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Eight Reasons Why People Won’t Accept The GospelReason 1 – ‘No Due Sense of Spiritual want.’
So here we go, this is part one of eight reasons why people won’t accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ!
The first reason:
‘No due sense of spiritual want.’
And I do apologize for the noise in the background it started to rain here and you know how it is with tropical rains… Well this is not even a big rain but it already caused me to have some visitors in my studio. I’ll show you the visitors
So how about that having some good friends, some goats.
So Boston said:
No due sense of spiritual wants:
Proverbs 27:7 “The full soul loatheth the honey-comb.”
Most men are sick of a Laodicean disease, saying in their practice as they
said in their hearts, that
“they are rich and increased in goods, and stand in need of nothing,” (Revelation 3:17)
They are not mourning under their want of light, of life, and of holiness. They reign as kings with what they have, though, as with King Saul,
God is departed from them. Hence they do not value that treasure which is hid in the field of the gospel.
Back in 1997 my wife and I started in a lower class neighbourhood because we just couldn’t afford a more expensive house but interestingly we had great conversations with many in the neighbourhood. Many, not all, had low paying jobs or weren’t even working at all some couldn’t work because of illness but others were just too lazy. Especially those who didn’t want to live in that neighbourhood, those who have had a good education, but for some reason got stranded with almost nothing, especially these people recognized that they were in need. They didn’t feel great about themselves or even about the things they had. And on top of that, often their marriage came to an end and they lost their last sense of self-worth. They looked at that treasure in the field and realized they could very well use it.
… I have some visitors in the windows here… You see that?
A few years later we moved house. The old house needed too many repairs so we moved. And for Dutch standards we moved to a big house. We had two cars and received our first child. The new neighbourhood was the opposite of the old one. Many of our neighbours were very content with their lives. And most of them had their own business or were actually enjoying a very nice pension. Telling my neighbours about Jesus and why they need him too was sometimes like preaching to the birds.
On the internet I found this example of what these people could have said:
“I do not sense any great hurt or lack or failure in my life. I have a good education; I have achieved vocational success; my marriage and children are fine; my personal life is one of morality and integrity. I have respect for the church, I believe in God, but I do not see any overwhelming need in my life—nothing that compels me to cry out to Jesus Christ to save me.”
You see, the people who think like this (because normally they will not say it aloud) look at the treasure in the field and argue that many people could really use that treasure. Oh yes, the treasure is just what some people need. Yes, it looks like a fine treasure but they are sure they don’t need it themselves. And you might ask why not, well isn’t that obvious? They believe they have enough treasure of their own. Sometimes they even believe that the Gospel is just a crutch for the weak people.
And strangely enough this attitude can be found worldwide. You might say that the Malagasy people belong to those who can value the treasure for what it is. I mean, Madagascar is one of the poorest countries in the world. In our area an adult man earns between 75 euro cents or one euro fifty, depending on the the work and on the day… When they have a job that is. I mean most of the time they don’t even have a job. And they live in little houses with barely space enough for the whole family, let alone any property. Still, even here I come across people who see themselves as spiritual rich. So now and then they bring the necessary offers to please the spirits of their ancestors. They are sure that the ancestors are very much willing to plead their case at the throne of God. Also many of them already got baptised in a protestant church when they were still babies, so, like the group of our rich neighbourhood, they say something like “I have respect for the church. Oh yes! I even believe in god. I mean I have been baptized after all right?” So this false sense of security makes them believe that they are not in need of the treasure even when it is visible in plain sight. But in reality they are seeing blind. They suffer, like many people in the west, of the Laodicean disease. They see themselves as rich in goods, or rich in spiritual feelings and think they don’t need salvation.
You know I very much love the parables of Jesus. They make you think and when you are done thinking about them they make you realise how great the work of Jesus actually is. So let’s read about the aforementioned treasure, shall we?
Let’s go to Matthew 13:44
“The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field which a man found and covered up then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field”.
So let me ask you are you suffering from the Laodicean disease? Do you feel like king Saul of the Old Testament? Reigning over your goods, over your household. Ruling over your spiritual belongings, and not knowing that God actually departed from you?
If so, please read what happened to the people in the bible who suffered the same disease. You might hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and realise that for many this Gospel is like a treasure worth owning.
Don’t be dumb and think your that your own treasure is bigger and better. Your own treasure will not carry you into everlasting life with God. It will not save you. It might make you feel good here and now, but it will not create a private heaven for you where you can go when you die. You would be wise to pursue the treasure of the Gospel with all your might, even if that would mean that you have to give up your own hard-earned wealth. Be like that man in the parable Jesus used. Don’t let the treasure of the life of Jesus slip through your fingers!
