The Results of Preaching (1)

Last time we considered the reason we are to preach in Ephesians 3:10: to make “known . . . the manifold wisdom of God.” Verses 11-12 go on to give us two results of this preaching and learning: According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord: In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

First, on the Divine side there is God’s eternal purpose, which is His glory (v. 11). Once again, we come back to one of the great themes of Ephesians God is working all things, especially the salvation he provided through Christ Jesus our Lord, to his ultimate purpose, which is His glory. Why, then, are we to preach? Because it brings glory to God. Those who deemphasize preaching today are actually taking away glory from God. As everything else, preaching is designed to glorify God.

The typical attitude today concerning “worship” is that the key to it is music, with other things, such as drama and entertainment, added on. But such an approach is absolutely foreign to Scripture. One key (if not the key) passage in understanding worship is John 4:20-24, where our Lord Himself declares, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (v. 24). There are many today who want to worship “in spirit,” which in their practice is actually more emotion and self-expression than anything else, but few who do so “in truth.” If we are to worship in truth, and the Word of God is truth, then we must worship out of an understanding of the Word of God. In-turn, if we’re going to truly worship God, we must understand Who He is, and the only place He has fully revealed Himself is in His Word. And that is why expository preaching, the systematic teaching and application of the Word of God, is number one. Any Church that does not have this as the core of their ministry is not a Biblical Church.

The vast majority of books written today on worship and Church ministry contain very little emphasis on preaching; sometime, in fact, it’s not mentioned at all, or if it is, it is given little importance. Neither do such books ever deal in any depth with the key passage we just mentioned—John 4:20-24. Many Christians today do, indeed, worship only in spirit with little truth—emotion with no depth.

In is book, Between Two Worlds, author John Stott writes this strong defense of the place of preaching in worship: Word and worship belong indissolubly to each other. All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which accounts for the low level of so much contemporary worship. Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fullness, and the congregation begins to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before His throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God. That is why preaching is unique and irreplaceable.”

The exposition of the Word of God, then, is essential to meaningful worship. To do less is to rob God of glory.