I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (2 Tim 4:1-4)
As mentioned in the previous blog post ‘Are you bold enough to preach the Word of God‘, there are many believers, who are afraid to preach the truth of God’s Word. But not only believers are afraid to preach the truth, there are also many leaders of churches, who are afraid of preaching the truth of God’s Word. Many preachers and leaders of churches have adjusted their message to what people like and want to hear. Because of that, they have turned the powerful gospel of Jesus Christ into a self-motivating powerless gospel, that is focused upon the wealth and prosperity of the carnal man and their daily lives. They only preach positive and promising words, for a prosperous successful life, that temporarily motivate the believers. But they leave the demands and hard words of the Word out of it. Why are they doing that? Because many are carnal and are led by their senses, emotions, and feelings. They see the struggles of people and hear about their difficult lives, and that many feel guilty about themselves, and therefore the leaders want to leave them alone and don’t want to burden them with all kinds of requirements, rules, regulations, corrections, and chastisements, so that they will become more burdened and feel even more guilty.
That’s why, instead of preaching the whole truth, they preach partial truths, which isn’t the truth. They preach carnal messages, that derives from their carnal mind, which soothes and comfort the ego of people and give them pleasant feelings, and temporarily motivate them. They teach the believers worldly methods and techniques in order to become prosperous, successful and wealthy in life. This message draws many people, because who doesn’t want to live a prosperous wealthy life and be successful? But instead of preaching the truth of God and win the people for Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God, they win the people for themselves.
Because what happens when leaders, who preach this message fall into sin? Most believers drop out and leave the church, and sometimes even the faith because they are disappointed in the leader. This behavior proves that those believers have built their faith upon the carnal words of the leader, instead of the spiritual words of Jesus Christ; the Word.
What is wrong with the message?
If believers struggle in life and experience difficulties and hardships, and /or feel guilty about themselves, then you should especially preach the whole truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Because only the truth of God’s Word set people free, including deliverance from (self) condemnation. If the leaders of the church wouldn’t conceal the truth of God but preach the truth of God’s Word in the power of the Holy Spirit, then many people would be redeemed and freed from their yokes and heavy burdens. They would get what they are longing for and that’s a peaceful life, without guilt and condemnation, anxiety and fears, including the fear of death.
Come unto Me, all you that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn of Me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and you shall find rest unto your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light (Mat 11:28-30)
Jesus promises, that He shall give rest to those, who labor and are heavy laden, because His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Jesus promises, that everyone, who takes His yoke upon him and learn from Him, because He is meek and lowly in heart, will find rest for his soul.
If therefore, a person is still weary, heavy laden and carries a hard yoke, then it’s about time to give that hard yoke to Jesus and let go of those things, that the person carries around with him.
Jesus doesn’t say, that you won’t have to carry a yoke or that you will have no burden and will not experience storms. Everyone will go through storms in life, there is no one excluded. The Bible doesn’t say, that believers won’t have storms in their lives. On the contrary, believers will experience a lot of resistance from their surroundings and persecutions by the world, because of their faith.
The only difference between believers and unbelievers is, that born again believers are founded on the Word, and stay in Christ, and shall not be overwhelmed and controlled by the circumstances. They shall keep standing on the Word and not leave Him. They shall not murmur, complain, wallow in self-pity, blame others (including God) and overload themselves with worry, anxiety, and stress, but they shall experience joy and God’s peace, that derive from their relationship with Him (Read also: ‘A prisoner of circumstances‘ and ‘The two ways to go through a storm’)
People already feel guilty enough
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that hears My word, and believes on Him that sent Me, has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life (Jn 5:24)
When a person feels guilty and condemned, there’s something wrong with the relationship between the believer, Jesus, and the Father. Maybe the believer is not born again, or maybe the believer has an unrenewed mind, that causes condemnation, because the person doesn’t feel good enough, and still considers himself a sinner. But it can also be that the believer doesn’t want to listen to the Word of God and is not willing to put off the old man, and keep doing things, which are not good and go against the will of God, and therefore the believer brings condemnation upon himself, which causes feelings of guilt.
Only by preaching the truth of God’s Word, and observe the words of God, a person shall be redeemed from condemnation, and therefore from feelings of guilt. The first thing, that disappears when a person repents and becomes born again is the feeling of guilt. Because in Jesus Christ, you have been made free from every fault; every sin, and therefore you are no longer guilty of sin. If you keep living after the Word and the Holy Spirit in righteousness, doing the will of God, you shall stay free from condemnation, that causes feelings of guilt. But if you stay carnal and keep living after the flesh, doing those things that the world does, and which you did, before your repentance, well, then the feeling of guilt will remain, because your life stays unchanged and you have not truly repented.
This message is not often preached, because the preachers rather satisfy the believers, by preaching partial truths, which are lies. They say for example, that it doesn’t matter how you live, and that you may do what you want to do because God loves you anyway and He has made you just the way you are. They are afraid to speak the truth of God because they know that the truth shall demand a change in the life of the hearer. And many hearers don’t want to become doers and change their life. They are not willing to put off the old man, but they want to make their own decisions and live, the way they want to live. Therefore many believers are living with heavy burdens, condemnation, and feelings of guilt.
Preachers stand in the service of God and not people
There are many preachers today, who belong to the world, and are no longer in the service of God, but in service of the people, and therefore they preach what people want to hear. But leaders of the church do not stand in the service of people but in the service of God. A leader should serve the people, but should not stand in the service of people. ‘Serving’ and ‘standing in the service of’ are two completely different things.
God has appointed a person in the office as a leader, to represent Him, His Word and His Kingdom. Therefore the person should listen to God, serve and obey Him and live according to His will. The person shall not speak from his own carnal mind, for selfish reasons and to gain profit, because the person has died to self, and has laid down his flesh. Therefore the person is not looking for a message to draw as many people as possible in order to grow, but the person is looking for the truth and isn’t afraid to lose people because of preaching the truth. The person is not focused upon financial gain, popularity, and to be put on a pedestal by the people, but the person has only one purpose and that is to exalt Jesus Christ and to honor the Father. That’s why, the person shall listen to God and shall speak, what God has to say through the Word and the Holy Spirit and not deviate from that.
The words, which the person shall speak after God’s will, shall not only exalt Jesus and honor the Father, but the words of truth shall also strengthen the spiritual man.
The words of God may be hard, painful, confronting and not always positive and nice for the carnal man, but for the spiritual man, the words of God shall bring forth life, joy, and peace and cause the spiritual man to grow up into the image of Jesus Christ.
The words of God are the truth, and only the truth of God’s Word shall set people free from the lies of the devil. The truth doesn’t only set people free from the lies of the devil, but the truth will cause the people to stay spiritual awake and watchful and that they will grow up into mature sons of God, who are not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ, but bold enough to preach the words of God and do what Jesus commanded to do.
Therefore, it’s about time to remove all those ‘feel good’ sermons from the church, which are mainly based upon personal experiences and philosophies of man, that temporarily causes pleasant and motivating feelings, and pleases the emotions and feelings of the carnal man, and bring back the Word of God and preach, what God has to say through the Word and the Holy Spirit to the church. It is important that the gospel of Jesus Christ and the truth of the Word of God, that calls people to repentance and sanctification, is preached again. So that, souls are won for the Kingdom of God, instead of that souls are being pampered for the kingdom of darkness.
There is only one way, and that is through the spiritual Sword; the Word of God, that pierces even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit (Heb 4:12). It is about time, that leaders don’t rely on (their) own human knowledge, philosophies, and science and that they copy the methods of the world and apply them in the church, but that they rely on the living Jesus Christ and have faith in Him and act in the Name of Jesus.
Paul preached Christ crucified and relied on Him
Just like Paul, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and wasn’t ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Paul wasn’t afraid to preach the truth of God, despite all the resistance and persecutions of man. Paul feared God and not people, and therefore he wouldn’t dare to preach something else, then the crucified Jesus Christ.
Paul knew the power of the cross and relied on what Jesus had accomplished at the cross, instead of relying on his own intellect, knowledge, wisdom, philosophies, and theories of the world. He didn’t go in his own name and his authority, but in the Name of Jesus and in His authority
Paul didn’t come with enticing words, that had a temporary effect on the carnal feelings and emotions of the old man. Because Paul knew, that his own words, contained no power at all and would lead to nothing. He knew the power of the Word and the effect of the Word on people. That’s why, he spoke the words of God and spoke words of the Spirit, which confronted the carnal man, and called them to repentance, delivered the people and set them free, and caused the spiritual man to grow up and mature in Christ, and become like Him.
Don’t fear people, but fear God
And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell (Mat 10:28)
Jesus; the Word says, that you shouldn’t be afraid of people, and what they might do to you, but that you rather fear Him, Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Because the day of judgment will come for everyone. On this day, every person shall give an account of every idle word that has been spoken. By the words, which a person speaks (s)he shall be justified or condemned.
But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned (Mat 12:36-37).
‘Be the salt of the earth’
