Police Devotional
“I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word.” (2 Timothy 4:1-2)
Paul wrote two epistles to Timothy, a young preacher. In our passage, Paul gave Timothy a serious charge. In fact, it was so serious that Paul even called on God the Father and God the Son as his witnesses to what he was about to say. And what was this charge? It’s summed up in three words: “Preach the word.” That’s it. Preach the word! A preacher’s most important job is to be God’s spokesman—to preach the Bible, the word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.” God uses His word on the heart of man—like a skilled surgeon—to save souls, cleanse sin from people’s lives, encourage troubled hearts, give hope, provide strength and guidance, convict to righteous living, and many more personal miracles too numerous to mention here. God also uses a human instrument—the preacher—to deliver His word. That’s why it’s so important for a preacher to “Preach the word.”
Some may ask, “Well, don’t preachers do that?” Do they? Does every so-called “minister” even believe the Bible, much less preach it? If that question surprises you, ask any “minister” to explain to you from the Bible how to be 100% sure that you’ll go to heaven when you die. He should be able to do it. That’s Christianity 101. Any “minister” who can’t explain salvation from the Bible has no business calling himself a preacher of God’s word.
The most important thing in the world is the human soul: “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Mark 8:36). In order for people to get to heaven and escape hell, they need to receive Jesus as Saviour. So the preacher’s most important message he needs to preach is salvation. Isn’t it an awful thought, then, that people would trust their and their family’s souls to a “minister” who doesn’t love them enough to tell them how to be saved.
If you’ve been a cop for any amount of time, you know that there are officers who loaf and don’t do the job. They may be friendly and talk smoothly, but if they’re not doing police work, they’re being dishonest and stealing taxpayer money. Likewise, a “minister” may be friendly and charismatic, but if he won’t “Preach the word” by telling people how to be saved and preaching against sin, he’s being dishonest with his position and destructive with people’s eternal souls.
When you go to a church, don’t be dazzled by a nice auditorium or pretty music. See if the preacher presents the Bible as the absolute, true word of God that it is. See if he tells people how to be saved. See if he preaches plain against sin. See if he “preaches the word.”
If you click “How do I go to Heaven” on the sidebar, you’ll see from the Bible how to be sure of heaven. If you’re looking for a church that “preaches the word,” we invite you to visit.
Brian Miller 7/1/2015
Cleveland Baptist Church 4431 Tiedeman Road, Brooklyn, Ohio 44144 216/671-2822