Is the gospel still compelling enough? Because if the gospel would still be compelling enough, why do so many Christians seek in the world and are inspired by the wisdom and knowledge of the world, including Eastern religions and philosophies and get involved with occult practices and instead of being led by the Word and the Holy Spirit, being inspired and led by human words of knowledge and wisdom, ngimpi, visions, supernatural manifestations, and revelations, coming from misleading (seductive) spirits from the kingdom of darkness that create false doctrines that deviate from the Word and cause the people to walk on ways, they shouldn’t be walking on? If the gospel would still be compelling enough, why do so many Christians spend more time to the world and the things of this world than spending with God and the things of the Kingdom of God? And if the gospel would still be compelling enough, why do people change so many things to the gospel and adopt and apply the wisdom and knowledge of the world and add all kinds of natural means in the church to make the gospel more appealing to the people?
Is the gospel still compelling enough?
Why has the message changed if the gospel would still be compelling enough? If you compare the message that is preached today in many churches and on the streets, to the message of 2000 years ago, then this is not the same message that was preached by Jesus Christ and His disciples.
We don’t read anywhere, that Jesus nor His disciples told the people in their surroundings and the people they encountered on the street, “God loves you!”, or that the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ in the New Covenant said, “Jesus loves you”, and then went on their way and continued what they were doing and left the people in their sins and in the bondage of the devil and the kingdom of darkness.
They didn’t preach comforting soothing words that pleased the flesh and caressed the emotions and feelings of people, but they preached the truth, righteousness, life, and judgment of God and called the people to repentance and set the people free – and made them whole, who believed their words and repented and gave their lives to God.
The prophets and Jesus Christ, who lived in the Old Covenant, and the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ, who lived in the New Covenant, had lied down their own lives out of love for God and were not ashamed of the gospel.
Their message didn’t please the feelings and emotions of people and didn’t approve of sin and allow the people to keep sinning, but their message was often hard and confronting and called the people to repentance. The message they preached would be considered these days as unloving.
The fear of the Lord
Let all the earth fear the Lord: let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him. For He spake, and it was done; He commanded, and it stood fast (Jabur 33:8-9)
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Paribasa 1:7)
The fear of the Lord is to hate evil: pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the froward mouth, do I hate (Paribasa 8:13)
But the difference between then and now is, that they loved God and had a fear of the Lord, a reference for God, and therefore they walked in submission to Him in His commandments; His will and preached His words; the truth of the Kingdom of God and called the people to repentance and to follow the law of Moses, the law of sin and death, in the Old Covenant (which was meant for God’s carnal people), and when the New Covenant in Christ came in effect, to follow the law of the Spirit of life in Christ (which is meant for God’s spiritual people).
Jesus didn’t allow the people to keep sinning and didn’t approve of sin. Neither did the apostles and disciples of Jesus Christ, who together were the Church; the Body of Christ on earth, allow the people to keep sinning. They didn’t say, “God loves everyone and Jesus loves you, just the way you are and therefore you may stay the way you are”. We don’t read this anywhere in the Bible.
We don’t read anywhere that people could stay the way they were and that God approved of sin and God understood everyone’s situation, parasaan, decisions, excuses, and way of living.
No, everyone needed to repent and become born again in Christ and lay down the old man and its sinful nature and put on the new man (Baca ogé: ‘Put off the old man‘ jeung ‘Put on the new man‘).
Unlike most believers of today, Jesus and His disciples, who were born again and had become the new man; sons of God, were not carnal but spiritual. They were not blinded by the god of this world, but they were enlightened by God and His Holy Spirit and discerned the spirits.
They were not let by their flesh, but by the Spirit and discerned the Kingdom of God from the kingdom of darkness and discerned the spirits and works of the darkness and the works of the Kingdom of God. Sumuhun, they discerned the flesh from the Spirit.
Peter preached the gospel and called the house of Israel to repentance
When Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and received tongues as of fire, Peter preached Jesus the Christ and called the people of God, who were gathered together in Jerusalem to celebrate Shavuot; the feast of the weeks, to repentance
These people belonged to the house of Israel; God’s carnal people.
But despite the fact that they belonged to the house of Israel and they obeyed the law, because they had come to Jerusalem for the feast of the weeks, Peter called them to repentance and to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and they would receive the Holy Ghost.
Although the words of Peter were hard and confronting, they were the truth and did bring the people to repentance.
And so the people repented of their sins and were baptized and received the Holy Ghost and were reconciled with God (Acts 2).
In this age, you can ask yourself whether the people, who say they are Christians and go to church or preach in a church and claim to be born again and have the Holy Spirit, are truly born again? Do they live as the new creation as sons of God (both males and females) in obedience to the Word after the will of God or do they live as the old creation as the world and do the works of the flesh? (Baca ogé: ‘Who is the old man?‘)
Paul preached the gospel, which is the power of God
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them (Urang Romawi 1:16-19)
Just like the other disciples of Jesus Christ, Paul was not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, since it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes.
The gospel brought and still brings deliverance from the power of the devil and reconciliation with God in the lives of people.
Paul didn’t change the words of God to please the people or to be liked and accepted by the people, but Paul confronted the people with the truth of God and called them to repentance, whereby many people were delivered from the power of the darkness and through regeneration in Christ were transferred into the Kingdom of God, where Jesus Christ is King (Kolosa 1:13-14).
Jelema-jelema, who do the works of the flesh shall not inherit the Kingdom of God
Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the Kingdom of God? Ulah katipu: boh cabul, atawa musyrik, atawa zinah, atawa banci, atawa abusers sorangan kalawan umat manusa (homosexuals), Atawa maling, atawa covetous, atawa mabok, atawa revilers, atawa extortioners, shall inherit the Kingdom of God. And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God (1 urang Korinta 6:9-11)
Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery (voluntary sexual intercourse between a married person and a person who is not his or her spouse, by looking lusting after a woman, divorce), cabul (harlotry, including adultery and incest, unmarried sex, homoseksualitas, figuratively nyembah berhala), najis, lasciviousness, Idolatry, elmu sihir, hatena, varian, émulasi, amarah, pasea, hasutan, bid'ah, envyings, rajapati, mabok, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21)
Even in the local churches, Paul preached the whole counsel and will of God and called the people to live holy lives, since they were no longer sinners but had become saints. He confronted those, who persevered in sin and commanded them to remove the sins (Baca ogé: ‘Are you still a sinner?‘).
Paul didn’t scruple to reveal the works of darkness, the works of the flesh, and call them by name and say that those, who committed those works and kept doing those works, would not inherit the Kingdom of God.
Paul was not afraid to call out the sins that were committed and expose them and confront and remove a person, who persevered in sin and kept doing the works of the flesh and didn’t want to repent, from the church. Naha? Because Paul was a son of God and was spiritual and discerned the works of the devil and didn’t allow the works of the devil in the church.
Paul knew, just like Jesus and the other apostles, that a little leaven leavens the whole lump and therefore the sinful behavior of the person, which is rebellion against God and His Word and will, would defile the church (1 urang Korinta 5:1-8 (Baca ogé: ‘Naon Alkitab nyebutkeun ngeunaan dosa di gareja?’, ‘Can you be complicit in the sin of fellow believers?’ and ‘What does it mean to deliver a person unto satan?‘)).
Paul was pure from the blood of all men
And now, ningal, I know that ye all, among whom I have gone preaching the Kingdom of God, shall see my face no more. Wherefore I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. (Acts 20:25-27)
Paul did all these things, because Paul was a servant of Christ and stood in the service of God and not of man (a.o. Galatians 1:10).
Paulus didn’t fear the people, but Paul lived in obedience to Jesus Christ in the fear of the Lord after His will and preached all the counsel of God. Therefore Paul was pure from the blood of all men.
Because of the fact, that Paul had become a son of God and a servant of Christ, Paul had become an enemy of the world.
Paul testified that her works were evil, kawas Yesus, and therefore Paul was not welcomed and loved by everyone and experienced rejection, resistance, persecution and imprisonment, just like the other servants of Christ, who followed Jesus Christ and were not ashamed of Jesus and the gospel and therefore preached the uncompromised gospel of Jesus Christ (Baca ogé: ”Having the feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace’.
But Paul wasn’t affected by all these things. These things didn’t make Paul stop preaching the gospel. And so Paul continued to preach the cross and the blood and all the counsel of God, since it was a power to salvation for everyone who believed.
Is the gospel compelling enough and the power of God?
But nowadays, many people think they know it better than God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit and don’t submit themselves to Jesus Christ; kecap, who is the Head of the Church. They don’t preach His words, but they adjust His words, so that His words are pleasant to hear.
Sanajan kitu, by doing that they have replaced the truth of God with the lies of man. They think they have made the gospel more compelling and appealing, but in reality they have brought about the opposite.
Many churches have become carnal and don’t rely on God and His power anymore, but rely on their own understanding, hikmah, pangaweruh, and abilities and do all they can to make their church a showy church by using all kinds of natural means, like neon lighting, light shows, smoking machines and music, and through motivational speakers and social events make the gospel more appealing and get rid of that old fashion dusty image. And so they have changed the gospel, which is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, into a gospel of the senses that is focused on the flesh.
Instead of relying on God and His Word and His Holy Spirit and preaching the true gospel and people truly repent and become born again in Christ and reconciled with God and walk after the Spirit in the will of God and experience the peace and joy of God and His life in their lives, they rely on the flesh and through the interference of the knowledge, wisdom and natural means of the world, they have stripped the gospel from its power and turned the gospel into a powerless weak substitute, whereby people are no longer delivered from the power of darkness and live after the will of God, but keep walking in the darkness in disobedience to God and wailing and lamenting, just like the world, while going through life anxious, depressed and defeated, searching in the world for peace and happiness and answers and solutions for their problems.
But the world can’t give them what they need and the wisdom and knowledge of the world are not able to deliver and save them. There is only one Person, Who can deliver and save them and give them what they need and that is Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Living Word.
Therefore it’s time, that believers repent and return to the Word of God and submit to the Word and the Holy Spirit and remove all the carnal entertainment from the church and preach the truth and the will of God, so that many people will be saved and delivered from the darkness and the church won’t be covered by the blood of all the people, who are lost, but that the church stay pure and covered by the blood of Jesus Christ only.
'Janten uyah bumi’
