Lester Kamp
The Lord’s people have always been attacked and challenged by those in the world. The undenominational church of the New Testament today continues to be criticized by the denominations of the world. On each occasion when the church is attacked from without, we must be willing and able to defend the “bride of Christ” by using the “sword of the Spirit.” As Jude wrote, we must be willing to “contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered unto the saints” (Jude 3). The soldiers of Christ must be stedfast and unmovable. The attacks from without will do nothing but make the Lord’s people stronger as long as the truth is cherished and defended against these attacks. The greatest danger to the Lord’s church today is the spirit of compromise which seems to be growing in popularity among the ranks of the Lord’s people. Our persevere in the restoration of the New Testament church are not unlike Nehemiah’s efforts to restore the walls of Jerusalem. Several made efforts to stop the rebuilding of the walls. They began by using force; their efforts failed. They then desired Nehemiah to leave the work to meet for discussion. This also failed because Nehemiah saw this invitation as an invitation to compromise. His reply was, “I am doing a great work and I cannot come down.” It is interesting to notice in this regard some words of brother F.G. Allen written in about 1886, which are profoundly important even today. He wrote,
While we remain true to the principles on which we started out, there is no earthly power that can impede our progress. But, the day we leave these walls and go out to take counsel with the world will mark the day of our decline. We have nothing to fear from without. Our only danger is from within. This danger lies in the direction of indifference and compromise. While we are true to God in the maintenance of these principles, the divine blessing will rest upon our work. But, should they ever be surrendered, ruin will as certainly follow as that the Bible is true” (Old Path Pulpit, p. 33).
Certainly it will not benefit the Lord’s church to invite denominational speakers into our classrooms and pulpits. It will bring only catastrophe to the Lord’s church to encourage meetings with these who have set aside the principles of New Testament Christianity in a spirit of compromise for the sake of “friendship.”
We must, as Nehemiah, live by the principle, “We made our prayer unto our God, and set a watch against them day and night.”
