Sermon of the word

… or words of a sermon by Sergei Zhuravlyov

2 Timothy 4:1-4

t was a usual Sunday service common for a Salvation Army corps. I had just finished my part called worship and was sitting in the hall listening to the preacher. I won’t pretend that I was touched by the words from the stage. Instead, I wanted it to be over - the sooner the better. Some of the few parishioners were nodding off to sleep. They would probably disagree with me that the sermon was bad; they likely considered it to be fairly good, and perhaps even excellent, because it didn’t disturb their sleep. So it could have been a useful sermon because it allowed people to enjoy their Sunday morning dreams.

When the first half of the sermon had been delivered, somebody entered the hall. It was a guy who had become a Christian a year ago but due to legal circumstances was confined to a hospital. Somehow he managed to get a permission to go to the service, where he probably hoped to find spiritual and moral support. He knew me better than the rest, so he sat beside me. Silently we shook hands and I smiled at him, showing that I was glad to see him. Then, out of respect for the preacher, I resumed listening to his speech (which I’ve decided could hardly be called a sermon). That guy was sitting beside me. I knew he had to walk a long way to get there and he didn’t have much time.

Outwardly I looked calm, but I was struggling inside. Should I stay until the end, or should I walk with him to the foyer and talk? I thought that there will be time to talk to him afterwards and decided to wait to the end of the service. He continued to sit silently beside me. Right before the end of the sermon, he got up and shook my hand as a good-bye. I shook his hand, smiling and not realizing that he was about to leave and I wouldn’t have time to talk to him. And he left.

Suddenly I felt uncomfortable inside, because I understood that I had lost the chance. I sacrificed the fellowship, which this person really needed, in order to observe some religious formalities. I don’t even remember the point of that sermon, but I do remember that I didn’t help to someone who needed me.

I would like to stress that I don’t intend to set up a competition between a sermon and a pastor’s consultation, forcing a decision on which is more important. I want to think about what we hear or preach from our pulpits and how it relates to our Christian lives and mission.

In the apostle Paul’s second letter to Timothy, we read how he strongly persuaded his disciple to “preach the word” (2 Timothy 4:2). Preach the WORD. We know which Word he’s referring to. These are no human words, no inventions of a human mind, not even doctrine. The WORD! In one English translation, “Word” is capitalized. In the Russian modern translation, it is written, “Preach the word of God.”

You may say, “So what? Of course we understand that it’s not the Koran or the works of Lenin.” And that’s true. If we took Karl Marx’s The Capital to the pulpit and started preaching from it, we would be taken away from the stage and others would make sure that we never had the chance to preach again. The Devil understands that, and he is not stupid enough to act so boldly. When he was tempting Jesus in the desert, he quoted the Word of God and not the Kama Sutra.

Nevertheless, we often face the situations that Paul spoke about in 2 Timothy, chapter 4. What is sensible teaching? We Salvationists, for example, have 11 doctrines. Undoubtedly they are true and are based on the Word of God. But if their wording is correct, is it enough? Does it give us the right to claim that we are approved in the truth of God?

Intellectual knowledge of the doctrines doesn’t make us the expression of the doctrines.

In another letter, Paul says that the church has to grow up and reach the maturity of Christ (Ephesians 4:13, 14). How does he define infancy? This is a level where we hesitate, and we can easily be carried away by divergent teaching. He doesn’t speak just about teachings; he speaks about the “wind of teaching.” The image here reminds us of an uncontrollable ship left in the open sea and dependent upon the wind and the waves. In Ephesians 4:14, he says that teaching is like a wind that specifies the direction. The Devil doesn’t have to bother with sowing blunt heresy in the church; all he has to do is to infect us by one of the winds (meaning spirits) of his teaching. What does it look like in practice? For example, the preacher speaks about freedom in Christ, which is correct concerning the doctrine. But in your spirit, his words mean that we are free to live as we wish without fear of punishment. This looks like a false freedom, which leads to spiritual slavery. Or the preacher speaks about the miracles of Christ, and it sounds quite biblical, but your spirit tells you that he’s really saying there are no miracles, that this is a mere allegory. Or that there were miracles in the times of Christ and His apostles, but now there is no need for them.

Do you get my point? It is very common in this world of business, politics, sports and show-business for people to smile at you and say one thing while carrying something entirely different in their minds. We all know such phrases as “double standard” or “harbour a grudge”. Unfortunately, we often see those same practices in the church - even in Salvation Army corps.

The evangelist Reinhardt Bonke describes powerless modern sermons in his book Evangelism in the Power of the Holy Spirit:

There are many preachers who tell stories, joke, share their thoughts and give advice. Some have nothing to offer apart from a list of good thoughts with a relevant introduction and effective conclusion. It’s like a good frame without the picture, without the essence. The Word of God makes prophets and not orators for a show.

Often we hear how personal contemplations, own ideas and personal free explanations of the Word are being preached from the pulpit. But this is not what the pulpit was meant for. The church pulpit is a position of spiritual power that can influence people’s lives, and this influence can be positive or negative. Maybe this is why Jesus told us that we will answer for every idle word (Matthew 12:3). Idle means casual and empty words said without thinking. The pulpit is not a place where we can feel free to share our thoughts, opinions or reasons. It is a place where the Word, received right from heaven, should be spoken.

The Apostles understood the depth of the responsibility and spent hours in prayer to receive this Word. They didn’t even want to be distracted by social service; they appointed special people to do that. Prayer was their priority and service of the Word, but prayer stood in the first place for them (Acts 6:4). James warns those who thoughtlessly try to take the position of a church teacher (James 3:1). Why will teachers be judged more seriously? Because by our words we can save or ruin people’s lives.

In the early Church there were such commentators, such as Hymenaeus and Philetus, who taught in the way described above. They explained the resurrection as they understood it, but they presented their thoughts as a teaching. As a result, they overthrew the faith of some disciples (2 Timothy 2:16-18). Paul compared their teaching with gangrene (according to one of the translations). Note that they didn’t preach that there had been no resurrection. They simply interpreted it in their own way. By this example, we see where a personal opinion presented as the Word of God can lead us. Paul himself was very careful and wise in his expressions. He distinguished his own opinion (even if it was competent) from the Word he received directly from God (1 Corinthians 7:10,12). Both the source and the consequences of the Word of God are different from those of human words. The Word of God is a supernatural revelation (2 Peter 1:21); it’s not a series of logical deductions or conclusions. There are certain boundaries of human philosophizing (1 Corinthians 4:6) that we can’t trespass.

But aren’t we allowed to have our own opinions? Do we have to ignore our minds and prevent any independent thought? Of course not. We have to be constantly seeking, developing our intellect, studying the Bible, sharing our opinions and discussing them with our brothers and sisters. But it must be done in the right time and the right place. At the pulpit, we are God’s representatives and His ministers. “If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God” (1 Peter 4:11). It is the Word of God that should be preached from the pulpit. The nature of the Word of God is such that it can be “like fire and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces” (Jeremiah 23:29). “It is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). It is the voice of God, which makes us tremble and gives us a contrite spirit (Isaiah 66:2). At the same time, it gives life and nourishes us (Matthew 4:4). The Word of God is the spirit and the life (John. 6:63). It gives faith and feeds it (Romans 10:17).

I have heard (and preached myself) so many powerless, cold, boring and inert sermons! There were sermons that not only didn’t nourish my faith but instead were like water extinguishing the fire of the Holy Spirit in my heart. As if somebody tried to put me to sleep spiritually and hypnotize me by lifeless messages coming from questionable sources. But I have also heard other sermons that turned around my heart; my sins were exposed, my wounds were healed and real freedom was coming to me. I was instructed in spirit; my heart and mind were nourished. I’m sure that the Word of God can’t be imitated. It touches people. It can’t go unrecognized. Nobody can stay indifferent—some will deny it; others will accept it with humbleness. But no one can stay neutral (Acts 13:44, 45). Somebody has said: “Either sin will turn you away from the Word of God, or the Word of God will turn you away from sin.” Tertium non datur.

But today there are many sermons of compromise. Outwardly they seem pious and right, but they don’t induce or oblige to anything. Haven’t you had enough of these imitations? Maybe the time has come to seek the face of God and to receive messages directly from Him, like the daily manna gathered by the people of Israel. There was a preacher of whom people said, “He brings the Word first-hand.” There is so much truth in these words! We must receive the bread of life directly from Jesus after He breaks it in our hearts, and then we should bring it to the spiritually hungry and thirsty.

It’s interesting when Paul says that those who are born again can edify other members of the Body of Christ (1 Thessalonians 5:11). If we share with others what God has revealed us through His Word and how He has taught us to implement in our own experience, it will edify others, making their faith stronger and nourishing it.

Yes, the Word can hurt when purifying our understanding from the touch of the fleshly mind. It may even seem that our faith is being taken from us. But God never contradicts Himself and His Word. It is our understanding that can be limited or one-sided; it can be filled with traditions, prejudices or extremes. In order to see the difference, we have the Scriptures and the Holy Spirit, which gives His gifts to the Church, revealing the pure seed of the Word of God. There is a gift of teaching and a gift of wisdom; there is a gift of prophesy and a gift of knowledge (1 Corinthians 12:8-10, 28). All these gifts have no relation to natural capabilities, and even they have nothing to do with a spiritual education. They are given supernaturally by grace through the Holy Spirit. Our church, officers, soldiers and parishioners desperately need spiritual bread.

Here in Russia, we live in a time of political freedom and liberty of conscience, but I’m afraid that we don’t use all the opportunities to sow the real Word. If we don’t change our attitudes, we will be subject to the judgment of God. Those who preach their own opinions will either turn away from God or be tempted. They can become enemies of the real awakening.

From the pulpit there must be preached a prophetic sermon, a sound teaching in the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. Preachers must become real speaking trumpets of Heaven.

Looking again at the story I started with, I’m sure that God wanted to speak to that guy about His love - through me if not through the sermon. I think it would have been better to stop listening to that empty and powerless sermon and help the guy, telling him what God has written in my heart by His Word, even if I could offend somebody’s religious feelings by leaving the hall in the middle of the sermon. It was a bitter lesson for me to learn. How many people, seeking for some spiritual support, will leave the church without hearing the saving words of love and truth which are able to fill their broken and empty hearts with grace and living faith? If I had not felt God’s power and love, I also could walk away.

The time will come when we will see the Church like two witnesses from Revelation 11. It will shake nations to the ground by its prophecy. Its words will burn down like a flame all opponents. It will fulfill its mission right to the end and accept its crown of thorns. But there is a place for it in Heaven prepared by God.

And there will be another church as it is described in Revelation 18. It will take its power from a different source. It will spread its influence to all the nations. It will serve several masters at the same time. Outwardly it will be beautiful and rich, but it will be full of abomination. What is this abomination? Jesus spoke about it in Luke 16:15. It is everything that people value in this world.

To which type of church do you want to belong? I choose the first one. What do you want be listening to - sermon of the Word, or words of a sermon? I’ve made my choice and want be listening to the straight-out Word. The Word of God that is able to save my soul (James 1:21).

Writer: I was born in Novosibirsk in 1971 in a poor worker’s family. My father was an alcoholic and so we left home when I was only seven. My older brother took care of me, but was very strict with me and always kept me “leashed,” as we say it in Russia. In 1990, I graduated from the Novosibirsk School of Music, where I learned how to play trombone, and then I went to St. Petersburg and entered the local university there to continue my study of trombone performance. In 1991, I accepted Christ as my personal Saviour in a Pentecostal church and began to attend The Salvation Army, which was restarting its work in Russia. I began playing in their brass band. I was enrolled as a senior soldier soon after and began to serve as an assistant band master and later the senior band master of the corps brass band. From 1997 to 1999 I was a corps leader in the south of Russia. After that I returned to St. Petersburg where I played in a military brass band and worked in a store. I also held several assistant roles in different Salvation Army corps. In 2005, I became a cadet of the “Heralds of the Good News” session.

Tuesday, December 11th, 2007 Thought

2 Comments to Sermon of the word

Praise the Lord Christ Jesus!!!

I totally agree with your article that today Churches especially TV mega Churches are more concern with entertaining than giving the pure essence of the Word by God.

This water-down, entertain-the-people ministering preached today by men and women of the cross is dull, vain, ineffective, and is not the word of God.

Your article is on point.

Praise the Lord!! Man-of-God.