From the TeachingtheWord Bible Knowledgebase

When you hear the Word preached, is your first thought about how much it applies to someone else?

In addition to daily ministry at TeachingTheWord, God gives me many opportunities to preach in various churches on the Lord's Day. I am ever conscious of this imperative: Biblical preaching must begin with careful exposition of the Scriptures. And oh, how I need the working of the Author of the book to prepare both the exposition and the expositor!

Exposition Is Not Enough

But if what is called preaching stops with exposition, it is not true preaching. If that is all a man has done, he has only imparted to his hearers the kind of theoretical knowledge that can, and often does, lead to intellectual and spiritual pride.

The same is true of a pulpit message that leaps immediately to an "application" - far too often, I fear, a preacher's pet agenda of the moment - without a faithful, accurate exposition of the text. To do this is to twist the Scriptures to our destruction (2 Peter 3:16).

The two elements must be Biblically integrated. Careful application must follow careful exposition of the text. We see that pattern in our Lord's preaching in the Gospels, in the sermons of Peter, Stephen, and Paul in Acts, and also very vividly in Paul's epistles.

Quite often as I lead a congregation in prayer before opening the Word together, I acknowledge the fact that the Holy Spirit is present, knows the heart of each individual as the preacher cannot - indeed, even we ourselves cannot - and that the Spirit alone can suit an application to the need of each hearer individually or the assembled body collectively. I lead the congregation in praying that the Spirit will do this work among us, fulfilling the promise of Isaiah 55:11 that His Word will not return empty, but will accomplish the work for which He has sent it.

How Do You React to the Preached Word?

More and more often, when I come to the point in a sermon where we move from the realm of exposition into the realm of application, I find myself led to say words along these lines to a congregation:

Perhaps at this point you are entertaining a thought that I myself have been guilty of more times than I would like to admit. I have sat in a service and heard the Word of God preached. Confronted with the truth, I have on occasion thought to myself, "O, I hope so-and-so is here today. This is just the thing he needs to hear." Or, "This is just the thing she needs to hear."

Dear friend, if you are thinking that way right now, you have missed the point. Let me answer you with the words of the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul in Romans chapter 2, verse 1:

Therefore you are inexcusable, O man, whoever you are who judge, for in whatever you judge another you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

The Word of truth we have heard today is for all of us. It is for you. It is for me.

It is easy to hate the sin you see in the world outside the doors of this church. It is easy to be disgusted with the sin you see in others, whether within these walls or outside. But what about the sin within yourself? Are you striving against sin, as we read in Hebrews chapter 12? Are you continually conscious of the fact that you, as a believer in Christ, are the temple of the living God in this present evil world (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)? Do you hate the invasion of your heart and soul and mind by sin?

Do you strive to keep God's temple from being defiled? Do you continually seek, by the power of the indwelling Spirit and the sanctifying Word of truth, to put to death the sin and sinful propensities within you?

Under the magnification of the Word of God, no sin is small or insignificant. In view of the absolute holiness of God, no sin that we would harbor in our hearts is trivial.

In a recent sermon from Numbers chapter 25 I added this:

Are you like the Israelite who took the pagan woman into his tent, defiling not only his own tent but also the camp in which God dwelled? Or are you like Phineas the son of Eleazar who was zealous for the holiness of his God? (25:6-13)

Are you endeavoring to put to death the things within you that displease the living God who dwells in you? Are you seeking to obey His command to mortify your members here on earth (Colossians 3:5), to seek no fellowship with unrighteousness, to seek no communion with darkness, to make no compromise between the temple of God and the idols of this world (2 Corinthians 6:10ff)?

Can the Lord say of you, as He said of Phineas the son of Eleazar, "He was zealous for My sake" - "He was zealous for his God"?

More, and more, may it be so of us. We must be vessels fit for the Master's use (2 Timothy 2:21). We must be "redeeming the time, because the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16).

say0071

Copyright 1998-2024

TeachingtheWord Ministriesmmmmmwww.teachingtheword.org

All rights reserved. This article may be reproduced in its entirety only,
for non-commercial purposes, provided that this copyright notice is included.

We also suggest that you include a direct hyperlink to this article
for the convenience of your readers.