Ecumenical Excuses For Unequal Yokes
by Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980)
Nine
Ecumenical Excuses for Unequal Yokes ...
1.
Parable of the Tares: "Leave Them Alone Till Harvest."
2. "But Love the Modernists as Christian
Brothers."
3. The Great Success of the Compromise
Proves God Is for It.
4. "Fundamentalists Are Jealous, Envious
Pharisees."
5. "Touch Not Mine Anointed."
6. Gamaliel's Advice, "If Not of God, It
Will Come to Nought."
7. "Judge Not, That Ye Be Not Judged."
8. "The Holy Spirit Will Take Care of
the Converts When They Are Sent to Modernistic Churches."
9. "Sinners Will Be Turned Away From
Christ by Christians' Disagreeing."
This will be a Bible message expounding
Scriptures. So the proper thing for an honest Christian to do is to read
carefully and critically, see if the Scriptures are quoted correctly, see if
they are explained honestly.
There is a group of Christians in America who
call themselves "New Evangelicals." Dr. Harold Ockenga of Boston says he
coined the term. Christian Life magazine, Christian Today,
Fuller Seminary and Dr. Billy Graham are, we suppose, the principal
exponents of the "New Evangelicalism."
The term means that they have invented a new
kind of evangelicalism which is not so offensive to the enemies of Christ
and the Bible, and so they hope to avoid much of the reproach which came to
old-time fundamentalists or old-time evangelicals as they defended the
historic Christian faith. The New Evangelicals are for Bible believers'
staying in the denominations controlled by modernists, joining in
ministerial associations on an equal with those who deny the faith and with
Catholics and with false cults, and uniting with modernists and neo-orthodox
people and false cults in revival campaigns, etc.
Now the Bible has many clear statements
forbidding Christians' having spiritual fellowship or ties with unconverted
people.
"Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in
the seat of the scornful." - Ps. 1:1.
"And have no fellowship with the unfruitful
works of darkness, but rather reprove them." - Eph. 5:11.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with
unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hat Christ
with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what
agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the
living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I
will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean
thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall
be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." - 2nd Corinthians
6:14-18.
"Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in
the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of
Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and
bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him
God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."
- II John 9-11.
So what do our "New Evangelical" friends do?
they take other Scriptures and try to cancel out these plain commands of
God! They attack the character and motives of anybody who defends the faith
and opposes modernistic unbelief and yoking up with unbelievers! They try to
show that God is blessing their compromise so much that we must have
misunderstood the Scriptures!
Here we will try to mention the principal
excuses made by these ecumenical friends for disobeying the command of God
in yoking up with unbelievers in local churches, in denominations, in
ministerial associations, in revival campaigns, and in Christian magazines,
speaking in the Chicago Sunday Evening Club, writing in the Christian
Century, etc.
1. They
Argue That Jesus Said in the Parable of the Tares, "Let Both Grow Together
Until the Harvest"
Dr. Billy Graham in the Baptist Standard
of Texas and elsewhere set the pattern by saying that the parable of the
tares indicated that Jesus wanted both modernists and fundamentalists to go
together in the churches. Many others have copied that false teaching.
Jesus explained the parable of the tares:
"The field is the world; the good seed are
the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked
one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the
world; and the reapers are the angels." - Matt. 13:38,39.
And Jesus in telling the parable said that the
servants of the man who owned the field said unto him:
"Wilt thou then that we go and gather them
up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the
wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time
of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares,
and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn."
- Matt 13:28-30.
So Dr. Graham and others who fellowship with
unbelievers and unconverted churchmen interpret that to mean that Jesus
wants both modernists and fundamentalists to grow together in the church,
infidels and Christians, and we are to make no protest against modernism.
But notice how Jesus explained the parable.
"The field is the world," not the church. We are not to kill modernists and
get them out of this world. Leave that to the angels of God. But these
"children of the wicked one" are not supposed to be in the churches. Not a
single Scripture justifies taking one into a church except on the basis of
personal faith in Christ as Saviour according to the historic Christian
faith. In Galatians 1:8 and 9 anyone who brings a different Gospel is to be
accursed. In II John, verses 9-11, we are plainly forbidden to receive such
a person in our houses or pulpits or to bid them Godspeed.
Leave the infidels in the world? Yes. We should
not set out to kill them. Leave that to the harvest time. But should we call
infidels Christians? Of course not! No honest interpretation of Scripture
can make Jesus teach that Christians and infidels are the same and should be
bound up together in the same churches.
2. "The New Testament Has more
Emphasis on Love Than on Separation"
So Dr. Graham writes in a printed letter widely
scattered which he says is "not to be published."
Now let us say frankly that brotherly love is
taught throughout the Bible; and that of faith, hope and love, the greatest
of these is love. But is it honest and right to use love as an excuse for
disobeying the plain command of Scriptures? This is an old device of Satan
by which he has led many, many people into sin and compromise.
The father who whips his children and makes
them mind doesn't love them like he ought! The preacher who preaches on Hell
and judgment is simply mean; he doesn't love people as he ought! The death
penalty for murder is uncivilized: we are supposed to love the murderers and
rapists and turn them loose! So say those who love modernists so much, but
not fundamentalists.
And so our "New Evangelicals" reason that we
ought to love the modernists, pat them on the back, call on them to lead in
prayer, tell them they are good Christians while they spit on the Bible and
step on the blood of Christ!
But the Bible has a very clear word about this.
"Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that
which is good" (Rom. 12:9). Why be a hypocrite about love?
What would you think about the sincerity of a
man who would insist that he loves his wife just like Christ loved the
church, and that he loves a harlot just as much as his wife! What would you
think of the sincerity of a man who would solemnly affirm his holy zeal for
old-time Americanism, if he would say that he is just as strong from
communism?
No, there are some things that are opposite. If
you cleave to that which is good, you must abhor that which is evil.
Otherwise, love is pretended, with "dissimulation." The man who loves corn
hates weeds. In raising cattle in West Texas, the men who loved their cattle
hated the screwworms, the ticks, the Texas fever which were enemies of the
cattle. A man who is for Heaven is against Hell. A man who is for the Bible
is against the enemies of the Bible. The man who is for the historic
Christian faith is against infidelity. It is insincere hypocrisy to pretend
otherwise.
The Scripture warns, "He that spareth his rod
hateth his son: but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes" (Proverb
13:24). Faithful love deals with sin and harm among those we love. With a
true surgeon, love will cause him to cut out the cancer which threatens the
life of his patient. With the true preacher of the Gospel, love will cause
him to warn people against sin. And Jesus said, "The friendship of the world
is enmity with God" (Jas. 4:4).
The kind of love that causes people to ignore
the plain commands of Jesus Christ on separation from unbelievers is a fake
kind of love. No good Christian ought ever be guilty of using that kind of
an argument to get people to do wrong.
I believe that the right kind of love for the
late Bishop Pike, the infidel Episcopal bishop of San Francisco, would have
been to solemnly warn him that he needed to be born again, that
Christ-rejecters wake up in Hell. He is no true friend of an infidel who
pats him on the back, calls him a good Christian, asks him to lead in
prayer, says he is all right just as he is, and turns over inquirers to him
to ruin their faith. To put love against Christ and His commands and against
duty is wrong.
3. God's
Blessings in Great Crowds, Popularity, Inquirers, Newspaper Coverage Prove
the Compromisers Are Pleasing God, We Are Told
Let us say, first of all, that we thank God for
every soul saved under anybody's ministry. Many are saved under the ministry
of Oral Roberts, though we think some of his doctrine is wrong and his
healing services deceive many, and do harm. But we are glad for every soul
he wins to Christ.
I was astonished when one man told me how in a
movie theater he saw "The King of Kings" and was converted to Christ by it!
I praise God for his conversion, though I am against the commercial
Hollywood movies.
When Chuck Templeton worked with the National
Council of Churches, he got some people saved before he quit the ministry,
divorced his wife and gave up his Christian testimony. I am glad he got some
people saved.
Dr. Billy Graham has preached the Gospel to
many and we believe many have been saved under his ministry. That does not
mean that God is for all the methods he uses, all the quotations he gives
from Karl Barth, Elton Trueblood, Reinhold Niebuhr, Albert Schweitzer, and
other unbelievers. That does not mean that God favored his friendship and
fellowship with Bishop Pike, with Henry Van Dusen, and with other people who
do not believe the Bible and who are against the historic Christian faith.
However, I rejoice that the Gospel is preached
and I am glad for every should that is saved. I wish there were many more.
But do the crowds, the popularity, and the
"inquirers" (of course, not all of them saved, only a fraction of them claim
to be) prove that God is for Dr. Graham's compromise? No. Bigness does not
prove the blessing of God.
If so, when the Catholics gather in Soldier's
Field, Chicago, by the thousands, that would prove God blesses them more
than Protestants. when Jehovah's Witnesses annually overrun Yankee Stadium
in New York, that would prove that they are better Christians than Bible
believers. The National Council of Churches has more big names and more
promotion and publicity than Bible-believing bodies, but that does not prove
God has approved them. The Chicago Tribune has a great deal more
circulation than THE SWORD OF THE LORD, but I do not believe that proves God
is better pleased with The Chicago Tribune than with THE SWORD OF THE
LORD.
But if every person who comes forward as an
inquirer were saved, that still would not make it right to disobey the plain
command of God. Peter preached a great sermon at Pentecost and had three
thousand saved and was a great soul winner. Still Paul needed to face him
openly and publicly rebuke him for his compromise, as we learn in Galatians
2:11-14. Nobody gets so big and popular and famous that he has a right to
disobey the Bible. And nobody is so God-like that any humble Christian does
not have a right to call attention to what the Bible says about yoking up
with unbelievers.
4. But Fundamentalists Are Called
"Jealous, Envious, Critical Pharisees"
Suppose we poor fundamentalists admit that we
are frail and weak as all other mortals are. Suppose instead of defending
ourselves, we leave it to the Lord to defend us in His won way. He knows how
I used $10,000 worth of space boosting Dr. Graham and defending him back in
the days when Moody Monthly, Sunday School Times and Southern Baptist
papers were not for him (neither were the modernists). God knows how
fervently I have prayed day after day for many years for Dr. Billy Graham. I
prayed for Dr. Charles E. Fuller and now pray still for some others who say
that "God has bypassed the fundamentalists" and the fundamentalists are
"Pharisees," that we are "envious and jealous" and that we "do not care
about people being saved." I leave God to answer that.
God knows how Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., invited Dr.
Graham to Bob Jones University and gave him an honorary degree and helped
him in every way possible.
But just suppose that all of us fundamentalists
are very sorry. Isn't it still right to obey the Bible? Suppose THE SWORD OF
THE LORD'S defense of the faith is just because we are Pharisees and
hypocrites. Would it still not be right to obey what the Bible commands
against yoking up with unbelievers? Would one still not be blessed if he
"walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of
sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful" as Psalm 1:1 promises?
Would a Christian still not be warned against receiving one into his house
or bidding him Godspeed who does not abide in the truth about Jesus Christ
as given in the Bible? It is an old, old trick of shyster lawyers when they
have a poor case to try to discredit the witness who gives the facts.
But when New Evangelicals get everybody to hate
fundamentalists and get everybody to agree that all of us fundamentalists
are hypocrites and Pharisees and jealous and envious and that we don't love
sinners, then God's commands will still be in the Bible that it is wrong to
break down the division between saved and lost, wrong to call a goat a
sheep, wrong to call an infidel a Christian, wrong to yoke up with
unbelievers.
Those who accuse fundamentalists of being
Pharisees and jealous and envious often call our attention to Luke 9:49,50
and Mark 9:38 and 39. The latter says,
"And John answered him, saying, Master, we
saw one casting out devils in thy name, and he followeth not us: and we
forbade him, because he followeth not us. But Jesus said, Forbid him not:
for there is no man which shall do a miracle in my name, that can lightly
speak evil of me."
And so they hint that we fundamentalists would
forbid all the ecumenical evangelists from casting out devils. On the
contrary, I do not know a single fundamental man but is glad for drunkards
to be converted and infidels to be turned into believers. And I do not know
any fundamentalist who ever criticized Billy Graham for getting somebody
saved. Certainly I do not. And I would rejoice if he would cast out devils
instead of having them sit on the platform and lead in prayer. And I am not
being facetious nor playing on words either because in John 8:44 Jesus said
to the unconverted religious people, "Ye are of your father the devil." And
again He said to them, "Ye do the deeds of your father" (John 8:41).
I have never known of a modernist who got saved
by having him on the platform to lead in prayer, by calling him bother, by
turning over innocent young inquirers for him to wreck their faith. One
doesn't get a drunkard converted by drinking with him, nor get a
Christ-rejecting modernist saved by calling him a Christian.
5. "Touch Not Mine Anointed," We Are
Reminded
One of the blessed Bible truths is that God
takes care of His anointed preachers. So compromisers say that we should
never criticize any man whom God uses. Two Scriptures are pertinent. In
Psalm 105, verses 14 and 15, God speaks of the time when the children of
Israel were in Egypt and He said: "He suffered no man to do them wrong:
year, he reproved kings for their sakes; Saying, Touch not mine anointed,
and do my prophets no harm."
Yes, God takes care of His own. He reproved
Pharaoh who would have killed Moses and Aaron and so with the kings of
Amalek and Midian and kings in Canaan. To these He said, "Touch not mine
anointed, and do my prophets no harm." Kings ought not to kill God's
prophets.
But does that mean now that a prophet is not to
be subject to the Scriptures? Certainly not! Does that mean that Paul was
wrong to reprove Peter openly when he compromised, as we read in Galatians
2:11-14? Was Paul wrong to say, "Demas hat forsaken me, having loved this
present world ... " (II Tim 4:10)? Was he wrong to name Phygellus and
Hermogenes as having turned away from him (II Tim. 1:15)? It is not proper
to wrest one Scripture to try to make it contradict another Scripture, or to
cancel the meaning of one Scripture by misuse of another Scripture.
Again, the term "the Lord's anointed" is used
in I Samuel 24:6. David, pursued by Saul, had a chance to kill that king but
did not. "And he said unto his men, The Lord forbid that I should do this
thing unto my master, the Lord's anointed, to stretch forth mine hand
against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord."
And again in verses 10 and 11 we read:
"Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how
that the Lord had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some
bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put
forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the Lord's anointed. Moreover, my
father, see, year, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut
off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there
is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned
against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it."
David was right not to kill Saul. That would
have been murder. Second, God put Saul in the kingship and only God had a
right to take him out.
But David did soundly rebuke King Saul for his
sin, as he should have. He said, "For in that I cut off the skirt of thy
robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor
transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou
huntest my soul to take it." And then he said, "The Lord judge between me
and thee, and the Lord avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon
thee." So although David would not kill King Saul, he did rebuke his sin. So
Christians ought to do today when another Christian sins.
6.
Gamaliel's Argument, "Let Them Alone: for if This Counsel or This Work Be of
Men, It Will Come to Nought"
Gamaliel was an unconverted Pharisee. God used
him to deliver Peter and John from death. But that wise man said a foolish
thing which many Christians quote as gospel truth. He advised the Jewish
rulers not to kill Peter and John who had been preaching. He said:
"And now I say unto you, Refrain from these
men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will
come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye
be found even to fight against God." - Acts 5:38,39.
The Bible only quotes Gamaliel; it does not
approve his statement.
So people say that it is none of our business
to rebuke sin, to expose modernism. We should leave that to God to attend
to. They say if the work be of God, it will grow; if it is not of God, it
will fail. But when they quote Gamaliel they are quoting an unsaved man, not
what God Himself says.
It is not true that if a work be not of God,
"it will come to nought." The Christian Science movement is not of God, but
it has not come to nought. The Jehovah's Witnesses movement is not of God,
but it has not come to nought. So with Mohammedanism and Romanism and
Spiritism. So with the liquor business, so with lewd literature. It is a
foolish and unscriptural idea that we are to leave things alone and if there
is anything wrong with them, then they will come to nought of themselves.
This idea that the truth should never be
defended and a wrong should never be attacked is wholly different from the
plain teaching of the Bible.
The Lord Jesus commanded us to "beware of false
prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves" (Matt. 7:15). Young Timothy was commanded, "Them that sin
rebuke before all, that others also may fear" (I Tim. 5:20). Paul was
inspired to write Titus about some "vain talkers and deceivers, specially
they of the circumcision ... Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be
sound in the faith" (Titus 1:10,13). And Jude 3 tells us that "Ye should
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints."
Some follow Gamaliel, but it would be far better if they would follow the
Bible.
7. We Are Reminded That Jesus Said,
"Judge Not, That Ye Be Not Judged"
Yes, here is a clear statement by the Lord
Jesus, and it is important. I have written in detail about this in a chapter
in The Ruin of a Christian. Here Jesus says there are certain reasons
why we are not to judge others. For one thing, we will be judged with the
same judgment. It will be measured to us with the same measure. Jesus says
that sometimes we see a mote in the brother's eye when we have a beam or
plank in our own eye.
And here it seems clear God is speaking about
judgment of the heart and motives of a man. And we are told elsewhere. "For
man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (I
Sam. 16:7). I cannot tell who is saved and who is lost by watching their
actions, because I cannot see their hearts. The other apostles thought Judas
was a Christian, no doubt, but he was not. On the other hand, some very
probably thought that Pere, when he cursed and swore and denied Jesus and
quit the ministry, was probably unsaved. As far as judging motives and the
state of the heart, we are commanded, "Judge not, that ye be not judged."
However, in the same chapter the Lord tells us
that there are some people we can judge because of certain outward fruits.
He said, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing,
but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits
... " (vs. 15,16).
When a man says, or in a book writes, that he
does not believe in the virgin birth of Christ, in His deity, His
resurrection, His blood atonement, then we know that man is not saved,
according to John 8:23,24, and II John, verse 9.
There are certain fruits by which we can know
that a man is not saved. Not drunkenness, for Noah and Lot and other
Christians have been drunk. Not murder nor adultery, for David and other
Christians have been guilty of those sins. But one who does not accept
Christ as what He claims to be, cannot trust Him as a Saviour. So when a
man's fruit is open antagonism to the Christian faith, rejection of Christ
and the Bible, he is not saved. And on this matter of certain outward fruits
in doctrine we can judge whether a man is a believer in Christ or a false
prophet. And I have a right and duty not only to judge false prophets but to
expose them.
But the Scripture also teaches clearly that
there are some matters of Christian action which we are to judge by the
Bible. In I Corinthians 6:1-3 Paul was inspired to write:
"Dare any of you, having a matter against
another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? Do ye not
know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged
by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we
shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?"
And in verse 4 he says that we should "set
them to judge who are least esteemed in the church." In verse 5 he says,
"Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall
be able to judge between his brethren?"
So on matters of action, right and wrong, where
the facts are clear, Christians can and are required to judge. We cannot
judge the heart but we can judge actions by the Word of God.
In fact, in the preceding chapter, in speaking
about the man who lived in sin with his stepmother, Paul said, "I verily ...
have judged already," and told them to expel the offender (I Cor. 5:3-5).
And then God inspired Paul to lay down certain rules about fellowship and
judging or putting away from our fellowship other Christians (I Cor.
5:11-13).
Was Paul wrong to face Peter openly at Corinth
when he was leading Barnabas and others astray by dissimulation, refusing to
eat with Gentile converts in order to please the Judaizers (Gal. 2:11-14)?
No. Concerning people's hearts, we cannot judge and we should be very
careful about our opinions, because we want people to be charitable to us,
too, about the matters they cannot know and cannot see in our hearts. But
about right and wrong, as clearly commanded in the Bible, we have a right to
speak, and we have a right to require in Christian fellowship the very
things that God requires.
So no preacher is judging heart or disobeying
the Scripture when he obeys the plain command to "preach the word; be
instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine" (II Tim. 4:2).
8. "The
Holy Spirit Will Take Care of Converts Whom We Send to Modernistic Churches"
People who excuse themselves for running with
unbelievers and encouraging other young converts or inquirers to join
churches where the pastor does not believe the Bible, the other fundamentals
of the faith - I say to excuse themselves, those who are guilty say, "The
Holy Spirit will take care of these converts."
Well, does the Holy Spirit lead all the saved
people out of the Methodist church with such infidel bishops as the late
Oxnam and others?
It is true that the Holy Spirit abides in the
body of every truly born-again Christian. But the Holy Spirit does not take
the place of a pastor.
Paul went back to the towns where he had
preached, "confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to
continue in the faith ..." (Acts 14:22).
The council of the apostles and elders at
Jerusalem sent a letter telling the Gentile converts that they need not be
circumcised to keep the law of Moses. They did not leave that to the Holy
Spirit.
In the Great Commission Jesus commanded that
the apostles and other Christians were to go and make disciples and baptize
them, "teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you
... ." They were not to leave this duty to the Holy Spirit.
If the evangelist is to leave out part of his
plainly commanded duty and leave that to the Holy Spirit, why not leave the
rest of it to the Holy Spirit, too? Paul was a mighty evangelist, but when
he came to Miletus and called for the elders of Ephesus, he reminded them
"how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you," and again, "For I
have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts
20:20,27). Then he told of wolves that would arise among them and said,
"Therefore watch ... ." Men are still accountable to teach new converts what
God said to teach them. And the blessed work of the Holy Spirit is not any
good excuse for disobeying the plain command of God against yoking up with
unbelievers.
9. "Sinners
Will Be Turned Away From Christ," They Tell Us "By Disagreement Among
Christians"
This is an old, old story. Worldly Christians
think you could win more souls if you preach on Heaven but never on Hell; if
you preach on faith but never on repentance! They think you can get more
people saved if you never whip your children, if you never enforce the law,
if you never offend anybody!
On the other hand, all the great soul winners
through the centuries - from Savonarola to Wesley, Whitefield, Spurgeon,
Moody, Torrey, Billy Sunday, Sam Jones, and Bob Jones, Sr. - have proved
that the greatest number of souls have been saved by plain, sharp preaching
against sin and by exposure of sin.
It did not keep Spurgeon from winning souls
when he opposed the down-grade movement (modernism) so openly and finally
left the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Ireland over it!
It did not keep Billy Sunday from winning souls
because he fought the liquor traffic, fought worldliness, and modernism.
I heard Gypsy Smith in Dallas turn with
flashing eyes and holy indignation upon the preachers on the platform of the
First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, where he was engaged in a city-wide
revival and say to them, "You do not believe in the virgin birth of Christ?
Hypocrite! Get out of the pulpit!"
Do you think D. L. Moody was kept from winning
souls because he would not sit on the same platform with a Unitarian
preacher in a temperance meeting?
I suggest that the reader pick out a dozen
Christian magazines that never condemn sin, never fight modernism, never
name a compromiser, and I will show more letters from lost sinners saved
through THE SWORD OF THE LORD ministry than these dozen other magazines
which do not oppose sin as we do.
It is shocking that great crowds can attend a
so-called revival campaign these days and when it is over, there are just as
many crimes, just as much child delinquency, just as many divorces.
Infidelity is just as strong as ever before! The revival campaigns of the
mighty soul winners of the past really changed things. They cleaned up
corrupt governments, shut up saloons, emptied the jails, doubled the
attendance at churches, shut the mouth of infidels, dispersed the infidel
clubs of Bradlaugh in England and Ingersoll in America!
If you want to win souls, then set out to
please Jesus Christ instead of sinners. Even a lost sinner knows that a good
Christian ought to stand up for Christ and the Bible.
Let us boil the thing down simply. Whatever the
Bible says, we ought to follow it. No one ought ever set one Scripture
against another and try to cancel out a plain command of Scripture by a
twisted interpretation of another Scripture.
I am convinced we do not need "New
Evangelicals," but old evangelicals who stand for the old truth, with
old-time fire and old-time convictions.
To follow a man as an idol, right or wrong, is
sin, and leads to twisting of Scriptures to excuse the sin.
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