No one ever spoke the way this man does. ~John 7.46
There never was a preacher like the Lord Jesus Christ. No other preacher had His understanding of God or of man. No other preacher had the capacity to reach the heart like our Lord did. Even those who did not like what Christ said were compelled to acknowledge that His message and authority were utterly unique and beyond refutation.
Never had a man spoken like Christ until the time of Christ and no one has spoken like Him since. He was and remains utterly unique in His preaching ministry for He was and is utterly unique in His Person. He is God in human flesh, so we should not be surprised that no one else is able to match what He has done.
Christ is no longer among us as He was in His days on the earth. There is nowhere we can go to hear Him preach. We are restricted to hearing sinful men preach. The world counts the gospel to be foolishness but it is by the preaching of that very “foolishness” that God has determined to save them that believe. Furthermore, He has chosen to send unremarkable men to preach that “foolish” message. Moreover, God often inflicts great fleshly weaknesses on those he sends to preach which seem to make them even LESS qualified to do the work they were sent to do. Paul spoke of this as a “thorn in the flesh”.
It would appear that God has stacked the deck against Himself in His choice of message and messengers. But He has done this for a reason: whenever any good comes from the gospel ministry, there can be no question that this good did not arise out of anything of natural power or wisdom. When people are moved to faith through the preaching of the gospel it is undeniably a work of God and not man.
When we pick favorites among preachers or believe that the work of God in us was actually accomplished by the one who preached the gospel to us, we are doubtless going to experience some disappointment. Whenever we go to worship and listen to preaching, we must open our spiritual ears to hear the voice of the One who spoke like no man before or since was able to speak. If we become enamored of a preacher and go to hear him, it is likely we will be disappointed. If we listen for The Preacher, Jesus Christ, we will likely be blessed.
Years ago I heard a story told concerning one of the “great” preachers of the past (I cannot remember which preacher it was, maybe Spurgeon). I do not remember all the details clearly, but it went something like this:
When we pick favorites among preachers or believe that the work of God in us was actually accomplished by the one who preached the gospel to us, we are doubtless going to experience some disappointment. Whenever we go to worship and listen to preaching, we must open our spiritual ears to hear the voice of the One who spoke like no man before or since was able to speak. If we become enamored of a preacher and go to hear him, it is likely we will be disappointed. If we listen for The Preacher, Jesus Christ, we will likely be blessed.
Years ago I heard a story told concerning one of the “great” preachers of the past (I cannot remember which preacher it was, maybe Spurgeon). I do not remember all the details clearly, but it went something like this:
A man with a hungry soul attended a worship service and was very impressed with the preaching he heard. He determined to come back and hear the preacher again and returned for the evening service. He was very disappointed. The preaching seemed lack-luster and his soul unsatisfied. He spoke to the preacher about it. The preacher asked Him, “Why did you come this morning?”
The man replied, “My soul was hungry and I wanted a word from the Lord.”
“And why did you come this evening?”
“Why sir, I was so blessed this morning I was determined to hear you again.”
“I believe that on both occasions you got what you came for. This morning you came to hear from the Lord, and you did hear from Him and you were blessed. This evening you came to hear me, and you did hear me, and you were disappointed. I am not at all surprised.”
May we always come to hear FROM THE LORD and not from the preacher!
The man replied, “My soul was hungry and I wanted a word from the Lord.”
“And why did you come this evening?”
“Why sir, I was so blessed this morning I was determined to hear you again.”
“I believe that on both occasions you got what you came for. This morning you came to hear from the Lord, and you did hear from Him and you were blessed. This evening you came to hear me, and you did hear me, and you were disappointed. I am not at all surprised.”
May we always come to hear FROM THE LORD and not from the preacher!
