Grant Swart

Roman Catholic doctrine steeped in pagan tradition, and the Roman Catholic Pope, also known as the Bishop of Rome, should present every Christian saved by the grace of God with good reason to get angry. Angry? Really, should a Christian get angry over this?

Certainly, very angry indeed, as our Lord instructs. The three articles which follow below will explain. In the light of the fact that tolerance of all religious systems is taking precedence over truth, millions, if not billions of people are being duped into believing that there are many roads which lead to God, and that all religions worship the same God. Nothing could be further from the truth.

When it comes to defending the truth of the Gospel, Christians should stop being such limp-wristed, quivering, overly cautious, meek little men, uttering whimpered politically correct complaints. We have the protection of the One Almighty Omnipotent Father God, we partake in the nature of the bravest of Sons ever to walk the earth, we have the examples set by those early saints who stood immovably for the Faith and who were martyred in the most gruesome ways imaginable, so why are we so sickeningly tolerant of the world which is clearly in opposition to our Faith? Speak up, man, get angry, be a courageous Follower of Christ, not Arminian will-worshippers, use the Scripture which is your sword, stand squarely and immovable.

The “human right” to worship all forms of false gods, has become globally regarded as an essential element in most of society. This is known as interfaith pluralism and it is from the depths of hell itself.
As a matter of fact, equality of religions is written into most constitutions today, and there are man-made laws which enforce this delusion of “equal human rights”. All men should certainly enjoy equal rights among men, but to believe that the same rights apply to all men before a sovereign God, is a lie from the pit of hell. Of course, once one capitulates to the secular pressure of accepting that approach as being correct, one is stripped of the singular possibility of ever entering God’s presence. In essence, one would have been better off never having been born.

Christians need to get angry, because the only way to salvation, the only way to life, the Lord Jesus Christ and his finished work on the Cross is being destroyed by that most evil of deceptions. Closer to home, it is known as ecumenism which promotes a closer unity between different belief systems within what is regarded as greater Christianity. In an attempt to remove Christ from Christianity, a marriage between Roman Catholicism, Protestantism, Eastern Orthodox Christianity and other splinter groups is proposed by ecumenism.  

Throughout the largely secular world, Roman Catholicism is perceived to be representative of Christianity, and has the largest number of adherents in that religious category. Popery and Romanism does not represent Christianity, it never has. Roman Catholicism is opposed to Christianity to an even larger degree than Islam, Hinduism or Bhuddism is opposed to Christianity, because Roman Catholicism actually claims to be Christianity. Most other major religions clearly do not, neither do they misrepresent Christ, they simply deny Christ as Christ is absent from their faith. Roman Catholicism, the Pope or the Bishop of Rome at the head of that group, and Roman Catholic doctrine is not Christianity.

I have adapted this article by Miles McKee, which explains why Christ alone is the only True High Priest, into three parts, to make for easier blog reading. If, after reading all three, you are not angry about the blasphemous deception posed by the Bishop of Rome, his silly little red shoes and magic biscuits, you should certainly take another look at the directions to eternal salvation. And, don’t bother checking your embarrassing little GPS for those directions, they are not on there. Directions are in the Word of God.

At the time of the writing of these articles, Pope Benedict XVI, was still in charge of the Roman Catholic church. He has since stepped down and has been succeeded by Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, who chose to be known by the name of Pope Francis.

Link to Part 2 of this article:https://fortheloveofhistruth.com/2013/04/11/get-angry-its-the-deeply-offensive-bishop-of-rome-part-2/  

 

Part 3 to follow on Friday.

 

Christ the True High Priest

By Miles McKee, from a sermon preached on July 31st 2008 at the AFEC conference on Roman Catholic Evangelism

Hebrews 4:14- “Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.”
Notice who Jesus is, – He is the Great High Priest!

Hebrews 9:11-14 “But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

Notice what he obtained — He obtained eternal redemption for us. That means His sacrificial work is accomplished. It is finished. It is over, completed and done!

Hebrews 10:11-14 “And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.”

Noticed what he accomplished by His sacrifice — He has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.

I love Roman Catholics—I hope you do too—–How will you minister to Roman Catholics if you don’t love them? Now I didn’t say I love the Roman Catholic Church and its doctrines—but I do love Roman Catholic folk.

Today, I want us to consider Jesus, the True High Priest. I want to compare Him against any so-called priest of Rome and especially against their chief priest, the Bishop of Rome.

Now I want to advise you that I feel a great amount of passion about the subject of Christ our High Priest and His finished work, so I must warn you that those who would take away from or diminish His work on the cross deeply offend me. If I let loose and ‘get to preaching’, you might think that I am angry. And do you know what, — you might be right!

I know that getting angry is entirely out of fashion nowadays. We live in a day and age when we are not allowed to be angry, but did you know that the Bible commands us to be angry? It says, “Be ye Angry, and sin not” Eph 4:26!

Did you know that gentle Jesus meek and mild got angry?

He got angry at the merchandisers in the temple—do you think he went up to those tables and said, “Excuse me, but if it’s not too inconvenient I’d like to throw your table on the ground, that is if you don’t mind”

No, Jesus got angry-he made a whip—-He wasn’t bluffing, He was big enough, strong enough and angry enough to clear the temple. They saw in Jesus a man inflamed, enraged and angry against sin. And they ran from Him!

He also got angry at the sin of the religious leaders of the day, —– those gentlemen who enslaved the people with their rules and regulations and who had perverted the knowledge of God. Time and time again He called them on their error and hypocrisy by delivering to them such verbal bouquets as, “You are a brood of snakes, you are whitewashed tombs full of dead men’s bones.” He got angry with them!

Listen to me carefully; that which makes you angry measures your character! Can you live in this day and age and not get angry with the ‘Gay Agenda’ being shoved down your throat? How do Christians not get angry about the millions of babies who have been murdered at abortion clinics? How can Christians not get angry about injustice? How can Christians not oppose evil?

Similarly, just as that which makes you angry is a measurement of your character, so, in relation to the finished work of Christ, that which makes you angry measures your love for the gospel. How can we sit back and not get angry when we see people who, in the name of Jesus, pervert the gospel and who by their sacraments attempt to demolish the Finished Work of Christ? How can we not get angry when we see the Bishop of Rome claiming to be the substitute for our Savior here on earth? How can we not be stirred when we see the Bishop of Rome exalt himself to the position of great high Priest, a position reserved for Christ alone?

I have to confess that the Mass also makes me angry. I have to admit that the thought of some bachelor priest claiming to be a necessary sacrificing priest with the power and authority to command King Jesus off his throne and to remake him in the shape of a wafer makes me angry.

The question is not, “Why is Miles McKee all stirred up about these matters”, but rather the question should be, “Why are so few of those who say they love the LORD not angry at the attack the Mass and the Roman Catholic priesthood makes on the gospel of the finished and completed work of Christ.”

What about you? Does the abuse of the Savior in the Mass make you angry in any way? Does the usurping of Christ’s role of the only High Priest in Church not cause some irritation or indeed ‘gnashing of teeth” on your part?

Alas, many preachers today have taken some kind of spiritual tranquilizers and have urged folks like us to be more broadminded! And, my, oh my, are we to be broadminded! We are urged to accept everything.

We are told that Rome believes and preaches the gospel and we should not say things that criticize her—this makes me angry!

So today I want to speak to you about Jesus, the True High Priest. If I, perchance, get angry at His enemies, I trust I will sin not.

First) This morning I want to submit to you that we have Only One Great High Priest, ——the Lord Jesus Christ,

Second) I further submit to you that the Lord Jesus is the ONLY ONE suitably qualified to be our Great High priest.
Third) I further submit to you that we need only ONE Great high priest, Jesus the Christ.

1 We have only one Great High Priest—the Lord Jesus. Since, according to the scriptures, we have only one High priest, I find the existence of the Pope of Rome a very strange and puzzling matter. Let’s consider him for a moment.

The Bishop of Rome claims to be the visible representative of our Lord Jesus here on earth. He is known as, the Bishop of Rome, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, Vicar of Jesus Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, Servant of the Servants of God and the Holy Father. [Pope Benedict has since the writing of this article, stepped down and has been succeeded by Jorge Mario Bergoglio of Argentina, who chose to be known by the name of Pope Francis]

Now if these were not titles enough we find that he is also bearer of the exalted designation of Pontifex Maximus

Pontifex Maximus means the Great High Priest. In the Vulgate, one of the Roman Catholic Bibles, the word often translated as ‘High Priest’ is the Latin word Pontifex (see Hebrews 2:17, 4:15; 5:1, 5:5, 5:10). But the Pope, not content with calling Himself the ‘Pontifex’, the high priest, also calls himself pontifex MAXIMUS- that means, ‘The Highest of the High Priests’.

Listen to me, if he really is the Great High Priest we should all go and kiss his ring and submit to him. If on the other hand he is not the Great High Priest, then he has usurped a title reserved exclusively for the Lord Jesus (Hebrews 4:14- “Seeing then that we have agreat high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.”) and we are, therefore, duty bound to oppose him and work for the destruction of his apostate, anti-gospel system.

When I say ‘destruction’, I, of course, am not calling for violence against the man or his representatives; rather I’m calling for the destruction of the enemies of the Gospel by the preaching and propagation of the Gospel of Christ itself. We must never forget that it is the gospel of Christ that is the power of God unto salvation.

Let’s take a closer look at the meaning of the title ‘Pontifex’. The word pontifex is sometimes explained as ‘bridge builder’, but it is also related to the Etruscan word ‘pont’, which means ‘road’ and means something like ‘preparer of the road’. The ancient Pontifex Maximus of pagan Rome was seen as the bridge builder between the Gods and man or seen as the road to the Gods.

Although the Pontifex Maximus was the high priest of the ancient pagan Roman religion, this title eventually was absorbed by the Roman Emperor who himself began to be reckoned, at times, as being a God or a demi-god. Indeed, all the Roman Emperors, as head of the sacral pagan Roman society from at least the time of Augustus Caesar, bore the title of Pontifex Maximus, the great high priest.

In AD 381, however, the Roman emperor Gratian declined to use the title of ‘Pontifex Maximus’ saying it was no fitting title for a Christian to have. Nevertheless, the Bishops of Rome, not having, it seems, the modesty, integrity or humility of an Emperor, were quick to seize upon this title and take it unto themselves.
So let me recap this point of history, ———the heritage for this title, ‘Pontifex Maximus’ as used by the Roman Church, comes directly from pagan Rome and became available because a Christian Emperor refused to accept that title which rightly belongs to Jesus Christ.

Have YOU NOTICED HOW THE POPE often WEARS RED SHOES? Do you know why he wears red shoes? Back in Ireland, when I was a small boy, there was a theological question going round; it asked, “Why does the Pope wear red socks?” And the answer was “To keep his feet warm! We thought it was funny!

But why does he wear Red Shoes? —On reading up on the fashions of ancient Rome I discovered that the upper class Patricians in Rome often wore red shoes-now are you ready for this—

—The Pontifex Maximus, the high priest of the pagan religion of the Roman Empire, always wore red shoes to declare that he was the High Priest—The Great High Priest of pagan Rome wore red shoes—He was the Pontifex Maximus—–the bridge between the gods and man ———-

Mark this down, the present Pope wears red shoes and it’s not just a fashion statement for him—it’s a declaration that he is the Great High Priest! And he’s not the first to wear them; all his predecessors wore them. However, we usually did not see them because of the length of their robes, but this Pope has shortened his garments and now we get to glimpse his telling footwear. I wonder, and I trust you’ll excuse the sarcasm, but do they think that Jesus said, “You are Peter and upon you, I will build my Church…but only as long as you are wearing red shoes.”

The Pope’s red shoes are a reminder to all that he is, in his opinion, the Great High Priest. But this flies in the face of Scripture. Jesus is the only High Priest we have.

Parts 2 and 3 of this article will be found elsewhere on this blog.