We will now pay attention to what has been called the "third office" of the elder. In the "Form for the Ordination of Elders" we read:

Third, it is their duty to assist the ministers of the Word with good counsel and advice. They are also charged with the supervision over the doctrine and conduct of these fellow servants. They shall permit no strange teaching, so that in every respect the congregation is edified by the pure doctrine of the gospel.

It is, therefore, also the task of the elder to supervise the preaching.

The Form points to Acts 20:29-31 where Paul admonishes the elders of Ephesus to "keep watch over ... all the flock," so that "no savage wolves" will enter into the sheepfold of Christ. Paul reminds Titus that he must silence "talkers and deceivers," because "they are ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach — and that for the sake of dishonest gain" (Titus 1:10, 11).

The preacher of the Gospel, according to Paul's teaching, must "plough straight furrows," when he brings "the word of truth" (2 Timothy 2:15); he must agree "to the sound instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching" (1 Timothy 6:3); must set an example and shown purity of doctrine, integrity, sound preaching "that cannot be condemned" (Titus 2:7, 8).

The Character of the Preaching⤒🔗

Before we elaborate further on this supervision that the elder must exercise, we will make a few remarks about the preaching. For the elder can only exercise his "third office," when he clearly understands what preaching is all about and by which norms he must judge the sermon. There is still a lot of misunder­standing when it concerns the character of the ser­mon.

Preaching as the administration of God's Word to the congregation of Christ, is a well-known description of the sermon.¹ However, the answer to the question: What does this description really say?, is often not forth coming. It is, therefore, not redundant to say a little more about it.

Preaching is the administration of God's Word←⤒🔗

C. Trimp has pointed out that this description is remarkable for its "modest character." He writes:

For 'administration' is the modest task of serv­ing the prepared food already present — the last part of a monumental procedure, which has been accomplished by hands other than that of the ministers. 'Administration of the Word,' because of its character, cannot be a reviving of the Word, a liberation of the Word from the grave of the past or from the shackles of the written page. It is neither an actualization of the Word, or a representation, reformulation of the facts of the Word for the present day...

Administration of the Word is nothing more, nor less, than the serving and distribution of prepared food handed to the minister. Not crea­tivity, but a careful and faithful adherence to the Word are required of an administrator (1 Corinthians 4:2).²

If we are to gain a correct understanding of preaching, we must not forget what Prof. Trimp has said. In preaching, the Word of God is not actualized for the congregation. Prof. Trimp correctly speaks about the distribution of previously prepared food. The Word of God, as it comes to us in Scripture, is actual, speaks to us, reaches for our heart.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.Hebrews 4:12

The Scriptures do not give us all sorts of infor­mation about creation, fall and salvation, about the Lord and His work. No, the Word of God is living and mighty, gives us re-birth and renewal (James 1:18; 1 Peter 1:23); "it is a power of God for salvation" (Romans 1:16).³

More than once it has been pointed out that the significance of the Reformers primarily lies in the discovery of the innate function of the Word. Over against Rome, which promoted the sacraments as "channels" of grace, Luther and Calvin emphasized to the congregation that God hands us salvation through His Word.⁴

The Word of the Scriptures does not just deal with salvation, reconciliation and eternal life. It grants and works all of it.

C. Veenhof remarks:

The complete salvation in Christ — the fruit of his conception and birth, his work and suffering, his death and resurrection, ascension and rule of the world, in short, the complete salva­tion that is to be found in Christ is "in" that Word and is presented, given and shared with us in it.

In that Word we "have" and "possess" it, only in it. For the Word of the Scriptures is the Word of the cross (1 Corinthians 1:18); the Word of reconciliation (2 Corinthians 5:19); the Word of salvation (Acts 13:26); the Word of grace (Acts 14:13); the Word of life (Philippians 2:16).⁵

With this character of the Word of the Scriptures in mind, we can understand something of the secret of preaching. In the sermon, the Word is not actu­alized. But in the preaching, that living Word is opened up and handed to the congregation.

In 2 Corinthians 5, Paul calls the preaching "the administration of reconciliation." When we read this important chapter, we are struck by the fact that Paul alternates reconciliation with the administration of reconciliation. For Paul, the two are indissolubly tied together: reconciliation as the great work of God in Christ and the proclamation of this reconciliation in the preaching. Through the preaching, God de­clares His great work of salvation.⁶

For that reason those who officially administer the Word are also servants of God. The subject of preaching is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. In preaching, God Himself acts and adminis­ters the reconciliation to His people. Paul writes "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God" (2 Corinthians 5:20). By the mouth of His ambassadors, God Himself speaks!

Calvin, therefore, constantly underlines that in the preaching we are dealing with the living God. He writes: "Those who faithfully proclaim God's Word must be listened to as if God Himself has come down from heaven to the hearers."⁷ Yes, in the preaching we must hear "God's own words, proclaimed in the highest tribunal, written in the book of life, firmly established in heaven."⁸

Paul says to the Thessalonians:

And we also thank God continually because, when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God, which is at work in you who believe.1 Thessalonians 2:13

In preaching we are not dealing with an essay, an explanation, an interesting exegesis. It has the character of a message.⁹ When someone in prison receives the message that the judge has ordered his immediate release, he is free at that moment; his whole life has been changed. At that moment the liberating words of the judge enter his existence.

So too, preaching is not a treatise about our acquittal in Christ, but a proclamation of that acquit­tal. In the preaching that acquittal comes to us and Christ opens the Kingdom to us and grants us peace with God.

I would like to point out a remarkable pro­nouncement of the national Synod of Middelburg, 1581:

On the question whether it would not be good to proclaim forgiveness to the penitents and the binding of the sins to the impenitent publicly and generally after the sermon on Sunday? It is answered that because the binding and loosing of the sins has happened sufficiently in the proclamation of the Word, it is not neces­sary to introduce a special form for it.¹⁰

The Heidelberg Catechism typifies the preaching in Lord's Day 31 as the administration of the keys of the kingdom. When the preacher faithfully administers the Word, the Kingdom is opened to the believers and closed to unbelievers "as long as they do not repent."

Those who officially administer the Word in the congregation of the Lord are called to great things. He himself remains "a little man raised from the dust" (Calvin), his authority rests in the pleasure of God who gave us the administration of reconcilia­tion and who entrusted the Word of reconciliation to His servants.¹¹

The Content of the Preaching←⤒🔗

What especially must the preacher enjoin the con­gregation? In the Form for the Ordination of Ministers of the Word, we read that the office of the minister of the Word is that he must proclaim the whole counsel of God to His congregation. "He shall expose all errors and heresies as unfruitful works of darkness, and exhort the membership to walk as children of the light." The form singles out the proclamation of returning to God and the reconciliation with Him.

In connection with content of the sermon, the Convent of Wezel decreed the following:

But he (i.e., the preacher) must reduce eve­rything to these two important parts of the Gospel, namely, faith and repentance; in the former his only goal is the knowledge of Christ, in the latter, the true dying to sin and the true re­birth. And he shall by, as much as he is able, to expose all hiding places and hidden covers of the human heart and chastise all wrong opinions and heresies as well as bad morals

Also he shall not only track down knavery and shameful public acts, but also shall try to undress the hidden hypocrisy of the souls and bring to light the hot beds of godlessness that even hides in the best of us and to eradicate them with most suitable means.¹²

The heart of preaching according to Wezel, is faith (the knowledge of Christ) and repentance.

Indeed, the riches of the salvation in Christ ought to be proclaimed to the congregation in the preaching and the call to live concretely from these riches may not be left out.

We read in Matthew 4:17: "From that time on Jesus began to preach, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.'"

The call for repentance sounded in Jesus' preaching, but this call arose from the Gospel: "the kingdom of heaven is near."

Throughout the Bible we find that God's call to His people for new obedience is founded on and motivated by what He has done for His people in the way of salvation. The Ten Commandments begin with the Gospel: I am the Lord, your God, who has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. The Sermon on the Mount with its wide sweeping precepts begins with the beatitudes.¹³

In the letter to the Romans, Paul first gives a broad proclamation of God's work in Christ. Only after that does he come with admonishments. He introduces them as follows:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.Romans 12:1

All that is normative for the preaching.

If the sermon indeed wishes to address and appeal, then the mercies of God in Christ must be made to sparkle. Only from the salvation which is to be found in Christ, can the congregation be admon­ished to repent daily.¹⁴

B. Holwerda puts it correctly:

Preaching of repentance always presup­poses the riches of the Gospel; and the Gospel can never be separated from the breathtaking seriousness of it. The call for humiliation always has an evangelical backdrop; and the consola­tion with the Gospel is at the same time the proclamation of the fear of the Lord.¹⁵

For that reason it has been said that the sermon ought to be Christocentric.¹⁶ God's work in Christ must be its centre. All of Scripture concerns itself with "the mercies of God." Calvin was fond of typifying the Scriptures as the vestment in which Christ comes to us. Or: the Scriptures are the mirror in which Christ shows Himself to us.¹⁷ In John 5 we read how the Saviour calls out that the Scriptures testify about him and that Moses wrote about him. Christ is also the content of the Old Testamentic revelation.

We may not forget that the historiography of the Scriptures has its own character and tendency. The Scriptures itself inform us about this tendency in Genesis 3:15 which indicates the theme of history writing. It concerns the struggle between the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent; the way the Lord has taken to fulfil His promise. The figures in the Scriptures are an integral part of this history.

Only insofar as they have a place and task in this struggle do they appear in the historiography of the Scriptures. The facts are written from this point of view.

M. B. van't Veer remarks:

The main question (the first and decisive question) for each historic segment must always be what does the Lord tell us here about His revelation in Christ. And where this revelation in the Old Testament shows us the coming of Christ into this world, we must always ask how this is revealed in a certain passage.¹⁸

In the thirties, especially K. Schilder, pleaded for "heilhistorische" preaching. The preacher may not gloss over the fact that, for example, the story of Abraham is part of the one story of salvation which shows us Christ coming into this world.

Over against this "heilhistorische" preaching, stands the so-called "exemplarische" preaching. The preacher dissolves the story of the Bible into a series of independent stories, which serve as examples to us. A certain Scripture passage is taken on its own and is considered as a snapshot in the life of Abraham, David or Hezekiah.¹⁹ One tries to come to an "appli­cation" by constructing a parallel between such a moment and a situation in our lives.

It is clear where this leads to in the area of the history of salvation: one cuts himself off from the opportunity to preach about these matters. It is not that one does not want to preach about it, but because one cuts the historic tie between David, Abraham and us, (the tie of being involved with the only, ever increasing work of God's salvation in Christ), another tie must be made in order to come to an application. This is mostly done by seeking the unity of a psychological similarity instead of recognizing the historic connection.²⁰

In the preaching, according to the Scriptures, the warning element may never be missing. In His Word the Lord always speaks to His people about His terrifying covenant wrath (Deuteronomy 28; Hosea 13).

The author of the letter to the Hebrews calls to us:

Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our 'God is a consuming fire.'Hebrews 12:28, 29

In the preaching the "now much more severely" (Hebrews 10:29) and the "how much less" (Hebrews 12:25), must underline the high responsibility of the New Testament congregation. The Canons of Dort state that through admonitions, mercy is commu­nicated.

These admonitions of the Gospels may, there­fore, not be missing in the sermon.

The Purpose of Preaching←⤒🔗

When we spoke about home visits, we pointed out that the purpose and norm of all our labour in and to the congregation must be "edification." Paul assures the Corinthians, that he speaks "in the sight of God as those in Christ; and everything we do, dear friends, is for your strengthening" (2 Corinthians 12:19).

We already discovered then, that this edification concerns the fact that she remains in Christ and lives out of Him. Well now, the purpose of preaching is this edification of the congregation as well. The preacher, to speak with Wezel (1568), has to proclaim "the faith" and "the repentance," so that the con­gregation matures and approaches "the whole measure of the fullness of Christ" (Ephesians 4:13). If preaching is to answer that goal, then it must be the administration of the full Word. A preacher who restricts himself to a few beloved themes and only follows his own preferences, short changes the congregation.

J. C. Sikkel writes:

If we may compare God's Word to a beau­tiful building, then the preacher, as a servant of the Lord, must not only guide the congregation to that building but into that building and show her around and acquaint her with and make her understand the parts and the whole; to guide her to various places, which in all its proportion are present in that building for her life; to guide her in such a way that she in each place is aware of the whole building of God's Word.²¹

Whether or not the preaching is, indeed, the full administration of the Word, depends in a large degree on the choice of text. In this choice the minister of the Word is free and responsible.

The Church Order never prescribed the texts on which he must preach.²² Precisely in the choice of his text, the preacher needs the guidance of the Holy Spirit. For the edification of the congregation must determine it. The preacher must constantly ask him­self the question: What does the congregation espe­cially need at this moment in time?

Only then can he be a true shepherd on the pulpit, and lead the flock to the pasture of the Word! A preacher who does not know his sheep, must fall short in the administration of the Word. The preach­ing must give spiritual guidance.²³ It may not pass over the concrete sins and needs of the congregation. A good sermon is always an actual sermon.

A. Kooy remarks:

God listens to His people. He hears their proverbs and instructs Ezekiel to say something about it. The Lord knows His congregation in Sardis and Laodicea. He knows their deeds and He knows where they live. And the latter is more than geographic indication. Through proclamation, instruction and admonition, the sermon must enter into the thought, the emotions and experiences of modern man. Precisely in that way the sermon becomes a sermon: appeal­ing, stirring and reforming. One can render it as preaching "on time." This can even decide the question whether a sermon is true or false prophecy.²⁴

We have already seen that the Word does not have "to be applied" in a sermon. The preacher has nothing more to do than to pass on, to sound this applied Word of God. The congregation "already sits in the text."²⁵ The Holy Spirit knows the congre­gation of all ages and her various needs. He has given Scripture in such a way that it contains the needs of all ages. The minister of the Word has a great responsibility precisely in his choice of text.

A Kuyper puts it thus:

You (i.e., the preacher) then are convinced that all that the Church you are serving needs for her upbuilding at a certain time and under certain circumstances, already is contained in the Holy Scriptures. And the art you must use is to search again and again, for the word of the Scrip­tures that at this moment applies to the congregation, and what lies hidden for your congregation at this moment in that particular Word.²⁶

It need not to be argued that preaching can only truly build up the congregation when it lets the Word shine over all aspects of life. The Apostles in their preaching were not silent about all kinds of concrete matters. Paul in his letters deals with mar­riage, sacrificial meat, the behaviour of slaves, and the litigation of believers. According to Christ's words in Matthew 16:19, the Apostles "bound" and "loos­ened" in their preaching. They made clear pro­nouncements of what is allowed and what is forbid­den.²⁷

And Apostolic work also continues in the preaching of the Word. Not that we "ape the Apostles" as ministers of the Word, as Calvin once re­marked, but that through the preaching of the Word (i.e., the exegesis and application of the Apostolic witness), things on earth are still declared allowed and not allowed. The preaching from the witness of the Apostles automatically leads to pronouncements about matters that are or are not allowed on earth. It is not us who bind or loosen; the Apostles do it for the public life of this time.²⁸

The preacher may not suffice with a general guideline; he must let the light of the Word shine over the questions, the needs and the sins of God's people.

That demands much study of the preacher. The Word of God does not provide ready-made answers. It must be studied and considered. J. Douma's re­marks, although made in a different context, still count here:

Much has been clearly revealed to us. That, however, does not mean that for many questions which demand study, we have ready-made answers.

Each time has its own problems which de­mand a renewed study of God's Word. The co­ordinates have been given and by using them the details can be worked out. God's Word requires the reading and processing of reading in situations, that change constantly. Prayer for the sharpening of one's sensitivity cannot be missed.

We do not possess a ready-made ethic that counts for all time. What we do possess is the promise that the Spirit will lead us in the truth of the Scriptures, so that we with good courage may try to continue to find answers to questions which others or we ourselves ask from what is certain, the constants given to us in the Scrip­tures.²⁹

In this connection a remark about the language that the minister ought to speak is in order. The minister must constantly remind himself that he must bring the Gospel to the people of this time. A sacred pulpit language or "the language of Canaan" must remain contraband.

The fear of "not getting across" must not result in a forced popularity. Some preachers make use of jargons which are not compatible with the sanctity of the message they bring.³⁰

I am of the opinion that modern English ought to be spoken on the pulpit. Sometimes people are of­fended by the sermon, that however, is not an offence given by the Gospel but by the old-fashioned, cliché ridden manner in which the preacher brings the Gospel! Reverence, clarity, and succinctness must characterize the sermon.³¹

The Preaching of the Catechism←⤒🔗

The history of Catechism preaching clearly shows that our fore-fathers saw this preaching completely as the administration of God's Word. In former days it was required to read one or more text first.³² Only after these were more or less explained, the preacher dealt with the Catechism Lord's Day that was founded on these texts. This method came into being shortly after the Synod of Dort prescribed that the explanation of the Catechism should take place in a worship service.³³

It is of great importance to note that each answer of the Catechism is accompanied by a number of Bible texts. This makes it clear that our forefathers saw the Lord's Days of the Catechism as summaries of the Word of the Lord.

A. Kuyper points out that Catechism preaching for our forefathers 'was not — preaching of the Scrip­tures, but a sermon about all the texts, which were expressly mentioned below each question. These texts are not of secondary but of primary importance. It is not: this is how Scripture thinks about it! but from this and that gold vein of the Scriptures this gold was dug up.'³⁴ 

In the Catechism sermon then, the Scriptures must speak. The preacher must show how the confession of the Church rests on the Scriptures. From the Scriptures, the congregation must more and more understand the riches of our only comfort in life and death.

The minister of the Word, for that reason, must not introduce his sermon with the phrase: Today we are dealing with Lord's Day, but with, I minister to you the Word of God as it is summarized in the confession of Lord's Day ... of the Catechism.

The Oversight on the Preaching←⤒🔗

After the above, we can make a few remarks about oversight of the preaching with which the elders are charged. In the first place that oversight, of course, concerns the purity of doctrine. The elder is called to prevent wolves from entering into the sheepfold. He must see to it that the minister of the Word "ploughs straight furrows when he handles the Word of Truth" (2 Timothy 2:15). The Form for the Ordination of Elders points out that the elders must see to it that the preaching edifies the congregation. The preaching must not only be sound, it must also build-up the congregation.

If this is to happen, it must be a true opening of the Scriptures. The elder must see to it that the minister of the Word opens the treasures of the Word through intensive study of the Bible.

The elder must have a clear idea that the preaching, indeed, is a proclamation of the full Word of God. The ministry may not be restricted to a few favourite themes of the minister, but must show the congregation all the treasures of the Word. That Word must shed its revealing and comforting light over the whole life of God's children.

Each congregation has her own spiritual needs. The elder must see to it that the preaching really meets these needs, chastizes sin, exposes half-­heartedness, and calls for the new life of thankfulness.

Willem Teelinck urged elders to see to it that ' the material of the sermon is both sound and adapted to the circumstances of our present age and time, in such a way that it does not provoke some colleague, nor embitters someone; but only edifies everyone. It must be understandable to the simple, who can help themselves the least and give these people a helping hand along the way of life.'³⁵

It is also important that the elder takes note in what way the minister of the Word calls for repentance when the need for admonition arises. Does the preacher proceed from God's mercies? Does he show God's work of grace in Jesus Christ in all its beauty and from it call for repentance? It also belongs to the duty of the elder to pay attention to the way in which the preacher presents his sermon. Is it reverent, dear and to the point? Does the minister speak a language that the congregation understands?

At church visitation it is customary to ask what, in the opinion of the council, the state of the ministry of the Word is. I think that this question is completely justified. The service of the Word is called by the consistory. The council is responsible for the preach­ing. As much as they are able, the elders must take care that the preaching, indeed, edifies the congre­gation. For that reason, preaching must be placed on the agenda of council from time to time. The elders must make a judgment. And they must assist the minister of the Word by determining what the spiritual needs of the congregation are.³⁶

It can happen that an elder objects to a certain expression in the sermon. He can even think that the minister on a regular basis seriously misses the mark. What must such an elder do? Make it immedi­ately a matter for the consistory?

I agree with the advice given by Ph. J. Huijser:  

When the elder has sound reasons for criticism, he must not hawk them in the con­gregation, nor immediately involve council. It is much better to air his objection to the minister in private. He does not have to let himself be fobbed off nor does he have to insist stubbornly that he is right.

It should be clear that a discussion of the sermon, in private or at council meetings, re­quires much wisdom. Those who behave un­couthly or conceitedly, easily do harm. If it is done correctly, the minister has put his heart into the sermon. It requires humility to teach a fellow officebearer about the short comings from the Scriptures. The elder must not forget that the making and delivery of a sermon is an extremely difficult task for most ministers.

Criticism must not be voiced in the consistory room immediately following the sermon. That definitely is not the moment! Most ministers feel relieved when they have com­pleted their task, yet at the same time, a certain weariness sets in, which easily leads to irritability when confronted with criticism about their ser­mon.³⁷

A wise elder quietly considers his objections and when necessary, arranges a visit with the minister to discuss the matter. The best way to find out whether or not the preaching is edifying the congregation is on home visits. However, the elder better be on guard! Home visits are not opportunities for the members of the congregation to vent all sorts of criticisms regarding the preaching of the minister. This criticism can be easily unleashed with the cliché question: "Is it still a joy to go to church?" The elder must not have any part in such a critical discussion. The fruit of the preaching is certainly not promoted in that fashion. When the elder has criticism, he must let it be known to the minister himself, not in a family which he as shepherd is visiting.

When the subject of preaching arises during a home visit, the elder has the opportunity to underline the significance of the preaching (as described above) and to urge what James says: "humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you" (James 1:21).

The "third office" of the elder is a great respon­sibility. For the elder to exercise true oversight on the preaching, he must know God's Word. It is not for nothing that the Form remarks in connection with the "third office":

To do their work ... the overseers should diligently search the Scriptures, which are profitable in every respect.