We have had amongst us for many generations the faithful preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This unspeakable blessing we still retain in the kind providence of God. The doctrines of God’s Word, centering in the Person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, are declared from Sabbath to Sabbath in our midst. That we have the opportunity of gathering round God’s Word in His House on Sabbath and weekday to hear the faithful exposition of the truth from the lips of God’s servants is something to be deeply thankful for and we should acknowledge it to God’s glory. Let us remember that few in our day are so privileged. Many, even in our own land, who meet together from Sabbath to Sabbath hear what can only be described as a watered down version of the gospel, where it is not an actual perversion of the truth. Many never have set before them the doctrine of man’s fall, their indispensable need of the New Birth, the atoning, sacrificial, substitutionary death of Christ on Calvary, or the doctrine of justification by faith; nor are they warned of a judgment to come and of the wrath of God against all who continue in their sins.
On our part, we have to acknowledge that these things are declared amongst us. We are left in no doubt, if words mean anything, of our lost and ruined state by nature and of our need of being born again through the supernatural agency of God, the Holy Spirit. We are warned to flee from the wrath to come. We have impressed upon us that there is one Name given under heaven among men whereby we may be saved, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are lovingly, pressingly, invited and urged to look to Christ alone for salvation. We are warned of the reality of a judgement to come and of our need of fleeing to Christ for refuge. We do have the ordinances of God’s sanctuary dispensed among us according to God’s appointment, setting forth so clearly the blessings and benefits of the Covenant of grace. All this we cannot deny. We are thus privileged.
But, having all these privileges, have we not to confess that we do not derive the blessing from them which we ought to do? How is it that we profit so little from hearing the preaching of the gospel? Many appear regularly in the house of God, week after week, month after month, and yet seem to be no further on than they were at the beginning. Sinners under the gospel are still without Christ. Believers under the gospel show little progress in grace. There has been much watering, and yet so little fruit. That this is true of many under the gospel is undeniable. If this is our case; do we never ask ourselves — Why am I thus? How is it that notwithstanding so many privileges I have profited so little — or not at all? In having set before us the riches of God’s grace in Christ Jesus, we cannot deny that our spiritual and eternal good was intended. What then is wrong?
Perhaps you will say: Oh, the preaching is not very lively, and if only the gospel was preached more attractively then things might be better. We are not to excuse ministers of the gospel of faults which lie at their door. Those of us who make known Christ’s name have every reason to examine how things are with ourselves and to seek to discover our own faults in connection with the preaching of the gospel. If our slothfulness is the real cause of the blessing being withheld then we are culpable indeed. Can we expect the congregation to be lively if we are not lively? Can we expect the congregation to be roused if we are not roused? We do not mean mere emotional excitement but lively spiritual exercise of soul. If we are in the grip of unbelief ourselves, need we wonder if the congregation is in the grip of unbelief too? We, as ministers, have reason indeed to weigh up how matters stand with ourselves and seek that whoever will be a stumbling block to sinners coming to Christ that we will not be so.
But let us now look at the congregation’s side of matters. How easy it is to be disappointed with the preacher if the discourse does not come up to expectations. But are we not ready to find fault with the preacher at times when the blame lies at our own door? The preaching, you say, is dull therefore you are not aroused. But why, I ask, is the preaching dull? Could it be, for instance, that you have not prayed earnestly to the Lord that He would send a message for your own soul by the lips of His servant? Can it be, perhaps, that you have been busy and have forgotten that good sermons, lively sermons, are commonly, if not invariably, the fruit of much earnest prayer not only by the minister for the blessing of the Lord upon his labours, but also by the congregation for the power of the Holy Spirit to accompany the Word preached? Do you really expect the minister to have a lively discourse for a listless and lifeless congregation? Again, can it be that there has been little desire on your part for a blessing for your soul in coming to God’s house? Did you come seeking little and received little? Can you complain then if you returned home empty? Oh, let us ever remember that it is not often that the hungry are sent away empty from the house of God. In the light of all this then, have we not much cause — ministers and people alike — to smite upon our own breast and confess to the Lord our many failings and shortcomings?
To put the matter in a more positive light — Why is it that at Communion seasons there is often more lively preaching and more blessing than at other times? Partly, no doubt, because many of the Lord’s people are met together in one place, but also, we think, because there is usually more prayerfulness and more expectancy at such times. How easy it is on ordinary occasions to settle down, as it were, into an indifferent frame of heart, with little prayerfulness of spirit and little expectancy of obtaining good from the Word. If only we were stirred up by Divine grace to seek the Lord’s face more earnestly and importunately, the ordinary occasions of hearing the Word would become like communion seasons — and communion seasons themselves as days of heaven upon earth!