The Church and Social Responsibility

Transcript

GRM 1202
10/21/2018
The Church and Social Responsibility
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

We’re going to address a subject that came out of a question. I’ve had different questions that have come in on this subject, one recently again. I thought I’m going to talk a little with you about the Church and social responsibility. Looking at a few passages with you, then I’m going to open it up for questions. Let me say, when we do questions tonight, we will be receiving texts and we will make note of those questions. We won’t be able to answer questions that come in with texts this evening so if you text a question and wonder why it’s not dealt with, we’re not able to do that this evening. But when you text in, your question will be recorded, so we’ll have it and address it another evening. But we’ll be taking your questions audibly and I have some you’ve sent.

This whole area of the Church and social responsibility and how does that relate to us as Christians. We are to be compassionate people, we are to be loving people. We want our church to shine as a light in our city. Well, what do we look like when we’re not involved in ways that other religious institutions are, if I can say that, and even other evangelical Christians.

Some have carried this to the point that social action, social service, is even part of the Gospel. It’s not a result of our believing the Gospel but it is the Gospel. Right along with the death, burial, and resurrection is the need for social action. Let me read you a couple of comments by men who are evangelicals. That’s a broad word. I sometimes struggle with what do we call ourselves today. We are fundamentalist, evangelical, Bible-believing Christians. Each word carries connotations. Evangelicalism and evangelicals has just gotten so broad that pretty soon it’s encompassing those that we wouldn’t consider believers. But I use the word because of its general use. So those who would claim to believe the Bible is God’s word, even though they might not believe that it is inerrant. Many who claim to be evangelicals believe in what we call partial inerrancy. The word of God is inspired and inerrant in certain parts but not other parts and you have the issue of determining which parts are which, but they’ll do that for you. Other differences.

But on those who are equating or joining social action with the Gospel, let me read you a few comments. Here’s what one… this is a person who has written commentaries in past years, fairly decent commentaries. “I now see more clearly that not only the consequences of the great commission but the actual commission itself must be understood to include social as well as evangelistic responsibility,” talking about the Great Commission, and we’ll read those passages in a moment. Another has written in a book published by an evangelical publishing house, “There are two legs to the Gospel, evangelism and social action. If we don’t walk or run on both legs we have a lop-sided Gospel.” Now you see what this person is saying. The Gospel is not just message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, it is also social action. If you just have the message of Christ you don’t have a complete Gospel. It’s like you preach the death of Christ but didn’t preach the resurrection. Social action… It’s like you have two legs, you run with those two legs; if you had one leg it’s hard to run. You don’t have a complete Gospel without social action.

Let’s read the Great Commission as it’s recorded in the New Testament and see what it says. We’ll start with Matthew since that’s the first Gospel in our New Testament, Matthew 28. We need to be clear on these basic things because the way error infiltrates itself is we assume certain things. We assume others assume them, like we believe in the full inspiration of Scripture. We assume others who claim to be Bible-believing Christians assume that as a basic presupposition, this is God’s word, fully and completely. Then we are not prepared when they infiltrate error because they don’t believe that. They don’t believe it’s without error in scientific areas, for example, therefore we don’t learn about creation from the opening chapters of Genesis. That wasn’t written to give us an explanation of how the world came into existence. So subtly, but really, these things come in.

Matthew chapter 28, verse 19, this is after Christ’s resurrection. You are familiar with background. Verse 18 “Jesus came up and spoke to them,” these are His disciples that He has summoned to meet Him. “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.” And you are aware, there’s one verb here, command, and modified by three participles. Usually I mention our English words we are familiar with usually have an ‘-ing’ for our participles. So ‘going therefore make disciples,’ as you are going make disciples, that’s the command: make disciples, imperative, something you must do. “All the nations.” That’s what’s unique about this. Remember we looked during Christ’s earthly ministry when He sent out His disciples, He said don’t go to the Samaritans, you don’t go to anyone but the Jews. Now you go and “make disciples of all the nations.” Then we picked up in Acts in chapter 1 and the instructions there, we’ll see in a moment.

“Baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” So we are to make disciples, we do that as we are going wherever we are. In the book of Acts they’ll be sent out through persecution, driven out from Jerusalem to other places, then with the commission of Paul to be the apostle to the Gentiles and develop a focused ministry to the non-Jewish people. You’ll note here, disciples are to be baptized and taught. The New Testament knows nothing of a person who claims to be a believer in Jesus Christ and never been baptized. We don’t follow a sacramental view of baptism, for example, so sometimes Christians take that as an option. But here it’s an identifying mark of a believer, he’s one who has stepped forward to publicly be identified with Christ.
Not that baptism saves but it’s a declaration that I have trusted Christ and now a follower of His. Then we are to be taught so that we might grow.

What’s the commission? Make disciples. Now to read into this social action I think is to read into Scripture something that is not there. To say the Great Commission consists of two parts, making disciples and social action, I think it is to corrupt and distort the word of God. It says make disciples, (disciples will be called Christians) so bringing the Gospel to people that they might believe, be saved. Come over to Mark chapter 16, Mark chapter 16 and verse 15, “He said to them, ‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.’ ” Discussion on where the Gospel of Mark ends, but the point is the same. You see what is recorded here, “go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation.” Well, that would be an expansion beyond what the disciples did during Christ’s earthly ministry. Christ Himself didn’t leave Israel except for limited time and exposure but basically He’s confined His ministry to Israel, He came to the Jews. When the Samaritan woman addressed Him and He said salvation is of the Jews, and this is where we are. The disciples are amazed He’s talking to the Samaritan woman as we even had an article in the newsletter. So we’re preaching the Gospel

Come over to Luke chapter 24, Luke chapter 24 and verse 45, here He’s met with His disciples. And just an aside, He’s in His glorified body now. The resurrection occurs but He sits down and eats fish with them. Now interesting our glorified bodies will have the capacity to eat, evidently with perfect absorption of everything and so on. But at any rate, we’re here for verse 45, “He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.” You see here this point, the disciples still are not clear. They should be, but it’s not clear to them, hasn’t been. “He said to them, ‘Thus it is written, that the Christ would suffer and rise again from the dead the third day.” You see what the message is? That Christ would suffer, die, be raised from the dead, the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, and “that repentance for forgiveness of sins would be proclaimed in His name to all the nations, beginning from Jerusalem.” That’s what is to happen and you were witnesses to these things. “I am sending forth the promise of My Father” and they’ll be “clothed with power from on high.” And Luke who writes this gospel is also the writer of the book of Acts so he picks up in Acts chapter 1 and it’s a flowing account.

So on your way, stop in John chapter 20. You see, it’s the same at the end of each of the gospels, the basic instruction, and this is important to be clear on this one. In John 20:21 “Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you,’ ” and then He breathed on them and says receive the Spirit. That’s in anticipation of when the Spirit would come upon them because the carrying out of this commission is not to take place until the Spirit comes upon them. We’ll see that in Acts 1 in a moment, you are familiar with that. And then “if you forgive the sins of any their sins have been forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any they have been retained.” That’s not meaning that now as a believer I have special power to forgive sins but in proclaiming the message of Christ, the truth concerning Him, I can tell people if you believe this message your sins are forgiven; you do not believe it you will die in your sins. What does He do? Verse 21 “as the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” Now what happens here, some capitalize on this and say what did Jesus do when He came? Well, He healed the sick, He fed the five thousand, so see, we should do what Jesus did. Now wait a minute, what Jesus Christ came to do was to make the Father known and declare the truth concerning Him. There’s an element concerning Him that was unique to Him, He is the Messiah of Israel. Remember we talked earlier in our study today about the kingdom, in the kingdom there’ll be no hunger, there’ll be no sickness. What He was doing in His ministry like that was to demonstrate He is the Messiah. He is the one who could establish the kingdom if you will believe, so this is not a change here. People come and want to read into this and say we should do what Jesus did. We’re not the Messiah, we’re not the one who demonstrates the authority and power to set up the kingdom in which there will be no hunger, no sickness, no death. Back in Matthew chapter 8 we are told that He did those healing ministries for example in fulfillment of what the prophets said the Messiah would do. Basically, we are going out making the salvation plan of God known.

Come over to Acts chapter 1, final meeting with the disciples. We read at the end of the gospels His meeting with them on different occasions and further enlightening them and commissioning them, but now we have the final meeting. The ascension of Christ will occur here, so He’s not going to be appearing on earth in the way He has been. He’s ascending to take His seat at the right hand of the Father until He returns to earth the second time to establish the kingdom. So He tells them… they ask the question, He tells them they’ll “be baptized with the Holy Spirit,” verse 5, “not many days from now,” so the baptism of the Spirit does not occur until the Church is established. John the Baptist announced the coming Messiah who would baptize them with the Holy Spirit and with fire, but since Israel did not believe, they did not experience this provision that’s connected with the New Covenant. That would not be established until the death and resurrection of Christ. He gathered them together, “commanded them,” verse 4 “not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, ‘Which,’ He said, ‘you heard of from Me.’ ” He had promised them about the coming of the Spirit, we read part of that in some of the passages we just read, “John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” They’re still not clear. There is, remember, progressive revelation. Alright, you’ve explained to us the Messiah must come and suffer and die and be raised; alright, that happened, now we can have the kingdom.

They realize that had to be first, but they don’t have any concept now of why we can’t have the kingdom yet. Now we can go proclaim the kingdom is here, are you ready to set up the kingdom? That’s their question. Verse 6, “they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel,” so we can go out and announce to the nation the kingdom is here, the Messiah is here, you’re here, now you’re going to set up Your throne, right? Wrong. What He does tell them… you know, He doesn’t say, men, the kingdom has started, it’s in your hearts, it’s a spiritual reality. No, He doesn’t give any indication of any change in what kind of kingdom would be established, that which was prophesied in the Old Testament, that which was offered during the Gospels. All He tells them is you don’t need “to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority.” So you’ll note, it’s going to be progressive revelation. He doesn’t just say now men that won’t happen, here’s what’s going to happen, we’re going to have the Church and there’ll be a couple thousand years where Gentiles are getting – no! So we want to be careful. This is what the disciples know and understand; whether the kingdom will come next week, next month, next year, in a hundred years, Christ says you just need to know here’s what you are to do. Verse 8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in Judea,” now here’s the new part that we talked about, “and Samaria.” Where earlier back in Matthew 10 they were told don’t go to the Samaritans, now you go to “Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth,” even to the United States as Paul would carry the Gospel to Europe as it’s been carried around the world.

What is the emphasis in the commission? Preach the Gospel, carry the message of Christ; nothing about reforming the world, fixing the social problems, and there were many of them in these days just as there are today. But what you do is unique, what no one else will be able to do, only those who are indwelt by the Spirit and empowered by the Spirit can do this. This is why the Church cannot get diverted from what it uniquely is commissioned by God to do because if the devil can divert us from our unique task there is no one else to do what only we can do, bring the Gospel to a lost world. Working on remedying social conditions can be done by unbelievers, governments. But bringing the saving message of Christ… It is worse than the Galatian heresy, if it could be worse, that you say there are ‘two legs to the Gospel,’ social action and… The corruption when you add something to the Gospel, what it eventually is, the truth of the Gospel is progressively minimized, it shrinks, it is reduced, and pretty soon all you have are the other things. That’s Paul’s concern with the Galatian heresy. It’s not, well, as long as you preach Christ that’s great. No, it’s anathema to add anything to the Gospel.

What do I say about these men, are they believers? Well, Paul said anyone who preaches any other Gospel, Galatians 1… you can go there, I don’t want to assume everybody in here has studied Galatians, but most of you have. Galatians 1, the seriousness of this, in Galatians 1 verse 6, and he said in verse 4, Christ “gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age.” Verse 6, “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him,” that’s a serious matter, this is deserting Christ, “who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another,” another one like the one I preached. “There are some who are disturbing you and who want to distort the Gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed,” anathema, condemned to hell. And if you didn’t get the point, “as we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed.” And you have to be careful. We don’t want to become ‘men-pleasers,’ “for am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.” Much of what goes on in the Church in trying to do these things that the world approves of or others who claim to be believers approve of is a corruption and rejection of the Gospel.

Let me read you a quote, where to begin? Some who are pretty sound somehow feel they need to bring in social action. The world is so bought into this,” of course, that’s where they are, but Christian’s then are drawn into it, some by their incorrect theology, that they begin to reason like this, and this is from some men that I have respect for but I think there’s confusion. “Many of the biblical injunctions about the Christian’s role in society relate to individual believers as citizens, not to the church as a whole. It seems then that the fundamental mission of the corporate church must be spiritual.” I think that’s true, bringing the Gospel. “What should the corporate church do in society? Unfortunately, there is no direct scriptural teaching on this issue.” Wait a minute. The Scripture doesn’t tell the church to do it. Why would the church do it? You mean you can just bring in the ‘church is to be the pillar and support of the truth’ but it doesn’t say the church can’t be fill-in-the-blank, everything else that’s not sinful in and of itself. Then they go on to recommend ways that the church should be involved socially in society. And they conclude “we see no reason why churches individually and collectively cannot and should not both proclaim the Gospel and meet social needs.” I see a clear reason, because the Church is told to preach the Gospel. Who are you to add to the Gospel now and say the church has two responsibilities, proclaiming the truth and social activity? Well, it doesn’t say the church can’t do social activity. Well, it doesn’t say the church can’t do a lot of things. It just tells the church what it must do and it does say the church must not add anything else to what God says it must do. As soon as you open the door to that then they realize they have opened the door to something… that you open it, it’s gets opened more widely. “We are not suggesting involvement in every problem because that would not leave time for fulfillment of the church’s commission to preach the Gospel and because there’s no consensus among Christians on all issues.” In other words, we don’t know what we’re talking about here. And these are men who believe in the inerrant Scripture; one of them has just written a book I just picked up, I haven’t read it yet, it’s about this thick, probably over a thousand pages, on the inerrancy of Scripture, it’s great. They are dispensational as well. But somehow the pressure comes. Well, we should be involved in social things because people think that’s what we should do. But Paul said I don’t care if an angel from heaven comes and tells you to add something to this Gospel, you better not do it because when you do you evidence you are cursed to hell.

I want to walk through, quickly here, just some things, so we’re not confused on this subject. You have to see a distinction, number one, between Israel and the Church. Israel is an earthly nation, it was through the Old Testament, so there are things they did. They were a nation chosen by God that were to function as an earthly nation under His authority, so they do a variety of things, there’s instruction regarding the government of the nation, there was social responsibility, provision made for the poor, they were even told about how they take care of their animals, and how their religious life was to be conducted. So there is a mixture of things there. Israel is an earthly nation. People who don’t see a distinction between Israel and the church go back there and pick out things. Some of you are studying the book of Ruth, in the book of Ruth, what did they follow? Some of the instructions that were there and Ruth with Naomi, being poor, they could go out and glean in the fields. And there were instructions when the Israelites harvested their fields you don’t go back and pick up anything you overlook or miss that falls by the way because you leave that for the poor, for example. There are many other instructions that’s for the earthly nation under the direct authority of God, that’s not for our nation today. There are certain things regarding sin that are applicable to everyone, everywhere, what is sin. But you see a distinction between the Old Testament Israel with its responsibility as an earthly nation.

Secondly, Jesus in the Gospels, living under the Old Testament Law. I’ve shared with you… reading a book here the last week or so, and the argument is we begin with the Gospels, so in our study of scriptures we begin with the Gospels, we establish our theology in the Gospels, then we go back and re-do the Old Testament in light of what we understand now from the Gospels and we also interpret Paul and the epistles in light of what is in the Gospels, as though progressive revelation is limited, it stops with the Gospels and it is the dominant. Jesus Christ is living under the Mosaic Law, He observes the feasts and the days instructed like the Day of Atonement and so on, required under the Law. He kept the Law; He’s a Jewish man. He focused His ministry just on the physical nation of Israel. His miracles and His healing, they were selective demonstrating He was the Messiah of Israel, the One that is rejected by the nation.

Thirdly, there is a kingdom promised that is not yet realized, all we have are the promises, the kingdom did not begin in the Gospels. The people say, well, we’ll start in the Gospels, since Jesus offered the kingdom that’s when the kingdom began. So they change what the Old Testament said about the kingdom being an earthly kingdom -- and we know the animals don’t harm one another and all the things we’ve read about the kingdom that would be established -- to make that a spiritual thing, not an actual, physical kingdom. They would say Christ offered the kingdom, He’s there as the King, therefore the kingdom began. Well, if we are in the kingdom we should do kingdom things. The kingdom that Christ would establish wouldn’t have poverty, wouldn’t have misery. You know, you have all these things so that’s what we’re doing, we’re kingdom people doing kingdom work. But if we’re not in the kingdom what’s the basis for doing it? This is a-millennial theology or as they call it a ‘realized kingdom,’ we are in the kingdom so Christ rules in heaven, we rule on earth. For Roman Catholicism, the pope is Christ’s representative on earth, that’s why he has full authority; Christ is reigning in heaven, the pope is reigning on earth and so Roman Catholicism, of course, does vast social work. I am amazed the people who claim to be Bible-believing Christians will talk about people like Mother Teresa. She’s not my mother, I’m not spiritually connected to her at all, but as she is known. Well, you know, what a godly person -- because social things become the religious things, spiritual things. So we’re not in the kingdom.

Fourthly, we do have individual responsibility, I mean, I want to be a good citizen. When my elderly neighbor… when I was younger and could do it, if it snowed I went and cleared their walk. They were Roman Catholics, not believers, I didn’t say to them, clear your own walk, if you were a believer I’d help you. That’s not the way we function, I mean, we are compassionate, we are loving. We have individual responsibility -- you have a neighbor who’s sick you might take a meal in, that’s fine. Now to say therefore the church ought to be taking meals to those in need, now wait a minute. If I believe, there are personal things I do in the situation where God has put me, and being a good testimony I do care about those people, I care about their spiritual condition, I want to show something of God’s care and love for them as I look to share the Gospel with them. My personal responsibility is not the whole church’s responsibility. So if you’re involved in some of those things, I’m not saying we shouldn’t; we ought to be good neighbors, we ought to be good citizens. I don’t let weeds grow in my lawn and tell my neighbor I don’t care about my lawn, I’m going to heaven. I want to be a good citizen so I pay somebody to take care of my lawn (I don’t want to do it.) So there are practical things.

People want to drive it to the ultimate. Oh, you don’t think you ought to help anybody unless they are a believer. I’m not saying that. I’m saying what has God commissioned the church to be and to do and what is our focus as believers? I don’t want to devote my life to trying to clean up the world, but I want to be a good neighbor, a good citizen, and we are to obey the laws of the land, to respect the government, and so on. So when government passes a law and says you should do this and not that, if it doesn’t conflict with Scripture, I do it, because He says obey those that have authority over you. That doesn’t mean it’s what I would do or say. They say don’t use leaded gas, I don’t use leaded gas, (I can’t do it anyway but if you could) and now we have a law, I’m not going on a crusade that I’m going that way with the environment. If you say we passed a law here and you have to recycle, I’ll recycle. I’m not on the other side of attacking environmentalist. It’s a non-issue for me in the church; personally, I may have convictions; I want to be careful I don’t blur things. Environmentalism is a work of the devil. I don’t see any biblical foundation for, so I don’t see the church as involved in it but since our government has certain rules, I obey those rules. Some rules I think are good. Some rules I don’t think are good but then God says I submit to those who have authority over me. As I often say and then we all forget, the test of authority is when we disagree. And we show respect to those authorities, so those kind of things. We’re talking about what has God commissioned and called the Church to do.

Let me recommend a book to you and then we’re going to do questions. I will recommend this and there are a number of them, but I read this one recently, and its brief. You can read it in an afternoon if you got paid to read like I do; if not, you might want to spread it out, but it’s very readable. It’s called “Ecumenism, Another Gospel – Lausanne’s Road to Rome.” And it just will bring you up to date, it’s current, was published in 2014. We carry it in Sound Words and that doesn’t mean every detail you’ll agree with. It’s not even written by a dispensationalist, but it shows how this socialism and these things have come into the Church and they are eroding the foundations. And brings people in you may recognize. Lausanne is a French speaking city in Switzerland. They began with Billy Graham and those associated with him, a worldwide evangelism conference to reach the world, 1974. Then they had another conference I believe in 1989 in Manila and then another one, could have been in 2010, I don’t remember, in Cape Town.

They bring evangelicals “from all over the world together to talk about reaching the world.” But when you do that you bring in a mixture so then you have social action being a key part of what we do, and we can agree with Roman Catholics and others, you believe the Gospel. Pretty soon everyone who experiences the sacrament of baptism can be called a Christian and we can work together. So I recommend that we need to be aware that it goes on in our city. I don’t get into things that are going on in other parts of the world that are not particularly impacting us but I am concerned for things that go on. We think, well, you know, there are some differences in theology. But our differences in theology are our foundation. If our practices aren’t controlled by our theological foundation, they are just the whims of man, then things come in that corrupt the truth, pretty soon the church is involved in ‘good things.’ Was keeping the Mosaic Law a bad thing? I mean, there’s a lot of good things in the Mosaic Law, it was God’s word, but you corrupt the Gospel when you wed it to God’s word. How do you think you can wed social action and all that goes with it?

Alright, I have some questions that have been given to me here but maybe I’ll open it up to you first, you’re here. Anybody have anything?

Question: This morning you were talking about the different resurrections, resurrections of the unbelievers, the believers, in the end times. Where would we place the resurrection that is spoken of in Matthew 27 verses 51-54? Whenever Jesus was resurrected it says that some that were asleep were raised, were walking about the city.

Answer: Ok, that’s a good question, it comes up on different occasions. What was the exact reference on that for me? Matthew 27 verse 51-54 when Christ is raised from the dead. Verse 51 “the veil of temple was torn in two from top to bottom” indicating now there would be access to God. Before the veil separated God from His people and so on. “The tombs were opened and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.” I understand this to be a bodily resurrection back to life like Lazarus and those that Christ raised from the dead. If this was somebody who had been dead for 300 years and they come back in and says I’m so-and-so, you know, you’d have to have demonstrable proof. But I think if it was somebody recently who had died and they come back into the city, here’s so-and-so, remember, they died three months ago, now here they are alive. So I think it was a bodily resurrection, back to physical life, like Lazarus and they would again experience physical death. I would see that more in line with the pattern.

Now if it was an actual transformation to glorified body you’d have to put it in connection with Old Testament saints because they would be part of that since there was no church yet. But I think it fits better for the pattern that was in Jesus’ life in that He did bring people back to physical life and it shows His power and it would need to be, it would seem to me in a logical way, that they would be people that could be recognized and known. If somebody came walking into Lincoln and said, you know, I’m so-and-so, I died 300 years ago. We’d say, sure, I’m impressed. So then you would have to add to this some kind of miraculous demonstrations and there’s no indication any of that goes on. So I take it they would be proof of the power of Christ over death as Lazarus was. But remember the impact on the people generally and the religious leaders? Now they had two things to deal with. So they had to figure out how to put Lazarus to death again and also kill Christ. So demonstrates that if you don’t believe Moses and the prophets you won’t believe even if one is raised from the dead. So that’s where I would go with that resurrection, a resurrection like Lazarus, back to life.

Somebody else on either side have anything?

Question (Comment): Gil, this is not a question, but a comment. Attending a Baptist church in another city, I was accused of being a ‘one-legged fundamentalist,’ the second leg, of course, being the social gospel. I took issue with that and I wrote the pastor a letter pointing out that no one was ever saved by building them a house or reading them books or making them a meal. Of course, I never heard anything back from him. But subsequently we went to a mission’s class and nothing was ever said; it was all about building homes, nothing was ever said about sharing the Gospel with anyone. So what you are saying is happening out there in the churches today and I am proud to be a one-legged fundamentalist.

Answer: Amazing how fast we can run with that one leg! I think that is a great example, I appreciate that. It is infiltrating the church and anytime you add anything to the Gospel it progressively eats up the Gospel. If you read the book I recommended, and there are others, but it will show you the progress from 1974 down to the present time, what has happened, each time they met they moved further away from a pure gospel to more social involvement, social action, and that’s how we get to liberal… what we used to call liberalism, where it’s just a social gospel. It’s a one-legged gospel but it’s the leg that is not the gospel. So you add something to the Gospel, you know, it’s like saying I’ll take a little bit of cancer into my body, it’s a cancer-causing substance but I’m only going to take a little bit. But progressively it invades the body until the body cannot resist it. That’s the pattern down through history and there’s an example and the church is proud, it’s doing good. I’ve been asked questions, why don’t people speak better of Indian Hills? Why would the unbeliever speak good of us? Jesus said if they hate Me they will hate you. You can find out where they are, present the Gospel to them, if they’re receptive to the Gospel they’ll come to love you.

So we adjust, thinking the world… and I shared that from one of the things I’ve been reading recently. If we don’t reach… this is what has corrupted missions in the world, when missions bought into the idea of contextualization, on the context we’re going to where the poor are, the miserable, the downtrodden. Well, they’re not going to be open to the Gospel in their condition, we first have to help raise them out of that condition. Where in the world did you get that in the Bible? Their problem with the Gospel is not that they are poor, their problem with the Gospel is they’re sinners. That’s the way in the New Testament. There were slaves who got saved. You didn’t first have to deal with slavery and do away with slavery so you could get them out of slavery and then they would believe the Gospel. The problem is sin. Now I’m glad that we are a prosperous country but the people in our prosperous country aren’t anymore open to the Gospel than people in the poor country. In fact, if we look at the spread of the Gospel it spreads more rapidly in countries characterized by poverty then it does in countries characterized by wealth. Remember it is more difficult for a rich man to enter the kingdom than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle because the more prosperous we are the more self-confident we become. So perfect example and it is going on in our own city. I’m not attacking other churches specifically, give me credit, I’m making a general statement. You go to churches that are involved in social action, they are getting off-track. You say, well, they seem clear on the Gospel. They may be today. These that I give examples from started out with clarity on the Gospel. The man I quoted from, John Stott, I used to recommend his commentary. I’ve shared his own testimony, he said somewhere along the line I’ve changed my view. Now I wonder was he even saved when he wrote those commentaries; was he just a man who with his intellect and understanding could understand the basic facts but never truly believed them. People… you can be raised in a church like this and know the Gospel so well you could present it as well as anyone and never have believed it yourself.

Alright, good. Anybody else? I have some questions here.

Question and Answer: This relates to this. Let me just mention, climate change is a popular topic today. What is a biblical view on this and what should we do about it? I recommend this book but read it discerningly. They won’t agree with everything. He thinks Christians should be against the climate movement and environmentalism. I don’t think we as Christians should be for or against it, it’s not part of what we proclaim. I know we’re not going to clean up the earth any more than we’re going to fix the social problems of the earth. But if the unbeliever wants to get involved in environmentalism and says you have to recycle, I’ll recycle. I do it because my wife says we’re recycling. It’s a non-biblical issue to me so I’m not pro-climate change, I’m not anti-climate change. I know in the Tribulation the world is going to heat up, remember the sun will be scorching them? What God uses to accomplish it directly I don’t know. So where are you on climate change? Let me ask, where are you? Well, I’m for it. Me too. I’m against it. Me too. Because it’s not a biblical issue to me so when our government says we’re going to do this do I think that biblically they’re – you know, most of these things in changing the world have as a foundation we’re god and He is not. The world is going to destroy itself by 2050 if we don’t deal with these climate issues, do I believe that? No.

I know how the world is going to come to an end, so as far as getting into that debate, it’s not the issue. How would I bring the situation around? I understand you’re concerned about the climate and God created this world and we’re privileged to live into it; it’s going to come to a place where this world is unlivable. It may not be for the reason they’re thinking but there is a foundation for that. You know, the world is going to become an unlivable place, God has told us that, He told us the reason is He’s going to bring judgment on a world that has rejected Him, that’s the issue. So I’m not really into the arguments about the science of this because I know it’s not going to be because of what we do. God can use what we do to bring about consequences so I can agree with those who are concerned about the climate from the sense the world is going to get worse and worse. And when you get into the Tribulation we’re going to have a climate where people are going to be starving and the sun is going to be heating so in a sense there is an element of truth in what they are saying but they don’t have any true foundation for it. That’s sort of where I am.

Some of those things I want to be careful. You know, we as Christians can get passionate about certain things but we want to be passionate about truth. Just like people are passionate about whether they like this president or not. My view is whoever’s president is there by divine appointment and they may have been appointed there by God to do bad things as God used, we know, from the Old Testament and so on. So I want to be careful how we get involved in these issues and become passionate about them. It doesn’t mean we can’t have personal convictions but the world doesn’t hang on who is the president nor who is not. We see chaos enveloping the world but we know the world is moving toward chaos. And the one who will bring hope to the world is an anti-christ and he for a time will bring false peace and tranquility to the world but it won’t be a biblical solution. So want to be careful. We can pick up on things and there may be a way to use them as an opening to present the Gospel. But I was supportive of the previous president because God says He appoints those at all levels, they are to be shown respect. Doesn’t mean you agree with everything they do; Daniel didn’t agree with Nebuchadnezzar but he showed him respect and provided the service for him that Nebuchadnezzar had appointed for him to do. Paul showed respect to the Roman leaders that he came into contact with and shared the message of Christ and judgment with such pointedness that even the ruler trembled. So we have to be careful, the things that engulf the world and with 24-hour news – believers, if we become as passionate about the Gospel and is consumed by it as we can get about the political situation and we look at the chaos of the world.

Question and Answer: I have another question. Do I think the violence and chaos of the world is part of what God is doing? I do! Now where we are in that plan, like I say, we know what’s going to go on in the seven years. How close we are to that, you see things fitting together, I can’t prophesy. I don’t think anything is going on in the world that is not part of God’s plan for accomplishing His purposes, that’s why I’m in the world but I’m not of the world. I want to be a good citizen, support my government, support the rulers God’s given, submit to their rules, pay my taxes. I don’t have to agree with everything, I’m not accountable for their decisions, and as much as is in me, I will live as I can, consistently with the Word in obedience to them. When they say we cannot preach the Gospel, we do not allow you to preach the Word of God, we do not allow you to say sex outside of marriage is sin, we don’t allow you to say that homosexuality is sin, we will have to do it and bear the consequences, as you will. But I’m not here to reform the world. God’s doing what He chooses to do in the world, it doesn’t hinge on our president, it doesn’t hinge on the Supreme Court. So that’s where we can be about God’s business if we stay focused, not entrapped by the world and confused by the world.

Question and Answer: That answers the other question. Do I think the violence in the U.S. and the hatred toward the President is what is said in the Bible coming to pass? It is! Everything going on every day is moving us closer. Now is our salvation nearer than when we first believed (Romans 3:11 paraphrased) Paul wrote that two thousand years ago, how much closer are we? So that’s where if we get diverted and the Church loses its focus there’s nobody in the world that can do what God has commissioned us to do. I realize that. We are a small group in the world, believers, but only believers can bring the message of life to a lost world. Unbelievers can deal with climate, unbelievers can deal with social issues, unbelievers can deal with this and that. But we are unique, we go into all the world to preach the Gospel, I can have a message, I can tell a person, they’re all uptight about it and say, well, I can understand your concerns and that, but you know, I have something to tell you that no one else can tell you. I can tell you what is God’s solution to all the concerns and things going on in the world today. When we abandon that, when the Church begins to do what anybody can do, saved or unsaved, where are we? You know we leave the world without hope and the darkness begins to envelope everything. That’s what the devil wants to do, put out the lights that shine in the darkness. What Paul said, you’re lights in the darkness and if we begin to become like the darkness, doing what the darkness thinks we ought to do, who’s going to be shining the light of the glory of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? So there’s subtle things. Isn’t it good? Shouldn’t we be compassionate? Yes. What is the best thing we can do for this person? Bring the cure of the Gospel to their sinful hearts.

Question and Answer: Is there demon possession today? I see no reason why there wouldn’t be demon possession today. The devil is active with his demons today. The devil goes about as a “roaring lion seeking someone to devour,” (1 Peter 5:8), he’s active in his work of deception, he’s active in blinding the minds. Now during the days when Christ was on earth the presence of demons was overtly manifested so that Christ could demonstrate His power and authority over the demons and the devil. Now the fact that that work of the devil may not be as overtly manifested doesn’t mean its not going on. The “whole world lies in the power of the evil one.” (1 John 5:19) I see no reason why demons could not indwell people today and control them even as they did during the days of Christ. Part of the devil’s work. So that’s subjective; the Bible doesn’t directly address it.

We don’t find overt manifestation of demonic activity like indwelling people in the Old Testament the way we do in the Gospels. The Gospels are a unique period of time, God is present on earth in a human body. Christ is there to demonstrate He is the Messiah of Israel, the One who has power over the spirit world, the one who has power over sin, the one who has power over sickness. So the overt manifestation, and people of the day recognized demonic possession. They could come and tell I have a son who is possessed of a demon and when the demon manifests his control, he does this. There was a recognition of it; it’s not just superstition of the time. But that overt manifestation and recognition is not present today because Christ is not present. But as far as the question, is there demon possession today, I can see no reason why there would not be. The devil is still operating as he did in the past, the demons are still active, I can think of no reason. We know the anti-christ will be a demon-indwelt person. No doubt demons control people, the devil controls people, they do that from within. I take it he probably could. We are indwelt by the Spirit as God’s people. That doesn’t mean every unbeliever is demon possessed. Demon possession involved the special supernatural control and you can have manifold demons. Remember the demon-possessed man when Jesus addressed the demons? We are Legion because we are many. Our minds can’t grasp how you can have multitudes of demons indwelling one body and what would be the purpose of that, but it happened. So yes, I don’t see why it couldn’t happen.

The devil is a powerful being, he asserts control. It’s a fearful thing to be out there apart from Christ. You’re in the devil’s world, you’re under the devil’s authority, you are one of his people to be used by him. Now how far that goes with demon possession the Bible doesn’t directly address but he does have authority over his people. Remember Jesus told the religious people of His day, you are of your father the devil and you always do his will. So whether he’s controlling from within or without that’s where the unbeliever is, they’re in a frightening position. They think they are free; they are slaves of sin, slaves of the devil, doomed to the hell created for the devil.

We need to appreciate the greatness of our salvation, the greatness of God’s grace. You and I don’t deserve any better, we are no more worthy. It’s God’s grace, how great the grace that saved us. We need to be careful as believers, I’m afraid we sometimes settle in to a certain smugness that we are not like the world and I never was quite like them and I don’t even like being around those people because they’re dirty and defiled and I’m not. That’s not the way we look at it. I want to be careful of those that I become closely associated with but it’s not because I’m better than them, except by the grace of God I would be one of them and was, until God saved me. So the demonic world and the devil’s activity in the world, we don’t have great details. We get glimpses in the Old Testament, more full manifestation when Christ is present on the earth and then some instruction about it, but not great detail. There’s a spiritual war going on, you’re part of it, you’re on one side or another. Everyone is part of it, on the devil’s side or on God’s side and the war goes on, it manifests itself in physical ways in the conflicts among people.

Let’s pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your Word. Lord, it’s a precious treasure, indeed more precious to us than gold or silver, Lord, a treasure that is to be taken in, digested, meditated upon, carefully examined, it is to shape our lives under the power of the indwelling Spirit. Lord, I pray for the week ahead of us, as we go out as individuals in different settings and different places in contact with different people, but as your people bringing light to wherever we are. May we in love be ready, willing, and bold to share the message that brings life to the lost as we once were. Thank you for our fellowship as a church, these days in which we can be refreshed by fellowship together in the study of Your Word. I pray Your truth will guide us each step. In Christ’s name, amen.