A total of 525 people, many of them pastors and wives, registered for last week’s 94th Annual IFCA International Convention. My wife and I were among those who gathered at the Cincinnati Marriott at RiverCenter and the Northern Kentucky Convention Center in Covington, Ky., as we oversaw the exhibit for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.

The theme for the conference was “Fight the Good Fight: Reclaiming Biblical Fundamentalism.”

Dr. Richard Bargas, who has served as the executive director of IFCA International since 2019, preached a stirring message on the opening night of the conference. Drawing on 2 Cor. 10:1-6, he shared “five traits” of Biblical fundamentalism—as opposed to cultural fundamentalism. Bargas framed his words within the context of the dire circumstances in our culture.

“Our country enjoyed the heritage of our Christian foundations for decades,” he stated. “But not anymore. The enemy of our souls has come out from the shadows. He has become emboldened, and he is basking in the light of our world. I don’t believe it will be long until he begins to fully unleash his power against the church here.”

The message resonated with the audience and set the tone for the entire week.

“I am not exaggerating when I say it,” Bargas told the congregation. “Brothers and sisters, right now we are facing the destruction of our civilization. The current culture we live in has embraced death. It has embraced confusion. It has embraced delusion. And there isn’t any hope in any of these deceptive fortresses. True, Biblical fundamentalism needs to speak the Word of God into this world.”

During a theological question-and-answer panel on Tuesday morning, Dr. Thomas Pittman, a vice president and assistant professor at Shepherds Theological Seminary in Cary, N.C., called the IFCA “the strongest positive face in the fundamentalist movement.”

In the same forum, Bargas listed several hallmarks of the IFCA. Stated as adjectives, they include Biblical, fundamental, dispensational, evangelistic, expositional, cessationist and creationist. “These are very rare to find in any group today,” he said.

Bargas placed the emphasis on the first of those descriptors. “We are Bible men,” he stated. “Our goal is to be faithful. The way we guard against apostasy is teaching the Word of God.” Pittman noted in follow-up: “If you just read the Bible, you end up a dispensationalist.”

Dr. Cory Marsh, professor of New Testament at Southern California Seminary, was the keynote speaker on Tuesday night, taking his message from his new book from SCS Press, A Primer on Biblical Literacy.

Marsh said that Bible literacy must begin in the home and church. As students come to seminary with less Biblical knowledge, the nature of seminary has changed, he explained—and seminaries have been forced to address more basic matters than they did historically.

“To know God is to know God’s Word,” Marsh stated. “If you are literate in the Scriptures, you are literate in God’s revealed will. A Christian’s relationship with God is directly proportionate with their relationship to God’s Word, the Bible.”

Marsh clarified, stating: “We live in a nation that has been shaped by Scripture, but no one really knows the Scriptures. Clearly, something is wrong. We’ve become too familiar with the Bible—without actually knowing the Bible. The Bible has become a familiar relic. Turning Christianity into an industry has made us illiterate of the Scriptures.”

There were 36 exhibitors at the convention, including nine colleges and seminaries, and at least eight missions organizations. In addition to the four nightly general sessions, there were 26 general breakout seminars, six women’s sessions, six strategic planning breakouts, three business meetings and two theological panels. The Steve Pettit Evangelistic Association also presented a bluegrass concert.

Also, during this week, 250 teenagers and sponsors gathered at Appalachian Bible College in Mount Hope, W.Va., for the IFCA National Youth Convention. Dr. Alexander Granados, president of Calvary University in Kansas City, Mo., was their main speaker.

The IFCA presented the 2023 Faithful Servant Award to Dr. Alex Montoya—a highly accomplished Christian educator and the senior pastor of the First Fundamental Bible Church of Whittier, Calif., since 1972.

“I want more people to know about IFCA,” Bargas said during one of the theological panels. “We are seeing more coming from some of the extremist [fundamentalist] groups.” Bargas explained that such men are seeking a loving environment characterized by fellowship around a like-minded commitment to doctrine.

“I believe the IFCA is unique,” stated Dr. Gary Gilley, senior pastor of Southern View Chapel in Springfield, Ill., and the keynote speaker for the communion service on the final evening of the convention. He listed the IFCA distinctives of inerrancy, cessationism, dispensationalism and literal hermeneutics, then issued this call: “This is our time to stand up for these things.”

Gilley’s words completed a line of thinking that Bargas initiated on Monday evening.

“We don’t need to be afraid,” Bargas had said. “This is our time! We have the most powerful message in the world, and our time is short. That is why IFCA exists. We will not bow down.”

Audio from the conference is available at SermonAudio.com/IFCAInternational.

Next year’s convention will be held from June 24 to 28 at the Holiday Inn & Hampton Inn and Suites, Northwest Arkansas Convention Center, in Springdale, Ark. The theme will be “Proclaim—Equip—Defend.”

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Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Columbus, WI, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.

Genesis 5:21-24, Hebrews 11:2, Jude 1:14

Summary: Enoch is mentioned in only a handful of verses, yet his influence as a man of God made an impact in his time and the times to come.

The Bible tells of men and women who were used by God as judges, warriors, kings, statesmen, prophets, and preachers. The Bible does not hold back on showing us that they were also susceptible to a range of faults, failures, and sins that caused some, like Samson and David, to live with the consequences of their rash, foolish, and often tragic actions.

As closely as Moses walked with God, he was forbidden by God to enter the Promised Land with the children of Israel because of his temper and disobedience. There were kings who started out well, like Solomon, who built the Temple and led the people in prayers of thanksgiving to God on the day when it was completed and consecrated. In later years, Solomon did not walk with God and started to worship the false gods his numerous wives had brought into Israel. As a result, the kingdom was torn in two, and a succession of both godly and deviant rulers eventually brought down both kingdoms; the nation went into exile under a succession of empires.

The lives of these noted leaders and warriors varied with their times and ages. Some had a long, fruitful life, while some came and went like the wind, making little if any impact on the history of Israel. However, this does not negate or minimize in any way the value and purpose that each life has in the course of history, no matter how long they lived. Your own life is a gift from God, and you are here at this exact time for a reason. What you do with it is going to make a difference for good or bad.

In our journey through the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, we come to a list of names. These names represent real people who lived real lives, yet Scripture gives us little more than the fact that they bore sons and daughters and died, having lived for hundreds of years. The first twenty verses of Genesis 5 are devoted to recording these names and little else. Then our attention is drawn to one particular name, that of Enoch, the father of Methuselah who would live 969 years, and with his death would come God’s judgment upon the world by means of the flood. The verse that stands out in the midst of this list of names is the one that says Enoch “walked with God.”

At the end of Genesis 4 and the birth of Seth, we read that men “began to call on the name of the Lord.” This shows that the wickedness of men was beginning to infiltrate minds and hearts to deter from the guidance and direction of God in order to pursue their own particular interests and the sinful ideas that hardened their hearts toward God. Humanity was starting to sow the seeds of their coming destruction. Yet, God always has His remnant followers who are faithful to Him and will not allow sin to draw them away from His will and direction. This is the legacy of Enoch.

At some point in his life, the growing evil in the world became a source of grief and revulsion to him. He called on the name of the Lord and, in turn, received the blessings of salvation and fellowship. Enoch saw God as a Friend who would always be with him, and God used Enoch in the role of a prophet, warning both his and future generations of the coming of the Lord to this world with His saints to exact judgment and vengeance on His enemies.

There is a “Book of Enoch” that has a collection of teachings on fallen angels and other topics dealing with the last days and the judgments of God, yet God saw fit to not have it as part of the canon of Scripture. God’s Sovereign use of Enoch was for him to give a warning to wicked men that a day of judgment was at hand, that sin would not be tolerated, and that all people need to repent and turn to God for salvation.

The Bible says that Enoch “walked with God, and then was not, for God took him.” Of all the people listed in the Scriptures, only Enoch and the prophet Elijah were given the privilege of entering heaven without dying. Some Bible prophecy teachers believe that Enoch and Elijah will be the two witnesses described in Revelation 11.

Enoch’s departure into heaven is considered by many Bible prophecy teachers to be an example of the promised “Rapture” of Christ’s true church taught in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15. Enoch’s life consists of a handful of verses yet shows what someone can do for the glory of God in a brief span of time.

God is ready to use you for His grace and glory. Be certain that you have an authentic walk with Him, spend time with Him in prayer, read His Word, and then prepare yourself for what He has in store for your life.

donaldwhitchard@outlook.com

www.realitycityreverend.com