1 Corinthians chapter 1. Tonight
we'll be looking at verse 21. The title of the message this evening
is, God's Wisdom and Pleasure in Preaching. God's wisdom and pleasure in
this matter of preaching the gospel. The scripture says, for
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Now remember that there
was a great division among the church at Corinth. There were
divisions among them concerning pastors, concerning preachers
of the gospel. One was exalting another pastor
over another preacher of the gospel. They were more impressed
with the gifts of these preachers rather than the message of these
preachers. They began by using human wisdom
and human understanding to exalt men rather than exalting Christ. And you read in that last portion
there in chapter 1, there's that last one that says, I'm of Paul,
I'm of Apollos, and that last one, I am of Christ. I am of
Christ. These were some who said, well,
we don't exalt any preacher. In fact, we don't need any preacher. All we need is Christ. We don't need any preacher to
teach us. Christ teaches us. They claim that Christ had converted
them without the means of preaching. So then they had no need of preachers. Now listen to me, this is very
prevalent in our day. The need of preaching the gospel
even among God's people has greatly diminished in our day. Many people
who are professing believers in Christ claim they have no
need of a preacher or to hear the preaching of the gospel. I've heard men boast of even
their conversion. They boast in their conversion
saying that they were converted and saved without the preaching
of the gospel. They claim that Christ converted
them without the use of this means of preaching. And they begin to justify their
claim by experience. Experiences. They'll say, well,
I was converted when I was under a tree in the wilderness and
I was in nature and I felt this overwhelming feeling come over
me. They use experiences to justify their conversions or their opinion. They just say, well, it's my
opinion that you don't need a preacher. You don't need a preacher to
be saved. I'm here to tell you it is true, preachers cannot
save you. But I'm also here to tell you, according to the Word
of God, that no one is saved without a preacher. No one is
saved without hearing the gospel by a man sent of God. No one. So when we encounter these people,
I must warn you that Since no one is saved contrary to the
Word of God, that God always saves sinners in the same manner
as He expressly and clearly declares in His Word, and if any man is
contrary to the Scriptures, that man is a liar." That man is a
liar. We must say this. Let God be
true and what? Every man a liar. Every man a
liar. If our feelings contradict the
Word of God, then what do we say of our feelings? They are
liars. If our experience contradicts
the Word of God, what must we say about our experience? It's
a liar. If our opinions and thoughts
contradict the Word of God, what must we say about our opinions
and thoughts? They are liars. Let God be true
and every man a liar. And so here in our text, we may
see it very plainly. very plainly written in the Word
of God. Read it with me again. For after
that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. So then the doctrine of how God
saves sinners only through the means of the gospel If that doctrine
is foolish to you, then you are trusting in a refuge of lies. The foundation of Jesus Christ,
if that is foolishness to you, then you have hidden yourself
under a shadow of falsehood to be saved through some other means
is contradictory to the Word of God. You're saved by some
other means than preaching. Your experience, or whatever
it is, is contradictory to the Word of God. Paul says, Christ,
He sent me not to baptize, but to what? Preach the gospel. To preach the gospel. We who
are sent of God have one purpose in this life, and that is to
preach the Word. To be instant, in season, out
of season, when it's popular and when it's not. We are to
preach the Word, reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering
and doctrine. We are to do this constantly.
Faithfully, boldly proclaim the gospel. Why? Because Christ being
our message is the sole remedy of sinners. The sole remedy,
the only remedy for the souls of sinners is Jesus Christ. Our sole message is Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. And that's what you need. That's
what sinners need. That's what I need. That's what
you need. That's what they need. They need
Christ. And so what do we do? We preach
Christ. That's what we're sent to do. And as I've told you before,
every time this gospel is preached, there's a vision made, isn't
there? There's a division. Those who count this gospel foolish. You are perishing under the wrath
and judgment of God. But to us who are saved, there's
another division. To us who are saved, we understand
something about this gospel that most people don't. It is the
power of God. It is the power of God. And now God the Holy Spirit Says
in verse 18 about that division. In the next verse, he tells us
the purpose of God in preaching. Look at that in verse 19. For
it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I will
bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. What is the purpose
of preaching? It is to destroy the wisdom of
man. God has sent it for that purpose. And listen, I don't
care what men say, it destroys their wisdom. Absolutely. Completely and utterly destroys
the wisdom of men. God purposed it. I know this,
when God purposed something, it happens. It happens. The wisdom of all freewill works
religion as well as all irreligious wisdom and philosophy of men
are destroyed by the preaching of this gospel. And this is... The destruction is so simple.
All we do is declare the Word of God. We're not disputers of
this world. We are not self-made wise men
who preach. Paul said, where's the wise?
Where's the scribe? Where's the disputer among God's
people? There's no wise man among us.
There's no disputer. I'm not here to debate this Gospel
with anybody. I simply declare the Gospel of
Jesus Christ as it is written in Holy Scripture. according
to the Word of God. And so we preach that salvation
is by the grace of God through faith in Christ. Very simply.
Salvation is how? By grace. What does that do with
all works religion? Doesn't it just simply destroy
all salvation by works? Simply. Plainly. Well, I just
don't believe. I gotta do something. No, God
says He destroyed your wisdom simply by saying, for by grace
you're saved through faith. And that faith, not of yourself.
There goes free will, works, religion right out the window.
Faith is not of yourself. Faith is a gift of God and not
of works. Why? Lest any man should have
any glory or boast in himself. We preach the accomplished and
finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we know this, that all that
Christ died for will come. But how will they come? What
is the means our God has chosen to call His people to salvation? It is simply the same thing that
destroys the wisdom of the world is the same thing God uses to
call His people. I can't walk and chew bubblegum
at the same time. I have difficulty doing two things.
This gospel does two things exactly at the same time. It hardens
the sinner and it breaks the sinner. Whatever God sends it
out to do, that's exactly what it does. It does that every time. And so why then preaching? Why
then has God chosen preaching? Well, the Apostle here gives
us two reasons. First of all, he has chosen because
it is the wisdom of God. Notice that in your text. He
said, after that, in the wisdom of God. in the wisdom of God. The world
by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching."
And the second thing is, please God. And those are my two points
tonight. The wisdom of God in preaching
and the pleasure of God in preaching. So preaching the gospel then
is the only means of God saving his people, is not the wisdom
of man. Now, the wisdom of man is anything
but preaching. Have you noticed that, I'm not
sure that you don't, I hope maybe I shouldn't even say, but in
false religion, preaching takes the least amount of time. Everything
else is absorbed in all kinds of activity, all kinds of things. And a man stands up for about
5 or 10 minutes, and he says something, he goes over 15 minutes,
and sure, they're all about to riot, get out. Of course, he
doesn't have anything to say anyway, that's why it only takes
him 15 minutes. That's the wisdom of the world,
is to do things by carnal observation. But the wisdom of the eternal
God is preaching. For after that our Lord surely
has from the beginning manifest His wisdom by things that are
made, hasn't He? He's manifest His wisdom. Go
to Romans chapter 1. Let's go to Romans chapter 1. God from the beginning has manifest
His wisdom by the things that are made. Men are plainly able
to see the greatness of God's wisdom simply by looking around
them. Look at verse 19 of chapter 1
of Romans. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them. For God has showed it unto them.
Well, how'd he do that? For the invisible things of him
from the creation of the world are clearly seen. being understood by the things
that are made, even the eternal power and Godhead, so that they
are without excuse." Now, simply looking around, you cannot You
cannot deny the wisdom of God in creation. Can you? Look at
the order of creation. This is still the fallen world. This is a fallen creation. Sin has come into this world,
and yet you still can see great order in things. You see the wisdom of God by
just simply looking around. But I want you to understand
that no man, by looking at that which is made, can know God or
His salvation. You take the wisest and the most
intelligent man that this world can produce, he can look at everything
religious and everything that is manifest in this world, and
by his learning and by his ability, he can never know God. Left to ourselves, this book
is sealed. Matter of fact, we read that
last week in Isaiah chapter 29, which is what Paul was saying
in verse 19, For it is written, and I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise. That's from Isaiah chapter 29. Listen to what God
says in Isaiah 29. He said, The vision of all this
is becoming to you as words of a book that are sealed. If you come at this book with
your own wisdom and your own ability, it is a sealed book
and you will not open it. It doesn't matter what you do.
You come at this learning, this book, simply by your own ability. You will not... Why? God sealed
it. Who will open it? This reminds me of when the Lord
Jesus Christ in the vision they gave John in Revelation. You
remember that book that was at the right hand of God? What was
it? It was sealed with seven seals
perfectly. And John began to weep because
the book was sealed. No man could open it. No man
could know what was in it. No man could know salvation.
He wept. until when the Lion of the tribe
of Judah hath prevailed to what? Open the book and loose the seals
thereof." The only one that can open this book to you and me
is Jesus Christ. He's the only one. You can read
it all you want to. It won't ever amount to anything
if He doesn't open it to you. Look in Romans back in Romans
1 again, He says this, Because they knew God, how'd they know
Him? By what was made. They knew Him.
What'd they do? They glorified Him not as God,
neither were thankful, but became vain in their imagination. Their
foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise. What'd
they do? They became fools. They became
fools. And what's a manifestation of
their foolishness? Look at verse 25, "...who changed
the truth of God into a lie, and the worship and serve the
creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever." You see now, man could look at
this world, and by the wisdom of man, they cannot know God. But now then, what happened after
creation? That's what happened. But God
created the nation of Israel, didn't He? He made the nation
of Israel and He gave them all these clear revelations, didn't
He? Much clearer than any other nation
in the whole world. They had the Law of God, they
had the Prophets of God, they had all of these things that
pointed to the Messiah that told them of His coming and how He
would die. And you know what? They were
just as blind as the Gentiles. The book was just as sealed to
them as it was to everyone else. And they, like everyone else,
worshiped the creature rather than the Creator. Well, how do
you worship the creature rather than the Creator? You suppose
that by yourself you have the ability to approach unto God.
That is to worship self. That is to worship self. is to
put stock into your wisdom or your ability to please God. You're worshiping the creature
rather than the Creator. Look at Romans 3. Go over to
Romans 3 now and see the conclusion of what Paul says in verse 9. He said, what then? Are we better
than they? Are the Jews better than the
Gentiles because they had the Word of God? No, in no wise. For we have before proved that
both Jews and Gentiles, they are all under sin. As it is written,
there is none righteous, no, not one. Listen to this next
one. There is none that what? Understandeth. You see what the
wisdom of the world is? There is none that understandeth. In the whole history of mankind
there's not been one sinner who has taught himself who God is
or how to please God. Now is that not a very poignant
statement? No one, not one in the whole
history taught himself who God is. What did Jesus say? As it is
written, they shall all be taught of God. God. Therefore, if any man come to
Christ, I want you to know this, it's because he's taught of God.
So God has, by preaching, destroyed the wisdom of the wise, and this
was according to the eternal purpose and wisdom of God. It was God's eternal wisdom that
after destroying the wisdom of men and proving no man is able
to know God, that Christ should come and save his people, that
the wisdom of God should come by sending preachers to testify
of his power and salvation. So then, just as wisdom of God
destroys man's wisdom, It is the wisdom of God that calls
men by preaching. That's why Paul said, after that,
after he had destroyed the wisdom of man, what does he do? He sends
preachers to preach the wisdom of God. Isn't that what happened
in your life? God destroyed your wisdom by
sending a preacher, and at the same time, he preached the gospel
of God's wisdom to you. And by his wisdom, you were brought
in. You were saved. I think it's amazing that this
same gospel does both. I think it's amazing. Therefore,
Jesus Christ praised God, didn't He, when He said this, I thank
Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid
these things from the wise and prudent. and revealed them unto
Baal." You see, he does both. He hides from the wise. Are you wise? Are you too good
for this gospel? Do you not need this gospel?
You know why? God hid it from you. You don't know this gospel because
God hides it from you. You want to see steam come out
of an Arminian's ears, tell him that. that God hides the gospel
from men. And the only reason men don't
understand is God hides it. He don't allow it. And Jesus
said, thank you. Thank you for hiding it from
these wise and prudent and revealing it to the ignorant. Our Lord
said that. Friends, if this gospel is to
be hidden, it is hidden by God. Paul said that in the very next
chapter. He said, we speak to them that are perfect the things
of God, the hidden things of God in a mystery. What makes the difference? What
makes the difference between you who understand this gospel
and those who don't? We claim no wisdom for ourselves. It was only the grace of God. Paul says in that 1 Corinthians
2, he said, but God revealed this unto us. God revealed this
unto us by His Spirit, and it was only through the preaching
of the gospel it was revealed to us. Let us be aware that public
preaching of the gospel is always God's wisdom and chosen means
to save His people. Now, in the Old Testament, our
God spoke to His men in many different ways. The Apostle makes
mention of that in Hebrews chapter 1. He said, "...at sundry times
and in divers manners, God spake unto our fathers in times past
by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by His
Son." But you'll notice this, that
everyone who is converted in the Old Testament is converted
the same way we are in the New. God sent someone to preach the
Word. Now they may have heard it from
God directly. We don't hear from God directly,
audibly, and visions as they did. That is now over. That's done. We don't need that
anymore. We have the full revelation of
God in front of us. But I'll tell you this, God always
sent His people a man, didn't He? And that man spoke God's
Word to them, and His people believed through them, the same
way that we do. Why? This is the wisdom of God. This is the only wisdom that
exalts Christ and abases man. Preaching. So then the phrase in our text,
it says, after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. What
it means is that God is pleased to destroy the wisdom of man,
expose the inability of man and his earthly wisdom, and at the
same time, through the preaching of the gospel, saves his people. That's the wisdom of God. Second
of all, the pleasure of God. The Holy Spirit not only declares
that the preaching is the wisdom of God, which destroys the wisdom
of man and saves his people, it is also the pleasure of God.
After that, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that belief. Now I'm going to look at several
things that pleases God. Several things that pleases God.
What pleases God? We're going to look in several
places in Scripture at what pleases God. And this pleases God, that
no sinner could ever be saved apart from the preaching of the
gospel. That just is so, isn't it? Please God. Let's look at
this. First thing I want you to see
is that it pleased God to choose you. Did it not? Listen to what he says in 1 Samuel
chapter 12. You remember Israel, they had
chosen that king, an earthly king, and God said they had sinned. They had rejected Him for that
earthly king. And Samuel came to them and he
said this, The Lord will not forsake His people for His great
name's sake. Now here's why. Because it hath
pleased the Lord to make you His people. Israel is only a type, isn't
it? We rejected God as our King. By nature we rejected God as
our King. But herein is our hope, isn't
it? That God will not forsake us
for this simple fact. It pleased Him to choose us. Now why did He choose us? Not
according to our works, not according to our merit, but only according
to His grace and His good pleasure. the good pleasure of his will. Now what it says in Ephesians,
he said, chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the
praise of the glory of his grace. Why are you called to believe
on Christ? We are the elect only because
of one reason, it pleased God and nothing else. So then, can
anyone be saved except they are the elect? Is it possible for
anyone who is not chosen of God to be saved? No, we have read
that scripture many times. For Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. For Pharaoh I have raised him
up to show my power, and that's it. He hardened Pharaoh's heart. Our Lord Jesus told those Jews,
those Pharisees, he said this, you believe not because you are
not of my sheep. It is impossible for one, and
it's also impossible for one of God's elect to ever be forsaken. He said, the Lord will not forsake
his people which he foreknew. He will not cast us away. So
then let's go take this now and look at preaching. It pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Not
one sinner then will ever be saved apart from the preaching
of the Gospels, just as no one elect person will ever be lost. Why? It pleased God. It pleased
God. Second thing that pleased God
is to make Christ our representative. It pleased God to make Him our
High Priest, the representative of all His elect. It pleased
God to make him responsible to save his people. According as
he had chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before him. In love, having
predestined us unto the adoption of children, here it is, by Jesus
Christ to himself. You see, God first trusted in
Christ. He first trusted in Christ by
putting all of his elect into union with him. Now why did he
do that? When Jesus Christ came into the
world and was lifted up on the cross bearing the sins of his
own people in his own body on the tree, I want you to know
this, he was crucified for one reason. It pleased God to do
it. I'm not making it up. What does
Isaiah 53 say? It pleased the Lord to do what? To bruise him. It pleased the
Lord. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong
his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his
hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. You know, the crucifixion was
not an accident. It was totally on purpose. God
did that on purpose. Why? It pleased Him. Let us see the death of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Wasn't it pleasing to God? It
was pleasing. God was satisfied with His one
offering. He reconciled us to God. And so then seeing that the death
of Christ pleased God, is it possible for one person, one
elect for whom Christ died to ever fail to be redeemed? Is it possible? Why is it not
possible? Because it pleased God. It pleased
God. Is it possible for one sinner
who is saved to be saved without Christ bearing his sin? Could
you be saved without his death? It's not possible. It's not possible for anyone
of the elect to not be redeemed. Only those chosen of God are
redeemed by Christ and all who are redeemed are redeemed forever
and reconciled to God and shall never fail to enter into glory.
Even so, The preaching of the gospel pleases God to be the
means by which He calls His people. It pleased God. Third thing that
pleased God is that in Christ should all the fullness dwell.
I love this one. When I was reading this one this
afternoon, it was very thrilling. In Colossians chapter 1, this
is where we read this one, Colossians chapter 1 and verse 19. For it
pleased the Father that in Him should all the fullness dwell. What does that mean? It means
all the fullness of our salvation, all our pardon, all our peace,
all our redemption, all our sanctification, all our wisdom, all our faith,
all our hope, all our love to God in its fullness, God was
pleased to put that in Christ alone. In Christ alone. It pleased the Father that Him
should dwell salvation, righteousness, and all the blessings. And so
then, is there any possibility that salvation should come from
any other source than Christ? Is it something that you may
say, well, Christ is, God was pleased to put some of the fullness
in Christ, and the rest I must fill up. Now that's what false
religion teaches. That's what the world's religion
teaches, that Christ tried. He did the best He could. And
you have to fill it up. You have to make it effectual.
You have to do something. No, friends, that's not possible.
Why? It pleased God that in Him should all the fullness dwell.
We are the vine. He is the branches. We receive
all our life and faith and hope and joy and peace and nourishment
of our souls come fully from Him. And I like this. In Him,
God, it pleased God that in Him should all the fullness dwell. I like that because this is talking
about a continual, perpetual fullness. So that when I receive
from Him salvation and pardon and peace and mercy and grace,
guess what? He's still full. You need forgiveness? Well, you
take forgiveness and guess what? He's still full of forgiveness.
Why? It pleased God in Him should
all the fullness dwell. What a wonderful truth. So then there's not one possibility
that anyone would find salvation apart from Him alone. Because
it pleased God. Therefore, even so, not one sinner
will be saved apart from the preaching of the gospel. Why?
It pleased God. Just as it pleased God to make
Him the fullness, to make Him our Redeemer, to choose us, it
also pleased God that preaching be the means by which He calls
His people. So then, not one will be saved
without the preaching. Why? It pleased God. I don't
need any other reason, do you? It pleased God. The fourth thing
I saw that pleased God was to reveal Christ to us. We were lost in our sins, destitute
of any light whatsoever, walking in darkness, chained to our sins. ignorant and foolish, could not
understand God, would not understand God. But God, in the fullness
of time, He came and revealed Himself to us. Just like Paul
says, but when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb and called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me." Now
why do you know Christ at all? It pleased God to reveal Him. It pleased God to reveal Him. It pleased God by the power of
the Holy Spirit to quicken you to life and faith in Christ. Now then, was there any possibility
you should miss that? I know the world's religion thinks
that some will just miss it. God wants them to have it, but
they'll just miss it somehow. Not all of them will be saved. God wants to save everybody,
but He just can't do it. No, that's not what the Word
of God says. There was no possibility for
you to miss it. God appointed a time of your
birth, naturally as well as spiritually, and He pleased Him to reveal
Christ in you. Even so, how was He pleased to
reveal it? only through the preaching of
the gospel. Why? For it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now, what
is preaching? That's my last question. What is preaching?
Well, preaching is the wisdom of God that destroys the wisdom
of man. Preaching is the wisdom of God by which he calls his
people and reveals Christ. Preaching is the pleasure of
God that he uses to save. It pleased God to use preaching
to save. But what is preaching? Now, true preaching is a public
declaration. That's what preaching means. Now, but there are many people
publicly preaching, aren't there? How many preachers are there? I tell you, this country is full
of professional preachers. Professional preachers. It's
become a job, a career path that people take now. But not for
us. God sends preachers, and this
is how you know, because they have one message, the gospel
of Jesus Christ. We're not here to preach a political
gospel. I am not here to preach a social
gospel. I am not here to preach a self-help
gospel, a feel-good gospel. I'm not here to make you feel
good about yourself. I'm not here to counsel you.
I'm not a marriage counselor. That's not what I'm sent for. I'm here for one purpose, to
preach the gospel. Paul, in our text, go back to
your text, look at this. Paul says this in verse 22, he
says, the Jews require a sign. The Greeks seek after wisdom.
But we preach Christ crucified. You see the difference? Some
people want some kind of sign that you're from God. How do
you know you're from God? You've got to give us a sign.
We have to hear some excitement. We've got to have some crowds.
Otherwise, you're not of God. Jews seek after what? A sign. Jesus said there'll no sign be
given to this generation but that of Jonah. As I was three
days and three nights in the heart of the earth, so shall
the Son of Man. That's the only sign you need. Now the Greeks,
they seek after wisdom. Listen, you're too simple. You're
not using big words, and I'm not. It's just too simple for
me. I can't stand to just sit under
and hear that. I've got to hear something that tickles my ears
and gives me some tingle in my academic senses. No. Paul says some seek after science,
some seek after wisdom, but what do we do? We preach Christ. What
is it to preach Christ? First of all, He is God and man. That's what I'm here to tell
you. God Himself became a man. God Himself became a man to do
one thing, to glorify God by obtaining righteousness and redemption
for His elect people. And this is the truth of the
gospel we preach. He was successful. Look, that's the difference between
all true and false religion right there. Any Christ that was not successful
is not Christ. But our Christ is successful.
He actually accomplished and redeemed his people. Listen what
Daniel said. The angel said to Daniel, 70
weeks are determined upon thy people in holy city. Listen,
to finish the transgression. to make an end of sins, to make
reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness,
seal up the vision in prophecy, and anoint the Most Holy One.
Does that sound ambiguous to you? That sounds like it might
not get done. It says it's determined. It's
determined. And when Christ came, He did
what He determined to do. What did He do? He finished transgression. He made an end of sin. And He
reconciled us. He brought an everlasting righteousness.
And God hath anointed the Holy One, a successful Savior. This is what we're sent to do.
And this vision is sealed up, isn't it? Here it is. You got
it in your hand. Just as God said it was determined
to do, the vision is sealed. The book is accomplished. We don't need any more signs
or wonders or anything else. We have the Word of God. And
this is where those men who say, I'm of Christ, those who say,
well, preacher, if we got the Word of God ourselves, we don't
need you. Well, that might sound wise among the wisdom of the world.
But God has made foolish the wisdom of this world and says
this, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. Let me ask you this, could Christ
or would Christ save a man without preaching? Could he save a man without preaching? Would he save a man without preaching? No. Now listen, you better be careful
when you say God can't do something. I'm saying God can't do that
because God wouldn't be pleased to do that. God can't go against himself. And what pleases God is exactly
what God does. And what does it say? It pleased
God. by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe." What does the Scripture say about
God's will? He says in Isaiah chapter 46, I'm going
to misquote it, Isaiah 46 and verse 10, He said this, declaring
the end from the beginning from ancient times of things that
were not yet done, saying this, My counsel shall stand, and I
will do what? All My pleasure. What is His pleasure? It's His
wisdom. What is His wisdom? To save them
that believe through the foolishness of preaching. Now, I'm going
to leave you with this. This is a lesson. Listen to this
lesson. If God is pleased with preaching
as a means to save His people, and not only save them, I want
you to understand this, that preaching is meant for the edification
of those who are saved. When Jesus Christ led captivity
captive, what did He do? He gave some apostles, some prophets,
some evangelists, some pastor-teachers for what? The edifying of the
saints. the work of the ministry until
everyone is brought in that's what preaching is for and that's
how long it'll last it'll last until everyone is brought in
and when everyone's brought in then we don't need preaching
anymore but until then God has given this to us and it pleases
God should it not please us if preaching is pleasing to God
Should it not be pleasing to His people? If this is what God says about
preaching, ought we not to take real care never to absence ourselves
from it? Isn't that what Paul said? Forsake not the assembling of
yourselves together, as the manner of some is. But
exhorting. Who needs exhorting? Who among
God's sheep needs encouragement and strength and love and fellowship? Who needs that? Who needs to
grow in faith and love and patience and every grace? Who needs that?
Every child of God needs that. That's when I preached from that
Psalm 122, when David said, I was glad when they said unto me,
let us go up to the house of the Lord. It was not offensive
to me. Listen, if someone is telling you, you should not forsake
the assembling of yourselves together, and that's offensive,
something's wrong with you. Well, I can't believe he said
that to me. Well, I just got so much to do,
I can't believe. I got a family to feed. I got
all these things to do. How dare you say that to me?
I'm not trying to offend you. When you say it to me, I'm glad.
Something's wrong with you. If the thing that pleases God
don't please you, something's wrong with that. Isn't that right?
You bet it is. I'm thankful for the wisdom of
God and the power of God and the grace of God that's given
us preaching. May God help us, who are preachers
of the gospel, to faithfully preach it as the wisdom and pleasure
of God. Let's stand and be dismissed
in prayer.