|
|
Fundamentalism
RV40-02© Berean Memorial Church of Irving, Texas, Inc. (1993)
We continue with the letter to the church at Philadelphia in Revelation 3:7-13. The local church in the city of Philadelphia had an amazing analogy
to what has actually taken place subsequently in church history, as have these previous five letters. The letter to the church in Philadelphia
represented the period of church history from about 1750 A.D. to the rapture of the church. The Philadelphia congregation represented the type of
believer who is oriented to Bible doctrine – the person that we consider to be positive to the Word of God. This period in church history was
characterized by a revival of Bible study and by the recovery of prophetic truth, which had not been restored during the Reformation era. The return
to the study of Bible doctrine resulted in a great surge of Christian service in order to fulfill the Great Commission.
The Great Commission
The Great Commission, you will remember, stresses the fact that it is a Christian's duty to teach the doctrine of salvation, and to teach all the
other doctrines (all that the Lord has said) as that believer moves through the world. We won't go into detail on that passage – those Great
Commission passages. We have done that before. But the emphasis in that passage is often misinterpreted. Very often, missionaries, who are trying
very earnestly to get people into missionary work, come down very hard on the word "go." Well, in the Greek language, we see that the word "go" is
a secondary emphasis. What it actually is saying is that "as you go" through the world, through the part of the world in which you move, you are to
do something. It is your duty to do something. And that is where the point of emphasis is. The primary emphasis is proclaiming the doctrines of
the Word of God. Going is important, but that passage that contains the Great Commission to the church does not emphasize the going. It emphasizes
the teaching.
Well, suddenly, as believers read this, and as they understood what the Scriptures were saying, they realized that this indeed was not being done.
The result was, as we have seen, the restoration of the truth about the imminent return of Jesus Christ to this earth. That, in turn, stimulated a
sense of urgency in proclaiming the gospel – both for the sake of storing treasures in heaven (while there was opportunity to do that), and
also for the sake of unbelievers who needed to hear this information and to have a chance to profit by it.
So, the Lord's work, during this period from 1750 on, prospered on a variety of fronts. That is when the modern foreign missions movement actually
began, as well as a variety of institutions which were dedicated to teaching the Word of God: Bible Institutes; the Sunday school movement; and, so
on. This era prospered in the experience of believers because they got back to something that was true back in apostolic times – the dependence
of believers upon God the Holy Spirit in accomplishing divine good results. People, through the study of the Word of God, finally understood again
that it is not by might, and not by human-powered capacity, but, "'By My Spirit,' saith the Lord." They finally captured the realization (that had
been known by the prophets of old) that all divine good production, which is all that God rewards us for, has to be accomplished by God Himself.
There is nothing within us that is pleasing to God. There is nothing within us to commend us to God. It is only His perfect righteousness and truth
that God admires. So, if He is going to admire (and, indeed, love) anything in us, it has to be that which is compatible to His own character and to
His own integrity. It has to be something that He puts into us. That is a point that eludes all unbelievers and a whole lot of Christians who think
that they amount to something, and that they're pretty hot stuff, but they're zero nothings until they come to realize that God loves what He
Himself is. And that's all that God loves. And when we become what He is, through Christ and the image of the Lord, then He has something to love in
us; He has something that He can use us for; and, He has something for which He can reward us.
Liberalism
The present spiritual battle lines, consequently, have been very clearly drawn. We indicated in the previous session that from the Sardis condition
of the Reformation church and the post Reformation era, there flowed two basic lines of religious thought. One is characterized by the next church
that we will be studying, the church at Laodicea. This is the type that came to the point where liberalism was born. The attacks against the Bible
in the 19th century resulted in great devastation to the Word of God among people who were not well versed in Scripture. The main point of Laodicean
liberalism, as it occurred and developed during the 19th century, was to remove all concepts of the supernatural from the Bible. These men, because
they were liberals, decided that man was the core; that man was the center of everything; and, that man, by his reason, could understand spiritual
things. However, to his reason, miracles didn't make sense. Miracles were beyond reason. It was a supernatural element, so they removed that. The
idea that fallible men could write an infallible Bible – they said, "That's against reason." So they rejected the concept of the inerrancy of
Scripture. That same old hack argument is still with us today, and it is still propagated in circles where people ought to know a whole lot better.
I heard a public educator (not so long ago) say that if God wanted us to have an inerrant Bible, He would have written it down on plates of gold.
That's a bunch of nonsense. I happen to know that Joseph Smith secured a record from God on plates of gold, and that thing was just full of mistakes.
So, I don't care if you write it on gold – it doesn't come out right. It's what God has produced – that's what comes out right. I can't
believe that the head of a university would make such statements, but that just goes to show you that there are divine viewpoint intellectuals and
there are human viewpoint intellectuals.
Fundamentalism
From the Philadelphia type of church came a different movement. In conflict to the liberalism, there came the other side, which was fundamentalism.
Fundamentalism stood for the reality of the supernatural. Fundamentalism stood for the absolute authority of the Bible as a book which God had
produced. The perfect God produces a perfect book.
The Five Basic Concepts of Fundamentalism
The distinction between these two lines of thought (between liberalism and fundamentalism) was
expressed ultimately in five basic concepts that became known as the five points of fundamentalism. Fundamentalism said that you cannot say that
you are a New Testament Christian unless you subscribe to five basic concepts. And they were these:
The Infallibility of the Bible
The first one was the infallibility of the Bible in its original manuscripts which was produced under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit. So,
what we have in our hands in the Scriptures today is the very Word of God. Thus, it has ultimate authority. The original manuscripts were infallible.
They were without error. They were produced by a God who prevented fallible man from interjecting his fallibility into the Scriptures when he was
recording what God had to say.
So, you can't say you're a New Testament Christian unless you believe in an infallible Bible. That wiped out a whole mass of the liberals right off
the bat, because the higher criticism that began in Germany in the 18th century was exactly this problem. That was the very problem – that they
came to decide that the Bible was simply a human book written with human limitations. So, unless you believe in the infallibility of the Bible,
you're not a Christian, and cannot call yourself a Christian in the New Testament sense.
The Deity of Jesus Christ
The second point was the deity of Jesus Christ; that is, that He is One in essence with God the Father and with God the Holy Spirit. He took on a
human body, and He became the unique God-man. This is not that Jesus is simply deity in terms that all of us have "the spark of the divine" in us, so
to speak. Jesus Christ is very God of very God. It is very clear on that point.
The Virgin Birth
The third point was the virgin birth. The liberals had long since come down upon this and said, "No, Jesus Christ was born just like anybody else."
But the Bible says He was without a human father. He was conceived by God the Holy Spirit, so that He could be born without the genetic structure
which is inherited from the human father, in which the old sin nature is carried. The sin nature is carried in the genetic structure of the seed that
conceives the child, which is from the father. So, the virgin birth was essential in order to produce the God-man, free of the sin nature, and also
free of Adam's imputed guilt.
A lot of liberals, of course, gagged on that, and they fell off the bat right away, because they did not believe that Jesus was the virgin-born Son
of God born of the virgin Mary. They believed that He was humanly conceived. They had a variety of ideas, most of which were blasphemous about who
His father was. But they did not subscribe to the fact that He was supernaturally born. The supernatural was the element that was the broken chicken
bone in their throats that they kept gagging on. They kept coming back to the quality of the supernatural. They said, "We've got to wipe out
everything that's supernatural." Well, of course, if you've got an omnipotent God, which is the only kind of God the Bible describes, then the
supernatural should be no problem.
The Substitutionary Death of Jesus Christ
The fourth point was the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ for the sins of the world to satisfy God's divine justice. That is, He bore the
penalty for sin, which is death, and He bore it under divine wrath. Those who receive this provision by faith receive regeneration. They receive new
birth. Relating oneself to God depended upon somebody who did something for us, apart from any merit in ourselves – that He died in our place.
Spiritual and physical death was required in the atonement. He paid the price as a substitute. The liberals didn't like that. They said, "No, Jesus
was just a martyr. He just was a person who demonstrated to us the kind of dedication that one human being should have toward another human being."
But he was not that at all. He was what the Bible says. He was the Lamb of God who came into the world for this specific purpose. Though His enemies
tried to kill him many times, he did not permit that death to be to be imposed upon Him until that moment in time on the cross, when the sins of the
world were poured out upon Him. He was bearing all of our evil; all of our human good; and, all of our sins. At that point, He died and paid the
price. The liberals said, "No. There was no vicarious substitutionary atonement."
Christ's Resurrection and His Return
The fifth point of the five fundamentals was the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; and, along with that, the future return from
heaven to earth. The same body that hung on the cross and was taken down in death was the body that came out of the tomb alive. The liberals said,
"No. He died, but He stayed dead. To be resurrected from the dead is supernatural." But that's what the Bible says that He did. And it was a great
thrill for me and Mrs. Danish this summer to stand at the site (I personally have no doubt) that was the was the tomb of Jesus, and was the
resurrection site – the Garden Tomb discovered by General Gordon. It was a great thrill to actually sit in that tomb for a while, and look at
that place where the God-man actually lay a couple of thousand years ago, and where the literal resurrection took place. Because He lives, we shall
live. Because He is alive again physically, though we be dead, we too will live again. Never forget there is a man in heaven now. There is a human
being in heaven that ensures that we too will follow in like pattern.
So, with these five fundamentals, the fundamentalist controversy drew its lines. It drew the battle lines. It said, "This is it. Anybody who does not
subscribe to these five basic points cannot call himself a New Testament Christian." These were the basics. There were other points, of course, which
fundamentalism stood for. These included: the concept of the total depravity of man's nature, inherited from Adam; the concept of creationism as the
origin of life in the universe instead of evolution; the reality of miracles – that there was such a thing (God interjecting Himself and
temporarily repealing natural laws), and that the universe does not operate on a closed system, and that God can interject Himself, and He can change
the natural laws that He has created; the concept of premillennialism, which was generally held by fundamentalists; and, the great concept of
distinguishing between law and grace that opened up the whole thrilling realization of what it meant to be a Christian, against being a Jew –
to be a Christian in the age of grace (in the era of the dispensation of the church).
Well, the result of all this, of course, was a great confrontation. The conflict of these two positions came to a climax in the 1920s. These were the
great theological controversies between Laodicea and liberalism on the one hand, and Philadelphia and fundamentalism on the other hand. Thereafter,
to this day, the battle lines have been clearly drawn, and this is the basis of angelic warfare today. Perhaps this will give you a little nutshell
insight as to why we say that you cannot be a liberal and be compatible with Scripture. You cannot be a liberal theologically; you cannot be a
liberal politically; you cannot be a liberal educationally; you cannot be a liberal in the entertainment world; and, you cannot be a liberal in
media, and still be compatible with Scripture. It's quite obvious where liberalism has led our sources of information in the various communicating
media. All of this (all that liberalism stood for) has expressed itself in a variety of ways, and the whole realm of liberalism is condemned by the
Word of God. It is clearly indicated here in the theological realm with these particular points.
So, the battle lines are drawn, and that's what the fight is all about today. Liberalism is the political and theological expression of the religion
of humanism, and humanism is where the battle is being fought today. Everything that has happened in recent days politically is trying to face-up to
the fact now of dealing with: whether this nation will be preserved from the consequences of the liberalism and the humanism that has been imposed
upon it for several decades; whether we can turn this around; and, whether (in a Ninevah-like way) God may give us a period of grace before the Lord
returns.
So, coming back to Revelation 3:7: "To the angel (the pastor-teacher) of the local church in the city of Philadelphia," John is commanded to write:
"These things." This word looks like this in the Greek Bible: "hode." "Hode" is what we call a demonstrative pronoun. It's a pointing word. It's
like a finger. It points to something that is actually present on the scene, or something that can be pointed out. Here, it refers to the words
which are about to follow concerning the church in Philadelphia. "These things said." The word "said" looks like this in Greek: "lego." This is the
word for communicating which stresses the content of the message rather than the actual words. So, it centers our thoughts on what Jesus actually
said.
Grammatically, this word "lego" is in the present tense, which indicates in the Greek that it is a continual line of action, so that it indicates
that what He is saying here is continually true. Furthermore, it is active voice, which means that Jesus Christ is the one who does the saying. So,
we are listening to God Himself speaking. It is in indicative mood which means that it is a statement of fact. This is not a theory on the part of
John. It is a statement of divine fact. We Christians do have a manual in the form of the Bible by which to judge both ourselves and the world in
which we live.
Holy
The Lord Jesus identifies Himself to this church with a variety of qualities. The first of these is summarized in this word "holy." In the Greek,
this is this adjective "hagios." The word "hagios" means "separated." We have recently been studying the doctrine of sanctification. This is a word
related to the doctrine of sanctification. Sanctification means "separation." The Greeks used this word to mean separation and dedication to the
gods – to be separated and dedicated unto the gods. In the Bible, it is use in the sense of being separated from evil, and being separated
unto God. This indicates compatibility with divine integrity.
Absolute Righteousness and Perfect Justice
The word "holy" indicates two qualities in God, and they are the governing qualities in God. One is absolute righteousness, and the other is perfect
justice. Those two qualities make up divine holiness. So, when you talk about the holiness of God, this which is the primary governing attitude, God
cannot do anything which in any way, for one moment, violates His Holiness or His personal integrity. The Bible emphasizes constantly that God is
holy. Jesus Christ is God – He is holy. Isaiah 6:3, for example, says, "And one cried unto another and said, 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of
hosts. The whole earth is full of His glory.'" God is a Holy God.
Integrity
Revelation 4:8 stresses that same concept of the holiness of God: "And the four living creatures had, each of them, six wings about him, and they
were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night saying, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'" So, the
first thing the Lord wants this church to understand is that the person that they are dealing with is a person who is completely compatible with
God's character. He is the Holy One, and He deals with us on exactly the same basis. There is no other basis upon which we can deal with God except
with His integrity.
So, there are all kinds of things that you and I do that we think we can get away with, and that we think (in some way) that we can compromise, and
that God will just wink at it. This is just a self-deception. A holy God does not compromise His integrity. That's why He is Holy. Holiness is the
standard by which God deals with us.
In 1 John 1:5, we read, "This then is the message which we have heard of Him (that is, of Jesus Christ) and declare unto you: that God is light, and
in Him is no darkness at all." So, when you and I try to compromise integrity, we are in darkness; He is in light; and, there's no compatibility
between us.
In John 18:38, this same principle of the holiness of God is again set forth: "Pilate said to Him, 'What is truth?' And when he had said this, he
went out again to the Jews and he said to them, 'I find in Him no fault at all.'" The Lord Jesus, on earlier occasions, had challenged his opponents,
the religious leaders of Israel, to point out an error; a sin; or, an evil within Him. The Lord Jesus challenged them on many occasions: "Point out
a sin in Me. Point out an act of human good in Me." They never could point anything at Him. They were always silent. Here, He is about to be
executed, and Pilate, using the legal protection and the legal systems of examination of the Roman Empire followed in the court of law, comes out to
the crowd and says, "This man is guilty of nothing. He is an innocent man." This, of course, was the only conclusion we would expect him to reach
relative to a holy person.
Eternal and Temporal Fellowship
Now, that tells you and me something about ourselves. If you and I are united to Jesus Christ, which we are by the baptism of the Holy Spirit at
the point of salvation, then we too must function on this standard in all of our dealings with God. If we do not function on this kind of integrity,
then we are out of step with the Lord. That's the point when we lose our temporal fellowship. Remember the image of the two concentric circles. At
the point of salvation, we entered the outer circle of eternal fellowship, as well as the inner circle of temporal fellowship that we walk in when we
are walking with the Lord (when we are spiritual). And when we sin, we do not step out of the eternal fellowship circle of our salvation; but, when
we sin (when we fail to act with holiness), we step out of the inner circle of temporal fellowship. This is the area of carnality; this is the area
of defeat; and, this is the area of human good production. No matter what you do, and no matter how sincere you are, this is the area of no answer
to prayer. This is the area of no usefulness in service. Oh, you can have a lot of religious activity, but it amounts to exactly zero, until
confession is made, and you come back into the inner circle of temporal fellowship (in time).
Therefore, 1 Peter 1:15 says, "But as He who has called you is holy, so be you holy in all manner of life." So, if there are some fouled up areas in
your life today, I hope you will take that Scripture to heart and say, "I have to get back in the light, and get out of the darkness. I've got to get
back into the light of His Holiness, and out of the darkness of my carnality.
Truth
Then there's a second important word in describing the Lord. He is called "the true." It looks like this in Greek: the "alethinos." This means
something that is in line with reality. It also conveys the idea of genuine, in contrast to that which is fake or false. But the word also has
another factor, which I think is very strongly involved at this point, and that is the concept of true in the sense of being faithful. We use the
word that way. We talk about people being true to one another. That is to be faithful. When people get married, this is the very word which is
usually used (this word "true") in the marriage ceremony. It asks a person, "Will you be true to him? Will you be true to her?" And what that means
is "alethinos," which strongly conveys the idea of faithfulness – being genuine in terms of being faithful, as well as the fact that you are
being compatible with that which is truth – that which is in keeping with reality.
Now, indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ has the quality of veracity. That's part of His divine character. John 8:14 says, "Jesus answered and said unto
them, 'Though I bear witness of Myself, yet My witness is true. For I know from where I came and where I go, but you cannot tell from where I come
and where I go.'" The Lord was forever surrounded with people who didn't know what they were talking about, when He knew very well what He was
talking about. This is just as those of you who are well-versed in doctrine or principles – you know what you're talking about. Yet, you're
listening to people who are ignorant intellectuals who don't know what they're talking about, and yet they bear influence in our society. The people
who bore influence in the society that Jesus lived in were the most ignorant people on the face of the earth. Jesus says, "I know what is true. I
know what I'm talking about. Veracity is part of My character."
John 14:8 is that famous statement made in the upper room: "Jesus said to them, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes unto the
Father but by Me. I am the truth.'" By the way, did you notice the last part of that verse? "No man comes unto the Father but by Me." Does God answer
the prayers of Jews who reject Jesus Christ? No. If you reject Jesus Christ, you don't go anywhere with God. You can talk to the heavens all you
wish, but if you do not approach Him on the name of Jesus and on the authority of Jesus, God does not listen to you. No, indeed. God does not listen
to the prayers of those who reject the Son of God.
So, the Lord is true in the sense of truth and in the sense of faithfulness. This indeed has always been the mark of deity. In the Old Testament,
Jeremiah 10:10 points this out when the prophet says, "But the Lord is the true God. He is the living God, and an everlasting King. At His wrath,
the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide His indignation." He is a God who is angry because He is a God which is true.
He is truth, and He is faithfulness.
We can add one more passage to that. In the New Testament, 1 Thessalonians 1:9 says, "For they themselves show of us what manner of entering in
we had unto you, and how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and the true God."
One of the most dramatic statements in the Scripture about the fact of the quality of the truthfulness of God is 1 John 5:20, which says, "And we
know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true. And we are in Him that is true, even in His
Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life."
Satan
This is an interesting point. You and I live in a world that is dominated by Satan. It is a world in which Satan interjects a lot of deceit and a
lot of lies. Yet the Lord Jesus Christ is the only anchor point of truth and of faithfulness. There is no sound, personal, realistic thinking
possible apart from the truth that begins with Scripture. That's your frame of reference. Yet Satan rules this world, and Satan injects our society
with just the very opposite of that which is true. He injects it with that which is a lie. This is what is characteristic of him. In John 8:44, at
the end of the verse, we read (concerning Satan): "He was a murderer from the beginning. He abode not in the truth because there is no truth in him.
When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own, for he is a liar and the father of it."
Don't forget that all of the people of our society who reject the
person of Jesus Christ are listening to the devil. All of the people who are unbelievers listen to the devil. All the Christians who are sitting
out of the inner circle of fellowship are listening to the devil. All believers who are indifferent or neutral or bored or tired or worn out about
paying attention to the Word of God – they're not kidding anybody. They're out of temporal fellowship and in carnality. That's the kind of a
person you want to be very careful of, and steer a wide berth around, or you're going to bring some grief into your life. Without the truth, without
the "alethinos" of God, you have no connection with reality, and Satan can manipulate you with his deceit. If you will look closely at a person like
that, you'll be amazed at how often that person is indeed manipulated by the devil, and how indeed he is following satanic concepts of our society.
Communism
Social movements today, such as communism, are creations of Satan for the very expressed purpose of deceiving mankind in order to keep them away from
God's truth. Now, notice what that means. The basic beliefs and the basic goals of communism are condemned by Scripture. One thing after another that
communism stands for, the Bible condemns. The Bible condemns socialism. The Bible stands for capitalism. The Bible condemns violating a person's
personal exercise of freedom and volition. Communism must restrict the volition of people and their personal freedom. The whole system serves to
reinforce Satan's opposition to God and to God's truth. Communism is designed to control people, and to deny them the free exercise of their
volition. Personal freedom is incompatible with Satan's control of the world.
That's why all the world is watching with bated breath to see what's
going to happen to the Polish workers. These people are walking a very dangerous line, because what are they asking for? They're asking for freedom.
They're asking for a trade union which is not controlled by the government, and which is independent of the government's trade union, which is a
farce. It's meaningless. What are they asking for? They're asking for freedom. They're asking for what Jesus Christ came to provide all of mankind
with, because God has built this in as a human right – the right of exercising your will. Communism can never tolerate people exercising their
wills. Communism, therefore, cannot change its tactics. Communism, in order to keep people from exercising their wills, must be brutal and it must be
destructive. The Polish workers are pressing for things that are commonplace in our country: a five-day work-week; 40-hour weeks; and, all of that.
If they keep pressing forward, it will be very surprising if they do not find the thundering tanks and the infantry of Soviet Russia storming across
their borders in order to brutally put them back into line. And I mean brutally put them back into line.
All of the statesmen of the world are deceived into thinking that the beast of communism can somehow be tamed. That's why we have detente. That's
why we have the SALT treaties – all of this nonsense that any Bible oriented politician would say, "Hey, wait a minute. We're dealing with
communism. Communism is a creation of Satan. At the heart of Satan's system is deceit and lies. The central lie of communism is that there is no God."
The Bible is very clear to us that there is a God, and, therefore, this deceit is at the core of communism. The purpose of communism is a system of
controls upon human beings so that Satan can direct this world against God. He is anti-God. Now, if the statesmen of the world understood this,
they would realize, suddenly, that you can't make a deal with communism. Satan will not permit it.
If the leaders of communism were suddenly to
abandon their evil tyrannies, the system would no longer serve Satan's goal for world domination. The devil will never permit his system of communism
to become human. He will never permit the communist masters to act with integrity. They can never be truthful men. They can never be men who are
faithful. The only statesmen that understand this are those with a biblical perspective. They will not be deceived into expecting truthful conduct
from a satanic system such as communism. They are never conned by the expressions of peace and goodwill. It is amazing how many Americans are so
pathetically ignorant on that. The only thing you can trust about a communist is that he will be a communist. That you can be sure of.
John Lennon
So, here we have the qualities of holiness and of truth. They always go together. You don't have one without the other. Those without divine
viewpoint truth cannot be true; they cannot be faithful; and, consequently, they cannot be compatible with divine holiness. One of the great examples
of this (we have a lot of them) is the recent death of John Lennon. I want to read you a few paragraphs from an article in the January 19, 1981
issue of Spotlight magazine, pages 20-21. Spotlight says they would have liked not to have printed an article like this. They think
that Lennon has experienced a tragedy; his wife has experienced a tragedy; and, his son has experienced a tragedy, and they would like to let it lie.
But they said that in view of the fact that the media has sought to canonize John Lennon; to present a martyrdom complex here; and, to present a
noble creature here who reflected some kind of holiness, and some kind of integrity of truth, they feel that they should speak out, and that's why
the article was written:
"John Lennon's most famous line was, 'We are more popular than Jesus.' That may have caused his assassin, Mark Chapman, to think that this murder
would make him famous too. He could be right. At once, the major networks gave much valuable time and honored mention to John Lennon. You would
think we had lost a national hero instead of an avowed atheist; a pitchman for illicit drugs; and, a Marxist lyricist. At the continued Lennon
buildup by our nation's major news media, the Kremlin bosses in Moscow must be chortling with glee. John Lennon was murdered by a young Beatle rock
fan who had twice attempted suicide. It was Lennon's hard rock music that helped to make Mark Chapman what he was. Mark was known for his open
hostility. His mind showed that hard rock and drugs had taken their toll. But Mark wasn't the only one. Millions of young Americans have showed the
effects of John Lennon's lyrics against God and all religion, and against patriotism; private property; and, national sovereignty. John Lennon's
lyrics were even more specific. His hard rock songs openly pushed drug usage and sexual promiscuity among America's young people – drugs that
sapped their strength and drained their brains, and wild sex orgies that led to teenage pregnancies and abortions; venereal disease in epidemic
proportions; and, destruction of the will to live.
"Yoko Ono, Lennon's Japanese live-in sex mate, who finally persuaded Lennon to marry her, asked all of Lennon's friends to pray for his soul, but
to whom will they pray. The Beatles once said that, 'We probably seem to be anti-religious because of the fact that none of us believes in God'
(Playboy Magazine, February 1965). Lennon once portrayed Jesus as a garlic-eating, stinking, little, yellow, greasy, fascist bastard."
The Bible says that Jesus is the holy God. He is the God of truth. Here is a man who has influenced, through his lyrics, millions of Americans:
through words that are Satan's lies; through words that are deceit; and, through words that are self-destructive of everything of the image and
likeness of God that is in us.
Someone pointed out to me today that many of the rock music groups who are in relationship to Satan in one way or another, have on some of
their records (and I could give you the titles of some of these records), what they call a back-play or an overlap. If you take the
record and you spin it around backwards with your finger with the needle down, you discover that out of the jumble of music on the forward motion,
there is a message on the back side – words to the praise of Satan. Several of these rock numbers (and when they were mentioned, I could see
that a lot of young people lit up with recognition) have within them this backward subliminal praise to Satan. Rock music is not a simple, innocent
little thing. The words are very destructive. The words of John Lennon's music very often express, just as this article says, that which is
completely against the holiness of God and against the truth of God.
This article discussed the various effects of rock-and-roll music and the studies which have been made by doctors and psychiatrists on its effects
(all of which are basically bad). It closed by saying, "To understand what rock-and-roll in general, and the Beatles in particular, are doing to
our teenagers, it is necessary to return to Pavlov's laboratory. The Beatles' ability to make teenagers weep and wail; become uncontrollable and
unruly; and, take off their clothes and riot was proved. It was scientifically-induced artificial or experimental neurosis (Ivan P. Pavlov, in his
lectures on 'Conditioned reflexes,' International Publishers, New York)."
Parade, October 4th, 1964, says, "Last month, when the Beatles toured this country, taking home with them another million dollars, America's
teenage females, largely in the 13-to-17 age bracket, behaved wildly. They hid in air ducts, freight elevators, and men's rooms; they bribed bellboys
and ticket sellers; and, they did almost anything to get a glimpse of their favorite longhairs. Their lack of restraint, caution, and courtesy was
shocking. Most shocking of all, however, was the failure of their parents to guide them, believing the children's antics to be clean, wholesome,
innocent, youthful fun, without realizing how far such teenage worship of entertainers can go. With teenage mental breakdown at an all-time high,
and juvenile delinquency nearly destroying our society from within, it is important to note that both are caused in part by destructive music such
as rock-and-roll. Therefore, no matter what one might think about the Beatles or the Animals or the Mindbenders, the results are the same: a
generation of young people with neurotic tendencies, loose morals and little desire or ability to defend themselves from those who would bury
them.
"Through royalties on record albums and other investments, as well as concerts and movies, John Lennon is said to have amassed an estate of up to
$235 million. He owned a quarter interest in Apple, one of his recording companies. He also had extensive farmland and other real estate investments.
In The Marxist Minstrels, Dr. David A. Noebel's great handbook on communist subversion of music, are many well-documented accounts of John
Lennon's influence on the youth of America. The Marxist Minstrels is available for $7.50 from Summit Ministries, Box 207, Manitou Springs,
Colorado 80829. Ono has been described as an avante-garde psychedelic artists from Japan who once made a film entirely composed of 365 shots of
naked bottoms. She was still married to an American filmmaker when she announced that she was expecting a baby via John Lennon. John and his
Japanese mistress contrived to have their pictures taken in the raw and placed on their album mistakenly labeled "The Two Virgins." The album cover
was so offensive that initially only Sweden permitted it into the country. However, even though ruled obscene by a New Jersey Supreme Court judge,
it was released in the United States, and promptly one of its renditions, The Ballad of John and Ono, went to the top of the hit list. 'If
people can't face up to the fact of other people being naked or smoking pot,' reasoned John, 'then we're never going to get anywhere.'"
I thought that was a splendid example of Satan's lies. And, yet, what does our society do? It adores him; it exalts him; and, it presents him as a
martyr and great human being who has born a noble influence upon our race, instead of the corrupt, debased lies of Satan that characterized his life.
But, you may say, "I can understand that in somebody who is an unbeliever."
Oral Roberts
Let's go a few miles south to the great city of Tulsa, Oklahoma. There we have a great and marvelous evangelist who is building a great and wonderful
citadel for God. His name is Oral Roberts. Here's the other side. This is completely religious. This is completely glory to the Lord Jesus. Let's
look at just a few paragraphs from another article from Westword, January 11th, 1981 on page eight. This was an insert in The Dallas Times
Herald. The article was written after discussing some of the maneuverings and the manipulating of Oral Roberts that brought him to fame and fortune.
The article said:
"And God spoke again to Oral. He told Oral to go build a hospital, and He gave Oral a name for it: The City of Faith. He even showed unto Oral a
working model of the hospital which bore a spooky resemblance to the New Jerusalem. It had a river of life, and it had healing hands. Oral was
humbled to see that the 60-foot tall hands (God specified that) were modeled on his own healing hands. God told Oral that this hospital would
combine prayer and medicine. He told oral to get to work on it right now."
I've heard Oral Roberts also say that he's been trying to raise the millions that it takes for this hospital, and he's in kind of a problem in being
able to pull it off. But in part of his public appeals, he has told about how God has told him to build his hospital. And he said, "And folks, if I
don't do it, I'm going to lose my soul." Now, if that doesn't make you want to throw up (and I hope you won't do it now until you get outside), I
don't know what will. This is a man who has received millions of dollars from so-called Christian people. The real genuine works of God go scraping
for money, trying to do things the hard way, and this man can build a citadel and a monument to himself. You notice he called it Oral Roberts
University.
Every now and then, I hear these men who build great monuments to themselves that are named after them – how they just wish they weren't
named after them. Well, I guarantee you that if anybody wanted to call this John Danish Memorial Church (I don't even like the sound of that),
that I could keep you from doing it. I'd take the letters down every night or something. And this is an insult to our intelligence that you can't
keep somebody from naming some citadel (particularly when you pay for it with your own money) after you.
Let's go on: "That was three years ago. Oral has obeyed. Now, he stood before the great triumvirate of buildings, one of them reaching 600 feet
heavenward, and wondered if he would ever get the money to put things inside them. He looked at the big, muddy swatch of pasture where the river
of life would go, and he thought of those healing hands. The hands were being sculptured right now by a partner named Leonard McMurry in Oklahoma
City. They were to be (Oral never did things halfway) the largest cast bronze statue in the world weighing 60,000 pounds or more. After some
discussion, it had been ordained that the right hand (representing the hand of the minister) would dominate ever so slightly the left hand
(representing that of the physician).
"Oral looked down at his own hands. He asked himself if any man (save Jesus) ever had such a burden to shoulder.
He thought of the angry doctors in Tulsa who said of the City of Faith (the combination of prayer and medicine) was nothing but hocus-pocus. He
thought of the messy lawsuit filed by those doctors who were determined to keep him from building his hospital. He thought of the Oklahoma Supreme
Court which was now deciding the whole matter. He thought of the millions of sick and suffering who, if the court decided right, would one day
stream toward the City of Faith with hope in their anguished hearts, and be met at the doors by smiling Christian nurses and capable physicians who
would pray and medicate them back to health.
"Oral thought of all of these things, and he thought of how a prophet is not without honor save in his own country. And then it happened. Oral
Roberts, standing in a field in Tulsa, Oklahoma, saw Jesus Christ. Here's how he described it: 'With my hands raised and eyes closed, I began
praying. Suddenly, an unusual feeling swept over me. I stopped praying because I knew that someone was there besides myself. I felt an overwhelming
holy presence all around me. When I opened my eyes, there He stood – some 900 feet tall, looking at me. His eyes, oh, His eyes. He stood a
full 300 feet taller than the 600-foot tall City of Faith. There I was, face-to-face with Jesus Christ, the son of the living God. I have only seen
Jesus Christ once before. But here I was, face-to-face with the King of Kings. He stared at me without saying a word. Oh, I will never forget those
eyes. Then he reached down; put His hands under the City of Faith; lifted it; and, said to me, 'See how easy it is for Me to lift it?' My eyes
blurred with tears, and with my voice trembling, I said, 'Jesus, you really can lift that, can't you?' Then, in a quiet voice, I told Jesus that I
had brought the City of Faith as far as I could.' He said, 'I told you at the beginning that you would not be able to build it yourself. I told you
that I would speak to your partners, and through them, I would build it.'"
Now, that is a good act. Can you imagine the amount of money that came in after that television program, and with that information that was given?
How many people have seen a 900-foot tall Jesus? That is impressive. I have a picture of Oral Roberts here, with the old Babylonian halo of the sun
god behind his head, and he's walking barefooted there on that holy ground (which is fitting and proper when you see a 900-foot Jesus). I just hope
that he has a psychiatric ward in that hospital he's building.
John talks to the Philadelphia church. Jesus Christ says, "I'm going to speak to you. And I talk to you as the one who is true. And I talk to you
as the one who is holy." And we have this kind of charlatanism and this kind of prostitution of the truth and the holiness of our God!
Well, our Lord Jesus Christ indeed is blasphemed by both the religious and the non-religious elite of this world who are instruments of promoting
Satan's lies. But indeed, He stands tall above them all because He is the holy and the true one. If we are really united to Him, and if we are really
walking in step with Him, there is no other way for us, folks, except to be the holy and the true ones even as He is.
Dr. John E. Danish, 1977
Back to the Revelation index
Back to the Bible Questions index |