Dear people, I am crushed, mystified, stupefied, the GOSPEL is not being preached nor told in messages and in witnessing and then we wonder why people don't get saved.
Maybe you saw the "Birthday Invitation" to heaven, beautifully done say "Tickets: Admission is free. He's already paid for everyone..."
That is not preaching the gospel. The unsaved do not have a clue what that really means. The gospel is left out!
This just came to me today from a preacher I know well and has had me preach in his conferences. He believes the Bible and does not have a liberal bone in his body. He said, "The Christmas Story is News that stays News, GOOD News - Indeed THE BEST NEWS EVER." It is the most important news that any man has ever heard." NO, NO, NO. "CHRIST DIED FOR OUR SINS, WAS BURIED, ROSE AGAIN, AND WAS SEEN BY HUNDREDS. THE SCRIPTURAL DEFINITION OF THE GOSPEL is the best news ever. He went on and on and never once gave the gospel which is "the power of God unto salvation" Rom 1:16 and then told people to accept Christ, ask him to forgive you of your sins and you will go to heaven.
The whole issue is, we have all sinned and deserve to be punished, for the wages of sin is death. The good news is Christ paid the debt in full when He died for our sins. This is what people must know and understand to be saved.
My heart aches when I hear John 3:16 quoted so glibly. What those doing it do not realize is that the unsaved person does not know what it means that "God gave his only begotten son." We must spell it out that He died for our sins. He paid the debt in full.
The five points of Calvinism, I am not sure about but the four points of the gospel I am absolutely certain about. (1) "Christ died for our sins, paid the debt in full, (2) was buried, (3) rose again and (4) was seen by hundreds (which is hardly ever stated), 1 Cor. 15:1-6. The gospel, I think all four points, must be stated over and over until they UNDERSTAND it Matt 13:23, believe it and receive the Lord Jesus as their Savior too John 1:12. You don't take it on "blind faith" Sumner, why are you so adamant about this?
Because it is the difference in going to heaven or going to hell.
I love you and do not want anyone to go to hell and their blood be on your hands or mine, so lets give the "full" gospel every time.
ABC C. Sumner Wemp
