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-55-
God Hath Spoken
Thomas Watson said, "One reason why people get no more good by what they hear is that they never speak to anybody of what they have heard—as if some sermons were such secrets, they must not be spoken of again; or, as if it were a shame to speak of matters of salvation." The reason why God teaches us is that we may humbly share it with others.
Richard Baxter, reputed to be the greatest preacher in England in his day, complained, "We bring not sermons to church as we do a corpse for burial." Nevertheless, when it is finished, people go home, but they do not talk to their children about the sermon. They do not think about it upon their bed. They do not mull it over the following days. Who weeps over it? Who cares about it? Let everyone beware that God who blesses a people with His Word can remove His blessing by removing His Word.
One reason why people do not get any more good by what they hear is that they do not use it. They deceive themselves thinking they are benefited by simply hearing the Scriptures, yet James warned, "But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves" (1:22). And, Paul testified, "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified" (Rom. 2:13).
It is better never to hear the Word of God than to hear it and not obey it. Adam Clarke said it well: "He who does not listen to obey, listens to reject and disobey." Everyone who hears the Word of God, and does not intend to be obedient unto it, only deceives himself, and aggravates his judgment.
The Bible is not a magazine article: it is the Word of God. Our generation has lost all appetite for the truth of God. People would rather be entertained, and their children are no better. People are not benefited until they put the sermon "in their pocket," and take it home with them. Then, at the dinner table, they can take it out and examine its truths; and when they go to bed, they can talk with their children again about it. And when at last they lie prostrate upon their beds, they can mull over the sermon once again. It is the Word of God: tell me we should not do this.
The Preacher as a Man
The preacher who brings the sermon is a man. He has like passions as any other man. He is liable, barring the grace of God, to behave like any other man. He has the same infirmities as any other man. He is subject to hunger, and he is subject to sin. Like the high priests of old, he is "taken from among men" and "is ordained for men in things pertaining to God...who can have compassion on the ignorant, and on them that are out of the way; for that he himself also is compassed with infirmity" (Heb. 5:1-2).
The Preacher and His Preaching
People do not judge preaching by its truth: they judge preaching by the manner in which it is delivered, and according to the handsomeness of the preacher. This is the most pathetic testimony that can be given about a people.
Perhaps the greatest sermon ever preached in America was preached by Jonathan Edwards in 1741. It was titled, "Sinners In The Hands Of An Angry God," and it is said that Mr. Edwards held a candle by which he read the sermon word for word. Historians say that he read it in a monotone. Yet, people literally held on to the pew in front of them for fear of falling into Hell. Some of the greatest sermons ever preached were read.
Not long ago, a woman told me "No preacher should go into the pulpit carrying notes." Why, then, should we use the Bible? If the Holy Spirit cannot bless what is written down, then why should we use the Scriptures? Why not simply speak off the top of our head? John Wesley wrote out his sermons. I do not know how he did it, but he often wrote them out while he was riding horseback.
The man of God is a man nonetheless. God has called him out from among men, and has equipped him to preach the Gospel. But Spurgeon counseled his students, "If you can do anything else, do not preach." Luther said he was dragged by the hairs of his head to the office of preaching. He had to do it. Reader, if there is anything else you can do, you had better not begin preaching. Preachers who for the love of money quit the ministry to go into business, are not worthy of the ministry. A minister must not be a lover of filthy lucre.