My Earnest Desire to Preach the Word

My Earnest Desire to Preach the Word
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

The Lord requires His servants to be faithful in all things. As I handle the Word, as an expository preacher of the Bible, I earnestly desire to preach the Word faithfully. The Lord will take care of the results, the breadth of the impact, the way in which people respond obediently to God’s Word heralded, and the measure by which people will tolerate the Word. But my duty does not change. My earnest desire is to herald God’s Word, to declare the King’s message, to convey the Master’s mandate, to proclaim the edict of the Sovereign. To be true to God and true to His Word, I want to preach His Word in the following ways.

1. Accurately
As a messenger of God, I’m described as a workman in Scripture who works so as to not be ashamed, rightly handling the Word of truth. This means I must accurately interpret the Word and rightly divide the text. My hermeneutic must be accurate and my applications should be appropriate. This takes time and requires diligent effort. I’m resolved to preach the Word accurately.

2. Faithfully
The requirement that God demands from His servants is faithfulness, not productiveness. Lots of people succumb to the temptation to concern themselves with ensuring that they are fruitful when God calls them to be faithful. As I study and preach the Word, I must proclaim it faithfully, fearlessly, and truly as it was given from the Master. I cannot change the meaning of the text or alter it to suit my interests or those of my hearers. I’m resolved to preach faithfully.

3. Clearly
The Lord has spoken clearly and God’s men must preach! When God has so clearly spoken, his prophets must clearly speak! What God has spoken clearly in the light of the Word, His ministers must not muddy the message and whisper it in the dark. The Bible reveals the existence, nature and character of God with clarity. The Scriptures reveal the depravity and condemnation of man lucidly. The Word details the crosswork of Christ and His redemption of undeserving sinners. And God demands that all sinners turn from sin and trust in Christ alone for the salvation of their souls! The truth of the Bible must come to light as God’s man heralds. I’m resolved to preach the Word clearly.

4. Consecutively
God gave a whole Bible to be preached. God entrusted us with a whole Bible to make a whole Christian. As a preacher of the gospel, I am diligently committed to the consecutive expository preaching of the Bible.  That means I make it my regular practice to take a book of the Bible and preach through it verse-by-verse. This allows the congregation to understand the context, the background, the author and main themes. Further, it enhances our understanding of how and why God gave us the books of the Bible the way He did. So I take His Word and preach it consecutively by reading the text, explaining it, applying it, and then moving to the next verse till I complete the book.

5. Compellingly
One duty that rests upon me as a preacher is that I must preach the Word compellingly. I must preach it with passion and with a purpose. To minister the Word means that people ought to be changed by the Word. I want God’s truth to transform human hearts. I want believers to imbibe the living Word so that they want to change and are compelled to implement steps of godliness in their Christian lives. To preach compellingly means that I preach in such a way that I evoke interest, and call for attention, and present the Truth in such a way that it cannot be refuted. Of course I believe fully in the sovereignty of God as I proclaim His Word and I trust that only God can do the internal, soul-changing work in the lives of people. Nevertheless, my desire is to overwhelm people with the majesty of God, the marvel of grace, and the mercy of salvation!

6. Compassionately
How many lost souls live at this moment on the brink of a Christless eternity! O to think of the untold multitudes of immortal souls who will receive divine punishment without end forevermore because of their sin and their rejection of Christ as Savior and Lord. I endeavor to preach the Word with compassion as so many are like sheep without a shepherd. When Christ saw the multitudes on the mountain, He had compassion for them. When Jesus saw the two blind men on His final journey to Jerusalem, he had compassion and touched their eyes resulting in their healing. Jesus had affection in His heart for those to whom He ministered. So it must be with me! As I preach the Word to men and women, boys and girls, church-members or not, I resolve to preach compassionately.

7. Courageously
No one was as bold as Jesus. In the fact of many crowds and vehemently hostile enemies, He continued to walk obediently to His Father and to speak boldly concerning sin and salvation. Every minister of the gospel must be courageous. He must fear God and not man. To be a man-pleaser in ministry is to be a bird that is trapped in a net. To fear God and serve Him boldly requires the proclaimer of the gospel to not fear men or live for man’s applause. This means that the herald should prioritize the affirmation from God and not fall prey to the admiration of men. This is deadly for his ministry, his preaching, and his faithfulness. To preach courageously requires a man to stand confidently on God and His Word, to prioritize the soul and eternal realities. Fear God, not man, O man of God! Preach boldly!

8. Urgently
The time will come when everyone will hear their last sermon. No one knows when that last sermon will be. Life is so short and eternity is soon coming that preachers do well to recast their hearts upon the imminency of death. Preaching with an eye toward heaven and an eye toward hell and preaching with one ear hearing the singing of heaven and the other ear hearing the shrieks in hell will assist the herald to preach with urgency! O the tragedy of someone coming into contact with us and, worse, sitting under our preaching, and then dying without a specific and urgent summons to forsake his sin and rely upon Christ’s righteousness and atoning blood for eternal salvation! We must regain an eternal mindset. As a Christian preacher once said: “stamp eternity upon my eyeballs!” The very nature of the ministerial work necessitates an urgency as we deal with eternity. Souls! Eternity! Heaven! Hell!

9. Persuasively
When Paul traveled to Rome, he testified about the kingdom of God and sought to persuade people concerning Jesus (Acts 28.23). Elsewhere, Paul affirmed that he persuades men (2 Cor 5.11). Paul believed in the sovereignty of God and the need for God to change the heart. Paul understood that he could not persuade someone into the kingdom. Nevertheless, he sought to make the gospel so clear, to wound the conscience with the Law, to preach the horrors of sin, and then to present the all-sufficient balm of Christ’s propitiation so that sinners would flee to Christ for everlasting hope and refuge. O may I study the Word and craft the sermon and preach the Word with such a passion so as to persuade my hearers to make the decision today to turn to Christ and live!

10. Engagingly
I want to be an engaging preacher. It’s one thing to have someone’s attention. Clowns jumping up and down can get someone’s attention. But I want to secure interest and preach so engagingly that people not only are listening but that they listen engagingly. I long for the hearers to silently answer the questions that I present from the pulpit. I want them to nod their heads when I make comments. I want them to get lost in the Truth presented and in the glory of the God proclaimed. I cannot engage the hearer on human terms but the Spirit of God must assist me as I preach the Word accurately so that my hearers are engaged with the biblical message I’m heralding.

11. Authoritatively
These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority (Titus 2.15). Those words from Paul to Titus serve as an important element in preaching. All true preaching is authoritative preaching. This does not mean that it’s angry or harsh or mean-spirited. Rather, to preach authoritatively means that the authority and demand to listen to the message comes not from the preacher but from the source, the giver -- God Himself. Thus, since I bear the King’s message and I preach the Lord’s gospel, I preach authoritatively because it belongs to and comes from God. So I must not apologize for the hard truths declared. I must not shrink from the difficult demands. I must preach as a man under compulsion and a man who has been entrusted with a ministry from the King of the universe!

12. Prayerfully
The Apostles publicly stated that they will devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the Word. Paul came to the Corinthians not in rhetorical finesse but with full confidence in the power of the Holy Spirit as he preached. We must pray before we preach, as we preach, and after we preach. Prayerlessless in ministry signifies self-confidence in ministry. Rather, men of God must be wholly dependent upon God, fully reliant on His grace, and utterly desperate for His power. And these particular realities will drive God’s man to his knees in genuine prayer calling upon God and asking for God’s blessing. Ministers of the gospel do well to pray on their knees more and peruse the commentaries less. Heralds must beg God for His power to go forth even through weak vessels. So then, preach prayerfully.

Read More

Crucial Reminders Regarding Biblical Preaching in an Era that Mocks It.

Crucial Reminders Regarding Biblical Preaching in An Era That Mocks It.
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

I’m a preacher and I love to preach. I live and breathe preaching. God has called me to preach and I praise Him for the inestimable privilege more royal than ruling as a king over an empire. I am acutely aware, however, that biblical preaching has fallen on hard times in our day. In fact, not only is expository preaching rejected by so many but even religious leaders and ministers mock faithful, authoritative, expository, biblically-saturated preaching. Some may say it’s antiquated or for those in bygone eras. It was how people learned long ago but nowadays people are different. Others may quip that people won’t come to church if they’re not entertained with a pithy and relevant message about God that is a little ‘dose of God’ to get you through the upcoming week. Further, some may have the audacity to say that this kind of preaching is boring and people can’t sit for an hour-long exposition anymore. I don’t buy any of those arguments as they’re just excuses that men make so that they aren’t confronted with the power of God’s Word, the sinfulness of their own hearts, their condemnation before a holy God, and the absolute necessity that God demands upon them to repent of their sin entirely, trust in Christ completely, and walk in holiness of life fervently. So with all that said, faithful, expository preaching is mocked in our era. So this essay seeks to provide some crucial reminders for us preachers.

1. The PRIMACY of preaching
The greatest mandate given to ministers of the gospel comes in 2 Timothy 4:2 to “preach the Word (which is after a verse [v.1] full of solemn declarations and authoritative reasons which underscore the importance of the imperative command in verse 2). Every faithful local church must place the central emphasis of the ministry on the proclamation of divine truth from the Bible. Everything else supports and undergirds and fleshes out this key ministry. Whatever a church may have, if it does not have preaching, it is an impotent and faithless gathering of professing religious people. Preaching must have primacy in the church because this is how believers are established in the gospel (Rom 16.25). This is why ministers must prioritize prayer, study of the Word, and preparation for the heralding of God’s message.

2. The POWER of preaching
I believe that nothing is more powerful in all the universe in our age than the biblical preaching of Truth. Why is it powerful? Not because of the messenger’s charisma, personality or rhetorical skills, but because of the Truth of the message that is preached. When faithful preaching happens, God’s power is unleashed. God’s power is mighty, majestic, authoritative, unstoppable, and effectual. Biblical preaching is the primary means through which Christ speaks to His people as they gather to hear from Him as His Word is accurately preached. After all, it is the preaching of God’s Word. And the Word is living and active, sharp, and powerful, and effectual. Always remember that even when you can’t see power at work visually, it is still at work invisibly, supernaturally, internally, and providentially.

3. The SERIOUSNESS of preaching
One of the greatest burdens on my heart at the present resides in the lack of sobriety in pulpits all across our land. So-called “pastors” are more described as entertainers than expositors. They better fit the job description of a CEO of a corporation than an undershepherd of Christ’s institution (the Church). They live as man-pleasers rather than God-fearers. They spend more time endeavoring to be culturally relevant than biblically faithful. So when men stand up before the hearers, they speak as if they’re at a circus to get laughs, to win the emotions, and prompt many goats to feel themselves to be sheep because of an experience, a decision, or a prayer that they’ve prayed. What we so desperately need now are men of God who fear nothing but God and these men will change the world for Christ. We need men who pray on their knees, who intercede for their congregations by name, who evangelize courageously and who suffer joyfully, who preach as if standing before an audience of One preaching God’s message, fully, faithfully, fervently, and fearfully. O let God’s men regain a sobriety in the pulpit as they open their Bible and speak for God to men and declare God’s message to all who have gathered as if souls depend on it -- because they do.

4. The NECESSITY of preaching
God told Ezekiel “you shall speak my words to them” (Ezek 2.7). Paul told Timothy to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Tim 4.13). The Apostle himself affirmed the necessity: “I am under compulsion -- for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel” (1 Cor 9.16). These Scriptures prove the absolute necessity of preaching. This means that every faithful minister of the gospel -- every biblical shepherd who serves Christ and His blood-bought sheep -- must primarily and necessarily be a preacher of the Bible. He may be a leader, a guy with lots of visionary ideas, a man who delegates well, a persuasive communicator, and a winsome person but if he is not primarily a preacher then he is not fulfilling his God-given role. Every elder must be able to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict (Titus 1.9). Far better would church services be to shorten the music time, fire the drama team, and eliminate the media clips and put the absolute necessity of the preaching of the Word of God in the center of the worship gatherings. I am under compulsion, I can and I must preach. Is that your passion?


5. The CONVICTION of preaching
Faithful ministers of the gospel don’t preach because it is an option or just another vocation for their lives. No! Men of God preach because they stand toweringly convinced that God has called them to this life of service for His ultimate glory. Thus, no clever argument, no persuasive theory, no cunning allurement could draw them away from the highest privilege God could bestow upon a mortal: to be a spokesman for God’s glorious gospel. Lots of people have opinions about life and hobbies and preferences and circumstances, but the man who rests unswervingly in the conviction that God has ordained preaching as the primary means both for the converting of the lost and for the sanctifying of the saved is the man who lives with indomitable joy. So we preach as servants of the King who are absolutely convinced that God will receive glory as His Word goes forth. He will use His Word through His people.


6. The REWARD of preaching
All true believers who endure will receive the crown of righteousness on that final day! Men of God who speak for God by heralding His Word must frequently remember that when the Chief Shepherd appears, He will bestow the unfading crown of glory upon His own. In fact, faithful pastors who shepherd the flock of God among them who have exercised oversight voluntarily, who have served with eagerness, not for sordid gain, and who have provided to be examples to the flock and not lorded it over those allotted to their charge will receive heavenly rewards. We serve and preach, we labor and strive, we run and agonize to receive the imperishable wreath. Yes, God is a rewarder of those who seek Him and those who served Him by faith and labored with integrity are men of whom the world is not worthy and they’ll stand on that final day and hear: “well done, good and faithful servant; enter into the joy of your Master” (Matt 25.21). So brother-pastors, labor on and labor hard. Christ’s full reward is sure to come!

Read More

The Faithful Church Ministry According to Scripture

The Faithful Church Ministry According to Scripture
Geoffrey R. Kirkland
Christ Fellowship Bible Church

The Lord of the Church has not left His church to wonder about faithful church ministry and how it must be done. Christ Himself promised to build His church and He guaranteed that even the forces of hell will not destroy the beauty of this God-designed institution. We must remember that the same Lord who rules as Lord over His church and who guarantees the ultimate triumph of His church also gives clarity on how church ministry must be done. He didn’t create the church and leave it up to us to figure out how to do it. Rather, we find in Scripture what faithful church ministry looks like. One text that specifically addresses the issue is Ephesians 4. In this article, we’ll see 7 ways of understanding what a faithful church ministry is like according to the Bible.

1. The gifts for ministry [Eph 4.7]
The Lord equips His church with the necessary means of building up and edifying one another so that the whole is strengthened. These are spiritual gifts. Christ, the Lord over His church, gives a grace-gift to each Christian so that the believer will employ that gift corporately, for the benefit and upbuilding of the church, and for the glory of Jesus Christ. Scripture lists many gifts when one combines all of the New Testament catalogues of gifts. Ephesians 4 mentions a few: apostles, prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. The Lord graciously imparts a supernatural grace-gift at salvation to each believer so that the church will be strong and equipped. The faithful church ministry has people who serve in differing roles and functions, utilizing their God-given gifts, for the upbuilding of the church congregation and for the glory of God in the midst of a watching world.

2. The grace for ministry [Eph 4.7]
The Lord gives all that is needed for His people to serve Him faithfully in life, in ministry, and in holiness in the world. He gives this by grace -- sovereign, undeserved, lavish grace. Nothing in ministry is earned or deserved; it’s all of grace. Even the opportunities to serve and build up one another come from the benevolent storehouse of grace. And God gives gifts according to His prerogative. Christ has all authority as He is the victorious Warrior-King. Psalm 68 makes this clear as the Lord triumphed over all His enemies and has thus received all the spoil from the conquered foes and thus is now able to distribute gifts to all of His subjects in His kingdom. This is what Christ does. He owns everything and rules over everything and has given particular grace-gifts to His people for ministry and service. Believers ought not to whine or complain in a discontented way but ought to serve thankfully and diligently because it is, after all, all of grace!

3. The goal of ministry [Eph 4.12]
Perhaps one of the greatest unknowns in all of Christian ministry nowadays is why the church exists. What is the purpose of the ministry? What is the goal of gathering with the church week by week? Why did God give different gifts, all by His grace, and bestow leaders to His church? Ephesians 4 clarifies in no uncertain terms that the purpose of the church is for the equipping of the saints for the work of service (v.12a). It is all so that the body of Christ may be built up (v.12b). The goal does not consist in budgets, numbers, staff personnel, building programs, societal involvement and engagement, popularity and recognition or anything of that sort. Rather, the goal of ministry is acutely defined as the building up of the body of Christ and the equipping of the saints to do the work of service. If this is not happening, then faithful ministry is not happening. If saints are not being equipped for service and if the church is not being built up, then the church has veered off course from faithfulness and fallen into the ditches.

4. The greatness of ministry [Eph 4.13]
Christ’s plan for the growth and maturity of His people is the local church. The greatness of Christian ministry manifests itself as believers all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God Himself (Eph 4:13). No greater goal for Christian ministry exists. No greater joy can well up in the believer’s heart than to undertake the greatness of Christian ministry by attaining and enjoying the unity of the faith with all the saints. Indeed, this unity culminates in the true and transforming knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. In other words, no Christian can enjoy the fullness of the great ministry of God apart from the local church. Further, no child of God can attain the true knowledge of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, while living divorced from a local congregation of believers. Indeed, one’s spiritual growth is directly linked to his direct and intentional involvement in the chief context where Christ’s greatness is manifested, in the local church!

5. The guarding of ministry [Eph 4.14]
The good Shepherd cares for and guards His sheep. He has a plan to do so through His church. Indeed, Ephesians 4 makes clear that believers are no longer to be children (=immature) who are tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine. Yes, fads come and go. Waves of “new” teachings come up and then rush back out to the blackness of the sea. New ministry methods, worship styles, ideologies, evangelistic ‘techniques’, and programs seem to appear at the speed of light. Nevertheless, Paul says, don’t be led astray by such things. Indeed, it’s craftiness and deceitful scheming by the Evil One, ultimately. We must stay true to Christ, to the knowledge of Christ, to the gospel of Christ, to the church of Christ, and to the ministry of Christ. How is a child of God guarded from error and deceitful doctrines and bad teachers? Christ’s great plan consists in the faithfulness of a solid and thoroughly biblical ministry that upholds His Word and expounds it faithfully and boldly. Rejoice in this guardianship.

6. The growth of ministry [Eph 4.15]
When Christians and ministers come together and they begin to discuss their churches it often doesn’t take long before someone will speak of how big their church is and refer to God’s growth of the church in terms of numbers. While this is not bad per se it is an inaccurate barometer of a faithful church ministry according to Scripture. How does the church grow? Ephesians 4:15 says it must consists in believers speaking the truth in love to each other. Additionally, believers are to grow up in all aspects into Christ who is the head over His Church. That is to say, a healthy and thriving local church that can boast in Christ because of its growth makes clear that they are endeavoring to grow up in all things into Christ who Himself is the Head and sovereign Lord over His local assembly. The church may be shrinking in numbers but growing in faithfulness in so far as the ministry is growing in Christ in all aspects -- in serving, in giving, in preaching, in evangelizing, in discipling, in disciplining, in fellowshiping, and on and on.

7. The giving in ministry [Eph 4.16]
What does all of this require?A faithful church ministry according to Scripture does not just happen. Coasting in neutral will never produce a thriving and Christ-exalting local church. What must be there? Verse 16 shows that the whole body of Christ is fitted and held together by what every joint supplies. This means that every single person, indeed, as Paul puts it “each individual part” deliberately causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself (=upbuilding/edification) in love. Faithful ministry demands the self-denying, self-sacrificing, Christ-emulating, and others-oriented focus of joyful giving to one another in the church. Lots of people exert energy in entertainment, sports, leisurely activities, hobbies, travels and vacations, and physical exercise. What if Christ’s people all deliberately supplied diligent effort, regular service, others-oriented sacrifice, and intentional love in the context of the local church. This kind of faithful church ministry, however, cannot happen with a few leaders or a few sold-out members. It happens as the whole body works together and as every joint is supplying effort and as each individual part works unifyingly for the growth of the body. This is a faithful church ministry according to Scripture. O the bliss of this Christ-honoring local church which would serve to be heaven on earth; indeed, it would put us in the suburbs of heaven while we serve Him on earth awaiting our entrance into His heavenly kingdom!

Read More