Rude Preachers

 

 

Suggested Reading: I Kings 18; II Kings 1; Jeremiah 23; Ezekiel 13; Matthew 22; Matt 23; I Timothy 1; II Tim 4; Titus 1.

 

Introduction:

1. This sermon is different, in that it has little to take home and practice; instead it defends godly ministers.
2. I have preached to you very recently about delighting in the Lord, delighting in Jesus, and spiritual adultery.
3. The people of God need to know and remember God’s picture of preachers, not the world’s refined image.
4. You should avoid offence yourself with a rude pastor, and you should be able to defend one against attack.
5. Our website is exposing your pastor to more and more, many who do not have a clue about a Bible preacher.
6. Our daily commentary on a verse of Proverbs contains a rude use of the Bible that our generation dislikes.
7. Just last week I preached to you from Ezekiel 16, and he was merely typical of God’s prophets and apostles.
8. The lesson today is not for entertainment; let God’s serious anger against sin provoke your zeal for holiness.
9. For the maximum value of this study, you need to put these examples into the religious settings of our day.
10. I am bound to preach to you the whole counsel of God, though this will not be one of my favorite sermons.
11. This generation wants little ladies, sweet couples, or men looking and talking like ladies preaching to them!
12. You children! Do not ever settle for some friendly pastor with a great bedside manner! He will ruin you!

INTRODUCTION TO RUDE PREACHERS

1. God’s ministers are often accused of being rude or harsh in speech and unrefined in conduct.
   1. They accused John of a devil, Jesus of drunkenness and glutton, and Paul of madness. Nice, huh?
   2. Since they cannot deny the doctrine due to ignorance of the Bible, evil men attack the preacher.
   3. After accusations of being too divisive, silly scorners will pontificate that preachers are too rude.
   4. We live in an effeminate society, where ridiculing sin and naming names are considered wrong.
   5. Our nation, following effeminate Canada, considers hate legislation to outlaw Bible preaching.
   6. God’s people need to know the basis for their minister’s conduct in order to defend him.
   7. God’s ministers are not hurt by names and accusations, but they are sensitive to do right.
   8. The opinions of women, which weigh heavily in most churches, are the least relevant! What does a woman know about authority, leadership, teaching, war, and other ministerial duties?
2. If we rightly knew the terrible nature of God, we would expect the same from His servants.
   1. The LORD suffocated humanity in the waters of the flood, but He sent a preacher named Noah for 120 years before it came. Would you want Noah to rudely get your attention or be polite?
   2. The Arminian God of universal love creates a compromising, begging, and weak ministry.
   3. The sissified, effeminate, sodomitical, and pedophiliac priests of Rome are an abomination!
   4. Roman Catholic efforts at ecumenism have created intolerance for criticism and authority.
   5. Why be “nice” when dealing with error? Error is sin! Sin is horribly ugly! God hates sin much!
   6. If there is literally a fiery hell for sinners, why would any ordained man worry about politeness?
   7. God’s preachers are like the sound of a trumpet, not a harp or flute (Joel 2:1,15; Rev 1:10)!
   8. Jesus Christ has eyes as flames of fire with a sharp, two-edged sword coming out of his mouth!
   9. God’s preachers are not surrogate grandfathers, administrators, charismatic leaders, entertainers, baby dedicators, wedding officials, hospital volunteers, or funeral directors. Church members should visit the sick! Ministers have a much more important job than dozing in waiting rooms!
   10. Benny Hinn and effeminate charlatans like him would be excluded by Bible churches (I Cor 6:9).
   11. Adding Pope John Paul II, Robert Schuller, Jack van Impe, James Dobson, and Bill Gothard to Benny Hinn still leave you far short of one man of God! It is hard to tell if these are men!
3. The Bible is able to make the man of God perfect by precept and example (II Timothy 3:16-17).
   1. As with other issues, we shall esteem God’s word right and hate all false ways (Psalm 119:128).
   2. Effeminate preachers, who are “lovers of their own selves,” and who creep into houses and lead captive silly women, cannot accept that their refinement and culture stinks to Bible believers!
   3. The Jesus of the Bible must define all “Christ-like” references, which in most people’s minds is nothing more than Catholic artists’ renditions of a longhaired fairy! The Jesus of the Bible would astonish people, just like He did to His own harsh generation (Matt 7:28-29; John 2:12-18)!
   4. Proper preaching is like a hammer and a fire, not sweet dreams and stories (Jeremiah 23:28-29)!
   5. There is not a verse about pulpit or bedside manner, for these are not the marks of a man of God.
   6. The only pulpit in the Bible was something a preacher stood on, so all the people could see him open the Word of God in their sight! The people, including children, stood for three hours, while they read the Bible distinctly and gave the sense of verses to cause understanding (Neh 8:1-8).

EXAMPLES OF RUDE PREACHERS

1. Rude. I. 1. Uneducated, unlearned; ignorant; lacking in knowledge or book-learning. 3. Devoid of, or deficient in, culture or refinement. 5. Ungentle, violent, harsh, rugged; marked by unkind or severe treatment of persons. II. 8. Of language, composition, etc.: Lacking in elegance or polish; deficient in literary merit. 9. Coarse, inelegant, rough. [Oxford English Dictionary.]
   1. Paul admitted he was rude in speech, but not in knowledge; he chose ignorance (II Cor 11:6; I Cor 2:1-5).
   2. Paul’s critics honored his letters, but his presence was weak and his speech contemptible (II Cor 10:10).
   3. Paul was very learned – quoting from minor poets – but chose not to use it (Acts 17:28; 22:3; Titus 1:12).
   4. This sermon includes much more than just the lack of refinement and eloquence expected by worldlings.
   5. Most of God’s ministers were not educated by worldly standards, but they were also politically incorrect!
2. God’s rude preachers often show an obvious lack of refined learning and eloquent speech and gentle manners.
   1. Elijah was a hairy man who wore a leather loincloth, and this was his public reputation (II Kings 1:1-8).
   2. He was a rough and wild man, and John the Baptist was just like him (Luke 1:17; Matthew 3:4; 11:8).
   3. The first Baptist preacher was quite a character; and there is little reason to be much different from him; for Jesus plainly stated that he was the greatest prophet ever born to a woman (Matt 11:11)!
   4. Peter and John were fishermen, who gave obvious evidence of being ignorant when speaking (Acts 4:13).
   5. Peter might well have been illiterate. He didn’t have need of training in Hebrew or Swahili (Acts 2:1-4)!
   6. John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul were described as mad by critics (Matt 11:18; John 10:20; Acts 26:24).
   7. What should we expect, when the blessed God chose rebellious men to be His ministers (Psalm 68:18)!
   8. Moses, Jeremiah, Amos, Jonah, and Paul all had varying degrees and forms of rebellion to preaching!
3. God’s rude preachers are often coarse and rough in their actions and speech, opposed to effeminate preachers.
   1. Abraham, a patriarchal priest, scared the wits out of his son by binding him on an altar (Genesis 22:9-10)!
   2. Moses showed pastoral compassion by making Israel drink gold Kool-Aid from a golden calf (Ex 32:20)!
   3. Then he rallied his pastoral assistants and told them to look up close friends and kill them (Ex 32:25-29)!
   4. God said Miriam would have been unclean if her father had spit in her face to make a point (Num 12:14).
   5. When the church repented and wanted to do right, Moses would not help them do it (Numbers 14:39-45)!
   6. Meek and mild Moses showed a total lack of respect for gays by calling them dogs (Deut 23:17-18).
   7. A Levite sent a sexually abused concubine in twelve pieces by mail to condemn Gibeah (Jdgs 19:29-30).
   8. King Saul aroused all Israel to war by mailing a dissected yoke of oxen with a threat (I Samuel 11:1-7).
   9. Samuel hewed Agag in pieces, rather than using a lethal injection behind closed doors (I Samuel 15:33)!
   10. He prepared a story to mislead Saul, when he went to Bethlehem to anoint David as king (I Sam 16:1-5).
   11. David told Abigail he would have destroyed any that piss against walls without her help (I Samuel 25:34).
   12. David publicly danced in a linen ephod – shamelessly uncovered by some standards (II Samuel 3:14,20).
   13. Sweet David, between psalms and prophesying, chopped up Ammonites and burned them (II Sam 12:31)!
   14. Ahijah the prophet told Jeroboam God would remove him as a man taketh away dung (I Kings 14:10-11).
   15. Elijah was not very nice to Ahab, talking of dogs licking his blood and eating his wife (I Kgs 21:17-24)!
   16. Micaiah was not very nice to the ministerial association that requested his cooperation (I Kings 22:13-14).
   17. Elisha was not very respectful to the senior pastor by asking for a double portion of his spirit (II Kgs 2:9).
   18. Elisha was not a very compassionate Sunday School teacher to some irreverent children (II Kgs 2:23-25)!
   19. Elisha the prophet showed disrespect for Jehoram, King of Israel, when sought by him (II Kings 3:13-14).
   20. Jehu threw Jezebel down, rode his horse over her, and made Baal’s temple a public toilet (II Kings 9-10).
   21. Josiah got a little carried away after Bible reading and discriminated against the sodomites (II Kgs 23:7).
   22. Asa was not very nice to his own mother, because she had different religious ideas (II Chronicles 15:16)!
   23. Job mocked his friends’ wisdom and said their fathers were inferior to his sheep dogs (Job 12:2; 30:1).
   24. Job listed among his righteous deeds for justification the breaking of the jaws of the wicked (Job 29:17).
   25. Elihu waited and listened to Job and his three friends, but then he told them to shut up (Job 32:1-22).
   26. Elihu told Job he had more things to say and that he had perfect knowledge to help him (Job 36:1-4).
   27. The sweet psalmist of Israel spoke of evil men barking like dogs and belching (Psalm 59:6-7).
   28. The sweet psalmist described God laughing at the wicked, and so should we (Ps 2:4; 37:13; 52:6; 59:8)!
   29. The sweet psalmist described dipping feet in blood and dashing baby’s brains out (Ps 68:22-23; 137:9).
   30. Isaiah walked naked and barefoot through Israel for three years to give them an object lesson (Is 20:1-5).
   31. Isaiah ridiculed Israel’s wicked priests and used a unique – eunuch – example to do it (Isaiah 56:3,10-12).
   32. God said through Jeremiah that the children of Judah were sottish children, which is not nice (Jer 4:22).
   33. Jeremiah took a girdle, buried it, and then wore it dirty to condemn Judah (Jeremiah 13:1-11).
   34. God called Jerusalem a menstruous woman among her adversaries (Lamentations 1:17; Ezekiel 36:17).
   35. Ezekiel showed the LORD’s coming judgment by eating barley cakes baked over dung (Ezekiel 4:9-15).
   36. Ezekiel described the Jews spiritual adultery with graphic and lewd language about whores (Ezek 16,23).
   37. Hosea first married a whore and then an adulteress to show God’s love to His people (Hos 1:1-3; 3:1-3).
   38. Nehemiah contended for the faith by cursing, smiting, pulling hair, and forcing oaths (Neh 13:23-27).
   39. Jonah showed the character of a prophet – he was disappointed Nineveh was not destroyed (Jonah 4:1-4)!
   40. Malachi told the priests of Israel that God would spread the dung of their feasts on their faces (Mal 2:3).
   41. Jesus Christ in prophecy used the term “dogs” to describe his persecutors at the crucifixion (Psalm 22:16).
   42. Our blessed Lord spoke of unbelievers as “dogs” and “swine,” and Gentiles as “dogs” (Matt 7:6; 15:26).
   43. The preaching and teaching of Jesus was such that men were astonished at his authority, not his gentleness; for he preached very differently from the effeminate scribes of His day (Matt 7:28-29)!
   44. Jesus did not answer the Jew’s leaders about his authority, but answered with a question (Matt 21:23-27)!
   45. Jesus said the Sadducees didn’t know scripture (Matt 22:29) and two good men were fools (Luke 24:25).
   46. Jesus used “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “fools,” “serpents,” and “vipers” for religious leaders (Matt 23).
   47. Jesus Christ healed a blind man by spitting in his eyes and another by spittle mud (Mark 8:23; John 9:6).
   48. When lawyers thought Jesus’ rebuke of Pharisees hit close to home, He turned on them (Luke 11:45-52)!
   49. Jesus made fun of the rich man, who thought he would build bigger barns to hold his gain (Luke 12:20).
   50. If the crowd was too large, our Jesus reduced it by demanding extreme discipleship (Luke 14:25-33).
   51. Jesus made a scourge in premeditated anger, drove carnal worshippers from the temple, poured out their money, and threw their tables over in fury and zeal for the proper worship of God (John 2:12-18)!
   52. When told His preaching was too difficult, He repeated the message to thin the crowd (John 6:60-67)!
   53. James did not help the self-esteem of his hearers, as he railed on their evil tongues (James 3:1-12).
   54. And then he called them adulterers and adulteresses merely for friendship with the world (James 4:4)!
   55. Peter called evil workers, “brute beasts”; and he called backsliders, “dogs” and “sows” (II Peter 2:12,22).
   56. Jude was unkind to some other preachers, saying they had been predestinated to condemnation (Jude 1:4).
   57. Our blessed Jesus wasn’t very nice to the first woman pastor at the church at Thyatira (Rev 2:22-23)!
   58. Jesus said to the church members in Laodicea He would spew them out of His mouth (Revelation 3:16).
   59. These are a sample of examples from the Bible that could be extended indefinitely, if there was a need.
   60. God’s prophets, apostles, and Son looked, acted, and spoke differently from today’s men of the cloth!
4. God’s rude preachers are not at all above mocking and ridiculing another man’s religion, which is not nice!
   1. Miriam led a dance on the shore of the Red Sea to mock the water logged Egyptians (Exodus 15:20-21).
   2. Deborah led a song in commemoration of Jael nailing Sisera’s head to the ground (Judges 5:1-31).
   3. God put a perpetual reproach on Dagon and the Philistines with emerods (I Samuel 4-6; Psalm 78:66).
   4. Elijah made a mockery of the religion of sincere and devoted folks with a popular religion (I Kgs 18:17).
   5. Micaiah the prophet mocked King Ahab by lying to him about his future in a coming battle (I Kgs 22:15).
   6. The psalmist wrote some words for singing that ridiculed idols and idolaters (Ps 115:4-8; 135:15-18).
   7. Isaiah did a great job mocking at length those who ignorantly worship the stumps of trees (Is 44:9-20).
   8. John the Baptist sarcastically ridiculed the religious leaders who observed him baptizing (Matthew 3:7-9).
   9. Jesus Christ mocked those that had gone out to see John the Baptist in the wilderness (Matthew 11:7-19).
   10. Jesus condemned the religion and leaders of Pharisaism, the Fundamentalists of His day (Matthew 23).
   11. Stephen did not use very nice words as he gave the invitation at the end of his sermon (Acts 6:51-60).
   12. Jesus Christ wrote to two churches and condemned them for the doctrine of the Nicolaitans (Rev 2:6,15).
   13. And He called the Jews’ religion the synagogue of Satan, which was not very nice at all (Rev 2:9; 3:9).
   14. He said other church members were dead (Rev 3:1) and needed to be thrown in bed and killed (2:22).
5. God’s rude preachers are not at all above criticizing or condemning other men by name. Hear it well!
   1. Loving John openly criticized and condemned a fellow preacher Diotrephes of pride (III John 1:9-10).
   2. Jesus Christ wrote directly against a woman prophetess named Jezebel in Thyatira (Revelation 2:20).
6. Since Paul is the pattern for Gentile preachers, we should consider his ministerial example very carefully.
   1. Note and remember it was Paul who was known for rude and contemptible speech (II Cor 11:6; 10:10).
   2. Paul described himself and the other apostles as the filth and offscouring of the world (I Cor 4:9-13).
   3. He didn’t beat around the bush or generalize with the truth; he was very plain with it (II Cor 3:12).
   4. He was so rude he once preached all night, though one fell asleep and fell from a window (Acts 20:7-12).
   5. He slurred a whole nationality – the Cretians – for being “liars, evil beasts, slow bellies” (Titus 1:12).
   6. He called a man in court a “whited wall” and called God to judgment between them (Acts 23:1-5).
   7. Paul called Christ’s enemies “dogs,’ “the concision,” and belly worshippers (Phil 3:2,19; Rom 16:17-18).
   8. Paul called all his past religious experiences dung in comparison to Jesus Christ (Philippians 3:3-8).
   9. Paul showed a very confident attitude against the ignorance of other false preachers (I Tim 1:5-7; 6:3-5).
   10. Paul made fun of the science of his day, which ought not to impress a preacher today (I Tim 6:20-21).
   11. Paul told the Corinthians they could stay ignorant, if they didn’t like his doctrine (I Corinthians 14:38).
   12. Paul mocked and ridiculed an “innocent” question from those denying the resurrection (I Cor 15:35-36).
   13. Paul showed serpentine guile in claiming to be a Pharisee before the liberal Sadducees (Acts 24:4).
   14. He called the Corinthians carnal babies and stated his gladness at not baptizing them (I Cor 1:14; 3:1-2).
   15. He wrote against Hymenaeus and Philetus (II Tim 2:16-17) and Alexander the coppersmith (II Tim 4:14).
   16. He wrote a whole church and publicly told two of the members to be of the same mind (Philippians 4:2).
   17. Paul said the Galatians were foolish and had been bewitched from the gospel by their teachers (Gal 3:1).
   18. Paul told the Hebrews they were yet babies, when they should have been able to teach (Hebrews 5:12-13).
   19. Paul wrote the Galatians and dressed Peter down publicly before the church and all saints (Gal 2:11-14).
   20. He used hearsay from Chloe’s family to hew the Corinthians about division and strife (I Cor 1:10-16).
   21. God’s ministers reject foolish or unlearned questions (I Timothy 1:3-4; II Tim 2:14-16,23; Titus 3:9).
   22. Paul called modern preaching fables and modern preachers creeps, who prey on silly women (II Tim 3-4).
   23. Paul didn’t care if an angel preached different than he preached, the angel should be cursed (Gal 1:6-9).
   24. Paul warned of profane and vain babblings and old wives’ fables and vain jangling (I Tim 1:6; 4:7; 6:20)!
   25. More examples of Paul’s style, words, and actions could be raised that are contrary to pastors today.

DEFENSE OF RUDE PREACHERS

1. God’s ministers are rude, because they serve God, Who is rude against evil (Gen 6-8; I Sam 5-6).
2. Fair speeches characterize whores (Prov 7:21), orators (Acts 24:1), and false teachers (Isaiah 30:8-11; Jeremiah 28:1-4; Romans 16:17-18; Colossians 2:4,8; II Peter 2:18; Jude 1:16).
3. God’s ministers are rude because they have this treasure in earthen vessels (II Corinthians 4:7).
4. God has ordained his preachers to be rude to minimize converts who are not truly called.
   1. The very gospel has been designed to offend the learned wisdom of the world (I Cor 1:17-25).
   2. Paul’s rude speech lacking man’s wisdom was to make Christ’s cross the test (I Cor 2:1-5).
5. The offence issue is good to drive away fools and show God’s love of those that truly love Him.
   1. When Jesus was told He had offended the Pharisees, it didn’t bother Him at all (Matt 15:10-14).
   2. It is the nature of evil men to make God’s ministers an offender for a word (Isaiah 29:20-21).
   3. Every sermon contains something in it rude or offensive. It cannot and should not be otherwise.
6. It is a wise man who knows how to properly answer and not answer a fool (Proverbs 26:4-5).
7. If you think evangelism can be improved with sweet-talking, you are ignorant of human depravity.
8. Consider some of the trite statements that are popular among the men of recent generations.
   1. Is this true, “If you cannot say something nice about someone, then say nothing at all”?
   2. Is this true, “Honey will attract more flies than vinegar”? Who wants flies attracted anyway?!

RESTRAINT OF RUDE PREACHERS

1. God’s men do not seek to be rude to create an image or persona. They have an important message.
2. God’s men are “all things to all men” to any who might be saved by wise compromise (I Cor 9:22).
3. Paul commanded preachers to sound speech that cannot be condemned, by Scripture (Titus 2:7-8).
4. God’s ministers do not strive or wrangle with any; they present the truth kindly (II Tim 2:24-26).
5. When men believe and love the truth, they will serve them as a nurse does children (I Thess 2:7-12).

Conclusion:

1. A chief mark of these perilous times of the last days is degenerate preachers of the gospel (II Tim 3:1 – 4:4).
2. Do not ever play the fool and allow some word, tone, or mannerism to cause you to be offended (Is 29:20-21).
3. One second in the Lord’s presence, and you will wish your pastor had more rudely grabbed your attention!

For further study:

1. Sermon Outline: Instant Preaching
2. Sermon Outline: The Prophets of God