Just recently I received an email most courteously written by a brother in Christ, who is a member of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
He felt that as a Christian he could maintain his walk with the Lord in that denomination and hope that the Free Presbyterian Church and his could work together to further the cause of Christ.
I attempted to reply in the manner in which his email was written but I did have strong things to unavoidably say and in a bid to be faithful to the Word of God sought not to ‘water down’ Holy Scripture.
The Lord’s command to Jeremiah clearly indicates that there is the temptation to couch God’s Word in what appears less extreme or forceful terms than the Lord employs, so that those to whom we are sent to speak His Word, will accept it.
“Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee: be not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them,” Jeremiah 1:17.
There is a lot of that folly about today. The ‘old fashioned’ terms of the Bible give offence to a world bent on rejecting Christ and all that is of Him. The objections of the ’sodomite lobby’ to the Bible’s references to their perversion and the inevitable damnation that such iniquity will bring, has provoked court action and public disorder by these perverts!
Sadly, even ministers of the gospel feel that they can set forth the Gospel in terms better than its Author, and are stupid and arrogant enough to engage in such folly and adopt the world’s terminology in place of God’s words!
For the sake of younger believers, who may be carried away with this folly, I am reproducing the answer I gave to the Christian brother who wrote to me.
I hope that many find what I said profitable.
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster
Dear brother XXXXXX,
Thank for your kind and encouraging final comment and the spirit that your email displays.
Not all emails I received are like yours!
You raise important matters which I hope to address as honestly as I can.
I have just finished my daily Bible reading and the last chapter I read was 1 Cor 4. There I read: “But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God,” 2 Corinthians 4:2.
I have been preaching for over 61 years and, by the mercy of God, I have sought, at least to some measure, to follow in the steps of the great apostles.
Paul also said: “For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you,” 2 Corinthians 2:4.
I have used this verse in the introduction of my latest article, just posted on the BB this morning.
I was attempting to explain that challenging the errors of today found amongst my fellow Free Presbyterians, gives me no pleasure or joy.
I can say the same of my challenging any of God’s people, irrespective of their denominational label!
However, as the tenor of the New Testament epistles demonstrates, plain and blunt exposure of sin is in keeping with the utterances of the Holy Spirit, the inspirer of the epistles.
Having said that, I want to respond to your comments, “speaking the truth in love” (Eph 4:15).
1. I welcome your open acknowledgment that in your denomination ‘there are issues that we could and should be taking a more biblical stance as a church.’
I have been a ‘student’ of the times in which we live and I have followed the development of the ‘apostasy’ that has overtaken the people of God, worldwide. I believe we are witnessing that spoken of in many passages in the Bible. The best known is, I think, 2 Timothy 3:1-5.
Much that is deemed ‘Christianity’ today is far removed from what it claims to be!
Your denomination was a founder member of the World Council of Churches in 1948. The purpose of that Council was declared by a Lutheran delegate to be the overthrowing of the work of the Protestant Reformation and a returning to the fold of Rome. That statement was never challenged or denied. The ‘proof of the pudding’ has been seen in the direction of the three main denominations here. They openly call Romanism a ‘sister Christian church’.
That is a blasphemous lie!
It is true that in the 1970s, the Presbyterian Church in Ireland withdrew from the WCC but it remained in the local ecumenical groups and councils. Indeed, the Vice President of the ‘Irish Council of Churches’ is the recently retired, ‘Very Rev Dr Charles McMullen (Presbyterian)’, as stated on the ICC website. The same website says of the ICC: ‘The membership reflects the changing landscape of Christianity across Protestant, Orthodox, Reformed, Catholic, Independent and Migrant–led churches.’
That affiliation is in total contradiction of 2 Cor 6:14-16 and illustrates the depths of the error within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland.
Furthermore, where are the voices of opposition to the downgrade within the Presbyterian Church in Ireland? I may have missed such.
I have heard the protests of a former elder, an open sodomite, for his removal of him from his office. It is clear from news reports that there are ministers and elders and members of his church that support him and deem his dismissal a sin!
Again, the ministry of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is corrupted in that it has those who openly flaunt their dismissal of the Holy Scriptures and all they teach.
See:
Presbyterian minister attends and participates in Romish prayers to Mary!
Women have been ordained as ministers and elders, again a defiance of the plain word of God. “This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife . . ,” 1 Timothy 3:1-2. A ‘bishop’ is but one of the terms used of the holder of the office of an elder or presbyter. As I am sure you know, that office is divided in two functions — the ‘ruling elder’ and the ’teaching elder’. “Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine,” 1 Timothy 5:17.
In the light of these very serious doctrinal deviations, then what Paul did in Ephesus is the duty of every faithful child of God in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland!
“And he went into the synagogue, and spake boldly for the space of three months, disputing and persuading the things concerning the kingdom of God. But when divers were hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus,” Acts 19:8-9.
That is what the Free Presbyterian Church founders did in 1951.
2. You say of these sins: ‘This does not stop the individual Presbyterian doing the right thing and promoting the right teaching.’
Dear brother, you cannot ‘do the right thing and promote right ’ when you are in disobedience to the command of God!
I plan to write something on that ‘righteous man’ Lot, who “dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds” of the Sodomites. (2 Peter 2:8).
However, vexed he may have been, but he could not raise an effective witness to God’s truth, even to his family!
“And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law,” Genesis 19:14.
We cannot do that which pleases the Lord and obtain His blessing upon our attempts at serving Him, while we are in the place where we OUGHT NOT TO BE!
3. You ask: ‘Would I be better off joining the Free Presbyterian Church?, from recent disclosures concerning Free P ministers and elders promoting LGBT and Gender issues thru their work in the rotten stormont executive, I have my doubts.’
I can well understand your doubts. However, the wrong-doings you refer to involve but a few Free Presbyterians. I have openly condemned such activities and there has never been any official attempt to justify these actions.
What you refer to does not entail an open rejection and denial of the cardinal doctrines of the Gospel.
They are akin to the sins rebuked by the writers of the New Testament epistles and of the Lord Jesus Himself.
He said to the church at Ephesus: “I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars: and hast borne, and hast patience, and for my name’s sake hast laboured, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love,” Revelation 2:2-4.
If you care to read the other six epistles He addressed to the other churches in Asia, you will find similar rebukes and warnings.
As I have often pointed out, the church at Corinth had many most wicked things things take place within its ranks but Paul still called it “the church of God which is at Corinth,” 1 Cor 1:2.
There was no wholesale abandoning of the Word of God and open living in defiance of it by a majority in that church. There were those within it who opposed the sins and sought Paul’s help in putting the matters right and they were successful as 2nd Corinthian epistle shows.
Yes, there are wrongs taking place on the part of a ‘minority’ in the Free Presbyterian Church, BUT those sins are publicly rebuked and repudiated by the majority in our denomination.
I am sure you know the part that Dr Henry Cooke played in the opposing and purging out of the sins of ‘Unitarianism’ in the mid-19th century in your church. Only then did revival break forth in 1859!
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland has endorsed rebellion. I am sure you also know the result of the J E Davey trial, when he was exonerated, despite his writings which clearly stated his rejection of the fundamentals of the Word of God, denying the deity of Christ, His atoning blood and the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.
The Presbyterian Church in Ireland not only exonerated him, but in 1953 they made this apostate their moderator. Thus the Presbyterian Church in Ireland nailed its colours to the mast very clearly. I do not believe that there is any way back for it and our founders in 1951 did the right thing and withdrew and were separated.
4. You say: ‘We just have to accept that we don’t have perfect church structures, they contain man in his fallen state but we have to lean on our Saviour and God’s word, and keep testing what is preached against the scriptures.’
I agree in part with that statement, but I cannot claim to be leaning on the Saviour while I keep company and fellowship with those in open rebellion against Him!
Neither is it enough to test what is preached. We must proclaim against error and not remain silently in the group or organisation which before the whole world endorses the wickedness and idolatry of ‘churches’ such as Romanism and the so-called ‘Orthodox’ churches.
5. You say: ‘May PCI and the Free Presbyterian churches both work towards spreading a Gospel that is worthy of our King and church Head, Jesus.’
How can that be done when there are those in the Presbyterian Church in Ireland who have repudiated the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ and YET they remain in good standing in your church?
To link ourselves with the Presbyterian Church in Ireland is to accept the evil position of such apostates and join in the error and rebellion of your church.
We cannot do God’s will and promote His honour while acting contrary to His revealed will and purpose, set forth in the Bible!
I just trust that there are no ‘typos’ in my answer but I believe I have made myself clear and that in a Christian manner.
Sincere regards,
IF