Journal: Central Bible Quarterly
Volume: CENQ 03:2 (Summer 1960)
Article: Destructive Forces At Work Today
Author: B. Myron Cedarholm

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CenQ 3:2 (Summer 1960) p. 1

Destructive Forces At Work Today

B. Myron Cedarholm, D.D.

General Director Conservative Baptist Association of America

There are several deceptive forces at work today undermining those Biblical principles which Bible-believing Baptists hold. The words of Paul to the church at Ephesus are very significant for our day. “For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore, watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified” (Acts 20:27–32).

The church at Ephesus was dearly loved by Paul. He had paid a great price and suffered much persecution in establishing it (I Cor. 15:32). With tears Paul had warned night and day to watch for those who would speak perverse things and draw away disciples after them. It was only thirty years later that John wrote from exile on the Isle of Patmos that this once well-instructed, spiritually powerful church at Ephesus had fallen to these very false teachers and had left their first love (Rev. 2:4, 5).

Paul’s warning to the church at Ephesus is much needed today. An indifference and lack of discernment have settled down on many Christians and churches. Many Christians today cannot distinguish between a modernist and a fundamentalist, an apostate and a Bible-believer, a heretic and one who holds to sound doctrine. Many cannot see that men who deny the Bible are present and often in complete control. Paul taught in Acts 20:30 that modernism would have its beginning within the churches. This is the reason why the Bible teaches that judgment must begin at the house of God (I Peter 4:17).

CenQ 3:2 (Summer 1960) p. 2

There are certain principles in the Scriptures for which Bible-believing Baptists stand and for which they have been persecuted and even put to deathfrom the very days of our Lord. There are powerful forces at work today to undermine and destro...

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