In a frontier settlement out west, the people were engaged in the lumbering business. The town wanted a church so they built a building and called in a minister. The preacher was well received, and everybody “liked” him. Then one day he visited the lumbering operation down at the river. He noticed some of the members pulling logs out of the river that had been floating down from another company upstream. Each log was marked with the owner’s mark. The members would saw the end off the log and put their own mark on it, and push it back into the river to float down to the mill. This greatly disturbed the preacher.
The next Sunday he prepared a forceful sermon on the “Golden Rule.” At the close of the services, his people lined up and congratulated him: “Wonderful message! Mighty fine preaching! I really enjoyed your sermon!”
However, as the preacher watched the river that week, he saw the members continuing to steal logs. This bothered him even more. The following Sunday, he preached another forceful sermon on the subject: “Thou Shalt Not Steal!” Again, as the members filed out of the church building, they shook his hand and congratulated him on the wonderful, powerful message.
Thinking he finally got his message across, the preacher again went to the river, but to his dismay, the members were still pulling logs out of the river, cutting the ends off of them, and replacing the other company’s mark with their mark.
The following Sunday, he got into the pulpit and preached: “Thou Shalt Not Cut the Ends Off Thy Neighbor’s Logs!” Immediately after the sermon, the church ran him out of town.
The apostle Paul said the time would come when people would not endure sound doctrine, but would heap to themselves teachers who would preach only what they wanted to hear (2Timothy 4:2-4). People would continue to be religious and go to church, but they would not endure the Truth. That’s sad, because only the truth can set us free (John 8:32).
Paul said the time would come, and that time is here. How many sermons have you heard lately on Sin, Repentance, and Hell? It seems most sermons today embrace the “Easy Believism,” “Feel Good,” religion of “Prosperity.” Pulpits have conditioned their audiences that God’s main goal for their life is to make them “happy.” Therefore, whatever makes them happy, or feel good, must be a Godsend, even if it involves drugs, alcohol, or adultery. One lady said, “This man makes me happy, and since God wants me to be happy, I believe He wants me to divorce my husband and marry him!” Worship is being arranged around whatever entertains the audience and makes them feel good with little, if any, emphasis on the Way that even Jesus called “straight and narrow” (Matthew 7:13-14).
Many have ears to hear, but cannot hear (Mark 8:18). They sit in a church building year after year judging the preacher’s performance. They will tolerate all kinds of sins being condemned except their own. Many preachers are bowing to the pressure to “tickle the ears of their hearers” and are therefore preaching a powerless gospel.
The main work of Satan is to deceive (Rev. 12:9; 2Corinthians 11:13-15). Have you ever wondered how he is doing that? It is by taking our emphasis off the only thing that can set us free, i.e. the Truth, which is the Word of God (John 17:17).
— Toby Miller