There are a lot of gifted speakers in the world, but there is no transcript you can listen to that will impact you more than the Bible.

 

As someone who has the opportunity to preach from time-to-time I can tell you how satisfying it is to come up with a bottom line – a quotable statement that effectively communicates your message and is one people will remember. But, this can be dangerous when it becomes the authority and not the Bible.

 

The Apostle Paul is the greatest preacher since Jesus, and you know what he got excited about, he wrote in 1 Thessalonians 2:13, “we also thank God…that when you received the word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted is not as the word of men but as what it really is, the word of God, which is at work in you believers.”

 

And here’s what Paul’s getting at – it is the Word of God that changes your heart, the Word of God that sanctifies you. My words won’t, your Pastor’s won't, but God’s words will. This is what we have to come back to – the only words that will stand forever are God’s. It’s my prayer that like the Thessalonians, any sermon you hear, you would receive the message from God through the preacher.