A Voice Crying in the Wilderness

There seems to be many people who are confused as to exactly what repentance is. The following link is a very good article that explains what repentance is and isn’t.

Biblical Repentance

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I head this great summary of the law and gospel on a recent podcast of The White Horse Inn.

The law is everything God demands. The gospel is everything God gives. And what God gives in the gospel is everything He demands in the law. White Horse Inn

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I have often heard and even used this definition of “justified:” just as if I’d never sinned. That is a pretty good definition and easy to remember. However, I recently heard an even better definition and it is just as easy to remember: just as if I’d always obeyed. When we are justified, we are clothed in Christ’s righteousness. Not only did Jesus never sin, but he always obeyed. He did always those things that please the Father. He came to do the will of the Father. He obeyed the law for me. Now that I am saved, when God looks at me, he sees His son. When He looks at me, He looks at me just as if I’d always obeyed.

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Watch the video at this link: Death is not dying. It is a very good message.

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1. Majesty

   The LORD is exalted and praised because of his majesty.

   In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. Isaiah 6:1-3

2. Misery

   When God is seen for his majesty, we see ourselves as miserable wretches.

   And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Isaiah 6:4-5

3. Mercy

   When we see our misery compared to the Lord’s majesty, God shows us mercy.

   Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged. Isaiah 6:6-7

4. Ministry

   In gratitude for God’s mercy, we volunteer for the ministry.

   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. And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed. 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. But yet in it shall be a tenth, and it shall return, and shall be eaten: as a teil tree, and as an oak, whose substance is in them, when they cast their leaves: so the holy seed shall be the substance thereof. Isaiah 6:8-13

So often we are told to be witnesses because it is our duty. After all, God commanded it and therefore we should do it. While that is true – we are commanded to go, Isaiah 6 makes it clear the motivation for going is gratitude, not guilt. When we use duty or guilt as motivators, we are just getting people to conform on the outside. When we present God’s beautiful majesty and get people to see their misery thus calling out for God’s mercy, they are being changed from the inside. When God is exalted and we are cast down, we cannot do anything but go and tell others of God’s great mercy.

God’s majesty leads to our misery leads to God’s mercy leads to our ministering to others.

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I’m no Adolph Hitler, John Wayne Gacy, Ted Bundy, or Jeffrey Dahmer, but my sins are so vile and heinous and God’s holiness is so great and his justice so supreme that the only payment acceptable for my sins was the blood of the sinless son of God.

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One of the most lamentable developments of the last several centuries has been theology’s transformation into an academic discipline more associated with the university than the church. In the earliest eras of the church, and indeed throughout the annals of Christian history, the central theologians of the church were its pastors.

These developments have caused great harm to the church, separating ministry from theology, preaching from doctrine, and Christian care from conviction. In far too many cases, the pastor’s ministry has been evacuated of serious doctrinal content, and many pastors seem to have little connection to any sense of theological vocation. All this must be reversed if the church is to remain true to God’s Word and the gospel. Unless the pastor functions as a theologian, theology is left in the hands of those who, in many cases, have little or no connection or commitment to the local church.He is Not Silent, pp.105, 106, by Al Mohler

Our doctrine is important. Our practice is based upon our doctrine. If we forget the doctrine, the practice will soon follow.

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That to tendency to isolate our sermons to one tiny piece of biblical text is a major problem, and it also explains why so much evangelical preaching is moralistic. It is easy to pick out a familiar story, make a few points from it about what people should and should not do, and then be done with it. But that kind of preaching will leave a church weak and starving, because the Christians who sit under it never find themselves in the big story of God’s work in the world. If we as preachers want to see our people growing to maturity in Christ, we must give them more than a diet of wee little morality sermons. We must place every text we preach firmly within the grand, sweeping story of the Bible.He is Not Silent, pp. 89-90, by Al Mohler

Christians are starving. We need to hear what each text of scripture says about the struggle between Satan and the seed of the woman, and how Christ has won the victory. Moral lessons don’t feed. Only Christ is the bread that feeds us.

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I wasn’t planning on posting anything on this topic because I know some who read this will take it the wrong way and completely miss the point, but last week my pastor asked me if I had heard about it, and the more I thought about it, the more I am bothered by it – but not by what you may think. First, a little background.

Pastor Jack Schaap wrote a book, Where Are We Going, in which he made comments about the King James Version and its inspiration and preservation. There was a teacher from Hyles-Anderson College (from what I have heard it was Streeter), that visited a church in Lexington, KY pastored by Jeff Fugate. This teacher made a statement to the effect of “don’t let anyone tell you the King James is inspired.” This comment along with Schaap’s book motivated Fugate to call Schaap and discuss the issue to clear up any possible misunderstanding. Fugate wasn’t satisfied with these phone calls and thus in the most recent issue of his publication, The Church Bus News, stated publicly his disagreement with Schaap. The disagreement is that Fugate believes the KJV is the inspired and preserved word of God while Schaap believes it is the preserved word of God (not inspired).

Schaap responded in an issue of his church’s publication, The Voice. In Schaap’s response, he referred to the statement of faith of another publication, The Sword of the Lord, whose editor is Shelton Smith. Smith felt like he was misrepresented by Schaap, so he wrote a letter weighing in on the issue.

Gail Riplinger, who received an honorary doctorate from Hyles-Anderson College for her work on defending the King James, decided to weigh in on the issue as well with a 75 page article. I used to be a fan of Riplinger and used to recommend her books, but I have since learned that she has twisted quotes and taken things out of context in attempts to bolster her case. She is not a trustworthy source for evidence.

However, the strangest thing in all this is the letter written by Russell Anderson who co-founded Hyles-Anderson College with Jack Hyles. He addressed his letter to Schaap, the students, faculty, and alumni of Hyles-Anderson, AND to Hyles – even though Hyles passed away 8 years ago. A large section of this letter was specifically addressed to Hyles. Anderson states in the letter he believes God has blessed Hyles-Anderson because of their teaching that the KJV was inspired and preserved. However, Hyles-Anderson was founded in 1972. In 1967, Hyles published a book on Revelation in which he corrected the King James. Also, there were students who were expelled from Hyles-Anderson in the late 70’s or early 80’s who were pushing the teaching that the KJV was inspired and preserved. It was in 1984 that Hyles switched his position to that of King James Only and even wrote in a book that an English-speaking person could not be saved unless that person heard scripture from the King James (he later softened his stance and said other translations had enough truth in them for a soul to be saved). The college was not founded with the KJVO position as Anderson portrays. Hyles was not always King James Only and neither were his friends John R. Rice or Curtis Hutson, both editors of The Sword of the Lord. (Note: providing this info is not intended as a slam on Hyles or any of the others mentioned – I am just stating the history as background info similar to what Schaap did in The Voice.)

This whole disagreement boils down to one side believes the King James is inspired and preserved whereas the other side believes it is preserved but not inspired. I would have to say that Schaap’s position is closest to the historic, orthodox position. To believe that the King James is inspired means you believe in double inspiration and that the English is the same as the Hebrew and Greek. (There are some who think the English is better than the Hebrew and Greek, but I don’t think anyone involved in this disagreement falls into that camp.) In the end, however, both sides in effect believe the same thing about the KJV: that it is the word of God and it is error-free.

So what is inspiration? Inspiration speaks of the origin of the scriptures and we see in 2 Peter 1:20-21 how the scriptures originated: it was men of old who spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. Let me give an illustration. I can draw a picture on a piece of paper. I can then take that paper and run it through a copier and get duplicates of my drawing. However, the copies were not drawn by me. Only the original was drawn. That is the same with the scriptures. The originals were inspired, but the copies just duplicated the words, not the inspiration. Inspiration only applies to the originals.

What is preservation? Preservation speaks of the transmission of the scripture from generation to generation. The originals – the actual manuscripts written by the apostles and prophets – have long since disappeared, but God has preserved those inspired words through the thousands of copies. We can rest assured that we have the exact inspired words of God as they were first recorded. God has preserved his inspired word. Does that mean the King James is inspired and preserved? Well, can things different be the same? No. English is not the same as Hebrew and Greek. For something to be preserved, it has to maintain the exact same qualities. Since English is not the same as Hebrew and Greek, it cannot be preservation. The King James is an accurate translation of the inspired, preserved word of God. Now, before you go and say something I haven’t said, when I hold in my hand my King James, I am holding the word of God. It has everything I need to grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. It does not contain errors. It is not part man’s word and part God’s. It is God’s word. It is a faithful and accurate translation of the originals.

So what bothers me the most about this whole situation which really boils down to a shouting match about semantics? Part of it is how I will be treated for writing the preceding paragraph. Some will focus on those two or three sentences I just wrote and miss the big picture. I will no doubt be castigated by some for saying the King James is not inspired and preserved. I will be portrayed as a liberal bible corrector or something similar. Some will say I don’t believe my bible. Some will say I am on a slippery slope to all things liberal and apostasy and that I will lose my children to the devil. All of that couldn’t be farther from the truth. I love my bible. I read, study, and meditate upon it everyday. I try to teach it to my children. The teaching that the KJV is inspired and preserved is a more recent development. There have been plenty of godly men and women who believed the KJV was a faithful and accurate translation of the word of God.

This whole situation is a perfect example of a major problem with those who have involved themselves in it. Jack Schaap is being castigated for his more orthodox position on the King James, but his extremely unorthodox, if not heretical, positions on other things raised nary a peep from these others, much less a letter or special issue of a publication to call him on the carpet and bring his teachings back in line with orthodoxy. He has several books where he presented unorthodox teachings. In Divine Intimacy, he put forth the idea that the Lord’s supper is akin to sexual intercourse between a husband and a wife, and he attributed the slang sexual meanings to the words “laid” and “stuck” in a couple verses from Psalms. In another book/sermon, he portrayed God as an old man that his church could wear out and force to call the rapture because they were making God work too hard. He also put forth a fantasy dialog between Jesus Christ and God the Father where the crucifixion was the result of things not going so well when Jesus came to earth and Jesus was angry and wanted to send everyone to Hell. Did we hear anything about these unorthodox (and dare I say heretical) teachings in The Church Bus News or The Sword of the Lord? I don’t recall seeing anything. Did we see these pastors writing letters and making phone calls to correct Schaap? No. And that is what bothers me. If you say the KJV is the inspired, preserved word of God, you get a free pass to teach unorthodox things, but once you deny the KJV is inspired and/or preserved, you get thrown under the bus.

These things ought not to be so. While there are some who do not believe this, the teachings (the doctrines) of the word of God are what is important (I’m currently working on a post dealing with the importance of right doctrine). If a man believes the KJV is the inspired and preserved word of God but doesn’t teach the contents of the book correctly, shouldn’t that cause more of an uproar? Aren’t we commanded in scripture to mark false teachers? Aren’t we commanded to prove all things and to earnestly contend for the faith? Weren’t the Bereans commended for searching the scriptures to see if what was preached was true? It’s time we stood up for orthodoxy and separated from false teachers.

Some may argue the teachings of another church are none of our business. However, we are told to earnestly contend for the faith. The letters to the seven churches in Revelation are recorded for all to read (making their business our business). Plus, Hyles-Anderson College is training pastors and missionaries who come into our churches to preach. Are you willing to stick your head in the ground and let future generations be misled by unorthodox teachings? It is our business.

As I said earlier, it won’t be long before I’m thrown under the bus for saying the King James is a faithful and accurate translation of the preserved and inspired word of God rather than being inspired and preserved. I used to say that the King James was inspired and preserved, but the scriptures and evidence have changed my mind. If you think I am wrong, then show me your arguments and let us reason together. Don’t just blast me and throw me under the bus.

Let us hold accountable those who are unorthodox and heretical. Don’t give them a free pass just because they say the KJV is inspired and preserved. Contend for the faith.

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I am reading He is not Silent by Albert Mohler and found this great quote on pages 25-26 from A.W. Tozer:

It is now common practice in most evangelical churches to offer the people, especially the young people, a maximum of entertainment and a minimum of serious instruction. It is scarcely possible in most places to get anyone to attend meeting where the only attraction is God. One can only conclude that God’s professed children are bored with Him, for they must be wooed to meeting with a stick of striped candy in the form of religious movies, games and refreshments.

This has influenced the whole pattern of church life, and even brought into being a new type of church architecture designed to house the golden calf.

So we have the strange anomaly of orthodoxy in creed and heterodoxy in practice. The striped-candy technique has been so fully integrated into our present religious thinking that it is simply taken for granted. Its victims never dream that it is not a part of the teachings of Christ and His apostles.

Any objection to the carryings-on of our present golden calf Christianity is met with the triumphant reply, “But we are winning them!” And winning them to what? To true discipleship? To cross-carrying? To self-denial? To separation from the world? To crucifixion of the flesh? To holy living? To nobility of character? To a despising of the world’s treasures? To hard self-discipline? To love for God? To total committal to Christ? Of course, the answer to all these questions is “no.”

Our churches today no longer have faith in the power of the gospel. We have to rely on programs and promotions, gimmicks and games. And when those programs and promotions are over, where are those who were attracted by them? They’ve moved on to the next church who is having a promotion or giveaway.

May God help us!

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