LORD, HOW LONG?

By Bob Jackson

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. Then said I, Lord how long? And he answered, Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land be utterly desolate, And the Lord have removed men far away, and there be a great forsaking in the midst of the land.” Isaiah 6:8,11,12.

After Isaiah had answered the call of God to go for Him, he then asked the Lord how long the Lord would expect him to continue until this call was fulfilled. The Lord answered Isaiah’s inquiry with the idea that this call would be in effect until there were no more people to be given the message from God.

Today we live in days that surely are described in II Timothy 3:1-5, perilous times have come to this world. Wars in many areas of our world, violence seemingly out of control on the streets of our cities, many “Christians” content to play church rather than worship and serve Almighty God. Sometimes we are tempted to ask along with Isaiah, “Lord, how long?”

Until There Are None to Reach

The Lord told Isaiah that, as long as there were people to whom he could preach God’s Word, his task was not complete. No matter how many people we have already reached with the message of our Savior, as long as there are other people who need the message of God, we must continue to reach out with this message. There seems to be no time to quit doing what God has called us to do until there is no one left who has yet to be reached. Of course, this means that our efforts to get the message of the saving grace of God out to a lost world must still be done. Until every soul has been reached with the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ, we still have work to do. This means that we, as preachers of the gospel and as churches of the Lord Jesus Christ, have not been given permission to change the purpose of our calling. Our calling is to preach the Word; it is to reach the lost; it is to keep on doing this very thing until this call is fulfilled. It is therefore not time to begin holing up in our church buildings and Christian life centers while the world all around us stands in need of the gospel message. It is not time to build gigantic and ornate buildings to enjoy ourselves within while missionaries spend years trying to raise money to get to a mission field where the gospel is scarce, if it is found there at all. It is clear in the Scriptures that our call has neither changed, nor has it been completed. We have not been given clearance by our Lord to forget that call and spend our time doing all kinds of other things that have nothing to do with reaching out with God’s message of salvation.

No matter how many people have rejected the gospel message of Jesus Christ, we are still commanded to continue to preach this message until there are no other people to reach. We live in days in which so many are hardened to the precious message of salvation. Thank God there are still folks who accept this saving message and receive God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. All of us would rather harvest a lost soul for the kingdom of God than to have folks reject the message we preach and turn a deaf ear to the truth. Thank God for the wonderful passage of Scripture found in II Corinthians 2:15,16. “For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: To the one (we are) the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life. And who is sufficient for these things?” Thank God that whatever the response of the person to whom we preach the gospel, we are still obeying our calling and fulfilling His command to us when we declare this gospel message. God uses the message, and He uses the messenger, no matter what response the hearers give to the message. Our responsibility to our calling from God is to declare His message; we are not responsible for the response of those to whom we preach, I Corinthians 3:6,7. (Of course, if we are so personally offensive that no one will consider the message we preach, we surely have some responsibility for turning people away from the truth.) The point is, however, that no matter how many people receive God’s message, or how many people reject God’s message, we have not fulfilled our call as long as there are others to reach with the saving message of Jesus Christ!

Until We Are Home with Christ

As long as we are here in this world and have the physical and mental capability, we must continue to “go for” the Lord. One of these days, perhaps even today, our Savior is going to come in the clouds to call His people home to be with Him. Obviously, when we leave this world behind to go to be with the Lord, God’s call that we have answered in our lives will be complete. We can no longer be used of God to reach the lost in this world with the message of Jesus Christ after we are home with Him. Others might be able to use our testimony after we have left this life before the rapture, but we can no longer personally do this work after we have gone. Therefore, it seems to me that another answer as to the length of our call, “Lord, how long?” is until our Savior comes to take us home. My son, Bro. Jerry Jackson, wrote a song a number of years ago that had the idea that we cannot go back to tell our family, friends, and acquaintances the gospel message once we have left this life. No doubt many of us will live with regrets until after the Great White Throne judgment because of folks to whom we failed to give the gospel when we had the opportunity in this life. Truly, we cannot go back. Whatever we need to do for the Lord, we have to do now. “Only one life ‘twill soon be past; only what’s done for Christ will last!” What a great day it will be for those of us who are saved when the Lord comes to call us home. However, this day that will be such a wonderful day for us, will not be a wonderful day for those who are lost. It will be more difficult to be saved during the tribulation period on this earth. It will be impossible for those who have already heard the gospel message and rejected it before the rapture. So, (we) “must work the works of him that sent us while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” John 9:4.

As long as there are people that need to hear the gospel message, we must continue to take and/or send this saving message to them!

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That is Disgraceful

By E. L. Bynum

There are many deplorable, disgusting and highly offensive things taking place today. We are continuously shocked by what now accepted in our society. Here are a few of the recent events that are being thrust upon us by a worldly crowd that is under the influence and power of the devil.

NBC Defames God, the Bible and Decency

“NBC is promoting the network’s mid-season replacement series ‘The Book of Daniel’ with language that implies it is a serious drama about Christian people and Christian faith. The main character is Daniel Webster, a drug-addicted Episcopal priest whose wife depends heavily on her mid-day martinis.

“Webster regularly sees and talks with a very unconventional white-robed, bearded Jesus. The Webster family is rounded out by a 23-year-old homosexual Republican son, a 16-year-old daughter who is a drug dealer, and a 16-year-old adopted son who is having sex with the bishop’s daughter.

“At the office, his lesbian secretary is sleeping with his sister-in-law.” –Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman American Family Association

Hollywood and the TV networks are determined to defile and destroy this generation, and they are doing a really good job at it.

The liberals in this country will go out of their way to protect the feelings of atheists, Moslems, and other assorted groups of non-Christians. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has millions of dollars and hundreds of lawyers to file lawsuits to protect almost any non-Christian group. (To be honest I think of them as the “Anti Christian Lawyers Union.”)

They and their liberal cohorts will protect the Koran, and fight for the rights of captured Islamic terrorists, but they won’t lift a finger on behalf of the Bible and conservative Christians. As for as Hollywood and the TV networks, they have no regard for the feelings of decent Americans who want to raise their children to be moral and virtuous.

The Hollywood crowd rushed to the defense of Tookie Williams, the convicted killer of four people. They did not want him executed for his heinous crimes. They crusade against citizens owning guns, but they rush to the defense of a cold-blooded killer who used a gun to kill four people in two incidents.

They claim to be against guns and violence, but they make the most violent movies you could imagine with people blowing up other people.

They claim that they are for protecting the environment, and they rush to save bugs, owls, trees and minnows from destruction. They want a clean environment, but they are busy making filthy movies that feature sex, homosexual behavior, and ever deviant life style. They don’t want the air or water to be polluted (who does?), but at the same time they pump their slimy sewage into the minds of children and adults. The mind is a terrible thing to waste, and yet Hollywood is wasting the minds of those who bask in the movie filth.

I find this to be despicable, outrageous, deplorable and highly offensive.

A Christmas Witch in Wisconsin Public School

The following deplorable events were contained in an Internet message from the American Family Association.

Santa Claus, Kwanza symbols, Menorahs, and Labafana–a Christmas witch is all acceptable to these secular humanists, but anything about Christ is offensive to them. A witch is OK, but anything connected with the Christian religion is definitely taboo with that ungodly crowd. I understand that after protest from Christians they were allowed to sing the words to Silent Night. God’s people must not be silent and passive if we love God, our families and our country. The ungodly want to silence us all, so that their devious program of secular humanism will prevail.

Their plan is deplorable, outrageous and offensive to me.

The Naked Truth on Campus

Townhall.com recently published an article written by conservative columnist Suzanne Fields that reveals what is going on at university campuses all across America. It contains shocking and outrageous information about what university officials are doing. Parents work for years to save enough money to send their children to the schools of higher education, only to find out that their young people are being brainwashed and given a lower education. An education in the depths of human depravity calculated to erase the last vestige of biblical morality from their students.

Much in the Fields’ column is too graphic to be printed in a Christian paper, but we will give you a few details. God’s people need to be informed about what is being taught and promoted in universities today.

She wrote, “boys and girls live together, sharing bedrooms, bathrooms, closets and everything else . . .” “Animal-rights fanatics would shut down the campus now if someone even suggested snacking on a goldfish.” “Nevertheless, Joe College and Carolyn Campus must find something dumb enough to shock the grown-ups who pay the bills.” “Students at Columbia University, for example, ape contemporaries at Yale and Brown with a bash with only one rule, that everything you wear to the party has to be left at the door.” (Emphasis ours.)

The article continues: “What’s not optional on campus is the straitjacket of conformity dictated by the politically correct culture, which imposes a vulgarization of just about everything between men and women. Feminism, which set out to empower women, now deconstructs them to the sum of their specific body parts. In “The Second Sex,” which is required reading in most women’s studies courses, Simone de Beauvoir describes a pregnant woman as merely an incubator with eggs.”

She states, “. . . on many campuses, ‘V-Day’ has replaced St. Valentine’s Day, with romance replaced by a ‘celebration’ of female body parts . . . Participants are encouraged to shout the four-letter word that women have always regarded as the vilest of all four-letter words. On one campus, the actress Glenn Close exhorts 2,500 young men and women to stand up and chant the word; Wesleyan University has established a ‘[vile word] workshop’; Roseanne Barr, who redefines the meaning of vile, performs in her underwear, discussing certain bodily scents, for an audience of 2,000.”

This is all of this article that I am going to quote because of space and because of the vile description of what is happening on many university campuses. Taxpayers, donors and doting parents are financing this vile behavior in the name of education. It is outrageous and ridiculous that such a thing goes today in the name of education.

Do you know that such schools as Brown, Yale, Harvard and many others were established by God fearing, Bible believing Christians. It is deplorable that they have now been turned into institutions of ungodliness, and that they are probing into the sewer of human depravity and calling it education.

“Megachurches Deciding Against Holding Christmas Day Services”

The above subhead appeared as a three-column headline in the LAJ newspaper December 7, 2005. It seems that some of the largest churches in the nation are going to not have any services on Sunday, December 25th, because it falls on Christmas day. What a wonderful way to celebrate the birth of Christ.

“Cally Parkinson, a spokeswoman for Willow Creek Community Church in South Barrington, Ill., said church leaders decided that organizing services on a Christmas Sunday would not be the most effective use of staff and volunteer resources. The last time Christmas fell on a Sunday was 1994, and only a small number of people showed up to pray, she said.” This Church is pastored by Bill Hybels of megachurch fame. It is one of the largest churches in America, and only a few people could take time to obey God’s word. “Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” (Hebrews 10:23-25). A number of other large churches are named in the newspaper article.

This is a disgusting shame, but not too surprising. Super Bowl Sunday will find many churches altering their services to accommodate the Super Bowl schedule. Many churches set up a large screen and broadcast the football game rather than their regular services. After all they wouldn’t want their congregation deprived of being able to see the scantily attired cheer leaders, nor would they want to deprive their members from seeing all the beer commercials. What a testimony for Christ and the gospel!

Many churches do not have Sunday School or the Evening Service on or around special holidays. This too is a disgrace and must be a stench in the nostrils of God.

Have a Carnival at Your Church

The Editor of the PBC receives a Baptist paper that is published by Independent Baptists in a certain state. They carry paid advertisements, and I have noticed one ad in particular. Some preacher is soliciting churches and offering to set up a special Sunday at your church featuring a tent and carnival. This is supposed to draw in a large crowd on this Sunday. Imagine Jesus, Paul, Peter or any of the churches of the New Testament doing such a thing. Why other Independent Baptist Churches would advertise their church and school right along with the carnival ad is a mystery to me.

This ranks right up with dog and pony shows, trick riding and roping, along with helicopter rides to draw a crowd. I knew of a rather large church in Texas that did such things and seemed to be successful. The pastor is now out of the ministry because of immorality, and the church was forced to merge with another church to survive. Now I believe that these merged churches are now in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Many churches today will do almost anything to draw a crowd, no matter how much they have to compromise. That is disgusting and disgraceful.

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Can a Genuinely Saved Person Ever Be Lost Again?

By Bob Jackson

We recently received a tract in the mail entitled, “Satan’s Favorite Sermon, ‘Once Saved, Always Saved’.” This reminds us how many preachers, so-called churches, and people believe and are taught that there is no eternal security in Christ. We want to consider in this message the impossibility of losing salvation once we have received it. Our text verse is John 5:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

Conversion to Christ

According to the first part of John 5:24, there is a way to receive everlasting life. First of all, we must hear the Word of God. Ephesians 1:13 tells us, “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise.” It is clear from the Word of God that hearing the true Word of God is essential to salvation, Romans 10:13-17. That passage in Romans makes it clear that a person who has never heard the true message of God cannot call upon the Lord because he cannot believe upon one of whom he has never heard. The saving message found in the Bible is really the true message of the gospel of Jesus Christ, which is completely and clearly stated in I Corinthians 15:1-4. The Apostle Paul stated in this passage that the gospel was that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. By the way, this is the complete gospel message; there is not any more to it. That which is erroneously called “the full gospel,” which includes the so-called gift of tongues, is certainly not a full gospel. That gift of the Spirit, when it was practiced biblically before the completion of the written revelation of God to man, was not included in the gospel. The complete gospel message is contained in what is said in I Corinthians 15:1-4. God tells us that it is this gospel that is the power of God unto salvation, Romans 1:16. Every person must hear this gospel message. The Lord gave command to His churches to preach the gospel to every creature, Mark 16:15. If people do not hear this gospel message, they cannot possibly be saved. How important is our responsibility as churches to get the gospel out to every human being in this world!

When a person hears this gospel message, he then must heed this message, “He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that send me, hath everlasting life.” Included in this heeding of the gospel message is repentance toward God, Acts 3:19. Turning to God from belief in anything else for our salvation, turning to God from our old life, this is repentance. Of course, repentance goes along with faith–real heart belief in Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, Romans 10:9,10. Trusting Christ as our personal Savior, believing on Him with all our heart, this is saving faith. Response to the Word of God in repentance and faith is required for genuine salvation. Just hearing the message of the Word of God, just hearing the gospel does not save us, James 1:22-25; John 5:24. We could hear the true message of the gospel every week of our entire life and die without Christ and be lost eternally if we do not believe upon Christ as our Savior. Just hearing the message is not enough; that will not save us.

Condemnation Is Past

According to John 5:24, when we hear God’s Word and believe upon Christ as our Savior, we, at that point, receive everlasting life. The old English word “hath” has the same meaning as the modern word “has.” This means that this everlasting life is our present possession once we have received Christ as our personal Savior, I John 5:11,12. This everlasting life is spiritual life that cannot end, John 3:36. This life is called everlasting life or eternal life. These words “everlasting” and “eternal” describe something that is forever. We cannot receive everlasting life, then lose it. If we were to lose everlasting life, it was not everlasting to us. It cannot be everlasting if it is only temporary. This everlasting life that we receive when we believe on Jesus Christ is in contrast to eternal death, or the second death, Revelation 20:14,15. This eternal death is describing the condition of being separated from God for all eternity in the torments of the lake of fire, or hell. This everlasting life, however, is life spent eternally with Christ, John 14:1-3. As we are told in I Thessalonians 4:17, “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

The Lord tells us in John 5:24 that we not only receive everlasting life when we believe on Him, but also that condemnation is removed from us, “shall not come into condemnation.” This is the promise of God to those who genuinely receive Christ as their Savior, Romans 8:1,2. God also tells us that at that time the person who has believed on Christ “is passed from death unto life.” This is a present perfect verb form in English. This is describing something that is completed in the present. In other words, the moment that we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, we are past out of the condition of being dead in trespasses and sins and into the condition of everlasting life, John 3:18.

The receiving of everlasting life and the removal of condemnation against us are realities when we receive Christ as our Savior. We are now made spiritually alive when we were spiritually dead, that is separated from God, Ephesians 2:1-5. We are made children of God the very moment we receive Jesus Christ as our personal Savior, John 1:12,13; I John 5:11,12.

Chastisement For Sin

The idea that when a person is saved, he no longer has to worry about judgment for sin is not what the truth of eternal security is about. In fact, when we receive Christ as our personal Savior, we become children of God. We are not less responsible to God in that condition, we are actually more responsible to God when we become His children through the new birth. In Hebrews 12:5-11 God describes His dealing with His children. He tells us that every one of His children is chastened. In fact, He says that, if we do not experience chastisement, then we are not genuine children of God. It is clear from this passage that sin in our lives after salvation brings God’s correction. He is a perfect parent; He shows us how parents should discipline their children. God’s desire for every believer in Jesus Christ is that we be conformed to the image of Jesus Christ, Romans 8:29. He desires that we be partakers of His holiness, Hebrews 12:10,11. We are despising God’s grace when we think that we can just live in sin and follow the flesh after we are saved without experiencing any consequences for our actions, Romans 6:1,2,17,18.

On the contrary, God tells us that sinning willfully after we are saved requires severe punishment, Hebrews 10:25-30. Hebrews 10:26 states, “For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.” This verse in the context of the Book of Hebrews, which contrasts the Old Testament with the New Testament, is telling us that when we sin in this manner, we cannot go out and get an animal sacrifice and bring it to the temple to cover our sins. Now, in the New Testament practice, there will be serious judgment for the believer who is willfully in sin, Hebrews 10:27-29. However, this serious judgment for a genuine believer will be in this life; the Lord is not threatening to take away our salvation. We are no longer under eternal condemnation. God told the church in Corinth to remove the man, who was living in sin with his stepmother, for the destruction of his flesh “that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.” This was the serious judgment that man was to receive, but he was still saved eternally, I Corinthians 5:4,5. This judgment then is not eternal judgment, but it is fearful judgment for the believer who is living in sin and rebellion against God. It is clear in the Scriptures that we, as God’s people, need a proper fear of God in our lives. We need to take our relationship with God and our responsibilities to God seriously, Hebrews 10:27,31; 12:28,29. Thank God we cannot ever be lost or lose our salvation, but we can be judged in this life for lives that are not pleasing to God.

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Who Will Go?

By Jerry Jackson

“Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” Isaiah 6:8

Hardly a week goes by without some piece of mail coming to the church promising that we can double, triple, or quadruple our attendance within a few weeks, if we would just take advantage of their proven methods. To be honest, I do not know of any pastor or godly person who would not like to see a tremendous growth in their church attendance. That desire to see growth makes these offers seem very tempting indeed, but are they right for us? Let us consider a few of these things in light of Scripture.

Monstrous Menace To The World

“And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience: Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others (Ephesians 2:1-3) .”

The monstrous menace to the world is because of sin and Satan. It is because of sin and Satan that man is already dead. A child is not born perfect, and then later becomes a sinner as he or she grows older and can do sinful things. Truly, every child born into this world is born as a sinner, and things just go downhill from there. That means that we, as believers in Jesus Christ, are transacting business with dead people each and every day. So very often we forget or ignore this fact, but it is true, nonetheless. It is hard to get a physically dead person excited about living, and so, it is hard to get a spiritually dead person excited about life in Christ.

So we have living people who are actually the walking dead, Just as a rock will roll downhill, so a lost sinner will move along in a downward direction as he or she is moved along. There are three things that will move the lost sinner along in their digression. The first is the course of this world, This is much like the course of a river, which winds its way from the mountain heights to the sea. This course is not a straight course, but a very crooked one. It is met by many other tributaries which add filth and pollution to the course. Many years ago, my parents took my sister and me to Lake Michigan. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there, except for all the dead fish along the shoreline. We both grabbed as many fish as possible and threw them back into the lake, hoping to save the lives of some of these fish. Our efforts were only rewarded by seeing these same dead fish wash ashore again. These fish were powerless to do anything else but follow the tide. The lost sinner is much like these dead fish, which float along wherever and whenever the current takes them. They do not seem to notice the increasing pollution and degradation of sin, because they are spiritually dead.

The next thing which moves the sinner along in his digression is the control of Satan, Satan has done a masterful job of making his very existence a joke to this lost world. Even Bible-believing Christians doubt the power of our enemy. This is just how the devil wants things to be, because when people doubt his power or existence, he is free to move and work without detection. His control over lost sinners seems more and more pronounced as we read the news of unthinkable crimes being committed within our own neighborhoods, and terrible things occurring all around the globe. Many world leaders seek for solutions to the troubles which plague the nations of the world, but they turn to human reasoning, which is controlled by Satan, rather than to the Word of God, which holds the answer to the ills of the world.

The last thing which carries the lost sinner along is the cast of self, Human nature itself seeks to drag the lost sinner farther and farther from the right, and deeper into the blackness of sin. The cast of self is much like a mold out of which the sinner cannot break. They follow their own selfish desires and never realize exactly how far they have been taken away from the light of God’s Word. Self sees its greatest need as the satisfaction of self, nothing else is even considered.

And so, man is dead in trespasses and sins. All of this leads us to the conclusion that all lost sinners are the condemned dead. This means that all lost sinners are condemned by their sin, but because they are dead in those same sins, there is nothing that they can do to prevent the inevitable execution of the eternal sentence against sin. The lack of faith in the Son of God simply seals their doom. “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God (John 3:18) .”

Of course, we know the good news about the death, burial and resurrection of Christ. “Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification (Romans 4:25) .” Without the death of Christ, we would have no payment for our sin. Without the resurrection of Christ, we would have no hope of anything beyond a very temporary salvation. This is the message that can save the world and each lost sinner found within it. “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem (Luke 24:45-47) .” “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God (Romans 10:17) .”

So, there is a tremendous need for this lost world to be reached, or else they will all be eternally lost. The message of the Gospel is what is necessary to accomplish this goal, but how do we go about reaching people with the Gospel? Are the modern methods acceptable to God?

Modern Methods Do Not Meet The Need

We cannot foolishly inspect the resulting numbers that accompany modern methods and, on that shallow proof, proclaim these methods to be profitable. God’s churches are being bombarded with worldly philosophy and human reasoning to justify these modern methods. Music standards and dress standards seem to be the first things to be cast by the wayside when the implementation of these methods is sought. We are told over and over that lost sinners will not come to a church which does not dress like they just walked out of an all-night party. It is insisted that lost sinners will not come to a church which does not have music which sounds like the bar that they partied in the night before. Others insist that we must entice the lost into our doors by promotions and give-aways, or else we will not be able to reach the lost. They say things like, “You have to get them in before you can preach to them.”

What folks do not realize is that what we use to draw the lost into our churches is what we will have to use to keep them in our churches. So, if we use something that is not quite right to bring people in, we will have to continue with what is not quite right in order to keep these people in. The modern methods in use today include, but are not limited to, contemporary services, contemporary music, praise and worship teams, removing the pulpit, free meals for those in attendance, and free candy. As an example, I remember being out on bus visitation with a church I was a member of for a short period of time. We knocked on one young lady’s door and asked if she would be coming to church the following morning. Her first question was to ask if we had any Tootsie Rolls, which were her favorite candy. When she found out that we had no Tootsie Rolls, and would not have any the following morning, she told us that she would not be attending any church services until we once again had Tootsie Rolls to offer to her. So, if we endeavor to attract the lost to our churches by lowering our standards, we will never be able to raise them again, without losing everyone that had been gained by that compromise.

Those who are proponents of this type of “evangelism” tell us that this is only done in order to get people in. Once these people are in the church, then we can preach the Word of God to them, and see them saved, or so we are told. There are two questions which arise from this idea. First, what are you going to preach to them? If you have already lowered any standard which might make the lost sinner feel uncomfortable at your church, how will you preach about a holy, just God to them? How will the lost sinner understand and be convicted that he or she is far from God and can do nothing to gain any sort of relationship with God, when the lowered standards preach acceptance without repentance? This is a mixed message, which does not come from God. Also, you must consider what you are going to teach these lost sinners, if they are converted. How will you disciple them, if there is no discipline or denial of sin demanded of the new convert? Can you truly teach them the whole counsel of God, when you have departed from that very counsel to bring these people into the church? These are some serious problems with the modern methods that are being promoted so freely among evangelicals, and even some independent Baptists.

“Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them (Ezekiel 22:26) .” In Jeremiah’s and Ezekiel’s day, there were many priests and prophets saying and doing things to draw a crowd. While they did achieve their goal, God did not bless them. Instead, God declares that they have not been sent to prophecy in His name (Jeremiah 29:9; Ezekiel 13:6), and that He has been profaned by them and their actions. Woe unto us if we fall into this same sin, no matter the justification.

Men of God Are Sought

Just as in Isaiah’s day, the Lord is seeking for men who are willing to be sent with the message. Just as in Ezekiel’s day, God is seeking for men who will stand in the gap and discern truth from error. “The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully. And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I should not destroy it: but I found none (Ezekiel 22:29-30) .” How we need such men today to stand up and declare the truth without apology, and without fear of the consequences. Before we can have true revival in our churches and in our nation, we will have to have men of God who will directly declare God’s Word as it is, and not as people wish it to be. Thank God for faithful men all across our nation and all around the world, who consistently stand before lost and saved alike, to declare “Thus saith the Lord!” But, we need more of these men to stand in the gap before the Lord.

Men of God Are Sent

When Isaiah stood before the Lord, he heard the Lord’s desire for a man to go with God’s message. This is the great difference between the Word of God and modern methods. Modern methods seek for a way to entice people to come in, while the Word of God seeks for godly men and women to go out, Many today think that they are going out by getting folks to come in, but that is not what the Lord has called His people to do. The Scripture is clear.

“Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matthew 28:19) :”

“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15) .”

“But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth (Acts 1:8) .” To reach all of these places requires the people of God to go.

As the man of God is sent out into the world, he is sent with a message. “And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15) .” The man of God does not preach a message of “come as you are,” but “Christ has made a way for you to come to God.”

As the man of God is sent out into the world, he is sent with a method. “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe (1 Corinthians 1:21) .” Music, dramas, and other methods are of no use when it comes to truly reaching the lost soul. It is preaching that is the method God endorses. I do not strictly mean preaching from the pulpit, but sharing a compelling Gospel message wherever we are. “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled (Luke 14:23) .” “Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus (Acts 8:35) .”

So, what are our choices? We can either stay inside our churches and devise plans and methods to draw people into our midst, or we can go out with the message of the Gospel as God desires for us to do. There is really no choice here. We cannot improve on God’s plan. If we are to reach the lost, we must take the Gospel to them, wherever they are. The Word of God is clear. God seeks for someone among His people who will go out and reach lost souls with the message of the Gospel. But the real question is, who will go? We cannot sit back and wait for our methods to draw people in. We must be busy about the Father’s business, outside the church walls. Who will go? Will you?

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Truth or Error, Which Will it Be?

By E. L. Bynum

We constantly hear the plea for unity in the religious world. That would be fine if they wanted to unite around the truth, but what they really want Bible believers to do, is compromise for the sake of unity. What kind of unity comes from compromising truth for unity? It is unbiblical error with a few grains of truth thrown in, in order to lead Bible believers into error. Sadly many who claim to be Bible believers have swallowed the bait, hook, line and sinker.

The Bible contains many warnings against this kind of error. Paul warns us of this in the following Scripture. “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” (1 Tim. 4:1) The seducing Spirits seem to be very successful in this generation. It is amazing that so many who should know better are being seduced into a false unity that is not based on truth.

Many so-called scholars are described so clearly in the following verse. “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Tim. 3:5) True preachers are admonished, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Tim. 4:2-4) God expects His preachers to preach the word and to reprove and rebuke. This is a thankless task in our day. If we do it, we are called divisive and unloving.

When we expose the error of Bill Hybels, Rick Warren, John McArthur, Billy Graham, and Jerry Falwell, we are accused of being jealous of their success. True success is being faithful to God and warning of the errors that are sweeping our land. Success at the cost of truth is not success at all, but rather it is failure. The tragic result is that multitudes are being seduced as Paul proclaimed. “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.”

We have been told by critics that we should just preach salvation and leave these other issues alone. Frankly I had rather preach salvation and other precious doctrines of the word of God than expose error. Yet we are faced with the same problem that Jude faced and we must choose to do as he did. “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Jude 3-4)

Bible believers had better stand up for the truth, by preaching the truth and exposing the errors of those that have “crept in unawares.” Someday we are going to stand before the Judgment Seat of Christ, and we will find out what was true success and what is wood, hay and stubble. It has been said many times that we are not called to be successful, but to be faithful.

For the sake of souls and for the cause of Christ, don’t be afraid to stand up and declare the truth and to denounce false teachers and doctrines.

The following was clipped from the Voice in the Wilderness.

1. It is better to be divided by TRUTH than united by error.

2. It is better to speak the TRUTH that hurts and then heals than a lie that comforts and then kills.

3. It is better to hear tough or even rough TRUTH than tender or polished lies.

4. It is better to be hated for telling the TRUTH than loved for telling a lie.

5. It is better to stand alone for the TRUTH than stand with a crowd in a lie.

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News & Views

Edited by E. L. Bynum

(Editor’s Note: In our News & Views column we quote from many different sources. Please understand that this does not necessarily mean that we approve of all of the publications from which we quote.)

Empty Raging of Heathen — [Michael] Newdow told the ACLU of Oklahoma that the national motto on U.S. currency is a violation of the separation of church and state. He is offended because he is an atheist. He wants to use the Federal courts to make his atheism the official religion of America. Newdow filed in the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals which recently ruled that judges, not parents, have the final say in what will be taught school children concerning sex education. These same liberal judges supported Newdow and ruled that the phrase “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance was unconstitutional. That suit was dismissed due to a technicality so Newdow sued again. (Am. Family Assoc., 11/14/05) The heathen are raging steeped in worthless, empty imaginations that are as good-for-nothing as wells without water. (Psa. 2:1; 2 Pet. 2:17) If anyone is lacking enlightenment, it is those who attack God. How fearful to have no fear of God. God is not in all their thoughts. (Psa. 10:4) —(W. W. Mosley, hereafter WWM)

“In God We Trust” — An Oklahoma Law: “Principals and teachers in each public elementary and secondary school of each school district in this state may display in each classroom, school auditorium, and school cafeteria under their supervision the following motto of the United States of America: “E PLURIBUS UNUM (Out of Many One)” and “IN GOD WE TRUST,” For purposes of this section, “classroom” means any room of a public school where instruction takes place. This act shall become effective July 1, 2004.” (AFA Website) At the present 17 other state have similarly adopted laws concerning our national motto. Pray that this nation will once again accept the true God as our God.(Psa. 33:12) —WWM

A U.S. Congressional Resolution, 7/24/00 has this segment among others, “...Whereas the display and teaching of the national motto to public school children has a valid secular purpose, such secular purpose being to foster patriotism, symbolize the historical role of religion in our society, express confidence in the future, inculcate hope, and instruct in humility;...” This House of Rep. resolution declares the lack of patriotism in those who disagree with our nation’s dependence upon God. From the foxhole on the battle field to the classroom on the campus, our trust in God must be asserted. (Psa. 82:8) “Arise, O God, judge the earth: for thou shalt inherit all nations.” —WWM

Cultural & Ethical Changes? — The Alaska Supreme Court Oct. 28 unanimously ruled it is unconstitutional to deny benefits to the partners of publicly employed homosexual couples, the Associated Press reported. The ruling apparently will force the state and cities to provide health insurance and other benefits to their homosexual employees. (Baptist Press, 11/11/05) Such changes in government were unheard of anywhere only a few decades ago. Only recently the ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ was unheard of in the military. The only ‘telling’ of homosexuality should be a confession to God of sin and turning to Him is full repentance. —WWM

Liberal Alliance of Baptist — April Baker, an openly lesbian minister, preached at this year’s Alliance of Baptists convocation. Baker is co-pastor of Glendale Baptist Church, an Alliance-affiliated church in Nashville. In 2003, Baker delivered a lecture on homosexuality and the Bible at Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tenn. She began her lecture by asking students to consider their beliefs about several statements, including, “There are occasions when a couple could benefit from living together prior to marriage” and “The Bible is clear in setting forth a Christian sexual ethic.” She then said, “[T]here really aren’t any right or wrong responses to these statements” and then added that there was room “for a variety of opinion.... No one has the truth. We’re all seeking truth.” (Baptist Press, 11/11/05) The organization of this liberal Baptist movement (1987) was the result of liberals disagreeing with the SBC on conservatism. It was originally known as the Southern Baptist Alliance. It is comprised at present of about 120 churches. This organization is pro-homosexual. Baker seems indeed void of any truth. Beware! —WWM

Defending The Truth — “The truth is worth defending, and we are spiritual cowards if we do not do it. (Read Acts. 15:1-35). The present shallow minded, weak kneed, sweet potato for a backbone brand of Baptists would rather switch than fight. As a result truth is being replaced by error and many of the saints are being lulled into spiritual pacifism.” —ELB, editor Plains Baptist Challenger, 6/01

Absolute Truth — “...many who consider themselves believing Christians have succumbed to the lure of relativistic worldviews. Yet, Christians must face squarely the truth that the faith once for all delivered to the saints is fundamentally incompatible with a rejection of absolute truth. The Gospel itself is a direct claim to universal and absolute truth, and the Bible (which is incomprehensible apart from its claim to absolute truth as revealed by God Himself) makes a claim to truth which applies to all persons everywhere and in all times. If there is no absolute truth, there is no Christian faith, and there is no salvation through Jesus Christ, who makes an absolute and universal claim when He declared himself, ‘the Way, the Truth, and the Life.’” (R. Albert Mohler, Jr.)

No Atheists In Hell — In answer to a statement made by an Army Chaplain last year on Veteran’s Day, Ellen Johnson, president of American Atheists, organized Friday’s march and said members of her group would “not bow under threat of hellfire or gunfire.” (Agape Press) Her entire group will one day not only bow but confess to the God she so blatantly belittles. (Rom. 14:11) Our Lord Jesus will address such human corruption. (Matt. 7:23) Unless Ms. Johnson and ‘her group’ turn from sin to salvation through Jesus Christ, they will surely join the rich man in Luke chap. 16, acknowledging God while pleading for His mercy. This is not written in arrogance, but with a sad heart that so many are not seeking to enter in through the strait and narrow gate. (Matt. 7:13,14) (John 14:6) “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” —WWM

Taking A Stand — According to a Culture & Family Inst., 11/25/05 report, the Texas State Board of Education has voted to disconnect with the Nat’l. State Board of Ed. They will stop paying annual membership dues which exceed $40,000. One of the primary reasons was “the NASBE’s policy statements supporting comprehensive sex education. Texas law requires abstinence education.” Good for TSBE! The best education on such a matter should come from a father and mother, (Titus 2:1-8) certainly not from 2 mothers or 2 fathers! —WWM

Wicca’s World —AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, NOV. 26, 2005-Witchcraft is moving into the mainstream in the Netherlands. A Dutch court has ruled that the costs of witchcraft lessons can be tax-deductible, the Associated Press reported Oct. 31. The previous month, the Leeuwarden District Court confirmed the legal right to write off the costs of schooling – including witchcraft – against tax bills. The costs can be substantial, according to one witch interviewed for the article. Margarita Rongen runs the “Witches Homestead” in a northern province. Her workshops cost more than $200 a weekend, or more than $2,600 for a full course. Rongen claims she has trained more than 160 disciples over the past four decades. (Zenit News, 11/26/05) This is the reviving of paganism. If you think this is confined to the Netherlands, read on. —WWM

Spiritual Advice From A Pagan — In England, meanwhile, Portsmouth’s Kingston Prison has hired a pagan priest to give spiritual advice to three inmates serving life sentences, the Telegraph reported Nov. 1. The prisoners have converted to paganism and, according to prison rules, are allowed a chaplain in the same way as those with Christian or other religious faiths. Denying them a pagan chaplain would infringe their human rights, said John Robinson, the prison governor. (ZN, 11/26/05) There was a time when imprisonment meant deprivation of all rights. At present not only are ‘rights’ of rapist, murderers, thieves, etc. protected, they can demand a government payed lawyer to achieve entitlements they deem necessary to their comfort. Asking the Judge of all the earth for forgiveness of their sin would accomplish far greater eternal consequences. —WWM

About Wicca — Journalist Catherine Edwards Sanders, a self-professed Christian, defines Wicca as a “polytheistic neo-pagan nature religion inspired by various pre-Christian Western European beliefs, which has as its central deity the Mother Goddess and which includes the use of herbal magic.” [Her] book, which is limited to examining the situation in the United States, admits it is difficult to estimate the number of Wicca adherents. Sanders cites an estimate from one group, the Covenant of the Goddess, which claims around 800,000 Wiccans and pagans in America. A sociologist, Helen Berger, in 1999 put the estimate at 150,000 to 200,000 pagans. (ZN, 11/26/05) The Bible gives this advice: “Regard not them that have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards, to be defiled by them: I am the LORD your God.” (Lev. 19:31) God has set His face against those who follow after familiar spirits and wizards. (Lev. 20:6) This pagan religion is unashamedly raising its ugly head as being acceptable. —WWM

Typical Islam & Atheism — A U.S. State Department report criticized Saudi Arabia last week, saying religious freedoms “are denied to all but those who adhere to the state-sanctioned version of Sunni Islam.” A 2003 report by the U.S. Commission on Religious Freedom, the world’s only government-sanctioned entity to investigate and report religious-freedom violations, named Saudi Arabia as the world’s biggest violator of religious liberties. (Berean Call, 12/2/05) The members of this group criticizing SA must not read the U.S. news. With all the attacks on Christmas, nativity scene, American flag, public prayer, national motto, and all other displays of Christianity, why is there so much concern about other nations’ religious freedom? The ACLU lives here...they are attacking us here!!! Seems like the atheist, agnostics, Wicca, and the ‘far outter’ have more freedom than the Lord’s church. —WWM

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