For I want you to know how great a struggle I have for you
and for those at Laodicea and for all who have not seen me face to face,
that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love,
to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding
and the knowledge of God's mystery, which is Christ,
in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
-Colossians 2:1-3
"Jesus is the Truth. We believe in Him, —not merely in His words. He Himself is Doctor and Doctrine, Revealer and Revelation, the Illuminator and the Light of Men. He is exalted in every word of truth, because He is its sum and substance. He sits above the gospel, like a prince on His own throne. Doctrine is most precious when we see it distilling from His lips and embodied in His person. Sermons [and songs] are valuable in proportion as they speak of Him and point to Him. A Christ-less gospel is no gospel and a Christ-less discourse is the cause of merriment to devils." -C.H. SPURGEON
15 comments:
"In all these [false] doctrines there is included much of the precious truth of God, but this is employed only as a bait to cover the relentless hook of Satan, by which he seeks to draw human souls away from God and into perdition.
"Not one positive word is said of the future state of man, or of his fitness to meet his God, and any belief in immortality is borrowed from the revelation of God; for the systems themselves are given over to distracting and diverting man from the thought of his need of a Divinely wrought preparation for eternity.
"It is commonly stated by the followers of these systems that it is of little importance what one believes, for it is the life that counts. Thus the great and necessary fact that any true character as well as any eternal blessedness depends upon what one believes, rather than on the life, is discredited."
-Lewis Sperry Chafer, Satan, Chapter X - Modern Devices, c1909
Chafer continues:
"These systems are mentioned only as examples of the almost innumerable doctrines that are sweeping the world to-day. They often reappear under new and misleading titles.
"The truth they acknowledge, and many forces they employ, are God's gracious provision for His saints; yet when these truths and forces are used alone, where the real purpose of God is skillfully omitted, they become only the hypocrisy that covers and garnishes a lie."
-Lewis Sperry Chafer, Satan, Chapter X - Modern Devices, c1909
Chafer continues:
"Again, many are deluded by the emphasis upon the mere outward forms of the visible Church. When these forms are analyzed, they appear to represent a church ministered to by a recognized ordained minister who depends upon his own personality for his power; and who preaches ethics and morality drawn from Scripture texts and other ethical writings.
"Prayers are offered, imploring the Almighty to aid humanity in its attempts to commend itself to Him by a more or less faithful practice of religion. The pleasures of music as an art are provided at fabulous cost, in place of the praise that is inspired by the Spirit of God.
"Social gatherings are held, to take the place of the unity of the Spirit and the love of the brethren. Humanitarian appeals for the betterment of the world are made, in place of the evangelical regeneration by the Cross; and not one reference to the real Gospel is made from one year to the next, unless it be in a covered denial.
"The sleeping congregations are seemingly satisfied with a mockery of the truth, and are content with a doctrine that proposes to educate souls into hell, and which encourages them to make a few efforts toward self-development while on their certain road to perdition. It is no longer good form in society to be without some church relations, yet the one and only true basis for salvation may never have been comprehended or accepted by a multitude of these members.
"Truly the god of this world is accomplishing his end, and his blinded followers are coming to be numbered with the faithful. The evil birds are flocking to the mustard tree, and the corrupting leaven is permeating the measures of meal."
-Lewis Sperry Chafer, Satan, Chapter X - Modern Devices, c1909
"For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent." [Revelation 3:17-19]
In conclusion, Chafer continues:
"Sad is the spectacle of these churches; meeting week after week to be beguiled by the philosophy of men, and raising no voice in protest against the denial of their only foundation as a church, and of their only hope for time and eternity!
"Far more honorable were the infidels of the past generation than these ministers. They were wholly outside the Church. But now, behold the inconsistency! Men who are covered by the vesture of the Church, ministering its sacraments, and supported by its benevolence, are making an open attack upon that wisdom of God which made Christ Jesus the only ground for all righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
"The predictions for the last days are thus not only being fulfilled by false systems and doctrines, but they are found in the visible Church itself."
-Lewis Sperry Chafer, Satan, Chapter X - Modern Devices, c1909
"For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." [2 Timothy 4:3-5]
"a Christ-less discourse is the cause of merriment to devils."
And with that Spurgeon sums up politics. It has been truly noted that God has no political party, but the devil keeps current membership in them all.
"Jesus is the Truth. We believe in Him, —not merely in His words...Sermons [and songs] are valuable in proportion as they speak of Him and point to Him. A Christ-less gospel is no gospel..." - Charles Spurgeon
In other words, Jesus made Spurgeon's point quite well :) by saying:
"You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me."
Thats is indeed a good quote Steve; here is another:
"The first false worship is Cain worship, which is worship without atonement. This kind of worship rests upon three basic errors. One is the error that assumes God to be different from what He is. He who seeks to worship a God he does not know comes without having first been cleansed by the coals from off the altar. But this kind of worship will not be accepted by God.
The second error is that man assumes he occupies a relation to God which he does not occupy. The man who worships without Christ and without the blood of the Lamb and without forgiveness and without cleansing is assuming too much. He is mistaking error for truth, and spiritual tragedy is the result.
The third error is that sin is made less serious than it is in fact. The psychologists and psychiatrists and sociologists and that gang of left-wingers that have come in over the past years have taken the terror out of sin. To worship God acceptably we must be freed from sin. Cain worship is worship out of an unregenerate heart."
AW Tozer- Worship: The Missing Jewel
Thank you all for sharing some other amazing quotes on this theme!
Well done...
Campi
deb_b
Your excerpts by Chafer remind me of the saying "The more things change, the more they stay the same." What he said back in 1909 could be said of our churches today.
The false doctrines that he spoke of have now given birth to several Movements.
Four major Movements that are redefining Christianity, and are for the most part flying "beneath the radar" in many of our churches today (that means that Christians often don't even realize that their Church is a part of one or more of these Movements) are:
1) The Emergent Church Movement
2) The New Perspective On Paul
3) The Church Growth Movement, and
4) The New Apostolic Reformation
My husband, Terry, tells me that Chafer was the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary.
Again, those were very interesting excerpts, and keen insights. Thanks for sharing them.
Michele
Yes Michelle, Chafer was the founder of Dallas and while he may not have always agreed with some of the Lordshippers he did make some strong points as a regenerate believer and would probably roll over in his grave at the way some of the free gracers today are misrepresenting him. Just go over to unashamed of grace sometime and you will see how they twist what he said in the past to present their crossless gospel when he clearly says here in black and white that he rejects the direction that many who claim to follow his direction but if you were to tell them that they would argue on so it is not really worth it:-)
Grace upon grace,
Brian
"What he said back in 1909 could
be said of our churches today."
Aye, Michelle. The dear saints who've gone on before us sounded the clarion call - JC Ryle in his Warnings to the Churches, Spurgeon in so many of his sermons and other writings, coupled with his bold stand for the Gospel truth with the Downgrade controversy near the end of his lifetime, to name just a few.
More later, Lord willing.
OT: Please, my brothers and sisters, my beloved hubby and I ask for your prayers.
We are both deep south Louisiana natives. During our earthly sojourn, it is, and always will be, "home" for us.
It's where what's left of our respective families and childhood friends are. Many of whom have only just recently finished rebuilding from Katrina.
My husband's family lives on the north shore, just across the big Lake Pontchartrain from N'Awlins [New Orleans]. They have all moved further inland to stay with other of our relatives and close friends.
deb_b
You can be sure we will be praying for your family and friends, as we are praying for all the people there.
It is always stunning when I see a man get up in a pulpit, deliver a talk for 30 minutes and never once invoke the name of Christ and yet they consider themself to be an undershepherd, a Christian pastor. If you aren't going to preach Christ and Him crucified, go play golf instead and save everyone a lot of grief.
Preaching is not about giving sinners what they want, it is telling them who they need.
If you aren't going to preach Christ and Him crucified, go play golf instead and save everyone a lot of grief.
Let's run the bums out of town.
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