Charles Spurgeon was involved in a 19th century battle with liberalism in “The Down-Grade Controversy”.

This sermon is one of a series of five.

1. Introduction

• C.H.Spurgeon: “The fight is killing me”

2. The Enemy

• The Down-Grade Controversy
• Some prevalent beliefs:

• The Bible is not inspired, but fallible
• Jesus is human but not divine
• God’s character is pure benevolence
• Man is not fallen

3. The Fight

• Articles in “The Sword and Trowel”
• The 1887 Annual Meetings of the Baptist Union
• Spurgeon:

• “With deep regret we abstain from assembling with those whom we dearly love and heartily respect, since it would involve us in a confederacy with those with whom we can have no communion in the Lord.”
• “Fellowship with known and vital error is participation in sin”

4. The Challenge

• The 1920’s: B.B.Warfield, J.G.Machen: Fundamentalism
• 1984: Francis Schaeffer: “The Great Evangelical Disaster: