We're going to read a word of God this evening from 2 Peter chapter 2, we're going to read from verse 1. But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false prophets among you, who crippled shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with fain words make merchandise of you, whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment, and spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly, and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto those that should after live ungodly, and delivered just that, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked. For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing vexed his righteous soul from day to day, with their unlawful deeds. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished. But chiefly them that walk after the flesh, in the lust of uncleanness and despised government, presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not really an accusation against them before the Lord. But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not, and shall utterly perish in their own corruption, and shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that counted pleasure to riot in the daytime. Spots they are, and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings, while they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin, beguiling unstable souls, in heart they have exercised with covetous practice, cursed children, which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam, the son of Beelzebub, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but was rebuked for his iniquity, the dumb ass, speaking with man's for bad the madness of the prophet. These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with the tempest, to whom the mist of darkness is reserved forever. For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption. For of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. And if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they had known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But as happened unto them according to the true proverb, the dog is turned to his own vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire. Amen. I know the Lord will add his own blessing to the reading of that chapter of God's word tonight to all of our hearts. The word of God opened before us with a vowing prayer. Our Father in heaven, We rejoice that thou art a God that rolls the sea away, even as thou didst for Israel, coming out of Egypt, taking them through on dry ground. Lord, we thank thee there's coming a day when the Lord will take us through the sea of death, across the river, into that land that's fairer than day. And we thank thee that our hope and confidence tonight is in a mighty God, one who rules and reigns over the elements in the world, and every spiritual foe as well. Lord, we thank Thee that Thou art the mighty conqueror, the victor. And we pray that Thou will bless us even now as we come to dwell upon these things that are before us tonight. We desire, Lord, to be honoured God, as this passage of Scripture teaches us so to be. We pray that we would be alert and to be aware. that there are false prophets in the world. And we pray that by thy grace we might be able to discern and avoid them. We pray particularly for our young people. And even as they are growing up and many of these things maybe are unknown to them, we pray that thou would keep them and preserve them, O Lord. And may they follow after the Lord and follow after truth. Speak to us all now, we ask. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We are coming tonight to deal with what is known as New Calvinism. Now that term may be unfamiliar to some, maybe to most here, but its significance is growing all the time. Whatever starts in America, as we know, usually eventually arrives in the United Kingdom. That applies in many other areas of life, it's certainly applied within religious life and Christianity, professing Christianity. movements that maybe start in America, well they make their way over here eventually, usually those that are maybe leading it come over here or are invited over here and speak or whatever, and those views end up taking hold over here as well, and that's certainly true with regards to New Calvinism. Now the beliefs and practices of this movement are once again taking a foothold within professing the professing Church of Jesus Christ. As we'll discover tonight, and also considering other things as well, they're just old compromises dressed up in the new garb. There's nothing, as the Bible tells us, there's nothing new under the sun. There's just new manifestations of these things. They appear with a new name, but they're the same old compromises that the Church of God has been battling with since the very beginning of time. And you'll notice there in verse 1 on 2 Peter chapter 2, that Peter here is looking to the past and also to the present. And there he says, but there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false prophets among you. Well that statement stands very true tonight as well. That in the past there has been false prophets, and in the present there are false prophets. There are those tonight in the world who profess to be the followers of Jesus Christ, profess to preach his gospel, and they are false prophets. The Lord tells us that we are to expect this. In fact, as his return comes nearer and nearer, we are to expect that very thing to increase, that there will be false prophets, even to the extent of people saying that Christ has come when he hasn't. So we are to expect that there are false prophets. And what we are required to do is to be honour God. The last time we were dealing with these themes, we were mentioning 1 John chapter 4 and verse 1, where it tells us there to try the spirits. We're not just to believe everything that comes along and take everything at face value, or else we will be badly taken in and deceived. We're to try the spirits. We're to stop measure them up against the word of God. And that's certainly true with New Calvinism. It's just an old compromise dressed up in a new name. Now Time magazine, that well-known publication, I think it's the largest weekly magazine that's published in the world, in 2009 it listed ten ideas that it reckoned were changing the world right then. And at number three it listed New Calvinism. Now I tell you, magazine doesn't make any profession of following the Lord, it's a secular magazine. And yet in America, back in 2009, it listed ten ideas that it reckoned were changing the world right then, in 2009. And third on the list, was New Calvinism, which signifies at least to us something of its importance, something of the place that it has and the part that it's playing, particularly in the religious life in North America. Now New Calvinism is a movement within evangelical circles which professes to embrace the fundamentals of 16th century Calvinism, with it now, while also aiming to make itself more relevant in the modern world. So that's what they seek to claim. They profess to hold to old Calvinism, but try to make themselves more relevant to the modern world. The emergence of this movement really took shape maybe six years or so ago, around 2006, when an article was published describing a revival of Reformed theology that was taking place among young Christians in the United States. The article is written by a man called Colin Hanson. He was a junior reporter or junior editor of that magazine Christianity Today, which I didn't get saying this the last time when we were looking at neo-evangelicalism, but Christianity Today was the magazine of New Evangelicals. So this young man is a junior editor on that magazine, and he published an article, and came to his conclusions after travelling around the United States, visiting various churches and institutions, talking to theologians and to pastors and also church members. And having done all of that over a period of time, then he wrote this article that was published in Christianity Today. That article was entitled, Young, Restless, Reformed, A Journalist's Journey with New Calvins. That's what it's called. New Calvinism claims that it's seeking to follow the theology of 16th century Calvinism. It mentions particularly men like Jonathan Edwards, a New England Puritan, who saw revival twice in his congregation in Northampton, Massachusetts. Spurgeon, C.H. Spurgeon's another individual that they particularly mention and make reference to, and we all I'm sure know who C.H. Spurgeon was. The man who was Prince of English Preachers, last of the Puritans, various titles and terms have been given to him. But this movement, New Calvinism, is led by a number of individuals. Some of the names you maybe already recognise, some of them might be new to you. John Piper is one of them. Mark Driscoll, we're going to mention some of these men as we're working our way through this tonight. John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Timothy Keller. and Albert Muller. There's four. There's others, quite a number of others, but we'll just take those four. I would say they're the most prominent of those that are involved in this movement. Now in that article that Colin Hanson wrote, Young Reckless Reformed Journalist's Journey with the New Calvinist, he pays tribute to three of those men that are mentioned there in particular. He speaks of John Piper as the chief spokesman for the resurgence of Calvinism among young He speaks of Mark Driscoll and his church, Mars Hill Church, it's called in Seattle, in the state of Washington, as evidence of the missional emphasis of New Calvinism. And then Albert Mohler is the other individual, and his connection with the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and again he says this individual is leading a resurgence of Calvinism within the Southern Baptist Convention. And he was extolling their virtues and the part that they're playing in this movement that is presently found in gathering case in North America. Now, what are they? What do they really believe? And what should be our response to it? Is this new Calvinism something to be welcomed or avoided? Is it scripture? That's an important question to ask. Is it the same as the old Calvins and its adherence to the scriptures in Orthodox Christianity? Would Jonathan Edwards tonight condone it if he was around? Would Spurgeon stand with them and share the platforms with these men if Spurgeon was around tonight? Well that's some of the things I want us to cover as we work our way through these things. Because as it's pointed out there in 2 Peter chapter 2 and other portions that we have been mentioning in looking at these series of topics and so on, there are false prophets. And the only way we can ever be on our guard is for flagging of them up and to say, well here they are and here's what they believe. Let's scratch a little below the surface and find out what are they really like. As I say, it started out as a desire to cover these topics for the benefit of our young people. I trust that we all are benefiting from it, but particularly our young people, that they might know what these things are, and that they might know there's a need to beware and to avoid that which is not according to the Scriptures. And that's really what we want to come down to. We want to hold to everything that is according to the scriptures. We want to avoid and withstand that which is not according to the scriptures. And we acknowledge that there are people who are faithful outside of the Free Presbyterian Church. We're not the only ones that are holding to the truth in the world. There would be little accomplished if that were the case. We can do what we can, but thankfully there's others as well who are holding to the truth. and their false prophets, and we need to be on our guard against them. Now the first thing I want us to consider here is New Calvinism and its doctrinal deficiency. Because as I say, this movement comes along purporting to adhere to historic Calvinism, it name-checks some of those men that we've been mentioning, Edward Spurgeon, as individuals who influence these men that we've named and drawn to your attention. There's very few of those men, if any of them, would sign the Westminster Confession of Faith. There's very few of them, if we take the Baptists, that are among them that would sign the historic Baptist Calvinistic creeds that are in existence. There's very few of any of them that will do this, because when you read up on what they believe and what they practise, you'll discover, while they profess these things, there are things that are to be guarded against and warned about. Because New Calvinism is a broad church when it comes to doctrine. They believe in doctrinal freedom. They discourage doctrinal disagreements. They pay lip service to historical Calvinism. They are more allied to neo-evangelicalism, and we dealt with that the last time when we were considering these things. But let's be specific about some things. Charismatic beliefs are prevalent among them. There is within New Calvinism a rejection. of cessations, which is the belief that those charismatic gifts of the New Testament age ceased with the completion of the canon of scripture. That's our position. We're presently going through that with the young people in the youth fellowship night by night, seeking to cover the errors of the charismatic movement. But we believe the Bible teaches, it has been the historic Calvinistic Presbyterian position, that the charismatic gifts that you read of in the New Testament, early New Testament Church, have ceased, because the canon of Scripture is now concluded. We believe there's a connection. But within New Calvinism, that is not the case. They do not believe that. They will invite and bring in among them those who are charismatic. For example, John Piper. Piper is on record as telling of his experience of hearing God speak to him audibly. He says it happened one Monday morning, the 19th of March 2007, and the Lord spoke to him audibly from Psalm 66, verses 5, 6 and 7. And in his writings he describes it, and this is how he describes it, as God lifting him by his shirt collar. And he believes that God actually audibly spoke to him. On that Monday morning, the 19th of March 2007, Mark Driscoll, another one of those names that we have mentioned, he believes that he is the gift of discernment, that allows him to see into the hearts and into the lives of the people that sit in his congregation, and he has been known to point to individuals and speak of sins that they have committed in their past, out before everybody else in the congregation, and he says, I have been given the gift of discernment and I discern that you have been guilty of this sin or whatever. Even to the extent of highlighting abuse in a person's past, he claims this gift that God has supposedly given to him that he's able to see, and some of the things that you read of that he has declared that he knows about is just quite plainly disgusting. But there's this idea, this denial of the fact that, not that that ever was a charismatic gift of the early church at all, because it has no parallel in the New Testament at all, but this idea that somehow these are gifts from the Holy Spirit, that is not in keeping with historic Calvinism. And yet, as I say, these individuals come along, paying lip service to these views, claiming that they're new Calvinists, and all the time they're denying some of these historic positions that Also, Christ is not the only way of salvation. Timothy Keller, senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York, he is on record. He was interviewed by Martin Basher. I think he's a British journalist, but he's now working for one of the North American television networks. And he interviewed this man, Timothy Keller, and he asked him a question, is Jesus the only way to God? Well, you can go online and you can find the interview. And you can listen to what he had to say, but in the course of his answer he said, God may have a trapdoor for unbelievers that I haven't been told about. He went on also to say that he does not know what happens to unbelievers who die without Christ. Now these men come along professing to hold to the doctrines of grace, claiming that they're New Calvins. This is a New Calvin law. We believe these old historic views. All we're trying to do is apply them to a modern world. And yet these are the things that leading men within that organisation, that group, have said. It would be no surprise if it was a liberal or a modernist to go back to the first topic that we dealt with in covering these themes. It wouldn't be a surprise if some liberal or a modernist came along professing and saying that, that they didn't know whether God is a trapdoor or not. That wouldn't surprise us. But remember, these individuals are claiming to hold to the doctrines of grace. They preach a defective gospel. Teller, again, is on record as saying that to be a Christian, your soul has to get Jesus. That's how he describes it. Your soul has to get Jesus. Now what does that mean? Well, he believes that the presentation of the gospel must be culturally sensitive. People must be shown that it's in their best cultural interests to come to Jesus Christ, and that their best cultural aspirations can only have a happy ending in Christ. And he gives a synopsis of a presentation of the Gospel. He says, first, the Gospel must be presented briefly and so vividly and attractively that the listener is virtually compelled to say, it would be wonderful if that were true, but it can't be. The second stage is to dismantle objections to Christianity and show why it can be true. The third stage is to present a longer explanation of the person and work of Christ. Now, on the surface that might sound very appealing, and you might say, well, what's wrong with that? Well, there is something that's wrong with it. That is not an acknowledgment of historic Calvinism. Because the gospel is never, and it shall never be, attractive to a dead sinner. How can you present the gospel attractively to a dead sinner? To somebody who is dead in sin, somebody who has got a heart that is set against the Lord, a heart that is full of enmity, to use the language of Romans chapter 8, how can you ever preach the gospel and present the gospel attractively to sinners? If you begin to practice or to present the gospel attractively to sinners, you're starting to water down the gospel and change it. There is no such thing as presenting the gospel attractively to sinners. The Gospel is an offense, the Bible tells us. It's a stumbling block to the Jews. It's foolishness to the Greeks. There's a true division among men in this world. Jews and Gentiles. And the Lord says to one, to unbelieving Jews, the Gospel is a stumbling block. They stumble at Christ and are suffering Christ. To Gentiles, unconverted Gentiles, the Gospel is foolishness. So how in this wide world can you present the Gospel attractively to sinners? The Gospel is an offence, it cuts across sinners, it offends them, it offends their pride, it offends their sinfulness, because they want to have their sins. And while it might appear appealing to listen to those statements that man makes about presenting the Gospel, it is not adhering to old-fashioned Calvinistic preaching in what we believe the Bible teaches. we could go on to speak about their irreverent regard for the scriptures. And there is an irreverent attitude among them, a flippant attitude among them, that a number of people who have listened and observed and read up on them have mentioned in speaking about New Caledonians, even to the extent where some of them use the Bible for comedy. And we're not going to go down the line of giving you examples, for I don't believe that that would be appropriate at all. Secondly, I want you to consider this as well, New Calvinism and its love of the world. In many respects, New Calvinism is full of what is known as antinomianism, and that word literally means against the law. And I draw to your attention, because it is a distinctive argument that some of them make, that they do not believe that they are under the moral law. And that's something that's common among dispensations. who believe that you're under law and you're under grace, therefore you're not under the law. But remember, these people, they deny that they're dispensational, they profess to be Celtans, they supposedly believe in the doctrines of grace, and yet they're coming along and they're arguing and presenting and holding to that which is one of the fundamental tenets of dispensationalism. And dispensationalism rejects the doctrines of grace. And yet they hold to this belief that a Christian is not under the law in any regard. Not even in a moral sense does the law of God have control and influence on their lives. At worst they could be charged with making no difference between that which is holy and that which is pervading. If you go back over to Ezekiel chapter 22, you'll read there in that prophet that this is what was happening among the people in his day. And it's a charge that the Lord was making against the priests in Israel. Ezekiel chapter 22 and verse 26, what we're trying to do here is, well, let's glean some ways by which a false prophet manifests themselves. How can we detect these false prophets that Peter warns about, that tells us that they're in the past and that they're present today? Well, here's one thing that we notice where the Lord has to say this to the priests that were in Israel. In the time of Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 22, verse 26, "...her priests have violated my law, and have profaned my holy things. They have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they showed difference between unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them." There are certainly those among the New Calvinists who are not sabbatarians. As I say, they don't believe that the moral law of God has any bearing upon them or any rule over their lives, and we know what the fourth commandment teaches, remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. They don't acknowledge that. They're not Sabbatarians in that regard at all. Peter Masters, Dr. Peter Masters, you might know him, he's the minister in Spurgeon's church in London, and in an article that he wrote in his magazine, The Sword of Betrayal, about New Calvinism, he entitled it this, The Merger of Calvinism with Worldliness. That's how Peter Masters described it. The merger of Calvinism with worldliness. It's entertainment religion. John Piper describes himself as a Christian hedonist. Now a hedonist is someone who believes that pleasure is the highest good and proper aim of human life. And he says, I'm a Christian hedonist. And he believes in finding pleasure in God. In a sense that is true, but that is not what man is primarily here for. Man is here to glorify God. The enjoyment of God comes second. Piper, in his well-known book, I would say it's the primary writing of John Piper, is called Desiring God. And the whole thing is written around that idea of a Christian heaven, somebody who's out to find pleasure in God. But there is no distinction between the world and the Christian. The idea that believers should live and strive to live in obedience to God's moral law is dismissed as legalism. No, says the New Calvins, we're free in Christ. We're free in Christ. We don't have to live by those rules. In fact, they positively teach that Christians are free in Christ to do anything that's not specifically forbidden in the Bible. And I have a list of things here that have been mentioned in connection with some of these new Calvins. Some of them are outrageous, the things that they see nothing wrong with. We would automatically shun, never mind just any specific belief system that we would have, we would just immediately, out of the fact that we know the Lord, we'd shun away from some of these things, that they say, there's nothing wrong with us. Nothing wrong with us. Mark Griswold is well known in the United States and elsewhere as well, he's preached here in Northern Ireland, but he's known as the cussing preacher, and cussing is slang for cursing. because of his use of inappropriate language when he's preached, to the extent that he's had to remove sermons from the internet. In fact, one of them that he preached in Scotland, he had to take it off the internet. Such was the outcry against the language that he used in that sermon, and even the topic of the sermon, that he had to take it down from the internet. Some of his books that he has written have received criticism from the ungodly, never mind Christians Even the ungodly have criticised his language and his topics and the content of some of the books that he has written. And as I say, he's got the nickname in America as the Cussing Pastor, because of his coarse language and the manner in which he speaks and which he acts. Mark Griskell is on record as saying he hates rules in life. Well, if he hates rules in life, he's going to have a problem with the Lord. And he's going to have a problem with the Word of God. Because we believe the Word of God is our rule for life. We believe that everything as to what we believe and what we do in life is ruled by the word of God. That's a fundamental tenet of Orthodox Christianity. The Bible is our rule. It's not what men think, it's not what we think ourselves, it's what the Lord thinks, and the Lord has given us his word, particularly with regards to the moral law. That is our rule for life, and we know that the moral law is the summary of all that God has for us to follow. It's not the sum total, it's the summary of what God has for us to follow. It covers different topics, different areas. And then the scriptures enlarge upon those areas. But Driscoll is on record as saying he hates rules in life. He says he hates religious people who have rules to obey and lists of do's and don'ts. Well, there's a description in the Bible for the likes of Mark Driscoll. If you go over to Jude where we were reading last Lord's Day, or even Lord's Day before that, when we were thinking about neo-evangelicalism, we were reading this portion and emphasising verse 3 that talks about contending for the faith. But Jude goes on here to tell us something about those that we're to contend against. But in verse 8, Jude, and verse 8 it says, likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities." Now if you read anything up on Mark Driscoll, I'll tell you that's how the Bible describes him, rightly so, a filthy dreamer. When you read of some of the topics that he preaches, some of the statements that he makes, even from pulpits and to young people, he's a filthy dreamer. He's a filthy dreamer. If you go back there to where we were reading tonight as well, 2 Peter chapter 2, verse Here's another description of these individuals that Peter is highlighting. Here's the false prophet. He says, but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise government. Presumptuous are they, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities. Walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness. I think that's a very apt description of Mark Driscoll and what you read of him. And as I say, he has preached in Northern Ireland. He preached in Carmona in Presbyterian Church. Mark Driscoll, as far as I'm 100% sure that I know he did. And he's one of these leading knights in New Calvinism. Also within the area of contemporary Christian music, New Calvinism is all forth. Contemporary Christian music is that form of music that professes to be Christian, but it employs all of those different forms of music that originated in the world among the ungodly. It brings them into the church, it brings them into the religious scene and says there's nothing wrong with employing these in the church. Instead of sacred music that's reverential and ministers to the soul, there's this employment of that which is sensual and rebellious and that which entertains the flesh. And New Calvinism is awash with contemporary Christian music. Concerts are held to attract young people, and I quote, where thunderous music is played and the place pulsates with youthful energy for upwards of three hours. As I say, all forms of contemporary music are found. Rap, holy hip-hop, even rock music are found among them. There's nothing wrong with these things. Christians can enjoy them and use them for the Lord as well. Mark Driscoll says that God loves punk rock music. and that anybody who disagrees is a legalist just like the Pharisees in the Bay. We could go on down a whole list of different things about New Calvinism and its love of the world. Peter Masters got it very right when he said it's the merger of Calvinism with worldliness. And you can see why it's appealing to people. You can see why it's appealing to young people in America. religion with the world and tell young people, you can have the world, you can have your pleasures, you can talk about these subjects, you can have an interest in these things, you can watch these things and there's nothing wrong with them. You tell them they can do that and you can have religion. Sure, people are going to have that. That's appealing to the flesh. But that's not of God. And those men who were Calvinists in the past like Jonathan Edwards and C. H. Spurgeon wouldn't be anywhere near One final thing before we conclude, and that's New Calvinism and its connection with ecumenism and the emerging church movement. It's a broad church view of Calvinism. It brings in and embraces all shades of Christianity. It is essentially neo-evangelical in character and practice. And the essential point that we were making a fortnight ago when we were thinking about neo-evangelicalism, there's no separation from false teaching, there's no separation from those who hold views that ought to be repudiated. Well, that's part and parcel of New Calvinism. They want everybody in the tent. Well, they don't want to put anybody out. They have a very shallow, loose definition of what it is to be a Christian as long as you ascend to the Apostles' Creed. you can be in the camp of New Calvinism. Well, the Roman Catholic Church will ascend to the Apostles' Creed. They don't find anything in the Apostles' Creed that's contrary to Roman Catholic doctrine. And there are those within New Calvinism who are close to Roman Catholic teachers and leaders in North America. There are those, as we've already mentioned, there are those that are connected to charismatic churches and charismatic leaders. Bring them all in. Get them all in within the camp. There's no separation, there's no discerning of false teaching, and there's no obeying the scriptures that tells us we are to avoid these individuals. There is no option in it, and we know that the argument that people present, they come along and say, but you're only trying to be divisive, why can you not be welcoming to these different individuals and embracing them? Well the reason why we can't is because God tells us that you can't. Now there's a whole series of references, let's go to Romans, Romans 16, and particularly to young people. I want you to notice this. This is what the Lord teaches you. This is why there is a free Presbyterian church tonight. Because the Bible teaches us to separate from false teaching and false doctrine and false practice. And that's why 60 years ago there were men who said, enough is enough, and we're going to separate. Romans chapter 16, it's not the only text we could turn to, but I think it's one that we can particularly look at. Verse 17, Romans 16 verse 17, Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them. It doesn't say associate with them, try to correct them. No, it says avoid them. Get away from them. And the word mark there has the idea of examining something. In school life, there's always the marking. And if the teacher is going to mark the homework or mark the exam, there has to be a close scrutiny of what is written, if there's going to be a doing of the job right at all. That's the idea that's in the word here. You have to closely examine that which comes along, and you're to mark it. And see when you realise this is not of God, this is contrary to what we have been taught and received, the doctrines that we have received, then you're to avoid it. Now we could go through a series of references in the New Testament that argues that as the position of a New Testament church, we are required to separate from false teaching. And that's why there is a free Presbyterian church today. It's because there was a desire to obey the Lord and to separate, because that's the way to safeguard the gospel, that's the way to safeguard our own spiritual well-being. It's not in bringing everybody in. I'm sure it'll not make any difference. It will! It pollutes the truth of God. And it brings down the stand for Christ. There has to be a separating from unsung doctrine. And yet that is not what is practised in neo-Calvinism. There's what is known as the Gospel Coalition. It's a great campaign for evangelism. And again, everybody is welcome to come and join with. A very low threshold of what you have to believe to get in to the Gospel Coalition. And the very name would suggest it's full of compromise. It's full of compromise. But there's this idea to, oh you've got to be pragmatic and we want to impact people and we want to get young people involved and all the rest of it. Well, some of those things might be honourable in themselves, but the way to go about it is not watering down the truth of God. That's not how you go about it. New Calvinism adds social gospel to their and we've dealt with social gospel in the past, we're not going to go back over that tonight. One other area, just before we conclude tonight, it's tied in with the emerging church. Again, maybe that term isn't one that's familiar to us over here in this side of the Atlantic, but in North America it's a big issue, the emerging church. And the Emerging Church is a hodgepodge of beliefs and practices from, well, the two extremes. You've got the Conservatives on one wing, and right across to the Liberals on the other wing. You've got a whole spectrum of belief, religious belief, across what's known as the Emerging Church. And really, if we try to define what the Emerging Church is, maybe that's what you're saying, tell us what this means. They contrast themselves with the Inheritance. And what they really are against is their disillusion with organised churches and organised religion. I'm sure we've met some people like that in our society as well, people who profess to be following the Lord, but I don't go to church, I just worship at home. I don't believe in organised religion. Don't believe in people being in government over me and the church and so on. There's these beliefs. Well, there's a whole body of opinion, a whole group in North America, and they're called the Emerging Church, and as I say, there's a wide spectrum to them, but that's basically what they believe. They contrast themselves with the Inherited Church, and that's what we, they'll claim, that we're an Inherited Church. Oh, you're just following on what has been handed down to you. Well, that's true, because we believe that's what the New Testament teaches as to church practice and church organization and having office bearers in the church and how the church functions and so on. We believe the New Testament teaches that. But they say, oh, we don't believe in them. We don't believe in organized church. We don't believe in organized religion. We just want to go where we want. We want to deconstruct worship. These are the terms that they use. We want to deconstruct evangelism. We want to deconstruct how a Christian is expected to live in the world. Well, that's just a recipe for chaos and disorder. But Mark Driscoll, his church was an emerging church. He distanced himself late from that movement because of some of their excesses, but that's where he came out of in Seattle. Emerging church. And neo-Calvinism has got a connection, a very close connection with the humanism and also with this emerging church movement. And the bottom line, if we really want to bring it down to a point to close on tonight, there is a failure to recognise the scriptures as your rule of faith and practice. That's really what it comes down to. And that surely is not Calvinistic practice. Is that not one of the essential things of Calvin? And that which he rediscovered, it was an adherence to the scriptures as our rule of faith and practice in our lives. And yet with all of these influences and different aspects of it, not every individual who's a New Calvinist holds to every one of these things that we are pointing out. What I trust that I'm saying is that there's bits and pieces that are taken because it's such a wide spectrum and a whole different group of individuals that are within this camp and under this banner that there's a whole variety of views with it. And it just leads to disorder and to chaos and ultimately robs the church of its power. The church has its power because it's a separated church. The Lord empowers his people when they're separated. It's the same with our lives. If we play with sin in the world, we're not going to know the power of God in our lives. We're going to rob ourselves of any power, any spiritual power to overcome sin. If we play with sin, we'll just magnify that up a little bit to a church, or a movement, or a denomination. If you play with the world, and run with the world, and countenance worldliness in whatever form or shape it may come, you lose your power. The Lord is not among you. The Lord could not be among you. And it may appeal to the flesh, and it may have adherents and attenders. It started out by saying that it's just an old compromise dressed up in new garb, and really that's what it is. There might be specific things and terms and names that are given to these things, but it's the same old principle that the Church of Christ has had to contend with down through history. Compromise with the Word, and false teaching in young people. It's our prayer, it's my desire that you might be able to discern these things and stand against it. That you might see it and be able to discern it. And may the Lord help you by his grace. To stand, because in this modern age with media and internet and all the rest of it, you're far more aware of things going on in the world than your parents or your grandparents ever were. And therefore you've got far more things to contend with than they've ever had to contend But you need to be on your guard as well. You need to be on your guard what you listen to, who you listen to, what you watch, and so on. And may the Lord help you. As I said the last night, the Lord expects us and requires us to be intelligent Christians, to switch on and to engage the intellectual powers the Lord has given to us, to discern and to judge things, measure them up against the Bible. and say, I'm avoiding that which is against the Lord and against his word. May the Lord bless his truth to us to make to all of our hearts for his leniency. Let's bow in prayer.