“To whom can I speak and give warning? Who will listen to me? Their ears are closed so they cannot hear.  The word of the Lord is offensive to them.  They find no pleasure in it.”

Jeremiah 6:10 NIV 1995 Edition

The people of Israel,  in Jeremiah’s day,  were so caught up in their sinful and rebellious lifestyle that their hearts had become hardened and they completely closed their ears to the Truth of God’s Word!  God had sent His prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and others,  to give them warning after warning of God’s grief over their sin and His impending judgment if they did not repent and turn back to Him.  These warnings went on for several years.  But despite the Word of God being spoken to them again and again and God’s personal dealings with them in sending the remedial judgments of drought, crop failures, pestilence, locusts and defeats at the hands of their enemies, they still refused to hear the Word of the Lord and turn to Him!  They found the Word of the Lord offensive! The reason?  The Word of the Lord exposed their sin!  And they did not want to hear it. 

Just a few weeks ago, a Bible-believing Pastor, Jack Hibbs, of Calvary Chapel in Chino, CA was asked to lead a prayer before the House of Representatives in Washington DC. According to the House Rules, obviously formulated by the liberals and atheists in Congress, you cannot mention, God as Father or mention the Name of Jesus Christ in your prayer.    The pastor went off script and prayed a prayer that acknowledged God, our Heavenly Father,  Jesus as the only Redeemer,  Savior, and Lord and asked for forgiveness for the sins of the nation and reminded those who were making decisions for this nation that one day they would stand before the Judge of all the earth and give an account unto Him for the decisions they make.   The liberals in Congress and the media went ballistic!   They were highly offended by the Truth!  (You can look this up on YouTube). 

The gospel is offensive to those whose hearts have become hardened toward Christ.  It always has been.  It always will be.  But just because people will not hear does not mean that we stop speaking the Truth of Christ!  God still warned Israel, even though they refused to hear.   He did that so that there would be no excuses when the people stood before a Holy God!   So, keep telling the Truth!  It still matters!   

Rev. James W. Black