Author: brother Michael

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A Nun’s Story

Jacqueline Kassar spent twenty-two years as a nun in an enclosed convent dedicated to adoration, reparation and suffering, trying to appease the wrath of God. She believed it was a nun’s calling to be a miniature savior of the world like unto Jesus Christ. Now, on camera, in her apartment into Brooklyn NY, she tells her story with compassion and care for sincere Catholics who truly live Catholic teaching. [Text from YouTube video posting]

To learn about Jacqueline’s experience, please watch the video below.

 

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Examining Francis Beckwith’s Return to Rome.

returntoromeA while ago I wrote a post about an ecumenical meeting at Wheaton College between Francis Beckwith and Timothy George. For those who do not know, Francis Beckwith was baptized and raised as a Roman Catholic, where according to his web site, “…his faith journey led him to Protestant evangelicalism. He [then] became a philosophy professor at Baylor University and president of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). And then, in 2007, after much prayer, counsel, and consideration, Beckwith decided to return to the Catholic church and step down as ETS president.” 1

Now, firmly entrench in Rome, Beckwith is doing his utmost to preach the merits of Catholicism with individuals like Timothy George and others in the “evangelical” camp helping the cause through their ecumenical discussions. For those who want to better understand some of the key doctrinal issues that separate Roman Catholicism from Biblical Christianity, I’ve included a link below to a series of messages by TBFaceTony Bartolucci, pastor/teacher of Clarkson Community Church in NY. These messages address in very detailed fashion Mr. Beckwith’s return to Rome, which he has documented in his book “Return to Rome – Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic.”

The messages are much more in-depth than the coverage given by James White on his Dividing Line program, which is I included in my prior post (they still are good to listen to). For those who take the time to listen to thee messages, I fully believe you will be greatly blessed and benefited. Not only so your faith is bolstered, but also so you can better minister to Roman Catholics. And so that you can rebuke those in our midst who join hand-in-hand with Catholics calling then brethren.

The messages can be found here, where I have included Tony’s introduction to the messages explaining why he took the time to give them.

As I have stated in the first part of this series, my motivation in pursuing this topic has nothing to do with personal animosity toward Dr. Francis Beckwith or Roman Catholics in general. I was a Roman Catholic. I know what it is like to have my religion challenged and attacked. I left the Roman Catholic Church kicking and screaming all the way. I wanted to remain a Catholic. However, God would not have it. In 1981 he drew me in, fighting all the way, to a repentance that is unto eternal life (2 Timothy 2:25).

Having come through the other side I now cherish the simple Gospel of grace and loath any system that would pervert this precious truth. I abhor what I know will appear to many as an attack on a man. The desire of my heart is to be humble and gracious, while not compromising a God-honoring tenacity for the faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3).

In fact, I don’t particularly enjoy having to do this series. I would be among the first to raise a hand in reply to the question, “are you ready for this series to be done with?” But I am literally compelled to address not only the book, but in doing so, a much larger issue: the Gospel of grace verses [sic] the gospel of Rome.

Like most anyone, I like flying under the radar. I don’t want to be a lightning rod for controversy, to have my name flamed on the internet. But I also know that the closer one gets to the front lines of the battle, the higher the likelihood that one will find himself in the proverbial cross-hairs. So be it.

I’m sure that, like so many Roman Catholics, Francis Beckwith is a very nice guy. I’ve listened to his interview with Greg Koukl on the latter’s program, Stand to Reason. I mourn for him; for his very apparent inability to see that which only those with the eyes of faith (eyes sovereignly granted by God) can see. I would welcome a phone call from Dr. Beckwith in order to discuss these things with him.

My prayer is that God will use this series, and perhaps a forthcoming book, to strengthen genuine believers in the most holy faith, bring faith to those who are doubting, and to save others, snatching them from the fire while hating the garment polluted by the flesh (Jude 20-22). Soli Deo Gloria! 2

End Notes:

1 – Return to Rome. Confessions of an Evangelical Catholic. http://web.me.com/francis.beckwith/Return_to_Rome/home.html [Accessed 11/3/2009]
2 – Why am I doing this? Tony A. Bartolucci. Clarkson Community Church, Clarkson, New York. 585-637-6070. http://www.tonybartolucci.com/Sermons/whytiber.htm [Accessed 11/3/2009]

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Planned Parenthood’s abortion quotas exposed.

ppjohnson

Former Planned Parenthood director Abby Johnson with Coalition for Life Director Shawn Carney (photo: Coalition for Life)

Planned Parenthood, the organization that kills babies for profit, is having more of its evil deeds brought into the light thanks to one woman who is not afraid to speak the truth. This woman is Abby Johnson, a former clinic director for the Texas Planned Parenthood branch. A woman who, after watching an ultrasound-guided abortion, courageously walked away from the murder mill (gives us hope to continue to pray for others).

Now, she is causing more of a stir by revealing Planned Parenthood’s abortion quotas. Yup, you read that correctly, quotas. Quotas where the murdering of helpless babies is tallied and forecast in heartless indifference like a company might do with their inventory. One can almost hear the directors telling their employees, “It’s just business boys and girls; we are behind our quota this month so get to it and round us up some more pregnant ladies so we can slaughter a few more babies and make the numbers.”

Although my quote is speculative sarcasm, the truth of the matter according to Abby in a WorldNetDaily article titled, “Planned Parenthood’s abortion quotas exposed”, is that,

There are definitely client goals,” former clinic director Abby Johnson said. “We’d have a goal every month for abortion clients and for family planning clients. 1

Later on, in the same article, Abby goes on to reveal that,

Abortion is the most lucrative part of Planned Parenthood’s operations,” she said. “Even though they’re two separate corporations, all of the money goes into one pot. With the family planning corporation really suffering, they depend on the abortion corporation to balance their budget, help get them out of the hole and help make income for the company. 2

As one can imagine Planned Parenthood is in an uproar about Abby Johnson exposing their darkness. To read the rest of the story, you can find the article here.

End Notes:

1 – Schilling, Chelsea. “Planned Parenthood’s abortion quotas exposed.” WorldNetDaily. 04 Nov 2009. Accessed: 5 Nov 2009. http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=115000>.
2 – Ibid.

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Quotes (644)

Rev John DownlingThe blessed founder of Christianity chose to make his advent among the lowly and the despised. This was agreeable to the spirit of that Holy Religion which he came to establish. There was a time when a multitude of his followers, astonished and convinced by the omnipotence displayed in his wondrous miracles, were disposed to” take him by force to make him a king,” but so far from encouraging their design, the inspired historian tells us” that he departed again, into a mountain himself alone.” (John vi., 15.) In reply to the inquiries of the Roman governor, he uttered those memorable words, “MY KINGDOM IS NOT OF THIS WORLD,” and his whole conduct from the manger to the cross, and from the cross to the mount of ascension, was in strict accordance with this characteristic maxim of genuine Christianity.

In selecting those whom he would send forth as the apostles of his faith, be went, not to the mansions of the great or to the palaces of kings, but to the humble walks of life, and chose from the poor of this world, those who, in prosecuting their mission, were destined like their divine master, to be despised and rejected of men. In performing the work which their Lord had given them to do, the lowly but zealous fisherman of Galilee, and the courageous tent-maker of Tarsus, with their faithful fellow-laborers, despising all earthly honors and worldly aggrandizement, were content to lay every laurel at the foot of Christs cross, and to” count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, their Lord,” for whom they had “suffered the loss of all things” (Philippians, iii., 8.)

A few centuries afterward, we find the professed successor of Peter the fisherman [i.e. the Pope], dwelling in a magnificent palace, attended by troops of soldiers ready to avenge the slightest insult offered to his dignity, surrounded by all the ensigns of worldly greatness, with more than regal splendor proudly claiming to be the sovereign ruler of the universal church the Vicegerent of God upon earth, whose decision is infallible and whose will is law. The contrast between these two pictures of Primitive Christianity in the first century, and Papal Christianity in the seventh or eighth, is so amazing, that we are irresistibly led to the inquiry, can they be the same? If one is a faithful picture of Christianity, can it be possible that the other is worthy of the name?

– John Dowling (Source: Dowling, John (1845). The History of Romanism: from the Earliest Corruptions of Christianity to the Present Time)

Birthdate & date of death unknown

 

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Quotes (639)

revsunderland

 

“…it is asked, ‘Why all this tirade against Roman Catholics?’ We repel the implication. It is not against the unhappy millions that are ground down under the iron heel of that enormous despotism. They are of the common humanity, our brethren and kinsmen, according to the flesh. They need the same light instruction and salvation that we need. Like ourselves they need the one God, the one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus; and from the heart we love and pity them. We would grant them all the privileges which we claim to ourselves. We can have no animosity towards them as men and candidates with ourselves for the coming judgment. But it is the system under which they are born, and live, and die, I repeat, which we denounce, and when we shall cease to oppose it, then let our right hand forget her cunning, and our tongue cleave to the roof of our mouth. What is it but a dark and terrible power on earth before which so many horrible memories start up? Why, sir, look at it! We drag the bones of the grim behemoth out to view, for we would not have the world forget his ugliness nor the terror he has inspired. ‘A tirade against Romanism,’ is it? O sir, we remember the persecutions of Justinian; we remember the days of the Spanish Inquisition; we remember the reign of ‘the Bloody Mary;’ we remember the revocation of the Edict of Nantes; we remember St. Bartholomew; we remember the murdered Covenanters, Huguenots, and Piedmontese; we remember the noble martyrs dying for the testimony of the faith along the ancient Rhine; we remember the later wrath which pursued the islanders of Madeira, till some of them sought refuge upon these shores; we remember the Madiai, and we know how the beast ever seeks to propagate his power, by force where he can, by deception where he must. And when we remember these things, we must protest against the further vigor and prosperity of this grand Babylon of all. … We come a growing phalanx [a rectangular mass military formation], not with carnal weapons, but with the armor of the gospel, and wielding the sword of truth on the right hand and on the left, we say that ANTICHRIST MUST FALL. Hear it, ye witnesses, and mark the word; by the majesty of the coming kingdom of Jesus, and by the eternal purpose of Jehovah, THIS ANTICHRIST MUST FALL.”

– Rev. Dr. Sunderland

1819 – 1901

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Persecution of John Huss

200px-Jan_Hus“John Huss (Jan Hus) was born at Hussenitz, a village in Bohemia, about the year 1380. His parents gave him the best education their circumstances would admit; and having acquired a tolerable knowledge of the classics at a private school, he was removed to the university of Prague, where he soon gave strong proofs of his mental powers, and was remarkable for his diligence and application to study.

In 1398, Huss commenced bachelor of divinity, and was after successively chosen pastor of the Church of Bethlehem, in Prague, and dean and rector of the university. In these stations he discharged his duties with great fidelity; and became, at length, so conspicuous for his preaching, which was in conformity with the doctrines of Wickliffe, that it was not likely he could long escape the notice of the pope and his adherents, against whom he inveighed with no small degree of asperity.

The English reformist, Wickliffe, had so kindled the light of reformation, that it began to illumine the darkest corners of popery and ignorance. His doctrines spread into Bohemia, and were well received by great numbers of people, but by none so particularly as John Huss, and his zealous friend and fellow martyr, Jerome of Prague.

The archbishop of Prague, finding the reformists daily increasing, issued a decree to suppress the further spreading of Wickliffe’s writings: but this had an effect quite different to what he expected, for it stimulated the friends of those doctrines to greater zeal, and almost the whole university united to propagate them.

Being strongly attached to the doctrines of Wickliffe, Huss opposed the decree of the archbishop, who, however, at length, obtained a bull from the pope, giving him commission to prevent the publishing of Wickliffe’s doctrines in his province. By virtue of this bull, the archbishop condemned the writings of Wickliffe: he also proceeded against four doctors, who had not delivered up the copies of that divine, and prohibited them, notwithstanding their privileges, to preach to any congregation. Dr. Huss, with some other members of the university, protested against these proceedings, and entered an appeal from the sentence of the archbishop.

The affair being made known to the pope, he granted a commission to Cardinal Colonna, to cite John Huss to appear personally at the court of Rome, to answer the accusations laid against him, of preaching both errors and heresies. Dr. Huss desired to be excused from a personal appearance, and was so greatly favored in Bohemia, that King Winceslaus, the queen, the nobility, and the university, desired the pope to dispense with such an appearance; as also that he would not suffer the kingdom of Bohemia to lie under the accusation of heresy, but permit them to preach the Gospel with freedom in their places of worship.

Three proctors appeared for Dr. Huss before Cardinal Colonna. They endeavored to excuse his absence, and said they were ready to answer in his behalf. But the cardinal declared Huss contumacious, and excommunicated him accordingly. The proctors appealed to the pope, and appointed four cardinals to examine the process: these commissioners confirmed the former sentence, and extended the excommunication not only to Huss but to all his friends and followers.

From this unjust sentence Huss appealed to a future Council, but without success; and, notwithstanding so severe a decree, and an expulsion in consequence from his church in Prague, he retired to Hussenitz, his native place, where he continued to promulgate his new doctrine, both from the pulpit and with the pen.

The letters which he wrote at this time were very numerous; and he compiled a treatise in which he maintained, that reading the books of Protestants could not be absolutely forbidden. He wrote in defence of Wickliffe’s book on the Trinity; and boldly declared against the vices of the pope, the cardinals, and clergy, of those corrupt times. He wrote also many other books, all of which were penned with a strength of argument that greatly facilitated the spreading of his doctrines.

In the month of November, 1414, a general Council was assembled at Constance, in Germany, in order, as was pretended, for the sole purpose of determining a dispute then pending between three persons who contended for the papacy; but the real motive was to crush the progress of the Reformation.

John Huss was summoned to appear at this Council; and, to encourage him, the emperor sent him a safe-conduct: the civilities, and even reverence, which Huss met with on his journey were beyond imagination. The streets, and sometimes the very roads, were lined with people, whom respect, rather than curiosity, had brought together.

He was ushered into the town with great acclamations, and it may be said that he passed through Germany in a kind of triumph. He could not help expressing his surprise at the treatment he received: “I thought (said he) I had been an outcast. I now see my worst friends are in Bohemia.”

As soon as Huss arrived at Constance, he immediately took logdings in a remote part of the city. A short time after his arrival, came one Stephen Paletz, who was employed by the clergy at Prague to manage the intended prosecution against him. Paletz was afterwards joined by Michael de Cassis, on the part of the court of Rome. These two declared themselves his accusers, and drew up a set of articles against him, which they presented to the pope and the prelates of the Council.

When it was known that he was in the city he was immediately arrested, and committed prisoner to a chamber in the palace. This violation of common law and justice was particularly noticed by one of Huss’s friends, who urged the imperial safe-conduct; but the pope replied he never granted any safe-conduct, nor was he bound by that of the emperor.

While Huss was in confinement, the Council acted the part of inquisitors.

They condemned the doctrines of Wickliffe, and even ordered his remains to be dug up and burned to ashes; which orders were strictly complied with. In the meantime, the nobility of Bohemia and Poland strongly interceded for Huss; and so far prevailed as to prevent his being condemned unheard, which had been resolved on by the commissioners appointed to try him.

When he was brought before the Council, the articles exhibited against him were read: they were upwards of forty in number, and chiefly extracted from his writings.

John Huss’s answer was this: “I did appeal unto the pope; who being dead, and the cause of my matter remaining undetermined, I appealed likewise unto his successor John XXIII: before whom when, by the space of two years, I could not be admitted by my advocates to defend my cause, I appealed unto the high judge Christ.”

When John Huss had spoken these words, it was demanded of him whether he had received absolution of the pope or no? He answered, “No.” Then again, whether it was lawful for him to appeal unto Christ or no? Whereunto John Huss answered: “Verily I do affirm here before you all, that there is no more just or effectual appeal, than that appeal which is made unto Christ, forasmuch as the law doth determine, that to appeal is no other thing than in a cause of grief or wrong done by an inferior judge, to implore and require aid at a higher Judge’s hand. Who is then a higher Judge than Christ? Who, I say, can know or judge the matter more justly, or with more equity? when in Him there is found no deceit, neither can He be deceived; or, who can better help the miserable and oppressed than He?” While John Huss, with a devout and sober countenance, was speaking and pronouncing those words, he was derided and mocked by all the whole Council.

husBurningThese excellent sentences were esteemed as so many expressions of treason, and tended to inflame his adversaries. Accordingly, the bishops appointed by the Council stripped him of his priestly garments, degraded him, put a paper miter on his head, on which was painted devils, with this inscription, “A ringleader of heretics.” Which when he saw, he said: “My Lord Jesus Christ, for my sake, did wear a crown of thorns; why should not I then, for His sake, again wear this light crown, be it ever so ignominious? Truly I will do it, and that willingly.” When it was set upon his head, the bishop said: “Now we commit thy soul unto the devil.” “But I,” said John Huss, lifting his eyes towards the heaven, “do commend into Thy hands, O Lord Jesus Christ! my spirit which Thou has redeemed.”

 When the chain was put about him at the stake, he said, with a smiling countenance, “My Lord Jesus Christ was bound with a harder chain than this for my sake, and why then should I be ashamed of this rusty one?”

When the fagots were piled up to his very neck, the duke of Bavaria was so officious as to desire him to abjure. “No, (said Huss;) I never preached any doctrine of an evil tendency; and what I taught with my lips I now seal with my blood.” He then said to the executioner, “You are now going to burn a goose, (Huss signifying goose in the Bohemian language:) but in a century you will have a swan which you can neither roast nor boil.” If he were prophetic, he must have meant Martin Luther, who shone about a hundred years after, and who had a swan for his arms.

180px-Jan_Hus_at_the_StakeThe flames were now applied to the fagots, when our martyr sung a hymn with so loud and cheerful a voice that he was heard through all the cracklings of the combustibles, and the noise of the multitude. At length his voice was interrupted by the severity of the flames, which soon closed his existence.

Then, with great diligence, gathering the ashes together, they cast them into the river Rhine, that the least remnant of that man should not be left upon the earth, whose memory, notwithstanding, cannot be abolished out of the minds of the godly, neither by fire, neither by water, neither by any kind oof torment.”

Full text from: John Foxe. Fox’s Book of Martyrs. Edited by William Byron Forbush. ttp://www.ccel.org/ccel/foxe/martyrs/files/martyrs.html [Accessed: 11.01.2009]

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The Extreme Oath of the Jesuits.

jesuits_approved

“When a Jesuit of the minor rank is to be elevated to command, he is conducted into the Chapel of the Convent of the Order, where there are only three others present, the principal or Superior standing in front of the altar. On either side stands a monk, one of whom holds a banner of yellow and white, which are the Papal colors, and the other a black banner with a dagger and red cross above a skull and crossbones, with the word INRI, and below them the words IUSTUM, NECAR, REGES, IMPIOUS. The meaning of which is: It is just to exterminate or annihilate impious or heretical Kings, Governments, or Rulers. Upon the floor is a red cross at which the postulant or candidate kneels. The Superior hands him a small black crucifix, which he takes in his left hand and presses to his heart, and the Superior at the same time presents to him a dagger, which he grasps by the blade and holds the point against his heart, the Superior still holding it by the hilt, and thus addresses the postulant:”

Superior: My son, heretofore you have been taught to act the dissembler: among Roman Catholics to be a Roman Catholic, and to be a spy even among your own brethren; to believe no man, to trust no man. Among the Reformers, to be a reformer; among the Huguenots, to be a Huguenot; among the Calvinists, to be a Calvinist; among other Protestants, generally to be a Protestant, and obtaining their confidence, to seek even to preach from their pulpits, and to denounce with all the vehemence in your nature our Holy Religion and the Pope; and even to descend so low as to become a Jew among Jews, that you might be enabled to gather together all information for the benefit of your Order as a faithful soldier of the Pope.

You have been taught to insidiously plant the seeds of jealousy and hatred between communities, provinces, states that were at peace, and incite them to deeds of blood, involving them in war with each other, and to create revolutions and civil wars in countries that were independent and prosperous, cultivating the arts and the sciences and enjoying the blessings of peace. To take sides with the combatants and to act secretly with your brother Jesuit, who might be engaged on the other side, but openly opposed to that with which you might be connected, only that the Church might be the gainer in the end, in the conditions fixed in the treaties for peace and that the end justifies the means.

You have been taught your duty as a spy, to gather all statistics, facts and information in your power from every source; to ingratiate yourself into the confidence of the family circle of Protestants and heretics of every class and character, as well as that of the merchant, the banker, the lawyer, among the schools and universities, in parliaments and legislatures, and the judiciaries and councils of state, and to be all things to all men, for the Pope’s sake, whose servants we are unto death.

You have received all your instructions heretofore as a novice, a neophyte, and have served as co-adjurer, confessor and priest, but you have not yet been invested with all that is necessary to command in the Army of Loyola in the service of the Pope. You must serve the proper time as the instrument and executioner as directed by your superiors; for none can command here who has not consecrated his labors with the blood of the heretic; for “without the shedding of blood no man can be saved.” Therefore, to fit yourself for your work and make your own salvation sure, you will, in addition to your former oath of obedience to your order and allegiance to the Pope, repeat after me—

The Extreme Oath of the Jesuits:

“1, _ now, in the presence of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the blessed Michael the Archangel, the blessed St. John the Baptist, the holy Apostles St. Peter and St. Paul and all the saints and sacred hosts of heaven, and to you, my ghostly father, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, founded by St. Ignatius Loyola in the Pontificate of Paul the Third, and continued to the present, do by the womb of the virgin, the matrix of God, and the rod of Jesus Christ, declare and swear, that his holiness the Pope is Christ’s Vice-regent and is the true and only head of the Catholic or Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of binding and loosing, given to his Holiness by my Savior, Jesus Christ, he hath power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and governments, all being illegal without his sacred confirmation and that they may safely be destroyed. Therefore, to the utmost of my power I shall and will defend this doctrine of his Holiness’ right and custom against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever, especially the Lutheran of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and the now pretended authority and churches of England and Scotland, and branches of the same now established in Ireland and on the Continent of America and elsewhere; and all adherents in regard that they be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome. I do now renounce and disown any allegiance as due to any heretical king, prince or state named Protestants or Liberals, or obedience to any of the laws, magistrates or officers.

I do further declare that the doctrine of the churches of England and Scotland, of the Calvinists, Huguenots and others of the name Protestants or Liberals to be damnable and they themselves damned who will not forsake the same.

Continue reading →

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Drug Addict’s Testimony of Salvation

orasuk“Peter Orasuk was a heroin addict and drug kingpin in Canada until Christ reached down and saved him. This is his testimony that was preached in the Ballymena Gospel Hall in N. Ireland.

This is a ‘must hear’, not only for people who are doing drugs, but for anyone who wants to hear of the power of Christ to save the most hopeless of sinners.” (Quote from Sermon Details on Sermon Audio)

To here the message, listen to it here.

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The Gospel: The Power of God Unto Salvation

gospelIt is written in the Scriptures that the gospel of Jesus Christ “…is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.” (Rom 1:16)  Likewise, it is written that if anyone one “…be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (II Cor 5:17)

Today, countless people have religion that purports itself as Christianity.  Yet this religion has no power to save and no power to transform their lives.  Rather, it is dead religion not unlike what one would have found with the Pharisees and their disciples during the days when Jesus walked the earth.  Rote, ritualistic and repetitious; this religion is found across our land.  Here, countless people are raised in such faiths from babes upward and have been taught the traditions of men from their religion’s hierarchy as to what they must do and must not do in order to be “right” with God and rewarded with eternal life. 

Or, we have so-called pastors instructing millions that salvation is simply raising their hand to “ask Jesus into their heart” or the repeating of the “sinner’s prayer.”  Scant mention is ever given to the gospel, repentance and what salvation truly is; rather the bulk of their appeal is made to the flesh.  This done through various mediums with the most popular being music where skilled musicians take the congregants on an emotional roller coaster ride so as to get as many as possible to raise their hand or come forward to the “altar.”

Yet I ask how many of these persons are ever changed by the power of God through the gospel?  How many can truly testify that they are new creatures in Christ where they have put to death the old man and are now walking in newness of life?  How many can say that the darkness they use to love and run to, they now hate and flee from?  How many can profess that the light they use to hide from and scorn, they now seek out and proclaim from the rooftops?  Truly some can and to God we give all the glory for this, but many cannot because sadly for these once the music dies down, the lights dim and the crocodile tears dry, they are the same person they were before every praying that prayer or making their purported profession of faith.

The conversion of Pasha, a Russian immigrant in the 1800’s, is no such empty profession or example of impotent religion.  Rather, it is an amazing testimony of the power of God through the gospel to totally transform a wretched sinner.  A story that will surely bring tears to your eyes not only as you see how great the gospel is and the God who has given it unto this world, but also for his tender mercies to shower rich blessings on his children.  Please take the time to read it as you will be greatly blessed therein. 

My hope for the true Christian is that reading it may give you great joy as your love is increased for the God who hath graciously saved you even if your testimony or mine is not as stunning as Pasha’s.  For the Christian in name only, I pray your reading it may give you a longing in your heart to be set free from your sin and changed by the power of the God through the gospel even as Pasha was.

The full text can be found here. 

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A Child of Rome Set Free

vaticancityI wrote this poem a while ago speaking to the religion of Rome and some of my experiences in it.  A religion which is a lie as is true for any and all dead religion.  In Rome specifically, as long as one is a “card-carrying” Catholic and shows their face to Mass most Sundays and occasionally the confessional box, all is well.  Here, it does not matter a whit as to what your lifestyle is and the fact that you are living like the devil incarnate does not even register on the radar.  As long as you are “in” as a Catholic, all is good to go for you and you are assured that entrance into heaven is guaranteed; even if you have to spend a few thousand years in purgatory.

And as such a Catholic I can assure you that the countless apologists from Rome including the arm-chair theologians found on YouTube and elsewhere will receive you as an angel from heaven.  Doesn’t matter how you are living your life, doesn’t matter how much in bondage to sin you are; just as long as you are a Catholic and willing to write diatribes against “Protestants”, you will be quickly enlisted to the fight with no questions asked.  

But the moment you leave Rome, watch out because these same “brethren” will turn on you like vipers awakened from their slumber.  Doesn’t matter how you explain to them the wicked life you were once living which Jesus has set you free from.  Where you testify that you were “…dead in trespasses and sins … [and] walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air … [where you] had [your] conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath” (Eph 2:1-3) but are now by God’s grace a “…new creature [where] old things are passed away … all things are become new (II Cor 5:17).  Doesn’t matter that you tell them you are now reading God’s Word and understanding it where you are convicted of your sin.  Doesn’t matter about how you are no longer worshiping God by the traditions of men but rather by the commandments of God.  All of this and more falls on deaf ears and cannot penetrate hardened hearts because the faithful Catholic “knows” that outside of Rome there is no salvation.

The tragedy is that before the Spirit opened my blinded eyes to my sinful state,  I was a self-righteous religionist who arrogantly believed he was on his way to heaven for one reason and one reason alone.  This of course because I was a Catholic.  Yet nothing could have been farther from the truth for I was a reprobate through and through as the bad fruit from my tree (i.e. life) bore ample witness to.  So too, the same being true for my friends, school mates, family members and even clergy (one was an universalist I later found out and the one I served under as an alter boy, a child molester).  Yet no one, and I mean no one ever warned me or those around me of our perilous state.  I never heard anything about repentance, never heard the gospel, never heard the words “…except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” (Luk 13:3).  Never!  Just keep going to Mass and doing all we tell you to do and all will be well.  Lies, damnable lies!

So to all the Catholics out there I hope you will find these words speaking to your heart.  I share to focus not on myself but rather to shine a light in the darkness so that you might examine your own life and be honest with your sin and no longer hide behind the cloak of your religion.  And that you might come to repent of your sin, believe on the Lord Jesus alone for your salvation and seek to worship the Father in Spirit and truth.

  

A Child of Rome Set Free

by: brother Michael

Raised Roman Catholics, my family would be,
Two brothers, a sister, my parents and me.
As babes from the womb, Rome’s doctrines held sway,
Over our hearts and our lives, all of the day.
Baptized and catechized, confirmed by the priests,
Bowing to idols during all of her feasts.

It goes without saying the nuns taught us well,
Not to question the Pope, lest we be cast into hell.
But little did they know, or maybe they did,
How me and their pupils were servants to sin.
Yielding our members to desire and vice,
Never understanding born again, Jesus, True Life.
For from childhood and upward the fruit on our tree,
Bore witness to the fact even if you disagree.
That of our flesh and our mind, we all lived in sin,
Being children of disobedience, and rebelling therein.

This assuredly is no mystery, for the world doth know,
How Catholics trump many in that which they sow,
To the flesh and sin they cannot deny,
Drinking it down with gusto, like bottles of wine.
Get angry with me for this truth you should know,
Because religion never saves, whether Protestant or Rome.

And religion Rome has, to this I agree,
Bowing and kneeling, teaching repeat after me.
Crossings and incense, chantings and more,
Silences the knockings, of Jesus at the door.
Open unto me, and I will come in,
So says he to Rome, and all found therein.

But the knockings of Jesus that day I’d not hear,
As I walked down Rome’s path, year after year.
Thinking I’d be heard, for the rosaries I’d pray,
Never hearing Jesus’ word, wherein he did say.
Pray not like the heathen who think they’ll be heard,
Who recite vain prayers with many a word.
Yea, rather pray simply to the Father above,
With words from your heart, spoken in love.

These were our days much more I could write,
‘Bout how we were taught, that Rome’s always right.
Steer clear of the Bible and what Jesus taught,
Lest all of our deceptions become all for naught.

And like the good child I wanted to be,
I submitted to my parents, the priests and the “See.”
Onward and upward in Rome I did climb,
Becoming an alter boy, made my parents to shine.
Maybe one day a priest he’ll become,
Sacrificing afresh, God’s most beloved Son.

Yet herein lies the truth that Rome must deny,
For the day that she’d stop, be the day she would die.
Salvation’s by grace through faith in the Son,
Believing in Jesus as the only one,
Who can save one from sin and raise them anew,
A gift per God’s grace, not reward for what you do.

Too amazing to believe many will say,
Yet true it certainly is, as old things pass away,
For those born again, raised alive from the grave,
No longer in bondage, no longer a slave.
Serving in Spirit not letter of law,
Loving their enemies, and praying for all.

Unto all those who read, condemn I don’t do,
But rather point to Jesus and his Word which is true.
Open the book and search it this day,
For all that come in faith, he’ll never turn away.
Forsake dead religion, the traditions of men,
Repent, believe on Jesus, bless God and amen.

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The Pope’s Plans on Organizing Political, Economic, and Religious Activities Worldwide

From Richard Bennett at Berean Beacon.

Dear Friend, The Pope’s latest encyclical can read like an ideological bombshell. However, when we study papal history with its obsession forRatUN global power, it is not so shocking. The Papacy has an agenda for the United Nations, economic institutions, and international finance organizations. The Pope has called for the crafting of a new governmental body above these groups and intends that the new body be equipped with enforcement power on a startling scale. Much more sobering is the detailed body of Roman Catholic social doctrine on which the encyclical is built and which the Papacy is in the process of instituting secularly. These documents need to be analyzed and rejected before nations and peoples unwittingly concede both temporal and religious control to the Vatican. We have outlined the heart of the major tactics found in the body of Roman Catholic social doctrine, which includes the Pope’s latest encyclical. Our article is called, The Pope’s Plans on Organizing Political, Economic, and Religious Activities Worldwide. If you wish to get the article as a Microsoft Word document, just request it and it will be sent to you. We consider this to be one of the more important appraisals we have done.

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Rick Warren, Tony Blair & The Vatican Agenda

 Source: Chris Pinto with Adullam Films

Spurgeon

Essence of lies, and quintessence of blasphemy, as the religion of Rome is, it nevertheless fascinates a certain order of Protestants, of whom we fear it may be truly said that they have received a strong delusion to believe a lie, that they may be damned. Charles H. Spurgeon, “The Sword and the Trowel,” Jan. 1873

The above quote from Charles Spurgeon (the “Prince of Preachers”) is very pertinent to the time in which we live. Many believers are familiar with Spurgeon but are unaware that one of his mottos was “No peace with Rome.”

For the past two years, Adullam Films has been developing a new documentary titled, “A Lamp in the Dark: The Untold History of the Bible.” Thank the Lord, the first edited draft of the work is complete and should be ready for duplication by next week, once the final touches have been made. Our new film records events from the first century onward, showing the history of the Church, and the long war both for and against the Word of God. We document the trials of the saints, along with Rome’s ancient hatred of the Bible and her repeated attempts to “keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures.”

When the Bible began to be translated into the languages of the common man, it resulted in the Protestant Reformation. What few modern day Christians are aware of, however, is that Rome launched a Counter Reformation in 1540 with the establishment of the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuit Order). Their purpose was to destroy the work of the Reformers and bring the world back into the Dark Ages. It is our belief that the Counter Reformation continues to this day, and is the real secret behind the Ecumenical Movement, the World Council of Churches, the European Union, and the Emerging Church.

Read the rest of this post at Lighthouse Trails Research here.

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The Papal Curse

pius ix tierraThe anathema of the Pope, words that would strike moral terror in the hearts of men and women throughout time who lived under the tyranical rule of the self-professed Vicar of Christ.  One who not only took upon himself the power to kill men in body, but one who also brazenly claimed the power to destroy men’s souls.  Thereby in effect making himself equal with God (see Mt 10:28). 

Below we will read the curse pronounced by  Pope Pius IX upon Victor Emmanuel, where in Grover’s “Romanism The Danger Ahead”, it is written:

Victor Emmanuel and his patriotic countrymen wrested the temporal power from Pius IX., and liberated the Italian people from the power of the Church of Rome forever, so far as civil government is concerned. Being otherwise powerless, the pope strikes back, with a curse, which is here given, as printed in the Philadelphia Morning Post. It is the perfection of pious swearing by the Vicegerent of God, who said “swear not at all.” (1)

It is also said that this curse was pronounced on the Rev. Wm. Hogan, (a converted Roman Catholic priest), in Philadelphia. (2)  One might also image that less explicit curses and anathemas as found in pronouncements from councils like Trent, carry with them the same underlying intent.  So when you read of the papal curses still on the books, which have never been revoked by Rome, keep these words in mind that flow forth from lips of the man who dresses like an angel but speaks like a dragon. 

Let us now read the words of the Pope:

“Pronounced on all who leave the Church of Rome. By the authority of God Almighty, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and the undefiled Virgin Mary, mother and patroness of our Saviour, and of all celestial virtues, Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Cherubim and Seraphim, and of all the holy Patriarchs, Prophets, and of all the Apostles and Evangelists, of the holy innocents, who in the sight of the holy Lamb are found worthy to sing the new song of the Holy Martyrs and Holy Confessors, and of all the Holy Virgins, and of all the Saints, together with the Holy Elect of God,–MAY HE BE DAMNED. We excommunicate and anathematize him, from the threshold of the holy church of God Almighty. We sequester him, that he may be tormented, disposed, and be delivered over with Datham and Abiram, and with those who say unto the Lord, ‘Depart from us, we desire none of thy ways;’ as a fire is quenched with water, so let the light of him be put out forevermore, unless it shall repent him, and make satisfaction. Amen.

“May the Father who creates man, curse him. May the Son, who suffered for us, curse him! May the Holy Ghost who is poured out in baptism, curse him! May the Holy Cross, which Christ for our salvation, triumphing over his enemies, ascended, curse him!

“May the Holy Mary, ever Virgin and Mother of God, curse him! May all the Angels, Principalities, and Powers, and all heavenly Armies curse him! May the glorious band of the Patriarchs and Prophets curse him! “May St. John the Precursor, and St John the Baptist, and St. Peter and St Paul, and St. Andrew and all other of Christ’s Apostles together curse him and may the rest of the Disciples and Evangelists who by their preaching converted the universe, and the Holy and wonderful company of Martyrs and Confessors, who by their works are found pleasing to God Almighty; may the holy choir of the Holy Virgins, who for the honor of God have despised the things of the world, damn him. May all the Saints from the beginning of the world to everlasting ages, who are found to be beloved of God, damn him!

“May he be damned wherever he be, whether in the house or in the alley, in the woods or in the water, or in the church! May he be cursed in living or dying!

“May he be cursed in eating and drinking, in being hungry, in being thirsty, in fasting and sleeping, in slumbering, and in sitting, in living, in working, in resting, and in blood letting! May he be cursed in all the faculties of his body!

“May he be cursed inwardly and outwardly. May he be cursed in his hair; cursed be he in his brains, and his vertex, in his temples, in his eyebrows, in his cheeks, in his jaw-bones, in his nostrils, in his teeth, and grinders, in his lips, in his shoulders, in his arms, and in his fingers.

“May he be damned in his mouth, in his breast, in his heart, and purtenances, down to the very stomach!

“May he be cursed in his reins and groins, in his thighs and his hips, and in his knees, his legs and his feet, and his toe-nails!

“May he be cursed in all his joints, and articulation of the members; from the crown of the head to the soles of his feet, may there be no soundness!

“May the Son of the living God, with all the glory of his majesty, CURSE HIM! And may Heaven, with all the powers that move therein, rise up against him, and curse and damn him; unless he repent and make satisfaction! Amen! So be it. Be it so. Amen.” (3)

 

Endnotes
1 Ray, D. B.  The Papal Controversy Involving The Claim Of The Roman Catholic Church To Be The Church Of God Between “American Baptist” and “Church Progress”. St. Louis, MO.: National Baptist Publishing Company, 1892. Online at: Source.
2 Richardson, Sarah J. Life In The Grey Nunnery.  Boston: Edward P. Hood, 1857. Online at: Source.
3 Ray, D. B.  1892.

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Modern Ecumenists and the Return to Rome

POPE/

I recently watched an ecumenical dialog at Wheaton College between Timothy George, Dean of the Southern Baptist Beeson Divinity School, and Francis Beckwith, a “Protestant” who recently returned to Rome. Words fail me at how disgusted I was as the cotton candy eating, Kumbaya singing and kid-glove handling of the damnable errors of the religion of Rome. This coming not from a pulpit sitting believer who has never studied doctrine related to Catholicism, but from a Dean of one of the leading Southern Baptist Seminaries who is obviously very well read in these areas. I’m still waiting for the outcry from the Southern Baptist Convention.

More could be said, but I will leave that to James White, a man I greatly respect and one whom I have learned a great deal from. A man who, like, Richard Bennett of Berean Beacon, is willing to speak out against the foundational errors of the Roman religion that separate it from true, Christ-centric, Biblical Christianity. One who also will challenge the ecumenists of our day who are causing a great many to stumble and are fueling the confusion between Rome and true Christianity, and further abetting the plans of the Pope to gather the “lost” sheep back into his open arms.

From the Alpha and Omega Ministries Apologetics Blog, James White writes:

I will be slamming more church doors in my face tomorrow on the DL [Dividing Line broadcast] as I begin working through the entirety of the Timothy George/Frank Beckwith dialogue from Wheaton. What I mean by that, of course, is that it is grossly unpopular to address, in a fair, biblical, historical fashion, the subject of Roman Catholicism, and even more so, to criticize non-Catholics who refuse to see the real issues of the gospel that are at stake when we speak of Roman Catholicism. But, it must needs be done. Someone has to speak up when men are intent upon reducing the gospel to a mere matter of opinion. So I will begin working through the dialogue–all of it–on the program tomorrow, beginning with Timothy George’s opening assertion that the gospel of Rome saves—not that he said those words, but, within the first minute he referred to Beckwith as his “brother in Christ,” making it very clear from the start that whatever “differences” that exist, they do not separate us from salvation. Beckwith likewise provided a number of quotes I will be adding to the chapter I had already finished (but will now expand) on whether he ever actually crossed the Tiber in the first place. (Source: Link)

The programs are not sound bites as the subject is too deep and important to cover with a 15 minute pod-cast. I encourage all those who really want to better understand the nuances of what we are dealing with in the evangelical world of ecumenical compromise, please listen to the following Dividing Line Programs.

  • 9/15 program – Program where James White begins working through the Timothy George/Frank Beckwith dialogue.
  • 9/17 program – Second program dealing with George/Beckwith dialogue.
  • 9/22 program – Third program as James works through the Beckwith/George dialogue from Wheaton.
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The Harvest Past for the Dying Universalist

ISpencer“Here is a moving account of the tragic death-bed of a hopeless universalist who has seen the error of his way, but refuses to pray to God for mercy. Ichabod Spencer (1797-1854) recounts this emotional scene with such vivedness (sp) that you feel yourself an eyewitness to the scene. Hear this man plead with his younger brother not to follow his ways, and see him confront his father who raised him in the false doctrine of universal salvation. This is one of the most amazing incidents recorded in the book “A Pastor’s Sketches” which is filled with amazing incidents drawn from the pastoral journal of a remarkable pastor who was nicknamed THE BUNYAN OF BROOKLYN.” (Quote from “Brief Sermon Overview” on Sermon Audio)

More than sixteen years have now passed away since the occurence of which I am now to write made its first impression upon me but  I am still unable to recall the scene to my mind without the most painful emotions.  There was something in that whole scene too horrible for description and I would much rather were to consult my own feelings, pass it over in silence.  And let a vail be drawn over it forever, than have the recollection revived by copying the notes made respecting it. 

To hear the entire message, go here. 

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Slovakia and the Political Influence of the Catholic Church

concordathitlerPlease listen to the recent audio message by Richard Bennett of Berean Beacon about Slovakia and her political agreements with the Vatican.  This will give you great insight into how Roman Catholicism is much more than merely a religious system, but rather a very wily and cunning civil power.  And her power is growing greatly as she enters into concordats with nations across the globe such as what she did with the Nazi regime and Hitler in 1933.

Needless to say this should be very troubling to any true believer of Jesus Christ.  Herein, let us be engaged in prayer for our brethren and their families where the iron grasp of Romanism is felt much more acutely than presently in America.  Believers not only in Slovakia but many nations across the globe where Rome exercises great power and control over the people.

Let us also pray for the Catholics who come under this heavy hand where many of them come under persecution for being nominal in their faith.  Let us pray that the Spirit might open their eyes up to the truth of the Roman religious system where she is the prophesied woman who sits “… upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy.” (Rev 17:3)  And that they might come to hear, understand and believe the gospel of grace whereby they see the Lord Jesus Christ not hanging powerless on the crucifix, but rather seated in the heavens on the Father’s right hand with all power and authority.

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Quotes (606)

JA Wylie

All idolatries, in whatever age or country they have existed, are to be viewed but as successive developments of the one grand apostacy. That apostacy was commenced in Eden, and consummated at Rome. It had its rise in the plucking of the forbidden fruit; and it attained its acme in the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome,–Christ’s Vicar on earth. The hope that he would “be as God,” led man to commit the first sin; and that sin was perfected when the Pope “exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he, as God, sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.” Popery is but the natural development of this great original transgression. It is just the early idolatries ripened and perfected … on earth, in the Mystery of Iniquity which came to be seated on the Seven Hills; for therein man deified himself, became God, nay, arrogated powers which lifted him high above God.  Popery is the last, the most matured, the most subtle, the most skilfully contriven, and the most essentially diabolical form of idolatry which the world ever saw, or which, there is reason to believe, it ever will see. It is the ne plus ultra of man’s wickedness, and the chef d’oeuvre of Satan’s cunning and malignity.

– J. A. Wylie
1808-1890
THE PAPACY, Its History, Dogmas, Genius and Prospects

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Quotes (602)

tozer.jpg The loneliness of the Christian results from his walk with God in an ungodly world, a walk that must often take him away from the fellowship of good Christians as well as from that of the unregenerate world. His God-given instincts cry out for companionship with others of his kind, others who can understand his longings, his aspirations, his absorption in the love of Christ; and because within his circle of friends there are so few who share his inner experiences he is forced to walk alone.

The unsatisfied longings of the prophets for human understanding caused them to cry out in their complaint, and even our Lord Himself suffered in the same way.

The man [or woman] who has passed on into the divine Presence in actual inner experience will not find many who understand him. He finds few who care to talk about that which is the supreme object of his interest, so he is often silent and preoccupied in the midst of noisy religious shoptalk. For this he earns the reputation of being dull and over-serious, so he is avoided and the gulf between him and society widens.

He searches for friends upon whose garments he can detect the smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia out of the ivory palaces, and finding few or none he, like Mary of old, keeps these things in his heart.

It is this very loneliness that throws him back upon God. His inability to find human companionship drives him to seek in God what he can find nowhere else.

– A.W. Tozer

1897 – 1963
From: Man – The Dwelling Place of God

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Quotes (600)

 priestmarriage

Catholicism, with all her damnable dogmas and creeds, cannot change that God-given impulse that was planted in the bosom of man, when Adam was created in the Garden of Eden, and the more Roman Catholicism endeavors to eradicate that feeling, the greater her sins become, for it is a most damnable sin to try to force man to eradicate from his bosom this everlasting and godly craving for the love of the opposite sex, and as long as  “man is born of woman,” just so long that inspiration will live in the bosom of mankind, and just so long as Roman Catholicism endeavors to force humanity to purge itself of this blessed longing, just so long the mark of deception, depravity and ungodliness will be left upon the brow of this Romish demon.

Ex-Priest, Bernard Fresenborg
Thirty Years in Hell – From Darkness to Light

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The god of Catholicism Who Needs Your Help

pleasehelpI was reading recently the address from Pope Benedict XVI given August 12 at his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo. The message is wonderful in that in very few words, the Pope clearly defines the God, or more properly, god, of Roman Catholicism. This god not being one who is Sovereign that does as he wills, when he wills, with whomever he wills. Rather, this god is one who needs man’s help, is dependent upon him, and is unable do anything without his approval.

Below we will find how deeply rooted this doctrine is in Catholicism where even the incarnation of Jesus Christ was not something that would happen because God decreed it, rather it was an act dependent on man, or in this case woman. We read,

When God decided to become man in his Son, he needed the freely-spoken “yes” of one of his creatures. God does not act against our freedom. And something truly extraordinary happens: God makes himself dependent on the free decision, the “yes” of one of his creatures; he waits for this “yes”.

St Bernard of Clairvaux explained dramatically in one of his homilies this crucial moment in universal history when Heaven, earth and God himself wait for what this creature will say.1

This is truly astonishing and as we will see below, total contrary to the clear words of Scripture. Astonishing because in just a few sentences the Pope has begun the process of crafting an idol2 with his tongue not unlike how the artisans of Catholicism do with their hands as they fashion their statues and paint their canvases. I stress an idol because after Benedict lays this unscriptural foundation he will quickly build upon it and point his priests and followers not unto the Lord Jesus as the apostles did, but rather unto the Mary of Catholicism.

Continuing with the address, the Pope states that:

Mary’s “yes” is therefore the door through which God was able to enter the world, to become man. So it is that Mary is truly and profoundly involved in the Mystery of the Incarnation, of our salvation. And the Incarnation, the Son’s becoming man, was the beginning that prepared the ground for the gift of himself; for giving himself with great love on the Cross to become Bread for the life of the world. Hence sacrifice, priesthood and Incarnation go together and Mary is at the heart of this mystery.3

And so we see that the Roman Catholic Mary preached by the Pope is “the door through which God was able to enter the world.” Likewise, she is, because of the Incarnation, said to be “…profoundly involved in … salvation.” All because she said “yes” and graciously granted the Lord permission to enter the world which, according to Catholicism, placed Mary at the heart of “…sacrifice, priesthood and Incarnation.”

If the Pope ended here, things would be bad enough, yet he does not. Rather, he follows in the footsteps of his predecessor Pope John Paul II and points his clergy not unto the Lord Jesus as the “chief Shepherd”, but rather unto the Catholic Mary where they are told to invoke her as “Mother of the supreme and eternal Priest, as Queen of Apostles, and as Protectress of their ministry.”4 All with the intent for priests to “…always venerate and love her, with a filial devotion and worship.”5

All because, according to the Pontiff, Mary said “yes” and graciously granted God permission to act. But is this teaching in accordance with the Scriptures? Most assuredly it is not as we will see next.

Looking to the Scriptures

To test the words of the Pope against what is recorded in God’s word, let us turn to the gospel of Luke where we read about Gabriel’s visitation to Mary and what transpired.

And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. (Luke 1:26-32 – Bold added)

What should immediately jump out at us when we read these words is that we do not find a question put forth to Mary by Gabriel as he delivers his glad tidings from God. That is, we do not find Gabriel saying unto Mary something like,

Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou may conceive in thy womb if thou sayest yes, and bring forth a son, and you may call his name JESUS if you agree. He may be great if you allow him to be born, and he may be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God may give unto him the throne of his father David, but only if you say yes. So now Mary Heaven, earth and even God himself wait for what you will say.

As preposterous as I hope these words sound unto the reader this is exactly the heart of what the Pope is saying. Yet his words are in total contradiction to the Word of God that records Gabriel coming forth and issuing a declaration to Mary not about what may be but rather what shall be. What shall be because Mary was already chosen by God to be the blessed vessel to bring forth the promised Messiah with Gabriel delivering “glad tidings” and not a multiple choice test.

These “glad tidings” of course being a fulfillment of prophecies recorded throughout the Old Testament including one of the more familiar from Isaiah.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

A fact not lost on the early church where we have Matthew citing this very prophecy when he writes his gospel account and speaks specifically to the birth of the Lord.

Now all this [pregnancy of Mary by Holy Spirit and birth of Jesus] was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us. (Matthew 1:22-23)

Mary of course recognized God’s Sovereignty and bent her knee in humble submission to the LORD’s decree much as an obedient child would unto his or her parent.6 Her reply, after her valid concern about not knowing a man was answered by Gabriel, was, “Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.” (Luke 1:38) That is, do unto me Lord as you have declared by thy word for you are the potter I am the clay, you are the master I am your handmaid.7

But the Pope would have us believe that God was in fact servant unto Mary’s word as he sat on the edge of his heavenly throne waiting patiently for what her answer would be. This dear readers is not the God of the Bible and whether it be Mary or John, Peter or James, or anyone else, God is Sovereign and does as he wills where none can stay his hand. His actions are not dependent on man giving him approval and contrary to the Pope’s word, God does in fact act against man’s so-called freedom. For we are all his creatures subject to his supreme will as he acts in accordance with his heavenly will; a will that is always perfect, always right, always holy.

Likewise, be it known that a god who is dependent on man is no God at all. A god who waits for man to give him approval to act is not Sovereign. A god who does as man wills is not a God who does as he wills. This is why the god the Pope is preaching unto his followers and the world is not the God of the Bible who is declared as one who, “…doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?” (Daniel 4:37)

And so I close with a plea unto the Roman Catholic and those who hold the doctrine of what might be called the sovereignty of man, or free will, to repent and believe on the God as declared in the Scriptures. A God who is Sovereign over all things where not even a sparrow falls to the ground and dies apart from his will. A God who is beholden to no man who from the same lump of clay will create one vessel unto honor and another unto dishonor (see Romans 9:21). All so that he might show forth his power where “…his name might be declared throughout all the earth” (Romans 9:17) as “…he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of mercy, which he had afore prepared unto glory.” (Romans 9:21)

– End –

Endnotes:
1. Pope Benedict IX. On Mary, Mother of Priests “The Perfect Model for Their Existence.” Zenit.Org August 27, 2009. <http://www.zenit.org/article-26696?l=english> Bold added for emphasis.
2. idol – Any thing on which we set our affections; that to which we indulge an excessive and sinful attachment. An idol is any thing which usurps the place of God in the hearts of his rational creatures. Def. 4a., 4b. Webster’s 1828 Dictionary.
3. On Mary, Mother of Priests “The Perfect Model for Their Existence.”
4. Ibid.
5. Ibid.
5. It is beyond the scope of this paper to address the elevation of Mary to the heavenly heights the Pope is raising her unto for “filial devotion and worship”, but suffice to say this Mary is not the humble, servant of the Lord found in the Scriptures. Rather, she is a creation of the Roman Catholic religion who is often referred to as the Queen of Heaven. For more information on the Roman Catholic Mary please see this paper here.
6. Compare Mary’s humble submission unto God’s will verses that of Zacharias found in Luke 1:18 (see Luke 1:5-25). Yet note in this situation that even though Zacharias did not submit as Mary did, everything still happened exactly as God decreed down to the very naming of the child!
7. handmaid – The word in Greek is doulē which is defined as female slave.