Preaching That Stays Near the Cross!

      Many people are familiar with the apostle Paul’s directive to Timothy in 2 Timothy 4:2 to "Preach the word ... ." But which word should he preach? The King James Version of the Bible contains 783,187 words. These words make up a total of 31,102 verses – 23,145 verses in the Old Testament and 7,957 in the New Testament. So which one of those words should the preacher preach? He clearly can’t preach every one of those words in every sermon. And, truth be told, it is unlikely he will be able to preach on every verse in the Bible, let alone every word in every verse, over a 40 or 50 or even 60 year career of preaching. The preacher can, with careful and prayerful thought and planning, preach "the whole counsel of God" (Acts 20:27). Some preachers preach haphazardly, grabbing a text here and one there, while paying little or no attention to the context and background against which the words and verses are written. One preacher referred to an older lady who went to church and heard a minister preach. When she got out someone asked her what she thought of his preaching. She said, "He spoke in true apostolic style. He took a text and went everywhere preaching the word." Her humorous allusion was a not-so-veiled reference to Acts 8:4. That verse informs us that after a great persecution against the church at Jerusalem resulted in Christians being scattered throughout Judea and Samaria, "Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word." If you are a student of the book of ACTS you have zero doubt what they preached! They preached what the apostle Paul called in Acts 13:26 "the word of this salvation" – and the word of salvation he was talking about was the word / message about "a Savior – Jesus" (Acts 13:23). From the get-go in Acts 2:22 on the Day of Pentecost when the church came into existence, inspired preachers and early Christians proclaimed to their world the life-changing and soul-saving news of the death, burial, resurrection and ascension of Christ as well as how to respond in faith and obedience (Acts 2:23-41)!

The apostle Paul declared his firm, unbendable commitment to preach one major theme in the crystal clear words of 1 Corinthians 2:2 –"For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Christ and His redemptive work at and through the cross was at the center of Paul’s proclamation. The apostle tethered himself to Christ crucified. To use a phrase heard often in years gone by, he stayed "under the shadow of the cross" in his preaching. Paul addressed diverse topics that ranged from marriage to materialism, from sin to salvation, from sexual behavior to sanctification, from belief to baptism, etc. He preached Jesus as God’s Man of salvation and he preached Christ’s plan of salvation. But smack dab in the middle of it all, like a hub to which spokes on a wheel are attached, Paul preached Christ! The words of John Chisum’s beautiful 2008 song "Christ Above Me" express beautifully the sentiments that should saturate the heart of every Christian. They certainly saturated the apostle Paul’s, and it shows up in his preaching and writing – "Christ above me, Christ beside me, Christ within me every guiding. Christ behind me, Christ before, Christ my love, my life, my Lord." Pray for preachers and preaching that keeps Christ before us and helps us stay near the cross. 

– Dan Gulley, Smithville, TN

Isa 23:7

Isa 23:7  Is this your joyous city, whose antiquity is of ancient days? her own feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn.  Isaiah 23 is an oracle against Tyre. Tyre was situated to the north of Israel. It was the leading city of Phoenicia, the great maritime power of the ancient world. Because it was such an important harbour and centre for shipping, Tyre was synonymous with commerce and materialism. In the time of King David and Solomon, Tyre was a good friend of Israel. King Hiram of Tyre supplied David and Solomon great timbers for the building of the temple and other projects (2 Samuel 5:11; 1 Kings 5:1-11). But later, Tyre gave Israel one of the worst women Israel ever had: Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab of Israel (1 Kings 16:31). Sidon was a great city near Tyre, strongly united to her by commerce and league. Isaiah speaks of Tyre as the daughter of Sidon (v.12). History records reveal Tyre was founded by the Sidonians. Isaiah prophesies that Tyre will be forgotten for seventy years (v.15). This was fulfilled when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, conquered Tyre and put it in subjection. But, at the end of seventy years, God said Tyre will return to her former glory of materialism (v.17). Isaiah describes Tyre as a “joyous city whose antiquity was of ancient days" (v.7a). It was a happy city that has stood for centuries. But, judgment would fall upon her in God’s chosen time: “The LORD of hosts hath purposed it, to stain the pride of all glory, and to bring into contempt all the honourable of the earth” (v.9). Though Tyre had stood for centuries, it fell. Earthly kingdoms never last forever. Long continuance in comfort leads to pride, laziness, and complacency; it begets a false sense of security. Tyre was a joyous city? Why? Because it lasted long and was prosperous. You look at companies that have been in existence for more than 100 years. We would think they will never fall – they are big, financially strong, and have stood the tests of time. Finance people trusted in those elements. Yet, they have been proven wrong time and time again. Where are Lehman Brothers, Tower Records, Pan Am, Kodak, Compaq Computers, Enron, Arthur Anderson, etc, today? This rich man was happy: “And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry” (Luke 12:19). He died that same night. Eat, drink, and be merry - This is the philosophy of the ancient Epicureans and atheists. They think that all that is valuable in life is to eat, and drink, and be merry. Earthly riches often keep us from going after heavenly riches as we should. Paul wrote: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition” (1Timothy 6:9). Most of us are afraid of poverty; we should be afraid of wealth (Proverbs 30:8, 9). “Covetousness is idolatry” (Colossians 3:5). Those who have their heart set on the material things of this world will miss heaven. They let materialism replaces God (Matthew 6:24). They gradually fall away. Are the rich always happy? Is there a “joyous city” in this earth? I know of a truly “joyous city”. It is called heaven. The Bible has beautiful descriptions of heaven. It says that in heaven there will be no tears, no crying, no death, no sorrow, and no pain (Revelation 21:4). Add them all up, it spells – HAPPINESS. “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be! When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory!” (Eliza E. Hewitt). What a joy!

Isa 24:3

Isa 24:3  The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word.  Isaiah 24 is a controversial chapter. Commentators were split on who the prophet was addressing to. The chapter begins with these words: “Behold, the LORD will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants” (v.1). Some said the “earth” here refers to the whole world. Some said it refers to the land known to the prophet at that time, namely Palestine, Egypt, Assyria, and Babylon. Others said it refers to the land of Judah. Brother Homer Hailey in his commentary thinks it refers to the whole earth. I prefer to believe the earth here refers to the land of Judah. As I read the chapter over and over again, I’m convinced it refers to the judgment on Jerusalem. These words are often used every time when a prophet prophesied about the destruction of Jerusalem and they are found in this chapter – desolate (v.1), scatter its inhabitants (v.1), “as with the people, so with the priest” (v.2; see Hosea 4:9), “The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered” (v.3), “they have transgressed the laws, violated the statutes, broken the everlasting covenant” (v.5), “The wasted city is broken down” (v.10), “Desolation is left in the city; the gates are battered into ruins” (v.12), and “the LORD of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem” (v.23). The only city in the world that God was concerned and loved was Jerusalem. Jerusalem was destroyed by the Babylonians, its inhabitants scattered, the city laid waste, and the gates broken down (Nehemiah 1:3). In the destruction of the whole earth, there will be no scattering of people. The Jews were the only people who had transgressed the Law of God and broken the everlasting covenant. God did not have any other covenant with anyone else then. Yet, indeed, one day the whole earth will be destroyed. Isaiah’s prophecy on the state of Jerusalem when it was overrun by the Babylonians will be the same when the earth shall be destroyed when Christ comes again: “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the LORD hath spoken this word” (v.3). When Christ comes again, the earth will be utterly emptied and spoiled: “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10). The Lord’s second coming is certain. His coming will mark the end of the world. The apostle Peter mentioned a group of people he called “scoffers” (2 Peter 3:3). Those scoffers were men who were immoral and who mocked at those who trusted in God. Scoffers still exist today! Such men come with their mockery, saying: “Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation” (2 Peter 3:4). They are saying: “Many generations have passed away. Christians who had lived in expectation of the Lord’s coming are in their graves. Where is the Lord’s coming and the end of the world you are preaching about?”                                                           Many, even Christians, live on the notion that things will continue as they have always been. Few think about the end of the world. They make long term plans. They never plan for the Lord’s second coming and how to prepare for it. They live on the false premise that they have a long life ahead of them. They go about in the same way day after day; the daily prayers, the daily life, are ordered according to rule. What happen to their faith? They become lukewarm. Just as the apostle Peter deemed it necessary to remind, exhort, and warn the readers of his days, we need constant reminders too (Hebrews 3:15). Brethren, the earth will pass away. Are you ready?