Poor Christ – rich church.
Jesus and his followers did not care about tomorrow and did not collect earthly wealth. Mat 6:20 But keep on storing up treasures for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal.
Mat 19:21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”
Luk 12:33 “Sell your possessions, and give the money to the poor. Make yourselves wallets that don’t wear out—a dependable treasure in heaven, where no thief can get close, and no moth can destroy anything.
1 Tim 6:17 Charge those who are rich in this present world that they not be haughty, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on the living God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy;
How does the Catholic Church follow the example of its paragon? In no way! On the contrary, the church has long sought riches and splendor throughout its existence. The Catholic Church is the most prosperous institution in the world. It is, of course, true that much of the property of the Church cannot be changed for money, for example, beautiful paintings on the ceiling of the Church. Over the centuries, the Church has accumulated enormous sums of money by “selling salvation.” In defense, the church may say that this way was financed, among other things, St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
Rev 17:4 tells about the harlot: The woman wore purple and scarlet clothes and was adorned with gold, gems, and pearls. In her hand, she was holding a gold cup filled with detestable things and the impurities of her immorality. 5 and upon her forehead was a name written: `Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of the Whores, and the Abominations of the earth.’ 6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. I was very surprised when I saw her. – John saw a vision of two millennia ahead; the Church leadership still wears purple and uses countless golden cups and chalices. The remainder of the verse that says the cup is filled with detestable things and the impurities of her immorality, is naturally a figurative description of all the horrors the Church has committed. The Church’s leadership likewise wears a golden cross decorated with jewels. Is that appropriate? What could these abominations be? The list of sins of the Catholic Church has been said to include unauthorized banking activities, drug money laundering, trading in counterfeit securities, and business transactions with Mafia. Nino Lo Bello writes in his book The Vatican Empire: Vatican is so closely allied with the Mafia in Italy that “many people…believe that Sicily…is nothing more than a Vatican building”.
Verse 6 shows that the whore was drunk with the blood of the saints and the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.
Rev 17:18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
The Bible urges: “Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, so that you don’t participate in her sins and suffer from her plagues.” – It is a sad thing that over one billion Catholics – a large number of them are deeply religious – are as prisoners in their church.
Another Jesus
2 Cor 11:4 For if someone comes along and preaches another Jesus than the one we preached, or should you receive a different spirit from the one you received or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you are all too willing to listen.
The Galatians says even more strongly:
Gal 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that person be condemned!
1:9 As we have said before, so I now say again: if any man preaches to you any gospel other than that which you received, let him be cursed.
What is this all about? If someone preaches another Jesus or proclaims another gospel, he may be cursed. How could it be said more strongly than it has been said here? And yet countless denominations have their own interpretation of Jesus and his gospels. What about the largest Christian church, the Catholic Church?
Its leader the Pope has raised himself as “Vicarius Filii Dei”; should not the most important message of the Church be Christ, whom God has raised to the right of his throne and above all creation? In this article, I have presented facts that show otherwise. “The Queen of Heaven” has taken the place of Jesus; people pray her and she is called to mediate to God. There are statues of her in many Catholic churches and she is celebrated in processions …
Except that the Pope has exalted himself the vicar of Son of God, he is the infallible interpreter of the Catholic doctrine. The Pope’s infallibility concerns the questions of faith as expressed “ex-cathedra”. Impeccability is defined in the English Dictionary with complete authority, or said by the Pope to be true and so accepted by all members of the Roman Catholic Church. Mat 28:18 ”Jesus came to them and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth”. Only Christ has all power and all knowledge and when using this power of God he is infallible. Pope’s ‘infallibility’ has resulted in many sad examples.
The message of Jesus is distorted. His core was the proclamation of the kingdom of God. He himself said that “for this purpose he was sent”. He will establish it when he comes the second time on earth.
Apostle Peter warned that apostasy would overtake the Church. 2 Pet 2:1 Now there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them, the way of truth will be maligned.
1 Joh 2:22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
The sign of Antichrist is that he “denies” both God and Christ. Can we without any doubt say that the Pope is not the antichrist, because he does not directly deny either God or Jesus? Is he not cursed according to the Bible, if he proclaims another kind of Jesus than the Bible does? Many scholars believe it is the same thing as a straight denial.
During the time of Constantine, we find the real completion of the Babylonian and the diasporic Samaritan movements to Rome and to Italy. The religion, philosophy and even the government of old Babylon had been transferred to Rome and, with an acceptance of the Constantine form of Christianity (the type which introduced Babylonian idolatry and pagan teachings into the bosom of the Christian Church), the Roman Catholic Church had now arisen which was to govern the future western world — a powerful, paganized force which is still influencing us today! Those of Yehovah’s people who continued to keep His commandments were now forced to flee for their very lives into remote, wilderness areas of Europe, hopefully beyond the reach of their Catholic persecutors.
“The new state religion, A bizarre blend of Christianity and paganism, now began to dominate Europe for over a thousand years, leaving the true Church in ‘a place prepared of God’ (Revelation 12:6) (The Incredible History of God’s True Church, p. 132).
1 Tim 4:1 ”Now the Spirit says clearly that in the last times some people will abandon the faith by following deceitful spirits, the teachings of demons”. – The signs of apostasy are by no means the total separation from the Biblical faith. Those who abandon are most often pretending to be true believers, they just follow another gospel in which Jesus is not in the leading role. It has been stolen by Virgin Mary or by the hundreds of Saints who are supposed either to heal or otherwise help, especially if the prayer has a piece of saint’s bone, a tooth, or a piece of the cross in which Christ was crucified. Those who believe in such a doctrine are the students of Satan and his demons. I do not judge these people, the word of the Bible does it.
The Antichrist is coming!
The Great Apostasy and the Man of Lawlessness:
… that Day will not come unless first comes the falling away, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, (2 The 2:3)
In 2 The, Paul is writing what must happen before Jesus comes:
2:1 Now we ask you, brothers, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him
for you not to be quickly shaken in the mind, nor to be disturbed, neither through a spirit, nor through speech, nor through letter, as through us, as if the Day of Christ has come.
3, Do not let anyone deceive you in any way, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
4 he opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship. As a result, he [the antichrist] seats himself in the temple of God and declares himself to be God.
There is, therefore, to take place a great apostasy in Christendom. Before the arrival of the Lord’s Day, the Antichrist (man of sin, son of perdition), who declares himself to be God, will appear and reside in the temple of God. Jesus will not come before these happen. It seems as if apostasy has been actualized widely, but the Antichrist has not yet appeared. Settling as being proclaimed God (in the new Temple to be built in Jerusalem) is not yet in sight.
