A Land So Far Away?
Just suppose, dear reader, just suppose now, that in our blessed country one year, a bill was approved by both Houses of Congress, sent to the White House in Washington, D.C., signed by the president and it became the law of the land. Oh yes, an important ingredient of this bill was that it had the support of The Episcopal Church (TEC). What was its gist, you ask?
The first section of the bill decreed deposition of all spiritual leaders who denied the federal government’s authority in ecclesiastical matters.
The second section excommunicated any spiritual leader who dared to preach and proclaim that the worship part of the bill was contrary to Holy Scripture.
Next, that same penalty of deposition was promised upon any who preached that the liturgical part of the bill was unbiblical.
Fourth, any and all clergy and churches in the land had to adopt the this governmental liturgy for their congregations upon pain of deposition if they failed to adopt it.
Fifth, all congregational meetings could only be called by governmental decree; further, no ecclesiastical business could be discussed without the approval of the government; in addition, no biblical meeting could be held independent of government authority, and last, no spiritual leader could engage in extemporary prayers.
And last, governmental regulations were handed on regarding the manner of worship, gowns worn by clergy members, fonts used for baptisms, ornaments in the church building, and the conducting of the Lord’s Supper.
This author is sure that all of our readers would quickly acknowledge if the churches of America were recipients of such a federal law as this, the visible biblical church as we know and love would all but disappear from the land, or be so thoroughly compromised that it would be not longer a church where Christ Jesus is the Head of the church.
How glad we are that this alleged supposition is only that. However to Scottish Christians in the Church of Scotland on May 23, 1635, the above supposition was an awful reality. It was sent down to that church by the king with the blessing of the Anglican church upon the Church of Scotland.
After a couple of years of delay, on July 23, 1637, an attempt was made to introduce it in the cathedral church at St. Giles, Edinburgh. From among the common people there that day, a woman named Jenny Geddes picked up her stool and flung it at the dean who thought that he was going to introduce it in the worship service. A regular riot broke out as other chairs began flying toward the podium. The dean was forced to flee for his life. This result brought the city of Edinburgh under an episcopal interdict, which suspended all public worship, even on the hallowed Sabbath, because this sanctioned liturgy has been neglected. We have a post on the reaction on July 23, 1637.
The second response was the signed of the National Covenant on February 28, 1638. This Day in Presbyterian History also covered this reaction on February 28, 1638.
Words to Live By: You may be thinking that the separation of church and state would preclude this from ever happening in America. But with countless Reformed and Presbyterian leaders proclaiming that we now live in a post-Christian land, the time may be soon upon us where such liberties of worship and work may soon be past. Our Lord’s definition of His people, found in Matthew 5:23, must be re-discovered by the church in our land. He said, “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by man.” Let us not be good-for-nothing Christians.
