Before us stands a solemn charge. No greater charge
was ever given. "I charge thee therefore before God, and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at his appearing and his kingdom, Preach The Word." Before us stands a solemn charge. No greater charge
was ever given. "I charge thee therefore before God, and
the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead
at his appearing and his kingdom, Preach The Word."
What this charge is not. It is not to preach the
creed, the word of the church, the word of the church fathers,
the word of education, the word of science, or the word of politics.
It is to preach the Word of God. There is only one Word of God:
the Bible.
This text carries the biggest commission ever
given to man. It brings to man the biggest thing within the power
of God to bestow A Saviour. It subjects man to the biggest persecution
ever suffered by man. It carries the biggest cross ever carried
by man (when they really preach the Word). For preaching this
book, men have been burned at the stake, fed to the lions, cast
alive into vats of quick lime, sewed up in bags of poison serpents,
and imprisoned for life in dungeons.
Why preach the Word? Preach the Word because ...
THE WORD IS THE POWER OF GOD UNTO SALVATION. "For
I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew
first, and also to the Greek. Romans 1:16. We need to get back
to the God of the Bible, and to the Bible of God!
THE WORD IS THE SOURCE OF SPIRITUAL LIGHT. "The
entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto
the simple." Psalm 119:130. The Word gives light on the true
God; on the creation; on Jesus Christ, His birth, life, death,
resurrection, ascension, and return; on the plan of redemption;
on the kingdom; etc.
THE WORD IS THE SOURCE OF FAITH. "So then
faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Romans 10:17. If you have saving faith, that's the way you got
it.
THE WORD IS THE SOURCE OF ALL SPIRITUAL LIFE.
"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible,
by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever." 1
Peter 1:22. "Receive with meekness the engrafted word, which
is able to save your souls." James 1:21.
THE WORD IS ABLE TO BUILD YOU UP. "I commend
you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build
you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are
sanctified." Acts 20:32. Some men are puffed up instead of
being built up. They call preaching themselves and begging money
for their own selves "preaching the Gospel."
THE WORD CHANGES THINGS. "But God be thanked,
that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then
made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
Romans 6:17-18. Outside of where the word is preached today, the
world is as dark as the first century was without Christ!
THE WORD WILL JUDGE MEN IN THE LAST DAY. "The
word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last
day." John 12:48. When all the nations stand before God at
the judgment bar, this old Book will be there, and its words will
be the standard of judgment. Do we read it, believe it, and prepare
to meet God according to its teachings?
It tells us who we are, where we came from, where
we are going, and how to have eternal life in the kingdom of God.
It also tells us the consequences of rejecting His beloved Son.
We, as a people, have contended for the Bible instead of pagan
philosophies and the theories of men. It is an uphill job, but
we must keep our chins up and be faithful. Preach the Bible, live
it, and be saved according to its plan.