In 1887 Charles Spurgeon published an article entitled; “The Down Grade” in which he was very critical of the liberal wing of his denomination saying that they were on a slippery slope away from sound biblical doctrine. He claimed that biblical infallibility, substitutionary atonement , and the finality of judgment for those who died outside Christ were being abandoned in favour of more socially palatable points of view.
In this Sunday’s biblical text Nehemiah is shocked to discover upon his return to Jerusalem that many of his reforms have been completely undone during his brief absence. The people; being ignorant of the requirements of the law, are engaging in unsanctioned relationships, the enemies of God have infiltrated the highest levels of power, one of them even taking up residence in the temple, and the priesthood has been effectively gutted by a kind of spiritual “business ethic” that has left them robbed of their appointed wages.
How is that we are able to stray so far off the path so quickly?
I hope you will all join me this Sunday morning for a message I have entitled; “Drift.”
We will examine these historical events; the human tendency to fall away from faithfulness toward God, and the current direction of Christianity in the western world.
Pastor Dan
