The Benefits of a Biblically Faithful Ministry
It’s clear that when God’s message is the main meal and when this meal is delivered in God’s manner that then there are amazing benefits:
First, God is glorified. You see that in 1 Corinthians 2:5. When this is the diet of the church, God is glorified! Michael Horton says, “History’s main object is the gospel of God: the announcement of God’s purposes, promises, and achievements—not ours.” Even better, our Westminster Shorter Catechism says in Question 1: What is the chief end of man? The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. And even better, Psalm 115:1 says, “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your Name give the glory.”
Martyn Lloyd-Jones is helpful when he says, “What is the chief end of preaching? I like to think it is this. It is to give men and women a sense of God and His presence.”
Not only is God glorified but when God is glorified, Man is saved! Man will not be saved whenever Man is exalted above God. It is when God’s message is preached in God’s manner then Man will be redeemed.
Do you want to see revival happen? Do you want to see churches renewed? Do you want to see our children converted? Do you want to see unbelievers come to church and be transformed? Do you want to see Christians grow into maturity? Do you want to see churches be truly relevant in the world today? Preach Christ and Him crucified.
When Billy Graham was in Cambridge during his preaching circuit, he preached for several days to a group of people which had several academics in the room. On the first couple of nights he tried changing up his style of preaching to sound more eloquent and learned. He tried to adapt his preaching to worldly ways so that he might gain their attention. What was interesting is that when he did this people noticed that it was not nearly as powerful. Something seemed off. The message wasn’t getting through. Finally, on the last night, Graham decided to go back to preaching in the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. He preached on the centrality of Christ and Him crucified. The testimonies that have been heard about that night are astonishing. People said it was by far the most powerful of all his sermons in Cambridge. People were converted. Lives were changed forever. Why? Because he adopted God’s ways rather than worldly ways. He gave the people God’s meal in God’s way.
If we want to see ourselves grow up into a healthy and nourished church, we must adopt God’s way of doing true gospel ministry. That’s the only diet that can save us.