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While engaged in a rather insightful and nostalgic phone conversation recently, the subject of “old-time preaching” was broached. My friend and I began to recall some of the wonderful ministers from our youth. We reminisced about the great, passionate and powerful sermons we heard being proclaimed without the aid of amplification or air conditioning. We wondered aloud what has happened to these pulpiteers who, literally, used to scare “hell” out of us and instill a sense of heaven-consciousness in us with their fiery preaching.

Our memories took us back to the time when it seemed that these men of God could echo the words of the Apostle Paul when he said in Acts 20:27, “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God.” It is this author’s studied opinion that much of today’s sermonizing seems to be more like Simonizing; we simply gloss over the rust, the dings, the dents and the scratches in an attempt to “spit-shine” our imperfections and lack of holy living that is required by our Holy God.

As we were talking, I made the comment about the need to hear more messages reminding us of the imminent return of Christ for His bride. We used to hear it so often and so convincingly that Jesus could come at any moment, that my dad would not even buy GREEN BANANAS. That is how persuaded his generation was of the immediacy of Christ’s return. What has happened to that perspective over the years? When did it disappear from the pulpit and the pew? That is a question that deserves our attention.

Our generation has evolved into a “here and now” ideology and lifestyle that relegates the Doctrine of Eschatology (“teaching of the last days”) to an unnecessary, seldom-mentioned “point-counterpoint” Barroom discussion among the inebriated. I believe this is a gross error to overlook the eternal significance of the rapture of the Church and the subsequent tribulation period that will occur on earth.

With this obvious lack of attention from our ministers, it is heartwarming to know that great songs are still being written and sung about Heaven. These songs may be the only message the audience will hear imploring them to “...prepare to meet thy God” (Amos 4:12). The great mandate Christ placed upon His Church was to tell the story of eternity so people could decide their destiny. It truly is an option of “turn or burn”, “fly or fry.” The destinations are clearly delineated in Scriptures as being Heaven or Hell: which will it be?

When Paul made his statement mentioned earlier, he said he had not SHUNNED (Greek: “avoided, kept back”) from DECLARING (Greek: Literally, “To announce, report, tell a message from heaven or about heaven”) all of the COUNSEL (Greek: “decrees, decisions”) of God. Paul understood, as well as we today, that there is a society that just wants its ear tickled. They want biblical pabulum that requires no real effort to digest or any real action on the part of the hearer. Paul surely must have been tempted to modify his message to avoid the big issues of his day such as persecution and martyrdom and give his infant audience a “warm fuzzy” Word. Nevertheless, he stayed true to his calling and declared both the triumphs and the trials that will occur in the Christian walk.

Can we do less today than our predecessors? Can we justify “watering down” or “dumbing down” the message of the Gospel of Christ in order to accommodate an increasingly secular society? Paul’s message was simply that God has rules and regulations that serve as criteria for entering HIS heaven. They are not options: they are requirements! You either embrace God’s laws and live by them, or you suffer the consequence of banishment to hell.

Now, let’s address the next critical ingredient. That would be the moral character of the messengers. Since singers and musicians probably do more to advance the message of eternity, shouldn’t we hold ourselves accountable to God for our lifestyles? Isaiah said, “...touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; BE YE CLEAN that bear the vessels of the LORD” (Isaiah 52:11). This is but one mandate where God demands purity in the life of His servants.

God’s Word is called by Joshua, “The Book of the Law.” Therefore, we must see the pages of the Bible as containing the laws of His Kingdom. Remember, they are NOT God’s suggestions they are His LAWS. In the Garden God gave ONE law to Adam. He then gave TEN to Moses. In the entire Old Testament, He gave 613 Ordinances consisting of 365 “Thou Shalt Nots” and 248 “Thou Shalts.” Surprising to many is the fact that the New Testament contains at least 1050 commands from God.

Most readers of the New Testament simply take the Scripture that indicates that there is just ONE commandment in the New Testament and assume that “one means one.” Yes it does, with an important qualification. In the Greek language, there is the fairly common use of a principle of syntax called a SYNECDOCHE (rhymes with Schenectady, NY). This word refers to “a figure of speech by which, most commonly, a part is used for the whole (as in “that ALL the world should be taxed” Luke 2:1.) It was all the world that was under the government of Rome, not the entire population of the planet). Remember, Luke’s statement employing the synecdoche principle referred to all the world that was under consideration in the context, not the entire scope of humanity, which was called by Caesar Augustus to be enrolled through this census.

How does this apply to us? Here is an elemental principle every conscientious Christian should know. There is just ONE law regarding how to BE saved. There are 1050 laws or commands telling us how to BEHAVE as a Christian. One command is to show us the way to Salvation, the 1050 commands show us the way to Discipleship. Christ does not save us and then leave us floundering without guidance in our walk as a Christian.

Christ gave us all of these commands to follow in order to show His Lordship in our lives. He, as Lord, will guide us in the behavior that will please him and help us. The Lord, through His Apostles, does not suggest but commands the proper lifestyle for the Christian. His 248 “Thou Shalts” are just as important as His 365 “Thou Shalt Nots.”

These 1050 New Testament commands are seen in the verb form of the Imperative Mode in Greek. They are recognized by the English reader in passages where we are told to DO something. Some simple examples are “Pray without ceasing”, “Love thy neighbor”, “Abstain from all appearance of evil”, “Flee fornication”, “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together” and 1 Peter 1:16, “Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” When we are told to do something by our Lord, that directive constitutes a biblical commandment. There are 1050 such commands in the New Testament with most of them coming in the writings of the Apostles.

One of the great motivating scriptures giving us a command from our Lord is found in Matthew 24:44. Here Christ says, “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” These words from our Lord contain both a message and a mandate. Listen singer, songwriter, pastor or evangelist: the MESSAGE is of His soon coming to rapture His Church; the MANDATE is for US to live a holy, unblemished and consecrated life as a messenger of the Gospel of Christ.

As a Gospel Music industry, our collective resolution for 2008 should be to live a life that is above reproach. Paul gives us a powerful command to use as a personal ambition in Colossians 3:5-6. He says, “Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience.” You see, friends, there are severe consequences to disregarding or disobeying any of God’s 1050 New Testament commandments.

Why should we make purity and holiness such a priority now? Because Jesus is truly coming soon! All the signs and even the sounds point to His imminent return. If we truly believe what we say and what we sing, why would we even consider buying GREEN BANANAS!


****A Personal Word to Our Readers from Dr. Frazier****

There are great insights to be derived from the study of the Greek New Testament. Each month I will endeavor to share a nugget of truth from the Book of Truth, God’s Eternal Word.

These will be concise and should not intrude into your time or opportunity to explore the richness of the vein from which they were extracted. That is for you and the Holy Spirit to excavate together. These nuggets are just to let you know where to begin the digging, if you so desire. They are NOT designed to be an exhaustive commentary providing all the answers on the subject. The Spirit will guide you in how deep to dig. The Greek will be presented in a way that is easy to understand (transliterated) and easy to verify (“SC” refers to Strong’s Concordance). With a little help, you can check the assayers report for yourself. So, pull out this shiny, new nugget and see where it leads you. Please feel free to share your questions, observations or insights with our readers and me.
Website: http://www.donfrazier.com

Reader Comments

Wow, this article really surprised me. In the day we live in there aren't many mentions of holy living; now we seem to focus on more social issues than spiritual issues. Many years ago I heard a song called "The Last Sunday" in which the writer mentioned "a church near valley station" where the preacher "tells the congregation about social action war and civil rights". We know that the scriptures tell us that the Lord will return exactly when we have convinced ourselves that He won't. What I say to you now, I say to all - WATCH. Thanks for a great article!

God loves all kinds of music if it glorifies Jesus Christ, but He taps His feet to Southern Gospel!

Reverend Tim Hill, Church of God Cleveland Assistant General Overseer

Gospel Sounds Ministries

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