It is self evident that if a man desires to preach the Word, he must first know the Word. But this knowledge must not be the cold, academic, theoretical knowledge of the detached scholar. It must be the warm, spiritual, experiential knowledge of the meditator. “A faithful minister must see before he say.”[1]

This is why Paul gives many commands to Timothy to meditate on the Word. Timothy must “take pains with these things” and “be absorbed” in God’s Word (1 Timothy 4:15). He must carefully “retain the standard of sound words” which he received from Paul. (2 Timothy 1:13). He must “guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted” to him (2 Timothy 1:14). He must “guard what has been entrusted” to him, “avoiding worldly and empty chatter and the opposing arguments of what is falsely called ‘knowledge’” (1 Timothy 6:20). He must “consider” and “remember” what Paul has said, trusting in Paul’s promise, “the Lord will give you understanding in everything” (2 Timothy 2:7-8). If Timothy is going to be able to preach and teach God’s Word, he must “continue in the things” he has “learned and become convinced of” (2 Timothy 3:14).

These commands from Paul are not just for Timothy. They apply to every man who is, or aspires to be, a preacher or teacher in Christ’s church. The preacher must first “be absorbed in” and “retain” and “guard” and “consider” and “remember” and “continue in” the Word of God. This is the foundation for all true preaching. He must not only know the Word as a collection of academic information; he must know the word deeply, in his heart. He must experience the power of the Word in his own life. He must find his hope and joy and satisfaction and nourishment in the true milk of the Word. Only then will he be able to “prescribe and teach these things” (1 Timothy 4:11). Only then will he be able to “give attention to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation and teaching” (1 Timothy 4:13). Only then will he be able to “instruct” and “remind” and “solemnly charge” and “preach” and “do the work of an evangelist” and “speak the things which are fitting for sound doctrine.”[2]

Again, the Puritans intimately knew the connection between meditating deeply on the Word and powerful preaching. John Owen said, “A man may preach a very good sermon, who is otherwise himself; but he will never make a good minister of Jesus Christ, whose mind and heart is not always in the work. Spiritual gifts will require continual ruminating on the things of the Gospel in our minds.”[3] Robert Murray McCheyne was aware of the temptation for pastors to have a merely academic and intellectual grasp of the Word, without feeding on the Word deeply in meditation. He clearly saw the need for constant meditation on the Scriptures.

Oh brethren, it is thus only we can ever speak with feeling, or with power, or with truth, of the unsearchable riches of Christ! We must have the taste of the manna in our mouth, “milk and honey under our tongue,” else we cannot tell of its sweetness. We must be drinking the living water from the smitten Rock, or we cannot speak of its refreshing power. We must be hiding our guilty souls in the wounds of Jesus, or we cannot with joy speak of the peace and rest to be found there. This is the reason unfaithful ministers are cold and barren in their labors. They speak, like Balaam, of a Savior whose grace they do not feel. They speak, like Caiaphas, of the blood of Christ, without having felt its power to speak peace to the troubled heart. This is the reason many good men have a barren ministry. They speak from clear head–knowledge, or from past experience, but not from a present grasp of the truth—not from a present sight of the Lamb of God. Hence their words fall like a shower of snow, fair and beautiful, but cold and freezing. The Lord give us to stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus.[4]

Indeed, may the Lord give His pastors the deep desire to stand in the presence of the Lord Jesus through Spirit-empowered meditation on the Word.

 

[1] Edward Marbury, quoted in I.D.E. Thomas, The Golden Treasury of Puritan Quotations, (Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation) 1997, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.

[2] 1 Timothy 6:17; 2 Timothy 2:14; 4:2; 4:5; Titus 2:1.

[3] I.D.E. Thomas, The Golden Treasury of Puritan Quotations, (Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation) 1997, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.

[4]A.A. Bonar, Memoirs and Remains of R.M. McCheyne, (Simpsonville, SC: Christian Classics Foundation) 1997, [Online] Available: Logos Library System.