Coconut
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- Joined
- Feb 17, 2005
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- 4,663
2 Timothy 4, "I charge you in the presence of God and of Jesus Christ, who is to judge the living and the dead by his appearing and his kingdom, preach the word."
Preach the Word.
Paul makes a very interesting statement to Timothy in the very first sentence. "I charge you, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead." It doesn't matter what the editor of your state paper thinks about your ministry. It doesn't matter what your director of missions thinks about your ministry. It doesn't matter what your state executive director thinks about your ministry. It doesn't matter what the president of the Southern Baptist Convention thinks about your ministry. The only thing that matters is, what does God think about your ministry? Paul was reminding Timothy, “One day you're going to give an account to God for your ministry."
I want to give you a little word of encouragement about reaching a postmodern world. God is not depending on you to reach a postmodern world. We're depending on God to reach a postmodern world, and God does that through the preaching of His Word.
I want you to notice several things as we work our way through the text . First, we need to receive the charge to be faithful. Paul said "Preach the Word." Notice what he said to Timothy. “I'm not charging you to heal the sick; I'm not charging you to raise the dead; I'm not charging you to speak in tongues, I'm not charging you to perform miracles; I'm charging you to preach the Word." Then Paul did something very bold. He said "I'm not even going to tell you what to preach. I'm going to tell you how to preach. Number one, you need to preach confidently." Preach the Word. Not book reviews, not economics, not philosophy; preach the Word. Preach the Scripture—the whole counsel of God.
John McArthur said something that I agree with wholeheartedly. "Clearly there was no room in Paul's philosophy of ministry for the 'give people what they want' theory that is so prevalent today. He didn't urge Timothy to conduct a survey to find out what his people wanted. He didn't suggest he study demographic data or do research on the felt needs of his people. He commanded him to preach the word faithfully, systematically, reprovingly, patiently, and let it confront the spirit of the age head on." Preach the Word.
I want to make something very plain. I'm not dumb. I want to meet needs. What pastor doesn't want to meet needs? I want to scratch people where they itch. I want to soothe people where they hurt. But Paul said to Timothy, “Don't start with the needs of people. Start with the Word of God. You know why I believe he said that? We hear so much talk about "felt needs." The gospel is not addressed to a felt need; it is addressed to an unfelt need. People talk about "seeker services." If you have a true seeker service, nobody will come. The Bible says there's none that seeks after God. If you have a true seeker service, you won't have anybody show up if the Word of God is truth, because there's none that seeks after God. Should we have sinner sensitive services? No problem. But theologically, to be accurate, you can't have a "seeker service." The gospel is not addressed to a felt need, it's addressed to an unfelt need.
The first eight chapters of Romans tell us man's three greatest needs: Number one, realize he's a lost sinner; number two, repent of his sins, and number three, by faith receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I submit to you today, those are all unfelt needs. If you don't believe it, next time you get on an airplane with someone, start talking with them about any one of those three needs and see if they say "You know, I've been thinking about that lately." That happens very rarely. Those are not felt needs. Only the Holy Spirit can convict a person that he's lost. It is the goodness of God that leads a man to repentance, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The deepest need of individuals in this world today is to confess sin and receive salvation. Those are not felt needs.
Preaching that fails to confront the sinner and convict the sinner and correct the sinner and convert the sinner through the Word of God does not meet people's greatest needs. You may preach in a way that makes them feel good, you may help them to be better leaders, you might help them to be better lovers, but that type of preaching doesn't meet real needs. Paul said "Preach the Word."
There are two or three basics in my ministry I will never give up. I will never give up verse by verse Biblical exposition of the preaching of the Word of God, and I'm going to tell you why. The only power that comes in preaching is the preaching that is connected to the Word of God. It is not preaching that gives the Word of God power; it is the Word of God that gives preaching power, and I don't believe you have to relegate verse by verse exposition to the back burner of the Wednesday night service in order to reach people for Christ, or to be relevant to where people are. Paul said "Preach the Word."
You know why I believe he said that? If you will preach this book faithfully, you will not only meet felt needs, you will uncover needs that people don't even know they have.
This book is the Word of God without us. Without the Word of God, we're nothing.
Paul said "You preach the Word."
I believe this book is still a book that is a fire that can melt the coldest heart, a sword that can cut the hardest soul, and a lamp that enlighten the darkest mind. He said "You preach the Word."
- excerpt by Dr. James Merritt
Pastoral Leadership in a Postmodern World - Dr. James Merritt
"Preach the Bible when it's convenient; preach it when it's inconvenient. Preach it when it's popular; preach it when it's unpopular. Preach it when people like it; preach it when people don't like it. It is not your job to make the message acceptable; it's your job to make the truth available!"
Preach the Word.
Paul makes a very interesting statement to Timothy in the very first sentence. "I charge you, in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead." It doesn't matter what the editor of your state paper thinks about your ministry. It doesn't matter what your director of missions thinks about your ministry. It doesn't matter what your state executive director thinks about your ministry. It doesn't matter what the president of the Southern Baptist Convention thinks about your ministry. The only thing that matters is, what does God think about your ministry? Paul was reminding Timothy, “One day you're going to give an account to God for your ministry."
I want to give you a little word of encouragement about reaching a postmodern world. God is not depending on you to reach a postmodern world. We're depending on God to reach a postmodern world, and God does that through the preaching of His Word.
I want you to notice several things as we work our way through the text . First, we need to receive the charge to be faithful. Paul said "Preach the Word." Notice what he said to Timothy. “I'm not charging you to heal the sick; I'm not charging you to raise the dead; I'm not charging you to speak in tongues, I'm not charging you to perform miracles; I'm charging you to preach the Word." Then Paul did something very bold. He said "I'm not even going to tell you what to preach. I'm going to tell you how to preach. Number one, you need to preach confidently." Preach the Word. Not book reviews, not economics, not philosophy; preach the Word. Preach the Scripture—the whole counsel of God.
John McArthur said something that I agree with wholeheartedly. "Clearly there was no room in Paul's philosophy of ministry for the 'give people what they want' theory that is so prevalent today. He didn't urge Timothy to conduct a survey to find out what his people wanted. He didn't suggest he study demographic data or do research on the felt needs of his people. He commanded him to preach the word faithfully, systematically, reprovingly, patiently, and let it confront the spirit of the age head on." Preach the Word.
I want to make something very plain. I'm not dumb. I want to meet needs. What pastor doesn't want to meet needs? I want to scratch people where they itch. I want to soothe people where they hurt. But Paul said to Timothy, “Don't start with the needs of people. Start with the Word of God. You know why I believe he said that? We hear so much talk about "felt needs." The gospel is not addressed to a felt need; it is addressed to an unfelt need. People talk about "seeker services." If you have a true seeker service, nobody will come. The Bible says there's none that seeks after God. If you have a true seeker service, you won't have anybody show up if the Word of God is truth, because there's none that seeks after God. Should we have sinner sensitive services? No problem. But theologically, to be accurate, you can't have a "seeker service." The gospel is not addressed to a felt need, it's addressed to an unfelt need.
The first eight chapters of Romans tell us man's three greatest needs: Number one, realize he's a lost sinner; number two, repent of his sins, and number three, by faith receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I submit to you today, those are all unfelt needs. If you don't believe it, next time you get on an airplane with someone, start talking with them about any one of those three needs and see if they say "You know, I've been thinking about that lately." That happens very rarely. Those are not felt needs. Only the Holy Spirit can convict a person that he's lost. It is the goodness of God that leads a man to repentance, and faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. The deepest need of individuals in this world today is to confess sin and receive salvation. Those are not felt needs.
Preaching that fails to confront the sinner and convict the sinner and correct the sinner and convert the sinner through the Word of God does not meet people's greatest needs. You may preach in a way that makes them feel good, you may help them to be better leaders, you might help them to be better lovers, but that type of preaching doesn't meet real needs. Paul said "Preach the Word."
There are two or three basics in my ministry I will never give up. I will never give up verse by verse Biblical exposition of the preaching of the Word of God, and I'm going to tell you why. The only power that comes in preaching is the preaching that is connected to the Word of God. It is not preaching that gives the Word of God power; it is the Word of God that gives preaching power, and I don't believe you have to relegate verse by verse exposition to the back burner of the Wednesday night service in order to reach people for Christ, or to be relevant to where people are. Paul said "Preach the Word."
You know why I believe he said that? If you will preach this book faithfully, you will not only meet felt needs, you will uncover needs that people don't even know they have.
This book is the Word of God without us. Without the Word of God, we're nothing.
Paul said "You preach the Word."
I believe this book is still a book that is a fire that can melt the coldest heart, a sword that can cut the hardest soul, and a lamp that enlighten the darkest mind. He said "You preach the Word."
- excerpt by Dr. James Merritt
Pastoral Leadership in a Postmodern World - Dr. James Merritt
"Preach the Bible when it's convenient; preach it when it's inconvenient. Preach it when it's popular; preach it when it's unpopular. Preach it when people like it; preach it when people don't like it. It is not your job to make the message acceptable; it's your job to make the truth available!"
