INTRODUCTORY NOTE
The following list of quotes is in response to an
incident that occurred earlier this year* in which a Christian friend of mine
was told by a pastor of a local church that Dr. Peter Ruckman was in support
of his church’s stand on the power and authority of a pastor in the local
church as being “just as” our Lord Jesus Christ’s Power and
Authority over the entire church. *(1997)
My friend knew that I have read most of brother
Ruckman’s books and so he asked me what I thought about this matter. I informed
him that based on my knowledge of brother Ruckman’s books and tapes I did not
believe that he would support such a statement but that I would review some of
brother Ruckman’s books to see what he had to say about this subject.
I want to make one thing clear before I go any
further into this inquiry. My final authority in all matters of faith and
practice is the King James Bible (AV). I believe in my heart that God’s word,
the Scriptures, should be the final and absolute authority for all born again
Christians. In this treatise I do not appeal to Brother Peter Ruckman as an
“authority”, although he was being referred to as an “authority” in support
of a belief held by the pastor of the local church. I am simply
providing for the reader direct quotations from brother Ruckman’s books to
demonstrate what brother Peter Ruckman truly believes about this matter.
I have divided this inquiry into 5 Headings:
1. Peter
Ruckman’s quotes on Christ’s Headship in the church.
2. Peter
Ruckman’s quotes on a Pastor’s Authority.
3. Peter
Ruckman’s quotes on Apostasy in the church.
4. Peter
Ruckman’s quotes on Heresy and Heretics.
5. Peter
Ruckman’s quotes on Related Subjects.
Again let me reiterate. This is not an appeal to
brother Ruckman to settle a doctrinal dispute. A claim was made that Dr. Peter
Ruckman was in support of a belief held by this pastor and some
Christian brethren on this island. The purpose of this treatise is to let the
reader see for himself what brother Ruckman truly believes by reading his words
from his books. If anyone knows of any other statements made by brother Ruckman
regarding this matter, pro or con, I will add them on to this list.
Please note: All of the following quotes are cited
verbatim from brother Ruckman’s books without any personal comments.
Sincerely
yours for The Lord Jesus Christ and for the Truth,
George H. Anderson Jr.
(Bold, Italics, & CAPITALS - Dr. Peter Ruckman's. Underlines
are mine.)
BBC - EPHESIANS
Page 203 (Eph 1:1-6)
Now
these "Christians" who are only on earth must be a peculiar breed. We saved Christians
are joined to a Body whose Head is in Heaven. . . .
. . .
BBC - EPHESIANS
Page 223 (Eph
He
is the "Head" of the church and the only "Head"
the church has ever had or ever will have.
There is no "visible head"
to this Body, for you
enter
this Body by the Spirit (Eph 4:4) and are baptized into it by the Spirit (1Cor
the
Head must be a Spiritual Head.
BBC - EPHESIANS
Page 258-259 (Eph
God
has a "family" (Ps 45:9-14), and in that family there is ONE BRIDE
(Eph
BBC - EPHESIANS
Page 320 (Eph
Christ
is the head of the body (
"Christ also loved the
church, and gave himself for it" (vs 25). The
verse settles beyond any question the matter of the local church and the "church, which is his body." To say that Christ died for the local church would be nonsense. The
local church includes unsaved church
members, and the first New Testament
local church had a devil for a treasurer.
. . . . .
BBC - EPHESIANS
Page 324 (Eph
. .
. . . A man and wife are the same flesh and bones even when they are apart; since this
is a mystery, it is a perfect illustration of a Christian
on the planet earth, in the back end of the universe, who
is ONE with the risen Saviour now seated more than 50,000,000 light years above the solar system (see extended comment under 1:20 and 3:18).
BBC - COLOSSIANS Page 496 (
The Christian's
head is in heaven, . . . .
.
BBC - COLOSSIANS Page 589 (
1.
"CHRIST
IS ALL." He is the Body
into which the believer is placed and this body is a new creation
(see Eph
2. "CHRIST
. . . IN ALL." He is the regenerator within the individual believer
who
restores the image which Adam lost when
he sinned. This image is plainly the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and this is
exactly what Paul told us in the
Epistle (
BBC -
HEBREWS Page 16 (Heb 1:4-9)
. .
. . . The anointing on the “head of Aaron” (Ps 133) clearly shows us that our
“HEAD” is the Lord Jesus and that He is in heaven (Col 1:18). We
are the body; He is the HEAD.
The Head should always run the body (1Cor 12).
BBC - HEBREWS
Page 49 (Heb 2:9-13)
. .
. . . But it goes beyond this; we are also, in a sense, His wife. We are the husband’s “bride” (Eph
1.
Christ is the head
of a body that makes up his bride.
BBC - HEBREWS
Page 52 (Heb 2:9-13)
. .
. . . “Our Lord’s work issues in His becoming THE
HEAD of a saved
community.”
BBC - HEBREWS
Page 63 (Heb 3:1-6)
. .
. . .HE WHO FOUNDED THE CHURCH HAS MORE HONOR THAN THE
CHURCH.
BBC - HEBREWS
Page 146 (Heb
The
Christian priesthood (1 peter 2:9) headed up by one permanent High
Priest (Heb 3:1) does not resemble the black-robed Catholic priesthood in
any particular.
BBC
- THE BOOK OF REVELATION Pages. 21 & 22
When Jesus says in Revelation 1:8
that He is the “Almighty,” that means just what it says. If any church makes
one statement contrary to a plain statement in the
word of God, then that statement is no more important than a three-year-old
Eskimo discoursing on nuclear physics. The Lord Jesus Christ is the final authority. He is the Almighty; He is the
beginning and the ending; He is the absolute authority, and where
He speaks “the church” may shut its mouth and act decently.
HOW TO TEACH THE
BIBLE Page 37
3. The mystery of the Body of Christ (Eph.
3, 5). This is a mystery about a Body that is “ESPOUSED” to be married (2 Cor. 11) and yet has already
become “one flesh” with it’s Head
(Eph. 5).
[Brother Ruckman
commenting on the Paulicians] . . . . .
Another name applied to them by the apostate Catholics of their day was “Acephali” (headless), which was the Catholic way of mocking them for
not recognizing Peter and his “vicars” as the visible “HEAD” of the church.
Unlike the Bible-rejecting popes, they
believed what the Apostle Paul said
about the “HEAD” of the church” (Eph 1, Col 1).
. . . .
God will not let any saved sinner (Fundamentalist or Evangelical)
steal His Glory (Isa 48:11), no matter how godly he thinks he is because of his secondary
separation.
RUCKMAN’S QUOTES: ELDER (BISHOP, PASTOR) AUTHORITY
(Bold, Italics, & CAPITALS - Dr. Peter Ruckman's. Underlines
are mine.)
BIBLE
BELIEVER'S COMMENTARY – MATTHEW
BBC - MATTHEW
Pages 400-402 (Mt.
Pgs
401-402: "Minister . . .
servant." The two words can be used almost interchangeably. The first
one is the word for "deacon" (Gk diakanon).
The second is the word for
"slave" (Gk. doulos),
thereby identifying the "chief" or the "great one" as a bond-servant, running barefoot through the dust, to wait on the Master's table. Thus the Christian
concept of a "great one" or a "chief" turns out
to be just the opposite from the one taught by
Pg
402: . . . . . Thus the ministry has become a PROFESSION instead of a CALLING,
and the ministers compete for success
instead of obeying to be faithful, and the successful are considered RIGHT and the failures are
considered WRONG. Any method is resorted to, in the name of Christ, right or wrong. in order to be "somebody" and put your name on the map.
Shades of
A minister,
then, is a "servant," (See
Romans 16:1, 1Peter 5:1.) As an ordained elder, he is admonished to be an EXAMPLE,
and a "feeder of the flock"
and an "overseer" of a
flock; but never a "dominator,"
exercising "dominion"
)Latin: Domini, Dominus - God!)
Pg
401 . . . . . "Dominion and authority" is characteristic of
BIBLE
BELIEVER'S COMMENTARY - BOOK OF ACTS
BBC - ACTS
Pages 218-219 (Acts 6:1-4)
Pg
218: The pastors of the first church - 12 pastors! (vs 2) - are relieved of all
hindrances and encumbrances which might "entangle them" with the
world (1Tim 2:4) so they can labor in "word and doctrine" 1Tim
Pg
219: . . . . . . You will notice that the authority delegated to the
"eleven" (Matt 28:18-20) was SPIRITUAL authority,
".
. . the MINISTRY OF THE WORD" (vs 4), is the ministry that Paul
is engaged in all of his life,
BBC - ACTS Pages 221-222 (Acts 6:5-8)
Pg
221: In the first business transaction conducted by the local church that deals
with money matters the "WHOLE
multitude" (vs 5) is consulted. This sets the precedence for a local church
and shows that although the pastor and deacons may exercise
spiritual authority, it is the
congregation who decides the issues, and they "vote" the deacons in "and THEY chose ... they
set before the apostles" (vss 5,6).
BBC - ACTS
Pages 221-222 (Acts 6:5-8)
Pgs
221-222: Now, anyone familiar with the operation of the average Baptist church
knows exactly what is involved in a church "vote" at a "business
meeting," and for this reason most
of the larger churches in America are run by one man who hires
and fires, selects teachers, appoints deacons, buys and
sells, teaches and preaches,
and decides nearly all the issues for the congregation without
consulting them first about anything. In religion (as in politics) it has
been found out long ago that the
way to get a job done efficiently is by centralized
control.
Adolph did more to prosper
Pg
222: The cost for true local church practice "according to
the New Testament," is exposing the congregation to the wolves and
peacocks of Acts 20: 29, 30; spending hours on your knees praying that
the "politickers" in the congregation will hang themselves if they
have enough rope; that the Associational "Missionary"
will not be able to bribe your deacons into getting the Sunday School
literature of the NCCC; that Mrs. So-and-So will not be able to raise a
majority of her kinfolk to oust you
because you hurt her feelings when you moved the piano (see Prov 18:19 and
comments!); and that the two families who are trying to get control of the finance
committee will have their hands so full with "in-law problems" and
job problems they won't have time to steal the ballots or bring people to the business meeting who haven't been
to church since Columbus discovered America. (Oh, yes! there is more going on
in this country than bus ministries with 4000
in attendance!).
BBC - ACTS
Pages 420-421 (Acts 15: 6-12)
Pg
420: Now we attend the second real "business meeting"
of the church. The Holy Spirit is careful to avoid using the word
"council" when describing this meeting.
Furthermore the church business here is doctrinal business (unlike Acts 6:1-5), and the purpose of
it is to determine New Testament doctrine while the Pauline Epistles are being written. . . . . .
Pgs
420-421: ". . . and when there had
been MUCH DISPUTING" (VS 7) Sounds like a good old Wednesday night
business meeting, doesn't it? . . . . . Every
local church that ever got "tore up" or "unhinged" was torn
up and unhinged in a business meeting. I do not know of one exception to the
rule in 24 years of the ministry.
The only way this can be avoided is for the pastor to control the
meeting, the Sunday School, the Treasury, the board of Deacons, the teachers,
the bulletin, the church secretary,
the flower committee, the janitor's closet, the parking lot, the pulpit, the
nursery, and the principal. (Oh, I almost forgot the choir!) Where there is
real "liberty" in a local church there is always
room for catastrophe, and there are always full-time "church
operators" who think the highest calling on this earth for a Christian is to run other people's
affairs. They all follow the same pattern; they all like to hold the
reigns that control the horse, but none of them like to be seen sitting on the "buckboard" when the
wagon gets stuck. When this happens it is always the pastor's
fault! And the pastor - nine times out of ten - hasn't had the reigns in his hands twice since the last time a
wheel broke down. This kind of thing goes on day and night in more than 200
churches per state in
BBC - ACTS
Page 434 (Acts
The
apostles (vs 23) are obviously the first class that needs to be mentioned. "The elders" (vs 1) are
obviously the next class that needs to be mentioned, since many of them were NOT "apostles." The "brethren" (vs 1) are
obviously the third class, as many of them were neither "apostles" nor "elders."
The stupid conjecture that the
"brethren" must be synonymous with the "elders" (on the
basis of the Alexandrian and Western manuscripts) is just about as blind an exposition as you could attempt. The Holy Bible
told you that it was "THE WHOLE
CHURCH" (VS 22) that decided the matter: not the
"elderly brethren." or "the
elders who were brethren." The "whole church" was NOT the
"elders" or the "apostles," or the "elders and the
apostles:" it was "THE
BRETHREN."
BBC -
ACTS Pages 584-602 (Acts
pg
597 "TAKE HEED therefore ... to all
the FLOCK" (VS 28)!!
"The flock," these days, is usually
a ZOO. And if you are going to pastor the flock, you had better get
prepared to either love them and give them their liberty
in Christ, or else avoid
them and dictate terms of unconditional surrender to them;
for as surely as Business Meetings tear up churches, there isn't one big church
in the United States where the members
make the decisions. And if you are a "decision-making-member"
you had better abandon all hope of ever getting credit for "building a great work," for no first-rate pastor is going to tolerate your audacity
and individuality for one minute: he is going to give you the boot!
BBC - ACTS
Pages 588 (Acts
pg.
588: . . . . . You don't follow Paul (1Cor 11:1) unless
you sit down with people in their homes and deal
with them from an open Bible about their spiritual,
economic, domestic, religious, and
mental problems; and if you think the Pauline epistles don't deal with those problems you've never read the Pauline
epistles.
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 56 (1Tim 3:1-7)
The
passage deals with the qualifications of a "bishop,"
called an overseer in Acts
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 66 (1Tim 3:8-13)
The
pastor is to be a "steward" of these mysteries (1Cor 4:1-2), and pass
them on to others (2Tim 2:2).
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 68 (1Tim 3:8-13)
The "good degree" is a high
standing in the sight of the congregation, but this high standing is a
SPIRITUAL high standing (as in the case of the elder who rules "well"(see
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 92 (1Tim
"Meditate upon these things..." (vs
15): the GIFT,
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 93 (1Tim
'... that thy profiting may appear to
all" (vs 15). Results and success are never to be the aims of the ministry, for all ministers
will be tried for the QUALITY of
their work (1Cor
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 108 (1Tim
Five
things are now said about the ordained “elder” (not just an older man as in verse 1) who functions
in the church as a leader or overseer.
1.
If he rules WELL, he deserves twice the
honor a man should ordinarily get.
2.
This is especially true in a case where
his labor is in THE WORD and doctrine.
3.
You are to pay him for his work and labor
(see 1 Cor 9:1-12).
4.
You are to rebuke him (or his
adversaries) OPENLY when sin is apparent.
5.
You are not to believe any rumors about
him unless two or more witnesses testify, and they have to confront him when
they testify (see Matt
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 109-110 (1Tim
What
does it mean for an elder to “RULE
WELL”?
1.
He is to volunteer for the office of Bishop or Pastor (1 Tim 3:1).
2.
His primary job is to FEED THE SHEEP (John
3.
He is to be an example to the flock: “Follow me. If I do it, you do it.”
4.
His motive
for service is not to be the big paycheck (1 Peter 5:1-4).
5.
He is to nurse some sheep, father some
sheep, and BEAT some sheep (1 Thess
6.
He
is to kick some of the sheep out of the flock (1 Cor
7.
He is to pay his bills (1 Tim 3:7) and
maintain the respect of the lost (not their LOVE: their respect).
8.
He is to declare ALL of the counsel of
God (Acts
9.
He is to study and meditate in the Book
day and night (Ps 1; 2 Tim
10.
He is to follow the instructions given in
1 Tim 5:21-22,
11.
He is to preach AGAINST people as well as
things (1 Tim 6:3-5, 17, and 20-21; 2 Tim
12.
He is to preserve the MYSTERIES in the
faith (see comments under 1 Tim
13.
He is to follow the instructions of 1
Thess 5:12-22 and Rom 12:7-21.
Now THAT is a good
“ruler.” The rule is “over” other Christians in the Lord (Heb
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 111 (1Tim
The
young pastor is to rebuke an elder if the two or three witnesses confront him
in the pastor’s presence and he confesses guilt. Further, the pastor must rebuke the witnesses if they turn out to be false. “OPENLY”
means publicly, to the congregation.
BBC – 1 TIMOTHY
Page 114 (1Tim
“Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be
partaker of other men’s sins…” (vs 22). The two things come together by
association, for if you ordain a novice
hastily (see 3:6 and remarks), you are indirectly responsible for his sins when
he “blows it.”
BBC – TITUS
Page 353 (Titus 2:1-6)
The
WORD OF GOD IS “BLASPHEMED” WHEN:
1.A man preaches what he does not practice or teaches what he does not
practice (Rom
2.
A servant refuses to obey his master with
the right spirit (1Tim 6:1-4).
3.
A Christian woman argues and fights with
her husband (text, and Titus 2:5).
BBC – HEBREWS
Pages 218-219 (Heb
Now
a “pastor” should have a natural love for people as PEOPLE, as well as individuals.
. . . . . It
is a great blessing every time I mount the pulpit to preach, because I am never
prejudiced in favor of anyone. What you
know about the individual lives of
the members of your congre-gation will not affect and
twist your message because IT IS OF NO IMPORTANCE TO YOU.
How
is that for a blessing? I can be with Christians (say four or five hundred of
them) and know all kinds of things about them that are just terrible and still
love them in the Lord and overlook
their failures . . . . .
BBC – HEBREWS
Page 240 (Heb 11: 1-7)
There
has to be a time in your life when you learn to live the life of faith,
learn to trust God, and learn to act on faith.
BBC – HEBREWS
Page 241 (Heb 11: 1-7)
Now,
here is where the matter of FAITH pops up. When a young man answers the call to
the pastorate, he is supposed to have been exercised in the life
of faith. “No pew can get
any higher than the pulpit.” If the preacher hasn’t ever lived by faith, who in
the congregation is going to learn anything about it?
BBC – HEBREWS
Page 261 (Heb
Faith
that is not tried is not real
faith.
BBC – HEBREWS
Page 346-347 (Heb 13: 7-9)
“Remember them which have the rule over
you…” (vs 7). It is plainly a spiritual
rule that he is talking about, exactly as Paul worded in 1 Timothy 5:17
(“let
the elders that rule well…”) and 1 Timothy 3:4 (one that ruleth his own house…”).
. .
. . . “whose faith follow, considering
the end of their conversation” (vs 7). The “ruler” here is plainly
a spiritual ruler . . . . .
HOW TO TEACH THE
BIBLE Page 5
If
you sit in judgement on the Book, then YOU are the final judge. You are superior to the Book, and that
is the message you will convey to every young man who sits in front of you. You will, consciously or unconsciously,
take the Holy Spirit’s place in the Trinity and cause every man-following man
in that room to follow YOU
instead of GOD ALMIGHTY.
HOW TO TEACH THE
BIBLE Page 8
. .
. . . When you are completely dedicated to establishing your authority at the expense of God’s word, you can never see the verses that are AIMED AT YOUR SINS.
HOW TO TEACH THE
BIBLE Page 47
This
means that the first fundamental of all
fundamentals, taking precedence over EVERY so called “essential doctrine”
or “essential fundamental,” is “Who gets
to run whom?
HOW TO TEACH THE
BIBLE Page 69
. .
. . . A Bible teacher who cannot defend his position or destroy a false
position with scripture is not in the action; he has deserted. He is not “a good
soldier of Jesus Christ”; he is
a coward. If a “Bible teacher” cannot speak according
to the scriptures (Isa.
HOW TO TEACH THE
BIBLE Page 83
Show
the Bible student what the Book says about soul winning, prayer, assembling
together, forgiveness of sins, self-judgement, devotions, personal work, witnessing, charity, giving, praising God,
and clean living. But never make the mistake of thinking that when teaching
these things you are teaching the
Bible: the Bible is a BOOK, not a
series of things taken out of a BOOK. You
can use scripture, and you should use it in abundance in dealing with all of
the human and practical problems
that will come up in life and in the ministry; but this is not teaching the BIBLE. This is USING
the Bible to teach something. Do you
get the difference?
HOW TO TEACH THE
BIBLE Page 86
A
real BIBLE TEACHER will not hesitate to correct every one of them (plus the men who taught them) with THE BOOK. Where the Bible corrects them, he will follow it instead of them. The real Bible
teacher can never be a follower of any man or group of MEN
(note how that last definition condemns the educational institutions who condemn others for “following a man”). No man or
group of men are
the final
authority for
ANYTHING. The Holy
Bible is the final authority.
(Quote from Knights of
Columbus literature) . . . . . One can almost see the “Knights of Columbus”
penning, “Jesus delivered power to His
one TRUE CHURCH, which is the
CATHOLIC CHURCH; therefore, the rulers of the Church HAVE THE
AUTHORITY OF CHRIST HIMSELF, AND HAVE POWER TO . . . . . “
(Bold, Italics, & CAPITALS - Dr. Peter Ruckman's. Underlines
are mine.)
BBC - ACTS
Page 418 (Acts 15:1-5)
". . . certain of the SECT of the Pharisees which BELIEVED
. . ."(vs 5).
The
last two words are ominous for it shows that a born-again believer
can take part in sectarian views which are typical
of "Cults" - not "Denominations."
BBC - ACTS
Page 626 (Acts
The
persecuting spirit is seen
demonstrated in this chapter. It is a formal
spirit (vs 30) that centers around physical objects; it is an ignorant spirit (vs 34) that comes from emotional feelings instead of
investigation; it is a perverse
spirit (vs 29) that refuses to accept a fact when presented; it is an unreasonable spirit (vs 31, 36)
demanding death for a man of different religious beliefs, and it is an intolerant spirit (vs 28) that
will not stand for any opinion but its own.
BBC - COLOSSIANS Page 542-343 (
"The tradition of men" is to reject the truth, alter the truth, camouflage the truth, hide the truth, imitate the truth, slander the truth, resent the truth, disobey the truth, and get rid of
the truth (Matt 15:2,3).
"The tradition of men" (Mark
7:3,5,8,9,13) is to make it a practice of adjusting any truth which is
detrimental to their own self interests to a place where it is profitable and expedient to their own
self interests.
BBC - COLOSSIANS Page 633 (
We
have known modern Christians in this century (who were "Fundamental,
Pre-millennial, etc.") who professed to believe in the Absolute Authority
of the Bible and then stated their personal
opinions as Divine Fiats of God's decrees. Every one of them
rejected the AV as an "Infallible Authority." Every one of them worshipped his WORK instead of his Saviour,
and every one of them feared and hated real Bible believers.
BBC -
COLOSSIANS Page 634 (
. .
. . . However, to all practical purposes,
the modern Demas approaches "the ministry" in this same fashion.
He is only using the Bible as a TOOL to present an earthly,
literal, visible "testimony." He doesn't believe it any more than
some of you do; he only finds it "expedient" to use it and profitable
to profess faith in it. This is the
opportunist of 2Tim
B.
THE MARK OF A LAODICEAN APOSTATE:
1.
He
is proud.
2.
He
knows nothing.
3.
He
is hung up on questions and strifes.
4.
He
is motivated by envy.
5.
He
has a corrupt mind.
6.
He
is destitute of the truth.
7.
He
mistakes GAIN for godliness.
BBC – 2 TIMOTHY
Page 288 (2Tim 4:1-5)
The passage is a reference to apostasy WITHIN
the body of Jesus Christ.
BBC – 2 TIMOTHY
Page 289 (2Tim 4:1-5)
The modern apostasy is within the
Body of Christ.. . . . .Apostasy is not an “instant” product. It doesn’t
“pop up.” It has grounds, roots, seeds, sprouts, shoots, branches, and trunks in every decade, and in
every decade it begins exactly the same way – at least in the
BBC – TITUS
Page 337 (Titus
The
word “SUBVERT” contains the method
(and result) used to “overthrow” or “ruin” or “upset”, but the modern revisers,
having had no experience at all in the practical,
Biblical, soul winning aspects of the ministry, simply cannot grasp what the
word means. The same word will be found in the same epistle in Titus 3:11, with exactly the same meaning. “SUB” is to
go under (submarine, subway, subliminal level, etc.), To “subvert” them
is to put them under you, down under your feet, where you can control
them by standing on their necks . . . .
.
BBC – TITUS
Page 337 (Titus 3:1-7)
. .
. . .In the Laodicean vocabulary, TRUTH is
evil-speaking.
The
fact that any 14 year old child at the Bible Baptist Church in Pensacola,
Florida, is familiar with these Biblical truths while the faculty at Bob Jones University
couldn’t find any one of them is only one more Laodicean testimony to the
fact that the present apostasy, which began in 1880, has nothing to do with Liberals or Neo-Evangelicals – it is in the Body of Christ.
BBC – HEBREWS
Page 250 (Heb 11: 7-13)
. .
. . . That is how all apostasy starts: you profess
what you do not really believe.
BBC – HEBREWS
Page 265 (Heb
. .
. . . All apostasy begins in Christian colleges and universities; it always has, and it always will.
BBC
- THE BOOK OF REVELATION pgs. 16 &
17
. . . . . The Jehovah Witness teach
that you are going to reign on earth with Christ, and not reign in heaven. And
that is true, but it is only a partial truth; and a partial truth is the biggest lie
that hell ever hatched.
BBC
- THE BOOK OF REVELATION pgs. 38 &
39
"The word 'Nicolaitane' is a Greek
word that has not been translated. For example, the Greek word '
'Nicolaitines'
is not a translation, but a transliteration.
To understand the word, you almost have to get a concordance and run down the
Greek. (I very seldom refer to the
Greek, if ever. It has been used time and time again to prove a lie, so I stick
to the English which sticks to the truth. I only use the Greek to back up what the English says. Greek scholars use
the Greek to prove that they are right, no matter what the English says).
Nicolaitines
- 'Nikao' means to conquer. '
In
the word of God, every Christian is
in the Body of Christ; every Christian is anointed.
God is no respecter of persons, and the only difference between 'clergy' and 'laity', in the word of God, is
that the ordinary, common, everyday Christian has not, perhaps been set apart
for the full-time official position in the Body
of Christ, as a leader. However, every Christian in the Body of
Christ has been called to preach, called to witness, and called to work for the
Lord Jesus Christ. God knows
nothing about a 'ruling class' of people who rule the 'common people'. The only
power that a bishop, or an elder, or a deacon has in the New Testament to rule is spiritual power.
This
word 'Nicolaitines' doesn't mean to
rule spiritually, it means to conquer. You
are not supposed to conquer the common people, and get the upper hand, and 'lord it over them' (I Pet. 5:1-4). You
are supposed to lead them, guide them, and direct them. Your spiritual power as a bishop, deacon,
elder or minister is spiritual only. The
'doctrine of the Nicolaitines', then, is the doctrine that a certain class of
Christians should conquer
another class of Christians. It is a doctrine
which God hates (see the text)."
Rev. 2:6 "But this thou hast,
that thou hatest the deeds of
the Nicolaitines, which I
also hate."
Rev. 2:15 "So hast thou also
them that hold the doctrine
of the Nicolaitines, which
thing I hate."
THE SURE WORD OF
PROPHECY Pages 190-192
The
development of this hybrid monstrosity begins with the old issue which is
behind every issue on earth – who gets to run it?
The
actual apostasy leading to the predominance of
This
gradual deification of the clergy over the laity
is called the “doctrine of the Nicolaitines,” in Rev 2; it means the doctrine
of going back under the Old Testament
and stealing the Jewish theocracy, with its priesthood, then misapplying
it to the church. This develops two kinds of people – Clergy and Laity – with the Clergy ruling
over the Laity.
THE SURE WORD OF
PROPHECY Pages 208-209
Looking
at the problems from Lucifer’s point-of-view, the weakest point in man’s
defense against delusion lies in man’s innate and inherent desire to “ascend up
to heaven” and be like God (see Gen 3 and Isa 14).
2. Teaching, which may stand for “Education.”
3.
Culture, which means the introduction
of science, philosophy and tradition (
1Tim
4. Apostasy,
which includes ecumenical overtures (compromise) with pagan religious
systems or unsaved people.
5. Paganism,
which means the original condition the populace was in before they were
“evangelized (Point 1).
These five steps will
be found in a reoccurring cycle throughout the entire history of the church,
and they may match another format which runs as follows:
1. A Man, this involves the preaching and
evangelization.
2. A Movement, this involves the setting up
of teaching facilities and institutions.
3. A Machine, this involves regimentation
and patterning the system after the world’s
system of education (colleges and
universities).
4. A Monument, this means the Holy Spirit
has departed, abandoning the institution to
paganism: discipline and academic standards
are substituted for the liberty and power
of the Holy Spirit.
5. Materialism, there
is no shred of the movement left.
. . . . . Dual authorities which conflict lead
to apostasy.
"The
political unity of an ecclesiastical
dictatorship was never in the mind of God when speaking of
"unity" (I Peter 5: 1-5, Gal. 6: 1)."
Now the standard way to obliterate truth,
or cover it up, practiced by all educated people (lawyers, scholars, teachers,
scientists, sociologists, doctors, and writers) is to raise up more than one
conflicting authority so that neither authority can posit a clear-cut judgement: confuse
the issue.
THE HISTORY OF THE NEW
. . . . . Fundamentalism in itself, without belief in and reliance on the BOOK, is
a dead duck.
THE HISTORY OF THE NEW
. . . . . One step beyond a BIBLICAL
education lands the Bible believer in the lap of the Alexandrian Cult (Chapter 5,
CULT from “Culture”) and once this step is
taken the toboggan is faced down hill with a full load. Evangelism and knowledge of
the Bible are the limits of a Christian education within the covers of the Book itself. Any additional material must be in subjection to its words
or it will eventually replace those words: that is the desperate and tragic
lesson that history demonstrates
over ten thousand times in every century without one variation.
. . . . . “Historic
positions” are often alibis used to overthrow the authority of God Almighty.
. .
. . . Apostate Christians have always
been anxious to defend PROFESSIONAL LIARS.
.
. . . . These educated fakirs have always assumed that “corruption” is limited
to beer, whiskey, cigarettes, short skirts, Neoorthodoxy
or “Neoevangelicalism”.” Nothing could be more
naïve or more tragic.
RUCKMAN’S
QUOTE’S: HERESY AND HERETICS
(Bold, Italics, & CAPITALS - Dr. Peter Ruckman's. Underlines
are mine.)
BBC - ACTS
Page 669 (Acts 24: 10-21)
.
. . . . You see the apostates are quite willing to call something "damnable" (2Pet 2:1) a
"heresy" but are not willing to admit that Pauline Biblical Christianity
(Acts 24:14,15) is looked upon as a "heresy"
by others! But it IS, friend, and you cannot reserve the right to call
false teachers and prophets of 2Pet 2:1
"heretics" and escape the charge yourself
if you are a Bible Believer.
.
. . . . Furthermore, you can always spot a real
heretic for a real heretic
has to use coercion, litigation, slander, political
power, force, violence, or persecution
to obtain his objectives. Truth can
stand on its own feet: Heresy
always needs a fleshy or worldly prop to keep it from falling.
BBC - GALATIANS Page 160 (Gal
An
"infidel" and a "heretic" are two different birds. An
infidel does not believe revealed truth. A heretic accepts revealed
truth and then alters it and twists it to serve his own ends. . . . .
BBC – TITUS
Page 385 (Titus 3:8-11)
. .
. . .A real heretic would teach a way called “heresy” (Acts 24:14), not just be a “division” or “factious”
or “divisive.” Observe how the original English preserves the meaning of
both words so that it is apparent that real Bible believers will be called
“HERETICS” by heretics.
BBC – TITUS
Page 386 (Titus 3:8-11)
. .
. . .A heresy is a FALSE TEACHING, and the heretic is a FALSE TEACHER.
BBC – TITUS
Page 387 (Titus 3:8-11)
Heretics
are “subverted” (vs 11), being
“put under” (see
The
heretic knows something about himself
that the Bible believer may not know. He knows that he has already examined the
truth (and the evidence for the truth)
and rejected it for CARNAL reasons: fleshly advantage of some kind. This
is why he will not be reformed no matter how much evidence is presented.
. . . . .but the real heretic is
not to be reformed by anyone being nice, giving documented facts, treating him
with consideration, pointing to chapter and verse, dealing with him courteously, or “giving him the benefit of
the doubt.” The real heretic (see the heresies taught and listed above in
every major Christian university,
seminary, and college in
BBC – HEBREWS
Page 189 (Heb
. .
. . . Every scriptural falsehood in this
age is a scriptural truth that has been misplaced.
"Heresy" is a Bible word (AV)
and it is first found in connection with Bible-believing Christians (Acts
24:14). The idea behind "heresy"
is that someone who professes to
believe the Bible is using the Bible to prove or teach something
that is not so (I Cor.
.
. . . . “Good men” are often a rotten example for each other.
.
. . . . "There are "heretics" and then there are heretics!"
"..... every dissenting group of people
from 100-1980 A.D. who believed the Bible (and did not knuckle down to the
ecclesiastical powers of their day) were called
"heretics" (Acts 24:14), for after all, that is the New Testament
designation for a real believer."
. . . . . Hypocrites always have good
motives (John
BBC - ACTS
Pages 218-220 (Acts 6:1-4)
Pgs
219-220: ". . . the MINISTRY OF THE WORD" (vs 4) is the
ministry of a living organism (Heb.
BBC - ACTS
Page 442 (Acts
Pg
442: [Some of the holiest, "godliest," cleanest "Spirit-filled"
people you ever met in your life would cut you down with their tongue, behind
your back, until you were almost as
"blameless" and "godly" as they were!]
Pg
442: Every Christian has an Achilles" heel, and if you ever make the
mistake of thinking any "bishop" meets all the requirements of 1
timothy 3:1-9 the Lord will change
your theology before you can take another step down the race track. Where a
church demands a batting average of 1000 from a "bishop" they are usually batting under 300 themselves.
BBC - ACTS
Page 444 (Acts
Pg
444: . . . . . When a ministerial candidate came to one of these churches he
was told that their first requirement for a pastor was not to have fellowship with "so-and-so"! A real scriptural
requirement if you ever heard of it! And the real joker about this class of
"blameless" Christians is they always have the wild idea that they are more spiritual than any group (or man) they find
fault with. It never fails (1Cor 3:3); the group whose motive for serving is envy,
spite, or competition
always presumes that they are "spiritual!"
BBC - ACTS
Page 527 (Acts 1: 7-11)
The
most gifted church (1Cor 12) was also the most CARNAL church, and
although they had "knowledge"
(1Cor 8:1) from nearly two years
of Bible teaching by the greatest Bible teacher who ever lived, they still
moved in an environment quite similar to any large city in America today with a
population over 80,000. In this fleshy atmosphere the carnal qualities rose up
pretty quickly - "strife and division" (1Cor 3:3).
BBC – ACTS
Pages 584-602 (Acts
pg.
586: . . . . . Paul never took his foot off the accelerator when he hit
something like envy, spite, lying, laziness, defrauding, backbiting, gossiping,
stealing, exaggerating, embezzling, and covetousness, where these things
applied to saved Fundamentalists.
BBC – ACTS
Pages 584-602 (Acts
pg.
588: . . . . . You don't follow Paul (1Cor 11:1) unless
you sit down with people in their homes and deal
with them from an open Bible about their spiritual,
economic, domestic, religious, and
mental problems; and if you think the Pauline epistles don't deal with those problems you've never read the Pauline
epistles
pgs
593-594: . . . . . The elder must take heed to himself (vs 28) if we are to
believe 1 Timothy 1-3, and THEN to the flock (1 Tim
1. They never fail to attend regularly - this appears good.
2. They never fail to give regularly - this appears good.
3.
They look upon sins of sex as unpardonable and in a peculiar category that makes
them "very bad" this appears
good.
4. They consider it a "ministry"
to discuss other people's private affairs and politic to
get control over people like themselves.
These
wolves in sheep's clothing (vs 29), like the Asiatic wolf, usually travel in PAIRS. and behind the
innocent smiling mask of the meek and gentile "lambkin"
there runs the slobbering saliva of a ravenous beast between jaw teeth that
would break your arm off if they ever got hold of it. Every church has them. They have no real Bible convictions at all
when pinned right down to the mat. They "like" those who
"like them" and they dislike those who dislike them. (Matt
pg
595: . . . . . Again, all of us have seen these disguised wolves
entering a local church and working their way up into positions of authority
to deliver the work to an
Association, Conference, or a Convention, and sometime they have taken control
of the Trustees and have sold a church to people who have no greater ambition in life than to become famous by
altering the Authorized Version. "Grievous
wolves" can describe a great group of professing Christians who care nothing about the spiritual welfare of the
flock, while professing to be the most concerned about it. But if you are
really concerned about a flock:
1.
You will not overcharge them for your care and maintenance.
2.
You will feed them and never let them go
hungry to make yourself a name.
3.
You will put up with their grumbling and
griping and love them just the same.
4.
You will minister to them and enter into
their sorrows and troubles while sharing
them as your own.
Now, these are the
true tests, and all of this modern garbage about "hurting your
testimony" and "ruining our testimony" and "what will
people think?" comes from
self-righteous sacramentalists
who want to run the show themselves
so they will not have to bear any reproach themselves.
They spend their lives trying to find
fault in the "brethren" so they themselves can get
into the driver's seat. [As one pastor said: "I've got something on
him now!" You do? Well, then God
will have to GET SOMETHING ON YOU!]
.
. . . . If you are such a spiritual giant (or "godly character"),
what are you doing condemning a brother for stumbling where you yourself would
have fallen flat on your face.
pg
596: . . . . . "Also of your own selves shall men arise . . . to draw away disciples after them"
(vs 30). Every pastor is well acquainted with the problem. Trouble not only comes from outside as the
interdenominational Socialists attach themselves to the local church to ruin
it, but also from within where some man feels the need of getting a
following because his own wife doesn't think enough of him to follow him to the
grocery store. Where a woman controls the household and runs the man, the man is almost forced to
run the church in order to prove that he is a man!
At least this is how it works among many of the "dedicated Christians" who have such "sweet
testimonies"!
pg
601: . . . . . You may give without loving
- like the Pharisees of verses 29, 30, who cared nothing for the flock -
but you cannot love without giving.
You
can give without loving. As a matter
of fact. You can preach without
loving, you can win souls without
loving, you can support a work
without loving it, you can build a work without loving it, you can read your Bible without loving it, you
can obey God without loving Him, and
can live a "clean life" because
you don't have the guts to risk a bad reputation. Motive! Motive!
"For man looketh on the outward
appearance, but the LORD looketh on THE HEART"
(1Sam 16:7).
BBC – ACTS
Page 701 (Acts 26: 12-24)
.
. . . . [Truth doesn't need a prop; it stands on its own feet, and it doesn't
have to CENSOR anyone else's material (Jer
BBC - GALATIANS
Page 75 (Gal 3:1-9)
You
cannot do anything with the flesh. You can prime it, pamper it, primp it,
crucify it, cultivate it, educate it, exercise it, and suppress it and it is
still flesh (cf. comments under Phil
3:21 - "vile flesh").
No, the
Christian life is begun by grace through faith when the Holy Spirit enters and
seals the believer (Eph
BBC – GALATIANS
Page 108 (Gal
“. . . for ye are all one IN CHRIST JESUS” (VS
28). Don’t leave out the last three words. The scripture knows of NO unity
outside of the unity of Christians IN
CHRIST (John
BBC - GALATIANS
Page 108 (Gal
Paul
is driving it home with everything he can get his hands on. You are Abraham's
SPIRITUAL SEED, because the "seed" of verse 16 is SPIRITUAL. "In
Christ" believers are One Spirit
(1Cor
BBC - GALATIANS
Page 141 (Gal 5:1-6)
The
Christian should stand and stand fast (vs 1) in the liberty that Christ made
for him (Rom 7:1-3). He is not to go back under the ceremonial observances of
the law, for they have nothing to do
with his justification (vs 4). The legalizers who
count on these things have been knocked from "amazing grace" into a
"floating opportunity"
(as one of the more erudite brothers put it!).
BBC - GALATIANS
Page 145 (Gal 5:1-6)
d.
A believer in Christ can never be "severed" from Christ (Rom
BBC - GALATIANS
Page 154-155 (Gal
What
follows is a study of liberty under grace compared with liberty under the law.
The drift of the passage is apparent in every line. You are free and no longer bound by any formal regulations, but
this doesn't mean you "let down the bars" like Epicurus and the
Hedonists and take up "situation ethics". You are still in the flesh (geographically - see 3:6-10), and
you can make a mess of things (like David and
Now
liberty has laws which accompany it (James 2:8,12). Even though it follows the
law of the Spirit (Rom 8:2) and is free from rules and regulations, it demands certain things of the man who has been
"set free' (Gal 5:1). Free men who abuse the privileges of liberty suffer
for their violations (1Cor
. .
. . . .Christians have been set free (5:1) and saved so they can escape the
bondage of self-righteousness (
. .
. . . . Christians who spend all their time arguing and fighting each other
only destroy their own testimonies (Gen 13:7 and comments).
BBC - GALATIANS
Page 158 (Gal
"Now the works of the flesh are
MANIFEST . . ." (VS 19). That is, there is not a great deal of need
for giving the list because the works of the flesh are pretty apparent to anybody. As a matter of fact, the first four
"works of the flesh" are so manifest that they are fleshly in the
extreme. (The careful reader will preserve
the distinction between WORKS and FRUIT [vs 22]. Many self-righteous
sacramentalists think because they have WORKS as an evidence of faith that they
have saving faith. Saving faith is
connected with FRUIT, and WORKS CAN BE "dead
works" [Heb
BBC - GALATIANS
Page 163 (Gal
"But THE FRUIT of the Spirit . .
." (vs 22), not "the WORKS" of the Spirit, although that is
what one would expect by a comparison with verse 19. Here the Lord is showing the Christian another
difference between the old and new nature. You worked for Hell before you were
saved (Rom
BBC - GALATIANS
Page 165 (Gal
". . .love, joy, peace . . ." (vs
22). The Holy Spirit in the believer causes him to love God (Ex
BBC – GALATIANS
Page 171 (Gal
"Let us not be desirous of vain glory
. . ." (vs 26). The verse needs no exposition. It is aimed at
Christians like those in the Corinthian church (1Cor 1-3), and it cautions them against being proud,
puffed up, and opinionated. Envy and strife are "out" for the
believer. . .
BBC – EPHESIANS
Page 266 (Eph 4:1-6)
. .
. . . Every descriptive word in the passage is talking about the Christian’s
dealing with his fellow Christian (cf.
BBC – EPHESIANS
Page 292-293 (Eph
. .
. . . Christians are very unkind to one another; they are not in the least
“tenderhearted” in the middle of church splits, doctrinal controversies, and
“business meetings.” The ones who talk
the most about “courtesy, love, politeness, and soft words” are usually the
most vicious and venomous in an out-and-out “showdown.”
. .
. . . These Christian-nurtured, Christian-raised, Christian-trained
“Christians” are often the most vicious foes of Biblical preaching that one can
imagine. They hold grudges for decades
and even pass them on to their children.
4. “A shew of wisdom in will worship” (vs
23). The ascetic appears to be a “man of God,” but he has simply exerted his
willpower over the flesh and is maintaining
his “seperation” by WILLPOWER, not by the power of
the Holy Spirit (see Gal
BIBLE BELIEVERS
COMMENTARY – PHILIPPIANS
BBC - PHILIPPIANS Page 388 (Phil 2:1-4)
"Let nothing be done through strife or
vain glory . . ." (vs 3). Nothing is to be done to strut the flesh,
display the intellect, obtain coveted articles, get the preeminent place, promote self, or split the church into
factions (Eph 4:2, Rom 12:10).
BBC - COLOSSIANS Page 487 (
Servetus was burned at the stake for the
truth, and dead-orthodox apostates today (exactly as their Roman counterparts)
would burn any real Bible believer for the truth
if they thought they could get away with it.
BIBLE BELIEVERS
COMMENTARY – HEBREWS
BBC –
HEBREWS Page 113 (Heb
The
heart is established by GRACE, not meats (Heb 13:9). If you don’t have grace then I don’t care how much Bible
you know or what you can handle, “it ain’t going
to do you no good, no way, anyway.” I mean the brethren forget that.
BBC – HEBREWS
Page 354 (Heb 13: 7-9)
. .
. . . Knowledge of the Bible is not a substitute for knowledge of the Lord
Jesus Christ, even though knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ depends to a large
extent on knowledge of the Bible.
THE SURE WORD OF
PROPHECY Page 162
.
. . . . The “Father’s will” has nothing in
common with a bunch of self-righteous, Bible denying smart alecks trying to
atone for their pride by doing “good deeds”
for mankind. These little “do-gooders” do good deeds for various reasons, but
all have one thing in common: none operate according to the MOTIVE or MANNER which God Himself prescribed. Some
do the deeds because they make themselves feel good by doing them. Some do them
because they have found “it pays to be
good.” Some do them because they are afraid they will go to Hell if they don’t.
Some do them to salve their conscience for misdeeds done to mankind. Some do them to atone for bad deeds
done 20 years earlier, and some do good so people will think that they are good
people. But all these motives are “Self”
motives, and have nothing to do with a regenerated nature, doing from the heart the things that please God, so that HE might be
glorified (
THE SURE WORD OF
PROPHECY Page 169
. .
. . . the popular Messiah goes about in the ordinary dress of His day and time,
criticizing the “covenant children” and
low-rating the religious councils! (Matt
23, John 9, Mark 13:9).
. . . . . Satan will
forgive a Christian anything as long as he will conform to the world system
(John
. . . . . Humanism is deceptive
(Matt
. . . . . A religious
zealot will kill to propagate his religion (Vol. I, pp. 440-404).
If after reading all of these quotes a
believer still thinks [or “believes”] that brother Peter Ruckman supports: "that the one and only head and shepherd of the local church is the
God-called and Spirit-filled pastor,
just
as Jesus Christ is the Head and Chief Shepherd over the entire
church;" I am afraid that there is nothing that I
can do for him.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
Sincerely yours for The Lord Jesus Christ and
His Truth,
George H. Anderson Jr.