“And Jesus stood before the governor: and the governor asked him, saying, Art thou the King of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou sayest. And when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he answered him to never a word; insomuch that the governor marvelled greatly,” Matthew 27:11-14.
‘Contumacy’ simply means a stubborn refusal and is used within ecclesiastical circles for the refusal of any who will not bow to the authority of a church court.
I have no doubt that the refusal of the Saviour to answer some of the questions put to Him by His accusers would have been seen as that termed today as ‘contumacy’.
It is to be noted that the Saviour did not refuse to answer all questions put to Him. In our text above we have Him answering the question, “Art thou the King of the Jews?”. But it also says that; “when he was accused of the chief priests and elders, he answered nothing.”
Why was that so?
May I suggest that had He refused to answer the first question it would have left the impression THAT HE WAS NOT THE KING OF THE JEWS! Silence would have implied He was unable to truly affirm that He was the Messiah.
However, His silence in response to the other questions, based upon the lying testimonies of false witnesses, clearly indicated that such accusations were unworthy of a reply.
DAVID
David likewise chose this course of action in the face of false accusations. “They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine deceits all the day long. But I, as a deaf man, heard not; and I was as a dumb man that openeth not his mouth. Thus I was as a man that heareth not, and in whose mouth are no reproofs,” Psalm 38:12-14.
Rev David DiCanio has been charged with and found guilty of ‘contumacy’ with regards his issuing of a video exposing the use of ‘Contemporary Christian Music’ in some Ulster Free Presbyterian churches.
After one week’s reflection, he indicated that he could not comply with the admonition, required by the Judicial Commission appointed by the Free Presbyterian Church of North America, to basically repent of his acting as he did in issuing the video.
Guilty
He was therefore deemed to be guilty of ‘contumacy’ and thus deposed from the ministry of the FPCNA.
Rev DiCanio had refused to acknowledge any wrong-doing in the way that he exposed the sin of ‘CCM’ being used within Free Presbyterian Churches, in defiance of the Word of God and the standards of both the Free Presbyterian Church of North America and here in Ulster.
‘Separated unto the Gospel’
A statement regarding CCM, acceptable to both Presbyteries, is documented in the FPCNA constitutional document ‘Separated unto the Gospel’. It contains the following statement which indicates the historical position of the FPCoU and FPCNA on this matter.
‘The music we use in our worship (whether vocal or instrumental) clearly reveals that we are “new creatures in Christ,” that old things have passed away and all things have become new. The devil has his own music, which the world–wittingly or unwittingly–employs to honor him. But we believe that this kind of music has no place in the life of the Church, which is not to be “conformed to this world,” but “transformed” into the image of Christ (Rom. 12:2). We reject the modern-day notion that says in order to reach the world with the gospel, we need to use the world’s music. We therefore refuse to use Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) and any style of music that, in our estimation, not only denigrates Christ and His gospel, but also reflects the spirit of the world, a spirit that is given over to entertainment instead of to the worship of God and the edification of the saints.’
That being so, how could any minister apologise for carrying out the duty that is incumbent upon him after accepting such a doctrine as being Biblical?
An apology is due but not from Rev David DiCanio!
Prophets, Reformers and Martyrs
It was not only Christ who has set us the example of refusing to yield to improper and unbiblical demands but it has been manifested in the lives of the best of God’s servants.
Moses surely was a chief amongst the servants of God and a man of meekness. “Now the man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth,” Numbers 12:3. And yet we are told of his spirit of ‘refusal’. “By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter,” Hebrews 11:24.
That act is an indication that ‘faith’ will bring us into conflict with the thinking and demands of the world. That spirit was manifested by Moses when he confronted Pharaoh. Here is one example.“And Pharaoh called for Moses and for Aaron, and said, Go ye, sacrifice to your God in the land. And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us? We will go three days’ journey into the wilderness, and sacrifice to the LORD our God, as he shall command us,” Exodus 8:25-27.
As far as Moses was concerned, he must obey the Lord and defy Pharaoh.
Elijah
That same defiance, or contumacy was seen in the life of Elijah. “And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word,” 1 Kings 17:1. There was no ‘kowtowing’ to the authority of the throne when its occupant was in defiance of God and the prophet was sent to rebuke him!
The apostle Peter manifested the same readiness to defy ecclesiastical authority when that authority was acting in defiance of God’s Word. “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them, Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men,” Acts 5:27-29.
Such has ever been the mind of God’s faithful servants. It cost many much suffering and earthly loss to act so, and some even lost their lives all because they refused to comply with the demands of men acting contrary to God’s Word.
Dr Ian Paisley
In more modern times, men like Rev James Hunter and Rev W. J. Grier, back in 1927 and Dr Ian Paisley in 1966, refused to comply with the thinking of men and were castigated for doing so.
In the court case of 1966, when Dr Paisley, Rev John Wylie and myself, a very junior student minister, were accused of unlawfully assembling to protest against the betrayal of gospel truth by the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, the court found us guilty and demanded that we sign a ‘Rule of Bail’, which included an undertaking which would have bound us not to act in a similar fashion for the next three years.
United
It was our united decision not to comply with the court ruling for we stood ready to protest in the same fashion the next day!
As a result, we were sentenced to three months in jail.
Now that experience ought not to be numbered with the sufferings of our forefathers, but it was a display, at least to some measure, of the same refusal to obey those who demand action that was contrary to God’s Word.
We were not going to enter into an agreement with the civil authorities that we would cease to “earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints” for a period of three years, aye, even for three minutes!
Can it be . . .
Can it be that the ’spirit’ manifested in an ungodly civil court against the stand and witness of the Free Presbyterian Church back in 1966, is now, in some measure, to be seen within a court of our church?
I consider that Rev David DiCanio acted in the same spirit as did Dr Paisley. Rev John Wylie and myself back in 1966.
Sadly, back then it was the Free Presbyterian Church versus the wrong-doing of the civil authorities acting in support of the apostasy of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland but now, it is our fellow Free Presbyterians who would enforce an erroneous decision against a faithful minister!
I pray, along with many other Free Presbyterians, that there may yet be a recognising of this and a willing and ready rectifying of this wrong or, if it becomes necessary, an enforcing of a remedying of this matter by those who are ready to stand up and act in accordance with the Word of God and the principles of the Free Presbyterian Church.
Rev Ivan Foster
22nd February 2025