CONFLICT IN THE CHURCH OF CHRIST - THE CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

The church of Jesus Christ is presented in Scripture as God's new society in the world. She is described as that body of people who form a new humanity, distinct from the old humanity, yet having its origin in it. The Christian Church is the ’ecclesia,’ the 'called-out ones'; they are those who have been separated from the world, that is, from life

organised apart from any consideration of God or His Word of truth, to be a peculiar people chosen by the Sovereign God. As such,these 'called-out' people are different from those who have not been ’called-out’ from the world. They have a different outlook in life, observe different principles, serve a different Master, and are going to a different destiny. They are the people of God, the elect.

Now since it is impossible, in this life,to detect exactly who the elect of God are, our Lord teaches us that it is "by their fruits" that they are to be known,(Mt.7:16,20). What they are on the inside will be revealed by what they do outwardly. It may take a long time, even a life-time, for this to appear, but appear it assuredly will. But until that time comes, it is almost impossible to tell among those who make a public  profession of faith just who are the true children of God, and who are not. So great care has to be taken so that mistaken judgments are not made before the time, (1 Cor.4:5a; cf.Mt.13:30a).

It seems to be here that the problem of conflict occurs. There are those who claim to be Christians, who believe and say the right things, go to the right places and meetings, and associate with the right people, but who may not be Christians at all. They have all the appearances of being true believers, but alas they are from a different family altogether. And within the church of Christ, these people are accepted as members on a profession of faith. In the church, the wheat and the weeds grow and develop together until harvest, (Mt.13:25); within her bounds, the children of the flesh and those of the Spirit co-habitate, (Gal.4:22,23,29,30).

Further, there is the fact that in the world, there are those who are not God's people just as there are those who are. They share the same planet together, work in the same places, travel on the same roads, live on the same streets, attend the same churches, and do so together. These two distinct groups of people belong to different kingdoms whose rulers are utterly opposed to each other. Therefore the respective members of these kingdoms are automatically involved in a spiritual battle, or conflict, with those who serve the other master. There is a given-ness about this state of affairs that cannot be gainsaid. This is the true situation in which the Christian believer finds himself. God and Satan are at war; and their respective followers are called into and are actively engaged in the battle as well.

Given this scenario, it is but inevitable, though surprising, that conflict should arise within the body of Christ on earth. Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon," (Mt.6:24). The sheer impossibility of this ever happening is denied categorically by our Lord. Any man can but serve one master at any one time. The Christian Church is set apart for the exclusive service of the Living God; but when there are those within the church who even hold positions of authority and leadership over God's people, yet who are in the service of another master, conflict will inevitably arise.

Conflict, then, within the church as visible must be recognised as normal, and not in anyway abnormal or strange. There should be great concern in the hearts of all true believers when the church is at peace with God's enemy. Christians should engage in deep and thorough examination of their hearts when they can get on well with those who hate their Saviour, and blaspheme His holy name. That is not to say that Christians ought to go out looking for trouble and conflict, for they ought to live at peace with all men, as much as it depends upon them, (Rom.12:18).

However, that being said, Christians often compromise their own testimony when they refuse to take their stand for Christ, when He is being ridiculed. And in so doing, they display a disregard for their Lord's honour in the world that is nothing short of disgraceful.

In trying to serve two mutually exclusive masters, they end up serving only the one, Satan. When a survey of the teaching of the entire Old and New Testaments is carried out, it will be observed that the first record of conflict is found in Gen.3, where the serpent confronts the woman, Eve, and makes suggestions to her of the harshness of God in not allowing her and her husband free scope in the Garden of Eden, and then,having gained her ear, proceeds to deny outright the doctrine of divine judgement which was pronounced by God upon Adam in the event of his disobeying His Word. This having been done, enmity was established between God and humankind, Gen.3:8, 13,16, and between God and the devil, Gen.3:14, 15. This conflict between heaven and earth had its ramifications between men, for in Gen.4:1,8, the account of the murder of Abel by his brother Cain is given in a simple,unadorned and factual manner. Separation of man from God resulted in separation between people in the one family, a separation that was evidenced in death, the basic meaning of which is 'separation, not termination.' The remainder of the Old Testament is full of the same sin which manifested itself in various ways.

When the New Testament is studied, the motif of conflict introduces the Gospel record. When the Christ-child's birth is announced by the angels of God, the enmity of men's heart was brought out in a terrible manner, with the decision of the government to kill all baby boys two years old and younger to ensure that the rival King to Herod might also be destroyed, Mt.2:1 -18. The entrance of the Messiah into the world which He came to redeem was bathed in conflict that issued in blood.

The earthly ministry of the Lord exhibits the same conflict principle. First with the religious leaders of His day, then with the political leaders, Jesus Christ found Himself regularly in confrontational situations which sought to compromise Him in some way or other. Traps were laid for Him by the lawyers, by Pharisees, by Sadducees, and by Scribes. Often the trouble arose because of the very presence of Jesus with them; what He said and did stirred up an unbelievable level of opposition against Him. No legitimate reason can be given to justify such opposition against the Son of God. It could not be said that His attitude towards those with whom He differed was sinful. Nor could it be argued that He set out deliberately to get people's backs up against Him and His cause and kingdom. Nor could it be alleged that He treated people badly, cared nothing for their feelings, forgot that they were people made in God's image, or simply tried to discourage them for the sheer sake of it. Who and what He was, was sufficient to guarantee a hostile reception from those who saw Him as a threat to their lives and religion. The pure and sinless Son of God coming into a wicked world that had already proved the depth of it's opposition to any intrusion into its affairs by the mal-treatment and killing of God's servants the prophets, was designed to provoke a strong uprising in men's hearts. And it did just that! When perfect holiness meets guilty sinfulness, something must give; and it won't be God's perfect holiness!

Throughout His earthly ministry, every step that God's Son took was contested strongly both by His enemies and by those called to be His disciples. Even they did not understand as they should the reason for His coming into the world. They imagined that He too would follow the ways of the world in order to establish His Kingdom in the world; that He too would attract followers by doing sensational dramatics, like being a 'temple-jumper,' Mt.4:5-7. But His Kingdom was not of this world, nor were His methods of establishing it. This lesson had to be learnt by His closest followers.

The death of the Messiah by crucifixion was the epitome of the wickedness of the human heart. At Calvary, the iniquity came to the fore for all to see. What men did to God's innocent Son was and is inexcusable, and is punishable by eternal death. Yet it was in precisely this way that God would redeem His people, and bring them into fellowship with Himself by reconciling them to God; for ”without the shedding of blood” there could be no forgiveness of sin for anyone. Christ was tortured, He suffered, and eventually died on that Roman gibbet.

Yet that was not the end of the matter, for on the third day, God wrought the greatest miracle that could ever be wrought when He raised His Son from death. The risen Christ appeared to the Eleven, to the wider group of followers, and last of all to Saul on the Damascus road, (1 Cor.15:1-8).

The fact of the resurrection of Christ, attested by many reliable witnesses, became a focal point in the kerugma of the early church. On occasions, the apostles were forbidden to preach in the Name of the risen Christ. Their message was a ridiculous one in the extreme; yet it was the crowning event of God's mighty acts. This event provided the proof that God had accepted the sacrifice that Christ made on the Cross for sin, thus opening up the way for the salvation or the world. When the early church commenced preaching this message, again conflict was provoked, and the disciples and apostles bore the brunt of it. The church was persecuted, scattered far and wide, and left as dead. But the believers of the Diaspora did not cease to be Christians when this happened, but saw this as God's mysterious way of sending out His people with the message of the Gospel that would enlighten men's natural darkness. One would have imagined that such a message would be welcome to men in sin, but such was not the case. Persecution intensified against the infant church, and this went on for many centuries until the life of the church was almost snuffed out.

Conflict commenced in time at a very early stage of man's existence in this world, and will continue unabated throughout history to the end of time, and this too will be marked by conflict. The forces of light and darkness will confront each other at the end, but the outcome will be in no more doubt then than it ever was during the years of history. God's truth, Kingdom, cause, and people will be vindicated publicly, and God's great eternal purpose which He wrought out in time through His despised servants, against all odds, will be seen for the glorious purpose that it is.

THE LIFE OF CHRIST AND CONFLICT.

It is often wrongly assumed that conflict is aroused when someone says or does something that irritates another. Either he is abrupt or otherwise nasty, or he behaves in a particularly unacceptable manner. In each case, the other person is offended, and conflict is provoked. This is not true in principle, however. In practice, it often is the case, given the fallenness of human nature. Yet, care must be taken when applying this principle to the life of our Lord Jesus Christ.

When the accounts of the incarnation of Jesus Christ are examined in Matthew, Luke and John, a recurring trend may be discerned. At the time of His birth in Bethlehem of Judea, a tremendous uproar was created in neighbouring Jerusalem when King Herod heard of the arrival of a new "King". The royal Baby had just been born, had neither said nor done anything, yet His very presence in the nation caused intense opposition against Him. Herod knew that a new King being born in his jurisdiction heralded the end of his own sinful reign over the Jews. This amounted to nothing less than a massive threat to his throne and to his personal sovereignty. His security had now been undermined and his position of leadership on the verge of toppling. The king's wicked lifestyle was challenged by the arrival this Child's presence in Bethlehem. And what made matters worse was the fact that King Herod had not even known of the birth, nor that such a birth was to have taken place! The very secrecy of the birth of God's Son threw him into mental turmoil and anguish. What was happening? Matthew makes it abundantly clear that Herod's nerves were seriously frayed,(2:13).

But not only was Herod, and no doubt his political advisers, greatly alarmed at the news of the Saviour's birth, so also was all Jerusalem,(v.3). The entire city was thrown into turmoil at the news. The inhabitants of Jerusalem was in the main Jewish, and of all people they ought to have rejoiced at the word of the Messiah's birth. But they did not! They too were disturbed, very upset, troubled. The verb, ϵταραχθη, is aorist, and is in the passive voice, indicating that this was something that had happened to them. The root verb, ταρασσω, is a Homeric term, means that "to shake something out of inertia and throw it into confusion, i.e, to disturb, to upset, to confound, to agitate.[1] The Old Testament (LXX) on the whole uses this word in the usual Greek sense. The word is used in the New Testament of troubling the waters, (Jn.5:4,7), and in the passive sense, is always used negatively, connoting emotional disturbance: to become terrified, afraid, overawed. The Synoptics use the infinitive, ταρασσομαι, only five times, always with this meaning, and that two of the five are found in the nativity narratives, (Mt.2:3; 14:26; Mk.6:50; Lk.1:12; 24:38).In every case the reference is to an emotional shock which is brought about not by human action, but by the action of God. This is important, because the birth of the Messiah was nothing if not divine action, divine intervention. Herod's heart, and the heart's of the people of Jerusalem experienced the reality of internal commotion when God became flesh in the Person of His Son. And when a person is churned up inside, there arises a bitterness that issues in the desire for revenge, leading in turn in the lust for murder; thus conflict is born.

In Herod's case, the conflict came about because his own sinfulness was being exposed by the presence of God's holy Son. His was primarily an inner conflict. He was not at peace with himself, therefore he could not be at peace with others, especially rivals. The absence of inner peace and the disunity of heart that he experienced are explicable only in terms of his being a rebel against Almighty God. His own personal history, coupled as it necessarily was with that of his forebears, did not make for pleasant thinking. His guilt stared him in the face. Sin was alive and well in Herod's life.

Here we can draw the conclusion that our Lord did not have to say or do anything to have a far–reaching effect upon those around him. His presence alone stirred up conflict. He was different to those around him, and this difference exerted its own influence upon their thinking. His presence in Bethlehem was a mighty challenge to all who lived there, and to everything they did. Most of all, perhaps, it launched the greatest challenge to the religion which they had embraced, or had not embraced as the case may be. The Jewish religion spoke of the coming of the Messiah, God's Anointed One, to Bethlehem in Judea. That entire religious system was a pointer to its fulfilment in the Person of the promised Messiah. Consequently, the Jews ought to have been awaiting the Messiah, and to have expected His arrival amongst them at any time. But alas, they themselves did not know the time of His appearing, nor receive Him when He did in fact come, Jn.1:11,12. He was rejected by His own people. And where there is rejection of God's Son and Gospel, there necessarily will be conflict.

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[1]   NIDNTT, Ed. Colin Brown, Exeter, 1978, Vol.3, p.709. The noun, ταραχος, connotes agitation, confusion, tumult.

Does the Church Need Confessions and Creeds?

Why does the church need confessions and creeds? Isn’t the Scripture sufficient on its own? Is there a deficiency in the Scriptures that necessitates them being supplemented by man-made confessions?

And if the church needs confessions, etc, ought these to be clearly "founded upon and agreeable to the Word of God"? One thing is clear: confessions that exhibit a partisan orientation cannot be definition be "founded upon and agreeable to the Word of God." One good criterion on which to assess any confession of faith is to look at what it teaches regarding the very heart of the Christian Gospel – the Atonement. If God’s provision for the salvation of mankind is denied, either explicitly or implicitly, then it is not true to God’s revealed will in Scripture. Sadly, the Westminster Confession of Faith and its offspring fall into this category, whereas the Three Forms of Unity, The Belgic Confession, The Heidelberg Catechism and the Canons of Dordt, do not. Therefore these are to be preferred as confessions of one’s belief and of the belief of the churches to those documents that deny Christ’s all-sufficient sacrifice for the sin of the world.[1] If a confession is in error here, then the teaching of its (usual) first chapter On Scripture has been undermined. What follows such an opening chapter must be demonstrably true to its statements, and any questionable doctrines must either be removed from the confession or emended in line with Scripture.

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[1]   Jn.1:29; 3:16; 1 Jn.2:2.

Institutional Maintenance

The 'firm's men' are not interested in truth or in the Gospel; all they are interested in is "institutional maintenance," to use the unforgettable term used by Dr Jonathan Lamb at a convention in July 2013 in Northern Ireland. This is all they know and this is all they do. And anyone who stands in the way of "institutional maintenance," is to be removed by whatever means, moral or otherwise.

Do such men care about preaching the Gospel with conviction and passion? Do they want to see sinners saved and brought into the Kingdom of God? No. Do they want to see their church live on for many years? Of course they do. Do they want anything else? Yes. They want to see the money flowing in, for it is from the hard-earned money of church members that they hold their well-paid jobs. What else do they want? They want the removal of all those, whoever they might be, from the church because they might make their church an endangered species.

But there whole aim to "institutional maintenance." How pathetic! Why maintain an institution that is no longer (to use civil service speak) "fit for purpose"? If the churches today are not preaching the everlasting Gospel of redeeming grace, they are surplus to requirements. They are promoting the eternal damnation of those who sit and listen to them speaking utter irrelevancies. God is offended by their very existence. Remember what He said to and about Israel in Amos' day? “I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them, Nor will I regard your fattened peace offerings." (Amos 5:21, 22). That is serious talk, is it not? For the Almighty God to utter such damning words is fearful.

Yet for the institutional maintainers, this is what the LORD is saying. May He have mercy on us for our unfaithfulness to Him.

The Firm's Men.

Why is it that the 'firm's men' within the churches do not want to face up to the challenge of reforming the church to which they belong? One answer: their church is so perfect that it does not need further reformation, or reforming. A perfect church does not need to be brought into line with Christ and His will for His people, because such a church is already there.

One question to ask the 'firm's men' within your denomination is this: what must be done to conform our church to the likeness of Christ? What changes does she need to make? Are they fundamental changes, or are they peripheral? Does your church base its activities, beliefs and practices around your preferences, or are they biblically based? If they are biblically-based, why do so many other sound evangelicals believe and practice differently?

Is your church the kind of church that you could, with confidence, bring an unsaved friend along to and be sure he would hear the Gospel being preached by the preacher? Does your man preach the Gospel clearly and with passion? Can you sense that he is heart and soul committed to what he is telling you? Or is it just a lecture, a 'glorified bible study,' as Dr Lloyd-Jones describes such performances? When you listen to him praying, reading the Scripture and preaching, do you get a sense of God, an awareness that God is in the midst?

These are the questions that Christians within the churches need to ask their leadership and address with urgency. Too many professing Christians seem content to be part of a denomination that opposes and rejects the Gospel and that has a clear alliance with theological liberalism. They don't mind evangelicals and liberals cooperating and exchanging pulpits and sharing 'fellowship.' They, by their actions (or inactions) are sending out a very clear message that liberalism is not wrong, that it has an understanding of the Gospel that differs from theirs, but it is not that bad at all because we believe that if God wants a sinner saved, He will do it anyway. Now thank God that He is sovereign in salvation as in all other matters; but how wicked a thing it is to use this precious doctrine to excuse the error and falsehood of liberalism and also to excuse their refusal to deal with this evil and to remove it from their midst!

Do evangelicals in theologically corrupt denominations not realise that liberalism is as different from Christianity as Islam and Hinduism and Buddhism are from Christianity? Now here's the irony: evangelicals in these denominations would be up in arms if they were to join with these other world religions, but seem to be blissfully ignorant of the strange bed-fellows they are sharing with right now. To accept error as just another and different way of understanding the Scriptures is to damn countless souls in hell and to love what God hates.

I'm No Second Fiddle!

John Jones Talsarn, the people's preacher of Wales in the eighteenth century, was a burning evangelist who provoked the ire of his more senior ministerial colleagues.  In a letter to a friend, he spoke about his concerns for the Gospel.  One of these was the emphasis on particular redemption, or limited Atonement, that the older men were preaching, and his second main concern, which he thinks is even more important than the first, was the desire in both parties to “love to have the pre-eminence.”[1]  In his opinion, there was a drive to occupy thrones, to be supreme, to be superior.  There is the practice of ministers gathering around them “yes” men who agree with every opinion expressed by the leader and who bow to their every demand.  This ties in well with what Jones wrote about the content of preaching by these older men.  If the preaching and message is sectarian, that is because those who do it are essentially sectarian in their outlook.  And sectarianism pursues its own paths in order to get what it wants, by whatever means and at whatever cost.  They wanted to remove those brethren who were being used by God because they did not dot their every ‘i’ and cross their every ‘t’ theologically.  

Today within the churches this same anti-christian attitude is to be seen, even in evangelical churches.  Ministers love to have the pre-eminence; they love then position and the power that attaches itself to position. Give them a title and they think they are God on earth. They will do whatever is necessary to get to the top, no matter who is trampled on in then process.

John wrote about such a man in his letters in 3 John 1:9. Diotrephes loved to have the pre-eminence and would not receive the apostle John.  This man was much too full of his own self-importance to be of any good tho the Gospel. Such men are a hindrance to the Gospel, but they are the men who are the best servants of the lukewarm 21st century church!

Yes, they are too many throne occupiers, too many kings, too many gigantic egos. How they love to be loved. How they gather around them those who will tell them how great they are. And they imagine, vainly, that by allowing the church to make its own godless decisions and abiding by them, that they are serving the church faithfully  for they are not.

Isn't it amazing just how far the church has plummeted into unfaithfulness and even apostacy!  Where are the men who see what is happening and are courageous enough to do something about it? Where are the Luthers and Calvins and Hus's?  Where are the men in whom the Spirit of God is? Where are the men who have compassion upon the church in her terminal illness? Sadly, they are few and far between, are they not? So long as they get their day out of it, they could not care less about what they are leaving for the next and future generations.

May the Lord have mercy upon us all.

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[1]   Cited in Owen Thomas, The Atonement Controversy, Banner of Truth Trust, 1874/2002:352.

Churchmen and Terrorists

Churchmen are notorious for using softly softly tactics on republicans but seem to be totally unbalanced when it comes to their criticisms of their own flocks. These 'social gospellers' are the darlings of the establishment, and their analysis is taken almost without question.

However, the churches are not so quick to give support to the victims of terrorist violence, at least not at institutional level. Ministers 'on the ground' may play their part when their help is required. But social gospelling church establishments know on which side their bread is buttered and when they go 'cap in hand' to politicians who were either actively involved in terrorism and others who now support these terrorists and keep them in office, they have lost any voice they might otherwise have had.

Our country is in a very sad state because our churches have lost the plot altogether. Instead of pursuing Gospel matters, they prefer rather to persecute Gospel ministers. And when Gospel ministers are persecuted by their churches, may the Lord have mercy on us all, for we dare not ask Him for justice!

Voluntary Ministerial Blindness

Keswick at Portstewart has come and gone for 2013 and enjoyed, in God's blessing, the heatwave that blanketed the UK this July. The main preachers during the week were Rev Allister Morrice, Scotland, and Rev. Dr Liam Goligher, Philadelphia, and the preaching was of the highest standard, as you would expect, and the sense of the Lord's presence with us was captivating. It was biblically sound and balanced - in the main - and the application of God's Word to all present was precise. The Bible Readings each morning were rigorous and deeply insightful and sanctifying. The evening meetings were also pointed, although the singing programme was repetitive, very subjective, and somewhat annoying.

The really sad thing about it was that despite mention of the persecution of Christians in far-away lands and in totalitarian regimes by some speakers, there was simply no recognition that this is happening under their noses and within their own churches, and with some of the persecutors being actively involved in working against the Gospel and its hard-pressed servants.

Why is this? Well, persecutors, like all bullies, do not recognise as persecution the persecution in which they are involved. They speak against it in conventions yet use this role as cover for their persecution of brother evangelicals when they return to "the firm" that employs them.

The sheer blindness that accompanies these ministers is visible only to those who have "eyes to see and ears to hear."  Others simply do not suspect that good men at Portstewart would work against brother evangelicals who are being ill-treated by and in their congregations, or simply ignore their plight.  But that is the reality.  Being first and foremost the good churchmen that they are and want to continue to be, they will not stand up for their ministerial brethren if by so doing they might jeopardise their promotion prospects within the churches.

This ministerial blindness can be explained: persecution of Gospel ministers is something that only happens in far away lands, not within their churches.  Theologically liberal churches never persecute their own, but they always persecute evangelicals.  Too much ministerial wreckage is lying about Northern Ireland for this to be denied.  Liberal ministers are not persecuted by their denominations because such ministers do not preach the biblical Gospel.  But Gospel ministers within liberal denominations can expect to be ill-treated by such church systems, and not even their evangelical colleagues will stand up for them.

Expository Preachers

One of the essential qualifications of expository preachers whose preaching station is within a congregational setting is surely toughness of hide to take the persistent criticism of spending too much time in the study and not spending enough time with the congregation. His whole week seems to be taken up with study.

Now it is important that a proper balance is reached if the relevance of the message to the congregation is not to suffer. A minister who divorces himself from his congregation is liable to become so bookish that his preparation and sermon delivery is lost on those to whom he was called to minister. Whilst the Word had its own inbuilt relevance, the minister must come between the relevance of the Word and the people to whom that word comes.

But the preacher must be well-disciplined so that he can take such criticism graciously, and go on with the ministry to which God has called him. If Christians want good preaching, they must be prepared to give their minister time and freedom to study so that he can feed their hungry hearts. Only when the preacher himself receives from God can he give to his people. If he does not take the time to feed his own soul, he will have nothing worthwhile to give to others. If he does not labour to prepare a good meal for his guests on Sundays, he cannot complain if they have no appetite for what he has for them! A well-prepared dish is most appetising; but an ill-prepared one, even though it has all the necessary ingredients, will turn them off! Preachers must pay the price for their preaching. They must keep themselves fresh.

Preparation for preaching is the most laborious thing the minister will do, therefore, it is so important that both people and pastor have a right grasp of what preaching is all about. Only then will they be able to submit themselves to the rigorous demands of that preaching.

SODOMITE SOCIETY INVITES THE WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD

SODOMITE SOCIETY INVITES 

THE WRATH OF ALMIGHTY GOD

A solemn message from 

Dr Alan C. Clifford 

(Norwich Reformed Church)

In pursuing so-called ‘same-sex’ marriage, the UK - along with the USA and the decadent Western world in general - is only a short step from disaster...

If it becomes law, the wrath of Almighty God is unavoidable...

Since true marriage, family cohesion and the welfare of children are under attack as never before, our hitherto Christian-based civilization is on the path to extinction... 

ALARMING ANGLICAN APOSTASY

The Nation’s religious apostasy is reaching new depths.  The Archbishop of Canterbury and Her Majesty the Queen have capitulated before the sodomite tsunami. The former has failed to ‘drive away’ the ‘erroneous and strange doctrine’ of homosexual union ‘contrary to God’s Word’ (Book of Common Prayer). 

If the Archbishop was only ‘irritated’ by the Wonga fiasco, he should have been ‘furious’ over Government-promoted sodomy...

By giving the Royal Assent to the Same Sex Marriage Bill, the Queen has broken her Coronation Oath to defend and uphold the Nation’s Bible-based values. During the recent Coronation Thanksgiving Service at Westminster Abbey, the Archbishop failed to remind the Queen of Her Majesty’s religious obligations as Head of State and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.

Clergy and people of the Church of England (especially the so-called Evangelicals) who fail to challenge the Archbishop and the Queen are complicit in this abominable wickedness if they simply continue passively to accept the appalling so-called ‘sexual revolution’. 

Christians of other denominations are no less guilty if they remain silent...

A greater threat than Islam is our own moral implosion...

We must repent or be ruined...

THE RISE OF GAY PERVERSION

How does 'gay' sexual perversion become popular? The Prophet Ezekiel told us long ago when he explained why God punished the Jews with exile in Babylon in 597 BC.  After centuries of growing religious and moral decline, they had become worse than the wicked Sodomites:

“As I live,” says the Lord GOD, “neither your sister Sodom nor her daughters have done as you and your daughters have done. Look, this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughter had pride, fulness of food, and abundance of idleness; neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty and committed abomination before me; therefore I took them away as I saw fit” (Ezekiel 16: 48-50).

The great Genevan Protestant Reformer John Calvin (1509-64) commented:

While Moses explains the most filthy crime which reigned in Sodom (see Genesis 19), we must nevertheless remember what Ezekiel teaches, that the men of Sodom did not fall at once into such terrible wickedness; but that, in the beginning, luxury from the fulness of bread prevailed, and that afterwards, pride and cruelty followed. At length, when they were given up to [immorality], they were also driven headlong into brutal lusts. Therefore, if we dread this extreme of inordinate passion, let us cultivate temperance and frugality; and let us always fear, lest [an over-abundance] of food should impel us to luxury; lest our minds should be infected with pride on account of our wealth, and lest delicacies should tempt us to give the reins to our lusts.

So how can we restore the proper norms of correctly-defined marriage and valid sexuality? Only by heeding this practical wisdom and rejecting today's ‘PC’ do-as-you-please pluralism. In short, we must return to ‘Bible basics’!

Ultimately, our only hope is the saving and sanctifying grace of God in Jesus Christ...

A brief sermon extract from a famous Welsh Methodist preacher sets out our only hope...

The truth he speaks is eternal...

TURN TO CHRIST OR BE TURNED INTO HELL

I come to you, a neighbour of yours, and a friend well known; for I have seen the deluge of the wrath of God coming upon the world, and I am here to warn you in time. A boy on the streets of Sodom ran wildly for his father’s house, saying, ‘The shower of fire is come, for a spark fell at my side, until my clothes nearly caught fire. Is there any way of escape?’ 

Though the warning came to Sodom, it was too late. But I have come here in behalf of my God to apprise you of it in time. I have seen the shower of brimstone, a live spark of it fell upon my guilty conscience, until I became almost all aflame. But I know to-day of a place of refuge, and there is time for you to flee there too. 

O Lord my God, may this people flee to Thee! Let us flee to Calvary—‘And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land’ [Isa. 32: 2].

John Jones, Talsarn (1796-1857)

Cowardly subjects of Her Majesty who continue to revel in excessive excitement over the birth of a prince, should reflect upon the pseudo-marital decadence now endorsed by the head of the House of Windsor...

After Her Majesty’s admirable Christmas broadcast of 2012, one might have expected her to refuse to give the Royal Assent to anti-Christian perversion. How sad that her convictions were too weak to withstand Her Government‘s evil policy...

WHAT KIND OF MONARCH IS WORTHY OF LOYALTY?

‘It is an abomination for [monarchs] to commit wickedness, for a throne is established by righteousness’ (Proverbs 16: 12).

To complicity in surrendering our National Sovereignty, the Queen has now added betrayal of the Christian foundation of our religious and moral identity.

The Welsh Methodist preacher quoted above was a ‘commoner’ who was truly worthy of the ‘royal’ adulation he received...

As my new biography makes clear, this amazing Christian minister was called “The preacher of the people.” As an example of his popularity, consider the welcome he received when visiting the populous mining districts of South Wales: 

As soon as they heard of his approach, the people would flock to the doors of their houses in hundreds; the workmen would for the time leave their work, and the women, with babies on their arms, and the little children, would stand on the sides of the streets to watch the great orator of Talysarn passing; just as they would have done if a king or a queen had gone that way...

‘King John’, you are needed in these perilous times...

Bethany and Westbank Children's Homes

In light of current news in Northern Ireland, the following post by Michael Copeland MLA has taken on a relevance that cannot be missed.  Please read this and then ask questions of the churches to which you belong, if they were involved in supporting such homes of abuse.

Michael Stewart Copeland updated his status: "We welcome moves to include Westbank Orphanage, Greystones, in inquiries into institutional abuse in Northern Ireland. Children from Westbank were trafficked illegally over the border and placed with unregistered foster carers. Children in the home and in fostering arrangements suffered physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse. The orphanage was unique in that children were hardly if ever adopted. Some 'children' remained in the home into their early thirties. The orphanage appears to have operated without proper supervision from the 1950s until it closed in 1998. In 2011 residential records were removed from the PACT counselling service by the Trustees of Westbank in Bray Gospel Hall. Children whose mothers were from Northern Ireland gave birth in Dublin's Bethany Home, Rathgar, before being transferred to Westbank Home. Bethany Home should, therefore, also be included in the NI process. 219 Bethany children are buried in unmarked graves in Mount Jerome Cemetery in Dublin, while many who survived suffered lifelong illnesses and/or were sent into dysfunctional and abusive situations (including Westbank). Derek Leinster is one of those children. The state sanctioned neglect and death in Bethany when the Deputy Chief Medical Adviser, who was investigating reported abuse, stated in his report, 'It is well known that illegitimate children are delicate and marasmic'. ('Marasmic' is another word for starving). Mothers of three of the undersigned had children born in the Bethany Home. Sydney in 1964 and Colm in 1967 were sent to Westbank. They were sent back and forth over the border, sometimes on fundraising trips to perform for church groups. Sydney's mother was from Northern Ireland. Three of her children were sent to Westbank, one of whom was born in Bethany. Colm's mother gave birth to two children in Bethany who were sent to Westbank. As it was policy in Westbank, children were not told their siblings were also there. A number of religious denominations large and small, from the Church of Ireland to Presbyterians, Methodists, Free Presbyterians, Baptists, Plymouth Brethren, gospel halls, and the Orange Order, were involved in directing unmarried mothers to, and/or raising funds for, Bethany and Westbank. This diffuse association makes it possible for churches to deny specific responsibility for what went on in institutions run by evangelical Christians. Leaders of the CofI, Presbyterian and Methodist congregations twice met privately to discuss Bethany, but did not issue a statement. The Minister for Justice, Alan Shatter, has given written commitments to TDs and MLAs from the Democratic Unionist Party, the Unionist Party, the Labour Party and from Sinn Fein, to do something, sometime, about demands of former Bethany children for official recognition and for justice. Bethany and Westbank operated in the Republic of Ireland. Perhaps an inquiry into their activities will begin in Belfast while Justice delays in Dublin."

Preaching Degraded

Dr W. A. Criswell rightly says, "Preaching is increasingly looked upon disparagingly; they (i.e., church members) just 'put up with it.'" What has caused this situation to develop? Criswell thinks that the preacher himself has caused it. Instead of preaching the Gospel, instead of expounding the Word, instead of saying, 'Thus says the Lord,' the preacher began preaching psychology, and sociology, economic and civic amelioration. The time was when preachers proclaimed the Gospel; but now they preach sociological life situation sermons that have left the church anaemic. They preach sermons that make their congregations 'feel good' afterwards. The modern Gospel is a watered-down version of the real thing. You would travel far today to hear sermons that grip their hearers and cause them to think very deeply about their spiritual condition. Much preaching is pathetic, woeful, disappointing to some who hear it. But what must it do to God Whose Gospel it is they are supposed to be preaching! They are set apart to be His ambassadors, bringing to the people exactly what He wants them to hear.

Criswell also sees the training of preachers in modern seminaries and theological colleges as being at fault in this very thing. But there is a problem here. Just because a candidate for the post of lecturer or professor of practical theology holds a doctorate does not mean that he is a fit man to hold this position. Is he a preacher? And is he a preacher of the glorious Gospel? What are his gifts in this regard? Does he know how to preach gripping Gospel sermons? Is his own soul on fire for the Gospel? 

If not, how can such a man train ministerial candidates to be Gospel preachers? The students have nothing to model themselves on. This man cannot convey to the next generation of preachers what it is to Preach Christ and His crucified if is does not or cannot preach Christ himself!

I fear that within evangelical circles, there has been a serious move away from the systematic exposition of whole chunks of the Bible, and preachers have adopted a method of textual preaching instead. Now I would be the last to deny that such methodology has been greatly used of God in the past. One just has to mention the name of Spurgeon to prove the point. Yet I think that the practice of Spurgeon has had a detrimental effect upon the pulpits of the Church, as men have tried to emulate the Prince of Preachers, and have failed. Textual preaching, coupled with the desire to draw the crowds, has enticed men to reduce to a respectable minimum the biblical and doctrinal content of their sermons, and have compromised their whole ministries thereby. 

Thus preaching has been degraded by both the preachers themselves and by those who trained then to be preachers.

Preachers Inadequately Trained

Dr Henry Drummond thinks that seminaries are doing an inadequate job in the training of preachers because, firstly, teachers have so given themselves to the historico-critical method that it has suddenly undermined the authority of the Word of God. Preachers, and/or their professors, now do not have confidence in the Scriptures, therefore they do not believe that the unfolding of the Word of God is where the power of preaching really is. 

I commenced my ministerial training in 1975 in what is now Union Theological College in Belfast, Northern Ireland. During a conversation with a friend this past week, he indicated to me that in the College there does not seem to be any training on preaching. I informed him that when I was there all those years ago, we had a full lecture by the Professor of Practical Theology whose responsibilities included training us how to preach, was given on how to fold a communion cloth. It doesn't get much worse than that! But no training is given to trainee ministers on how to do the single most important task in their calling.

While it is important to have some knowledge of the mechanics of sermon preparation and delivery, these are clearly not the vital issues.  You could train a monkey how to do these tasks. What is vitally important is this: has the man received a clear and discernible calling from God to the Christian ministry? Does he have the requisite gifts for this task? Is he passionate about this work? Does he know what needs to be preached even if he as yet does not know how to preach?

Secondly, the homiletics departments of seminaries have generally failed to emphasise expository preaching. Since Fosdick, life situation preaching has been emphasised. The climate in many congregations today is such that it dictates a low priority of preaching, where preaching is not seen as significant in ministry at all. So often, Christians prefer to sit in judgment on the preaching, and even say such things as this: "if a man cannot say what he has to say in 15-20 minutes, he shouldn't be a preacher." Today, preaching must be ultra-brief and go over us and hit our neighbour. This anti-preaching climate has a destructive effect on the preacher himself, for his very call is under question, his raison d’être is challenged. And if such a climate tends to destroy the preacher, then the congregation has little or no chance of surviving. What many congregations want today is not a preacher of the Word of God but an office manager, (Ravenhill).

The LORD is my Shepherd

The great Baptist preacher of nineteenth century London, Charles Haddon Spurgeon, wrote the following words on Ps.23:1, “The Lord is my shepherd.” “What condescension is this, that the infinite Lord assumes towards his people the office and character of a Shepherd! It should be the subject of grateful admiration that the great God allows himself to be compared to anything which will set forth his great love and care for his own people.”

Isn’t that lovely? Does that not thrill your very soul? The Lord’s deep humility is seen in His becoming the One Who shepherds us, pastors us, and Who is “our Shield and Defender.” He places Himself between us and danger, and fends off the enemy. He leads us to where our souls are fed and nourished and restored. This is the Good Shepherd Who laid down His life for us (1 Jn.3:16). We sing with Philip P. Bliss, “Hallelujah! What a Saviour!”

Our hearts ought to know no reserve when we praise and worship such a Redeemer. And His Father, and ours, allows Himself to be compared to a lowly shepherd, one Who loves and cares for the sheep. He understands our needs, you know. The care He has for His own children, for you and for me, should be the subject of our never-dying praise and gratitude. Our hearts should be enlarged with the holiest worship of such a great Shepherd. As His sheep, we are owned by Him; if we were wolves or goats or wild animals, then we would have an altogether different owner, one not nearly so loving and kind. He owns us; we are not our own; we were bought with a price – the precious blood of Christ (1 Cor.6:20). Our Owner sets great store on us, views us as precious in His sight, and takes great delight in us.

Brothers and sisters, we belong to Christ. And the One Who is our shepherd is the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us cultivate this sense of total dependence on Him for everything, yea, for life itself. Spurgeon remarks that the sweetest monosyllable in this verse is the word My. “The LORD is my shepherd.”

Can you say that? Do you know Him as your shepherd? Has He become your shepherd? Have you trusted Him personally? Are you living for Him? Is He your everything, and is He your all? Have you come to Him and asked Him to make you one of His sheep?

If you have, then you will know that He loves you, cares for you, watches over you, leads and guides you, and has your best and eternal interest at heart. Whatever your present circumstances might be, the LORD is with you and by His Spirit lives in you. The words are in the present tense, which means that these things are true for you at every moment and in every circumstance. Did you realise that? At this very moment in your life’s experience, the LORD is with you. You are under His loving and constant care.

When living with cancer or any other kind of trauma, there are few truths that are more precious to the Christian believer. When everything seems to be blackness and gloom, to look up to this wonderful Shepherd is the greatest privilege of all. When you wonder what is going to happen to you, and whether or not you will live or die, this Psalm is the God-provided antidote. When you question what will become of your family and loved-ones, you turn your eyes to Jesus, the Good Shepherd, and cast yourself on Him. Why? Because He cares for you (1 Pet.5:7). Jesus Christ cares for you! He is more than able to supply all your needs both now and forever. He deals with our circumstances with great ease. There is nothing in life that you and I have met that He hasn’t met and dealt with triumphantly numerous times. That’s our hope and stay amidst life’s troubles.

Set Up a New Reformed Evangelical Church

In an earlier post, I suggested that those evangelicals who are more loyal to the church than they are to the Gospel are prepared to stand idly by and watch fellow-evangelicals being slaughtered by the church and not lift a hand to help them.  Shame on them all!

I read recently of how this exact thing goes on within the Scottish Presbyterian churches. The writer echoed my viewpoint when he said that he watched in horror as evangelicals were being hung out to dry by their evangelical colleagues. At times they were instrumental in betraying evangelicals, and stood there watching what was happening but doing nothing about it.

He referred to a divinity student in the Presbytery of Glasgow whose views on women's ordination were reported to Presbytery. Not one evangelical supported him and he was forced to leave. Another evangelical in another Presbytery was accused of being a 'troublemaker' in relation to the same issue, and rather than being given the support of his fellow evangelicals, found himself ostracised and he too had to leave. A third situation involved a young minister who confronted a ruling elder about an inappropriate (sinful and unbiblical) relationship he was having. This came to Presbytery and neither the Presbytery nor the evangelical ministers in it supported him, and he too was told to keep quiet about this, or to leave the ministry. He left.

It seems that evangelicals in today's churches are rather more like evan-jelly-cals than Bible believing Christians; the emphasis here is on the jelly. Ministers within the established denominations have no reason to believe that when hardy comes to hardy, they can be sure of the support of fellow-evangelicals at Presbytery or Assembly levels. These evangelicals are first and foremost churchmen rather than Gospel-men; that means that you just cannot trust them to support biblical standards either in morals or in doctrine.

Where are soundly evangelical ministers to go to who want to minister the Word of God and preach the everlasting Gospel of redeeming grace? Answer? It is impossible to say. Presbyterianism, in all its shades and varieties, is painted in the same colours. Every minister's pre-occupation is to protect himself and secure his job. Ministers within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, some of them, live in fear of getting on the wrong side of church authorities. This was the response I got when I asked why ministers will not support their brother evangelicals. They are living in fear of the church hierarchy, and they know that they have the power of life and death over their ministries. These men have taken real power into their own hands, and, my, they are prepared to use it - but only against evangelicals whose congregations do not want their preaching. They will not lift a hand to discipline or remove liberals and ecumenicals, and other time-servers, those who keep in with the authorities. 

Surely the time has now come for reformed evangelicals to come together and set up a new Christian church. The unfaithfulness of the current churches is depressing. When evangelical ministers are being abused by and within their congregations and then dismissed by their Presbyteries working in conjunction with the powerful Judicial Commission. This cannot go on indefinitely. "The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits. (Dan.11:32). Now is the time for action. Think of Luther and Calvin, Cranmer and Latimer, men who knew their God and who did great things for Him. 

Discerning Churches - But Not In The Right Way!

What do you think of this? A religious denomination is very happy to allow rank liberals who are accredited by them and within their ranks to take churches, but they will not allow a Gospel minister to be called to its congregations. If these ministers are "one of us," then what they believe and preach is of no account whatever. So long as they can pass their theological exams, they're in!

I understand that churches must guard their official teaching role, but when it reaches the point where churches that call themselves 'evangelical' and 'reformed' simply do not want Gospel preachers - and actually remove such men from their ministry - preferring instead those who could not preach their way out of a wet paper bag and who have no clear Gospel message, things have reached an awful pitch.

The church today is in reality a 'power club,' and loves to be able to control its ministers and what and how they preach.

Gospel ministers coming into a dead denomination are guaranteed a rough time. The denomination might be orthodox and even admit theological liberals to its ranks, but evangelicals are a different matter altogether. Church authorities do not seem to care about the eternal destinies of its members so long as they keep on paying into church funds, and they enjoy being members of the 'club.'

Church members do not all like to hear a straight Gospel sermon, and these members also know that the church leaders will support them against a Gospel minister, so they can gradually remove the Gospel from their denomination. The Gospel really is Christian Counter Culture, hence the opposition from those churches that will protect their religious culture against all comers.  To them, their culture and its maintenance is much more important than a Gospel that challenges that culture. 'Keep the culture, but get rid of Jesus,' the culture seems to be.

This is happening in Northern Ireland, a land once known for its evangelical fervour. The church here still has a name to live, but that life is difficult to find in many instances. "Essay readers" occupy many of her pulpits, but few preachers as such. These theological essay's are read with studied detachment, and with the occasional quote from classical authors to prove the preacher's cleverness, but it's no more than a name. And church leaders imagine they are serving the Lord by persecuting those ministers who are fearless Gospel preachers and working towards securing their removal permanently from their church.

And here's the rub: they see the church as "their" church primarily, and only secondarily, and at best, the church of God. We have our traditions to maintain. Our traditions are precious to us, whether they have any biblical validity is of no account. If any minister lays a hand on that "sacred cow," they are to be removed immediately if not sooner.

The ruthlessness of churches that regard themselves as authentically reformed gives the lie to their claim to preach "the doctrines of grace." In today's confused ecclesiastical world, Christian church members have to re-consider their continued membership of and financial support to such churches. How can they continue to support a church that takes legal action against its ministers for preaching the Gospel! And how can they provide financial support to any church that treats Gospel ministers and members so despicably.

The time is fast approaching when a new church body must be set up to safeguard the Gospel for the generations to come. One thing Christians cannot do id this: they cannot expect apostate churches to preach a biblical Gospel with fire sent down from heaven. And if they cannot expect that, then they are not to be expected to remain in such denominations. Reform of the church according to the Scriptures is urgently needed, and God will guide His redeemed people in the right way and at the right time to bring this to pass.

Wanted! Godly Sensitivity.

How much spiritual and emotional damage can be done by those who do not have pastoral hearts, whether ministers or not! When believers are undergoing the afflictions of this life, they need great tenderness from God’s professing people. Pious platitudes are worse than useless, even though they are true. Inexperience in pastoral matters can do great damage to souls. I am reminded of what Jesus said of Himself quoting Isa.42 that “a bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench” (Mt.12:20). Gentleness is needed when dealing with broken people.

Not all those who are called “pastor” are pastors at heart. They seem, rather, to use the pastoral office for self-promotion and self-gratification. Such ‘pastors’ become aloof from their people and when called in for help, are way out of their depth when it comes to providing it. Their approach is to squeeze this disruptive pastoral visit in as well as possible to fit their busy schedule because they have far more important matters to see to than caring for members who are in spiritual difficulties.

Sadly, the ministerial office is ready-made for self-gratification, etc.

But there are genuine pastors in churches and there are Christians who have a genuine pastoral heart, and they are gems. Thank God for them all, and pray for them.

But in the cancer scenario, ministers must exercise great care when it comes to implementing the American idea of testimony-giving in church services. This can also demonstrate the insensitivity of ministers in their zeal to promote the Gospel. These men seems to have a panel of testimony-givers they can call upon to tell their stories, and often no thought is given to those sitting in the congregation who are being torn to bits because of what they are going through in their own families. This is reckless, and ought not to be practised. Christians feel the need to get up and leave such services, and others made a conscious decision to turn off when such people were speaking.

All the end of the day, in cancer cases, and in testimonies, no two cases are exactly the same. Just because one Christian has experienced certain situations does not mean in the least that you will find the same. Testimonies are highly individual and subjective things, and as such can do extreme damage to tender hearts that might be present and listening. Also, many testimonies are more like life-stories rather than up-to-date witness statements about what the Lord has done and is doing in a person’s life.

Great care must be taken in church situations when dealing with broken hearts, and everything must be avoided that will further traumatise those who are seeking spiritual help.

Born Again Nosey Parkers.

We have discovered that there are Christian people who imagine that they have the gift of encouragement, and many do, and who believe that encouragement is given by throwing out pious platitudes by the score, and telling cancer sufferers and their families that everything will be fine, there’s no problem, “look at me how well I got over it,” etc.

How cruel this can be to those with cancer and whose minds and emotions are in deep turmoil. They mean well, but do not have the Christian grace or sensitivity for this type of ‘pastoral counselling.’ The lack of spiritual experience always shows itself when such people open their mouths. It’s like expecting a joiner to carry out brain surgery.

My advice? Stay away from such people, and don’t discuss anything personal with them, for as sure as anything, they will open their mouth and put their two big feet right into it. They just do not know how to handle such sensitive and deeply personal situations. No wonder a Christian woman who has just learned of cancer in her family had to walk out of church because all that the other worshippers wanted when they asked about the situation was news, and showed no genuine care.

I suggested to the young woman’s father that perhaps she needed pastoral support from her minister – this is a Christian family. On a future visit to our home, I asked him how the visit from her minister went, and he said, the minister was a nice man but he didn’t stop talking.

In my book, that is not what a pastor does; his primary role is to listen and the patient needs to be heard. In fact, the patient is crying out to be heard, for someone to listen to them empathetically, to give them the opportunity in a safe and caring environment to express the deep emotions that are dominating their minds and hearts. Such a minister is not a pastor, whatever else he might think himself to be. After listening to the patient, he can then sum up the situation in his own mind, and offer sensitive biblical counsel and intelligent and relevant prayer. But if he does not stop talking, he will not be able to hear what is going on in the patient’s life, so be unable to offer any real pastoral help.

But how wonderful it is when you find someone who can engage with cancer suffers and their families in a most sensitive and gracious and humble way. Such people are real gems, and can add considerable understanding to the situation and provide the support those people need. They are certainly not know-alls, for they know their limitations only too well. But they have Christian grace and experienced-based knowledge which is invaluable.

People in difficulties will know who to turn to in time of need. There will be someone they know well, a Christian, to whom they can turn for support at a very trying time in their lives. It is important for sufferers to avail of whatever help is available, and to see this as God’s provision for them at this time. Thank God for them.

The Institutionalised Church

When the church of Jesus Christ degenerates into an institution, it ceases to be the church of Christ in any meaningful sense.  An institution is something over which men have complete control, and they exercise their control whenever they have opportunity.  This ensures that the work of the Holy Spirit is quenched because He is unable to work freely in such circumstances.

The institutional church was created when Constantine was 'converted' to Christianity in about 313 AD, and brought the entire empire into the church, and in effect christianised it. The official church, when confronted by the Montanists in the early centuries, opposed this new movement of the Spirit, notwithstanding its errors, a logical response when the church progresses towards a form of institutionalism.

These early moves to institutionalise the church paved the way for the full-blown manifestation of institutionalised religion with the advent of the Roman Catholic institution in the Middle Ages, a body that poses as Christian, but is not.

The institutionalised church takes on the paraphernalia of the state, with its hierarchy of authority and positions and higher offices, etc. Institutions are 'rules ridden' and while rules have their undoubted place, these rules are often used to remove Gospel ministers from dead orthodox churches and to silence the authentic Gospel.

Now a problem arises when Gospel ministers 'take on' and challenge the institution, not by a full frontal confrontation, but by simply preaching the Gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit. When Luther took on the Roman institution, the entire armoury of the church institution was brought out against him. And the result? Luther was removed from his ministry within the church of that time.

And when Gospel ministers do likewise in today's increasingly decadent church, exactly the same response is discovered - Gospel ministers are removed, to the relief of the institutions best and most loyal servants. No doubt they will be rewarded in die course by the church; what reward they are likely to receive from the Lord is an altogether different matter.

Church-initiated Persecution of Gospel Ministers in Northern Ireland

Recovering from something as traumatic as cancer and its very demanding treatment is a challenge, and patients need as much support as they can get. Family is always a great  source of support and comfort, as are friends who call and help with food, etc. 

Yet, it is noteworthy just how little it takes to upset the equilibrium that has been enjoyed.  Satan is always looking for an opportunity to attack, and sadly there is no lack of springboards from which to launch such attacks.

What some people will not believe or accept is how many times the “Christian” church is at the forefront of attacking Gospel ministers.  “Oh, the church would never do that,” they say in defense of their own denomination.  “The minister must have done something very wrong for our church to remove him.” 

Well, on that point they are quite correct.  These men have preached the Gospel with power and passion, which very thing the churches do not want.  And they have applied Gospel principles to and within their congregations, another unwanted church commodity.

Today’s liberal and anti-Gospel churches are still removing Gospel-preaching ministers from their charges, while they leave the ‘good churchmen’ to get on with their lives, not to mention their ministries.  What are ‘good churchmen’?  ‘Good churchmen’ are those who never disturb the consciences of their hearers, never question their professions of faith, never expect their faith to be seen in everyday life, never ask uncomfortable questions of the church, and never question the spirituality of the church.  They just turn a blind eye to religious formalism and outward respectability, and as long as the church is functioning “as it was in the beginning, is now, and evermore shall be,” all is well. 

But once God’s transforming Gospel arrives in such churches, it is as if all hell is let loose – against the minister and those who support the minister because he preaches the everlasting Gospel.  As Dr John Stott calls it, the Gospel is Christian Counter Culture.  It challenges everything, particularly those whose religious and eternal well-being are dependent solely on a mere profession of faith.  Such people imagine they are genuine Christians and are regarded as such, why?  Because the church’s eldership accepted them as Christians, so they must be Christians.  And woe betide anyone, minister or otherwise, who raises any questions as to their spiritual standing. 

And remember this; the persecution of Christian ministers does not only happen in far away lands like India, Pakistan, China, etc.  It is happening right in front of our eyes.  And do you know what makes this particularly heart-breaking?  God’s people in these churches stand back and refuse to challenge such treatment of the servants of Christ, thus implicating them in what their leaders have done to Gospel men.  It shows just how little they care for the Gospel after all.  Why do they do this?  Because their ecclesiology is essentially Roman Catholic, and by that I mean, whatever the church does is right, infallibly right. 

Thank God for those ministers who, out of love for their people and for Christ and His Gospel, are prepared to challenge a religion of mere words.  Formal religion is useless when faced with death, and we have discovered the reality of a living faith in such a situation.

Two ministers have already been put out of their charges by their respective denominations, one has been forced to resign to take effect in about five weeks time, and another is on sick leave because of “work-related stress;” he joins some 35 other ministers from one denomination who are off on similar grounds.  Congregations are divided right down the middle, and in most cases, this is over the Gospel, a most unwelcome commodity in many churches today. 

This happened to me twenty years ago, and it is still happening to Gospel ministers today.  And when your wife is suffering from cancer and hears about the re-enactment of such evils by churches, it does nothing to help her in her recovery.  It brings back bad thoughts of what was done to us by the church.  You don’t need me to tell you what kind of churches they are that throw out Gospel preaching ministers, do you?  If these churches loved Christ and the Gospel, they would treasure the servants of Christ, not toss them aside as you would an empty packet.  Because these are Christ’s chosen vessels for the propagation of the Gospel, those churches and ministers will have to answer to God for the evil they have inflicted on God’s men.

Now this kind of situation needles both my wife and me.  It causes anger to arise within us, and takes us back to the days when we were going through such church-inspired persecution.  In fact, it re-traumatises us.

Please pray for these persecuted ministers of the Gospel in this land where we are told that peace and reconciliation reign.