The Sabbath Yesterday and Today
Updated July 16, 2010 (first published June 17, 2004) (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) -
Seventh-day Adventists teach that men kept the sabbath from the days of Adam onward, but this is contrary to the Bible’s own record.
While it is true that the sabbath originated at end of the six days of creation (Gen. 2:1-3), that was God’s rest, not man’s. There is no record in Genesis that God gave the sabbath to man, and there is no record of men keeping the sabbath before Israel in the wilderness. The saints in Genesis built altars, prayed, offered sacrifices, and tithed; but the Scripture is silent in regard to sabbath keeping.
THE SABBATH WAS FIRST GIVEN TO ISRAEL AND IS GOD’S SIGN TO ISRAEL
Nehemiah 9:13-14 plainly states that the sabbath was first given to Israel in the wilderness.
“Thou camest down also upon mount Sinai, and spakest with them from heaven, and gavest them right judgments, and true laws, good statutes and commandments: And madest known unto them thy holy sabbath, and commandedst them precepts, statutes, and laws, by the hand of Moses thy servant.”
Read More...
A Warning About Seventh-Day Adventism
Republished May 26, 2010 (first published October 14, 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 Seventh-day Adventist denomination was established in 1860 in America. “Seventh-day” refers to sabbath worship. “Adventist” refers to their belief that God raised them up to announce the coming of the Lord. They have 15 million members worldwide in 61,000 churches, and they are working in 203 countries.
THE HISTORY OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM
Seventh-day Adventism originated with the Second Coming movement of the 1800’s. William Miller, a Baptist preacher, concluded in 1818 that Christ would return to earth in 1843. When that was proven wrong, he changed the date to October 22, 1844. His belief was based largely on an interpretation of Daniel chapters nine and twelve using the erroneous day/year equation (one prophetic day equals one historical year). Tens of thousands of people followed Miller, and many different groups sprang up within this excited religious atmosphere, all of them looking for the immediate return of Christ.
After 1844, Miller quit setting dates and admitted his mistake, but some of his followers went on to form Seventh-day Adventism.
James White, Joseph Bates, and others began practicing sabbath-keeping in 1844 and published their views through pamphlets.
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, ECUMENISM, AND HELL
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISTS, ECUMENISM, AND HELL
Updated September 22, 2008 (first published May 27, 2000) (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) -
AVOIDING THE SNARE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM. This book has been called the best on the subject by the editor of The Baptist Challenge. Now it has been throughly updated and enlarged. It is diligently researched from official publications of the Seventh-day Adventist organization and proves conclusively that the Seventh-day Adventist gospel is false. The book begins with a chapter entitled “Adventists Wanted Me to Revise This Book,” describing a deceptive attempt by Seventh-day Adventists to have me change the book. The major divisions of the book are: “Adventist History Proves It is Heretical” and “Adventist Doctrine Proves It Is Heretical.” The book analyzes Adventist doctrines such as Sabbath-keeping, Soul-sleep, Annihilation of the wicked, Ellen White as a Prophetess, Investigative Judgment, Misuse of the Mosaic Law, and Vegetarianism. The chapter “Why Some Have Considered Seventh-day Adventism Evangelical" analyzes Walter Martin’s (author of Kingdom of the Cults) faulty view of Adventism. The book includes selections from D.M. Canright’s 1898 book Seventh-day Adventism Renounced. Canright was an early leader in Adventism who left and became a Baptist pastor. Third edition updated and enlarged September 2008. 206 pages, 5 X 8”, perfect bound, $8.95.
Order by phone or via the recently redesigned online catalog at the Way of Life web site: 866-295-4143, http://wayoflife.org
___________________________________
Cecil Perry, president of the Seventh-day Adventists in England, issued a warning that Hell should not be preached. He was responding to a report issued in April by the Evangelical Alliance of the United Kingdom that describes Hell as a physical place that is occupied by unrepentant sinners. Perry took issue with that, saying, “The message of hell is in stark contrast to the message of hope and love and tends to engender fear” (“British Seventh-day Adventists Warn Against ‘Stoking’ Hell Fires,” Religious News Service, April 2000).
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM’S HERESIES
This reminds us that Seventh-day Adventism (SDA) denies many biblical doctrines. According to Adventist doctrine, for example, unsaved men do not go to Hell when they die; they merely sleep in the grave awaiting the resurrection. And when the unsaved are finally cast into Hell after the judgment, they are not tormented forever but are annihilated. Ellen G. White, the alleged prophetess who founded the SDA denomination, stated her revulsion of the doctrine of Hell:
“How repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy, and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that the wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally burning hell. . . . And how utterly revolting is the belief that as soon as the breath leaves the body the soul of the impenitent is consigned to the flames of hell! ... the doctrine of natural immortality first borrowed from pagan philosophy, and in the darkness of the great apostasy incorporated into the Christian faith, has supplanted the truth. . . . The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that constitute the wine of the abomination of Babylon. . . . But those who have not, through repentance and faith, secured pardon, must receive the penalty of transgression ... covered with infamy, they sink into hopeless, eternal oblivion. . . . There will then be no lost souls to blaspheme God as they writhe in never-ending torment; no wretched beings in hell will mingle their shrieks with the songs of the saved” (Ellen White, The Great Controversy, pp. 469, 470, 477, 478, 483).”
Regardless of whether it rubs uncomfortably against human reason, the Bible teaches that the unsaved must endure eternal conscious torment. Proof for this is found in Matthew 25:46, in which eternal life is compared to eternal punishment in duration and state. “And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous unto life eternal.”
Revelation 14:10-11 says those who receive the mark of the Antichrist will not be annihilated, but will suffer eternal torment. “And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.”
Another passage that describes the eternal state of the wicked is Revelation 20:10-15. Here Satan, together with the beast and the false prophet, are “tormented day and night for ever and ever.” If the Devil and Antichrist and the False Prophet of the Great Tribulation are tormented day and night forever in the lake of fire, this obviously will be the lot of all who are cast there.
The Lord Jesus Christ taught that the lost would suffer eternal torment. Three times in Mark 9 Christ spoke of hell as “the fire that never shall be quenched: where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched...” (Mk. 9:43-48). This is the language of eternal suffering.
Some have argued that though the fire is eternal, the punishment is not. This is an impossible interpretation, because Christ taught that the punishment of the lost would be worse than a violent destruction or loss of existence. Mark 9:42 warns that it is better for the wicked to hang a millstone about his neck and be cast into the sea than face God’s judgment. In verse 43, Jesus began to describe the horrors of Hell. In other words, Hell is going to be worse than any violent destruction. The suffering is eternal in duration. In Matthew 26:24, the Lord said Judas’ punishment will be worse than loss of existence. “...it had been good for that man if he had not been born.”
None of these verses make sense unless interpreted to describe the eternal conscious torment of the unsaved. All the ramifications of this doctrine might be difficult for us to understand, but the truth remains that God has revealed it and our part is to accept it by faith. Hell is a place of fire, and it is a place where the suffering is eternal. These Scriptures should be a loud warning to every man, woman, and child that life is no game; salvation is not a thing to delay for even an hour. No time should be wasted in finding security in the Savior, whose blood “cleanseth us from all sin.” No effort should be spared in reaching lost souls for Christ. God is not only a God of love, but also a holy God of judgment. The torment of Hell is as eternal as the bliss of Heaven.
THE CONFUSION OF THE ECUMENICAL MOVEMENT
This also reminds us of the confusion created by the ecumenical movement. It is confusion for those who believe in a literal hell, or believer’s baptism, or eternal security, or a literal millennium, or the cessation of sign gifts to associate with those that denounce these doctrines. Yet the ecumenical movement is promoting this very thing.
The Seventh-day Adventists are becoming increasingly involved with ecumenical endeavors. The door was opened by the late Walter Martin, founder of the Christian Research Institute, who taught that Adventists should be accepted as an evangelical group with a few quirky doctrines. Martin disseminated this dangerous thinking widely in his influential book Kingdom of the Cults, and he was joined in this by Donald Grey Barnhouse, pastor of Tenth Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. These two prominent evangelical preachers entered into “sweet fellowship” with Adventist leaders. (See the previous chapter “Why Walter Martin Considered Seventh-day Adventism Evangelical” at the Way of Life web site — http://www.wayoflife.org.)
New books on cults are going a step further than Walter Martin by omitting Seventh-day Adventism altogether. An example is What They Believe by Harold Berry and published by Back to the Bible. Previous editions (1979, 1982, 1986) of this book were entitled Examining the Cults and dealt with Roman Catholicism and Adventism, but the 1992 edition omits both. Another example is the 1999 book Fast Facts on False Teachings by Ron Carlson and Ed Decker, which completely omits Adventism.
Everywhere we look we find Adventists participating in ecumenical ventures.
As far back as 1962, the 10th annual convention of the Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship featured Adventist preacher H.M.S. Richards, Billy Graham, and Pentecostal faith healer Oral Roberts.
In 1986 SDA leader George Vandeman published What I Like About...the Lutherans, the Baptists, the Methodists, the Charismatics, the Catholics, Our Jewish Friends, the Adventists. It was an attempt to promote sympathetic feelings toward Adventism on the part of other denominations, but Vandeman was a strong promoter of Adventist heresy and his objective was always to win non-Seventh-day Adventists over to his “church.” It was Vandeman’s book Planet in Rebellion that the devil used to confuse me as a young Christian.
Seventh-day Adventists are members of the Evangelical Alliance in Romania and the French Protestant Federation.
Adventists are members of many local ministerial associations, including Riverside, California, and Honolulu, Hawaii.
Seventh-day Adventist CCM group Take 6 participated in the Billy Graham rally in New York’s Central Park, September 22, 1991. Adventists participated in a Graham crusade in Germany in 1993. Three prominent Roman Catholics were on the committee.
Speaking in 1992, the president of the National Association of Evangelicals in America reported that there is growing cooperation between evangelicals and Catholics and others, including Seventh-day Adventists. He spoke of “permeable denominational walls” and “the broad evangelical tent” that is being stretched to include Charismatics, Adventists, and the Churches of Christ (who teach baptismal regeneration).
Seventh-day Adventists participate in the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) meetings each year. In 1994, the NRB presented its Milestone Award to The Voice of Prophecy, a broadcast that promotes Seventh-day Adventist heresies.
Evangelical leader Tony Campolo has spoken on numerous Adventist university campuses and in 2004 he spoke at the International Conference on Adventists in the Community. He refers to the Seventh-day Adventists in a positive manner in his 1993 book 20 Hot Potatoes Christians Are Afraid to Touch (chapter 3) and in his foreword to Adventism for a New Generation by Steve Daily.
Dallas Theological Seminary professor Howard Hendricks spoke at the Seventh-day Adventist Southern College in Collegedale, Tennessee, in 1994.
Adventists participate in the massive Urbana conferences for college students sponsored by InterVarsity Fellowship. At the Urbana conference in 1996, convention director Dan Harrison observed that “InterVarsity serves the whole church in all of its diversity” and stated that there were Catholics, Adventists, and many other denominations represented (Foundation magazine, Jan.-Feb. 1997). InterVarsity obviously has a heretical view of the “church.”
The Alabama State Evangelism Conference in January 1998 featured a choir from the Seventh-day Adventist Oakwood College. Southern Baptist president Tom Ellif was one of the speakers.
In the 1990s it was reported that Seventh-day Adventist minister Bertie Degraphenreed was the office receptionist at Fuller Theological Seminary (Calvary Contender, June 15, 1994). In April 1999 Fuller professor Margaret Suster, (who teaches preaching) was a guest speaker for an SDA-sponsored “interactive seminar.”
It was reported that Adventist churches participated in the Franklin Graham crusade in Jamaica in March 1999.
The Festival of Christian Unity for the Great Jubilee Service conducted in Huntsville, Alabama, January 23, 2000, included Roman Catholics, Charismatics and Pentecostals, Southern Baptists, Orthodox, mainline Protestant, and Seventh-day Adventists. An Adventist pastor said: “It is our hope that all barriers of divisiveness will be moved, and we will focus on the things that unite us and draw us together” (Huntsville Times, Jan. 15, 2000).
Some Seventh-day Adventist churches are listed as members of the Willow Creek Community Church Association founded by church growth guru Bill Hybels.
In 2006 the Seventh-day Adventists held their first meeting with the World Evangelical Alliance. Adventist representative Angel Rodriguez said: “Although we come from different religious traditions, there was much that we shared in common and was useful to both parties. The meetings were designed to gain a clearer understanding of the theological positions of each body; clarify matters of misunderstanding; discuss frankly areas of agreement and disagreement on a Biblical basis; and explore possible areas of cooperation” (Seventh-day Adventist Interfaith Relations,” Wikipedia). The two groups met again in August 2007.
The SDA have also held dialogues with the Lutheran World Federation, the World Alliance of Reformed Churches, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Salvation Army, and others.
The ecumenical tent is being expanded every few years. See also “Mormons Added to the Ecumenical Stew,” which is available on the Way of Life Literature web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org.
________________________
AVOIDING THE SNARE OF SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTISM. This book has been called the best on the subject by the editor of The Baptist Challenge. Now it has been throughly updated and enlarged. It is diligently researched from official publications of the Seventh-day Adventist organization and proves conclusively that the Seventh-day Adventist gospel is false. The book begins with a chapter entitled “Adventists Wanted Me to Revise This Book,” describing a deceptive attempt by Seventh-day Adventists to have me change the book. The major divisions of the book are: “Adventist History Proves It is Heretical” and “Adventist Doctrine Proves It Is Heretical.” The book analyzes Adventist doctrines such as Sabbath-keeping, Soul-sleep, Annihilation of the wicked, Ellen White as a Prophetess, Investigative Judgment, Misuse of the Mosaic Law, and Vegetarianism. The chapter “Why Some Have Considered Seventh-day Adventism Evangelical" analyzes Walter Martin’s (author of Kingdom of the Cults) faulty view of Adventism. The book includes selections from D.M. Canright’s 1898 book Seventh-day Adventism Renounced. Canright was an early leader in Adventism who left and became a Baptist pastor. Third edition updated and enlarged September 2008. 206 pages, 5 X 8”, perfect bound, $8.95.
Order by phone or via the recently redesigned online catalog at the Way of Life web site: 866-295-4143, http://wayoflife.org
[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 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://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]
UNQUESTIONING LOYALTY TO PASTORAL LEADERSHIP THE MARK OF A CULT
Updated May 8, 2008 (first published September 10, 1999) (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) -
For church leaders to demand unquestioning loyalty is a perversion of biblical truth and is the mark of a cult. The Bible gives authority to pastors and elders (Heb. 13:7, 17), but that authority is not unlimited or unquestionable. Those who demand blind obedience from their people are cult leaders. Consider the following description of the authority that was wielded by James and Ellen White in the early days of the Seventh-day Adventist cult:
“ELDER AND MRS. WHITE RAN AND RULED EVERYTHING WITH AN IRON HAND. Not a nomination to office, not a resolution, not an item of business was ever acted upon in business meetings till all had been first submitted to Elder White for his approval. Till years later, we never saw an opposition vote on any question, for no one dared to do it. Hence, all official voting was only a farce. The will of Elder White settled everything. If any one dared to oppose anything, however humbly, Elder White or wife quickly squelched him. LONG YEARS OF SUCH TRAINING TAUGHT THE PEOPLE TO LET THEIR LEADERS THINK FOR THEM; HENCE, THEY ARE UNDER AS COMPLETE SUBJECTION AS ARE THE CATHOLICS” (D.M. Canright, Seventh-day Adventism Renounced, 1898).
This description was given by a man who was a faithful member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church for 28 years and who became one of its top leaders. D.M. Canright knew James and Ellen White intimately. He left the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1884 and became a Baptist pastor in Michigan until his death in 1919.
THE FRIGHTFUL FACT IS THAT THE ABOVE DESCRIPTION OF THE PERVERTED AUTHORITY THAT WAS EXERCISED BY JAMES AND ELLEN WHITE IN THEIR ADVENTIST CULT PERFECTLY DESCRIBES THE AUTHORITY THAT IS EXERCISED BY SOME FUNDAMENTAL BAPTIST PASTORS. If I were to publish Canright’s description of perverted church authority without including the names of James and Ellen White and without explaining who this describes and when it was written, some church members in independent Baptist churches would be tempted to write to me and charge me with libeling their own pastors!
SPIRITUAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY
There are two problems that I see pertaining to pastoral authority in fundamental Baptist churches today: One, there is rebellion against pastoral authority on the part of some church members; and two, there is misuse of pastoral authority on the part of some pastors.
Pastors have God-given authority. God’s word says, “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you” (Heb. 13:17). Church members do not all have the same authority in the congregations. Pastors have ruling authority, and those who are not pastors are to submit themselves to this authority. Sadly, there is widespread rebellion against pastoral authority. Many people who leave GOOD fundamental Baptist churches do so because they do not understand or they refuse to submit to biblical pastoral authority. They think they have just as much right as the pastor to make decisions in the church, but that is not true. We have dealt with this in articles such as “SEVEN KEYS TO FRUITFUL CHURCH MEMBERSHIP” (see the Church section of the End Times Apostasy Database at the Way of Life web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/sevenkeys.htm).
At the same time, the authority exercised by a pastor or elder is to be distinctly different from that exercised by leaders in the secular world, and there are pastors who are abusing their authority. That is the focus of this article. Consider the biblical characteristics of proper and godly pastoral authority.
FIRST, THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS A MINISTERING AUTHORITY--the authority of a shepherd (Mark 10:42-45; Acts 20:28; 2 Cor. 1:24; 13:10; Titus 1:7; 1 Pet. 5:2). The authority of a pastor is strictly for building up and protecting God’s people and work. It is not for his own pleasure and design.
“But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and THEIR GREAT ONES EXERCISE AUTHORITY UPON THEM. BUT SO SHALL IT NOT BE AMONG YOU: BUT WHOSOEVER WILL BE GREAT AMONG YOU, SHALL BE YOUR MINISTER: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45).
“NOT FOR THAT WE HAVE DOMINION OVER YOUR FAITH, but are helpers of your joy: for by faith ye stand” (2 Cor. 1:24).
“Therefore I write these things being absent, lest being present I should use sharpness, according to THE POWER WHICH THE LORD HATH GIVEN ME TO EDIFICATION, AND NOT TO DESTRUCTION” (2 Cor. 13:10).
“For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; NOT SELFWILLED, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre” (Titus 1:7).
“Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind. NEITHER AS BEING LORDS OVER GOD’S HERITAGE, but being ensamples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:2).
SECOND, THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS A SUBMISSIVE, HUMBLE AUTHORITY--the authority of a steward (Acts 20:28; 1 Cor. 3:9; 4:1; 12:7; Tit. 1:7; 1 Pet. 4:10; 5:3-5).
“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (Acts 20:28).
“For we are labourers together with God: ye are God's husbandry, ye are God’s building” (1 Cor. 3:9).
“Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).
“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal” (1 Cor. 12:7).
“As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God” (1 Pet. 4:10).
“Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble” (1 Peter 5:3,5).
The pastor is to rule under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ, not by his own mind or will. The church is God’s property; the people are God’s people; the work is God’s work. The pastor is merely a steward or caretaker.
Contrast this with the ministry of proud, willful Diotrephes (3 Jn. 9-10) who lorded it over the flock and who quenched the spiritual ministry of men of whom he did not approve even though their ministries were scriptural.
SOME OF THE CHARACTERISTICS OF A DIOTREPHES ARE AS FOLLOWS:
First, he demands unquestioning loyalty and does not teach the people that his authority is restricted and does not encourage the people to test him by God’s Word. He emphasizes certain passages that refer to one aspect of pastoral authority (such as Hebrews 13:17), but he ignores the passages that limit his authority (such as Mark 10:42-45; 2 Cor. 1:24; and 1 Peter 5:2). This is the way that all false teachers misuse the Bible. They develop doctrines from pet verses that appear to support their views while ignoring or explaining away those verses that disprove their views. Second, he wants people to be dependent upon him for direction in life and ministry instead of being dependent upon the Lord Himself. He makes the people feel that they cannot make important decisions and know God’s will without him. Contrast this with Acts 13:3-4, where it was the Holy Spirit who guided the church at Antioch and called Paul and Barnabas to their missionary work.
Third, he exalts himself before the people.
Fourth, he ridicules his associates, making them look small in the eyes of the church members, thus increasing his own prestige and authority and decreasing theirs.
Fifth, he uses an Old Testament pattern for church government to bolster his demand for unquestioning loyalty. He compares himself to Moses, Joshua, and David, failing to note that the New Testament pattern of church government is dramatically different from that of Old Testament Israel. The nation Israel was a kingdom, a theocracy. The New Testament church is the body and flock of Christ. The human leaders in the churches are not lords or potentates or generals or presidents, but are humble shepherds. The Lord Jesus Christ left no doubt about this (see Mark 10:42-45).
THIRD, THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS A KINDLY, LOVING AUTHORITY--the authority of a father (1 Th. 2:7-11).
The pastor is to have a godly, loving, tender, sacrificial consideration for the welfare of the people. His rule is not to be an overbearing, self-serving type of rule.
“But we were gentle among you, even as a nurse cherisheth her children: So being affectionately desirous of you, we were willing to have imparted unto you, not the gospel of God only, but also our own souls, because ye were dear unto us. For ye remember, brethren, our labour and travail: for labouring night and day, because we would not be chargeable unto any of you, we preached unto you the gospel of God. Ye are witnesses, and God also, how holily and justly and unblameably we behaved ourselves among you that believe: As ye know how we exhorted and comforted and charged every one of you, as a father doth his children” (1 Thess. 2:7-11).
One of the marks of a cult is the way people are treated when they refuse to follow the leadership unquestioningly or when they leave. When D.M. Canright left Adventism after 28 years, he was treated like a fool and an evil man. All friendship and kindness was withdrawn by the Adventist leaders. They even lied about him mercilessly for many years afterwards. This is a mark of a cult. People are only treated kindly and lovingly if they submit to the doctrines and “authority” of the cult’s leaders; if they question the leadership or if they leave the church, they are fair game to be treated without mercy.
This is exactly what we find in some large (and small but would-be-large) cult-like independent Baptist churches. As long as people unquestionably submit to the pastor, they are treated kindly. As soon as they question his leadership and leave, the kindness is removed and they are treated unkindly.
FOURTH, THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS A LIBERATING AUTHORITY--THE AUTHORITY TO BUILD UP NOT HOLD DOWN (2 Corinthians 10:8; Ephesians 4:11-12).
“For though I should boast somewhat more of our authority, which the Lord hath given us for edification, and not for your destruction, I should not be ashamed” (1 Cor. 10:8).
“And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Eph. 4:11-12).
A godly pastor’s objective is to build the people of God up in the faith so that they are strong and can stand on their own feet under Christ their one Head. He wants to see their spiritual gifts and callings developed to the fullest extend possible, and he wants to do everything he can to encourage them to fulfill their calling.
LIMITATIONS TO THE PASTOR’S AUTHORITY
A pastor only has such authority as is delegated to him by God. Christians are never told to submit blindly to a church leader, but to submit to truly God-called men who are leading according to the Word of God. As the Apostle Paul said, “Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ” (1 Cor. 11:1). Paul could demand that others follow him because he was following Christ and was faithfully preaching the message given to him by Christ. Apart from that, even Paul had no authority. He warned the churches of Galatia that if even he were to preach any other gospel, they were to reject him (Galatians 1:8). Even in matters pertaining to his own associates, Paul’s authority was not absolute and unquestionable. When Paul “greatly desired” for Apollos to minister at Corinth, Apollos refused (1 Cor. 16:12).
A pastor’s authority is limited in the following ways:
(1) A PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS LIMITED BY THE BIBLE. Hebrews 13:7 instructs Christians to submit to those who have spoken to them the Word of God. A preacher does not have authority in himself; his authority is the Word of God. If a pastor or teacher strays from the Bible, his listeners have no responsibility to follow him; he has exceeded his authority. The Bereans are praised because they carefully examined Paul’s preaching instead of blindly following a man (Acts 17:11). God’s people are instructed to “prove all things” (1 Thessalonians 5:21). Every sermon is to be judged by those who hear it (1 Corinthians 14:29). A pastor does not have authority to lord it over every detail of the people’s lives. They are the Lord’s people, not the pastor’s. He is a humble undershepherd who is temporarily caring for the Lord’s flock. The people have the indwelling Spirit of God and He is their main teacher. “But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him” (1 John 2:27).
(2) A PASTOR’S AUTHORITY IS BASED ON HIS CALL FROM GOD (Acts 20:28). The elders of the church at Ephesus were appointed by the Holy Spirit. This is a foundational basis for spiritual authority. Christians are only to submit to men who give plain evidence that they are called of God. The pastor’s qualifications are clearly stated in 1 Timothy 3 and Titus 1. Many men are unfit to exercise pastoral authority because their marital status is not the example it should be (pastors are to be examples to the flock of God’s perfect will--1 Peter 5:3), or their wives are unspiritual, or because their children are unruly, or because they have a poor testimony in the community, or for other reasons clearly spelled out in the Bible.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN PASTORING AND LORDING
“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:1-3).
Pastors have real authority in the church, but it is a different kind of authority than that exercised by the world. Note some of the differences as follows:
Scriptural pastors love the flock and lead by compassion, but lords typically despise compassion; they don’t encourage; they merely demand (1 Thess. 2:7-8).
Scriptural pastors lead by example, but lords merely make demands with little or no awareness or concern that they must model what they demand (1 Pet. 5:3).
Scriptural pastors know that the flock is not their own, but lords feel that they own the people and thus can control them according to their own will (1 Pet. 5:2, 3 “flock of God,” “God’s heritage”).
Scriptural pastors care more about the welfare of the saints than their own profit, but lords rule for personal gain and are not afraid to abuse the people (1 Pet. 5:2).
Scriptural pastors are humble and do not consider themselves greater than the flock, but lords exalt themselves high above the people (1 Pet. 5:2 “among you”; 1 Pet. 5:5).
Scriptural pastors aim to build up the people and free them to do God’s will (Eph. 4:11-12; 2 Cor. 10:8), but lords want to control the people and hold them down. The Greek word translated “destruction” in 2 Corinthians 10:8 is elsewhere translated “pulling down” (2 Cor. 10:4).
Brethren, we must submit ourselves to God-called pastors who are leading the churches according to the Word of God. We should follow them and encourage them and always give them the benefit of the doubt. Not to do so is rebellion and confusion.
We must also beware of men who exercise an unscriptural, cultic type of authority, regardless of what denominational label they wear. The Diotrephes mentality eventually led to the formation of the Roman Catholic Church, with its hierarchy of archbishops and cardinals and popes. We don’t need any more popes!
“But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: And whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10:42-45).
[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 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://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]
HELPFUL BOOK ON ISLAM
January 31, 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)-
Peril of Islam: Telling the Truth is by Gene Gurganus, who was a missionary to a Muslim nation for 17 years and has been in the ministry for 53 years. The book, which was published in 2004, is available from Truth Publishers, P.O. Box 1525, Taylors, SC 29687, http://www.truthpublisher.com/index.php?main_page=index.
Christians need to understand the Islamic religion and aspirations more today than ever before. This would be a good book to read privately as well as with the family, to use in home schooling, and even to use as a Sunday School course.
Gurganus exposes the error of those who claim that Islam is a religion of peace. He explains that the goal of Islam, from the days of Mohammed, has been to “impose the Islamic faith and rule (sharia) in all the world.”
According to Islam, the world is divided into the world of Dar al-Harb (the world of war, non-Islamic people) and the Dar al-Islam (the world of peace, the Muslim world). Therefore, peace, by Islamic definition, is Islamic control over any part of the world, and full peace would not be achieved until Islam rules the whole world. “The presumption is that the duty of jihad will continue, interrupted only by truces, until all the world either adopts the Muslim faith or subjects to the Muslim rule” (pp. 59, 60).
Gurganus shows that MOHAMMED’S MINISTRY WAS DIVIDED INTO TWO PARTS: the tolerant years in Mecca and the aggressive years in Medina. In Mecca, he used teaching in an attempt to convert the people. During that period, he wrote prophecies along the lines of being at peace with non-Muslims and not forcing your religion upon others. For example, Surah 2:256 in the Koran says, “Let there be no compulsion in religion. Truth stands out clear from Error.” When that plan failed, he picked up the sword, and for the rest of his life he used the sword to force adherence to Islam. Many of the prophecies Mohammed gave during this later period contradict the earlier prophecies and demand war against unbelievers. Those who quote from Surah 2:256 and similar ones from Mohammed’s early life ignore the fact that these written before he picked up the sword and changed his policy.
Gurganus explains that there are THREE STAGES OF JIHAD (pp. 114-115). First, there is the weakened stage, which applies to Muslims living as a minority in a non-Muslim country. “At this stage, Muslims follow the word given to Mohammed in Mecca: ‘There is no compulsion in religion’ (Surah 2:256).” Second, there is the preparation stage, which is reached when Muslims are a reasonably influential minority. At this stage, they make preparations in every possible area--financial, physical, military, mental and any other. Surah 8:59-60 says, “Against them [unbelievers] make ready your strength to the utmost of your power, including steeds of war, to strike terror into (the hearts) of the enemies of Allah and your enemies, and others besides whom you may not know, but whom Allah knows.” The third stage is the jihad stage, which commences “when Muslims are a minority with strength, influence and power.” At this stage, “... every Muslim’s duty is to actively fight the enemy, overturning the system of the non-Muslim country and establishing Islamic authority.” This stage is based on the final revelation Mohammed received concerning jihad, which is Surah 9:5 -- “Fight and slay the Pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, beleaguer them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem [of war].” Thus, “Muslims are commanded to kill everyone who chooses not to convert to Islam. The verse says wherever you find them. There are no geographical limits” (Peril of Islam, p. 114).
Gurganus explains THE DOCTRINE OF “ABROGATION” in the Islamic religion. According to this doctrine, Allah caused some parts of the Koran to be abrogated or abolished by later commandments. “The practice application of this principle is that when there is a contradiction between two verses in the Koran, the newer revelation overrides the previous revelation. Then the new cancels the old. You can still read the words, ‘There is no compulsion in religion’ in the Koran, but they no longer have authority because Surah 2:193 says, “And fight with them until there is no persecution, and religion should be only for Allah, but if they desist, then there should be no hostility except against oppressors.” So the ‘no compulsion in religion’ verse has been mansookh (canceled) by revelations that came later.” Professor Gabriel helps us understand how the Muslims interpret the Koran in this way: ‘This principle of abrogation is known in Arabic as nasikh. It means that Allah led Muhammad in a progressive revelation. Many copies of the Quran have a table that shows whether a surah is from Mecca or Medina in order to help readers know which is a newer revelation’” (Peril of Islam, p. 69).
In chapter 8 Gurganus gives some suggestions for evangelizing Muslims.
In chapter 13 Gurganus gives the historical and religious reasons why so many Muslims hate America.
FOLLOWING ARE SOME EXCERPTS FROM THIS IMPORTANT BOOK:
“Islam attacks Christianity with a vengeance. The crux of Christianity centers in the incarnation, the crucifixion, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Islam denies all three of these vital doctrines of the Christian faith. Not only that but they teach that our Holy Bible has been corrupted. The trinity is abominable because God has no wife called Mary, and therefore Jesus Christ is not the Son of God. Christians are polytheists who believe in three gods. Although favoring Jesus with titles such as Word of God, Spirit of God, Messiah, etc., they believe he is only a prophet and a great man, but not the Son of God or Savior or Lord” (pp. 47, 48).
“PLAN TO ISLAMIZE EUROPE. Serge Trifvocic gives startling statistics as to present developments and future Islamic goals: ‘In 30 years, the Muslim population of Great Britain rose from 82,000 to 2 million. In Germany, there are 4 million Muslims, mostly Turks, and over 5 million in France, mostly North Africans. ... Almost a tenth of all babies born in EU countries are Muslims, and in the moribund Brussels, the figure was over 50 percent. With the expanding numbers and the creation of distinctly Muslim neighborhoods in Western, primarily European cities, the initial detachment of culture from territory has been reversed, and the bold notion of conquest by demographic rather than military means entered the activist’s minds. The blueprint was developed over two decades ago, in 1981, when the Third Islamic Summit Conference of Kaaba adopted the Mecca Declaration. It stated as follows: We have resolved to conduct Jihad with all the means at our disposal so as to free our territory from occupation. [The whole world is their territory.] We declare that the oppression suffered by Muslim minorities and communities in many countries is a flagrant offense against the rights and dignity of man. We appeal to all states in which there are Islamic minorities to allow them full liberty. We are convinced of the need to propagate the precepts of Islam and its cultural influence in Muslim societies and throughout the world’” (pp. 53, 54).
“After living in a Muslim country for seventeen years and observing the treatment of non-Muslims, I can truthfully say that non-Muslims are indeed second-class citizens. Few amenities or privileges are theirs. Civil rights? Are you kidding!” (p. 80).
“WHEN LIES ARE JUSTIFIED. Philosopher Ibn Taymiyah (1263-1328) wrote a book titled The Sword on the Neck of the Accuser of Muhammad. In it he described how Muslims should live when they are in the minority. ‘Believers when in a weakened stage in a non-Muslim country should forgive and be patient with People of the Book [Jews and Christians] when they insult Allah and his prophet by any means. Believers should lie to People of the Book to protect their lives and religion.’ ... There’s an Islamic proverb that says, ‘If you can’t cut your enemies’ hand, kiss it.’ When Mohammed was weak in Mecca, he was a lamb. When he was strong in Medina, he was a lion. Muslims living in predominantly Muslim countries do not hesitate to oppress and persecute Christians and Jews. On the other hand, Muslims living in Christian nations or nations where the majority profess to be Christians are very good at presenting themselves as loving, caring and forgiving people” (p. 107).
“SHUTTING DOWN THE DEBATE. The Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) is one of the more aggressive intimidators. It fronts as a civil rights organization protecting Muslims from Harassment. Its main agenda is helping Hamas against Israel and promoting militant Islam’s agenda in the United States. Steve Pomerantz, a former chief of counterterrorism for the FBI, explains that ‘any objective assessment ... leads to the conclusion that CAIR, leaders, and its activities, effectively give aid to international terrorist groups. Unfortunately, CAIR is but one of a new generation of new groups in the United States that hide under a veneer of civil rights or academic status but in fact are tethered to a platform that supports terrorism.’ ... They picketed the Dallas Morning News for revealing the Hamas infrastructure in Texas. Muslims launched a campaign against the Tampa Tribune for uncovering the Islamic Jihad in Tampa. ... CAIR also denounced the Atlantic Monthly for an article on militant Islamic violence in Sudan and a Senate Subcommittee for holding hearings on Foreign Terrorists in America: Five Years after the World Trade Center Bombing. As CAIR promotes militant Islam in the United States, it focuses on one main point: silencing those who have anything negative to say about militant Islam. ... It went after Reader’s Digest for documenting the repression of Christians in several Muslim countries” (pp. 105, 106).
“The Chairman of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, Omar M. Ahmad, told a crowd of California Muslims in July 1998, ‘Islam isn’t in America to be equal to any other faith, but to become dominant. The Koran ... should be the highest authority in America and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth’ (report in San Ramon Valley Herald of a speech to California Muslims in July 1998, quoted by Daniel Pipes in “CAIR: Moderate Friends of Terror,” New York Post, April 22, 2002)” (p. 151).
“America welcomes immigrants from all over the world. Most of these immigrants now consider themselves Americans and try to fit in with the scheme of things. Note the words of Serge Trifkovic, a journalist and learned scholar: ‘The Muslim population within North America, and the rest of the West is not like any other, for it is the only immigrant group that harbors a substantial segment of individuals who share the key objectives with the terrorists, even if they do not all approve of their methods. IT WOULD BE IDLE FOR EVEN ARDENT ISLAMIC APOLOGISTS TO PRETEND THAT MANY MUSLIM IMMIGRANTS DO NOT DESPISE THE WEST IN GENERAL AND THE UNITED STATES IN PARTICULAR, ITS INSTITUTIONS AND ALL IT STANDS FOR. TO THEM THEIR HOST COUNTRY IS A MINE TO BE STRIPPED, USED AND CONVERTED OR DESTROYED. This was not what other newcomers to America had in mind as they flocked here to enjoy the unique opportunities of freedom. ... As is evident in the actions and words of many American Muslims a sizeable minority of them wishes to transform their host country into a Muslim country--by whatever means, violent or otherwise, justified by the supposed sanctity of the goal and a corresponding Koranic injunction’” (p. 121).
“THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA is the most intolerant Islamic government in the world. The practice of any religion besides Islam is strictly forbidden. ... Saudi Arabia funds the building of three to four mosques a week in our country while thousands of Christians working in Saudi Arabia have no religious freedom at all. ... Of the more than 1,200 mosques in America, more than 80 percent have been built with Saudi money. Saudi Arabia alone has spent $87 billion since 1973 to spread Islam throughout the United States and the Western hemisphere. ... Saudis are embracing ‘Wahabbism,’ an acute and violent strain of Islam. Osama bin Laden considers himself a ‘Wahabbi.’ So one has every reason to believe that what is being taught in these mosques and Islamic centers supported by Saudi Arabia is Wahbbism. Black converts make up the fastest-growing segment of the Muslim population in America. An estimated 60 to 90 percent of all U.S. converts to Islam are black” (pp. 123, 143).
“BILL CLINTON said, ‘Islam is American as apple pie.’ I think he does not know much about America or Islam. America’s basic values are individualism, freedom, rule of law based on our Constitution and the law of God (Ten Commandments), democracy, and the ownership of private property. Islam is absolutist with not one shred of freedom to the human spirit. Submit or die! Our government’s attitude toward Islam has serious implications. Their scolding of citizens that tell the truth about Islam and their noisy espousal of Islam’s virtues causes our government to be an apologete for Islam making it an adjunct to Islamic organizations” (p. 136).
“In Virginia Beach, VA, an Afghan Muslim has been converted to Christ through kindness shown to him after an accident by members of a church. In the land of the free this new Christian is now hiding in fear of being killed by an American Islamic group. The liberal news media does not consider this news worth telling. The media is suppressing and holding down the truth” (p. 146).
__________________________
Peril of Islam: Telling the Truth is by Gene Gurganus, who was a missionary to a Muslim nation for 17 years and has been in the ministry for 53 years. The book, which was published in 2004, is available from Truth Publishers, P.O. Box 1525, Taylors, SC 29687, http://www.truthpublisher.com/index.php?main_page=index.
[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 25th year of publication. Way of Life publishes many helpful books. The catalog is located at the web site: http://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]
ARE MORMONS CHRISTIANS?
[Distributed by Way of Life Literature’s Fundamental Baptist Information Service. These articles cannot be stored on BBS or Internet sites. The articles cannot be sold or placed by themselves or with other material in any electronic format for sale, but may be distributed for free by e-mail or by print. They must be left intact and nothing removed or changed, including these informational headers. This is a listing for Fundamental Baptists and other fundamentalist, Bible-believing Christians. Our goal is not devotional. OUR PRIMARY PURPOSE IS TO PROVIDE INFORMATION TO ASSIST PREACHERS IN THE PROTECTION OF THE CHURCHES IN THIS APOSTATE HOUR. If you desire to receive this type of material on a regular basis, e-mail us, tell us who you are and where you are located, and request to be placed on the list. Also include your postal address and the name of the church of which you are a member. Please note that this is not a free service. We take up a quarterly offering to fund this ministry, and each subscriber is expected to participate. To unsubscribe or to submit a change of address, send your name and the request to fbns@wayoflife.org. This is not an automated list. Changes in the database often require two to four days. Some of the articles are from O Timothy magazine. David W. Cloud, Editor. O Timothy is a monthly magazine in its 17th year of publication. Subscription is $20/yr. Way of Life Literature, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277. The Way of Life web site is http://wayoflife.org/~dcloud. The End Times Apostasy Online Database is located at this web site. (360) 675-8311 (voice), 240-8347 (fax). fbns@wayoflife.org (e-mail)]
(First published September 16, 1996) (Fundamental Baptist Information Service, 1701 Harns Rd., Oak Harbor, WA 98277, dcloud@wayoflife.org) -
The following article ARE MORMONS CHRISTIANS? is by Pastor Cooper P. Abrams, III. The subtitle is “The Bible and LDS Scriptures Prove Conclusively that Mormons Are not Biblical Christians” --
Historically, only until recently have Mormons wanted to be called Christians, preferring not to be included with Christian denominations, which Joseph Smith said were, “all wrong ... all their creeds were an admonition in his sight, and that those professors (Christians) were all corrupt” (Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith, 2:18-19).
Mormons have preferred to be called “saints”; however, in the recent years the LDS church has spent millions in an intense “PR” campaign aimed at moving the church into the mainstream of Christianity. The political and economic benefits of Mormons being included in the mainstream of Christianity are obvious. Further, for Mormons to be accepted as traditional Christians would greatly aid in proselytizing the members of Christian denominations into the LDS church. This is why the LDS church is trying so hard to present itself as Christian and is trying to overcome the stigma of being a cult.
The answer to the question, “Are Mormons Christians,” is simple. They are not Christians for several reasons, and their unbiblical doctrines show them to be a “Christian” cult.
The name Christian was first used, as Acts 11:26 records, to identify the disciples of Jesus Christ. The word “Christian” is the Greek word “christianos,” and it means an adherent of Jesus Christ. It literally means “Christ ones” (Acts 11:26, 26:28, 1 Peter 4:16). The correct definition of the word is one who is a follower of the Jesus Christ of the Bible. For almost two thousand years it has never had a reference to anyone other that the historical Jesus Christ of the New Testament.
WHY MORMONS ARE NOT CHRISTIANS?
First: Mormons do not follow or believe in the historic Jesus Christ of the Bible, but rather in a difference Jesus. This is why most Biblical Christians emphatically insist that Mormons are not Christians. Let me explain.
The god of the Mormons is not the God of the Bible. To the Mormons, Jesus is the firstborn son of an exalted “man” who became the god of this world. The man-god of Mormonism was made the god of this world because of his good works on another planet somewhere out in the universe. He “earned” godhood, and was thus appointed by a counsel of gods in the heavens to his high position as the god of planet Earth. The Mormon god of this world was a man, like all men, who became a god. This is what the celestial marriage and the temple vows are all about. LDS men, by doing their temple work, are striving for exaltation by which they, too, shall one day become gods. Their wives will be the mother goddesses of “their” world and with their husband will produce the population of their world. This is the Mormon doctrine of “eternal progression.”
Note the following quote from the Mormon Journal of Discourses, vol. 1, page 123, made by the LDS Apostle Orson Hyde:
“Remember that God, our heavenly Father, was perhaps once a child, a mortal like we ourselves, and rose step by step in the scale of progress, in the school of advancement; has moved forward and overcome, until He has arrived at the point were He is.”
Lorenzo Snow, late President of the Mormon church, made this statement in the second verse of his famous poem entitled, “Man’s Destiny”:
“As Abra’m, Isaac, Jacob, too,
babes, then men--to gods they grew.
As man now is, our God once was;
As now God is, so man may be,--
Which doth unfold man’s destiny. . .”
The God of the Bible is not an exalted man. The God of the Bible is omnipresent, omnipotent, and omniscient. The Bible says He is the only God and there are no other Gods. He had no beginning or end and he is a spirit being and never was a man.
Note the clear teaching of the Bible as to who the real God is:
Numbers 23:19, “God is not a man, that he should lie; neither the son of man, that he should repent: hath he said, and shall he not do it? or hath he spoken, and shall he not make it good?”
Psalms 102:26-27, “They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.”
Isaiah 43:10-11, “Ye are my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me. I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour.”
Isaiah 44:6, “Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.”
Isaiah 44:8, “Fear ye not, neither be afraid: have not I told thee from that time, and have declared it? ye are even my witnesses. Is there a God beside me? yea, there is no God; I know not any.”
Isaiah 45:21-22, “Tell ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together: who hath declared this from ancient time? who hath told it from that time? have not I the LORD? and there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me. Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else.”
Jeremiah 23:24, “Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.”
Malachi 3:6, “For I am the LORD, I change not; therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed.”
John 1:16-18, “And of his fullness have all we received, and grace for grace. For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ. No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
Romans 1:22, “Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”
Colossians 1:15, “Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:”
1 Timothy 1:17, “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
1 Timothy 6:16, “Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.”
Clearly, Mormonism’s god is not the God of Christianity who is the God revealed to us in the Bible. The Mormon god is a god formed from the imaginations of Joseph Smith, and in truth is a false, non-existent god or idol.
Second: The Jesus Christ of Mormonism is not the Jesus Christ of the Bible.
The Mormon Jesus is the son of this man-god. The Mormon Jesus is the brother of Lucifer, and according to LDS teaching, he married several of the Marys of the New Testament. He is not, to the LDS church, “God incarnate” as the Bible plainly states. Clearly, the Mormon god and Jesus are not the true
GOD AND JESUS OF THE BIBLE
Orson Hyde, the Mormon Apostle said, “We say it was Jesus Christ who was married in the marriage of Cana of Galilee” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, page 80).
Brigham Young, said, “When the Virgin Mary conceived the Child Jesus ... He was not begotten by the Holy Ghost. And who is His father? He is the first of the human family” (Journal of Discourses, pages 50-51).
Compare this with the Word of God, “And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:35).
Mormons teach that Jesus Christ suffered for sin in the Garden of Gethsemane when He sweat “as it were” great drops of blood. Mormons totally avoid the Biblical teaching of Christ’s atonement for sin which was accomplished on the Cross.
Note the following quote from, “What Mormons Think of Christ” (LDS publication, pages 32-34):
“Christians speak often of the blood of Christ and its cleansing power. Much is believed and taught on this subject, however, it is utter nonsense and so palpably false that to believe it is to lose one’s salvation.”
It goes further to say that salvation is “conditional on faith, and repentance, and baptism and keeping the commands of God.”
I would like to add, yes, it is very true that Christians do speak much of the blood of Christ. Note the emphasis the Bible places on the blood of Christ:
“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (1 John 1:7).
“How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrew 9:14).
“And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood” (Revelations 1:5).
The ejection of this Biblical truth by the LDS church shows again it is not a Christian church.
Note that in the following verses the Bible says salvation, which is forgiveness of sin and receiving of eternal life, is a gift of God, and it is not obtained by “works”:
“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).
“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness” (Romans 4:5).
I am aware that the L.D.S church has several definitions of salvation and several degrees of glory. A good discussion of the problem is found on the Internet at http:CastYourNet.com/LDS-Shock.
The real Jesus Christ is the “only begotten of the Father.” He is not one of many sons and certainly not the brother of Satan as the following Scriptures clearly state:
John 1:18, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:18, “He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”
Hebrews 1:5, “For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”
1 John 4:9, “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”
JESUS CHRIST OF THE BIBLE IS GOD INCARNATE IN MAN
John 1:1, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
John 1:14, “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.”
John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.” Jesus claimed to be one with the Father.
In John 14:9, Jesus said to see him is to see the Father.
In John 8:25, 56-59, 18:6,8 Jesus used the Jehovistic “I AM,” identifying Himself as God.
In Matthew 22:42-45, Jesus claimed to be the Old Testament “Adonai.”
In Mark 2:5-7, Jesus forgave sin, a prerogative belonging only to God.
In Matthew 14:33; 28:9; and John 20:28-29, Jesus asserted Himself as God by allowing men to worship Him.
John 1:3 states that Jesus is the Creator, and Genesis 1:1 states that God was the Creator.
Only those who believe in the real Biblical God and Jesus Christ have the right to use the name “Christian.” The Mormon prophets historically have openly ridiculed those who believe in the God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit that the Bible reveals.
One question that I would ask all Mormons is this: “If I accept you as a Christian, will you accept me as a Mormon?” Would you accept me as a Mormon if I reject Joseph Smith and all the LDS prophets as being prophets of God. If I do not believe in the Book of Mormon or the LDS Scriptures, baptisms for the dead, the temple endowments, the LDS gospel, would you accept me as a Mormon? The answer is obviously, you would not. In like manner, when Mormonism denies the Bible and every Christian doctrine do you think that Biblical Christians should accept Mormons as Christians? Again the answer is very obvious, no we will not. You cannot legitimately claim to be Christians when you refuse to accept what the Bible teaches and what a true Christian believes.
I would implore Mormons to honestly and openly examine their teachings about God and Jesus Christ and examine who the Bible defines as being a Christian. There is no benefit in calling yourself a “Christian” when Biblically you are not.
Because we love the souls of men and want to see them, too, spend eternity in Heaven with our Savior, we strongly object to anyone proclaiming to the world a false Jesus Christ. We do not want to see anyone miss having their sins forgiven and receiving eternal life, because they were deceived.
Jesus said that He alone was the truth, the way and the life--
“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).
Belief in the real Jesus Christ is the only way a man can receive forgiveness of sin and eternal life. The LDS, church in presenting a false Christ is, in fact, leading souls away from salvation and the real Jesus. They reject God’s truth and substitute another Jesus who does not exist and cannot save. Only those who believe in the Biblical Jesus Christ will go to heaven when they die. Those who put their trust in a false Christ will be eternally lost. Every true Child of God knows this, and that is why we try so hard to point men away from false churches, prophets, gods and Christs, that they may find God’s true Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, and be saved.
Let God speak for Himself by His Word--
Matt. 24:24, “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.”
“Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:10-12).
[Pastor Cooper P. Abrams, III, is an Independent Baptist who is involved in church planting in Utah. His web site contains a helpful series of articles on Mormonism. There are also links to other sites with Mormon information. Bro. Abrams’ web site is http://www.bible-truth.org. His e-mail address is cabrams@bible-truth.org.]