Helen Zylstra, a student at Dordt College, wrote this article as one of the prize-winning essays in a contest sponsored by the First Christian Reformed Church of Pella, Iowa. A contribution of $1,000 from a member of the church made this contest possible. Rev. Richard J. Venema’s cooperation in making these prizewinning essays available for publication in THE OUTLOOK is greatly appreciated. Miss Zylstra’s prize was $50.
There are three distinctive marks of a Christian church. These are: the pure preaching of the Word, proper administration of the sacraments, and strict Christian discipline. The most important of these is the preaching of the Word. This serves as a basis for the other two marks. “There could be no sacraments (or discipline) without the Word wherein they were revealed and explained.”1
• The Word is vitally important to the church. It is through the Spirit and the Word that Christ rules His church. The Word is made up of two main parts. These two are the law and the gospel. The purpose of the law is twofold: 1. To show us our sin and thus drive us to Christ. 2. To be a rule of a grateful Christian life. In the gospel, God reveals His saving love through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. “Through the Holy Spirit, law and gospel are both used in their proper way for continuing God’s covenant of grace, for conversion, and sanctification.”2 Christ gave the church the authority to preach the Word to all His creatures in His name.
• The minister serves as God’s spokesman. It is his task to preach the Word of God to His people. Ministers often are required to perform numerous duties within the church, but the preaching of the Word is their most important task. Because a minister has had much training in the Word of God, “he will be able to render inestimable service as a teacher and preacher of the Word to those who did not have the advantage of theological training.”3 We are privileged to have a good seminary where prospective ministers are trained to carry-on the preaching of the Word. Albert Martin defines great preachers as “men who were instruments of God in moving men Godward.”4 The aim of all good preachers is to bring the message of the gospel as faithfully and as honestly as they can.
• The sermon is the means through which the minister preaches God’s Word. Only God through the Holy Spirit can cause the truth to go to the heart, and the minister’s task is to get that truth to the ear. The sermon must be more than a theological talk or a moral discourse. A good sermon explains a portion of Scripture, and then it applies the passage to the listeners’ lives. The basis for the sermon must be a passage from the Bible. “Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness” (II Tim. 3:16). “A true Biblical sermon is one in which the ideas of the text become the ideas of the sermon.”6 In preaching from the New Testament, the minister should show the listeners the perfect example of Jesus. “The more they see the living Saviour, the more they are changed into His likeness.”6
The preaching of the Word must be marked by Biblical content, doctrinal substance and practical application. The sermon must be so full of Biblical content that the hearer does not think of it as the minister speaking to him, but instead, he must see God talking to him. “And my speech was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (I Cor. 2:4). By doctrinal preaching we mean “that preaching which is always disciplined by the framework of the whole counsel of God.”7 The believer must realize that all the truths of the Scripture are inter-related, they are not just separate truths. In order to be effective, the preaching must contain a practical application of the Word to the listeners’ lives, “so that they may know how to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.”8
• The minister is required to preach from the Heidelberg Catechism once a Sunday. “The catechism is a short, systematic, practical summary of the doctrine of salvation as revealed in the Bible. The contents of the catechism are gleaned from the Bible and based on the Bible.”9 This practice guarantees that the minister will preach the whole Word of God, not from just his favorite passages. It also assures us that he will preach according to the common conception of all the churches, not just according to his personal views on the passage.
• Today many people are suggesting that we substitute such things as films, religious dramas, or choir concerts for the sermon, hut these things must not be used as substitutes. Paul said, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” It is the preaching of the Word that is God’s principai means of grace in men’s hearts. Paul, in II Timothy 4:1–2, exhorts Timothy, “I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word.” Paul goes on to charge Timothy to do several other things, but preaching the Word was the first and most important item on the list. Dramas, films, and concerts do have an important place in our lives as Christians, but we must not put them before the preaching of the Word.
• It is the minister’s task to preach the gospel c1early, purely and effectively, but the listener also has several large responsibilities. It is his duty to listen carefully, and to beware of preaching that is not of God. I John 4:1 says, “Beloved, believe not evcry spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they be of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” It is also the believer’s responsibility to be well informed in the teachings of God’s special revelation, the Bible. In II Peter 3:18, Peter commands, “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” An uninformed person cannot be a strong Christian. The only way to become well informed is to diligently study the Scriptures and to listen attentively when God’s messenger, the minister, preaches from the Word.
So often many of us dread the sermon because we say that it is too long or too boring. But, as true children of God, we should rejoice to hear His Word. We should say with Jeremiah, “Thy words were found and I did eat them, Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” John 8:32 says, “and the truth shall make you free.” The truth makes us free from our spiritual enemies, free in the service of God, and free to the privileges of His children. “He that is of God heareth His words” (John 8:47). A true child of God is willing and ready to hear God’s words and strongly desires to know what the mind of God is. If one does not hear God’s words, it is plain evidence that he is not of God. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us that are saved, it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18).
The preaching of the ·Word deserves the central place in our worship service. It deserves this place because it is the most important part of the service. Through the preaching and the hearing of the Word, the doors of heaven can be opened or closed. The preaching of the Word is a great joy and comfort to believing Christians who know God’s love and His plan of salvation for them. Christ says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:29–30). We need to hear God’s word of comfort often in our world of hardships and disappointments.
1. M. J. Bosma, Exposition of Reformed Doctrine, (Eerdmans, Stevensma Company, 1907), p. 249.
2. Ibid., p. 250.
3. Martin Monsma, The New Revised Church Order Commentary (Zondervan, 1967), p. 57.
4. Albert Martin, What’s Wrong with Preaching Today? (Hunt Barnard and Company Ltd., 1967, p. 2.
5. R. S. Greenway, “Toward a Revival of Biblical Preaching,” The Banner, April 21, 1972, p. 11.
6. “The Glory of New Testament Preaching,” The Messenger, Oct. 1969, p. 16.
7. Martin, p. 17.
8. Ibid., p. 17.
9. Monsma, p. 211.
There are three distinctive marks of a Christian church. These are: the pure preaching of the Word, proper administration of the sacraments, and strict Christian discipline. The most important of these is the preaching of the Word. This serves as a basis for the other two marks. “There could be no sacraments (or discipline) without the Word wherein they were revealed and explained.”1
• The Word is vitally important to the church. It is through the Spirit and the Word that Christ rules His church. The Word is made up of two main parts. These two are the law and the gospel. The purpose of the law is twofold: 1. To show us our sin and thus drive us to Christ. 2. To be a rule of a grateful Christian life. In the gospel, God reveals His saving love through the redeeming work of Jesus Christ. “Through the Holy Spirit, law and gospel are both used in their proper way for continuing God’s covenant of grace, for conversion, and sanctification.”2 Christ gave the church the authority to preach the Word to all His creatures in His name.
• The minister serves as God’s spokesman. It is his task to preach the Word of God to His people. Ministers often are required to perform numerous duties within the church, but the preaching of the Word is their most important task. Because a minister has had much training in the Word of God, “he will be able to render inestimable service as a teacher and preacher of the Word to those who did not have the advantage of theological training.”3 We are privileged to have a good seminary where prospective ministers are trained to carry-on the preaching of the Word. Albert Martin defines great preachers as “men who were instruments of God in moving men Godward.”4 The aim of all good preachers is to bring the message of the gospel as faithfully and as honestly as they can.
• The sermon is the means through which the minister preaches God’s Word. Only God through the Holy Spirit can cause the truth to go to the heart, and the minister’s task is to get that truth to the ear. The sermon must be more than a theological talk or a moral discourse. A good sermon explains a portion of Scripture, and then it applies the passage to the listeners’ lives. The basis for the sermon must be a passage from the Bible. “Every scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteousness” (II Tim. 3:16). “A true Biblical sermon is one in which the ideas of the text become the ideas of the sermon.”6 In preaching from the New Testament, the minister should show the listeners the perfect example of Jesus. “The more they see the living Saviour, the more they are changed into His likeness.”6
The preaching of the Word must be marked by Biblical content, doctrinal substance and practical application. The sermon must be so full of Biblical content that the hearer does not think of it as the minister speaking to him, but instead, he must see God talking to him. “And my speech was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power” (I Cor. 2:4). By doctrinal preaching we mean “that preaching which is always disciplined by the framework of the whole counsel of God.”7 The believer must realize that all the truths of the Scripture are inter-related, they are not just separate truths. In order to be effective, the preaching must contain a practical application of the Word to the listeners’ lives, “so that they may know how to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things.”8
• The minister is required to preach from the Heidelberg Catechism once a Sunday. “The catechism is a short, systematic, practical summary of the doctrine of salvation as revealed in the Bible. The contents of the catechism are gleaned from the Bible and based on the Bible.”9 This practice guarantees that the minister will preach the whole Word of God, not from just his favorite passages. It also assures us that he will preach according to the common conception of all the churches, not just according to his personal views on the passage.
• Today many people are suggesting that we substitute such things as films, religious dramas, or choir concerts for the sermon, hut these things must not be used as substitutes. Paul said, “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” It is the preaching of the Word that is God’s principai means of grace in men’s hearts. Paul, in II Timothy 4:1–2, exhorts Timothy, “I charge thee in the sight of God, and of Christ Jesus, who shall judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word.” Paul goes on to charge Timothy to do several other things, but preaching the Word was the first and most important item on the list. Dramas, films, and concerts do have an important place in our lives as Christians, but we must not put them before the preaching of the Word.
• It is the minister’s task to preach the gospel c1early, purely and effectively, but the listener also has several large responsibilities. It is his duty to listen carefully, and to beware of preaching that is not of God. I John 4:1 says, “Beloved, believe not evcry spirit, but prove the spirits, whether they be of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” It is also the believer’s responsibility to be well informed in the teachings of God’s special revelation, the Bible. In II Peter 3:18, Peter commands, “But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.” An uninformed person cannot be a strong Christian. The only way to become well informed is to diligently study the Scriptures and to listen attentively when God’s messenger, the minister, preaches from the Word.
So often many of us dread the sermon because we say that it is too long or too boring. But, as true children of God, we should rejoice to hear His Word. We should say with Jeremiah, “Thy words were found and I did eat them, Thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart.” John 8:32 says, “and the truth shall make you free.” The truth makes us free from our spiritual enemies, free in the service of God, and free to the privileges of His children. “He that is of God heareth His words” (John 8:47). A true child of God is willing and ready to hear God’s words and strongly desires to know what the mind of God is. If one does not hear God’s words, it is plain evidence that he is not of God. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness; but unto us that are saved, it is the power of God” (I Cor. 1:18).
The preaching of the ·Word deserves the central place in our worship service. It deserves this place because it is the most important part of the service. Through the preaching and the hearing of the Word, the doors of heaven can be opened or closed. The preaching of the Word is a great joy and comfort to believing Christians who know God’s love and His plan of salvation for them. Christ says, “Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matt. 11:29–30). We need to hear God’s word of comfort often in our world of hardships and disappointments.
1. M. J. Bosma, Exposition of Reformed Doctrine, (Eerdmans, Stevensma Company, 1907), p. 249.
2. Ibid., p. 250.
3. Martin Monsma, The New Revised Church Order Commentary (Zondervan, 1967), p. 57.
4. Albert Martin, What’s Wrong with Preaching Today? (Hunt Barnard and Company Ltd., 1967, p. 2.
5. R. S. Greenway, “Toward a Revival of Biblical Preaching,” The Banner, April 21, 1972, p. 11.
6. “The Glory of New Testament Preaching,” The Messenger, Oct. 1969, p. 16.
7. Martin, p. 17.
8. Ibid., p. 17.
9. Monsma, p. 211.