Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB
[blocks in formation]

WHEN SHALL WE AND ROME
BE FRIENDS?

ROMAN CATHOLICS often declaim against
Protestants for their honest aversion to
Popery, and taunt them with bigotry and
narrow-minedness; and liberal Protestants,
men who know not, care not, for the truth,
often chime in with Rome's whining cant of
liberalism, and denounce those of their fel-
low Protestants who have sounder principles
and clearer views on the subject of Popery
than themselves. But we must stand firm,
and learn to bear the gibe, the sneer, the
scoff. We must be true to Christ here, if
we would reign with Christ hereafter. Truth
is better than error-Protestantism is better
than Popery and Christ to be obeyed and
loved and honoured and preferred before
Antichrist. If Christ is on our own side,
and we are on his side, we need not fear.
The world may be against us; but he who
made the world, and rules the world, is for
us-" and who is he that shall harm you, if
ye be followers of that which is good?"

.

TEXTS FOR THE TIMES.

No. 2.

"Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong."-1 Cor. xvi. 13. "Take no heed unto all words that are

spoken."-Eccles. vii. 21.

"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good."-1 Thess. v. 21.

"There be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ.”—Gal. i. 7.

66

Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."-Matt. xv. 9.

"Take heed what you hear."-Mark iv. 24.

"Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines."-Heb. xiii. 9.

"Mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary to the doctrines ye have learned, and avoid them."-Rom. xvi. 17.

"Search the Scriptures."-John v. 39. "Which are able to make thee wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus."-2 Timothy iii. 15.

"The word of the Lord endureth for ever, and this is the word which by the Gospel is preached unto you.”—1 Peter i. 25.

"The power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth.”—Rom. i. 16.

NOTES OF A SERMON

BY THE REV. R. J. McGHEE,

Taken by Mr. R. H. Binden,
June 28th, 1843.

SUBJECT: THE CHURCH OF ROME ANTI-
CHRISTIAN AND IDOLATROUS.

but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son. Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father; but he that acknowledgeth the Son, hath the Father also."

When then shall we and Rome be friends? When light and darkness, truth and error, and all that is most opposite in nature, are united. When shall we cease to charge Rome with unholy and dangerous princi- TEXT-1 John ii. 22, 23-" Who is a liar ples? When she ceases to hold them. The language used by Baxter in his " Key for Catholics to open the juggling of the Jesuits," supplies a good answer to Roman Catholics who ask the question. "Renounce your treacherous principles, and we will cease to charge you with them. Let a General Council and Pope but decree the contrary to what the fore-cited Pope and General Council have decreed, or else do you (Roman Catholics) all declare that you think this Pope and Council erred; and then we will shake hands with you, for then you will either cease to be true Papists, or at least become tolerable members of human society? Why does not the Pope himself at least condemn these doctrines, if really he disown them? The case is too plain."

EXORDIUM.-Some persons suppose that the Man of Sin, as spoken of by St. Paul, has not yet been revealed, but that he is yet to arise in a person full of power and awfully blasphemous. They also deny that the head of the Papacy, in its succession, is included in the prophecy, or at all meant by the apostle. 2ndly. There are others who apply it to the Popes of Rome with undoubted certainty; and 3rdly, there are those in our own day (the Puseyites) who say that Rome is our mother and a true church. There must be some error in the views of those of the first class; for who dare limit the extent

of God's word? and who can say what shall or shall not be in futurity? All that we with any safety say is, that it applies to all equally who bear the marks specified by the apostle, writing under the direction of the Holy Spirit.

The second class includes some of the most pious and able divines of the christian church in every age. The marks of Antichrist are by them so clearly applied to the Church of Rome, as to leave no doubt as to the correctness of the assertion being undeniably true, This view does not exclude any other portentous form of Antichrist which may yet arise; for all are included by the great Inspirer who bear any semblance to the marks here laid down. The day of Pentecost was only a type of the entire fulfilment of the Prophet Joel's prediction; yet this was included. The return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity was only a figure of the accomplishment of the everlasting deliverance of the Israel of God from its earthly bondage; and the destruction of Babylon was only a type of the destruction of every nation guilty of the same sins as this proud, adulterous city.

The third class speak some truth as far as they themselves are concerned; for if they view Rome as a true church of Christ, then she is truly their mother; they, bearing her likeness, proving both to be of one common stock, and enclosed in a mutual embrace.

The God of heaven has written the name of the Church of Rome on her forehead, and all who assimilate to her, are of her, and must perish with her by the same destruction.

THE text is supposed by some, who wish to exonerate the Church of Rome from this charge of being Antichrist, as referring to two distinct parties. This cannot be. All are Antichrist who oppose Christ, and so must be deniers of Christ, and the liar here spoken of; for deniers are liars. It is our duty to denounce Antichrist as it appears in the Roman Church, and the double Antichrist as seen in the Church of England. At the same time, we should assure our beloved Roman Catholic friends of our love for them; exhort them to mark what we say, and ponder over what we prove, so that they may fly from the eternal doom awaiting all who are opposed to Christ.

1st. The Church of Rome is Antichrist as opposed to the Godhead of Christ.

The power of God in creation was far above our finite comprehension; but the uniting of the eternal Godhead with man

hood far transcends it all. His power was
not so fully exhibited then, as when God
became at the same time a man.
He was,
and is, the God-incarnate-the mystery of
godliness-God manifested in the flesh.

This was the masterpiece of Deity. It was impossible for God to exceed this work. It was his work alone. Then no wonder that angels and glorified spirits, and the hosts of heaven, should ascribe all the honor and glory, might and power, to the Lamb of God who sitteth upon the throne for ever and ever. This work stands alone, until another Saviour is found to die for man. If another is needed, then has Christ died in vain. See him in his birth-lifeministry-death-and triumph; he is not to be equalled. He left his ordinances in his personal absence-Baptism by water, and bread and wine to be used in his supper, as remembrances of him.

Now then, what does the Church of Rome with the Godhead of Christ? She takes a poor sinner-educates him as a priest, not out of God's love, but out of her own-he then comes forth; and what does he do?— He is to create his CREATOR!-God!! and this in obedience to the decrees of the Council of Trent. (Sess. 13, chapter 4.) "That by consecration the whole substance of the bread and wine is converted into the substance of the body and blood of Christ." And again, "That the whole and entire Christ exists under the species of the bread, and under every part of the species; and also under the species of the wine and its parts." In the first canon of the mass, it says, "That if any one deny that in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist are truly, really, and substantially contained the body and the blood, together with the soul and divinity, of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore not a whole Christ; but say that he is only in it in a sign or figure, or virtue; let him be damned." In canon 6, "If any one say that in the most holy sacrament of the Eucharist, Christ, the only begotten of God, is not to be adored with that worship called Latria, even the external worship, and therefore not to be venerated, either in a peculiar festive solemnity, nor according to the universal and laudable custom of the Holy Church to be carried about, or that it is not to be held up publicly to the people in order to be adored, and that its adorers are idolaters, let him be damned." Is not this Antichrist? third canon of the mass declares that only the appearance of bread and wine remain after consecration by the priest, and all are damned who assert the contrary. In the

The

litany of the mass, as found in their prayer The principle is found in 26th sess. of the books-" Catholic hours," page 110- -we Council of Trent on invocation, where all have the following, addressed to the bit of paste :

"Jesus, TREMENDOUS and life-giving Sacrament, have mercy upon us.'

"Jesus, made FLESH by the omnipotence of the word (of the priest), have mercy upon

us."

"Jesus, UNBLOODY sacrifice, have mercy upon us."

Awful and dreadful blasphemy! Is not this Antichrist? The absurdity of this dogma might be shown, but it is not now necessary. Here is a wafer: it is held in the hand: see, it is broken in twain: it is not two, but only one Christ. The separation, though by violence, gives no pain and sheds no blood! Yet Christ is whole and entire in every particle, and we are damned for disbelieving it. Break it again and again; cast the fragments to the winds, and yet Christ is not divided. Is not all this a proof she is Antichrist? [Mr. McGhee suited the action to the word with the wafer.] If the canon of the mass is false, then there is no Christ in it, and her dogma falls to the ground. If true, then the doctrines of Scripture are false and untrue.

The sixth canon proves her to be idolatrous. She calls upon all the angels and heavenly hosts to worship it-men are to bow down before it-all are to set their heart's affection on it, and to give it the supreme worship as unto the living and eternal Jehovah. Is not this idolatry?

2nd. She is Antichrist as opposed to the manhood of Christ.

It is certainly impossible for us to say whether Christ is to be more glorified by us, as God, or as God in human nature. He is God's fellow, and man's equal. He stands between the two. He has the right arm of Deity, by which he lays hold on the highest attribute of the Godhead, and an arm of manhood, by which he embraceth even his most humble servant and believer, though they be the most vile and despised by man-even a Lazarus, a thief, or a Magdalen; none are too mean for him. He who is the fellow of the most holy God, is also at the same time, bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh, for he is our Brother. He can lay his hand upon both. (See Zech. xiii. 7, and Heb. ii. 16.) What then does she with the manhood of Christ? She destroys its bessings by transferring its glories to the Virgin. She makes him a fierce judge, and not a Saviour--an avenger and not a mediator; and this by placing mediators between Christ and the sinner.

are to be instructed to fly to the Virgin and Saints for their prayers and assistance to appease the wrath of the Saviour. Now for her practice.

In a work of a saint, canonized by the present Pope Gregory XVI. in 1839, which work is declared by the Church of Rome as being without a single error, we obtain a knowledge of her practice of this principle. See "Glories of Mary," 3rd edition, p. 138, "All is subject to Mary's Empire, even GOD HIMSELF." At p. 190, "St. Anselm says, our prayers are more speedily heard in heaven by invoking Mary than HER SON."!! "St. Bernard says, if God should cast me off, I will throw myself at the feet of MARY his Mother." At p. 180 it says, "We read in the Chronicles of St. Francis, that brother Leo once saw in a vision two ladders, one red, at the summit of which sat Jesus Christ, and the other white, at the top of which was the Virgin, his Blessed Mother. He observed many who endeavoured to ascend the red ladder, after mounting a few steps, fell down, and on trying again were equally unsuccessful, so that they never reached the summit. But a voice directed them to make trial of the white ladder: they soon gained the top, the Virgin having held out her hands to help them."

Is not this Antichrist? But what saith the scripture-" Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you."-"Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out."-" God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that they might have life through his name."-" I am God, and besides me there is no Saviour" (Isa. 45.) Rome shuts out the Saviour; robs Christ of his glory, and denies his work and power. Mark what she says in the authorised work just quoted. Mary is all; God is nothing. Mary is powerful, and Christ powerless. Mary glorified, and Christ set at nought, and trampled under her feet. The devil himself could not exceed this. The present Pope in 1832, and since in a similar manner, says thus::"That all may have a successful and happy issue, let us raise our eyes to the most blessed Virgin, who ALONE destroys heresies! who is our greatest hope!! yea, THE ENTIRE GROUND OF OUR HOPE."!!! Is not this Antichrist?

3rd. She is Antichrist as opposed to the salvation of Christ.

This charge lies at the root of every one of her dogmas. The Gospel is of God alone. All is done by him: we cannot do

anything. He is the Lord our righteousness. He is our surety. We are under the curse of a broken law; but for us he obeyed, for us he died. "He bore our sins in his own body on the tree," &c. (See Isa. 53; Acts 2, Peter's sermon.) The whole system of Rome is built upon a corrupt notion of the Gospel, supposing it not to be true.

[ocr errors]

The office and acts of the priest are Antichrist. Christ, and him alone, is our great High-priest-he alone is our resting place -to him alone we turn. (Heb. vii. 16, to the end.) In Heb. x. the Apostle St. Paul proves that a sacrifice that needed to be often offered and repeated, proved "per se that the last one offered was insufficient. If then the offering of Christ was full and sufficient, it then needed not repetition: all offering for sin now by a sacrifice is Antichrist. The whole system of Rome is to propitiate for sin, and to make to God an atonement for transgression, which is nothing short of Antichrist. The office and and act of the priest in the mass is Antichrist. If any one, either in the Church of England, or the Church of Rome, offers or pretends to offer a propitiatory sacrifice to God, it is Antichrist. If Christ was to suffer again, it would be Antichrist; it would reduce the Bible to a fable, and destroy all our hopes of salvation. Christ by his last words declared all was "finished;" Rome says it is not. Is not this Antichrist? The mass-purgatory-merits-penances, &c.

are Antichrist.

In a book sanctioned by the National Board of Education of Ireland, directions similar to the following are given, as a means by which God appeased,-viz. by wearing hair cloth near the skin-falling at the feet of priests to confess your sinsmerits-tears-prayers, and such like: these

are enjoined, not as a duty, but as a means of earning salvation of God. The priest is as God in the mass and confessional; and the blood of Christ thereby counted an unholy thing. Is not this Antichrist? The directions given to the penitent attending confessional, as found in their prayer books, "Catholic Hours," and "Daily Companion," &c., is as impressive and declarative as though they were to confess to God himself.

4th. She is Antichrist as opposed to the word of Christ; by denying it to the laity, by corrupting it, and opposing it in theory and practice.

5th. She is Antichrist as opposed to the Church of Christ.

History teems with the records of her cruelty to the Church of Christ. All belonging to Christ are opposed by her. She is drumken; she is dyed scarlet with the blood of the saints and martyrs of Jesus. She has left her first husband-Christ, and become an adultress with another opposed to Christ. She is "the mother of harlots;" all the abominations of the earth are found in her. Let us then oppose her to the utmost. We must hate what God hates, and oppose what is opposed to him and his truth. Love and pray for all who differ with us; and let the remembrance of our past apathy and cold indifference move us onward now to duty, and oppose to the utmost this antichristian and idolatrous system of Rome.

If we had, as Protestants, done our duty, we should not now have had the necessity of opposing Popery within and without our National Church. Let us remember why we have an open Bible, and value its blessings, and maintain its precepts: then, and only then, are we able to wage war against every part of the great Antichrist, and overturn every species of idolatry.

[graphic]

THE ARK OF OUR SAFETY. IF the past, the present, and the future, taken of things as they are seen by the light could be centred into a moment, and a view of truth, what a melancholy picture would

It is not in Coventry that the 'sub tuum præsidium' of the Tablet will find objectors." Correspondent of the Tablet.

our own country at this moment present! In religion, in politics, we have gone astray? and perplexity and difficulty beset our rulers in church and state; our wonted stability and "The sub tuum præsidium of the Tablet and peace seems gone, and in a state of bewil- wants a little explanation. The Tablet has derment men are lost in wondering at the an image of the Virgin Mary with the Holy present crisis. Why have we thus weakness Child in her arms stamped upon it; and instead of strength; and turbulent discon- round this image is a motto in English and tent instead of peace? Why is the cry for Latin, Sub tuum præsidium confugimus, bread made to those who have it not? Why sancta Dei genitrix,' 'We fly to thy protecdo the famished thirst in vain? We have tion, O Holy Mother of God.' When this forsaken the ark of our strength-we have image and motto were first adopted, some forsaken the fountain of living waters. The Papists were offended at them, and said that ark of our strength was our Protestantism. England was not yet sufficiently far advanced Deserting that, like the dove deserting to endure such an exhibition of Popery; and Noah's ark, we find no rest. We may surely there was ground for such an appreproudly soar for awhile borne up by strong hension, for in this motto it is plainly aspinions, but each moment of our flight bears serted that a Papist desires the protection us farther from the ark; and when at length, of the Virgin Mary rather than of the Saviour while storms and clouds are gathering of men. But to return to the question, what around our church and nation, we would is Popery? We answer, that Popery at fondly return to the forsaken ark, there may Coventry (according to the Tablet's 'sub be no light left to re-direct our flight-no tuum præsidium' correspondent, we presume strength to secure it-the pall of night may the Roman priest) is the religion which has hide all our glory-our proud wings may two objects of Divine worship, viz., OUR fall fluttering upon the waters, and the dark LORD, wearing a crown and globe, by which abyss be the end of our ungodly policy. we suppose is meant that OUR LORD is King of EARTH; and OUR LADY, also wearing a crown, and carrying the sceptre, as Queen of HEAVEN; and that of these two objects of Divine worship the Papists of Coventry seek the protection of the latter rather than the former. Is it not high time to re-insert in our Liturgy, 'From the Bishop of Rome and all his detestable enormities, good Lord deliver us?'"

We make these few monitory observations with reference to Popery at Coventry; wherein we shall see how progressively we are departing daily from the true worship of God, and one by one fresh evils are flowing in, as a prelude we fear to more extensive mischief.

66

Popery at Coventry.-We are sometimes asked, what is Popery: and when we have answered, "It is a gross corruption of Christianity, which has added the worship of the Virgin Mary to that of the Redeemer," we have been called uncharitable. We have now before us the Tablet, containing the following notice of the Popish mode of celebrating the month of May in the centre of England:

Coventry. The month of May has been observed throughout with much fervour here. An altar was erected in the school, surmounted with a triptych of oak, finished within with stars and devices. Here stood an ancient image of our blessed Lady and Child, OUR LADY wearing a JEWELLED SILVER crown and wreath of STARS, and an azure robe powdered with stars; whilst OUR LORD wore a CROWN and globe, and Mary her sceptre as HEAVEN'S QUEEN.

*

The purifying and spiritualising influence of the devotions of this month, and the hallowed beauty of these scenes have penetrated deeply into the hearts of the poor, and have exercised a wide and attractive influence beyond the circle of the faithful.

TRACTARIANISM.

THE Protestant Association has adopted the
following memorial to the Dignitaries of the
Church on the subject of Tractarianism.
Desiring to contend earnestly for the faith
once delivered to the Saints, as it becomes
every man to do, they have felt it their duty,
in prayerful reliance upon the blessing of
the Almighty, to record their protest against
errors so nearly allied to Popery, and yet
held by the Clergy of a Protestant State,
and above all a Protestant Church.
happy also while writing on this subject, to
be able to inform our readers that a meeting
has been held at the Freemasons' Hall,
Lord Ashley, M.P. in the chair, to adopt an
address to the Chancellor, the Vice Chan-
cellor, and the Heads of Houses of the
University of Oxford, praying them to ex-
ercise their authority for the discountenan-
cing and suppressing Tractarianism.

We are

« ZurückWeiter »