Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Acts 4:1-2
The Jews rejected and crucified Jesus Christ, but as He told them before He was crucified, He rose from death. But apart from telling them that He would rise from the dead, He also said things that implied that He was God. Once, the Jews questioned Him regarding the authority by which He did the things that He did, and He said to them, in John 2:19, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." So, they reckoned that if the proclamation of His resurrection was allowed, the people will believe that what He said regarding His deity was true after all, and they will believe in Him as the true Messiah of Israel. For this reason, they were vehemently opposed to the preaching of the resurrection.
But the apostles equally knew that the preaching of Jesus without the resurrection was a lame message, therefore, even against the threat of death, they were ready to sacrifice their lives on altar of the truth of the resurrection, of which, according to Peter, they were eyewitnesses to; and of which Paul said he was in chains, even though he once opposed the preaching of the resurrection.
How often do we remember to put the resurrection in the front burner of our gospel message? Apart from the resurrection, our messages, no matter how well worded they may be, are lame, or at the best, mere tickle fancies that are void of the power of God to save and transform lives. How the devil loves that we preach such a lifeless gospel, which in reality is no gospel at all.
Such messages are filled with hypes and motivational tips for greatness in this failed world. Yet, in our age, this is the marketable message to which multitudes of people flock; it tickles them, makes them jump and dance for what in the judgment of God is foolishness. The best that can be gotten from such messages are temporary fixes that the adherents have to refill again and again because it lacks the power to truly satisfy.
If you are a servant of the people, you can't but declare to them what you know they love to hear; but if you are a servant of the Lord, you will declare to the people only that which they need to hear. This is the distinction between the servants of God and servants of the people. So, who's servant are you? This, very well shows in the kind of message that you preach.
Toni
