As I survey the church situation today, I see precious little evidence of the church fulfilling this particular role at the critical time. Dr D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones (DMLJ) alerted me, as a young Christian, of the spiritual danger of Roman Catholicism. I considered him to be totally accurate in his understanding of Romanism, and this eventually led me to take a real and active interest in whole issue of ecumenism, especially that which involved the church’s increasing acceptance of Romanism as a bona fide Christian church, something he did not do. [1] In his view, it is "the devil’s greatest masterpiece,”[2] an “apostasy,”[3] and “a horrible counterfeit.”[4] He describes this religious system as “the whore,”[5]as the "great harlot," [6]which “manifested the wiles of the devil in all its subtlety and deceitfulness.”[7] She is guilty, he preaches, of “introducing idolatry and superstition”[8] into the Christian Church. She “comes between the soul and Christ” and pretends that she and her spurious ministrations are essential to eternal salvation. “This is ‘the scarlet woman,’ this is the most horrible, foul deception of all, because it uses His Name,” and describes it further as “this horrible monstrosity.”[10] He went on to argue that “the proudest boast of the Roman Catholic Church is this, that she never changes. ‘Semper eadem.’”[11] In this sermon, he went even further, if that was even possible, and described her in these terms; “…this is a counterfeit, a sham; this is prostitution of the worst and most diabolical kind. It is indeed a form of the antichrist, and it is to be rejected, it is to be denounced; but above all, it is to be countered.”[12] To the beloved Doctor, “that horrible institution”[13] is synonymous with “heresy.”[14]How astonishing it is to discover that he felt he had more in common with that false religion than he had with the widely accepted, honoured and protected theological liberalism that now controls every mainline denomination.
False doctrine is to be publicly opposed in our churches, and by her ministers, who are her accredited teachers. But ask yourself this: when was the last time you heard your preacher explain to you the fundamental differences that exist between Romanism and the true Christian faith? If you were asked what it is that makes you a Christian, and not a Roman Catholic, what would you answer? DMLJ knew what this difference is, and we can do no better than learn from this great servant of God.
So many Christian people have been taken in by Rome's false religion, and see her as no threat to the Christian faith in the world. But just compare what you see when Roman services are broadcast on TV with what you read of the early church in the Acts of the Apostles; can you spot the difference? Do any of the Roman-type churches bear any relation to the young Christian church as described in Acts? There were no institutions in the early days, but a living church in which God was present by His Spirit, and which proclaimed Christ Jesus as the Saviour of the world.
Having such a high regard for this preacher, and admiring his courage to ‘say it as it is,’ I discovered my own views on Romanism crystallising, and explains my total opposition to the unbiblical ecumenism that the main-line churches were peddling, and still do. These sentiments got my ear, as a young minister. Thank God for DMLJ. Would that more evangelical ministers had taken the trouble to study this man’s preaching and learn from his messages.
[1] Authentic Christianity Vol.1, p.148.
[2] The Roman Catholic Church, Westminster Fellowship within the Presbyterian Church of New Zealand, first published in The Westminster Record in 1963, and inexplicably omitted from the Banner of Truth edition of The Christian Warfare, being DMLJ’s expository sermons on Eph.6:10-13), 5, 7.
[3] Roman Catholicism, 5.
[4] Roman Catholicism, 17. See also Authentic Christianity (Vol.1), 147,
148.
[5] Ibid., 6, 7.
[6] Authentic Christianity (Vol.1), p.148.
[7] Ibid., 7.
[8] Ibid., 8.
[10] Ibid., 16.
[11] Ibid., 17.
[12] Ibid.,
[13] Ibid., 18.
[14] Iain H. Murray, The fight of faith. (Banner of Truth, Edinburgh, 1990), 649.
2 comments:
If you went to a Catholic mass I think most would not notice any difference generally between that and the Church of England which in turn exists alongside the evangelical.
That's all I will say now because I do not have a lot of time. So you surely have it all wrong on that account alone.
I reread again; what is being said is very unclear, going in one direction and then the next. I recommend taking substantive criticisms that are here (?!?!) or that you have and make the effort to find the Catholic response. Then you can make your own mind up. Yippee!
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