The Public and Private Ministry of the Word

“The Public and Private Ministry of the Word” is a Sunday School lesson from a Question and Answer series taught from Selected Scriptures by Michael Beatty, pastor of Covenant Baptist Church in New Berlin, Wisconsin – a confessional Reformed Baptist church subscribing to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith.

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Opening Prayer

Father, we thank You for Your kindness toward us in the Lord Jesus Christ. We do thank You for Your many mercies to us today and the safe travels to this place. And we thank You for the great many number of gifts You’ve given to us to enjoy today on the Lord’s Day.

We do thank You for the way in which You’ve ordered our lives—that we have a set number of days, six to work and another day to rest and to partake in that brief taste of heaven that we receive when we’re together.

And we would ask, Lord, that You would help us today to all the more account this day as the chief of all the days of the week, and that we would all the more look forward to that day in which You cause our faith to become sight and we enter into the fullness of the realities which we already enjoy in Christ.

In whose name we pray, Amen.

Introduction to Today’s Q&A

So this morning we’re back on our Q&A section, and I received a number of questions about the ministry of the Word—private versus public use of the Word—and some practical questions about which devotional method I find most helpful.

So I sort of took all the questions and merged them together. If you recognize elements of your question, it’s simply trying to answer all of them, wording them in a way that I could try to work through them in an orderly manner.

Here’s what I want to ask. The first question to consider is: the way God uses His Word.

We of course know that His Word never comes back void. So however it comes to us, we know it is a good thing. Whatever you hear me say today, I’m all for making use of the private and public use of God’s Word. We should do that.

• You should own a copy of the Bible.
• You should read it.
• If you don’t know how to read, you should learn to read so you can read it.
• If you can’t read, someone can read to you.
• You can meditate upon it.
• You should memorize it.

However we would like to use it, it’s a good thing. And that’s important to say—that however we have God’s Word come into our lives, it is the Word of the Lord, and it’s applicable for us.

Public and Private Ministry of the Word

However, I do want to distinguish between the public ministry of the Word and the private ministry of the Word.

Because we saw in our time in our Sunday School series about the ministry of the Word that there is a distinction between public and private use, and it goes beyond just location.

In other words, it’s not as if I’m at home, I can be in my jammies with a cup of coffee and my Bible, and when I come here, I have to dress up and all these other people are here with me. The distinction goes beyond location.

Romans 10:14–17

I want to look at Romans 10 first to highlight this.

Romans 10:14–17

“How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!’ But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, ‘Lord, who has believed what he has heard from us?’ So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

At this particular juncture Paul is discussing the sort of salvation that Christ is working in His people.

Now, in this section we might play devil’s advocate and say, “Well, this is because they lived in a time where there wasn’t a lot of ability to read—maybe less than 50% of the folks could read.” There’s a lot of discussion about that.

But I think there’s something that goes beyond that—in part because many Israelites would have had the Old Testament partially or completely memorized.

For example, we see that in the Magnificat that Mary offers when she hears about the Lord: “My soul magnifies the Lord, rejoices in God my Savior,” and so on. If you ever go through and highlight all the different words, she’s taking a bunch of parts of the Old Testament and merging them together in her song.

Studies say she’s about 13 years old, and yet she has so much of the Old Testament memorized that she immediately breaks forth in song using Bible verses. So even if they couldn’t read, they would have much of it memorized.

There’s an interesting book called Reading in the Time of Jesus, which answers the question about how well people could read, how many could read, what about different socioeconomic statuses. That book concludes there was a wide knowledge of the Bible—either you could read and had a copy of God’s Word (if you were well-to-do), or you memorized it. Many did both.

The author even tells the story of a synagogue in northeast Africa where the reader, while reading Jonah, changed just one word—“and”—and the entire town rioted because the people were so inflamed that the Word of God had been altered.

So they had a very good understanding of the Scriptures.

Why rehearse all this? Simply to say that when we come to this passage, we should not impose our modern understanding of Scripture reading back onto it. Because at this point, God’s Word was effective—and God’s people have always hidden it in their hearts, whether through reading or memorization.

And the passage shows us that primarily it is through the hearing of the Word that people are converted.

Verse 14 says: “How are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard?” Then: “How are they to hear without someone preaching?”

So it’s primarily the preaching of God’s Word that is typically used by God to convert the lost.

Ephesians 4:9–14

Secondly, I want to highlight Ephesians 4:9–14.

This series of verses is often caught up in a wider debate among evangelicals or Protestants in the English-speaking world. (I don’t know about other language groups because I only speak English.)

There’s a much older tradition—basically universally held prior to 1900 or so—and then there’s the modern version, which I’ll contrast in a moment. But I’ll be taking the older view and explaining why.

So, if you look in commentaries—or later you put it into Google—you’ll find there’s a stark difference of opinion on this particular point.

And I’ll pause for questions at the end of this section, because I’m going to build the rest of what I say on these two sets of verses (Romans 10 and Ephesians 4).

Ephesians 4:9–14

“In saying, ‘He ascended,’ what does it mean but that He had also descended into the lower regions, the earth? He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that He might fill all things. And He gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”

So, Christ in His ascension is this victorious King. Elsewhere, in verse 8, it says:

“When He ascended on high He led a host of captives, and He gave gifts to men.”

Christ, in His victory over sin, death, and the devil, is now seated at the right hand of the Most High, ruling and reigning. He has given gifts to His people for the growth of His church.

We saw that in verse 12: “for building up the body of Christ.”

And also verse 16 (which we didn’t read):

“From whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

Christ, in giving these gifts, is building His church. The ordinary way He does that is through these gifts. That’s what Paul means when he says in verse 16, “when each part is working properly”—each of us plays a role as a member of Christ.

We heard somewhat last week in the sermon about how we are teaching and admonishing in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; we’re doing the “one another” commands; we’re helping each other along the way.

But there are also gifts that Jesus gives to the church which the church recognizes.

At this particular point in redemptive history, we no longer have apostles, prophets, or evangelists. (That’s not my point this morning, so I’ll just mention it—if you have questions, maybe another time.) But what the church still has are pastors (or shepherds) and teachers.

Those earlier offices—apostles, prophets, evangelists—were tied to the extraordinary founding of the church, as we see in Acts (for example, Philip the Evangelist, or the prophets who came to Paul to tell him he would be bound and sent to Rome).

Now that Christ has established His church, what we are left with are pastors and teachers—or in the language of our confession of faith, elders and gifted brothers.

These particular people then have a specific role as gifts that Jesus gives to the church: to give themselves to preaching and teaching to build up the church.

Taking this together with Romans 10, we find that the preaching of the Word is the way Jesus typically builds His church.

The Primary Use of the Word

So why highlight this section? Because the primary use of the Word in the Christian life, which God blesses to build up His people, is the ministry of the Word through His normal means—that is, the gifts that the church recognizes.

That’s important because many people will say, “I identify as a gift, so you should listen to me.” And we respond, “No.” Because it’s not something you take upon yourself—it’s something the church recognizes and calls you to.

You should, of course, have the internal call. But until that happens, it’s either a “not yet” or maybe you’re confused.

So the gifts are not about saying, “I’m a gift.” They are about Christ giving a gift to the church, which the church recognizes.

Long story short: The ministry of the Word through the officers—the elders and the gifted brothers—is on a different level than the private reading of Scripture.

To put it another way (and perhaps a little provocatively): If it were not so, why would we be told not to forsake the assembly together, as is the habit of some?

If it were equal, you could just listen to John MacArthur sermons on the beach and never gather with the church. That might even be more enjoyable! But God has given specific gifts to specific churches, and if you’re a member of that church, those gifts are for your benefit.

So, the preaching ministry of the Word has primary focus.

The Secondary Use of the Word

Now, that’s not to say there aren’t other important uses.

Private Scripture reading, family worship, and so on are all great—and necessary. Raising our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord includes much instruction in the Bible.

The Old Testament repeatedly says things like, “While you are along the way, tell your son about the things of the Lord.” It assumes that wherever you’re going, you are breathing Scripture—speaking of the Lord.

That is a vital ministry of the Word, especially in parenting, but also for every Christian as we speak to unbelievers.

Q&A Discussion

(Here the transcript includes discussion among participants—Maynard, Aaron, Ben, etc.—which I have left intact but corrected for grammar and clarity while preserving the conversational flow.)

Maynard:
“So would it be correct to say then that the public ministry of the Word, as guided by the leadership of the church, is public in nature throughout the whole process of growth? It oversees but also encourages the ministry of the Word in our homes and daily lives—but always bringing us back together for guidance, instruction, and edification?”

Pastor:
“Yeah. I think in part, though, I wouldn’t use the same word for what happens in the home. I don’t call fathers ‘ministers’—ministers are those identified by the church and called to that office. Men are to lead their homes, but that’s more oversight than ministry in the official sense. Otherwise, it can flatten the distinction between church officers and household heads.”

Ben:
“It sounds like what you’re saying is there’s a difference between how men lead their families in the home, compared to what the elders are doing in the church. So you don’t want to put those on the same level, correct?”

Pastor:
“Yeah, that’s fair, Ben. And practically speaking, two things.

At another church, I was once serving communion, and when I came to one family, the father refused to let me serve the elements to his wife and believing children because he said, ‘I’m the minister in my home, not you.’ And I would say, ‘No, I’m the minister of the church.’

So there’s a difference—it’s not like we’re little siloed churches gathered on Sundays. The ministers of the church have a role to every member, regardless of marital status.

That also means, for example, if I see sin in a household, I must pursue that—not only with the head of the household but with the spouse or children involved as well. The ministry extends beyond these walls and into homes.

That’s part of why I don’t take the “every man a minister” view. I don’t want to get hung up on words, but I think there are real problems when we flatten things that way.”

Practical Example of Oversight

Ben (follow-up):
“Would you say that a husband, to a certain degree, shepherds his family in the home as the leader?”

Pastor:
“Yes, absolutely. He is the head of the household.

But with that communion example I gave, the husband also refused to let us meet with his wife when she was in public sin—even though he was the one who had told us about it earlier. He kept blocking our meetings with her. That became a major problem.

Eventually, he was excommunicated for a variety of things. She did end up repenting, although whether it was genuine, we don’t know. She said the words—but God knows the heart.

The point is, flattening the distinction can block real pastoral care. It’s not about wanting to argue over words, but about protecting Christ’s order for the good of His people.”

Looking Ahead

So, what I plan to do is pause here and pick this up next week. We’ll push the next Sunday School lesson out by a week so we can continue working through these issues.

Because this is important, and I think we’ve had some good discussion already.

If you have questions throughout the week, please reach out, or we can talk more this morning.

Conclusion

Whatever you heard me say today, please take this in conclusion:

• The way we use the Word in our homes is vital. Brothers especially, if you are heads of households, you are responsible before Christ to lead spiritually.
• If you’re a sister who is head of household, you too have responsibility to ensure your household is walking in Christ—or, if unconverted, at least that they hear the law and gospel.
• Family worship is vital.
• But we must also remain committed to the means of grace, especially the ministry of the Word through the officers Christ has given to His church.

Distinguishing between these uses helps us give proper priority, set expectations, and see how the Lord works in our lives.