Ministry of the Word of God, Part 1

The Importance of Repetition and Constitutional Adherence

0:02 The following sermon was delivered on Sunday morning, April 8, 2001, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. Now allow me to lead you into our study of the Word of God this morning by taking you back with me into my childhood and into the period of my life when my mother and father exercised an immediate and direct influence upon the molding of my character. Now for some of you who know a little bit of the arithmetic, that's like being invited to take a trip back into the dark ages. But nonetheless, if you were to come with me and periodically to listen in to some of the verbal expressions of that character-molding influence of my mother and father, it would not have been long before you would have heard words such as these. Son, doing things you don't like to do. Who develops character. Or, a job worth doing is worth doing well.

1:13 So many times were those words spoken into my infant and then younger childhood and adolescent years that there are times when sitting at my desk at 10.30 on Saturday night wrestling with my dissatisfaction with the wording of a particular heading in a sermon. The next morning my mother and father are in my ears saying, Son, a job worth doing is worth doing well. You see, they understood the principle that in passing on what is important, repetition and reinforcement by repetition are a very crucial element in that character-molding process. And the spirit of God recognizes this and we find in the passing, such as 2 Peter chapter 1, after Peter has given some very pointed exhortations to the people of God about increasing their graces, he says in verse 12 that I'm not teaching you anything new. This is what he says to his writers. It's as though he anticipates someone sitting in the congregation and nudging someone else and saying, here goes Peter again. We've heard this before.

2:31 Peter says in 2 Peter 1, 12, But by taking them back to fundamental principles and truths which they already know and in which they are established. But Peter recognizes that it's only when the heart and the mind, the affections and the will are stirred up in connection with truth that we will long retain and live in the light of that truth. And it's that principle which, whether you knew it or not, you were all expressing as a matter of conviction along with your elders when a little more than five years ago you approved unanimously a revised edition of our church constitution. And in that constitution, under the section on adherence to our corporate standards,

3:52 we placed a regulation upon your leaders that every five years from the adoption of that revised constitution, no fewer than 15 Lord's Day mornings, adult class and morning ministry would be given to expounding some of the central truths contained both in our confession of faith and in our constitution. Well, we recently completed a year and a half study of our confession under the guidance of Pastor Lamar Martin. And now we come this morning to message number 20 on this series in which we're focusing upon some of the major principles of faith. Some of the major principles of biblical directives for church life as found in the word of God, using the scriptures as our authority, our constitution only as a road map. And I've entitled this series, Living Together in the Father's House, borrowing and altering the title to that lovely book by David Swavely and Dr. Wayne Mack. Now, where are we in this study?

Review of the Church's Purpose, Activities, and Commitments

4:56 We've been away from it for a couple of weeks. Well, let me just very briefly give you what we've covered thus far. We have sat upon the opening statement of the purpose of the church. For nothing is more crucial to an ongoing stirred up mind and heart to maintain biblical churchmanship than understanding the purpose of the church as defined by the scriptures.

5:21 And so we have seen, number one, the supreme and all-encompassing purpose of the church, it's stated very succinctly in our constitution in these words, the purpose of this church is to glorify the God of the scriptures. That is the supreme and the all-encompassing purpose of the church. Secondly, we consider the God-appointed activities by which we are to pursue that purpose. Our constitution lists six of them.

5:53 I organize them under the circle in the arrows imagery. Those six are the purposes of the church. The first activities, supreme in them, promoting the worship of God, the upward arrow. The inward arrows, mutual edification and mutual manifestation of the love of Christ in practical concern for one another.

6:13 The outward arrows, evangelizing sinners, the planting and the nurturing or strengthening of churches. Then we move from the supreme and all-encompassing purpose of the church, the God-appointed activities by which we are to pursue. Thirdly, the commitments necessary to the pursuit of this purpose. There are certain commitments that are necessary, and we saw them as defined in our constitution and then expounded from the scriptures.

6:43 There is a commitment to the enunciation of God's changeless standard of right and wrong. That is his law. The constant proclamation of God's changeless method of making sinners right with him. That is the gospel.

7:00 And a commitment to the preservation of that body of revealed truth entrusted to us. The faith once for all delivered to the saints. Then the fourth major category, and this is where we are presently. We are looking at the means to be used in the pursuit of that purpose.

The Primary Means: Prayer and the Ministry of the Word

7:19 And our constitution defines them in this way. The primary means for the accomplishment of this purpose are prayer. Prayer. And the public and private ministry of the word of God.

7:32 Then there is a statement about other ministries that may, for a time, be used, but then dropped at the discretion of the church and it's leadership. I wouldn't want you to have a question about prayer because I can't write your mind to God. So I divided these means into these two categories. The primary and indispensable, and then the discretionary and dispensable means.

7:56 four Lord's Days, or not four Lord's Days, four messages over three Lord's Days, on the first of these primary means, the matter of prayer, we come this morning to consider the second of the primary and indispensable means by which we are to pursue the purpose of the Church. It is described in our Constitution as the public and private ministry of the Word of God. Now, in taking up this vital issue, my method will be to give you a definition. What does our Constitution mean when it says that a primary and an indispensable means to pursue the purpose of the Church is the public and the private ministry of the Word of God? After giving that definition, we're going to break it down into four headings, drawing into our study pivotal and helpful portions of the Word of God to demonstrate that this is indeed a primary and an indispensable means by which the Church is to pursue her God-given purpose. In other words, if any church gives up the ministry of the Word as we shall define it and see it described in Scripture, that church loses everything.

Defining the Ministry of the Word of God

9:23 That church loses any right to claim that it is a biblical or a healthy church, if even a church at all. Now, what is the definition? The definition is this. The public and private ministry of the Word of God is comprised of the faithful proclamation, explanation, and application of the God-breathed contents of the Old and New Testament.

9:53 This originates in 15 Old Testament time schedules in the first threecakths of ... Word of God.

10:19 It's a beautifulian table, okay? Ok, so, lets get to it! Let's just share this one Christian about so many three gateway periods. it all together, I trust I will have persuaded you from the Scriptures that when we read in Acts 6 and verse 4 concerning the early decision of the apostles in Jerusalem, it is not fitting that we should serve tables. And the arrangement was made for seven godly men to take over that business. They said this was their commitment to give themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word, that that ministry of the Word is precisely what we have defined, broken down, demonstrated from the Scriptures. So then we begin heading number one, the source of this ministry of the Word. It's stated this way in my definition.

Heading 1: The Source of the Ministry of the Word (God-Breathed Scripture)

11:12 The public and private ministry of the Word of God is comprised of the faithful proclamation and the ministry of the Word of God. The public and private ministry of the Word of God is comprised of the faithful proclamation and application of the God-breathed contents of the Old and the New Testaments. The source of the ministry of the Word of God is that Word contained in the words of Holy Scripture. That is contained in these documents that we call our Bibles, comprised of the Old and the New Testaments. The Bibles are all God-breathed in order to hook our thinking about the ministry of the Word into that which is probably the most crucial statement about the Word found in the Word. And I refer, of course, to 2 Timothy, chapter 3. Please turn there with me if you will. In the first thirteen verses of this chapter, Paul has warned Timothy that things are not going to get better and better, but worse and worse. And what he was saying was that,

12:21 and worse. Know this, that in the last days, in that period from the coming of Christ in the flesh, his earthly ministry, his death, resurrection, ascension, and the descent of the Spirit, until he comes again in glory and power, that is the last days. And he says in the last days, grievous times shall come. And he describes in some detail what will be the marks of those grievous times. And in the midst of that, the true people of God, he says, are going to suffer, verse 12, all that would live godly. In that context of encroaching wickedness and abounding lawlessness, the people of God will not be the minority, they will be the marginalized, opposed minority, not the majority. But what is Timothy to do in the midst of this, verse 14? But, in spite of all of this, Timothy, abide or remain in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing of whom or what kind of persons from whom you have learned

13:35 them. So Paul's first admonition to Timothy against the backdrop of that sad and dark picture that he has given to him in the opening part of this chapter, is that Timothy is to abide, he's to remain in the things he has learned and been assured of. And then Paul gives as the first reason for his abiding in these things, no matter how much he and the people of God who hold to them are buffeted, he says, knowing of whom you have learned them, and that from a nursing babe you have known the sacred writings. When he says, this is a motive for clinging to them, remember those from whom you learned them. He is most likely referring to Timothy's grandmother and his mother. He had referred to them in the first chapter, in verse 5, having been reminded of the unfeigned faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded in you also. He may also be referring to himself, because here in verse 10, in this very context, you did follow my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, long-suffering love, patience, persecutions, etc. So as Timothy hears the charge from the apostle, I am not to expect things are going to get better and better. Ungodliness and wickedness and lawlessness

15:02 may increase and abound. There will be these epochs in the last day of grievous times. I will be part of the persecuted minority, those who in their identification with the truth will suffer for the sake of Christ. What am I to do? I am to abide in the things I have learned and been assured of. And the first motivation is, remember from whom you received them—your mother and your grandmother—their godly lives that validated the truth. Remember, Timothy, you have seen what truth does in grandmother and in mother. And, Timothy, you have fully observed my life and my pattern of walk and service and the truth that I have imparted to you, Timothy, in the light of the fact that you have received that truth.

15:48 and learn these things from credible monuments of the power of truth. Don't let go of that truth. Then he goes on, secondly, to take him to the source of what it is that grandmother and mother passed on to him and that Paul passed on to him. Verse 15, and that from a babe you have known the sacred writings.

16:13 And that phrase, the sacred writings, is a term that the Greek-speaking world would use, the Jews would use, when speaking of the Old Testament scriptures. If you were a Greek-speaking Jew, you would refer to the Old Testament scriptures as the sacred writings. So Timothy would immediately know that Paul is pointing him back to the ultimate source of what he's received and believed. The mediating vessels through whom he received it, grandmother and mother, and Paul.

16:51 But the ultimate source of what he received was the sacred writings. Those sacred writings, that Paul then goes on to say, have a two-fold function. They are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. And then in verse 17, They are able to make the man of God thoroughly furnished unto every good work.

17:18 But before we look into that aspect of the text, you've learned these things from grandmother and mother and from me. The source of what we taught you were the sacred writings, now is going to show the precise nature and identity of the sacred writings. Verse 16, every scripture is inspired of God, or all, scripture is inspired of God, and is also profitable for teaching, etc. And here Paul uses a word found only here in the New Testament, made up of two words, and the linguists are not even certain of the precise root of the second word.

17:59 But the literal sense of the word is, all scripture is God-breathed. All scripture is the out-breathing of God. Yes. Brixton states it very simply, Scripture owes its origin and context, contents, to the divine breath, the Spirit of God.

18:23 Timothy, you're to abide in the things you've learned. Remember grandma and mama and me. But, Timothy, remember what we gave you was the sacred writings. And, Timothy, never forget what the sacred writings are in their very essence.

18:40 They are the out-breathing of the mind. The mind and the will of God. Peter states it in different language in 2 Peter 1.21, when he says the scriptures came to us, how?

18:53 As holy men of God spoke, being carried along, borne along by the Holy Spirit. Or as Paul teaches so clearly in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 11 to 13, that the things of the Spirit of God are conveyed by words. Which the Spirit teaches. So that the very words that are given to us in scripture are the words breathed out by God himself.

19:24 And while the primary reference is obviously to the Old Testament scriptures, which Timothy would have known from the time he was a babe in arms, we must not limit it, the significance, to the Old Testament scriptures, for already at this period, in his first life, in his first letter, chapter 5 and verse 18, Paul refers to a statement that is found in the Gospel of Luke, and equates it with scripture. You shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out the corn, and the laborer is worthy of his hire. The one passage from Deuteronomy, the other is found in Luke chapter 10, and concerning both of them, Paul says, the scripture says. And by the time he was a babe in arms, he was a babe in arms. And by the time Peter writes his second letter, he refers to the writings of Paul on an equal plane with the other scriptures. 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 16.

20:25 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unsteadfast rest as they do the other scriptures. Under their own destruction. Paul's writings are called scripture, put on a plane with the other scriptures. So that as Timothy thinks of his past, thinks of all the responsibilities given to him, he is to remember that the source from which he derives all of the directives and the specifics of his ministry is nothing other than God's, God-breathed scripture. Then he goes on to tell Timothy its function, particularly with respect to him as a servant of God. And now you need to be patient as we're working our way into the very issue that is before us this morning. He then goes on to say that scripture, which is inspired of God, is also profitable.

The Function of God-Breathed Scripture: Equipping the Man of God

21:37 It's also profitable. Yes, Timothy, it's profitable to make one's, one's wise unto salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus. The Old Testament scriptures comprise both law and gospel. Jesus was able to show his own in all of the scriptures, the things concerning himself, to demonstrate from the Old Testament scriptures that the Christ must suffer, be raised from the dead on the third day, and that repentance unto remission of sins would be preached in his name among all.

22:12 Oh, the nations. Scripture would bring Timothy to faith in Christ Jesus. But now Paul says scripture has another function, and a very specific function for you, Timothy, as a servant of God. All scripture is inspired of God and is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction or training in righteousness.

22:39 Now look at verse 17. In all, order that. Scripture is all of these things as God breathed revelatory days of Timothy to this end, that the man of God, a term that has specific reference to Timothy, 1 Timothy 6.11, but thou, O man of God, a term with rich Old Testament roots, the prophet, man of God, read through the life of Elijah and Elisha, called again and again, man of God, Timothy, scripture is what it is, in order that you may be what you ought to be as a man of God, that the man of God may be complete, furnished completely unto every good work. A more literal rendering to give the sense of the word order, in order that the man of God, equipped may be the man of God, thoroughly outfitted for every good work. So that when the servant of God thinks of his work, and what he is to do in seeking to shepherd the flock of God, when he is seeking to know, Lord, what is my responsibility in caring for the household of God, he is to face his task with the persuasion that in the God-breathed scriptures

24:07 are the stuff to make him thoroughly furnished. thoroughly furnished. unto every good work. He is not to regard his Bible as supplying some things which desperately need to be supplemented by the latest insights of pop psychology, by the latest dogmas of sociology, by the latest, quote, insights of anthropology and the other social and other hard sciences, so-called, no, Timothy is to face all of his tasks with this persuasion I have in God that outfits me and makes me completely furnished unto every good work. That does not mean that a servant of God will not read a newspaper, that a servant of God will not seek to be aware of the latest pronouncements of pop psychology and the latest so-called findings of sociology, et cetera, no. Part of his task in seeking to do what scripture is supposed to do, not only to teach, but to correct, to expose sin and error, I'm sorry, to reprove, and then to correct, to show the right path

25:34 for training that is in righteousness. And there is abundant evidence within the scriptures themselves that those who have a persuasion of the sufficiency of scripture do not live with their head in the sand. They are men who have their eyes open to the world around them, but they are constantly interpreting that world not by the world's understanding of itself, but by the scripture's understanding of the world.

Application to Pastors and the Lord's People

26:05 Now that's the source of the ministry of the word. The source is the God-breathed scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments. Now I want, I want to give a word of application before we move to heading number two. Surely this clear identification of the source of the ministry of the word speaks pointedly and powerfully to those of us engaged by calling in the public and private ministry of the word of God.

26:36 What it says to me, what it says to my fellow pastors, it says that you and I must live in our Bibles and our Bibles must live in us.

26:51 What is said of Apollos is attainable for all of us. It is said of Apollos that he was mighty in the scriptures, Acts 18 and verse 24. It also says he was a logios man, and that can mean either eloquent or learned. And we may never attain to the legitimate description of being eloquent or learned, but mighty in the scriptures.

27:18 We can and must become by the grace of God. Those of us committed to the ministry of the word, if we are persuaded by this 2 Timothy 3 passage that scripture is God-breathed data, which when understood aright and applied aright, makes the man of God equipped for every single task, then surely whatever else we seek to be, we will seek to be men who live in our Bibles and whose Bibles live in us. This is why one of the requirements for an elder in Titus 1 and verse 9 points in this direction. The capstone requirement in this description of who should be considered as a viable candidate for the eldership in the Isle of Crete, Titus 1-9, holding to the faithful word which is according to the teaching that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine and to convict the game-sayers.

28:33 Holding fast to the faithful word as he has been taught that he may be able by that word to exhort, to encourage, to motivate in the realm of sound or helpful teaching and also to know how to expose error and errorists and to convict, bring to a sense of self-judgment is the sense of that Greek word to convict the game-sayer, to take the arguments out of his mouth, leave him stripped and naked in his own ignorance. And he says elders must be able to do that. This is why we believe in a thorough and broad theological education. For those who are set apart to labor in the word and in teaching. First Timothy 5, 17. Now notice I did not say we believe a man must necessarily have a formal seminary education.

29:34 I didn't say that. But we do believe a man must have a broad and thorough theological education particularly if he is to labor in the word and in teaching.

29:48 And this is because the source of the ministry of the word of God is God-breathed scripture. And God-breathed scripture is to be handled responsibly in the balance of one truth against another, etc. But this also has a word to you, the Lord's people. If we believe that the source of the ministry of the word is the scriptures, God-breathed data of the Old and the New Testaments, then this speaks a powerful word to you, God's people.

30:21 In our system, of church government, no bishop appoints our pastors, our preachers. No bishop. In some systems, they do. Nor in our system of government can a wealthy man put his man in by patronage.

30:36 That has happened in the history of the church. A wealthy man wanted a certain preacher in a certain place and he came forward and said, I'll underwrite so many dollars or pounds per year. Something that was much more known in the United Kingdom. Well, in our system of government, that's impossible.

30:52 In our system of government, you select by your suffrage those whom you will set over you to minister the word of God to you. And where you have a company of true sheep, Christ has promised through the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 3 and verse 15, a chapter rich in new covenant promises, what God will do under the new arrangement when Messiah comes. And one of the things God says he will do is he said, I will give them shepherds after my own heart who shall feed them with knowledge and with understanding. I will give them shepherds after my own heart.

31:34 Who is the them? It is the people who've experienced the realities of new covenant salvation. God has taken out the heart of stone, given them a heart of flesh. He has internalized within them a passion to know his will.

31:48 He writes his law upon the heart. He puts his fear within their hearts. He puts his fear in the language of Jeremiah that they may not depart from him. Well, such a people in spiritual health, they will tolerate nothing less than a ministry of the word that is marked by what?

32:06 By competence in handling the stuff of the sacred scriptures, of the holy writings. Men who are mighty, powerful in the word. They may or may not have any power in anything that the world would call eloquence. They may or may not be what the world calls learn it.

32:30 But you know that when they stand to instruct you and exhort you and comfort you, you're going to go away with large chunks of your Bible ringing in your ears and hopefully distilled into your heart. On the other hand, if you look on in 2 Timothy to chapter 4, you see that Paul in his realism says that there are times when professing Christians lose their stomach for a faithful ministry of the God-breathed scriptures and what will happen. He exhorts Timothy in the light of the coming day of judgment to preach the word, verse 2, to be urgent in season, out of season, to reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching and wise Timothy to do this so passionately, so committedly. Verse 3, the time will come when they will not endure the sound or healthy teaching but having itching ears, now note the next phrase, will heap to themselves teachers not after the standard of scripture but after their own lusts.

33:50 What does this tell us? It tells us that what is desired by those sitting in the pews will be found standing and speaking in the pulpits.

34:02 You see that with your own eyes in this passage. Do you see that? They will heap to themselves teachers and what will be the standard for the teachers that they call to minister to them if they speak things that make them comfortable in their lusts. Did that happen here?

34:28 Yes.

34:30 It has happened in places where once the voice of men of God thundered out the scriptures with clarity and with power and where thirsty, hungry, obedient congregations hung upon every word that came from the servants of God and now you could go for 52 Sundays every Lord's Day and not hear a word of biblical truth.

34:58 And it doesn't happen overnight.

35:03 It happens for a number of secondary reasons but the fundamental reason is when people lose a present earnest spirit wrought desire to have God breathe scripture teach them adjust all of their thinking about anything that scripture addresses to have every thought brought captive to the obedience of Christ when human intellect begins to determine what is necessary and what is unnecessary what is compatible and what is incompatible what makes me feel comfortable and uncomfortable rather than God breathe scripture determining what I think about all reality when a people may continue to say they want good teaching but they don't want their sins exposed they don't come to the ministry of the word to be reproved scripture is profitable for reproof if anyone is handling the scripture rightly we are going to be reproved if the reproof is taken out of the scripture the scriptures are either being deliberately and piecemeal set before God's people or they are being twisted the very nature of scripture demands that where there is a faithful scriptural ministry we are going to be reproved then we are going to be corrected we are going to be shown the right path someone with divine authority

36:32 speaking in the name of Christ based upon the word of Christ is going to tell us the path that is pleasing to Christ furthermore there is going to be painstaking child training there is going to be instruction and that word instruction is the word found throughout the New Testament when we are speaking of training there is going to be the patient line upon line effort to train in the path of not religious convenience but practical godliness there will be preaching on the matters that touch where we live and how we relate husband, wife, parent, child citizen to the society and to the world about us how we handle our money our time what we do and do not let into the eye gate and the ear gate and a host of other things we welcome being trained in righteousness because that is why God breathed scripture has been given to us and so dear people of God conscious that though the Lord may bless some of us with a measure of longevity we are not here forever there are times I come over in the week when no one is in this building and stand at the back and say Lord if you carry what will be coming from this pulpit twenty thirty forty years from now in a very real sense the answer to that question lies with you to some degree with me and my fellow elders but we're

38:00 joining the over the hill gang and won't be long before our voices are silent what will you receive as your teacher will it be itching ears that want to be tickled you'll find plenty you can heap to yourself teachers after your lust to gratify your itching ears may God grant that you still come longing to have every thought brought captive to Christ every sin exposed every duty laid out in terms of the will of God and the grace of God in Jesus Christ and to be trained in righteousness that you might be what Christ says his people are the light of the world the city that is set on the hill otherwise the ancient complaint of Jeremiah will be re-echoed in this place that it has been in many places over the centuries this was Jeremiah's complaint we find it in chapter 5 verses 30 and 31 a wonderful or astonishment and a horror is come to pass in the land the prophets prophesy falsely and the priests bear rule by their means and my people love to have it so then the prophet asked a despairing rhetorical question

Heading 2: The Substance of the Ministry of the Word (Proclamation, Explanation, Application)

39:28 what will you do in the end thereof the prophets prophesy falsely and my people love to have it so what is the ministry of the word I've asserted in my definition that the ministry of the word the public and private ministry of the word is the faith for proclamation explanation and application of the God breathed scriptures of the old and the new testaments may God grant that till Christ returns that will be the ministry carried on in this place but now secondly this is all we're going to cover this morning this second head the substance of this ministry of the word of God what is the substance of it I go back to my definition the public and private ministry of the word is the faithful proclamation explanation and application of the God breathed old and new testament proclamation exposition and application of the scriptures is the very substance of the ministry of the word and in front of each of those nouns is the adjective the faithful proclamation of the word the faithful explanation and the faithful

The Substance: Faithful Proclamation

40:58 application and that will take up the remainder of our time as I seek to demonstrate from the scriptures that this is what the ministry of the word of God is to be first of all then it is to be the faithful proclamation of the contents of the old and new testament scriptures when Paul is charging Timothy against this dark backdrop of the last days and the grievous times that will come and prior to giving him this even darker picture that the time will come when they'll no longer endure sound doctrine but will heap to themselves teachers after their own lust nestled in the midst of that is his charge to Timothy he charges him in the light of the reality of God's eye the coming judgment and coming kingdom 2nd Timothy 4 to Timothy preach the word please turn this cassette over to continue the message the coming judgment and coming kingdom 2nd Timothy 4 to Timothy preach the word and imperative Timothy give yourself continually to what's that mean

42:26 well when the ambassador of the I'm sorry when the sovereign would send an official ambassador to speak in his name in the cities or villages to carry a directive or an announcement from the throne the man whom he appointed was called a he was a herald he had one task and that task was to faithfully sound out the message given to him by his sovereign he was not to judge it whether it was fair whether it was equitable whether it was kind no no he had no business in judging the message he was to hear it he was to receive it in his hand he was to proclaim it he was to read it out loud in the city or villages that was the function of the Kedux now here goes the Kedux from King whoever and he comes into a village and you're at a distance and you see him heralding something speaking loudly and if you were to describe what he was doing you'd say he's engaging in Kedux so that's the third Kedux the Kedux does what a Kedux is supposed to do he heralds the message and he's engaging then in an activity Kedux then if you ask what is it that comes out of his lips when the Kedux is engaging in Kedux that's the Kedux that's the message proclaimed so that whole family of words Kedux Kedux Kedux

43:55 they are the words which give to us some of the clearest concepts of what the faithful proclamation of the content of the old and the new testament scriptures involves and I have said in my definition when a man is engaging in faithful proclamation of the scriptures he is ministering the word of God now that raises the question when is a man A man faithfully proclaiming the word of God and I answer in two ways a man is faithfully proclaiming his message when he is actually quoting the words of scripture in order to explain or establish or enforce the truth of scripture when a man is quoting scripture to enforce to explain or establish the truth of scripture he is being a faithful he is engaging in a faithful ministry of the word now why do I give this qualifying terminology when he is actually quoting the words of scripture in order to explain establish or enforce the truth of scripture

45:24 for the simple reason scripture can be quoted for a purpose and not for a purpose and the devil seeks to entice our lord to sin by tempting him to prove in a way that he was under no obligation to prove that he was what the father just said he was in the baptism of Jordan this is my beloved son in the son of God turn these stones into bread stretch your stuff and prove it the lord foiled him by saying man shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God verse 5 then the devil takes him into the holy city set him on the throne and he shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God I'm going to give you some words that proceeded from the mouth of God it is written it is written

46:53 and he quotes it he shall give his angels charge them and they shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God and he shall not live by bread alone but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God so the faithful ministry of the word is not merely something to be identified with the actual quoting of the words of scripture but the quoting of the words of scripture in order to explain establish or enforce the truth of scripture that's a faithful ministry otherwise it can be what Peter describes people were doing in the time of the apostle Paul second Peter chapter three we looked at it earlier let's look at it again he speaks in verse fifteen account

48:21 that the long suffering of our Lord is salvation is our salvation our great salvation and and the last event in the end of the preaching of the will of the Lord and in all the things that the scripture and the faithful ministry of the word it must be quoting the words of scripture in order to explain establish and enforce the truth of scripture you can For example, I can prove from Scripture God is omniscient. He knows all things.

49:12 I could quote all kinds of verses.

49:16 God knows all things.

49:19 Secondly, I can prove from Scripture Jesus did not know the time of his return. Mark 13 and verse 22. Verse 32. No man knows the day nor the hour nor the sun.

49:32 God knows all things. Jesus admits he doesn't know the time of his return. In conclusion, Jesus is not God.

49:42 God knows all things. Jesus doesn't know all things. Jesus isn't God.

49:47 That's what he said to the rich young ruler. Why do you call me good? There's none good but God. You see, Jesus.

49:52 I'm quoting Scripture.

49:55 See the point I'm making? A mere quoting of Scripture does not mean there's a faithful ministry of the Word of God. When Jesus frankly acknowledges in the period of his humiliation that he knew not the time of his return, this was his unembarrassed acknowledgment that he was what the old condemned. Well, it's true.

50:16 It does. We have, I think, many confessions and creeds acknowledge him to be two distinct natures in one person. And as to his humanity, his human mind was not infinite. And he unashamedly acknowledges it.

50:38 That made you think? I hope it has. It could produce other passages to underscore that in answer to the question, what is the faithful proclamation of the contents of the old and New Testament Scriptures, quoting the words of Scripture in order to explain, establish, and enforce the truth of Scripture. But, and hear me carefully, a man is not only engaging in the faithful proclamation of the Word when he actually quotes the words of Scripture.

51:08 If that were so, then the only preaching of the Word would be to string texts together. And when you come together, rearrange your concordance every Lord's Day. Now, if the only proclamation of the Word is quoting the actual words of Scripture correctly, then the only time we could be preaching the Word, the only time in which you would be under, as it were, obligation other than common decency to listen to any of us up here, would be when we said, Now, turn to, and then we read. Turn to, and then we read.

51:40 Turn to, and then we read. So listen carefully as I seek to respond to this question. When is a man faithfully proclaiming? Proclaiming the contents of the Old and the New Testaments.

51:53 Not only when actually quoting the words of Scripture correctly, but when he is accurately conveying the truth of Scripture in his own words. When he's actually conveying the truth of Scripture in his own words, let me illustrate.

52:12 As the cherub of God, as the messenger of God under the new covenant, I'm going to proclaim four indisputable, sobering truths from the Scripture. Number one, there is but one true and living God. Number two, this God has always existed from eternity as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Truth number three, this God created and sustains the entire universe in His wisdom and in His power.

52:47 And truth number four, this God will judge, judge every single human being in the last day. Now I've given you four truths. I haven't quoted any Scripture. Question class, have I been a faithful proclaimer of the word of God in asserting those four things?

53:08 Have I? Is it true that there is but one true and living God? Yes. Is it true that He has always existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?

53:23 Yes it is. Is it true that this God has created and sustains the entire universe in His wisdom and power? Yes it is. And is it true that He will judge the world at the last day?

53:34 Yes it is. Now if a man of God is seeking to prove those assertions when they need to be proved, he will then take you to the specific Scriptures in which God intended those truths to be taught. And he will open up the Scriptures doing what it says in the book of Acts, where they opened and alleged. They dialogued out of the Scriptures, proving that these things are so.

54:02 But no man of God is under obligation to take you to the chapters and verses and segments of Scripture that lie behind every utterance of truth that he gives. But it is nonetheless the word of God. For example, some of us have sat here in this place in the adult class the last two Lord's days, the last two Lord's day mornings. And we have had the book of Genesis, the book of Job, and the book of Exodus opened up in the way of a masterful survey.

54:34 Now, during that survey, there are times when Pastor Lamar actually quoted verses. There are other times when he summarized whole chapters. When he gave accurate summaries, was he giving us the word of God? Yes, he was.

54:48 Not the word of God precisely the same as the God-breathed Scriptures, but was he engaging in it? Was he engaging in a faithful ministry of the word when he makes such statements as these? These documents, the first five books of our Old Testament, were given to Israel when she was brought out of Egypt. And she was now having to ask the question, Who are we as the covenant nation?

55:15 How did we get here? Why are we here? And God is giving these documents that they might know their identity. Is that the word of God?

55:24 Yes, it is. Now, should his words be transcribed and gathered in the book and put in your lap with the same authority as the God-breathed Scriptures? Of course not! Have I got your thinking?

55:40 Think clear on this matter. Because if you don't, you're either going to be lazy, or you're going to be hypercritical. And you're going to put men of God under obligation to prove things where they don't need to prove them. And you will allow other things to be said that ought to be proved, and they'll go unproven because someone says them convincingly and sweetly and persuasively, but you've forgotten the words of the Apostle.

56:10 There are those who by fair speech beguile the innocent. How can I know that when someone is accurately conveying the truth of Scripture when he's giving it in his own words? You will know that with ever-increasing discernment as you live with your Bible, and as you live with the spirit of the Barabbas, Acts 17, 11, having heard the Apostle Paul listening to him, it says they received his word with all eagerness. And then as they had opportunity, they searched the Scriptures to see whether these things were so.

56:48 They did not come with a hypercritical, tightly woven sieve that said nothing drops in until I prove it. No, they received with readiness, but not with naive gullibility. The simple believes every word the Scripture says. The child of God growing in discernment seeks to live in his Bible and prays that the spirit of God will illuminate his mind and his heart, that he might increasingly know the truth of God's word.

The Substance: Faithful Explanation/Exposition

57:18 Well, I hasten on now to the second aspect of this matter of the faithful ministry of the word. It's not only the faithful proclamation of the contents of Scripture, but the faithful, but the faithful explanation, or if you prefer, exposition of the contents of the Old and New Testaments. We've already established from 1 Corinthians 2, 13 that the thoughts of Scripture come to us in the very words chosen by the Holy Spirit. I remind you of that pivotal text, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 12.

57:53 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 12. That we have received the spirit of the world, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is from God, that we might know the things freely given to us of God, which things we speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Spirit teaches. The deep things of God, the full revelation of the gospel in Jesus Christ. Paul says we express this in words.

58:22 We clothe our thoughts with words, just as you think your thoughts with words. Adjust the words and the thoughts change. So we express those thought words by verbal or written script, however we convey them, but it's words with which the thought is clothed and by which it is expressed. And those words come in sentences, an arrangement with subjects and predicates, words with tenses, words in cases, words in gender, words set in a specific history, words arranged as poetry, words couched in parables, words describing apocalyptic visions, words coming out of a differing culture. That's the words of our Bible. They don't come to us as special God words. They come in human words.

59:21 The divine mind, expressed in divinely chosen words, but they are human words. Therefore, they draw to themselves the dress and the smell of the culture out of which they come. They draw to themselves the linguistic forms in which they came. The Hebrew arrangement of thought is not the same as the Greek arrangement of thought anymore than you read from left to right in Hebrew as you do in Greek.

59:49 So what is the faithful ministry of the Word? It is not only the faithful declaration of the words of God in Scripture by quoting those words, by quoting those words, by speaking the truth of those words in our own words, but it is involving, it involves the faithful explanation and exposition of the contents of the Old and the New Testaments. And I want you to look at two passages which, better than any other, in my judgment, describe this faithful ministry of the Word. The first one is an Old Testament passage, the book of Nehemiah.

60:26 The book of Nehemiah. The people of God have returned from captivity. They've been out of their own land and their own cultural setting for seventy years. And many of them have acquired a greater fluency in the Aramaic language, a dialect, which made them less astute and comfortable with the pure Hebrew.

60:53 So they come back to the land, and here in Nehemiah they have built a wall in the face of much opposition. And now they are gathering to hear their covenant documents read to them. And in Ezra, I'm sorry, in Nehemiah chapter 8, we read in verse 4, And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit or a towel of wood, which they had made for the purpose. And beside him stood, and it mentions a number of these men who were going to help him in this task.

61:21 Verse 5, Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people, for he was above all the people. And when he opened it, all the people stood up. And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God, and all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with the lifting up of their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshipped with their faces to the ground.

61:40 That's to be the posture with which we come to the hearing of the reading and explanation of the Word of God, a posture of blessing and praising God, and a posture of utter prostration before the God who's about to speak in His Word. Verse 7, And also Jeshua and Bani, names these people, calls the people to understand the law, and the people stood in their place. Now verse 8, And they read in the book, in the law of God distinctly, or as the margin of the ASV has it, with an interpretation, and they gave the sense so that they understood the reading. The NIV reads, they read from the book of the law of God, making it clear, marginal note, a marginal note translating it, and giving the meaning so the people could understand. The New King James Version that a number of you have, they read distinctly from the book in the law of God, and they gave the sense and helped them understand the reading. That's what a faithful ministry of the Word of God is. The documents come to us in ancient languages, Hebrew and Greek, and those who would be the official teachers of God's people must have sufficient sense and judgment to be able to use the tools that help them to decode

63:08 what the book of the law says. And then a God-given ability to explain it clearly, not to take people away from the authority of the book, but that they may understand the book. And so a faithful ministry of the Word of God involves the explanation, or exposition, of the content of these God-breathed documents. And while this Old Testament passage is to me the clearest indication or illustration of what it means to expound or explain the Scriptures, to me the most heartwarming, if not the clearest, New Testament illustration is found in Luke chapter 24.

63:51 Luke chapter 24. Do you remember the setting? The Lord is risen from the dead. He draws near to these two people walking on the road to Emmaus.

64:03 And they are dejected and downcast. And I can never read this passage without chuckling. And the Lord draws them out in conversation and then they turn to Him and say, You're the only one in Jerusalem who doesn't know about these things. Here He is, the one who's the object of all these things.

64:22 And they ask Him, Why don't you know what we're talking about? And so He draws them into further conversation and then in verse 25 of Luke 24, Jesus speaks. And He said unto them, O foolish men in slow of heart, to believe in all the prophets have spoken. Behoved it not the Christ to suffer these things and to enter into His glory?

64:43 And beginning from Moses and from all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. And as He opened up the Scriptures, He's chided them for being slow of heart to believe all that's in the Scriptures. And they do not see in their unbelief how Christ is in those Scriptures.

65:12 And what does Jesus do? He shows them where He is in those Scriptures to which He calls them in a response of faith. And when they reflect back upon it, look at verse 32. And they said one to another, Was not our heart burning within us?

65:30 While He spoke to us, while He spoke to us in the way, now note, while He opened to us the Scriptures. Isn't that a beautiful picture? What was Jesus doing? Opening up the Scriptures.

65:43 He wasn't taking them to another source of authority. He wasn't even taking them to His own. They were Scriptures that they believed. They had read, they had heard read in their synagogues.

65:56 But they were closed Scriptures. Jesus opened up the Scriptures. That gave them the burning heart. What is the faithful ministry of the Word?

66:05 Not one which makes you breathless with its flights of eloquence, with its patches of learning, with its cleverly constructed turned phrases that just kind of sound nice and settle nicely in the soul. Here's the mark of a faithful ministry of the Word. Your heart is made to burn while someone opens up the Scriptures. And when they've been opened, you don't sit there and say, Wow!

66:35 Isn't that great? How in the world did He get that out of there? Rather you sit there and say, You poor, unbelieving, blind child of God. Why didn't you ever see that before?

66:47 That's the task of the true servant of Christ. To open up the Scriptures. To open them up. To give the meaning of words in relationship to one another.

67:00 To be able to justify, to the satisfaction of your conscience, that He's not twisting the Scriptures in order to float His own ideas, but seeking to unlock what is already there and what is there for your benefit. Well then, very quickly, I'll just tack this on. The faithful ministry of the Word is not only the faithful proclamation, the faithful explanation, but the faithful application of the contents of the God-breathed Scriptures. Remember those key texts in 2 Timothy.

The Substance: Faithful Application

67:37 All Scripture is God-breathed and also profitable for teaching, for doctrine, what I'm to know and to believe about God and myself and sin and salvation and my privileges in Christ and my duties under the eye of Christ to be filled out of gratitude to Christ in the power of the Spirit of Christ. It is profitable for doctrine, yes, but you don't have period, full stop. They are also profitable not only for doctrine but for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness. And therefore, as Timothy is furnished with that Word, Paul then charges him, preach the Word, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching. Yes, the teaching is to be as it were the rock-ribbed basis of all your ministry, but with that teaching you are to reprove, rebuke, exhort, encourage, seek to incite to godly action and to motivate to a Christ-pleasing life. And the faithful ministry of the Word will include the faithful application of the contents of the God-breathed Scriptures. I like to think of it this way when I sit at my desk.

68:59 When I'm preaching especially consecutive exposition, I'm asking the question, what does this next text say? What do these next verses in 1 Peter say? What do they mean? What did they mean to those scattered saints in Asia Minor when they came to them in the first century?

69:20 And the expositor must labor with the question, what does the text say? But when he has answered that question to the satisfaction of his own conscience and has arranged the opening up of it to the satisfaction of his sense of how well this will communicate clearly and succinctly the truth of God, there's another great question to be asked and answered. When you've answered the question of what in your exposition, then you must answer the question, so what, in your application. So what?

69:54 So what? And no preacher has done his task who merely answers the first question, what? Scripture is profitable for teaching. That's the what.

70:07 But so what? Reprove, correction, instruction in righteousness. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and teaching. Preacher from a bygone generation said, application is the highway from the head to the heart in preaching.

70:29 And while the head-heart distinction has no ultimate justification, in Scripture, it is a good teaching device. When we're answering the question, what? We're making you strain your brain. When we answer the question, so what?

70:43 We ought to break, bless, blister your heart. Bless it to the point where it burns. Blister it if it needs to, to humiliation. But we must answer the question, so what?

70:57 And that's the mark of a faithful ministry of the Word of God. A contemporary, Morris Roberts says, the sermon is not a lecture, but an address to men's minds and consciences. The sermon is punctuated, therefore, with direct application to the hearers in the same way that the epistle to the Hebrews is punctuated with powerful appeals to the conscience every so often. The classic method of preaching is state the doctrine, illustrate and prove it, then apply it.

71:26 The movement is from thought in the mind to imagination to conscience. And this should characterize the sermon throughout. Well, I've kept you. I've tried to lay before you an answer to the question.

Conclusion: Cherishing and Preserving the Ministry of the Word

71:42 When our Constitution says that the primary means of pursuing our God-given purpose is not only prayer, but the public and private ministry of the Word, what is that ministry of the Word? We've looked at the source of it, the God-breathed contents of the Old and the New Testaments, and the substance of that ministry is the faithful proclamation, the faithful explanation, and the faithful application of that Word. I ask you in closing, is this what you cherish? Is this what you are prepared to defend and preserve at any cost, not only for the benefit of your soul, but your children, and if the Lord tarries, unborn generations? May God grant that the answer of your heart is, so help me God, I am. Let's pray. Our Father, we thank you that you have given us the Holy Scriptures.

73:01 We praise you that they are a lamp to our feet and a light to our pathway. And we pray that you will take the Scriptures we have considered this morning, write them upon the cross and on the fleshly tables of our hearts. And may we cherish the faithful ministry of your Word. May we, by your grace, be instruments in your hands to see that ministry multiplied in other places in our generation, and all that we have a responsibility to do to see it perpetuated to unborn generations.

73:35 Give us grace to do it, we pray. Thank you for your presence with us. We ask now that you will seal your Word to our hearts to the praise of your name. We ask in Jesus' name.

73:50 Amen.