Modern Evangelism: Perversion of the Blessed Evangel

 

 

The Lordship of Christ: Shifting the Emphasis

by Stewart, James Alexander

“During  the past thirty years we have noticed a gradual, subtle shift in the emphasis of the ‘Gospel of the glory of Christ,’ which amounts to a complete perversion of the blessed evangel. The emphasis in our modern day evangelism has shifted from that of the lordship of Christ to an easy ‘believism.’ This shifting of the emphasis has led to an adulterated Gospel and changed the message and the ministry of the Church.

Both movements and men have so often given the impression that the acceptance of the lordship of Christ is a second experience of grace, or a sort of optional addendum to the Christian life. Peter declared in his apostolic message, ‘Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.’ (Acts 5 : 31). Christian workers today have reversed this Scriptural order and set forth Christ as Saviour first before His office as Prince. This teaching is nothing less than a complete sell-out to the world, Modernism and Satan. So great has been the perversion that many congregations are astounded when they hear the true Gospel of the lordship of Christ. They believe that we are preaching a new gospel. We know of a certain faithful evangelist who is preaching the same old Gospel which was taught him in his denominational seminary twenty-five years ago. Today that same evangelist, with his message, is rejected by the evangelical churches of that denomination. And for what reason? They accuse him of preaching a new gospel which is but the old Gospel of the lordship of Christ.

Satan has employed every seductive and deceptive force at his command to cause God’s messengers to bypass, or omit altogether, the lordship of the Redeemer. The reasons for this change of emphasis are not difficult to understand. May we mention some:

First, they want to preach a popular gospel of easy ‘believism’ in order to attract the world to God’s message. They set forth the joy of belonging to Christ, while deliberately omitting the dark background of man’s total depravity. The inference is thus: ‘That which our fathers taught is old-fashioned. They had a narrow view of the Gospel. It isn’t necessary to give up the pleasures of the world and sin. Just believe and be saved.’

Second, many honest and sincere Christian workers are so anxious to rescue lost men and women from eternal damnation that they seek to meet the sinner half way. ‘Yes, it is true,’ they say, ‘that Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords, but don’t let that upset you. You need not receive Christ as Lord now; just receive Him as Saviour and all will be well.’ How many times have we been severely pained when some eager evangelist or personal worker has cried out, ‘Do you believe that? Then you are saved!’ Such a parody of truth must not go unchallenged. A sinner can ‘believe that’ and go to hell. A sinner can believe John 3:16 and other Gospel passages and still go to hell.

Third, in our feverish haste to multiply results by mass production, we lower the standard of the Gospel proclamation. This is a great day of religious machinery, and the machinery must show huge, immediate results for its propaganda and organization. As never before the Christian press is panting after sensational news of great results from our evangelistic endeavors. Unlike our Master many workers fail to warn their audiences to count the cost. (Luke 14 : 25-33). A preacher’s success is judged today mainly by the size of the crowds he draws. In John, chapter six, the Saviour preached His crowd away! ‘Many therefore . . .when they had heard. . . said, This is an hard saying who can hear it ? From that time many . . . went back, and walked no more with him.’ (John 6:60-66).”

Stewart, James Alexander (13 Feb. 1910-11 July 1975), missionary, evangelist, and author, was born in Glasgow, Scotland.

Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The People’s Preacher

This 2010 drama-documentary titled “Charles Haddon Spurgeon: The People’s Preacher”  on the life and ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon is worth a watch.  The drama-documentary sought to  faithfully traced  the conversion and calling of a young C.H. Spurgeon into public ministry of the Gospel. The film also portrayed Spurgeon in  the many trials, successes, failures, joys and pains  that he  went through in his 40 years of faithful ministry as the  “people’s preacher” for the glory of his Lord Jesus Christ . C.H. Spurgeon impacted his generation greatly with the faithful preaching of the Gospel of God’s amazing grace and Spurgeon’s legacy of sermons and writings continues to impact many more generations of preachers and people to this day.

“God does not need your strength: he has more than enough of power of his own. He asks your weakness: he has none of that himself, and he is longing, therefore, to take your weakness, and use it as the instrument in his own mighty hand. Will you not yield your weakness to him, and receive his strength?”  – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

How Can We Find Forgiveness From a Holy God ?

Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile, in a Muslim-Christian Dialogue held in Dubai,  answering the question : How can we find forgiveness from a Holy God ?

The atonement work of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross as the perfect Lamb of God provides the means of propitiation and satisfaction to a Holy God. (Rom 3:25, Heb 2:17, 1Jn 2:2, 1 Jn 4:10)  It is the only way that a Holy God can remain as just and also the justifier of the ungodly sinners. (Rom 3:26) This is the “scandal of grace”. Forgiveness of ungodly sinners brought about by God demonstrating amazing grace in imputing the sinners’ sins upon His only Son Jesus Christ (Rom 5:8) and then  pouring out His righteous wrath in executing penal judgment  on His Son and thereby crushing  Him on the cross (Rom 5:9). That was what the Old Testament sacrificial system of bloody animal sacrifices has always meant to point to. (Heb 9: 11-15) God will provide a sacrifice, a perfect Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.

In a post titled  A Bloody Religion – Pure Church, Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile wrote that Christians must remember and be constantly reminded by their pastors  that their forgiveness and acceptance by a Holy God  is on solely on the basis of the Lord Jesus Christ’s bloody,  perfect,  penal and sacrificial atonement on the cross. Jesus Christ is that  perfect sinless Lamb which was slaughtered by God. Jesus Christ shed His blood to bring about the remission of sins. A Holy God already judged and duly canceled the past and future sins of the ungodly sinners elected by His sovereign grace. That is how ungodly sinners can find forgiveness from a Holy God.

“That’s the Old Testament sacrificial system.  It’s bloody.

But do we imagine Christianity to be an less bloody?  Do we imagine the fulfillment of those patterns and prophesies to bring a more sanitary, sterile, cleaner religion?  If we do, we’ve lost sight of significant realities.

Is not our salvation purchased with blood?  The blood of the Son of God still flows.  It flows to the chief of sinners.  It still washes and cleanses.  It doesn’t drain into a basin, but reaches the nations.  And without the shedding of His blood, there is no remission of sins.  ….

What about you, pastor?  Does not our continuing ministry require blood?  Do your daily ministrations involve less blood than the blood Old Testament priests once put their hands in?  If so, you’re doing it wrong.  Are our people any less broken by sin?  Do they need repentance less?  Can they leave off confession and forget to seek a good conscience?  Certainly not.  But how will they be comforted?  How will they be assured of their forgiveness?  What will they do with their guilt?  Do we not return them to that precious fountain filled with blood drawn from Immanuel’s veins?  Do we not stand awash in blood and with our hands of counsel rub blood–not on an altar–but on our people?  And are they not cleansed of all unrighteousness when they’re taught to confess, repent, and return to a faithful and just God who is pleased at the sight of His Son’s blood?  We remind them that atonement has been made, which is to remind them of blood–Jesus’ blood.

Ours is a bloody religion.“

Past related  posts on Pastor Thabiti Anyabwile‘s participation in previous Muslim-Christian Dialogue also held in Dubai.

Who is God and how are we saved? – Sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with Muslims

Who is Jesus Christ ? – A former Muslim explaining the Gospel of Jesus Christ

Disobedient Christians vs World Missions

“There are only three kinds of Christians when it comes to world missions: zealous goers, zealous senders, and disobedient. May God deliver us from disobedience!”  

John Piper – A Passion for the Supremacy of Christ—Where He Is Not Named – 3 Nov 96

What is the Great Commission?

“Go therefore into all the world and make disciples.” This is the version of the Great Commission that many of us memorized. However, it leaves out a great deal. To begin with, it leaves out the whole rationale for the commission in the first place. Although it sounds a little corny, a good rule of thumb in reading the Scriptures is that whenever you find a “therefore” you need to stop and ask “what it’s there for.”

When we see an imperative such as “Go therefore,” we need to go back and look at what has already been said leading up to it. There is no reason for us to go into all the world as Christ’s ambassadors apart from the work that he has already accomplished.

The Great Commission actually begins with the declaration, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me” (Matt. 28:18). This is the rationale for everything the church is called to do and to be. The church’s commission is indeed directed by a purpose (“making disciples of all nations”), but it is driven by a promise  ……………….

The church’s mission is grounded in God’s mission, which he fulfilled objectively in his Son and whose subjective effects he is bringing about in the world through his Spirit. Because the Father sent the Son and then the Spirit, we are sent into all the world with his gospel…..

And God is the original missionary. He was a missionary in creation: speaking the world into being by his Word, in the power of his Spirit. Adam was commissioned to bring the whole earth under submission to God’s righteous rule, but he forfeited this calling. Israel too was called out by God as “a light to the Gentiles.” Yet, “like Adam, Israel transgressed the covenant” (Hos. 6:7). In the fullness of time, however, the Father sent the Son into the world to save sinners. In his post-resurrection appearances to the disciples, Jesus not only preached himself as the center of Scripture (Luke 24:27, 44), he made their proclamation of him part of that mission as well: “‘This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem’” (vv. 45-47). And after his ascension, the Son together with the Father sent the Spirit at Pentecost. God’s mission, of course, is qualitatively distinct from ours. The triune God is the Redeemer; we are the redeemed. But the redeemed are given the privilege of participating in God’s mission to the world by proclaiming the gospel, administering the sacraments, and caring for the expanding flock of Christ.

The Great Announcement – “All Authority in Heaven and on Earth Has Been Given to Me” By Michael S. Horton

Jesus Is The Gospel

 

The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. ……Jesus came ……, proclaiming the gospel of God,  and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:1, 14,15

Tell Me, What Is The Gospel ?

“This is not an invitation to moral apathy but to godly sanity. The bad news is far worse than occasionally failing to live up to my potential. The smallest sin in my eyes–not only what my hands have done, but what I’ve conceived in my heart–is sufficient to banish me from God’s holy and joyful presence forever. But the good news is far greater than the bad news is bad. The good news is far greater than “just try harder next time.” In fact, that is not good news at all because I know that God does not grade on a curve and he has not asked me to try harder. He demands perfect righteousness, not good intentions. The harder I try to cover up my nakedness in God’s presence, the more I hate God, fleeing in self-deceit from his terrifying presence. Left to myself, I will always accuse God and excuse myself–even using religion to hide my ineradicable guilt. The good news is that Christ’s righteousness is greater than my sin. Fully absolved in Christ, I am free to confess my sins, receive the assurance of pardon, and go on in my imperfect yet Spirit-led obedience.”

- Michael S. Horton, Christless Christianity, 121.

How Deep The Father’s Love For Us

How Deep The Father’s Love For Us

How deep the Father’s love for us,
How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the chosen One,
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

How Deep The Fathers Love For Us -lyrics by  Stuart Townend
Singing: Steve Pettit Evangelistic Ministries

Another similar posting on this hymn:

How Deep The Father’s Love For Us – Stuart Townend

Distorted Gospel – Neglecting the Wonder of the Cross

“..the gospel itself is distorted. It is presented in sermons less and less as what God has done so sinners under His wrath and curse may be right with Him Who is holy. By a horrible neglect of the problem, the gospel is presented more in terms of how God is yearning to have a relationship with us so He can be our friend. God is not lonely, nor in any kind of need. When the problem of sin gets passing attention, fellowship replaces forgiveness. Propitiation and justification are foremost to bringing a restored communion with God. Today people skip over the foundation and try to have the benefits apart from the foundation. We cannot know God as He is if we avoid or neglect the real wonder, that God the Son was forsaken by God for us on the cross. We cannot be filled with wonder if we are missing the wonder of the cross. “

David H. Linden – Action International Ministries

Jesus Declared His Gospel Honestly

"Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few. Matt 7:13-14

[The Christian life] is not a life which at first is fairly broad, and which as you go on becomes narrower and narrower. No! The gate itself, the very way of entering into this life, is a narrow one. … Too often the impression is given that to be a Christian is after all very little different from being a non-Christian, that you must not think of Christianity as a narrow life, but as something most attractive and wonderful and exciting, and that you come in in crowds. It is not so according to our Lord. The gospel of Jesus Christ is too honest to invite anybody in that way. It does not try to persuade us that it is something very easy, and that it is only later on that we shall begin to discover it is hard. The gospel of Jesus Christ openly and uncompromisingly announces itself as being something which starts with a narrow entrance, a strait gate. …

We are told at the very outset of this way of life, before we start on it, that if we would walk along it there are certain things which must be left outside, behind us. There is no room for them, because we

D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

have to start by passing through a strait and narrow gate. I like to think of it as a turnstile. It is just like a turnstile that admits one person at a time and no more. And it is so narrow that there are certain things which you simply cannot take through with you. It is exclusive from the very beginning, and it is important that we should look at this sermon in order to see some of the things which must be left behind.

The first thing we leave behind is what is called worldliness. We leave behind the crowd, the way of the world. … The Christian way of life is not popular. … You cannot take the crowd with you into the Christian life; it inevitably involves a break.

Studies in the Sermon on the Mount, ii, pp. 220-1

God’s Sovereignty in Salvation

“This is the issue: Is it a part of God’s gift of salvation, or is it in our own contribution to salvation? Is our salvation wholly of God or does it ultimately depend on something that we do for ourselves? Those who say the latter, that it ultimately depends on something we do for ourselves, thereby deny humanity’s utter helplessness in sin….in effect, it turned faith into a meritorious work, … denied the sovereignty of God in saving sinners,…………Until we humble ourselves and understand that no man is an island and that no man has an island of righteousness, that we are utterly dependent upon the unmixed grace of God for our salvation, we will not begin to rest upon grace and rejoice in the greatness of God’s sovereignty, and we will not be rid of the pagan influence of humanism that exalts and puts man at the center of religion.”

Dr R C Sproul, The Pelagian Captivity of the Church ( from Modern Reformation, Vol 10, Number 3 (May/June 2001), pp. 22-29.)

Dramatic Change and Paradigm Shift in World Mission Focus

In a 2010 article from WSJ (see below), the writer who was an observer at Edinburgh 2010 World Missionary Conference opined the “dramatic change” and “paradigm shift” in the focus of world mission today, away from original focus of the commission that Jesus has  commanded to one which is merely a vacation style outreach “to battle the ills of poverty and to stretch their own spirituality.”. This is the sad state of mission boards and its supporting churches which have lost its understanding of the Gospel and that they exist to spread the good news of the  Gospel and to make disciples of all nations for the glory of God.

It appears that 21st century mission boards and missionaries have lost sight of purpose and intent of the Great Commission that the Lord Jesus Christ has commanded all Christians and for which He has promised His power to enable them to do so faithfully: “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” Matt 28:18-20.

How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire
by Mr. Greenberg-the creator of TheGodBlog.org.

The 1910 World Missionary Conference was a watershed moment for Protestantism. Meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland, the assembled 1,200 Protestants believed that Christianity was on the cusp of spreading to every corner of the world, and that Christ would come again once every ear had heard the good news of salvation. Their master plan for missions would hasten his return.

But Edinburgh 2010, the centenary conference that concluded last month, drew only about a quarter of the crowd and received attention only from a few Christian publications. The modern master plan was less ambitious as well: a call to global missions and “to witness and evangelism in such a way that we are a living demonstration of the love, righteousness and justice that God intends for the whole world.”

This dramatic change was summed up at a small gathering of academics and missions professionals at Fuller Theological Seminary in late May. “At (1910) Edinburgh, people thought they were going to take over the world,” said C. Douglas McConnell, dean of Fuller’s School of Intercultural Studies in his opening remarks. “And now many of our students wonder if they should even try.”

Indeed, colonialism is dead (thankfully). But the term “missions” itself now carries with it a negative connotation, even in politically and theologically conservative circles. Christians today typically travel abroad to serve others, but not necessarily to spread the gospel.

While meaning well and certainly doing good, this form of outreach has allowed the pendulum to swing too far from 1910. Today, Christian missionaries need to balance both actions and words. The overwhelming majority of American missionaries today are “vacationaries.” Joining mission trips of two weeks or less, they serve in locales where Christianity already predominates.

The purpose, then, of their visit is to battle the ills of poverty and to stretch their own spirituality. According to studies by Robert J. Priest, a missiologist and director of the doctoral program in intercultural studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 82% of short-term missions today go to countries in the most-Christian third of the world. Only 2% land in the Middle East.

The work these missionaries do reflects a paradigm shift—from spreading Christianity, to living it, …………………….missions experts note rising interest in strictly social justice and humanitarian work, even on short-term visits.

…..Unless foreigners explain that they are motivated to help by their religious beliefs, locals may be grateful for the new home but they should not be expected to connect dots that they may not even know exist.

The reality is the Church should be doing both: serving the needy and spreading the gospel. This is what makes the humanitarian work of Christians different than that of the American Red Cross. Both are motivated by the desire to help others, but Christians are spurred by that Jesus thing…………..

by Mr. Greenberg-the creator of TheGodBlog.org.
Read the full article at @ How Missionaries Lost Their Chariots of Fire

By Faith

By Faith

By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation’s grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

by Keith and Kristyn Getty | from the album Awaken the Dawn

Francis Chan Warning People About Hell By Proclaiming It Boldly Now

Francis Chan Warning People About Hell By Proclaiming It Boldly Now

Q: When you say that your study caused you to realize that you had some sins to repent of, what type of things are you talking about?

FC: “As I reread the Gospel passages, Jesus’ words are much harsher than I remember. There’s a tone in some of the things that he said that are really difficult to stomach, and he says things in a way that I would not have.

Because we in America read certain passages over and over to the neglect of others, we start to believe that Jesus had a friendly tone all the time. And that there isn’t any wrath or anger or judgment. When you read it all like you are reading it for the first time, you walk away going, “Wow, he was pretty hardcore.”

Here’s what I had to repent of: I had felt the need to soften a lot of Jesus’ statements, because in my arrogance I think, “Okay Jesus, I’m not going to say that like that. Trust me, people will like you more and be more willing to accept you if I say it like this.” Obviously I’ve never said that to God. But that’s the attitude I’ve taken, and it made me sick. Who in the heck do I think I am? To think that I can make God more palatable or attractive if I try and change the tone in which he says some things. I know people say, “Well it’s just cultural this or that.” That’s garbage. People back then had a much deeper reverence for God than we do. Especially the religious community. Yet it’s to those people whom he speaks so harshly.

What in the world would he say to us today? I don’t think it’d be a softer message. I had to come before God and say, “Lord I feel sick…….”

Q: Is that what makes it compelling for you to continue to affirm the reality of hell? That it’s so frequently mentioned?

FC: “It comes down to God and people. I have to warn people. I don’t want people going there. And if they ignore it, there’s a much more likely chance that they’ll end up there. Obviously I take that in light of the sovereignty of God, but looking at it from a pragmatic perspective, it’s like canoeing before Niagara Falls if you don’t know it’s there or you’ve got yourself deceived that there’s no drop off. So one reason is my desire to love people and care for people and warn people.

The other is what I mentioned about God himself. I want to make sure that I’m being faithful to present him as he presents himself. I’m not ashamed of this, I don’t understand it completely, but I surrender to it, I submit to it. And I want to proclaim it boldly now.“

Quotes from Q&A: Francis Chan on Rob Bell and Hell from ChristianityToday.com

Bane of Modern Evangelism: Building a seeker sensitive church via another Gospel

” Neo-Christianity, which seems for the time to be the most popular(and is certainly the most aggressive), is very careful not to oppose sin. It wins its crowds by amusing them and its converts  by hiding from them the full implications of the Christian message. It carries on it projects after the ballyhoo methods of American business.” – A.W. Tozer from “The Next Chapter after the Last, p. 18.

” The feeling that we got to make converts at any cost has greatly wounded the Church of Christ. We must present the truth as we are told to present it and let the Holy Ghost(Spirit) work and the individual man decide whether he will accept it or not. This soft, pussy idea that in order to keep people coming and giving and filling the seats we don’t dare in any wise offend them, and we’ve got to make everything smooth and soft, is not New Testament.” -A.W. Tozer from sermon, “This I Believe,” 1969.

“The temptation to modify the teaching of Christ with the hope that larger numbers may ‘accept’ Him is cruelly strong in this day of speed, size,  noise, and crowds. But if we know what is good for us, we’ll resist it with every power at our command. To yield can only result in a weak and ineffective Christianity in this generation, and death and desolation in the next.”- A.W. Tozer from the “The Size of the Soul”, p. 119.

“The crowds-at-any-price mania has taken a firm grip on American Christianity and is the motivating power back of shockingly high percentage of all religious activity. Men and churches compete for the attention of the paying multitudes who are brought in by means of any currently popular gadget or gimmick ostensibly to have their souls saved, but , if the truth were told, often for reasons not so praiseworthy as this.” A. W. Tozer from “The Size of the Soul”, p. 117.

Galatians 1:6-12  “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel– not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed. For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.“

Related Posts:

What Does It Mean to Accept Christ ?