Ministers

But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; because of whom, the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. 2Pet 2:2-3

I have spent over fifty years in the ministry fulfilling duties of a pastor, evangelist, missionary, and teacher. I have endeavored to preach the real Jesus and be faithful to His complete message. This means I will continue to preach against the societal and political sins of our nation. I am appalled when I hear ministers say they were called only to preach Jesus and the Gospel and will not address the sins of our nation. They have limited the life of Jesus to His thirty-three years of physical ministry, death, and resurrection and tickle the ears of the congregation with touchy-feely sermons on Love every Sunday. The real Jesus is not just in the New Testament but in the complete Bible.

As a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I must proclaim the full message of Jesus Christ. Justice and wrath are as much a part of the message of the Gospel as love and mercy. Maybe if ministers had the courage to preach the real Jesus that took a whip to the money changers, told the disciples to buy swords, called the religious class the children of the devil, refused to speak to the reprobate Herod, spoke a curse of destruction on Israel, we wouldn’t have half the messes we have today.

Ministers have forgotten the real Jesus. The Gospel of John, in the opening few verses, uses the word Logos as a powerful way to describe the enormity of Jesus.

In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. John 1:1-3

Simply put Jesus is described as the “Word”, he was with God before creation and is how the thoughts of God become manifest. This statement used by John purposely invokes Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth,” all by speaking it into existence. We are being given a “Word Picture” peering into the actual mechanics and power behind creation.

Jesus is simultaneously the physical order and moral order, as well as the historical person we find in the Gospels. Jesus is more than the Gospel narratives before our world existed, He was the Eternal Word of God. John the Apostle got this, as well as the Apostle Paul. Paul speaking of Jesus said,

Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. Colossians 1:15-18

If the minister would proclaim the entire volume of the Old Testament and not just a few feel-good soundbites in the New Testament, people who have become so tied to their "employment" they have forgotten their calling. It takes courage to proclaim the harder things of scripture, the things many ministers love to avoid. Anyone who exposes sin will enter the world of controversial subjects that will not win you many friends in the world and even within the congregation.

I hear ministers say they are praying for revival. Revival needs to start in the pulpit. Ministers have the responsibility as teachers and prophets to proclaim the full message of the Gospel. Many ministers do not preach from the Old Testament because they have a problem with a God of wrath and anger against sin. They cannot reconcile the LORD of the Old Testament with the LORD of the New Testament. Ministers have failed to take the time to gain knowledge or insight into the principles of the Old Testament as they relate to the New Testament. Preaching the full message of Jesus Christ is a lost art. That message starts in the Old Testament.

Again, looking at 2 Peter,  When angels sinned, God did not let them go free without punishment. He sent them to hell. He put those angels in caves of darkness, where they are being held until the time when God will judge them. And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against God. But he saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who told people about living right. God also punished the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned them until there was nothing left but ashes. He used those cities as an example of what will happen to people who are against God. But he saved Lot, a good man who lived there. Lot was greatly troubled by the morally bad lives of those evil people. This good man lived with those evil people every day, and his good heart was hurt by the evil things he saw and heard. So, you see that the Lord God knows how to save those who are devoted to him. He will save them when troubles come. And the Lord will hold evil people to punish them on the day of judgment. That punishment is for those who are always doing the evil that their sinful selves want to do. It is for those who hate the Lord’s authority.

Where did Peter get his examples--the Old testament. Why did he give this example? He gave this example to show that God has not changed and that it is serious business to deny the love of God.

When we preach the entirety of scripture, we are confronted with scripture that speak on unjust war, abortion, the sanctity of life, natural rights, natural law, revealed law, reprobate sin, jurisdictional limitation of Government, self-defense, the justice and wrath of God, the sexual sins of the flesh, the danger of false religions, the separation from sinful people, and a host of other subjects. These are all issues we are required to preach on as commanded by Christ Himself. Don’t call yourself a preacher if you can’t reconcile these things for your flock, the lack of knowledge on these subjects immediately unqualifies you from the ministry according to the Great Commission itself. Jesus Himself quoted from 24 Books of the Old Testament during His ministry, He even took the time on the road to Emmaus to demonstrate to the two disciples that He is found everywhere in the Old Testament,

And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:27

If the Old Testament was important to the ministry of Jesus it should be important to minister’s today. The message of God's love is important, but the message should start with why God loves us? We should understand the seriousness of rejecting the love of God and that His love is based on obedience.

Paul warned the church at Thessaloniki that in the last days there would be a "falling away" some translation calls it "the rebellion" that is what apostasy is the abandonment of the Truth. The result of ministers not preaching the complete message of Jesus Christ is a rebellion and abandonment of Truth.

The result of ministers not preaching the full message the Gospel is found in Paul's letter to Timothy.

Remember this: Some terrible times are coming in the last days. People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud and boast about themselves. They will abuse others with insults. They will not obey their parents. They will be ungrateful and against all that is pleasing to God. They will have no love for others and will refuse to forgive anyone. They will talk about others to hurt them and will have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. People will turn against their friends. They will do foolish things without thinking and will be so proud of themselves. Instead of loving God, of they will love pleasure. They will go on pretending to be devoted to God, but they will refuse to let that “devotion” change the way they live. Stay away from these people! 2 Tim.3:1-5

Paul wrote extensively on ministers who were false teachers. They were fakes. Working for a wage, not for the glory of God. This should demonstrate the requirements of ministry, if pastors nowadays can’t even fulfill the Great Commission (teaching them to observe all things I have commanded) in entirety and do exactly what Jesus did, which reveals His Laws and Principles in scripture as He did on the road to Emmaus as a perfect example, then they have no business in the Ministry. Furthermore, congregants that continue to attend these churches, satisfied with the lack of substance they have no business calling themselves Christians. You either take Jesus as who he is, which is the God of the Old and New Testament or call yourselves by another name. A fake, watered down Christ is no Christ at all. If we are to have a revival, we must first start in the pulpits of America.