My subject this morning is a
return to plain preaching, a return to plain preaching. Now, that's
been the aim and goal of this television ministry ever since
we've been on this station, to return to the preaching of the
gospel in words that men and women, at least in their heads,
can understand. They may not believe it, they
may not receive it, but at least in their heads, they know what
we're saying. Now, this is what Paul is saying
in 1 Corinthians 2, verses 1 through 5. I want you to listen while
I read the scripture. If you'd like to, open your Bible
with me and read 1 Corinthians 2, verses 1 through 5. Paul says,
Brethren, when I came to you, I came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom. Now, he's writing to Corinth,
to the church at Corinth, And you know a little bit about the
city of Corinth. It was a city of philosophers,
a city of so-called wise men, a city of education, a city of
orators. And he says, when I came to you
preaching the gospel, I didn't come preaching the gospel with
excellence of speech, intellectualism, or of wisdom, declaring unto
you the testimony of the gospel of God, for I determined not
to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness,
human weakness. I was with you in fear and in
much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit, the Holy Spirit, and of power, that your faith
should not stand in my wisdom, in my arguments, in my doctrines
or logic, but in the power of God. Now, my friends, I believe
the greatest need of the church, television ministry, of preachers,
people, the greatest need of our day is a return to plain
Bible preaching. preaching that's true to the
scriptures, and preaching that men and women can understand,
answering questions that people are asking, not answering questions
that nobody cares about, but dealing with the issues that
concern the people. Now, Paul was conscious of this.
I can see that he's conscious of this need in his day. In our
text, he talks about his own preaching. Listen how he describes
his own preaching. And he's speaking to a city that
greatly appreciated enticing words of man's wisdom, intellectualism. He's talking to people who were
intrigued with these things. And he said, when I came to you
preaching the gospel, I did not come with wisdom of words. I did not use worldly wisdom. I did not come with fine oratory. I didn't come with excellency
of speech. It doesn't matter if my speech
is plain and contemptible. At least you understand what
I'm saying," he said. And I didn't come with enticing
words of man's wisdom. I didn't come arguing and debating. Everybody wants to debate and
argue. But my friends, preaching, the
kind of preaching that God blesses, the kind of preaching that God
uses, the kind of preaching we need to hear, is the preaching
in the power of the Holy Spirit. That's what Paul said. I came
preaching in the spirit and in the power of God. And the end
of that preaching, notice the last verse, he says that your
faith, your hope should not stand in the wisdom of men. Well, I
believe this because I was just persuaded that it was true by
a certain speaker I heard. He was so persuasive. He was
so convincing. And Paul said, I don't want your
faith to stand in my persuasion. or in my arguments. I want your
faith to stand in the power of God, that your faith should not
stand in the wisdom of men. If one man can talk you into
a position, another man can talk you out of that position. If
one man can talk you into a religion, another can come along who's
a better speaker, a little smarter, and talk you out of that position.
Those people down in Samaria, when the Samaritan woman heard
the Master, She went down into the city and she said, come and
see a man that told me everything I've ever done. Is not this the
Christ? Is not this the Messiah? And
they went running out and heard the master. And then they turned
to the woman and they said, now we believe. Now we believe, not
because of your words, but because we have heard him ourselves. And that's what Paul is saying
here. I didn't come to you with oratory, and excellency of speech,
and enticing words of man's wisdom, and debate, and logic, and argument,
and intellectualism. He said, I came to you in the
power of the Spirit, preaching the Word of God, that your faith
should not stand in my wisdom, nor in the arguments of men,
nor in the schemes of men, but that your faith should stand
in the Word and in the power of God. Paul himself said, I
know whom I have believed. I am persuaded he is able to
keep that which I've committed to him against that day. It's a personal, living, intimate,
vital union with Jesus Christ. That's salvation. Now return
to plain preaching. I'm going to deal this morning
with five questions. I have five questions I believe
need to be answered. I have five questions, I believe,
that you're concerned about. I have five questions here dealing
with five important issues faced by every one of us. I'm talking
to myself as well as to you. And let's try to deal with these
issues in such a way that at least when we get through today,
that you won't have to turn to your neighbor and say, well,
what did he say? Well, that was pretty, but what did he say?
I think you're going to know what I'm What I've said when
I think all right, here's the first question. Let's let me
give you all five questions Then I'll come back to the first one
so that you might be interested in interested enough to stay
with me through the whole message But here are the five questions
what creates a? Real interest in salvation How
does a man get an interest in seeking the Lord some of you
interested in some of you? may not be, but what creates
a real interest? Secondly, what promotes true
conviction of sin and the need of forgiveness? Thirdly, what
leads to a genuine faith in Jesus Christ? And then fourthly, how
are the scriptures open to our understanding? How can a man
understand the scriptures? You say, that'll be a dandy if
you can deal with it. I think it can. And then fifthly, what
is the bedrock motive for holiness of character, conversation, and
conduct. What is the bedrock motive? You men know what I'm talking
about when I say the bedrock. That's the bottom foundation
for holiness of life. We appeal to people for holiness,
holiness, holiness. Well, what's the bedrock foundation?
All right, here's the first question. What creates a genuine interest
in salvation? What will Truly lead a man to
seek the Lord now the scripture commands us to seek the Lord
It says seek you the Lord while he may be found Call upon him
while he's near we're commanded to seek the Lord the scripture
says seek you first the kingdom of God and his righteousness
and All these things will be added unto you Our God says you
shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your
heart now Some men do seek the Lord Some of you are seeking
the Lord, but some do not. So my question is, why do some
men seek the Lord and some do not? What creates this interest
in grace? What creates an interest in salvation. What creates an interest in the
mercy of God? Well, I know this first. It's
the Holy Spirit who awakens a dead sinner to his need, who awakens
him to an interest in God's grace. The Scripture says, you have
he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins. So we allow
that. That's so. It's the Holy Spirit
who makes men alive, who quickens, who regenerates, who gives us
an interest in the saving grace of God. But there are four words
which, if they make the proper impact on you and me, will stimulate
an interest in seeking the Lord. There are four words. If they
make the proper impact... These are powerful words. Powerful
words. There are four words. If they
make the proper impact on you and me, they'll turn us to seek
the Lord. You know what those four words
are? life, death, judgment, eternity. I have a life to live. What is
life without peace, rest, and joy? What is life without comfort
and hope? Death. I have a death to die.
I'm going to die someday. I talked about this last Sunday.
I hope you heard that message. I have a death to die. It's real. It's real. And then the scripture
says, it's appointed unto men once to die, and after that,
judgment. Every man shall give an account
of himself to God. That's what scripture says. We
shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Scripture says
the sea gave up the dead which are in it death and hell delivered
up the dead which were in it and all men small and great rich
and poor black and white old and young stand before God and
the books will be open and Then there's an eternity to stay and
I'll guarantee you my friend if those words ever make an impact
on your mind and heart You're going to go to seeking you're
going to walk some answers. You're going to seek the Lord. That's right It's as simple as
that It's as plain as that. How dreadful to face death without
God, judgment without a mediator, and eternity without any hope.
And that's what I'm saying. I'm saying that when these words
make an impact on a man's heart and mind, he's going to seek
some answers. Now, he may laugh and joke and
live foolishly and carnally and give no concern and no thought
to eternity. That's what our Lord said about
the rich young man. He said you're a fool Tonight
your soul will be required of you It's as simple as that when
we become aware of the seriousness of life of the certainty of death
of the surety of judgment and of the length of eternity We'll
seek him who alone has the answers and who has the hope Seek the
Lord now, that's the foundation that what leads a man to seek
the Lord And that man who realizes the importance of these four
words, he's not going to settle for some foolish answer. He's
not going to settle. He's not going to commit his
soul into the hands of somebody who can't even keep their own
soul. He's going to look for a stronger foundation. He's going
to look for a more certain foundation and hope. All right, here's the
second question. a true conviction of sin and
the need for forgiveness. Conviction of sin. What really
promotes a true conviction of sin? When a man cries, like the
publican, what led him to say, oh God, be merciful to me this
What really promotes a true conviction of sin? What brought the harlot
to the feet of Christ and caused her to bathe his feet with tears
and dry them with the hairs of her head? What really made the
apostle Peter cry unto the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord, depart from
me, I'm a sinful man? Well, I know first of all it's
true the Holy Spirit convinces a man of sin. Scripture tells
us that. Our Lord said, and he, the Spirit,
the Comforter, when he has come, he'll convince the world of sin,
of righteousness, and of judgment. I know the Holy Spirit. Secondly,
I know it's the law of God which gives us the knowledge of sin.
By their law is the knowledge of sin. Paul said, I would not
have known sin had not the law said, thou shalt not covet. And
then it's true that conscience convinces men of sin. Our Lord
tells us about the heathen who have not the law, nevertheless
do by nature the things contained in the law, these having not
the law, have a conscience that accuses or excuses them. For
the Holy Spirit, the word of God, and conscience But my friend,
a real awareness of sin, and the depth of sin, and the reality
of sin, and the truth of sin, is only learned and realized
when we see and become conscious of the holiness of God. A man
can look into his own heart and conscience and be convinced to
some extent, to some degree, of the of the guilt of sin. He can look into a written law
and say, well, this is good as opposed to that. He can look
at the consequences of deeds and acts around him and say,
well, it would have been better if I had done this instead of
that. I was wrong to do this. It would have been better if
I had handled it. But if he wants to understand what sin is, who
sin is against, and the depths of sin, and the wretchedness
and depravity of sin, and the length and breadth of sin. He's
going to have to see it, not in the light of law or conscience
or rules, but in the light of God's holiness. And we'll show
you that in the scripture. Isaiah, if you'll read the book
of Isaiah, chapter 5, you'll find Isaiah, who was a religious
man, a moral man, a prophet of God, and he was pretty hard on
everybody. In chapter 5, he says, woe is
them, woe is them, woe is them, woe is them, five times, woe
is them. condemns people in chapter 6 verse 1 it says and when King
Uzziah died I saw the Lord Isaiah speaking I saw the Lord high
and lifted up his train filled the temple the cherubims and
seraphims covered their faces and their mouths they cried in
the presence of God holy holy holy And Isaiah said, when I
saw the holiness, the immaculate, immutable, infinite holiness
of God, I cried, not woe is them, woe is me. I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips.
Take the prophet Job. The prophet Job was a brilliant
man, a man who loved righteousness and hated evil, a man who defended
righteousness, a man upon whom God himself bragged to Satan
about Job's righteousness, that is, compared with other men.
Job, in chapter 42, said, Lord, God appeared to him out of the
whirlwind and spoke to him and rebuked him. And Job said, Lord,
I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye
seeth thee. I see the Lord. in his glory,
in his holiness. What's his reply? What's his
conclusion? Therefore, I hate myself. I abhor myself. I repent in dust
and ashes. Daniel, who purposed in his heart,
Daniel, who led a kingdom, Daniel, who was a man of integrity, Daniel
said, when I saw the Lord, my comeliness, my beauty, my strength
melted into corruption. The Prophet, the beloved Apostle
John, who lay on the Master's chest at the Lord's table, said
on the Isle of Patmos, when I heard his voice, I turned to see who
was speaking. And he said, I saw him, and I
fell at his feet as a dead man. Yes, sir, that's when a man will
come to knowledge of what sin is, the depth, the length, the
breadth, the width of it, the depravity of it, the wretchedness
of it, the guilt of it, the filth of it, when he sees the holiness
of God. And as he sees the holiness of
God in direct proportion, he'll see the sinfulness of his sin.
The less a man knows about God, the less he knows about his sin.
David cried, My sin is ever before me. Against thee and thee only
have I sinned. done this evil in thy sight."
And Paul wrote in Romans 3 23, all have sinned and come short
of the law, of the rules and regulations, of the expectations
of the preacher in the church, of the glory of God. We sin and
come short of the glory of God. Here's the third question. What
leads to a genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? Genuine faith. What leads a man to faith in
Christ? Now there are some facts that are laid down in the scriptures
which are unchangeable. Facts. Will you listen to these
facts? These are facts. They are unchangeable as the
throne of God. They are unchangeable as the
word of God. Number one, the first fact is
this. The law of God, the holy law of God, must and shall be
honored. That's exactly right. Listen
to this scripture. Who shall stand in his presence? He that
hath clean hands and a pure heart. Listen to the scripture. Cursed
is everyone, cursed is everyone, everyone that continueth not
in all things written in the law to do them, not to admire
them or consent to them to do them. Listen to this. Without
holiness, holiness, no man will see the Lord. Listen to Matthew
5.20. Our Lord said, except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness, the holiness, of the scribes
and Pharisees, you're not going to enter the kingdom of God.
How good does a man have to be to enter the kingdom of God?
Listen to me, as perfect as God, as good as God. Now that's right. God's law will not be compromised.
It will not be repealed. It will not be destroyed. The
edge will not be taken off of it. It's going to be honored
by every man who enters heaven. It will be honored perfectly.
That's exactly right. But now how well you say hi in
the world's a man any human gonna enter heaven Only through the
righteousness of another that law is going to be honored by
you or by your substitute You see that's why Christ came down
here and live 33 and a half years as a man He was born. He didn't
come to destroy the law. He didn't come to dilute the
law He didn't come to take the edge off the law of God. He came
to honor it. He came to obey it He came to fulfill it he said
He was born under the law. He was made under the law. He
was made of a woman to fulfill the law for us that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. Christ is our righteousness. He is the fulfillment of the
law. He honored God's law. By one man's disobedience, we
became sinners. By another man's obedience, we
became righteous. If you and I go to heaven tonight,
if we die tonight and go to heaven, we'll walk into heaven's gates
with a perfect righteousness, with a perfect holiness, with
a perfect record. But it won't be ours, it'll be
our substitute's, our Lord's, our Savior's, his record, his
obedience, his merit, his righteousness. See what I'm saying? His holiness.
All right? That's a fact. Here's another
fact. The justice of God's going to
be satisfied. Scripture says God will in no wise clear the
guilty. God is not going to clear the
guilty. He's not going to look at the guilty and say, well,
I'm going to let you off. The guilty, the soul that sinneth,
is going to die. Every soul that sinneth will
die. The soul that sinneth shall die.
Sin, when it's finished, bringeth forth death. God's justice is
going to be honored. Well, you say, then we're all
going to die. We are, or our sacrifice is. We are, or our
substitute is. We are, or our sin offering is.
Yes, somebody's going to die for your sin. You are, or Christ
is. You can't bring a basket of flowers
to God and say, accept these for my sin offering. Without
the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness. There's no remission.
That's what the scripture says. God says it's the blood that
makes atonement for the soul. The soul that sinneth shall die.
That's why Christ died. He was wounded for our transgressions,
bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was
laid upon him, by his stripes we're healed. Here's another fact. 1 Timothy
2.5, there's one God and one mediator between God and men. That's the man, Christ Jesus.
That's what God said. Only one high priest. Only one
mediator, only one intercessor. Christ said, I am the way, the
truth, and the life. No man, no man cometh unto the
Father but by me. Now, when these truths are burned
into your soul, and I've stated them as clear as I can state
them, that's plain Bible preaching. God's law will be honored. God's
justice will be satisfied. And there is but one mediator,
one high priest, one righteousness, one holiness, one sin offering.
By one offering, Jesus Christ perfected forever them that are
sanctified. Then you'll have an interest
in Christ. And you'll close with Christ,
and you'll embrace Christ. All right, here's the fourth
question. How are the scriptures open to a man's understanding?
Now, I know understanding comes by revelation. God reveals them
by His Spirit. I know that understanding can
only be taught of God. Scripture says, No man cometh
unto me, the Savior, except my Father, draw him, and they shall
be all taught of God. He that hath learned of the Father
cometh unto me. I know God uses preachers and
teachers. The Ethiopian eunuch said, How can I understand except
some man show me? But the key to the Scriptures,
the key to understanding the Scriptures, is Jesus Christ.
Listen to this, Acts 10.43, To him give all the prophets witness.
to Christ. John 5.39, Ye search the scriptures,
in them ye think ye have life. There they which testify of me.
Listen, Luke 24.27, And beginning at Moses, that is, Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. These are the words
that I spake unto you, Christ said, while I was yet with you.
that all things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law
of Moses, in the Prophets, in the Psalms concerning me." Then
opened he their understanding that they may understand the
Scriptures. What was the key he used to open
their understanding that they may understand the Scriptures?
Himself. He said, these are written concerning
me. In the Old Testament, Christ
is that rock. Christ is our Passover. Christ is Abel's lamb. Christ
is the tabernacle. Christ is the priesthood. Christ
is the sin offering. Christ is the atonement. That's
the key, my friend. You have the key when you have
Christ. The Bible is not just a book of poetry, or the book
of Proverbs, or the book of history, or the book of science, or the
book of beautiful love stories. It's the book of redemption.
can be just and justify the ungodly. How God can save sinners, not
at the expense of his holiness, not at the expense of his justice,
not at the expense of any attribute, but in keeping with every holy
attribute. Last of all, what is the bedrock
motive for holiness of life? I know that by the fear of the
Lord, men depart from evil. That's one. I know that God's
laws and commandments are an influence for godliness of character.
I know that influence and reputation have a decided effect upon our
behavior, but the bedrock motive for obedience is love. Love for Christ, love for one
another, love for all men, love for the gospel witness, love
for the word of God, love for the church, love for your neighbor.
It came to our Master one day and he said, Master, which is
the greatest commandment? And our Lord said, The greatest
commandment is, thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, mind, soul, and strength, and thy neighbor as thyself.
On these two hang all the law and the prophets. Galatians 5.14,
for all the law is fulfilled in this word, thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. Pledge cards won't do it. Rules
and regulations won't do it. Discipline committees won't do
it. Appeals won't do it. Love is the bedrock motive. for any act of kindness, grace,
mercy, forgiveness, alms, or anything else.