PREACHING TO GLORIFY GOD

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15 ESV)

Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness. (James 3:1 ESV)

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; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. (2 Timothy 4:1-2 ESV)

The very best kind of preaching is saying exactly what God says. It is preaching with the sound of God’s own voice. Preaching to glorify God means preaching with the very words of God. Preaching that glorifies God is preaching that is heard like the very voice of God Himself.

A preacher must be careful not to modify the gospel by the means he uses to preach it. Preaching that relies on psychology and motivational strategies may reveal a lack of trust in the Holy Spirit to bring God’s message to life in the hearts of His people. Biblical preaching is all about God, not us.

Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones writes: