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Dr. Robert Sumner passed away in December 2016. The Biblical Evangelist newspaper is no longer being published and the ministry of Biblical Evangelism has ceased operation. The remaining inventory of his books and gospel tracts was transferred to The Baptist Tabernacle of Los Angeles and may be ordered here. Off the Cuff You hold in your hands another good issue of The Biblical Evangelist. We have been receiving a lot of mail lately saying ‘the latest issue is the best ever’; we don’t know whether this one is better than those going before it, but we certainly try to improve each and every time. A favorite writer in this magazine is our “down under” brother in One of the great preachers of another day was Thomas DeWitt Talmage (1832-1902). We are printing one of his messages on the home – aimed at a young man wanting to get married – and even though it was first preached and published well over a century ago, we are amazed at how timely it is. Only the statistics are out of date. Here is excellent wisdom about marriage and the home. A Presbyterian, Talmage was called in 1869 to the pastorate of the Central Presbyterian Church in Brooklyn and a year later erected the 4,000-seat Brooklyn Tabernacle, remaining there (through 3 fires: 1872, 1889 and 1894) until 1895, when he became the Associate Pastor at the First Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C. He was a Union chaplain in the Civil War and also served as editor of a number of magazines, probably the best known being the Christian Herald. Your editor has had a burden for revival for more than 60 years and this magazine was launched, in part, to promote it and evangelism (they are different). We are printing a good message by Franklin L. Kirksey, entitled, “Lord, Send a Revival!” He is a new writer to TBE readers. You will profit from his message. There is also an important study on a forgotten thesis (seemingly). Evangelist William “Kenny” McComas looks at the matter of forgiveness. It is needed. Read it carefully. The editor has a couple of offerings in this issue. His messages on how to deal with the cults continues in the Bible Study Corner, and one is an evangelistic message, “God’s Last Invitation.” ON THE ROAD AGAIN Whoever said “it’s cheaper to move than to pay rent” obviously lived in a different generation – or never had to move. It is expensive and hard work! Every one I have made for years has been accompanied by a personal promise, “This is my last move until I move to Glory.” While I don’t lie to others, a case could be made that I lie to myself! Mrs. Sumner and I have really enjoyed living in So why move to It has to do with the editor’s aging. His birthday scale hit milestone “83” last month and his step is a mite slower than it used to be. I am increasingly in a situation to pray in the words of Psalm 71:9,18-“Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth. … Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have showed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” In short, I may be “up there,” but I want to keep busy showing His Word to men, women and children as long as I am able. At any rate, some of our loved ones felt it would be wise to be close to one of them – one who could help us when we needed it – and that is certainly sound, practical advice. The “lucky” (sic) daughter is Wendy Miller, Dottie’s eldest girl, who has had considerable experience in these areas. It recently took your editor a couple of months to recover from minor surgery that most handle in weeks. That helped convince us we might need help sometime down the road. Wendy’s husband, Randy, writes a column in this paper and is on the library staff at THIS IS “INSPIRATION”? What in the world is wrong with The Inspiration Network (David Cerullo, President) and the National Religious Broadcasters (Dr. Frank Wright, President)? Inspiration allows a heretic to spew warmed-over Armstrongism on its network and neither it nor the NRB will do one thing about it. Cerullo, incidentally, is on the NRB board of directors! What do we reference? The “Armor of God” program produced by the Father Herbert W. Armstrong booted Son Garner Ted Armstrong from his Worldwide Church of God after years of charges regarding sexual improprieties. Garner Ted formed a rival cult, The Church of God, International, and continued to make headlines about sexual indiscretions. It is not his morals that bother us now, however, since he died in 2003, but the teachings of heresy he adopted from his father’s cult. The CGI still embraces those heretical views. For example, the CGI denies the basic Christian doctrine of the Trinity (it teaches the Trinity is a doctrine adopted from paganism); rejects the personality of the Holy Spirit; teaches the Mormon doctrine that man can become god; teaches annihilation; denies an eternal conscious Hell; insists Jesus was “born again” and is the only one who ever has been; calls a Christian going to be with Christ when he dies “a delusion”; offers a chance to be saved after death; denies a body of “flesh and bone,” as Jesus had, for believers (like the Jehovah’s Witnesses, it denies a literal, physical resurrection for Christ and, like the JWs, cannot explain what happened to His physical body); teaches Jesus was stripped of His deity while on earth; calls worship on Sunday “diabolical” and “idolatry,” a worship of Satan; and calls Saturday Sabbath worship “basic to a Christian’s relationship with God.” Mr. Kieferdorf gave documentation for all these and other charges in his correspondence with Cerullo and Wright. Other evangelical Christian leaders have written to these men as well, pleading for something to be done about the Armor of God being broadcast on an allegedly evangelical network. If you want additional information or a protest of what is happening, you may write Kieferdorf (3231 MORE BLASPHEMY! Most Christians are aware that the Jehovah’s Witnesses cult prepared its own version of the Bible to strengthen its false teachings, The New World Translation. Now another cult – with a better but erroneous reputation in evangelical circles thanks to the late Walter Martin – the Seventh-day Adventists, has done the same. It calls its monstrosity the Clear Word Bible. Alas, mucky mud is clearer! We learned about this new "Bible" (sic) when we were contacted recently by some ex-Seventh-day Adventists who had been helped by our Falsities of Seventh-day Adventism booklet. One of them, a former S-DA pastor, Dr. Verle Streifling, has prepared a 13-page study, Deliberate Distortions in SDA's "Clear Word Bible." He looks at deliberate distortions in beginnings (word and definitions of time; the text of Genesis 1-3); and distortions upholding anti-biblical S-DA doctrines (Arian views vs. Christ's deity; the unscriptural 'Sanctuary' doctrine made famous by the S-DA’s leading false prophet, Ellen G. White; denial of biblical teaching about man's nature and death; error about the meaning of death; changes to mandate the Old Covenant Sabbath on New Covenant Christians; denial of the biblical doctrine of Hell). It shows how far astray from the Word of God cultists are willing to go in order to defend and promote their own heretical, false teaching. If you would like a copy, you may download one by sending an e-mail to the author: vostreif@shaw.ca. For those without access to a computer, you may write Dr. Verle Streifling, MORE ON JOEL! We mentioned the ministry of Joel Osteen in our last issue. A brother in “Almost from start to finish, Joel equivocated on cardinal belief questions. For example, one caller quoted Jesus, “…no one cometh to the Father but by me.” King then asked if that meant Jews and others who reject that belief would/could not be saved. Joel replied, “I can’t say – I leave that up to God.” Our comment: He could say if he believed the Bible because Scripture is very clear. And if he leaves it up God, we remind him that God has already spoken and the answer is a dogmatic faith in Christ is the ONLY way to God for Jews, Muslims and everyone else in the world! Period! [Later he issued an apology for his blunder on the King show. Alas, his bad remarks were heard by the world; his good remarks were only heard by his own crowd. It therefore was not very satisfying. In short, he “blew” it!] “Unlike Franklin Graham, Joel never once gave the plan of salvation.” Our comment: Many refer to Franklin Graham as a New Evangelical and a compromiser. Personally, we have admired the forthrightness with which he faces the media, especially defending the Truth of the Word of God. He did when his father, President Bush, and most of the rest of the world were trying to pass Islam off as a religion of peace, and he did so boldly with answers to tough questions when on the program of the Jewish Larry King. Osteen, an In a secular release the writer described the services as "...a multimedia, sensory-overload kind of experience – a gospel rock sing-along anchored by a motivational speech, with the promise of personal renewal and the power of Almighty God hovering over it all." As for his message, the same source called it a "...focus on the positive. He tells his flock that God wants them to be happy and prosper – financially as well as spiritually. (That part of his message helped earn Mr. Osteen favorable reviews as 'the Prosperity Preacher' in a Business Week article this year.)" It is also the old "health and wealth" message of television's faith healers. Dr. Bill Martin, a The news release listed the "seven simple, yet profound, steps to improve your life" in his book, Your Best Life Now, as: 1) Enlarge your vision; 2) Develop a healthy self-image; 3) Discover the power of your thoughts and words; 4) Let go of the past; 5) Find strength through adversity; 6) Live to give; 7) Choose to be happy. Correct me if I'm wrong, since I read the seven rather quickly, but I didn't see God mentioned anywhere. Or the Bible. Or personal salvation. His seven steps are simply the worldly psychology of humanism warmed over and put into a religious dress. At the end of the book there is a 1-page message in which Osteen asks readers to write him and he suggests a salvation prayer. It consists of 3 short sentences, a 22-word prayer. That might be sufficient following a strong presentation of the Gospel, but we doubt its effectiveness after the contents of this “feel good, do good” book. As the late Joe Henry Hankins said so often, “You’ve got to get a man lost before you can get him saved!” WRONG TEACHING ON THE BLOOD OF CHRIST Is the blood of Christ, shed at A friend recently preached a sermon, quoting 3 passages in Revelation to prove the former. He used Revelation 1:4-5, Revelation 14:13-14, and Revelation 19:11-13. His point was that when John penned that Book, some 60 years after the death of Christ, the blood of Christ was still then washing away sin, the implication being that it was accomplished by the blood preserved in Heaven. While we would stand first in line to insist the blood is still cleansing from sin in the 21st century (not just 60 years after Calvary), we must also insist that it is the "once for all" sacrifice at Calvary (Hebrews 10:10,12,14) that accomplishes it, not some mysterious sprinkling today of blood preserved in Heaven. Let’s look at our brother’s “proof texts”: Revelation 1:4-5 says: "John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." Note carefully that John put that cleansing in the past tense; he says washed. It was not something that happened in 60 A.D., but something that had already taken place because of the "once for all" sacrifice at His second passage, Revelation This relates, of course, to the multitude of martyrs John saw in Heaven which no man could number. Again the washing is in the past sense; it was not something happening then. And, again, it refers to the "once for all" washing at His final passage, in Revelation This relates to when Christ returns to earth to lead His armies in the Battle of Armageddon. In this case it does not say the blood on His vesture was the blood of Christ, shed at As we pointed out to the good brother, “Revelation 13:8 says, ‘And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.’ I don't think that is teaching that the blood of Christ existed before the foundation of the world ‘in some “holy grail” on a mantle somewhere in Heaven at that time.’ That was at least 4,000 years before the death of Christ and the shedding of His blood at the cross. I think you are reading into those passages more than in justified by the context. “Too, don't you believe, as I do, that when Christ died on the cross and saw ‘the travail of his soul, and ... [was] ... satisfied’ (Isaiah 53:11), that in His divine omniscience He saw the sins of all the redeemed – past, present and future – and they were all blotted out at that time? That is why He could cry, ‘It is finished!’ (John 19:30). My sins I commit tomorrow were already blotted out by His blood at Some try to say that “It is finished” only has to do with atonement, not redemption (Jesus hadn’t been buried or risen again yet when He shouted that cry – one word in the original, tetelestai, finished) – but that is splitting hairs. In John 17:4 Jesus said, "I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do." He hadn't even gone to the cross yet when He said that. When something is determined by God it is considered done. That is why God can speak of Christ being crucified “from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8). It doesn’t bother me so much that many ministers – past and present; perhaps the majority – have taught that Christ entered Heaven to sprinkle His blood on the heavenly mercy seat, fulfilling typology (basing it on a faulty understanding of “by” in Hebrews 9:12, which really has the thought, as A. T. Robertson noted, “through His own blood”; it was not that He was taking His blood into Heaven, but that He was entering Heaven on the ground of His blood shed at Calvary). But I think the idea of His blood being preserved and displayed in Heaven is absurd, with no scriptural authority of any kind. There is no typology whatsoever for the sprinkled blood being kept, in Old Testament or New. As Albert Barnes (1798-1870), in his noted commentaries, put it: "The meaning is, that as the Jewish high priest bore the blood of the animal into the Holy of Holies, and sprinkled it there as the means of expiation, so the offering which Christ has to make in heaven, or the consideration on which he pleads for the pardon of his people, is the blood which he shed on Calvary. Having made the atonement, he now pleads the merit of it as a reason why sinners should be saved. It is not, of course, meant that he literally bore his own blood into heaven – as the high priest did the blood of the bullock and the goat into the sanctuary; or that he literally sprinkled it on the mercy-seat there, but that, that blood, having been shed for sin, is now the ground of his pleading and intercession for the pardon of sin – as the sprinkled blood of the Jewish sacrifice was the ground of the pleading of the Jewish high priest for the pardon of himself and the people." For those wishing additional insight, see the editor’s Hebrews: Streams of Living Waters, pages 219-225. WITH CHRIST! One of the First Ladies of the Fundamental Baptist movement went to Heaven on June 16. Caroline Allen Roberson, wife of Dr. Lee Roberson, entered the Land that is Fairer than Day on that date, dying peacefully in her sleep. She and Dr. Roberson were joined in holy wedlock on Mrs. Roberson was the epitome of most people's idea of a Southern lady, exuding grace, charm and proper conduct. I had the joy of being entertained by her with my family in the Roberson home during a conference when I was preaching at the church, and the Robersons and I were in several Bible conferences together, including Her second child, Joy, died in infancy and Funeral services were held at NOW THAT’S AN IDEA! Down in Hoping to price the units affordable for parents of young children, the houses will be in the $100,000 to $150,000 range. Every potential buyer will have to pass a criminal background check, so those with rap sheets need not apply. And that includes juveniles planning to live in the homes with parents or relatives. The lads are so serious about this that their legal documents will penalize anyone who even “unknowingly” sells to a convicted sex offender. Owners will be responsible for checking the backgrounds of potential buyers and will even face penalties if they allow a convicted sex offender to live in their home with them. What happens if a sex offender manages to get in even with all the checks and balances? The company, I&S Investments, promises to buy the property back at 85% of the appraised or market value, whichever is less. Can they do it without the ACLU screaming and suing? Probably not, but the law is on their side. The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development says it is legal. And HUD spokesman Jerry Brown says sex offenders are not a protected species under the Fair Housing Act. It sounds like a terrific idea to us and we suggest developers all over the country “go thou and do likewise.” IT IS “PROMISEDST” One of the arguments for new translations and revisions of old ones has to do with archaic language. It is hard to find more archaic talk than in I Kings 8:24-5, “Who hast kept with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him: thou spakest also with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.” The word is used one other time in the KJV, referring to Jehovah leading the children of Israel out of Egypt and to the promised land: “And gavest them bread from heaven for their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock for their thirst, and promisedst them that they should go in to possess the land which thou hadst sworn to give them” (Nehemiah 9:15). The first quoted passage also has the archaic “spakest,” and the last verse has three others: gavest, broughtest, and hadst. While we don’t think the average person would misunderstand any of those words, how much better to simply say promised, spake (or spoke), gave, brought and had. Thank God for true biblical scholars who are constantly working to make His Word plain in every language, to every individual, no matter his ethnic background or tongue. Why do some object? To use KJV language, “I wot not!” OH, WHY CAN’T THEY SEE? Some time ago Dr. John D. Morris, president of the Institute for Creation Research (Box 2667, El Cajon, CA 92021), had a brief article in that organization’s Back to Genesis, entitled, “Why Can’t Geneticists See the Obvious Evidence for Creation in the Genetic Code?” It is so timely and important we want to share it with you. Dr. Morris wrote: Recently geneticists announced that they had successfully read the human DNA code. This truly marvelous achievement ranks as one of the most remarkable in history. Creationists rejoice over the news, confident that the more we learn, the more we’ll recognize the signature of God in what He has done, and give Him glory. Scientists haven’t actually deciphered the code, but they have, as it were, identified the “letters” in the code. They only know a few “words” as of yet, and really don’t know the “language,” or where the punctuation goes. There are about three billion letters in the human DNA, and whole thing is enormously complex – not at all what would be expected from random evolution. Recently a molecular biologist working on identifying genetic controls for diseases was interviewed by George Caylor of The Ledger, J: “I’m a bit like an editor, trying to find a spelling mistake inside a document larger than four complete sets of Encyclopedia Britannica.” G: “Do you believe that the information evolved?” J: “George, nobody I know in my profession believes it evolved. It was engineered by ‘genius beyond genius,’ and such information could not have been written any other way. The paper and ink did not write the book! Knowing what we know, it is ridiculous to think otherwise.” G: “Have you ever stated that in public lecture, or in any public writings?” J: “No, I just say it evolved. To be a molecular biologist requires one to hold on to two insanities at all times. One, it would be insane to believe in evolution when you can see the truth for yourself. Two, it would be insane to say you don’t believe in evolution. All government work, research grants, papers, big college lectures – everything would stop. I’d be out of a job, or relegated to the outer fringes where I couldn’t earn a decent living.” G: “I hate to say it, but that sounds intellectually dishonest.” J: “The work I do in genetic research is honorable. We will find the cures to many of mankind’s worst diseases. But in the meantime, we have to live with the ‘elephant in the living room.’” G: “What elephant?” J: “Creation design. It’s like an elephant in the living room. It moves around, takes up an enormous amount of space, loudly trumpets, bumps into us, knocks things over, eats a ton of hay, and smells like an elephant. And yet we have to swear it isn’t there!” Yes, geneticists do see the evidence for creation, and they see it clearly, but peer pressure, financial considerations, political correctness, and religious commitment to naturalism force them to look the other way, and insist they see nothing. And so, the illogical origins myth of modern society perpetuates itself. There is a better way. Acknowledging the elephant and harness its immense power. Can you imagine the good which would result from genetic research if it were decoupled from its insanities? [Reprints of that issue are available from ICR, at the address above, for 10¢ each, in quantities.] N.O.W. & IRAN’S WOMEN William J. Murray, the son of the noted atheist, in the publication of his organization, Religious Freedom Coalition, ( The National Organization for Women (NOW) had no representative present in the One of the major points brought forth was the legalized prostitution which is permitted in Some facts about Iranian law with regards to women: a woman does not have the right to divorce a man; a man can divorce his wife any time he wishes without her knowledge; men are allowed four wives and as many temporary wives as they want [Is this why so many professional athletes ‘convert’ to Islam? – Editor]; mothers do not get custody of their children if their husbands divorce them; a husband may take a baby from the mother and give it to another woman to raise; the age of marriage for girls is nine, as stated in the Koran. A betrothed girl must be delivered to her future husband before she reaches puberty. I have seen Iranian Internet sites advertising "temporary wives" as young as nine years old. The National Organization for Women sees no problem at all with any of this. Indeed, NOW sees conservative Christianity and its pro-family, pro-life beliefs as a threat to democracy. For information contact the Alliance of Iranian Women at aiw1@comcast.net. THE PRESIDENT & THE BAPTISTS George W. Bush spoke via satellite to the 11,000-plus messengers at the Southern Baptist Convention in Bush promised them he would continue fighting for a constitutional marriage amendment and would nominate only federal judges who would not "legislate from the bench." He also noted his opposition to cloning, partial birth abortion and "the creation of life – only to destroy it." The Baptists re-elected Bobby Welch, pastor of First Baptist in Daytona Beach (FL) for the past 31 years, to a second 1-year term as president. He is not only a clear-cut inerrantist, but one who strongly emphasizes evangelism and personal soul winning. In his nomination speech, Evangelist Junior Hill noted Welch’s "impeccable character" and his "untiring passion for the unsaved." In the latter’s presidential message he reminded Southern Baptists of their slogan for 1954, “A Million More in ’54,” noting it hadn’t been reached once in the following half century and urging them to make it a reality this year. Roy Fish, who has served for 40 years as professor of evangelism as Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, warned the pastor’s conference it was in danger of losing its evangelism passion. He pointed out his concern that "it takes 42 of us 365 days to win one person who confesses faith in Jesus Christ" and that 10,000 SBC churches could not report even one profession of faith in 2004. He called for a return to preaching that has the "unsearchable riches of Christ" as its theme, saying Peter and Paul had Jesus as "the introduction, the body and the conclusion" of their messages. They should do the same, although he warned, "Today's Athenians still mock the resurrection." Conference participants presented Fish with a love offering exceeding $31,000 to show their appreciation for his long ministry and faithfulness to Christ. Surprisingly, in one of the 9 resolutions it passed the convention voted almost unanimously to cancel its 8-year boycott of Disney, following the American Family Association's canceling of its original boycott launched in 1996. We say surprisingly, because early in the same month as the SBC meeting, the annual Gay Day Week was going on full blast at Disney in Here are quotes from a Sodomite website about the affair this year: "Gay Day Orlando is proud to announce a whole new schedule of events, activities and parties for our 15 year celebration in 2005! Other days included Thursday’s Gay Day at Disney-MGM Studios; Friday’s Gay Day at Epcot; Saturday’s Gay Day at Islands of Adventure; and Monday’s Gay Day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. |
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