The preacher has to preach doctrine, that souls may grow in understanding. Edification means up-building, it is the building word; building up the understanding, growing in doctrinal knowledge. There should be knowledge from the Scripture. Then there is exhortation. Imagine a preacher who only ever taught doctrine. It may be sound doctrine; it may build up the understanding, but the preacher also must be an exhorter. He must always leave you, if he can, with the clearest idea of what we should do with this truth, how we should respond to it, where it reproves us, where it corrects us. He doesn’t have to do it in a dominating kind of way, in a haranguing way; he does it in a sympathetic way, in an earnest way, in an appealing way. He is to be a challenger of hearts, as well as a teacher of doctrine. There is comfort also. He is to bring consolation and comfort and encouragement and even inspiration, so that in the sermon we are not only reproved and taught, but we are also lifted up to have great views of Christ our Saviour, and of God, of his majesty and his promises and all that he plans for us. The preacher has to ask himself constantly, ‘What am I doing in my preaching? Am I teaching the doctrine? Am I exhorting and appealing and helping? Am I lifting up and showing Christ, so that souls are encouraged and advanced on the road to heaven? This is the duty of preaching. The fourth department is seen in verses 23 and 24: evangelism. When the unbeliever and the unlearned come into the church, they hear a message which brings them under conviction, and so they repent and worship God, and they testify to all around them that God is in this church. Some concentrate on one or two, but not all, but we must remember all four. Every preacher must be an evangelist, and a teacher of doctrine, and an exhorter, and a comforter and inspirer.
What is and is not prophecy? The impressions that we have, the many reminders, thoughts, initiatives that come into our heads: they may or may not be of the Spirit. We have to test them in the light of Scripture. ‘Is this the right thing to do; is it the kind of thing we should be doing?’ It may be the Spirit gives us reminders, but it is never in the league of authoritative prophecy. One teacher is reported as saying, ‘O there are people who believe that God has moved them to think of something. God has given them some intimation, or moved them to show sympathy to somebody, or to go and visit someone, or to do a good work. That sounds mighty like prophecy to me; so I think there are prophets today.’ How utterly confusing this is. It is nothing like prophecy. If the Spirit of God moves you or me to do some good thing, to think of somebody in need, or to show sympathy, then that may very well be the Spirit moving me; but it is not authoritative. I have to test everything that I think of. The things I think of may not be of the Spirit of God. They may be right out of my own heart, ‘I want this, I want that.’ If I think a good thought, ‘I should help this person, and do that, and carry out this duty’, I still have to test it. Of course, that is easy to test – ‘It is my Scriptural duty to show kindness. That is exactly what the Scripture tells me I should do. I praise God that I have been reminded about that needy person’, but I always have to test the thought.