Okay, brethren, I would ask you once again to turn with me to 1 Timothy chapter 3. 1 Timothy chapter 3. Verse 14, Paul writes to Timothy, these things I write to you, hoping to come to you shortly. But if I tarry long, that you may know how men ought to behave themselves in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. Let us once again pray and ask for God's help upon us as we consider his word together. Let's pray. Our father, we thank you that once again, we can come to consider your word this evening, this afternoon. And we think of as the prophet, you had commissioned him to bring this word of the Babylonians to the Babylonians and how you have raised up prophets early in the morning to bring your word to the peoples. And so in these days, Lord, you have established the church and you have raised up preachers and you have gifted members in the church to proclaim your word and to bring the good news of the gospel. And so we pray that you would help us as a people to receive your word and to find our identity and our calling in the pages of scripture, that we may not let the world define who we are, but rather that we will be defined by the word of God. and that we will be committed to fulfilling your purpose in our lives as a people, as a congregation. We do pray that you would come by your spirit, that you would encourage us and strengthen our faith. We ask that you would draw near to us, and we do plead these mercies in Jesus' name, amen. Now, as we considered earlier today, the role of the church in society, we are now in the section in which I'm titling, How the Church Carries Out Its Purpose in the World. We noted from 1 Timothy 3 that the role of the church is signified in these words, that the church is the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. The church's role in the world is to uphold the truth of God. It is to defend the truth of God. It is to proclaim the truth of God. And we've noted how the church carries out this purpose. It's by its God honoring life. And now we're considering the church carries this purpose out of being the pillar and ground of the truth by its proclamation of the gospel. And we considered what is the gospel? We noted that the word gospel simply means good news or glad tidings, and that this message of good news, it is a message that tells the truth about everything. It is a message of salvation from sin and death. It is a message of eternal life. In this message of the Gospel, the Gospel explains what is wrong with the world. It explains the meaning of life. Why are we here? The Gospel shows us a better way to live. It tells of eternal life. And then we consider the focal point of the gospel, the heart and soul of the gospel message. It terminates upon the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We noted that the gospel is not a political message. The gospel is not a social message. The gospel is not an economical message, but it is a message of deliverance of salvation from sin And Christ, not education, not your political candidate getting office, but it is Jesus who is the Savior. It is Christ that men need more than anything else. And we consider it in terms of His person, His identity as the Son of God. We know this from the Gospel of John, where we read, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And if you look at the, well, you may not have the Greek translation, but in the Greek, or the Greek version, in the Greek it would read like this, in the beginning was the Word, And the Word was with God, and God was the Word. And it throws the emphasis on the deity of the Word. The Word was divine. And this divine being that was a person that is with God, and at the same time was God, we read later on, and the Word became flesh. and dwelt among us this recent Christmas season or holiday season. We celebrate the birth or the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so how the son of God, he left the glories of heaven came into the womb of the Virgin Mary and through that nine month period acquired humanity to himself without ceasing to be divine. And thus Jesus is the God man. He has two distinct natures. joined in one person. The natures are not mixed together. They remain distinct, but they are in, housed, if you will, in one person. And thus he could walk on water. He can speak to the winds and the waves. He could raise the dead. He can give sight to the blind. But as a man, he hungered. He was thirsty. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. So he is both God and man. That is his person. And also with his person, it is through Jesus that we come to know the truth. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father but by me. If you want to know what truth is, we learn the truth through Jesus. And it is through Jesus that we also come to know God. It is, he also said, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me. And then also in John chapter one, verse 18, it speaks about how no one has seen God at any time, but the only begotten of the Father. And it says, he have declared him. That is, the Son of God has declared the Father to men. And we noted that that word declared in the Greek is a word we would get our English word exegesis. That is, to unpack the meaning of the text. of scripture or even some ancient document, you use this method of exegesis, the meaning of the words and and the context and so forth, unpacking the meaning, like opening up and unpacking a suitcase. And so Jesus declares the Father to men. We come to know the true and living God through the Son. And there is another passage that I didn't refer to that I have in my notes, is Hebrews chapter 1. And in Hebrews chapter 1, those opening verses, it says, God, having of old time, hath spoken to us in diverse manners and portions, that is, through the prophets, such as we have read in Scripture through Jeremiah. God hath spoken to men through the prophets, through visions and dreams, and various ways, but in these last days hath spoken in his Son. And Jesus is God's final word to men. And then Jesus has sent forth the apostles and to the uttermost ends of the earth. And then churches are now established. And so Jesus, through the apostles, through the church, continues to reveal the knowledge of God to men. So it is through Jesus that we come to know the true and living God. Also, through Jesus, we come to know ourselves as sinners. Christ is the just who suffered for the unjust. While we were yet sinners, Christ died. And so the name Jesus, as one preacher said, tells us there is something wrong with the world. There is something wrong with us, because He is the Savior that has come to save us from our sins. And then also through Jesus, we come to know the world, which is a passage that didn't refer to. But through Jesus, we come to understand the world in which we live. John chapter eight, verse 12. Jesus said, I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life. In those words, Jesus tells us something about the world. He says, I am the light of the world. He that follows me shall not walk in the darkness. And there we learn that the world is in darkness. The world is groping in the dark, trying to find its way, trying to understand the meaning and significance of life, trying to make things better. And all that is happening in the world is that people are groping about, trying to find their way in the dark. And the world is looking and searching, but it cannot seem to make things better. Things don't just seem to be working out all that well. And Jesus says, I am the light of the world. I am the light. And ye that follow me shall not walk in the darkness. I will open your eyes. You will see the truth. You will walk in the light. You will understand the meaning of life, and you will not fall into the trap and of the snares of a blinding and a deceitful and a lost world. I will show you the way of life. So through Jesus, we come to know the world. And then we saw that Jesus is a propitiation of our sins upon the cross. So essentially, that is the message of the church. All right, our message is a message of good news. And the message of the church, which is the pillar and ground of the truth, centers around the gospel, the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we have another question I wanted to consider. All right, if the message of the church is the gospel, then let us consider, secondly, how is it communicated? How is the gospel to be communicated? What is God's ordained method for the communication of the gospel? And the word of God is very clear. The method that God has ordained for the communication of the gospel is preaching. Preaching. The gospel is a message that is to be preached. God has given us the message and the method of its communication. I made reference to Dr. Martin Luther King, and there was a book I read where he said, he said, Jesus has given us the message and Gandhi has given us the method. and the nonviolent demonstration. However, if we are to be true to the scriptures, it is clear in the word of God that Jesus has not only given us the message, but he has also given us the method and the method of the communication of the message of the gospel is preaching. It is preaching. And the methods of man, seeking to be wiser than God, abound. For example, some churches, they employ the use of music. I love music. I majored in music. I love all kinds of music. But music is not the method, the ordained method of God for the communication of the gospel. And I'm not saying the gospel cannot be communicated in music. There are certain settings and situations where that can be a evangelistic outreach. Someone has a musical gift. They can gather a group of people around them. They can sing songs about the Lord and then maybe take them. a few moments, put down the instruments, and talk about Jesus, and God can use that to save someone. I'm not discounting that. But brethren, what we are considering, we're considering what the Scriptures clearly teach, in terms of God's ordained method for the communication of the Gospel. There are also other methods such as drama, having plays, or dance, or movies, or other kind of ideas that churches use in the midst of the worship to communicate the gospel, where it is clear that those are not the things that God has ordained. That's the assertion. Now let's consider some biblical evidence. Turn with me to Romans chapter 10. Romans chapter 10. Paul had a burden and a desire for his fellow Jews that they would be saved. Verse 11 jumping into the context for the scripture says, Romans chapter 10 verse 11, whosoever believes on him shall not be put to shame for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek for the same Lord is Lord of all and is rich until all that call upon him for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except they be sent? Even as it is written, how beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things. You see the progression there? Paul says, whoever shall calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. That is a statement. That is a statement of fact. But then the question is, how shall I call upon the Lord whom they have not believed? And how say they believe on the Lord if they haven't heard the Lord? And how shall they hear the Lord without the internet? No, without a preacher. And how should they preach except they be sent? Now I know you can listen to sermons on the internet. Okay, I'm aware of that. And God can use that. but primarily it's by a preacher, whether it's recorded primarily in person, hear the message of the gospel, in order that men and women may be saved, God is ordained by the preaching of and ordained a duly commissioned preacher of God. He has ordained that it is through that method that sinners are saved. Now, I know people can be saved by merely reading the scriptures in the privacy of their own home. You can have one-on-one witnessing with someone and telling them about the Lord, and having a conversation with a loved one or with a friend, and God can use that to save someone. God can use many ways to save people, but when it comes to the communication of the gospel in terms of the message, God has primarily ordained that the message should be preached. And here is one of those classic passages that articulates that fact. It is the evidence from the Word of God that it is preaching. Here is another passage. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1. Actually, we'll start with chapter two, and then we'll go back to chapter one. First Corinthians chapter two. When you read in the book of Acts, I think particularly at 18, Paul was in fear and trembling when he thought of going into Corinth. And Corinth was a cultured city. It was one of the cities of the Greeks where people were well-educated. It was a city of some measure of wealth, but it was a very immoral and debauched place. And when you think of someone who was very degraded, very immoral, they would say that person was Corinthianized. And among the Corinthians, when it came to public speakers, there was a certain code of speaking, of oratory. that was expected. And Paul had a measure of apprehension, in a sense, in going to the Corinthians, but he had no apprehension about the message. Look with me, 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 1. And I, brethren, when I came unto you, when he first came to Corinth, I came to you not with excellency of speech, that is, eloquence, or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching 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. So Paul was determined not to seek to be a impressive communicator, seeking to be eloquent, to impress people with the manner of his speaking. He didn't want people's faith to rest in the ability of the speaker, but he wanted their faith to rest in the power of God. And therefore, Paul is saying, look, I was determined not to come among you following the codes of accepted oratory among you Corinthians. And I know you have a certain expectation of a public speaker, but I have this message from God. And I have a message that demands a certain way of communication, and the communication is that of preaching. And I was determined to preach Christ and him crucified. And Paul was not ashamed of Christ. And yet, in the midst of his weakness and his fear, he was resolved to be faithful as a preacher in Corinth. Then look back at chapter one. Verse 17, 1 Corinthians 1 verse 17. Paul says, for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. You see, Paul was very clear as to his calling. Not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void. You know, there are some preachers who are very gifted communicators. Do you know that Adolf Hitler was a gifted preacher? You know that? And one of my children, I remember when she was young, is one of my daughters. I won't mention who it is. And I was looking at a documentary, and I love documentaries. And there was Adolf Hitler speaking to his people. And I asked my daughter, I said, what is he doing? And you know what she said? He's preaching. even the child, he's preaching. And the people to whom he spoke of that nation, they were in rapt attention as he mesmerized them and they were given over to this charismatic speaker. Now, some people can speak in such a way where other people will be mesmerized and captivated and follow them because of the kind of speaker that they are. Paul did not want to be like that. Paul did not want people to listen to him because they enjoyed his manner of speaking. But Paul was very jealous and careful that he wanted people's faith to rest in the message and not in the messenger. And therefore, Paul says, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void. He wanted Christ to be preeminent. He wanted Christ to be exalted. He wanted men, when they heard the message of the gospel, that they will be taken up with Christ. And he, as a preacher, was merely a means in the hand of God to communicate this message, to point men to the Savior. So that after the sermon, men will be taken up with Jesus and not with Paul. And that was Paul's determination. Verse 18 of 1 Corinthians 1, For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us who are saved, it is the power of God. You see that? The power of God is in the cross. It's in the message of the cross, the message itself. There resides the power of God, not in the messenger. Verse 19, For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will bring to naught. And there are those in the world who would mock the gospel. They said, this is silly. I mean, come on, we're Americans. We're in the 21st century. We've gotten beyond this hell and fire and brimstone preaching and seeking to cause people to be afraid by scaring them about hell and wrath and judgment. And somehow, do you expect we who are sophisticated and have advanced along the evolutionary stream of development and consciousness and understanding of philosophies, that we in the 21st century, expect that we would put our faith in a man that was hung upon the cross by the Romans over 2,000 years ago? That somehow the death of Jesus of Nazareth has something to do in terms of our destiny, eternal life? Do you really believe that we would stoop to such a barbaric and archaic and primitive way of thinking? I mean, we're educated! So Paul's attitude is in verse 20, where is the wise? Paul said, all right, bring it on. If you think this message is folly, Paul says, where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? All those who would oppose and make a mock of the gospel of God, where is the wise, the disputer, the mocker of this world? Notice what he says. Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe. You see, the wisdom of God is through, well, when Paul says foolishness, He's not conceding to the world's view of the gospel, that the gospel is really foolish. No, the gospel is not foolish. But that's how the world looks at it. So when he says, through the foolishness of the preaching, God has ordained to save them that believe. Seeing that Jews ask for signs, they're still looking for the Messiah. And the Greeks seek out the wisdom. They want to hear some philosophy. But we preach Christ crucified unto Jews a stumbling block and unto Gentiles foolishness. But unto them that are saved, both Jews and Greeks, Christ's the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. So here you see here, it is through preaching. It is through the preaching of the Gospel that God has ordained to save those that believe. Now, think of Jericho. You remember how the walls of Jericho came down? They didn't use dynamite. They didn't drop a bomb or throw a grenade. They merely marched around the walls. And they did that at the Word of God. And then on the seventh day, they blew the trumpets and they gave a shout and the walls came down. Now they did not knock those walls down. God brought the walls down, but they were responsible to be obedient to the command of God. If you were a soldier, you think, but this is not good military tactics. in all of the books of military strategy, if they had them back then, this really doesn't make any sense. Here we are an army, and we're just marching around a wall. And we do it again another day, we're just marching around a wall. And then somehow, if we give this shout, and blow these trumpets, God is going to bring us a victory in Jericho. You will look at that and you say, that does not add up. And that's why we walk by faith and not by sight. The just shall live by faith. And that has always been the case. And so whether it's Joshua marching around the walls of Jericho or whether it's preaching the gospel, if God says that the gospel is his power unto salvation, then that's exactly what it is. And we all should know because we've experienced it ourselves. The preaching of the gospel is through the proclaiming of God's word that God has ordained to save those that believe. And here are two passages, and there are others we can look at, where we have the biblical evidence that the God-ordained method for the communication of the gospel is preaching. Now let us look at some biblical examples. Jesus. Jesus was the greatest preacher. In Matthew four, verse seven, we read this. Matthew four, I'm sorry, verse 17. This is after Jesus went into the temple. He read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. And then verse 17, From that time began Jesus to preach and to say, repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. And then verse 23 and Jesus went about all Galilee teaching in their synagogues and preaching the gospel of the kingdom and healing all manner of diseases. So Jesus went about preaching the gospel of the kingdom. And if Jesus went about as a preacher, and if God has ordained that it's through the message of the gospel preached, do we think we can be wiser than God and do something else? And say that preaching is not in style? And to cave in to the pressure of our culture that preaching is outdated? No. Turn with me to the book of Acts, the examples of the apostles. And I just want to look at one, we can look at many. But in Acts chapter 2, you know the day of Pentecost when they spoke with other languages and tongues, and people thought that the disciples were drunk. There were people visiting from different nations and different cultures, and they spoke different languages. And they saw these Galilean Jews standing up speaking in their language. And they say, how is it that these Galileans are speaking in our language? And verse 13, it says, but others mocking said, there. These men are crazy. They are filled with new wine. Peter stands up. Verse 14 of Acts chapter two. But Peter, standing up with the 11 lifted up his voice because he had to be heard and spoke forth to them, saying, You men of of Judea and all you that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you and give ear to my words. For these are not drunken, as you suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day, about nine o'clock in the morning. But this is that which hath been spoken through the prophet Joel." And then Peter is quoting scripture. In other words, Peter is saying, we're not drunk. It's too early for this. But Peter is preaching. And he says, this what you see is in fulfillment of prophecy. Look at verse 22. You men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God. You see, Peter wants these people to listen to him. Men of Israel, you people, listen to my voice. And he goes on and he talks about Jesus, whom God raised up from the dead, et cetera. And then Peter goes on, verse 32. This Jesus did God raise up whereof we are all witnesses. We're not drunk, but we are witnesses of Jesus and being therefore at the right hand of God. He has and having received of the father the promise of the Holy Spirit. He has poured forth this which you see And here, what did they saw? They saw these Galileans speaking in their language. And what were they saying? They were declaring the works of God. And when Peter quoted from Joel, God said, in the last days, I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh. not just to the Jewish people. But this message of the gospel of salvation will be a message that will go to all the nations. And that's why they were speaking in all these other languages, signifying that the message is now going forth to the ends of the earth. Verse 37, Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart and said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, Brethren, what shall we do? And Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. and verse 40. And with many other words, he testified and exhorted them, saying, Save yourselves from this crooked generation. What was Peter doing? He was preaching. He was preaching the gospel. He was explaining what was going on. He was citing scripture, saying this is in fulfillment of the scripture. The word of God says this here and the word of God said that there and David is no longer with us. But this Jesus whom God raised up now has poured forth the promised spirit from the father. He has poured forth the spirit of God and we are now calling you to repent and be baptized. And then with many other words, Peter says, save yourselves, deliver yourselves, come to this Jesus and be saved. And what was Peter doing? He was pleading, he was reasoning, he was urging, he was persuading, the man was preaching. And that is how the gospel message is to be communicated. Now, in closing, turn with me to 2 Timothy 4. 2 Timothy 4. There's some other passages. In Romans 1, Paul says he is ready to preach the gospel to those who are in Rome. Romans 1, verses 14 and following. Paul goes on to say, for I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes. Now here is 2 Timothy. Paul is about to be executed. He's about to be martyred. Paul is in prison at Rome, and Paul is writing this letter, his dying words to his companion in the faith, Timothy. And note what Paul says to Timothy. Second Timothy four, beginning in verse one, Paul says, I charge you in the sight of God and of Christ Jesus. who shall judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom." What does he charge Timothy to do? To preach. To preach. To preach. Preach the Word. Be urgent, in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine, but having itching ears will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts, will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside unto fables. Be thou sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Of all the things that Paul could say to Timothy, Paul urges Timothy to continue preaching the word of God. This message of the gospel, it is a message that demands urgency. Now I recognize that different men are temperamentally different. God has not made us all the same. You can look at a variety of musical instruments in an orchestra, the trumpet, the flute, the bassoon, uh the saxophone the tuba they all have a different timbre a different type of a sound and each of the instruments can play the same tune but it will have a tune the sound that is unique to the instrument And so it is with men. When God saves a man and when God raises up a man to be a preacher, God doesn't transform him into something that he's not. But God uses his humanity, his voice, whether it's a deep voice or a higher pitch voice, his physique, his everything about the man, his mind, his intellect, his way to illustrate his his way of speaking. And God uses each man unique in terms of how he made them at. So to be a faithful preacher doesn't mean we have to sound like a certain in a certain manner of communicating. No, some preachers have a very large and very deep and booming and resonating voice. Others may have a more softer voice, but preaching nonetheless can be done by all kinds of men with their various temperaments and gifts. So I'm not saying preaching means you need to yell, you need to pound, you need to bang. No, I'm not saying it's all that, because there's some people who yell and pound and bang, and they're not really preaching. Spurgeon said that some preachers, some people confuse perspiration with inspiration, and figure if they work themselves up, they're really filled with the Spirit, but that's not always the case. But preaching by a duly sent servant of God is when the mind and the heart and the soul is so captured with God's truth. And not only that, but it's what is communicated, it is faithful to the scripture. It's not enough to get up here and pound and say things, but you need to communicate the truth. and being taken up with the power of truth upon one's mind and soul, and looking upon the hearers, seeing the expression, seeing the look of concern, being filled with compassion and the desire for their salvation. So Paul says to Timothy, preach the word, be urgent, in season, out of season. Suppose if someone found the cure for cancer, how do you think they would communicate that? it will go viral on the internet. They would have press conferences. They will be on this show and that show. They will want to be interviewed. People will want to interview this person. In other words, you will not keep it a secret. You will be excited and so many people will be excited. Finally, we have a cure from this horrible and wretched disease called cancer. And there will be great excitement. Well, the message of the gospel demands nothing less than that, but is even more. Because this is not a matter of curing a body that is riddled with a disease. This is a matter of a salvation of soul and body. This is a matter of eternity, where you will spend eternity. And we all are going to exist eternally. We will continue to exist when we are dead. We are not annihilated into non-existence. And that is a heresy from the pit of hell that some preachers and search some churches may espouse to say that hell is not a place. Hell is nothing. It's just that when you're dead, you're gone and that's it. That is a lie from the devil. It takes away the urgency of the gospel. It takes away the urgency to call men to repent and the fear of the judgment of God. of the devil. But the message of the gospel is the good news to deliver men and women from the wrath of God. And we will exist eternally, whether we will exist and live forever in heaven, eternal life, or whether we would die forever in hell, where Jesus says, where the worm dies not. There is the weeping and the wailing of the gnashing of teeth. There is suffering that would never end. And we read in the book of the Revelation, these who, the fearful and the unbelieving, et cetera, their part will be in the lake of fire. It is a dreadful and horrible place that hell is. And therefore, when this message of the gospel is preached, these are the issues at stake. And because these are the issues at stake, the message demands urgency. Urgency. And that's why Peter, when he stood on the day of Pentecost, he said, repent ye and be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. That's why Peter said, save yourselves from this crooked and perverse generation. And I say, brethren, we as a people of God, Whether we become preachers, whether we become faithful members in the Church of Christ as God's people, we should settle for nothing less than the preaching of the Gospel. We live in a day where it's to be calmly communicated. Don't get so worked up about this. Let's pipe it down. Come on, relax. Hey, take it easy. We can hear you. We get it. We can hear you. The message of the Gospel is an urgent message. If your child was in a burning building, and you say, hey, you know, hey, honey, don't get, don't raise your voice. Hey, relax, take it easy. No! My baby is in that building! And it would probably have to take an army of the whole firehouse to keep you from going in that building to get your child. You're gonna be striving, you're gonna be yelling and pleading. Why? Because there's urgency. And brethren, that is how the message of the gospel is to be preached. We as a people of God, let us not be ashamed of the preaching of the gospel. Jesus preached the gospel. The apostles preached the gospel. And we, by God's grace, will continue to preach the gospel. And I'm going to leave it there. I have a quote from B.B. Warfield, but I don't want to go too much longer. But may the Lord be pleased to help us, brethren, to let the word of God guide us in our attitude toward preaching. Preaching is not out of style. Preaching is God's ordained method to save people from their sins. Let's pray. Our father, we thank you for your word, and we pray that you would help us to be committed to the preaching of the gospel. We pray that you will continue to raise up preachers who will be faithful heralds of this good news. We pray that we will continue to witness the salvation of sinners through the message proclaimed, and that as a people of God, that we would not be led astray by the pressure of our age to downplay and to minimize and to lightly regard the preaching of the gospel. Lord Jesus, we thank you for your word, and we pray that you would help us as a people to buy the truth and sell it. Not we ask and pray these things in Christ's name. Amen.