“If there is a decay of conscience, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the public press lacks moral discernment, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the church is degenerate and worldly, the pulpit is responsible for it. If the world loses its interest in Christianity, the pulpit is responsible for it. If satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.” Rev. Charles Finney
We are where we are because of the failure of our pulpits, and their lack of leading the sheep. Jeremiah 23:1 states, “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” This is the LORD’s declaration.” We are not being led by the pastors to be the salt and light of truth, and this is why our country is failing in every venue. There are no choruses of Christians speaking truth, only a few who are drowned out by the enemies of same.
The following information comes from a wonderful article by E. L Bynum entitled, Is It Right: To Judge, To Expose Error, and To Call Names. I have used much of his information, but have added my own thoughts and beliefs as well as my fears for our country.
Is It Right to Judge?
Many today believe that it is wrong to judge, expose error, and to name names. Leftists have always seemed to believe this, but in recent times it has been widely espoused by evangelicals and charismatics. Now we are seeing the same fatal error being declared by those who profess to be Bible believing fundamentalists. Those who are faithful in exposing error according to the Bible are now being widely denounced and are accused of being unloving and unkind. When trying to lead those who are lost to saving grace, we must expose error, but it must also be done in a kind and loving manner. Yet, if rejected, dust your sandals off and move on.
One of the most misused verses in the Bible is, “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” (Matt 7:1). We cannot judge another for his sin, if we are guilty of that sin. Every scripture verse should be read in its context, if we are to properly understand the true meaning. In vs. 2-5 of this same chapter, it is evident that vs.1 is referring to hypocritical judgment.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.
Do you see? A brother who has a beam in his own eye should not be judging one who has a mote in his eye. Nevertheless, as Christians who are supposed to be the salt and light, we are to judge and to expose error.
The folks who believe no one should judge another haven’t taken a good look at the New Testament and all the exposing of error that constantly went on. We must, as believers, judge everything by the Word of God. Remember the verse, “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.” (Matt.16-17). Did our Lord mean that we could not judge the person by the fruit of their life and doctrine? No, of course not, for you cannot know without judging. All judgment should be on the basis of Bible teaching, not according to whims or prejudices or the politically correct dogma of the day, but by the Word of God.
Again, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” (John 7:24). The Lord Himself commands that we are to “judge righteous judgment,” which is judgment based upon the Word of God. If judgment is made upon any other basis (as the communists in our government do) other than the Word of God, it is a violation of Matt. 7:1. The faithful Christian must discern or judge on the basis of God’s inspired law, the Bible, just as sitting judges have to judge according to law. And yes, I know today’s judiciary is corrupted.
Exposing False Teachers
There are dozens of examples in the New Testament of judgment and discernment. We must expose false teachers and today there are many of them…remember, a person who is able to discern between good and evil, has at least one of the major marks of spiritual maturity. “But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.” (Heb 5:14) And how do we discern both good and evil? By judgment through knowledge of God’s Word. Biblical scholar, W.E. Vine, says of the meaning of discern, “a distinguishing, a clear discrimination, discerning, judging, is translated “discerning” in I Cor. 12:10 of discerning spirits, judging by evidence whether they are evil or of God. James Strong (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance) also agrees that it means to judge.
False teachers are free to spread their poisonous doctrines today because there is a conspiracy of silence among many Bible believers. Wolves in sheep’s clothing are thus enabled to ravage the flock, thereby destroying many. Our pulpits are silent, and the congregations are not fed the meat of truth. Today’s sheep don’t eat meat, they just regurgitate the Pablum fed to them from the pulpits.
We must expose false teachers. Remember Jesus throwing the money changers out of the temple?…He was sitting in judgment of their wrong doing. Today our Saviour is presented as one who was meek, lowly, kind, and loving, even to false teachers, but this is entirely false. When dealing with false teachers, and prophets, His words were Sharp and His actions plain. Jesus said to the religious Pharisees, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” (Matt 12:34) Jesus stood face to face with these false teachers and called them “hypocrites,” “blind guides,” “blind,” “whited sepulchers,” “serpents,” and “ye generation of vipers.” (Matt; 23:23-34). Yet today, so-called Bible believing Christians insist on working with assorted heretics, think of Chrislam and how Rick Warren is partnering with Islam, and telling the church that we worship the same God “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.” (2 Peter 2:1)
Exposing Error
The Bible admonishes us to expose error. We are to try them, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. (I John 4:1). All doctrine and teachers are to be tried by the Word of God. We are to mark those who stay in falsehood and avoid them. We are to rebuke them, (Titus 1:13), and we are to have NO FELLOWSHIP with them. The faithful servant of the Lord is to be, “Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.” We are to have no fellowship with them….”And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Eph. 5:11). Reprove means to censure, condemn, find fault, rebuke, and to refute. How can we obey this scripture unless we try them by the Word of God? We are to withdraw from them…”Now we command you, brethren in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which ye received of us.” (II Thess 3:6). And we are to turn away from them…(II Tim 3:5,7). We are to reject heretics. “A man that is an heretick (sic) after the first and second admonition, reject” (Titus 3:10).
We are to look out for those who preach another gospel, Paul warned about those who preach another Jesus, another gospel, another spirit. (II Cor. 11:4), How can we know them unless we judge their Jesus, their spirit, and their gospel by the Word of God? Paul called such preachers, “false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.” (II Cor. 11:13). And he goes on to say in vs. 14-15 that these preachers are the ministers of satan. We are to be separate from them. “Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you.” (II Cor. 6:17)
Naming Names
We must also name names. Paul named Peter publicly, (Gal 2:11-14), Paul named Demus for loving the world (II Tim. 4:10), Paul named Hymenaeus and Alexander (I Tim 1:18-20), Paul named Hymenaeus and Philetus (II Tim 2:15-18), Paul named Alexander the coppersmith (II Tim 4:14-15), John named Diotrephes (III John vs. 9), Moses called the name of Balaam (Num 22-25), and (II Pet 2:15), Jude exposed the “error of Balaam (Jude 11), John exposed the “doctrine of Balaam,” (Rev. 2:14), Nathan identified the man, (II Samuel 12:7), Hanani named King Jehoshaphat (II Chron 18:1), (II Chron 21:1-6), (II Chron 19:2)…
So we are to judge, and we’re to name those who are not of the gospel that Jesus gave us. And yes, we are to judge both in and out of the church…sin today is rampant and most American pulpits have their eyes closed and are not following God’s Word, but instead preaching a social gospel.
Look at our so-called leaders of the last 6 decades alone, they fail to tell the truth to the nation and all their rhetoric is doublespeak. I remember George Bush Jr. saying that Muslims worship the same God we worship, and I knew at that very moment that he was either a liar or certainly not the Christian he professed to be. Both Jews and Christians were appalled at that statement. We both worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and Christians also worship the Son, Messiah Jesus, and His Holy Spirit.
No one in government has the chutzpah to call the Palestinians and Islamists what they really are…savages and barbarians who destroy civilization. For the first time, while recently shopping in Kroger, I saw a woman totally covered except for her eyes, and I thought it was so sad that she had put herself under this horrid political system where the man rules the women and children. When I see women dressed like this or with their head scarves, I immediately pray for them, that the Lord will drop the scales from their eyes and show them the truth.
Islam has every intention of taking over America and no one is speaking the truth about them in government or media. In fact, Islamists are infiltrating local, state, and federal government, as well as our judiciary. Yet, our overblown politically correct governments open their arms to the “religion of peace,” which has shown time and again they are not at all peaceful. Link
Check out Dr. Bill Warner’s website, as he is an expert on Islam. We are being overrun with Islamists and no one is speaking out from our pulpits. The beheading of an office worker in Oklahoma is called “workplace violence,” instead of what it really is…Link In February, of 2013 was this article about two beheadings in America. Back in 2009, the founder of an Islamic TV station was accused of beheading his wife. Link Then scroll down in this website and look at the terror attacks in just the last 30 days. Also, scroll to the end of this article to see the fruits of Islam in just one month. These types of violent murderous attacks are growing, but I do not hear the church speaking out. Are we now so afraid of speaking the truth that we must hide our thoughts and beliefs?
As Rev. Charles Finney’s quote so aptly states, our pulpits today are not the salt and light spoken of by our Saviour and King of Glory, Jesus.