R.T. Kendall's Blog, page 2

Speaking for God?

SBy: RT Kendall | 28th January 2021 

Last year, a significant number of well-known and respected Christian leaders in the USA prophesied Donald Trump would be re-elected President. The fact that so many got it wrong has left the American charismatic movement reeling. In teaching on the prophetic gift, RT Kendall says much more caution is required, before any Christian can utter the words “Thus saith the Lord…”

I do believe God can speak directly to people today. We see examples of this in the New Testament, for example when God told Philip to go toward the desert (Acts 8:29), or told Agabus that a famine is coming (Acts 11:28). Paul promised that God would reveal to us – presumably by the Holy Spirit – wherein we have got it wrong (Philippians 3:15).

The question is, how much are we to share with others when we believe we have heard from God? Are we to claim “the Lord told me” when we have an impression we feel is from the Holy Spirit?

Getting it wrong 

When a word does not come to pass which was introduced by “the Lord told me”, obviously something has gone wrong. It dishonors the name of the Lord. It brings discredit upon the gift of prophecy.

Should we not apologise? Nathan did and humbly climbed down for jumping the gun by telling David he could build the temple (2 Samuel 7:4ff). Surely if the Lord says something it is going to be exactly right. 

If somebody’s word does not come to pass, that does not necessarily make them a ‘false prophet’. Luke portrays Agabus as a true prophet in Acts 11:28 and yet an objective scrutiny of Agabus’s word in Acts 21:11 will lead you to ask, “Is that really what happened?” Not exactly. The subsequent events were not precisely the way Agabus predicted. 

Saying “the Lord told me” is a habit some of us find hard to break. But I believe we need to. 

6 Levels of Prophecy

Prophecy is a word from God unfiltered by personal wish or human embellishment whether it pertains to the past, present or future.

Not all prophecy is of the same caliber. There are at least six levels of prophecy – as in a pyramid, starting from the bottom:

6. General exhortation – Whether to a congregation or a personal encouragement to someone, Dr. Michael Eaton calls this “low level prophecy”. The kind of prophecy Paul encouraged in 1 Corinthians 14:1 was almost certainly of this sort. I don’t think he was motivating you or me to become the next Elijah. Someone may claim to have a “word”. We are not to despise such prophesying. But it needs to be tested (1 Thessalonians 5:20-21). In any case, we don’t need to say “the Lord told me” – even if we may feel it is from the Lord. Do not claim that all you feel is from the Lord. You can always say, “I think I am supposed to share this with you”.

5. Specific warnings -Certain disciples urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Some think that Luke sides with them since he says they warned Paul “through the Spirit” (Acts 21:4). Agabus similarly warned Paul not to go to Jerusalem, saying “the Holy Spirit says” (Acts 21:11). And yet Paul refused to heed any of their warnings! Who got it right? Was Paul wrong to ignore them? Could Agabus have got it wrong? One thing is for sure: their warnings did not keep Paul from going to Jerusalem. All he would say later is that it served to advance the gospel (Philippians 1:12).

4. Prophetic preaching -Peter said one should speak as if their words were the “very words of God” (1 Peter 4:11). This is what all pastors, vicars and preachers wish for. Nothing thrills me more than when someone says to me, “How did you know I was there today? That is exactly what I needed”. Expository preaching can be prophetic without the preacher being conscious of this. Even if he or she is conscious of the Lord’s enabling, one should be humble about it and, in my opinion, not say “thus says the Lord”.

3. When forced to testify during persecution – Jesus said, “When they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you” (Matthew 10:19-20).

2. Non-canonical prophecy -A canonical prophet had a book named after him – like Jeremiah or Isaiah. Nathan, Gad, Elijah and Elisha are examples of non-canonical prophets. Could there be non-canonical prophets of this magnitude and stature today? Perhaps, but they are exceedingly rare. What they say must cohere with scripture – and prove to be true. So should these people say, “the Lord told me”? My response to that questions is: Why would that be necessary? If one will keep the name of the Lord out – but simply say “I feel I must say this to you” (or something like that), they might maintain their integrity, credibility and anointing – even if they get it wrong. Many a modern prophetic person could be saved incalculable embarrassment had they been more modest in their claims.

1. Holy Scripture. This is the highest level of prophecy. It includes all of the Old Testament and all of the New Testament. Scripture is God’s final revelation. No one will ever have authority to speak at this level. If any of us claims to speak on the same level as Holy Scripture we have gone too far and will be found out sooner or later.

Limits of prophecy

Remember that each of us has but a “measure of faith” (Romans 12:3). This means there is a limit to our faith. Only Jesus had a perfect faith because he alone had the Holy Spirit without limit (John 4:34).

For those who prophesy it should surely be done in two ways: (a) in “proportion” to their faith (Romans 12:6) – not going beyond their limit of faith – and (b) according to the analogy of faith. The Greek word translated “proportion” is analogia. This means comparing scripture with scripture, making sure we are within the bounds of sound theology. 

There are seasons of the prophetic. The word of the Lord was “rare” at one time in ancient Israel (1 Samuel 3:1). Amos spoke of a famine of hearing the word of the Lord (Amos 8:11). This means that sometimes God chooses to say nothing. 

God may choose not to speak for a generation. If so, how foolish to pretend to speak for him.

Paul said that we know in part and we prophecy in part (1 Corinthians 13:9). This means that not even the best of prophets know everything.

How to maintain integrity

First, we should very careful to honor the name of the Lord. The third commandment – “Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:7) includes not claiming to speak for God in order to make ourselves look good. Jesus dealt with this in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:33-37); we should simply say “yes” or “no” without adding the Lord’s name to enhance our credibility.

James addressed those workers in the field who had been cruelly mistreated by wealthy believers (James 5:1-12). The temptation for those poor laborers was to say “God is on our side and against you”. James thunders a warning even to them against using God’s name. It is the worst kind of “name-dropping”, that is, using God’s name to make ourselves look special.

Misusing God’s name is done when we bring him into our conversation to elevate our own credibility. We are thinking of ourselves, not him.

Secondly, the issue is God’s oath. One of the greatest privileges Christians can have is for God to swear an oath to them like he did to Abraham (Hebrews 6:9-20). The oath may be experienced when God grants a high level of faith. All prophecy must be done in proportion to our faith; when the oath is given we know for sure that we have been given a word from God. This is why Elijah was so sure before Ahab; it was God’s oath to him. Elijah did not bite his nails for the next several years if he saw a cloud in the sky. He calmly said to the king, “It won’t rain unless I say so”. How could Elijah be so sure? The oath. “As the Lord, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve, there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at my word” (1 Kings 17:1). That is oath language.

Any prophecy should make God look good rather than the prophet; otherwise we are abusing the Lord’s name.

Why would I say to you, “The Lord told me”? Am I trying to make God look God? No. I would be trying to make myself look good.

James said, “above all” do not misuse God’s name. Never forget that even mistreated Christians could not claim that the Lord was on their side and against their cruel oppressors. Or they too would be condemned (James 5:12). Misusing his name isn’t worth it.

January 1, 2021

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way that you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you” – Psalm 32:8.

Dear friends:

When I came across Psalm 32:8 a few days ago, I was gripped with God’s infinite compassion and understanding of us. Think of these words: “I will counsel you with my eye upon you”. What a promise for 2021! 

I suppose the year 2020 was by far – for many – the worst year ever. But I have to admit that I have probably reached more people in the past several months than ever before! TR turned our living room into a TV studio! Through TV interviews and zooms we have sent countless sermons  all over the world. And yet Louise and I will never forget flying out of London on March 15th – this being the next to last plane allowed to land in the US. We will not be returning to London as we have done in recent years. But my thirty-minute program, “Word and Spirit”, courtesy of TBN UK, is on in the UK four times a week. 

A most happy surprise in 2020 has come from Tim Dilena, the new pastor of Times Square Church in New York City. He has invited me to preach for him once a month – both to his congregation and to his large staff – from now on. Tim’s background is interesting. As told in David Wilkerson’s book, The Cross and the Switchblade, the police had stopped David from preaching on the streets of Brooklyn when police captain Paul Dilena walked up and said, “Let the man preach; let’s see what he has to say”. Sixty-three years later Paul’s son Tim became the senior pastor of Times Square Church, founded by David Wilkerson.

We are in the most perilous and uncertain times I have known in my 85 years. Covid is still here. The nation is dangerously divided between those who are thrilled with the presidential election and those who are broken-hearted. My recent book We’ve Never Been This Way Before offers hope for the present and the future. My next book, on a slightly lighter note, Chances Are You Might be a Pharisee if…comes out in a few days.

I hope you are blessed by my 60 second tweets I do daily. It was my friend J John – England’s famous evangelist – who gave me the idea. They are filmed by TR mostly from our balcony, but we are moving into a condominium shortly in the heart of Nashville. The tweets will show the Nashville skyline in the background. I would deeply appreciate your prayers that I will be led of the Holy Spirit in my books, preaching and tweets. So thank you indeed for your prayers.

And remember: Psalm 32:8 applies to you as it does to us. What a promise!

Warmest greetings.

R T, Louise, TR, Annette, Toby, Timothy, Ty, Melissa and Rex. 

Dr. J. I. Packer (1926-2020)

Dr. J. I. Packer (1926-2020)

Regarded by Time magazine as one of the twenty-five most influential thinkers of the world, Dr. James Innes Packer went to heaven a few hours ago. He was without question the most respected theologian in the world today. I have to pinch myself to believe I actually knew him and that I had him as a friend and mentor.

Indeed, I am possibly the luckiest man in the world. Jim would not approve of the word “luck” but he would be gracious enough to say, “I know what you mean”. Reason I say this: I had Dr. Packer as a supervisor for my DPhil at Oxford and Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones as a weekly tutor for my first four years at Westminster Chapel – greatest theologian and greatest preacher. Who could match that?

Dr. Packer’s book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God was a formative influence on my life in the 1960s. A strong five-point Calvinist, he used the word “antinomy” which meant “theologically” that “two parallel principles that appear to be contradictory but are both true”. He applied this to mean that God predestined the elect but equally predestined evangelism to save God’s elect.

I first met Jim Packer in person as a guest in his home in Bristol, England in 1972. He served me Dover Sole for dinner. Months later he was our guest at our home in Salem, Indiana. He preached for me at Blue River Baptist Church. The next day I introduced him to the faculty at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where I was a student. He then lectured to the students and got into a public quarrel with Dr. Dale Moody over the doctrine of eternal punishment (which he believed but Dr. Moody didn’t).

A pivotal moment in my life was when Dr. Packer read my essay while in our home in Headington, Oxford.  I argued that John Calvin believed that Christ died for the whole world but interceded for the elect only at the right hand of God. He looked at me and said, “You’ve done it. You’ve done it”, namely I convinced him that I got it right about Calvin, although he was never convinced that Calvin was right! 

He preached for me at the Calvary Southern Baptist Church in Lower Heyford, Oxfordshire. While at Westminster Chapel I did a rather controversial thing by having him preach for me there on a Friday night. It was regarded as a bit controversial because Dr. Lloyd-Jones had openly rejected Dr. Packer because of a book Packer wrote with a Roman Catholic. The two never made up. I understood both sides of the issue but managed to maintain a friendship with both men. “Dr. Lloyd-Jones thought he would sink me”, Jim said to me. But It didn’t. Far from it, although most people I know admire the two men with equal respect.

Louise and I had a memorable meal with Dr. Packer in Vancouver a few years ago. He and Louise got on like a house afire – talking mostly about Shakespeare and C. S. Lewis. When describing C. S. Lewis, he said of Lewis: “He believed in biblical inspiration but not infallibility, justification by but not imputation, atonement but not propitiation”. I will never forget a question I put to him that evening: “Do you think that what is going on in Israel today has anything to do with Romans 11?” His answer: “No”.

I phoned him last Boxing Day, just to say one thing: “To tell you Jim how much I love you”. He seemed very moved by my word. I am so glad I called him. I had planned to go to Vancouver to see him one last time when we were to be in Seattle in November.

He would not recommend my book The Anointing – which hurt me deeply, but afterwards recommended my book Totally Forgiving Ourselves (although referring to me as “flamboyant”). He was no cessatonist, but, knowing him as I did, was probably a bit uneasy with some of my teaching on Word and Spirit.

I would be stretching it to say we were extremely close friends, but I treasure knowing that he would phone me once in a while – especially when needing someone to meet him at Heathrow Airport. He would then come to our home for a cup of hot tea, only to complain that it was not hot enough! I said, “Jim, I burnt my tongue just now on this”, but obediently turned the kettle on and then poured boiling water on his tea bag. He immediately  put this boiling tea to his lips – and looked as though he had gone to heaven – and said, “When I say I like it hot, I mean that I like it hot”. 

I don’t know how he did it!

Dr. J. I. Packer (1926-2002)

Dr. J. I. Packer (1926-2002)

Regarded by Time magazine as one of the twenty-five most influential thinkers of the world, Dr. James Innes Packer went to heaven a few hours ago. He was without question the most respected theologian in the world today. I have to pinch myself to believe I actually knew him and that I had him as a friend and mentor.

Indeed, I am possibly the luckiest man in the world. Jim would not approve of the word “luck” but he would be gracious enough to say, “I know what you mean”. Reason I say this: I had Dr. Packer as a supervisor for my DPhil at Oxford and Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones as a weekly tutor for my first four years at Westminster Chapel – greatest theologian and greatest preacher. Who could match that?

Dr. Packer’s book Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God was a formative influence on my life in the 1960s. A strong five-point Calvinist, he used the word “antinomy” which meant “theologically” that “two parallel principles that appear to be contradictory but are both true”. He applied this to mean that God predestined the elect but equally predestined evangelism to save God’s elect.

I first met Jim Packer in person as a guest in his home in Bristol, England in 1972. He served me Dover Sole for dinner. Months later he was our guest at our home in Salem, Indiana. He preached for me at Blue River Baptist Church. The next day I introduced him to the faculty at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where I was a student. He then lectured to the students and got into a public quarrel with Dr. Dale Moody over the doctrine of eternal punishment (which he believed but Dr. Moody didn’t).

A pivotal moment in my life was when Dr. Packer read my essay while in our home in Headington, Oxford.  I argued that John Calvin believed that Christ died for the whole world but interceded for the elect only at the right hand of God. He looked at me and said, “You’ve done it. You’ve done it”, namely I convinced him that I got it right about Calvin, although he was never convinced that Calvin was right! 

He preached for me at the Calvary Southern Baptist Church in Lower Heyford, Oxfordshire. While at Westminster Chapel I did a rather controversial thing by having him preach for me there on a Friday night. It was regarded as a bit controversial because Dr. Lloyd-Jones had openly rejected Dr. Packer because of a book Packer wrote with a Roman Catholic. The two never made up. I understood both sides of the issue but managed to maintain a friendship with both men. “Dr. Lloyd-Jones thought he would sink me”, Jim said to me. But It didn’t. Far from it, although most people I know admire the two men with equal respect.

Louise and I had a memorable meal with Dr. Packer in Vancouver a few years ago. He and Louise got on like a house afire – talking mostly about Shakespeare and C. S. Lewis. When describing C. S. Lewis, he said of Lewis: “He believed in biblical inspiration but not infallibility, justification by but not imputation, atonement but not propitiation”. I will never forget a question I put to him that evening: “Do you think that what is going on in Israel today has anything to do with Romans 11?” His answer: “No”.

I phoned him last Boxing Day, just to say one thing: “To tell you Jim how much I love you”. He seemed very moved by my word. I am so glad I called him. I had planned to go to Vancouver to see him one last time when we were to be in Seattle in November.

He would not recommend my book The Anointing – which hurt me deeply, but afterwards recommended my book Totally Forgiving Ourselves (although referring to me as “flamboyant”). He was no cessatonist, but, knowing him as I did, was probably a bit uneasy with some of my teaching on Word and Spirit.

I would be stretching it to say we were extremely close friends, but I treasure knowing that he would phone me once in a while – especially when needing someone to meet him at Heathrow Airport. He would then come to our home for a cup of hot tea, only to complain that it was not hot enough! I said, “Jim, I burnt my tongue just now on this”, but obediently turned the kettle on and then poured boiling water on his tea bag. He immediately  put this boiling tea to his lips – and looked as though he had gone to heaven – and said, “When I say I like it hot, I mean that I like it hot”. 

I don’t know how he did it!

13 July 2020

13 July 2020

Dear Friends,

         “Yes, the Lord will give what is good” – Psalm 85:12.

Today is my 85th birthday. On my 84th I decided to read Psalm 84 every day. This has been a timely blessing. And yes, I have decided to read Psalm 85 daily in the coming year (in addition to my regular Bible reading plan designed by Robert Murray M’Cheyne). 

Psalm 85 speaks to the crisis we are in. At the request of my publisher I was asked to write and have just finished a book that deals with the current Double Whammy given to America – the coronavirus crisis plus the civil unrest. I take the view that America is under judgment – for 4 reasons: (1) racism, (2) legalized abortions, (3) same sex marriage and (4) theological liberalism in so many churches. The book is called We’ve Never Been This Way Before, based on Joshua 3:4, God’s word to the children of Israel as they anticipated entering Canaan. I also take the view that this Double Whammy will lead to the next Great Awakening – on both sides of the Atlantic.

These are difficult days. In some ways boring. In all ways challenging. We all discover whether our faith is the real deal or counterfeit. We have a wonderful opportunity to follow in the steps of those in Hebrews 11—all of whom did by faithwhat was different from the previous generation. That is exactly where we all are. What kept them going? They were looking for a city, whose builder and maker is God (Heb.11:10,16). Here is what matters: we are on our way to Heaven! This life is not all there is; we are not existentialists whose hopeless view is that there is no purpose in life. 

Thank you for your prayers. I am physically fit, still doing 21 push-ups daily, Louise and I walk a mile daily, I watch my weight. I am ready to resume travel when it is allowed.

Louise, TR, Annette, Toby, Timothy, Ty, Melissa and Rex send their greetings.

Warmest affection and appreciation to all.

RT Romans 8:28

Once Saved Always Saved Preview

I have not always believed in ‘once saved, always saved’. As far back as I can remember, the doctrine of eternal security was utterly alien to my teaching and background. There were many obstacles to overcome.

One day many years ago I was given a surprise invitation. Our next-door neighbor invited us to go to their church. The reason: to witness Dick’s baptism the following Sunday night. I have never learned what led to Dick’s decision to be baptized. But my parents allowed me to go to church with him. Although I was only twelve at the time (Dick was sixteen), I vividly remember the conversation we had on the way to his church, a local Baptist church in Kentucky. ‘I’ll be glad when this is over,’ Dick said to me. ‘I’ve been trying to live straight for a week. I haven’t even cursed. But after tonight I won’t have to worry any more. After I get baptized I can live as I please. I can go back to the way I was before. But I will be saved.’ As best as I can recall, those were his exact words.

            My parents’ estimate of Baptists generally was not very flattering to the doctrine of eternal security. My grandmother was brought up in a Baptist church in Elliot County, Kentucky, where spittoons were placed between various pews for people to spit their tobacco juice during the worship! But my grandmother was delivered from all that and her views of Baptists didn’t help their reputation in our household. The earmark of Baptist doctrine in my part of the world was the teaching of the unconditional eternal security of the believer. My parents were absolutely convinced that it was abominable teaching, if only by observing the lives of so many Baptists they knew. When I heard Dick say what he did on the night of his baptism, I was adequately confirmed in my parents’ understanding of Baptists.

            Whether my friend Dick was correctly reflecting the teaching of his pastor is for the moment beside the point. It is what he thought was true. And whether spitting chewing tobacco into a church spittoon was a very godly thing, or how often a person got drunk, did not matter. If a person was saved, he was saved. Once saved, always saved.

            Given this background and introduction to Baptists generally and the doctrine of eternal security particularly it would hardly seem likely that one day I should write a book affirming ‘once saved, always saved’. If I had a distinct advantage in writing a book on tithing because I was taught it by my father, I most certainly have had a disadvantage when it comes to the doctrine of the security of the believer.

            I therefore approach this subject with my eyes wide open. I know something of the suspicions of people that are averse to this teaching. I know the Scriptures they use to disprove it. I know something about the examples they can use to substantiate their position. I could give them a lot more illustrations than they ever needed.

            But I come to the reader with the conviction that the Bible teaches ‘once saved, always saved’. I do not know where this expression originated or who was the first to put it in print. Perhaps someone will eventually let me know who said it first. I only believe that it is a phrase that is biblically and theologically sound. We are not saying once baptized, always saved. We are not saying once having made a profession, always saved. We are not saying once having come forward or walked up an aisle, always saved. It is once saved, always saved. A major portion of this book will have something to say about being saved.

            It may be of interest to the reader to know something of how I came to change my own views. It was not from reading a book like this one. I sincerely doubt if it would have done any good in any case. As a matter of fact, I am not writing this to convince the person who does not believe this doctrine. I am writing to convince the person who wants to believe it but is afraid to believe it. As for those Christians who do not believe it, I have great sympathy for them. Nobody knows better than I where they are coming from and I totally understand their biases and fears. A book like this will hardly convince them for I do not think it would have convinced me. What convinced me was the Lord. I mean that literally, however pious or lofty it may sound. My coming to the views presented in this book is entirely the result of a spiritual experience I had a long time ago. It is an experience I can only conceive as being of the Lord.

            The date was October 31, 1955. On a Monday morning, driving in my car from my pastorate in Palmer, Tennessee, on the way to attend classes at Trevecca Nazarene College in Nashville I had the near equivalent of a Damascus Road experience. I do not feel it would be wise to disclose all the details here. But what I can say is that about a quarter to eight that morning I felt a warm surging of the Spirit that came into my heart and that left my soul in a state of great rest and peace. It would not be an exaggeration to say that I was in ecstasy. The feeling lasted for days, even months. The person of Jesus was more real to me than my own existence—or anybody else’s. The sense of the presence of God was beyond anything I had dreamed of. But that is not all. I knew I was eternally saved. Unconditionally saved. Saved. I knew it. No scripture in particular came to mind at the moment. I just knew I was saved forever no matter what I ever did. Not that it gave me a feeling of not caring what I did. Quite the contrary. I loved God and His word and His will more than ever. I just knew that I was eternally, unconditionally, and absolutely saved.

            Word of this experience spread in the dormitory at Trevecca. I was a bit unwise in telling it to one or two close friends and the word spread all over the campus like wildfire. Rumors spread that I had received a ‘third work of grace’. The reason for this will be obvious to readers who are aware of Wesleyan teaching. I had believed in two works of grace—regeneration (conversion) and sanctification (cleansing). ‘Then what happened to you?’ my friends asked. ‘I don’t know,’ I could only say. ‘I just know I am saved—eternally saved.’ ‘What do you mean eternally saved?’ ‘I mean just that. I am eternally saved.’ One friend cautioned me. ‘John Wesley believed that for a while,’ he said, ‘but Wesley changed and so will you.’ I knew what he was trying to say to me. But somehow I knew I would not change in my new view. I knew I was eternally saved. Forever. It was, to put it mildly, a most wonderful feeling.

            Perhaps the most important consequence of this experience was the way in which the Holy Scriptures opened up to me. The Bible became a new book. I had a boldness and a fearlessness in reading the Bible. It became alive. I felt no need to be defensive as I read. I didn’t care what I read or what it said. I just believed it. If I had any particular theological view that was wrong, I didn’t mind having it cut right down. I didn’t care what the result was. Let theological surgery be performed!

            And what an operation it was. My theology was almost completely renovated. I saw things I sincerely believed were discovered entirely by me. I thought I was on to truth that nobody had seen since the apostle Paul. It is not the task of this book to go into all that I learned in the weeks and months that followed October 31, 1955. 1 am simply stating that it was this experience that convinced me of the truth of the unconditional security of the believer. Since then I have read many books on the subject. I have finished Trevecca College, completed seminary, and done research at Oxford. In the past twenty-seven years I have drawn two conclusions: first, I did not discover anything new after all; second, the doctrine of ‘once saved, always saved’ is more biblically based than most of its own proponents have believed. Many who believe it are actually afraid of it. It is largely they who have watered it down. As an outsider, as it were, I propose to put in writing what I believe the Bible teaches on this subject. I do so for one reason: to encourage believers.

Front cover quote:

“A wonderful book” – W. A. Criswell.  

The Bible commands us to make our calling and election sure. Why is it then that so many Christians today struggle with the issue of assurance? Embracing the doctrine of eternal security, R.T. Kendall encourages the Christian struggling with legalism, bondage and fear, and points us towards God’s glorious promises. Once Saved, Always Saved is not a book for the complacent, as secure in our salvation we are challenged to live our lives with godly fear before the judgment seat of Christ.

“This is the most important statement of the doctrine of eternal security that has been made for many years … (which) is not introspective but rightly relates to the doctrine of such themes as sanctification, chastening and the Judgment Seat of Christ.”
 Dr. Michael Eaton

I agree with W.A. Criswell regarding this being a “wonderful book”…. of course I seldom ever disagreed with him on anything! RT Kendall’s Baptist roots shine forth in this volume on this long held Bible doctrine of the eternal security of the believer. It is not so much “once saved, always saved” as it is “always saved if ever once truly saved!”  Be blessed and encouraged.

O.S.Hawkins
President/CEO GuideStone
Former Pastor First Baptist Church Dallas

“Seldom has this critically important soteriological doctrine been advocated as convincingly as Dr. Kendall does in Once Saved, Always Saved. A must read for all who cherish this marvelous doctrine of grace.”

 Richard Land, President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

“R.T. Kendall is a dear friend with a deep love for the gospel and the ministry. His words are worth reading and taking to heart.” –Ed Stetzer

Chapter one – Statement Of The Doctrine

Before we proceed any further it is important that we know exactly what we are talking about. What do we mean, ‘once saved, always saved’? This chapter will of necessity have to introduce certain theological terms. But I will try to explain each term, however technical or difficult it may sound at first. Every Christian is called to be a Bible student. I therefore hope the reader will not skip over this chapter because it may appear theological.

            Before we introduce various terms let me give a definition of the teaching we are affirming. Whoever once truly believes that Jesus was raised from the dead, and confesses that Jesus is Lord, will go to heaven when he dies.But I will not stop there. Such a person will go to heaven when he dies no matter what work (or lack of work) may accompany such faith.

            Some readers may have heard of the expression ‘the perseverance of the saints’. This phrase is taken from some time-honoured confessions of faith. ‘They whom God hath accepted in his Beloved, effectually called and sanctified by his Spirit, can neither totally nor finally fall away from the state of grace: but shall certainly persevere therein to the end, and be eternally saved’ (Westminster Confession of Faith, XIX:1, ‘Of the Perseverance of the Saints’). The Philadelphia Confession of Faith states the same doctrine in virtually the same words.

            It has been thought by many of us that the doctrine of the security of the believer in some cases has gotten out of control in modern times. The point some would make is that historically the teaching was known as the ‘perseverance of the saints’ not merely ‘once saved, always saved’ (although affirming the truth of the latter phrase). What some therefore want to preserve is the idea that it is ‘perseverance’ of ‘saints’ that should be stressed, not the unconditional salvation of just anybody who claims to believe.

            Let us be fair with this concern. Such people loathe the superficial type of Christianity that has become so common today. Such people want to preserve godliness within the context of saving faith (a phrase I will come back to). Take my childhood friend Mick. He had no intention whatever of amending his ways after his baptism. He wanted to ‘get it over with’ so he could go back to his usual manner of life but still know nonetheless that he would go to heaven when he died.

            For reasons like this there are those who want to uphold ‘perseverance of the saints’ and are a bit uneasy with the phrase ‘eternal security’ or even ‘once saved, always saved’. Such people obviously feel that this is a distortion of the classical teaching of the perseverance of the saints.

            But there is another way of looking at this. The way in which the classical doctrine of the perseverance of the saints is often upheld may also be a distortion of the biblical doctrine of the security of the believer. For if it is strictly ‘perseverance’, or even ‘sainthood’, that we are after in order to establish the biblical teaching, there is really no point in having the doctrine in the first place.

            To put it another way, if only those who persevere in sainthood are saved, there would be hardly any objection to the teaching. If, for example, John Smith seems genuinely converted but lapses after a couple of years, it may be argued that he simply was not converted in the first place. On the other hand, if he is restored, it shows he may have been converted after all. But if he falls again, his conversion is in doubt again, and so on. Thus only the person who is living the godly life at the time of his death can be safely regarded as saved.

             If that is what the Bible teaches, then faith gives very little purpose or comfort whatever. I would simply be back to the original view of my own background and assume that, though I am saved by trusting Jesus’ death on the cross, I will have no assurance that I am saved unless I am also in a state of godly living at every moment. I will therefore not be deriving my comfort from Jesus’ death (however much I may wish I could). I will be deriving my real comfort and assurance from my own works. Jesus’ death may save me, but I cannot be too excited about that if I don’t have good works to show that He has really saved me.

            It seems to me, then, that a book is in order that offers an alternative to the idea of perseverance of saints but also to the sheer godless approach of my friend Mick (who, by the way, is today steeped in the Jehovah’s Witnesses). If all we are doing is upholding the traditional doctrine of the perseverance of the saints, there is hardly a need for a book like this. Many books have been written that give an exposition of the old confessions.

            But another point of clarification may be in order. I hope no one will take this as an attack upon the Westminster Confession. It is not that. I happen to love the Westminster Confession. My own country was born out of the basic theological conviction that lies behind the Westminster Confession. The Puritans that came to America are largely the ones who gave it her soul. I am grateful for this. I am grateful for my own parents, as a matter of fact. But if I must differ with them, it does not mean an attack upon them. They just might be wrong on a point or two.

            The statement of doctrine in the second paragraph of this chapter is what this book is about. There is a sense in which all we have to say rises or falls with Romans 10:9–10: ‘That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus [Jesus is Lord, niv], and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation’.

            According to these verses two things are required in order to be ‘saved’: first, believing in your heart that God raised Jesus from the dead; second, confessing Jesus as Lord. My definition of ‘once saved, always saved’ may be divided into two headings.

            Whoever once truly believes. The four words here give rise to four teachings, all of which are of immense importance. Whoever. This indicates what we may call the free offer of the gospel. The gospel is offered to every person. Jesus tasted death ‘for every man’ (Hebrews 2:9). ‘For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life’ (John 3:16). ‘Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely’ (Revelation 22:17). If the free offer of the gospel is undermined in the slightest way, all else falls apart. It is of critical importance that the superstructure of the teaching ‘once saved, always saved’ be laid upon the foundation of the free offer of the gospel. The gospel is for everybody because Christ died for all. It is because God so loved the ‘world’ that a ‘whosoever’ comes into play. On the other hand, whoever does not believe this gospel will perish. The assumption in John 3:16 is that the gospel is the only thing that can help a person. The assumption is that men will perish anyway. The only thing that can help is the gospel. But it is the ‘whosoever’ who believes that is saved; he who does not is damned.

            Once. Whoever once truly believes. I suppose that is the sore spot with so many. It is ‘once, not twice or three times or three hundred times. Once’. One needs have only what John Calvin called the ‘least drop of faith’. And one need have it but once. Why is this? It is not great faith that saves; it is faith in a great Saviour. One need only see the Sin Bearer once to be saved. For it is God who gives faith. As Charles Spurgeon used to put it, ‘There is life in a look’. ‘And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up: that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life’ (John 3:14–15). One can see from these two verses that believing is seeing; Here Jesus alluded to the generation of Israel which was infested with poisonous snakes. Moses made a serpent of brass and put it on a pole, that ‘if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived’ (Numbers 21:9). ‘Every one which seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting life: and I will raise him up at the last day’ (John 6:40). Even if he sees the Son a thousand times, or a million times, he is no more saved than when he looked once. For the ‘once’ sets God’s promise into effectual operation.

            Truly. Whoever once truly believes. Notice that John 6:40 says ‘seeth the Son, and believeth on him’. Those snake-bitten Israelites gazed at the serpent of brass because they believed Moses’ word. Many saw Jesus. But not all believed on Him. It is the one who looks to Jesus because he believes His word that will be saved. Faith is not mere mental assent to a set of doctrines. It is not an uncritical acceptance of the teachings of the church (even if those teachings be correct). This is why Paul said, ‘If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved’ (Romans 10:9). One may superficially confess ‘Jesus is Lord’ without anything having taken place in the heart. The crux of the matter is precisely here. If a person does not believe in his heart— ‘heart of hearts’, as we might it put it today—he is not saved. It is being convinced. Persuaded. The Greek word for faith in the New Testament comes from a root word that essentially means ‘to persuade’. Faith is persuasion.

            Believes. Whoever once truly believes. Trusts. Nothing more, only trusting. It is not faith plus works, it is faith without works. ‘For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast’ (Ephesians 2:8–9). ‘Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (Romans 5:1). ‘Faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How was it then reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in un-circumcision? Not in circumcision, but in un-circumcision (Romans 4:9–10). That is why Paul could conclude that ‘a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law’ (Romans 3:28). When a person believes, then ‘his faith is counted for righteousness’ (Romans 4:5). The righteousness that is required is answered by faith. Once faith is present, God ‘imputeth [puts to their credit] righteousness without works’ (Romans 4:6). Such righteousness is in fact the righteousness of God (Romans 1:17) and it is too powerful to be rivalled by any subsequent work, good or bad. Therefore once a person truly believes, such faith is counted for a righteousness that cannot be undone. ‘For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God’ (James 1:20). As we shall see in more detail later, the doctrine of justification by faith alone is sufficient to demonstrate all that this book hopes to establish.

            That Jesus was raised from the dead. I promised to return to the phrase ‘saving faith’. It is an important phrase to grasp. Not all faith is saving, that is, not all faith secures one a home in heaven.

            There are two essential ingredients that constitute saving faith: the proper seat of faith and the correct objectof faith. We have already dealt with the seat of faith when we spoke of the heart. Saving faith is seated in the heart. Not the head (this is mental assent). Not even the desire. Both the head and the desire come into the picture, of course, but either or even both together do not necessarily constitute saving faith. A person can be convinced in his head of the existence of God. You can hem a man in until he has to admit there must be a God. But one thinks of the expression ‘A man convinced against his will is of the same opinion still’.

            What about the will? A man may desire to believe that Jesus has been raised from the dead. But his desire, his most fervent wish, will not save him. He may have a strong motivation. He may be utterly sincere. He may even be ‘willing to be willing’. He might even take the existential view of faith—the ‘leap’. He may say to himself, ‘I hope it’s so’. But all that may fall short of the heart.

            That leads us to the object of faith. It is believing that Jesus was raised from the dead. Thus the supernatural element comes into focus. One either believes in Jesus’ resurrection or one doesn’t. It will not do for a person to play games with himself. He knows whether he actually believes that Jesus rose from the dead. One does not need to tell him whether he believes it. He does or he doesn’t and he knows whether he really believes it or if he does not. If he does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus, there is nothing that will save him. He can resolve to be a better person, to live a moral life, respect God’s Law, His people, His church and His ministers. He can even begin to feel sorry for bad things he has done and try to put them right. He can ‘quit his sinning’. But if he does not believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, he cannot be saved.

            At this particular time in history Romans 10:9 is of special significance. For we are in an age of unbelief in a way that is different from previous ages. That is largely due to the emergence of modern scientific rationalism. Belief in the supernatural is not ‘in’. The emergence of science, psychology, linguistic philosophy, sociology, and Marxism militate against belief in the supernatural in a way that previous generations have not had to combat. For example, two hundred years ago there was almost an uncritical acceptance of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. People often thought they just had to believe it—and did. Or did they? They thought they did. My point is this: believing in the resurrection of Jesus as we approach the end of the twentieth century shows an undoubted contrast with the spirit of our age. We have an opportunity to demonstrate, in a way previous generations were not as challenged to do, that we really believe in the living God.

            The object of saving faith is the resurrection of Jesus. That is, that Jesus of Nazareth—the man who died a horrible death on the cross—was raised to life in the same body He had had since His birth. It was a spiritual body, yes. But it was also the same body. The tomb in which He was laid was empty save for His grave clothes (John 20:7). The resurrected Jesus said to Thomas (who seems to have sulked a bit for having missed seeing Jesus when the other disciples did), ‘Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side (John 20:27). What Thomas had demanded was the ‘print of the nails’ (John 20:25). He got his evidence. My point again is this: we are talking about the raising of Jesus’ very body. This historical event—the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion—is the object of saving faith.

            But someone will surely ask, ‘Why haven’t you stressed trusting Jesus’ death on the cross as the object of faith?’ Or we might ask: ‘Why didn’t Paul say, ‘If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that he died on the cross for your sins, thou shalt be saved’. There are good reasons for this.

            First, Paul had reached the stage in the epistle to the Romans where his argument for justification by faith alone was beyond question. He in fact stated unequivocally that the death of Jesus is the object of saving faith. He said this at the beginning of his argument on the nature of justification. We are saved ‘through faith in his blood’ (Romans 3:25). God set forth Jesus Christ as a propitiation through faith in His blood. Propitiation is a synonym for atonement. It simply means that God has been appeased by Christ’s sacrifice. In other words, then, Paul had already stated in this same epistle that the object of faith is the death of Jesus (cf. Romans 5:9,10,11,17,18, 19; 6:3, 10; 7:4; 8:3, 34).

            But in Romans 10, Paul anticipated the question whether one must ascend to heaven (‘to bring Christ down from above’) or descend into the deep (‘to bring up Christ again from the dead’) in order to know that one will be saved. The theme in these verses is ‘the righteousness which is of faith’ (Romans 10:6–7). We would likely call it the nature of faith, that is, saving faith. Paul therefore reached this conclusion: you need not ascend to heaven or descend to the abyss. ‘But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart that is, the word of faith, which we preach’ (Romans 10:8). You just believe in your heart Thomas had a firsthand experience of the resurrected Jesus. But Jesus said to Thomas, ‘Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed’ (John 20:29). That means us.

            But there is another reason Paul said that the object of saving faith is Jesus’ resurrection. It is because one need not have an articulate grasp of the doctrine of justification by faith in order to be saved. The Pauline doctrine of justification by faith is profound. It is so profound that one learns something new nearly every time one reads Romans or Galatians. Even Martin Luther did not perceive many of the implications of his own insight. John Calvin is much clearer on justification by faith than Luther. Luther nonetheless was able to see something in Paul’s teaching that had escaped the notice of such great men as Athanasius, Augustine, Aquinas, and Anselm! Are we to say that these four great men will not be in heaven? No! Of course not. Thus when Paul came to the summary of his teaching of justification and the nature of faith, he put his position in such a manner that anybody can be saved who believes in Jesus’ resurrection and deity. The work of the Spirit takes care of this. All one needs to do, then, is truly to believe that Jesus was raised from the dead and confess that He is Lord.

            It is an important reminder that we are not saved by how much we know. This is of immense importance. It does not take a lot of knowledge to be saved. What matters is whether a work of the Spirit has taken place that indicates a person has believed in his heart what the natural man could not possibly affirm.

            On the day of Pentecost the great theme was the resurrection of Jesus, not the forgiveness of sins. Believing and confessing that Jesus was raised from the dead was what mattered. When the men cried out to Peter, ‘What shall we do?’ Peter brought in the matter of repentance, baptism, forgiveness of sins, and the gift of the Holy Spirit—four important doctrines. But it was not required that the hearers fully understand these truths. They were baptized the very same day and it is not likely that there was time for much instruction. They had only accepted the fact that Jesus of Nazareth was raised from the dead! Peter told them to repent, that is, to agree with God. There is no indication here that these men were convicted of wickedness insofar as immorality and the works of the law were concerned. Their unbelief lay in their view about Jesus. They had to repent of that. They had been wrong. They had to turn about face and admit this.

             Repentance is an essential ingredient in saving faith. The Greek word is metanoia, which means ‘change of mind’. But we must be cautious here. I think it is possible to carry the idea of change of mind too far and expect sainthood before conversion! It is being sorry for one’s past sins. It is an attitude of the heart. Repentance is therefore an assumption in Romans 10:9–10.

            On the day of Pentecost repentance was therefore required. Not only that—they had to confess this repentance. Baptism was the way it was done on that occasion. But there was more—forgiveness of sins came into being. We cannot say that forgiveness of sins was even on their minds before that moment but forgiveness of sins is what they got. On top of all that came the promise of the Holy Spirit. All this is found in Acts 2:37–38. In a word: by believing and confessing the resurrection of Jesus three thousand men received forgiveness of sins and justification before God as an unexpected bonus! It follows for the apostle Paul that confessing Jesus as Lord and believing in the heart that He was raised from the dead constitutes an infallible guarantee of salvation.

            The question may arise, then why not stress the resurrection of Jesus today rather than His death on the cross? The answer is, belief in either puts the other into effectual operation. It would not matter which is stressed. Paul spent most of his time on the nature of justification by faith in Jesus’ blood but in the end he simply concluded that believing in the resurrection was sufficient. For if you believe in your heart that Jesus was raised from the dead and confess Jesus as Lord, you have all that Paul was arguing for—even if you don’t understand Paul himself. As three thousand got more than they could have imagined at the time, so do we have in Christ infinitely more than we have ever dreamed of. Bible study can be defined as trying to catch up with our conversion. Bible study is finding out what really happened when we were saved.

            As for the person who is converted by focusing his gaze upon the death of Christ, one may be absolutely certain he will also believe in Christ’s resurrection. It would be just as impossible to believe that faith in Christ’s blood saves and not also to believe in His resurrection as it would be to believe in His resurrection and not have the benefit of His blood. Anybody who believes that the death of God’s son propitiated the Father will find it easier, as it were, to believe in our Lord’s resurrection.

            It is likely that the main reason today’s Christianity (at least in the West) sometimes emphasizes the death of Christ more than His resurrection is because we have a clearer knowledge of justification by faith as a legacy of the Reformation. Romans and Galatians (and, for that matter, the whole of the New Testament) is clearer to us than it was for many Christians before Luther’s time. Moreover, as Paul spent so much time working out the details of the nature of justification through Jesus’ death, surely we are ‘justified’ in focusing upon this aspect of Bible doctrine. For the one who understands it, the reward is truly great. There is every reason we should begin with forgiveness of sins through the death of Christ in our evangelism and our understanding of the gospel. The epistle to the Romans most certainly encourages this approach.

            But the danger of this approach is very real. To the man who has a keen grasp of doctrine like propitiation, atonement, justification, imputation, righteousness, forgiveness, and faith, there may be an impatience with the one who does not have such theological perception. This impatience can lead to intolerance and, in some cases, judgmentalism that questions whether a person can truly be a Christian if he does not understand such doctrines.

            If the great apostle Paul could work so hard at defining his doctrine in several chapters in Romans and then say, at the end of it all, that heart belief in Christ’s resurrection saves a man (if he confesses Christ as Lord), surely we can afford to be as magnanimous ourselves?

You can now order the complete book in PDF format from our web site: http://ow.ly/75yT50zSIRN

The Midnight Cry

I wrote a book not long ago entitled Is Your Heart Prepared for the Midnight Cry?(Charisma). I take the view that the next thing to happen on God’s calendar is not the Second Coming but rather the awakening of the church before the Second Coming. Matthew 25:6 says, “At midnight [‘middle of night’ – meses de nuktos] there was a cry, ‘Here comes the bridegroom! Come out to meet him’”. Some interpreters of the Parable of the Virgins hold that the Second Coming and the Midnight Cry are simultaneous. But clearly there is a gap in time between the “cry” and the actual coming of the bridegroom (see verses 7-10). The awakening of the ten virgins – who I take to represent the church in the very last days – precedes the coming of the bridegroom. This will come not at 12:00 o’clock midnight but when the church is in a deep sleep – expecting nothing. Imagine yourself being awakened at 2:00 am; it is the last thing you want or expect. That in my opinion is the sort of circumstance in which the Midnight Cry will take place.

I have had a number of people ask, “Is the present coronavirus crisis the Midnight Cry?” Chapter Nine of my book reads almost as though it is describing what has been going on in recent months all over the world. My answer is, No. Whereas a major pandemic may well be a vital part of the Midnight Cry, there needs to be a prophetic voice that  will parallel such a pandemic that is as equally sobering and real as the coronavirus itself. That has not happened. Whereas many people have been shaken and afraid – with some people sincerely seeking God, I suspect that most of the world will soon go back to sleep.

What if the present crisis is a preview of the Midnight Cry? I wonder if the present crisis is a mini wakeup call to the church? It is a test. It has served to wake up some. We all must thank God for those who have either been converted out of the world or Christians awakened from being asleep. Tim Keller says that the components of true revival are (1) nominal church members being truly  converted, (2) sleepy Christians being awakened and (3) people being converted from out of the world. 

The scary thing about sleep is that you don’t know you were asleep until you awake up. Many of us might deny we have been asleep. But when we are truly awakened we are shocked to think that we have been asleep. One proof that we have been asleep is that we have allowed things to enter our lives that we once vowed would never happen to us. For example, it is a melancholy fact that many college students and unmarried young people in the church are sleeping together. Same sex marriage no longer worries us. Abortion is now generally taken for granted. Things have changed drastically even in the last ten years. We have lost our sense of outrage. The fear of God in the church disappeared a long while ago. Nothing upsets us anymore. We are asleep. Another characteristic of sleep is that we do things in our dreams we would never do when awake. We are in a dream-like state now.  Furthermore, we hate the sound of an alarm when we are in a deep sleep. The current crisis may have barely awakened some of us, but I honestly fear that we will go back to sleep as soon as we can watch baseball games and eat in our favorite restaurant.

Whether things will ever be the same again is an open question. The new normal could well be that nothing will be normal as we have known it. But we can get used to that too.

The present crisis  in any case should be a grim reminder that life as we have known it will end eventually. Those people who have taken to the streets in protest because they hate living in lockdown need to be told that this life is not all there is. Existentialism is the philosophy that there is no purpose in life; there is no rhyme nor reason as to why things happen. But you may be sure that anything as great and unprecedented in world history as the present crisis does not take a sovereign God by surprise. Moreover, it is appointed to all of us that we are going to die. And after death the judgment (Heb.9:27). Imagine what it will be like when all men and women wail, cry out and scream because they see King Jesus in the clouds (Rev.1:7).

What is happening these days is preparation for what is coming next. Oh yes, the Real Thing will follow. What comes next will make the current scare seem like a drop in the bucket. There will be no second chance. How soon? Very soon. God in mercy is beckoning us to prepare our hearts while there is time.

Franklin Graham

I first met Franklin Graham eighteen years ago, but I have not known him well. He was on TBN USA representing Samaritan’s Purse. I was on the same show being interviewed by Paul and Jan Crouch about my recent meeting with Yasser Arafat in July 2002. I have not seen Franklin since until yesterday when I was invited to a luncheon in London with church leaders who are supporting his meetings in several cities in England this year. There are outcries that these meetings should be canceled, mostly because of the way some in the LGBT feel about him. I have supported him from the beginning and I stand unashamedly with him. He unapologetically preaches the Gospel.

I wouldn’t have missed this luncheon for anything in the world. Franklin was brilliant. I’d give anything if this were filmed and shown all over Britain. Attitudes everywhere would change. I found him truly humble and unpretentious. There are two stories Franklin told that I want to share. First, something that is not generally known, Donald Trump came to a birthday party for Billy Graham in November 2013 – Billy’s 95th birthday. The Gospel was preached. Donald Trump made a profession of faith on that occasion. Second, as you will know, Billy died two years ago at the age of 99 in February 2018. People said to Franklin, “So your father didn’t make it to 100”. Franklin replied: “Oh yes he did. He was alive in his mother’s womb for nine months before he was born; he certainly lived to be100!”

I was asked to close the meeting in prayer. I can’t remember all I said, but I remember praying something like this:

 “Thank you Heavenly Father for the joy of being with those who are unashamed of the Gospel. Thank you for the joy of being with those who are unashamed of Franklin Graham. I thank you for raising him up for such a time as this. I pray for his protection by the blood of Christ against satanic attacks. I pray that many people will be saved over these months. I pray this era will be epoch-making and result in changing Britain. In Jesus’ Name. Amen ”.

Franklin Graham and me.









Louise and I with Franklin’s daughter Cassie Graham Lynch.

New Year’s Letter 2020

           January 1, 2020

                                              “I know that you can do all things and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” – Job 42:1.

Happy New Year everybody!

Thank you for your prayers. Here is what I pray – every day: “Please bless those who pray for us and hear the prayers of those who pray for us”. 

The year 2020 is here and we might think of 20/20 vision when it comes to the future. Wisdom is getting God’s opinion and results in 20/20 foresight vision. God has an opinion on everything! The issue is: do we really want His opinion? He will almost always give us His opinion if we truly seek it. We all have 20/20 hindsight wisdom! We later see clearly what we should have said – or done.  I can guarantee: if we get God’s opinion – and embrace it, we will have 20/20 foresight wisdom. It will spare us of so much regret!  The reward is incalculable (Prov.4: 5-9).

Louise and I will return in February to Kensington Temple, London, for our seventh six-month visit. Pastor Colin Dye and Amanda have been such a blessing to us. 

God has given us good health. I watch my weight; walk briskly on the treadmill; do 21 pushups daily (perhaps not up to Olympic standard!). A cardiologist who examined my last echocardiogram recently said to me: “You will live until you are 100”. I don’t believe that of course, but I must tell you we are so thankful for God’s goodness. I still get invitations from many places – Korea, China, South Africa, the Middle East – and the USA! TR travels with me to most of these places.  January 2020 will without question be the hardest of my entire life; kindly see my web site itinerary.

Books out in 2020:  For an Audience of One and Chances are, You are a Pharisee if . . .

As Louise and I talk about our sixty-one years of marriage, we marvel how God has planned our lives and has been with us unmistakably every step of the way. When I think of the smallest details of His guidance it boggles my mind. 

He will do that for you too. Reason: no purpose of His can be [ultimately] thwarted. This refers to those who love God and are called according to His purpose; for them “all things work together for good” (Rom. 8:28 – KJV). That is the bottom line of the book of Job; it is what Job – who loved God – learned for himself after His ordeal.

God is not only absolutely sovereign but absolutely loving and all-powerful. Let Job 42:1 be a word you to embrace for 2020. 

God bless you all.  Much love and gratitude to God and to you,

R T, Louise, T R, Annette, Toby, Timothy, Tyndale, Melissa and Rex – Romans 8:28.

Creation of the Heavens and the Earth

“The Unashamed God”

Genesis 1:27: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

Genesis 5:1: “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them.”

Genesis 2:24: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh”.

Psalm 33:6: “By the word of the Lord the heavens were made”.

Prov.3:19: “The Lord by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens”.

Hebrews 2:11: “For he who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one source. That is why he is not ashamed to call them brothers [or sisters]”.

Hebrews 11:1-3: “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the people of old received their commendation. By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made of things that are visible”.

Intro— “The Unashamed God”, that is my subject. The purpose of my message: to show the growing impact of denying God’s purpose in making humankind male and female; we will look particularly at transgenderism and same sex attraction in our society today and what our response to this should be – to show we are not ashamed of our Creator God or His own word = Holy Scripture.

I should add: I have been asked to speak on this subject.But I also want to say: we must feel utter compassion for those who have been involved in this. Let there be no moralizing or pointing the finger.I wrote a book 25 years ago Is God for the Homosexual?  (The homosexual community applauded the way I showed compassion for those with gay proclivity – I never moralized or made them feel guilty for their temptation)The sin is not the proclivity; it is giving into the temptation that is sin.



Jonathan Edwards taught us that the task of every generation is to discover in which direction the Sovereign Redeemer is moving, then move in that direction.I would add that the task of every generation is also to discover the current stigma by which the believer’s faith is tested.We must accept and go where the battle is; where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved.The word stigma – a pure Greek word – means offense; in Hellenistic literature a stigma was like a tattoo on the body, usually given to runaway slaves so they could be marked.Sometimes the stigma comes down to one word: embarrassment.Q: Are you willing to be embarrassed because of the way your friends might perceive you?We must not be ashamed of the  stigma  – to be marked and identified. E.g.:First century: is Jesus of Nazareth the true Messiah of Israel?First and second century: Jesus is Lord vs. Caesar is LordFourth century: is Jesus the God-man?Sixteenth century: justification by faith alone apart from worksTwentieth century: an attack on creation: creation vs. evolution;The issue was creation ex nihilo – out of nothing – even after the Big Bang theory became popular.Matter is not eternal; there was a time when nothing existed in the entire universe – not even a spec of dust – = but God. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen.1:1).



God’s creation of the universe. The universe was created by the word of God. “ And God said, ‘Let there be light’, and there was light’” –  Gen.1:1,3.Hebrews 11:3: “By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God”.He did not say, “By science we understand” or “by intelligence”…He did not say, “By consensus  of  great minds we understand”He said, “By faith we understand”.Faith is the  conviction [assurance] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.What makes faith faith is that we do not always have empirical evidence for what we affirm; it is  reliance on the faithfulness of Holy Scripture.There  are two world views of faith:The secular-atheist view: I believe it when I  see it. That was the kind of reasoning of those who crucified Jesus: “Come down from the cross so we can see and believe” – Mark 15:32.

(2) The problem is, if you see and then believe such “belief” is not faith.

(3)The biblical view:  faith is relying solely on God’s word with no empirical evidence but entirely because we  have been persuaded by the inner testimony of the Holy Spirit; by faith we understand.

(4)The latter of course makes no sense to the secular atheist.

As a consequence as followers of Jesus Christ we are prepared to look like fools to the world; that’s the stigma.The stigma therefore is a part of the package when we believe in God’s creation of the heavens and the earth.According to St Augustine humankind should be seen in four stages:Man was created posse pecare – “able to sin”After the Fall man became non posse non pecare – “not able not to sin”we must remember that all of us are a part of a fallen race; we are not born as Adam was created before the Fall but as Adam became after the FallAfter regeneration we are posse non pecare – “able not to sin”After glorification in heaven non posse pecare – “not able to sin” when God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes…



And yet Paul says all this is clearly revealed: “For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world in the things that have been made. So they are  without excuse” (Rom.1:19-20).King David said: “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the  sky above  proclaims his handiwork” (Psa.19:1).The creation of the heavens is seen in several spheres. Paul implies three heavens:First  heaven: the clouds, the skySecond heaven: the planets, the stars.The third heaven: God’s dwelling place. Paul said he was taken up to the “third heaven” – 2  Cor.12:2.                       But let us not forget that Peter said “we are waiting for new heavens  and a new  earth in which righteousness dwells” 2 Pet.3:13.Why do we believe this? It is because it is by faith that we understand; that is where we get understanding; it is where we get wisdom.The Apostles’ Creed = probably 2nd century — begins with these words: “I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth”.John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God and the Word was God.All things were made by Him; without Him was not anything made that was made.The Word was made fleshThe Creator God was made man – just like us;And  yet He with the Father He said, let us make humankind male and female—Jesus was present in creationNever forget: an attack on this is an attack on our Lord Jesus ChristHe is not ashamed of us; let us not be ashamed of Him.

3.The twenty-first century however is met with a different kind of attack on creation: 

*it is “transgenderism”; even more sinister than an attack on creation generally: a satanic attack on God’s design; 

*His making humankind Male and Female is under attack: male and female God created us.

a. “Transgender” is an umbrella term for people who identify with a different gender from the one they were assigned at birth.

(1) Some say “ I was born in the wrong body”; this assumes the pre-existence of the soul; only Christ pre-existed; the Word was made flesh: “You have prepared for me a body” (Heb.10:5).

(2) Some want to claim that they were born in the body of the sex opposite to which they claim they truly belong.

It is sometimes diagnosed as “gender dysphooria” (dysphooria = state of depression or dissatisfaction)The term “transsexual” refers more specifically to someone who has had medical intervention

b. It is when one’s education teaches that a child doesn’t really have a sex, but that he or she was merely “assigned” a gender at birth.

He or she may therefore choose their own “gender identity”.If he or she chooses one that is the opposite of their actual biology, then they should be allowed to choose a new name and dress as the opposite sex.You might think that there are few things more self-evident than the fact that human beings are divided into two distinct types—male and female.

*Females have XX chromosomes, female hormones, breasts, ovaries, wombs, vaginas.

*Males have XY chromosomes, male hormones, testes, penises.

(4) But now we are being told that gender is simply a social construct, the product of a biased society; gender has no biological basis at all, that gender roles are being forced upon  people; gender is fluid.

 Parents are told they must comply with this new identity.The doctor prescribes puberty blockers. Once the child, possibly now a young teenager, decides to go forward, they will be given hormone treatments of the sex he or she is not, to help them into the sex they want to be.There is nothing left but to remove the biological parts remaining of his or her biological sex and try via plastic surgery to make the parts of the opposite sex.What is seldom reported is that puberty blockers, hormone treatments and sex realignment surgery, almost invariably, eventually do irreparable harm, despite what the trans activists say.We know this from so many of those who have gone through these treatments and then realize that it was all a great big horrible mistake   So many sooner or later become very, very angry at those psychologists, doctors and surgeons who made them into a different “sex” (so called).They were not told that by that taking puberty blockers this would have immensely serious bad side effects;They were not told that taking hormones of the opposite sex does lifelong damage to one’s body that is irreversibleThey were not told how traumatic sex reassignment surgery really is, the damage of which can never be repaired.We must SYMPATHIZE from our hearts with those who have been so involved.

b. The original pronouncement in Genesis 1:27 and 5:2: Male and female created He  them; such is therefore found not only twice in Genesis but our Lord Jesus Christ affirmed this in Matthew 19:4-6:

“Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? So they were no longer two but one flesh. ‘That therefore what  God has joined together , let not man separate’.

Never in my lifetime have I known such a vehement, vitriolic and vicious hostility toward the God of the Bible.It can be summed up this way: the spirit of the age in these last days comes to this: anti-God of Jesus Christ and of creation.What we face is not merely an attack on creation generally;It is an attack on the belief that God chose to make man of two genders—male and female.Q: who assigns gender? God Himself. Take John the Baptist for example: the angel said to Zechariah, “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John” (Lk.1:13). As Paul said, speaking to Athenian philosophers, shows that creation and someone being born is no accident:

“He Himself gives to all mankind  life and breath and everything, and He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him” (Acts 17:25-27).

In Genesis 1 you see pairs of different but complimentary things made to work together: *heaven and earth, sea and land, 

*God and humanity; 

*it is part of the brilliance of God’s  diverse creation; things are made to unite and generate more and more life and beauty through their relationships. 

*As Tom Wright [possibly the leading biblical scholar of our generation – I studied with him at Oxford] points out, the creation and uniting of male and female at the end of Genesis 2 is the climax of all this:

“Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed” (Gen.2:24).

This means that male and female have unique, non-interchangeable glories – they each see and do things that the other cannot. 

*Sex and sexual attraction were not born in Hollywood but in the mind of our Creator God. 

*Sexual intercourse was created by God to be a way to bring together these strengths and glories within a life-long covenant of marriage. 

*Marriage is the most intense place where this union of male and female takes place in human life. 

*Male and female reshape, learn from, and work together. 

Therefore, in one of the great ironies of late modern times, when we celebrate variety and diversity in so many other cultural sectors, our generation is trying to leave out the ultimate unity in variety and diversity by same sex marriage.



Without understanding this vision, the sexual prohibitions in the Bible make no sense.  

*Homosexuality does not honor the need for this rich diversity of perspective and gendered humanity in sexual relationships.

*Same-sex relationships not only cannot provide for each spouse, 

*they cannot provide children with a deep connection to each half of humanity through a parent of each gender.

Why else is this subject important?Our very faith in God is at stake; either the Bible is true or it isn’t;Holy Scripture is God’ s integrity put on the line.Psalm 138:2 –in Hebrew it reads: “You have magnified your word above all your name.”Only two weeks ago a British Court in a transgender case handed down this verdict: belief in the Bible, particularly with regard to human kind being created male and female is “incompatible with human dignity”.We need to face the damage that is being done to society and families in particular — generally that can be traced to the resentment people feel toward God’s making humankind male and female.We must believe God’s word not merely because it is vindicated but because of the inner testimony of the Spirit; it is something we would die for.That said, we can see how science, medicine and society vindicate God’s word; in a recent study, the largest ever into this difficult topic, was conducted by an international group of scientists, as reported in Science magazine of August 2019: conclusion: there is  “no Gay gene” – to the dismay of those hoping for there being a gay gene;Those who have sought to change genders have been shown to be wrong again and again and againI grant: there are exceptions; we are born in a fallen world: and yet the exceptions are exceedingly rare.Not only that; evidence is turning up almost every day showing that most of those who changed genders themselves so very often regret their decision as a horrible, horrible mistake.What was generally perceived as unthinkable only twenty years ago, then – namely same-sex marriage – is now something taken for granted.What has resulted from same-sex marriage is ever-increasingly seen as resulting in psychological damage in those who have been brought up by same sex parents rather than a mother and a father.



And the results are just beginning to come in; this includes those who have chosen suicide . . . to living.



One authority has given their opinion that trans-genderism will surely be the gateway to social and legal acceptance of pedophilia.



Consider this statement from Brittany Klein – a woman brought up by same sex parents –  in a recent book called The New Normal: 

“Same sex parenting is a kind of child abuse not even named yet” (p.137).

Same sex parenting is a phenomenon that has emerged almost overnight with the general approval of same sex marriage by many governments and many parts of the church.Research on those brought up by same sex marriage couples is barely beginning to emerge.Twenty years ago same sex marriage was disapproved by society in America and Britain.President Barack Obama was officially against same sex marriage during his first term of office, but that changed during his second term.

b. Many denominations in America have approved of same sex marriage while the Church of England is perceived as moving rapidly in this direction.

It is safe to say that fifty or sixty years ago the offense of the day was with regard to upholding creation  ex nihilo; today it is upholding the biblical pattern that a child should be brought up by a mother and a father—just as the Bible teaches.I repeat: every generation has its stigma by which the believer’s faith is tested.So today the issue connected to Creation has emerged; it connects to God the Creator as found in Gen.1:27 “male and female created He them”.The offense today is not only an attack on biblical marriage and the family; it targets God’s own purpose and clear intention that humankind be of two sexes: male and female.The issue today is whether these two sexes are by God’s intention and purpose or by mere accident.  The truth is:God created humans  as male and female for with a two-fold purpose: (a) of their leaving father and mother and becoming man and wife – “one flesh” and, secondly, (b) in order to have children.That is why God made mankind male and female. If you ask, What is the cause of gender dysphoria? Answer is, as I said, we are born in a fallen world and yet less than .1 per cent of the population are born with gender dysphoria: fewer than 1 in 10,000 natal adult males and 1 in 30,000 natal adult females meet the criteria for gender dysphoria (The New Normal, p.39).But as stalwart believers we must nevertheless show compassionGal.6:1 is always relevant…even if we cannot restore we remain compassionate. But embrace the stigma.

II. Embracing the stigma.

No one knows for  sure who said it first, but it is a valid observation:

“If I profess, with the loudest voice and the clearest exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at the moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the battle-field besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches  at that one point.”

Unless we want to avoid the stigma that is attached to the Name of Christ, you and I are called to uphold the fundamental doctrine of God’s creation of the heavens and the earth.We all know about  the stigma of the Cross; but there is another stigma we must accept, namely, upholding God’s purpose of creating humankind “male and female” – the purpose being that they may bear children.Never for get also that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit.Hebrews 2:11 talks about Jesus not being ashamed of us.

1.The question is: is it possible to do that which would nonetheless cause God to be ashamed of us?

2.Answer: yes. Why? Because the God of the Bible is a jealous God.

a. How can we make God ashamed of us? By avoiding the stigma that goes with bearing the Name of His Son.

The Name of the Son and the Name of His Father are at stake.Never forget that Jesus never – ever – apologized for the God of the OT; after all the God the OT is His Father.The issue of Creation touches both the Father and the Son:In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.Jesus Christ is Creator as God is Creator.

“All things were made by Him” = that is the Word that became flesh – John 1:2, 14.

“He is before all things; by Him all things consist” – Col 1:16

b. Yes; every generation has its stigma by which the believer’s faith is tested.

One of the most crucial issues today  – if not the most crucial – is the issue of gender, what is true marriage, the general acceptance of same sex marriage and the matter of children growing up without a father and a mother in hundreds of thousands of homes – and the consequences of this.What was regarded as horrifying and unacceptable as recently as ten or fifteen years ago is now not only accepted but has become to be regarded by some as the norm: (e.g.):Gay marriageSame sex practice by those in the ministrySame sex practice by those in the church without anything said from the pulpitSadly hetero-sex practice before marriage is seldom mentioned from the pulpit as wellThe issue: whether we will accept and defend the plain teaching of Holy Scripture.

1. The fear of man is a snare.

2. The reason ancient Israel missed her Messiah is put by a question Jesus put to the Pharisees = John 5:44.

3. WE MUST THANK GOD for those who – have a proclivity to be gay – 

            a. Have not only resisted the temptation to give into temptation

b. They have taken the lead in speaking against  the practice of gay sex.

4. We must equally thank God for heterosexual men and women who have determined to remain celibate until they are married.

5. If we succumb to the fear of man – being ashamed of the stigma – we are following the fatal error of ancient Israel.

            a. Do not do that.

            b. Do not be afraid of the stigma of our day

            `c. Jesus is not ashamed to call us His brothers and sisters

d. “If you are ashamed of me I will be ashamed of you” (Mark 8:36ff)

If we are ashamed of the offense of our day we will make God ashamed of us.Early church: unashamed of the cross. 1 Cor.2:2.The cross made no sense: God’s ways never seem to make sense—that is, at first.

III. Creation of Heaven.

Revelation 21:1-4…

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned  for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people and God himself will be with them as their God. And he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away’”.

B. It will be worth it all when we see Jesus; life’s trials we seem so small when we see Him.

C .In the meantime we have been called to suffer:

1.1 Thess.3:3…

2. Philippians 1:30

3. James1:2

4. Paul: Colossians 1:24…”I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is the church.

a. There is a quota – so much suffering allocated to the church

b. God is looking for those who will suffer for Christ and not complain

                  c. There is space available; most of us complain.

      5. Acts 5:41…

D. Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones used to say to me that we are re-living the period of the Judges:

            1.Israel had no king; every one did what was right in their own eyes

2. We need King Jesus to rule over us; then we will do what is right in His eyes.

Conclusion

Jesus, and shall it ever be

A mortal man, ashamed of Thee?

Ashamed of Thee, whom angels praise

Whose glories shine through endless days?

Ashamed of Jesus! That dear friend

On whom my hopes of heaven depend

No; when I blush,  be this my shame!

That I no more revere His Name.

Till then – nor is my boasting vain

Till then I boast a Savior slain;

And, O, may this my glory be,

That Christ is not ashamed of me!

******

Chosen not for good in me

Wakened up from wrath to flee!

Hidden in the savior’s side

By the Spirit sanctified

Teach me Lord on earth to show

By my love how much I owe