Thesis 20- We must preach the Bible.
Sola Scriptura, Scripture alone is a fine doctrine. Martin Luther fought on the side of the angels when he argued that the Scripture alone has the power to bind the conscience of man. We must not think, however, that after Luther’s bold stand that the serpent slithered away believing he could no longer assault the Bride. Indeed the serpent is quite content for us to believe in the doctrine of sola Scriptura, so long as we do not avail ourselves of the power of the Scripture. It is one thing to believe that Scripture alone has the power to bind the conscience. It is another thing altogether to yoke ones conscience to the Scripture.
Too often, even in evangelical churches, sermons are delivered that did not have as their starting point the Word of God. Too many pastors begin their sermon preparation by considering what point they would like to make, and then turn to the Bible to find a proof text to use to back up that point. Here the Bible is merely a tool, a footnote to the wisdom of the preacher. Worse still, in too many evangelical churches the Bible is not consulted at all. A sermon built out of wisdom gleaned from Dr. Oz is not much worse than a sermon built out of the wisdom found in the Westminster Confession of Faith. God does not call the preacher to preach his own wisdom, the wisdom of secular gurus, not even the wisdom of the great men of God in church history. Instead He calls us to preach the Word, in season and out of season.
A second problem keeps us away from the power of the Word preached. While no one would want to suggest that it is a bad thing to study the Bible on ones own, too many of us substitute our own private studies of God’s Word with availing ourselves of the Word of God preached. God is pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of preaching (). It isn’t simply the Word itself but the Word preached. Preaching that is not preaching the Word is not what we are called to. Simply reading or studying the Word, without the Word preached is likewise not what we are called to. The Robinson Crusoe approach, just me and my Bible, is a recipe for making shipwreck of our souls.
And there is a third potential problem. In too many evangelical churches, especially Reformed evangelical churches, we are willing to preach through books of the Bible, but we tend to spend all our time in the epistles of Paul. We do not start out deciding to teach on predestination, but we pitch our tents in those places where predestination is front and center. We ought not, of course, run from any text. Instead we ought to get behind the Bible, to follow it, rather than trying to lead it.
We are the bride of Christ. Our husband, the great shepherd of the sheep, has called those who shepherd under Him, to wash us in the water of the Word, that we might be sanctified. This will only happen as we repent, and preach that Word, in season and out.