Warning: Dangerous to Read

 

Last Sunday (September 15, 2024) was Homecoming at the Lower Long Cane Presbyterian Church. Organized in 1771 as an Associate congregation, (1) we celebrated the 253rd year of the congregation; (2) constructed in 1849, we celebrated 175 years of worship in the present sanctuary; and (3) we celebrated the 80th birthday of Reverend Eleredge Kelley.

The Cedar Springs ARP Church, the Lower Long Cane Presbyterian Church, and the Troy Presbyterian Church are situated in a cluster of about seven miles separating the congregations. For 50 years or more, the congregations have joined together to celebrate their Homecomings.

Not so this year!! Since the dissolution of Second Presbytery, the Cedar Springs ARP Church was sucked into Catawba Presbytery, the Troy Presbyterian Church withdrew to help form the Veritas Presbytery, and the Lower Long Cane Presbyterian Church voted to withdraw to independency.

Many of the congregants in these three congregations are kinfolk. They are distant cousins. In some cases, their family ties go back to the 1770s.

This year the Homecoming at the Lower Long Cane Presbyterian Church was missing the folks at the Cedar Springs ARP congregation. The ecclesiocrats (Ben Glaser, Andy Putnam, Kyle Sims, Mark Miller, and other such pompous fools) in Catawba Presbytery forbade the members of the Cedar Springs ARP congregation to attend the Homecoming of the Lower Long Cane Presbyterian Church. These presbytery bosses were fearful that the souls of the congregants of the Cedar Springs ARP Church would be severely corrupted (if not damned to hell for eternity) if they worshiped with and broke bread at table with the folks in the Lower Long Cane Presbyterian Church and the Troy Presbyterian Church.

In fifty years of being an ARP, I have never seem such bullying and intimidation. These rascals used scare-tactics on old people who are uninformed as to the workings of a presbytery. The blessed saints of Catawba Presbytery told the people in the Cedar Springs ARP Church where, when, and with whom they could attend church. And the threat was this: we have the power to cast you out of the denomination and confiscate your land and building.

Well, Homecoming at the Long Cane Presbyterian Church went well. There were folks from Baptist, Methodist , and Presbyterian congregations (and Presbyterians of many stripes: ARP, PCA, and PCUSA).

There was a gentleman and his family who were up from Florida, and he told me that six generations of his family were buried in the graveyard of the Lower Long Cane Presbyterian Church.

The service was appreciated by all. Chuck Wilson, the Apostate and Heretic, may his name be cursed by all ARPs, preached. Eleredge Kelley (who, according to Ben Glaser, is no longer to be considered a minister in Christ’s Church) led the Communion Service.

Fearful that such a hypernym of worship, consisting in Presbyterians and Christians of other denominations (that is, people who are not part of the one true and only Presbyterian church, the ARPChurch) would find the Devil chasing the attendees into Hell with a flamethrower, the presbytery bosses of Catawba were pleased with themselves for they were the saviors of the Cedar Springs ARP congregation. One of them said, “Brothers, we must be vigilant. In the near future, Cedar Springs will celebrate their Homecoming. Can we allow them to invite the dissidents and reprobates from the Lower Long Cane and Troy congregations to soil the hallowed grounds of the Cedar Springs ARP Church? Heaven help us all, Chuck Wilson, the Reprobate and Heretic, may his name be cursed by all ARPs, might attend!”

Well, this year, not only did Chuck Wilson attend the Homecoming of the Lower Long Cane Presbyterian Church, he was the preacher.

Below is a copy of Wilson’s sermon. Be warned! It’s dangerous!

His sermon is published in order for the reader to see how apostate, heretical, unbiblical, and dangerous he is to those of the one true Presbyterian faith, which is, of course, the ARPChurch.

I’m Safe Evermore

Are you safe evermore?

In Ecclesiastes 9:12 (NLT), we read these words,

People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.

In Job 5.12, we read the following,

Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward.

The morning of September 6 dawned a beautiful day in Winder, Georgia. School teachers, Richard Aspinwall and Cristina Irimie, had no idea a 14-year-old-gunman was waiting at their school to kill them, two students, and wound nine others.

We think we control our lives. We don’t! Everyday, “people are caught by sudden tragedy!”

We do not know when tragedy or death will overtake us, but the Bible tells us we can live knowing the God of the Bible who made us and all things.

We don’t have to live as though life is a meaningless nightmare. We don’t have to live as though we are little more than space flotsam in a heartless universe.

The Christian song writer sings his confidence in Jesus in this manner:

I've anchored my soul in the haven of rest,
I'll sail the wide seas no more;

The tempest may sweep o'er the wild stormy deep,
In Jesus I'm safe evermore.

1. The Bible tells us we can know why there is something and not nothing.

The question, “Why is there something and not nothing?” is a significant question.

The answer to the question tells us that God made us.

Those who believe that life on earth sprang forth accidentally from unintelligent processes have a faith in the impossible!

In 1970, Harold Morowitz of Yale University, estimated the probability of the formation of the smallest and simplest living organism to be one in 10340,000,000! That is, one in 10 with 340 million zeros behind the 10.

Then, in 1973, Carl Sagan (of Cosmos fame), made his estimation at one in 10^{2,000,000,000}! That is, one in ten with 2 billion zeros behind the 10. Note also that these calculations by Morowitz and Sagan were made before we discovered the incredible complexity of DNA in recent decades.

An MIT PhD and former professor at Clemson University told me that most scientists consider the impossible to be one in 1050. That is one in ten with 50 zeros behind the ten. He said these numbers take us into the world of the googolplex. It is the world of the infinitesimally small possibility. It is so small as to be zero. So, the notion that life emerged on its own accidentally, from unintelligent processes and without a creator is faith in the impossible.

If God is removed from the universe, the universe is without design, without the personality of a creator, and unknowable.

But the universe screams with design, the personality of a creator, and clearly displays knowability. In Psalm 19.1-3 the Bible sings of the universe’s design, Creator, and knowability. Listen to these words:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handywork.
Day unto day utters speech,
and night unto night shows knowledge.
There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.This means God is a chatterbox! He doesn’t know how to stop talking about Himself and what He has done. Particularly, it means God chatters to us in the pages of the Bible.

Taking a page from the Book of Revelation, “Let him who has an ear to hear, hear” what the heavens declare and the Scriptures proclaim.

2. The Bible tells us we can know why we are the way we are.

When asked, “What’s wrong with the human race?” G. Chesterton responded, “I am!”

In Moby Dick, Herman Melville, described the human condition in this manner:

Heaven have mercy on us all — Presbyterians and Pagans alike — for we are all somehow dreadfully cracked about the head, and sadly need mending.

Well, Chesterton and Melville described our dilemma, but neither of them named it. The Bible names our condition as SIN.

And what is sin?

• • Isn’t sin our rebellion against God and His Word?
  • Isn’t sin our idolatry of self worship instead of worship of God who created us?
  • Isn’t sin “any want of conformity unto, or transgression of, the law of God?”
  • Isn’t sin doing anything, thinking anything, saying anything, or being anything that is contrary to what God says?
  • Isn’t sin the rebellion that cast Adam and Eve out of the Garden and cast us upon the dunghill of disease, brokenness, and death?
  • Isn’t sin why we have life-attitudes which alienate us from God and one another?
  • Isn’t sin the brokenness in us that leads to family feuds, conflicts with neighbors, and all the ugly forms of oppression which vex us terribly?
  • Isn’t sin why there are wars and rumors of war?
  • Isn’t sin what frustrates us into thinking life is pointless and futile?
  • Isn’t sin why life is unpredictable and we are caught in nets and traps of sudden tragedy which we can’t avoid?
  • SO, is there no anchor for our souls?
  • Is there no haven of rest to which we can flee?
  • Are we helpless before the storms and tragedies of life? Is there no place where we can be safe evermore?

3. The Bible tells us that sin, disease, death, and tragedy do not have the last word, for there is a savior who is called Jesus Christ, and He came to save and give us eternal

Do you know the story of Jesus and Lazarus as it is found in John 11?

Lazarus lived in the little town of Bethany, two miles southwest of Jerusalem. His sisters were Mary and Martha. They sent word to Jesus in Galilee that Lazarus was sick. They said, “Jesus, come quickly, for your friend and our brother is dying.”

Jesus did an unthinkable thing. The Miracle Worker who cast out demons, healed the lame, and gave sight to the blind tarried where He was and waited for Lazarus to die. When asked why He was waiting, Jesus said it was for the glory of God.

When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus was four-days- dead and in a tomb.

When Martha heard Jesus was in Bethany, she hurried to see Him. She said, “If You had only been here, Lazarus wouldn’t have died! Why did You take so long?”

Jesus said to Martha, “Woman, you can’t command Me!

I’m in charge here! Not you!”

Then Jesus said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Martha responded with these words: “Yes, Lord; I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God.”

Well, today, (1) what do you believe about Jesus? (2) Do you believe in anything other than your self — what you think and your attempts to control life? (3) Are you willing to trust Jesus to forgive your sins? (4) Do you believe Jesus is your Resurrection and life?

Well, you would think the story ends here. But it doesn’t.

Martha goes to her sister Mary and says, “Jesus is calling for you.”

Now, remember who Mary is. She’s the woman who anointed Jesus’s feet with expensive perfume and used her hair to dry His feet. When Judas complained, saying the perfume shouldn’t have been wasted, but sold for a large sum of money, Jesus commended Mary for her extravagance.

Mary runs to Jesus (1) with her tears and sorrows and (2) with her fears and doubts and (3) with her forlornness and says, “Can You not give me something to believe, too?”

Jesus says, “Where have you laid him?”

Then we read the shortest verse in the English Bible, “Jesus wept!”

Those words are enigmatic, aren’t they? More powerful words for “to weep” are “to sob.” or “to cry”. Let’s use “cry.” So, why did Jesus cry?

I think there are four reasons why Jesus cried.

First, Jesus cried because He is human. The story of Jesus is that God became human flesh in order to know (1) our weaknesses, (2) our griefs, (3) our fears, (4) our pains, (5) our longings, and (6) our doubts, but without sin, and, without sin, to die for our sins on the Cross. Jesus says, “All you who are weary and broken and sin-stricken and lost, you can come to Me. I will give you rest! I too cry!”

Second, Jesus cried because it is so hard for us to believe. Unbelief comes easy for us! In the story we read, “But some of them said, ‘Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’” And, even after Jesus raised Lazarus, we are told that some did not believe. Instead, they went to the chief priests and Pharisees and conspired to kill Him.

Third, Jesus cried for Lazarus. Think about it! Lazarus is a man who was restored to life in order to die a second time.! Lazarus had a four day, all expenses paid (including roundtrip airfare) VACATION, not to ClubMed in the Bahamas, but to Heaven where there is a Tree of Life. There are also golden street on which to walk. Then Lazarus had to go back. He had to go home to our world of sins and sorrows and die a second time!

Fourth, Jesus cried for us. Yes! Jesus cried for you and me! The tragic events in Winder, Georgia, remind us that life is uncertain, that we are caught in nets and traps of sudden tragedy, and that death is always stalking us.

However, if you will have it, in your uncertainties and dilemmas, the mercy of Jesus is offered to you: (1) His compassion and comfort, (2) His forgiveness and acceptance, and (3) His salvation and the certainty of salvation are offered, if you will receive them.

You see, the words of this story “are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

You see, these words are written so that you may know in “whom [you] have believed, and [are] persuaded that He is able to keep that which [you] have committed unto Him against that day.”

One final thing, and I’m through. Listen carefully! I began with these words from the Old Testament: “People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a trap, people are caught by sudden tragedy.” I end with these words of Jesus from John 14: “Let not your heart be troubled: you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. . . . [For you see,] I am the way, the truth, and the life: no one comes to the Father, but by Me.”

Will you join your voice with the songwriter and sing with him?

I've anchored my soul in the haven of rest,
I'll sail the wide seas no more;
The tempest may sweep o'er the wild stormy deep,
In Jesus I'm safe evermore.

If you have not received Jesus as your Savior, what keeps you from Him?