February - the Free Presbyterian church of Scotland

34
The Free Presbyterian Magazine
ations – but the pure gospel is not proclaimed within easy reach of where
they live. There may be plenty churches in such an area, even in these days
when so many have closed down; but whatever church they might turn into,
there is no prospect of them being warned to flee from the wrath to come or
to lay hold of eternal life.
Christianity remains the national religion, but its exclusive claims are no
longer respected. Multi-faith worship is the order of the day on any national
occasion. No one seems concerned if Christianity is mocked, yet great care
is expected to avoid followers of a false religion, or those with no religion,
having their feelings hurt by hearing biblical truth. All this is symptomatic
of a spurious doctrine of equality. One religion is held to be as valid – or
invalid – as another, for this generation has largely lost sight of the ideas of
truth and falsity in religion, just as they have lost sight of the idea that God
has revealed Himself clearly and without error in the the Bible.
Because it has lost sight of the authority of God speaking in Scripture, the
nation no longer submits to the authority of the Ten Commandments. Though
the Christian Sabbath is the Lord’s Day, very few feel any responsibility to
keep it. The Seventh Commandment seems to be almost as much forgotten
as the Fourth; when there is no sense of God’s authority, adultery is not
viewed as a sin. And such is the influence of the homosexual lobby that
every effort is made to prevent the suggestion being heard that this unnatural
practice is sinful before God. Here is another example of spurious equality,
promoted by government and the education system.
A particularly serious feature of our situation is the relative absence of the
Holy Spirit. Even where the Word of God is proclaimed, little fruit follows;
few sinners are being gathered into the kingdom of God. That, above all, is
what should concern the people of God today.
Yet, in his desperately-sad situation, Jeremiah did not despair. In spite of
the desolations which had befallen Jerusalem, he could encourage himself
with the thought: “Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever, Thy throne from generation
to generation” (Lam 5:19). In spite of all that had happened, God still
reigned. Remaining the same for ever, He would always be in control of
events, however disturbing they might be to those who, like Jeremiah, were
utterly loyal to the true God.
We may not be able to understand God’s purposes in leaving His Church
in its present weak state, and allowing false religion, secularism and unbelief
to become as strong as they are, but we may take refuge in the fact that all
God’s acts are rooted in infinite wisdom. We may also look back on the
history of the past and conclude that God is visiting us in judgement because
of the unbelief and spiritual rebellion of several generations. Both Church