Day 8 John Bunyun

Day 8 John Bunyan

The Offense of the Gospel Message

“I say, tell the drunkard he must be damned if he leaves not his drunkenness, the swearer, liar, cheater, thief, covetous, railers, or any ungodly persons, they must and shall lie in hell for it, if they die in this condition; they will not believe you, not credit you.

Again, tell others that there are many in hell that have lived and died in their conditions, and so are they like to be, if they convert not to Jesus Christ, and be found in him, or that there are others that are more icivil and sober men, who, although we know that their civility will not save them, if we do but tell them plainly of the emptiness and unprofitableness of that, as to the saving of their souls, and that God will not accept them, nor love them, notwithstanding these things, and that if they intend to be saved, they must be better provided than with such a righteousness as this; they will either fling away, and come to hear no more, or else if they do come, they will bring such prejudice with them in their hearts, that the word preached shall not profit them, it being mixed not with faith, but with prejudice in them that hear it (Heb. 4:1,2). Nay, they will some of them be so full of anger that they will break out and call, even those that speak the truth, heretics; yea, and kill them (Luke 4:25-29). And why so? Because they tell them, that if they live in their sins that will damn them; yet if they turn and live a righteous life, according to the holy, and just, and good law of God, that will not save them.

Yea, because we tell them plainly that unless they leave their sins and [self] righteousness too, and close in with a naked Jesus Christ, his blood and merits, and what he hath done, and is now doing for sinners, they cannot be saved; and unless they do eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, they have no life abiding in them, they gravel[29] presently, and are offended at it, as the Jews were with Christ for speaking the same thing to them (John 6:53,60)." John Bunyan

Do you preach the Gospel?  You may think you preach the Gospel, but do you really?  Here is a man, John Bunyan.  He was a Puritan from the 1600’s.  I would absolutely love for a man like this to come speak to our lost here in the 21st century!  I would love to hear his message to the church of God today.  

In a day of the church where we are most churches are more likely to compromise the Gospel than rather offend people with truth, we desperately need true Gospel preachers.  So many times preachers want to make the Gospel as easy to swallow as possible so as to get decisions or laughs or have people come forward to the alter.  Preachers of our era want to make salvation a matter of moving from one end of a building to another or saying a nicely formulated prayer that instantly works the work of conversion in a man’s soul. 

Mostly though it is pastors who have no spiritual courage to preach the Word for what it really says.  Hell is one of the those subjects that might drive people away from church, so most churches will not mention hell or teach on it.  That attitude is saying, the Bible is  not sufficient for our church!  We want to pick and choose what we teach and preach on.  Let us make all our topics very light and encouraging.  But I believe all of the Word of God is inspired and has a very important role to play in our lives.  

The Gospel by nature is offensive.  If the Gospel is being preached, it will either convict and convert or condemn and offend.  The Gospel is the Good News you might say, it only offers hope and good things.  Yes the message is very, extremely good!  But the rejection of the message is extremely not good.  If the Gospel is so good, rejection of this Gospel will be all the worse for those who do so.  I don’t care how you would like to word it, the Gospel message is this: repent and turn from your sin, believe on Jesus Christ or you will spend an eternity in hell suffering the just wrath of God for your transgressions.  That is the bottom line.  Salvation is through Christ alone, by faith alone!  There are no loopholes or ways around it.  That is offensive to those who choose to believe otherwise!  

Look at what the Gospel is though.  See who Jesus Christ was in the Gospels and still is now.  He is divisive by nature.  The message of the cross is divisive by nature.  It divides the sheep from the goats, the righteous from the unrighteous.  “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. 35 For I have come to ‘set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; 36 and ‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’[e] 37 He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38 And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. 39 He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.”  Matthew 10:34-39  What is this division?  It is those will lose their life for the sake of Christ and those who will cling to their own worldly life.  

“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”  2 Corinthians 2:15,16  This is what the Gospel will always do in the heart of man.  It will bring them to a place of decision.  There will be no indifference.  Either you will be for Christ and against the world or for the world and against Christ.  There is no middle ground.  When the Gospel is properly being preached, it will do the same, it will bring men to love God and hate sin or the Gospel will further be the aroma of death to them.  Let us pray and intercede that as we preach the Gospel and as the Gospel goes forth into all the world, that it would be the aroma of life lead to life!

Scripture of the day:

“For we are to God the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. 16 To the one we are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.”  2 Corinthians 2:15,16