I thought this worthy to put in a post. This morning....the Lord's Day....we had guest speaker in church....and the sermon was announced beforehand to be on...unity. Now in my opinion a pressing issue in the church is that we need to focus on....separation....and then on unity with those of us who are attempting to separate from Vanity Fare. So I thought it over....and prayed....and decided....just to be safe....to stream another church today.
So we streamed Alistair Begg's 9:00 service. The pastor took the pulpit and the sermon was going to be on....unity! Can you believe it? I can....but I had no concerns because I am very familiar with Alistair Begg. So the message was wonderful.....as he looked at the issue as would Martyn Lloyd-Jones....in fact he mentioned Lloyd-Jones a number of times.
Now that guest preacher in our church may very well have given a similar sermon. I wouldn't be surprised.....but I did not know for sure....and in this day and age where unity is just a vague and all-inclusive common denominator....I did not want to have a disagreement with a sermon on the Lord's Day.
You probably know this but maybe not. About a year ago Alistair Begg was involved in a controversy of his own making. He made one statement on his radio broadcast....truthforlife.org....on the LGBTQ movement....that did not align with conservative evangelicalism....nor did it in my opinion also....align with God's Word....but it was one single statement....one mistake....on an issue that his established and very public theological beliefs are certainly in accord with God's Word. But the over-all conservative evangelical church had no mercy on this. Alistair Begg....with maybe forty years of faithful ministry....became a persona non grata.
Now this is my opinion only....looking back on this....it was another case where politics has come to dominate the gospel and the church. We simply could not give ground to the Democrats with a big election coming up....which was this past election in this past year. Abortion and gay issues and wokeness and the economy and legislation etc. have become our new fundamentals. The Republican candidate had to win....even if it meant that Alistair Begg had to go. Now this opinion that I just gave may only be mine....and I am not on a level with all these national ministers....but then this is an area in which they are in the process of making continual mistakes. It should not take a Spurgeon or a Martyn Lloyd-Jones to know that Donald Trump is a genuine biblical false prophet.
J. I. Packer once said concerning the Puritans....that is it not that they were giants....but that we today are Pygmies! I am no giant....(an understatement for the ages and eternity)....it is rather the stature of these many men in the pulpits today that is shrinking.
Note: You will probably be able to listen to this sermon from Alistair Begg in a few days on his ministry website....truthforlife.org.....and I'm sure that you can listen to it on the church website....parksidechurch.com
