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"Another Gospel" By A.W. Pink

9/21/2017

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          Satan is not an initiator but an imitator. God has an only begotten Son—the Lord Jesus, so has Satan—“the son of Perdition” (2 Thess 2:3). There is a Holy Trinity, and there is likewise a Trinity of Evil (Rev 20:10). Do we read of the “children of God,” so also we read of “the children of the wicked one” (Matt 13:38). Does God work in the former both to will and to do of His good pleasure, then we are told that Satan is “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Eph 2:2). Is there a “mystery of godliness” (1 Tim 3:16), so also is there a “mystery of iniquity” (2 Thess 2:7). Are we told that God by His angels “seals” His servants in their foreheads (Rev 7:3), so also we learn that Satan by his agents sets a mark in the foreheads of his devotees (Rev 13:16). Are we told that “the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God” (1 Cor 2:10), then Satan also provides his “deep things” (Greek\Rev 2:24). Did Christ perform miracles, so also can Satan (2 Thess 2:9). Is Christ seated upon a throne, so is Satan (Greek\Rev 2:13). Has Christ a Church, then Satan has his “synagogue” (Rev 2:9). Is Christ the Light of the world, then so is Satan himself “transformed into an angel of light” (2 Cor 11:14). Did Christ appoint “apostles,” then Satan has his apostles, too (2 Cor 11:13). And this leads us to consider: “The Gospel of Satan.”
          Satan is the arch-counterfeiter. The Devil is now busy at work in the same field in which the Lord sowed the good seed. He is seeking to prevent the growth of the wheat by another plant, the tares, which closely resembles the wheat in appearance. In a word, by a process of imitation he is aiming to neutralize the Work of Christ. Therefore, as Christ has a Gospel, Satan has a gospel too; the latter being a clever counterfeit of the former. So closely does the gospel of Satan resemble that which it parodies, multitudes of the unsaved are deceived by it.
          It is to this gospel of Satan the apostle refers when he says to the Galatians, “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ” (Gal 1:6,7). This false gospel was being heralded even in the days of the apostle, and a most awful curse was called down upon those who preached it. The apostle continues, “But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.” By the help of God we shall now endeavor to expound, or rather, expose this false gospel.
          The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great “brotherhood.” It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to “the best that is within us.” It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ’s absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to occupy man so much with this world that he has no time or inclination to think of the world to come. It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence, and teaches us to live for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals strongly to the carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores the solemn facts that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, and dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in being born again.
         In contradistinction to the Gospel of Christ, the gospel of Satan teaches salvation by works. It inculcates justification before God on the ground of human merits. Its sacramental phrase is “Be good and do good”; but it fails to recognize that in the flesh there dwelleth no good thing. It announces salvation by character, which reverses the order of God’s Word—character by, as the fruit of, salvation. Its various ramifications and organizations are manifold. Temperance, Reform Movements, “Christian Socialist Leagues,” Ethical Culture Societies, “Peace Congresses” are all employed (perhaps unconsciously) in proclaiming this gospel of Satan— salvation by works. The pledge-card is substituted for Christ; social purity for individual regeneration, and politics and philosophy, for doctrine and godliness. The cultivation of the old man is considered more practical than the creation of a new man in Christ Jesus; whilst universal peace is looked for apart from the interposition and return of the Prince of Peace.
         The apostles of Satan are not saloon-keepers and white-slave traffickers, but are for the most part ordained ministers. Thousands of those who occupy our modern pulpits are no longer engaged in presenting the fundamentals of the Christian Faith, but have turned aside from the Truth and have given heed unto fables. Instead of magnifying the enormity of sin and setting forth its eternal consequences, they minimize it by declaring that sin is merely ignorance or the absence of good. Instead of warning their hearers to “flee from the wrath to come” they make God a liar by declaring that He is too loving and merciful to send any of His own creatures to eternal torment. Instead of declaring that “without shedding of blood is no remission,” they merely hold up Christ as the great Exemplar and exhort their hearers to “follow in His steps.” Of them it must be said, “For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Rom 10:3). Their message may sound very plausible and their aim appear very praiseworthy, yet we read of them—“for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves (imitating) into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing [not to be wondered at] if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Cor 11:13-15).
         In addition to the fact that today hundreds of churches are without a leader who faithfully declares the whole counsel of God and presents His way of salvation, we also have to face the additional fact that the majority of people in these churches are very unlikely to learn the Truth themselves. The family altar, where a portion of God’s Word was wont to be read daily is now, even in the homes of nominal Christians, largely a thing of the past. The Bible is not expounded in the pulpit and it is not read in the pew. The demands of this rushing age are so numerous, that multitudes have little time and still less inclination to make preparation for the meeting with God. Hence the majority who are too indolent to search for themselves, are left at the mercy of those whom they pay to search for them; many of whom betray their trust by studying and expounding economic and social problems rather than the Oracles of God.
         In Proverbs 14:12 we read, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death.” This “way” which ends in “death” is the Devil’s Delusion—the gospel of Satan—a way of salvation by human attainment. It is a way which “seemeth right,” that is to say, it is presented in such a plausible way that it appeals to the natural man: it is set forth in such a subtle and attractive manner, that it commends itself to the intelligence of its hearers. By virtue of the fact that it appropriates to itself religious terminology, sometimes appeals to the Bible for its support (whenever this suits its purpose), holds up before men lofty ideals, and is proclaimed by those who have graduated from our theological institutions, countless multitudes are decoyed and deceived by it.
         The success of an illegitimate coiner depends largely upon how closely the counterfeit resembles the genuine article. Heresy is not so much the total denial of the truth as a perversion of it. That is why half a lie is always more dangerous than a complete repudiation. Hence when the Father of Lies enters the pulpit it is not his custom to flatly deny the fundamental truths of Christianity, rather does he tacitly acknowledge them, and then proceed to give an erroneous interpretation and a false application. For example: he would not be so foolish as to boldly announce his disbelief in a personal God; he takes His existence for granted and then gives a false description of His character. He announces that God is the spiritual Father of all men, when the Scriptures plainly tell us that we are “the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus“ (Gal 3:26), and that “as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God” (John 1:12). Further, he declares that God is far too merciful to ever send any member of the human race to Hell, when God Himself has said, “Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the Lake of Fire” (Rev 20:15).
         Again; Satan would not be so foolish as to ignore the central figure of human history—the Lord Jesus Christ; on the contrary, his gospel acknowledges Him to be the best man that ever lived. Attention is drawn to His deeds of compassion and works of mercy, the beauty of His character and the sublimity of His teaching. His life is eulogized, but His vicarious Death is ignored, the all-important atoning work of the cross is never mentioned, whilst His triumphant and bodily resurrection from the grave is regarded as one of the credulities of a superstitious age. It is a bloodless gospel, and presents a crossless Christ, who is received not as God manifest in the flesh, but merely as the Ideal Man.
          In 2 Corinthians 4:3 we have a scripture which sheds much light upon our present theme. There we are told, “if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them.” He blinds the minds of unbelievers through hiding the light of the Gospel of Christ, and he does this by substituting his own gospel. Appropriately is he designated “The Devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world” (Rev 12:9). In merely appealing to “the best that is within man,” and in simply exhorting him to “lead a nobler life” there is afforded a general platform upon which those of every shade of opinion can unite and proclaim this common message.
          Again we quote Proverbs 14:12—“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” It has been said with considerable truth that the way to Hell is paved with good intentions. There will be many in the Lake of Fire who commended life with good intentions, honest resolutions and exalted ideals—those who were just in their dealings, fair in their transactions and charitable in all their ways; men who prided themselves in their integrity but who sought to justify themselves before God by their own righteousness; men who were moral, merciful and magnanimous, but who never saw themselves as guilty, lost, hell-deserving sinners needing a Saviour. Such is the way which “seemeth right.“ Such is the way that commends itself to the carnal mind and recommends itself to multitudes of deluded ones today. The Devil’s Delusion is that we can be saved by our own works, and justified by our own deeds; whereas, God tells us in His Word—“By grace are ye saved through faith...not of works lest any man should boast.” And again, “Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us.”
         A few years ago the writer became acquainted with one who was a lay preacher and an enthusiastic “Christian worker.” For over seven years this friend had been engaged in public preaching and religious activities, but from certain expressions and phrases he used, the writer doubted whether is friend was a “born again” man. When we began to question him, it was found that he was very imperfectly acquainted with the Scriptures and had only the vaguest conception of Christ’s Work for sinners. For a time we sought to present the way of salvation in a simple and impersonal manner and to encourage our friend to study the Word for himself, in the hope that if he were still unsaved God would be pleased to reveal the Saviour he needed.
         One night to our joy, the one who had been preaching the Gospel (?) for several years, confessed that he had found Christ only the previous night. He acknowledged (to use his own words) that he had been presenting “the Christ ideal” but not the Christ of the Cross. The writer believes there are thousands like this preacher who, perhaps, have been brought up in Sunday School, taught about the birth, life, and teachings of Jesus Christ, who believe in the historicity of His person, who spasmodically endeavor to practice His precepts, and who think that that is all that is necessary for their salvation. Frequently, this class when they reach manhood go out into the world, encounter the attacks of atheists and infidels and are told that such a person as Jesus of Nazareth never lived. But the impressions of early days cannot be easily erased, and they remain steadfast in their declaration that they “believe in Jesus Christ.” Yet, when their faith is examined, only too often it is found that though they believe many things about Jesus Christ they do not really believe in him. They believe with the head that such a person lived (and, because they believe this imagine that therefore they are saved), but they have never thrown down the weapons of their warfare against Him, yielded themselves to Him, nor truly believed with their heart in Him.
          The bare acceptance of an orthodox doctrine about the person of Christ without the heart being won by Him and the life devoted to Him, is another phase of that way “which seemeth right unto a man” but the end thereof are “the ways of death.” A mere intellectual assent to the reality of Christ’s person, and which goes no further, is another phase of the way which “seemeth right unto a man” but of which the end thereof “are the ways of death,” or, in other words, is another aspect of the gospel of Satan.
          And now, where do you stand? Are you in the way which “seemeth right,” but which ends in death; or, are you in the Narrow Way which leadeth unto life? Have you truly forsaken the Broad Road which leadeth to death? Has the love of Christ created in your heart a hatred and horror of all that is displeasing to Him? Are you desirous that he should “reign over” you? (Luke 19:14). Are you relying wholly on His righteousness and blood for your acceptance with God?
     Those who are trusting to an outward form of godliness, such as baptism or “confirmation!” those who are religious because it is considered a mark of respectability; those who attend some Church or Chapel because it is the fashion to do so; and, those who unite with some Denomination because they suppose that such a step will enable them to become Christians, are in the way which “ends in death”—death spiritual and eternal. However pure our motives, however noble our intentions, however well-meaning our purposes, however sincere our endeavors, God will not acknowledge us as His sons, until we accept His Son.
        A yet more specious form of Satan’s gospel is to move preachers to present the atoning sacrifice of Christ and then tell their hearers that all God requires from them is to “believe” in His Son. Thereby thousands of impenitent souls are deluded into thinking they have been saved. But Christ said, “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish” (Luke 13:3). To “repent” is to hate sin, to sorrow over it, to turn from it. It is the result of the Spirits making the heart contrite before God. None except a broken heart can savingly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.
          Again, thousands are deceived into supposing that they have “accepted Christ” as their “personal Saviour,” who have not first received Him as their LORD. The Son of God did not come here to save His people in their sin, but “from their sins” (Matt 1:21). To be saved from sins, is to be saved from ignoring and despising the authority of God, it is to abandon the course of self-will and self-pleasing, it is to “forsake our way” (Isa 55:7). It is to surrender to God’ s authority, to yield to His dominion, to give ourselves over to be ruled by Him. The one who has never taken Christ’s “yoke” upon him, who is not truly and diligently seeking to please Him in all the details of life, and yet supposes that he is “resting on the Finished Work of Christ” is deluded by the Devil.
          In the seventh chapter of Matthew there are two scriptures which give us approximate results of Christ’s Gospel and Satan’s counterfeit. First, in verses 13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” Second; in verses 22-23, “Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied [preached] in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out demons, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Yes, my reader, it is possible to work in the name of Christ, and even to preach in his name, and though the world knows us, the Church knows us, yet to be unknown to the Lord! How necessary is it then to find out where we really are; to examine ourselves and see whether we be in the faith; to measure ourselves by the Word of God and see if we are being deceived by our subtle Enemy; to find out whether we are building our house upon the sand, or whether it is erected on the Rock which is Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit search our hearts, break our wills, slay our enmity against God, work in us a deep and true repentance, and direct our gaze to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world. 
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September 18th, 2017

9/18/2017

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Two of the major issues facing the church today are addressed in this video by James White. The first being the biblical view of marriage and sexuality as expressed in the Nashville Statement. The second being the topic of racism in the reformed faith. I hope this video will be helpful to you as you think through these issues.
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"Behold Your God"  

5/18/2015

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Behold Your God family study begins Tue. 6/2/2015, 6:30 PM

We are excited to announce that we are beginning a 12 week study on June 2, 2015.  Time will be 6:30-8:00 PM.  We are encouraging those who have families to work through the books together for family worship, or individually if they prefer.  We welcome anyone who would like to participate with us.  We just need you to contact us, so that we can be sure we have a book for you.  We have included the video trailer below, and there is a contact form below that if you would like to participate with us.

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Exciting News

1/11/2015

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below We wanted to announce to everyone some exciting news.  Little Red River Bible Church is moving from our current rented building in Pangburn to an existing church building located at 2674 Wilburn Road, Heber Springs.  This building is 2 miles past Wilburn on Highway 110 coming from Pangburn and about 5 miles out 110 from Heber Springs.  If you know where the Swans can be found down Hayes road, the building is directly across 110 from Hayes Road.

We have enjoyed our current building since our first service February 16, 2014.  We like the location, have found our funds growing with no financial issues, and the thought of moving had not crossed our minds.  We have been enjoying our time together, expositing the Scripture book by book, with our whole focus being upon feeding or nourishing the church with the God ordained means of expositing the scripture.  We have been blessed.

During the year, we came into contact with the members of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church.  They have met in the building on Wilburn Road for almost 30 years.  Over the course of the last 3 or 4 months they have been having their morning service and then meeting with us for the afternoon service.  In this short amount of time we have grown to love them and they us.  It has been a wonderful time for both small groups of believers.

After lengthy consideration, the members of Sovereign Grace Baptist Church have decided to join Little Red River Bible Church.  The Little Red River Bible Church leadership, distinctives, doctrinal statement, and church covenant have been embraced by the members of SGBC, and they have initiated the process of joining LRRBC under our leadership. 

In coming together, we had our first Sunday morning service Sunday, January 4.  We will continue meeting at the Pangburn building on Sunday mornings at 10:30 through the month of January and will have our first service in the new LRRBC building February 1 at 10:30 AM.  We are doing some refresh work inside the building and should be mostly completed by February 1.  Either way we will be meeting there on that date.  The building and land is being transferred to Little Red River Bible Church and the funds for the updates have been provided in advance.

God is amazing.  We unashamedly believe in and worship the Sovereign God who is the creator of the universe.  He spoke all that we see and all that has ever been into existence.  We may plan and try to work out what we should do next, but he makes all things come together.  “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9, ESV)  We did not ever consider the possibility of changing locations within one year, but now we find ourselves with new members that we love, a building with no debt, and room to grow with 5 acres of land.  We can now sit about 60 or more with some creativity, have a fellowship hall, and 3 bathrooms.  Another blessing with the location is that it is only 9 miles from Pangburn and only 5 miles outside Heber Springs.  We praise the Lord for the way He has worked this out and are looking forward to moving forward.

You should expect to see the sign changed in the next few weeks.  If you have considered joining us sometime, come visit us the next two weeks in Pangburn or come see us February 1st at 2674 Wilburn Road, Heber Springs, AR.

I have included a slideshow below w
ith a few pictures of some of the work done in the fellowship hall.

God Bless,

Tony Floyd


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"A Personal Journey In Missions"  Marshall Smithson

8/16/2014

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As we look at the “missions” landscape within the evangelical church, we can see a broad definition being used as we look at outreach around the world.  We call anything “missions” that takes us out of our own local environment and that is aimed at meeting the needs of people worse off than ourselves.

We have organizations that focus on medical needs.  We have others that seek to provide clean water for people groups in Africa.  We have many who put their efforts into feeding the poor both here at home and abroad.  Still others seek to build orphanages to house the growing number of children needing a home and family.

I suppose that all of these things have their place.  They all seek to show compassion and to meet the needs of those in the midst of physical suffering.  I fear though, that we have lost sight of what missions should really be.  I fear that we have replaced the spiritual with the physical; the eternal with the temporal; the heavenly with the earthly.

As I have had the opportunity to be involved with short-term missions over the last several years, I have been forced to reevaluate my own philosophy of missions.  It all became clear to me several years ago while on one of these trips. Here is my story:

As I stepped off of the airplane in Kathmandu, Nepal, the reality of what I was going be experiencing became very real very quickly.  The air was filled with the stench of burning human flesh and hair.  The air was filled with smoke from the cremation fires that were burning.  You had to step over human waste in the streets and there were open sewers along the streets.  People who had been disfigured by terrible diseases begged on the streets.  The water was undrinkable and the food had to be cooked “well”.

When I first arrived, the excitement of being in a new place and meeting new people caused me to not consider too much all that was around me or to consider the ministry implications.  By the time my seven week trip was over, my mission philosophy had been set in stone.

We were conducting a short-term pastor training school.  For six weeks, men from the United States came over and taught these men so that they might be better prepared for the ministry.  At the end of this time, I was left alone with the locals to go to visit the places where churches were to be planted.  Each day we would travel to a village where these men would be ministering.  On the last day, the decision was made that the last village to be visited was too far and the terrain was too rough for us to get there in a timely fashion. Instead, we decided to visit this pastor’s home village.

We drove to spot along the river.  You could look across the river and in the distance you could make out the thatched and tin roofs of the houses in the village two miles away.  It was the dry season so we were able to wade across the river and work our way to the village.  As we got closer, I began to notice a change.  There were beautiful crops growing in the dry river bed. Men were hard at work in the fields.  There was no more garbage or human waste in the streets.  The air was clear and there were no more cremation fires.

We were invited to sit in the shade on the porch of one of the houses.  You could see that the dirt roads were clean.  The houses were kept very well even with their dirt floors.  There was a completely different feeling about this village.

Not trying to be too mystical, as I sat on the porch and the clean breeze from the river blew across my face, it was as though the Spirit of God was in that place.  It was like we had stepped out of the darkness and had stepped into the light.  It made me want to weep.

The explanation came when one of the locals shared with me the history of the village.  He told how the founders of this village had come to settle there after being persecuted and driven from their land for being Christians in a Hindu land.  This had taken place two generations before.  It had made such a difference.

At that moment it dawned on me.  The Gospel had made all the difference.

Now I do not believe for a moment that everyone in that little society was a true believer. But, I do believe that the Gospel had made such an impact that every area of that society was influenced by it.

My conclusion is this;

If you want the people to have clean water, preach the Gospel.

If you want the people to have more food, preach Gospel.

If you want the people to develop medical care, preach the Gospel.

If you want to have clean streets preach the Gospel.

If you want to stop the spread of AIDS, preach the Gospel.

If you want to stop abortion, preach the Gospel.

If you want to curb the spread of the homosexual agenda, preach the Gospel.

 And the list could go on.

You may ask how I can come to this conclusion.  It is because believers believe in doing all things well and unto the Lord. Believers believe in working with their hand and providing for their families.  Believers believe in the sanctity of human life.  Believers believe in sexual purity before marriage and fidelity in marriage.  Believers believe homosexuality is a sin. Believers believe that Christ is the only way.

When the Gospel is preached and hearts are changed, it affects every aspect of the society.

If our projects do not have the Gospel as its purpose and motivation, it should not be called missions.

Should these other things be left undone?  That question I cannot answer.  But one thing I do know…..


”And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Mt.28

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