Waymarks 41
Report of Open Air Preaching
April 10th NEW BRADWELL. This was the
first time for four months that I have been able to preach in the open air.
Health problems have prevented me through the winter. Today we stood on the
Green by the memorial just down from the Gospel Hall. There were three of us
from the assembly. We noted several people listening by open windows and doors.
An invitation was also given to come to the gospel meeting about to commence in
the hall.
Personally, I would be in favour of conducting all our
Gospel Meetings on the Green when the weather permits. Until we are prepared
for a more aggressive— and Biblical— approach, we shall continue to see empty
halls. By aggressive I mean that we go to the people rather than expect them to
come to us. There a very few examples in the New Testament where the sinner
sought the preacher. We must not think either that only “called” or “gifted”
people can engage in gospel work.
April 17th NEW BRADWELL. We had only ten
minutes before the rain stopped us. This was long enough to draw the attention
of the pub customers opposite, who came to the windows laughing and jeering. We
pray that the words of Scripture they heard will penetrate their darkened
souls. I remember only too well that once I dwelt in the kingdom of darkness.
Our gospel meetings remain empty apart from a handful
of believers.
By the Way
Read Acts chapter 8 and learn that ordinary men and
women, driven out of Jerusalem
under severe persecution; homes lost; employment lost; families broken up; went everywhere preaching the word (v.4).
They did it joyfully. They persevered in it. Men and women engaged in the work
of the gospel. Dear brother, sister,
when was the last time you gave out a tract? I recall a young woman standing
alone in the street giving out tracts to passers-by. This young woman was
married and had a family to care for (which she did, admirably). This lady is
now over 80 years old and she still stands, 45 years later, in the same place
giving out tracts. There must be many who were first brought under conviction
of sin through reading one of her tracts.
But if our halls remain empty, it is not because of
the decadence and godlessness of society at large but because of the indolence,
apathy, carnality and apostasy of the many pretending to be Christians who
occupy a few pews from time to time.
Te article More
on Repentance is available in leaflet form, titled Preach Repentance. Single copies may be obtained on request and
then you are free to photocopy it. The failure to preach repentance is a mark
of apostasy. 
AV Verses Vindicated
Matthew 18: 11
For the Son of man is come to
save that which was lost.
Modern Bible critics do not want the Son of man coming
to save that which was lost. The verse is therefore rejected in most modern
versions.
One version rejecting these words is the NIrV. My copy
was published in 1996 with introductions by Steve Chalke..
Under the heading “Verses not found in the earliest
Greek New Testaments” we find the above verse listed. How does Chalke come by
this information? What and where are these “earliest New Testaments”? Reference
to New Testament implies all the books of the New Testament bound together in
one. To which New Testaments does he refer? He doesn’t tell us.
As it happens the verse is found in numerous papyri
(these being older than any complete Greek N.T.), also it is found in the
majority the majority of cursive manuscripts. It is missing form very few
manuscripts.
Chalke wants us to believe the verse was added by some
illiterate believer very early on —and then astonishingly kept in almost
without exception by every subsequent copyist.
Chalke, has stated publicly that Catholicism is just
another form of Christian worship (- Cecil Andrews; “Take Heed” Ministries ;Oct.2004). Chalke in his book The Lost Message of Jesus, denies the
doctrine of Penal Substitution. That is, he denies that God sent His Son to be a propitiation for our sins.(1 John 4: 10).
Chalke has been described as a “Christian TV Star”.- Belfast Telegraph; 12th Nov 1994.
The New Cambridge Paragraph Bible
The
following review of the forthcoming NCPB has been published on the Amazon.com
website.
The standard editions of the
1611 King James Bible (or Authorised Version) currently available give, with little
variation, the text as established by the Oxford edition of 1769. They give the
reader, therefore, a seventeenth-century text in mid-eighteenth century clothes
- clothes that are neither original nor modern. In this new edition of the King
James Version the text has been collated with the translators' original work in
order to give the reader as closely as possible the exact text that the
translators decided on. It has also been given consistent modern spelling and
presentation in order to make it easier to read and study than standard
editions. The text is presented is paragraph form, with marginal notes and the
Bible is bound in real leather.
More on Repentance
There are at least 65 verses in the New Testament that
refer directly to repentance. (There are also 40+ in the O.T.)
That repentance should be preached was commanded by
the risen Lord And that repentance and
remission of sins should be preached in his name (Luke 24: 47). God
commands all men to repent, And the
times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to
repent. (Acts 17: 30).
Without repentance a soul will go down into the everlasting flames I tell you, Nay, but except ye repent ye
shall all likewise perish (Luke 13: 3)
So why will not my brethren preach it? Why do those
who regard themselves as evangelists and gospel preachers studiously avoid the
subject in their preaching? Why do our church secretaries (known as
corresponding brethren in some circles) “book” men to occupy our platforms
knowing they will brazenly defy the Lord’s command in the matter? The man who
invites such to preach is himself either deceived or deceiving. The preacher is
probably unconverted. No doubt there are some very powerful preachers who will
end up in hell.
The substitute gospel these men preach is this: You
are a sinner. Therefore you are unhappy. You need Christ. He died for you.
Believe in Him and you will be saved and therefore happy —and you’ll get to
heaven in the end.
This message is padded out with anecdotes. For example,
the poor old widowed mother has prayed so long for her wayward son. Eventually
he has some strange experience which makes him realize he needs to be saved.
And everything ends up all right. He gets baptized and joins the fellowship. He
may even give up some of his foul habits (but he’ll not give up his telly.
There is no preacher on the circuit who will tell him he ought to.)
We do not read of any preacher in the New Testament
using anecdotes. The gospel is powerful enough without them.
The gospel of Christ is not merely a matter of gaining
happiness. However a miserable unhappy Christian is a contradiction of terms. I
heard a F T Evangelist telling his audience that any unconverted present could
not be anything else but unhappy. Well, I had news for him. I was happy before
I got saved. (even happier afterwards).I was in my chosen career. I had money
in my pocket, a car, full health, lots of friends, and seeing the world at
tax-payers’ expense. What I lacked was peace with God,
though I did not know it until the moment I got saved.
These false teachers are preaching no more than a
social gospel, with maybe heaven thrown in for good measure.
They spend little time teaching that Jesus Christ is
the Son of God and that God was manifest in the flesh. I’ve heard none of these
teach that owning the full deity of Christ is essential for salvation. They
never mention the lake of fire nor give warnings of judgment on those who
disobey the gospel. They do not call for repentance.
Repentance is a change of mind regarding one’s
conduct, borne out of regret for it. It is a change of mind aimed Godward. Repentance toward God, and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20: 21).The
sinner, confronted by a holy and righteous sin-hating God, changes his mind
about his whole life-style and practices. He does so because he wishes no
longer to offend his God. That is, he wishes to be right with God. The preacher
who will not preach repentance denies the sinner this opportunity.
And they said,
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved (Acts 16: 31), is a popular verse with gospel
preachers. It may be because there is no mention of repentance neither in it
nor in the passage. It is thought by some that Paul refrained from mentioning
it to the jailor, therefore neither does the modern preacher have to refer to
it. The passage needs to be read carefully.
We notice here that the Lord’s servants did not seek
out the jailor. He came to them. Paul and Silas were immediately aware that
this man was troubled and under deep conviction. A proper understanding of the
passage and of God’s dealings with men leads us to believe that this man was
troubled about his soul. When he asked how to be saved it was in the
evangelical sense. There was nothing else that could trouble him because he
knew his prisoners were safe and the Roman authorities could hardly blame him
for the earthquake. He heard the words Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved but we are not told that
he instantly believed and was saved. The next thing that happened was they spake unto him the word of the
Lord. The word of the Lord
essentially includes the preaching of repentance which was vital in this
context because the jailor’s whole house was being preached to.
Fruits meet for repentance (Matt.3: 8) were very
quickly evident when the jailor took
them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he
and all his, straightway. (v.33). His life was changed. No longer was he
the rough jailor who only a few hours earlier had severely abused his
prisoners; now he is a gentle nurse towards them, personally tending their
wounds.
Further proof of his conversion, and of all his, is
seen in baptism —the answer of a good conscience toward God (1 Pet. 3: 21). It is not possible to have a
good conscience toward God if one has not first repented. Baptism is one the
fruits of repentance. It shows a willingness to obey the whole word of God and
it is a testimony that one is dead. Therefore
we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up
from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in
newness of life. (Rom.
6: 4). The person who continues to walk in the oldness of his past life puts a
lie to his whole confession. Other fruits meet for repentance and
characterizing the new life will be apparent. Zacchaeus demonstrated repentance
when he said Behold Lord, the half of my
goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken anything from any man by false
accusation, I restore him fourfold. (Luke 19: 8). Unwillingness to put
right the harm done to others by theft or slander or any other means shows that
repentance has not taken place. That person remains unconverted. Repentance
springs out of godly sorrow For godly
sorrow worketh repentance to salvation (2 Cor. 7: 10)
Repentance means goodbye to the old life, the world,
and sin.
Paul,
testifying before king Agrippa, said Whereupon, O king Agrippa, I
was not disobedient unto the
heavenly vision:
But showed first unto them of Damascus, and at Jerusalem,
and throughout all the coasts of Judea, and then
to the Gentiles, that they should
repent and turn to God, and do works meet for repentance. (Acts 26: 19, 20).
How many
preachers today warn their congregation that they should repent before turning
to God and that there should be practical evidence in the works produced that
repentance has taken place? This was the emphasis of Paul’s preaching.
The Lord
repeatedly urged men to repent. He began his public ministry with a call to
repentance. The kingdom of God
is at hand: repent ye and believe the gospel (Mk. 1: 15). He stated that His purpose in coming into
the world was to call sinners to repentance I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Mark 2: 17). He taught the universal need
for repentance in Luke 13. Concerning those who had been murdered by Pilate,
and their blood mingled with their sacrifices, the Lord made it plain they had
perished (gone to hell) because they had not repented before they died. He said
to those who spoke to Him I tell you
Nay, but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. (Luke 13: 3)
The Lord knew
the state of heart of all these men and there was no exception among them.
Preachers today
MUST take note of this. Souls will be in hell because all they heard was a “come
to Jesus” message and they were never warned to repent.
It should be
seen by now that almost all the gospel preaching heard today is corrupt,
deceitful, and desperately wicked. A young man who did call for repentance was
labeled a Judgment Preacher by his brethren. He was accused of driving folk
away (though souls were being saved under his preaching) and he was struck off
the circuit. This is the cost of faithfulness t o God’s word. It is small
wonder that every denomination, every Christian movement and system is in these
closing days marked by apostasy. A false gospel must lead to this. So, although
much of what is said may be true and scriptural, what is left unsaid robs the
gospel of its power.
More about TV
Neither shalt thou bring an abomination
into thine house, lest thou be a cursed thing like it: but thou shalt utterly
detest it, and thou shalt utterly abhor it; for it is a cursed thing.(Deu 7:26
KJV)
“This
verse deals with idols and images which Israel was to reject. Is there a
parallel? There sure is! The church is spiritual Israela and the
same mindset about idols and images is present today. Many fantasize about
wealth and idolize movie stars. Satan is cunning and many of us have fallen for
his TV snares. The thing to do when the Holy Spirit makes us aware of it, is
confess, repent, and deal with it. Remember this principle:
TELEVISION
PROGRAMS ARE DESIGNED WITH THE PURPOSE OF REPROGRAMMING YOUR MIND BY BREAKING
DOWN YOUR DEFENSES SO YOU WILL ACCEPT A LIE AS TRUTH.” – Dr. Ken Matto (to read all of this article, go to www.scionfzion.com )
You do not watch vile and
obscene programmes. That’s good, But you hand over money to the licensing
authority, made up very largely of evil people, so that they can pursue their
depravities. You watch the news, though you are shown only what they want you
to see. You watch documentaries, though all are tainted with evolution and
other false world views. You let your children watch Walt Disney films but
Disney promotes humanism in his cartoons.
Then you watch religious programmes and allow your mind to be darkened by
the errors of ecumenicalism and other false religious views.
TV is
one of the scourges of society. It is a shameful thing to have this idol in the
home. It is also a very shameful thing when church secretaries invite such
idolaters to preach. This mocks God, and the saints. The local assembly is all
the weaker when any of its members have this idol in the home.
a The church is NOT spiritual Israel. There
is no Scripture that teaches this. But God does not change His mind about
things He abominates. If Teraphim were
abominations in the O T era, they are just as much so in the N T era.
The Romish attack on Scripture
Rome has always been hostile to the word of
God. The reason being that the edicts of popery are considered to have more
weight than the words of Scripture. Rome
has historically regarded it dangerous to allow ordinary folk to read the
Scriptures in their own language. They will learn the falsity of Romanism and
read the fate of Rome,
the Mother of Harlots.
Rome’s hostility has been manifested in the
treatment of Wycliffe, spoken of as the Morning Star of the Reformation, who
produced an English Bible in the 14th century. His bones were dug up
and cast into the river. Later believers were burnt at the stake because they
believed the word of God. Tyndale’s bibles were seized and burned. He also went
to the stake.
From the 19th century Rome began a new tactic by following the philosophy
“if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”. So Jesuits infiltrated the Bible Societies, until today the Bible
Society which produces almost all the modern versions is well influenced by Rome. Cardinal Martini is
an editor of the United Bible Societies Greek New Testament upon which modern
translations are based. Martini is the R C Archbishop of Milan.
Rome’s hostility to the English Bible was revealed
in the Douay-Westminster version, 1958 A D. There we read,
Tyndale’s Protestant text was soon followed
by others, Coverdale’s Bible 1535, ‘Matthew’s’ Bible (J. Rogers) 1537, the
Great Bible 1539 (often know [sic] as
Cranmer’s because of his preface to the 2nd edition.), Taverner’s
1539, the Geneva (Whittingham) 1560, and the Bishop’s Bible’ [sic] 1568; to which should be added the
English translations of Erasmus’ Latin New Testament in 1540, and of Beza’a in
1576,the latter, by Tomson, son replacing the New Testament in the Geneva Bible
(from 1603). (The Authorized Version, 1611, of course, came after both Rheims and Douay.)
The above were the texts of which Dr Allen,
president of Douay College, wrote in 1578: ‘Our adversaries , however, have at
their fingertips from some heretical version all those passages of Scripture
which seem to make for them, and by a certain deceptive adaptation and
alteration of the sacred words produce the effect of appearing to say nothing
but what comes from the Bible. This evil might be remediedif we too had some
Catholic version of the Bible, for all the English versions are most corrupt….
If his Holiness shall judge it expedient, we ourselves will endeavour to have
the Bible faithfully, purely, and genuinely translated according to the edition
approved by the Church, for we have men most fitted for the work’.
The task was entrusted to Gregory Martin – The History of the Rheims-Douay version p.261
There are men occupying our platforms who show the
same hostility to the Authorized Bible as Rome
has done in the past, and who at the same time promote Romish alterations to
our Bible. It is not possible to have dialogue with these people and we deny
Christ by keeping fellowship with them.
This 1958 Westminster
edition carries an introductory message from Pope Pius XII. He wrote, “We
warmly welcome this new edition of a family Bible prepared for English speaking
Catholics.” This man has been labeled “Hitler’s Pope” explain
We give below a comparison of some of its readings
with the AV and the NIV. We note the
similarities between this and the NIV readings of which Rome approves.
Matt. 1: 25
AV And knew her not till she
had brought forth her firstborn son:
WV. “And he knew her not till she brought forth a
son;” First born omitted.
NIrV. “But he did not have sex with her until after
she gave birth to a son”. In this
wretched perversion not only is the Romish lie of the perpetual virginity of
Mary maintained but the discrete language of the AV is replaced with gutter
phraseology.
Luke 14: 5
AV. Which of you shall have
an ass or an ox fallen into a pit….
WV. “Which of you, if his son or his ox fall into a
well…”
NIrV. “Suppose one of you has a child or an ox that
falls into a well…”
Griesbach, Greek scholar (?) and notorious Bible hater
appears among the first (Critical Greek
and English Testament; Bagster; undated 19th C.) to produce a Greek New Testament (1805 AD)
reading uios (son) in place of onos (ass)
John 1: 18
AV. No man hath seen God at
any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath
declared him.
WV. “God no man hath seen at any time; God only-begotten,
whom is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
NIrV. “No-one has ever seen God. But God the One and
Only, is at the Father’s side. And he has shown us what God is like.”
J. Moorman comments: “This is the classic Gnostic
perversion with its doctrine of ‘intermediary gods.’ It is the trademark of
corruption in the early Egyptiian manuscripts which unfortunately spread to
some others.” (Early Manuscripts and the
Authorized Version; BFT)
John 3: 13
AV. And no man hath ascended
up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.
WV. “No one hath gone up into heaven but he who hath
come down from heaven, the S on of Man.”
NIrV. “No-one has ever gone into heaven except the One
who came from heaven. He is the Son of Man.”
The omnipresence of the Son is denied by omitting the
final phrase.
Col. 1: 14
AV. In whom we have
redemption through his blood, even the
forgiveness of sins.
WV. “In whom we have redemption,”
NIrV. “Because
of what the Son has done, we have been set free. Because of him, all our sins
have been forgiven”.
through his blood is omitted in most modern versions. This
omission prevents forgiveness of sins.
Col. 2:11
AV. In whom also ye are
circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body
of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ.
WV. “In him again it is that ye were circumcised with
a circumcision not made with hands, the stripping off of your fleshly body.”
NIrV. “When you received Christ, you were also
circumcised by putting away your sinful nature. Human hands didn’t circumcise
you. Christ did.”
We note that Scofield follows the Romish text, calling
for the omission of “the sins of” in his notes. The NIrV goes even further,
claiming an end to our sinful nature so teaching sinless perfection – a nature
that has nothing in it that can respond to sin. So we are all gods.
1 Tim. 3: 16
AV. God was manifest in the
flesh
WV. “Who was manifested in flesh.”
NIrV. “Jesus appeared in a body.”
WV and NIrV both
deny the Lord’s deity.
2 Tim. 3: 16
AV. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God.
WV.”Every scripture is inspired of God.”
NIrV. “God has breathed life into all Scripture.” The NIrV teaches here that Scripture first
existed without life.
Hebrews 1: 3
AV. …When he had by himself
purged our sins…
WV. “Having made a cleansing from sin.” By removing “our”, the implication is the
cleansing was from His own sin. It is a highly blasphemous reading.
NIRV. “He provided the way for people to be made pure from sin.” This
also is a denial of Christ’s sacrificial death. “The way” might be by
ritualistic observances or self-effort. It was not a way at all. It was by
Himself. “People” denies any personal application. It was our sins.
James 2: 20
But wilt thou know, O vain
man, that faith without works is dead?
WV. “Faith without works is idle.”
So the vain man refuses to admit to his dead ( therefore non-existent)
faith .
NIrV. “You foolish person! Do you want proof that faith without good
works is useless?” Both these
perversions teach that you can have faith and therefore be right with God
without the slightest evidence of it in one’s life.
James 5: 16
Confess your faults one to another,
WV. “Confess ye therefore yours sins to one another.” The change from
faults to sins legitimizes the confessional box, and opens the way for
lasciviousness. Lustful appetites are whetted by learning about the sins of
others.
The AV word faults translates paraptoma,
which can mean a lapse or unintentional error. The common verb for sin is hamartano. This is the word that appears
in v.15, if he have committed sins. These
two words are NOT synonyms. Wilful sin is dealt with in v.15, faults are dealt
with in v.16. Confusing these two issues is a serious error. Wilful
mistranslation is a very serious sin.
NIrV “So admit to one another
that you have sinned.” These folk again
follow the Romish lie.
1 Peter 2: 2
AV. As newborn babes, desire
the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby.
WV. “Yearn for uncontaminated spiritual milk, that thereon ye may grow
unto salvation.” Rome claims that she alone provides
uncontaminated spiritual milk so the word is removed. Rome still hates God’s Word.
J Moorman adds, “A classic salvation by works alteration which despite
its uncial and versional support, cannot possibly be right. The NIV/NASV
translators did not translate literally here!!”
Separation: Outside the Camp
Let
us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach. (Heb. 13: 13)
We do not find Christ within the camp. He suffered
without the gate. The camp men rejected Him so He was crucified outside the
city walls. The camp men were the religious men of the day. They represented
what Paul called the Jews’ religion, a system of Judaism disowned by God.
Theirs was an orthodox dead religion of ritualism and priestcraft which the
Judaisers attempted to inflict upon the newly founded churches of Christian
believers. They wanted to make it a form of Judaeo-Christianity.
This camp remains today. It is visible Christendom, a
mixture of rituals, observances, creeds, and now embracing Neo-evangelicanism. Believers
need to separate from their practices, and more. To be outside the camp will
mean leaving the camp folk where they are and going forth, outside of it all.
It cannot be a matter of trying to influence them for good. Corpses do not
respond to any kind of help. Those who stay in the camp are those who will not
bear the reproach of Christ.
No comments:
Post a Comment