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Cecil Andrews, 29 Edengrove Park, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AZ, Northern Ireland Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net Quick Links - Home - Assorted Articles - Audio/Video - Ministry Newsletters - Words of Wisdom |
The warped ‘wit and wisdom’ of Adam Harbinson
In recent weeks I have addressed
the issue of those who claim to be Christian but who are comfortable to endorse
the view that a sexually active homosexual lifestyle is perfectly compatible
with a profession made by someone to their being a Christian. In one case
it was a group known as Changing Attitude Ireland and my article
responding to their views can be accessed on http://www.takeheed.net/
Yet again I am having to return to
this subject as I was sent the newspaper column that appeared in the Bangor
Spectator of Thursday 23rd October 2008. The regular column by
supposed Christian, Adam Harbinson is known as ‘Wit and
wisdom’.
In our December 2002 newsletter I
wrote a short article entitled The ‘sin’ of Adam and
in it I challenged some other published unscriptural views that had been penned
by Adam Harbinson – that short article can be accessed by scrolling
through the newsletter located on this link http://www.takeheed.net/News_From_The_Front/news24.htm
For the purpose of this article I
plan to reproduce Mr Harbinson’s article of 23rd October and as we
move through it I will address and biblically challenge some assertions that he
makes in his article.
Good news for God’s homosexual children:
Bad news for some Christians.
First off, let me state categorically that God does not
hate homosexuals; he doesn’t hate anyone, How could He, He is love. It’s
probably also worth saying that to claim to hate homosexuality but love the
homosexual is hypocritical in the extreme. Can you separate what the person is
from who the person is?
God’s Word declares that a true
child of God is one who “purifieth himself even as he (God) is pure” [1st
John 3:3]’ God’s Word also says “To everything there is a season…a time to love
and a time to hate” [Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 8], it says
“I loved Jacob and I hated Esau” [Malachi 1:2-3: Romans 9:13] and it also says “Ye who love the Lord, hate evil”
[Psalm 97:10].
Matthew Henry in the course of
commenting on this Psalm 97 wrote ‘It is God’s holiness WHICH, ABOVE
ALL HIS ATTRIBUTES, the angels celebrate (Isaiah 6:3 Holy, Holy Holy) Sinners
tremble but Saints rejoice at the remembrance of God’s holiness’ (Psalm 30:4)
As to ‘separating what the
person is from who the person is’ the Lord Himself demonstrated this in
Mark’s account of the story of the rich young ruler – in Mark 10:21 we read
“Then Jesus beholding him, loved him” – Matthew Henry comments ‘Christ
had a kindness for him…Christ particularly loves to see young people and rich
people asking the way to heaven’ - but by confronting the rich
young ruler with aspects and requirements of God’s law in verse 19 and by this
means thus identifying this young man’s underlying sin we read of the young
man’s reaction in verse 22 that “he was sad at that saying and went away
grieved” [Cecil’s comment – does any true believer ever depart “sad”
and “grieved” after an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ?]. Here, in
this story, the Lord demonstrates not only His love for the young man but also
His hatred of his sin.
The arrogance and self-righteousness of some people who call themselves Christian is breathtaking. They single out people who are not like them, they marginalize them, they label them as pariahs, they thoughtlessly use words like ‘abomination’ and the nauseating thing is that they seek to legitimate their narrow views by misinterpreting the Bible. And to make matters worse, when those marginalized people are beaten up on the street or when their homes are attacked or when their despair drives them to suicide, they wring their hands in horror and say, ‘How could it be anything to do with what I said?’ – now they’re being disingenuous as well as arrogant and self righteous.
I just wonder what planet Mr
Harbinson is living on. For him all the problems associated with the ‘gay’
issue stem apparently from Christians speaking and behaving as God Himself
speaks and tells His people how to behave on this issue. When asked for their
views on homosexual behaviour it is perfectly right and biblical for a
Christian to describe such as an ‘abomination’ (this is one example of how they
are to be “salt and light” [Matthew 5:13-14]) and a good example earlier this
year would be MLA Iris Robinson’s response to that effect when questioned
specifically on this issue. That response provoked much controversy but Iris,
as a professing and practicing Christian, was simply stating how God views such
behaviour. Mr Harbinson accuses such biblically-based views as being arrived at
by ‘misinterpreting the bible’ and yet later in his article he concedes
that God does declare homosexual behaviour to be an ‘abomination’ in for
example Leviticus 18:22. Physical attacks on ‘gays’ are not sanctioned or
carried out by true Christians and such action has rightly been condemned by
the likes of Iris Robinson and Free Presbyterian minister, David McIlveen, who
has regularly spoken publicly on this issue. It’s amazing that in his article
Adam Harbinson makes no reference to the openly offensive and blasphemous
behaviour during the many so-called ‘Gay-Pride Marches’ that snake through many
cities including Belfast and where banners provocatively proclaiming the Lord
Jesus Christ to be ‘gay’ or ‘a faggot’ are waived under the noses of peaceful
protesting Christians. I wonder too will Mr Harbinson address the emergence of
a ‘gay’ group called ‘Bash Back’ that on 9th November
attacked a church in Michigan USA – there were shouts of ‘Jesus was gay’ and
two lesbians entered the pulpit and began kissing. A report of the incident can
be read on
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=80743
True Christians are very aware
that they are not ‘self-righteous’ but rather they rejoice in Jehovah Tsidkenu
“The Lord Our Righteousness” [Jeremiah 23:6; 33:16]. The Apostle Paul who was
inspired by God to write much about immorality in all its sinful forms
including homosexual practice far from being ‘self righteous’ wrote of
his personal hope of being “found in him (Christ) not having mine own
righteousness…but that (righteousness) which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness WHICH IS OF GOD by faith” [Philippians 3:9]. Is it ‘arrogant’ of Christians to publicly
identify when people are clearly sinning before God – the Apostle Paul
obviously did not view it like that when on one occasion he wrote in his letter
to the Galatians “Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the
truth” [Galatians 4:16] – ‘Arrogance’ was
not on Paul’s ‘radar’.
We have long known that certain brands of Christian fundamentalism have convinced themselves that homosexual people can and must be ‘healed’, but I heard a minister on TV the other night say that something that can only have been incubated in some dark corner of a dubious theological college. I can see where their belief that homosexuals are an ‘abomination’ comes from, although some serious intellectual contortions and blind spots are called for to reach that conclusion. But this man went totally beyond the pale, claiming that unless they are ‘healed’ they cannot be Christians and are bound for eternal damnation. What he was really saying was, ‘If you want God to love you, you have to be like me’.
The reality is that all sinners, if they are to be with God for eternity in heaven need to be ‘saved’. It’s interesting that the Lord in Matthew 9:12 spoke of His mission against a backdrop of using medical, healing terminology. He said in Matthew 9:12-13 “They that are well need not a physician but they that are sick…I am not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance”. The Lord clearly likened sinners to being like people who are sick and who need to be ‘healed’.
Mr Harbinson wrote ‘But this
man went totally beyond the pale, claiming that unless they are ‘healed’ they
cannot be Christians and are bound for eternal damnation’. Did this
minister go ‘totally beyond the pale?’ – not according to the words of
the Lord Jesus to a gathering of people in Luke 13:3&5 “Except ye repent ye
shall ALL likewise perish”.
Mr Harbinson’s paraphrasing of the
minister’s message in these words ‘If you want God to love you, you have to
be like me’ is I believe a distortion of what he has reported the minister
as having said and I’m sure the minister would be horrified by this distortion
of what he reportedly said. Any faithful minister of the gospel will simply
preach the truth that if a sinner does not seek God’s forgiveness for his sins,
whether they be of an immoral homosexual nature, or of an immoral heterosexual
nature, or of any other kind of sinful breaking of God’s law, then that person
will “die in their sins” [John 8:24] and
in consequence that person “cannot come to where Jesus has gone (heaven)”
[John 8:21-22]
Now I know I risk making a
few more enemies just now, but if you share this minister’s view, can I ask you
to suspend your convictions for just a minute, can you allow for the
possibility that they might be built on a misunderstanding of Scripture. Let me
ask a couple of questions. We all believe that Jesus died for the sins of the
world, don’t we? So who says some sins are so loathsome that he wouldn’t or
couldn’t forgive them? And who decides which sins are loathsome and which
aren’t?
God’s Word says the following about the sins that the Lord Jesus Christ atoned for when He endured His Father’s just wrath against sin when He died as a sacrificial substitute on the Cross of Calvary.
“Thou shalt call his name
Jesus for he shall save HIS PEOPLE from their sins” [Matthew 1:21]
“The Son of man came not
to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom FOR MANY”
[Matthew 20:28; Mark 10:45]
“this is my blood of the
new testament which is shed FOR MANY for the remission of sins” [Matthew 26:28]
“feed THE CHURCH OF GOD
which he hath purchased with his own blood2 [Acts 20:28]
“I am the good shepherd;
the good shepherd giveth his life FOR THE SHEEP” [John 10:11]
“I am the good shepherd
and KNOW MY SHEEP and am known OF MINE” [John 10:14]
“Ye believe not BECAUSE YE
ARE NOT OF MY SHEEP” [John 10:26]
“All things are delivered
unto me by my Father, and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither
knoweth any man the Father except the Son, and he TO WHOM THE SON will reveal
him” [Matthew 11:27]
As for some sins being
‘loathsome’ as Mr Harbinson puts it, God Himself identifies certain sins
such as homosexual practice (Leviticus 18:22) and occultic practice
(Deuteronomy 18:9-14) as being an ‘abomination’ which means they are particularly
repulsive and ‘loathsome’ in His sight.
Paul and Silas told the
prison governor ‘Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved’. Jesus
told the thief on the cross, ‘Today you will be with me..’ but the minister
added his own homophobic condition – ‘You have to believe and be straight!’
Where did that come from if not a mind full of fear, prejudice and hatred?
Once more I believe Mr Harbinson
is guilty of distorting what the minister reportedly said when he writes that
for someone to be with Christ in paradise, as was the Saviour’s promise to the
repentant thief, he adds a supposed ‘homophobic condition’ imposed by
the minister. The reality is that if a sinner does not repent of their sins and
believe the gospel to the saving of their soul then they will not go to
heaven/paradise but will go to hell – that is God’s clear message in 1st
Corinthians 6:9-10 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the
kingdom of God? BE NOT DECEIVED: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor
adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves
nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the
kingdom of God”. The reality is that “If any man be (truly) in Christ he
is a new creation; old (sinful) things are passed away; behold all
things (passions and pursuits) are become new” [2nd
Corinthians 5:17]. We might in turn ask – where do Mr Harbinson’s views come
from and perhaps Isaiah 5:21 might supply the
answer to that, particularly in the light of the preceding verse.
I acknowledge the Scripture
in Leviticus that says; ‘You shall not lie with a male as with a woman. It is
an abomination,’ but did you know that word abomination appears 117 times in
the Bible and only once does it refer to same sex relationships? And did you
know that the ‘A’ word also applies to eating rabbit meat and shellfish? So why
ignore the other 116 abominations? And of course Jesus was silent on the
subject. Could there be a reason for that?
If Mr Harbinson did truly ‘acknowledge
the Scripture in Leviticus that says; ‘You shall not lie with a male as with a
woman. It is an abomination,’ there would be no possible way that he could
so forcefully rebuke those Christians who use this biblical word ‘abomination’
when expressing the Christian/God’s view of homosexual behaviour and
practice so his token ‘acknowledgment’ is not worth the Spectator paper
that it was written on. Mr Harbinson goes on to try and belittle the severity
of just how abominable homosexual practice is in the sight of God by adopting
the ‘gay’ approach of referring to other practices that were described in the
Bible as being ‘abominable’ and yet to our way of thinking might seem pretty
ridiculous and he cites by way of example ‘did you know that the ‘A’ word
also applies to eating rabbit meat and shellfish?’ In my earlier article
about ‘Changing Attitude Ireland’ I quoted from a letter published in the
Belfast Telegraph where a Christian called John Montgomery (known personally to
me) wrote ‘Many of the rules given to Israel during their wilderness
wanderings were specifically for their health and welfare in that particular
situation. Some were ceremonial laws for the Jews and were fulfilled in Christ
and abolished (Colossians 2:13-17). However the moral law summed up in the Ten
Commandments is perpetually binding on all mankind. The New Testament makes it
clear that theft, murder, fornication, adultery and homosexual practices are
sinful and if not repented of will exclude people from the Kingdom of God’ (1st
Corinthians 6:9-10). Mr
Harbinson, like those from the ‘gay’ community has failed to grasp the
difference between God’s timeless and enduring moral law and what were His
temporary and expedient dietary regulations that were imposed for a specific
environmental situation. Mr Harbinson claims that ‘Jesus was silent on the
subject. Could there be a reason for that’ – Mr Harbinson is wrong to say
that the Lord Jesus was silent for when it came to the matter of God’s law the
Lord Jesus declared “Think not that I am come to destroy the law…I am not come
to destroy…Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no way
pass from the law” [Matthew 5:17-18].
The news is good folks, the
golden thread that runs through the true Christian faith is this; God created
us all, all in his image, all loved equally and all died for by Jesus And the
bad news? Well, the bad news for that particular minister and thousands like
him is that like it or lump it, he will have to spend eternity with millions of
God’s gay children– on the assumption of course that he makes it past the
Pearly gates.
Is Mr Harbinson right to assert by
way of ‘good news’ this universal, all-embracing approach by God to every
single individual without any exception whatsoever? The following scriptures
would certainly challenge that assertion on his part –
“I (Jesus) have manifested thy
name unto THE MEN WHOM THOU GAVEST ME out of the world…I pray FOR THEM; I
pray NOT FOR THE WORLD but FOR THEM WHOM THOU HAST GIVEN ME…Neither pray I
for these alone, but FOR THEM ALSO WHO SHALL BELIEVE ON ME through their
word…Father I will that THEY ALSO WHOM THOU HAST GIVEN ME be with me where I
am” [John 17: 6-24].
I believe it’s very important to keep in mind the context in which the Lord Jesus is praying these words here in John 17 – the context is that He is moving from His role, that has since His baptism been as God’s ‘prophet’, to His role now as God’s ‘priest’ where He is preparing to offer Himself as a sacrifice to atone for the sins of His people and in that context He does NOT pray for the world but rather He prays specifically for those chosen by and given to Him by His Father.
Then, contrary to Mr Harbinson’s
claimed ‘bad news’, the truly ‘good news’ for God and His true people is
that when it comes to the inhabitants of heaven “There shall in no way enter
into it anything that defileth, neither HE THAT WORKETH ABOMINATION, or maketh
a lie but they who are written in the Lamb’s book of life” [Revelation 21:27].
Will there be any in heaven who at some stage whilst here on earth
engaged in homosexual activity – God’s word says ‘yes’ for we read after ‘the
list’ of sinners mentioned earlier in 1st Corinthians 6:9-10 “And
such WERE some of you; but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are
justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” [verse 11]. When
any sinner of whatever ilk is truly “born again of the Spirit of God” they are
all equally “blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ
“ [Ephesians 1:3].
Do genuine Christians seek to
forsake their former sinful, immoral ways – they most certainly do for Peter
writes in 1st Peter 1:14-15 “As obedient children, NOT fashioning
yourselves ACCORDING TO THE FORMER LUSTS in your ignorance, but as he which
hath called you is holy, SO BE YE HOLY IN ALL manner of conversation”. Matthew Henry comments ‘The best
of God’s children have had their times of lust and ignorance; the time has
been…when their way and fashion was to accommodate and gratify their unlawful
desires and vicious appetites… Persons when converted differ exceedingly from
what they were formerly. They are people of another fashion and manner from
what they were before’.
Contrary to what Mr Harbinson
claims, there will not be in heaven millions of unrepentant and sexually-active
‘gay children’ of God anymore than there will be millions of unrepentant
murderous or unrepentant thieving or unrepentant adulterous or unrepentant
sinners of whatever shade or brand in the glory to come. To teach as Mr
Harbinson does is to see a fulfilment in our day and generation of the warning
found in Jude 4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares…ungodly men,
turning the grace of God into lasciviousness”.
Obviously I have no certain idea
of ‘that particular minister’ that Mr Harbinson took issue with so
strongly but it is clear from other articles that Mr Harbinson has no time
for for instance the public biblical stance that David McIlveen, minister
of Sandown Road Free Presbyterian Church takes on a range of issues. I know
this because in Mr Harbinson’s ‘Wit and wisdom’ of 11th September
2008 he mocked the public witness that Mr McIlveen and some of his parishioners
gave near the Oval football ground in Belfast when for the first time a competitive
Irish League soccer match was held on a Sunday. In the article he refers to
an imaginary dream he has where Jesus takes part in a football match with
a bunch of lads and he writes ‘towards the end of the match Jesus heard
the sound of singing wafting in the still Sunday afternoon air “Are you washed
in the blood” and he thought “O dear God, not them again”. These few lines
speak volumes to Mr Harbinson’s contempt for “all that will live Godly in
Christ Jesus” [2nd Timothy 3:12]. That being the case I’ve no doubt
Mr Harbinson would have no time for David McIlveen’s contribution to a televised
debate with a lesbian ‘Bishop’ on the subject of ‘Gay christians’. I have
just posted this debate to our website and I would encourage God’s people
to take the time [about 90 minutes] to watch this debate as it will enlighten
and equip them for this ‘battle’ that continues to rage. The debate can be
accessed on this link The
'gay christian' TV debate
In conclusion I am convinced that
the root cause of Mr Harbinson’s blindness on this issue (and other issues that
he has addressed over time in his column) is his failure to understand and
appreciate the supreme attribute of the true God of heaven. Mr Harbinson is one
of those who sing from the hymn sheet that has only one line written on it – ‘God
is love’ – he stated as much in the opening paragraph of this article that we
have just examined and also in his column of 24th February 2005.
Then Mr Harbinson wrote -
In an article entitled ‘It’s
a long way from your head to your heart’ Mr Harbinson wrote ‘As a child
Tony was encouraged to be a free thinker and a forthright speaker…And so, when
his Sunday school teacher told the class “God is angry” the precocious
nine-year-old jumped to his feet and protested. “No He’s not. God is love”. And
the boy was right. [Cecil’s comment – My Bible tells
me in Psalm 7:11 that “God is angry with the wicked every day” – and who would
God classify as “wicked”? – well I think those mentioned specifically in 1st
Corinthians 6:9-10. “The unrighteous… fornicators… idolaters… adulterers…
effeminate… self-abusers with mankind… thieves… covetous… drunkards… revilers
and extortioners” I believe they would certainly be the subject of God’s anger
“every day”]
Brennan
Manning [Cecil’s comment –Brennan Manning is someone who
like Steve Chalke denies ’penal substitution’ – the saving truth at the very
heart of the Christian Gospel. Former Roman Catholic, Mike Gendron wrote a
helpful report on other worrying views of Brennan Manning and it can be
accessed on http://www.reachingcatholics.org/beware.html]
goes further. He says that since God is love, THAT’S ALL he
can do – he ONLY ever loves and I THINK HE’S RIGHT too’.
I have made reference to Steve Chalke and in articles that I wrote about his view that God is ONLY love I exposed the error of his thinking on this matter. I will now close this particular article by repeating here some of my thoughts from that article published back in March 2005 as I believe they apply equally today to Adam Harbinson and identify very clearly his warped ‘Wit and wisdom’.
In another article that I
wrote recently called ‘Moral Crusades and The Gospel’ I quoted a saying
by a former Pastor of mine. Well once more I want to quote one of the sayings
of this former Pastor and it was this ‘When a half-truth is proclaimed as
the whole truth it becomes a lie’. Why do I quote this saying? Well at the
heart of Steve Chalke’s book ‘The Lost Message of Jesus’ I
believe that ‘a half-truth is being proclaimed as the whole truth and as a
result it has become a lie’. On page 63 Steve Chalke writes ‘The
Bible never defines God as anger, power or judgement – in fact it never
defines him as anything other than love. But more than that it never makes
assertions about his anger, power or judgement independently of his love. So,
though we read about his various attributes, in reality they are, as Karl Barth
points out never more than “repetitions and amplifications of the one statement
that God loves”.’
In this statement Steve
Chalke acknowledges that the Bible does reveal some of the ‘attributes’ of
God as being ‘anger, power and judgement’ but he
asserts, along with Karl Barth, that the one factor that guides God when
exercising His ‘attributes’ is His ‘love’ so that
any exercise of ‘anger, power or judgement’ is in reality an
expression or as Karl Barth puts it a ‘repetition and amplification’
of God acting in ‘love’. Can I just say that I find that
assertion ‘hard to swallow’ when I read of how God moved in ‘anger, power
and judgement’ against the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Was it really God’s ‘love’ that caused Him to exercise His
attributes of ‘anger, power and judgement’ when He
rained down fire and brimstone [see Genesis 19:15-29 and Jude 7] upon these
dens of iniquity and destroyed them?
I do believe that there is
a factor that does guide God when He exercises His ‘attributes’,
but I do not believe that it is His ‘love’ and in fact I believe
that His ‘love’ is itself guided by this other factor. Steve
Chalke wrote that in the Bible ‘it never defines him [God] as
anything other than love’. THIS IS SIMPLY NOT TRUE! In my Bible I read
this truth in 1 John 1:5 “GOD IS LIGHT and in him is no darkness at all”
and Paul, writing to Timothy in 1 Timothy 6:16 speaks of God “dwelling
in the light which no man can approach unto”.
What truth did John, under
divine inspiration, want to convey when he wrote, “God is light and in him
is no darkness at all?” To answer that let me quote Pastor John MacArthur
from his devotional thoughts for October 4 in his book ‘Strength for
Today’ when he considers the verse 1 John 1:5 “God is light and in him
is no darkness at all” – Pastor MacArthur wrote ‘Light and
darkness are familiar metaphors in Scripture. Intellectually, light refers to
truth, and darkness to error; morally light refers to holiness, and darkness to
evil. Intellectually, the Bible reveals God as the God of truth…Morally, light
describes God’s absolute holiness and separation from evil…Understanding the
truth that “God is light” is foundational to dealing with sin in our lives.’ I
would like to add to this last statement and to say that ‘Understanding
the truth that “God is light” is foundational to God’s dealing with our sin’.
The truth that the Bible
reveals as being the guiding factor for God as He exercises His ‘attributes’
is not as Steve Chalke asserts God’s ‘love’ but rather it
is God’s ‘holiness’ – an inherent ‘holiness’ that
totally sets Him apart from His whole creation. Jesus Christ was “Emmanuel…God
with us” [Matthew 1:23] and He was “God…manifest in the flesh’ [1
Timothy 3:16] and John MacArthur gives this telling explanation concerning
the Incarnate Christ in his book ‘The Murder of Jesus’ [p71-72] - ‘When
Christ took on human flesh, he also took on Himself all the natural weaknesses
of humanity – except those that are inherently sinful. Hebrews 4:15 says “For
we do not have an high priest who cannot be touched with the feeling of our
infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without
sin”…Christ experienced every infirmity of human nature except for sin’.
This explanation by Pastor MacArthur explains why Christ could declare in John
8:12 “I am the light of the world” and why He could say in John 14:30
“the prince [of darkness – Acts 26:18] of this world cometh and hath
nothing in me”. Jesus Christ, the one in whose resurrected presence Thomas
confessed “My Lord and my God” [John 20:28], is supremely “holy,
harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners” [Hebrews 7:26]. In His presence,
we read that Peter one day “fell down
at Jesus’ knees saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man O Lord” [Luke
5:8]. In the parable of the Pharisee and the publican we read in Luke
18:13 “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his
eyes unto heaven, but smote his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a
sinner”. Why did Peter and the publican both react in such a fashion – they
had become aware of the ‘holiness’ of God. Their eyes had been
opened to recognise the truth that “God is light and in him is no darkness
at all”.
Another character in the
Bible, the prophet Isaiah, was like-wise compelled to cry out one day in
anguish of soul, “Woe is me! For I am undone, because I am a man of unclean
lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for mine eyes have
seen the King, the Lord of hosts” [Isaiah 6:5]. Isaiah had been granted a
vision of God in His heaven and was it God’s ‘love’ that caused
him to cry out in anguish – absolutely not! In that vision, the angelic beings
around the Throne of God were not crying out ‘love, love, love’ –
no – they were crying out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts” [Isaiah
6:3]. Isaiah had received an overwhelming revelation of the absolute ‘holiness’
of God that is perfectly summed up in 1 John 1:5 that “God is
light and in him is no darkness at all”.
Having watched the God of
Heaven move in ‘anger, power and judgement’ against
the pursuing armies of Pharaoh by drowning them in the Red Sea [Exodus 14:
13-31] we read in Exodus 15:1-10 that “Then sang Moses and the
children of Israel this song unto the Lord…The Lord is my strength…he is become
my salvation…The Lord is a man of war; the Lord is his name. Pharaoh’s chariots
and his host hath he cast into the sea…Thy right hand O Lord is become glorious
in power; thy right hand O Lord hath dashed in pieces the enemy…thou sentest
forth thy wrath which consumed them as stubble…Thou didst blow with thy wind;
the sea covered them; they sank as lead in the mighty waters”. Can anyone
doubt that this was God exercising His ‘attributes’ of ‘anger,
power and judgement’? Steve Chalke and Karl Barth would
have us believe that it was God’s ‘love’ that influenced Him to
take such action but verse 11 of Exodus 15 tells quite a
different story for the “song” concisely sums up God’s actions
against the Egyptians with these words “Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among
the gods? Who is like thee, GLORIOUS IN HOLINESS, fearful in praises, doing
wonders”? God’s move against Pharaoh’s army was influenced not by His ‘love’
but by His glorious [majestic] ‘holiness’…
I mentioned that Steve
Chalke’s assertion that in the Bible ‘it never defines him [God] as
anything other than love’ was in effect a lie. It was a lie that
ignored the revealed biblical truth that “God is light and in him is no
darkness at all”. Who would want to cover up this truth of God being “light”?
The answer is that those who “preach another Jesus [and] have
received another spirit [and] another gospel” [2 Corinthians 11:4]. Who
are such people? “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ” [2 Corinthians 11:13]. Should
God’s people be surprised at such happenings? “And no marvel; for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing
if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose
end shall be according to their works” [2 Corinthians 11:14-15].
There’s an old saying ‘Don’t
believe everything you read in the papers’ and I certainly believe this has
particular application when it comes to Adam Harbinson and his own brand of
‘Wit and wisdom’.
Cecil
Andrews – ‘Take Heed’ Ministries – 20th November 2008
PS I had literally just finished
writing this article when I received an email from my brother in Christ and
fellow contender, Ken Silva, directing me to a short article that he had just
penned. This is the link to it
and this article by Ken serves to
show that this growing acceptance and promotion of the notion of sexually
active ‘gay christians’ by supposed Christians is having a global impact.