Recovery of the Biblical Gospel

Introduction: Our Vision for These Days and the Conference Theme

0:02 This sermon was delivered at the 5th Annual Trinity Pastors Conference, held at the Trinity Baptist Church in Montville, New Jersey. This is the first in a series of studies entitled, Our Vision for These Days, and the title of this message is, A Recovery of the Biblical Gospel. Now each of you who has had some acquaintance with the printed schedule will know that the subject announced for our meditation in the scriptures this evening has been, Our Vision for These Days. And I believe just a word of explanation is in order with reference to that title and the rationale that lies behind it.

0:46 When the elders met, prayer was heard. We were very carefully to consider the various subjects and the themes that should be dealt with at this particular conference. And it became evident to us, as you already know, those of you who are part of the conference, that we felt it was a very opportune time to draw our attention to the 1689 Confession and to concentrate in the public ministry. And I believe that the ministers of the Word in the morning, upon those biblical themes and subjects that will be altered or expanded in the proposed changes in the Confession, that in the evening session there ought to be at least one slot where the overall picture of that which binds us together in a fellowship of shared commitment and concern should be articulated. And so it was the direction of my fellow elders that on this occasion I should speak to you on the subject of Our Vision for These Days,

1:59 and under that heading to make an effort to give in capsule form the burning concerns that lie at the heart of our own life and ministry here. And we believe, which explains why most, if not all, of Christians are afraid of this project and this idea of self-orphanizing. And we believe, which explains why most, if not all, of Christians are afraid of this project and this idea of self-orphanizing. And we believe that God will grant us one day a day of self- deeper sacrifice for our ministry here in this most precarious area.

Disclaimer: No Extraordinary or Exclusive Commission

2:19 And if God will grant us one purpose, that is, that we have to flourish in it. of you are here because you share in that vision. Now in addressing the subject, our vision for these days, I want to make a dual disclaimer. We claim no extraordinary or direct commission from God to these things. None of us has had a visitation in the middle of the night, let alone in the middle of the day, in which God has spoken to us by the voice of an angel or an audible voice from heaven, articulating those things which ought to be the focal point of our concern as we seek to minister in our own generation. And so in using those terms, we claim no extraordinary commission. And furthermore, we claim no exclusive commission to these concerns. We believe and have contact with many of God's people in many parts of the country who are not here at this conference, and many of his people and his

3:31 servants in other parts of the world whose hearts beat as one with us in these concerns. And so we make this disclaimer on the very threshold of our study, that as surely as we make no claim to God's people in many parts of the country who are not here at this conference, we make no claim to extraordinary commissions from the Lord in these matters. So we make no claim to an exclusive commission, but rather, as we have sought to search the scriptures and to know the mind of God is revealed in them, and then to assess the particular circumstances in which we are called upon to minister at this point in history, these concerns that come to us are not to constitute what we are calling our vision for these days, are but a distillation of biblical truths on the one hand, and of fallible judgment on the other hand, but we trust judgment which has had something of the promised wisdom and guidance of the Holy Spirit. Well, with that bit of explanation as to the origin of the subject matter, I would like to conclude by saying that the subject matter, and then those two disclaimers, we come now to consider the subject, our vision

Three Pillars of Our Vision: Gospel, Holiness, Churchmanship

4:54 for these days. And it has been a rather traumatic thing to try to reduce to the irreducible those things which do indeed constitute our vision for these days. Those notes of inscripturated truth which form the pivot of our vision for these days. And I would like to conclude by saying that the subject matter, and those two disclaimers, we come now to consider the subject matter, and those around which the entirety of our ministry turns to change the imagery, those elements of divine truth which drive the wheels of our day-by-day endeavor as we seek to run down a track of obedience to the Word of God. And in addressing the subject, I have attempted to reduce our vision for these days. And I would like to conclude by saying that the subject matter, and those under three simple headings. It is a vision, first of all, of seeking a recovery of the biblical gospel, a renewal of biblical holiness, and a return to biblical churchmanship. First of all,

The Primacy of Gospel Integrity and Its Loss in Our Generation

6:10 then, our vision for these days is that of seeking a recovery of the biblical gospel. Nothing is more important in any generation than the maintenance of the integrity of the gospel, and the proclamation of that gospel in the power and demonstration of the Holy Spirit. I say that nothing is more important in any generation than the maintenance of the integrity of the gospel, for the simple reason that it is a vision. And I would like to conclude by saying that the gospel is the exclusive divine remedy for man in the manifold complexities of his sin and lostness. Romans 1.16 stands as a beacon light, continually reminding us of this elementary truth. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it, is the power of God unto salvation. God has but one appointed instrument to bring to bear His glorious

7:32 salvation in Jesus Christ, which at every point of its marvelous provisions answers to the intricate complexity of man in his state of sin. And because the gospel and the blessing of the gospel are the gospel alone answers at every point to man and his sinfulness nothing is more important in any generation than the maintenance of the integrity of that gospel it is for this cause that the mind and the soul and then the pen of the great apostle paul expresses in language that is nothing short of vitriolic what he says in galatians chapter 1 when in his own generation there were those who would tamper with the integrity of the gospel and paul writes in galatians 1 verses 8 and 9 but though we or an angel from heaven should preach unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you you

8:48 let him be anathema as we have said before so say i now again if any man preaches unto you any gospel other than that which you received let him be anathema let him come under the fearful frightening curse of almighty god and why does he speak with such holy invective such sanctified vituperation as to say let every man be damned if he dare tamper with the integrity of the gospel he says those words in that spirit because he knew he understood and was committed to the reality that the gospel maintained not in the spirit of the gospel

9:50 in the forehead of the gospel fins and again the vices and the things that is not a tentacle of the leadership of the devil that sense which has not been with him for many years is as a result of the one who blames the almighty god who is almoket or who proud review God he will reveal everything that in it or will reveal something or blur that no one would be qualified to ask the original kingdom of the god paul pass general not to think nor to think what it means but he was asking us but he never traveled away but the donag veg or m Conan facilitate core çekirak stories orη standards nothing less than a recovery of that biblical gospel brethren it is not an overstatement to say that by and large our generation has lost the gospel it has lost the gospel and amidst the plethora of gospel endeavors so-called seen in the proliferation of radio broadcast and television ministries and evangelistic campaigns and endeavors of all sorts and sizes it is no

11:16 overstatement to say that by and large our generation has lost the gospel and our vision for these Days, if our hearts are touched with any measure of genuine concern for the souls of men, any genuine concern for man as he really is, according to the description of Holy Scripture, we cannot help but have a passion that there would be a recovery of that gospel, which alone will meet man in his real need with real deliverance and a real salvation. Now let me break down this heading into three major subdivisions. I would assert tonight that we desperately need a vision for a recovery of the biblical gospel in three areas. Number one, in its essential doctrinal context. Secondly, in its appointed means of communication.

Recovery of the Gospel in its Essential Doctrinal Content

12:27 And thirdly, in its efficacious power. We need a recovery of the biblical gospel, first of all, in its essential doctrinal content.

12:42 There is abroad in our day a notion, assumed by many, expressed and even defended by some, that the gospel is the gospel of God. The gospel of God is a kind of theological nose of wax. And as long as the wax contains the ingredients of Christ and something of forgiveness and peace and joy and a little bit of the cross somewhere there in that wax, we are free to shape that in terms of the felt needs of men in any given place, in terms of the socio-political climate in which the gospel comes, and to accommodate it in terms of that climate, as the well-known pop psychologist who calls himself Dr. Robert Schuller has said, to preach the gospel means to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it.

13:56 And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it.

14:00 And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it.

14:04 And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. And in such a climate, there is a desperate need to find a hurt and heal it. by God Himself.

The Gospel's Forensic Nature: Revelation of God's Righteousness

14:10 And there are two major motifs of gospel content to which I would direct your attention. First of all, following on from quoting Romans chapter 1 in verse 16,

14:27 we look at verse 17.

14:31 The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek, for there that is within the gospel is revealed a righteousness of God from faith unto faith as it is written, but the righteous shall live by faith. And here the apostle Paul informs us by the inspiration of the Spirit that the central truth which is revealed in the gospel is that of a revelation of a righteousness of God. That is a righteousness that God Himself has provided, a righteousness with which God Himself is pleased, a righteousness which God imputes to the ungodly by faith alone. Now we are talking, we are told in our generation, legal concepts are relatively non-existent. We live in a day in which the concept of retributive justice has well nigh been banished

15:57 from the awareness of our generation. The penal institution system is considered far more as remedial than punitive. And so we are told, you can't communicate the gospel to this generation in terms of the imagery of God as a judge, man as a subject, man accountable to God in terms of law, man guilty and culpable in terms of a violated law, God as an incensed and angry lawgiver, man as the culpable guilty criminal. We have a generation that, no longer thinks in those categories. Therefore, we dare not present as the heart of the gospel that in it is revealed a righteousness of God from faith to faith. We are told rather, let us accommodate the gospel to the area of need and existential awareness among men. If we are ministering in a generation whose great concern is in the ministry of God,

17:13 which is to've only also some sense of voiciness, then let us expect that about one or multi-million man individuals may soon grow weary of joining the church. to happen in the gospel or to receive judgment in the gospel? Well, that doesn't go without saying that in our God's holy teachings, Therefore, we must take the gospel and present it in its dominant emphases as that which has something to say about the plague of AIDS and the plague of drug addiction, etc., etc. What do we say to that? Well, we say this.

18:03 If we have a generation so out of touch with the reality that Almighty God is the judge of the earth and every man, woman, boy and girl is regarded by that God as a subject accountable to His moral law and if reality is that every man, woman, boy and girl has been regarded in the court of heaven as guilty and worthy of death from the moment Adam sinned and has a culpability and... excuse me...

18:42 exposure to divine wrath and anger intensified by every word, every thought, every motive, every deed that has not been in strict mathematical parallelism to the law of God if that's reality and this generation is so out of touch with that reality the answer is not to reshape the gospel it is to fund into the... the gods and the damnation that is... and the court that is...

19:31 and the sentence that is... to fall upon every guilty sinner.

19:38 And I say to you, my brethren in the ministry, our vision for these days must be nothing less than a recovery of the biblical gospel in its essential doctrinal contents and according to the clear emphasis of Romans 1, 16 and 17 and all that follows in the exposition of that gospel in the epistle to the Romans it comes couched in bristling with surrounded by forensic legal concepts and we have no need to change its domiciles we have the marvelous privilege as well as the... awesome responsibility if necessary to begin with its foundational corollaries if our generation is so out of touch with the God who is and so out of touch with what they are as described biblically then we must labor to sound forth those truths which under God will create a climate of spiritual perception in which the announcement

21:03 that there is a righteousness of God will be the best news in the world men and women have ever heard. And there is one other strand of emphasis in terms of what I would call the dominant doctrinal content of the gospel. It came before us in our consecutive reading yesterday in 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

The Gospel's God-Centered Reconciliation

21:31 The word reconciliation is the in word in our day but alas in most gospel preaching it is reconciliation at the horizontal level but Paul's gospel of reconciliation what we might call not a twin dominant note but the second note in order of dominance is found in 2 Corinthians chapter 5 and verse 18 but all things are in order of dominance in the word of God who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave unto us the ministry of reconciliation to it that God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself not reckoning unto them their trespasses and having committed unto us the word of reconciliation we are ambassadors therefore on behalf of Christ as though God were entreating by us we beseech you in behalf of Christ be ye reconciled to God him who knew no sin he made to be sin in our behalf now notice the fusion of the two dominant notes that we might become the righteousness of God in him

22:57 do you see that the dominant note in this gospel of reconciliation is not reconciliation at the horizontal level blessed be God for everything that the gospel effects at the horizontal level and I am not denying that element of truth either in its manifestation in the content of gospel effects as we see them in scripture or in our own experience but Paul says as an ambassador who is sent on an air invitation where and by his king his message of reconciliation was pervasively God word of God who reconciled unto himself through Christ as the mediator has been sent forth that we might be reconciled unto God that the enmity God word to us and ours to him through the work of Christ and subsequently the work of the spirit that that mutual enmity might be removed that we might be brought unto God there is a God centeredness in the message of reconciliation

24:24 we beseech you on the behalf of Christ be reconciled unto God and why do I emphasize this again for the simple reason that Christ has been looked upon not primarily for what he does to us but primarily for what he does to us for what he does to us for what he does to us for what he does to us he says he is as the savior of men I am the way the truth the light no man comes to the father but by me who gave himself for us the just for the unjust that he might bring us to God but if the note of reconciliation is sounded it is one which terminates on horizontal matters Christ has come to help you get your act together to bring you together to get your own fragmented pieces all integrated again Christ has come to reconcile the husband and the wife who are estranged the nations that are at one another's throats and all of the other dimensions of horizontal reconciliation the great emphasis of scripture is this as surely as the gospel holds forth a righteousness of God it sets forth this marvelous truth that in Jesus Christ there is a way for man

25:51 to be reconciled to God eternal light eternal light how pure that soul must be which placed within thy burning light it shrinks not but with calm delight can live and look on thee the spirits that surround thy throne may bear this burning light may bear this burning light may bear this burning light may bear this burning bliss but surely that is theirs alone for they have never never known a fallen world like this but how shall I whose native sphere is dark whose mind is dim before the ineffable appear and on my naked spirit bear the uncreated being there's the great dilemma of reality God is from his presence lest God be the one God for the next stanza there is a way for man to rise to this sublime abode an offering and a sacrifice a whole where it's entered an advocate these prepare us for the sight of holiness above the sons of ignorance and night may dwell

27:21 thee the eternal love that's the gospel that's how sharpness is and dwelling the lost gospel in our generation and we are I trust committed to this common vision that in our days there would be a recovery of this biblical gospel this biblical gospel with its emphasis upon the legal the forensic realities of who God is as the righteous judge of the universe what man is as a guilty criminal before his court and who God is as the great eternal father of our first father Adam but the father who has disinherited because of sin but who offers a way of reconciliation who has effected a way of reconciliation to himself that once again man the creature may not only stand in the court of heaven

28:50 credited with a perfect righteousness but brought face to face with his God to know him to love him to commune with him to feast upon his glory and to count his greatest prize precisely what Jesus said is the essence of eternal life for this is life eternal that they may know thee the only God the only God the only God the only God the only God the only God the only God the only God the only God the only God the only God the only God the only true God than Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent and you see brethren when we begin to be consumed with a passion for a recovery of the biblical gospel in its essential doctrinal contents we will not have any rest or peace until we begin to sense that by the blessing of God our preaching is creating a climate in which the dominant emphases of impudence impudence impudence and righteousness and God-centered reconciliation can begin to become glorious good news and when we do then we will find ourselves in our gospel preaching constantly engaged in two glorious blessed activities continually announcing the grand indicatives of the gospel and continually

30:18 thundering out the sober imperatives of the gospel for you see the gospel is essentially comprised of those two elements it has its grand indicatives it declares what God has done first Corinthians 15 this is the gospel we preached unto you the gospel by which you are saved if you hold fast to this truth Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures he was buried he was raised on the third day according to the scriptures he was seen he ascended he sat down he sent forth the spirit the gospel is not primarily of subjective feelings it is a declaration of the most glorious indicatives ever warranted upon the face of the earth the second person of the Godhead has taken to himself a real a true humanity and in the marvelous mystery of the hypostatic union the eternal word takes to himself flesh and while never never ceasing to be what he always was eternal God he begins to be something he never had been true man

Recovery of the Gospel in its Appointed Means of Communication

31:47 and as the God man he lives the life we should have lived he dies the death we dare not die he validates the worth of his work in life and death by a glorious resurrection and the Father vindicates him by sitting him at his right hand handing over to him the full reigns of authority in his mediatorial kingdom and in that glorious unique God man and in the virtue of his perfect life and death and resurrection and session and mediatorial reign at the right hand of God we are then able to announce the sober imperatives of the gospel repent and believe and you shall be saved Paul said he testified repentance towards God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ Acts 20 21 well our vision for these days brethren is nothing short than that of a recovery of the biblical gospel first of all in its essential doctrinal contents but secondly in its appointed means of communication again we need a recovery of the biblical gospel

33:16 not only in terms of its content but the divinely appointed means of its communication we live in the day of gospel acting troops gospel guitar twanging drum banging groups ear splitting mind blowing gospel groups we live in the day of gospel mime groups and gospel clown groups and gospel warbling groups and gospel everything groups as though God had not about the means by which he has ordained that this glorious message be brought to impinge upon the consciousness consciousness of men but he has an appointed means and I direct you to passages you all know if you've come for something new and profound you may as well leave while it's early and get a good night of sleep because I have no novelties my brethren we read in the tenth chapter of Romans that marvelous wonderful gospel promise we read in Romans ten and verse thirteen we could back up to verse twelve there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all and is rich unto all that call upon him

34:45 for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved now the great question how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed if there is no object to faith how can there be the cry it was when blind that Jesus of Nazareth passes by that he cried upon a day have mercy upon me though blind he believed the report and he called and he was healed Paul says by an escapable logical sequence yes whoever calls will be saved but how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him not of whom but whom they have not heard the one upon whom they call is the one whom they hear other sheep I have which are not of this fold they they shall hear my voice how shall they call on him whom they have not heard

36:14 well how are they going to hear the great shepherd who is out in the earth seeking his sheep this is how they'll hear him so shall they hear not without a mind without an actor without a warbler without a drum pounder a guitar and how shall they preach as to truly be the voice of Jesus Christ except they be sent that is they have a bonified scripturally based call to proclaim the name and the message of the savior what is God's appointed means of communicating this glorious gospel that has its focal points of imputed righteousness and reconciliation to God the appointed means is proclamation by a duly sent herald that perfectly tallies with what we are told in first Corinthians chapter one first Corinthians chapter one

37:41 the apostle says in verse twenty one foreseeing that in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom knew not God it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of and if you have the old American standard you'll notice the rendering is preaching but with a marginal rendering Greek thing preached and you see the translators hung up when he comes to Kerugma because the word brings together two inseparable realities the Kerugma is the thing that is the message with specific delineation of its context it is the thing preached but it is also the preached thing and Kerugma brings into inseparable relationship the content of the biblical gospel and the appointed means of its communication and that communication is proclamation proclamation in the name of the sovereign and the proclamation from the heart of one who says with Paul we preach

39:10 not ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord in ourselves your servants for Jesus sake proclamation in the spirit of the apostle who said we were willing to impart unto you not the gospel of God only but our own souls because you were become dear to us I am not in any way overlooking the kingdom these dimensions of preaching that exist in the heart of the preacher his spirit of servitude to those to whom he preaches his deep solicitous yearning that he says I was willing to impart my very soul unto you in preaching but at the end of the day we come back to the question what is the appointed means of communicating this gospel in the purity of its content and it is proclamation in what God calls vessels of clay we have the treasure in earth in vessels and it's a message that men regard as utter folly that's what he means when he says God is ordained by the foolishness of the thing preached that which men regard as utter folly to say that in one who came out of Nazareth expelled from Nazareth from his womb as any other

40:38 child amidst blood and mucus and the cries and groans of his mother raised in a humble home pounding pegs in a carpenter's shop with his father that in that person of such humble origins who claim to be God's Messiah whose death upon the cross is set forth as a death of nothing short of a cosmic implications reconciling to himself things above the heavens and beneath the earth men look at that and say what a bunch of nonsense what wonder of wonders when a vessel of clay proclaims Christ as the wisdom of God Christ is the power of God Christ crucified is the only hope of sinners Christ raised and exalted as the object of the faith of sinners almighty God puts forth the arm of his power and Paul says to those who are called Christ in that message which men by nature regard as foolishness becomes to them wisdom righteousness sanctification

42:05 and redemption brethren our vision for these days is not only a recovery of the biblical gospel in its essential doctrinal content but in its appointed means of communication that's why we're committed to the primacy of preaching that's why we are committed to seeking to excel if we excel in nothing else to excel in accurate earning pathetic in the sense of suffused with papos and entreaty we're committed and we're crying to God and laboring that God would do up if God gives us some authors who embalm their rich thoughts in printer's ink good and well if God gives us men who leave other legacies good and well but my brethren face it face it the lay to his grave it'll meet him in the day of judgment are you willing to spend and be spent be committed and consumed with the very of God's passion until it takes you to your grave believing that in so doing you've given yourself to that

43:34 which God will make effectual to give to our beloved Lord Jesus the fruit of his sufferings and of his death that's our vision we're not trying to mold cool communicators in this academy you know gospel teachers chatters hello folks so nice to see you it's good to have you here hope you all feel comfortable now the last thing we want to do is offend anyone we can assure you whatever we're going to tell you is going to make you feel so nice I tell you my friends that kind of gospel preaching is probably taking more people to hell than the heresy of the Jehovah's Witnesses men who can talk of sin and of the cross and of hell and of the open wounds of an incarnate God immolated dripping with men's spittle buried beneath the billows of divine restless wonder no wonder men don't believe it no wonder they don't take the Savior seriously if the preacher doesn't why should they but I must hasten if I'm even going to get through our first head

Recovery of the Gospel in its Efficacious Power

45:03 for we are committed as the vision for these days not only for recovery of the gospel but also for the in its essential doctrinal content in its appointed means of communication but oh brethren hear me carefully in its efficacious power in its efficacious power and what is that efficacious power I direct you to two texts of scripture that are probably already coming to your mind just turn one chapter over in Corinthians 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and I brethren when I came unto you did not come with excellency of speech or of wisdom that is I did not come speaking to you within the categories which your local official doctors of rhetoric would dictate that's what he means when he says excellency of speech you see Corinth was a center of learning and you have to at least give them credit that they did not regard a man a learned man who could not speak well that shows how far we've degenerated we've got men with Ph.D.s that grunt and snort and can hardly put sentences together but there at Corinth you weren't considered a learned man unless you could speak well but speaking well meant careful regard to all of their established laws of rhetoric

46:31 and if they detected your familiarity with and submission to those canons of rhetorical excellence then they would say you spoke with excellent speech excellency of speech Paul said I did not come with one eye on your canons of rhetoric to make sure that you ticked me off as a man who spoke with excellency of speech I did not come in the capacity of an orator and when he says I did not come to you with excellency of speech or of wisdom he was speaking of course of the role of a philosopher the philosopher who's going to bless the world with his almighty insights into reality when you think of it the most arrogant proud people in all the world are philosophers to think that with their little how many cc's of grey matter does the average man have is Dr. Rule here I don't know how many but imagine a man sitting down with just about a cup full of grey matter that's right and seeking to penetrate all reality and come up with an integrated system that will explain it all I mean the arrogance to even attempt the task is unthinkable Paul says I didn't come to you in the capacity of a rhetorician or of a philosopher I didn't come and stroke my beard

48:00 and say well gentlemen I have reflected and it is my studied and settled perception that look at the text and brethren why came to you I came not in the role of rhetorician or a philosopher now look there it is proclamation and what was his proclamation the testimony of God and there is a problem of interpretation is that genitive there a genitive of origin is it the testimony of which God is the author or is it the testimony of which God is the main subject well it makes no difference because both are true it was the testimony of God I thought of someone who had penetrated the mystery of the ages I stood as a witness to that which I received as testimony from another for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified that doesn't mean he just stood up and said Jesus Jesus Jesus Jesus love him love him love him love him just read the book of Acts and you know that Paul is not saying that what he is saying is this that the thing to which he drove in all of his preaching even when he had to begin as he did

49:28 in Acts 14 at Lystra and in Acts 17 there among the Athenian philosophers even though he had to begin with basic biblical theism and move by steps into the more central nerve centers of the gospel he said here was my passion to know nothing among you ultimately fundamentally but bringing you to see that in Jesus Christ immolated and lying under the anathema of God was the great answer to all of the mysteries that elude your philosophers and all of the aches and all of the unmet needs of the heart which the rhetorician may momentarily give some sense of satisfaction by the melodious sound of his words but you go away as empty as when you came I set forth Jesus Christ in the uniqueness of his person Jesus Christ is crucified as the central saving act of the son of God verse 3 and here was my disposition I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling he did not come with the slick bearing

50:57 of the average television preacher that's got it all together and if he happens to forget he's got his flashcards to catch out of his peripheral vision he said I was with you in weakness I was with you in fear and I was with you in much trembling you see only a true preacher understands these words every time is like the first time he's got he knows that he comes with a message that he has no right to all he comes in a he is a witness of God's testimony about his son he comes as a proclaimer and he knows as Paul knew at Corinth that there was in the hearts of men an inveterate prejudice against his message Christ crucified was to the Greeks foolishness to the Jews the scondalon the great trap stick the great stumbling block and so he said realizing that I did not carry with me inherently the ability to break through that wall of native sinful prejudice and pride that I did not have the power to tear down the bastions of carnal opposition you see

52:26 his fear and trembling were rooted in the reality of his knowledge of the true state of man he couldn't argue them into the kingdom he couldn't tickle their phones and get them giggling into the kingdom he couldn't play upon their emotions and float them in on their keel of intrusive sovereign grace and he said I didn't carry the power of God in my pocket nor was it fused to my vocal cords the wind blows where it wills will God come will God attend my preaching will God come with the wind of heaven till the sails of my proclamation and carry the ship of gospel preaching clean through that tremendously heaving sea of prejudice until it finds a quiet shoal in a man's conscience and there takes anchor and deposits the son of God on the shore that's what happens when a sinner gets saved he said and I didn't have the power in myself so I was with you in weakness fear much trembling but now look at verse 4 and my speech

53:54 or the thing preached the kerygma the message content the message proclaim and my preaching I'm sorry kerygma is I think it's logos in verse 4 my word and then my preaching my kerygma were not in persuasive words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God what is he saying he is saying though I came in that disposition of weakness as I preached there was a present attendant power of the spirit of God upon my ministry so that your response was not response to my compelling it was response to the power that you in the very proclamation of that message and brethren in our recovery of the biblical gospel if we only go as far as to see it recovered in its essential doctrinal content in its appointed means of communication but stop short of

55:23 recovering it in its efficacious power God have mercy on us it is bad enough to have a generation sink into hell with a watered down gospel worse yet to sink into hell with a straight correct orthodox gospel that never grips because it was not preached in the demonstration of the spirit and of power the second text that affirms that this is indeed a conscious concern of the apostle is 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 chapter 1 verse Thessalonians chapter 1 the apostle says that he became privy to God's secret decree of election with regard to the Thessalonians verse 4 knowing brethren beloved of God your election how in the world did he discover their election when he was caught up in the third heaven and heard things which it was not lawful to speak did he also see things it was not lawful to see did God say my servant come let me show you the role of my elect no read on knowing brethren beloved of God your election because our gospel came not unto you in word only

56:48 but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance or fullness or conviction even as you know what manner of men we showed ourselves toward you for your sake our gospel came not in word only but in power and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance brethren while there is so much that is mysterious in the operations of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with preaching and while I know my Bible well enough to know that God will make the preaching of some man effectual to the salvation of others who themselves were strangers to its power as preachers many will say unto me in that day Lord Lord have we not preached in your name if God can take the mouth of an ass and make it an effectual means to turn aside a mad prophet God can take the mouth of a fellow mortal preaching the gospel who is a charlatan who is utterly devoid of grace and God can even hear me carefully God can even make him an anointed preacher and send him to hell but as a general rule as is the man so is his unction even as you know what

58:14 there was an intimate conjunction between preaching not in word that means my brethren that an anointed ministry can't be bought in a one half night prayer meeting it can't be bought in a tarrying meeting the price you pay is walking in utmost integrity before God day after day keeping a conscience void of offense to God and man determining to be one who frequents the secret place pleading the promise if you who are evil know how to give good gifts unto your children how much more shall your heavenly father give the spirit to those who ask by and large as a general rule a man whose ministry is marked by the and doom into the spirit is a man who walks with integrity before God a man who knows what it is to wrestle in the secret place a man who knows what it is to be weaned from all creature confidence and hear me now a man who runs from the first consciousness of the swellings of pride in his heart like we would run

Conclusion: A Call to Commitment for Preachers

59:43 from a herd of devils were they to appear before him the reason some men do not preach with the power of the spirit of God is God cannot entrust to them that measure of his spirit it would make their ministries effectual for he said Jehovah is my name and I will not give my glory to another neither my praise unto graven images well brethren that's our vision for these days point one maybe we'll preach points two and three next year if the Lord spares us because it's nine o'clock and we have a full day coming that's our vision if God will write just that dimension on our hearts hopefully there will be ample opportunity to touch upon the other aspects that I had hoped to touch upon under the heads of a renewal of biblical holiness and a return to biblical churchmanship but I believe God has said to us what we need to hear tonight and I ask every man in this place who believes and bears the name and title and office of a shepherd of Christ's flock is this your vision for these days is it this to which you're giving your life is it this concerning which you can say with Paul in Acts 20 I count not my life

61:12 as of any account as dear to myself my life's expendable but one thing is not that I may finish my course that I may testify the gospel of the grace of God one of the most liberating things in all the world is to be able to kneel in the presence of the God who knows our hearts and say oh God thou knowest with all of my remaining sin and all of the haunting memories of what I've done and what I've not been oh God thou knowest if thy gospel must consume me and if I must be poured out as a drink in the pot all alone that your son may have the reward of his sufferings that's what this generation needs more than anything else is preachers who have by the grace of God a firm grasp upon the biblical gospel in its essential doctrinal content in its appointed means of communication and in its efficacy and in its efficacious power and may God grant

Prayer for God's Spirit and the Unconverted

62:41 that such an army of preachers will be turned loose upon this generation and it will do more in ten years to deal with the horrible scourges of society than Congress with its legislation could do in a millennium may God bring it to pass for his glory let us pray oh God our heavenly Father when we gaze upon the great realities that are not seen with these physical eyes we're conscious that we are projected into a realm that is more than our frail humanity can bear oh Lord our Lord whose name is excellent in all the earth we worship you in all the glory in all the wonder in all the glory Lord in all the threateningness of your majesty of your awesomeness and of your power but we thank you that there is a way for sinful men and women to draw near and to call you

64:10 Abba Father thank you Lord Jesus for coming to us in our need by way of Mary's womb taking to yourself our life our life our humanity in a weakened state thank you for your night vigils thank you for bearing all that you bore for us thank you for rising from the dead for sending the Holy Spirit for succoring and nurturing us ever pleading for us ministering to us and oh our blessed Lord we do thank you long to see you loved and known by our generation and yet we confess at times we feel so helpless we feel Lord there's no starting place have mercy upon us and for your glory send your spirit upon us and oh God from this very auditorium raise up a host of men who will become mighty in the name of God mighty in the name of God in your hands for the tearing down of the strongholds of the enemy hear then our cry receive our thanks for your presence with us

65:39 and oh God in our days together help us that we will not grieve your spirit that what we have known of his presence today would be increased we know we've not exhausted the supplies of your grace Lord you've not felt one bit any loss even though you've given so freely oh out of the fullness of Jesus give us more of yourself more of your grace more of your power more light more love more holiness more zeal more sensitivity oh Lord hear our cry and may you be pleased to take each of us safely to our homes for those who may be sitting here who've never beheld the glory of your son but who sitting here tonight have known that there's been something more than people in this place something more than a preacher something more than words Lord they've tasted your spirit has pressed to their consciences who you are and your claims over them oh may they not resist may it not be said of them ye stiff-necked and uncircumcised may it not be said in heart you do always resist the Holy Ghost may they not resist his operations in the public means of grace but oh Father

67:09 we pray that they would seek you while you may be found and call upon you while you're near deal with the hearts of the unconverted we pray and now Lord accept our thanks for this blessed day in your courts while you're here watch over the loved ones of the many who are here who've left wife and children behind protect them keep them in your love and grant that these men may pillow their heads into confidence that you are well able to care for those loved ones though they are far from them awake us to the new day if it please you with an eagerness to seek you bring us together with an expectation to hear your voice receive us receive us receive now our thanks and hear us in our petitions we ask in the name and through the virtue of our Lord Jesus Christ Amen