Truth Provided Broadcast 10-24-01
IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH A CHRISTIAN CHURCH? part IV
Welcome to yet another edition of an ongoing investigation as to whether or not the Roman Catholic church is a christian church. For those of you just tuning in, I have been discussing over the last few weeks all the evidence that supports the fact that the leaders in the Roman Catholic church do not believe in the Jesus Christ of the Bible. It is "another gospel" that is being preached from Rome. So please stay tuned today and the coming weeks, for I hope to share examples and ample evidence that the Roman Catholic church is not a church of Jesus Christ.
Moving right along, another tactic of "worshipping the creature more that the Creator" would be the technique the tabloid Psychics use as their main method of persuasion, "Astrology." On the Presents of God ministry website located at www.RemnantofGod.org, I have scanned in graphics found in the "Saint Andrew Daily Missal." This was and still is a book that most Catholics use to follow the priests during the Mass of the Roman Catholic church. You can view these graphics in the transcript of this broadcast. Just go to the audio page of the website and scroll to the October 24th 2001 broadcast and click on it. When the window pops up, select the transcript to see the graphic.
In the Saint Andrew Daily Missal Regular Edition 1940 E.M. Lohmann Co Copyrighted in 1940, St. Paul Minn.in the Preface on Page Roman Numeral X" it states, The Missal is thus the sure guide by which the Church, charged with the care of souls, traces herself in us, with a maternal solicitude, and we should follow it in order to attain unto God, through Jesus Christ our Lord."
First of all I would like to ask forgiveness for my inability to hold the scanner steady. This was scanned back in the days when we only had black and white hand scanners. Notice the "images" to the left of each of the months within the section entitled, "Liturgical Calendar." These are the astrological "Signs of the Zodiac!" Once more we see the Catholic church teaching its flock to worship the creatures over the Creator. Putting ones faith in the movements of the stars always confused me even as a child. I always wondered how people can actually believe that God Almighty who made the stars in so many billions of different sizes, shapes, colors, and distances would only create twelve different types of people on this planet! What they are truly saying is, God Almighty can make every fingerprint different, every snowflack unlike another, every DNA strand unique, but when it comes to the routines of the day, God is limited to only twelve possible outcomes. Rather comical is it not?
For a church to say that we must look to the "created"
stars for guidance instead of the one who created those stars is a
very confusing method of instruction. The Word of God puts it rather
plain. "Thou art my God. My times are in thy hand."
[Psalm 31:14,15] To put faith in the creature instead of the Creator
is a very dangerous habit for the soul. Deadly
in fact is a better word.
Isaiah 47:13,14 says, " Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it."
Easily understood verse? Those who trust the stars are truly trusting the celestial bodies to save them. Of course this cannot be done, for the Word is exact in its description as to the method of salvation. It is written, "For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved." [Romans 10:13] How can a church teach such dangerous methods to its flock and still consider themselves a Christian church?
By the way, did you notice the images to the right of each month? These are PAGAN symbols! I scanned November just to give you an idea as to how evil these images actually are. I would like to know where the Christlike connection is found within the deathmask image of the skull and crossbones that we see portrayed as an image for the month of November?
I will now share with you many inventions of the Catholic church that can be verified as Catholic doctrine or dogma within the pages of every general St. Joseph's catechism. They can also be verified as commandments of men very easily in the Word of God. Some of these false doctrines are actually the complete opposite of what's found in the Scriptures.
In the year 600A.D. the Catholic church sanctioned the Latin Language as the language of prayer and worship in the church. This was done by Pope Gregory I. However, the Word of God very plainly states that this is a forbidden practice and should never be done. Reason being is, the Latin language is no longer used on this planet. It died with the Roman nation. The Bible says we shouldn't teach or preach in an unknown tongue. The Catholic church did change back to English in this country back in the 60's. But recently some of the Catholic churches have decided to go back to saying the mass in Latin.
1 Corinthians 14:9,19 So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air. Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.
The Revised Standard Version (RSV) of the Bible translates verse nine like so, "So with yourselves; if you in a tongue utter speech that is not intelligible, how will anyone know what is said? For you will be speaking into the air." If no one can understand you, will your speech be effective? No it will not. And sadly, that is the main goal of Catholicism.
Why does the Lord consider this forbidden?
1 Corinthians 14:11 Therefore if I know not the meaning of the voice, I shall be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and he that speaketh shall be a barbarian unto me.
The Lord is not one to be disrespected. Our God has the ability to speak to His children in their own language world wide so they may understand His will for their life. Where is the sense in preaching in a language that no one on this planet can call their native tongue? It's makes as much sense as the vow of silence, Catholic monks take. This too is a very hard thing for me to understand. You're a young man, you find the Lord Jesus Christ and accept Him as your Saviour for life. You are overflowing with excitement about your new found love in Christ. You want to tell everyone you meet about your Jesus. You are literally bursting at the seams with eternal joy and happiness. You run to your parish priest and tell him the good news of your burning desire to tell the world about Jesus Christ and all His glorious works. So your parish priest asks you to sit down, and in a calm and gentle voice he tells you to become a monk, and take a vow of silence!
Can a person contain such a burning desire as is experienced when touched by the Lord? Can a person ignore the prodding's of the Holy Spirit to speak the Oracle's of God? There is one named, Jeremiah that spoke the truth of God, as did all the Prophet's. Jeremiah was even placed in the stocks by Pashur for not keeping silent. He prophesied the truth. Jeremiah even explains to Pashur how he is unable to take a "vow of silence." In Jeremiah 20:9 (RSV) we see Jeremiah telling Pashur, "If I say, "I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name," there is in my heart as it were a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot" So why does the Catholic church have it's monks keep silent? Did not Jesus Himself explain to us that, "No man, when he hath lighted a candle, putteth it in a secret place, neither under a bushel, but on a candlestick, that they which come in may see the light." [Luke 11:33] The great commision is to preach His Truth. Not hide it.
The office of Pope itself is in direct conflict with
the Scriptures as well. Jesus dealt with this wanton greed of
greatness among His own Apostles, and it is recorded in Scripture for
all to see and learn from.
Luke 22:24-26 tells us, "And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest. And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.
It is obvious human nature for some to want to be the leader or greatest at something in life. Especially something that is so highly thought of by the one and only God of all creation. But Christianity is not about that. Christianity teaches us that we should "not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another." [1 Corinthians 4:6] We are in no way in need of a human leader of the church. We have our leader, His name is Jesus, and God His eternal Father "hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church," [Ephesians 1:22] Yet the papacy still maintains that it is the head of the church. And as can plainly be seen, this is in direct conflict with the Word of God. The foundation of the church is built on Jesus. Jesus is the cornerstone, "For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." [1 Corinthians 3:11] Jesus didn't start the office of pope, He said, "But ye shall not be so!"
To take this office of pope into an even larger view we see just how far this greed of greatness can escalate in a mans heart. In the year 709 A.D. the Catholic church sanctioned the act of kissing the pope's feet as a necessity for all those that approach him in the hierarchy. Not only is this a custom brought into the church from pagan origin, it is also a practice that is strictly forbidden in the Word of God. Even the one who the Catholic church mistakenly claims as its first pope, is appalled at the thought of someone falling to his feet.
Acts 10:25,26 And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
Peter knew that he was nothing without Jesus. When Cornelius fell before him, Peter could have easily accepted his show of reverence, affection, and yes, even worship. For the Bible openly defines here that falling before the feet of Peter WAS an act of worship. But Peter had a complete knowledge of who he was and who Jesus was. Jesus is to be worshipped, not mankind. Again we hear the tones of Romans 1:25 and how they "worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator."
We also see in the book of Revelation that John the Apostle fell to the feet of an Angel in worship, but the Angel corrected him.
Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God:...
NOTE again: The Angel acknowledges that falling to his feet is an act of WORSHIP!
Revelation 22:8,9 says, "And I John saw these things, and heard them. And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel which shewed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not: for I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them which keep the sayings of this book: worship God.
Peter saw fit to correct Cornelius, and Cornelius acknowledged his error. An Angel corrected the Apostle John and he too understood his mistake. And now we have the entire Bible correcting an entire church system of Rome, and what do they do? They continue to RE-WRITE the Bible to sanction their god of choice instead.
There are so many obvious differences between Catholicism and Christianity to the naked eye that it really confuses me as to why I took so long to see them. One of the more obvious and easily acknowledged as worldliness is the wealth of the Catholic church. This church is without a doubt the richest religious organization on the earth in all recorded history. Yet Jesus acknowledged that, "...The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head." [Matthew 8:20] But if you look to the blueprints of the Vatican you will find that the Pope has 1400 rooms to lay his head. We all know that Jesus was tempted with this wealth firsthand by the devil on the mountain top. I Praise God Almighty, Jesus is His Son.
Matthew 4:8,9 declares, "Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me.
By the way... even the devil knows that to fall before the feet of anyone means WORSHIP! Fact is, Jesus rejected the temptation of the devil, and did not "fall before his feet." The Catholic church however seems to be doing very well these days. If only the loyal children of God within the Catholic church will open their Bibles to see they are grieving the Spirit of God. We must continue to pray for all of them, they must see this for themselves. They must have it click in their minds as it has in so many others that they are headed for destruction if they continue to ignore the truth in God's Holy Word. If God could be worshipped in any way we see fit, why would He write us a Bible to explain how to worship Him? We should follow His example in His Word. If we don't, then we are not worshipping Him, plain and simple. It's that easy. If we call ourselves Christians, then we must do as the Christian God declares in His Christian Bible. If we choose to ignore our Christian God for what men say, then we are obeying MAN rather than God. And that is in direct conflict with the Bibel of that Christian God. For it is written in Acts 5:29 that "Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men." Did you notice that Peter himself said we must obey God rather than men! Even the one the Catholic church wrongfully calls Pope declares that we must obey God over man.
One major "commandment of man" was brought forth by the Roman Catholic church in the year 1215 A.D. Pope Innocent III decreed the doctrine of transubstantiation. This is the doctrine that states the priest has the ability to perform the miracle of changing the wafer into the body of Jesus Christ for all Catholics to receive as communion. Five years later in 1220 A.D. Pope Honorius sanctioned the adoration of the wafer as doctrine.
Luke 22:19,20 states, "And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you "
These are two verses that have indeed been taken out of context. As a devoted Catholic, I actually believed that the priest had that ability to change the wafer into the body of Jesus every single time I went to mass. Many people from all other churches have time and time again tried to explain to me that Jesus was speaking in a symbolic way when He said the bread was His flesh, and the wine was His blood. But I would have no part of their explanation. Even though I read John 6:35 about how "Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst..." I realized Jesus was saying He was the meaning of life. But I quickly blew that off because I didn't want to believe that my church was wrong. It would mean that Jesus wasn't really asking us to eat Him as a cannibal eats his prey. However, reading John 1:14 makes one realize that, "...the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us,..." So when Jesus said we must eat His flesh, He actually meant,We must eat His Word. But I was still confused. It wasn't until I read Jeremiah 15:16 that I understood, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart..." It was also confirmed to my heart when I read these verses...
Could it be the Catholic church is having a hard time understanding what Jesus meant when He said He is the bread of life? This is not uncommon, even back then "The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?" [John 6:52] And sadly yes, even "Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?" [John 6:60] And because they couldn't understand what Jesus meant we read that, "From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him." [John 6:66] And still to this day people the world over still worship the wafer as Jesus incarnate. The Almighty is not one that has to be placed in a wafer to be worshipped. The Bible tells us very plainly that "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." [John 4:24] To go one step further in the discussion of this doctrine of transubstantiation, or "turning the wafer into Jesus Christ incarnate." I would like to bring to your attention the following decree that the Catholic church still considers binding doctrine today.
"If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist (communion wafer) are contained truly, really and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ, but says that He is in it only as a sign, or figure or force, let him be anathema." (An exhausted definition of "Anathema" = To be damned and put to death) Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent. Original text with English translation, by Rev. H.J. Schroeder, O.P., B. Herder Book Co. 1960, p.79, Canon 1.
Does this appear to be Christlike behavior? I was shocked when I read this. Doesn't Jesus tell us in Luke 6:27 that everyone should "Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you," God Almighty does not want worship out of fear. If He did He would have killed Satan and his fallen angels the first day of their Heavenly revolt. However, this would indeed have caused many of the angels to fear God, wouldn't it? The Almighty wants us to make a choice to worship Him out of our own free will. If we are forced into worship, is it true worship? Have you ever been forced into doing something you didn't want to do? Did you feel happiness? Did you feel joy? Did you want to continue doing it forever? Did you want your friends or loved ones to join you? Was it something you looked forward to? We are either a Christian, or we are not a Christian. There are NO gray areas in Christianity. Still, there are those laws of the Catholic church that makes forced worship a doctrine accepted by God. For example...
"If anyone says that in the holy sacrament of the Eucharist (communion wafer), Christ, the only begotten Son of God, is not to be adored with the worship of latria, also outwardly manifested, and is consequently neither to be venerated with a special festive solemnity, nor to be solemnly borne about in procession according to the laudable and universal rite and custom of the holy Church, or it not to be set publicly before the people to be adored and the adorers thereof are idolaters, let him be anathema." Ibid., p.80, Canon 6
The priest says mass, and he presumably turns the wafer into Jesus, or he publicly carries the wafer in a religious parade. If anyone steps forward to say the wafer is merely a symbol of Jesus, and really isn't the body, blood and soul of Jesus Christ, or they refuse to bow to it, or call it idol worship. They MUST be rejected by the church as a Christian, or in more drastic measures, killed. Is this Christlike? Would Jesus approve? Some will say, "This is ancient history, it doesn't apply today" Even if they're right, ancient or current history, is this right for a church to do? Besides, it is no longer ancient history. The FACT is the Vatican II council kept this particular doctrine on the books as present day legal binding Catholic doctrine.
Adoration of the communion wafer is one thing, plain and simple. It is the worship of a god that is made by human hands. Unless the wafer is miraculously created without the aid of a human to purchase the ingredients, mix the ingredients, form it, season it, or cook it in an oven, it is made by human hands. Period. And according to the Word of God, the Almighty does NOT reside in anything made by human hands...
In Biblical reality. Those wafers in the Roman catholic church are the very wafers offered unto the pagan goddess. For it is written in Jeremiah 44:19 "And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our men? "
Worship belongs to the Creator, not His creation. Paul tells us in Romans 1:25 that there will be those "Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen." Is not the wafer a creation? Even if it is broken down into its base elements, the molecules within the wafer were created by an Almighty and Ever Living Creator God. They are part of His creation. And when you genuflect before it, you are making an open sign of worship. Worship of creation, instead of the Creator.
By the way, if Jesus really did literally turn the wine into His blood as the Roman Catholic church declares, then explain this passage. Matthew 26:28-29 says, "For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom." In verse 28 Jesus declares the wine His blood, and the very next verse has Jesus declaring it the fruit of the vine. Biblical proof, Jesus was speaking symbolically.
To summerize in a few
words...
If the Religous leaders claim Jesus IS in the wafer.
They are IDOL worshippers
After realizing the truth in this sacrament of the Catholic church, I wondered, "What of the rest?" Are all the sacraments of my childhood church based on error? I decided it would be best to let the Bible tell me what's right and what's wrong. After my experience with my parish priest telling me to quit reading the Bible, I was afraid to trust anyone's opinion. I didn't let anyone know of my distrust, I just went to the Bible because I knew the Lord would never lie within His Word. I found within the pages of the Lord's Holy Word that He did in fact have sacraments, however, there were only "two," and they did indeed have Biblical requirements that I did not find in the Catholic church. In the weeks ahead I would like to go into a little more detail regarding the doctrines of the Roman Catholic church. I would like to touch on the state of the dead. The confessional of the church. Infant Baptism, hellfire or purgatory. Did Jesus have siblings and was Mary truly a virgin all her life? I would also like to share 3 verses the Roman Catholic church uses to sanctify Sunday keeping. By the way, many non-Catholics listening will find that their very own church is teaching the exact same verses as Rome does in regards to Sunday keeping as well. I will not only share the Truth on these passages, I will also make it clear that they are indeed being preached out of context for the sole purpose of getting people to break the commandments of God.
So I implore you, please tune your Radios to this station each Wednesday at 12:30 in the afternoon for another edition of the Truth Provided Broadcast. And remember what Isaiah 8:20 has declared so long ago, "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them."
