I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 20th of September, 2023 and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today. 

We go to 2 Timothy 4 and I am reading verse 2: 

“Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching”  

Now, as I have shared that scripture with you, my dear friend, you are thinking of somebody standing in a pulpit or maybe on a platform, speaking to a crowd. No, no - we are all called to preach the Gospel, whether you are an older person living in a nursing home, whether you are a prisoner in jail, whether you are a young person at a school hostel, whether you are a professional sportsman, a farmer, a doctor, or maybe you are a lawyer. We are all called to preach the word in and out of season. Like never before, people are desperate to hear the truth, not the tickling of ears - no, but the truth, the truth in love. You see, preaching is different to teaching. 

Now, John Stott was a man who was used by the Lord very powerfully. He said, “True evangelism seeks a response.” When you preach the Gospel, you preach with the expectation of a response - it expects results. We preach for a verdict. That is different to teaching. When you lecture somebody, it is dispassionate, objective and academic. It is addressed to the mind. It seeks no result but to impart certain information to provoke the student to further inquiry, which is necessary. We really need that. That is why we have universities and Bible colleges, but when it comes to preaching the word, the evangelist comes with an urgent proclamation of peace through the Blood of the Cross and with a summons to men and women to say sorry, to repent, to lay down their alms and to humbly accept the offer ardently. Isn’t that beautiful? That is what I do. I have been doing it for over forty years - the greatest moment in my life is when I see a man who is broken, and he is weeping, and he comes back to Jesus, and after that, he goes back to his wife and his children, and he starts all over. When you see a man who is in the gutter, all of a sudden, because he has heard the truth, the simple truth in love, he has completely changed his outlook. Whether a man is in prison, in hospital, or at a funeral, speak to him in a language that he understands and speak to him with urgency. You will be surprised at the result. 

Pray this prayer after me:

Jesus, today I ask You to give me the courage, the strength, and most of all, the love and the compassion to tell others about You, that they might be saved from themselves, and I ask it in Your precious name, amen.

Jesus bless you and have a wonderful day,
Goodbye.