Article

AN ANSWER TO FOUR LECTURES DELIVERED IN ENNISKILLEN CATHEDRAL BY THE BISHOP OF CLOGHER RICHARD HANSON

by

REV. IVAN FOSTER

Minister of Lisbellaw Free Presbyterian Church

Published as a booklet in 1970

 

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Ecumenism in the Clogher diocese received a shot in the arm (which could yet prove fatal) with the ascension of Dr. Richard Hanson to the Bishop’s throne. Members of the Church of Ireland in the diocese, while involved in the Romanising ecumenical movement by virtue of their Church affiliation, were in the great majority opposed to ecumenism. Such was their personal experience of the Roman Catholic Church that the fawning overtures of Romanism – reinforced by the tidbits of so-called reforms within its fold – did not fool or deceive them. This plain dislike for the principles of ecumenism stunted its growth and hindered its spread. To some extent the advent of Dr. Hanson changed that. He did something that no other ecumenical cleric in the diocese had done before. He came right out into the open with his ecumenism. I say this not to the praise of his courage, but rather I believe that a combination of pride and misjudgement resulted in the unveiling of the Bishop’s ecumenism. (more…)

“I am the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me. So I gave them up unto their own hearts’ lust: and they walked in their own counsels. Oh that my people had hearkened unto me, and Israel had walked in my ways! I should soon have subdued their enemies, and turned my hand against their adversaries. The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him: but their time should have endured for ever. He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee,” Psalm 81:10-16.

As I read this Psalm this morning, one of the portions of God’s Word allocated for reading today in Robert Murray M‘Cheyne, Bible Reading Calendar, I recalled wth joy of heart the words of verse 10 : “Open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it”.

How often I heard my wife Ann, now in glory, plead these words before the Lord for the school she pioneered in Kilskeery in September 1979 until she went to be with the Lord. It was a promise given to her of the Lord in the very early days of the school. Her prayers, and those who joined with her in praying for the school, were wonderfully answered so that the little school, totally without Government aid of any kind, prospered and enjoyed spiritual and academic success.

However precious the memories provoked by the words in verse 10, the rest of the Psalm provokes thoughts of a very different nature. Here are not thoughts of God’s faithfulness and care but of the dire consequences of the disobedience of God’s people and the vexation such causes the Lord!

I. A REJECTING OF GOD’S WORD IS THE BEGINNING OF THE TROUBLES OF GOD’S PEOPLE.

That takes place, at least at the first, with NOT an outright rejection of the Bible, but a questioning of some portions which would deny us what we particularly like from within the realm of worldly and carnal activities.

The errors of Israel that led on to great sin and brought down a severe punishment upon those guilty, often started in relatively ‘small’ ways!

“And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab. And they called the people unto the sacrifices of their gods: and the people did eat, and bowed down to their gods. And Israel joined himself unto Baalpeor: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel,” Numbers 25:1-3.

The ‘beginning’ of that which resulted in the “anger of the LORD was kindled against Israel,” was the accepting of an invitation to ‘a feast’!

It went on from there. The road of disobedience is “dark and slippery” (Psalm 35:6) and is one that is very difficult to maintain one’s footing upon and, it being dark, it is easy to get lost! (more…)

“Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead,” Acts 17:29-31.

Mankind generally has cast away the ‘Book of Certainties’, the Bible. In consequence, all that is left is a process of guessing which, in turn, ushers in nothing but continual reassessment of the path that our best deductions had us believe was the right path!

“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,” Proverbs 14:12.

It was part of the Gospel the apostles preached (and which we must also preach) that there are ‘certainties’ upon which we can utterly depend.

One of those is the appointed day, in which God “will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained.”

This glorious truth must ever feature in our preaching!

Consider first of all . . .

I. THE VERY FIRST WORD OF VERSE 31 IS A CALL FOR ACTION

“Because he hath appointed a day.” Here is why men should repent.

1. Note that the ‘times’ before the universal Gospel era are called ‘times of ignorance’. Prior to the Gospel coming into our lives we were in darkness and ignorance of all that was of God. It would be true that mankind retained a faint awareness that there was a God, but as to His nature, character and His Law, men could only guess and speculate. That is the reason why the world is dotted with innumerable ‘religions’, all having their own ‘deities’ under a raft of titles and likenesses!

Even when they have constructed a ‘theology’ regarding their idols, they are still aware that they have not got it right.

It was because of his that the Athenians erected an altar, among their many altars, with the inscription, “TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.” (Acts 17:23)

Zophar the Naamathite asked the question, “Canst thou by searching find out God? canst thou find out the Almighty unto perfection?” Job 11:7.

The answer, confirmed by history, is NO! (more…)