Preaching

1 Timothy 4:13 (NIV)

Until I come, devote yourselves to the public reading of scripture, to preaching, and teaching.

A servant of God does what is required of him as a duty and obligation to the Master. Of all the commissions that the Lord gives us, the preaching of the word of God is the highest calling and the most sacred duty of all. Shepherding, counseling, praying, healing, encouraging, and such are all divine gifts of the Holy Spirit, but preaching is still the greatest calling of them all. To be a preacher is to be God's mouthpiece and spokesman in this world. As the "word of the Lord came" to the prophets of old, the word of the Lord comes to us preachers from the Holy Spirit. Before God commissions a man to preach, the hand of the Lord must be heavy on that soul, not allowing that soul to do anything except to obey His calling. Woe be unto that soul that defies God's call to preach the gospel, for the word of the Lord is like a fire in his bones. He has to proclaim that word lest he be consumed by it. Not everyone is called to preach. But those of us who are called to preach must obey, lest we perish. And what do we preach? We preach Christ, and Him crucified for the sins of the world.