It's good to see everybody this morning.
I had a talk with Wes and Nathan about the lights right here.
! I'm used to speaking on Thursday nights, but I don't have that in my face.
But it's like impossible to lift your eyes to heaven and actually pray while you're up here.
But, uh...
You do that so much, right?
I know. I try.
Yeah, it's not too bad.
But, um, I had one person already say to me,
I like your pink shirt, and I don't think it's pink.
I think it's kind of a light color red.
So, uh, just, uh, settle that real quick, too.
Um, well, I wanted, uh, this message, we've been in the Gospel of Mark, going through Mark,
and this isn't necessarily from Mark.
This is kind of more of a, uh, an aside, a topical message
that will hopefully help us get more out of God's Word as we come to hear it week by week.
And, uh, over the Christmas break for the students,
I was, uh, at home with my parents in North Carolina,
and I went to their church in, uh, Hiawassee.
And while I was there, I was not really, I hadn't really prepared my heart to come
to hear God's Word that morning.
And so, when the preacher got up and he began teaching on, um, the idea of the birth of Christ
and the incarnation and the importance of it,
I just kind of completely zoned out and kind of had this idea of,
I've heard this so much in my life, and I really don't want to pay attention.
I already know this.
I probably, probably could teach this better than he could.
You know, all these little arrogant, pompous thoughts that showed that I really did not
believe what it was I was hearing at all.
And it really convicted me.
So maybe you, some, some of you have been there before,
you've heard a sermon that you've heard before,
and it's really tempting just to check out.
And instead of asking yourself,
Okay, Lord, help me pay attention, help me to get something, um, new out of this.
Speak to me afresh on this.
And then to ask yourself, do I actually practice what I claim to believe?
And so, with that, I was really kind of broken and messed up that afternoon.
I just couldn't get my mind right, because I felt so messed up in my heart.
So, uh, I went home, back here to Dahlonega,
and I dug out an old book,
The Genius of Puritanism.
Great title.
Great pictures, too.
Very scary looking pictures, so.
But, I don't know how many of you know anything about the Puritans,
but they were really very, very serious about
not just the preaching of God's Word,
but also the, uh,
the idea of preparing yourself to hear God's Word,
hearing God's Word,
and then discussing things after you hear God's Word.
They were very, um,
serious about that kind of stuff.
So, I began reading back through some of the stuff,
and it was really convicting and challenging.
And since then,
it's really helped kind of alter
my posture and how I come here on Sunday mornings.
And, uh,
with that in mind,
uh,
this past Wednesday,
I was with Nathan,
and I told him,
you know,
at some point,
I think it would be interesting to, uh,
to speak on
the idea of coming to hear God's Word,
the idea of coming to hear
the preaching of God's Word.
And,
and he said,
how about this Sunday?
And, uh,
so,
and it really was quite providential
because,
um,
where we are in Mark,
we're about to get into the parables,
and Jesus says a lot of things like,
those who have ears to hear,
let them hear.
It's this idea of hearing God's Word.
And so,
I want you to flip to Luke,
uh,
chapter 8,
and look at
verse 18,
just carefully.
Wow,
there's multiple water up here.
Okay.
Leave that here.
So,
in Luke's Gospel,
after the parable of the sower,
Jesus makes this comment
in chapter 8,
verse 18.
He says,
take care then
how you hear,
for to the,
the one who has
more will be given,
and from the one who has not,
even what he thinks
that he has
will be taken away.
Very
strong words.
Take care then
how you hear,
for to the one who has
more will be given,
and for the one
who has not,
even what he thinks
that he has
will be taken away.
Just pray with me
for a second.
Father,
I just want to confess
to you that
there's nothing
that can be done
today in my heart
or the hearts
of
your people
that are here
apart from
your Holy Spirit,
and
him
administering
the word
to
our hearts,
our minds,
and God
has asked for
help,
and
for the Lord
to open up our ears
and let us hear
your truth today.
Just help us,
Father,
in Christ's name.
Amen.
So,
we need to understand
that
the way we hear
God's word
can be a life
and death
thing
in many ways.
Jesus
constantly brought
this up to the people
he was teaching.
He says,
you know,
if you actually
do hear,
more will be given,
and if you don't hear,
what you think you know
will be taken away.
So,
just put that
in your own life
in terms of
hearing God's word.
And in Mark,
Jesus says,
having eyes
do you not see,
and having ears
do you not hear,
and you do not remember.
So,
it's possible
to have ears
that fail
to hear,
and at the same time,
even to be hearing
but not understanding.
Really
dangerous stuff.
And so,
this is what was
happening to me.
And so,
listening to sermons,
and the preaching
of God's word
is a risky business.
It will either
sanctify you
or it will harden you.
But one thing
it won't do
is leave you unchanged.
When you go here today,
something will be different.
And you either
will know Christ more
and want to
be conformed
more to his image
or you'll be hardened.
It's like,
it's really one or the other.
So,
that should
scare you a little bit.
It scares me.
And also to realize
that you'll be accountable
before God
for everything you hear
in your soul.
A lot of you,
I remember,
you know,
back in the day
when Nathan West
and I were in school,
I probably went through
like a pretty long period
of time
where I was just
learning a lot
but applying very little.
And then I just realized
that all I'm doing
is making myself
more accountable
for what I know.
Like I'm
storing up
all this knowledge
and I can't obey
even a quarter of it.
And God's going to
hold me to a higher standard
because of what
I've been taught.
And so,
understand that your faith
can rise and fall
based on how you hear
God's Word.
Right?
Romans 10.
So,
faith comes by hearing
and hearing
through the words of Christ.
Romans 10.17.
So,
briefly,
this is,
you know,
this is
the written copy
of God's Word.
This is not God's Word.
God's Word is living,
active.
Christ Himself
is the Word of God.
And on the throne of God
there's a man,
not a book.
But this is
the recorded
words of God.
And over 2,000 times
in the Old Testament alone,
the Bible asserts
that God spoke
within its pages.
And the phrase
the Word of God
over 40 times
in the New Testament.
And so,
you hear phrases
such as,
has not God said?
What do the Scriptures say?
Thus says the Lord.
They're interchangeable
all throughout the Scripture.
So,
they're affirming
one or the other.
That the Scripture
really is
God's Word.
And so,
you're all familiar
with
Paul's words
to Timothy
where he said
all Scripture
is breathed out
by God
and is profitable
for teaching,
for reproof,
for correction,
for training
in righteousness
that the man of God
may be competent
and equipped
for every good work.
Alright,
so,
that definitely
destroys the idea
that it was only
relative to the people
in the past.
This idea
that it is
breathed out
by God
and is always
profitable
and for training.
So,
that word,
some translations
may say
inspired
or inspired
by God
and that's not
a bad way
of saying it
but really
the literal word
is a combination
Greek word.
It's not used
anywhere else
in the whole Bible
or in classical
Greek literature
is theophanoustos
and it means
that the idea
of God
breathed these things
out.
Let's forget our word
for pneumonia
or pneumatic
and God
breathed out
these words.
So,
it's saying
that
that God
in person
has spoken
through these pages
and so,
in the scripture,
the person of God
and the word of God
are so interrelated
that what is true
about God
is true about His word.
God is perfect,
He's pure,
He's righteous,
He's truthful
and therefore,
so is His word.
They're interrelated.
They're perfect
in all ways.
So,
I have a pastor
friend of mine,
he's been
preaching God's word
for about
45 years.
I don't know
if he's going to
hang it up
sometime soon or not,
but he's over
in Northern Ireland
and his name's
Billy,
Billy Reed
and he told me
about six years ago
that we are changed
and transformed
by beholding
the glory of Christ
and where we see
the glory of Christ
most clearly
is in His word.
So,
that's why
we need to like
spend daily time
soaking ourselves,
meditating in
God's word.
But,
even getting more
specific,
you know,
we're going to talk
today about the
preaching of God's word.
But,
just understand that
this is
the very word of God.
John Calvin said,
we owe to the scriptures
the same reverence
for which we owe to God
because it has
proceeded from Him
alone and has
nothing of man
mixed with it.
Our own experience
has taught us
that the highest
proof of scripture
derives in general
from the fact that
God in person
speaks in it.
It's really good.
So,
I think I have
four or five
questions
that we're going to
kind of look through
today.
But,
first off,
what,
the first question
is,
what is
teaching and preaching?
What is teaching
and preaching?
And are they different?
And the answer is,
yes,
they are different.
God has given
stewardship,
given gifts to His church
for the building up
of His church
and for the equipping
of His church.
And so,
the Holy Spirit
is the agent
of these gifts.
And among these gifts,
all to be used
for God's glory,
you mainly see
speaking gifts
and serving gifts,
typically,
but among them are
the gifts of teaching
and preaching.
So,
let's look at teaching
first.
Teaching,
at least,
when it's used
in the New Testament,
it means to instruct,
to clarify,
to explain,
to guide,
to nurture
the truths
about God's Word
into the hearts
of people
for the purpose
of unifying,
maturing the church
and maturing
the body to Christ.
but understand,
though,
that teaching
is not necessarily
preaching.
There's another element
of preaching
that kind of goes
a little further.
Okay?
So,
we have many teachers
in this room,
but you may not
actually be
a preacher,
so to say.
So,
preaching carries
another element.
Preaching,
also referred to
as prophecy,
doesn't necessarily
mean that
you're going
to predict
future events.
Most of it,
even the Bible
prophets
didn't really
do a lot
of that.
They mainly
called God's
people to
repent of their
sin and to
come back to
God,
to be restored
back to God.
But,
it can mean that.
But,
at least in the
New Testament,
we're going to
read you a pretty
cool definition,
at least of what
the Greek means
for preaching.
Okay?
It says,
to be a herald,
always with the
suggestion of a
formality,
gravity,
and an authority
that must be
listened to and
obeyed.
That's what
preaching kind of
carries with it.
So,
a herald,
they suggest
a formality and
gravity,
and an authority
that must be
listened to and
obeyed.
So,
remember,
just think
whatever you can
from history,
but a herald's
message was never
his own message.
It usually came
from a sovereign,
like King David,
or Solomon,
or Caesar,
for that matter.
And they carried
the message from
this sovereign.
And he was judged,
the herald will be
judged by the
faithfulness to
the message.
He wasn't judged
by the results of
what the people did
with the message.
He was judged for
just faithfully
delivering the
message to the
people.
That was what he
was judged by.
So,
preaching is
boldly proclaiming
the Word of God
unreservedly
to the people
of God.
And so,
the purpose of it
is to inform,
persuade,
to call forth
an appropriate
response to God
whose message
is being derived
from.
It's God's
message.
And so,
when you unleash
that,
it's really up to
the hearer
to do something
with it.
It's not
the messenger
or the herald's
responsibility
to see what
happens with
the people.
He's supposed
to deliver
the message.
And so,
understand though
that when that
happens,
God's Word can
break you,
convict you of
sin,
can make you
feel pretty rough,
and at the same
time,
it will heal and
restore you and
give you strength
right after that.
It's pretty cool.
So,
but understand
though,
that a lot of
preachers today,
they like to give
you their words
or a good word
or tell stories.
you don't want
that.
People are
outside their
authority unless
they're speaking
God's Word.
We're commanded
as preachers
to preach
the Word.
Not a good
one or just
a cool one,
but the Word,
God's Word.
And in the
Scripture itself,
you see that
if a so-called
preacher ventures
outside of
God's Word,
he no longer
has any authority.
He no longer
should even be
listened to.
And so,
I'll give you
two examples
of that.
Alright,
Stephen in
Acts 7,
before the
Sanhedrin,
walked through
the Old Testament
from Abraham
into the
patriarchs,
and he walked
all the way
into the
New Testament
where Christ
comes in,
showing that
he was the
fulfillment of
these things.
Then Peter
also,
before that,
in Acts 2,
he expounded
on the Old
Testament.
He used the
Scripture as
his authority
to show that
Jesus was the
Christ.
Right?
So even the
ones in the
Scripture themselves,
they use God's
Word as their
authority.
So,
when you say,
thus says the
Lord,
you better know
what the Lord
saith.
Right?
You better know
you're in trouble.
God won't
tolerate that.
Paul said to the
Corinthians,
for we are not
like so many
peddlers of
God's Word,
but as men
sincerely
commissioned by
God,
in the sight of
God,
we speak
Christ.
Guys,
and girls to
a degree,
but especially
guys,
some of you
may like to
teach,
to be heard,
teach to be
seen,
and you need
to understand,
I mean,
I'm even kind
of fear and
trembling a little
this morning,
but James
says that those
who desire,
not many of you
should desire to
teach,
he says,
because you'll be
held to a
higher standard
by God,
because you're
influencing people
by what you
say,
and God will
hold you
accountable for
that.
That's James
3.
You cannot
peddle with
God's Word
or treat it
cheaply.
It's to be
taken seriously.
Turn to
1 Thessalonians.
I'll just
look at
something real
quick.
1 Thessalonians
chapter 2.
1 Thessalonians
chapter 2
verse 11.
So in
Thessalonica,
Paul had
preached the
gospel.
He had
lived an
upright life
before them
to encourage
them,
exhort them,
but above all
things,
he gave them
God's Word.
He ministered
and faithfully
taught God's
Word.
So we look
at verse 11.
He says,
And we
also thank
God constantly
for this,
that when
you received
the Word
of God,
which you
heard from
us,
you accepted
it not as
the Word
of men,
but as it
really was
the Word
of God,
which is at
work in you
believers.
So,
see that?
So it is
God's Word,
and all that a
human preacher
is supposed to
do is just
to expound
upon what
God has
said,
and nothing
else.
He's supposed
to teach
what God
has already
said.
And they
said that,
Paul said
that the
reason why
this did
you so
good is
because you
didn't think
it was our
words,
you understood
that it was
God's very
words spoken
from us
to you.
So a lot
of helpful
things that I
pulled out of
this,
but commenting
on this
passage,
there was a
guy named
Jeremiah
Burroughs,
and he wrote
a book called
Gospel
Worship,
and his
idea of how
do we come
and worship
together as
a body,
and have
God administer
the gospel to
our hearts,
and a huge
section on
hearing the
word of God
is there,
but he remarks
on this passage,
when you come
to hear the
word,
if you would
sanctify God's
name,
you must
possess your
souls of what
it is you
are going to
hear,
that is,
what you
are going to
hear is the
word of God,
therefore you
find the
apostle writing
to the
Thessalonians,
gives them the
reason why the
word did them
so much good
as it did,
it was because
they did hear
it as the
word of God,
so sanctify
God's name in
your heart
before you
come,
so the
second question
is what are
responsibilities
before hearing
God's word,
alright,
what are
responsibilities
before hearing
God's word,
so understand
that like the
corporate gathering
of God's people
is a huge
blessing,
there's so many
places in the
world where this
couldn't happen,
and it's such
a blessing,
God administers
and strengthens
us while we're
together here
as a people,
we're commanded
to be together,
so,
but many of
us,
I'm guilty
myself,
I'm trying
very hard to
fight now
against this,
because I know
I'll be held to
this standard by
God because I'm
speaking it to
you today,
but many of
us come here
with very little
soul preparation
at all to be
here with the
people of God
and especially
to hear God's
word,
and I only
have just a few
places for you
to turn,
but look at
Ecclesiastes 5
really quick,
Ecclesiastes 5,
so most of us
come with very
little preparation
to engage our
hearts and minds,
and this is
Solomon,
probably,
most likely
Solomon,
writing this
in chapter 5,
verse 1,
he says,
guard your
steps when you
go to the
house of God,
to draw near
to listen is
better than to
offer the
sacrifice of
fools,
for they do
not know what
they are doing
is evil,
be not rash
with your mouth,
nor let your
heart be hasty
to utter a
word before
God,
for God is in
heaven and you
are on the
earth,
therefore,
let your
words be
few,
so,
understand
that this
building,
and no
building for
that matter,
is God's
house,
that's not
what we're
going at here,
many guys
will try to
interpret it
that way,
so when you
come to this
place,
you know,
it's not
really the
point,
we are now
the temple
of God
because of
what Christ
has done
and the
Holy Spirit
dwells in
us,
but we
can learn
some serious
things though
about corporate
worship from
this text,
so when
the
ecclesia,
the gathering
of God's
people,
the bride
of Christ
comes together
for multiple
purposes,
so in
context,
this is
obviously
probably
Solomon's
temple that
he built,
but also
if you
go online,
you can
find pictures
of this,
but
Herod's
temple,
at the time
of Jesus,
you can
actually go
to the
southern
part of
the temple
mount,
and the
stairs of
that temple
are still
there,
I've seen,
I'd like to
go there
one day,
we have a
few ladies
who went
recently,
but the
stairs of
the temple
are still
there,
and what's
interesting is
if you look
at it,
you would
think that
it was
just an
engineering
disaster,
but it
really wasn't,
more than
likely,
the men
who built
that did
it for a
very specific
reason,
but the
stairs of
that going
up to
the temple
mount,
they're
different
widths,
and different
heights,
constantly,
so it's
like you
can't just
kind of run
right up the
stairs,
they're constantly
kind of staggered
in a really
weird,
strange way,
and a lot of
people believe
that they built
it that way,
so that it would
force people
who were coming
to the temple
to slow down
and actually
think about
what it was
they were going
to do,
to think about
they were going
to offer up
sacrifices
and to
worship
Yahweh,
so that's
a pretty cool
thought,
to slow
you down
and to
think about
it,
so this
indicates the
seriousness of
what it means
to come to
worship with
God's people,
and you have
to fight to
not let your
hearts be
directed for
other reasons,
some of you
may be here
because you
think a girl
is cute or
vice versa,
you may be
here just
because you
want to see
this person
and hang
out,
or because
you thought
it was just
the right
thing to
do,
but you
don't want
to be
here,
you could
be here
for like
our coffee,
like whatever,
there could
be a thousand
reasons why
you're here,
but you have
to fight to
keep in mind
why it is
that you're
here,
so you
have to
fight that,
to be slow
in what we
say before
God,
so some
of you come
here and you
sing,
you sing
songs,
you hear
God's word,
and deep
down,
what you
confess with
your mouth
is very
far from
your heart,
and it
shows when
we leave,
we go to
a thousand
different things
after we
leave,
our minds
and our
hearts do,
so God
is saying,
be careful,
guard your
steps when you
come together
to worship
with God's
people,
and you will
be held
accountable for
every word
that you
say,
Jesus says,
and it's
a scary
thought,
come
rather to
listen than
to offer
up the
sacrifice of
fools,
so many
of us,
we're talking
about before
hearing God's
word,
many of us,
like I said,
have very
little preparation,
probably,
most of us
here sadly,
spend more
time preparing
our physical
looks than
preparing our
souls,
others of
you for
maybe some
crazy,
ridiculous
reason,
college
students,
especially
talking to
you,
you stay
up super
late on
Saturday night,
and then
you're even
up to the
a.m.
on Sunday
morning,
and you're
in a wreck
this morning,
you can
hardly even
keep your
eyes open
and pay
attention to
what's being
said,
some of you
guys,
you have
sticks in
your hair,
and you
have the
pillow smear
across your
face,
like you
just literally
walked out
of bed
and came
here,
it's not
the right
way to
prepare to
come and
hear God's
word,
it's serious
business,
some people
may be
concerned with
overdressing,
and some
don't really
care at all
what they
wear,
and sometimes
we wish that
they would
think about
that from
time to
time,
but we're
not legalistic
here,
you don't have
to dress a
certain way
to be
accepted
here,
God cares
definitely
more about
what's on
your heart,
the motive
behind it,
moderation
is the
rule,
but if
you're
trying to
dress,
to come
here to
draw attention
to yourself,
you need
to stop
and think,
this is not
why you're
here,
this is why
Paul addresses
that kind
of stuff in
his letters
to Timothy,
where women
particularly were
dressing up
extremely
extravagant
type stuff
to draw
attention to
themselves,
and he's
like,
no,
this is not
why you're
here,
you're
here to
engage
with God,
so,
flip to
Nehemiah
chapter 8,
by the
way,
I understand
that some
of you
have
legitimate
reasons
for being
tired,
especially
the ones
with children,
and I have
no idea
what that
would be
like,
but I
mean,
I know
that for
some
reasons
you're
legitimately
tired,
and God
will help
you through
that,
you know,
so,
I'm just
talking about
the deliberate
entering into
stuff,
flipping
or
half
heartedly,
before
you come
here,
it should
never be
done
flippantly
or
light
heartedly,
so,
a few
tips
underneath
this,
okay,
how do we
prepare
ourselves
to hear
God's
word,
one thing
is to
sanctify
this time
as holy,
set apart
this time
as holy,
alright,
learn to
sanctify it
as holy,
because you're
coming to
here,
not my
words or
Nathan's or
anybody else's,
but God's
word,
you're coming
to hear this,
and you're
hearing it
through a
human preacher,
but hopefully,
like I said,
we're expounding
on what God
himself has
said,
so when the
Bible is
faithfully
taught,
God ministers
grace to
our hearts,
and builds
us up,
we're going to
see here,
this awesome
chapter,
I encourage
you to
go and
read all
chapter 8,
but when
the Israelites
returned from
the Babylonian
captivity,
many of
them had
never heard
God's
word read
at all,
can you
imagine that,
like they
had no idea,
they understood
that they
were the
people of
God,
but they
didn't
really
never hear
God's
word,
so as
prescribed in
the feast of
Booth in
Deuteronomy
31,
they gathered
together near
the water
gate in
Jerusalem to
hear the
proclamation of
the scriptures,
the Torah,
most of that
would have been
the Torah,
some of the
wisdom writings,
and Ezra the
scribe and
some other
Levites took
turns reading
from the
word of God,
the law,
and they
read for a
very long
time,
they read,
I want to
say,
yeah,
from early
morning to
like midday,
that is
read,
and they
even stopped
and explained
what the
scriptures meant
along the
way,
so you
see the
teaching
aspect of
God's
word there,
so they
worshiped
together here,
so look at
verse 8,
chapter 8,
it says,
they read
from the
book,
from the
law of
God,
clearly,
and gave
the sense
so that the
people understood
the reading,
God's word
has to be
explained a
lot,
there's
things in
here that
are hard
to understand,
and Nehemiah
who was the
governor,
and Ezra
the priest,
and the
scribe,
and the
Levites
who taught
the people,
said to
the people,
this day
is holy
to the
Lord your
God,
do not
mourn
or weep,
for all
the people
wept as
they heard
the words
of the
law,
so hear
that,
they're
hearing
the
scripture
and they're
breaking
down,
they're
feeling the
conviction
and weight
of God's
word,
and he
says,
then he
said to
them,
go your
way,
eat fat
and drink
sweet wine
and send
portions to
anyone who
has nothing
ready,
for this
day is
holy to
our
Lord,
do not
be grieved,
for the joy
of the Lord
is your
strength,
like wow,
a beautiful
example of
God's word
being taught
faithfully
to the
people,
and you're
seeing the
effects of
it,
right,
so,
understand
that this
is a
holy time,
alright,
and,
I mean,
those of you
who know me
well know
this is a
pretty big
soapbox I
get on,
so I'm
not going
to stay
on it for
just maybe
a minute
or two,
but,
particularly
you college
students,
you have
to absolutely
put to
death,
destroy
the idea
that worship
is simply
music,
that worship
is simply
just coming
to hear
music,
music can
be an
act of
worship,
but it's
not alone
by itself,
just worship,
if you read
this passage,
what you see
is the
hearing of
God's word,
them paying
attention,
them sitting
upright and
listening to
God's word
is an act
of worship,
modern day
terms of
worship,
worship would
totally confuse
these people
in the
scripture,
they'd be
like,
what are
you talking
about,
they would
have no
idea,
like,
what you
meant,
this idea
of hey,
let's enter
into this
time of
worship,
and it's
like,
what have
you been
doing all
day,
not
worshiping,
you know,
it's like it
doesn't make
any sense,
the idea of
our English
word,
worship,
comes from
the word
worship,
whatever it
is you
value and
treasure and
consider to be
the most
worthy,
and that's
shown,
enter in how
you live and
life,
right,
I mean,
that's what
worship really
is,
so you're
listening and
you're paying
attention to
God's word,
is worship,
and see,
what I see is a
lot of people
listening and
kind of all
into the
music aspect,
when they sit
down,
it's like,
just turn
off,
and it's
okay to
goof off and
mess with your
buddies,
and no,
like,
this is a
serious time,
worship of
God's people
is continuing,
especially His
word,
being spoken
to you,
it has to be
that way,
this is what
we see here,
and this
same word
broke the
people,
it convicted
them of
sin,
they were
weeping,
and no
doubtfully,
Nehemiah,
being led
by the
Spirit,
said,
understood,
that this
same word
that was
doing that
would be
the same
word that
gave them
strength and
joy to
keep going
and pressing
on to what
they were
doing,
so he
brought that
up to
them,
even the
idea of
the pulpit,
they built
a large
platform in
Nehemiah
for them to
stand on,
to read the
word,
and to
teach it,
definitely for
audio purposes,
so that people
could see them
and hear them,
but I think
it's kind of
cool,
a lot of
our heroes
from church
history,
the reformers,
Luther,
Calvin,
Spurgeon,
the Puritans,
they kind of
took the
pulpit and
had a
different idea
for it,
pulpits,
if you go
along,
it's really
old,
I had a
picture of
one I was
going to
try to
show,
but Calvin's
pulpit in
Geneva,
it's like it
has this
staircase and
it goes up,
then,
you know,
you can't
really see
it,
that's okay,
but it
goes up,
and so,
the point
is,
not to
show the
importance of
the man
who was
going up
there and
how important
he was,
but it
was to
say that
we stand
under the
preaching of
God's
word,
and so,
when a
man went
up those
stairs to
deliver a
sermon on
God's
word,
he did it
with fear
and trembling,
and with a
great responsibility
as he began
walking up
those stairs,
I think it's
pretty cool,
so he climbed
those stairs
with great
reverence and
joy,
so,
just a cool
thing to know
about pulpits,
but,
so,
yeah,
sanctify,
this time
as holy,
so another
thing is
pray
expectantly,
come expecting
to hear from
God,
right,
without faith
it's impossible
to please
God,
you have to
understand that
you have to,
your heart is
naturally shut up
against God,
you need prayer
to soften the
soil of your
heart,
so it's vital
at all times,
but especially
at this time,
so,
excuse me,
that,
sorry,
pray,
as David
prayed,
great,
great scripture
here,
Psalm 119,
verse 17,
deal bountifully
with your
servant,
that I may
live and keep
your word,
open my eyes,
that I may
behold wondrous
things out of
your law,
I'm a sojourner
on earth,
hide not your
commandments from
me,
help me to
behold wonderful
things in your
law,
he's praying
this,
so,
Jeremiah Burroughs
again,
on this idea,
he says,
pray beforehand
that God
would open
thine eyes,
open thine
heart,
and accompany
his word,
as David
did,
and you
know what
it is said
of Lydia,
the Lord
opened her
heart to
attend the
word which
was spoken,
you have
need to
pray,
oh Lord,
my eyes
and my
heart,
Lord,
my heart
is naturally
locked up
against your
word,
and are
the words
in my
heart,
that except
apart from
you,
cannot be,
will not
open to
your word,
Lord,
I have
often gone
to thy
word,
and had
the key
stuck in
it,
and had
failed to
open it,
but Lord,
if you
would,
but fit it,
and turn it
in your
hand,
my heart
would open,
oh come
with such a
praying heart
to the
word of
God,
that he
may be
glorified in
you,
and you
would be
profited,
so pray,
even while you're
in the car
on the way
here,
that God
would use
this time
to minister
to your
hearts,
so,
that's before
you hear the
word,
what about
while you're
hearing the
word,
right now,
some duties,
responsibilities,
one,
hang on the
words you
hear,
hang on the
words you
hear,
so we
read in
Luke 19,
something
interesting about
after Jesus
cleanses the
temple,
and he's
teaching,
this is
something
that said,
it says,
he was
teaching daily
in the
temple,
the chief
priests and
the scribes
and the
principal men
were seeking
to destroy
him,
but they
did not
find anything
they could
do,
listen to this,
for all
the people
were hanging
on his
words,
as he
taught,
they were
just completely
hanging on
his words,
and it
says here,
another
Puritan,
John
Wells,
said,
it is
said of
Christ's
auditors,
that they
did hang
upon his
mouth in
their hearing,
the ear
is the
proper door
to the
heart,
study then
to make
it a
door to
salvation,
by serious
and diligent
attention,
the ear
lies in
the way
to the
soul,
as the
light shines
not into
a house,
but by
the window,
let us
not lose
the blessed
truths by
neglectful
hearing,
which Christ
had brought
by his
painful
bleeding,
okay,
so,
these things
are our
life,
when Moses
and Deuteronomy
was speaking,
it's like,
these words,
these commandments
are your
life,
so,
like,
come to
hear the
scripture in
that way,
another thing
to do,
pray sporadically
during this
time,
I mean,
there's often
times,
especially when
I knew that
Nathan or
Wes or
Kyle or
somebody was
up here
teaching on
a hard
subject,
and I'm
back there
in the
back just
thinking,
man,
I'm glad
to,
but I'm
not up
there today,
I'm glad
it's him,
and I'm
like,
and I can
see their
face,
and then
like,
just,
my Lord,
help them
to explain
this well,
help them
to teach
the people
well,
pray for
the preacher,
pray for
your neighbors,
and pray for
your own
heart while
you're hearing
God's word,
pray sporadically,
Samuel Ansley,
another period,
he said,
mix your
hearing with
prayer,
jog your
hearts as
you do
your sleeping
neighbors,
right,
call in
your thoughts
while they
are within
call,
and as
far as
possible,
think of
nothing but
what you
are about,
which is
hearing God's
word,
right,
so one
more thing
you can do
during this
time is
personalize
your hearing,
personalize
your hearing,
it often
helps to
think of
God
addressing
you
personally,
if I
was to
say,
Cody,
and I
looked at
him,
he
immediately
would
buck
up,
and if
I
called
your
name,
you
would
buck
up
too,
right,
so think
of it,
is God
personally
addressing
you,
Jeremiah
Burroughs,
he says,
as a man
that is
asleep,
if there
is a
noise
made,
it will
usually
not
awaken
him
so soon,
but,
come and
call out
his name
and say
John
or Thomas,
and he
will awake
sooner
than a
great
noise
will,
so,
when the
word makes
a noise,
when it
is delivered
only in
general,
men take
little notice
of it,
right,
so,
if I'm just
kind of
delivering it
to everybody,
you may
not,
may not
possibly hear,
but when the
word is
particularly
to the
souls of
men,
as it
were,
called
their
names,
it
awakens
them,
so,
think of
it like
me,
this is
being
spoken
to me,
and I
need to
hear this,
so,
those things,
hang on the
words you
hear,
pray sporadically,
personalize
your hearing,
the fourth
question,
this is the
last question,
what are
our
responsibilities
after
hearing the
word of
God,
so,
when you
go from
here,
what happens,
typical,
guilty,
most people
set their
souls solely
on the
meal before
them,
right,
you think,
like man,
like you
start to
think,
like where
can we
go eat,
where am I
going to
eat,
what are
we going
to do
after this,
who am I
going to
hang out
with,
a thousand
different
directions
your mind
goes,
some for
more urgent
reasons,
and some
for not so
urgent reasons,
but regardless,
the word of
God is
quickly snuffed
out,
a lot
of the
time from
your
heart,
so,
some things
you can
do to
think about
this,
alright,
right,
others you
may say
there's
like an
important
sports game
I want to
go watch,
there's this,
there's that,
there's a ton
of things,
some of you
are going to
go home and
go to sleep
for probably
five hours,
don't do it,
unless you
got like one
hour of sleep
last night,
for a good
reason,
right,
so,
don't allow
the word
to be so
quickly snuffed
out,
recognize right
now that when
you leave,
I want you to
like pay
attention to
this,
there's going
to be a
thousand things
like,
look at me,
forget about
the word of
God you heard,
and think about
this,
right,
recognize and
embrace that
reality,
there's going to
be a thousand
things trying to
pull you away,
prone to wander,
Lord,
I feel it,
that's like what
you're going to
feel like when
you leave here,
so,
our Lord
himself said,
a wise man
is a one who
hears the words
and does them,
and a fool
is the opposite,
he only hears
but does not
do,
right,
so,
right down
underneath this,
be a doer
of the word,
okay,
be a doer
of the word,
look at James
chapter 1,
this is the last
thing you have
to look at,
James chapter 1,
verse 22,
and you know,
by the way,
the wise man
that built his
house on the
rock and obeyed
and took action
on the words of
Christ,
he's the one
who survived
the flood
and the storm,
and the one
who did not
apply what he
heard,
said great was
the fall of
his house,
great was the
fall of his
house,
so,
James chapter 1,
verse 22,
with this in
mind,
James says,
but be doers
of the word
and not hearers
only,
deceiving yourselves,
for if anyone
is a hearer of
the word
and not a doer,
he is like a
man who looks
intently at his
natural face
in a mirror,
for he looks at
himself and goes
away and at
once forgets
what he was
like,
but the one
who looks
into the
perfect law,
the law of
liberty,
and preserves,
being,
excuse me,
perseveres,
and being
no hearer
who forgets
but a doer
who acts,
he will be
blessed in
all his
doing,
strong words,
verse 22,
you see the
word like
deceiving
yourselves,
it's used of
a mathematical
miscalculation,
right,
that's what you
see here,
so those of
you who just
merely hear,
but then fail
to do,
he's saying
that you've
made a
serious,
grave,
spiritual
miscalculation,
if that's
what you've
done,
it's like
what he's
saying,
it doesn't
add up,
and it's
not right,
and the
perfect law
that's spoken
about here
is obviously
the scripture,
what you look
into and gaze
into God's
perfect law,
but if you ever
just looked at
a mirror,
and then just
walked away
real quick,
and then you
really just
forgot what
you looked
at,
you might
like to
jump back
and look
again,
I do
that with
my beard
all the
time,
because sometimes
there's like
parts that are
out of order,
so what he's
saying is,
you need to
not just take
a quick glance
and walk
away,
you need to
look intently
into the
perfect law,
right,
furthermore,
unless you
act promptly
after this
time,
unless you
act promptly
after you
go from
your hearing,
you'll
forget
adjustments
and changes
that need
to be made
to your
soul,
just like
if you
look in
the mirror
and walk
away,
you'll
forget
what God
convicted
you of
and showed
you here,
so act
promptly,
right,
it'll build
more faith,
joy,
peace,
and hope
in you,
be a doer
of the word
and not
just a hearer,
since the
doers will
be blessed
by God,
right,
so be a
doer of the
word,
and then
two other
things,
one,
discuss the
sermon when
you leave,
with whoever
you're with,
talk about
it,
and men,
you must
lead in
this,
you've got
to like
step up
and bring
this up
in the
groups that
you're in,
fathers,
I know a lot,
I'm thankful a lot
of men here
actually do do
that,
but college
students,
guys,
take the
lead,
talk about
how this
convicted you,
how this
encouraged you,
anything,
how it's
always a benefit
to hear what
other people
saw from
the scripture,
right,
it helps bring
further
illumination,
another
Puritan,
Thomas
Sonor,
he said,
repeat it in
your families,
talk of it as
you go from
your hearing,
pray to the
Lord that he
would preserve
the word in
your hearts by
his spirit,
the devil would
snatch away the
word of God
from us if
they were not
as stronger to
guard it,
the Holy
Spirit,
right,
so talk about
it as you
go,
lastly,
pray the
Holy Spirit
enables us to
hide the
word in our
hearts,
as David
did,
Psalm 119
verse 10,
with my whole
heart I seek
you,
let me not
wander from
your commandments,
I have stored
up your word
in my heart,
that I might
not sin against
you,
so pray that
the Holy Spirit
would hide the
scripture in
your hearts,
and then the
last thing by
Burroughs,
he says,
about this
text,
we must hide
the word in
our hearts,
we must not
only hear,
but keep it,
preserve it,
and then do
what we declare
on account of
the word of
God,
and if we do,
we actually say
that the word of
God is worth
something,
indeed,
if thou
wouldn't
sanctify the
name of God
in the hearing
of his word,
turn it into
practice,
listen,
as he's saying,
if you don't
turn it into
practice,
this is what
happens,
he says,
if you fail
to turn it
into practice,
otherwise the
name of God
is blasphemed,
or at least
taken in vain,
that's serious
stuff,
so we need
to learn to
treasure this,
and treasure
how it's
taught,
and if you
ever hear
any man
come up here
and say
something that's
outside of
this,
humbly bring
him back to
it and say
that this is
what we
believe here,
this is what
we proclaim
here,
Christ,
we behold
the glory of
Christ in
the scripture,
and that's
how we're
changed and
transformed,
so I hope
that some of
that stuff
will help
you come
here,
and not just
get more out
of it,
but it will
come here,
it will help
you glorify
God in your
hearing,
and your
listening,
and your
paying attention,
and while you
go,
it will help
you apply
what you know
into your
life,
so let's
just pray
together.
Thank you.