Pablum is usually associated
with a cereal suited for infants that requires no chewing.
Otherwise, it can be
described as dull, bland, wishy-washy, simplistic, worthless, and
oversimplified.
This is an excellent
description of what comes from most pulpits throughout America today and has
seeped down into the pews of the congregations.
Many pastors today sound more
like politicians than preachers of the Word of God.
God finally got Jonah to
Nineveh to preach to them. Once he did so, they repented, from the king to the
lowest servant.
“Arise, go unto Nineveh, that
great city, and preach unto it the preaching that I bid thee.” (Jonah 3:2)
Jesus arrived on the scene in
Israel and continued the message of John the Baptist; “Repent: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.” Although most ignored Him, many listened.” He instructed
His disciples to “preach the gospel.”
“From that time Jesus began
to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew
4:17)
“And he said unto them, Go ye
into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” (Mark 6:19)
“And daily in the temple, and
in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.” (Acts 5:42)
The apostle Paul preached
“Christ crucified.” Unfortunately to many Jews Paul’s preaching was a stumbling
block, and to many Greeks just plain foolishness.
“But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;” (1
Corinthians 1:23)
Paul made it clear to the
Galatians that any other message than what they received from him was not of
God. He even pronounced a curse, twice, against any who would preach anything
other than the gospel of Christ.
“But though we, or an angel
from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached
unto you, let him be accursed. As we said
before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than
that ye have received, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:8-9)
At the end of his life Paul
told his young protégé Timothy to study and preach the word of God.
“Study to shew thyself
approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing
the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)
“Preach the word; be prepared
in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience
and careful instruction.” (2 Timothy 4:2 NIV)
Ignorance of the Scriptures
is one of the problems with the modern church, and there is no excuse for it,
especially in this country.
How have so many unqualified
preachers gotten behind the pulpits? In some cases it is because the
congregations were so unlike the Bereans they did not know what to look for in
a pastor.
Many church congregations
today are like the Corinthians of Paul’s day. Paul even told them, the
Corinthians, on one occasion:
“Brothers and sisters, I
could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are
still worldly—mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you
were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.” (1 Corinthians
3:1-2 NIV)
The writer of Hebrews told
those he was writing to:
“We have much to say about
this, but it is hard to make it clear to you because you no longer try to
understand. In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need
someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You
need milk, not solid food! Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is
not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for the
mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from
evil.” (Hebrews 5:11-14 NIV)
Far, far too many
congregations across this land are being fed spiritual pablum, in others words,
‘mush.’ It is heartbreaking to know that so many Christians know so little
about the very one who saved them. Consider the following Scripture passage.
“And beginning at Moses and
all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things
concerning himself.” (Luke 24:27)
Jesus explained to two
gentlemen on the road to Emmaus that “Moses and all the prophets” wrote of Him.
Folks this includes the entire Old Testament. The Old Testament was all about
Jesus Christ. Keep in mind the New Testament had not yet been written at that time.
The entire Bible is about one person; i.e. Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son
of God.
How many are actually
preaching the Word of God? More so, how many are preaching the entire Word of
God? For example, at least 25% of the Bible is prophecy, but yet very few will
approach any passage related to prophecy, especially prophecy future. There are
about 300 prophetic passages concerning Jesus’ first coming, and some report at
least eight times that of His second coming.
How many Christians actually
understand grace, salvation, redemption, sanctification, justification, propitiation,
etc.? I dare say, very few.
I challenge all Christians to
study the Bible for yourselves. Do so with much prayer, asking for the Holy
Spirit’s guidance in teaching you what He wants you to know. Some of you have
great pastors who preach the Word, all the Word, as they are instructed by God,
but most of you are not going to be fed properly from the pulpits. You don’t
have to be a seminary graduate with a doctorate degree to understand the Bible.
You have the greatest Teacher of all, the Holy Spirit. This is one reason Jesus
sent us the Comforter, to teach us and guide us. Allow Him to do what He is
here for. He is here for us, to enlighten us about our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ.
Don’t accept mush. Feed on
the milk of the Word so you can mature to the eating of the meat. You’ll be
glad you did.
Grant Phillips
Email: grantphillips@windstream.net
Pre-Rapture Commentary: http://grant-phillips.blogspot.com
Rapture Ready: http://www.raptureready.com/featured/phillips/phillips.html
