MUST WATCH: Americas Evidence For Salvation by Bob Utley

Saints,

This is a powerful prophetic word to the Church from this dear bible teaching brother for over 40 years of ministry: Dr Bob Utley.

Americas Evidence For Salvation by Bob Utley
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/myvideo/photo.php?lid=2126

share it with others!

amen. sadly amen.

The church has never been in a weaker state then it has been in North America may we live and pray desperately for Christ. The great need is a genuine revival.

Indeed,

When I first came across brother Bob I knew him to be primarily a biblical scholar. He is well studied and has an extensive verse by verse Bible study series.

However in recent years God has laid upon him a burden for the condition of the Baptist churches of which he is a part, and the condition of the church in America as a whole. His focus has changed from being Bible study oriented to being very prophetic indeed.

If you haven't already Greg and if you would like, you can get the entire sermon from his Free Bible Commentary website.

http://freebiblecommentary.org/

The sermon is on the video sermons page in the Lakeside Baptist Church section:

http://freebiblecommentary.org/video_sermons.htm#Lakeside_BC

The original title of the sermon is

"Goal, Purpose and Evidence of True Salvation (Matt. 13:1-23"

You can see Bro. Bob's brokenness for the church in that sermon. Would to God I could be half as broken.

God help us.

In the Desert at Zin, Moses was extremely frustrated with Israel; he actually called them rebels. They were complainers, they were not living up to their calling, and there was no evidence that they actually knew God, let alone love Him or trust Him. So, in anger, Moses disobeyed God, and instead of speaking to the Rock, Moses struck the Rock.

The Rock, as we learn in Corinthians, was Christ. The first time God told Moses to strike the Rock, it was a display of the mercy of God. Instead of God striking down the rebellious Israel, He, as the Rock, took their punishment, and out of that Rock came the provision of God, water!

Moses must not have understood that first incident. It seems that he did not see the mercy of God in it, so he struck the Rock again because he must have thought God was mad at the people. God was not angry because His Holy Anger had already been satisfied.

As we learn in the New Testament, we cannot separate Christ (the Head) from His body (the Church). So, when Moses struck the Rock the second time, he was actually beating on Jesus and His people. (Kinda like Paul, huh!)

What does this all mean...well. The very revival, the life that we want to see in God's church, the faith, the love....THE LIFE of God, that we all sincerely desire to see, will not come by beating down God's people, calling them names, and constantly telling them who they SHOULD be and what they SHOULD be doing. This is what Moses did, and God told Him He would never lead God's people into their inheritance. It was impossible!

The Gospel is the Power of God. If we are going to preach and teach God's people, we must first understand what the Gospel actually is. The Gospel is the Life and Work of another man. The Gospel is not what I should be or what I should do, but it is what God has already done for us in Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ has done it all! His work is our inheritance. He has already defeated sin. He has already defeated the devil and all his lies. He has already defeated death. He lives in His Church, NOW, by His Spirit. He has joined Himself to us already, and we ARE His people already. We are seated with Him in heavenly places. We have been adopted into the Trinity Family. We are completely and entirely accepted by God because we are in Christ. He loves us as He loves His own Son.

Preach that. Preach the Gospel. Speak to the Rock....His Church...don't beat them down. Preach the Gospel to the Church and then trust God to bring the increase. It takes a while for a garden to grow!

However in recent years God has laid upon him a burden for the condition of the Baptist churches of which he is a part, and the condition of the church in America as a whole. His focus has changed from being Bible study oriented to being very prophetic indeed.

What does this all mean...well. The very revival, the life that we want to see in God's church, the faith, the love....THE LIFE of God, that we all sincerely desire to see, will not come by beating down God's people, calling them names, and constantly telling them who they SHOULD be and what they SHOULD be doing. This is what Moses did, and God told Him He would never lead God's people into their inheritance. It was impossible!

Good day Mahoney, my fellow servant in Christ,

I understand completely what you are saying, and I understand how you would recoil at this type of preaching and receive it as a preacher "Beating Down" God's people. Your suggestion that the Gospel should be preached to the church sounds very nice on the surface, and I understand completely and respect your view on this. So please do not be offended by anything I say, it is not my intention to cause an offense and hinder the love of Christ from flowing amongst us. I urge you to look at it from another perspective.

It is my view that the Church needs to wake up. They have been in the comfort zone for too long and need this type of preaching. But you may say, and rightly so, that this is just my opinion, and you would be right. So I will point you to the Scriptures.

In the Old Testament when God sent His prophets to His people, they were far from kind with their words. In fact they had some of the strongest rebukes and judgments for God's people, who had turned from their God to serve there own interests and in some cases other gods. It's also important to ad that the harsh words spoken by the prophets, were not the words of the prophets, but God's words as they always declared "Thus saith the Lord". But you might say, and rightly so, that this was Old Testament and they were under Law then, and you would be right. So I will lead you to the New Testament.

John the Baptist, the greatest born of a woman, called God's people a "Generation of Vipers". Christ himself called the generation "Wicked and Adulterous/Perverse". He preached the Gospel to the poor, outcast, publican, leper, prostitute, blind and the sinner, but to the religious (those who professed faith in God) He pronounced judgment and woe. I think it's important to make that distinction. You to will recall His reaction to God's people selling in the temple. Violent, righteous, indignation. But you might say, this was Christ and He had the right to do that. Also even though this was the New Testament, they were still under the Old Covenant in Jesus and John the Baptist's time, because it was before His crucification,resurrection and outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the birth of the Church. You would be right. So I will take you to the period of Grace. After Christ's atoning work and after the birth of the Church.

In the book of Revelation, when Christ reveals what will come upon the earth in the end times, before He even begins to show us anything, He directs His attention to His Church. He delivers messages to the "Angels" or "Messengers" or "Pastors" of these churches. Of the seven churches, only two did not receive a strong rebuke, and the rebukes were harsh and accompanied warnings. Warnings of chastisement and in some cases judgment. This is Christ Himself. Speaking to His Church in the end times. Is He preaching the "Gospel" to His Church? Christ's words to the Church at Laodicea were "You are wretched, poor, blind and naked.", and "If you do not repent, I will vomit you out of my mouth" Is He being Harsh here? Those are Christ words, that He gave to John to give to the Messengers of the churches to deliver to His church in the end times. Is my understanding incorrect here?

Would you say Christ was "Beating Down" His people in these passages in Revelation? It was also the messenger's or "pastors" responsibility to deliver Christ's words, as is, to His people. Could the pastor who delivered Christ's message to the Church of Laodicea be accused of "Beating Down God's People"? Did the pastor preach the "Gospel" to the churches?

I completely understand why you think this kind of preaching is "Harsh". It hurts. It offends. It cuts deep. Your suggestion to "Preach the Gospel" to the Church sounds nice, and in some cases might be valid as there are those in the (visible) Church who do not know God. But according to God's word, not even Christ is preaching the "Gospel" to His church in these last days. But rebuking, warning, exhorting. To the ones who do not know God and do not profess a faith in Christ, yes we preach the Good News. So is it too hard to believe that God can raise up holy men of God like Bro. Bob to warn, rebuke and exhort His people?

As I said at the beginning, it is not my intention to cause an offense, but I believe that in the time that we are living in, according to what I see in God's word, we need more men and women of God who, lead by God, broken for the sin of God's people, to stand and speak the rebukes of Christ. When I hear this type of word, my reaction has always been to turn to God in repentance. I can only cry out to God to have mercy on me and on His church.

I pray that by Christ's love you will see my view on this.

Your fellow servant in Christ.

Bro,

What is your understanding of the Gospel?

Brother,

It is important for us not to judge a man after watching a 4 minute video of him being clipped together. This brother has had a ministry of 40 years of teaching and loving God's people and has preaching 90% grace.

here is another video compilation:

God Cares For Me, Even Me by Bob Utley
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/myvideo/photo.php?lid=2125

If we can never hear a hard word against our sin in our life or the church being asleep or lukewarm then we are in danger of being decieved.

The scriptures readily speak to the "true church" as needing to repent, ie in James you "adulterers".

Bro, What is your understanding of the Gospel?

My brother Mahoney,

I do not think we differ as to our understanding of what the Gospel is at all, I think our difference lies in our understanding of the type, tone and content of the message that Christ has for His church in these last days. And that's fine,there is absolutely nothing wrong with that.

I simply disagree that the type of preaching by Bro. Bob and others like him can be fairly classified as "Beating Down" God's people, and that type of message should not be preached. I just wanted to show you that that has been God's way of dealing with His people, who sin against Him, even up to the seven Churches in Revelation.

I pray that you can see what I was trying to convey, if I have interpreted something wrongly or taken something out of context please show me I am very open to your views.

I'll ask you again because I really am interested in hearing how you view the passages. Do you think Christ was "Harsh" in the book of Revelation or that He was "Beating Down" His people when He rebuked and warned them to Repent?

Yours in Christ.

Mahoney suggested

Moses must not have understood that first incident. It seems that he did not see the mercy of God in it,

Numbers 20:12
And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, Because YE BELIEVED ME NOT, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.

Dear Mahoney, I know your heart and testimony of the Lord through your posts, and your kind comment on Moses' behalf was well-intended, but isn't it also an example of slow we all are to recognise unbelief, or, to acknowledge its deadliness within churches?