Here is how I put it in a post from June 7 of this year titled...."Behold The Lamb Of God Who Takes Away The Sin Of The World."
It was two days before Charles Spurgeon was to take the pulpit at London's famed Crystal Palace....this was October 7, 1857....and with workers up in the galleries preparing for the crowd....the Prince of Preachers took to the pulpit to test the acoustics for that crowd that would exceed 20,000! With no microphones in those days Spurgeon bellowed out...."BEHOLD THE LAMB OF GOD WHO TAKES AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD!"
There was a worker up in the peanut gallery who heard those words bellowed by Spurgeon. He was convicted and converted....and related the story on his deathbed....which got back to Charles Spurgeon....who then related it in preaching to his congregation. I added this to that post....that you can read if you go back to June 7....
That Spurgeon episode demonstrates that it is the Word of God that converts....not the efforts of the evangelist.
The topic of this post is more of a series of questions that I have than anything else. From what I have been taught....the Word of God....and the sacraments....and prayer.....are means of grace....means of grace being those things that God has given whereby we might literally grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord. OK....I understand that....and I believe that. The Westminster Shorter Catechism makes a further distinction....
The Spirit of God makes the reading....but especially the preaching, of the word, an effectual means of convincing and converting sinners, and of building them up in holiness and comfort, through faith, unto salvation.
Having stated all of the above....one question I would have would be....do we really...really believe this....or is it an answer that we must know to get through seminary?
Well....I really believe it. Charles Spurgeon himself was converted by an uneducated elder filling the pulpit on a snowy day. As I look back on my own life....it appears....as best as I can tell....that I was converted by a televangelist who would later fall in a scandal. It was not his efforts....it was the word that he preached.
So here is another question....if the preached word is a primary means of passing the benefits of redemption on to the believer....then it would seem logical to me that this is something very....very important....in the believer's life! And although it is the word itself....through the Holy Spirit....and not the efforts of any minister....it seems that God empowers some men more than others....Spurgeon being one....George Whitefield being another.
It also seems logical to me that when men take the pulpit....and preach simply as rote practice....and nothing more....that yes....God may convert or bless a hearer....but it would be the exception rather than the rule. So....it would be of eternal value....and behoove all believers....to seek preachers who appear to have God's Spirit upon them!
Here is a more challenging question....if a believer hears one sermon a week....and receives a blessing....would it not make sense that hearing two sermons a week would give twice the benefit? Both Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones preached a number of days throughout every week to their congregation. In fact it is not uncommon for me to hear Lloyd-Jones begin his sermon by mentioning what day of the week it is. A conservative estimate for me is that I probably listen to at least.....at least a dozen sermons....by either men from the past or men today who preach like men from the past.....every week of my life....and this for years. If I go a full day without hearing our glorious Lord and Savior and King preached....and my need of Him each and every day of my life....then I feel a very literal weakness!
So this post is not my attempting to teach anything....for I have questions myself....but I do recommend to the reader to search out and listen to these sermons....to see if they might strengthen you....and encourage you when you are in need of it?
Thirty years ago I was listening to one of John MacArthur's Grace To You programs where he offered a free book. I did not take him up on that but later regretted it and went out and bought a copy....Arthur Bennett's....Valley Of Vision....an edited book of Puritan prayers. There are some words in one of those prayers that has been etched into my mind....and I'll humbly give them to you here ....
May I say to all I meet....I am journeying towards the Lord's given place....come with me for your good.
