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

Please find Audio Gospel Sermons and Contact Information here:



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

JESUS - Rock of Ages

Jesus remains the same in all ages. He is the One who is constant when everything and everyone else fails. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever; the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. He is our R ock [I SAMUEL 2:2 ] . In the Old Testament, in Exodus 33, Jesus is pictured as the Cleft Rock. In that chapter, verse 18 and following, Moses desired to see the glory of the Lord, but was told, "You cannot see My face; for there shall no man see My face and live.” And the Lord said, “There is a place by Me, and you shalt stand upon a rock: and it shall come to pass, while My glory passes by, that I will put you in a cleft of the rock, and will cover you with My hand while I pass by." Notice that as Moses stood upon the rock, the Lord hid him in the cleft. This wonderfully applies to us today! Believers are both standing on and hidden in Christ [COLOSSIANS 3:3 ] . We are both in and on the Rock. As life with its many bitter events presses upon us, ...
Read more

CHRIST OUR ONLY AND PERFECT RIGHTEOUSNESS

" The flesh lusteth against the Spirit." —Galatians 5:17 [KJV] Christian experience fully proves this apostolic truth. Hence the children of God cannot do the things that they would: nor have we any authority from God's word to conclude this lusting ever ceased in any of the saints till they got to glory; none are delivered from it while in the flesh. For, as the renewed soul or spirit loves to enjoy spiritual and heavenly objects, so the flesh, or unrenewed part, lusts after those objects it is naturally conversant with, and from which it derives its happiness.  Here is thy conflict, O Christian. Hence the necessity of thy Lord's command, "Watch always." This is the use of the doctrine. What woeful effects have fulfilling the lusts or desires of the flesh produced in eminent saints! Thou standest by faith, be not high-minded, but fear. The conceptions of lust are the productions of sin.— see James 1:15 . The commission of sin contracts fresh s...
Read more

GLORY ALONE IN THE LORD JESUS CHRIST

" Lest Israel vaunt themselves against Me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me." -Judges 7:2 [KJV] Thus the Lord reasoned with Gideon. He knows what is in man. He sees the pride of the human heart: how prone we all are to boast in an arm of flesh. The Lord is jealous of His own glory. Gideon’s army of two and thirty thousand, is brought down to three hundred. By this handful of men, and no more, did Gideon gain the victory of the Midianites. The Lord’s wisdom in this was, “Lest Israel should vaunt themselves, and say, Mine own hand hath saved me.”   But I have not transcribed the text right. There are two little words of great import, which I have omitted. Mind then, O Christian— against Me. Now remember, whenever thou dost boast of thy power, thy free-will, thy human goodness, thy works, ditties, conditions, and performances in order to be saved, thou art then, as it were, two and thirty thousand strong. Thou vauntest thyself against the Lord . Thou art gloryi...
Read more