At the heart of the Free Church heritage is the gospel of Jehovah’s love in saving fallen creatures from their sin—a salvation arising from God’s eternal election of a particular people, and pursued through redemption purchased by Christ alone and applied only at divine initiative, so that all the praise for the sinner’s deliverance is reserved for the originating, procuring and efficacious love of God.
It is not intended in this discourse to enter at length or with any minuteness of detail into the wide field of unfulfilled prophecy. The particulars of the future destiny of Israel, the time, the manner, and the accompanying circumstances of their restoration and conversion, must be left in a great measure untouched. For the present, it will be enough for our purpose to dwell on the broad and general announcement of the prophetic Word, that in the latter days, they are to be restored to their old inheritance and converted to the faith of the Gospel, and to consider that fact—its connection with the blessed prospects of the church of Christ—in the humble and earnest hope that the views, thus suggested, may tend to stir up our heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel, that they may be saved.
[I]f any party whatever, but especially if the State, or civil power, shall claim the right of controlling the government which Christ has appointed in the hands of Church office-bearers, they must refuse obedience to that claim, must make up their minds to suffer, if need be, the loss of all things, rather than yield to it. And this because they are only servants, ministers, stewards, entrusted by the alone Master and King with a certain authority and duty.
There is much contemporary confusion about the proper attitude of subjects to lawful authorities. The Apostle says (Rom. 13:1-2), “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers, for there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.” Some have interpreted this apostolic command to imply unconditional obedience to magistrates. Others note that subjects may lawfully resist the exercise of tyrannical power, and that the Biblical doctrine of resistance to tyranny has a long pedigree.
Standing on the pavement, we watched as twenty-two men, purportedly suspended from the ministry of the Free Church of Scotland, left the Assembly Hall. It was the largest mass suspension of ministers in Scotland since 1662: they had been forbidden to preach, and if they accepted the discipline, would have to sit in the pews and watch hostile preachers take over their pulpits. This they would not do. Together, we sang Psalm 46 and proceeded to the Magdalen Chapel for the reconstitution of the Free Church of Scotland. Why were we there? Was it just a battle over one man, or was this the proclamation of Christ’s Kingship?
We do not usually pause to think what we might learn from Judas Iscariot. He is rightly regarded by Christians as the cruel traitor who sold his Master, Jesus Christ, for thirty pieces of silver. He is rightly judged to have been a hypocrite and a deceiver. But even so, we would be wise to pause and reflect on the rather surprising fact that Judas’ life and conduct have valuable lessons to teach us today, 2,000 years after he committed suicide.
It is taken for granted in most countries today, and especially in the USA, that church and state should be separate—the government and all its institutions must be secular. But the Word of God teaches differently, and therefore, so does the Free Church of Scotland. Christ is the “King of nations” (Jer. 10:7). Therefore the nation owes him obedience and loyalty. As Kuyper said, “There is not a square inch in the whole domain of our human existence over which Christ, who is Sovereign over all, does not cry: ‘Mine!’”
The history of Free Church of Scotland Missions in India redounds to the credit and splendour of the Christian work done in Calcutta and elsewhere in that country. In 1830, Dr. Duff (1806-1878) established the General Assembly’s Institution, now known as the Scottish Church College, with the expressed goal to train non-Christian young Indian men in the English language, literature, science, etc. At the forefront of his mind, Dr. Duff nurtured the hope that many of these young men would be converted to Christ and serve as missionaries to their enslaved countrymen shackled to the pagan darkness of Hinduism, Islam, and Parsiism.
One of the greatest preachers of modern times is a Chinese man named John Sung. It is thought that, in China today, there are at least one hundred million Christians. This wonderful fact is, under God, owing a great extent to the remarkable preaching of John Sung, who, after a very powerful ministry which swept thousands into the kingdom of God, passed away in 1944. His labors and influence deserve to be known more widely in the English speaking world.
Christ himself is King over what is taught in his church. His Word defines truth and determines the doctrine to be taught in his church. This does not sound controversial or radical, yet, incredibly, that truth became a battleground in the Free Church of Scotland.
