Does it please God when we preach and teach His Word?
Question:
Does it please God a lot that we try to preach His Word and teach about Him to people?
I have a gift. I can communicate very well with people, and I have the power to convince them. I am never scared of public speaking, I am an excellent speaker. When I talk to someone or try to convince them of something, I really explain things well and clearly to get my point across. So I sometimes use these gifts for good reasons like preaching God's Word, and I am pretty good at it. I talk to people about Him, but some people are just so lost, they don't seem to understand God's concept. They show little interest in Him, and some don't believe in him. It makes me so frustrated that they don't listen and care. Sometimes I feel like not caring about it because of this. When I'm about to talk about Him I feel as if something holds me back from doing it and I think people are going to make fun of me. People's reactions are "what in the world is he talking about?"
Answer:
Preaching (public instruction) and teaching (private instruction) are the only ways God has chosen for people to learn about Him and His will.
"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of 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." Amen" (Matthew 28:19-20).
Even when people were visited by God or an angel, such as Saul and Cornelius, they were instructed to talk to a Christian to find out what they needed to do.
"For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe" (I Corinthians 1:21).
"For "whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved." How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: "How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, Who bring glad tidings of good things!"" (Romans 10:13-15).
Yes, preaching can be frustrating at times. Just after talking about the need for preachers Paul stated: "But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, 'Lord, who has believed our report?'" (Romans 10:16). The problem is that we have a tendency to rate success based on winning people over to God. It hurts our ego when people reject the message we bring. Ezekiel was told upfront that people weren't going to listen to him. "And He said to me: "Son of man, I am sending you to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that has rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day. For they are impudent and stubborn children. I am sending you to them, and you shall say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD.' As for them, whether they hear or whether they refuse-for they are a rebellious house-yet they will know that a prophet has been among them. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious" (Ezekiel 2:3-7). Did you catch that? God told Ezekiel that they would reject his teaching, but it did not matter whether they rejected the message or not. The important thing was that the message was told.
God later explains why. "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: When I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul. Again, when a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I lay a stumbling block before him, he shall die; because you did not give him warning, he shall die in his sin, and his righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; but his blood I will require at your hand. Nevertheless if you warn the righteous man that the righteous should not sin, and he does not sin, he shall surely live because he took warning; also you will have delivered your soul" (Ezekiel 3:17-21). The importance of preaching is giving people the opportunity to choose between right and wrong.
Sure, it hurts when you do your best to persuade someone and they laugh in your face. Jeremiah felt this way. "For when I spoke, I cried out; I shouted, "Violence and plunder!" Because the word of the LORD was made to me a reproach and a derision daily. Then I said, "I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name." But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not. For I heard many mocking: "Fear on every side!" "Report," they say, "and we will report it!" All my acquaintances watched for my stumbling, saying, "Perhaps he can be induced; then we will prevail against him, and we will take our revenge on him." But the LORD is with me as a mighty, awesome One. Therefore my persecutors will stumble, and will not prevail. They will be greatly ashamed, for they will not prosper. Their everlasting confusion will never be forgotten" (Jeremiah 20:8-11).
You see, preaching is not about the preacher. It is solely about the message. "For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," aren't you fleshly? Who then is Apollos, and who is Paul, but servants through whom you believed; and each as the Lord gave to him? I planted. Apollos watered. But God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase" (I Corinthians 3:4-7).
If you have the talent to persuade and speak, then use it to God's glory. "Having gifts differing according to the grace that was given to us, if prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of our faith; or service, let us give ourselves to service; or he who teaches, to his teaching; or he who exhorts, to his exhorting: he who gives, let him do it with liberality; he who rules, with diligence; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness" (Romans 12:6-8). But since the emphasis is on the message and not the messenger, it is absolutely essential that you are bringing God's message and not your own. That means you need to do a lot of studying and learning so that you are presenting only what God has taught. "If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen" (I Peter 4:11). Find preachers to study with and learn from while you practice teaching others the gospel, then you will be well equipped to serve in the Kingdom.
