Matthew 4:1

From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Matthew 4:1

With John the Baptist was imprisoned, Jesus picks up his message and preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” calling men to turn from their sins and turn to God, for the kingdom of heaven is near.           

Some might say it’s a harsh message to preach, to tell people they are sinners walking in darkness, that their only hope of ever going to heaven is to repent and turn to Jesus. But it’s not just the truth, it’s the truth that saves! It’s the truth that brought us out of darkness into the light, it’s the message that saved us and led us to repentance and life.

Now it surely can seem harsh to some who hear it, but that harshness shouldn’t come from us in the way we share it, but when the truth is spoken with compassion and in love, it can change hearts. We have the Gospel that saves, the testimony of the love of God put on display.

So go out with great love and take this message and proclaim it. Just as Jesus said to His disciples in Luke 24:46-48, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.”

Pastor Doug Hardin