00:00
00:00
00:01
Transcript
1/0
Monday a week ago, I was down
in Mexico, and Brother Cody Groover asked me to speak to the Mexican
pastors. He brought a number of them to
his home on Monday morning for a time of fellowship and study. spoke to them from this passage
of scripture in 1 Thessalonians 2 on this subject that I'm going
to use this evening, in what manner Paul preached the gospel.
If you look at the top of the page in your Bibles, if you have
a Cambridge King James Bible, that's what the translators or
printers. That's what they call this chapter
2 of 1 Thessalonians. What manner Paul preached. What
manner, in what manner Paul preached. A preaching is a high calling. It's a high calling. It's the
highest calling. Scripture says God saved Noah,
a preacher of righteousness. Solomon wrote this in Ecclesiastes
chapter 1, he said, I, the preacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. But before he identified himself
as a king, he identified himself as God's preacher. John the Baptist,
of whom our Lord said, none greater born of woman, came preaching. And then if you'll open your
Bibles to Mark chapter 1, Mark chapter 1, when our Lord Jesus
Christ, in Mark chapter 1 verse 14, when our Lord began his earthly
ministry, it says in verse 14 of Mark 1, now after that John
was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee preaching. preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God and saying, the time is fulfilled and the kingdom of
God is at hand. Repeat ye and believe the gospel.
Brother Jim, thank God for the means of grace, which is the
word of God and preaching. Whoso shall call on the name
of the Lord shall be saved, but how shall they call on him in
whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear? How
are they going to hear without a preacher? And how are they
going to preach if God doesn't send them? As it's written, how
beautiful are the feet of them that come preaching. Glad tidings. True preaching is a message from
God. True preaching, not just preaching.
But true preaching is a message from God. It's His Word that
they're preaching. Turn to Jeremiah for a moment.
Jeremiah chapter 23. True preaching is a message from
God through His Word. Not our dreams and visions, but
His Word. That's the foundation of true
preaching, His Word. And Jeremiah 23, 28, it says,
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell his dream. That's
all he's got. He that hath my word, let him
speak my word faithfully. What is the chapter of the wheat,
saith the Lord? Verse 29, Jeremiah 23, Is not
my word like a fire? saith the Lord, is my word not
like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Therefore, behold,
I am against the prophets, I am against the prophets, saith the
Lord, that steal my words, every one from his neighbor. I am against
the prophets, saith the Lord, that use their tongues and say,
he saith, I am against them that prophesy false dreams. saith
the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their
lies, and by their vanity and lightness. I didn't send them. I sent them not. I didn't command
them. Therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith
the Lord. Timothy, Paul said, preached
the word. Preach the Word of God. That's
all you have to do. Just preach the Word of God.
That's what he calls you to do. Preach the Word of God. The instant
in season, out of season. There's no season delegated and
designated for preaching. Every season is a time to preach
the Word of God. True preaching is a message from
God through His Word. And true preaching is concerning
Jesus Christ. He's the subject of our song,
He's the subject of our message and our preaching. Don't turn
to these verses, let me just give them to you. In Acts 10.36,
they came preaching peace by Jesus Christ, He Lord of all. Acts 11.20, they came to Antioch
preaching the Lord Jesus Christ and the hand of God was with
them. Acts 28.31, Paul dwelt there
two whole years preaching, preaching and teaching those things which
concern the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 16.25, Now to our Lord,
who is of power to establish you according to my gospel and
the preaching of Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1.23, we preach
Christ? and him crucified. Undetermined,
Paul said, not to know anything among you say Jesus Christ and
him crucified. 1 Corinthians, 2 Corinthians
4 and 5. We preach not ourselves. We are
not the subject. The Baptist church is not the
subject. The Millennium is not the subject. We preach not ourselves,
we preach Christ Jesus, our Lord, and ourselves, your servants,
for Christ's sake. We preach Jesus Christ, the child
born, the Son given, whose name is Wonderful, Counselor, the
Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And true
preaching is the Word of God concerning his Son, in the power
of his Spirit. It's hopeless and useless without
the power of his Spirit. Zechariah 4 and 6, it's not by
might, it's not by means, it's not by methods, it's not by your
strength, it's not by your power, it's by my Spirit, says the Lord. That's preaching. Now let's look
at the way Paul preached in 1 Thessalonians 2. the manner in which Paul preached. And here's what he says about
it. Beginning in verse 1, he says, For yourselves, brethren,
know that our entrance in unto you, it was not in vain. True preaching, number one, is
never in vain. Never in vain. There's a lot
of preaching of vanity and foolishness, but true preaching The Word of
God, Christ the subject, motivated by the Holy Spirit and in the
power of the Spirit, is never, never, never in vain. When the
Spirit of God ministers the Word of God in your hearing, the gospel
of Jesus Christ is preached in your hearing. It's never in vain. Now, Isaiah said that, and I
do want you to turn to this, Isaiah 55. It's never in vain. You may come to a service, like
a service tonight, and I'm preaching the Word of God, I'm preaching
Christ in the power of the Spirit. And you may go away and say,
nothing happened. Yes, it did, too. Guarantee it, because God said
in Isaiah 55, 9, listen, Isaiah 55, 9, "'For as the heavens are
higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down,
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, it waters
the earth.' and maketh it bring forth fruit and bird, that it
may give seed to the sow and bread to the eater. So shall
my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth. It shall not return
to me void. If it is his word out of the
mouth of his servant, it will not return void. It shall accomplish
that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto
I sent it. God's preacher has a ministry
of reconciliation. The sheep hear his voice and
they reconcile. But he has also a ministry of
condemnation. Condemnation. Turn to Hebrews
11 verse 7. Now this is important. Hebrews
11 verse 7. Something always happens. Something
always takes place when God sends his word. Hebrews 11 verse 7. By faith, Noah, being warned
of God, of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared
an ark to the saving of his house, and what was he? A preacher of
righteousness. What did he do? He built an ark
and preached. Now, read the next line. By the
witch he condemned the world. By the witch he condemned the
world. By building the ark, preaching
righteousness, he saved his house. And at the same time, condemned
the world. But we didn't know what was going
on. You saw that ark. You heard that preacher. And
it added to your condemnation. I'll show you that in the book
of 2 Corinthians chapter 2. Listen to this. 2 Corinthians
chapter 2. This seriousness of preaching.
Taking heed, Christ said. How you hear? You have ears to
hear, let them hear. Take heed how you hear. Take
heed what you hear and how you hear. In 2 Corinthians 2, listen to
this, verse 14. Now, thanks be to God, who always
causes us to triumph in Christ, he maketh manifest the savor
That's not Savior, that's savor, that's fragrance. The fragrance
of his knowledge by us in every place. By whom? By his preachers.
For we are unto God. We who preach the gospel are
unto God, a sweet fragrance of Christ in them that are saved,
but also in them that perish. To the one with the savor of
death and the death, those that perish, they're in death. But
this gospel they hear adds to their condemnation. Noah built
an ark by which he condemned the world. The world was already
condemned. He condemned them further. Added to their responsibility. Added to their condemnation.
That's what he says here. To the one we'll save with death
unto death, but to the other life unto life. Now who's sufficient
for these things? Not any man. It's not any man,
not any man. But verse 5 down in chapter 3,
look down below there in chapter 3, not that we are sufficient
of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but we are sufficient
as Christ. It's God, it's of God. It's not
our message, it's His. It's not our word, it's His.
It's not our gospel, it's His. It's not our ministry, it's His.
These are not our people, they're His. You're just messenger boys,
but messenger boys don't run in vain, never. They call a young western union
boy, he's called by the boss into the office, hand him a message,
get that delivered. He's nobody, he's just got a
bicycle, that's all. But he got a message and he delivers
it. And his job's done. That's right. Second thing here, Paul says
that we don't run in vain. We don't preach in vain. Secondly,
true preaching is bold. Verse 2, even after we had suffered
before, we were shamefully entreated, as you know at Philippi. That's
through him in jail down there. Through him and Paul and Silas
in prison, he was shamefully treated in Philippi. Suffering,
suffering. But he said, we were bold in
our God, bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with
much contention. The boldness of God's picture
in faith, in the word, in the gospel. is not in his own wisdom. He's not bold because he thinks
he's wise. He's not bold because he thinks
he has a position. He's not bold because he thinks
he has power. Our boldness is in our God. It's
in our God, in his word. This is the dunamis. This is
the dynamite. This is the power of God and
salvation. David wrote in Psalm 27, the
Lord's my light. I'm not walking in darkness.
The Lord's my salvation, the Lord's the strength of my life.
Of whom shall I be afraid? Whom shall I fear? Nobody. That's what Paul said, even though
we suffered, we were shamefully treated, we were cast in jail,
we were persecuted. But the more we are persecuted
and hated by our enemies, the bolder his servants get. The bolder they get. Let me show
you that in Acts 4. You don't suppress the message
by persecuting the messenger. You just make him bolder. You don't stop the message. from
being delivered by putting the messenger in jail. Paul said
the word of God is never bound. I'm in bondage, but the word
of God is never bound. You can't stop it that way. I'll
tell you the most effective way Satan uses to stop a man from
preaching the gospel. It prospers him. That's right. It makes him popular. It enriches
him. Elevates him. Applause. That'll do it. That'll do it. That's right. But not persecution. Listen to this right here in
Acts chapter 4 verse 13. Now when these fellas, you got
it? Acts 4 verse 13. When these fellas
saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they
were unlearned and ignorant men. They hadn't been to the schools
of these Pharisees and Sadducees. They were noble. And they took
knowledge of them that had been with Jesus. These fellows had
a message they couldn't handle. They had power they couldn't
understand. They had understanding they couldn't fathom. So down
here in verse 18, they called them and commanded them not to
speak at all anymore nor to teach in the name of Jesus Christ or
else. Well, Peter and John answered,
verse 19, said to them, Now whether it be right in the sight of God
to listen to you more than God, I let you be the judge. But we
cannot but speak the things that we have seen and heard. So when
they threatened them, and let them go, finding nothing of how
they could punish them because of the people, for all men glorified
God for what was done. Look down there at verse 29. And they met with their friends.
They immediately went to where the church was meeting together.
In verse 29, they were praying. And they said, And now, Lord,
behold their threatenings. and grant unto thy servants that
with all boldness we may speak your word." Just give us more
boldness. "...by stretching forth your
hand to heal, that signs and wonders may be done by the name
of thy holy child Jesus." So back to my text. The manner in
which Paul preached the gospel, number one, not in vain. Number
two, bold in our God. Number three, verse three, listen.
And our preaching, our exhortation, was not of deceit. It was not
of deceit, nor of uncleanness, nor in guile. What does that
mean? True preaching is sincere. It's free from pretense. Truth
preaching is sincere. It's from the heart. It's from
the word, but it's from the heart of the messenger. He believes
it. David said, I believe, therefore
I will speak. And Paul took up that same watchword. He said, as David said, I believe,
therefore I will speak, I say, I believe, therefore I will speak.
And if you turn to Romans 9, Paul calls three witnesses. Three witnesses of his sincerity,
his sincerity and the truthfulness of his message, he calls three
witnesses. Romans 9 verse 1, here are the
three witnesses. The first witness he calls is
his Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. He said in verse 1 of Romans
9, I say the truth in Christ. I call as my witness the Son
of God. I am in Christ a believer. I say the truth in Christ. I
am born again, and I speak by Christ, the God of truth, who
is truth himself, and I appeal to him as the true God in the
search of hearts, that what I preach is the truth and nothing but
the truth. I say the truth in Jesus Christ. That's the first witness I call.
It's him that I preach. My conscience. I say the truth
in Christ, I lie not. My conscience bears me witness. My conscience bears me witness. A conscience, someone wrote,
is worth a thousand witnesses. A man's conscience. Unless it's
seared, as with a hot iron. But a true and sincere conscience
is worth a thousand witnesses. That's the reason years ago deathbed
confessions were admissible in court. I don't know about now,
but I do know many years ago that what a person said before
he met God is admissible in court. And that's what Paul is calling
First, I say the truth in Christ, but my conscience bears me witness
that what I say is the truth. But watch this, my conscience
bears me witness, the third witness is the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost. What I preach
is from a conscience, enlightened, cleansed, sanctified, by the
Holy Ghost, who's the author of the word I preach. I call
as my witness, Jesus Christ my Lord. I preach the truth in Christ. And I call my conscience, because
he said, I serve God with a pure conscience. Let me show you that
in 2 Timothy chapter 1. Paul said, I want you to look
at this, I want you to turn and look at it. Paul said, I serve
God with a pure conscience. Is he saying that his conscience
has no sin? No, that's not what he's saying. I serve God with a sincere conscience,
one void of hypocrisy. Look at 2 Timothy 1 verse 3. I thank God whom I serve from
my forefathers with a pure conscience. that without ceasing I have remembered
to be in my prayers night and day of pure conscience. That
was a conscience buried of deceit and of hypocrisy and of guile. That's what we're talking about
here. True preaching is not in vain.
True preaching is bold in God. And true preaching is not of
deceit. It's not of uncleanness and guile. It's honest, without
hypocrisy, and sincerely from the heart. Fourthly, true preaching
is a sacred trust. There's no trust quite like it. Let me read the whole verse and
then talk about it a moment. But as we were allowed of God
to be put in trust with the Gospels, even so we speak, not as pleasing
men but God who tries our hearts. Now to understand the office
of a preacher, a pastor, a teacher. To understand that God-given
office, that true God-given office, and no man takes this upon himself,
but he that is chosen of God, just like the priest, prophet,
priest, apostles. To understand, have a better
understanding of the office of preacher, pastor, teacher, you
look at this verse in four parts. Now watch it. Verse four, the
first part. We were allowed of God. to be
put in trust with the gospel. We were allowed of God. The Lord
puts me in the ministry. He's the only one who can. He's
the only one who does. I'll show you three verses. Ephesians 4. Ephesians chapter
4. Pastors, teachers. In chapter
4 of Ephesians, Now he that descended, that's
Christ, is the same that ascended up far above all heavens, that
he might fulfill all things. And he gave some apostles. He said to his apostles, you
didn't choose me, I chose you. And some prophets, prophets,
God put them in, and some evangelists, that's missionaries, and some
pastors and teachers. He did that, he gave them that
office over to 1 Timothy chapter 1, Paul talking about his own
ministry, the apostleship. He says in verse 12 of 1 Timothy
1, I thank Jesus Christ my Lord. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord
who hath enabled me, he carried me faithful, he put me into the
ministry. Now right over, 1 Timothy 2,
verse 7, And whereunto I am ordained a
preacher, I am ordained a preacher and an apostle. I speak the truth
in Christ, I lie not. I am ordained a preacher, an
apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth. So that's the first thing about
the ministry. God puts men in the ministry. Puts them in the ministry. We
are allowed of God. To be put in trust with the gospel. Trusted with the gospel. You
ladies who are grandmothers, or friends of a family, and a
young couple has a new baby, And they've got to take the wife
to the doctor or something. So they come by your house and
they've got their baby in their arms. And they come in and they
say, I want you to take care of our baby while we're gone.
Might be gone all day, but we're trusting you with our baby. That's
a prized possession. That's a prized possession. Either one of them lay down their
lives for that baby. And they think you will too.
They trust in you. I've been trusted with something
that's infinitely more valuable than your dear precious child.
And that's the gospel of the glory of God. That's right. The gospel of the
glory of God has been entrusted to me. And to you elders. And to these pastors. Listen to what Paul says over
here. You don't need to turn to it. You do turn to it. In 1 Timothy 1.11, listen, this
is what I'm saying right here. In 1 Timothy 1.11, according
to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed
to my trust, And really the best translation
is according to the gospel of the glory of God. The gospel
of the glory of the blessed God has been committed to my trust. I don't dare change it, or compromise
it, or neglect it, or spend my time foolishly and
neglect studying this gospel. I've been trusted with it. And
Paul said this, though I preach the gospel, I've got nothing
to glory of. Necessity is laid upon me. Where
is unto me if I don't preach the gospel? Where is unto me
if I'm not faithful to that trust? He trusted us. Back to my text,
verse 4, 1 Thessalonians 2. We've been, we were allowed of
God. We were honored of God. Don't
you think that couple honors you when they bring you their
baby? They honor you. That's an honor. They trust you. And God trusted me. He counted
me faithful. Put me in the ministry. And trusted
me with this treasure. We have this treasure in earthen
vessels. That the glory might be not of
us but of Him. Listen. The third thing. Even
so we speak, not pleasing men. That's the third thing. We don't
preach to gain the favor of men. We thrill beyond measure when
men hear the gospel and believe it. We just thrill beyond measure.
I expect them to. When I preach, like I'm preaching
here tonight, I don't expect anybody to challenge that. I'm
reading it to you out of God's Word. There it is. If my challenge
is that, I count him a fool. I really do. Anyone who doesn't
believe what I place, I consider him a fool. I consider him a fool. You got
a lot of pride. No, I got a lot of faith in the word of God.
I believe it. We can tell you right here, we
don't preach to gain the favor. We're well beyond measure when
people believe the gospel, but we don't preach for their favor,
their esteem, their applause, or their gain. You can't influence
a true preacher of the gospel to compromise his gospel. You
can't do it. We dare not alter anything God
says to make it more agreeable to the taste of men. Why do we
preach? Here's the fourth thing. to please God. We were allowed
of God to be put in trust with the gospel and so we speak, not
pleasing men, but pleasing God who tries our hearts. We want to please God whose gospel
this is, whose gospel is committed to our trust, from whom we receive
this gospel and the gift of preaching, to whom we are accountable. never forget it, who tries our
hearts. The Almighty God is a searcher
of the heart. He's not impressed by anything
you say, or I say, do, or I do, or claim. He's a searcher of
hearts. He's a searcher of hearts. He
knows the intentions of men. And from him nothing is hidden.
So Paul said, Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman
that needeth not be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of
truth. In verse 5, listen to this, I'll move along here now. True preaching is never used
as a cloak for covetousness, neither at any time used with
flattering words you know nor a cloak of covetousness. God
is my witness. Now let me say something here.
Nearly everybody in this world is religious. Nearly everybody
in this world feels the need of some kind of refuge or a hope
of eternal life. Nearly everybody in this world
is looking for some kind of peace connected with some kind of religion.
So there are plenty of people to take advantage of. There are
men and women now who enter the ministry as a vocation, as a
job, as a good work. Some of them are even sincere.
Endeavoring to help people. Blind leads the blind. They use
flattering words, they court people, they please people, they
pacify this flesh, they do anything as their job demands, as their
career influences them to gain. Their religion is a cloak that
covers a covetous heart. They're doing it for gain. But Paul says, not any time did
I ever use any flattering words or cater to people. to cover
a covetous heart. God is my witness. I didn't covet
your silver or gold. I didn't even covet you, yours. I coveted you for the glory of
Christ. I say the true minister sincerely
serves Christ, faithfully preaches the gospel, seeks the glory of
Christ and the Father, And he's concerned for the eternal well-being
of his hearers, and he has not one selfish mercenary view. He leaves it to God to supply
his need. And the Lord always does, always
has, and always will. God is my witness. My God shall
supply all your need according to his riches and glory through
Christ Jesus. I know a lot of men who compromise
the gospel for gain in some form, in some form. All right, verse
6, true preaching is to glorify God, not men. I want you to see
this. I've just got a couple more points.
It's to glorify God, not men. Nor of me in salt we glory." And he said, I was an apostle
of Christ, and I could have been burdensome, but I didn't do it.
I wasn't seeking recognition or glory. Now here's two or three
things I want to say. The pastor, the preacher, has
a high important office. It's a high calling, it's a high
office, it's an important office. The Lord Jesus set them in that
place. Let me read you some scripture. The Lord Jesus, I read one a
while ago from from Timothy and Ephesians. But let me read you one over
here where Paul said this. Listen. He's talking to the elders
of Ephesus at Antioch. He's talking to the elders. Now
he said, You men, take heed therefore to yourselves, and to all the
flock over which the Holy Ghost has made you overseers. The Holy
Ghost has given you a high important office. overseers of the Church. Now you take heed to feed the
Church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. Then I do
want you to turn to Hebrews 13. Now here's the office of pastor,
a true God-given, God-sent, God-anointed, God-ordained pastor. It's a powerful
office. It's a high and important office.
It's an awesome responsibility. In Hebrews 13, over Sarah, as
he said in Acts 20. In Hebrews 13, 7. Now remember
them which have the rule over you, who have spoken to you the
word of God, who taught you the word of God. You follow their
faith. And you consider the end or goal
of their ministry. What is that verse 8? It's Jesus
Christ. The same yesterday, today, and
forever. That's the goal of your true pastor's ministry. To make
Christ known. Paul said, I prevail to Christ
be formed in you. Jesus Christ formed in you. Now,
you remember them. You consider them, remember them
means to regard them highly. Now look at verse 17. Same chapter. Hebrews 13. Obey them that have
the rule over you. And submit yourselves to them.
They watch for your souls. They that must give an account.
And when they give an account of your relationship with them,
I hope they can do it with joy, not with grief. That wouldn't
be profitable for you. Now here's one more, 1 Peter
chapter 5. That's why we're still over here
in Hebrew, let's just go to 1 Peter 5. Now here, you elders listen,
you preachers, pastors, this is what I was talking to those
young pastors in Mexico. Chapter 5, 1 Peter 5, you pastors,
you preachers, you elders, which are among you, I exhort, I'm
an elder, Peter said, I'm an elder, I'm an apostle, but I'm
an elder. I'm a witness of the sufferings of Christ. I'm a partaker
of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God, which
is among you. Take the oversight, take the
responsibility, take the labor thereof, not by constraint, not
reluctantly, but willingly. You got a job to do, do it. Not
for filthy lucre, not for gain, not for recognition, but of a
ready mind. And verse 3, and not a lord.
You're not the lord over God's heritage. We have one master,
our Lord Jesus Christ. We have one king, and that's
Christ. You're not the lord. What are
you? You're an example. You're a servant. You're a servant. That's what Christ said. Let
me read you this. Don't you turn, let me read it
quickly to you. Listen, Christ said this. Listen. First, listen. Call no man your
father on this earth. I don't mean your dad. Now I'm
talking about in the church. Call no man your father. He's
your father in heaven. And don't be called master, and
reverend, and bishop, and lords over God's heritage, and supervisors,
and superintendents. Don't be called master. One is
your master, Christ. And he that would be greatest
among you, let him be your servant. Whosoever shall exalt himself
shall be abased. But he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. So I'm saying that the pulpit
is an awesome responsibility of the pastor and the elders,
is a high calling. And let's learn to give tribute
to whom tributes do, and custom to whom customs do, and fear
to whom fears do, and honor to whom honors do. But do it in
such a way that the one who gives the honor is not put down. And
the one who's given the honor is not lifted up. I don't know,
but that's got to be done. Because those who submit are
not made to feel that they're inferior, they're not. He would
be greatest among you, let him be your servant. First should
be last and last should be first. So the honor is to be given,
but the honor is to be given in such a way and received in
such a way that the giver of the honor is not suppressed and
put down and made to feel inferior and him that has received the
honor never lifted up, never proud. Because our Lord said, listen,
When you shall have done everything God commanded you, you still
say, I'm an unprofitable sufferer. I've only done that which is
my duty to do. That's true, isn't it? That's
true. Honor. You know, some children, teenagers
nowadays feel like to say yes sir to somebody puts them down.
It doesn't put them down, really, it lifts them. The teenager recognizes that
he has a lot to learn. That lifts him up in your eyes.
When he says yes sir, and yes ma'am, and no sir, no ma'am,
and I'm listening to you, I'm taking your advice, he's really
lifted up. He's a smart boy. But the one
to whom he's yessiring doesn't feel superior. He's just glad
for the honor that they've given to him, the way he came from
God. Isn't that right? I'm telling
you the truth. But I'm going to close with this.
I'm not going to finish this. You never finish, do you? You
never finish. You could come back over this
again tomorrow and do the same thing. But here's the way. True
preaching is bold, but it's gentle. Somewhere in the past 200 years
in here in America, I'm not talking about other countries. I don't
know about other countries. I do know about this country.
Somewhere in the past 200 years in America, somebody got the
idea that preaching the Word of God is yelling. Screaming
at people. Hellfire and brimstone. Boy,
you sure stepped on my toes. That's not preaching, stepping
on toes. Preaching is reaching high. The conscience. Demanding, controlling, badgering
people. I was raised under that kind
of preaching. I always thought that was preaching. My teachers
in my early days, that to them was preaching, you know, stomping
and yelling and demanding and controlling and badgering people,
but that's not preaching. You know what preaching is? Listen
to this. Verse 7, we were gentle among you as a nurse cherishes
her children, as a mama feeds her baby. We feed the sincere
milk of the word, like a mother takes her baby. and feeds you
with the breast. Kindness and love and peace and
gentleness. Now it doesn't keep you from
being bold. It doesn't keep you from being bold. That I preach in order to be
bold in God, but as gentle to men as a mother feeds her baby
with the milk, we feed the milk with the word. The wrath of man
doesn't accomplish the righteousness of God. It does not work. And he says in verse 8, And my
preaching was with such affection, affectionately desirous of you,
I was willing not only to impart unto you the gospel, but my own
life also. That's right. I believe the word
life there. Paul couldn't give his soul to
anybody. that he could give his life for somebody. It's one thing
to love to preach. I've run into folks through my
50 years that love to preach. Love to preach. Just love to
get in the pulpit. Just move out of the way and
let them in the pulpit. They love to preach, but it's quite
another thing to love those to whom you preach. And to love him whom you preach. In closing, read verse 13. True
preaching has this goal. For this cause also thank we
God without ceasing. Because, and I say this about
you, when you receive the word of God which you heard of me,
of us, you received it, not as the word of men, but as it is
in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you. that believe. Thank God for the
Word.
Paul's Preaching Manner
Message: 1516
Henry Mahan Tape Ministry
6088 Zebulon Highway
Pikeville, KY 41501
| Sermon ID | 31207124510 |
| Duration | 47:09 |
| Date | |
| Category | Midweek Service |
| Bible Text | 1 Thessalonians 2:1-13 |
| Language | English |
© Copyright
2026 SermonAudio.