This is he of whom nothing not great, nothing common, nothing not exceeding the ordinary state of mankind, on the one hand or the other, is thought or spoken. Some say he is "the head and husband of the church", "the vicar of Christ over the whole world", "God's vicegerent", "a vice god", "Peter's successor", "the head and centre of unity" unto the whole catholic church, endued with a plenitude of power, with other ascriptions of the same nature innumerable; whereon it is necessary unto every soul, under pain of damnation, to be subject unto him; -- others aver that he is "antichrist", "the man of sin", "the son of perdition", "the beast that came out of the earth with two horns like a lamb and a voice like the dragon", "the false prophet", "the idol shepherd", "the evil servant that beateth his fellow servants", "the adulterer of a meretricious and false church:" and there is no mean betwixt these; -- he is undoubtedly the one or the other. The Lord Jesus Christ, who hath determined this controversy already in his word, will ere long give it its ultimate issue in his own glorious person, and by the brightness of his coming. And this is an eminent idol in the Chamber of Imagery in the Roman Church. But, at present, it is evident wherein lies the preservation of believers from being inveigled to bow down to this image and to worship it. A due sense of the sole authority of Christ in and over his church, with an experience of the power of his word and Spirit unto all the ends of its rule and order, will keep them unto the truth herein; and nothing else will so do. And if once they decline from this in any instances seem they never so small, so as to admit of anything in the church or its worship which doth not derive immediately from his authority, they will be disposed to admit of another guide and head in all other things also.

- John Owen, The Chamber of Imagery in the Church of Rome Laid Open; or, An Antidote Against Popery (emphases added), on the Puritan Hard Drive at http://www.PuritanDownloads.com/swrb-puritan-hard-drive.html.

Antichrist's (Rome's) Idolatry Rebuked (Chamber of Imagery) by John Owen (1 of 2, Free SWRB MP3)
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=980116119

Antichrist's (Rome's) Idolatry Rebuked (Chamber of Imagery) by John Owen (2 of 2, Free SWRB MP3)
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=9801162332

The Chamber of Imagery in the Church of Rome Laid Open; or, An Antidote Against Popery by John Owen
http://www.puritandownloads.com/the-chamber-of-imagery-in-the-church-of-rome-laid-open-or-an-antidote-against-popery-by-john-owen/

Book/MP3 summary: The extraordinary, inspirational and stirring message, above, by John Owen, The Chamber of Imagery in the Church of Rome Laid Open; or, An Antidote Against Popery (entitled "Antichrist's [Rome's] Idolatry Rebuked [Chamber of Imagery]" for the MP3s above), goes deep into the idolatry of Romanism and Romish harlot's Protestant daughters. John Owen shows the futility of "ceremonies, vestments, gestures, ornaments, music, altars, images, paintings and bodily veneration," as proceeding from the will of man, and not God, in His own worship!

It's a real spiritual feast defending the Reformation’s regulative principle of worship, as well as an amazing and godly piece of writing. A veritable masterpiece, not only as literature and thought, but as an antidote to the puerile and shallow conceptions of worship that abound today (in Romanism and among all forms of sectarianism). Independents, Anglicans, Baptists, Charismatics, and, even sadly, many so-called "Reformed" churches today need the strong spiritual tonic dished out by Owen, to free themselves (by God's grace) from their present Babylonian captivity.

The pretensions of worldly splendor, sensual experience, mystical "movings of the spirit," and the corruption of fleshly minds (that is always ready to burst forth from the cesspools of novelty) is laid low by Owen as he brings Biblical standards to bear against the beggarly elements of imagery, idolatry and innovation. Demonstrating the odiousness of the shadowy abominations "portrayed on the walls of the Chamber of Imagery," Owen shows the futility of the so-called worship demanded by the Papal Antichrist and his harlot Protestant daughters, as proceeding from the will of man, and not God!

A real spiritual feast defending the Bible's (Reformation) regulative principle of worship (i.e., the second commandment) against the mystery of iniquity (lawlessness) in worship, spewing forth from the man of sin "the Pope", and in all the wicked and unregenerated human heart and mind can put in the place of what God commands in worship, against the sovereignty of God over worship.
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"But such is the corrupt nature of man, that there is scarce any thing whereabout men have been more apt to contend with God from the foundation of the world.That their will and wisdom may have a share (some at least) in the ordering of his worship, is that which of all things they seem to desire. Wherefore, to obviate their pride and folly, to his asserting of his own prerogative in this matter, he subjoins severe interdictions against all or any man's interposing therein, so as to take away any thing by him commanded, or to add any thing to what is by him appointed. This also the testimonies recited fully express. The prohibition is plain, 'Thou shalt not add to what I have commanded.'"

- John Owen, Concerning Liturgies and Their Imposition (emphases added), on the Puritan Hard Drive.

"All things considered, certainly it is no small condemnation of us to behold what an ardent zeal the holy martyrs had in the past, especially in comparison with the nonchalance we demonstrate. For as soon as a poor man of that time got so much as a little taste of the true knowledge of God, he did not hesitate to expose himself to the danger involved in confessing his faith. He would have preferred to be burned alive than to go so far as to commit some outward act of idolatry."