God's greatest blessing. God's greatest blessing. That's
the title of my message this morning. What do you suppose
that would be? The greatest blessing God could
give you in this world. What do you think might be the
greatest act of judgment that could fall upon you, the greatest
curse God Almighty could send upon you in this world? Let me
make five statements. They're worth remembering. Five statements. First, the greatest
blessing God can ever bestow upon any people in this world
is to send them a man to preach the gospel to them. Not just
a preacher, but a preacher to tell them who God is. to tell
them who Christ is, what Christ has accomplished for sinners
by his shed blood upon Calvary's cursed tree, putting away sin
by the sacrifice of himself. a preacher to tell them how God
saves sinners by his free grace in Jesus Christ alone, without
any works performed by them, without any experiences they
bring to him, but only by faith in his shed blood. Second, the
greatest blessing God can bestow upon any church is to give that
church a pastor who faithfully boldly and consistently preaches
the gospel of Christ to them. Preaches the gospel without compromise,
without courting the favor of men, without being moved by the
frowns of men. Number three, the greatest blessing
God can bestow upon any town, any community in this world is
to establish in their midst a gospel church with a gospel preacher,
holding forth in their midst the gospel of God's grace and
glory in Christ Jesus. Churches today tend to bow and
scrape before men and act as beggars before men and do everything
they can to entice men to come and visit them, be with them,
and honor them with their presence. Some years ago, I found it absolutely
delightful Brother Jack Shanks, one Sunday morning, Easter Sunday,
or one of those days when folks pop up once a year, folks came
in larger numbers than normal, and Brother Shank said, you folks who are visiting with
us, you be sure to thank the members of this congregation.
that they provided the buildings air conditioned and heated and
padded pews and a comfortable place for you to meet. And they
pay the light bill and they support a pastor to preach the gospel
to you and give you the privilege of being here with us. That's
a little bit different than the common welcome for visitors.
The greatest blessing God can give to any town any community
is to establish in your midst a gospel church with a pastor
preaching the gospel of God's free grace. Number four, the
greatest judgment, the greatest curse God Almighty can bring
upon any people, any church, any town, any community is to
silence or remove the voice of his prophet. to remove his candlestick,
to silence his witness and leave them to themselves to grope about
in the darkness of their own lust until at last they go to
hell. There are a couple of monuments
I've seen to John Bunyan in England now. But when Bunyan was alive,
the folks who now eulogize him and praise him put him in prison. for 12 years. For 12 years, that
faithful servant of God was locked up in a jail in a wooden cell
hanging from a bridge over a running stream for 12 years. So what did he do? Why did he
have such judgment on him? Not on him. but God silenced the voice of
his prophet to that generation where he lived in judgment upon
them. Number five, nothing on this
earth is so important, so absolutely needful to you and your family. Nothing on this earth is so important. So absolutely needful to you
and your family as the preaching of the gospel of God's free grace. Would to God, you hear that. Would to God, he write it on
your hearts. Nothing compares. Nothing is
so important. Nothing so needful. nothing so
vital to your souls and to your sons and daughters, to your husbands
and wives as the preaching of the gospel of God's free grace
in Jesus Christ. If you understood that, you wouldn't
allow anything to interfere with it. You wouldn't allow anybody
to interfere with it for any reason. But for most people,
the worship of God and the preaching of the gospel is a nice convenience
they'd like to have whenever they take a notion to tip their
hat toward God. The reality is nothing is more
needful, nothing more vital to your soul than the preaching
of the gospel. Now I prepared this message with
many things lying upon my heart with considerable heaviness.
Your immortal souls. There's not a waking hour when
the weight of your souls is not on my heart, not one. Something else that lies heavily
there is the state of the church today. And I'm not talking about
all the things we call churches. That's horrible. But the state
of God's church today is lamentable. There seems to me to be little
concern, little zeal in the hearts of men and women whom I believe
know God and worship Christ our Redeemer. But there seems to
be little concern with regard to the glory of God in the saving
of his elect, in the work of preaching the gospel to others,
in urging sinners to come and hear the gospel of God's grace.
I ask you, how long has it been since you even tried to maybe
encourage somebody to come hear the gospel? If you care for their
souls, you will. If you care for their souls,
you will. And I, I have this realization
as well. I know that my race will soon
be over. My work is almost done. I have
at best just a few more years in which I can labor for the
cause of our Redeemer, for your souls and the glory of God. And
I constantly have on my heart the future of this congregation
and your ministry, your ministry together as God's people. I pray
that God will give you the wisdom and the grace and the direction
of his spirit when he silences my voice to find a man to stand
in this place and fill the pulpit honorably for the glory of God,
preaching the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Jesus
Christ, if possible, with greater boldness, with greater clarity
than I have ever been able to do it, but a man who preaches
the gospel of God's free grace. Don't tolerate anything less. Now, having said that, open your
Bibles to the book of Romans. And I'll get to my text in just
a moment. Romans chapter 10. A good many years ago, I don't
really remember when or what the periodical was, but I read
an article in a religious periodical that somebody had left on an
airplane seat when I boarded the plane. And so I was a little
interested to see what was being read. And this is what the person
made, the statement they made in writing the article. It was
about preaching. The author said, preaching is
not to be the sum total of activity or even necessarily the most
important aspect of the assembly. The article went on to suggest
that one of the greatest problems in our churches today is that
we spend too much time preaching. What nonsense, what nonsense. Most places it's just almost
completely pushed out of the program. Our Lord's last command
to his church is, go ye into all the world and preach the
gospel. The only reason for the existence
of any local church is the preaching of the gospel. Any church that
exists for any other reason ought to be shut down and turned into
a flea market. The only reason for the church
existing in this world is the preaching of the gospel. He left
us here only that we might be used of him as instruments to
proclaim the gospel to other sinners. Oh, what a privilege. God has left in our hands, Bill,
the treasure of his grace that we might be instruments by which
he'd call out other sinners just like you and me. That's the reason
he left us here. Paul's last word to Timothy as
he was about to leave this world was, preach the word. Be instant in season and out
of season. Preach the word. And he made
it his business to do so all his days. He said, woe is unto
me if I preach not the gospel. God calls men whom he has gifted
and qualified for the work to preach the gospel. He sends them
forth into the world for this one thing, for this one thing,
to preach the gospel. The pastor, the preacher, the
servant of God has no other work to do. He is a preacher. He's sent to preach the gospel.
Pastoral work is not done on the streets. It's not done in
hospital rooms. It's not done visiting old women
and sipping tea with them. It's not done visiting folks
and trying to get them to come to church. That's your business.
That's your work. A pastor's work is done on his
knees before God in his study, seeking a word from God for immortal
eternity bound sinners. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Now, let me give you
six things. Now, be as brief as possible.
Number one, I want to emphasize the fact that according to this
book, gospel preachers are vital. They're vital. All who know the
gospel of God's free sovereign grace in Christ appreciate those
who preach it. But very few, very few I fear
understand that preaching the gospel is absolutely vital to
their souls. This is the ascension gift of
Christ, our exalted Redeemer to his church. He bought us with
his blood, he ascended up on high, poured out his spirit,
and he gave gifts to men. And the very first thing he names
is preachers, men sent to preach the word to them. Not only is
it true that God sends his word to heal his elect and to deliver
us from our deserved destruction, it is also true that all of God's
works performed in you Everything God does in you by his grace
is accomplished by the ministry of the gospel. If God speaks
to you, if God speaks to any sinner's heart, if God teaches
any man anything, if God reveals anything to any of us, he does
it through the instrumentality of gospel preaching. Is gospel
preaching really that important? Brother Dodd, surely you've overstated
this thing. Let the word of God alone decide
the issue. The scriptures tell us plainly,
now listen carefully, that preaching is absolutely necessary for faith
in Christ. You can't believe the son of
God until somebody tells you who he is and what he's done.
Faith cometh by hearing and hearing by the word of God. The new birth,
men and women are born again, not a corruptible seed, but of
incorruptible by the word of God, which lives and abides forever. And this is the word which by
the gospel is preached unto you. Not only that, for any understanding
of the word of God, somebody must open the scriptures and
show you. The eunuch said to Philip, Philip
said, do you understand what you're reading? He's reading
Isaiah 53. Who could read Isaiah 53 and
not understand it? Anybody who doesn't know God
and hasn't been taught of God. He was reading Isaiah 53 and
Philip said, do you understand what you're reading? And the
eunuch said, how can I? Except some man show me. Of his own will, God begat us
with the word of truth. Not only is that true, but all
edification, all the edifying, the building up of God's saints,
that's what preachers are sent to do, to edify the body of Christ. Folks, a preacher is supposed
to build the church, and if he doesn't get so many baptisms
a year, he needs to start looking for another place. That's not
the edifying he's talking about. The edification of the body of
Christ is building you up in the faith. And God gave preachers
for that business. Without the preaching of the
gospel, there is no possibility of salvation, sanctification,
spiritual growth, spiritual direction, spiritual understanding, spiritual
stability, or any other benefit of God to your soul. I never heard anybody say that
before. Well, you need to hear it. You need to hear it. God
didn't give his church the gift of the ministry for nothing.
Gospel preaching is not an optional add-on, but it's a vital necessity
to the worship of God. The ascension gift of Christ
is not something a person may choose to avail himself of or
choose to despise without consequence. If God's people could get along
without a pastor, if they could get along without someone to
expand the scriptures to them, to guide them in and with the
word of truth, God would not have given pastors to his churches. There was a time we read of in
this book when God didn't speak to men. The last prophet God
sent into the world before our Lord Jesus came was a man by
the name of Malachi. After Malachi and Merle for 400
years, for 400 years, God didn't send a prophet on the earth.
God didn't send an angel down from heaven for 400 years. What
happened? Those children of Israel who
had had God's word, God's law, and God's prophets for 2,000
years, well, that'd be good enough. That'd be sufficient. They've
got the written word of God. They had all the prophets. They had all the Psalms. They
had all the historic books. They had the whole of the Old
Testament. It was written out for them.
And they had the ceremonies and rites and pictures given of the
law by which Christ was portrayed, by which the Lamb of God was
set forth, by which the Lord God said, the woman's seed is
coming. This is what he'll do. This is
what he accomplished. He'll die. He'll redeem his people.
He'll put away sin. And they had those things by
which to guide them as they walked in this world. What happened
in those 400 years? The children of Israel, degenerated
and degenerated and degenerated and degenerated until at last
they had turned the very worship of God, the ordinances of God,
the law of God, the ceremonies of the law, they had turned them
all into base idolatry. No, men and women can't get along
without the preaching of the gospel. Those 400 years of silence
showed up nothing but corruption and decay. Here's the second thing I want
you to see. Gospel preachers are God's gift to his church
in this world. God promised his church in Jeremiah
chapter three, verse 15. I will give you pastors according
to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and understanding. A faithful God-given pastor,
a pastor according to God's heart, is a man who feeds the flock
of God. He doesn't fleece the sheep.
He doesn't beat the sheep. He doesn't use the sheep for
his own gain. He doesn't abuse the sheep. He
feeds the sheep. His life's work is feeding the
sheep. Feeding the sheep. Feeding the
sheep. That's his life's work. And he
makes everything in his life subject to that work. Everything in his life. Faith and Audre Grace and Will
are down in Georgia this weekend. Will had some golf tournament
down there, Doug's here, and he has an idea how we raised
our daughter. She couldn't be involved in those
things. Couldn't be. She had plenty of
opportunity. She had the ability. Why not? Because it would have meant robbing
me of study and preparation to preach the gospel. And you know
what? If I had a dozen more starting
all over today, I'd do everything exactly the same way. God's servants
are men who devote their lives to feeding the sheep, and they
subject everything in their lives to that business. that give themselves ardently
to the work. Faithful men do. And any man who doesn't, doesn't
have any business preaching. It's just that simple. Any man who doesn't give himself
ardently to this business has no business preaching. Those
men God gives to his church are pastors. As pastors, they feed
the church of God with knowledge and understanding. They're called
of God. And if they're called of God
to feed his church, they have a God given knowledge of his
word. They understand the word. They
understand what this book teaches. They understand it. Now you may
come up with some question about scripture that I don't know.
There are lots of things in here. There are lots of things in here
I don't know. Lots of facts I can't understand.
I've been trying to figure out. about the sun standing still,
about the sundial going back ten degrees. I've been trying
to figure that out for a long time. I haven't come close yet.
I haven't come close yet. There are lots of things in this
book you can point out I don't understand. I read it and study
it and the more I read it and study it the bigger it gets and
the less I know. But I tell you what I do know, I know what it
teaches. I know what the message of the book is. I know what the
book teaches. It teaches redemption by blood
through Jesus Christ, the Lord, and that's all. That's the message
of the book. It is Jesus Christ and him crucified. Not only do men called of God
have a God-given understanding of the word, not by their intelligence,
not by their superior academics. Oh, no, no, no, no. By God's
gift, they understand the word. that understand the word, and
they have an understanding. They feed you with knowledge
and understanding. Week by week, day by day, month
by month, year by year, God gives his servants an understanding
of the times, and an understanding of what you need, and they come
and bring the word to you at such times with understanding. understanding the needs of his
people at the time they come to minister to them. In these
dark, dark days, the church of God has suffered so much abuse
at the hands of unfaithful, self-seeking, self-serving pastors who make
merchandise of the souls of men and handle the word of God deceitfully.
But God promised he would give his church faithful pastors to
their souls, and it does what he's promised. He gives them
pastors to teach and instruct them. They're described in the
book of Revelation as the angels of God to his church. As the
angels of God, Paul spoke to the Galatians. He was reproving
them because he had come and preached to them. And he said,
he said, you, you esteem me as an angel of God, even as Jesus
Christ himself. Whoa, what a steam. But you ought
not look at any man that way. Oh yeah, they're God's angels,
God's messengers to you. And now the Galatians, as Paul
wrote to them in Galatians 4, they were yak among them. Folks would come, he's a false
prophet, he's a self-promoting man, he's not serving you but
himself. And folks would get him, believe me, he said, you
would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. What happened? Who bewitched
you? They are the angels of God to
his church. All right, let's read my text
and see if I can make good on what I've said thus far. Romans chapter 10, verse 15. How shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace. and bring
glad tidings of good things. Now that brief statement is an
abbreviated quotation of the words of the prophet Isaiah back
in Isaiah 52 that we read earlier. Turn back there if you will,
Isaiah 52. Isaiah 52 is describing God's
work in this gospel age, in the saving of his elect, in the building
of his church and kingdom, his true Jerusalem, his true Israel,
Mount Zion, the city of the living God. If ever you come to see
that the preaching of the gospel is absolutely vital to your soul,
vital to your eternity bound sons and daughters, you'll understand
the meaning of Paul's words, in Romans 10, 15, the words of
Isaiah the prophet here in Isaiah 52, verse seven. How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth, thy watchman
shall lift up the voice, With the voice together shall they
sing, for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring
again Zion. Break forth into joy, sing together,
ye waste places of Jerusalem. For the Lord hath comforted his
people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy
arm in the eyes of all nations. The gospel has gone out into
all the world. He made bare his holy arm in
the saving of his elect everywhere. And all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God. Now here the prophet of
God describes the attitude that ought to prevail in the hearts
of God's saints toward those who are sent of God to preach
the gospel to them. I announced to you a little bit
ago, Brother Frank Tate's gonna be here to preach to you Tuesday
night. He pastors up in Ashland. Brother Marvin Stonerker will
be here to preach to you next Sunday. He pastors up in West
Virginia. Cherish the opportunity to hear
them. These men sent as watchmen for
your soul. not just when they come here,
but wherever faithful men are found, laboring faithfully in
the cause of Christ, cherish them, pray for them, count it
your great, great privilege to know them and be influenced by
their ministries. The picture given here is of
a city, a whole city held in captivity. suddenly begins to
rejoice because she hears the sound. She hears the sound of
a marching army coming rapidly, an army coming to rescue and
deliver her. That's the picture of God's church.
God's church, like all men by nature, are captives, bondmen,
held in captivity. Satan has blinded their eyes
and they're taken captive of him at his will, held in captivity
by the decree of God, even under the curse of God's holy law. But suddenly, She hears the sound
of the gospel of God's free grace, redemption by Christ the substitute,
salvation in the crucified lamb. And she says, oh, what a beautiful
sound. Listen to the freedom marches
coming. They're coming to set the captive free. Now here's
the third thing. Understand that gospel preachers
are divinely appointed watchmen over your soul. Watchmen. Turn over to Ezekiel
chapter 33. I read this to you last Lord's
Day. God's servants are watchmen upon the walls of Zion. They're
called thy watchmen. Watchmen. A watchman is a man
who sit on the wall of the city. And as he sat there, he watched,
walking around the walls of the city. He watched. He watched
for the advance of any encroaching enemy. And he watched. It was
his responsibility to watch so that if any enemy encroached
coming toward the city, he blew the trumpet and gave a sound
of alarm and said, prepare, the enemy's coming. Now, this is
how God describes his prophet. Ezekiel 33 verse seven. So thou,
O son of man, I have set thee a watchman under the house of
Israel. Therefore thou shalt hear the
word at my mouth and warn them from me. You preach what I put
in your mouth. All of that, nothing but that.
When I say to the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, if
thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked
man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will I require
at thine hand. His blood will I require at thine
hand. The watchman is responsible for
the city. The watchman is responsible for
the city. When we lived in West Virginia,
Shelby and I, up until just a few years ago, as you all know, raised
a large garden. Well, she did. I did what I could. But we would plant corn. And the crows would watch that
corn to get up about that high. And just as soon as it got just
about three quarters of an inch, an inch high, they'd walk right
down the road and pull up every single stalk. Every stalk. We planted corn again. And the
crows watched. They pulled up every single stalk. I got tired of planting corn.
So one day I decided, before I went to bed that night, to
put some food out on the bank on the hillside, outside the
bedroom window, actually outside the bathroom window. And I got
up early, about four o'clock in the morning, and waited for
a crow to come. And just as soon as the first
one hit that food, my .22 rifle took care of the crow. He was
the watchman, he always came first. I took him out and tied
him up to a tree in the woods, just a little ways in the edge
of the woods next to the garden. And we didn't have any other
crows except that day. You know what they did to that
watchman? They came and ate the watchman. I mean, they literally
pecked his body to death. Just literally ate him up, ate
him up. The watchman is responsible for
the city. It is my responsibility to God
to warn men of judgment and wrath and prepare you to meet God by
the preaching of the gospel. Read on, verse nine. Nevertheless,
if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it, if he do
not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but thou
hast delivered thy soul. Paul said to the Ephesians, I
take you to record this day, I'm pure from the blood of all
men, for I have preached unto you the gospel of Christ. I've
not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Verse
10, therefore, O thou son of man, speak unto the house of
Israel. Thus you speak saying, if our
transgressions and our sins be upon us and we pine away in them,
how should we then live? Say unto them, say unto them,
as I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death
of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. I have pleasure in saving sinners. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways, for why will you die, O house of Israel? Therefore thou son
of man, say unto the children of thy people, saying to the
children of thy people. Notice he's talking, he says,
you go talk to Israel. You go speak to my people. God
sends his prophets to his people. Our business is to seek the Lord's
sheep, those God has chosen, those Christ has redeemed, those
who shall be called by his spirit. Our business is them, but we
don't know who they are. So we preach the word. And he
says, the righteousness of the righteous shall not deliver him
in the day of his transgression. You tell the folks who hear your
voice, it doesn't matter how good they are, they're damned if they transgress
at all. You tell them their righteousnesses
will profit them nothing in the day of their transgression. Read
on, read on. As for the wickedness of the
wicked, He shall not fall thereby in the day that he turneth from
his wickedness. You tell the wicked, it doesn't
matter how bad they are. It doesn't matter what they do.
It doesn't matter how vile they are. Neither shall the righteous
be able to live for his righteousness in the day that he sinneth. Look
at verse 13. When I say to the righteous that
he shall surely live, If he trusts to his own righteousness and
commit iniquity, his righteousness shall not be remembered. This
is what God says. If you're righteous, you're all
right. By all means, if you're righteous,
you're all right. If you're perfectly righteous,
from the cradle to the grave, without sin, everything's all
right. But his righteousness won't do
anything if he commits iniquity. All his righteousnesses, all
those things that you say gotta count for something. That's gotta
count for something, no. All his righteousness, all his
righteousnesses shall not be remembered. I won't remember
one of them. But for his iniquity that he hath committed, he shall
die for it. Verse 14, again, when I say unto
the wicked thou shalt surely die if he turn from his sin and
do that which is lawful and right. What? The wicked man turns from
his sin and does what's right. How on earth can you do that?
A wicked man? Can a wicked man do something
good? Can a man with unclean hands touch something not devilate? Oh no, what's he talking about?
If he does that which is lawful and right, if the wicked restore
the pledge and give again that he had robbed, and walk in the
statutes of life without committing iniquity, he shall surely live,
he shall not die. None of his sins that he hath
committed shall be mentioned to him. He hath done that which
is lawful and right, he shall surely live. Oh, wicked sin. It doesn't matter
who you are, where you are, what you've done. It just doesn't
matter. You don't know what I've been
preaching. It don't matter. It don't matter. Turn from your wicked
ways and offer God, Jesus Christ, his son. perfect righteousness,
perfect redemption, perfect atonement, perfect satisfaction. Offer to
God that which is lawful and right, and trust in Christ. You
offer to God continually that which is all perfect and right,
and God accepts you in and through his dear son. God places watchmen
right where he wants them, every one of them, every one of them. I first came down here in January,
what was it, 19, I don't know, 80, 81, I remember, and preached
to you. I was on my way to Florida. I
called Shelby that afternoon, got back to Holiday Inn out there.
I said, for the first time in my life, I've met a group of
people who desperately need and just as much want a pastor. And
they called me, we're moving to Danville. And I knew that
day, And I've never questioned it since. This is the place where
God put me. Somebody called and asked me,
would you consider being our pastor? No, I'd be glad to help
you, but I'm not open to that possibility. No, God sets his
watchman where he'll have them. He prepares them for their work.
If the watchman fails to faithfully proclaim the word of God, God
requires the blood of men at his hands. Such watchmen, are
themselves lost men. Paul said, woe is unto me, let
me be damned if I preach not the gospel. But if the watchman
faithfully proclaims to men and women the word of God, if he
faithfully preaches the gospel of Christ, he's delivered his
own soul. Even if those to whom he preaches
perish under the wrath of God. The very fact that God has placed
watchmen upon the walls of Zion implies that you, for whose souls
we watch, are in immediate and constant danger. The wrath of God is upon you
who are without Christ. Satan seeks to devour as a roaring
lion those who believe not. The snares of Satan, the wiles
of the devil are real. and false brethren, false prophets,
false doctrine arise from within the church. And by these things,
Satan seeks to divide and conquer. But still God's will is done.
Heresies must first come, Paul said, so that those who are proved
may manifest. It's the watchman's business,
as he cares for your soul, to unmask you, to expose your sin. to point you to Christ. Lindsay
Campbell, that's my job every time I come to this pulpit, to
you and your wife and everybody else, to take away your mask,
because we all try to hide something. Take away your veil, to expose
you not to one another. Oh, no. No. To expose you to you. The watchman that went about
the city found me. They smoked me. They smoked me. They wounded me. The keepers
of the wall took away my veil from me. Oh, show me where the
Savior is. Number four, all of God's watchmen,
all of them, all of them see eye to eye. They shall see eye
to eye. Because they see eye to eye,
every watchman in Zion says the same thing. We all have the same
message. The watchmen all preach the same
gospel. All of them do, all of them do.
So I know a lot of preachers don't preach what you do. Well,
one of us is a false prophet then. Just that simple, just
that simple. Two men can't tell opposite things
and both of them be telling the truth. That's just not possible. That's just not possible. God's
watchman, all of them see eye to eye. Some years ago, a fellow
got upset with me and moved down to Ashland, thought he'd get
along a little bit better at Ashland. He got upset there too. Last
I heard, he was going to some work bonger Presbyterian place.
But God's watchman, all see eye to eye. You're not gonna hear
a different message over at Lexington. You're not gonna hear a different
message down at Crossville. God's watchman see eye to eye. Look
again at the prophet's words in Isaiah 52, 7. By divine inspiration,
Isaiah speaks as the representative of God's church. How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth
salvation, that saith unto Zion, thy God reigneth. Zion's watchmen, gospel preachers,
bring good tidings. Good tidings from the heart of
God to the hearts of sinners, declaring that righteousness
is established, redemption is accomplished for all who believe
on the Lord Jesus. They publish peace. They don't
tell sinners how to make peace with God. Somebody gonna tell
you how to make peace with God? Get away from quick as you can.
How can a rebel make peace with the sovereign against whom he's
rebelling? The only way peace can be made
is if the sovereign himself makes peace. And God's watchmen come
and declare Christ our peace, who has made reconciliation for
us, who alone reconcile sinners to God. God's watchmen bring
good tidings of good. Gospel preachers don't offer
good advice. They proclaim good news. They tell sinners justice
is satisfied, redemption's accomplished, righteousness is brought in,
and the door to heaven is open. The veil standing between the
holy place and the most holy place, barring sinners of access
to God, that veil is ripped in two, and God says, come and welcome. The watchman come and proclaim
good tidings of good. They publish salvation. They
publish salvation. You've seen tracts and books
on how to get saved, how to be saved, how to get sanctified,
how to be sanctified, how to be godly, how to be holy. All of those things are published
by folks who are false prophets. God's watchmen don't come and
tell you how to do, they tell you done. They tell you done. They proclaim good news for they
publish salvation, not the possibility of it. not the likelihood of
it, but salvation accomplished by Jesus Christ the Lord. We
publish salvation purposed by God, purchased by God, and performed
by God. And God's watchman, the watchman
God sets upon Zion, they all say unto Zion, thy God reigneth. God's watchmen constantly proclaim
the glorious, sovereign character of God. They will never, never,
never bring God down to you. It won't happen. They publish
God reigns everywhere, all the time, with everybody. Your only
hope is to bow to Him. God is God. God rules. God has his way. His will is
accomplished. His purpose is performed. What
glorious tidings of salvation must they be when the very feet
of those who bring them are accounted by the Lord himself as beautiful. One more thing. God's servants. are to be highly esteemed in
love for their work's sake. Consciously obeyed as they that
watch for your souls. Obey them that have the rule
over you. Considering the end of their
faith, for they watch for your souls as they that must give
account. Esteem them as such. highly esteem
them in love for Christ's sake. God sends you another pastor,
you love him, you love him, you highly esteem him, you take care
of him and let nothing and nobody rob you of that high esteem and
fervent love for faithful watchmen over your souls. I said that's
the last thing, one more, one more. The watchman must give
account. Not to you, not to church councils, not to
some denominational board, but to God must give account. I've told you before, there's
a preacher traveling on an airplane. He sat down beside a fellow and
he walked in. The fellow wanted to talk. He
introduced himself and he said, he said, I've been on business. And the preacher looked at him
and he said, me too. And the fellow said, I'm a jeweler. He said, my father and I own
a jewelry business. We only deal in jewels and the preacher thought
for a minute and he said, me too. And the jeweler looked at
him again and he said, my father and I only deal in the very best
of jewels. And the preacher thought a little
bit more and he said, me too. And that jeweler looked at him
last and he said, I'm going now to meet my father. to give an
account of the trip. I hope you'll be pleased with
what I've done." And the preacher said, me too. I will give account of you, some
with joy and some with grief, with joy for you who have believed,
with grief for you who refuse to believe. and to myself. And with all the horrible, horrible,
horrible failures I acknowledge, my conscience bears me witness
before God and you bear me witness. I'm pure from the blood of all
men. For I have not shunned to declare
to you all the counsel of God, Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And when I'm gone, you make it your business to seek from God
a faithful watchman for the generations to come.