The Real Issue About Roman Catholicism

Two Religions

The Mystery of Babylon by Don Fortner.

Two Religions

There are only two religions in this world. All religions, when reduced to their essential elements, must be categorized under one of these two: Free-grace or free-will, the religion of God or the religion of man, the church of God or the synagogue of Satan.

These two religions are represented to us in the book of Revelation by two women. In chapter 12 we see the Church of God, the religion of free-grace, which proclaims salvation by the blood and righteousness of Christ alone, who is the Man Child, represented by “a woman clothed with the sun.” Here, in Revelation 17, we see the religion of Satan, free-willism, man centered, works religion, represented by “The Great Whore…Babylon.”

The character of all false religion is described in John’s vision of the great harlot.Remember, the picture is a symbol of false religion. Do not try to get a literal picture in your mind. Try to grasp the spiritual meaning of the whole picture.Notice the features of this woman, by which we are instructed and warned, lest we be deceived by the great harlot, who “with her much fair speech” and “the flattering of her lips” has caused so many to follow her “as an ox goeth to the slaughter” (Proverbs 7:21-22).

The angel calls her “the great whore.”Not only is she a harlot, she is the mother of all spiritual harlots and abominations in the world. This is the standing symbol in the Word of God for false religion (Jeremiah 3:6-9; Ezekiel 16:28-37; Hosea 1-2; Revelation 2:22). This woman is called the great whore and the mother of harlots, because she is the embodiment and representative of all idolatry, false worship and false doctrine in the world.

To give an indication of her age and her vileness, she is given the name, Babylon the Great(v. 5). This is not a prophecy that the ancient city of Babylon will be resurrected and rebuilt. God destroyed that ancient city in His wrath; and He will destroy mystical Babylon in His fury (Isaiah 13:19-20).

(Isaiah 13:19-20) “And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees’ excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. 20 It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there.”

This Babylon is any and all religious systems that are opposed to God. Babylon is the religion of man. It is that religion which teaches salvation by the works of man’s hands and the power of man’s will. Though it is seen in the sacrifice of Cain, it began as an organized religion, an organized system of worship in opposition to God, in the fourth generation after Noah, with Nimrod, the cursed son of Noah’s cursed son, Ham (Genesis 10:8-11). The Bible tells us that Nimrod was “a mighty hunter before the Lord.” But our translation is a very poor translation of the text. Literally, it means, “Nimrod was a mighty rebel before the Lord, the mightiest rebel before the Lord in the earth.” His name, Nimrod, means “a rebellious panther.” It was this “rebellious panther,” Nimrod, who built the city of Babel, or Babylon, and began the religion of confusion (Genesis 11:1-9).

Idolatry is not a gradual decline from truth by well-meaning, but unenlightened men. Idolatry began at Babel in intentional rebellion.

• It was the invention of a proud race who refused to come to God by faith in a Substitute and refused to trust God’s grace alone.
• Babylon was born in defiance of God and His Word.
• The men of Babel despised God’s sovereignty, blood atonement, and salvation by grace.
• They attempted to build a tower to heaven by the works of their hands, with no regard for the glory of God.

God scattered those men and brought their religion to confusion.

Yet, wherever these idolaters spread through the earth, their religion is essentially the same. All the pagan mythologies, idolatrous images, and religious rituals of the world, no matter how much they differ, have an underlying sameness, which proves that they are all from one original source. That source is Babel, or Babylon, Nimrod’s plan to defeat the purposes of the God of Noah. The one foundational tenet that is always the same in the worldwide religions of Babylon is this: —Man’s salvation ultimately depends upon and is determined by man himself!

This woman has made the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine of her fornication(Habakkuk 2:15; Revelation 17: 2). The religion of old Babylon is not limited to one race, one time, one place, or even one religious order. It encompasses all. All the kings, and merchants, and inhabitants of the earth, from one generation to another, commit fornication with her and drink from her cup until they are thoroughly drunk, beyond the reach of reason.

The cup which she holds out is a golden cup (v. 4). To the carnal, sensual heart, the world’s religion is very appealing. It is bright, glittering, and full of blessings, promising happiness, health, peace, and prosperity to all who drink from its cup.

But the cup is full of abominations, filthiness and fornication.This is a fact that cannot be disputed. — Wherever false religion gains popularity, wherever free will/works religion is embraced, wherever men are deluded into thinking that righteousness is to be obtained by their good works, moral corruption and decadence always follow. Idolatry produces baseness. Will-worship produces perversity of the most hideous description (Romans 1:18-32). The doctrines of self-righteousness, free-willism, and works salvation always produce moral degradation. The cup is always the same.The old harlot has only one cup. It is always filled with the same, head-spinning wine of free-will, self-righteousness, and good works. Babylon’s wine always produces a drunkenness that causes men and women to…

• glory in their shame,
• expose their nakedness,
• and uncover their foreskins,
• showing themselves to be reprobate (Philippians 3:3).

Notice this too: — The woman is also drunk (v. 6). She is drunk “with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.” “In her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth” (18:24). — Throughout history, persecution and the murder of God’s saints and prophets have been the work of this great harlot. It is old Nimrod trying still to destroy the kingdom of God. Persecution is not the work of God’s church. It is the work of Babylon.

This woman sits upon many waters(v. 1). The angel tells us plainly that these waters are not literal bodies of water. They are “peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”(v. 15). That is to say, “The false religion signified by this great harlot is universal in its acceptance.” The prostitution of Divine Truth is supported and accepted by the fallen sons of Adam wherever they are found upon the earth. While the false religions of the world may fight among themselves, at times, they will always be found united in their opposition to the Lord Jesus Christ and the Gospel of the grace of God revealed in him. In this they all “have one mind” (Revelation 17:13).

Paper Armour

Freely substitute Paptist with freewill works based religions such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, etc and the quote still applies.

William Gurnall,

Look into his armour, and hardly a piece will be found armour of God.  They fight in the pope’s armour.  His authority is the shop wherein their weapons are forged.  It were a kind of penance to your patience, to repeat all the several pieces of armour with which they load silly souls —too heavy indeed for the broadest shoulders among them to bear—yea, more than the wiser sort of them mean to use.  Their masses, matins, vigils, pilgrimages, Lent-fasts, whippings, vows of chastity, poverty, with a world of such trash!—where is a word of God for these?  Who hath required these things at their hands?  A thousand woes will one day fall upon those impostors, who have stripped the people of their true armour of God, and put these reeds and bulrushes in their hands.  This may justify us in the sight of God and men for our departure from them who will force us to venture the life of our souls in such paper-armour, when God hath provided better.

“Morality may damn as well as vice. A vessel may be sunk with gold as well as with dung.” Thomas Watson

 

Not sure what to call this one…

but it made me smile…a little.

Which Tradition?

For the readers who would like more info on Roman Catholicism from a different perspective.

When I first became a believer I was attending an Anglican parish studying to be a layreader in that church.  During the course of my study I had some trouble sorting out the differences between the so called Traditions and Anglicanism.  This set me gazing across the Tiber for a short time.  The Marian dogmas ultimately pushed me back to shore and I was off again in search of “Holy Tradition.”  This lead me to a Greek Orthodox parish that I visited off and on for a few years, continuing to study the Traditions with the assistance of some good Eastern Orthodox friends.

Those who speak of a holy tradition speak as if it a living thing, and it was recently pointed out, something that can change.  Anyone who tells you they have a living tradition doesn’t really have a tradition at all.  If we sat down to play a game of Cribbage and the rules of the game are living rules, meaning that under certain circumstances 15 now equals 10 instead of 2, you would find it unsettling.  There would be no restraint on the changing of the rules just as there is no restraint on tradition.  What we have in place of scripture is a Pope and majority vote.  I do not agree with Eastern Orthodoxy and find it to be as false as Roman Catholicism but it’s critiques of Romanism are useful to see how traditions become muddled and confused.

The Papacy: Its Historic Origins

Which Tradition? Orthodoxy or Roman?

Tradition Wars (not EO but worth a look)

Differences

 

From Dostoevsky’s THE IDIOT

This was such a great quote I thought I would post it again.

“Roman Catholicism is even worse than Atheism itself, in my opinion!

Yes, that’s my opinion! Atheism only preaches a negation, but Catholicism goes further: it preaches a distorted Christ, a Christ calumniated and defamed by themselves, the opposite of Christ! It preaches the Antichrist, I declare it does, I assure you it does! This is the conviction I have long held, and it has distressed me, myself… Roman Catholicism cannot hold its position without universal political supremacy, and cries: ‘Non possumus!’ To my thinking Roman Catholicism is not even a religion, but simply the continuation of the Western Roman Empire, and everything in it is subordinated to that idea, faith to begin with. The Pope seized the earth, an earthly throne, and grasped the sword; everything has gone on in the same way since, only they have added to the sword lying, fraud, deceit, fanaticism, superstition, villainy. They have trifled with the most holy, truthful, sincere, fervent feelings of the people; they have bartered it all, all for money, for base earthly power. And isn’t that the teaching of Antichrist? How could Atheism fail to come from them? Atheism has sprung from Roman Catholicism itself. It originated with them themselves. Can they have believed themselves?

It has been strengthened by revulsion from them; it is begotten by their lying and their spiritual impotence!

Atheism!

Among us it is only the exceptional classes who don’t believe, those who … have lost their roots. But over there, in Europe, a terrible mass of the people themselves are beginning to lose their faith – at first from darkness and lying, and now from fanaticism and hatred of the church and Christianity.”

Antichrist

How To Approach The Book Of Revelation

The following sermon series is the best series I have ever listened to.  Pastor Mencarow opens up the book of Revelation using history, the Reformers and Puritans.

I highly recommend this set of sermons.

From the description:

“We must be well-grounded in plain truths and duties, and those must first be well-digested, before we dive into those things that are dark and difficult — many run themselves into confusion by beginning their Bible at the wrong end.” – Matthew Henry

This is an overview of the book of Revelation and a guide to its interpretation. The approach is likely not one you have heard before.

What you think the book of Revelation teaches and when you think it was written determines how you live your life – are we to conquer the world for Christ or tread water until He rescues us on the last day? – and what you think the headlines mean. Do events in the Middle East prove we are on the brink of the end times? Is Antichrist about to be revealed? Is Armageddon around the corner?

This generation of Christians has been taught Futurism; that most of Revelation describes end-time events.

Futurism is a late 16th century Roman Catholic invention that was crafted to defend the Papacy against the claims of the Protestant Reformation. Sadly, most fundamentalists and evangelicals are unknowingly parroting Roman Catholic propaganda.

The historic Protestant view is that Revelation is a panorama of world history from the first century to the end of time. It reveals the rise and fall of nations, of Romanism, Islam, the Protestant Reformation, a future New World Order of one civil government and religion imposed upon the world. But it also reveals the final triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ and the Christianization of all nations BEFORE the end of history.

Please listen to all the sermons in this series to understand the historic Protestant view of the book of Revelation.

Chapter 26: Of the Church

4.  The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the church, in whom, by the appointment of the Father, all power for the calling, institution, order or government of the church, is invested in a supreme and sovereign manner; neither can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof, but is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the church against Christ, and all that is called God; whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming. ( Colossians 1:18; Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11, 12; 2 Thessalonians 2:2-9 )

Let no man deceive you

…by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.   2 Thessalonians 2:3-7

Thomas Manton:

It is a point very necessary to admonish and warn the faithful, that they be not circumvented with these delusions, and be found in the opposite state to Christ Jesus, and the interests of his kingdom. God hath blown his trumpet: Rev. xviii. 4, ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues;’ God calleth his people out of spiritual Babylon; it is dangerous and unsafe being there. If we would escape Babylon’s punishments we must escape her sins, not live in that communion and society where there are such temptations to idolatry and other detestable enormities. It is disputable whether the errors of Popery be damnable, or there be any possibility of salvation in that religion. Some deny all possibility; others, abating from the rigour of that opinion, assert a very great difficulty: 1 Cor. iii. 13, ‘Saved as by fire;’ if so much Christianity left as to save them, it is with much ado. But the question is not about our benefit, but our duty; not whether possibly we may be saved? but what is the way the Lord will have us to walk in? And if there were possibility or probability of salvation in the way, in the general, yet there is very little or none for them that live in a known sin, and especially in a sin of such a dangerous nature as abetting an opposite faction to Christ, such as is that of Antichrist.