Teaching and Preaching God's Word
Teachers have always played a very important role in the world. Many help educate children by teaching them reading, writing, and other subjects that they will need to know throughout their lives. Other teachers, such as evangelists, teach important spiritual lessons that are necessary for people to learn if they want to be pleasing to God and go to heaven.
In the New Testament, Jesus said, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20). As the disciples taught the Gospel to others, the result was additional disciples, who then were rooted and grounded in the fundamentals of God’s Word.
When the early disciples gathered to worship God, they listened to men teach truths from God’s Word (read Acts 2:42; 20:7). Christians today should understand the importance of teaching the Bible when the church assembles. It is the Word of God that builds up the church (Acts 20:32).Thus, we need to make sure we have men teaching in the Lord’s church today who will “preach the Word” (as Paul instructed Timothy to do in 2 Timothy 4:2).
Teachers and preachers in the church must teach and preach the pure, complete Gospel—in the hope that the hearers will believe it, obey it, and thus be in a right relationship with God. Also, the things taught must equip Christians for greater maturity in the faith so that they, too, can teach others. The growth of the church and the spread of Christianity in the world are both dependent upon those who believe the Word of God and teach it