Comment By Torchlight

Clerical Heresy

Last month a Cambridge vicar was reported to have made certain statements on the nature of our Lord's humanity which are too horrible to reproduce here. According to him, the same sinful passions which are common to mankind were present in the incarnate Christ. The Dean of St. Paul's said that many people would be upset by these reported statements, which have not been denied. He gave a public rebuke to the vicar, and went on to say that it may not be long, in view of the contemporary mood, before someone suggests that our Lord was a drug addict!

What mystifies many is how a Church of England vicar, who has pledged himself to uphold Christian doctrine, can continue in his office while giving public expression to such blatant heresy. Such statements are not only irresponsible but they have grave consequences. The current mood is to condone and even to legalize sin, and certain clerics seem determined to get "with it". Isaiah's words come to mind:

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that

put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put

bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5.20).

The perfection of our Lord's humanity is basic in Christian doctrine. It is true that in all points He was "tempted like as we are" (Hebrews 4.15), but He "did no sin" (1 Peter 2.22), He "knew no sin" (2 Corinthians 5.21), and "in Him is no sin" (I John 3.5). The witness of the Holy Spirit through the apostles, who observed that sinless life at close quarters, must be set over against the irresponsible chatter of a certain Cambridge vicar.

Nuclear Hazard

According to a statement by Dr. Ecobesco, at the 17-nation Disarmament Conference held at Geneva in August last, the atomic stockpile of the world's five nuclear Powers is now big enough to allow one nuclear bomb to be dropped every day for the next 140 years! Each bomb would contain the equivalent power of all the explosives used by all sides in the six years of the second world war. Dr. Ecobesco said today's "standard" 20-megaton bomb was 1,000 times more powerful than the one dropped on Hiroshima 22 years ago, and could "wipe the world's largest cities off the face of this earth".

The contemplation of such a concentration of destructive power staggers the mind, and must be a constant anxiety to world statesmen. Man's inventive genius has placed a fearful legacy in his hands. The argument that the presence of such devastating weapons in the world is preventing a third world war may well have some force at present. But what an exposure of the bankruptcy of human politics! And what of the future? According to the prophetic word, a man will arise one day who will employ every' means to attain his ambition to be a world dictator. No humanitarian scruples will deter him, "his power shall be mighty and he shall destroy wonderfully" (Daniel 8.24).

Thanks be to God, the time will come when,

"They shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more" (Isaiah 2.4).

But before that glorious day, at the coming of the Son of Man, judgement must fall on the nations and sweep away their armaments and all their evil designs.

Nigerian Turmoil

As we write, civil war extends and tribal violence erupts ill troubled Nigeria. This is a sad disappointment to many who had high hopes that Nigeria would set an example of stable government in Africa. Much prayer is being offered that some way may be found to reach a just settlement of the dispute before the situation deteriorates further. At present the prospect is bleak, but nothing is too hard for the Lord. We urge fervent and continuing prayer by God's people that peace may be restored, that native Christians be preserved and that the spread of the gospel may not be hindered.

Continue steadfastly in prayer

The following is culled from George Muller of Bristol, by Dr. A. T. Pierson:

"One is constantly reminded in reading Mr. Muller's journal that he was a man of like frailties as others. On Christmas morning (1830), after a season of peculiar joy, he awoke to find himself in the Slough of Despond, without any sense of enjoyment, prayer seeming as fruitless as the vain struggles of a man in the mire. At the usual morning meeting he was urged by a brother to continue in prayer, notwithstanding, until he was again melted before the Lord-a wise counsel for all disciples when the Lord's presence seems strangely withdrawn. Steadfast continuance in prayer must never be hindered by the want of sensible enjoyment, in fact, it is a safe maxim that the less joy, the more need. Cessation of communion with God, for whatever cause, only makes the more difficult its resumption and the recovery of the prayer habit and the prayer spirit; whereas the persistent outpouring of supplication, together with continued activity in the service of God, soon brings back lost joy. Whenever, therefore, one yields to spiritual depression so as to abandon, or even suspend, closet communion or Christian work, the devil triumphs.

"So rapid was Mr. Muller's recovery out of this Satanic snare, through continuance in prayer, that, on the evening of that same Christmas day whose dawn had been so overcast, he expounded the Word at family worship in the house where he dined by invitation, and with such help from God that two servants who were present were deeply convicted of sin and sought his counsel."

unknown | Oct 1967
Comment By Torchlight