God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)
Jesus preached with authority. Why? Because He had authority! And the preachers of old preached with authority. They preached, “Thus saith the Lord.” We have lost that today, I’m afraid. Our preaching reflects it and the lives of our people reflect it well. They live as if the pastor had no authority, as if the elders had no authority, and, even more appalling, as if the Word of God itself had no authority. We have returned to the place of the church in the Old Testament where “every man did what was right in his own eyes.” It is true today; every man thinks what is right in his own mind, regardless of what Scripture or sound exegesis may say otherwise.
In the hearing of God’s Word we profess our dependence upon God, for the knowing of His mind, and the way to eternal life... Remember that you come to tender up your homage to God, to sit at God’s feet, and there to profess your submission to Him. That is one end of your coming to hear sermons.
