For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the
Greek. Rom. 1:16
We celebrate this week because it is
the week the plan of salvation was put into action.
\We celebrate this week because Christ
died for our sins.
We celebrate
this week because Christ made salvation available for whosoever will.
We celebrate this week because of the
transforming power of Jesus Christ to change those dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto
God through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Over
the years I have watched as the emphasis in the church has changed from
preaching the plan of salvation to
adapting to the life of the sinner. (Although you do not call them sinners they
are the disenfranchised.) The message is
one-sided. We preach and teach about a
God of love, and forget the God of wrath.
One writer put it this way, A God
without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through
the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.
For
whatever reason ministers have been making adjustments to the gospel of Jesus
Christ. Is it because they are ashamed
of the gospel of Christ? Very few
ministers want to preach about the death of Christ paying for the sins of
mankind through His substitutionary death on the Cross. This requires them to address the nature of sin and its end result which is spiritual death
and eternal punishment.
Many
churches have lost sight of the message of the gospel-repentance. The
transformation that the plan of salvation gives to the individual will answer
the needs of society. The Church will never alleviate the suffering of humanity
caused by poverty, disease, oppressive work conditions, society's injustices,
civil rights abuses, drug abuse, abortions, broken marriages, and a host of
other social issues. Those who preach this
“gospel” also believed that relief from their spiritual ailments of misery would improve the moral nature of those so deprived.
The
Church has bought into the “War on Poverty,” and
the “War on Drugs.” After 54 year
and $22 trillion dollars poverty, today
is the same as when President Johnson declared and unconditional war on
poverty. The War on Drugs is a waste of time, money and lives. It
cannot be won. It has been a failure there
is a higher drug problem today than when
the war on drugs began in 1971. We spend $52 billion a year on this war and Congress just add $6 billion more. We will never alleviate the problems of society
by addressing the symptoms. We must address the root cause, which is sin. Only the gospel of Jesus Christ can transform
the heart of the sinner and free them from the bondage in which they live.
Let
me wander out in the brush for a moment.
You never know what you will scare up.
Isaiah told us what would happen when we turn away from the LORD. There would be judgment brought upon the
nation. This judgment would be
identified by children becoming oppressors and women ruling over them. The leaders of this country and our churches
have lead us down the path of destruction and have turn our nation away from
the LORD. We are addressing the symptoms
of sin rather than the sins.
There
is a generation in America today that has no regards for human life. They have not been taught right from
wrong. They have been allowed to do what
is right in their own eyes. It is not the evil of the gun that has taken so
many lives in our schools, but the darkness in the hearts of the people. We are afraid to call sin, sin today because
it will offend the sinner.
I
understand that many ministers believe you can reach more people with honey,
than with vinegar. They think a message of love is all that is needed.
However, their message of “love only” has
compromised the biblical message of repentance and has dishonored God, who gave
His Son to provide a means to redeem mankind.
Those who attempt to reach the lost without confronting their sins are
operating on a false premise, “. .a way
which seems right unto a man” is not the
way God’s plan of salvation works. The
problems of the world are all symptoms of the root cause of man’s problems-sin.
If
you think for one minute that putting
aside differences for the common good, treating others the way we want to be
treated, acting morally, ethically, and sacrificially—and that doing so will
endear humans to God, you are deceived.
When men deny God's perfect plan of salvation and reject His perfect justice;
they are denying the sacrificial atonement of His Son for the sins of
man. Salvation is "not of works, lest any man
should boast." In fact, it is "by grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God" (Ephesians:2:8-9 There is no other way because God's perfect justice demanded that the penalty for sin
for every human ("for all have sinned"-Romans:3:23
The
only hope for reconciliation with God is through the name of Jesus: "I am
the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by
me" (John:14:6)
A
few years ago, called a bigot, who was unloving and did not have the love of
Christ in my heart because I could not embrace the corrupt practices and
lifestyles of those who have been “disenfranchised” by society, and that means
supporting them in their struggles brought on by their lifestyles of sin. I
lacked compassion for these individuals. I was informed that Jesus associated with the
“disenfranchised” people of society.
That is true. However, he did not
embrace their sinful ways, but rather told them to “go and sin no more.” That is the reason He came was to destroy the
works of the devil and free us from the bondage of sin and death.
Is
it any wonder our churches are filled with people who don’t know that they
needed to repent of their sins (if they even grasp what those sins are). It is
no surprise, then, that those who have never been called to repentance begin to
ask the Church to accept their sin as normal behavior and ask the preacher to
not preach out against their lifestyles. We go down the path of destruction when we recognize sin as an approve way of life,. After all,
everyone is doing it these days. It is
not to long after that we are condoning sin.
Well, I would never drink, smoke and do drugs, or live an immoral life,
but if they do it in moderation, it is acceptable. Here is where we are today we have gone
beyond the accepting and condoning we are allowing sin to practiced in the
church without question.
We
are no longer preaching a message of repentance from sin, but have changed the message to social relating. We are ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and have replace the voice of God with
the voice of human reasoning. The message
today is God’s plan of salvation is suspect and should be avoided. Many ministers are afraid if they preach against
sin and the punishment that sin brings,
they will offend people. Lives will
never be transformed until the message of repentance is given.
It
is time for the Church to wake up and realize that God’s plan of salvation is
the only hope for the ailments of society. We cannot see individuals freed from the
bondage of sin when we distort God’s method of reaching those bound in the
chains of sin. When we preach another gospel other than the gospel of Jesus
Christ we are rejecting the authority of God
and denying the sacrificial death of
Jesus Christ for the atonement of sin.
I
am aware of the enormous problems socially, politically, and spiritually for
people in this profoundly sinful and
corrupt world. But we do not replace the gospel with a false gospel in the hope that salvation will come by making
people better by addressing the symptom.
The plan of salvation must always
be preeminent because without biblical preaching no one can be save.
At present, the Body of Christ stands at a crossroad. In our
present society, there has been a significant
shift in the worldview and Christianity. We are living in an era
where the world is turned upside down. For over 1500 years Christian
truth has been taken for granted. Today, however, Christians can no longer
depend on the present culture to back up the teachings of Christianity.
After centuries of a privileged status,
Christians have become “Christ-less” in their actions.
This move towards a more “loving” direction has weakened the
message of salvation. When Christians are afraid to confront evil because
it might offend the evil-doer, then the message of salvation is no longer a
life changing message. In looking at the life of Christ, he spoke the
truth about the scribes and Pharisees when he called them hypocrites, children
of the devil and the blind leaders of the blind. This language was given
in love as a warning of what would happen if they did not turn from their
wicked ways.
Ministers are more enlightened than Christ. His message was
filled with hate speech, bigotry, and was unloving. In the world of the
political correct un-offending love is the message
of the Church today, if it offends it is not a message of love. Even
though Christ gave us the command to love our enemies he did not command us to
support their evil ways and condone their actions which are sinful.
Is it not love when we warn someone of
the impending doom is coming their way if they continue down a path of
evil? Is it not love when we speak
the truth so that decisions can be made that will alter the course of a
destructive life? Is it not love to
speak the truth?
There is hunger in the world for lives which live in the power of
Jesus Christ. There is a hunger for authentic Christianity. The Old
Testament prophets did not hate the people they hated their actions and life
–style.
It is time for the Church to return to the ways of Truth and
Life. It is time to cast aside the ways
which have separated us from God and to allow the message of Truth to become
once again the life-changing message it has been since the time of Christ.
There is a desperate need to change quickly to seek a transformation that
results in a total surrender to Christ.
It is time to dispense with the lies and tell the truth. We
live in a society that lives on lies because no one wants to hear the
truth---we accept the lies and deny the truth.
The Church has lost its first love and has forsaken the
Truth. Some misinformed Christians believe that we are not to be critical
of the evil doers. However, we are given an example by the same Apostle
Paul that told us to submit to those who are in leadership. In his letter
to the church at Thessalonica Paul says, “ You know, brothers and
sisters, that our visit to you was not without results. We had
previously suffered and been treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, but
with the help of our God, we dared to tell you his gospel in the face of strong
opposition. For the appeal we make does not spring from error
or impure motives, nor are we trying to trick you. On the
contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We
are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You
know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is
our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone
else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.”
Paul states speaking the truth resulted in him being treated
outrageously. He goes on to identify the group who was creating him
problems. “You suffered from your own people the same things those
churches suffered from the Jews who killed the Lord Jesus and the prophets and
also drove us out. They displease God and are hostile to everyone in their effort
to keep us from speaking to the Gentiles so that they may be saved. In this way, they always heap up their sins to the
limit. The wrath of God has come upon them at last.” If Paul were
speaking today, he would be accused of hate speech toward the Jews. Did
he hate them? No. In fact, Paul said, “Brothers and sisters, my
heart’s desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.”
Rom 10:1 He was showing them love by telling them the truth.
It is time to get back to speaking the truth. If we want to
preach a message of “love” then it must be based on the Truth.
In 535 B.C., a Bible prophet saw the what was happening to his
nation. The same is happening to our country.
Zechariah
11:16 "For behold, I am going to raise up a
shepherd in the land who will not care for the perishing, seek the scattered,
heal the broken, or sustain the one standing (godless leadership), but
will devour the flesh of the fat sheep and tear off their hoofs . . .”
Because the spiritual hoofs have been torn off our people by
self-serving church leaders who have forsaken God, we no longer know how to
walk the Christian walk. It wasn’t always that way. There was a time when
Christians in this country put serving the LORD first. Their priorities were spiritual rather than
material. There was a loyalty to the church and its mission. Today, we worry
about how to protect our assets when the dollar goes belly up or the stock
market crashes, as both will happen soon.
Before the LORD brought judgment on Jerusalem the prophet Ezekiel
received a message from the LORD:
Ezekiel 9:4 “The LORD said to him, ‘Go through the
midst of the city. . . and put a mark on the foreheads of the men who sigh and
groan over all the abominations which are being committed in its midst.’ And to
the others (angels) he said in
mine hearing, ‘Go ye after him through the city, and smite: let not your eye
spare, neither have ye pity: Slay utterly old and young, both maids, and little
children, and women: but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin
at my sanctuary.’ Then they began at the ancient men (the church leaders) which were before the house” (of the Lord, - the Church).
Do
you believe a sovereign God, Creator of the Universe, is going to act
differently now, just because you go to church on Sunday, know the four
spiritual laws, and have said the sinners prayer? As He did in Israel so long ago, the Lord is
once again putting His mark on His remnant. If you have that mark, you know it,
because you recognize the lateness of the hour. How late?
Isaiah
26:20-27:1 (NAS)
“Come, my people, enter into your rooms and close your doors behind you; Hide
for a little while until indignation runs its course. For behold, the LORD is
about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for
their iniquity; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed and will no longer
cover her slain. In that day the LORD will punish Leviathan the fleeing
serpent, with His fierce and great and mighty sword, Even Leviathan the twisted
serpent; and He will kill the dragon (Satan)
who lives in the sea.”
It’s not going to be easy for those who
speak the truth. From here on out everyday,
we are closer to a time when the wheat and tares will be separated. For those who believe that they do not need
to watch and pray and be ready because
they will be “raptured” out of the troubles coming on us remember what the
prophet Amos said:
Amos 5:18-20 “Woe unto you that desire the day of
the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD (comes during a time of spiritual) darkness,
and not light. As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went
into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. Shall
not the day of the LORD (come during a
time of spiritual) darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no
brightness in it?”
We
are living in that day, are you ready?
Are you ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
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