Preach

People love to talk. Even the most quiet of people, when given the right topic, can gab on and on and on. Preachers are especially notorious for this phenomenon. When a preacher is given the opportunity to preach, he won’t stop until everyone’s left or fallen asleep! If you ask him why he preaches, he’ll quote you 2 Timothy 2:4, "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” I guess preachers think it’s there job therefore to have their audiences suffer long!

The only reason you should be upset at a preacher is if: A) he is preaching false doctrine; or B) he is preaching truth and you are living in sin. 

In Acts 3 and 4, Peter and John preached and performed a miracle in the temple. Acts 4:1-2, “And as they spake unto the people,the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” The Jewish leaders despised the disciples for preaching Jesus. In verse 18, after they had arrested Peter and John, and after they had questioned them, and Peter preached to them again Jesus, the rulers “...called them, and commanded [Peter and John] not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. (19) But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. (20) For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 

Likewise, when preachers ramble on and on and on to the point where you either fall asleep or “have” to leave, you just remember this: “we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” Sound preachers preach the truth because they HAVE to. In Mark 16:15, Jesus told his disciples, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” This call still resonates through the ages, and it is still our responsibility -regardless if we are called preachers or not- to go and preach the gospel in season, and out of season. People love to talk, but they don’t much care to listen. 

As Paul said again to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2-4, “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 theirears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” Most people will not listen to Christ, for they would rather hear reaffirmation of their individual sins instead of hearing truth. They do not comprehend truth (John 1:5), because they love darkness rather than light (John 3:19).

Whenever you talk, and whenever you preach, and whenever you are ignored, be not dismayed; instead, be joyful that they are ignoring you rather than persecuting you, and when they persecute you, rejoice! In Acts 5:41, the apostles “...departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name." We should be able to say, as Paul said in Romans 1:16, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." And we should, therefore, preach.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Two Benefits of Being a Christian

                            Two Benefits To Being a Christian                                                                         Noah Olson Something that only Christians can expirience. Something that is of joy. Something we will talk about today. Today I have chosen two benefits we Christians have that the world cannot have. I want to focus on what the joys of being of the church are, and how maybe by those joys we can turn others to Christ. Firstly and simply, we Christians are condemned to Hell no more. Now...... let us be careful with this phrase, for in more simpler terms only those who endure to the end will be saved. As Romans 8:1 says There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Only those who live unto Christ Jesus will not go to Hell. Now this verse does not prove the doctrine of "ONCE SAVED ALWAYS SAVED" but simply tells us that we Christians if we are faithful UNTIL dea
Read more

Revalation 2:10 (commentary)

“Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried; and ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give you a crown of life.” The second and third chapters of the book of Revelation are letters to the Seven churches of Asia. These letters were pinned by the apostle John, but Jesus is the one speaking to them (Revelation 1:11). The letter of our text was written to the church of Smyrna.  The book of Revelation was God’s final inspired book of His word. It has one theme that rings out through the whole book, victory. Christ’s intent in the letters to the churches was to encourage the congregations on what they were doing and to rebuke them on the things that they were not doing. He also used these letters to warn congregations about what they were going to be going through, which is what another main point of Revelation is. It was written around AD 96 on the island of Patmos. Ma
Read more

Don't Worry, BE HAPPY!!!!

                                    Don't Worry Be Happy                                                                       Noah Olson A title of a song that you all might know. Many tell you "oh don't worry, just be happy and everything will be ok." Something easier said than done. I want to look at how we as Christians can rejoice and how we can live a life of less worry. Notice I said less worry. We probably won't ever be free from worry until we gain Heaven, but today the goal of this devotional is to simply understand that we don't have to put our trust in the world but to God.        Firstly, to have a life of less worry and stress, we need understand that God will be with us and take care of us. Look at what Jesus had to say in Matthew 6:25-34. He is simply explaining to us that we need not worry, for God will be with us. Still easy to tell, hard to do. God will be with us for nothing can separate the love of God from us (Romans 8:38-39). We
Read more