Voices of Conformity

When George Whitefield burst on the scene in England, his New Testament Christianity so disturbed the established church that they tried to do away with him by denying him the use of their pulpits, forcing Whitefield out into the open air. And Whitefield's message of the utter need of regeneration was so disturbing to his hearers that they tried to silence him. He was pelted with rotten eggs, and pieces of dead cats were thrown at him, while Whitefield was preaching in Moorfields, outside of London.

A man climbed a tree and tried to cut his head off with a sword. In Ireland, while Whitefield was preaching the gospel of the Son of God, a mob attacked him and stoned him in an attempt to kill and silence him. His preaching awoke a sleeping church and fueled a revival that shook two continents for God.

And when Jesus was here on earth and began his public ministry, his message so upset his hearers that they tried to silence him by throwing him off a cliff. Christ the Lord was eventually crucified on a bloody cross by the religious authorities of his day for his message of redemption. And John the Baptist's message of repentance so upset a despot king that John was beheaded.

Each of the apostles, save the apostle John, had their voices silenced through brutal deaths and martyrdom. The apostle Paul's message was so upsetting to his hearers that he was beaten and whipped and stoned and imprisoned, and eventually his voice was silenced by a falling axe. Martin Luther preached such a disturbing message that it shook all of Europe and set the hearts of popes on fire against him.

But I don't believe, friends, we are upsetting or disturbing anyone today with our nice little messages. Let me ask you, brother preacher, who was trying to silence you and your message today? I believe the main reason why society is so dark and in utter moral chaos is due to the fact that our pulpits in this land for the last 70 or 80 years quit preaching disturbing messages. What we have had instead are voices of conformity.

And that's the title of my message today, friends. Voices of conformity. And my text can be found in the book of Ezekiel.

You can turn in your bibles there now. We will be in chapter 33 and verses 7 through 9. Allow me to confront you with the truths that are so terrifying in this striking passage of scripture, and may God, by His Spirit, attend the reading of His holy word. 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. 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. 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.

Believe, friends, there are far too many ministers today with bloody hands for their want of preaching the full counsel of God and warning men and women and boys and girls of a judgment that awaits all mankind. Our preaching today does not disturb a flea, let alone a man in love with his sins. Voices of conformity have drowned out man's danger of dying in his sins and being cast into a burning furnace full of hellfire.

It is my prayer that the Lord of the harvest will raise up a band of preachers in our day who fear God more than man, men who are completely sold out for Christ and who aren't afraid to call sin black and hell hot, preachers anointed by the Spirit of God and who preach a crucified Christ on a bloodstained cross to a loving society, men who are willing to be silenced by death if necessary for their message. So long as Christ is preached and souls are saved, O great God, send us more preachers like these, the Apostle Paul, Luther, Wesley, Whitefield, Knox, Edwards, Finney, Spurgeon, Moody, each shared a calm denominator, a fire in their belly. They each were so eaten up with the gospel and thirsty for Christ and filled with the Holy Ghost they could not stand idly by while others perished.

They saw nothing but eternity, worshipped a holy God and served a risen Christ, living not for earth nor its gains, but living only for heaven and its rewards. When they preached, they linked the devil with sin and the cross with salvation. They preached hell and its fire and Christ and Him crucified.

Not one of them feared king, queen, or pope, and not one of them sought the compliments of men. O great God, send us a band of preachers like this today. Let us pray.