April 11 2018 – Click here to listen
Famed researcher George Barna just revealed the shocking results of his latest poll. Unbelievably 61% of Christians told him they did not know what the Great Commission is and had never heard of it.
If any of you are unaware of its meaning, Jesus told us to go and preach the Gospel and make disciples of every nation. At the end of each of the four Gospels it is declared. It was the last thing recorded that He ever said while on this earth before ascending to heaven.
Sigh . . . Why haven’t pastors told their congregations this?
I put the blame for this squarely on the apostate church. Modern day preachers are not preaching the word of God. As I related yesterday their message is one that is designed to be pleasing to all those who want to hear what a good job they are doing, and how they will prosper. Sin and punishment are seldom mentioned, and Satan is often cast as a mythical figure. None seem capable of describing hell and in fact many don’t believe it is real. They seem to view God somewhat like a child views Santa Claus–a benevolent giver of good things.
Jesus did astound people with his love and compassion. He healed the sick, lame deaf, and blind. He cared for the downcast. And he always spoke of God as his Father who loves each of us beyond human comprehension. Jesus told us that the reason he came was to save us from our sins, so we could have eternal life with Him. Most of us are familiar with this wonderful promise.
“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life.” John 3:16
Although this verse promises God’s love and forgiveness to those who believe, it also speaks of the fact that we are lost without such faith, (those who don’t put their faith in Christ and his forgiveness.) It may seem remarkable, but no one in the Bible places more stress on hell as the final consequence of God’s judgment of condemnation than Jesus.
Jesus was the one who compared hell to the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem (also called “Gehenna”), a huge public rubbish dump where dead bodies and trash burned in continually smoldering fires; thus “Gehenna” took hold as a name for hell. Jesus also compared hell to a prison and to outer darkness. It was He who likened hell to “a fire” at least twenty different times. There are many examples of His description of that place such as:
Just as weeds are gathered up and burned in the fire so will it happen at the end of this world. The Son of Man will send out his angels and they will uproot from the kingdom everything that is spoiling it, and all those who live in defiance of its laws, and will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be tears and bitter regret.” Matthew 13:24
“Don’t fear those who kill the body, rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” Matt 10:28
Did Jesus say this simply to scare us? The reality of hell should frighten us, because not one word in the Bible about hell would ever make you want to go there — not if you take it seriously. The Bible speaks of hell as a place of absolute loneliness and despair and hopelessness. It calls it a place of “darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Matthew 22:13). He went on to describe it as “everlasting.”
Jesus didn’t talk about hell just to scare us. He talked about it because He wanted us to know that God has provided a way of escape through His blood sacrifice!
So why don’t modern day preachers preach the same Gospel the Son of God did and urge their flock to do likewise? Are they responsible for our culture’s continued downward spiral?
I believe there will be a heavy price to pay for apostasy.
Hmmm . . .
Well I hate to be the one to break the news, but below is how our righteous, Holy, God of love AND Holy Judgment has to say about it. He who has an ear should listen whether it is comfortable or not. You have received the knowledge of the truth . . .
Hebrews 10:26
For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has spurned the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace?