Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #4

Pastor Appreciation Month: Day #4

October is Pastor Appreciation Month.
Take time today to express to your pastor how much he means to you.

A disgruntled man wrote a letter to the editor: It seems ministers feel their sermons are very important and spend a great deal of time preparing them. I have been attending church quite regularly for thirty years, and I have probably heard 3,000 of them. To my consternation, I discovered I cannot remember a single sermon. I wonder if a minister's time might be more profitably spent on something else?

For weeks a storm of editorial responses ensued... finally ended by this letter:
Dear Sir: I have been married for thirty years. During that time I have eaten 32,850 meals—mostly my wife's cooking. Suddenly I have discovered I cannot remember the menu of a single meal. And yet... I have the distinct impression that without them, I would have starved to death long ago.

What is preaching? Preaching is the art of communicating the message of God from the Scriptures to the hearts and lives of people in a comprehendible manner.

As preachers, we are commanded to Preach the Gospel (Mark 16:15), this means to herald for the good news of salvation. Mark 16:15, “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” Preach the Word (II Timothy 4:2), this means preach the whole counsel of the Word of God. II Timothy 4:2, “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”

When God called me to preach, I knew I had very little to offer God, but I knew that His Word was powerful and could change lives forever. I have asked God to let my preaching be dominated with His Word rather than my opinion, my advice, or my experiences. I love the admonition of Paul to Timothy—preach the Word! Preach means “to cry out, herald, or exhort”. Haddon W. Robinson stated, “Preaching should so stir a man that he pours out the message with passion and fervor. Not all passionate pleading from a pulpit, however, possesses divine authority. When a preacher speaks as a herald, he must cry out ‘the Word’. Anything less cannot legitimately pass for Christian preaching.” II Timothy 4:2,“…be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.”

1. Readiness
The command to “be instant in season, out of season” carries the picture of a soldier on duty, ready for battle at any moment. Preaching is not something we do only when we feel like it or when the audience is receptive to our message. Later in verses 3–4, Paul reminds us, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” The preacher needs to stay with the task of preaching whether he feels like it or not…. The preacher must be faithful to preach the Word regardless of whether listeners welcome it, reject it, or ignore it.”

2. Reprove
This word carries the idea of a lawyer cross-examining or questioning a witness. Refuting error or proving something wrong is a huge part of the preacher’s responsibility. A few verses earlier in 2 Timothy 3:16, the Holy Spirit reminds us that the Word of God is profitable for reproof. In Titus 1:9–11, we see that a preacher must be one who is, “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision: Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre’s sake.” Ephesians 5:11 states, “And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” Bryson explains, “To reprove in preaching means to present the axioms of the Christian faith or to refute in a reasoned manner the errors marshaled against the faith.”

3. Rebuke
When people turn from the truth of God’s Word, often the next step is into sin. As preachers, we must be willing to confront people with what the Bible says about their sin. In 1 Timothy 5:20, Paul stated, “Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear.” In Titus 1:12–13, he says, “…the Cretians are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies. This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith”. Like Nathan of old, the preacher must be willing to expose sin and declare, “Thou art the man”. Preaching must reach the conscience of a man if change is to take place.

4. Revive
The word exhort in our passage has a double meaning, in that it means “to comfort” as well as “to urge”. Many today are hurting in despair, discouragement, and disappointment. The preacher must revive the heart of the despondent with the Word of God. But he must also urge and persuade the apathetic to action. Reviving the indifferent to obedience is needed today in this Laodicean age of Christianity. The preacher of God’s Word must exhort God’s people to awaken out of their sleep and redeem the time.

5. Remain
Then Paul tells the preacher that he must do all of this with, “All longsuffering and doctrine”. Preaching requires a faithful patience. The seed must be sown, then watered, cultivated, fertilized, and, in time, harvested. Preaching the Word is the task of a born-again believer who has received a unique call of God. When God calls anyone to expound the Bible, He bestows the gift of expounding. God gives abilities to interpret, skills to communicate, and competence for speaking. But God’s gifts do not come without human cooperation. The preacher must study the Bible. To preach the Word means to act as if everything in preaching depends on God and to work as if everything depends on the preacher.

“The message of the biblical preacher is the most important message in the world. It calls for an all-out human effort coupled with the supernatural moving of the Holy Spirit in both preparation and presentation. This involves hard work. There is no substitute. Preaching requires a 24/7 commitment. The message cannot be separated from the messenger. Good food served with dirty hands is undesirable. The construction of our homiletics and the condition of our hearts must be in harmony.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF PREACHING
Preaching is:
P- Not just Performing, it is Proclaiming.
R- Not just Rattling the tongue, it is Revealing the Truth.
E- Not just Excitement, but it is also Enlightenment.
A- Not just Action, but it is Unction.
C- Not just Contact, but it is also Contents.
H- Not just getting something off your Heart, but it is getting the truth into their heart.

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