What do people actually need to hear today — a miracle or the preaching of the Word?
People need to hear the preaching of the Word, not see a miracle. They must hear the Gospel and the plan of salvation. Signs and tongues were for a sign to unbelievers, but preaching the Word is what people need to hear; it was the gift of proclaiming or preaching the Word before the New Testament existed.
Les explains that in Paul's day the Jews required a sign, and the Greek philosophers sought wisdom. But Paul did not rely on signs to convince the Jew or on philosophy to convince the Greek; he preached Christ and Him crucified. Tongues were given as a sign, not to them that believe but to them that believe not. Prophesying, by contrast, was the gift of proclaiming or preaching the Word before the New Testament existed. Les teaches that signs and such do not accomplish all that much, but preaching the Word does. This is what people need to hear today: they have to hear the Gospel and the plan of salvation; they do not have to see some kind of miracle. Les does not condemn or deny that God can perform miracles or heal miraculously, but he stresses that the essential need is the preaching of the Word.