Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied. Proverbs 27:20 NKJV My guess is that you haven’t heard much preaching on this verse – Huh? In modern American Evangelicalism, sin equates to victimization and certainly not rebellion. In our psychologically inundated culture, we have taught folks that we really aren’t depraved, just dysfunctional; however, that’s NOT what Holy Scripture teaches. I know what you are thinking, “Well, yeah, maybe I do sin, but if my Mom had loved me more, or my Dad had been around more, or my classmates wouldn’t have teased me, or my girlfriend or spouse hadn’t cheated on me, or if I was the boss instead of that evil jerk, and on, and on, and on it goes. If, if, if, if, and more if’s. We certainly don’t refer to rebellion, not even in the pulpit. Maybe the words, “short comings”, “mistakes”, “errors in judgment”, or maybe even, “selfishness” if the pastor feels very secure in his pastorate. That’s kinda where we are, isn’t it? I’m ok; you’re ok, “Jesus is just alright with me” and might I add, “Jesus has a wonderful plan for my life, and would do anything for me, and loves me for just who I am” Jesus does love His sheep, there is no question about that, but he certainly doesn’t love you for who you are, he loves you despite who you are! Let’s take a quick look at, one of my favorite Old Testament Prophets, Jonah. God tells Jonah to go to Ninevah. This was the capital of a very pagan, and bloodthirsty culture. By the way, I believe this was the first time God asked a Jewish prophet to go to a Gentile city and preach. He certainly wasn’t told to preach on love was he? He was told to tell them that their city would be destroyed if they didn’t repent. Not exactly, “Jesus loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life.” So, God has certainly asked a lot of our guy Jonah – right? Now let’s take a quick look at our guy Jonah. Obviously, he was a Jew. He was from the tribe of Zebulun, approximately 3 miles from Nazareth. Can anything “good” come from Nazareth? Hummm, that’s another topic altogether. He didn’t exactly “come to do God’s will” did he? He rebelled against God’s command to go to Ninevah and went the opposite direction to Tarshish. Let’s cut to the chase with our guy Jonah. He was a rebel, and to put it in modern terms, he was racist. Let me do a little sanctified extrapolation here based on Jonah 4. He knew that God was merciful, and he also knew that he didn’t like or dare I say “hated” these nasty Ninevite’s. God just might move these Ninevites hearts to actually repent and believe in God. Now, I get it, the Lord was asking a lot from this guy, but through the Doctrine of Confluence God showed Jonah who Jonah really was. He does that same thing with us – doesn’t he? So, what does this all mean, Scott? It means that the Lord is working in the lives of His children. He shows them their rebellion, and sinful nature that they are still dragging with around with them even after He gives them a new heart. Preachers are to preach both Law and Gospel. When they preach both, like in Jonah’s apparent rebellion, God will move. He will show us our sin and like the racist, rebellious Jonah, we will hear the gentile gospel that says, “Your sins are atoned for, now go and sin no more.” Like in so many situations, the Lord brings hymns to my mind and this is no different: I remember singing this often as a little boy! This hymn comes to mind whenever the Lord shows me, not my shortcomings, not my mistakes, not my errors in judgment, but my rebellion, selfishness, and sinfulness. By the way, he does that through his Word (preached or read (studied). My Brothers in the pulpit, you, like Jonah, are called to say, “Thus says the Lord!” I know it isn’t an easy task, and the Lord works on you as well, but please do that and only that! Take courage, brothers, regardless of who is hearing you preach (even deacons and elders ) the Lord’s people need you to preach truth from God’s Word, not a list of things to give you a better life. Because we always need to remember: Hell and Destruction are never full; So the eyes of man are never satisfied. Proverbs 27:20 NKJV
Author Not Victim by Scott Aussprung
Updated: Mar 24, 2020
The hymn referenced, but never got uploaded was "God Loves Me Dearly"