21 Days of Prayer: Day 8

Worship –

The Preaching of the Word

“Through the knowledge of him who called”

READ 2 PETER 1:1-4.

Last time we saw that we must be motivated by the grace of God to worship God. In other words, we must be motivated by the fact that God graciously died on the Cross to save sinners so that we (the sinners) would worship Him. If we are not motivated by God’s grace, then we will end up in either pride or hopelessness in our efforts to worship God. Indeed, the only way our worship of the holy God will be honoring to Him is if we rely upon His grace.  We worship God by relying on His grace, not by our efforts… But what form does that worship take?

The apostle Peter, writing to the early church, instructs us today: “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness…” Peter teaches that God has graciously given to us everything we need to have true life, as well as everything we need to be godly. It has already been given!... But how do we access this gracious gift of God? 

Peter continues: “… through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence.” The apostle teaches that the way we access the gift of life and godliness is through KNOWLEDGE. The grace of God is received by knowing something about God… But what is so special about this knowledge? “Through the knowledge of him… by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises…” Having the knowledge of God gives us access to His PROMISES. Knowing that God has acted in Christ to redeem and fully sanctify sinners enables us to have life and godliness. The knowledge of Christ gives us bold confidence to live out the promises of God – for in Christ, all the promises of God are fulfilled (see 2 Cor. 1:20).

One of the means through which we are reminded of the promises of God is through the weekly preaching of the God’s word. Every week we gather to hear the word of God proclaimed and expounded. This is because the Bible is the bedrock of the Church. In other words, the Word of God creates the Church, not vice versa… Indeed, as Baptists, we are also a type of Protestant. And one of the doctrines coming out of the Protestant Reformation in the 1500s AD was that of sola Scriptura. This is a Latin term meaning that Scripture alone is the final authority for doctrine and practice in the Church. The word of God is the sole foundation to which all other lesser foundations (creeds, confessions, statements of faith, etc.) must be compared.

It may be needless to say, but the preaching of God’s word is vital to the Church if it is going to flourish. But, if we are being real with ourselves, we often do not treat the Scripture as vital… How many Sunday’s do we receive the preaching of God’s Word to just have it leave our minds the next day, that afternoon, or sometimes even by the time we sit down to Sunday lunch? How many times in worship do we sit mindlessly through a Sunday morning as the only word that can give life passes undetected through our eardrums… That is one end of the spectrum…. Another end of the spectrum could be that we know what the word being preached means, yet we treat it as a chore rather than a privilege to hear. Or perhaps, we know the promises of God being preached, but we do not delight or trust in the God who promises them. So, in disobedience, we refrain from action upon the word – from being obedient to it…

If this is us, not paying attention to the word of God or being flat out disobedient to it, then we need a change of heart. We need to recognize the Bible as the treasure trove of knowledge that it is, and we need to cherish it accordingly. John Piper calls this “seeing” and “savoring” the Bible. We must see the precious promises of God in Scripture for what they are – the means to true life and godliness… 

And then we must savor them… This is where I believe most of us fail to take in the word of God. We can listen to a sermon (we “see” the promises of God), and may be able to even mention a few quotes, but we do not let the word take root in us. Because the word has no root in us, it blows us away…. Savoring the Bible looks like meditating on it, memorizing it, discussing it with others, and praying through it – so that we taste of all its goodness. Perhaps, one illustration can be found in a crock-pot that simmers all day filled with good foods. The longer it sits in the pot, the more flavors of the food are drawn out. Likewise, when we let the preached word of God simmer in us, the more of its delectable truths are made known to us.

The word of God preached is too costly to be neglected – blood has been shed for it (both our Savior’s blood and the blood of all those translators who were martyred to produce it in an understandable language). All these died because they knew the Church could not live without the promises of God. And today we continue to preach that same word every Sunday morning – because we know the Church cannot survive without the promises of God.

Personal Questions:

  1. Why is it so important for us to have knowledge of God’s word?

  2. What does it mean to “see” the promises of God found in Scripture? To “savor” them?

  3. Do you “see” the promises of God in Scripture (do you know them)? Do you “savor” them (do you see them as precious to the life of the Church)?

Prayer Points:

  • Pray that you and our church would be rid of any attitudes that do not honor the preaching of the Word of God every Sunday.

  • Pray that you and our church would know what promises of God are found in Scripture.

  • Pray that you and our church would cherish the promises of God as costly treasure – as the means to life and godliness that they are.