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"The Sign of the Cross" from Chapter 4, Disputed Aspects of Worship, in Biblical Worship, by Kevin Reed (Free Online Book)
It is appropriate for us to offer a few comments on the placement of crosses in edifices of worship. When we speak of the cross, or crosses, we are referring to the visible symbol called a cross, not the sufferings of the Saviour. When the apostle Paul exclaimed, "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 6:14), he uttered a precious truth. But the apostle's expression is obviously a synecdoche, by which he exalts the saving work of Christ. Paul's statement has no reference to visible symbols, known among us as crosses.
The direct adoration or worship of crosses is plainly forbidden by the scriptures, in the first and second commandments, which prohibit worshipping anyone or anything besides the Lord. Historically, Protestants condemned the adoration of crosses; for example, the Scottish Confession of 1580 specifically lists the "worshipping of images, relics and crosses," among the deplorable practices of "the Roman Antichrist." (This condemnation was extended to the superstitious gesture of "crossing," which is also employed within Romish rites and ceremonies.)
Most Protestants still acknowledge that the direct worship of crosses is sinful. But a dispute results when many professing Protestants defend the use of the cross as a symbol.
Now, what is a symbol? It is a visible representation of something. If they say that the cross is a symbol of deity, then they again violate the second commandment, which prohibits making or using representations of the Lord (Cf. Deut. 4:15-16; Acts 17:29). Of course, most Protestants would not claim that the cross is a representation of God. Therefore, cross-keepers must explain it as a symbol of something else; so they shift the argument to say that a cross is a symbol of redemption, or of the work of Christ.
In this situation, the cross now becomes a man-made rival to the sacraments. As we have noted, baptism and the Lord's Supper serve as visible signs and seals of Christ's redemptive work; the sacraments are a visible word to testify of redemption. "For as oft as ye eat this bread, and drink of this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come" (1 Cor. 11:26).
Cross-keepers implicitly impugn the wisdom of Christ by supplementing the sacraments with the cross as an accessory sign. It is an inescapable implication, that the cross, employed as a symbol or as an aid to devotion, partakes of a sacramental characteristic as a sign.
Some will claim that the posting of a cross in a home, or on a church building, is an incidental thing, much as the arrangement of chairs, carpet, and wallpaper. But such incidental elements of decor do not possess the symbolic character of the cross. Cross-keepers must contend with the undeniable fact that the placement of a cross within an edifice of worship is not a merely indifferent aspect of architectural design. The only incidentals in a place of worship are those "circumstances concerning the worship of God, and the government of the Church, common to human actions and societies, which are to be ordered by the light of nature and Christian prudence, according to the general rules of the word, which are always to be observed. "[10. Westminster Confession of Faith, 1:6.]
One must also consider the evil associations of the cross. The cross, as a symbol or gesture, is not found in the scriptures. For centuries, the cross has been, and continues to be, a prominent implement of Popish worship and superstition. No sane man can deny these facts. Since the cross has no biblical warrant for its use, why should it have any place among those who worship "in spirit and in truth"? (John 4:23-24). The people of God have been commanded to purge from their midst the implements of corrupt worship used by false religions (Deut. 12:2-3, 30-31).
Moreover, even if the cross had possessed a noble origin, the superstition now linked with it would argue for its abolition. Consider the example of Hezekiah in reference to the brazen serpent. The brazen serpent was originally constructed at God's command, yet it was destroyed when it became a snare to the people of God (2 Kings 18:4). How much more quickly, then, should we discard a man-made symbol which continues to be an ensign of the Roman Antichrist?
In summary, there is no scriptural warrant to designate the cross as a symbol (or gesture) to adorn the assemblies of God's people. Until cross-keepers can produce such a warrant, the use of crosses stands condemned on this basis alone, since the regulative principle of worship forbids all human additions to God's appointed rites and symbols in worship. Further, the superstition fostered by crosses demands that they be purged from among the people of God. (Read more at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/BibW_ch4.htm)
Free MP3 & Video: True & False Worship: The Cross and The Mass, by Richard Bennett (Former Roman Catholic Priest)
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The Canterbury Tales by Kevin Reed (Refutes James Jordan and others who reject the regulative principle of worship.)
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"For God is not worshiped of us, but when it is his will to accept our worship: and it is not his will to accept our worship, but when it is according to his will." - William Perkins (Puritan), on the Puritan Hard Drive
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The Two Babylons or the Papal Worship Proved to Be the Worship of Nimrod and His Wife (1916) by Alexander Hislop
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Christmas, Easter, Lent, and The Cross - Pagan, Roman Catholic, Antichrist Holy Days (Holidays) In The Church, Family, and Society by Ergatees (Free Reformed MP3)
Christmas Is A Roman Catholic Missions Strategy
The History of the Service of Song: Real Reformation, Faithful Worship And Praising The Lord Jesus Christ Through Songs by Dr. Steven Dilday
The Regulative Principle of Worship in the Old Testament (The Second Commandment In Covenanter, Puritan and Reformation Worship) by Greg Price (Puritan Worship Series)
What Is Biblical Worship? - Defending Historic Reformation, Puritan & Covenanter (Biblical) Worship, First & Second Commandments by William J. Mencarow
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The Regulative Principle of Worship (RPW) in the New Testament by Greg Price (Puritan Worship Series)
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"For God is not worshiped of us, but when it is his will to accept our worship: and it is not his will to accept our worship, but when it is according to his will." - William Perkins (Puritan), on the Puritan Hard Drive
The Nature and Beauty of Gospel Worship, A New and More Glorious Way of Worship by John Owen (Free MP3)
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JOHN CALVIN: "Some one will therefore ask me what counsel I would like to give to a believer who thus dwells in some Egypt or Babylon where he may not worship God purely, but is forced by the common practice to accommodate himself to bad things. The first advice would be to leave [i.e. relocate - GB] if he could... If someone has no way to depart, I would counsel him to consider whether it would be possible for him to abstain from all idolatry in order to preserve himself pure and spotless toward God in both body and soul. Then let him worship God in private (at home - ed.), praying him to restore his poor church to its right estate. - John Calvin, Come Out From Among Them, The Anti-Nicodemite Writings of John Calvin, Protestant Heritage Press, "A Short Treatise," pp. 93-94, emphases added. Calvin quote (above) cited in Appendix G in The Covenanted Reformation Defended by Greg Barrow
Gradual Reformation Intolerable: Luther & Calvin On Reforming the Church Against False Teaching and False Worship By Dr. Matthew McMahon, Greg Price, Dr. Steven Dilday, Brian Schwertley & Others (Free)
James Jordan, Federal Vision Heretics, Like Doug Wilson, Attack Classic Reformation Teaching/Worship
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Calvinism, or the Sovereignty of God, in Worship (Free Online Books Against Arminianism In Worship)
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John Calvin: "God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, "I have not commanded them," whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions, than that they are not commanded by God: for when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to his commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship, in which they absurdly exercise themselves, would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying his word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The Prophet's words then are very important, when he says, that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind; as though he had said, that men assume too much wisdom, when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew." - John Calvin on the Puritan Hard Drive
A Warning Against the False and Dangerous Views of James Jordan Concerning Worship: A Book Review of Kevin Reed's Canterbury Tales, by Dr. Reg Barrow
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