“You Foolish [Evangelical Church], Who Has Bewitched You?”

You foolish evangelical church, who has bewitched you? Pastor John MacArthur joins us today right here on the Christian Worldview radio program where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to share the good news that all people can be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

I'm David Wheaton, the host, and our website is thechristianworldview.org. Well, thank you for joining us today as we talk about you foolish evangelical church, who has bewitched you. And of course, that's an alternative rendering of Galatians 3.1 where Paul says to the Galatians, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you for getting away from the gospel and sound doctrine. But in the opening chapters of the final book of the Bible, Revelation, Jesus writes a message to each of the seven historic churches in Asia Minor, which is modern-day Turkey.

Two of the seven churches received commendations for their faithfulness, while five were warned to repent of their errant ways or there would be severe consequences. So, considering the evangelical church in America today, what do you think Jesus' message would be? Would he praise our faithfulness for sound doctrine and endurance and persecution and tolerance of false teachers, our love and good deeds?

Or would he warn us about our lukewarmness, worldliness, and loss of love for Christ? So today in the program, Pastor John MacArthur joins us from Grace Community Church in Los Angeles to discuss the church today, along with some of the threats to his faithfulness, such as the social justice movement in light of his new book, Christ's Call to Reform the Church, timeless demands from the Lord to his people. Let's get to the first segment of the interview with John MacArthur. John MacArthur with us today on the Christian Real View, and thank you for taking the time to come on the program. We'd like to focus a lot of the interview today on one of your most recent books entitled Christ's Call to Reform the Church, and the subtitle is Timeless Demands from the Lord to His People, and it says on the back of the book, it says, the Lord Jesus Christ commands that his church be doctrinally and morally pure. That was his message to the seven churches in Revelation.

Two thousand years later, it is still still his command. Now, five of the seven churches that were addressed in Revelation received warnings to repent, or they're going to suffer the consequences. Now, as you survey the evangelical church today in America, what do you think would be Christ's main warnings, and what specific issues would he be warning the church in America about today, and would there be any commendations? Yeah, I think what is so unique about the seven letters to the churches in Revelation 2 and 3 is, you know, people talk about, you know, what was the purpose of those? Were those real churches? Of course they were real churches. All those cities were real cities in Asia Minor.

In fact, the letter, the sequence of the letters follow the postal route in the ancient realm of Asia Minor. They were real churches in real places, but they're illustrative of churches through all of history, and so they transcend just their local identification, and that's why they've been placed in the book of Revelation to be a last, really a last call to the church from the Lord of the church that would extend all the way through history until his return. As you get past those letters, then you get into the part of Revelation where it talks about his coming. So up until he comes, these are the words of the Lord to his church, and we know that because he says at the close of those, let him who has ears hear what the Lord says to the churches. So we know it's a transcendent message, and there were two churches, the church at Smyrna and the church at Philadelphia that were good churches, they were churches that didn't have a fatal flaw, they don't get a warning, they get a commendation, they weren't big, by no means were they mega churches, they didn't have famous pastors, we don't even know who their pastors were, but they were faithful, faithful to the Lord, faithful to his word, and the other five churches were in some element of decline to the degree that the Lord literally pronounced judgment on them, and they get worse as they go. It starts out with Ephesus having left its first love, and the Lord says, if you don't return, you know, I'm going to come and wipe, I'm going to wipe you out, I'm going to blow out your candle, I'm going to judge you, and that's where it started, there, they left their first love, and then you see the churches at Pergamos and Thyatira, and they tolerate sin, and they love the things of the world, and then you go all the way to Sardis, and you get a church that's formed but it's dead, and then you get Laodicea, which is the church that the Lord vomits out of his mouth, so there's a progression from a church losing its first love to being a church the Lord vomits out of his mouth. These things should be A number one on the list of any pastor who wants to know what his church should be and what his church should avoid.

These are the universal timeless letters of the Lord of the church to his church. I'm actually pretty amazed how many pastors in this contemporary climate look for direction for their quote-unquote churches everywhere but in those seven letters, and they're so powerful, so confrontive, so on one hand encouraging, and on the other hand threatening, that they should make any pastor tremble to do everything he can to be sure that he avoids those things that the Lord condemns in his church, and they settle into a place of obedience and blessing, but it's not popular. The book has just come out, Christ Called to Reform the Church, and I start off by talking about have you ever been to a church that repented? Have you ever heard of a church that repented? That's not something that anybody's really heard of, but that's what the Lord says, repent or else. He says it over and over to these churches, repent, repent, repent.

Churches don't repent, but they should, and this is a call for all pastors in all churches to take a look at the book of Revelation and consider what the Lord says to his church. The book is Christ Called to Reform the Church by our guest today, John MacArthur, and I haven't finished it yet. I'm just getting into the book, and it is particularly powerful, the book, and it's incredibly relevant, I think, for the church, specifically the evangelical church, today to consider these warnings, these messages to the seven churches.

Let's talk about some of the issues going on right now in the evangelical church in America, John. You gave several sermons over the summer and wrote several columns on the issue of social justice. You're one of the initial signers of the statement on social justice and the gospel.

I want to just read a quote that you gave in one of your columns called The Injustice of Social Justice that is available on your website gty.org. You said, even more troubling are statements that have been made by certain evangelical thought leaders who claim that anyone who doesn't advocate for social justice is preaching a truncated gospel. Some say that those who reject their social justice ideology don't have any gospel at all. Anthony Bradley, chair of religious and theological studies at the King's College, recently posted this remark online, quote, here's the problem, and this will be hard, from a black church perspective, evangelicals have never had the gospel ever.

Read the book Doctrine and Race. Here then is the actual question, when will evangelicals embrace the gospel for the first time ever, unquote. That is quite an allegation, really, against the evangelical church. We often hear it said, John, that from that side who's pushing social justice, that social justice is a gospel issue. What is meant by that?

And why do you see this, this social justice movement, as an important issue to push back against? Well, there's a lot there, David, that's really loaded. But I would say this, statements like that by Anthony Bradley are intended as a kind of a denunciation of the white evangelical or the non-black evangelical church has never had the gospel. And I suppose there would be some black churches he would throw into that.

So that's a very, very racially charged thing to say. But the issue is simply this, there is in this movement, a recognition that if they just talk about social justice as a social construct, as a temporal, you know, fix America, let's help people that are oppressed and that haven't had a very good opportunity, so forth and so on. If they leave it at that level, it doesn't ascend to really gain the traction that they want it to gain. I heard one of their advocates say, if we don't make this an issue of the gospel, it's going to go nowhere.

So that's essentially what they've done. They've shoved this issue of racial equality, racial opportunity, and what they see as racial injustice and things like that. They've shoved it into the gospel because if it's not a part of the gospel, it doesn't rise to the level of being absolutely mandatory and compelling. But the truth of the matter is, it's not a part of the gospel.

We know what the gospel is. The gospel is laid out clearly in the scripture, and if social justice, to be honest, was part of the gospel, then Jesus failed in his mission, because he didn't change the culture at all. He didn't alter the people who were oppressed and the people who were elite and somehow flipped them so that the oppressed got experienced with power.

He didn't do anything to change the social structure. So if we believe social justice or helping, you know, depressed or oppressed people rise socially, if that was part of the gospel, Jesus failed. Secondly, the apostles all failed. The apostle Paul failed, and the church has largely failed as well. So you either have Christ coming and finishing his mission, or you have him as a failure, and if he came to change economic demographics, if he came to change social structures on a temporal level, then clearly he failed. So what happens is, if you push this into the gospel, inevitably you push out the gospel, and there's history for that.

That's what happened in liberalism. They began to take up the social issues, and it wasn't very long until the gospel completely disappeared, and all that was left was the social gospel. And we know what happened to those denominations. They're all buried long ago somewhere, and we see their tombstones in all these dead churches that are still stuck all across our country, but no people and no life. So when you move away from the gospel to anything else, as a substitute for the gospel, the gospel is lost, and the message is lost, and disaster comes.

I want to add a footnote to that, because I don't want anybody to misunderstand me. Tearing for people's needs, showing justice, doing justly, is absolutely how Christians are to live in the world. We are told to show justice man to man, Ezekiel 18. We are told to do justly, to walk humbly with our God. We are told to do good to all those that we can possibly reach, especially to the household of faith, but to do good to all men. We are told to do good to all men. We are to love the widow, we are to love the orphan, love the stranger, we're to visit the prisoners, we're to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give alms to the poor. That is how Christians live, but you can't make that into the gospel, or you eventually will lose the gospel. John MacArthur is our guest today here on the Christian Worldview radio program. We're talking about the book, Christ's Call to Reform the Church. Much more coming up.

Stay tuned after this. Social justice is a gospel issue. This has become the mantra of many evangelicals. Rectifying perceived inequities of race, gender, sexuality, poverty, immigration, amongst others, is considered a top priority. But what exactly is social justice? Is working for social justice a biblical mandate, an application of the gospel? Kel Biesner has written an insightful booklet entitled, Social Justice, How Good Intentions Undermine Justice and Gospel. Also included in this revised 44-page booklet is a copy of the just released statement on social justice and the gospel. You can order this social justice booklet for a donation of any amount to the Christian Worldview. Go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. The mission of the Christian Worldview is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to share the good news that all people can be reconciled to God Jesus Christ.

For when Christians have a stronger faith and when unbelievers come to saving faith, lives and families and churches, even communities, are changed for the glory of God. The Christian Worldview is a listener-supported ministry. You can help us in our mission to impact hearts and minds by making a donation of any amount or becoming a monthly partner.

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I'm David Wheaton and just before we get back to the interview with John MacArthur, I want to encourage you to go to our website thechristianworldview.org to sign up for some of our free resources. We have an annual print letter that's going to be released soon, so if you want to get that, it comes along with a resource catalog here at the end of the year. Be sure to do that very soon because that's going to be going to the printer and being sent out shortly. Also, be sure to sign up for our podcast. Our podcast is free, so if you can't hear the program live over the airwaves, you can always get it through online. And we just released a new feature of that as well called TCW, the Christian Worldview Short Takes, which are the highlights every week of the program.

So a lot to do there. Be sure to go to thechristianworldview.org. Well, John MacArthur is our guest today as we talk about Christ's call to reform the church, and he was just finishing before the last break his answer on the issue of social justice coming into the church.

Let's get back to that interview. Just one other thing to say, David. There was a survey released recently by Ligonier called the State of Theology.

I don't know if you saw it, you probably did. And in that survey of evangelicals, we found some very interesting results. 52% of evangelicals think everybody sins a little, but most people are good by nature. 78% of evangelicals surveyed by Ligonier say Jesus was the first and greatest being created by God, and it goes on like that. So you have to understand when the theology is so abysmal among evangelicals, their understanding of the gospel is going to be equally faulty. So there's going to be some inroads made by this movement into the doctrinally ignorant kind of evangelicalism, and that gives it some traction.

Yeah, that certainly has been the case. John MacArthur, our guest today on the Christian Real View radio program, he's the pastor teacher at Grace Community Church in the Los Angeles area. He's also the featured preacher on Grace To You, the radio broadcast. The website for that is gty.org.

You can just easily podcast that, those daily messages on your smartphone. Several prominent Christian leaders who you associate with and conference with, John, people like Al Mohler and Mark Dever and Ligon Duncan, and those that have been considered to be more on the theologically conservative end of evangelicalism, don't necessarily seem to share the message that you just talked about on social justice that was written out in the statement on social justice in the gospel. If social justice is such a diversion or such a danger of being a diversion from the gospel, what do you think the taking of sides on this particular issue is going to do to the unity and relationships of those who are considered to be more on the theologically conservative end of evangelicalism? Well, first of all, I wish that those guys that have been sort of the point men for evangelicalism over the last few years, I wish if there's something wrong with the statement, they would point out what is wrong with it.

If there's something that I've written or something I've said, or the position that I have taken or others have taken, if something is wrong with that, I wish they would answer that. I heard one of the leaders who's a good friend of mine say, this statement, this statement that MacArthur signed and so forth, is really good for the conversation. Well, where's the conversation? I haven't heard any response.

I'm waiting for someone to say this is not accurate, this is not biblical, but I don't get any of that, so I don't know how to read the response other than to say, I guess the price is high. It's a hard time to have an institution on your back. It's a hard time to have lots of associations because this is dividing people, and so I guess either they agree and don't want to argue because they agree that this is the right movement, or they don't agree, but they don't want to say anything because maybe they think the price is too high and they don't want to break relationships and create issues in their institutions or their denominations or associations.

I really don't know. With me, it's always about the truth, and people by now know this. I am one who lives in LA. We have a racially mixed church that's never been an issue. It's not an issue for our people.

A month ago we took in, once a month we received new members for that month, and got about 100 people last month, and they were from 14 nations with 14 different native languages. Our church looks like LA, so this is just how the Lord builds the church, and I don't think there's any reason to create some kind of artificial categories of people who somehow have it harder and should get special consideration, and consideration toward them is something that actually belongs to the gospel itself. I just think the gospel transcends all of that. I know in our church people don't even understand what that's about because they're united in Christ, and there's no division, and there's neither Jew nor Greek, bond or free, male or female. So I just think it's, basically we could say it's Marxism and its roots, but it's a social concern that is, some of it is very legitimate, but it needs to be dealt with in love by Christians and not made part of the gospel or have anything to do with preaching the gospel. And I'm sure I speak for many other Christians on this, they're just very appreciative of the stand that you and others have taken to clarify what is the gospel, the biblical gospel, and how social justice is, like you said, it comes from more of a leftist background, and the negative impact it will have on the evangelical church as it already did on the mainline denominations, so thank you for that. Yeah, it's just 2.0, it's just the same issue all over again, and we didn't learn anything last time, you know, the social people took over the denominations once and now they're doing it again, and it's going to happen fast because what is left of evangelicalism is so doctrinally ignorant. John McArthur with us again today on the Christian worldview, just one more hot button topic going on within the evangelical church, because we're talking about your book today, Christ's Call to Reform the Church, highly recommended, we have it linked at our website thechristianrearview.org, talking about some of the issues, like it says in Galatians chapter 3, 1, you foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, that's what we've titled the program today, John, you foolish evangelical church, who has bewitched you. One other issue that has come into the evangelical church over the last year is this issue of that you can be somehow a quote-unquote gay Christian or a same-sex attracted Christian. What they're saying is that the acts of homosexuality are sinful, but the attraction or desire is just sort of who you are and can't be changed, and so you can carry those on your life as long as you're not acting on them. How should we be thinking biblically about this issue of homosexuality for those who have these same-sex attracted desires and call themselves Christians and the move of it into the evangelical church?

Well, I would answer that in two ways. First of all, anybody who says that fails to understand the very essence of the Sermon on the Mount. That sounds exactly like the Pharisees, that sounds exactly like the first century Judaism. We didn't do this, and we don't do that, and we don't do that, and Jesus said you do it in your heart. If you lust in your heart, you're an adulterer.

If you hate in your heart, you're a murderer. Jesus took the law into the heart, and this just completely ignores that. But there's a reason for this, and to say that I am a Christian homosexual as my identity is like saying I'm a Christian bank robber, I'm a Christian pedophile, I'm a Christian liar, I'm a Christian whatever. It's just bizarre. It is making sin legitimate.

But here's the issue. The church, the evangelical church, decided 20 years ago or so it was going to chase the culture. So it changed its style. Out went the hymns, out went the worship that appealed to all generations. Evangelicalism decided we're going to reach this cool culture. So the smoke and mirrors and lights and rock music and loud kind of expressions and sermons that were full of psychology and theatrics and you know we're going to reach the world, this is our goal. So they chased the world, but they said you know it's just a method. We're just changing the method, we've got to get rid of the organ, the choir, we've got to get rid of the pulpit, we've got to get rid of our ties, and we're going to change the method.

So that sounded really great. So the world said fine, okay, we'll buy your method. And I said this at the time, inevitably the world hates God and the world hates the gospel and the world hates Christ and the world hates true Christians and the world hates the scripture. So what happened was, once the world saw that you were going to chase them and give them what they wanted in method, they said we're not content with that. We want the message to change.

And the message then is social justice and Me Too, the abuse of women, and LGBTQ. So look, the evangelical movement already decided to chase the world. They already decided that, so they're down the path too far to bail out, and so now the world says we're not content with the method, you've got to jump on our message bandwagon. And they'll say oh, but we're hanging on to Christ crucified and the resurrection. Well that's the next step, and it's absolutely inevitable, because the world hates the gospel.

So it's not going to be long, I don't think, until the next thing that's going to happen is they will have chased the world until they've chased away the gospel, and it'll just follow exactly the liberal pattern of, you know, 100 years ago. You have been fighting these battles for I think it's been 50 years of ministry now, and all their various forms and the attacks on the gospel, and then the inerrancy of scripture, and so we just appreciate your stand for biblical truth in the gospel over so many decades. John MacArthur again with us today in the Christian Real View, you're preaching through Galatians right now for, I think it's the second time, and the last time was probably decades ago.

In 1983. So why did you choose to preach through Galatians at this time, and how is it different than when you went through it the first time back in the 80s, and was there a reason for where the church is now today? Okay, John MacArthur will answer that question after this second break of the day here on the Christian Real View radio program.

Much more coming up, so stay tuned. I'm David Wheaton. In his DVD, The Death of Discernment, Mike Gendron uses this apt analogy from A.W.

Tozer. Red cells are like faith. They carry life-giving oxygen to every part of the body. White cells on the other hand are discernment.

They pounce upon dead and toxic matter, and carry it out of the body. Each member in the body of Christ is a white blood cell. We need to identify doctrinal error and make sure it gets out of the body.

That's the only way that the body of Christ can remain strong. The Death of Discernment DVD contains two messages by Mike Gendron. You can order it for a donation of any amount to the Christian World View.

Normal retail is $15 plus shipping. Go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. Be sure to take advantage of two free resources that will keep you informed and sharpen your world view. The first is the Christian World View weekly email, which comes to your inbox each Friday. It contains a preview of the upcoming radio program along with need to read articles, featured resources, special events, and audio of the previous program. The second is the Christian World View annual print letter, which is delivered to your mailbox in November. It contains a year-end letter from host David Wheaton and a listing of our store items, including DVDs, books, children's materials, and more. You can sign up for the weekly email and annual print letter by visiting thechristianworldview.org or calling 1-888-646-2233.

Your email and mailing address will never be shared and you can unsubscribe at any time. Call 1-888-646-2233 or visit thechristianworldview.org. Back on the Christian World View radio program, I'm David Wheaton, the host. Our website is thechristianworldview.org. Just highly encourage you to go there and partake in some of the offers we have right now.

Our current offers are always or often a donation of any amount. We have a social justice booklet. We have some DVDs. Of course, there's a whole fully developed store there of resources that we recommend that you can buy.

It would be a great time of year to get that piece heading into Christmas. You can sign up for our weekly email. It comes out every Friday or annual print letter, which is going out soon.

And you can also listen to some of the past programs or the short takes. So really encourage you to do that. As a matter of fact, we're getting into the world of social media. So we're now starting to put some content on Facebook. So if you're a Facebook user or Twitter user, find the Christian World View on Facebook and be a part of some of the content that the Christian World View is putting out there. Today in the program, John MacArthur, pastor and teacher of Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, is our guest. And we are talking about the evangelical church in America in light of his new book, Christ's Call to Reform the Church. Timeless demands from the Lord to His people based on Christ's message to the seven churches in Revelation. Let's get back to the interview with John MacArthur. So why did you choose to preach through Galatians at this time?

And how is it different than when you went through it the first time back in the 80s? And was there a reason for where the church is now today? Well, because it's so clear on the gospel. Paul starts out, there are no amenities, there's no greetings, there's no kind words, there's no blessing as in his other epistles. He just launches and pronounces curses on people who believe another gospel.

So it was just so pertinent. And then it goes to the gospel of grace and faith alone in the first two chapters just so powerfully. First two chapters, Paul nails down his authority. Chapters three and four, he nails down the true gospel as against the false and damning gospels. And then what was also important to me was chapters four and five are on the issue of sanctification.

And I'll just give you a point that maybe will help you understand this. I never have believed that this young millennial generation of pastors, many of them, not all of them, but many of them, I never have believed they really had a true commitment to sound doctrine. And the reason I didn't believe it is because they didn't have a robust biblical doctrine of sanctification. You know, many of them like the idea of the sovereignty of God, that's kind of a macho concept. And they like the idea of the security of the believer, because, you know, they like thinking they're safe forever, and they're not going to lose their salvation. They like the gospel, they even like the idea of the doctrine of imputed righteousness, because they know they're sinful. But what has been missing and what I've been calling for for decades is where is this solid, reformed doctrine of holiness and sanctification?

It's not there. And as a result of that, when they chase the world, they become overwhelmed by the world. And what happened, I think, was you had all these guys like Jim Boyce and R.C., my good friend, and myself, and a lot of other guys in the early years of Reformed theology, they were the trustees of this doctrine. And over time, it got handed to millennials, and it got handed to them, and, you know, they said that they believed in it. But without robust commitment to the doctrine of sanctification, and secondly, a doctrine of ecclesiology, the true understanding of the Church, they tampered with that theology, and they mixed what they had of Reformed theology, they mixed it in their pragmatism. They put a little Reformed theology in the glass and stirred in their pragmatism, and they got a hybrid that we see happening now, which is theologically confused, socially confused, doctrinally confused, and that's why I wrote the book on the Church needing to repent.

Well, that's interesting. Christ's Call to Reform the Church is the title of the book, and John MacArthur is our guest today on The Christian Real View. You can get connected with his messages and sermons at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles by going to gracechurch.org. All of this is linked on our website, thechristianrealview.org.

Okay, final two questions for you, John. I've noticed that over the last few years, you've preached occasionally on just some of the things that are going on in our society, so I just wanted to ask you a question about our culture today. You know, you watch the news in the evening, or you see the articles on the internet about how divided our country is. Do you think the U.S. is as divided as it appears, and if so, what do you think is causing that division, and what do you think the path is to a more unified country? Well, I don't know that there'll ever be a unified country, and I'll tell you what the dividing line became.

It's not a spiritual dividing line, but it is a dividing line of convictions. As I remember the election of President Obama, I gave a message because for the first time, the Democrats had sin in their platform. For the first time in American history, their platform included abortion and homosexuality, homosexual rights, and same-sex marriage. It used to be the Democrats were the working class, the guys that were holding up the worker's hand, and the Republicans were kind of the owners and the entrepreneurs, and it was kind of a, maybe a bit of a social divide at that point, but in our lifetime, those two parties have split around moral issues. That's not to say that Republicans are moral, or more moral, or even that the president is more moral, but there's a platform for a Republican party that basically doesn't advocate sin. It has to tolerate certain things. That's the nature of politics, but I was astounded that in the platform of a party would be the slaughter of babies, and the advocacy of homosexual lifestyle and same-sex marriage, which just is devastating on an entire culture, and of course eventually ends up in the reprobate mind, and that's when you don't even know what sex you are, or you're one sex today and another one tomorrow.

That's insanity. When that becomes part of a platform, the divide is not just economic, it is moral, and it goes deep into the hearts of people who don't agree on those kinds of behaviors. Now the divide just can't be resolved, because there are people who have Christian heritage and Christian tradition, not necessarily Christian people, but they've grown up in a tradition that reflects a biblical morality, and while they want to be tolerant, they don't want to imprison people who do those things, they're never going to advocate those, so I just think the divide has reached the moral level. And then you can add the other component, true Christians just cannot, cannot affirm the Democratic party. It's hard for them in some cases to even affirm the Republican party because there are issues there too, but they're not nearly as blatantly attached to sins that the Scripture condemns.

I think that divide is so deep, I don't know how you ever get that put back together, it's just too pronounced. Again, John MacArthur with us today on the Christian worldview. So final question for you, John, and thank you again for coming on the program. I believe you just turned 80 years old, you're now an octogenarian, and I think you've been a pastor for 50 years or close to it. We've talked about a lot of serious subjects today, things going on within the church, about the the seven churches of Revelation and what the American Evangelical Church can learn from the call to repent and be sanctified, and the things in those messages in light of your new book. So as you part today from us, what is your final encouragement or exhortation, I guess may be the better word, for followers of Christ who are hearing all of this? What should they be doing at this particular time?

What should they be focusing on? Well first of all, you need to focus your life on Christ and his word. You know, it's gazing at his glory that sanctifies us, we need sanctified believers, we don't need pastors that are immoral, pastors that are shacking up with people, pastors that are sometimes communicating with us, committing suicide rather than get caught, and this is just horrific stuff. We need people to live Christlike lives, and again, that's a reflection of the absence of a doctrine of sanctification where guys are elevated because they have certain communication skills or leadership skills, but they're unsanctified. So I think we need to be close to the Lord, we need to cultivate that first love, we need to walk with Christ in godliness and holiness, and then we need to preach the gospel faithfully to this culture and not be accepting of any compromise.

I think people say to me more often than anything that you don't compromise, and I don't see myself as somebody who just doesn't compromise. I see myself as someone 100% devoted to biblical truth, and since it is the truth, I will not waver on that, and that's the kind of Christians we need to be, both in the way we live and what we communicate, that we are completely committed to the truth of the word of God. In order to do that, you've got to know the word and you've got to be exposed to teachers and preachers who can teach you the word. Well on behalf of myself, John, and my family and many other people I know, we have been so grateful and impacted by your 100% devotion to biblical truth and your faithful preaching of the whole counsel of God over so many decades. So just thank you so much for that, and thank you for coming on the Christian Real View today, and we just wish and pray all of God's best and grace to you and your family, your church, grace to you and all the ministries that you lead.

Well David, you've been a great friend for years as your family has been. It's my joy, and I encourage people to pray for the Master's University and Seminary where we're trying to train up the kind of leaders that we need in the future. Okay let's certainly remember to do that because we do need more people with the commitment to biblical truth, especially in church leadership like John MacArthur. If you heard or missed some of the message, the interview today, I just really highly encourage you to go to our website.

We load it up there fairly soon after the program airs live on Saturday morning. Just go to thechristianworldview.org. So much appreciate what God has done in that man.

We'll come back. We're going to get into some follow-up on the midterm elections, and what is the message being sent. That's next on the Christian Real View.

I'm David Wheaton. Here's Mike Gendron previewing his DVD on apostasy. We'll see how apostasy is the result of Satan's relentless attacks on the church. We'll also look at four steps that characterize a church's drift into apostasy. Then we'll look at the history of the church, a chronological development of the Roman Catholic religion, and its drift into apostasy.

And lastly and most importantly, what are you and I to do in the midst of this great apostasy and the growing ecumenical movement. The DVD is titled Roman Catholicism's Drift into Apostasy and contains two messages. You can order it for a donation of any amount to The Christian Worldview.

Normal retail is $15 plus shipping. Go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Social justice is a gospel issue. This has become the mantra of many evangelicals, rectifying perceived inequities of race, gender, sexuality, poverty, immigration, amongst others, is considered a top priority.

But what exactly is social justice? Is working for social justice a biblical mandate, an application of the gospel? Cal Beisner has written an insightful booklet entitled Social Justice, How Good Intentions Undermine Justice and Gospel. Also included in this revised 44-page booklet is a copy of the just released Statement on Social Justice in the Gospel.

You can order this social justice booklet for a donation of any amount to The Christian Worldview. Go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Final segment of the day here on the Christian Worldview radio program.

I'm David Wheaton. Our website is thechristianworldview.org. Our mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to share the good news that all people can be reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ.

We strive to think biblically so that we can then live accordingly. And we had the midterm election this past Tuesday and the whole lead up to that after two years of the Trump administration. What was the country going to do? Were they going to vote for candidates for more of his policies or vote for candidates that would repudiate him personally and his policies?

And there was a little bit of both. The U.S. House flipped power from Republicans to Democrats in the Senate actually increased its Republican majority. So we are in for a very contentious couple years ahead, at least politically and socially culturally in this country because the Democrat House will certainly try to impede for sure everything that Trump does. And they'll even try to impeach him.

And Trump is going to have to respond with his executive orders to be able to get his policies passed. So brace yourself for the next couple years of divided Congress and what that might entail of greater divide, worldview divide in this country. Because as we've discussed recently in the program, the worldview divide is very wide in this country now. You know, the Democrat Party, as John MacArthur was saying in one of the last answers in the interview, it's not just liberal. They're not just liberal anymore. They are really openly Marxist.

And I don't say that to be inflammatory or to exaggerate. I just want to read you an email that came out from MoveOn.org, which is a leftist political action organization the day after the election. They said, Dear MoveOn member, we did it. We now just want to note you to notice as you listen to this email, all the identity politics in here, which is the key facet of Marxism, you divide people into two groups, those who are the oppressors and those who are the victims. And that's what the Democrat Party does. They divide people into all the little splinter groups and tells them they're oppressed. And the white patriarchy is against you, the Christians are against you. And you need to band together and rise up to topple the oppressors. Now just read this, you're going to see that worldview in this email from MoveOn.org. We, it goes on to say millions of people from all races, and genders, and religions, and class backgrounds and walks of life.

There's the identity politics right there. MoveOn members and so many others came together and we ended Republican control of the house. We smashed an opening in the solid wall of Republican control of the federal government and won major victories in many states. We rebuked Trump and Trumpism at a critical moment to do so. And we did something more than resist.

There's that word is a socialist Marxist word as well as the resist. We elected progressive, euphemistic word for socialistic, we elected progressive champions up and down the ballot. We won victories for candidates who ran on game changing ideas, and whose diversity will better represent our changing country in the halls of power.

In the face of a system that's too often rigged, here's the oppressor victim is too often rigged against working families. In the face of constant attacks on our communities, we affirm something better, a vision of an America where everyone can thrive. This night marks a turning point. It's clear now that a grassroots uprising, a united and diverse movement with women and people of color in the lead can beat the forces of greed and hate.

And it's clear that Democrat candidates don't have to look or sound like Republicans to win. The leaders we collectively lifted to power tonight, including Rashida Tlaib in Michigan, Ilhan Omar in Minnesota, more on her in a minute. Colin Allred in Texas and Haley Stevens in Michigan and Deb Haaland in New Mexico include a record number of women, people of color and first time candidates championing an agenda more progressive than any in recent memory against corporate money in politics, standing up to the gun lobby, fighting for Medicare for all universal health care. One more paragraph here but move on members top priority was to flip control of the House of Representatives.

So take that deep breath, fill your lungs, we reached our biggest goal for the night, then exhale because we have a long way yet to march. Tomorrow the next phase begins to end the Trump presidency, to end it, to root out the old and deep injustices of white supremacy and patriarchy and plutocracy that got us here, to tackle the newer crises like climate change, to build the kind of country we want to pass on to today's children and tomorrows. And make no mistake, Trump and his GOP enablers still hold a staggering degree of power, the deeply destructive forces that have given them a platform that won't abate overnight. And these Republicans in power constitute a real and present danger.

There's the threat that this loss will cause Trump to act desperately, ratcheting up attacks on immigrants, moving to end the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 elections, or even moving us toward launching a new war. And the reason I read that much is just to give you a taste of what that worldview divide is like. Again, it's no longer a divide between Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives. It's moderate Republicans and some conservatives on one side versus Marxists on the other side who see this world in terms of this country is white, Christian, male, heterosexual, and that's our problem. We've always been unjust, and we need to be toppled.

So keep that in mind going forward for the next couple years. And the two examples that occurred right here, where we broadcast from in Minnesota, the Democrat Party in this state, elected an attorney general, Keith Ellison was formerly a US congressman, and also Ilhan Omar, both Muslim, both anti-Semitic. I could go into the examples of this, but I'll just read a tweet by Ilhan Omar, who's now a Somali immigrant going to represent her district here in Minnesota in the US House of Representatives. She said, Israel has hypnotized the world.

May Allah awaken the people and help them see the evil doings of Israel. Another quote she retweets is, you have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world, and you have to do it all the time, unquote. That's a quote from Angela Davis, who was a part of the Communist Party and a one-time Black Panther. That's who's being elected in not only Minnesota, but other places around the world. Of course, Keith Ellison, you probably have heard of.

I think he's the deputy director of the whole Democrat Party in this country, passed ties to Louis Farrakhan, many other things. So there is a world of divide as John MacArthur says. So the church and Christians better get dead serious about what we believe. We better adhere to sound doctrine and proclaim the truth of the word with truth, yes, and also with grace, calling people and the church to repentance. Thank you for joining us today on the Christian Worldview Radio Program. Go to our website, thechristianworldview.org, if you missed any of the program today. We live in a changing and challenging world, but there is one thing we can always trust in and count on, no matter how big the worldview divide is, and that is this, Jesus Christ and His Word. They are the same yesterday, today, and forever. Until next weekend, everyone, think biblically and live accordingly. View is a weekly one hour radio program that is furnished by the Overcomer Foundation and is supported by listeners and sponsors. Request one of our current resources with your donation of any amount. Go to theChristianworldview.org or call us toll free at 1-888-646-2233 or write to us at Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401 Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. Thanks for listening to The Christian Worldview. Until next time, think biblically and live accordingly.