Unborn Babies Killed
since Roe vs. Wade
January 1973
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It appears that the bishop is trying to have us picture a courtroom setup in the Matthew
25 event. That is more than a bit misleading -- Jesus never conducted a "trial" and He
never will! A trial involves a judge presiding, a jury which hears the evidence as it
pertains to the defendant, a prosecutor who presents condemning evidence, and a defense
attorney who attempts to establish the innocence of the defendant. The jury then weighs all
the evidence and hands down a verdict of guilty or innocent.
Jesus will not be following the above trial protocol -- He is the Judge -- there is no
battle between a prosecutor and a defense lawyer! Jesus hands down His decision which
involves nations as well as individuals. Depending on the circumstances, the judgment
rendered will be one of two possibilities -- acceptance and reward or condemnation and
everlasting punishment.
The New Testament has not left us in doubt on this matter. But then that is where a
serious problem exists -- in the name of "liberalism" (read apostasy!) a number of facts
regarding final judgment as rendered by Jesus and the reality of eternal bliss or eternal
hell are denied and rejected! Oh, we might accept the possibility of a "heaven" somewhere
but a place of eternal punishment for those who hear Jesus say, "Not everyone who says to
Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father
in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your
name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will
declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'"
(Matthew 7:21-23)? That just can't be! But notice that this bunch which finds itself
condemned has appealed to the fact that they had done a lot of things in His name but at
the same time have been told that they have practiced lawlessness! Bear in mind that this
is not a "trial" conducted by Jesus -- it is a judgment decision with no appeal possible!
It seems that church leaders are accustomed to drawing attention to the "works" issue of
feeding the hungry, etc. but fail to really focus on the primary mission as Jesus clearly
defined it in a parting command before ascending to God the Father.
Christians are to bear the fruit of works which cares for the needy and the deprived,
but the focus is to be on fulfilling the commandment given by Jesus to confront the entire
world with His claims and demands -- namely, that all people everywhere repent of their
sins and believe on Him as Savior and Lord.
Bishop Chamberlain is in a position to know as to what reprimand has been handed to at
least one member of the family of UMC bishops. This one (and maybe there is more than one)
has gone on record that we ought not to go into other cultures with their different
religious belief systems and confront them with the call to repent of sin and receive Jesus
Christ as Savior and Lord, and thus convert to the ways of Christianity! For that renegade
bishop, whatever religion those in other cultures around the world have, it is sufficient.
The transforming power of the message of Jesus Christ is simply not necessary -- besides it
often disrupts and upsets those in the other cultures anyway since on the basis of the
personal claims and demands declared by Jesus all other religious expressions outside of
Christianity are in error!
Sobering is the fact that there is not going to be a trial situation to settle this
issue -- all of the world's inhabitants are going to be standing before Jesus to be judged
and their final destiny determined.
Christians need to constantly examine themselves as to how they are involved in carrying
out Jesus' mandate to take the Gospel into all the world and by God's grace be able to say
at the end of life's journey as did Paul:
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally,
there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge,
will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His
appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7,8).
Don't forget -- Jesus is not in the business of conducting "trials" -- in His sovereign
power as King of kings and Lord of lords, He will issue judgments on nations and on each of
us individually, and His word is final. Be committed in a life of obedience and service to
Him daily so that one day you will hear His words, "Well done, good and faithful servant…."
(Matthew 25:21).
April 15, 2004
Clayton D. Harriger
Elder in full connection
Western Pennsylvania Annual Conferenc
The United Methodist Church
and presently pastor of
Gipsy Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Gipsy, Pennsylvania
It is time for You to act, O LORD, for they have regarded Your law as void. Therefore I love Your commandments more than gold, yes, than fine gold! Therefore all Your precepts concerning all things I consider to be right; I hate every false way.
Psalm 119:126-128 NKJV
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NOTICE: Soulforce is a gang made up of a group of persons of different denominational backgrounds, including Mr. Jimmy Creech, defrocked United Methodist pastor of some time back. Soulforce's goal is to force full acceptance of sodomy and lesbianism in all churches without any restrictions. Be sure to read an interesting challenge to Mel White and members of Soulforce to take their crusade to new heights they may not yet have considered -- see Open Letter to Mel White and Others of Soulforce, Inc.!
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