Many repent of sin. Few repent of error.
In the 20th chapter of Acts, the apostle Paul is recorded as telling the people of God: “Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men (with whom he had associated himself as a teacher of divine truth) for I have not shunned to declare unto you ALL the counsel of God” (verses 26 and 27). How few preachers today could utter those same words to their respective congregations in their dying hours. How dare I make such a charge? God has seen fit to bring me into contact with a host of various preachers, ministers, Bible teachers. ALL the counsel of God is contained in ALL the scriptures, yet how few of these men and women have any real grasp of the writings of the prophets – the prophets of God? To them Zephaniah, Nahum and Ezekiel are closed books. The same could be said for just about all the rest of the prophets.
It seems that many “preachers” seem to forget that “ALL SCRIPTURE is given by inspiration of God, AND IS PROFITABLE FOR DOCTRINE, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness” (See 2 Timothy 3:16). Many will tell you point-blank, “I don’t get my doctrine out of the Old Testament!” To them, Christ would say, “Do ye not therefore err (and teach error), because ye know not the scriptures, neither the power of God?” And, again, “Ye therefore do greatly err.” And, again, “Well hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.’ Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men, for laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men. Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition…making the word of God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered (to your respective congregations)…Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand.” (Stop letting your commentaries, etc. formulate your doctrine). (See Mark 12:24,27 and Mark 7:6-9, 13 and 14).
Many are profoundly ignorant of the FACT that the church of God is “built upon the foundation of the apostles AND PROPHETS, Jesus Christ Himself being the Chief Cornerstone” (See Ephesians 2:20). Having removed the prophets from their doctrine, the building they – not God – have constructed is lopsided, utterly askew, sitting upon the foundation of that “other Jesus” the apostle Paul warned us about. (See 2 Corinthians 11:1-4).
When was the last time you heard a God-inspired sermon on the writings of the prophet Jeremiah? Think hard. For that matter, when was the last time you heard a sermon expounding the meaning of Haggai’s prophecies, or those of Obadiah or Habakkuk??? Long ago the Eternal God, through His prophet Jeremiah, cried out: “To whom shall I speak, AND GIVE WARNING, that they may hear? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised (not open to receiving the truth of God), and they cannot hearken (due to their narrow-mindedness): behold, the Word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it (looking upon the writings of Ezekiel, Joel and Amos as cut and dried, undecipherable, uninteresting reading, having no relevance to them or God’s people of this era)” (See Jeremiah 6:10). To such “blind leaders of the blind,” God thunders this warning: “Woe be unto the pastors that DESTROY and SCATTER the sheep of my pasture! Saith the Lord…for ye have perverted the words of the Living God, of the Lord of Hosts our God” (Jeremiah 23:1, 36). God inspired Jeremiah to pen that grave warning, because of His foreknowledge of the fact that His inspired prophets messages would be perverted, distorted, or simply totally ignored. Something to think about, pastor!
Christ’s Faithful Servant (Galatians 1:10-12),
Donald Wiley