Preachers can wander far into faulty fields when they read but one book. Some exegete the Scriptures in a fully adequate manner, it seems. They explain the meaning of the passage. They consider the context. They do more than mor­alize. They bring to the congregation the meaty doctrines of God's Word. They could never be accused of bringing milk cartons to the mature. Such preachers may preach the redemptive-histori­cal themes of Scripture heralding Christ from the Old Testament sacrifices and the cross from prophe­cy. Such a preacher works at his sermons and the congregation is stimulated in mind and sometimes in spirit. He reads the book of Scripture. He reads it well. But he reads one book well.

Another preacher may exegete a different book. He's in and out among his congregation. He knows their hopes and their joys, their pain and their sor­rows. He is at the bedside of the sick. He sits with the dying. He comforts the bereaved. He counsels the troubled. He is in court when a marriage breaks. He's active with youth groups. He knows his people well. He remembers every name.

But now it's Sunday. The hour for worship begins. He reads a passage of Scripture that has some con­nection to the sermon. He presents a topic on a matter of interest to the congregation. On one Sunday it will be marriage and another it will be forgiveness. If he perceives the parents are anxious about their children, he will address that issue. If he thinks the youth are influenced by the culture, he will preach about it. His chief interest is in the book of the congregation. He knows that book well. He studies and exegetes that book thoroughly. He reads one book well. Sadly, he neglects that all-important book, the Bible.

How can we describe the preach­er's task? One of the words the Bible employs for preaching is kerux. A kerux is a herald. A her­ald is a messenger of the king. God's heralds go about bringing His message to His people. The herald has no business bringing any other message than the mes­sage God has given. It is not the herald's message, primarily, but the Lord's Word that forms the content of the herald's announce­ment.

A good sermon will be God speaking through His servant to His people. Some sermons bring distortion into the message. If the preacher fails to exegete the Scripture, God's voice remains silent. If the preacher does not understand God's Word, the mes­sage will not get through. If the sermon touches the Scriptures lightly, God's voice will be muf­fled.

Many preachers teach about a topic. Topical sermons muzzle the Scriptures. With such preach­ing a Scripture passage is read that is loosely related to the sermon or, in the worst cases, unrelated to the sermon. Then the preacher deliv­ers "his" thoughts. Hopefully, he has gleaned some grains from var­ious parts of Scripture but such sermons are open to ideas from the four corners of the earth. The reading and preaching of Scripture ought to be seen as the two parts of one drama. The reading of Scripture ought not be a spring­board that merely launches the preacher into whatever direction he, the preacher, desires to go. The herald may not fail to bring the announcement of the King.

Other biblical words describe preaching, such as didasko from which the English language gets words like didactic. Didasko has to do with teaching. The great commission employs the word when Jesus tells His disciples to teach all that I have commanded you (Matthew 28:20). The congre­gation, once assembled by the call of the herald, needs instruction. What will they now hear from the preacher? Again, the answer is the Word of the Lord. Written in large letter across one of the lecterns in a Presbyterian church in Malawi are the words, atero Jehovah. I asked someone to translate that for me. "Thus says the Lord," he answered. Let that be written in every church build­ing.

The Lord, however, has many things to say in His Word. That presents the preacher with the problem of choice. There are sixty-six books. From which one should the preacher choose his text for this Sunday? Will he preach from the Psalms? Which of one hundred and fifty will it be? Genesis has fifty chapters. That's almost one a Lord's Day for a year. Matthew has twenty-eight chapters. That's enough for six months, if our preacher covers one a Lord's Day. Where will the preacher begin? Some books con­tain history. Prophetic messages fill other books. Wisdom litera­ture, such as the Psalms and Proverbs, interests some preach­ers. Will it be gospels or epistles, James or the Letters of John. Some like the New Testament while others are fond of the Old. Perhaps the preacher could simply settle on a book of the Bible, like Romans, and preach it through from one end to the other. At least he wouldn't be confronted with that weekly question: What will I preach?

Some preachers seek to be sys­tematic in the selection of Scripture texts. He could begin with creation and then proceed with the doctrines of redemption. He could preach on sin, then the foundational work of the Father, proceed to the person and work of the Savior and preach the doc­trines of the Spirit and the church as he works his way to the return of Christ. Such a method still leaves the preacher with difficulties. Layer upon layer of truth nestles within each doctrine. Which aspect will the preacher emphasize? If he employs a sys­tematic way will he lose his right to be called a herald of the King? Will his preaching move a step or more away from the Scriptures he is called to proclaim?

When the preacher chooses top­ics he fails to preach. He begins to lecture. Lectures work in the seminary and they may be a necessity in college, but God peo­ple need preaching. They need to hear the word of God from a preacher. So the preacher can remove from his desk all those topics he may have an interest in. If he wants to lecture, let him lec­ture on Monday night or Wednesday evening. When Gods people have assembled like the Israelites about Mt. Sinai, as they do every Lord's Day, it is time for God to speak through His servant.

One preacher had a deep interest in the letters of Paul. Almost every Sunday found him preach­ing on one or another of Paul's let­ters. He developed a thorough knowledge of Paul's writings and passed that knowledge on to his congregation. Did he proclaim God's Word. It seems he did but there was an element missing. He failed to read that second book. He followed his own interest but gave little thought to the needs of the congregation.

The business of the preacher is more than teaching. He may do a good work when he explains the doctrines of the Bible, but if he does no more, he has failed in his task. He may accomplish something when he exegetes a passage of Scripture for the congregation, but if he does no more he has failed to be a preach­er. A preacher brings the Word of the Lord to God's people in such a way that lives are changed. Two kinds of transformation will take place where the Spirit works and true preaching happens. Sinners are transformed when they see the error of their way and come to Christ the Savior and the flock of the Lord changes when they are built up in faith and in their daily walk of life. For that to happen the preacher must read the second book and know the needs of the people to whom he brings God's Word.

How can a person know the needs of the people listen­ing to the sermon? When the preacher brings the message to strangers, how can he be expected to have a clear knowledge of their need? If the preacher is newly ordained or installed in a church, how can he preach so that he addresses the needs of the congre­gation assembled before him. The answer lies in the first book. That first book tells us a lot about the contents of the second book. The first pages of the Bible tell us about Adam's sin. An old grade school reader states it this way: "Adam's fall affects us all." Every last person in the congregation is a son or daughter of Adam and Eve and it will show in one way or another.

Some don't know Christ truly. The Galatian heresy can be found almost everywhere. Some are hedonists. Their sleepy-eyed Sundays betray a Saturday night romp. Some are proud and others are careless. The apostle Paul likens to catalog sin. If you run down those lists the preacher ought to be able to see at least some members of his congrega­tion. So, the preacher, when he turns to exegete the second book, the book of the congregation, will keep that first book close at hand. He must also exegete that second book. Paul presents underlying principles in Ephesians 5:11-13. Why did God endow the church with pastors and teachers? So that the congregations might be built up and "become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the full­ness of Christ." That's why a man stands in the pulpit. He's there to edify. He's there to teach, rebuke, correct, and train. Paul's own ministry exemplifies this princi­ple. Acts 20:20 informs us that he preached what was helpful. What helped the Ephesians was the mes­sage that first brought them to a knowledge of Christ and then led them to maturity in Him. Paul did this publicly. He also brought the Word from house to house. From that phrase "house to house" we catch a glimpse of Paul reading the second book. Because he knew the people, he could preach to them what was helpful.

When the preacher goes from house to hospital he will discover some other ways his people are offspring of the first parents. Some of them are sick. Some are saddened by one of many possible events. Loved ones die. Children turn against parents. Marital problems hint of a looming divorce. People lose their jobs. An infant contracts a fatal disease. A son goes off to war and more.

He who tempted Eve still wrecks and ruins what he can. Some struggle with doubt. Others suc­cumb to temptation. There are personal issues to address, cultural issues to challenge and national matters that need a strong, biblical message.

On an axis between heaven and earth, between God and man, with the Bible as a book of authority on one hand and the people a book to be read on the other hand, stands the preacher. If he neglects the first book, I say he doesn't preach. If he neglects the second book, I also say that he fails to truly preach God's Word to the congre­gation.

To preachers who may read this I say, Preach the Word. People need to hear the Word of God. Forget that relevant and interest­ing topic that will mark you as an up-to-date person. Who really cares? So you won't gain a repu­tation as one of the world's great theologians. It doesn't matter. Preach the Word.

Preach the Word to the needs of the people. Get to know the people. Try Paul's method: House to house, Hospital to nursing home. Preach what is helpful. Aim some mes­sages right from God's Word to the middle of man's need. Maybe someone will go home from wor­ship and complain that you were preaching right at him (or her).

And be sure to preach to mankind's greatest need. Preach Christ Jesus.