This article discusses the role and task of the preacher based on the text Ezekiel 33. What does it mean to be a minister? Among other things, the minister is to deliver a message of warning, but also one of hope and salvation.

2013. 11 pages. Transcribed by Ineke van der Linden. Transcription stopped at 46:44.

What Is a Preacher? Marks of a Healthy Church 2

Read Ezekiel 33.

What is a preacher? It is a very important question for us to answer, because it helps those who preach to know what they should be and do, but it also helps those who hear preachers to know what they should expect from them.

But when we ask that question, “What is a preacher?” there are just so many different answers that we hear today in our culture. Some people think that a preacher is to be a kind of entertainer: somebody to make us feel good and to send us out of church feeling a bit happier about ourselves and our lives. Some people think a preacher is to be a kind of museum curator who makes sure nothing ever changes: he does not does not rock the boat, but he just preserves and conserves as everything ages and gets older. Some people think a preacher is a kind of a lecturer: a conveyor of facts, of religious information, but really not of any impact upon our lives. Some people think a preacher is to be a sort of pundit: a commentator on events locally, nationally and internationally, reading the news maybe through Christian eyes. Others might think a preacher is to be a sort of social worker: somebody who is to fix all my problems, especially my family problems.

Some say a preacher is a socializer: he is sort of wheeled out for social events like baptisms and weddings and funerals, and as long as he does not embarrass us on these occasions then it does not matter too much what he does in in-between times. Others think of a preacher as more like a ritualist: somebody who does religious rituals. We have him for baptisms, we have him for funerals, we have him for weddings, we have him for the Lord’s Supper and all these kinds of religious rituals, and as long as he can do these things in a semi-competent way, this is sometimes viewed as acceptable. And then there is this view of the preacher as a sort of CEO, a managerial type: somebody who is good at managing people and paper and who sort of leads the church as a sort of business or as an enterprise. He might be quite good at marketing as well.

There are so many different ideas of what is a preacher. And you know, there is truth in some of these descriptions. There is some truth in some of these ideas. Of course the preacher is to be a teacher, for example. He has to convey religious knowledge. He is also to be involved in social problems, helping out, giving counsel and advice with people’s problems. He also of course is to bring a Christian comment from time to time on world and local events. So in all of these things there is a grain of truth, but none of these definitions or descriptions really give us the primary function of what a preacher is. You might say these are secondary terms or secondary categories, and not really the primary biblical categories.

And that is what we would like to focus on today. This is part of our continued series on “What are the marks of a healthy church?” Last week we surveyed briefly six marks of a healthy church. The second one of these was veracity/truthfulness, and we emphasized the importance of preaching in order to preserve and communicate the truth. I was planning to do one sermon on “What is a preacher, what is preaching, and how should we listen to it?,” but as I studied I began to realize that these are three separate sermons. They are three huge subjects. So today I would like to simply answer the question, “What is a preacher?”

As I have already said, this is not just for my benefit and for every other man who stands [in the pulpit], but for you as well, so you know from the Bible (not from our culture, but from the Bible) what you should expect from me and from everyone who stands in this pulpit to declare the Word of God.

(Transcription of audio file from 05:18 to 05:31 omitted.)

A Sinful Man🔗

First of all, a preacher is a sinful man. That is a strange place to start, perhaps. Let me try and explain that. The term that God uses most to address Ezekiel is “son of man.” You notice it here in Ezekiel 33:2, you notice it in verse 7, and in other places in this chapter and others. The prophets were very important people. They were held in high esteem by the believers. And yet, God when He speaks to them (and especially to Ezekiel), reminds them of their humanity. Regardless of being the mouthpieces of God, they are men. They are frail; they are faulty. They are sinful men.

Now of course, this is no excuse for ungodly ministers. Ministers are to aim to be holy and pure more than anyone else, of course. And yet no matter how hard they try, no matter how much self-discipline they have, they are frail. They are faulty. They are sinful. Preachers are not angels. They are not perfect specimens of humanity. They make mistakes. Now, these mistakes should not be huge, they should not be regular; they should be small, they should be few, they should be learned from. But preachers are going to make mistakes. There is no such thing as a perfect preacher or a perfect sermon. I am going to blunder from time to time. If you are going to come here expecting perfect sermons from a perfect man, I think you had better find another church, because you are not going to find that here. But I do not think you will find that anywhere! If that is your aim, your life is just going to be a constant frustration and disappointment, and it is just going to build anger in you. You have to manage expectations when you are listening to preachers, because they are men, men at their best, and they are sinful men.

Even when you look through the Bible and you see the kind of men that God chose, you understand why Paul says in one place, “I who am the least of all saints have been called to preach this gospel” (Ephesians 3:8). Think, for example, of Noah, who was a preacher: he fell into drunkenness. Think of Lot, who was also called a preacher of righteousness: a compromiser at times. Think of Moses and his bad temper. Think of Jeremiah and his despair. Think of Peter and his denial of Christ. Think of Mark and his half-heartedness. When you go through church history, you just won’t find a perfect minister. They are all sons of men.

This is part of what the Apostle Paul describes as the foolishness of preaching: that God does not choose angels, but He chooses men. Frail, faulty, sinful men, who have never done anything right and who will never will, perfectly. And yet He calls them to be earthen vessels to carry this treasure to fellow sinners, sinful men, women, boys and girls. A preacher is a son of man. He is a sinful man.

A Called Man🔗

Secondly, a preacher is a called man. It is interesting that in verse 2 there is a reference made to the call of the people to the prophet. It says:

Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman…Ezekiel 33:1-2, AKJV.

So a preacher is called by other people. But when the Bible speaks of calling, it primarily speaks of God’s calling. Of a divine calling. We see that here in verse 7. He says: “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee…” God here is saying, “I have picked you out. I have put you in a place and I have given you a task.” What a comfort this must have been to Ezekiel, and to all the prophets, and to preachers everywhere, to know that he and they are not self-made, self-sent men, but that they are God-made and they are God-sent. “I have set thee a watchman.”

And that sense of calling is absolutely vital for the preacher, because without it he is going to give up at the first sign of difficulty. And difficulties there are going to be. That is why there is such a high attrition rate in the ministry; because there is this lack of a sense of the divine hand being laid upon the shoulder and the heart of the minister. This sense of divine apprehension and sending. If God has called and God has given a message and God has sent, then how dare the preacher say, “I am not going” or “I am giving up”!

I was speaking to a Presbyterian church leader last week. He is in a very large Presbyterian denomination. Of all the students that go to their seminaries (and there are many of them), only 50% of the students who enter seminary eventually go into the ministry. And of that 50% who actually go into the ministry, only 50% of them last two years. And of that 50%, only 50% of them last five years. If my math is correct, that means 12.5% of those who initially said they were called to the ministry are still in the ministry by the end of five years! Similar statistics can be found of different denominations. The ministry is testing, there are going to be problems, but this is why it is so important that ministers have a sense of divine calling. If God said, “I have put you there. Speak,” then how dare he not go there and how dare he not speak!

But this sense of calling also has consequences for hearers of preaching. Because if these preachers are called and equipped and sent by God, then they are His anointed ones. He has put a special mark and calling upon them. As we read in Psalm 105:15, God says, “Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm.” If this is true – that God has set and God has sent – then how we listen to these messengers and their messages is an extremely solemn matter. It is extremely serious. This is not some lecturer at a university or a college or a teacher in a school. This is different.

In fact, Jesus so identified Himself with His messengers that He says, “If you hear them, you hear me; if you do not hear them, you do not hear me.” That is what He says in Matthew 10:40: “He that receives you receives me, and he that receives me receives Him that sent me.” Insofar as a preacher’s message is in accordance with God’s truth, it is God’s Word, it is God’s message, it is God’s voice. That is how solemn and serious preaching is. It is one of the consequences for hearers in grasping the right sense of what a preacher is. He is a sent, a called, man.

A Labouring Man🔗

Thirdly, a preacher is a labouring man, or a workman. He labours in the Word. In verse 7 we read:

So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouthEzekiel 33:7, AKJV, emphasis added.

In other words, the preacher has to seek a message from God. He does not just come to his Bible, put on a blindfold, take out a pin and see where it lands. He does not just flick through the pages of Scripture until a verse pops out. No. This is so vital: that he be sure that he has received this message from God. He did not just make it up, it is not just one of his own ideas, but that he has sought this from God.

And therefore, for a pastor/preacher to be faithful, he has to be praying constantly, “Lord, what is your Word? What is your message? What burden am I to carry from heaven to earth this day?” It may be a one sermon on one text, it may be a series of sermons and texts, but he has to be sure: this if from God, for this people, this day, on this occasion. He prays for his text, he prays for his theme, he prays for his points. He prays for help to understand and explain. He prays for the applications and the quotations and the illustrations. He prays because he has to get this from God and not just from his own imagination and his own heart and his own preferences.

That is why this is such a fearful matter and why this vexes the souls of preachers so often and why even up to the last minute at times preachers are wondering, “Is this my message or God’s?” “You shall hear the word at my mouth.” He is to be a labourer in the Word.

In fact, in 1 Timothy 5:17 we read, “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.” In another place, in 2 Timothy 2:15, Paul says to Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God.” Again, you see this [idea of] “I have to be sure that God is pleased with me and that I am gaining His approval.” How does he do this? “…a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” In other words, this is a man who has to work, who has to labour, who has to sweat and toil. Sermons do not just land in his lap as if they are beamed down from heaven. No. God gives it, but the labourer has to work for it as well.

Here the word for "workman" is the word for a manual labourer. There is toil involved in this. When a preacher begins preaching, probably something like 25 to 30 hours is required for every sermon as he learns his trade. It is extremely time consuming and demanding. As he gains experience and gains knowledge it comes down obviously, but I doubt any preacher will stand in this pulpit who has not put something like seven to ten or twelve hours minimum into a sermon, and on many occasions many more. These are long hours, difficult hours of focused concentration, of spiritual seeking. And obviously also of spiritual attack, because we know the devil does not want this work to be done. He wants preachers just to go in casually to the pulpit and throw out the first thoughts that come to their mind. He wants shallow sermons – sermons that do not search, that do not challenge, that do not convict and that are not applied to the soul. It takes huge effort and hard work. There are no shortcuts to good sermons.

That is why this is not just a matter for the preacher to pray about, but also for the congregation. This is why the preacher needs your prayers so much. There will often be times when a preacher is in his study and he has no idea what he is going to preach on. He hasn’t even the first word on his page. He doesn’t know how he is going to fill forty minutes or so! And he is praying and there is nothing, and he is praying and there is nothing. Oh yes, he could run a sermon together, put some facts together, but he wants a burden! He wants a message from God! Hours pass, and then light begins to dawn. A verse, a message begins to form. The Scriptures begin to open up. A theme begins to emerge. Points begin to appear. Applications begin to materialize. Where does this come from? I believe on most occasions it is congregational prayers!

I remember in my old congregation a Saturday night prayer meeting was started after a few years that I was there. It was almost without fail on Saturday evenings that new ideas and fresh insights and greater depth came into my own mind and heart as I wrapped up my sermon preparation. Congregational prayer makes a huge impact on a pastor’s preparations throughout the week and right up to the last moment. It is so needed. Without it, what is going to be here? Very little! The preacher cannot do this on his own. He is a labouring man for sure, but he needs your labours as well. He needs your prayers. He needs your support.

And he needs your confidence too. It may be at times that you are going to sit there and think, “I have no idea why he is preaching like this.” Or even there might be a series and you think, “This does nothing for me.” Well, be assured, nothing comes into this pulpit that has not been prayed over, thought over, and in good conscience brought before God for His blessing. It may be that a sermon or a series of sermons is not so relevant to you, but there are other people in this congregation. Just as somebody feeding a flock cannot feed all the sheep at one time. But even if that is your experience and you just feel that was not for you or a series of sermons was not for you, you need to trust the preacher. That he is still seeking God’s mind and heart.

Sometimes the preacher himself does not know why, but a verse has been laid heavily on his heart, or a series. Maybe he thinks, “It does not really appeal to me. I would rather do something else.” And yet there is this sense that this is got to be preached on. It just keeps coming back. And maybe when it is preached, or even some months or years later, the reasons will become clear. This is a labouring man. This is a hard-working man that needs your prayers and that needs your confidence and your trust.

A Watchman🔗

Fourthly, the preacher is a watchman. Ezekiel 33:7: “So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel…” A watchman in these days was somebody who stood on the city walls to look for dangers. And there were real dangers, of course, especially in unsettled times. He had his eyes open; he had his ears open; he was even sensitive physically to vibrations from approaching armies. So it is with the preacher. He is to be a watchman. He has to have his eyes and his ears open. He has to be sensitive to dangers to the flock as also a shepherd would be with his flock.

A preacher is looking out for personal dangers. He is looking at each individual life, seeking to get to know you and try and find out where you are vulnerable. This is why you must open up to elders and pastors when they visit you, to let them know where you are weak and where you need help, so that they can be especially watchful for you in these areas and care for you spiritually. Personal dangers. But there are also, of course, satanic dangers – dangers from the devil’s attacks and the devil’s assaults that the preacher must be able to see. I am not ignorant of his devices and strategies and subtleties. It is looking out for that and seeking to be sensitive to that.

There are also cultural dangers. This is why, without getting absolutely immersed in our culture and our media, the preacher needs to have some awareness of what is going on in our day and age. He must have some sense of the dangers that are coming on God’s people through the media, through education, and through many other different avenues. There are also church dangers from within the local church and the wider church picture, especially in this very interconnected age where so many channels now are open for dangers to come into our local church. A preacher must be sensitive to these. He must be sensitive to relationship dangers, where friendships, marriages, parent-child relationships are weak and need to be guarded and strengthened.

There are so many different dangers to watch out for and to be alert to. And you know, Jesus reserved some of His most ferocious words for religious leaders who did not do this job and who did not watch out for the sheep. Look at Mathew 23, for example, where Jesus speaks of the religious leaders of the day. He says, “You are blind leaders of the blind, and you are leading them into the ditch with you.” They were just blind to the church and the cultural and the satanic and relationship and personal dangers that their sheep were in. They had no concern! They had no connection! And He pronounced seven woes, seven curses upon them.

In Isaiah 56 the false prophets are described:

His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.Isaiah 56:10, AKJV.

Scathing words. Again, this has consequences for how you view a preacher. God set him to be a watchman for you, and that changes the way you view a preacher. In Hebrews 13 it says:

Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.Hebrews 13:17, NKJV.

They watch out for your souls! They are on the city walls. God has set them there to do this job, so that you can do other jobs. They are surveying and they are scanning and they are sensing and they are looking out. And therefore here he says, “Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive.” A preacher is a watchman.

A Trumpet Man🔗

Fifthly, the preacher is a trumpet man. Yes, he is on the walls watching. He is around the fold watching. But he has been given a trumpet as well. Ezekiel 33:7: “Therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.” That is expanded earlier on in the chapter in verse 2: “If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people.”

So here is this preacher. He is seeing a sword coming. And on this occasion it was real; it was a literal sword, it was armies with swords, and it was a real trumpet, a physical trumpet. They were to take physical actions in response. But clearly the literal merges into the metaphorical, the symbolic, because here in verse 7 the watchman is not just to blow with a physical trumpet, but to blow with God’s message. And that is the way that the New Testament also speaks of the preacher’s role: As somebody with a symbolic trumpet, blowing it loudly to warn. 1 Corinthians 14 we read:

For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? SO likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.1 Corinthians 14:8-9, NKJV.

Imagine here there is this city. There is danger coming. Swords are flashing in the distance. They are gleaming and sparkling as this great army marches towards the city. The watchman is on the wall and he sees the danger, and he keeps his trumpet in pocket. He does not blow it, or if he blows, it is pathetic. It is unclear and it is unsure. “Is this a little ballad or is this a warning?” This is what the apostle is saying. If the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who is going to prepare himself for the battle? In Ezekiel here it really was envisaged. There is no blowing, and all these threats coming. They are in this path of danger, yet the people are going about totally ignorant, because the watchman has failed to blow his trumpet.

But why is he blowing the trumpet? He is not just blowing the trumpet to terrify and to warn and to make people quake and tremble. Oh, he is doing that, for sure. In fact, he is blowing it as loudly and clearly and as constantly as he can in order to wake them up. To disturb them from their daily business – from their work and their family and their leisure. He is blowing this in order to call their attention. But why? So that they will take evasive action. It is not just to put them in a state of fear and alarm, but to bring them to a place of safety. So that they do wake up and they do rise up and they do take evasive action and seek life and salvation.

So the warning trumpet is not the end; it is a means to an end. Failing to warn sinners for sure is unfaithfulness to God and to sinners. But failing to point them to life and a way of safety is also unfaithfulness to God and sinners. There are two trumpet sounds: There is the note of warning, to alarm and to awaken and to stir up, and there is a note of life, of salvation, of pointing to the place of safety. He is a trumpet man and he has two notes: warning and salvation, death and life. And the one is the means to another. I hope these two notes will ever be sounded from every trumpeter that comes into the pulpit. Yes, the note of warning of the consequences of sin and of impending and imminent death and judgment, but also the note of life and hope, the good news. That is the end. That is the purpose of it all.

An Accountable Man🔗

Sixthly, the preacher is also an accountable man. He blows the trumpet, he warns the people.

…whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.Ezekiel 33:4-5, AKJV.

But then there is another scenario painted:

But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity…

That sinner is going to die. He is going to go to hell. He is dying in his sins. He is responsible for that. But there is another responsibility here:

…but his blood will I require at the watchman’s hand. Ezekiel 33:6, AKJV.

There is accountability here. Accountability for not blowing the trumpet, for not issuing the warning. Yes, this sinner dies in his blood, but that blood is going to be brought to that preacher. He is going to be called to account for it. He is going to be asked to explain it. He is going to be asked, “Why did this happen?”

The preacher is accountable. He is accountable to his elders, his fellow shepherds of the sheep. His is accountable also to the members in the congregation. And in the third sermon we will look not just at “How do you listen to preaching?” but “What do you do when the preaching is not what it ought to be?” What are the procedures to follow? What is a biblical way to deal with this? We are going to deal with that. But accountability is first and foremost to God. That is what weighs down preachers far more than fellow elders and fellow members of a church. We have to answer to God! We have to give an account to every single soul that has been committed to our care. It is weighty! If I stand here and I do not blow and I do not warn, and therefore you do not hear and you do not take action, I am going to have to explain this to God. And I will be without excuse.

But there is another area of accountability. Not just will a preacher be called to account for failing to warn, but also for failing to give hope.

When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand. Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

Therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of Israel; Thus ye speak, saying…Ezekiel 33:8-10a, AKJV.

Now, listen here. Here people have heard the warning, who have heard the trumpet, who have been awakened, who know death is imminent. And they are beginning to despair. They are beginning to give up hope. This is what they are saying:

If our transgressions and our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live? Ezekiel 33:10b, AKJV.

They have heard the warning! They are vexed by it; they are troubled by it; they are discouraged by it. They are hopeless. “We have sinned! Our sins are upon us! We are pining away. We are going to die! How will we live?” If a preacher does not give hope and does not point to life, then he is being equally unfaithful to God’s character and to his hearers. Oh yes, it is a solemn act of irresponsibility not to warn. But it is a solemn act of irresponsibility to see sinners despairing, discouraged, cast down and giving up hope and not to hold hope out to them. This is why Ezekiel is told to say this:

As I live, saith the LORD God…

God stands here and takes an oath! He lifts up his hand to heaven itself, and He says, “I swear by myself!”

…I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked…

What is His pleasure then?

…but that the wicked turn from his way and live…Ezekiel 33:11a, AKJV.

This is the second note that the preacher has to blow, equally, loudly, clearly, compassionately, constantly, or he fails to represent God accurately to sinners. Tell them God is standing here with His hand in the air, swearing by heaven and earth, “As I live, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked.” He is looking at these dying sinners – hopeless, despairing, giving up – and He says, “There is no smile on my face. I do not like this. I do not enjoy this. I get no pleasure from this. Here is what I do get pleasure from, here is what I love, here is my joy: that the wicked turn from his way and live.” And you hear the heart coming through in these subsequent words:

…turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel? Ezekiel 33:11b, AKJV..

We must not minimize and underestimate the danger. But we must not underestimate and minimize the grace and love of God either. I will be accountable for both. I won’t see you in your complacency and fail to warn you, but neither will I see you in despair and fail to give you hope. I will not be guilty of your complacent blood, but neither will I be guilty of your despairing blood. I want to be faithful (as every preacher who stands in the pulpit) to God. I do not want your blood on my hands.

And again, this calls you to prayer, so that neither note would be missing and that neither note would be lost. That both notes would be heard. That God’s character would be equally and accurately represented. I am accountable for that. And every time I step in the pulpit I am conscious of it.

A Limited Man🔗

Seventhly, the preacher is a limited man. I am responsible for blowing, but I am not responsible for the result. And I tell you this: that is a huge relief! Being responsible for blowing is at times a crushing weight. “The necessity,” as the apostle said, “is laid upon me” (1 Corinthians 9:16). When called and commissioned and equipped, you must blow. It is a huge weight, a huge burden, a huge responsibility. But thanks be to God, I am not responsible for the result. If I blow, you are responsible for the result. If I blow, your blood is off my hands, and you will answer for your own. If you hear the trumpet and take no heed, if you do not take the warning or you do not take the hope, you are entirely to blame yourself. Entirely, completely, 100% to blame. That is what this passage says. “His blood shall be on his own head.” Not 0.00001% of your blood will you be able to say, “It was him…it was her…it was them…it was God.” No, 100% responsibility.

God will call you to account for the result. For your response. Of what you did with the trumpet. If you never took warning, that blood is on your own hands. If you never took the hope, that blood will be on your own hands. That is heart-breaking for a preacher in a way to see this happen. To see people choose to remain in sin, either despairing sin or complacent sin. And yet he is not responsible for it. You are.

A Happy Man🔗

Let’s not leave this on a sad note, because the preacher is also a happy man. Because there are those who heed! Who hear the warning and the life! Who hear both notes and find it makes a joyful sound. And they respond and they seek the Lord and they find the Lord and they go on with the Lord. As the apostle John says, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in the truth” (3 John 1:4). There is no greater joy on earth than being used as a preacher or a witness in the salvation of a soul and the ongoing edification and sanctification of a soul!

It is a happy task! Yes, there are sorrows and difficulties, but what a joy as well to see souls in their sins coming to the Saviour! To see souls who were despairing, who used to cast aspersions on God and His unwillingness and His disinterest and His distance and His coldness, and begin to see them grasp the biblical picture of God as a loving Father and a willing Saviour and a saving Holy Spirit. There is no greater joy, both for the preacher and the hearer! May we know much of it, friends! May it be our constant prayer.

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