Graham's Party Gospel for a Party Nation

Gospel preaching in the first century was serious business. It was a demand that men repent of their sin and idolatry and rebellion against God. It was Paul on Mars Hill saying to the Greeks, "And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent" (Acts 17:30). It was Paul saying to the Romans that there is none righteous, no not one, and that God's wrath is revealed from heaven against all men because of their rebellion. Even the preaching to believers in the churches was serious business in the first century. It was James saying to Jewish brethren, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness" (Ja. 4:8-9). It was Jesus saying to the church at Laodicea, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth" (Rev. 3:15-16). That's what America needs to hear today. When Billy Graham was a very young preacher, before he chose the path of compromising pragmatism over faithfulness to God's Word and became one of America's most popular men, he preached something like that at times. But he changed his tune, and his son Franklin is following in his footsteps. They don't have gospel crusades anymore; they have rock & roll festivals. They have gospel parties. On November 8, the Billy Graham Evangelistic Crusade is promoting "My Hope Parties" during which a 29-minute gospel video will be shown and participants will be urged to "believe in Jesus." If that's not Quick Prayerism, nothing is. You can be sure that the message won't be repent or perish. What America needs is for every "evangelical" and "fundamentalist" and Bible-believing church in the land to preach nothing but God's highness, holiness, and wrath for several months running, because a pampered people who have been treated with a powerful dose of self-esteem from infancy don't understand their great sinfulness before God, and an individual who doesn't understand his sinfulness doesn't properly understand God's grace. In the Epistle to Rome, Paul spent nearly three chapters preaching on God's holiness and judgment before he mentioned justification by grace, but evangelism is usually quick and shallow today, whether it is evangelical evangelism or independent Baptist evangelism.

(Friday Church News Notes, October 18, 2013, www.wayoflife.org, fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)

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