Welcome!
Today: Don’t blame the preacher!
Passage: 2 Tim 4
3 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. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (2 Tim 4, NIV 84) –emphasis added
When the message of the gospel is communicated, the recipient also has some responsibility, not just the messenger/preacher
When people make themselves available to listen to preachers who preach in a way that is “itching to the ears”, the listener is responsible
In other words, you and I will be held responsible for encouraging the wrong type of preachers/pastors/prophets!! (I am not saying that; the word of God says so)
If we think we are only sitting in front of such a preacher/pastor who preaches partial/wrong gospel, that itself is the problem.
What is full gospel any way?
It is when you preach the whole message of the gospel, in it’s entirety
To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, And the day of vengeance of our God; (Isaiah 61, NIV 84)
The full gospel does not end with preaching; it only begins there
Some preach just positive thinking. Some of them never preach from the Bible. When you listen to a preacher/pastor next time, see how much of the Bible they are preaching. My question to such pastors/preachers is: “what does your people get from God’s word after listening to you for a whole year?”
Some of these preachers do acts of generosity in some parts of the world. Generosity is important, but doctrine is equally important for God. Salvation is more important; not to ignore soap and soup though
To comfort all who mourn, 3 To console those who mourn in Zion, To give them beauty for ashes,
The oil of joy for mourning, The garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the Lord, that He may be glorified.” (Isaiah 61, IV 84)
The ultimate goal is that “He may be glorified”.
If anything we do is aimed at our own benefit and security, God may intervene at some point-because all this is done in God’s name. The other option is to not use God’s name at all, when we are doing our own business
The essence of Paul’s letter to Timothy is: “Preach and live the gospel in its entirety or don’t do any of that at all!”- No shortcuts, no semi-gospel!
It is illegal before God to dilute or modify the gospel
May God open our eyes to the truth, if we have been blinded somewhere
Have a blessed day!
BG
Prayer: Father we thank you for your word, salvation and the savior. You gave us the gospel in its entirety so that we could be saved from hell and condemnation. Help us to keep our eyes fully open to the truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen
“God completed His word so that we don’t have to struggle to proof-read or edit it!”