Before anyone comes to Christ, he is wicked and sinful (Romans 3:9-18). In this state without Christ everyone comes short of God's glory (Romans 3:23). As a result, they deserve eternal damnation in hell--nothing less. They have rebelled against their Creator. By their lifestyles, they have shown that they do not care about God. They are in trouble with God. Only by turning from their evil ways and trusting in Jesus will they escape God's wrath. Instead, those who persist in sin reject God's love, which He showed by sending His Son. They reject Jesus. "For those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger" (Romans 2:8). WRATH and ANGER. "God is ANGRY with the wicked every day" (Ps. 7:11, KJV). Those who rejected Moses died "without mercy" so "how much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot" (Heb. 10:28-29)? These people prefer to remain under God's wrath and anger. They say, "No", to His love, mercy and grace.

What is God's response to such people? He loved them so much that He sent His Son (John 3:16)! His Son suffered agony so that they could receive forgiveness (Col. 1:14), die to sins, and live for righteousness (1 Peter 2:24). Now, what if they reject God's Son? What then is God's response? God's wrath remains them (John 3:36). God gives them time to turn from their ways, not wanting anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9). And if they choose to persist in sin and to remain under God's wrath instead of His love, the Lord Jesus will be "revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who do not know God and do not OBEY the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be punished with EVERLASTING destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord" (2 Thess. 1:7-9). "See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones to JUDGE everyone, and to convict ALL the UNGODLY of all the ungodly acts they have done in the ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly sinners have spoken against him" (Jude 14). So everlasting destruction awaits all the ungodly.

How do most professing Christians try to help these people? In attempting to "reach out" to people, most professing Christians approach evangelism from this philosophy: "If your life is a mess, you need Jesus; he is the answer to all your problems; just come to God as you are." Most professing Christians do not confront these peoples' true problem -- SIN! But if they do mention it, it is IN PASSING. They do not EMPHASIZE and STRESS the NEED for people to forsake all of their sin and to deny their own selves (Matt. 16:24). They do not tell them that they must forsake all to become Jesus' disciple (Luke 14:33). And they certainly do not tell them that unless they repent they will perish in hell (Luke 13:5). No, this would be too "harsh." This might "scare them away" or "turn them off to Christianity." So instead, these professing Christians turn them on to a false gospel lacking any true commitment to God! I've seen this many times -- teenagers throwing their wicked music tapes in a campfire after an emotional altar call at a camp revival. Within a matter of days, these same teens buy the very tapes they destroyed! Why does this happen? Sin was not dealt with. Preachers who do not expose their listeners' sin to ward off their destruction in hell are worthless and misleading (Lamentations 2:14).

How should Christians try to help these people? By following God's example. God knows that people are all messed up because of SIN, so what did He do? God sent His law so that we would know what sin is (Romans 3:20, 7:7-8). "The law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith" (Gal. 3:24). After confronting people about their sin by telling them what their sins were, God revealed His Son through whom we are justified by faith. John the Baptist is another example. How did he prepare people for Jesus? By telling them their sins; by telling them that God does not accept them as they are; by warning them of hell. "John said to the CROWDS coming out to be baptized by him, 'You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance'" (Luke 3:7-8). As our perfect example, what about Jesus? What did he do? His message was that people need to turn from their sins (Matt. 4:17). Jesus warned of hell. Just pick up your Bible and begin reading the New Testament and you will see that Jesus warned of hell often. For example, see Matthew 5:22, 29-30; 7:13; 8:12; 10:15, 28; 13:30, 43, 50. Do YOU warn people to flee from the coming wrath of God? Or do you wink at sin and hell?

Before people can be prepared to receive Christ, they must know of their sin and what God thinks of their sin. How does God perceive sinners? In God's eyes, what are people like who ignore Him and live for themselves? I often hear the phrase, "God hates the sin, but loves the sinner." This phrase is not in the Bible, contrary to what many people think. God showed his love to the whole world by sending Jesus (John 3:16). While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Do we deserve this magnificent love that God has shown? By no means! We have NO RIGHT to be loved by God. We DESERVE hell. However, most people think that God has no choice but to love them. So what about those who reject God's love? They say, "No, God, we do not want your love." Will he force His love on them? Quite the contrary, God places his wrath and anger on them. He says, "I have withdrawn my blessing, my love and my pity from this people" (Jer. 16:5). "You are not a God who takes pleasure in evil; with you the wicked cannot dwell. The arrogant cannot stand in your presence; you hate all who do wrong. You destroy those who tell lies; bloodthirsty and deceitful men the Lord abhors" (Psalm 5:4-6).

So if YOU really LOVE others, you will tell them the whole TRUTH of the gospel. They need to know their own state. They need to know about their sin and that they are unacceptable to God in their current condition. And THEN when they know this, present the cure. Do not "dress their wound" as if it were not serious (Jer. 8:11). Show them how bad their "wound" is and then show them the bandage. They won't understand what the bandage is for, how it works, or why they need it until they know that they have a gaping, festering wound called sin. How can you present a cure to people who do not know they are sick?

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