Tuesday, June 29, 2010
2 Timothy 4:1-5 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
A CHURCH SHOULD PREACH THE WORD ALONE
If any man would preach, let him suppress his own words. Let him make them count in family matters and secular affairs. But here in the church he should speak nothing except the Word of this rich Head of the household; otherwise it is not the true church. Therefore this must be the rule: God is speaking. So it must be in this world. If a prince is to rule, his voice must be heard in his country and house. If that must happen in this miserable life, how much more should we let God's Word be heard in the church and in matters pertaining to eternal life ... That is why a preacher, by virtue of his commission and office, is administering the household of God and dare say nothing but what God says and commands ... We must look to Christ and listen to Him. ... The Christian Church is a house in which God's Word alone is heard.
- From "What Luther Says" by Ewald M. Plass
