March - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

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88The Free Presbyterian Magazinethe world accounts miserable may be blessed”; and, “We can admire thewisdom, power and goodness of God, who can make His people better bytheir sufferings”.The extent of the editing is not clear but the book reads well; yet onewould express the wish that the Scripture quotations had been left unchanged.In a world where God’s children must experience tribulation, this little workis highly recommended. Thomas Manton wrote very positively about it.Protestant ViewDisunity in the Kingdom of DarknessA surprising front-page article in The Herald on January 16 drew attentionto the apathy, if not hostility, in the Roman Catholic hierarchy in Scotlandto the proposed papal visit. The Scottish Roman Catholic bishops, the articlestates, are old and “liberal” (in Roman Catholic terms) and would prefer notto be troubled on their own doorsteps by the “ultra-conservative” Pope. Theclaims of the article were denied by a spokesman for the Archdiocese ofGlasgow, but confirmed by the editor of The Catholic Truth. The article alsodiscloses that the Scottish bishops declined an offer for the bones of StTeresa to come to Scotland last year, and that plans for the Pope to addressthe Scottish Parliament have been abandoned.Meanwhile the Pope has ruffled feathers among atheists and homosexualsby denouncing the notorious Equality Bill, currently before the BritishParliament. One of the most offensive parts of the Bill was rejected recentlyby the House of Lords, following a campaign by the Christian Institute, butother harmful aspects remain.We are glad that the Scottish Roman Catholic bishops do not welcome thePope, and we are glad that the Pope is not to address the Scottish Parliament.We are glad too that the Pope has condemned the Equality Bill. We do notbelieve that he has any more authority than the next man to comment onBritish affairs, and we realise the danger in conceding him any recognitionother than as the Man of Sin. It is satisfying, nevertheless, to see the frictionbetween the various evil factions that make up Satan’s kingdom, and to seehow God uses their mutual antipathy to check and hinder them in their evil.The Church has often benefited from such conflicts. “The serpent cast outof his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to becarried away of the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth. And theearth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed upthe flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth” (Rev 12:15-16). DWBS
Notes and Comments 89False Teaching Behind Fair WordsThe Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, Vincent Nichols, has recently“urged people not to seek their happiness in wealth or career success butrather to find it in a relationship with Jesus”, says a recent report. This soundsgood and makes him appear to be a genuine Christian – but which Jesus doeshe speak of?The true Christian necessarily believes that Jesus is the only mediatorbetween himself and God, “for there is one God, and one mediator betweenGod and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Tim 2:5). Vincent Nichols, however,believes and teaches what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: thatMary, the Mother of Jesus, is another mediator who intercedes with God,and therefore “is to be invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate,Helper, Benefactress and Mediatrix” (par 969).Again, the genuine Christian believes the death of Jesus on Calvary wasthe one sufficient sacrifice for the sins of His people, as Hebrews 10:12says, “But this man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, satdown on the right hand of God”. On the other hand, Nichols believes andteaches that, “in the Mass, the same Christ who offered Himself once in abloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in anunbloody manner” (Catechism, par 1367).The Jesus who is not the only mediator, and who has to be offered upagain and again as a sacrifice, is not the Jesus of the Bible. To believe andteach what is contrary to Scripture shows that the Christianity of such aperson is counterfeit and that he himself is in gross spiritual darkness. “Tothe law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it isbecause there is no light in them” (Is 8:20)NMRNotes and Comments“Unity and Uniformity”This is the title of an article in the Autumn 2009 number of the ScottishBulletin of Evangelical Theology. The joint authors argue that “the ideal ofuniformity . . . is wholly inconsistent for those who confess the Father, theSon and the Holy Spirit as one God in eternal coexistence. If the Church’sGod is the Trinity, it will be put forward, its highest ideal should be unity-indiversity.”They then go on to consider “the challenge of maintaining unityin diversity in the New Testament Church, the ambivalence of the magisterialReformers to the question of uniformity and the effects of ‘uniformity ofworship’ on the life of Scottish Presbyterian churches”.
Page 1 and 2: TheFree PresbyterianMagazineIssued
Page 3 and 4: TheFree Presbyterian MagazineVol 11
Page 5 and 6: The Saviour’s Powerful Hand 67In
Page 7 and 8: Keeping Alive the Love of God 69and
Page 9 and 10: Keeping Alive the Love of God 71God
Page 11 and 12: Keeping Alive the Love of God 73fro
Page 13 and 14: The Early Scottish Reformation 75la
Page 15 and 16: The Early Scottish Reformation 77wh
Page 17 and 18: The Preparation of Sermons 79member
Page 19 and 20: The Preparation of Sermons 81(4.) M
Page 21 and 22: TScottish Puritans 83Scottish Purit
Page 23 and 24: Scottish Puritans 85evils, sin, des
Page 25: Book Reviews 87David C Searle’s a
Page 29 and 30: Notes and Comments 91earth. The Chu
Page 31 and 32: Church Information 93Repairing “B
Page 33 and 34: WESTERN PRESBYTERYApplecross & Shie
Page 35 and 36: FREE PRESBYTERIAN PLACES OF WORSHIP

March - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

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