BLJ: "Uncle" Bud Robinson was the heart and soul of the early Church of the Nazarene. He was an evangelist that spoke plain truth. He was not afraid to tell the truth and oftentimes in a humerous manner. I want to spend a few days returning to some of his writings. They blessed me so in my early days walking in holiness. Today's portion is about the church in 1942. How much more true is what he wrote today than even in 1942. The church for the most part is a social club that has substituted fun, games, and movie night for the power of the Holy Ghost and real moves of God.
THE MODERN CHURCH IN 1942
The American church as an institution is so great that it makes one stagger to think of its greatness. There are two hundred different denominations. There are nearly two hundred thousand local churches, with almost an equal number of ministers. There is a church membership of about 46,000,000, and there is scarcely any way to tell the real value of the church property. And yet this great institution is drifting with the tide of worldliness.
As an institution, the church has very largely substituted church membership for the new birth and has substituted the activities of the church for the gifts of the blessed Holy Ghost. All that is left is a salvation without regeneration, and a Christianity without Christ. It is perfectly natural for such an institution to lead God to the back door and bow Him out of existence. God is not needed any longer to help run that kind of a church.
Many times we find that the type of Christianity now found in the churches is simply human enthusiasm. This naturally leads the members to take the fire out of hell, for they see no need of eternal punishment, and to take the gold out of heaven, for they no longer need golden streets. They then make heaven a condition and not a locality. If heaven is only a condition, then where will our saints go when they die? Can a saint go to a condition?
Some of the churches have substituted man's wisdom for God's revelation and according to them we no longer have an inspired Bible. It is not needed in a man-made church. They have removed the blood from the atonement, for according to them, man can redeem himself with his own good works and his own great wisdom and powers of learning. The deity and eternal Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ also have been taken away, and so today we often find the Son of God is only a "nice, respectable gentleman," and in many respects does not equal the scholars of the present day.
THE MODERN CHURCH IN 1942
The American church as an institution is so great that it makes one stagger to think of its greatness. There are two hundred different denominations. There are nearly two hundred thousand local churches, with almost an equal number of ministers. There is a church membership of about 46,000,000, and there is scarcely any way to tell the real value of the church property. And yet this great institution is drifting with the tide of worldliness.
As an institution, the church has very largely substituted church membership for the new birth and has substituted the activities of the church for the gifts of the blessed Holy Ghost. All that is left is a salvation without regeneration, and a Christianity without Christ. It is perfectly natural for such an institution to lead God to the back door and bow Him out of existence. God is not needed any longer to help run that kind of a church.
Many times we find that the type of Christianity now found in the churches is simply human enthusiasm. This naturally leads the members to take the fire out of hell, for they see no need of eternal punishment, and to take the gold out of heaven, for they no longer need golden streets. They then make heaven a condition and not a locality. If heaven is only a condition, then where will our saints go when they die? Can a saint go to a condition?
Some of the churches have substituted man's wisdom for God's revelation and according to them we no longer have an inspired Bible. It is not needed in a man-made church. They have removed the blood from the atonement, for according to them, man can redeem himself with his own good works and his own great wisdom and powers of learning. The deity and eternal Sonship of the Lord Jesus Christ also have been taken away, and so today we often find the Son of God is only a "nice, respectable gentleman," and in many respects does not equal the scholars of the present day.
Beloved brother and sister, the Book says, "How can two walk together except they be agreed?" Now, we don't have to agree on who is to be President or who is to run for Congress, or who is to be county attorney. These things don't enter into the wonderful statement from the blessed old Book. The Scripture refers to saints and sinners, for we read again the wonderful statement that the "friendship of the world is enmity to God," and "He that is a friend to the world is the enemy of God." And in still another place we read, "You cannot serve God and mammon," or in other words, God and the devil.
To make it just a little plainer, we cannot be worldly and righteous at the same time. When Christ comes in, the devil moves out. If you finally decide that you would rather have the devil in your heart and life, then Christ must go, for we "cannot serve two masters." We will "hold to the one and despise the other, or else we will hate the one and love the other."
You ask, "Why do the Nazarenes preach holiness as a second work of grace?" This is the answer: Holiness is the only theory that we ever heard preached which ever got anyone into the experience of grace. All other theories allow the carnal mind to remain in you until you die. The second blessing theory proposes to get rid of the "old man" before death. See Mark 8:22,23,24, 25; James 1:8; James 4:8; Genesis 19:17; Romans 5:8,9,10,11, and Hebrews 13:12,13.
To make it just a little plainer, we cannot be worldly and righteous at the same time. When Christ comes in, the devil moves out. If you finally decide that you would rather have the devil in your heart and life, then Christ must go, for we "cannot serve two masters." We will "hold to the one and despise the other, or else we will hate the one and love the other."
You ask, "Why do the Nazarenes preach holiness as a second work of grace?" This is the answer: Holiness is the only theory that we ever heard preached which ever got anyone into the experience of grace. All other theories allow the carnal mind to remain in you until you die. The second blessing theory proposes to get rid of the "old man" before death. See Mark 8:22,23,24, 25; James 1:8; James 4:8; Genesis 19:17; Romans 5:8,9,10,11, and Hebrews 13:12,13.
"salvation without regeneration" quoting from Robinson above. Wow! Spot on in our culture. Uncle Buddy had a way of "cutting to the chase" as it is said. Thanks for sharing this.
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