Thank you.
Should I tell the same one again?
Okay.
There was this little baby that had come into this family,
and Johnny was just not entirely ready to kind of adapt to this little baby.
And the thing that was really just irking him was that the baby,
when the baby was dirty or the baby was hungry,
the baby would just, you know, bellow all the time.
And one day when the baby was just carrying on like whoever,
you know, Johnny says to Mom, where did he come from?
Mom says, well, heaven, of course.
And he says, well, I can understand why they kicked him out.
Okay.
There's a third joke.
Pastors don't tell jokes.
And that's not an accident.
I have a couple kids that are supposed to come up on cue,
and they're kind of stunned by the drum roll.
Doug, we should have practiced that a little bit more.
Push it out.
Right over here.
Go slowly.
Don't tip it over.
I'll be in trouble with the sound guys.
Thank you.
Truth of the matter is, I didn't know if I could pull it off.
But I did want you to remember it.
I never want you to forget it.
It's not an accident that the pulpit is in the center of this room.
And regardless of the man that stands at it,
what you hear from it must be the same.
And the day will come that I am no longer here.
And you must guard the pulpit.
I think there's a place for humor.
I enjoy a good laugh.
And thankfully, progressive sanctification has kind of narrowed the circle of things that I laugh about
and brought some of the things that I think are humorous into a more focused text or context.
But I have to tell you, when I come to the pulpit or when I see a man come to the pulpit,
I understand that he is coming to that place to preach.
And truthfully, preaching is not an exercise in entertainment.
Preaching is really nothing other than a call to worship.
I want you to have that fixed in your mind.
Preaching is nothing other than a call to worship.
Martin Lloyd-Jones, who I have to confess has become one of my favorite authors,
was asked, he preached, he actually was a surgeon that went into ministry.
He resigned to his ministry.
He died.
from perhaps one of the finest
of interest in interest in interest
of interest in interest
interest interest
Thank you.
And second is the place and work of the Holy Spirit in preaching.
I want us to stop for a moment and ask God's help yet again.
Amen.
that the preaching of the Word of God would be marked by the evidence of the Spirit of God's presence and enabling,
that Jesus Christ might reign supreme in the hearts of His children,
and that those who do not know Christ would be drawn from the desperation of their sinful state to become worshipers of the King of kings and the Lord of lords.
We ask this in Your precious name. Amen.
Well, context is important, so I want to begin by looking at this passage and recognizing the context of Paul's lesson
that we are looking at, and we mark there in 19, that he is actually very, very close to the very end of a book.
And sometimes when we come towards the end of the book, the tendency we have is to kind of,
okay, fast forward, get it done, move on, we've got it covered.
And I have to tell you that being as redundant as I am to always say this is the best text,
it is, I will say, a very, very important text, and it's important for us to pay attention and not blow past it.
I want you to understand that what Paul does in this case is he pled with people that they would pray for his preaching.
That's what this is all about.
He's bringing the letter to the Ephesian church to a close, and he says,
and by the way, in addition to praying for all these other people, I want you to do this for me.
I want you to pray for my preaching of the Word of God.
Now stop and think with me just for a moment of where Paul was at that time.
He was in prison.
And we're not talking about club fed.
We're talking about a miserable, despicable condition in which he was waiting for all practical purposes
for execution because, for the most part, prisons were not used for incarceration on long-term basis.
They were simply used to kind of keep a person in a holding cell until the time of execution.
And so here was Paul in prison, miserably treated,
and yet he didn't say to people when he had an opportunity to write,
would you please pray about me getting out of this mess that I'm in?
We also know that Paul's health was not very good.
And yet when the opportunity came for asking for prayer,
he didn't say anything about the condition he was in,
nor did he ask people to pray about his physical condition.
What he said is this, there's the one thing I want, there's one thing I'm interested,
there's one thing that I want you to keep before the Lord.
It is this, that in those opportunities that God would give me,
that I would preach the Word of God clearly, according to his direction and his will.
And so when you stop and look at this passage,
you have to recognize that the apostle is making something rather clear here,
that we have a tendency to overlook.
Believers should pray incessantly for the preaching of the Word of God.
And I want that anchored in your mind, regardless of who comes to this pulpit.
One of the things that should be fixed in your heart as a believer
is that the Holy Spirit calls you to an awesome task of doing something
while the preacher is preaching, and it's praying.
It's praying.
We're going to consider two reasons why that is so important.
One would be that preaching is important.
As we take up verse 19, you would have to recognize that in 19,
there is no real indication of the word preaching.
And I have taken, to a certain degree, an amount of liberty
in putting together what Paul is saying with other places where he says similar things,
when he says there in verse 19,
and also for me that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly
to proclaim the mystery of the gospel we understand from other places,
that what he's referencing is not just his having little anecdotal conversations
with the guards, but he's talking about those moments where he has the opportunity
of proclaiming the glory of Christ and the supremacy of God.
The word preach is one that today actually has fallen to a certain amount of disfavor.
It's amazing how easily we take something that the Spirit of God sees as supremely important,
and we kind of relegate it to something less than it should be.
And here is Paul referring to this work that God has appointed him to do of being a preacher of righteousness,
and he asks that those who care for him and are interested in his effect in doing so,
he says, I want you to pray for me.
Now, I actually understand that this word preach is a word that in the ancient world referred to someone who was a herald.
And a herald was someone who, prior to having a lot of written communication,
and they certainly didn't have Facebook or whatever else to rely upon,
when you wanted a message communicated accurately and carefully,
you would hire someone to go into the center of the town,
and he would blow a trumpet or he would beat a drum,
and he would say, hear ye, hear ye, thus saith the king, right?
He was a herald.
And as a general rule, heralds were hired because they had clear voices.
But they were also hired with the expectation that they would communicate passionately,
and they would communicate with energy and enthusiasm the message of the king.
I have always kind of Jim Carney.
How many of you know who Jim Carney is?
He was the press secretary for President Obama.
And I have to tell you, I have, with mixed adoration,
appreciated the fact that he is such an adept prevaricator.
Do you understand what I mean?
He, everything he says, he can say with sincerity and with enthusiasm and with passion,
like it is the gospel truth.
A herald had the responsibility of communicating both authoritatively and passionately.
And so I want you to understand that preaching is important because it is the passionate heralding
of the king's message.
And if you would turn to a passage where I want to kind of flesh this out a little bit further,
I want you to take the time to turn back to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 17 through 23.
Let me explain to you as you are going there that actually a fair part of 1 Corinthians is taken up with this business of Paul
explaining his ministry to a people that were not overly persuaded.
Paul, for one thing, was not a Joel Osteen handsome or slick.
Do you follow that?
I seriously thought about coming out here and saying,
Hi, how y'all are you doing today?
And I thought, I can't pull it off.
You know, I was like, okay, don't do that.
But Paul was kind of a dumpy little guy.
He had bad eyesight, probably squinted.
And while he was a profoundly educated man,
and he could have wowed the crowd with his brilliance and his logic,
he relied upon simplicity and clarity in announcing the truth of God with the power of the Spirit.
And we're looking here at 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 17, where he explains his ministry.
He says,
For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to what?
Preach the gospel.
And not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,
but to us who are being saved, it's the power of God.
For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.
Where is the one who is wise?
Where is the scribe?
Where is the debater of this age?
Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom,
it pleased God through the folly of what we, what's the next word?
Preach to save those who believe.
And so as Paul, over in Ephesians chapter 6, says,
Hey, listen, I want you to pray for me,
that the words may be given to me.
He is referencing the issue of preaching, and he's saying,
I want you to have a part in what I do in proclaiming with authority and with passion
the express word of God.
There are several different passages that my heart is drawn to this morning,
and over the years of ministry have been framed clearly in my mind
in relationship to the sober responsibility of coming to stand here
in front of God's people and proclaim the word of God.
One is Malachi chapter 2, verse 7.
Now I want you to turn back to that passage, if you would, please.
Malachi chapter 2, verse 7.
For the lips of the priest should guard knowledge,
and people should seek instruction from his mouth,
for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
The priest's lips should guard knowledge,
and people should seek instruction from his mouth,
for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts.
The second passage that comes to mind is over in 2 Timothy.
And I want you to look, if you will,
at what we find at the very conclusion of 2 Timothy,
and let me give you a broad meta-picture of this.
You'll remember that 1 Timothy is written predominantly to Timothy
regarding what needs to take place in the church.
2 Timothy is written with a focus on what needs to take place in the pastor.
And in that context, towards the very end of the book,
we come to this absolutely sober charge that is given.
And it is given in a series of imperatives.
The word imperative means commands.
It's given in a series of this you must do.
Listen to the windup.
I charge you in the presence of God in Christ Jesus,
who is to judge the living and the dead,
and by his appearing and his kingdom,
preach the word.
In one sense, this passage makes it clear
that the one audience that counts is not sitting here in front of me,
but is unseen,
and is the one who will someday call me to task
for the fidelity of my preaching of the authoritative word of God,
and doing so under the enabling and the power of the Holy Spirit.
Do you understand that?
Preach the word.
So when a man comes to the pulpit,
he really comes to speak as a herald
or as an announcer of the king of kings,
and he comes to passionately announce truths
that are matters of life and death.
So let me kind of summarize this for you a little bit
by pointing out that the king's message, for one, is convicting.
In Romans 3.23,
a passage that many of you are familiar with,
I want to remind you that Paul says this.
He says,
All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Let me help you understand that in one sense,
part of preaching is calling people to repentance.
And you can't call people to repentance
so long as you're soft-pedaling the reality of the condition of their soul
and the bankruptcy of their state
and their desperate need for coming to grips with the heart that they have.
Do you follow that?
I'm reminded of something that took place not too long ago.
I had an individual come to me.
He was in a spiritual kind of a fog
and very, very kind of discouraged and brokenhearted.
And as we were kind of talking through things,
he explained to me that he was deeply convicted
because he was living with this woman.
And practical question, you know,
forget the fact that I'm a Baptist pastor.
You know, I said,
So why are you living with her?
You know, without thinking, I thought,
you know, the reasonable thing to do
if you feel bad about living with her is what?
Huh?
Move out, that would be one practical thing.
But what would be another one?
Well, marry her.
And so I said,
Well, why haven't you gotten married?
He says,
Well, my first two marriages ended in divorce.
Duh.
And I figured that if I don't get married,
I won't get divorced.
Now, that is practical math.
Do you understand that?
I connect the dots.
It's like, duh.
I shouldn't have asked.
That was just absolutely brilliant logic.
I remember subsequently as this man
and his partner started coming sporadically to church,
he made an insightful statement.
He says, I got to tell you,
we started coming to church,
but every time we left,
we felt worse than when we came.
I thought, really?
I'm not trying.
But when a person with the passion
of the Lord Jesus Christ
pleads with people to come to grips
with the sin of their soul
because heaven and hell is at risk,
you can understand.
If he continued living in sin
and didn't walk home feeling bad about it,
then I failed.
Do you understand that?
So one is the king's message is convicting.
Number two,
the king's message is converting.
One of the things I love to say to people,
not just in church.
You guys have heard me say this so many times here,
but particularly when I am in my non-Baptist regalia.
Do you know what regalia means?
It's the robe I wear, you know.
It's the thing that when you look at me,
you can say, he's a pastor.
And when I am in shorts and a t-shirt
and visiting at the nursing home
with my dad and my mom,
it's taken months for them to figure out
that I am who I am.
And in the meantime,
I have been able to creep up on them
and let them know
the absolutely wonderful news
that Jesus saves sinners,
and I'm one of the examples.
Acts 16, verse 31,
the apostle Paul said to the Philippian jailer,
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and you will be what?
Saved.
Does it get any better than that?
And I got to tell you something.
The truth of the matter is,
is that apart from preaching,
whether it is a mother
sharing the gospel
in simplicity at home,
or Jonah stomping through
a rebellious city,
God has always used preaching
to call broken-hearted people
to repentance
and to redemption.
The king's message is conforming.
2 Corinthians 3, verse 18,
Paul says this,
and I want you to look at it
and let your heart just
grasp and soak
and enjoy the sweet truth
that not only does preaching convict
and not only does preaching convert,
but preaching also
is part of the work of God
in helping the Lord Jesus' children
conform.
And we all,
with unveiled face,
beholding the glory of the Lord,
are being transformed
from the same image,
from one degree of glory to another,
for this comes from the Lord
who is the Spirit.
Listen to me carefully.
Preaching
that is received with prayer
and is empowered with prayer
and that is governed
by the authority of the Word of God
does a work
in the life of the believer.
And it brings about
progressive sanctification.
One of the blessings
that I know to be true
in my life
is that because of His salvation,
I am not obligated,
nor can I stay the way
I used to be.
The Spirit of God is at work
and the way in which He works
is principally through
the preaching of the Word of God
and the exposure of the heart of man
to the authority
and the supremacy
of the glory of Christ.
Now,
understanding the importance
of preaching,
we come to a truth
that makes preaching difficult.
God has chosen
to use the voice of a man
to touch the heart of men.
Because God uses the voice of a man
to touch the heart of men,
He has ordained prayer
for the preacher.
And so,
I want us to come secondly.
First is,
preaching is important.
Secondly,
your prayers
are important
to preaching.
And I want you to understand
as we look at this passage
and break it down
into practical statements,
first of all,
you understand here
that it's the Holy Spirit
that calls you
to pray
for preaching.
Don't miss the truth.
The preacher may forget
to remind you.
The preacher may not necessarily
be persuaded
of the importance
of praying
in relationship
to preaching.
I graduated from seminary
before I came
to understand fully
how significant
and important
praying was
to preaching.
I can tell you
where I was sitting
when I was first convicted
of the importance
of Tim Knoyer
sitting way back there
almost where
Mark Holopeter is.
And Judith and I
were sitting there
back in 1980
when after Pastor Brock
announced his resignation
and that he would be
leaving in two weeks
or whatever it was,
he then took time
to preach
on how people
could help
their next pastor
whoever he would be.
after a five-year
hiatus.
I remember
Pastor Brock
making it
undeniably clear
from the authority
of Scripture
that God's people
had a responsibility
to pray for the man
who would preach
the word of God.
I'm not sure
what you will
ultimately remember
about me.
but one of the things
that I hope
you have heard me
say enough
that it's somewhere
high on the list
is pray for me.
I have to confess
that there are occasions
where people
who love me
a great, great deal
will let me know
that I am
overly redundant.
Same, same.
Do you follow that?
But if there is anything
that I have small hesitation
about being redundant about
it is about the importance
of asking for prayer
in the preaching
of the word of God.
I remember at one point
where I was asked
if I would consider
being the president
of a Bible college
and as I deliberated
and prayed about that
the one thing
that I wrestled
with the most
is if I do this
who will pray
for me?
Do you follow that?
Who would pray?
And I couldn't come up
with a clear answer.
So we recognize
that the Holy Spirit
says hey
pray for the man
who's preaching.
Secondly
just mark how often
Paul asked people
to pray about this thing.
Let's do a little journey
and I'm not going to touch
on all of them
but Colossians chapter 4
verse 3
just tag this.
And by the way
I don't want to argue
that in every case
the amount of repetition
is an automatic guarantee
that it's oh so significant
but it does teach us something.
Chapter 4
verse 3
of Colossians
at the same time
pray also for us
that God may open
to us a door
for the word
to declare the mystery
of Christ
on account of which
I'm in prison.
He says hey
pray.
1 Thessalonians
chapter 5
verse 25
and by the way
the church at Thessalonica
was a solid
good group of believers
and he says hey
brothers pray for us.
2 Thessalonians
chapter 3
verse 1 and 2
perhaps the one
that I have recited
most often
would be this
brothers pray for us
that the word of the Lord
may speed ahead
and be honored
as happened among you.
In other words
pray that the word of God
would bring life
transforming change
into the lives
of those who hear it.
And then verse 2
and that we may be
delivered from wicked
and evil men
for not all have faith.
And I got to tell you
some of the times
where I have faced
wicked evil men
have been some
who have sat
in our congregation
with a heart
that is perverse
and against God
and have actively
resisted
the teaching
and the preaching
of the word of God
and have let me know it.
Third
your prayers
respect the plan
of God
and the frailty
of the instrument
He has chosen.
Over in 1 Corinthians
and also in 2 Corinthians
Paul wrote about the fact
that God had ordained
to bring salvation
through
the perceived foolishness
of preaching.
And can I tell you
that if preaching
was perceived
as foolish
back in the first century
it is even perceived
to be more foolish
today.
But when God
wanted to touch
the city of Nineveh
He didn't send a band
and He didn't send
a drama team.
He sent one
crotchety
low life
to do one thing
repent.
Repent.
And there's a reason
why when you work
your way
through church history
and mark this carefully
if you sit here
with a little bit
of hesitation
in your soul
towards the truth
there is no illustration
there is no single
illustration
in all of
recorded church history
of over 2,000 years ago
where anything
but the authoritative
preaching of the word
of God
ultimately bought
transformation
to the hearts
of people
and to nations
and cultures
families
homes
everything.
But there is a problem
with preaching
because it has the treasure
in an earthen vessel.
I thought
seriously
about having
a broken clay pot
up here
but I thought
you'd had enough
illustrations
with the pulpit
over to the side
and that's probably
unnerving for some of you
and I thought
the clay pot
would just be over the top
and so just forget it.
You see the clay pot.
And here's what it says
in 2 Corinthians
chapter 4
verse 7
it says
for we have this glory
this treasure
in an earthen vessel
that the glory
may be of God
and not of us.
Now listen to me
I don't go out
of my way
to look stupid
or do things
that are ill suited
but you who know me
know the clay
earthy
pot
and one of the things
that I pray
I pray
would be that
the thing that would
stand out
is the authority
and the sufficiency
and the supremacy
of the word of God.
Earthiness is not an excuse
for persistent sin
but it is a reflection
of the temporal
fragile nature
of the messenger
and the weakness
of the vessel.
Fourth
your prayers
respect
your own
need.
Why should you pray?
Holy Spirit
tells you to.
Why should you pray?
Because Paul
asks all the time.
Why should you pray?
Because the man
who preaches
the word of God
is pretty frail.
Why should you pray?
Because you desperately
need help.
I can't tell you
how often
I have sat
listening to another man
preach
and found that I had
failed in that
very fundamental
exercise of asking
the Spirit of God
to do something
with this crass
surly
judgmental
dissatisfied
moody
spirit.
I can't tell you
how many times
that humility
and prayer
has brought fire
down from heaven.
Am I responsible
to preach
the word of God?
Yes I am.
Should I preach it
with the enabling
of the Spirit of God?
Yes I should.
But not all
the problems
with the sermons
that you have heard
have had to do
with me.
Some of them
have been you.
And so it is
appropriate for you
as you come
to listen to the
preaching of the
word of God
to have the
humility
and brokenness
that we find
in Psalm 119
where the psalmist
he says this
he says
bear with me
King James
here we go
open thou mine
eyes
that I might
behold
wondrous truths
out thy law.
there was a time
in my life
where my devotion
for the most part
were fairly
methodic
and kind of
marked by
grudging obedience.
Does anybody
kind of
feel my pain?
You ever been there?
Now it wasn't
like I
you know
kept a check
mark
so I could
say to people
I had devotions
for 17 minutes
and I read
nine verses
and I prayed
for four different
people in the
church
and a changeover
began to take
place when
Tim Kenoyer
began praying
almost every
single time
I sit down
in my living
room
or actually
family room
to begin
my time
with God
my prayer
is
Holy Spirit
by the way
I don't mind
praying to the
Holy Spirit
I don't know
if that bothers
you but
he is one
of the triune
God
Holy Spirit
would you
help me
this morning
I gotta
confess
I would have
liked to have
slept a little
longer
but
you know
what
I wanna
have a heart
that's tuned
towards you
and I need
your help
I gotta
tell you
he delights
to answer
that prayer
he delights
to answer
that prayer
and so
I have to
say
if you're
gonna show
up
and sit
here
it's
intelligent
to pray
for me
right
now by
the way
one of the
things that
we as
Baptists
don't do
is we
don't say
amen
out loud
and I'm
not bothered
by that
but you
ought to be
saying amen
in your heart
do you know
what amen
means
does anybody
know what
amen means
it means
this is
true
it's like
right on
you know
if you're
from the
70s
like I am
preach it
brother
I gotta
tell you
some of
the most
fun
I've
ever
had
preaching
was to
a group
of
African
Americans
that
were
a little
more
enthusiastic
than
most
of
you
I gotta
tell you
I
probably
played
to the
audience
a little
bit
but
I
loved
it
now I
love
you
too
so
it's
alright
you
be
who
you
are
okay
but
here's
the
deal
we
need
to
hear
from
God
and
we
will
not
hear
clearly
if
our
hearts
are
sullied
by the
things
of this
world
and
if
you
sit
there
and
struggle
week
after
week
with
hearing
much
of
anything
it
may
be
that
part
of
the
problem
is
your
lack
of
prayer
I
love
the
quote
that
John
Piper
recites
in his
book
on
the
sufficiency
of
God
in
preaching
and
I'll
tell
you
a
little
story
on
that
book
number
of
years
ago
I
was
in
the
midst
of
reading
it
any
of
you
know
me
I
hate
to
be
late
to
an
appointment
and
so
I
had
I
do
I
will
sit
near
a
driveway
if
I
happen
to be
a little
early
so I
don't
show up
too
early
and
sometimes
I
will
drive
around
the
block
three
or
four
times
and
park
somewhere
where
I
hope
people
won't
!
call
the
police
at the
Mansfield
exit
on
71
I
was
reading
that
book
on
preaching
I
sat
there
in
McDonald's
weeping
not
for
sorrow
but
because
of the
significance
of what
a preacher
does
here's
what
John
Piper
recorded
he
said
I
wake
up
in
the
morning
of
the
Lord's
day
and
I
can
smell
the
sweet
breezes
of
heaven
and
I
can
also
catch
the
whift
of
the
sulfuric
heat
of
hell
and
I
realize
that
with
soberness
I
go
to
plead
with
men
who
are
dying
so
you
can
understand
why
I
cried
right
here's
what
he
recited
from
Cotton
Mather
in
some
!
the
office
of a
Christian
preacher
is to
restore
the
throne
and
dominion
of
God
to
the
souls
of
men
a
preacher
announces
our
God
reigns
so
here's
the
question
how
often
do you
plead
with
heaven
that the
man who
stands
before you
appointed
with the
task of
holding up
the word
of God
who you
know to
be an
earthen
vessel
would be
enabled by
the spirit
of God
that through
his power
and for
the glory
of Christ
the word
would have
free course
to bear
fruit
in your
life
how
often
as we
have the
invitation
do you
find yourself
praying
oh
Lord
work in
the lives
of those
that are
here that
do not
know
Christ
that
they
would be
terrified
at the
prospect
of an
eternal
judgment
that
they
would be
overwhelmed
with the
sweetness
of the
offer
of salvation
through the
finished
work of
Christ
that
they
would be
drawn
by the
spirit
of God
to plead
with
him
to save
them
that
Christ
who
enjoys
the
adoration
of angels
would be
adored
and worshipped
in your
life
this
morning
let us
pray
father
god
i have
no doubt
that there
are those
who are
here
today
that need
the lord
jesus
christ
and my
plea
would be
this
that
while
our
conversation
and our
preaching
has been
predominantly
to those
who know
the lord
jesus christ
and it
has been
the
authoritative
declaration
that god
wants people
to pray
for preaching
that
nevertheless
your spirit
would work
to draw
those
people
who are
here
that
need
christ
as their
savior
to the
cross
and they
would call
upon the
name of
the lord
and say
i am a
sinner
who stands
justly
condemned
and i
need
jesus
to be
my
savior
today
now
i pray
also
for those
who are
part of
the
family
of god
believers
who have
enjoyed
the effect
of the
preaching
of the
word of
god
in their
life
but have
allowed
a loss
of love
and coldness
of heart
to distance
themselves
from the
beauty
of the
lord
jesus
christ
that this
morning
they would
humble
themselves
yes
be broken
and restored
and renewed
and we
ask this
because of
the lord
jesus
amen
going to
ask that
as we
sing this
song in
closing