August 2 – LD 31, Day 4: The Discriminating Power of the
Preaching of the Gospel
by Rev Arie den Hartog
Read: II Thessalonians 1:1 - 9
The preaching of the Word of Christ must sound a note
of warning to those who refuse to turn from their wicked ways. According to the
words of the Heidelberg Catechism, the sounding of the word of warning is the
exercise of the keys of the kingdom. The catechism has this to say; “and on the
contrary, when it is declared and testified to all unbelievers, and to such as
do not sincerely repent, that they stand exposed to the wrath of God and
eternal condemnation, so long as they are unconverted: according to which
testimony of the gospel God will judge them, both in this life and in the life
to come.”
It is especially this aspect of the power of the keys of the kingdom that many
churches neglect. They teach that God loves all men. They teach that God has a
wonderful plan for everyone. Many minimize the seriousness of sin. Recently,
there has been a lot of public media attention in the
God is indeed a God of mercy and love, according to which He saves His people
in spite of their unworthiness and sin. But God is also a God of severe
justice. Holiness and righteousness are absolute perfections of God. Because of
the holiness of God, He pours out His wrath on the wicked ungodly. He will in
the last day judge them by His own standard of perfect righteousness and give
them the judgment which they justly deserve.
In fact, the Bible warns in Luke that servants who
knew the word of their lord and did not listen and obey it, shall be beaten
with double punishment. The meaning is that those who have heard the preaching
of the gospel and the call to repentance, and have hardened their hearts to it,
will have an even more severe judgment than the millions who die without ever
hearing the preaching of the gospel. See Luke 12:47 - 48.
It is the solemn duty of the church to be very serious about sin. God hates not
only those sins of word and deed, but all evil thoughts and desires of men’s
hearts when they are not repented of. Our modern times are one of great apostasy.
One of the main characteristics of this apostasy is the minimization of sin.
Churches that do not warn men about God’s judgment on sin are not the ministers
of salvation for men, but they are in fact deceivers of men. The blood of the
men that they have failed to warn will be on them.
The faithful preacher of the gospel of Christ, in obedience to His word, must
sound a clear warning about the seriousness of sin. He must clearly set forth
exactly what sin is. He must show how sin is absolutely contrary to the Word of
God. He must warn of the severe judgment of God that will come on the
impenitent. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of an angry God. And we who also hear this Word of God, must repent and turn to
Christ in whom alone is deliverance from judgment and salvation.