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"Take
Heed" Ministries
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Cecil Andrews, 29 Edengrove Park, Ballynahinch, BT24 8AZ, Northern Ireland Telephone/Fax 028 9756 5511. E-MAIL - takeheed@aol.com WEBSITE - http://www.takeheed.net Quick Links - Home - Assorted Articles - Audio/Video - Ministry Newsletters - Words of Wisdom |
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NEWS
FROM THE FRONT
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Sept 2010
"Be not afraid or dismayed by reason of this great multitude for the battle is not yours but God's" (2nd Chronicles 20v15)
Dear
praying friends,
As mentioned in my last 2 newsletters I have been
giving serious thought to the future strategy and functioning of ‘Take Heed’ in
the light of a number of relevant factors. As promised I am enclosing herewith
a further ‘personal letter’ that sets out my settled line of thought on these
issues – a line that I trust will still enable me to serve the Lord and His
people to the glory of His name.
In particular for those without
computers can I draw attention to the short letter that needs to be returned to
me requesting inclusion in a new mailing list being drawn up to enable me to
send out an annual ‘review’ letter.
Returning to this present newsletter, as you will
see, all but the last page has been devoted to an exposure of the ever present
challenge posed by The Papacy to the Lordship of the Lord Jesus Christ. As you
receive this newsletter, the UK will be on the brink of a visit by the present
Pope, Benedict XVI. In the 19th century Bishop J C Ryle wrote ‘We are
in imminent peril of re-union with Rome’ – considering the spiritual state of
the nation I think the ‘imminent peril’ could be described more as a ‘take-over
by’ rather than a ‘re-union with’ Rome. May ‘the candle’ for truth, lit by the
martyr Hugh Latimer, shine brightly in these days.
Your servant for Christ
CECIL ANDREWS
Pages
2-15: ‘Papal Pretensions’: Page 16: ‘Sunday Sequence’ emails:
Enclosure:
‘Personal letter’ to all.
Papal Pretensions
Normally when a Papal visit takes place it
has all the appearance of a well-oiled machine running very smoothly.
Meticulous planning and overwhelming acceptance usually appear to be the order
of the day. However, the Papal visit to the UK planned for 16th-19th
September 2010 appears to have encountered a number of planning difficulties
and certainly lacks overwhelming acceptance even to the point where a petition
was launched on the Prime Ministerial Downing Street web site calling for the
UK government not to use taxpayers money to substantially part-fund this Papal
visit.
According to a short article in the Daily
Express of 6th July
‘The Pope’s first UK visit in nearly 30 years
could cost taxpayers up to £12 million as it emerged yesterday that the budget
has spiralled by half… up to £4 million would need to be added to the £8
million government contribution’.
Radio
Ulster presenter, William Crawley posted the following on his ‘blog’ on 16th
July –
‘A 10
Downing Street petition critical of the Pope has been removed by Whitehall
officials more than three months before it was due to close. During the short
period it was online, the petition gathered 12,339 signatures’.
Part of the text of
the petition read as follows –
"We the undersigned
petition the Prime Minister to disassociate the British government from the
Pope's intolerant views ahead of the Papal visit to Britain in September 2010…
We also request the Prime Minister to assure us that the Pope's visit will not
be financed by the British taxpayer."
This ‘blog’ posting attracted many comments
and the following is particularly revealing of the reaction of many to what
happened
‘This seems like a serious attack on
the democratic process to me. A lot of important issues are raised in the
petition which the Government should deal with. What is the point of the
government allowing only petitions with which it agrees to run their proper
course? This attempt by the Government to silence the voice of Papal critics
could swell the numbers of those who will protest against the Pope’s
visit.
In addition to a clear lack of overwhelming
acceptance by the public to the visit the planning for the visit has also been
very far from smooth and in attempt to ‘get the act together’ Chris Patten,
former MP and a staunch Roman Catholic was drafted in to help with the
arrangements. The Daily Telegraph reported as follows on 4th June
2010 –
‘The former Governor
of Hong Kong and European Commissioner, who is now Chancellor of Oxford
University, will work with teams from the Roman Catholic church and the Cabinet
Office. As a Catholic as well as an experienced diplomat, ministers believe he
will be able to get the first ever papal state visit to Britain back on track
following a series of setbacks. One church insider described his appointment,
to be confirmed by Downing Street next week, as “inspired”, adding: “He is
liked by all sides and can be a bridge between the state and the church.”
Some of the
difficulties for the planned trip also emerged in the course of this article –
‘It emerged this week that key aspects
of the three-day tour in September could be scaled back or even cancelled if
the Church cannot raise the money needed, originally estimated at £7m but now
said to have doubled. The highlight of the trip was due to be the beatification
of England’s most famous convert to Rome, Cardinal Newman, before 200,000
pilgrims at Coventry Airport. But it is now possible that the Mass could take
place at a seminary near Birmingham in front of just 10,000. A prayer vigil was
meant to take place in Hyde Park but Royal Parks said no such event has been
booked’.
According
to the Roman Catholic Zenit news agency (28th July) Mr Patten gave
an interview with Vatican Radio on Monday 26th July during the
course of which he stated –
‘I am absolutely certain that all the
preparations undertaken by the government, local governments, the Episcopal
conferences of Scotland and England, will make the Pope's visit an incredible
success’… He acknowledged that the preparation of the Papal visit has been
more
complex than expected… Patten explained that to a degree, it is almost easier
to organize a visit of, for example, U.S. President Barack Obama, than a papal
trip, because with state visits of presidents there aren't the large events of
100,000 people or more at an open-air venue… He expressed the hope that the
visit will "ensure, I hope, that
the Catholic community and the faith communities are enabled to relate very closely
to the Pope at pastoral events and interfaith events," but that it
will offer "the opportunity to
demonstrate that the government of a largely non-Catholic country still has a
formidably large agenda to work with the Catholic Church, many of which the
government feels very strongly."… "When
we 'parade' the importance of this relationship we will perhaps even surprise
some people who were critical of this visit in the first place," he
added… Patten pointed out that there seems to be a certain religious
intolerance that "is particularly
directed at the Catholic Church because of the Catholic Church's prominence,
and longevity and self-confidence in asserting some basic truths."…
Patten explained also that some criticisms are due to the costs of the Papal
visit which, according to him, may cost up to £12 million… He asserted that Great
Britain's fiscal difficulties do not justify the closing of the country to the
rest of the world… He noted that it should be easier to transmit messages on
social justice, for example, given "the
interest of the younger generation in issues of
social equity."… He said he hoped "we
are able to get those messages across clearly," and that he's "not at all pessimistic."
As
mentioned, Chris Patten was Governor of Hong Kong and he personally oversaw the
handing back of that former British Colony to Chinese rule and control – I
wonder does he secretly hope that this latest appointment may play a major role
in The Vatican’s hope’s to ‘recapture’ their control of England that was lost
in the wake of The Reformation?
In
his June ministry newsletter entitled ‘Papacy
Set to Recapture England’ former Roman Catholic priest, Richard Bennett,
based in Texas, wrote –
‘However, while Henry VIII broke with Papal Rome
politically, he personally never got beyond Roman Catholic doctrine.
Nevertheless he came to see that he could use the growing Reformation movement
for his own political ends… Ever since Henry’s severance of English servitude
to the Pope, the Vatican has been intent to undermine the religious and
political influence of the Church of England and its monarch. The proposed
September 2010 Papal visit to the UK is no exception to this centuries-long
Vatican policy. By choosing to elevate John Henry Newman in a thoroughly Roman
Catholic ecclesiastical event at this particular time, Benedict is mounting an
offensive to demonstrate visibly to the world that the UK is being brought back
under Roman Catholic bondage… 477 years after Henry VIII opened the primary
conflict, comes the Pope officially as the head of a sovereign civil state, the
Holy See… But equally important he comes as head of the Roman Catholic Church
in order to re-establish Roman Catholicism as the religion of the UK… It is
also highly significant that the visit is to be exactly 450 years since
Catholicism, as the state religion, and the Pope’s authority were formally
removed from Scotland (The Pope is scheduled to spend most of the first day of
his visit in Scotland) Thus the Scottish
450th anniversary of abolishing Papal authority in their realm will
be dishonoured by a Pope reminding Britain of its “Catholic roots”… Benedict
XVI, a skillful politician, understands that England lost its sovereign status
in December 2009 when the Treaty of Lisbon went into effect. Little wonder then
that the second stage of the “beatification” of Newman has had to wait until
now… In the meantime, the Lord’s people need not be deceived by the enticing
spectacle that is to be paraded before the world in September 2010.’
The full text of
Richard’s article can be accessed via his web site on http://www.bereanbeacon.org/
In
the local UK context, thankfully as well as
‘secular’ opposition there has also been ‘spiritual’ opposition. The United
Protestant Council is I understand planning to hold public protests in both
Edinburgh and London and the Spirit of ’88 a London protest. The Protestant
Reformation Society is holding a 3-day conference on ‘The Papacy Today’ at Wycliffe Hall, Oxford from 24th-26th
August [DV]
with at
least 7 speakers scheduled to make contributions.
Here
in Northern Ireland both the Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Free
Presbyterian Church have issued very good statements outlining their positions
in response to the planned Papal visit.
The Reformed Presbyterian Church statement
said in part –
‘We must express
our dismay and sorrow at the proposed visit of Pope Benedict to the UK. We
regard his claim to be the Vicar of Christ on earth as false and eternally
ruinous to those who are deceived by it and who put their trust in it. We hold
no ill will to the Roman Catholic community. On the contrary, we desire their
highest and everlasting good… We consider the proposed visit to be a further
instance of the UK turning from the true Biblical Gospel of Jesus Christ’
The Free Presbyterian
Church statement said in part –
‘As Reformed Evangelical Protestants we totally reject
the arrogant and more importantly unscriptural titles and claims of the Pope. Those
claims, historically viewed as blasphemous by Protestant churches, mean that
his visit cannot be construed as simply pastoral. We publicly disassociate
ourselves from and condemn those church leaders who will welcome and meet with
him… Our supreme aim and overriding concern is to exalt the Only King and Head
of the Church, the Lord Jesus Christ. We will therefore, at this time, call all
people to a personal faith in the Saviour as the Only Mediator between God and
men’
Both
of these statements made reference to ‘lofty claims’ made for and by the Pope
and this brings me to the title of this article – ‘Papal Pretensions’ for ‘Pretensions’
are quite simply, according to Collins English Dictionary, ‘false claims to merit, worth or
importance’.
To
try and illustrate my own opposition to these ‘Papal Pretensions’ I want to refer to a debate that I personally
took part in back in 1998. It was held in Fresno, California and I partnered my
friend, ex Roman Catholic, Rob Zins, in 2 debates with 2 supposed former
evangelicals who had converted to Rome.
The
first debate centred on part of the wording of Paragraph 882 of the 1994 Catechism
of the Catholic Church. The salient portion of that paragraph for the
debate purpose reads as follows ‘the
Roman Pontiff, by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ, and as Pastor of the
entire Church has full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church, a
power which he can always exercise unhindered’.
Needless
to say both Rob and I stood opposed to the wording of this paragraph and I want
now to set out some extracts from what I said in that debate as I publicly
rejected these ‘Papal Pretensions’.
‘In
the proposal that is being considered tonight two specific claims are made. One
relates to a position within the
Church and the other relates to a power
over the Church. At the outset I
want to declare my outright rejection of this proposal and the claims contained
therein… I want to bring before you 2 things that the Scriptures PROHIBIT and 2
things that the Scriptures PREDICT.
Firstly
- The Scriptures prohibit ‘The THOUGHT
of the Papacy’ What I mean by my
use of the word ‘thought’ is the
idea or concept of The Papacy. The Scriptures on two counts reject the ‘thought’ of the Papacy. The
Scriptures reject firstly THE
PARTICULAR PRIESTHOOD that Rome claims is according to paragraph 1594
of the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH – “under the authority of the Pope,
successor of Peter.”
In
his magazine ‘The Sword and The Trowel’
of April 1867 Charles Haddon Spurgeon,
under the heading ‘Search the
Scriptures’ made the following points based on the teachings of the
Scriptures
1.
No person in the
Christian church, whether he be an apostle, an elder, or an evangelist, is ever
spoken of in the New Testament as a
PRIEST; nor do we find the most
distant allusion to the appointment of an order of PRIESTHOOD – I AGREE!
2.
For the work of
the ministry, Christ “gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some,
evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;” [Ephesians 4:11] but never do we
read of his giving PRIESTS – I AGREE!
3.
The Apostle
wrote Timothy and Titus particular directions relative to the appointment of
bishops, deacons, etc; but no mention is made of PRIESTS – I AGREE!
4.
The Scriptures
distinctly teach that all believers, by virtue of their union with the Lord
Jesus Christ, are made KINGS and PRIESTS
unto God, a holy and a royal priesthood, “to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ” [1st Peter 2:5&9; Revelation
1:6]– I AGREE!
5.
It clearly follows
that a humanly-appointed order of
priesthood is a deceptive invention of man, and directly opposed to the
teaching of Holy Scripture – I AGREE!
… Then
secondly, the Scriptures reject THE PAPAL POWER ascribed by Rome in her
Catechism to the Pope who is supposedly the successor of Peter.
When several of the disciples were debating about which one of them would
be the greatest, as we read in
Mark 9:34, we find the Lord Himself saying
“If ANY MAN desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of
all” and to emphasise the contrast between what the world considers greatness
to be and what God considers greatness to
be the Lord sets it out in the next chapter
– Mark 10:42-45 “ Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the
Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority
upon them. But so SHALL IT NOT be among
you: but whosoever will Be GREAT AMONG YOU, shall be your minister; And
whosoever of you will be CHIEFEST, shall be SERVANT of all: For even the Son of
Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a
ransom for many”. The very idea of one disciple ruling over all
others as happened in the Gentile world was totally rejected by no less a
person than the Lord Himself and He cited His earthly life and behaviour as a
pattern to be copied.
When a delegation needed to be sent to Samaria we learn from Acts 8:14 that Peter AND John were chosen
to go together and we learn from verses
15-17 that they ministered jointly – neither of them took a lead over the
other… At the Council of Jerusalem recorded for us in Acts 15, Peter is simply one of a number
of contributors and when the Council had ended, a statement was issued on
behalf of everyone and not on the authority of one individual – it was a joint
communiqué and not a ‘Papal bull.’
Peter
in his own epistles never alluded to possessing the position and power which
Rome has accredited to him and indeed his writings exude an aroma of apostolic
humility such as we find in 2nd
Peter 3:2 “be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets and of the commandment of US the APOSTLES of the Lord and saviour”
(and) 1st Peter 5:2-3 “feed
the flock of God which is among you taking the oversight thereof…neither as being
lords over God’s heritage”. The Scriptures, by their rejection of the Roman Catholic allegiance to a PARTICULAR PRIESTHOOD and to PAPAL POWER, clearly PROHIBIT ‘The THOUGHT of the Papacy.
Secondly
– The Scriptures prohibit ‘The TITLES Of The Papacy’. As
we come to consider this point let me begin by quoting Isaiah 42:8 where God Himself says “I am the Lord; that is MY name: and MY glory will I NOT GIVE to
another, neither MY praise to graven images.”
…
Only once in the Scriptures is the
expression “Holy Father” used and it
falls from the lips of the blessed Son of God as He prays to His Father in His
great High-Priestly prayer of John 17:11…
I have no doubt in my mind that the God of Heaven is OUTRAGED by this abuse of
a TITLE which belongs exclusively within the realms of HIS NAME. The Papacy has
sinfully dared to appropriate to itself a TITLE that belongs ALONE to GOD THE
FATHER.
In 1st Timothy 2:5 the Apostle
Paul declares unambiguously that “there
is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” – the
ONLY ONE who can bridge the chasm separating man from God is the Lord Jesus
Christ and YET, another TITLE claimed by the Pope is ‘PONTIFEX MAXIMUS’ meaning ‘the supreme bridge-builder.’
…
Referring again to the proposal before you tonight we find that this
UNSCRIPTURAL ROMAN PONTIFF is referred to as holding the office of VICAR OF CHRIST… The word VICAR
means ‘a personally appointed
substitute or representative.’ THE SCRIPTURES teach that GOD has his own ‘personally
appointed substitute and representative’ and he most certainly IS NOT THE
POPE IN ROME! God’s ‘personally
appointed substitute and representative’ on earth today is GOD, THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Lord Jesus
Christ promised the coming after His departure of “the Comforter which is
the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name. HE SHALL TEACH YOU ALL
THINGS” [John 14:26]. This promise of God’s personal presence through the
coming of the Holy Spirit, after the
ascension of Christ, is repeated a number of times such as John 15:26 and John 16:7-15.
It is clear that the Papacy has adorned itself with a TITLE
that belongs ALONE to GOD THE HOLY SPIRIT and overall the entire Triune
Godhead has fallen victim to the Scripture-contradicting ego of this Scripture
defying dynasty.
…
Taken overall, the TITLES assumed by the Papacy elevate
the holder of the office to a level equal to ALMIGHTY GOD… The Scriptures prohibit ‘The THOUGHT of the Papacy’ and the Scriptures prohibit ‘The TITLES of the Papacy’.
Moving
on now I want to bring before you 2 things that the Scriptures PREDICT. Firstly – The Scriptures predict ‘The TEACHING of the Papacy’. In John chapter 10:1 the Lord Himself makes this statement – “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that
entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber” Consistently over many centuries The TEACHING of the Papacy has served
to place the Papacy in the role predicted by the Saviour in the verse I have just
quoted – in the light of the truth of the Scriptures, the Papacy by its TEACHING has shown itself clearly to be “a
thief and a robber”. The One Who has been
robbed most and suffered the greatest loss through the TEACHING of
the Papacy is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
The
Scriptures teach that CHRIST ALONE was ‘immaculately conceived’ without
sin… Not only do the Scriptures teach
that CHRIST ALONE was ‘immaculately
conceived’ but the Scriptures also teach that CHRIST ALONE was “holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from
sinners” [Hebrews 7:26]…
However,
with full Papal backing as we have already heard, the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH, teaches in paragraph 493 ‘By the grace of God MARY remained FREE OF
EVERY PERSONAL SIN HER WHOLE LIFE
LONG’… unscriptural ROBBERY has just been carried out on the GLORIOUS
PERSON of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Papacy, by its TEACHING that we have just considered has effectively ROBBED CHRIST
OF HIS UNIQUE RIGHTEOUSNESS.
The
New Testament Scriptures teach clearly that CHRIST ALONE is the only REDEEMER and a good example is found in
1st Peter 1:18-19 “Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not
redeemed with corruptible things such as silver and gold, from your vain
conversation received by tradition from your fathers, But with the precious
blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot". These
verses teach that CHRIST ALONE is
the UNIQUE SINLESS REDEEMER and that
CHRIST’S BLOOD ALONE was the UNIQUE
ACCEPTED SACRIFICE. However as we examine various teachings emanating from
the Papacy we find that once more Christ has fallen victim to their expertise in asset or attribute stripping.
Pope
Benedict XV wrote in the early part of this century ‘Mary suffered and as it
were nearly died with her suffering Son… so we may well say that SHE WITH
CHRIST REDEEMED MANKIND’...
The
present (1998) Pope John Paul 2nd wrote in Salvifici Doloris ‘It was on
Calvary that MARY’S SUFFERING, BESIDE THE SUFFERING OF JESUS… was mysteriously and supernaturally fruitful
for the REDEMPTION OF THE WORLD’
The Papacy by its TEACHING has not only robbed CHRIST of HIS UNIQUE RIGHTEOUSNESS but it has
also robbed CHRIST of HIS UNIQUE
REDEMPTION
Not
content with robbing CHRIST of the unique attributes displayed by Him during
HIS RIGHTEOUS WALK and HIS REDEMPTIVE WORK whilst here on earth the Papacy by
its TEACHING also robs Christ of HIS
present HEAVENLY WORK. Paragraph 969 of
the CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH says in part – ‘Therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles
of ADVOCATE, Helper, Benefactress and MEDIATRIX’. Earlier I dealt with the
Scriptural truth that CHRIST ALONE
is the ONLY MEDIATOR between God and men so there is NO ROOM FOR A MEDIATRIX
despite paragraph 969.
What
about the teaching in this same paragraph 969 of MARY as ADVOCATE? Yet again the Scriptures totally reject this teaching for in 1st John 2:1 we read – “My little children, these things I write
unto you that ye sin not. AND IF ANY MAN SIN WE HAVE AN ADVOCATE WITH THE
FATHER, JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS”. CHRIST,
on the grounds of HIS UNIQUE RIGHTEOUSNESS, is accepted by God THE FATHER, as
the UNIQUE ADVOCATE on behalf of HIS REDEEMED PEOPLE.
The
Scriptures in John chapter 10:1 predicted
the coming of robbers and thieves and the TEACHINGS
of the Papacy confirm it solidly in these roles as over the centuries it has
progressively robbed Christ of HIS UNIQUE RIGHTEOUSNESS, HIS UNIQUE REDEMPTION
and HIS UNIQUE ROLES.
The
Scriptures predict ‘The TEACHING of the
Papacy’ and then SECONDLY the
Scriptures predict ‘The TRACK RECORD of
the Papacy’. The Scriptures clearly
predict a number of features which when taken together conform to what I have
referred to as The TRACK RECORD of the
Papacy.
The
first feature predicted is “THE MANY”.
In Matthew 24 the Lord Himself warns
His followers of DECEPTION and FALSE PROPHETS and He makes this significant
statement in verse 5 “For MANY shall
come in my name, saying, I AM CHRIST, and shall deceive MANY”…
Listen
to these words from Pope Pius 1X – ‘I ALONE have the mission to guide and direct the
barque of Peter; I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE’.
Referring
to this same Pius 1X the
report of proceedings for 9th January 1870 during the first Vatican Council contained these words – ‘The Pope is Christ in office, Christ in jurisdiction and power… we
bow down O Pius, as before the voice of Christ, the God of truth; in clinging
to thee WE CLING TO CHRIST’.
In
1890 the then Bishop of Laval [Monseigneur Bougeaud] wrote – ‘The Pope IS JESUS CHRIST hidden under a veil. He is as the host upon
our altars. The Pope is the second manner of the REAL PRESENCE OF JESUS
CHRIST’… SADLY,
there was a second ‘MANY’ predicted in that same verse – the ‘MANY’
who would be deceived by those we have just considered and they are the Roman Catholic people who from the 4th century onwards have been cruelly deceived by the Papacy and its claims.
The
second feature predicted is “THE MAN”. In 2nd
Thessalonians 2:3 Paul speaks of a “MAN
of sin” who will be “revealed” and
in verse 4 he details how this MAN will conduct himself – according to
Paul this MAN “opposeth and exalteth
HIMSELF above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, AS
GOD, sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that HE IS GOD”.
From
the 4th century onwards, history reveals the Papacy and we have already considered how Popes have readily and willingly allowed themselves to be referred
to with TITLES that truly belong ALONE to Almighty God – in so doing they
have ‘opposed God’ and ‘exalted themselves’ – just as the Scriptures predicted…
Pope Boniface V111 summed it all up with these words – ‘The Pope is of so great dignity and power that he constitutes one and
the same tribunal with Christ, so that whatever the Pope does, seems to proceed
from the mouth of God… THE POPE IS GOD ON EARTH’.
History
teaches that when expedient to do so the
Papacy exercised this God-like
Power and in his book ‘THE PAPACY’ [which
was awarded 1st prize in 1851 by the Evangelical Alliance in the UK – today’s Evangelical Alliance would probably shred it!] Rev.J.A.Wylie wrote – “History presents us with a list of not
less than 64 emperors and kings deposed by the popes.”
Some
may say that the Papacy has changed
and such things could never happen today – again I quote the Rev.Wylie who with great wisdom
cautioned his readers in these words – “though
the Church of Rome is [silent on her
claims meanwhile, we are not warranted to take that silence for surrender. They
are not claims renounced; they are simply claims not asserted.”
… The third feature predicted is “THE MARTYRS”. Revelation chapter 17 tells of a
foul/world-dominating religious system which is spoken of as “the woman…arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour” [verse 4] and in verse 6 we
read of “the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints and with the blood of the MARTYRS of Jesus”.
History
is littered with accounts of the bloody butchery inflicted on the true saints
of God at the instigation of the purple and scarlet bedecked Roman Catholic
Church. The following extract is from Halley’s
‘Pocket Bible Handbook’ – ‘Between
1540 and 1570 no fewer than 900,000 Protestants were put to death in the Pope’s
war for the extermination of the Waldenses. Think of monks and priests
directing, with heartless cruelty and inhuman brutality, the work of torturing
and burning alive innocent men and women and doing it in the Name of Christ, by
the direct order of the “VICAR OF CHRIST”.’
In
France on the night of August 24 1572,
thousands of Huguenots, including
most of their leaders were massacred in what became known as the St Bartholomew’s Massacre. Pope Gregory X111 commemorated this savagery by striking a medal which bore his
own image on one side and on the other side men and women were depicted being
slaughtered by an angel with a sword and a cross under the words ‘Massacre of the Huguenots 1572’…
Some
30 years after his death (John) Wycliffe
was condemned as a heretic by the Synod
of Constance [1415] and an order was made that his bones should be dug up,
burned and thrown into a river and a few years later that is exactly what
happened - not even the grave afforded protection against the wrath of Rome.
The ‘MANY’, The ‘MAN’ and The ‘MARTYRS’ – features
clearly predicted by the Scriptures
all find their fulfilment in The TRACK
RECORD of the Papacy.
Before
moving to a conclusion can I just add that the ‘MELTDOWN’ of the Papacy
is assured in the Scriptures for we
read in 2nd Thessalonians 2:8 of
the revelation of “that Wicked” –
and that is none other than the Papacy–
and Paul states that “the Lord shall
consume [it] with the spirit of his
mouth and shall destroy [it] with
the brightness of his coming”…
Tonight’s
proposal speaks of the Roman Pontiff being Pastor of and having universal power over THE ENTIRE CHURCH. In conclusion let me turn again to
some lines from THE PAPACY by the Rev. J.A.Wylie that sum up the grim reality – ‘The Church [so called] of Rome has no right to rank amongst Christian
Churches. She is not a Church, neither is her religion the Christian
religion…The Church of Rome bears the same relation to the Church of Christ
which the hierarchy of Baal bore to the institute of Moses…Popery is the gospel
transubstantiated into the flesh and blood of Paganism, under a few of the
accidents of Christianity’.
To
these thoughts I say ‘Amen’ and I count it a privilege, beyond measure, to have
been allowed by Almighty God Himself to stand here tonight to reject this
proposal that exalts ANTI-CHRIST at the expense of MY SAVIOUR, THE LORD JESUS CHRIST.
As
stated earlier, these have just been some extracts of my presentation at the
debate in Fresno in 1998 – if anyone would like to receive the full text of
what I said that night, if they contact me, I would be happy to send to them, a
photocopy of my entire discourse.
Rome
has not and cannot change – she still has her sights set on world domination
and this upcoming visit to the UK is just one more manoeuvre in her
centuries-long strategy to achieve that goal.
Recently
I was sent by email some comments written by Peter Radcliffe, editor of the
English Churchman newspaper and I think they are fitting as a conclusion to
this article on ‘Papal Pretensions’ –
‘Some
nations are full of temples and idols. The 16th Century Protestant
Reformation freed England from this and established freedom within biblical
law. The Queen plans to welcome the chief fraudster, the Pope, to perform his
deceitful Mass and his pretentious saint making miracle. Supposedly here as an
Apostle, the Pope brings a curse of superstition to our once blessed land. He
fills the void left by atheism and multiculturalism. The latter is just a spin
word for the superstition of polytheism that is so barbaric and hopeless. The
Pope’s idolatry thrills the natural carnal self-righteous sinner who will not
repent.
APPENDIX
Two Timely Publications
The
British Church Newspaper of 30th July carried reviews of two
publications relevant to this upcoming Papal visit. The titles, prices and some
extracts from each review are as follows –
Pope Benedict XVI and the United Kingdom
‘This
book… consists of articles by ministers and elders of the Free Presbyterian
Church of Scotland with the insertion of a concluding article by Dr D L Dabney
(1820-1898). The book is both informative and thoughtfully written… In their
articles the contributors bring before us the falseness of Roman Catholic
teaching… It was appropriate to conclude with Dr Dabney’s article as it could
easily have been written about the situation in the UK today’.
Available from:-
Free Presbyterian Publications, 133 Woodlands Road,
Glasgow;G3 6LR
Price £5.00
John Henry Newman:
Becoming
Rome’s first ecumenical saint:
By former priest Richard Bennett and
Spirit of ’88 director Michael de Semlyen
‘This
timely booklet seeks to tell us what John Henry Newman, Rome’s most high-profile
British convert, really believed… The first part reveals the confusion in
Newman’s thinking. False religion is always confusing… So, amidst the
confusion, the authors wisely focus on the two central issues – Justification
by faith alone and the idolatry of the Mass… Newman was an evil man whose feet
stumbled upon the dark mountains. It is a gross affront to our country that the
papacy should presume to put him of all people on a path which is designed to
make him the leading English saint… this booklet is a must’.
Available from
Dorchester House Publications
PO Box 67, Rickmansworth, WD3 5S
Price £2.00
Extracts of my ‘open email’ sent 11th July to
William Crawley –
presenter of Radio Ulster’s ‘Sunday Sequence’ programme:
… as
regards your programme, Sunday Sequence, currently being broadcast, thus far I
have caught part of the discussion on 'evangelism', the item on the Anglican
rejection of an amendment by their 2 leading Archbishops and the interview on
the upcoming Roman Catholic beatification of J H Newman. Do you really
appreciate what a non-programme for Christians this Sunday Sequence has been?
1. The
discussion on 'evangelism' featured an atheistic humanist, an active Jew
and a Roman Catholic Bishop but NO faithful Christian/Biblical input.
2.
The Anglican item majored on 'women bishops' and the 'gay' Jeffrey John
controversy with again NO faithful Christian/Biblical input on either subject.
3.
The Newman beatification item again had NO faithful Christian/Biblical
perspective but focused rather on the whole ridiculous,
unscriptural notion that an earthly, non-Christian organisation [The
Vatican] can 'create' saints…
This
programme and many of its predecessors speak volumes about the spiritual
standing of all involved… and demonstrate the blatant BBC antipathy towards
faithful Biblical Christianity.
Extracts of email reply from (Rev) Bert Tosh, producer.
Sunday Sequence
is a programme which deals with a wide range of religious and ethical issues -
about which there can often be a considerable variety of opinion. It is
broadcast to a general audience which includes people of many religious faiths
and those of no faith. It has never been and, for practical reasons, could not
be the policy of the programme to attempt to include every theological opinion
on all of the subjects under discussion. It may be worth noting that the 11
July programme included an interview with Professor David Wenham… an
evangelical Christian, who defended the integrity of the Pauline letters… The
report on Protestant identity also included evangelical Christians, such as
Jeffrey Donaldson MP… The item on
marriage… was an interview with an advocate of traditional Christian marriage… Thank
you for writing with your feedback on this edition of Sunday Sequence.
Extracts from my email reply sent to (Rev) Bert Tosh.
My
problem was not that there were no items with input from a faithful Christian/Biblical perspective… but rather that in
the items I mentioned in my email the faithful Christian/Biblical
perspective was either totally ignored or, particularly in the ‘evangelism’
panel discussion, it was identified and dismissed out of hand. ‘The broad road’ was trumpeted
triumphantly by all 3 contributors and ‘the
narrow road’, taught clearly by the Lord Himself, was ridiculed and
rejected out of hand by all 3 contributors. This unbalanced bias against the
faithful
Christian/Biblical perspective is a
regular feature of many items included in Sunday Sequence and hence my
assertion about what a non-programme
for Christians it has become.
‘Personal Letter’
included with September 2010
‘News From The Front’
Dear
friends of ‘Take Heed’,
As promised in the letter enclosed with
the March 2010 newsletter I am setting out what I see as the way forward for
myself and ‘Take Heed’ [DV].
Firstly, in relation to my health, can I say that thankfully the blood
condition is not as some people feared, leukemia, but is rather a condition
known as thrombocytopenia.
It affects blood platelet levels – when they’re normal
I’m fine but when they drop I’m tired and over the years I’ve learned to live
with it. Currently I’m not on any medication for it but my blood values are
regularly monitored to check if any intervention would be required.
Now, in relation to future strategy and functioning, I read an article that spoke of “the developing trend of gradual retirement or
part-tirement… Clive Bolton, at-retirement director for Aviva Life, says:
‘Gradual or part-tirement appears to be a very real choice for many older
people rather than the traditional rigid retirement age’.”
I liked this concept
of “part-tirement”
and so I think that
will be the direction that I will steer for both myself and ‘Take Heed’ [DV].
What
does that mean in practical terms? Well, as I mentioned in my earlier letter,
with increasing computerisation there is now a ‘decreasing need for the
printed circularisation of information’. That being the case I plan [DV] to issue just
one further ‘News From The Front’ in December 2010.
However, for those without computers, I would plan to
offer to send a ‘review’ letter each December [from 2011 DV] to those wishing to maintain their link with ‘Take
Heed’.
For those interested, enclosed is a
request form asking for inclusion in the mailing list for this new annual
ministry ‘review’ letter.
Over the years I have been privileged to host visits
by many gifted speakers but such visits will also be discontinued as they are
particularly ‘draining’ both physically and otherwise. However, despite
discontinuing these aspects of ministry, I hope [DV] to continue
the watchman work of ‘Take Heed’ as follows
- The
ministry web site of www.takeheed.net will
be maintained and articles added as I’m led by the Lord to write. [For those who do not have computer access to
the web site, if they have a ‘computerised’ friend or family member, then
that person could ‘subscribe’ (no cost involved) via our web site to
receive automatic notification of any new articles added].
- I will
still be available to ‘field’ the many telephone, email and letter inquiries
for information and also to speak in churches/fellowships etc.
- Again I
will still be available to contribute to radio debates and programmes
should any such invitations be received.
This then represents my thinking on “part-tirement”
and in closing I would once more covet your prayers for Margaret and me at
this time of transition.
With all good wishes in
Christ
Cecil Andrews
Request form for inclusion in new
mailing list for annual review letter
Dear Cecil,
I should like to be included in
the new mailing list to receive your annual ministry ‘review’ letter to be
issued each December from 2011 [DV].
Yours in Christ
Name:____________________________
Address:__________________________
__________________________________
Telephone
No:____________________________
This
signed request letter
should
then be posted to
“Take Heed” Ministries
PO Box
13,
Ballynahinch,
Co Down
BT24 8AL
Northern
Ireland