Recently I was reading an excellent book by Evangelist John R. Rice titled, "Dr. Rice. Here is My Question...", in which he provides some words of wisdom concerning how to reach today's modernist preacher for Christ...
You asked how to win modernist preachers, and you asked me to comment on 1st Corinthians 9:19-23, where Paul said, "I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." . . . when Paul said "all things," he did not mean that he got drunk with the drinkers and drunkards in order to win them. That is forbidden. He did not mean that he would join the profane in their cursing, for that is forbidden in the Bible. He did not mean that he would yoke up with unbelievers and count infidels Christians, because that is forbidden in the Bible. You never win souls by doing wrong.
And anybody who does wrong with the hope of winning souls would win far more if they did it God's way instead of their own man-made way. God has helped me to win many a drunkard, but I never had a drink with them to do it. And I never knew anybody who did drink who won drunkards. I have won a good many modernists, and the way I did that was to preach to them like I would to any other sinners. Lot did not win the men of Sodom by calling them brethren. Samson did not win Delilah. Solomon did not win his heathen wives, when he went and became an idolater with them. Peter did not win those soldiers sitting around the campfire, the soldiers who were to crucify Jesus. Instead, Peter lost his testimony and his courage.
No modernist preacher can get saved as a preacher. He has to be saved as a sinner. That is, he must be told that he is a sinner, and the Word of God must be used to show him that he must be born again. To pat him on the back, tell him that he is all right just as he is and ask him to come on and lead us in prayer is not the way to win a modernist.
And you need to bear in mind that a modernist is much worse than the ordinary sinner. He may look nicer to you, but he doesn't look as good to God. The Bible says, "Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves" (Matthew 7:15). God says when they bring another gospel, "Let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:8,9). A man who pretends to be a Christian while trampling underfoot the blood of Christ and turning down the Bible is not as naive and nice as you may think. He is all the more wicked because he is a deceiver and a hypocrite and because he scorns the very Word he pretends to preach. A modernist preacher is harder to reach than a drunkard because he is a much worse sinner, an intentional sinner deliberately deceiving in order to keep a job and influence. Religious perverts are much worse sinners than drunkards and adulterers in God's sight, I judge from the Bible.
SOURCE: Dr. Rice, Here is My Question..., by Dr. John R. Rice, pg. 197,198, ISBN: 0-87398-158-8, Sword of the Lord Publishers.
God makes no apologies for the truth and neither should we. I have received numerous letters from people, who tell me that I'll never reach others for Christ through such an offensive website. Yet, I have also received hundreds of letters of gratitude from people, who have either found Jesus Christ through this ministry, or have been helped in their marriage or some other way. People need the truth. I don't give people what they want; but what they need. The truth can be dealt with; but a lie cannot. Jesus said in John 8:32, "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." The Word of God is Truth. Every believer should love the truth and defend it. This is why Jude 1:3 commands all believers to "contend for the faith" (i.e., "the doctrine of Christ" —2nd John 1:9).
Modernist preachers teach strange
doctrines not taught in the Bible. According to Ephesians 5:11, it is
every believers duty to "refute" (Greek, elencho, meaning "to
expose") all works of darkness. If Christian's don't expose evil,
false religion, and imposters, then who will? The best way to expose
the darkness is to shine the Light of God's Word upon it. Jesus spoke
candidly with people. The Bible is brutally honest, which is why It
offends most people. What America desperately needs today is men of
God who preach uncompromisingly against sin, teach the Word of
God without apology, uplift the name of Jesus, proclaim the
Gospel, and love sinners with the unconditional love of God.
John MacArthur — Modernist
I couldn't help but think of the modernist preacher, John MacArthur, as I read Dr. Rice's words of wisdom. Mr. MacArthur openly teaches that Jesus' literal physical blood has no saving power...
"It is not the actual liquid that cleanses us from our sins, but the work of redemption Christ accomplished in pouring it out." —John MacArthur
That's not what the Bible teaches. Hebrews 9:12 plainly states... "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but BY HIS OWN BLOOD he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." Jesus brought His literal physical blood into the heavenly Holy Place, and applied it to the Mercy Seat on our behalf. From the blood of Abel's lamb sacrifice in Genesis, to the robes of the saints washed in the blood of the Lamb in Revelation—the Bible preaches the redeeming power of Jesus' literal physical blood (1st Peter 1:18,19; 1st John 1:7; Revelation 1:5).
Hebrew 10:29 warns... "Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace?" John MacArthur treads under foot the precious, literal, physical, redeeming blood of Jesus Christ. When the Lord passed through Egypt, during the plague of death, He looked for the lamb's BLOOD APPLIED to the doorposts and lintel. A dead lamb in the backyard was insufficient to save the firstborn. The blood had to be applied! Exodus 12:13... "And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and WHEN I SEE THE BLOOD, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt."
MacArthur is extremely popular,
having authored over 200 books, and is a big influence upon churches all
across America. Tragically, he denies the redeeming power of Jesus'
literal physical blood. He is nice and kind, as a lamb; but inwardly
is a ravenous wolf, subtly teaching damnable heresies. MacArthur also
teaches the lie of
Lordship Salvation. Sadly, John MacArthur is an unsaved
modernist, hellbound in his false beliefs. I pray for his salvation.
My intent is not to criticize Mr. MacArthur; but rather, to warn people that
he is a false prophet who makes light of the redeeming power of Jesus'
literal blood. There is nothing in the Bible which supports
MacArthur's false doctrine.
Better to Be Divided By Truth; Than to Be United By Error
Most of today's pastors and Christian workers are apostate, evidenced by their lack of interest in SOUND Bible doctrine. Bible doctrine is most important. Most believers today don't have a problem with John MacArthur's denial of the redeeming physical blood of Jesus. That's why he's invited to Moody's Founder's Week each year. They don't care about truth.
I knew a minister who appointed a Freemason to be the president of the church board. This is sinful. Freemasonry denies the Lord Jesus Christ in their worship of The Great Architect. No occult member should ever be honored in a New Testament church.
The New International Version [NIV] of the Bible removes the name above every other name, Jesus, in 38 places!!! Multiple members of the translating committee were openly lesbian and homosexual. You may be surprised to learn what the NIV, gay sex, and The Satanic Bible have in common. Yet, the NIV is by far the most popular bible on the market today. The word "Godhead" has been completely removed. Why would anyone use the NIV? Thank God for the trustworthy King James Bible, which is not hard to understand with a little study and effort. You're getting sound doctrine with the King James Bible, which is impossible to get from the watered-down NIV. The NIV and NIV 2011 is the bible of modernists, which scorns the true Word of God as much as the modernists who use it...
In Christian theology, Modernism is a hostile term used by its enemies to attack the tendency of Liberal Christianity toward revision of certain Christian doctrines such as the Virgin Birth and the Resurrection of Christ, or subjecting the Bible to the Higher Criticism. Modernism was the target of the Fundamentalists after 1910, and was an especially bitter issue in the 1920s.
SOURCE: Modernism - Conservapedia (see also, Liberal)
Please read Dr. John R. Rice's timeless preaching on What to do about Modernism and religious Liberalism.
Sir William Ramsay, a far greater all around scholar than any Modernist living or dead, has defined a Modernist as:
"One who knows all that I do not know, who fixes the limits of the possible, and knows exactly what is impossible. The world is not dark to him: he is born and cradled, and grown to manhood in the intensity of a great light. He knows all things, and he is content and happy in his utter ignorance."
Conclusion
Dr. John R. Rice is correct... The modernist is "more wicked because he is a deceiver and a hypocrite and because he scorns the very Word he pretends to preach ... No modernist preacher can get saved as a preacher. He has to be saved as a sinner. That is, he must be told that he is a sinner, and the Word of God must be used to show him that he must be born again. To pat him on the back, tell him that he is all right just as he is and ask him to come on and lead us in prayer is not the way to win a modernist."
It's about time that America's preachers started preaching against the sinister NIV, the evils of Freemasonry, the morally reprehensible sin of homosexuality, the curse of booze, and the damnable heresies of false prophets like John MacArthur.
| You Need HIS Righteousness!
