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The Primacy of Preaching

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• Isaiah 55, verses 8 through 11, and the message today is the primacy of preaching. Now, Hobie is the only one in here who will have an advantage because I taught this message to him about a year ago, so he ought to be well up on it. Isaiah 55, notice verse 8. God says, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

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• "For as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater." Now look at this, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I sent it."

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• So the message is on the primacy of preaching. Let me ask you a question. Why in the world do you attend the preaching of the Word of God? Or ask this question. What benefit do you have from the preached Word of God? You may also ask another question. How does God regard His preachers? And what should be your attitude toward God's preachers and preaching? I want to begin with a quote today. Every quote that I'm going to give you is by an old Puritan. And when I say an old Puritan, these men usually lived in the 1500s, 1600s, somewhere like that. These men were very serious scholars. But the first quote is from Nehemiah Rogers, and it's about a good paragraph long. And I want you to listen carefully.

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• You won't have time to write all this down. This is a message in itself, but I'm just going to read it. He says, "The great benefit we have by the word preached, few do or indeed can conceive, and therefore the Lord does teach it us by sundry comparisons and similitudes such as every man can understand and judge thereof. Sometimes God's people are called the Lord's building, His house and temple, as 1 Corinthians 3:9, 2 Corinthians 6:16, and preachers, therefore, are resembled to builders and carpenters who must both lay the foundation and set up the frame, 1 Corinthians 3:10. Number two, sometimes God's people are called God's household, as in Galatians 6:10 and Ephesians 2:19, and then ministers of God's word are resembled as stewards who must give everyone their portion of meat in due season, Luke 12:42. Sometimes the godly are called the sons and daughters of God, as in 2 Corinthians 6:18, and then preachers are called both spiritual fathers by whom they are begotten unto God, 1 Corinthians 4:15, and spiritual mothers who travail in birth with them, Galatians 4:19, and nurses by whom they are fed while they are

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• babes in Christ. 1 Thessalonians 2:7.

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• Fourthly, sometimes the people are called the Lord's pleasant garden and fruitful orchard, as in the Song of Solomon 4, verses 12-13, and then ministers are called the planters and waterers of it. Fifthly, sometimes a church is called the Lord's husbandry, that is, His cultivated soil and cornfield, 1 Corinthians 3:9. And then we are called both as laborers who by stubbing and dunging and plowing must prepare it, 1 Corinthians 3:9, and as seedsmen who must sow it, Mark 4:26, and also as reapers who must cut the corn down and bring it into the barn, John 4:38. Number six. Sometimes the people are called pilgrims who travel in a way unknown and dangerous, 1 Peter 2:11.

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• And then we ministers are compared to guides, Hebrews 3:7, and to lights, Matthew 5:14, because we light the candle and hold it forth to direct you in the way of life." Isn't that beautiful? He just gave six pictures of the relationship between preachers and the people. I want you to understand that preaching the Word of God is the chief duty of preachers. God's preachers must either preach or perish.

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• I've probably told you this before, but I remember Henry joking with me when I turned 62. He said, "Well, boy, now you can retire." And of course, we laughed about it. And, you know, I'm not saying I will never, ever retire because God can retire me. But I cannot even envision myself not preaching and not teaching. I mean, that's just beyond my scope of imagination. Do you realize if God has called a man to preach, this must be done or he's going to be undone? In fact, the Bible tells us very clearly that there is a necessity in preaching because it is backed with a woe. In 1 Corinthians 9 and verse 16, the Apostle Paul said, "For though I preach the gospel, I have nothing to glory of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, woe is me if I preach not the gospel." So he's saying, look, I've got to preach or else.

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• Robert Trail, another old Puritan, asked this question, "By what means may ministers best win souls?" His answer was this, "The principal work of a preacher is preaching. The principal benefit the people have by them is to hear the Word of the Lord from them." Ask yourself these questions. Why is preaching so important? Why is there so much emphasis laid upon preaching in the Word of God? Why is preaching primary? Why should you faithfully attend the preached Word of God? Now hopefully I want to answer those questions for you today and maybe even answer a few more. But I want to show you why preaching is so paramount, why it is so important in the Word of God.

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• Number one, here's the first reason. God the Father ordained the preaching of the Gospel. I want you to turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I'm going to quote a lot of scriptures today only for time's sake. But there are a number of scriptures I do want you to see. And if you look in 1 Corinthians 1, let's begin reading there with verse 18 and read through verse 21. I want you to notice what the Bible says. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18. The Apostle Paul writes, "For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But to us who are saved it is the power of God."

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• "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."

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• Now, I want to show you five things from this verse, or from this passage. But I want you to note that last phrase in verse 21, "it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." Do you realize what God could have done had he been so pleased? He could have written the gospel in the sky with clouds that would have remained there forever. He could have carved it on the rocks of the mountains, but he did not. He ordained the preaching of the gospel. And here are five things in this passage that preaching does. If you'll notice in verse 18, he says, "For the preaching of the cross to them that perish is foolishness."

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• The first thing it does, it dooms and damns the unbelievers. It's foolishness to them. It's a waste of time. They wouldn't drive three hours one way to hear a preached message. They wouldn't even walk across the street. And so preaching dooms and damns the unbeliever.

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• Secondly, if you look in verse 19, it confounds the wise. He says, "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." So it confounds the wise. And then in verse 19, it also destroys carnal reasoning. That's when he says that he will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. So all the worldly wise men, their carnal reasoning shall fail. And then in verse 20, we find out that the preaching of the gospel silences the disputers by revealing their foolishness. Look what he says. "Where is the wise? Where is the scribe?"

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• "Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?" in comparing it to the preached word of God? Yes, the wisdom of the world is foolish. And then lastly, number five, in verse 21, the preaching of the gospel calls out those who believe, for "it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe." So, notice if you would, God was pleased to ordain the preaching of the gospel.

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• Now let me show you something else. Do you realize, and it may have escaped your attention, but do you realize in a very unique way God the Father himself engaged in preaching the gospel. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 3 and verse 8, this passage refers back to Genesis chapter 12. Genesis chapter 12 is where God is preaching to Abraham. So you don't need many people to preach.

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• You've just got to have one. Notice if you would, Galatians 3 and verse 8, the Bible says this, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed." Note what the Bible specifically says, God preached the gospel to Abraham. And that refers back to Genesis chapter 12.

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• Now, I want you to turn to two other passages. I want you to turn to Isaiah 61 and Luke chapter 4. Go ahead and find Luke 4 and just hold it because we're going to come back there and we're going to read Isaiah 61 first. Okay? Isaiah 61 is a very important passage and I'll show you why. In Isaiah 61 there is a statement made and a promise given that was applied directly to Jesus Christ. Now, it's certainly true in one sense the word of all of God's preachers, but it's primarily true of Jesus Christ. In Isaiah 61 and verse 1, look what the scripture says.

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• "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me." Now, stop and ask yourself this question. Why was the Spirit of the Lord God upon him? Here's why. "Because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all that mourn." Now, note this verse. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach."

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• Now, if you will turn in your Bibles to Luke chapter 4 and skip down to verse 16. Luke 4 and verse 16. "And he came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up," where of course we're talking about Jesus Christ. "And he came to Nazareth where he'd been brought up, and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood up for to read."

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• "And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Isaiah, and look at this next statement. And when he had opened the book, he found the place," that is he looked for it, he turned there deliberately, "he found the place where it was written, The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Look! "And he closed the book, and he gave it again to the minister, and sat down."

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• "And the eyes of all them that were in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began to say unto them, This day is this scripture fulfilled in your ears." Do you realize God the Father ordained the preaching of the gospel? God the Father himself in a very unique way engaged in preaching the gospel and you find as you read through the New Testament the Messiah's chief joy and chief delight was preaching the word of God.

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• Every time they tried to get him to stay in one city He would say, "I must preach to other cities also." So his chief joy was preaching the Word of God. I also want to point out that as you read through the Bible, the servants of the Father and the servants of Jesus Christ are ordained and sent forth for one reason, and that is the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

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• Let me just quote a couple passages. Do you remember Mark chapter 3 and verse 13? The Bible says that Jesus goeth up into a mountain and calleth unto himself whom he would. That is, he selected them. And then verse 14 says, "and he sent them forth to preach." Now, why did Jesus Christ call his disciples? The answer is to send them forth to preach. He did not call them to be administrators of a large business or corporation. He did not call them to be entertainers and to let people enjoy the services. He called them to preach the gospel. Do you remember what the Bible says in John 20 and verse 21? When Jesus Christ breathed on His disciples and He said, "Receive ye the Holy Ghost, as my Father hath sent me, so send I you." Well, what did the Father send Christ to do? He sent Him forth to preach. And Paul in 1 Timothy 2 and verse 7 says he is ordained by God to be an apostle and a preacher. And when you get to 2 Timothy 1 and verse 11, he says he's ordained by God to be a teacher.

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• God has in a very unique way and very purposefully and deliberately ordained the preaching of the gospel. He engaged in it. It was the chief joy of Christ, and it's the chief joy of every true servant of Christ. You know, I tell people, and I'm joking a lot of times, but it's really true. Sometimes people say, "Well, I really enjoyed the message." And I said, "You know, it really doesn't matter to me whether you do or not. I do. I just enjoy preaching. I like preaching."

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• I said, "Somebody get something out of it. Even if you don't, I do because I like preaching. That's what God has called me to do. And I should enjoy it. I should like it." And as you read through the Bible, all the disciples wanted to preach. They were ready to preach. Do you realize if there was no other reason given in the Word of God for you to listen to preaching, for you to faithfully attend the preaching of the Word of God, if there was no other reason given for the primacy of preaching, this one would be sufficient that God ordained it.

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• If we want to honor Him, we're going to follow His ordination. The second reason, if you will turn in your Bibles to John 17, and as you turn there, I hope you know that John 17 is the high priestly prayer of Jesus Christ. Here is the second reason why preaching is so primary, why it is so important. Notice John chapter 17 and let's read verses 19 through 20. Everybody knows that in this passage Jesus Christ is praying for his disciples. He's praying for his people. But I want you to know what he prays for specifically in these two verses. John 17 verse 19 Our Lord said, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Watch verse 20. Neither pray I for these alone," that is, his then living disciples, "but for them also who shall believe on me through their word." So our Lord then in his high priestly prayer not only prays for the men, but he also prays for the method. For those who shall believe on me through their word, that is through their preaching, through their teaching.

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• So our Lord then finds preaching important enough that he prays for its success. I want to tell you and I'm going to show you what I mean by this. That the ordination of God the Father and the prayer of God the Son are indeed the foundation of success of the preaching of the gospel. I want to give you a quote by John Flavel, and if you've never read anything by John Flavel, he is undoubtedly one of the sweetest Puritans that ever wrote.

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• I have all of his works in my library, and I would highly recommend his books. But here's what he said concerning the ministry, and I want you to listen carefully. I can assure you I can identify with this paragraph. He says, "The labors of the ministry will exhaust the very marrow from your bones, hasten to old age and death. They, God's preachers, are fitly compared to the toil of men in harvest, to the labors of a woman in travail, and to the agonies of soldiers in the extremity of a battle."

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• "We must watch while others sleep." Now listen to this. "And indeed, it is not so much the expense of our labors as the loss of them that kill us. It is not with us as with other laborers. They find their work as they leave it. So do not we. Sin and Satan unravel almost all we do. The impressions we make on our people's souls in one sermon vanish before the next."

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• "How many truths have we to study? How many wiles of Satan and mysteries of corruption to detect? How many cases of conscience to resolve? Yea, we must fight in defense of the truths we preach, as well as study them to paleness and preach them and all, but welcome pained breasts and aching backs and trembling legs, if we can all but approve ourselves Christ's faithful servants, and hear that joyful voice from his mouth, well done, thou good and faithful servant, all will be well."

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• Now I want you to listen to what he said. Now I want you to think about this. He said, "And indeed it is not so much the expense of our labors as the loss of them that kill us. It is not with us as with other laborers. They find their work as they leave it." I've been in Dr. Holmes' clinic. He can be operating on an animal, and he can be interrupted. I've got news for you. As long as that animal is asleep and as long as that gas keeps coming, he may be interrupted 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 20 minutes, even 30 minutes, but when he comes back, he's going to find that animal just exactly the way he left that animal. A carpenter will find his work just as he left it.

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• But you try counseling someone, you try preaching to someone, and you drive a truth home to them, and the next day when you talk to them, they've already forgotten everything that you said. That's why I've said that the average preacher, really and truly, only needs about 15, 20 sermons. He can just keep re-preaching them. Most folks will never know. Some of you cannot even tell me what I preached here last Sunday. Think!

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• You see what I'm saying? It's not the expense of the labor, it's the loss of the labor. And you think how much we have forgotten and how much we have lost. So preaching, then, must be important. It was important enough for God the Father to ordain it. It's important enough for God the Son to pray for it. And our Lord's prayers and our Father's ordination is the basis and the ground and the foundation of the success of the preaching of the gospel.

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• You know, this ought to be a gracious encouragement to preachers. God has never promised to bless my joke telling. He's never promised to bless my administrative skills if I ever had any. But He has promised to bless the preaching of the Word of God. Why should I not preach with the blessing of God upon it and the prayers of Christ the Son for it. Let me ask you, how many of our Lord's prayers have ever been denied? Not one. And if he's prayed for the success of the preaching of the gospel, would you care to guess whether or not it will succeed?

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• What did our Lord say in Isaiah 55? "My word shall not return unto me void." It is going to accomplish everything that God has purposed for it to accomplish. Here's the third reason why preaching is so primary. Because God the Holy Ghost is covenantally engaged to honor the preaching of the Word of God. Now think about this. God the Father has ordained it. God the Son has prayed for it. And now God the Holy Spirit is covenantally engaged to honor the preaching of the Word of God. Go back in your Bibles to Isaiah 59.

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• By the way, you might also want to turn to 2 Corinthians 3. But look at Isaiah 59 first. Isaiah 59, and then we're going to 2 Corinthians. Isaiah 59, and look if you would please at verse 21. Isaiah 59, verse 21. Here we go. Isaiah 59 verse 21, "As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord from henceforth and forever." Note, "and as for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord, my spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth shall not depart." You know, interestingly enough, when you read Isaiah 61, it ought to have new meaning now. "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me." Why?

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• Because the Holy Ghost is covenantally engaged to honor the preaching of the gospel. With that in mind, turn in your Bibles to 2 Corinthians chapter 3, and let's begin reading there with verse 1. 2 Corinthians 3 and verse 1, look what the Apostle Paul says. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 1, "Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or need we as some others epistles of commendation to you, or letters of commendation from you?"

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• "You are our epistle, written in our hearts, known and read of all men. Forasmuch as you are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ, look now, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in fleshly tables of the heart. And such trust have we through Christ in God, not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God. Here it is, who have made us able ministers of the New Testament or the New Covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." What is he saying? He is saying, these Corinthians, you are our epistle. Why are you our epistle? Because you were written upon by the Spirit of God. It was God, the Holy Spirit, who convicted you and who converted you.

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• Listen, all you have to do, and I'm not going to take time to go back there, but if you were to read Jeremiah 31 verses 31 through 34, and if you were to read Ezekiel 36 verses 22 through 32, these are Old Testament passages that contain the promise and the prophecy of the new covenant which we have in the New Testament, you will find in each of those passages, "I will put my Spirit within you." What is he saying? The Holy Spirit of God is covenantally engaged to honor the preaching of the Word of God. Listen, when people are converted, when preachers are preaching, it is not because of the preacher.

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• It is not because of his oration. It is not because of his outline or his illustration. It's because of the Spirit of God. Paul said, "not that we have a sufficiency of ourselves. We don't have it. The sufficiency is of God." You know, I like to liken preachers to those rotten cast clouts, rotten rags that Ebed-melech used to pull Jeremiah out of the dungeon. You know, he begged the Ethiopian, "Put those rotten cast clouts down there and said, put them under your arms. I'm going to pull you out." Rotten rags are worthless in and of themselves, but activated by the Spirit of God.

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• They're successful for the deliverance of the prisoners. And that's what it takes in the ministry, not man, but the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And thankfully, he's covenantally engaged to honor the preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

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• Now, if we went no further today, these three reasons should show you the primacy of preaching. God the Father ordained it, God the Son prayed for it, and God the Holy Spirit is covenantally engaged to honor it. But there's a fourth reason. I want you to turn in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 4. Galatians, Ephesians, Ephesians chapter four, and we're going to begin reading there with verse eight, Ephesians four and verse eight. And I want you to think about this now. Here's the fourth reason why preaching is so primary, because pastor teachers are the gifts of Christ to his church.

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• Let me say that again. Pastor teachers are the gifts of Christ to his church. Look in Ephesians 4 verse 8, "Wherefore he saith," and by the way, if you were to go back to the Psalms, you'd find this is applied directly to Jesus Christ. "Wherefore he saith, when he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men."

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• "Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth? He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens that he might fill all things."

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• Now, here are some of the gifts that he gave. "And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastor teachers." Actually, pastor teachers is one group. So he gave some apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastor teachers. Why? "for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying or the building up of the body of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure, the stature, the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of man, and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive."

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• "But speaking the truth in love may grow up in him in all things, which is the head even Christ." And then, of course, verse 16 tells us he's going to make the whole body work together.

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• Now, I want you to note pastor teachers are the gifts of Jesus Christ to his church. Now, when I'm talking about pastor teachers based upon Ephesians chapter four, I'm not talking about hirelings. I'm not talking about professionals. I'm not talking about men who are mama called and papa sent. I'm talking about those whom God has sovereignly selected and called out to preach and teach His Word, and He's given them His stamp of approval. You say, "How in the world can you tell whether or not a man is called of God?" It's very simple. Those who are called of God, as the Bible says, labor in the Word and doctrine. There's a big difference. They labor in the Word and doctrine.

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• Now, let me ask you a question. What do you think of the ministers of Christ? Are they to be despised, maligned, hated, rejected? Are they someone that you should look up to, someone that you should follow, someone that you should respect, someone that you should try to emulate? Well, regardless of what men think of God's preachers, God calls them His angels, His messengers, His servants, His mouthpieces, His prophets. I want to ask that you turn in your Bible to Jeremiah chapter 3.

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• I'll give you the verse in just a moment. Go to Jeremiah chapter 3. And as you're there, let me ask you this question. Are God's preachers contemptible persons? Hmm. Let me ask you another question as you turn to Jeremiah chapter 3. How can you tell when the blessing of God is upon a person, a family, a church, a people, a nation, how can you tell? Well, look in Jeremiah 3 and verse 15. Look at God's promise when God promises to bless. He says, "And I will give you pastors according to my heart who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." You know you're blessed when you have preachers who feed you with knowledge and understanding. Now, let's ask the question in the opposite sense. How can you tell when a person, a family, a church or a nation is cursed by God? Well, if God blesses them, he gives them pastors who teach them. If God curses them, he does one of two things. Number one, he will remove his pastors.

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• That doesn't mean necessarily by death. But do you remember when Israel was under a curse in the time of Elijah? And what did God tell Elijah? Get out of the land. And he went to Zarephath and stayed with a widow for three and a half years. What did God do? God showed that that physical drought was just a picture of a spiritual reality. The curse of God was upon the land, and therefore, God removed His preacher from the land. Therefore, they had no word of God. The second thing God can do, and since we're in Jeremiah, go ahead and turn to Jeremiah chapter 7. The second thing God can do is this. God can leave His preachers in the land. He just silences them. Look what God told Jeremiah. Remember, Jeremiah is known as the weeping prophet. Jeremiah really, really cared for the people, and he really, really wanted to reach the people, but they wouldn't listen to him. And look in Jeremiah chapter 7 and verse 16. Look what God says to Jeremiah. "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up crying or prayer for them, neither make intercession to me, for I will not hear thee."

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• Well, why would God not hear Jeremiah when he prayed for those people? Well, skip down to verse 26. God says, "Yet they hearken not unto me." In fact, go back to verse 25. He said, "Since the day that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto this day, have I even sent unto you all my servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them? Yet they hearken not to me, nor incline their ear, but harden their neck, and did worse than their fathers. Therefore thou shalt speak all these words unto them, and they will not hearken to thee. Thou shalt also call unto them, but they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord their God, nor receiveth correction."

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• "Truth is perished, and is cut off from their mouth." What did God do? God left him in the land. He said, "Jeremiah, just don't pray for them."

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• Now watch it, if you would, in chapter 11 and verse 14. Jeremiah still wanted to pray for the people because he loved his people. But in Jeremiah 11 and verse 14, God says this to Jeremiah again, "Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them, for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble." God said, "Jeremiah, don't pray to me for them."

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• "I'm not going to listen to you. And I'm not going to listen to them." Jeremiah still wanted to pray. So if you look in Jeremiah chapter 14 and verse 11, God said, "OK, Jeremiah, you want to pray for them, I'm going to let you pray for them. But you have to pray what I tell you." So here it is, Jeremiah 14, verse 11. "Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for their good." In other words, you want to pray for them, Jeremiah? You pray that I'll destroy them because that's exactly what I'm going to do. In the case of Elijah, God took him out of the land. In the case of Jeremiah, God left him in the land.

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• He just shut his mouth. Except for praying for their destruction.

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• Now, let me ask you a question, since I've told you that pastor teachers are God's gift to his church. Can you disdain and despise the gift without despising the giver of the gift? No. Let me just tell you about one, because you know it, then we'll turn to the other. But you remember 2 Kings chapter 2, there was this man by the name of Elisha. And like me, he was bald headed. And you remember those young teenagers who came out of the woods and said or came up to Elisha and said, "Go up, old baldy, go up, old baldy." And what they were making fun of was not just Elisha, but they were making fun of Elijah, who had been translated to heaven. You remember that? "Go up, old baldy." In other words, if you're God's preacher, you go up just like him. And what did Elisha do? He turned around and cursed them in the name of the Lord. And two she bears came out of the woods, the Bible said, and tare forty and two of them.

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• Hmm. I don't think I want to make fun of a preacher's bald head. That's all right for me to make fun of, because it's mine. But you understand what I'm saying? They had no respect for the man of God. They were despising God's gift. God judged him.

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• Now let me show you. Turn in your Bibles, if you would please, to 2 Chronicles. 2 Chronicles chapter 36. And let me just show you that it is impossible to have one attitude toward God and a different attitude toward God's preachers. Notice 2 Chronicles chapter 36. And let's begin reading there with verse 15. 2 Chronicles 36 and verse 15. Look what God says. 2 Chronicles 36 and verse 15, "And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by His messengers, rising up betimes and sending, because He had compassion on His people."

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• Remember, I've already told you that. When God is blessing a people, what does He do? He sends in His preachers. He's going to tell them the truth. So God had mercy upon them and he sent them his messengers. Why? Because he had compassion on his people and on his dwelling place. Look in verse 16, 2 Chronicles 36, "But they, the people, mocked the messengers of God and despised his words." Notice his is singular, messengers is plural. What word was the messengers carrying? God's word. They mocked the messengers of God and despised His, that is, God's words, and misused His prophets until the wrath of the Lord rose against His people till there was no remedy.

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• "Therefore He brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with a sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young men or old men or him that stooped for age. He gave them all into His hand." What did God do? God judged the people. Why? Because they would not listen to him through the words of his preachers. You cannot despise the gift without despising the giver of the gift.

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• Do you remember what our Lord said in Matthew 10 in verse 40? Let me just quote it. Listen carefully, our Lord said, "He that receiveth you," as he's sending out his disciples, he said, "he that receiveth you receiveth me. And he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me." Now, let's analyze that. Jesus Christ said, "You're my representative, you're my disciples, I'm sending you out. Those that receive you are receiving me, just like those that receive me receive my father." So when we receive Christ, we receive the father.

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• But the opposite is also true. He who despises and does not receive Christ does not receive the Father. And he who receives not the messengers of God or the messengers of Christ does not receive Christ. It is impossible to have one attitude toward Christ and a different attitude toward his preachers. You cannot love one and hate the other. You cannot despise the gift without despising the giver of the gift.

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• Now, why is preaching so important? God, the Father, ordained it. God, the Son, prayed for it. God, the Holy Spirit's covenantally engaged to honor the preaching of the word of God and pastor teachers are the gifts of Christ to his church.

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• Now, fifthly, and here's where we'll spend a little time, listen carefully. I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20. 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 20. The fifth point is this. Listen carefully, because this is going to be a little complicated. It is through or by means of God's preachers that Christ actually preaches Himself. Now listen to that. It is through or by means of God's preachers that Christ actually preaches Himself. Look in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 20. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 20. Here's what Paul says. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ."

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• "As though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead be you reconciled to God." Now let me just stop right there. If you were to take 2 Corinthians 5 and read verses 11 through 19, you would see that the ambassadors that Paul is talking about would be preachers. So we're not talking about anyone and everyone here. We're talking primarily about preachers. The context gives us that. Now he says, "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, be you reconciled unto God." Now when he says, "as though God did beseech you by us," the little word "by," is the Greek word dia, D-I-A, which literally means through us or in us. So literally he says this, "now we beseech you as ambassadors of Christ as though God did beseech you through us or in us."

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• What does the apostle say? The apostle is saying that our message is to be regarded as the message of God. It is God who speaks. In other words, when the messenger comes in God's name and in God's authority, it should be received with respect as from God in whose name the messenger has come and by whose authority he is speaking. So let me just put it to you like this. The preaching of the Word of God is the message of God speaking to men through the ministry. And it is the Word of God.

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• If you understand this passage, you're going to see not only the dignity, but the authority that is involved in preaching of the gospel. I've rebuked some people in times past, and I've had one or two to challenge me, and they would say, "By what authority are you saying that to me?" And I said, "On the highest, based upon the Word of God. God Himself says it, and I'll give you the Scripture," and I quote them the Scripture. The authority is from God.

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• Now, look what He said in verse 20. "Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ. As though God did beseech you through us, we pray you in Christ's stead be you reconciled to God." Please listen to what I'm about to say. In verse 20, when he says, "now then we are ambassadors for Christ," you can circle that little word "for." And then if you look in verse 20, where he says, "we pray you in Christ's stead," you can circle the little word "stead." The Greek word that is used for "for" and the Greek word that is used "stead" is the same word. It is huper. Huper is a primary preposition and it is also translated in our Bibles as "in one's stead." Now, wait a minute.

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• I want to make this clear. "We pray you in Christ's stead." What does that mean? Let me show you how the Apostle Paul used it in the book of Philemon, chapter 1 and verse 13. Turn to Philemon, right before the little book, little book right before Hebrews, Philemon. There's only one chapter in it. Philemon 1 and verse 13. You remember Onesimus was the runaway slave. And Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon. And look what Paul says in verse 13 as he sends Onesimus back. He says, "Whom I would have retained with me that in thy stead he might have ministered unto me in the bonds of the gospel." Now what was Paul saying? "Onesimus I'm sending back. Philemon, I really need you. I really need you here. But you're not here. And I started to keep Onesimus that in your stead or in your place, he might be here." In other words, he would take your place. Onesimus for Philemon. Are you listening? We say that Christ died in our stead. What's that mean?

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• He died in our place. We should have died. But he took our place. He is in our stead. Now, what does it mean when the Apostle Paul says "we pray you in Christ's stead"? What he is saying is, we are here in the place of Christ. We are here in behalf of, and for the sake of, and in the place of Christ. We are now doing on earth what Christ would be doing were He here on earth.

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• That is preaching the word of the Father. So look what he says now.

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• "Now then, we are ambassadors in the stead of Christ. As though God did beseech you in or through or by us, we pray to you in Christ's stead, be reconciled unto God." You know what the Pope claims? The Pope claims to be the vicar of Christ. Look up the word vicar. One appointed in the place of, ordained in the stead of. The Pope is not the vicar of Christ. Every true preacher is the vicar of Christ. He's here in the stead of Christ.

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• I want to make this exceedingly clear because it is vitally important. I want you to look in your Bibles to the book of Ephesians chapter 2. We're talking about preachers being in the stead of Christ. Look at Ephesians chapter 2. And let's begin reading there, let's say with verse 13, just so that you can see the context is Christ. Verse 13, "But now in Christ Jesus, you who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ." Now we're talking about Christ, "for He is our peace, who hath broken down both one and the broken down the middle wall of partition between us." And skip down to verse 16, so we're still talking about Christ.

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• "And that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby. Now watch verse 17. And came and preached peace to you, which were afar off and to them that were nigh." Oh, what? Did you read verse 17 the way I read it? "And came and preached peace to you that were far off and to them that were nigh"? Whoa, I don't know. Did you catch that? Do you know that this book is written to the Ephesians? The Ephesians lived in Ephesus. Ephesus was in Asia Minor. What's that mean? Well, in Romans chapter 15 in verse 8, the Bible tells us that Jesus Christ was a minister to the circumcision. The Bible tells us in Matthew 15, verse 24, He was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The Bible also tells us that He never, ever left the land of Palestine. How did He preach to those people who were in Ephesus? Isn't that what verse 17 says? "And came and preached peace to you who were far off

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• and to them that were nigh." How did Christ preach to those people who were in Ephesus when Christ never ever left the land of Palestine? And very obviously this is after Christ was dead and had been raised and seated at the right hand of God. How did he preach to those people? What's the answer? Through Paul and the other apostles, because they were there in His stead, in His name, and by His authority.

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• Let me show you another one. Look in your Bibles to 1 Peter chapter 3. Very obviously when we look at verse 18, we know we're talking about Jesus Christ. Or Christ is named specifically. So 1 Peter 3 and verse 18. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit." So, verse 18, everybody concurs we're talking about Christ, right? Well, look at verse 19, "...by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved by water." Whoa! Whoa! What's this? Verse 19, "...by which He, Christ, went and preached unto the spirits in prison, which were sometimes disobedient when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah." So here's a verse telling us that Christ preached to those antediluvians, those people who lived before the flood.

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• Christ had not even become incarnate. How did Christ preach to those antediluvians? What's the answer? Through Noah. In fact, the Bible in 2 Peter 2 and verse 5 explicitly calls Noah a preacher of righteousness. What God's preachers did was attributed to Christ. Why? For they were in his name and by his authority and they were his representatives.

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• Now, let me show you. Turn back in your Bibles to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. You talk about a passage that is so powerful. Look in Romans chapter 10. I just, if you ever see this, it'll make you sit up and pay attention when you hear the preaching of the Word of God. Watch this. Romans chapter 10, verse 13. Now, everyone can quote verse 13. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Oh, we've heard that verse all of our lives. We witnessed to other people. We quoted that verse left and right. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."

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• Let me ask you a question. Is calling upon the name of the Lord that which saves you? The Bible does say whosoever calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Well, that's true. But is it calling that saves you? Or is it faith that saves you? See, the Bible says, "by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast." So that now brings me to another question. Is calling, then, salvation, or is it the evidence of salvation?

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• And there's a difference between those two things. Very obviously, calling cannot be salvation, because we're saved by grace through faith. So, if calling, then, is the evidence of salvation, that means something must precede calling, right? Okay, let's look at verse 13. "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." Now look at verse 14. "How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?" Oh, what must precede calling? Faith. So it's not the calling that saves you, it's the calling that evidences that you're saved, right? So in order to call, you must first what? Believe.

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• Well, let me ask you another question. What is it that makes a man believe? Well, let's look at verse 14, something's got to happen to make him believe. Verse 13, "for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." "How then shall they call on him whom they've not believed?" Now look, "and how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard?" Oh, now. In order to believe, you must hear. And you must hear Christ.

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• Now, I want you to watch carefully at what the Bible does not say. Look at verse 14. Don't let me read this incorrectly, OK? I might do it just to see if you're paying attention. "How then shall they call on him in whom they've not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard about." Did I read it wrongly? I did. What word did I add? "About." What is the difference?

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• If you hear about someone, he's not there. If you hear someone, he is there. Now watch this. In order to believe, you must hear Christ. In order to call, you must believe. So let's work this thing back. If you call, your calling is evidence of your belief because you've already believed. Well, what made you believe? Well, you heard Christ. How did you hear Christ? Are you looking? "And how shall they hear without a preacher?" What? Christ speaks through his preachers as they preach his word. As they preach his word, he speaks to his people. So they hear not just my voice, not just my outline. They hear him. They believe and they call upon him, which evidences their salvation. Then they say, "how shall they preach?"

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• Verse 15, "except they be sent." In other words, to be the instrument that God uses, you must be called of God and sent of God. Isn't that beautiful? In other words, everything we are and everything we have, spiritually speaking, comes from God. And all God does is just simply uses men.

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• Now, look in your Bibles to 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 2 and verse 13. I'm trying to be as quick as I can, but I want to cover this. Look in 1 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 13. Here's what the Apostle Paul said. 1 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. He says, "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing." So he's thankful for something. "For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when you," these Thessalonians, "when you receive the word of God, which you heard of us." Now look, "you receive it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also on you that believe." What was Paul saying? It's not my word, it's God's word. And when you received it, that which you believed, that which made you call, was the word of God that you heard from Christ himself. What's that mean? That means in all preaching, we must look beyond the preacher to Christ, who is the true prophet and the true preacher, who gives the true Word of God.

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• What I may do outwardly and externally, Christ does internally and spiritually through the preaching of the Word of God. So when someone says to me, "Well, Brother Weaver, that was a real blessing today." That means you heard Christ. You may have heard me, but you heard him. I'm not able to bless anybody, but he is. You know, there's another illustration, I'll just tell you about it. You remember that Ethiopian eunuch in Acts chapter eight?

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• The Holy Spirit told Philip to go join himself to the chariot. He got there and that eunuch was reading from Isaiah. And Philip said, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" and what did he say? "How can I except some man guide me?" Philip got in the chariot and the next verse says, "and preached unto him Jesus." God was speaking through Philip.

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• Now, I've got two other quick points. Let me give them to you. Number six. Listen carefully. Ordinarily, there is no salvation apart from the preached Word of God. Ordinarily, there is no salvation apart from the preached Word of God. If you look in your Bibles to the book of Romans chapter one, Romans chapter one, and what the Apostle Paul said in verses 15 and 16. Romans 1.

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• Notice, if you would please, verse 15 and 16. Paul said, "So much as in me is, I'm ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Note, he said, "so much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel." Do you realize that God said in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 21, it was by the foolishness of preaching that He chose to save those that believe. 1 Peter 1:23 says, "being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible by the Word of God, which liveth and abideth forever."

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• Psalm 19, verse 7, "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul, making wise the simple." But that which brings the Word of God with power is the preaching of the Word of God. Thomas White, in his writings, another Puritan said this, "The most ordinary means of our effectual calling is the preaching of the word, and though by other means some men may be called, yet seldom or never are any called who neglect this means or condemn this means." What does he say?

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• Nobody's going to be saved who neglects and despises and rejects the preaching of the Word of God. And Nathan Parr said it like this, "The gospel is the power of God unto salvation not written in leaves, but preached." Well, that's what the Apostle Paul said, "the letter killeth, but the Spirit giveth life." He says without the preaching of the gospel, ordinarily there is no salvation. In his catechetical instruction, Nathan Parr asked, "Shall none be saved but those who hear sermons?" And the answer is no, ordinarily. Thomas Godwin called preaching God's great converting ordinance. The Bible knows nothing of individuals being converted who hate and despise and reject the preaching and teaching of the Word of God.

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• You've got to remember back in Romans chapter 10, hearing unto salvation is peculiarly connected to Christ. And preaching the Word of God is peculiarly connected to Christ for those who hear unto salvation. So ordinarily, there is no salvation apart from the preached Word of God. Seventhly, and very quickly, preaching is the means used by God to sanctify, settle, establish, and strengthen the saints of God. If you were to go back to Ephesians 4, He gave some pastor-teachers for the perfecting of the saints, for the building up of the body of Christ. Paul said in Acts 20 and verse 32, "And now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among them that are sanctified." In 1 Thessalonians 3 and verse 10, Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and he said this, "Night and day pray exceedingly that we might see your face and might perfect that which is lacking in your faith." Here's my question. How could Paul perfect that which was lacking in their faith?

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• Through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God, he would give them the truth that they needed to be more mature in the things of God. You remember that passage in Philippians chapter one, Paul was in prison. And he said he was in a strait betwixt two. Having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which was far better for him, then he said, "Nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you." He said, "If the Lord lets me live, I'll stay around just so I can preach and teach the word of God." I want to show you one other passage before I make some applications. If you look in 2 Corinthians, chapter one, this is a passage that is taken out of context so many times. 2 Corinthians, chapter one. Look, if you would please, at verse 15. 2 Corinthians, chapter one, verse 15. There's other passages I have that I don't have time to go over them. But 2 Corinthians chapter one, verse 15, Paul writes the Corinthians and he says, "In this confidence, I was minded to come unto you before that you might have a second benefit."

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• Oh. You want to hear how people interpret that? Some will tell you the second benefit is speaking in tongues. Or the second benefit is this, or the second benefit is that. Now Paul said, "I wanted to give you a second benefit." What is he talking about? Well, let's read it. "And in this confidence I was minded to come unto you before that you might have a second benefit, and to pass by you into Macedonia, to come again out of Macedonia unto you, and of you to be brought on my way to Judea. When I therefore was thus minded, did I use lightness, or the things that I purposed, do I purpose according to flesh, that with me there should be yea, yea, and nay, nay? But as God is true, and our word toward you was not yea and nay, for the Son of God," look at it, "Jesus Christ who was what? preached among you by us, even by me and Silvanus and Timotheus, was not yea and nay, but in him was yea."

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• "For all the promises of God in him are yea and in him amen to the glory of God by us." What was the second benefit Paul was saying? I visited you one time and preached to you. I want to visit you a second time. And guess what I'll do when I get there? Preach. And if he went there a third time, it'd be a third benefit where he'd preach then. If he'd gone there a fourth time, it'd have been a fourth benefit. He'd have preached then. The benefit was preaching the word of God. Now, if you will turn to Colossians chapter one. And look at verse 28, Paul tells you what is needed and necessary.

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• To be a mature Christian. Colossians 1 verse 28, Paul writes "whom we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom that we may present every man perfect or mature in Christ Jesus." Three things that everyone needs. Preaching, warning, that's admonition, and teaching every man in wisdom. You need preaching, you need teaching, you need admonition to be mature in Jesus Christ. And that's why God has ordained the preaching of the gospel.

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• It's the means whereby the saints are strengthened, established, and settled in the faith. Now, let me make a couple of applications. The first one is this. Think, I told you just the first four reasons. God the Father ordained preaching. God the Son prayed for it, God the Holy Ghost is covenantally engaged to honor it, and pastor-teachers are the gifts of Christ to His church. I'm not even talking about the other three right now, just those first four. Listen to this. To neglect, reject, despise, and disregard the preaching of the Word of God is, number one, to deny the purpose of the Father. Number two, to despise the prayer of the Son. Number three, to dishonor the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And number four, to disregard the gifts that Christ gave to his church. That is sin multiplied. You cannot maintain one attitude toward the gifts and the ordination and the prayer and the ministry without maintaining the same attitude toward God, the Father, God, the Son, God, the Holy Ghost, who gave those gifts.

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• Let me point out something else. Your response to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God is a good evidence of where you are in your life, in your spiritual life, and whose side you're really on. You say, "What am I, what are you talking about?" Look in your Bible, John chapter 8, very quickly. John chapter 8. Let me just show you this. We're going to go to John 8 and Acts 13, alright? So, find Acts 13 if you would.

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• We'll go there second or last. And then we're going to John 8 first. Here's what I mean by that. Look in John chapter 8. First of all in verse 2. John 8 verse 2. Just to show you that Jesus Christ is teaching. "And early in the morning He came again to the temple and all the people came to Him and He sat down and taught them." So Jesus Christ is teaching all through John chapter 8. Now when you get to John chapter 8, skip down to verses 58 and 59.

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• In our Lord's preaching, He said unto them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I am." Then took they up stones to cast at him. But Jesus hid himself, and went out of the temple, passing through the midst of them, and so passed by.

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• Now, listen to me carefully. In the preaching of the Word of God, you're going to find two major responses. Some will get mad, and some will get glad. Some got so mad they were willing to kill Christ. Look in Acts 13, verse 39. Acts 13, verse 39. I'm reading this just to show you that Paul is preaching now. Watch carefully. Acts 13 verse 39, Paul is preaching, "and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses."

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• Now look, "beware therefore lest that come upon you which is spoken of in the prophets. Behold, you despisers and wonder and perish, for I work a work in your days, a work which you shall in no wise believe, though a man declare it unto you." And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath. Words like, getting a promise from Paul, he's going to come back and preach. Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes who followed Paul and Barnabas, who spake unto them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God. Now watch. The sermon was over. It was done. Some said, "You've got to promise to come back." He said, "I promise I'll come back."

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• But then others just kept following and said, "We want more." And so he spake unto them on continuing in the grace of God. Now watch verse 44. "And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. And when the Jews saw the multitude, they were filled with envy. And did what? Spake against those things which were spoken by Paul, contradicting and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold and said, It was necessary that the Word of God should have first been spoken to you."

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• "But seeing that you put it far from you and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles. Watch! For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were what? Glad and glorified the Word of the Lord. And as many as were ordained to eternal life believed."

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• What happened in the preaching? Some got mad. And some got glad. How do you respond to the preaching and teaching of the Word of God? I got news for you. If you get mad, you're in the wrong company. The preaching and teaching of the Word of God will reveal where we are, which side we're on. We need to hear God. Let me tell you, folks, you don't need entertainment.

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• You can live without it. You don't need huge, fancy buildings with all kind of programs. You can live without them. It is not the ministry of the church to entertain people. It is not the ministry of the church to provide services for our youth. That's the family's ministry. It's the ministry of the church to preach and teach the word of God. And the reason we're in the mess that we're in in this country is there's very little preaching and a lot of entertainment.

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• And we've sold our souls for Madison Avenue success. We need to come back to the primacy of preaching. Let's pray. Father, we ask that you would speak to our hearts. Lord, above all, give us a love for your Word and a love for you. And give us, Lord, a desire to hear, to know and to understand and to comprehend the Word of God and to be faithful to it, for you've ordained it.

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• Christ the Son has prayed for it. God the Holy Spirit is covenantally engaged to honor it. Give us grace, Lord, to serve Thee acceptably with reverence and godly fear. In Thy name we pray, Amen.

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deepseek | deepseek-v4-pro | clean_readable_transcript | 2026-06-06T04:57:56Z