Beware of Sheep Imitations!

In our present day when, ostensibly, it is quite a simple matter to become in the vernacular of the evangelical church, “saved” as simply as “A,B,C”, i.e. “Accept”, “Believe”, and “Confess”, I have become very concerned about such formulaic presentations especially in light of our Lord’s words to His contemporaries when He stated quite emphatically,

“"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'”

There are a lot of wonderful passages in Scripture that many pastors will never touch on, and this is surely one of the more prominent ones of this group. There are undoubtedly many reasons for this, but in a time in which the “seeker sensitive” movement has taken over in many quarters there is little point in hearing from the pulpit, if there is actually one in place, that all those wonderfully converted saints may really not be saints after all. Of course that’s not really their fault because they did follow through with the “raised hand, walked aisle, and sinner’s prayer” formula, and shortly thereafter were welcomed into the family of God as if “what they did .. did it!!” The fact of the matter is, however, that from the Scriptural point of view, absolutely nothing of what they or we do in terms of salvation has anything whatever to do with our salvation. That’s why we read that salvation is “…by grace alone”. Most churches that I have looked into do in fact affirm this very essential truth, yet so many of them go on speaking about the new birth as if men were and are very much a part of it coming to pass. Often the wording of church statements of faith include such affirmations, to wit, “…when the unregenerate receives Christ for salvation, then they are born again.” they are In other words, men who are spiritually dead do nonetheless have the capacity to “make a decision” that results in their own regeneration. This would be interesting and downright miraculous if it were true, but it is not. Yet this is precisely the evangelistic message that is proclaimed far and wide every day. Every time a church holds evangelistic services; every time a major crusade is conducted men are told that in the doing of such and such, they will be saved. And what happens usually follows a scenario similar to this – a gospel message is proclaimed; people are invited to come forward to “receive Christ as personal Savior” – nowhere is this to be found in Scripture; the choir sings [often] “Just as I am”; counselors gather and hand out literature and pray with those who’ve walked the aisle. And when all is concluded, the “new convert” is welcomed into the family of God and given further instructions. Are any saved? Yes, I believe that God in His Sovereign mercy does save some. What of the others? That’s hard to say, but once the emotion of the moment has worn off, so does the sense of being saved or of having had some wonderful new experience.

Recently I re-read a tremendous little book that has been in my library for over twenty years. The book is entitled, “Today’s Gospel: Authentic or Synthetic” by pastor Walter Chantry. It’s less than one hundred pages in length. In it he tackles the whole matter of preaching the gospel and uses as his base text the account in Mark 10 of the rich young ruler coming to Jesus for the express purpose of “inheriting eternal life”. It’s a classic account of what the church today would look upon as being a “seeker” coming to Christ. Beyond that however, it would appear that the Son of God in His meeting with this “ripe candidate” for salvation, actually blows the whole encounter. From the standpoint of “Salvation 101”, Jesus does everything wrong. Right from the getgo when the man comes to the Master and pays Him a great compliment, Jesus shoots him down. And then instead of getting on with the four spiritual laws, He starts quizzing the man on whether or not he had been successful in keeping the commandments. For the average student of evangelism the whole account must seem like a real exercise in futility. Every modern day rule of evangelism is seriously maligned so that in the final scene in this little drama, the man goes away in great sorrow not saved after all.

For most evangelicals the reason for his not being saved is simple – he didn’t “do” what he was told to do, and hence Jesus couldn’t save him. But is that really the crux of the matter? Was Jesus rendered helpless in light of the man’s will, or lack thereof, in complying with Jesus’ instructions? It does seem that way as we consider all that transpired but surely we must ask and seek an answer to the man’s supposed inability to reach the goal for which he had made this overture in the first place. The Scriptural fact of the matter is – no man, woman, child, young or old person of any tribe or people can be saved unless something rather miraculous takes place within and that is the work alone of God through His Holy Spirit. Unless and until man turns completely from his sin and bows to Jesus Christ alone for his salvation he cannot have eternal life. Jesus here put His finger on one all important fact of this man’s life, the man’s sin. He was still married to his god, his gold. He wouldn’t give it up. Dare we say that though this fellow had stated emphatically that the commandments that Jesus had named and that needed his obedience, there were in fact others there that had received little if any obedience at all? The gold had become for him an idol; to get and keep so much of life’s riches he was ever in a state of covetousness. This was his heart attitude and Jesus knew it. And He called on the man to give it up; to turn completely about face from it. But his heart, his nature would not allow it. With respect to those commandments that he had given lip service to for his whole life, he felt fine. But with his heart attitude toward his real ‘god’ there was no change. He loved it still. He could not give it up – even for eternal life. Unless God by way of His Holy Spirit wrought a new life within the man, there was no way that he could change.

And that is not the “evangelism” of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Do you see what Jesus did here? The Master defined sin and in doing so made it abundantly clear to this young man that in and of himself there was nothing he could do to rid himself of it. To gain eternal life we must obey; our whole lives must be lives of obedience. Our evangelism today is very simple: “Accept God’s free gift; Believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died for sinners; Confess your sinfulness”. This is how we end up with sheep imitations. The truth is not in them, because they haven’t had the truth delivered to them. To become a follower of Jesus Christ one must make a complete, total and unequivocal turn from the life that he or she has lived and so dearly loved. From that point on they must walk in a new life of obedience and that will not, though it is frequently claimed otherwise, be easy. That’s why Jesus spoke so strongly of the cost of being His disciple. This life could and frequently does, cost everything. It is not simply a matter of being added to a long roster of “new converts”. It’s a matter of having now, residing within, the life of Jesus Christ and living that life before a watching world that hates Christ. Yes, that’s a cost. This is not simply an outward “confession”, it is an inner reality that God must originate in the hearts of men who hate Him and until that happens all the confessions and tears and prayers of contrition will not amount to the proverbial hill of beans.

Until men come to the realization that they must come to the cross having offended a thrice Holy God and there in total repentance of the lives that they’ve lived, beg for mercy, they will not be saved. Yet countless thousands make the empty profession every year without an inkling of the sin that is theirs, and one day will stand before God proclaiming all their “good” in vain only to hear those words, “…depart from me, I never knew you”. The number of sheep imitations on that day will be staggering. And so many of them will have come from having made their earthly “professions” in situations such as the illustration below. Watch it carefully and learn from it.

At the risk of sounding a mite harsh I will say only this – this is an heretical and soul destroying practice that comes out of a system that in reality thinks very little of God. It is a system that does not preach the law, so men don’t know how or why they have offended God. This is a practice that does not call for repentance. This is a system that waters down the gospel to the mere offering of Christ and salvation “as a gift” and never mentions that we must bow to Christ’s rule and bear a cross. Men might be deeply affected by truth and never be converted. They end up in quite illustrious company for even the devils believe, and they tremble.

A Special Gift from God

As one not ordinarily given to tears I was deeply moved by this video which I found on a friend's blog, and was constrained to add it here. As others have said, there's not much that can be added. Suffice it to say that the young couple that had this wonderful little boy know well the Sovereign workings of our Heavenly Father.

The Love of God

There are times in all of our lives, especially those of us who are children of God, when we need some uplifting whether through some good thing a friend or relative does for us; through the preaching of the Word of God in solid expositional style; and yes, sometimes through the music that we hear which brings naught but praise to our Heavenly Father and His Son the Lord Jesus. There is not a great deal of this kind of music available in the church of our day. Recently we were greatly blessed through the music of a Welsh singer that we came by quite by accident [are there ever accidents ?] on the net. The man’s name is quite unusual, and his music is quite extraordinary. We have made this available to many of our friends, especially to those of Welsh background. But your background is unimportant in the consideration of the words of this beautiful hymn, “Here is Love Vast as the Ocean”. I know all who hear it will be as warmly blessed as we have been.

First Church of Warm Felicitations a.k.a. The Cathedral of Man

For some time now, as perhaps evidenced by my previous posting, I have been extremely concerned by the very inept approach that the professing evangelical church of our present day is making in going about in their words, “doing church”. Today’s ecclesiology has been more accurately described as a palace of entertainment designed to cause adherents to be comfortable and satisfied. Its erstwhile priorities of edifying the saints so that they might be more able to present Christ before a watching and a dying world has somehow lost the impact that was once thought to be so vital. When I came across the video in the last post of a man dying of cancer, yet seeking to know how he might know the forgiveness of God for his life he received only the pitiful words of a bedside counselor, “...well it’s up to each one of us to determine what God desires of us” or words to that effect. Wisely the man in the hospital bed shot back that no it was not; he was not seeking postmodern nonsense with respect to an airy-fairy religion that presented more new age idiocy than straightforward truth. He was desperately seeking an answer based on authority. And it was not there for him so he screamed at his inadequate counselor, “Get out”!

Surely one has to wonder why this is happening. Why is it that men are not able to present answers to the dying. Why is it that when situations like this arise the response from those who are supposed have the best interests of others at heart amount to nothing ... absolutely nothing that holds any comfort whatsoever?

The church as it is rather lightly referred to is not sure today in an age that has virtually every answer at its finger tips through more media than our fathers and grandfathers ever thought possible, what it should be proclaiming. I have personally been in touch with literally thousands of Christian churches world wide over the past few years and a very large percentage of them are seeking leaders that will in their words “take them to the next level”; or provide them with the necessary direction to reach their communities for Christ. And they almost all without hesitation describe such leadership in terms of good and solid and faithful expositors of the Word. Yet deep down that is not really what they are seeking at all. What they really want are men who will enable them to fill the churches ostensibly of the unsaved and then, bottom line, entertain them. Perhaps, just perhaps, the Bible will be alluded to, but as long as their clothing is casual enough, and the praise band is loud enough and the lights are attractive enough to “set the stage”, well, that’s really all that’s important.

Now, are we intimating that the message is not important? Of course not. Just don’t let it be too serious, or overwhelming with respect to doctrinal truth. And whatever else happens, make sure – if sin is mentioned at all – that the gravity of it is lessened so men don’t get too discouraged with life. Most of all, make sure that men are told that God wants them to be victorious; and that God wants them to have all the best things in life; and that God does not want them sick or without all the good things that He has and is making available for them.

Now, am I kidding about all of this? Not at all. And one of the most “successful” churches in North America provides ample evidence that this is very much the case. If, and I say IF with as much impact as I can muster, the gauge for success in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ is numbers, and peppy personnel, and bigness by the shovelful, then this church in Texas is without doubt the most successful on the face of the earth. But, if the sound preaching of the Truth holds absolute priority seeing men saved and changed by the power of the Holy Spirit into the likeness of the Lord Jesus, then ... well, perhaps you should decide. Here’s a brief video of this church and its youthful pastor. Listen carefully to what he says and then ask – is this what the Word of God really says?

What do you say?

I recently found this brief clip from a well known TV series on a friends blog. It's very poignant as it asks the ultimate question, "How can I know forgiveness?" In a situation like this, Christians must have an answer. The postmodern church, right now, is not even trying to meet men at the point of their most fundamental need, a right relationship with their Creator through the person and work of Jesus Christ. So, when men ask this question of us, how shall we answer?

Revival Hymn

Dear Brethren in Christ: A great many in the body of Christ today are coming, albeit slowly, to the realization that there is something wrong amongst those of us who have been for many decades called "evangelicals". The problem is - the clear preaching of the Word is lacking in churches quite literally around the globe. What we need has been well stated in its own way in this video:

"Have you heard the one about ... ?"

Over the past few years as my wife and I have sought God’s direction back to full time pastoral ministry I have visited quite literally thousands of church web pages of just about every stripe there is in our present day. Of course too I have seen church postings for pastors and church staff by the same literal thousands so that as I sit here today wondering what on earth is going on in the church of the twenty first century I often think to myself that I have seen everything there is to see in this regard. That is until just the other day when I opened up a well known web page devoted to helping pastors and churches get together for mutual ministry, and there listed under openings for “Senior Pastor”, I came across the following wording, and this is a direct quote:

“pastor-comedian
Senior Pastor
The Comedy Hour
23165 north western
Edmond, OK”

The posting then went into brief detail about the newly forming church; what they have and what they are looking for, in their words: “We have many ideas God has put on our hearts, would like to hear about yours and see if we feel like a match to grow God’s Kingdom together.”

These words sound good and have been repeated in a great many such postings, but as I read them I kept coming back to the words at the top of the page, “pastor-comedian” and wondered if in fact there had been some kind of “typo” by whoever placed the posting on the net. So I read on and under the word Organization found this:

“Developing new age church. The idea is to use humor and comedy to bring people to Christ. With the right Pastor we plan on becoming a rapidly growing mega church soon.”

Perhaps the most revealing part of this posting, albeit the shortest, was under the "Job Requirements" section.  Ordinarily a church is looking for a certain amount of previous experience or a particular level of education.  Not so in this case.  These are precisely the words that this church inserted as to what they expected from their new pastor:

"Must be very funny!!"

Fascinating. Perhaps somewhere along the line we can hear on Sunday mornings an announcer (you know a deacon or an elder with a little moxie) introduce the pastor from the sidelines with the words, “And now, for your worship entertainment, education and elucidation, he- e – e - re’s Pastor Johnny ...!!”

Pastor Johnny would then run up to his plastic pulpit with the morning’s “Praise Team” singing and the band playing at full tilt something like “When the Saints Come Marching In!”. The opening monologue would be filled with great humor and of course to keep in line with the occasion (Sunday morning worship and all that), there would be a good share of St. Peter and the Pearly Gates jokes. Of course the introducing deacon would stand by just to provide a little straight man stuff. I would suppose, and of course I could be wrong, but somewhere along the line the Bible just might be opened or at least alluded to for the sake of keeping up with the church’s stated purpose of “...bring(ing) people to Christ”. Comedy is just there to “attract un-churched Harry” into the service and once they’ve got him there and all full of mirth and merriment then the gospel will be preached and Harry will get saved. Maybe.

Boy, I’ll bet if the Apostles and all those dowdy old church leaders down through the ages had gone at their evangelistic efforts with a little more of this style, their churches would have been even fuller than they were. Oh well you’ve got to move with the times and get people with whatever devices are available to you.

I wonder if they’ll expect their new pastor to smile broadly at the conclusion of the “service”, wave his hand and sing out, “Th ... tha...that’s all folks!” Nobody’s going to have this guy for Sunday lunch.   They'll be too busy laughing.