“Every imagination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil, continually,” Genesis 6:5. This is the sad plight of denominationalism. “There is a way that seems right unto a man, but the end thereof is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12 Be it blinded passion or self-will, man thinks his own way best and most desirable. We cannot judge by conscience if conscience is not guided by God’s Word and ruled by God’s will to make it a safe guide. An uninstructed conscience does not excuse us of error. If it is not ruled by the will of the Almighty feelings, ancestry, nor “the way we have always done it”, these will give us no release from God’s justice. Warped by prejudice, weakened by disuse and disobedience, judicially blinded in punishment and in consequence of sin, it loses all power of moral judgment, and becomes incapable of good! If we be charged by those with the burden of corruption, we will never discern the things that are of God!! A faithful witness cannot be induced to swerve from the truth by threat or bribe, but when fruits of truth are all that fall from the tree, the strength of a child of God is satisfied. When you “cut off Sampson’s hair,” you put man in blindness.
The Roman Catholic Church is the church that did not accept the writings of the apostle Paul as the Spirit instructed him to write; “you have become dead to the Law by the body of Christ” Theirs is a religion that has brought IN the teachings, feast, and separated priesthood of Judaism. Feast days like Easter, Lent before Easter, Ascension Day, Whitsunday, and Christmas all came from the feast days of the Law of Moses or paganism. Circumcision is worked over in the sprinkling of the child. The clothing of the priest appears to be the clothing of the Levitical order under Moses.
The Old and New Testament teach that death ends all the opportunities man has to change his or her eternal destiny: “it is once appointed unto man once to die and after that the judgment.” Hebrews 9:27, yet they come along and have a doctrine called “purgatory” where the state of the dead can be altered.
This first raised its ugly head in Florence in 1438 which came from pagan mythology. Sadly, every Roman Catholic has to go this place until God releases them. Although they admire and worship many of their community who have left this life and declare them to become what they title as “saints,” no one who is alive can be called a “saint,” even those who are called priest who take their confessional box as the place to become a god where one kneels before a man who can “absolve” them of their sin(s) for a small fee. The “confessional” was unknown in the primitive days of Christianity and was an abomination to the medieval ages. The confessional booth becomes a cross examinational booth where people are cross examined. It makes the forgiveness of sin a business proposition, not a blessing of a repentant heart. This could be called “pay while you pray.” Attend the confessional, receive absolution, visit the confessional often and repeatedly; Rome gets the revenue!! This is where men and women share the innermost secrets of their lives, marriage, children-things they might prefer death rather than to reveal; the pains of purgatorial fires are the means of getting this sensitive information. Rather than be damned, men and women have spoken unspeakable things into the ear of a priest too eager to hear them. This practice is far and beyond the command to “confess your faults one to another” of James 5:16. This is done in privacy and to only ONE man’s ears. It became a doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church in 1215 after the Council of Lateran, and originated with Innocent III, known as the criminal pope of the Inquisition. Is it right for your wife to have two men to be subject to and reveal her secrets?
Celibacy was first enjoined in Rome by Gregory VII in 1073 A. D. It was established in England by Archbishop Anselm in 1175. It is the pope’s greatest source of power in the church through the clergy. Although the apostle Paul wrote about the doctrine of “forbidding to marry” (2 Timothy 4:3) as one of the specific things the Spirit expressly mentioned to “mark” the seducers of damnation, the church at Rome imposed this on all the clergy from pope to priest. This makes Rome a magnet for pedophiles and is today one of the greatest monetary expenses the Roman church has. Infanticide is a horrifying result of this doctrine. How easy and often has spiritual consolation turned into fleshly relations? My brethren better watch out about all this “marriage counseling”!! Our job is to preach the Word!!
