Preaching and Preachers

No Substituteassert that it is the peculiar task of the Church, and of the preacher,to make all this known.I would emphasise the word 'peculiar'-you can use the word'exceptional' if you like, or 'special'. The preacher alone is the onewho can do this. He is the only one who is in a position to deal withthe greatest need of the world. Paul puts it in I Corinthians 4:17ff.:He says of himself that 'a dispensation of the Gospel has been committedunto me'. That is what he was called for-this dispensation ofthe Gospel, this message had been given to him. And you have thesame thing expressed in a very glorious statement in the third chapterof the Epistle to the Ephesians, verses 8-10: 'Unto me,' he says, 'whoam less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I shouldpreach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ.' This ishis calling, this is his task. He has said before that 'all this in otherages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealedunto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit'. This is the message- 'And to make all men see, what is the fellowship of the mystery,which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, whocreated all things by Jesus Christ: To the intent that now unto theprincipalities and powers in heavenly places might be made known bythe church the manifold wisdom of God.'My whole contention is that it is the Church alone that can do this,and it is the preacher therefore who alone can make it known. He isset apart by the Church, as I am going to show, to serve this particularfunction, to perform this particular task. Thisis the thing that is givenprimacy and is emphasised, and it must surely of necessity be the case.The moment we realise man's true need and see the only answer, itbecomes clear that only those who are in possession of this understandingcan impart this message to those who lack it.Let me work this out a little. There are other agencies in the worldwhich can deal with many of the problems of mankind. I mean bythat, things like medicine, the State, even other religions, and cults,and psychology and various other teachings and political agencies.These are all designed to help, and to relieve somewhat, the human29