By Michael Moser
The Spiritual Sword Lectureship held at the Getwell Church of Christ in Memphis, Tennessee this year continued a long tradition of excellent and sound Bible preaching. For many years now, the elders of that church have sponsored the Spiritual Sword quarterly newsletter as well as the annual lectureship. Both of these are rich sources of truth that are a must for every Christian. This year's lectureship, the 26th annual, was entitled the Glory of Preaching with the subheading of Passing the Torch. Passing the Torch refers to the fact that there were 8 father and son pairs who gave lessons during the lectureship. It was a genuinely moving experience to hear both give the accolades of the other. Each father would speak highly of how fine their son's had turned out to be while each son spoke of the love of their father which enabled them to come to the truth and preach it boldly. It most assuredly shed some light on God's wisdom in Ephesians 6:1-4!
The lectureship included several interesting historical perspectives on some of the great preachers of the 20th century including Thomas B. Warren, Foy E. Wallace Jr., Gus Nichols, N.B. Hardeman, and G.C. Brewer. Mostly, they were a look back on the life and some of the mannerisms of these outstanding preachers. What made them so engaging was that in each case, the person giving the talk had some personal relationship with these men. For example, Flavil Nichols, Gus Nichols son, spoke of his father. Alan Highers spoke on G.C. Brewer, who obviously had a great impact on Brother Highers. It was an interesting look at some of these great New Testament Christians who preached the word so effectively and passionately. It's one thing to read a book by these great minds; it is quite another to hear about some of the more personal stories of their lives. It helped me come to an understanding that although these men have had and continue to have a great impact for Christ, they were still men like you and I. We too can do great things for Christ as long as we follow His word exclusively.
There were many great lessons given throughout the week. Their were a few that taught of the various hardships preachers of truth must go through in their lives. Recall 2 Timothy 4:3; "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables". Preachers have to be ready to move if they speak the truth directly from God's word. God knows that but He asks those who preach to be strong nevertheless. Preachers need to be able to preach to both the rich and the poor, both the strong and the weak, and all those in between with unflinching devotion to the gospel truth. From some of the descriptions of the lives of preachers these days, it must indeed a labor of love for there are many hardships to overcome. God grants us the privilege of preaching His word; we likewise should grant those who preach it and it alone the material necessities they and their families require so that they may concentrate on that glorious calling.
There were lessons were given on different aspects of how to preach the gospel. Their were lessons on preaching to promote faithfulness, to promote love, to strengthen families, and to motivate others to do Christ's work. All of these had as their core thought the instruction of our Lord in 2 Timothy 4 to preach the word. All Christians must at all times be prepared to teach a questioning soul the wonderful grace and matchless love of the one and only true God. Other lessons dwelt with the specifics of what to preach and the kind of preaching needed yesterday, today, and always. These lessons spoke of the preaching the whole counsel of God, not just the parts people like and want to hear. It was pointed out that those who preach must teach what God said in His word on faith, grace, works, and salvation, not what their own interpretation of it. For as we read in 1 Corinthians 1:25-31, "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God--and righteousness and sanctification and redemption--that, as it is written, "He who glories, let him glory in the LORD."
One of the highlights of the lectureship was a lesson given by Wendell Winkler entitled "Preaching to Warn". In it, he spoke of the absolute necessity of preaching absolutes. If one objectively reads the Bible, he can clearly see that their is only one way that is acceptable to God and that is His way. Time and time again, man has tried in vain to worship the Lord in ways that seem right to him but are not right in the sight of God. Time and time again, God shows us examples of prophets and preachers who tried, sadly mostly in vain, to turn man towards God. And time and time again, God was clear in His rejection of man's way. Brother Winkler's message to us all is that we must learn from the examples we find in the Bible that God is not to be mocked. There is only one way to the Lord; His way. Recall Ephesians 4:4-6; "There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." Preachers need to warn those to whom they are preaching that if you fall from the one true path, you will not receive God's blessing. He clearly states in His word He does not accept everyone unconditionally just because He is a God of love. If you fail to do that which God finds acceptable, which thankfully He has revealed to us in His word, He will turn His back on you at the judgment (Matthew 7:13-23). These are strong words, and not everyone wants to hear them. As Brother Winkler pointed out, it is not the job of the preacher to speak what everyone wants to hear. It is his job to speak that which God wants us to hear.