Today's Devotions

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Showcase: Assorted Treats

  • Listening to God +

    Scripture 1 Chronicles 22 11 “Now, my son, the Lord be with you, and may you have success and build Read More
  • August Devotional: Repentance +

    Scripture Read More
  • 1
  • 2

Kevin DeYoungIt is not the work of the pastor to say whatever seems relevant or whatever seems noncontroversial or whatever is especially interesting to itching ears. Our responsibility, before God and for the sake of God's people, is to declare the whole counsel of God (Acts 10:27).

The teachers of the church must disclose all of the glorious parts in Scripture and all the hard parts, all the promises and all the warnings, all the blessings and all the curses, all the parts that make us smile and all the parts that make us wince.

While we do not like to upset people and we do not wish to be thought uncouth, we answer to a higher authority. It is the solemn task of the preacher–weak and failing though he may be–to stand fast as a watchman on the walls. We cannot shrink back from the uncomfortable bits in the Bible (Acts 20: 20-21, 25-32). If we see the sword coming upon the land and refuse to blow the trumpet, the blood of the perishing will be upon our hands (Ezekiel 33:1-6).

It should make us shudder to think about some churches and pastors and what sort of judgment they might fall under when all they did was give people what they wanted to hear, instead of speaking to them of righteousness, self-control, and the coming judgment (Acts 24:25).

"Unless you repent, you will all likewise perish" is what the Good Shepherd and most loving man who ever lived once said (Luke 13:3).

People may not want to hear hellfire and brimstone sermons. But as a pastor, I don't want to face hellfire and brimstone for failing to preach as a dying man to dying men.

For the watchman on the walls must give a warning; he must speak of this judgment which is to come; he must herald the glorious salvation found in Christ alone; he must share the glad tidings of peace on earth and good will toward men; he must tell the hard news that we need a Savior, the unpopular news that there is only one Savior, and the unimaginably good news that there is one who actually saves.

O shepherds, may it never be that someone sitting under your preaching or someone subject to your elder care could stand before God on the Day of Judgment and say, "No one ever told me I needed a Savior."

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2014/05/02/a-watchman-on-the-walls/

Reflections to Consider

  • 1

Publications

  • 1

Music

  • 1

Audio & Video

  • 1

Favorites

  • Prayer - Does it Make Any Difference, Philip Yancey +

    Contemporary classic that probes the meaning of prayer for 21st century believers, and provides extended, personal anecdotes from a wide Read More
  • Blog of the Week: Mister Noah's Neighborhood: Philip Yancey blog +

    Below is a wonderful blog by Philip Yancey--see the link at the end of the posting. Mister Noah's Neighborhood Posted Read More
  • Why Not Give the Christians a Chance: Philip Yancey on prison ministries +

    Below is an excerpt from a recent blog post by Philip Yancey--a thoughtful examination of prison ministries.The link to the Read More
  • The Winter Season of Faith: Philip Yancey's blog +

    The following is taken from Philip Yancey's blog. A link to his website is at the end of this excerpt. Read More
  • 1

Hidden Blessings

  • Transforming this World: The Hope of Glory by NT Wright +

    Wright confronts the perspective that this world doesn’t matter, and that we live only to be in heaven. He shows Read More
  • What is Good in a World that Defies Hope: a talk by NT Wright +

    This is the second part of three talks by NT Wright at Harvard University in November, 2008 on the topic Read More
  • The Stream, the Lake and the River: NT Wright +

      Acts 2.1-21; John 7.37-39; a sermon at the Eucharist on the Feast of Pentecost, 11 May 2008, by the Read More
  • Jesus in the Perfect Storm by NT Wright +

    Zechariah 9.9-17; Luke 19.28-48; A sermon for Palm Sunday, April 17, 2011, In the University Chapel of St Salvator, St Read More
  • 1