What the Scriptures Principally Teach

Q. 3. What do the scriptures principally teach?
A. The scriptures principally teach what man is to believe concerning God, and what duty God requires of man.(1)

(1) II Tim. 1:13; 3:16.

In the Shorter Catechism, we have just been instructed in question two that the only rule we have for glorifying God and enjoying Him is God's written word found in the sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments. The Westminster Divines then move to a key question in the catechism. This question and answer provides the basic outline for the rest of the shorter catechism. Questions 4-38 deal with what man is to believe concerning God, whereas questions 39-107 deal with the duty God requires of man. The latter section is larger because of a pretty detailed exposition of the Ten Commandments. Since the rest of the catechism is structured according to this question, it is imperative to remember this one as you continue through the remaining 104 questions.

The word 'principally' here means chiefly or mainly. Thus as you read God's word to learn how to glorify and enjoy Him, you will be learning from that word all about God as He has revealed Himself. Thus our understanding of God must be grounded upon His revealed word to us. We cannot and must not try to understand God from our own imaginations. Our thoughts and understanding about God must come from God in His written word to us. Another aspect to what we are to believe concerning God is the gracious salvation offered to us in Christ Jesus. The Scriptures are God's revelation to us, but this revelation is redemptive revelation. God's word reveals to us the way of salvation through Christ.

Another thing the Scriptures teach us is that which God requires of us. This is something that seems to be falling on some hard times in the church today and in one sense this is understandable. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone, so careless discussion about our duty toward God could lead one to think performance of our duty toward God becomes the basis of our salvation. That's a dangerous way of thinking. Nevertheless, while it is true that we are saved by grace through faith in Christ, this truth does not negate our duty toward God. We still owe Him our obedience; He is still God and we are still His creatures, thus we must still seek to know the duty which He requires of us. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

On a personal note, this question helps me as I prepare sermons and preach them from the pulpit. Since my responsibility as a minister of the gospel is to preach the word, i.e., the whole council of God, then I ought to preach what the Scriptures principally teach, namely what to believe concerning God and what duty God requires of us. Ministers and theologians often describe this as preaching the indicative and the imperative. Both ought to be present in every sermon, though clearly some texts will lend themselves to one more than the other. Ministers do the sheep under their care no favors by neglecting the indicative or the imperative. 

For everyone else, as you read through God's word be sure to ask yourself what it is God is trying to teach you about Himself (including His saving work in Christ) and what God is trying to teach you about your duty toward Him. In this way, you will be richly blessed by His word. 

Our Only Rule for Glorifying and Enjoying God

Q. 2. What rule hath God given to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him?
A. The word of God, which is contained in the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,(1) is the only rule to direct us how we may glorify and enjoy him.(2)

(1) II Tim. 3:16; Eph. 2:20.
(2) I John 1:3-4.

Rules are made to be broken, or so the saying goes. Such a statement (rule?) can only bring chaos. Such a way of life must never be applied to the Christian life (unless the rule is sinful). The first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism (WSC) dealt with the question of our chief end, namely to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. The present question deals with what it is that tells us how to glorify and enjoy Him. Like all things with a goal or purpose in mind, we need instructions or plans on how to achieve that goal. The set of instructions or "the rule" to teach us how to achieve the end of glorifying and enjoying God is found in Scripture - God's written word.

Question #2 of the WSC tells us that the scriptures of the Old and New Testaments is the very rule to direct and teach us to glorify and enjoy Him. However, it is necessary to point out that the scriptures - the Bible - is not merely a set of step-by-step instructions. Rather, it is the word of God. According to the Westminster Divines, God's word is "contained in" the Bible. Unfortunately, the meaning of that expression has different meanings to different people. Some wrongly believe that some parts of the Bible are God's very words and other parts are just man's word with the result that there are errors or things that do not matter. Those who hold to such a belief are known as theological liberals. One can easily see how arbitrary and relativistic such a view is. Others believe that nothing written in the Bible is actually or directly God's word, but in some way at some point it becomes God's word. The problem with this view (sometimes known as Neo-orthodoxy) is that a portion that may become God's word to one person may not become God's word to another person. Again, such an arbitrary view of God's word cannot be helpful or meaningful.

The Reformed understanding of the phrase "contained in" simply views the whole Bible as the word of God; every word in the Scriptures as originally written is the word of God. G.I. Williamson gives us a helpful summary of the implications of this truth in his study guide on the Westminster Shorter Catechism.[1] The first is this: the Bible as originally written is infallible because it is the very word of God. Something that is infallible is incapable of causing error or being wrong. God cannot make a mistake, therefore what His word says cannot be mistaken. Another implication is that the Bible is clear or as theologians put it, perspicuous. This needs to be understood properly. This does not mean that every single thing the Bible says and teaches is understandable; some things are quite difficult. What it does mean is that it is written in clear language to show us the way of salvation clearly; the gospel message and the way of salvation in Christ is clear so that any ordinary person - even children - can clearly find the way of salvation in the Bible. Finally, because the Bible is the very world of God, it is sufficient. It has everything we need for life and godliness. the Bible does not lack anything needed for us as we seek to learn how to glorify and enjoy Him. Other books may certainly help us in our Christian walk, but they can be helpful only insofar as they are derived from and depend upon Scripture; they must not add to Scripture, but simply seek to explain Scripture for us.

Finally, God's written word, our Bible, is found only in the books of the Old and New Testaments. The collection of books known as the Apocrypha, while interesting, is not God's word to us. The entirety of the sixty-six books and only that collection of sixty-six books of the Old and New Testaments is the word of God. As such, we must read it reverently, attentively, and obediently as we seek to glorify and enjoy God forever.

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[1] G.I. Williamson, The Westminster Shorter Catechism: For Study Classes, 2nd ed. (Phillipsburg, N.J.: P&R Pub, 2003, 8-9. It should be noted that these implications are not new. Volumes have been written throughout Church history on the doctrine of God's revelation to us and the question of the Bible's infallibility, perspicuity, and sufficiency.

Man's Chief End

Q. 1. What is the chief end of man?

A. Man's chief end is to glorify God,(1) and to enjoy him for ever.(2)

(1) I Cor. 10:31; Rom. 11:36.
(2) Ps. 73:25-28.

This is a very well known catechism question and answer. So much so that even those who do not hold to the Westminster Standards (the Confession of Faith and the Larger & Shorter Catechisms) know this one. The language is a bit old-fashioned to be sure, but it is nonetheless clear in its meaning. What does the Catechism mean by "chief end of man" in this question? In this case, "chief" means primary, whereas "end" refers to purpose, aim, or goal. Thus, this question answers for us the age old question of purpose for man; it answers for us in part "what is the meaning of life?"

The answer concerning our chief end comes to us in two parts, which may seem odd given that "chief end" is actually singular. Firstly, man exists primarily to glorify God. It is necessary to note that mankind's purpose is not to make God glorious since He already is glorious. In fact, all that we give to God - including our worship and glorifying of Him - is not something we do because He lacks something. God does not lacks anything. Thus our glorifying God is not something we do in giving glory to Him because He lacks it and needs it from us. Our glorifying of God is more of a proclamation and service to Him. Everything we do and say ought to reflect God's glory (see the prooftexts above). Your primary purpose - your chief end - is to glorify God. Notice that this purpose does not change based on whether or not we want to glorify Him. Those who remain in their sin hate God, but that does not change what their chief end is.

Man was also created to enjoy God forever. While it is certainly true that God has given us so many good things to enjoy in this life, nothing should be enjoyed more than God Himself. This question teaches us to do two things as our chief end: to delight God and to delight in God. Think of various people whose company you enjoy. You heart warms when you are around them; you smile; you look forward to being with them; you become happy when you find out they will be at the same event as you. In other words, you take delight in them and their presence. How much more should we as Christians delight in being in His presence? Do you delight in who God is? Do you delight in His love for you? Do you delight in everything He says to you in His word? Take delight in Him! If you are not delighting God and delighting in God, you are not fulfilling your purpose. Of course, only those who live by faith in Christ can even have such a desire. It is in and through Christ alone and the grace that He secured for us that we can glorify and enjoy Him.

One final comment regard the two-pronged chief end in this question. Some have suggested that man's chief end is both teleological and eschatological. A teleological end is just that.... the goal or purpose. An eschatological end has to do with end times, i.e., after Christ returns. In other words our teleological end is always to glorify God and our eschatological end is to enjoy Him forever.

As the new year is upon us, do not forget your chief end - glorify God and enjoy Him forever. If there's one resolution you make for this year, make it this one.

Evening Worship Preferred over Small Groups

Through the years,  I have been mourning the overall decline in attendance for evening worship services on the Lord's Day. Nowadays I mourn the decline in the number of churches that even have an evening worship service. My friend and former seminarian, Mike Hutchinson, recently contributed a helpful piece for the Gospel Reformation Network titled, "A Case for Evening Worship" and I commend that piece to you so that you may see the biblical and historical basis for having two corporate worship services on the Lord's Day.

What I wish to address is something that while having good intentions has unwittingly contributed to the decline in the number of churches offering an evening worship service, namely the so-called small group ministries of a particular congregation. On a most basic level, small groups are gatherings of some members to pray, discuss, study, sing, encourage, etc., usually in someone's home. Frequently, they are geographically determined, though that's not always the case. This is not a wholesale argument against small groups, nor even against small groups that are somewhat age segregated. The small group ministries to which I refer are the ones that are promoted by the elders of the church instead of a Lord's Day evening worship service when the ability to have such a worship service is not hindered by circumstances outside of their control. Thus, small groups that meet at various times on the other six days of the week are not the issue here at all.

Now it is true that some churches are hindered providentially from having a second service. For example, I know of one church plant that at one time only had access to their rented facility for one afternoon service. In such an instance, providential circumstances simply do not allow for a second corporate worship service and as such small groups would be helpful and certainly better than nothing. There are certainly other not so hypothetical circumstances that can hinder a second corporate worship service and make small groups a viable option.

However, when there are no such providential hindrances, consciously determining to have small groups instead of a second Lord's Day corporate worship service - that's where my beef is, so to speak. When a congregation owns their own facility or like many rent but has 24/7 access, and the elders determine to have small groups instead of a second corporate worship service, they are actually doing a disservice (pun intended) to God's sheep under their care. A second corporate worship is to be preferred over small groups.

Since the Lord's Day corporate worship service is the time when God's people gather together in His presence in a most unique way, it should be obvious that a second service ought to take precedence over small groups. It is true that God is everywhere and that we are always in His presence. However, when we gather for corporate worship we are actually gathering into the throne room of grace, the most holy place, through the blood of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit (see the argument given to us in Hebrews 9-10). When the elders of a particular church give priority to small groups instead of a second corporate worship service, they are unwittingly and no doubt unintentionally denying the sheep the blood-bought access into the most holy place! Christ died and shed His blood so that through Him, you would have direct access to God - something that only one person had in the Old Testament and even then it was only once a year. 

There are two other important and related reasons to discuss, though there are certainly others that can be mentioned. The first is this: in the corporate worship service you have the unique opportunity to sit under the authoritative preaching of the word. It is the Holy Spirit who makes the preaching of the word effectual in converting sinners to Christ as well as building up and strengthening His people in holiness and comfort (see Westminster Larger Catechism Q.155, Shorter Catechism Q.89, and more importantly these scripture proofs - Neh. 8:8; I Cor. 14:24-25; Acts 26:18; Ps. 19:8; Acts 20:32; Rom. 15:4; II Tim. 3:15-17; Rom. 10:13-17; 1:16). Ordinarily, the preaching of the word simply does not happen in small groups and ordinarily it cannot. Thus, small groups having precedence over a second corporate worship service denies Christ's sheep the opportunity to sit under a primary means of grace.

The second reason is this: the corporate worship service is the place where God specially blesses His people. Ordinarily this unique blessing happens twice in many Reformed churches: in the salutation and in the benediction. The salutation is usually taken from the beginning of one of the New Testament epistles. For example, one that I usually use is found in the beginning of most of Paul's epistles: "Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." This salutation taken from Scripture is a pronouncement of blessing upon God's people as they enter into His presence to worship Him. It is a pronouncement and a promise that the place in which God's people enter is the place where they will be blessed by God. The benediction follows the pattern set forth by Numbers 6:22-26 and is one I and other ministers use at the close of the corporate worship service: "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you: the LORD lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace." Other benedictions found in scripture include 2 Corinthians 13:14 and Hebrews 13:20-21. The benediction, too, is both a pronouncement and promise of God's blessing upon His people as they leave His presence and go forth and serve Him in the world. Such blessings ordinarily cannot come to God's people in small groups.

The Psalms of Ascent (120-134) are helpful in illustrating this point. These are Psalms of pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Many, though not all, are plural, that is, they reflect the voice of a group rather than merely an individual. Thus, the pilgrimage itself was a gathering that could be described as a small group! What was the goal of the pilgrimage? The gathering of God's people in God's presence for corporate worship!

In sum, if your Church encourages and promotes small groups on the Lord's Day instead of having a second corporate worship service, seek out your elders and lovingly encourage them to shift gears and establish a second worship service. Such a practice will in the long run be much more beneficial to the sheep under their care.

So You Want to Serve the Church

It is always a joy to see Christians who demonstrate eagerness to serve the Church in some way. Sometimes this eagerness is especially noticeable in new Christians who are excited about their new faith and they want to get out there and share the gospel with everyone they know as fast as they can. They are excited to determine what and how to use the gift(s) that God has given them for the edification of His body. Of course, it is not just new Christians who are eager to serve and put their gifts and abilities to work for Christ's Kingdom. As much as I appreciate such eagerness, I wonder if they really are as willing and/or eager as they appear to be. Usually when the question is asked: "What do you think you would like to do to serve the Church?" a wide variety of answers are usually given:

• start or help run a VBS program
• start a ministry or Christian school for children
• help single moms
• music ministry
• prison ministry
• start and establish a crisis pregnancy center
• organize right to life protests
• go to seminary
• get involved with missions
• become a pastor or seminary professor
• write a blog (!) 
• write a book
• do a podcast about theology

Certainly these are noble causes and the above list does not come close to exhausting the possible ways one can serve and meet the needs of Christ's Church. Such things have their place and there are definitely people who demonstrate gifts and abilities for such endeavors. However, I'm going to ask a simple question to help you determine how serious and willing you really are. It's a question that has it's roots in a sermon I heard at an OPC General Assembly. So here's the question:

Do you know where the plunger is in your Church's facility?

Now let's be honest..... we all know what I'm really asking here. Are you willing to serve the Church by doing the "less glamorous" tasks that come upon us from time to time? When you see that the toilet in your church needs some "help," do you just quietly sneak off and feign ignorance as you walk down the hall whistling the closing hymn from the service or do you do what needs to be done despite how...... nasty the job is even if there is no one there to thank you or publish it in your Church's end-of-year service report? Don't misunderstand me though. I am not asserting that you must be eager to plunge toilets, but your eagerness to serve the Church should manifest itself in an unhesitating willingness to serve even in such a menial task for the benefit of your brothers and sisters in Christ.

The truth is most menial and less glamorous  jobs in the Church are rather indispensable. In fact most of the so-called glamorous and public tasks that engender a "wow" response in the Church have peripheral elements to them that are quite menial. For example, as much as it sounds great to direct some sort of non-profit Christian (m)inistry, you will still have to deal with personnel issues which are legion; you will have to deal with all kinds of paperwork in order to maintain your non-profit status; you will have to deal with people who think they know how you should be doing your job.

At the end of the day, if you are not willing to roll up your sleeves and serve in the menial, mundane, and even filthy, then you may want to reexamine both your goal(s) and the motive(s) behind your goal of serving the Church. Many of us can recall the story of Jesus washing His disciples' feet in John 13; some are so intrigued by this story that it has an almost sacramental status in some circles today as it is an act recreated in youth groups, Christian camps, and even weddings. The latter one I sometimes find to be sadly ironic. Couples who want to express their willingness to serve one another through the picture of washing each others' perfectly bathed and manicured feet. It's easy to wash a clean foot. The disciples' feet, however, were far from clean and manicured as they had walked through the streets of Jerusalem in the days long before "clean up after your animal" laws were on the books. Christ washed those kind of feet - filthy feet; Christ did what was considered to be among the most menial and mundane tasks as He washed their feet with his own hands. Sometimes service in the Church is like that kind of foot washing.... sometimes it's actually worse and you will wish all you had to do is that kind of foot washing. Are you up for such menial and mundane tasks or is something like that beneath your gifts and abilities? After all, you have advanced degrees, you majored in foreignurbanstudentleadershipchurchgrowth ministry in college with a minor in worship leading, and so on. Please, for the sake of gospel message, do not let the above be your attitude.

The Church needs all of us to serve her. All of us who make up the body are joined together in Christ. All of us have a place and a function in that body. Be willing to volunteer for the less than glamorous tasks that need to be done - there is a hidden joy in doing so; be willing to grab a soapy cloth to wash off the crayon from the wall that the two-year old artist drew; be willing to fix a coffee for an elderly member who has trouble getting around; be willing to help fix plates alongside a mom of little ones in the food line, be willing to pick up spilled food from a plate of a little one in the food line; in other words, be willing to do the menial and mundane behind-the-scenes tasks because you love Christ and love His Church. Remember that even the gifts you have are just that - gifts. They are gifts given to you by God for the purpose of serving and edifying Christ's Church. A sober reminder of this truth will give you a willingness to serve in whatever need that arises. Meditate on passages like 1 Corinthians 12 and Ephesians 4:11-16. Then, go find out where the plunger is in your church building (and the vacuum, too), and be ready to use it when needed.

A Visible and Ever Present Reminder

Today's post is more personal. It's not about the intricacies of proper theological nuances. It's a post about the most visible and ever present reminder of God's goodness to me in this life. This is a post about my wife, Tricia, to whom I have been married for twenty-three years. I chose this time to write about her in particular because her birthday is on Valentine's Day.

As I reflect on the gift God has given me in my wife, I can say without hesitation that one thing I am thankful to see in her is a desire to love and serve the Lord and rest upon Him in all she does. Let me illustrate it this way using a familiar Old Testament story. When Moses would come before the Lord and then returned to the people, his face shone with a reflection of the glory of the Lord. Perhaps you know of people in your life who you could just tell from the countenance of his or her face that this person clearly was one who frequently sought to be in the Lord's presence; their face had a certain "glow" about it that is hard to describe. This is what I see with great frequency on my wife's countenance.... a face that has been with her "Father who is in secret" (Matt. 6:6). Such a countenance inevitably spills over in blessed ways to the rest of our home as well as the various places where we have served.

This naturally leads to her servant heart. Tricia has such a willingness to serve in whatever situation in which we find ourselves. Whenever she sees something that needs to be done, she does it. Willingly and wholeheartedly. There have been numerous times when she simply and willingly helped without being asked - even with the more mundane tasks for events at our Church or at the Seminary where I attended. So much of the service in which she engages is behind the scenes, frequently out of the sight of everyone else. Why? I'll answer it rather simply: she loves God's people. She wants to bless her brothers and sisters in Christ in whatever ways she can. As a result, she tends to avoid the spotlight and does not like undue attention brought to her.

Since she loves her brothers and sisters in Christ, she looks for various ways to uplift and encourage them in the various circumstances they might find themselves. This is part of the reason she started her blog in order to give hints, advice, examples, etc., about hospitality and homemaking. As she posts there on various topics, she seeks to ground the specifics upon the general biblical principles that are timeless. I have been thankful to see the positive response from many of her friends and even friends of friends - thankful that she has been a blessing and a help for so many and for so long.

Now imagine what it would do to someone like my wife who loves to serve and help people to be told by someone else (with status & position) that "you think you can help people, but you can't." Well, sadly that happened to her about seven years ago in a somewhat public setting. This and many other hurtful things were said to and about her; it crushed her spirit. For years, I have been tenderly trying to help her overcome those false and hurtful words. And yet she still served others and still loved others. At one point when we had been in South Carolina only a short time and I had just started seminary, she said to me that she was afraid to get her feet wet in the pool again (metaphor for serving) as she might get hurt again. I responded to her that she was already more than waist deep! Despite the pain, despite her crushed spirit, she was still serving and loving others. Her inner strength and resolve is a lot stronger than she admits..... all on account of God's sustaining and sanctifying work in her life.

It is in our home where she shines and I cannot state enough that I am a blessed man. She strives to make our home a peaceful place for our whole family. The two of us are teaching our children to love and serve others and to love Christ's church. This home is a haven and that is due in no small part to Tricia's hard work and love for all of us. In one sense, I am somewhat selfishly glad that I do not have a study in a church building - my study is at home and I really like it that way!

I truly am blessed to have Tricia as my wife. She takes her role as a wife seriously and endeavors to conform to the biblical role set forth in Scripture. She is a far better wife than I deserve and to be honest, I have not always treated her as the fine china that she is, the wonderful gift that she is. She loves me despite myself. The Lord has used her as an instrument in my own sanctification as she prays for me, challenges me to be Christ-like, encourages me, and supports me in my ministry. My friends, behind every good man is a great wife, so be thankful for your wife and continue to nurture her, be tender and meek toward her, and love her as Christ loved the church.

Effectual Preaching

Recently, I began doing something my grandfather used to do (at least that's what I've been told), namely old-school wet shaving. For many, many years I hated shaving. I used goos and gels compressed in a can along with some brand-name cartridge razor having a manly action-packed name. I would usually irritate my skin as much as those razor commercials would irritate my ears. The irritation would be enough that I would let it go a couple of days. However, I have discovered for myself this old-school way of shaving. I now have a cheap but decent shaving brush, shaving soap (really!), a safety razor, and a variety of double-edge razor blades. Now I actually like shaving and even look forward to it! There is something nostalgic about this method, to be sure. However, one of the things about shaving old-school like this is that it forces me to slow down, relax, and pay close attention to what I'm doing through the whole process - and yes, it is a process. I had to learn how to do it effectively and it took some time to learn the technique.

Churches today need to go old-school. Why do I say that? Every once in a while, I will peruse the website of a random church and see where their emphasis is. I will see things such as their music ministry, their small groups, the youth program, men's group, women's group, and on and on and on and on. It is becoming less and less frequent to find a Church that emphasizes the preaching of God's Word. That really saddens me and it ought to sadden all of us. To be fair, it simply may be that there is good preaching at a particular Church, but the website does not highlight its preaching for some reason. Unfortunately, the sad trend has preaching taking a back seat in far too many Churches today in order to attract "seekers" in all kinds of different demographics - including cowboys. There may be a message of some kind, but frequently it amounts to little more than a pep talk or some kind of name it & claim it diatribe.  Preaching today is considered old-school and no longer effective in today's day and age. After all, why emphasize preaching when we have these nice plush movie-theater seats with cup holders for the pumkin-spiced latte you can get in the lobby - well we have to put it somewhere while we're clapping/dancing/swaying/raising our hands while the band worship team is rockin' the house leading us. Preaching is just old-school. Preaching is not as effective or as flashy or as exciting as the dry ice effects and purple laser lights coming from the stage.

My friends, it's time to go old-school and return to what the Reformers, the Apostles, and even Jesus emphasized in their respective ministries - the faithful preaching of the Word of God. Part of preaching's decline may simply be a gradual result of not knowing what preaching really is. What then is preaching? This is not going to be anywhere near an exhaustive discussion as I seek to answer that question.

Let me start by describing what preaching is not. First of all, preaching is not the same as evangelizing. It is true that every sermon ought to have something evangelistic, something that challenges unbelievers to repent and believe the Gospel.... preaching is not merely evangelism. It is much more. All of us can engage in evangelism, but not all of us can engage in preaching. More on that point later.

Second, preaching is not the same as teaching. As with evangelism, there ought to be teaching and instruction found in a sermon. However, preaching is not merely giving didactic instruction or giving facts and information about a particular text of Scripture. Preachers do more than merely teach facts. Certainly many can do that kind of teaching with great results, e.g., Priscilla and Aquila had to instruct Apollos in Acts 18, but only a relative few are called to be preachers.

Here is a helpful and succinct explanation of what preaching is and what it involves. Preaching is the authoritative, public, and verbal proclamation of God's Word by one lawfully appointed and ordained for that task.  Let me expound (pun intended) on some of this.

Preaching is authoritative because it is proclaiming God's Word which is itself absolutely authoritative. When preaching is taking place, there must be a "thus sayeth the Lord" sense to what is being proclaimed. A word of warning to my fellow preachers: preaching must be ministerial and declarative, i.e., it must come from God's word. Preaching is never magisterial..... ever! In fact, preaching is only authoritative insofar as it agrees with God's Word and when the preacher's message is consonant with God's Word he is God's herald and mouthpiece, i.e., you are hearing God's Word preached to you.

A preacher must be a man (not generic here! God's Word is abundantly clear on the matter) who is lawfully appointed. Jesus came to preach (cf., Mark 1:38). He was sent by His Father in heaven. The Apostles were sent to preach by Christ (cf., Mark 16:15. The word there is "preach"). The Apostles and the Church in turn sent men (once again, not generic here!) to preach. Notice the urgency in Paul's words to Timothy after just describing why Scripture is so important and useful. "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...." (2 Timothy 4:1-2a, ESV). Paul is emphatically urging Timothy to preach. Why this urgency? Paul's words elsewhere tell us why: "How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!'" (Romans 10:14-15). It is the Church that ordains men to preach God's Word to His people. It is the Church that sends these men to preach the Word to the ends of the earth. God did not send tracts and books, He sent men! As one theologian noted, preaching is truth mediated through personality.

The Westminster Divines also saw the urgency in preaching. "The Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation" (Westminster Shorter Catechism Q. 89, emphasis added).

Who may preach? Are we not all to preach the gospel and make disciples? The answer is no. The keys of the kingdom belong first to the Apostles and then by implication to the elders of the Church. It is certainly true that all of us can share the gospel with others and all of us can testify to God's grace in our lives. Preaching, however, is a unique task authorized and appointed by God through the Church. One cannot claim to be a preacher and send himself. The Bible gives us a couple of examples of those who took it upon themselves to preach/proclaim in direct disobedience to Christ. For example, the leper healed by Christ disobeyed Him and began to preach (as the Greek has it) resulting in Christ not being able to enter the city (see Mark 1:40-47). Do not think that because you feel a need to preach that you are therefore called to preach. Has the Church called you or sent you? Remember that there is no shame in not being called or sent by the Church.

To you men who are preachers, you must direct your preaching to the mind, heart, and will of the people under your pastoral care. Preaching must contain the truth of God's Word in an understandable form; preaching must stir the emotions and cut to the heart so that the hearer is moved to hate his sin and yearn for Christ; preaching must direct the will toward repentance and faith in Jesus bringing every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. This requires preaching sound doctrine in a plain, understandable way. It requires you to be zealous for God and His truth. At the same time it requires you love the sheep to whom you minister. Since such a task is daunting and monumental, you must be a man of prayer as you seek the ongoing guidance and illumination of the Holy Spirit as you open up the mysteries contained in God's Word; you cannot do it effectively without Him.

To my friends who are not preachers, what does all this mean for you? Firstly,  you need to sit under the preached Word. That ought to be obvious, but sadly it no longer is. If there is such an urgency for preaching in the mind of Christ and the minds of the Apostles, then you ought to have a sense of urgency for your need to sit under the preached Word. Secondly, pray daily for your pastor that he may preach God's Word with love and boldness, fervency and compassion; instead of wishing that your pastor preached like "that guy," pray for the pastor you have and pray that the Lord would watch over him so that he might preach faithfully. Thirdly, in love and in support of your pastor, expect good preaching from him. We live in a day and age where expectations for preaching are really low, and those expectations are sadly met. Be very careful here; before you go to your pastor and criticize his preaching in front of his wife and kids, remember the previous point about praying. For the problem may not be with his preaching, but your posture as he preaches. Once again, the Westminster Divines have this to say in the Larger Catechism: "Q. 160. What is required of those that hear the word preached? A. It is required of those that hear the word preached, that they attend upon it with diligence, preparation, and prayer; examine what they hear by the Scriptures; receive the truth with faith, love, meekness, and readiness of mind, as the Word of God; meditate, and confer of it; hide it in their hearts, and bring forth the fruit of it in their lives." So before you feel the need to go and approach your pastor and criticize his preaching, examine your own heart to see if you do these things.

Preaching may seem passé and old-fashioned to you. Nevertheless, the preaching of God's Word in the Spirit is powerful and accomplishes all that God wills. It is through the foolishness of preaching (cf., 1 Corinthians 1:21) that God advances His kingdom, wins souls to Christ, sanctifies His children, and builds His Church. May God continue to raise up men to preach His Word and may He grant that preaching reclaim its central role in the life of His Church.