Expository Preaching Blog #25 – “Missing: The Compassion for Souls!”

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When I attend churches in my local area I hear a lot of things. I hear about having the right attitude. I hear about having enough faith. I hear about not being hateful and bitter. I hear about having the right Bible version. I hear about having the right music. I hear about not turning away from Jesus. I hear about listening to God. I could go on and on for hours but I think you get the point. I hear a lot about how to live your life.

But there is something missing in our modern day preaching. I rarely hear about having a burden and reaching souls for Jesus Christ. We can have all the right actions and right behaviors in our life and still go straight to hell when we die. Good behavior never saved anyone.

I am a great believer in the Great Commission found in Matthew 28:19&20. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

We have thousands of preachers saying what they think Jesus wants them to say. 99% of the time Jesus would say, “I didn’t say that!” Where is the preaching of the gospel straight up? When is the last time you heard a sermon from John 3:16 or Ephesians 2:8&9 or Romans 10:13? When is the last time a group in your church gathered together and prayed for souls to be saved? When is the last time new believers got baptized in your baptistery? How many new believers were saved, baptized and added to your church last year? I am not looking for a number. I am asking, is it happening at all? Most churches never see this happening.

We are so focused on our guilt and our behaviors that we rarely look at what Christ has done and is doing for us. We rarely seek to see souls saved and baptized around us.

I challenge preachers to focus on the gospel and the saving power of the blood of Jesus Christ. When we preach the whole counsel of God the Holy Spirit will take care of the rest. How many people in your Sunday morning congregation are truly saved? I think in an average evangelical church it would be 25-50% of the average congregation. You need to preach the gospel to that congregation every Sunday. Many of them are lost and going to hell and you and they don’t even realize it even though they sit in the pew most every Sunday.

Most new churches preach the gospel regularly. Once churches are about 10 years old they shift to focusing on behaviors and programs. At 50 years old almost every church should be put to death and a new church with a gospel focus needs to be started. Most churches stop growing when they are 10-15 years old. That is the reason why. They have so many programs and “ministries” that they strangle the church and it is a maintenance program instead of an evangelistic center.

We need to get back to the great commission without stopping. Start today and never quit. See what God does!

 

Rev. David Johnson

Former Pastor

First Baptist Church of Austin, MN

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