Why Preach a Gospel With Urgency Today?

The onrush of disturbing national and world conditions challenges the Church to preach the gospel in ever-greater intensity.

Some of the current advice doled out by liberal academics and educators in the West is symptomatic of the problems that plague society today. Consider for a moment just the subject of education and child rearing. Recent newspaper articles have been headlined as follows:

• Children of 5 should be given lessons in sex.

• Teacher-pupil affairs can be a good thing, says academic.

• Unruly pupils need praising not telling off, teachers are told.

• Don't blame the bullies! It's not their fault.

• Don't jail young muggers.

The cultural and moral problems that currently afflict our Western nations call to mind a crucially important passage in the book of the major prophet Ezekiel: "Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and put a mark on the foreheads of the men and women that sigh and cry over all the abominations that are done within it" (Ezekiel 9:4And the LORD said unto him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst thereof.
See All...).

Jerusalem is figuratively a type of a whole nation, and this basic principle applies prophetically to our nations today. Those who take God at His word are aghast at and appalled by the erosion of biblically based standards that has taken place in Western nations. (To understand more, please request our free booklet The United States and Britain in Bible Prophecy . )

The Church as modern watchman

Twice God told Ezekiel: "Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me" (Ezekiel 3:17Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.
See All...; compare Ezekiel 33:1-9 [1] Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
[2] Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman:
[3] If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people;
[4] Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head.
[5] He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul.
[6] But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
[7] So thou, O son of man, I have set thee a watchman unto the house of Israel; therefore thou shalt hear the word at my mouth, and warn them from me.
[8] When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
[9] Nevertheless, if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he do not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.

See All...).

In more ancient times, watchmen were appointed for sentry duty, an essential post for the protection of a tribe or nation. This group of men was charged with alerting their fellow citizens about hostile military movements. The watchmen's presence constituted an early warning system that often saved lives. Theirs was an awesome responsibility.

Ezekiel's role was to articulate a warning from God to Israel about the very unpleasant consequences of their unacceptable moral behavior. In discharging this solemn and sacred duty today, it is no easy task to be both an effective tool in God's hands and simultaneously be sensitive to the more positive spiritual needs of the nation.

But to foolishly neglect this awesome responsibility because of national hurt feelings or fear of disturbing a country's spiritual sleep would be an unconscionable betrayal of biblical duty with unpleasant consequences for the watchman.

Ezekiel wasn't the only Hebrew prophet to occupy the role of a watchman. For God had also told Isaiah: "Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he sees" (Isaiah 21:6For thus hath the LORD said unto me, Go, set a watchman, let him declare what he seeth.
See All...).

The Church's role to alert people of their sins and the consequences of those sins is not only a message found in Ezekiel and Isaiah, but also in Jeremiah, Daniel and the 12 Minor Prophets. It is discovered in Christ's Olivet Prophecy, Paul's prophetic warnings and the book of Revelation. The words of Paul in Colossians 1:28Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
See All... compel us to "preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus."

Isaiah 58:1Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.
See All... sums up the essence of this particular aspect of the overall gospel message: "Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins." Remember that sin is the transgression of God's law (1 John 3:4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
See All..., King James Version).

The Great Commission: Also a warning message?

The closing passage in Matthew's Gospel account sums up how Jesus set out the mission of the Church down through the centuries: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28:19-20 [19] Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
[20] Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

See All...).

Christ's gospel constitutes more than the recorded life of a good man and a personal savior. It includes the news that the living Jesus Christ, ascended on high, is literally returning to this earth and into your life. It is the good news of the coming Kingdom of God. It is the only lasting hope for a troubled world. Yet there remains a crucial element of warning within the scope and spectrum of the overall gospel message. This important dimension is described within the context of Jesus' Olivet Prophecy in Matthew 24.

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end [of this age] will come" (Matthew 24:14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.
See All..., emphasis added). Jesus characterized this particular period in future world history as "the days of vengeance, that all things which are written [in the Old Testament] may be fulfilled" (Luke 21:22For these be the days of vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled.
See All...).

This will be a time of "great distress"—a prelude to the second coming of Jesus Christ (verses 23-27). The prophet Jeremiah wrote, "How awful that day will be! None will be like it. It will be a time of trouble for Jacob, but he will be saved out of it" (Jeremiah 30:7Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.
See All..., New International Version).

Mark's version of the Olivet Prophecy emphasized the role of the watchman. Three times within five verses we are told to watch for the second coming (Mark 13:33-37 [33] Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
[34] For the Son of man is as a man taking a far journey, who left his house, and gave authority to his servants, and to every man his work, and commanded the porter to watch.
[35] Watch ye therefore: for ye know not when the master of the house cometh, at even, or at midnight, or at the cockcrowing, or in the morning:
[36] Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping.
[37] And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.

See All...). One of the functions of the Holy Spirit as an agency of God is the revelation of "things to come" (John 16:13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
See All...).

An increasingly sad world scene

The many moral ills of today's world are far too numerous to cover comprehensively in one article. But consider a comment about our present world. Sir Jonathan Sacks, Britain's chief rabbi, recently warned of the mounting threat of Holocaust denial and a tsunami of anti-Semitism engulfing Europe.

Our soap operas on television are awash with offensive language, illicit sexual relationships and gratuitous violence. The overconsumption of alcohol and the illegal and reckless use of drugs remain a social and moral plague in our land.

We also see traditional marriage increasingly undermined by the gay political movement. So the Church has a grave duty, as a watchman, to warn the world where all these trends are taking us. Along with this, the Church proclaims the good news of God's coming Kingdom.

To understand more about this important aspect of the role of the Church in our 21st-century world, please request our free booklet This Is the United Church of God . It defines and explains the Church's dual functions of preaching the gospel and preparing a people. It is a message that proclaims the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God in all its fullness under God's literal millennial reign.

I believe you will truly be heartened as you read in detail the true mission of God's Church today. WNP