Is the Pope the Vicar of Christ?

Christ is the sole Head of His Body, the Church, and He has no man for His Vicar on earth. It is He who (in the language of the apocalyptic visions) holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the golden lampstands, which are the churches. The Holy Spirit is His Representative on earth, administering things on His behalf (1 Cor. 12:4-11) .

Ordination applied only to rule. It was an apostolic act conferring, by divine direction, special authority of oversight and rule upon elder men in the various assemblies. This was connected, let it be always remembered, with the prerogative of an apostle. In one sense they are right who claim no true ordination without apostolic succession. The difficulty is, who and where are the successors of the apostles? Rome claims lineal descent from Peter, and insists that all that was committed to him is now hers to administer through the pope. I do not enter into the blasphemy of their claim for the pope. Peter himself was never the "vicar of Christ." The Holy Ghost is the only vicar of Christ, and it comes perilously near blasphemy against Him for any one to arrogate to himself such a title.

Just as "the servant that was set over the reapers" represented Boaz in the harvest-field, and directed the activities of "his young men" (Ruth 2:5, 15), so the Holy Spirit orders things in the interests of Christ. He, and not the man at Rome, is Christ's Vicar upon earth. It is He who guides, controls, fills, energises and uses His servants.

"Christ has His representatives on earth today, and I am happy to belong to that holy and apostolic Church over which the Vicar of Christ presides." So said an ardent advocate of Roman Catholicism. If only the words had been spoken in a different connection they would have expressed a great truth. But, of course, the Romanist was speaking of his Pope, while his words can only be true when used of the Holy Spirit. For the Holy Spirit is indeed Christ's Representative and Vicar on earth.

Every word here claims from us the closest attention. The sinful woman is still professedly subject to the man, though antichristian because in fact putting herself in Christ's place, claiming a power that is His alone. Nevertheless, she claims it in His name, not in her own. The pope assumes not to be Christ, but the vicar of Christ. The real "man of sin" throws off this womanly subjection. He is no vicar of Christ, but denies that Jesus is the Christ. He sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Yet even as Christ owns and brings men to worship the Father, so Antichrist brings men to worship another than himself, as Revelation has shown us. There is a terrible consistency about these separate predictions which thus confirm and supplement one another.

Every word here claims from us the closest attention. The sinful woman is still professedly subject to the man, antichristian, because in fact putting herself in Christ's place, claiming a power that is His alone. Nevertheless, she claims it in His name, not in her own. The pope assumes not to be Christ, but the vicar of Christ. The real "man of sin" throws off this womanly subjection. He is no vicar of Christ, but denies that Jesus is the Christ. He sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Yet, even as Christ owns, and brings men to worship, the Father, so Antichrist brings men to worship another, as Revelation has shown us. There is a terrible consistency about these separate predictions, which thus confirm and supplement one another.

A key example of Roman Catholicism's insistence that it is the only accurate and authoritative source of interpretation of Scripture is Matthew 16:13‑20. In this passage, Jesus paused to ask His disciples, "Who do you say I am?" Peter tells Him that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. Jesus tells Peter that only His Father in heaven could have revealed this truth to him and then adds the famous lines, And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven (vv. 18,19).

According to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Jesus named Peter the "rock" of his Church, gave him the keys and made him shepherd of the whole flock. "This pastoral office of Peter and the other apostles belongs to the Church's very foundation and is continued by the bish­ops under the primacy of the Pope who as Vicar of Christ and as pas­tor of the entire Church has full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church, a power which he can always exercise unhindered.

But let us look now at this state of things in Thyatira, and we shall see how it is in fact a perfect denial, I may say, of two grand features of Christianity. These two grand features are, Christ's absence as rejected and the Church being a mourner until He returns, on the one hand; and, on the other, the supremacy of the Holy Ghost, meanwhile, as come down into the world to represent the Lord Jesus Christ. These are really the two forms of denial which you see in a glaring way in the church of Rome — the woman Jezebel. These are the two things prominently denied there. She reigns, in her thought, rightly even over kings, — Christ Himself not being here but still rejected, — and there is a vicar of Christ, a human vicar in place of the divine One. Jezebel has usurped the authority and attributes of the divine One. She reigns, instead of being subject; and her infallibility becomes her practical denial of His.

Does this seem like begging the question? It is God's answer to the needs of His Church. He knew we would fall into utter confusion, that we would multiply machinery, that we would resort to every expedient which the ingenuity of man could suggest — all in vain, save to show our helplessness, so He gave us the Holy Spirit. Rome claims the Pope as Christ's vicar on earth, with absolute power of control and direction. This pretension Protestantism rightly rejects, but fails to see the true Vicar of Christ, "whom the Father will send in my name" (John 14:26) , and therefore lays itself open to the taunt of Rome for its independency and rationalism. If we grasp this truth of the Spirit's presence we have reached an answer as to what is the teaching of Scripture regarding the organization of the Church; and we might put that answer in the form of a definition: "The obedient recognition of the immediate presence of the Holy Spirit, gathering believers to the name of the Lord Jesus, subjecting them to the word of God, and taking entire control of worship, ministry, and discipline." In the proper place we will enlarge upon the various features we have pointed out: at present we would call attention to the simplicity and yet sufficiency of this organization. Is anything lacking? Will contingencies arise not provided for? Impossible! The name of Christ; the presence of the Holy Spirit; the word of God to guide. Thus organized a company of believers is ready for any duty or privilege; and no emergency can arise that will call for any new machinery. The Holy Spirit is all-sufficient.

The Holy Spirit the only true Vicar and Vicegerent of Christ on earth.