Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he (Proverbs 29:18)

Many of the Proverbs are given in a simple text. Many of the revivals since the days of Jonathan Edwards were sermons preached from a text. Textual sermons are as much needed in our time as expository thought, although most of my preaching and teaching continue with exposition. Of course, textural sermons are found in biblical texts.

Vision is what we actually see in the present tense; dream is what has been seen in the past. Voice is what is being said right now; echo is what was just said and last heard.

Joel spoke of the distinction between young men seeing visions, and old men dreaming dreams. This distinction remains: young men, if they have anything at all, see the forward vision; old men as they are concluding their lives dream of what is past. Both vision and dream, voice and echo are needed for any generation. Echo appeals to our memory.

Our text has a powerful contrast: first, there is the negative; second, there remains the positive.

First, where there is no positive vision of our earthly view of Christ in the present tense, the people will be loosed and unrestrained to the judgment of God.

Second, but where there is the keeping of the vision, through the Word, the law, the people will be blessed and happy.

Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that keep my ways (Proverbs 8:32).

There are two kinds of war: foreign war and civil war. In a civil war a country's interests and energies tend to be even more paralyzed than during a foreign war.

We, as Fundamentalists, must carry on a negative and a positive war with the foreign enemies of God. In a civil war, we must carry on a negative and positive controversy with the brethren of God.

In the former, foreign war, we must be grouped for battle; in the latter, civil war, we must be grieved for victory.

So, today, missionary and evangelistic work, though hindered by our war with enemies, must not cease. Also, consecration and revival, though grieving in our souls for disorderly brethren, must not make us bitter.

No corps of cowards can conquer the world for Christ, whether on the foreign front or the home front. We must serve with vision, not a dream; we must be a voice, not an echo. We weep over the lost souls of sinners; we weep over the lost fellowship of brethren. But we must never weep, later, because we quit the foreign or home front. We plead for evangelism and we plead for revival, but we must not quit the vision and the voice for God. We must call, invite, and plead for souls to be saved and couples to enter the ministry; they must hear our call; they must see the vision. We must run the risk of Vision and Voice. This can only be done with the work of the negative, first, which deals with the destruction of sin, error, and apostasy. Then we must move in Vision, the positive Vision, which deals with the spiritual construction of grace, righteousness, and holiness. No matter if the battle against our enemies increase, we must proceed; no matter if the burden of separated brethren increase, we must succeed. We must never love anyone if we are determined to never run the risk for that love. While foes and friends increase against us may we walk on with God.

There are two dangers in these two wars: how much negativeness should be tolerated?; how much positiveness must be generated?

In the Garden of Eden the positive was more precious; the negative served it. Now, after the Fall, the negative is even more necessary, but we could be prone to lag in our emphasis for the positive.

We must always remember we cannot build on the negative, what we are against, what is wrong. The main purpose of the negative is to clear the ground, take off the debris, and ready the site.

We can only build on that which is right, that which is true, the positive truth. Apologetics and polemics mainly restrain the enemy whether foe or separated brother. But proclamation of the Word to our enemies represent the building, the construction work, of the Church.

Contrary to average opinion, the modernist, the humanist, the remnant, and the ecumenist are always living with denials and negatives towards the Biblical Faith as affirmed by Bible Believers. Because of their negativeness against the Word of God, they are ten times more likely to be wrong in both their denials and their assertions.

Modernism cannot succeed in finding Christian power by denying its source. Naturalism cannot destroy the Supernatural in God and Christ because it only clings to the natural. Therefore, neo-Christianity must fail because it sets forth a perfectly hopeless task.

We, as Fundamentalist, however, must be comforted by the fact that this new brand of so-called Christianity must lose because it is destructive rather than constructive, predatory rather than productive. These neo-Christian foes prove it is easier for them to rob what others have accumulated than to earn and build for themselves. The Charismatics have mainly taken the goats of liberal churches as their disciples, or confused some sheep in evangelical circles. But the fact remains: true evangelism and revivalism are absent in their movement. Such success has not called out the core-hearts of true Christians who love the pure Word of God. They remain stedfast.

In this, we see the dead burying the dead, and the dead unburying their dead. Man as his own god is a religion as dead as Deism, another kind of the same kind with "the absentee god."

For Fundamentalists, however, the situation before us, the greater situation before us, centers in the great struggle as to whether Christianity is to remain Christian in the public definition or not. Will Fundamentalism die in the public area of life? The crucial conflict of today is not that of Christianity with rival religions, but with anti-christianity, and the breakage of the brotherhood of Christianity. Either that which tears out its vital spiritual organs and doctrine, the fundamentals, must cease to be accredited as Christianity, or the Churches maintaining it is doomed as a Christian institution. Surely we must believe that the biblical Christian world has grown weary of the doubt, denial, and widespread destruction from the prolonged assault on New Testament Christianity. One thing remains: only as the churches continue on the foundation of the great fundamental teachings of the Word of God can they stand secure.

Like Japan and San Francisco, California, we are asked by God to live on the edge of a spiritual earthquake world, and we must build earthquake-proof churches. We must still sing, "The Church's One Foundation" and mean it.

There is one testimony of Judas we may salvage: he did not go and join the Sanhedrin crowd and they did not want him. He did not start an anti-christian group. He simply went out and hung himself, and with love in our hearts for Christ, we say that helped us, in view of the fact he did not choose to confess his sin to Christ.

But the destruction and disintegration are all around us. The supernatural vision concerning Christ and His Word have been replaced in many quarters with a natural or pragmatic dream. Man is endeavoring to succeed all the statistics of the human achievements of the past. But this neo-vision of modern, apostate Christianity has caused the people to perish—to be loosed and unrestrained from the Law of God. In this "hour and power of darkness," our task is compelled to be largely defensive, but we must not allow the defensive "negative" to swallow up the Gospel "positive." If we have to have a sword in our hand let us be sure we have a trowel in the other hand, too. We must never fight the war, whether with the neo-foe or separated brother in such a way, that we forget it is only "for Christ's sake." All other fighting is unworthy.

It is prophesied that before Christ's Second Coming all sorts of enemies, foreign enemies and home brethren, must be faced. It is sad, but we must live with it. It was prophesied that rumors would fly, delusions would flourish, and confusion would come, but none of these things must move us. Jesus, Himself, had to engage with controversy; Jesus, Himself, would be betrayed by friends. We walk in His steps.

We must pity the brother, we must pray for him too, who speaks his major purpose in preaching and writing with too many negatives and especially concerning the brethren. There is the entire Bible as our daily resource; we must speak for the Vision; we must speak for the Law, the whole Word of God. There are yet many wonderful things to preach from the Bible. We desperately need preaching for the home, parents, children, art, music, nature, ethics, little things, hospitality, courtesies, and kindnesses. It is not until we have condemned the apostasy to the core will our negatives for Christ be satisfied; but it also must be sure, as Fundamentalists we will not be satisfied until all the positive glories of biblical truth is brought before the feet of our Lord Jesus.

We must not only war, but we must win. We must not only fight, but we must be free. If we have no positive vision and purpose, we perish. If we have no obedience, we have no law in our time. Dreams are past; echoes are over; vision encourages and keeps God's people; Voice declares and reveals God's Word. What will our life be? Vision or dream?; Echo or voice?