Fellow under-shepherd, I've been there. I know the frustration you feel when it seems that you preached your heart out this past Sunday. You fed your flock the food of the Word and gave the message God placed upon you. I know what it means to study for long hours, to pray, to compose the right words, to allow the Holy Spirit to give you the right words to say once you are behind the pulpit, and to use you as a chosen vessel of service to care for the people whom God has graciously given you, whether it is in a church, mission, prison, hospital, battlefield, or other places where angels fear to tread. You've looked at the crowd to whom you are preaching. You notice that most of them are either looking at their phones, or their watch, or the bulletin. Some are staring into space or take the opportunity to catch a few winks before heading off to the nearest restaurant for lunch. You have given these people time, tears, preparation, and the Scriptures, yet it seems for a moment that it has all been for naught. You feel within you a mix of sadness, anger, and justifiable frustration. You are tempted for a moment to walk away from it all and do something else for a living, which a lot of your peers have done at a rapid rate in these last days. Know that God is with you. He is still on the throne, victorious over sin, hell, death, and the grave, always ready and able to equip and strengthen you to fight the good fight of faith as have those before you and among you today.
If you have been faithful to Jesus Christ along with preaching and teaching the inerrancy and sufficiency of the Bible, rest assured that what you have done will not return without some kind of result. You have continually held out your hand to pull the drowning people into the lifeboat of salvation by the power of God. Many have taken it in gratitude and thanksgiving. Some still chose to stubbornly flounder in the waves, seeing if they can stay buoyant or hold their breath long enough until things get better, only to go under into an eternity of terror where rescue of any kind is wishful thinking. Our Lord Jesus preached the Word to thousands in Judea and the surrounding areas, yet at the Day of Pentecost, He had only 120 faithful followers. This was certainly not failure on His part but was an object lesson in showing His elect that not everyone will accept the message of the Gospel, but once they have heard it, they are without excuse before God on the Day of Judgment.
If you have been faithful and stalwart in declaring the truth of the Gospel, the results are not yours to count. You have to leave that in the hands of the Holy Spirit to wake the sleepers, open the ears of the indifferent, and warm the heart of the skeptic. He opens their eyes and softens their hearts. He shows to the anxious sinner that the Scriptures are the only source of reality and truth in this wicked world, and that true peace is found only through Jesus Christ (John 14;6; Acts 4:12, 16:31; Romans 5:6-11, 10:9-10). We do not have only apathetic and hostile sinners with which to contend, but also their father, the devil (Matt.13:38; John 8: 38, 44; Acts 13:10; 1 John 3:10). Satan knows he has but a short amount of time to fulfill his wicked, yet futile goals. He will do and say anything he can to silence the message and messenger in order to drag as many souls as he can with him to the Lake of Fire (Matt.25:41; Rev. 20:10-15). He is a defeated foe, but still fights like a fanatic with nothing to lose. Our job is to get his victims to the safety of the cross and the healing arms of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lord Jesus called on everyone who would listen to Him to "repent and believe in the Gospel" (Mark 1:14-15). By repentance, I do not mean some half-hearted mumbling of "I'm sorry" to Almighty God, hoping that He will look the other way the next time we sin. Repentance according to God's standards means that He makes us look in His mirror at our reflection, darkened with our wickedness and wretchedness. It is something we do not want to face but must in order to see that we can do absolutely NOTHING to remedy the problem in our own strength or method (Ephesians 2:8-10). Preacher, now is the time to gird up your loins, sharpen your sword, fasten your armor, and hit your people with the power of the Word and Spirit three ways: hard, fast, and continually. Their souls are at stake, and as these days draw to a conclusion, the time to come to the cross is NOW (2 Cor.6;2).
The foolish and self-centered thinking corroding our senses have made us believe that we are indispensable, important, and that our well-being takes precedence over everything. We have bought the idea that we need to be "Number One". Time for a trip to Reality City, everyone. Let God show us where we stand before Him. Nobody owes us one blessed thing in this world or the next, and neither does God. Why do I say that? We broke His laws, we disobey Him, we mock Him, we question Him, we think we know better than Him, we deny Him, and foolishly demand that He provide us with answers to our questions as if we have the authority to tell Him what to do. Let me pour water on that campfire. God Almighty does not have to explain Himself, defend Himself, or answer to any of us. The book of Genesis tells us that God created us out of the DUST of the ground. We are animated dirt that had the unmitigated gall to disobey and rebel against our Creator. Who do we think we are anyway? If you think for one minute that you are the glue that holds everything together, go take a trip to the local cemetery and you will find graves and tombs of people who once thought the same thing, now forgotten after a generation or less, and who are either in glory or agony.
Here is another salient comment that the grinning "Colgate Boys" in the TV megachurches and far too many contemporary pastors won't say to their people, preferring to be trendy and popular than scripturally right. We have to stop throwing pity parties for ourselves every time something does not go our way. The people around you are sick and tired of getting invitations in the mail. This present generation has a bad habit of not GROWING UP!! We have too many adults acting like spoiled children, afraid of being "offended" or being "triggered because of some situation or comment from someone who has the nerve not to agree with them on everything. We are as an "unclean thing" and a "filthy rag" in the sight of God if we think we're "all that and a bag of chips" (Isaiah 64:6). I will be a bit more graphic in what the prophet is describing in terms of our own self-righteousness and say that it is like bringing a bloody menstrual rag (tampon), throwing it in front of the Holy, Sovereign, and Righteous God and saying to Him that a saturated, stinking piece of cloth used to stop the flow of a monthly period is sufficient enough to grant us entry into heaven and His presence. Are we that arrogant? Yes. Keep looking in God's mirror.
We cannot do or say ONE THING IN OUR OWN POWER, STRENGTH, OR WORDS that will EVER make us right before God. DEAL WITH IT!! Do not blame Him if your plans fall apart or nothing goes right. Some of us have decided that we can do everything short of walking water and can get on without God, only to fall flat on our behinds and land in a mess of our own making. Perhaps that is when God will gently impress upon you this thought: "Now that I have your attention...". You are not an island in terms of suffering, sadness, and sin. Your friends and family have had their share of troubles, and all of you are in trouble if you do not come down from your pedestal, abdicate your throne and title of "King Me", and humble yourself before the great and wondrous God who is ready to offer you mercy, grace, love, and forgiveness if you will but kneel at the cross of Christ and give your life to Him this day (Matt.11:28-30; John 10:28-30, 14:6). We deserve eternal hell for the way we have treated God and rebelled against Him, but He is ready and willing to embrace you and make you one of His true sons or daughters this day. The Lord Jesus Christ who preached repentance gives the same message to you now. Pastor, chaplain, and all servants of God charged with spreading the Gospel; this is the message the pulpits of America and the world need to hear, now more than ever. Be strong and of good courage, brethren. Our God still saves, delivers, and heals. Preach the Word. Jesus expects nothing less.
donaldwhitchard@outlook.com
www.realitycityreverend.com
www.youtube.com/@realitycityreview
