The success of gospel preaching does not depend solely upon the ability of the preacher. To the contrary, such success depends primarily upon the attitude, attention and response of the hearer.
This is not to suggest that preachers should not study hard, and do the very best they can to present a "good" lesson. However, defining a "good" sermon is, in itself, a subjective thing. What sounds "good" to one, many not always be so adjudged by another hearer. Personality, appearance, mannerisms, vocal tone, volume, accent, vocabulary, and many other personal factors bear on how a preacher "comes across" to different people.
Unfortunately, we too often judge a preacher and his sermon on the basis of "how he sounds" or "how he looks" rather than "what he said." It is interesting to note that when Paul wrote his two epistles to the young evangelist, Timothy, he instructed him in purity of conduct, soundness of content, and frankness of the preaching rather than in all the physical and emotional methodology that occupies so much time and space in modern preacher training classes and manuals. The goal of preaching should never be a personal quest for compliments; rather, it should provoke profound change in lives. It is right at this point that preaching can become so frustrating: A preacher prepares and presents a lesson from the word; people appear to listen, file by and express commendations, and yet few changes take place. Even in the days of the prophet Ezekiel this appears to have been a prevalent problem. Read Ezekiel 33:30-32:
But as for you, son of man, your fellow citizens who talk about you by the walls and in the doorways of the houses, speak to one another, each to his brother, saying, `Come now, and hear what the message is which comes forth from the LORD'. And they come to you as people come, and sit before you {as} My people, and hear your words, but they do not do them, for they do the lustful desires {expressed} by their mouth, {and} their heart goes after their gain. And behold, you are to them like a sensual song by one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on an instrument; for they hear your words, but they do not practice them.
Here's the "bottom line:" By all means listen to the preaching of the word. But not just because you like the preacher or "how he sounds." Listen to learn; and learn in order to obey! -- Bob West, The Milpitas Messenger, December, 1996
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It is important that you read the previous two articles if you wish to make any sense of this one. Briefly summarized, we defined a "religious denomination" and then showed that the church which Jesus predicted in Matthew 16:18 does not meet that definition. We further showed that the denominational concept of the church originated in a corruption of local church organization which culminated in what we now know as the Roman Catholic Church.
The "Carry-Over" To Protestantism
Martin Luther is recognized as the "Father of the Protestant Reformation." He was a Roman Catholic priest who seriously challenged many Catholic doctrines by nailing a list of 95 objections on the church house door in Wittenberg, Germany in 1517. After his excommunication in 1520, he and many of his followers formed churches throughout Germany. A similar movement against Catholicism spread to other nations. John Calvin, a young French Catholic lawyer, published the first edition of his influential Institutes of the Christian Religion in 1536, and became a Protestant leader.
These and other courageous men of the "Reformation Movement" went a long way in renouncing their former doctrinal errors. But they unfortunately retained many other doctrines and concepts taught by Catholicism. While they rejected the Pope as the visible head of the church, the resulting Protestant churches retained something of the centralized organizational structure to which they had become accustomed. Thus, most Protestant churches today have "universal" organizations which are controlled by or function through a Synod, Council, Convention, or another coordinating organizational entity. They unabashedly admit and affirm that they are "denominations."
The American Restoration Movement
Near the turn of the 19th Century a number of Protestant teachers (Alexander Campbell, Barton W. Stone, James O'Kelly, etc.) began advocating a rejection of the Protestant creeds and seeking to "restore" the church Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16:18. We must keep in mind that all of these men had been intimately associated with some of the major Protestant denominations and were, therefore, accustomed to the concept of the universal church being an "institution" or organization composed of congregations.
Campbell wrote: "The church is not one congregation or assembly, but the congregation of Christ composed of all the individual congregations on the earth." – Millennial Harbinger, 1834, p. 315. This is typical of his and other Restoration leaders' concept of the church, which you will recognize as virtually identical to the views of both Catholicism and Protestantism.
The consequence of this concept of the church was that Campbell and others began advocating a "more efficient" method of activating the universal church (meaning 'all the congregations'). This advocacy culminated in 1849 by the creation of the American Christian Missionary Society (to which Campbell was elected the first president). While the ACMS had no direct control over the churches, it nevertheless became the coordinating, organizational entity which tied the contributing congregations together. It was defended by the same flawed, denominational concept of the church which had been developed in Catholicism and was perpetuated in Protestantism. The acceptance and promotion of this concept by many of the "Restoration" leaders planted the seeds of division in this "Movement" which continues to bear sordid fruit to this very hour. (Conclusion in the next issue of The Milpitas Messenger.) -- Bob West, The Milpitas Messenger, December, 1996
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The above caption is the inspired statement found in Hebrews 13:1. This is a command which should ever be remembered by members of the church. The love that we should have one for the other can hardly be over-emphasized. The question is frequently asked, "How can I feel love for someone which I don't even like?" This question reveals a very wide-spread misconception of precisely what love is. Too many of us can think of love only in terms of some kind of warm, mush, emotional twang of the heart. We think of love as merely a feeling.
Now while it is perfectly true that our love for some people may be accompanied by a warm, emotional response, this is not the kind of love of which the Bible is speaking when it tells us to love one another. Biblical love (agape) takes expression in seeking the welfare or benefit of the other person. It means an interest in that person, without respect to whether he is a close friend or an enemy, or whether he has a pleasing or unpleasing personality. This means, of course, that the Christian must make a great effort to love some people. It is not something that comes naturally – we will have to make ourselves love some people!
William Barclay, in his excellent book, Flesh And Spirit, makes the following comments on this subject which we present for your serious consideration:
"There is one sense in which Christian love differs radically from ordinary human love. Ordinary human love is a reaction of the heart; it is something which simply happens. We use the phrase 'falling in love.' Ordinary human love is something with the creation and dawn of which we have nothing to do. But agape, Christian love, is an exercise of the total personality. It is a state not only of the heart but also of the mind; it is a state not only of the feelings and the emotions but also of the will. It is not something which simply happens and which we cannot help; it is something into which we have to will ourselves. It is not something with which we have nothing to do; it is a conquest and an achievement. It has indeed been said that in t least one of the aspects agape is the ability and the power and the determination to love the people we do not like. It is certainly true that this love is not an easy, sentimental thing; it is not an automatic and unsought emotional response. It is a victory won over self."
Stop right here and read that paragraph over again! Now, take some time to reflection on it........Too few of us have grasped the important truth that we must will ourselves to love the other fellow. Too many of us look at the other person, decide that we don't like something about their appearance or personality and thus shut ourselves off from them completely.
Let each one of us, right now, determine to make a greater effort at loving one another. Let's not wait around until we just "happen to get to like" one another. Let's work at letting "brotherly love continue." -- Bob West, The Milpitas Messenger, December, 1996
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(Note: My good friend, brother in Christ, and faithful gospel preacher, Pete Wilson, quietly passed from this life December 8, 1996. A few days after his death I received a letter from him which had been composed only a week before. I present a portion of that letter below as it is wonderfully instructive to us regarding the assurance and hope that is available to those who will commit their lives to serving the Lord. - RHW)
Dear Friends,
For us this has been a traumatic and crisis year and this letter will be for me a farewell letter. .......
I would urge that no one feel sorry for me.
[Here Pete reviewed his love and commendations for his wife and his children - RHW]
Beyond that God has granted me the great privilege of preaching and teaching His glorious gospel for more than fifty years. He has opened doors of opportunity to preach His word in thirty-four of the fifty states, in England, Scotland, Germany and Canada. Everywhere I have gone I have enjoyed the sweet fellowship of the best people on the face of this earth, His saints. Even now in the closing days of my life, to realize that thousands of prayers are being offered daily, cards, letters and calls from all over this land arrive to brighten my days. This is worth all the efforts of a long life.
So you see why I say don't pity me or feel sorry for me. Rather rejoice with me in my victory in Jesus. After years of study it is graduation time. After years of labor it is retirement time (not with a gold watch but with a gold crown of glory). After a long and wearisome journey it is going home time to see my Father and my Lord face to face. I am truly excited about that! For years I fought the dilemma of Paul in Phil. 1 – the desire to depart and be with the Lord or remain in the body and serve my family and others. But now the choice is so clear and obvious "having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for it is very far better." (vs. 23). In John 14 when Jesus' disciples were torn with grief that He was leaving them, he comforted them with the truth that He was going to prepare a place for them and then in the same conversation, He said to them -- "if you loved me you would be glad I am going to the Father" (14:28).
I do not know what the time schedule will be, whether days or months. God has overruled men's judgments in the past and could again. But I am convinced in my own mind that the time is short and plan to spend my time "setting my house in order" and enjoying the time with my family who shower more love upon me than any man ever deserved.
I love you all and appreciate the part you played in the grand scheme of my life. My feelings are expressed in the song "If we never meet again this side of heaven, I will meet you on that beautiful shore."
God bless you,
Pete Wilson
-- The Milpitas Messenger, December, 1996
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