The preacher who stands for Truth usually receives one of three responses to his message, if he receives a response at all. To those who agree with him, there comes the resounding “Amen!” To those who have been struck by Truth, there comes the sigh of “Oh my!” For those who reject the Truth, for those who refuse any scriptural correction, for those who pridefully deny any wrongdoing, there comes the raging challenge “Silence!”
There are some truths that people just do not want to hear! They do not want to hear that the things they love so, have grown so fond of, and have all good reason for are actually sin! They do not want to hear that God is angry with sin, specifically their sin! They do not want to hear that God will judge sinners, even saved sinners! They especially do not want to hear that continued, unrepentant sin indicates unbelief! If you find yourself preaching a text that brings up these issues, get ready! Someone is going to tell you, “We need to hear more about God’s love.” “You keep beating us up.” “Your preaching is too harsh.” “You are wrong.” “That’s not what the Bible says.”
Micah, God’s prophet, God’s spokesman, heard the same. Micah 2:6 “Do not preach”—thus they preach—”one should not preach of such things; disgrace will not overtake us.” As you can see, Micah should be doing exactly what they said he should not be doing! In fact, disgrace did overtake them because they did not repent; because they did not want to hear it!
To every preacher—keep preaching the Truth no matter how confrontational! To every listener—keep embracing the Truth no matter how painful!
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