Renowned Encyclopedia Britannica describes it thus: “The papacy is the oldest continuing , absolute monarchy in the world. To many the pope is the infallible interpreter of divine revelation and the vicar of Christ; to others he is the fulfillment of the biblical prophecies about the coming of the Antichrist” (Encyclopedia Britannica, page 877). Make your choice.
The ever increasing, despicable child molestation revelations and the unveiling of repulsive homosexuality practices of this mammoth ecclesiastical/political establishment are prompting many to ask, what is it anyway? The Holy Bible gives a clear and direct answer to that question. God declares through His servant John regarding this indefinable behemoth: “Mystery, Babylon The Great, The Mother Of Harlots And Abominations Of The Earth. (Revelation 17:5). He then describes her present condition and laments, “Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird…For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” (Revelation 18:2-3). Finally, he appeals to God’s people who have been deceived into following her, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues…for her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities”(Revelation 18:4-5).
In the midst of the current crisis of deepest immorality, which is but the tip of the iceberg of what lies beneath, it will be enlightening to examine the Bible to see how the papacy’s profession of being the church of Christ aligns with the declarations of word of God. You be the judge.
The Bible teaches that we are saved by the grace of God through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. (Ephesians 2:8-9; John 3:16;John 14:6; Acts 4:12)
Rome proclaims that salvation is only available through that institution and the works of its sacraments. Pope Francis has most vehemently condemned what the Bible teaches as he boldly declared that it is dangerous to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ outside of his church.
Few realize the depth and danger of such a pronouncement from the head of the Catholic church in the year 2014. That was precisely the claim of the church that led to the slaughter of 50+million souls and gave birth the mighty Protestant Reformation of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. Those martyred souls believed what Jesus and the early church taught, that He, Jesus Christ, is the Only Way to salvation (John 14:6; John 15:5; Acts 4:12). Question is, will not the church do likewise when she gains vantage ground which she rapidly achieving? But where are the Protestants?
Jesus says Go, Francis says No
In the last words of Jesus Christ recorded in the book of Matthew, He admonished his disciples, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen ” (Matthew 28:18-20). That commission is for all His followers throughout the ages.
But, in a meeting with the leaders of the Lutheran church at the Vatican, Pope Francis warned, “It is not licit that you convince them of your faith; proselytism is the strongest poison against the ecumenical path….you can tell the ‘why’ (of your faith) with much thoughtfulness. But without wanting to convince.” How hypocritical for the leader of a movement that has been doing nothing but proselytising for the last 500 years, bringing almost all of Christendom back to her fold.
The Bible teaches that we should not bow down to idols. (Exodus 20:4-6)
The Roman Catholic church has completely removed that commandment which reads: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments” (Exodus 20:4-6). Not only has the Church of Rome obliterated that commandment from God’s law, but it teaches its followers that idol worship is necessary for their salvation.
The Bible teaches that all men, except Jesus Christ, have sinned. (Romans 3:10-12, Hebrews 4:15)
The Roman church teaches that Mary was sinless. How horrendous is this assertion? If Mary is sinless then she must have had sinless parents, they would have had to have sinless parents. Her entire lineage would therefore would have had to be sinless also. Where is that record in God’s holy word?
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ is our only mediator between God and man.
(1 Timothy 2:5).
The church of Rome proclaims that Mary is co-mediator with Jesus and that we have to come through her to get to Jesus. Further, it teaches that one needs the intercession of an earthly priest to get to Jesus. So far as the Scriptures are concerned, Mary is dead, and the dead know not anything. (Ecclesiastes 9:5-7).
The Bible teaches that Jesus Christ was offered Himself as a sacrifice once for all on the cross of Calvary. (Hebrews 7:27, 28; 10:10). The church of Rome teaches that her priests sacrifice Jesus every time they offer the mass. Additionally, they claim that their Jesus cookie becomes the actual body and the alcoholic beverage becomes the actual blood of Jesus at the pronouncement of her priests. Besides, the Bible clearly prohibits the drinking of blood and cannibalism, the eating of human flesh.
The Bible teaches that the seventh day, today called Saturday, is God’s Sabbath. (Genesis 2:2-3, Exodus 20:8-11; Luke 4:16).
The Church of Rome boldly claims that she has changed God’s law and has transferred the solemnity of God’s Sabbath to Sunday, the first day of the week. She boasts, “Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the church ever did happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed to Sunday…not from any directions noted in Scriptures, but from the church’s sense of its own power…People who think that the Scriptures should be the sole authority, should logically become Seventh-day Adventists, and keep Saturday holy”
(Saint Catherine Catholic Church Sentinel, May 21, 1995).
The Bible teaches that the dead know not anything. (Ecclesiastes 9:5-6; Psalm 146:3-4; Job 7:9-10).
The Church of Rome says not so. It consigns whom they desire to heaven immediately after death, others to an eternal burning hell, yet others to purgatory–a holding pen until they decide, on the payment of funds, whether the deceased go to heaven or their eternal burning hell. This grand deception is based upon the first lie that was ever told. Moses records, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil (Genesis 3:4-5). This is the foundation upon which the system of popery is built. Remove it and the entire system falls apart.
These are just a few of the anti-Christian traditions and practices that the Roman Church boastfully proclaims. I invite you to weigh the evidence and be the judge. Is the Roman Catholic Church the Church of Christ or bride of Antichrist?
The church of Rome is vehement in obscuring the and perverting the fact that salvation is found in Jesus Christ, and Him alone. In place of Christ’s full and complete atonement for the redemption of all humanity she imposes herself. In place in salvation from sin as Jesus teaches, she offers salvation in sin. In these closing scenes of earth’s history, God’s clarion call is, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).
Everyone has to decide who she truly is and whom they choose to believe and obey. We cannot straggle the fence. We either believe what God says in His Holy Word or we accept what the church of Rome teaches whilst claiming to represent Jehovah. Besides, if the Roman church is God’s representative on earth, as she claims to be, why has she slaughtered upward of 50 million people for no other reason than claiming that Jesus Christ is the Only Messiah and that salvation is available only through Him?
The Protestants of today are allowing culture and feelings to override clear Biblical teachings. The have all but exchanged sola Scriptura for the traditions of the Church of Rome. They are suffering from a severe case of Biblical and historical amnesia. They have all but forgotten why they are Protestants and what distinguishes them from Catholicism.
The Protestant Reformers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries had it correct. It is written of Martin Luther (1483-1546): “Luther proved, by the revelations of Daniel, and St. John, by the epistles of St. Paul, St. Peter,, and St. Jude, that the reign of Antichrist, predicted and described in the Bible, was the papacy” (History of the Reformation of the Sixteenth Century, J.H. Merle D’Aubigné, Book vi, Chapter xii, pg. 215).
John Calvin (1509-1564) wrote:
“Some persons think us too severe and censorious when we call the Roman Pontiff, Antichrist. But those who are of that opinion do not consider tat they bring the same charge of presumption against Paul himself after whom we speak and whose language we adopt. I will briefly show Paul’s words in 2nd Thessalonians 2 are not capable of any other interpretation than that which applies to the Papacy” (Institutes of the Christian Religion, John Calvin). So the question begs to be answered, where are the Protestants?
We at Advent Truth Ministries, by His grace, are standing.
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