Church first, no matter what!

Because a minister claims to be reformed and evangelical, one would expect that such a man is primarily a Gospel man.  One would expect that man to stand foursquare with and for the Gospel and with Gospel ministers.  The "one another-ness" of mutuality should kick in automatically, and the persecution a brother is receiving should be 'nipped in the bud' by church officials who are reformed evangelicals.

Sadly that is not the case.  I have been told of a Gospel minister who described his evangelical and reformed colleagues as 'smiling assassins' - they are nice to your face (sometimes) but when your back is turned, they drive in the knife.    

You would also imagine that a Gospel minister would recognise Satanic opposition when it is directed against another Gospel minister, and oppose that opposition, not him.  But no. 

And the reason?  The church is paramount in importance in the minds of these church ministers, NOT the Gospel.  They have become what one very highly respected and experienced church elder, now with the Lord, called 'scheming ecclesiastics' or 'ecclesiastical politicians.'  They are there in the churches today!

I used to be gravely annoyed as a young minister when I saw the older men who were not as clear on what it means to be a Gospel minister as they used to be, degenerating into 'church' evangelicals rather than Gospel evangelicals, which effectively means that they have been neutered so far as any evangelical witness or stand is concerned within the wider church.  When they preach, they still maintain a clear evangelical position; but when it comes to supporting a persecuted brother evangelical, they become church men rather than Gospel men.

How hypocritical and pathetic such men are!  How unreliable! They are as dependable as Egypt was in Israel's history.  They are evangelicals in the pulpit, but degenerate churchmen when dealing with the persecution of Gospel ministers.  These men will not upset the ecclesiastical apple-cart.  These men are not what they appear to be when in pulpits.

Let us take on to our hearts and pray for those ministers known to us who are being persecuted for their stand for the Gospel.  Ask the Lord to defend and protect them day and daily.  Ask Him to vanquish all His and our enemies.  Plead with the Lord of the Church to uphold His servants and to throw into confusion all those who oppose the establishment of the Gospel in liberal congregations.  Thank God for those good men and their wives who stand for the Gospel in every situation, and who apply Gospel principles to every circumstance - individual and church.