Like any teenager.... I played all the sports that young boys play.... but I have only had two that stayed with me my entire life. One of them was running. I loved to go running. I could fantasize right now if I wanted to.... on this hot and humid day.... going over to our local high school track.... with a bottle of Gatorade.... and a plastic counter around my neck.... to count the laps.... and headphones or earbuds to listen to a sermon. The steam right now is surely coming up off of the rubber track. I could do laps.... maybe twenty or so.... sweating and getting this exercise that I loved.... and hear the glories of God proclaimed at the same time.... from either....'preachers of the past.... or preachers today who preached like preachers of the past.'
My other athletic endeavor was lifting weights. It was Christmas 1964....and my mother and I were Christmas shopping in downtown Pittsburgh. Petula Clark's....Downtown....was a big song at the time.... but it was the Beatles 45....I Want To Hold Your Hand.... that I wanted for a Christmas present.... along with a Robert's 110 lb barbell set.... which we loaded into a cab for the ride home. I used that same bar and about 65 lbs. last night in my basement. So it has been over sixty years of loving lifting weights! Occasionally I will go to Planet Fitness to work on machines.... and I use that plastic counter around my neck to keep track of the sets.... and on my head.... every single time.... are headphones..... to listen to some wonderful sermon.
So why am I telling you this? Am I trying to brag? You don't even know me.... and those who do know me don't want to be around me too much anyway.... because this type of stuff is all that I love to talk about. Who wants a friend who is always talking about the Antichrist... and is constantly trying to get them to listen to sermons from....'preachers of the past.... and preachers today who preach like preachers of the past?' Who wants a friend that thinks that he absolutely knows that Jesus is so close that if you close your eyes you might actually hear the sound of the approaching hoofbeats? As a side.... you might want to think about ordering Billy Graham's 1983 book.... Approaching Hoofbeats... The Four Horsemen Of The Apocalypse? Who wants a friend who is always trying to get you to put away the mystery novel and read books like this.... or stop your daily playing Wordle.... and start trying to calculate the number of the Beast?
Who wants a friend like this? I wouldn't.... until I started.... years ago.... listening every day.... at times two and three times a day.... to sermons.... supposedly.... means of grace..... (and I can assure you that they are).... from....'preachers from the past.... or.... preachers today who preach like preachers of the past'.... and then.... after being saturated with Spurgeon and Lloyd-Jones and Sproul and MacArthur and Horton and Paul Washer.... and many others... I started seeing things a little clearer than I did before.... and my own sins a lot clearer than I did before!
So.... if you want the status quo.... if you certainly do not want to become like me.... do not experiment with....'preachers from the past.... and preachers today who preach like preachers from the past!'
