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we are the branches. Apart from Him we can do nothing, but attached to Him we can and will bring forth much fruit. You must obey God in all things, including loving Him with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. You must love your wife or submit to your husband or train children in godly living. You must rejoice with those who rejoice and weep for those who weep. You must, but you cannot. You cannot love God and your fellow man or carry out any other command from God. You consequently thirst for righteousness, being like a tree planted by a stream of water that yields its fruit in its season. Abide in Jesus by faith. This is your only hope.

      We attack our neo-pagan world by first and foremost holding onto the sovereignty of God and our identity in Jesus. Thus you should never be given to despair, anxiety, or hopelessness about the world or the state of the church. We must begin here. Change your thinking Christian, and let it grip you. Let it take possession of your heart.

      What We Learned from Harvard’s Fall

      Be on guard . . . to shepherd the church of God . . . after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

      Acts 20:28–29

      And finally—as so often happens in churches, schools, business, and families—a change in mood, that gives way to a change in methods, that gives way to a change in morals, eventually gives way to a change in message. In other words, a change in morality always dictates a change in theology in order to justify behavior. By 1800 Harvard was struggling to maintain the old Puritan, Calvinistic theology. Then President Joseph Willard died in 1803. The very next year, the Chair of the Hollis School of Divinity, David Tappan, someone who was committed to the old theology, also died. In his place the Board of Directors appointed Henry Ware, a Unitarian. The ensuing Unitarianism of Harvard has had a profound and lasting effect on our nation, in ways that most people cannot comprehend. This denial of biblical faith is the genesis of the public school movement of Horace Mann and John Dewey, both of whom were church-going Unitarians.

      These warnings to persevere are why Elders or church officers are so vital to your spiritual life. They are to keep watch over your souls. A revival culture can develop when they point out tendencies toward spiritual declension and warn you of them, calling you to repentance if you succumb to the harlot. The harlot of Revelation is the opposite of the church, the bride of Christ. She seduces believers away from simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ, causing them to find their joy in money, things, hobbies, children, etc. Are you cold in heart? Have you lost your appetite for public and private worship? When is the last time you felt God’s presence powerfully working in you in public and private worship? By the way, this has nothing to do with the form of worship—contemporary, blended, or traditional. Are you moved by the worship of God? Are you careless with your sins? Has your mood, methods, morals, and message changed? Are you like the old Harvard that began so well but has become so debauched? Repent and do the deeds that you did at first or else Christ will come to you and remove your lamp stand (a Christ-centered church and preacher) out of its place. The gospel has left the Middle East, North Africa, and Europe. America is not far behind.

      Pray for your pastor and church officers, that they will take seriously their responsibilities as Christ’s under shepherds, and submit to their loving, humble, and gracious oversight.

      Election

      Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him in love,

      Ephesians 1:4

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