IF SOMEONE POLLED your church with the
question, “which preacher do you listen to most frequently,” how would you
respond? Some would point to their
pastor. Others might suggest a minister they hear on the radio or by podcast.
But if we are honest, none of these win the contest. Believe it or not, the
individual who has the greatest access to our heart, the one who preaches to us
most frequently, is not who we thin.
It is the Devil.
Satan preaches a sophisticated, seductive,
and manipulative message. He has one goal, to either convince you that the Lie
is true, or to convince you that the Truth is a lie, and we are usually unaware
that he is the one speaking. For example, he speaks to us through our
newspapers, through television, blogs, email, the radio, popular music, the
movie industry, magazines, our consciences, NFL commercials, and yes even at
times through our friends. He is the “Prince of this world.” God has given him
control of the media, and through this megaphone he preaches persuasively.
How do we know if we have been listening
to the Devil’s lies? The fruits are ominous and varied. We become discouraged
when life doesn’t go as we had planned. We feel unneeded guilt over a careless
comment that hurt someone we love. We compare ourselves to others and then feel
worthless. We give into hopelessness or fear as we observe cultural change.
Some even yield to the despair that this life is all there is. The Devil knows how to “preach it,” and we
are often the victims.
But God has provided us with a mighty
spiritual weapon. It is the gospel. Hidden in its recesses are crucial truths.
When applied they shatter the Devil’s vicious deceits. Hidden in the Gospel argues that preaching these truths to yourself
24 x 7 matters greatly.
In other words, God does not want us to
listen to ourselves or the Devil. Instead, he wants us to preach to ourselves. Listening is passive. Preaching is active. For
example, when I don’t feel loved by
God, I preach the truth to myself. It transcends feelings. Before the foundation
of the world God chose me and set his love upon me. He didn’t choose me because
I performed, but despite the fact that I didn’t. He sent his Son to live a
perfect life in my place, and to bear the wrath that I deserve at Calvary. It
is rare when this exercise does not kindle feelings of being loved in my heart.
I wrote Hidden In the Gospel to help the average
Christian cultivate this discipline of preaching the gospel to themselves. By
the gospel I mean everything that God has done, or will do, to save us. It
stretches from eternity past to eternity future. This gospel starts with
election and ends with the new heavens and new earth. It includes the doctrines
of election, Christ’s incarnation, his active obedience, penal substitutionary
death, his resurrection, ascension, return for final judgment, and the creation
of new heavens and earth. Hidden in these wonderful doctrines are truths, whose
marvelous application each Christian needs to preach to themselves daily.
So, which preacher do you
listen to most? Hopefully, it is not the Devil. I wrote Hidden In The Gospel to convince you that it should be yourself.
Labels: hidden in the gospel, preaching, Sanctification