It really is a waste of time to spend hours and hours answering in detail atheists like Richard Dawkins. He is a fool and should be treated as such, the Bible says so.

"The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works." Psalm 14:1

God-deniers generally talk piffle and to piffle there can be no answer. An answer requires of us that we descend to their level of argument. The Word of God must be judged by autonomous human reason. This we cannot allow.

"Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him." Proverbs 26:4

These people should expect from us an answer that is appropriate to their rank stupidity. To do anything else only encourages them in their arrogant nonsense.

"Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit." Proverbs 26:5

One Sunday when I had done reading prayers at Madeley, I went up into the pulpit, intending to preach a sermon, which I had prepared for that purpose. But my mind was so confused that I could not recollect either my text or any part of my sermon. I was afraid I should be obliged to come down without saying anything. But having recollected myself a little, I thought I would say something on the first lesson, which was the third chapter of Daniel, containing the account of the three children cast into the fiery furnace: I found in doing so such a peculiar cause for it. I therefore desired, if any of the congregation found anything particular, they would acquaint me with it in the ensuing week.

[The photograph shows the present Church at Madeley, John Fletcher's black and white tomb right next to it, and the house in which he lived is in the background]

"I went to America, to convert the Indians; but oh! who shall convert me? who, what is he that will deliver me from this evil heart of mischief?  I have a fair summer religion.  I can talk well; nay, and believe myself, while no danger is near; but let death look me in the face, and my spirit is troubled.  Nor can I say, 'To die is gain!'" (John Wesley, before the moment of his conversion. (Journal 24 February 1738)

"In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther's preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death." (Journal 24 May 1738)

What Christianity was in the hearts of the apostles, it has been in the hearts of Christians of all ages, and in all parts of the world. Of this, every Christian has the evidence in his own experience. Christ is to him both God and man-God manifest in the flesh; God surrounded by the rainbow of humanity, which softens, diversifies, and beautifies his rays. Christ he worships, trusts, loves, and obeys. Christ is his wisdom, his righteousness, his sanctification, his redemption. Christ is ever near him, so that he can be spoken to, appealed to, and communed with; a present help in every time of need Christ is the Christian's portion for time and for eternity. With Christ he has everything, and without him he has nothing.

CHARLES HODGE, THE PRINCETON REVIEW 1876, Page 356

The blind believer who saw

“Toward the close of a day in the year 1874 I was sitting in my room thinking of the nearness of God through Christ as the constant companion of my pilgrim journey, when my heart burst out with the words.” Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)

Thou my everlasting Portion, more than friend or life to me,
All along my pilgrim journey, Saviour, let me walk with Thee.
Close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee,
All along my pilgrim journey, Saviour, let me walk with Thee.

Not for ease or worldly pleasure, nor for fame my prayer shall be;
Gladly will I toil and suffer, only let me walk with Thee.
Close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee,
Gladly will I toil and suffer, only let me walk with Thee.

Lead me through the vale of shadows, bear me over life’s fitful sea;
Then the gate of life eternal may I enter, Lord, with Thee.
Close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee, close to Thee,
Then the gate of life eternal may I enter, Lord, with Thee.

Too many would retain the water while plugging the springs, enjoy the shade of the tree after cutting its roots. Plants that once flourished along the banks of the Gospel stream have been uprooted and transplanted in a dry and thirsty land. No, rather in poisonous fields of unbelief and apostasy so that the plants have degenerated into harmful growths whose brilliant colours and sweet fragrances conceal deadly toxins.

                                                                                                                                 - adapted

... would be less painful if it came only from infidels or the enemies of the truth, but much of it comes through those from whom, in view of a common faith and hope, we expect different treatment - at least forbearance if not charity. Acknowledging the respectful and Christian manner in which we are spoken of by a number of our opponents, yet the simple fact is, that if anyone dares to arise and call into question the correctness of popular views and propose another, one too in strict accordance with the early teaching of the Church, his motives are assailed, his piety is doubted, his character is privately and publicly traduced, his learning and ability are lowered, his position is accorded a scornful and degrading pity, by persons who deem themselves set up for the defence of the truth" (Dr George N. H. Peters)

"The Christian must be willing to be esteemed as a fool; to be despised; to have his name cast out as evil; and to be regarded as even under delusion and deception. Whatever may be his rank or his reputation for wisdom and talent and learning, he must be willing to be regarded as a fool by his former associates."

"He whose thoughts rise a little above the trivial must not be surprised if he is thoroughly misunderstood by most men." (Johann Andreas Rothe)

"One of the severest trials ... to a sensitive heart is the loss of personal friends, highly esteemed, through adhesion to what is honestly regarded as the truth, but which such may suppose to be error."

"Misrepresentation is easy: the truth is a little harder"  (anon)

"In one respect a cavalry charge is very like ordinary life. So long as you are all right, firmly in your saddle, your horse in hand, and well armed, lots of enemies will give you a wide berth. But as soon as you have lost a stirrup, have a rein cut, have dropped your weapon, are wounded, or your horse is wounded, then is the moment when from all quarters enemies rush upon you."  (Winston Churchill in My Early Life)

Many have a tiny Bible, a very tiny Bible. So much has been removed there can be very little left. No, no, I am not talking about liberals, neo-orthodox – they tossed away what was left of their bibles long ago. Nor do I mean neo-evangelicals who have now also travelled a long way down the same road. I speak of those professing to be Bible believers who are want to speak of ‘essential’ and ‘non-essential’ truths. A doctrine is said to be important or less important depending upon into which of these two categories it is deemed to fall. They have a divided and thereby also a much-diminished Bible. Those truths classified as non-essential can then be safely set to one side. With such ‘second class’ truths, because they are judged as unessential to personal salvation, we do not need to concern ourselves unduly.

Were this taken on board consistently as a hermeneutical principle, it would make havoc of the faith. So having learned the ABC of salvation, all other truths are unimportant? The conclusion we must draw from this is that in the main the Bible is unimportant, as the greater part of it does not deal with that which is indispensable to our personal salvation. We may cut away at our Bibles removing assumed non-essentials, as many contentedly do and thus avoid much controversy. The result of all this in practical terms must be that all but a very small part of the Scriptures will have been discarded. Such an approach to the Bible, mutilates it, debases much of it to the level of the trivial. Take a knife and scissors to your Bible; you will do no worse! 

We cannot safely set aside a single word of holy writ without a serious knock-on effect. Clearly, not every statement in Scripture speaks of matters essential to salvation. Few would dispute this. Nevertheless, every word of the Bible is there for a good and legitimate reason otherwise God would not have put it there.

“All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 2:16)

All Scripture, every jot and tittle God thought essential, He breathed it all onto the sacred page for our spiritual benefit – from Genesis 1:1 to Revelation 22:21. How can we say, not so Lord? Were it not essential to some important end that God has beforehand determined, then the truth we so readily downgrade would not be there.

“The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.” (Psalm 19:7)

Were we to hack away from the Scriptures that which seems to us of less significance, it would no longer be perfect. Something would be missing that ought to be there. Start pulling out bricks in a wall and it will become unstable and eventually, if the process is continued, it will collapse. All Scripture is the written Word, the written thoughts of God in human language.

Every word that God has been pleased to include in the Bible is given its importance simply by fact of being there in the first place and therefore it cannot be judged unimportant. The most insignificant word coming from the breath of God is of greater weight than the wisest word of mere men, which are but featherweight by comparison. We must strive to grasp every truth that God has chosen to reveal, honoured as it is with a place in His Word. I have many books in my library and all will perish save for one. Eternity is writ large on every page of that one book, the Bible, and so every line of it is important.

If God has spoken on prophecy, it is not a ‘secondary truth’, and it is incumbent upon us to discover what is the truth and not to set it aside because it might prove contentious. When the Bible says, repent and be  baptised, it is as much disobedience to refuse one, as it is to refuse the other. We cannot differentiate in this way between one teaching and another. If God has spoken in His Word, then we must believe and obey all of it. So-called secondary truths do not divide Christian people, forsaking the truth for error does. Paul writes:

“ Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” (1 Corinthians 1:10)

There can be no dispersal of the present confusion among professing Christian people unless there is a return to that one standard for us all, the Word of the living God and that with a determination to believe and to obey every truth taught there. Unity among believers is not demonstrated by diminishing the precious Word that brought us spiritual birth through God’s Spirit (John 3).

Those alone will be blessed who tremble at His Word. “…to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." (Isaiah 66:2). Those alone love the Lord Jesus are they who keep His commandments – all of them! Christian minimalism asks: how little can I get away with? Those devoted to their Lord ask: is there anything I have missed doing that would please thee?

“He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21)

Our Saviour asks of us, “And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). To diminish the Word of God is to disobey it and this is worse than criminal.

"Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments." (Psalm 119:6)

posted week beginning 10 January 2005

Blasphemous productions on the stage and television have in recent times proliferated and many Christians quite understandably feel they must protest, nothing wrong with that. ‘Jerry Springer – The Opera’ is only the latest in a long list of such productions in the London West End. The theatre has always been a cesspit and Oliver Cromwell’s solution to shut every one of them down is appealing if now impractical. The backlash that followed once Cromwell had gone, exemplified in the theatre of Restoration England, is a byword in lewdness and depravity. John the Baptist, also the Apostle Paul drew attention to the individual sins of rulers, John losing his life for it. Ought then we not also to do the same?

As our nations have fallen yet deeper into godlessness, blasphemy has become much more common and the name of God and Christ abused far more than was the case even a few years ago. What Lot saw around him in Sodom vexed his righteous soul (2 Peter 2:8) as much that we see around us grieves us. In raising a voice in protest we ought to remember that it is insufficient to say, as many do, that we find such things offensive or it is an insult to our faith. What the Bible says is

At the heart of this matter is the fact that God Himself is offended and He will recompense appropriately those guilty of such things with the most fearful retribution. Of this we can be certain.

Theatre directors claim to be pushing forward the boundaries of artistic licence. Mockery of things Christian has a long pedigree in the theatre. In 1743 John Wesley recorded in his journal:

FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR ESTE.

By the Edinburgh Company of Comedians, on Friday, November 4, will be

acted a Comedy called,

THE CONSCIOUS LOVERS

To which will be added, a Farce, called

TRICK UPON TRICK, or METHODISM DISPLAYED

On Friday, a vast multitude of spectators were assembled in the Moot Hall to see this. It was believed there could not be less than fifteen hundred people, some hundreds of whom sat on rows of seats built on the stage. Soon after the comedians had begun the first act of the play, on a sudden all those seats fell down at once, the supporters of them breaking like a rotten stick. The people were thrown one upon another, about five foot forward, but not one of them hurt. After a short time, the rest of the spectators were quiet, and the actors went on. In the middle of the second act, all the shilling seats gave a crack, and sunk several inches down. A great noise and shrieking followed, and as many as could readily get to the door went out, and returned no more. Not withstanding this, when the noise was over, the actors went on with the play. In the beginning of the third act the entire stage suddenly sunk about six inches: the players retired with great precipitation; yet in a while they began again. At the latter end of the third act, all the sixpenny seats, without any kind of notice, fell to the ground. There was now a cry on every side; it being supposed that many were crushed in pieces: but, upon inquiry, not a single person (such was the mercy of God!) was either killed or dangerously hurt. Two or three hundred remaining still in the hall, Mr Este (who was to act the Methodist) came upon the stage and told them, for all this he was resolved the farce should be acted. While he was speaking, the stage sunk six inches more; on which he ran back in the utmost confusion, and the people as fast as they could out of the door, none staying to look behind him."

On this occasion, the mercy of God prevailed; not one life was lost and only the performance was brought to nought. The mercy of God is not always extended to blasphemous enactments as the New Testament records:

We should have no fear for God is well able to take care of the honour of His own name, far more effectively than we could ever achieve it. Certainly never ought we to resort to physical force, the refuge of earthly religions that have no other weapons with which to defend their cause.

It is right and proper that we should be distressed at what is going on around us, but never to the point of despair. We have this assurance:

Blasphemers are taking a terrible risk, not at our hand but at that of Him whose Name they are so determined to tread underfoot. They are danger in going beyond the mercy of God from which there is then no recovery.

The King no one can overthrow

WHY do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

2  The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

3  Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

4  He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.

5  Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

6  Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.  (Psalm 2)

Never have the philosophies of men been so absurd, never has the rule of princes proved so tyrannical, never has the violent opposition been so intense than that exerted against Christ and His Gospel. These utter fools, for that is what they are, have convinced themselves they can overthrow all that is of Christ, but their cause is folly, vain imaginings that bear no relation to the reality of the situation. Those who fight Christ are the rabble, the mob, the heathen, the mass of people of all nations. All seek a kind of liberty yet they refuse the liberty of the Gospel, believing they have freedom in the rattling of their chains. The ordinary people are not alone: the leaders of our nations, godless people, magistrates, judges, rulers, statesmen on a worldwide basis conspire together against Christ. All in passing and upholding the God-hating laws they do, they show their contempt for Him. Many may be enemies of each other, but in their hatred of Christ they are made friends, like Herod and Pilate (Luke 23:12). They conspire together to usurp the place of God, of Christ, in the world. They will acknowledge no rule over them but their own. The only Christ they will countenance is one who will serve their own purposes, make them rich. Such a Christ is there for them not they for Him. They will tolerate no one who would restrain their corrupt desires and passions, or regulate their hearts and live, or bring them to a life pleasing to God. The citizens of this world hate Christ and say: “We will not have this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). They set themselves with determined hearts, faces as flint, against all reason and conscience. They persist in their ungodly war come what may. They encourage one another in this great undertaking, calling their conferences and councils. They work with unrelenting ardour to make sure that Christ will have no reign over them.

Not only do they work against Christ, they may make friends of hypocrites to this end, they will join with them too in order to harass and persecute genuine believers. How formidable and frightening they appear, how invincible they think themselves to be! Ultimately, however, and we must never forget this, their quarrel is against the Lord, against Christ, against God’s Anointed. Those who hate Christ hate also God. They “have … hated both me and my Father” (John 15:24). They see the claims of Christ, His ordinances, as we have seen, to be bands, cords that would restrict their own ungodly wisdom and licentious way of life. These cords must be cut.

All men will bow one day before Christ and confess that he is Lord. Those of us who love and serve Him have no problem with this as we have already acknowledged this truth. For those who hate Him, it will be an acknowledgement of that which they always feared and sought to deny.

“Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;  And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.” (Philippians 2:9-11)