The Independent Baptist:

"Plains Baptist Challenger"

October 2003

Contemporary Worship - By E. L. Bynum

Rejected Revelation - By Norman H. Wells

No Compromise - By C. H. Spurgeon

The trend of Contemporary Worship moves on in the churches like a relentless flood. While the saints of God sleep, the enemy is sowing his poison tares among the churches. Wolves in sheep clothing are moving into the flock, and this is devastating the saints and destroying the future of many churches.

Where is all this coming from? Many Bible Colleges and Seminaries are open and even promoting this kind unscriptural worship. Seminars are being held across the nation to help churches get into this way of thinking. The U.S. mail and the Internet are being used to flood the pastors, youth directors, and music directors touting the desirability and success of this deviate form of reaching people. Countless offers of videos and other methods of training in contemporary worship are overwhelming pastors today.

With the emphasis on success being promoted as something that pleases God and the people, it is easy to fall prey to the pied pipers of change. The Pied Piper was supposed to do a good work by ridding the town of Hamelin of rats. The story ends with the Piper leaving town playing his seductive music. The rats are not following him out of town as he promised, but instead all the children are being led out of town.

German rationalism came to the centers of religious education in America many years ago. The 20th Century churches and institutions were devastated by this deadly disease. Whole denominations were swallowed up by the deadly poison of unbelief. We know this plague as modernism or liberalism. It is still spreading among churches and denominations and doing its deadly work.

The Ecumenical movement is a part of this deadly form of deception. The attempt to bring all the churches together is a device of the devil to neutralize the truth and lead people into unbelief and apostasy. Once orthodox denominations such as the Southern Baptists were lured into this trap of toleration. While they never joined the World Council of Churches or the National Council of Churches, they were members of the World Baptist Alliance. In fact they are the largest contributors to this apostate organization. This has enabled this apostate organization to stay afloat to do its devastating work around the world.

The Charismatic movement came along just in time to become a vehicle for apostasy. When this emotional and entertaining religion began to be popular, then the modernists and even the Roman Catholics were quick to get on board. This false movement has been used to destroy many churches that were once sound in the faith.

Promise Keepers, Bill Gothard, Youth for Christ and many other para-church organizations sprang up during the 20th Century to further water down the truth. With very few doctrinal standards and an ecumenical spirit, these organizations spread their brand of watered down religion. Promise Keepers has the goal of breaking down all denominational walls. This is nothing less than the breaking down of the walls between truth and error.

Mass ecumenical evangelism made popular by Billy Graham has further eroded truth in religion today. Many believe that Graham was a trustworthy proponent of truth in the late 40s when he became popular. They did not have to wait very long to see his true colors as an instrument of ecumenicalism and liberal religion. Wiser heads renounced their association with his ministry, but a vast majority were swept into the powerful vortex of compromise.

We cannot at this point go into all of the necessary details concerning these dangerous organizations. Without question they are detrimental to the cause of truth and are parasites on the churches. They love sound churches the same way that fleas love dogs. They attach themselves to the churches sucking out the blood and spreading devastating disease.

Years ago even liberal churches had traditional type worship and music, even though it was formal and dead. All Bible believing churches followed traditional music and worship. Now the contemporary music and worship are blended into almost every kind of church. Baptist churches that were once sound in the faith and true to the Scriptures have now gone over to this false system. Today it is spreading at an alarming rate, and the end is not in sight.

This kind of trend is often ignored by the faithful, only to find to their horror that with the traditional music and worship, sound doctrine is also being removed. All of these trends and movements sooner or later make drastic changes to doctrine and other practices. No longer is the old time religion good enough, but every facet of doctrine and practice must be updated as well. Future generations will never know the truth, because while men slept the enemy has been sowing the tares.

Many examples of this could be given, but we will give only two examples. One church in Fairfax, VA, and one church in Lubbock will be mentioned.

We have previously written about the Bethlehem Baptist Church, Fairfax, VA, which has now been renamed Fair Oaks Church. They are members in good standing with the Baptist Bible Fellowship International (BBFI). The BBFI still pretends that Fair Oaks Church is still a Baptist church, but as a matter of fact the name has been changed.

The following was taken from the BBFI web site, and they took it from The Washington Post. There is nothing condemning this shameful way of promoting Church work.

Another Exampleof this turning from the truth is to be found right here in Lubbock, TX. Heritage Church was once known as Heritage Baptist Church, but some time back they changed in order to reach more people. The following was taken from the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, 9-27-03.

These churches have departed from Bible standards, and we are perfectly happy that they have chosen to drop the name Baptist. A lot of others ought to do the same thing, or repent and come back to the truth.

A Sermon Delivered on Lord's day Morning, October 7th, 1888 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington.

"And the servant said unto him, Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest? And Abraham said unto him, Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again. The Lord God of heaven, which took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred, and which spake unto me, and that sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give his land; he shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence. And if the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again." Genesis xxiv. 5-8.

The true minister of Christ is like this Eleazar of Damascus; he is sent to find a wife for his Master's Son. His great desire is, that many shall be presented unto Christ in the day of his appearing, as the bride, the Lamb's wife.

The faithful servant of Abraham, before he started, communed with his master; and this is a lesson to us, who go on our Lord's errands. I charge you, my fellow servants, never to go forth to plead with men for God until you have first pleaded with God for men. Abraham's servant spoke and acted as one who felt bound to do exactly what his master bade him, and to say what his master told him; hence his one anxiety was to know the essence and measure of his commission. During his converse with his master he mentioned one little point about which there might be a hitch; and his master soon removed the difficulty from his mind. It is about that hitch, which has occurred lately on a very large scale, and has upset a good many of my Master's servants, that I am going to speak this morning: may God grant that it may be to the benefit of his church at large!

I. Beginning our sermon, we will ask you, first, to THINK OF THE SERVANT'S JOYFUL BUT WEIGHTY ERRAND. It was a joyful errand: the bells of marriage were ringing around him. The marriage of the heir should be a joyful event. It was an honourable thing for the servant to be entrusted with the finding of a wife for his master's son. Yet it was every way a most responsible business, by no means easy of accomplishment.

The work this man undertook was a business upon which his master's heart was set. Isaac was now forty years old, and had shown no sign of marrying. Abraham himself was old, and well stricken in years...Therefore, with great anxiety, which is indicated by his making his servant swear an oath of a most solemn kind, he gave him the commission to go to the old family abode in Mesopotamia, and seek for Isaac a bride from thence. My brethren, this is nothing compared with the weight which hangs on the true minister of Christ. All the Great Father's heart is set on giving to Christ a church which shall be his beloved for ever. Jesus must not be alone: his church must be his dear companion. The Father would find a bride for the great Bridegroom, a recompense for the Redeemer, a solace for the Saviour: therefore he lays it upon all whom he calls to tell out the gospel, that we should seek souls for Jesus, and never rest till hearts are wedded to the Son of God. Oh, for grace to carry out this commission!

This message was the more weighty because of the person for whom the spouse was sought. Isaac was an extraordinary personage; indeed, to the servant he was unique. He was a man born according to promise, not after the flesh, but by the power of God; and you know how in Christ, and in all that are one with Christ, the life comes by the promise and the power of God, and springeth not of man. Isaac was himself the fulfilment of promise, and the heir of the promise. Infinitely glorious is our Lord Jesus as the Son of man! Isaac had been sacrificed; he had been laid upon the altar...and you know who he is of whom we preach, and for whom we preach, even Jesus, who has laid down his life a sacrifice for sinners. Oh! by the wounds, and by the bloody sweat, I ask you where shall we find a heart fit to be wedded to him? How shall we find men and women who can worthily recompense love so amazing, so divine, as that of him who died the death of the cross?

What a weighty errand have we to fulfil to find those who shall be linked for ever in holy union with the Heir of the promise, even the sacrificed and risen One! O preacher, what a work hast thou to do to day, to find out those to whom thou shalt give the bracelet, and upon whose face thou shalt hang the jewel!

Said I not truly that it was a joyful, but a weighty errand, when you think what she must be to whom his master's son should be espoused? She must, at least, be willing and beautiful. In the day of God's power hearts are made willing. There can be no marriage to Jesus without a heart of love. Where shall we find this willing heart ? Only where the grace of God has wrought it. Ah, then, I see how I may find beauty, too, among the sons of men!

Think what she will become who is to be married to Isaac? She is to be his delight; his loving friend and companion. She is to be partner of all his wealth; and specially is she to be a partaker in the great covenant promise, which was peculiarly entailed upon Abraham and his family. When a sinner comes to Christ, what does Christ make of him? His delight is in him: he communes with him; he hears his prayer, he accepts his praise; he works in him and with him, and glorifies himself in him.

In carrying out his commission, this servant must spare no exertion. It would be required of him to journey to a great distance, having a general indication of direction, but not knowing the way. He must have divine guidance and protection. When he reached the place, he must exercise great common sense, and at the same time a trustful dependence upon the goodness and wisdom of God. How can we put ourselves into the right position to get at sinners, and win them for Jesus? How can we learn to speak the right words? How shall we suit our teaching to the condition of their hearts? How shall we adapt ourselves to their feelings, their prejudices, their sorrows, and their temptations? Brethren, we who preach the gospel continually may well cry, "If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence."

II. Secondly, I would have you CONSIDER THE REASONABLE FEAR WHICH IS MENTIONED. Abraham's servant said, "Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land." This is a very serious, grave, and common difficulty. Ah, my brethren! this is our difficulty still. Let me describe this difficulty in detail as it appeared to the servant, and appears to us.

She may not believe my report, or be impressed by it. When I come to her, and tell her that I am sent by Abraham, she may look me in the face, and say, "There be many deceivers nowadays." Brethren, in our case this is a sad fact. The great evangelical prophet cried of old, "Who hath believed our report?" We also cry in the same words. Men care not for the report of God's great love to the rebellious sons of men. Calvary, with its wealth of mercy, grief, love, and merit, is disregarded. I am bowed down with dismay that my Lord's great love, which led him even to die for men, should hardly be thought worthy of your hearing, much less of your believing.

There was another difficulty: she was expected to feel a love to one she had never seen. She had only newly heard that there was such a person as Isaac, but yet she must love him enough to leave her kindred, and go to a distant land. This could only be because she recognized the will of Jehovah in the matter. Ah, my dear hearers! all that we tell you is concerning things not seen as yet; and here is our difficulty. You have eyes, and you want to see everything; you have hands, and you want to handle everything; but there is one whom you cannot see as yet, who has won our love because of what we believe concerning him. We can truly say of him, "Whom having not seen, we love: in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

Abraham's servant may have thought: She may refuse to make so great a change as to quit Mesopotamia for Canaan. She had been born and bred away there in a settled country, and all her associations were with her father's house; and to marry Isaac she must tear herself away. So, too, you cannot have Jesus, and have the world too: you must break with sin to be joined to Jesus. All things must become new. You must leave the things you have loved, and seek many of those things which you have hitherto despised.

Moreover, it might be a great difficulty to Rebekah, if she had had any difficulties at all, to think that she must henceforth lead a pilgrim life. She would quit house and farm for tent and gipsy life. Abraham and Isaac found no city to dwell in, but wandered from place to place, dwelling alone, sojourners with God. Their outward mode of life was typical of the way of faith, by which men live in the world, and are not of it. Rebekah might well have said, "That will never do for me. I cannot outlaw myself. I cannot quit the comforts of a settled abode to ramble over the fields wherever the flocks may require me to roam." Many men think that the things of religion are merely meant to be read of, and to be preached about; but that to live for them would be to spend a dreamy, unpractical existence. Unless the Lord renews the heart, men will always prefer the bird in the hand of this life to the bird in the bush of the life to come.

Moreover, it might be that the woman might not care for the covenant of promise. If she had no regard for Jehovah and his revealed will, she was not likely to go with the man, and enter upon marriage with Isaac. He was the heir of the promises, the inheritor of the covenant privileges which the Lord by oath had promised.

Peradventure the woman might not see the value of the covenant, nor appreciate the glory of the promise. The things we have to preach of, such as life everlasting, union with Christ, resurrection from the dead, reigning with him for ever and ever, seem to the dull hearts of men to be as idle tales. They could not be induced to go from Ur to Canaan for such trifles as eternal life, and heaven, and God.

So you see our difficulty. Many disbelieve altogether, and others cavil and object. A greater number will not even listen to our story; and of those who do listen, most are careless, and others dally with it, and postpone the serious consideration. Alas! we speak to unwilling ears.

[Editors Note: The previous part of this message was condensed because of space. The remaining part of the sermon is just as it was printed in his book of sermons.]

III. In the third place, I would ENLARGE UPON HIS VERY NATURAL SUGGESTION. This prudent steward said, "Peradventure the woman will not be willing to follow me unto this land: Must I needs bring thy son again unto the land from whence thou camest ?" If she will not come to Isaac, shall Isaac go down to her? This is the suggestion of the present hour: if the world will not come to Jesus, shall Jesus tone down his teachings to the world ? In other words, if the world will not rise to the church, shall not the church go down to the world? Instead of bidding men to be converted, and come out from among sinners, and be separate from them, let us join with the ungodly world, enter into union with it, and so pervade it with our influence by allowing it to influence us. Let us have a Christian world.

To this end let us revise our doctrines. Some are old fashioned, grim, severe, unpopular; let us drop them out. Use the old phrases so as to please the obstinately orthodox, but give them new meanings so as to win philosophical infidels, who are prowling around. Pare off the edges of unpleasant truths, and moderate the dogmatic tone of infallible revelation: say that Abraham and Moses made mistakes, and that the books which have been so long had in reverence are full of errors. Undermine the old faith, and bring in the new doubt; for the times are altered, and the spirit of the age suggests the abandonment of everything that is too severely righteous, and too surely of God.

The deceitful adulteration of doctrine is attended by a falsification of experience. Men are now told that they were born good, or were made so by their infant baptism, and so that great sentence, "Ye must be born again," is deprived of its force. Repentance is ignored, faith is a drug in the market as compared with "honest doubt," and mourning for sin and communion with God are dispensed with, to make way for entertainments, and Socialism, and politics of varying shades. A new creature in Christ Jesus is looked upon as a sour invention of bigoted Puritans. It is true, with the same breath they extol Olives Cromwell; but then 1888 is not 1648. What was good and great three hundred years ago is mere cant to day. That is what "modern thought" is telling us; and under its guidance all religion is being toned down. Spiritual religion is despised, and a fashionable morality is set up in its place. Do yourself up tidily on Sunday; behave yourself; and above all, believe everything except what you read in the Bible, and you will be all right. Be fashionable, and think with those who profess to be scientific this is the first and great commandment of the modern school; and the second is like unto outdo not be singular, but be as worldly as your neighbours. Thus is Isaac going down into Padanaram: thus is the church going down to the world.

Men seem to say, It is of no use going on in the old way, fetching out one here and another there from the great mass. We want a quicker way. To wait till people are born again, and become followers of Christ, is a long process: let us abolish the separation between the regenerate and unregenerate. Come into the church, all of you, converted or unconverted. You have good wishes and good resolutions; that will do: don't trouble about more. It is true you do not believe the gospel, but neither do we. You believe something or other. Come along; if you do not believe anything, no matter; your "honest doubt" is better by far than faith. "But," say you, "nobody talks so." Possibly they do not use the same words, but this is the real meaning of the present day religion; this is the drift of the times. I can justify the broadest statement I have made by the action or by the speech of certain ministers, who are treacherously betraying our holy religion under pretence of adapting it to this progressive age. The new plan is to assimilate the church to the world, and so include a larger area within it bounds. By semi dramatic performances they make houses of prayer to approximate to the theatre; they turn their services into musical displays, and their sermons into political harangues or philosophical essays, in fact, they exchange the temple for the theatre, and turn the ministers of God into actors, whose business it is to amuse men. Is it not so, that the Lord's day is becoming more and more a day of recreation or of idleness, and the Lord's house either a joss house full of idols, or a political club, where there is more enthusiasm for a party than zeal for God? Ah me! the hedges are broken down, the walls are levelled, and to many there is, henceforth, no church except as a portion of the world, no God except as an unknowable force by which the laws of nature work.

This, then, is the proposal. In order to win the world, the Lord Jesus must conform himself, his people, and his Word to the world. I will not dwell any longer on so loathsome a proposal.

IV. In the fourth place, NOTICE HIS MASTER'S OUTSPOKEN, BELIEVING REPUDIATION OF THE PROPOSAL. He says, shortly and sharply, "Beware thou that thou bring not my son thither again." The Lord Jesus Christ heads that grand emigration party which has come right out from the world. Addressing his disciples, he says, "Ye are not of the world, even as I am not of the world." We are not of the world by birth, not of the world in life, not of the world in object, not of the world in spirit, not of the world in any respect whatever Jesus, and those who are in him, constitute a new race. The proposal to go back to the world is abhorrent to our best instincts; yea, deadly to our noblest life. A voice from heaven cries, "Bring not my son thither again." Let not the people whom the Lord brought up out of Egypt return to the house of bondage; but let their children come out, and be separate, and the Lord Jehovah will be a Father unto them.

Notice how Abraham states the question. In effect, he argues it thus: this would be to forego the divine order. "For," says Abraham, "the Lord God of heaven took me from my father's house, and from the land of my kindred." What, then, if he brought Abraham out, is Isaac to return? This cannot be. Hitherto the way of God with his church has been to sever a people from the world to be his electa people formed for himself, who shall show forth his praise. Beloved, God's plan is not altered. He will still go on calling those whom he did predestinate. Do not let us fly in the teeth of that fact, and suppose that we can save men on a more wholesale scale by ignoring the distinction between the dead in sin and the living in Zion. If God had meant to bless the family at Padan-aram by letting his chosen ones dwell among them, why did he call Abraham out at all? If Isaac may do good by dwelling there, why did Abraham leave? If there is no need of a separate church now, what have we been at throughout all these ages? Has the martyr's blood been shed out of mere folly? Have confessors and reformers been mad when contending for doctrines which, it would seem, are of no great account? Brethren, there are two seeds, the seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent and the difference will be maintained even to the end; neither must we ignore the distinction to please men.

For Isaac to go down to Nahor's house for a wife would be placing God second to a wife. Abraham begins at once with a reference to Jehovah, "the God of heaven"; for Jehovah was everything to him, and to Isaac also. Isaac would never renounce his walk with the living God that he might find a wife. Yet this apostasy is common enough nowadays. Men and women who profess godliness will quit what they profess to believe in order to get richer wives or husbands for themselves or their children. This mercenary conduct is without excuse. "Better society" is the cry meaning more wealth and fashion. To the true man God is first, yea, all in all; but God is placed at the fag end, and everything else is put before him by the base professor. In the name of God I call upon you who are faithful to God and to his truth, to stand fast, whatever you lose, and turn not aside, whatever you might gain. Count the reproach of Christ greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. We want Abraham's spirit within us, and we shall have that when we have Abraham's faith.

Abraham felt that this would be to renounce the covenant promise. See how he puts it: "The God that took me from my father's house sware unto me, saying, Unto thy seed will I give this land." Are they, then, to leave the land, and go back to the place from which the Lord had called them? Brethren, we also are heirs of the promise of things not seen as yet. For the sake of this we walk by faith, and hence we become separate from those around us. We dwell among men as Abraham dwelt among the Canaanites; but we are of a distinct race: we are born with a new birth, live under different laws, and act from different motives. If we go back to the ways of worldlings, and are numbered with them, we have renounced the covenant of our God, the promise is no longer ours, and the eternal heritage is in other hands. Do you not know this? The moment the church says, "I will be as the world," she has doomed herself with the world. When the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair, and took them wives of all which they chose, then the flood came, and swept them all away. So will it again happen should the world take the church into its arms: then shall come some overwhelming judgment, and, it may be, a deluge of devouring fire. The covenant promise and the covenant heritage are no longer ours if we go down to the world and quit our sojourning with the Lord.

Besides, dear friends, no good can come of trying to conform to the world. Suppose the servant's policy could have been adopted, and Isaac had gone down to Nahor's house, what would have been the motive? To spare Rebekah the pain of separating from her friends, and the trouble of travelling. If those things could have kept her back, what would she have been worth to Isaac? The test of separation was wholesome, and by no means ought it to be omitted. She is a poor wife who would not take a journey to reach her husband. And all the converts that the church will ever make by softening down its doctrine, and by becoming worldly, will not be worth one bad farthing a gross. When we get them, the next question will be, "How can we get rid of them?" They would be of no earthly use to us. It swelled the number of Israelites when they came out of Egypt, that a great number of the lower order of Egyptians came out with them. Yes, but that mixed multitude became the plague of Israel in the wilderness, and we read that "the mixed multitude fell a lusting." The Israelites were bad enough, but it was the mixed multitude that always led the way in murmuring. Why is there such spiritual death to day? Why is false doctrine so rampant in the churches? It is because we have ungodly people in the church and in the ministry. Eagerness for numbers, and especially eagerness to include respectable people, has adulterated many churches, and made them lax in doctrine and practice, and fond of silly amusements. These are the people who despise a prayer meeting, but rush to see "living waxworks" in their schoolrooms. God save us from converts who are made by lowering the standard, and tarnishing the spiritual glory of the church! No, no; if Isaac is to have a wife worthy of him, she will come away from Laban and the rest, and she will not mind a journey on camelback. True converts are never daunted by truth or holiness, these, in fact, are the things which charm them.

Besides, Abraham felt that there could be no reason for taking Isaac down there, for the Lord would assuredly find him a wife. Abraham said, "He shall send his angel before thee, and thou shalt take a wife unto my son from thence." Are you afraid that preaching the gospel will not win souls? Are you despondent as to success in God's way? Is this why you pine for clever oratory? Is this why you must have music and architecture, and flowers, and millinery? After all, is it by might and by power, and not by the Spirit of God? It is even so in the opinion of many. Brethren beloved, there are many things which I might allow to other worshippers which I have denied myself in conducting the worship of this congregation. I have long worked out before your very eyes the experiment of the unaided attractiveness of the gospel of Jesus. Our service is severely plain. No man ever comes hither to gratify his eye with art, or his ear with music. I have set before you, these many years, nothing but Christ crucified, and the simplicity of the gospel; yet where will you find such a crowd as this gathered together this morning? Where will you find such a multitude as this meeting, Sabbath after Sabbath, for five and thirty years? I have shown you nothing but the cross, the cross without the flowers of oratory, the cross without the blue lights of superstition or excitement, the cross without diamonds of ecclesiastical rank, the cross without the buttresses of a boastful science. It is abundantly sufficient to attract men first to itself, and afterwards to eternal life! In this house we have proved successfully, these many years, this great truth, that the gospel plainly preached will gain an audience, convert sinners, and build up and sustain a church. We beseech the people of God to mark that there is no need to try doubtful expedients and questionable methods. God will save by the gospel still: only let it be the gospel in its purity. This grand old sword will cleave a man's chine, and split a rock in halves. How is it that it does so little of its old conquering work? I will tell you. Do you see this scabbard of artistic work, so wonderfully elaborated? Full many keep the sword in this scabbard, and therefore its edge never gets to its work. Pull off that scabbard. Fling that fine sheath to Hades, and then see how, in the Lord's hands, that glorious two handed sword will mow down fields of men as mowers level the grass with their scythes. There is no need to go down to Egypt for help. To invite the devil to help Christ is shameful. Please God, we shall see prosperity yet, when the church of God is resolved never to seek it except in God's own way.

V. And now, fifthly, observe HIS RIGHTEOUS ABSOLUTION OF HIS SERVANT "If the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath: only bring not my son thither again."

When we lie a dying, if we have faithfully preached the gospel, our conscience will not accuse us for having kept closely to it: we shall not mourn that we did not play the fool or the politician in order to increase our congregation. Oh, no! our Master will give us full absolution, even if few be gathered in, so long as we have been true to him. "If the woman will not be willing to follow thee, then thou shalt be clear from this my oath; only bring not my son thither again." Do not try the dodges which debase religion. Keep to the simple gospel; and if the people are not converted by it, you will be clear. My dear hearers, how much I long to see you saved! But I would not belie my Lord, even to win your souls, if they could be so won. The true servant of God is responsible for diligence and faithfulness; but he is not responsible for success or non-success. Results are in God's hands. If that dear child in your class is not converted yet if you have set before him the gospel of Jesus Christ with loving, prayerful earnestness, you shall not be without your reward. If I preach from my very soul the grand truth that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ will save my hearers, and if I persuade and entreat them to believe in Jesus unto eternal life; if they will not do so, their blood will lie upon their own heads. When I go back to my Master, if I have faithfully told out his message of free grace and dying love, I shall be clear. I have often prayed that I might be able to say at the last what George Fox could so truly say: "I am clear, I am clear!" It is my highest ambition to be clear of the blood of all men. I have preached God's truth, so far as I know it, and I have not been ashamed of its peculiarities. That I might not stultify my testimony I have cut myself clear of those who err from the faith, and even from those who associate with them. What more can I do to be honest with you? If, after all, men will not have Christ, and his gospel, and his rule, it is their own concern. If Rebekah had not come to Isaac she would have lost her place in the holy line. My beloved hearer, will you have Jesus Christ or not? He has come into the world to save sinners, and he casts out none. Will you accept him? Will you trust him? "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved." Will you believe him? Will you be baptized into his name? If so, salvation is yours; but if not, he himself hath said it, "He that believeth not shall be damned." Oh, do not expose yourselves to that damnation! Or, if you are set upon it; then, when the great white throne shall be seen in yonder skies, and the day of wrath has come, do me the justice to acknowledge that I bade you flee to Jesus, and that I did not amuse you with novel theories. I have brought neither flute, harp, sackbut, psaltery, dulcimer, nor any other kind of music to please your ears, but I have set Christ crucified before you, and bidden you believe and live. If you refuse to accept the substitution of Christ, you have refused your own mercies. Clear me in that day of all complicity with the novel inventions of deluded men. As for my Lord, I pray of him grace to be faithful to the end, both to his truth, and to your souls. Amen.

Reprinted from volume 34 of "The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit."

Chapter 16 from the book "The Religion Racket." Despite the effort of some to promote the idea that God is dead, all of the Christian religions still accept the fact of God's existence. They may vary greatly in their concept of God but they do agree concerning his existence. Having accepted the fact of the existence of God, it is logical to expect that God would communicate with man, and again there is a degree of unity. Nearly all of the different Christian religions accept the Bible as a written revelation from God. The Bible repeatedly makes the claim that it is "the word of the Lord" and it has to be accepted as such or be rejected as fraudulent.

The Bible presents a difficulty to most religionists. They have to find a way to accept the Bible as the word of God and yet not be bound too closely by the teachings of the Bible. To pay homage to the Bible as the word of God and at the same time ignore what it teaches requires some tricky devices.

One of the most widely used methods to accomplish the task of simultaneously accepting and ignoring the Bible is simply to keep adding to its content. Continually adding to the Bible makes it comparatively easy to keep it soft and pliable ... easily interpreted to fit each generation's ideas concerning religion. Adding to the Bible is not too complicated a task. Religion just simply writes additional books; long standing traditions can also be accepted as inspired. Finally, the accumulated additions and traditions can be interpreted to apply any way desired. The original truths are easily buried under these additions and traditions. To see how widely this method is used, one only has to look at today's elaborate religious forms, rituals, and teachings and then try to find anything similar in the Bible as it was originally given. Most of these have been added on later.

Another method used to enable one to accept the Bible while ignoring it is to acknowledge that the Bible only contains the word of God. In reality, this means that the Bible is not to be accepted in its entirety as the word of God but that in the writings of the Bible can be found the word of God. This is very convenient. Any parts of the Bible the individual finds easy to accept can be interpreted as God's word, and the parts he does not want to obey can be rejected as not being God's word. This is widely used. Each generation, by using this method, is only bound to accept those parts of the Bible which do not interfere with their own plans and ideas concerning religion.

It may be noticed that there are a number of new translations of the Bible available. This ... obviously has been used to an advantage by those who want a Bible but do not want to obey its teaching.* Translations can easily become interpretations where original writings are re-interpreted to meet the whims of the translators. If the desire is to ignore a truth, it seems a simple thing to change its meaning in translation.

Another method is to think of the Bible only in symbolic and allegorical terms which need to be interpreted as to their real meaning. Of course, the interpretation is always one that can be fitted into the established way of life without too much inconvenience.

Christians have always expressed a willingness to attribute many things to the Jewish people. This fact is revealed in the way some Christians interpret their Bible. When they find an unwanted truth it is cast aside by explaining that God was talking to the Jews and has no application to Gentile Christians. This enables the Gentile to accept all the easy truth and leave the difficult things for the Jewish people.

There are those in each generation who will say the Bible is to be accepted but only to the extent that it agrees with man's reason and intellect. Anything in the Bible that does not agree with the reasoning of man is rejected.

One of the chief skills the modern minister must master is to preach the Bible in a way that the truths which the people might find offensive are carefully confined to the eloquence of the sermon and never reach any real application to life. All this is pitiful, but worse yet is to accept the Bible as the divine, written, revelation from God, and at the same time ignore it without even making any excuse.

The Bible makes hundreds of promises, instructions, and commands known in simple and concise language. Consider a few of these and compare them with the actual practice of the average church goer.

"Happy is that people, whose God is the Lord." (Ps. 146:5). This is a plain stated fact. Compare this description with the average reluctant church goer twisting uncomfortably in spiritual surroundings as he attends worship services one hour a week. The only time some church goers ever really look happy is when they are talking about something they did before they became church goers.

"I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord."(Ps. 122:1). This would hardly describe the reaction a wife gets when she suggests to her husband that they should attend church. Look at the effort the church and pastor must expend to get people to appear glad in the house of the Lord ... when they are not!

"Serve the Lord with gladness." (Ps. 100:2). This is what the Bible says! Look at the expression on the face of Mr. Average Church goer when the pastor asks him to perform some service for the Lord. If this is gladness then sadness must indeed be horrible!

The Bible says that those who trust in The Lord will be happy. They will sing and make melody in their hearts unto the Lord. They will always be glad to attend church and will serve the Lord with gladness. That all of this is not a reality is very apparent. Church members have lost their song, their gladness, and their joy. They may attend God's house, but the praise is gone. They sing with their lips but not with their hearts. Service is a dull chore, and it all becomes a pretense.

Consider some other things the Bible says.

"... for God loveth a cheerful giver." (II Cor. 9:7). The Bible teaches that those who love will also cheerfully give unto the Lord. "Cheerful giver" would seldom describe Mr. Average Church goer. He slips each of his children a nickel to put in the offering while, grudgingly, he drops in as much as a whole dollar ... and then spends the rest of the week wondering if he had been too religious.

"Pray without ceasing." (I Thess. 5:17). This is another direct command from the Bible, yet the average church finds it impossible even to have a prayer meeting. It is a very rare thing to find any of today's religionists giving any time to prayer.

Hundreds of plain, simple, easy to understand statements such as these are made in the Bible. Yet the great majority of church goers simply ignore them while, at the same time, saying they are God's word. If the Bible is what we say, then we are bound to accept and obey its teachings. If it is not, we ought to be honest enough to reject it and stop the pretense.

One of the most widely used passages from the Bible is called the Lord's Prayer. All Christian religions make great use of this prayer, and it is universally used as a part of the worship services of the churches. The congregation generally stands and chants in unison. Let us listen.

"Our Father which art in heaven." The Bible teaches that if God is our Father we will love Him. It will be our desire to worship and serve Him. We will obey Him in the manner of children obeying their parents. We are taught that those who are in the family of God will bear a resemblance to their heavenly Father. Look at the congregation as they recite this prayer. Is this a reality with them? Are their hearts filled with love and worship? Are they obeying? Do they bear any resemblance to their Father? Or is it mostly just a dull, humdrum of routine? A pretense?

"Hallowed be thy name." Is God's name hallowed and sacred? It must be recognized that too many can pray this prayer on Sunday morning and use God's name in vain on Monday.

"Thy kingdom come." Many of these praying "thy kingdom come" can hardly bear to tear themselves away long enough to worship God one hour a week and then have the gall to pretend they are joyfully anticipating a time of eternal worship and praise in His kingdom.

"Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven." The Bible reveals the will of God, and yet people living in direct rebellion against this revealed will of God can pray "thy will be done" and experience no shame.

"Give us this day our daily bread." In America we are not giving thanks because God provides our daily bread. We are too busy filling our pocket with another product we call "bread" ... money.

"And forgive us our debts." This phrase in the Lord's Prayer is an expression of the sinner's desire to have his sins forgiven. It involves a recognition of sin and repentance. Somehow this just doesn't seem to fit our average congregation. To be downright repentant for sins is a lost experience.

"As we forgive our debtors." If God is forgiving us in the manner we forgive each other, we are in bad shape ... yet this is what we pray.

"And lead us not into temptation." This does make sense. God doesn't have to lead us into temptation ... that path we easily find ourselves.

"But deliver us from evil." A congregation will pray "deliver us from evil" and then dare the pastor or anyone else to try to do it.

"For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever! Amen."This wonderful expression of praise coming from our average congregation reminds one of another phrase in the Bible which says there are those that,"Honoureth me with their lips but their heart is far from me."

*edited for clarity