Faithfulness Amid Conflict

Transcript

GRM 278
8/13/1989
Faithfulness Amid Conflict
Selected Verses
Gil Rugh

I believe that one of the greatest issues that we face in the church of Jesus Christ today is the issue that we have been battling; and that is the issue of mixing psychology with the Bible. I want to talk about some church history and the conflicts and controversies that have affected the church in history. I think you'll see some parallels to what we're going through today. I agree with the medical doctor from Georgia who writes in one of the prefaces in the book. “No greater issue faces the modern true church than this trojan horse of psychology. It has a stranglehold that will not easily be loosened.” I must say that I would put that stronger. I do not believe the stranglehold that psychology has on the church will be loosened. I believe we're in a situation where we're going to see a division within the church of Jesus Christ over this issue. There is conflict and division already occurring, not only in our own body but in other churches and institutions as well.

In this book that I recommended, Prophets of Psychoheresy, what Martin Bobgan has done is taken a man, Gary Collins who teaches at Trinity Evangelical Seminary; Larry Crabb who used to be on the faculty at Grace Seminary and with whom we've had conflict here; and Minirth and Meier, who are on the faculty at Dallas Seminary. Martin selected these because they are representative of what is going on, and they are men who have been hired onto the faculties of evangelical seminaries. If you’re aware of anything of what has happened in our major denominations, you know that the liberalism gets ahold in the seminaries and affects those men who are coming out of the seminaries and through those men into the churches.



There has been discussion on whether there is a real issue here that we've been talking about. Whether I have made an issue out of nothing. Whether there is really a difference in the position that I hold, and we hold as a church and the position that Larry Crabb holds. You ought to understand how far apart we really are and the positions that we hold. That we don’t have anything in common that we can mix together when we come to this issue. How impossible it is to borrow from the Larry Crabb system. That we must adopt the philosophical foundation that Larry Crabb must utilize any of this material to have it be effective. I hope you take time to read it. I’ll be encouraging you to read it in the coming weeks. We’ll have copies in our bookstore this week.














When you get the book, read the section on Larry Crabb first and then read the rest of the book as you have time. Read the hundred pages on Larry Crabb. You don't need to start at the first, that's the second section, but you won't lose the continuity by beginning there. He considers each man individually. I believe you will see and understand how wide the chasm really is between us.

One of the men who are on staff here, Tom was talking to him, Tom Rempel, at the beginning of the summer, and asked him if he has had a chance to re-study the issue since he was between jobs. He says yes, he has, he's reconsidered it, he's re-read Crabb and he's convinced that Larry Crabb has the right position and that's the position that he wants to hold and teach. Well, that's his option, but you ought to understand how far apart that we really are in the positions that we hold. That we don't have anything in common that we can mix when we come to this issue. They'll point out how impossible it is to borrow from Larry Crabb's system, because you must adopt the philosophical foundation that Larry Crabb must utilize any of his material and have it been effective. So, I hope you will take time to read it. I'll be encouraging you to do this in coming weeks and we'll have copies in our bookstore this week, or you can check the other bookstores in town as well. Not on audio




I want to start out with a little bit of a history lesson. A summary of a couple of things that happened in more recent church history. You know there's really nothing new going on in the kind of conflicts we are facing today. Satan has the option, option is not a good word, advantage over us. You know, you and I fight and battle during our time here on earth. Satan has been here since the beginning of creation, perhaps created on day 1 in Genesis. You know, he can look at his strategy and say, back in 400 B.C. we used this tactic and then we used it again in 1100 B.C. and again in 1400 B.C., let's use it again in Lincoln and to us it comes new. Satan has worked and refined his strategy. That's one of the reasons, it's not the only reason, but it's one of the reasons you and I are no match for Satan. It takes the ministry of the Spirit of God in our lives to enable us to stand in the face of Satanic attack. There is not a human being alive who could do battle with Satan in his own power, but believers are privileged to have One in them who is greater than the one who is in the world. I just want to highlight a couple of things that went on in some of the churches' battles and you see how false teaching infiltrates and corrupts the church, and I think you'll see parallels in what we have faced and battled.

Most of you are familiar with the Unitarians. Unitarians' name comes from the fact they don't believe in the Trinity. They don't believe that Jesus Christ is God; they don't believe the Holy Spirit is God. So rather than being, believing there are three persons comprising the one God, they believe there's just one person, one God. Now the Unitarians really began to develop in the 18th century and then they moved into New England in the late 18th century, late 1700's. They began to infiltrate evangelical churches there, Unitarians. I want to make a reference to a history book; this book doesn't mention psychology, it's talking about the history of the church in its purity. It asks the question: Is it not strange that a system such as Unitarianism would spring up among the churches which were founded by the Puritans? The Puritans founded the churches in New England. The Puritans were noted for their absolute, complete commitment to the Word of God. When Unitarianism began to infiltrate, it was in the churches that had been founded by the Puritans. An author, friendly to Unitarianism, has a startling answer, in fact this book that he's quoting from was published by the Unitarians. It began because of a mood of compromise. In the introduction to this volume which describes the great Unitarian leaders, he writes,” they love to emphasize the points of agreement rather than the points of difference. They were willing to make concessions for the sake of peace in the churches”. Here is how one who is writing favorably of the Unitarians says they were successful in infiltrating the churches. Churches were willing to compromise to keep the peace. Once started, how did Unitarianism make such spectacular progress? Was it not immediately spotted for what it was and denounced by orthodox leaders? Then he gives some quotes from others favorable to Unitarianism and he summarizes, “Unitarian proponents point with pride to the fact that Unitarianism arose in New England without an open fuss until it was already entrenched in the churches. Many churches became Unitarian instead trinitarian and crossed the boundary without knowing it. In many churches there was not even any debate over theological changes. It was a natural, peaceful evolution.”


Now that's startling to us as evangelicals who believe in the triune God, that evangelical churches just could gradually assimilate Unitarian theology to the point that they became Unitarian. Finally, in the 1800's there was a split between the Congregational churches and the Unitarian, but the damage was already done. The Congregational churches never survived it. Cold, hard, dead churches are what was left. The bad theology had done its job. Important point to note: Peace became the key issue, and to do battle against this theology that has infiltrated our church would divide us, and it's not worth it; they sacrificed the church for peace.

A little bit later in church history, the last part of the 1800's, a man ministered in London by the name of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Some of you have read of Charles Haddon Spurgeon, and I've alluded to him many times. You will find reading his writings extremely encouraging and profitable. He pastored in London during the last half of the 1900's, died in 1892, pastored what was then the world's largest Baptist church. Had about 6,000 people on a Sunday morning. Now we have churches bigger than that today, but you must understand, they didn't do multiple services. When the auditorium was full; it was full. They might turn away thousands of people, but they didn't do a second service. In fact, in one service Charles Haddon Spurgeon asked the regular people who were members if they would get up and give their seats to people who were not members so that they could hear the message preached. Everybody got up and left and they still couldn't get everybody in! So, you get some idea of the magnitude of the ministry. Well at any rate, Charles Spurgeon and his church was a member of what was called the Baptist Union. It was like a denomination or an affiliation of churches. Liberalism began to infiltrate the Baptist Union. They became weak on their view of Scripture. There was a controversy that developed called the Downgrade Controversy, because Spurgeon said they were moving from the high ground of a high view of Scripture to the low ground of a weak view of Scripture. It was the Downgrade Controversy. It got to the point that Spurgeon resigned with his church from the Baptist Union. Now this is in the context now, the Baptist Union was comprised of men in churches who professed to believe the faith. This historical book writes, “Though leaders in the Baptist Union professed loyalty to the faith, Spurgeon's instincts proved to be absolutely accurate in the matter of encroaching apostasy. In fact, 38 years after Spurgeon resigned, they voted in an out and out liberal to lead the Baptist Union. It took about a generation till they went all out liberal in their views. Now, when Spurgeon resigned with his church, that created a stir. Here you have the largest Baptist church in the world withdrawing from the Baptist Union. Everybody wants to know what the issue is, what's wrong? The leaders of the Baptist Union had to do something. What they did is enlightening. They called a great public meeting, packed out an auditorium with a couple thousand pastors and church leaders. At that meeting they censured Spurgeon. Now interesting thing is, they took a vote. The vote was 2,000 against Spurgeon's position; seven for it. In fact, Spurgeon's own brother who was his assistant pastor at his church seconded the motion to censure him at the meeting. You get some idea how divisive the issue became.


It goes on to explain about some of those who voted against him and the closeness of relationship they had, then ask the question: How was it that men who claimed and, in many cases, did possess, belief in the orthodox doctrine of the faith, stood against someone who was defending them? Certainly, one great lesson leaps out from the study of this controversy. The spirit of accommodation can lead to compromise on vital issues. It's a point we must keep in mind when you work on trying to accommodate and compromise, you compromise crucial issues. It goes on to explain what happened with the Baptist Union in this issue with Spurgeon. The leaders of the Baptist Union had to face, what are they going to do about Spurgeon? Everybody wondering why he resigned. They were not prepared to admit the general charge of a lost evangelical faith. They were afraid that any admission of his specific charges would lead to controversy and division. The policy which they adopted was to attempt to put the responsibility for disturbing the peace of the union back on Spurgeon. Now you see what happened. They diverted attention from the issue of a wrong view of Scripture to the person and personality of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. A further noticeable feature of most allusions to Spurgeon's protest. Let me read the whole paragraph.

In other words, the union did not face the issue squarely and fairly. They dodged, manipulated and fudged. A further noticeable feature of most allusions to Spurgeon's protest is the tendency to dwell upon relatively small details in such a way as to divert attention from the major issue. If these men had allowed the central doctrinal issue of the authority and purity of Scripture to be faced, it would have torn the union apart. So, they diverted attention to Spurgeon. Here you have many evangelicals voting against the man who is taking a stand for the purity of the Word of God.

Obedience to God and separation often brings abuse, even from those who claim to love the Lord and be evangelical. Spurgeon suffered tremendous criticism. Those who should have been his friends and stood with him turned against him. Joseph Parker was a leading preacher in London, and an outstanding evangelical. You can still buy the works of Joseph Parker and his sermons preached through the Bible. He took a stand against Spurgeon. Listen to what he writes, to Spurgeon in an open letter published in a magazine: “You bring sweeping charges against your brethren for want of orthodoxy, but I will not join you in what may be anonymous defamation. The universe isn't not divided into plain black and white as you suppose. (Ever heard that before?) It is not your function to set some people on your right hand and the rest on your left. I cannot but think that any man who expels the whole Baptist Union must occupy a sovereign place in some pantheon of his own invention.”

That's pretty strong from a man who himself was an evangelical, but he was wrong; Spurgeon was right. Spurgeon said history will prove me right. It may be after my death, but it will prove me right, and history proved him right. Thirty-eight years later they put in an out and out liberal as head of the Baptist Union. Where do you go in London to find evangelical churches today? Why? They accommodated for peace’s sake. Let's not divide believer against believer, church against church and divide within our churches. Peace is the goal more than truth. Devastating.


In the first part of this century, we had something going on what I think, believe parallels what we are experiencing with psychology today. We had the fundamentalist/modernist controversy. First part of this century, most evangelical believers were part of the major denominations, Presbyterian, Methodist and so on. Those denominations had been true to the faith, but during the first third of this century, liberalism, carried over from the end of the last century but for us in the States it primarily focuses in the first part of this century. Liberalism began to infiltrate the denominations and the churches. Some men began to recognize this and took a stand for the fundamentals. In fact, there was a series of books that have been recently republished called The Fundamentals against the liberalism or the modernism that was infiltrating the church. A lower view of Scripture and all that goes along with that. It was a very difficult battle because what would happen, what happened was, it divided believer against believer, church against church. It split churches. You had believers on both sides of the issue battling one another. As a result, we have the independent churches today. Now if you want to go to an evangelical, Bible-teaching church, by and large you don't go to a Presbyterian church, not that there aren't some, or Methodist church, because those churches by and large are liberal churches. Modernism and Liberalism took over those churches and evangelical believers established independent churches. It was in that controversy in the 20's Jay Gresham Machen and some others left Princeton Seminary and formed Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia. In the 1800's the bulwark of the faith was Princeton Seminary. The great theologies that we still read today, if you go to an evangelical seminary, you'll read the theologies written by Princeton professors in the 1800's. In 1929, the evangelicals had to leave Princeton Seminary; they were overwhelmed by the liberalism. Jay Gresham Machen was one of them. The Presbyterian Church in the 1890's defrocked, they took away the ordination credentials of a man named Briggs, because of his liberalism. In the 1930's they took away the ordination credentials of Jay Gresham Machen because of his fundamentalism. Again, you see what happens in a generation or so, a denomination completely swept over by liberalism. Where do you find a Presbyterian or Methodist seminary for men to be trained that believes the Bible is the Word of God? Closest the Methodists have is Asbury Seminary and it is the renegade seminary. It's just not there. The corruption has infiltrated and taken over.





Now we have a similar kind of situation that we're facing now with psychology and the Bible as they did with the fundamentalist/modernist controversy. What happened that made modernism so difficult to deal with, it had infiltrated the churches, evangelical churches, to such a degree to take a stand pitted Christian against Christian, and that's always a rendering situation. What has happened with psychology, it has so infiltrated the evangelical church to take a stand now for the purity of the Word of God against bringing humanistic psychology into our church divides a Christian against a Christian. The result is very difficult conflict. In fact, we find ourselves debating: do I really want to be part of this conflict? Something's wrong. Christian fighting Christian. I don't want anything to do with this. But we find it's not an option. It pervades everything. As I mentioned, the reason that Bobgan in the book Prophets of Psychoheresy selects Gary Collins, Larry Crabb and Minirth and Meier is because all these men, when he selected them, were on the faculty of evangelical seminaries; promoting this teaching for men that are going to come out and be pastors in the churches. It was very effective.

Someone asked me when I came back from vacation: You thought about this, is there anything you would do differently? Any apologies you would make for the conflict that we have experienced, and we continue to experience as a church? I have to say, yes. I would apologize for allowing error and false doctrine to get ahold in this church and for not dealing with it as firmly and harshly as I should have at the beginning. I made a mistake, a serious mistake. I heard that Larry Crabb's material was being picked up by one of our staff members. I also knew that Larry Crabb had been accepted to become a faculty member at Grace Seminary. I thought like this: I'm a graduate of Grace Seminary. Grace Seminary is a very conservative, evangelical school. They would not hire Larry Crabb unless he was very, very biblical. So, I did not first-hand study the material. That was a serious error. You see what happens? I trusted someone else, an evangelical seminary. I don't know who they trusted to get him. Then you trusted my judgment, and I apologize for the error. We have a staff member who uses Larry Crabb's material, but Gil says he holds to the purity of the Word. We wouldn't have that at Indian Hills if it wasn't biblical. You see, one person trusts another, trusts another. End result, what happened? Heretical doctrines. Not on audio

You know, psychology was started by men like Sigmund Freud and Abraham Maslow and others. Jewish men who started psychology out of a commitment to attack evangelical Christianity and provide an option to dealing with the problems of humanity in contrast to the Bible. What has happened with the passing of time? Now you have evangelical Christians trying to take that doctrine that was started as an attack on Christianity and wed it to the Bible and use it in our churches. What a travesty! What a tragedy! We have experienced the pain of what happens when you try to deal with it. It divides friend against friend, believer against believer; and we say, what is wrong? What is happening? What happens is, when false teaching and false doctrine infiltrate among in a church, when you do take a stand, it's divisive. You don’t know what's going to happen. I've shared with you. When I finally realized what was happening and began to study Larry Crabb's material and realized how unbiblical it was, I decided we had to take a stand. Talking to my father on the phone, he's retired as a supervisor from U.S. Steel, his comment to me was, you know you will not survive that battle. Counseling and psychology are too entrenched in people's mind and in the church for you to survive such a conflict. It was good for me, because I had to consider, will I do this if I cannot win, if it means I will have to be gone. God in His sovereign grace has worked it differently. But we realize how deep and how entrenched these issues really are and have really become.

Some of you have experienced it. You've lost close friends. You say, what is going on? And why does it continue? You know, we have the idea, all right, we fought that battle, now let's go on. I wrestled and prayed and tossed and turned, should I talk about this with you? Some people are going to say, oh, no, I thought that was behind us. You know it's a trap of the devil. It's not behind us. It goes on and on.

You know the mistake I made? Allowing that to come in and not being careful enough with the Elders. Two, when we realized what was happening, try to handle it in such a way as to allow the men that were involved in it to leave with integrity so they could have another ministry. You know the result? This kind of doctrine now is being infiltrated into other churches in this city and Omaha and other places by people that were here. That was an error. Their unfaithfulness to the Word of God should have been dealt with more openly. They should have been discredited openly so that they could not go to other churches and undermine those churches as well. They must be dealt with there, now. That's between them and those churches. But I feel that's an area where I was not as faithful as I should have been in handling this issue. Not on audio


The Bible is clear on what our responsibility is as a church. The Word of God is the focal point. I want to look at some verses with you but let me read a quote first from Jay Gresham Machen. Jay Gresham Machen was a brilliant man. He wrote many books attacking liberalism. He was ostracized by his friends, close associates because of his position for the Word. He writes: “Again, men tell us that our preaching should be positive and not negative, that we can preach the truth without attacking error. But if we follow that advice, we shall have to close our Bible and desert its teachings. The New Testament is a polemic book, almost from beginning to end. It is when men have felt compelled to take a stand against error that they have risen to the great heights in the celebration of the truth.”

Look over in I Timothy chapter 3. I want to look at a series of verses with you, just to remind you, to encourage you, because I know you get weary in the battle. It gets disheartening to hear this and to hear that. I realize that most of the battle, most of what you hear, focuses on me personally. You begin to wonder when you hear it from enough people, perhaps there is something to it. Perhaps it is Gil's personality. Perhaps he does want to be a dictator. Perhaps he does want to control people. All a smokescreen. I hear people say, and they've said to me, Gil, the issue's not psychology. We all agree about that. The issue is the way you handle it. That's a lie. That's not the truth. A man who formerly was a member of our Board of Elders came to me at the beginning of the controversy, when I raised the issue, and he says, Gil, the issue is not psychology and the Bible; the issue is your personality. They were very successful in raising that among many people. It's blurred the issue. Some dear people who have left Indian Hills over this controversy still don't have the foggiest idea about what it was about. They still don't understand the issue. That's why I recommend the book to you. That's why you must read it. Because you must understand what the issues are facing the church. You must understand their depth and their breadth. You must understand how it pervades everything today. It has got a hold in our churches. It's got a hold in our schools. Coming back from Kansas City I listened to the Minirth and Meier Clinic. You know how it starts? Moody Bible Institute presents the Minirth and Meier Clinic over Christian radio stations like the one I was listening to. You know what used to be on Minirth, the time that Minirth and Meier is on? Jay Vernon Magee, known for what? Bible teaching. Replaced by what? Man's psychology mixed with verses.

I Timothy chapter 3 verse 15. I write you, Paul says to Timothy, “so that you may know how one ought to conduct himself in the household of God which is the church of the living God,” note this, “the pillar and support of the truth.” Do you know what the church is? It is the foundation for the Word of God. It is to be the pillar and support for God's Word. Not that it originates with us, the Word originates from God, but the church exists in the world to present the truth, to support the truth. Yet we find the church as key in amalgamating the truth with other things. When we are to maintain the purity of the Word of God and to stand. One writer in the introduction to the book I've recommended, Prophets of Psychoheresy put it well, but in a stinging way, if I can find it, “Psychologists who are Christians are not primarily at fault. Church leaders must bear the guilt of the invasion of psychology into the church. These are the people who are ordained of God to guard the minds of their sheep. Instead, they have invited wolves into the fold. Christian publishers are guilty as well. The profit margin has become the most important consideration for them. What a tragedy! The church that is to be the pillar and support of the truth, and we invite this kind of teaching, this kind of mixture of the Word and the godless philosophy of men and say now here is what you need to live the Christian life. When Peter says that God has given us everything that pertains to life and godliness, and I should have to go to Sigmund Freud or Abraham Maslow and get some help to live a godly life. God help the church!


Now note something: When God calls the church to be the pillar and support of the truth, He calls us to support the pure milk of the Word. You note in some of the past controversies I read about there was a spirit of accommodation, and there is a tendency to look at what we agree on, not what we disagree on. That is a subtle and corrupting factor.


Look at I Peter chapter 2, “Therefore, putting aside all malice, guile, hypocrisy, envy, slander. Note verse 2: Like newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word that you may grow with respect to your salvation. You know something supernatural happens when a person is fed a diet of the pure milk of the Word of God.

They grow with respect to their salvation. But you know what? Something amazing and supernatural happens when you mix the Word of God with human ideas. You dilute it and wash out any effectiveness for developing growth. Look at the major cults. Look at the Mormons. Look at the Jehovah Witnesses. They use Scripture. They use lots of Scripture. We've all been a position where Jehovah Witnesses come to the door and run us ragged through our Bibles. So, what's wrong? Did you ever notice that their use of Scripture doesn't result in salvation of people? Their use of Scripture does not result in believers being built up in the Word. Why? They have mixed the Scripture with human ideas and error. The result is it has diluted the impact of God's Word. Because it's the pure milk of the word that nourishes the soul of the believer. Now we say, that's true for the Jehovah Witnesses, the Mormons, sure I see that. That is true when you take psychology and you mix it with the Word of God, you have diluted the Word of God. That's why you don't read much about the ministry of the Spirit of God in these men's works, because they have replaced the Spirit of God. We need to understand something serious has happened here. Satan has been effective in the deluding the church into thinking they need to mix man's ideas, men who were opposed vehemently to Christianity, take their ideas and mix it with the Word of God, then you can really help people who have problems. Why doesn't everybody see it? How did they get on the faculty of leading evangelical seminaries? How did they get on the staff of leading evangelical churches? Then you begin to appreciate the brilliance of Satan, how effective he is in infiltrating our churches, our lives as believers. Turn on Christian radio and listen to what people are listening to. Number 1 program on Christian radio today is James Dobson, Christian psychologist. No, it's not an attack on James Dobson personally. I realize God has used him, he's accomplished things, praise the Lord, but nonetheless, does James Dobson meet the standards for an elder in the New Testament,
I Timothy 3 and Titus 1? He has become, in effect, the leader in the church.

Many Christians live and die for James Dobson. Some of you probably won't come back because I'm criticizing him. Not on audio

But tell me about the theology of James Dobson. Is he qualified to be an elder? There are very strict guidelines given for an elder. Tell me about his theology. Most people listening to him don't have any idea. He's Nazarene. He's an Armenian in his theology. He could not be approved to teach the Word at Indian Hills, let alone be on the Board of Elders. Where does his authority come from? He's a Christian psychologist. Listen to his program. I listened to it while we're traveling. They keep reminding you, we're listening to Dr. James Dobson, Christian psychologist. You know what most Christians read into that? Ah ha, here's someone who can really tell me how to live my life. Isn’t something wrong?

Why would Moody Bible Institute replace Jay Vernon Magee's Bible teaching program with Meier and Minirth? I talked to John MacArthur about this. He's on the board at Moody Bible Institute, he says, they never asked me. He says, they wouldn't put my program on the 12 to 1 slot for anything, but they'll put psychology on. Grace Bible Institute in Omaha wants to increase its popularity. What do they do? They hire a Christian psychologist. Now you can go there, and you can get counseling to help you really live the Christian life for only $50 an hour. Teach you the Word for nothing, but I mean when you're really getting help it costs you $50 an hour. That's probably the end of our program on KGBI also. Not on audio

When I come to the Word, it says it's the pure milk of the Word that enables you to grow in respect to your salvation, you see what Satan's doing? Sure, he doesn't mind if you have churches that use the Bible. He doesn't mind that you mix in the Bible with other things, because soon as you've done that you've diluted its influence and its impact. You have washed it out. It's the pure milk. When I decide to put my ideas in that pure milk, it's no longer pure and people no longer grow in their salvation. So what happens? It multiplies. I listened to a poor lady that called in to the Minirth and Meier clinic. She talked about how the Lord was using her and she was going on, and God was really using her, but she says you know sometimes I get the feeling that I don't have anybody to turn to. That was the problem. I thought, boy, a little bit of encouragement from the Word here and you're on. Again, they got done, that poor lady belonged in a clinic. I mean, she had all kind of underlying difficulties and probably wasn't serving the Lord with right motives and on and on, the program was about friendship. Some of you may have listened. Don't tell me. But it was about having friends. They tell you about how you have friends, and you must realize, some of your friends will be obsessive/compulsives, some of your friends will be hysterics, ladies, a lot of hysteric ladies, and there's others. Something is wrong. Suddenly we’re infiltrated. I realize it pains some of you to even hear this. Some of you are thinking you shouldn’t be joking about that I have friends that have left and it hurts and it does. We’ll talk about that in a moment. First, we must settle what the issue is, and understand how serious the issue is.

I just don't come to the Word and find out how to be a godly person and to encourage others in a godly life and have friends who are believers and were growing together. Now I gotta say, hmmm, I knew there was something wrong with Tom Rempel, that obsessive/compulsive. Besides, he's married to a hysteric, what else can you expect? Now, I'm just throwing that out. I don't have any idea what they are. So. I don't. But this is coming over Moody Bible Institute presents this to people turning on Christian radio to learn how to live a godly life. Now something's wrong. Subtlety we're infiltrated. Now I realize, it pains some of you to even hear this. I know some of you are probably thinking you shouldn't be joking about this. I have friends who have left. And it hurts. And it does. I want to talk about that in a moment. But first we must settle what the issue is. And understand what the issue is and how serious it is. Not on audio

The church of Jesus Christ is being swept away by a tide of psychology. Jay Vernon Magee mentions in his book, said before his death, he believes there's coming a time when you will not get Bible teaching on Christian radio. When you will not get publishers to publish Bible teaching material. This is published by Eastgate Publishers. The Bobgans mortgaged their house to get the money to do it. You know why? Not one leading Christian publisher would publish it. Now you read this book and tell me what there is in there that Moody Press ought to be ashamed to publish. You know why they wouldn't publish it? It mentions leading Christian leaders. What becomes the test? Peace, not truth. It doesn't matter that they're being a corrupting influence in the body. They are respected Christians. Besides, who listens? People listen to that. People buy their material. You cut off the dollars.


Second Timothy chapter 4. We talk about the pure milk of the Word; we have to be honest. People don't want the pure milk of the Word. It's a sign of a decline of Christianity in a society when even evangelical believers are turning their attention away from the purity of the Word of God.

(That concludes the first portion of this message. For the conclusion, please turn the tape over.)

Truth has come home to me in new ways through our controversy. Paul says to Timothy. Last, Paul's last tetter, II Timothy, last chapter of his last letter he's on his way to his execution. He says to Timothy: “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus who is the judge, the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom.” Now, note II Timothy 4:2: “Preach the Word.” Preach the Word, that's the last thing Paul has to say to Timothy. Preach the Word. Be ready in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.” Why? Verse 3 through 5, “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine.” They won't put up with healthy teaching. Wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths. But you be sober in all things, endure hardship.” You see what you're called to as a believer? What I'm called to? When you're going to stand for the purity of the Word of God, sound teaching, you're going to have to endure hardship. He's writing to Timothy who's going to teach the Word to people. Supposed believers. You know what? The time's going to come they don't want to hear the sound teaching. How many times have I heard, in the last couple of years at Indian Hills, we have too much teaching. We have too much emphasis on doctrine. Well, you didn't get that kind of thinking from the Word of God. You know what? People want to hear certain things, and the tide of society moves ahead of us. The world got caught up in psychological explanations for men's problems and the way people live, and the church has bought into it. Now people can't get enough of it. Go to the Christian bookstore and walk through and look on their Christian living section and see whether it's Bible teaching or psychology. Pick up the books and look who publishes it, who writes it. Christian psychologists, Christian psychologists, Christian psychologists. Why? Well, I mean, what's a Bible teacher know about solving problems? What's a Bible teacher know about living a godly life, all he has is the Scripture. What a tragedy! You know what happens? There's a pressure. People begin to give people what they want. People don't want sound teaching. Now if I'm going to fill this church up, maybe I better make some adjustments. People say you know, nobody's going to be left if you keep it up. I say, Lord, you know nobody's going to be left if I keep it up, and He says shut up. I try to do His job. Publishers, they wouldn't publish Bobgan's material, why? It might offend Larry Crabb and then Larry Crabb won't let you publish his books. If you don't publish his books, you don't make money. Christian radio. Do you think they'll play this? Where's the money? The most popular program, as I mentioned, James Dobson, Christian psychologist. It's one of the fastest growing programs and Minirith and Meier. One after another. Pushing Bible teaching further and further back. Out of the way, why? People don't want to hear that. So, you see what happens? We begin to give people what they want instead of what God calls us to give.


Look back in II Corinthians chapter 2: 14. “Thanks be to God who always leads us in His triumph in Christ and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place.” Do you see what we're called to do as believers? We're to give off the knowledge of Jesus Christ. That's the Word of God. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, His Word. We're not to give off the aroma of Jesus Christ mixed with the ideas of men. What is pleasing to God is the purity of the aroma of Christ.

Look down in verse 17. He asks at the end of verse 15, who is adequate for these things? We're dealing with eternal issues, folks. Who's adequate for these things. He answers the question down in chapter 3 verses 5 and 6. We're not adequate of ourselves to do anything. But He has made us adequate, come back to chapter 2 verse 17. The reason we're adequate, we are not like many, peddling the Word of God. Peddling the Word of God. That word peddling translated means to act as a huckster. It meant to adulterate or corrupt something to make it more saleable. We'll put something in it, like you could put something in food to make it taste better even though it wasn't good for you, because people would buy it. So, you would corrupt your product to make it more saleable. Paul says what makes us adequate as representatives of God dealing with eternal issues is, we don't corrupt the Word of God. We don't mix it with anything. then we have been taught in our church the teachings of Larry Crabb who calls himself an integrationist? Mixing the Word of God with something. God help us. Why we have been made adequate by God is because we don't mix anything with the pure Word that He has given to us. That's the crucial thing. It's not whether these men are sincere. It's not whether they're earnest. It's not whether they use Bible verses. It's whether their ministry and message is the Word of God and the Word of God only or it's a mixture of men's ideas. The very fact they get their authority by being Christian psychologists and psychiatrists tells you what they bring to the subject. Men who have no theological training sitting as faculty members on evangelical seminaries. Well, if they don't have theological training, what training do they have? Psychology and psychiatry. So that's what they bring, and they infiltrate minds. They infiltrate churches and then we must decide, do I want to separate from friends over an issue like this?


Well, Jude spoke to the issue. Back in Jude verse 3. Just before the Book of Revelation, the little one-chapter book of Jude. Verse 3.” Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.” Contend earnestly. Where'd we get the word agonize from? Fagonizo. We're going to have an intense struggle here for the faith. The faith stands for the Word of God. This is what we are to believe. He's calling Christians to enter into an intense, difficult struggle for the faith. Why? Certain persons have crept in unnoticed. They have infiltrated among believers with false doctrine. You know, most of us as believers wouldn't mind the battle if it would just go away, but it doesn't. It's an agonizing struggle. Some people have said to me, and some people have left, they said, I'm just tired of the conflict. Well, I can appreciate that. But, be very careful I don't say to God, look, God, I'm tired of being faithful. It's too difficult to be true to the Word. My friends are more important than your Word to me. I have friends who have left. I must go where my friends are. I have no problem if you go to a church where your friends go. As long as your friends have gone for the right reason. If your friends go because they've taken the wrong position on biblical doctrine, you better be willing to separate from those friends. We have people who have left who still don't understand the issue. All they know is they have friends who left. Well, you find out what the issue is. Otherwise, without meaning to, you stand against the truth. Those 2,000 people who voted against Charles Spurgeon voted against the Word of God. Doesn't matter they were voting because their friend next to them voted that way. The damage was still the same. They became part of the corruption of the church of Jesus Christ. God has called us to purity.

Look back in Acts chapter 20. Paul says to the elders at Ephesus, verse 28 of Acts 20: “ Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.” You see, it's His church, purchased at great cost. Tremendous responsibility for maintaining its purity. Verse 29 and 30,” I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. From among your own selves’ men will arise, speaking perverse things, seeking to draw away the disciples after them. From among your own selves.” You know where the great danger to biblical Christianity is in the United States today? Not from outside, from inside. We pride ourselves in standing for the faith, but at the same time we open the flood gates to a corrupting mixture of humanistic psychology and the Word of God. We say to people who are trying to live the Christian life: Here, you need to come and get this input. And we wonder why the problems multiply and the power is gone because the purity of the Word has been given up. We must watch from among our own selves. That's heart-rendering. Many of you have experienced your closest friends on the other side of an issue like this. People that I've served with since I came to this church, on the other side of an issue like this. I must ask, is my commitment to the Word of God greater than my commitment to my friends? Is it more important to me to be biblical than it is to be popular? If I can no longer pastor the largest church in the city, will I still be faithful to the Word of God? God has not called us to be popular. God has not called us to be important, He's called us to be faithful. Praise God for Christian friends who are faithful.

You have been a great encouragement to me. This sermon is meant as an encouragement to you to stand through the conflict. I appreciate that. Some of you haven't understood what the issues are. You have heard all kinds of things about me. I appreciate your willingness to stay in there. But ultimately comes, you don't do it for me, you do it for the Lord. He's the one who's honored by it. So, from when among our own selves’ men arise speaking perverse things, they have to be dealt with. Otherwise, they draw away the disciples after them. That happens. We have men from our congregation who left leadership positions, and they took people with them. They did nothing to help those people get assimilated into other ministries, evangelical ministries. They kept them as their own little brood. So now that one of the churches who received a number of these people said to me, I'm terribly concerned. We've got this blob of people. They come together, they sit together, they go out to restaurants together. What are they doing in our church? Not on audio



Come back to Jeremiah chapter 1. You know, you think you've got it tough. I think I've got it tough. Any time I start my poor me song, I go back and read somebody like Jeremiah. You know I sometimes think all the heartache, all the suffering, all the difficulty I'm going through, if I was sitting here with the Apostle Paul, would I be embarrassed to even to bring it up. He says, Gil, show me your scars, I'll show you mine. Does getting your finger caught in the car door count, Paul? Jeremiah chapter 1, verse 9. God's call to Jeremiah. Jeremiah was reluctant. He knew what it was to be a prophet in Israel. Jeremiah 1:9: “Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth. The Lord said to me, behold I have put my Words in your mouth”. That's what a prophet is. God's Words in a prophet's mouth. You see how simple Jeremiah's ministry is? God's put His words in Jeremiah's mouth, now Jeremiah, you go and spit them out. Read the 40 years of Jeremiah's ministry. Suffering, persecution, rejection. Who is Jeremiah going to? The Babylonians? No. The Assyrians. No. Canaanites. No. Egyptians. No. The people of God. Yes. Look at verse 19 of Jeremiah 1. “They will fight against you. They won't overcome you because I'm with you to deliver you.” Sometimes it looks like Jeremiah's overcome. In fact, he's being kidnapped against his will and taken to Egypt at the end of the book. God’s promises are true. Isn't it interesting at the beginning, I put my Words in your mouth. You go and tell them nothing but what I told you. The result of that will be they'll fight against you. Read through it. See all the personal criticisms that came to Jeremiah. What did he do? Simply told them what God told him to say.



You know, it amazes me. Nobody's accused me of false doctrine. Nobody's accused me of false teaching. People who sat under my ministry for 18 years said yes, we learned the Word, attack heresy close to their heart and all of a sudden, it's my style of leadership. It's the way I handle situations. All of that nebulous fog to blow away the issue. Not on audio

Jeremiah had to stand faithful. You have to stand faithful. I'm not saying I'm a Jeremiah. I'm a Spurgeon. But we have to be the lights that God calls us to be where we are. You know I look and think, if God writes the history of this period of time, Jesus Christ does not come, and in 50 or 75 years they write the history of the church, where will Indian Hills be? In the conflict of this time? Will they write back and say those were people who perceived the seriousness of the time, who stood true for the purity of the Word so that our children, their children have a heritage of commitment to the Word in the face of difficulty. Persecution comes from being true to the Word.

Steven in the New Testament; Steven’s about to be stoned in Acts chapter 7, why are they going to stone Steven? For his social program? For his inability to work with people? For his dictatorial style? You know what Steven did? He presented to who, the people of God the Word of God, they couldn't handle it.

You know what Je, uh Steven said to them? Which of the prophets, Acts chapter 7 verse 52, which of the prophets did you not persecute? Not on audio

You know, I can appreciate people saying I'm tired of the conflict. Could you have been part of any of the prophets' ministries in the Old Testament? Could I have been part of Jesus' ministry in the New Testament and avoided ongoing conflict? Could we have followed Paul and joined in his ministry without ongoing conflict? I sympathize with it, but folks, right is right and true is true. The Word of God is the Word of God. He has to decide how long we have to be faithful, have to endure. You know, I have to be committed to Him above everything. Jesus said, giving the Beatitudes, that we are blessed when men persecute us and revile us, say all manner of evil against us for Christ's sake, for so they did the prophets before you. Rejoice and be glad. You know, it's our greatest privilege to suffer for Jesus Christ.


Peter wrote about that. First Peter chapter 2. That it's a blessing and a privilege to suffer for Jesus Christ. Paul wrote to the Philippians. Said you've been given two privileges. One is to believe in Jesus Christ, two is to suffer for Christ. We often don't identify that when it comes to family and friends separating from us. Jesus said, he that loves father and mother more than me is not worthy of me. You know it hurts, it pains us to have a friend on the other side of an issue, especially a Christian friend. But you know, my commitment to Jesus Christ and His Word must supersede my commitment to my friends, my commitment to my family. What is the authority in my life? What is most important to me? My friendships. I can't be part of this church if my friends aren't here. Well, you've set the priorities of your life. You're not usable for Jesus Christ. He calls people who are committed to Him above all, to His Word above all. Doesn't mean I want to lose my friends. Doesn't mean I want to be torn from my family, those who have been close to me. But I'm willing to if that's the cost. I must follow Jesus Christ. I must be true to His Word, and that's a blessing.
I don't think that Charles Spurgeon and his church knew the significance of what they were going through in the broader picture. I don't know that those who are battling the modernist/fundamentalist controversy in the first part of this century could understand the seriousness and weight of the issues that they were facing. It's possible that we are going through a similar kind of battle today. Not only our church; there are other churches going through it. We fail to appreciate the significance at the time. I count it a great honor that we should be raised up by God to stand for the truth of the Word in these days. If we don't, who will? He'll keep you from getting too weary. His strength is always sufficient. When you've lost friends, when those close to you stand against you, when they don't understand, don't you find yourself driven to the Lord? Lord, nobody understands. But the Lord understands. As long as we're faithful to Him then He'll use us. He'll bless. He can accomplish His purposes in and through us. I praise God for you in your faithfulness. I pray that He'll keep us faithful. I pray for you regularly that He'll encourage you, that He'll strengthen you.

I pray that He'll give you the grace as you hear the criticisms about me, the attacks that'll be focused on me that He'll give you the strength to deal with that, to keep your attention on the real issue. The issue is the purity of the Word. And I want to stand for that. I may agree. Gil could have a better personality ask Marilyn, she’s married to me. She probably agrees. But you know what? She's committed to me. We're married, and that's the way it is. So, personalities aren't the issue. All these other things are a fog. The issue is the purity of the Word, and we want to be a church that stands for the purity of the Word. Not on audio.

I appreciate your willingness to stand. I trust that God will encourage us and enrich our ministry in coming days that many, many, many will come to Him, that we might be a lighthouse that other churches will be encouraged to stand for the purity of the Word as well.

Let us pray together. Father, thank you for using us as vessels to make Jesus Christ known. We know that at best, at our greatest, we are simply earthen vessels entrusted with great treasure. Lord, we need to be reminded the treasure is what is entrusted to us, it's not us. You don't need our ideas; you don't need our insights and our discoveries. You need faithful vessels. We want to be a church that is committed to Jesus Christ and His work. Lord, thank you for the privilege that we have to suffer for that commitment. Thank you for the privilege for we have of standing for Jesus Christ, even when it costs us friends and those that we love, those that are closest to us. Lord, it's good for us to be tested and tried that we might mature. Lord, I do pray for those who have left. Lord some have left for right reasons. We ask your continued blessing on their lives and ministry, but we're burdened for those who have left because they haven't understood the doctrinal issue, or they're committed to what is wrong and incorrect. Open their eyes. Give them understanding. Lord, make us a church that is an encouragement to other churches to stand for the truth. Above all, honor and glorify Jesus Christ through this ministry till He comes. Make us be willing to pay the price. May no sacrifice be too great, may we count no cost too great to be identified with Jesus Christ and His Word, whether we be small in numbers or great in numbers may be before you counted faithful. We pray in Christ's name. Amen.

(You've been studying the Bible with Dr. Gil Rugh, Bible teacher and pastor at Indian Hills Community Church. If you would like to study other parts of the Bible with Gil, contact Sound Words, Box 5949, Lincoln, Nebraska 68505. And when you write, be sure to request a catalog.)

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Faithfulness Amid Conflict 8/13/89
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