The Ordinary Means of Preaching

Order of Service

• Call to Worship — Psalm 100
• Hymn — All People That on Earth Do Dwell (Psalm 100B)
• Prayer of Invocation
• Heidelberg Catechism — Lord's Day 47, Question 122
• Hymn — He Who Dwells in the Shelter of the Most High (Psalm 91B)
• Pastoral Prayer
• Scripture Reading — Nehemiah 8:1–8
• Scripture Reading — Ezekiel 37:4–6
• Scripture Reading — 2 Timothy 4:1–2
• Sermon
• Hymn — God in the Gospel of His Son (#170)
• Benediction — 2 Corinthians 13:14

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Sermon Title: The Ordinary Means of Preaching

Scripture: Nehemiah 8:1–8; Ezekiel 37:4–6; 2 Timothy 4:1–2

I. Preaching Is the Teaching of God's Word

A. The Levites in Nehemiah 8 "gave the sense" — they read clearly with interpretation, giving understanding of what was written

1. The Hebrew word implies prudence or good sense; preaching is sound exegesis that illumines the text for the people
2. The Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8 could not understand Isaiah until Philip opened the Scripture and taught him Christ

B. The Spirit is the true teacher; the preacher is the instrument

1. John 14:26 — the Holy Spirit will teach and bring to remembrance all that Christ said
2. Matthew 28:19–20 — the risen Christ commands the disciples to go teaching the nations
3. 2 Corinthians 2:13 — words "not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to spiritual people"

C. Distinction between inspiration and illumination

1. Inspiration is unique to the apostolic writers; that age is closed
2. The Spirit's illumination through preaching is nonetheless supernatural — the congregation is taught by the third person of the Trinity himself
3. When Christ is not magnified from the pulpit, preaching is no longer a means of grace but merely human wisdom

D. The fruit of Spirit-taught preaching is joy

1. The Ethiopian eunuch "went away rejoicing" (Acts 8:39) after understanding the word
2. Israel in Nehemiah 8:12 went away with "great rejoicing because they had understood the words declared to them"
3. "The joy of the Lord is your strength" — understanding Scripture produces genuine spiritual delight

II. Preaching Is the Proclamation of God's Word

A. Preaching is more than lecture; it is announcement and declaration that demands a response

1. Ezekiel is not called to teach the dry bones how to live — he is called to prophesy, to command their response (Ezekiel 37:4–6)
2. Jesus does not instruct dead Lazarus; he declares, "Lazarus, come out" — the proclamation is the means by which the Spirit enlivens

B. Throughout Acts, the apostles "proclaim Christ," always intending a response of repentance and faith

1. Hearers are never passive spectators; they are active participants called to repent and believe
2. Luther's first thesis: "When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said 'Repent,' he willed the entire life of believers to be one of repentance"

C. Weekly preaching serves the same orienting function that Israel's liturgical calendar served

1. The festivals, sacrifices, and ceremonial law imprinted on Israel's memory that God is Redeemer and they are his redeemed people
2. Christ has fulfilled those shadows; now week by week the proclamation of the gospel re-orients the believer to their Redeemer, preventing the drift toward idolatry
3. The Spirit uses proclamation as the primary tool to loosen the believer's grip on the old man and fasten him more firmly to Christ — Sunday by Sunday, "turning our hearts away from the world"

III. Preaching Is the Discipline of God's Word

A. The language of 2 Timothy 4:2 — reprove, rebuke, exhort — mirrors the language of 2 Timothy 3:16–17

1. All Scripture is profitable for teaching, reproof, correction, and training in righteousness
2. Preaching carries that same fourfold work into the congregation

B. 1 Thessalonians 2:13 — the congregation received Paul's preaching "not as the word of men but as it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers"

1. Heinrich Bullinger, Second Helvetic Confession (1561): "The preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God"
2. 2 Timothy 1:13 — Timothy is to follow "the pattern of sound words" — healthy, gospel-saturated language that drips with scriptural wisdom

C. Preaching includes evangelical threatenings — gospel warnings directed even to believers

1. Canons of Dort, Head of Doctrine on Perseverance, Article 14: God preserves his work of grace through "exhortation, threatenings, and promises of the gospel"
2. John Owen: those who say all warnings of future wrath are "legal" and unfit for the gospel pulpit "would disarm the Lord Christ"
3. Believers need reminding of the devastating reality of sin just as they can forget the good news

D. Preaching also disciplines the self-condemning believer

1. The rebuke, reproof, and correction of Scripture apply equally to those crushed under guilt
2. As a father lifts the face of a repentant child and says "Look at me — I will never stop loving you," so the Father through preaching points the broken believer to the blood of Christ: "You are my adopted child; I will never stop loving you"
3. Preaching is the primary means by which the Father both warns his children away from the cliff and draws them back when they doubt his love