Basics 2008 - Session 6, Alistair Begg

After morning worship and prayer, Begg led the last of the sessions this morning, finishing up on the teaching from 2 Cor 4 he started yesterday.

Yesterday he covered the source and substance of the gospel we preach. Today was focused on the method of the preaching.

The tools of our trade are words. Our ministry has always been a ministry of words. This is because the original teaching of the Apostles was based in the Word of God. Today, there is a 'staggering ignorance' of Biblical truth in the church. This is a result of the lack of systematic, expository preaching from the pulpit. We have become preoccupied with images, our senses and intuition in our church services. None of these things can be a substitute for the church's call to proclaim the truth of Christ. This will always involve the use of words, not illustrations, anecdotes, entertainment or interactivity. God's Word, the Bible must be spoken and taught.

In 2 Cor 4:2, Paul tells Timothy that he is not like 'these people'. What people? The ones who, as we see in 2 Cor 4:17, "peddle the Word of God". 'Peddle' in this context means 'make it more appealing'. The deceivers Paul is talking about 'peddle' their teaching by making it look like the truth but more appealing than the truth. 2 Cor 11 says these men are 'fake Apostles'. As preachers of the gospel, we don't peddle even though this type of peddling may draw a crowd, evoke a cheer of make people speak well of us.

How do we respond to this peddling? We preach the truth!

How do we preach that truth? 2 Cor 4:2 tells us to, "set forth the truth plainly". These are three 'Cs" of preaching. We preach candidly, clearly and courageously. All three are the antithesis of the false preaching we hear about in 2 Cor 4:2. Paul's preaching consisted of him "reasoning truth from the Scriptures."

We should also see in this passage that the task of preaching the truth is not just difficult....it is impossible! Why is this so? Because God has 'blinded the eye of unbelievers'. The problem is not with the gospel or even with the method used to preach it. The problem is in the condition of the unbelievers. They are unable to hear it without God's intervention. Without His intervention, they don't even know they are blind. Nothing; no videos, dramas, illustration, anecdotes, candles or anything else can help the gospel get through. It takes Divine action!

How did the church get in this position that it has begun to rely on all this fluff to teach the gospel? If we combine the faults of 2 Cor 4:4 with the loss of confidence we see today in Scripture, we will get preachers that try to improvise new ways to engage the people. In other words, when the lose the foundation of the Scriptures, they turn to 'fluff'. We must avoid this by developing character in our preaching.

How do we do that?

1. We "..do not preach ourselves." We don't allow pride to turn us into self promoters. We preach ourselves when; (a) we preach in our own best interests promoting our own welfare. (b) we proclaim our own opinion rater than the truth of the text. (c) put ourselves first, speaking more of ourselves than the text.

Good teachers are; self effacing, servants, saved and fragile (2 Cor 4:1-7). When we develop this kind of character in our preaching, we will end up with fully expendable messengers and an indestructible message.

Our preaching finds its' source in God, its' substance in grace, it's method not in peddling but in preaching the Word and its' men who are entirely dependant upon the Father and utterly disposable.