Our Confession of Faith, which is founded upon the Word of God, identifies the Pope as the Antichrist. It declares: “There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ. Nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof: but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.”
The adulation given to the Pope of Rome during his recent visits to Southern Ireland and America by the thousands, and tens of thousands who gathered to welcome him, would make one ready to think that surely the Reformers were in error in viewing him as the Antichrist. Far from this being the case, however, the Reformers well understood the evil nature of the Church of Rome. Their eyes were opened to its subtlety and deceit through their acceptance of the divine revelation of God’s Word. From this it is clear that it is the blindness of men’s minds and hearts to the truth of God’s Word which has led them to bestow on the Pope such misplaced worship. Accordingly they have been imposed upon by the Papal antichristian system and ensnared into giving the Pope the high place which he falsely claims.
From Rome’s point of view, no doubt, the Pope’s recent tour has been an outstanding success. The rulers of the nations have had to listen to the voice of the Pope and have lavished praise upon his utterances, not recognising that he speaks with a double voice. As we might expect he arrived in Eire as the ambassador of peace. Well might it be said to him: What have you to do with peace, seeing that in your skirts is the blood of the saints? As we might expect, too, he extolled moral virtues — the very virtues which his system undermines. How sin-darkened are men when they are ready to receive with open arms the head of a system which Luther described as “the master-piece of the devil.”
The hearty reception accorded to the Pope carries with it grave warnings for ourselves as a nation. One cannot but fear that the nation is ripe for a takeover by the Church of Rome. The leaders of our nation, whether in Church or State, appear to see no danger in yielding a high place to the Pope of Rome. Should the Pope once again obtain supremacy in our nation, a darkness that can be felt will once again descend upon the Church and State in the land. The true Church of God will also once again be persecuted in an attempt to destroy it utterly. We live in perilous times.
May the Lord in infinite love and mercy deliver us and prevent such an outcome. May the day also be hastened when the Lord will, according to His promise, destroy Antichrist with the brightness of His coming.