"...God’s Not In It"

"We have rebelled against God, broken every law.
It’s not just an issue that you have sinned. The issue
is you’ve never done anything but sinned. The
Bible says in the prophets that even our greatest
works are like filthy rags before God. And because
of that, you know what we deserve? The wrath of
God. The holy hatred of God.

You say, “Now, wait a minute. God doesn’t hate
anybody. God is love.” No, my friend. You need to
understand something. Jesus Christ taught, the
prophets taught, the apostles taught this -that apart
from the grace of God revealed in Jesus Christ our
Lord, the only thing left for you is the wrath, the
fierce anger of God because of your rebellion and
your sin.

Pray for revival? You’re going to have a youth
meeting; you want God to move, but before you go
there you watch programs on television that God
absolutely despises. And then you wonder why
the Holy Spirit hasn’t fallen on a place and why
you have to create false fire and false excitement.
Because God’s not in it. God is a holy God and the
only way you and I could ever be reconciled to a
holy God is through the death of God’s own Son
when He hung on that tree.

People say the cross is a sign of how much man is
worth. That’s not true. The cross is a sign of how
depraved we really are, that it took the death of
God’s own Son. The only thing that could save a
people like us was the death of God’s own Son un-
der the wrath of His own Father paying the price,
rising again from the dead. Powerful to say, this is
the Gospel of Jesus.

How is it that so many people today profess to have
had an encounter with Jesus Christ, and, yet, they
are not permanently changed?..."

--Paul Washer
www.heartcrymissionary.com

Be Ashamed

"Be ashamed, Christians, that worldlings are more studious and industrious to make sure of pebbles, than you are to make sure of pearls"

--Thomas Brooks (1608-1680)

MEDIOCRE CHRISTIANITY

These are some convicting words from A.W. Tozer:

“It is disheartening to those who care, and surely a great grief to the Spirit, to see how many Christians are content to settle for less than the best. Personally I have for years carried a burden of sorrow as I have moved among evangelical Christians who somewhere in their past have managed to strike a base compromise with their heart's holier longings and have settled down to a lukewarm, mediocre kind of Christianity utterly unworthy of themselves and of the Lord they claim to serve. And such are found everywhere. Every man is as close to God as he wants to be; he is as holy and as full of the Spirit as he wills to be. Yet we must distinguish wanting from wishing. By ‘want’ I mean wholehearted desire. Certainly there are many who wish they were holy or victorious or joyful but are not willing to meet God’s conditions to obtain.

Oh Lord, give me that ‘wholehearted desire’ that keeps me from being satisfied with mediocre Christianity. Amen.”


-- A.W. Tozer (1897-1963)

THE LAST WORD

I saw this posted at Lighthouse Trails Blog and thought it was important to post here:

From Jewish believer and radio host Jan Markell

"You may not read about some of these stories. They are not obscure, just overlooked and to many, not noteworthy. However, I consider them to be some of the most significant stories of 2006.

• Israel lost a war last summer, with Hezbollah, proving she has the worst government in her 58 year history.

• Mike Wallace said that Iran's Ahmadinejad is a man we can do business with and is really quite likable. The Left is deluded that such a "messianic menace" as Ahmadinejad has good traits when he wants to destroy parts of the free world including America and Israel.

• My home state's Sen. Keith Ellison (D-MN) is the first Muslim to get elected to high office. He will take his oath on the Koran. He is a pawn of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, an organization in America to make all Muslims look good.

• Christian censorship of the truth happened as Hal Lindsey and Zola Levitt Ministries were let go by Trinity Broadcasting Network for their pro-Israel stance and perceived lack of tolerance for Islam.

• The "Emergent Church" went from obscurity to prominence and is called "evangelical" by those who should know better. Emergent denies many of the essentials of the faith and relies on the touchy-feely gospel with candles, incense, and even rosary beads for Protestants. They consider homosexuals "Christians" if they claim to be.

• So-called evangelicals said this year that man-made global warming must become the primary issue for evangelicals along with other social gospel issues. This from the organization known as the "Evangelical Environmental Network," a collection of social gospel leaders parading as evangelicals. A 2006 conclusion is that the word "evangelical" today means nothing.

• Iran had a Holocaust Denial Conference with 30 nations in attendance. It confirms that anti-Semitism is spiraling out of control. As Israel's Netanyahu says, "It's 1938 all over again."

• The effort to "sanctify divination" in the church continues with the promotion of so-called "Christian Yoga," contemplative prayer, walking the labyrinth, and other practices that when blanking out the mind to get "closer to God" can actually lead to spiritual tragedy. In 2006 we saw these and many other practices gain international respect. Some critics say that 2006 was the year of "treason in the church."

• The belief that Islam can be tamed and appeased and then they will like us and even forsake Sharia Law for democracy has to be the delusion of 2006 or even the 21st century.

• This mantra will not go away and picked up in 2006: The creation of a Palestinian State will help bring about world peace. Why? This is promoted by the U.N., the E.U., the State Department, the Vatican, the White House, and every Arab capital of the world. President Bush now states he wishes to see a Palestinian State by sometime in 2007. Conditions apply that don't make it a likely possibility.

• A once-obscure Sen. Barack Obama has taken the country by storm. Will he take the church by storm? Claiming to be a Christian, he is the most far-left Democrat in Washington. He spoke at Rick Warren's AIDS conference in December and got a standing ovation. Warren stated he would make a fine president. The concern is this sends a subtle message to Christians that he is safe to vote for in 2008.

• In 2006 it became clear that eschatology (Bible prophecy) is the most mocked category of theology but at the same time, the most important as it plays out before our eyes daily. What interest is left is generally found in Dominion/Kingdom Now Theology; that is, that the church will make the world perfect for the Lord's return. Some of the most-admired Christian radio and TV preachers now promote this false theology found nowhere in the Bible. A runner-up in popularity is the false teaching of Preterism; that is, that all prophecy but the Second Coming took place in 70 A.D. Christians are left bewildered as to what to believe and thus throw the topic overboard although over 60 million have read the Dispensational view from the "Left Behind" books.

THE GOOD NEWS is that much of this is predicted for a last generation. Are we that generation? We don't know but we shouldn't let the above issues get us down. We need, in fact, to look up and NOT around! The King is coming and He will trump all of the above nonsense from church issues to the geo-political. He has the last say, the last laugh, and the last word. His 1,000-year Kingdom on earth followed by the new Heaven and earth will make every wrong right. There will be no treason in the church, the home, or the world, and His government will end the world's strife."

Awaiting His return,
Jan Markell
Co-author, Trapped in Hitler's Hell

This article or excerpt is from Jan Markell on December 27, 2006 @ 9:56 am.

Website: Olivetreeviews.org

When the Church Becomes Like the World

Jolly Christianity and Sanctified Nightclubs
When the church becomes like the world

by Paul Tautges


A.W. Tozer died the year I was born but, if I had known him, I think we would have gotten along quite well. In fact, I think I would have asked him if we could do lunch once a month so I could pick his brain. Because in my opinion the main ingredient in Tozer’s underlying belief system that caused many to call this Chicago pastor, a “20th century prophet,” was his lofty view of God and the exalted worship that He, therefore, deserves. At the risk of quoting one person too much, let me give you a little taste of Tozer. [i]

The idea that this world is a playground instead of a battleground has now been accepted in practice by the vast majority of fundamentalist Christians. They might hedge around the question if they were asked bluntly to declare their positions, but their conduct gives them away. They are facing both ways, enjoying Christ and the world, gleefully telling everyone that accepting Jesus does not require them to give up their fun—Christianity is just the jolliest thing imaginable. The ‘worship’ growing out of such a view of life is as far off center as the view itself—a sort of sanctified nightclub without the champagne and the dressed-up drunks (pp. 152, 153).

I cannot accept with sympathy the idea that we go to church to soothe ourselves and calm our spirits. We do calm our spirits and there is a soothing effect in worship, but the primary object of church attendance is not to relax—it is to offer worship, which belongs to God (p. 3).

What the Church needs today is a restoration of the vision of the Most High God…The honor of God has been lost to men and the God of today’s Christianity is a weakling—a little cheap, palsy God that you can run and pal around with. He’s ‘the man upstairs.’ He’s the fellow that can help you when you’re in difficulty and not bother you too much when you’re not (p. 54).

Unlike many professing believers today, Tozer saw the cheapening of God as a serious offense and, therefore, was compelled to speak out against contemporary forms of “worship” that eroded the fear of God from the hearts of Christians. What he discerned (and warned against) was the drift of the church away from a standard of separation from worldliness in all its forms toward a pragmatic use of entertainment as an evangelistic tool or tactic to keep worldly-minded believers happy in the pews. That is why reading Tozer’s assessment of the worship trends of his day feels like you are reading a contemporary author but, then you stop and realize, “Oh yeh, this guy’s dead.”

A question that thoughtful Christians must ask is, What brought the church in Tozer’s day (and, therefore, our day) to such a pathetic state? The answer is found in the change in the church’s relationship with worldly forms of entertainment. Listen to Tozer again,

For centuries the Church stood solidly against every form of worldly entertainment, recognizing it for what it was—a device for wasting time, a refuge from the disturbing voice of conscience, a scheme to divert attention from moral accountability. For this she got herself abused roundly by the sons of this world. But of late she has become tired of the abuse and has given over the struggle. She appears to have decided that if she cannot conquer the great god Entertainment she may as well join forces with him and make whatever use she can of his powers. So today we have the astonishing spectacle of millions of dollars being poured into the unholy job of providing earthly entertainment for the so-called sons of heaven. Religious entertainment is in many places rapidly crowding out the serious things of God. Many churches these days have become little more than poor theaters where fifth-rate ‘producers’ peddle shoddy wares with the full approval of evangelical leaders who can even quote a holy text in defense of their delinquency. And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it (pp. 111-112).

Read that last sentence again: “And hardly a man dares raise his voice against it.” In our day, rare is the man that dares to speak out against this same invasion of carnality into the church. And I can tell you from experience that if you dare to protest the worldliness that is running rampant in evangelical churches you will quickly be labeled a “legalist,” or “divisive,” or “stuck in the traditions of the past,” or “unwilling to ride the wave of God,” ad nauseum. It is unfortunate that so many Christians today have relinquished their thinking process because their spiritual hunger and thirst may not be for righteousness, but for whatever is glitzy or trendy or whatever works. With the virtual wholesale selling out of the church to worldly entertainment disguised as worship, should we expect anything more than half-hearted, worldly “Christians”? If the evangelical church sows to the flesh should it be surprised when it reaps from the same? When Jesus returns, “will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8).

Praying He will,

Pastor Paul


[i] James L. Snyder, ed., A.W. Tozer on Worship and Entertainment (Camp Hill, PA: Christian Publications, 1997), pp. 152-153.

"Only a Few Drops of Error"

Some of the readers on thinkerup.com know us from the church we used to attend. A church full of good people who love the Lord and have a desire to put him first in their life. I have known many of these people for many years and have enjoyed fighting for our faith side by side with them.

Those of you who know my brothers and I also know that we no longer go to that church. The reasons we no longer are members of that church are because we believe the leadership of the church has strayed from doctrinal truths and has allowed man-made methods to steer the direction over and above that of the Holy Spirit's.

The changes which caused us to leave did not happen over night. Slowly through many years biblical doctrine gets pushed aside and replaced by sinner appeasing methods (seeker sensitive) in order to grow the numbers of attendees and increase the size of the church. Every aspect of the church function becomes geared toward making visitors feel comfortable, in hopes they will return week after week and eventually "get connected" to the church. One of the areas where this is most evident is in the content of the messages being preached to the point of it changing the actual message itself. This is where erroneous doctrines begin to set in and become commonplace. This is a very gradual process. It's possible that an entire generation of young people can grow up in this kind of church environment and seldom hear any biblically sound doctrinal teaching. Allow me to quote Martyn Lloyd-Jones to help explain...

"We are to guard ourselves against being 'tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine', for if your doctrine goes astray your life will soon suffer as well. So it behooves us to study the doctrines in order that we may safeguard ourselves against certain erroneous and heretical teachings that are as rife and as common in the world today as they were in the days of the early Church." (from his Exposition of Ephesians)

When someone does come along willing to teach doctrine, how is anyone supposed to know if it is false doctrine or true doctrine? How are the people in the church able to test the teachings if they have never had any training in discernment?

The purpose of this website is to both point out the errors which have crept into the church (my former church and the church at large) and to help maintain a biblically sound perspective of the doctrines of our faith. Our desire is to "contend for the faith" as spoken of in the book of JUDE.

The one thing I do not want to happen is for readers to misunderstand what's going on here. Our goal is not to cause division for the sake of causing division. Division may be a by-product of raising certain issues but it is not the goal or the purpose.

Both of my brothers and I, along with our wives have spent almost 20 years being involved with the youth at our former church. We taught Sunday School, went on retreats, special events, and committed countless hours of our time to the youth throughout the years because of a burden the Lord had given us to see as many as possible come to know Jesus Christ as their savior and commit their lives to Him. This has always been our burden and still is to this day, even though we do not have as much contact with the youth of that church anymore.

The enemy is very clever. He attacks from within the church. He uses absolutely anyone he can. The best way to detect if the enemy on the prowl is to test ALL TEACHINGS against scripture. This is not always an easy task. This is also not always easy to discern. This is not a thing for "lazy" christians. You've got to read a lot. You've got to pray a lot, and I don't mean "contemplative prayer".

Below is an example of what can happen to a christian who is being warned of false teachers:

"A young Christian, for instance, brought up from his cradle to hear nothing but Evangelical teaching, is suddenly invited some day to hear a sermon preached by some eminent teacher of semi-Catholic, or semi-skeptical opinions. He goes into the church, expecting in his simplicity to hear nothing but heresy from the beginning to the end. To his amazement he hears a clever, eloquent sermon, containing a vast amount of truth, and only a few drops of error. Too often a violent reaction takes place in his simple, innocent, unsuspicious mind. He begins to think his former teachers were narrow, and uncharitable, and his confidence in them is shaken, perhaps forever. Too often, it ends with his entire perversion, and at last he is enrolled in the ranks of the Legalist, Ritualists, or the liberal Christians! And what is the history of the whole case?
Why, a foolish forgetfulness of the lesson Paul puts forward in this text. "As Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning," so Satan charms unwary souls in our century by approaching them under the garb of truth."

--J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)

This is exactly what I hope is not happening with any of the youth we used to teach. This is the reaction I fear. I believe this may be happening in some cases but I pray it is not.

Basically, christians need to wake up. Christians need to be aware of what is being taught. The errors may not be obvious. They may not always be evident. But like RAT POISON, 99% of it's contents are nutritious except for about 1%. But it's that 1% which is enough to kill.

We need to test everything being preached or taught against scripture. For example, if church leaders are reading books like "A Generous Orthodoxy" by Brian McLaren, you better find out what is in that book and if it is biblical or not especially when Brian McLaren holds unscriptural views on things such as HELL, SALVATION, and HOMOSEXUALITY. Ask direct questions on issues of doctrine. Ask for direct answers, then check it against scriptures yourself, like the Bereans did in Acts 17:11.

If your teacher/preacher is influenced by books like "Celebration of Discipline" by Richard Foster you better find out about Richard Foster and just exactly what he is teaching in his book. Richard Foster is a Quaker. Have you heard of the "INNER LIGHT" within all of us whether we are christians or not? Have you done any research on these "spiritual disciplines" taught by Richard Foster?

What if a leader in the church speaks admirably of authors like Tony Campolo? That should definitely raise some red flags, especially when one understands some of the positions CAMPOLO takes.

I could easily go on and on here but I won't. It would take too long. The bottom line is, you need to weigh all things in the light of God's Word, not the word of ROB BELL and his book Velvet Elvis or his Nooma videos––which some youth pastors love to teach from. Or not the word of your pastor, no matter how good of a communicator he is or how sincere he may be.

Teachers, preachers and youth pastors need to be ACCOUNTABLE for what they teach on a public platform. Christians should not give them a pass based on trust or based on a personal relationship. This is one of the slickest tools used by the devil. A person's relationship becoming more important than biblical truth.

Consider another quote from J.C. Ryle...

"What is more common than to hear it said of some false teacher in this day, "He is so good, so devoted, so kind, so zealous, so laborious, so humble, so self-denying, so charitable, so earnest, so fervent, so clever, so evidently sincere, there can be no danger and no harm in hearing him. Besides he preaches such a real Gospel: no one can preach a better sermon than he does sometimes! I never can and never will believe he is unsound." Who does not hear continually such talk as this?

What discerning eye can fail to see that Christians expect unsound teachers to be open vendors of poison, and cannot realize that they often appear as "angels of light," and are far too wise to be always saying all they think, and showing their whole hand and mind. But so it is. Never was it so needful to remember the words, "Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning."

Again, the purpose of all of this is not to be divisive but to alert pastors, teachers and fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord of errors in doctrine and theology and to remind us to carefully test ALL things against scripture rather than taking someone's word for it.

Eternal souls are at stake.

-Kenny

Separation is a Virtue?

Divisions and separations are most objectionable in religion. They weaken the cause of true Christianity ...But before we blame people for them, we must be careful that we lay the blame where it is deserved. False doctrine and heresy are even worse than schism. If people separate themselves from teaching that is positively false and unscriptural, they ought to be praised rather than reproved. In such cases separation is a virtue and not a sin.

-J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)

Pastor Ken Silva--A Contender For the Faith!

Ken Silva of Apprising Ministries has been carefully researching the teachings of Rob Bell for over a year now. It's nice to see letters like the one below which show the Lord moving through men like Ken Silva.

Thanks Ken for all your hard work and for truly contending for the faith.

Dear Pastor Silva,

This whole Emergent issue came to my attention about a year ago while reading a copy of my friend's magazine, “Relevant.” At first it seemed like a very hip and current magazine that talked about issues related to Christianity in a fresh way. As I looked into it more closely, the warning bells started to go off. This magazine promoted authors like Brian McLaren and Donald Miller which I had never heard of. So, I started to take a look at what they had to say and realized that I would really need to do a critical study of their writings and see how it matched up with the Word. I still haven't gotten to that yet, but thankfully there are people like you who are already stepping out in the arena.

A few months ago, I became friends with a young woman from Grand Rapids who I later found out attended Rob Bell’s church, Mar's Hill. I had never heard of him, but went to a Sunday morning service with her. Rob talked about something called “Exodus Theology” which sounded very convoluted and contrived. I didn’t really get what he was saying but my alarm bells went up when he made a joke directed at Focus on the Family.

Recently my friend told me a little about Rob’s latest sermon and said I wouldn’t like it. So, I took a listen to the message series titled “Calling All Peacemakers.” As a former Navy officer and someone with a pretty good understanding of Islamic terrorism, I was shocked at Rob’s conclusion–he seemed to be advocating Christian involvement in the peace and anti-war movement. I don’t want to go into this debate right now, but the one thing that people advocating for “peace in our time” don’t understand is that human nature is sinful.

After hearing this sermon, I had to learn more about Rob Bell and so I found your website. It is definitely a Godsend. The other articles you had up about Rob’s sermons were unbelievable.
Some thoughts about Emergent. One of my attorney friends told me that instead of directly addressing a person’s argument, he likes to attack the underlying assumptions. Maybe this is where we start against the apostate teaching of Emergent–attack their underlying assumptions. I’m not exactly sure what those are: relativism, favoring the new over the old, tolerance?

Anyway, this is how I came across Emergent and Rob Bell. I think his heart is in the right place but he is just very much deceived. He seems to be talented but has been infected by ungodly influences.

Sincerely,
Andy

The Gift of Discernment

"Among the gifts of the Spirit scarcely one is of greater practical usefulness than the gift of discernment. This gift should be highly valued and frankly sought as being almost indispensable in these critical times. This gift will enable us to distinguish the chaff from the wheat and to divide the manifestations of the flesh from the operations of the Spirit."

--A.W. Tozer

Elevate Your Idea of God

Thanks Ken @ apprising.org for finding this quote from Spurgeon:

"Sin is great, and for that reason the sinner thinks it cannot be pardoned, as if he measured the Lord by his sin and fancied that his sin was greater than the mercy of God. Hence, our difficulty with men who are really awakened [to the gravity of their sin] is to raise their thoughts of God's mercy in proportion to their raised idea of the greatness of sin, While they do not feel their sin, they say that God is merciful and talk very flippantly about it, as if pardon were a trifle. But when they feel the weight of sin, then they think it impossible that sin should be forgiven. In our text God in condescension helps the sinner to believe in pardon by elevating his idea of God. Because God is infinitely superior to man, He can abundantly pardon."

--Charles Spurgeon

Purpose of the Gospel

"He did not hesitate to stand up and say, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me". ... At the end of His life He tells Pilate that He is come into the world "to bear witness unto the truth". He had come to save us, but do not put that first; He had come to bear witness to the truth, and it is only as He brings us to a knowledge of the truth that He saves us. Everything is in terms of the truth, and it is truth about God!

The whole purpose of the gospel, the object of the whole of salvation, is to bring us to this knowledge of God. Not to give us certain experiences and feelings only. Thank God, we get these, as it were, in passing, but if I have not got this salvation, experiences and feelings may be spurious and false; they may be of the devil and his counterfeits; for the cults can make people happy and give them various kinds of deliverance, even healing their bodies at times.

No, it is not that, it is to know God, and to come to the knowledge of the truth, and the truth is - the holiness of God. It is there in the sixth chapter of Isaiah: 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory'!"

--Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Exposition to Ephesians

'Seekers' Are Poor Judges of Their Needs

From the OldTruth.com blog:

"Convicted sinners are very poor judges of what "will do them good". The very things which they think they need, are often the very things that are snares to their souls. How is it possible for "natural man, who discerneth not the things of the Spirit of God", to tell what will do him good? He has no sincere liking for God, or the truth of God. And if likings are to be consulted, the truth must often be sacrificed.

It is better to trouble his conscience, than to please his heart. A convicted sinner is the last person in the world to judge justly, in regard to the kind of instruction he needs. He will seize error more readily than truth, and if his tastes are consulted, his soul will be endangered. In consulting such tastes lies the cunning art deceivers, who lead crowds to admire them, and run after them, and talk of them, while they care not for the truth, "deceiving and being deceived"."

--Ichabod Spencer, A Pastor's Sketches, 1850

"Are We Willing to Drink His Cup?"

"I say with all my heart, we’re looking for a painless Pentecost.
We want to invest a dime and get a million dollars back.
Can you drink of the cup? "We are able," and so they drank, and were crucified.

Today it is considered sadistic if you even say that people have to take up their cross. "Don’t tell young people about the cross—they’ll be discouraged." Are you suggesting that Jesus wasn’t smart? "If you’re going to be my disciple, kiss the world goodbye." You see, when people are born again these days, they don’t get separated from the world. Most likely their pastor is the most worldly guy around! But if you’re going to get what He wants to give, if you’re going to get the true baptism of the Spirit, you have to drink of that cup."

--Leonard Ravenhill, from his sermon "Are we willing to drink His cup?"

Church Growth Hormone: A Biblically Banned Substance

By Pastor Ray Baumann

"The ingredients are as follows: man-centered theology, relevant messages that solve people’s problems by meeting their needs, events and programs that reach out to the community, and music that is contemporary and entertaining. For best results, remove pews, dress casual, and install a 5000 lumen projector.

If taken weekly and if you follow a regimented marketing strategy, you are guaranteed growth. The side effects may include unbelievers in leadership, false converts, uncommitted members, and shallow minds..."

READ THE REST...

Kill It Once For All

"What the Arminian wants to do is to arouse man's activity: what we want to do is to kill it once for all---to show him that he is lost and ruined, and that his activities are not now at all equal to the work of conversion; that he must look upward. They seek to make the man stand up: we seek to bring him down, and make him feel that there he lies in the hand of God, and that his business is to submit himself to God, and cry aloud, 'Lord, save, or we perish.' We hold that man is never so near grace as when he begins to feel he can do nothing at all. When he says, 'I can pray, I can believe, I can do this, and I can do the other,' marks of self-sufficiency and arrogance are on his brow."

--Charles Spurgeon

Dear Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and Tony Campolo,

When I read the following from Gil Rugh's sermon I thought of you guys. So here are some of his thoughts which I am sure you guys may never read but maybe others who think you guys are doctrinally sound will read this and maybe the Lord will begin the process of conviction:

"False Teachers Are not to be Tolerated.

When you fellowship with false teachers and false doctrine, you break fellowship with God's people.

False apostles do not come in and say, "We want you to worship Buddha." They say, "We, too, are servants of Christ. We love him and have a passion to honor him." But they also bring teaching and doctrine contrary to apostolic and prophetic revealed truth. Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore, it is not surprising if Satan's servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, "...whose end will be according to their deeds..." as Paul writes at the end of verse 15.

The seriousness of false doctrine and false teaching is stressed repeatedly by a reminder of their destiny. Peter will strongly address this issue in chapter 2. We are not dealing with a variation or difference of opinion. The matter is much more serious before God when His word is at stake. His word is His character. In 2 Peter 2:1, false teachers who rise up from among the people of God "...will secretly introduce destructive heresies." The point is important because God is telling us how false teachers accomplish their work. They come up from among believers and also present themselves as genuine believers, but secretly introduce heresies. "

Secretly introduce" is a translation of a Greek compound word. Basically, it means to bring something in alongside something else, but it also includes a flavor of doing something secretive or covertly underhanded. False teachers bring their teaching and doctrine in alongside the word of God, but in a way that is subtle, not obvious. Their goal is to corrupt the truth of God, to lure the people of God away from God's word and faithfulness to their God."

by Gil Rugh
"Destructive Heresies in Today's Church" 1996

Minimize Truth in Favor of Organization

"For I think you will agree that the prevailing tendency is not to talk about and write about the truth itself. The whole emphasis at the moment is that we should all be getting together and forming great organizations. The concern is not so much as to the truth of the message, but to gather ourselves together into one great community. The tendency today is to minimize truth in favor of organization, and men are telling us with unwearied iteration that the greatest tragedy of the world is the disunited church. But the tragedy, the greatest tragedy as I understand the New Testament, is not the disunity of the church, is not the fact that the church is divided into groups and denominations, is not that we are not all in one organization, but that all the sections are preaching a false message and that there has been a departure from the truth of God as it is in Jesus Christ."

--Martin Lloyd-Jones

"We Don't Want To Do Battle Over These Things"

"It is good that the people of God are driven to God's word. Those who love family, friends, father, or mother more than the Lord became evident. Now I must decide not only on the doctrinal issues, but on what side of the doctrinal issues are my friends and family members. Remember Deuteronomy 13. If your cherished wife, your closest friend or one of your children becomes involved in this, you must maintain your allegiance to the Lord and be done with them. We become involved in doctrinal battles and suddenly we say, "Well, you may be right. You may have the correct view of Scripture, but I just don't think that I want to part friendship over this." The process of erosion begins.

You started just a bit off track, but over time, what eventually happens? You may have seen an example of this when brick houses are built. The bricklayer started out laying bricks level and straight. After a while, a few bricks are no longer straight and level. Soon you see the whole wall is not straight or level and say, "I cannot live with that." The bricklayer replies, "Why not? We were only a little off back here." You point out, "Yeah, but look where you ended up!" They say, "Oh, no. Look where we started." You say, "No! Look where we ended!" Do you think the Presbyterians under John Calvin intended to end where they are today? Or the Methodists under John and Charles Wesley? Or the Lutherans under Martin Luther? What happened? The people of God get weary in the conflict. They started out with a solid foundation, but became a little tolerant saying, "We don't want to do battle over these things. I don't want to do battle or fight any longer. I really don't want to lose any more friends.""

by Gil Rugh
"Destructive Heresies in Today's Church" 1996

BEDRIDDEN BELIEVERS

By Paul Proctor
NewsWithViews.com

Driving across town the other day, I passed by a church that always displays an inspirational message on their sign out front. Such messages are very common these days and often quite thought provoking. The one I saw most recently had me thinking all the way home.

It read: "Churches are hospitals for sinners, not museums for saints."

How sad and true, I thought to myself. Churches have become hospitals for sinners, haven't they? They used to be spiritual fortresses built in enemy territory where soldiers for Christ were recruited, trained and equipped for doing battle against sin and evil in society with open bibles, convicted hearts and committed lives.

Today, they're largely filled with bedridden believers who pass the time in and out small group therapy, languishing over their ills and misfortunes – forever discussing their aches and pains with anyone who'll listen – lying around moaning and groaning about daily discomforts, inconveniences and "felt needs" while being coddled and cried over by other patients waiting for their turn to be coddled and cried over – each looking at the clock and growing increasingly impatient that their pastor/physician has yet to make his appointed rounds, hold their hand and tell them what a wonderful and courageous patient they've been.

You see, the last thing they want to hear him say is: "Arise, and take up thy bed, and go thy way…" because their hospital has become, for the most part, an eternal resting place and refuge from responsibility.

In Ephesians 6:11, Paul tells us to "Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil."

Notice he didn't say: "Put on your hospital gown, lie down and wait quietly for your pastor to come by with his prognosis."

Unfortunately, many of us have been convinced by our seeker sensitive friends that struggling through the Christian life means shuffling up and down the hallways of our hospital from treatment to treatment, shaking hands and exchanging sympathies and smiles with others we pass along the way. These patient's greatest fear is separation from their lunch trays, bedpans and heart monitors and being sent back out onto the battlefield to face real opposition. If we could hear their thoughts, I’m sure they might sound something like:

"It's dangerous out there and we're just not up to it yet! Besides, we have our health, finances, self-esteem and social status to think of."

No, lets just raise more money, add on another wing and bring in more beds and TVs because the need is great and the world is a perilous place. And, let's remember: A full hospital is a happy hospital! We're much better off investing our time in learning how to get along with the enemy, keep the peace and avoid confrontation. Let's try to keep it positive, shall we, even if it means hiding the truth about sin and Hell. Because taking a public stand against unbiblical things in today's world might offend somebody and hurt our overall standing in the community, which of course, would be hard on the numbers and cost us valuable prospects. And, after all, we DO want our lovely hospital to continue growing and prospering in the community, don't we? So, let's make sure no one confuses it with a mighty fortress where, Heaven forbid, saints are seen bearing armor and swords and preparing for war.

That just wouldn't be very Christian, now would it?

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God…" – Ephesians 6:12-17

© 2004 Paul Proctor - All Rights Reserved

Why Doctrinal Preaching Declines

by A.W. Pink

"During the last two or three generations the pulpit has given less and less prominence to doctrinal preaching, until today, with very rare exceptions, it has no place at all.

....Various reasons may be given for the lamentable failure of the pulpit, chief among them being laziness, desire for popularity, superficial and lop-sided evangelism, and love of the sensational'.

Many of the pulpiteers of the past fifty years acted as though the first and last object of their calling was the salvation of souls, everything being made to bend to that aim. In consequence, the feeding of the sheep, the maintaining of a Scriptural discipline in the church, and the inculcation of practical piety, was crowded out; and only too often all sorts of worldly devices and fleshly methods were employed under the plea that the end justified the means; and thus the churches were filled with unregenerate members. In reality, such men defeated their own aim."

Excert from The Life of Arthur W. Pink, by Ian H. Murray, Banner of Truth, Edinburgh, 1981, pp217-8

Destructive Heresies in Today's Church

How many churches could these quotes apply to today? Unfortunately, a lot I would say:

"The church door opens to trouble by saying, "Let's not nit-pick about doctrine. Let's not dot our I's and cross our T's so particularly." Believers compromise with the counterfeit to a certain degree because it basically looks good, then the door opens to more counterfeits. When the people of God know little about the word of God, they are not able to be discerning when they examine counterfeits."

"Destructive heresies are secretly introduced. Different opinions are brought along side with the truth. These heresies and opinions are destructive. They lead to destruction. It is a serious matter. As soon as you depart from the word of God, you are on the road to destruction. It is no minor issue; eternity is at stake. Departure occurs in one area, then another, and soon the teachers themselves are leaders in this road to destruction. Where does the heresy lead? Even to the point of denying the Master who bought them!"

by Gil Rugh
from his sermon "Destructive Heresies in Today's Church" 1996

Erroneous Belief

"Nothing makes a man so virtuous as belief of the truth. A lying doctrine will soon beget a lying practice. A man cannot have an erroneous belief without by-and-by having an erroneous life. I believe the one thing naturally begets the other."

--Charles Spurgeon