THE NEW WORD ORDER
A Clarion Call to Defending the Faith
Once Delivered to The Saints
And the whole earth was of
one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from
the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.
And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go
to, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be
scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to
see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord
said, Behold, the people is one,
and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will
be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down,
and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s
speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the
earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called
Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and
from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth (Genesis11:1-9).
Something
very troubling is happening. Something very troubling indeed. I realise that
what upsets me may not disturb others, but in my opinion it ought to be
noteworthy at the very least.
When
men take it upon themselves to defy Scripture because of their own sensibilities & attempt to pass
that off as ‘biblical’ by appealing
to the susceptibility of their audience, it offends me. It offends me to the
core of my petty & grossly insignificant little being. I say this & I know this because I myself have been guilty of this.
When
men take it upon themselves to accommodate the world & seek to justify that
accommodation from the very
Scriptures they defy, it offends me. It offends me from head to toe & turns
my stomach. I say this & I know this because I myself have been
guilty of this.
When
men take it upon themselves to actively make a name for themselves, erect a
platform for themselves & use any
& all means necessary [including a direct defiance of Scripture
& an accommodation of the world] in order to accomplish their dreams,
ambitions & goals while enriching themselves, it offends me. It offends my
love & growing understanding of The Word of God. I say this & I know
this because The Lord stopped me dead in my tracks before I went on to this
stage.
Paul
speaks the truth when he states [that]
‘..all seek their own, not the things
which are Jesus Christ’s (Philippians2:21). The subtle
displacement & replacement of God’s Word as supreme authority in The Church
is leading to an eventual landslide. We have been given an immovable object.
It’s The Gospel. However, there is a name-making-Word-defying-world-accommodating
generation of men & women today, who are masquerading as an
irresistible force. They represent The
New Word Order.
We
are told that we are to be ‘..steadfast,
unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord..’ (1stCorinthians15:58).
Why aren’t we?
These
are they that are rewriting & reinventing Doctrine to suit themselves.
Brethren, we are in an era when something’s got to give. While people like me
wax lyrical & reminisce about the ‘good
old days’ & ‘the way things used
to be’, others are using every resource available to them to perpetuate their Gospel. I’m not talking about the
Mormons or Jehovah’s Witnesses. I’m talking about Christians.
In
the 1990s I overheard a conversation between several ministers, in which one of
them remarked that in his Church, there were some of the dumbest smart people
he knew. He also said that if The Church wasn’t careful, this stupid generation
[his words, not mine] would go down
in history as having done the least,
with the most available to it. Of
course, he didn’t include himself in
that equation. At the time, I thought that his remarks were a bit rude &
short-sighted, but over the years, whenever I have been honest, I have had to admit that I was guilty of the
very things he had said.
The
20th & 21st centuries have seen & are seeing, larger advanced strides in a multitude of fields of
endeavour, than at any other time in the history of the world. Science fiction,
with all of its fantastic & imaginative innovations, is fast becoming
science fact. Information, technology & electronic communications are
enabling the exchanges of all manner of data at unimaginable speeds. The
Scriptures have already told us that in the last days, knowledge would be
increased (Daniel12:1-4). Well, knowledge has increased & at an extremely
alarming rate. Almost anything that we want to see or know, is quite
literally at our fingertips, via the internet. How very much we take for granted.
I
grew up in an era when none of this
was offered, yet now, we cannot live without regularly updating our statuses on
social media. The idea that every home would have a telephone in it was once
laughed at & the suggestion that all households would have a computer was once
considered a stretch. Mankind seems to be able to do whatever he imagines, but the last time that men did that, The Lord
stepped in & stopped them. Will He do it again?
Knowledge,
technology & information are not negative
things in & of themselves. They can be used to our advantage in the spreading
of The Gospel. The ability to store, access & transmit large tracts of
data, frees both space & time. Instead of buying & transporting
hundreds or thousands of volumes of books, stacks of CDs or editions of
editorials, we can now download whatever we need to a simple & nondescript USB
flash drive that is able to hang inconspicuously from a keyring. It’s what we do with what’s available to us that
raises the question of its validity & it also challenges us concerning the
propagation of the truth. In taking The Gospel to this post-modern &
neo-pagan generation, we have to be careful. Some within The Church are seeking
to redefine what we believe & Who we believe in, under the guise of
contextualisation. However, as we will see, this comes at a price that, sadly,
some are all too willing to pay.
The
fashionable trends that seem to have
come to dominate Christendom’s contemporary landscape, are little more [& no better] than the slick
advertising campaigns assembled by fast food chains such as McDonalds, Burger
King or Kentucky Fried Chicken. The Church might as well go right ahead &
print dogma discount vouchers & coupons. Cheap Grace has been given a whole new meaning.
McDoctrine
& Kentucky Fried Christianity is the order of the day, with Chicken Nuggets
of teaching, a side of Fresh Fire Fries & a skinny shake that’s extremely light
on sound, biblical truth. It seems that The Church has willingly lowered its
standards, standards set in place by those who have gone before us, having
suffered, shed their blood & died in order to establish the truth of The
Gospel & The Word of God. I’m speaking of The Lord & His Apostles. I’m
thinking of men in the history of The Church who stood for the truth &
bowed the knee to none but Christ alone.
As
I have often said, we are living in a time when anyone & everyone may
have a Facebook page, blogsite, web address, Twitter account or You Tube
channel. However, these things do not
a ministry make. Moreover, many of the ‘ministries’
that are promoting themselves & offering their wares for sale to the
multiplied thousands who listen to them, pay a nominal homage to the truth in
their doctrinal statements.
The
‘What We Believe’ buttons on their
websites do little or nothing to inform us about what they actually believe. Their actual
beliefs are revealed in what they teach & preach as standard fare. Just like
those in Genesis 11 who wanted to make a name for themselves & build a
city, with a tower that stretched to the heavens, so also today, within The Church,
there exists a group of men & women who are content to build their kingdoms while paying lip service
to the building of the Kingdom of God, without God. Brethren, these things ought not to be so.
Again,
It’s what we do with what’s available
to us that raises the question of its validity & it also challenges us
concerning the propagation of the truth. Whatever we are willing to do in order to attract people is exactly
what we’ll have to continue to do in
order to keep them. Is the simple
Gospel so outmoded that it has to be
dressed up or dumbed down beyond all
recognition? For some, in certain parts of The Church, the answer is yes.
If
we have to make The Gospel that we are preaching more sanitary, more
attractive & more palatable to
the world in order to reach the lost, I suggest that we’re no longer preaching the real Gospel. A slick logo, a catchy slogan
& stunning graphics will occasionally mask a lack of substance in our
Gospel presentation. The systematic lowering of the bar in order to facilitate
numerical growth & make people comfortable, is fast leading to an erosion
& ruination of The Church at large.
Jesus
Christ set a high standard & an unprecedented precedent that fewer &
fewer are adhering to or seeking to uphold. The Lord didn’t compromise whether
those in His audience were Scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees, the common people,
His relatives or His own disciples. However, there are some who feel that it’s both necessary & acceptable to circumnavigate
the truths given to us by Almighty God, embodied in The Lord Jesus Christ &
laid down in Apostolic Doctrine. They’re embarrassed. For them, their idea of ‘apologetics’ means saying sorry to the
world. I kid you not.
If
we dare to depart from The Gospel as it’s been given to us & as it’s
prescribed & described in Scripture, we sail into error. A false Gospel
presents a false Christ, preached from a false interpretation of God’s Word by
false men who will, in turn, produce false converts & false fruit. This is
already happening more quickly than at any
other time in the history of The Church.
Jesus saith unto them, Did
ye never read in the Scriptures, The stone which the builders rejected, the
same is become the head of the corner: this is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous
in our eyes? Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from
you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof. And whosoever
shall fall on this stone shall be broken: but on whomsoever it shall fall, it
will grind him to powder. And when the chief priests and Pharisees had heard
his parables, they perceived that he spake of them (Matthew21:42-45).
Here,
Jesus quotes from the Psalms & the book of the Prophet Isaiah. Indeed, they
are speaking of a person. These
verses are speaking of Him.
Wherefore also it is
contained in the Scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect,
precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore
which believe he is precious:
but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed,
the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock
of offence, even to them which
stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed (1stPeter2:6-8).
What shall we say then?
That the Gentiles, which followed not after righteousness, have attained to
righteousness, even the righteousness which is of faith. But Israel, which
followed after the law of righteousness, hath not attained to the law of
righteousness. Wherefore? Because they
sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works of the law. For they
stumbled at that stumblingstone; As it is written, Behold, I lay in Zion a
stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be
ashamed (Romans9:30-33).
The
stone of stumbling & rock of offence is Christ. When the disciples of John
came to Jesus with the question ‘Art thou
he that should come, or do we look for another?’, He answered succinctly,
giving them a concise list of His Messianic miracles & adding ‘…blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in me.’ (Matthew11:2-6).
After
His last Passover meal with His disciples, just before His crucifixion, Jesus
told the twelve plainly [that] ‘All ye shall be offended because of me this
night:’ (Matthew26:31). Christ & His Gospel are a stone of
stumbling. Christ & His Gospel are a rock of offence. Well, they certainly used to be, but are they still?
There
was a time when men wouldn’t compromise with The Gospel to
the extent that they’re willing to today. They wouldn’t have dared. Those who
tinkered & tailored with the truth to suit the cultural whims of the day
were soon marked as fractious men. God had drawn a huge, great, big, thick,
deep line in the sand, but generations have been occupied by believers &
leaders who have systematically sought to fill that gap & shorten the
distance between ‘us & them’.
Do
we now stop preaching the true Gospel
in order to accommodate the world? Do we? Some have taken it upon themselves to
remove the Cross & build a bridge of marshmallow love & sickly sweet,
non-judgemental acceptance, replete with angels that look like fairies, prancing
unicorns in their Nativity plays & shimmering, translucent rainbows to keep
homosexuals & the rest of the LGBTXYZ rebels happy. When Jesus began to
preach He said ‘Repent: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand.’ That was His catchy slogan. (Matthew4:17). The Cross
was His cleverly designed logo. Now the bar has been lowered to ‘You Don’t Have to Believe, to Belong’. You
don’t have to encounter the Cross at all.
Today’s
popular Gospel is completely & absolutely innocuous. It is ineffective.
Today’s Gospel has no Divine guts in it because they’ve been ripped out &
replaced with something altogether human. It bears more resemblance to a Piñata
that’s stuffed chock full with God’s goodies. We can prosper & be in
health, even as our souls prosper (1stJohn1:2). We can give
& it shall be given to us (Luke6:38). We can move mountains,
change situations & harness the power of God by simply believing &
speaking His Word (Mark11:23-24). If a man or woman hits God hard enough, for long
enough, with their stick of faith, the blessings fall out & shower them. Yeah,
right.
This
is another Gospel. There is no Cross to take up. There is no self to deny. There is no cost to count. Surely Christ &
the Apostles didn’t really mean what
they said, did they? Well if they did,
I’m sure there’s a milky, water-based
translation of The Bible or a paraphrased version somewhere that will say it in
a way that’s much more comfortable
for unbelievers to swallow. Afterall, The Gospel is good news, isn’t it? It is, compared to the bad news. This bad news
is tucked away though. No one wants to hear it because it’s not nice. Yet it’s
right there in the red letters that identify Jesus as speaking.
There were present at that
season some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with
their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these
Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such
things? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye
repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower
in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men
that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish (Luke13:1-5).
What
if a preacher uttered words like these after a tragedy like Dunblane or a
catastrophic event like Lockerbie? What if a minister stood up on the 1st Sunday after the events of
9/11 & told people that unless they repented, they would likewise perish?
Again, Jesus didn’t compromise whether those in His audience were Scribes,
Pharisees, Sadducees, the common people, His relatives or His own disciples.
They were told what they needed to
hear. They were given the truth, though inconvenient. This wasn’t all that Jesus ever said, or ever had to
say. He said it, nevertheless. However, in this New Word Order, it’s cheaper to be economical with the truth &
a lot easier to smooth over anything
that might scare the unbeliever away. This is a false economy.
And from the days of John
the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent
take it by force (Matthew11:12).
Men
& women need to be shown their desperate need for Christ as their Saviour,
because of their sinful state. There truly is
good news for those sinners who are destined for eternal hell, just as there is
good news for those sinners who have believed. These facts are fast
disappearing from the vocabulary of many modern ministers, even though said
facts are sound & biblical. Why? I’ve asked several of them & I’ve
received no replies.
And as Moses lifted up the
serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not
his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him
might be saved (John3:14-17).
For when we were yet
without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a
righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even
dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood,
we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son; much more, being reconciled, we
shall be saved by his life (Romans5:6-10).
To wit, that God was in
Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto
them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation (2ndCorinthians5:19).
These
& several other verses are constantly put forward in the modern preaching
of The Gospel, as shining examples of God’s lovingkindness towards mankind. I
agree that our God is loving. I agree
that He is kind. His mercy &
amazing grace are as eternal as He
is. However, let’s not engage in the worst type of dishonesty when we share The
Gospel. Remember what we read in John3:14-17? Keep reading. The next
verses are printed in red letters too.
He that believeth on him is
not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already,
because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And
this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that
doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should
be reproved
(John3:18-20).
He that believeth on the Son hath
everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the
wrath of God abideth on him (John3:36).
How
many men & women have accessorised
their lives with Jesus Christ, by repeating a simple prayer at the end of a
service where they’d enjoyed branded coffee, sumptuous cake, free Wi-Fi,
concert style worship, cinema seating & a non-offensive motivational
speech? Have those things if you want them, but don’t exclude the whole truth
of The Gospel, because if you do,
you’ll end up with nothing more than
a glorified, exclusive club. Jesus lambasted the club members of His time &
He will do it again (Matthew23:1-36).
Search the Scriptures; for in them ye
think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. And ye will
not come to me, that ye might have life. I receive not honour from men. But I
know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. I am come in my Father’s
name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will
receive. How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not
the honour that cometh from God
only? Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. For had
ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye
believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? (John5:39-47).
Then said Jesus again unto them, I go my
way, and ye shall seek me, and shall die in your sins: whither
I go, ye cannot come. Then said the Jews, Will he kill himself? because he
saith, Whither I go, ye cannot come. And he said unto them, Ye are from
beneath; I am from above: ye are of this world; I am not of this world. I said
therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that
I am he, ye shall die in your
sins (John8:21-24).
The
truth may hurt, but it also heals. Ultimately, we have to be brought to a place
of conviction, being pricked in our hearts (Acts2:37). We are not good people who have come to serve a
good God. If that were the case, Christ would not have had to come & die
for our sins, be buried & raised from the dead for our justification. We
are a sinful, evil, wretched & worthless people to whom God has extended
His immeasurable mercy & grace. It is a great disservice to The Gospel
& those that hear it if we proclaim the good news to people, hoping that we
can avoid giving them the bad news.
To
be told that God loves us, wants the best for us, has a plan for us & wants
to heal & prosper us, is wonderful to hear. However, men & women must be told that without Jesus Christ
they have no hope of eternal life. They will be damned to hell. They will be
judged by a just God. They will be rejected by The Lord, just as they have
rejected Him. However…
…God, who is rich in mercy, for his great
love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us
together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved ;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: that in the
ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness toward us, through
Christ Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves: it is the gift of
God: not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians2:4-9).
If
we’re already good people &
Christ is simply an enhancement of
our lifestyle, salvation is an optional extra. But when we are shown that without Him, we will suffer punishment
in an eternal hell, salvation becomes an optional essential. Mankind still has the option of accepting or rejecting Christ, but with a clear &
honest presentation of The Gospel as laid down by Christ & the Apostles in
Scripture, every man & woman makes an informed choice. To remove the bits
we don’t like simply because they’re unattractive & replace them with
things that were never there in the first place is an evil act. This is The New Word Order.
And he said unto them, Go ye into all
the world, and preach The Gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is
baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mark16:15-16).
The New Word Order is avoiding a
vital part of The Gospel by not
informing men & women of their supreme need for repentance. They want to
remove everything that offends the sensibilities & replace them with
everything that entices the senses. Unregenerate mankind will always be drawn by & to all that appeals to their desires &
so when sinful man only hears that he
can be loved, accepted & blessed by a God Who loves, accepts & blesses
unconditionally, I contend that he’s not hearing the whole Gospel.
That
uncomfortable & offended disposition a man feels when he is told of his
need for repentance from sin, is the conviction of The Holy Spirit & the partial Gospel being preached today will
not produce the conviction of sin that the hearing of the whole Gospel will. How many people accept Christ because they ‘felt like it’ after a sales pitch &
an invitation to join a club that just happened to be called ‘a church’?
If
a person hasn’t heard the whole Gospel, what have they believed? What will
they believe? What do they believe? Most
importantly, if The New Word Order
will do this with The Gospel, what other biblical Doctrine will tamper with? This
is a rhetorical question. They systematically cave in on issues time &
again, ignoring the plain teaching of Scripture, which is the very foundation
we are built with & upon (Ephesians2:20, Acts20:32). If you have
some time to waste, knowing that you will never get it back, turn your
television on & surf any of the common Christian channels available. See
for yourself. This, is The New Word Order.
Despite
the naughtiness of it all, the real
Gospel is still being preached &
taught. It has not disappeared. It’s still plainly revealed in Scripture
& there are those who are faithfully declaring the truth of The Gospel, ‘..warning every man and teaching every man..’
(Colossians1:28).
The Gospel has not changed.
Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the
grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me among
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to
teach others also (2ndTimothy2:1-2).
Timothy
wasn’t instructed by Paul to teach his
version of The Gospel. He was told explicitly to commit these same things ‘..to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.’. Faithful
men who shall be able are fast being overshadowed by able men who are not
faithful to the same Gospel that
Jesus & the Apostles preached & taught.
The New Word Order & its unbiblical attempt at modernising The
Gospel, The Church & Apostolic Doctrine comes at a cost. This group of men
& women may all say the same thing. They may all be as one. They may build
nepotistic ministries that bear their names, stretching to the heavens.
However, to build without God is foolish. To build without His Word is
careless. To build without His will is vanity (Psalms127:1).
The
fellowship that I attend & many like it, are committed to God’s Word &
to The Gospel. Not our version of it,
but The Gospel as declared by Jesus Christ Himself & His Apostles. As such,
we may be a rare entity. The Lord spoke specifically concerning ‘..this gospel of the kingdom..’ being
preached as a witness before the end comes (Matthew24:14).
However,
there are others who have willingly embraced The New Word Order & the disposition of the name-making-Word-defying-world-accommodating.
They don’t preach The Gospel. They
compromise on anything & everything that will make them
unpopular, skirting around issues that need
to be addressed & exposed, leaving important questions unanswered. The
Elephant in the room can only be ignored until it goes forth & eases itself
abroad, as the KJV so delicately
puts it.
Am
I bothered? Yes I am. Should I be? No. Whenever there’s a muddy puddle in the
street, you never see people gathered around discussing or debating it. They simply
exercise enough good sense to step over it & avoid it. However, if one or
more of those people walked through that puddle & then attempted to enter
my house, that’s a different kettle of fish. The feet that ought to be shod
with the preparation of The Gospel must not
be soiled & we must not allow
anyone to tramp an impure version of the truth through God’s House, The Church.
The New Word Order are embarrassed by
the truth of God’s Word & their idea of ‘apologetics’ is saying sorry to the world. However..
..I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ:
for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the
Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God
revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith
(Romans1:16-17).
copyright © by
David Samuel Parkins mmxvi all rights reserved.
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