In this series of posts I’ve been discussing the great need of the Church today that it’s shepherds be theologians in the highest sense of the word. I share with you a quote by CH Spurgeon who was speaking about the importance of pastors preaching the full counsel of God’s Word. He stated:

“The glory of God being our chief object, we aim at it by seeking the edification of saints and the salvation of sinners. It is a noble work to instruct the people of God, and to build them up in their most holy faith: we may by no means neglect this duty. To this end we must give clear statements of gospel doctrine, of vital experience, and of Christian duty, and never shrink from declaring the whole counsel of God. In too many cases sublime truths are held in abeyance under the pretense that they are not practical; whereas the very fact that they are revealed proves that the Lord thinks them to be of value, and woe unto us if we pretend to be wiser than He. We may say of any and every doctrine of Scripture—to give it then a tongue is wise in man. If any one note is dropped from the divine harmony of truth the music may be sadly marred. Your people may fall into grave spiritual diseases through the lack of a certain form of spiritual nutriment, which can only be supplied by the doctrines which you withhold. In the food which we eat there are ingredients which do not at first appear to be necessary to life; but experience shows that they are requisite to health and strength. Phosphorus will not make flesh, but it is wanted for bone; many earths and salts come under the same description— they are necessary in due proportion to the human economy. Even thus certain truths which appear to be little adapted for spiritual nutriment are, nevertheless, very beneficial in furnishing believers with backbone and muscle, and in repairing the varied organs of Christian manhood. We must preach “the whole truth,” that the man of God may be thoroughly furnished unto all good works.”

Please note these salient points:

(1) Preaching has a primary purpose – to glorify God. It must be the goal of every individual who speaks from the Scriptures.

(2) God is glorified when we tell His people about His mercies and sinners about His free gift of salvation to all who will believe. However, it does a sinner no good to hear about how wonderful God can make their lives if they are not first brought to a mourning and contrite heart over the sin that separates them from God.

(3) Preaching and teaching the people of God is a high calling and one which all pastors and teachers must take seriously and engage with the utmost respect for the office.

(4) Doctrine is the life blood of every Church and every individual Christian’s faith. Oh how this flies in the face of today’s hipster and culturally cool Church. Doctrine has been relegated to the dust bin of Church life and practice, seen as a relic of a by-gone era of fire-breathing pastors and uptight congregants. What a lie the enemy has wrought in our midst.

(5) Pastors must preach the entire Word of God. That means OT and NT. How arrogant is it for pastors to think that most of the Old Testament has no application to modern living and thus not bother to mine the riches it contains? As Spurgeon points out the fact that it is contained in the Scriptures is reason enough to teach it.

(6) Preaching the entire Bible book by book and verse by verse has the added benefit of freeing pastors from their hobby-horse theologies and pet doctrines that tend to ignore difficult passages or entire sections of Scripture that might not support their personal thinking. Every morsel of the Word is nourishment for the believer and should not be avoided.

Pastors and teachers, you have a high and holy calling that is confirmed by your ministry. That confirmation is demonstrated as you are faithful to your primary duty – to glorify God in your preaching and teaching ministry and thereby providing the necessary spiritual nourishment believers need. This nourishment only comes through a consistent, accurate, full exposition of the Bible.

Friends, the Church can be a powerful influence in every community when it’s foundation is the Word of God. I encourage you today to seek Him and His ways for you.

Link to Spurgeon quote above is here.