Nothing Good To Say About You?
"And
the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man,
Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I
hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And
Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so."
-I
KINGS
22:8 [KJV]
I
often feel like Micaiah must have felt with regards to what I must
say to men and women. Like him, I have nothing good to say ABOUT
them. Why? Because God says that there is none good, no not one.
Nothing good can be said about those who by nature are like Ahab.
There is no good news about man in himself. The good news is TO men,
for men! The good news is the gospel of grace, the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It is a report of the only good Man, the Man Christ
Jesus!
People
want to be told what to do but my message has to do with something
that is already done,
THE FINISHED WORK OF
CHRIST. They want to be
told "how" to live a righteous life but my message has to
do with an imputed righteousness, a gift from God accounted to the
believing sinner. Men want me to praise their works but I must tell
them that salvation is not of works lest any man should boast. It is
not by works of righteousness which we have done but according to His
mercy He saved us.
They
want advice on how to quit sinning but I am to tell them of Him who
knew no sin and who bore the sins of many in His own body on the
cross. I am sent to tell the truth about God but their carnal minds
are enmity against Him. I am sent to speak of spiritual things but
they desire to hear of things appealing to the flesh. They seek
advice but rarely heed it because when I tell them what the Word
says, what it commands them to do, it is contrary to what they WANT
to do. It isn't appealing to them and before long they quit asking
and often quit coming to hear me at all. They didn't want advice,
they wanted approval!
But
Christ said, "My
sheep hear My
voice..."
There are a few who listen to the preached word and to Bible-based
advice and they, because of the quickening Spirit of God, are given
faith and enabled to receive the Word of truth with gladness! I thank
God for them and rejoice with them, knowing that it is God in grace
who makes them to differ. They know that true gospel preachers can
only speak good about them and to them IN
CHRIST! Let others
say “Peace, peace”
when there is no peace but I can’t. Men heap to themselves teachers
having itching ears. I don’t want to be one of them!
-Gospel report by preacher Gary Shepard
Sovereign
Grace Baptist church of Jacksonville, North Carolina USA
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