September 23, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The emerging church claims that Christians are responsible to solve the world’s poverty problem. They emphasize the need for a grand “social justice” program that will create heaven on earth, but it is a vain dream. The kingdom of God will not be established on earth until the King returns from heaven, and until then the Bible says that man will go from bad to worse.

The Bible’s recipe to reduce poverty is simple: obedience to God, honesty, thrift, diligence, and charity. Consider the following study from the Bible’s book of wisdom. This is from the Advanced Bible Studies Series course on Proverbs, published by Way of Life Literature.

Book of Proverbs: Advanced Bible Study Series (309 pages; $19.95)

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WHAT PROVERBS SAYS ABOUT POVERTY

Proverbs 10:4, 15; 12:11; 13:18, 23; 14:20-21; 15:16-17; 17:1, 5; 18:23; 19:1, 4, 7, 17, 22; 20:13; 21:17; 22:2, 7, 16, 22-23; 23:20-21; 28:8, 11, 19, 22, 27; 29:7, 13; 30:8-9; 31:20

Billions of dollars in foreign aid have been poured into impoverished nations, but it hasn’t solved the poverty problem there, and billions of dollars in welfare money have poured into poverty relief in wealthy nations like America and England, but the poor are still poor. What foreign aid and welfare rarely if ever do is address the root problems underlying poverty. The book of Proverbs, on the other hand, goes right to the heart of the matter and does not gloss over underlying issues and human responsibility.

1. THE CAUSE OF POVERTY

a. Dealing with a slack hand results in poverty (Prov. 10:4; 20:13). This refers to being lazy, and this is certainly one of the root causes for poverty in this world. Many people loll around, avoiding work as much as possible, and if forced to get a job are not dependable or hard-working and are a frustration to their employers. The Bible says that those who do not work should not eat (2 Thess. 3:10). It is foolish and wrong to provide government support or private assistance to lazy people. It only makes them more lazy.

(1) Their former pastor did not teach that women should not work outside the home, and the wife of the associate pastor worked. (2) The church held parties or fellowships on Valentines Day, Halloween, and Christmas. (3) The pastor allowed a divorced person to work in the bus ministry. (4) The pastor failed to correct publicly certain erroneous statements which were given during testimony times and certain (supposed) erroneous statements which were made by visiting preachers. (5) The pastor failed to do anything about missionaries who joked and told stories in the pulpit. (6) Though the church took a stand for the KJV, this man did not think there was sufficient teaching on the subject of Bible versions. (7) The pastor “used humor to break the tension” in his preaching, whereas this one felt that sober- mindedness required that such levity in the pulpit cease. (8) The pastor seemed to prefer to let God change people about such things as appearance (long hair, ear rings on men, etc.) rather than approach them directly.

May 20, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is excerpted from the Way of Life Advanced Bible Studies Series title on PSALMS. ISBN 978-1-58318-108-9. The book of Psalms is a most amazing and wonderful portion of Scripture. It is a devotional book, providing comfort, hope, compassion, encouragement, conviction, and spiritual zeal. It is a prayer book which teaches us how to pray. It’s a song book, a divinely-inspired hymnal for the child of God who walks through this present dark and pain-filled world. It’s a praise book, teaching us the acceptable way to worship a thrice holy God. It is a poetry book that far surpasses anything that the pens of the most acclaimed men have produced apart from divine inspiration. (And the King James Bible captures the exquisite poetry of the Psalms in peerless English, as we show in this course.) This course contains an extensive introduction to the Psalms that deals with its title, splendor, authorship, inspiration, inscriptions, division, interpretation, and New Testament quotations thereof. It then looks at ten major themes of the Psalms (the blessing of the righteous, the importance of the Word of God, the judgment of the ungodly, the afflictions of the saints, prophecy, God as protector and help, praise and worship, righteousness, God as great and holy, and imprecations). Finally there are expository studies on many of the individual psalms, including Psalm 1, 2, 12, 19, 22, 23, 37, 51, 72, 73, 90, 103, 119, 127, and 139. Regular size 7X8 paper binding, 250 pages, $14.95. (For large print or coil binding add $1 or $2 for both.)

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Forming as it does the introduction to the entire Psaltery, Psalm 1 is very important. It describes the two ways man can take, the way of blessing or the way of cursing. And it describes the way of spiritual victory through separation from sin and wrong associations and devotion to God’s Word. “This Psalm may be regarded as THE PREFACE PSALM, having in it a notification of the contents of the entire Book. It is the psalmist’s desire to teach us the way to blessedness, and to warn us of the sure destruction of sinners. This, then, is the matter of the first Psalm, which may be looked upon, in some respects, as the text upon which the whole of the Psalms make up a divine sermon” (Spurgeon, Treasury of David).

January 27, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org) -
 
The following is from the new Advanced Bible Studies Series on the Epistle of James.
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“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months.   And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit” (James 5:16-18).
 
James says that effectual prayer availeth much. It changes things in this wicked world. We don’t have to understand everything about prayer to have a fruitful prayer life. It is enough that God has taught us to pray. Christ modeled prayer in His earthly life, and if the Son of God needed to pray, how much more do we! Effectual prayer changes things, and I need to ask myself what things are being changed through my prayers?
 
1. Effectual prayer is fervent and earnest (Jam. 5:16-17).
 
The Greek word translated “effectual” (energeo) in verse 16 is elsewhere translated “be mighty in” (Gal. 2:8). The words “prayed earnestly” in verse 17 is translated from proseuchomai (Strong 4336) prosyookhay (Strong 4335), which could literally be translated “and he prayed prayed,” thus emphasizing the earnestness of the prayer. Effectual prayer is not rote prayer; it is not repeating a prayer out of habit; it is not reading a prayer as a mere mental exercise. Effectual prayer is earnest, enthusiastic, zealous, heart-felt.

January 8, 2009 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is an excerpt from the Advanced Bible Studies Series “PROVERBS,” which is available from Way of Life Literature.

THE VIRTUOUS WOMAN (Proverbs 31:10-31)

This book, which has warned frequently of the danger of the strange woman and the foolish wife (e.g. Prov. 2:16-19; 5:3-14; 6:24-35; 7:5-27; 9:13-18; 11:22; 14:1; 21:9; 23:27-28; 25:24), concludes with the glory of the virtuous wife.

It is a wonderful token of grace that this description of the virtuous woman was written by Bathsheba (assuming, as we do, that it was). She writes that the husband of the virtuous woman can safely trust in her, yet she betrayed the trust of her first husband by responding to David’s sinful invitation. Of course she might have put herself and her husband in jeopardy by refusing David’s lust, but she would have kept God’s Law and maintained her honor. Yet God forgave her sin and she became a prophetess of truth and righteousness and a spokeswoman for virtue!

Bathsheba exhorts her son to find a virtuous woman. This was probably taught to him as he was growing up. That he disobeyed his mother’s counsel resulted in his terrible backsliding and the loss of most of the kingdom (1 Kings 11:1-13).

This lengthy description of the virtuous woman teaches us the immense importance of the godly wife. She is mentioned in many passages of the New Testament as well (Ephesians 5:22-33; Colossians 3:18; 1 Timothy 2:9-15; 3:11; Titus 2:3-5; 1 Peter 3:1-6). “And with good reason is so much stress laid upon it, since it contributes as much as any one thing to the keeping up of religion in families, and the entail of it upon posterity, that the mothers be wise and good; and of what consequence it is to the wealth and outward prosperity of a house every one is sensible. He that will thrive must ask his wife leave” (Matthew Henry). “In choosing a wife, fools will follow their fancy, and the wise will act according to reason and the word of God” (George Lawson).

In the Hebrew language Proverbs 31:10-31 is an acrostic. Each verse begins with a different character in the Hebrew alphabet, beginning with Aleph and ending with Tau. This facilitated memorization by Jewish children.

November 27, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The following is excerpted from the Way of Life Advanced Bible Studies Series on the book of Proverbs.

The Advanced Bible Studies Series is equivalent to a complete Bible College course. There are currently 19 volumes averaging 265 pages each. The subjects are Acts, Bible History and Geography, The Bible Version Issue, Defense of the Faith, First Corinthians, The Four Gospels, Genesis, Give Attendance to Doctrine, Hebrews, A History of the Churches from a Baptist Perspective, How to Study the Bible, Job, The New Testament Church, Pastoral Epistles, Proverbs, Psalms, Revelation, Romans, and Understanding Bible Prophecy.

We don’t believe that you will find better quality, more truly life-changing Bible courses from any other source. They are based strictly upon the King James Bible and the powerful word studies assist in the understanding of the KJV but never cast doubt upon it. They are thorough and comprehensive. They are very practical and have the objective of producing well-equipped Christian soldiers that have a solid understanding of the Bible. They stress holy and obedient Christian living and separation from worldliness and error, exalt evangelism and the New Testament church, and promote world missions. They emphasize the crucial differences between law and grace and positional and practical sanctification, and they continually fortify the student’s understanding of the life-changing doctrines such as justification, substitutionary atonement, and eternal security. The courses are non-Calvinistic and interpret Bible prophecy literally. The student will be prepared to stand against the wiles of the Devil and to refute the major theological heresies of our day.

One pastor said the books “are extremely helpful for any Christian, no matter where they are spiritually; the practical application is extremely helpful and edifying.”

Another user said, “These books are truly life changing. I don’t know anything like them.”

PROVERBS. ISBN 978-1-58318-109-6. The theme of this powerful book of the Bible is finding wisdom through the fear of the Lord, and we have titled the course “Wisdom for the Wise and Foolish,” because Proverbs can help the foolish become wise and the wise become wiser. It is one of the most practical books in the Bible. True godliness gets down to where we live our everyday lives and involves every activity and relationship. It is first of all a book for young people, being addressed to “my son” and “my children.” Youth is the best time to learn wisdom, and this is where Proverbs begins, but it is also a book for saints of all ages. The book of Proverbs contains more wisdom about human life and the operation of home, society, commerce, and government than all of this world’s secular colleges and universities combined. There is more sound information on child training in the little book of Proverbs than in all of the child psychology books that have ever been written. The breadth of Proverbs is amazing. It contains practical wisdom for every type and class of person, for the king and the subject, the simple and the prudent, the male and the female, the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the master and the servant, the wise and the foolish, the married and the unmarried, the husband and the wife, the parent and the child, the angry and the calm, the patient and the impatient, the sluggard and the diligent, the friend and the enemy, the sad and the joyful, the one who talks much and the one who talks little. The book of Proverbs is a mirror that shows us the condition of our hearts. This course contains four major sections: (1) an introduction to Proverbs, (2) a verse by verse study of Proverbs 1-9 and Proverbs 31, (3) studies of the major themes of Proverbs 10-30 (Anger, Child Discipline, Counsel, the Fool, Friendship, the Poor, Pride, the Sluggard, the Talebearer, the Tongue, and Wine), (4) and studies of many of the important individual proverbs. Regular size 7X8 paper binding, 284 pages, $19.95. (For large print or coil binding add $1 or $2 for both.) Order from Way of Life Literature at 866-395-4143.

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Proverbs 6:6-11; 10:4, 26; 12:24, 27; 15:19; 19:15, 24; 20:4, 13; 21:25-26; 22:13; 24:30-34; 26:13-16

The book of Proverbs warns frequently about the danger of the sluggard. It is one of the major themes of the book, because human nature tends toward this sin and it results in great and manifold evils. We all tend to be slothful by nature, especially in spiritual things, and we need frequent warnings against sloth.

1. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SLUGGARD

a. The sluggard is slothful and not diligent; he does only what he has to do. He deals with a slack hand (Prov. 10:4). He hides his hand in his bosom (Prov. 19:24; 26:15). He does not even roast that which he takes in hunting (Prov. 12:27). Money, though earned by the sweat of his brow, simply slips through his fingers. On the spiritual side, the Christian sluggard gets baptized and joins the church but he doesn’t dig in with all his strength to serve the Lord. He deals in spiritual matters with a slack hand.

b. The sluggard is one who wastes time and opportunities and doesn’t plan ahead and work hard to fulfill wise objectives (Prov. 6:6-8). He is not self-motivated and diligent in the important issues of life, but he must have someone ruling over him and telling him what to do. When out from under this authority and when left to himself he puts off and neglects the important things.

The sluggard is exhorted to follow the example of the ant (Prov. 6:6-9). God has imparted wisdom to the little ant, and He is ready to impart much greater wisdom to the individual who loves God’s Word and wants to serve Him.

(1) The ant works without oversight. She doesn’t wait until someone tells her what to do and when to do it. She doesn’t have to have somebody standing over her at all times, encouraging her and exhorting her and guiding here. She is self-motivated and self-ruled. The Christian must also be self-motivated to serve Christ regardless of whether or not he has proper oversight and proper help. God has ordained that the church is the pillar and ground of the truth (1 Tim. 3:15) and the church is to be ruled by biblically-qualified pastor-elders (Titus 1:5-9) and teachers (Eph. 4:11-12; Rom. 12:7). But sometimes there is no proper church in an particular area and many times there are not qualified and godly and wise pastor-elders and teachers. Sometimes there is not as much spiritual fellowship as we would like. This is not an excuse for sloth. I must serve the Lord diligently regardless of the situation and regardless of whether I have proper spiritual oversight and help. I should read and study the Bible regardless of how many teachers I have and regardless of how good they are. I should walk in fellowship with Christ and pray effectively regardless of how much encouragement I get from others. I should try to win souls to Christ regardless of whether my church provides the right training and example.

(2) The ant works while there is opportunity. She goes about with a stedfast purpose to store up her food in the summer in preparation for winter. She knows that it will not always be summer. She looks ahead with discretion and lives in the present with the future in mind. The Bible often warns that this life is brief and what is done for Christ must be done now or it will be too late. The harvest will soon be finished, and we will not be able to turn back the clock. Childhood has its opportunities, but it is short. Youth has its opportunities, but it is short. Young adulthood has its opportunities, but it is short. Midlife has its opportunities, but it is short. Old age has its opportunities, but it is short.

(3) The ant works to do her part without regard to what others might be doing. Many professing Christians are “pew sitters” and little else. They are not zealous in learning the Bible and teaching others and trying to win souls to Christ. Some think that the work is being done by others, so why should they labor, but the Lord’s Harvest requires all hands and the body of Christ requires the participation of every member. A good question to ask myself is, “If the whole church were like me, what would the church be?” “The Christian world is busy, and there are thousands working: some preaching, some praying, some teaching, some writing; but not one can do thy work” (Thomas).

(4) The ant works without regard to her small size and seeming insignificance in the larger scheme of things. The ant doesn’t stop to think that she is too little to do much and that compared to an elephant her work is practically useless. Instead she gets right to work and accomplishes amazing things. Many professing Christians seem to think that since they don’t have great talents and abilities and opportunities that they should not do anything, but this is to despise what God has given them and to dishonor the God who has given it. The Bible exhorts us not to despise the day of small things (Zech. 4:10). The body of Christ requires the labor of every member, regardless of how seemingly feeble or insignificant (Rom. 12:5-9; 1 Cor. 12:12-27). Even a cup of cold water given in the name of a disciple of Christ will be rewarded (Mat. 10:41-42).

(5) The ant works because it is God’s will for her to work. And it is God’s will for all of His creatures to work, particularly those made in His own image. “Say not, God is good, and He will provide. He has provided for you richly, but He only grants the provision on condition of the right employment of your powers. There are great rewards for the saints, but only on the condition of being earned. There is a heaven of knowledge, but only for the student; there is a harvest of blessedness, but only to the diligent husbandman; there are scenes of triumph, but only to the victorious warrior” (David Thomas).

c. The sluggard uses many excuses to get out of work.

(1) Proverbs gives three examples of the sluggard’s excuse making:

He uses difficulty as an excuse (“The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold,” Prov. 20:4). If it’s too cold or too hot or otherwise uncomfortable or too inconvenient or too difficult, he will find a way to bow out. The diligent man finds a way to work regardless of the circumstance, but not the sluggard. He is busier finding an excuse not to work than to find a way to accomplish the work.

He uses fear as an excuse (“The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the streets,” Prov. 22:13). Whenever a difficult project is considered there are always the sluggards who attempt to stop it through fear. “We can’t build that tunnel or that bridge; it might fall in.” “We can’t go across the sea in a ship; we might drown.” “We can’t build an airplane; we might crash.” The same thing happens in the spiritual realm. There are always naysayers who use fear to try to stop the progress of the Lord’s work. “We can’t support those missionaries; we might not have enough money.” “We can’t build that building; we might go bankrupt.” “We can’t preach in public; someone might not like it.” Through the years several people have tried to discourage me about building Way of Life Literature. One pastor said, “You won’t ever get support for a literature ministry.” I’m glad that I listened to God instead of these fear-mongers.

He uses lies as an excuse (“The slothful man saith, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets,” Prov. 26:13). This is a mythical, lying excuse. There were no lions in the streets of Israel in Solomon’s day. That was just a pure lie or an extreme exaggeration to avoid work. In 1976 in Tracy City, Tennessee, my wife and I tried to witness to a man who was talking downtown, and he replied, “I can’t talk; a leopard is coming,” then took off. There were certainly no leopards in Tracy City that day! The sluggard is not above lying and exaggerating in his enthusiasm to escape work. He calls in sick at the slightest “pain” and stops working at the slightest inconvenience. He doesn’t get things done because he just “doesn’t feel like it.” The sluggard thinks success is 99% genius and 1% sweat, whereas it is more like 1% genius and 99% sweat. Success makes it own way through diligence and persistence. The same is true in the spiritual realm. We are saved by God’s grace without works, but we are unto good works (Eph. 2:8-10), and doing the will of God requires great dedication and diligence.

(2) By spiritual application the sluggard Christian uses many excuses to avoid serving the Lord. He doesn’t read his Bible because he doesn’t have the right study Bible or he needs glasses or he doesn’t have the right place to study or it’s too hot in his room to study or whatever. He uses excuses to avoid prayer and going to church and witnessing for Christ and tithing. He’s too busy; there are too many other things he has to do; it’s not convenient; it’s too far to walk or drive or take a bus; he doesn’t want to be a religious fanatic; he doesn’t know how to talk to people. The sluggard Christian will even use lying excuses to avoid doing what he knows he should be doing for the Lord.

d. The sluggard loves sleep (Prov. 20:13; 26:14). This can refer to actual sleeping or to just lazing about, “a little folding of the hands,” talking about things of no value, watching television, endlessly collecting rock CDs and MP3 files, playing video games, golfing, being consumed with professional sports, fishing, snowboarding, surfing the Internet, you name it. The sluggard is diligent toward folly but he is lazy toward wisdom.

e. The sluggard has many desires and plans and covets many things, but he will not work hard to attain these things and thus he is frustrated (Prov. 21:25-26). It’s not that the sluggard doesn’t have any ambition. He is going to do a lot of things whenever he finally gets around to it. He is going to have a lot of things one day. He hopes to win the lottery so he will have everything he wants to have and can do everything he would like to do. If he is a Christian he plans to start reading the Bible and having a daily devotional time; he thinks it would be nice to be a prayer warrior; he intends to get to church regularly. But “his hands refuse to labour” (Prov. 21:25). He desires; he covets; but he doesn’t carry through.

f. The sluggard is conceited and refuses to face the reality of what he is (Prov. 26:16). The sluggard could change, but he won’t listen to anyone. He really thinks he will change one day and that there is no hurry. In the mean time, he knows what he is doing and won’t listen to anyone who tries to correct him.

2. THE PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THE SLUGGARD

a. Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep (Prov. 6:9-10; 19:15). It only takes a little sloth to start the individual on the path to poverty. Laziness produces more laziness. “Always, therefore, look at sloth, not as an infirmity, but as a sin, affecting the whole man, growing upon us with unperceived power. Allow it therefore no rest, no time to root itself. Resist it in all its forms--bodily, mental, spiritual: indulgence of sleep and appetite: self-pleasing in all its subtle and plausible workings. Live by rule. Have your time strictly arranged. Be employed in early work for God” (Bridges).

b. Slothfulness results in things not being maintained (Prov. 24:30-34). The sluggard’s field grows over. His automobile falls apart. His apartment or house deteriorates. His tools are rusty. His roof leaks. His hedge isn’t trimmed. Weeds have taken over his yard. His computer is slow because it has all sorts of viruses and old programs that haven’t been removed and outdated programs. His things are misplaced. His Bible is torn and broken because he hasn’t taken care of it.

c. Slothfulness brings one under tribute (Prov. 12:24). It is the diligent that beareth rule. The slothful employee doesn’t advance to become the boss. The slothful Christian doesn’t become a prayer warrior or a soul winner or a Sunday School teacher or a deacon or a church leader. He remains under tribute while the diligent advances.

d. Slothfulness brings one to poverty (Prov. 19:15; 20:4; 20:13; 24:33-34). The one that travelleth is the one who roams about with no settled job, the drifter; and the armed man is the armed robber. Thus the sluggard’s poverty comes unexpectedly as when a traveller arrives unannounced, and it comes with irresistible force as when one is robbed by an armed man.

(1) This warning is true in physical life as well as in spiritual. The individual who is not willing to work hard at a job and to plan ahead and stay on top of his obligations and pay his bills and keep things properly maintained will become poor. Likewise, the individual who is not willing to work hard in serving Christ, in prayer and Bible study and church life and evangelism will become spiritually poor and backslidden. If he is saved but lives a slothful spiritual life he will loss all the rewards, fruit, and honor that he could have obtained by serving Christ diligently (1 Cor. 3:13-15; 2 Tim. 4:8; 2 John 8). “Laziness brings ruin. Intellectual laziness brings intellectual ruin; commercial, brings commercial ruin; spiritual, spiritual ruin. This is a law” (Thomas).

(2) The Bible says that now is the time of Christ’s great harvest in all of the nations of the earth (Mat. 9:37-38; John 4:35-36; Acts 1:8). Each believer has been called to be a minister in this harvest (2 Cor. 5:17-21), and the son that sleepeth in harvest causeth shame to his Father (Prov. 10:5).

e. Slothfulness is frustrating to the sluggard (Prov. 15:19). It’s a hedge of thorns. Every way the sluggard turns he is pricked by the hedge that hems him in, the thorny hedge of his own sloth. He is frustrated because he can’t fulfill his objectives and because things are falling apart and because he can’t pay his bills and because he can’t seem to get ahead.

f. Slothfulness is frustrating to others (Prov. 10:26). The sluggard is not only frustrating to himself; he is frustrating to those who must depend on him. To send the sluggard on an errand or to depend on him to accomplish a task is like vinegar to the teeth. It is unpleasant because of its acidity and sourness. The sluggard is also like smoke to the eyes. The smoke burns and irritates. It is a very unpleasant experience to gargle vinegar or to get smoke in one’s eyes, and it is equally unpleasant to have to depend on a sluggard, because he doesn’t get the job done in a timely and satisfactory manner. The slothful servant is also frustrating to Christ and will be rewarded for his sloth (Mat. 25:26-28).

3. THE GREAT EVIL OF SLUGGARDISM

Sluggardism is not only painful; it is evil. It is as evil as active wasting (“He also that is slothful in his work is brother to him that is a great waster,” Prov. 18:9). The waster is one who spends his inheritance like the prodigal son described by Jesus in Luke 15:13. Both the sluggard and the waster are sinning before God, one by profligate living and the other by laziness and neglect. Both bring to poverty. When it comes to the Lord’s work, the sluggard wastes souls because all hands are required for the great work of world evangelism and getting the gospel to every person (Mark 16:15). Every believer has been appointed a minister in the work of reconciling men to God (2 Cor. 5:17-20). Yet the Christian who is slothful does no more for the furtherance of the Gospel than the waster.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1-6. What are the six characteristics of the sluggard?
7. What creature does Proverbs use to challenge the sluggard?
8-10. What are three types of excuses that the sluggard uses?
11. Why does the desire of the slothful kill him?
12. The sluggard is wiser in his own ------- than seven men that can render a reason.
13. Laziness produces ---- --------.
14. What is a waster?

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I AM NOT YOUR PASTOR: AN EXHORTATION TO MY READERS TO ACT WISELY IN THE CHURCHES

September 24, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) –

The following are some truths that I consider very important and that I would like for all of my readers to take to heart. Please keep in mind the fact that I am not your pastor. I hope to be a helper in Christ, but I am not your pastor. And I want to give an exhortation about how to act wisely in the churches.

Most of you know these things and live these things, but sometimes I hear things from pastors and others that cause me to realize that some of my readers need this exhortation. At the same time, I don’t have any particular case in mind, so there is no need to write and try to explain yourself to me. Rather, let us be doers of the word and not hearers only.

I DO NOT SUPPORT THOSE WHO SEPARATE FROM ALL CHURCHES TODAY.

Let me make this very clear: I do not support those who separate themselves from all churches today. While I believe that God’s people must be discerning and cautious and not overlook error, at the same time we are to be patient and faithful to God’s ordained institution, the church, and to God-ordained pastoral authority, and I believe we should strive as much as possible for unity and not disunity among true believers. Both things are emphasized in Scripture, though it is not always a simple matter to obey both of them at one time.

If you think that you are justified to separate from all churches today because of David Cloud’s writings, you are mistaken. I do not preach that and I am not pleased when people do that.

In some cases there might not be a sound, spiritually-healthy, Bible-believing church within commuting distance, and I do not expect God’s people to attend a church that would undermine their faith or hinder their spiritual lives or that of their children.

But my recommendation in such cases has always been to find a way either to help start a good church or to move to a place where there is one. It is said that “where there is a will there is a way,” and that is usually true. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil. 4:13). When God tells us to do something, He provides a way, and the church is God’s program for this age. It is mentioned more than 100 times in Scripture. Most of the New Testament is written to churches. We are commanded not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:25) and to obey them that have the rule over us (Heb. 13:17). Those Scriptures take for granted that we will be in a church. The first believers continued steadfastly in the fellowship, prayers, and breaking of bread in the church (Acts 2:42). Paul commended Phebe to the church at Rome, and she was a servant of the church at Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1). That is the example that is put before us in Scripture.

I have been saved for 35 years and I have always found a way to be faithful to a sound New Testament church, and there have been times when I have had to attend a church that I wasn’t very excited about, to say the least, but in light of the Bible’s emphasis on the church, I am not going to neglect God’s program, and I exhort all of my readers to follow this example!

Folks, sheep need sheepfolds and shepherds, and that is what God has provided in the church.

BE WISE AND CAUTIOUS AND PATIENT IN DEALING WITH PROBLEMS AND ERRORS IN CHURCHES.

It grieves me when I hear that readers of Way of Life materials are causing trouble UNWISELY in good Bible-believing churches and are doing it in my name!

Please observe that I DID NOT say that it grieves me to hear that readers of Way of Life materials are causing trouble in churches. Sometimes trouble is godly. There are churches that urgently need some of the members to step up the plate and try to bring godly change. In no way do I want to discourage the hearts of God’s people who are trying to stand uncompromisingly for truth and righteousness in this evil generation, but there is a right and wrong way to do things.

One man wrote to me and said, “Your medicine is strong and needful; it just needs to be administered carefully.” I agree with that 100%.

That man told me about some people he has known who have tried to change the soul winning program in some churches to bring in an emphasis on repentance and to turn the churches away from what I call “quick prayerism” (quick to lead people in a sinner’s prayer whether there is any obvious conviction or even much interest, quick to pronounce people saved even when there is no evidence thereof, quick to announce “salvation” statistics even when a large percentage of them are bogus). This man claimed that these people just ended up causing trouble for the churches and not accomplishing anything good. Since I am not personally familiar with those situations, I don’t know if he is giving an accurate picture, but I asked him what exactly was wrong in those particular cases, in his estimation. He answered as follows:

“They were not working from the top down and were being too strong/dogmatic. I’m right; you’re wrong. One can be right and not be righteous about it and thus make of none effect the desired change.  This one talks to that one and causes a division prior to the matter getting to the pastor. Now he has a compounded problem with division in the church. We need to work from the top down with humility and grace, knowing that it takes time to change the course of a ship. With the strong medicine we need to also teach the tact to administer it so that it gives the greatest benefit and least harm. Hopefully we won’t look back and say, ‘The operation was a success; we cut out all the cancer; too bad the patient died’! Your well done biblical work has shaped many of the things I do and believe. It is profitable and needful. We just need it at the right dosages to be the most effective.”

I agree with these thoughts and I have written about this type of thing many times. The articles “Keys to Fruitful Church Membership” and “The Pastor’s Authority and the Church Member’s Responsibility” deal with this, for example. I have written a lot about the importance of the church and how to conduct oneself as a member.

One suggestion I would make is this: it is important that we not just criticize what is in place in the church, but that we have a positive plan for something better. Consider, again, the soul winning issue. I believe an example of the right way to try to bring this type of change to a church is contained in the following e-mail:

“Right now, my wife and I are in a church where we have seen a pastor shift his thinking on this important issue. A good friend and I are regulars on Thursday night, and just through gentle conversation and asking innocent questions, there’s been a total turnaround in soulwinning methodology here.

“Instead of merely inviting lost people to ‘worship’ with us, our entire Thursday night soulwinning is Gospel-focused. It has been a singular joy to see everyone come to life on the doorstep! We now seek to present the Gospel at every door, and plow the soil on sin, judgment, and repentance. Instead of slammed doors, we find that a compassionate explanation of sin in concrete terms makes judgment seem reasonable, opening the door for the Gospel. Following with repentance and faith just feels biblical and powerful. Number of ‘prayers’ is down, but we can all see that we're reaching a much deeper sense of clarity with each contact.

“No longer are we stuck with nowhere to go when someone says, ‘Oh, I asked Jesus into my heart when I was little.’ Many have, but never repented. With that person, it is so important to have an understanding of biblical soteriology -- that it’s not enough to pray the prayer. They may still be lost, and we find it’s typically easy to uncover that with only a few more questions. By our unscientific numbers, maybe 60% of people have made some commitment to Jesus, but 90% of those have no convincing evidence that the Author of faith is finishing anything in them. The easy-prayerist checks these off their list and implicitly endorses false conversions!

“Thanks for advancing these very biblical ideas in our fundamental Baptist culture. We are nearly overrun with people who say, ‘Well, at least they’ll be in heaven, even if they won't have any fruit.’ Enough of that!”

To that I say amen! In this case the problem was approached in a wise manner and the fruit has been good.

There is no simple one-two-three list of suggestions I could give that would solve the problem of how to correct errors in churches. It is never easy, and it is largely a matter of spiritual maturity and attaining and applying godly wisdom under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Paul said to the church at Rome: “And I myself also am persuaded of you, my brethren, that ye also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another” (Rom. 15:14).

Thus, to be able to admonish others in a fruitful manner requires that we be filled with goodness and filled with knowledge. This refers to spiritual maturity and a solid foundation of Bible knowledge. If I try to “straighten out a church” without these two things, I will not only fail, I will cause more harm than good!

New Christians, in particular, must be very cautious about trying to exhort others, especially his spiritual leaders. New Christians are often very zealous, and I don’t want to dampen that zeal, but zeal must be tempered with godly wisdom and new Christians simply don’t have much of that. They are called babes in Christ in God’s Word, and they are exhorted to drink milk and grow to maturity (1 Pet. 2:2). That is what a babe in Christ needs to focus his attention on, rather than trying to straighten out other people!

Once I almost split a church, and it is one of the things that I regret the most in my Christian life. It was a long time ago, and I was young in the Lord. I was zealous, as I have always been by God’s grace, but I was lacking in experience and maturity. I got it into my mind that my pastor at the time was unqualified, because he didn’t study enough, to my way of thinking, and his preaching ministry wasn’t strong and solid enough, to my way of thinking. I was measuring him by myself. My strong suit is study, so why shouldn’t every preacher be just like me! The church wasn’t very old and the dear pastor was a personal friend who had done a lot for me, but I unwisely talked to a couple of the key church members about the matter. I talked to him, too, but I was dead wrong in trying to stir up the people against him. He was deeply offended at my action, of course, and though I was sorrowful and realized that I had been wrong, the damage was done. Our friendship was ruined (he wasn’t very forgiving!) and I moved my membership to another church. The problem was that I was just too young and immature and inexperienced in the Lord to have tried to bring change to that particular situation. It’s true that the pastor wasn’t a great student, but he had other important pastoral qualifications that I was overlooking.

Again, I want to emphasize that I am not trying to discourage God’s people who are trying to take a stand against error in a godly manner. I know many people who have tried to do this in the right manner and they were wrongly branded as trouble-makers and treated with a great lack of respect by the pastors and churches in question. It is never an easy matter to challenge the church leaders, and it is a sad fact that leaders who have chosen a path of error rarely turn back from it.

There is a great problem among fundamental Baptist and fundamentalist Bible churches today, in that so many that were once sound are moving in the direction of New Evangelicalism and the contemporary church growth philosophies. They are bringing in the modern Bibles and modern music and modern dress standards. They are allowing women to lead in ways the Bible forbids. They are creating worldly youth ministries that pamper and entertain the flesh rather than challenge the young people to true biblical discipleship. When God’s people rise up against these things, more often than not they are despised and discarded.

So please do not misunderstand what I am trying to say in this article. I DO NOT want to discourage or hinder God’s people in taking a scriptural and wise stand for truth in this wicked day. I am just trying to urge wisdom.

IT IS SCRIPTURAL AND RIGHT TO QUESTION ONE’S PASTOR ABOUT ISSUES IN THE CHURCH, BUT THERE IS ALSO A RIGHT WAY TO DO IT.

If the pastor won’t listen and doesn’t want to be challenged about things, and if he requires “unquestioning loyalty,” I would strongly suggest that you leave that church. Such a man is a Diotrephes, and staying in that church will cripple your spiritual life and turn you into something like a cult member. (At the Way of Life web site see the articles “Unquestioning Loyalty to Pastoral Leadership the Mark of a Cult” and “Another Warning about Unquestioning Loyalty.”)

If, on the other hand, you have godly, humble pastor(s) who are qualified by God’s standards and open to challenges from their people, be very patient with them. You must always remember that you are not the pastor. He, not you, will be held accountable for the church before God. He, not you, has to bear the burden of the ministry, and I can assure you that there is probably not a more difficult job in the world than leading a church and dealing with PEOPLE! He, not you, has the call of God to make the major decisions about the church’s ministry.

I advise that you always give pastors the benefit of the doubt. Not every issue that comes up in the church is as black and white as we might think. God gives pastors wisdom. They understand the overall picture of the condition and needs of the church in a way that you do not. At the same time, pastors are just sinners saved (hopefully) by grace. They are learning and growing like the rest of God’s people. God lets us make mistakes to teach us lessons; shouldn’t we give the same freedom to pastors to some wise degree? I am not talking here about clear biblical error and heresy or the type of sin that calls for church discipline. I am talking about things like allowing music that you think might be borderline, and perhaps being too “patient” with new converts about cleaning up their lives, and not dealing with issues as much as I think he should, and bringing in preachers that I don’t like, and having or not having a youth ministry, and assigning people to jobs that I don’t think they should be assigned to, and not having the soul winning program exactly to my suiting, and doing things at Christmas that I wish the church would not do, and not emphasizing enough about the King James Bible and maybe even giving a better or different rendering once in a while, etc.

A qualification for the pastor is that he not be self-willed (Titus 1:7). This means that he is to rule the church by God’s will and not his own will, by God’s Word not by his own thinking. The self-willed man wants to run over other people and control them. It is a matter of the heart’s attitude. It is a matter of pride and lack of compassion and godly patience.

At the same time, the church members also should not be self-willed. If God has not called me to be a pastor, I should not try to rule the church! I am not saying that the church member should not have complete liberty to express his opinion about things. I am not saying that the church is not a body and that each member should be treated with godly consideration. I am simply saying that the church member needs to check himself and make sure that he is not trying to be something in the church that God has not called him to be.

“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith” (Romans 12:3).

Women must be doubly careful about this matter, because God’s Word forbids them to teach or to usurp authority over the man (1 Timothy 2:12). The woman might be more spiritual than the men and might know more, but God has not given her the liberty to teach men. She thus has to be patient and submissive and be a great prayer warrior in order to move the heart of God to intervene THROUGH THE MEN when there are errors and problems.

This does not mean that a woman cannot go to her pastor and other church leaders if she has questions and issues, but she simply is not allowed by God to become their teacher. She can recommend materials so that the men can learn from other men, if they are willing to look into the issue, but she cannot become their teacher.

I realize this is a very sensitive matter, and many women have written to exhort and teach and rebuke me, but they are out of bounds, regardless of how much they think they know and how right and how close to God they think they are.

What I am trying to say here, and what I am trying to exhort my readers to do, is to be very wise and godly and patient in dealing with church leaders.

“For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh” (Galatians 5:14-16).

God has given pastors authority (Heb. 13:7, 17). Some of them have abused their authority, but pastoral authority is God-ordained, nonetheless. Not everyone in the church has the same authority. This does not mean that we overlook things that we believe are wrong. Pastors are not popes and do not have unlimited authority; their authority is limited by the Bible; and churches must not follow pastors into error. But as a church member, I must always remember that the pastor has authority that I do not have and that he, not me, will give an answer to God for pastoral decisions.

THERE IS A TIME TO LEAVE A CHURCH WHEN IT IS COMMITTED TO A PATH OF SERIOUS ERROR, BUT THERE IS ALSO A RIGHT WAY TO LEAVE.

There is a proper time to leave a church, if it is not following God’s Word, but there is a proper way to leave and many times people leave churches for carnal reasons and in a carnal manner.

If someone leaves a church for biblical and spiritual reasons, the fruit will be characterized by the description in James 3:17-18--purity, peaceableness, gentleness, easy to be entreated, mercy, without partiality, without hypocrisy. Someone leaving in this mode will speak the truth in love. He leaves because he is convinced it is God’s will, but he does so in a peaceable and godly manner. He is respectful of the leaders even if he doesn’t agree with them, and he harbors no ill will toward the leaders or the church.

But if someone leaves a church for carnal reasons the fruit will be characterized by the description in James 3:14-16--bitterness, envy, strife, confusion, and other evil works. This is not of God! Many times I have observed this. People get upset at something and they leave a church, but they do not do so in a godly manner. They cause all sorts of trouble and try to hurt the church, both before they leave and after. Many times they won’t even talk about the matter with the leaders in a gracious, open manner. They are not “easy to be entreated.” All of the love they once had for the church and its leaders disappears. They deal deceitfully. They go behind the pastor’s back and despise his position.

I realize that compromised Christians can be quite vicious and can tell lies about men and women who try to correct error. They have told lies about me countless times, but we must be careful that we do not give occasion to the flesh and fight error in an unspiritual and unwise manner.

If you have to leave a church, do so in a godly manner and leave a good testimony “as much as lieth in you.” And if you feel that you have to leave, do your best to find a better church. It makes no sense when people claim they are leaving a church because of error, but they join a worse church.

DO NOT THINK THAT THE CHURCH SHOULD BE LIKE WAY OF LIFE LITERATURE.

A part of my ministry, the warning part, is somewhat unbalanced of necessity. That is the nature of the Fundamental Baptist Information Service and of O Timothy magazine. I have no intention of trying to be completely “balanced” with that part of my ministry. Those are voices of warning and exhortation. There are plenty of “positive, encouraging” ministries out there. That part of the equation is very well taken care of today. But there is little by way of serious and pointed warning.

As I say in the footer to each Fundamental Baptist Information Service article: “Our goal in this particular aspect of our ministry is not devotional but is to provide information to assist preachers in the protection of the churches in this apostate hour.”

O Timothy magazine, which we began publishing 25 years ago, has exactly the same objective. The magazine’s title, taken from 1 Timothy 6:20, describes the burden of the magazine, which is urging men in these last days to keep the faith once delivered to the saints and to avoid the error which is on every hand. “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called.” Paul’s burden for Timothy was that he keep the old paths and avoid error. That is our burden through O Timothy magazine. The aim is to help protect churches from end-time apostasy through doctrinal preaching and carefully researched and well-documented reports.

Therefore, the Fundamental Baptist Information Service and O Timothy magazine are geared for PREACHERS and for WARNING. These are not Christian family publications. They are not devotionals. They are not general interest materials. They are geared to providing information that preachers can use to protect their churches in an hour of deep apostasy and subtle compromise.

The name of Way of Life Literature came from my Bible reading one day about 31 years ago, when I read the words in Proverbs 6:23: “For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life.” I thought, that is what we need more of today; we need more reproofs of instruction, and, praise God, such reproofs are the way of life. If done in a godly manner, reproof is not destructive but is edifying and life giving. To warn people of danger is to help them, if they will receive it.

Thus, a part of my ministry is quite “negative” and focuses on pointing out error, exhorting to separation, and such things.

At the same time, I would not want to be in a church that focused on these things. And I would not want to see anyone try to make the Fundamental Baptist Information Service their “church.” Please understand, I am not your pastor! In fact, I am not anybody’s pastor. I am a missionary church planter, but I am not a pastor.

A church should most definitely preach against error plainly and warn about things, and most churches today fall short of doing what they should in this area. I am convinced that each church should make literature such as O Timothy and the Way of Life books available to their people so they will be properly educated and protected. But dealing with such things is certainly not all that a church should be doing or even mostly what it should be doing. Ecclesiastical separation is a necessity, but separation in and of itself is nothing. Separation is merely the wall of protection that we put around the Lord’s work, but having separated, we must busy ourselves with that work itself, which is described particularly in Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:15; Luke 24:46-48; Acts 1:8, but also in all the rest of the New Testament Scriptures!

When I preach in the churches we have started in South Asia, I don’t preach very often on the type of things that appear in the Fundamental Baptist Information Service. Only rarely do I preach on “issue” type things, such as the charismatic movement or contemporary Christian music or the ecumenical movement or Roman Catholicism or the emerging church or contemplative mysticism or the New Age movement, though I do intermingle brief warnings about some of these things into the messages by way of application.

The overwhelming majority of my week-by-week preaching in our churches involves exegesis of books of the Bible. I am just finishing up a series of about 30 messages from the book of Ephesians, for example. And the topical messages are about such things as prayer, love for Christ, communion with Christ, holiness, separation from the world, evangelism, church planting, faithfulness to the Lord’s work, and sound Bible doctrine.

Even in my writing ministry, I do not focus exclusively on warning. The Way of Life Encyclopedia of the Bible & Christianity and Things Hard to Be Understood and the Way of Life Advanced Bible Studies Series, for example, took more time to produce than probably all of the other things I have written combined, and they are tools for Bible study and general Christian living. Thus, even my writing ministry is by no means strictly a warning ministry.

The 19 Advanced Bible Studies Series courses deal with such things as “How to Study the Bible,” “Bible Prophecy,” “Bible Doctrine,” “Church History,” and “The History and Geography of the Bible.” These courses have been written over the past five years and total over 5,200 pages.

It should be obvious that as a preacher a large percentage of my time is spent on things other than exposing and warning of error.

Do you see what I am saying? Every church should warn plainly about error, but a church is not merely a warning station. Please don’t measure your church by the Fundamental Baptist Information Service or O Timothy magazine in the sense of thinking that your pastor should be like Brother Cloud. In that particular aspect of my ministry I am not a pastor; rather, I am exercising, I believe, a “prophetic” type ministry (not referring to prophecy as fore-telling, of course, but as forth-telling).

My aim and desire is to be a help and blessing to pastors in providing them well-researched information to assist their ministries, knowing at the same time that there is much more to their ministries than warning about error.

LASTLY, I DO NOT WANT MY READERS TO THINK THAT I AM ANYTHING.

I have no desire to create a following of any sort. I hope there are no Cloudites! I do not consider myself better than anyone. In fact, I am confident that some of the people that I warn about are better Christians than I am in some areas of their lives and ministries. I am a big failure in many ways. I own no Christian perfection of any sort. I am just a man who was saved by God’s undeserving grace and called to preach His Word.

When some people from Africa wrote to me years ago and said they were going to start a David Cloud church, I was not impressed, to say the least!

I am convinced that God called me to this difficult ministry and I intend to accomplish it by His grace and I do think that I have exercised some zeal for it and am biblically qualified for it, but I was a nothing when God called me and I am a nothing today apart from His grace.

I do not preach myself and I have no intention of doing so; I preach God’s Word. I do not measure things by my puny standard, but by that of God’s Word. At least that is my desire and intention. I want to measure myself by the same standard, and I invite my readers to measure me and other men by that same rule. “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:21). John the Baptist was wise and godly when he said, “I must decrease.” That is what every preacher needs to say and mean from the bottom of his heart.

The apostle Paul said, “Follow me as I also follow Christ,” and we can and should say that; but we must also acknowledge that we are not apostles today. The only infallible authority is the Scriptures. There is no infallible preacher.

[Distributed by Way of Life Literature's Fundamental Baptist Information Service, an e-mail listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. OUR GOAL IN THIS PARTICULAR ASPECT OF OUR MINISTRY IS NOT DEVOTIONAL BUT IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. This material is sent only to those who personally subscribe to the list. If somehow you have subscribed unintentionally, following are the instructions for removal. The Fundamental Baptist Information Service mailing list is automated. To SUBSCRIBE or to UNSUBSCRIBE or to CHANGE ADDRESSES or to RE-SUBSCRIBE UNDER A NEW ADDRESS, go to http://www.wayoflife.org/fbis/subscribe.html. If you have any trouble with this, please let us know. And please be patient with us. We do not ignore any unsubscribe request, but we cannot always get to your request immediately as each person involved with maintaining the Way of Life web site does this only on a very part time basis and is busy with many other major activities, such as pastoring and missionary work. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and those who use the materials are expected to participate (Galatians 6:6) if they can. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine, which is in its 23rd year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://www.wayoflife.org/catalog/catalog.htm Way of Life Literature, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061. 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org. We do not solicit funds from those who do not agree with our preaching and who are not helped by these publications, but from those who are. OFFERINGS can be made at http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/offering.html. PAYPAL offerings can be made to https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=dcloud%40wayoflife.org ]

EAT THE MEAT, SPIT OUT THE BONES

September 9, 2008 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

There are a lot of clever-sounding sayings that make the rounds among Christians, and one of these is “eat the meat, and spit out the bones.” Many have written to exhort me to do this, and they mean that I shouldn’t worry so much about exposing error. They wonder why I can’t just “eat the meat, and spit out the bones.”

There is a bit of truth to this saying, in that God’s people are always to exercise biblical discernment when hearing sermons or reading Christian books. We are to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

But the Bible also twice warns that “a little leaven leaventh the whole lump” (1 Cor. 5:7; Gal. 5:9) and exhorts us to mark and avoid those who teach doctrine contrary to that which we have learned in Scripture (Rom. 16:17). There is great danger in eating the wrong spiritual meat!

What if the meat is rotten or poisoned or hasn’t been cooked or properly stored? The U.S. government regulates how restaurants must cook meat, because undercooked meat is dangerous. When I worked in a restaurant in my youth, I was taught to handle the meat very carefully and to store it properly, because it spoils easily. If you eat meat that is spoiled or poisoned or undercooked, even if you spit out the bones, you will be in trouble. The writings of men like Brian McLaren and Richard Foster and Chuck Colson and Rick Warren and C. S. Lewis contain plenty of rotten meat. Those who advise God’s people to “eat the meat, and spit out the bones,” must explain to us how they know that this “meat” is safe.

Also, what if the bones have splinters or what if you get a bone stuck in your throat? When I was growing up in Florida, I went fishing often with my dad and granddad, and they were careful about which fish they kept and which they threw away, because some had too many bones to eat safely. And Mom was very careful to keep an eye on us when we were eating fish because of the ever-present danger of getting a bone stuck in our throats. This happened from time to time anyway, and it was a very unpleasant thing and, in fact, can be fatal. Likewise, very few Christians are able to wade through sermons or books by compromising preachers on their own and expertly spit out all of the “bones” of error. One of the reasons why so many fundamental Baptists are becoming New Evangelical is because they are reading New Evangelical books and blogs and listening to New Evangelical sermons.

And what if you don’t know the difference between meat and bones? A toddler doesn’t know the difference, and if it tries to eat meat and spit out bones, it will quickly be in trouble. Likewise, the average Christian today is far too biblically ignorant and carnal to distinguish properly between truth and cleverly presented error.

My friends, beware of clever sayings that aren’t supported by Scripture.

We live in a shallow, apostate, carnal age, and it behooves us to study the Bible diligently and to think biblically!!!!

One pastor who read this article replied:

“The problem I have with this statement is that sometimes the truth is hard to swallow, so it is spit out and called ‘bones.’ The ‘eat the meat, spit out the bones’ mentality is pretty much the same as Burger King’s ‘Have it your way’ mentality. Sinful man is always prone to create a hybrid Christianity that suits his tastes and preconceived notions about what he wants God to be.”

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