Free Church (Continuing) and Reformed Presbyterian Church
The Free Church (Continuing) and the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland are pursuing ecumenical relations and have reached the stage of encouraging ministers from each denomination to preach in the other. Union between the denominations is under discussion, though said not to be imminent.
The development is both puzzling and disturbing. The R P Church rejects the Revolution Settlement of 1690, acceptance of which is fundamental to the Established Church of Scotland and the ecclesiastical bodies which derive from her, being part of the ordination vows of ministers and office-bearers. How do the ecumenists in the FCC and the RPC intend to get round this problem? Do not their own ordination vows preclude them from pursuing this union?
Again, the form of worship differs between the two bodies. The FCC uses the Authorised Version and the 1650 metrical psalms in public worship, and generally the “thee” and “thou” forms in public prayer. The RPC generally uses modern versions of the Bible and modern metrical psalms, and the “you” form in public prayer. People sometimes suppose that these are small differences, but they are mistaken. The differences may be small in their own minds but they are not so in the minds of many who are committed to the AV, nor of many who have turned their backs on it. Some people use modern versions because they have known nothing else, but there are others who have known the AV and who did not like the reverence and restraint that it imposed upon them. They wanted a version that fitted better with the modern world, and that presented God in less of an eternal and unchanging light and more as One who could be accommodated to current trends and fashions.
The modern-versions path is a dangerous one. This has been seen in Scotland with the APCs and the Free Church, and in England with many Independent and Baptist congregations. Most of the RPCs are going down that path, and there are some in the FCC embarking on it as well. One APC minister ended up as Moderator of the Church of Scotland, associating with heretics, women ministers, and sodomites. The fearful fall and suicide of a
highly praised Free Church minister sounded a loud warning to the whole Church. We are to learn from these lessons. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor 10:12). It would be the wisdom of the FCC to terminate these discussions with the RPC. “Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls” (Jer 6:16). DWBS
Euthanasia in New Zealand
On October 17, a referendum on assisted dying was held alongside the New Zealand general election. Over 65% of voters supported the End of Life Choice Act, which is now expected to come into effect in November 2021. In a separate non-binding referendum held at the same time, New Zealanders rejected a proposal to legalise recreational cannabis.
The End of Life Choice Act was passed by the New Zealand parliament in 2019, but with the proviso that it should first be put to a referendum and would only come into force if more than 50% of voters endorsed it. According to the Act, there are several criteria a person must satisfy to ask for assisted dying. These include suffering from a terminal illness that is likely to end their life within six months, showing a significant decline in physical capability, and being able to make an informed decision about assisted dying. The Act does not allow assisted dying for reasons of advanced age, mental illness, or disability alone.
An organisation called Euthanasia-Free NZ, a group which campaigned for a No vote, said it was “disappointed that the New Zealand public voted to pass a flawed euthanasia law” and that Parliament “could have made this law safer” by passing further amendments. We question whether a law which permits euthanasia could ever be safe when it accommodates and allows the killing of a human being, contrary to the law of God.
We have now reached the very sad position where euthanasia is legal in Belgium, Canada, Colombia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and, in 2021, New Zealand, while assisted suicide is permitted in Switzerland. Several states in the USA and the Australian state of Victoria have also made assisted dying legal.
At this time, we see the Lord’s judgements abroad throughout the nations of the world in the Covid pandemic and we do not have to look far for reasons why. The blood of the unborn aborted in the womb, and increasingly those institutionally killed with the blessing of people and rulers, cry to the Lord. Worst of all, “the fool hath said in his heart, there is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good” (Ps 53:1). May the day soon come when “all the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the Lord” (Ps 22:27). FRD
A Vaccine for Covid-19
In the middle of the second lockdown in England – the result of increasing numbers of Covid cases – pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has announced successful trials of a vaccine. It is claimed that it can protect from the virus 93% of those inoculated. This is a welcome development, and it led Sir John Bell, Regius Professor of Medicine at Oxford University, to agree, in response to a radio interviewer’s question, that “life will return to normal by spring”.
If that does indeed take place, we should be very ready to give thanks to the Lord for, in particular, allowing us to gather publicly around His Word and observe the Lord’s Supper. One fears, however, that the vast majority will continue to ignore God and follow their own deities of pleasure and consumption. Even at the height of the pandemic, people very largely ignored God, rejected His authority and refused to consider the thought that He can come in judgement against those who despise Him.
Covid-19 has been a loud call to people and nations to turn to the Lord, forsake their own gods and serve the Lord in sincerity. Yet “how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent?” (Rom 10:14,15). So there is a further call: to God’s people to pray that He would send out preachers, so that the gospel might be spread everywhere, and especially for an outpouring of the Holy Spirit to apply to rebellious sinners the truth preached and the Word of God read. We must remember that “except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it” (Ps 127:1). We should plead with the Most High to bless His dealings with individuals and nations, whether in mercy, in longsuffering or in judgement.
Protestant View
The Pope and Civil Unions
The Pope has voiced his fullest support yet for the sin of Sodom, calling for a “civil union law” in order that sodomites can have legal recognition for their vile, ungodly relationships. “Homosexual people have a right to be in a family”, he said in a recent documentary. He went on to add, “They are children of God and have a right to a family. Nobody should be thrown out or made miserable over it. What we have to create is a civil union law. That way they are legally covered.” Though this comes short of an official endorsement of homosexual “marriage”, it goes beyond his previous comments on this subject. It is monstrously absurd that the same man who presides over an institution which forbids its own priesthood the “right to be in a
family” is seen in the documentary encouraging two sodomites “and their three children” to attend church.
As has previously been stated here, the current pope speaks with a forked tongue on this issue. On the one hand, he voices support couched in terms which are intended to display a “compassionate” side to the Roman Catholic Church but, at the same time, his support has not yet resulted in significant doctrinal or practical change. In Scripture, antichrist is characterised by deceit and depravity. Clearly the support which the current incumbent of the seat of antichrist lends to this great moral evil of our day demonstrates how utterly opposed to Christ and to true gospel holiness the Roman system actually is.
True compassion for those ensnared in the sin of Sodom would bring reproof of their sin, seeking not to countenance it in any way. “For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. . . . And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. For it is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Eph 5:5-7, 11-12). AWM