David said, I was glad when they
said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord. What a,
what a glad thing it is for the Lord to bring us together where
we can hear the gospel and worship him. Tom's going to come lead
us in hymn 21 in the spiral hymnal and You remember David's last
words when he said, although it be not so with my house, although
my tabernacle of my flesh and my home are not as they ought
to be, yet, here's my hope, he hath made with me an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. This is all my salvation
and all my desire. though we make it not to grow.
That passage of scripture is the inspiration behind the hymn
that we're about to sing. So let's stand together. Tom,
you come please. Number 21 in the spiral hymn
book. of the Father and the Son and
the Spirit, three in one. In eternal ages past, made a
covenant sure and fast. God my Father chose His own in
the person of His Son, and ordained that I should be one with Him
eternally. God the Son agreed to come in
the flesh to bring me home. He would keep God's holy law
and retrieve me from the fall. Christ in love so willingly Stood
as my great surety For my price He offered blood To appease the
wrath God the Spirit, heavenly dove,
promised to come down in love, bringing life and peace and grace
to the chosen, purchased race. He seeks the lost, heals the
lame, and He brings us to the Lamb. By His mighty sovereign
call, God's elect are gathered all. This poor sinner is secure,
for God's covenant will endure. It is sealed by God's own word,
by His Spirit and His blood. Blessed Holy Covenant God, I
am yours by ties of blood. Ties of grace and ties of love
hold me to my God above. Please be seated. If you'd like to open your Bibles
with me to 2 Timothy chapter 4. 2 Timothy chapter 4. Henry Avila, like a lot of us,
suffered with COVID recently, and he never really got rid of
the cough, and Friday ended up in the hospital with pneumonia,
so I checked on him. Speaking of pneumonia, Robert,
it's good to have you back with us. I talked to him, I saw him this
morning, and he seemed a little better, so they have him on antibiotics,
steroid, so hopefully he's going to be on the mend. Let's pray
together. Our Heavenly Father, we are glad
that you have brought us once again to this place. You've promised,
Lord, to meet with us, and we know not what to do but to trust
your precious promises for the eternal salvation of our souls. Lord, we thank you for the faith
that you give and Lord, we thank you for your word and we thank
you for your spirit and we thank you for your people and Lord,
we pray that you'd be pleased now in these hours that we have
together today to bless and to unite our hearts together in
Christ to forgive us of our sin and
reveal to us, Lord, the glorious person of thy dear son. We pray
for our brother, Henry, and we ask, Lord, for your hand of healing
to be upon him and to bring him full recovery and back to fellowship
here with us. We ask it in Christ's name, amen. You have your Bibles open to
2 Timothy chapter four, I want to say at the outset, today is
a special day in the life of our church. After gathering together
for 25 years, the Lord has called out from among us a man that
he's going to send from us with the gospel. to preach the gospel
in another place. And, of course, I'm speaking
of Caleb Hickman, and Caleb and Bobby and the girls will be leaving
later this week to go to Pennsylvania. Of course, our feelings are mixed. We are sad that they're not going
to be with us on a regular basis to fellowship with him. But we're
also very glad that the gospel is going to be going to this
part of the country and that the Lord has called Caleb out. I pray that the Lord would be
pleased to bless the work there, Caleb. I've chosen this passage of Scripture
for couple of reasons. Number one, I hope that it will
be a charge, Caleb, to you as you're reminded this morning
of what the Lord's called you to do. I hope that it will be
a reminder to each of us as to what the Lord has called us to
do. The one thing needful to preach
the gospel of God's free grace in the finished work and glorious
person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's a lot of things that
would distract us to do something else, but that is the main thing. That is the one thing needful,
that Christ be preached. I want to try to answer thirdly, I would say that I hope that
if there is someone listening to this message, either here
or later, that is yet a stranger to the Lord's grace, that the
Lord would be pleased to open their hearts and reveal Christ
in them. That's always our hope, isn't
it? And that the Lord will use his word to bring life to a dead
sinner. I want to try to answer the question
from the first five verses of this passage. Why is the gospel
the one thing needful? Why do we preach the gospel? As I said, preachers and churches
get involved in a lot of things, but The Lord has made it clear
that this is our reason for existence. This is the one thing that we
need to be doing always. We know that preaching the gospel
is the means by which the Lord is pleased to save sinners. We know that the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the
Jew first and also to the Greek, and that the one thing that you
and I need is to be saved, and that if we're going to be saved,
it will be through the preaching of the gospel. Faith comes by
hearing, and hearing comes by the Word of God. So We know that we have to call
upon the name of the Lord in order to be saved, but how can
they call upon him in whom they've not heard? And whom they've not
believed, and how can they believe on him in whom they've not heard?
And how can they hear without a preacher? And how can they
preach except they be sent? So here's the method, the means
that the Lord uses to save his people. It is the preaching of
the gospel. You have your Bibles open to
2 Timothy chapter 4. Paul is about to depart this world. This will be his last epistle.
He's written much, is about to be put to death for the gospel,
and he's writing Timothy, his son in the faith, as he refers
to him, and reminding him of what God has called him to do
and to be, and reminding him of that which is necessary. And so he says, I charge thee
therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall
judge the quick and the dead. Now the word quick there means
living. The Lord Jesus Christ has made
Lord over the living and the dead. And my first point here
as to why we must preach Christ is because we are accountable
to God. He's our judge. Matters not what
anyone else thinks about what we do or how we do it. What matters
is what God thinks. We must stand before him and
it is required of a steward that he be found faithful. And so,
Paul begins this admonition to young Timothy to preach the gospel
because God is our judge and we are accountable only to him. Turn to me to 1 Corinthians 4. Verse one, let a man so account
of us as of the ministers of Christ and stewards of the mysteries
of God. The mystery is the gospel. The
gospel must be revealed. Otherwise it will remain a secret.
It will remain hidden from the natural man. The natural man
cannot receive the things of the Spirit, for they are spiritually
discerned. And so we are, Paul's saying,
I've been made a steward of this mystery. Moreover, it is required
in stewards that a man be found faithful. Not successful, not
noticeable, not acknowledged by men, but faithful. And that's true for each one
of us, brother. That is required. of God, that we be found faithful. But with me it is a very small
thing that I should be judged of you or of man's judgment. Yea, I judge not mine own self. Oh, we must be careful in judging
ourselves. We're prone to think too highly
of ourselves. or we're prone to be overly critical
of ourselves. And what Paul's saying here is,
I can't judge myself. The Lord is my judge. My responsibility,
my duty is to be faithful to the gospel. For I know nothing by myself,
yet am I not hereby justified, but he that judgeth me is the
Lord. The Lord puts into our hearts
a desire to be found faithful. It'll be because we've been made
justified in the Lord Jesus Christ. And so in all things, we find
our hope in Christ. Our faithfulness, our justification,
our ability are all found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Go back
with me to our text. I charge thee therefore before
God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and
the dead at the appearing of his kingdom. And here we find
the second reason why it is necessary that we preach Christ and him
crucified. This is the gospel. Paul says
in this verse, I charge thee before God that you preach the
word. Well, Peter says, and this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. So though a man may stand and
pretend to believe that the Bible is the word of God, if he's not
preaching Christ, he's not preaching the word. The written word is
given to us to reveal the living word. And in the volume of the
book, it is written of me. And so when we, every time we
go to the scriptures, every time we go to any passage in the Bible,
we are looking to find and to exalt from that passage of scripture,
the glorious person and the accomplished work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word made flesh, whom
God has sent to dwell among us. And we are to behold his glory
as the only begotten of the Father, the one full of grace and full
of truth. The gospel is Christ and him
crucified. He is the gospel. Paul said,
I've determined not to know anything among you, save Christ and him
crucified. This is my duty before God, and
that's the first reason why I do what I do, because I am accountable
to Him. Caleb, you're accountable to
Him. I'm accountable to Him. We are accountable to God. And it matters not what any men
think about us or about what we preach or about who we are. It matters whether or not we've
been faithful stewards of the mystery of the gospel. Secondly,
the second reason we preach the gospel is because the kingdom
of God is coming. Notice what he says here in our
text. Who shall judge the quick and
the dead at his appearing and his kingdom. When the Lord taught
us to pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth, even
as it is in heaven. Not talking about somehow you
know, the kingdom of God, yes, is the rule and reign of Christ
in our heartbeats. He's telling us to pray for the
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is soon. It is soon. The Lord Jesus Christ himself
said at the conclusion of the scriptures, I come quickly. I
come quickly. And John responded by saying,
come Lord Jesus, even now come. What an encouragement it is to
the child of God to know that the kingdom of God is coming. You say, well, that was 2000
years ago. Yes, and we call what happened 2000 years ago, ancient
history. God calls what happened 2000
years ago, the day before yesterday. Yeah, the day before yesterday.
in God's estimation of time. And the way God estimates time
is the way time is. We're the ones deceived. We're
the ones thinking that we have forever and it's going to be,
you know, for God tells us the way it really is. A day with the Lord is of a thousand
years and a thousand years is of a day. Two thousand years
ago was but the day before yesterday. And the Lord Jesus Christ said,
I come quickly. And if that was true, then how
much more true it is now. And there's our hope. There's
our joy. This is our rejoicing. Paul tells us in the book of
Thessalonians that the trump of God shall sound and the dead
in Christ shall raise and those of us which are alive shall meet
up together with them in the clouds and so shall we ever be
with the Lord. Comfort ye one another with these
words. This is the believer's comfort, isn't it? We're longing,
waiting, and watching. for the eastern sky to split
and the trump of God to sound, and the Lord Jesus Christ. And
this is our motivation for preaching the gospel. It's an urgency. You don't find any place in the
scriptures where the gospel is preached and the preacher says,
you know, go home and think about that. You know, spend some time chewing
on that. No, no. It's always an urgency, isn't
it? Come! Come! If any man thirsts, let him come.
Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. The time
is short. And that's a good thing for the
child of God. Comfort ye one another with these
words. The gospel reminds us of our
hope. We are so prone to get caught
up in the things of this world, aren't we? And it's the gospel
that reminds us that the appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ is soon
and that his kingdom is coming. And we're to pray, oh Lord, thy
kingdom come. Thy will be done perfectly, gloriously,
without sin and with perfect righteousness on earth, even
as it is in heaven. This is the believer's hope.
This is the message of the gospel. The gospel is not a self-help
message that just helps us become better people and get through
this world a little bit more successfully. No, the gospel
is a message of salvation for the kingdom of God. Religion
might be all based on, you know, Temporal things let those who
are of the flesh Mind the things of the flesh those who are of
the spirit mind the things of the spirit And the Spirit of
God is concerned with eternal matters With eternal matters
those things which are seen are temporal Those things which are
not seen are eternal and we look on those things which are not
seen not on the things which are seen So here's why we are
to make the gospel of God's free grace the essential matter, the
one thing necessary in this church, in the assembly of believers
in Pennsylvania, in your heart and in my heart. The Bible speaks
of Abraham as being the father of the faithful. And Abraham
looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and
maker was God. He just, like you and me, is
walking through this world, can't find a home. Can't find a place
for the soul to rest. And we're always looking for
a city. A city which hath foundation. The Lord Jesus Christ is that
foundation stone. The stone which the builders
rejected God has made to be the head of the corner. And this
city's builder and maker is God. And so we must preach the gospel. Number one, because we're accountable
to God. Number two, because the kingdom of God is coming in all
that we know about this world. You know, this is a warning to
the, it's not just a comfort to the believer. You know, the
five virgins who had their oil lamps filled were watching and
waiting for the bridegroom to come. And the ones who didn't
believe he was coming, they weren't concerned about his coming. They
said, as Peter warns the unbeliever, well, you know, they'd been saying
this from day one. Where is the coming of the Lord
Jesus Christ? That's the voice of unbelief.
The voice of the child of God says, come Lord Jesus, even now
come. Oh, how we long to see you for
who you are and to be made like you. This is, this is the end
of our lives. This is what it's all about.
Everything else is just, you know, what is your life? It is
a vapor, isn't that what James said? It's here for a moment
and then it's gone. This is a great encouragement
to the elect. The appearing. You see that in our text. Go
back with me and look again at the latter part of verse one.
At the appearing of his kingdom. Oh, we look through a glass darkly
now. We're always having to polish
that mirror to try to get a better view of him. And that's what
we're doing right now. Trying to get a better view of
Christ. One day we'll see him in the fullness of his glory
at his appearing, which is soon. It is soon. And this is not just
an encouragement to the child of God, but it is a warning to
those who think that it's not going to happen or that this
world has become their home. The Lord says that With fervent
heat, the elements shall melt in that day. Just like that. Let the world talk about man-made
global warming all they want. And I say this not lightly, but
the globe is going to warm. Not gradually, but very quickly. Very quickly. The fire of God
is going to consume all the dross. of this world, all the wood,
hay, and stubble of this world. The only thing to be preserved
would be those whom he catches away. Oh, what hope we have. I charge thee before God that
you preach the gospel, preach the word, because number one,
he is the judge of the living and the dead, and number two,
we have the appearing of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is an admonishment to the
child of God who sees themselves prone to get bound up in the
things of this world. You know, we spend so many of
our years trying to be established, trying to get established in
this world, don't we? We start out with school and then we worry
about getting married and having children and having a career.
Then we spend a few years of our lives trying to protect our
nest eggs, and we spend the last days of our lives ordering everything
around doctor's appointments. And it's all just like that.
All just like that. David said in Psalm 39, Lord, Make me to know thy wisdom. Turn with me to that passage.
I can't quote the whole thing right now, so let's turn to it.
Psalm 39. This is glorious, believer. Psalm 39, look at verse four.
Lord, make me to know mine end. Can you say that? Lord, make
me to know mine end. That's why we're here right now.
I'm reminding us, the Lord is reminding us, what is our end? The kingdom of God is coming.
The appearing of the Lord Jesus Christ is coming. This is why
the gospel is so absolutely necessary. Lord, make me to know mine end.
And the measure of my days, what it is that I may know how frail
I am. Behold, thou hast made my days
as a hand breath, and mine age is as nothing before thee. Verily,
every man at his very best state is altogether vanity. He's empty. Oh, Solomon said, vanity of vanities. There's nothing new under the
sun. This world is vain. It's empty. It doesn't satisfy
the longing of the soul, does it? The gospel does. Christ does. Christ does. That's why you're
here. That's why I'm here. You've spent
a week trudging around in the mire of
this world, needed to be reminded again. that the appearing of
the Lord Jesus Christ is at hand and that the gospel is everything,
everything to that. Your life is a vapor. It appears
for a little time and then it vanishes away. The older you get, the more you
You'll understand the truth of that. Isn't that right? Thirdly, look at verse, go back
to our text. Verse two, preach the word. Preach the word. Preach Christ. Preach the gospel of God's grace. In season and out of season,
when it's convenient and when it's not convenient, We must
preach the gospel because we are tempted to correct problems
by other means. We are tempted to correct our
problems with other means. The great temptation is the law. We're tempted to fix our sin
problem with law. Child of God, you know what I'm
talking about, don't you? You have those thoughts every day.
You know, if I could just do better, if I could just, you
know, get a handle on this, you know, then then I would have
more assurance of my salvation. And we and we and we try to apply
the principles of the law to fix our sin problem. The gospel
is the only thing that fixes our sin problem. All the law
does is mask it. The law actually aggravates it.
The scripture says the strength of sin is the law. Is the law. If we think we're
going to go to the law in order to fix our sin problem, then
we're only strengthening our sin problem with self-righteousness. Aren't we? That's what we're
doing. Preach the word. Preach the gospel. Don't preach
the law. Don't preach man's wisdom. Don't
preach. Don't preach anything. We're
tempted to try to fix our sin problem with something other. This is why we're being commanded,
mandated, charged by God to preach the gospel, because we're all
tempted to find some other means. Preach the word. Just declare,
thus saith the Lord. Money and time will fix a lot
of problems in this world. It will have absolutely no influence
whatsoever on the real problem. The real problem. No amount of
money and no amount of time in this world or in eternity. will fix the problem of sin.
The gospel is the only thing that fixes that. The Lord Jesus
Christ is the only one that can put away our sin. He's the only
one that can give to us a righteousness that will make us acceptable
in the sight of God. This is why we must preach the
gospel. Preach the word, Timothy. Preach
the word. Don't preach the law. Don't preach
psychology or philosophy. Modern medicine may delay the
inevitable. Counseling may calm the mind. The law will mask the problem. But the gospel, the gospel of
God's free grace in the accomplished work of the Son of God. who bore the sins of his people
and put them away by the sacrifice of himself. It's the only message
of salvation that will put away our sin. And
the only place the gospel is revealed is in the scriptures.
Preach the word. Preach the word. We don't find
the message of the gospel anywhere else. Creation, creation may
tell us that there is a God, and it does. Anyone that says
that there is no God is just lying to themselves. They can
see plainly by creation that there is a creator. Conscience
might convict us of our need to be reconciled to that God,
but conscience alone will not give us any remedy or answer
to the problem that we have with sin and with God. That's why
Paul said, preach the word. Preach from the word, the living
word, the gospel of God's free grace. Because this is the only
hope. Creation won't do it, conscience
won't do it. Only the conviction of the Holy
Spirit who uses the message of the gospel. to bring life to
a dead sinner's soul. Thirdly, fourthly, fourthly,
we preach the gospel because we are accountable to God. We
preach the gospel because the appearing of his kingdom is near.
We preach the gospel because we are tempted to find some other
means to solve our problem with sin. Number four, it is the only thing consistent
in this world. The only thing. You and I live
in an ever-changing world. It is. There's nothing consistent
in this world. Nothing consistent with you,
with me. There's no foundation. Everything
is shifting sand, isn't it? And if we build our house on
shifting sand, when the storm of judgment comes, that house
is going to fall. The gospel is the only rock.
Look what he says. Preach the word, be instant in
season and out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with
all long-suffering and doctrine. Be instant. Cultures change,
values change, economies change, politics changes. Everything's
changing, isn't it? And we're desperately looking
for, what frustrates you more than anything? Give me something
that's not gonna change. Well, there's only one thing
that doesn't change. I am the same. I change not. I am the Lord.
Here's what, I am the Lord and I change not, ye sons of Jacob.
And that's the reason why you're not consumed. The only thing
that's sure and steadfast. And you know, I hate it when
I hear men talk about making the gospel relevant to culture. There is nothing more relevant
to every culture than the gospel of God's grace, the word of God.
Preach the word in season, out of season. It doesn't change. We're preaching the same message
today that our Lord preached 2,000 years ago. Paul preached,
the apostles preached, preaching the same gospel. It is changeless, timeless. Why? Because men are the same
and God hasn't changed. And the means by which the Lord
is pleased to save sinners hasn't changed. The blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now I want you to take a moment
with me and follow me clearly on this because this is another
temptation when it comes to the gospel. Notice in verse two,
Reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering. What does
that mean? Does that mean call men out for
their sins? Identify particular sins that
you know that someone's guilty of? You know, every time I've
ever done that in 25 years, every single time, two things have
happened. Those who were not guilty of
that sin thought, because of their tender conscience, that
I was talking to them. Oh, maybe it's me that he's calling
out. And those who were guilty of
that sin got mad. That happened every time, every
single time that I've ever dealt with, unless it's in the text
and we're dealing with a particular problem and we're just expounding
on the text, any time you try to identify a particular, you're
gonna wound the tenderhearted and you're gonna drive those
who are guilty of that sin deeper into it. So what does it mean to reprove
and to rebuke? Well, Let me give you three examples
of each of these words. The first three times that the
word reprove is used. You don't have to turn to these
passages. One is in Matthew chapter 18, where the Lord says, if thy
brother trespass against thee. Now, let me say this real quick. You know, I've met congregations
of people who are prone to want to expose every offense that
takes place among believers. 99% of the time that someone
offenses you, just let it be water on the duck's back. You
know, just let it go and know that you've been offensive to
others as much as they have to you. Just let it go. Forgive
them in your heart. Now, if it causes a fellowship
issue with you and them, then maybe you need to do what the
Lord said in Matthew 18. One-on-one, if your brother trespass
against thee, go and tell him his fault. That's the word, fault,
is the same word for offense, or for the word reprove. Okay, the second time this word
is found is in Luke chapter 3 verse 19, when John the Baptist reproves
Herod for having taken his brother's Philip's wife Herodias as his
wife and he reproves him. The third time that it's found
is in John chapter 3 when the Lord's talking to Nicodemus and
he says, everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither
cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." So
in light of these three verses, what does it mean to reprove
men? It means to remind them that
they're sinners. Child of God, You love being
reminded of that, don't you? You love being reminded that
you have no righteousness, that you have nothing that you can
offer God for your acceptance. You love being reminded that
all of your salvation is in the righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ, that he is your only righteousness. When the Lord told the prophet
Isaiah to speak comfort to the people of God. He said to, Isaiah
said, Lord, where do I begin this message? And the Lord said,
tell them that they are grass. Tell them they have nothing,
they can do nothing. You see, self-righteousness is,
we're all a bunch of recovering Pharisees, and we all are prone
to think that, well, I've got something, I can do something,
I know something. No, tell them they're sinners,
reprove them. They'll be thankful to know that.
They'll rejoice and be reminded that they're sinners. That's
what it means to reprove. So we're not trying to correct men by calling out particular
sins. Lest one of those two things
I mentioned happens, it never works. It never works, Caleb.
It doesn't work. You're going to make the people
that are guilty mad, and you're going to make the people that
are innocent sad. But to tell men that they're
sinners, with all longsuffering, reprove. Now, what does it mean to rebuke?
Well, let me give you the first three places where that word
is used in the New Testament. The first one is when the Lord
is with the disciples in the boat, in the storm, on the Sea
of Galilee. And he says to them, oh ye, Lord,
care us not that we perish. And the Lord stands and he speaks
to the wind. and he calms the sea, and he
says to the disciples, O ye of little faith, he arose and rebuked
the wind. He took authority over the wind. That's what the word rebuke means. Second time it's used is after
the healing of a multitude of people, the Lord charged them
that they tell no man who he is. That's the word rebuke. He
took authority over them. And he said, don't tell anybody
who did this to you. The third time that it's found is when
Peter, after the Lord tells the disciples that he's going to
be put to death, and Peter rebukes him. Peter tries to take authority
over Christ. And the Lord turns to Peter and
he says, Peter, depart from me. How did he say it? He called
him Satan is what he did. God and Satan, you don't take
authority over Christ. So here's what it is to reprove
and rebuke. Remind men they're sinners and
remind men that Christ Jesus, the Lord, is the savior of sinners. That's what it means. Expose men for what they are.
and then reveal Christ for who he is. He has authority over
the wind. He has authority over your soul.
He will do with you whatsoever he wills, just like he does with
all the armies of heaven and all the inhabitants of the earth.
Remind men who Christ is, that our God reigns sovereign. He charges and what he charges
must be. No man can rebuke him. He has
authority. Now, but that centurion said,
Lord, I know what authority is. I say to this soldier, you go,
and he goes. I say to another one, come, and he comes. And
he said, Lord, your authority. I'm not worried that you should
come into my house, but if you'll just speak the word, my servants
shall be healed. So we, in preaching the gospel,
are reminding men of two things. Number one, they're sinners. in need of a savior. Number two,
the Lord Jesus Christ is that savior. And he is absolutely
omnipotent. He's omnipotent. He possesses
all power. We're gonna be saved. He's gonna
have to do it. He's the only one that can do
it. And then the word exhort, that's the word comfort. And
that is our comfort. That is our comfort. So we preach,
we're comforting God's people, we're telling them that their
grass, we're telling them that God has, by his own authority,
put away their sin. And they are comforted. This
is the three R's of preaching. You know, we've, we've, we've, Sorry, we've run out of time.
We've come a long way in our education system, haven't we?
And somebody, let's just get back to the three R's, you know,
reading, writing, and arithmetic. This is the three R's of the
gospel, ruined by the fall, ruined by the fall, redeemed by the
blood, and regenerated by the Holy Spirit. And that's what
we preach. In season, out of season, reprove,
rebuke, exhort with all long-suffering and doctrine, for the time will
come when men will not endure sound doctrine, but they will
gather to themselves teachers having itching ears. We preach
the gospel because no one else is preaching the gospel. No one's preaching the gospel.
There's very few. Relatively speaking, very, very
few preaching the gospel. The time has come when men have
gathered to themselves, teachers telling them what they want to
hear. What do they tell them? They're telling them, number one, you're
not a sinner. You have the power to save yourself by your will
and by your works. Number two, they're telling them
God doesn't have authority. He wants to save you. He's made
an offer to you to be saved, but his hands are tied and he
has not the power to save. So they're not reproving and
they're not rebuking. And consequently, God's people
are not being exhorted. They're not comforted by that
message. You are comforted, child of God,
by a message. Doesn't tickle your ears, tells
you the truth. the truth about who you are and
who God is, and how it is God's pleased to save sinners. Caleb,
may God give you the grace to be faithful to that message from
wherever you preach. Brother, you all have a home
here. I told the girls, I said, you're all not leaving. You're
not getting a new, you have two churches now, is what I told
them. You have two churches now. What a special relationship we
will have with the fellowship in Pennsylvania as a sister church. We, as a congregation, send you
with that charge. Our Heavenly Father, we thank
you for your word. Lord, bless it to our hearts. Bless Caleb. Bless the fellowship
of believers there in Pennsylvania. Glorify yourself in the preaching
of thy word. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.