As you study the Bible more and more certain things begin to stick out to you. Verses start to connect and the larger picture comes into view. One of the things you notice is a like spirit among believers that carries through thousands of years. Seeing faithful people of God who say and even do the very same things even though they lived generations apart. Such as being purposeful to only say and do what the Lord has said. Not willing to offer someone the answer they may want to hear in place of the truth.
1 Kings 22:14 (ESV)
14 But Micaiah said, “As the Lord lives, what the Lord says to me, that I will speak.”
Acts 4:19–20 (ESV)
19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 5:29 (ESV)
29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.
All of the men in the above verses faced very similar circumstances. Someone wanted them to say or do something that was contrary to what the Lord had said. Each sharing in the same spirit of faith they were not willing to simply tell people what they wanted to hear. Instead, they were only willing to deliver the truth they had received from the Lord. Not even willing to waver when offered great riches or threatened with severe punishment. They only saw one option which was to wholeheartedly obey the Lord.
We are living in like times to these men today and as such we should pray to have a like spirit unto them. The world is looking for the church to provide a message they want to hear. One that will be pleasing to their ears and not contrary to what they already believe. The world isn’t interested in biblical truth even though that is what they so desperately need in order to be saved. And the Bible told us this is how it would be in the last times.
2 Timothy 4:3–4 (ESV)
3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
As the church we must not be the ones to offer the world what they want to hear. Instead we must be like the men of old. Not willing to simply tell people what they want to hear. But only interested in sharing what we know God to have said from the scripture. Focused on pleasing God and not men. Giving people the truth that can save them whether they want to hear it or not. Doing just what we are called to do in scripture.
2 Timothy 4:2 (ESV)
2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
2 Timothy 4:5 (ESV)
5 As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Matthew 28:19–20 (ESV)
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Our world needs to hear what God has said. The only way they will ever hear it is if the church carries on the spirit of men like Micaiah, Peter, and John. We need to become less interested in what people will think about us and more interested in seeing souls saved. More interested in pleasing our creator than mere men.
It’s easy to see what those around us want to hear but it is even easier to see in the scripture that is not what they need to hear. Don’t give in to social pressures and start reshaping God’s word an in attempt to fit the world. Stand strong in your faith and just share with them what God has said. Because only that will bring lasting happiness and eternal life.
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