The Voice Of One Crying Out In Suburbia

Refusing to practice cunning or tamper with God's Word...

Heard a very good message on Wednesday night at Zion Missionary Baptist Church. Pastor Michael Jones preached on 2 Corinthians 4:1-2 (I think he intended to cover more verses originally). It is pretty rare to have a Wednesday evening service be a 30+ minute expository sermon but it was good stuff.

But we have renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. (2 Cor 4:2 ESV)

What a clear and powerful statement by Paul, yet one that is freely ignored by so many men (and women, but that is a whole separate issue) in pulpits. God did not provide His Word as an outline, to give a rough idea of what to say. God did not give His Word to His under-shepherds as a series of examples and pithy stories to use when preaching whatever message they decided was worthwhile. The command is simple: preach the Word. Yes, explain it. Yes give application. But first and foremost preach the Word. The Word is the focus of worship. It ought be the focus of the sermon. It is not ancillary to the sermon, it IS the sermon. Men are not saved by marketing or slick packaging or emotional appeals. Men are saved by the working of the Holy Spirit, chagning hearts of stone into hearts of flesh, regenerating men who were dead into new creatures in Christ by the ministry of the Word of God. Any other method of evangelism is both doomed to fail and a violation of God's commandment. Those who seek new and innovative ways to "win people to Christ" have defied God and cheapened the Gospel, they have discounted the power of the Spirit and the Word and instead replaced it with their own methods, seeking to make disciple by their own efforts.