The Importance of Preaching - Part 2 of 2

The Baptist Bible Hour now comes to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley Jr., pastor of the Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. O for a thousand tongues to sing, my great Redeemer's praise! Thou the rays of my God and King, the triumphs of His grace!

This is LeSaire Bradley Jr. inviting you to stay tuned for another message of God's sovereign grace. How firm a foundation, you saints of the Lord! He is laid for your faith in His excellent Word. What more can He say than to you He hath said? You who want to Jesus for refuge have faith! The soul that on Jesus still leads for repose! I will not, I will not, discern to His foes!

That so though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake! If the message today is a blessing to you, we'd like to hear from you. Our address is the Baptist Bible Hour, Box 17037, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. Let's look to the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, we give thanks for Thy abundant blessings. We thank Thee for the way Thou hast blessed America.

That religious liberty has been enjoyed here for so long. We pray that Thou would bless in these challenging times that the things that are believed and treasured in the harmony with Thy word will be sustained and religious liberty continue to be enjoyed in this country. Watch over us, keep us, give us those in places of leadership that will uphold the principles of Thy word. Forgive our sins and hear us for Jesus' sake.

Amen. We continue today with the importance of preaching. Let's read the text, I Corinthians 1-21, For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that belief.

Titus chapter 1, verse 9, Paul writes to another young minister. Here he says, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught so that he may be able to by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. Now the word that is here translated sound, sound doctrine, is from a word that in the original language is the base of the word hygiene.

So he's talking about that which is healthy. Sound doctrine is healthy. Unsound doctrine is unhealthy, it's detrimental.

It will make you sick spiritually if you embrace it. But sound doctrine is for your health being built up in the faith. And then we see the value of the content when we look at the sermon that was preached by Peter on the day of Pentecost. He comes before this congregation of people and says, Jesus Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God and ye by wicked hands have crucified and slain him.

He's laying out two things here that are vital to understand. God's absolute sovereignty. He was delivered by the determinate counsel of God. It was the purpose of the Father that Jesus Christ go to the cross and die by crucifixion. But you who crucified him did it with wicked hands out of wicked hearts and you are accountable. Now this is an area where many people struggle and say I just do not understand how on one hand you say God is absolutely sovereign and is working his will and on the other hand men are accountable for their actions even when they fit in to what God has ordered. But Romans chapter 9 tells us that we are not to reply against the one who has made us. Shall the thing formed say to him that formed it wise thou made me thus?

He's saying we have to bow even though we don't understand it all. Understanding his ways are past finding out but believe it because it's biblically true. Then he goes on in this sermon on the day of Pentecost and says David spoke by a way of prophecy that God would raise up Christ to sit on his throne. That is the throne of David was going to ultimately be occupied by the Messiah by Jesus Christ. Now he was crucified but he arose from the dead.

He's exalted at the right hand of God. Therefore God hath made that same Jesus whom ye crucified both Lord and Christ. So you cried out crucify him, crucify him and you participated in the crucifixion. You killed him but God hath made this same Jesus Lord and Christ. Now when they heard this message they were pricked in their heart and they asked what shall we do?

What shall we do? Now sometimes people get a little confused on these issues and they say well if a person asked the question I think that must mean they're already saved. What would you say to somebody if you're having conversation about salvation, the need of it, the importance of it and a person says what shall I do?

What would be your answer? Well here was the answer of Peter. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. Now we pointed out in a message I think last Sunday and when he's talking about this baptism he's not saying that it's baptism that saves the soul because Peter then tells us in his epistle that it's not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward God. But it is a public identification with Jesus Christ.

These people were going to in many cases be rejected by their families when they took that stand. So it is proof that these individuals who follow Christ in baptism are by faith trusting him for their salvation. Then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day they were added unto them about 3,000 souls. What a day that had to be.

Can you imagine that? I've been in some meetings where there are a number of people confess their faith in Christ and there were many tears shed but nothing to approach 3,000. That must have been a joyous occasion indeed. Well we see an additional benefit of preaching. We saw that all scripture is given by the inspiration of God and it's profitable for doctrine or proof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness but here it was used to convict these individuals of their guilt. They heard this preaching, they cried out, what must we do? And they received the word.

What a happy occasion. Well then we find these words by the Apostle Paul. 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 1. And I, brethren, when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God for I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and he'll crucify. Now did that mean that Paul never took up another topic? He never expounded another doctrine?

Obviously not. Being acquainted with his writings, knowing what you find in the epistles to the churches and to these young ministers, you know that he talked about many different subjects and what does he mean? I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.

You're saying I'm not going to be distracted. A lot of times today somebody says well you know I think it's important that the preacher preach something that's relevant. Well I want to tell you God's word is always relevant.

But if you're trying to pick up something from the world to make it relevant, you've veered off course. What Paul is saying is no matter what subject I choose, no matter what doctrine I expound, I am going to have it connected with Jesus Christ. I preach Jesus Christ and him crucified. If he preached the doctrine of election, he said you're chosen in Christ. If he preached the doctrine of redemption, he said you're redeemed by Christ. He was the redeemer and he was the lamb slain.

It was his shed blood that was the price. If he preached on the subject of calling, he could quote the words of Jesus where he says I give unto them eternal life. Jesus gave this blessing as he spoke concerning his position as shepherd. I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.

They're in my father's hand and I and my father are one. When Paul was going to preach on the doctrine of justification and you find that filling several chapters in the early part of the book of Romans. He said we're justified by faith in Jesus Christ. If he was preaching the doctrine of sanctification, he said in this very first chapter of 1 Corinthians, Christ has made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption that according as it is written, he that glories let him glory in the Lord. So you can't preach sanctification without preaching Christ. Positionally, the child of God is sanctified and progressively he is being sanctified.

Because it tells us in John 17, 17 Jesus prayed, sanctify them through thy word, thy word is truth. As you read the word, as you hear the word preached, you're being directed, guided by it. As you hide it in your heart, as the psalmist says, so that you might not sin against God.

It's proving to be a blessing through your progressive sanctification. Talk about godly living. Well, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly.

Get down to practical things. You're going to preach about husbands and wives. Is you're going to forget about Christ?

No. Preach nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. Husbands, love your wives even as Christ also loved the church. You want to preach about forgiveness, forgive even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. So you see, whatever topic he was using, whatever subject he was expounding, it was all connected to Jesus Christ.

Not some hard legalistic theory separated from the person of Christ. He's going to preach about the church. Jesus Christ is the head of the church. So you can't preach about the church, whether it's the ordinances of the church or the doctrine of the church or the practice of the church without preaching it correctly to acknowledge that Christ is the head of the church.

Talk about future events. Say Jesus Christ is coming back. So what are you preaching? Preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified, that he was crucified, he arose from the dead and is coming back. Then when we get to the 15th chapter of 1 Corinthians, Paul reviews exactly what he has done in bringing the message to them.

1 Corinthians 15, beginning with the first verse. Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel, which I preached unto you. Back to the subject again, we're talking about preaching, the importance of preaching. Paul says, I'm declaring the gospel. I've already preached it to you, which also ye received and wherein ye stand. That's a wonderful blessing. When a man preaches the gospel and he can see evidence that somebody has received it.

Yes, that's the truth. I embrace it. And you're standing in it, by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. What's he saying there? Is the salvation of your soul depending on good memory? No, he's simply teaching the doctrine of perseverance. That you're saved by this if you keep it in memory, if you continue on course, unless you believed in vain. Because if you've made a profession, but it's not genuine, you believed in vain. And so you, not that you had salvation and lost it, but you never had it.

But if you have it, you continue on course. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which I also received, how the Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. So he says, here's what I've preached to you. You received it. I'm bringing it back to you again.

I'm reminding you. So, see the content? The content concerns what Jesus Christ did in coming into the world to save sinners. He died for sin, and he rose the third day, according to the scriptures. Now, the fourth thing. I want us to see the importance of preaching because of the benefits that are derived from it. Well, we've just observed that we're 3,000 converted on the day of Pentecost. What a joy that was. What a blessing that was.

See the importance of it. Peter was not there just giving a few ideas of his own, or there just to try to encourage people, or as the saying goes so many times a day, trying to help people feel better about themselves. He was there to preach the gospel, and it was used by the power of the Spirit to convict these individuals, and they received it. And then in Acts 4, they were arrested for preaching the resurrection of the dead through Jesus Christ.

Can you imagine? They so resisted and rejected the idea of the resurrection that because they preached it, they were arrested. Verse 4 says, How be it many of them which heard the word believed?

And the number of the men was about 5,000. My, they had 3,000 on the day of Pentecost, and here not long after they have 5,000. God was using the message powerfully. Acts 13, verse 47, For so hath the Lord commanded us, saying, I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, and thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. What's it mean to glorify the word of the Lord? It means to believe it. You hear it preached, you say, Amen.

That's it. That's what I believe. That's God's word, so I don't try to dispute it.

I don't argue with it. I believe it. They glorified the word of the Lord, and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. Who were the ones that believed? Those that were ordained to eternal life? Somehow people could get confused in their thinking and assume that if you're talking about repentance and faith, you're talking about something that's contradictory to salvation by grace.

No, it's all a part of the salvation that is by the grace of God. Who was it that believed? It was those that were ordained to eternal life. They were chosen of God.

And here on this occasion, they believe. And then Acts chapter 17. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scripture, opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered.

What's he do? He goes into the synagogue on these Sabbath days. He's reasoning with them, but he's reasoning with them out of the scripture.

Not just human reasoning, but reasoning based on what God's word says. He's opening up the scripture. He's alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen from the dead. And that this Jesus which I preached unto you is Christ. And some of them believed. Over and over again, we're finding that to be the pattern. God was using the preaching and there were those that believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of the devout Greeks, a great multitude and of the chief women, not a few.

That's exciting, is it not? We rejoice when one comes and there should be joy over that. There's joy in heaven over one center that repents. But just think of these days when there were numerous people from various backgrounds and circumstances embracing the gospel. And then verse 24 of the same chapter, Acts chapter 17.

He's now speaking to a different audience. When he was in the synagogue, he took up the scriptures and he reasoned with them. Now he's going to Mars Hill where there are all of these idols set up to various gods and they have one to the unknown God and he's going to tell them about the true God. Verse 24, God that made the world and all things therein, seeing he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands as though he needed anything, seeing he giveth to all life and breath and all things. He's the God who is the sovereign creator. He gives life and breath to all things.

The God that I'm telling you about is the one that's giving you the breath to breathe that keeps you alive at this very moment says Paul. Verse 30, now commandeth all men to repent. Verse 32, and when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked and others said, we will hear thee again in this matter. As you can see, there was strong opposition prevalent in that time against the idea of the resurrection. So some mocked and some said, well, we'll hear him another time.

We haven't made up our mind yet. So Paul departed from among them, how be it, certain men claim unto him and believe. So everywhere it went, in spite of the opposition, in spite of the ridicule, there were those that believed. And then we look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1, verse 4, knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God, for our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance.

And then verse 9 and 10, ye turned from idols to serve the living and true God. Now, how did he know these people are the elect of God? He couldn't tell it by looking. He couldn't tell it by their facial features.

He couldn't tell it by their ethnic background. How did he know they were of God's elect? Because when he preached the gospel to them, they received it. The gospel came to them, not just in word, but in power and in the Holy Ghost and in much assurance. So we see that the benefit of the gospel is that used to bring about conviction and pointing men to Jesus Christ. Furthermore, as we indicated, looking at the passage about the inspiration of the scripture, preaching is beneficial for the edification of the church. First Thessalonians 2,11, Had ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you as a father doth his children, that ye should walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom in glory? Verse 13, For this cause also thank we God without ceasing, because when ye received the word of God, which ye heard of us, ye received it not of the word of men, but as it is in truth the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe. I rejoice in the fact that when I preached the word of God to you, you received it.

You received it as it is, the word of God. And then we go to the book of Ephesians and see specifically the design that God has in using preaching for the edification of the church. Verse 11, Ephesians 4,11, And he gave some apostles and some prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.

What's it for? God gives these gifts for what purpose? For the perfecting of the saints. It doesn't mean that somebody is going to become sinlessly perfect here in this life, but for their maturity in spiritual things, that they might grow in grace and the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ for the work of the ministry. Many people have the idea, well, the pastor is the minister and he ought to do all the ministering. No, the pastor, the pastor teacher is there to instruct that each member might understand how they can minister for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ.

What's the purpose then of the use of these gifts? Edifying the body of Christ. Till we all come in the unity of the faith, of the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, that is a complete mature man, unto the measure of the fullness of Christ, that we henceforth be no more children tossed to and fro, carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive, but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head even Christ from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted.

Now get this language. There's a lot of words here, but this makes clear how the church is a body and how we must function and how we must work together. So many have a flippant attitude about the church. The attitude, well, I go to church when I feel like it.

I don't feel like I need to be there all the time. If I don't like this church, I'll go find one that satisfies me and find something else. Never thinking about our commitment that in the church of our membership, we are to pray and labor for unity and for the church to function so that each member is carrying out their part of ministry, joined together, compacted by that which every joint supplieth. So every joint, every person, every part of the church is to supply something.

According to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. I know I've given you a lot of scripture today, but I wanted you to see this. I wanted you to see this from a biblical perspective to see that indeed preaching is important, contrary to the thinking that permeates much of our society today. We see that it's important by observing the examples of its importance in scripture. We see that it's important because of the commands that are given to preach. We see that it's important because of the content of sound preaching and that it's important because of the benefits of preaching. Now you can have a church without a building, but you can't have a church without sound preaching. You can have a church without small groups, but you can't have a church without sound preaching. You can have a church without a choir or a band or any kind of a musical program, but you can't have a church without sound preaching. You can have a church without a youth program because parents are the ones who are instructed to bring their children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, but you can't have a church without sound preaching. It's God's plan to use preaching.

It's to convict sinners, comfort those that mourn over sin, to instruct saints to build up the church and to glorify Jesus Christ. Paul asked the church at Ephesus to pray for him that all utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds, that therein I may speak boldly as I ought to speak. I ask you as I endeavor to preach the word of God to you and whoever God gives opportunity to pray for me. Paul said, Pray that I may speak boldly, that I may speak as I ought to speak.

I love to tell the story because I know it is true. Surely in these challenging times we need to heed the requests made by the apostle Paul for himself, but it is applied to ministers today who are faithfully preaching the word, that all utterance may be given. He said that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel. Let us pray that God will bless all who are contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints, preaching the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I hope that you will write us and until next week at this same time, may the Lord richly bless you all. I love to tell the story, more wonderful it seems, than all the golden fancies of all the golden dreams.

I love to tell the story, it did so much for me, and that is just the reason. The Baptist Bible Hour has come to you under the direction of Elder LeSaire Bradley, Jr., pastor of the Cincinnati Primitive Baptist Church. Address all mail to The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. That's The Baptist Bible Hour, Cincinnati, Ohio 45217. I love to tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love. I love to tell the story for those who know it best, seem hungry and thirsty.