Don't Stop Preaching

God has chosen preaching to accomplish his work in the hearts of mankind. I am not speaking about standing behind a pulpit all dressed up, though there can be good preaching from a pulpit. I am speaking about people proclaiming the Word of God, wherever they are, wherever they go, without apologizing for what it says, and without regard to the consequences. It is easy to give up on the world, considering how bad things have gotten. Those who are of the world seem determined to plunge themselves and all they can get their hands on into the fires of destruction. Seeing this, we can get to the point where we have a “hold the fort” mentality over a “rescue the perishing” mentality. There is certainly a place for “shaking the dust off of one’s feet” and moving on if people do not want to hear the gospel of the Kingdom, but that doesn’t mean that we should quit preaching. We cannot stop preaching. Some people will hear and repent, but we must make sure they hear.

We need strong preaching today. Not this cold, well let me just say “something inspirational and sweet sounding and then get out of here” nonsense. We need to preach that sinners are going to stand before God, that judgment is coming, that the lake of fire is real, and that repentance is required. The world needs people that are not afraid to tell the truth, because eternity is at stake.

We need to preach with compassionate boldness. We need to be instructed in the ways of the Lord, instead of in the ways of the world. We need preachers who are holy and diligent to declare publicly that Jesus is Lord. We need preachers that study to show themselves approved and that will preach in the power of the Holy Spirit. The flimsy preaching that’s going on in a lot of circles today doesn’t qualify as Spirit inspired preaching. Salvation is talked about using worthless clichés instead of telling people to repent or perish. The words of men have taken place of the words of God, and because of it we have more people being confused than converted. Why is this so?

One old preacher said: “We have happiness preachers instead of holiness preachers!” They stand in front of people and claim that evil is good and that good is evil (Isaiah 5:20), and they seduce people with their lies, claiming there is peace when there is no peace (Ezekiel 13:10). People are told that everything will be alright, just believe. Believe what? Believe what we tell you to believe! Just believe in Jesus, they say. What you do doesn’t matter, that’s works. Just have faith. This pitiful “preaching” ignores the Bible when it says that only the obedient are right with God. Only those who obey him have salvation. The only faith that saves is the faith that works by love (Galatians 5:6).

The happiness preachers are make-believers. Their doctrinal views always line up with the approval of the masses. They take no stand against the political evils of the day. They are nice fellows that do not like to deal with matters of controversy. They apologize to the sinners that have been told they must repent of their wickedness, and they take a neutral stance on most issues. But Christ said: “He that is not with me is against me!” Truth cannot be sacrificed for the approval of the people. But when happiness preachers are rebuked by holiness preachers, the public voice condemns the holiness preachers. We must remember that our mission is to please God, not to fear men. God says: “Behold, I am against them that cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness; yet I sent them not, nor commanded them…for ye have perverted the words of the living God.”

Preachers like Jeremiah and John the Baptist couldn’t get into most churches today. They wouldn’t have the right amount of education, they wouldn’t make people laugh, they wouldn’t cause more people to start coming, they would only drive people away with their hard preaching. Yet that is exactly what is needed! When the Lord Jesus preached, most people would go away. His sayings were too hard for them. They wanted to hear that they could be saved with no demands being placed upon their lives! The same holds true today and that is why the world is seeing a fake Christianity. It is a come as you are, leave as you please kind of Christianity, which is no Christianity at all. People want to be entertained. They want to be comforted in their sinning. But holiness preachers will not preach a false peace to them. Holiness preachers have seen the destructiveness of sin, they have turned from sinning to living holy lives, and they call on others to do the same. People are laughing today instead of repenting; who will be a voice for God by preaching an unpopular message to a corrupt people? God’s preachers and followers will never be popular, but don't stop preaching.

They will be hated by the world, but they will join that band of saints in a coming day that will know true happiness as they live eternally in the splendors of Christ’s Kingdom.