Well, it is my delight to be
with you again. Mario, they said you got put out of the church,
Pentecostal church. Several years ago, a good friend,
I hadn't seen him in many, many years, he called me and asked
if I'd come help him in a meeting. And I asked him where he was
pastoring, and he told me, I said, Ralph, if I come down
there, I'll help you plumb out. And he said, well come on down. So I did, and got a call the
next week. He said, Brother Don, I'm out. So I hope I won't do that to
any of you following me. Turn with me, if you will, to
Isaiah chapter 52. Brother Cody asked me last night if I would
talk to you today about preaching. And I'm going to try my best
to be of benefit to you, if God the Holy Spirit will enable me.
I want to talk just as plainly as I can about preaching. This
morning I'll talk to you a little bit about the sermon preparation, and the message
God sent us to preach. And then this afternoon, we'll
talk about the work of the ministry, and the call to the ministry. That may seem like I'm going
about this backwards, but I want to spend the bulk of my time
dealing with the message and the work. Let's begin by reading
a portion of Isaiah 52. The Lord God speaks. Dios, el Señor Jehová, habla. Awake, awake, put on thy strength,
O Zion. Despierta, despierta, vístete
de poder, O Sion. Put on thy beautiful garments,
O Jerusalem. Vístete tu ropa hermosa, O Jerusalén. The holy city. Ciudad Santa. For henceforth there shall no
more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean. Porque nunca
más vendrá a ti incircunciso ni inmundo. Shake thyself from
the dust. Arise, sit down, O Jerusalem. Loose thyself from the bands
of thy necks, O captive daughter of Zion. The Lord God is here
speaking, declaring the certain accomplishments declarando el cumplimiento verdadero,
certero, of the salvation of his people, de la salvación de
su pueblo. Whatever you read about Jerusalem,
the Holy City, or Zion, cuando leas de Jerusalén, la Ciudad
Santa, o de Sion, in the Old Testament Scripture, en el Antiguo
Testamento, always remember, siempre recuerda esto, the references
to God's Church, His elect. La referencia es a la Iglesia
del Señor, es decir, a los escogidos. These things were but types and
pictures of our own state as believers in this world. In verses
3, 4, and 5, the Lord declares that we sold ourselves for naught. As the children of Israel brought
themselves into bondage to the Assyrians and to the Babylonians
by their own sin, so we were ruined by our own sin in the
fall of our father Adam. But God's purpose of grace stands
sure. Look at verse six. Therefore my people shall know
my name. These who have blasphemed my
name have sold themselves for naught, but I have redeemed them.
Therefore they shall know my name. In the day are in that day that I am He
that does speak. In the day that God speaks by
His Spirit to the heart of a man, in that day He knows the Lord.
This is what He'll say, Behold, it is I. You remember when the
Lord Jesus spoke to a Samaritan woman? Saben lo que dijo el Señor Jesucristo
a la mujer samaritana, en Juan capítulo cuatro, después de cubrir
todos los asuntos que cubrió con ella, cuando Él expuso su
pecado de ella. telling her that we worship God
in spirit and in truth. And the Samaritan woman said,
I know that time is coming when Messiah will come, and He'll
tell us all things. The Lord Jesus said to her, Behold, I
the speaker of the DMT, And thus gave us a clear picture
of this prophecy's fulfillment. Now try to get a picture in your
mind. Suppose yourselves to be captives.
You've been captives for a long, long time. in severe bondage, with no rights,
in shackles, imprisoned in darkness, and suddenly you hear the sound
of troops marching. And they're marching, playing
a tune. And the tune they're playing
is the national battle anthem. But it's your battle anthem. Imagine your heart swelling. My nation has come to deliver
me. Oh, how sweet the sound of that
marching troop. Can you imagine the excitement?
Now hear me, my brethren. We are that marching troop. The
Lord God has sent us for the deliverance of His captives. El Señor Dios nos ha enviado
para marchar, para libertar. And this is what He says. Y esto
es lo que dice. This is what God says. Esto es
lo que Dios dice. about you and I, whom he has sent to preach the
gospel. Brother Walt has been here for nearly 45 years. In
God's good providence, I suspect most of you sitting here have been brought to the liberty
of grace in one way or another through the labors of that faithful
man. Oh, how beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that bringeth good tidings that publisheth
peace, that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation,
that saith and designeth, Thy God to reigneth. The gospel preacher
is one who comes with good news, Not good advice, not good counsel, but good news. We don't come to tell men about
the possibility of salvation. We are sent of God to proclaim
salvation accomplished. Every gospel preacher does. Those who deny God's reign in
eternal predestination in the work of salvation, in
creation, and in providence. are not God's messengers, but
rather the messengers of Satan. Every God-sent preacher publishes
salvation accomplished by Christ Jesus the Lord and declares that
God reigns. Are you sure that all of them
do? ¿Estás seguro que todos ellos
hacen esto? Let's see. Vamos a ver. Thy watchmen,
dice, vos de tus atalayas, shall lift up the voice. Alzarán la
voz. With the voice together shall
they sing. Juntamente darán voces. For they shall see eye to eye. Porque ojo a ojo verán. We see eye to eye. Nosotros vemos
ojo a ojo. Eye to eye. Ojo a ojo. In all
these things pertaining to the grace of God, every God-sent
preacher sees eye to eye with every other God-sent preacher. You'll run across men who claim
to believe and preach the gospel. who will dispute the things we
cherish, election, redemption, predestination, the work of God's
Spirit in effectual grace. They don't see eye to eye. That
means either he Eso significa que ya sea él,
o tú y yo, no somos enviados de Dios. Los dos no podemos ser
enviados de Dios. Pero tú y yo vemos ojo a ojo
en eso. Estamos representando al mismo Redentor. Ellos verán
ojo a ojo, salvation comes to sinners by
the faithful preaching of the gospel in every generation who
all see eye to eye. The last few days, my friends
from Ireland and England We've been talking about some
of the old writers and old preachers from different days and different
places, separated by hundreds of years. nationalities, race and culture.
But like you and I, we see eye to eye. Now look at this, verse
9. Break forth into joy and sing
together. You waste places of Jerusalem.
Our brother Russell Smith, a North Ireland,
is in a land where, as far as we know, there's not a gospel
preacher or a gospel church. I don't mean that there are none
there, but none known to us. But the Lord has recently caused
him and two or three other families to hear the gospel. This is what
it says. Break forth into joy and sing together, ye waste places
of Ireland. How come? For the Lord hath comforted his
people. Back in Isaiah 40, Comfort ye,
comfort ye my people, saith the Lord. The preaching of the gospel
is the declaration of comfort to people who've never had any
reason for comfort. Tell my people, her warfare is
over, for she hath received with the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. That's just a different
way of saying this. The Lord hath comforted his people, he
hath redeemed Jerusalem. The Lord hath made bare his holy
arm, In the eyes of all the nations
and all the ends of the earth, that is, God's elect in every
nation, tribe, kindred, and tongue, in all the four corners of the
earth, north, south, east, and west, shall see and see clearly the
salvation of our God. That's what faith in Christ is.
We are sent to proclaim God's salvation, to show it to men.
And as we do, if God the Holy Spirit will speak through these lips
of clay, men who could not see, suddenly see God's salvation.
Oh, what a great responsibility then we have to speak well for God. A few months ago, I received a letter from, I presume,
a man who was a young preacher. I really don't know. But I presume
he was a preacher because this is what he asked. He had been
listening to some tapes of ours that he had gotten hold of. And
he had been reading some things I had written. He said, if you have some time,
please tell me your method of sermon preparation. It's a subject about which I'm
often asked to comment. I make no pretense of being a
scholar or a theologian. As a matter of fact, I was looking
at something recently. A preacher was advertising himself, and he called himself the consummate
preacher. Well, that's not me. I make no
pretense as such. I'm just a simple man with average
abilities, but I am a gospel preacher. And if I can help you
in that work, The work that I honestly believe to be the most important, most
honorable, most demanding work in all the world. If I can help you in that work,
oh God give me the opportunity to do so. So let me give you first some
of my thoughts about preaching. I don't suggest that the method
I use in preparing sermons is preferable to any other. It's
simply that which works best for me. In sermon preparation,
I endeavor In my daily reading of the scriptures,
to look for something for myself, I mean by that, something that's
needed in my heart and soul from God, for me. something that reproves my sin. I ask God to show me the evil
of my own heart. I ask God to give me that which
will be of comfort and strength to me. Le pido al Señor que Él me dé
aquello que es consuelo y fortaleza para mí en mis presentes pruebas
o dificultades. I ask Him to show me my Redeemer
as I read the book. And I'm also seeking something
else. I'm always seeking a message
from God for our next meeting. I get done preaching on Sunday
morning, and Sunday night, and before I go to bed Sunday night,
I'm looking toward preaching on Tuesday night, and the next
Sunday morning and Sunday night, and usually somewhere in between
on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We ought to always read the Word,
seeking from God a message for ourselves and a message for His
people. And the two are the same. If
the message you have prepared is all theory, It's all history. It's all facts. It's all doctrine. And it doesn't do anything for
your heart. You might as well take the paper and throw it out
on the floor for all the good it'll do. Find something that
speaks to your heart that you need. And the folks you preach to just
might need it. When I found the passage from which I believe
God would have me speak, I read the passage then in its context
with great care. If possible, I'll read the whole book several times, and certainly
if it's one of the smaller books, read the whole book several times. so that you have fixed comfortably
in your mind what's being said in that particular
book, the intent of God the Holy Spirit, and nothing else matters. Why did God the Holy Spirit inspire
that this be written? And what would he have me to
convey from that passage to you today? You got that? Find it,
find out what the context is about, and never forget Never forget, I stress it again,
never forget the grammatical historical context in which the
passage is found. We dare not, Just use the Scriptures to say
what we want them to say. We dare not freely spiritualize
Scripture. You will often hear people say,
well this is what that passage here in Isaiah 52 means to me. It doesn't matter to him, it
means what it means to me. What does it mean? That's the
only thing that matters. However, the scriptures are always
to be interpreted spiritually. This book always has a spiritual message. I mean by that a message from
God the Holy Spirit concerning the person and work of Christ
to the hearts of God's people at every hour. We are to interpret the scriptures
in the light of Jesus Christ crucified. The scriptures are never properly
interpreted. until in that passage you see
Christ crucified. That is the gospel of God's free
and sovereign grace in Christ. If you read a passage, you study
the passage, and you get the proper grammatical construction, And you get the correct historic
context. And you see some good moral lessons.
The passage is meaningless. Ese pasaje no tiene sentido hasta
entonces, a menos de que veas a Cristo crucificado en ese pasaje.
Y si no ves a Cristo crucificado en ese pasaje, no pretendas predicar
de ese pasaje, porque todavía no lo entiendes. Somos responsables
de predicar todo el libro, pastor. Christ crucified is the whole
book, and in time. The Lord may give you understanding
of that particular passage, but until you see how that passage
refers to Christ crucified, the accomplishment of redemption and grace in Him,
you do not properly understand it. After I have studied the
passage in that way, I consult other writers. Entonces,
es cuando me refiero a otros escritores. I don't have any
idea. No tengo ninguna idea. How much
you have access to other materials. No tengo idea de qué acceso tengan
a otros materiales. I presume. Yo creo. There is
very little that's translated into your tongue. Creo que hay
muy poco que está traducido en tu lengua. Do they have Brother
Mahan's works? Yes, they have Brother Mahan's
works. Well, if you have Brother Mahan's
works, you've got the best. Read it. What Brother Cody or
Brother Walter writes. Keep them handy so that you can
refer to them. And I'll tell you the benefit. Anytime I read the writings of
a good preacher, a good theologian, or a good commentator, I will
always get something that I didn't see, a nugget, a shade of meaning, An application that's just tremendous. And that way, I still benefit
from the ministries of other men. I'm still learning from
the ministries of other men. And I use them to convey the
same blessing to others. and the mechanics of preparation.
We have one, two, three, four preachers besides you And I know from observing things,
all four of us here, Walter, Mercode, Belafida, we all differ
greatly in this, in the mechanics. And I'm just simply trying to
tell you what works for me. This is what benefits me best. I write out very detailed notes. Yo escribo apuntes o notas detalladas. I don't often use them all. A
menudo no las utilizo del todo. But it proves helpful to me to
do so for these reasons. Pero esto me ayuda por estas
razones. When I write out detailed notes,
cuando yo escribo notas o apuntes detallados, I'm very unlikely,
no es probable entonces, to repeat myself que yo me repita a mí
mismo, por accidente. We tend to repeat ourselves a
great deal without intending to do so. Repetition is good,
but it can also be boring. And we should never use the same
scriptures, the same arguments, to present things when we have
the whole book of God to present them. Now, there are a couple
of verses, a couple of passages, every time I preach, I repeat
them on purpose. 2 Corinthians 5.21, He hath made
Him to be sinned for us whom Yehudah said, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in Him. Galatians 3.13, Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law. He has redeemed us, not tried
to, He has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a tree. Second, by using detailed notes, I'm able to present the message
in a more precise and logical way. Are any of you old enough
to remember? I mean besides Brother Walter
and me. The American automobile called
a Wrangler. Did they have Ramblers down here?
Había Ramblers aquí en México. But at home there's a car called
a Rambler. Allá en donde estoy hay un carro
que se llama Rambler. I had a Hummeletics professor.
Yo tenía un profesor de Humelética. And he used to drive one. Y él
conducía este auto. And he used to say to us. Y él
nos decía. He said, Rambler makes a good
car. Rambler makes a sorry preacher.
I hear a lot of preachers do a lot of rambling. I've got to
translate. Rambler doesn't translate. The name of the car was one that
in English has the name Rambler, which is also one that runs rabbit
tracks. That is, it doesn't really know
where it's going. That's what the word Rambler
means. There was also a car called Rambler. Y ahora dice, el ratón hace un
buen cabrón, pero hace un muy mal predicador. That so just
didn't matter, did it? Este enamor no hizo espuma, ¿verdad? My point is this. Mi punto es
este. Always know... Siempre debes saber... ...what
you want to say. Siempre debes saber qué es lo
que quieres decir. And how you're going to say it.
Y también cómo lo vas a decir. and then writing the notes out
in detail, I know when I start, where I'm going, and how I'm
going to get there. By writing the notes out in considerable
detail, I have another reason. The message is fairly well fixed
in my mind, so I don't really need the notes
to preach. Another thing I do, I make it a point to use the
simplest words Trato de utilizar las palabras
más sencillas. And the simplest grammar. Y la
gramática más sencilla. Always. Siempre. Once in a while. De vez en cuando. Someone will
come up to me after a service. Alguien viene a mí después del
servicio. And they'll ask me about a word
I've used. Y me preguntan sobre una palabra que he utilizado.
And it's terribly embarrassing. Y para mí es algo muy penoso.
They'll say, what does that mean? Me preguntan qué significa eso.
Don't ever use a word, the meaning of which you have to explain.
Never. We're not here to impress men. We're here to help them.
And if they don't understand what you say, they haven't helped you, or you
haven't helped them. Both in writing my notes and
in preaching. I also, I always do so with determined
dogmatism. I didn't come here today to present
some ideas to you. I came here to convey a message
to you. If I didn't know for sure what
the message is, I wouldn't waste my time and yours trying to talk
about it. Leave your questions, leave your
speculation in your study. When you come to the pulpit,
come armed with a message from God, or don't come. It's not
the purpose of preaching, merely to impress the mind, to inform. The purpose of preaching even now, is to move your heart
Godward in repentance, faith, and commitment. And if you're
not moved Godward when I get done, if you're not moved Godward
by what I have to say, I have failed in my mission.
Ralph Barnard used to put it this way. He said, always preach
for a verdict. Someone else put it this way.
Where there is no summons, there's no sermon. If our preaching doesn't call for decisive action. And those who hear us, we're
just making noise. I prepare my message then with
a conscious awareness. That I'm preaching to eternity
bound men and women. People who must have my Redeemer. We're preaching to folks who
must have our Savior. Estamos predicando personas que
tienen que tener a nuestro Salvador. People who must know our God.
A gente que tiene que conocer a nuestro Dios. Or perish forever.
O de otra manera, perecerán para siempre. I find it to be good. Yo encuentro que es bueno. No matter what subject I'm preaching
on. No importa que tema esté predicando. No matter what text
I'm preaching on. No importa que texto esté predicando. To have a stated proposition. or a stated doctrine, just one
sentence, that summarizes everything. I may not ever repeat that statement. I may never say it to anyone,
but I have it firmly fixed in my own mind. This is the one thing I
wish to convey. I have written down here, at
the very beginning of my notes today, this one thing I wish
to convey. Devote yourselves to the preaching
of the gospel. Devote yourselves to the preaching
of the gospel. Now, along the way, I will generally have some three
or four, five, maybe seven day thoughts. Por el camino tengo
tres o cuatro o siete pensamientos. I'll write down those thoughts
in a brief outline or just a few words to remind me of them. Y
escribo esos pensamientos brevemente para recordarme cuáles son esos
pensamientos. And then I will write out a conclusion
or an application. Y luego escribo una conclusión
o una aplicación. And then I go back and write
the sermon out. Now that may seem a little like putting your
socks on after you put your shoes on. But it helps a lot to know
where you're going and how you're going to get there before you
start on the trip. And that's the way I prepare for preaching. Now, turn to 1
Corinthians chapter 1 if you will. There was an American Puritan
by the name of Cotton Mather. He instructed his preachers in
the ministry. I meant to say students, the
students in the ministry. With these needful words. Now
listen carefully. I recommend that you write this
down and remember it. Among all the subjects, with which you feed the people
of God, I beseech you, let not the true bread of life be forgotten,
but show as much as you can of the glorious Christ. Let this be the motto of all
your preaching. Christ is all. Christ is all.
That's all. What a blessing it would be if
every man who claims to preach the gospel dice que es predicador, who claims
to be a preacher sent from God, que él dice que es un predicador
enviado de Dios, would heed those words, que se aferra a estas
palabras, que se atenga a estas palabras, how blessed the Church
of God would be, que bendecida sería la Iglesia del Señor, if
all who fill her pulpits, si todos aquellos que predican en
sus púlpitos, fill her pulpits with Christ, que llenen el púlpito
con Cristo, how blessed your people will be. If instead of
preaching morality, and history, and denominationalism, you will
preach Christ crucified. He is the lifeblood of Scripture. Christ crucified is the message.
Paul said, I determined. I set my heart and mind with
determination to know nothing among you. Say Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. Alright, here in 1 Corinthians
1. This is what God has sent us
to do. Verse 17. Christ sent me not to baptize. Does that mean Paul didn't baptize
anybody? No. But baptism wasn't the most
important thing. Baptism was not even the prominent thing.
But to preach the gospel. Now watch this. Not with wisdom
of words. lest the cross of Christ should
be made of none effect. If we impress men with our learning,
we impress people with what we know, they may go away impressed
with us. But our labor is in vain. I'm determined to preach nothing
but Christ, lest the gospel, the preaching of the gospel,
be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us who are saved, Pero a los que se salvan, it
is the power of God. Esto es a nosotros, es el poder
de Dios. Power of God. Es el poder de
Dios. You know what the word power is? ¿Saben qué significa
esta palabra, poder? It's dynamite. Esa palabra, poder,
es de lo que tenemos la palabra dinamita. Back home we have some
westerns. Allá en mi tierra tenemos unas
películas del oeste. Western movies. Y'all know Clint
Eastwood? Ustedes conocen a Clint Eastwood? You ever seen any of
the western movies they have them done here? They don't watch
them, okay. Well, he'll ride in the town. He's got dynamite
in his saddle bag. He's got a gun on his hip. And
when he shoots his pistol up, he takes aim. You have to do that to shoot.
But when he uses dynamite, he pulls the stick of dynamite out,
takes a cigar and lights it, and he throws it and gets out
of the way. That's what the gospel is. It is the dynamite of God. That's the very word that's translated
power. It is the dynamite of God. We
don't defend it. We don't protect it. We don't
hedge it. We just light the fuse, throw
it, and get out of the way. It does its own work by the blessing
of God. Christ crucified, I'm trying
to convey to you, is all the counsel of God. First Corinthians 2.2. We'll
look at this more this afternoon, the Lord willing. The Apostle
Paul said, I have determined in no method among you, save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Acts 20.27. He said, I have not
shunned to declare to you, all the counsel of God. I wonder, did Paul preach one
thing at Corinth, and another thing at Ephesus? Was he that
kind of preacher? Oh, no. Well, that must mean that Christ
crucified is all the counsel of God. And all the counsel of
God is Christ crucified. Do you understand this? We are sent to preach the whole
book of God. and the whole message of this
book in the Prophets, in the Law, in the Psalms, in the Gospels,
in the Epistles, is Christ crucified. I do not pretend to understand every word written
in this book. I don't. The more I study it,
the bigger it gets. But I do understand the whole
book. I know what this book teaches me. It teaches salvation by grace
through the crucified, visited, exalted Son of God. And that's
what we're sent to preach. Christ crucified is the singular
message of Holy Scripture, the sum and essence of all true doctrine. He's the life of all gospel ordinances. He's the secret ingredient to
all true worship. He is the mercy seat at which
God promises to meet with sinners. El es el propiciatorio donde
Dios promete encontrarse con el pecador. Christ crucified
is the motive for all godliness, all obedience, and all service.
Cristo crucificado es el motivo de toda obediencia, de toda adoración,
de todo servicio. He's the inspiration for all
sacrifice. Es la inspiración para todo sacrificio. All devotion. Toda devoción. Christ is the
reward of heaven, the glory. Cristo es la recompensa del cielo,
la gloria. He's our God, our Savior, our
salvation. Él es nuestro Dios, nuestro Salvador,
nuestra salvación. He's the revealer of truth, and
He is the truth. Él es el revelador de la verdad,
y Él es la verdad. Several months ago, I got a letter from a lady. Yo
recibí una carta de una señora, an older lady who had been in
church all her life. She had been listening to some
of my sermons on the Old Testament Scriptures. I had been preaching
through Zachariah and Haggai, the book of And she said to me, for the first
time in my life, the Old Testament Scriptures have come alive, seeing
Christ in the book. And this book comes alive. when you see Christ in the book.
Otherwise, it is just ink on processed wood, bound together
in leather, and completely sealed. God give us grace and wisdom que el Señor Dios nos dé gracia
y sabiduría para predicar a Cristo Jesús crucificado, no de vez
en cuando. Cada vez que estemos de pie para
hablar de parte de Dios, ya sea que estemos hablando a uno o
a dos personas, o ya sea a uno o doscientas personas, If to those who have long known
Him, are those who haven't a clue who God is, preach the glory
of Christ crucified, and watch God work. Amen. Thank you for
your attention.