“Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” ~ 2 Timothy 4:2-4 ~
Have you ever had a friend whom you knew was on a collision course with tragedy in their life because of the lifestyle they had chosen? Perhaps they had become deeply involved in drugs or alcohol? You knew that they were persisting in an activity that was sure to lead them to sorrow and misery. Having resolved in your mind to go and talk to them and try to explain that what they are doing will surely lead them to disaster, you meet with them. After having poured out your heart that perhaps you had been down that same road and you know where it leads, you find that they are basically ignoring you. The words you are speaking to them are bouncing like water off a rock. They just don’t want to hear it. What they DO want to hear is that you approve of what they are doing or that at the least you consider it a harmless pastime. They might even want to know that you are willing to go down that same road with them.
You see there are, and always have been, many so called Christians who are in love with their sin. They have fooled themselves into thinking that God loves them “just the way they are”. Have you ever heard that expression before? They think that what they are doing it is alright and they also think that others should not be so self righteous as to think that they have the right to tell them what they should or should not do. The truth of the matter is, the difference between true believers and mere church goers are those that have repented of their sins and those that have not. In this day of post modernism this is indeed the notion in much of Christianity. Let’s face it, in our society the notion is “live and let live” is it not? After all, who am I to tell you what to do or how to behave?
This was the problem in the early church that Timothy had to deal with. The church in Ephesus was adrift in a sea of misconception and error. Paul instructed Timothy to “correct, rebuke and encourage” the congregation; both in season and out of season. He was told to do it when it was fashionable and when it was not. Why did Paul use the terms “Preach the Word” and “correct, rebuke and encourage” in the same breath? Because preaching the Word means just that! The Lord Jesus in the great commission said: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” ~ Matthew 28: 19-20 ~
So what did the Lord Jesus command us to do? “From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near.” ~ Matt 4:17 ~
My friends, preaching the gospel MEANS preaching repentance. It means preaching the truth of God that all men have sinned, are spiritually dead in their sins and on judgment day will die in their sins at the hands of an angry God. But God in His love, sent His son to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to come and atone for the sins of you and I so that all who REPENT (repentance means turning from our sins and surrendering to the lordship of Jesus Christ) should recieve the gift of the Holy Spirit and be born again into the kingdom of God.
Sadly, the bubble gum gospel that is spewed from pulpits all over North America these days is far removed from the real healing truth of God’s Word. People go to church on Sundays and care little about God on Mondays and we think that is real Christianity. Preachers tell us that we just gotta take the money and run and God will take care of the rest. Friends, the Lord paid the fine on the cross, but He does not expect us to go back out and do it all over again. If we do, we have neither repented of our sins nor have we truly been born again.
Samuel Chadwick, the great English preacher and author once said: “The soul’s safety is in its heat. Truth without enthusiasm, morality without emotion, ritual without soul, are things Christ unsparingly condemned. Destitute of fire, they are nothing more than a godless philosophy, an ethical system, and a superstition.”
The way of the cross for true believers is the way of holiness and surrender to His lordship. He deserves and expects nothing less.
The Joyful Slave 
A blog full of truth. But the sin if peoples lives does not have to be drugs or any of the other “big”sins. The false teachings that are preached every service from pulpits across the world are wreaking havoc on peoples souls. The watered down christianity that is simply a feel good religion will not work. Only understanding salvation through grace and turning from our sins and keeping His commandments will put us in the position to suceed in the spiritual world. We must consider Jesus in all we do. Thanks for a little truth.
Great message, Mike. The sad part is that so many are being deceived as they look for sermons that tickle their ears – and there are plenty of churches willing to accomodate them. But there is no power in the empty rhetoric that comes from the pulpit. No one wants to hear about how you must pick up your cross to be a disciple of Christ yet that is the most important part of the saved life. It is following Jesus right up to the cross and dying to self not having your best life now!
Victory only comes when you surrender your life and live in Christ. How I pray that the church awakens from her slumber before the bridegroom returns.