Watchman Magazine

I. Introduction

• TREND = line of development, direction of movement, drift, swing. Key thought: move (away from one thing to another, whether good or bad). Along with trends (away from biblical to non-biblical) are associated fads, novelty, and innovation, with apostasy being the culmination of the movement.

A. The purpose of this study is to give a brief overview of major controversy from New Testament days until now, so that we can better be able to see the basic, underlying principles of error which are responsible for apostasy, division, and resultant innovations. By looking at the past we can see where modern change agents are headed. We can look at trends today and know to what ends they will lead those who follow them.

B. Rom. 15:4, “For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning”. We learn from the past.

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“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

The denominational, religious world has long held a doctrinally false view of this most beautiful subject. Now, the same false view is being “peddled” by some who claim to be preachers of the Gospel. In a nutshell, the denominational concept of grace is that of a “blanket” covering of man’s sins, without obedience on his part, due to the perfect righteousness of Christ. A sort of strange “fog like” thing that prevents God from seeing our sins and imperfections. Because of the perfect righteousness of Christ, this “grace” serves as sort of an “umbrella” between God and man so that God only sees our good. This false doctrine has led some to totally reject any kind of works of obedience and a strong movement for “unity” with those who teach and practice false doctrine both in and out of the Lord’s church. One of the most popular writers today, and one who claims to be a Gospel preacher is Max Lucado. While most of those who hold the false position on grace that he holds have not gone as far away from Truth as he has, the seeds are being sown for the same kind of “harvest”.

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Editor’s Note: The following material was written August 18-20 in the form of an email discussion between friends. Joshua Gurtler asked the initial question below. The answers he received, a follow up question, and final responses appear one after another. Each respondent is identified.

It seems to be popular these days to condemn the internet “out of hat.” Such discussions show the benefits of the electronic means of carrying a discussion. While the instantaneous means of communication has its drawbacks (people tend not to consider their words before posting), it is nevertheless a wonderful tool for communication and study. We commend these thoughts to you. The casual nature of the discussion has been retained.

Question #1

Dear Friends,

I’m studying w/ an individual who makes the claim that Christ NEVER instituted any of His new law while he was alive. Doing so would have been a violation of His own teaching of Mt. 5:19 causing Christ to make void the law thus sin. It is claimed that Christ only reiterated what the original teaching of the Law was. This individual was also quick to point out that all of Christ’s teaching still applies to us because he was teaching “eternal principles.” For this reason, Christ never taught that one must keep the Sabbath, per se, beacause that is not an eternal principle.

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The reader may notice that this article is entitled “A Reponse to…” rather than “A Review of…” It is not my intent to exhaustively review the argumentation of David in this article. Rather, I would like for the reader to consider some important issues his article raises.

David’s attitude toward fellowship can be summed up in one simple point. Namely, that since I am not perfect, and yet still desire fellowship, I will fellowship all men.” He places no limitation whatsoever upon those he will accept into his fellowship. Note the following quote from his conclusion:

So in answer to the question about who I will fellowship: I will fellowship everyone, those who are like myself and those who are different from myself, those which I can agree with and those I must disagree with, the people who love me and the people who hate me, the strong Christian with convictions and the weak Christian with doubts, the wise and the fool. I will love all people, have mercy and generosity upon their sin and error, and praise and honor them for their virtue and truth. I will draw no lines, maintain no boundaries, close no doors and never betray my love for the truth.

It is a grand expression of tolerance. And David has shown himself in his writings, both private and public, to be extremely tolerant of doctrinal error, and sinful practices. He is consistent in this. The world embraces tolerance above all else as a virtue. David makes no pretense in this, and no doubt feels he is justified. But, what do the scriptures teach concerning the limits (if any) of tolerance? Ah, there’s the rub! While David makes no distinction, scripture clearly does. And for those of us who still accept the word of God as a rule of faith, this is an important consideration.

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(Editor’s Note: David writes in the following article, “Christian periodicals … reluctantly and infrequently publish opposing viewpoint except in the form of a debate or with an answer written by a staff member supposedly correcting the error present in the opponents article.) While taking exception to the issue of frequency, we must plead guilty to the policy of answering what we perceive to be error. The differing views regarding this are an outgrowth of differing attitudes toward truth and fellowship which will be indicated in the following article. So, after reading David’s article (which we perceive to be filled with error), the reader is encouraged to read the editor’s reponse.)

Then John answered and said,
“Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name,
and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.”
But Jesus said to him,
“Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us.”

Christians are divided over so many issues, some significant and others frivolous. The culture of conflict has become so powerful that Christians feel justified in constantly testing strangers by asking controversial questions about contentious issues and using the answer to classify the stranger as a friend or a foe. Various lists of congregations are produced which are meant to distinguish churches adhering to one viewpoint about a controversial issue from those accepting a different viewpoint. Christians can use these list so that when they are traveling they never have to meet anyone whose views differ in any significant way from their own. Christian periodicals identify themselves according to their stand on controversial issues and they reluctantly and infrequently publish opposing viewpoint except in the form of a debate or with an answer written by a staff member supposedly correcting the error present in the opponents article. When a teacher at a congregation begins voicing views which are contrary to the majority, steps are quickly taken to discourage the teacher from voicing his beliefs or the Christian is prevented from teaching any longer at that congregation. When new members voice beliefs contrary to the view of a congregation, they may discover the members will have become more distant and they find themselves unwelcome.

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In the eighth chapter of the book of Acts, we find Philip the evangelist being sent by God to the deserted road that led from Jerusalem to Gaza. Once there, Philip saw the chariot belonging to the eunuch who was treasurer to the queen of Ethiopia. The Spirit told Philip to overtake the chariot. When he did so, he found the eunuch reading from the book of Isaiah. Specifically, he was reading the passage known to us as Isaiah 53:7-8. Philip established that the eunuch did not understand the prophecy he was reading, and the eunuch asked Philip for help. “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning at this Scripture, preached Jesus to him” (Acts 8:35).

This is an amazing thing. Philip began preaching Jesus from the book of Isaiah, which was written more than seven hundred years before Jesus’ birth. How could this be? How could a book written centuries before Jesus was born be used to teach someone about Him? If we go to the passage that the eunuch was reading, we will see that, on its own, it is indeed difficult to understand. However, when we view it through the lens of the New Testament, we can get a glimpse of how Philip could have used this passage to lead the eunuch to Christ. We will also see that it becomes very difficult to explain how or why Isaiah wrote such a passage – unless he was truly inspired by God.

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“These things He said in the synagogue in Capernaum. Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this, said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can understand it?’ When Jesus knew in Himself that His disciples murmured about this, He said to them, ‘Does this offend you…’ …From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more” (John 6:61-66).

Jesus has been rightly said to be the “Master Teacher.” Not only was Jesus’ personal character in harmony with the teaching that he did, he always said the right thing at the right time, in the right place, and in the right attitude. No other person can claim such perfection in his preaching.

Yet, Jesus did not convert all that heard him. In the text above, “many of his disciples” turned away from Jesus. Why is that? Did he preach too long? Did he have a poor attitude? Did he preach too caustically? Was Jesus out of touch with the “needs” of his audience, irrelevant to their value systems? Did he not “feel their pain?” Of course, none of this is true. Yet Jesus received severe criticism and the truth he taught was rejected. He was accused of representing Beelzebub!

The fact of the matter is that some people will reject truth when it is presented perfectly.

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You can ask almost anyone what the definition of “a capella” is and they will say something like, “Oh, that just means to sing without using instrumental assistance.” And while that is correct, very few people know that “a capella” is a Latin phrase which actually uses different words than we think when translated. Literally translated, “a capella” means “as in church.” It is a term that comes down through history and into our language from the Catholic Church. The term was used to differentiate the kind of proper music that was used in Catholic worship for many centuries from all other types of music which had little to do with worship and mostly to do with entertainment. So we see that “a capella” was the use of the voice as the only appropriate music for worship in early Catholic history.

Did you know that although there are some references to the introduction of organs or harps, etc. as early as the 7th Century in Catholic historical documents here and there, it was rare and was so innovative as to be considered as heretical for nearly a thousand years after this? One fairly early, highly quoted and well known Catholic writer, Thomas Aquinas wrote in the 13th Century, “Our church does not use musical instruments, as harps and psalteries, to praise God withal, that she may not seem to Judaize” (Bingham’s Antiquities, Vol. 3, page 137).

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Algunos de los errores más comunes enseñados por “hermanos conservadores” sobre el tema

Que la enseñanza de Jesús (Mateo 5:32; 19:9) no es para el inconverso, que el inconverso no es responsable frente a la ley de Cristo.

Refutación:

(1) Jesús tiene autoridad, no sólo sobre sus discípulos, sino también sobre los inconversos, pues su enseñanza se dirige a todos y todos serán juzgados por Cristo y su enseñanza (Juan 12:47,48). Mateo 28:19, “Por tanto, id, y haced discípulos a todas las naciones, bautizándolos en el nombre del Padre, y del Hijo, y del Espíritu Santo; 20 enseñándoles que guarden todas las cosas que os he mandado; y he aquí yo estoy con vosotros todos los días, hasta el fin del mundo. Amén”.

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In THE BAYTOWN SUN, 9/1/99, under the headline, “Christians must get back to the old paths,” Tim Cryer, “a lay minister at Victory Baptist Church,” commented as follows:

Jeremiah 6:16–”Thus saith the Lord, stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein.”

This great country is a mess today because Christians have traded in the old paths of old time religion for new paths that are not getting the job done. God said in the above verse to ask for the old way, for it is a good way, and walk in this way. The old ways are what made this the greatest nation in the world and is what made our churches Holy and different from the world. But sometime back in the 1960s, parents stopped passing down the old ways to their kids, and started giving them the new ways.

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An interpreter is an aid commonly used by many brethren working to teach the gospel in foreign countries. Unless one has a working knowledge of the language of the country wherein he is laboring he will need a native with a good command of English to interpret (oral) or translate (written) for him in his efforts to reach the lost. The interpreter becomes a right arm in many cases as many logistics such as phone calls, printing ads and putting them in newspaper, etc., are impossible without one. The more able the interpreter, the more effective is the preachers’ work. (I have seen well-prepared lessons or lectures hindered or even ruined by ineffective interpreters.) From all this we hope that those with no experience in these areas can understand to some extent how big a part interpreters play in foreign work.

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[The Gospel Guardian, Vol. 26 No. 27, Nov. 1, 1974]

In Titus 2:11-13 we read, “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” This passage affirms that the grace of God that brings salvation teaches us. The salvation here mentioned is obviously salvation from sin and its power. There is a grace of God, however, that does not bring salvation from sin, and from its operation we can gain a good idea of the meaning of grace in its spiritual implications.

The word grace simply means “favor.” Actually we live and move and have our physical being by the grace of God. By His grace we breathe air. By His grace we eat food to satisfy hunger. By His grace we drink water to quench thirst. Every physical blessing may be properly ascribed to the grace of God.

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(Author’s Note: This article originally appeared in Guardian of Truth magazine several years ago as part of an issue dedicated to explaining difficult passages of Scripture. It addresses certain issues which seem to be troubling God’s people in our day.)

In this article I intend to explain, in its context, Jesus’ defense of his disciples in Matthew 12. The Pharisees had accused them of unlawful activity on the Sabbath. This is a difficult passage, and in misusing it, some are led to dangerous conclusions regarding what God allows in our response to His laws. I trust you will open your Bible, and read the entire passage, and the immediate context, in conjuction with this writer’s explanation of the text.

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