“Not Afraid to Tell the Truth”: Exposing Apostasy and the Conspiracy of Silence in the Last Days!

Copyright © 2011 by Ken M. Schmidt.

ISBN: Softcover    978-1-4653-3448-0

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Contents

Introduction / Dedication

(Part 1)Wretched

Wretched because we have ignored the Word of God and neglected sound Doctrine

Ch    Description

1    An overview of the Wretched condition and Apostasy of today.

2    The Scourge of New-Evangelicalism

3    What is Progressive Dispensationalism?

4    Understanding Dispensational Divisions . . .

5    Church History and the Seven Churches, (Church Periods)

6    Billy Graham, the Pope, and the Bible

7    The End of the Age?

8    Last Words to a Dying Church

9    Countdown to the Rapture

10    The Final Dispensation

11    CRASH COURSE ON THE ARAB ISRAELI CONFLICT

12    What is replacement theology?

13    Israel Update

14    THE BATTLE OF ARMAGEDDON

15    Israel: Past, Present, and Future.

16    Determining the True from the False. Israel /The Church

17    Death may give Peace a chance

    Chapter Warnings

(Part 2)Pitiful

Pitiful because we have neglected and misinterpreted the discipleship process

18    False Teachings, New Movements

19    PsychoHeresy and the Myth of Mental Illness:

20    The Third Wave Movement, C. Peter Wagner, and other Heretical Movements

21    Why Heretical Teachings?

22    Dominion & Reconstruction Teachings, Prayer/ and the Word . . .

23    Third Wave and Other Heretical Movements . . . (Blame Catholic Pope for Charismatics?)

24    Open Letter to Coach Bill McCartney, (The Masculine Journey)

25    Dominion Theology/Kingdom Now/Reconstructionism, Blessing or Curse?*

26    Coalition On Revival (COR) A Revival of Old Testament Law*

27    Ecumenism: What is it, and who’s involved?

28    A Critique of the New Deceivers:

29    True Church/False Church and what is the Pope up to?

30    False Predictions for the times:

31    Late Breaking Developments in the World of Deception

32    What’s New with C.Peter Wagner?

33    What Is the AD2000 Strategy and who makes up its Task Force?

34    Late Breaking Developments: ( May 28th. 1995)

35    Is What You See (or hear) what You Get?

    Chapter Warnings

(Part 3)POOR

Poor though you think you are rich - (Rev 17, 1a)

36    Mind Control in My Church?

37    Do You See What I See?

36    Mind over Matter . . . (Parts Excerpted from Part 2 of Pitiful)

37    A SOFT AND EFFEMINATE CHRISTIANITYBy Horatius Bonar, 1808-1889http://www.stempublishing.com/hymns/biographies/bonar.html

38    Christian Psychology?

40    John R. W. Stott, Dr. James Dobson & Focus on the Family.

41    The New Pied Piper

41    Psycho-Religion, (The New Pied Piper)

43    The Inner Healing Movement

44    What have we done with the Truth? (Total Depravity) . . .

45    Holy Spirit or Professional Counseling? . . .

46    Substitutions, which rob us of our Liberty in Christ . . .

47    More Substitutions, which rob us of our faith & position in Christ;

48    The Heart of New Evangelicalism

49    A MOOD OF NEUTRALISM

50    Warnings . . .

(Part 4)BLIND

Blind because we have closed our eyes of (Compassion) for the Lost & relegated our discernment to the elite…

51    Disciples or Witnesses? (What’s the difference)?

52    Disciples or Followers?

52    Disciples or Followers

53    Dual Gospels

54    Church Gospel

55    You shall be my Witnesses!

56    We are Ambassadors:

57    Great Commission or Gospel of Reconciliation?

58    Israel and the Church Contrasted

59    Sermon on the Mount, Lord’s Prayer & other Teachings, are they for the Church today? (Portions from Appendix A)

60    Heavenly Kingdom/Earthly Kingdom

61    Reconstructionism in Review

62    New Mandates or old deception?

63    Our Present Position or Position Unknown?

64    Our Glorious Gospel (The Gospel of Grace)

65    How the Glorious Gospel came to us . . . In defense of THE FAITH . . .

66    A Few Words about Grace

67    The Professing/Possessing Church . . .

    Chapter Warnings

(Part 5)Naked

Because we have clothed ourselves in unrighteousness; (Pride)

68    America’s Real Roots

69    Is America a Christian nation?

70    American Masonic History

71    The Rockefeller / Heritage connection

72    Christian Activism?"/Neo-Evangelicalism

73    Contemporary Values: Home/Family . . .

74    Christian Coalition

75    Educational Relativism

76    Outcome Based Curriculum

77    Political Despotism

78    Society-Morals & Morays . . . From Rationalism to Postmodernism

79    The World Christian Movement

80    Kingdom Now—The Charismatic Dominionists . . .

81    John MacArthur’s Dispensationalism:

82    False Assumptions/Mandates

83    Calls to Holiness/Change the World etc. (Who said so?) . . .

84    The Great Cover Up . . .

85    Ignore the Facts/Malign the Truth . . .

    Chapter Warnings

(Part 6)Remedy

Because of His Great Love (The Lord’s Mercies) we are not consumed—(La 3:22)

86    No Formulas

87    A Declaration of Dependence . . . Affirming our Position in Christ!

88    Cleansing the Temple . . . (The Sufficiency of Christ) . . .

89    The Blood Never Looses its Power

90    How to Receive: The Discipline of the Lord . . .

91    Gold Refined in the Fire, that you may become Rich! . . .

92    White Clothes to wear, to cover your Nakedness! . . .

93    Salve For your Eyes, (Truth) So that you can see

94    How Spiritual Conflict produces Growth & Maturity . . .

95    Final Warnings/Partial Contrasts Summary

Appendixes

Appendix A    "All Scripture is Profitable but…

Appendix B    Shame and solace – New Life Church

Appendix C    The Evangelical Seduction"

Appendix D    The Growth of Faith

Appendix E    Evangelicals and Catholics Together ECT

Appendix F    Truth wrapped in amillennial allegory by Family Radio

Appendix G    The Ecumenical Movement

Appendix I    Introductory Notes to the Epistles of Paul

Charts & Illustrations:

Dispensational Time Line

70 Weeks Daniel 9:24-27

The Mystery of Christ

The Interposed Heavenly Calling

Jew, Gentile & Church during ACTS Period

Times of the Anti-Christ

The Millennial Kingdom

About The Author

Introduction / Dedication

This book was originally intended to be (a 3 Volume set or Trilogy, but has been shortened to a single volume and edited for publication as a single title), Not afraid To Tell The Truth which could be subtitled: Exposing the conspiracy of silence in the Last Days, it is not a book about discipleship necessarily, nor is it a book you could use as a guideline for counseling; rather it is a book written with the intention of shedding light upon (13) contrasting themes running through the whole of God’s Word, which the author believes have become confused by Western Christian wrong thinking, preaching and practice in the last days of the Church age*. False teachers and heretical teachings have crept into the Church unawares bringing with it a form of captivity similar to the captivity of the nation Israel, but with far graver consequences.

The Lord Jesus Christ describes the spiritual conditions at the end of the Church age* in (Revelation 3:15-17) as the Laodicean Church in the last days of its Apostasy:

¹⁵I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou were cold or hot. ¹⁶So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth. ¹⁷Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: ¹⁸I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. ¹

(Laodicea); i.e., Last Days Apostasy, greatly parallels what seems to be the condition of the Church in America today; an apostasy has occurred through a gradual erosion of the truth and the contemporary lassitude of relativism that has permeated not only the Protestant Churches but historic Fundamental and Evangelical denominations alike.

*The Bible has much to say in praise of prudence and circumspection, but it has nothing but condemnation for the coward. It is plainly taught in the New Testament that the soul that is too timid to own Christ before men on earth will be denied before the Father who is in heaven (Matthew 10:33). And in the book of the Revelation the fearful are classed with the unbelievers, the murderers, the whoremongers, the sorcerers, the liars, and all are relegated to the lake, which burns with fire and brimstone (Revelation 21:8). Obviously moral cowardice is a sin, a grave and deeply injurious sin.

The fear that keeps us quiet when faith and love and loyalty cry out for us to speak is surely evil and must be judged as evil before the bar of eternal justice. The fear that prevents us from acting when the honor of God and the good of mankind call for bold action is unalloyed iniquity. God will not overlook it and, if it is persisted in, He will not forgive it.

The sinfulness of silence and inaction is more than academic; it is sharply practical and may impinge upon the soul of any one of us at anytime. Let a moral situation shape itself so that righteousness demands speech and action, and theory becomes practical fact instantly. We have but to keep still and sit tight to become guilty of real sin.

The world situation today is such that sin by silence may be more widespread than at any other time in the history of the world. Continuing along the downward path of human history a shockingly wicked ideology has now been organized into a world conspiracy, shrewd, cruel, inhuman, and fanatically determined. Of course, I refer here to the world religious idolatry identified as Ecumenicalism, the devil’s most cunning and most effective imitation of true Christianity to date. It is as if the boiling cauldrons of Gehenna has sprung a leak and the noxious vapors have entered the brains of men and turned them into moral cavemen without any conscience or any sense of common decency or Biblical discernment. They appear to be possessed and morally demented to a degree known nowhere else on earth. These men, (the false teachers of this present apostasy) though numerically few, yet constitute a threat to the world so grave, so deadly, that nothing else on earth can be compared to it. (Is this the religion of Antichrist?)

The conditions to be explored and problems to analyze in this book will follow the Laodicean pattern as outlined below: (Six major sections contained within several chapters that could very well be life changing!) And by God’s grace may it be so!

Wretched

1. To explore how and why the Church, described as the Body of Christ, has become confused by present day preaching that ignores or is insensitive to a dispensational understanding of the Word of God, and consequently why many are confused about the nation Israel and the Bride of Christ; The Church. Along with these misunderstandings of the time divisions and the distinctions of people groups of the Bible, many are confused as well about Law & Grace. Are we still under some of each?

Pitiful (miserable)

2. Explore why discipleship has become an over used term and yet why its neglect has essentially produced practical Atheists among the saved. Many believers who, uncertain at the beginning of their Christian walk about the basic doctrines of the Faith have gone on stumbling in the dark without a sound Biblical understanding of God’s redemptive plan and man’s depravity. To the degree that the Holy Spirit of God has been maligned the sufficiency of Christ has become obliterated by faith teachers who have resurrected the dead works of the flesh by continuing to moralize the dead, fake true faith, and with a no-holds barred approach have released all manner of chicanery upon the unsuspecting sheep. (As the word says, many will follow the pernicious ways of false teachers who will creep into the Church unawares). 2 Peter 2:1-4

Poor

3. Discover what is the captivity which the Church today has fallen prey to? Is it the amalgamation of man’s wisdom with the word of God? Is it what the late Dr. J. Vernon McGee described as being the ruination of the Church in his article titled Psycho-Religion The New Pied Piper Modern Psychology (Christian Psychotherapy) has infiltrated much of what we are presently calling Christian Psychology, and Christian Counseling How can we contend for the faith in this present darkness, especially in light of the opposition and the failure of many who do not correctly understand the doctrine of man’s sinful depravity, or preach the truth without compromise or consideration of gain? (Rom 5:12,14,16-19, Prov 23:23)

Blind

4. Explore from the word of God what is the difference between Disciples and Witnesses, between preaching the Gospel of Reconciliation and the Great Commission, getting a clear perspective of the Heavenly Kingdom now and the Earthly Kingdom to come. The doctrine of Last Things and how God meant for us to carry out the work of proclaiming the Gospel and being His Witnesses in these last days.

Naked

5. The final aspect of setting the record straight will be a look at the true from the false in modern contemporary Christian society, and a relief from the Illusion that many believers today still think is true of America as being a Christian Nation, or that we are One Nation Under God . . . and the strong tendency towards Reconstructionist & Dominion (Kingdom Now) Theology as the supposed goals for the Church in the World as we (hasten) the Lords’ return.

Remedy

6. Left standing by itself the forgoing state of affairs of the 5 sections would look rather bleak if not for the admonition of the Lord in Revelation 3:18-19, I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. (In other words become real, be the genuine article; instead of making us fishers of men, allow God to make us; (The Church) Living testimonies to the true Gospel of truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth . . .

Thirteen Contrasting Themes Covered In this book:

1.    Dispensationalism/Covenant Theology

2.    Israel/Church

3.    Law/Grace

4.    Disciples/Witnesses

5.    Prayer, (God’s Word)/Objective vs. Subjective

6.    Sound Doctrine/False Teachings

7.    Spirit of Truth/Spirit of Error

8.    Great Commission/Gospel of Reconciliation

9.    Professing/Possessing Believer

10.    Heavenly Kingdom/Earthly Kingdom

11.    America/True or False

12.    Spiritual Warfare/Spiritual Growth

13.    Restoration/Regeneration

From Gary Cohen’s Book, Understanding Revelation A description of the Church at Laodicea is as follows: ²

1. Laodicea stands for the final day when standards are determined by the judgment of the people in an effort to offend no one, thus yielding democracy in religion and a consequent nauseating lukewarm ness.

2. Although this view that Laodicea represents a Church age, * not necessarily the Church at Laodicea is not altogether agreed upon by biblical historical interpreters. However many advocates of the Church age theory are in agreement in contrast with the Book of Revelation since the content and context seems to indicate a strong basis behind the view.

3. The fact that the Apocalypse is preeminently a book of prophecy, (Rev.1: 3, Rev. 22:18), the words and symbols make the uncovering of truth a prophetical sense, as the letters to the seven Churches are examined, which cannot be thought of as strange or unusual.

4. Opponents to the view held by this writer and others can be viewed as an objection on the basis that the doctrine of the imminent return of Christ is destroyed by a seven divisions or periods, not seven Churches view. The doctrine of the imminent return is not destroyed if one remembers that no one could see all seven divisions except possibly those alive after the final division had been in progress for some time, and to those the coming would still be imminent as Christ could be expected by them to come at any moment. Thus a person alive at A.D. 150 could not boldly say, I am living in the Smyrna period and therefore Christ cannot come now, for without our present historical perspective of two thousand years and without the infallible mind and eyes of God, this person would have no way of being certain that he was not living in A.D. 150 in the last days of the Laodicean period. The prophetic view merely declares that whenever the Lord comes, had it been in A.D.150 or whether it is in A.D. 2150, all seven stages will by then have transpired.

5. There was never any biblical commitment that required the inter advent age to extend for it’s present two millennia, so there was never anything to prevent the seven periods from taking place in seven hundred years, seventy years, or even seven years if the plan of God had so arranged events. Thus the understanding of the seven Churches here at issue, does not do away in any sense with the immanency of the blessed hope of the Church, Christ’s return. (1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:11).

*    The argument that this is not the Laodicean Church age as spoken of in the Book of Revelation as the condition or type of Church in the last days of apostasy is often called speculation, just as separating chapters one through five of Revelation and saying that, since the Church is not mentioned past chapter three, it must have been raptured. Chapters one through three were specific messages to the seven Churches in Asia, which existed during the time, the book was written. That they represent the conditions of the Church throughout the ages is questionable, but nevertheless descriptive. In light of this controversy many do not believe that the Church today in America is applicable to this speculation, but that she has already come through various stages of apostasy, culminating in post Reformation apostasy with great acceleration toward the Laodicean attitudes we see that typify the signs of the times in our land presently. This is the authors view.

In conclusion, the Churches seem to be historical, representative, and prophetical. However because of the nature of the case, this conclusion cannot be made with the dogmatism that is characteristic of the enunciation of other more fundamental scriptural truths.

*    There are other objections to and surrounding the taking of the seven Churches to mean seven periods of the Church age, but the reader would be much better informed to read Gary Cohen’s book Understanding Revelation and decide for himself. (See Chapter 1 in this book for a reference in further understanding dispensational divisions verses periods of certain activity-taking place within and throughout historical dispensational divisions).

In way of summary, a description of the spiritual insensitivity of the Laodicean era may be compared to the illustration given by Dr. Paul Bran who was the first medical authority to say that the loss of fingers and toes from leprosy was due mainly to infection and injury, not the disease itself.

Leprosy attacks the central nervous system and acts like a shot of Novocain. Of course, we’re all thankful for the deadening effect of such a drug before the dentist begins drilling on our tooth. But when you walk out of his office with your mouth all numb, and you bite a chunk off the inside of your check without feeling anything, you know in a small way what a person with leprosy is up against.

The parallel between the effects of leprosy and of sin is remarkable. Sin is not hated primarily for the agony it brings into our lives, though that’s part of it. It is to be hated because, like leprosy, it has a numbing effect. It deadens our sense of touch with God and lets us live without an awareness of the injury and infection that slowly damages our soul.³

Do you see the seriousness of the lukewarm condition of the Church today and the numbness of our spirit brought about from sin and our failure to love the truth? We can actually be hurting-yet feel no pain! The consequences of our frantic life styles become obscured by the numbing effect that complacency has produced to the apostasy, which is threatening to engulf us!

We are wretched but ignorant of our condition, and anesthetized in spirit because of the neglect of God’s word. Who would be attracted to such a repugnant condition? To a body of people collectively living only for the thrill of the moment or the flash in the pan, for the excitement of things temporal to the neglect of things eternal, ignoring the truth, falsely believing that tomorrow may never come? This is outright unbelief and it will produce no life, neither for time or eternity!

A quote from the writings of Dr. J. Vernon McGee sums it up so well, Activity has been substituted for action. Programs have been mistaken for progress. Doing is taking the place of believing. Books are replacing the Bible". (I pray this book won’t do that).

God forbid that we the Church, the Church in America today should be spewed out of our Lord’s mouth according to (Rev. 3:16).

May this book help the Church wake up, and help you the individual member of the Body of Christ wake up while there is yet time! And learn to know the truth, buy the truth, love the truth, live the truth, and thereby be set free! (Prov. 23:23) Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble. (Prov. 4:18-19).

May God be pleased to add His blessing to every reader of this book while we still have time. Today is the day of Salvation, NOW is the accepted time! (KJV 2 Cor 6:2.)

The Word of God is true, you will save yourself much grief by just believing it: For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Tim 4:3)

Last but not least, before continuing on in this book, by all means stop and ask God in prayer through the Holy Spirit to quicken your heart & mind as to whether or not these things be so . . .

Do not take my word for it. Take the Word of God out, open it, lay it open next to you as you read and refer to it often as you pray your way through the maze of relativism and complacency that has become the scourge of American Christianity as reflected in this book and ask the Lord to reveal Himself to you in a new way.

May God’s eternal Love and magnificent plan for all the ages past and yet to come including His personal desire that you will come to know Him and be found in Christ, in whom to know is life eternal, become a reality.

Dedication Verse: We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5: 20)

The Mystery of godliness . . . To Him this work is dedicated:

He who was revealed in the flesh, was vindicated in the Spirit,

Beheld by angels, Proclaimed among the nations, Believed on in the world, Taken up in glory.

(1 Tim 3:16) NAS

 (Part 1)

Wretched

Knowest not that thou art wretched (Rev.3:17)

Objectives:

1. To explore how and why the Church, the Bride of Christ has become confused by present day preaching that ignores or is insensitive to a dispensational understanding of the word of God, and consequently why many are confused about the nation Israel and the Church.

2. Along with misunderstandings of the time periods and divisions of Biblical Administration, many are confused as well about Law & Grace. Can we be under some of each?

3. Are the covenants to Israel The People of God to be taken as promises to God’s Heavenly People "The Church? What’s the difference?

Wretched because we have ignored the word of God and neglected doctrine

Chapter 1

An overview of the Wretched condition

and Apostasy of today.

As a prelude to the distinctions of Dispensationalism and in hopes that the reader will not broadly brush this chapter aside as unnecessary to the discovery of the evidence of the creeping apostasy of the Church in these last of the last days, the following scripture references have been provided in way of review:

Mark 13: 5, Jesus said to them: "Watch out that no one deceives you. Many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and will deceive many.

II Tim 2:15, Do you’re best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles (rightly divides) the word of truth.

Psalm 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your Word.

Ignorance of Biblical truth and the failure to discern the seducing doctrines of false teachers who improperly divide the word of truth are two of today’s chief pitfalls plaguing the believer who is gullible and ignorant of the times in which we live as well as being unaware of the strategy of the evil one. Without knowing the word one cannot do the word and failure to believe that the Bible is the Word of God is the beginning of the great deception, the prelude to the final apostasy in these last days of the Church age.

It was Horatius Bonar, a great saint of the past, who made the following statement in light of the epistle of Jude, In some age’s evil seems to sleep. In the last days it will awake to full life and activity. It will seize every instrument: the press, the pulpit, the platform. Today evil has taken over the press; it has taken over the pulpit and the platform. Bonar continues; It will enlist every science and art—music, sculpture, painting, portrait, philosophy-making them all subservient to its development. The multiplication of crimes, contempt of laws, blasphemies-these are the specimens of the energy of evil.

In this day in which you and I live these are the things that fill our morning newspapers and are the focus of prime time Television news and entertainment programs. There is no use recounting ad nauseam the things that are happening in our contemporary society. We are now in the midst of apostasy. ⁴

From the introduction to a Gideon Bible ⁵ (New Testament, Psalms & Proverbs) we read:

The Bible contains the mind of God, the state of man, the way of salvation, the doom of sinners, and the happiness of believers. Its doctrines are holy, its precepts are binding, its histories are true, and its decisions are immutable. Read it to be wise, believe it to be safe, and practice it to be holy. It contains light to direct you, food to support you, and comfort to cheer you. It is the traveler’s map, the pilgrim’s staff, the pilot’s compass, the soldier’s sword, and the Christian’s charter. Here Paradise is restored, Heaven opened, and the gates of hell disclosed. Christ is its grand subject, our good the design, and the glory of God its end.

It should fill the memory, rule the heart, and guide the feet. Read it slowly, frequently, and prayerfully. It is a mine of wealth, a paradise of glory, and a river of pleasure. It is given you in life, will be opened at the judgment, and be remembered forever. It involves the highest responsibility, will reward the greatest labor, and will condemn all who trifle with its sacred contents.

Do the foregoing admonishments sound familiar? If they do, you should be glad, that is if you have heeded them in your own study of God’s word. Sad to say however, today it seems we all too often forget the basic understanding of the principles found in the Word which describe the nature of careful study, wise comparison of truth with truth, and that the reading of God’s Word should always be preceded with prayer so that the author (The Holy Spirit) who composed it, as He moved upon holy men of God (2nd Peter 1:20-21), will reveal it’s truth to you in the context of how it was originally intended. God has divine intentions. Truth is God’s revelation of Himself and His Will to mankind through His Inspired Word, Eternal Son, and glorious Creation.

Should rule the Heart:

Heart—According to the Bible, the heart is the center not only of spiritual activity, but also of all the operations of human life. Heart and soul are often used interchangeably (Deut. 6:5; 26:16; comp. Matt. 22:37; Mark 12:30, 33), but this is not generally the case.

The heart is the home of the personal life, and hence a righteous man is designated, according to his heart, wise (1 Kings 3:12, etc.), pure (Ps 24:4; Matt. 5:8, etc.), upright and righteous (Gen. 20:5, 6; Ps. 11:2; 78:72), pious and good (Luke 8:15), etc. In these and such passages the word soul could not be substituted for heart.

The heart is also the seat of the conscience (Rom. 2:15). It is naturally wicked (Gen. 8:21), and is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? Jer. 17:9, hence it contaminates the whole life and character (Matt. 12:34; 15:18; comp. Eccl. 8:11; Ps. 73:7).

From Mathew Chapter 7, The issues that we face are the matters of the heart; whether we are what we eat or we are what comes out of our mouth:

There is nothing from without a man that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. If any man has ears to hear, let him hear. And when he (Jesus) was entered into the house from the people, his disciples asked him concerning the parable. And he saith unto them, Are ye so without understanding also? Do ye not perceive, that whatsoever thing from without entereth into the man, it cannot defile him; because it entereth not into his heart, but into the belly, and goeth out into the draught, purging all meats? And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness; All these evil things come from within, and defile the man". (Math 7:15-23).

Hence the heart must be changed, regenerated (Ezek. 36:26; 11:19; Ps. 51:10-14), before a man can willingly obey God.

The process of salvation begins in the heart by the believing reception of the testimony of God, while the rejection of that testimony hardens the heart (Ps. 95:8; Prov. 28:14; 2 Chr. 36:13). Hardness of heart evidences itself by light views of sin; partial acknowledgment and confession of it; pride and conceit; ingratitude; unconcern about the Word and ordinances of God; inattention to divine providences; stifling convictions of conscience; shunning reproof; presumption, and general ignorance of divine things.

Jn.17: 17, Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.

Jn.14: 6, Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

Jn.16: 13, But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come.

Jn.15: 26, "When the Counselor comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father, he will testify about me.

Jn.8: 32, then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."

Not just knowing the truth but doing the truth keeps the believer from being deceived. True knowledge of God produces pure worship of God and cannot be done without The Truth.

Jn.4: 23, Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

Finally, only the love of the truth will keep us from being deceived, if we fail to love the truth;

(2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 ), become the consequences of unbelief and become our lot, and in every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.

From (2 Timothy 4:1-4) we read the Apostle Paul’s admonition and charge to Timothy about the condition of the apostasy of the last days of the Church Age in which I believe we are now living: In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage-with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.

2nd Timothy Chapter 3 Scofield Notes: This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. Apostasy, summary: Apostasy, falling away, is the act of professed Christians who deliberately reject revealed truth (1) as to the deity of Jesus Christ, and (2) redemption through His atoning and redeeming sacrifice 1 John 4:1-3; Philippians 3:18; 2 Peter 2:1. alone.

Apostasy differs from error concerning truth, which may be the result of ignorance Acts 19:1-6 or heresy, which may be due to the sphere of Satan 2 Timothy 2:25, 26 both of which may consist with true faith. The apostate is perfectly described in 2 Timothy 4:3, 4. Apostates depart from the faith, but not from the outward profession of Christianity 2 Timothy 3:5. Apostate teachers are described in; 2 Timothy 4:3; 2 Peter 2:1-19; Jude 1:4, 8, 11-13, 16. Apostasy in the Church, as in Israel Isaiah 1:5,6; 5:5-7 is irremediable, and awaits judgment; 2 Thessalonians 2:10-12; 2 Peter 2:17,21; Jude 1:11-15; Revelation 3:14-16.

I believe that this time has come to pass, and we are seeing in our generation the fulfillment of all the warnings about the conditions of the last days. The Apostle Paul goes on to say in the 2nd. Epistle to Timothy what kind of teachings the majority would seek after in the days of apostasy:

Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. (2 Tim 4:3)

(To wit the explosion in the Cults, New Age Religion, Mysticism and the abominable Satanic Human Potential Movement, I am God! etc. Also the current false beliefs of many so called theologians and their often-repeated expression all truth is God’s truth. If you have even thought this way momentarily my friend you have succumbed to an intellectual temptation brought about by that same serpent (the Devil) who tempted Adam & Eve in the garden. For biblical light on this topic see Chapter 7 of Dave Hunt’s book Beyond Seduction & Chapter 1 of Vol. 2 of Not Afraid To Tell The Truth, (Poor) and The Berean Call, October 1993 Issue; "Inerrancy, Sufficiency and Authority, by Dave Hunt.)

Another of the current temptations of our day is the Word-Faith, Positive Confession movement spearheaded by the tongues-speaking charismatic Kenneth Hagen who says in his 10/95 Word of Faith publication: Christ has redeemed us from sickness, disease, and poverty and we are not to suffer these.

Linked to this movement is the Positive Mental Attitude (PMA) concept that has become the major link between sorcery and Christianity. The human potential movement incorporates the age-old Eastern mystique that all men can acquire godhood, that whatever we can conceive we can achieve. (Dave Hunt). Be warned, be wise, and beware! (Calvary Contender Dec.1, 1995 Vol. XII No. 23).

A gradual erosion of conscience has occurred in our society almost unnoticed over the past three decades and many are now adrift on a sea of moral relativism because of our own folly and unbelief.

How are we to keep our heads clear and hearts clean in today’s decadent & tumultuous times where so many it seems have become openly critical of the word of God and unknowingly through it’s neglect have allowed the world free reign through it’s deceptive appeals to foster insatiable appetites for pleasure and things as though there were no tomorrow? Is it mere coincidence that the word found previous to insatiable in the dictionary is insanity?

These are the last days which the Apostle Paul warned of in his letters to Timothy especially (2nd Timothy 3:1-5): that would come upon the world; perilous times, terrible times, in which people would be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness, (Ecumenicalism Ecclesiasticism) but denying it’s power. Have nothing to do with them. (Ecumenicalism-Ecclesiasticism) added to emphasize the form of ungodliness this wretched generation would exhibit which would continue to worsen even up to the end and culminate in the return of Jesus Christ to earth in power and great glory (Rev.19:11-16).

Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man, (Rom.1:22-23) The Apostle Paul also had words to the Church in Thessalonica: And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness (II Thes. 2:11-12).

Are you beginning to see how we are being spoon fed the wisdom of a fallen world on a daily basis through the Television media, our morning Newspapers, from the books we read, and the images that bombard our minds every day? This bombardment is producing spiritual bondage, a kind of halitosis of the soul . . . as millions are succumbing to the hopelessness and continual thoughts of the lost who are in deep despair . . . in a world without hope and without God, self imposed because of personal unbelief and the refusal to accept the fact that a sovereign God exists, and is the ruler of the universe, and His name is not Allah!

Have we forgotten that we have the message of the Gospel, good news, for a dead and dying world-which is moving with an increased velocity of relativism ever accelerating on a collision course of human self sufficiency to an appointment with the living God; without the forgiveness of sins and the cleansing from all our filthy unrighteousness by the precious blood of Christ? It may be hard for you to admit my friend but if you have not told the good news of the Gospel to the lost who have no hope then you too have suppressed the truth in unrighteousness by your silence. (Perish the thought!)

Here is what we should be about doing in these last days of the age of Grace: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; but speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplies, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love. (Eph. 4:14-16).

Chapter 2

The Scourge of New-Evangelicalism

New Evangelicalism has taken American Christianity captive in many ways. Since its birth in 1948 the movement has been a powerful force in American religion, particularly in bringing conservative Christianity into the mainstream of religious life. New Evangelicalism has garnered public notice through periodicals such as Christianity Today; organizations such as the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), schools such as Fuller Theological Seminary, and—above all—the evangelistic crusades of Billy Graham".⁶ And as of this editing and writing; Franklin Graham is in the Leadership position for (BGEA) following in Dad’s footsteps. http://billygraham.org/News_Article.asp?ArticleID=145

The New Evangelicalism is a theological and moral compromise of the deadliest sort. It is an insidious attack upon the Word of God. No more subtle menace has confronted the Church of Christ since the Protestant Reformation . . . . It is deadly for several reasons:

First-because it originated not outside evangelical circles as an attack from without but within these circles as a form of theological erosion.

Second-because it is in some instances championed by men who for years have been known as Bible-believing evangelicals. Some of these men indeed were once defenders of the faith. They have gained the confidence of a multitude that will be slow to believe that their views have changed and who may be led to follow them in their compromises.

Third-because it is not a clearly defined system of alien theology which Bible-believers may refute point by point. Discernment is needed to detect its insidious nature.

Fourth-because it emphasizes love at the expense of doctrine and stresses societal aspects of the gospel. Orthodox believers who oppose its false teaching run the risk of being regarded as unloving or anti-social . . . .

Fifth-because it courts and caters to the theological intelligentsia of the liberal camp and implies that those who do not share its views are unenlightened. Pastors who have had little formal academic training may find this frustrating.

Sixth-because many Christians are being brainwashed by its false but appealing views. As the result, a doctrinal and ethical letdown is discernible in many areas of Church life.

Seventh-because the camel’s nose of the new evangelicalism is already in the Christian tent. The camel is pushing hard to get its entire body in." [Dr. Charles Woodbridge, 10/01 Gospel Standard wrote this article.] ⁷

What is it that is coming out of the mouths of today’s self proclaimed teachers, who masquerade as mature in Christ with sheepskins as long as your arm yet under a cloak of self righteousness many are teaching falsely with hidden agendas? Is it true that they concern themselves not with your soul’s eternal destiny but their next bank deposit, and receiving the accolades of other hired hands, not shepherds that love the sheep, but false shepherds who are fleecing the unsuspecting flock? What they preach is one thing, how they think is another, and though it seems the berating they do is for our good, it is apostasy happening before our very eyes and nobody it seems can raise an objection in favor of the truth, without being ridiculed or castigated for being intolerant.

Must we remain silent in our desperation and despair and listen without making waves . . . ? Just as unbelieving Israel persisted in asking for a diet of delicious things that tickled their fancy; the result was God gave them their desires, but sent leanness to their souls; are today’s Evangelicals succumbing to these same deceptions?

Just as God did to Israel in the wilderness: (Psalm 106: 13-15), He’s likely going to do to this wretched generation that persists in going its own way. After all, the Great Tribulation that’s coming is coming upon the whole world not just unbelieving Israel. God’s word describes the wretched condition of body and soul that results from man’s rejection of the truth and neglect to believe and remember God’s promises or to anymore sing His praises; instead we’ve become vain in our imaginations, our foolish hearts are darkened, we worship created things and ourselves instead of the Creator and in doing so God gives us up! (Rom 1:21-25). What does the Sovereign Lord have to say about the false gods that men worship: They are vanity, and the work of errors [delusion]: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. Jeremiah 10:15 KJV.

Don’t be deceived. Error . . . is never set forth in its naked deformity, least, being thus exposed, it should at once be detected. But it is craftily decked out in an attractive dress, so as, by its outward form, to make it appear to the un-experienced (ridiculous as the expression may seem) more true than truth itself. (Irenaeus, 4/97 Christian Conscience).

Are things any different today?

Dave Breese, (1926-2002) Former President of Christian Destiny of Hillsboro Kansas, a well-known Christian author, lecturer, broadcaster, & Bible Teacher has said,⁸

One of the most devastating aspects to the religion of the last days; adding to the turmoil of our times is ecclesiasticism, or making Christianity out to be religion. He expresses his concern for a group that has unknowingly begun a program of spiritual defection. He labels them drifting evangelicals which he describes as having presented a method of biblical interpretation which they call Progressive Dispensationalism. with a view which tends to make Israel and the Church to be one and the same, denying that there is a special destiny for the Body of Christ, the Church."

Is it any wonder many concerned Christians are having such a hard time staying in the so-called mainline Evangelical denominations that have strayed so far from Biblical soundness?

If your not familiar with this tendency or know only of someone outside of your close circle of believer friends who hold this view let me give you a brief background on the teaching before exploring our subject and explain why the need exists for clarification.

Chapter 3

What is Progressive Dispensationalism?

(Prepared by David Dunlap), Uplook Magazine

Progressive Dispensationalism teaches that there are four dispensations in Biblical history: Patriarchal, Mosaical, Ecclesial, Zionic, in place of seven in traditional dispensationalism. Progressives set forth a unique and unorthodox method of interpreting the Bible. Progressive Dispensationalists reject the use of the historical-grammatical method—a literal form of Bible interpretation. They put forth what they call a complementary hermeneutic. They suggest that the New Testament makes complementary changes to Old Testament promises, without setting aside those original promises. This method of interpretation appears to be a merging together of the literal method (Dispensational) and the spiritualizing method (Covenant Theology). The application of this type of interpretation has led to a de-emphasis on the Rapture and the differences between Israel and the Church and other essential features of Dispensationalism.

Proponents

Professor Darrell L. Bock (Progressive Dispensationalism), of Dallas Theological Seminary; Craig A. Blaising (Dispensationalism, Israel and the Church), of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary; and Robert Saucy (The Case for Progressive Dispensationalism), of Talbot Theological Seminary, CA. Many of the Theology departments at Dallas Seminary are Progressive Dispensationalists.

Bock                          Blaising                            Saucy

History

Progressive Dispensationalism began on November 20, l986 in the Dispensational Study Group in connection with the annual meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society in Atlanta, GA. Since it’s beginning, some observers have issued warnings concerning it. Respected Dispensationalist Thomas Ice warns:

No one can doubt that some are proposing radical changes within the dispensational camp. The question that arises relates to the nature and virtue of the change . . . I believe that these men are in the process of destroying Dispensationalism. (Biblical Perspectives, Nov. /Dec. 1992)

Candid statements by the new president of Dallas Theological Seminary at the time of this writing, Chuck Swindoll, have cast light on the accuracy of this suspicion. In an interview with Christianity Today, when asked about Traditional Dispensationalism at Dallas Theological Seminary, Swindoll replied, I think that dispensations is a scare word. I’m not sure we’re going to make Dispensationalism a part of our marquee as we talk about our school. When asked whether the term Dispensationalism would disappear, he replied, It may and perhaps it should. (Christianity Today, Oct. 25, 1993)

Theological Support

Progressives teach that the Lord already rules on the throne of David in Heaven, a rule that began at His ascension. Traditional Dispensationalists reject that Christ’s present rule in Heaven is a fulfillment of the Davidic covenant of 2 Samuel 7:14. However, Progressives have further muddied the waters by teaching that Christ’s millennial rule is present and is yet future at the same time. They use Acts 2:29-33, which speaks of the two thrones of Christ; the throne of Heaven and the throne of David, an earthly throne. Progressives have taught that these two thrones reflect two aspects of the millennial rule of Christ. They do not acknowledge careful distinctions between these two thrones of God.

Biblical Support against

Scripture teaches clearly of a throne of God Heaven. The Lord is in His holy temple; the Lord’s throne is in heaven (Psalms 11:4). In contrast to this, the throne of David, Scripture teaches, is future, earthly, and literal. The careful distinction between these Thrones is made in Revelation 3:21, He who overcomes, I will (future) grant to sit down with Me on My Throne (earthly), as I overcame and sat down (present) with My Father on His Throne (heavenly). Blurring these distinctions will lead to confusion concerning promises made to Israel and promises made to the Church. This confusion will greatly determine our convictions on the Lord’s return, the tribulation period, and the Christian’s relationship to the Mosaic Law. Although Progressive Dispensationalists have ardently set forth this paradoxical already but not yet view, many do not see it clearly supported by Scripture.

This has led the former president of Dallas Theological Seminary, John Walvoord, to write, Progressive Dispensationalism, as it is called, is built upon a foundation of sand and is lacking specific proof. (Issues in Dispensationalism, edited by Willis and Masters, p.90)

Many have noticed that this view moves Progressive Dispensationalism closer to Covenant Theology than to Dispensationalism (B.Waltke, Dispensationalism, Israel, and the Church, p. 348). This view forces its proponents to de-emphasize many fundamental features of Dispensationalism, including the pre-tribulational rapture of the Church. What does this all mean for the future? Will other leading features of Dispensationalism fall in favor of current theological trends? Will Progressive Dispensationalism progress even further towards classical Covenant Theology? All of this has led Dr. Walter A. Elwell, of Trinity Theological Seminary, in a book review of Progressive Dispensationalism to surmise, The newer Dispensationalism looks so much like non-dispensational pre-millennialism that one struggles to see any real difference. (C.T., 9/12, 1994, p.28)

May we labor to rightly divide the Word of truth, especially as we see Progressive Dispensationalism spreading from the Seminary classroom to the Christian bookstore and then down to the local Church, moving ever closer toward Covenant Theology.

A Clarification of Dispensations

If you would turn quickly to Appendix A (at the end of Section 1) at this point, if you haven’t already done so, do a short review of the article by Wayne Heinke.⁹ Notice to begin with, the clarification of two Corporate entities as he describes God’s dealings with the Nation Israel and the Church, the Body of Christ, (His betrothed not yet married Bride). The common thread that ties the two together, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and His shed blood, is not all together clear in the minds of the New Testament Church from the beginning of the dispensation of Grace that the Covenant blessings still expected by Israel do not apply to the Body of Christ.

From his booklet Pauline Dispensationalism ¹⁰ it is Miles J. Stanford who points out that it is claimed by nearly all that the Church benefits from the blood of Israel’s’ New Covenant in the forgiveness of sins. But it is just the other way around. Israel will benefit with her iniquities forgiven and her sins remembered no more according to (Jer 31:34), the Blood of the Everlasting Covenant, the Church’s New Covenant (Heb.13: 20-21), is the everlasting Covenant whereby God brought back Jesus Christ from the dead.

We will touch more upon the Covenants for Israel and differences relating to the Church held by traditional Dispensationalists later in this chapter. It should be noted that the confusion between the two entities is not necessarily accidental. I believe many of today’s self taught Bible expositors who wrongly divide the word of truth, who preach a last day concept for the end time, no rapture, no tribulation etc. and spiritualize the Church, are the chief cause for much of the confusion in Evangelical circles today. They teach no anti-Christ, no 70th week of Daniel, nothing but a speculation that the Last Day will be upon us at any moment. Teachings like these take all personality away from both the nation Israel and the believing body of Christ universal who earnestly look forward to that blessed hope as described in (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).

However it is not my purpose at this point to argue the times and seasons and state my reasons for believing what I do about future things, nor why your view or someone else that disagrees with us should be castigated for trying to persuade others what they believe the Bible teaches. As long as they will allow the Bible to be their final authority and not their private interpretation of it, we are on common ground.

Chapter 4

Understanding Dispensational Divisions . . .

Back to the Basics . . . Let’s clear up a few expectations that you the reader may have in your choice of taking seriously the book you have decided to read: (Not Afraid To Tell The Truth) which could also be subtitled: Going on with the Lord under Grace, as alluded to in the introduction, this book is not a theological treatise on Prophesy or a book about Doctrine primarily . . . however it is being written for the sole purpose of clarifying the basic issues stated in the introduction as contrasts which run their course throughout the Word of God.

Therefore since the word (dispensation) does appear in the Strong’s Concordance¹¹ for the King James version I’m beginning this chapter with Biblical references to (dispensation) so you will relax knowing that the word is not my invention, or that Dispensationalism because it doesn’t appear in the Bible is a heresy and you discard the whole idea before we even get off of square one!

1 Cor. 9-17, for if I do this thing willingly, I have a reward: but if against my will, a dispensation of the gospel is committed unto [as a stewardship entrusted to] me.

Eph. 1:10, That in the [Unto a] dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one [sum up] all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him [in him, I say,]

Eph. 3:2, if ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me to you-ward:

Col. 1:25, whereof I am made a minister, according to the dispensation of God, which is given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God;

The word (dispensation) in Colossians 1:25 is commission in the New International version, and in Ephesians 3:2 it’s administration, In Eph 1:10, it’s (when the times will have reached their fulfillment), and in 1 Cor. 9:17, the (discharging of a trust) committed to the apostle Paul is the implication.

From his book Dispensationalism Today ¹² Charles C. Ryrie explains the dispensational scheme as non-authoritative and not inspired . . . I agree. Furthermore I do agree with the classic arrangement of seven distinguishable economies of God as Ryrie describes the dispensations with some minor alterations of my own added to clarify the periods:

The Seven Dispensations or administrations of God for mankind, time, & eternity follow:

1. The Dispensation of Innocence or Freedom:

(From Creation to the fall) Innocence, (See Scofield notes "Genesis 1:28")

2. The Dispensation of Conscience, or Self Determination.

(Mankind after the fall to the Flood), Conscience, (See Scofield notes "Genesis 3:23")

3. The Dispensation of Civil/Human Government.

(Mankind after the Flood-Noah-Earthly Government-Tower of Babel-Abraham), Human Government, (See Scofield notes "Genesis 8:21")

4. The Dispensation of Promise or Patriarchal Rule.

(Abraham-Moses), Promise, (See Scofield notes "Genesis 12:1")

5. The Dispensation of the Mosaic Law.

(Moses-Israel-Commandments-To the Cross-of Christ), Law, (See Scofield notes "Exodus 19:8")

6. The Dispensation of Grace or the Church age.

(Christ’s Crucifixion-Resurrection to the time of the Rapture of The Church)

7. The Dispensation of the Kingdom or Millennium.

(Christ’s Second Coming—1000 year reign on Earth, which ends with The Great White Throne Judgment) Kingdom, (See Scofield notes "Ephesians 1:10").

A Dispensational Overview

Dr. Charles Ryrie explains that these periods or ages as designated, exhibit certain characteristics. And above all, that dispensations are stewardships, and each stewardship has its stewards. ("One man usually stands out particularly at the beginning of each dispensation, and with the exception of the first and last dispensations the chief personage does not live throughout the period covered.

The stewardship of responsibility, therefore, is not restricted to one man but in some sense is placed on all who live under the economy)."¹³

Before taking a more detailed look at the containment of each dispensation let’s look at the origins of Dispensationalism. As with any idea that cannot be directly related to the teachings of the Bible with chapter and verse referenced, the argument usually is addressed from many sides by its critics. The Straw Man set up. As described by Dr. Ryrie is a good example:

"In discussing the matter of the origins of Dispensationalism, opponents of the teaching usually set up two straw men and then huff and puff until they are destroyed. The first is the straw man of saying that dispensationalists assert that the system was taught in post-apostolic times. Informed dispensationalists do not claim that. They recognize that as a system Darby largely formulated Dispensationalism, but that outlines of a dispensationalist approach to the Scriptures are found much earlier. They only maintain that certain features of the dispensational system are found in the teaching of the early Church."

Another typical example of the use of a straw man is this line of argument: pretribulationalism is not apostolic; pretribulationism is dispensationalism; therefore, dispensationalism is not apostolic. But dispensationalists do not claim that the system was developed in the first century including covenant theology, which is seventeenth century. Doctrinal development is a perfectly normal process in the course of Church history.

This straw man leads to a second fallacy—the wrong use of History. The fact that something was taught in the first century does not make it right (unless taught in the canonical Scriptures), and the fact that something was not taught until the nineteenth century does not make it wrong unless, of course, it is unscriptural. Non-dispensationalists surely know that baptismal regeneration was taught in the early centuries and yet many of them would not include that error in their theological systems simply because it is historic. After all, the ultimate question is not, is it-or any other teaching-historic? But, is it Scriptural?

Charles Ryrie makes the following statements about dispensationalist that helps give a better understanding about the reluctance some people have to this topic under examination with the question:

Is the essence of Dispensationalism in the number of dispensations? No, for this is in no way a major issue in the system. Its not the fact that Scofield taught seven dispensations and Hodge only four that makes the former a dispensationalist and the latter not.

On page 44 of his book on Dispensationalism Today,¹⁴ Charles Ryrie explains that, "the covenant premillennialist holds to a concept of the covenant of grace as being the central soteriological purpose of God. He retains the idea of the millennial kingdom, though he finds little support for it in the Old Testament prophecies since he generally assigns them to the Church. The kingdom in his view is markedly different from that which is taught by the dispensationalist, since it looses much of its Jewish character due to the slighting of the Old Testament promises concerning the kingdom. Many covenant premillennialist are also post tribulationalists, and this is doubtless a logical accompaniment of the non dispensational approach. At any rate, being a premillennialist does not necessarily make one a dispensationalist. (However, the