Great Chicago controversy/Harry Ironside, et al

John 17 says, “In John 17, it says, [1] These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
[2] As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
[3] And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

“Not only did they have the Spirit of God that would give them the capacity to know, they also had the Word of God. And those two things, the Word of God and the Spirit of God are the two means of confirming the children (my little children) in the Little Flock.

“It’s always that way. It’s always the Spirit of God and the Word of God and how those two things work together. What was going to set them apart to be who God had chosen them to be was the Word of God applied, written into their hearts by the Spirit of God.

“These folks had been furnished with the divine equipment that is capable of causing them to know everything they need to know. Just like you and I have all that we need to know to do everything we need to do in the Word of God today, and by faith we can apply that and have the Spirit fill our lives with His Word, we do it through the faith walk and the application of it that way, these people have a direct empowering, but it’s still the Word of God that He puts into their heart.

*****

“The issue of eternal life is what God promised to Abraham and his seed. When an Israeli was born, he was born with that promise. The most basic issue in the promise God gave to Abraham was the issue of eternal life. Everything else was contingent upon them possessing eternal life. For them, eternal life was resurrected life in a kingdom that was going to last forever.

“The Holy Spirit, acting in the Word, through the Word, through the Scripture, and again He just never works apart from His Word. That’s the way He communicates. The truth is abiding in them, and they’re abiding in Him and they don’t need anybody to teach them. Because they’ve already been taught. That’s the issue here.

“When he says, [27] But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him’ . . .

“They’ve already been taught! They’re not dependent on anyone for teaching concerning the fact that Jesus is the Christ. They already know this!

*****

In Matthew 10, He gives them their first great commission. Starting in verse 5: [5] These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
[6] But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
[7] And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[8] Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
[9] Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
[10] Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
[11] And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

“You’re familiar with that passage because we quote it quite often to point out the inconsistency of trying to follow the instruction in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John today. Because the very instructions Christ gave in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John he limited to only Israel. What he taught these men to preach and teach, He told them, ‘Don’t preach it to Gentiles.’ But notice what it is He tells them TO go preach and teach.

Verse 7: [7] And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand.
[8] Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.
[9] Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses,
[10] Nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves: for the workman is worthy of his meat.
[11] And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.

*****

“I’ve never met a preacher in my life trying to follow the Book of Matthew that ever did any of that. I mean, get real! ‘Provide neither gold nor silver or brass for your purses?’ You know better than that. They’re taking up 3-4 offerings at a meeting! Much less the healing and all that kind of stuff.

“ ‘Don’t take script for your journey,’ means don’t take notes, don’t take maps. And then, don’t take two sets of clothes or shoes. Don’t take anything to help you along the way. He’s saying, ‘I’ll just take care of you as you go,’ in other words.

*****

“The passage goes on, ‘[11] And into whatsoever city or town ye shall enter, inquire who in it is worthy; and there abide till ye go thence.’

“It’s a serious thing when those apostles came to town and preached. It was the issue of life or death for a city when they preached in their midst.

“The passage goes on, ‘[15] Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.
[16] Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
[17] But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;
[18] And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles.
[19] But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

“Now, that’s exactly what happens on the day of Pentecost when they speak as the Spirit gives them utterance. They have this anointing, this unction that comes in, that communicates to them, gives them the things to speak and directly empowers them to accomplish those things.

[20] For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
[21] And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
[22] And ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.
[23] But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.’

“That’s just like He says in Matthew 24:13. He that endures to the end of the persecution will be saved. That’s just what we’ve been reading about in I John.

“That verse is important because it tells you that this commission in Matthew 10 starts in Matthew 10 but extends ALL the way to the Second Coming of Christ. This thing is not rescinded.

“And they’re going out with this commission, with this empowering, with this instruction that, ‘Don’t take any thought, or don’t worry about what you’re going to say; don’t take any thought for HOW or WHAT you’re going to speak because it’s going to be given you in that day, ‘in that same hour what ye shall speak spirit of father which speaketh in you.’

“Because they have this anointing that teaches them all things. The words are written in their heart and they will have that spiritual empowerment to speak forth that Word and know exactly what needs to be said in every given situation because these people are all the recipients of that New Covenant provision.

“Now that will explain to you when you come to Matthew 28, the next great commission. The expansion of the Great Commission. Matthew 28:18. Tell me something, when is that verse fulfilled? He has all the rights to all the ruling authority. He’s the rightful king of the universe. Does He exercise it today? It’s fascinating how people claim to follow this passage all the time.

*****

“I was reading a biography written by E. Skyler English of Harry Ironside, the former pastor of Moody Church. Ironside carried on an itinerant teaching ministry all across the nation for many years prior to that. He was quite an influential figure in the ’30s and ’40s in Chicago and in fundamentalism. In fact, he was called ‘The Archbishop of Fundamentalism.’

“I can remember a number of times talking to C.R. Stam about Mr. Ironside. You folks here from the old North Shore church days will remember that Pastor J.C. O’Hare used to really contend with Pastor Ironside about doctrine.

“O’Hare would write these little books with these wonderful titles. He had one called, ‘Much Ado About Something.’ Another one is, ‘An Open Letter to M.R. DeHahn, Harry Ironside and other misinformed Baptist preachers.’ He was very subtle, about like a jackhammer.

“I used to take to Mr. Stam about what went on in the late ’30s and early ’40s, and there was a great recovery of truth. In fact, one of the things O’Hare used to do is take sections of Ironside's commentary on Ephesians 3 and Colossians 1 when Ironside taught very clearly the separate, distinctive ministry of Paul from the 12, and grace from law and the Body of Christ from Israel. He would have taught it just like I would have taught it, or Pastor O’Hare would have taught it or Pastor Stam.

“But he was denying it then and Pastor O’Hare was trying to make the point that, ‘If you just believe what you say in your books and you still sell your books, you would agree with us.’ And there was a great controversy that arose.

“Mr. Stam used to tell me that there was a point in the early ’40s when he and Pastor O’Hare and many others really genuinely believed and thought that all those brothers like Ironside and Gabelein and Pettingill and Halderman and Newell and all those great Bible teachers . . .  Otman and Grey and Barnhouse and all those guys.

‘He said they all understood the distinctiveness of Paul’s ministry from Israel and they thought they were all going to stand for it and that more than any other one person it was Harry Ironside who could have made the day by taking a stand for it, and the others would have felt comfortable following and he refused. Ironside refused by standing up and saying, and he wrote a book about it, ‘Imagine the audacity of these O’Harites! . . .’ You see, they’ve always called you names . . .

(to be continued)