The good, the bad

& the ungodly

-4-

 choosing the lord’s side in the current christian civil war

What I say here in this context, relates primarily to our relationship with The Lord & not our connection to a particular denomination. That is secondary. We can do without one, but we cannot do without the other. In our last meeting we began looking at the mechanics of ecumenicism in the light of John 17. I see no need to go to any particular length or depth examining the claims of ecumenicists, because when the foundation is rotten, anything built upon it is doomed to collapse…& yet they build. I am not saying that The Lord Jesus didn’t know exactly what was going to happen where His Church was concerned. He did. But the prayer He prayed shortly before His crucifixion was not an elongated come-by-yah. His High Priestly intercession was for the absolute oneness of His disciples, as a reflection of the complete unity of The Godhead, the proclamation of His Messiahship to the nation of Israel first & for those who would come to believe in Him, on His terms. That is the sanctifying element of the truth of God’s Word, concerning Christ. True, biblical unity must be based around the truth of Who The Lord Jesus Christ is. Not tradition. Not history. Not convention. It must have an orthodox Christology at its centre. Christ alone. Somehow or other, The Church at large has forgotten this, at best. At worst, it has been completely ignored. The Church needs to make a choice & make it quickly, because while men sleep, the enemy sows tares among the wheat (Matthew 13:25).

The softly worded proposals of modern ecumenicalism are enough to get church leaders to sit around the same table. But to what end & for what purpose? There’s only so much stewed tea & cheap biscuits folk can comfortably consume. The nothingers simply peer in through the windows, awaiting the results, but knowing deep down that evil communications corrupt good manners (1^st Corinthians 15:33). Don’t be deceived.

¹⁹ Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint (Proverbs 25:19).

So, they’re trying to tell us that Baptists & Methodists & Anglicans & Lutherans & Presbyterians & Roman Catholics & Pentecostals & Charismatics & all of the other numerous Non Doms, et cetera, want to maintain their traditional, historical & conventional distinctiveness, but at the same time claim that they are not divided. This is a very badly disguised hypocrisy. Well, the simplistic answer I’ve been given is this; we’re all christians, therefore we ought to show the love Jesus said would mark His disciples in John 13 & be one as He prayed in John 17. That’s what they’re trying to tell us, while they sing their theme tune; ‘..division is diabolical but diversity is divine..’. Give me a break. That is complete & utter unbiblical hogwash.

What about the fundamental doctrinal differences? What about the predominant heretical disparities? What about the blatantly pagan influences? Just Who & what are they seeking to be unified around?

Given the kerfuffle of recent times, one might be forgiven for thinking that The Lord has been working feverishly with heavenly sandpaper, in order to even out differences between denominations, under the pretext  of peace & reconciliation. He has not. His position has been clear for over two millennia. He is The Lord. He changeth not. If we go back to the Apostolic root that we spring from & receive our instruction from there, we avoid the tensions that have boiled over within The Church at large. It stinks, like burning milk. If, as it has been suggested, The Lord is going to sort our doctrines out upstairs, just what, pray tell, is the point of Him giving them to us in The Canon of Scripture down here? Pah!

What we are in fact being asked to do is this; thumb our noses at the teaching of The Lord Jesus Christ; ignore the doctrine of His apostles; spit in the faces of those reformers who laid their lives down in earnest contention for the faith once delivered to the saints (Jude 3). No, I am not being overly dramatic. I say these things in the framework of a defence of The Gospel from adversaries within The Church at large. Yes; from within The Church.

Wake up brethren. If we think that this Christian life will be flowers, popcorn, puppies, hot chocolate & rainbow smiles, we will be gravely disappointed. There is a very real fight on. If you don’t believe me, just look at how exercised the ecumenical become when you accidentally step on their toes, deliberately.

Of course, there are classic responses to objections & I have heard them for over 40 years. Let’s look at some of my personal favourites.

³⁶ And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, ³⁷ Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me. ³⁸ And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. ³⁹ But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. ⁴⁰ For he that is not against us is on our part (Mark 9:36-40). 

⁴⁶ Then there arose a reasoning among them, which of them should be greatest. ⁴⁷ And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a child, and set him by him, ⁴⁸ And said unto them, Whosoever shall receive this child in my name receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me receiveth him that sent me: for he that is least among you all, the same shall be great. ⁴⁹ And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. ⁵⁰ And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us. (Luke 9:46-49).

I’ll be honest. In my opinion only a raving ignoramus, a stinking liberal or the biblically illiterate would take these words of The Lord & twist them to justify the actions of The Church at large in its ecumenical agenda. Read the context. Read. The. Context.

Jesus begins by taking a child, considered the least in society, as an example. He goes on to state that receiving one who believes in Him is receiving The One Who sent Him. Orthodoxy always precedes Orthopraxy. This is the being one as Christ & The Father are one in Divine alignment. Our doctrine has to be straight! John then makes the point that ecumenicists twist & latch onto; ‘..we saw a bloke casting out devils in your name & we stopped him, because he wasn’t a member of our church, didn’t believe the exact same traditions as us or use the King James Version exclusively..’.

Jesus then famously says, ‘..Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part.’ (Mark 9:39-40).

There ‘..you see..’, they cry, ‘..if The Lord Jesus wasn’t bothered about someone else in another group acting in His name & if He didn’t even mention doctrine; what’s your problem?’. Well I have to confess, one of the biggest problems I have is the fact that I can read. In both Mark 9 & Luke 9, John states that the one casting out devils didn’t follow them. Whereas Christ’s emphasis was on whether they believed in Him & He Who sent Him. Ecumenicists, read your Bibles, if in fact you are believers at all! To the soft-handed-limp-wristed-lily-livered-pansy-waisted dirty liberals, with little or no stomach to fight for what constitutes real biblical unity, the Apostle Paul says the following.

¹⁰ Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. ¹¹ For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. ¹² Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. ¹³ Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? (1^st Corinthians 1:10-13). 

Paul takes his lead from his Rabbi, Yeshua. Those of us who are truly born again, blood washed believers in Jesus Christ must eliminate any pettiness among us because This was the exhortation of Christ to His disciples. Who is the greatest? A child, whose doctrine is straight & whose Christology is on point. Again, The Lord prayed, ‘That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.’ (John 17:21). A true oneness that reflects the watertight unity of The Godhead. Paul reiterates Christ’s sentiment to Corinth; speak the same thing; have no division among you; be perfectly joined together; have the same mind; have the same judgement!

For those of you who aren’t yet offended to the core, there is more. We cannot talk about Mark 9 & Luke 9, without also going to Matthew 7. Jesus says, ‘Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works. And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity (Matthew 7:22-23). 

So, riddle me this ecumenicists; if John 17, Mark 9 & Luke 9 mean what you say they mean, where does the gem from the lips of The Lord Jesus in Matthew 7 belong? The one the disciples forbade was casting out devils in Christ’s Name, but Jesus instructs them to leave him alone. Where will this one be in that day? Is The Lord saying that prophecy, exorcism & wonderful works in His Name are equal to iniquity? No, He’s not saying that. He’s saying this; He is the ultimate judge into Whose hands God has committed all judgement & He will not countenance lawlessness. In Matthew 7, The Lord quotes David; ‘Depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity; for the LORD hath heard the voice of my weeping.’ (Psalms 6:8) & ‘Depart from me, ye evildoers: for I will keep the commandments of my God.’ (Psalms 119:115).

If you ever have the time or the inclination, go through The Scriptures & look at the phrase workers of iniquity. It’s quite a thing.

Those who cite Mark 9 & Luke 9 to support their insidious mischief, overlook an important & essential detail; the one casting out devils was doing the same thing as the disciples. That was not their point of contention. Their noses were out of joint because he did not follow them. However, it is clear from the context of Jesus’ object lesson using the child, that belief in Him is first & foremost. Therefore, ‘..there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me.’.

Orthodoxy & Orthopraxy go together. Paul says, ‘But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.’ (Romans 8:9) & ‘But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus.’ (Ephesians 4:20-21). If so be. If it is indeed the case.

We can only hold the hands of, link arms with & embrace as brethren those who have received Christ & He Who sent Him.

I don’t care if you go to church. The question is, are you a true believer? Is your doctrine straight? Is your Christology on point? Again, I say these things in the framework of a defence of The Gospel from adversaries within The Church at large. It doesn’t seem to matter what you believe or what you do; just get on board because Jesus prayed we would all be one. No thanks. The aim of wider ecumenicism is the systemic removal & the systematic replacement of fundamental doctrine, in favour of shared core values.

The purpose of true biblical unity is the bold declaration of The Gospel, its advancement in the world & its defence against its enemies, whether they be foreign or domestic. This is to be accomplished in The Lord’s way & on His terms. He is The Lord. He is The Head of The Church. I dare anyone to offer Him the ecumenical theme tune; ‘..division is diabolical but diversity is divine..’.

 

 

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