For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but 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. 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 man, and the weakness of God is stronger than man.
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen. and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. Amen.
Let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for Your Word and we pray for the Spirit to guide us now as we study Scripture. We pray that You would just bring these things to us and, God, that the Spirit would indeed illumine us and help us to appreciate the Scriptures with reference to the primacy of preaching, with reference to the means of grace. We thank You, God, for the fact that You have given us Your Word.
We thank You, Father, for the fact that You have blessed us richly by the power of the Spirit to receive this truth. And we pray that he would be active now in our midst, and we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Introduction
Well, two weeks ago, I was blessed and privileged, and I thank the church here for allowing me to go to the Arbca General Assembly. Arbca is the Association of Reformed Baptist Churches of America, of which we are a part. And there was a particular theme addressed at this General Assembly, and that theme was the means of grace. the means of grace, those things that God has ordained to use to bless his people with his gracious disposition. The London Baptist Confession, chapter 14, paragraph one of saving faith says this.
It 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." A good summary statement concerning the place of and the benefit of the means of grace with reference to the faith of God's people. Dr. Renahan, Jim Renahan, took the opening message, and he just basically gave a general introduction to the means of grace, and he defined the means in this way. He said two things are particular about the means.
The first is their divine institution. He said specifically their dominical institution. Dominical refers to the Lord. the Lord Jesus instituted these particular things. And then the second point was there is a promise of divine blessing attached to the use of these particulars.
This is not to say that you are mowing your lawn and you have a fine thought about Jesus and God warms your soul. That's legit. That's OK. That can happen.
But what the confession is saying is that saving faith is particularly attached to those things that are indicated in that particular summary statement. By the ministry of the Word, by which also and by the administration of baptism, the Lord's Supper, prayer, and other means appointed of God, it is increased and strengthened. And at the risk of sounding self-serving today, I want to look at preaching as a means of grace. Preachers like to preach on preaching.
In fact, Pastor Tom Lyon from Tacoma had this particular subject at the conference. I said, Pastor Lyon, that's a real difficulty, a preacher preaching on preaching to preachers. That's about the easiest thing a preacher is ever called upon to do. You're preaching to several hundred people that are right there with you.
You don't find a lot of opposition. I am borrowing some of what he had to say, but not all of it. And when we indicate there is an emphasis on preaching with reference to God calling the elect and God strengthening his people, again, this does not negate the reading of the scripture, does not negate fellowship around the word, sharing with one another the things of God, and witnessing privately to people that you know in your workplace or in your neighborhood. When we emphasize preaching, again, it is not to the neglect of all those other things.
So,
Preaching as a Means of Grace
what I want to look at tonight is preaching as a means of grace under two primary heads. Be more topical in nature this evening. The first is
Necessity of the Word for Salvation
the necessity of the Word of God in connection with salvation. The necessity of the Word of God in connection with salvation. The confession of faith highlights this first. It is ordinarily wrought by the ministry of the Word.
Those other means are necessary and effective for the maturation and strengthening of faith, but it is the Word that the Spirit uses to produce faith in the life of God's people. So, we'll look broadly at the necessity of the Word of God in connection with the salvation of man, and then secondly, we'll look at three texts which highlight the primacy of preaching with reference to God's plan. But the necessity of the word of God,
General and Special Revelation
the Bible teaches us that God has revealed himself. That's one of the blessed and best things about Christianity. Almost said bestest. The idea is, is that God has spoken.
This is the way the book of Hebrews starts off. spoke through the fathers, through the prophets, and in these last days he has spoken to us in his son. That is the beauty of God's redemption. He speaks to us. The Bible further indicates that there's two means by which God reveals himself.
There's general revelation, and then there's special revelation. General revelation is God's revealing himself through the created order. We are made in His image. We reflect God to some degree.
We are image bearers of Him. We're broken. We're deformed. We're marred, to be sure.
But we cannot eradicate what we are. We cannot throw off totally the fact that we are image bearers. So, the fact that we are made in his image, and the fact that the world around us just bespeaks of the glory of God. This is general revelation.
The first half of Psalm 19 deals with this. It says, the heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows his handiwork. It displays that God is, in fact, there.
There is someone behind what we see. C. H. Spurgeon said, He who looks up to the firmament and then writes himself down an atheist, brands himself at the same moment as an idiot or a liar.
The Scripture goes on in verse 2 to say, Day unto day utters speech and night unto night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard. Their line has gone out throughout the earth and their words to the end of the world. You cannot escape it.
The creation screams that God is there. Atheists have to work very hard to try and suppress that truth in unrighteousness. Now, the latter portion of the psalm deals with special revelation. God reveals Himself through His Word.
Now, there's other ways that the Old Testament has dreams and visions and direct speech, but what we mean by special revelation is God speaking to us through His Word. In Psalm 19, verse 7, it says, The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold.
Sweeter also than honey in the honeycomb. Moreover, by them your servant is worn, and in keeping them there is great reward. So we see that distinction between general God revealing himself in the created order and special God revealing himself through his word. Another passage, if you want to look at it later. is Romans chapter 1.
Romans chapter 1, I alluded to that. All men by nature know that God exists because God has made it manifest in them. And yet they work very hard to suppress that truth in unrighteousness. They don't worship God, they don't honor God as God, nor are they thankful, but in their hearts they become futile in their thinking.
The Word of God is special revelation. Now, we're going to sample a few passages, and again, I think these are passages it's good for you to have in your heart and in your mind so that you can see the weight of this particular doctrine. The Word of God in connection with the salvation of men. Romans 1.16.
Romans 1.16. We're not going to look at the gospel accounts. Not because there's nothing in there. Just going to trace through a few of the epistles just to get some of these statements concerning the necessity of the Word of God in the connection or in connection with the salvation of men.
Romans 1 16. This is the thesis statement for the entirety of the Book of Romans. He says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes for the Jew first and also for the Greek. That statement also implies that it alone is the power of God.
There's not several ways to reach God. There's not several paths that lead to heaven. Remember our Lord's words in John 14, 6, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The gospel is the revelation of God concerning Jesus Christ and redemption in him. Paul says, I'm not ashamed of it. It is the power of God unto salvation for everyone who believes. Romans 10, 17.
Romans 10, 17. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing, notice, by the Word of God. You cannot miss the connection between the Word of God and the salvation of souls. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. I've heard recently, where somebody was asked, or some people were questioned, what is the gospel?
If anybody ever asks you that, you ought to think in terms of 1 Corinthians 15, 1 to 4. It is a summation, a summary statement concerning Christ's work on behalf of sinners. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1, Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received and in which you stand, by which also you are saved, if you hold fast that word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. Paul says we believe the gospel, we hold fast to the gospel, and thereby we are saved by the grace of God through the gospel. Verse 3, I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.
This is the gospel strictly defined. This is the gospel in its technical, biblical application. The gospel is not your holy life. The gospel is about the doing, the dying, and the rising of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Your life has been affected by the gospel. You can live in light of the gospel. You can let your conduct be worthy of the gospel. But your life and my life is not the gospel.
The gospel is about Jesus. We direct sinners to Christ. We call men to look and live to that one who lived obediently, died sacrificially and rose again for our justification. Ephesians one.
A passage we looked at this morning in terms of God's covenantal activity in the salvation of His people. Though the language is not there, covenant of redemption, the idea and the doctrine is present. God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Verse 4.
Christ comes and redeems us by His own blood. In verses 7 and following. And then we have the work of the Spirit. Notice in verse 13.
In Him you also trusted. after you heard the word of truth. So you see, God chose us in Christ, sovereign election. Jesus died on Calvary Street to shed his blood, and then he rose again. But after we heard the word of truth concerning those redemptive events, it's then that the spirit affects change in our hearts.
The truth is absolutely crucial. You ever met people, or perhaps you have thought this, I'll just live in such a way that people will see my good life and become Christians. No, you must live in such a way and open your mouth. General revelation teaches us that God is.
Special revelation teaches us that God saves. God's people need to declare the truth of the gospel with reference to the salvation of sinners. Your life and my life isn't holy enough to lead someone to the Lord. We need the word of truth.
It's not just because it isn't holy enough. It's the means by which God saves is his word through the power of the Spirit. In him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Second Timothy, chapter three.
Again, we're looking at the broader scheme of biblical texts that highlight the necessity of the word of God in reference to, or in connection with, the salvation of sinners. 1 Timothy 3, 15 and 16, I'm sorry, 2 Timothy 3, 15 and 16. A passage you should get in your head. A passage you should keep in your heart. A passage that should be at your ready disposal for when you need to do battle with the enemy or when you need to promote the cause of God and truth.
Paul tells Timothy, verse 15, and that from childhood you have known the holy scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. This is interesting on a whole bunch of levels, but notice that the Holy Scriptures in view here is the Old Testament. Paul is saying that the Old Testament is able, under the blessing of God, under the power of the Spirit, to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Jesus is in the Old Testament.
Do not get rid of the Old Testament. Verse sixteen, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and it's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. James 118, of his own will, he brought us forth by the word of truth, is what James says. And then, in 1 Peter 1, verse 22, Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit, in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again.
Notice, not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the word of God, which lives and abides forever. Because all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers and its flower falls away, but the word of the Lord endures forever. So those are some broad texts that deal with the necessity of the word of God in connection with the salvation of men.
Three Texts on the Primacy of Preaching
Now let's look at three texts that treat preaching specifically.
Romans 10: Preaching and the Call to Salvation
The first is in Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10, we already cited verse 17, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God. That is a conclusion, that is a therefore, that is an implication of what the apostle began earlier. We need to notice what he says here. dealing with calling upon the name of the Lord.
Verse 13 of chapter 10. For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. That leads him then to consider the place of preaching with reference to the calling of men unto salvation. John Murray said 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. Verse fourteen, how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? Now the New King James says, and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? It actually translated better this way, and how shall they believe him whom they have not heard?
In other words, that in the act of preaching, when a man faithfully expounds the Word of God, nothing in the man, the power is in the Word, the power is in the Spirit, but when the Word is accurately expounded, when it's accurately opened up, the preaching of the Word of God is the Word of God. Second Helvetic Confession says that very thing. Paul says that very thing. How shall they believe him whom they have not heard?
I think if you get this, it kind of changes your attitude about attendance upon church. If indeed the preaching of the word is what Paul defines it to be, you want to be there. You want to hear from Christ again. Not because Jim is preaching, or Cam is preaching, or A.N.
Martin is preaching, or Tom Lyon is preaching, or John Piper is preaching. But because in the act of preaching in a very unique way by the Spirit, through the Word, it is Christ himself addressing you. Hopefully that adds impetus to your Lord's Day Advent. Hopefully it adds impetus to your attendance upon those means of grace instituted by Christ with a promise of blessing attached.
You say, well, that's just your take on Romans 10, 14. Well, look over at Ephesians 2 for just a moment. Ephesians chapter 2, an interesting passage where Paul is dealing with the calling of the Gentiles. God's power is such that he has broken down your personal sin.
That's what chapters 1 chapter 2, verses 1 to 10 deal with. His power is such that he overcomes your enmity. He overcomes the fact that you are dead in your trespasses and sins. But his power is also visible, beginning in verse 11, in the sense that God is bringing Gentiles alongside of Jews.
And with these two, he's making one new man in Jesus Christ. It's a beautiful thing. It's a wonderful thing. And notice how he describes this.
Verse eleven. Therefore, remember that you once Gentiles in the flesh were called uncircumcision by what is called the circumcision made in the flesh by hands. But at that time you were without Christ being aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. The only time atheist appears in the Bible.
It is in the context of condemnation. They were without God. They were a field. They did not have a saving interest in God.
Most high, he says in verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off, have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 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." He's not only made peace with you through justification by faith with God, but he's made peace among Jews and Gentiles. This is amazing.
Look at what's done in Christ. Talk about social blessing in the proper sense. Now notice what he goes on to say. And that he might reconcile them both to God, verse 16, in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.
And he, this is Jesus, came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near. For through him we both have access by one spirit to the Father. Jesus makes peace. Jesus is peace.
Jesus preaches peace. Jesus confined his earthly ministry to Israel. He never went to Ephesus. But when Paul the Apostle went into Ephesus, and when he preached the gospel, it was as if Christ himself preached to those Ephesians.
This is why Paul can say to the Thessalonians in a commendation in a manner that is consistent with this idea. For this reason, we also thank God without ceasing, because when you receive 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, which also effectively works in you who believe. So, when Paul and his companions preached the gospel in Thessalonica, it was him, it was Jesus that they heard preaching the gospel. Romans 10.
1 Corinthians 1: God Pleased with Preaching
The second is 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. You may turn back there. We read that at the outset. Just make a few observations here.
Verse 21, the first part. For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God. I believe it was Dr. Bonson who said, this effectively and accurately summarizes the entire history of philosophy.
For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God. The world in their attempts, the religious sets, the philosophical systems, the worldviews, the ideas, the religions, the attempts to try to garner favor with God. It was the orchestrated plan of God, the decree of God, that the world through wisdom did not know God. Notice what he goes on to say.
It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached. Now, the emphasis falls upon the objective content of the message. But it is the objective content that is preached. Preaching.
Titus 1, he says the same thing in verse 3. Whether we like it or not, God has ordained this particular means in a very special way to call his elect unto himself. God was pleased through the foolishness of the message preached. One man says to the extent that in more conservative circles, preaching has been reduced to its teaching function or to inspiration and moral uplift.
We need teaching. Hopefully, a biblical sermon will inspire. But you see, you have imbalance. You can have just the teaching which lacks any of that spirit-wrought unction, or you can have inspiration where the preacher becomes a cheerleader, shaking the pom-poms up here just to sort of rally the troops so they'll go out and shake the pom-poms in the coming week.
That's not what we want. biblical preaching. This man, Michael Horton, says to the extent that in more conservative circles, preaching has been reduced to its teaching function or to inspiration and moral uplift. It is not surprising that younger believers look for alternative means of grace. When the pulpit is de-emphasized and we miss something of that triangle that occurs through biblical preaching, of course people are going to seek out a myriad of things to try and get some feeling, to try and get some experience.
When we do not see it as the means of grace wherein God blesses us, we will seek substitutes. He says, typically, we prefer what we can see to what we hear. A picture tells a thousand words. Our new images may not be statues that we venerate, but there is a real danger in Protestant churches of once again silencing God's living and active speech in a sea of our own insights, visual drama and the blue luminosity of our computer screens.
Doesn't mean we shouldn't live stream. But it does, however, mean that if you can be there, you should be there. I have, and I'm sure you have on your computer, that little button at the very bottom that looks like a loudspeaker. You just push that and it mutes it, right?
Suppose, for an instance, you're live streaming and the preacher, under the working of the Spirit, starts to focus in on or hone in on a pet's scent. It's pretty easy just to hit mute. Most of us generally don't get up and walk out on preachers. There are people who do that.
Unfortunately, I've seen it firsthand. But it's so convenient just to hit mute. So convenient to fast forward if we're listening to a tape or other forms of media. I think it was Lloyd-Jones, something about Whitfield sermons.
You know, I read George Whitfield's sermon and it just didn't seem like a lot there. I mean, it was good content, it was all that, but it sure didn't seem to fit what I've heard of George Whitfield's preaching. And it was Lloyd-Jones who said, you can't put the Holy Spirit on paper. There's something, dare I say it, existential right now in the moment that God does in preaching.
I think that's what Horton is hitting on here. The blue luminosity of our computer screens. He says, yet our Lord chose not only the content, but the medium. You realize that in the first century drama was popular.
Mime was popular. Stage was popular. They had those media available to them. And yet God is pleased through what the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe he says, we do not find God.
He finds us. Faith comes not by feeling, thinking, seeing, or striving, but by hearing. We need to recapture that. We need to understand that we need to have a puritanical view of the pulpit.
They treated preaching as an event. God is going to be there. We are going to hear the word of the living and true God. Just a couple of observations on this text further.
These are from Tom Lyon. He says, with reference to this passage, preaching pleases God. There's some churches out there. Oh, you know, we tried preaching.
It doesn't work. So we're going to have this group. We're going to do this thing. We're going to engage.
God likes preaching. That should be argument enough for us to keep the pulpit central. God is pleased with preaching. God is pleased with preaching, even when men are unconverted or men do not get saved.
Turn over to second Corinthians for just a moment. Sometimes we attach the success of the word with whether or not God or with whether or not someone has been saved. The Puritans had it right. A successful sermon was a biblically accurate sermon.
It conveyed the truth. God is glorified, James White said this, through the declaration. Whether or not sinners are saved, whether or not we are more holy as a result, it is through the actual act of preaching, the conveyance of the message. Notice in 2 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 13.
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." Isn't that a beautiful snapshot of the life of Paul? He loved his brother Titus. He couldn't find Titus.
He was upset. I felt empty. I felt alone. This is the real deal here.
Paul's a real man. Real blood flows through him. He is the man he describes himself to be at the end of 1 Corinthians 1 and beginning of chapter 2. Now notice verse 14.
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 among those who are being saved. Notice, and among those who are perishing. To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.
And who is sufficient for these things? For we are not, as so many, peddling the word of God. But as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ. I remember hearing Pastor Al Martin preaching on this.
He said, it's as if God is up there with his big nose, not in a bad way. Smelling fragments of the gospel as it's diffused, smelling that word as it's preached, that declaration of his character, that declaration of his graciousness, that declaration of who God is and what he has accomplished. That is pleasing to the Almighty. Whether or not sinners get saved.
Now, certainly we pray that they would get saved. Certainly we pray that they would believe the gospel. But we cannot reduce successful preaching to only that preaching which adds notches to the preacher's belt or pulpit or to the church roles. So, Tom Lyons says preaching pleases God.
Secondly, he says preaching does not please the natural man. I must say, I was taken aback at how simple these observations were, but simply brilliant. What do Jews want? They want a sign, right?
What do Greeks want? They want wisdom. They want to stroke their beards and talk about new things, and they want to be dazzled with the philosophical dainties of the current age. Paul says as much.
Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom. So God is pleased with preaching. The natural man is not pleased with preaching. The third observation is that preachers preach anyway.
But even though they seek a sign, even though they seek after wisdom, we preach Christ crucified. We don't put down our weapon. We don't put down our primary means of grace. We don't come over to their territory and say, well, let me dazzle you with some signs.
Let me dazzle you with some wisdom. You may want signs, you may want wisdom, but you're getting preaching. You're getting God-wrought, Spirit-owned, Christ crucified and Christ risen. That's what Paul says in this particular passage.
And notice the emphasis falls on Christ crucified. Not Christ, an example, not Christ, our moral guide, not Christ. What would he do? Those things are important.
They have their place in the life of sanctification. But the emphasis and the apostolic message was on the doing and the dying and the rising of Jesus. In other words, the gospel. Third text.
2 Timothy 4: Paul's Dying Charge to Preach
Finally, Second Timothy four. Second Timothy, chapter four. I think it was Wednesday night. I mentioned the account of the preacher who said, finally, the little boy said to his dad, what does that mean?
Dad? The dad said nothing. So most people think finally means we're coming to a close, not preachers. Finally means I got four more points.
I really don't. I'm just kidding here. Second Timothy, chapter four, Paul's parting charge. This is key.
This is unique. This is powerful. This is the last letter that the apostle Paul wrote. This is the last thing that he penned.
You know, sometimes if a man is about to die, he gathers his family, he gathers his friends so that they can hear those last words of wisdom that he wants to pass on his dying charge. That's what we find in second Timothy chapter four. That's what the apostle is doing with Timothy. He is convinced and he knows that he is going to die very soon.
He's in a Roman prison. History tells us he lost his head under Nero. He knew that time was imminent, so he calls to Timothy, and this is his word. I charge you, therefore, before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead.
That adds emphasis and weight to this, doesn't it? I charge you in the presence of God and the Lord Jesus Christ. He goes on in verse 2 to say, preach the word. Not preach experience, not preach your feeling, not share your heart. but preach the word, preach the word of the living God, that word that he has highlighted in several places in first and second Timothy.
He just finished doing so in verses 15 and 16 in second Timothy three. He says, preach the word. He says, be ready in season and out of season. That doesn't mean Timothy just when you studied and when you aren't as studied.
But be ready in season with reference to church life. There are those seasons when the people of God want the word. There are those seasons when the people of God don't really want the word. And he's going to show us that in just a moment.
He gives him the manner in which he is to preach. I'll just throw it out there. Take it or leave it. Preaching calls for decision.
Preaching is supposed to affect under the spirit, the will, the mind, the heart, the whole man. He says, convince. Pile up the data, you argue your case, you show sinners and say that they must come to Christ. Rebuke is going to be instances in the lives of God's people.
Unfortunately, we all go astray. The hymn writer says we're prone to wander, prone to leave the God we love. We need rebuke. He goes on to say, exhort.
Exhort the people of God to pursue holiness. Exhort the people of God to continue to look to Jesus. Exhort the people of God to run with endurance the race that is set before them. He says, do it with all longsuffering.
Be a patient man, Timothy. Rome wasn't built in a day. The kingdom of God is not built in a day. We need to be a patient people.
We need to be a persevering people. We need to understand it is God who is sovereign in this. We cannot manipulate through our techniques, through our abilities. We cannot manipulate the growth of the kingdom.
It is God upon whom we ultimately wait. And then he says in teaching, all teaching is not necessarily preaching, but all preaching must have teaching. You must learn the scriptures to preach the word. Best thing that can happen in a sermon is when somebody goes, wow, I understand that passage and how it affects my life.
That's the goal. That's what is in view here. And then Paul gives two reasons for this charge. Remember, let's just picture it for a moment.
He's about to die. He knows as much. He tells Timothy, here's what I want you to do. I want you to preach the word and I want you to preach it in this way.
You see, you don't even get the liberty to make up how you're going to do it. I'm going to do some juggling, and I'm going to preach the word in between, you know, these juggles. I'm going to preach the word as I swing in on a trapeze. I'm going to preach the—no, you convince, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and teaching.
He not only gives the command, but he specifies the manner. Now, he gives two reasons. Let's take the second one first. This is really confusing, but I want to focus on the first one, so let's look at the second reason first.
Paul says, preach the word, why? Verse six, for I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand. You see that? Timothy, I want you to preach the word.
Why? Because I'm about to die. And I don't want the gospel to fall on hard times. I don't want the salvation of souls to be lost.
I want you, Timothy, to preach the word. I am the party, so I'm passing the baton into your hand so that you will be faithful to convince, rebuke, and exhort with all longsuffering. So the second reason why Paul tells Timothy to preach the word is because his departure is at hand. The first reason he tells Timothy to preach the word is because the church's departure is at hand.
Notice in verse three, preach the word. Verse two, verse three is for four. 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. You see that? Preach the word, Timothy. Why?
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. See, Paul doesn't say, well, I see that this church environment and this cultural context is such that they just don't want preaching. So we'll sacrifice preaching. We'll give you what you want.
You want puppets? We'll bring in puppets. You want ponies? We'll bring in ponies.
You want jugglers on trapeze? We'll bring in jugglers on trapeze. It's whatever you want. That's not Paul's attitude.
And imagine Timothy, a young, possibly timid preacher. Paul exhorts him in another place to, you know, we're not of a timid spirit. We are of a sound mind. We are to be bold, man.
He could have possibly been a timid man. Imagine Timothy sitting there in Ephesus doing battle with false teachers, having to try and pastor a flock. And Paul says, look, there's a time coming and they're not going to endure sound doctrine. What would be the natural recourse for Timothy?
Well, what do I do then? You preach the Word. But they don't want that. They don't define the terms upon which their souls thrive and flourish.
They're not sovereign. God is sovereign, and he has called you to preach the word. If they will not endure it, preach it. If they don't like it, preach it.
If the Jews want signs in the Greek, seek after wisdom, preach Christ crucified. It is completely antithetical to what men desire or what men design. This is God's chosen instrument to call his elect unto himself and to strengthen them by his grace. C.H.
Spurgeon, actually on Matthew 4, verse 9. Remember, we studied that this morning. The devil says, look at all these kingdoms. You bow down, you worship God, you worship me, you get these kingdoms right now.
Immediate gratification. Spurgeon 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. Don't fall prey to that. Oh, but your church will be bigger.
Your church will grow. Get the pulpit out of there. Get some encounter groups. Get some love fast.
Get somebody, you know, this book or this teaching or this back or this guru. No, preach Christ, crucify. God knows what's best for people. God knows how to deal with the saints.
God knows what is calculated to sanctify his beloved bride. Well, I want to bring this to a close. I could preach on this all night. You're probably saying, yeah, all right, we got it already.
Confessional Witness to Preaching
Westminster, larger catechism 155 and the second Helvetic confession, one paragraph four. I'll just read the Helvetic. You can look up the Westminster larger later, number 155. But the second Helvetic confession says this.
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. The Word of God is given, it's complete. Preachers are simply to expound what's there.
There's an account in something I just read recently where the preacher boasted, he wandered around saying, I can't wait what the Spirit is going to have me say next. That's irresponsible, that is ungodly, it is unholy. Study to show yourself approved. The word of men who need not be ashamed.
Rightly dividing the word of truth. Just come up here and study and say, well, Lord Spirit, just lead me, guide me. No, you put your nose in this book and you expound it properly. You seek the Lord's blessing and you preach it in the manner in which Paul designs.
He goes on and the confession goes on. 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," I love this, even if he be evil and a sinner, nevertheless, the word of God remains still true and good. Now, hopefully, he's not pursuing evil mess and center, but he's seeking by the grace of God to deal with those things by the spirit. But what they're saying is that the message is wrapped up in the Bible, not the man.
Well, brethren, I hope in this short survey of several passages, you've seen the need for preaching and the reason why we preach here.
The Need for Qualified Preachers
Secondly, we need good preachers. Right. It's not just preaching. I mean, anybody could probably open up their mouth and just yell.
We need good preaching. Calvin lamented, he said, at the present day, there are many, or I'm saying, at the present day, there are 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. Well, what do you mean, John? What are you talking about?
That's a powerful statement. That was five hundred years ago. What the brother would have to say now. We need biblically qualified, theologically sound men who are gifted in expounding the scriptures.
A. W. Tozer said one of the most popular current errors And the one out of which springs most of the noisy, blustering religious activity in evangelical churches is the notion that as times change, the church must change with them. That mentality, which mistakes Hollywood for the Holy City, is too gravely astray to be explained otherwise than as judicial madness visited upon professing Christians for a front committed against the Spirit of God.
Now, I want to qualify this after I'm done. He says the miserable phrase sharing Christ, which so sickens those of us who believe that the work of preaching is not that of sharing an experience, but of proclaiming a message. Now, you can share Christ with your workmates. Please do so.
You can share Christ with your neighbor. But what he is suggesting is that there's a class of preachers that share religious experience rather than declare the revealed message of Christ's holy gospel. And then some preachers, as I've already alluded to, are cast into the role of head cheerleader whose job it is to rally the others for service on the field. I think.
Biblical, God-owned, spirit-wrought preaching will inspire the saints of Christ. I believe that is a by-product of biblical preaching. I do not buy this approach, though, that sacrifices biblical exposition just to rally cry the people of God, possibly to guilt-manipulate them and send them out to do exploits for Jesus. Warfield commented on this.
He 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. You see, these men understood. God has put emphasis upon his word.
God has called men, qualified them, fit them, caused them to be recognized within the local church and sent them on this task of officially proclaiming the truth. So,
Application: Pray and Believe
in your prayer life, please slot in time to pray that God would raise up men who are biblically qualified, theologically sound, men strong in the scriptures. men careful in attending to the Word of God, and men who, by God's grace and power, will be able to call sinners to repentance and faith, and be the means of preaching the whole counsel of God for the building up and the edifying of the Church of Christ, so that she may indeed mature into a full man. And if you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ tonight, just these few passages ought to impress you with the extent, with the length, that God has gone to, to save sinners. You can't say, well, he doesn't want to save me. He doesn't want to save sinners.
God has revealed himself. God has spoken. God used prophets. God used apostles.
God spoke through his son. God had the spirit movement to write the Holy Scripture. God indicated in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1 qualifications for men to preach the Word. God has actually equipped and fitted men for that particular task.
God has set them apart. God has called His Church to care for those men so that they can expound the Word, so that they can proclaim the Gospel, so that sinners like you can believe and be saved. If anything, the ministry argues in and of itself that God is about the business of saving souls. If you don't know Christ, believe the gospel, believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved.
Well, let us pray.
Closing Prayer
Father, we thank you for your word and we thank you for the blessings that we have. living in a country where we have the freedom to study, to gather together, to encourage one another. Help us not to take these things lightly, God. Help us to prize and treasure these opportunities. Help us to avail ourselves of good Christian literature and to seek, by your grace, to put the Word of God in our hearts and minds.
We ask now that you would do a work in the hearts of young men and older brothers and equip a bunch of brothers to preach the word, as Spurgeon would say, give us Luthers and Calvins and Whitefields and men zealous for the truth to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. Go with us now, Father, cause your peace to be upon us in this coming week. And we ask through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.