Another Sunday is upon us and I, like many other saints, look forward to church tomorrow. I personally am thankful for a church where primacy is given to the preaching of the Word of God. Lord knows it is only the gracious providence of God that brought us to this place.
Romans 10:17 says, “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.” In other words, the purpose of preaching is to declare the gospel of our salvation. Can there be a more noble undertaking? Can there be a more a more weighty responsibility? Given this truth, it stands to reason then that we, the hearers, should take pleasure and delight in receiving every word that is uttered from the pulpit as if it were Christ himself speaking. Listen as Jeremiah Burroughs explains:
“If you are the spouse of Christ, you will rejoice to hear the voice of the Bridegroom; and every time you come to hear a conscionable sermon, you come to hear the very voice of the Bridegroom, and you cannot but rejoice in it. Oh, how sweet is one word of Christ to a gracious heart! And the spiritual communion with Christ here on earth is in his ordinances. We shall hereafter be always in his presence and see His face but if we would have any evidence now that we shall have communion with Him in heaven, we must rejoice in the hearing of His Word.” (Gospel Reconciliation, page 260).
Tomorrow, as we listen to our respective sermons, may we rejoice in the voice our Bridegroom!
I do rejoice! And tomorrow our little church moves out of our home and into a building in a little town 30 minutes from here. No matter where I am, I am always thrilled to hear the sermon, for it strengthens me for the week ahead. It is this little Body’s prayer, that our little church will make a difference in this world for Christ’s Kingdom, and through us, many more will begin to rejoice with us! Thanks for the post. Always enjoyable!
Oh, Lori, that is so EXCITING! May the Lord bless you all during this transition and may His resurrection power and glory be manifest in the body!
How wonderful!!
Love and blessings to you my dear friend & sister!
God bless you Lori! That is so wonderful about your Church! Praise our Lord and Savior!
Thank you both! It is exciting news… we’ve rented a room above the police station 🙂 I’ll miss having my “family” here on Sundays. We’ve meet here for 4 years. I was teasing the women to look around the room so we can figure out what we need to make our new place feel worshipful, and I assured them I would be bringing along our house cat and dog! Oscar the church cat won’t know what to do by himself for 6 hours on a Sunday! Seriously however, we are truly blessed. Thank you for your encouraging words!
A room above the police station?! Now that’s a first! Bless God, Lori! I love to hear how the grace of God is at work in his church!
Amen, Christina. This is how I feel about my own church. When I first heard the preaching, it was as though I was being fed for the first time in years. Thank God for faithful men who preach His Word.
Sitting under right teaching is like eating filet mignon for the first time after having spent years living on a diet of chopped meat! LOL!
Have a beautiful day tomorrow & don’t forget to set the clocks back!
I had to laugh at the filet mignon comment! It’s so true. My boyfriend and I often joke about that because his church is definitely filet mignon and I’ve not found anything too comparable out here where I am. I’m thankful that I found a church that preaches the Word, finally (about a month ago) … but it’s still not the filet mignon I look forward to on my visits to him!
You got a kick out of that, huh Hollie!
Well, I have so been where you are and can certainly relate. There really is a famine of the Word of God out there. But He is faithful and He will sustain you in the meantime. We lived in Florida for about a year — this was even before we came to embrace Reformed Theology. We were floored by what we heard coming from some of the pulpits. It was very depressing but God saw us through and He will do the same for you! : )
Much love my dear friend!
Christina, I’m so thankful that you have a pastor who upholds the truth of Scripture. What a difference this makes in our daily lives! Hallelujah! When we hear God’s Word rightly divided we are hearing our Bridegroom speak.
God Bless you!
Searched “Voice of the Bridegroom” and found your site. I have written on the same title: please read and compare notes: scribd.com Search title.
Thanks– Paul