False Religions And Cults, Bible Study

Friends, who are you living for? Are you living like the world or are you living your life for God and God alone? There are false teachings, false doctrine that does not line up in the Word of God. Many so called Churches, which I like to call either Christian wanna be’s or cults. There are Churches who is teaching that you don’t have to be Baptized to be saved, they say that all you have to do is to believe, that is what these cult Churches are teaching and is absolutely wrong, spiritually speaking, dead wrong.We are going to take a close look at False Religions And Cults. False Religions And Cults ‘As you have received Jesus the Lord, walk in Him. Have the roots of your faith deeply planted in Him, be built up in Him just as you were taught, overflowing in faith with thanksgiving. Be careful no one robs you by so-called philosophy and vain deceit, following the traditions of men, of the world and the universe, disregarding the teachings of Jesus. In Him the fullness of the Godhead dwells in the form of the body, and in Him you are made complete. He is the Head of all principality and power … Let no one rob you of your prize by self-humility and worship of angels, taking his (the false prophet’s) stand on visions he claims to have seen, vainly puffed up by his unspiritual mind and not holding on firmly to the Head (Jesus) from Whom the whole body grows … Such things appear like wisdom in self-imposed worship and self-humiliation of the body, but they are of no value in checking the indulgence of the flesh’ (Colossians 2:6 to 10, 18, 19 & 23). ‘Give no attention to myths (legends, fables) and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than God’s administration which is in faith … Some have wandered off into sin and have turned aside to useless discussions’ (I Timothy 1:4 & 6). ‘The Holy Spirit distinctly declares, in latter times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines demons teach. Through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid people to marry and teach them to abstain from certain foods, which God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth … Refuse profane and godless fictions, old wives’ fables and silly myths. Train yourselves towards Godliness’ (1 Timothy 4:1 to 3 & 7). ‘The time is coming when people will not tolerate sound doctrine but having itchy ears, they will gather to themselves teachers, chosen to satisfy their own lusts and will turn aside from hearing the truth and turn to myths and fables’ (2 Timothy 4:3 & 4).‘Beloved, do not have faith in every spirit but test the spirits to discover whether they proceed from God because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you may know the Spirit of God; every spirit who confesses Jesus came in the flesh is of  God. Every spirit that does not confess Jesus has come in the flesh is not of God. This is the spirit of antichrist of whom you have heard will come and is in the world already … By this we know the Spirit of Truth and the spirit of error’ (I John 4:1 to 3 & 6). The scriptures give us very strong warnings about not believing in things that are not from God. If we study the Bible and hold on to its teachings, false religions and cults will not deceive us. Once we know the truth about Jesus and hold onto the truth, we will never be deceived. We will learn there is no other Person and no other way to eternal life. Only ignorance about Jesus the Messiah, can allow people to be deceived by any cult or false religion. We are to have our roots firmly embedded in Jesus. Any religion that does not have its roots in Jesus the Messiah is false it is not from God, and we are to ignore the teachings. Reading these above passages of scripture, we can see there were incorrect beliefs described in the apostle’s time, that are in the modern world. We are not to turn away from our faith in Jesus once we have believed. We are not to listen to philosophy for it is nonsense, as are idle fantasies, crude notions and false beliefs such as Confucianism, Buddhism, New Age, Darwinism, Hinduism, freemasonry, astrology, science fiction, ‘christian’ science, Babylonianism, Gothic cults, Taoism, Zen, Neo-Nazi-ism, stigmata, wicca and all forms of the occult and witchcraft. People who believe these things are all deluded by seducing spirits and all disregard the teachings of Jesus. Self humiliation is the whipping of ones-self. Some people go so far as to have themselves crucified! That is utter foolishness and will never bring them close to God. The worship of angels is sin. Angels are special ministers of God to help born-again believers. We are to respect and appreciate them, but we are not to worship them (Hebrews 1:14; Revelation 19:10 & 22:9). There are several false religions that have been started by people who claim to have seen a vision. Unless God gives the vision, then it is false. Some examples of false religions started by deluded visionaries and false  prophets are Scientology, Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses and some breakaway Catholic-styled sects. None of these deal with the carnality of the fallen human race, nor do they hold the promise of the reality of eternal life with God. We all need to have our sins washed away by accepting Jesus as our Saviour, and receiving the forgiveness He promises. Not so long ago, it was acceptable for families to spend every Sunday morning in church, and for people not to go, was considered an affront by the community.  In this day and age, people are sometimes mocked when they say they go to church. Millions of people have turned away from faith in Jesus. People think they can be ‘cleansed’ by consuming a vegetarian diet, rather than being cleansed by the blood of Jesus. The inner organs such as the liver and kidneys were designed by God to clean themselves. Going on a ‘liver cleansing’ diet is foolish and has no spiritual value. Eating a normal healthy diet is enough and to teach others to become vegetarians or to abstain from eating certain foods is an evil teaching. To forbid people from getting married is also an evil teaching and the two main religions that have their celibate nuns and priests are Buddhism and Catholicism. Godless fictions are things like reincarnation, evolution and the socalled ‘global warming’. The planet on which we live has a normal cycle of hotter seasons and cooler seasons. In the year 1,000 AD, the planet heated up so much, whole tribes and communities were wiped out. Millions of people died from the heat. We are possibly entering just another warm phase that may last some time – or it may not. There are deluded ‘experts’ who tell us all about the melting icebergs – but they do not mention the active volcanos deep under the sea causing the ice to melt. The Bible says people who teach these things are not just deluded, they are liars (1 Timothy 4:2). These scientists are deliberately lying to us about ‘global warming’ to deceive and lead many astray. The scriptures tell us to avoid these godless fictions and train ourselves towards Godliness. Many people do not like to hear about Jesus because they know they will have to take responsibility for their sins and that is something most people do not like to consider. We are sinful people and we need Jesus to cleanse us from the inside out. That thought is offensive to a lot of people so they follow a teaching that is pleasing to their ears and choose to listen to errors. They will not tolerate the truth of the Gospel nor do they want to repent of their sin (2 Timothy 4:3). We need to have a close look at the teachings of religions, and if their teaching does not line up with the Word of Truth, then we need to dismiss them as being false. How can we identify a false religion? If there is any religion, anywhere in the world that does not confess Jesus as the Saviour and Messiah, it is a false religion and do not listen to the teachings of that religion for they are antichrist. We must not disregard the teachings of Jesus (Matthew 28:20) and the apostles (Acts 2:42). If there is a religion that does not believe in Jesus, then that religion calls God a liar and to do that brings eternal judgment upon ones-self. ‘They who believe in the Son of God has the testimony within themselves. They who do not believe God, has made Him out to be a liar because they have not believed the evidence God has given regarding His Son’ (1 John 5:10). ‘Who is the liar but those who deny Jesus is the Messiah? The Antichrist spirit is in those who deny the Father and the Son’ (1 John 2:22). ‘These are the end times, and you have heard the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know it is the final hour’ (1 John 2:18). ‘Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess Jesus the Messiah came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist’ (2 John 1:7). People involved in cults, sects, false religions and worldly beliefs have been deceived by the deceiver – the devil. Unfortunately, the deceived go on to deceive others and try to drag them down to hades with them. If we do not believe in Jesus then we cannot be saved. If we are not saved then we are condemned to go down to an eternity without God. We need to repent, be born-again by the Spirit of God, forgiven for our sins, baptized and then we will be saved. The scriptures tell us very clearly …‘They who believe and are baptised will be saved, but those who do not believe will be condemned’ (Mark 16:16). If you are involved in a cult, a sect, false religion, follow worldly philosophies and other worldly beliefs, God is saying to you through the Bible, do not believe what they say. Come out of it, turn away from it and find a church that believes the truth of the Bible. Give your life over to Jesus and you will be saved. Learn to love Him with all your heart, soul, mind and strength (Mark 12:30). Jesus is the only Way, Life and Truth and no one can go to the Father except through Him(John 14:6). There are only two places where mankind will spend eternity – either in heaven or in the lake of fire. The Lord will say  'Well done you good and faithful servant … Enter into the joy of your Lord' (Matthew 25:21), or the Lord will say, ‘Throw the useless servant into outer darkness, where there is weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth … Depart from Me you cursed,  into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels’ (Matthew 25:30 & 41). Where would you prefer to spend eternity? There is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus. Believe the truth or believe the lies of a false religion. It is your choice. Errors Of Catholic Doctrine “I am no more in the world, but these (men) are still in the world. I Am coming to You, Holy Father. Keep in Your Name those whom You have given Me so they may be one, as We are One” (John 17:11). With these words, Jesus called God, the Holy Father. ‘All who desire to live Godly lives in Jesus will suffer persecution. Evil men and impostors will become worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived, but you remain in the teachings you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from Whom you have learned them. From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Jesus. Every Scripture is God breathed (inspired by God) and profitable for teaching, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of  error and for instruction in righteousness so the man (or woman) of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work’ (2 Timothy 3:12 to 17). ‘I am astonished you are so quickly deserting Him Who called you by the grace of Jesus the Messiah, to a ‘different’ Gospel. There is no other Gospel, but there are some who are bewildering you, perverting the true Gospel of Jesus. If we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a Gospel different from what we preached to you, let him be accursed! As we said before so now I say it again: If anyone is preaching to you a Gospel different from what you received from us, let him be accursed! Am I seeking the favour of men or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking to please men, I would not be a servant of Jesus. I want you to know the Gospel is not according to man. I did not receive it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came to me through a direct revelation of Jesus the Messiah’ (Galatians 1:6 to 12). If you happen to be a Roman Catholic, some aspects of this Bible study may shock you because there are some shades of Catholic doctrine that do not line up with scripture. This Bible study is not an attack on Catholics, but is about Catholic doctrines that are out of step with some of the Gospel. Most of what  the Catholic Church teaches is correct: The virgin birth of Jesus; His crucifixion; His resurrection; the people’s participation in Communion; Joseph’s role in Jesus’ life; they teach us we should spend our lives wholly focused on walking with and serving God; living a Christian life and raising our children in the knowledge of God; they focus on prayer and getting to know God as our Father; they teach creation; they teach us the prophets foretold of Jesus’ birth; the church correctly stands up against abortion and homosexuality. They have charities and hospitals, caring for the poor and the sick. All these things are correct and scriptural. We have to start this Bible study by searching the scriptures, because that is the beginning. The Bible is the living Word of God and all scripture is inspired by God; not some scripture, but all scripture. Everything that is written in the Bible is there because God wants it there. The scriptures written above are very strong but it is the Word of God and it is important we take notice of it. We have to adhere strictly to the teachings within the Bible and not accept false teaching or a ‘different’ Gospel from anyone. There are many dedicated Catholic people who love the church, but who do not realise they need to be born-again to get into heaven. Just being a Catholic cannot save our soul – Jesus said we must all repent, believe the full Gospel (Mark 1:15),  be born-again, baptized in water by full immersion like He was, and He requires us to be filled with the Holy Spirit (John 3:1 to 8), regardless of what church we choose to meet in, and we are not to be surprised we have to be born-again. That fact has been an eye-opener to many. Just being a Catholic,  a priest or a nun cannot save our soul, no matter how religious we are. When Jesus said we must be born-again, He meant just what He said. The only way to heaven is to be justified by faith, not through any church. The true Gospel is this: We are born-again into the Kingdom of God  by faith in the Lord Jesus. ‘Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus. Through Him (Jesus) we have access by faith into His grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in our hope of  the glory of God’ (Romans 5:1 & 2).Only through accepting Jesus can we enter heaven and no one can get to heaven except through Jesus. He said, “I Am the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). ‘In Jesus we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sin according to the riches of the Father’s grace … making known to us the secret of the Father’s will according to His good pleasure which the Father had purposed in Jesus’ (Ephesians 1:7 & 9). There is only one way we can be saved, that is by faith and the belief in Jesus. We cannot enter heaven by ‘buying’ our salvation. No amount of money can do that.‘Peter said, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the free gift of God with money!’” (Acts 8:20). ‘I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus, for it is the power of God working for salvation to everyone who believes’ (Romans 1:16). My personal background is Nazarene, I am now attending Church of Christ, at North terrace in Zanesville,everyone is welcome to join us and I thank God for the Godly Ministers who led me to Jesus when I was just four years old. Never underestimate the power of God and His ability to reach a young child. The Ministers told me about Jesus in a way a young child could understand, and after I accepted the Lord into my life, the Minister breathed on me and said,“Receive the Holy Ghost” in the same way Jesus breathed on His apostles (John 20:22). I immediately spoke with the tongues of angels. Back around 1950, speaking in tongues was a rare event so I feel incredibly blessed and privileged, for the Lord to have given me that gift at such a young age. Thank God the priest was a Spirit-filled man, able to impart the gift to me. None of my family were Christians and I learned what real persecution meant. When I was older, I attended church and evaneglist classes as often as possible and bought my first Bible at age 11. The Lord became more real to me as I grew up in Him. I was alone with God and did not meet another Holy Spirit-filled Christian for nineteen long years. It was the Word of God that kept and sustained me throughout my childhood, just as the above verse teaches, ‘From childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures’. I was in my 20’s when God led me on to serve Him in churches where the congregations are filled with the Holy Spirit and speak with other tongues. I thank God for the grounding in the Gospel and the knowledge of the out working of Calvary during Christian classes. I have never forgotten the solid Christian foundation I received in the Christian Church, for  which I am eternally grateful. My aim is to try to reach as many people as possible with the full Gospel and tell them we must all be born-again by faith in a heart-felt conversion, not just be church-goers. God demands more than that. He said we are to be doers of the Word, not just hearers (James 1:22). ‘Doing’ the Word is not following man-made traditions, but obeying the Word of God. We are all called to walk a narrow path, produce Spiritual fruit and build our Spiritual foundation on the Rock (Jesus). Many people will end up in hell because they never accepted the true Gospel of faith, but trusted in their religion. Jesus said, “Enter (heaven) through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads away to destruction (hell), and many are those who are entering through it. The gate is narrow and the way is straitened that leads away to (eternal) life, and few are those who find it. Beware of false prophets who come to you dressed as sheep, but inside they are ravenous wild dogs. You will recognise them by their fruits … Every tree that does not bear good fruit, is cut down and cast into the fire (the eternal lake of fire) … Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord’, will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but those who do the will of  My Father Who is in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day (Judgement Day) ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name and driven out demons in Your name and done mighty works in Your name?’ I will tell them, ‘I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who act wickedly’. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and obeys them will be like a wise man who built his house on the Rock (Jesus). When the rains fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against the house, it did not fall because it had been built on the Rock. Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand, and the rain fell and the floods came and the winds blew and beat against the house, and it fell and great was the fall of it” (Matthew 7:13 to 27). We can see here, Jesus was speaking about people who were religious, they called Him Lord and they served Him, but because many were never born-again and intimately acquainted with Him, He rejected them. He said that will be the way for many religious people who never seek out the narrow path. Only a few will find it. For the whole of our Christian lives, we must be obedient to Jesus’ teaching. In this parable, the ‘house’ Jesus is speaking of is us, the believer. If we are sensible and obey Him, we will enter heaven through the narrow ‘gate’. If we are foolish and disobey His teachings, He will reject us on Judgement Day. Jesus is our King and our Judge, so He would know exactly what He was talking about. The Kingdom of Heaven is not about any religion, it is about the Kingdom God is establishing with His genuine, dedicated, obedient, born-again believers. Some people will depart from the faith because of seducing spirits. A seducing spirit is one that may look good and make you feel good and starts off with the truth, then goes into error and people are seduced. The age of grace began when Jesus started His ministry and began healing and forgiving people without them having to sacrifice animals for atonement. These next verses are powerful because the Holy Spirit is speaking here. ‘The Holy Spirit distinctly and expressly declares, in latter times some will turn away from the faith, listening to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach. Through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared, who forbid people to marry and to abstain from eating meats which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth … Ignore false teachings and silly myths. Train yourself toward Godliness’ (1 Timothy 4:1 to 3 & 7). Jesus consistently taught against man-made traditions and spoke of many woes for those who are bound up in religious traditions and rituals, who will not allow for the cleansing of the blood of the Lamb and who will not allow the inward work of the Holy Spirit of the living God (Matthew 23:1 to 39;  Luke 11:37 to 52). Jesus strongly taught against empty religion. We are not to subject ourselves to the doctrines of men. These things have an appearance of wisdom in self- imposed religion but they are of no spiritual value (Colossians 2:20 to 23). We are told people will have a form of Godliness but deny the power of God (2 Timothy 3:5). Many Catholics have a form of religion but they deny the power of God. The Gospel reveals the power of God. It is the Gospel of Jesus we need to be preaching. The true church, the Body of Jesus, is not a building nor is it a denomination. It is God’s people, all over the world,in many different denominations and it is the true church  Jesus is coming back for. People washed in the blood of Jesus, people whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, regardless of what church denomination they attend. They are the true body of believers. The Lord is looking for a holy church of every nation, tribe, people and language (Revelation 7:9). Jesus said, “I will build My church and the gates of hell will not stand against it” (Matthew 16:18). What is Jesus’ church  like? In the whole of Ephesians chapter 5, we have  a ‘picture’ of people living in harmony with one another with Jesus as their Head. ‘As Jesus loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the Word, so He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but it should be holy, without any blemish’ (Ephesians 5:25 to 27). The Word of God in the heart of the true believer always exposes deception and those things that are not of God. ‘When He, the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all Truth’ (John 16:13). Jesus said you will know the Truth (of the full Gospel) and the truth will set us free (from the effects of sin and the bondage of empty religious rituals) (John 8:32). Cardinal Newman wrote a book, ‘The Development of the Christian Religion; the Catholic Religion’. On page 359 you can read, the temples, incense, oil lamps,  vote of offerings, holy water, holidays and season of devotions, processions, blessings of fields, blessing of the surf, lent, sacerdotal vestments, the tonsures of priests, monks, nuns, icons, rosary beads and images are all of pagan origin. Christmas, Easter and funerals are pagan celebrations. There are several other doctrinal errors taught in the Catholic Church. Ten Commandments, images, icons and idols: The second of the Ten Commandments is, ‘You will not make for yourselves an idol nor any engraved image or likeness of anything in the heavens above or in the earth beneath or in the oceans and you will not bow yourself down to them nor serve them’ (Exodus 20:4 & 5; Deuteronomy 5:8 & 9). To hide this commandment from the people, the Catholic Church deliberately left that commandment out and divided the last commandment into two commandments. That was deliberate deception because for centuries Catholics were not permitted to read the Bible and had to rely on what the priests told them. Early Christians never worshipped idols or images until Constantine merged Christianity with paganism. The crucifix and other icons were introduced to the church in 787 AD. A whole 787 years went by before anybody thought of instituting such things. They are not scriptural. Images like Jesus hanging on the cross, the Madonna and Child, Mary or Jesus with a huge shining ‘sacred’ heart are all idols. Making images is strictly forbidden by God. People who make these images are cursed because the idols are an abomination to God (Deuteronomy 27:15). They may suffer from mental illness (confusion) and will be brought to shame (Isaiah 45:16). We are not to have them in our homes, we are to detest them and burn them (Deuteronomy 7:25 & 26). We can see by these scriptures, God is not pleased when people resort to worshipping these images. Genuflection is another unnecessary man-made ritual brought into the Catholic Church. The person genuflecting is actually kneeling and bowing in an act of worship to an idol situated in the front of the church. Since it is sin to bow the knee to anyone other than the Lord, genuflection is sin. Transubstantiation: In the Catholic mass, the church has what it calls ‘transubstantiation’. Statements in the Catholic doctrine say they believe their communion wafer and wine actually become the physical body and blood of Jesus. The word ‘transubstantiation’ comes from their quote, “Jesus is substantially or physically present in His entirety, God and Man permanently through the conversion of the bread and wine, which is named transubstantiation.” The whole concept is scientifically impossible. Grape juice would always remain grape juice and the wafer would always remain a piece of baked ground cereal. They believe Jesus is being continually sacrificed and crucified for their sins and will keep on doing so until the world ends but that is wrong, because the Bible says Jesus died once only, for all mankind when He offered up Himself on the cross (Hebrews 7:27; 10:10). They believe they are literally eating and drinking the body and blood of Jesus. They think the substance of the Eucharistic elements is converted into the substance of the body and blood of Jesus and only the appearance and taste of the elements still remain. The belief in transubstantiation is cannibalistic and it is not the truth, but people have been seduced into believing it is the truth. They believe they are honoring God when they are not doing so at all. That is why the Catholic Church still has Jesus on the cross, but that is not right, because He was taken off the cross and has risen from the dead. When Jesus spoke about our taking of His body and blood, He did not mean we were to literally eat Him (John 6:48 to 58). He was referring to our accepting the sacrifice of Himself for our eternal salvation. We were asked to take the bread and grape juice regularly to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us, right up until He comes again (Luke 22:19). The doctrine of transubstantiation is not the truth. Infant baptism: There is not one word regarding infant baptism in the Bible. Infants were dedicated to God, anointed with a dab of olive oil on their foreheads, prayed over but never baptized. Sprinkling a baby with water will not be an effective baptism because baptism comes after repentance and babies do not know what sin is therefore they cannot repent. That Catholic ritual was supposedly to remove the infant of ‘original sin’. Sprinkling water on an adult is not effective either. Baptism is by full immersion, after repentance.‘Repent and be baptized every one of you for the forgiveness of sin’ (Acts 2:38). Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River (Mark 1:9). He went down into the water and came up out the watery ‘grave’ (Matthew 3:16)signifying His own death, burial and resurrection. Our baptism identifies us with Jesus’ burial and resurrection (Romans 6:3 to 11). It signifies our ‘death’ to the old life and our resurrection to a new life in God. If infant baptism was God’s way, then Jesus would have been baptized as a baby but He was an adult when He was baptized and He is our example. We need to know what sin is and be able to repent before we can be baptized. John the Baptist insisted people repent before they were baptized and he became angry with the people who came to be baptized without first showing the fruit of repentance (Matthew 3:7 & 8). They were acting out of a religious attitude instead of a repentant attitude. We need to have our hearts right with God before we are baptized in water, and babies cannot repent or seek God for themselves. Infant baptism is not scriptural nor is it effective. If you have been sprinkled as a baby, you would need repent and be baptized by full immersion, if you desire to be obedient to what we have been told in the scriptures. Purgatory: It is supposed to be a place where people go after death to be purged of evil then go on to heaven. You are supposed to be able recite prayers and make payments to the church to get other people out of purgatory. That is not scriptural. The Bible never mentions purgatory. The early church did not believe anything like purgatory. Pope Gregory the Great first established the doctrine of purgatory in 593 AD. The ‘payment’ for the souls of the dead made the church a lot of money. The scriptures tell us a man dies once and after that comes the judgment (Hebrews 9:27). There is only heaven and hell and later the lake of fire for the non-believers (Revelation 20:15). Purgatory does not exist. It is a false doctrine. The Bible tells us believers go straight to heaven as did Enoch (Genesis 5:24), Elijah (2 Kings 2:11) and Stephen (Acts 7:59). People have been told about purgatory for so long they believe it is true, but if they care to look at history they will see it is a place invented in the mind of Pope Gregory and declared to be a church dogma by the Council of Florence in 1439. Confessional, penance and absolution: The priest sits in a private little closet-sized room and listens to a person confess all their sins, then he will tell the sinner to pray certain prayers for ‘penance’ and they will be forgiven or absolved. Some leaders in the Catholic Church took money from the parishioners to pay for their absolution and dispensations, which were never honored. That is contrary to scripture. We are to confess our sins to God and He will forgive us. No one except Jesus has the power to forgive sins on behalf of God. God is the One Who forgives, after we pray and ask His forgiveness. ‘If we freely admit we have sinned and confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness’ (1 John 1:9). The confession of our sins to God for forgiveness is to bring repentance, a change of our hearts and spiritual cleansing. Only God is able to do that. If you are uncomfortable about going to confession, then you can relax and never go again because it is pointless. Talk directly to God and confess your sins to Him. You cannot shock God – He knows everything already, but He wants us to take responsibility for our own sin by telling Him and then to repent and apologize to Him for our actions. When we take full responsibility for our own actions, it is less likely we will repeat the same mistake. Rosary beads: They were introduced by Peter the Hermit in 1090 AD and the concept was copied from Hinduism. Jesus condemned this type of praying. ‘When you pray, do not speak useless repetitions, repeating the same ones over and over as the Gentiles do, for they think they will be heard for their much speaking. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask Him’ (Matthew 6:7 & 8). Repetitive meaningless prayers like saying several ‘Hail Mary’s’ is something the Lord does not appreciate. He wants our prayers to be heart-felt, genuine, spoken with thanksgiving and praise. Our prayers have to come from the heart and be specific. Saying the rosary is a pointless exercise because God does not listen to empty, repetitive prayers. The church says, ‘The Rosary is your key to heaven’. They claim the rosary is a means to salvation. That is very wrong. Jesus is the Way, Truth and Life and nobody can get into heaven except through Him (John 14:6). The rosary beads are a waste of time. We need to get real with God and pray fervently from the heart. Mariology is the worship of Mary, Jesus’ mother. To worship Mary or to pray to her as Catholic’s do is not of God. People who feel uncomfortable using the name of Jesus, sometimes feel more comfortable believing they are speaking to Mary. Back in the early church, people were much the same and did not like hearing about Jesus. The apostles were forbidden to teach in the name of Jesus. Not to be deterred,Peter and the apostles said they had to obey God rather than man, and continued preaching the Gospel about Jesus (Acts 4:18; 5:28, 29 & 40), but they never preached about Mary as being divine. The worship of Mary was set up in 381AD and was decreed by the council of Ephesus in 431 AD; that is recorded in history; it is a fact. There is no mention of worshipping Mary until then and there is no worship of Mary in the Bible. Pope Pius 9th proclaimed the immaculate conception of Mary in 1854. In 1931 Pope Pius 11th reaffirmed that doctrine. Mary was not ‘immaculately’ conceived. She was a normal woman who needed to repent of her sin and accept her Son Jesus as her Saviour like every other person (Acts 1:14). The Catholics believe Mary was the only human born by immaculate conception, so they say Jesus was born without original sin. That implies Mary did not need a Saviour and was divine, but after studying the scriptures we can see that is wrong and is contrary to scripture, because the Bible says we are all sinners (Romans 3:23). Mary herself realised  she had need of a Saviour (Luke 1:46 & 47). If Mary did not need a Saviour, she would not have glorified God as her Saviour. Most certainly Mary was chosen by God to bring forth our Messiah, but she died like all mortal humans. Why did people start worshipping a deceased woman? This actually dates back to the days of the Babylonian cult instigated in the Tower of Babel and is still practiced today. After Damascus became the area of the head of the Babylonian cult, which worshipped the ‘queen of heaven’ and her son (Jeremiah 7:18), the Catholic Church thought it would be politicly expedient to give them a parallel figure to bring into their new officially imposed worship, so began the worship of the Madonna and child. That was when Mary was elevated to divine status. The so-called ‘queen of heaven’ or goddess of fertility, was Ishtar where we get the word Easter. In Catholic church buildings, sometimes they have MR etched around the churches. MR means Mary Regina – the queen of heaven. The image of mother and child had been an object of primary worship from the time of Babylon, centuries before  the birth of our Lord Jesus. ‘Behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz’ (Ezekiel 8:14). That god Tammuz was a Babylonian god that was supposed to die every year and be raised again during Easter time along with his mother Ishtar. Ishtar and Tammuz are pagan gods now depicted as Madonna and child or Mary and Jesus. This abomination has been adopted from the Babylonian cult. These false doctrines have nothing whatsoever to do with the conception of Jesus by the Holy Spirit. We need to realise that. The angel Gabriel told Mary and Joseph, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit (Matthew 1:20; Luke 1:26 to 38) and He was born without sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). Mary had never had sex with a man (Luke 1:34) and did not have sex with Joseph until after Jesus was about a month old (Matthew 1:24 & 25). The Holy Child born to Mary was born of the living God (Luke 1:35). In the early church, prayers were never directed to Mary. We are not to pray to Mary but we are to do what the Bible says: we are to pray to the Father in Jesus’ name (John 16:23). If Mary, who was a righteous woman, knew she was being linked to the evil ‘queen of heaven’ goddess she would no doubt be devastated. This whole doctrine of Mary worship is evil in the sight of God. Halo and the Sacred Heart: The halo we often see drawn around their heads of Catholic idols was taken from the ancient practice of sun worshipping. The symbol of the sun god Sol, Baal or Tammuz, is depicted as a ‘T’ then on top of the ‘T’ a loop symbolising  the goddess of the moon or fertility Ishtar, became the Egyptian ankh. An ancient statue of Venus holding her son Sol was adopted by the church as Mary and Jesus. What is even worse than that, is the so-called ‘sacred heart’ that is surrounded by a shining ‘sun’. During the time of human sacrifices, the first part of the flesh removed from the victim was the beating heart that was then offered to the sun god Sol sometimes called Molech. That ancient abomination is what has been adopted into the church as the so-called ‘sacred heart’ and was referred to in the Old Testament (Leviticus 18:21). Instead of destroying the pagan  gods as the Lord commanded in His Word, they were simply adopted into Christianity and masked as Christian themes. Lent: This is ‘mass population, public fasting’. It is also contrary to scripture to fast in this way. We should fast in secret. ‘When you fast, do not be like the hypocrites who put on a sad face so their fasting may be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have their full reward already. When you fast, anoint your head and wash your face so your fasting may not be noticed by others but by your Father Who sees in secret, and your Father Who sees in secret will reward you openly’ (Matthew 6:16 to 18). Fasting in public is pointless and is the only reward those people will get. God is not impressed by it. Genuine fasting is a deeply Spiritual experience that should be between God and the person who is fasting.   Circumcision: (Please note: this paragraph is not a medical opinion for or against circumcision. It is solely to point out the scriptural view.) Circumcision was introduced to Abraham by the Lord to the males in the Hebrew tribe who later became known as the Jews to ratify the Old Covenant between God and His chosen people (Genesis 17:10 to 14). To help the Hebrews understand the seriousness of the Covenant, it was ratified in blood – circumcision. God chose the Jews and entrusted them with the commandments and the oracles of God (Romans 3:2). The prophets foretold the coming of Messiah Jesus, and God said He would make a New Covenant with the Jews (Jeremiah 31:31 to 33) because they broke the Old Covenant when they worshipped idols (Ezekiel 20:16). God considered their idolatry as unfaithfulness (Hosea 4:12). The New Covenant was ushered in by Jesus and was ratified by His own blood. Jesus said,‘This is My blood of the New Covenant, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins’ (Matthew 26:28). The New Covenant negated the need for physical circumcision. Circumcision is no longer necessary for the Jews, so how much less important is it for Gentiles? There were Christian Jews in the New Testament who wanted that practice to continue, but Paul denounced it and told them to stop doing it because it is no longer necessary. ‘True circumcision is of the heart, a spiritual and not a literal (or physical) matter. His praise is not from men but from God’ (Romans 2:29). ‘Circumcision counts for nothing, neither does uncircumcision, but what counts is keeping the commandments of God’ (1 Corinthians 7:19). ‘In Jesus, circumcision is of no importance, nor uncircumcision, but being a new creation’ (Galatians 6:15).Baptism is now more important than circumcision. ‘In Him you were circumcised with a circumcision not made with hands, but a spiritual circumcision by removing the sins of flesh through Jesus. You were (spiritually) circumcised when you were buried with Him in your baptism, in which you were also raised with Him to a new life through your faith in the working of God, when He (God) raised Him (Jesus) from the dead’ (Colossians 2:11 & 12). If you are considering having your son circumcised because of the incorrect teaching in the Catholic church, you now know – scripturally – it is a pointless exercise and counts for nothing in the Kingdom of God. If you are not right with God and you want that assurance that you are heaven bound, then I want to encourage you to find a good, strong Bible based Church and hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ, confess to Jesus Christ that you are a sinner and are in need of a Savior, accept Him as your Savior and get Baptized by water immersion, this way you can be Biblically forgiven and Saved, you then will receive and will be baptized by the Holy Spirit, without water immersion, you can’t possibly receive it. You have to be Baptized for the right reasons of God and not by earthly man maid reasons. If you are shy from large crowds and wish to be baptized with only 2 or 3 witnesses, then feel free to call me and I will be honored to do so through the power of God, through Jesus Christ. Lets close in prayer.