Why exposit the words of man when you can exposit the Word of God?

The words of man may help us understand the Word of God. But they must never become a substitute.

When we substitute the Word of God with the words of man, we're taught to behold someone other than Christ. And when we behold someone other than Christ, we don't change.

Perhaps the quickest way to devalue the Bible is to simply not use it or to use it only sparingly.

In John 21, Jesus commands Peter to "Feed my sheep."

This is the same Peter who, in 1 Peter 2:2 writes, "Like newborn infants, desire the pure milk of the word, so that you may grow up into salvation."

A preacher has the responsibility and the privilege to feed hungry believers with the pure milk of God's Word, not the words of man.

Toss the Word of God aside long enough and believers starve. Some look elsewhere for food. Others settle and struggle to grow, unaware of the solid food available to them (see Hebrews 5:11-14).

But when believers are fed God's Word, they know it. And they love it. They can't get enough of it. Like a baby who tastes real food for the first time and acquires a distaste for the formula they once craved.

As believers are fed the Word of God, they begin to desire it like never before, leading them to read it like never before.

I am so thankful for a pastor who exposits the Word of God. And that's the example I strive to emulate.

Christian, you don't need to settle for the words of man when you can feast on the Word of God.