“JUST PREACH THE GOSPEL”
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“If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Deliver those who are drawn toward death and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?” Proverbs 24:10-12
Be Strong in the Day of Adversity
Our strength is revealed in times of crisis. You know the flavour of a tea bag when it gets into hot water. If we faint in the day of adversity, our strength is small. It is in the time of crisis that we must stand firm and be deeply rooted in the Word of God.
Rescue Those Being Led Away to Death
Psalm 1:3 reads “He shall be like a tree planted by steams of water…” rooted in the Word of God. We are commanded to love our neighbour. To do to others, as we want to be done unto. To be just and fair towards those in need and to rescue those being drawn towards slaughter. We should warn, we should interpose, intervene to save life. These are principles you see throughout the Scripture.
God Will Render to Each According to His Actions
“If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?” God knows our thoughts and our motives. “He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?” This is something of a threat. God is our Creator and our Eternal Judge and He is the Sovereign God of the universe. He is the One who determines whether you live or die and when and how you die. If you turn your heart and eyes away from those in need, you are being like the Levite and the priest walking by on the other side of the road. We need to be like the Good Samaritan, doing what needs to be done. To rescue those lying bleeding in the gutter. The parable of the Good Samaritan concludes, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:26-37). “And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”
The Crisis that Confronts Us
When you tell people that blasphemy is in Cinemas and on computers; that there is crime and violence in the city and farmers are being subjected to terror attacks; there are drugs at schools; pornography on smart phones; legalised abortion; that many government schools are promoting secular humanism, evolution, situation ethics, hedonism, sex education programmes, the interfaith movement, gender confusion, the gay agenda, witchcraft and occultism; yet what is the average person’s reaction? “Just preach the Gospel!” “All you can do is pray!” But are they even preaching the full Gospel of God? Are they earnestly travailing in prayer?
What Would God Have You Do?
Do we really believe that our Lord Jesus would have us stand passively by while God-hating pagans are exploiting women, made in the image of God, degrading what God has meant to be holy, making public what God has meant to be private, making common what God has meant to be special, corrupting young minds, morals and defiling marriages? This seems like a convenient excuse for disobedience to the Word of God and doing nothing.
Justifying Laziness and Cowardice
“Just preach the Gospel” is often an excuse to justify laziness or cowardice. Would God have us stand idly by while a murderer rips the arms and legs off a baby and crushes its head? This is what abortion is. God is a Holy God. God hates sin. We have violated His Law. Christ came, lived a perfect life, and died a sinless death. He died and shed His Blood for our sins. We need to repent of our sins and trust in Christ alone for our eternal Salvation. We need to take up our Cross, deny the world, forsake ourselves and follow Christ.
“Just Preach the Gospel” Is an UnBiblical Position
Which servant of God in the Bible limited himself to “just preaching the Gospel?” Was Elijah wrong to confront and expose the pornographic, child-sacrificing prophets of Baal? (1 Kings 18). Was John the Baptist wrong to have publicly confronted the immorality of King Herod (Matthew 14:3-4)? Could our Lordhave been in error when he confronted the corruption in the temple - overturning the tables and driving out the moneychangers? (Mark 1 1:15-16). Why did He not just preach the Gospel?
The Great Commission Must Be Our Supreme Ambition
A careful reading of the Great Commission in Matthew 28: 18-20 makes it clear that we are called to do far, far more than “just preach the Gospel.”
“All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me.”The Lordship of Christ in every area of life must be proclaimed and it must be practised. There is no area of life that should not be in submission to Christ.
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” We are not just called to make decisions. We are not just to make converts; we are called to make disciples, not only of individuals but of congregations, which is the foundation, but also of communities, countries and of all nations.
“…baptising them in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…” Complete submission to Almighty God is essential.
“…and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Education is an essential part of the Great Commission. We are not just to teach a few of our favourite things, like Faith and tithing, we are commanded to teach obedience to everything the Lord has commanded us, the whole counsel of God.
The Whole Church Should be Taking the Whole Gospel to the Whole World
The Great Commission is great! It contains:
A great Truth - Jesus is Lord over allareas of life.
A Great Commission - Disciple allnations.
A great Command - Teach obedience to everything the Lord has commanded.
A great Promise - The Lord Himself will be with us forever, to the end of time.
Sins of Omission
The coming Day of Judgement is mostly on the basis on the good that we fail to do, rather than the bad that we did. The Lord does not speak in terms of: you smoked, you drank alcohol, you did drugs, you stole and all other evil things. But, He says, you did not visit the prisoners, you not care for the sick, you did not feed the hungry, you did not give drink to the thirsty, you did not give clothes to the naked and welcome strangers, you did not care. (Matthew 25:31-46). To them the Lord says, Depart from Me you accursed into the Lake of Fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For whatever you did not do unto the one of the least of these my brethren, you did not do it to me. Whatever you did unto one of the least of My brethren, you did to Me. The Lord described the Day of Judgement in terms of the good things that we should do, sins of omission, rather than sins of commission.
Limiting the Scope and Impact of God's Word
“Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.”James 4:17. To know the good you ought to do and to fail to do it is sin. The Biblical definition of true religion before God, “To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James1:27. All these and many other passages of Scripture expose the “just preach the Gospel” philosophy as an attempt to limit the impact of the Gospel on earth.
The Word of God, the Will of God, the Kingdom of God
We are called to be “The salt of the earth” Matthew 5: 13. “The light of the world” Matthew 5:14.
We have been taught to pray “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be Your Name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Matthew 6:9-10
Devaluing and Censoring the Bible
When people say, “just preach the Gospel”, they are devaluing, censoring and dismissing the vast majority of the Bible.
Obey the Government - No Matter What
When we try to suggest, the March for Life to parliament, for the rights to life of pre-born babies, or Sanctity Life Sunday, some people say “You must obey the government - no matter what!” submit to the government (Romans 13). The response of all too many Christians is: “You must obey the government - no matter what!”
What is the Ultimate Authority?
What about Muslim and Communist governments who forbid Bibles, Evangelism and missionaries? Do they have higher authority than Christ? What about the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ?
Bible Smuggling in Restricted Access Areas
25 Years ago we lost one of our missionaries in the field, Anthony Duncan. He was part of a mission team who successfully smuggled a tonne of medicine and Bibles into Angola, in breach of “international law” of the United Nations. We had Job’s comforters phoning us from as far as England saying: this is God's judgement on you, because you broke the law “If God wanted Bibles and medicines to be brought into Angola, He would not have placed a government there that forbids it.” So because the communist government forbid us to cross the border and help people fleeing persecution with things that they desperately needed and what they were praying for, we were in breach of God's Law? When the Lord has given the Great Commission, who has the right to stop it? It is neither logical nor Biblical.
Freedom is a Fruit of Christian Missions
Missions is always illegal until the Gospel succeeds. Before the Protestant Reformation, there was no religious freedom, or freedom of conscience anywhere in the world. If you were in Buddhist country, you had to be Buddhist. If you were in a Muslim country, you had to be Muslim. If you were in a Hindu country, you had to Hindu. If you were in a Roman Catholic country, you had to be Roman Catholic. The Father of the modern missionary age, William Carey, was illegal. The work he did in India was illegal for decades, even according to the laws of Great Britain. Britain’s parliament had forbidden missionaries to go to India unless they had the permission of the British East India Company, which they were not going to give. The BEIC expressly declared that they would not because they did not want missions “interfering” with their trade and businesses in Hindu India. William Carey had to carry out his work with ingenuity, basing himself in the Danish enclave of Serampore; illegally working into British controlled India. Religious freedom is a fruit of Christianity, especially the Protestant Faith. How can anyone countermand the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ? How can any law be higher than the sovereign Law of Almighty God? Who has greater authority than the Creator of the universe, the eternal Judge?
“Obey the Government – Not Matter What”
Forcible abortion has been mandated by the Red Chinese government. Their one-child policy required forcible sterilisations and abortions. Yet the response from all too many Christians is: “you must obey the government no matter what!” This is idolatry, cowardice and disobedience to God.
God has Instituted Four Spheres of Government:
Self-government - symbolised by our conscience. We are meant to be self-disciplined and the more self-controlled we are, the less external government we need. A parent does not need to drag a child out of bed onto the floor if they get up on their own. A parent does not have to forcibly brush their child’s teeth, if they brushed their own teeth. A parent does not have to tie a child’s shoelaces, if the child can do it on their own. The more reliable and self-disciplined the child is, the less family-government they will need to experience. (Proverbs 16:32; 1 Timothy 3:4-5; 2 Peter 1:6.)
Family government - symbolised by the rod of discipline. It is not the only way of discipline, but it is one of the disciplines by parents. (Deuteronomy 6:1-7; Ephesians. 6:1-4; 1 Timothy. 3:4-5.)
Church government – symbolised by the keys of church discipline, the keys to the Kingdom. It means church leaders can excommunicate those members who refuse Biblical discipleship and discipline. (Acts 6: 1-6; 1 Timothy 3: 1-13; Titus 1:5-9.)
Civil government – symbolised the sword of Justice. (Genesis 9:5-7; Romans 13:1-4; 1 Peter 2:13-14.)
Sincerity is No Guarantee
Is it possible for you to make a sincere mistake? Could your conscience be misled? Yes, it is all too possible to be sincerely wrong. There are many people who are wholeheartedly and enthusiastically sincere, but they are probably wrong. Many of the Jihadists believe that being a suicide bomber, murdering and beheading infidels, is in keeping with the will of their Allah. Many of them, their conscience is probably telling them they are doing something good. Of course, they are dead wrong! “There is a way that seems right unto man but the end thereof is the way of death. “
Is Your Conscience Captive to the Word of God?
We must obey our conscience as long as it is captive to the Word of God. Otherwise, it could be wrong. Like a magnet can interfere with a compass so that it can no longer give an accurate reading, so our conscience can be affected by our thoughts and feelings. We can be brainwashed by the world and indoctrinated by the world’s media and the world’s secular humanism education system.
Indoctrinated and Deceived
We may be in the same position as the abortionists in the Unplanned movie, thinking they were “doing God's work.” Abby Johnson, who came from a Christian, pro-life family said she believed that, in serving in Planned Parenthood, she was actually helping the girls and doing God's will! Her conscience may have told her she is doing a good thing, but it was distorted. That is why Martin Luther declared: “Conscience must be captive to the Word of God.”
Abuse is Possible in Families
Even in families: is it possible for some parents to abuse their children? Sadly it is. The Bible says: “Can a mother forget her nursing child?” Yes, there are many mothers who do, they abort their children. Other mothers have enthusiastically strapped on “suicide bomb vests” and sent out their children to be homicide bombers. Some encourage their children to grow up to become Jihadists. Some abuse their children for drug trafficking and human trafficking. Some sell their children into the sex slave trade. Family government can be abused. I must obey my parents in the Lord. As with all authority, parental authority is limited by Scripture; child abuse and murder of children is forbidden.
What About Church Government?
Is it possible to have false shepherds, false teachers, and false prophets in the church? Yes, sadly it is possible. We are not to submit to false teachers and false shepherds. Teaching false doctrine, gross immorality and misappropriation of funds would all disqualify church leaders. I must obey the church elders in the Lord. However, church leaders are answerable to God in all matters of faith and conduct. We are not to submit to false teachers or false shepherds. False doctrine, immorality and misappropriation of funds would disqualify any leaders.
Is Civil Government Free to Do As they Want?
I must obey civil authorities in the Lord. As in all other spheres of government, civil authorities are not permitted to be a law unto themselves. Civil government officials are to be “God's servant to do you good… he is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer.” Romans 13:4. Just as parents and church leaders disqualify themselves by gross sin, so civil authorities disqualify themselves by corruption, immorality and abuse. We are not to submit to false ministers who are in apostasy to God. As the Church is to be a minister of Grace, so the state is to be a minister of Justice. When governments are unjust, they are false ministers, no longer a legitimate authority.
Why Would Civil Government Be Given a Blank Cheque?
So why do many Christians, when it comes to civil government, think that politicians get a blank cheque? Self-government must have our conscience captive to the Word of God. Family government must be in the Lord and in accordance to the Word of God. Church government is disqualified if they violate God's Laws and do not preach God’s Word faithfully. Yet, when it comes to civil government, even an Atheist, God-hating, persecuting-the-Church type of government has the authority of God?!!!
All Authority is Delegated, Limited and Answerable to God
As in all other spheres of government, civil authorities are not permitted to be a law unto themselves. Our Lord Jesus said to Pontius Pilate: you would have no authority over Me, unless it had been given to you from above. All authority is limited authority. All authority is delegated by God. All authority is answerable to God. No authority is absolute, except God’s authority. Human authority is delegated by God and is answerable to God. Human authority cannot countermand God's commands. To be lawful, authorities need to be in submission to God's Law.
Magna Carta and Lex Rex
In a free country, there should be laws making it possible to impeach a president. In Britain, parliament placed King Charles I on trial for treason, because he had violated his coronation oath, he violated Magna Carta. Charles was a tyrant who abused his people, he interfered with religious freedom. He had been torturing his citizens and executing them for religious reasons. He had them branded on their faces with SS – Sower of Sedition. Christians had their ears and noses slit. Charles was executed, showing that even the king is under the law. It is not Rex Lex, it is Lex Rex. The Law is king. The king is under the Law. It is important for us to recognise that no authority is absolute. All authority is delegated by God. All authority is answerable to God.
Resistance to Tyrants is Obedience to God
When people say: you must obey the government no matter what, does this mean that a family in Red China must have an abortion for having gone over the one-child policy, in order to obey the Communist government? Would it be wrong for them to do what the mother of Moses did? Which was to hide her child, which was meant to be executed, by order of Pharaoh. In Hebrews 11, we see that the midwives who disobeyed Pharaoh and rescued the babies from death are commended by God. It is not obedience to God to submit to evil anti-Christ authorities, which are in opposition to His Law. This should be obvious.
The Last Temptation
In 1992, I was invited to the University of Witwatersrand for a debate on Blasphemy. It just so happened that somebody had informed me that WITS University had sought and obtained from the De Klerk government, permission to show The Last Temptation of Christ, which is one of the most blasphemous, evil films ever produced and which was banned in South Africa. WITS University had applied and received permission from the Publications Control Board, the Censorship Board, to screen The Last Temptation of Christ on a specific day, in an academic setting, at WITS University, for the purposes of debate, on the condition that they had a debate where at least one of the people on the panel was against The Last Temptation of Christ. In order that there might be a debate on the merits and demerits of this film.
Forewarned is Forearmed
They must have tried a few people and failed to get anyone willing, so they phoned me. They did not tell me that this was about The Last Temptation of Christ, but I knew. So, the Dutch Reformed Dominee who was running Kruis en Kroniek on SATV would be chairing the debate. I knew he was a blasphemous, anti-Christ person, who did not believe the Bible, because of the evil things Kruis en Kroniek had been showing on SATV. So I understood I was walking into a trap. But, forewarned is forearmed. I called Rev. Kjell Olsen at KwaSizabantu Mission and Rev. Fano Sibisi of Christians for Truth and asked if they could rally some support for me, knowing that the audience would obviously be overwhelmingly pro-blasphemy and pro-Last Temptation of Christ. So they bussed up a whole busload of Zulu Christians and others to come and support me. It is good to have friends like that.
A Higher Law
Fano, Kjell and I were determined not to let them show this blasphemy. We were effectively going against the government and “the law”, but we were convinced that there is a Higher Law, God's Law. “You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain. God will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses His Name.”
“Censoring Blasphemy is Blasphemy!”
This debate was so unbalanced. The wicked Dominee came out and said, that as everything is made in the image of God, to censor anything is blasphemy! So, the only blasphemy he recognised was that which tries to censor pornography and blasphemy! The apostate claimed that I was the real blasphemer, because I was trying to censor the image of God and that even blasphemy and pornography can be the image of God, because it is out there and the moment it is out there, then it is part of what God has created. This was very illogical.
Standing Up For Jesus
We had quite a rip-roaring debate in this theatre at WITS University. At a certain point, after an hour, the organisers said: “We are now going to screen The Last Temptation of Christ film.” I stood up and said, “We cannot allow that, because it is blasphemous.” They said that they had “government permission.” So, Fano Sibisi, Kjell Olsen and many others stood up, declaring that this is unacceptable. We stood in front of the screen to obscure the film. We started to sing hymns.
Steadfast Resistance
The organisers came to us and warned: “We are going to unleash The Angry Youth of Soweto on you!” So I said: “Go ahead.” In came these Angry Youth of Soweto dancing and toi toing to try and intimidate us. But when they saw the Zulus and Afrikaaners standing firm with folded arms, they turned and ran. There was pandemonium and we just continued singing hymns. They ordered us to clear the Theatre, then called the Police. We carried on singing until midnight.
The Police Join In
Finally, after midnight, the police arrived and the captain came up to me and politely requested: “Excuse me sir, would you please be willing to vacate the building?” I said, “certainly.” The policeman informed us that as the permit was only to screen the film on the day, the permit expired at midnight. So, we have accomplished our purpose. We then had a prayer meeting and singing on the stairs outside the auditorium with the police joining in. They had deliberately delayed their response long enough for us to achieve our objective. So the government made an unjust law, they allowed an exception to the banning of this blasphemous, pornographic film, The Last Temptation of Christ. We interposed as concerned Christian citizens, what is called civil disobedience. We refused to allow the screening of this blasphemous film. The police also delayed responding to the call, in order to make sure that the permit would expire.
Complaints Against Christian Action
Some people said that was wrong. We should have “just preached the Gospel.” We should not be involved in pro-life demos. We should not march to parliament. We should not stand at the gates of parliament calling the government to repent. We need to ask the following questions:
Questions to Evaluate Which Law is Eternally Valid
Whose law is eternal – God’s Law, or man's law?
Does anyone think the South African Constitution will be the basis on the Day of Judgment?
Can God's Law be rescinded, revised or improved?
Is it possible for anyone to improve on the Law of God?
Considering that God is eternal, all knowing, all-powerful, perfect, the Creator and Eternal Judge, no one can improve on the Law of God.
Does God want His people to obey His Law, or man's law, when the two are in conflict?
For example, if you are a Christian in China and the government’s law is the one-child policy and any others must be aborted. Whose law do you obey? God's Law? Or Red China’s law?
“We must obey God rather than men.”Acts 5:29
Does The Law of God only Apply to God's People?
Does God hold all rulers in all nations, including non-Christians, to be accountable to His Law, or are the lost free to do what they want? There are Christians who say that God's Law only applies to God's people. Some have said that we should not be protesting against blasphemy, because it is only blasphemy if believers take God Name in vain, but not for those who do not submit to God! So a person, who does not call himself a Christian, does not need to obey the command against blasphemy!? But what does the Third Commandment say? “You shall not take the Name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who takes His Name in vain.” Exodus 20:7. It does not matter whether you recognise God, or not, God’s Law still applies. You may not take God's Name in vain. Every blasphemer, or atheist, who takes God's Name in vain, is obviously culpable and invites judgment from God.
By What Standard?
If the lost are free to do as they please, to what standard will God hold them accountable?
By what standard will He judge them? God will not judge people by the United Nations Bill of Rights!
He will judge the people by His Law, as summarised in the Ten Commandments. How can the Holy Spirit convict people of sin, if the measure of sin, the Law of God, is taken away and removed? The Apostle Peter stood before the Sanhedrin who had crucified Christ and who had commanded Peter not to speak in the Name of our Lord Jesus. Peter said, “We must obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29)
No One May Abrogate the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ
For this reason, we smuggle Bibles into Muslim and Communist countries. No one can countermand the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ! We are not to stop at the Iron Curtain, the Bamboo Curtain, the Islamic curtain, the barbed wire fence, the minefield, the river, or whichever boundary, because Christ’s authority supersedes all man’s delegated and limited authority.
Rescue the Perishing
“Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves. Protect the rights of all who are helpless.” Proverbs 31:8. The verse we began with: “If you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small. Deliver those who are drawn toward death and hold back those stumbling to the slaughter. If you say, ‘Surely we did not know this,’ does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?” Proverbs 24:10-12. This is God's Command and what we are called to do.
No Excuses – Get Involved
We are not to be those kind of people who find excuses, including super-spiritual excuses, for disobedience, laziness and cowardice, saying: “I need to pray about this” or “I believe all we can do is just pray”, “just preach the Gospel”, or “we must obey the government, no matter what.” These are excuses for passivity, inactivity, or cowardice in the face of the enemy. We need to stand for God, to be those who will March for Life coming up on the 30 January in Cape Town. We march on the day closest to the day when Nelson Mandela legalised abortion on 1 February 1997. Since then, officially over 1.7 million South African babies have been killed, legally, with taxpayer’s money, in this country.
Opening Pandora’s Box and Unleashing the Forces of Hell on the Country
It is interesting that president F.W. de Klerk, in his Red Friday speech on 2 February 1990, along with unbanning the ANC and the South African Communist Party, suspending the different laws dealing with The Suppression of Communism Act and Inland Security Act, De Klerk also mentioned liberalising the abortion laws and relaxing the censorship laws. He was talking about allowing pornography and abortion in our country.
When Innocent Blood is Shed
That is why Africa Christian Action was launched, to counter such wicked legislation. We organise Life Chains to stand for life. Closest to the date when abortion was legalised, we have a placard prayer protest outside the gates of parliament and observe a National Day of Repentance. The Scripture teaches that when innocent blood is shed and the guilty murderer cannot be brought to justice, the elders of the city are to gather at the gates of the city (where the laws were made). So, the gates of parliament is quite appropriate. At the crossroads of the city, at the gateways, wisdom must shout aloud. We march to parliament in accordance with the Law of God to make clear that this innocent blood is not on our hands. We disassociate ourselves publically with abortion. If we do not, we may share the judgement of God on the whole nation. When innocent blood is shed, a curse comes on the land. No atonement can be made for innocent blood, except the blood of the one who shed it. Only capital punishment can remove the guilt of an entire society for innocent blood being shed. We have had a lot of innocent blood shed in this country, something in the region of 25,000 murders a year and when it comes to abortion, it is in the region of 80,000 a year.
Unplanned Film Coming to South Africa
Praise God! The Unplanned film is coming to the big screens in South Africa, after a lot of pressure on Ster Kinekor and Nu Metro, who were saying that there is no market here, Ster Kinekor now plans to release Unplanned on the big screen on 28 February. We need to encourage people to go and see this film, which is probably the most effective exposé on the abortion industry yet. It is based on the true story of Abby Johnson, who was involved in Planned Parenthood for 8 years and received their Employee of the Year Award. Abby was the youngest director of a Planned Parenthood Abortion Clinic in America. “Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” Ephesians 5:11
Sanctity Life Sunday
This 2nd February, we are calling on churches to observe Sanctity Life Sunday, the closest Sunday to the legalisation of abortion anniversary in this country. We are calling people to stand for life and to preach on what the Bible teaches on when life begins and to rescue the perishing, to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.
Make a Stand for Life
"Who will rise up for Me against the wicked, who will take a stand for Me against the evil doers? Those who condemn the innocent to death."Psalm 94:16
Dr. Peter Hammond
Livingstone Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.LivingstoneFellowship.co.za
www.ChristianAction.org.za
www.hmsschoolofchristianjournalism.org
See also:
20 Years of Abortion in South Africa