Sat, Dec 30th - 8:15AM

True or False Christianity

Unbelief, Carnality, Compromise, Disobedience, Idolatry and Apostasy*

by E. A. Gafford

Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.  Heb. 3:12

     God has not allowed the least of that which questions His judgment to have a place in His will.  Did Jesus ever yoke up with those things which were departing from God?  The Spirit has described the evil heart of unbelief as being that which departs from the living God.  We should notice those words "living God;" for only those who have divine life respond freely to the judgment of the Author of life.

     When carnal men found that they could not yoke up with the life of Christ, they wanted Him put out of the world.  The soldiers who guarded the tomb would no doubt have been ordered to open it after others were convinced that it held only a lifeless form.  Lifeless forms, even in the name of Christianity, have mutual kinship with all other kinds of idolatry.

     Carnality is very careful never to yoke up with anything unless it can be the dictator.  It waits to feel a person's spirit bow in submission to its control before it gives heart fellowship.  It appears to be very liberal in its views, but it wants to bind a Samson before he is allowed to entertain others.  It never intends to yoke up with one who would walk off with(out)* the gates of the city.

     Unbelief has worked hard to get righteousness and unrighteousness together, but the union must take place with the understanding that more and more allowances be made for sin.  It wants to get light and darkness to mix into some beautiful harmony, but darkness intends to advance toward midnight.  Unbelievers feel that Christ and Belial should meet together while the crowd is persuaded that Belial's suggestions make Christianity more modern and more attractive.  They feel that the believer and the infidel should compare views while the infidel is far more positive of his ideas than is the person who believes* that God requires drastic separations in the spirit.

     This unbelief caters to idolatry because idolatry allows the self-important nature in man to do its choosing.  The apostle asks the question which will embarrass many hearts at the Judgment, "What agreement hath the temple of God with idols?"  (2Cor. 6:16)*

     So-called believers may yoke up with carnality; but carnality knows that it can depart from God, and those who only profess to be Christians will still feel that all is well.

*I have taken the liberty at the  places marked with astericks to either change the wording or add a scripture reference. I have also added several words to the title, which was published simply as "Unbelief."  I did this to clarify, what I believe was the original intent of the author.  This essay is taken from  a collection of Mr. Gafford's writings concerning the Book of Hebrews entitled, "Devotional Readings on the Book of Hebrews," published by Old Paths Tract Society in Shoals, Indiana.  I am posting it because I believe it speaks very clearly to the trends that have overtaken the  Evangelical Churches of America in the recent and present generation.

Fri, Dec 22nd - 11:26PM

Let's Celebrate!

Christmas 2006

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.  Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good.  Isa. 7: 14,15

            We’ve just had one of the worst blizzards in recent history here on the front range of the Rocky Mountains, as I’m sure most of you have heard on the news.  The highways and airports were closed for a couple of days, with thousands of travelers stranded, and of all things, shopping virtually halted for two days in the heart of this Christmas season.  But today, as it warmed and the roads were fairly cleared, it seemed like we began to make up for the brief delay.  It is 7pm as I write this, and I’m sure that the malls and roads are packed down in the city in the frantic rush to purchase those gifts and other things for the holiday celebrations.  A lady of Jewish origin asked me in church a week or so ago if I celebrate Christmas.  The rest of the folks in our church are fairly enthused on Christmas.  My reply was spontaneous: “As little as possible.”  I went on to tell her my feelings and convictions about the holiday, which are pretty negative, and that I usually get into the spirit of it about a day or so before Christmas.  I do recognize the cultural force behind Christmas and that it is virtually impossible to totally resist it’s effect.  So, as much disdain as I have for it, I try to keep my feelings about it to myself, and go along with it as much as I can.  There are some things I do like and appreciate about Christmas, though, and I have learned to appreciate them to myself.  Handel’s Messiah is one of those things, which, incidentally I am listening to right now.  It’s got to be one of the most beautiful pieces of music ever written.

          As I was listening to some classical Christmas music in my truck today, “Venite Adoremus,” the remembrance came to me of my folded hands serving at one of the Roman Catholic masses as an altar boy as a child.  Usually we wore a black cassock and white surplis as we served the mass.  On Christmas, however it was a high mass at midnight and we wore the special garb for the occasion,  a white cassock, nearly down to the feet, with a red sash and short cape.  It made me feel really special, like a miniature cardinal in the church.  The mass was said in the Latin tongue by the priest, and we, altar boys responded in Latin as we ministered to him.  The hymn, “Venite Adoremus,” which means “O Come Let Us Adore Him,” and is sung to the same tune to it as we do in English brought back those special, reverent feelings I used to imbibe and to relish as an altar boy.  I suppose that Roman Catholicism represents the very pinnacle of Christian, ceremonial religiousity, and is perhaps very similar to what the Old Testament Jews experienced in their, now defunct sacrificial ceremonies and rituals.  I can’t forget the priest shaking the censer as the smoke of the incense gave off a beautiful aroma, the priest declaring, “sanctus, sanctus, sanctus,” (holy, holy, holy) to the communion host and to the people.  As much as I now despise the counterfeit lie that Romanism truly is, and the anti-christ ecumenical spirit that it is so subtly fostering in the world today, I must acknowledge the pull that such a religious system has had, and could still exert upon me, apart from the true grace of God. 

          Another beautiful memory, actually a fantasy based on historical fact, is the picture in my mind of a little church in an Austrian (the country of my birth) village two hundred years ago.  It was Christmas Eve and probably snowing outside as preparations were made by the organist for the midnight mass.  The poor peasant villagers, simple in their understanding of Christ and His marvelous grace toward them, and beguiled by the Roman system of political/religious power, were happily preparing for this most solemn event of the year.  Our family celebrated the gift giving on the night of Christmas Eve, as probably did these humble folk before Mass.  But somehow the organ had broken and the priest (Joseph Mohr), when informed of the problem composed a hymn along with the organist (Franz Gruber, I believe)* to the accompaniment of a guitar.  The song they wrote and performed that Christmas evening, “Silent Night, Holy Night,”  “Stille Nacht, Heilege Nacht,” is perhaps the tenderest and most beloved of all Christmas hymns.  The original words were in German, which always come to my mind when I hear it, but have probably been translated into every known language on this earth.  I heard it sung in Navajo this past Thanksgiving down on a reservation in Northern New Mexico, and wondered what those two Austrian composers in that little village would have thought about it’s eventual employment all over the world.

          History marches on and unravels a chronicle of sin, tragedy, grace and redemption with all mankind as the actors, and God Himself center stage, sending His only begotten Son into His fallen creation to express an indescribable love for it.  Where are we now in that dramatic progression in time?  Surely, we are closer to the climax than at its beginning in the Garden.  The great novel of human life on earth with a living depiction of all its temporal beauty, joys and pathos seems to be running out of pages to be written.  The Devil, archenemy of the Almighty God, is frantically going about, wreaking havoc in the lives of individuals and of nations.  The peoples of the earth are “imagining a vain thing” against God in their rebellious formulation of a world system complete with its religious, economic, political and social edifice.  Who will be the players in the final catastrophic act of this all-too-terrible drama, and how will they fulfill their destined roles in its unfolding?  Bringing the matter much closer to home, what will be our part, as modern Christians caught in a cosmic struggle between the unseen forces of eternal good, and damnable evil on this earthly battlefield?  (See Matthew, chapter 24 for a general description of the beginning phases of this conflict.)  Will we persevere unto the end and be saved without denying our precious Lord and Saviour, or be selling out and betraying one another as is plainly predicted that many who profess faith will do?  Will the same “joy” that is so commonly ascribed to the Christmas celebrations be the joy that sustains us unto the very end?  Jesus prayed for Peter that his “faith fail not” and, similarly for all of His disciples, that the Father would “keep them from the evil” (Jn. 17:15).

          My prayer this Christmas season is this:  that God would graciously grant to His people a deep and authentic appreciation of the value and eternal purpose of the incarnation of His beloved Son; that that appreciation would transcend the holiday, having transformed us to a higher level of living worship and practical obedience, with a joyous expectation of a returning Lord, with vengeance for His enemies, and full and final salvation for His own.

          May the Lord bless you all, my dear friends in Christ, those of you whom I know, and all who read these words!  Merry Christmas!  Marantha!  Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

*Gruber and Mohr were the authors of "Silent Night."  I'm not really sure which was the priest and which the organist.

Fri, Dec 15th - 2:59PM

Are we feeding right?

Burgers and Fries; Pizza and Coke; or Meat, Potatoes and Green Veggies:  What’ll It Be?

Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me: Lest I be full, and deny [thee], and say, Who [is] the LORD? or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God [in vain].  Prov. 3): 8,9

For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which [be] the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.  For every one that useth milk [is] unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe.  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, [even] those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.  Heb. 5:12-14

          Like everybody else, I like a little “fun food” every now and then.  Even though I don’t have a loving wife now, who prepares appetizing meals for me for when I come home at night, (which is no excuse for not eating right), I’m trying to watch my diet as far as junk intake.  I think I’m doing a pretty good job of it, although a certain customer of mine, who is a nutritionist feels compelled to feed me something good and healthy whenever I go to work at her house.  She’s concerned and I don’t blame her.  I don’t want to be stubborn with the Lord, though I often seem to think, “If He won’t give me a wife, then I’ll just have to suffer the effects of living alone (including bad eating habits.)”

          Well, what’s this all got to do with anything spiritual?  The analogy really carries over quite well.  What kind of food are we putting into our bodies, and into our souls?  Now let me develop this a little.  I think most would agree that a little junk now and again won’t harm anyone (physically, that is) so long as the diet is steady on good, nourishing food.   In the spiritual realm, it breaks down because we don’t ever want to put something into our minds and souls that might be hurtful or counterproductive.  But some of the junk we're getting from the pulpit, from bestseller books and the broadcast media is both, hurtful as well as counterproductive to the spiritual life.  I'm not going to pick on your favourite high profile teachers (like Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, etc,), but suffice it to say we're not getting the real thing from these popular figures.  Just an agglomeration of truths put together in some appealing way do not constitute "the truth" of the everlasting Gospel.  And, just as bad is the light fluff that is so common nowadays in Christianity.  I suppose some of this superficiality might pass, as long as something solid and foundational is present and is being strengthened underneath.  Please, hear me out.  The basics of our forgiveness and reconciliation with God in Jesus Christ are wonderful truths, never to be forgotten, always to be remembered and reminded of.  But dear friends, there is more as we press on to maturity.

          Yes, we are forgiven and, in a very real way, secure in that love and forgiveness through Jesus’ work on the cross.  But, now that we are assured of what He has done for us on the cross, what really are we doing with our lives?  (O, I can see those red flags going up amongst some of my readers, crying, “Works.  Works.  He’s trying to lay a ‘works gospel’ on us.”  Well, I’m truly sorry that many of you have been conditioned to use this defence when your carnal, self-oriented lifestyle is challenged by those who would bring a more mature understanding of the word of God to you.  But a careful and sincere look at the whole of the scriptures, born out of an earnest desire to know God in the fullest way, would easily show that, while He loves us just the way we are when we come to Him, He certainly doesn’t want us to stay that way.  There is a work of gracious sanctifying, of, yes, “perfecting” of the character of Christ, that the Spirit of God has undertaken in us when we began as followers of Him.  (Phil. 1:6; 2:12,13; Heb. 6:1)  There’s another bad word I used: “perfection.”  “Well, my pastor, and all the radio Bible teachers, and all my (carnal) friends say, ‘Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven.’”  And, “There’s only One person who was ever perfect, and anyone else who tries to walk on water sinks.” 

          That’s all certainly true.  I, Michael Clark do not walk on water.  In fact, the nasty wickedness of my human soul was  bared before the world in my legal trial and imprisonment for a crime I did commit.  My point is this:  God is pleased with us in His Son, no matter what our past or our present faults and weaknesses may be.  That is, if we truly are His and have that repentant spirit that cries out for grace to live pleasingly and holily before Him.  My friends, there’s a lot of really cheapened and distorted grace that’s going around today, and it’s hurting and even destroying the witness of Christ in our midst.  Did I cause some of these Evangelical giants to fall and disgrace His name?  Are we really getting the food we need from the contemporary “feeders” that seem to predominate in our churches today in their zeal to make their churches bigger in numbers?  I’m not a disciple because I refrain from sin.  But I do hate and refrain from it because I am a true disciple.  And my Lord loves me enough to reprove me, very severely if necessary in order to let me know that sin, unbelief and all manner of worldliness are not becoming a child of His.  O, my brothers and sisters!  Please know that the shaking that is occurring in the world and the church today is needful in order that the true be separated from the false prior to our precious Lord’s return.  Let’s press on to know Him and find out what the cross means in our present lives, not just what it did in saving from the terrible consequences of sin.  Sin needs to leave us now.  It strips us of our eligibility and our conformity to heaven.  Only the cross can rid us of it!  Let’s get away from the burgers and back to the real stuff!

Then shall we know, [if] we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter [and] former rain unto the earth.  Hos. 6:3

But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end.  Heb. 3:6

Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;)  Heb. 10:23

Remember therefore how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast, and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.  Rev. 3:3

Sat, Dec 9th - 11:32AM

Our Saviour