Quite a serious topic that I
have called the alignment of New Evangelicals with apostasy. New Evangelicals have endorsed
a false gospel, and I'm going to document that in this paper. And then to state what we should
do regarding New Evangelicals and their endorsement of Roman
Catholic inherent righteousness. Evangelicals throughout history
have maintained that justification by faith alone is the way in
which sinful human beings are made right in Christ Jesus. Before the All-Holy God, It is that justification is a
judicial act of God. It is His imputing Christ's righteousness
to the believer based solely and wholly on what Christ Jesus
has done in His perfect life and in His absolutely sufficient
death. for his people. Historically,
evangelicals have been in alignment with the Apostle Paul in what
Paul said, for example, in Romans 4, to him that worketh not, but
believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, His faith is counted
for righteousness. That was all the historical position
of evangelicals before the Reformation, after the Reformation, and in
all the great confessions of faith we have had throughout
history. A belief in the righteousness
of Christ alone for salvation. A person calling himself evangelical
is professing to be committed to this gospel as proclaimed
in scripture. The true gospel demands separation
from all who teach another gospel as the apostle declared in the
scripture in Galatians. But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than which we have preached
unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than which
ye have believed, let him be accursed. Without such separation,
the name evangelical signifies nothing. If an evangelical will
not separate for the sake of the gospel, he is not an evangelical
in fact. New evangelicalism has willingly
compromised with another gospel over the last 50 years or so,
particularly since 1960. Since then the evangelical world
has changed beyond recognition. This is fully documented in Ian
Murray's new book called Evangelicalism Divided. Where it all became center stage
and very apparent was in the UK and Britain. The first and
second National Evangelical Anglican Conferences that met at Keele
and Nottingham in the UK in 1967 and 1977 respectively showed a willingness to be united
with ritualistic Anglicans and those who were liberal Anglicans
and who in practice look very much like Roman Catholics and liberals who held to a fallible
Bible such leading evangelicals as J.I. Packer and John Stott
who signed the conference statements of Keele and Nottingham in 1967
and 1977 by that very endorsement set
aside the gospel of Christ. The gospel of accepting, or the
so-called other gospel of accepting Anglicans as brothers and sisters
in Christ. That was the first overt departure
in our own times. Seventeen years after Nottingham,
we had here in the United States of America, in Dallas, Texas,
at the end of March 1994, A declaration to the United States
and the world was published, called Evangelicals and Catholics
Together, the Christian Mission in the Third Millennium. This
document, which has not been revoked, but has been continually
defended by its signers has made some devastating effects on what
was called Evangelicalism. The two main instigators, the
two main men to perpetrate this Evangelicals and Catholics together
were Charles Colson and Richard John Newhouse. a Lutheran pastor
turned Roman Catholic priest. The Pacific task was begun in
September 1992, according to themselves, and they were joined
in the writing process by Larry Lewis of the Home Mission Board
of the Southern Baptist Convention, Jesse Miranda of the Assemblies
of God, John White of Geneva College and the National Association
of Evangelicals, and others, including two Jesuits, the very
well-known Avery Dulles and Juan Diaz Vilar. and two more Jesuits
signed the Declaration at the time of its presentation to the
world. In addition to these We had again
J.I. Packer putting his signature
to the document, and such as Bill Bright of Campus Crusade,
Mark Knoll of Wheaton College, Pat Robinson of the 700 Club,
and the Catholic signers included the very well-known Cardinal
John O'Connor of New York, who is since deceased, Archbishop
Sevilla, Archbishop Stafford and Bishop Francis George, who
is presently Archbishop of Chicago. The Gospel was presented in this
horrendous document. Having said that there were differences
that cannot be resolved here, the exact words of the document,
the document goes on to explain that they are motivated by a
desire to solve moral and cultural issues And then they go on to
proclaim that Catholics are our brothers and sisters in Christ
and that they are truly Christian. And then they go on to proclaim
what they say they have agreed on in the Gospel. And this is exactly the words
from the document Evangelicals and Catholics Together. Quotation,
we affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith
because of Christ. Living faith is active in love
that is nothing less than the love of Christ. Now had they
been biblical and were giving a truly biblical message, they
would have said that we are justified, we affirm that we are justified
by grace alone, through faith alone, and in Christ Jesus alone. Why did they not say that? because
if they did, the Roman Catholic Archbishops would not have signed
and the Catholic Church could not agree to sign. And so they take away from the
Gospel the very thing that makes the Gospel. They take away the
righteousness of Christ because they leave out the word alone
signifying the righteousness of Christ Jesus. that faith is
His righteousness alone and it's God's gift of grace based on
His righteousness alone. The very thing that the martyrs
of old died for and that the true evangelicals always stood
for is taken away from the so-called gospel of ECT. Most serious a deficient other
gospel because the righteousness of Christ alone is taken out
of it and then they add to what is in scripture by their
following statement living faith is active in love Living faith
is a Catholic terminology and it is the very thing that the
Council of Trent had said that we were to have living faith
active. Living faith. Because the Catholics
cannot accept a faith that is faith alone. It has to include
their sacraments. And so we have the declaration
of Trent, quotation, for faith, unless hope and charity be added
to it, neither unites one perfectly with Christ, nor makes him a
living member of his body. The concept therefore had to
include works and particularly the Roman Catholic sacraments. And so these evangelicals include
then the Catholic definition of faith as living faith to make
room for her priests and her sacraments. The New Evangelical
signers have concurred with Roman Catholic definition of living
faith, active in love. And this is exactly what the
New Catechism of the Catholic Church says. The New Catechism of the Catholic
Church declares in paragraph 1814, quotation, The very root of the church's
living faith is principally by means of baptism. End of quotation. So living faith
is to make room for her sacrament of baptism. And this is what
the evangelicals have declared is the gospel. First of all,
in taking out the word alone, so that the righteousness of
Christ is excluded, and then defining faith as not faith alone,
but as living faith active in love, so as the Catholic sacraments
are again included. It is not faith alone that is
taught by these evangelicals. We have here exactly what Trent
had said. And if these men, such as Packer,
Oskin, T.M. Moore, and others who have now
endorsing both evangelical Catholics together, one and two, if they
were to be logical, they would say the words of Trent. If anyone
shall say that by faith alone the sinner is justified, so as
to understand that nothing else is required to cooperate in the
attainment of the grace of justification, and that it is in no way necessary
that he be helped, be prepared and disposed by the action of
his own will, let him be anathema, that is eternally cursed to hell. And so the Catholics stand in
this document in having the righteousness of Christ removed, in removing
the word alone, and then in having their concept of living faith,
and not faith alone, placed in the document, signed by Jesuits
and so-called evangelicals. To endorse this document is to
deny many repeated texts in Scripture. For example, the words of the
Apostle, But after the kindness and love of God our Saviour towards
man appeared, not by the works of righteousness which we have
done, but according to his mercy he saved us. Amen and praise
his name. Now it gets worse, because that
was their so-called gospel, another gospel, but then they go on explicitly
to endorse baptismal regeneration in the same document. Under the
general heading of we witness together, and to use the words
of the document, in the context of evangelization and re-evangelization,
end of quotation, that is the gospel, the message to the world
by these new evangelical personalities such as Packer, Colson and Bright
is, quotation, for Catholics all who are validly baptized
are born again and are truly, however imperfectly, in communion
with Christ." End of quotation. They might as well have said
what the Code of Canon Law says. The Code of Canon Law says, quotation,
baptism by which men and women are freed from their sins are
reborn as children of God and configured to Christ. They said
the same thing in different words as does official Catholic teaching,
that you are born again by baptism. And these are men who are called
leading evangelicals now endorsing baptismal regeneration. In contrast to what these evangelicals
have signed and what is the official teaching of the Roman Catholic
Church, the risen Christ Jesus the Lord says, he that is, he
that believeth and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth
not shall be damned. Faith is the key of saving grace,
and on belief it's damning sin. Faith is what is necessary for
salvation, and baptism is simply an ordinance that follows faith
and testifies to faith. The proof of this is found in
the omission in the second half of the verse. It is not he who
is not baptized shall be damned, but rather he that, believe it
not, shall be damned. Over the years, repentance has
been demanded of these men, in letters personally to them, in
emails, and formally, as a group of over 600 of us at the Ex-Catholics
for Christ Conference, exactly five years in the same city of
Dallas, where as a group of evangelicals true to the Gospel, We demanded
that these men repent of teaching a false gospel. They have not
done so and they have continued to defend their abominable position. Even in my own Ireland, J.I. Parker went from north to south
defending this very document and establishing in my own homeland
of Ireland, Evangelicals and Catholics together Ireland. A new document for the Irish
to say that the Catholics and the Evangelicals are one in faith
in Ireland. They have done so in other nations
as well. So not only have they defended
their position, but they are bringing it across the world
to try and see that it is implemented. What is the implementation of
it? What is the purpose of it? They declare it in the document
itself. The real purpose is to put a
stop to the gospel going out to Catholics across the world. It is a compromise so that Catholics
are not evangelized and the impact has been seen most of all in
the southern part of the America, South America, Central America
and in Spain, Portugal and the Philippines it has already become
apparent that many missionaries are not
returning to some of these nations for lack of support and because
they are told that these nations are for the most part now considered
as brothers and sisters in Christ. And so we have a devastating
effect on millions of lives and in countries that need to be
evangelized. And this is the exact purpose
as stated in the document itself. Quotation, we are aware that
our experience reflects the distinctive circumstances and the opportunities
of evangelicals and Catholics living together in North America.
At the same time, we believe that we have discovered and resolved,
that what we have discovered and resolved is pertinent to
the relationship between evangelicals and Catholics in other parts
of the world. And they declare also, quotation,
it is neither theologically legitimate nor prudent a prudent use of
resources for one Christian community they mean church, to proselytize,
and they mean evangelize, among other active adherents of another
Christian community. It is not legitimate to proselytize,
to evangelize another Christian community. Since when is it not
legitimate to give the gospel to those who know it not? Since
when is it illegitimate to expose heresy and error? Since when
are men and women not to contend for the faith that this is not
legitimate? We have here now not simply a
departure from the gospel and an addition of a faith that is
not faith in Christ alone, but we have its purpose so that nations
and millions of souls are not evangelized. It wasn't long after this that
I got a telephone call from a man returning from the mission field
in Spain. He phoned me from Sacramento.
And he said, Richard, I've been already hit with churches not
wanting to support me since Evangelicals and Catholics Together has been
published. Robert Colton, working in Malaga
in Spain. This is horrifically disastrous
when it comes to giving the Gospel. The Gospel says we are to separate
from such men and for those who support them. In the words of
the Apostle John, 2 John 1, 9-11, Whosoever transgresseth and abideth
not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God. He that bringeth
in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the
Son. If there come unto you any that bring not this doctrine,
receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speak, For
he that bid it him God's speed is a partaker of his evil deeds. Clearer the knot we cannot get,
that we are to separate from men of evil deeds who teach not
the doctrine of Christ. You would think that that is
bad enough, Evangelicals and Catholics together, 1994. But
what happened in 1997 was even worse. A more compounded and
erudite and subtle and worthless presentation of what was officially
called The Gift of Salvation. It was November the 12th, 1997. The document, The Gift of Salvation,
published by leading evangelical and Roman Catholic leaders. It
expressed the intention was to show a common faith and that
evangelicals were to acknowledge one another as, quote, brothers
and sisters in Christ. It was published in the magazine
called Christianity Today on December the 8th, 1997. Explicitly,
the Roman Catholic Signers of the document such
as Richard John Newhouse and the Jesuit Avery Dulles state
in the document, quotation, Catholics who are conscientiously faithful
to the teaching of the Catholic Church. Because the Catholic
signers say that they are conscientiously faithful to the teaching of the
Church, we would presume that the document teaches Catholic
form of justification. And that is indeed what the document
does. It teaches inferred conferred
inner righteousness. It endorsed Rome's own teaching
on justification. And this is signed now not just
by men who signed the first document, but they are joined now with
such as Timothy George, and the PCA man T.M. Moore, former president of Chesapeake
Seminary and John Woodbridge. We have now a Narodite extremely
clever presentation of Catholic conferred inner righteousness. The document states that justification,
quotation, is central to the scriptural accounts of salvation
and its meaning has been much debated between Protestants and
Catholics. However, it goes on to state
that the signers have reached an agreement and they give you
in words what the agreement is, quotation. It's two sentences,
quite long, and please listen. Quotation. We agree that justification
is not earned by any good works or merits of our own. It is entirely
God's gift conferred through the Father's sheer graciousness. out of the love that he bears
us in his Son, who suffered on our behalf and rose from the
dead for our justification. Jesus was put to death for our
trespasses and raised for our justification. In justification,
God, on the basis of Christ's righteousness alone, declares
us to be no longer His rebellious enemies, but His forgiven friends. And by virtue of His declaration,
it is so. The subject under review is clearly
said in the first sentence. We agree that justification is
conferred through the Father's sheer graciousness. And by careful
reading, studying the grammar of these long sentences, we see
what is the pivotal statement that these men are
trying to make. It, that is justification, is
entirely God's gift, conferred, not imputed. Conferred. And by virtue of His, that's
God's, declaration, justification conferred is so
justification conferred is so so we have here quite cleverly
wrapped up the traditional Roman Catholic teaching that we have
conferred justification To use the word conferred instead of
the biblical word imputed is a denial of the scriptural authority
of God's scriptural authority in his written word. We have
here a setting aside of the importance of scripture and its terminology. and we have an implementation
of the Catholic word that was used to defend Catholicism against
the concept of imputation this has been done right through From
medieval times onwards, I spent four years studying Thomas Aquinas
and studying how it was that because justification is conferred,
it is a quality of the soul and is in a person. It was what I
was trained in, in my Dominican theology. It was the very thing
that Trent insisted on, that justification is conferred, not
imputed. And it was what Trent declared
as a curse, that if anybody did not accept this concept, they
were damned forever. Quotation from Trent, if anyone
shall say that by the said sacraments of the new law, grace is not
conferred from the work which has been worked, ex opere operato,
but that faith alone in the divine promise suffices to obtain grace,
let him be anathema. That is, if you do not believe
that conferred justification, automatically works, that is,
ex operi operato, and if you believe only in faith alone to
obtain the divine promises, you are eternally cursed. Such as
R.C. Sproul has said correctly that
that is, in writing, the Church of Rome's condemnation of the
biblical gospel. And the new catechism has endorsed
the teaching of Trent and has called it, as well as other councils,
infallible. And so we have the Catholic Church
insisting on the word conferred. As the New Catechism does, quotation
from its very words, justification is conferred in baptism, the
sacrament of faith. It conforms us to the righteousness
of God who makes us inwardly just by the power of His mercy. End of quotation. because inner
righteousness is located in the person and not, as the scriptures
say, in Christ it is possible to lose this conferred righteousness
and so logically the Catholic Church needs it to be conferred
again and again and again In the Scriptures, conferred righteousness
does not exist. Justification is a one-time declaration
by God that Christ's righteousness is held to your account. But
the Catholic Church, because of their idea of it coming through
the sacraments, has repeated idea of getting it again and
again. And so they say formally and
officially in the New Catechism, they say the following, 1446,
the New Catechism quotation, the sacrament of penance offers
a new possibility to convert and rediscover and recover, I
beg your pardon, and recover the grace of justification. The Fathers of the Church present
this sacrament as the second plank of salvation after shipwreck
which is the loss of grace. So again and again this grace
of justification can be given to you as the priest gives his
absolution. And so the need for the word
conferred. and the church says that it is
necessary to have the sacraments. Sacramental grace is the grace
of the Holy Spirit given by Christ and proper to each sacrament.
The utter blasphemous words that this conferring through their
physical sacraments is necessary for a man or woman to be saved. In the scripture we have a declaration
of the righteousness of Christ unto all them that believe. There
is no difference. It is, in the words of the Apostle
Paul, and to be found in him not having my own righteousness,
which is of the law, but that which is by faith in Christ. It is the wonder of being found
in Him having His righteousness imputed to me or to you. The Roman Catholic Church by
its concept of conferred instead of imputed is replacing her physical
sacraments for the Lord of glory and believing on Him and Him
alone. in face of the biblical clarity
and in face of history. of this word that was set up
to deny imputed righteousness, we now have leading evangelicals
using the precise term of Rome. This is a perversion of biblical
truth and it is an attempt to subsume the so-called gospel as replacing the gospel of Christ
and bring it into conformity with Roman Catholic teaching.
Evangelicals such as J. I. Packer, when he was Orthodox,
wrote splendid things about faith alone and Christ's righteousness
alone, as has done Timothy George, of the foundation movement, that
is the reformed within the Southern Baptists, and Askinos, men famous
for writing about the imputation of Christ's righteousness to
the believer. We're not talking about ordinary
scholars, we're talking about men of renown, who know this
distinction. and now put their names to a
document that holds to the Catholic terminology. This is a betrayal
of what the gospel stands for, and what Paul said, for example,
eleven times, even in one chapter of Romans alone, chapter four,
logizimae in Greek, imputed, reckoned, credited, counted,
The word Laugismai, eleven times in Romans 4 alone. Summed up,
we could say, in the very words of Romans chapter 4 verse 5,
But to him that worketh not, but that believeth on him that
justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. And now we have the blasphemous,
horrendous statement endorsed by so-called evangelicals saying,
and by virtue of God's declaration, it, justification conferred,
is so. The lie of Satan. That justification of Christ's
righteousness is in a person. It is in Christ and in Him alone. Part of my own search in becoming
a biblical Christian was that very truth as I kept reading
Romans and I kept reading particularly Ephesians 1 and 2. Eighteen times
in Ephesians 1 for example, Paul says in him in whom in Christ. Eighteen times he shows that
our righteousness is in him and in him alone in the first chapter
of Ephesians. We have here an endorsement of
the message of Satan and what the scriptures say. Have no fellowship
with the unfruitful works of darkness, rather reprove them,
expose them, show them for what they are. Now instead of repentance
we have had a consistent defence of these horrendous things. We've had a book published right
across the world. It's called Evangelicals and
Catholics Towards a Common Mission. And in here Some of these same
men who signed it, together with Newhouse and Colson who put the
book together, try to defend what they have done. To distinguish
this book from the document E.C.T., we call it by the words in the
subtitle, The Christian Towards a Common Mission, or just Common
Mission. The architects have now designed
this book to defend their unbiblical gospel and their endorsement
of baptismal regeneration. And I would like to show you
just what has been said in this book. Packer writes in the Common
Mission, quotation, Neither evangelicals nor Roman Catholics can stipulate
that things they believe, which the other side does not believe,
be made foundational to partnership at this point. So ECT lets go
of Protestant precision on the doctrine of justification. and the correlation between conversion
and new birth. What does Packer say? Let me
read a little bit of that again. E.C.T. lets go of Protestant
precision on the doctrine of justification. He says it in
his own words, that he and others have let go of the Protestant
precision, definitiveness, on the very doctrine of justification. That such a compromise is heretical
is seen from what he says earlier in the same article, and I quote
his own words about Roman Catholic teaching. Quotation, Roman teaching
obscures the gospel and indeed distorts in a tragically anti-spiritual
and un-pastoral manner. Roman teaching obscures the gospel,
so he says. And still he goes on to say that
this is not to be foundational to the partnership that evangelicals
are to have with Catholics. And then he declares, and listen
to this quotation, Rome's official doctrine disorders, particularly
on justification, merit, and the mass sacrifice, so obscure
the gospel that were I, as a gesture of unity, invited to mass, which
of course as a Protestant I am not, nor shall be, I would not
feel free to accept the invitation." End of quotation. So he says
that it so obscures the doctrine of justification that were he
invited to Mass, he wouldn't go. And still, he's willing to
say that we should evangelize together with Catholics, and
that This is not of importance, even though they distort the
very doctrine of justification, showing his own heresy in the
one article that he has written. Towards the end of the same article,
he shows why he is doing all of this. He is trying to rebuild
a Christian consensus and so he proposes quotation Domestic
differences about salvation and the church should not hinder
us from joint action in seeking to re-Christianize the North
American milieu. So that you are to work together
to re-Christianize the North American situation with doctrines
that distort the very gospel of Christ Jesus, as he himself
has said. In the words of Paul, but there
be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you than which we have preached
unto you, let him be accursed. Packer continues even in a more
serious vein in the same book to defend his position and also
in other articles and I'd like to quote from another article
that he has read that he has written in the J.I. Packer collection produced by
Alastair McGraw He says the following, To be sure, fundamentalists within
our pre-traditions are unlikely to join us in this, for it is
the way of fundamentalists to follow the path of contentious
orthodoxy. as if the mercy of God in Christ
automatically rests on persons who are notionally correct and
is just as automatically withheld from those who fall short of
notional correctness. on any point of substance. For
this concept of, in effect, justification not of works, but of words. Words, that is, of notional soundness
and precision is near to being a cultic heresy in its own right,
and need not detain us further now, however much we may regret
the fact that some in all our traditions are bogged down in
it. Evangelicals have never maintained
that notional soundness and precision ever saved anyone. Doctoral theory
has never been held by any Evangelical over the years who has been authentically
Evangelical. All evangelicals throughout history
have been consistent upholding Romans 10.10, for with the heart
man believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession
is made unto salvation. Belief in the righteousness of
Christ alone. Packer appears to be doing casuistry. trying to preempt his critics
by raising a false contrast of dichotomy between heart religion
and head religion. This is an old liberal tactic
by which you try to insinuate that all who do not agree with
your definition or your contrast or dichotomy are unloving and
un-Christian. This is an old tactic that men
who were liberal before have employed. There has been none
in historical evangelicals and of our evangelical
confessions of faith who have ever declared that anyone is
sound by notional correctness. This is an absurd caricature
that Packer has invented. rather evangelical today, as
in the days of Paul, declare that Christ's righteousness alone
is what saves fallen and dead humanity. The righteousness of
Christ alone. This is the precise point that
Christ Jesus proclaimed, the precise point of the gospel,
the precise point that Paul stood against the Judaizers on, the
precise point that the Reformation was fought on, the righteousness
of Christ and that alone. And now the righteousness of
Christ and that alone is inferred to be a domestic issue. And this is horrendous, not only
in the face of what has been declared to be evangelical and
biblical faith over the years, but what men and women have died
for. Not notional correctness, but
faith in Christ alone. They went to the stake and were
willing to be burnt alive. And so we had such as John Huss,
William Tyndale, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, John Rogers,
the wonderful 25-year-old Anne Askew, John Bradford, John Philpott
and I could go on many others who gave their lives for justification
by Christ's righteousness alone and now this is declared to be
a domestic issue of no importance we have here quite a horrendous
defamation of biblical faith We have biblical faith downgraded
to be called occultic heresy. What J. I. Packer has done is
to deny the importance of the Gospels and the Scriptures on
the precise point of justification by faith alone, sola fide. What Packer has done is set aside
the very confessions of faith for which men and women have
contended for throughout the centuries, even before the Reformation
and he has set aside the very blood of the martyrs who died
for this very cause And the Scriptures say that God's judgment is on
such. In the words of Hebrews 10, For
we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth to me, I will recompense,
saith the Lord. And again the Lord shall judge
his people. It is a fearful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God. Another defender in very
erudite and clever words in the common mission and the one who
put the book together with Chuck Colson, Richard John Newhouse. He declares in his article in
this book, quotation, and it is emphasized in a book in which
we don't have emphasis much at all, it is emphasized in italics,
quotation, If, at the end of the 20th century, separation
for the sake of the gospel is not necessary, it is not justified. Newhouse declares that the gospel
is no longer relevant to Christian unity. and this is the intent
and purpose of ECT 1 and the gift of salvation ECT 2 that
the gospel is no longer relevant to Christian unity if this is
not contended for by men and women who stand for biblical
truth, then this very declaration by Richard John Newhouse can
come upon the heads of this generation and on the children coming after
this generation. If separation for the gospel
is no longer justified, it is no longer necessary. That is
the gauntlet laid down before the people of God, and it has
not been answered by the people of God. It falls into Roman Catholic
teaching that unity with Rome is what is necessary. As the
Vatican Council II documents declared, little by little, as
the obstacles to perfect ecclesial communion are overcome, all Christians
will be gathered in a common celebration of the Eucharist
as the Mass. into the unity of the one and
only Church. This unity we believe dwells
in the Catholic Church as something we can never lose. And this is
not just little by little, this is a big step towards unity with
the Roman Catholic Church. Taken by men calling themselves
evangelical and expressed in precise terms by Newhouse. It is more frightening because
it comes from a Catholic. We discussed in my previous talk
about the Inquisition, the 600 years of torture, confiscation
of property and of burnings at the stake of millions across
Europe and particularly in Spain. the 600 years of the Inquisition
done by the same church that Newhouse believes in. And so separation from the Gospel
is no longer necessary for unity, the very intent of E.C.T. 1 and 2. We saw, those who are on the
internet, last week that the sectarian rules are now being
enforced in France. The churches who are outside
the pale when it comes to what is acceptable by the state in
France. the type of churches that you
would be from, who hold to justification by faith alone. I was declared
and published by the Evangelical Times in 1998 in Belgium, quotation, The Belgian Chamber of Representatives
recently passed a law creating a sect oversight organization
that would scrutinize 189 religious organizations listed in the Belgian
parliamentary sect report published in 1997. And it goes on to list
some of the churches involved. So we have sectarian persecution
of churches already happening in Europe. When will it happen
on this side of the Atlantic? All the pieces are already in
place. The gospel is at stake and we
declare what our brother Spurgeon declared in his own day, quotation,
since he was cursed who rebuilt Jericho, much more the man who
labors to restore potpourri among us. the words of Spurgeon. And this is the very thing of
restoring potpourri among us that ECT 1 and 2 strives to do. And are we to remain like dumb
dogs or sleeping shepherds? Or are we to sound the trumpet
as men and women did in ages of the past? we're told by Paul
in Titus 3.10 a man that is a heretic after the first and second admonition
reject knowing that he that is such subverted and sinned being
condemned of himself We've reached a breaking point, period, in
history. What is at stake is the gospel,
the power of God unto salvation. And those who are ambassadors
for Christ must defend the gospel of grace. because we are considering
who our God is and what the gospel of Christ is. We are considering
not a temple affair when we have contaminated food, we put it
aside, or we have infectious diseases, they are quarantined. But this is not simply a temporal
matter. We're talking about the salvation
of souls and the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and men who
are implementing and upholding a false gospel. Ought they not
to be quarantined and separated, as the Bible says they should
be, from the people of God? The Bible warned about false
teachers. We had this warning right through
the scriptures from the Lord Himself speaking about false
Christs, Paul speaking about the grievous wolves, and Peter
speaking about the false teachers, all speaking about the many and
the few believers who would remain faithful. And we're told, now
the spirits speak it expressly, that in latter times, some shall
depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and
doctrines of devils. The infallible word of God warning
us about false teachers. This is not simply something
of history. It is more evident in our own
day. only in our own day men and women
seem frightened to name names as did Paul and to say exactly
who it is that are now denying the very gospel of God's grace. Contend for the faith once delivered
for the saints, a commandment Stand fast in one spirit, the
Lord says to you, with one mind, striving together for the faith
of the gospel. And this demands naming those
who are not doing so, and who have denied the very Gospel,
and to continue to defend their position, such as J.I. Packer, like a pied piper, drawing
thousands of evangelicals unto himself. and such as Charles
Coulson on the radio each day and his email messages sent out
each day twisting and contorting the very gospel of Christ such
as Bill Bright and Campus Crusade right across the world with millions
of dollars behind them such as Mark Knoll from Wheaton College,
Pat Robertson of the 700 Club, the famous Os Guinness, now in
the mire of a false teaching and a false denial. A denial
of a false gospel. Richard Lound, Timothy George,
who has defended this in Christianity today, and such as T.M. Moore,
just to name a few names. We have here another denial of
the very gospel of the Lord and Saviour. we have anti-biblical
terms and the doctrinal intent of Rome stated in very clever
ways and Catholics identified as brothers and sisters in Christ
this delusion to bring the damnation on souls to whom the gospel should
be given. In the past, the greatest harvest
field to make up most Bible-believing churches was from the Catholic
Church. And if these men persist and
are not addressed in their heresy, the purpose is to prevent the
Gospel going forth to souls who are in these systems of the Roman
Catholic Church and others that were addressed in ECT1 such as
the Orthodox. We have the righteousness of
Christ Himself in the mud and trodden on by man. And it is
for you and for me to defend the gospel of grace. And one
thing that I have never asked, and that I ask of you today and
for those who are listening to this tape, that we not only defend,
but we cry out to God in prayer that He would vindicate His name
and His gospel, and that He would bring His wrath and vengeance
against these men. And I quote from Psalm 94, the
very prayer of God in the Scripture, that I pray with you now, O Lord
God, to whom vengeance belongs, O God, to whom vengeance belongeth,
show thyself show thyself, O Lord show thyself in this wicked and
apostate age and may the God of all glory exhibit His wrath
May the God of all glory show His face, and may the God of
all glory equip you, the saints of God. For those listening on
tape who may wish to get a copy of this, You may write to PO
Box 192, Del Valle, TX 78617 or visit our webpage where this
will be put and posted for all to see at bereanbeacon.org or
you can email us from the email address given on our webpage.
I ask that if anybody here wants to get a copy, we have some copies
on the table of this address, and when it is on our webpage
and other webpages that you take it and email this to others. Of all addresses that I have
given in my 15 years as a believer, I think this is the most serious
presentation I've ever given and I pray to God that as we
are praying that God's wrath may be seen and that His believers
contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. Amen and Amen. Praise God. This message is being circulated
worldwide by Berean Beacon Ministries, Post Office Box 192, DelVal,
D-E-L-V-A-L-L-E, Texas 78617, United States of America. In
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catalog. And remember that John Calvin,
in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship,
or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting
on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my
heart. From his commentary on Jeremiah
731, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making
evasions, since He condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded
them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument
needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded
by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their
own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true
religion. And if this principle was adopted
by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they
absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It
is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge
their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There
is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it
manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle,
that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word,
they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The
prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that
God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his
mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when
they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.