The Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ offers forgiveness for our sins and further, our sanctification – the cleansing of our sins as we live in obedience to the Holy Spirit.

The believers’ Gospel which we present to our loved ones and to the world via evangelistic preaching often holds back on the warning side of the entire message that we are commanded to preach in honesty. In Jeremiah God told him not to hold back on what he told him to say to Judah. Ezekiel was also told clearly to be entirely honest about the risks of disobeying God. Similarly, we find these warnings in both the Old and New Testament: 

Tell them everything I command you; do not omit a word. Perhaps they will listen and each will turn from their evil ways. Then I will relent and not inflict on them the disaster I was planning because of the evil they have done. (Jeremiah 26:2-3, 18:8; see also Ezekiel 33:9, 19; Heb 12:25) NIV) 

Jesus often rebuked the leaders of Israel publicly for their hypocrisy:

John 12: 44-50: And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. If anyone hears my words and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world but to save the world. The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak. And I know that his commandment is eternal life. What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”

Gospel ministry, evangelism, demands honesty. It demands that we tell sinners the whole truth, not part of it, but all of it. And this kind of gospel honesty is the only acceptable ministry as far as our Lord is concerned; anything less than this falls short of our calling. And the truth is, honestly, that the gospel is both glorious and dangerous. It is eternally enriching, and it is eternally ruining. The gospel has the power to compound joys everlastingly and to compound sorrows everlastingly… After hearing the gospel with a measure of understanding, no sinner is the same – no, not in time, and certainly not in eternity. ¹ 

But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. For we are a fragrance of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one an aroma from death to death, to the other an aroma from life to life. (2 Corinthians 2:14 NAS)

Hebrews chapter 10 is clear on this point:

“For if we go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment” – reject the gospel, go on sinning willfully after receiving the knowledge of gospel truth, and what you should expect is a terrifying judgment – “and the fury of a fire which will consume the adversaries. Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much severer punishment do you think he will deserve who has trampled under foot the Son of God, and has regarded as unclean the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.’ And again, ‘The Lord will judge His people.’ It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”

Hearing the gospel exposes your heart for what it is — either for good acceptance of God’s love towards you or for your defiant rejection of truth when he calls you into His kingdom to find forgiveness and eternal life. If you’ve heard the gospel and reject the gospel, you will have a severer punishment. So the gospel leaves no one the same; you’re either better or worse, not the same. Our Lord addresses this in Matthew 11:15 Jesus tells us:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” In other words our message needs to be heard by those that will listen. Jesus used this concept of spiritual hearing, calling out to people to hear often.  In Revelation chapters 2 to 3 he repeatedly gave His message to listen, to tell the people of this earth to listen what’s happening in heaven has to do with all of us – listen and wake up — via the apostle John. (Mark 3:13, 4:9; Rev 2:11, 17, 29)

Now our Lord was a missionary, the consummate Missionary. He had a heart for the lost; He wept over them. He brought them the truth; He offered them the gospel of salvation. He did it with love, compassion, tenderness, and kindness. He told them to believe the Scripture. He told them to believe the prophets. He told them to believe John the Baptist who had said of Him, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” And He told them to believe Him. Not only the Old Testament, not only the prophets, not only John the Baptist, but to believe His words concerning Himself. ²

Ten chapters of Matthew provide revelation that clearly tells us who He was: the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Messiah, the King, the only Savior, the only Redeemer. Ten chapters are laid out by Matthew under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to make it crystal clear who Jesus Christ is. And there’s a crescendo at the end of that tenth chapter where He says, “You must receive Me.” Verse 32 of chapter 10, “Whoever confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who’s in heaven.” After ten chapters of revelation concerning His identity,  ³

Jesus clarifies in Matthew 10:32-37: “Whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny before My Father.” And  there is a price to pay for this — there will be division in a family — “a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.”

It is profoundly difficult to consider that the enemies of Christ might very well be the members of your household. This is a heartfelt pain that many Christians have, just as Jesus has for the concern for the very same people you love! But you will see this among your friends and family. Like it or not, a cynical disinterest or indifference among those you love can be your greatest trial.

To underscore this point Jesus said: “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who doesn’t take up his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life will, for My sake, find it.”

If you are called and accept and follow Christ, it is because the Father has called you into a relationship with His son Jesus Christ: All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. (John 6:37)

In Matthew 11:16-17 Jesus said: “But to what shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their playmates, “‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’

Weddings are a fun game. Jesus said many people respond to the gospel like kids playing a wedding game. The wedding game called for a flute, a musical instrument because of joy, and it called for dancing: We played the flute for you; you didn’t dance. These children in his illustration also played the funeral game, which called for a dirge and mourning, But you didn’t follow that, you didn’t mourn. In both cases what we see is stubborn indifference.

Here is Christ’s only reference to children’s games. Jesus intended to portray mankind’s stubborn human sinful nature. It’s not that your friends and family members if unresponsive to the gospel are hostile, nor is it that they are mean, it is that they don’t want to play your game, don’t want to accept Christ as king of Kings and Lord of Lords, Lord of their life.

In Matthew 11:18-19 Jesus expanded this:  “John came neither eating nor drinking,” – he came in funeral mode calling for repentance– “and they say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking,” – He came in wedding mode , sharing His love – “and they say, ‘Behold, a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

In this metaphor these are obstinate, mean-natured children with whom the darkness of Satan has a stronghold.

Jesus went from village to village, to village, to village. He spent His entire childhood until He became an adult and began His public ministry in the town of Nazareth, sitting at the table every day of His life with the family and the community. We find Him eating many times in many places with many different groups of people. He’s in the middle of everything because it’s a time for joy. His message does touch on the note of repentance, but it’s much more that, “The Messiah is here.” It’s time for joy. ⁴

In Mathew 9:14. “The disciples of John [the Baptist]” – who’ was in funeral mode as he preached repentance also to the wicked rulers – “come to Jesus’ disciples, and to Jesus, and ask ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?’” If your message is constantly repentance or doom, you’re in a sad mode, and fasting belongs to that.

In Matthew 9:15 Jesus said: “Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast. He views his time on earth with those he has called into his church as a time of rejoicing! Yet the unbelievers vilified him with these words: “They said, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’”

They rejected John the Baptist and his message of repentance. They rejected Jesus and His message of kingdom salvation. They rejected repentance and they rejected faith in the Son of God. So they basically do what sinners always do; they create an excuse for their indifference, one that justifies them. They are too righteous to stoop, to buy the message of John the Baptist; he’s demon-possessed. And they are also too righteous to listen to this man named Jesus because He is sinful. He is a glutton and a drunkard, and a friend of tax collectors and sinners. This is sort of the common response to Jesus: “He doesn’t come up to my standards.” ⁵

In James chapter 3:13, “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior in his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.” The truly wise of heart, who have received the lovely call to repent and come into the presence of God via His Spirit — this shows in your deeds.

Wisdom shows up in deeds, virtuous deeds. Divine wisdom will be vindicated. The ultimate verdict on the gospel is not made by its rejectors. The ultimate verdict on the gospel is made by those who receive it and demonstrate its truthfulness in their repentance, in their faith, and in the fruit of those things. Impenitent and unbelieving, self-righteous sinners create reasons to reject. They even mock the gospel like the peevish children who won’t join the game. ⁶

When the message of repentance and faith was rejected, what did Jesus do? Did he alter his. Message? Not one iota — He never mixed or changed His message — He just pronounced devastating judgment against the leaders and Pharisees that stood against Him. In Matthew 23 seven times Jesus pronounced the verdict of “woe to you” (Matt 23:13, 15, 16, 23, 25, 27,  29) Here we realize the importance of listening to the entire full gospel message never altered to suit man’s fancy. If the hearer rejects Christ and His message the only hope is in returning Him. He will return to that individual and heal the heart and soul once positioned against him – heal our pride and lack of humility. (Mark 2:17; Mal 3:7; Zech 1:3)

If we sin, we have an advocate with the Father. If we confess our sins, he will forgive us and cleanse us of our sins. (1 John 1:9, 2:1) The story of the prodigal son is heart-warming in Luke 15:11-32.

It is an important doctrine to tell both sides of the gospel story. Was Jesus grieved over unbelief? Did He weep over it? Of course. Was He disappointed? Of course. Did He feel like Isaiah, “How long, O Lord, will I do this and they reject?” Of course.

In Matthew 11:25: At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Here we must realize that some will reject Christ and His message, and others will accept His offer of salvation in child-like joy.

We ought to have a strong foundation for our faith and deep convictions for what we believe; and we ought to be compelled by God’s love to persuade others. “It’s no light thing to know that we’ll all one day stand in that place of Judgment. That’s why we work urgently with everyone we meet to get them ready to face God. God alone knows how well we do this, but I hope you realize how much and deeply we care,” (2 Corinthians 5:11-12, MSG).

Jones, Beth. What’s the Big Deal About the Cross? (p. 15). Harrison House Publishers. Kindle Edition.

^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 John MacArthur espouses this doctrine well}