In 2 Timothy 4:1-2, the Apostle Paul wrote the following words, “I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” This is the charge the Apostle Paul gave Timothy and subsequently every minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
However, we live in a day of confusion, a day when many so-called preachers do not faithfully preach God’s Word. We read in 2 Corinthians 2:17, “For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.” The word “peddling”, “Kapēleúō” in Greek, refers to a merchant who adulterates wine by diluting it with water for personal gain. Paul said in his day there were many men who were peddlers of God’s Word. In other words, they corrupted God’s Word by watering it down for personal gain. They ignored the truth and told people what they wanted to hear, and we have many such peddlers of God’s Word in our day.
Amos prophesied of Israel that the people “shall wander from sea to sea, and run to and fro, seeking the Word of the LORD, but shall not find it” (Amos 8:12). In the same way, today you can go from place to place seeking the Word of the Lord and not find it because many “preachers” are afraid to preach the Word of God with boldness and conviction. Too many “preachers” have a fear of men rather than a fear of God. Yet the Apostle Paul told Timothy that “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7). The preacher is not called to be a man pleaser, but rather one who seeks to please the Lord by faithfully proclaiming His Word. “For do I now persuade men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (Gal. 1:10). Many “preachers” do not understand their responsibility as a herald of the Gospel who are called to preach the Word of God in season and out of season. Simply stated, whether it is convenient or not convenient, the duty of the preacher is to always be about the task of proclaiming the truth of God’s Word. He is in truth a servant of God’s Word.
The sad result produced by “preachers” who do not preach the Word of God is weak church members who do not hunger for the truth of God’s Word. And because of this, many who call themselves Christians would rather be entertained on Sunday morning than hear the faithful preaching of God’s Word. The truth really is not important to many people who sit in the pew. If the truth were important to them, they would not put up with men who do not faithfully preach God’s Word from the pulpit on Sunday morning. Yet amidst the confusion of our day, the Apostle Peter wrote, “…as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word that you may grow thereby” (1 Peter 2:2). The duty of every believer is to cultivate a hunger for the Word of God in order that God might be glorified, and the church edified.
Do you hunger for the faithful preaching of God’s Word? Do you realize how important the truth of God’s Word is in the life of the believer? May the Lord give His people an insatiable hunger for His Word in order that He might be rightly, faithfully, and confidently proclaimed by preachers, and diligently, humbly, and joyfully worshiped by all those who call upon the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Friday Devotional: February 27, 2026
In Christ,
Pastor S. Henry
