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Spring 1998
By: David W. Cloud
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Copyright 1997. These articles cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites without permission from the author. The articles cannot be sold or placed by themselves or with other material in any electronic format for sale, but may be distributed for free by e-mail or by print. They must be left intact and nothing removed or changed, including these informational headers. This is a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our goal is not devotional. OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. If you desire to receive this type of material on a regular basis, e-mail us, tell us who you are and where you are located, and request to be placed on the list. Also include your postal address and the name of the church of which you are a member. Please note that we take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and you will be expected to participate. Some of these articles are from the "Digging in the Walls" section of O Timothy magazine. David W. Cloud, Editor. O Timothy is a monthly magazine in its 15th year of publication. Subscription is $20/yr. Way of Life Literature, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277. The Way of Life web site is http://wayoflife.org/~dcloud. The End Times Apostasy Online Database is located at this web site. (360) 675-8311 (voice), 240-8347 (fax). dcloud@whidbey.net (e-mail)]
"You insist on separatism. What about unity? WHAT ABOUT LOVE?"
To this brainwashed generation, the negative aspects of biblical Christianity are unloving. To carefully test things by the Bible is unloving, . To warn of false gospels is unloving. To mark and avoid false teachers is mean-spirited and unloving. To preach high and holy standards of Christian living is unloving legalism. To discipline heretics is unloving.
Evangelist Jack Van Impe, who once preached boldly against sin and error and apostasy, but today he published videos praising the Pope and describing him as a hero of faith. A few years ago, he rejected biblical separatism and went over to the ecumenical philosophy. He said: "Let's forget our labels and come together in love, and the pope has called for that. I had 400 verses on love. Till I die I will proclaim nothing but love for all my brothers and sisters in Christ, my Catholic brothers and sisters, Protestant brothers and sisters, Christian Reformed, Lutherans, I don't care what label you are. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have love one to another."
This is the popular view of love, but it is false and dangerous.
ECUMENISTS ARE CONFUSED ABOUT THE DEFINITION OF LOVE
Love is crucial. The Bible says that without love "I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." The Bible tells us that God is love, and those who know God will reflect His love. What is love, though? The ecumenical world is confused about the definition of love. It must be defined biblically. "Love," to human thinking, is a warm feeling or a sensual romantic thought. "Love," to this ecumenical generation, is broadmindedness and non-judgmental acceptance of any one who claims to know the Lord Jesus Christ. This is not what the Bible says about love. Consider the following verses of Holy Scripture:
"Jesus answered and said unto him, IF A MAN LOVE ME, HE WILL KEEP MY WORDS: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him" (John 14:23).
"And this I pray, that your LOVE MAY ABOUND YET MORE AND MORE IN KNOWLEDGE AND IN ALL JUDGMENT; That ye may approve things that are excellent; that ye may be sincere and without offence till the day of Christ" (Philippians 1:9-10).
"For THIS IS THE LOVE OF GOD, THAT WE KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS: and his commandments are not grievous" (1 John 5:3).
"And we have confidence in the Lord touching you, that ye both do and will do the things which we command you. And the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God, and into the patient waiting for Christ. Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us" (2 Thess. 3:4-6).
Biblical love is obedience to God and His Word. In the last passage cited we see that the love of God is sandwiched between two verses which emphasize obedience to God's commandments, including separation from disobedient brethren! It is not a feeling. It is not blissful romanticism. For a woman to love her husband means she submits to and serves him according to the Bible. For a man to love his wife means he treats her in the way the Bible commands. For children to love their parents means they honor and obey their parents as the Bible commands. Love is obedience to God's Word.
Love is not an emotion. It is not broadmindedness. It is not non-judgmentalism. It is not non-critical acceptance. Biblical love is careful. It is based on knowledge and judgment from God's Word. It proves all things, and it approves only those things that are the will of God.
Was the Lord Jesus Christ unloving when He called Peter a devil (Matt. 16:23) or when he publicly condemned the Pharisees (Matthew 23)? Was the Apostle Paul unloving when he rebuked Peter publicly for his compromise (Galatians 2)? Was the Apostle Paul unloving when he named the name of false teachers and compromisers such as Hymenaeus and Alexander ten different times in the Pastoral Epistles? Was the Apostle Paul unloving when he forbade women to preach or to usurp authority over men (1 Timothy 2)?
Biblical love for people does not mean that I ignore things that they do that are wrong and injurious. This is true both in the physical and spiritual realms. For example, to love a murderer, in a biblical sense, does not mean that we ignore his crime. It means that we put him to death for his horrible trespass against the image of God (Genesis 9:5-6). Likewise, to love a false teacher does not mean that I turn a blind eye to his error and strive to have unity with him regardless of his doctrine. It means that I obey the Bible and mark and avoid him (Romans 16:17), that I expose his error publicly to protect those who might be led astray by his teaching.
ECUMENISTS ARE CONFUSED ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF LOVE
Ecumenists are incredibly confused about the definition of love, but they are also confused about the direction of love. THE FIRST DIRECTION OF LOVE MUST BE TOWARD GOD. Ecumenists talk much about love of man, but they talk very little about the love of God. According to the Lord Jesus Christ, though, what is the greatest commandment?
"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself" (Matthew 22:35-39).
The first and great commandment is not to love one's neighbor, that is the second commandment. The first and great commandment is to love the Lord God with all our heart, soul and mind. Now the Ecumenists point their fingers at the Bible-believing fundamentalist and charge him with a lack of love toward men because he exercises judgment and discipline and separation. What, though, about love for God? The Ecumenist tells me that I need to love all the denominations regardless of what doctrine they teach. I reply that I need to love God and His Truth first, and that means that I will obey the Bible, and that means I will measure, mark, and avoid those who are committed to error. A genuine love for God requires that I care more about His Word and His will than about men and their feelings and opinions and programs.
THE DIRECTION OF LOVE NOT ONLY MUST BE TOWARD GOD BUT IT MUST BE TOWARD THOSE WHO ARE IN DANGER.
The ecumenical crowd tells me that I need to love the Modernist and the Romanist, etc., but they are practically silent on the subject of love for those who are deceived by the Modernists and the Romanists. We are charged with being unloving, for example, when we expose the fact that John Paul II or Mother Teresa teaches a false sacramental gospel. This is nonsense. The fact is that we love people enough to warn of false gospels so they will not be led astray to eternal hell. A shepherd who loves wolves more than the sheep is a confused and wicked shepherd.
By: John R. Rice
"And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God." (Acts 5:38,39)
Gamaliel was an unconverted Pharisee. God used him to deliver Peter and John from death, but he said a foolish thing which many Christians quote as gospel truth. He advised the Jewish rulers not to kill Peter and John who had been preaching. People say that it is none of our business to rebuke sin, to expose modernism. We should leave that to God to attend to. They say if the work be of God, it will grow; if it is not of God, it will fail. But when they quote Gamaliel they are quoting an unsaved man, not what God Himself says.
Note that the Bible only quotes Gamaliel; it does not approve his statement. It is not true that if a work be not of God, "it will come to nought." The Jehovah's Witnesses movement is not of God, but it is more than one hundred years old and has not yet come to nought. So with Mohammedanism and Romanism and Spiritism and Mormonism. So with the liquor business; so with lewd literature. It is a foolish and unscriptural idea that we are to leave things alone and if there is anything wrong with them, then they will come to nought of themselves.
This idea that the truth should never be defended and a wrong should never be attacked is wholly different from the plain teaching of the Bible.
The Lord Jesus commanded us to "beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matt. 7:15). Young Timothy was commanded, "Them that sin rebuke before all, that others also may fear" (1 Tim. 5:20). Paul was inspired to write Titus about some "vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision ... Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound n the faith" (Titus 1:10, 13). And Jude 3 tells us that "ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." Some follow Gamaliel, but it would be far better if they would follow the Bible.
By: David W. Cloud
JOHN 17:21 - "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me."
The modern ecumenical movement has taken John 17:21 as one of its theme verses, claiming that the unity for which Christ prayed is an ecumenical unity of professing Christians which disregards biblical doctrine. The context of John 17 destroys this myth. In John 17 the Lord plainly emphasizes that the unity He desires is one based on salvation and Truth. It is not a unity of true Christians with the false. It is not a unity which ignores doctrinal differences for the sake of an enlarged fellowship.
(1) The unity of John 17 is a God-created unity (John 17:11). There is nothing in Christ's prayer to indicate that man is to do anything whatsoever in an attempt to create the unity described herein. John 17 is a prayer addressed to God the Father, not to men. It is not something man needs to do; it is something God has already done. The prayer was answered almost 2,000 years ago. It is a spiritual reality which was created by God among genuine believers who are committed to the Scriptures, not a possibility which must be organized by man.
(2) The unity of John 17 is a unity in truth (vv. 17,19,6,8,14). Christ repeatedly stated that He was praying for those who love and obey the Word of God. This is certainly not a prayer which contemplates the modern ecumenical crowd which downplays and ignores the Word of God for the sake of a broad, lowest-common-denominator unity.
For more on verses misused by the ecumenical movement see commentaries
IN THINGS HARD TO BE UNDERSTOOD (by David Cloud) on 1 Sam. 24:4-10; Matt. 7:1-1; 18:15-17; John 13:35; Mk. 9:38-40; Acts 5:38-39; Rom. 14:4.
By: David W. Cloud
MARK 9:38-40 - "And John answered him, saying, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we forbad him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not: for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly speak evil of me. For he that is not against us is on our part."
LUKE 9:49-50 - "And John answered and said, Master, we saw one casting out devils in thy name; and we forbad him, because he followeth not with us. And Jesus said unto him, Forbid him not: for he that is not against us is for us."
These passages are frequently abused by those who promote ecumenical fellowship and unity. When the man of God exposes the compromise and error of some Christian leader or movement, many cry out it is not Christ's will for us to do such a thing, and they cite these verses as evidence. Note the following facts which demonstrate that this is a misuse of these scriptures:
1. Scripture does not contradict itself. If the Lord Jesus Christ was saying in Mark 9:38-40 and Luke 9:49-50 that it is wrong to judge and expose error, He would be contradicting His own Word. Many other passages of Scripture describe the preacher's responsibility to judge doctrine and to warn publicly of error and compromise. See Matthew 7:15; 16:6-12; 24:4,5; Romans 16:17; 1 Cor. 14:29; Galatians 1:8,9; Philippians 3:2; Colossians 2:8; 2 Thess. 3:14; 1 Timothy 4:1-6; 2 Timothy 2:16-18; Titus 1:9-11; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 8-11; Jude 3; Revelation 2:6,14,15. We can know, therefore, that whatever the Lord Jesus Christ was saying, He was NOT saying that it is wrong to mark and expose error and compromise of Christian leaders.
2. In truth, Christ was forbidding the disciples to exercise ecclesiastical control over all men who claim to follow Christ. He was warning of that natural impulse to control others. The Apostles had great authority to found the first churches and to complete the canon of Scripture, but they did not have unlimited authority. They were not set up as popes. They could not bear the sword against those who refused to follow them. They could not exercise physical force against those they considered enemies. The Roman Catholic Church ignored this warning and claimed authority over all Christians and attempted to forbid all men to serve Christ unless they served Christ after the Roman Catholic fashion. The man of God who exposes error is not trying to forbid other men from preaching the Gospel or from serving Christ. He is merely doing what the Word of God requires; he is measuring men and movements by the Scriptures. When I warn of certain dangers I see in the Promise Keepers movement, for example, I am not forbidding them to preach the Gospel. I can praise the Lord for every soul who is genuinely saved through Promise Keepers or any other movement. I do not try to stop them with force or governmental authority or human deception. The weapons of our warfare are not carnal. This does not mean, though, that I am going to ignore error which I believe will lead men away from the faith once given to the saints.
