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Well, please turn with me in 
your Bibles to Acts chapter 14. Acts 14, as we continue to move 
through the book of the Acts of the Apostles, we're in the 
first missionary journey that takes place in Acts 13.1 to 14.28. And so this morning we're going 
to take up verses 1 to 7 in Acts 14. This is when they are in 
Iconium. So I'll read beginning in verse 
1 of chapter 14. Now it happened in Iconium that 
they went together to the synagogue of the Jews. And so spoke that 
a great multitude, both of the Jews and of the Greeks, believed. 
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned 
their minds against the brethren. Therefore, they stayed there 
a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing 
witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to 
be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city 
was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles. 
And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and 
Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware 
of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaona, and 
to the surrounding region. And they were preaching the gospel 
there. And in Lystra a certain man without 
strength in his feet was sitting, a cripple from his mother's womb 
who had never walked. This man heard Paul speaking. 
Paul, observing him intently and seeing that he had faith 
to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand up straight on your 
feet. And he leaped and walked. Now 
when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, 
saying in the Lyconian language, The gods have come down to us 
in the likeness of men. In Barnabas they called Zeus 
and Paul Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. Then the priest 
of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought 
oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the 
multitudes. But when the apostles Barnabas 
and Paul heard this, they tore their clothes and ran in among 
the multitude, crying out and saying, Men, why are you doing 
these things? We also are men with the same 
nature as you, and preach to you that you should turn from 
these useless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the 
earth, the sea, and all things that are in them, who in bygone 
generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways. Nevertheless, 
he did not leave himself without witness, in that he did good, 
gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our 
hearts with food and gladness. And with these sayings, they 
could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them. Then 
Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded 
the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, 
supposing him to be dead. However, when the disciples gathered 
around him, he rose up and went into the city, and the next day 
he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. And when they had preached 
the gospel to that city and made many disciples, they returned 
to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the souls of the 
disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, 
we must, through many tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. So 
when they had appointed elders in every church and prayed with 
fasting, they commended them to the Lord in whom they had 
believed. And after they had passed through Pisidia, they 
came to Pamphylia. Now when they had preached the 
word in Perga, they went down to Adalia. From there they sailed 
to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God 
for the work which they had completed. Now, when they had come and gathered 
the church together, they reported all that God had done with them, 
and that He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. So 
they stayed there a long time with the disciples. Amen. Well, 
let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank 
you for this Lord's Day. We thank you for the blessed 
privilege to gather in the house of God, which is the church of 
the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. We know 
that you are the Lord God of truth, the scripture declares, 
and that you have given us your scripture, you've given us your 
word. We acknowledge its inspiration, it's given by you. We know its 
profitability for our own hearts and lives. And we pray even now 
that you would strengthen and furnish us unto every good work. 
Edify your people, and God, we pray that you would save those 
who are dead in their trespasses and sins. And to that end, Father, 
we need the ministry of the Holy Spirit. We need Him to regenerate 
the heart. We need Him to raise the dead. 
and give the graces of faith and repentance. And so we call 
upon you, most high God, to do this for your glory, to do this 
for the good of your creatures, to do this, Lord God, so that 
the kingdom of Jesus Christ might increase and continue to proceed. We ask for the forgiveness of 
all sin and unrighteousness now, and we pray through Christ Jesus 
our Lord. Amen. So as we continue in this 
missionary journey, we see the recurring emphasis of the apostles. They go into the synagogues of 
the Jews, and there they find not only Jews, but Gentiles, 
and they preach the truth of Jesus Christ to them. And so 
as we look at verses 1 to 7, we see this ministry in Iconium. Iconium is about 90 miles southeast 
of Pisidian Antioch. So that's where they are. And 
I want to look first at the blessing of God in verse one. Secondly, 
the opposition of the Jews in verses two and three. And then 
finally, the division of the city in verses four to seven. But let's look first at the blessing 
of God on the ministry according to verse one. Notice it says, 
now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue 
of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude, both of the 
Jews and of the Greeks believed. Again, this is the city of Iconium, 
and it's a synagogue of the Jews. This is Paul's custom. In Acts 
chapter 13, in Pisidian Antioch, that's what he did. He went into 
the synagogue, and there preached, and both Jews and Gentiles were 
converted. He's going to do that as well 
in Thessalonica, according to chapter 17, Berea in chapter 
17, Athens in chapter 17, Corinth, and then Ephesus in both chapters 
18 and 19. So in verse 46 of Acts 13, when 
he says, we turn to the Gentiles, he hadn't given up on the Jews. 
It wasn't the case that he said, forget about it, no longer will 
we preach to the Jews. Certainly Paul would preach to 
the Jews. The book of Acts ends with Paul 
testifying to the Jews. So in that instance, in Pisidian 
Antioch, when they highlight that they'll turn to the Gentiles, 
it's not as if they are no longer concerned with Jews whatsoever. 
But then notice what the emphasis in the passage is according to 
verse 1. It says, "...they went together to the synagogue of 
the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude, both of the Jews and 
of the Greeks, believed." Now, one of the things that's obvious 
in the book of Acts is an emphasis on preaching. In other words, 
God could have sent angels from heaven with the message of grace, 
and they could have floated around and told men about Jesus. But 
that's not what God purposed. God purposed from amongst us, 
He would choose men, equip men, qualify those men, have them 
recognized by the churches, and then those men would preach the 
glory of Jesus Christ and the wonders of the Christian gospel. 
If you look at verse 1 in this particular context, if you didn't 
know anything else about the book of Acts, you didn't know 
anything else about the sovereignty of God, you didn't know anything 
else about the doctrines of grace, you might conclude that a great 
multitude believed because of the way that these men preached. 
Look at what it says in verse 1. And they so spoke that a great 
multitude, both of the Jews and of the Greeks, believed. Again, 
if you came to that passage without any understanding of God and 
the way that He uses means, you might attribute this success, 
ultimately, to the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. But, of 
course, Scripture does not allow us to do that. If you look back 
in chapter 13, at verse 48, we see a declaration concerning 
the sovereignty of God in the salvation of sinners. Notice 
in 1348, now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and 
glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as had been appointed 
to eternal life, believed. So they had been appointed to 
eternal life by God, before the foundation of the world, and 
in His timing, and according to His sovereignty, through the 
preaching of the gospel, now they believe. At the end of chapter 
14, we notice that when the apostles returned to the church in Antioch, 
look at what they say according to verse 27. Now, when they had 
come and gathered the church together, they reported all that 
God had done with them and that He had opened the door of faith 
to the Gentiles. Sovereignty of God. He opened 
the door of faith. He had appointed unto eternal 
life. And as a result of that, sinners believe. One other passage 
in the close proximity to this passage is Acts chapter 16. Notice the emphasis here on the 
sovereignty of God. Here, Paul is at Philippi and 
he speaks to a group of women. And according to verse 14, we 
read, now a certain woman named Lydia heard us. She was a seller 
of purple from the city of Thyatira who worshiped God. The Lord opened 
her heart to heed the things spoken by Paul. Again, brethren, 
we are a Reformed congregation. We believe in the absolute sovereignty 
of God Almighty. He saves, to the uttermost, all 
who draw nigh unto Him through His Son, the Lord Christ. He 
has purpose. It's a great multitude that no 
man can number. They're from every tribe, tongue, 
people, and nation. The Lord Most High is amassing 
a church triumphant ultimately from every people group on the 
face of the earth. It is his project. It is his 
business. Christ says, I will build my 
church and the gates of Haiti shall not prevail against it. 
But we cannot neglect the reality that the Lord God who has purpose 
to save from the foundation of the world has also purpose to 
use means. And in this instance, he used 
the means of good preaching. Not everything that passes for 
preaching is necessarily good preaching. What we find in Acts 
14.1 is a testimony to good preaching. They set forth Christ and Him 
crucified. It happened in Iconium that they 
went together to the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that 
a great multitude, both of the Jews and of the Greeks, believed. Gil says, such words and doctrines 
of grace with so much power, authority, and demonstration 
of the Spirit, with so much plainness, clearness, and evidence, as well 
as with so much boldness and courage. I think that's a great 
way to indicate or explain the way that they preached. Now, 
as I referred to earlier, the reality is that God has purpose 
to save. He's also using means to do so. Our confession of faith of God's 
decree in chapter 3, paragraph 6, tells us, "...as God hath 
appointed the elect unto glory, so He hath, by the eternal and 
most free purpose of His will, foreordained all the means thereunto." 
Now, I want to take a few moments to investigate this claim that 
they so spoke. I want to look at Paul's doctrine 
of preaching, because we need to emphasize preaching in our 
day. Some churches are not engaging 
in this particular activity. In some churches, it is the reality 
that the proclamation of God's truth is not always primary. And it must always be primary. Whatever a church does, she mustn't 
ever compromise the proclamation of the truth. Whatever she does 
take on, by way of trying to help people, by trying to serve 
people, all which are legitimate pursuits, she mustn't ever abandon 
the emphasis on preaching Christ and Him crucified. There are 
three passages in the New Testament where Paul develops this doctrine 
of preaching, and I want to look at those now. In the first place, 
turn to the book of Romans in Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 
10. Again, just spending a few moments 
to sketch a biblical doctrine or a biblical theology of preaching. 
as we find it in the New Testament. Because if God has purpose to 
save a great multitude, and God has foreordained the means thereunto, 
then we ought to see the value in those means. We ought to utilize 
We ought to pray for people to exercise those gifts. We ought 
to pray that God raises up preachers from among us. It'd be a wonderful 
thing to encourage our young people, to encourage our young 
men to pursue gospel ministry, to pursue an understanding of 
God's word, to pursue an understanding of Christian theology, so that 
they can so speak that a great multitude, both of Jews and of 
the Greeks, can believe. If God has purpose to save a 
great multitude from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation, and 
the means, then it should affect the way that we pray for gospel 
missions elsewhere, the way that we pray with reference to the 
missionary enterprise outside of our door, and evangelism, 
and all those sorts of things. So look at Romans 10, verses 
14 to 17. The apostle says, How then shall 
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall 
they believe in Him of 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. It's a beautiful statement, isn't 
it? It's a beautiful declaration concerning the place of gospel 
preaching and its necessity in terms of the salvation of sinners. 
Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. That's the direct connection. 
If sinners do not hear special revelation, if they do not hear 
the reality of Christ and Him crucified, Christ and Him resurrected, 
Christ and His perfect life of obedience, if they don't hear 
that, they will perish in their sin. And so notice several things 
that Paul brings out in this particular instance. The sinner 
in the first place will not call upon Christ if he has never heard 
of Christ. We will never go for the remedy 
if we don't know that the remedy exists. If we're diagnosed with 
some particular malady, but the doctor never tells us there's 
hope or there's help, it will exasperate and frustrate us. 
But with reference to the gospel, there is help. There is hope. 
There is the promise of salvation to all those who look unto Jesus 
Christ and are in faith and are saved. As well, the sinner does 
not believe Christ if they have not heard Christ. Notice specifically 
what he says in verse 14. I'm going to translate it a little 
bit more literally than what the New King James renders it. 
In verse 14, he says, how then shall they call on him in whom 
they have not believed, and how shall they believe him whom they 
have not heard? Believe him whom they have not 
heard. And you say, well, wait a minute, 
does Christ preach when a man stands in a pulpit? Well, that 
seemed to be the understanding of the Apostle Paul. In Ephesians 
chapter 2, he says that Christ came and preached peace to you. If you trace through the book 
of Acts, you will never find Jesus physically go to the city 
of Ephesus, but you'll find Paul go to the city of Ephesus, you'll 
find his companions go to the city of Ephesus, and you'll find 
that when they preach, it is as if Christ himself is speaking 
to sinners. And that's his emphasis here 
in verse 14. Notice as well, the sinner does 
not hear Christ without a preacher. Notice at the end of verse 14, 
and how shall they hear without a preacher?" You see the emphasis? You see why Luke can say, they 
so spoke that a great multitude believed. Oh, but Luke, I thought 
God is sovereign. God is sovereign and the means 
that he's ordained according to his sovereignty is gospel 
preaching to call his elect unto faith in Jesus Christ our Lord. Paul's doctrine of preaching 
is clear this way. But notice what he goes on to 
say relative to the preachers themselves. They're not to be 
self-sent. They're not supposed to be self-ordained. They're not supposed to be renegades 
or mavericks. Rather, they operate under the 
authority of the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We see that 
in Acts 13. Paul and Barnabas didn't say, 
hey, it would be good to go out on a missionary journey. It'd 
be good to go to Pisidian Antioch. It'd be good to go to Iconium, 
and then to Lystra, and then to Derby, and then to make our 
way back. That was not their purpose and plan. The Spirit 
comes to the church and the Spirit says, separate unto me Paul and 
Barnabas for the work that I have for them. It is the Spirit of 
God through the church of God that sends out ministers of the 
gospel of God. And that's the emphasis at the 
end or in verse 15. How shall they preach unless 
they are sent? Again, brethren, the church is 
active. The church is a participant in 
the missionary enterprise, even if every one of our members never 
goes overseas. We pray, we raise up men, we 
finance that operation, and we send them forth so they can call 
sinners unto faith and repentance in our Lord Jesus Christ. And 
then ultimately, the sinner must hear the word of God, or there 
is, humanly speaking, no salvation. Again, when it comes to sovereign 
grace, It isn't the case that God in heaven just clicks his 
fingers and sinners get saved. No God's purpose to save, as 
I said, a great multitude, but he's ordained the means thereunto. Gospel preaching, listening to 
the Word of God, faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the 
Word of God. If you find yourself unsaved, 
if you're not a believer, if you do not confess faith in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, may I encourage you, you're in the best possible 
place. Not this particular church, but 
church in general, under the sound of the gospel, with a Bible 
in your lap, surveying the sacred word, because that's the means 
God uses to save souls. Of His own will, He brought us 
forth by the word of truth. I'm going to quote Machen in 
just a moment, where Machen deals with that folly, that heresy, 
that is so rampant today that was probably just emerging at 
the time that he lived, when men tell us that we can preach 
the gospel without words. It's our lives. It's our virtue. It's our ability. That is absolute 
falsehood. That is wrong. If we do not preach 
Christ and Him crucified, we have no hope or expectation whatsoever 
that sinners are going to get saved. Now you say, well, God 
is sovereign. Could God use other means? The 
means that He has sanctioned, according to the Word, is preaching. 
That doesn't mean you can't read your Bible. It doesn't mean you 
shouldn't read your Bible. But for whatever reason, in the 
mind of God, He has chosen creatures redeemed by sovereign grace to 
stand before other creatures and preach the gospel of Jesus 
Christ our Lord. John Murray comments on the Romans 
10 passage. He 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. That's the emphasis 
that Paul sets forth in Romans 10, and that is precisely what 
we observe in Paul's practice or activity. He doesn't go out 
unsent. The church in Antioch sent him. 
He doesn't go as a man that is governed by his own passions 
or lusts or desires to be useful. Rather, he goes out as a minister 
of the gospel under the sanction of the church in Antioch by the 
power of the Holy Spirit, and he so spoke that a great multitude, 
both of Jews and Gentiles, believed." Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 
1 for another passage dealing with Paul's doctrine of preaching. 
1 Corinthians chapter 1. I'll just read the section verses 
21 to 25 and then draw out again some observations. Verse 21, 
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 men and the weakness of God is stronger than men." 
Again, a couple observations. In the first place, we see that 
preaching pleases God. Preaching pleases God. Again, we ought to qualify that 
good preaching. I don't think Benny Hinn pleases 
God. I think heresy, it provokes the 
wrath and judgment of God. It must be good. It must be faithful. It must be accurate. It must 
be biblically, theologically consistent and sound. But it 
does please God. Notice that in verse 21. For 
since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not 
know God. In other words, Socrates and Plato and Aristotle couldn't 
bring people into the very room of God, into acceptance by God. But it pleased God through the 
foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. Now, 
I think the accent or the emphasis falls on the content, the objective 
content of the gospel, the life, the death, the resurrection of 
our Lord Jesus Christ. I think that's what Paul means, 
but nevertheless, that content is preached. That content is 
delivered in an authoritative way. not authoritarian, but authoritative, 
because the Spirit of God Himself is behind faithful preaching. 
And so preaching pleases God. If that's the case, brethren, 
how should our churches look? They should look like places 
that celebrate that act of preaching. not in some sick, twisted, or 
demented way. Brethren, we need to rail against 
this celebrity culture, this cult of men that are sort of 
put on pillars above everybody else. That's not what I am suggesting, 
but I am suggesting that a church that knows the truth is a church 
that's gonna value that truth and the public proclamation of 
it. So preaching pleases God. Notice 
as well, preaching does not please natural man. It doesn't. The Jews seek after signs. The Greeks seek after wisdom, 
right? See, while preaching pleases 
God Almighty, it doesn't necessarily please the carnal man, the natural 
man, the man in Adam, the man outside of Christ. He doesn't 
want to hear what God's Word says concerning his particular 
sins. He doesn't want to hear what 
God's Word says concerning the particular sins of the nation 
that we live in. He doesn't want to hear God's 
emphasis in terms of righteousness and holiness and justice and 
those sorts of things. The natural man would much prefer 
signs and he would much prefer wisdom. But notice thirdly, preachers 
nevertheless preach. They don't capitulate to Jews 
who want signs, and they don't capitulate to Greeks who want 
wisdom. They preach Christ and Him crucified. 
In other words, they are not dictated to by the hearers. They are not the one that is 
at at the whim of an audience. We'll see that in the next text 
that we look at in just a moment. But rather, they preach Christ 
and Him crucified. So when Jews say, hey, we want 
signs, and when Greeks say, hey, we want wisdom, or when the world 
says, hey, we want entertainment, or when the world says, hey, 
we want puppets and ponies and programs, what do true preachers 
do? They preach Christ and Him crucified. You have to see that. You have 
to appreciate that. Brethren, if there's one thing 
we seek to do in this church, it's to present God's truth. 
We have certain vehicles to do that. Sunday morning, Sunday 
evening, Wednesday evening, Saturday morning, we have a confession 
study from 9.30 to 10.30. Is that because we just want 
to be cerebral? We want to be academic? We want 
to walk around like ivory tower theologians? No, it's because 
we want Jesus. Give us Jesus. Let us see Jesus 
is what the Greeks say in John's gospel. Let us see Jesus. Well, we don't get Jesus in tea 
leaves. We don't get them in cards. We 
don't get them in our therapy session. We get him through the 
word of the living and true God. That's what we ultimately need. In good times, we need the Word 
of God. Guess what we need in bad times? 
I'd suggest we need a double dose of the Word of God. It's 
the Word of God that stabilizes the soul. It's the Word of God 
that carries us through. It's the Word of God, most high, 
that we have banked our souls on. And Paul says, preachers, 
preach. And then preaching, according 
to the apostle, is the means to declare Christ who is both 
the power of God and wisdom of God. Notice verse 22, for Jews 
request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ 
crucified. That's also an important emphasis 
as well. The apostolic ministers of the 
apostolic church didn't preach Jesus first and foremost as an 
example. Christ is an example to be sure. 
Paul will later say, 1 Corinthians 11, imitate me as I imitate Christ. There is an exemplary message 
concerning Christianity. Yeah, we're called to live like 
the master, we're called to follow the master, but that's not the 
first emphasis. We preach Christ and Him crucified. 
Why is that? Because the good example of Jesus 
will only bury you further in your sin. The good example of 
Jesus will only show more so how desperately wicked you are. 
In other words, when you read the Sermon on the Mount, do you 
feel like congratulating yourself? Do you feel like patting yourself 
on the back and saying, wow, I've done good today? If you 
do, you've got big problems, because when men come to grips 
with that Sermon on the Mount, which is an emphasis on the law 
of God, there is despair without Christ. As Lloyd-Jones and as 
Machen rightfully say, the Sermon on the Mount, rightfully understood 
or interpreted, casts a man down to the foot of the cross. In 
other words, when we see that law, we cry out, oh wretched 
man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? So 
the apostles preached Christ and Him crucified. In other words, 
Him as Redeemer, Him as blood atonement, Him as priest and 
victim, Him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the 
world. That's why the emphasis here, we preach Christ crucified. Again, preaching that is only 
exemplary or is only moralistic is wrong. We need to learn morality, 
we need to learn biblical ethics, but if we are only ever preaching 
law, we're going to create congregations of despair, we're going to create 
congregations filled with sorrow, we're going to create congregations 
filled with all sorts of mischief and mayhem. We preach Christ 
crucified. We preach the gospel. The gospel 
is good news. The reality that Christ came 
into this world. He assumed our humanity. He lived in our stead. He died in our stead. He was 
raised again the third day. Summarized well by Paul in Romans 
4.25. He was delivered up because of 
our offenses, and he was raised for our justification. That's 
the good news. The good news is, is that Christ 
has died. Christ has risen and everyone 
who believes in him will be saved. It's a beautiful thing. Remember 
Paul in Pisidian Antioch, faith in Christ will do everything 
that could never obtain under the law of Moses that you Jews 
were previously under. It's a beautiful, wonderful thing. 
Now turn finally to 2 Timothy chapter four. 2 Timothy chapter 
four. And this one is intriguing, not 
that the others aren't, but this is the last epistle that Paul 
wrote, the last letter that Paul wrote. It's prior to his death. He knows that his time is short. 
That's what he says in the passage. That's one of the reasons why 
he gives the command that he does in verse two, but this is 
the last epistle. There's going to be commands 
given to Timothy at the end of chapter four, But those are personal 
in nature. Bring the cloak, bring the books, 
especially the parchments. Those are instructions given 
by Paul to Timothy to sort of alleviate the hardship that the 
apostle was suffering. We read in the last hour, I think 
it was Myanmar, that this brother had been in prison for a year. 
He was a man that was apparently a very lawless sort of a fellow. 
He used to kill or hunt elephants, and then he was wonderfully converted 
to the Lord Jesus Christ. He got ultimately thrown into 
prison for preaching the truth. So he's been there for about 
a year, and it's very cold in the cell. Well, the same thing 
was with reference to Paul. That's why he tells Timothy, 
bring the cloak that I left in Troas. But here with reference 
to verse 2, this is the last formal command issued by the 
Apostle Paul to the church as church. Okay? So there's going 
to be individual commands to Timothy as Timothy, things that 
he needs to do to help alleviate the suffering and the turmoil 
that Paul is going through. But in terms of the last corporate 
command, it's not, be the best entertainers, Be the most gregarious, 
be the most winsome, be the most handsome, be the most charismatic. That's not what he says, and 
you know he doesn't say that. He doesn't say be the best joke 
teller, be the most chatty, have the most coffee. That's not the 
emphasis in gospel ministry. Again, ministers can engage in 
some of that, not all of that, because it's weird, frankly, 
but some of that, but never to the neglect of the command of 
verse two. Look at Paul's statement, verse 
1, 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. I read the entirety 
of the section because I wanted to make sense to you why Paul 
gives the command he gives in verse 2. But in the first place, 
the command is stated, preach the word. Not preach your life. There's times where autobiography 
can illustrate points. But too much emphasis on autobiography 
takes away from the written word of the living God. Autobiography 
or illustration or story time can be like a window that you 
open up to let in some sunshine. It can be helpful for hearers 
to see truth, analyze, put up next to something that they're 
more connected with, and that sheds light on it. But sermons 
that are heavy on story, sermons that are heavy on illustration, 
sermons that are heavy on autobiography, Do not obey the mandate of Paul. Preach the Word. Preach God's 
Word, not your experience, not your discovery, but preach the 
Word. I mentioned Machen earlier. Here's what he said. We can preach 
the gospel, they tell us, by our lives. No, we can't. If you think that, listen to 
Machen. If you don't listen to Jim this 
morning, listen to Machen. This was going around, I don't 
know, a few years ago. Was it Francis of Assisi, maybe? 
I don't know who said it. You know, preach the gospel always, 
and when necessary, use words. The only way you can preach the 
gospel is with words. You have to tell sinners. That 
means open your mouth and tell them about blood atonement. Tell 
them about their sin. Tell them about the glory of 
Jesus Christ. Sinners will never observe that 
by your virtue. Sinners will never witness that 
by your conduct. If that's what you're thinking, 
you really, really need to listen to Machen and Jim, because I'm 
telling you the same thing. He 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. Thank you, Machen, that you weren't 
afraid to tell people they were wrong. We're so afraid today 
to say, well, you know, that's just flat out wrong. Oh no, you 
can't do that. They'll be offended. Well, better 
to lead people into hell than offend some prissy preacher. 
I think it's better to offend a prissy preacher so that he 
doesn't lead countless multitudes into hell. He goes on to say, 
they are wrong. Men are not saved by the exhibition 
of our glorious Christian virtues. That should be self-evident. 
Because brethren, frankly, we don't have glorious Christian 
virtues, do we? We find ourselves in that place 
of Romans 7. The good that I wish to do, I 
don't do. The evil I don't want to do, 
I find myself doing. And then he goes on to say, wretched 
man that I am. I forgot my handkerchief today, 
so if I... I'm sweating beads here. I'm 
gonna use the that leave stickies on my head, so don't laugh at 
me The bottom line is that Christ came not because we would one 
day exhibit glorious Christian virtue, but he came because every 
day we will depend upon his precious blood. Every day we need him 
as our sole righteousness, the imputation of Christ's both active 
and passive obedience. That's the reality we need to 
face, that if we think our glorious Christian virtues are going to 
win men, we need to reorient ourselves on what a glorious 
Christian virtue looks like. He goes on to say, 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. No, 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. He's absolutely positively 
right. That's why Paul, in the last 
corporate command given to the church, says, preach the word. 
But he doesn't just say, here's the command. He tells Timothy 
how he's supposed to preach. Remember the accent in 14.1, 
they so spake. Luke could have just said they 
spoke, but they so spoke. There was something about the 
preaching. It was, in fact, a demonstration of the Spirit and power. Paul 
speaks to that in 1 Corinthians 2 at verse 4. When I came to 
you, my preaching wasn't according to my ability, but it was in 
a demonstration of the Spirit and power. They so spoke that 
a great multitude believed. So again, it was good preaching. 
So when Paul prescribes to Timothy how to preach the Word, he tells 
him. Be ready in season and out of 
season. Be ready in those times when 
the church is favorable and in those times when the church is 
not favorable. He says this needs to be your 
posture, steadfastness in the presence of opposition from without 
and the presence of opposition from within. Whether it's a good 
season and people are receptive or whether it's a bad season 
and persons aren't receptive, the task of the preacher doesn't 
change. Why would we ever think that? 
Well, you know, in our society, people really like entertainment. 
So that's where our emphasis lies. No, that's not what we're 
supposed to do. Do you not think that the people 
living in Timothy's age liked entertainment? You don't think 
they liked to go to the stage plays? They didn't like mime. 
They didn't like drama. They didn't like the games. They 
didn't like those sorts of things. Of course they did. But in this 
particular medium, God says, I want the word preached. It 
doesn't matter what they want, God knows what's best. So be 
ready in season and out of season. And then he says, convince. Now 
I'm not suggesting that all good preaching is necessarily loud 
preaching. There's some not loud preachers 
that are very convincing. There's some not loud preachers 
that are very sober. Men that are very articulate 
and men that are very faithful. I'm not advocating that there's 
a style that is emphasized. Not everybody's Spurgeon, not 
everybody's Calvin, not everybody's Luther. God made us as men. And he does not obliterate that 
manhood when men take to preach. But they need to convince. They 
don't just sort of offer it up there as a potential. Well, this may possibly be true, 
so you really ought to think about it. No! No, no, no, no, 
no. This is absolutely, positively 
true. Remember in Acts 26, Festus says, 
much learning is driving you mad, Paul. He says, I'm not mad, 
most noble Festus, but I speak the words of truth and reason. 
That's what we need today. In this day and age where it 
is this environment where we can't ever do anything for fear 
that we may offend somebody, the men of God must still preach. 
If the gospel doesn't offend somebody along the way, you're 
not preaching it accurately. You're not preaching the offense 
of the cross if everybody welcomes it or everybody warms up. So 
there's this convince and rebuke. Why do we need to be rebuked? 
because we're wayward, because we are, in the language of the 
hymn writer, prone to wander and prone to leave the God that 
we love. We don't need chatty preachers with their hands in 
their pocket just saying, well, you know, just try a little bit 
harder. We need to be rebuked. We need to be told that what 
we're doing is wrong. We need to repent. We need to 
forsake. We need to seek mercy at the hand of our gracious God. 
So he says, convince, rebuke, and exhort. There needs to be 
exhortation. The people of God need to be 
built up. They need to be benefited. They need to be helped. They 
need to see how Christ and his gospel and the glory of God makes 
sense in their lives, in their suffering, in their issues. They 
need to know Psalm 46 10 that we sang be still and know that 
I am God when the mountains are crumbling all around us What 
is it that stabilizes the people of God? It is the God of Jacob 
who is our refuge and our strength the brethren need to be exhorted 
But Paul doesn't stop there. He says with all long-suffering 
and teaching all long-suffering Patience a brethren. This isn't 
something only preachers need to develop. We all need to be 
long-suffering with one another We are so judgmental. Will that 
person this or this person that? Boy, you sound like you'd be 
great at a party. You'd be great at a fellowship 
meeting. Brethren, let us be patient with God's grace in the 
lives of other people. It wasn't the case that Rome 
was built in a day, and it's certainly not the case that Christian 
sanctification is built in a day. So preachers need to understand 
this emphasis on long-suffering. Don't lambast the people of God. 
Don't nag the people of God. I do sometimes, guilty as charged. 
But the obvious emphasis is, is that ultimately it's God's 
task. You see, when preachers get Calvinism 
into their practice, it is quite liberating. See, preachers can 
understand sovereignty, preachers can understand all those particular 
things, but if they don't get it into the ministry, they're 
going to be frustrated, they're going to be exacerbated, they're 
going to be ungodly men to be around because they don't have 
long-suffering. And then he says, with teaching. 
So all preaching sets forth Jesus Christ, and it must teach the 
scriptures as well, because that ultimately is what men, women, 
boys, and girls need. So he not only gives them the 
command, preach the word, he specifies the manner, convince, 
rebuke, exhort, and now he furnishes two reasons as to why Timothy 
needs to do that. The later reason is that Paul 
is going to die. You can see the argument, can't 
you? Paul says to Timothy, Timothy, I'm gonna die. I need you to 
do what I'm telling you. I need to pass on this baton. 
I need to have a legacy. Not because Paul was that weirdo 
that needed to have his legacy, but because he knew that if gospel 
preaching ceased, sinners would not be saved. So he tells Timothy, 
the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good 
fight. I have run the race and I have 
kept the faith. There is this crown laid up before 
me. So the thing that he wants to 
pass on to his young protege is to preach the word. This is 
why I say, brothers and sisters, we better start praying very 
seriously for elders in this church, for other preachers to 
be raised up. It's already a lot for one particular 
man. We need a team of men. We need 
men to bring this word to bear on this generation. We need young 
men to stand in our place. It ought not to be the case that 
at the death of a minister, the church closes down. If that happens, 
we're not doing our job. We need to be looking for men. 
We need to be identifying men. We need to see men qualified 
and called and fit. And we need to use those men 
because the task is enormous, humanly speaking. Every tribe, 
tongue, people, and nation. We can't do that on our own. 
We've got to have assistance and aid. We are not angels. We need sleep. We need rest. We need those sorts of things. 
There needs to be a division of labor. So Paul says, I'm gonna 
die. That's why I want you to preach 
the word. But the first reason that he gives for preaching the 
word is found closer to the text. Notice what he says. Verse three, 
he says, for the time will come when they will not endure sound 
doctrine. That's the reason for his emphasis on preach the word. 
Now those of you who have known me for the 22 years I've been 
here know that I always say some same things when I preach certain 
texts. I'm going to do that again. Imagine 
if you're Timothy and you're in Ephesus and you're looking 
at the church and they don't endure sound doctrine. And let's 
just say you're Timothy in Ephesus and you happen to have a MacBook. 
So you fire off an email to Paul and you say, Paul, the church 
doesn't want to hear what I have to tell them. What should I do? 
Preach the Word. Let me send you back a reply, 
Paul. You maybe didn't understand. They don't want me to preach 
the Word. Paul hits reply. Preach the Word. You see, what 
does the text tell us? Preaching pleases God. 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. So Paul shoots back this email 
to Timothy and tells him that the time will come when they 
will not endure sound doctrine. They're going to find the kinds 
of people that they want to hear. And that's not going to be you, 
Timothy. They don't want to hear sin, judgment, righteousness, 
holiness. They don't want to hear gospel, 
salvation, faith in Jesus Christ. They don't want to hear that 
their self-righteousness, Their glorious Christian virtues are 
not what's going to get them to heaven. That is an offense 
to the self-righteous man. We oftentimes think about how 
the gospel offends the careless, the ungodly, and the wicked. 
I suppose that the gospel offends the self-righteous even more 
so. See, we can condemn the crack 
dealers and the prostitutes, but the self-righteous among 
us, those Pharisees among us, we don't see that as equally 
heinous. I suspect at times it's even more heinous. And I think 
Jesus made that emphasis with the Pharisees and the scribes 
of his own generation. He says that the harlotans and 
the publicans are entering into the kingdom of heaven, but you 
sons of the kingdom are cast out into outer darkness. You 
see, the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. 
They'll heap up teachers that tickle their ears. They'll pay 
Benny Hinn to tell them about the Holy Spirit. They'll make 
sure that Joel Osteen has a stadium to preach in. A stadium! They 
took an old sports stadium and converted it to a church. And 
I use that term as vaguely and as broadly and as generally as 
I could possibly do. But they like that. They like 
an emphasis on every day is a Friday. They like an emphasis on your 
best day now. They like the emphasis on humanism, 
so they'll heap up men like that. So Paul's counteraction or reply 
to Timothy when he says they don't want sound doctrine, he 
says preach sound doctrine. The logic is impeccable, brethren, 
and the emphasis is obvious. The departure of the church calls 
for continual and faithful preaching of the church. 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 notice, 
you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work 
of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. You know what I take 
from verse 5? Your job doesn't change, Timothy. 
Your job doesn't change. You just do what you're supposed 
to do. Okay? That's it. Your job isn't results. Your job isn't, you know, care, 
self-care, make everybody happy. Your job isn't therapy. Your 
job is to preach the Word. Imagine for a moment if churches 
saw that. Imagine for a moment if we realized 
the value of that and we sought to inculcate that amongst us 
as thinking Christians. We would give to these causes. 
We would back these causes. We would pray for these causes. 
We would be involved in it because we know that God is pleased through 
the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. 
Brethren, if God is behind preaching, if His inspired Apostle Paul 
is behind preaching, then we as the Church of Jesus Christ 
today must be behind preaching. I think 2nd Helvetic Confession 
gets at this doctrine well when it says, the preaching of the 
Word of God is the Word of God. Again, I think that's arguable. 
People would never think, oh no, that's not true. That's not 
true. It is true, brethren. The Word faithfully and accurately 
expounded is the Word of God. Our confession validates this. It's not only explicit things 
that are in Scripture, but implicit things, things that can be deduced 
by good and necessary consequence. So when the scripture says, do 
not commit murder, we imply that we ought to do everything to 
promote life. You see how that works. And when 
it comes to this particular emphasis in scripture, we see God say 
the same thing. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13, 
Paul says, you received it, not as the words of men, but as it 
is in reality, the word of God. So back to the Helvetic Confession, 
this is 1566. 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. 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 You see that is 
not about the preacher. It's about the content. It's 
about the reality that Christ lived Christ died Christ was 
raised from the third If that is accurately and faithfully 
preached, that's the word of God. And that's what Paul commended 
the Thessalonians for. You received it as the word of 
God himself. So back in Acts 14, verse one, 
when we read, they so spoke that a great multitude of the Jews 
and of the Greeks believed, we ought to see God's emphasis on 
preaching in the book of Acts. This is a sample passage. We're 
gonna see Paul move to other places. go to other synagogues, 
go to other open-air situations, and what does he do? He doesn't 
share, he doesn't give his experience, he doesn't put his hands in his 
pocket, he doesn't sip lattes, but rather he preaches Christ 
and Him crucified. If I can leave you with one thought 
this morning, go home to your prayer closet and pray that the 
Lord of the Harvest would raise men up! Brethren, if I drop dead, 
I don't want this church to close down. We need somebody that can 
lift up their voice, that can cry aloud and spare not and let 
Jerusalem know her sins. We need somebody to proclaim 
the truth as it is in Jesus Christ. This is important. It's not the 
case that it's just a one generation. Don't you want your kids and 
your grandkids and your great grandkids to be able to come 
here and worship God in a simple way? Emphasis on thoroughly biblical 
preaching, good system of theology that's not going to lead them 
astray. It's not going to lead them to the weirdness of the 
charismatic movement. It's not going to lead them to 
the weirdness of other movements, but rather it's going to be stabilizing 
influence in their lives. Isn't that the best thing we 
can leave for our kids? A righteous man leaves an inheritance 
to his children's children. We may not have silver and gold, 
but what we do have, we better start passing it on. The name 
of Jesus Christ, the Lord. C.H. Spurgeon said, let the name 
of Spurgeon perish, but let the name of Jesus go forward. That 
should be our cry. That should be our desire. Now, 
brethren, I'm not suggesting this church alone does that. 
Praise God, we do have churches in our community that we pray 
for regularly because they're faithfully proclaiming the truth. 
They're committed to this reality of setting forth Christ and Him 
crucified. This isn't some tirade that Reformed Baptists are the 
only way to do things. No, that's not it at all. Grace 
through faith in Christ Jesus the Lord. And then a valid attempt 
to set forth that gospel to sinners in the preaching of the Word. 
That's it. That's what we need to be about. So take this to 
your prayer closet, pray to God Almighty that He would raise 
up men and send them forth to call men from every tribe, tongue, 
people, and nation to assist in the work of church planting. 
The Vernon Group got more bad news, brethren. We need to continue 
to pray for them. They need a guy. They need a 
man. They need a breathing human that 
understands his Bible and that system of theology contained 
in the 1689 Confession. Without that, they're probably 
not going to be able to continue on. That should burden us. That should affect us. That should 
hurt us. That should send us to our prayer 
closets and intervene on their behalf with the Lord of the harvest. 
How many prayers do we offer up for things that in the grand 
scheme of things matter? I don't want to ever minimize 
the place of prayer, but do we actually pray for those things 
that do matter in the grand scheme of things in terms of never dying 
souls? Do we actually go to the Lord 
God of the harvest and say, Lord, we see that the fields are, they're 
white on the harvest. And not just in Vernon, we've 
got a lower mainland here. There's a church, a faithful 
one in Surrey, and I'm not suggesting, again, there's no other faithful 
ones. I know that there are, and praise God for that. But 
in terms of the population, in terms of the numbers that are 
in the lower mainland, Are there enough biblical churches presenting 
Christ and Him crucified to service that vast majority of people? 
No, not really. So what ought we to be about? What should our church budget 
reflect in February at our annual general meeting? Training men, 
equipping men, getting men sent out into the mission field or 
into the church planting field. That's ultimately what it's about, 
brethren. See, at times we can make the 
mistake of swallowing camels and going through and trying 
to get rid of the gnats in our lives and neglect this paradigm 
that we find in the book of Acts and we see in the epistles of 
the Apostle Paul. Preach the word. Be ready in season and 
out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort with 
all long-suffering and teaching. Why, Paul? Because they're not 
going to want it. But they're not smart enough 
to know what they want. I'm not trying to belittle any 
of us. I am as dumb as they come. I'm as dumb as a bag of hammers. 
God knows what we need. It's not entertainment. We are 
entertained to death in our culture. There is no lack of entertainment. I want no entertainment when 
I come into the house of the living God, because it is literally 
inundating us from sun up to sun down. Anything we want, we 
can look at our phone. Anything we want to hear, any 
song that we ever thought of, we can find it. Entertainment 
is not what the people of God are lacking. The people of God 
are lacking a consistent, faithful ministry that is dedicated to 
preaching Christ and Him crucified. That's what we need to pray about. If God, in his sovereign grace 
and mercy, raised us up and put us here so that we could see 
that church in Surrey planted, so that we can hopefully be a 
benefit to the church in Vernon, so that one day, I mean, this 
is where we ought to be thinking. One day, take one of those old 
beautiful buildings that are downtown in Vancouver that house 
apostate churches, and may God take that and give it to a group 
of people that preach Christ and Him crucified. I think it's 
Burrard. There's some beautiful old buildings 
down there, right in the thick of the city, and there are these 
liberal denominations that deny the gospel, they deny the truth, 
and they preach morality or moralism. Wouldn't it be wonderful to put 
a C.H. Spurgeon in that community? I 
mean, that's exactly what happened to Spurgeon. You know the story. 
He was 16 when he first preached a sermon. Now, this is not normative. If you ever think you're Spurgeon, 
you got bigger problems than I can imagine. You're not gonna 
be Spurgeon. No man is ever gonna be Spurgeon. 
He was a unique individual. He would read volumes of theology 
per week. volumes of theology per week. 
That right there sets him off from, you know, the rest of us 
rabble. But he preaches his first sermon at the age of 16 in a 
village church. And it's not long, brethren, 
that people start to realize this guy needs to be in London. 
And that's what happened. They put him in London. I think 
it was 19, 18, 19 when he starts in London, New Park Street Chapel. 
And there, he out-preaches the building. They moved to the Metropolitan 
Tabernacle. Brethren, we have Vancouver. 
We have men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. We 
don't even have to go to China. We don't even have to go to some 
of these Middle Eastern countries. We don't have to go to India, 
because it's all come right to our doorstep. It's all right 
here. The thing that we lack are men. 
The thing that we lack are biblically qualified 1st Timothy 3, Titus 
1 men. Men with fire in their hearts, 
men who cannot be silenced, men who spare not. They lift their 
voices like trumpets and they proclaim the truth as it is in 
Jesus. Brethren, that's the need for today. Well, we're going 
to stop there. I'm not going to subject you 
to the rest of the exposition. I wanted to focus on that. I 
wanted to make sure that you and I are on the same page when 
it comes to priority with reference to the church. I do want to draw 
out one concluding threefold section of application. I just 
can't help myself. First of all, and we'll see this 
when we return to the exposition in Iconium, What happens when 
the Jews oppose them? When the Jews stir up the Gentiles, 
and they poison or bitter their minds against them, what do they 
do? Do they run? Do they hide? They eventually 
do. It's not wicked and wrong. Jesus says in Matthew 10, when 
they persecute you in this city, go to another. But they don't 
initially do that. They keep preaching. They keep 
preaching. That's what they do. They're 
opposed. They're resisted. They are mocked, no doubt. I mean, how do these unbelieving 
Jews stir up these Greeks or these Gentiles? How do you poison 
them against the apostles? Probably by saying unsavory things 
about the apostles, right? You have to slander. You have 
to resort to that sort of a tactic in order to get these Greeks 
on your side so that they, along with you and your rulers, oppose 
the apostles. So what we do glean from this 
is the necessity of the church to faithfully persevere even 
in the midst of opposition. See, opposition should not cause 
us to close up shop. In fact, I would suggest that 
if we never see opposition, we're doing it wrong. All who desire 
to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 2 Timothy 
3, 12. But the church in the midst of 
this continues. And I love the connection that 
Luke uses here specifically. Notice in verse 2, the unbelieving 
Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against 
the brethren. Therefore, they stayed there a long time. That's 
counterintuitive as well. Well, they're opposing. Why would 
you stay there a long time? Because they obviously need us. 
Just because they're opposing doesn't mean we abandon them 
to hell. Some of the staunchest opposers 
have become some of the most glorious trophies of God's free 
grace vis-a-vis the Apostle Paul himself. If he had said, look, 
they're opposing. We're going to leave. It would 
have been contrary to his own experience. He himself was opposing 
the church. He himself was armed with extradition 
orders to go to Damascus to find the believers and to take them 
back to Jerusalem for further punishment. And Christ saves 
him on that road to Damascus. So in the midst of opposition, 
the church has one call. It is to remain faithful and 
to persevere. Secondly, the church needs preachers. The church needs preachers. John 
Kelvin made the observation. At the present day, now remember 
when John Kelvin's present day was. They didn't have, you know, 
everybody was perfectly in tune with good theology, and they 
were all on board with the confessions, and they all sang off the same 
page. But I know they didn't have Benny Hinn. I know they 
didn't have Joel Osteen. I know that that wasn't what 
populated the earth in those days. But here we have, 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. Again, 
that may sound offensive because we're culturally unable to deal 
with any criticism. I mean, we got to cry if somebody 
ever says anything that is untoward. We have to have a safe space 
so nobody can ever affect us. But see, back in those days, 
they actually told the truth. There are men in pulpits that 
shouldn't be in pulpits. And somebody needs to actually 
identify that problem at some point, and try to remedy it, 
and try to fix it, and try to rectify it. I'm not suggesting 
go out now, get a sign, and stand in front of bad churches. Please 
don't do that. Don't be obnoxious. Don't be a jerk for Jesus. There's enough of them. We don't 
need more of them. But brethren, in terms of our 
prayer, we need to think in terms of God and faithful preaching. But I just wanted to end with 
one final note. The necessity of faithful hearers. Let's just 
say God sends Spurgeon to Vancouver. People still need to listen. 
If to the degree there has been accurate exposition of scripture 
this morning, you need to listen to that. You need to heed the 
word of the living God. You need to listen what God's 
word says, whether you read it privately, whether it's preached 
to you publicly, whether it's in family worship and your father 
or mother are reading those things, we need to give heed to the word 
of God. Remember, faith comes by what? Faith comes by hearing 
and hearing by the word of God. J.C. Ryle says, preaching is 
an ordinance of which the value can never be overrated in the 
Church of Christ. But it should never be forgotten 
that there must not only be good preaching, but good hearing. 
They so spake that a great multitude believed. Why? Because not only 
did they speak, but the multitude heard, the multitude believed, 
the multitude responded, the multitude gave ear to the word 
of the living and true God. How many times do you come into 
this room under The assumption that whatever is said, even if 
it's faithful and accurate, I'm not duty-bound to it. I'm not 
beholden. Oh, yes, you are. The voice of 
the Lord crushes the cedars of Lebanon. The voice of the Lord 
is what gives birth to the calves of the deer. It's the voice of 
Yahweh that all of us must respond to. And if that word is being 
faithfully proclaimed, you have a responsibility. You need to 
pay attention. You need to listen. because if 
faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God and you are 
not saved, yes, God is sovereign, but you are a rebel. You are 
a transgressor because there is no other name given under 
heaven among men by which we must be saved. Come to the Lord 
Jesus, listen to the Word of God, that faith comes by hearing. Spurgeon, on Mark 4.24, says 
with reference to the admonition by Christ here. Spurgeon draws 
out four observations. First, here, it is your wisdom 
to know what God says. Two, hear well. God's teaching 
deserves the deepest attention. It will repay the best consideration. Three, hear often. Waste no Sabbath 
nor any one of its services. Use weekday lectures and prayer 
meetings. Four, hear better. You will grow 
the holier thereby. You will find heavenly joy by 
hearing with faith. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father 
in heaven, we thank you for your word.