Christians Send Your Sons to War By the Ungodly Indiscretion of the Godless Members of the Parliament
Many Christians are sleepwalking into signing the ballot cards, for MP’s who do not uphold the Crown Rights of Jesus Christ, and yet will send many of Christian sons into unholy and unjust wars. Again we have the wisdom of Robert L. Dabney of the Southern States of America:
And when the rash representatives in our halls of legislation and our newspapers shall have sown the wind, who will reap the whirlwind? When thy have scattered the dragon’s teeth, who must meet that horrent crop which they will produce? Not they alone, but you, your sons, your friends and their sons. So that these misleaders of the people, while you so weakly connive at their indiscretions, may indirectly be preparing the weapon which is to pierce the bosom of your fair-haired boy, and summoning the birds of prey, which are to pick out those eyes whose joy is now the light of your happy homes. For your own sakes, for your children’s sake, arise, declare that from this day no money, no vote, no influence of yours shall go to the maintenance of any other counsels than those of moderation, righteousness and manly forbearance.
Quoted from, John Chase Lord, Causes and remedies of the present convulsions: a discourse, p.14
In the recent local authority elections in the UK, many Christians were trying to vote for the more conservative and less evil parties. I heard people say, that we are to vote for the lesser of the two evils, and yet not realising that the lesser of the two evils is still evil in God’s sight. Now here is the thoughts of Robert Lewis Dabney.
When you elevate a bad man, you give to him a hundred-fold more power of example to corrupt your sons, and your neighbour’s sons by his evil acts. Those acts are a hundred-fold more conspicuous and more weighty to attract notice and imitation than if you had left him in his deserved obscurity. When you delegate your money, influence or civic power to a bad man, you make his wicked official acts and influences your own; he is your chosen agent, and acts for you, and be assured a jealous God will not forget to visit the people for the guilt thus contracted.
Ed. Douglas Phillips, Robert Lewis Dabney – The Prophet Speaks, p.16
If there are no Godly and Christ-honouring parties, and yet we vote for some because of tradition or pressures, then remember that one day you will have to give an account before the Lord.
It is high time for me to put an end to your sitting in this place, which you have dishonored by your contempt of all virtue, and defiled by your practice of every vice; ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government; ye are a pack of mercenary wretches, and would like Esau sell your country for a mess of pottage, and like Judas betray your God for a few pieces of money.
Is there a single virtue now remaining amongst you? Is there one vice you do not possess? Ye have no more religion than my horse; gold is your God; which of you have not barter’d your conscience for bribes? Is there a man amongst you that has the least care for the good of the Commonwealth?
Ye sordid prostitutes have you not defil’d this sacred place, and turn’d the Lord’s temple into a den of thieves, by your immoral principles and wicked practices? Ye are grown intolerably odious to the whole nation; you were deputed here by the people to get grievances redress’d, are yourselves gone! So! Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors.
In the name of God, go!
In the light of the current revelations of the Members of Parliament, these words of “the Lord’s Protector” is a timely one. O that we had such men leading the nations.
The Parents Responsibility in the Home #1
A Biblical defence of Parental Responsibility for the Educational Training of their Children
Foreword
When a 21st century pastor looks upon the state of God’s people, and starts to dig and test the ground of their homes, what he often finds is a great confusion, or utter ignorance, or a clear dislike of the teachings of the Holy Scriptures concerning the home, the church and the State.
Out of a sincere desire to know the mind of God for myself and my family, and for those who I love and serve, here is the commencement of a series of studies on Biblical Parenthood. I could deal with concerns about marriage and family worship, etc…but that is not my aim in these studies.
Here, I want to assert from the Holy Scriptures that the authority and responsibility of the moral, academic and physical training of our children has been delegated to parents by God. To be clear, parents can delegate their authority to teach and train, to some other godly person, but they can never delegate their responsibility to teach and train their children to anyone else. God will hold parents responsible for what training (academic, moral and physical) their children receive, whether from teachers, books, projects, or peers. To whom much is given, much is required (Luke 12:48). Our children are dying souls entrusted to our care!
We believe in the plenary inspiration of the Bible. We acknowledge it to be the only written revelation of the will of God, and therefore we must apply it to all circumstances, to all ages, and all cultures.
What does the Bible say? That is the question to ask. Am I willing to be challenged? Am I willing to change? Is there ‘a Biblical defense of parental responsibility for the educational training of our children’? Or can the public (secular) and the private (the Christian or church) schooling be defended from the Bible?
The readers of these studies must be warned at this point, that questions may arise in your hearts. There is a danger at this point to start to judge these questions by how our godly parents brought us up, or by the ministry of the faithful and godly men that we know. You and I start to ask, "Well Doctor so and so, Pastor so and so, elder so and so never made an issue of these things. Have most of these men been wrong all through their ministry about parental responsibility and education?"
Perhaps, the reason for this could have been that the majority of the State schools in the United Kingdom, of the past generations, had a distinctive Christian ethos. This could be the reason why education was not deemed as a major threat. However, it is different now. The current spiritual and moral problems in the State schools are much more acute than a generation ago. The problems in the public schools of previous generations were deemed as far less serious.
The words of R. L. Dabney in his Discussions are fitting words to begin these studies, "I mean once more to assert the unfashionable truth. Truth is never out of date. It has sometimes happened that a tentative experience has thrown so much light upon a bad system as to reopen the discussion with better guidance than the previous."
Truth is never afraid of truth. I have called this "A defence", not that the word of God needs defending, but the state of the church is so dire concerning this and many other vital matters, that the number of those who hold to these points are very small. It is your responsibility to prove positively from Scripture, a solid biblical data for your belief and practice.
Now, let us examine our views by God’s Word. If our thoughts, in the light of Scripture prove to be wrong, then, let us admit it, and let us together repent and turn to the ways of the Lord.
1. Who is to raise your Child?
The raising of children is both commanded and delegated to parents by God. Many will agree with this statement, even though in practice they deny it.
(i) Children are God’s Heritage to Parents
Psalm 127:3-5
“Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.”
What is heritage?
"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD" – the Hebrew word for heritage is also translated in other places as, ‘inheritance’, ‘inherit’ and ‘possession’. Let me give you a few examples.
Gen. 31:14, "And Rachel and Leah answered and said unto him, Is there yet any portion or inheritance for us in our father’s house?"
Num. 26:56, "According to the lot shall the possession thereof be divided between many and few."
Ps. 94:5, "They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage."
Ps. 94:14, "For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance."
Num. 18:24, "But the tithes of the children of Israel, which they offer as an heave offering unto the LORD, I have given to the Levites to inherit: therefore I have said unto them, Among the children of Israel they shall have no inheritance."
From the above verses, we see that the word ‘heritage’ means a possession or the property which has been handed down to us by Jehovah. An inheritance is something that is someone else’s possession but is handed down to another for blessing, enjoying and keeping.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines ‘heritage’ as, "property that is or may be inherited; special or individual possession; an allotted portion."
So children are the possession of God – they are actually of the LORD, they are His – who have been given as the possession of the parents. They are not for someone else. They are not for other people, be it family members (e.g. grandparents) or the ungodly (the employees of the State, e.g. daily childminders, teachers, etc).
What is a Reward?
"the fruit of the womb is his reward" (Ps. 127:3b)
Children "are the fruit of the womb" of the mother, and they are "his [the Lord's] reward". The Hebrew word is translated as ‘hire’, ‘wages’, ‘price’, ‘fare’, ‘worth’. That means they are a blessing; they are precious; they are of great worth.
These words go against the notion that parents have in our day, that is children are a debt. That they are a liability. So the idea is, the less of them the better – which means less expence, less time and less effort. They are not what the Bible says; they are not a reward but a liability. That is the attitude of many Christian parents, grandparents, those who are to be parents – which is also the same attitude of the worldly-minded, ungodly relations, neighbours and government. This is one of the points that unites modern Christians and the anti-God world.
The modern Christian does not want to be the possessor of the number of children that God gives. However, from this verse we have already learned that children are the responsibility of parents, because they are handed down to them by God. Children are also a blessing, a reward. They are a blessing, and parents do not deserve their children – they are given by God’s grace. So Elizabeth could say to the mother of that holy babe, "blessed is the fruit of thy womb." (Luke 1:42)
The above comments may be deemed too strong, but let me get help from our beloved friend, Charles Haddon Spurgeon. On this text he says, "(God) gives children, not as a penalty nor as a burden, but as a favour. They are a token for good if men know how to receive them, and educate them. They are ‘doubtful blessings’ only because we are doubtful persons. Where society is rightly ordered children are regarded, not as an encumbrance, but as an inheritance; and they are received, not with regret, but as a reward. If we are over-crowded in England, and so seem to be embarrassed with too large an increase, we must remember that the Lord does not order us to remain in this narrow island, but would have us fill those boundless regions which wait for the axe and the plough. Yet even here, with all the straits of limited incomes, our best possessions are our own dear offspring, for whom we bless God every day." (The Treasury of David, Volume 7, p31)
Now let us go even further back from Spurgeon’s time and see how the old commentators and Divines, the Puritans and the Reformers interpreted these verses:
Adam Clarke (Commentator), "’Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD‘, That is, To many God gives children in place of temporal good. To many others he gives houses, lands, and thousands of gold and silver, and with them the womb that beareth not; and these are their inheritance. The poor man has from God a number of children, without lands or money; these are his inheritance; and God shows himself their father, feeding and supporting them by a chain of miraculous providences. Where is the poor man who would give up his six children, with the prospect of having more, for the thousands or millions of him who is the centre of his own existence, and has neither root nor branch but his forlorn solitary self upon the face of the earth? Let the fruitful family, however poor, lay this to heart; “Children are a heritage of the Lord; and the fruit of the womb is his reward.” And he who gave them will feed them; for it is a fact, and the maxim formed on it has never failed, “Wherever God sends mouths, he sends meat.” “Murmur not,” said an Arab to his friend, “because thy family is large; know that it is for their sakes that God feeds thee.”" (Volume 3)
Thomas Goodwin (Puritan), "The Psalmist speaks of what children are unto godly and holy parents, for unto such only is any blessing given by God as a reward, and the Psalmist expressly speaks of blessings which God gives his beloved ones, and this blessing of children he makes to be the last and greatest." (The Works, Volume 18, pp.85-95)
Joseph Caryl (Puritan), "Hence note, ’tis one of the greatest outward blessings to have a family full of dutiful children. To have many children is the next blessing to much grace. To have many children about us is better than to have much wealth about us. To have store of these olive plants (as the Psalmist calls them) round about our table is better than to have store of oil and wine upon our table. We know the worth of dead, or rather lifeless treasures, but who knows the worth of living treasures? Every man who hath children hath not a blessing in them, yet children are a blessing, and some have many blessings in one child. Children are chiefly a blessing to the children of God. "Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." But are not houses and lands, gold and silver, an heritage bestowed by the Lord upon his people? Doubtless they are, for the earth is his, and the fullness of it, and he gives it to the children of men. But though all things are of God, yet all things are not alike of him: children are more of God than houses and lands."
Commenting on v.4 George Swinnock (Puritan) notes, "As arrows – Children are compared to "arrows". Now, we know that sticks are not by nature arrows; they do not grow so, but they are made so; by nature they are knotty and rugged, but by art they are made smooth and handsome. So children by nature are rugged and untoward, but by education are refined and reformed, made pliable to the divine will and pleasure." (The Works, Volume 1, p398)
This is the end of the first instalment of these studies. In the will of the Lord, we shall take up other passages in a near future.
Here is a short, sound, theological and Reformed view of why we should continue to use the historic Received Text (TR) of the NT and the Masoretic Text of the OT, which is most faithfully translated for the English speaker in the Authorized (King James) Version. Various attacks are made upon those who hold to this view, saying that we are ignorant, KJV Only, Arminian, dispensational, etc. etc. But as it can be seen, that assertion is not true. Thank you Dr Beeke for your clear explanation of this issue of our day.
PRACTICAL REASONS FOR RETAINING THE KJV
Thirteen practical reasons for retaining the King James Version (KJV) of the Bible.
1. The Standard Text of the English Bible
It is wiser to choose the known over against the unknown. The weaknesses and disadvantages of a particular version of the Bible cannot really be assessed apart from a thorough trial of daily usage over many years. Many who welcomed the New International Version (NIV) with great enthusiasm when it first appeared are now prepared to admit its serious weaknesses as a translation.
The KJV is well established in the market-place and in the literature of Christian scholarship. It will continue in production in many editions for years to come. Helps and reference works are commonly available. It is not likely that the KJV will fade from view and disappear as have many versions produced to supplant it.
Likewise the KJV is widely studied and commented on in the literature of biblical scholarship. It will always be a standard of reference and comparison of Bible commentators. All other versions are compared to it, contrasted with it, tested by it. Campaigns to sell other versions must attack it. The same cannot be said of any other Bible version.
2. Based on the Full Text of the Hebrew and Greek Originals
Based on the Textus Receptus (the Greek NT), and the Masoretic Text (Hebrew OT), the KJV gives the most authentic and fullest available text of the Scriptures, with none of the many omissions and textual rewrites of the modern translations such as the Revised Standard Versions (RSV) and the NIV.
(a) Oldest Does Not Mean Best – The Westcott and Hort arguments that ‘the oldest manuscripts are the most reliable’ and that ‘age carries more weight than volume’ are not necessarily true. It could well be that the two oldest, complete manuscripts were found to be in such unusually excellent condition because they were already recognized as faulty manuscripts in their time and therefore were placed aside and not recopied until worn out as were the reliable manuscripts. This is further supported by numerous existing differences between the Vatican and Sinaitic manuscripts.
(b) Volume – The King James Version is based upon the Traditional Text. The vast majority of the more than 5,000 known partial and complete Greek manuscripts follow this textual reading.
(c) Church History – The ‘Received’ or ‘Ecclesiastical’ Text has been used by the church historically. The English, French, Dutch, and German Reformation churches all used Bibles based on the Traditional Text. (The Dutch ‘Statenvertaling’ is also based upon the ‘Ecclesiastic’ Text.)
3. A More Faithful Method of Translation
The KJV translators employed a method of verbal equivalence (’word for word’) rather than the method of paraphrase of dynamic equivalence (’meaning for meaning’) used in the NIV. The result is that the KJV gives you what biblical authors wrote, not what a committee thinks they meant to write.
4. A More Honest Translation
The text of the KJV used italics to identify every word or phrase interpolated (supplied by the translator) and not given in the original. Such a practice was not followed in the NIV, lest the loose method of its translators be unmercifully exposed to view.
5. A More Precise Idiom
Often attacked at this very point, the KJV actually is a more accurate and helpful translation precisely because of the archaic pronouns (’thou, thy, thee,’ etc.). Both Hebrew and Greek distinguish clearly between the 2nd person singular (’thou’) and the 2nd person plural (’ye,you’). In many statements this makes an important difference (e.g. John 3:7). In a sense it is correct to say that in praying the Lord Jesus used ‘Thou’ – God is one, not many! – for he definitely used the Hebrew or Greek equivalent.
6. The Best Liturgical Text
The KJV excels as a version to be used in public worship. That is why it has been used so widely in the churches. The requirements of the sanctuary are not those of the classroom. Other versions may be helpful on occasions to the student, but none is more edifying to the worshipper.
7. The Best Format For Preaching
The KJV traditionally has been laid out verse by verse on the page, rather than in paragraphs; though for most of the text, paragraphs are indicated by a sign. The Hebrew and Greek texts, of course, have no paragraphing at all. The verse-by-verse format best serves the purpose of verse-by-verse consecutive expository sermonizing.
8. The Most Beautiful Translation
The KJV gives classic expression to many important passages in the Bible (e.g. Ps 23, Isa 53, Luke 2, and the Parable of the Prodigal Son). Our seniors need to hear these passages as a comfort and help as they draw near to the end of life’s journey and our children need to hear them in the KJV as part of their nurture and education. They need to understand that the KJV is an important part of the spiritual and cultural heritage of all English-speaking Christians, and a key to our greatest literature. Children well instructed in the KJV will be greatly advantaged over other children, spiritually, linguistically, educationally, and culturally.
9. An Ecumenical Text For Reformed Christians
No other version has been used so widely among evangelical Christians. More significantly for Reformed Christians, this version is used by preference in many conservative Reformed congregations. The KJV is also used in the Christian schools these churches sponsor. Using the KJV is one way to underscore our unity and identity with other conservative evangelical and Reformed Christians.
10. A Practical Choice
The KJV is available in many editions; with a full range of helps and reference materials, not to mention computer software; in large-type, clear-print editions; and often priced well below modern translations.
11. ‘Sounds’ Like the Bible
More than any other version, the KJV sounds like the Word of God, even to unbelievers. The KJV translators aimed at this very thing. Even in 1611 the KJV sounded old-fashioned, ancient, a voice from the past. This was to command a reverent hearing, and to suggest the timeless and eternal character of God’s Word.
The modern unbeliever, if he has any spiritual concern at all, is well aware that the contemporary scene really offers him no hope. He expects the church to speak in a way that is timeless and other-worldly.
Many church-goers and occasional visitors to a church go much more by ‘feel’ and ‘mood’ than by intellectual content or apprehension. They are more likely to take seriously what is said to them if they sense that this is something more important than a casual conversation.
12. The Character of the Translators
The fifty men appointed to translate the King James Version were not only well-known scholars, but were also men of sound religious faith. They were strong believers in every word of the Bible being inspired by God and in all the central doctrinal truths of Scripture. They were God-fearing men whose lives testified of a saving knowledge of these truths. This same testimony cannot be made of all translators serving on modern translation teams.
13. Upholds ‘Old Paths’
Using the KJV is a clear statement of where we stand and want to be as a church walking in the ‘old paths’ of God’s Word. ‘Thus saith the LORD, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls’ (Jer 6:16). In choosing this version we choose to stand with all that is best in the great tradition of historic Christianity.
The penchant for new translations was part of the program of change which has done such harm to many denominations over the past century. This change to new translations was often part of an effort to strip worship services of dignity, reverence, and beauty, in favour of the casual, the contemporary, and the convenient. It also causes a congregation to lose touch with keeping the Word in memory. Memorization of the Scriptures suffers when each generation uses a different translation.
Dr. Joel R. Beeke is the president and professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics at Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, and pastor of the Heritage Netherlands Reformed Congregation of Grand Rapids, Michigan.
December 2007 was a historic occasion for the Farsi speakers of the world, i.e. Iranians, Afghans, etc. The Trinitarian Bible Society published a newly revised edition of the Standard 1895 Version of Farsi Gospel of John. The 1895 Farsi Bible was a revision which Robert Bruce the missionary undertook, who revised Henry Martin’s Farsi New Testament, and William Glen’s Old Testament.
Henry Martin’s New Testament was based upon the Reformation Greek Text, known as the Received Text (Textus Receptus), however, Robert Bruce departed from that tradition to an unknown but Ecclectic text. Even though in many places Robert Bruce’s edition was more literal and accurate, yet it was using an unreliable source.
So this revision work by the TBS is a return to the correct Greek text. The TBS will continue in its work of bringing to the Iranian, Afghan and other Farsi (Persian) speakers an accurate and reliable Bible. Please contact us or the TBS for free copies of the gospel. However you can download the PDF text. Please click on the following link: Farsi Gospel of John (Revised 2007)
Please remember that the text is copy righted by the Trinitarian Bible Socity, London, 2008. If you have a Farsi speaking friend, please poin them to this blog post, or even better to my dedicated Reformed Farsi Blog.
Since was ordained to the Gospel Ministry, just a year ago, I have been told by many Christians about having fellowship with “likeminded” Evangelicals in our town, and county. That, I need to attend the “Reformed” conferences in the UK, to “have fellowship with likeminded brethren.” On this point, in my readings of Spurgeon, I came accross certain points, which I thought very wise and helpful.
Let us not pretend to a fellowship which we do not feel, nor hide convictions which are burning in our hearts. The times are perilous, and the responsibility of every individual believer is a burden which he must bear, or prove a traitor. . .Nothing has ever more largely promoted the union of the true than the break with the false. — C.H.Spurgeon ‘OUR REPLY TO SUNDRY CRITICS AND ENQUIRERS’- Sept., 1887 – The Sword & the Trowel
I would always be very tender of the honor of the Christian body to which I belong, but I would rather see its honor stained, than that the glory of the entire church should be dimmed. Now I trust we are ready to say of our denomination, Let its name perish if Christ’s name shall get ought of glory. — C.H.Spurgeon from the Sermon entitled, ‘War!War!War!’
What are we going to use to justify ourselves brethren?
Tomb of Darius II, Persian king of Achamenid period, about 2500 years ago.
Below the tomb is a stone relief of another Persian ancient era, Sassanid Kingdom, depicts the king (Bahram II) battling a mounted Roman soldier.The site is located in Naqsh-e Rostam of Fars province, Iran.
Tomb of Darius II, Persian king of Achamenid period, about 2500 years ago.
Below the tomb is a stone relief of another Persian ancient era, Sassanid Kingdom, depicts the king (Bahram II) battling a mounted Roman soldier.The site is located in Naqsh-e Rostam of Fars province, Iran.
This is an invitation to all, to direct friends and family to my new Persian(Farsi) blogsite, http://farsibible.wordpress.com. I appreciate my English speaking friends will not be able to read it. This blogsite can be read by those who speak Persian, also known as Farsi. Therefore, it is for people originating from Iran and Afghanistan. It is still quite new, but I shall be adding various articles which will explain the Gospel (the one on the site presently is titled, Peace with God).
Translated instalments of Dr Alan Cairns’ evangelistic booklet, “A New Beginning” will be published on this blog, before it is published in a booklet format in future, DV.
It is also designed to inform the Iranians of the Farsi Bible translation project, as it is my ongoing work with the Trinitarian Bible Society. So as the translations are done, they will be published on the site. Also various articles are in the pipeline which will give a history of the Bible and its Persian translations.
I am adding various Puritan quotes and short translations, and various articles which is very much needed for the shallow Christianity which is dominating Iranians. Please pray that the Lord will guide needy sinners to come and savingly receive the Lord Jesus Christ, as He is freely offered to them in the Gospel.
All this shall be published Lord willing, as He gives the strength and wisdom. Please pray for this project and those who visit it. Thanks for directing others to this small voice in the wilderness of confused world of blogs.
J. Gresham Machen, one of the founders of the old Westminster Theological Seminary (which sadly has changed in some respects from the original principles and views of its founders) wrote and preached very insightfully. Here is a word for our day, and to all those evanGELLYcal preachers, who speak of uniting with “like-minded” churches and brethren. When I think about it, I don’t know what “like-minded” means anymore!
“That disaster is a figure of what will come of optimism in the churches of today. Superficially our ecclesiastical life seems to be progressing as it always did: the cabins are full of comfortable passengers; the orchestra is playing a lively air; the rows of lighted windows shine cheerfully out into the night. But all the time death is lurking beneath. In this time of deadly peril there are leaders who say that all is well; there are leaders who decry controversy and urge peace, declaring that the church is all perfectly loyal and true. God forgive them, brethren! I say it with all my heart: may God forgive them for the evil that they are doing to Christ’s little ones: may the Holy Spirit open their eyes while yet there is time! Meanwhile, in the case of many of the churches, the great ship rushes onward to the risk, at least, of doom.”
Spurgeon’s Warning Concerning: the Intimate Association Between Doctrinal Compromise & Worldliness
"Restoration of Truth and Revival," Sword and the Trowel,
December 1887:
"Brethren in Christ, in every church let us purge out the things which weaken and pollute. It is clear to every one who is willing to see it, that laxity of doctrine is either the parent of worldliness, or is in some other way very near akin to it. The men who give up the old faith are the same persons who plead for latitude as to general conduct. Liberal divines do not always command the respect of the public, but they gain a certain popularity by pandering to prevailing tastes. The ungodly world is so far on their side that it commends them for their liberality, and rails at the orthodox as bigots and kill-joys. … Believers must also sweep the house of the leaven of worldliness, and the frivolities of a giddy generation. The evil which is now current eats as doth a canker, and there is no hope for healthy godliness until it is cut out of the body of the church by her again repenting, and doing her first works."
