Church auditoriums have a way of communicating a message. Since the church building is where corporate worship, in its essence, happens, the auditorium often sends a message as to what that church believes to be core of corporate worship.

Some eastern orthodox churches have floor to ceiling pictures of the saints – with a massive portrait or statue in the front. Usually there is an altar. What are they saying is the centre of corporate worship?

Then you take some modern churches where the whole thing is constructed like a theatre. You have a stage, and all kinds of lighting, with the band in the middle, or the praise team in front of them. Usually off to the side, with a little transparent lectern, is where the preacher will deliver his 15 minute talk. What are they saying the centre of corporate worship is?

If the preaching is the centre of corporate worship then things will be arranged in such a way that the pulpit was central, the focus.

Why is Preaching Worship?

Preaching is declaring His Word. His Word is His declaration of Himself. ‘In the beginning was the Word’, not the song.

At the heart of knowing Christ, and making Him known, must be revelation.

For God to be praised, admired, and honoured – He must be seen. For Him to be seen, He must reveal Himself. He reveals Himself in the Word of God. Therefore, preaching is worship because it unveils God. It tells us who God is in Christ. It tells us what He is like, what He expects, what He is doing, what He desires, what He has done, and shall do.

Wherever God’s Word is, God is. So when God’s Word is central, and preached truly, God’s glory is sure to be seen, admired, cherished – or in a word – magnified.

In fact, what has always set God’s people apart has been His written Word. When Israel came out of Egypt, what differentiated them from the nations was the Law – the law which was to be read and taught and obeyed. The Law revealed Jehovah, nothing else.

This is why preaching is at the centre of corporate worship. This has always been the case with historic Christianity, and should always be the case. A read through 1 Timothy, the stated goal of which is “that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God” (1Ti 3:15), shows us just how central preaching is to be. (1 Tim 1:3; 4:6, 11, 13-16; 6:20; 2 Tim 1:6; 13-14; 2:2, 15-16, 22-24; 4:1-2)

Imagine a gem collectors’ meeting. Different things might happen in that meeting – a lot of individual sharing and talking and comparing experiences. There might be some time given to one or two gem collectors telling others about their recent finds. But what would be the centrepiece of their meeting? It would be displaying the gems, bringing out the rubies, emeralds, sapphires, tanzanite, topaz, opals, diamonds – holding them up to the light, letting the light pass through them and reflect off them; letting them sparkle and show off their brilliance. As this is done, the gem collectors would admire, praise and delight in those jewels.

Corporate worship has many aspects – fellowship, giving, serving one another. But the main aspect of worship is when the preacher takes the treasure box of the Bible and shows forth the precious glory of God, holding it up so it sparkles and people see the brilliance and beauty and value of God. From there, there will be right reactions of praise and consecration and admiration and honour. People are captivated, enthralled, thankful, challenged, convicted.

The preacher is worshipping over the Word, as he exults in the truth that he has experienced in his own heart, and the receptive people glory in seeing it as well.

When preaching is done correctly – God gets to speak. It is the part of the service where God is talking. God’s people encounter Him as He speaks.

But right worship, corporately, comes back to true preaching.

When is true preaching taking place?

A lot of times you hear people say of a particular man, ‘What a gifted speaker!’ or, ‘What tremendous preaching!” And, on occasion, I have thought to myself – ‘The man was indeed interesting, or dynamic, or eloquent, but it wasn’t true preaching.’

You need to know that the most dangerous false teachers are seldom boring. They are usually brilliant speakers. They are usually gifted as far as holding attention, keeping people attentive. Like a snake charmer – with their beautiful music and motion they can transfix an audience. But their popularity doesn’t add up to true preaching.

So, we have to decide when true preaching has taken place. When true preaching has taken place, worship has taken place.

Good preaching is not good simply because the speaker has the ability to hold the audience. There are many tricks a public speaker can use to keep people listening. This might be skillful public speaking, but it is not necessarily good preaching.

Good preaching is not good simply because the speaker is funny, clever, witty or charming. Again, this might be skill or natural talent on his part, but it does not make for good preaching.

You need to know when true preaching is going on. You need to know it, so that you are not led astray by men – so you know when you are listening to right preaching. You need to know this, so that you sit under right preaching wherever God takes you, or so that you make sure this church only calls men who truly preach the Word.

Example of True Preaching in Nehemiah 8

In Nehemiah 8, we have an Old Testament example of true preaching.

Nehemiah 8:1-9 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scribe to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the LORD had commanded to Israel.

And Ezra the priest brought the law before the congregation both of men and women, and all that could hear with understanding, upon the first day of the seventh month.

And he read therein before the street that was before the water gate from the morning until midday, before the men and the women, and those that could understand; and the ears of all the people were attentive unto the book of the law.

And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam.

And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:

And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

Also Jeshua, and Bani, and Sherebiah, Jamin, Akkub, Shabbethai, Hodijah, Maaseiah, Kelita, Azariah, Jozabad, Hanan, Pelaiah, and the Levites, caused the people to understand the law: and the people stood in their place.

So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to understand the reading.

And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the LORD your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.

1) The Scripture is Read Clearly

This word distinctly means clearly; the Word of God is read in a way that each hearer can clearly understand what is being said. There is a great weight on the person who reads God’s Word publicly. They are repeating a message God wrote down.

1Tim. 4:13 Till I come, give attendance to reading [public reading], to exhortation, to doctrine.

This was the practice in the synagogue (Luke 4:16-20).

It was the practice of the New Testament Church.

1Thes. 5:27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.

Col. 4:16 And when this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea.

In some ways I’d go so far as to say that the reading of Scripture is right up there in importance with the preaching. The preacher is commenting on, and explaining God’s Word, in his own words. The one who reads the Scripture is simply reading the very words of God.

The reason for reading the Scripture distinctly is because we plan to unpack it carefully. True preaching aims to examine carefully what God has said. And the starting place is a careful reading of God’s Word.

This does not mean, a Scripture is referenced, and then the preacher goes off on a tangent. You see, there is something known as springboard preaching. This is where a preacher takes you to a text, ostensibly to preach from it. But, after reading it, he actually simply uses the words, or some of the words, to launch off, to bounce off to speak about what he has already decided to speak on. So a preacher might take you to 1 Peter 2:2: “As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby…, and then say, ‘Let’s talk about growth’ – and go on to give you a sermon about growth. If you’re blessed, the sermon will say true things about spiritual growth. If you’re not, it won’t. The point is, it will not be a sermon on spiritual growth, arising out of 1 Peter 2:2; it will be a sermon arising out of the preacher’s mind, and he simply used 1 Peter 2:2 to make it look like his sermon is based on the Bible.

That is not why we read Scripture – to give us a launching point. We read Scripture because we wish to explain it.

When we take care to read the Scripture carefully, we show that we mean to deal with it carefully.

2) The Meaning is explained

The word ‘sense’ is most often translated ‘understanding’.

Sometimes God’s Word is plain enough to do its work without any explanation. Most times, it needs to be explained. It must be taught. The sense, the meaning must be drawn out and made plain.

A perfect example of this type of preaching can be seen from The Lord on The Road to Emmaus in Luke 24. What a picture of true preaching – exposition which caused exultation.

Preaching is almost like the Holy Spirit using another human to bring illumination. As you study with a humble, diligent heart, God opens your eyes to the meaning of texts. When true preaching takes place, someone with the gift of teaching is used by God to unfold the meaning.

Note, meanings should not be invented – a preacher does not try to come up with a meaning that seems plausible. Meanings should not be ‘attached’ because this is what the preacher wants to preach. For example, using Joseph and his dreams to say ‘We must all have a dream,’ or saying ‘Because Adam slept while Eve was formed, you must sleep and you will be married.’ Preachers should not find meanings that are not there to seem spiritual; allegorising the text to invent symbols.

What is the opposite of exposition? Imposition is the opposite of exposition. It is to impose upon the Bible our own ideas – be they true or false – to impose them on a text, and then act as if that text teaches it.

Simply put – true preaching is when what God has said is allowed to speak for itself. The preacher does not use the word to his own ends, but is a servant to the Word. He unfolds it, unpacks it, lays it out, organises it, and structures it. He does everything a servant does for a master – allows the word to have free course.

Scripture is not a servant to the preacher, like source material for a comedian or a historian. No, the preacher is a servant to the Scripture – letting it speak.

1 Cor. 4:6 … that you may learn in us not to think beyond what is written…

The preacher is a bridge between God’s Word and the people. This is true preaching. When the preacher was finished, the people forgot about the preacher – they could walk away and say – ‘This is what God said, and I understand what He meant.’

Jesus said that a true servant, when he is finished, does not stand around saying, ‘Where’s my thank you’. Jesus said, a servant, if he truly understands his position will say, Luke 17:10, ‘I am an unprofitable servant. I have done what was my duty to do.’

A preacher, when he understands his position as a servant – a bridge between God’s Word and the understanding of God’s people – will not stand around after a message, thirsty for approval and compliments. He will say, and really mean it – ‘I am an unprofitable servant – I clumsily tried to make plain what God has said.’ And if God’s people understand God’s Word in the sense that God intended, and respond to it, then the preaching was excellent.

Now, I understand a preacher needs to work on how he structures his sermon; he should seek to illustrate things well, like Jesus did; make pointed applications; inflame the moral imagination with Biblical metaphors. He does need to work on his delivery – his speed, and pronunciation, his pitch, his pause. But all these things are insignificant compared to the idea that the man has humbled himself to be a Spirit-filled messenger of what God has already said.

3) The Listeners Understand & Respond

Nehemiah 8:8 … and helped them to understand the reading’.

Note: The teaching helped them to understand what? It helped them to understand the reading. They did not merely understand the message – there was enlightenment, illumination of what God said.

But notice something. There was more than a mental understanding. If all a person does is understand the message, get an understanding of the outline, or say ‘Great message, some really good thoughts that I hadn’t thought of before’ – then preaching has failed.

What happened to these people?

Nehemiah 8:9 – the people were moved in their hearts. They were receptive in the first place, but when the Word came, they were pliable and yielded to it. They were gripped by God’s glory, gripped by their own sense of failure, gripped by remorse and conviction.

In Nehemiah 8:6, you see the response as well – worship. There was humility before the Word.

Now, I am not saying every message will bring you to tears, because every message will have a different content. But true preaching does not just tickle the mind, it stirs the heart. The affections are raised; whether they are joy, delight, admiration, awe, fear, sorrow, confidence, thanksgiving, challenge – there is an understanding which penetrates the soul. It goes beyond head knowledge, and engages the emotions, and in turn causes a response of the will. When true preaching has taken place, people see their God and respond to Him. The people here wept, they bowed down, and they said ‘Amen’. In Nehemiah chapter 9, you see them re-dedicating themselves to God.

Preaching is reaching its highest place, when people almost forget about the preacher and are captivated, enthralled, convicted by the glory of the God in the face of Jesus shining through the Word.

That’s what true preaching is. The responsibility of the preacher is to bring across what God has said about Himself with the force and power with which God has said it, so that God’s people might respond to such a God.

But that leaves one more piece of the puzzle. What about the people listening to preaching? Do you have any part to play regarding this most important aspect of worship, or is it all on the preacher. I can tell you honestly that I wouldn’t sleep at night if God said in His Word that the success of true preaching was all dependent on the preacher. It isn’t. Certainly you can’t have it without him yielding to God fully in this regard, but you have a part to play as well, as I do whenever I listen to preaching.

What is the responsibility of the listener?

You can probably sum up the responsibility of a listener with I Thessalonians 2:13:

For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.

Your role, for preaching to be worship, is for you to receive the Word of God which is preached, not as a speech by a human, but as a message, a communication, a letter from God.

This portion in Nehemiah is again so helpful because it tells us not only what the preachers did, but what the people did. So here are three ways to describe treating preaching as the Word of God.

1. A listener should respect God’s Word.

‘The people stood up’. Why would they stand? They stood because it was a sign of respect. God’s Words are being read and explained. We must show respect.

Here are some ways I can think of to show my respect for God’s Word as its preached:

• I will prepare my own heart before it is preached. I will ask God to cleanse me of known sin, fill me and teach me. I will come in with a meek and quiet spirit – a teachable, yielded attitude – ready to be changed. I will pray for the preacher, that he will truly expound God’s Word.
• I will be punctual for the meeting – to display my respect for God’s Word.
• I will do whatever signifies more respect for the Word. If dressing more formally and less casually shows more respect for the message, I will do it. I will sit in way that does not communicate disrespect; sit in such a way that causes me to concentrate.

2. A listener should give sustained attention to God’s Word.

This is part of respect, isn’t it? But it goes with treating this as God’s Word. When man speaks, you can tune him out. But if God is using a man to declare His Word – you ought not to tune him out. As Jesus said – take heed how you hear.

Look at some of the actions of these people that showed their attention to God’s Word.

‘The people called for the book’ (Neh. 8:1). They said – ‘You come and preach.’ You know someone is attentive when they ask you to speak.

‘Ears were attentive’ (Neh. 8:3) – they focused their minds on the Word. They were not there to pass time; consequently they could not daydream, drift off or sleep. They gave sustained attention.

Now is sustained attention difficult? Yes, especially to our entertainment culture. We battle to concentrate. But, once again – to be a disciplined person is to bring your thoughts under your control and focus them on the Word. Don’t just hear – listen.

If you need to take notes, take notes. If you need to sit closer to the front, do it.

Will you note how long these people were there? ‘Morning till midday.’

This was truly sustained.

What could be more disrespectful to God than to not listen as He is being declared? I think the only thing more insulting to God than tuning out a declaration of His glory is to sleep through it. I understand the situation with the elderly, with some with diabetes and other conditions, and occasionally with all of us, when we have been up with children, or working late hours. But apart from that – to sleep when the gems of God’s glory are being taken out is possibly the height of indifference.

Let me add one more thing about sustained attention. Sustained attention is not just for the duration of the sermon. There is a way it goes beyond that. It is sustained attention to the preaching of God’s Word over weeks, months and years. Many make no progress because they treat God’s Word as hit-and-miss, now and then, and so they cannot really grow. Sustained attention means committing yourself to hear God’s Word preached whenever you can.

3. A listener should yield to God’s Word

Hearing from God is not simply informative, it is instructive. The difference between information and instruction is that information is something you can learn and do nothing with – but an instruction is something you either obey or disobey. There is something about God for you to respond to, and God awaits your response after every declaration.

God’s glory is not like a museum display which you pass and admire. God’s glory is like gold coin you trip over. It is beautiful, it is valuable – and you finding it, demands a response from you.

The worship transaction is only complete when true preaching has reached your heart, and you do something with it. It might be praise, thanksgiving, hope, joy, sorrow, confession, consecration rededication, surrender.

God’s gives first place to His glory. Therefore He gives first place to His Word which reveals His glory. Therefore He gives first place to preaching which reveals His Word. So should we.