Text Box: Publish Monthly by 
Pilgrim’s Bible Church
Timothy Fellows Pastor
VOL. XXVI No. 7
OCTOBER, 1997

Featured Articles

The Scholarship of Truth, cont.

Neo-Orthodox Words Permeating Vocabulary of "Fighting Fundamentalists"

THE SCHOLARSHIP OF TRUTH (cont.)

(Preached By Pastor Timothy Fellows, shortly before

his illness last September)

Text: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction" (Proverbs 1:7):

The God of Truth

Moses tells us, God is "the Rock, his work is perfect: for all his ways are judgement: a God of Truth and without iniquity, just and right is he" (Deuteronomy 32:4). Jesus Christ, Son of God, is the incarnation of Truth. "In him is no darkness at all" (I John 1:5). He justifies his people and makes them "children that will not lie" (Isaiah 63:8), a people who are not in the habit of lying, who are not known to be liars.

God is the God of Truth. He is God "that cannot lie" (Titus 1:2). All who love God love Truth. As we know God, we know Truth. And, all who spurn Truth, hate the God of Truth. Truth is not God, but God is the God of Truth.

The beloved disciple tells us "The law was given by Moses, but Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). Someone will ask, "Was there no Truth before the incarnation of Jesus Christ?" Yes, but Truth only as it was embodied in Christ. The manifestation of Grace and Truth came by Jesus Christ. He is the Consummation, the Personification of Truth.

Since the Fall, man has been plagued by the guilt and shame of sin. He has never been able to find any remedy or peace for the restlessness in his heart except in Christ. Only one of the world’s 799 religions makes any claim to be able to answer the problem of sin. All others offer a salvation by works, because they have no real concept of sin.

In our day, men have turned to shock therapy, but man’s problems re-occur. Others have been seduced by psychology, or by New Age mysticism which teaches salvation by dismissing one’s guilt, and by not owning up to the shame. But closing our eyes to a real problem does not make it go away. The reason none of these can satisfy the soul of man is because they are without Truth. "This is the condemnation, light is come into the world, and men (love) darkness rather than light, because their deeds (are) evil" (John 3:19). Note the verse well: "This is the condemnation."

The Dispenser of Truth

God is the God of Truth. Truth does not only reside in God, but as He is the Creator of it, so He is the Dispenser of it. What greater mercy can God give to a man, a woman, or to a nation than the knowledge of Truth! Truth is more valuable than "thousands of gold and silver" (Psalm 119:72). It is more pleasant than "honey and the honeycomb" (Psalm 19:10). It is God, not the intellect, which causes men to understand Truth. "The world by wisdom (know) not God" (I Corinthians 1:21).

It is God’s right to give men Truth, or to withhold it from them. If He so chooses, He has the right to leave men to their own confusion, What a mercy, then, is Truth!

Truth generates the meaning of things. It gives expression to things. It warms, as it gives clarity, and broadens our understanding. But, God is the Dispenser of Truth. Anything we can know of God, He must teach us. Anything we would know, we must come before Him. He is our Teacher. "Blessed art Thou. O LORD: teach me thy statutes" (Psalm 119:12).

When Men Reject Truth

The prophet Zechariah records, "And the word of the LORD came unto Zechariah, saying, ‘Thus speaketh the LORD of Hosts, saying, execute true judgement, and show mercy and compassion every man to his brother: and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the stranger, nor the poor; and let none of you imagine evil against his brother in your heart.’ But they refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they should not hear. Yea, thy made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the LORD of Hosts hath sent in His Spirit by the former prophets: therefore, came a great wrath from the LORD of Hosts" (Zechariah 7:8-12).

Men have refused to hearken. "They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear; which will not hearken to the voice of charmers charming never so wisely" (Psalm 58:4,5). David, whom the Holy Ghost records as being a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:12), continues his prayer saying, "Break their teeth, O God, in their mouth: (vs. 6).

Let me pose a few more questions. First, "Can you give me one reason God should give men the privilege of having Truth?" "Is God obligated to do so?" "Do men deserve to have Truth?" Men who have had Truth in the past have not labored to keep it. We are told the Lord is longsuffering, yet there are many people in the world who yet do not have the Word of God in their own language.

But, "What happens when people reject Truth?" God is neither obligated, nor required to give men Truth; so, what happens when people turn up their nose at it? The Bible says, "Therefore, came a great wrath from the LORD of Hosts."

"How does God manifest his wrath upon people?" "Does He always bring armies, pestilence, or disease?" One of the greatest judgements God can bring upon a man, a woman, or a nation is to remove from them a knowledge of the Truth. God declares of apostate Israel, "My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err, and they have gone a whoring from their God" (Hosea 4:12). Like Israel of old, Americans are turning to the ways of the heathen. God does not say the cause of judgment is because they sought counsel at their stocks, and because "their staff declareth unto them:" the reason for their judgement is because "the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err."

Sin makes people stupid. The Truth the people of Israel once enjoyed, they no longer enjoyed. They traded it for the pottage of sin. The prophet Isaiah prayed, "O LORD, why hast thou made us to err from the ways and hardened our heart from they fear?" (Isaiah 63:17) Sin makes people stupid. This is not meant in a derogatory sense, but in a judgmental sense. Sin causes people to lose their ability to reason. When they refuse to repent of their sins, and stop their ears from hearing His warnings, God delivers them over to commit even more sin.

God says, "And I will bring distress upon men, and they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung" (Zephaniah 1:17). Note the verse: "They shall walk as blind men." This is a simile. Sinners are going to walk as if they are blind men. They are blind in a spiritual sense, not in a physical sense. The reason they walk like blind men is because sin causes people to lose their bearings; they lose their spiritual equilibrium. Sin causes people to act stupid. They wander into things like the blind, because they have sinned. This is part of their judgment.

Americans have pushed Truth aside. Now, God is taking Truth from them. Men and women have shown their contempt for Truth, so many are no longer able to recognize it. Things they once understood, they no longer understand; yet, in their spiritual drunkenness, they think they are "progressive." They think they have matured! "Professing themselves to be wise, they (become) fools" (Romans 1:22).

Truth is no longer important to people. Most Christians are far quicker to attend a church that has programs for their children, and fashionable facilities without regard as to what is taught. Truth is not of paramount importance to this generation. Christ will assess the lukewarmness of the Church in this generation together with the martyrs of past centuries who were willing to die for Truth. But Truth is no longer considered to be of much importance. This is the reason American society is plummeting to depths not seen since men first stepped upon these shores. We are returning to barbarism.

When men spurn Truth, God will take it from them. Can you blame Him? People have rationalized, and argued with Truth. Truth which people have understood, they have come to despise; so, they have dispensed with it. Not content to "pull away the shoulder," they have "stopped their ears." As with Israel of old, God has given people eyes which cannot see, and ears which cannot hear (Deuteronomy 29:4). This generation is no longer able to discern Truth because they have judged themselves unworthy of Truth. And, as they continue to suppress Truth, they lose the ability to be able to make up their minds as to what Truth is.

When men resist Truth, they fight against the Author of Truth. Men may argue over the doctrine of Separation, or the doctrines of Grace, but when they resist Truth, they do it at the peril of their own souls. Perhaps, you know people who once seemingly espoused some measure of Truth, who today, have been left to embrace humanism, socialism, or Arminianism, etc.

With the decay of men’s understanding comes the decay of virtue. "They walk as blind men…" so, they sin more, and lose more of their understanding. They sin more, and lose still more of their understanding. When people forsake their duty toward God, as revealed in the First Table of the Law, it is not long until they turn form their duty toward man, as revealed in the Second Table of the Law. Every time a person turns from what he knows to be right, he must first climb over the barrier of Conscience. Conscience is that light that lights every man who comes into the world. (John 1:9).

Men know what is right and what is wrong; and by despising the Truth of God, they despise the God of Truth. By breaking the law of God, they reveal their spite toward God and man.

At last, the heart of the sinner hardens, and his will becomes stubborn, and his damnation becomes certain. Once again, consider the words of the prophets: "I will bring distress upon men, in order that, they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the LORD." "My people ask counsel at their stocks, and their staff declareth unto them: for the spirit of whoredoms hath caused them to err." (Zephaniah 1:17; Hosea 4:12).

As people move away from God, God delivers them up to commit sin; and, as a judgment upon this sin, He delivers them over to commit more sin. And, with each rebellion, men lose more of their grasp of Truth.

Prayer

Lord, we know that these are very serious issues. Help us to "buy the Truth," but to sell it never. May it be precious unto us, knowing that with Truth comes light and life: the blessings which thou are able to give. Help us to be faithful to what Thou hast taught us. Help us to rehearse in our minds the things which we have heard, that we may know how we may be more able to apply your Truth to our lives. Lord keep us as the "apple of thine eye" from this perverse generation that has grown hostile to Thy Gospel. For Jesus’ sake, Amen.

Pastor Fellows spent over ten years compiling significant events that have happened on every day of the year in Christian History. The book is not yet published, and is over five hundred pages single space (that would be over a thousand pages!). It costs us about thirty dollars to photocopy all the pages and put in a binder. Let us know if you are interested in obtaining a copy.

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Please remember to send us your changes of address. It costs us about fifty cents for every change the post office makes – that adds up. You can send all correspondence about The Angelus, including address changes, cancellations, comments or requests to:

timfellows@juno.com

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Neo-Orthodox Words Permeating the vocabulary

of "Fighting Fundamentalists"

ABORTION -- "the act of miscarrying, or producing young before the natural time, or before the fetus is perfectly formed: called criminal abortion when unlawful"

The correct word for today’s use is aborticide -- "the act of destroying a fetus; feticide" -- Webster’s New Universal Unabr.

HOMOSEXUAL -- same sex "scientific" name

The Biblical word is sodomite --followers of those wicked perverts of Sodom who were destroyed by God’s judgment.

GAY -- happy, light-hearted, joyous, pleasurable

The Biblical terminology is exceedingly wicked reprobate sodomite, and portrayed as miserable

SEX -- a word for male or female fostered by evolution

The Biblical word is gender: male and female

SEX -- blunt, base, vulgar word for intercourse: irrespective of "partners" or marriage conditions.

The Biblical terminology differentiates conditions: 1. to know a spouse in an intimate way in marriage: 2. to commit fornication or adultery; 3. to commit sodomy; 4. to commit bestiality.

MATE -- 1. crass, vulgar, evolutionary term (people are not animals)

        2. Your buddy and your wife are not one-and-the-same.

The Biblical terminology is spouse, husband, wife, not "helpmate." God help us! We have become religious animals!

PARTNER -- humanistic, modernistic, base terminology of equal status and rank. No dignity; no head-ship. Fostered by the Women’s Lib.

The Biblical terminology is spouse, husband, wife -- each with different responsibilities, neither inferior nor superior to other.

RACE -- nationality, color of skin, people descended from; completely evolutionary and very discriminatory (Evolution teaches that the white man has evolved more than the black man)

The Biblical terminology is peoples, tongues, kindreds, tribes, and nations "By them (Noah’s three sons) was the whole earth overspread"

OBJECTIVE/SUBJECTIVE -- an approach from the observer as only considering the facts without any imposed bias, or imposing his bias on the facts.

The Bible imposes its bias on the facts, and if left out, the observer is wrong, false, lying, and/or deceived. When the observer sees the facts in light of God’s Word he is true, right correct, and enlightened. I would challenge the reader to consider whether God is objective or subjective?

POSITIVE/NEGATIVE -- whether the matter is in the best or worst relative interest of the one making the statement

The Biblical terminology is right or wrong, good or bad, true or false -- from God’s absolute perspective.

The list could go on -- politically-correct, homophobe, environmentalism, racism, mercy-killing, psychology, etc.

You can be sure the world will use these very terms, which are freely used and endorsed by "evolutionists," "psychologists," and "liberals" today, to judge and to condemn the people of God in the courts and in the classrooms of tomorrow. It is quite sad when Christians pipe an uncertain sound by taking their vocabulary from a world which knows not the Truth.

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