How we know this from English church history! In the late 19th century, the vast majority of Baptist, Methodist and Congregationalist denominational churches in this land were Bible believing churches, and only a small minority were not. That small minority eventually spread the poison of unbelief – questioning the inspiration of Scripture, and the infallibility of God’s word, and all the other conclusions of higher criticism – through all the churches. Now there are only a tiny minority of Bible believers in the Baptist Union of Great Britain and Northern Ireland; a tiny minority of people among the so-called Congregationalists, though most of them have merged with the English Presbyterians; a small number that stand for the Bible. The Methodists are almost completely gone. The Methodist conferences affirm all kinds of dreadful things, even homosexual ministers. Just a very few of them are left in out of the way places, in this country, who believe the old gospel. A small minority, in the course of time, ruined and polluted everything. Now, if you find a Baptist Church, which loves the Bible, it is probably independent.
Discipline has to be exercised. The gospel must be defended and maintained. There are Bible believers in the Church of England, and some of them are very fine and earnest people; and there are some flourishing churches. But how do they make out in a denomination where all the leadership and the vast majority of the bishops, and certainly the archbishop, and the majority of the clergy do not believe the same things? ‘Evil communications corrupt good manners.’ It is a great principle of Scripture. When things get that bad, really, they should come out and start maintaining a distinct testimony. We acknowledge that there are a minority of very earnest people there; and we don’t presume to say they are not Christian, but what an unwise thing and a mistake, to go against the statement of Scripture!