The study we have been, and continue to undertake, brings up something that was occurring in 1890 and 132 years later what they spoke of then is never more true today! Back then they were lamenting the churches introducing practices contrary to God's word, today they are doing the same thing. We have thousands, hundreds of thousands, dare I say millions of people who claim the name of Christ, while they cling to lies propagated by Satan. Also, for some unfathomable reason people actually believe our government should be run by religious men who introduce their religion into the government. They claim to want a Christian nation here on earth and that end can be achieved by bringing God into politics. Just making this statement I know many Christians would be alarmed. They'd look at me aghast. They'd question my love of God, my love of Jesus, and they'd tell me anyone who doesn't want God in this nation, running this nation, is not a Christian.
The Bible clearly says this- Joh_18:36 Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
Luk_20:25 And he said unto them, Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's, and unto God the things which be God's.
Joh_14:30 Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.
Jesus did not come as Messiah to build up a kingdom upon earth, He was very clear about that. Jesus did not instruct the Apostles on how to set up a government based upon His teachings. Jesus wanted His truth and the worldly governments to be separate. Governments are concerned with a lot of things that have nothing at all to do with how Jesus would run our world. This is a broken world filled with chaos, and the prince that rules this world is Satan. That's the truth, straight from our Savior's lips. Jesus wanted the blessed news of the gospel to be given to all so that all could make their choice for Him and eternity, or not. Jesus wanted this wonderful news to change each individual who would then live their lives in His love. Jesus did not want men and women to choose Him and then use His name to hurt others in any way. Jesus did not want men and women to force Him on others, not in a single way!
Our world is Satan's, he is the prince of this world and it shows so clearly. His evil spirit is ignited in the hearts of so many, and he never stops attacking a single person who dares to defy his evil. Praise God that Jesus PRAYED FOR US!
Joh_17:15 I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
Evil surrounds us, evil fights against us every step of the way, Jesus prayed that we be kept from the evil, and may His prayer be ours! Father in Heaven, majesty on high, please, please keep us from the evil! Please!
Deception being Satan's top evil, we need to be kept from all deception! May we, through the Holy Spirit given to us by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, be kept from the deceptions surrounding us. The millions of wolves in sheep clothing surround us, please, Father, keep us from the evil! Keep us in YOUR love! Have us LOVE all, even those who hurt and abuse us in any way at all! Let us live YOUR love, not let the prince of this world dictate our actions, our responses, our thoughts, any part of us. Please, Lord, we believe, help Thou our unbelief! Please we would be YOURS precious Jesus!!!!!!
Amen!!!!!!!
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CHAPTER XV. BABYLON IS FALLEN (1890's)
(From Eden to Eden-A Historic and Prophetic Study. By J. H. Waggoner. 1890.)
continued…
Now it is our solemn conviction that a change equally great has taken place with the religious bodies of this day, who have rejected the gospel proclamation of the judgment come, and who slight the message of the near coming of our blessed Lord. This change is plainly to be seen among the churches of both continents. In America there is a very visible decline of vital piety, and a great increase of those things which indicate an unhallowed alliance with the world--a leaning towards worldliness in all their methods.
For the support of the church an appeal is made to the passions and the love of folly of all classes. They who are not acquainted with the facts cannot imagine to what an extent these things are, not so much eating out the vitality and spirituality of the churches, as proving that vital piety does not exist. Church buildings are fitted up with kitchens, where suppers are served, where plays are enacted, and even petty gambling is resorted to, in the form of raffles and lotteries, to raise money for the cause of Christ. This state of things is often lamented by the few who realize the nature and the tendency of such practices; but they confess that the tide is so strong in the direction of folly in the churches, that it cannot be turned.
To show that we do not overestimate the evil which is afflicting the churches in that direction, we notice a few facts. A few years since the grand jury in an important city of America, notified the churches of that city that their methods of raising money for religious uses were in violation of the statutes against gambling, and that they would be presented in court if they did not desist. The jury did not make any presentment, because the evil was so general that they did not like to present one to the exclusion of the others.
In two States of the American Union, the governors called the attention of the legislatures to this subject. One of them said that, while the existing laws against gambling were quite sufficient for general purposes, special legislation would be in place to suppress certain practices prevalent in the churches, which were clearly of the nature of gambling. A minister, writing for a certain religious paper, said:--
"I hide my face in shame, when I hear of a governor of a State being compelled to call upon the law-making department of his State to pass laws to counteract the swindling carried on under the auspices of the church, under the name of church fairs, festivals, and other forms of 'pious' church gambling."
This is only one direction in which the popular tendency is manifested. The extent of the demoralization produced by these things is thus pictured by another religious paper:--
"The selling of indulgences was no more misleading, no more a perversion of the gospel, than are Protestant church fairs, where petty gambling is carried on under the wicked pretense of supporting the religion of Christ."
It must not be supposed, from this reference to "Protestant church fairs," that such things are done only in the Protestant churches, as some of the very worst that have ever been carried on in America were under the auspices of high dignitaries of the Catholic Church.
Crossing the Atlantic, what state of things is found in Europe? An important commemoration meeting was held in Manchester, England, in the latter part of the year 1888. Of the present and prospective condition of religion in England, let the speakers of that meeting inform us. The published report says that, in moving a resolution, Lord Montague made the following remarks:--
"He was afraid they saw a great deal of popery, or a great want of Protestantism, in the upper classes of this country. . . . Ritualism was the Trojan horse of popery. The pope had built up the system of ritualism, and he had put inside of it a number of Jesuits, armed to the teeth. They had dragged this great horse of ritualism inside their church, and these Jesuits, armed to the teeth with their theology, had sprung out, and now the Church and State were in the greatest danger."
Another well-known minister said that--
"The revolution of 1688 placed Protestantism on the throne of this country. It had been on the throne two hundred years, and they asked if it now was what it was two hundred years ago. They must answer that it is not. A change had come over it, and a crisis was impending. The Protestantism of England was seriously menaced and undermined. Three thousand ritualistic clergymen were now laboring night and day in the English church, to restore to this country the false doctrines and superstitions abolished by the Reformation."
The words of these speakers fail to give us a just idea of the extent of the defection from the faith that is taking place in England. We cannot realize what three thousand ritualistic ministers may accomplish in the Established Church, working without rebuke from those who are set up to guard the interests of religion in the State. The emblems of popery are erected in the first churches in England, and the protests of those who still have regard for the Protestant faith are not heeded. Had not the principles of the Reformation lost their value in the eyes and the hearts of the people, it would not be possible for the Jesuits to control the professed Protestant church as they do. And a state of things equally deplorable exists in the Independent or Nonconformist churches. Men of high standing openly deny the inspiration of the Scriptures, and declare that its histories are fables.
Others, by preaching a future probation, rob the judgment of its terrors. The following will show to what extent folly has taken hold of the churches in England, and to what professed Christians in that land will resort to unite the church and the world. The first notice is copied from the Sword and Trowel, a paper which, however, does not approve of such unseemly doings:--
"Another specimen of the doings of worldly religion is from a handbill bearing the name of Howard, Stanford: 'A dance and entertainment will be held in the school-room, Collyweston, on Friday, November 16, 1888. Dancing to commence at 7:30 p. m. A good quadrille band will be in attendance. Refreshments will be provided. Tickets may be obtained from the rectory, Miss Ridlington, and Mr. R. H. Close. Price, 6d. each. The proceeds for new church lamps."
A minister, speaking of the prevalence of such things, well says:--
"Entertainments, concerts, tableaux, and such like, are playing havoc with the work of God. In the name of religion our children are being trained for the theater, and under the shadow of the name of Christ young people are being introduced to the 'world.'"
A party of High Church clergymen at Croyden made an exhibition of their own folly in what they called an exhibition of "The Conversion of England." It is thus announced by a secular paper:--
"clergymen on the stage at croyden. 'the conversion of england.' "What, clergymen of the Church of England acting in a veritable drama on the stage, with bare feet, and painted faces, wigs, and theatrical paraphernalia? Yes, indeed, all this was to be seen at Croyden on Saturday afternoon and evening, and will be again this evening. One of our reporters went down and witnessed the play, and talked with some of the performers. The large public hall, George Street, Croyden, is within a few minutes' walk of the East and New Croyden railway stations. There is a capital stage in the hall, admirably adapted for amateur and even more ambitious performances. But it may well be doubted whether amateurs were ever more ambitious than the clerical party from Vauxhall, who on Saturday enacted the historical drama in the ten tableaux of 'The Conversion of England.'"
But the real conversion of England may be considered postponed indefinitely under the ministrations of such clergymen as the church furnishes, of which these giddy theatrical imitators are too nearly a sample. How is it on the Continent, in the home of the Reformation? Are the children of the Reformers holding fast those principles of religious liberty bequeathed to them? They certainly are not. While the Catholic Church does not fail to revile the name and work of Luther in Germany, Protestant ministers are not permitted to speak in disrespectful terms of the pope and his church and its institutions. There is not a minister to-day in Germany, who, if he has regard for his own personal safety, would dare to nail to a church door such theses as Luther nailed to the church door in Wittemburg, three centuries ago. Should any minister at this time attempt to restore to Germany the Reformation as it was given to her by Luther, Melancthon, and their noble co-workers, he would not find a "Christian prince" in all the wide domain who would rise up to defend him from the general indignation that his actions would raise. It is a truth that cannot be denied, that the religion of the established churches on the Continent is a religion of worldliness and formality, destitute of that power that attended the preaching of the word of God three centuries ago.
The misfortune attending Protestantism in Europe was, that almost as soon as it was born it was nationalized. It was adopted by certain powers and converted into a State system, the heads of these governments determining what should and what should not be considered Christian faith and practice in those kingdoms. But as a national religion, it made all its conquests in the century in which it arose; it has not taken a single advance step in that direction in the three centuries that have followed. Chambers' Cyclopedia gives the following truthful view of the real object of the Reformation, and of the mistake that was made in nationalizing Protestantism:--
"The symbols or confessions of the Protestant churches were not intended as rules of faith for all time, but as expressions of what was then believed to be the sense of Scripture. When, at a later time, it was sought to erect them into unchangeable standards of true doctrine, this was a renunciation of the first principle of Protestantism, and a return to the Catholic principle; for, in making the sense put upon Scripture by the Reformers the standard of truth, all further investigation of the Scripture is arrested, the authority of the Reformers is set above that of the Bible, and a new tradition of dogmas and interpretation is erected, which differs from the Catholic only in beginning with Luther and Calvin, instead of with the apostolic Fathers." Article Reformation. When Jesus said, "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36), he effectually shut out his gospel from becoming the authoritative religion of the kingdoms of this world. It was never intended that the things of God should be placed in the hands and under the power of Cesar (Matt. 22:21), or that the fear of God should be taught by the precept of men. Isa. 29:13,14. The object of the Reformation was hid, and its power was neutralized by religion being made subject to human authority, and the fear of God is taught, not by what the Scriptures teach, but by what a king or parliament may decide that they teach; and too often, by what they would be pleased to have them teach. The error of setting up Protestantism as a national religion--of modeling it after the Church of Rome as organized by Constantine--has borne its fruit, as might have been expected. It has tried to live on its nationality, and has failed. In 1842, Alexander Vinet gave the following view of its condition:--
"Three centuries of external life should not deceive Protestantism. It is now living on the first and vigorous impulse which it received in the sixteenth century. It lives on its political antecedents. It lives on the elements of nationality. But this impulse is exhausted. The beams of the frame-work are disjoined. The edifice is creaking on all sides. The accessory and auxiliary forces are leaving it. Protestantism remains alone and disorganized. No institution can exist in a disorganized state; no institution can long suffer an organization foreign to its principles. Protestants there are, but Protestantism is no more."
Arresting the investigation of Scripture by making religion subject to government control, binding the consciences of Christians by civil law, could not fail to turn it into a lifeless system of formalism. When Constantine took it upon him to reorganize the Christian church, he acted simply as a politician, anxious to preserve and strengthen the unity of his empire. Accordingly he took the general supervision of the church into his own hands. The Council of Nice was called by him to unite the various parties which were growing up among the churches, created by the efforts which were made to amalgamate the discordant philosophy of the heathen with the doctrines of Christianity. The decisions of the council became of authority only by the approval of the emperor. For centuries the emperor was considered the actual head of the church. The bishop of Rome, the chief in dignity of all the bishops, was elected under his direct notice, and was not ordained without his consent. The Council of Chalcedon was called by the Emperor Maurice, and its decisions were for a time much disputed, which caused the emperor to make the following proclamation:--
"He does injury to the judgment of the holy synod, who shall discuss or dispute the articles which were there rightly judged and disposed of; since those matters appointed by the bishops assembled at Chalcedon, concerning the Christian faith, were ordained by us, or were decided by our commandment; and those who despise this law shall be punished."
Thus it appears that the will and commandment of the emperor became the law of Christian faith in all the realm. The Christian conscience became subject to the State. Nothing could be more foreign to the will of the divine Head of the church, as laid down in the Holy Scriptures. But such of necessity is the nature, and such are the results, of national religion; and Protestantism was wrecked by following this example.
The true object and foundation of the Reformation is thus stated by the cyclopedia in the article from which we quoted:--
"That the authority of the Bible is supreme, and above that of councils and bishops; that the Bible is not to be interpreted and used according to tradition, or use and wont, but to be explained by means of itself--its own language and connection; . . . the doctrine that the Bible, explained independently of all external tradition, is the sole authority in all matters of faith and discipline, is really the foundation-stone of the Reformation."
The real, the only triumph of Protestantism was in giving the Bible to the people as the inspired word of God; as the sole and supreme authority in all matters of faith and life. But it is a fact to which we cannot close our eyes, that this foundation-stone has been removed. At this time, in the schools, in the ministry, in the religious journals, the idea of inspiration of the Bible is rejected and openly opposed. The following is the testimony of Edward Stapfer, author of a new French translation of the New Testament, and Professor of Theology in the Protestant College of Paris:--
"It has been said for a long time, and is perhaps said still, that the Reformation of the sixteenth century rested on two principles: justification by faith, and the authority of the Holy Scriptures. We think that justification by faith should alone be mentioned now. . . . We must acknowledge in all frankness--the belief in a direct inspiration of Revelation, making it of authority, has passed its time, and is no more held."
But what power can faith have, when the inspiration of the Scriptures is denied? Dr. Felix Kuhn, Lutheran minister, author of a "Life of Luther," for many years editor of the French Lutheran organ, Le Temoignage, said:--
"During the hundred years that we have been struggling with Rationalism, trying to mould the old gospel to the fashion of the day, we have, alas! succeeded in diminishing all things, curtailing everything. The old ideas do not correspond to the claims of our science, the new ones are as soon dead as born, and we stand to-day in the painful position of a large spiritual body which has only contradictory answers to give to a world seeking salvation."
Dr. Zahn, of Germany, wrote a book (which it has not been our privilege to see) which called forth the following words from Mr. C. Appia, a Lutheran pastor, in a review:--
"If, after surveying, with the author, the realms of politics, of theology, and of Christian life among the Protestants of our time, we again ask ourselves the question, 'What is the Protestantism of to-day lacking?' the answer, distinct and cutting, like the book itself, and which seems to arise from its perusal, is, that Protestantism is lacking everything. It has particularly shaken the faith in the word of God, and abandoned the true doctrine of justification by faith, without being able to substitute anything for the two solid foundations which it has tried to demolish."
To be continued….
