Expository Preaching Blog #26 – “The Bible Is Not A Dictionary!”

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I listen to sermons online trying to find true expository preaching in the Charlotte area. Recently while traveling I listened to a sermon on line from a church I know. I had never heard the preacher from that Sunday so I decided to check it out.

The text was James 4:13-17. It was New Year’s Sunday. A good text for the day I thought. My ears perked up immediately when he made the following statement. “I am going to take the verses out of order.” What? Who gave him the authority to rearrange God’s Word? Who gave him the authority to change God’s Word? Does he know more than God? Does he know more than James under the divine inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God?

My point is this. The Bible is not a dictionary! The Bible is not an encyclopedia! A dictionary is for the purpose of looking up an individual word, one at a time to find out its possible meaning. An encyclopedia is for the purpose of looking up an individual subject, one at a time, to learn about that subject. That is not how the Bible works. That is not how it can be preached.

The Bible is a divine book written over 1500+ years by about 50 different authors under the divine inspiration of Holy Spirit at all times. See II Peter 1:20&21 for further clarification.

The Bible is made up of the law, history, poetry and prophecy. It is perfect, unchangeable, infallible, true, trustworthy and divine in every area of which it writes and speaks. There is no other book like it in all of the universe since the beginning of time.

No preacher should ever have their own idea that they want to talk about (preach about) and then go find a verse or verses to support what they want to say. I have seen preachers do that many times though. God is not here to support what we want to say, we are here to preach, herald or proclaim what He has already said. I have known preachers who use another human’s book to be the source of their sermon or sermon series. It is almost always a complete disaster. I talk about this in other blog posts.

God has spoken. God has given us a complete, inspired, infallible, immutable book. He is the creator, Savior and sustainer of man. He is the authority that we should be listening to. Who in this world or universe is greater than God? Who else is omniscient? Who else is holy? Who else is perfect? Who else do I want to listen to?

A preacher should never take obscure passages and make them major doctrines. That is never the purpose of the Bible or of preaching. Preaching means we are to proclaim or herald. We are to proclaim God’s Word. We are to herald God’s message. It is His book, His Word, His message from Him to us. There is nothing more sacred than that. Preaching is a sacred task given to the pastor or preacher. Let’s keep it that way!

 

Rev. David Johnson

Former Pastor

First Baptist Church of Austin, MN

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