Preaching as a Means of Grace (5)

Introduction: Adjusting the Sermon Plan and Reviewing the Series' Argument

0:04 The following message was delivered on Sunday evening, August 29th, 1993, at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey.

0:17 Solomon wrote, among his many proverbs, the words of that which we find in our Bibles as chapter 16 and verse 9 of the book of Proverbs, declaring that a man's heart devises his way, but the Lord directs his steps. Now, I read this verse not because I intend to expound it, but in order to set the framework of explaining what I am proposing to do in the ministry of the Word of God this evening. I had every intention from three weeks ago when I was here. I was hindered from coming because of unexpected physical problems to carry on the brief series based on Matthew 24, 12, and 13, entitled, The Christian's Danger and Duty in an Age of Abounding Lawlessness. However, since I will be away next Lord's Day, along with one or two of the other elders, in our final ministry in a formal way to the brethren, in a religious way, I will be away next Lord's Day, along with one or two of the other elders, in our final ministry in a formal way to the brethren, having the privilege of guiding the church in the installation and ordination of the two men whom they've recognized as elders

1:40 as I reflected and prayerfully sought to apply myself this afternoon to final preparation of the next installment of the Matthew 24 mini-series I judged it would be wiser to complete one ministry rather than have two dangling ministries and have them dangling for two weeks for those of you who were here this morning will remember I trust that I was able only to cover two of the three heads that I had prepared to address in the ministry of the word so what I propose to do tonight is to give a very brief review of the ground covered this morning and then open up that third heading and make some further applications the focus of the morning ministry for the last couple of years now has been seeking to demonstrate and set forth the major truths which have shaped and formed the very contours of our life together as a congregation for more than 25 years and we are presently concerned with the assertion of our determination to maintain a biblically balanced doctrine of conversion the Christian life and the mission of the church

3:07 and in the unfolding of that determination we are addressing the subject of the means of grace and the fact that there are no effective substitutes for the God-appointed means of grace in living the Christian life the specific issue under consideration is the the centrality of the preaching and teaching of the word of God in the gathered assembly of the people of God and we've been wrestling with the question why must the teaching and preaching of the word of God be central in our corporate life if we are to validate our claim to be a church subject to the word and will of Jesus Christ and I have answered under three major headings. Number one, because the changeless commission of the sovereign Lord of the church demands it. Matthew 28, 16 to 20. Secondly, because the consistent pattern of apostolic example and practice demands it. And there we considered many pivotal

4:24 texts, particularly in the book of the Acts of the Apostles. Then this morning, we took up the third strand of argument, that the teaching and preaching of the word of God must be central in the life of the gathered church because the compelling thrust of apostolic instruction demands it. And in opening up this third strand of the threefold cord, we looked at two things. One, because the changeless commission of the sovereign Lord of the church has two categories of apostolic instruction. One, the most crucial treatment of spiritual gifts in the New Testament establishes the centrality of the teaching and preaching of the word of God. First Corinthians chapters 12 through 14. And then secondly, the most crucial epistles concerning church order establish the centrality of preaching and teaching in the life of the gathered church. And then secondly, the most crucial epistles concerning the life of the people of God. And there we looked at pivotal texts in 1st and 2nd Timothy

The Centrality of Preaching Demanded by the Identity and Function of Elders

5:30 and made a very brief reference to three texts from the book of Titus. Now, we take up tonight the third category of evidence under this heading of the thrust of apostolic instruction, which demands the centrality of the preaching and teaching of the word of God. Having seen that in the most crucial treatment of spiritual gifts, preaching is to be central, having considered the crucial epistles on church order and their clear emphasis on the centrality of preaching and teaching, my third category of the apostolic instruction which demands this reality is that the most crucial passages, concerning the identity and function of the official spiritual leaders in the church, points in this same direction. The most crucial passages concerning the identity and function of the official spiritual leaders in the church. Now, there are few Bible-believing, professing Christians who would dispute the statement that

6:55 elders or pastors are the primary God and official spiritual leaders of the people of God. I would hope that there was no one in this place tonight who would dispute that statement that the primary leadership established by Christ, the head of the church, for his church until the consummation of the age, are elders or pastors. I would hope that there was no one in this place tonight who would dispute that statement that the primary leadership established by Christ, the head of the church, for his church, until the consummation of the age, are elders or pastors. I would hope that there was no one in this place tonight who would dispute that statement that the primary leadership established by Christ, the head of the church, for his church, until the consummation of the age, are elders or pastors.

7:26 And the reason why this statement is little disputed among those who accept the authority of the word of God is that such passages as Acts 14.23 and Titus 1.5 scream out this principle. Acts 14.23, we find the apostle Paul and his companions going back to the places where they had evangelized and established congregations, and when they had appointed for them elders in every church and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord on whom they believed. And in the apostolic practice, we find them establishing in the churches elders as the spiritual leaders among the people of God. We do not find archdeacons. We do not.

8:25 We do not find diocesan bishops and archbishops and cardinals and all of the other offices and positions that have been invented by men, but we find the apostles establishing as leaders in the churches those designated as elders. And again, the clarity of a passage such as Titus 1 and verse 5 makes this an issue of little dispute among those who believe the Bible. Paul says to Titus that he left him in Crete for this purpose, for this cause. I left thee in Crete that you should set in order the things that were wanting or lacking and appoint elders in every city as I gave you charge. He did not tell him to appoint miracles. He did not tell him to appoint the elders in every city. He did not tell him to appoint the elders in every city.

9:27 He did not tell him to appoint the elders in every city. He did not tell him to appoint the elders in every city. And people who would go into semi-seances and have a, quote, word of knowledge about someone who had a cracked kneecap in California and all the other nonsense that you see on your televangelist programs, no, Titus, as an apostle, I direct you to establish the churches in Crete by appointing elders in every city. And so I say there are few who profess and really do acknowledge and manifest belief in biblical authority who would dispute the statement that elders or pastors are the primary God-ordained official spiritual leaders of the people of God.

10:17 When we ask the question, what is to be their confusion sets in. When we ask, what are they? When we ask, what are they? When we ask, what are they?

10:32 When we ask, what are elders to do in any place, in any congregation, in order to be obedient to their divine job description, there confusion reigns. But you see, confusion does not reign because the job description is not to be found in the word of God. Confusion does not reign because God has been silent about the time. Confusion does not reign to elders and pastors.

11:12 But rather, confusion reigns because men are either in the language of Jesus erring because they are ignorant of the scriptures or they refuse to obey the voice of God speaking in Holy Scripture. Now, what do we learn about the centrality of the preaching and teaching of the word of God as a means of grace? From the most crucial passages regarding the identity and function of elders. Well, I want us to look at three lines of biblical evidence.

Elders Designated as Shepherds and Teachers

11:53 First, the designation of elders as shepherds and teachers points to the primacy of preaching and teaching in their job description. We're familiar. We're familiar with the words of Ephesians 4 in verse 11. In our adult class some months ago, we spent a number of weeks working out many of the principles contained in the Ephesians 4 passage.

12:25 Tonight, I simply remind you of what is there on the surface of the text speaking of the activity of the exalted, resurrected Christ. The apostle writes, and he gave some apostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists, and some and teachers. And the structure of this passage, the very framework of the language, indicates that pastors and teachers are not two different offices, but they are two to describe one and the same person or office in various dimensions of the function of that office. And while there is some debate among evangelicals as to the precise identity of the prophets, more debate as to whether or not there is a continuing activity of Christ in giving evangelists, all are that Christ continues to give pastors and teachers for the perfecting of the saints unto service work. It is Christ.

13:47 Christ, who in his wisdom and authority, has chosen to give to his church those whom he designates as shepherds and teachers in order to perfect the saints unto their various works of service. Now, while shepherding includes much more than teaching, while being a shepherd involves much more than leading, the sheep into the green pastures of God's nourishing word, the fact that shepherd is joined to the word teacher and placed in an equal position linguistically shows, if nothing else, that a function of shepherding is teaching. And that Christ gives no shepherd who does not teach when he gives to teach. He gives to teach functioning as shepherds to his people. In other words, we do not find brought into conjunction these words, and he gave some pastors or shepherds and facilitators,

15:09 shepherds and public relations experts,

15:14 shepherds and psychological counselors, shepherds and administrators, shepherds, shepherds and organizers and promoters, shepherds and fundraisers, shepherds and consensus leaders. We read that Christ gives shepherds and teachers.

15:39 That is, Christ gives shepherds who are found in one of their primary functions engaged in the work of instructing the people of God. And though it is not their exclusive task, it is so central that it is brought forward in conjunction with the term shepherd to identify that. Now, surely that should be significant. If we call a painter by trade, surely whatever he does to make a living, he spends much of his time with a paintbrush and a paint can in his hand. If he does that, if you call him a painter by trade, because once every two years he slaps a coat of paint on the storage shed in his backyard, you're throwing verbal curves at me, you're really breaking the ninth commandment and bearing false witness. If you call a man a professional athlete and say, well, he is a professional basketball player and the guy can't hit the hoop one out of a hundred times from ten feet away, you're being dishonest. It's not someone who goes out occasionally in the backyard

17:06 and tries to put it in the hole, as they say, tries to get the ball through the hoop and through the net. No. Well, in the same way, if Christ gives for the perfecting of His church shepherds and teachers, He is telling us that in the function of these shepherds, teaching will have a dominant role. A leading witness of this perspective, the designation of elders as shepherds and teachers, approached from a different perspective, but a very convincing one.

17:47 Turn to Hebrews 13 and verse 7.

17:51 Hebrews 13 and verse 7 as we consider the most crucial passages on the identity and function of elders, considering now the designation of elders as shepherds and teachers. Here in Hebrews 13 and verse 7, we have the first of three references to the spiritual leaders of these Hebrew believers. Verse 7, verse 17, and then again in verse,

18:24 what is it, 20, verse 7, 17, and I should have only said the two. All right, but verse 7. Remember them that had the rule over you, men, the word of God, and considering the issue of their life, imitate their faith. Remember them that had the rule, and how are they identified among all things that their spiritual leaders did, what is the one thing that is singled out?

19:09 It is this activity of speaking the word of God. Remember them that had the word of God, how thankfully they spoke it out of the context of a consistent godly life, and therefore the exhortation can continue considering the issue or the manner of their life, imitate their faith. They were men of faith who believed in and lived by the word they preached, but the ones who exercised rule over them are designated distinctively as men of faith. As men who spoke the word of God. Now that's significant. It's significant in helping us to identify the function of those whom God gives to His church.

Non-Negotiable Requirements for the Office of Elder Emphasize Teaching

20:12 And secondly, consider the non-negotiable requirements for the office of an elder. From a consideration of the designation of elders as shepherds and teachers, now, the non-negotiable requirements for the office of an elder. And here we turn to 1 Timothy chapter 3 and Titus chapter 1, and we find not strictly power requirements, but in the overall is indeed a tremendous similarity. The primary requirement for those who would aspire to the office of an elder, and there is such a thing as, a holy ambition. Faithful is the saying, if a man seeks the office of a bishop and overseer, he desires a good work. The bishop or overseer, therefore, must be without reproach. And there follows then, in these verses, from verse 2 through verse 7, a detailed explanation of what it means for a man to be beyond.

21:34 We find a description of matured, balanced, consistent, Christian character foundational to anyone being recognized for this office. I repeat, mature,

21:55 consistent, Christian character is the foundational requirement. That character perceived and known, discerned primarily by the church, is the second, secondarily, even by the world. Verse 7, moreover, he must have good testimony from them that are without. Now,

22:24 specific reference to giftedness in terms of capacity to minister.

22:33 And that one reference in 1 Timothy is found at the end of verse 2. Apt to teach. We would say, in modern terminology, and it would be an accurate rendering of the Greek word, stillful in teaching. Now again, isn't it interesting?

22:57 Elders, bishops, overseers, do much more than teach. They have many responsibilities to fulfill. However, apart from the reference to a proven ability to rule, manifested in domestic stability and exemplary domesticity, the only explicit requirement that focuses upon what we would call is this one Greek word which means that men say constitute the job description of an elder.

24:05 Why? Because he is underscoring that when the risen Christ gives gifts for the perfecting of his church unto service work, he gives shepherds, shepherds and teachers, and the shepherds and teachers whom he gives are those who manifest the influence and power of truth in this balanced, matured, timeless, consistent Christian character and whatever gifts they may or must be skillful in teaching. Why? Because of the primacy of the teaching and preaching of the word of God as the word of God. The divinely ordained means for the maturation of the people of God. And it's interesting that the same emphasis comes through in a different place, in different language, but in the very same framework in Titus chapter 1. Titus chapter 1,

25:12 verse 5, For this cause I left you in Crete. You should set in order the things that are lacking and appoint elders in every city as I gave you charge. If any man is blameless. And now in this passage, the apostle sticks with this issue of matured, balanced, blameless, consistent Christian character all to verse 9.

25:43 Blameless, husband of one wife, having children that are trustworthy, not accused of riot or unruly, for the bishop, overseer, must be blameless as God's steward, not self-willed, not soon angry, no brawler, no striker, not greedy, a filthy lucre, but given to hospitality, lover of good, sober-minded, just, holy, self-controlled, home to the faithful word which is according to the teaching. And now again, the one occupational capacity, the one cultivated skill that is addressed is found at the end of verse 9 that he may be able both to exhort in the sound doctrine and the gains.

26:42 Nothing is said here about great administrative gifts, great personal charisma to make visitors and strangers feel at ease and feel at home and feel comfortable and all that are in the job descriptions of pastors that are in the job descriptions that I can come across my, I could bring out the stories at times some of you wonder you know, maybe a few strings have snapped here with some of the concerns I expressed but as I have contemplated even this morning, contemplated bringing a 40 page so-called Christian newspaper reflecting the concerns and activities of churches in the greater New York, New Jersey metropolitan area that was awaiting me at the post office when we came home from vacation I seriously wrestled with whether I should bring it in the pulpit this morning and open up page after page and show you how in dozens and dozens of places within a 40 mile radius of this building this very night in the name of Biblical Christianity there are so-called prophetesses who are speaking there are apostles who are pontificating there are all Christian rap groups and singing groups and all of the rest

28:05 all in the name of Biblical Christianity and I could show you the resume, not the resume but the reference and I don't know what you'd call it job description evaluation that was sent to me by a church asking help in securing someone for their pulpit page after page after page of evaluating a man on the scale of say one to six on issue after issue after issue after issue after issue for which I say it reverently God him self could not find on his own word from Genesis to Revelation and yet here and on the very surface of the divinely inspired requirement for the office of an Elder the non-negotiable requirement is that he must be one whose grasp upon the proof and along the charcoal and waiting for the night The truth is not merely professional. He holds to the faithful word which is according to the teaching. He holds it at his very life and the very breath of his own spiritual existence.

29:25 And he has a God-given ability to exhort in the sound doctrine and to convict the gainsayers. I shall never forget when sharing a preaching conference with a man from another country a number of years ago. He said something that has stuck with all kinds of verbs in my mind and in my spirit. He said one of the greatest curses upon the church of Christ in our day is that our pulpits are filled with nice guys who can't preach.

30:06 Our pulpits are filled with nice sound doctrine. Convict the gainsayers. They either lack the discernment to identify those who speak against the truth or the moral gifts to identify them and to expose them and to shut their mouths. But isn't it interesting that the only job, the only skill that is brought forward in the list of non-negotiable requirements for the office of administration, is to be an elder in both Timothy and Titus to the centrality of the preaching and teaching of the word of God as a divinely appointed means of grace. But then thirdly and finally, from the crucial passages regarding the identity and function of the elders, we move from the designation of elders as shepherds and teachers,

Wise Division of Labor Among Elders Highlights Preaching's Importance

31:23 the non-negotiable requirements for the office of an elder, thirdly, to the wise division of labor among the elders.

31:32 The wise division of labor among the elders. And here I direct your attention to 1 Timothy chapter 5. 1 Timothy chapter 5.

31:50 Remembering that Paul has written to Timothy that he might know how men ought to behave themselves in God's house, Paul now addresses the issue of the, the encouragement and financial remuneration of the spiritual leaders within God's house. Paul did not regard it as bathroom or dirty gutter talk to introduce the matter of the monetary concerns of the servants of God. In an epistle where he addresses purity of doctrine, where he addresses church order, the centrality of prayer, he is not reluctant to address this, verse 17. Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in the word and in teaching. Now what is this double honor? Well, the expositors debate and discuss the issue, but one thing is clear, whatever it is, if we read on, we know that it does involve, financial remuneration. For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn,

33:14 and quoting from what we now know as the gospel of Luke included now at this point in redemptive history as scripture, along with that word that came from God through Moses in Deuteronomy 25 and verse 4, the laborer, the laborer is worthy of his hire. The laborer is worthy of his hire. Luke 10 and verse 7. So whatever the double honor is, it obviously involves this tangible financial remuneration.

33:56 Now notice, according to verse 17, Paul assumes that among the elders, there will be those who labor in the word and in teaching all else rule and the elders that rule well are to be counted worthy of double honor, but especially those who labor in the word and in teaching. Now, does this mean that elders who administer their rule in a less public, less evident way, have a less significant, significant role in the overall operation of the life and ministry of a biblically ordered church? Not at all. It is not demeaning elders whose gift and opportunity does not warrant their laboring hard as their occupation in life in the public teaching and preaching of the word. But what it is teaching is that, in the wisdom of the word, in the wisdom of God, so crucial is this matter of the preaching and teaching of the word of God to the well-being of the church,

35:16 that where a church is mature and strong and blessed with a number of elders, there should be a division of labor among them. And those who are given over to the preaching and teaching of the word as their occupation, are to receive, due remuneration for that labor and endeavor. And why is God telling us this? Well, certainly, on the surface, it must be very clear to us that God is saying there's something uniquely important about the preaching and teaching of the word of God. This wise division of labor is not arbitrary. It is not something that God is saying, it is not something that God has imposed for no reason. He has said it before us because of the purpose of God that is found in conjunction with the teaching and preaching of the word of God.

36:26 So in terms of gift and endowment of the Spirit and the providential opportunities, there will be those who labor in the word and in teaching, who labor in the word and in teaching, who labor in the word and in teaching, and they are to be duly compensated for that labor, not because there is something special about their persons, but because there is something very special about their function in the maturation and in the growth and development of the people of God. So in summary, I trust that you, with me, feel the compelling thrust, of the apostolic instruction which demands the centrality of the teaching and preaching of the word of God in the gathered church. We looked at the most crucial passage on spiritual gifts, and that passage sets before us the primacy of prophecy as a means of edifying the church. In the most crucial epistles on church order, we saw the primacy given to preaching, and in these most crucial passages on the identity and function of the official spiritual leaders of the church,

Preaching's Centrality, Not Exclusivity, as a Means of Grace

37:52 we see the arrows pointing in the same direction that it is the will of Christ, the head of the church, evidenced through the apostolic instructions given to the church, that preaching and teaching should have a primary place in the life of the people of God. Now, for some who may be visiting among us, we are not stating that the public teaching and preaching of the word of God is the only corporate means of grace. We spent a number of weeks just this last year in Ephesians 4 and in parallel passages, dealing with a biblical perspective on what is called body life, the church ministering to itself in love, each member graced with a gift according to the teaching of 1 Peter 4 and 1 Corinthians 12. There is no ungraced, ungifted member placed in the body of Christ. We are not arguing for the exclusiveness of the public teaching, and preaching of the word of God as a corporate means of grace. What we are arguing for is its centrality.

39:13 They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine. It was that that shaped their fellowship. It was that which ordered their thinking in the breaking of bread. And it was that which molded their prayers.

39:33 And likewise, in any congregation where the word of God is given its proper place, it will not be the exclusive means of grace, for that very word will set forth other corporate means of grace which must be implemented, and upon which we must seek the blessing of God. But what I am arguing for with every fiber of my being, is that we must, by the grace of God, see that if we are to call ourselves a church of Christ, subject to the word of Christ, then the public teaching and preaching of the word of God must have the central place in our life together. Now, in conclusion, I want to address one very simple question that I trust has been asked. I trust has been raised in the minds of at least a few of you. Why has God so ordered it?

Why God Has Ordained Preaching as the Primary Means of Grace

40:42 Why has God so ordered it? And the answer is given to us in the Scriptures. And basically, the answer is this. That in His infinite wisdom, God has chosen to secure the maturation of His church by means, of the Spirit's application of the truth to the minds, to the hearts, to the wills of His people.

41:13 That's it. His infinite wisdom, God has chosen to secure the maturation of His church by means of taking hold of His people. Remember the words of our Lord Jesus in what is commonly called His High Priestly Prayer. He prays for four great realities for His people.

41:43 Their unification, their preservation, their glorification, and in the midst He prays for their sanctification. And in John 17 and verse 17, our Lord envisions that work of sanctifying grace as a work accomplished by His Father, by means of context of the pressure of truth and the truth is identified as God's Word. John 17 and verse 17. Sanctify them in the truth.

42:27 As He prays for the sanctification of His people, He prays that it will be accomplished in the context of the truth. Sanctify them in the truth. Not sanctify them truly or really, but sanctify them in the realm and in the sphere of truth. And Pilate's question, What is truth?

42:57 Jesus answers, Thy Word is truth. And therefore if the church is to be more and more into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, it will be, as the truth is spoken in love, as the truth impinges upon the understanding, as the truth under the illumination of the Holy Spirit grips the hearts and the affections and the wills of God's people, it is by means of the truth that the prayer of our Lord for our sanctification is to find its fulfillment. Further, the primary method chosen by God to convey the truth is the living preacher and teacher who embodies the power of the truth that He preaches to others. Not only has God wisely chosen to carry on the maturation of His people by means of the truth, the prime method of conveying that truth, I did not say exclusive, because someone's going to run up to me and talk about a person that got converted through reading a tract.

44:25 Someone else got converted, someone else came into a new understanding through, I didn't say the exclusive method. I said the primary method of conveying that truth is the living preacher, the living teacher, who embodies in his person the power, as the image of Christ is more and more seen in the living preacher and teacher, but the power of the preacher and teacher even as he conveys it to those who sit before him. And surely as God is ordained by the foolishness of the kerygma, the thing preached, the thing preached, you can separate the message from the method. God is ordained by the foolishness of the thing preached to save them that believe. How shall they call on him whom they have not heard?

45:34 How shall they hear? Not without a tract, not without a book, they be sent. As it is written, how beautiful are the feet. You see the living messenger who comes with the message, the message that has transformed him, and he now proclaims that others may know its transforming, its transforming power.

46:04 What is true with the primacy of preaching as the means of calling God's elect is equally true with respect to the building up of his elect in their most holy faith. And there will never be, no matter how many godly authors God raises up, no matter how many books are cranked off the presses, no matter how many other means are used in modern technology to convey the truth, there will never, never, never be a substitute for the living teacher, the living, whose life manifests the power of that truth and who in conveying it manifests the conviction of its reality, of its life and death importance. God has wisely chosen to put this treasure of the message as Paul says, in clay pots, that the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. God could have sent sinless angels whose very presence would fill us with dread for nobody ever danced a jig when an angel came to visit. You read through your Bible and find for me one instance

47:29 where anyone ever danced a jig in the presence of an angel whom he knew or she knew to be an angel. The reaction was always one of dread. Even when the angel came to comfort Joseph, the angel came to visit Mary, the angel came in one situation after another, ordinary angels, or a special angel, or the angel of the Lord, a pre-incarnate manifestation of the Lord Jesus. God could have sent angels, angels whose very presence would strike us with awe.

48:07 You say, well, why didn't God do that? Surely no one would nod and go to sleep and get glassy-eyed with an angel preaching. God has chosen to put this treasure in clay pots, in clay pots, imperfectly sanctified men, imperfectly sanctified men who imperfectly handle this blessed book, who with all of their efforts and endeavors are conscious of their own ignorance and dullness, who in conveying it to others and feeling its power in their own hearts feel far more the frustration of being unable to get out in words and in a manner that in any way justifies the weighty issues that are in the heart and are pregnant in the mind as the servant of God comes to open up the word of God. Though God has chosen, such means you see that the excellency of the power may be of him and not of us. So God in his wisdom has chosen to secure the maturation of his church by means of truth. Further, the primary method of conveying that truth is the living preacher and the living teacher.

Warning Against Substituting Preaching and Call to Steadfastness

49:28 And therefore convinced that ignorance is never the mother of true growth and Christian virtue, that entertainment cannot set forth Christ, cannot probe the conscience, cannot speak of the Christian's privileges and his duties, warm feelings produced by mindless ecstasies can bring no true and valid Christian growth. We are committed by the grace of God to this principle. We will accept, we will not experiment with any substitute for God's appointed means of grace. That primary means of grace being in our corporate life the preaching and the teaching of the word of the living God. And as I close, I want to read what a contemporary has written. And the words struck so true to my own heart that I said I must read them to my people. When a church loses her first love, then fundamental to that loss of her first love, there is a loss of love for the word of God and therefore loss of love for God himself.

50:48 That loss of love for the word of God is a loss of love for the word of God as that word is proclaimed in the pulpit by the pastors of God's people. An hour and a half in church on Sunday becomes too much for them. More than they can possibly take if the minister exceeds his time by even a few minutes. He's long-winded, repetitious and imposing upon the good graces of the congregation.

51:17 Though such a congregation may assemble in church on the Lord's day, this does not mean that the people give faithful and diligent attention to the preaching and to what is being said. There are too many other things to think about. It's too warm in the church. Too many problems in life which occupy the attention.

51:34 Make it impossible to concentrate on what the minister has to say. And if perchance the minister should be some kind of skilled orator so he can compel, as it were, the congregation to listen what they hear, even should they hear doctrines expounded and truth applied, they hear only intellectually, coldly and abstractly without the passion and warmth and fervor of hearing described in Hebrews as being mingled with faith. And then that lack of love for the word of God will begin to manifest itself in every area of life. And then he describes decay in personal devotions, decay in family worship.

52:16 And then with that, that restlessness and lack of appreciation begins to cause a stir for something to substitute this dull thing called preaching. Now I know there is dull preaching. I've had to listen to some of it. I've probably done my own abominable share of it.

52:37 But God knows that I've never consciously done it. That there is in my heart as I stand before you the determination if you fall asleep and don't listen, it will be in spite of me, not because of me. That's my goal every time I stand before you. To spend and be spent that something of God's truth may take up lodgment in your mind and heart and life that the prayer of Christ may be answered.

53:09 And it's a great encouragement to me and I want to balance this morning's warning with this encouragement. When other men come and minister in this place almost invariably without any sucking it out of them by me, they say to me, Pastor Martin, what a privilege to preach to the people of God at Trinity. And I play dumb. I say, what do you mean?

53:33 They say, oh, how they attend upon the word, how they draw it out of you. And even when you leave conscious you've preached poorly, they find something to commend and encourage. Thank God it's that way. The dear people of God hold fast that which thou hast until he come to the centrality of the preaching and teaching of the word of God.

54:07 Don't be ashamed to walk on if necessary when God has moved you and moved you. I stood at the door this morning and spoke with someone whose face looked like the day of judgment had come. The question was, Pastor Martin, were you saying that the time would come here in Trinity when people would not endure sound doctrine? Surely you were talking about the church in general.

54:34 Not here! Not here! She looked like a woman who had been summoned to the day of judgment. She felt the power of the warning.

54:42 Did you? Did you? Or did you hear it? By the time you got to your car, that's where the erosion starts.

54:56 Check it there! And this pulpit will continue to ring with the pure teaching and preaching of the word of God until he come. Let us pray. Oh our Father, we bow to your infinite wisdom.

55:20 We bow to the revelation of your will in Scripture. We confess you to be wise. To be just. To be righteous in all your ways.

55:31 Forgive us for the arrogance that would dare to think that our way is better. That our methods can supplant and supersede in efficiency those which you have chosen. Lord, have mercy upon the professing Christian church in our day. We pray.

55:50 Amen.

56:00 Where this very night preaching has been replaced by all manner of nonsense done in the name of Christ. Oh, God, have mercy. Have mercy, we pray. And as we have already pleaded this night, may days soon come when you will go forth with the word of your truth.

56:25 Oh, Lord Jesus, gird your sword upon your thigh and ride forth triumphantly in the cause of truth. We beg of you to preserve in this place that commitment to the centrality of preaching and teaching of the word of God. And oh, that you would raise up in succession godly men who embody the power of truth in their lives. Whose hearts evidently burn with the felt pressure of truth as they teach and preach.

57:01 And oh, may it please you to preserve such for generations to come should our Lord delay His coming, that at His coming He would find a people in this place hungering and thirsting for the pure word of God. Oh, Lord, hear our cry. Have mercy upon those who sit among us in their arrogance and pride who have yet to know the sweetness of embracing the word of the gospel. Have dealings with them even this night that their hearts will be made hungry for You and for that blessed salvation that is found in Your Son.

57:41 May Your blessing rest upon us this week. May we be a people who seek in every relationship and in every activity to think and act by the directives of the word. May we feed upon and live by the promises of the word. May the precepts and the promises frame our prayers, mold our marriages, mold our family and business life.

58:07 Oh, God, help us that we will not in any way neutralize the impact of Your word by professing to believe it and professing to love its teaching and preaching and living in a way that contradicts that very word. Oh, Lord, may Your word not be blasphemed because of the way we live. Hear our cry and answer us we plead through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.