Dear Friends,
In view of the deep and practical interest with which our Dutch friends have been following the Rhodesian Mission of the Free Presbyterian Church of Scotland, I wish to speak of our progress with the various projects on the Mission field which is undoubtedly your interest as well as ours.
First of all, progress would not be possible apart from the Most High opening the hearts of our friends, who so unsparingly support this Mission with their prayers and givings. From Holland last year we received $101,486.86 as well as donations from Scotland, Canada and New Zealand and other parts of the world. This money we seek to put to the best use and is spent on the various Mission activities so that each department of Mission work benefits from the generosity of our friends. The teacher’s cottage at Ingwenya which I mentioned in my last letter is now about completed, and at Mbuma, we are beginning on the foundations of the new Isolation Unit.
At Bulawayo we have begun the building of our new Church, the cost of which has been re-estimated as $26,000. Due to the fact that we are building on clay soil, this makes the foundation the most expensive part of the building. The steel reinforcing by itself is to cost over $2000.
Our building programme may appear to be on a large scale — yes for us perhaps; but here in Rhodesia we notice that by comparison with the projects of the Church of Rome ours is like a drop in the ocean. However, it is those projects that enjoy the favour of God that we desire to promote and we trust this is true of our Mission work, for we believe that we have the Word of God with us. “Salt is good; but if the salt have lost his savour where-with shall it be seasoned? It is neither fit for the land nor yet for the dung hill, but men cast it out” — Luke 14:35 and 35.
Such is the Church of Rome, and should the Church of Rome build churches like that of Babel, it will avail them and poor sinners nothing. Confusion and more confusion is the end of all error.
How jealous, therefore, we should be in preserving the Truth. All our buildings and undertakings should be, as it were, regarded as avenues to bring the glorious Truth of the Gospel to precious souls. May this ever be our motive. When this is not so we are wasting our precious time. God forbid, then, that the curse of error would ever be found among us as a Church; the curse of wicked Arminianism, “the sugared pill”, according to one Romanist, to ensnare Protestants; and no wonder, since Arminians err on the most fundamental doctrines of the Word of God; but more particularly and glaringly on the doctrine most essential to the Christian Faith, that is, the Atonement. They err, not merely on the extent of the Atonement, but on the nature of the Atonement. Err here and we err for eternity. For the lost sinner, it is Atonement or no Atonement. Miss a full Atonement for our sins and we miss eternal glory.
It is therefore a great error on the part of any who profess to be true believers to propagate the Arminian faith. By receiving such, giving them a place, bidding them God speed, whether in person or by distributing their subtle writings, we err exceedingly and are liable to the just displeasure of God. If professing Calvinists in the past or in the present praise and befriend Arminians, this is no precedent for the Church of God. The Word of God is our sole guide and criterion. “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned, and avoid them, for they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple” — Romans 16: verses 17 and 18.
If doctrines believed are not of God, of whom then do they proceed? Only one person, the devil. Is it not true that error is a lie, and of a lie we read that Satan is the father? It is a serious matter then to hold error or countenance those who do. May God in His mercy ever preserve us from error and from those who would lead us into such a maze.
All our efforts then as a Church at home and abroad are directed to this end, the propagation of Truth and the suppression of error.
“The whole earth let His glory fill,
Amen, so let it be” — Psalm 72:19.
Yours sincerely,
D. A. Ross.