Biblical Mandate

NIC VOICE was invited to speak at the Forum for Evangelical Theology at Garrett Seminary on October 7th at 12:30 PM.

The topic of the presentation was “Contending for the Faith."  The purpose of the Forum for Evangelical Theology (FET) is to engage in conversation about the Christian faith from an evangelical perspective.

You can discover more about the Forum at www.wesleyanforum.org/fet/.   The following were presented at the Forum:

• Presentation References for NIC VOICE "Contending for the Faith" presentation
• View (browser version) or Download (3.65MB) NIC VOICE "Contending for the Faith" PowerPoint® presentation (full graphics version)
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Presentation Summary:

AIM: To ask you to consider how you will be and perhaps are Contending for the Faith within the UMC and to be prepared for the challenges you will face in your ministry

Principle 1: God withdraws his blessings when his people are continuously rebellious and idolatrous

But they put God to the test and rebelled against the Most High; they did not keep his statutes. Like their fathers they were disloyal and faithless, as unreliable as a faulty bow. They angered him with their high places; they aroused his jealousy with their idols. When God heard them, he was very angry; he rejected Israel completely. (Psalm 78: 56-59)

• Views from the pews and beyond
• Measurement & Analysis: State of the UMC

Principle 2: There is always remnant who are called and faithful.

For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance... will arise from another place, but you ... will perish. And who knows but that you have come to royal position for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14)

• Example NIC VOICE
• Watershed Moment Presentation Overview

Principle 3: God’s Word is True and can be trusted.

All your words are true. (Psalm 119:160)

Every word of God proves true. (Proverbs 30:5)

• Authority of Scripture
• Biblical Mandate

Articles on Heresy & Apostasy

The likeness of our day to Noah's age is very evident. We have our own "giants in the earth" -- "men of renown" (Gen. 6:4) -- who fashion wicked philosophies, produce obscene expressions of art, eagerly champion the causes of smut, make fashionable the vilest of sins, and pour society into their mold. Iniquity accelerates at their hands. They exist because of the Church's apostasy and marriage to worldliness. ... Listen carefully and you can hear the distant sound of the thundering hoof beats of the horsemen of judgment. They are swiftly riding in our direction and their swords are raised to strike. The only hope is God's people working as His allies in the salvation of the lost and social justice. It is not easy to work against evil that judgment might be postponed, but it is the task to which every believer is called. We must keep our testimony unspotted from the world. We must take our stand for righteousness -- even unto death.  Read More

In these days of theological confusion and ecclesiastical compromise, what is the Biblical position for the Bible believer to assume toward heretics and false religious teachers? Are we to patronize them, associate with them, accept their sponsorship, increase their numbers, send them converts, add to their prestige, follow their leadership, identify our churches with them, obliterate important Biblical distinctions with them??? The Bible's answer is clear.

1 John 4:1, "Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

Romans 16:17, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them."

Titus 1:13, "This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith; . . ."

Ephesians 5:11, "And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."

2 Thessalonians 3:6, "Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received of us." (See also 1 Timothy 6:3-5).

2 Timothy 3:5 " . . .Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away."

2 John 1:10,11, "If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds." To our day false teachings are fostered by misplaced hospitality.

2 Thessalonians 3:14, "And if any man obey not our word by this epistle, note that man, and have no company with him, that he may be ashamed."

Titus 3:10, "A man that is an heretic after the first and second admonition reject; . . ."

2 Corinthians 6:17, "Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, . . ."

--The above adapted from an article by: G. Archer Weniger, D.D.

Tangling with Wolves:  Why we still need heresy trials, Christianity Today, Week of July 28, by Chris Armstrong

The evangelical world today suffers from apologetic anemia. Despite the fact that Holy Scripture calls believers to give a reason (Greek, apologia) for the hope we have in Christ (1 Pet. 3:15; see also Jude 3), we sadly lack a public voice for truth and reason in the marketplace of ideas. We do not have a strong intellectual presence in popular or academic culture — although some evangelicals influence some areas, such as philosophy and politics, more than others.  Read More 

Dealing with Wolves I, Rev. Wallace Cason, pastor of the Tupelo-St. Mark Charge.

It behooves us as Bible believing Christians to consider all of Scripture carefully when it comes to dealing with those in United Methodist leadership who have betrayed the faith. These claim to be Christian but act, speak and write like pagans. What is God’s word to us concerning them? We have been dealing with them as though they were fellow believers.

But what if many of our church leaders are wolves in sheep’s clothing? Scripture warns us about wolves. In Ezekiel 22:26-27, the Lord says of Jerusalem,

“26  Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, … and … I am profaned among them. 27  Her princes in the midst thereof are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, to get dishonest gain.”

We have bishops and high-ranking leaders in church agencies who have violated the faith in our name, profaning that which is holy, and who have behaved like wolves, rending and tearing the body of the church. They have pushed the homosexual agenda, pushed reference to God as female, bled us of what could have been local ministry money, denied fundamental doctrines, and in general treated the Bible as though it were merely a book of myths or metaphors to be twisted to their will. Read More

Dealing with Wolves II, Rev. Wallace Cason, pastor of the Tupelo-St. Mark Charge. 

Where in the New Testament do we find conflicts such as exist today in the United Methodist Church? We would be looking for situations in which wolves threatened the flock of God; in which the church hierarchy in power was debating how to apply the commandments of God,   and in which many in the top church leadership dealing were denying the faith by propagating false doctrine or approving sinful behavior. On first thought we might come up with Paul’s meeting with the Jerusalem Council over the question of circumcision of Gentile believers. We will look at that situation. Then we might also recall that some other situations in New Testament times did not have a neat, clean meeting resulting in a perfect compromise. For example, there is Jesus’ double trial and execution by the Pharisees and Romans working together – where the wolves surrounded a victim. In addition there may be other cases to consider, such as the confrontation of Paul with Peter. Let us get our imaginations going, then, by considering just these three scenarios. 

Read More

Perseverance, by Rev. Jeff Switzer, President, Mississippi Fellowship of United Methodist Evangelicals, Reprinted with permission from the September 2003 issue of the MFSUME Newsletter

In Acts 14:22 we find Paul and his companions strengthening the converts by saying, “Continue in the faith.”  Toward the end of his life, knowing death was soon, Paul wrote, “I have kept the faith.”  Two statements that are necessary for the Christian – “Continue in the faith” and “I have kept the faith.”

To persevere is to persist in or remain constant to a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement.  Certainly, the Apostle Paul, with all he went through, would be considered one who persevered.  Perseverance is a challenge and perseverance is the badge of true saints of God.  As Charles Spurgeon wrote, “The Christian is not a beginning only in the ways of God, but also a continuance in the same as long as life lasts.”  This is not easy.  The battle is constant – with the world, the flesh, and the devil.  But we must not quit.  As Spurgeon writes, “He only is a true conqueror, and shall be crowned at the last, who continues till war’s trumpet is blown no more.”  The battle rages on.  As for the United Methodist Church the battle rages for the truth of the gospel, for the faith once and for all delivered to the saints, for the authority of Scripture, for the way of salvation, for the proper understanding of the Person of Christ, for the mind of the Church regarding human sexuality, and many other fields of battle.  And on these fields the soldiers of Christ must stand firm.

The word “persist” can be traced back to the form of a Latin word – statua.  From which we also get our English word “statue.”  To persist or to persevere can be likened unto a statue erected upon a strong foundation and painstakingly constructed.  I think of the Statue of Liberty standing strong through time with nothing blowing her over.  We are to persevere in like manner.  And it is our perseverance that is the target of all our spiritual enemies. 

Spurgeon reminds us that “the world does not object to your being a Christian for a time, if she can but tempt you to cease your pilgrimage, and settle down in Vanity Fair.  The flesh will seek to ensnare you, and to prevent your pressing on to glory.  Satan will make many a fierce attack on your perseverance; it will be the mark for all his arrows.  He will strive to hinder you in service; he will insinuate that you are doing no good; and that you want rest.  He will endeavor to make you weary of suffering, he will whisper, ‘Curse God, and die.’  Or he will attack your steadfastness: ‘What is the good of being so zealous?  Be quiet like the rest; sleep as do others, and let your lamp go out.’  Or he will assail your doctrinal sentiments: ‘Why do you hold to these denominational creeds?  Sensible men are getting more liberal; they are removing the old landmarks; fall in with the times.’  Wear your shield, Christian, therefore, close upon your armor, and cry mightily unto God, that by His Spirit you may endure to the end.”

My brothers and sisters, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.  Continue in the faith.

See also Whatever Happened to Heresy, Dr. Riley B. Case,  published in Good News magazine (March/April 1995).