Defending Against the Invasion

Post-modernity has found a welcome home in Western culture and its tentacles have wrapped even around the church. It is evident in the utter aversion that even some of my most beloved, soundly orthodox, and biblically grounded brothers have to the exposing of and separation from significant departure from the Scriptures in the teachings of some of our contemporaries. The great sin today is not calling God a liar or treating His revealed Word carelessly, but even disagreeing with someone or challenging their views!

How foolish of us! Why should the exposing of the wolves among the sheep be sad for us? To say that it accomplishes nothing is rather silly in my opinion. We desire that Truth might be preached and held in high esteem. How else is error revealed except by contrasting it with Truth? There are certainly spiritual matters which are of little importance in comparison to the core of the message of the Gospel: that God is holy, that we are sinful and in need of a redeemer, that Christ has given Himself as a sufficient and effective substitutionary sacrifice on our behalf, and that we must repent and are saved by grace through faith in Christ.

How long we cut our hair or what style of music we listen to may well be important issues to tackle, but they are vastly inferior to issues of doctrines of salvation and of the Scriptures themselves, and I think that the vast majority of us would agree that hair and music are not issues which give us anything close to reasonably justifiable grounds for excommunication or disassociation.

Epistemological, hermeneutical, and soteriological issues, however, are another matter entirely. When someone starts preaching that Jesus name is not the only name under heaven by which we must be saved they have departed from the Truth. When someone starts preaching that the Bible is not clear and that we need to have a “conversation” to figure out what God really said (“Indeed, has God said. . .”) they have departed from the Truth. When someone preaches that we cannot really know Truth and that all truth is relative, they have departed from the Truth.

The only grief we ought bear when men such as these are exposed for what they really are is that they have departed from the Truth in the first place. It is indeed sad that they have rejected the Gospel that was handed down to the saints, once for all. We cannot remain faithful to the Gospel while we continue to entertain the intimacy of fellowship with ones such as these. They lead men astray. We, on the other hand, must strive to preach to the world the absolute truth of Christ crucified which alone has the power to save.

I’m not looking to pick a fight, but neither am I going to back down from the robber who assaults the church with clubs of extrabiblical doctrine and humanist idolatry.

Mark Driscoll recently named names at the Convergent Conference. You can listen to the podcast in its entirety here. It’s the podcast entitled “Convergent Conference – Session 3″ and it’s a rather in-depth exposition on the theologies of some of the Emergent Church’s leaders. About 14 minutes in is where the topic turns specifically toward them and (even primarily I would say) their ideas. A lot of people are upset that Mark would essentially call these men out as heretics. They wring their hands and cry “Division! Division! He’s being divisive and isn’t unifying!” To which I would respond with God’s command to the Corinthians:

Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, “I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. “Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE,” says the Lord. “AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.
(2Co 6:14-17)

We are to unify with believers and in Truth, not error! We are not to unify with those who reject even the very basic tenets of our faith and embrace such lawlessness as post-modernism as the basis for their worldviews. We are, in fact, called to separation from such men.

Our methods may change, for we live in a world where the most effective “language” of preaching Christ crucified may change with the cultural language of a given people (Paul on Mars Hill, for example). But the immutable Word of God remains forever the same. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is still the only thing that saves the fallen sons of Adam, and it is the only message we ought ever preach to the lost. It is the power of God for those who are being saved.

My dear brothers and sisters, I implore you: preach Christ or else do not waste your breath. Preach Christ or nothing at all.

My Salvation: Assured and Secured by the Cross

Should I ever doubt my salvation, may I turn to this hymn of encouragement and assurance and meditate upon the Cross of Jesus, its purpose and effect on my being. The Cross was purposed as an atoning sacrifice for my sins because God chose to save me for His good pleasure in His sovereign election. He gave me the ability to choose to serve Him by the workings of His grace in my heart.

From whence this fear and unbelief?
Hath not the Father put to grief
His spotless Son for me?
And will the righteous Judge of men,
Condemn me for that debt of sin,
Which, Lord, was charged on Thee?

Complete atonement Thou hast made,
And to the utmost farthing paid
Whate’er Thy people owed:
Nor can His wrath on me take place,
If sheltered in Thy righteousness,
And sprinkled with Thy blood.

If Thou hast my discharge procured,
And freely in my room endured
The whole of wrath divine:
Payment God cannot twice demand,
First at my wounded Surety’s hand,
And then again at mine.

Turn then, My soul, unto thy rest;
The merits of thy great High Priest
Have bought thy liberty:
Trust in His effective blood,
Nor fear thy banishment from God,
Since Jesus died for thee.

– Augustus M. Toplady, 1772

Thank you, Christ Jesus, for becoming what you were not so that I might become what I was not. You took my sin that I might be given your righteousness. I am unworthy and ever grateful. Grant that I might serve and love you with all of my heart, mind, strength, and soul so long as you lend breath to my lungs.

Suffering? Have Some Mercy and Grace.

This post is a response to something my friend wrote on his blog. Rather than take up a considerable amount of space in his comments, I have decided to post my thoughts here.

After some of the things I’ve wrestled through in the past few months, I’d have to say that the question of why God allows suffering gets things backwards. I think it assumes in the first place that we are not all worthy of suffering greatly for our sins.

I think rather than asking why God allows suffering or asking why we allow suffering we ought to be asking “Why does God allow us to live in spite of our sinfulness?”

You see friend, this world we live in is dying, and it’s all because of sin. The universe is decaying because sin entered in by way of Adam and Eve. It’s moving day after day, hour after hour, moment by moment toward its ultimate destruction. Apart from Christ, the men and women of this world, including you and I, stand already condemned and worthy of death before a holy God. And the fact that God does not send us straight to just judgment in hell the moment we sin is an act of Grace!

And how is God even able to offer us this Grace without contradicting His divine demand of justice for sin? The Cross of Jesus Christ provides the answer to this much better question. The mercy and grace that we are offered at the Cross is there because the wrath of God for sin was on Christ! Because the justice poured out at the Cross was infinite for the infinite offense of sin against a holy God, God is therefore free to offer Grace and Mercy as He so wills.

That we are still living and breathing, that we are not as bad as we could be (even Joseph Stalin didn’t murder his own mother) is a sovereign act of God moving in His Grace. That does not mean that all people have all of God’s Grace. God sovereignly chooses those upon whom He will bestow His Grace and Mercy. “I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy.” declares the Lord.

As an aside, if you want some more Scriptural background on the things I’m talking about, I’d suggest reading up a bit on the Doctrines of Grace.

So does the fact that God doesn’t magically eliminate all suffering mean that we don’t help the poor or care for the sick? By no means! We ought to do these things because we love them. And we ought to love them because God has demonstrated His love to us by giving us Christ’s Cross. But the elimination of suffering in this fallen world is not the goal of these actions.

Folks like Rob Bell will tell you that that is the goal because we’re supposed to bring some sort of physical kingdom of God here to earth. That’s not at all the goal, and that’s a completely unscriptural motive. The goal in showing love and mercy to the suffering is to be merciful because God is merciful to us, and if that person is unsaved, the ultimate goal is to show them the way to repentance and faith in Christ.

Suffering isn’t at all the question, is it? God gives to us all varying degrees of mercy and grace as He sovereignly chooses. I’m not sure that any of us is really in a position to question the one giving mercy as to how much mercy we or others “deserve” are you? I know that on the surface that might seem like a cop out, but it really isn’t. None of us deserve God’s Mercy or Grace, and that, my friend, is precisely why God’s Mercy and Grace are so grand!

If You Can’t Make Fun of Yourself. . .

Sometimes we take ourselves far too seriously.

Thanks go to David for sending this to me. Apologies go to my fellow Calvinists for the terrible pun.

Pleading the Blood or Denying Its Power?

Drew over at Sign of Jonah spells out nicely what’s wrong with the charismatic prophetic movement’s insistence on “pleading the blood” and the motivations and principles behind it. Read it here.

Interesting to note is the posturing Lou and other folks do. They set themselves in such a position that if you disagree with them on any point, immediately you are accused of hating babies and loving abortion. I have a friend right now who is angry at me because I won’t join or support Bound4Life, a group founded by Lou Engle which advocates the recitation of a ritual prayer which “pleads the blood.”

The problem is not with wanting to end abortion. As Drew so rightly put it: “It doesn’t matter how noble the purpose seems, nothing justifies treating God’s word this way. Abortion is a vehicle in this case, it’s an emotional hot-button and a common banner that Mike and Lou use to unite under.”

I couldn’t agree more, Drew. Lou and Mike twist scripture or make up spiritual-sounding ideas in order to justify their agenda. They appeal to something which is extremely emotionally-charged and deceive people who have a monumental emotional stake in stopping this mass murder due to some encounter with abortion somewhere along the road of life, whether in their own lives or in the life of someone they know.

I don’t question the sincerity of Lou Engle or Mike Bickle or anyone else. Their theology, doctrine, and motivations are where I take issue. And in the end, it’s not about their sincerity at all, because anyone can be sincere and still be wrong. In this case, Lou and Mike are sincerely mistaken and what they teach and advocate is errant. We would be wise to avoid associating with them and other false teachers.

Do You Really Love Me? Do I Really Love You?

Were I walking down a path filled with pitfalls and snares, and at the end there lay a thick mist concealing a cliff with a drop sure to lead to death, and you did nothing to warn me, tell me friend, can you really say that you love me? If you did not make every effort to see that I did not go down this path, knowing where it led, can you speak honestly and say that you care for me as for your own brother?

On the contrary, true love would compel one to go even so far as to be a physical barrier between his brother and a path of destruction. Love does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but in truth. Love does not sit idly by while a brother walks the way which seems right unto a man but whose end is death. Love exhorts the brethren to holiness and righteousness.

And what is the path in which we should walk?

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
(Php 4:8-9)

And what ought we not to love?

Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.
(1Jn 2:15-17)

Savage Wolves Among the Flock

Paul addresses the brethren at Ephesus before journeying to Jerusalem:

And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the kingdom, will no longer see my face. Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears. And now I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
(Act 20:25-32)

Some criticize those who seek to discern truth from falsity as “troublemakers” or “dividers” or “unloving” toward the brethren. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is because of our deep love for the flock of God that we guard it jealously.

Paul addresses the Corinthians:

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.
(2Co 11:2-3)

There is but one husband for the church of Jesus Christ, and that is Jesus Christ himself. The husband of the church is not social activism. It is not supernatural experiences or feeling good about ourselves. Thus it is that we who fight jealously for the purity of Christ’s church against false teachers and the doctrines of demons are as those who are escorting a bride to her husband, striking down thugs who come up to her along the journey that they might have their way with her. I know this imagery may be strong, but it is accurate. Those who teach false doctrines and prophesy falsely are rapists of Christ’s bride. They are wolves among the flock of God, and if we do not make every effort to purge them from our midst the flock will be ravaged all the more.

May God grant us wisdom and discernment that we might purge the apostates from our midst. Here in North America it is either going to take another Reformation or else serious persecution of the church for us to more readily rid ourselves of these liars and false teachers. May God bring about whatever pleases Him that He might be glorified and that His church might be pure and undefiled.

Secular Humanism Wrapped in Churchy Language

I couldn’t figure out a way to embed this, so I’ll just provide a link:

http://www.current.tv/studio/media/21674856

If you’re not familiar with the emergent/emerging movement(s), you need to be, because it’s the kind of stuff youth groups all across the nation are being indoctrinated with. It’s the new cool spirituality+social activism for the 20 and 30-something crowd.

Who are some of the proponents of it? Folks like Rob Bell (nooma), Tony Jones (emergent village), Rick Warren (purpose driven), and many others who I’ll not list in the interests of brevity. Be as wise as serpents friends, and as innocent as doves. May the Spirit give you eyes to see through the lies of this movement away from Scripture and toward humanism.

What We Desperately Need But Vehemently Deny

I know it’s nearly an hour long, but you would do well to watch the whole thing. This is the true Gospel. This is the whole Gospel. It is the Gospel which has the power to save the souls of men from the destructive end of their sins, that is death and hell. It is the only hope of salvation that you, I, or any man have.

It is not the emasculated “gospel” of Rick Warren or Rob Bell or Tony Jones or Rick Joyner or any other false teacher in the world today. Their gospel denies the utter spiritual bankruptcy of man and makes a mockery of the infinite grace of God shown toward us, sinners worthy of damnation and eternal punishment for our rebellion against the Creator. Their gospel is powerless to save men, and those who receive their gospel will not inherit eternal life save that they, by the grace of God, have their eyes opened to the true Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed by Scripture — the Gospel that demands repentance, holiness, self-denial, and utter dependence on Christ for any who would take that name above all other names. The gospel of the emergent church and of the charismatic “prophets” is no gospel at all, and sadly many are they who enter by way of their gates and walk their paths. Do not be one of those who enter the wide gate and walk the wide path, my friend. Enter by the narrow gate and walk the narrow path. For the end of the wide is destruction. Only by the narrow way are we saved.

Who Are We Striving to Please?

I recently listened and listened again to a message by Alistair Begg on the importance of Transparency, Integrity, and Urgency in church leadership. It is yet another solid confirmation that truth, righteousness, and the consistent exhortation to both are far more important than not stepping on toes or offending people who have made traditions of men their idols, more important to them than the Word of God.

The people whom God has sent to a church are there for a purpose, and those who have been sent to lead ought to lead courageously as the Spirit has moved. Neither the zeal of youth nor fifty years of membership in a particular body gives us the right to usurp God’s Word or His Spirit’s leading for our traditions, whatever they may be. If traditions and personal preferences are of higher priority to the majority of a given body than sound doctrine and submitting to the appointed leadership of the church, then perhaps we might ought to reconsider our membership in a given body, whether a church, a small group, a ministry, or some para-church organization.

Now I’m not saying traditions aren’t important. They do help us to identify culturally with those in the local body. But they are not even half as important as the Truth being proclaimed boldly and accurately — that is to say the true Gospel of Jesus Christ and not some counterfeit. However, when a people elevates the traditions of men over the truth of the Gospel, they have missed the point entirely and are focusing on man rather than on God. Their minds are set on the flesh and not on the Spirit.

Accordingly, godly leadership ought not to acquiesce to this nonsense and in fact ought to expose it and call it what it is. Now I know that doesn’t make people comfortable, nor will it win me a lot of friends among my peers or my elders. But that’s not the point. You see, so often we play politics in God’s church so as not to upset anyone over how the Spirit has led the leadership of the church to move, and we’ll string them along deceptively, slowly taking them somewhere their stony hearts were never willing to go in the first place.

They are no more willing participants in the end than at the beginning because their hearts never changed, and they never will because we fail to acknowledge and address the source of the problem: the attitudes of their hearts toward God and their love of man’s traditions over God’s Word. We tiptoe around them and call it “patience” or “tolerance” or “understanding.” What we ought to be doing is speaking firmly, transparently, and honestly with regard to all matters, including conflicts. Gentleness does not require secrecy, deception, or walking on egg shells to please stiff-necked idolaters. It is shameful that we would even consider doing these things.

We are more concerned with pleasing men and not being judged by them than we are of being obedient to God’s calling and being judged by Him! How utterly foolish of us! Should not our primary concern be with He who will one day judge us and our works? Only those works which have been crafted with the precious metals and gemstones of the directing of the Spirit shall stand. All our worthless man-centered works shall be burned as hay and stubble.

I, for one, care very little whether I am judged by men. I care very much for how my God and King will judge my stewardship of this His abundant grace to me: the Truth in His Word. May God grant that to my dying breath I defend His Word and proclaim its Truth without timidity. The power of God to save men is not in my ability or inability to preach the Word, but in His Word itself! The Word of God, plainly spoken without intricately woven tapestries of language to dress it up is still the Word of God, and it is powerful! Christ crucified will always be a stumbling block and foolishness to those who will die in their transgressions. But it is the power of God to those who will be saved.

Now that is not to say that I am above guidance, teaching, or correction. But it is to say that my primary concern is with God and His approval and not man and his approval. Would that all whom God has appointed to lead His church and Christ’s body gave no heed to either the undue praise or the undue criticism of men and led with transparency, integrity, and urgency, just as Paul is described as having done in Acts 20.

I’ll close with an quote from our friend and brother Charles Spurgeon.

A certain man placed a fountain by the wayside, and he hung up a cup near to it by a little chain. He was told some time after that a great art-critic had found much fault with its design. “But,” said he, “do many thirsty persons drink at it?” Then they told him that thousands of poor people, men, women, and children, slaked their thirst at this fountain; and he smiled and said, that he was little troubled by the critic’s observation, only he hoped that on some sultry summer’s day the critic himself might fill the cup, and be refreshed, and praise the name of the Lord.

Here is my fountain, and here is my cup: find fault if you please; but do drink of the water of life. I only care for this. I had rather bless the soul of the poorest crossing-sweeper, or rag-gatherer, than please a prince of the blood, and fail to convert him to God.