"WHY HAST THOU MADE ME THUS?"
or
THE GREAT GAP
Those of you who listened to the radio, I believe two weeks ago this morning and last night, will recall, may recall that I read from a booklet, I gave the name of it, "Bible Questions Answered", I believe, "Problems", by the late James M Gray, dean for many years of the Moody Bible Institute. I knew him personally, took studies under him, my wife did, two of my sisters did. He taught a lot of God's Word in the Moody Bible Institute.
And I also read at the same time from this booklet, "Practical Perplexing Questions Answered", by R.A. Torrey, the main human founder and, almost till his death, the president of the Bible Institute here and the pastor of the Church of the Open Door of which he was largely instrumental in founding. I read from him.
I'll just touch this, what I read from him and call to your attention what makes it so difficult for those of us who believe we should obey the divine command, "Mark those which walk", w-a-l-k, "mark those which walk as ye have me for an ensample", Paul said. "For many walk", and so forth, "who serve not our Lord Jesus. Christ ..." Let's turn right quickly to that right now, Romans 16.
I'm going to make brief comments, I did on the radio in announcing, I'm going to directly, on McGee’s comments on Romans the 9th chapter and the subject there of predestination and election, foreordination, can the piece of potter ask the maker, "Why'd you make me so and so? Why'd you make me?" And McGee brought the other day very simply, very ably, "What an awful thing it is for a Christian, what an awful thing it is for a Christian to dare to ask the Lord anything about why did You make me this way:" But do you think he went on and told us how we're made in Christ? Oh no, just as to salvation, just as to salvation.
Some of you heard me bring out, speak on the subject, "The Great Gap", in the Fundamentalist idea. And I'm using the word Fundamentalist to describe those who claim to believe that the Bible is the Word of God, and among other doctrines they say they believe that Christ is born of a virgin, and lived an absolutely sinless life, and voluntarily laid down His sinless life in a vicarious substitutionary sacrifice for the sins of the world, and that He arose bodily, and went back to the glory bodily, and ascended and is seated bodily at the throne of the right hand of the Father in the glory, and is coming back bodily. And those ... those people are Fundamentalists so-called, they believe... they claim to believe that the plan of salvation from sin is by faith in the finished work of Christ, pure grace, and that when you're saved by pure grace you can't be unsaved by disgrace. Since grace is undeserved goodness you can never deserve to keep this ... what you get by grace. You got it by undeserved goodness and you couldn't have to keep it by deserving. And those are right! Those are true doctrines.
So the Fundamentalists teach beautiful truth as far as. they go. They have said those doctrines are fundamental. Others are not fundamental. Others, "Hath God said?" Yes. So I've spoken a few times in the last few years on "The Great Gap" in the Fundamentalist theology between being born again, between being born again and getting our new body. The great gap in some cases may be, probably Louis Talbot whom I quoted this morning. He's now 80 something years of age, I think still alive. He may have been a child of God, may have been born again... I don't know, he may have been born again 65 years ago, I don't know when he was, but let's suppose that he's been living now since he was born again, let's suppose he's been living 60 years. Well he was born again according to his own doctrine, and of God's Word, he was born again when he came as a result of his coming to believe in the Word of God on sin and salvation. He will say, "I couldn't add a 'thing, I dare not add a thing to what God said. I had to take exactly what God said about my lost condition, and I did finally. I had to take exactly what God said about how to be saved through faith in the finished work of the Savior, and I did! and I was saved. I didn't dictate a thing. I didn't intrude my opinion and my fleshly mind at all! I listened to God! I was convicted by the Holy Spirit and I listened and He saved my soul! And since then, I'm a Fundamentalist."
"What do you mean by that?" "Well the great doctrines of the Bible that are fundamental, and we contend for them. Now there are some nonessentials. Personally I been a Presbyterian for years. Sometime later I agreed with John ..." he told me this personally, "I agreed with J.C. O'Hare", he called him John O’Hare, "I agree with him that water baptism isn't for this present dispensation. But I don't teach it anymore because I come to see it just causes trouble. I have joined the Baptists and they teach immersion. The Presbyterians teach sprinkling in water. I've come to see water baptism isn't for today, I've joined the Baptists."
M.R. DeHaan did the same thing. He'd been Christian Reformed, sprinkling babies. with water and so, and sprinkling for water, and later he accepted the teaching that water baptism isn't for this dispensation at all. When I first met him in Chicago at O'Hare's place in 1924, he was teaching that water baptism isn't for today. He later found he had lost his former Baptist friends and a lot of others, so he couldn't go back to sprinkling, but he joined the Baptists. He was a Baptist to his death.
Double-talk. Now watch. The great gap with the Fundamentalist... Evangelical between what the Bible teaches and what they say about how to be born again, how to become born again and then what's going to happen when Christ comes back. They will say Christ is going to come back according to His own Word, all the Fundamental, pre-millennialists will. And all that I'm quoting from them of course I believe too as a Christian. They'll say Christ is going to come back exactly like He said He was. Let's read it in His Word. He's going to come back to do exactly what He said He's. going to come back to do. He's going to come back, and so forth.
And they'll ... "And we're going to preach, we'll have a Bible conference on prophecy. And we're going to take up the ten ... Daniel, the book of Daniel, we're going to have one of our professors, one of our Bible teachers, you say Dr Unger. Dr Unger... one of the professors and brilliant scholars", I don't know how many different degrees he's got all behind his name, whole bunch of letters, of the Dallas Theological Seminary. He's going to be one of our speakers, he was the other day, he's going to speak on prophecy, and he's going to tell us", (I'll say it in my words now), "he's going to toll us in great detail with a big chart, he's going to tell us about the ten toes, Daniel's image, that they refer to the ten kings that are going to be probably together again restored to the Roman Empire as we read in Daniel and Revelation 17. And he's going to give in great detail because he's a profound student, he's going to give in much detail that horrible period called in Jeremiah 30 the day of Jacob's trouble or the great tribulation. He's going to tell us, yeah go into great detail", and maybe he will we'll say, "about that horrible system mystery Babylon the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. He's going to tell us about how the apostate possibility of denominations are going to line up under mama Rome and Babylon in its final form and have a great antichrist and the whole world wonder and if you do not have the mark of the antichrist on your right hand or forehead, you can't buy or sell, you'll be slain in the tribulation period. And no man will overcome ... they'll overcome by the word of their testimony and the blood of the Lamb, individuals will. Give a lotto beautiful truth in detail about those eventual events."
You say, "Well Dr Younger ... Unger, what church are you in?" "Well I don't take up of those things in these Bible conferences, I a ... we have different faiths here. Dr McGee is a ... he used to be pastor of the Lincoln Avenue Presbyterian over in Pasadena and a Presbyterian back in Memphis and he came out here, now he's in the C.O.D. and pastor of the Church of the Open Door, it's a undenominational, or inter-." And he saw the handwriting on the wall that he was going to lose his standing as a member of the Los Angeles Presbytery if he continued to pastor a undenominational church because three of the Presbyterian professors in Fuller Seminary were told by the Las Angeles Presbytery, "We're not going to renew your license. We're going to put you out if you don't give up your position as … professors in a seminary that doesn't ... it's not a denominational seminary. In other words, "You Presbyterians are giving your time and all to strengthen an interdenominational, undenominational seminary; we at the next Presbytery, Los Angeles Presbytery, we are going to call you on the carpet." And they did. And they had to either resign their position or give up their position in the Los Angeles Presbytery. And McGee was smarter than that. He said, "I'm going to resign." So he resigned from the Presbyterian. But he practices water baptism.
Now, "Say McGee, you and Unger and those fellows, you give beautiful truth on how to be saved, exactly what God says about an unsaved, children of Adam, and that we're all unclean, all lost, our righteousness is as filthy rage, and except we repent, Christ said, "Except ye repent, you'll all likewise perish." You preach that, you teach that, you men. Thank God you do. Like Billy Graham, thank God you do. You tell us you've got to do what God says in order to be saved. Precisely. Not intrude our fleshly minds, not interfere the truth, not adulterate the plan of salvation at all. You teach that. And many of you profess to be saved. Far as we know you are; been born again. And then you get over here in the prophetic future and you give much detail as ... and say what God says, it's what the Word of God says."
This book by Merrill Unger who was one of the imported Bible teachers week before last at the Bible institute and a whole bunch of ... cooperating churches down in San Diego, up in Santa Barbara, so forth. This book of his, "Biblical Demonology", it's being regarded, commented by some reviewers as probably a classic that will not be surpassed in foreseeable future on the subject, "Biblical Demonology". I read a little bit of this the other night at a small meeting.
Some of the visible facts of Christian disunity and disharmony must largely remain an unsolved riddle, a source of endless misunderstanding, and a prolific cause of stumbling to those ignorant of the devices of Satan (2 Corinthians 2:11 and the reality of the spiritual world of evil. Satan has thus gained large advantage over many because of a widely prevailing incomprehension of even the first principles of Biblical demonology,
that is the devil's crowd,
and because of manifest unacquaintance with even an elementary knowledge of the power and reality of demonic deception. The Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, is the great Unifier.
Amen! You see, if I was sitting under him and he'd given that, if I let my heart speak out through my mouth, I would say, "Amen! Thank God!' When they say, "This is the way!" and point to the truth, humble Christians say, "Amen". But they don't say, "Walk ye in it!" They talk! But let me go ahead with him now, let me go ahead.
Now I'm giving this not to expose him, primarily, but I want to help you young people to believe. You young people that read from time to time and hear about it in the papers and school, you see youth today, we're told on almost every hand, where they comment on it, the youth today is restless and feverish, they're dissatisfied, they say, "What's it all about? What's life for? I'm going to be a communist, I'm going to be in the free, I'm going to do this, I'm going to go there, I'm going to join, I'm going to join, I'm going to do this". I heard the speaker yesterday, I was partly fired from some of this by a speaker on a program on ... they got programs over the country, Teenage Canteen organization, and he made an impassioned appeal for young people and other people to be interested in the ... What?
(comment from audience)
Not the Peace Corps. The dope addicts, the drug addicts.
(comment from audience) Teen Challenge.
Teen Challenge. Yeah, thank you. I was wrong on that ... I thought ... Teen Challenge. He made an impassioned appeal for Christians to get out of their easy chair. He said, "Go out where ... these teenagers are restless, they're drug addicts, and they're feverish, and they don't know what life's about, and they got ... "Get out", he said, "get out." And I was ashamed of some of my ... myself and some of my own crowd. He told about the clubs opening. He said, "I've Just come back ...", boy oh boy did he travel, he said, "I've just come back from New York and I visited there. They have got a wonderful club. They are doing so-and-so and so-and-so. And I went visited over here and this wonderful club," and he went down to cross the waters somewhere, and oh he'd had quite a trip, and told about the various clubs organized.
I heard Billy Graham a little bit this morning telling about his London campaign; 27,000 church members went from door to door to press and invite people to hear Billy Graham. I thought, "I wonder how many members of the true church went to anybody's door in South Pas... would have gone to anybody's door in South Pasadena to get them to come and hear a ..." "Well, who?" "Well ... just a saved sinner. Just a fellow that studies the Word of God with some prayer and passion, and the desire to help the you..." the fathers and mothers to be what God wants us to be. When I hear sometimes about how easy it is to get a crowd of our young people to this, but not to that.
You know only the Holy Spirit can give me spiritual conviction, and the same way with you too. But I can be an instrument in His hands if I'm yielded. But you think I don't feel my helplessness many a time, you're mistaken. Many a time I say, "Lord", as David said of old, "it's time now Lord for Thee to work''. I can't do it. I can talk. I can give truth, but I can't ignite it spiritually in people's hearts. Only the Holy Spirit. But I'm glad that I believe this, "He that is of God heareth God's Word'.
You say, "Are you jealous of Billy Graham?" No I'm jealous over God's people. I'm jealous that Billy Graham should be brought humbled ... humbly before God. He's a theatrical performer. But don't forget this, this is the day of grace. God is sovereign, as I said this morning on the radio, and last night, I said, "But women say, "Well if the men would take their position, if the men would do what they're supposed to do we wouldn't have to take ... take their place." And I brought out you remember, "You can't take a man's place, lady. You can't take anybody's place but the place God's given you". And that applies to me and you and you and you. Do we believe that? I was commenting on that when I was coming back riding in Doug's car. And he said, "That's a beautiful truth to deal with egotism, isn't it?"; words to that effect. Egotism. Why certainly. And jealousy. You can't fill anybody's place Russ but the place God has for you.
Russ was talking to some of us, and to me private too, sometime ago about God's possible call for him. And I know I had joy in my Lord and some ... in my heart and some holy hush as I admonished him to wait on the Lord and find the place God has for him. And personally I'm delighted to believe, no compliment to Russell human... physically speaking, but I'm delighted to believe that Russell wants to know the Lord's place and to fill it. [?] I believe Russ wants to be in the will of God. Well l know God wants him to be there, so it's not difficult. It's not difficult for a humble child of God to find his place, because God's ready and altogether able. He's not a looking. We don't have to stand at the door and say, "lord, I've been knocking, knocking, knocking, begging, begging, begging. I just want to know your will". Sometimes we talk that way. I hear people, "0h I want to know the will of God. I want to know the will of God. I want to know the will of God". Quit lying. Quit lying! You don't want to know the will of God, if you been whining and whining and whining and waiting and waiting and waiting. What's wrong?! God would be a monster if He wouldn't reveal His will! to people, humble people. Held be a monster of injustice. When you and I want to know the will of God we'll learn. "If any man willing to do His will", as we read awhile ago from the Lord about His own teaching, "he shall know of the doctrine whether I speak of Myself or whether I'm giving God's truth".
Now back please, let me read some more of this. This man's doctrine on demonology, demons and the devil, demonology.
The Holy Spirit of God, the Spirit of truth, is the great Unifier. In answer to the Savior's fervent,
now listen,
in answer to the Savior's fervent intercessory prayer that those whom the Father had given Him may all be one" (John 17: 11,21, 22). The Holy Spirit came at Pentecost to unite all God's People positional into "one body," the Church, by the baptism with the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 4:5; Colossians 2:12; Galatians).
He said that all those baptisms are Spirit baptisms. McGee doesn't believe that at all. But his guest speaker, and some of the other fellows, Baptist, Pres... Baptist preaching like that, Baptist teacher there on this team, and this fellow spoke at some Baptist church building, Baptist church building. He probably didn't speak on that. But here on the subject of the unity of the Spirit, he said all Christians were made one by the baptism referred to in 1 Corinthians 12:13; Romans 6:3-4; Ephesians 4:5; Colossians 2:12; Galatians 3:27. Say amen. Spirit baptism, supernatural baptism. Now he goes ahead.
The most impassioned exhortations of the Holy Spirit, through this Apostle, are to the end that God's people may maintain experimentally the unity which they possess positionally, by the Spirit's baptizing work (Ephesians 4:1-6; Philippians 2: 2-3).
I can't conceive of an uninspired man expressing those truths more beautifully. Now listen, it's been awfully hard for me, a Fundamentalist for years, it's been awfully hard for me to come to believe that a man that would write like that is a hypocrite. And I'm not going to say he is, but I'm going to say, "What ... what's wrong? What's wrong? If you believe that", is he going to say, have many of the elders and rulers believed on Him?" You remember that question was asked when the Lord was on earth. "Well have many of the elders and rulers believed on him?" Well so what! "Have many eaten?" "Well, whether they do or not, when do we eat? Has to be at my time or I'll starve to death." Isn't it amazing. You talk about demonic and the demon has been allowed to work on him, in his walk.
Now watch. Let me read that last sentence because it's so beautiful.
The most impassioned exhortation,
Paul said,
I the prisoner of the Lord Jesus beseech you, beseech you.
I have quoted a few times in open air, sometimes a big megaphone, sometimes on a loudspeaker system, but before I had either of them I've hollered out with a microphone in my hand, megaphone, "Oh! earth! earth! earth! Hear the word of the Lord".
I drove through Weatherford, Texas the other month and saw there'd been a little bit of changes in the old hotel ... the old county courthouse. But those county seat towns back there used to ... Saturday was the time for the farmers and others and other people to come in, sometimes to bring in their watermelons, if it was that season, but they came around to visit the wagons and the carts and some of the horses and later on some cars, filled the yard ... the square. And one day I was in some meetings, revival meetings, there. I was an inter-denominationalist, but I was a saved man, and I loved the Lord. I saw that crowd Saturday night and I thought, "My, my, my, we're not getting a scrap of them to come and hear brother William Hawkins evangelist. I wonder if I could get permission to crawl up inside the stairway and get up out there by that big clock? I see there's a little place where people can walk around it, small out there outside it. I wonder." I went in to the proper authority, finally got, and asked if I could. I said, "I'm here you know in a revival meeting, and I would like to go up there and sing and come and quote some Scripture Saturday when the crowd comes". "Well you'll have to get the clock from the jeweler over ... the key from the jeweler over there that tends the clock." I did. And I got on my knees and asked God to help me I can tell you. And when that square was just full of people, all the wagons, all of a sudden way up there, "Oh! earth! earth! ..." (laughs) And people begin to look you know. And I sang. I forget the song that I sang, but I did it prayerfully and carefully.
Well, if I did it prayerfully and carefully, if I did it not to be melodramatic or actory or stunt, but because I thought here's an opportunity. I sometimes preach that way on the radio. Sometimes when I hear myself back, I say, "Maurice, you evidently weren't very God Conscious. You seem to be more conscious of some doctrine or something. You have ... were you impassioned?"
(gap on tape)
Does that mean there were no other things connected with that prayer? That mean that Christ's prayer "that they be one" and that though were in the world we're not to be of the world, and He said, "Sanctify them through Thy truth, Father, Thy Word is truth. For their sakes I sanctify Myself", are we to think, in the light of other scriptures, that that prayer has been perfectly fulfilled in our experiment, in our walk? Of course not. Were that true Paul would never have been inspired to rebuke the Corinthians for their carnality. He says, "Why you're walking like men. You're members of the church of God at Corinth. You're called saints. You come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of the Lord who'll also bring you ... when He comes back He'll take you. And God is faithful by whom you were called into the fellowship of His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. I beseech you therefore brethren by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same spirit. It's been told me by those of the household of Chloe that there are contentions among you, and I partly believe it. For some of you say, "I'm of Paul", "I'm of Apollos". Are ye not carnal, walk as men? I have fed you with nothing but milk so far because you are not able to bear anything but milk. You're carnal! Who is Paul?!... and Apollos but ministers by whom ... and Peter, but ministers by whom you believed. Paul plants, Apollos waters, God gives the increase. He's going to reward us." He goes on now. He says, "All things are yours". But his admonition and impassioned appeal was you're not walking like it, you're not living it. Now back again please to this.Whereas the "Spirit of truth" is the great Unifier, "the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6) is the great divider. Satan and demons,
now listen,
Satan and demons have the keenest perception and appreciation of the eminent practicality of the old adage ... "in unity there is strength".
Now he said the devil and the demons know that that's powerful practically too. The labor unions know it. The Democratic and the Republican parties know it. A football team knows it. A baseball team knows it. In unity there is strength. And they usually stay in union. But now he says here,
Satan and demons have the keenest perception and appreciation of the eminent practicality of the old adage "in unity there is strength". When unable to keep their victims from contact with truth,
now get this Fundamentalists,
When unable to keep their victims from contact with truth, [like in][?] salvation, they resort to the next best device to further their detestable plans. With serpentine subtlety and venomous malignity, they strike at the very foundation of Christian unity to disrupt and disorganize the efficiency and testimony of those, who, when standing together, possess such exhaustless energy, and wield such tremendous power against them.
l wouldn't want to change a word, and I don't claim that I've gotten to where I'm able to write such excellent expressions of such wonderful truth. But Paul said, "Mark those which walk. Mark those which walk."
Little bit more here because I couldn't improve upon this so far as uninspired.Since truth unites, and error divides, Satanic tragic...
You remember that Torrey said, "I believe that denominations are essential, considering that we are not perfect yet. But I cannot conceive of conditions where it would be warranted to set an unconverted ... for the ... [?] about denominations." He said, "I don't believe you should present an unconverted person to teach a Sunday School class." Well I don't think you should accept the Sunday School class, period. "Undoubtedly," he said, "these denominations have risen because of ... truths being neglected", and he said, "denominations have been necessary, denominations have been necessary. In the present imperfect state of man where no individual is large enough to take in the whole scope of God's. truth", now all that's wrong with that is that it's an infamous lie! Every child of God has the mind of Christ, What's the passage in 1 John, part of 1 John you think about that fits this, 1 John 2?
(Jack Potter from audience) "Ye have an unction with the Holy One, and ye know all things."
"Ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all-l-l things." Every babe in Christ ... we'll take a physical babe. Does a physical babe know how to breathe as well as its mom and papa? If it's a healthy baby, certainly. Does a physical babe know how to take nourishment as well as mom and pop? Probably better. What does a physical babe not know that it needs to know in order to live and grow?! What does a child of God need, a born again soul, a new creature in Christ?
My, I must get ... of course I do want to get specific, I'm already ... specific on the subject, "Why Hast Thou Made Me Thus? Why Hast Thou Made Me Thus?" Now here, Torrey, is his book on "Questions" written for the inter-denominational clientele of the inter-denominational Bible Institute and his inter-denominational evangelistic meetings, he wrote that. "Denominations", and answered the question, "Denominations are necessary. No one Christian can understand all the beautiful truth." So one Christian is taught by the Holy Spirit, one truth and builds a denomination he says around that. He said the Quakers. And the Presbyterians, they can't see the truth that makes a Quaker, some of God's truth makes a Quaker, they can't see that but they can see the truth that makes a believer a Presbyterian, and so they ... he says that! So God is the author of confusion!!!
But when R.A. Torrey got out a series of books, the Stewart brothers multi-billionaire oilmen, been members of the Emmanuel Presbyterian, and Daddy Horton, Mr. Horton was the assistant pastor, and he was a pre-millennial Bible student and began to organize a Fisherman's Club in downtown Los Angeles, having it in a vacant building, they rented a building, hold probably ... on Main Street, put up charts and some of Pace's cartoons enlarged, had Bible questions, give out tracts, and later the Bible The Stewart brothers began to be interested, and from that the Stewart brothers dug down deep and gave money for the building... oh, a million or so dollars to start the Bible Institute building, and R.A. Torrey was invited from the Moody Institute to come and be the president and founder, leader over here.
So, with some of the money from the Stewart millions and others, they printed this series of volumes. I have ... there are three of them, in this edition, three of them. "The Fundamentals". "The Fundamentals". And they invited speakers that they regarded, outstanding men in their fields in which they asked them to write; to speak. Able scholars from all over the world in their field. Dr Sir Rob... I mean Sir Robert Anderson, invited him to give one of the messages. And ... well never mind, big fellows from England and what have you. And they invited a man by the name of Bishop Ryle, R-y-l-e. They asked if they couldn't use his, then well know, treatise on "The True Church", and so they printed that on "The True Church". And though Ryle was still an Episcopal Anglican bishop, in this Dr Torrey edited study volume, on "The True Church", Ryle says, "This is the church the body of Christ. This is the church that is doing the work of Christ upon earth. This is the church which does the work of Christ on earth. The one church is Christ's body." He said, "There're no unsaved in it. It's the one body." And we read it and say, "Amen!"
"Torrey, are you the fellow that wrote that article and said that denominations are necessary?'" "Yeah. " "What's your position?" "I'm the head of an interdenominational institution." Over here they teach that, over here they teach that, over here they teach that, but they agree to disagree agreeably. Now the reason I'm giving this, let me plead with you again, is not that I want to expose these men, that could be a dirty and a carnal business. It's that I want you among other things to ha... I want to help you to see plainly that God has been faithful, and He taught these men. Sometimes we're tempted, maybe in a fleshly minute, sometimes in other ... in spiritually, you might say, "Lord, Thou knowest I don't want to assume a position that would seem to put me above so many of Thy people, ministers and all, They say I'm an egotist and bigoted. Well, Lord help me, I don't want to be, I know that blinds me to Thy truth. I want to humble myself under Thy mighty hand to be lifted in Thine own good time. Only by pride cometh contention. Forgive me Lord. And this other problem, what am I going to do?" I read these men excellent statements, and I see their w-a-l-k. And I see that they 're different.
Turn now to Romans 16, I asked you to awhile ago please, Romans 16.
(question from audience) What is Dr Unger's denominational ...
... I think he was a "Christian Reformed", so-called. Now whether he's still in it I couldn't find for sure. I could if I would write to Dallas. He may have gotten into the Presbyterian. But ... he has the best publisher, advertised in one of McGee's books here. And he's a very able fellow, "Born in Baltimore, Maryland, 1909, graduated with honors from the John Hopkins University", that's one of the greatest in the country scholastically speaking, "taught in Biltmore Polytechnic Institute, attended Southern Baptist Seminary, Louisville, was graduated from the Missionary Training Institute in Nyack, New York, in 1940 he entered Dallas Seminary taking the Th.M.", Master of Theology degree, "in 1943, and Th.D. degree in 1945, both with magna cum laude", that is with greatest of praise, and, and, and, and, and. "He's held pastorates in Buffalo, New York, Dallas, Texas, Baltimore, Maryland, in 1945 he entered the oriental Seminary of the school of the higher studies of the faculty of Philosophy of the John Hopkins University", he's just gone through ... he's just got more letters on the tail end of his name than the alphabet has in it, "where he took the Ph.D. degree in Semitics and Biblical archeology, later he taught at Gordon", and now he's at Dallas as one of the professors there in ... teaching ... anyway. So Unger ... I called your attention to this man, how able and scholarly he is. One other quotation from him here please. Oh I don't think I better take time for any more of that now. Romans 16.
(question from audience) Brother Maurice, do you believe that these men actually believe ... ?
... Bound to be unimportant to them, the walk of the believer. The walk of the believer's not one of the fundamentals. In other words, what you do with the glorious truth that they profess, what you do with your salvation, is not fundamentally dealt with in God's Word. Back to Romans, please, 16.
After Paul had greeted by name and salutation, numbers of people, by name you see, salute so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, so-and-so, 15th verse,
Salute Philologus, and Julia, Nereus, and his sister, and Olympas, and al1-l-l the saints that are with them.
When the Spirit of God wrote to the Christians at Rome, He referred to a lot of saints that are already there. Rome teaches today that he's got to die and ... and perform a couple of miracles after you die which will prove then that you're ... out of purgatory, because you can't perform a miracle in purgatory, they say. And I agree with that. But if a saint ... if you get a miracle performed by Saint Ambrose or ... or Saint Vitus' Dance, you get a miracle performed and you're sure because you prayed to that saint, and you weren't sure that ... that ... that ... it ... it was a saint, you didn't know but that the prayer would have to go to purgatory and stop. But if the prayer went beyond purgatory and got an answer and you had a miracle performed in the name of Saint Ambrose, then you'd tell your bishop and so-forth, and then they would start the ball rolling ... maybe. And then another one would come along, month later, year later, two years later, and they had a miracle performed praying to Saint Ambrose, and now we got two miracles. Well that's supposed to be the beginning, that's supposed to be enough, of miracles. And when the saint factory investigation committee ... they may investigate for years they say until they say undoubtedly they are a real answer to prayer, real miracle. So undoubtedly Saint Ambrose is alive and we must start the ball rolling to make that Roman Catholic a saint. And first the saint factory turns out a "blessed" condition, they're "blessed". Now what is the word they use there, the ... ?
(comment from audience) Beatified.
Beatified. Beatified. They're beatified. That's a bigger word for word 'blessed'. A little high sounding. It's beatified. You can pray to ... it's blessed now, called blessed, you can pray to Blessed Ambrose. But after Ambrose is made a saint then they; ... saint, you can pray to Saint Ambrose.
Well Paul wrote to some saints that were already at Rome. All the Christians are saints in Gods definition, in God's wonderful salvation.
(Jack Potter from audience) He prayed for the saints.
He prayed for the saints that are (yeah) ... and not to them, Jack is reminding us, as we read in Ephesians 6. But now back again to the 16th verse.
Salute one another with an holy kiss,
or salutation.
The churches of Christ salute you.
Now what were they? They were churches that belonged to Christ. How did they belong to Him? One beautiful facet of that matter is given us in the 20th chapter of Acts. Paul said to the elders at Ephesus, "Feed the church of God which He purchased with His blood". That belongs to Him. Purchased with His blood. All right.
The churches of Christ salute you. Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them…
The occurrence of that word 'now' here is very suggestive of course. "Now", "now", ... Are you all listening? I know that what I'm giving ... I know it’s long, I may get out a lot, but if I had any reason to believe that most of you would come to another meeting tonight or Tuesday night or similar, I know it's almost impossible, maybe impossible several of you, but anyway, I do want to redeem the time.
Now I beseech you,
in the light of what he's just given, in the light of what he's just given. In 1 Corinthians, "I beseech you therefore", in the light of what he's just given, see.
Now I beseech you, brethren, (I beseech you, brethren), mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you've learned; and avoid them.
I have been inexcusably narrow, inexcusably bigoted, and a separator of the worst type in the eyes of a good many of my former fair weather Fundamentalist friends. Because, among other things, I haven't attended one single Fundamentalist meeting, except to go and really listen to see what some other's giving. But to go in like I used to, I was vice president one year of the Southern California Pre-millennial Prophetic Association. It was the largest association of pre-millennial preachers and Bible teachers, Bunce was the president of it the year I was vice president, brother Morey. Bunce used to teach class down at his music store, extreme dispensationalism.
(Clarence Morey from audience) Until I fired him.
(laughs) Well I left them when I got fired too, fired from the Holy Spirit about the one true church. But I knew the pre-millennial Fundamental Bible teachers and preachers and religious education leaders of Southern California, I should say I did. And they knew me, and I was invited often to come here and there and speak you know. And l invited some of them.
When I began to observe this,
Mark those which walk... and avoid them,
then I became an impossible egotist, a separatist, and I don't welcome that. I never was a fighter as a boy, l was kind of a sissy as a boy. I'm not proud of it, but I was. I used to talk myself out of a fight with boys. Some times when boys want to say ... want to punch me, say, "What do you want to fight for?", you know, and I would talk, talk, talk, I guess I got out of a good many punchings that way. As I was called a sissy by some ... and I never was pugnacious in my natural bent. So no credit to me, it's just my make-up, my natural make-up. I don't love to fight, except the good fight of faith. I really don't. I really don't. It grieves me, when I realize ...
Sometimes when I realize my two sisters, my flesh and blood sisters, probably believe, in their present condition, probably believe ... when I heard the other month sister Kaufman was back in Ft Worth, didn't you meet Roberta? was it she? ... it was her husband that said to you that Maurice hasn't any love. Well one of you quoted it anyway, I've forgotten now which one. I thought it was you that told me. (She knows my sister Roberta, my baby sister.) You think I have any fiendish pleasure in hearing that my darling sister, I don't doubt at all she's saved. She was eleven months old when my mother went to be with the Lord. My father wrote me a very beautiful letter shortly before he died. He said, "Maurice, you're the one I believe God would have to be a father to my darling baby daughter". I forgot how old she was when papa died. And I love Roberta. I tried to be a father to her in some ways, sometimes. Roberta will no more come to hear me preach than if l were a baptized infidel or as much and likely, when I come to Ft Worth. She says, "Maurice has no love, no Love". Well what have I? She doesn't realize it, she couldn't make a worse accusation. "He that loveth not knoweth not God." I have no love?
God knows how many times I'm awakened, sometimes when I'm already awake, I visualize some of you young people. l have quite a collection, more than I need probably, newspaper clippings, magazine articles, pictures and so-forth that I have in my file, entitled "Sex", s-e-x, "Appeal". They're filthy, they're awful, they're becoming more and more rampant, it's because I love our young people for Christ's sake. I don't want to see them seared-and scarred and burnt. I know of some of our young people that have been burnt. I know of some of them that if they don't allow the Holy Spirit to give them victory in the light of the wonderful passage, "When we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". Sometimes I've talked to more than one of our young people sometime when they're defeated, thinking back of ... some of their old life, said, "That's not any glory to God. That's ... God's not getting honor to His dear Son. Are you forgetting that He spared not His Son? That He lay on His Son your sins. God's already dealt with your sin, but His Son took the suffering and God didn't interfere at all except to ... when the crowd said, "He said God was his Father. Let him come down if He'll have him." God was putting your sins on Him right there. And God turned His back on His Son, and let His Son suffer what you deserve and I. And now for you to go back and think back of some of your sins and not thank God that they're all forgiven." (breaks into song, congregation joins in)
They're all taken away, away;
They're all taken away, away;
They're all taken away, away;
My sins, they're all taken away.I wish I had that song, I would like to sing the first verse. It starts something like this, "Did you hear what Jesus said to me? They're all taken away, away."
Young people, you that weren't saved till after you had a good many scars. Well all of us of course, a little tot sins, but some of you young people that know you got some scars from open sins before you were saved, maybe some since you were, don't forget that God spared not His own Son, don't forget that Christ suffered the just for the unjust to bring us to God. Christ paid the penalty, and now God the Father is getting glory to His Son by saying to fellows like you and you and you and you and me, "Why He's trusted in Me. So everything's all right."
The devil, we're told in Hebrews, I mean in Revelation, the devil accuses, that old serpent the devil and Satan, accuses the brethren day and night before God. Well what are we going to do about it then? if that sinister, supernatural being the devil accuses us before God. "Ah, that's one of Your believers now, that fellow Ross. Look at him now", at a given moment when Russ [Russell Ross] gets careless. And the devil is accusing us before God. "There's one of your Christians. Look at him now. Aren't You proud of him?"
But we have an advocate. We have not only an adversary, the devil's called adversary, we have not only an adversary but we have the advocate, "who ever liveth to make ... " and the Lord ... I wish your father and mother, that is humanly speaking I could wish, were here and could sing about, "Before the throne my surety stands, My name's written on His hands, Five bleeding wounds pour effectual prayers". As the Lord appears before God with His own blood, our high priest, and intercedes for us. Isn't it wonderful. And He's able to save to the uttermost! all that come unto God by Him seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for us. I was talking to a Christian just yesterday, day before. Don't forget I said, don't forget that wonderful fact that we have the defense attorney who never lost a case. He's the one defense attorney who never ... our advocate the Lord Jesus.
Back again please to this. Now, in light of the wonderful truth he'd given in the book of Romans and also the salutation of all these saints. Philologus, the churches all salute you. Now, in light of the family of God, in light of the beautiful family life, in light of what we've been made, what we are, and what we should be,
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions.
Every once in awhile I hear of something. I heard about a lady, it's hearsay and I didn't hear but one witness so I'm not even going to try to make it plain so you know, but the Holy Spirit knows of course. But l heard this the other day of somebody talking to another sister (it's a report too, anyway, whether it's true or not, things like this happen, I don't doubt it's true) and an unkind, and un-sisterly, a cutting quotation from others were given about this particular one. Say, what under heaven does that sister think of, what was she trying to do?
Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you've learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly.
The sensate, the Adamic, the lowest. "Well have you heard?" and "Did you know?" or "I heard", and "She said", and so-forth. What are you trying to do? Where's that coming from? You trying to build up your brothers and sisters in Christ or tear down. These...
serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words.
Now I don't want really to accuse Unger of being that bad. But he certainly used good words! And he is not contending for the walk of the believer today though he said the Holy Spirit's came to make our position in Christ experimentally true, see. That we'd be one. Now the only way for him to realize part of that is for him to repudiate his connections with these big fellows. And the argument with him, and it was with me for years, not that I ever attained his stature, not at all, but the argument was this: "Well a, how much good can you do? Can you reach ... ?"
A fellow named Peach, Bill Peach. Used to be a Plymouth Brother. Repudiated denominationalism except that ... younger brand, a lot of truth. He came to me, assistant pastor Church of the Open Door after I was offered the position some time before and declined, he was down there for a year or two. He came to me when I was out in Glendale, we had the Tabernacle then. And he said, "Brother Johnson, I would love to be associated with you. I think we'd get along beautifully". He said, "Why couldn't we take half a year at a turn. I'll stay here and minister out of the Tabernacle in Glendale six months of the year, and you travel, evangelistic work, Bible teaching, and I... the other". Well I didn't see the sin of denominationalism and it's essence then, for the Fundamental. But there were some things about him. He'd given up water baptism for instance, not for the church dispensation. Later when I saw the truth of the one body and the sin of denominationalism and repudiated our own Fundamentalist organization, I saw him. And I said, "By the way brother Peach, I hear that you've joined the Baptists. What in the world? Going back to water baptism and denominationalism?" "Well brother Johnson", he said (I can see him now), "when God saved me He called me to preach. And He gave me some of His truth. And He didn't call me to preach to empty benches." That's it. "He didn't call me to preach to empty benches."
"Phillip. Evangelist Phillip, what are you leaving the city of Samaria for?" "The Lord told me to leave." "Where're you going?" "The desert." "Well who called you to go to the desert?" "The Lord:" "What're you going to do?" "Going to obey Him." "What good will that do?" "Ask Him." Yes
(comment from audience)
He said if you preach ... what?
(comment from audience) Preach the truth of denominations.
Oh if you preach the truth of denominations, of course. That's what I brought out about... no woman preacher can preach the truth. I imagine I can see some of the women bristling when they heard that, when they hear about it, ... I said, "No woman preacher can preach the truth. If she preaches the truth about woman's position, wow. About.. they answer to the man. Of course she can't preach the truth! She can butcher the truth! She can cut out some of it! Well then, will she then be preaching the truth?" I brought out you can't mutilate Jesus Christ today my friend. He won't allow anybody to drive a nail in His hand anymore, thank God. He won't allow anybody to put a crowd of thorns on His head anymore, thank God. You can't mutilate Jesus Christ. We can only honor Him, or answer to God for not doing it.
For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.
Turn back quickly please and I'm going to at least put a caption on anything I've been giving about "who made me thus?" McGee, commenting and teaching on Romans the 9th chapter the other day, I listen to him occasionally now because I want to know how to talk to other people about what they're getting from the leading Fundamentalists.
Now watch. Watch now. The subject here, a good part of this, is election. Election, predestination. Down at the 17th verse.
For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might show my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.
If you want to know whether God hardened Pharaoh's heart to begin with, read 1 Samuel 6:5 and 6 and you'll read there that Pharaoh hardened his own heart. Once that process is begun, God finishes it, unless you repent.
Therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy, and whom he will he hardeneth.
How the extreme predestinationalists love to grab that verse, and I grab it too, and say let's stay with it and go on to the 11th chapter and we read the final word in the epistle to the Romans on the subject of God having mercy upon all.
He cut Israel off "that He might upon all" we're told in the same epistle a little later.
Thou wilt stay then unto me, Why does he yet find fault? For who hath resisted his will? Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest against God? Shall the thing formed say to him that is formed, Why hast thou made me thus? Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?
Now, "Shall the thing made say to him that made it, "Why have you made me thus?"" And McGee gave a lot of fine things about how awful it is for a Christian to dare to question God, or even Unsaved, dare to question God. And yet, as l brought out this morning and last night, he said a few weeks ago commenting on ... jumping, from Romans 6, talking about our being complete in Christ, he said, "Now of course, though there are some who say we don't need to join a church", he said, "why you can go to heaven without joining a church, but you'll be in steerage, you won't even be second class. Why don't you get in some good Bible church and be first class."
Is that being discontent with the way God made him? Now I'm going to read a little bit of a letter here and a comment or two from you and then we'll stop. Shall we question, "Why hast thou made me thus?" Every denominational church joiner that's a Christian, joins because of his asking that question impudently. "Well why'd You make me this way? I'm not anything. I've got to join something. I heard Billy Graham this morning on the radio from London. He said, "Why there are people who join the church thinking that will ... " Now you hear him at some other time, you hear him comment on R.A. Torrey's edited series of volumes, "What Is The One True Church?", to Unger, "Unity", he said, "Yes, certainly we believe that". Well you're talkie' about somebody joining a church. You should have joined ... you should have said, "Join a sect. Join a sect."
I used to think you can join all the churches in the world and go to hell. I now say you can join all the sects maybe, but you can't join anything that God calls a church, period! You got to be joined to it or you're out of it. He's got to be joined to it. The Lord's building His church. Isn't that beautiful? That nobody can join the true church. You think any of these members here joined this body? You think this thing decided out there by itself, "Well I'm getting tired of being undenominational, non-sectarian. I'm going to find me some good body to get into". Its just as silly, just as ridiculous. The church which is Christ's body has living members. I like to bring out that there are no peg legs and cork arms and glass eyes in the church which is Christ's body. Or no vicar, no vice head. Rome has a vice head. That's another meaning of the word 'vicar'. The pope is vicar. Christ is the main head, they'll admit that, but He's too far away, except when He's in your stomach, and then the gas He gives you interfering with Him functioning as the head of the church, I guess.
Why... what were you made?
.....