When Should a Christian Leave a Church

8/12/2019 When Should a Christian Leave a Church

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When Should a Christian Leave a Church?

By John G. ReisingerSound of Grace

The following article is written primarily for Reformed Baptists only becausethat is the group with which I have been identified for over twenty years.There are Brethren Assemblies !resbyterian Independent and "harismaticchurches as well as other types of Baptists that clearly fit the descriptiongiven in these pages. #any who read this will say $none of those things could ever happen in mychurch.$ %ou may be surprised& If you have a truly Godly pastor thesethings will not happen regardless of how wrong your view of 'lder authority

may be. (owever if your system is that held by many Reformed Baptistsyou have a ready made situation for these same things to happen in yourchurch at a later date with another pastor. A good man in a bad system will not misuse his authority. A good systemcan deal with a bad man and get rid of him. A bad man in a bad system isan untouchable pope simply because he is protected by the system. (e maybe the worst of tyrants but nothing can be done by anyone. A sincere sheephas only one option in such a case. I recently preached at the )irst John Bunyan "onference on the sub*ect of

law and grace. About fifty people attended from various places and nearly allof them had recently left a church with a heavy "law ministry" where the'lders were the "Lords and Masters" of the Assembly. #any of these dearpeople had helped to start the very church they had recently been forced toleave. They had watched a warm hearted fellowship of believers becomewhat Spurgeon called $a better representative of the law than of the gospel.$There were three things that seemed to be true in the recent e+perience ofeach of these people. ,- The $law ministry$ they had been under had robbed them totally of the

*oy of their salvation. It is ama/ing how many preachers believe it is a sin tobe genuinely happy in the 0ord. They thin1 a believer has to s2uirm li1e aworm under every sermon and go home feeling depressed and miserable inorder to be sure that he heard $the whole counsel of God.$ ,3 These people noticed a mar1ed change in their marriage relationshipwhen they got out from under legalism and fear. 4ne brother said "My wife

and I have never loved each other so much. Our home and marriage

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has changed radically since we left our former church." (ow can it beotherwise5 A $worm theology$ must produce a $mud hole$ home. If youcannot smile and re*oice in church with the saints how can you do so athome with your family5 In a few e+treme cases a pastor had deliberately placed himself betweenthe husband and wife and was using his pastoral authority as a means ofmanipulating them both into personal loyalty to himself. If either thehusband or wife became in any way critical of the church or his ministry thepastor would $counsel$ the other mate to put pressure on the first one torepent. This was done on the ground that $your mate6s soul is in danger$because they were daring to 2uestion God6s $duly authori/ed$ minister. 4nedear "hristian lady was under such pressure to force her husband to submitto the pastor6s authority that she felt she was being torn in half. She toldsomeone $I feel li1e I must choose between the two most important men inmy life.$ The person wisely answered $God never intended you to have twomen in your life in any sense where you had to ma1e a choice betweenthem.$ #y friend if your loyalty to or dependence upon any preacher ever comesclose to being e2ual to your loyalty and love to your husband or wife thenyou are so sic1 spiritually that you can6t thin1 straight. ,7 These people all had a new desire to witness the ama/ing love of "hristto poor sinners the moment they themselves began to e+perience again thatlove in their own hearts. (ow can it be otherwise if $out of the abundance of

the heart the mouth spea1s$5 If your salvation does not thrill your heart with *oy why would you want to share it5 If all you have is doubts and fearsthen that is all you can share with others. If all you do is sit in the cornerand lic1 your wounds after e+amining your heart to $find evidences of trueholiness$ how can it be possible for you to be thrilled with the Saviour and(is ama/ing love5 In no sense am I suggesting that we should never e+amine our hearts. 8eare fools of the worst 1ind if we do not heed the e+hortations in theScriptures to do that very thing. !salm -79:-7-; and II "orinthians -7:<-are *ust as true today as when they were written. )or me to be unwilling toe+amine myself as these verses command is to prove that I am probably adeceived hypocrite. 4nly a hypocrite is afraid of e+amining himself. 8e muste+amine our heart and we must feel our sin and guilt. (owever we mustalways see "hrist as greater than our sin and our guilt& #c"heyne was rightwhen he said $Ta1e one good loo1 at your heart and then ta1e tenthousand loo1s at "hrist.$



Spurgeon has given us a description that sad to say fits some present daychurches. (e was preaching on the $)ull Assurance of )aith$ and answeringcommon ob*ections made by people who feel that full assurance can bedangerous. (e sounds li1e he has *ust finished arguing with some $lawcentered$ elders that I 1now. I have one more class of ob*ectors to answer and I am finished. There is acertain breed of "alvinist whom I do not envy who are always *eering andsneering as much as ever they can at the full assurance of faith. I have seentheir long faces= I have heard their whining periods and read their dismalsentences in which they say something to the effect > $Groan in the 0ordalways and again I say groan& (e that mourneth and weepeth he thatdoubted and feareth he that distrusteth and dishonoureth his God shall besaved.$ That seems to be the sum and substance of their very ungospel>li1egospel. But why is it they do this5 I spea1 now honestly and fearlessly. It isbecause there is a pride within them > a conceit which is fed on rottennessand suc1s marrow and fatness out of putrid carcasses. And what say you isthe ob*ect of their pride5 8hy the pride of being able to boast of a deepe+perience > the pride of being a blac1er grosser and more detestablesinner than other people. $8hose glory is in their shame$ may well apply tothem. A more dangerous because a more deceitful pride than this is not tobe found. It has all the elements of self>righteousness in it.$ )rom "Full Assurance" by ". (. Spurgeon #etropolitan Tabernacle !ulpit-?@- p. 393. #y first message at the conference I mentioned was on $John Bunyan andthe 0aw.$ I was covering the section in !ilgrim6s !rogress where "hristianwas pulled out of the Slough of espond by a man named (elp. I used thefollowing 2uotation and was 2uite surprised at the response from thoselistening: $(elp is one of the ing6s officers who are planted all along the way to the"elestial city in order to assist and counsel all pilgrims. 'vangelist was oneof these officers= this (elp was another= Goodwill will be another unlessindeed he is more than a mere officer= Interpreter will be another andGreatheart and so on. All these are preachers and pastors and evangelistswho correspond to all those names and all their offices. 4nly some unhappypreachers are better at pushing poor pilgrims into the slough and pushingthem down to the bottom of it than they are at helping a sin1ing pilgrim getout...$ Bunyan's Characters, by Ale+ander 8hyte Colume I page ;?.



8hen I read the above 2uotation nearly every person loo1ed at the personsitting ne+t to him grinned from ear to ear and nodded his head inagreement. After the session one person said $John you understated it.8hen we tried to pull ourselves out of the Slough our pastor would step onour fingers.$ A lady standing nearby said $4ur preacher did not step on our

fingers he used a sledge hammer.$ John Dewton was dead right in that great hymn when he said $It was Gracethat taught my heart to )ear$ but he did not stop there. (e went on to showthat Grace my fear relieved.$ 0et no one ever down play the need to fear thewrath of God against sin. It is most gracious of God to convict us and ma1eus feel our guilt and shame. 4ne of the distinct purposes for which theblessed (oly Spirit was given is to $convict of sin.$ 8e can never be saveduntil we 1now feel and admit that we are guilty before God. It was thegrace of God that made !ilgrim feel so afraid that he was forced to flee fromthe city of destruction. I am fully aware that many preachers do not preach either the holycharacter of God or (is holy demands upon us and thus they never revealthe awful guilt and corruption that must be e+posed. Do one has endeavoredto e+pose this horrible distortion of the gospel more than I have. I freelyadmit that the accusations of the 4ld Testament prophets can be leveled *ustly against many evangelical preachers in the land today. They dress the wound of my people as though it were not serious. "Peace, peace," they say, when there is no peace. Jer. @:-; Because they lead my people astray, saying "peace," when there is no

peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they coer it withwhitewash, therefore tell those who coer it with whitewash that it is going

to fall...Therefore this is what the !oereign ord says# "$n my wrath $ willunleash a iolent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will

fall with destructie fury. $ will tear down the wall you hae coered withwhite wash and will leel it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid

bare. %hen it falls, you will be destroyed in it& and you will now that $ am

the ord. !o $ will send my wrath against that wall and against those whocoered it with whitewash. $ will say to you, The wall is gone and so are

those who whitewashed it, those prophets of $srael who prophesied to (erusalem and saw isions of peace for her when there was no peace,"

declares the !oereign ord) '/e1. -7:-E>-@ Both Jeremiah and '/e1iel are tal1ing about what we today would call $easybelievism.$ It can only produce a false wall of assurance. They arecondemning preachers who do not preach the need for Biblical repentance.



Their gospel only tells about the $good things$ and the $love of God.$ Thesepreachers never tal1 about the punishment of sin and the holy wrath of Godagainst sin. They even go further and label any preacher who teaches $hardthings$ as being a false prophet. The people who listen to such preachersmust be warned in the same manner Jeremiah and '/e1iel warned the

people of Israel. !eople need to be told that their cheap assurance will bedestroyed by God6s wrath. They li1e all sinners want a religion without painor sacrifice and a God who is all love and no wrath. Fnfortunately thepreacher of $easy believism$ gives them e+actly what they want. 8e insist that Dewton was right in his hymn. It is God6s grace that bringsour conscience to fear (is awesome wrath and drives us to a Saviour formercy. 8e totally re*ect both the false prophet and his message of $easybelievism.$ (owever easy believism is not a problem in any of the churchesthat I have been describing& The problem in these churches is the e+actopposite. They don6t preach enough of any ind of belieism. They seem tobe as much afraid of *oyous assurance as the easy believist is afraid ofsearching his heart. John Dewton did not stop with the words $T6was grace that taught my heartto fear.$ The ne+t line is *ust as true as his first line. $T6was grace my fearsrelieved.$ The ama/ing grace that Dewton loved did not leave men under thefear of the law and its *udgement. Bunyan6s Slough of espond was neithera necessary e+perience ,remember !ilgrim was chided for not wal1ing on thestones nor is it to be a continual e+perience. "hristiania and her children didnot fall into the Slough and even #r. )earing had enough spiritual sense to

wal1 on the stones and not fall in. If you are wallowing in such a Slough andbragging about a $deep wor1 of God$ in your soul you are nothing but a selfrighteous hypocrite braying li1e a don1ey and showing your spiritualignorance. I suggest you get the taped message on Bunyan and the 0aw. Ibelieve it will help you. The grace of God that leads to true fear also leads to true peace. If JohnDewton had preached li1e the present day apostles of law poor 8illiam"owper would have committed suicide every wee1. The preaching of the lawthat sends believers home wee1 after wee1 with a despondent anddespairing heart is *ust as opposed to God6s truth as is the preachingcondemned by the 4T prophets in the passages 2uoted above. The preacherwhose congregation is not truly happy in the 0ord and yet at the same timeis proud of its ability to endure his constant $heart searching preaching$ is asmuch a false prophet as the preacher of easy believism. (e has merelydistorted the gospel in a different direction.



I would li1e to put the following words by (oratius Bonar in large letters overthe head of both the legalist preacher and his opposite or counter part theantinomian preacher: The way of peace and the way of holiness lies side by side= rather they are

one. That which bestows the peace imparts the holiness= and he who ta1esthe one ta1es the other also. The spirit of peace is the spirit of holiness. TheGod of peace is the God of holiness. If at any time these paths seem to go asunder there must be somethingwrong > wrong in the teaching that ma1es them seem to part company orwrong in the state of the man in whose life they have done so.... The two are not independent. There is vital fellowship between them witheach being the helpmeet of the other....The peace is indispensable to theproduction or causation of the holiness and the holiness is indispensable tothe maintaining and deepening of the peace. (e who affirms that he has peace while living in sin is $a liar and the truthis not in him.$ (e who thin1s that he has holiness though he has no peaceought to 2uestion himself whether he understands aright what the biblemeans by either the one or the other. As the essence of holiness is the soul6sright state toward God it does not seem possible that a man can be holy solong as there is no conscious reconciliation between God and him. Theremay be a spurious holiness founded upon a spurious peace or upon no peaceat all. But true holiness must start from a true and authentic peace. )rom: *od's %ay of +oliness, by (oratius Bonar #oody !ress page ? The $easy believe$ preachers have separated peace and holiness by offeringpeace without repentance and without demanding that true holiness follow aprofession of faith and a claim of assurance. The $obey the law$ preachershave also separated peace and holiness by urging holiness as the only safeground upon which to build the peace of assurance of salvation. They try toproduce peace of conscience by holy living. The first group believes that holyliving is not essentially connected to peace and the second group believesthat a conscious peace can be attained only by obedience to the law. Idisagree with both groups and agree with Bonar in his entire statementespecially in the following areas: ,- !eace and holiness cannot be separated from each other. They are twodistinct parts of one whole. %ou cannot have one without the other. Trueholiness and a valid assurance of salvation cannot be separated from oneanother. #ost $obey the law$ preachers would wholeheartly agree with that



statement but most of them will also deny it by their lopsided preaching.%ou have no more Biblical right to be tal1ing about $holiness$ if you are notconsciously sure of your peac e than you have the right to be boasting about $assurance$ if you are living

in sin. 4ne of these mista1es is *ust as bad as the other one. ,3 4ur argument today is D4T over whether you can have true peacewithout also having true holiness attending it. 8e all wholeheartedly agreethat such a possibility is contrary to the very heart of the gospel in both itsmessage and results. Grace ma1es men holy& Titus 3:---37 settles that2uestion forever. I have never 2uestioned that fact in the least. $(e whoaffirms that he has peace while living in sin is a liar and the truth is not inhim$ is the message I have preached do preach and shall preach as long asI live. 4ur argument li1e Bonar6s is that you cannot have true holinesswithout first having true peace with God in your conscience. $(e who thin1she has holiness though he has no peace ought to 2uestion himself whetherhe understands aright what the Bible means by either the one or the other$is also the same message that I preach. The first part of the message getsme in trouble with the antinomians and the second part gets me into worsetrouble with the legalist. The legalist binds your conscience to the law in a manner that ma1esassurance of salvation and real *oy nearly impossible and the more sincereand conscientious you are the more difficulty you will have with assurance.If you are one of those dear souls that is earnestly $striving to be holy$ in

order to find real heart felt assurance then in Bonar6s words you dounderstand either Biblical holiness or true assurance. %our theology hasbeen warped by legalistic preaching. ,7 4ur main difference with many Reformed Baptist preachers is not overthe necessity of holiness in the life of a true child of God= we agree withthem that this holiness is essential. 4ur disagreement is over how thatholiness is produced. I believe the Scriptures lead God6s sheep into true holyliving by ma1ing "hrist (imself precious to their hearts. Some of myReformed Baptist brethren believe that the sheep are led to true peace bywhipping them with the law every wee1. That is the heart of the presentlawHgrace controversy. A pastor6s wife told a friend of mine $8e need to beconstantly whipped into submission by the law or else our sins will con2uerus.$ That approach is e+actly opposite to the theme of Bonar6s boo1 and alsocontrary to the consistent teaching of the Apostle !aul. Bonar6s statement that $peace is indispensable to the production orcausation of the holiness$ is the foundation of my position and preaching.



The foundation of all legalistic preaching is the e+act opposite. The goal of alegalist6s preaching is to ma1e people feel holy enough so that they thenmight dare to believe that they are finally acceptable in God6s sight. Thebasic premise of the legalist is that the rod of the law is the only Godordained way to whip the sheep into shape. The feeling of genuine

acceptance with God will only come when you can e+amine yourself andyour obedience and $feel$ that all is well because you passed the test. Thelegalist puts the law into the "hristian6s conscience as his *udge in such away that a sheep has no right to feel $secure in "hrist$ until his daily life can$pass inspection$ by the $holy 0aw of God.$ This horrible distortion of boththe 0aw and the Gospel can only lead to either constant despair and doubton the one hand or self>righteous conceit on the other hand and both ofthese states or conditions are enemies of the sovereign grace of God. If some who are legalist revile me and my friends and say $That is what wealso believe$ I can only respond $Brother the content of 9< of yourmessages as well as the loo1 on your face and tone of your voice as youpreach sure does not prove it&$ If preachers really believe ,- that the lawcannot sanctify or *ustify and that ,3 only the preaching of the cross canproduce true Biblical holiness then why are the sheep under their ministrysent home nearly every wee1 so badly beaten and bleeding5 8hy are themar1s of #oses6 rod on their bac1s so visible and the fruits of the spirit soconspicuous by their absence5 o these preachers believe that the ma*orityof their congregation are $hypocrites$ that need to have their $lost estate$e+posed instead of sheep that need to be fed5 These preachers clearly useor misuse the law in a manner that indicates most if not all of their

hearers are lost hypocrites. 0et me say again that I abominate the message of $easy believism$ and allof its attendant evils but I must also repeat that easy believism is not aproblem in the churches I am describing. The problem in these churches isthat there is not enough $only believe$ and too much $obey the law or elseyou will be damned.$ These is too much #oses and the law covenant6s threatand not enough "hrist and the grace covenant6s blessing of forgiveness. If Bonar is right and he most certainly is then it is easy to see why so manywarmhearted Arminian churches get people saved and see them grow infaith love and true holiness. They preach $Jesus "hrist and (im crucified$and people are blessed with the assurance of peace with God and earnestlywant to serve (im out of gratitude. #any Reformed pastors preach #osesand $striving to be holy$ in such a way that people are trying to find aheartfelt assurance of peace with God on the grounds of their obedience. I1now that nearly every single preacher who reads this will vehemently denythat what I am saying is true of him and his ministry. (owever the hearts





This is what the !oereign ord says# %oe to the shepherds of $srael whoonly tae care of themseles) !hould not shepherds tae care of the floc-

ou eat the curds, clothe yourself with the wool and slaughter the choiceanimals, but you do not tae care of the floc. '/e1. 3;:37 If you were a pastor whose church was sacrificing to pay you close to<EEEE a year in salary and benefits and putting less than -EEE a yearinto any 1ind of mission wor1 how should you feel when you read the abovewords from '/e1iel5 If you were helping to pay that <EEEE.EE salary and you were personallybeing treated li1e a dog or even worse maybe that pastor wassystematically turning your wife ,or husband and children against you howshould you feel when you read the following verses from the 8ord of God5 ou hae not strengthened the wea or healed the sic or bound up the

inured. ou hae not brought bac strays or searched for the lost. ou ruledthem harshly and brutally. !o they were scattered.... '/e1. 7;:;< If you are a pastor who has driven families out of your congregation onlybecause they dared to disagree with you and you have never visited one ofthem to try to resolve the difficulty who do you thin1 God is tal1ing about in'/e1. 7;:3><5 #y friend beating the sheep into sub*ection with the supposed $dulyauthori/ed office of eldership$ and sending them home bleeding and

wounded is *ust as hateful to God as daubing with untempered mortar.Rubbing salt into an open wound is e+actly what many preachers do wee1after wee1. Because true sheep have tender consciences a false preachercan pummel them to death with two big clubs. 8hen the law ,club numberone is swung by the $duly authori/ed prophet of God$ ,club number twoyou have a gruesome twosome that will bring any tender conscience intosub*ection and fear. 8hen one of these sheep finally gets enough courage toleave such a church or in one writer6s words $...with a sigh of relief somesheep escape such ministries$ I guarantee you that God does not view this$escape$ as rebellion against (is $duly authori/ed church.$ (e views it as arefusal by a sheep to follow a false shepherd. 8hen a child of God flees fromthat 1ind of tyranny he is being obedient to the voice of his one trueShepherd and he is re*ecting the authority of a false prophet. The ama/ing thing about this sad situation is that so many sincere sheepseem willing to submit to a form of Romanism without challenging it withScripture. The word of Jeremiah is true in many churches today:







on $good and necessary conse2uences$ instead of Bible te+ts. 8e will behappy to sit down any time and any place and discuss from the 8ord of Gode+actly what we believe and why we believe it. So far the response hasbeen $There is nothing to discuss. The "onfession of )aith is clear. 8ho areyou to dare contradict that venerable document.$ So much for !ola

!criptura. #any of the people at the John Bunyan "onference can testify concerningboth the message and the method that forced them to leave churches thatthey dearly loved. In each case the 'lder was $the anointed of God$ thatdare not be challenged by $ordinary "hristians.$ The hallowed creedproduced by our $Godly inspired forefathers$ became a sword to silenceanyone daring to as1 a 2uestion. The creed and the pastor6s personal powerbecame the final authority over the church and the conscience of theindividual. o you thin1 that I am 1idding or e+aggerating5 Are you smiling and saying$John is building a bigger strawman than the people about whom he istal1ing.$ o you doubt that such situations as I described really e+ist today5If you thin1 I am *ust blowing smo1e in the air then read carefully thefollowing words ta1en from an article by !astor 8alter "hantry. It is the bestmaterial he has ever written. (e gives the most vivid and perfect descriptionthat I have ever read of the 1ind of elders and churches that I am tal1ingabout. Is "hantry *ust crying wolf or is he tal1ing about real situations withwhich he is personally familiar5 #any of the people at the conference lastwee1 will testify that they came out of a situation e+actly li1e that described

by !astor "hantry in the following 2uotation: Arrogance and an overbearing spirit is never acceptable in elders. !opishdemeanor reveals pride in the heart. !ompous and tyrannical treatment ofsubordinates almost universally attends positions of authority in the worldand in human institutions. Dever is such deportment permissible in elders.4ur "hief Shepherd has said %e 1now that the princes of the Gentilese+ercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you$& ,#at.3E:3<3@ "hrist and !eter are not addressing hypothetical possibilities nor peculiarattitudes of ancient times. Self>importance and lording it over others is ashameful reality among modern ministers. #any young "hristians have beenseriously in*ured by the imperious ways of elders.. 8e live in an age when rebellion is common against all divinely constitutedauthorities. #any have no respect for those whom the (oly Ghost has madetheir overseers ,Acts 3E:3?. #ultitudes of local churches are ruined by



anarchy. "hristians must be taught to submit to "hrist6s order and to hisassigned elders and deacons. %et a church may be as much in*ured bytyranny as by anarchy. At times there come challenges to issues of truth and righteousness which

are vital to the glory of God and the well>being of the floc1. Then pastorsmust 1now how to be insistent in their opposition to immorality and heresy.Their prophetic voices should thunder and their feet hold firm. But all issuesare not so essential. Deither should a severe authoritative stance be thecharacteristic feature of a pastor6s bearing. Some have imagined that with Biblical commands that the sheep submitcongregations could be coerced into non>resistance to the pastor6s opinionsand decisions. Keal for truth and righteousness mi+es with an inflated self>esteem in the elders. 4ther men are not led by e+ample but suppressed bythe worst of worldly tactics. isagreement and 2uestion are rigorouslystamped out. 8hen elders become obsessed with the submission of thefloc1 they have a view dangerously close to the autocracy of Rome. Thatoutloo1 involves an egotism from which ministers must be delivered. Some elders never appreciate the compliment given them when a saintdisagrees with the pastor6s e+position of a te+t. At least the "hristian underhis care is devoted more to Scripture than to the man in the pulpit. Fnderhis ministry the child of God has reached a maturity to thin1 through issuesfor himself and has imbibed a Berean spirit ,Acts -:--. But some ministerscannot endure the process of maturing in the sheep. At times parents are so

flattered by the dependence of children that they cannot bear to see themgrow independent with passing years. A swollen image of self>importancesuffers too much for them to relin2uish the reins. It is even so withdomineering ministers. 4ther sheep have fi+ed character traits which are evident to everyone in thebody. Aw1ward habits and tendencies ma1e a certain brother less useful inthe church than he might be. (is sin>related 2uir1 of personality is a bittroublesome to the assembly. )rustrated that gentle rebu1es and patiententreaties have not cleansed the blemish from "hrist6s sheep some eldersta1e the rod of "hurch discipline in hand to beat out the spots. In this is anabuse of church discipline which God intended to be used for e+traordinaryand public sins. Involved too is an audacity which decides that advancementin sanctification must be made at once& But no elder has been called to chartthe timetable of growth in grace. It is not the place of elders to demand.Sheep cannot be whipped and driven into conformity with pastoral wishes.



0ording it over the floc1 provo1es church fights and splits. A domineeringspirit in elders provo1es mature men of strong minds and independent *udgement to leave the church. These very ones would have the greatestpotential for future leadership in the assembly. ictatorial measures ma1elesser men craven and dependent stunting their true growth. But it also has

its harmful effects on the $lords over God6s heritage.$ It ma1es themegotistical and self serving. )rom: The Christian /inistry and !elf 0enial, by !astor 8alter J. "hantryBanner of Truth #aga/ine Dovember -99 !age 3337.@ There are only two options for you if you are sitting under a ministry li1ethat so clearly described by !astor "hantry. 4ne you can stay in thatchurch. (owever you will have to shut up and obey the $duly authori/edeldership$ and totally dry up spiritually. %ou will be sinning against "hrist byallowing your pastor to be the 0ord of your conscience >> and believe methat is a grave sin& If you stay under such a ministry very long you cannothelp but yield your conscience to the leader. (owever the moment you dothat you will begin to live in fear of that leader and his authority over yoursoul. 8hen you reach that point you are actually part of a cult and you havetotally given up your true liberty in "hrist. %ou will be afraid to even thin1 foryourself let alone spea1 and act that way. Fnfortunately there are some churches that actually demand that 1ind ofsubmission from you in order for you to be a member in their church orcult as the case may be. They will bounce you in and out of membership

according to your $rebellion$ ,2uestioning anything the elder says or doesor $repentance$ ,treating the pastor li1e a pope. Some poor souls havebeen in and out of church membership many times at the whim of thepreacher. These 1ind of churches use the office of elder and deacon as acarrot stic1 to award the $really loyal devotees.$ It is sic1ening to see mengrovel and lic1 boots in order to be in favor and power with $the man ofGod.$ The second and right choice for you if you feel !astor "hantry is describingyour pastor is to get out of that church as fast as you can and never gobac1 again. I do not 1now your situation but I personally 1now of si+Reformed Baptist churches where a large part of the membership wasthoroughly convinced that "hantry was tal1ing about their church and theirpastor& The ne+t time some 1ey families leave a church don6t be too 2uic1to believe that the $duly authori/ed$ pastor and his devotees were right andthe people who left were all $rebels against authority.$ It *ust may be thatthe pastor was a power mad paranoid that had begun to thin1 of himself asthe infallible voice of God. It is possible that the power structure in a church



can be wrong& It is even possible in a $true$ Reformed Baptist church& As"hantry said $A church may be in*ured as much by tyranny as by anarchy.$I have yet to see a Reformed Baptist "hurch ruined by anarchy but I 1nowof more than one that was ruined or is being ruined by the tyranny ofpastors.

"arefully read again what "hantry gives as the reason many good men leavea church li1e those I have been describing: 0ording it over the floc1 provo1es church fights and splits. A domineeringspirit in elders provo1es mature men of strong minds and independent *udgment to leave the church. These very ones would have the greatestpotential for future leadership in the assembly. ictatorial measures ma1elesser men craven and dependent stunting their true growth. But it also hasits harmful effects on the $lords over God6s heritage.$ It ma1es themegotistical and self serving. !astor "hantry is tal1ing about concrete e+amples and he is dead rightwhen he says $0ording it over the floc1 causes church splits.$ Dearly everysingle split that I 1now of that has occurred in a Reformed Baptist "hurch inthe last ten years was over what "hantry called the $domineering spirit inthe elders.$ The people at the conference last wee1 told the same story nomatter what location they came from. I do not 1now of a single split thatwas caused by a $bunch of rebels.$ Granted some paranoid preachers mayhave made that claim but anyone who too1 the trouble to find out bothsides invariably saw where the real trouble lay.

I am aware that few people especially Reformed Baptist pastors and eldersever ma1e any attempt to hear both sides of a church split. Such men oftenfind it almost impossible to even want to hear both sides of a church disputesince they are theologically committed to the conviction that the elders havethe Lauthority6 and therefore they must be right. I 1now of only one casewhere there was an e+ception to that rule and that was only because the$layman$ that was opposing the local pastor was a close relative of one ofthe leading Reformed Baptist pastors. It is the duty of a true child of God to get out from under any ministry li1ethat described by !astor "hantry. "hantry is most accurate in saying $It iswith a sigh of relief that some sheep escape such ministries.$ 'scape isreally the right word to use because people li1e those described have literallybeen liberated from a cult. 8e heard some of those grateful sighs at theJohn Bunyan "onference.



The fear of re*ection by the pastor is a powerful motive in a church wherethe office of elder is almost raised to the level of priest. 8hen "hristians selltheir conscience even un1nowingly to the elder and the church they can bemanipulated into doing almost anything. I personally 1now of a case where aReformed Baptist $pastor$ ,5 arbitrarily revo1ed the membership of the

entire congregation. After a two and a half hour tongue lashing on authorityand obedience to God ,ala himself each person was re2uired to sign a newmembership form in order to be reinstated into membership. They were toldto sign the paper or else $get out and never dar1en the door of this buildingagain.$

4ne of the many things demanded in the lengthy harangue was moresacrificial giving. The congregation was informed that the elders were goingto review each member6s giving and if it was felt that any individual was notgiving enough the elders would visit that family and go over their budgetand help them to give more. 4ne man was $as1ed$ to give by chec1 insteadof cash so that the elders could 1now e+actly how much he was giving.Another man was $encouraged$ to 2uit supporting his daughter and son incollege and put that money into the church.

The worst part of this sordid story is that only one family had enoughspiritual sense to refuse to sign the new membership form. #ost of themsincerely obeyed and did as they were told because they had been taughtand foolishly believed that $my duty is to obey my elder regardless ofwhether he is right or wrong and God will reward my obedience to his dulyauthori/ed servant.$ Anyone who believes that nonsense has become a

Roman "atholic in his view of church authority and is treating his pastor li1ea pope.

If you wonder how preachers can become and remain what !astor "hantrycalls $sanctified busy bodies$ who $1eep the sheep in bondage$ it is easy toe+plain. %ou start by e+alting the office of elder far above the sheep. %outhen reinforce your position and authority with intensive counseling into themost intimate details. %ou $po1e your nose into "hristian6s personalbusiness$ you manipulate with $counseling and directives that are none ofyour business$ you encourage them to open up every aspect of their life toyour $microscopic scrutiny.$ And sure enough the response is precisely thatdescribed by "hantry. The people under such a pastor $run to him fordecisions$ about their whole life. All power mongers do not use counseling asa means of controlling people but those who do are twice as dangerous.

If you are in a church and under a ministry li1e that so vividly described by!astor "hantry then I plead with you in the name of our 0ord Jesus "hrist toflee from it as fast as you can for the sa1e of your soul. %ou are not in a



Baptist church. %ou are not in a Reformed church. %ou are not even in a"hristian church. %ou are in a cult& If you choose to stay under such aministry out of either fear or a false sense of loyalty then you have no oneto blame but yourself. Read "hantry6s words again and honestly evaluateyour church and its pastor. Are you really in a gospel church of free grace or

are you in a Roman system of despotism5 Act accordingly& Immediately&

The last thing I want to mention deals with what you and I as individuals cando to help promote the truth that has become so precious to us. I believe itis time to ta1e some positive steps to deliberately ma1e 1nown newcovenant theology more effectively and on a wider scale. This is what we didtwenty five years ago with the truth of sovereign of grace but unfortunatelywe then allowed ourselves to be side trac1ed from preaching the octrinesof Grace to building organi/ations that we proudly labeled $True DewTestament churches.$ 8e became institution oriented instead of graceoriented.

Granted some preachers were sincere in this effort but many others werereally interested in building a little 1ingdom of personal power where theirword was law. The sub*ect of many sermons dealt with the role andauthority of the church and the eldership. The primary thing that consumedmost preachers was to have a $true Dew Testament church with a pluralityof elders e+ercising the authority with which "hrist clothed that high andholy office.$ The really $in thing$ in many churches was to establish $elderrule$ in the congregation. 4ur churches became more Roman "atholic intheir view of authority and we lost the power of the truth of sovereign grace.

"hantry is dead right when he says. 8hen elders become obsessed with the submission of the floc1 they have aview dangerously close to the autocracy of Rome. $bid

This is e+actly what happened in many of our churches. The elders becameconscious of nothing but the $authority invested in their holy office$ andthey neglected to develop the gifts and graces in God6s people. As onebrother said $There is a danger in typical Reformed Baptist churches ofhaving only two gifts= A giant tongue that spea1s with absolute authorityand a giant ear that listens with un2uestioning obedience.$ 4nce thatattitude is ta1en it is inevitable that the church will move toward a spiritualdictatorship. In such a church to challenge an elder is to challenge God6s$duly authori/ed messenger.$ The sheep are in total sub*ection to the elderbecause they believe that he is $responsible to God for their soul$ and theirduty is to obey his directives without 1uestion. It is because the sheepbelieve that Roman rubbish that the $ama/ing thing$ spo1en of in Jeremiahcan happen and is happening in our own day.



I spent ten years in evangelism and preached in an average of fortychurches a year. The constant problem that I encountered in manyReformed Baptist churches was the e+tent of the authority of the church andthe eldership. Since the pastor was the $duly authori/ed$ representative ofGod in the local institution the problem was really his personal authority

over the life and conscience of the people. The pastor that I spo1e of earlierwho revo1ed everyone6s membership appears to believe and teach thatwhen he preaches from the pulpit his message is God6s 8ord. (e is the$voice of God$ in that assembly. 4ne man challenged this concept and said$#y conscience is wed to Scripture alone.$ The preacher respondedemphatically $%our conscience is under the authority of my preaching of theScriptures.$

#any Reformed preachers would not dare say that out loud but they giveevery evidence of believing it in their hearts. They practice such an attitudein their ministries. This is the one thing that has hindered and hampered theReformed Baptist movement ever since the doctrines of grace becamesecondary to the all consuming drive for a $true Dew Testament institutionwith duly authori/ed officers.$

There is a sense in which $lawHgraceHSabbath$ is not really the heart of thepresent controversy among Reformed Baptists. It is in some cases a smo1escreen that men use to 1eep their congregation from discussing the wholeissue of authority and liberty of conscience. This is not always the case.Some Godly men are concerned with what they feel ,wrongly but sincerelyis real doctrinal error. (owever some men see their personal power

destroyed if their view of eldership is wrong. These men drag the Sabbathout as a red herring.

8hat can be done by an individual if it is absolutely impossible for him toeven get a hearing for the truth in his local assembly5 8e must do in thepresent situation with the truth of new covenant theology e+actly what wedid when we came to believe the doctrines of grace and men and churchesrefused to have anything to do with us. 8e can all do three things.

,- 8e can use our voice to testify and witness to the truth of God6s gracethat has set our conscience free. 8e can tal1 to individuals and help themsee the truth. 8e can give out material for people to read and tapes forthem to listen to *ust as we did with the Arminians. 8e can only dispel errorwith truth and ignorance with light. 8e must get men into the Scriptures astheir final authority *ust as we did the Arminians. $8hat does the te+t say$must be our first motto and the second motto must be $8here is there aBible te+t that says that5$ 8e must get people to see that the 8estminster



"onfession ,or any other one has no more authority over our consciencethan a Scofield footnote.

,3 Above all we must demonstrate this truth and power in holy living andthen testify that our life is motivated by love to our blessed 0ord and

Saviour. In the days of the Anabaptist men were suspected and labeled asheretics only because they refused to submit to the state church as the $dulyauthori/ed authority$ of God. Since they were so truly Godly in their lifetheir enemies could find nothing wrong with them. The Reformers heapedabuse upon them and said they were $hiding error under holy living.$ 0etlegalists say of us what the Reformers said of the Anabaptist. 8e will 1nowthat the change in our life came from freeing our conscience from the oldcovenant and putting it under the new covenant. 0et men resort to thesophistry of attributing it to the evil as did the Reformers. #en and womenwill 1now better.

The legalist is not concerned with the reality of holiness itself as much as heis with the means by which it is attained. (e is not willing to trust the powerof the gospel in the hands of the (oly Spirit to produce a /eal for holy living=he must see1 to put your nec1 under the yo1e of law. The legalist is moreconcerned with the means ,law than he is the ends ,genuine holiness andin his mind li1e the !harisee of old holy living can only be produced by#oses. 4nly $antinomians$ deny this $fact$ and worse they hide their errorunder a $blameless life.$

Bullinger for e+ample wrote that the e+emplary lives of the Anabaptist are

hypocrisy for...even Satan can transform himself into an angel of light...$hewho wishes to catch fish does not throw out an unbaited hoo1.$ Aftergranting that the Anabaptist !ilgrim #arpec1 and his wife were $people ofdevout and blameless lives$ he added: $But this is an old tric1 of the evilwith which he has in all churches from the days of the Apostle !aul soughtto catch his fish.$

The 2eformers and Their !tepchildren, by 0eonard Cerduin 'rdmans!ublishing (ouse p. --E.

In another place Bullinger wrote:

Those who unite with them ,the Anabaptist will by their ministers bereceived into their church by rebaptism and repentance and newness of life.They henceforth lead their lives under a semblance of 2uiet spiritualconduct. They denounce covetousness pride and profanity the lewdconversation and immorality of the world the drin1ing and the gluttony. In



fine their This was )ontH!itch 7-7M > 4n.(ypocrisy is great and manifest.$$bid, p. --E

Isn6t it ama/ing that Bullinger could admit to the above and then label theanabaptist as $antinomians.$ Tragically the same thing is happening today.

0et men call us what they will only let us live more holy pray morefervently and witness more passionately than any who accuse us of error.0et men attac1 our doctrine with unearned labels but let us prove ourdoctrine in our life. If those who refuse to discuss the 8ord of God with usare content to prove their love for God6s truth with slander and the use oftheir so called $duly authori/ed church$ power let us prove our love forGod6s truth by loving and praying for these brethren and by always beingready to sit down with them and loo1ing at the Scriptures together.Remember we once sat e+actly where they now sit and God set us free& 8ehave no fear whatever to loo1 into the Scriptures together with any man.

The devotees who remain in churches li1e those described by "hantry areliterally are afraid to even spea1 to someone who leaves their local church.They may have been close friends for ten years but it ma1es no difference ifthe people who left are on the pastor6s $no no$ list. 0et us never ta1e thathorrible attitude and cut off fellow believers.

,7 The third thing we can do is help produce and distribute the truth inprinted form tape cassettes and video cassettes. 4ne of the greatesttragedies of our past efforts as Baptists was our use of nothing but

!resbyterian literature. 8e set up the conferences got those to attendwhom we had taught the truth of grace and then we stuffed !resbyterianboo1s and spea1ers down their throat by the carload. It is time to set up aBA!TIST Banner of Truth. It is time to 2uit feeding the best of our youngmen to !resbyterian schools. It is time that sincere Baptist sheep stopleaving Reformed Baptist churches only to find a welcome nowhere but in a!resbyterian church.

In Africa the evangelical missionaries taught the people to read and thenthe communists gave them literature. In our case it was even worse. 8eBaptist did both for the !resbyterians. 8e taught people the doctrines ofgrace and then we gave them nothing but boo1s written by "ovenantTheologians.

It is time to finish the *ob God moved us to begin over twenty years ago. 0etus not ma1e the mista1e that the Reformers made. They thoroughlyreformed the gospel message of *ustification by faith but failed to reformsome other doctrines. They threw out *ustification by the wor1s of the law



but they held on to sanctification by the law. They threw out the church6sauthority over your soul but hung on to the church6s authority over yourconscience. They threw out priest craft but 1ept clericalism. They re*ectedthe authority of Roman church tradition but replaced it with man madecreeds that have now become the authoritative $Reformed$ church tradition.

They cried Sola Scriptura$ while waving a creed in one hand and a sword inthe other hand.

I do not 2uestion that the Reformation was the greatest movement of God inhistory since the days of !entecost. (owever the Reformers were only menof clay li1e you and me. They brought a lot of baggage over from Romanism.The present day revival of the doctrines of grace is another great movementof God. The leaders that God has been pleased to use have been primarilyBaptists. I fear that some of these Baptists have sold their birthright for amess of pottage in order to gain credibility among the $truly Reformedcommunity$ that was responsible for destroying the power of the doctrinesof grace in the first place and until recently the so called $Reformedcommunity$ has done precious little to restore that power.

Brethren it is time to apply the search light of Scripture to the 8estminster"onfession the !hiladelphia "onfession and every other confession withthe same honesty and consistency that we applied to the Scofield ReferenceBible some years ago. It is time to say $Sola Scriptura$ and really mean it&

I want to say one last thing. I am sure that some sensitive and sincerepeople are saying $John I 1now there is a real problem in many Reformed

Baptist "hurches but putting this in print may cause some innocent pastorsto be falsely accused by genuine rebels.$ I honestly appreciate that concernand have weighed that possibility very carefully. The following reasons seemto outweigh the possible dangers:

)irst of all this article is not any stronger than !astor "hantry6s and Iguarantee you that everything he said needed to be said. The only differenceis that I have used some specific e+amples. 8hen a situation gets to theplace that men are willing to literally turn children against their parents andturn wives and husbands against each other then it is time to spea1 loudlyand clearly. 8hen believers are taught to actually hate another believersimply because he dared to challenge the pastor the cultic mentality mustbe e+posed. Remember again that "hantry said $A church may be in*uredas much by tyranny as by anarchy.$ The accusation of $anarchy$ in a cult isalways hurled by a paranoid power monger whose personal power has beenchallenged. Such men as that need to be e+posed.



Anarchy is easy to spot because it is so vocal and visible but tyranny can goon for years since it is only seen inside the group. The members of the groupare sworn to absolute secrecy and are even afraid to tal1 to each other. It isonly when someone is delivered from the bondage of fear to such a groupthat anyone outside finds out that anything was really wrong.

In the second place I agree that it is possible that a rebel may try to usethis paper against a Godly pastor and a good church. (owever if the !astorand church preach and practice true "hristian liberty and love it will beobvious to all that the accusations are false. The individual will soonmanifest to all that he is a self centered rebel and the wor1 will be all thestronger. If a Godly pastor and a church are forced to rebu1e and disciplinea true trouble ma1er the people will 1now it is done with the right motiveand not *ust to get rid of one of the pastor6s personal enemies. There will begenuine efforts to love and restore the bac1slider and hearts will ache andweep. The people will see a true shepherd tearfully using a Biblical rod andnot a tyrant trying to beat someone into sub*ection to his personal authority.God6s people in their hearts 1now the difference between loving disciplineand the paranoid use of personal power. They may be able to s2uelch theirconscience for a time and *ustify lies deceit and 1angaroo trials but the(oly Spirit will not allow a true child of God to tolerate absolute cruelty evenwhen it is committed by a so called $duly authori/ed$ prophet of God. 4neby one God6s true sheep will flee such God dishonoring ministries.

)inally in the third place I believe there are far more beaten sheep bleedingin despair than there are true pastors being maligned by rebels. 8hen a

tyrant really gets control of the individual6s conscience personal revolt isnearly impossible. The poor sheep is scared of everything and everybody.8hen he is cut off from as1ing or sharing the 2uestions and difficulties in hisheart then he literally has no one to help him. I believe it is time to helpsome badly beaten sheep and tal1 out loud about some of the awful tyrannythat has been allowed to e+ist under guise of eldership authority. Thechurches where this never happens cannot be hurt by such a discussion butthe churches that are basically a cult run by paranoid pastors will begin to be1nown for what they really are.

If you would li1e further information on tapes or literature that deals withthe sub*ects discussed in this paper please do not hesitate to write orphone. I am serious when I urge that positive efforts be made to deliversincere sheep from churches that are really semi>cults. I believe every trueGospel "hurch will say $Amen$ to this paper and to what !astor "hantry haswritten. 8ho but a legalist tyrant can accept the 1ind of situation that"hantry described so accurately5



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When Should a Christian Leave a Church