There are a few things that we know will happen on any given Sunday. We will have a greeting, sing, and pray. And then for thirty to forty-five minutes of our service there will be preaching. But why? Why is it that we take up a large part of our time together in corporate worship when one man speaks? Why do we have preaching? What is the place of preaching in corporate worship? This is what I want to try to answer this morning. And I think the text which we have just read together – 2 Timothy 3:10-4:5 – is the text to answer this question.

However, before we answer this main question this morning, we need to answer a few more questions.

The first is: “What is preaching?” What is it in its nature? The word for preach is a word that means to herald, announce, or proclaim. It is what the town crier did when he came to make a proclamation crying, “Hear ye, hear ye!” Therefore, to preach is to proclaim. Thus when one is told to preach, there is something that he is to proclaim. But what is to be proclaimed?

This question will help us fill out our definition of preaching. Paul writes to Timothy, “Preach the Word” (4:2). Thus, we may rightly say that preaching is a heraldic proclamation of God’s Word. For some this might be simple and repetitive to what you already know, but I fear that if some of these foundations aren’t laid in the church, then we are always a generation away from forsaking the truth and essence of biblical essentials. Also, it is good to have this definition because so much of what is called preaching today is simply not that. Many come and tell stories, possibly reading the text to open, but never making the content of their proclamation God’s Word. Therefore, again, preaching is a heraldic proclamation of the Word of God.

But we can add more to this definition by asking, “What kind of proclamation does it involve?” That is, yes, we know one is to herald and proclaim God’s Word, but what does that proclamation include? Paul tells Timothy, “Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort …” (4:2). Thus, preaching contains elements of reproving, rebuking, and exhorting. That is to say, it assures us of what is true, it corrects us where we have erred, and it builds up, equips, and motivates us to obey God’s Word. Therefore, we may now say that preaching is a heraldic proclamation of the Word of God which assures of truth, corrects error, and motivates to obedience, according to the Word which is proclaimed.

And our final question in forming this definition is: “How should it be done?” Again, Paul answers in that same verse, writing, “Preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.” That is, it should be done patiently, not offensively, allowing the Word to sink in and. Now, don’t hear me say that preaching will not be offensive, but it should not be done offensively, but with patience. And it should also include teaching. That is, it should not simply be an illogical pitching of a fit, but instruction from the Word. Which again fits with the kind of proclamation that includes assurance of truth, correction of error, and motivation toward obedience to God’s word. Thus, finally, we might define preaching as follows: Preaching is the heraldic proclamation of God’s Word done with patience and teaching, which assures of truth, corrects error, and motivates the hearer toward obedience to the Word of God.

So that’s what preaching is according to 2 Timothy 4:2. However, we still must answer the question of why we should have it on Sunday morning as we gather for corporate worship.

There are two main reasons that answer this question for us. The first is what the Word is. For I think that when we truly realize what the Word is, then we will understand why it must be proclaimed Sunday after Sunday. The second is what the Word then says about preaching and the need thereof. Let’s take these one at a time, starting with the latter.

Preaching of the Word should occur because the Word itself commands it

First, Paul tells Timothy, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (3:14-15). So, at very least, even at this point in the text, there is a calling to continue in the Scriptures.

But can we say that Paul saw preaching as a needful thing? I think so, for he says in 4:1-2, “I 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, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.”

When someone prefaces an exhortation and command the way Paul prefaces the exhortation “preach the Word” we should sit up and listen. He says not simply, “I charge you …” or “I charge you in the presence of God” but “I 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 …” This is a high and holy charge, to preach the Word. ‘

Therefore, there is a mandate in the Scripture itself to preach the Word. And preaching cannot be done without an audience, therefore, I believe this mandate demands preaching as we gather for corporate worship.

Preaching of the Word should occur because of what the Word is

Paul writes in 3:16, “All Scripture is breathed out by God.” That is, it is inspired by God and is God’s very intent for what he wants to communicate to us. Therefore, we rightly call the Bible “God’s Word,” for it truly is. To say, “The Bible says,” is equivalent to saying, “God says.” This is God’s communication to his creation.

Our God is a God who speaks. When he created the world, he did it through speaking. When he sent his Son into the world, John writes, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14). And when he wanted to preserve the truth, the gospel of Jesus Christ, he preserved it in a book, his written Word. Therefore, to think it odd that God would communicate to us through speaking and through written language ignores the kind of God that we serve. He is a God who speaks.

And because the Word of God is indeed God’s Word to us, it has two benefits for man. The first is that it is able to make one wise for salvation. Paul writes in verses 14-15, “But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.”

The Bible contains that which is necessary for salvation. We need look to no other source. All that God wanted man to know in order to know him is contained therein. That is why John Wesley can write, “I want to know one thing; the way to heaven … God himself has condescended to teach the way … He hath written it down in a book. O give me that book: At any price give me the book of God … I sit alone; only God is here. In His presence I open, I read His book … I lift up my heart to the Father of Lights … I then search after and consider parallel passages … I meditate thereon … If any doubt still remain, I consult those who are experienced in the things of God: and then the writing whereby, being dead, they yet speak. And what I thus learn, that I teach.”

My heart aches that we do not hear that kind of longing for the Word. And I am convinced that such an absence in longing is directly proportional to our view of what the Bible is. It is indeed the book that can make man wise to salvation. For Paul writes in his epistle to the Romans, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). Therefore, the Bible is God’s Word, and it is that which makes men wise to salvation.

This too is a demand to preach as we gather in corporate worship. We should preach God’s Word because we are able to preach it and to hear it preached. Paul will also write to the Corinthians about the message of salvation communicated in Scripture, “For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe” (1 Corinthians 1:21).

And second, because the Bible is indeed God’s Word, it is not only able to make one wise to salvation, but it has continuing effects for the believer. Paul writes in 3:16-17, “All Scripture is breathed by God and profitable for teaching for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be competent for every good work.”

The Scripture reproofs, corrects, and trains us for good works. Therefore, if our doctrine and practice of doctrine is crucial – which it is – then we are in need of the Word of God having its effect in our lives. For it is what has been given by God for such tasks. And the way that this Word may be communicated in corporate worship is through preaching.

Therefore, because the Bible is indeed God’s Word to us, is able to make one wise unto salvation, and is profitable for assuring, correcting, and training that we might be prepared for every good work, it must be communicated continually to the people of God. And the way in which we have been commanded to communicate that Word is through the heraldic proclamation of it, which is called preaching. Therefore, again, there seems to be a mandate for preaching in this text as we gather as the people of God. But there is another reason that we are driven to preaching as well.

Preaching of the Word should occur because we so desperately need it in a time when men want it no longer

My heart really knows this reality. Paul writes to Timothy, “Preach the Word, be ready in season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke and exhort with complete patience and teaching.” Why? He says, “For the time is coming when people will not endure sound doctrine but having itching ears they will accumulate teachers for themselves to suit their own passions and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths” (4:3-4).

In summary, we must preach the Word because the time is drawing near, and now might be, when men will no longer tolerate the preaching of the Word of God. Rather, they will want self-help sermons, or how to perform better in your job, or how to do this or that. No longer will men want to hear the Biblical message of the cross that begins with creation and extends through the fall and redemption as it heads to the anticipated new creation.

There will be a time when sound doctrine will not be the longing of the people. And they will gather for themselves teachers who will say what they want to hear. Therefore, a final mandate for preaching seems to fall in the category: Do it because there will come a time when it will no longer be tolerated. And this time of men’s laxness toward sound doctrine must be combated with faithful preaching of the Word of God in the church.

I could come up with many other reasons, such as the fact that preaching – maybe better than anything else – combines the element of head and heart, of sound doctrine and deep emotion better that anything else (or at least should). And the fact that the washing of the Word is what is prescribed for our sanctification. And the fact that it appears to be a precedent as God’s people have met throughout the Scripture. But the main reasons I have mentioned from this text.

And, brothers and sisters, this is my passion. I want to commit to you afresh today that I will strive above all else to ensure that the Word of God is faithfully preached among you. I think it is the highest calling. If everything else fails and the Word is faithfully preached, we may be hopeful, but if we have sacrificed the faithful preaching of the Word and have everything else, we will have built everything on shifting sand, and it will all come crashing down in due time.

And for you mothers out there, on this mother’s day, preach the Word to your children. You are with them more than any other (most likely), and may you be found faithfully preaching the Word of God in your home. It is one of the greatest things you can do to love your children as their mother.

May we all be found praying in the words of one of my favorite hymns, “My gracious Master and my God, assist me to proclaim, to spread thro’ all the earth abroad the honors of Thy name.”¹ Amen.

¹ Charles Wesley, “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.”

THE PLACE OF PREACHING IN CORPORATE WORSHIP