SCHISM AND THE LOCAL CHURCH

SCHISM AND THE LOCAL CHURCH

MICHAEL G. BROWN

Although the Great Schism occurred in the eleventh century, dealing with schismatic people in the local church has been a problem since the days of the apostles. Writing to the church at Corinth around AD 55, Paul said, “I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported … that there is quarreling among you, my brothers” (1 Cor. 1:10–11). The word the apostle used for “divisions” is the Greek word schisma, from which we get our English word schism.

Schism is a division within or split from a church. It occurs in a congregation or denomination when a faction is formed on the basis of something other than the faith once for all delivered to the saints. It is distinguished from heresy, which is false teaching about doctrine. While heresies can (and often do) lead to schisms, most schisms in the local church do not involve heresy. They usually erupt from some “quarrel over opinions” (Rom. 14:1) in matters not essential to the faith.

Although Christians have liberty to differ in their opinions about things such as, say, the age of the earth, healthcare, and the best school for their children, any attempt to base Christian unity upon such opinions is illegitimate and schismatic. Our consumer preferences, cultural practices, or political convictions do not unite us in the church, and we have no right to divide over them. To do so is an attack upon the unity that the Spirit has given us.

What are the problems caused by schismatic people in the church?

First, schismatic behavior causes unnecessary tension in the local church. In the case of the Corinthians, their personal preferences for particular teachers led to quarreling and brought division to the congregation (1 Cor. 1:12–13). Instead of rejoicing in the one faith that Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and Christ all taught, the Corinthians were splitting up into factions on the basis of their consumer choices.

Second, schismatic behavior gives unnecessary offense. In Corinth, some members allowed their cultural practices to take precedence at the Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. 11:17–22). They were doing at the Table what they were accustomed to doing in the world, namely, eating and drinking for personal satisfaction without regarding others. Consequently, the poor members of the church were offended. The sacrament that was given to manifest the church’s unity had become the occasion of division between those who had much and those who had little.

Third, schismatic behavior in the church is a poor witness to the world. Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35). But how can we manifest that love if we divide over the same things that divide the world into factions: our consumer preferences and cultural practices?

How do we admonish those who are schismatic?

Those who engage in schismatic behavior must be reminded that God commands us to be “eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Eph. 4:3). If the schismatic person persists, the elders must get involved. Paul told Pastor Titus: “As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned” (Titus 3:10–11). Schismatic behavior warrants church discipline, and church discipline is the responsibility of the elders.

Of course, this highlights the importance of the historic creeds and confessions. They not only protect the church against heresy, they also help to preserve the church’s unity by summarizing the faith once for all delivered to the saints. This is why many Reformed churches call their confessions the Three Forms of Unity (the Heidelberg Catechism, Belgic Confession, and Canons of Dort). They keep us “standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel” (Phil. 1:27b). Without them, the elders have no clear boundaries of Christian unity to which they can point the schismatic person. But when a church is confessional, that is, when it subscribes to the ecumenical creeds and Reformed confessions (for example), the elders can admonish the schismatic member for his attempt to make his personal opinion an article of the Christian faith.

How do we guide those having to deal with such behavior?

Because the church consists of sinful people, the reality is that we will be faced with the challenge of dealing with schismatic behavior from time to time. While it is usually an unpleasant experience, we should not despair. By being vigilant in our confession of faith and “with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love” (Eph. 4:2), we can protect the unity that the Spirit has given us.

And we must remember that we will not always be the church militant, whom the world sees “by schisms rent asunder, by heresies, distressed,” as Samuel Stone said in his hymn “The Church’s One Foundation.” We can take comfort in Christ’s promise that He will preserve His church until His return, and that “soon the night of weeping shall be the morn of song.” X

Rev. Michael G. Brown is pastor of Christ United Reformed Church in Santee, Calif., and editor of Called to Serve: Essays for Elders and Deacons.

Michael G. Brown, “Pastor’s Perspective: Schism and the Local Church,” Tabletalk Magazine, May 2011: The 11th Century: Conflict, Crusades, and the New Christendom (Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2011), 24–25.

Bible Presbyterian continue to exist and born of Schisms!

Marks and Signs

Marks and Signs

The identity of the church as the people of God and the mystical Body of Christ is hidden in the forms and rituals of the church’s life. Even so, theologians through the ages have insisted that there are outward signs that attest the authenticity of any particular church Body, and these continue to be a subject of dispute in academic theology.

Theology tends to divide on the question of whether the Spirit or the Word constitutes the basic evidence for the apostolicity and catholicity of the church. Irenaeus seemed to endorse a pneumatocentric theology when he declared, “Where the Church is, there is the Spirit of God; and where the Spirit of God is, there is the Church, and every kind of grace.”43 At the same time, he also contended that the Word and the Spirit are the two hands of the Father working together in an indissoluble unity. Moltmann is closer to a pneumatocentric perspective in his claim that “the church is present wherever ‘the manifestation of the Spirit’ takes place.”44 The Reformers and the tradition of Protestant orthodoxy were prone to uphold a logocentric theology in which the church receives its identity and mission from the Word. Calvin asserted, “God begets and multiplies his Church only by means of his word. … It is by the preaching of the grace of God alone that the Church is kept from perishing.”45 Wolfhart Pannenberg, on the other hand, avers that “the Reformation view of the church as a creation of the Word … stands in danger of a one-sided christological constriction” resulting in “a theocracy of proclamation.”46 The Reformation at its best stressed the dialectical inseparability of Word and Spirit, and Pannenberg acknowledges that the fuller Reformation perspective can be retrieved by stressing “the relation of Word to Spirit no less than that of Spirit to Word.”47

Theologians from all communions generally endorse the classical marks of the church as contained in the Nicene Creed—oneness, holiness, catholicity and apostolicity. Contemporary theology, however, is not in agreement on the meaning of these marks. Does oneness refer to the church as an institution or to the invisible fellowship of the saints on earth and in heaven? Does apostolicity signify that the ministers of the church are linked to the apostles through a special rite of laying on of hands by bishops in an unbroken historical succession, or does it not refer to a continuity in the message of faith that was first articulated by the apostles? Nathaniel Micklem voices the concerns of many Protestants in his criticism of the Catholic conception of apostolic succession: “Our protest is not against that which episcopacy represents, but only against that view which would make Word and Sacrament contingent upon the office, not the office on the Word.”48

Roman Catholic theologians are presently rethinking the marks of the church especially in the light of Vatican Council II. For Avery Dulles the unity or oneness that we attribute to the true church is not “the external unity” of a visible institution but rather “the interior unity of mutual charity leading to a communion of friends.”49 On catholicity Dulles maintains that what is most important is “not the accomplished fact of having many members or a wide geographical distribution, but rather the dynamic catholicity of a love reaching out to all and excluding none.”50 Walter Kasper articulates the vision of the church in the new Catholicism:

  The unity and catholicity of the Church are always and in every case still in fieri; they will always remain a task. The solution cannot lie either in mutual absorption or in simple integration of individual ecclesiastical communities, but only in the constant conversion of all—i.e., in the readiness to let the event of unity, already anticipated in grace and sign, occur ever and again in obedience to the one gospel as the final norm in and over the Church.51

The magisterial Reformation was inclined to define the church in terms of the right preaching of the Word and the right administration of the sacraments. Questions that forced themselves to the center of discussion in post-Reformation Protestantism include the extent of the efficacy of Word and sacraments in situations where faith is rare or nonexistent. Moreover, are there other marks besides the Word and sacraments that should be given special attention today?52

In the light of the Pentecostal awakening, the role of signs and wonders as attestations of the gospel has become a major theological issue. Is the message of the church validated by miraculous signs, including physical healings, or is the inward illumination of the Holy Spirit sufficient to make the message persuasive and authentic? P. T. Forsyth mirrors the Reformed distrust of dependence on signs and wonders: “They are tests of nature and not of faith, tests of feeling rather than insight, tests of empirical experience instead of soul experience, of success rather than of devotion.”53 Christoph Blumhardt by contrast is convinced that people on various stages of faith’s journey need signs and wonders: “Even now, during this time when we must have patience and until the time when signs and wonders will be seen everywhere, until all the wretched are truly helped—in this time of battle, we need signs and wonders.”54 It is possible to argue on biblical grounds that signs and wonders may strengthen faith, but they do not demarcate the boundaries of the true church, since they are found in non-Christian religions as well.

Orthodox theologian Paul Evdokimov expresses a welcome reserve in delimiting the boundaries of the church so that the great host of humanity is summarily excluded: “We know where the Church is, but it is not for us to judge and to say where the Church is not.”55 The missionary proclamation must go out to the whole world, but we dare not presume on where or how the Spirit of God may work, nor should we deny that the hidden Christ may be at work in the most unexpected places in preparing people for the new dispensation of grace.

Donald G. Bloesch, The Church: Sacraments, Worship, Ministry, Mission (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 39–41.

James chapter 5 with VPP

James 5:1, Unsaved rich men, who do not put their trust in God, there are troubles ahead! Repent! They have mistreated the poor! And they can smile and be merry, and they continue to collect money and tolls from the poor to put into their pocket, they are greedy, and they are the kings and leaders on earth, God’s judgment will fall on each one of them. For where your treasure is, there will be your heart. If therefore ye have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? Look, where is justice in our society? Even some believers, said there is no justice on earth, so do not look for this justice on earth! Not even in the church. They said do not cry for or pray for justice, keep quiet, and suffer and serve the Lord! Are the Christians not called to show the poor what is God’s love? Is there any misery among the poor? But we show favoritism!

Discrimination! We lived in luxury! We have fattened our heart with money and food! Did we know that the glory of God had left us long before after we covet money more than suffering for the Lord! We cannot serve two masters! We have condemned and murdered innocent men, who were not opposing us! We have all stumble in many ways! Richness is not a merry making thing! James denounces utter destruction to the wicked and profane rich men, and such as is drowned in their riotousness, mocking their foolish confidence when there is nothing indeed vainer than such things. 5:4, but the Lord of Sabaoth, God see the injustice! 5:7, we who put our trust in the Lord, if we are living under the wicked men, we must patiently wait for the Lord, wait and pray until He come to help us, like a farmer waiting and waiting until the harvest. Do not be double minded! Be single minded! Why we judge the poor and the weak among us? Every one of us is living like a vapor! Gone like a wind, like a grass wither. Do not live like a viper! 5:9, The Lord is coming soon, He is at the door, and there is judgment ahead! Why in the time of prayer and waiting for His return, we Bible Presbyterian Church quarrel and fight among ourselves? We are waiting for Him like the ten virgin. Mt 25:1, then shall the kingdom of heaven be likened unto ten virgins, which took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom. Mt 25:2, and five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Mt 25:3, they that were foolish took their lamps, and took no oil with them: Do not be a fool virgin! We must prepare “oil,” what is that word “oil” mean? We can argue with anyone about the word “oil,” we may argue about the purity of the oil, we can argue with any one what type of this oil is, olive oil, animal oil, palm oil, grape seed oil, and so on, and we can argue about the meaning of the word “oil” until no end, and then split our fellowship, we profit no one, unless I wanted to open an oil company, so much so I have to study only this word “oil” no other word! But the church need to know what is the whole picture of this parable given to us? And at last, what happened, if we continue to argue and fight over the word “oil,” we do not know the meaning of the whole parable of 10 virgins, forgot how to wait upon the Lord for his returning is imminent, we must know the meaning of the word, “oil” “bridegroom,” “fool,” “wise……..” Do not just argue without end about the word “oil,” you also must understand the whole picture. Why the virgin must prepare “oil.” It is because they need light! The lamp is for the light, not just oil. Why they need light, because it is in darkness night the Lord will returned! Application is Christian is to be light of this darkness world and be prepared to meet our God. See what the fool virgins had said in Matthew 25:8 “And the foolish said unto the wise, Give us of your oil; for our lamps are gone out.” This shows the consternation of those who are not ready to meet Christ at his coming. It is not safe to rely on outward professions as evidence of piety, nor upon any thing which does not imply supreme love to God and real good-will to men. All had made some preparation, but that of the foolish five had been insufficient. Their glory began to depart, and their light waned into darkness at the approach of the bridegroom. The parable of the ten virgin is to remind us to be prepared for the coming of the Lord, it does not encourage us to fight over a few words! Hear what the Lord declared in Matthew 4:4, But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God. Not just a few words here and there in Psalm 12:1-7. This psalm also must be studied correctly. Do not just study only these few words here and there in Westminster Confession! Westminster Confession is not God’s Word; you should not take this Westminster Confession highly until to be same level with CUV, KJV, and NKJV! Westminster Confession is a good confession, but it is not God’s Word! This is a very serious mistake done, in making the confession as God’s Word! The Bible is without errors, in the first hand writing, in the original languages in their autograph, those copy mistakes we find are not the errors, they are the copies mistakes made by human when they were copying the scriptures! The Bible is authentically preserved to us, so that we can firmly lift up our Bible and say, “I believe in God, and also believe the Bible is sacred, and the Bible is without error, and in the Bible I come to believe the Lord Jesus. May God forgive those who had done the copy mistakes unintentionally, Amen.” But the theologians who taught VPP have misinterpreted Matthew 4:4! And here we are fighting over the meaning a few “words” and “a personal view,” quoting the Psalm 12 and Westminster Confession. And we fight until the BPC congregation split because of our tongue and wisdom! We needed the wisdom from above. All these arguments are going to pass away. (Matthew 7:1) God’s Word will not pass away! Those endure to the end will be saved. The Lord Jesus said no just a few words we have to study, but every word! The whole picture is more important than these few verses. We want all of the Bible verses to be understood, not just one or two, here and there! But we must try to understand the truth in totality, preach the whole counsel of God, especially those crucial doctrines! Who is he, and he said this words, Acts 20:27 for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. What is this whole counsel of God? It means here the will or purpose of God, as revealed in regard to the salvation of men. Paul had made a full statement of that plan--of the guilt of men, of the claims of the law, of the need of a Savior, of the provisions of mercy, and of the state of future rewards and punishments. Ministers ought to declare all that counsel, because God commands it; because it is needful for the salvation of men; and because the message is not theirs, but God's, and they have no right to change, to disguise, or to withhold it. And if it is the duty of ministers to declare that counsel, it is the duty of a people to listen to it with respect and candour, and with a desire to know the truth, and to be saved by it. Declaring the counsel of God will do no good, unless it is received into honest and humble hearts, and with a disposition to know what God has revealed for salvation. The doctrine of the apostles is most perfect and absolute. Do you see, CUV and NKJV have all the counsel of God? How can you say they are corrupted! 5:10, James said rather learn to be persevered the suffering, be patient, some of the prophets were killed. 5:11, in the trials and difficulties, faith is increased, His grace is sufficient for us, until the day of the Lord. 5:12 do not swear falsely! (Matthew 5:33-37) Do not use God’s name in swearing for a personal view! (Exodus 20:7) We will be judged strictly. Do not boast about your earthly wisdom! If yes say yes, of no say no. Do not be many masters. Let others to be our master! 5:14, Praying by faith, it is God, who heals! 5:15, Historical evidence confirms the facts that God does heal people miraculously, but Paul was praying for his healing, but sometimes it is not God’s will to heal Paul. Healing is not promise to everyone, we only can say “if God is willing.” And Timothy was advice to drink some wine. And sometimes, oil was applied on the wound for the Samaritan. The medical science in 21st century is good enough; do we need prayer, oil and wine? Think about this with clear mind. Yahweh-Rapha. 5:16, confessing our sin has good therapeutic potential. The prodigal son confesses: I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father; I have sinned against heaven, and before thee. 5:17, Elijah prayed, 3 years there will be no rain! A sign to encourage us to continue in prayer. Nothing lies beyond the power of God to change, and prayer is the divinely ordained method. Even Jesus Christ prayed, and he said, “Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done. 5:19, there are brothers, wander from the truth, these are those who fall in errors and sins. Heals the sick and also leads those who are broken hearted, those who are falling, those who are cold hearted, we must lead them back to one hold, this is our responsibility, and then they will be saved from condemnation. 

Jesus Christ is not missing in CUV! Not missing in NIV! Not missing in NKJV! Not missing in TEV. 

Jesus Christ is mentioned in all these Bible Version!

How come you attack those who read the NIV and NKJV?

Someone among us has slipped into an error VPP, in daily life or doctrine; we are called to restoring those brothers to the truth. 5:20, if we can love one another, we can avoid quarrels, avoid further trials and temptations! May God bless us, so that we may not become like “Only talk no walk!” 

Assignment: 10 pages:

1.What is the meaning “every word” 
2.What is the meaning “full counsel” 
3.Pray without end! 
4.CUV, KJV, NKJV, and the whole counsel of God. 
5.Talk and walk of a Christian

BPC is a reformed church, but sad to say some of their pastors are not transform by the grace of God!

ICCC

Article below is copied from Singapore Christian Forum:

Ecumenical Movement is not new, in Moses’ time, the Israelites united to worship the Golden Calf under the Mount Sinai. At that moment Moses was seeing the face of the Lord on the Mount Sinai, and there he received the ten commandment, God angry of that ecumenical movement. In addition, God punished them in false unity.

Now there are churches standing against the Ecumenical Movement, some say that the Ecumenical movement is uniting all religions together, if this is the case, we should not join this ecumenical movement, in this one world church, one world religion, one modern new area, new world, this is false religion.

We should not join with the modernist, if the modernist does not believe the Word of God, the Bible is the inspired and inerrant Word of God, and we should not join with erroneous charismatic movement, if they continue to teach that speaking in tongue is a sign of genuine faith in Christ. If they continue to teach that tongue, speaking is a vital and most important doctrine in Christianity, if this is case, they continue to pray in tongue and continue to mislead the flock, and then we should not join them in WCC either! We should not join WCC! If WCC is a fall away from the truth, and if they are the apostate in the end time, we must come out of them!

Even the time of darkest moment in Romans Catholics, God raises up among the Romans catholic, men, like Martin Luther, to be the light and salt on earth. God does preserve his people from prolonged false and wrong.

Not to forget the health and wealth gospels, if they are preaching another gospel, rather than Christ dies for the atonement of sin, then we should not join them together. There are some practices healing and performing miracles, attracting more and more followers now a day, even the devil can perform miracles, so we must be watchful at the end time.

Surely, you want God to bless you with true ecumenical movement between the fundamentalist and orthodox! All the fundamentalists will join in hands together, united as one. Surely, you want God to bless you so that you will not become a modernist to doubt the Word of God! Surely, you want God to bless you when you pray in all kinds of tongue! Chinese, English, and Indian, not only mumbling in ecstasy sounds. Surely, you want God to bless you with health and wealth, in obeying God’s will. In addition, continue to be a channel of blessing to other. Surely, you are resurrected and wash by the blood of Jesus Christ, and renewed by the Holy Spirit, you are then to be purified by fire, and we have joys in trials and tribulations,

You had known from the bible that the Gospel is to be preached until to the end of the world. You had knew that we should not live in sin, God is holy so we must be holy, not by gold or silver, you are predestinated to be saved, you are chosen by God, God’s truth is forever, so take away the bitterness from us!

Surely, you are not ashamed of the gospel, you are holy and people of God. Now you are forgiven, but you know you are only a traveler, you must be a good traveler. Not forget to praise the Lord, to obey the government. You are free, to be a servant, devotedly serving the God, obey the government, to preserve in doing good, silently walk the narrow way, Jesus Christ is your Great priest and shepherd. You are called to love your wife, and same heart, mercy, do well, and bless, do not talk bad but bless. Unite together with those have same faith in doing well, live as a righteous man, hear and fear the Lord. Prepared to answer those who condemn you, even Noah has 120 year to prepare the ark, we must prepare our heart, Christ was suffering us, we should not be idol worshipper any longer, God will judge everyone according to their work, and the end is near, love one another, be a good servant, as preacher preaching Christ.

If there is fire of trials coming to test you, be happy. When you are suffering for the Name of the Lord, give thanks to the Lord, let us begin to be an example, exhort and feed the flock under you, but not for money, be humble, under the power of God, do not worry, be alert, resist the devils, stand and be strong in the Lord, greet one another with love.

You are not member of World Council of Churches, if this is that right path; you should stand and do not shaken by the waves of strange doctrines!

However, you can still learn something good from the Methodist in their practice, especially in the earlier stage; Wesley and Charles his brother are good men and devoted believers. We learn the good things from them. All of them had begun well, but some time later their follower fall away! Like Judas fall away among the 12 disciples under the mentorship and leadership of the Lord.

As you know, few years ago, some Methodist not all, as if an Ex-Bishop from Singapore, is openly supporting Homosexual. He said that homo sex is like devoice, well accepted by the church now day! In this, the Methodist went wrong!

Some of the Anglican synods are promoting homosexual in USA. They promoting this false teaching until they ordained a gay, a man married a man, to be a Bishop! So there are some Anglican churches from Africa stand firmly against this homosexual acts. There are some brethren in Methodist and Anglican churches fallen in confusion and tempted to fall away! Nevertheless, there are still some good men and women in Methodist and Anglican, and even Roman Catholic, there are genuine and saved one worshipping in them.

You can still learn something good from the Lutheran, in the simple belief in “justified by faith” Even though some of them are going back to Roman Catholic. You knew they are having dialogue with the Roman Catholic, hoping the RC also may accept this crucial truth, “justified by faith.” Because this is, the doctrine that made Luther wrote the 95 thesis and began the 16th Century Reformation.

Moreover, you believe only Christ saves, no other religions saved, for the case of Charismatic, for example, an elder from a charismatic church, he is a leader of a house church, he openly without shame told every one he knew he is a postmodernist, and he is running an emergent church. He believes every religion can save; he opens his mind for every religion and every belief! He believes in a one-world religion, and he runs a Christian Book Store, can you believe this! The Bookstore sells all kinds of Christian Books! He believes at the end all churches and all religions can be united! He is happy with New World Order, one world religion! He believes there is truth in every religion, a confused elder, but he is well respect by WCC and it members. Every service, he will lay hand on the heads of men and women, and they fell down, they said the spirit slew them, and you knew what spirit is working behind him in laying his hands! He said that revival must come through them, and not the fundamentalist, not another denomination, they had this confident in them, and people support them, look highly on them.

Focus on you, what about VPP? Claiming that only one Bible Text is perfect and other is corrupted, this need guts and proof.

For the example of LXX, Jesus Christ and his disciples did not call the Septuagint LXX corrupted, but why you say that the LXX is corrupted. In addition, John Calvin did not say the Septuagint LXX is corrupted, but you said it is corrupted. Who is right and who is wrong? Judging the LXX as a corrupted text Jerome and Luther did not say LXX is corrupted, but you said it is corrupted. LXX is one example of Alexandrian Text. The early church fathers used Alexandrian text to defend the truth of Trinity, and the Alexandrian MSS are earlier than other MSS. However, you said the Alexandrian Texts are corrupted!

You surely must pray for unity among yourself and continue to uphold the good teachings of God’s Word, and then sound your trumpet when there is danger of fall away, let the people see the truth, and then they will follow you. If not, they will come out from you, and separate from you; you will be alone in ICCC.

Do you think with a perfect underlying text, a perfect TR, and with the KAVA, the ICCC will become better equipped then ever. Did you see that the ICCC more strengthen and united by this VPP? Do you see is that path we must take, before the coming of the LORD? Do you think WCC will change its doctrines because ICCC has the perfect Bible, and they listen to ICCC? Do you think the one world church; one world religion will stop because of this VPP? Do you think that the VPP is the most important doctrine to fight all those false teachings?

Do you not care that the scheme of the devil, when the members of ICCC fight among themselves? They devil has the foothold to attack the ICCC!

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ICCC members are fighting inwardly among themselves!

New Testament Manuscripts

I hope someone send me a Papyri manuscript, and then I will go to see those theologians in FEBC, and we will study together, 40 days and nights without eating and drinking, to search the word of God!

Some people studying the manuscripts and think that they can find life without going to Christ Jesus.

Some are quarreling because of underlying Greek Text!

http://www.erbc.sg/

http://www.febc.edu.sg/v15/

WHAT A SHAME

PRAYER FOR ALCOHOLICS

  Gracious and loving God, we pray that You will extend Your compassionate hand of mercy to every individual struggling with alcohol addiction. Lord, we release Your power to destroy the root of this addiction. We pray that they will have the humility to acknowledge that they have a problem and need Your help. We ask that You give them strength and courage to fight for their lives and their families. Give them the will to reach for You in this crisis and to know that You have given them power to overcome.

  Lord, we pray that You will reveal the moment the door opened to this addictive behavior. By the power of God we close every open door that has fed this bondage. Today in the name of Jesus Christ, according to the Word of God, we arrest the desire to run away from life’s problems by drinking. We come against all shame, embarrassment, pride, and every spirit of fear. In the name of Jesus we bind all regret and refusal to forgive for past failures. We bind the strongman of alcoholism that temporarily numbs the pain. We break the dominating power of alcoholism and addiction over the mind, will, and emotions, and we trust You, Lord, for total freedom from alcohol addiction. In Jesus’s name, amen.

Kimberly L Ray, Spiritual Intervention: Powerful Insights for Breakthrough Prayers (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2014).

BPC says cannot drink wine, cannot do this do that, cannot touch this cannot touch that, they are 20 century pharisees?

I hope scholars in Far Eastern Bible College may drink some wine to ease the tension in their brains...

Where the Quest Begins

So when I renounce the pursuit of professionalism, does that mean I don’t aspire to excellence? No. But I do start my quest for excellence with the quest for excellent forgiveness. Excellent mercy. Excellent patience. Excellent kindness. Excellent humility. Excellent self-control. Excellent gospel-walking (Galatians 2:14).

That’s what Paul had in mind when he told us to imitate the infinitely excellent God. “Be imitators of God… And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us” (Ephesians 5:1–2). I don’t know if Jesus could sing on key, or if his tunic was wrinkle-free, but I do know his capacities for returning good for evil were beautiful beyond words. The radical quest for that excellence is where we begin.

Daniel L. Akin, Thabiti Anyabwile, et al., Still Not Professionals: Ten Pleas for Today’s Pastors (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2013).

Drinking Wine?

Paul’s counsel in his first letter to the church at Corinth deals with this very problem. Our context tends not to be the eating of meat offered to idols, but assorted other physical pleasures. The issue of drinking alcohol is perhaps the most common.

The pattern of the debate among brothers is almost always the same. We begin with exegetical arguments, that the Greek or Hebrew word for wine really means grape juice. When that argument collapses, and it always does, we turn to our “witness.” We are told that the only thing keeping a mass of unbelievers out of heaven is that they have witnessed Christians drinking and have concluded, “See, I’m as good as them. I’ll go to heaven without Christ.”

This argument too begs the question. There are all kinds of things which believers and unbelievers both do. Unless we are to assume that there is really something wrong with drinking alcohol the argument might just as well be, “Well, if an unbeliever sees me driving a car, just like he does, he might conclude that we’re no different and he doesn’t need Christ.”

What we usually end up with then is a truly sad story of a relative who abused alcohol. This is supposed to close the case, to end the argument. What we get is an experience, usually a terribly heartbreaking one, which trumps the biblical argument, which becomes the law of God. “The Bible must forbid alcohol because my uncle, brother, father, grandmother or I got into a lot of trouble because of it.”

If we are to love the gifts of God we would be wise to insist on loving His law. If we are to love His law we must refuse to dilute or distort it by reading it through our experience. Just as we cannot reject the law because the legalist distorts it, so we cannot reject God’s good gifts, even His gifts of physical pleasures because the hedonist abuses them. Our God, though He is spirit, saw fit to create a physical world, and to redeem a physical world. The Word does not say that the physical belongs to the devil, while God owns the spiritual. Ours is no Manichaen universe, nor a platonic prison house. Rather the earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness. And so is the fruit of the vine.

The devil tempts not just by bidding us to eat of the fruit, he tempts too by forbidding. “Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God” (1 Cor. 10:31). ■

R. C. Sproul Jr., “Weekend: The Earth Is the Lord’s,” Tabletalk Magazine, June 1996: Augustine of Hippo (Lake Mary, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 1996), 19.

LOVE THAT IS PATIENT AND KIND

LOVE THAT IS PATIENT AND KIND

BY R. C. SPROUL

First Corinthians 13 is one of the most famous passages in all of Scripture, for in it the Apostle Paul gives us a marvelous exposition of the character of godly love. He starts by showing the importance of love, writing that if we have all kinds of gifts, abilities, and achievements but lack love, we are nothing (vv. 1–3). Then, in verse 4, he begins to describe what godly love looks like, saying, “Love is patient and kind,” or, in the wording of a more traditional translation, “Love suffers long and is kind” (NKJV). I find myself intrigued by this pairing—patience and kindness. Why did Paul place these traits first in his description of love, and why did he pair them?

Paul tells us that love is patient, that it “suffers long.” I like this more traditional translation because it conveys the idea that loving others can be difficult. Loving people means we do not write them off the first time they offend us. In our relationships, we tend to be far more patient with some people than with others. If a longtime friend does something to irritate or annoy me, I usually say, “Oh, that’s just his way, that’s his personality, we’re all human, none of us is perfect.” I make allowances for him. But if I meet another person and find that he behaves in exactly the same way my friend behaved, I might want nothing more to do with him. We tolerate things in our friends that we will not tolerate in strangers.

Longsuffering love does not keep a scorecard. The first time you offend me, I could say, “Strike one,” and then give you two more strikes before you’re out. But if my love suffers long, you can get to the seventy-seventh strike, and I’ll still be hanging in there with you.

Why does Christian love suffer long? It is because Christians imitate Christ, who imitates God the Father, and longsuffering is a chief characteristic of God. The Bible often makes the point that God is slow to anger, that He is longsuffering with His stiffnecked people. For instance, God describes Himself this way: “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6). Likewise, Paul speaks of “the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience” (Rom. 2:4).

If you are a Christian, how long did God endure your unbelief before you were redeemed? How long has He endured your abiding sin? If not for the longsuffering of God, we would perish. If God treated us with as much impatience as we treat other people, we would be suffering in hell right now. He has endured our disobedience, our blasphemy, our indifference, our unbelief, and our sin, and He still loves us. That is who God is. That is how He manifests His love. He shows His love by His patience, which is a long-lasting patience.

We are called not only to be patient but to suffer long. We are not to be patient with people’s sins, foibles, and shortcomings only as long as they cause us no pain. Suffering long means loving when we are experiencing hurt and pain. It means that we “keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8). In this way, we reflect the love of God, who suffers long.

Why, then, does Paul couple patience/longsuffering with kindness? It is possible for us to suffer injury or hostility for a long time while being hostile and plotting revenge in return. But that is not what the Bible means by longsuffering. Longsuffering includes kindness, for we are to be kind in response to the cause of our suffering. Kind people are not rude, not severe, not mean. They have generous hearts. They are sensitive and tender to other people.

My father, I believe, was a model of this trait. He was truly kind. He demonstrated to me the kindness of God. I hated it when I came home from school and found I was in trouble for something I had done. My mother would say, “Your father wants to have a session with you.” I had to go into my dad’s office and close the door, and he would say, “Well, son, we have to have a talk.” He would take me apart without ever raising his voice, without ever manifesting anger to me, and somehow, after he took me apart, he was able, very gently, to put me back together again. Afterward, I would leave his office walking on air. I felt happy, but I also knew I needed to do better the next time. He inspired me because his manner was so kind.

A truly kind person is a rarity, I’m afraid. But kindness ought to be linked with longsuffering as a manifestation of love. Simply put, love is neither impatient nor unkind. This is a picture of the love of God, the same love that the Holy Spirit cultivates in God’s people. 

Dr. R.C. Sproul is senior minister of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Fla., and author of the series Love and Developing Christian Character.

R. C. Sproul, “Right Now Counts Forever: Love That Is Patient and Kind,” Tabletalk Magazine, September 2012: The 12th Century (Sanford, FL: Ligonier Ministries, 2012), 4–5.

Can True Life BPC and Life BPC pastors love one another? 

Listening to Jesus

The Christian life is first and foremost a life of contemplation—listening to Jesus, considering Jesus, fixing the eyes of the heart on Jesus. Everything else in the Christian life grows out of this. Without this the Christian life is simply unlivable.

John Piper, Take Care How You Listen: Sermons by John Piper on Receiving the Word (Minneapolis, MN: Desiring God, 2012).

The Book of Ephesians and Reformed Churches

Each section of Ephesians adds to our understanding of our identity together as the church. Each shows how we can help each other know Christ better. Looking back over these sections, we can sense the wonder of it all—and see practical guidelines for a vital new lifestyle.

Ephesians 1–2. Here we see Jesus, raised from the dead to the Father’s side as Head of the church. And we see our new identity in Him. We, who were cut off from God by sin, are forgiven and provided with spiritual life. The power that raised Jesus from the dead fills us, lifting us out of our inadequacy and empowering us for something new. We now live in hope, because we are in constant touch with a God who has committed Himself to us.

All this is ours because of Jesus Christ. Seeing Him as the Source of our life moves Paul to expression after expression of praise.

Ephesians 2–3. In these chapters we learn that power for the new life God has given us is channeled through the community of the church. We are not to live isolated lives; we are to live in intimate relationship with other believers. To illustrate this, Paul portrayed the church as a body, a family, and a holy temple. Each of these images stressed the fact that the church is one. We are to seek, and maintain unity in order to experience together the divine power.

Living together as a body, we build one another up and grow toward maturity. As family, we find our attitudes and values changed as love becomes the touchstone of our lives. As God’s temple we find our lives taking on a holiness which exposes evil for what it is. Learning to live together as the church is the key to individual growth, love, and holiness. As we live in true fellowship with others we discover the living presence of God. The relationship between Christ and the individual is experienced in the fellowship of the saints.

Ephesians 4–5. The practical meaning of living together as a body, family, and temple is amplified in these chapters. Living in the body means each person ministers to other members, using the spiritual gifts supplied by God and developed by gifted leaders. Living as members of the family means coming to know and care for one another deeply, expressing that care in openness, compassion, forgiveness, and a deep involvement in each others’ lives. And, as we’ll see, living together as a holy temple means rejecting dark things and building our commitment to goodness, righteousness, and truth. All of these are learned within the context of the new community, created and led by Christ.

Again we see it clearly. To know the living presence of Jesus, we are called to experience the fellowship of the church. In the church, the new creation of God, we each will find renewal.

Larry Richards and Lawrence O. Richards, The Teacher’s Commentary (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1987), 927–928.

Boasting?

“no one must boast of anything since nothing is ours.”

The martyr Cyprian

Do you boast because you have a "perfect" Bible?