& the ungodly
-5-
choosing the lord’s side in the current christian civil war
Since our last meeting, I
gather that I’ve been coming in rather hot,
or so I’ve been told. I will not
apologise. I am not afraid, nor am I ashamed of anything that I have said &
just so y’know, I’m about to say more. To quote the words of that great
theologian Pontius Pilate; ‘..what I have
written, I have written.’. There are some who would twist the words of The Lord Jesus & His
Apostles, to give The Church at large the impression that all bets are off, all
barriers are down & all boundaries have been removed in order to facilitate the greatest move of God
since…. Well, you’ve heard it all before. The unity that is being prophesied, preached & promoted today
has to be biblical, not philosophical
or ideological. Again, When
The Lord prayed His prayer, as we have it in John 17, there weren’t the
denominations that we have now or any of its derivative cults. At the time of
Christ there were Jewish sects with differing beliefs &
practices, while they still claimed to be the
children of Abraham. There were the Scribes;
the Pharisees; the Sadducees; the Zealots; the Sicarii;
the Herodians; the Essenes & of course, the Samaritans. What we are hearing today is
tantamount to the following. Pharisees maintaining their tradition & legalism.
Scribes keeping to their intellectual snobbery & subjective interpretation
of The Law. Sadducees upholding their powerless, nominal lip service &
denial of the supernatural. Herodians continuing to wallow in their worldliness
& flirtations with politics. Zealots pursuing their blind fundamentalism
with heart & soul. Sicarii ever poised to strike out with murderous
intentions. Samaritans drowning in half truths. All the while declaring their supposed validity over & against
others. Does any of this sound vaguely
familiar? Look at our situation today. It has not improved. This is to say nothing of the enormous
financial resources, land & chattels at the disposal those oh so devout pretenders,
at the heads of their state placating organisations, which are nothing more
than massive property portfolios & minister’s pension funds. Anyway, I
digress. It would have been impossible
for those groups to come together, unless…no, but…well ok, unless they laid
their principles down, put their doctrines aside & threw their conviction
away. Then, they could be driven by a set of core
values & guiding principles
..like love. Cue birdsong, kittens & butterflies. Excuse me, while I dab the
sceptical tears from the corners of my cynical eyes.
Look at The Lord’s
interactions with those sects. He constantly argued these rebels into a cocked
hat. His
emphasis was their need to believe in Him & He who sent Him. They
openly hated Christ, while they claimed a love of God.
They tested Him, just as
they had tested YHWH in the wilderness. They murmured against Him, just as they
had against Moshe Rabbeinu. They sought to kill him, just as they had murdered
the prophets. They profaned His Name, just as they had in their historical
rebellions. They rejected His doctrine, just as they had rejected true meaning
of Torah.
They demonised the source
of His miraculous power. They doubted His deity. They rejected His Messiahship.
They denied He was their king. They refused to come to Him so that He could
give them life. Nothing has changed brethren. Nothing. Has. Changed. Is The
Church at large any better? Remember the words of The Lord Jesus:
37 O
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest
the prophets, and stonest them
which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children
together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would
not! 38 Behold,
your house is left unto you desolate
(Matthew 23:37-38).
Just out of ecumenical interest,
who will go first? Which group is willing to dismantle their operation, cash in
their chips & say, ‘..brethren, because division is diabolical but
diversity is divine, we’re going to scrap our history, admit we are wrong &
cross our denomination off the list in an effort to keep the unity of The
Spirit in the bond of peace..’. No one is going to do that because
everybody wants to be the head honcho ..& what about all that money sloshing
around in the bank?
Like liquid in its weakness, they follow the path of
least resistance. They downplay doctrine. They ignore essentials. They discount
error.
If that is not
the case in fact, then riddle me this, you ecu-men: why do leaders who promote
this, only do half a job? They talk about unity, but do not take their followers
through The Scriptures to prove their point? Why not? Because they can’t!
Do not forget Who the Head of The Church is & what He taught. The
Lord Jesus Christ is a divisive figure & was so from His birth, right
through to his death.
34 And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary
his mother, Behold, this child is set for the
fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; 35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own
soul also,) that the thoughts of
many hearts may be revealed (Luke 2:34-35).
19 When he was set down on the judgment seat,
his wife sent unto him, saying, Have thou
nothing to do with that just man: for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him (Matthew 27:19).
43 So
there was a division among the people because of him (John 7:43).
19 There
was a division therefore again among the Jews for these sayings (John
10:19).
34 Think
not that I am come to send peace on earth: I
came not to send peace, but a sword. 35 For
I am come to set a man at variance
against his father, and the daughter against
her mother, and the daughter in law against
her mother in law. 36 And a man's foes shall be they of his own household (Matthew 10:34-36).
51 Suppose
ye that I am come to give peace on earth? I tell you, Nay; but rather division: 52 For
from henceforth there shall be
five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three. 53 The
father shall be divided against
the son, and the son against the
father; the mother against the
daughter, and the daughter against
the mother; the mother in law against
her daughter in law, and the daughter in law against
her mother in law (Luke 12:51-53).
Well, what happened to
peace on earth & good will to all men? (Luke 2:13-14). Wasn’t
that the announcement made by the angels to the shepherds? Isn’t this also one
of the ecumenicists favourite places to go? Let’s ignore the above passages or
at least attempt to spiritualise them, because they’re a little close to the
bone. I’m afraid we can’t do that. If we did, we’d also have to tear out Micah
7.
5 Trust
ye not in a friend, put ye not confidence in a guide: keep the doors of
thy mouth from her that lieth in thy bosom. 6 For
the son dishonoureth the father,
the daughter riseth up against her
mother, the daughter in law against
her mother in law; a man's enemies are
the men of his own house. 7 Therefore
I will look unto the LORD; I will wait for the God of my salvation: my God will hear me. 8 Rejoice
not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall,
I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me. (Micah
7:5-8).
This is not language that
promotes holding hands, linking arms & embracing others of an aberrant doctrine,
theology or Christology. This is the divisive language that demands to know who
is on The Lord’s side (Exodus 32:26). Of course, the ecumenical
agenda side steps this in its curious dance around the real issues. The Lord
Jesus never, ever promoted anything other than belief in Him & in He Who sent Him.
Those are they who are on His side. That is the standard. Those who point these
things out again & again & again & yet again, will be the ones vilified
as discordant & unloving trouble-makers.
17 Now
I beseech you, brethren, mark them
which cause divisions and offences contrary
to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them (Romans 16:17). Did you get
that?
3 For
ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife,
and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men? (1st Corinthians
3:3). Did you get that?
11 Finally,
brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one
mind, live in peace; and the God of love and peace shall be with
you (2nd Corinthians 13:11). Did you get
that?
Notice, Paul refers to
the recipients as brethren. These are believers in Christ who have accepted
Him & His Gospel. He is not speaking to unconverted members or
unbelieving clergy. If you are not born again, you don’t qualify. You don’t.
The above verses are often quoted to me, by the smug. They’re great verses, in
their contexts. Someone even cited part
of a speech delivered by Ravi Zacharias to somehow prove their point.
‘I'm
very aware that there are differences in
our belief systems and some of them are pretty
deep. But you know we find the
common ground on which to meet and talk because conviction that is not undergirded by love makes the possessor of
that conviction obnoxious and the dogma possessed becomes repulsive and
so whatever our differences may be, it is
wonderful that in a world torn by strife and so on that we can come together,
especially on a subject so vast that at the end of it we are bound to walk away
and say we know almost nothing of this
because we are dealing with the loftiest of all personages our very own Lord
Jesus Christ whom we follow and before whom sone day every knee shall bow.’.
Wow.
At
face value, if he were speaking to folk who have the same core doctrinal
beliefs & Christology, I wouldn’t have as much of a problem. But he wasn’t.
There isn’t enough vinegarette in the world to dress that word salad. Mr.
Zacharias was addressing the Latter Day Saints, at their Mormon tabernacle.
This is where ecumenicalism leads.
I remind my detractors of the fact that the word smug
is an anagram of mugs, because only mugs would ignore the doctrine of Christ,
sideline the teaching of the Apostles & readily fall for ecumenical lies.
Don’t
forget that context is king, but we can get into that another time. Before we
delve into 2nd
Corinthians, let’s have a
look at Paul says in 1st
Corinthians. ‘Now in
this that I declare unto you I praise you not, that ye come together not for
the better, but for the worse. For first of all, when ye come
together in the church, I hear that there be divisions among you; and I partly believe it. For there must be also heresies among you, that they which are approved may be made manifest among you (1st
Corinthians 11:17-19).
If division is so
diabolical, why does it reveal those who are approved or genuine? Paul accepts
the inevitability of factions. They’re going to occur. But they shouldn’t happen
for the petty reasons that some cling to & blame The Lord for. Separate
because of doctrinal deviation & hold that line. Split because
of unrepentant,
continual
sin & hold that line. While these righteous divisions
remain; hold that line. Hold. That. Line.
Of course, if we do this
as true believers, it will be us & not they who will be
accused of being sectarian. So what. We defend our position from The
Scriptures, with clear consciences. Never, never,
never, ever violate your conscience in order to accommodate falsehood brethren,
because at some point, you will have to take up the sword of The Word against
it & there will be casualties.
copyright © by david Samuel Parkins mmxxvi all rights reserved.
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