May 22
30
The Importance of Preaching
Nothing we do is more important than hearing the gospel preached. It is impossible for us to have faith in Christ without hearing the Word preached. “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Rom. 10:17) It is impossible for us to be saved without hearing the gospel preached. “it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe” (I Cor. 1:21) God does not save His people by emotional pleas, psychology, intelligent arguments, or by the form, ceremonies, and motions of religion. God only saves His people by the preaching of the Word alone – by the bare preaching of Christ. God also only feeds, instructs, and causes His people to grow by the same preaching. May the Lord enable us to faithfully make much of the preaching of Christ!
~Frank Tate
The Gospel
The gospel is not a plan to be followed, or a program to be practiced. It is not a precept or a principle to be understood. The gospel is a person. The second person of the triune Godhead, who bore the sins of God’s elect and by the sacrifice of Himself put them away once and for all. He was raised from the dead, ascended into glory, and is right now seated at the right hand of the majesty on high. He is the sovereign Savior of sinners. He is the Substitute and Surety for His people. His name is Jesus, for He has saved His people from their sins. He is Faithful and True to all His promise. What “good news” (gospel) it is for the soul of a sinner to know they have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous One. He himself is the sum and substance of the gospel.
Greg Elmquist
A sure test of whether the gospel you believe is the true Gospel can be answered by one simple question. Does God get all the glory or does the saved sinner share in it? The Gospel of God always glorifies Him and Him alone! The Gospel of God always glorifies God’s wisdom, power, mercy, grace and love but most importantly it always glorifies His Son! The preaching of a false gospel will always attribute something to man’s will, work, and way. But not God’s Gospel! The Word of God is clear. “That no flesh should glory in His (God’s) presence” (I Cor. 1:29). “God will not give His glory to another” (Isaiah 48:11). “That according as it is written he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord” (I Cor. 1:31). – David Eddmenson
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 5:1). If you are working, you are not believing, and if you are believing, you are not working.
TAKE HEED HOW YOU HEAR
Let me give you some simple directions for hearing the Word preached.
1. Hear with A HUNGRY, NEEDY HEART! If a person goes to the drug store seeking relief, he should have some idea of his problem. Does his head hurt or his feet? We hear the Word as men with a heart problem – sin.
2. Hear THE WORD OF GOD, not just the words of men! “When you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you received it not as the word of men, but as it is in the Truth the Word of God which worketh effectually also in you that believe” (II Thess. 2:13).
3. Hear THE WORD FOR YOURSELF, not others! When Nathan told David the story of the stolen lamb, David was angry and said “Who is that man, I will deal with him.” Nathan replied, “David, Thou art the man.” The Word takes on a different sense when this is realized.
4. Hear the Word IN FAITH! What did God say of Israel? “They heard the Gospel preached, but it did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it” (Hebrews 4:2). – Henry Mahan
GOD’S WORD
(The following is by Spurgeon)
“He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth:
His word runneth very swiftly” (Psalm 147:15).
No language ever stirs the deeps of my nature like the Word of
God, and none produces such a profound calm within my spirit.
As no other voice can,
it melts me to tears,
it humbles me in the dust,
it fires me with enthusiasm,
it fills me with pleasure,
it elevates me to holiness.
Every faculty of my being owns the power of the sacred Word.
It sweetens my memory,
it brightens my hope,
it stimulates my imagination,
it directs my judgment,
it commands my will, and
it cheers my heart.
The word of man charms me for the time,
but I outlive and outgrow its power.
It is altogether the reverse with the Word of the King of kings;
it rules me more sovereignly, more practically, more habitually,
more completely every day. Its power is for all seasons–for
sickness and for health, for solitude and for company, for
personal emergencies and for public assemblies.
I had sooner have the Word of God at my back than all the
armies and navies of all the great powers, aye, than all the
forces of nature; for the Word of the Lord is the source of
all the power in the universe, and within it there is an infinite
supply in reserve.
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2
J.C.Philpot
We by nature and practice are slaves to sin and Satan. We are the sport of the prince of the power of the air, who takes us captive at his will. We are held down also by many hurtful lusts; or, if free from gross sin, are slaves to pride, covetousness, or self-righteousness. Perhaps some idol is set up in the chambers of imagery which defiles all the inner man; or some snare of Satan entangles our feet, and we are slaves, without power to liberate ourselves from this cruel slavery. We groan under it, as the children of Israel under their burdens, but, like them, cannot deliver ourselves.
But sooner or later the truth comes to our aid; the truth as it is in Jesus flies to the rescue of God’s oppressed family; the blessed Spirit opens it up and seals it upon the heart with a divine power. As, then, under his gracious influences they believe the truth, and feel its power and savor in their heart, a liberating influence is communicated; their fetters and shackles are loosened; the bondage of sin and Satan, and the power and strength of evil are sensibly broken, and a measure of holy freedom is enjoyed. There is no other way of getting from under the bondage of the law but by the application of the gospel, and by believing what the gospel reveals. As the truth, then, comes to the heart as the very word of the living God, power comes with it to believe; faith is raised up to credit the testimony; and as faith begins to credit the truth of God and receive it in hope and love, there is a sensible loosening of the bonds; and then the chains and fetters drop off of themselves. It is with the soul as it was with Peter in prison–when the angel came, and a light shined in the prison, and the angel’s words fell upon his ears, “the chains fell from off his hands.” There remained nothing then to bar his exit; for “the iron gate that leads unto the city opened to them of its own accord.” So whatever chains or fetters may hold the soul, let the angel of mercy come; let the message of salvation be revealed, the chains of unbelief drop off, the iron gate of hardness gives way, and the truth makes the soul blessedly free (John 8:32).
Sovereign, supreme disposal
(J. C. Philpot, “Daily
Portions”)
“And (God) hath put all things under His feet and
gave Him to be head over all things to the church,”
Ephesians 1:22
How vast, how numerous, how complicated are
the various events and circumstances which attend
the Christian here below, as he travels onward to
his heavenly home!
But if all things are put under Jesus’ feet, there
cannot be a single circumstance over which He
has not supreme control. Everything in providence
and everything in grace are alike subject to His
disposal. There is not . . .
a trial,
a temptation,
an affliction of body or soul,
a loss,
a cross,
a painful bereavement,
a vexation,
a grief,
a disappointment,
a case, state or condition,
which is not put under Jesus’ feet.
He has sovereign, supreme disposal over
all events and circumstances.
As possessed of infinite knowledge He sees them;
as possessed of infinite wisdom He can manage
them; and
as possessed of infinite power He can dispose
and direct them for our good and His own glory.
How much trouble and anxiety would we save
ourselves, could we firmly believe, realise, and
act on this!
If we could see by the eye of faith that . . .
every foe and every fear,
every difficulty and perplexity,
every trying or painful circumstance,
every looked for or unlooked for event,
every source of care, whether at present or
in prospect—are all at His sovereign disposal,
what a load of anxiety and care would be
often taken off our shoulders!
A peculiar, indescribable, invincible power
(J.C. Philpot, “The Word of Men and the Word of God“)
“Our gospel came not unto you in word only, but
also . . .
in power,
in the Holy Spirit and
in much assurance.”
1 Thessalonians 1:5
The gospel comes to some in word only. They hear the word of the
gospel, the sound of truth; but it reaches the outward ear only—or if it
touches the inward feelings, it is merely as the word of men.
But where the Holy Spirit begins and carries on His divine and saving work, He
attends the word with a
peculiar, an indescribable, and yet an invincible power.
It falls as from God upon the heart. He is heard to speak in it—and
in it His glorious Majesty appears to . . .
open the eyes,
unstop the ears, and
convey a message from His own mouth to the soul.
Some hear the gospel as the mere word of men, perhaps for years before
God speaks in it with a divine power to their conscience. They thought
they understoodthe gospel; they thought they feltit;
they thought they lovedit. But all this time they did
not see any vital distinction between receiving it as the mere word of men,
and as the word of God.
The levity, the superficiality, the emptiness stamped upon all who merely
receive the gospel as the word of men—is sufficient evidence
that it never sank deep into the heart, and never took any powerful
grasp upon their soul.
It therefore . . .
never brought with it any real separation from the world;
never gave strength to mortify the least sin;
never communicated power to escape the least snare of Satan;
was never attended with a spirit of grace and prayer;
never brought honesty, sincerity, and uprightness into the heart before
God;
never bestowed any spirituality of mind, or any loving affection toward
the Lord of life and glory.
It was merely the reception of truth in the same way as we receive scientific
principles, or learn a language, a business, or a trade. It was all.
. .
shallow,
superficial,
deceptive,
hypocritical.
But in some unexpected moment, when little looking for it, the word of
God was brought into their conscience with a powernever
experienced before. A light shone in and through it which they never saw before
. . .
a majesty,
a glory,
an authority,
an evidence
accompanied it which they never knew before. And under this light, life, and
power—they fell down with the word of God sent home to their heart!
When then Christ speaks the gospel to the heart;
when He reveals Himself to the soul;
when His word, dropping as the rain and distilling as the dew, is received in
faith and love
He is embraced as the chief among ten thousand and the altogether lovely one,
He takes His seat upon the affections and becomes enthroned in the heart as its
Lord and God.
Is there life in yourbosom?
Has God’s power attended the work?
Is the grace of God really in your heart?
Has God spoken to your soul?
Have you heard His voice, felt its power, and fallen under its influence?
“And we also thank God continually because, when you received the word of
God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men,
but as it actually is, the word of God, which is effectually
at work in you who believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13
“He sent his word, and healed them, and delivered them from their destructions.” Psalm 107:20
J.C.Philpot
What an effect a word from God can produce! Be it in reading; in hearing; on the knees; or in secret meditation; when a word drops from the Lord’s mouth with any divine power into the soul, what a change it produces! And nothing but this divine power can ever bring a poor sinner out of his miserable condition. When this comes, it does the work in a moment; it heals all the wounds which sin has made, and repairs all the breaches in the conscience that folly has produced. One word from God heals them all. The Lord does not come as it were with plasters to heal first one sore and then another. He heals now as in the days of his flesh. When he healed then, he healed fully, at once, completely.
The earthly doctor heals by degrees; he puts a plaster on one sore, and a liniment on another; and heals one by one. But when the Lord heals, it is all done in a moment. The balm of Gilead flows over all the wounds, heals them up, and makes them perfectly whole. It is then with the soul as with the woman with the issue of blood; “she felt in her body she was healed of that plague.” And this is healing! Any word from God, really from God, does it in a moment. If you can get but one word from God into your soul to make you believe you are a child of God, and savingly interested in his pardoning love and mercy, every wound, though there be a million, yes, every wound will be healed instantaneously. This is the only healing worth having.
To be healed by ‘evidences’ is like being healed by plasters. You need an evidence here, and an evidence there, as a man that has his body full of sores needs a plaster upon every wound. One word from God is the real panacea, the true, the only “heal-all;” and Jesus (Jehovah-rophi, “the Lord my healer”) the only true infallible Physician. Would you be healed completely, you must look to the Lord, and not to man; be a Hezekiah, not an Asa.