War not Peace - a warning from 23 years ago to the FPC of today Judges 2:1-3

Today is Remembrance Sunday. It is a time when peace in the community and how best to achieve it are topics on virtually everyone's lips. It is a time therefore when it is all too easy for the child of God to forget the war that Christians are duty-bound to maintain. Espousal of Bible Christianity is utterly impossible without a marked degree of contentiousness. That is why the historic creeds and confessions of the Church of Christ contain such vigorous denunciations of the sins of their age. The recent appointment of Cahal Daly to the position of cardinal was heralded by a chorus of syrupy and fawning approval from the leaders of ecumenical Protestantism. These sentiments are, however, completely at variance with the teachings of the Protestant creeds. Each one of them denounces Dr Daly's religion as fraudulent and devil-inspired. Such is the unwillingness of leaders to oppose sin and error that they are prepared to sell-out the truth rather than move against the spirit of this age. It is easy to fail to see that true peace and tranquillity on a national level is inextricably bound up with the Christian maintaining a war-like attitude on a spiritual level. In the cause of national peace, resisting evil is just as important as assisting good. In Judges 2/1-3, the angel of the Lord rebukes Israel for making peace with her enemies. The challenge facing the Free Presbyterian Church in the future is to maintain the war against those enemies against whom God expects us to fight relentlessly.