Preach the word because of dangerous times, godly examples, the power of the scripture, accountability to God, and the tendency of people to drift.

They'll drift.

Sad to say, even when you're preaching the word, hard to imagine what they'll do if you don't.

Constantly be faithful to call them back.

For all these reasons, great function in the church is to preach.

Welcome to Grace to You with the Bible teaching of John MacArthur. I'm your host, Phil Johnson.

Here's an interesting exercise. Do an internet search for churches in your area. What do they emphasize? What do they say is their purpose? You'll probably find priorities like

building relationships and addressing emotional needs and having a contemporary style. Now, those

things are fine for a community center or a support group,

but have those things found too high a place in the church? Bottom line, what is the purpose of the

church and what is the purpose of the pastor? How can a church and its pastor make sure they are

honoring the Lord every Sunday? Well, the title of John MacArthur's current study gives

you more than a little hint. Here's John now to continue his series titled, Why is Preaching

Worth Fighting for? If you'll open your Bible to 2 Timothy, and this is the word of God to every

pastor, the word of God to every elder, the Word of God to every elder, the Word of God

to every leader in the church.

Chapter 3 and chapter 4 are all built around one command, and the one command in this entire

section is in chapter 4 verse 2. Chapter 4 verse 2 says this, preach the word, be ready in season

and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction. Now, there is the

dominating command of this entire section from

chapter 3 verse 1 on through chapter 4 verse 4. Preach the Word. There are five reasons why the

Lord has designed that the center and heart of the ministry of the church is preaching

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