Category: Christmas

The Mass? Penance? Purgatory?

~ Sherry ~ Leave a comment

~ by C.H. Spurgeon


Where, then, did the mass come from, and of what avail is it? The Lord’s Supper was intended to be the remembrancer to us of our Lord’s sufferings; instead of which it has been prostituted by the Church of Rome into the blasphemy of a pretended continual offering up of the body of the Lord Jesus Christ, a continual sacrifice. According to the Romish doctrine the offering upon Calvary is not enough-the atonement for sin is not finished- it has to be performed every day, and many times a day, in the Catholic churches, by certain appointed persons, so that that sacrifice is always being offered. Oh! brethren, the Mass is a mass of abominations, a mass of hell’s own concocting, a crying insult against the Lord of glory. It is not to be spoken of in any terms but those of horror and detestation. Whenever I think of another sacrifice for sin being offered, by whoever it may be presented, I can only regard it as an infamous insult to the perfection of the Savior’s work. Popery swarms with worshipers of the god whom the baker bakes in the oven, and whom they bite with their teeth.

What of the Catholic sacrament of penance? Is not penance in its essence an offering for sin? I do not care who it is that prescribes the penance, nor what it is, whether it is licking the pavement with your tongues, or wearing a hair-shirt, or laying on the whip- if it be supposed that by the mortification of the flesh, men can take away sin, the Scripture is like a two-edged sword to pierce the inmost heart of such teaching. Take off your hair-shirt, poor fool! Wash the stones with a dish-cloth and keep your tongue clean. There is no need for these fooleries! Christ has completed the atonement; you need not suffer thus. You need not, like Luther, go up and down the stone staircase on your knees, and think that your poor sore knees will find favor with God. Christ has suffered; God exacts no more. Do not try to supplement His gold with your dross. Do not try to add to His matchless robes, the rags of your poor penance.

Hebrews 9: 24-27 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment… *

“It is finished.” – John 19:30*

How these verses shut the gates of purgatory! It is held that there are some who die who are believers, but who are not quite purified from sin, and in an after state they must undergo a purgatorial quarantine to be purged by fire, so that they may become quite complete.

Beloved, when the thief died on the cross he had but just believed, and had never done a single good work, but where did he go to? Well, he ought to have gone to purgatory by rights, if ever anybody did, but instead of that the Savior said to him, “Today you shall be with Me in Paradise.” Why? Because the ground of the man’s admission into Paradise was perfect. The grounds of his admission there was Christ’s work, and that is how you and I will get into heaven, because Christ’s work is finished. The thief did not go down to purgatory, nor, blessed be His name, neither shall you nor I if we trust in the finished work of the Lord Jesus.

A Bible study of the false doctrine of purgatory

(* – my add)

Isaiah 42:20 Not Paying Attention

~ Sherry ~ Leave a comment

Some things Christians just don’t want to hear about…or see from God’s perspective…

Tom's avatarInsights From Tom

You have seen many things, but you pay no attention; your ears are open, but you do not listen. Isaiah 42:20

God was talking to the Israelites when He made this statement. They had seen God do many miracles, they had heard the law read to them time and time again, and they heard what the prophets were saying. They knew what God wanted, yet they still rejected Him and chose to follow idols instead. The Israelites were unwilling to really see what was happening or hear what was being said.

It is very easy for a person to see what is happening and not really see what is happening. They will only see on the surface or they will ignore the signs. How many people drive down the road and ignore some of the signs? The speed limit is lowered with signs telling the driver to slow down, yet…

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Is It Right for a Christian to Expose False Prophets and False Teaching ? (by Damon Whitsell)

~ Sherry ~ 2 Comments

shepherdguardian's avatarShepherd/Guardian

 

false-teachersSOURCE:

http://thewordonthewordoffaithinfoblog.com/2013/09/05/is-it-right-for-a-christian-to-expose-false-prophets-and-false-teaching/#more-6424

I. It Is Right To Practice Biblical Judgment
One of the most misused verses in the Bible is, “Judge not, that ye be not judged” (Matt. 7: 1). Every Scripture verse should be read in its context, if we are to properly understand the true meaning. In vs. 2-5 of this same chapter it is evident that v. 1 is referring to hypocritical judgment. A brother who has a beam in his own eye should not be judging the brother who may have a mote in his eye. The lesson is plain, you cannot judge another for his sin if you are guilty of the same sin.

 

Those who cling to “Judge not, that ye be not judged, ” to condemn those who expose error should read the entire chapter. Jesus said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing,  ” (v. 15)…

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Christ’s Birth and Pagan Traditions

~ Sherry ~ 4 Comments

Christ’s birth was and is crucial. It’s the incarnation, the one-time only and only unique birth event, which the angels were celebrating. Salvation has come to the world! \o/ Did you know that Jews of Jesus’ day did not celebrate birthdays? Not even bar/bat mitzvahs (those are new innovations)! That is why we do not see any apostle celebrating the birthday of Christ Jesus. But the Jewish-pagans of His day did celebrate birthdays – Herod was of Judaism, but he was also enamored with the Roman culture as evidenced in the celebrating of his birthday. He was a Jew in name only. He was also an Idumean, aka, an Edomite, with that wicked Haman in his ancestry.

Has the Christ Mass celebration been changed from pagan to Christian lawfully? No. We do not see anywhere in scripture where God has said to steer clear of paganism until a certain amount of time has passed. This pre-Christ yule-tide season where the decorated tree-in-house tradition comes from is, in our day, a celebration of pagan Wiccans who adopted the holiday from the sun worshiping Druids. We are to keep from even the appearance of evil yet we look just like the Wiccans when we practice their decorated tree-in-house tradition. Putting Christ’s name on that which God hates is an evil we need to beware of if we love Christ Jesus. God warned the Israelites not to worship Him in the same manner as the heathen do their gods and we do not see a lifting of that command in the New Testament but instead see what the pagans did with their books in Acts 19:19. Its what we must do with our christo-pagan traditions and things. Hard to do? Yes! And yet easy when you love the Lord Jesus Christ and want to please Him in all of your ways.

May God open the eyes of His children and call them out of this iniquitous tradition of men/pagan/papist practice into a pure worship of Him in spirit and in truth, amen!

Oh, That Pagan Wedding Ring!

~ Sherry ~ 2 Comments

Yes, it’s true. We Christians live in a world of paganism. Everywhere we look its pagan. Pagan! Pagan! Pagan! Our churches are modeled after pagan worship centers, so we are told. Our days of the week are named after pagan gods! Some say worship on Sunday is pagan! And our dollar bill…GASP!!!…

So what? That’s right, I asked, so what? Maybe knowing that truth puts most Christians at ease about celebrating X Mass. “Paganism is hard to avoid.” Or they will say, “See, you can christianize paganism! Look at the church structure!” Well…not so fast, o clever one!

No. No you can’t christianize unredeemable paganism. Yes, we use, or practice, the things of pagan origin all of the time. But that pertains to worldly use for our benefit or as a person-to-person use. Many things we believe have a pagan origin didn’t just happen to be only for pagan worship after all. The practice simply existed before the time of Nimrod, where all pagan religions came from. Nevertheless, in our man to God worship we must not adopt the ways of the heathen to worship Him with. He hates it. He did not ordain it. It is Cain worship, i.e., man-made. God has the only right to sanction the worship of Himself and to call days “holy.” Not us. Some say that Jeremiah 10 has nothing whatsoever to do with X Mass trees. Fine. You can believe that. Some say that Deuteronomy 12:29-32 is not speaking about our modern-day X Mass trees and such other rituals and traditions. Fine. You can believe that way, too.

Here’s the problem: If you are decorating your homes in the same manner as the Wiccans then you are yoking with the idolatrous unbelievers. You are not being separate from them. How are you being holy as God is holy in this X Mass-Saturnalia “holy” day observance? You are not abstaining from even the appearance of evil! Are you a Christian or a Wiccan? Sure, today many would say you are a Christian but not the unbelievers. They don’t know the difference, nor do they care. It’s about Santa for them, no matter their age. The Wiccans are either laughing at you for doing as they do, or they are angry at you for hijacking their holy day and putting your false god (yes, its lower-case “g” to them) in the place of their true sun-god, unless they believe there is no difference between the two. But they should know it! Christians aren’t helping them in the matter with their copy-cat decor.  Where are we different, then, by our appearance?

If you cling to your X Mass to the point of being rude or inconsiderate to your fellow Christians who do not celebrate it, then you are committing idolatry and brotherly love is not in you. If you use Scriptures to validate your celebration but say that the incarnation story is the “Christmas story” then you have no idea what the Christ Mass truly is about, and you are inadvertently sinning against God and calling the holy by an unholy name. Plus! You are misinterpreting the Scriptures you are using! If you are celebrating X Mass despite knowing its pagan roots (or similarity to the Wiccan’s “holy” day) then you are willfully sinning against God. It’s not just sinning, but willfully sinning. If you are celebrating X Mass for the kids’ sake, or for fear of what others might say, then you are not worthy of Jesus. He said it, I didn’t:

Matthew 10:36-38, “And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household. He that loveth father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after Me, is not worthy of Me.”

john-14-15-free-bible-verse-desktop-wallpapers

See also Bible Hub’s commentary and other like verses here.

It’s time to repent of Christo-paganism.

“OUT OF CHURCH” CHRISTIANS

~ Sherry ~ 9 Comments

This has been copied from the comment line of a J.C. Ryle FB post:

Andrew Strom. [4 April 2003]

I am writing on a rather unusual topic today. On Monday night (31 March) I was invited onto a Christian Radio show in New Zealand to discuss the growing numbers of “Out-of-church” Christians in the West – people who have left the churches for various reasons but still claim a strong Christian faith. It was a very interesting night, and the phones ran hot.

This “Out-of-church” phenomenon has now grown so large that books are being written about it. In fact, several years ago I heard an estimate that there are TENS OF THOUSANDS of such Christians just in our largest city (-Auckland) alone. And I believe it is the same right across the Western nations. I have personally come into contact with literally hundreds of such people. The surprising thing is that they are often the most committed kind of Christians – praying, insightful, deep-thinking. Yet they have grown tired of “playing the game” inside our church system and have opted out. Often their involvement goes back many years. In fact, they had commonly been leaders of various kinds.

But now they have left. Why? The church obviously finds this a very difficult thing to explain or deal with. The usual accusations are often trotted out: “So-and-so has been hurt and has a root of bitterness”. Or they are in “rebellion”. Or they are “not a team player”. Or they are “backsliding”.

But if you talk to these people you will often find that they have been sitting in church for years and years, and they simply cannot stand to sit and watch the same old game being played any more. The LACK OF GOD is what gets to them – even in our most “Spirit-filled” churches. WHERE IS GOD IN ALL OF OUR ACTIVITY? Surely this is not the way it is supposed to be?

New fads and programs come and go, but the mediocrity and LACK OF GOD just seem to go on forever. And so quietly, sometimes without anyone even noticing, they slowly slip out the doors – never to return. Some have even told me that they felt God “calling them out”. Others simply felt they couldn’t stay there anymore. The state of the church weighed upon them more than words could say.

Very often they did the rounds of other churches, hoping against hope that they would find a place that felt “right” in any way. (-Though most of them are not “church-hoppers” by nature). But the places they visited never seemed any more “right” than the place they had left. And after a while it just seemed easier to stay at home with God.

As I said earlier, most of these people have not given up on Christianity at all. It is today’s church system that they have given up on. And we are talking about large numbers here. Thousands are already opting out. And many feel like they are “waiting” for something.

Some of these people have started up home-fellowships. Or they meet with other couples on a casual basis. But many meet with nobody at all, and they consider themselves in a ‘Wilderness’ place – alone with God. (-Very common).

I was asked several weeks ago by a pastor whether I agreed that what is happening could be a ‘move of God’. That is a pretty radical thought. Many leaders would think the opposite. Because anything that leads people out of “their church” can’t be of God, can it?

Hmmmm. All I know is this: The concept of going through a ‘Wilderness’ just before entering the ‘Promised Land’ is totally Scriptural. In fact, it is right through the Bible. Even Jesus went through such a wilderness time.

But it is not possible to stay “alone” forever. Some day, if these people are going to be part of a new move of God’s Spirit, they are going to have to come out of their wilderness and become part of the “BODY” that Jesus brings together – the ‘new wineskin’ that will come with this new move of God. Otherwise they could miss out. That is the great danger.

I’m sure there are many on this List with comments or testimonies relating to this topic. I would love to hear from you. It really is becoming a significant issue in the church.

God bless you, my friends.

________________________________

For weeks after I published the above article, I was inundated with emails. It seemed to be going round and round on the Internet because many responses were from people that were not even part of our own List. Such a huge number of heart-felt stories from people who still loved Jesus but had left the churches (-forever, in many cases). What an eye-opener! It confirmed to me that this issue is so much larger than many of us have realized. I don’t think a lot of Christian leaders have any clue how many believers are simply opting out of “organized religion” today. Andrew Strom

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Pastors, there are many of us “Out-of-Church” Christians who want to belong to a Bible practicing church that has nothing to do with the pagan/papist/traditions of men “holy” days like X Mass and Easter, which is just blasphemously slapping Christ’s holy name on an unholy pagan feast to Tammuz and the Queen of Heaven. Get rid of those unlawful days as practices and see if your numbers improve. Even if they don’t, you can know you are obedient to God’s Word.

Link: Scripture Verses and Quotes of Note

Woof!

~ Sherry ~ Leave a comment

A dog barks when his master is attacked. I would be a coward if I saw that God’s truth is attacked and yet would remain silent.

—John Calvin

Sermon: Where Does Religious Authority Lie ?

~ Sherry ~ 4 Comments

He talks of mens’ traditions in this sermon. How we, as humans, can very well be wrong. And so can traditions be outside scriptural authority even if everyone, including the Christian churches, are doing it.