Why I am no longer in the Church of Scotland
(4)
In 1995 I
produced a small booklet on biblical separation. This is the third extract from
that booklet:
Matthew
7:15 -23
15 “Beware of false prophets, who
come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will
recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs
from thistles? 17 So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased
tree bears bad fruit. 18 A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased
tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down
and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will recognize them by their fruits. 21 “Not
everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many
will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out
demons vin your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will
I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of
lawlessness.’
Jesus here warns of false prophets, whose
teaching and conduct will evidence their falsehood. They are a danger to the flock. They do not belong to his kingdom,
despite their pretentious claims. Is it conceivable that Christ wishes the Church today to recognise and embrace the
present descendants of these false prophets? Is it possible that he wishes the
Church to tolerate them in her midst? Is not the warning given in order that
the Church might recognise, discipline and remove these dangerous men?
Matthew
13:24 -30, 36 – 42
24 He put
another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to
a man who sowed good seed in his field, 25 but while his men were sleeping, his
enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. 26 So when the plants
came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. 27 And the servants of
the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good
seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ 28 He said to them, ‘An enemy
has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and
gather them?’ 29 But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the
wheat along with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest, and at
harvest time I will tell the reapers, Gather the weeds first and bind them in
bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.’” Then he
left the crowds and went into the house. And his disciples came to him, saying,
“Explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” 37 He answered, “The one
who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the world, and the
good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one,
39 and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the
age, and the reapers are angels. 40 Just as the weeds are gathered and burned
with fire, so will it be at the end of the age. 41 The Son of Man will send his
angels, and they will gather out of his kingdom all causes of sin and all
law-breakers, 42 and throw them into the fiery furnace. In that place there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
This passage is invariably appealed to by
those who embrace a broad church or mixed church philosophy. It is claimed that the parable shows that it
is both impossible and undesirable to seek to remove the tares, (the sons of
the evil one); we must leave that to the final judgement.
However, as Jesus himself makes clear, the
field in question is not the church but the world. The parable does not teach
that discipline cannot or should not be exercised by the church, but that evil
cannot be eradicated from the world until the day of judgement. Those who
interpret it of the Church, in clear and direct opposition to Christ’s
statement, would logically have to accept that “no separation” must mean no
discipline ever leading to the removal of individuals from the Church. However, the New Testament clearly evidences
instructions from both Christ and his apostles concerning the exclusion of
unrepentant sinners from the fellowship of the visible Church.
Are we to accept Christ’s interpretation of
his own parable, or are we to impose an interpretation that contradicts what
Christ himself says and cannot be reconciled with clear New Testament evidence
of the removal of the grossly immoral or doctrinally unsound who refuse to
repent?
Matthew 16:6,
12
6 Jesus
said to them, “Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”…
12 Then
they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but
of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.
Jesus warns his people against false
teaching, which like yeast will spread and corrupt his Church. There is a two-fold duty enjoined – “watch”,
which implies diligent awareness of a possible danger, and “beware”, which
shows that such teaching is recognised to be harmful and destructive. By
implication Jesus does not mean recognise false teaching and accommodate it; he
means recognise it and deal with it.
Matthew 24:4,
5, 23 – 25
4 And
Jesus answered them, “See that no one leads you astray. 5 For many will come in
my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray… 24 For
false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and
wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. 25 See, I have told
you beforehand.
Again, a warning is given to test the assertions
of those who claim to speak in Christ’s name or exercise his authority. Does Christ merely intend the Church to note
these individuals, or does he intend that she refuses to give formal
recognition to them and withholds fellowship from them? It is not an adequate response to say that
progressive liberal false teachers do not claim to be christs – they do claim
to speak for Christ and have pretentions to a higher insight than Christ who,
they say, was restricted by a primitive worldview and outmoded morality. Such
teachers “lead astray” the visible Church, and Christ forewarns against
them. The general principle is that
teachers of falsehood are to be recognised and rejected.
Note 2015: It is interesting that some evangelicals will make a false appeal to
Matthew 16, but will not interact with the other passages in Mathew on false
teachers. Remember that by remaining in
denominational fellowship with those who teach false doctrine and embrace
sexual immorality, they are recognising the legitimacy of their status and
authority within the denomination. All
of Christ’s warnings are either ignored, or reduced to the sphere of the local
fellowship where, one would hope, evangelicals might exercise some biblical
discipline. However, experience has
shown that even within the local sphere some professed evangelicals exercise no
biblical discipline.
(To be continued)
