PAUL TELLS US that the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strongholds. He probably had in his mind's eye the corvus, which the Romans employed in destroying fortifications, and certainly it aptly sets forth the work of Christians when attacking the citadels of error. We must sharply grapple the false doctrine, driving the sharp hook of truth between its joints; we must clearly understand the error, and study the Word of God, so as to be able to controvert it. The great corvus of Scripture is a mighty puller down. Then unitedly with earnest tug of prayer and faithful testimony, we must throw down piece by piece the mischievous system of falsehood, be it never so great or high. Stone by stone the wall comes down, it is long and arduous work to destroy error; many hands and hearts must unite, and then with perseverance all must labor and wait. Tracts, sermons, lectures, speeches, prayers, all must be ropes with which to drag the bulwarks down. God's blessing rests on the faithful endeavors of those who overturn the castles of error, and though their work may not speedily succeed, the great result is sure. A Reformation is as much needed now as in Luther's day, and by God's grace we shall have it, if we trust in him and publish his truth. The cry is, "Overturn, overturn, overturn, till He shall come whose right it is."
Reader, are you doing service in the Lord's war, which he is now waging? You know the errors of Rome, are you doing anything to withstand them? You see the Popery and iniquity of the National Establishment, are you in your measure exposing it? Infidelity is still mighty, do you contend for God and for his Word? Sin still reigns over millions, do you seek their salvation? If not, why not? Are you yourself on the Lord's side? Oh may the grace of God lead you to trust in the great bloodshedding of Jesus, by which he has put away sin; and then may his love constrain you to aid in dragging down the ramparts of evil.
Weekend A La Carte (November 23)
6 hours ago
4 comments:
"A Reformation is as much needed now as in Luther's day"
What would the "prince of preachers" have to say in our day to the church?
He truly has a timeless way with words.
What an exhortation to stay the course, and to speak, and stand upon, the truth.
Thanks.
SJ Camp, my brother in Christ. Don’t call what is good, evil. (Rom 14:16) “So do not let your good be spoken of as evil.” It looks like you are calling the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope evil.
1 John 4:1-3
2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit which does not confess Jesus is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist, of which you heard that it was coming, and now it is in the world already.
The light of God's face shines in all its beauty on the countenance of Jesus Christ, "the image of the invisible God" (Col 1:15), the "reflection of God's glory" (Heb 1:3), "full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14). Christ is "the way, and the truth, and the life" (Jn 14:6). Consequently the decisive answer to every one of man's questions, his religious and moral questions in particular, is given by Jesus Christ, or rather is Jesus Christ himself, as the Second Vatican Council recalls: "In fact, it is only in the mystery of the Word incarnate that light is shed on the mystery of man. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of the future man, namely, of Christ the Lord. It is Christ, the last Adam, who fully discloses man to himself and unfolds his noble calling by revealing the mystery of the Father and the Father's love.' (1)
This is the teaching of the Pope and the RCC. I see a contradiction with what you are writing with the scripture passage in I John. I don’t think you are able to discern good from evil.
(Heb 5:11-14)
11 About this we have much to say which is hard to explain, since you have become dull of hearing. 12 For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need some one to teach you again the first principles of God's word. You need milk, not solid food; 13 for every one who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a child. 14 But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their faculties trained by practice to distinguish good from evil.
David,
Three reasons (I suspect there are many more) why you are wrong and Camp is right:
1. 1 John 4:1-3 is not a blanket test for orthodoxy. By your usage, every pseudo-Christian cult in the world, as well as liberals of every stripe, and Muslims and Jews, are all orthodox. None of them deny that a man called Jesus Christ walked around in a physical body. By your measure, you'd have to accept them as "brothers."
2. The passage is actually a pointed indicator of a particular gnostic heresy, Docetism. The Docetics taught that Christ only "seemed" human, and that is the error John is combatting in this passage. It is possible to hold orthodox views on the Incarnation while preaching heresy on other issues. There are many other indicators of grave error and heresy in the Bible, and while the Catholic Church may get over this particular one, it fails on many other counts.
3. It is also quite possible to confess with the mouth (or with official doctrinal statements) one thing, and then to go on to deny that same thing by consequent action. Strictly speaking, yes, the Catholic Church confesses Christ has come in the flesh, but then it goes on to practically deny what He accomplished while He was here. He might as well not have come, if doctrines like the Mass, Pergatory, and Indulgences are true.
Gordan said, "Strictly speaking, yes, the Catholic Church confesses Christ has come in the flesh, but then it goes on to practically deny what He accomplished while He was here."
Thank you for at least acknowledging this fact. The RCC proclaims that the "source and summit of our faith" is the Eucharist. We believe that with the words of consecration that the bread wine become the real presence, the "body, blood, soul, and divinity" of Jesus Christ. We bow and worship what we believe is truly the "Body of Christ". We call that transubstantiation.
In PRACTICE we proclaim the reality of the incarnation like nobody else. Are you saying that we make to much of Christ's words in John 6?
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