The backslider in heart shall be
filled with his own ways.
–Proverbs 14:14 (KJV)–

I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent, and do the first works; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent.
–Revelation 2:4-5 (KJV)–

The fear of the Lord is to hate evil.
–Proverbs 8:13 (KJV)–

Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
–Hebrews 1:9 (KJV)–

Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet,
and shew my people their transgression,
and the house of Jacob their sins.
–Isaiah 58:1 (KJV)–

Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.
–Jonah 1:2 (KJV)–

Truly I am full of power by the Spirit of the Lord, and of judgment, and of might, to declare unto Jacob his transgression, and to Israel his sin.
–Micah 3:8 (KJV)–

The third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon mount Sinai…And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice…And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking: and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear: but let not God speak with us, lest we die.
–Exodus 19:11, 19; 20:18-19 (KJV)–
(This suggests that God gave the Ten Commandments as a visible theophany in front of the people of Israel; and that they heard his voice audibly thunder out the commandments from where he was standing. Seems to me like a strong argument in favor of hard preaching against sin.)

Matthew Henry teaches that Philippians 2:14 and Isaiah 58:1/Jonah 1:2 address two different issues, not the same one. In Philippians, he condemns a sinful spirit of murmuring, quarrelsomeness, and fault-finding—complaining against God’s providence, arguing with others, and cultivating a critical disposition. Christians are to be humble, peaceable, blameless, and free from a contentious attitude. This passage regulates the believer’s personal character and relationships, not the faithful proclamation of God’s truth. At the same time, Henry teaches that God sometimes commands His servants to “cry aloud, spare not” by exposing sin boldly and warning of coming judgment, as in Isaiah 58 and Jonah 1. Such preaching is not personal anger or carping criticism but obedient, Scripture-based proclamation motivated by love for God’s glory and the repentance of sinners. Thus, Henry sees no contradiction: Christians must avoid sinful complaining and contentiousness in their personal conduct, while ministers must courageously and compassionately rebuke sin whenever God’s Word requires it. –ChatGPT’s analysis of commentaries on complaining vs denunciatory preaching // Bold denunciatory preaching against sin is commanded in the Bible. Any pastor who insists that only a calm, chatty style is what pleases God, isn’t being honest. But the normal way Christians carry themselves should never involve nitpicky criticizing. –Php. 2:14; Isa. 58:1; Jon. 1:2

“A narcissist is a person who shows a persistent pattern of grandiosity, an excessive need for praise, and a lack of empathy for others.” That’s what they say. So this means if people don’t like a preacher, they can say his message “hurts their feelings,” and that he’s just a narcissist.

THE ANGRY PREACHER: A BIBLICAL DEFENSE

“God is angry with the wicked every day” (Psalm 7:11). Since this is the case, one logical outgrowth of that, is that if a preacher is filled with God’s Word, and filled with God’s Spirit–that eventually, it should be expected that the preacher will also be angry with the wicked every day.

“BROOD OF VIPERS! WHO’S WARNED YOU TO ESCAPE FROM HELL!?” A preacher screamed this at the crowd, and they called him a narcissistic algorithm rage baiter, because he lacks empathy and thinks he’s real important. They got him killed. But Jesus said he was the greatest.

Bold denunciatory preaching against sin is commanded in the Bible. Any pastor who insists that only a calm, chatty style is what pleases God, isn’t being honest. But the normal way Christians carry themselves should never involve nitpicky criticizing. –Php. 2:14; Isa. 58:1; Jon. 1:2

OBJECTIONS–IN ADDITION TO RICE’S: BE GENTLE NOT HARSH, PORN’S NOT BAD–BEING MAD IS, WHAT ABOUT YOUR BAD EATING HABIT–THAT’S A SIN TOO, YOUR TONE IS MEAN, PROVERBS 11 SAYS ITS WICKED TO REBUKE YOUR NEIGHBOR BECAUSE REBUKING PEOPLE JUST MEANS THAT YOU’RE PRIDEFUL, YOU’RE JUST RAGE BATING PEOPLE FOR YOUR YOUTUBE ALGORITHM, PREACHING HARD IS THE SAME THING AS CHEWING OUT YOUR WIFE. –just obey Isaiah 58:1 guys. it’s a simple command. just do it. you’ll end up clipping important parts of the Bible out otherwise.

THE SUPERNATURAL CALL TO PREACH FROM GOD HIMSELF.

Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. –Galatians 1:10 (ESV)

Just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the Gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. –1 Thessalonians 2:4 (ESV)

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
–Proverbs 29:25 (ESV)

Apostle Paul never shepherded a local church before. He just jumped into evangelistic ministry. Shepherding local churches came later. Modern “call to the ministry” thinking says be the other way. But I think this sets the preacher up for compromising the Gospel in a time when local church platforms are mostly anti-soteriology, anti-evangelism, anti-Hell, and anti-sanctification. They’re about Bible commentaries and self-help messages. Just look at all the speakers for TPUSA Faith. Seeking affirmation for your call to preach from the local church, I say, is a grave theological and spiritual error, because you’re looking for affirmation of your call from antinomian porn addicted men, from a backslidden church culture that’s in a state of spiritual declension, and not from the intervention of God himself. This “local church calling” concept stops the call of true law and gospel preaching dead in its tracks, before its even gotten a chance to begin. It also puts pastors into a false call, which they will eventually call into question. They might even forsake the Lord because of all the misdirection they received from men. They were never called by God. People just found them to be likeable. See Leonard Ravenhill’s Revival God’s Way, ch. 17: “From Saul to Paul.”

Galatians 5:23 teaches that gentleness is a fruit of the Spirit, which is why Jesus smashed tables in the temple in Matthew 21:12, when he saw that people were selling products in the house of prayer. He saw their extortion as harshness. Lift up your voice against it! (Isa. 58:1). In this case, Jesus wasn’t concerned about people calling him a JERK. He was just GRIEVED about how the irreverence and unbelief of God’s people, had degraded the place of worship, into such a blasphemous disregard for the spirituality of the house of prayer.

Many pastors say that Isaiah 58:1 type of preaching is essentially prideful; the expression of a self-righteous narcissist who thinks that he’s just better than others, a dogmatic jerk who just doesn’t care about hurting other people’s feelings. But a preacher could preach very forcefully while being genuinely burdened for sinners and seeking God’s glory; and conversely, someone could preach in a calm and gentle manner while simply being motivated by pride, self-display, or a desire to impress people with his calm and gentle mannerisms.

Preaching hard against sin is God’s plan for discouraging evil in the life of the Church. It’s not just that the preacher has a personal problem with bitterness and unforgiveness in his own life. That’s a humanistic psychotherapy downplaying applied to holiness preaching. –Isaiah 58:1

—


1. William Perkins — The Academic Text: The Art of Prophesying (1592)

William Perkins was the supreme architect of Puritan preaching. He wrote the definitive manual used across England and America on how to preach. In it, he laid down strict, written rules regarding physical volume level, specifically citing Isaiah 58:1 to command that a high volume must be used when handling sin and wrath: [1]

• What he wrote on volume: Perkins explicitly laid down that “The voice ought to be loud enough for all to hear (Isa. 58:1; John 7:37; Acts 2:14)”. [1]
• What he wrote on shouting vs. moderating: He instructed that a preacher must change his volume depending on the subject matter. When explaining a biblical doctrine, the volume should be “moderate.” However, when moving into application, rebuking sin, and warning about hell, the voice must transform. Perkins wrote that in the exhortation, the preacher must be “more fervent and vehement.” [1]
• The Physical Gestures: He added in writing that the preacher must use a commanding physical presence, ensuring the body is “erect and still” while using strong movements of the “arm, the hand, the face and eyes” to project the pure weight and terror of the message into the ears of the audience. [1]

2. Richard Baxter — The Personal Text: The Reformed Pastor (1656)

Richard Baxter didn’t just preach loudly; he wrote a stinging, direct book rebuking other pastors for preaching about eternity in a relaxed, quiet manner. He viewed low-volume or unpassionate preaching about hell as a form of literal ministerial treason. [1, 2]

His directive on yelling about damnation: Baxter argued in writing that if a pastor truly believes people are going to drop into hell, it is an absolute crime to speak softly. He wrote that ministers must literally “ply this great work” by yelling, pleading, and calling out after the impenitent with the physical force of a man trying to pull someone out of a literal fire. [1, 2]

What he wrote on his own pulpit volume: Baxter routinely wrote about his internal struggle and his conviction that he was not shouting loudly enough. He recorded the “peal that conscience doth ring in my ears” when leaving the pulpit:“How couldst thou speak of life and death with such a heart? How couldst thou preach of heaven and hell in such a careless, sleepy manner?… Shouldst thou not cry aloud and show them their transgressions, and entreat and beseech them as for life and death?” [1]

—

Dr. John R. Rice, Why Preach Against Sin? (Sword of the Lord, 1985).

—. We Can Have Revival Now, ch. 9: “God’s Way to Mass Revival.” In another city known to me, good pastors got together to have a “revival campaign.” But so there would be no hard preaching against sin, no issue raised about movies, dances, lodges and other worldliness, they asked a good pastor to lead in the “revival campaign.” He preached good sermons. But he did not take the time for preparation of Christians, preaching against sin, getting them to pray and win souls, as Moody and Torrey and Billy Sunday and other blessed evangelists have always done. He simply preached sermons to the unsaved, good, sound sermons on the blood of Christ. But not many unsaved attended the services, there was a notable lack of real conviction, and pastors were disappointed because there was no genuine revival. There are a lot of good preachers, sound preachers, devoted preachers who are not evangelists. They are not called to be evangelists, not anointed to be evangelists.

Leonard Ravenhill, Be Ye Angry And Sin Not (Last Days Ministries, 1982).

—. Why Revival Tarries (Bethany House, 1959).

—. Revival Praying (Bethany House, 1962), ch. 14: “Be Ye Angry.”

David Wilkerson, Hey, Preach…You’re Comin’ Through! (Revell, 1968).

—. Set the Trumpet to Thy Mouth (World Challenge, 1985).

—. “What Happens to the Church When Preachers No Longer Preach Against Sin?”

Paul Washer, The Gospel’s Power… (RHB, 2012), ch. 15: “Righteous Indignation.”

WesleyGospel, “Dumb Dogs That Cannot BARK!!”