Expository Preaching Blog #15 – “God’s Command: Preach the Word”

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I never have or would I ever use this blog or any of my blog posts for a sermon. Each of these blog posts are only opinion and only my opinion. None of these blog posts are worthy to be a sermon. They are my words and not God’s Word.

I would not die for my opinion. I would die for the Bible. I would die for preaching the Bible. I would die for the Jesus of the Bible. I might preach on this subject in a sermon but I would never preach the way this blog is written. I will tell you later how I would do that.

The Bible speaks a lot about preaching. In the Old Testament it uses the word preach, preacher or preaching 16 times. In the New Testament it is used 148 times for a total of 164 times. That is a pretty significant number of times. It is not just a few. Sometimes is it a command to preach. Sometimes it is a narrative about preaching. And sometimes it is about someone being a preacher. The Bible uses the word “preach” 62 times, “preached” 59 times, “preacher”13 time and “preaching” 34 times. It speaks directly about “preaching the word” 14 times, preaching the “gospel” 43 times and “Jesus Christ” 29 times. The other times are indirect references to “the word, the gospel or to Jesus Christ.” Only and only one time is there a reference to “these principles.” I believe that is significant. That is in sharp contrast to modern preaching in 95% or more of our evangelical churches in 2023.

The overwhelming emphasis about preaching is always someone preaching someone else’s message. They are to “preach the Word.” They are to preach God’s words. They are to preach God’s message. Not one time in Scriptures does someone just come up with their own stuff and it is called preaching. If someone does that, it is called speaking or speeching. It is not preaching.

If I wanted to preach on this subject I would preach an expository sermon from II Timothy 4:1-5. That would be the text for 95% or more of my message. I might include some of the statistics from my study detailed at the beginning of this blog but God’s Word in II Timothy 4:1-5 would be my exposition verse by verse and thought by thought. The sermon would be as follows. The Charge: verse 1, The Command: verse 2, The Concern: verses 3&4 and The Conclusion: verse 5. I hope and pray that you understand the difference. Most church members and frankly most preachers do not. This outline is God’s message given through the Apostle Paul as he writes to and instructs Timothy under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. It is God’s message, not mine or any other human person. I only seek to preach God’s Word, not my words, to His glory.

 

Rev. David Johnson

Former Pastor

First Baptist Church of Austin, MN

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