DEMONSTRATION OF OUR DECLARATION

“Practice what you preach.” How many times have you heard that? Saying the way we should live through our communication is a lot easier than showing how we should live by our conduct. Yet, we are disqualified as hypocrites if our walk does not exemplify our talk. People need to see a sermon as well as hear one. The Apostle Paul writes to a young pastor, Timothy, and underscores this truth, “Meditate on these things; give yourself entirely to them, that your progress may be evident to all. Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.” (1 Tim.‬ ‭4‬:‭15‬-‭16‬ ‭NKJV‬‬). You might panic at the thought of standing in front of a crowd and preaching a sermon, but I will tell you that after fifty years of ministry, it is more challenging to flesh out the message in daily living.  Yet, this is demanded, no matter how difficult.

“Nearly every pastor we know can give examples of once godly friends who went through theological training with them or worked in churches nearby, but who are no longer in ministry (or, in some cases, not even in the faith) because of sins of a moral or relational kind. Guarding our lives and our teaching is therefore a constant need, one that is captured in the apostle’s advice to Timothy: 

Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress. Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Tim. 4:15–16) 

The four imperatives are important: (1) practice these things, (2) immerse yourself in them, (3) keep a close watch, and (4) persist. Basically, Paul is exhorting Timothy to focus on the teachings and duties that Paul has laid out in the previous verses, to take care of his conduct and his teaching. Such exhortations make clear that guarding our lives and our teaching is a constant need that requires vigilance and focus. This can be helped by meeting with others to urge one another on and to keep one another accountable. It might even mean setting rigid boundaries for ourselves that help us avoid drifting in these areas. God’s leaders are to be people who are growing in submission to Scripture. Their daily lives are to reflect and exemplify the Scriptures that they teach. We are to be those with whom there is no hint or appearance of evil (1 Thess. 5:21–22).” (Patrick, The Whole Counsel of God, location 2700-2720, Kindle edition)

May God help me and every messenger of God, to be a man of God!

A PREACHER OR A PEDDLER?

Paul was a preacher. He declared he was not a peddler. A peddler is someone who pulls together stuff from here and there at small cost and then sells it for profit. He takes secondhand goods and presents it as of great value. There are “preachers” who are really “peddlers.”  They take sermons from someone else and hawk them as their own. They are out for profit instead of being a prophet. Let us consider the Apostle’s message in 2 Corinthians 2:12-17. 

He speaks of the preacher’s OPPORTUNITY.  “Furthermore, when I came to Troas to preach Christ’s gospel, and a door was opened to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not find Titus my brother; but taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia.” (v. 12-13). 

God opens doors. We do not have to beat them down. When one door closes, then another opens. We must seize the opportunities when they are presented. 

When is it time to move on?  Paul had a restlessness in his spirit. I have often found that to be true, when the Lord is preparing me for the next opportunity. The peddler is a ladder climber. He is always on the move, looking for success, rather than where God is directing him.  

Also, note that Paul needed Titus and could not do all he wanted to do without “my brother.”  The peddler is usually isolated and feels self-sufficient. He does not want to be exposed for the “snake-oil salesman,” he is.  We are often shocked when one of these men are exposed.  The preacher who succeeds knows he needs accountability. He seeks those who will serve alongside him. His ego is not so inflated that he will not share the spotlight.

Then, there is the preacher’s VICTORY. “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place,” (v. 14).  

The imagery is of a Roman general returning from battle. The citizens would line the streets to welcome the conquerors in celebration. Priests would wave censers as the fragrance of the incense would permeate the air.  The spoils of battle would be hauled in wagons. Captives would be chained to the chariot of the victorious general. Those who surrendered would become servants, whereas rebels would be executed. 

Christ is the conqueror.  His Gospel is the fragrance—of which we will say more. As we surrender to Him—chained to His chariot, if you will—then He leads us in victorious service. The peddler sets his own agenda. He is concerned about his glory and not celebrating the Lord’s victory. Such peddlers by their actions may disclose their destination to be condemnation, as they are unregenerate. 

Understand, the preacher’s GRAVITY.  “For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.” (v. 15-16a). 

The preacher understands the gravity of his task and focuses on the eternal accountability he has before God and the souls under his care. The peddler is concerned about temporal status and earthly reward. His ministry is about himself—not the Lord and the souls of men. I want to be gripped by the gravity of preaching God’s Word each time I stand behind the sacred desk. Paul tells us that eternal souls hang in the balance!

We must know the preacher’s SUFFICIENCY. “And who is sufficient for these things?” (v. 16b). 

The preacher recognizes that his work is too great for his natural ability. It takes more than his best. Our task is supernatural!  The peddler thinks himself adequate. He rests in the energy of the flesh. He struts around full of himself. If I am a man of God, I know that in myself I will be an utter failure. Apart from abiding in Christ, I can do nothing—as our Lord said in John 15. I must be empty of self and filled with the Spirit!

Paul’s desperate cry is answered in the next chapter.  “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor.‬ ‭3‬:‭5‬-‭6‬‬). 

The peddler puffs his resume’. The preacher humbles himself. The peddler does letter preaching—trusting his skills—and that brings spiritual death.  The preacher does spiritual preaching—relying on the Spirit—which brings spiritual life!

Finally, we consider the preacher’s SINCERITY. “For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ,” (v. 17‬‬). 

The real preacher is a man of sincerity, while the peddler is a man of hypocrisy.  What the peddler is selling may indeed be true, but he is a fraud, and that sham will someday be exposed—if not here, then hereafter. The man God uses is real—the Word of Truth is proclaimed by a man of integrity. He speaks, “as from God,” representing the Lord of Glory. He speaks with an awareness that all he is, says, and does is “in the sight of God in Christ.”  The Lord Jesus is jealous for His Bride, the church.  He is watching. Jesus will be the guest of honor in the church tomorrow. While what the members say about the sermon is not unimportant, it is what the Master says that really matters. 

Are you a preacher or a peddler?  God knows. 

Peter was a preacher.  Not a perfect man, but a penitent man. He was real, and learned to humble himself and rely on the Lord. 

Judas was a peddler. He seemed a good man, but was a fraud. He was a hypocrite, who when confronted, stubbornly resisted, and went his own way—as Scripture says, “that he might go to his own place,” and that place was and will be perdition. 

May we fall on our face before God today—only His grace can fit us to be preachers rather than peddlers. How I need Him!