The Pastor's Letter (August/September 1978)
Dear Friends,
When the apostle Paul invited a "curse" upon his head if he ever preached another gospel, he was, surely, setting an eternal pattern for the believer's attitude towards the Word of God and the words of men. "But if we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you ... let him be accursed." The apostle Paul was, of course, fully persuaded that what he was preaching was the Word of God; but what he is pressing home to his readers is the absolute necessity of their being fully persuaded, as well. If they fail in this, then they are in every danger of being carried away from the truth of God to the mere opinions of men simply on account of the accepted "standing" of those men via their reputations, etc. Paul is really saying, "When you hear us preach and teach, you are not to ask yourself, 'who is this that is preaching?' but you are to ask yourself, 'what is this that is being preached?' And if we are found preaching anything other than the sincere word of God as God has graciously revealed it to us, then, lay your anathemas at our feet - let us be accursed."
Now the importance of that principle for our day when the cult of "personality" is so dominant cannot be stressed enough. How many denominations, and churches, and individuals are led in completely unscriptural paths because some minister or leader proclaims that it is a safe path to travel? The deciding factor is much that has been entered into by various church bodies has not been the word of God but the words of men. And so often, the reason that these words have been accepted and acted upon has been on account of the mere personality, position, or reputation of those who uttered them. Implicit trust has so often been placed in the guidance of men without one reference to the word of God. And sadder still, very often the implicit trust is based upon what those men may have believed or said at an earlier and more vital time in their Christian profession, - a position, perhaps, long-since abandoned. "See how the mighty are fallen," is a sad word that can eventually serve as a spiritual epitaph for some who have done valiantly in an earlier day of the Christian war, but who have now virtually surrendered their swords to the trumpet call of popular opinion or ecclesiastical acclaim. May God keep us all faithful to His word.