How did Prophets Preach

I was reading my Bible and this Scripture really jumped out at me. Luke 3:7 living Bible version--{Here is a sample of John's preaching to the crowds that came for baptism: ``You brood of snakes! You are trying to escape hell without truly turning to God! That is why you want to be baptized!} I wonder what the world would say about John the Baptist’s preaching in our  day and time. They probably would say that he was self righteous, and hypocritical. Compare that with what Jesus had to say about him. He said in Matthew 11:11 { "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; } and then John the Baptist doubted that Jesus was the Christ and that is why the scripture goes on to say this, {but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.} When John was preaching the good news to the people in the harsh way he was preaching, Jesus called him great in the kingdom of God.  What kind of preaching do we get today, it goes something like this –If you’ll just do good and try to do your best, God will bless you. I am your pastor and I am here to tell you how you can be a better person. Jesus wants you rich not poor, He doesn’t want you to go through anything bad. End quote.  Now I ask you, does this kind of message sound familiar to you. What the preacher should be telling them is how to be a totally new born again person, not a better person. And God knows if money will corrupt you or not, so if you will be corrupted by money God will probably not allow you to be rich. The People who love the message of prosperity would most likely hate the message of Jesus and John the Baptist if they were here today. What was the first words out of Jesus’ and John’s mouth when they began their earthly ministry, They both said Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.   They did not tell them that they were fine as they were. They were not concerned with what the people thought about Them, They did not worry about loosing  members, in fact the Bible records in many cases that the crowds were so great that the People who wanted to see Jesus  could not because of the immense crowd of people around Him. They flocked around Him because the Bible says that He taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers of the Law. He preached the Words of Our Heavenly Father, with all the authority of Heaven, for He was God in the flesh, of course, I’m sure the sinful people of His day hated Him and all He stood for. He was the Light of the world and the darkness of men’s hearts fled form that light. Only God can change the thoughts and attitudes of the human heart. The preachers of today need to quit telling the people to just do better, All they really need is to find Jesus and to have a personal relationship with Him and obey Him. Jesus said Himself -{Who is it that loves me, it is he who keeps my commandments, he is the one who loves Me. John {14:21} That is all they will ever need. To be free is to have God’s spirit of freedom and power over sin, but to be right with God in keeping with being free from sin, you must remember that you are nothing without God’s power to keep you walking the path of righteousness. You have absolutely no power to overcome sin on your own. You must rely totally on the Lord Jesus to conquer the strongholds of the devil. There are many new religions out there that the devil has concocted for the soul purpose of driving people away from Jesus. These new religions have the appearance of Godliness. These religions have a gradual way of slipping into the Church so many people do not recognize the deception of these false teachings. These religions sound a lot like God but they have removed one very important thing. {Jesus Christ}, these new religions will tell you not to commit sin, but they took away the only power that you have to overcome sin. The devil knows that without Jesus the world doesn’t stand a chance against Him. The devil’s idea is {No Jesus, No Power}. The Devil doesn’t care if you try to do good or if you go to church or any other religious act you can do to try to overcome sin, as long as Jesus Christ is removed, you are still headed for Hell. Going to Church every time the doors are opened will not save you, taking the Lords Supper will not save you. Only having an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ and obeying Him will save you. I love the way Jesus puts it in John 15: 4-6 { Take care to live in me, and let me live in you. For a branch can't produce fruit when severed from the vine. Nor can you be fruitful apart from me. Yes, I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in me and I in him shall produce a large crop of fruit. For apart from me you can't do a thing. If anyone separates from me, he is thrown away like a useless branch, withers, and is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned.} This scripture is clearly talking about a saved person that was once a servant and now has backslidden and has become useless to God’s kingdom, you can clearly see what happens to him if he doesn’t  return to the Lord before He dies.  He is gathered into a pile with all the others and burned.} This would indicate Hell Fire. The Lord is not willing that any perish, but would turn to Him before it is too late. The Lord will always receive anyone back who repents, but what if you are killed in some way while you are in a backslidden state. You will not make it to Heaven, so there is only one other Choice left and it is not pretty. Please repent from all of your sins and turn to God for forgiveness today. He is always waiting for you, just call to Him and He will come. To know His presence is total peace.  May the Lord Jesus Christ be with your Spirit, Amen.  Lee Martone