C

Contending ontending
earnestly
September 2011

cetf Ffaith
for the

aith

Volume 17.3

Issue 57

The Global Battle over God, Truth, and Power

The above is the title of a book by Melanie Phillips (paperback, 280 pages, 6 May 2010 - Encounter Books, ISBN: 1594033757) which can be purchased from Amazon-UK http://cetf.co/qtjJ8n OR Amazon-USA http://cetf.co/pjjrJc On August 11, 2011 at the height of the recent riots across England the British Daily Mail published the author's piece How the Liberals ruined Britain under the title Britain's liberal intelligentsia has smashed virtually every social value - which commenced as follows: o now the chickens have well and truly come home terrifyingly to roost. The violent anarchy that has taken hold of British cities is the all-too-predictable outcome of a three-decade liberal experiment which tore up virtually every basic social value. The married two-parent family, educational meritocracy, punishment of criminals, national identity, enforcement of the drugs laws and many more fundamental conventions were all smashed by a liberal intelligentsia hell-bent on a revolutionary transformation of society. Those of us who warned over the years that they were playing with fire were sneered at and smeared as right-wing nutters who wanted to turn the clock back to some mythical golden age. Read more: http://cetf.co/p942v7 I personally have a great deal of sympathy with the views of author Melanie Phillips, admire her courage and appreciate her sharp analysis and concise descriptions. I am sure many of my fellow Christians will agree with me. However I am equally sure that the article does not confront all the issues. Are there hidden factors that contributed to the terrifying anarchy that was all too evident on our televisions as London, Birmingham, Manchester and Bristol et al burned? As one English lady, of obvious African origin, was heard to say on television, This is England. This shouldn't be happening here. We agree. However, we must look past the restless mob, many of them young people who ran amock, behind the social experimentation, if that's what it was, of Britain's liberal intelligentsia and even beyond the frightening destruction of what we know as the nuclear family and ask the question, What is (was) the underlying cause? I suspect that Ms Phillips' above mentioned book, which will be republished with a new introduction by Encounter, New York, in December, 2011 will attempt to answer the question. I hope it has a very wide readership. I'll try to obtain a copy and read her analysis. Meanwhile I offer some thoughts of my own about the English riots, which of course are by no means new historically, even though they may be different, being motivated by apparently irrational reasonsone looter explained, We're getting our taxes back (how could that be?)and by some so young. The factors are many and complex, as Melanie Phillips so ably expresses, but I suspect that both the underlying cause and the long-term cure are simple. The fault shouldn't be laid at the door of any one group of people, be they the product of social welfare relying too long on hand outs; or the victims of family break down; or the angry under privileged who have witnessed the greed and hypocrisy of the wealthy overlords, which was not mentioned as a contributing factor in the article. All of these things are part of the effect. They are NOT the cause. British Prime Minister, David Cameron was quick to blame the lack of morality, education and parental control on the part of the looters when, in so many ways, the finger of real blame was pointing right back at him and the British Government and the society over which they preside. Ah sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters: they have forsaken the LORD, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger, they are gone away backward. Why should you be stricken anymore? You will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even

The World Turned Upside Down:

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The World Turned Upside Down .................................................1 The Great Methodist Revolution ................................................3 When He Looked...He Lived........................................................5 Was Paul A Pragmatist? Would The Apostle Have Employed any Means To Save Some? .........................7 Doctrines of Classic Pentecostalism (Part 1)................................9 The Capture of the Ark: Part 2 Future History of Israel ........................................................12 Raising the Mercy Seat .............................................................14 I Never Knew You Depart From Me...........................................16 CWM Resources .......................................................................17 News, Views and Your Letters...................................................22 Seduction: A Primer for Persecution .........................................26 Islam Explained in Laymans Terms ...........................................29 Hellsong - The Music of Hillsong - In Praise of Folly (Part 2) ................30 Lessons from the Welsh Revivals (Part 1) ..................................34

URL links have been shortened to save space. Visit our website for full URL link references.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ... - Romans 1:16.

to the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores: they have not been closed, neither bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire: strangers devour your land in your presence, and it is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. And the daughter of Zion is left as a cottage in a vineyard, as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city. Except the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like Gomorrah. Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; give ear to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah Isaiah 1:4-10. Hard on the heels of Mr Cameron's condemnation came an internet message from Stephen Green of Christian Voice UK (Sat 13/08/2011 6:06 AM) CAMERON NEEDS 'PROPER MORALS David Cameron says that the riots in England, in which children of 11 were involved, have been caused by 'a lack of proper parenting, a lack of proper upbringing, a lack of proper ethics, a lack of proper morals.' Is this the same David Cameron who presides over abortion and divorce on demand and wants to force African nations and the Caribbean to legalise sodomy? I think it is David Cameron who needs proper morals.

Australian Baptist evangelist in a Crusade organised by the Katoomba Christian Fellowship during my pastorate there (1978-1980). Brian Willersdorf (BW) told of a time that he sat in a small plane next to a very nervous traveller (NT) as they awaited take-off. BW: You seem nervous. Are you not used to air travel? NT: I'm nervous of these small planes. I travel regularly on the big jets. It turned out that the Nervous Traveller was part of an elite group of historians who met, sometimes weekly, in London. The conversation continued: BW: Tell me why do you historians always deal with the facts of history but never with the forces that produce history? NT: That's my area of expertise. In fact right now I'm investigating why Britain of the 18th century avoided the socalled Bloody Revolution that occurred in France. I have concluded that it was largely because of the preaching of one man, John Wesley. In fact I am so convinced in my conclusion that I have joined a Bible study group even though I am not a Christian to find out more about the message that John Wesley preached. Britain of Wesley's time (1703-1791) was as dark as France in the years that led to the French Revolution (1789-1799) and much darker than what it is now. It was the Methodist Revival see pages 3-5 that saved Britain and turned much of the world towards God. Paul the apostle tells us what is the cause of all our ills and it's very simple: There is no fear of God before their eyes - Romans 3:18. He likewise points to the remedy, which is also simple: For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes ... Romans 1:16. .... woe to me if I do not preach the gospel 1 Corinthians 9:16. Sadly, our legislators and other leaders have made it increasingly difficult for this generation to hear the Gospel. They have banned the Bible from the schools, outlawed biblical discipline from the homes, and projected a deep-dyed personal and corporate hypocrisy to boot. Church leaders preach anything and everything except the Gospel, which alone is able to save the individual and the nation, and if they preach it they are all too often seen as nothing better than hypocrites, because of their own moral and spiritual bankruptcy. I suspect that Melanie Phillips in her book

will deal with some of these aspects and other related topics in a much more lucid manner than I can. Here are some of the reviews of her Book, which impressed me: The World Turned Upside Down: The Global Battle over God, Truth, and Power In what we tell ourselves is an age of reason, we are behaving increasingly irrationally. More and more people are signing up to weird and wacky cults, para-psychology, sances, paganism and witchcraft. There is widespread belief in ludicrous conspiracy theories, such as the 9/11 terrorist attack being an American plot.

Sadly, our legislators and other leaders have made it increasingly difficult for this generation to hear the Gospel....Church leaders preach anything and everything except the Gospel...
Ironically and very sadly Stephen Green, like Prime Minister David Cameron, whom he criticises, has destroyed his own credibility as was disclosed in his wife Caroline's allegations during their recent divorce case http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Voice_%28 UK%29 Isaiah's indictment is surely applicable to the scene in UK and the entire west .... the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint. From the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores ... see above. When I think of these things there springs to mind an anecdote recounted by an 2
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The basic cause of all this unreason is the erosion of the building blocks of western civilisation. We tell ourselves t h at re l i g i o n a n d re a s o n a re incompatible, but in fact the opposite is the case. It was Christianity and the Hebrew Bible that gave us our concepts of reason, progress and an orderly worldthe foundations of science and modernity. The loss of religious belief has meant the West has replaced reason and truth with ideology and prejudice, which it enforces in the manner of a secular inquisition. The result has been a kind of mass derangement, as truth and lies, right and wrong, victim and aggressor are all turned upside down. In medieval-style witch-hunts, scientists who are sceptical of global warming are hounded from their posts; Israel is ferociously demonized; and the United States is vilified over the war on terrorall on the basis of falsehoods and propaganda that are believed as truth. Thus the West is losing both its

...even in the darkest periods of history, God never leaves Himself without a witness.

rationality and its freedoms. It is succumbing to a "soft totalitarianism," which not only is creating an ugly mood of intolerance but is undermining its ability to defend itself against Islamic aggression. While the Islamists are intent on returning the free world to the seventh century, the West no longer seems willing or able to defend the modernity and rationalism that it brought into being. One is disturbed each day by verifiably u n t r u e sta t e m e n t s t o u t e d a s incontrovertible facts about hotbutton issues. With cold, perceptive, exhaustive and persistent passion, Melanie Phillips dissects the phenomenon among disparate movements, to reach disturbing but compelling conclusions about the erosion of modern liberal society by ideologies whose surprising interconnections are meticulously identified. One can only hope that her book will penetrate the information cocoon into which many of our intelligentsia have sealed themselves. -Richard S. Lindzen, Alfred P. Sloan Professor of Meteorology, MIT

A brilliant tour de force, beautifully written and powerfully argued. -Norman Podhoretz, author of Why Are Jews Liberals? A trenchant sequel to George Orwell's Politics and the English Language, Melanie Phillips courageously flushes out today's equivalents of Orwell's targets-those who with indignant selfrighteousness suppress free debate and liberty itself. -R. James Woolsey, former Director of Central Intelligence (1993-1995) With ferocious courage, Melanie Phillips challenges a series of myths and irrationalities that have achieved canonical status in the contemporary world. If civilization depends on the ability to give dissenting voices a hearing, then The World Turned Upside Down may well be one of the most important tests of Western civilization in our time. -Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks

Melanie Phillips has written a fascinating book that is both urgent and important, provocative and deep. It's almost a guide of the perplexed for our time. -William Kristol, Editor, The Weekly Standard Let the Bible have the final word: Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people - Proverbs 14:34. THE NEXT ISSUE will include a report of the CWM Conferences in Australia and New Zealand on The Vanishing Gospel and the Call to Preach the True Gospel. God bless you. Please help us to get the message out by distributing CETF far and wide.

Philip L. Powell
www.cwm.org.au

The Great Methodist Revolution

By FRED HOWELL (Mow Cop, England) If the England of today no longer resembles the England of the early part of the eighteenth century, it is mainly due to the life and labours of John Wesley [1] so said a French observer, Mathew Lelievre, a hundred years after the Wesleyan Revival. The Methodist Revival in the 18 Century has been aptly described as The Regeneration of England. Historians are agreed that it saved England from a bloody revolution like that a few miles away across the English Channel in France. Similar conditions existed in both countries. In France, the philosopher Voltaire had caught the contagion of infidelity and introduced it into France. In England, too, another Reformation seemed to be necessary. The clergy were corrupt and lazy and often almost as ignorant as those in their congregations. Many were given to fox hunting and drunkenness. The poorer classes were ignorant and irreligious, and morality was
Footnote:
[1] John Wesley 1703-1791 see http://cetf.co/p3KJ5D
th

at an all time low. In the gin shops it was: Drunk for a penny, dead drunk and straw to lie on for tuppence [two pence].... But, even in the darkest periods of history, God never leaves Himself without a witness. In the Great Methodist Revolution or Revival, a number of things that can sometimes be overlooked may be seen on closer inspection:The Sovereignty of God in the Affairs of men God in His providence is never at a disadvantage! He is always a jump ahead of His adversary, the devil. History, both biblical and secular, shows that God always has His man or men; whether it be a Moses, as a baby, rescued from the Nile; or a Wesley, as a child, rescued from a burning rectory in Lincolnshire; or a Gideon hiding behind the winepress, the least in his father's house cf. Judges 6:15. It may be a stripling, named David, from the hillsides of Bethlehem keeping sheep, or a miner's son in Germany, a monk named Martin Luther. God always has His man in

preparation, both Jeremiah and Saul of Tarsus could say that God had called them from the womb (Jer. 1:5, Gal. 1:15). God's sovereignty and providence can be seen in the events of the Protestant Reformation and the Great Evangelical Awakenings that followed, as we view them from the vantage point of history. It seems more than a coincidence that the printing press, the acceleration of literacy, and the first modern Bible translators, Tyndale and Coverdale, should emerge at almost the same time as the glorious revelation that the just shall live by faith (Romans 1:17; Galatians 3:11; Hebrews 10:38). It came to a monk with a tortured conscience, seeking to find peace with God through fasting, flagellations, penances and pilgrimages, and by his own righteousness, to gain a place in the Kingdom of God. God's Providence and Sovereignty were running parallel with the Industrial Revolution, when the greatest religious revolution that the world had seen since the days of the apostles, began in the early eighteenth century. Surely it was in the economy of God that Britain was then
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With all the new things that did come with the Methodist Revival, there were no new doctrines, only a re-emphasis on old truth

changed from a rural and pastoral community. Thousands moved from hamlets and villages into the new industrial areas, due to the discoveries in steam and iron and the consequent building of railways and canals and the newest discoveries in engineering and science. At the same time, the British Empire expanded until the sun never set upon its many colonies. All these things combined to set the stage for the mightiest religious revolution that the world had known since Pentecost. Hardly a village or hamlet in the kingdom did not feel the impact of the Methodist itinerants who built their Bethel, Zoar and Ebenezer chapels.

Kingswood in Bristol. High churchman that he was, at that time, to preach outside the established church and its consecrated confines was unthinkable. His thinking was changed when he saw rivulets made by tears streaming down the miners' coal-blackened faces and there and then, consented to become more vile by becoming a despised Field Preacher. From that moment he became the greatest exponent of open air preaching that the world has ever seen, travelling more than a quarter of a million miles [4] on horseback, preaching on average three times a day, turning untold thousands to Christ and a nation back to God. Wesley had another radical change in his theology when Thomas Maxfield, a layman started to exhort the new converts in London. When JW heard of it, he came post-haste from Bristol to put a stop to an unordained man preaching. In the providence of God, his mother, Susannah, wisely intervened. On his a r r i va l s h e p e rc e i ve d t h at h i s countenance expressed dissatisfaction and anxiety.

shepherds in groups of 10-12. JW revolutionised the Church of his day by his cell group system, 250 years before Paul Yonggi Cho put it into operation in Korea. We may hear of shepherding, covering, structures and cells etc. but there is nothing new under the sun! It may be noted, however, that the demise of the Class Meeting came about, in the words of one able commentator by long prayers and threadbare testimonies. 3. Doctrinal Discoveries With all the new things that did come with the Methodist Revival, there were no new doctrines, only a re-emphasis on old truth. Just as Martin Luther did not originate Justification by Faith but simply uncovered the grand old truth that had always been there, buried away under the ecclesiastical rubble of centuries, so John Wesley came along and pronounced that all men can be saved and know it. He called it The Witness of the Spirit or Assurance. (Some of his earliest helpers were actually imprisoned for asserting that their sins were forgiven!) It was not a new doctrine. John, the apostle wrote about it at the start of the Christian era (1 John 5:13). Scriptural Holiness, which JW believed Methodism was raised up to emphasize, was not new, either.

A Personal Religious Revolution John Wesley (JW), devout churchman that he was, had more than one revolution in his thinking and theology. Number one was his own personal, spiritual revolution when, in a little meeting with some Moravian Christians, he reluctantly went along to Aldersgate Street in London [2]. When listening to the reading Luther's preface to the epistle to the Romans he said, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation, and an assurance was given to me that He had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death. [3] Whilst no one could accuse him of being a hot head there was no doubt about his warmed heart; someone has observed His heart was strangely warm but his head was strangely cool. 1. John Wesley's Theological Revolution This came when he was invited by George Whitfield to preach to the colliers at
Footnote:
[2] A gate in the London Wall in the City of London, which has given its name to a ward and Aldersgate Street, a road leading north from the site of the gate, towards Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington - http://cetf.co/nv8Vtd [3] http://cetf.co/q2ag8Y

Thomas Maxfield has turned preacher, I find, he said with unusual abruptness. John, she said, you know what my sentiments have been. I do not favour readily anything of this kind, but take care what you do with respect to that young man for he is as surely called of God to preach as you are. JW perceived the reasonableness of that advice and the Local Preachers' Revolution had begun. It is the Lord he said, let Him do what seems to Him good. A revolution indeed!! 2. The Class Meeting Revolution House or Cell Groups are not quite so modern as some people think. John Wesley introduced them not long after his conversion in 1738 in the form of the Class or Band Meeting. Later it was claimed that the Methodist Class Meetings were the keystones of Methodism and that they perpetuated the revival. While George Whitfield may have produced more converts, Wesley conserved the fruit by placing the converts into the hands of lay underFootnote:
[4] ED We have searched in vain to find substantive evidence for this claim. JW travelled for 50 years in ministry. 5,000 miles a year given the condition of the roads is a big claim. Maybe this is one of the few legends linked to Wesley, but it could be true.

House or Cell Groups are not quite so modern as some people think. John Wesley introduced them not long after his conversion in 1738 in the form of the Class or Band Meeting.
4. The Revolution in Church Music Methodism was born in song is a statement found in the Methodist Hymnal. 6,000 hymns composed by JW's brother, Charles, were filled with sound, theological truth. Every Revival has been accompanied by song. When the organ was a comparatively modern instrument and very few instruments were to be found in their first chapels, the strains of music were heard from under the market crosses and village greens, as Wesley and his followers sang of their redemption, in

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The Methodist Revival changed the face of England. Bad people were made good and good people better.

Charles' wonderful hymn And can it be that I should gain an interest in the Saviour's blood. 5. The Social Revolution The Methodist Revival changed the face of England. Bad people were made good and good people better. It was said of Wesley and his followers that, when their hearers were converted, they put a Book in their hands and they were in the forefront of the educators of their day. Wesley was one of the first to recognize the value of the work of Robert Raikes of Sunday School fame. He spoke out, too, against the Slave Trade. The Trade Union movements came out of the Methodist

Revival, and time was when Branch Meetings were opened with prayer. The Primitives added a great chapter, as pages from their history show, following the Lord Jesus in His example of preaching the gospel to the poor. The poor heard them gladly. Every revival has started amongst the poor -not many noble, not many mighty are called cf. 1 Cor. 1:26. When the Church fails to reach the poorer classes it has failed indeed. Such were some of the revolutions that affected Britain and elsewhere through the great Methodist Revival. O, Lord, Do it Again! -

about the author

Fred Howell (FH) is a veteran AoG-UK pastor in his 83 rd yearenjoying reasonable health and still calling sinners to repentance at every opportunity.While retaining a credential in Assemblies of God he strongly disagrees with the present emphasis of their hierarchy. He writes, Your recent article [AoG & Elim Living in a Fool's Paradise], with which I agree totally, stimulated me to send you this article, which I wrote some 25 or so years ago, at the time when House Groups had just come into vogue in AoG. It was nothing new. John Wesley did it 250 years earlier with his Methodist Class Meetings. The original article was published in Redemption Tidings when Colin Whittaker was editor. Fred is married to Barbara. Together they have pastored and ministered for many years in the Potteries and other parts of England's North West. They live in the Primitive Methodist heart land of Great Britain.

When He Looked...He Lived

By B. Michael Bigg When Israel was in the wilderness, after leaving Egypt, they grumbled. Exodus 15:23-26 The waters at Marah Exodus 16:1-15 No food, manna and quail. Exodus 17:1-6 The rock at Horeb Numbers 12 Miriam and Aaron murmured against Moses Numbers 14 Murmured because of giants in the land of Canaan. God is patient, God is caring but God's patience is not without end (cf. Gen 6:3). Apart from the golden calf (Exodus 32) God did not directly judge Israel as a nation [1] such that they died; rather God listened to the intercessions of Moses acts of grace that God certainly did NOT have to perform. After Israel's rebellion and murmuring against God, following the bad report that there were giants in the land in Numbers 14, God condemned all the Israelites who grumbled (over the age of 20) to die in the wilderness. They would never set foot into God's Promised Land. Their continuous, ongoing rebellion and sin
Footnote:
[1] God did act specifically against Aaron's sons who recklessly did what they weren't supposed to do in the sanctuary but this is an example of specific judgement against individuals (just as with Miriam in Numbers 12 and Korah, Dathan and Abiram and their families in Numbers 16 for their attempt at usurping God's choice of Moses) rather than Israel as a whole.

cost them entry into the land they left Egypt for. Surely all the men who have seen My glory and My signs which I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness, yet have put Me to the test these ten times and have not listened to My voice, shall by no means see the land which I swore to their fathers, nor shall any of those who spurned Me see it - Numbers 14:22-23 (NAU [2]).

the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey. The people spoke against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food - Numbers 21:4-5. At the Mountain of the Lord, in Exodus 20, Israel feared God and retreated at the sight of the mountain's rumbling and the lightning and thunder from God's presence. But like little children on a long trip they started to complain, It's too hot! There's nothing to eat! I'm thirsty! Are we there yet? Graciously and mercifully God accommodated their cries, giving them what they desired. But it seems that God's grace and forbearance was interpreted as a licence to talk back to God. The reverence and fear for God they had at the beginning was replaced with familiarity and contempt. Once too many times they complained and God finally said, Enough. The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died. So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us - Numbers 21:6-7a. Finally, at the prospect of imminent
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God is patient, God is caring but God's patience is not without end
(cf. Gen 6:3).
But being condemned to live and die in the wilderness was not enough to curb Israel's grumblings and murmurings. In spite of judgement they continued to speak against God. For a final time Israel complained of the lack of food and water in Numbers 21. Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around
Footnote:
[2] NAU New American Standard, Updated 1995.

Jesus Christ is God's atoning sacrifice upon whom ALL must look in order to live. Jesus Christ is the gracious gift of God.

judgment and death Israel got the message and repented. Only when confronted with the consequence of their sin did they change their minds: maybe murmuring against God was not such a great tactic? Maybe God truly is a God to be feared: a Holy God, a Sovereign LORD! And Moses interceded for the people. Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live." And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived - Numbers 21:7b-9. Moses' intercession for the people resulted in God providing a banner or symbol which the people could look to in order to be saved, rather than an elimination of the snakes (as had been requested). God did NOT remove the source of the people's death; God did NOT remove the consequence for continued ongoing sin, murmuring and rebellion against Him but He did graciously provide a means of salvation.

serpent's bite. They had to deliberately look to the bronze serpent God's atoning symbol of salvation from the serpents and trust God's promise of salvation in order to live. They had a choice to die as a consequence of the serpent's bite, or look to God's salvation from the serpent's bite to live. The choice was theirs. It must be stressed that God did not get rid of the serpents and did not get rid of the bronze serpent [3]. The judgement of the serpents remained should Israel (any Israelite) choose to again murmur against God, nevertheless God provided a means of salvation out of His own grace and mercy. God So Loved John 3:16 is one of the most remembered and quoted of all Bible verses. But do people truly understand what this verse says? Here it is in the Greek then in English: Ou[twj ga.r hvga,phsen o` qeo.j to.n ko,smon( w[ste to.n ui`o.n to.n monogenh/ e;dwken( i[na pa/j o` pisteu,wn eivj auvto.n mh. avpo,lhtai avllV e;ch| zwh.n aivw,nion For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life - John 3:16. If we take a close look at this verse we see that God loved (past tense) the world not loves (present continuous tense). Many people probably read For God so loves when it really says, For God so loved.... The word loved in the Greek is an aorist which means past tense. And indeed this is how we should read it in this verse, especially in light of the word so. This does not mean that God does not continue to love.

This verse proves how consistent God is and how unchanging His character is (in both Old and New Covenants). God is patient, God is gracious but God is Sovereign, Righteous, Holy and He WILL judge sin. Jesus Christ is God's atoning sacrifice upon whom ALL must look in order to live. Jesus Christ is the gracious gift of God. Salvation is obtained only by deliberately looking to Jesus Christ the only mediator between God and man by whom man can choose not to die [4]. For Israel physical death came from the bite of serpents and it was the bronze serpent (the symbol of that means of death), to which Israel had to look. Israel had to trust in God's atoning salvation for it to be effective against the serpent's bite. Interestingly, John, quoting Jesus, leads into 3:16 by referencing the incident in Numbers.

Moses' intercession for the people resulted in God providing a banner or symbol which the people could look to in order to be saved...
No one has ascended into heaven, but He who descended from heaven: the Son of Man. .... As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. For everyone
Footnote:
[4] This looking is deliberate and does not mean a fleeting glance, an investigation into the historical accuracy of the Gospel, or such things. It is looking to, believing in, trusting and having faith in God and His sacrifice in Christ with a repentant attitude that God is right (not me).

The symbol of their salvation was bronze which is reminiscent of the bronze altar in the tabernacle upon which sin offerings were made. But unlike the bronze altar this bronze symbol required no active participation by the people, they did not have to perform any act or sacrifice but a person did have to deliberately look to it as the source of God's only salvation from a sure and certain death. The symbol was specifically made into the shape of a serpent because it was serpents that were killing the people. The consequence of the people's sin (their murmuring against God) was the judgement of God that is death via the 6
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The so in For God so loved the world in the Greek text of John 3:16 is the word ou[twj (hutos). This is not a word meaning quantity, as if this verse is talking about the amount or degree of God's love; this word means in this way, in this manner. Though we can vividly see the magnitude, degree and depth of God's love in John 3:16 the point of John 3:16 is WHAT GOD DID HOW HE EXPRESSED AND SHOWED HIS LOVE. For God in this way loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
Footnote:
[3] In later years the Bronze Serpent was worshipped as a result King Hezekiah had it destroyed (2 Kings 18:4).

The cause of man's spiritual death is sin it is sin's bite from which we all die both physically and spiritually

who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God - John 3:14-21. Everyone faces physical death perhaps not by the bite of a snake, but we all know that death awaits us, sooner or later. Whether that physical death proves to be terminal (i.e. spiritual death in judgement) or it leads to eternal life (by the grace of God) is predicated on whether or not we deliberately look in faith to God's gracious atoning sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ. Not that dissimilar to the serpent in the wilderness (of Numbers 21), man will die because of his ongoing, prideful, rebellious sinful nature. But rather than looking to God's gracious gift of a bronze serpent (which only brought an immediate reprieve from physical death), we must look to God's gracious atoning sacrifice for SIN and eternal death i.e. we look to Christ's sacrifice on the Cross. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might

become the righteousness of God in Him - 2 Corinthians 5:21. The cause of man's spiritual death is sin it is sin's bite from which we all die both physically and spiritually. But God has graciously provided, not a type which Israel's bronze serpent was a mere representation of but the antitype, God's real and true atoning sacrifice through which we can live despite dying physically. But in order to do so we must deliberately look to THE Cross of Christ (which does not mean a picture or pendant representation of it). And just as the penalty of judgement remained for Israel in the wilderness, so the penalty of death for sin remains. But how great is the grace and mercy of God that He has provided (just like He did for Israel) a means by which we can be saved. There is nothing we can do, or need to do to obtain salvation apart from looking in faith to the only mediator between God and man, Jesus Christ who indeed was lifted up (John 3:14; c.f. 1 Tim 2:5-6) in His Sacrifice, His Death, His Burial and His Resurrection. We have a choice. We can refuse to look to God's provision and staunchly go to

our eternal deaths, or we can repent, turn to God, believe God, trust God and ... look and live? When Satan tempts me to despair And tells me of the guilt within, Upward I look and see Him there Who made an end of all my sin. Because the sinless Saviour died My sinful soul is counted free. For God the just is satisfied To look on Him and pardon me from the hymn: Before the Throne of God Above Charitie L. Bancroft (1841-1892)

about the author

B. MICHAEL BIGG, and his wife, Kathryn, came out of the Word-Faith movement. Michael has a concern for the preaching of the truth (or lack of it) in many of today's churches. He has a desire to assist in the education of the elect and reaching the lost.

Would The Apostle Have Employed any Means To Save Some?

By Larry DeBruyn From http://guardinghisflock.com - Used with permission.

Was Paul A Pragmatist?

permissiveness of our sex-crazed culture. American churchianity is addicted to the unprincipled principle of, just do it to just get it. All of the aforementioned, and more, seek justification from a statement in the Bible where Paul wrote, I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some (1 Corinthians 9:22b). Contortedly, contemporaries interpret this verse to provide apostolic endorsement to do anything to reach anyone. Such a ministry motif is pragmatism, a belief that legitimizes any practice so long as it achieves the presumed result of saving some. To the pragmatist, the end justifies the means. Yet no matter how it is slanted, pragmatism is liberalism. While liberals depart from orthodox belief, pragmatists depart from orthodox behaviour. According to pragmatism, even if it's wrong, it's right, so long as it works.

To the weak I became as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some - 1 Corinthians 9:22, KJV.
These days, pastors and churches will seemingly stoop to anything to build a crowd. Rock-'n'-roll, the culture's dominant music, is fast becoming the staple of so-called praise and worship. In their attempt to connect with their audience, I've heard pastors use lewd language in their preaching. One church featured an Elvis impersonator, while another, in a Halloween-themed sanctuary with a haunted house, featured a Michael Jackson Thriller dance. Pastors even advertise sexsermons on billboards in ways that offend non-Christians who are tired of the

Pragmatists will do anything to attract everyone, and churches are full of this philosophy of doing business now-adays. Noble ends supposedly justify ignoble means. A pragmatist possesses no set-in-stone convictions. They will do whatever it takes to wineven cheat. If it does it, do it. If idols will attract a crowd, then carve the wood, mould the gold, and hew the rocks. The Israelite king Jeroboam was a pragmatist. In defiance of Yahweh's choice of Jerusalem to be the place where the nation was to worship Him, and because it was inconvenient for Israelites to make their mandated pilgrimages to the Holy City, the pragmatic king defied the will of God and created handy high places (praise and worship centres) all over the land, especially in Bethel and Dan (See 1 Kings 12:28-30.). By his example, Jeroboam was known in history as the king who did sin, and who made Israel to sin (1 Kings 14:16).
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For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Bored with the traditional worship of Yahweh at Jerusalem (i.e., ho-hum . . . same-o' same-o'), and for the experience of innovatively worshipping Baal (i.e., thrills and chills, bells and smells), one might even envision apostate Israelites from the southern-most town of Beersheba by-passing Jerusalem (approximately 50 miles to the north) and j o u r n ey i n g a l l t h e way to D a n (approximately 150 miles to the north) to observe the idolatrous spectacle. Besides, Baal promised them prosperity that was not dependent upon their behaviour (See Deuteronomy 28:1 ff.). Against this backdrop, we turn now to address the issue of what Paul meant when he confessed, I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some. Was he a situational pragmatist who, like Jeroboam, would have built high places in order to get people saved?

(Personally, I too find this annoying.) So when I preached, I kept my hands out of my pockets! It was no issue to me, but it was to the Lithuanians. So I accommodated myself to the custom. Accordingly, the apostle grouped people as to whether, or not, they were Jews, under the Law, without the law and weak (1 Corinthians 9:20-22). Paradoxically, though Paul considered himself free from all these groups, he also considered himself a slave to all these groups (1 Corinthians 9:19). While he did not allow diverse mores to intimidate him, the apostle did, in his ministry, accommodate his outward behaviour to the cultural consensus. Presumably, that is why he allowed Timothy to be circumcised (Acts 16:3). As one scholar summarized: Contextually, then, what Paul meant by becoming 'all things to all men' was doing all things possible to avoid prohibitions, strictures, and offences peculiar to a culture [2]. To save some, Paul politely submitted to and served the customs of others. He became all things to all men. But, to evangelize the unevangelized, the apostle uncompromisingly employed one methodpreaching. He employed this method in synagogues, churches, and at Mars Hill. And with this one method the apostle preached one message. As he stated to the Corinthians: For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. - 1 Corinthians 2:2, KJV. While the places and the people to whom he ministered varied, his method and his message remained consistent. Yet in doing so, Paul served people, for as he wrote, For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves y o u r s e r v a n t s f o r J e s u s ' s a ke (2 Corinthians 4:5, KJV). It is at this juncture that contemporary Christendom had better beware: Different methods may evoke different messages (See Galatians 1:6-10). As to the question, Was Paul a Pragmatist? John Makujina summarizes: Becoming 'all things to all men' does
Footnote:
[22 John Makujina, Measuring the Music: Another Look at the Contemporary Music Debate (Willow Street, Pennsylvania: Old Paths Publications, 2002): 22.

not refer to an offensive strategy of i n v e n t i v e n e s s , c r e a t i v i t y, persuasiveness, or accommodation to new modes of evangelism that key in on the latest public novelty. Paul's references here are purely preventative. He simply wished to eliminate any nonessential barriers that would hinder his proclamation of the gospel [3].

No, Paul was not a pragmatist. He did not employ fleshly or worldly means to attain socalled spiritual ends. In fact, he recognized the flesh to be in mortal combat against the Spirit
No, Paul was not a pragmatist. He did not employ fleshly or worldly means to attain so-called spiritual ends. In fact, he recognized the flesh to be in mortal combat against the Spirit (Galatians 5:19-21). Unlike many of today's churches, he most certainly would abhor any fleshly method employed to get a crowd. To win the world, the church cannot afford to become like the world. Fleshly tactics will not win spiritual battles. If those tactics are used, the church then fights on the devil's turf and will surely be defeated.
Footnote:
[3] Ibid. 23-24.

These classic words ["I have become all things to all men"] are often used by missionaries to justify diverse methods of reaching people for Christ. But that is certainly a misinterpretation
To understand this issue from Paul's perspective, the context is the key (read 1 Corinthians 8:1-9:27.). In these chapters, Paul is not addressing the subject of methods. One missiologist wisely observes: These classic words ["I have become all things to all men"] are often used by missionaries to justify diverse methods of reaching people for Christ. But that is certainly a misinterpretation [1]. In the flow of these chapters, Paul is discussing mores (the folkways and customs of a culture), not methods. For example, in Lithuania, it was considered rude for a speaker to stand before an audience with his hand in his pocket, or a man to whistle in public places.
Footnote:
[1] David J. Hesselgrave, Communicating Christ CrossCulturally: An Introduction to Missionary Communication, Second Edition (Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1991): 177.

about the author

Larry DeBruyn is a graduate of Taylor University (B.S., 1968) and Dallas Theological Seminary (Th. M., 1974) where he received the Charles A. Nash Award in Church History. He has been married to his wife Margie for forty-one years. They have two grown sons. Larry has ministered in local churches forty-one years, the last twenty-two being at Franklin Road Baptist Church in Indianapolis, Indiana. He has authored three books: "Church On the Rise, Why I am not a 'Purpose Driven' Pastor," (2007) "Drumming Up Deception, Whether in Celebration or Contemplation--'Feeling' the Beat," (2008) and most recently, "Unshackled, Breaking Away from Seductive Spirituality." (2009) Larry was a guest overseas speaker at all the CWM Conferences in September 2011.

CETF 57 September 2011

www.cwm.org.au

Classic Pentecostalism is rooted in the Bible and is doctrine based not passion or emotion driven.

Doctrines of Classic Pentecostalism

Part 1
By Philip L. Powell - Part 1 It is my view that two of the most significant and challenging issues that we face in today's Church are Islam and Pentecostalism. I say significant, because they are both to the fore, and challenging, because there is a clamour to compromise biblically on both. Islam, for all its claims to be peaceable is militant, as Winston Churchill describes in his 1899 River War, with a fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog (refer CETF 56 p. 33). Much of western society and of Christendom have succumbed to Islam due, in part, to the perceived threat of violence. Yusuf Islam, best known by his former name Cat Stevens, (born July 1948) after speaking at a recent convention. 3. From Wikipedia - Cat Stevens, is an English singer-songwriter, multii n s t r u m e n t a l i s t , e d u c a t o r, philanthropist, and convert to Islam. Stevens converted to Islam in December 1977 and adopted his Muslim name, Yusuf Islam [1]. 4. Rick Warren Asked Allah for Forgiveness [2]? The preamble to the document Loving God and Neighbour Together: A Christian Response to A Common Word Between Us and You [3] ends with these words: ...many Christians have been guilty of sinning against our Muslim neighbours. Before we "shake your hand" in responding to your letter, we ask forgiveness of the All-Merciful One and of the Muslim community around the world. It is common practice among Muslims to refer to Allah as the All Merciful One. Any Muslim reading this would interpret the statement as a group of Christian leaders praying to Allah for forgiveness. Rick Warren and nearly 300 other evangelical leaders signed this document. Yet, it appears to be invoking Allah, the false god of Islam and asking for Allah's forgiveness! AT BEST, this document makes it sound like Allah and the Christian God are one and the same. This is compromise that amounts to idolatry and treachery. Pentecostal compromise is sourced differently. Frequently it flows from a recognition of errors within the movement, but unfortunately fails to realise that the errors actually flow from extremes and are not the whole or even the real deal. I and my friends are traditional or classic Pentecostals, examples of whom can be traced throughout Church history [4] and who became a force
Footnote:
[1] http://cetf.co/ng0jjq [2] http://cetf.co/p0WRBs [3] http://cetf.co/pfvgiE [4] http://cetf.co/oa07Ll cf. http://cetf.co/q4eXjT

within the church due to what is now known as the Pentecostal Revival of the th th late 19 early 20 centuriesnot of a principally experiential but rather of a biblical kind. Classic Pentecostalism is rooted in the Bible and is doctrine based not passion or emotion driven. Following the Great Evangelical Awakenings of the 1800s sincere spiritual men and women, desiring holiness of life, searched the scriptures and rediscovered what motivated and mobilised the early New Testament Church. It was the baptism into the Holy Spirit with the accompanying supernatural signs including, though not limited to, speaking in tongues.

Is There a Muslim in the White House?

NewsWithViews.com believes there is. On August 11, 2011 they published this photograph and statement. Barack Hussein Obama is a Muslim.

Why would he deny it? Honesty demands that we treat this as conjectural. There are as many internet articles in denial as in favour of the idea. At best the jury is out on the issue and may never pronounce a satisfactory verdict. However there is no disputing the following: 1. Washington More than 30,000 Muslims from across America attended the 46th annual convention of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) July 36, 2011 in Washington. adjacent column 3, shakes hands with

Sola Scriptura was the early Pentecostal catch cry. Sadly, with what was to any intelligent person, obvious distortions, perversions and downright deceptions associated with Toronto and Pensacola et al, the appeal to Scripture was largely abandoned or plainly distorted and misapplied in favour of excitement and emotional highs. I have an audio tape recording of Andrew Evans stating that just like the early New Testament apostles and elders met in Acts 15 to rule on a dispute so he and his colleagues as their modern counterpart had met to judge this movement and they concluded IT WAS OF GODend of argument. Noit was hardly the beginning. You can't play fast and loose with Scripture like that. The false so called revivals of Toronto and Pensacola divided the Pentecostal Church. It was a watershed in deception. In the two previous CETFs I wrote a two part series entitled AoG and Elim Living
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2. Pastor Rick Warren, photo

Healing is included in the atonement in the same way that every blessing is provided for in the atonement.

in a Fool's Paradise and foreshadowed a look at Classic Pentecostalism in the light of their departures. Starting with this issue of CETF, God willing I hope to develop a series on Traditional Pentecostal doctrine of which the following is the first. Undoubtedly Healing in the Atonement as a teaching was developed by Pentecostal Bible teachers. Let's have a look at the teaching from a biblical perspective. ED I wrote the following in May, 2005 and see no reason to change it in any significant way - plp.

body was broken. It was torn, pierced and mutilated, but not broken. So the description relates to something other than to the physical. We will never plumb the depth or know the extent of His spiritual suffering when the Lord Jesus Christ drank for us the cup of human iniquity after He pleaded: O my Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as you will - Matthew 26: 39. Paul the apostle by revelation provides an insight to what happened: For he {God} has made him {Christ} to be sin for us, {He} who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him - 2 Corinthians 5: 21.

which is the suffix of one of the great Jehovistic names of God Jehovahrapha. The origin of this name is explained in Exodus chapter 15 when the bitter waters of Marah were healed. So even there in the origin of the word the basic idea was not the healing of the human body though there is a reference to bodily ailments and by extension to physical healing: If you will diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD your God, and will do that which is right in His sight, and will listen to His commandments, and keep all His statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon you, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I am the LORD that heals {rapha} you Exodus 15: 26. Of the more than 60 uses of rapha in the Old Testament, physical healing is in view only 20 times at the most and some of those are questionable e.g. 6 relate to leprosy, which clearly has connotations of sin. Leviticus 14: 48 refers to a house being healed of leprosy. The English cleansed or cleansing conveys the truth better. Based on a word study the most that we can say is that the meaning of rapha is determined by the context. For example Elijah is said to have repaired {Hebrew rapha} the broken down altar (1 Kings 18: 30) while Elisha healed {Hebrew rapha} the waters of the spring at Jericho (2 Kings 2: 21-22). Interestingly while the prophets use the word rapha frequently it is never used in the sense of physical healing after the book of Psalms. So why is it assumed that the healing referred to in Isaiah 53 is physical? Twice Jeremiah applies the idea to the effect of false teaching about peace: (Repeated verbatim in 8:11.) They have healed {rapha} also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace. - Jeremiah 6: 14 There is absolutely nothing in either Isaiah chapter 53 or in 1 Peter chapter 2, which suggests that the healing referred to, is principally physical healing from bodily sickness. On the contrary in both passages it is sin that is in view not sickness. So is there healing of the body in the atonement? Yes, God has made provision for physical healing in and through the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, but not in an exclusive sense. Healing is included in the atonement in the same way that every blessing is

By His Stripes We Are Healed

But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. - Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV). Based on these and parallel words in the New Testament, men have established the doctrine of HEALING IN THE ATONEMENT. BUT what do we mean by it? The Hebrew word that is translated wounded is rendered profane 36 times, pollute 23 times and defile 9 times in the KJV. On one occasion it is applied to the act of prostitution. Do not prostitute your daughter, to cause her to be a whore; lest the land fall to whoredom, and the land become full of wickedness. - Leviticus 19:29. He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities: - Isaiah 53:5. The Hebrew pesha' = transgression and 'avon = iniquity convey the ideas of rebellion, perversity and depravity. Christ was profaned, polluted and defiled on account of our depravity so that He might cleanse us from our rebellion and perversity. His was much more than physical suffering and the healing secured is far greater than physical healing. Quite obviously He did suffer bodily as the words wounded and bruised rightly convey. But interestingly the Hebrew daka' here rendered bruised is three times elsewhere rendered break and three times break in pieces and once beat to pieces. Yet Scripture specifically tells us that not a bone of His 10
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But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.
Maybe the abhorrence of the despised sin of prostitution embodied in the idea of His being wounded helps us to appreciate what He suffered. The prophet says that the chastisement i.e. the discipline, chastening, correction of our peace {shalom} was upon Him and with His stripes we are healed. So what do we mean by healing in the atonement? Interestingly, just as Isaiah 53: 5 does not emphasise the physical sufferings of Christ, so it does not focus on our physical healing either. When it says with His stripes we are healed the context does not feature physical healing nor do the actual words we are healed or as Peter renders it in his epistle you were healed. Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes you were healed - 1 Peter 2: 24. The word that the Holy Spirit chose to express the healing that is ours as a result of Christ's sufferings as described in Isaiah chapter 53 is the Hebrew rapha',

All of this is contingent upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross i.e. The Atonement.

provided for in the atonement. If there were no atonement there would be no resurrection and no rapture, no heaven and no hope and of course no healing, either now or in the future. The atonement is central to everything in the Christian gospel. This is not the way most Pentecostal preachers view the so-called doctrine of Healing In the Atonement. What they mean and teach is that in the same way that Christ suffered for our sins He also suffered specifically for our sickness. As a consequence of this it is our right and God's obligation that we should be healed. This is what Paul (or is it David?) Yongi Cho and the several healing TV evangelists teach. Some go so far as to say that Christ died to deal with sin and He suffered beating and torture to deal with sickness. One preacher I heard went so far as to say that Christ suffered 39 stripes to atone for the 39 major diseases known to man. This is absurd for a number of reasons not least the fact that there is no evidence that there are 39 major diseases. Christ did not suffer only 39 stripes, which was the Jewish maximum for corporal punishment. Christ suffered under the Roman flail not the Jewish rod. His stripes were more numerous and severe than those administered under Jewish law. Scripture describes his back as being like a ploughed field as a consequence of His suffering (Psalm 129: 3). In fact the expression with his stripes would be more accurately rendered by his bruise we are healed.

with sickness. He died to deal with sin. That is the gospel as defined everywhere in the New Testament but particularly by Paul: I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures - 1 Corinthians 15: 3. We must understand that both Isaiah and Peter are talking principally about the effect of the atonement upon mankind's basic ailment, namely sin. Peter's phraseology makes this abundantly clear by whose stripes you were healed (1 Peter 2: 24). The Greek iaomai translated were healed conveys the idea of being made whole i.e. to free from errors and sins, to bring about (one's) salvation. The stripes are viewed as part of the cross experience. It is actually a euphemism for Christ's death and does not allude to His whipping or suffering separate from His death on the cross. It is heresy to divide the atonement into sections, so part deals with sin and another part with sickness. Christ died for our sins, according to the scriptures (1 Corinthians 15: 3). His death is effective for our salvation which in the ultimate sense affects the whole man body, soul and spirit. However the ultimate is not yet. Paul the apostle explains that part of redemption is not complete. We are waiting for something: For the earnest expectation of the creature waits for the manifestation of the sons of God (23) We ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, that is to say the redemption of our body - Romans 8:19 & 23. When Isaiah refers to the chastisement of our peace being laid upon the suffering Saviour (Isaiah 53: 5) he uses the Hebrew word shalom which expresses far more than our English peace. It embodies the ideas of physical and financial well-being. When our Lord voluntarily accepted the divine discipline, chastening and correction that should have been ours, He secured everything that is essential to our spiritual and physical life and well-being for this present world and for our future in the next. These are the benefits that flow from the atonement, and so long as you see Healing in the Atonement in that context your faith is totally biblical. BUT, and here is the major area of dispute, to remain biblical you must recognise the

time warp. Physically we were healed at the cross. Practically we are still subject to sickness as members of the groaning creation until Christ returns. So can we enjoy the healing that has been secured for us now? The short answer is yes. The explanation is much longer than I can deal with here. You can obtain a full teaching on this subject by contacting CWM and asking for the tape HEALING IN THE ATONEMENT. Suffice it to say that the Bible always provides the answer. Paul wrote: But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwells in you Romans 8: 11.

But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwells in you.
The final demonstration of this will be at the resurrection and rapture of the Church. Those who have died in Christ will be quickened i.e. made alive by the Holy Spirit and those who are still alive will be quickened i.e. changed in their bodies by that same Holy Spirit. That's not just pie in the sky when you die. There's also some steak on the plate while you wait. All of this is contingent upon the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross i.e. The Atonement. By faith that quickening of which Paul speaks and which is general for the future can be experienced now. For those who are interested in these things theologians call it the proleptic principle but as I have suggested it's a big subject. I have dealt with it in a full message available from Christian Witness Ministries. NEXT Classic Pentecostal Teaching on speaking in tongues, interpretation and prophecy. As a precursor see LETTERS this issue Cessationism v. Biblicism (pages 22 to 25).
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I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures
- 1 Corinthians 15: 3.
Extreme teaching about healing in the atonement is false and dangerous. There are Bible passages that show that it is not true. It conjures up a false hope and ends up undermining, not creating, faith. It detracts from the glory of Christ's death, both in its purpose and in its achievement. Christ did not die to deal

11

The stones were pulled off one at a time to retrieve the gold. Thus was fulfilled the words of Jesus from forty years earlier...

The Capture of the Ark:

Future History of Israel
loss of four thousand men in one battle was devastating to the nation; but the second defeat was even more shattering, indeed the loss was incalculable. The nation wasn't the same afterwards 30,000 dead, the devastating loss of the high priest and his sons and if that weren't enough, the desolation of the tabernacle in Shiloh and the capture of the Ark of the Covenant of God! In this story, lies a prediction of the future of Israel, which would be fulfilled with uncanny precision. The two major defeats and consequent captivities in the history of Israel correspond to the twofold defeat in 1 Samuel 4. The first resulted in the destruction of temple in 586 BC and was the most devastating and traumatic defeat Israel had ever experienced to that time. Judah, by her sins, had come under the power of the Babylonians. Rather than listen to Jeremiah and the true prophets, who counselled her to see the hand of God in the Babylonian rule, other Jewish (false) prophets agitated for military resistance. This resulted in the Chaldean siege of Jerusalem, which led to the destruction of Solomon's temple and the 70-year captivity in Babylon. The calendar date of the destruction of the temple, Tish Ba Av is to this day commemorated by fasting and mourning. But after 70 years God raised up another Gentile ruler, Cyrus the Persian, to be benevolent towards Judah - sending the captives home and even financing the building of the second temple. Fast forward to 70 AD, and once again, Israel chafes under a foreign rule and once again there is a patriotic resistance. Battles are fought, blood is spilt and the city of Jerusalem is besieged by the Romans. The stage is being set for the second, and more catastrophic defeat, which corresponds to the second battle in 1 Samuel chapter 4. This time it is the Romans who breach the walls of the city, slaughter the inhabitants and amazingly, this occurred also on the same calendar day, Tish Ba Av. But the By Bill Randles Bible stories, as we noted earlier (see Part 1 CETF # 56 pp 27-28), are so much more than morality lessons. They preach the Gospel, reveal Christ and, as we will show in this instance, they contain eschatology. The story of the capture of the Ark of God in 1 Samuel chapters 4-6 is an amazing example of these things. They are narratives of actual events in history. The Israelites really did try to throw off the Philistines, using the Ark of God as a talisman, and losing it in battle. The Philistines truly played hot potato with the Ark, after they captured it, passing it from city to city among the five lords of the Philistines. All of this happened. But there is more in this narrative than meets the eye. God has here indicated the future of Israel, and of the associated Gentile nations. The passage is prophetic as well as historic.

Part 2

Jews resisted the Roman invaders so fiercely, fighting occurred in the temple itself. Titus had commanded that the temple not be destroyed, but in spite of his command, curtains in the temple caught fire in the fighting and burned the cedar timber, melting the golden trim work thus causing gold to seep between the massive stones of the temple. The stones were pulled off one at a time to retrieve the gold. Thus was fulfilled the words of Jesus from forty years earlier, Do you see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another which will not be torn down - Matthew 24:2. The desolation and destruction of the temple in Jerusalem set off a chain of events which ended in the complete dissolution of the Jewish state, the over populating of international slave markets with Jewish captives and the dispersion of Israel to the very ends of the earth - all in fulfilment of the warnings of Moses and the prophets. Unbelievably this disaster dwarfed even the earlier disaster! Israel has not really recovered up to this day, almost two thousand years later.

How does the story in 1 Samuel chapter 4 relate to the then future history of Israel? First of all, there is the condition of Israel, a holy but backslidden nation, led and oppressed by a corrupt high priesthood. The nation was in their God given land, yet dominated by a foreign (Gentile) power, attempting vainly to throw off the yoke by military resistance. Israel would find themselves in this situation time and again - resisting Assyrian, Moabite, Ammonite, Babylonian and finally Roman subjugation. The story develops around two shattering defeats. The first was bad enoughthe 12
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Bible stories, as we noted earlier, are so much more than morality lessons. They preach the Gospel, reveal Christ and, as we will show in this instance, they contain eschatology.
But there is an event which occurred shortly before the second catastrophic defeat in Samuel's time. 1 Samuel chapter 4 records that the corrupt priests of Israel removed the Ark of the Covenant from the Tabernacle, and in effect handed it over to the Gentiles. One generation before 70 AD, Annas and Caiaphas virtually did the same thing, but

All of the Roman gods, the Greek gods, the pantheons of classical antiquity were abandoned, shown to be impotent, as the Christian Gospel advanced.

this time not with the Ark of the Covenant, but with all that the Ark of the Covenant of God stood for and pointed to! cf. John 18:24. Behold we go up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man shall be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they shall condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him to the Gentiles Mark 10:33 cf. Luke 9:44. Remember the last little character sketch in 1 Samuel chapter 4, the horrifying death in childbirth of the daughter-in-law of the high priest? She was despondent in labour, even when they told her that she had a son. She only came out of her despair enough to name him Ichabod for the Glory has departed from Israel (1 Samuel 4:21) then and there she died and, in a way, the nation died with her. For the children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and without an image, and without an ephod, and without teraphim. Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days - Hosea 3:4-5. Fortunately for all of us, Ichabod is not the last word, as Hosea says, there is an Afterwards in the Latter Days which corresponds to things revealed about Israel's future History in 1 Samuel chapter 6, but before we get into that we need to consider what is happening in the Gentile world as this too is foreshadowed in our story. 1 Samuel chapter 5 is likewise actual history, Gospel and Eschatology, only this time in regard to the Gentiles. Now the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod. Then the Philistines took the Ark of God and brought it to the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. When the Ashdodites arose early the next morning, behold Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord - 1 Samuel 5:1-3. The Gospel can be seen in this part of the story. The people of that time and in that part of the world interpreted a military victory as a triumph of one god over another. In fact that is still the case in the Middle East today. Every advance by Islam is seen as the victory of Allah over

Yahweh (Jehovah) and Jesus! The battle cry Allah Akbar does not mean, Allah is Great, but rather, Allah is Greater! Islam is a religion of comparison. To the Philistines Dagon had defeated Yahweh. They took the Ark of the dead god, Yahweh, down into the temple of their victorious god, Dagon. When they shut the door on the Ark in the temple of Dagon, it foreshadowed the rolling of the stone over the face of the tomb where Jesus was laid. I can see Easter morning in 1 Samuel 5: 34. Early the next day the Philistines went down to the temple of Dagon to triumph over the defeat of Yahweh, only to be confronted with the fact that the God of Israel had not been defeated at all. He had risen and was exalted. This is the Gospel in 1 Samuel chapter 5. In apparent weakness and powerlessness our God triumphs over His enemies.

So they took Dagon and set him in his place again - 1 Samuel 5:3b. Between the first and second half of verse 3 is two thousand years of history for the Gentile world. What happened when they found Dagon prostrate before the Lord himself? They picked Dagon up again and set him up in his exalted place. In other words, right before the end, the old gods, the pre-Christian deities are brought back into play. This sets the stage for the second and irreparable defeat of the gentile powers. The old gods are back, and the world is now consciously post Christian. Dagon has been set up; Molech is now worshipped with Abandon (abortion), as well as Baal and Astarte (sexual revolution). All these have re-emerged in one form or another. The old gods that were once prostrated by the spread of the Gospel have been set back up in their place. Jesus warned us concerning this when He spoke of an unclean spirit being driven out of a house (nation), When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, I will return to my house whence I came out. And when he comes, he finds it swept and garnished. Then he goes, and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first Luke 11:24-26 cf. Matt. 12:43-45. The secularization of the West has only left an empty house, and if nature abhors a vacuum, how much more the spiritual world? But when they arose early the next morning, behold Dagon had fallen on his face to the ground before the Ark of the Lord. And the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off, on the threshold, only the trunk of Dagon was left to him - 1 Samuel 5:4. The second defeat of the Philistines was greater than the first. Dagon was not only prostrated, but his head and his hands were broken! The breaking of the head alerts the biblically aware of the primal Gospel promise (prophecy): And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed
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The secularization of the West has only left an empty house, and if nature abhors a vacuum, how much more the spiritual world?
But there is Eschatology here also. This is prophecy as well as history. The Gentiles, like the Jews in chapter 4, suffered a double defeat, the first one was seemingly recoverable, but the second was utterly devastating - they were broken and that without remedy. The first defeat is in verse 3. Dagon lies prostrate before the living God. And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. This would be the future of the Gentile world, from 70 AD until the end of the age. All of the Roman gods, the Greek gods, the pantheons of classical antiquity were abandoned, shown to be impotent, as the Christian Gospel advanced. The Celtic, Teutonic, Saxon and Gothic gods were abandoned. Paganism collapsed as Christianity took root and spread.

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It is not calamity and disaster that brings people to God...It is the Word of God through witness that brings people to God.

and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel Genesis 3:15. The crushing of the idol, Dagon, foreshadows what Nebuchadnezzar saw in his vision of the final defeat of the Gentile world powers. He saw a massive statue of a man, with a head of gold, shoulders of silver, waist and loins of bronze, legs of iron, and feet and toes of iron mixed with clay. Then a stone not cut out by human hands struck the statue and crushed it to powder. The end of the times of the gentiles (cf. Luke 21:24) will be as the crushing of the great, humanistic idol, by the return of the Saviour and Lord to rule and reign on earth. You continued looking until a stone was cut out without hands and it struck the statue on its feet of iron and clay, and crushed them. Then the iron, the clay the bronze the silver, and the gold, were crushed all at the same time, and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried them away, so that not a trace of them was found. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled all of the earth - Daniel 2:34-35. This is the Gospel according to the capture of the Ark. Rather than capturing Ya h w e h , Ya h w e h c a p t u r e d t h e Philistines! Yahweh triumphed over their gods and showed Himself to be either the savour of life or the savour of death. This is the Eschatology of the story of the Arka twofold defeat of paganismfirst prostrated, and in the last days propped back up, but then utterly crushed by the return of the true King and Saviour! NEXT Part 3 - Haemorrhoids and Mice and the future of the Gentile World.

Raising the Mercy Seat

By Philip Bray He struck down some of the men of Beth Shemesh because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck down of all the people, 50,070 men [1], and the people mourned because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter. The men of Beth Shemesh said, Who is able to stand before the LORD, this holy God? And to whom shall it go to from here? - 1 Samuel 6:19-20. The Death of Man Brought by the Law. What was it that caused the Lord, in His perfect justice, so severely and instantly to judge His people? I suggest that it was the exposure of man to the Law of God. Once Moses had been given the two tables of stone, he was instructed to place them inside the Ark (Exodus 40:20). The Ark was then sealed by the 'Mercy Seat' a pure golden lid with a golden cherub at each end. The Law of God was literally underneath and completely covered by the Mercy Seat. However, in circumstances not known to us, Israel looked inside the Ark. In other words, they removed, or at least partly removed the Mercy Seat and looked directly at the Law of God. You often meet people who believe that, while not perfect, they are not bad. They would be content to die in their current state and believe that they will be acceptable to God and go to heaven and not to hell. In effect, they are saying, 'let me be judged by the Law and I will be found innocent.' What foolishness! This is exactly what the inhabitants of Beth Shemesh were doing. In lifting the Mercy Seat from off the Ark the Israelites said, We can stand the examination of the Law. This is impossible. If any of us were judged by the Law we would be found absolutely guilty with the punishment of eternal Hell; and, we might add instantly judged. This brings us to Christ's fulfilment of the Law illustrated in the Mercy Seat. Christ the end of the Law The Ark was the first part of the tabernacle described to Moses in Exodus 25:10-22. Being the first article of furniture commanded and constructed we may reasonably conclude that it is of first importance. Unlike the sides and base of the Ark which were made of wood covered with gold, the Mercy Seat was made entirely of pure gold (Exodus 25:17). The gold speaks of Christ's perfect righteousness. He was without spot or blemish. There was no intrinsic frailty or failure; no sin within Him. The keeping of the Law is not just an outward act. We do not fulfil the law by just doing what it says; we must also do it with all our heart, soul, strength and

You often meet people who believe that, while not perfect, they are not bad. They would be content to die in their current state and believe that they will be acceptable to God and go to heaven and not to hell.
1 Samuel 4 recounts how Israel, seven months before the events of the above passage, suffered a great military defeat at the hands of the Philistines. As well as the Ark of the Covenant being captured, 30,000 Israelite footmen were killed. Yet, [according to the KJV and the NKJV see footnote 1] in comparison more people died at Beth Shemesh when the Ark was opened than had died at the hands of the Philistines. Furthermore, the record states, He struck down', i.e. it was God Himself who judged the people at Beth Shemesh. I would like to show, firstly how every man exposed to the Law of God must die; and secondly how entirely Christ is the end of the Law and that He has presented us perfect before God.
Footnote:
[1] Editorial Comment: 50,070 is the number quoted by the KJV and the NKJV but several other translations, including the RSV, ESV, NIV and YLT, say 70 were killed. The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) states, God struck down the men of Beth-shemesh because they looked inside the ark of the LORD. He struck down 70 men /out of/ 50,000 men. The people wept because the LORD struck them with a great slaughter. Young's Literal (YLT) reders it, And He smiteth among the men of Beth-Shemesh, for they looked into the ark of Jehovah, yea, He smiteth among the people seventy men fifty chief men; and the people mourn, because Jehovah smote among the people a great smiting.

about the author

BILL RANDLES came out of the Word of Faith Movement and is the founder and pastor of Believers in Grace Fellowship in Marion, Iowa which has been in existence since 1982. He is the author of 4 books: Making War in the Heavenlies, Weighed & Found Wanting, Beware the New Prophets, and Mending the Nets. He has travelled to Nigeria, South Africa, Zimbabwe, England, Australia, New Zealand, India, Russia and the Philippines preaching the gospel and contending for the faith that has been delivered to the saints. He and his wife, Kristin, have 6 children and 10 grandchildren. Bill recently spoke at the CWM Conferences in Australia and New Zealand in September 2011.

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How perfect God is in all His ways!

mind. It must be an inward and an outward act. Christ fulfilled it perfectly. Secondly, the Mercy Seat was exactly the same width and length as the Ark (Exodus 25:10 and 17). Therefore, there would have been no overlapping edges; all that lay below the Mercy Seat would have been covered. This speaks of Christ's fulfilment and complete perfection in all points of the Law. There were no 'overlapping edges'. All of the Law of God was covered by Christ. He fulfilled 'all righteousness' - Matthew 3:15. Thirdly, a golden angel was placed at either end of the Mercy Seat, fashioned from the same piece of gold: You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends Exodus 25:18 The Mercy Seat and its angels point to Christ and His work on Calvary. I wonder if this in some way relates to when Mary stooped and looked into Christ's tomb and saw, two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying John 20:12. The sight of two angels at either end of where His body had lain should remind us of the Mercy Seat with its two overshadowing angels and is designed to point us to the Mercy Seat. The just punishment demanded by the Law of God on every sinner was paid for by Christ. The Law of God cries upwards to the throne of God for justice and judgment. It says, You shall not commit adultery and we stand condemned when we have looked at a man or woman with lust in our hearts. It says, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind , and we find ourselves condemned in that we have each turned to our own ways. However, the Law has been perfectly fulfilled by Christ in His life and death. All the work demanded of a perfectly just God has been completed by Christ. Every requirement of the Law has been fulfilled by Christ. Christ not only fulfilled the Law by His perfect life, but he fulfilled the Law by bearing the punishment demanded of the Law. The condemnation of the Law fell upon Christ. He was the 'propitiation' [literally the mercy seat] for our sin.

... whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed Romans 3:25. How perfect God is in all His ways! He does not ignore, or overlook a single sin, but He punished all sin in Christ. The chastisement of our peace, was upon Him - Isaiah 53:5 (KJV). The responsibility of man is now to repent of his sins, and then to believe on Christ for his full and total salvation.

compromise with Rome, which causes people to once again come under the naked examination of the Law? Finally, we must be cautious in our approach to Israel. Some evangelicals do more than pray for Israel, more than becoming a Jew to win a Jew, and more than seeking to preach Christ to the Jews. There is a tendency in some circles to think that it is good for a Christian to assume some of the practices of Judaism. Perhaps it starts as the use of Hebrew terms and phrases (and there is of course no harm in this), but, then it becomes the regard of the Jewish calendar and feasts. Let us tread with caution. Christ is the end of the law; that is the One who kept and fulfilled all of the Law, and the One to whom the Law gave witness. There is a real danger of moving away from Christ by returning to the Law, and lifting the lid of the Ark. Beware! How superior the New Covenant is; Moses and Elijah, symbolic of the Law and the Prophets appeared in (I assume) a transfigured state with Christ on the Mount of Transfiguration. However, as soon as Peter gave them equal attention to Christ, the Lord immediately brought a rebuke saying This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear Him (Matthew 17:5 cf. 3:17). In comparison to Christ, all that came before are weak and beggarly elements (Galatians 4:9). Let us not return again to those things, but cleave to the One who is meek and lowly in heart, perfect in holiness, and who was slain for us. May we be as Paul who said, More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is t h r o u g h fa i t h i n C h r i st , t h e righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith Philippians 3:8-9

The sight of two angels at either end of where His body had lain should remind us of the Mercy Seat with its two overshadowing angels and is designed to point us to the Mercy Seat.
Conclusion What I have written here is not exhaustive, but I hope it is sufficient to apply the truth to our hearts. Here is how God demonstrates His Divine justice, wisdom and mercy. I unashamedly write of the first principles of Christ, rather than a more obscure point of doctrine. The ark with the mercy seat was the first article of furniture of the Tabernacle revealed to Moses, and the work of Christ should retain first place in our thinking. There are three further applications: Firstly, do you trust only in Christ to be saved and have you renounced your own works? If not, you are lifting the lid of the Ark; you are removing the Mercy Seat and are about to stare at the Law. If you attempt to be justified before God by keeping one element of the Law, you will be required to keep it all perfectly. Learn the lesson of the Beth Shemeshites. Notice that it is for good reason that the Mercy Seat covers the Law entirely. Secondly, there has been a worrying tendency in the evangelical church to work publicly with representatives of Roman Catholicism. The gospel of Rome makes a person trust in both their works and the death of Christ; this is to remove the Mercy Seat from the Ark. 50,000 people died in Israel; how many will be eternally killed, i.e. be sent to hell by a

about the author

Philip Bray is a major in the British Army. He was converted in his year off in 1995 before attending university. Since then he has served at Stroud Green Christian Assembly, most recently as an elder, and is involved in the work of Christian Alliance Ministries. As an infantry officer in the British Army he has completed 10 years' service which included tours in Northern Ireland, and in Afghanistan.
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Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!

I Never Knew You Depart From Me

By Mike Gendron The most terrifying words any professing Christian could ever hear would be the Lord Jesus declaring: "I never knew you, depart from me" (Matt. 7:23). On judgment day those words will be heard by many who once made professions of faith and claimed to be followers of Jesus. Yet very few evangelical leaders appear to be concerned. Our churches are filled with people who are headed to hell and don't even know it. Who are these false converts and how were they deceived? What lulls so many people into this cruel deception? Two Kinds of Deception Scripture describes these false converts as victims of deception. They are either deceived by false teachers or they deceive themselves. Some are victims of a false gospel or an unbiblical method of evangelism. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ to another gospel: Which is not another; but there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ Galatians 1:6-7. requirement of every believer, the disobedience of those who deceive themselves is marked by a lack of concern for God's will and His commands. They have little desire for God's people, His Word or His glory. They are self-absorbed and self-centred and love themselves more than they love God. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without selfcontrol, brutal, despisers of good 2 Timothy 3:2-3. Paul gave a stern warning for the selfdeceived who reject what the Word says: The wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience - Eph. 5:6. They perish because they fail to love the truth - 2 Thessalonians 2:10. Ignorance and Pride Can Be Fatal Tragically, the many warnings given in the New Testament about spiritual deception are not taken seriously. People are so comfortable in their church or religion that they have no hunger for spiritual truth. Deluded by arrogance, they deny their ignorance of God's Word. Many Christians have only a superficial knowledge of the Gospel. They know Jesus died for the sins of the world, but they don't know why He had to, or why it pleased the Father to crush Him (Isa. 53:10). They don't know the divine punishment for sin is death (Ezek. 18:4). They don't know the only way God will forgive sin (Luke 24:47; Acts 26:18; Eph. 1:7). They don't know God opposes the proud and justifies only those who know they are ungodly (Rom. 4:5; Luke 18:9-14; James 4:6). Religious pride keeps people in spiritual darkness. Many hold to a form of godliness but deny the power (or the necessity) of the Gospel (2 Tim. 3:5). Their self-conceit leads to self-deceit and their self-righteousness damns them to everlasting shame. Failure of Self-Examination A major cause of self-deception is the failure of self-examination. Some professing Christians go through life without ever examining their faith through the lens of Scripture. Paul exhorts us, Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you fail the test? 2 Corinthians 13:5. Probably the best way to guard against self-deception is to abide in God's Word, to be passionate for truth and to invite the Holy Spirit to bring conviction and illumination.

It is not calamity and disaster that brings people to God...It is the Word of God through witness that brings people to God.
A false gospel offers the natural man what he wants: good feelings, healings, riches and success. The true Gospel offers him what he needs: forgiveness of sin, redemption, perfect righteousness, reconciliation with God and the power to live a victorious life. Those who deceive themselves are people who hear the Word of God but do not do what it says. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves James 1:22 (NKJV). Since obedience to the Word is a divine 16
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Man-centred Evangelism What happened to the God-centred method of evangelism that calls sinners to repent and believe the Gospel? For the last 100 years people have been told to repeat a prayer, come forward, sign a card or get baptized to be saved. Many of them have lived with a false hope because none of these methods are found in God's Word. The deadliest deception of Satan is to convince a person he is saved when he is not. The devil's ongoing strategy is to corrupt the church by planting tares or false converts where God has planted wheat. He knows he can be more effective in attacking the church from the inside than from the outside. Jesus described tares as "sons of the wicked one." The one who sowed them is the devil (Matt. 13:38-39). Well-meaning Christians who use a mancentred approach to evangelism by manipulating people to make a decision are helping the devil plant tares. They promote easy believism with no call to repentance or discipleship because what they promote produces quick results that people can see and measure. The unanticipated results of their actions are devastating: God is not glorified, the sinner is not saved, the church is not
Continued on page 21

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Faithful witness means being a faithful and uncompromising witness inside the church and ... in the cultural and societal location we are in

Continued from page 17

sanctified and the devil is thrilled and delighted. The best way to produce true converts and reduce the number of tares coming into the church is to follow a biblical, God-centred method of evangelism. We must quit seeking quick results and instead glorify God by making disciples and faithfully proclaiming His Word until the sinner asks, "What must I do to be saved?" cf. Acts 16:30. Strong and Weak Foundations According to Jesus, true Christians build their houses (which represents their lives) on the solid rock of Christ and His Word (Matt. 7:24-27). False Christians build their house on shifting sand which is made up of traditions, opinions and teachings of men. When the storms and trials of life come, a true Christian continues to trust and act on God's Word while a false Christian gives up and suffers shipwreck of his faith. When his faith is tested, it is exposed as shallow, spurious and short-lived. He is the man who hears the Word and immediately receives it with joy; yet when affliction or persecution arises, he falls away (Matt. 13:20). Narrow and Broad Roads Jesus said there are only two paths to eternity (Matt. 7:13-14). There is a narrow road which is hard to find because false teachers are blocking the entrance and pointing people to the broad road. This is why Jesus said, Strive to enter through the narrow door; for many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able Luke 13:24. People must strive to enter because of Satan's fierce opposition to the Gospel. The only way to determine which door is the true door is to search the Scriptures. The narrow door is difficult to enter because unconverted sinners must be set free from the snare of the devil and repent (2 Tim. 2:25). They must have a heartfelt sorrow for sinning against their God and Creator (2 Cor. 7:9-10). The narrow road is by grace alone through faith in Christ alone which means no one can enter in their own righteousness or by their works or merit (Eph. 2:8-9). They must leave everything behind and enter with empty hands. The other path to eternity is the broad road. It is marked "heaven", but it leads people to hell. It is easy to find - just follow the crowd because many are on it. They are the ones who just don't care or who are trusting their own righteousness and good works and see no need to repent. Living and Dead Faith Anyone can profess to be a Christian but genuine faith will be evidenced by how a person lives. People are known more by what they do than by what they say. James asks the probing question:

What use is it, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but he has no works? - James 2:14. He concludes that a faith which does not produce any evidence of a changed life is a dead, spurious, worthless faith. Those with empty confessions profess to know God, but they deny Him by their works, being abominable and disobedient: They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work Titus 1:16 (NKJV). Nevertheless the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: "The Lord knows those who are His," and, "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity." 2 Timothy 2:19. In other words, it doesn't matter what you profess to be, what really matters is how you live. Those who have living faith are born of God. They are new creatures created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for them to do (Eph. 2:10).

Jesus said there are only two paths to eternity (Matt. 7:13-14). There is a narrow road which is hard to find because false teachers are blocking the entrance and pointing people to the broad road.
Right and Wrong Motives Both true and false Christians follow Jesus, but for different reasons. Unconverted people seek Jesus for selfish motives or wrong reasons, usually for material blessings. Jesus said, You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled - John 6:26. These false disciples withhold true allegiance and submission to Jesus and retain control of their own lives. They allow their own opinions rather than Scripture to control what they do and how they do it. True converts respond to the Lord Jesus in adoration, praise and worship (Mat. 2:11; 14:33; 15:25; 28:9, 17). They submit to Christ as Lord and obey His Word out of love and gratitude for all He has done and is doing. They are known by how they respond to sin - with conviction, sorrow, confession and repentance. Christ is living water for those who thirst for righteousness (John 7:37). He is living bread for those who hunger for eternal

life (John 6:51). He is the only mediator to those who want peace with God (1 Tim. 2:5). Jesus is the only redeemer for those who want to be purchased out of the slave market of sin (Titus 2:14). He is the way for those who are lost, the truth for those who are deceived and the life for those who are dead in sin (John 14:6). He is the only Saviour for those who know their hopeless and helpless condition (Eph. 2:12; Rom. 5:6). His blood is the only cure for those who know their sin will end in eternal death (1 John 1:7). His perfect righteousness is the only passport to heaven for those dressed in filthy rags (Isa. 64:6; 1 Cor. 1:30). Jesus is the Sovereign Lord who reigns over His people in love and will rule over unrepentant sinners in terror on judgment day (Rev. 20:11-15). A Christian's Responsibility How should we counsel those who say they have been sanctified by the truth but cling to false teachers? How can we help professing Christians who are not bearing fruit in keeping with repentance (Matt. 3:8)? We must intervene because a Christian who "turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death" (Jas. 5:19-20). We must lovingly confront them with the truth of God's Word and encourage them to examine their faith. Then we must encourage them to consider the exhortation of James: Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you" (Jas. 4:8-10). Repentant sinners, who bear the fruit of the Spirit, can be sure they will never hear those terrifying words from Jesus: I never knew you: depart from me, you that work iniquity - Matt. 7:23. And they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit (Gal. 5:24, 25).

about the author

Mike Gendron exchanged his Roman Catholic religion for an eternal relationship with Jesus Christ at the age of 37. He soon gave up his business career to pursue a degree at Dallas Theological Seminary. Since graduating in 1991 he has been directing Proclaiming the Gospel Ministry (www.pro-gospel.org) which equips and encourages the saints to be ambassadors for the Lord Jesus Christ. He can be contacted at ptg@pro-gospel.org
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News, Views and Your Letters

News, Views & Your Letters

Letters may be edited for brevity. Editorial Comments unless otherwise specified are by Philip L. Powell (plp). ******* FROM THE CWM BLOG To comment go to http://www.christian-witness.org/blog/ Find the thread (topic) and make your comment at the end of that thread: ASSEMBLIES OF GOD: http://cetf.co/idmBN4 Other interesting posts may be viewed at the following: http://cetf.co/enIs1l http://cetf.co/ggIV3f FROM THE REGULAR MAILER To subscribe go to http://cetf.co/gXVZ0e And follow the prompts: ******* Sun, 21 Aug 2011 17:12:04 -0700 - I received your newsletter today and look forward to reading it thoroughly. Thank you for sending it and for the work that you do. I am hoping to start a blog about the current apostasies. Would you give me permission to use your articles, unabridged or changed and with a link to your website? My health is unreliable so I know that I can't hold strength or concentration well enough to actually write my own articles. I can, however, present the work of you and others like you in yet another venue on the Internet. Thank you, VP. ED - Thank you VP for your response and support. Sorry to learn of your ill health. We trust it will improve. We suggest that you simply link to the relevant article that we have published. This is the normal procedure and covers any copyright that may be involved. It is best for you and for us. God bless you in your work. AoG & Elim Living in a Fool's Paradise Mon 22/08/2011 2:12 AM - I received the CWM News letter yesterday and sent a reply to that address instead of to you! All I asked was that if possible could you send me, by email, the notes on your talk about 22
CETF 57 September 2011 www.cwm.org.au

A/G and Elim also comments on Rob Bell's book which I read recently. I heard a lot of negative remarks on it from people who have not even read it! Hoping all is well with you. HO USA. ED - Go to www.cwm.org.au OR try www.christian-witness-ministries.com if the first doesn't work. The latest CETF # 56 has been published and the PDF, ePub and Kindle versions are now available for download on our 'Downloads' page. The link for this is on the home page of our website see above for links to our CWM Home Page.

He is BAD news, no matter who supports him. By his own confession he does NOT accept the Bible as authoritative and that colours ALL he preaches and writes. (I have provided documentation for this in my AoG/Elim article.) It's very sad that AoG are using him and promoting him. Tue 23/08/2011 11:51 PM - Good comments Philip. I have read Love Wins, due to my proximity with Bell (1 hour north of us), as well as the volume of local conversations. Once again there is a glaring accusation against the biblical and historical illiteracy amongst our generation relative to the essentials of the faith once delivered to the saints. Sadly, it is true that more and more of this trendy and "hip" heresy is finding its way onto the University Campuses via the AG's passive endorsement of these men through using their books to lead "discussions" in coffee houses instead of poring over the old, boring, irrelevant Scriptures (note heavy sarcasm). Take care and give our love to all there Jeffrey L. Whittaker Niles, Michigan, USA Hand written Letter 02/08/2011 Greetings in Jesus Name - After reading the 2 letters in this latest issue (# 56 July 2011) where members of AOG in UK accused you of bitterness etc and want to be crossed off mailing list it reminded me of the time I was talking to a leader of [name of church withheld] who told me he had been lied to by his pastor, three times in one week. I thought 'am I hearing this right, he's been lied to 3 times by his pastor and is still going [name of church retained in our files]?' Two years on he is still going therelied to and deceived. I told a friend and he referred to the scripture They lie to the people and the people love it. I have heard similar stories yet the people go along with these wolves in sheep's clothing. It's unbelievable. The things of God are foolishness to those that perish they are blinded. Praying for you all BJ South Australia ******* Cessationism vs Biblicism Sun 20/02/2011 2:01 PM - Hi Philip - I agree with you on just about all that you write but I do have a problem with your teaching on Cessationism. Editorial Insertion - In the interests of space and brevity I have identified RJ's

Once again there is a glaring accusation against the biblical and historical illiteracy amongst our generation relative to the essentials of the faith once delivered to the saints.
The complete article about AoG and Elim can be found at http://cetf.co/pN0vUG. The Rob Bell article is in CETF # 56 (July 2011) and is called Mocking Truth by Berit Kjos. The link for this is under 'Latest CETF' on the home page of our website. Those who wish to engage in a discussion on this topic may do so at http://forum.christian-witness-ministries.com/ or http://www.christian-witness.org/blog/ Re Rob Bell It may be helpful to read the following detailed reviews of Love Wins at http://cetf.co/nEO5NO and/or http://www.hellsbell.net We all know that it's not possible for everyone to read everything. I am flat out reading essential stuff and would be reluctant to read Rob Bell's books in any event. To insist that people read the book before they criticise it is a bit like saying we all have to study all comparative religions before we can criticise false religions. There's enough material around to show that Bell is a heretic and in fact a "tare" sown by the devil. He confessed that his purpose was to "re-paint Christianity." He made that determination when he was a member of a heavy rock band. That says everything.

News, Views and Your Letters

concerns, which find a response in my editorial comments by a number system see below. Briefly, I was bought up a Pentecostal and 'learnt' to speak in tongues but I have now repented of it. I have done a lot of research into the topic. Do you know of Norman Giesler and George Gardner, both have done an extensive study on it and of course John McArthur. (1) My understanding is that the Bible says that any gift is not for self edification, tongues is a sign to unbelievers v22 and it is the lesser of the gifts v5. (2) It is the only gift that can be counterfeited (you cannot counterfeit miracles, healings etc). The Bible clearly says that not all have the gift of tongues v30. People cannot speak in tongues at will but only as the Spirit enables. (3) We are not told to ask for gifts but we are given them at salvation. Tongues is in fact an earthly language but not known by the speaker Acts 2:8, 1 Corinthians 14:10. Mormons etc speak in tongues. (4) Question: 1 Corinthians 14:28 - How do you know if there is an interpreter present before you speak in tongues. Nobody can answer that question for me so far. There is no more extra biblical revelation so there is no more need for the sign gifts which include tongues that were used to confirm new revelations. (5) You talk about the baptism of the Spirit, Rom 8:9 says 'if you do not have the Spirit you do not belong to Him. 1 Corinthians 12:13 states that we were ALL MADE to drink of one Spirit. Ephesians 1:13 clearly shows that we receive the Spirit and are sealed in Him when we believed. I am NOT talking about the 'filling' of the Spirit. That is something we all need hour by hour and minute by minute, day by day. (6) I also do not think you have accurately portrayed what a 'cessationalist' [sic, the term is cessationist] actually believes. I personally believe that God could activate all of the gifts at any time he wanted in a given instance but it is not the normal, just as people normally do not get healed, but yes God does intervene at times. (7) I have these messages by Giesler and Gardner on tape if you are really interested. They are an excellent exposition on this subject but having said that there are many more items you could access more easily on the internet. God Bless RJ New Zealand.

ED Sadly RJ has not carefully read or certainly not grasped the argument of my 20,000 word document which was serialised in CETF. It is futile to repeat the argument. We can all call on those whom we think are authorities in the camp of which we are part, but in the final analysis we must support biblical doctrine with the Bible if we are to retain the Reformation sola scriptura position, which is so dear to us. Like RJ's heroes I and others in our camp have carried out extensive studies for many years and, if RJ is right in his opening comments, it is clear that we have come to d i f fe r e n t p e r h a p s o p p o s i t e conclusions from those of Norman Giesler, George Gardner, John McArthur, and even RJ himself. So what! If we are to have a meaningful discussion within the context of CWM and CETF it is imperative that the basic argument that I have put forward is examined, and where possible destroyed, based on scripture alone, and/or valid Church history. RJ has failed to do this. So in this response all that I can do is examine some of the assertions that RJ has made and interact with them.

RJ (2) Again on the contrary the Bible clearly shows that healings and miracles can be counterfeited e.g. Acts 8 cf. Simon the sorcerer and 2 Timothy 3:8 refer Exodus 7: 11, 22; 8:7; 9:11 etc. RJ's is a silly statement. Mormons and spiritists etc mimic speaking in tongues which is counterfeit. Also it is my view that many Pentecostals and Charismatics have had a counterfeit experience but this is no basis to deny the real. RJ (3) Once more part of RJ's claim is patently false - ... earnestly desire the best gifts; desire earnestly to prophesy 1 Corinthians 12:31 and 14:39. If as RJ claims we receive all the gifts at salvation then these words are superfluous and Paul is guilty of false teaching. RJ (4) Before attempting an answer to the question I need to comment on the second sentence, which contains both a truth (no more extra biblical revelation) and a falsity (sign gifts, including tongues were used to confirm new revelations). Where is the evidence that speaking in tongues confirmed new revelations? True revelation requires no confirmation. RJs argument is circular. Now to the question! But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God 1 Corinthians 14:28 (NKJV). Paul is clearly not advocating cessation as this verse and the context of other verses prove. For example verse 39 instructs desire earnestly to prophesy, and do not forbid to speak with tongues. In verse 18 Paul states, I thank my God I speak with tongues more than you all. The next verse shows that there should be no tongues speaking in the congregation without interpretation cf. verse 26 - Let all things be done for edification i.e. for the benefit and building up of the body. The only logical answer to RJs question is you may not know, but if a person regularly speaks in tongues in the congregation and no one interprets he should keep silent or as verse 13 instructs pray that he may interpret. Paul is not condemning the Corinthian Church. Rather he is correcting them and warning against excesses and abuse. RJ (5) - In my series of articles on Cessationism v. Biblicism I went to great length to deal with the entire issue, including the points raised by RJ. I showed from Scripture that the term Baptism in (or into) the Holy Spirit is biblical and that the experience is different from the new birth. If I am wrong then RJ should deal with the argument, biblically and not just throw Bible verses around. I made a case for the fact that all true Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Romans 8: 9) so I am at a loss to know how he
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...but in the final analysis we must support biblical doctrine with the Bible if we are to retain the Reformation sola scriptura position...
RJ (1) On the contrary the Bible clearly states He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, .... - 1 Corinthians 14:4. There is NO sense in the passage that this is NOT a genuine gift. The only restriction relates to how and where it functions. The teaching of Paul the apostle is very clear that individual speaking in tongues, in a congregation, should be accompanied by the interpretation of tongues and that the two together equal prophecy. The entire issue revolves around the location, and this is the implication of tongues are for a sign verse 22. On the day of Pentecost and on occasions throughout Church history tongues were a sign to the unbeliever. BUT that is not the ONLY purpose of speaking in tongues according to Paul's teaching. Private speaking in tongues, outside of the congregation, is a self edifying expression of prayer and w i t h i n t h e c o n g re gat i o n , w h e n accompanied by interpretation of tongues, it constitutes prophecy and is for the building up on the body of Christ.

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could have missed it and now in his letter infers that I have a contrary opinion by citing Ephesians 1:13, Romans 8:9 and 1 Corinthians 12:13. RJ (6) - If this is a clear reflection of what RJ believes then he is NOT a cessationist and basically I have no disagreement with him on this matter. Not everyone was healed in the New Testament and the supernatural gifts of the Holy Spirit were not ALWAYS taking place. They functioned then according to the sovereign will of God as they do now. That is what I believe and what I taught in my series of articles. RJ (7) Of the numerous authors that I have read during my reasonably long life time the names Giesler and Gardner do not stand out. I sent my long (20,000) word Cessationism v. Biblicism to a number of respected Christian leaders including John McArthur Jnr. I know the latter received a copy as his then webmaster told me so. I did not receive as much as a courtesy acknowledgement notwithstanding the fact that I invited interaction. If JM can fairly and reasonably represent his argument, based on Scripture I am prepared to respond. I doubt I will have time to listen to the tapes offered to me. Apart from that I do not think this is a valid or reasonable way forward. In short I challenge RJ to deal with the argument. ******* 22/01/2011 3:33 p.m. - Just finished reading 53/54 your article page 32 onwards very good. Keep up the good work for none of us is perfect yet. I've just read Touched by the Fire Wayne Warner Logos Int. 1978. Much of what you quoted is in this book. Maybe it would be acceptable to send you some of my Christian Poetry for inclusion in CETF? ... PD. ED - We don't usually publish poems but are prepared to consider pertinent and well written stuff, though I make no promise. Thank you for your kind comments ******* Oneness Divides and Diverts (CETF # 55 March 2011) (12/05/2011 Handwritten Letter) Dear Philip: I wish to make a response to brother Colin C. Whittaker's (AOG-UK) concerns re: baptism. (CETF March 2011 p.15-16) There's a better reference than Justin Martyr as early as AD 153the Apostle Peter as early as Pentecost 33A.D.only 10 days after the Great Commission of Matt 28:19. 24
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1. ACTS 2:38 Then Peter said to them, Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ (emphasis mine) 2. ACTS 8:16 - Again notice the clear scripture record:For as yet He [the Holy Spirit] was fallen upon none of them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus) This is only still the 30's A.D. interpretation needed. No

No the Lord Jesus Christ and He alone did this. 7. As Galatians 3:27 says, For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 8. Colossians 2:12 says, Buried with Him in baptism wherein also you are risen with Him Again obviously the Eternal Spirit, the Father [1] never died were buried and rose again! Only the Lord Jesus did this. If all these scriptures EIGHT in all don't convince you, nothing will. In fact NOWHERE NOT ONCE anywhere in the New Testament was anyone ever baptized in the titles of Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Father is not a name, it's a title. Son is likewise. (I'm a father and a son but my name is Alan Flynn). If I authorised my child to sign a cheque telling them do it in my name they'd write Alan Flynn, not In My Name!! A quick note about Matt 28:19: It does NOT say the name of the Father and the name of the Son and the name of the Holy Spirit NEITHER does it say the names of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. The Greek is to. o;noma SINGULAR the name ONE name! This was told to the apostles on Ascension Day 40 days after the Crucifixion (Mark 16:15-19; cf. ACTS 1:3, 9 etc). Peter and, later, Paul, as shown in the previous scriptures not one or two incidentally but EIGHT Bible references clearly had the revelation of what the one name (to. o;noma) is, for that's what Peter said a mere 10 days later on Pentecost as I've shown earlier. Here's a personal testimony of further light on this. Using the literal in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is of little spiritual value not only in baptism, but in prayer, deliverance etc. I will even go so far as to say religious spirits and evil spirits freely travel under these anonymous titles: #1. While attending Rhema Bible College Townsville North Queensland (AOG David Cartledge was head pastor) in 1983 a widow Ethel had an adjoining caravan to ours. At this time we were [my wife and I] staying at Ross River Caravan Park, Townsville. Our unbelieving, non-Christian widow friend played her cassette-tape recording when she visited a fortune teller, (an ex-Methodist pastor). To my surprise (at that time), the soothsayer
Footnote:
[1] This is typical unitarian or oneness language. It portrays the idea that the Father and the Holy Spirit are one and the same.

3. ACTS 10:48 And he [Peter] commanded them [the first Gentile Spirit-filled converts] to be baptized in the name of the Lord The Apostle Paul at Ephesus clearly practised what brother Colin, sadly, considers error. 4. ACTS 19:5 When they heard this they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus

Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life
Further, if Colin Whittaker is right Paul not only baptized incorrectly, but he actually taught error! 5. ROMANS 6:3 Don't you know that as many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death?.. If this isn't all clear enough note the next verse: 6. ROMANS 6:4 Therefore we are buried with Him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. The following verses after this (v.6,7,8) clearly teach what we all should know: that baptism is a type of death and burial, and that when we come out of the water, it's a symbol of rising as our Lord rose, and to henceforth live the new life. Baptism is a death / burial symbol. Anybody who knows the bare basics can answer this question: Did the Father or the Holy Spirit die, was buried and rose again?

News, Views and Your Letters

began, by praying In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. I currently believe there's no problem using titles for evil spirits, but they'd hate In the Name of Jesus Christ. #2. In the PNG Highlands 1990 we dealt with a sanguma [2] spirit killing one of my students, by exorcising it NOT by titles of Father, Son, Holy Ghost or In the name of the Son come out (a mere title again) but in the Name of Jesus Christ to leave the young man. The next two cases are from Europeboth from the 1950s. #3. In Switzerland and Germany fortunetellers use the trinity titles calling them The Three High Names, they kneel before a statue, cut a feather with scissors, turn it backwards and cast spells in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. #4. In Karlsruhe Germany 1955 during an evangelistic Crusade late Summer. It was being held in a huge city-block sized tent. Off to the right of the platform sat a group of men intently following the steadily worsening storm's progress. Those who sat near the men could hear them murmuring Father, Son and Holy Ghost as they made strange motions with their hands. The group wanted to wreck the crusade and tent through a display of their power. (The evangelist won out as he said 'Brother Lowsker, don't interpret this and in Jesus' Name the storm dissipated. Thousands came forward straight after the incident in repentance after the display of the power of God and of that Name.) If none of this communicates anything to you I'll quit while I'm ahead. But I'm enclosing an excerpt from 100 A.D. (53 years earlier than Justin Martyr's quotation in your CETF article) in Rome of what must have been the underground church of that time. Divisiveness is indeed a sad thing. Currently my concern is the danger of Islam. Oneness, twoness or threeness isn't an issue as long as he/she holds to the only name whereby we can be saved the Name of the One and only God-Man, Jesus Christ. (2nd John verse 9). However as I've shown from EIGHT clear scriptures the statement made column 3, p.16 of the article that, There is not a single instance in the Book of Acts when
Footnote:
[2] Sanguma is a form of demonic activity used where we lived for two years in Enga Province PNG. It might be extant in other parts of PNG. We've learned since that in Africa a similar form there is called Suguma pronounced Soo-goo-ma)

any baptismal formula is given. There is no record of a formula being pronounced by the one administering baptism is patently false. Having said this, as long as you love the Lord and His Word He IS the Word that's all that matters. God bless you Sincerely, in Christ, Alan Flynn, Tasmania. Re: the TIME 5/12/'55 article. While self-supporting missionaries in Enga Province PNG 1990-91, I wrote Time Magazine for the 100AD document I'd heard of. They kindly posted me the entire article! Editorial Response - Thank you Alan for your full and interesting response to Colin Whittaker's editorial. I don't know what you mean by the reference to the excerpt from 100 AD. It wasn't in the envelope you sent me. Colin Whittaker is now quite elderly (in his 80s) however I am proposing to send this to him by email and if he responds I will publish his comments or a summary of them in a future CETF. In the meanwhile, however I feel I should make some observations of my own as follows: 1 . C l e a r l y w e a re a g re e d t h a t d i v i s i ve n e s s i s s a d , yet doctrineespecially essential biblical doctrine is important;

argument to have validity you must explain that verse. What does it mean and when was the instruction carried out? 3. You engage typical heretical Latter Rain [3] arguments, which when propounded back in the late 1940s, created division and continues to do so. Actually it was NOT new then but was simply a revival of an old heresy, known as Sabellianism or Modalism [4] i.e. that the terms Father, Son and Holy Spirit are modes or expressions of the same ONE person or as you put it they are titles only. Back in the 1940s (and earlier) this teaching led to people being coerced into second baptisms in the name of Jesus only, notwithstanding their having been baptised previously. Your argument by extension leads to precisely the same situation today, and that leads to division and diversion. Personally I have no problem with any reasonable term or so called formula used in water baptism. What I object to is the idea that the term in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is wrong and the term in the name of Jesus or in the name of Jesus Only or the Lord Jesus Christ or Jesus Christ is right. This leads to division and to diversion, which is the whole point of Colin Whittaker's editorial; 4. The biblical issue is not what formula is used at baptism but whether there is a tri-unity of persons in the Godhead. You seem to deny that there is, which of course creates all sorts of problems that cannot be set aside. For example if there is no Trinity of persons in the Godhead and God is love, then who was (were) the objects of His love before the creation of angels or the formation of man? Your argument if carried to its logical conclusion denies the immutability and/or it reflects on the doctrine of the eternity of God. It really is a very serious issue but at its heart is division and diversion as Colin Whittaker rightly states. You have failed to answer or even address the basic issue. In Acts chapter 19 Paul challenges a group of people who are simply called disciples with the question: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? Acts 19:2 (NKJV). The answer that they gave and the follow up question of Paul can be viewed as reasonable evidence that the formula in the name of the Father, and of the Son
Footnote:
[3] http://cetf.co/nHEuLB [4] http://cetf.co/q7xeoQ
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The biblical issue is not what formula is used at baptism but whether there is a tri-unity of persons in the Godhead.
2. It seems to me that you fail in your objective regarding the major point of the article viz. that the New Testament knows nothing of a baptismal formula outside of Matthew 28:19. You cite several Bible verses about the use of the name of the Lord Jesus, or the Lord Jesus Christ or the Lord, but none of these has the slightest hint of involving or containing a formula. They simply and only project an authority. The New Testament saints did everything in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and we have no argument against that. Christ authorised His people and so it is by and in His name that His instructions are carried out. You and those of your persuasion create the problem by effectively discounting Matthew 28: 19. For your

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News, Views and Your Letters

and of the Holy Spirit was used at Christian baptism in New Testament times. When those disciples (cf. v. 1) stated that they had not even heard about the Holy Spirit, Paul's immediate response was a question about water baptism. The reasonable deduction based on this passage is that the baptism of John did NOT refer to the Holy Spirit whereas Christian baptism did. This is a reasonable conclusion. The verses that you cite about the exclusive use of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ do NOT indicate the use of a formula in baptism but simply emphasise the authority by which they baptised as being the same authority, e.g. by which they healed and preached etc cf. Acts 3:6; 4:10, 18; 5:40 etc. Everything those early disciples did, including water baptism, they did in THE NAME i.e. in the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. The anecdotal evidence that you cite to support your view is anything but conclusive simply because it is possible to do anything as mere form. We have a clear case of this in Scripture where even the name of Jesus Christ is used without effect by the seven sons of Sceva .. chief of the priests: Then some of the itinerant Jewish

exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches." Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?" Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified Acts 19:13-17. Latter Rain teaching denies the tri-unity of the Godhead and claims that Jesus Only is the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. This is heresy and sadly it is being revived in our time through popular preachers like T.D. Jakes [5] who is supported by Ashley and Jane Evans of the Assemblies of God in Australia, in their Influencers' Conferences [6] notwithstanding the fact that this heresy
Footnote:
[5] http://cetf.co/pMvjJn and http://cetf.co/n4v72k [6] http://cetf.co/oJ1mh3 - http://cetf.co/rbms2k

was dismissed as such by the Assemblies of God as far back as 1949. It is false and I and CWM will stand against it. CWM will help publicise and support by attending a debate between well known Christian (Trinitarian) James White and United Pentecostal (Latter Rain) Roger Perkins both from USA at Hope Christian Church, 121 Barbaralla Drive, Springwood, QLD 4127, Australia - www.hopechristianchurch.com.au st on Friday October 21 , 2011 at 7 p.m. Topic - "Did the Son, as a self conscious divine Person distinct from the Father and Holy Spirit, exist prior to His Incarnation as Jesus of Nazareth?" James White will present the case for the affirmative (i.e. Yes He did) and Roger Perkins the case for the negative (i.e. No He didn't). Proceedings will be those of a normal debate viz. Affirmative (James White first) OPENINGS 25 minutes each; First REBUTTALS 15 minutes each; BREAK Second Rebuttals 7 minutes each; First Cross-examination 2 x 15 minutes; Second Cross-examination 2 x 10 minutes; Closing Statements 10 minutes each; Audience questions 15 minutes. We at CWM agree with the AFFIRMATIVE.

Seduction: A Primer for Persecution?

By T. A. McMahon EDITORIAL NOTE The Q&A reference and TBC references throughout can be sourced at http://cetf.co/q3sgRD which is also the source of this article. For the last three decades, Dave Hunt and I have addressed many trends and teachings that have influenced the evangelical church, particularly in the United States. Our concern has focused primarily on unbiblical beliefs and practices that were turning Christians away from the Word of God. Twenty-five years ago, we wrote The Seduction of Christianity, a rather controversial book that was motivated by feedback from those who had read Dave's earlier books and had watched the film documentaries to which I had contributed in the early eighties. Some dealt specifically with religious cults (Cult Explosion, The God Makers, etc.). Responses from Christians who read those books and watched the films, however, alerted us to the fact that the cult beliefs that we identified were also being taught in their churches, which 26
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were being influenced by leading Charismatic and Word/Faith teachers. Those same false teachers were also spreading cultish doctrines throughout the country on Christian television networks. One of the principal false teachings at the time was the belief that godhood could be attained by created beings. Though that is foundational to Mormonism ("As man is, God once was; as God is, man may become") and Hinduism (self-realization is realizing that man is God), it had worked its way in various forms and methods into different "Christian" movements, teachings and practices. Much of it was promoted by extreme Charismatics, but it was also finding its way into conservative evangelical churches through so-called Christian psychology (with its emphasis on self and self-esteem, leading to the exaltation and deification of self). Of course, the lie that man could become a god was the cornerstone of Satan's seduction of the human race (Genesis 3:1-5). In his war against those who have

committed their lives to the true and living God, Satan, as God's chief adversary throughout history, has majored in seduction and persecution. Although persecution would seem to be more effective in its prohibition of Christianity than seduction (and it certainly generates more fear), it is far less productive for the Adversary in achieving his objective. The saying that "the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church" has been demonstrated throughout church history. Martyrdom and other forms of persecution have always increased and/or strengthened the body of Christ. The same, however, cannot be said for seduction. Believers in the United States have never experienced significant religious persecutioncertainly nothing like what has taken place in China, India, or throughout countries controlled by Islam. Historically, true Christians in the West as far as Europe have suffered violence from the Caesars of Rome, the Church of Rome, and Communism, among others, but a comparable level of persecution has yet to reach the shores of North America and

All of the Roman gods, the Greek gods, the pantheons of classical antiquity were abandoned, shown to be impotent, as the Christian Gospel advanced.

Australaisia etc. On the other hand, spiritual seduction has proliferated and has shipwrecked the faith of many within Christendom. Unlike persecution, there is not even a remote value associated with seduction; it is spiritually debilitating and deadly. Stories abound of those believers who have survived and been strengthened in their faith during the persecution they suffered in communist countries only to have their walk with the Lord devastated after they escaped to the West. They could endure persecution but they could not resist seduction.

and to save Israel from annihilation, His words here seem better suited to His coming for His bride in the midst of a professing Christianity that has joined the apostasy. Paul the apostle gives this insightful explanation as to how apostasy could manifest among those who call themselves Christians: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they gather around themselves teachers to say what their itching ears desire; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned to fables - 2 Timothy 4:3-4. Sound doctrine will not be endured in the last days because many who have been fed the milk of scriptural truth have already been weaned away from it, i.e., seduced, by their own lusts and by false teachers. More than that, sound doctrine will become an issue that will foster division among Christians. Paul instructed the Roman believers to identify those who teach things "contrary to the doctrine which you have learned; and avoid them" (Romans 16:17). It's clear that believers who desire to stand firm for the teachings of God's Word will be at odds with Christians whose beliefs and lives are not conformed to the Scriptures. Could division over doctrine result in persecution? Both history and the Word of God indicate it could. In the Book of Acts, we are told that "there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem" (Acts 8:1). It involved violent assaults, imprisonments, and deaths, and the issues were doctrinalpitting those who fiercely defended the religious traditions of men against those who followed the teachings of Jesus the Messiah. Persecutions continued as Christians who stood firm in the doctrine of Christ refused to bow down to the deified Caesars or conform to the pagan rituals of Rome. They became vicious entertainment for those who packed the coliseums to see them burned or torn apart by animals. Later, a "Christianized" Rome persecuted those who attempted to reform Roman Catholicism. From there, doctrinal inquisitions and trials by torture proliferated against the "Protestants" and other biblical non-Catholics. Today, persecution continues against believers in Islamic countries and in those places in the West where Roman Catholicism still controls the society, such as cities, villages, and even some states in Mexico and South America. Although none of the above has

manifested itself substantially in the United States, could such religious persecution take place there? Roman Catholicism has never been in a position to impose its dogmas on the American populace; Islam has only begun to control some neighbourhoods with its Sharia legalism (Terror's Secret Weapon: Shariah, Townhall, 20/01/11). But what about a scenario of Bible-believing Christians being persecuted by other Christians who will "not endure sound doctrine"? Is that likely? Some who have previewed this article were doubtful that "Christians killing Christians over doctrines" would ever take place in a law-abiding country where, for the most part, "doctrinal apathy" rules among evangelicals. I tend to agree, yet if someone told me 25 years ago that evangelicals would shift from the then highly influential moral majority/Christian Right to the socialismoriented Christian Left--I would have laughed. No one is laughing at that reality now (Q&A 1/11). Only the Lord knows how extreme the oppression will become prior to His return for His bride, but there are many forms of persecution, short of martyrdom.

but after their own lusts shall they gather around themselves teachers to say what their itching ears desire;
The thesis of this article, which is that seduction will ultimately bring about persecution, is intimidating for me personally. Why? Partly because Dave and I have only rarely addressed the potential for persecution in the U.S.; and partly because it's only beginning to show its nasty head here. Then why write about it now? From my observations, increasing signs point to a pending clash between the professingand even trueChristians who will conform to the world by compromising biblical teachings and those who will remain steadfast in the faith. Nevertheless, I put little value in my observations unless I'm confident that they reflect what the Scriptures teach; nor should anyone who reads this article. Following are seven pertinent verses (among others that could be given) that have influenced my observations and this thesis: In Matthew 24:4, Jesus warns that the last days prior to His return will be a time of religious deception: "Take heed that no man deceive you." He adds (v.24) that the deception will be so great that if it were possible the very elect could be deceived. In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus refers to the "strait gate" and "narrow way" that lead to life and announces that "few there are that find it." Luke writes (18:8) the sobering words of our Lord regarding the time of His return: "Nevertheless when the Son of man comes, will He find faith upon the earth?" Since His Second Coming is for the purpose of judgment

In previous articles in The Berean Call (TBC), we have addressed significant trends among evangelicals that have "weaned them off the Word," seducing them into following the ways, means, and agendas of man contrary to the Scriptures (See TBC 3/04;2/05; 3/05; 2/07, 3/07, 9/07, et al.). In the midst of that process of compromise, increasing numbers of professing and true Christians have accepted the ideals of the world, including moral, social, and religious tolerance. "Intolerance" in thought, word, or deed of that which the world believes is good for humanity identifies a person as antisocial at least and as bigoted, prejudiced, or a practitioner of hate crimes at worst. Furthermore, what if a social gospel that is based upon "good works" became widely accepted as a
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The stones were pulled off one at a time to retrieve the gold. Thus was fulfilled the words of Jesus from forty years earlier...

better form of "salvation"one that had the potential to rally everyone together, including governments, the world's religions, liberal Christians and cults, humanists and even atheists? Everyone, that is, except biblical Christians. What might be the consequences for those who would object to such a world-supported "Christian" development because it did not conform to sound doctrine? Sound doctrine, i.e., the teachings of the Bible, is what a true Christian is to abide by as he lives his life for Christ. Sound doctrine is the absolute criterion that dictates what beliefs, practices, and programmes he can accept and what he must reject. Moreover, Scripture exhorts him to be discerning and steadfast in its teachings: Therefore put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand firm having your waist buckled about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness....And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God Ephesians 6:13-14,17. But would God allow persecution to take place within the church? That's what Peter seems to be acknowledging: For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that do not obey the gospel of God? - 1 Peter 4:17. Judgment, in the sense of correction and strengthening that results from God's allowing of persecution, as we've noted, has always been a part of Christianity. The Epistle to the Hebrews also indicates that persecution is one of the things that God has used as a spiritual pruning and purifying process for Hebrew Christians. If you're not sure how (or why) persecution might take place within Christianity, consider these examples: When Promise Keepers enjoyed popularity among evangelical men, it became known that one of its goals was to "break down the walls" between Catholics and evangelicals. Part of that process involved turning churches against ministries that evangelized Roman Catholics. When Rick Warren's 40 Days of Purpose began to influence hundreds of thousands of churches throughout the U.S., long-time members who protested on doctrinal grounds were either disfellowshiped, or threatened with disfellowship, unless they submitted to Warren's programme in their own churches (see TBC 10/04 and 9/08). To question a pastor or the elders' support for introducing yoga or "Christianized yoga" in a church has been grounds for disfellowship. 28
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Although the above examples may seem marginal to some, they and other endeavours, including church-growth marketing programmes, emerging church methods and mystical practices, ecumenical overtures to Muslims and Mormons, an ecumenical global P.E.A.C.E. plan that involves all the world's religions, movements aimed at solving the world's ecological, poverty, and social injustice problems, etc., have driven multitudes of believers to start home churches. What if you were to preach against the various agendas mentioned above because they were a rejection of sound doctrine? Remember the Apostle Paul's admonition? I charge you therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ...Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine... - 2 Timothy 4:1-3. What would be the reaction among those within and outside the church who were not supportive of those agendas? Or what if, without your preaching or protesting, it simply becomes known that you are one of those biblical Christians who is allegedly intolerant toward other religions, or who rejects evolution, who won't go along with psychology, who is anti-abortion, anti-genetic manipulation, and anti-euthanasia; that you view homosexuality as a sin rather than an alternative lifestyle, and that you are against gay rights and gay marriage? You seem to be out of touch with the acceptable morality of the day (marriage now being statistically a minority as a practice in the U.S.) by having a "problem" with cohabitation, and it's been said that you believe sexual abstinence should be practised outside of marriage. You are suspicious about the alarm over "global warming." Or it's become known that you support Israel against the alleged right of the Palestinians to be restored to the land they believe is theirs. How will such a person be dealt with inside Christendomas well as by the world that champions everything that a believer opposes? The dark clouds of persecution appear to be gathering over the church in the U.S.; signs indicate that the seats of the "coliseum" are beginning to fill with a widely diverse audience (see TBC 1/11) that, at least in a figurative sense, has "a taste for the blood" of those who reject their programmes and teachings on the basis of sound biblical doctrine. The seduction of Christianity has created a condition in which biblical discernment

and steadfastness in the faith are the exception rather than the rule. Standing for the truth and righteousness of the Word of God while the opposition increases within and outside the church can only result in some form of persecution. Paul makes that quite clear: Yes, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution 2 Timothy 3:12. Although that verse may distress some believers, it shouldn't. Why? Because the beginning of the verse gives a believer the key to receiving the grace to glorify God a n d t o b e n e f i t o t h e rs t h ro u g h persecution: living godly lives in Christ Jesus! That is a believer's only preparation and it is more than sufficient. Jesus, who is the Word made flesh, gave His disciples this astonishing word of encouragement regarding standing for His teachings: You are blessed when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake. Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven... - Luke 6:22-23. Our prayer is that the Lord Jesus will help us to live godly lives and by His grace remain steadfast in the faith as we look for His soon coming.

about the author

T.A. MCMAHON is president and executive director of The Berean Call ministry, editor-inchief and contributing writer for The Berean Call newsletter, co-author of The Seduction of Christianity, The New Spirituality, Understand the Ti m e s , a n d a u t h o r o f Showtime for the Sheep? Holder of a master's degree in communications, he has researched and written numerous documentaries and scripted several feature films.

Touring Australia & New Zealand Feb 12 - Mar 5, 2012

Full details nearer the time refer to

T.A. (Tom) McMahon (USA)

www.cwm.org.au or www.cwmfellowship.org

MORE DETAILS - Feel free to contact the following Organisers (coordinators) of the Tours:

NEW ZEALAND: Lester Fensom e: cwm-nz@cwm.org.au t: 021 936 403 AUSTRALIA: Clive Leembruggen e: clivendonna7@gmail.com t: 0408 784 900

The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia over the entire world.

Islam Explained in Layman's Terms

Here is a perspective by Dr. Peter Hammond (PH), whose doctorate is in Theology. He was born in Capetown in 1960, grew up in Rhodesia and converted to Christianity in 1977. Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat. Islam is not a religion, nor is it a cult. In its fullest form, it is a complete, total, 100% system of life. Islam has religious, legal, political, economic, social, and military components. The religious component is a beard [ED - veil or cover] for all of the other components. Islamisation begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges. When politically correct, tolerant, and culturally diverse societies agree to Muslim demands for their religious privileges, some of the other components tend to creep in as well. Here's how it works: As long as the Muslim population remains around or under 2% in any given country, they will for the most part be regarded as a peace-loving minority, and not as a threat to other citizens. This is the case in: United States -- Muslim 0.6%; Australia -Muslim 1.5%; Canada -- Muslim 1.9%; China -- Muslim 1.8%; Italy -- Muslim 1.5%; Norway -- Muslim 1.8%. At 2% to 5%, they begin to proselytise from other ethnic minorities and disaffected groups, often with major recruiting from the jails and among street gangs. This is happening in: Denmark -- Muslim 2%; Germany -Muslim 3.7%; United Kingdom -- Muslim 2.7%; Spain -- Muslim 4%; Thailand -Muslim 4.6% From 5% on, they exercise an inordinate influence in proportion to their percentage of the population. For example, they will push for the introduction of halal (clean by Islamic standards) food, thereby securing food preparation jobs for Muslims. They will increase pressure on supermarket chains to feature halal on their shelves -- along with threats for failure to comply. This is occurring in: France -- Muslim 8%; Philippines Muslim 5%; Sweden -- Muslim 5%; Switzerland -Muslim 4.3%; The Netherlands -- Muslim 5.5%; Trinidad & Tobago -- Muslim 5.8% At this point, they will work to get the ruling government to allow them to rule themselves (within their ghettos) under Sharia, (the Islamic Law). The ultimate goal of Islamists is to establish Sharia over the entire world. When Muslims approach 10% of the population, they tend to increase lawlessness as a means of complaint about their conditions. In Paris, we are already seeing car-burnings. Any nonMuslim action offends Islam, and results in uprisings and threats, such as in Amsterdam, with opposition to Mohammed cartoons and films about Islam. Such tensions are seen daily, particularly in Muslim sections, in: Guyana -- Muslim 10%; India -- Muslim 13.4%; Israel -- Muslim 16%; Kenya -Muslim 10%; Russia -- Muslim 15%. After reaching 20%, nations can expect hair-trigger rioting, jihad militia formations, sporadic killings, and the burnings of Christian churches and Jewish synagogues, such as in - Ethiopia -- Muslim 32.8%. Muslim 90%; Gaza -- Muslim 98.7%; Indonesia -- Muslim 86.1%; Iran -- Muslim 98%; Iraq -- Muslim 97%; Jordan -- Muslim 92%; Morocco -- Muslim 98.7%; Pakistan -Muslim 97%; Palestine -- Muslim 99%; Syria -- Muslim 90%; Tajikistan -- Muslim 90%; Turkey -- Muslim 99.8%; United Arab Emirates -- Muslim 96% 100% will usher in the peace of 'Dar-esSalaam' -- the Islamic House of Peace.. Here there's supposed to be peace, because everybody is a Muslim, the Madrasses are the only schools, and the Koran is the only word, such as in: Afghanistan -- Muslim 100%; Saudi Arabia -- Muslim 100%; Somalia -- Muslim 100%; Yemen -- Muslim 100% Unfortunately, peace is never achieved, as in these 100% states the most radical Muslims intimidate and spew hatred, and satisfy their blood lust by killing less radical Muslims, for a variety of reasons. Before I was nine I had learned the basic canon of Arab life. It was me against my brother; me and my brother against our father; my family against my cousins and the clan; the clan against the tribe; the tribe against the world, and all of us against the infidel -- Leon Uris, The Haj [1] It is important to understand that in some countries, with well under 100% Muslim populations, such as France, the minority Muslim populations live in ghettos, within which they are 100% Muslim, and within which they live by Sharia. The national police do not even enter these ghettos. There are no national courts, nor schools, nor non-Muslim religious facilities. In such situations, Muslims do not integrate into the community at large. The children attend madrasses. They learn only the Koran. To even associate with an infidel is a crime punishable with death. Therefore, in some areas of certain nations, Muslim Imams and extremists exercise more power than the national average would indicate. Today's 1.5 billion Muslims make up 22% of the world's population. But their birth rates dwarf the birth rates of Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews, and all other believers. Muslims will exceed 50% of the world's population by the end of this century. Adapted from Dr. Peter Hammond's book: Slavery, Terrorism and Islam: The Historical Roots and Contemporary Threat.
Footnote:
[1] The Haj is a novel published in 1984 by American author Leon Uris about a Palestinian Arab family caught up in the area's historic events of the 1920s-1950s as witnessed by Ishmael, the youngest son http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Haj
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Islamisation begins when there are sufficient Muslims in a country to agitate for their religious privileges.
At 40%, nations experience widespread massacres, chronic terror attacks, and ongoing militia warfare, such as in: Bosnia -- Muslim 40%; Chad -- Muslim 53.1%; Lebanon -- Muslim 59.7%. From 60%, nations experience unfettered persecution of non-believers of all other religions (including non-conforming Muslims), sporadic ethnic cleansing (genocide), use of Sharia as a weapon, and Jizya, the tax placed on infidels, such as in: Albania -- Muslim 70%; Malaysia -- Muslim 60.4%; Qatar -- Muslim 77.5%; Sudan -Muslim 70%. After 80%, expect daily intimidation and violent jihad, some State-run ethnic cleansing, and even some genocide, as these nations drive out the infidels, and move toward 100% Muslim, such as has been experienced and in some ways is ongoing in: Bangladesh -- Muslim 83%; Egypt --

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Christ rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of God. He has defeated death, sin and the devil.

- The Music of Hillsong - In Praise of Folly

By Lance Goodall PART 2 (For part 1 see CETF # 56 pp. 13-16) The Cross and the Phoenix - Talking up the cross Hillsong United have released a new studio album called Aftermath 15 Feb 2011 grave, just as scripture predicted: For You will not leave my soul in Sheol, nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption - Psalm 16:10. The Lord Jesus did not experience decay or ruin. And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it Colossians 2:15. Christ rose from the dead, and is now seated at the right hand of God. He has defeated death, sin and the devil. Let me repeat this so I make myself clear there is no aftermath with God, and there are no surprises. He makes all things new Hallelujah!! The unusual name of the Album, and single, are even more pronounced by their association with other songs of the same title. Other Songs entitled Aftermath [1]
"Aftermath" (R.E.M. song)

surface showing him romantically kissing another man while he was competing on the eighth season of American Idol. Lambert confirmed that the photos were of him, stating he had nothing to hide and has always been open about his life. Mainstream media speculation centred on Lambert's sexuality; presuming he was gay, he would be the first gay American Idol. [3] He recently appeared on Australian Idol as a guest singer. Lambert released his album For Your Entertainment in Nov 2009, but The Aftermath Remix single was released in March of this year. The timing, with

When I read this title, I was disturbed, and questioned the name with a great deal of unease. Definition: Aftermath The meaning of the word aftermath is linked to the consequences of an event (especially a catastrophic event) e.g. "in the aftermath of war"; in the wake of the accident no one knew how many had been injured. A consequence, especially of a disaster or misfortune e.g. famine as an aftermath of drought. Interestingly aftermath is not a Bible word. Back in 2001 Youth Alive produced an album called Elevate, which also is not found in the Bible. It is a term linked to evolution and the ascendancy of man, and is found in Masonic literature. Let me say it loud and clear. The cross of Christ and His choosing to go there has nothing to do with Greek or Roman tragedy, calamity, or some sort of cosmic fallout. Christ, on the cross declared, It is finished! He was the Christ, but not in the way Mary Magdalene and the disciples thought of Him. To them, His death was a tragedy. All their hopes and dreams lay silent with the Lord in the tomb. But He, the Son of God, rose up that Sunday morning, conquering the 30
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"Aftermath", by Adam Lambert from

For Your Entertainment 2009

"Aftermath", by Edge of Sanity from

Let me repeat this so I make myself clear there is no aftermath with God, and there are no surprises.
Hillsong United's release date of February 2011 for their album, raises some speculation that it was more than a coincidence. Research the above list and you'll find that most of the groups are rock, hard rock, metal, or heavy metal. Origin (see reference above) is a Technical death metal band!! How can a seemingly innocent title of a song stir up so much questionable connection and controversy? There must be more to the name than meets the eye. Aftermath Feb 2011 (abridged lyrics) In a moment of glorious surrender You were broken for all the world to see Lifted out of the ashes I am found in the aftermath The above lyrics are taken from the single AFTERMATH by Hillsong United and
Footnote:
[3] http://cetf.co/pqc68C

Crimson II

"Aftermath", by Phish from Phish "Aftermath", by The Rolling Stones; an

unreleased song credited to Nanker Phelge [2]

"Aftermath", by Sonic Syndicate from

Only Inhuman

"The Aftermath", by Bob Seger and the

Silver Bullet Band from Like a Rock

"The Aftermath", by Iron Maiden from

The X Factor

"The Aftermath", by Kashmir from

Zitilites

"The Aftermath", by Origin from

Antithesis 2008

"The Aftermath (G3)", by Escape the

Fate from Escape the Fate Nov 2010

Adam Lambert, (listed above), this modern Elvis look-a-like, had photos
Footnote:
[1] http://cetf.co/pwaaZK Further details http://cetf.co/nSDNzy [2] Nanker Phelge (aka Nanker/Phelge) was a collective pseudonym used between 1963 and 1965 for several Rolling Stones group compositions - http://cetf.co/qZ6Xd5

Most occultists believe that the Phoenix is a symbol of Lucifer who was cast down in flames and who they think will one day rise triumphant.

were apparently intended to be metaphorical. However there must be concern with the reference to Christ's death as an aftermath. His death can in no way be considered a disaster, or some human tragedy. Christ's death was a propitiation for our sinsto deal with God's righteous justice against our sin and rebellion. His death was part of the overall plan of salvation. Christ the victor gives us life through His life. In no way do we come forth anew, raised out from Christ's death, or from Christ's ashes? Such an analogy smacks of a modern day take on reincarnation. We are buried with Christ, and we are raised again with Him cf. Romans 6: 4 11 Verse 4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

something tangible, and the Phoenix is one sign of the secret orders of the ancient world, and of the initiate of those orders, for it was common to refer to one who had been accepted into temples as a man twice-born, or reborn. Wisdom confers a new life, and those who become wise are born again. A former witch had this to say regarding the occult belief in the Phoenix. The Phoenix... is believed to be a divine bird going back to Egypt... This Phoenix destroys itself in flames and then rises from the ashes. Most occultists believe that the Phoenix is a symbol of Lucifer who was cast down in flames and who they think will one day rise triumphant. This, of course, also relates to the rising Hiram Abiff, the Masonic 'Christ.' [Source: Dr. C. Burns, Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated, p. 123] Thus what we have here is a bird, the occult Phoenix that has its root in Ancient mythology. It actually symbolizes the New Age concept of being born-again. [5] It is definitely NOT Christian. Rather it is linked to the rising of a New World Order as illustrated in detail, on the back of the United States One dollar bill. The eagle replaced the Phoenix in 1841 as the national bird. But the Phoenix has been a Brotherhood symbol since ancient Egypt. The Phoenix was adopted by the Founding Fathers (Freemasons) for use on the reverse of the first official seal of the United States after a design proposed by Charles Thompson, Secretary of the Continental Congress. The Great Seal played a prominent role in the January 14, 1784 (Ratification Day) ratification of the Treaty of Paris. [6] The new order will one day rise up out of the ashes (aftermath) of the old regime. The Lotus flower, the egg, the swastika, and the Ying and Yang, are all symbols for birth and rebirth. 20 These symbols of rebirth, and the phoenix alluded to in Hillsong United's Aftermath is totally misguided, linking Christian thought with new age mythology and symbolism. And just to make sure I wasn't reading anything into this song, I looked deeper and found these additional lyrics.... And in that moment You opened up the heavens To the broken the beggar and the thief Lifted out of the wreckage I find hope in the aftermath
Footnote:
[5] http://cetf.co/pYwczd http://cetf.co/p8aNkr Also http://cetf.co/nDrIRq http://cetf.co/qYUMDh [6] http://cetf.co/qz48Ri Also http://cetf.co/qyzYxv

It is this merging of two ideas or philosophies into a homogenised heterodoxy. Hillsong and their followers are quickly departing from the faith, and maybe don't even know it! It is ironic that at the time of the writing of this article, Hillsong United were having their most successful concerts in the United States ever! They were selling tickets, by selling out Jesus, and the message of the gospel. A New Salvation Highway to Hell The reality is that the whole world lies in the lap of the evil one. Condemned in darkness, and spiritual blindness, the devil has blinded the eyes of unbelievers. We are born part of this world system, dead in trespasses and sin, cut off from God, hostile and wayward in our response to Him.

Without God's intervention we are eternally lost, set on a course for Hell and destruction. Without God, we are without hope in the world.
Without God's intervention we are eternally lost, set on a course for Hell and destruction. Without God, we are without hope in the world. Yet the majority of the church wants to use the methods of the world to bring about the new birth. Who do they fool? They massage the message, and manipulate the multitudes, using natural means like rock music in the vain hope to bring about spiritual results. There can be no new birth, no new creation, no sanctification apart from the life and activity of the Holy Spirit. This use of worldly concepts brings about false conversions, dare I say, stillbirths. Church growth over the last three decades has been nothing more than the work of man on the back of a philistine cart. With the church in decline, someone decided to keep the ark from falling, by the introduction of marketing, and a man centred gospel, but they touched the Holy. Though this has swept the world, t h ere h a s b een n o ch a n ge, n o repentance, no fleeing from the wrath to comejust come to Jesus, and pray a simple prayer. The Holy Spirit's influence has more or less ceased and is replaced by the world's music, theatre and other forms of entertainment to attract people.
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To be lifted out of the ashes is a weighted reference to the Phoenix, a bird, which symbolizes rebirth, especially of the sun, and has variants in European, Central American, Egyptian and Asian cultures. In the 19th century, Hans Christian Anderson (1805-1875) wrote a story about the phoenix. Edith Nesbit (1858-1924) features a phoenix in one of her children's stories, The Phoenix and the Carpet, as does J.K. Rowling (1965- ) in the Harry Potter series. In one volume of Harry Potter, the phoenix does its resurrecting routine. JK Rowling wrote Harry Potter and the order of the Phoenix in 2003 A new phoenix always rises from the ashes. [4] Manly P. Hall, in his book entitled, The Secret Destiny of America, 1958, p. 176177 wrote: All symbols have their origin in
Footnote:
[4] http://cetf.co/nDrIRq

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We have given in to the culture of celebrity. We have fallen into the error of Lucifer who became proud of his place and position, within God's hierarchy.

This is nothing more than appealing to the carnal. The Homosexual community tapped into this idea years ago, with their annual Mardi gras. Give the people what they wantfun, and entertainmentand we will make them believe our lifestyle is acceptable. The church is using the same worldly methods without blushing. Today true salvation is rarely understood. We have gone down the slippery slope of offering the masses a repackaged m o d e r n d ay v e rs i o n o f Ro m a n Catholicism. Atonement is now defined as a forgiving of yourself. A Romish reformation of form and flattery is emerging. God's wonderful plan for our lives, according to scripture, is death to self, denying the flesh, taking the path of sufferingthe cross, with its shame.

church take that which is tainted by the world, and use it for the kingdom of God, except we have fallen backwards. Yet again with all the brash sacrilege it could muster, Hillsong-Brisbane put on an end of year musical production of Someone has stolen the Star, this last December, based on the theme of Christmas. [7] They included Mr Incredible, Gingerbread Man, Tooth fairy, Batman and Superman along with Santa Claus to present to us the meaning and message of Christmas - that Jesus was God's present to us? What a travesty! Have I missed something? Oh yes, there was also the story of Cinderella thrown in. But isn't that a story of romance? And there you have it. Love and romance are the drawcardno longer the nativity scene, with its serenity, reverence, and wonder over the Son of God coming to earth. No we're over that! That's been done. Give us something different, something new! Let's make it all about a girl who's down on her luck, a mere afterthought, until the prince comes to bring her hope. You know, a good old tale of rags to riches. This was a production that American musical comedy-drama television series Glee would be proud of. To the casual observer it was all about the entertainment. Oh, by the way there were some carols thrown in. It was billed as a church service, but tickets were sold, so it was all about the money, really. By their fruit you shall know them. We need more of the Holy Spirit, not more money. It is because they have no Holy Spirit, that they always need more money. When will they wake up? Making the gospel a vehicle of enterprise! Do they no longer read their Bibles? Will Jesus not come again, take up the whip, and throw over the tables of merchandise, and marketing? It's only a matter of time see 2 Peter 2: 1 3. Twilight Christians Nights on the Broadway Brian and Bobbie Houston at one time had this vision. I see a Church whose heartfelt praise and worship touches heaven and changes earth. With worship that exalts Jesus Christ through powerful songs of faith and hope. I see a Church whose altars are constantly filled with repentant sinners responding to His call to salvation. Yes, the Church that I see is so dependent on the Holy Spirit that nothing will stop it, nor stand against it. A Church, whose people are unified, praying, and full of Spiritfilled believers. [8]
Footnote:
[7] http://cetf.co/qgml6c http://cetf.co/p9bs82 [8] http://cetf.co/o4f83S

We can now say that they have produced nothing close to repentant sinners, dependent on the Holy Spirit, praying, Spirit-filled believers, mentioned by Brian and Bobbie Houston, but instead a brood of twilight Christians, living half in the world and half in Christ. Dancing with the devil in the name of Christ, divided in the twilight of commitment and conviction, nightclubs, and disco halls, Usher [9], King of R&B, and Hillsong United [10]. We have Christians facing both ways, halted between two opinions, enjoying Christ and the world. They become enemies of God, but that no longer seems to matter, the warning falling on deaf ears. They cry God will not reject His people? cf. 1 Sam 12:14 -25

Today true salvation is rarely understood. We have gone down the slippery slope of offering the masses a repackaged modern day version of Roman Catholicism.
When I was still part of Hillsong Brisbane, previously Garden City Christian Church for some 9 years, I would hear the leaders talk about the upcoming Encounter weekend. This was where over 140 young people would get together to meet God. You know, to set aside the weekend, to seek God, and be filled with His Holy Spirit! But not as you would anticipate. A YouTube clip of the weekend (Oct 2010) http://cetf.co/nPW8Lw, leaves you dismayed and heartbroken. [11] Note the room is pitch black; the coloured lights flash; the green strobe laser lights, the crowded room, the youth pumping; the noise, the beat and licentious sound. We have made entertainment the new god. Like Xbox, Wii, and every other form of self-gratification, we have replaced the true God, with a god we are comfortable with. We do not know what has become of this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egyptmake for us gods that we can worship, after the gods of Egypt cf. Exodus 32:1. Like the children of Israel, who danced around their golden calf in the wilderness of sin, we have Christianized our idolatry, and sanctified our blasphemy. We do not
Footnote:
[9] http://cetf.co/quK2qq - http://cetf.co/ncuGdp [10] http://cetf.co/nWGmH3 [11] http://cetf.co/nLh4mF Also http://cetf.co/mTTmLP

Instead we feed the prodigals the husk of health, wealth, and prosperity, cheap grace, your best life now, while still leaving them wallowing in their pigpen. We have preached the message of a Golden Ticket, a Christ purchased salvation, so we can live as we please, our best life here, and our best life there. We are fulfilling Christ's words again in our generation, going across seas to make proselytes twice the sons of hell we are. Robert Schuller, and his band of reformers have blazed a trail that is bringing in a new dawn of apostasy. Grieved men who put no trust in the flesh cannot stand by and watch this storm of deception roll in. Culture Club Church of the Poisoned mind We have given in to the culture of celebrity. We have fallen into the error of Lucifer who became proud of his place and position, within God's hierarchy. How many men of God have allowed power, and position in their ministry to corrupt God's purposes? And this is the whole reason we have the decay and this crowds by any means mania in the first place. This world is all about money, fame and fortune, and all its vices. How can the 32
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It's one thing for the world to go headlong into Hell, but for the church to follow suit is complete madness.

know what has become of this Moses (type of Jesus). We cannot see Him, or touch Him, so the cry is make for us gods we can worship, the gods we know, that we are familiar with. They bow to the gods of this world and rock with the best of them, and get away with as much as is socially acceptable. If it's not actually condemned in the Bible then we should be fine. Everything else goes, and the values that Christ scorned, are being used to attract people to the gospel today. It's one thing for the world to go headlong into Hell, but for the church to follow suit is complete madness. We are close to losing our evangelical birthright if we have not already lost it. Worship in these churches, like Hillsong has become nothing more than a nightclub, without the booze and ecstasy. In fact it can no longer be called worship, but strange fire in the nostrils of an angry God. The sanctuary has become so denigrated that the gods of Molech and Dagon are at home. The church has become a synagogue of Satan. God created us to be worshippers of Him, but we have corrupted the music, and turned it into entertainment, about us, and for us. Hillsong in particular has churned out

song after song, love ditties, lyrics that are nothing more than what you would hear on secular radio, the product of a Christless Christianity. The standard is so low that American hard rock band Van Halen, or reformed alcoholic country singer Keith Urban could be Christian. You are hard pressed now to find Jesus at all mentioned in any of the new worship songs. It's You. We have a lot of biblical language, but almost nothing that is truly biblical. The new worship songs could as easily be sung to a girlfriend/boyfriend as to Jesus. Over the last decade this style of lyric has become part of the ever-expanding Jesus Is My Girlfriend/Boyfriend genre. Take out the line I've got a Saviour and He's living in me and What The World Will Never Take from the album Look to You (2005) and it's just one of those songs. It's supposed to be about Jesus, but it's not. It's an insult to Christ, to God, the Church and the whole idea of worship. True worship requires the humbling and prostrating of self before a Holy God, who dwells in unapproachable light, and that's missing. One of the most obvious signs that there is no worship in the Church is that Isaiah's vision of a Holy God is

missing. Worship today is nothing more than a Pentecostal X Factor. The Pentecostals and Evangelicals of this current dark hour have become the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Judas Iscariots, worrying only about the poor, and the moneybags. True worship has been relegated to a non-essential for the average modern Christian. Many are so confused they mistake religious rock concerts for worship. We now have the worship team run by session musicians and an assorted group of Dixie chicks. [12] NEXT: Part 3 The Worship of Entertainment Your Own Personal Jesus
Footnote:
[12] http://cetf.co/nvxEbi

about the author

Lance Goodall and his wife Norilyn left the Australian church growth movement in 2009. They both have a concern for the knowledge of God and His glory. They carry in their heart, a love for Gods honour, for His Word, and for the salvation of the lost. Lance can be contacted via email

lancegoodall21@gmail.com

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Honesty will admit the great need we have today for a Revival in our Churches.

Lessons From The Welsh Revivals Part 1

By Aeron Morgan LORD, You have been favourable to Your land; You have brought back the captivity of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. Selah You have taken away all Your wrath; You have turned from the fierceness of Your anger. Restore us, O God of our salvation, And cause Your anger toward us to cease. Will You be angry with us forever? Will You prolong Your anger to all generations? Will You not revive us again, That Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, LORD, and grant us Your salvation. I will hear what God the LORD will speak: for He will speak peace unto His people, and to His saints: but let them not turn again to folly. Surely His salvation is nigh them that fear Him; that glory may dwell in our land. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. Truth shall spring out of the earth; and righteousness shall look down from heaven. Yea, the LORD shall give that which is good; and our land shall yield her increase. Righteousness shall go before Him; and shall set us in the way of His steps. - Psalm 85:1-13 We returned from a visit to the United Kingdom in August (2011). It was especially good for my wife and I to have time with our family in Wales. It was a blessed visit! In the early mornings I took walks along the mountainside, close to our family home. I recalled the many times I did that as a youth when living at home, and having a longing to see REVIVAL again in Wales. My pastor and the elders of the church I was raised up in (which celebrated its centenary in 2010) had come through the great 1904 Revival. What a Divine visitation that was, and how we longed that God would do it again. So, on my recent visit I retraced those steps, looked over the valley again, and found myself crying out to God that He in His mercy might grant another hallowed spiritual awakening. While we do not equate Wales with the Holy Land of Israel, if we as Welsh people can say anything at all about our beloved homeland it must be that down through many years God has been most favourable to it. It has been justifiably called: The Land of Revivals. It may be true to say that the history of its great spiritual revivals seems to be without equal anywhere. When speaking of the past revivals many think only of the '1904' and the godly young revivalist whom God raised up Evan Roberts, referred to by one as 'the standard bearer of the Revival movement,'[1] then a student at Newcastle Emlyn (West Wales), and a Methodist, although that especial s e a s o n o f s p i r i t u a l re n e wa l wa s participated in by ministers of all the Nonconformist denominations in the area of Loughor (West Glamorgan), and later everywhere. The unity among those churches was not organisational but grounded in two vital matters (I) an agreement in respect of the basic truths of the Gospel, so that truth was n o t c o m p ro m i s e d fo r o u t w a rd uniformity; and (ii) the common, fervent desire for a visitation of the Holy Spirit to glorify Jesus Christ as Saviour and Lord, and for the manifestation of His power to produce the moral and spiritual changes deemed to be most urgent at that time. In the 1859 Revival, within two years the Welsh chapels had received more than 100,000 new Christian believers into their membership, formerly ungodly people who came to know a life-transforming e n co u nte r w i t h J e s u s . A n d m o st remarkably, in the 1904 Revival, in the space of just four months an estimated 200,000 were brought into a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ, and added to HIS Church. Well might we inquire then, first of all: WHAT IS REVIVAL? It is a Divine intervention of God's Holy Spirit coming without constraint and often without expectation but with great power, into the regular means of grace wherein there is an evident spiritual bankruptcy. This would be followed by a profuse measure of renewed spiritual liveliness amongst church members, widespread conversions among the ungodly, a disturbing sense of God's presence throughout entire communities, resulting in a moral reformation spilling over into their society. A true biblical Revival is nothing less than God sovereignly acting upon the Church, intervening to lift the situation completely out of human hands and manifesting His holy Presence by works of extraordinary power. There's nothing quite like genuine REVIVAL, for it revolutionises a church in decline by an evident act of God Himself. It cannot be worked up, for it comes down from Heaven. All the while you can organise it, or that it depends on man's activity, it is not Revival. It is GOD coming down in answer to the fervent prayers of concerned believers, whereupon there's an all-pervading, overwhelming sense of His Presence. Believers are filled with awe at the manifest glory of God, and unbelievers, made so aware of their utter sinfulness, cannot but cry out to God in repentance that He might have mercy on them. Revival is the exact answer of God to the prayer of Isaiah: Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that mountains might flow down at Your Presence to make Your name known to Your adversaries, that the nations might tremble at Your Presence - Isaiah 64:1-3. Honesty will admit the great need we have today for a Revival in our Churches. The moral and spiritual conditions that prevailed and called for those Revivals in the Principality in days gone by were no different to what is being presently witnessed about us in Australia, Britain, America and other nations. Writing about the 1859 Revival in particular, though making reference to other Revivals in the 19th century in Wales (such as in 1805, 1811, 1817, 1821, 1828), Eifion Evans comments on the conditions at the time that greatly

Oh, that You would rend the heavens and come down, that mountains might flow down at Your Presence
O, that there was awakened in all our hearts a like longing to see God at work in our day, since we also see conditions prevailing in both society and the church that are most disturbing and grievous. The Welsh Revival of 1904 was but one among many visitations of God that shook the Principality, and in all cases God's power was always exerted in answer to prayer. Between 1762 and 1862 there were no fewer than fifteen outstanding revivals in Wales, which is quite remarkable. They were Divine Visitations, each with their own characteristic, in which the most significant, powerful, and widespread spiritual influences of the Holy Spirit were felt. What an impact was made, not only within the Churches in Wales but also on their communities. It was the late F.B. Meyer who said that the supreme test of a Revival is the ethical result. [2]
Footnote:
[1] John Ewing, in his Foreword to Rent Heavens, the account of The Revival of 1904 by R.B. Jones, [published by Pioneer Mission, Vowler St., Walworth, London SE17, 1931; reprinted 1950), 7. [2] ibid, 62.

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Will You not revive us again: that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation.

concerned the leaders of the Churches: They were constrained to survey their own spiritual condition, and became gravely concerned at finding a serious deficiency of true godliness amongst the members, and an alarming ineffectiveness in the witness of the churches True religion had been at a low ebb a barrenness was felt in the means of grace; the older Christians were indifferent, and the young people were worldly and superficial in spiritual things...[3] Are things any different to that today? NO! Indeed, even Paul describes our times in his letter to Timothy as being the last days and addressing believers he prophesies of perilous times to come as confusion grips the professing Church. It would be a church marked by apostasy, moral decay, arrogance, the worship of mammon, the love of mere pleasure, and a tolerance for things that are patently against what pleases Almighty God as set forth in His Word. Prayerfully read again 2 Timothy 3 and 4. Paul says there would be a disregard, even disdain, for sound and wholesome teaching of the Scriptures, such as is saving and sanctifying in its effect. In its place would be a desire for agreeable, pleasing homilies that tickle the ears, as well as false systems of belief issuing in warped views of God and corrupt standards of living. It is predicted that in the Church one would observe, not a people faithfully and fervently loving God but holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power (2 Timothy 3:5) a mere outline of Christianity without substance. How accurate is God's Word! We ought to be sitting up and listening to its profound message, its infinite wisdom, and timely warnings for these troublesome times. There is much inspiration and encouragement to be received from reflecting on those past Revivals in Wales, especially to see that prior to such heavensent visitations, God had moved on the hearts of many of His people to seek Him with renewed fervour. In my hometown of Aberdare, in February 1858, the Reverend William Edwards, writing in an article on Religious Awakening in the publication Annibynwyr (Independent), said, There is need for a revival, a revival very soon before things worsen, and go beyond recovery. And he put forward suggestions as to how a revival will be promoted: a pure ministry apostolic preaching the awakening must start in the pulpit the church must be in full sympathy with the ministry the particular use of the means of grace earnest prayer.[4]
Footnote:
[3] Eifion Evans, When He is Come; [Bala, North Wales: Evangelical Movement of Wales, 1959], 11,15. [4] ibid, 28.

Not only in Aberdare but also simultaneously throughout Wales the churches were challenged with a view of their own spiritual poverty, and a call to prayer. In 1859, within just a year of such deep and genuine longing for revival, with people reaching out to God in fervent prayer the Revival broke out. And who can describe those days of heavenly visitation and such powerful impressions in the churches and in the communities! It is difficult for us to take in what true revival is like. But if we have come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour; if we have any deep spiritual desires after God; if there is any true spiritual life within us; if we have any understanding at all of God's purposes in sending His Son into our dark and sinful world, and if we have any concerns deep within us for the general spiritual and moral state of things in our communities and nation THEN there ought to be a cry in our hearts to God, as with David in Psalm 85:34, that He will turn Himself from the fierceness of His anger, and turn us to Him, the God of our salvation.

of Jacob. You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people, You have covered all their sin. You have taken away all Your wrath Do it again, Lord! What were the marks of that earlier visitation in Wales? Ah, the revival was the gracious work of the Holy Spirit primarily awakening the slumbering Church, where apathy and formality had replaced its former spiritual life and vitality. It had become an outward show as 'Christianity' appeared to be devoid of inward reality. What happened in Wales in those Revivals? There was the evidence of God's grace in the changed lives of those Christians who had become backslidden and lukewarm. They manifested

A new fervent prayerfulness and powerful preaching; A new love for holiness, and such a loathing for sin; A new consecration to God and to His Son Jesus Christ; A new zeal for His House, and what it truly represents; A new appetite for the Word of God, and obedience to it; A new stimulus was received to establish family worship; A new passion to bring the ungodly to faith in Christ.
THERE WAS RENEWED SPIRITUAL LIFE, a thorough change of heart so that sin was renounced and holiness of life was ardently pursued. A gaudy and godless world no longer appealed to them as an attraction. It was seen for what it was as superficial, vain, and empty, for Christ had become all and in all. Contentions that had lingered for years were ended through a newfound brotherly love and reconciliation. There was a moral and spiritual clean up. AND with quickened Churches there always comes forth a new generation of preachers, leaders and missionaries and such that are marked by godly integrity. The question that must surely be raised in our minds and hearts is this: HOW can we see such a Revival in our times? Is there anything we can do in order to secure a spiritual awakening? Verses 8-9 of this Psalm tell us: 1. WE MUST HEAR WHAT GOD IS SAYING I will hear what God the Lord will speak verse 8. Our God is a living God; He is a speaking God. There are times when He speaks in His wrath, in His sore displeasure. That is fearful, and who can abide the day of His wrath? Yet other times, as in this Psalmist's understanding, God will speak peace to His people. He is a faithful and merciful God whose disposition it is to save, to draw men and women back into His way, to slay the enmity, remove the barrier to fellowship,
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There was the evidence of God's grace in the changed lives of those Christians who had become backslidden and lukewarm.
When did you and I last hear God's people fervently crying from their hearts in earnest petition to the God of all grace (v.6): Will You not revive us again: that Your people may rejoice in You? Show us Your mercy, O LORD, and grant us Your salvation. What an appeal for restoring grace the Psalmist makes in this 85th Psalm. It is fourfold: observe them with me, for here are the marks of genuine REVIVAL.

Verse 4: TURN US the longing to be recovered to live in true holiness. Verse 6: REVIVE US the desire to be restored to new spiritual life. Verse 7: SHOW US the humility to acknowledge the need for mercy. Verse 7: GRANT US the request for a display of God's saving power.
And such a cry that not only springs from a heart of concern but from one of confidence in the merciful nature of God to do it, for he had done it before (verses 1-3): Lord, You have been favourable to Your land: You have brought back the captivity

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Honesty will admit the great need we have today for a Revival in our Churches.

and abolish the alienation caused by sin. Observe verse 2 You have forgiven the iniquity of Your people; You have covered all their sin. In another Psalm David says,

let us have grace whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear; for our God is a consuming fire. You can see that we have no options here. God requires that we fear Him in view of who He is. Psalm 89:7 says, God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him. 4. WE MUST SEEK TO HONOUR GOD ABOVE ALL ELSE His SALVATION is nigh them that fear Him, in order that GLORY may dwell in our land... verse 9. This evident demonstration of God's extraordinary power brings about a spiritual wellbeing in His people, a dynamic change of character. Observe then what happens as God comes in renewing grace and saving power (verses 11-13): Truth shall spring out of the earth ... righteousness shall go before Him, and shall set us in the way of His steps (i.e. we come to know what path the Lord walks in, and we are then found following in that way of righteousness). Is not THAT the glory we would see in our land even in the Church? The departure of the glory of God from Israel, His holy presence, was because of the apostasy of the nation immediately preceding the Babylonian Exile (cf. Ezekiel 811). God cannot abide in darkness. He necessarily removes from all that is evil. We know that the return of the glory of the Lord in the future is foretoldsee Ezekiel 43:1-4; cf. Psalms 26:8; 63:2; Isaiah 40:3-5; 60:1-3; 62:1-5but it will only be a reality when Israel shall turn to the Lord. The message is very clear, from Scripture and from the glorious history of revivals, wherever they have occurred in church history, that the glory of God will be known again in its fullness in our churches and in our land when we turn to the Lord in repentance and fervent prayer.

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If You, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? BUT there is forgiveness with You, that You may be feared Psalm 130:4. What good news this is, that God has made provision for the forgiveness of all our sins, through His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ who died for us on the Cross: We have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace - Ephesians 1:7. Salvation is not earned by our good works, or church attendance, or religious piety but by acknowledging we have sinned; and we come to trust solely in the atoning work of Christ on the Cross. God has made peace through the blood of His Cross to reconcile us to Himself (Colossians 1:21-22). 2. WE MUST HUMBLY REPENT AND FORSAKE ALL KNOWN SIN But don't let them turn again to folly verse 8. Repentance is more than saying 'sorry'. It is a change of mind with regard to God, and His whole antagonism toward sin. It presupposes a rightabout turn, a loathing and a leaving of the sin that offends Infinite Holiness. 3. WE MUST WALK IN THE TRUE FEAR OF THE LORD His salvation is nigh them that fear Him verse 9. In true Revival there is always a new expression of 'the fear of the Lord', for the fear of the Lord is an integral part of our relationship with God. It is a disposition of reverential awe that is mingled with adoring love, and which inspires trust, promotes humility, and engenders a passion for heart-holiness so as to be worthy of Him who is all-Holy. Psalm 111:910 says, He sent redemption to his people: He has commanded His covenant for ever: holy and reverend (awesome; to be feared) is His name. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do his commandments. And then Psalm 147:11 The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy. This is the godly fear spoken of in Hebrews 12:28-29,

By Post: Write to your nearest CWM office (see addresses above) Web: (PDF, ebook and kindle versions) www.christian-witness.org/joinsearch.html LETTERS TO EDITOR By Post: see above e: editor@christian-witness.org RESOURCES For a full catalogue of all audios, cds, videos, dvds & books available, contact CWM Australia (see above) DONATIONS: Please make payment to Christian Witness Ministries EDITOR: Philip L. Powell e: philip@christian-witness.org ASSISTANT EDITOR: B. Michael Bigg e: bmbigg@christian-witness.org GRAPHIC DESIGN: Drew (Andrew) Caswell e: drew@christian-witness.org
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CETF 57 September 2011 www.cwm.org.au

about the author

AERON MORGAN and wife Dinah, have served the Lord for more than fifty years. They are Welsh and have pastored churches in the UK and Australia, where they now reside. Aeron served on the National Executives of the British and the Australian AoG fellowships. He was the first General Superintendent of the British AoG, and was Principal of the Australian National Bible College for twelve years. He was also an adjunct faculty member of the South Pacific Bible College in Suva, Fiji. Now retired from active pastoral ministry he fulfils an extensive itinerant ministry in many countries speaking at churches, Conferences, ministers' seminars, and short-term teaching in Bible Schools. Aeron has a website - www.aeronmorgan.org