03. CHAPTER 2.
CHAPTER 2.
PARTIAL APOSTASY FROM THE GOSPEL — PRETENSES OF THE CHURCH OF ROME AGAINST THE CHARGE OF THIS EVIL EXAMINED AND REJECTED.
APOSTASY from the gospel can be either total or partial. We have discussed the former as a grave and prominent example. When individuals deliberately and maliciously (because they cannot do it deliberately without doing it maliciously) renounce Jesus Christ as a deceiver and criminal, and side with the Jews who crucified him, they enter that portion of hell and darkness that is specifically reserved for this sin. It would be preferable for these individuals if their guilt was no more severe than that of those who actually "with wicked hands slew him and hanged him on a tree." However, by disregarding all the means of conviction and evidence of truth that God provides in this world, they position themselves outside of that divine mercy and pardon that some of the others experienced. Many people in the world today, with evil hearts and blinded minds, pursue carnal desires and willingly and obstinately embrace Islam, openly renouncing Christ and the gospel. These individuals have nothing left but "a fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour the adversaries."
I am not suggesting that all individuals who are driven to this abomination are subject to the same dreadful fate since there may be various circumstantial differences that, while not changing the nature of the crime, could result in different outcomes. Alleviating circumstances, such as unexpected temptations accompanied by fear and terror that disrupt the influence of light and conviction of truth, could provide an exemption from a decretory determination under this verdict. Moreover, other cases may also be accompanied by such mitigating circumstances that, while preserving their minds and souls from wilful malice, provide room for the exercise of sovereign grace. I personally knew someone, and even conversed with him and assisted him in his spiritual pursuits, who turned to Islam while in India, was actually initiated into their superstitions through circumcision, and lived in this belief for a year or two. Yet, he was genuinely brought back to repentance and died believing in the Son of God.
Partial apostasy refers to any act or behaviour that reflects a certain degree of the nature of total apostasy. Even if it is to a lesser extent, it adds to the guilt of crucifying and shaming the Son of God again. This is because it is only in His gospel and church that Christ can suffer from men now. If an important principle of the gospel is abandoned or renounced, especially if many are forsaken, if the obedience required by the gospel is habitually neglected, or if people believe differently and live differently from what it requires, it constitutes partial apostasy whose guilt and danger correspond to the degree and extent to which it is committed. This is what we can accuse, and what the Lord Christ in His Word accuses, of every nation on earth where the gospel is publicly professed. People tend to be satisfied and pleased with their own condition, where they have found their own rest and contentment. Churches are content with their external structure and practices, particularly when accompanied by worldly benefits, and they vehemently argue that everything is well, and the gospel is sufficiently adhered to as long as their external structure is maintained and their laws are upheld. The world is filled with endless disputes about these things, in which most people aim for nothing more than success in their specific disputes. Only a few remain who fruitlessly complain that under all these conflicts, the glory, power, and purity of Christian religion are lost in the world. It is known that Christ’s judgment concerning churches and their good or bad spiritual condition is often very different from their own judgment of themselves. It was not only for their sake, but also as a warning to all others in all ages, that it was recorded for all eternity that when the church in Laodicea declared without hesitation that she was "rich and increased with goods, and had need of nothing," the Lord Christ, "the Amen, the faithful and true witness," declared her to be "wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked." The fact that things are not in a better state in many, if not most churches in the world today, is too evident to be denied with any claim to reverence for the Word of God, and this will be demonstrated later.
Certainly, the Lord Christ may say to the churches and nations where his name is still acknowledged in the world what God said long ago about the Jews, who were then his only church: "I planted you like a choice vine from the very best seed. How did you grow into degenerate wild vines?" (Jeremiah 2:21). To most of them, he might say what was said in another place: "How the faithful city has become a prostitute! She was once filled with justice and righteousness. Now murderers roam her streets. Your silver has become dross, your wine is diluted with water" (Isaiah 1:21-22). The enormity of the evil complained of, the secret mystery of its accomplishment, the unreasonableness, folly, and ingratitude of the act, and the strangeness of the event make the complaint an object of wonder. Indeed, if a person reflects on the nature of the gospel and the benefits it brings to humanity, they cannot help but be amazed to find so many people so quickly weary of it and so ready on all occasions to abandon it. For future glory and blessed immortality are only attainable through it, and all true freedom, tranquility, peace, and blessedness that our nature can experience in this life are communicable to our souls through no other means. In short, everything of advantage in any gracious communication from God to us, without which we are nothing but the worst and most malignant product of sin and misery, is confined to the gospel and its contents. Therefore, the carelessness of people in neglecting it and their wickedness in abandoning it, whether in its principles or obedience, can be justly expressed as God does in the lesser instance of the apostasy of the Jewish church: "Has a nation ever changed its gods, even though they are not real? But my people have exchanged their glorious God for worthless idols. Be amazed at this, heavens; be shocked and utterly appalled" (Jeremiah 2:11-12). And yet, as we shall later show, this is how it is among the majority of those who are called Christians in the world. The Roman Catholic Church vigorously asserts its exemption from this accusation by virtue of special privilege. However, it is not an internal privilege of efficacious grace in their minds and wills to preserve them and everything that belongs to them in saving faith and obedience, which alone constitutes compliance with the gospel. Instead, it is an external privilege of indefectibility that supposedly keeps them in the state required by the gospel, though they know not how, but as it were, whether they want to or not!
There is no party or society of people under heaven that can use this excuse without violating common decency, considering the obvious facts to the contrary. Just like the prophets accused the Jews of apostasy from the law and its required obedience, threatening destruction for their sins, they defended themselves against a conviction of guilt and fear of punishment with an unreasonable, even outrageous confidence in church privileges, which they not only appropriated but confined to themselves, shouting, "The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these." They believed this was enough to refute the prophets’ accusations, to vindicate their innocence, and secure their peace. The prophet’s reply to them would equally apply in both cases, "Behold, you trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you know not; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my name, and say, We are delivered to do all these abominations?" Jeremiah 7:8-10. A plea of innocence and hope of impunity, under an evident guilt of the highest immoralities and the vilest of superstitions, is equally foolish and impudent. The same has happened to the Church of Rome, as it did to the one from whom she falsely claims to derive her incredible privilege of indefectibility. When our Lord Christ prophesied that all men would forsake him, he alone undertook, with the greatest confidence and in a unique manner, to the contrary for himself. But all the prerogative that he claimed was only that when all the other disciples forsook their Master and fled, as he had predicted, he alone forsook him and denied him. And this impossibility of failing, which this church appropriates to itself as its unique and incommunicable privilege, has possibly been a means of, but certainly is accompanied by, a particular apostasy above all other churches in the world. Nothing can be more vain in itself, nor more detrimental to the souls of those who are under the power of such an idea, than this claim when all facts testify openly to the contrary. The principal nations of its communion are now involved in fierce, bloody, and unjustified wars, which are accompanied by a convergence of all those evils and wickednesses that tend to make mankind sinful and miserable. Is this the love and peace that ought to exist among the disciples of Christ, according to the gospel rule, and without which they cannot have any evidence in themselves or give any testimony to the world that they are so? Does this answer the promises to be fulfilled in the days of the Messiah, Isaiah 2:2-4, or the countless precepts given by Jesus Christ himself regarding unity, love, and peace? "But wars," they say, "are lawful, and so no argument that those engaged in them are revolters from the rule of the gospel." I say, it may be so, but it is much safer to judge all wars as unlawful than to justify all the wars that are raging in Christendom or to suppose that they are consistent with the rule or doctrine of the gospel. Many things must concur to reconcile any of them with the obedience we owe to the Prince of Peace, and none of them are of such a nature or necessity that they could not have been prevented if the gospel had its proper effect on the minds of all who are called Christians and its due authority over their consciences. Nevertheless, in a church that claims not to have fallen away or apostatized from the evangelical rule, it is reasonable to expect a different representation nor doth the present state of things amongst them answer the various promises of the communication of the Holy Spirit, with his gifts, graces, and effects, which were to accompany the profession of the gospel.
Furthermore, the majority of those who adhere to the beliefs of the church, as well as many of those who lead it, live lives that openly contradict the teachings of the gospel. It can be said of them, as one of them said of a part of the New Testament, "Either this is not the gospel, or we are not true Christians." In essence, if the kingdom of Christ, which was once a realm of light, truth, and holiness; characterized by separation in principles, affections, and behavior from the world; communion with God and loving-kindness among men; and righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, can become, and has become, a kingdom of darkness, pride, ignorance, ambition, persecution, blood, superstition, and idolatry, then only in that sense can it still exist among them, and they have not deviated from its laws and governance.
Moreover, the behavior of the majority of those who belong to and lead that church is in direct contradiction to the rule of obedience laid out in the gospel. One could generally say of them, as one person said of a section of the New Testament, "Either this is not gospel, or we are not Christians." In summary, if the kingdom of Christ, once a kingdom of light, truth, and holiness, characterized by separation in principles, affections, and conversation from the world, communion with God and loving-kindness among men, righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, can become and has become a kingdom of darkness, pride, ignorance, ambition, persecution, blood, superstition, and idolatry, then it only visibly remains among them, and they have not apostatized from its laws and governance.
However, they can easily absolve themselves of the guilt of this accusation, for even though the aforementioned things are partially acknowledged (why deny the sun shines at noon?), the peace, love, unity, holiness, and righteousness that should be present in the church according to the gospel are found among them on other grounds. The whole church and all its members agree and are united under one head, the pope of Rome, which is the only evangelical unity required of Christ’s disciples. Moreover, the holiness of worship, the saints who have been among them, their current retired devotionists, and the generosity of many, demonstrated through acts of piety and charity, sufficiently answer the sanctification, holiness, and love, the conformity to Christ in heavenly-mindedness and obedience that the gospel demands. However, this is only an account of the true nature of the apostasy of the latter times, which the apostle foretold in 2 Timothy 3:1-5, "In the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." Under the influence of the most disgusting and outrageous lusts, people create an external shape, image, and representation of holiness. They delineate a form of religion by replacing other things in its place instead of its life and substance, which are lost. Christianity’s power is openly denied in their behavior, which is driven by all those lusts that are contrary to it. The grace of God in the gospel teaches those who receive it to "deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts and to live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world." People cannot renounce this more completely than by being "foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving diverse lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another." Such people are far removed from being "saved by the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit." When people live in this state and condition, which is a complete denial or renunciation of the power of godliness or religion, if they create a scheme, form, and appearance of it to fill the absence of it by applying the names, offices, and properties of gospel effects to outward, lifeless duties or their appearances, the predicted apostasy is entirely accomplished. This is to let David go, and to foist an image covered with goats’ hair in his stead; or at best, like Rehoboam, to make brazen shields in the room of those of gold taken away by Shishak. No otherwise doth the church of Rome deal in this matter. The power of faith, love, peace, holiness, conformity unto Christ, self-denial, and all the principles of a heavenly conversation, being lost and denied among the generality of its members, and all the real glory of Christianity thereby forfeited and despised, they have set up a form or image of it, wherewith they content themselves, and attempt to deceive others. Instead of that mystical, spiritual union with himself and among themselves which Christ prayed for and purchased for his disciples, they have substituted the morphosis or mormo of an agreement in professing subjection to the pope of Rome. For that heavenly love of one another in him, and for his sake, which he renews the souls of believers unto by his grace, we are presented in their profession with outward works of charity and bounty, measured and valued by the advantage which redounds unto the principal actors in this show. Peace (the great legacy of Christ unto his followers) with God in their own minds, with the whole creation not shut up under the curse, that comprehensive grace and mercy wherein is comprised all the blessedness which in this world we can be made partakers of, is preserved in the flourishing prosperity and temporal successes of the court of Rome. The internal, effectual operations of the Spirit of grace have the outward dispensations of ordinances shuffled in their place and stead; regeneration is baptism; growth in grace is episcopal confirmation; the application, by faith, of the blood of Christ, once offered in a holy sacrifice for us, must give way unto the daily sacrifice of the mass offered for the sins of the quick and the dead; disciplines and some outward bodily severities must supply the place of the mortification of sin, the power whereof is never more lost and denied than it is under the highest external pretenses of it. So the whole work of the Spirit as a Spirit of grace and supplication in the church must be, and is unto themselves, satisfactorily represented by reading, saying, chanting with voices and musical instruments, prayers and praises invented and composed by they know not whom, and in a language which the most of those who are obliged to comply with them understand not at all. And even the worst aspect of their image is in what they have chosen as the portrayal and representation of the rule and discipline of Christ in the gospel; for, instead of embracing that humble, holy, meek, diligent attempt to keep all the faithful in obedience, love, unity, and fruitful living, by applying the commands of Christ to their souls and consciences through his Spirit, and with his authority, they have established a worldly domination over God’s people. In this exercise, more force, fraud, extortion, oppression, violence, and bloodshed have been committed than possibly in the secular government of any tyrannical state in the world.
Other instances of a similar nature could be given. This is that "morofwsij thj eusebeiaj," or "alhqeiaj thj kat eusebeian," that figure and representation of evangelical truth and holiness by which these people seek to justify themselves and conceal from others that apostasy from the gospel which their predominant lusts have led them into and still hold them under, just as it was prophesied to occur in the latter days.
They argue that, regardless of how others may view their prevalent evils, which appear inconsistent with the gospel’s teachings, the promise of the Spirit to guide into all truth is not only granted to them but confined to them, so that they are eternally secured in faith and belief, despite any other failings they may have. If they could prove this claim, it would settle all the disputes between us, as I see it. If they could show that they alone inherit the promised Spirit of Christ, exclusively from all others, that he dwells, resides, works, and guides in and among them alone, then we would concede the argument to them. But their claim is ineffective and contemptible, for it amounts to nothing more than this: they are "the church," and the promise of giving the Spirit is made and fulfilled to them alone. This only begs the question that is at the heart of the dispute between us, and it leads to endless disputes. If, on the other hand, they argued that they are the only church of Christ because they alone enjoy the promise of the Spirit, the assertion would be undoubtedly certain, for it is the presence of Christ by his Spirit that gives being or existence to the church. The truth of the assertion could easily be determined by examining whether the Spirit resides with them in a unique way. When those of the Church of Rome can prove that they enjoy such gracious operations of the Spirit as no one else does, or that they are furnished with such spiritual gifts, either ordinary or extraordinary, that no one else has, they shall not only free themselves from the charge of any dangerous apostasy from the gospel but also have all that their hearts can wish.
However, this claim has been proven false numerous times through various means of proof in examining causes and effects. It has been demonstrated undeniably that no such promise was ever exclusively made to them, much less with the security they imagine. In fact, in practice, instead of being "led into all truth," they have departed from almost all truth. Therefore, there is no need to insist on this claim again. Furthermore, such a promise is completely incompatible with the glory and honour of the gospel of God. The word of the gospel, that is, the truth contained therein, is the only external instrument for reconciling sinners to God and for them to walk in obedience to his glory. It has no other purpose. Granting the possession of this truth irrevocably, without producing the desired effect or continuing it when it is not produced, is not consistent with other fruits of the wisdom of God in the dispensation of his grace. As for the gospel, the nature of its doctrine, will, and may be interpreted by its fruits and effects in the lives of men. Granting them the assurance of its truth based on a condition of sin and continuing to be in a state of enmity with God exposes the doctrine and obedience contained in it to just criticism and reproach.
Therefore, despite these and any other claims of a similar nature, we can safely proceed to demonstrate how the majority of Christians have partially departed from the gospel, and we can examine the ways, means, causes, and reasons behind it.
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