Consider This…

2 Kings 17 reveals that God’s patience does run out where the paganized worship of Him is concerned…christianized paganism leads to paganized worship of God which does descend into worship of another god, another Jesus. And, is not pagan/papist “holy” days, traditions and rituals, an idol when one cannot loose their grip of them when confronted with God’s Word saying, do not do as the heathen do for their gods in our worshiping Him? If one must justify, apart from scriptural authority, or, with scriptures contorted, doing that which God forbids then the thing being done is an idol.

Now, if God judged and punished the Israelites for their syncretic worship of Him, why do Christians believe they will get a pass for doing the same?

From CIC: The Infiltration of Mysticism

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/f9/87/53/f987538da97b2173007c10dfd0694636.jpg

The Priesthood of Every Believer

You also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1Peter 2:5)

Paganism is the default religion of the human race. Without true, Biblical teaching we think like pagans. Many have rightly pointed out that Roman Catholicism is paganized Christianity. In that context, Luther fought to bring us back to the truth of the gospel as found in scripture alone. A concomitant teaching of scripture alone is the priesthood of every believer. Pagans typically wish to have a supposed holy man (or shaman) to stand between them and God, many Christians are looking for the same. False teachers and false prophets take advantage of this tendency to abuse the flock.

In Luther’s day the abuse came from the Pope and the hierarchy of authorities under him. In that context, some Christians from Bohemia wrote to Luther to ask what to do. The Pope was making them send people to Rome at their own expense and pay tribute to have authorized “priests” to head churches. Luther’s answer was the biblical doctrine of the priesthood of every believer. He claimed that the Roman Catholic priesthood was illegitimate and comprised of the unregenerate. As such, they were not truly priests. Luther identified seven functions of priests, and proved from scripture that each of these legitimately pertained to every true saint, born from above.

Today the doctrine of the priesthood of every believer is typically neglected. The implications of the doctrine are not on the minds of many Christians. In this vacuum, religious authorities do what Roman Catholic authorities did in Luther’s day – they abuse the saints. In this article we will examine the seven functions identified by Luther along with his Biblical proof. I will argue that Luther’s doctrine was indeed Biblical and needs to be brought back to the forefront of our preaching and teaching. If we are truly priests to God, we need to know the privileges and duties that attend this position we have in Christ.

Read more HERE or download the PDF HERE.

Are You Sure You Want to Practice Paganism and Call it Holy to the LORD?

Revelation 22

12 “Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.

14 “Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city. 15 Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.*

16 “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

17 The Spirit and the bride say, “Come!” And let the one who hears say, “Come!” Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.

18 I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this scroll: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to that person the plagues described in this scroll. 19 And if anyone takes words away from this scroll of prophecy, God will take away from that person any share in the tree of life and in the Holy City, which are described in this scroll.**

20 He who testifies to these things says, “Yes, I am coming soon.”

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.

21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

~~~

*The idolaters and practitioners of falsehoods are those who know to do right but refuse to do it. They make excuses and twist scriptures to justify their profane worship because they say it honors God. They say that time has passed and that X Mass and Easter no longer have the meanings they once did. Look at the modern day Wiccan practices and tell me that Christians are completely seperate from them in worship practices to our Most Holy God! What does God say? Has He given scriptures or Apostolic examples that pagan worship practices can be Christianized and used to worship Him? Please show me! These people love their Christo-pagan “holy” days more than they love God. Or, perhaps its their children and grandchildren who matters to them more than God.

**How do these X Mass celebrants add to the Word of God in His Revelation? By making their traditions of men of equal or of more importance than His Word. They add their Christo-pagan “holy” days to His Word despite His warnings not to do such things: Deut. 12; Jer. 10. How do they take away from the Word of God? By making His commandments of no effect in their lives. By saying that God’s warning is not for them. This makes them the idolaters and lovers of falsehoods (Jesus was not born on Dec.25) cited in His Book of Revelation…

  The grace of the Lord Jesus be with God’s people. Amen.

Scriptures from Bible Gateway

Facts and Scriptures on X Mass Observation

What you are about to read is not my opinion. You are about to read facts which I will support using Scripture. I have no agenda other than my life’s purpose of being an ambassador for Christ.

Believe it or not, the celebration of Christmas, is not a celebration of the birth of Jesus as you were told in church or at school. Christmas has nothing to do with The Bible or with Yehoshua (Jesus’ real name). Rather, Christmas is a successful attempt to Christianize a previously pagan festival. The reasoning behind this passing off of paganism as Christianity is because as Europe surrendered to Christendom (a completely different phenomenon not to be mistaken for Christianity or Christ follower-ship), it became necessary in the eyes of the various kingdoms of Europe that merged with the Holy Roman Catholic Church to Christianize their pagan holidays and bring about a Catholic (the word Catholic simply means universal. It does not mean Christian) or acceptable holiday.

Thus Samhain became known as Halloween, the pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice known as Yule (hence the term Yuletide) became Christmas and the celebration of the goddess named Ēostre, became Easter.

In truth, whether called by their original pagan names or their new Christendom names, none of these festivals appear in the Bible (the King James Version deliberately translates Passover as Easter in Acts 12:4 mostly because of King James’ strong association with demonology, but all other translations reject that and left it how the original Greek Scriptures described it-Passover).

Continue reading here: https://www.nairaland.com/4919971/christmas-when-son-man-returns

What Are You Saying?

A true Christian would want to examine everything they say, because Jesus said in Matthew 12:36-37, “But I say unto you, that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.” We will now set aside all of the customs, glitter and traditions of Christmas, which were taken from pagan witchcraft and popularized by the Roman Catholic Church, and we will focus on the true meaning of the words, “Merry Christmas!”

The word “Merry” is simple to define. It unquestionably means to be happy, joyful and light-hearted. The word “merry” fits into the ambience of laughter and frivolity. This word “merry” by itself is innocent and innocuous enough, but as we will now see, it becomes heinously blasphemous when used with the word “Christmas.”

Here let it be noted that most people think that the word, “Christmas” means “the birth of Christ.” By definition, it means “death of Christ”, and I will prove it by using the World Book Encyclopedia, the Catholic Encyclopedia, and a book entitled, The Mass In Slow Motion.

If you are an honest, sincere and discerning Christian, please read on; if not, you might as well stop right here. The World Book Encyclopedia defines “Christmas” as follows: “The word Christmas comes from “Cristes Maesse”, an early English phrase that means “Mass of Christ.” (1) It is interesting to note that the word “Mass”, as used by the Roman Catholics, has traditionally been rejected by the so-called Protestants, such as Lutherans, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostals and so on. The word “Mass” is strictly a Catholic word and thus, so is “Christ-Mass.”

It would stand to reason, that since all of these denominations love and embrace “Christ-Mass”, that December 25th is the great homecoming day, when all of the Protestants become Catholic for a day. It would seem that all of the so-called “wayward daughters” of the Romish church return to their mother, the scarlet harlot. Thus, all of the so-called Protestant churches could sing to the Pope that popular song “I’ll be home for Christmas.”

As previously stated, the word “Mass” in religious usage means a “death sacrifice.” The impact of this fact is horrifying and shocking; for when the millions of people are saying, “Merry Christmas”, they are literally saying “Merry death of Christ!” Furthermore, when the fat man in the red suit laughs boisterously and says, “Ho ho ho, Merry Christmas”, he is mocking and laughing at the suffering and bleeding Saviour, who died for our sins. He does this while parents place their little children into his waiting arms to hear his false promises of gifts that he says he will give them. Consider what you are saying when you say “Merry Christmas.”

What is so amusing about our Saviour’s painful death? What is so funny? Why is Santa laughing? Why are you going along with it? Your words do count and Satan knows it. Yes, the word “Mass” does mean “death sacrifice”, and to cement that fact, we will consider the definition of the inventors of the religious application of the word “Mass.” I am looking at page 537 of the Catholic Encyclopedia, which says, “In the Christian law, the supreme sacrifice is that of the Mass.” It goes on to say, “The supreme act of worship consists essentially in an offering of a worthy victim to God, the offering made by a proper person, as a priest, the destruction of the victim.” (2) Please note carefully the word, “victim” of the Mass. The Latin word for victim is “Hostia” from which the word “host” is derived. The Mass, by definition of those who coined the word, is a sacrifice involving a victim. There is no other meaning for the word “Mass” or “Christ-Mass.” On page 110 of a book entitled “The Mass In Slow Motion”, we find the following words: “It is only with the consecration that the sacrifice of the Mass is achieved. I have represented the Mass to you, more than once, as a kind of ritual dance.” (3)

In essence, the Mass is the ceremonial slaying of Jesus Christ over and over again, followed by the eating of his flesh and the drinking of his blood. The Mass is the death sacrifice, and the “Host” is the victim. This is official Roman Catholic doctrine, and “Christmas” is a word that they invented. Again, I ask, what is so merry about the pain, bleeding, suffering and death of Jesus Christ? Satan has done quite a job of getting millions of so-called “Christians” to blaspheme. What a deceiver he is. Now you know the true meaning of the word “Christmas” or Mass of Christ.

https://gracegems.org/29/true_meaning_of_christmass.htm

Pastors’ Attempts to Justify Their Paganism

SOURCE

 

I’ve read/heard a number of illogical arguments coming from pastors who are such extreme lovers of their pagan celebrations, they can’t let them go. We will list a few of their arguments here, and point out the logical fallcies imployed to trick people into thinking their reasoning is sound. (The following are all real arguments I have seen from pastors attempting to justify Christmas.)

I applied mine heart to know, and to search, and to seek out wisdom, and the reason of things, and to know the wickedness of folly, even of foolishness and madness:
-Ecclesiastes 7:25

Pastoral Argument #1: We use pagan names, like Sunday, for the days of the week, and there is nothing wrong with that, therefore, our Christmas celebration is justified.
This is called a “Conflation” fallacy, also known as “comparing apples to oranges.” A sample of this type of argument would go like this: “Watermelons are green. Cabbage is green. Therefore, watermelons and cabbage are both fruit.” That is not logical. It’s true that the days of the week are labeled from pagan concepts, just as a Christmas tree is labeled from pagan concepts, but what needs to be questioned the ORIGIN of the subject matter.

A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.
-Matthew 7:18

God created days, which means days have a GOOD origin, so according to the Bible, days don’t automatically become evil because people slap a pagan label on them. On the other hand, the Christmas celebration was created by pagans (not by God), which means Christmas as an EVIL origin, so according to the Bible, Christmas doesn’t automatically become good because people slap a “Jesus” label on it.

The days of the week and the Christmas celebration can’t be compared on the same level because they have two different creators.

Pastoral Argument #2: I’ve heard some Jehovah’s Witnesses saying that Christmas is evil, and they’re founded in theological error, so therefore, the Christmas celebration is justified.
This is called an “Association” fallacy, or some people know it as “guilt by association.” A sample of this type of argument would go like this: “Beth’s favorite movie is Star Wars. Jeffrey Dahmer’s favorite movie is Star Wars. Therefore, Beth and Jeffrey Dahmer are both murderers.” That is not logical. It is true that the Watch Tower Society does not celebrate Christmas because of its pagan origins, but just because they sit in error about the Salvation of Jesus Christ, it doesn’t automatically mean they are wrong about Christmas.

The Catholic Church teaches false doctrine on the salvation of Jesus Christ in the mass, but when a Catholic stands up and says that God created the world in six days, does it automatically mean he’s wrong? Of course not.
Islam teaches false doctrine about Jesus Christ and their Muhammad false prophet, but when a Muslim stands up and says that Abram begat Ishmael, does it automatically mean he’s wrong? Of course not.

We don’t discern good and evil based on what a group of people might believe. It is possible for someone to be wrong on one issue, and right on another issue, so we have to discern good and evil based on what the Word of God says.

Pastoral Argument #3: I used to teach Christmas is wrong, but I was being mean to people, so anyone who preaches against Christmas is just being mean.
This is called a “false dichotomy,” or some people know it as a “false dilemma.” A sample of this type of argument would go like this: “Fifty percent of the class likes chocolate ice cream, and the other fifty percent likes vanilla. Which side are you on?” There are more than two flavors of ice cream, so it is not logical to assume there are only two options. It is true that there are a number of people out there who may preach against Christmas out of some inner pious or contemptuous nature in their hearts, but that doesn’t mean everyone who preaches against Christmas is doing it out of spite.

This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;
-Titus 1:13

There are those of us who preach against pagan practices so that our brethren in Christ will be sound in the faith, and cleanse the church of Jesus Christ.

If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.
-2 Timothy 2:21
(Sanctified means ‘set apart’.)

It is good to purge oneself from comptemptuous and pious actions, but we are not supposed to compromise the truth in the process.

The source for this excerpt comes from this article: Christmas: The rejection of Jesus. It is an excellent read, though long, that points out the paganism and witchcraft of Christmas. It has Scriptures to point out God’s abhorrence of such a celebration as well as encouraging Scriptures for those who forsake this pagan/papist/tradition of men unholy day. Pray the Lord God will give discernment and truth to you as you read it.

Idolatry…

It is idolatry to worship the true God

by a wrong method.

Thomas Watson

Salvation-Through-Christ-Only