Letters    

OF TRUTH

Dear W. M.                                                                                                    January 4, 1988

     ...The great goal of the Devil is to neutralize truth. One way he accomplishes this is by mixing truth with error. Such a concoction becomes 10 times more lethal than unadulterated error."

Dear H. S.                                                                                                   February 16, 1989

      ...When we go to "experts" to solve our problems, we have what amounts to a priesthood, i.e. we look to them for our deliverance. However, in the field of religion, as in law, and in medicine, it is often the "experts" who create, and who perpetuate our problems. Unfortunately, this is all too true in the realm of government, as well as in the field of education, and I cannot but feel this is true in the realm of banking. Now, if the errors that plague our generation are perpetuated upon the youth of each successive generation, how can we expect matters will ever change?

      Truth is not relegated to only a handful of superior intellects: it lies within the grasp of all.

OF TEACHABILITY

Dear D. W.                                                                                                       April 18, 1988

     ...The tyranny of your views is that you do not allow any one to disagree with you. Perfection is the attribute of God, not of sinful men. All of us are living under the handicap of entropy, and therefore, we must continue to labor to remember what we have learned, while maintaining a spirit of teachability.

ON THE REVIVAL OF HERESIES

Dear E. S.                                                                                                       January 27, 1988

       ...It is alarming that in these days there is such a prodigious amount of heresy surfacing. While we have hailed the fact that during the past 30 years there has been an unprecedented number of Christian classics reprinted, there is also an awesome number of old heresies that are again raising their heads.

ON INDEPENDENCE

Dear S. P.                                                                                                 September 16, 1986

      ...I appreciated Kevin Reed's booklet on Biblical Church Government, and I have not finished critiquing it. His comments on the absolute necessity of qualified elders is good, and his point that civil officers who do not have their homes in order are themselves disqualified for public office is also well taken. This was the position of Cromwell and the Puritans. He points out that Thornwell held the conviction that "the entire secular business of the Church was entrusted to the Deacons." We believe this is Biblical, and it formed the basis of his argument against church boards. We fail to see any Biblical basis for any office known today as the "trustee." Taking their cue from businesses, churches have added a new office in the church.

     But when Reed says, "An especially pernicious tendency in contemporary America is the growth of independency," I shudder, because he would have to disagree with the prophets of old, all of whom were "independents." Not one of the Major or Minor prophets belonged to the priesthood. Had they been members of that religious order, they would have been silenced.

      About 10 years ago, I placed a Gospel sermon in our local newspaper entitled, "`Smile, God Loves You': A Theological Absurdity" which was based on Psalm 5:5. An elderly man, an elder in an evangelical Presbyterian church, was furious with me. Had that Arminian elder been a member of our church, under Presbyterian rule, I would not have had liberty to do what God wanted me to do.

      Rev. Clifford Oden, author of the book Thank God I Have Cancer, wrote, "The Bible teaches that the world works against God. The truth is unpleasant but inescapable. When men of the world form organizations they do not promote the work of God. Whether it be a labor union, a political party, a corporation, a religious denomination, or a medical association, the result is the same. The members are pressured more and more to conform. They are no longer free men, but part of a powerful machine."

       As for a minister acting as a dictator, there is no greater dictator than Jehovah, and when His Son rules in the millennium, He will rule with a rod of iron. His dictatorship, however, is a benevolent dictatorship. Now, I know the context in which you wrote. No good man will be a "dictator" and act as a lord over God's heritage. The servants of God are admonished to be ministers. They are exhorted to be meek and humble like their Master—not as lords. We are told that in the multitude of counsellors there is wisdom.

     However, the Lord has placed one head in the home. While it is true that a child left to himself "bringeth his mother to shame" (Proverbs 29:15), yet Scripture makes it clear that the husband is the head of the home. The same is true in the church. If a congregation is worldly, ignorant, and a general shame to the cause of God and truth, the Lord of the Church will take the minister to task, and at the bar of God, it will be he who will be held principally responsible for the care of the flock.

      I do not believe it is possible for a man to be free to please Christ and be bound at the same time to please men (Galatians 1:10). B. K. Kuiper in his book The Church In History confesses as a Presbyterian, "At first the organization of the Church was very simple. The officers were the elders and deacons. The elders were known as presbyters, since presbyter is the Greek word for `elder'" (P. 19). I ask, "What Scriptural warrant have you for presbyteries? What is the Biblical basis for synods? and general assemblies?"

     We believe the church is a type of heaven. All types are in full force until the thing typified takes place. Like Jonathan Edwards, we believe in a regenerate church membership, and while we do not believe in a perfect church roll, yet we are to do our best, by the grace of God, to have a church "without spot or wrinkle." I must go for now.

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