theonomic assault audio: 2009

Mourning Over the State of Modern Reformed Churches, Part 2

Pastor Brian Schwertley: 06/07/2009 p.m.
Running time: 01:06:19
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Mourning Over the State of Modern Reformed Churches, Part 1

Posted below here, is an admittedly sloppy and rushed outline of this sermon: (I may have only included things that interest me and left out others. Listen to the sermon for a more contextual understanding.) I did not spend time trying to find and post scripture references, but just outlined what I could as quickly as I could while listening through this sermon. This is not meant as a "proof-text" for any points made throughout.

Also, the speaker, in context, is largely addressing the non-Dutch portion of the modern Reformed Church, but similarities in some said errors are obviously evident in ALL modern churches.

PART ONE OF THIS TOPIC: Mourning Over the State of Modern Reformed Churches, Part 1

START PART 2:

Marker 00:00:00

TOPIC SUMMARY: This is the second sermon on mourning over the state of modern reformed churches. "Rejoice for joy with her, all you who mourn for her."

Isaiah 66:10 - "I am going to read the whole chapter."

Primarily we are looking at declension in modern Reformed churches.

What are things that we need to be mournful over?

Accommodation with the world on covenant headship and family issues.

The churches have been following pagan culture. Adapting their teaching to more and more fit in with our modern culture. This could be seen in the following areas.

Marker 00:06:10

A. Divorce and Remarriage:

This penalizes the innocent party and makes adultery and desertion viable options for unhappy, un-content husbands and wives.
Based solely on pragmatism and has no exegetical foundation whatsoever.
Paul says, that as long as the husband remains alive, the wife is to remain unmarried, and when the husband dies she is free to remarry.
How can a church bless a marriage when Jesus says that the union of these persons results in adultery?
Conversely, the Bill Gothard "There is no remarriage whatsoever, even for the innocent party" is also unscriptural.

Marker 00:08:42

B. Covenant headship in the home and in the church:

Paul says that Christian wives are to be keepers at home, Titus 2:5.

The wife's domain is at home, on her husband and her children.

They are not to go to work outside the home and put their children in daycare, but they are to be diligent home makers.

Proverbs 31:10-31: The ideal Godly wife; one who is busy in a wide range of activities, all done outside of the home so she has a close eye on her children to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Genesis: Wife created 2nd as a helper suitable to the man.

The wife's goal in life is not self-fulfillment or having her own career, but is to help her husband in Godly dominion and to serve her husband.

Women have a different role than men.

If a woman is working outside the home it should only be in a dire emergency and it should only be as temporary as possible.

1 Tim 5; woman who refuse to obey this teaching are open to becoming busybodies, to becoming idol, and even the danger of being seduced.

It is not an honor for a woman to imitate a man; career separate from being a homemaker.

Modern women have bought into the Satanic lie that being a homemaker and raising up a Godly family, somehow, is less noble and glorious than working out in the world. This has done more damage to woman and more damage to children and families than anything you could think of.

Or, the demonic delusion that women could only be fulfilled by doing both; career AND home. The result of working outside the home is that homemaking responsibilities are seriously compromised.

To work outside the home is to say that Paul is wrong and the modern feminist movement is right.

But, in virtually all Reformed denominations, today there is little discernable difference between the Biblical view and the world's view, which has completely bought into feminism.

The Biblical view has been ignored, rejected, neglected and reworked to accommodate the world's philosophy.

The result are families with a much greater strain, children with much less quality education and upbringing, higher divorce rates, etcetera.

Churches must repent on this issue…it's a fundamental issue.

Churchmen, however, will run from this issue, because they know that it will offend a lot of women, and also a lot of men who like their women bringing in the cash; they like that extra money.

"WORKERS AT HOME" is reinterpreted to mean, PART-TIME workers at home. A wife and mother cannot, figuratively speaking, serve 2 masters…her house and her corporation or pagan boss. We need to mourn over the state of the church and pray for repentance and revival.

Don't tell me then working in a factory or an office is more important than raising up a John Calvin or an Augustine.

Don't tell me that making sure your children serve Jesus Christ and are Godly, and follow the Lord…don't tell me that's less important than working in an assembly line in a factory making cars.

Feminism has enabled women to be more like pagan men…to fornicate more, to commit adultery more, to lie more. It has not been a service to woman…and it certainly is anti-children.

The widespread acceptance of sending Christian children into the State school system.
Marker 00:17:23

A system that is atheistic, antichrist, pro macroevolution, pro sodomite, pro feminist, pro idolatry, and anti-parent. This is widespread in the church and the public school system is completely accepted.

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 teaches, along with Ephesians 6:4, that Christian parents have a Biblical responsibility to make sure that their children have an explicit and thorough Christian education and training.

Every single course is to come from a Christian perspective. Jesus Christ is the Lord of mathematics, history, geography…ALL topics, and He must be integrated into every aspect of education.

Christian ethics must be integrated into all aspects of daily living. You are NOT going to get that in the public school system with its sensitivity training on sodomite marriage and the teaching that the American Indians are more noble and wonderful than Christians, or its teaching on how wonderful Muslims are.

The public schools are not permitted to teach the centrality of Christ.

Christian parents are not allowed by scripture to hand their children over to pagans and atheists. They are not allowed to have their children intermingle with heathen idolaters, liars, fornicators, sorcerers, Christ haters, and sex perverts.

AND YET, these State schools are fully acceptable in our denominations. Is this not utter foolishness? Is it not sinful and exceedingly dangerous spiritually? According to the Bible it definitely is.

So why is it accepted and defended? Because of human traditions, pragmatism, because of a failure to preach the whole council of God.

If the churches taught the truth on this issue and required parents not to send their children to state schools, the Churches would shrink and lose members, and that is simply unacceptable, so the parents are accommodated. Their sin is excused. Their wickedness is allowed.

Yes it is sinful to send your children to public schools. It is wicked. It is one of the worst sins you could do, to hand your children over to a bunch of heathen to raise them…to teach them for you.

Both of the last points are clearly tied to the issue of the rise of materialism and hedonism in American culture. Marker 00:21:34

If the wife did not work, then families would have to adopt a simpler life style with less things, fewer amusements.

Moreover, if children are home schooled, that requires a stay-at-home mother, or, at least a solid Christian school which would require a large financial commitment.

Churches today, are simply REFUSING to make parents submit to the teaching of scripture and make the necessary sacrifices to lead a holy, consistent, Christian life.

Could you imagine the Puritans sending their children to Roman Catholic schools to be
indoctrinated in Romanism?

Could you imagine the early Presbyterians sending their children to American Indian schools to be indoctrinated into the world view of a pagan savage?

Yet what makes it right to send your children into a state school where Christ is not allowed in the classroom? AND, they are indoctrinated in Statism…pro homosexuality, pro abortion, pro feminism, pro fornication, pro evolution, you name it.

The modern church is up to its neck in sin on these issues and it needs to repent. Let us mourn for the state of the Church. Let us mourn for the poor covenant children who must be exposed to this Satanic garbage.

Let us mourn for the Church who develop arguments against scripture to make it easier
to sin.

I am not aware of any reforms coming from within the Church in the 20th century. Marker 00:24:09

The rise of the home-school movement, largely is due to people like R. J. Rushdoony. It did not come from within the Church, that is to say, the Church bureaucracy.

Woman in the military. Marker 00:24:33

Here's an issue that is so clear that a 5-year-old could easily understand it. So obvious that even 'general revelation', even nature teaches that it is wrong to take wives, mothers, and daughters, and place them in harm's way in battle.

Hundreds of woman have died in battle in Iraq. They are in the battle field.

This never would have occurred in this country without the rise of militant feminism which demands that the distinctions between men and women be ignored.

The leaders of feminism are Christ haters, Bible haters, men haters, and are often lesbians, atheists, and socialists, and that is behind this kind of practice.

Has the Church stood up to this un-Biblical, un-natural, un-Godly outrage? NO. Not at all. The Church has been unwilling to condemn this practice at a synod level at all.

Have right and wrong switched places? Is this not evidence that the modern church's sacred honor is cooling. Should not churchmen fear God more than they are with offending the ignorant fools who send their daughters off to war, to die for "democracy, feminism, and socialism"???

The modern churches have a lot of the world's concept of peace, love, and caring, in their
gut, and they need to put the world's philosophy into the septic tank of hell where it belongs. Mourn and weep for the state of the Church today.

We need repentance in the Church. Even something as obvious and simple as placing daughters, mothers, and women into the engines of war…the Church can't even repent over. "We don't want to offend the people in our church who's daughters have joined the military, so we're not going to make any statement against that." How cowardly.

Woman teaching and having authority over men within the context of the Church; the public church assemblies. Marker 00:28:40

1 Corinthians 14:34-35 Women are not to teach or have authority over men, in the Church, but they are to learn in silence. Paul even says they are not even allowed to ask questions. They have to wait until the service is over and ask their husbands at home. Why is that?

One reason is, the wife is supposed to be learning from her spiritual head, her husband. He has a responsibility to teach her. "For it is shameful for woman to speak in church".

This is another example of the Church catering to our pagan culture. The concept of un-authoritative teaching is simply an Orwellian perversion of language.

All of this type of sinful behavior came through feminism and egalitarianism. The woman's job is in the home. She is not the teacher of authority in the Church.

The attempt to keep feminists happy by having women doing things they ought not to do is the flip-side to women working outside the home…joining the military, and handing their children over to the state schools.

The objection says: "Did not Deborah lead the Israelites into battle on a horse?" Yes, but being lead by a woman was a shame to Israel, a sign of their sin, a sign that the men were unqualified to lead. It was their shame. Moreover, this example is primarily political and military, and is not really ecclesiastical in the sense of her being an elder or a teacher.

"Did not Pricilla give Apollos corrective instruction?" Yes, but this was done privately in the presence of her husband. Woman are free to witness to unbelievers and point out errors in doctrine privately to men. Nothing to do with public teaching.

Why aren't woman allowed to teach, have authority, or ask questions in church? Marker 00:35:30

God's ordained order of authority. God the Father-God the Son, then man (the husband), then women (the wife). That is God's ordained order of authority. 1 Corinthians 11:3.

Adam was created first, and then the woman was created second. 1 Tim 2:14.

The woman, Eve, originated from the man, Adam. Genesis 2:21-22, 1 Corinthians 11:8.

The woman/wife was created as a help mate to the man. Genesis 2:18, 1 Corinthians 11:9.

Eve was deceived and fell into transgression. 1 Tim 2:14.

The covenant headship of the man. 1 Cor 14: 34-35.

These obviously apply to all forms of teaching or speaking and public worship.

Expanded points on covenant headship. Marker 00:36:45

When you appeal to creation; when you appeal to the way God created man and God created women, and you appeal to the purpose of the wife, her creative purpose by God, when you go back to creation ordinance, when you go back to the beginning before the fall, these things cannot be circumvented by clever arguments. They cannot arbitrarily be applied to only one type of teaching or speaking.

Paul is setting forth and supporting the Biblical teaching regarding covenant headship. The doctrine of covenant headship has been lost today.

Church members voting independently of each other in families. The husband votes. The wife can vote against her husband in a church meeting, and the children can even vote against their parents. That contradicts and is against the word of God. The Bible teaches head of household voting. Woman should not be voting unless they are widows. If they have an authority over them, the way the authority over them votes, they vote in the covenant head. The covenant head votes for the whole family.

Marker 00:38:43

C. The problem with seminaries.

Usually it is seminary professors in the lead of declension. The seminaries are basically businesses. The number one principle behind seminaries is they want to grow and they want to have lots of money.

Thus, you don't see seminaries being the spearhead of reformation. They are the spearhead of declension, historically.

They develop very clever exegetical arguments to support their departure from Scripture and the Westminster Standards.

The church leaders are bureaucrats who become apologists of declension, and cheerleaders to the latest innovations. This has been the historical pattern for over a century with few exceptions.

Thus, very clever, convoluted arguments can be found for Christmas and holy days, woman not wearing head coverings, the acceptance of ridiculous interpretations of the creation narrative, the Auburn Avenue heresy; …the idea that the Auburn Avenue heresy is not really heresy; it's not that serious, woman teaching in the church, and so on.

When men fall deep into habitual patterns of sin and declension they feel the need to justify themselves, and that's when things get really bad.

They strive and exert themselves to disprove the clear teachings of scripture.

When they come up with a clever argument, a host of lesser minds latch onto the latest excuse to continue in sin.

When elders and teachers are challenged by someone who is Biblical, who is a visitor or a member, what happens. Well they usually fall back on the raw exercise of power. "Do not disturb the peace of the Church with your teaching." "We are the elders." "You must submit to what we say, so be quiet." "Don't argue with us."

However, if they are going to refute, they have to refute using scripture, and they can't, because they're wrong, and they come up with these ridiculous, perverted arguments. "Don't spread your antiquated confessional teaching around here. We've abandoned the word of God. We've abandoned the confession of faith, and we like it that way." That's what's really going on.

Marker 00:42:07

D. Is not the real measure of a churches influence in this world measured by its holiness and its faithfulness to scripture? Its desire to obey God no matter what others say or think?

1. Yet today the opposite view holds sway

That we can gain the most influence by making the most compromises.

By enlarging the tent called truth with all sorts of worldly and contradictory ideas and practices.

By making the tent bigger, our churches can grow faster and hold together longer.

This is growth at the expense of truth, a false unity, the acceptance of sin in the Church in order to grow and be big.

They grow weaker as they grow numerically.

2. Truth has taken
a back seat to accommodation with the world.

There are a lot of areas where they haven't done this but we are covering the most obvious
areas where this has taken place.

Historically, the Church would mold their personal lives, families, churches, and businesses according to Scripture. Think of how such a sanctified body could be a salt and light to culture.

We cannot protest against a lukewarm, ungodly age, by becoming lukewarm ourselves. We cannot fight against error by making room for more error with a pluralistic, virtually anything goes standard.

3. These men have
nothing in common with someone like John Knox, and they know it.

They think the worship practices of a George Gellespie and a John Knox, they call that minimalistic worship. They think it is a perversion of scripture.

Marker 00:45:29

E. The general attitude of most churchgoers…is that the things I am discussing here are of no consequence.

I am fanatical. I am uncharitable. I am schismatic.

But when we view what is going on, we view it as the breaking forth of a deadly leprosy.

A leaven is spreading in these bodies that if left unchecked will eventually snuff out the Gospel testimony ALL TOGETHER.

We must mourn and be astonished at what is happening in the Church of our ancestors.

These men would recoil in horror at the condition of these denominations. Men, denying justification by faith not being disciplined.

Mourn and pray for repentance, because if repentance does not come, then only apostasy, darkness, and judgment lies in the future for these bodies.

Marker 00:46:58

F. The area of doctrine.

1. There have been serious compromises with false doctrine, and even damnable heresies, in order to follow the Satanic world order's concepts of love and unity.

So often today, the concept of love in the churches does not come from Scripture, because scripture says love obeys God's commandments. Love does not compromise with the word of God.

If you love your brother you don't allow them to continue in sin, you have to rebuke them. That is true love.

2. Examples of
doctrinal error.

There is allowance in both the OPC and the PCA of a wide variety of heterodox views on Genesis chapter 1, the creation account, including the day-age theory, and the documentary hypothesis, which essentially says that the first chapter of Genesis is pure poetic metaphor, not reflecting what happened at all; (this was invented by Merideth Kline by the way).

These exceptions to the standards are not based on an exegesis of God's word, which is very clear. The Hebrew word for day can mean an unspecific period of time but it is extremely rare, and when it is, the context makes it clear.

To make sure that we understand what God had in mind, the term "day" is accompanied by the expressions, "morning and evening", the first day, morning and evening the second day.

These expressions are not easily manipulated into epochs of billions and billions of years.

Yet unbelief coupled with fantasy is capable of amazing stupidity.

3. In addition, the fourth commandment says that we are to rest one day in seven just like God did.

The literal 6-day view is so clear that a child could understand it.

It is also the view taught in the Westminster Standards.

Why then are men permitted to teach strange, perverted ideas, about Genesis 1, that are
men's speculations, that are not based on the exegesis of the word of God?

These denominations are simply bowing the knee to modern science and catering to so-called
science.

These denominations have men who disagree with the word of God on this issue, and, if a
stricter view is held, the denominations would be smaller.

It is unfaithful and cowardly to not stand up for the teaching of God's word on such
a clear issue.

This is another example of pragmatism over Biblical ethics.

4. This is a situation where the Church, once again, has imitated the false unity of the world.

Unity is supposedly achieved by expanding the tent of truth to contain opinions that contradict each other.

Thus, what we have seen is the ripping the tent asunder for the doctrines and commandments of men.

People are being taught that the perspicuity of Scripture is a myth. That many crucial passages of the word of God are liable to several contradictory assertions.

They are also implicitly taught that Church authorities have the authority to declare something false, stupid, wrong, and sinful, to be acceptable…and they DON'T have that authority.

Marker 00:51:44 Google the "Documentary Hypothesis". It's absurd. Go to the general assembly or synod, and they have said that this doctrine is acceptable.

The problem with this view is that Scripture trumps a general assembly when it makes a blatant, obvious error.

May the Lord cause fountains of sorrow to flow from our hearts over Jerusalem. The glory has greatly diminished. There are so many reasons for mourning. We live in a sad day.

Marker 00:53:13

G. The OPC and PCA have adopted, constitutionally, the acceptance of pluralism for the state.

Both denominations accept the idea that if mass conversions in the United States took place, and Bible-believing Christians were swept into office, on every level, it would STILL BE WRONG AND IMMORAL TO SUPPRESS FALSE RELIGIONS and the open practice of idolatry.

This is not scripture, it is pagan philosophy.

It is the idea that the state can be secular and above all religions, and thus no one religion should have a say over or dominate other religions.

With modern pluralism, the state is allowed to avoid the absolute claims of King Jesus Christ, who rose from the dead, and God said, "all (comprehensive) authority in heaven, and on earth, is Yours, because of your redemptive obedience…rule.

The state does not have the authority to treat Christians, blasphemers, and Satan worshipers
alike.

The state does not have the authority to ignore the laws of Scripture and to make up their own ethics as they go along.

There is absolutely no teaching in the Bible whatsoever that limits the civil magistrates jurisdiction to civil infractions from the second table of the law.

There has been a very serious retreat by most modern churches from the preaching of the whole council of God, as it relates to the state.

Pray for the revival and reformation in Zion.

Jesus is King, and the courts need to recognize it, the President needs to recognize it, the Congress, the Senate, the State Legislatures, need to recognize that Jesus Christ is King and bow the knee to Him, and implement Biblical law.

That means sodomites caught by 2 witnesses are to be executed.

Abortionists are to be executed.

Murders are to be executed.

Rapists are to be executed.

But they don't like Biblical law, so they've adopted paganism, pluralism, post-enlightenment thought.

They need to repent.

Marker 00:55:58

H. The acceptance and spread of the Auburn Avenue heresy; the Federal Vision heresy, among ministers, elders, and people in the OPC and PCA…(perhaps the
most shocking, surprising, and wicked declension doctrinally).

Marker 00:58:00
through 01:00:10, (Description of this heresy, namely, they
deny justification by faith alone.)

There is a complete unwillingness for leadership to take action against those who advocate this damnable heresy. Marker 01:00:10

"We are going to tolerate heresy and sin in our denominations."

"Anyone who challenges us on that is unloving and a jerk."

Marker 01:01:02

I. There are not enough votes to deal with these heretics.

The leaven has spread, virtually unopposed.

We must mourn and pray over this theological rot.

The OPC and PCA are so rotten at their core, as far as their commitment to the Standards go, that I do not even expect a major split…"you can't split rotten wood".

Marker 01:02:10

J. Hope for Zion.

We read several verses about the Gospel spreading to the Gentiles and the great satisfaction of God's people.

Even if the PCA and the OPC become totally apostate, others will take up the banner of truth for Christ's Kingship and rule.

Our Lord's Kingdom cannot be defeated by some heretics.

There are going to be setbacks in history but God is in control, and He will comfort the hearts of his people, and He will bring victory.

The Church will be a nursing mother to kings, prime ministers, and presidents.

All nations will flow into the Church to learn God's law.

The knowledge of the Lord shall cover the earth as the waters cover the sea.

Glory be to the name of God. Where all is desert, He could bring a garden.

Aaron's dry rod shall bud and blossom again.

He that raised Jesus from dead can arouse a more _____Church.

He that created the heavens and the earth, can destroy the power and influence of the proto-Romanists in our circles.

Let us therefore mourn and pray, but also, be full of joy, that our labors for Christ are not in vain, when you see the rot around you, and you see that people hate your message, and you see that people hate the truth, and you see that people don't want to hear the truth, and you see that people mock you and say all manner of evil against you falsely…rejoice, because God is in control…Christ is in control.

Don't. Be faithful. Pray. Mourn for Zion. For the days of glory are coming.

Marker 01:05:23

K. Closing prayer.

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