Waymarks Contender
“Let us walk by
the same rule” Phil. 3: 16
Waymarks 57
Report of Open Air Preaching
March 3rd DUNSTABLE. Ashton Square. I like preaching here. It
is one mile from where I was born.
A group of Asian students paused right next to me as I
preached. It is a common meeting place but while they waited for their friends
to catch up, one began to take a little interest in the preaching. He was
standing less than two metres from me. He commented that I had some
“interesting” things to say, so I offered him a gospel of John. He was pleased
to accept it so I offered gospels to the
others without a refusal. I think they
were all Muslim.
March 18th LUTON.
T.C. It is a warm day and several people are sitting near me. I preached for
ten minutes and then a lady wanted to talk to me. She told me she had been
saved for three years and attended Luton
Central Baptist
Church*. Bunyan is alleged to have preached here, in
the old building. But things are somewhat different now and this lady lamented
the total lack of interest in spiritual things. There is no Prayer Meeting and
no Bible Study. There is plenty of entertainment. The place is apostate. Sadly I could not
advise her of any sound church in Luton and
district.
As the lady left a group of youths arrived, a mixture of
Asian and white. They listened for a few moments without interrupting so I
offered them each a Gospel booklet. One of them accepted.
Peter arrived and wanted to talk but I wanted to preach so I
told him this. He asked me, sadly, if I wanted him to go away. I had not the
heart to send him off, so we talked and he asked me all the same questions as
before. Maybe some of the answers will stick. I do believe this poor man has a
simple faith.
He made off eventually, pushing his laden trolley of worldly
possessions. He has a council flat but neighbours are harassing him so he often
sleeps rough.
*The beliefs of Luton Central
Baptist Church
are stated on their website to include:
- There is one God who reveals Himself in three ways, Father, Son and the Holy Spirit
- This God formed the earth and became a man in Jesus.
This church shows itself to be Unitarian. Their Father, Son and Holy Spirit God is not
the God of Scripture which teaches that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are
persons comprising the Godhead. (1 John :7,8
Matt. 28: 19)
If God is thought only to have formed and not created the
earth, then Creation is denied also.
The “three-way” god who became a man in Jesus has nothing to
do with Scripture. It is the old heresy of a man called Jesus becoming indwelt
by some divine force.
March 27th LUTON.
T.C. This is Friday and the town seems empty of its Friday Muslims.
My preaching attracted some shouted obscenities as it often
does. But then Emmanuel arrived. He is an elderly Indian; brought up in India in an
Anglican community. His brother, he tells me, is a Cof E Bishop. So the two of
us had a Bible Study there on the pavement. We ranged through the Death,
Burial, and Resurrection of Christ. He had a lot of questions but was quite
pleased with my answers. Then we went on to the Second Coming and the Great
White Throne. I asked him if he were an
A-millennialist and had to explain the term to him. He replied that if the
Bible spoke of a thousand years he saw
no ground for disbelieving it. We read the verses together, there in the
street.
Emmanuel told me he preferred to read his Urdu Bible as he
had a little difficulty with the English. When he read an English bible he
would read a modern version. He was astonished to learn that modern versions
come from a polluted source so we had to give a little instruction in this
also. I warned him to check the pedigree of his Urdu Bible while he was at it.
This one-to-one Bible class and the gospel preaching made me
late home......praise the Lord.
April 1st LUTON T. C.
For the first time I can recall, I arrived here an hour earlier. There were
shop and office workers on their lunch breaks and the street was also far
noisier than usual. A lady had bought me a cream bun, which I thought was very
kind of her. I asked her if she were a believer and she replied that she was
afraid so. I rebuked her (gently) for this and told her to be bold in her
witness. She attends a local Pentecostal
Church.
Then a man wanted to shake my hand. He was on business from Northern Ireland
and was delighted to learn there are street preachers in England as well
as N.I. He told me his home church was
the Baptist church in Lisburn. He
assured me he knew a lot of the Brethren.
Then back to preaching. I’m told we are losing our freedom
of speech but once again the police totally ignored me.
April 21st DUNSTABLE
Ashton Square. At least three people listened to
the whole 20 minute gospel this afternoon. A number of persons passed by of
course. A man opened the window of his first floor office overlooking the
square and for most of the time stood by his window. Down below, out of his
view, two young women heckled and shouted at me. This always encourages me to
greater fervency in my preaching.
But how we long to preach of conversions. I do not believe
my preaching is significantly different from the preaching of Whitefield,
either in power or content. He saw many souls saved but in this day we see so
little. Then, men were aware of the power of God operating. Today we have a
godless society that cares for nothing but self seeking.
April 22nd LUTON
T.C. Two women representing an Eastern
cult were selling their wares at the place where I wished to preach. I suspect
they were Hare Krishna agents. I decided I would go in and preach where I
always preached and hope they would move away. They did not move away, which
meant they listened to a full half hour of gospel preaching. They heard of the
One True and Living God Who sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world. They
heard of Jesus Christ, God manifest in the flesh and listened to the proof of
this in His life here. They heard that He gave Himself as a ransom for ALL.
April 28th DUNSTABLE Ashton Square. About a dozen
people were sitting around the square when I arrived. Less than five minutes
into my preaching, there were only two people remaining. The others
simultaneously remembered they had urgent business to attend to. What is it in
the gospel that so offends men and women
that they cannot bear even to listen to it? I think it is primarily a sense of guilt. So
this preacher works on it with the intention that conviction of sin might be
produced, followed by repentance and conversion. This is the ONLY method, based
on Scripture, that will work.
Satan has his sweet alternatives of course, so if a soul
should ever feel his need of a Saviour he will be seduced by modern
evangelicalism. There will be nothing to give up. No cost of discipleship.
Enjoy yourself while you continue to serve Mammon and at the same time
pretending you serve God.
AV Verses Vindicated
Genesis 1: 6
And God said, Let there be a firmament (raqiya)
in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the
waters....” NRSV
God said, “Let there be a dome in the middle of the
water;.... “ CJB (Complete Jewish bible)
And God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the
waters....” ESV
Strong defines raqiya as “properly an expanse ,that
is, the firmament or (apparently
) visible arch of the sky.”
A false conclusion appears to be drawn that raqiya may
be translated “dome”. For this one would
have to believe in a flat earth. A dome is hemispherical, or bowl
shaped. God called the firmament Heaven (shameh).
Raqiya can
have the sense of beating out precious metals with stretching involved in the
action. God has stretched out the heaven
over this whole sphere, in one great expanse.
The English translation, “firmament” suggests a
strengthening, something resting on the floor of the earth and supporting the
vault of the sky.
There is another reason why “dome” is an unsatisfactory
translation. The tent of Numbers 25: 8 is the qubbah, and
this is the only place in Scripture where the word is used. It means “a domed
pavilion” and was a temple
of Baalpeor where
fornication was practised in the name of this religion.
False religion today has its domed edifices.
1 Corinthians 7:27,28
Art thou bound unto a wife? seek not to be loosed. Art
thou loosed from a wife? seek not a wife. But and if thou marry, thou hast not
sinned.
A commentator informs us,
It is often asserted that the Bible never directly
sanctions remarriage. This is not true. 1 Corinthians 7:27,28 (NKJV correctly) says: ‘Are you loosed
(i.e. divorced) from a wife? Do not seek a wife’. But it then adds: ‘but even
if you do marry, you have not sinned’.
—Evangelical
Times; July 2000, p14.
My copy of the NKJV doesn’t mention being divorced. By
placing (i.e. divorced) within the apostrophes one concludes that it is to be
regarded as part of the text. The Evangelical Times writer’s desire to
make adultery scriptural compels him to add his own interpretations to the text
of Scripture.
And why is the NKJV correct here, the inference being that
other versions are incorrect? In this instance it reads quite similar to the
AV. So why the need to change?
Christ stated whosoever putteth away his wife, and
marrieth another, commiteth adultery,
and whosoever marrieth her that is put away from her husband committeth
adultery. Luke 16:18.
Some will say that this must be qualified by Mat.19:9,
where fornication is given as the ground for divorce.
Matthew must be understood in its Jewish setting, where we
note the Lord’s words were in answer to Phariseeical tempting in front of the
multitude. In Luke the words were addressed to the disciples, and they were not
told of any let-out clauses for divorce. The Lord said to them quite plainly
that the remarried person is a practicing adulterer. Full stop! We are quite
sure this is how the disciples must have understood it
Legge’s article in the Evangelical Times is
unsound. Not only can he not read the word of Scripture without adding to it,
he completely misunderstands the teaching of the passage.
Divorce and remarriage are not discussed in 1 Cor. 7,
neither anywhere else in the NT for that matter. The point being made is this.
What is good for the present distress, i.e., the circumstances, persecutions
and distresses of Christian life in the NT era? What state is it best for a man
to be in? (v26). Paul had just been saying
that one should stay put in one’s present calling, and now he applies this to
marriage.
So our two verses (27 & 28) deal with two men; One has
a wife, the other has not a wife. To the first he says do not seek to be free
of her (divorce is NOT mentioned) because she isn’t saved and is threatening to
leave him (v15).
To the other man who is not married (‘loosed’ does not
imply that he once had a wife. It means he is free from marriage bonds), he
says, under the present stresses, stay as you are, and thereby avoid all the
problems that marriage will incur. Nevertheless, Paul says to this unmarried
man, if you do marry you are not committing any sin.
Colossians 2: 9
For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the godhead (
theotes) bodily.
“For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily.”
NRSV, ESV
Godhead is mentioned three times in the AV Bible, theios in
Acts 17: 29, theiotes (derived from theios) in Romans 1:20 and theotes in Colossians 2: 9. It is missing
from modern versions.
The Godhead is a term applying solely the Triune God and all
that consists in the Godhead is found equally and completely in the person of
Christ Jesus the Lord
The word deity does not appear in the AV Bible. It is a
loose term for “divine being” or
“supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some
aspect of life or who is the personification of a force” —Webster’s Revised unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
The undiscerning might think that little meaning is lost in
the two modern versions quoted but they are false. The god of Modern Versionism
is not the True and Living God of the Holy Bible.
By The Way....
This issue sees a change of name. The first seven issues
were simply headed “Newsletter”, beginning in August 1993, until I thought of a suitable name, and then
we recommenced numbering them. This issue and subsequent issues are to be
called The Waymarks Contender. Strictly it is issue number 57+7.
We are aware that Waymarks has caused some resentment
among certain brethren. We point out that contending for the faith is the
responsibility of every believer. I am NOT presenting my version of the faith.
A major contention is that of modern versionism. This is a
serious enemy of faith and is the root cause of the growing apostasy amongst
us. We must vigorously oppose those who tell us from the platform that our
Bible is defective in many places. These false Brethren teachers need to be
recognised and exposed.
We need to stand against the growing Calvinism being taught
among us.
If certain young people go “night-clubbing” after their assembly meeting and the elders of that
assembly take no notice, are we to pretend not to notice?
Must we tolerate disorder because some of our FTW’s get
upset if we comment on it?
There is one teacher among us who actually disputes the
miracle recorded in Joshua 6. The sun stood still. He said, “my personal view is there were
clouds and a hailstorm.” He made the statement publicly and there was a
reaction to his words. One young man, unconverted and attending the conference
with his parents, is reported to have commented, “so the Bible is wrong!”
His message can be heard at <http://www.hebrongospelhall.org/sermons/easter-conference-recordings-47/easter-conference-2009-71.html>
The “hailstorm” fable is known. It is the product of
rationalism and infidelity. The preacher on this occasion is also known to hold
to the “Gap Theory”, supports the remarriage of divorced believers, and a few
other fables.
I think you have been unfair in this [no. 56, Spring
2009] edition. Firstly, the Churches Together website does not say that either Spencer Bridge or Osborne Road are members of CTN: they
have published a list of all the churches in Northampton and I suspect that neither
assembly has any control over it. You have at least implied that they are
members of CTN. Will you be correcting this impression in the next edition?
Secondly, I think that you are also unfair in your
comments on the preaching brother who commented on converts and disciples. You
know full well that he was not preaching against conversion but was making the
point that genuine conversion is evidenced in a life of discipleship. He
clearly meant the very opposite of what you are saying! It is not right of you
to use this misunderstanding to fuel your criticism of assemblies. Some of what
you say is, I believe, nothing short of defamatory and is not worthy.
Your defence of the AV, which I applaud as you know, is
diminished in the minds of your readers by your exaggerated and unfair comments
on others.
I write, as you would know, as a friend and brother and
in the spirit of Colossians 3:16 et al.
In Him,
—
Dear brother —,
. I am grateful for your email and accept it as from a
friend and a brother. Indeed, I have always appreciated your public ministry
and personal fellowship.
I sent you a private reply but I think you are not alone in
what you expressed in your email so I add a few further comments and preserve
your anonymity.
The secretary of Churches Together, Northampton, Ted Hales, assured me
personally that no names are added to the CTN website without the authority of
the governing body. The list of churches is not exhaustive for the area and had
you inspected it this would have been apparent to you. Alterations may be made
to the list quite easily by email.
The comment on the preacher who said that God is not looking
for converts was reported to me by a correspondent whose integrity I respect
100%. He was disturbed by what he heard and I don’t think he was alone in this.
You imply that we must interpret what men say from the
platform. Do they not always say what they mean?
You accuse me of using “this misunderstanding to fuel [my]
criticism of assemblies. Dear brother, I
don’t need misunderstandings! There is enough plainly understood for one to
comment on. I am not concerned with private or personal matters. Neither am I
concerned over matters which brethren are dealing with. There are issues which
concern us all that need to be dealt with.
You regard me as a mischievous troublemaker. I write to
alert my brethren to the falsities that are being practiced around us and to
enable them to withdraw. You have not refuted one single fact that I have
presented.
You tell me that my defence of the AV is diminished by my
exaggerated and unfair comments on others. You will know by now, I trust, that
my comments are not exaggerated and unfair But by attempting to put the frighteners
on me you treat my readers as being
undiscerning. The majority of my readers do not need me to persuade them
concerning the integrity of the Authorized Version of Holy Scripture. They have
long since believed it and are quite capable of making up their own minds
concerning what they read.
You may be interested to know my readership has increased
since the last issue. Albeit one man did email me to cancel his subscription
and as far as I know he is not in assembly fellowship. Indeed, a large part of
my readership is not in assembly
fellowship.
your brother in Christ,
Ron
Tell it not
Hush it up. Keep you mouth shut. Brush it under the
carpet.
Tell it not in Gath,
publish it not in the streets of Askelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines
rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 2
Sam.1: 20
It was the death of Saul that was not to be reported in Gath, one of the five
chief cities of the Philistines. Neither must it be reported in Askelon,
another of the five cities.
The fall of the Lord’s anointed would give much cause for
rejoicing among the enemies of Israel.
Saul did much that was wrong in his life and had sought to kill David through
whom Christ would come. But he was the Lord’s anointed so David lamented his
death and confessed how are the
mighty fallen.
It was a tragic end indeed and not a matter to be spoken of
before the ungodly.
God’s people would need to know of Saul’s death, for David
must take the throne. They would need reminders of Saul’s treachery. Ps. 52: 1
tells us: ....A psalm of David, when Doeg the Edomite came and told
Saul, and said unto him, David is come to the house of Ahimelech. Why boastest
thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually.
When a group or circle of churches collude with each other
to suppress news of disorder in their midst, cultism is established.
“Whistle-blowers” are to be regarded as enemies of God, even when they are doing
no more than drawing attention to a wrong so that it might be put right. When
the “whistle-blower” himself is ostracized,or threatened, wrong is allowed to
continue and it may be assumed this is the preferred way.
Waymarks has sought to expose disorder among
assemblies not for opportunity to crow over it but that recovery might take
place. We therefore tell it forth, but not in Gath. We look not for the support of the
ungodly. Neither is Waymarks published on the streets of Askelon. We do not want to hear the cheers and sneers
of Philistinish women.
We tell our brethren that an
assembly or certain men commit treachery in their handling of Scripture.
Continuing with them is participation in their wickedness.
We tell our brethren of a church in cahoots with the
whoredom of Christendom when they allow women preachers in. Or worse; when
divorced and remarried people are given fellowship. And now Ecumenism rears its
ugly head among us.
Paul named names. John named churches where disorder had
entered and had been tolerated. This is the disciple whom Jesus loved!
The following comments are from D Cloud’s Friday Church
News Notes; April 24, 20009, vol.10 Issue 17. They apply equally well in my
circle of fellowship. I have therefore modified it within the square brackets.
If ever there was a time to
sound forth godly warnings it is today, yet there is a growing resistance to
this within the [ “Brethren”] movement. There is a neglect of clear warning
about issues. Some say that it is O.K. to warn about such things as liberalism
and charismaticism and ecumenism, things “out there,” but we should not
criticize fellow [brethren], but where does the Bible say that [brethren]
preachers are above reproof? Many would like to place such things as music and
dress standards and the Bible version issue into a “peripheral” category that
is off limits for warnings. The [“Brethren”] movement is a hodge-podge that
envelopes much error. Within this movement there is Calvinism, Ruckmanism,
modern textual criticism, Purpose Drivenism, Christian rockism, Quick
Prayerism, and many other errors. The fact is that we need to pull weeds and
sow seed, not one or the other, but both, and that is what we are doing. We are
pulling weeds through our warning ministry and sowing seed through our
missionary church planting ministry, and we intend to continue doing both by
God’s grace.
For reasons outlined above, Waymarks now changes its
name to The Waymarks Contender. this is the second change in its
history. The first edition, in August 1993, was simply called Newsletter and
continued for seven issues until a suitanle name was chosen. Numbering then
started afresh.
There are those who object to any but an elite company of
teachers contending for the truth. We reply with a quote we gave several years
ago to one who objected to his Calvinistic views being challenged.
I quote the words of a 19th
century writer, F W Grant:
[Satan] says to one person, be humble,
don’t imagine that your opinion is better than anyone else’s, and to another,
be charitable: good men differ about these things, and to another, don’t
contend for this: you will make enemies, you will lose your friends, and to
another, you are not learned: don’t occupy yourself with what requires a
theologian to decide, ...and to another, surely there are mistakes in the
Bible: you do not mean to contend for verbal inspiration?
The
easy-going apathy of Christians is amazing, that will allow their best
blessings to be stolen from under their eyes.—
Taken from the STEM CD Rom;
various\DIVMOV.DOC
We therefore contend with the
authors of the Church Street Gospel Hall, Coventry,
for a very misleading entry. On this website we read under “What we believe”, :-
The unity of
the Godhead and
the divine co-equality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; the sovereignty of God in
creation, providence, and redemption.
With this we heartily agree. But
then at bottom of the article we find “Explanations of some difficult words”
and listed is
Godhead: The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit as
the three personalities of God. The Trinity.
The personality of a person is the visible aspect of his character. Those suffering from Schizophrenia are
described as Bipolar and this is witnessed in their split personality.
The Church Street GH website describes God as Tripolar! One Person;
three personalities. This is UNITARIANISM.
Now we hope these folk do not really mean this, but a large part of
Christendom is Unitarian. A Unitarian was on the committee of the Revised
Version production.
Are they at Coventry
fearful of referring to the three PERSONS of the Godhead? They will need to
make themselves clear. Their doctrinal statement appears very similar to that
recorded by the Luton
Central Baptist
Church, mentioned above
in the Open Air Report.
We are not surprised to read this on their website. We read in the same
place their belief that God is incompetent to preserve His own word:-
“as originally
given” The Bible was perfect when it came from God. As we do not now have the
original manuscripts, copying errors have crept in. These variations do not affect
any basic teaching.
The statement that these variations
do not affect any basic teaching is a lie. Enough evidence has been shown over
the last 100 years to show it to be so. There is no excuse for such ignorance.
One “basic teaching” affected is the
doctrine of the Trinity. There are numerous verses which testify to the persons
of the Godhead; Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The strongest passage is found in 1
John 5: 7,8 For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father,
the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. And there are three that
bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the: water, and the blood and these
three agree in one.
The words underlined are missing
from modern bibles. The evidence for their retention is considerable.
When men rely on perverted bibles,
their theology will inevitably be defective.
What They Tell You -About the Bible
“That the sixty-six books of the Holy Scriptures are the infallible word of God; that they are the divine and complete revelation of God; that they are verbally inspired by God, and that they are the supreme and final authority of faith and practice.” — Mill Lane Chapel. website.What they do not tell you - They believe this statement refers to nothing that has existed on earth for the about the last 2000 years. They believe verbal inspiration applies only to the original manuscripts which they have never seen.
They do not believe that any version of the Holy Scriptures is the final authority of faith and practice today. Such authority rests with the “Scholars and Chief Brethren.”
Laodicean days are here again. —They never went away!
The church that will not accept criticism is a doomed
church. Thus we read in Revelation 2: 4, I have somewhat against thee.
Do not answer that this is the Lord speaking and nobody else
may offer criticism or you will never hear His voice, for today he speaks
through the written word of Scripture brought by His servants.
There was a church that appeared to lack nothing. It was
rich, though not in spiritual things. It had plenty of everything but lacked
spiritual intelligence. It was lukewarm! Tepid. It was Laodicea.
If one attended its showcase rallies, one might be
impressed. There was good oratory from the platform. The Young People were in
good attendance waiting for the ensuing Barbecue. Crowds would come from afar
to worship at their shrine.
They did not know their true condition. They thought they
were great. They were unaware of their poverty. It could be noticed by any
discerning soul visiting their prayer meeting. Where were Young People now? And
why the barrenness of the few mumbled prayers?
Thou....knowest not that thou art....naked. They knew not because they were proud of
their garments.
Their garment of salvation was a threadbare “coming to
Jesus” when they were tots. This garment was tightly wrapped around them, but
invisible to the little boy in the congeregation. They had another garment —a
perverted bible. It was believed by them to be a true garment because they had
been sold it by their erudite leaders.
But they were ready to be spued out. When it happened they
did not even notice. The doors remained open and the fun continued just as
before.
But a few members became chastened. They heard through all
the hub-bub a knocking at the door. It was the Master’s voice. Individually they bade him enter, and there,
amongst the great throng, two or three were met together in His name.
Beware lest you abuse the little boy who saw the king’s
nakedness.
Letter to John from Diotrophes (updated mar. 09)
Dear John,
In order to preserve the integrity of the assembly we drew
up a list of approved preachers, hereafter
described as Circuitmen. Gaius tried to overthrow this divine order, and
worse; when I warned him that his legal hardline preachers were not even to be
entertained privately, this man went straight ahead and did just that. Therefore we had to put
him away. Despite your insinuations I did not act unilaterally in this. You
must understand that when I explained his wrongdoings to the assembly, they
were all behind me.
Now we find that you, John, support him. You, the very one
who has written so much about love and keeping His commandments, set yourself
against us in open defiance. You seem to know so little about love. Why, it is reported that when you met our
noble Cerinthus in the public baths (whatever were you doing there, John?) you
raced out babbling about God’s judgment about to fall on the place. Why didn’t
you show Cerinthus a little love? If you think him to be misguided why didn’t
you just seek to help him?
You accuse me of desiring the pre-eminence! Let’s face it;
You oppose divinely instituted leadership.
Presumably it is jealousy on your part that I have a great
following while you do not. But you must appreciate that my position as Chief
Elder is approved of our sovereign God.
How else could I hold office? It is this that makes your attitude so dangerous;
you oppose the recognition of divinely appointed overseers such as myself. You
know very well that whatever I do it is ratified in heaven.
If I yielded to the likes of Gaius we would have all the
legal men flooding back and we would no longer be able to function as a Commnunity Church. Folk would be driven away. Our
Circuitmen know how to draw crowds. They are specially good with the young
people and our Saturday Fun-nights are renowned through the province. The
different cultures these people have brought with them are a blessing to all of
us.
What impact have you had, John? You got yourself locked up
on Patmos because you didn’t know how to keep
your mouth shut. You are known as an agitator and troublemaker. Now you are
free again, and still causing trouble.
We heard about your scribblings while on Patmos.
Some of our young people alas have been
troubled by them. So you know the future! You became mentally deranged
and call your hallucinations a Revelation. Really, John! You seem to have it in for others besides
myself. I’ve read between the lines and can see your resentment of the Holy
Catholic Church. You call her Babylon.
Well, let me tell you that we work very well with our brethren in ALL
denominations. What vile language you use of her; The Mother of Harlots! The
Great Whore! Anyway, as your little work seems to have impressed one or two, we
have adjusted it here and there to make it saleable. You are aware that we have
made a lot of Paul’s writings more palatable by changing a few words here and
there. Of course we have the right to make changes. Who was Paul anyway? Some
of our best scholars are members of the Holy Babylonic
Church.
You accuse me of “prating”. Have you discussed anything with
me personally? No! It’s all second-hand. You listen to mere gossip, John, and
you should be ashamed. So you make wild accusations against me. Don’t you
remember the admonition, Judge not? You seem to know all about my motives.
And now Gaius is circulating your wretched letter, in which
my good name will be dragged through the mud for evermore. Why do you have to
“name names”? Do you get some kind of kick out of it? Paul was just the same I
recall.
You see why we cannot
have you visiting us, don’t you John.? Personally I think you are not saved.
You set a very bad example to Gaius. We think he went off the rails because he
listened to you. If you come to our Church you will be seen off with very short
shrift.
There is another matter that must be dealt with. You are
guilty of slating various churches in your scribblings. In this you really have
gone over the top.
You claim that some of the dear brethren at Pergamum (You ignorantly call it Pergamos)
are false teachers, labelling them as Nicolaitans. Then at Thyatira, they are blessed with the
teaching of Jezebel and you accuse her of seducing the brethren into committing
fornication. How dare you, John, make wicked threats against her! What Jezebel
teaches and practices are quite within normal Christian conduct. You\must move
with the times, John.
You accuse the Laodicean Brethren of being half hearted.
John, have you ever been to Laodicea?
Do you not know anything of the fine work going on there? The YP meetings are
thriving. They have talks given by Local Authority leaders so they know how to
behave properly. These people are rich, John. Can’t you see it?
We think you have a personality disorder, John, just like Paul.
He’s another ranter.
If you don’t tone it down a bit, you’ll most likely end up
being boiled alive in oil!
Diotrophes
(Presiding Elder and Chief Brother, Beacon Assembly)
Foundations of the Faith
Paul wrote,
According to the grace given unto me, as a wise
masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation... For other foundation can no man
lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 1 Cor. 3: 10,11.
The household of God....built upon the foundation of the
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.
Eph. 2: 20.
The apostles did not lay down Christ. The ground work was
the laying down of Scripture, of which Christ is central.
Without the scriptures, we can never know Christ. We gather
to Scripture. We are not called to gather to a name. The carnality of this is
shown up in 1 Cor. 1: 12, Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am
of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
Those whose boast is to be gathered to the name of the Lord
Jesus, declare themselves to be a sect.
Scripture has to be a centre of gathering, but those who
boast of gathering to the name largely reject the basis of Scripture which is
its verbal inspiration. They claim inspiration only for the originals, which
they have never seen. They therefore deny the existence of any Scripture and
are free to believe anything they wish.
If gathering to the name were the all important issue (it is
an Exclusive Brethren invention) we might expect to read in Acts 2: 42, “They continued stedfastly in the gathering
to the name....” . We read rather, the prime consideration was gathering to the
apostle’s doctrine. This is preserved for us in Scripture. We are not called to
gather to the Ministering Brethren’s interpretation of the apostle’s doctrine.
Gathering to the name allows a different Jesus for each
according to their private views. For some it means a Jesus with a fallen
nature. For others, a Jesus who did not die for all. For yet others, a Jesus
who will not meet his own in the air.
WILL OUR SONS DEFEND THE FAITH?
By the power of Truth
unchanging
Working in the lives
of men,
God did raise a godly
movement
From a humble little
band.
By His grace he set a
fire
Burning well within
their hearts,
To dispel the clouds
of darkness
Which had come unto
these parts.
Through the years of
change and challenge
Came the testings not
a few
When their
faithfulness was threatened,
When they needed to
be true!
But the Truth which
God had given
They did steadfastly
defend
'Gainst the waves of
false religion
Which assailed on
every hand.
Now the call has come
upon them
To prepare the way
ahead.
As to Moses came the
wisdom
To train Joshua as
the head.
Who will keep the
fires burning
When their strength
has ebbed away?
Who will bear this
awesome burden
In this great, momentous
day?
Let the ones whom God
has chosen
Be resolved to take
the lead,
With their goal: to
keep on doing
What their
predecessors did!
Lord most gracious,
most abundant,
Grant to us this
prayer, we plead,
Grant us sons who
will be faithful,
Grant us sons to meet
the need!
C. S.
taken from Will Our Sons Defend the Faith?; D J
Ebert III; Christian Training and Missionary Fellowship; 3rd Ed.
1994
from M Platt:
We would like to
make it clear;
- We have no association with Churches Together and have not made any request to be listed on their website. Quite the reverse but our requests to be removed have been ignored to date.
- We are not ‘linked’ in any way with Social Services and certainly do not promote a ‘social Gospel’. The ‘certificates’ which you refer to are perhaps our child protection policy statement regarding children in our care for children’s meetings and Sunday School.
Our contributors to WordLive this week: (Wordlive is a part of Scripture Union. New Frontiers is “Emerging Church”, liberal and apostate. Their claim is to be “on a mission” to Establish the kingdom of God on earth by restoring the churches.)
Phil Andrews is Editor of the WordLive reflect stream and Closer to God. He likes poetry, comedy, worship, Gaudi’s architecture and quiet coastal paths. He is married to the lovely Nicola, who is a secondary school Head of Music. They are part of the core team of a Newfrontiers church in the south of Milton Keynes.
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