Preaching of the word of god is the word of god

The fourth paragraph of the Second Helvetic Confession of 1566, written by the Swiss Reformer (and successor to Ulrich Zwingli) Heinrich Bullinger, begins with this famous title: “The Preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God.” In that paragraph, Bullinger says the same thing in different words: “Wherefore when this Word of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully called, we believe that the very Word of God is preached” (emphasis added).

To modern ears, this may sound too bold, even arrogant. After all, Bullinger isn’t saying preaching God’s Word is giving a message about the Word; he’s saying preaching God’s Word is God’s Word. Wouldn’t it be better to say this differently? More humbly? Why didn’t he just say that preaching “explains” the Word of God? Or “points to” the Word of God? Maybe that it “teaches” the Word of God? Or at least that it is “according to” the Word of God?

Looking back at church history, however, we see Bullinger’s view was hardly unique. Martin Luther said the same thing in almost the same words: “one must see the word of the preacher as God’s Word” (Luther’s Works 22, 526). John Calvin declared in one of his first writings, “I demand only this, that faithful people be allowed to hear their God speaking and to learn from his teaching” (emphasis added). In the fourth book of his Institutes, Calvin makes the same point about the ministry of the Word in the church: “…among the many noble endowments with which God has adorned the human race, one of the most remarkable is, that he deigns to consecrate the mouths and tongues of men to his service, making his own voice to be heard in them“ (emphasis added). Brian Chapell states that as preachers “we do not merely speak about Jesus to his people; we speak as Jesus speaks to his people” (emphasis original). J.I. Packer writes that “Christian preaching is the event of God himself bringing to an audience a Bible-based, Christ-related, life-impacting message of instruction and direction through the words of a spokesperson” (emphasis original). Phillip Ryken argues that “An expositor….himself is only God’s mouthpiece, speaking God’s message into the ears of God’s people, and thus into their minds and hearts.” A crucial claim of Greg Scharf’s book Let The Earth Hear His Voice is that “God actually speaks through people who speak in his name.” Indeed, the view that “the Word of God preached is the very Word of God” is the Protestant view of preaching.

Now, to be clear: none of these theologians are arguing that the preacher is therefore infallible or that the sermon is thus perfect or on par with Scripture. Bullinger, anticipating the objection, goes on: “the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded, not the minister that preaches; who, although he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless the Word of God abides true and good” (emphasis added—ouch!) Calvin, similarly, states that “Therefore, to teach us that the treasure offered to us in earthen vessels is of inestimable value…God himself appears and, as the author of this ordinance, requires his presence to be recognised in his own institution….Those who think that the authority of the doctrine is impaired by the insignificance of the men who are called to teach, betray their ingratitude.”

In other words, the preacher, who is “evil,” “a sinner,” “insignificant,” and merely an “earthen vessel,” is hardly inerrant or perfect, and does not “impair” this doctrine. Rather, the Reformers made the same distinction Chapell does: “The humble answer lies in discerning the source of any message that seeks to present the truths of a biblical text….the frailties and faults of preachers do not change the essential nature of the treasure they steward. To the extent that their preaching is true to Scripture, God’s Word yet echoes in the church.” This is why, then, expositional preaching is so crucial for the life of the church. When a preacher sets out, from the beginning of his preparation, to ensure that the message of his preaching is the message of the text, he is doing everything in his power to ensure that what he preaches is indeed the very Word of God.

To summarize, then, preaching is the Word of God only insofar as it rightly communicates the meaning and applications of the Scriptures, the Word of God written—but, insofar as it does do that, then preaching is to be regarded as nothing less than God himself speaking to the congregation.

Bullinger, then, was merely one of the first to state what has for hundreds of years been the Reformed doctrine of preaching. An even more important question, though, is this. Is the Reformed view the biblical view? Yes, it is. Paul commends the Thessalonian Christians for receiving the Gospel in just this fashion: “And we also thank God constantly for this, that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers” (1 Thes. 2:13). And in case someone were to object that Paul, being an apostle inspired by God, cannot be a model for preaching today, notice that Paul used the first-person plural (“we,” “us”), meaning he is including his fellow-worker Silas—who wasn’t an apostle!—as one whose “word” was received “not as the word of men but…of God.” Similarly, Paul tells the Corinthians that in this “ministry of reconciliation,” proclaiming the Gospel, “we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us” (2 Cor. 5:20, emphasis added). Note that this is not merely about preaching in the church, either—Paul is saying that every time any Christian believer summons the lost to be reconciled, God is speaking through that believer (again, to the extent that the Christian is being faithful to the text)—but it certainly includes preaching. It is for this reason that elders are given the charge Paul gave to Timothy: “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: preach the word” (2 Tim. 4:1-2); Paul doesn’t say “preach about the Word” or “preach according to the Word,” but tells Timothy that the very thing to be preached, the very nature and content of his preaching, is to be itself God’s Word.

This is a humbling truth for preachers; it means that the only thing a preacher has left to “take credit for” is error, if the preaching is, to the extent that it’s true, God speaking through him! But it is also humbling for the listener. If the right preaching of the Word is God speaking to us, then when we gather for worship on Sunday, we are indeed gathering to hear the Living God speak to us. That has staggering implications for how we approach worship. Indeed, this truth shapes the doctrine of the Christian life as a whole. Next week I’ll look at some practical implications of this truth for us as listeners.

In his book Preaching with Confidence, James Daane tells of an amusing incident. He says:

As I entered the pulpit one Sunday morning, a small boy whispered to his mother, “There’s God.” After the service, the mother related the incident to me with obvious amusement. I, too, found it amusing. But reflecting on the incident later I was reminded of the mysterious words of Jesus, “He who hears you hears me” (Luke 10:16). In the sober light of these words the faulty religious perceptions of a small boy reflected biblical truth in a way that the amusement of his mother did not.¹

Dr. Daane goes on to say, “A preacher is not God, of course.”² I am sure we would all agree to that. Nonetheless, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church’s Directory for the Public Worship of God says, “In the sermon God addresses the congregation by the mouth of his servant” (art. 3, sec. 3).

The Bible at the Center⤒🔗

One of the things stressed by the Reformers of the sixteenth century was the concept of sola Scriptura.

They translated the Bible into the language of the people and put it in their hands. At the same time, they put the pulpit (instead of the sacraments) at the center of the church’s worship.

The Word of God is one of the means of grace, and they understood, in the words of the Shorter Catechism, that:

the Spirit of God maketh the reading, but especially the preaching, of the Word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation (Q. 89).

For Martin Luther and John Calvin, nothing was more important than the preaching of God’s Word. ³ In this they were recovering the perspective of the apostles, especially Paul.

We live in an age when once again preaching is falling on hard times. Evangelicals have expended a great deal of energy defending a high view of the Bible as the inspired Word of God, but have failed in large measure to combine it with a high view of preaching. The terms preach and preacher have fallen into disrepute. People say, “Don’t preach to me.” All too often there is good reason for this. Far too many Christians, including ministers, regard the sermon as just another message with no special authority. The preacher is not seen as having a message to declare and the authority to say “Thus saith the Lord” – to call upon people to repent, to believe, to obey. The pulpit is just another platform or lectern, and all too often it is a private stage upon which to perform in an entertaining fashion.

A Message from God←⤒🔗

The First Epistle of Paul to the Thessalonians is one of the earliest of his writings. In it, he writes to the young church in Thessalonica about the preaching he did in that city. In 1:5 he declares,

Our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction.

In chapter 2 he relates that he had come to Thessalonica from Philippi, where he had been beaten and imprisoned for preaching. Yet he had boldness in God to proclaim the gospel to the Thessalonians amid much opposition (2:2). In verse 4 he adds,

Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak.

Paul did not see himself as some religious leader who had thought up a new system to proclaim. His message was from God. Furthermore, his message had God’s stamp of approval. God had set him apart for this task.

Verse 9 is important, for there Paul reminds the Thessalonians, “We proclaimed to you the gospel of God.” Here Paul uses a New Testament term for preaching. Preaching is proclaiming the gospel. Paul sees himself as a herald – an official spokesman for God, the King. He was sent out like heralds of old to cry, “Hear ye! Hear ye! This is the king’s law, what he expects of his subjects.” The herald never gives his own message. He is the spokesman for the king. He proclaims what the king has decreed. All this brings us to verse 13, which is the key passage for our consideration. Paul says,

For this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received from us the word of God’s message, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.

Effective Preaching←⤒🔗

In Acts 17:2-9 we read of Paul’s ministry in Thessalonica. There was a synagogue of the Jews in that city,

and according to Paul’s custom, he went to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is the Christ’  (vss. 2-3).

Paul was proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, and he was using the Scriptures – that is, the Bible of his day – to set forth this message. There were people in Thessalonica who were persuaded and who believed. So effective was the preaching of Paul and his companions that the Jews were jealous and caused a riot. They claimed that these men had upset the world with their teaching.

What does Paul say about his preaching in Thessalonica? He says that the believers “received from us the word of God’s message” – but he goes even further. He says they received it “not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe” (1 Thessalonians 2:13).

Paul’s preaching was effective, not because he was a great religious expert or because he had some special religious experience to share, but because men heard from him not the words of man, but of God. His preaching was “an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation” (Shorter Catechism, Q. 89).

Can we have men who will turn the world upside down today by their preaching? Some will say that Paul could preach the way he did because he was an apostle. Indeed, Paul was an official eyewitness of the resurrected Lord. He was one of the foundation stones of the church. He wrote books, such as 1 Thessalonians, which were inspired. They are the Word of God. We can see how Paul’s preaching was not the words of man, but really the words of God.

It is true that modern-day preachers are not apostles. They are to build on the foundation of the apostles, with Jesus Christ being the chief cornerstone, but they do not have the same apostolic authority. Nevertheless, the modern-day preacher still has the authoritative Word of God. He does build on the foundation that has been laid, but he builds not with his own wisdom or his own religious ideas. Rather, he builds with the authority of God’s Word, and when he declares that Word, he speaks for God. True preaching cannot be severed from the Word of God. The preacher declares, “Thus saith the Lord.” As long as he stands on God’s written Word, as long as he faithfully expounds that Word, he can and should expect those who hear in faith to hear God’s word for their life.

How will the church find and train such preachers? Only as she holds before her sons the high calling of being spokesmen for God and as she demands from her preachers not dialogue or sharing or religious drama, but true proclamation of the Word of God.

All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; (17) so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work. (4:1) I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: (2) preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction. (3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, (4) and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. (5) As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

Why Is God’s Word so Prominent in Corporate Worship?

In our series on worship, which will come to an end in two more weeks, we need to ask this question: Why is preaching so prominent in our corporate worship services? Almost half the time of a typical morning worship service is taken up with preaching the Word of God. That is a remarkable proportion and demands some explanation.

But why should I spend time teaching you about preaching, when you are not in seminary preparing to preach? There are three simple answers. First, you will know better what to do with preaching if you understand biblically why it is here. Second, you will be able to assess whether you are, in fact, hearing the right kind of preaching if you know biblically what it is supposed to be. Third, if you know what true preaching is, you will be able to discern and call the right kind of preacher when my time is up in this pulpit. So it has huge implications for your life and family and the future of the church — and all the churches — if the people of God know what true biblical preaching is and why it is so prominent in corporate worship.

Now this question — Why is preaching so prominent in corporate worship? — is really two questions. One is: Why is the Word of God so prominent? And the other is: Why is this form of presenting the Word of God so prominent? Someone could simply read the Bible for half an hour rather than listen to preaching, and that would certainly make the Word of God prominent. Or one could lead a discussion of the Bible for a half-hour. Or one could do mainly academic analyses of vocabulary and grammar and historical circumstances in the Bible. So we must ask not only why is the Word so prominent, but why is preaching, as such, so prominent.

Let’s take the first question: Why the prominence of God’s Word in our corporate worship?

God Revealed Himself as the Word and by the Word

The first reason is that God has chosen to reveal himself as the Word and by the Word. John 1:1 says, «In the beginning was the Word.» Not in the beginning was the song, or in the beginning was the drama. God identifies his Son, who himself is God, as the Word. This is tremendously important. «In the beginning was the Word.» The Son of God is the Word of God. He is God’s communication to the world, God’s Word.

God has also chosen to reveal himself not only as the Word but also by the Word. Look at our text, 2 Timothy 3:16, «All Scripture is inspired by God.» This means that God ordained to speak to us and reveal himself to us and interpret his deeds in history for us by inspiring written words. That’s what «scripture» means: writings. All the Scripture — all the writings in the Jewish-Christian canon — are inspired, God-breathed. Or as 2 Peter 1:21 says, «No prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men, moved by the Holy Spirit, spoke from God.» The scriptures of the Old and New Testament are God’s revelation of himself to us.

So the first two answers to why the Word is so prominent in worship is that God revealed himself as the Word and by the Word. If worship is meant to be a spiritual communion with God and a reverent, loving response to God, then at the heart of worship must be the revelation of God himself, and he has ordained to be known mainly by his Word.

God Performs His Work by His Word

But we can say more. Worship is a response to God’s work, and the Word of God is the means by which he works in the world. This is the way it was in the beginning when God created by his Word (Hebrews 11:3). And this is the way it has been ever since as God performs great acts by his Word. For example, we know that Jesus simply spoke and seas were calmed (Mark 4:39), fevers were cooled (Luke 4:39), demons were cast out (Mark 1:25), sins were forgiven (Mark 2:10), the blind received their sight (Luke 18:42), the dead were raised (Luke 7:14). God worked by means of his Word!

But we also know that God goes on working by his Word. Consider our text again: 2 Timothy 3:16-17, «All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.» In other words, the way God brings about the good works of his people is by the Word. This is why Jesus said that men will see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven (Matthew 5:16). God works by his Word to do his works through his people in his world.

You can see this again and again in the Bible. For example, Psalm 1:3 says that the man who meditates on the Word of God day and night will «be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither; and in whatever he does, he prospers.» So the Word brings fruit and makes a person prosper in the will of God. Or consider Hebrews 4:12, «For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.» The Word is God’s agent in the great work of conviction and judgment. Or recall John 17:17, where Jesus prays to his Father, «Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth.» The great work of sanctification God does by the Word of God. And the list could go on and on.

The point is that worship is about knowing and admiring and savoring God through his works. And these works are seen in his Word and performed by his Word. Therefore the Word is prominent in worship.

God Brings About New Birth by His Word

Let me mention one other reason why the Word is so prominent in worship. Worship depends utterly on the spiritual miracle of the new birth and the ongoing work of reawakening faith. And these miracles God does by the Word. For example, 1 Peter 1:23, «You have been born again not of seed which is perishable but imperishable, that is, through the living and enduring word of God.» New birth is worked by God through the Word. This means that the life we need to worship authentically comes by the Word. No life, no worship. No Word, no life.

Not only that, the constant reawakening of faith Sunday after Sunday comes by hearing the Word of Christ: «So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ» (Romans 10:17) — not just the first time, but over and over again.

So the Protestant church has put the Word of God at the most prominent place in corporate worship because worship is a seeing and savoring of God himself, and God reveals himself as the Word, and by the Word. In particular, God does his works in the world by his Word and gives new life by his Word and awakens faith by his Word. Without the Word of God, there would be no life, no faith, no work, no revelation and no worship. The Word of God is to worship as air is to breathing.

Why Is Preaching so Prominent in Corporate Worship?

Now the second question is: Granted that the Word of God should be so prominent in worship, why is this particular form of the word called «preaching» so prominent?

Notice what follows in our text right after declaring that all Scripture is inspired by God (in 2 Timothy 3:16-17). Immediately Paul says (4:1-2), with amazing solemnity and high seriousness, «I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word.» So it is clear that for this young minister of the Word (see 2 Timothy 2:15), preaching was to be a prominent activity. And the context of 3:16-17 seems to imply that preaching is not just for evangelism on the street corner or in the synagogue, but for the saints who need (as verse 2 says) «reproof, rebuke, exhortation, patience and instruction.»

So we could say, we preach because 2 Timothy 4:2 says we should. But I want to go beneath that and ask Why? Why is it so fitting in God’s scheme of things that preaching be so prominent in worship?

Old Testament and New Testament Precedents

One answer is that there is a biblical precedent for explaining the Scriptures in public worship. For example, in Nehemiah 8:6-8 it says, «Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God; and all the people answered, ‘Amen, Amen,’ lifting up their hands; and they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground . . . the Levites, helped the people to understand the law, while the people remained in their places. And they read from the book, from the law of God, clearly; and they gave the sense, so that the people understood the reading» (RSV). So there was not only the reading of the law, but there were called and appointed men who «gave the sense» and «helped the people understand the law.» And all that was in the context of blessing the Lord and lifting the hands and falling down in worship.

In the New Testament, the Jewish synagogue continued this pattern. For example, in Luke 4:16ff, Jesus came to Nazareth early in his ministry and entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and read from the prophet Isaiah about his own coming, and then sat down and began his interpretation: «Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing» (Luke 4:21). This was the typical synagogue pattern: the Word read and then an interpretation and application of the Word.

You see it also in the book of Acts. Paul comes to the synagogue in Pisidian Antioch and in Acts 13:14-15 it says, «On the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, ‘Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.'» And Paul stands up and preaches (verses 16-31).

So the first reason that preaching became central in the church was that this was the pattern established in the Old Testament and in the New Testament synagogue.

The Twofold Essence of Worship

But there are two reasons for the prominent place of preaching in worship that go deeper than this. They have to do with the twofold essence of worship: understanding God and delighting in God. Jonathan Edwards explains God’s goal in worship like this:

God glorifies himself towards the creatures also [in] two ways: (1) by appearing to them, being manifested to their understanding; (2) in communicating himself to their hearts, and in their rejoicing and delighting in, and enjoying the manifestations which he makes of himself. . . . God is glorified not only by his glory’s being seen, but by its being rejoiced in. . . . [W]hen those that see it delight in it: God is more glorified than if they only see it; his glory is then received by the whole soul, both by the understanding and by the heart.¹

So there are always two parts to true worship. We can say it in two pairs: there is seeing God and there is savoring God. You can’t separate these. You must see him to savor him. And if you don’t savor him when you see him, you insult him. Or another pair would be this: in worship there is always understanding with the mind and there is always feeling in the heart. Understanding must always be the foundation of feeling, or all we have is baseless emotionalism. But understanding of God that doesn’t give rise to feeling for God becomes mere intellectualism and deadness. This is why the Bible continually calls us to think and consider and meditate and remember on the one hand, and to rejoice and fear and mourn and delight and hope and be glad on the other hand. Both are essential for worship.

Now preaching is the form that the Word of God takes in worship because true preaching is the kind of speech that consistently unites these two aspects of worship, both in the way it is done and in the aims that it has. When Paul says to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2, «Preach the word,» the word for «preach» is a word for «herald» or «announce» or «proclaim» (κηρυξον). It is not a simple word for teach or explain. It is what a town crier did: «Hear ye, Hear ye, Hear ye! The King has a proclamation of good news for all those who swear allegiance to his throne. Be it known to you that he will give eternal life to all who trust and love his Son.» I call this heralding «exultation.» Preaching is a public exultation over the truth that it brings. It is not disinterested or cool or neutral. It is passionate about what it says.

Nevertheless this heralding contains teaching. You can see that as you look back to 2 Timothy 3:16 — the Scripture (which gives rise to preaching) is profitable for «teaching.» And you can see it as you look ahead to the rest of 2 Timothy 4:2, «Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction.» So preaching is expository. It deals with the Word of God. True preaching is not the opinions of a mere man. It is the faithful exposition of God’s Word.

Expository Exultation

So in a phrase, preaching is «expository exultation.»

In conclusion, then, the reason that preaching is so prominent in worship is that worship is not just understanding but also feeling. It is not just seeing God, but also savoring God. It is not just the response of the mind, but also of the heart. Therefore God has ordained that the form his Word should take in corporate worship is not just explanation to the mind and not just stimulation to the heart. Rather the Word of God is to come teaching the mind and reaching the heart; showing the truth of Christ and savoring the glory of Christ; expositing the Word of God and exulting in the God of the Word.

That is what preaching is. And that is why it is so prominent in worship. It is not a mere work of man. It is a gift and work of the Holy Spirit. And therefore it happens most and best where a people are praying and spiritually prepared for it. That is what we will talk about next week.

For now, pray for me and pray for yourselves. And let us seek with all our might to become a people who live and worship by the power of the Word of God — read and memorized and taught and preached. Amen.

Preaching the Word of God is preaching the Power of God!

2 Timothy 4:2-4 (KJV) 2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

I. Preach the Word.

Be ready in season and out of season. We should try to convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and with our teaching of the Word of God.

A. The title, «The Word of the LORD» is found 240 times in the Old Testament and 13 times in the New Testament. The title, «The Word of God» is found 3 times in the Old Testament and 44 times in the New Testament. The Bible is the «Word of God». That is why it needs to be preached, taught, heard, and learned.

B. Everyone with not receive the Word. Romans 3:4 says Even when it is unpopular — «let God be true and all men liars»

C. Preaching includes teaching, proclaiming, studying, loving, and standing on the Word of God.

D. The Word is powerful. Hebrews 4:12 says, «For the Word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.»

II. Psalms 119 — David proclaims the power of God’s Word. David in this Psalm describes God’s Word in 48 different ways. Here are few.

1. A revelation of His ways Psalms 119:3 (KJV) They also do no iniquity: they walk in his ways. Psalms 119:16 (KJV) I will delight myself in thy statutes: I will not forget thy word. 3, 15

2. The Word of God is the source of cleansing Psalms 119:9 (KJV) Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.

3. The Word is a ready counselor Psalms 119:24 (KJV) Thy testimonies also are my delight and my counsellors.

4. It is the source of life Psalms 119:25 (KJV) My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me according to thy word.

5. It is a tower of strength Psalms 119:28 (KJV) My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word.

6. The Word directs to the way of salvation Psalms 119:41 (KJV) Let thy mercies come also unto me, O LORD, even thy salvation, according to thy word.

7. It give the source of hope Psalms 119:49 (KJV) Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope.

8. The Word is a source of comfort Psalms 119:52 (KJV) I remembered thy judgments of old, O LORD; and have comforted myself.

9. The Word is the foundation of good judgment and knowledge Psalms 119:66 (KJV) Teach me good judgment and knowledge: for I have believed thy commandments., Psalms 119:130 (KJV) The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

10. It is a source of delight Psalms 119:92 (KJV) Unless thy law had been my delights, I should then have perished in mine affliction.

11. Having the Word of God is better than riches Psalms 119:72 (KJV) The law of thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver.

12. The Word of God gives us an eternal plan Psalms 119:89-91 (KJV) 89 For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. 90 Thy faithfulness is unto all generations: thou hast established the earth, and it abideth. 91 They continue this day according to thine ordinances: for all are thy servants.

13. The Word of God is sweeter than honey Psalms 119:103 (KJV) How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!

14. It is a lamp to the feet Psalms 119:106 (KJV) I have sworn, and I will perform it, that I will keep thy righteous judgments.

15. The Word is a light to the pathway of life Psalms 119:105 (KJV) Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.

16. The Word gives a source of joy if obeyed Psalms 119:111-112 (KJV) 111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart. 112 I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway, even unto the end.

17. The Word is something to be loved more than silver and gold Psalms 119:127 (KJV) Therefore I love thy commandments above gold; yea, above fine gold.

18. The Word of God is the source of light Psalms 119:130 (KJV) The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.

The following is an interview with Sam Chan (Ph.D., M.D.), an Aussie theologian, preacher, and medical doctor who writes and gives talks from the Bible about life, faith and work. Sam is a public speaker for City Bible Forum and works as a physician in Sydney. Sam has just published the book, Preaching as the Word of God: Answering an Old Question with Speech-Act Theory.

How did you land on the subject of preaching for your main research interest (i.e. dissertation and now this book)?

Before I went to seminary, I was a preacher. I was regularly being asked to preach at churches, schools, and conferences.

So I went to seminary to learn to become a better preacher. But along the way I was intrigued by the

question – what gave me the right to preach at all?

Who was I to think that my human words were the same as God’s words? I am a finite, fallen, and fallible person. So how on earth could I claim to be preaching God’s Word? And how could any preacher claim to be preaching God’s Word?

And why have preaching at all? If the Bible is the Word of God, then why don’t we just read the Bible? Why do we need preaching—which is basically the subjective explanation and application of the Bible by a human interpreter?

To answer this, I used a three-pronged approach: (1) a historical theology of Luther and Calvin’s views of preaching. (2) A biblical theology of preaching in the Bible’s storyline. And (3) I used philosophical theology by applying speech-act theory.

What surprised you in writing your book?

Three things surprised me.

First, I was surprised by the high view of preaching of Luther and Calvin. They made it one of the marks of the true church.

But more than that, because of Luther and Calvin, preaching is the climax of the Protestant church service. Just think about that. Everything in our Protestant service is designed to set up preaching as the climactic moment when we hear God. According to the Reformers, preaching is the God-human interface.

Which then sets up the question. Can preaching be everything that the Reformers claim that it is? A mark of the true church? The voice of God? The God-human interface?

Second, I was surprised by some of the images of preaching in the Bible. Often we only think of preachers as prophets or teachers. But Isaiah’s Suffering Servant was also a Preaching Suffering Servant. The Bible then applies this image to Jesus, the apostles, and finally the Christian Church.

Third, I was surprised by how neatly speech-act theory applied to preaching. Up until now we’ve mainly applied speech-act theory to the written Word of God. But speech-act theory, as the name implies, is an even better fit for the spoken Word of God.

Basically, if the preacher is indeed preaching the Word of God, then the preacher is performing a speech-act—i.e., God’s speech-act.

How would you assess the status of preaching today? Are there lots of good preachers? More bad ones? Is preaching still viable in our age?

Speech-act theory gives us some brilliant criteria for assessing the status of preaching today.

For example, if we only preach propositions from the Bible, then we’re only locuting (speaking) the Word of God, but failing to perform its illocutionary (indended, communicative) act.

Or if we only preach for emotional and existential impact, then we might be illocuting without locuting the Word of God.

Or if we try to manipulate our audience, then we are aiming for perlocution (intended effect of communication) without the necessary prior locution and illocution of the Word of God.

What advice would you give you to preachers today?

See yourself as the Preaching Suffering Servant of Isaiah

And understand that we are locuting and illocuting the Word of God, and then praying that the Spirit will use our words for God’s desired perlocution (i.e., intended, transformational effect).

And for some of us, that means doing proper exegesis of the Word of God so that we are better locuters.

For some of us, that means we need to illocute as well as locute. We are doing more than just teaching and explaining the Word of God. We are performing God’s speech-acts, such as blessing, promising, warning, judging, and covenanting.

And for all of us, we need to pray that the Spirit uses our speech-act for the perlocution of the Word of God.