Coming to Hear God's Word

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.

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

1 Thessalonians 2 · chapter mention

chapter 2.

1 Thessalonians

1 Thessalonians 2:11

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

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

Nehemiah 8 · chapter mention

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,

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