The Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism .. Controlled

The Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism .. Controlled 3

1Kings 21:1 ‘Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard, which was in Jezreel’

In order for Naboth’s vineyard to be fruitful, it had to be regulated or controlled; this would involve the application of the rules of husbandry. The husbandman would be guided by the standards laid down in the manual; his responsibility was to keep the vineyard under strict control. Evidently Naboth was good at his job; his vineyard at Jezreel, won the admiration of the King. Without doubt, Naboth laboured diligently and kept his vineyard under control.

The Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism has in the past, been admired by many from across the continents; it has prospered under the doctrines of grace revealed in the inerrant and infallible Word of God. However the control of Protestantism began to show substantial slippage in the early 1960s; there was the emergence of the ecumenical movement which desired integration between the Reformed Faith and Roman Catholicism. This canker that had been carried into the Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism was helped to spread its infectious spores by political unrest and paramilitary violence. What Ulster Protestantism needed then, was for control to be reestablished under the Word of God; Protestant leaders should never have sought dialogue with the Papacy, rather, they should have controlled their vineyard by obeying the Scriptures which their forefathers had depended upon. Protestantism in the past had stood against the heresy of Popery, and stood in ‘defense of the faith once delivered’; all the leadership had to do was to stand firm, take control of the situation and not compromise their Biblical principles.

Sadly, history records a very sorry chapter regarding the Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism; protestant church leaders encouraged ecumenical dialogue while protestant politicians caved in to Irish nationalist and republican demands. The Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism had run out of control; backsliding prevailed in the pulpits and accelerated in the pews; in some cases the unconverted held church office. The weeds of worldly compromise were maturing within Protestant congregations; the wall of separation was being pulled down from within, creating opportunity for the winds of error to ravish the vines.

At this critical time, the leadership of the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster entered the political arena; Ian Paisley, gospel preacher, launched himself into the world of politics. Paisleyism claimed the moral high ground, preaching separation and labeling the main Protestant denominations as apostate. This is precisely where the Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism ran totally out of control; Protestants were calling their brethren apostates which gendered division, distrust and disunity. The term ‘apostate’ means to fall away from the faith; it refers to a person that has come close to embracing the truth of the gospel; but never actually being saved, and then turning fully and finally away from the claims of Christ in salvation. (Heb6:4-6) ‘For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.’

The Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism was no longer controlled by the traditional principles and precepts of God’s Word; the weeds of spiritual backsliding and compromise had taken root; many of the vines were diseased and unfruitful. There was, close by, an ambitious husbandman that wanted to gain control and to lord over the Vineyard of Ulster Protestantism.

Rev Mervyn Cotton (Heb13:6)