About Distinctive Preaching⤒🔗

As office-bearers, you meet them on a home visit: a boy who boldly testifies to his disbelief, his sister who cheerfully lives according to her public confession of faith, a father who is emotionally uninvolved in his conversations with his son because of his insecurities, and a mother who cannot live a day without the Lord’s guidance and longs for spiritual progress. On Sundays, all four of them listen to the preaching of God’s Word, together with other members within the communion of saints.  Not just in the spiritual sense, but also concerning their social standing and living conditions, they are all sheep of the same flock, to whom the voice of the Great Shepherd comes in the preaching of God’s Word. How can every sheep in the flock get what he or she needs for their spiritual maturing?

The One Covenant Congregation←⤒🔗

One point of view is that we should not be too concerned about that. The Word of God should be proclaimed as a promise and demand to the one covenant congregation. And then we trust that the Holy Spirit himself will make it applicative and functional to every hearer’s needs. This concept deserves sympathetic consideration, because great awareness is given to the power of the Word and the Spirit's work in the hearts of those who are listening. But there are also questions to be asked. For instance, should we not expect more specifics in the preaching? In addition to the explanation of the text the minister is preaching on, should there not be more application that considers the many problems and inconsistencies within the congregation?

Difference between People←⤒🔗

There is also another way of looking at it, to make the spiritual diversity within the congregation more definitive. This is about the distinction between the converted and the unconverted, but refinements can still be applied within these categories. There are indifferent unconverted members, but also confident believers, as well as restless and searching members who search for the truth of the gospel. And among the converted, some live close to the Lord, who are bold in their witnesses for the gospel, and who are firmer in their faith than others beset by trepidation, struggles, and uncertainties. The preacher has the calling to cover this broad spectrum every Sunday. In his sermons, he will unmask the evil in the hearts of the unbelievers, admonish the people to repent and turn to God and confess their sins.  But he will also comfort and encourage the people in the faith and affirm that their sins are forgiven by the only sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. That kind of preaching has a nice side to it: that it becomes more personally directed to the hearer.

However, like the previous approach, it also has a negative side. Is there not a danger that the application will be presented before the explanation of the text? Or will it threaten the unity in the congregation?

Distinction in Scripture←⤒🔗

Anyone who reads Scripture honestly cannot ignore the fact that the Lord has an eye for those who have specific problems, although the Lord commits himself to a people or a congregation. In the cradle of the covenant congregation, based on God’s promises, the calling comes to everyone to repent from the darkness of sin to the light of God’s grace. Then it soon becomes apparent that some respond to that calling in faith but others do not. Those who respond to the gospel do so in varying degrees. Prophets and apostles show that reality and align their actions and message accordingly. We believe they do this with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. When the spies return from their exploration in Numbers 13, Joshua and Caleb's faith finds little support. This brings Moses to a distinctive proclamation to those who will not and those who will enter the promised land (Numbers 14:26-34). The apostle Paul pays attention to this history to, among other things, warn the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 10:1-13). Isaiah speaks of "the rest of Israel" (Isaiah 10:20-27). In the parable of the sower, the Lord Jesus himself not only distinguishes between the seed that falls into the wrong soil and the good soil but also within one chunk of soil and another, there is also a distinct depth and fruit (Mark 4:1-20). These parts of Scripture are under God’s eternal decree of eternal weal or eternal woe.

 Paul's letters to the Corinthians are telling in this regard. He writes to all who are  called “saints." But he also submits this to them in 2 Corinthians 13:5:

Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?--unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

And he has reason to distinguish among those who are in the faith, between “carnal” or sensuous believers who can only tolerate milk and the ”spiritual” believers who require solid food.

These parts of Scripture could be expanded with many other parts in Scripture, but we should not be surprised that Scripture requires a distinctive ministry of office-bearers (Ezekiel 34:1-10; John 21:15-19; 1 Thessalonians 5:14). Thus, the office-bearers are to show among the sheep the form of the Good Shepherd. Preaching and home visits should not be played out against each other. Pastoral work is as good as Word Service and Word Service should be pastoral.

 Distinction in the Confessions←⤒🔗

The Reformed confessions also speak with distinction about the congregation and the work of the office-bearers. The Heidelberg Catechism, Lord’s Day 31, q/a 84, reads as follows:

How is the kingdom of heaven opened and closed by the preaching of the Gospel?

According to the command of Christ, the kingdom of heaven is opened when it is proclaimed and publicly testified to each and every believer that God has really forgiven all their sins for the sake of Christ’s merits, as often as they by true faith accept the promise of the gospel. The kingdom of heaven is closed when it is proclaimed and testified to all unbelievers and hypocrites that the wrath of God and eternal condemnation rest on them. According to this testimony of the gospel, God will judge both in this life and in the life to come.

It is also notable that the Canons of Dort speaks of the assurance of faith “in various stages and in different measure” (Chapter I, Article 12). As well, Chapter I, Article 16 deals with doubts and challenges.

It is important to discover this distinctive element in the Reformed confessions. This has its roots in the Reformation. We can see that the confessions speak in the light of the Scriptures themselves.

 Preaching Christ←⤒🔗

If what has been said above convinces us of the need for distinctive preaching, then the question is how it should take shape. We listen to Paul again: "but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God” (1 Corinthians 1:23),  and "For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2). Because the Lord Jesus is the Christ of the Scriptures, the pastor who is preaching from Scripture will want to lead the congregation to Christ: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, ‘Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord’” (1 Corinthians 1:30). In the unmasking function of the preaching, the Law has a place, but keeping the law of God must come from a thankful heart that is thankful for the redemption that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord (Matthew 22:36-40). All the sheep of Christ’s flock must indiscriminately confess the cross of Christ. And the consequences for those who reject him must not be camouflaged.

The emphasis on preaching Christ should prevent the diversity within the church from dominating the content of the preaching. If the preaching leaves an impression of what a human being can or cannot experience, the sheep are thrown back on themselves. That will lead them to believe in themselves, which will cause despondency. We must not say too quickly that the preaching is not susceptible to this: putting man at the centre instead of Christ. Let our preaching stand out because the Lamb of God’s excellence, sweetness and satisfaction leave the greatest impression!

Pastoral Preaching←⤒🔗

At the same time, it can be expected that under the preaching, the sheep receive a clear view of their position and practice of faith concerning the Lamb. Indeed, much must be expected from the Holy Spirit. But the Spirit uses the preaching that is aimed at the entire congregation.  The hearers hear the voice of the Good Shepherd in the speaking of the vice-shepherd and he knows the sheep who are his. Those who do not follow the voice of the Good Shepherd must be seriously warned to repent of their sins.

That which is revealed in Scripture must determine the preaching. Therefore, not all aspects of the faith can be explicitly addressed in every sermon. However, it must be possible that the message for each and every member will come across clearly in every sermon. To this end, I would argue for an applicable way of explaining Scripture. That will require a separate article, but it comes down to what a colleague once taught me: preaching the living Christ to the lives of the members of the congregation. We must proclaim life in concrete terms, in all its depth and breadth, form, and stature.

That is when the Lord Jesus comes so close that the hearer himself cannot ignore the question: Do I share my life with him? And: In my life with Christ, I receive many treasures, which I accept with overflowing thanksgiving! Thus, Christ offers himself to that unbelieving boy and his believing sister, to a father with a challenge and to a mother with a desire for more.