. "...in the proclamation with which I was entrusted according to the commandment of God our Savior." Well, as I pointed out last week, and this is the last time this morning that I'll call attention to a word in the Greek. There's one more word, and I pointed it out last week. It's the word euangelizo. Euangelizo is also translated preaching. You see how it's taking all these Greek words, and the Greek words are very distinct, but it's translating them all the same way into English, and it's very, easy to become confused. I think so. So, the word yuangelidzo, which can be translated preach, is given to every believer. Literally, you can hear the word good news in it. Well, every Christian, it literally means to gossip or to speak the good news. And in that sense, it is the preaching of every Christian to the world. In Acts chapter 8, persecution came upon Jerusalem. Persecution has always been very common in the church. Jerusalem is experiencing great persecution and everyone, it says, everyone was scattered except the apostles. The apostles stayed behind. And everyone was scattered doing a very particular activity. They were all scattered preaching. Acts chapter 8. So Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women. He would put them in prison. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching. But it's the word euangelizum. But so preaching the word, but Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them. And it's using the word K. Russo, the official proclamation as a herald of the word of God. So while all Christians were spreading the good news, Philip, the evangelist, went forth as a herald, one charged and enlisted to preach the message of the king. So every Christian is called to spread the gospel, both male and female. In fact, even pastors are involved in this work. You know, it does not mean that every Christian is to go out, euangelizo, spreading the good news of the word of God, but pastors are released from that responsibility. We just preach from the pulpit. No, we do both. As God's heralds, we preach from the pulpit, but we are also responsible to go out and live our lives and share the good news of the gospel with everyone that we meet. So in Ephesians 3.8, Paul says, to me, the very least of all the saints, this grace was given to preach. But now it's euangelizo, to preach to the Gentiles the unfathomable riches of Christ. So Timothy was called as God's herald to preach the word. But as a Christian, he also had the mandate to go and win the nations with the gospel, the work of the kingdom. So preach the word. That's the focus. And nothing should be allowed to supplant this duty. And there are endless distractions. There are endless distractions. It's amazing. I get here at 545 in the morning. And before I know it, it's noon. And I eat my oatmeal. But those hours pass by unbelievable. And then the afternoon comes and it's over and I go home. And there are so many things to do and so many distractions. And I have to make sure that I'm giving good, adequate time to the study of the Word of God. You know, I prepare all my sermons in Word files, and you probably know that in Windows Explorer, you can see the details of each file, each Word file, and it tells you how many hours you have spent editing the file. And that's important to me because when I have a sermon that I've only spent two hours editing the file, I begin to wonder, did I spend enough time in the text to adequately prepare the sermon? But there are some files that are 17, 18, 20 hours long. And then you begin to say, well, you know, I probably still haven't given enough time, but at least it's better than just having spent a couple of hours perusing and and and whizzing through the text. So, I mean, can a pastor play golf? Yeah, he can. There's nothing wrong with golf. I mean, there really isn't. Right. Yeah, nothing wrong with playing golf. Golf is a good game. There's several in our very congregation. Gasper was saying yesterday, you know, come Christmas time, one of the standards, I need more golf balls, he says. That's okay. But, you know, I've got hobbies. It's not golf, but I've got hobbies. That's okay. You know, we can have hobbies. Boy, we've got to guard our hearts. I say we. I've been called and charged with the preparation to preach the Word to the body of Christ. But you've got your own heart and soul to give attention to, to adequately study the Word of God, to give yourself to good times of prayer and meditation. So don't allow these distractions to consume your life. So we give ourselves to preaching. Don't forget, by the way, the purpose of deacons. You know, it's Christ loves his church. He loves the body of Christ. He loves his own bride. So he's given pastors to preach and teach the word of God. But there are so many distractions. And the apostles were distracted by the service caring for the widows. And they said, it's not good for us to leave the preaching of the word and prayer to ten tables. So choose out from among yourselves seven men that they might give themselves over to this work. So Acts chapter six, beginning with verse two. So the 12th summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, it is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables. Therefore, brethren, the church, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Holy Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task. But we will devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry of the word. That was their chief calling. That was their chief duty. They were compelled to give themselves to it. And though serving and helping the widows is a good thing, and as the shepherd of the body of Christ, they should give themselves to the care of the flock. But they cannot give themselves entirely over to activities that take them away from the word of God. And sometimes they have to learn to say, no, that's a hard word. No, I can't give myself to this right now. No, I don't have time for this. And that might be offensive to someone. But no, I must give myself to preaching in the ministry of the word. So the pastor must not allow anything any distraction, any pursuit to take the place of preaching. And then one more side, and this is a charge to our congregation, and we must not allow anything to supplant the preaching in worship. I mean, we can tongue-in-cheek say, well, that was a long sermon, pastor. But you do realize that is the chief aspect of worship. It's really not the singing. In our generation, we have allowed everything to supplant the importance of preaching. And in many evangelical churches, music has done so. We've had associational meetings in which truly the pulpit has now been brought over to the side once again. Because it gets in the way of the musicians and the singers, the praise band, the individuals that do nothing but have a mic in front of them, and singing in front of the congregation. I don't know why. As if the congregation needs someone else to do their singing for them. And of course, the drums and the instruments. That's precisely what Roman Catholicism did over the years. One, because the focus, the center of worship, was the Eucharist, the Mass. And so the altar became the center. You go to any Catholic church today, and where is the pulpit? It's not in the center. It's off to the side. And and many of the contemporary churches today, evangelical churches, the pulpits off to the side, it's usually plexiglass, which doesn't denote permanence. And but they'll be behind the plexiglass pulpit. But usually, like right now, they step away from it. I never do this. Right. I usually stay right here because this pulpit. has substance, and it speaks to something. I like what R.C. Sproul used to say. He said, every form is an art form, and every art form says something. It speaks something. It declares something. It's the nature of art. But every form is an art form, and every art form says something. This pulpit says something. It says that it's solid, and it has a place, and there's a permanence to it, and it is central, and it is elevated. None of that is without purpose. It all says something. When you make the pulpit flimsy, flexible, transparent and plexiglass and you put it off to the side, that also says something. But the reformers very quickly reinstated the importance of preaching. And the pulpit was moved to the center. And in some Presbyterian churches, you know, back in the days of the Puritans, the pulpits began to be higher and higher. They had to climb a series of steps to get up to the pulpit. That wasn't to exalt the preaching or the preacher. It was to exalt the preaching. They understood the importance of preaching and of the word of God. Church growth experts say that people are not interested in sermons today. They have been conditioned by television in which in television, you ever watch a movie on TV? And when you start watching the movie, there may be 15 or 20 minutes before the first commercial. They get you sucked in, drawn into the movie. And then the commercial breaks become quicker, quicker, quicker, quicker. So by the time you get to the end of the movie and Amazon Prime and Netflix both do this and I'm not giving any any pep talk for either one. You still got to watch what you watch. But by the time you get to the end of the movie, commercials are coming every three or four minutes, it seems, and they're getting longer and longer. But that's our attention span. Church growth people say we have been conditioned to very short attention spans. We're not accustomed to clear, concise focus. It's to our shame, by the way, You read the Puritans. Oh my goodness, these guys were clear thinkers. You read our own confession. Read the confession. Read chapter 2 of God and the Holy Trinity. And that first paragraph, which is long, is a single sentence. And it's not some crazy run-on sentence either. They had a grasp of the English language, and they understood that words mean something. So they wanted the, you know, words are insufficient to declare the glory of our God, but we're going to give it our best effort. And these guys were such clear thinkers. But they were able to do so with clarity and very helpful for us. If you find yourself growing weary in the preaching, do whatever necessary. You know, I had one member, literally, this was at the old building, he said, you know, I find it very difficult. I find myself slumbering. I find myself, my mind wandering. And I said, well, take notes. And because when you're taking notes, your mind is engaged. He said, I do, but I still find difficult. I said, then sit on the edge of your pew and listen and engage and take notes. He says, I do, but sometimes it's still difficult. I said, OK, then stand up, go to the back of the sanctuary and stand up. And I can tell you, never ever Have I fallen asleep while standing here preaching? Now, that doesn't mean it won't ever happen, but I'm engaged and, you know, it's so intense for me. I have people come up and say, I'm sorry if that was a distraction to you. And I'll go, what? It is an intense activity. And so if something is distracting you, and you're falling into slumber, and your mind is beginning to stray, do whatever necessary to gird up the loins of your mind. And we must feel absolute dependence upon the power of God to take His Word by His Spirit and press it upon our hearts, which means you need to pray, pray, pray, both before you enter in and while the preaching is going on. You know, we sing a hymn that says that. Don't dismiss our hymns. Hymns should be theological, and hymns should have substance, not just praise hymns. I'm thankful for those who, in our generation, are restoring good hymnity with good, solid theology. I'm appreciative for Keith Getty, Keith and Kristen Getty. those that are restoring good hymnity to the church. But here's the hymn we sing. Brethren, we have met to worship and adore the Lord our God. Will you pray with all your power while we try to preach the word? All is vain unless the spirit of the Holy One comes down. Brethren, pray in holy manner. will be showered all around. Pray, pray, pray. You know, this is what defines preaching. What is preaching, by the way? What's the difference between a lecture or teaching? You know, an individual can be a teacher without being called to the gospel ministry, and they can be a good teacher. And every elder should be a teacher. But there can be others who can teach. So what's the difference between teaching and preaching? And there are many that cannot discern the difference. Well, one, preaching carries the element that the individual has been set apart as the herald of God. That's different than teaching. So he's the herald of God. There is an authority that comes from the preaching of the Word of God. It's not an authority that the individual has in and of himself. It is an authority that comes from the proper proclamation of the Word of God. Or, as I've said before you many times, when the Word of God is rightly preached, it is Christ preaching. But it is also distinguished by the power of God upon his word. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2, and my message and my preaching was not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power. The preaching of the word of God goes forth in command mode. MacArthur once said his children would come to him and say, Dad, when you're around us, you're just a regular guy. But there's something when you go to the pulpit that changes, and it's different. Sometimes it's hard to put a label on. But one thing about it, as the herald of God, that should be anointed by God, should preach with the authority of God, and to be able to say, thus saith the Lord. Paul tells Timothy in 1 Timothy 4.12, these things command and teach. So the pastor should always be in command mode, always be prepared to teach, or as he says here in verse 2, In season and out of season, prepared to preach. And then the other final aspect, the focus, preaching, but a very particular preaching. Preach the word. You know, today there are men that come to the pulpit that speak on many different subjects. And many are gifted orators, far greater than I. They can sway the audience with their persuasive skill. They can become excellent motivational speakers and do so without the word of God. just by the power of their persuasive words. And some become such motivational speakers that they can speak on everything from finances to personal relationships to social and political issues, and it goes on and on and on. But God says to the one that he has set apart to shepherd his people, which is the charge upon Timothy, preach the word, nothing else. Preach the word, which demands having a proper view of the word of God. It is the truth. It is the only truth that can lead to the saving of a soul, none other. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the words of Christ. The reformers used the expression Sola Scriptura. I said a moment ago, they regained the importance of preaching and they brought it back to a central position. But regarding salvation, they developed what they called the five Solas of the Reformation. They're printed on a little card back on the table back there, if you don't have one. And it's written in Latin. But it's sola scriptura, scripture alone, not traditions of men, because Roman Catholicism had given greater authority to the proclamations from ex cathedra, from the pope, from the throne, and greater attention upon the traditions of the church, and the word of God became less and less and less significant. Sola Scriptura. And then, so we're saved through the scriptures alone, then by grace alone. Sola gratia. Through faith alone, sola fide. In Christ alone, soli deo gloria. Solus Christus, I'm sorry. In Christ alone, and then to God alone be the glory. Sola dei gloria. Well, the first one was sola scriptura. When I come before you, now, I have to give application and often say you can give two pastors the same text and when they come and preach it, though the meaning doesn't change. There's only one meaning here. We need to get back to the original intent of the author. What is he saying? Why is he saying it? Who is he saying it to? What is he saying through the words? All this is important. And even what are the cultural and historical elements that are brought into it? And there's only one meaning. But it can be applied in many different ways. So there can be more than one application, but only one meaning. So as a pastor comes and preaches the word, he may bring different applications to the same text. So this morning, as I'm bringing the application, I speak of the Roman Catholic Church and their diminishing of the importance of the Word of God. This doesn't say that. I'm bringing application to what it does say. And that's OK, that it's not inconsistent with the essence of the text. But understand this. The text, the meaning of the text, the words of the text have significance and that is what must be preached. Preach the word. Paul tells Timothy in chapter 3, he said, Timothy, from a childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith That is in Christ Jesus. And let me tell you about this scripture. All scripture is inspired by God. So he's telling Timothy, this is the very word by which you were saved. And then as we get into chapter four, then that is the word that you must preach, Timothy. Same thing in Titus 1.9. holding fast the faithful word, which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able to both exhort in sound doctrine and refute those who contradict." It's the Word of God that gives wisdom unto salvation. It's the Word of God that Paul tells you is profitable. It's the Word of God that's profitable. You know, skip back up to chapter 3, verse 16. All Scripture is inspired by God, and it is profitable for teaching, reproof, for correction and training in righteousness. That's what we preach. That's what's profitable for the body of Christ. That's what will build you up. That's what will strengthen you as a believer. And that's what every pastor desires. Paul says, I trust and hope, I'm paraphrasing, I trust and hope that I may be able to present you before Christ as a chaste virgin. We're the bride of Christ. He's the bridegroom. And every pastor wants to present his flock to the master in all of their chasteness. Those who have been prepared, ready to receive Christ on that great day. So the man of God must preach the full, whole counsel of the Word of God, because that's God's command. That's why expository preaching is valuable. And that's why preaching of the Word is letting God speak rather than men. And it's the preaching of the Word of God that promotes biblical literacy in the congregation. It's the preaching of the Word of God that carries the ultimate authority from God. So the question to you then, and I'll close, do you believe in the importance of preaching? Do you believe in the supernatural nature of preaching? And ponder that just for a moment. Ruminate on it. Meditate on it. Consider it. Don't answer it too quickly. Do you believe in the supernatural nature of preaching? We don't even know what supernatural means. But there's something that takes place with preaching that's beyond nature. That's beyond our comprehension. that's beyond the mere words of men. It is through the foolishness of preaching that God transforms a sinner from death unto life. What you witness is nothing less than resurrection from the dead. Do you believe that? Will you prepare your own heart to come and receive the preaching of the Word of God? Will you invite others? You may have loved ones that are lost, that do not know Christ, and you desperately want them to be saved. Yet God says in his word, it's by the foolishness of preaching that God saves them that believe. He can take His Word in many ways. He can save an individual as they are at home reading the Word of God. I always point them to the Gospel of John. Read the Word of God. But there is power in the preaching, the public proclamation of the Word of God. So will you pray for yourself and the preacher? In the history of the church, preaching has always been vital to its health. During decadent periods, preaching has always declined, what we call the Middle Ages or the Dark Ages. And during every great revival, there's been a renewed emphasis on preaching. You know, back 400 years ago, They didn't have the Internet and they didn't have television and they didn't have recordings. And what did people do? I once had someone, they said, you mean we're really not supposed to watch TV on the Lord's Day? I said, it's probably not the best way to spend the Lord's day. And the individual said, then what do we do? What do we do if you don't have TV? Which I say, how do I answer this? When you do that, which will feed your soul. So 400 years ago, they didn't have TV. They didn't have radio. They didn't have the internet. What did they do? Well, it's interesting. Whitfield, in the Boston Common, would attract crowds of people, and he would preach the word of God. And they would hear in this, oh now, I mean, not everyone received it well. Nothing like having dead cats thrown at you, or rotten tomatoes, or rotten eggs, and they would experience it all. But multitudes would come. You might say, well, they didn't have anything else to do. Well, praise God! They didn't have anything else to do but come and hear the preaching of the Word of God. But God took His Word and used it with power. I pray that God will use His Word today with power. And so invite, pray, for yourself and for others, and understand that there is something powerful. There's something powerful about the preaching of the Word of God. And let me throw in one more plug, and I'll close. This is completely other than, not even part of the text, not even an application for the text, it's just a plug. There's something particular about the preaching, the public proclamation of the Word of God, as the herald, God's herald, stands before the congregation and preaches something powerful. One other thing. You can pray at any time. You've got your prayer clothes that you can pray while sitting at red lights. And I hope you do. You can pray while riding your bicycle, while jogging, while walking. Yay! And while playing golf. You can pray. But there is something particular about public prayer. when the body of Christ comes together to pray. You know the Lord's Prayer is a public prayer. It is a prayer for the saints and it's in the plural. Our Father, you can pray it privately. Oh my God, which art in heaven, holy is your name. But it's a public prayer. Even our master understood the importance of corporate prayer. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. When Paul and Silas were in prison, the body of Christ was in the upper room, praying together. When Peter was arrested, they were praying together. So much so that Peter's released, he knocks on the door, and they think it's a ghost as they're praying for the release of Peter. So just a plug, we do pray corporately every Wednesday night, and so just a plug. It is a great benefit for the body of Christ to gather together, to pray together. Well, let's pray. Father, we thank you for the wonder in all that takes place with preaching. Father, it is but the words of a man. And the best of men are still men at best. They are sinners. Their speaking is imperfect. stammering, stuttering, sometimes confused. But Father, you take your own word and use it supernaturally to the saving of souls and the building up of the body of Christ. So would you continue to do so, O God? Bless our church. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.