Preaching the Gospel

Q: What does the Bible say about preaching the gospel?

The Bible emphasizes that preaching the gospel is essential for salvation, as it is through preaching that people hear the good news and believe. In Mark 1:14, after John was imprisoned, Jesus began His ministry by preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. Preaching is not merely an activity; it is the primary means God has chosen to communicate His grace and truth to humanity. Romans 10:14-15 highlights that faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ, indicating that the act of preaching is vital for the process of salvation. Additionally, 1 Corinthians 1:21 states that God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and what is weak to shame the strong, reflecting how God uses preaching as a means to reach His elect with the message of the gospel.

Q: Why is preaching important for Christians?

Preaching is critical for Christians because it is how they receive the gospel, which leads to faith and spiritual growth. Preaching is important for Christians as it serves as the primary means through which God communicates His truth and grace. As stated in Romans 10:14, people cannot call on someone they have not believed in, and they cannot believe in someone they have not heard about. This underscores the necessity of preachers in conveying the message of Christ. Furthermore, 1 Thessalonians 1:5 emphasizes that the gospel came not only in word but also in power and the Holy Spirit, showcasing the transformative effect preaching has on those who hear it. Thus, preaching nourishes faith, cultivates spiritual development, and assures believers of their election in Christ.

Q: How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

The doctrine of election is firmly supported by scripture and is affirmed through the means of preaching the gospel. The doctrine of election, which states that God chooses individuals for salvation, is rooted in several biblical passages. Ephesians 1:4-5 indicates that God chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, demonstrating His sovereign will in salvation. Additionally, 2 Thessalonians 2:13 asserts that God has chosen believers as the firstfruits to be saved through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the truth. Moreover, preaching plays a crucial role in the realization of this doctrine; as the gospel is proclaimed, the elect come to a knowledge of the Lord through the Holy Spirit's work in their hearts (1 Thessalonians 1:5). Therefore, the truth of election is evidenced both in the scriptures and through the act of preaching.

Q: What is a preacher's role in the church?

A preacher's role in the church is to proclaim the gospel, feed the flock, and guide believers in their spiritual growth. A preacher functions as a vital leader in the church, primarily tasked with the proclamation of the gospel. This calling is rooted in scripture, where Jesus commissioned His disciples to 'go and make disciples' (Matthew 28:19-20). The preacher is an under-shepherd who feeds the sheep with the Word of God, as exemplified in Acts 6:4, where the apostles dedicated themselves to prayer and the ministry of the Word. Furthermore, 2 Timothy 4:2 emphasizes the necessity for preachers to be ready in season and out, proclaiming the Word and teaching sound doctrine. Hence, the preacher's role encompasses nourishment, guidance, and direct involvement in the believers' spiritual growth.

Now, I know and you know that
most preaching today and most preachers in our day
are a far cry from the apostles and a far cry from the faithful
men of the past whom we read about. We're living in a sad day as
far as preaching is concerned. We have the entertainers. We have the emotionalists. I hear them. I see them on television. And they put on religious shows,
carnivals, appeal to the flesh. exalt and magnify the flesh,
exalt and magnify themselves. And you know that's true. That's
sad. But also in our day, which is
a day of famine and poverty as far as preaching is concerned,
and the prophet said that day would come when there would be
a famine. Not a famine from water, bread. but a famine of hearing
the Word of God preached. And we have in our day the denominationalists
and the religious debaters. Sad to say, they like to argue
and debate, and you know this, the form of religion, the traditions,
the pet doctrines. They like to argue about baptism,
prophecy, They like to argue about church government. They
like to argue about who can come to the table of the Lord. They
like to argue about whether you ought to have deacons, deaconesses,
elders, stewards, or bishops, or whatever. They just like to
argue religion. It goes on all the time. And then we have the intellectuals,
dead-letter theologians. They educate our heads. Don't
you get weary? Somebody said one time to a friend
of mine, don't preach to my head so much, preach to my heart.
But these fellows are accurate. They're cold and calculated.
And they've succeeded in taking the joy out of justification. They've succeeded in taking the
glory out of the gospel. Years ago there was a preacher
and a lawyer who lived in the same town for many years. And the preacher's ministry was
not very successful. All people came because it was
Sunday and they came because it was respectable to go to church.
But people flocked to hear that lawyer try a case. He was known
all over the town and the county and the state as being a successful
lawyer. So one day the preacher, they
knew one another, they grew up together. The preacher went over
to the lawyer's office and he asked if he could talk with him
privately. The lawyer said, why certainly.
So they sat down in the lawyer's plush, beautiful office. And the preacher said, I'll just
tell you why I've come. He said, we've known each other
for years. And he said, you're a lawyer
and you take any case and you defend most any person and you
usually win. And people come from miles to
see you, to hear you, to listen to you. He said, I've got the
Bible, the truth of God. the truth of God, and I stand
up in the pulpit on Sunday and preach that truth, and I can't
get people to come and hear me. Now why? And the lawyer said,
it's very simple, Reverend. He said, I'll take a lie and
make it sound like the truth. You take the truth and make it
sound like a lie. Dead, cold, dry, dead letter
intellectualism. Takes the joy out. Takes the
spirit out. Takes the glory out. Preaching. All for some preaching. You know,
true preaching and preachers. True preaching is elevated in
the Bible. True preachers, you know they're
exalted in the Scripture? If I had my way, this would be
the best thing for this generation. I know what I'm talking about.
It would be the best thing in the world. I'd do away with all
choirs, every one of them, all quartets, every one of them,
all ball teams, all church socials, all potluck dinners, all missionary
organizations. I'd do away with everything.
in the churches today, every social organization, every youth
organization, every choir, all the uniforms, everything, and
put back where it belongs, the preaching of the gospel. That
would be the best thing that could happen to this generation.
Just shut every mouth, all the sharing groups, and the caring
groups, and the social groups, that's right, and the singing
groups, and everyone just shut their mouth and sit them down.
and get God's preacher in the pulpit for an hour, Sunday morning,
an hour Sunday night, an hour Wednesday night, and go back
to preaching the gospel. And make that the center of the
whole church activity, life, fellowship, and everything else.
That's what my generation needs. That's right. We've relegated
the preaching to the scrap heap. Right now, there's still some
preachers that haven't gotten in the pulpit yet. in the average
church and some of those people have been there two hours and
he's still not in the pulpit and he won't be there at 1130.
When everybody gets through with their announcements, gets through
with their singing groups and gets through with all these other
organizations and social groups and business meetings and all
this sharing and all this caring and so forth and by the time
he gets in the pulpit they're ready to go home or take a nap.
They're not going to pay attention to him. And that's what's wrong
in our churches. You see in the Bible, I'm telling
you the truth, true preaching is elevated. Noah. Tell me who
Noah was. You say he's the art builder.
The Bible calls him a preacher of righteousness. That's what
the Bible calls Noah, a preacher. That was his primary occupation. He didn't build ships. He was
a preacher. Do you know what Solomon said
twice? Turn to the book of Ecclesiastes.
Let me show you this. Now, Solomon, the world's wisest
man, according to the Scriptures. Solomon, the king of Israel. Solomon. But twice in Ecclesiastes
chapter 1, Solomon, the writer, he says in Ecclesiastes 1 verse
1, listen, the words of the preacher. the son of David, king in Jerusalem. What's his first occupation?
What's his first calling? What's the first thing he owns
himself to be? A preacher? Look at verse 12. I, the preacher, was king. Now
the average person would turn that around. He'd say, I, the
king, was a preacher on the side. No, he said, I'm a preacher who
happens to be a king. But his primary occupation was
preaching. Turn to Mark 1. Let me show you
something here in Mark chapter 1. This is talking about our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Mark chapter 1, in verse
14, listen to this. Now, Mark 1, 14, after John was
put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee doing what? Preaching
the gospel. After John was put in prison,
Jesus Christ came into Galilee preaching the gospel of the kingdom
of God. Look at verse 38. It says here, verse 37 says,
When they found him, they said to him, All men seek for thee.
And he said to them, Let us go into the next towns, that I may
preach there also. For therefore came I forth. I
came to preach. One of our Lord's offices is
prophet, prophet, priest, and king. And then when our Lord
gathered his disciples about him after the resurrection, he
said to them, now all authority is given to me in heaven and
earth. Go ye therefore into all the world and do what? Preach the gospel. Go preach
the gospel. The average pastor in my town,
in your town, and all around is not known for his preaching.
He's a visitor. He's an organizer. He's a toastmaster. He's a joker. He's a whatever. But he's not a preacher. A preacher. Our Lord told His
disciples to go and preach. If a man can't preach the gospel,
he's got no business being a pastor. That's exactly right. A pastor
is an under-shepherd. What's an under-shepherd? He
feeds the sheep. That's his calling. When Peter
and the apostles were taken up with all this All this business
of taking care of the widows and the orphans and all, Peter
calls some men together, he said, get some fellas together and
take care of this. He said, I've got to give myself
to the study of the Word and prayer. I've got to preach. Not
my business to take care of these things, it's the business of
the men of the church, preaching. I'm telling you the truth. And
when it turned to Acts chapter 8, let me show you something
over here, I'm saying that the Bible, exalts and elevates the office of preaching,
the work of preaching. In Acts chapter 8, and Saul,
verse 1, was consenting unto his death, that's Stephen's death.
And at that time there was a great persecution against the church
at Jerusalem, and they were scattered abroad throughout the regions
of Judea, Samaria, except the apostles. And devout men carried
Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him. As
for Saul, Saul of Tarsus, he made havoc of the church. He
entered into every house, hailing men and women, committing them
to prison. Therefore they that were scattered
abroad went everywhere doing what? Raising money to help the
church in Jerusalem. No! They went everywhere preaching
the gospel, preaching the gospel, preaching the word of God. And
I wrote in our text while I go, preaching the gospel is the Lord's
means of saving his people. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching, to save them that believe. Preaching. And in 1 Thessalonians, Paul
said this, I know your election of God, brethren, beloved, because
our gospel came not to you in word only, but in power, in the
Holy Ghost, in much assurance. And then he said, Paul said in
2 Timothy, he said, what I endure, prison or whatever, I endure
for the elect's sake, that they may come to a knowledge of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Preaching the gospel. That's
how men come to know Christ. Preaching the gospel. Now turn
to Romans 10. Let me show you something here. In Romans chapter
10. And I feel like that the church
that has a preacher, a man who can preach the gospel, and men
who can preach the gospel, elders who can preach the gospel, is
blessed beyond words. Blessed beyond words. In Romans
10 verse 13, For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord
shall be saved. How then shall they call on him
in whom they've not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they've not heard? And how are they going to hear
without a preacher? Without a dedicated preacher
of the gospel. An informed and called preacher
of the gospel. God sent a preacher to the eunuch.
God sent a preacher to Lydia. God sent a preacher to Cornelius.
God sent a preacher to Samaria. Preacher. How are they going
to hear without a preacher? In verse 15, how should they
preach except they be sent? Who sends them? God sends them. Christ said, as my Father sent
me, so send I you. As it is written, watch this,
how beautiful, how beautiful are the feet of them that preach
the gospel of peace. Now I know the primary principle
reference here is to our Lord Jesus Christ. How beautiful are
the feet of our Lord Jesus. That woman washed his feet. kissed
his feet. Mary sat at his feet. How beautiful
are his feet. But Tom, this says them. This
doesn't say him. And yet it is him. Principally
and primarily how beautiful are the feet of Christ. But this
says how beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel
of peace. I went last week down to Louisiana
to preach. And it's so difficult for me
to say no when people are willing to gather and pastors call you
and ask you to come and preach. Come preach to our people. And
I went down and preached. I preached Wednesday, Thursday,
Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning. Full house, full congregation. People visiting, church members. full house every Sunday, preached
with some liberty and power. They sang a few hymns, had a
special, and I preached every night, 45 minutes an hour. And
at the end, the pastor got up and said, this has been such
a refreshing time for me and for the whole congregation. And
he said, I hate to see this meeting close. I wish we could go on.
He said, now next year, I want Brother Henry to come on a Wednesday
and place Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday to stay the whole time. And on Monday he
called over in Texas where we were and talked to Darcy on the
phone and so gracious and kind. He said, I hated to see the meeting
closed. I hated to see us quit while
we were preaching the gospel and people were coming to hear
it. But you know, we're busy. We've got to be here, we've got
to be there, where we ought to be is here, preaching the gospel. And you say you shouldn't, somebody
may say you don't serve, somebody may say you shouldn't be gone
so much. You've got good preachers here. They preach the same thing
I preach. And they go other places and
I go other places to preach because that's what God called us to
do, Bob, preach the gospel. Preach the gospel. If we've got
time to fish a little, we will. We got time to have a cup of
coffee and visit? We will. But if we don't, we
won't. Because we're called to preach the gospel. Isn't that
right? And how beautiful, how beautiful, how beautiful it is
for someone to come and preach the gospel. Declare unto us the
gospel of Christ. Why? They bring good news. They
bring glad tidings. They bring good news of reconciliation. They bring good news of righteousness
in Christ. They bring good news of life.
Paul said to Philemon, I preached the gospel to you. And God used
that gospel to save me. And Philemon, you owe me your
life. If God had not sent me your way to preach the gospel
to you, you'd be lost. You'd be lost. Ronnie, that's
so of you. I preached the gospel to you,
and you came to love it. God loved you before you loved
him, but you love him now because you heard the gospel. Thank God. That's how beautiful are the
feet of them that preach the gospel. How beautiful. You see, the preacher is not
an entertainer. The preacher is not an explainer.
The preacher is a proclaimer. You hear that? Turn to Isaiah
61. And we may not like the preacher's
personality, but that's immaterial. We like his message. We like
his gospel. He's not an entertainer. He's
not an explainer. Barnard used to say, God didn't
send me to explain the gospel, that's the Holy Spirit's job.
He sent me to proclaim it. Isaiah 61 verse 1, listen, the
Spirit of the Lord God is upon me. Because the Lord hath anointed
me to preach good tidings to the meek, gospel to the poor.
He has sent me to bind the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to captives,
proclaim it. Not to explain it, proclaim it.
Liberty to the captive, opening a prison to them that are bound,
to proclaim. The acceptable year of the Lord
is the day of vengeance of our God to comfort those that mourn.
I am being comforted with the gospel, saying to her, comfort
ye my people, saying to her, your sins are forgiven. Your
sins are forgiven. So the preacher is a proclaimer.
He proclaims liberty and freedom to slaves of sin. He proclaims
peace to those who are in it. He proclaims pardon to the guilty,
cleansing to the filthy. He proclaims health to the diseased. He proclaims riches to the poor. He proclaims bread to the hungry
and drink to the thirsty. He proclaims life to the dead.
He proclaims marriage to the Son of God. He proclaims this
is the acceptable year of the Lord. He's a proclaimer. Oh, we've got good news to preach.
I want you to turn to 2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5. Let me give you
five things here. I'll tell you why those who come preaching the
gospel, 2 Corinthians 5, why it says how beautiful are their
feet. because they come to you with
the good news that our God, our God in Christ, our God in Christ,
now those are the two most important words a man can hear, in Christ,
in Christ. But our God in Christ is a reconciled
God. Now God out of Christ is an angry
God. God's angry with the wicked.
God out of Christ is wrath. God out of Christ says, I will
not clear the guilty, but God in Christ is a reconciled God. Listen to 2 Corinthians 5, 19. Namely, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world to himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed to us this word of reconciliation. God's reconciled. for Christ. He purchased peace
by the blood of his cross. God is reconciled. Do you understand
that? Out of Christ, God is angry,
God is wrath. He said in Deuteronomy, vengeance
is mine, I'll repay, saith the Lord, I'll quit my sword, I'll
take hold of judgment. I'll deal with the offender. But I come with good news and
declare that God is reconciled. deliver him from going down into
the pit, I've found a ransom, and that ransom is Christ. Secondly,
our God in Christ is a promising God. I hear people talk about the
promises of God, and it's true, there are many. Peter calls them,
turn to 2 Peter chapter 1, Peter calls them exceeding great and
precious promises. Precious promises. I'll be their
God, they'll be my people, I'll wipe all tears from their eyes,
there'll be no more death, no more sorrow, no more pain, no
more crying the former things that passed away. I will remember their sins no
more. What promises? Great, exceeding, precious promises. Hold it, hold it, wait a minute.
Verse 2 of 2 Peter 1, grace and peace be multiplied unto you
through the knowledge of God and of the Lord Jesus, according
as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain
to life and godliness through the knowledge of him that hath
called us to glory and virtue, whereby through him are given
unto us exceeding great and precious promises. that by these ye might
be partaker of the divine nature. Peter calls them great and precious
promises, but these precious promises are through the knowledge
of him. They're only in Christ. That's
right, we have no right, you can't claim the promise without
the identification with Christ. The promise is not yours or mine,
either one. Come unto me, I'll give you rest. No, come unto me all ye that
labor and are heavy laden, I'll give you rest. All things work
together for good. No they don't. All things work
together for good to them that love the Lord. They're all in
Christ. That's where the promises are.
Turn to 2 Corinthians 1. Let me show you that. 2 Corinthians
chapter 1. Now listen, this is one of those
verses you underscore. I've got a circle all the way
around it here in this Bible. 2 Corinthians 1 verse 20. For all the promises of God in
Christ are yes. Where are they? In Christ. All
the promises of God are in Christ. Yes, and in Christ are amen to
the glory of God. So we've got good news. How beautiful
are the feet of the man that can come and say God's reconciled
in Christ. And all the great, exceeding,
precious promises are yours in Christ. All right, thirdly, our
God in Christ sits on the throne of grace. And one of the old
writers said God's throne is threefold. God's throne is a
throne of glory, brightness. He dwells in a light to which
no man can approach. And you want nothing to do with
that throne. That's the throne that Isaiah saw. And God on His
throne, the Lord on His throne, And the seraphims about the throne
covered their faces, covered their feet, and cried, holy,
holy, holy. We don't want anything to do
with that throne. The throne is the brightness
of His glory. And then secondly, His throne
is the throne of justice. Revelation 20 talks about all
men going to stand before God, stand before God, and going to
be judged out of those things written in the book. Plain justice. I don't want anything to do with
that throne. David said, Lord, don't bring
me into judgment with thee. I don't want any part of that.
But thank God, our God sits on the throne of grace. Seeing then
that we have an advocate, we have a mediator, we have Christ,
we have a great high priest, let us come boldly. Let us come
boldly before that throne of grace. Because he who sits on
the throne of glory came down here and bore all that justice
demanded, and he enables us to come before the throne of grace.
Grace and love and mercy. Isn't that good news? Don't explain
it, proclaim it. Don't get up there and look and
see how many diamonds are in the left front leg of the throne,
it's immaterial. Don't try to explain these things.
Just preach them. Just preach. Say, Senator, you're
free. Come out. Look to Christ. Rest in Him. I tell you, when we get into
this business of trying to explain and entertain and be clever and
all this sort of thing, we make the cross of Christ of non-effect.
We cover it with words. We try to describe whether it
was a cross this way or this way. What difference does it
make? I heard men take 30 minutes to explain the cross wasn't lifted
up high. It was down here where they could
spit on him. Or just this high off the ground.
Who cares? It was a cross. It's gone. It's
the Christ we preach. It wasn't his physical agony
and suffering that was the main thing. It was he made his soul
an offering for sin. He bore our sin. in his body
on the tree. I heard them arguing the other
day whether there were three wise men or less than three or more
than three. I don't care. What difference does it make?
One lady called Brother Richardson wondering how many cups he used
at the Lord's table. He said, I don't know. There's
a bunch of them. That's true. There's a bunch
of them. A throne of grace. God dwells
on the throne of grace for sinners. And then fourthly, our God in
Christ is identified with us. This is the great mystery of
godliness. Grace is the mystery of godliness. And people are sitting around
arguing about whether Christ had Mary's blood or independent
blood or whether Christ could have sinned or could not have
sinned. Listen, the mystery of godliness, he became a man. And the intellectuals have taken
the joy out of it and the glory out of it. He became a man. God
was manifest in flesh. That's the glory. I don't understand everything
that pertains to it, but I don't have to. I see through a glass
dimly. The most I can know is not much.
I preach in part, I prophesy in part, I know in part, I see
through a glass dimly, but that which is perfect is come." I
said, hey, I'll explain all that to you now. But all I know is
that that preacher was up preaching
one time years ago on the Trinity. Man, he was wearing out the Trinity. You understand the Trinity? I
don't, but I just know it's subtle. But he was wearing it out, and
there's an old boy sitting back in the back. Back in those days,
they were pretty strict on folks talking in church or writing
in church, you know. He's sitting back there writing.
And one of the deacons came up and tapped him on the head and
took his writing away from him and brought it up and laid it
on the pulpit. And this fellow wasn't real bright. The preacher
was real bright, you know. The intellectual was preaching.
He put it up there on the pulpit and the preacher couldn't keep
from looking at it. There was that piece of paper
he was writing on. He was trying to preach on the Trinity, trying
to explain it. Finally he picked up that piece
of paper and he read it. One in three and three in one.
That's too much for Silly Billy. But this can Silly Billy see.
One of them died for me. Glory. Don't let him preach. Our God's on the throne of grace
and he manifested himself in the flesh. Emmanuel, God with
us, bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, numbered with the
transgressors. You know, we sinners don't need
pity, we need help. We need somebody who's able and
somebody who's willing. Somebody who can help us, don't
we? He's somebody who can lift us
from the dunghill and wash us in his blood, cleanse us of our
sins and robe us in his righteousness and put us on his shoulders and
take us home to glory. And the songwriter said, is there
anyone can help us who can give us centerpiece when his heart
is broken down with pain and woe, who can speak a word of
pardon that affords us sweet release, and whose blood can
wash and make us white as snow. Is there any one? Yes, there's
one, but only one. It's the blessed, blessed Jesus.
He's the one. So when afflictions press my
soul, and waves of trouble roll, and I need a friend to help me,
He's the one. He's the one. And then last of
all, Our God in Christ is an entreating God. Thank God for
that. Turn to Isaiah chapter 1. He's
an entreating God, an entreating God. Isaiah 1 paints a dark picture
of human nature, an awful dark picture. It tells us what we
really are. Isaiah 1 verse 3, the ox knows
his owner. And the ass is master's crib. But Israel doth not know, my
people doth not consider." What's that saying? That's saying we're
dumber than an ox. You know what that's saying, Richard? Dumber
than an ox. Don't have the sense of an ass.
That's what it's saying. And then it says in verse 5,
there's no use whipping you, there's no use punishing you.
Why should you be stricken anymore? You'll just revolt more and more.
Your whole head is sick, your whole heart is fainting. Our
head is our intellect, that's sick, and our hearts are affections,
and that's sick. From the sole of the feet to
the top of the head, there's no soundness in you but wounds
and bruises and putrefying sores. And verse 11 tells us even our
religious endeavors and our religious activity is an abomination to
God. Verse 11, To what purpose is
a multitude of your sacrifices to me, saith the Lord? I am full
of your burnt offerings of rams, and your fat of fed beasts. I delight not in the blood of
bullocks, and lambs, and goats. When you come to appear before
me, who hath required all this at your hand to tread my course?
Don't bring any more vain oblations. Your incense is an abomination. Your new moons, and your Sabbath
days, and your calling of assemblies I cannot away with. It's iniquity. He said, verse 14, your new moons,
your appointed feasts, my soul hates, they're trouble to me,
I'm weary of them. When you spread forth your hands,
verse 15, I'll hide my eyes from you. When you make many prayers,
I won't hear you, your hands are full of blood. That's the
shape we're in. Thank God he didn't leave it
there. Verse 18, come now. Now come on. Come to me and let's
reason together. What are we going to reason about?
Well, though your sins be as scarlet, and though they be red
like crimson, I'll make them as white as snow, and they'll
be as wool. Come now. I invite you. I entreat
you. Come to me. Come to me. Come to me. The preacher is an
ambassador. I'm going to deal with this tonight.
He's an ambassador. As though God did beseech you
by us, be you reconciled to God. Lay down your shotgun. Put up
your sword. That's reason. Though your sins
be discarded, I'll wash them white as snow. Years and years
ago, a friend of mine showed me an article that he cut out
of the paper back in the 30's. He was a speaker. Went around
to churches and preached. And he used this illustration.
I saw the article. There was a young man by the
name of Rupert Lewis who was driving between Vicksburg, Mississippi
and some town south, driving a truck. And it was late one
night and it was raining. Just had rained for days. It
was just a torrential rain. And Rupert Lewis came up on Pearl
River. That's the name of that river.
Unknown to him, the bridge had been washed away. And Rupert
Lewis, truck and all, went right into that river, like that school
bus went into the river up here years ago. Somehow, he got out
through a window or something, but the truck was swept downstream.
Somehow, Rupert Lewis, this true story, got out of that truck.
and got to the shore. Bruised and battered, he climbed
up on the shore. Muddy, you can imagine. Came
out of that roaring river. Climbed up on the shore. One
thought, I've got to get up there on that highway and stop those
cars. And he said he had his overalls on, lost his hat, old
pair of boots on. Now this time he was literally
covered with mud and dirt and rain pouring down, his hair hanging
in his face. And in that condition, He got
out there on that highway and went to waving at the car. But
nobody'd stop. They'd take one look at him in
that awful condition, they wouldn't stop. They'd go around him, and
around him, and before it was over, before he got anybody to
stop, ten cars and two trucks had gone into that river. Sixteen
people were dead. I read that before finally somebody
stopped, and Rupert Lewis got some help. But there he stood,
just himself, not much to look at. But there was a real danger,
and he was warning people. And that's what God said. He
sends men to preach. They're men just like you, that's
all. They're nothing. They're not much to look at,
not much to listen to. And they're standing out there
waving. Stop. Let's stop. Let's reason together.
There's danger ahead. And that's why somebody will
stop. But most of them just go right
around you, paying attention to you. But old Rupert was a
means of salvation for some folks who would listen to him. Proclaimer,
warner, ambassador, servant, preacher. Oh, how my generation
needs to hear preaching.

Preaching the Gospel

What does the Bible say about preaching the gospel?

Why is preaching important for Christians?

How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

What is a preacher's role in the church?

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Preaching the Gospel

What does the Bible say about preaching the gospel?

Why is preaching important for Christians?

How do we know the doctrine of election is true?

What is a preacher's role in the church?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

Comments

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