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Christian Chronicles, June, 2005 - Volume 7, Issue 113

The Editor's Pen

Our usual practice is to devote each issue of Christian Chronicles to a single doctrine. In this way, we are able to explore the chosen doctrine more fully. This month, however, we have decided to allow our writers to address any doctrinal subject they wish to address. We expect to return to our normal practice of addressing a single theme in July. Dr. Mark discusses Paul’s letters to Timothy; Hugh Sherrill shares a word of assurance. Our staff writers prayerfully sought the Lord and the guidance of the Holy Spirit in choosing their various topics. The result has been a somewhat diverse range of articles. Our usual practice is to address whichever doctrinal issue that arises most frequently in correspondence with our subscribers from month to month. The center article, “A House of Merchandise,” is a polemic against the worldliness that characterizes the apostate church altogether, and which has worked its way even into many churches where sound doctrine is taught. It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit moved one of us to write something particularly pertinent to each of you.

Perspectives

Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

(1 Tim 5-6)

Paul writes to the church at Rome, “For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom 13:9-10). The Law of Moses demands love; the Law of Christ is love. The former is outward, and is imposed upon an unloving race of men. The latter is inward, and is the very love of God Himself that ought to fill the consciousness of every Christian, spilling out toward those whom God would love through us. The sin question was settled at Calvary. Now our offenses are those that violate the love of God toward others. The Law of Moses generates guilt and fear; the Law of Christ generates only peace and blessing. Concerning the Law of Christ, Scofield writes:

“The new law of Christ is the divine love, as produced in the renewed heart by the Holy Spirit (Rom 5:5; Heb 10:16), which flows out in the energy of the Spirit, unforced and spontaneous, toward the objects of the divine love (2 Cor 5:14-20; 1 Th 2:7-8). It is, therefore, ‘the law of liberty’ (Jas 1:25; 2:12) in contrast with the external law of Moses. Moses’ law demands love (Lev 19:18; Dt 6:5; Lk 10:27); Christ’s law is love (Rom 5:5; 1 Jn 4:7, 19-20), and so takes the place of the external law by fulfilling it (Rom 13:10; Gal 5:14). It is the ‘law written in the heart’ under the New Covenant.” (THE NEW SCOFIELD STUDY BIBLE, Thomas Nelson Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee, 1989—pg 1520)

Those who teach the law must focus on sin. Their thoughts must therefore be negative, and their hearts must wear the veil of conviction (1 Cor 3:12-18), even if they deceive themselves concerning their own righteousness. Those who teach grace have hearts that rejoice, having found peace with God through faith (Rom 5:1). These are not bound with the cords of an evil conscience (Heb 10:22), but go confidently and boldly about their service to a God of whom they are unafraid. Those who preach grace preach a positive message, one that uplifts and relieves. Those who teach the law show the severity of God rather than His greater and abiding love.

Furthermore, those who teach the law and who insist that its letter must be kept are insisting upon that which has been done away in Christ. Those who teach the law have an inherent fear of Christian liberty and, if liberty is taught, the teachers of it are called antinomian by those whose confidence is in the law. But what a heavy burden is lifted when one comes to an understanding of the truth of Christian liberty. Liberty does not lead to license, but to an eager and loving service to God. Knowing that the old man is dead, crucified with Christ, the new man is freed to live an unfettered life, rejoicing in the love of God. That is the very reason that Paul was so astounded that the Christians in the regions of Galatia were attempting to put themselves back under the old Mosaic Law (Gal 1:6-9; 3:1-5; 5:1-5). Paul could not fathom why anyone, having found the grace and the love of God, should wish to return to a burdensome system that can only condemn.

The law judges and condemns, and is a cruel taskmaster, meant not to save, or even to improve a sinner, but merely to reveal his inherent wickedness. Those who preach the law must also judge the sinner, whether he is saved or not, and such mental trickery as that leads not to love, but inevitably and inexorably to hatred and contempt. But those who preach the grace of a loving God find that it is an easy thing to love others in spite of their sin, knowing that God also loves those who sin, else He could not love us. The purpose of the commandment is love, but the love of God is shown in His mercy, His grace, and not in His judgment. It is certainly not found in our judgment of others, whether they are lost or saved. Our ministry is the ministry of the word of reconciliation (2 Cor 5:18-21), and we would do well to remember that as we go about the business of being Christians in a wicked and unbelieving world. It is the goodness of God that leads men to repentance (Ps 52:1; Rom 2:4), and that is what we must preach and teach.

Middle East Update

The situation among the Palestinians is not as stable as diplomats would hope. Mahmoud Abbas has determined to delay elections indefinitely. A number of the members of the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) are weighing the possibility of resigning from that governing body. Islamic Jihad, the group that Israel considers its most dangerous enemy, has announced that it will boycott the parliamentary elections when they are finally held. Hamas, having participated in the electoral process so far, strongly denounced the delay of the elections as a violation of agreements reached earlier this year with Chairman Abbas. The delay of the elections, originally scheduled for July 17, has moved PLC Deputy Speaker Hassan Khraisheh and eight others to consider submitting their resignations. This would create havoc in the ruling council. Among those who are angry over the postponement of elections, the feeling is that the delay is prompted by a fear that the current leaders might not be reelected.

Israel killed a top Islamic Jihad activist near Jenin, and a senior Islamic Jihad leader has vowed to renew attacks on Israel, hoping to derail both the Abbas leadership of the PLC and the peace process. It does not consider itself bound by the terms of any truce agreement reached between Israel and the PLC. Israel justifies its killing of the Islamic Jihad activist, saying that it was in retaliation for a recent terrorist attack in Israel.

It seems that civility takes a back seat to blood in the Middle East. While there are the educated few who sit down and discuss things like civilized leaders, anarchy and violence remain the order of the day. Clearly, Israel would engage in serious negotiations concerning the establishment of a Palestinian state if the radicals would behave like civilized men and women. We do not, at Christian Chronicles, believe that it is Israel’s proper course to do so, for such diplomacy involves surrendering that land which is historically and irrevocably theirs, given to them by their own God. Nevertheless, it is the several uncivilized hate groups in the Palestinian territories, in Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and elsewhere in the region that deem it preferable to maintain a state of hostility toward the Jews.

It is odd to find the most ancient peoples on the planet acting as if they are several hundred fewer generations removed from the jungle than the relatively recent rest of the world. One might expect that the more ancient a people are, the more civilized they would become. That such is not the case speaks to the depravity of man. What is missing in the mix of emotional issues that divide the peoples of the Middle East? Ah, love. There is not love, but a deep and abiding hatred. The world witnessed the end (more or less) of the feuding among the Slavic peoples a few years ago, but we will not see the end of the feuding in the Middle East until such a strong Leader arises that no one can stand against Him and His armies. Until that great Day, the bitterness and hatred of the ages will fester beneath the thin veneer of a false civility, erupting periodically in greater and lesser effusions of blood. What we are witnessing today is the attempt by the civilized world to so temper the mood in the Middle East as to stop the violence in favor of international commerce. However, each day reveals that these efforts are akin to healing a decapitation with a band-aid. Just when the sun seems to be rising over a new era in the Middle East, storm clouds blot it out and the smoke of militant hatred hangs acrid once again in the air of the Holy Land.

There really is no Middle East Update. The details shift from day to day, but the underlying problem has not and will not change. The Bible prophets speak solemnly and somberly of the destruction of many of the peoples and lands occupied by the enemies of Israel. Nowhere is there any Biblical intimation that any “roadmap for peace” will succeed. Israel’s enemies will remain her enemies until the King of kings and Lord of lords crushes them under the terrible weight of Daniel’s smiting stone. Then shall the winds of change blow away the chaff of Israel’s persecutions. The movement toward peace began in November of 1977 when Sadat visited Israel. It has proceeded by fits and starts since then, and humanity will engineer a false peace that will shortly thereafter be broken, culminating in the greatest period of utter destruction the earth has ever witnessed. After seven years of tribulation, then shall real peace come to the beleaguered peoples of the Middle East.

Fruit of the Vine

What an inestimable privilege it is to be called to serve in the process in which a lost soul is illuminated by the matchless grace of God! So many Christians are complacent about bearing fruit. Yet, Jesus Himself said that He has ordained every one of us to a fruit-bearing life (Jn 15:16). There is not one Christian in all the world who is not already an ordained minister of the Gospel, though the devil would withhold that information from us if he could.

If the angels in heaven rejoice over each soul that is saved (Lk 15:10), should we not be abundantly excited over the prospect of being a participant in the process? The salvation of a single soul is cause for celebration in heaven and on earth, but it is met with a polite applause for the most part in our churches. What a miraculous light is switched on when a sin-darkened soul understands and accepts the gift of eternal life!

Every morning prayer should include a request to be made fruitful that day. We can do nothing without Christ, but He is more than willing to make us fruitful if we are willing to be made fruitful. “Ask,” He said, “and you will receive, that your joy may be full” (Jn 16:24b). Pray fervently. Pray believing. You cannot glorify God, but He can glorify Himself in you, and that, above all else, He desires to do. And how is God more glorified than when one who does not know Him hears the gospel and believes. God’s glory is revealed in the hearts of those to whom we minister.

From Paul to Pastor Timothy - OMM

Editor’s Note: Dr. Mark uses the NASB text in this article.

Paul gave instructions to Timothy on how to run a church. Here is what the great Apostle of the Church commanded his most like-minded disciple to teach.

“As I urged you upon my departure for Macedonia, remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, nor to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering the administration of God which is by faith” (1 Tim 1:3-4).

Then, as it is today, men teach stories and their own speculations. We are to teach the church doctrine according to the administration of God which is by faith, the revelation according to the mystery:

“Now to Him who is able to establish you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery which has been kept secret for long ages past, but now is manifested, and by the Scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the eternal God, has been made known to all the nations, leading to obedience of faith…” (Romans 16:25-26).

“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with gratitude; for it is sanctified by means of the word of God and prayer. In pointing out these things to the brethren, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, constantly nourished on the words of the faith and of the sound doctrine which you have been following” (1 Tim 4:4-6).

Today as then, men teach diets and force celibacy on the weak minded. He who is spiritual knows that God has given us all things to enjoy in godliness (see below 1 Tim 6:17, Heb 13:4, Mat 19:12).

“But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women. On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come. It is a trustworthy statement deserving full acceptance. For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers. Prescribe and teach these things” (1 Tim 4:7-11).

Exercise is okay. However we are to discipline ourselves to run a race that finishes when Christ rewards us at His judgment seat (1 Cor 3:11-18; Rom 14:10).

“So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God” (Rom 14:12 ).

This we are to teach.

“Those who have believers as their masters must not be disrespectful to them because they are brethren, but must serve them all the more, because those who partake of the benefit are believers and beloved. Teach and preach these principles” (1 Tim 6:2).

Teach men to respect believers in authority and to work honorably for them.

“Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed” (1 Tim 6:17-19).

Teach not prosperity foolishness but to work for a heavenly reward. We are not to be earthly minded only, but must realize that our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20, Eph 2).

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth” (Col 3:1-2).

Teach men to store up treasures in heaven.

“It is a trustworthy statement: For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we deny Him, He also will deny us; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself. Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers” (2 Tim 2:11-14) .

We are not to argue over petty issues and preferences. Doctrine emphasizes that our life is Christ. We died, He lives in us. This is true sanctification (Rom 6:1-11; Col 3:1-5; Eph 2:6; Phil 1:21; Gal 2:20).

“Even so consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom 6:11).

“For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry” (Col 3:3-5).

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (Gal 2:20).

This is the true Christian life we are to teach the Church of God. Our life, our holiness is Christ Himself.

“I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and instruction” (2 Tim 4:1-2).

Preach the Word. The doctrine is Paul’s Gospel of grace. While it is today, let us be found faithful, not teaching man’s doctrine but the heavenly revelation of Jesus Christ our Lord.

Assurance - Does the Bible Teach It? -HGS

These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God;
that ye may know that ye have eternal life,
and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God
(1 John 5:13).

As assurance is the spiritual birthright of every believer, it is his privilege and duty to experience and enjoy such an inner possession. Webster defines “assurance” as meaning a pledge or guarantee: the state of being sure or certain; insure against risk; security, servitude; confidence. In the realm of salvation, the word “assurance” occurring six times in the Bible, means full of confidence, and expresses the guarantee the believer has that he is forever secure. As Dr. Scofield expresses it, “Assurance is the believer’s full conviction that, through the work of Christ alone, received by faith, he is in possession of a salvation in which he will be eternally kept. And this assurance rests only upon the Scripture promise to him who believes.” The Biblical statement of this vital Bible truth is given by Isaiah -- The work of righteousness shall be peace; and the effect of righteousness, quietness and confidence forever.

This assurance of salvation is plainly written over the pages of the New Testament. Christ and His apostles lived in the air of certainty. Doubt in a regenerated heart is everywhere condemned. The epistles glow with the truth that we may know we possess salvation. They present a tenor of joy in a present experience, but the tragedy is that, while all who are saved have the right to assurance, all do not experience it. As a letter can be written, and yet now sealed, so grace may be written within the heart, but faith is not strong enough to set the seal of assurance to the accomplishment of the Holy Spirit. Faith in the heart, however, should appear in the fruit of assurance.

Many lack assurance through dependence upon their feelings. But it is amazing to discover that the Bible maintains a profound silence on feelings. The concordance shows that the word is used only twice in the Word, and in neither case is it employed in connection with our salvation. In Ephesians 4:19 the word describes a Christ-rejecting and hardened sinner. In Hebrews 4:15 the word denotes Christ’s feeling or His power to sympathize. The word “feel” is found in six places, but in no instance is it related to a true Christian experience. Our salvation rests, not upon fluctuating and fitful feelings, but upon the unassailable facts the Scriptures present.

Saving faith directs attention away from self to the Savior. The Bible does not say, “He that feeleth good, or feeleth bad, shall be saved,” but “he that believeth.” We are not left to pump dry hearts and bring up feelings, but are to have thoughts wholly occupied with Christ and His finished work on our behalf. We must hasten to say that it is not our experience or even our faith that saves, but Christ alone. He, alone, is the ground of our salvation and certainty. Whatever our changing feelings, our minds must be wholly stayed on the Lord.

It cannot be emphasized too strongly that the Bible teaches the truth that all who are regenerated by the Spirit can be absolutely certain of their standing in grace. All who have accepted Christ as Savior are saved, but a few timid souls probe their feelings, practicing psychoanalysis. With them it is, “I hope so,” or, “Maybe,” or, “Perhaps so,” while it should be, “I know so,” “I have,” or, “You have.” This is a profound assurance, of which John wrote (as quoted earlier in 1 John 5:13).

There can be no assurance within unless there is the acceptance of the direct testimony of the Word of God. Such an assurance is not a mere mental assent to the veracity of scriptural statements, but an inner light, produced by believing God. Assurance is no vocal or audible voice or the revelation of an angel, but a condition of being secure, the willingness to take God at His word.

Assurance is the mental and spiritual certainty of sins forgiven, of justification before God, of the possession of eternal life. Uncertainty regarding these facts breeds doubt and fear. But when with confidence we can say with Paul: “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day” (2 Tim 1:12), all doubt is excluded. Assurance is a birthright that we must preserve and never forfeit. We must “Hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end” (Heb 3:6,14). Such confidence must never be “cast away” (Heb 10:35). When Peter took his eyes off Christ and looked at the waves, he began to sink.

Full assurance rests upon unchanging Bible facts. An objective source of our assurance are the unconditional promises of God, as in John 6:37; 10:27, 28; Romans 8:31-39. True assurance is built upon a Scriptural foundation.

In the first epistle of John, the word translated know occurs 42 times, and should be sufficient to stay all doubts as to the certainty of salvation. What peace of mind a doubting, fearing believer forfeits if he is uncertain whether he is a real believer! Assurance comes through the acceptance of divine promises. Jesus declared that all receiving Him as Savior will never perish (John 10:28). To doubt His affirmation is to make Him a liar. Paul says that Christ is able to keep us (2 Tim 1:12); that we are – not may be – in Him; that we have been forgiven (Col 2:13). With all these precious facts and promises, how sad it is to encounter many believers tossed about on the troubled sea of uncertainty and insecurity. What God begins, He will complete (Phil 1:6). Faith in what the Bible declares produces a harvest of assurance. Amen and Amen.

A House of Merchandise

Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
And He found in the temple those who sold oxen and sheep and doves,
and the money changers doing business.
When He had made a whip of cords, He drove them all out of the temple,
with the sheep and the oxen,
and poured out the changers’ money and overturned the tables.
And He said to those who sold doves,
“Take these things away! Do not make My Father’s house a house of merchandise!”
(Jn 2:13-16)

Even much of the true Church seems to have one foot in the world and the other in heaven. We hold bake sales and yard sales and car washes as we seek to raise money for this function or that excursion. We look to the devil’s world to supply our need instead of either doing without altogether or praying fervently and fasting and then trusting God to provide for it. We go out into all the world, not with a message of salvation or the word of reconciliation, but with that self-righteous judgment wherein we condemn those who are caught up in this sin or that. We carry our protesting placards, marching to and fro in front of one offensive enterprise or another. And we become offensive ourselves. The love of God is not seen in us in these actions, but a superior form of offensive self-righteousness. We harass and harangue our congregations to give more and more, offering vague promises of blessings or empty promises of wealth; or worse, threats of the wrath of God. We rage against sin, singling out certain groups in our various societies that we can judge and defame with impunity because we don’t do those particular things in which the Scriptures proclaim the sinfulness of those who do them. Worse still, we allow social issues to become moral issues, and then we base our judgments against others, not on Scriptural bases, but upon social restrictions. Much of the true Church, sadly, has been reduced to the “baking” of cookie-cutter Christians. We consider that, as long as we do not engage in the practices against which we protest, we are pretty much okay. We overlook our own iniquity as we focus our anger and bitterness upon the sins of “others.” We judge ourselves among ourselves and compare ourselves among ourselves (2 Cor 10:12), and we do not see the plank in our own collective eye (Mt 7:3-5). We have become a Church of Pharisees; not every church, of course, but many churches. The unrighteous judging the unrighteous as though the former were righteous.

When Jesus went into the temple and chased away the money changers, it was not because it was wrong to buy and sell. But it was wrong to do it in God’s house. And the method employed was crooked. The money changers cheated the ignorant by using incorrect exchange rates, and those who sold the oxen and sheep and doves often sold the same animal repeatedly, claiming each time to deliver it to the priests for sacrifice. There was no regard for what was right, but for what was both profitable and expedient. It smacks of 2 Cor 2:17, where Paul writes, “For we are not, as so many, peddling the Word of God; but as of sincerity, but as from God, we speak the truth in the sight of God in Christ.” This writer once commended the pastor of a large church concerning the difficulty of serving such a diverse congregation. He replied, “I wouldn’t do it if they didn’t pay me.”

It is not wrong to buy and sell. As long as there have been civilizations, people have bartered and bought and sold, and by that method great nations were built. Foremost among them all in the world today stands the United States, whose capitalist system has lifted many into standards of living that have become the envy of the world. What the money changers were doing was the same as mankind has done since the first two people who could meet one another’s needs made a trade. Quid pro quo. You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours. As long as things are done fairly, there is no evil in buying or selling. It is the way of the world. And therein lies the rub. The Church is not the world. Neither is it of the world. The world’s systems do not belong in a house of worship. Neither should a house of worship engage in worldly practices. We are to be a holy people. The money changers were right to perform currency exchanges, but they were wrong to do so in the temple, and especially since they were cheating those who knew no better. They might have set up booths outside the temple, and Jesus would not have chased them away. He was not a social reformer, but a Redeemer of sinners.

The Church is not about money. Let us be straight about that. It takes money to operate in the world, but we do not look to the world to provide our resources. Jesus did not go begging everywhere He went to preach and teach. He had no disdain for money (Mt 17: 24-27), but neither was He so uncertain of His Father’s providence that He felt compelled to go begging among lost souls for His sustenance. His disciples, mostly poor men, supported Him. The Church is not self-supported; it is God-supported. Christian Chronicles, for example, is a testimony to the fact that ministries need not beg for money. God has never failed to move one or more of our subscribers to send a donation when the donation has been needed. We have never had to beg, nor do we expect ever to have to do so. Godly men and women, moved by the Holy Spirit, supply our every need, with little left over.

The Apostle Paul never once instructed the Church, local or corporate, to go out into the world protesting against that which a sinful world was determined to do. It is not our job to reform or remake society. Even God’s perfect Law was unable to make a sinner a saint. To suppose that the Church is able to reform the devil’s world is to make an assumption that gives the lie to the Word of God, for the world is not said ever to get better this side of the Kingdom Age, but it is clearly said to grow worse and worse until He comes (1 Tim 4:1-6; 2 Tim 3:1-13). Paul continues the preceding passage to the end of chapter three and on into chapter four, saying, “But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. I charge you therefore before the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the Word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry” (2 Tim 3:14-4:5).

Paul’s concern throughout his writings was threefold: 1.) the moral uprightness of the believer (not of the world); 2.) unity of sound doctrine; and, 3.) the evangelizing of the lost through sound gospel preaching. There was no order of priority among those concerns, but each is equally important in Paul’s mind. Neither does Paul ever instruct the church to hold fund-raisers or to otherwise identify with the world. Rather, we are instructed to be separate, holy, sanctified for the Lord’s use in bringing the light of His grace in the word of reconciliation to a sin-darkened world. He didn’t have a great deal to say about money. He said that we must support those ministers who are given to full time service to God, though he did not insist upon anyone’s support of himself. Note that God provided for Paul’s support also, by moving the poorer churches in the realm to send him money while he was serving the wealthiest churches. Paul did not ask the Christians at Philippi to send him money, but the Holy Spirit moved them to do so. There is no instance in the Scriptures where any apostle or any local church either asked for money or failed in his ministry on account of a lack of it. One of the biggest problems in today’s churches is that too few Christians truly do trust God. Oh, we pay lip service to trusting Him, but then we engage in worldly practices which, by their very practice, give the lie to our trust in God.

Tithing was the standard for giving prior to the Law of Moses, but it was officially required when the Law went into effect. Today, tithing is considered the standard because it was the standard prior to the Law. But Paul never demanded a tithe from any Christian. Giving is a spiritual gift today, and those who have and use that gift do so with cheerful hearts. Every Christian ought to give, and the standard has always been ten percent. But no church ought to use the guilt of the Law to coerce money from those who do not give, nor to shame those who give less than ten percent. This does not excuse those who do not give. God knows. He also knows that no gift given with a grudging heart will bear good fruit or bring blessings to the giver. However, almost every church places far more emphasis of reproof upon those who do not give ten percent than upon those who, for example, do not witness to lost souls. Which is the greater deficiency, giving only five percent or bypassing a needful soul in order to avoid the embarrassment of failing? When you bypass that lost soul, you have already failed.

Churches use other worldly methods to attract greater numbers: gymnasiums, tennis courts, basketball courts, fancy architecture, oratorical excellence, trips here and there, bingo, softball leagues — all secular and all worldly. If the Word of God does not draw a person to join a church, his motive for joining is wrong, and he will not be fruitful in it. Is it wrong for a church to have a gymnasium or to build expensive buildings with all the right architectural details? That depends. Are all the poor in your community fed? Do the homeless have shelter? Has the gospel reached every corner of your city? Have you fulfilled your ministry? No, it is not inherently wrong to enjoy fellowship with one another outside the worship services of your church. But if the resources that God has provided are not first used to fulfill the church’s ministry to the community in which it lives, then there is something in it that smacks of poor stewardship. If a youth group is going on a missions trip with money that has been raised in worldly ways, do not expect it to be fruitful. But if the local church provides the resources through prayer and faithful giving, then expect great things. If a local church fails to minister outside its own walls, but uses its resources to flaunt and expand its own glory, do not expect that church to bear any good fruit, even if its membership doubles every Sunday. Fruit is not measured in dollars or numbers, but in eternal life shared.

Dear Christian readers, it is past time for the bride of Christ to awaken from her lethargy. It is time for a reexamination and a reassessing of our time and place. Do you know what is tragic? It will not happen. The Bible does not indicate that we will become better and better even while the professing apostate church grows worse and worse. That which the Lord Himself established and built as a living organism has become a markedly worldly organization. What life there is in the professing church is found only in the true Church. But the true Church within the professing church has come to look and act very much like the professing church. The devil is crafty. He knows that an unsaved person does not know the difference between the true Church and the rest of professing Christendom. It was a small thing for him to flood the world with many apostate churches in every city. It was an even smaller thing for him to attract the lost souls in the world by offering them worldly trappings. Too many good churches have thought to fight the devil with his own weapons. It does not work. Our weapons are not the things of the world, but the things of the Spirit. Our armor is not the disguise of the world, but the armor of God (Eph 6:10-18).

Faith goes where reason cannot travel. Faith is single-minded. It is not our faith, but the Object of our faith who can strengthen us to do His will and equip us with the tools necessary to make us profitable servants. But before God can use us, we need to reeducate ourselves as to our proper role in the world. We are not here to reform society or to make a buck; we are here to see to society’s redemption. Someone once said that you cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear. Neither can you make a saint out of a sinner through reformation. You can put a mask on a pig, but it is still a pig. No lost soul is ever going to be saved because some misguided Christian carried a picket sign in protest of this group or that sin. The only thing that will save any lost soul is the word of reconciliation. It is the Gospel. The world protests; Christians witness. But it seems more reasonable to suppose that a lost person might be tempted to come to a given church if there are recreational facilities there for him. Then, the argument goes, he can hear the gospel and be saved. Do you know who makes that argument most persuasively? The devil. It is his argument, and he uses it in his effort to draw a godly church into worldly reason, and then into the world and out of heaven. If a church is determined to build, for example, a new gym, then let it say that it is building it for its members, and not assign to it some altruistic rationalization. Let it say that it will feel better about itself if it has a gym like the other big churches. Let it say that the investment will only grow more valuable over time, and it is good stewardship of the Lord’s money to have this gym. Let it say that if it only had this new gym, its members would be satisfied and then they would more willingly do the Lord’s work. Let it rationalize however it will, but unless it has done the things with God’s money in the community that it ought to do, let it not say that it is building it for God. God doesn’t need a gymnasium. Or fancier chandeliers. Or different drapes. What God needs are laborers for the harvest. What God needs are good soldiers, equipped for the battle that they are sure to face if they are properly armed and led. What God needs are Christians with the mindset of slaves, bondservants by choice. Faith dismisses worldly reason and dares to go where reason dictates that fruit cannot follow. It is love, not pride, that produces fruit, even as the world grows increasingly impersonal and distant every day.

It is interesting to note that the professing church’s slide into worldliness coincided with the shift from sound doctrine to the social gospel of the twentieth century. While there has always been a worldly element in professing Christendom, it was in the last century that the great apostasy became pervasive. With the shift away from the doctrines of the Bible to other themes came also the shift from heaven to earth in the thinking of both the true Church and the apostate church. The true Church has retained its body of beliefs, guarding the tenets of the faith, well, religiously. However, we may know, among other ways, that we are near the end of the age by the fact that even the true Church is finding a creeping worldliness inching its way in.

As in the first century church, we find today that simplicity of faith and soundness of doctrine are found more in the materially poor churches than in the rich behemoths where people go to be seen and highly regarded. Poor people have less to be jealous of, and so, can love one another more freely. Or perhaps it is that sound doctrine leads naturally (supernaturally) to a loving spirit. True love is selfless; the world is selfish. Christianity does not look out for itself, but for others. In a world in which it is more and more every man for himself, Christianity does not seem to work. Well, the world’s system doesn’t work. At least, not in that way. But when the love of God is shed abroad, souls are saved. Seeing one soul come repentant before the throne of grace ought to be worth more to any and every Christian than any earthly trappings that money can buy. The angels are not said to rejoice over a new steeple, but they do rejoice over a single saved soul (Lk 15:10).

We seem to have lost our sense of direction. Many, many saved Christians go to church as if going to church were the aim of their lives. Going to church is merely a means to an end. Too many treat it as an end in itself. We go to church for four reasons. We go to worship, to pray, to learn and to have fellowship with other Christians. Many Christians find all but the fellowship part burdensome and tiresome. Worship is only in the singing. Praying is done by the preacher while we sit and contemplate our problems. Learning? What? Even in sound churches many feel this way, not because the pastor is not doing his job, but because the devil is doing his better. We live in the world, and the world’s attitudes and systems rub off on us. Ah, but only if we are not wearing the whole armor of God. We are in the world but we are not of the world. It is okay to be in the world; just do not get any of it on you! Approach church properly. Think about your real purposes in going and then attempt to actually fulfill each of them. Especially, learn. Learn sound doctrine. Then you will be truly equipped to engage the lost fruitfully, for sound doctrine breeds God’s love. And where God’s love is found in abundance, there is fruit also found. If we are here to minister the word of reconciliation as citizens and ambassadors of heaven, as members of the very household of God, then let us approach these responsibilities with a sense of the magnitude of the calling. When the very Creator of the entire heavens and earth calls us to do a job, ought we not be as awe-stricken and reverent as the saints of old who did not even have the Holy Spirit? Ought not the saints of God have a sense of who and what we are, establishing our priorities and values in accordance with those realities, leaving reason and materialism in the world where they belong? When the Bible says that men reasoned among themselves, they were invariably wrong. Let us serve with humility and willing hearts.

Concerning Romans 8:28

In the genuine Christian experience, nothing is more important than faith. No matter our circumstance, regardless of our station in life, whether one is a great world leader or an inmate in a dank prison, God has us where He needs us to be. Perhaps He wants us to learn some particular lesson, or maybe He has someone with whom we will come in contact who will respond to our particular ministry. Whatever the case, we must trust that God loves us and is doing only good things in our lives. By worldly standards, our circumstances might seem tragic. Reason might suggest that we should live our lives in shame and misery on account of the conditions in which we find ourselves. One Christian might find himself in quite a serendipitous situation without ever having done anything to arrive there. Another might be disabled or imprisoned on account of some foul deed with which he has been occupied. Whatever the state of our existence, we ought to rejoice in the certainty that all things do indeed work together for our good, according to God’s purposes. It was this certainty that made it possible for Paul to say, “I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ who strengthened me” (Phil 4:12-13). Faith sees through our circumstance to the promises of God. Even chastening, when viewed at last through eyes of faith, can be a cause for rejoicing. There is not a moment in the life of any Christian that cannot be a cause for rejoicing when faith enters the heart and mind of the believer.