My Answer To Them That Do Examine Me Is This—

During the course of Founder’s Week Conference, I delivered a message based upon this text, the theme being “The Proof of the Christian Ministry,” or the evidences which should always be present to mark a Holy Spirit anointed ministry. In commenting upon the 22nd verse of [1 Corinthians 9], in which Paul declares that he was made all things to all men, that he might by all means save some, I made a statement concerning the need for a display of a united front within the church to the world, for a sinking of some of our minor theological differences and for a display of love of Christ to be revealed in our fellowship one with another, which, I am sorry to say, has been misunderstood, in some quarters.

The statement appeared in the press in a distorted form, and some people have assumed that I was urging a union of believers and unbelievers into one church. I am indeed glad of the opportunity provided by this misunderstanding to clarify my own position in this matter, but before doing so, I would like to express my very real regret for the use of any phraseology which could have been so interpreted, for, believe me, such a union is very far from the conviction of my own heart.

There are words which we use in Britain which do not appear to have altogether the same significance here in America. The reverse is also the case. The word “liberal,” which I used in my message, is construed here as referring to the unbeliever. This is a meaning which never entered my mind. To suggest that there could be any union between believers and unbelievers in one church would be to display an ignorance and a stupidity which surely would be quite unbelievable. In Britain, there are three main groups within the visible church, and they are all to be found in all denominations. There is the Conservative Evangelical, the Liberal Evangelical, and the Modernist. Though we are very reluctant to define these groups or mark the boundaries between them too closely, lest we be guilty of judging others, broadly speaking, the first group, the Conservative, represents the fundamentalist; the second group, the Liberal, represents men who accept the atonement, the necessity of regeneration of the soul and the great facts of the faith, but who may differ from the first group in some of the historical aspects of the Word of God and in certain viewpoints concerning the second Advent of our Lord.

Among this group which we, in Britain, term “Liberals” and in which sense I have always used the word, are some who are moving toward the Conservative position and others who are getting further away from it. It is not surprising that this is so, because men who sit on the fence regarding the absolute authority of Scripture do not find it very comfortable to stay there for long! Some who have drifted further away are already finding the social gospel which they are preaching utterly inadequate and are wistfully looking back to the love they have lost. They can, I firmly believe, be won for the Conservative stronghold if they are loved and prayed for. They are a strategic body of men who very often are in touch with a type of people with whom Conservative Evangelicals make little contact.

The term “Liberal” therefore, as it is defined in Britain, certainly never conveys the thought of an “unbeliever.” I can well understand how confusion has been caused in the minds of some listeners who naturally placed the American interpretation upon the word, unless, of course, they made allowance for the possibility that I was using the term in its British setting.

The third group, the Modernist, covers many different and varying theological positions, none of which, however, would accept the substitutionary view of the atonement—the basic fact of the Evangelical message. With such, fellowship is impossible.

Now I am sure that these varying theological groups exist in America, even if under different classifications, but though there be a different meaning attached to the term which describes them, the basis of union among believers must be essentially the same everywhere.

Let me state what I believe should be the principles of union between all those who seek to labor together in the cause of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church on Earth is composed of the body of Christ, and formed of all who, through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, have become children of God (Galatians 3:26–28). All those, therefore, who have been truly born again of the Spirit of God are united together in one great family, in a union of life in Jesus Christ, sharing together His risen life indwelling them by the Holy Spirit. This is an organic unity of life in the Holy Spirit, and within that unity there is room for diversity on many matters. For instance, because there is all the difference in the world between an organism and an organization, inevitably, there will be some who prefer to worship God in one way and some in another—some in one denomination and some in another. That in itself does not disrupt unity of life.

The tragic thing, however, is that diversity on relatively unimportant matters of doctrine is allowed to disturb and to break the revelation of the unity of the Spirit which exists among all believers. Please do not misunderstand me. As far as I am concerned, I would give place to nobody concerning the authority of the Word of God, and I would endeavor day by day honestly to adjust my life to its teaching and to live in accordance with its divinely inspired revelation.

I do most firmly believe, however, that I must seek fellowship with my brethren in the Lord Jesus Christ who share His life, who have been truly born again, and yet who may not see eye to eye to me on certain minor aspects of the Word of God. If men truly know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour, and have His indwelling life in their hearts, who am I to refuse to work together with them and to display, in fellowship with them in the work, a true unity of all believers? The basis of all real union between Evangelical Christians is, surely, primarily a union of life with all who have been baptized by the Holy Spirit into the body of Christ.

In this connection, Dr. Harold Ockenga of Park Street Church, Boston, says in his book, Faithful in Christ Jesus, “Violations of spiritual unity exist wherever there is separation between the brethren in criticism, judgment, division, and strife. Schism is a sin against the brethren, against spiritual unity, but also it is a sin against the Holy Spirit, and therefore is one of the greatest of all sins. Contention among the brethren ought to be avoided like the plague. Men ought to take care to speak the truth in love, guarding against self-assertion, selfishness, pride, and narrowness, which may easily become a sin against the unity of the church.”

Again, Marcus Rainsford, in his book, Our Lord Prays for His Own, says, “And let us love one another more, and not be disheartened when we see apparent divisions between the people of God; there is a much closer union between them, than any of us suspect, or than the world has the least idea of. It is true that misconceptions, misconstructions, and prejudices tend to divide the children of God one from another—pity that it is so. Yet they are truly united.

“Ask them what about sin! They will all tell you, with one voice, ‘it is the abominable thing we hate.’

“Ask them of Jesus! They will all tell you ‘His name is as ointment poured forth.’

“Ask them of His blood! They all agree about it! That it is ‘true precious blood,’ and that it has spoken peace to their consciences: to that blood they all fly in every time of difficulty, and sorrow, and danger, and fear.

“Ask them of righteousness! They know no righteousness but ‘His righteousness only.’

“As them of love! They tell you of the ‘love that passeth knowledge’—His love.

“As them of rest! They all tell you they expect no rest till they rest in Him. Surely this is true union. Whenever you find a child of God over the whole earth, ‘Jew or Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bondman or freeman, male or female,’ you will find they are all at one in these, the only and all essential principles of gospel light and truth. Pity it is that with so much to unit them, very trifles are so often allowed to separate them. ‘An enemy hath done this.’

“The Lord’s prayer shall be fully answered by-and-by, and there shall be the fullest manifestation of this union. ‘I in them, and thou in me, that they also may be one in us.’”

Dr. Campbell Morgan relates that, standing alongside of his father one day, he heard him speaking to Robert Chapman in terms of sadness concerning the break-up of the church into various and ever varying sections. Robert Chapman replied, “Yes, that is true, but it is good for us to remember that God holds in His own hands the golden bowl of the church of unity unbroken. The earthly replica committed to us we have smashed to atoms.”

I think we should ponder carefully all these statements.

If, in the course of my ministry, I have said anything contrary to these principles, I would unhesitatingly withdraw and profoundly regret any impressions which I have been responsible for creating. By these principles, however, I must live before God and men. Indeed, I would stake my whole life and ministry upon them.

I have said before, and I say again to my own heart, how sad that some of us who take the Conservative Evangelical position and stand fast by our principles, tragically fail to reveal in our lives the love of Christ, which is the first evidence of a new birth. On the other hand, how challenging to find that men who do not altogether take this position in conviction while at the same time being themselves truly born again, reveal so much more of the grace and humility of Christian character. Many, many times in my ministry, as I have been privileged to listen to the preaching of others, I have been blessed and helped and refreshed in my own soul as I have listened to men whose views on certain aspects of the Book are different from mine, but whose ministry nevertheless is spirit-anointed in such a way that I am ashamed at the poverty of my own preaching. I long to learn from all them of Him, and so to grow like Him.

I am sure that the Christianity, and the only Christianity, which can meet the challenge of the hour is that which speaks with unmistakable authority from the Word of God, and at the same time reveals in conduct a life of grace, of gentleness and large-heartedness to others.

It was the great longing in the heart of the Lord Jesus as expressed in His high-priestly prayer on behalf of His disciples, that they all may be one, that the world might believe. We live in desperate days, and apart from true revival, we are in a desperate plight. The answer to the problem surely is to display to the world a unity of heart and of action which will cause them to believe that we are motivated by a passionate love for Christ and a deep concern for their salvation.

The days are short—soon we will be ushered into His presence to give an account of our ministry to Him. We shall be held responsible for the character of our witness to our generation. What will we have to say? The greatest advocacy of truth is the living of a holy life with a passionate concern to be on the attack for souls. Let us seek to break down every false barrier which divides those who are born again of the Spirit of God. Let us move forward together, seeking fellowship here on Earth with all with whom we shall expect to share eternity, and against such an army composed as it is of the true church of Christ on Earth, the gates of hell shall not prevail.