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You may turn in your Bibles to
Romans chapter 10. It's going to be a topical message
tonight on the necessity for biblical preaching. It flows
out of our study this morning. Remember that the Lord Jesus
commends those who give a cup of cold water to these little
ones. Well, he presupposes these little
ones are preaching the truth of the gospel. They are proclaiming
the word. The Bible does highlight that
reality that blessed and rewarded are those who do give that cup
of cold water. The Bible also recognizes the
centrality and the primacy of God's preaching as God's primary
means of calling sinners onto himself. This is not to diminish
the place of personal Bible reading. This is not to diminish the place
of the family altar. This does not diminish listening
to sermonaudio.com, or Bible being read, it is to highlight,
though, that the scriptures, the New Testament scriptures,
indicate that God uses preaching in a very particular way. Our
confession says, the grace of faith, whereby the elect are
enabled to believe to the saving of their souls, is the work of
the Spirit of Christ in their hearts, and is ordinarily wrought
by the ministry of the Word. by which also, and by the administration
of baptism and the Lord's Supper, prayer, and other means appointed
of God, it is increased and strengthened." So I thought, in terms of review
or refresher, we ought to look at the necessity for biblical
preaching. So I want to read three passages,
we'll pray, and then we'll look in more detail at these particular
texts. The first is Romans chapter 10,
verses 14 to 17. How then shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe him
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. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For Isaiah says, Lord, who has
believed our report? So then faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God. The second passage is found in
1 Corinthians 1. Pastor Cam read that this morning
in our consecutive reading in the New Testament. 1 Corinthians
1, verses 18 to 23. For the message of the cross
is foolishness to those who are perishing, To us who are being
saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 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. For Jews request
a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ
crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness. We'll just read to 25. But to
those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power
of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
And for the final passage, 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter
4, verses 1 to 8. I charge you, therefore, before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and
the dead at his appearing in his kingdom, preach the word,
be ready in season and out of season, convince, rebuke, exhort
with all longsuffering and teaching, For the time will come when they
will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires,
because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves
teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth
and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things.
Endure afflictions. Do the work of an evangelist.
Fulfill your ministry. For I am already being poured
out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at
hand. I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race.
I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for
me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous
judge, will give to me on that day, and not to me only, but
also to all who have loved his appearing. Amen. Let us again
seek the Lord in prayer. Father, we thank you for this,
your word. We pray for the ministry and the guidance now of your
spirit. We pray that you would impress upon us afresh the necessity
of biblical preaching. Grant us ears to hear and grant
us grace to receive the word. And may we truly, happily, joyfully
take it in and put it into practice in our own daily lives. And we
ask through Christ our Lord. Amen. Several years ago I read
a particular story where someone said that preaching is an outdated
mode of communication. It no longer garners the support
and has the effect that it once had. And one man responded to
such a thing. He said, you know, over the last
20 years, I probably couldn't tell you the specific sermons
that I have heard any more than I could tell you the specific
meals that my wife has cooked for me over that 20-year period. But this one thing I do know,
after 20 years of my wife's cooking, I'm healthy. I have the proper
nutritional intake. I am strong. I have a vitality
about me. And even though I can't pinpoint
every recipe and every meal and everything that she has put together,
I know that I am healthier for her efforts in terms of feeding
me well. He applied that to the pulpit
ministry. For 20 years I've been going to a church. For 20 years
the preaching has been faithful. I may not be able to tell you
what the preacher said this morning. I may not be able to tell you
how many sermons he preached on such and such a text or on
such and such a book, but this one thing I know. I am healthy.
I am vital. I know the truth. I'm protected
from heresy. I'm protected from error. I love
Jesus Christ. I want to serve the Lord God
Almighty. And I attribute that in large part to the faithful
proclamation of God's holy word. The reformers saw the importance
of the scriptures preached. The Puritans saw the importance
of the scriptures preached. The apostles saw the importance
of the scriptures preached. The church today needs to see
the importance of the scriptures preached. Just as I was preparing
tonight, on my way out of the house, I checked my email. One
of these guys that checks his emails. You know, they tell you
don't check your email on your phone when you're laying in bed.
I do that. You know, I just always gotta
know if there's an email there. It's a sick fascination. Anyways,
the email that I received tonight was absolutely appropriate to
this particular message. This person was lamenting that
this morning she went to her local church. She doesn't live
in the local area here. She went to her church and she
said it was a message about computers and about technology and about
whatnot. She said, you know, hungry sheep
go to the house of God looking for food and they come home with
nothing. And that's a crime, that's a
problem, that is wrong and the church today needs to recover
something of what the apostles emphasized in the proclamation
of God's Holy Word. Now if you've been here for any
amount of time, you will know that this is something we seek
to emphasize frequently and often, because our health, our vitality,
our well-being, both as individuals and as a church, is fueled by
the scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments. I want
to do two things this evening. First, look at the necessity
of the Word of God in general, and then the necessity for biblical
preaching specifically. We'll look at the biblical data,
those three passages we just read, and then a couple of confessional
statements, some of the things that our forebears saw and identified
with reference to preaching. But first of all, the necessity
of the Word of God. The Bible tells us that there's
two ways that God has revealed himself. Theologians call this
general revelation and special revelation. General revelation
is the revelation of God through the created order. The psalmist
highlights this in Psalm 19. The apostle Paul appeals to this
in Romans chapter 1. Remember when he says, for the
wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men. who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. He says, because what may be
known of God is evident within them. They know certain truths
about God by virtue of being created in His image and seeing
the created order around them. There are things that resonate
in their soul and so they seek to suppress it. Paul says the
knowledge of God revealed in the created order is enough to
leave men without excuse in Romans 1. They have no apologetic. They have no defense before God. General revelation is enough
to damn man. General revelation cannot save
man and that is why we need special revelation. We need the record
of the doing and the dying and the rising of our Lord Jesus
Christ. The scripture highlights the
necessity for the gospel, the good news concerning Christ.
If sinners do not believe that gospel, they will perish in their
sin. Jesus said, I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except
through me," in John 14, 6. Peter says there is no other
name given under heaven by which we must be saved. In Ephesians
chapter 1, the apostle highlights our salvation, or indicates that
our salvation is connected to our having believed the word
of the truth of the gospel. James 1.18 says, of His will,
He brought us forth by the word of truth. And in that passage
we just read in 1 Corinthians 1, God was well pleased through
the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Now it's the verbal content,
it is the fact or the truth concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and His
life, death and resurrection, but nevertheless that verbal
content is preached, it is proclaimed. Romans 1.16, Paul's thesis statement
to that great book. He says, I am not ashamed of
the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation for everyone
who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then
in Romans 10.17, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the
word of Christ. So the scriptures are clear.
Apart from hearing the gospel, apart from understanding the
truth, apart from believing on Him, who alone can save to the
uttermost, sinners are damned to spend eternity in hell. because
they have rejected and rebelled against the goodness and the
kindness of God. So that is a general statement
concerning the necessity of the Word of God. Now let's investigate
these three passages concerning preaching. Again, we're not minimizing
Bible reading. Please, read your Bibles tomorrow
morning when you get up. Read your Bibles tomorrow afternoon
when your family finishes supper. Read your Bibles on Tuesday morning
when you get up. Read your Bibles on Tuesday afternoon
after you eat your food. You get the pattern? Read your
Bibles. What I'm saying is not against that. We're just focusing
on the pulpit ministry, the centrality of preaching, and the life of
the church. And in Romans 10, the apostle emphasizes this reality. John Murray comments and says,
the main point is that the saving relation to Christ involved in
calling upon his name is not something that can occur in a
vacuum. It occurs only in a context created
by proclamation of the gospel on the part of those commissioned
to proclaim it. Go back for just a moment in
verse 11 in chapter 10. For the scripture says, whoever
believes on Him will not be put to shame. For there is no distinction
between Jew and great, for the same Lord over all is rich to
all who call upon Him. For whoever calls upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved." You see what Murray says. It's
not just this generic idea of calling upon the Lord. It is
in response to faithful preaching. And that is verse 14. How then
shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And the
next clause is very important. You may have noticed I departed
from the reading of the New King James. The New King James has,
"...and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not
heard?" A better rendition is, "...and how shall they believe
him whom they have not heard?" The idea is simple, that when
the Word is preached by the power of the Holy Spirit, it is as
if Christ Himself is present and calling sinners to believe
on Him. If you doubt this, turn for just
a moment to the book of Ephesians. Ephesians chapter 2, where the
Apostle highlights this reality in somewhat of an incidental
way. This is not his main point, but
it is something we glean and gather from his statement here.
He's talking about Christ, our peace. Ephesians 2.14, For he
himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken
down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity that is the law of commandments contained in ordinances,
so as to create in himself one new man from the two, thus making
peace. So Christ is our peace, Christ
makes peace, now notice in verse 16, and that he might reconcile
them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting
to death the enmity. Verse 17, and he came and preached
peace to you who were far off and to those who were near. For
through him we both have access by one spirit to the Father.
Christ preached peace to the Ephesians. Well, if you know
the gospel records, Christ never left Israel. Christ never ventured
out of that geographical locale. But when the Apostle Paul and
his companions entered into Ephesus in Acts chapter 19, when they
spoke the true gospel, when they proclaimed accurately the word
of truth, the Apostle Paul is able to say that Christ himself
came and preached peace to you. It truly is an amazing reality
that as the Word of God is handled accurately, it is the God of
the Word that you are hearing. The Apostle Paul highlights this
in 1 Thessalonians 2. He says, for this reason we also
thank God without ceasing, because when you received the Word of
God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the Word
of men, but as it is in truth. The Word of God! You see, this
is why we emphasize preaching. If it is being done right, if
it is being done biblically, if the exposition is sound and
the application is legit, we trust in the power of the Holy
Spirit that God Himself is pleading with sinners, be ye reconciled
unto God. So the apostle understood this
reality. So going back to Romans 10, how
shall or how then shall they call on him in whom they have
not believed? How shall they believe him whom
they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent?
You see, there's that whole emphasis we've been seeing in Matthew
10. In the ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ, these 12 men didn't
just show up on Jesus' doorstep and say, you know, we want to
go out and speak for you. We want to be your emissaries.
We want to be your ambassadors. We want to be your preachers.
No, Christ appointed them, Christ authorized them, and Christ sent
them. We see the very same emphasis
in the book of Acts. In Acts chapter 13, when the
Spirit comes to deal or to bring Saul and Barnabas out so that
they can engage in gospel missions, where does the Spirit go? He
doesn't go to a missions agency. He doesn't go online. He doesn't
google missionary.com. The Spirit comes to the church.
And the Spirit says to the church, separate unto me Saul and Barnabas
for the work that I have called them to. In Acts 20, 28, there
is an admonition to the elders of Ephesus. The apostle says,
therefore, take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which
the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church
of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. Paul gives
specific qualifications. 1 Timothy 3, Titus 1. The Apostle Peter highlights
this in 1 Peter 5. Men must be identified in the
church. Men must have hands laid upon
them in the church. Men must be authorized in the
church. And we trust it is the Spirit
of God at work sending gospel preachers on their particular
task of calling sinners to repentance and faith and seeking to edify
and strengthen the body of Christ. It truly is a wonderful thing. Notice the second passage in
1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. We'll focus on 21 to 23. Dr.
Greg Bonson says that verse 21 really is A statement concerning the entire
history of philosophy. Philosophy is tasked with the
big questions. Why am I here? What am I doing? Where am I going? Is there a
God? People have sought God as they
understand him throughout the ages. And notice Paul's condemnation
upon man apart from Christ, man in a state of sin and rebellion. He says, for since in the wisdom
of God, the world through wisdom, that's their own attempts, their
own efforts, their own ways, their own means employed. 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. Come to the
21st century for a moment. For those who say that preaching
is outdated, preaching doesn't work, preaching is foolish. This isn't a new objection to
preaching. Paul says it is the foolishness
of preaching. He's speaking as a man. The sophistry
and the wisdom of our day would condemn This means, oh, you can't
expect, we can't believe that the living and true God comes
through the proclamation of the truth to effect saving power
on sinners. We cannot believe that men and
women and boys and girls will be nourished and nurtured in
their faith and strengthened with might in the inner man so
that they may indeed pursue those things which Christ has smiled
upon and blessed. We just can't believe that's
the way to go about it. in this Twitter age, in this
Facebook age. You know, in order to affect
the social media group, we've got to be wise with these techniques
and with these tactics. Do you think preaching was popular
when Paul preached? No. They had mime, they had skit,
they had drama, they had all these things available. Same
sort of media. Maybe not Twitter or Facebook,
but the same sorts of approaches to reach people. Paul says, for
since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not
know God, It pleased God through what? Through the foolishness
of the message preached. Now the emphasis falls on the
message, on the truth concerning Christ, Him living, dying, rising
again, reigning and ruling at the right hand of the Father.
But nevertheless, the verbal content is in fact proclaimed. And then Paul says, for Jews
request a sign, Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ
crucified to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness.
Three simple observations on this section. I give credit to
Pastor Tom Lyon in Tacoma, Washington. At an ARPCA conference, he preached
on the primacy of preaching as a means of grace. And these three
observations, they're simple. I'm not saying that to denigrate
Pastor Lyon. saying that so that we will understand
them. Notice, in the first place, preaching
pleases God. Right there we could shut our
Bibles, pray to the Lord, and go home. The necessity for biblical
preaching, God is pleased with it. Do you want to please God? Do you want to honor God? God
was, or it pleased God through the foolishness of the message
preached. Turn over to 2 Corinthians 2. 2 Corinthians 2. Just for a moment, we'll go back
to 1 Corinthians 1. 2 Corinthians 2 at verse 14. Verse 12, Furthermore, when I
came to Troas to preach Christ's gospel, and a door was opened
to me by the Lord, I had no rest in my spirit, because I did not
find Titus my brother. But taking my leave of them,
I departed from Macedonia. Now thanks be to God, who always
leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance
of his knowledge in every place. For we are to God the fragrance
of Christ. You hear the language? We are
to God the fragrance of Christ, he says. He says, among those
who are being saved and among those who are perishing. You
see, it's not as if God is only pleased when sinners are converted.
God is pleased through the declaration. God is pleased through the proclamation. The truth is what pleases God,
according to the Apostle Paul. To the one, we are the aroma
of death leading to death, and to the other, the aroma of life
leading to life. Some of you who have been here
for a while will remember me describing Pastor Ann Martin
on this text. I remember being present when
he was preaching on this, and he was saying, it's as if God,
with his holy nose, is sniffing it up as the preaching goes out.
He enjoys it. It's the fragrance of Christ
to him. It is something pleasing when
the Word of God is proclaimed. Not when we go about entertaining
men, or having puppets and ponies in programs, or teaching men
how to be savvy in social media. But when Christ and Him crucified
is preached, God the Father is glorified. That's the stress
of the passage. This is what Paul indicates in
1 Corinthians 1. It pleased God. Secondly, preaching
does not please the natural man. It pleased God through the foolishness
of the message preached to save those who believe. Jews seek
after signs, and Greeks seek after foolishness. So what are
we to conclude? The natural man is not pleased
with preaching. The natural man would rather
hear lessons on how to be more savvy with his computer. The
natural man would rather be entertained. He'd rather hear witty anecdotes. He'd rather hear moralistic stories. He'd rather have a little gentle
nudge in the arm so that he can go out and be a better him. That's
what the natural man desires. The Jews seek after signs. The
Greeks seek after wisdom. the third observation, preachers
nevertheless preach. Jews want signs, Greeks want
foolishness, but we preach Christ crucified. We don't say, well,
Jews, let's have sign time. Well, Greeks, let's study Plato. No, we preach Christ crucified.
We don't tailor our message to the ethos of the age. We don't
try to accommodate to the sinner. We don't try to make him feel
at home. Rather, we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, a scandal, a stumbling
block. To the Greeks, foolishness. But to us who are being saved,
Christ. But to those who are called both
Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of
God. And then the third text, 2 Timothy
chapter 4. We will eventually return to
our studies in the pastoral epistles. But even supposing we return
there tonight, it'll be a while before in 2 Timothy 4, I suppose. 2 Timothy 4 is crucial for our
understanding of this doctrine because this is Paul's last letter.
This is Paul's swan song. This is his 11th hour. This is
when he's going to die. How do we know that? Because
he tells us in verses 6 to 8. When you're at a man's deathbed,
you listen very keenly and acutely to what he has to say. When you're
at a man's deathbed, you give attention and you give ear to
what he feels is important. And with the Apostle Paul, he
does not lay importance on the sign gifts. He does not lay importance
upon tongues and prophesying. Paul's emphasis throughout the
pastoral epistles is upon sound doctrine. Paul's emphasis in
2 Timothy chapter 4 is upon preaching. I charge you therefore before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, verse 1, who will judge the living
and the dead at his appearing in his kingdom. Preach the word,
not preach yourself. Not cater to a narcissistic age. Not tell stories. Not be a moralist. Preach the Word. That's what
men need. That's what sinners need. That's
what believers need. That's what everybody needs.
That is man's fundamental problem, is that he has sought to close
his ears from the mouth of the living God. And so the task of
faithful preaching is to preach God's Word. Paul specifies or
gives the particular command, and then he specifies the manner. Convince. Don't suggest. Rebuke. Don't coddle. Exhort. Don't be satisfied with
anything less than obedience to the truth of God. You see,
preaching must occur in the manner that Paul prescribes. Convince,
rebuke, exhort, with all long-suffering. Probably one of the hardest elements
of this string in terms of manner. You've got to be long-suffering,
Timothy. Rome wasn't built in a day. The
Church of Christ is not built in a day. You must be faithful
day in and day out. Preach the word. Be faithful.
Teach books. Teach lessons. Teach doctrine.
Teach confession. All that stuff. You need to be
long-suffering. The people of God don't just
get it right away. Wouldn't it be nice if once we
were converted, we were theologians? We just kind of knew everything.
Wouldn't that be great? Wouldn't that be nice to be Turretin? You wake up on the other side
of regeneration and you're theologizing with Calvin. That's not the general
norm for the most of us. And so Paul tells Timothy, convince
rebuking Zor with all long suffering. Be patient in your task, Timothy,
and do it with teaching. You see, preaching isn't just
a bunch of blather. It isn't a pep talk. It isn't
just a bunch of stuff to fire up the troops. They must be taught
the scriptures. If you have application, they
ought to be able to see how you got there. They ought to see
the exegetical task involved in opening up the Scripture.
You don't have to get into infinitives and participles and all those
particular, you know, jots and tittles of the grammar, but brethren
ought to be able to see how what you're saying is rooted in and
grounded in and is accurately representative of the Scripture
you're preaching. You need to teach the people
of God. They need to grow, they need to learn, they need to understand. So he gives the command, he specifies
the manner, and then Paul, as he often does, gives two reasons
why Timothy is to preach the Word. There's two reasons embedded
in the text why Timothy is to preach the Word, why he's to
convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
We'll take the second reason first. Paul is going to die. That's verse 6. For I am already
being poured out as a great offering and the time of my departure
is at hand. Preach the word, Timothy, because
I'm going to die. Preach the word, Timothy, because
I'm going the way of all flesh. Preach the word, Timothy, because
I'm going to meet my Lord Jesus. Preach the word. That's Paul's
legacy. That's what he passes on. That
is the baton that he gives into the hand of this young man. You
see the flow of logic there. The first reason is found in
verse three. Why is Timothy to preach the
word? Why is he to convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and teaching? Verse three. For the time will
come when they will not endure sound doctrine. It's a great
piece of logic here. Let me just hear Timothy firing
off an email to the Apostle Paul. You know, in Ephesus, they've
started getting into this alpha program. They started to do,
you know, Gangnam Style and worship. The Harlem Bump or Shuffle or
whatever you call that is what they're doing in our local church,
Paul. It's like they won't endure sound doctrine, Paul. Do you
have any words of encouragement for me? Notice that Paul does
not say you ought to learn how to do Gangnam Style. Shuck and
jive with them. Preach the word. What's the response
to apostasy? Preach the word. What's the response
to heresy? Preach the word. What's the response
to defection in the church? Preach the word. What's the response
when men will not endure sound doctrine, but having itching
ears heap up teachers for themselves that will be right there to tickle
them? It's unfortunate, there's always
some heretic standing in the fray that will come and tickle
the ears of people that want their ears tickled. Paul says,
Timothy, don't have any truck with them, you preach the word.
You convince them, you rebuke them, you exhort them with all
long-suffering and teaching. You don't kowtow to them, you
don't tailor the message to them, you don't accommodate them, you
don't pander to their felt needs, since when does God look upon
the felt needs of sinners as something determinative as to
how His church is to operate? It's disgusting. Timothy, preach
the Word. Spurgeon, in another context,
but it fitting application here says, may thy church never yield
to the world with the idea of setting up the kingdom of Christ
in a more easy and rapid manner than by the simple preaching
of the gospel. Amen. Charles Haddon Spurgeon. A couple of confessional statements
and then we'll conclude. The Didache, which is an early
Christian treatise, probably written around AD 120. Some scholars put it even before
that. It's just that. It's an early
Christian manual. It's just instructions on the
Christian life and also lots of references to the text of
scripture. My child, now I'm not saying
this in some self-serving way, do this for me. No, that's not
it. I just want us to appreciate what the Bible says concerning
preaching, and what the early church and the Reformation period
taught concerning this issue. My child, remember night and
day the one who preaches God's word to you, and honor him as
though he were Lord. For wherever the Lord's nature
is preached, there the Lord is. Don't honor him as the Lord with
worship and bow down and all that sort of thing. But it's
that first Thessalonians 2.13 thing. You received it not as
the words of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God. You see, that's where there ought
to be, in all of us, on the Lord's Day, a holy expectation. There's a book by Leland Ryken
called Worldly Saints, and it's a book about the Puritans. It
doesn't mean they were worldly. It means they were saints in
this world. And one of the things concerning
preaching was that for the Puritan, there was an expectation. When
the Sabbath day came, they went to the house of God to hear from
God. That's what the Didache is getting
at. The Westminster Larger Catechism, number 155. How is the Word made
effectual to salvation? The Spirit of God maketh the
reading, but especially the preaching of the Word, an effectual means
of enlightening, convincing and humbling sinners, of driving
them out of themselves That's the beauty of preaching, driving
them out of themselves. You see, if you're listening
to a sermon on sermonaudio.com, and let's just suppose for a
moment you're struggling with the Seventh Commandment. Let's
just suppose for a moment that you have compromised your fidelity
and your sexual purity with reference to that Seventh Commandment.
And you're hearing this sermon, and the preacher starts to expound
the Seventh. He starts to nail sexual immorality. What's the tendency? You can't do that here. You can,
but I'm going to keep going. Now, I understand you can get
up and leave, but most of us are too respectable to ever venture
such a thing, right? Actually, no. We've had many
people walk out in our services. There's a dynamic. Again, Pastor
Ann Martin describes it this way. God, the Spirit, and the
brethren. Not me, the Spirit, but there's
this connection that happens when preaching takes place. driving
them out of themselves and drawing them unto Christ, of conforming
them to His image and subduing them to His will, of strengthening
them against temptations and corruptions, of building them
up in grace and establishing their hearts in holiness and
comfort through faith unto salvation. come to church with that expectation. Westminster, larger catechism,
155. You can Bing it, you can Google
it, you can Yahoo it, you can download it, you can read it,
you can go over it, and you come to church on the Lord's Day with
that expectation. That's what's at stake. And then
the second Helvetic confession says the preaching of the Word
of God is the Word of God. Now again, accurate preaching,
faithful exposition, me telling you moralistic stories on how
to be a better you is not the Word of God. The preaching of
the Word of God is the Word of God. Wherefore, when this Word
of God is now preached in the church by preachers lawfully
called, we believe that the very Word of God is proclaimed and
received by the faithful, and that neither any other Word of
God is to be invented nor is to be expected from heaven, and
that now the Word itself which is preached is to be regarded.
Not the minister that preaches, for even if he be evil and a
sinner, Nevertheless, the Word of God remains still true and
good. Amen. Brethren, hopefully these
three passages and these confessional references have again stirred
up in you an appreciation for and a desire for the necessity
of biblical preaching. We need good preachers. We need biblically qualified,
theologically sound men who are gifted in expounding the Scriptures. Pray for the men in our church
that have aspiration. Pray for the men in our church
that have desire. Pray for the men in our church
that they would in fact pursue these things with great earnest
and that the Spirit of God would rest upon them and make it evident
in our midst of who it is the Lord God Most High is raising
up before us. We need good preachers. Calvin said at the present day
there are Are there many who are well-nigh sickened by the
very name of preaching? Because there are so many stupid,
ignorant men who blurt out their worthless brainwaves from the
pulpit." What do you mean, Mr. Calvin? Don't you love that? There's an honesty there. Machen,
in the early part of the 20th century. The miserable phrase,
sharing Christ, which so sickens those of us who believe that
the work of preaching is not of that of sharing an experience,
but of proclaiming a message. Machen again says, we can preach
the gospel, they tell us, by our lives, and do not need to
preach it by our own words. But they are wrong. Men are not
saved by the exhibition of our glorious Christian virtues. They
are not saved by the contagion of our experiences. We cannot
be the instruments of God in saving them if we preach to them
thus only ourselves. Nay, we must preach to them the
Lord Jesus Christ, for it is only through the gospel which
sets him forth that they can be saved. And speaking to the
preachers who are cast into the role of head cheerleader, whose
job it is to rally the others for service on the field, Benjamin
Warfield said, if the minister comes to be thought of, for example,
fundamentally as merely the head of a social organization from
whom may be demanded pleasant manners and executive ability,
or as little more than a zealous promoter, the minister's whole
function is summed up in these or such things. If the whole
function of the minister is inspirational rather than instructional, then
no doubt we may dispense with all serious study of the Scripture."
We don't want inspiration. We want instruction from the
Scriptures of both the Old and the New Testaments. We need good
preachers. We need good hearers. I mean,
God could send Spurgeon back. I don't think he will. I know
he won't. But if Spurgeon stood in the pulpit and proclaimed
the way Spurgeon proclaimed and no one was there to hear him,
what good would it be? Does a tree make a sound when it falls in
the woods if nobody's there to hear it? I think the answer is
yes. You need to get this show up. In other words, if, as the Helvetic
Confession says, the preaching of the Word of God is the Word
of God. God is speaking. We ought to
be there to listen. We ought to be a Samuel. Speak,
Lord! For your servant listens. Be
present for the preaching of the Word. Be attentive to the
preaching of the Word. Wake up. If you don't drink coffee,
start. Don't sleep. God the Lord came
into your living room and started to talk to you. There is no way
you would lie down on your couch and nap in His presence. I know
you wouldn't do that. Why is it acceptable to nap in
the church if, as we have seen in Scripture, It is the Word
of God. Be attentive to preaching. Be prayerful before and after
preaching. Take Westminster Larger Catechism
155, pray it in, ask God to bless the Word so preached, and when
you hear it, thank Him, rejoice in Him, and then obey it. So be present, be attentive,
be prayerful, be obedient to the Word preached. And finally,
God has shown, God has designed the Word as the instrument through
the power of the Holy Spirit and faithful exposition by equipment
to be the means of salvation for sinners. You know, there's
a lot of emphasis today on being missional. If that's what we
want, faithful exposition of the Word is crucial. We're going
to reach our generation for the Lord Jesus. It's not going to
be through moralism. It's not going to be through
accommodation. It's certainly not going to be
through entertainment. It is going to be through the
faithful exposition of God's holy word. That is where the
emphasis must lie, and that is what we as a church ought to
hold fast to. And if you are not a believer
here this evening, the Lord Jesus Christ has come. He has lived,
He has died, He has risen again, and all those who by God's grace
look to Him in faith will have everlasting life. 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. Believe on Him and you shall
be saved. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank
you for your word and we thank you for these passages and for
the rich heritage that we have in the Reformed community. And
we just give you thanks and praise and ask God that you would bless
your word to our hearts and that you would cause us to receive
it joyfully and happily. Give us grace, Father, to leave
from this place. Conform us more and more to the
image of your dear son. Help us to be faithful witnesses
in the workplace, in our neighborhoods. Help us to be faithful witnesses
among family members. And God just grant us great grace
and great love, first and foremost for you, and love for our fellow
man. Certainly a demonstration of
that second great commandment is to know the truth of the gospel
and to be able to set it forth accurately. Go with us now, we
pray, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
