Church excuses debunked #3

Today the excuse I want to look at is this: "I don't go to church because the preacher is always looking at me and talking about my sin."



I have heard this many times over the years. I have had folks come up after church ask me why I kept looking at them. I wasn't but I guess they felt that way. I must say myself that when I was without Jesus, many times i thought the preacher was talking to me....why is this?



The preacher has a message that God has laid upon his heart to bring to the people. The pastor is just a messenger. When I am bringing a message I am not looking at anyone intentionally. I believe I can say that for most preachers.



So why do we feel the preacher is looking at us? It is the convicting work of the Holy Spirit. Which in short is God working upon our hearts! We are being convicted of out sin! Look at these verses:



Hebrews 3:7-10



7 Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says:



“Today, if you will hear His voice,

8 Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion,

In the day of trial in the wilderness,

9 Where your fathers tested Me, tried Me,

And saw My works forty years.

10 Therefore I was angry with that generation,

And said, ‘They always go astray in their heart,

And they have not known My ways.’





1 Corinthians 2:13



13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.



Acts 7:51



51 “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears! You always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you.



Acts 10:44



44 While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word.



Acts 11:15



15 And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them, as upon us at the beginning.



1 Thessalonians 4:8



8 Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit.



1 Peter 1:12



12 To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.



2 Peter 1:21



21 for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.



1 John 5:7



7 For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.



Using the excuse that the preacher is pointing at me may actually be a sign that God through the Holy Spirit is speaking to you and we need to not be hardhearted and listen to the promptings of the Holy Spirit!



Tom