Scripture Alone

2 Corinthians 6

¹⁴ Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? ¹⁵ And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? ¹⁶ And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ¹⁷ Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. ¹⁸ And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

Back in the 1960’s, at the height of the ecumenical movement in Great Britain, there was an ecumenical march of solidarity in Westminster London. All the denominations of SW1 were to take to the streets and show that Christians were united, despite their differences in doctrine and practice. There were Anglican, Methodist, Baptist, Roman Catholic, Pentecostal, Presbyterian, amongst others; but one, at least of what we now know, did not take part. That one was Westminster Chapel, the congregational church where one of God’s called preachers, who was lovingly known as ‘the doctor’ (because he was a medical doctor, not a DD), faithfully preached the Word of God for nearly 30 years. D. Martyn LLoyd Jones was his name, he was a vocal opponent of the false unity of a one state church, he knew, as we all should, that there can be no true fellowship with those who are Christian in name only. The doctrines of the Scripture that are essential to the Christian faith must remain without compromise. So, as was the custom of this little flock of sheep in SW1, their shepherd kept them safe in the Word of the Lord and they rejected the ecumenical march. One of the commands of God’s chosen ministers is to protect the flock from heresy and compromise of “the faith once delivered to the saints.”

The march of solidarity is a wonderful illustration for us who are sheep and even more for those who are truly called to shepherd that which belongs to our Lord Himself, for there is not a sheep alive that does not belong to the Lord Jesus Christ, “And what concord hath Christ with Belial?”, obviously none. This is a rhetorical question put forth by the apostle Paul and we think it prudent for us to remember that it is such. We should never entertain this idea that a little compromise for the gospel’s sake is okay.

In a march of ecumenical Christian solidarity, where every church must needs be a false gospel preaching church, and where the pews are filled with goats in sheep’s clothing, and the pulpits are manned by wolves in like attire. Should then a called shepherd of the Lord dress up his flock of genuine sheep to appear as goats, so that by some miracle of the Holy Spirit the sheep from the other flocks of goats would be shown what a flock of sheep look like, and, by divine providence, then those sheep would leave their flocks of goats for a flock of sheep?  We think that many would consider this a reasonable thing to do. They would even cite what the apostle said in 1 Corinthians 9 vs 20-22, “And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; (&c.) … that I might by all means save some.” This is an obvious misuse of this verse, which we will not go into in detail at this time; but, the truth of this verse is that it contextually refers to things that are indifferent to the essential doctrines of the gospel of Christ. When Paul said he became a Jew to the Jews, he means that he, also a Jew, would take part in Jewish cultural things, so that he would be able to preach the true gospel to them; and likewise to the Gentiles. He did not mean that he would compromise the truth of the gospel in any way shape or form. Galatians chapter 1 verses 8 and 9 are more than enough to prove this well known fact, that Paul is “not ashamed of the gospel of Christ”. (Rom 1:16)

An obvious question now arises; if the sheep flock is disguised as goats, then how would the sheep amongst the goats know what a sheep fold looks like?  If we take our view of the situation from a heavenly perspective, we can see there are sheep clothed wolf shepherds leading flocks down the roads towards solidarity with other wolves; all of their flocks are made up of mostly goats with a few sheep within, and they are heading towards  their destruction. It is true, that the God called evangelist has a desire to affect those sheep in a positive way as to reveal the truth of which a sheep of Christ’s would recognize. However, if the Lord from heaven were to witness His flock dressed in goats disguises being led by a shepherd, of whom He called, coming in off the strait path and merging, as it were, with those on the broad path and heading to that same end of destruction, which in this case is the destruction of the gospel; then would we expect the Lord to bless such an effort?  Is it not deceit in and of itself?  Is it not a denial of the Lord, of truth, and the gospel? 

To say that the Lord can use an ass to turn a heathen away from his flock is one thing; but, to use his flock to deceive the nations is quite another.  The foundation of the gospel message is God’s declaration of that which is true, above and beyond all that man’s intellect can apprehend or even comprehend; so, therefore, there is no more powerful demonstration of God’s truth than standing firm on that of which He has declared.  Any and all compromise of God’s truth originates with man and is a result of the devil and his lies.  In an instance like the event described above, the greatest action for the gospel is to refuse to join based on the very fact that we are commanded to “not have fellowship with the unfruitful works of the devil”, of which a march towards ecumenicism most certainly is.  If there are indeed sheep in the folds of those wolf led goat churches then their only hope is the in-working and conviction of the Holy Spirit in their lives, that they may “work out their own salvation in fear and trembling.”(Phil 2:12)  Now let’s say that they have worked it out and their conciseness are pricked so that they must seek that which is true, would they not be seeking to find the opposite of that which they have left, namely, compromise and ease?  Would they not seek the truth of which there can be no compromise?  God’s shepherds are called of Him to stand on the foundation of what He has begun to build, that being the apostles and the prophets, namely the doctrines of which the church is founded on, that being the apostles doctrine, for we know that the apostles doctrine is held together by our true God and Saviour, our Shepherd, Christ Jesus, being the chief corner stone of this great building.

So, as Christians, we never compromise the truth of the gospel in order that we “may win some”: because, the fact is this, the power of God unto salvation is the gospel of Christ. Therefore, anything else is powerless, vain, and a sin. So, let every man examine himself.