Monday, July 4, 2022

"And How Are We To Hear......Without Someone Preaching?"

                 The following is part of a March 2020 post....when God's judgment upon us was only just beginning.  Below that is today's commentary:

"....I have not seen one bit of evidence yet that the leading ministers in our nation are warning anyone that God's judgments are increasing.....nor that the church in general feels any culpability....nor that we as a country have even a tinge of anything resembling guilt. I picked a book off the shelf in the basement today merely out of curiosity....it was Billy Graham's Storm Warning....from 1992....in which he wrote this...."TROUBLE AHEAD; PREPARE TO MEET THY GOD..." 

                 The condition of the church today....evangelicalism in general....is as bad in relation to the history of the Christianity....as America is to our 245 year history. We cannot see this....for we live within it. God is no longer the center. It is no longer His glory that is precious. We are the center....and our glory is precious to us. This wasn't the problem that Spurgeon or Ryle faced in the late 19th century....and it wasn't the problem that Martyn Lloyd-Jones or J. Gresham Machen or Billy Graham faced in the 20th century. The ministry of R. C. Sproul....and others were involved....was in the process of restoring the church to the holiness of God....but politics lured us away. You the reader....if you do not agree with or cannot see this now....you will have no way of understanding where we have headed as a church....unless you are somehow exposed to the glories of God in His Word....this through sermons.....which are very hard to come across in churches across America....or books....of which we no longer have Christian bookstores to have one of these titles stare you in the face....or by some other means. Sproul's ministry is still there....ligonier.org....and a lot of faithful pastors preach and lecture through that ministry....but ultimately this is a remnant within a remnant. I do often recommend the ministry of John Piper. I have pleaded with Christians.....even begged them to somehow incorporate some of these Piper sermons into their everyday life. All one would have to do is Google....John Piper sermon YouTube....and pick anything that comes up. Our discernment in the church has been hit hard in the past half decade or so. We know that America is in trouble but are completely oblivious to a world that has already crossed that point of no return. It is not only the economic or the political dangers that we face. Technology is turning us into robots. Everyone lies....truth for truth sake is practically non-existent....compassion and love are rare....hatred is everywhere. Even the cosmos and the earth are threatening.....but we in the church somehow believe that if only we get the congress...or the presidency....or the courts back....that things will be alright? We do this because we have demonstrated to God in no uncertain terms....that we will take anything and everything encouraging from Him....and rejoice in it....but warnings of any kind are off the table.



Note: The following are just some of the sermon titles I recommended in that past few weeks.

Glory, Majesty, Dominion, And Authority

The Gallows And The Gift Of Life

Sorrowful Yet Always Rejoicing.

Do You Know What It Means To Be Born Again

Consider Your Calling

The Danger Of Drifting From The Word

Note on the above sermon. The very last sermon of R. C. Sproul's fifty year ministry was on the same passage of scripture. It might be good to listen to Piper's message and Sproul's last sermon in tandem. You can Google....R. C. Sproul's Final Sermon.


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