the Antichrist unveiled. We come to see who the Antichrist is in the words of Scripture and to identify him and to know him as the opposite to who the Christ is, the Lord of Glory, Christ Jesus, who is our Lord and our Savior. On October the 8th, 2000, Pope John Paul II, under his official title as the Vicar of Christ, consecrated the whole world and this new millennium to Mary Most Holy. That's the Vatican's own words, and the notes going with this paper I give the Vatican webpage. This blasphemous act of entrustment to Mary Most Holy, that which belongs to God alone, is a mockery of the First Commandment. The Pope's official and offensive act ought to warn Christians that while he formally claims to be, in his own words, the true Vicar of Christ, In fact, he opposes Christ by such false worship. Moreover, many other events, the Pope has officially contradicted the Gospel, as on the 13th of May this year, 2000, in what he calls the Jubilee year, he gave a false gospel message. And whereas we also have in history documented the involvement of another Pope, Pius XII, in Hitler's reign of terror. These things are to warn Christians that right there before their eyes is seeing the line of men that scripture calls the man of sin and that this one who calls himself the true vicar of Christ is actually fulfilling the scripture of the man of sin or the son of perdition In Scripture there is just one Lord and one Holy Father. This may seem simplistic, but it's necessary to get back to the bedrock of Biblical truth. There is one Lord and one Holy Father. The Church of Rome authoritatively teaches that her pontiff is rightly called, again official words, Most Holy. and that he is, again official words, the most holy Roman Pontiff and they use titles such as the Holy Father and the Vicar of Christ. This is a full definition of what the Apostle John calls the Antichrist. to look at the Apostle John's own words of the definition of the Antichrist who is the liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ he is Antichrist that denieth the Father and the Son the Pope in assuming these titles to himself is against the Christ and the Holy Father in heaven by purporting or assuming these titles unto himself. Such haughtiness blatantly breaks the new covenant law of Christ where the Lord said, call no man your father on earth for one is your father which is in heaven. Jesus Christ declared, one is your father is your Master, even Christ, and ye are all brethren. The Pope calls himself Most Holy, Holy Father and the True Vicar of Christ, thus assuming these titles unto himself. He is officially recording that he is, in the words of Isaiah 14 and verse 14, like unto the Most High. That he is claiming to be like unto the Most High. And so he's taking unto himself the very offices of the Father and the Son. And taking unto himself these offices, he is, therefore, fulfilling the definition of the Antichrist, because in doing so he is denying both the Father and the Son. We cleanse ourselves with these very words at the end of page 1. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy, and all nations shall come and worship before Thee. We praise God that there is only one Holy Father and He is in heaven. The historical origins of the Antichrist. Throughout history, circumstances concerning the coming and the character of Christ have corresponded so brilliantly to prophecy that in the past, the Lord's people praised His name for it. Likewise, the Lord's flocked thanked Him for so clearly depicting the Antichrist. So people gloried in the Lord's Word because it showed them who the Christ was and it showed them who the opposer was, the Antichrist. The Lord Jesus Himself confirmed the understanding that there would be a specific fulfillment in the Antichrist's role when He stated, for the ruler of this world is coming. Similarly, Christ Jesus said, I have come in my Father's name and you do not receive me. If another come in his own name, you will receive him. The Lord speaking about the Antichrist being received readily, where he himself was not received. The Apostle John, the beloved Apostle, following the Master's footsteps, states emphatically ye have heard that Antichrist shall come." John confirms that there were contemporary opponents of Christ but these forces would eventually center in one entity, one office or one system. Contrary to flawed popular belief, the Popes are not the successors of the Apostle Peter. The Apostle Peter we know historically in the Bible was never even in Rome, let alone the first Bishop of Rome. It's only a tradition that he was in Rome. It is not a Biblical historical fact. And of course the whole idea of apostolic succession is again a myth. real apostolic succession is to have apostolic biblical truth and not a physical lineage of hands upon hands so that we have a line of so-called men passing on power by a physical means so this idea of the successors to Peter is simply a myth or a tradition but there is an historical line from the Popes back to the Roman Emperor. History shows that the title of the Supreme High Priest was officially bestowed on the Bishop of Rome by the Emperor Justinian in the 6th century. I don't give here but it's a whole subject in the Senate. The precise date is 538 if we want to get into details and of course it's fulfilled 1000 260 years later, where the Pope is removed from his seat by Napoleon's soldiers in 1798. But that is a whole story in itself, and that is a further detailing of prophecy. Therefore the office of the Supreme High Priest of the Church of Rome has been perpetuated for nearly 1,500 years and it came from an apostate secular source whereas the Bible proclaims the one Supreme High Priest the Lord Jesus Christ appointed by God The pagan emperor Justinian also bestowed on the Bishop of the Church of Rome the universal oversight of the entire Christian world. That was when the Bishop of the Church at Rome became known as the Pope, arising as the spiritual head of the apostate Roman Empire. This historical fact alone ought to clearly delineate the Antichrist. I will refer you to the four volumes of Froome, and in particular to the volume that deals with this Volume 1, this period in history from pages 511 to 517 where the exact details of Justinian handing over by official decree this title to the Pope is documented. The cloud of witnesses from Christian history from the time of persecution of the Vaudois the earliest Christian believers and we still have Vaudois today they have come down right through history from biblical times and the Waldenses throughout the long era of the Inquisition, the Lollards, the Bohemians, and the believers of the Reformation, both the office of the Christ and its counterfeit, the Antichrist, were clearly seen. The zeal and the courage of many of the martyrs is based on their conviction that they were withstanding the Antichrist. Today, however, it is religiously correct to deter one's ignorance of the Antichrist and as the ecumenical movement gains momentum it is imperative for us to regain a biblical understanding of scriptural prophecy which is still being played out in our time right before our eyes and not in some future cataclysmic you know, horrendous futuristic period which cannot be documented because nothing has already happened. Bible believers of old recognized the Roman Catholic institution as the Antichrist. This signification was known and spoken of throughout the Middle Ages by such as the famous Dante, John Wycliffe, John Huss, I thank God that I was very recently stood where John Huss did in Prague. I praise God and I went to the church where John Huss had preached there, the church there in Prague. Savonarola, I've been to the spot actually where he was burnt actually in Italy as well. And during the Reformation by people such as Martin Luther, William Tyndale, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, John Bradley, John Fox and John Bunyan, the translators of the King James Bible, Isaac Newton, that famous physicist of whom we give so much credit when it comes to our understanding of gravity and other things. the wonderful Jonathan Edwards, George Whitfield, John Wesley, and in recent times our wonderful Spurgeon, J.C. Ryle, Dr. Martin Lloyd-Jones, and we could go on and on. This is just giving you a touch of many of the great men who have seen the Antichrist as a antithesis of the glory of who Christ is and the one who opposes Him. All these men knew the precision of scripture regarding both the Christ and the Antichrist. The written word has been fulfilled in history both in light, that is Christ Jesus, and in darkness in the Antichrist. Like a silk glove over your hand, Scripture has been fulfilled and God's people have wondered at the Lord in showing who the Christ is and showing who his opposer is. Today, however, it is religiously correct to refrain from speaking about the Antichrist except in some futuristic scenario that cannot be verified. This tolerance principle has blunted, or all but blunted, the accuracy and the distinctiveness of the biblical sword. Such tolerance that holds that the warnings of Christ and the apostles, John and Paul, and of course Peter, or as if they meant nothing. Christ warned about the apostasy. Many Christ succumbed. Peter spoke about the false teachers. Paul spoke about the wolves and sheep's clothing. It's like these things didn't matter. And that these things were either in some period way back in the past or going to happen in the future. But it's like this does not apply to us. It's like trying to wipe out the warnings of Christ and the apostles as if they did not apply to our own day. This particular paper that I'm doing deals with 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 from verse 13 to 12. It is an introduction to many other texts unveiling who indeed is the Antichrist. The Apostle states in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3, let no man deceive you by any means for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition. The man of sin would appear as an outworking of the falling away. the word in Greek is apostasia like our English word apostasy so clearly if there's a falling away it means that there was Christianity in the first place there is a falling away from the true faith and then the revealing or the emergence of the man of sin the embryo or the birthplace of iniquity that leads to the man of sin, is this falling away from what was true Christianity. For the mystery of iniquity, that already work, Paul says that it was already begun, this falling away, even in his own day, it had already begun. So, certainly not futuristic, it had already started in Paul's day. It was already at work. And Paul is contrasting the mystery of iniquity to the mystery of godliness. Paul is using the same terminology, only the antithesis of it, what he spoke about in Timothy 3.16. the mystery of godliness now he is showing the exact opposite of that the mystery of iniquity that this was to emerge from the apostasia the apostasy the falling away from true Christianity and what was this mystery of iniquity to do? it was to be deceiving with all deceivableness of unrighteousness this was absolute wickedness that would be perpetrated from this man of sin through the mystery of iniquity with all deceivableness of unrighteousness. Such apostasy means apostasy, that is, it is not outright contradiction of biblical truth but it is hypocrisy, deceit appearing to be righteous and holy it is taking on the pretenses or aping pretending to be something while at the same time it is denying it so it doesn't mean that it is outright contradiction it is deceivableness which is attempting to deceive by pretending to be and that is the true definition of apostasy and the true definition of the fulfillment of scripture what is going on before our eyes it is great to see the clarity of God's Word we have in verses 6 and 7 a description of what this is to be and it is very clear in scripture that this constraint or withholding of the man of sin is a what in verse 6 and it's a who in verse 7. That very thing wipes out futurism because the Holy Spirit is not a what. It's not a substance. The Holy Spirit is a person. and the constraint on the man of sin is a what in verse 6 and it is a who in verse 7 so this is very clear in Paul's teaching that we have a clarity that is remarkable and it is for us to see what is there in the exact text that we have a what holding back the man of sin that is a who in the following verse. It is important to understand the historical background Who was Paul writing to? The Thessalonians. What had happened before he wrote this letter when he was in Thessalonica himself? This is clearly shown in the historical account in Acts 17 from verse 1 to 10. We are told what happened when Paul was there at Thessalonica together with Silas. There was a charge brought against Paul and Silas. that these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another King, one Jesus. The charge that happened against Paul and Silas when they were in Thessalonica was that they were charged with an offense against Caesar, that is against the Roman Empire. And so it would be very clear to the Thessalonican mind that when Paul speaks about a what and a who he is speaking about the Roman Empire as the what and the who is Caesar or the Emperor himself so we have here a clear description and we see the reticence of Paul in saying this outrightly because he would be charged with insurrection or revolt had he written this explicitly but it could not be more explicit without actually saying the empire and the emperor himself, so it's quite explicit even without using the explicit names because of Paul's using the what in verse 6 and the who in verse 7. We're now on page 4 if you're following on the notes. To know the time, therefore, at which the man of sin will appear, the whole passage from verse 1 to 12 must be taken into account. The man of sin is set forth and appears by the removal of who, of him who is now holding back, verse 7. The previous verse, the believers were told, now you know what holds him back. They are the exact words then from verse 6. What was it then that the believers knew? They knew that the Roman Empire held all and everyone in check. The Thessalonican mind, it was Rome, and only Rome, that retained or constrained. Now this is clear even from the early believers and their commentaries and right through history as well but I just give a reference here to Tertullian and Jerome and you can read their accounts again in Froome and many other historical writings where these men very clearly depicted as they knew in the earliest days what the apostles knew and what the Thessalonians themselves knew that it was the empire and it was the Caesar that held back the man of sin and historically this is exactly how it happened also historically it was the Emperor Constantine who removed the seat of the Empire from Rome to Constantinople. The remover gave the opportunity for the desired growth of the power-seeking bishops of Rome and at the same time we had the internal and external corruption in the Roman Empire itself. And this, of course, led about the breaking up of the Roman Empire And it meant that then that the power and the civil power began to come into the hands of the bishops of Rome. And, of course, that was done in the Corpus Juris, the handing over of the codifying of law by Justinian in the same 6th century. That's a whole story in itself. But this whole idea of canon law and codifying law that has a civil effect on it goes back to Justinian. Just as a side note, I put that I'll put in that on a webpage a few years ago, Corpus Juris looking to get a verification that Justinian did this on some historical webpages and what came up only then. the European Union laws which have the same name. I have written a paper on that called The Pattern of Papal Persecution Then and Now. It's quite interesting that whole idea of codifying law which also came to the Supreme High Priest in the 6th century. and from then on we have had the Roman Church having an effect on civil powers and of course in our own day this has become rampant and it's a whole subject to study in itself The place where the Son of Man appears The Apostle states unmistakably that the place where the Son of Man will become visible and he says it in verse 4, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that as God, set it in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. And so Paul is explicit that it is in the temple of God that this man of sin appears, showing himself that he is God. Now what is the temple of God for Paul? Paul keeps talking about the temple of God. And of course there is not some future temple to be constructed any place. let alone in Jerusalem. It is the Temple of God. For Paul, you are the Temple of God. Do you not know that your body is the Temple of God? Paul keeps on speaking about the believers as the Temple of God. And that is consistent in Paul. I give some notes here, some references also, like 1 Corinthians 3, Ephesians 2.21, 2 Corinthians 6.16, where Paul speaks about the believers as the temple of God, so it's in the midst of the believers! going on what scripture interpreting scripture that this man of sin appears and that is remarkably clear that it couldn't be more clear unless we were trying to somehow deny the very word of God that the temple of God is among the believers. Now Rome also has some commentary to make on this verse 4. And it's quite interesting that Rome actually claims unto herself what is spoken of here in verse 4. And I want to show you this in Rome's own words. But before I get there, I want to show that God's written word is of utmost importance. So much so that in Psalm 138, The Lord says, Thou hast magnified Thy Word above all Thy Name. The Lord magnifies His Word above His Name. That is how important is the absolute truth of God's Word, because that is the whole standard, it is the measure, it is the basis of truth. And that's why the Lord magnifies His Word even above His Name. and so we have to see that this is the very thing that the Antichrist is going to do is he's going to claim to be as God and even above God sitting in the Temple of God so we want to see this in Rome's own words Rome's assumed titles of His Holiness that the Holy Father and equivalent titles deny the Christ and deny the Holy Father in Heaven but that is not all, I give an exact quotation here at the end of page 4 whereby in the Code of Canon Law for His Holiness is claimed this very distinctive attribute of God, His infallibility that God exalts above His name. This very attribute of God is claimed in the official teachings of Rome, which is also her official law that you must bow to. In Rome's own words that fulfill this verse, she says, quotation, the supreme pontiff in virtue of his office possesses infallible teaching authority, when as supreme pastor and teacher of all the faithful, He proclaims with a definitive act that the doctrine of faith and laws is to be held as such. That's Canon 749. Claiming the divine attribute of infallible teaching authority. And this then officially fulfills verse 4 of second Thessalonians, sitting, calling himself God, so that he is exalted above all that is called God. Again, the exactness of the Lord's Word, but in the exactness of Roman Catholic teaching, seeing how the Catholics fulfill the very Word of God, and how Ridiculous it is that this is done in black and white, and people who call themselves biblical scholars don't see that Rome is actually, in its official decrees, fulfilling the exact words of scripture, claiming the divine attribute of God's Word unto themselves, and therefore exalting themselves above all that is called God. At the resurrection, by Christ's earned righteousness, all power was given to him in heaven and on earth. The people of facial decrees claim this as well. They claim this unto the Pope. And I give this in their own words. And this is from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. they say the following words, the Pope enjoys by divine institution supreme, full, immediate and universal power in the care of souls. So that is immediate, full, absolute power in the care of souls. All power on heaven and earth is given only to Christ Jesus. And it takes him as the God-man to fulfill that. so we see then the horrendous claim to be as God and this is done sitting in the midst of the people of God how much blasphemous official talk is needed before somebody has the common sense to say here sit at the Antichrist how much has got to be said in blasphemous official words before people realize what is being said and put it alongside of Scripture. Extravagantly and without trembling, the papacy fulfills the definition of the Antichrist. Because the Greek word simply, doesn't mean simply against Christ, but more significantly aping or substituting for him. And the papacy as it teaches and as it is lived out, fulfills this twofold meaning of the Greek word. It is against by presuming to take his place and usurping his offices as prophet, priest and king. The full supreme Lord of the church is Christ Jesus. And this is spelled out in such as Ephesians chapter 1. And hath put all things under his feet and gave him to be the head over all things to the church which is his body. The fullness of him that filleth all in all. The Roman Church purports to take to itself the divine position of Christ Jesus the Lord by claiming Christ Jesus' very attributes. and so the New Catechism of the Catholic Church official first-hand documentation says for the Supreme Pontiff by reason of his office as Vicar of Christ namely as Pastor of the entire Church has full, supreme and universal power over the whole Church a power which he can always exercise unhindered The Pope claims exactly the office of Christ and therefore claims to be as God. The wickedness that goes with this system shows the mystery of iniquity. I am not going into that. It's not simply that this is wicked teaching but it has an effect on the lives of men. Just recently in Portland we had the wickedness again shown of huge court cases against a priest for molesting children and this has gone on from state to state. It's gone on in my own native Ireland. It's gone on across the world. We have wickedness. a lot of the convents and a lot of the other places. Now I'm not going into that, that is the mystery of iniquity. I refer you here in the notes to iconbusters.com on the section on the wickedness and I would ask you to go to that webpage just to see even the links to the Catholic webpages of how, when this teaching is lived out, how the mystery of iniquity is revealed in ordinary everyday life and that is the whole story in itself and our hearts should grieve in compassion for those who live under this type of teaching as it is lived out. capitulation of mind and will. Where did I get such terminology? You see, this is official Roman Catholic teaching. Not simply does the Catholic Church say that He is the Supreme Holy Father and that He has these divine attributes, but it demands a capitulation of your highest faculties, your intellect and will. Now, we know that the cults say you check your mind at the door, you know, you are supposed to capitulate your mind at the door. And the cults do that, but they do not define as clearly as the Catholic Church does this capitulation. And I want you to read with me the exact words of Rome, from Canon 752, whereby you are to submit your intellect and will. End of page 5. A religious respect of intellect and will, even if not the assent of faith, is to be paid to the teachings which the supreme pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate on faith and morals when they exercise the authentic magisterium, even if they do not intend to proclaim it with a definitive act. Therefore, the Christian faithful are to take care to avoid whatever is not in harmony with that teaching. Submit your intellect and will. the highest faculties. Now, if you think that that is not enough, in actual fact, in 1998 there was added a just penalty. That's in recent times. I said 1998 is October. It caused havoc and a lot of dissension on the East Coast here in the United States. Because Canon 1371 will bring just penalties against anyone who doesn't submit. So it's not simply that this is a teaching but it has teeth that you are to be punished if you do not submit your intellect and will. And I give the exact words of the canon in the footnotes. So to presume to take the place of Christ himself as prophet, priest and king is tantamount to sitting in the temple of God showing forth that he is God. And this is exactly what papal Rome documents for herself and that claims is a law and that one can be punished if one does not submit to it. Now what are the purposes and the intentions of the son of man, I beg your pardon, the man of sin? the one who is against the Son of Man, the one who stands against Him, and the one who purports to take His place. What are His intentions as described in the Word of God? It is interesting that the words that Paul uses to describe Him are the exact same words that Paul uses to describe the Christ. Revealed, coming in mystery, are spoken beautifully of who Christ is. He is revealed, he is the mystery of godliness. And the one who is to replace him, Satan replacing him with his own man, Paul uses the exact same terminology, only showing how he opposes him. And so Paul says in verse 4, who opposeth and exalted himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. This is the son of iniquity. the man of sin and his purposes are even him whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and lying wonders his purpose is to deceive with power and lying wonders in all this deceivableness of unrighteousness so it's again, it is hypocrisy, deceit it's not that Satan appears in a satanic form but as an angel of light as the scripture says and he is appearing in the garb of righteousness to deceive and it is with all type of lying wonders that he takes on to himself as it were the garments of Christ to stand against Christ and this type of lying wonders is what he is about so that he deceives it by hypocrisy and deceit by claiming to be Christian that he nullifies the very Gospel and what is of the Lord. I give an example here again from this year that I've alluded to at the beginning of the paper where on the 13th of May the Pope endorsed a lying wonder. That is what happened at Fatima in 1917 when three young children were deceived in thinking that they were to do reparation and atonement for their sins, which is the message of Satan. and there were and still are lying wonders as at Lourdes, Fatima, Medjugorje and of course here in the states Lubbock, Texas, Denver, Colorado and in Conyers just outside Atlanta we have our lying wonders here in the states as well but this lying wonder is endorsed officially by the Pope and he also gave officially the Roman Catholic message of salvation is in line with the message that was given there at Fatima all endorsing a lie and this is an example of how the man of sin works I want to read from the Pope's own words there at Fatima earlier this year According to the divine plan, a woman clothed with the sun, Revelation 12, 1, came down from heaven to this earth to visit the privileged children. She asked them to offer themselves as victims of reparation, saying that she was ready to lead them safely to God. And behold, they see a light shining from her maternal hands which penetrates them inwardly so they feel immersed in God. So it's a woman leading them to God. her maternal hands and feeling immersed in God and this is all by atonement or self-sacrificing way by which you atone for your own sins which is a message of Satan I have a whole paper on that where I show the falseness of that message and the Pope endorsing a lie it's on our webpage at bereanbeacon.org if anybody wants to check it out. So that is an example of what the intentions of the man of sin so that the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all that believe. And this has been seen by the Valdois, the Valdenses, the Lawlords and many others throughout history being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. The Gospel is for us today the end of the man of sin and why we preach the true Gospel of grace and not any man-made Gospel and also the final end will be the Lord will cut off the man of sin at the end with the breath of his mouth. None but God could have delineated the mystery of iniquity which is clearly the office of the papacy, the Roman Catholic Church. Man could never have anticipated it all. It's what God has foretold. It's He, the Lord of Truth and of Scripture, has delineated this clarity that we could not have expected. It's just as the Lord Himself was clearly shown in Isaiah 43, in 42, Psalm 22, all the clear descriptions of who the Christ was in his glory and in his suffering and as Christ explained in chapter 24 of Luke to the disciples on the road to remorse it was the clarity to do with the Christ equally the clarity to do with the Antichrist in this passage Revelation 17 and 18 and many other passages in the Scripture where the Antichrist and his whole system Revelation 13, the conglomerate beast and the three powers there collaborating together and on and on the clarity of God's Word and so the Lord clearly shows in the Scriptures by the truth of His Word, who He Himself is, as He fulfills all righteousness. He dies in the place of His Chosen, of the One who He has called. He fulfills all righteousness. He is the One who fulfills all Scripture, of the prophecy spoken about Himself. And He is the One who in His Word portrays the woman sitting on the seven hills of Rome. He is the one who portrays her colors, her golden cup, who portrays that she is a city who is also a system, who is also a religious power, who is also a civil power. The intimate details all fulfill precisely as is this second Thessalonians 2 passage. I remember even as a priest in 1964 going to the Vatican, standing outside the Vatican, as the 3,000 bishops, cardinals, and prelates were flooding out of the square. And I was seen with my own eyes, and this was more beautiful than Hollywood could ever do it. This is for real. And what was before my eyes? Scarlet and purple. I, even as a priest, I said, oh no, could this be Revelation 17, even as a priest? And I put that out of my mind, because the preciseness of the colors, and they are the official colors from the Monsignori up, purple, and of course the scarlet of the Cardinals. It's the only city that is also a system, that is also a religious power and that sits physically on the Seven Hills. I don't know if you know, but the Vatican has official residence on the Seven Hills and not just on Vatican Hill. She has official power from 1927, isn't it? Lateran Concord made with Mussolini. She has official power from the Lateran Concord made with Mussolini on the seven hills of Rome. And that is another story in itself. But this passage is abundantly clear. Who is the man of sin? Who sits in the temple of God calling himself the Holy Father, calling himself the true vicar of Christ, denying the Father and the Son? Who is it that exalts himself above God, the very attribute of infallibility where God exalts his word above his name? Who claims this attribute, officially and in his own teaching? Who is it that deceives and pretends to be or aids Christ? Who claims Christ's authority? There's only one, and there's been only one throughout history. There has only been one who has done this and done it consistently. And the people who stood against him for 667 years, he decreed persecution and the Inquisition. not six years of Holocaust, but six hundred and sixty-seven years of persecution, drinking the blood of the saints. And this is again history. It is the solid fact of history that this one who has claimed official authority demands a mission of intellect and will sits among God's people calling himself God in the midst of the people of God and it is a system that goes back to what was genuine Christianity and fell away and officially to assume the pagan title in 538 where Justinian gave to Him, the Pope, and to his system, her, the one who sits on the seven hills, gave the title of Supreme High Priest, which was his pagan title. And so he has been the summum pontifex, the supreme bridge-maker since then, the official pagan title. This was officially handed over to him. And all these things are documented. And so, what more clarity could we have than God's word, and God's word as it has been fulfilled by scripture. I ask you to take these things before the Lord and pray about them. Because it is a serious matter that needs to be stood for in this day and age. so that the truth of the gospel is proclaimed and that the Lord plucks from the fire many unto himself and that we see the glorious salvation of God's people by his grace and save from this wicked system unto the glory of our God. Amen and Amen. Permission is given to copy this tape once it is done in its entirety. Richard Bennett, converted Catholic priest, now evangelist, presents Because I am a converted Roman Catholic priest, I am often asked the question, what is the center, what is the essential difference between biblical faith and Roman Catholicism? It's not only that I have been asked this question, but many of the former priests who are now converted to biblical truths such as the 50 that we have in the book just published, Far from Rome, New to God, the Testimonies of 50 Converted Roman Catholic Priests. Many of the men in this book are asked the similar question, What is the essential difference between Biblical Faith and Roman Catholicism? There are many many external differences, there are many, many differences in doctrine, but the essential difference is that of justification. In Roman Catholicism, justification is made to look as if it were subjective and internal. Justification is made to look as if it were in us. Justification is centered in you, the person. Justification by which you are made right with God, the Catholic Church says, is a personal righteousness inside you. terminology that the Catholic Church uses such as habitual grace, sanctifying grace, all the words that it uses to explain this justification that it says is in the person are such that they designate the being right with God as being inside a person. In the Bible, It is totally otherwise. Justification is objective, legal and external. We are justified by Christ's work for us, not in us. Justification is Christ-centered. Let your minds be on the heavenly things. A person that is justified that is justified has the righteousness of God credited to them. It is an imputation and totally outside the person. This is clear again and again from the Lord's own words where he said, I lay down my life for my sheep. This is my body which is given for you. It is something for the other, not in the other. And when we are told that there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, no external rebuke by God. For example, in Romans 8, 1, there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. There is no condemnation, no sentence of judgment. There is the exact opposite. There is the sentence of being right with God. The righteousness of Christ Jesus is given to the account of the believer. And this is said also in the words of the Lord in John's Gospel, chapter 3, verse 18. He that believeth on him is not condemned, but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. It is the way in which we see that a person is condemned, a person has the sentence on them by God of being condemned externally put on them because they have not accepted the finished work of Christ Jesus. And those who have accepted By grace, through faith, they finish work of Christ Jesus. There is now no condemnation. Romans 8.34, Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. at the right hand of God, the Christ who is glorious now in His being accepted by the Father. He it is who makes intercession for us. He it is who has the finished work that is accepted by the Father. It is the righteousness of faith that is the way in which God designates to our account the full righteousness of Christ Jesus the Lord. This is spoken about again and again in scripture, for example Philippians 3.9, the righteousness which is of God by faith. It is spoken of in Romans 3.21 and 22. But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifest. Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ upon all and unto all that believe. The righteousness of God is attributed to you, is designated to you, is credited to you. An external righteousness that is not your own, that in actual fact is infinite. It is, as Christ Jesus again and again, it is what he said, for you. When you want to know why something is done, go to the author. Christ Jesus said, this is my blood which is shed for you. The reason for it being shed is external to you, it is shed for you. It is an infinite righteousness that is external to you. And the fact that it is not internal is again and again emphasized in the scripture. We would say that it is emphasized so many times that it is nearly too much. Why does the Bible keep on saying, not of works, outside the law? without the deeds of the law to emphasize that it is not in you so that we do not get into the trap of negating the righteousness of God and so in actual fact not been saved and I say this with compassion because I had lived the Roman Catholic works gospel for so long. I know what it is in the monastery to flagellate myself. I know what it is to offer penances, to do things that I could be right before God, and to be not at peace with God. The book that I have edited with many, many former monks who did all types of extraordinary penances to be right before God, shows me again men who excelled at this inner so-called justification. I say so-called because it is not biblical. The Bible emphasizes without the law Romans 3.21 Romans 3.28 without the deeds of the law Romans 4 and verse 6 without works and on and on again and again we are told that it is without works but to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justify the ungodly, his fate is counted for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputed righteousness without works. Without works. Not frustrated by works. Because if you look to your being right with God, to something inside you, you frustrate the very work of God. This is the real serious crux of the matter. That if you look to justification, salvation as internal, you are frustrating the work of God. In Galatians chapter 2 verse 21, Paul explicitly says, I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If you place justification within your own heart, then you're making Christ's death to be in vain for you. And I speak this to many sincere, sincere nuns, sincere brothers, sincere Roman Catholic priests, sincere Roman Catholic people. I ask you not to frustrate the grace of God. The blessings spoken about in Ephesians chapter 1, where are they? In Christ. You are accepted in Him. You've been chosen in Him. You have redemption in Him. It is in the Beloved, in Christ, and where? Where He is in the heavenly places. in Christ. The same message that our redemption is in Christ where He is at the right hand of the Father. Your life is hid with Christ in God. Colossians 3 and verse 3. The message of salvation that our right standing is because of the righteousness of Christ Jesus. Repent of trying to do it your own way. Repent of trying to see justification inside yourself or any man or woman. It is in Christ and in Him alone. Consent to God's way. To be the new creature in Him that God desires that you should be. To the praise of the glory of His grace. When I was a missionary in Trinidad and beginning to get deeply into the things of the Lord, I would delight sometimes in passages of scripture. For example, Zephaniah chapter 3 and verse 17. The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty. He will rejoice over them with joy. He will rest in His love. He will joy over them with singing. That my God, my Abba Father could rejoice over me with delight. That He could have joy in me. This is what I wanted to know. That there would be a deep personal relationship with me and God. And I saw in 1st John again and again, say for example 1st John 4 and 8, that God is love. It is His very nature to love. And I would sometimes tell people that just accept the infinite love of God. But it didn't change them just as it didn't change me. I had to come further down. in the same chapter, in verse 10, where it says, herein is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That word propitiation, not a word that we like to deal with. It means satisfying the wrath of God for sin. Christ Jesus is the propitiation in His death on the cross. He paid the price for my sin, my sin nature, and my personal sin. And this is how I could come into a personal relationship with Him. The same message as is at the very beginning of 1 John. John emphasizes that this is the message. He's telling you, here it is. And what does he say it is? That God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. He who is a consuming fire in his holiness, justice and truth, and if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanses us from all sin. But here was the same concept as in chapter 4. The Son is the propitiation for our sins, and here, and the blood of Christ Jesus cleanses us from all sin. The blood of Christ Jesus shed. My particular difficulty, and it is very relevant to all of us who have grown up in a Catholic tradition, that we try to do things to gain salvation, where the Bible keeps saying, not of our works, not of the law, not of human endeavor, so that no one could boast. And so I began to consider the blood of Christ Jesus only. Could it be that Christ Jesus' blood and that alone? And it was here that Isaiah, when he spoke in prophecy regarding what was going to happen, it was here that Isaiah was used by the Lord to really open wide my eyes. When Isaiah says, everyone that thirsts, come you to the waters. And you that have no money, come buy and eat. Come buy wine and milk without money and without price. without anything of human endeavor come and accept from the centrality of the message in Isaiah in chapter 53, 5 and 6. Surely He has borne our griefs, carried our sorrows, yet He was esteemed, stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His wounds we are healed. the very blood of Christ Jesus and that alone. And I had cried out that I would understand that ultimate, final, all-perfect, all-sufficient blood of Christ Jesus that cleanses from all sin. And the Father is absolutely faithful. He sees the propitiation that He Himself has provided. And so the all-holy, all-perfect, sovereign God can love us in Christ Jesus. I ask you whether you be the biggest sinner on earth or whether you are a religious sinner in the sense that I was trying to make my filthy rags that Isaiah calls them in Isaiah 64, my good works to be a propitiation, to cast aside all dependence on things that you do and to rest only on Christ Jesus of what He has done for you on the cross. Then you are His, related to the Father, in Christ Jesus. Yes, God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. And if we walk in the light, that is, covered in the light of Christ Jesus, His propitiation, as the Father himself is in the light, then we have fellowship with the Father and with one another and when I had prayed for divine grace to understand this and to become covered as it were by the death of Christ in my own life that is exactly what happened I saw the full work of Christ Jesus in His death in my place on the cross. And then I was covered with His righteousness. The righteousness of God by faith. As scripture says, I became a newborn son of the kingdom. And this is what I say to you today. It is by grace that you are saved through faith. Accept God's work in Christ Jesus done for you. The loving Abba Father in His love for you has provided the factual, the factual presentation or demonstration of His justice that sin has been paid for at the price of our sins and the contamination of our sin nature has been paid for by Christ on the cross. Accept this fact and then you become a newborn son or a newborn daughter of the kingdom. You are one in Him, covered with His righteousness. The very righteousness of God is over you. You have a new relationship with God. And then you can begin to know the peace that surpasses all understanding. As it says in scripture, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. The assurance that you are related to the Abba Father through the blood of Christ Jesus that was shed for you on the cross. In Galatians chapter 4 and verse 6, And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no more a servant but a son, and if a son, then a ne'er of God, so Christ. I had there on the mission field become a child of God. That I could cry out, Abba Father. That I could know God as my Papa God. And from that day to this, my prayer has always been Abba Father. And I have stopped doing sacrifices and penances so as to be saved. I try to do good deeds in thanksgiving to God in praise and in worship in awe before the Holy God but not to merit or not to gain because I know it has been gained for me. It has been accomplished by Christ Jesus and therefore it would be and means so for me to offer anything of myself together with Christ. He is the one who has already borne the complete wrath of God upon himself for my sin. I ask quietly that you cry out to God also. If you have been in the situation where you have tried to live devoutly and religiously but that you haven't seen the clear message that it is a work finished by Christ Jesus and it is not for us to achieve salvation. It is just for you and for me to accept it as God's gift. If you are in that situation, ask God to open your eyes And that he will do. A humble and contrite heart he will not spurn. Receive the word. Ask him for his grace. And he is absolutely faithful. And as a newborn son and daughter of the kingdom, praise him now and forevermore. Thank you for listening to these messages. Sometimes the word of scripture is strong, but the Lord is faithful. And when we look to Him, He shows us His graciousness and the wonder of who He is. If you would like to get a copy of the Antichrist Unveiled, it is on our webpage. You can simply go to the webpage and download it. The address for the webpage is bereanbeacon.org b-e-r-e-a-n b-e-a-c-o-m dot org and for the web page that is of One Word Brain Beacon. If you want to contact me by email, simply write to rbennett at stick.net. My mailing address is P.O. Box 192, Del Valle, towards D.E.L.V.A.L.L.E., Texas, You are free to copy this tape and distribute it to others if you so wish. Most of all, may the Lord be glorified, may He be seen in all his glory and may the true believers be willing to live for him and to give their lives for him as it is all of his grace that we were initially saved and that we were in Christ Jesus. Much appreciation, it would be a joy to hear from you. Thanks ever so much. Richard Bennett This Reformation audio track is a production of Stillwater's Revival Books. SWRB makes thousands of classic Reformation resources available, free and for sale, in audio, video, and printed formats. 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You may also request a free printed catalog And remember that John Calvin, in defending the Reformation's regulative principle of worship, or what is sometimes called the scriptural law of worship, commenting on the words of God, which I commanded them not, neither came into my heart, from his commentary on Jeremiah 7.31, writes, God here cuts off from men every occasion for making evasions, since he condemns by this one phrase, I have not commanded them, whatever the Jews devised. There is then no other argument needed to condemn superstitions than that they are not commanded by God. For when men allow themselves to worship God according to their own fancies, and attend not to His commands, they pervert true religion. And if this principle was adopted by the Papists, all those fictitious modes of worship in which they absurdly exercise themselves would fall to the ground. It is indeed a horrible thing for the Papists to seek to discharge their duties towards God by performing their own superstitions. There is an immense number of them, as it is well known, and as it manifestly appears. Were they to admit this principle, that we cannot rightly worship God except by obeying His word, they would be delivered from their deep abyss of error. The prophet's words, then, are very important, when he says that God had commanded no such thing, and that it never came to his mind, as though he had said that men assume too much wisdom when they devise what he never required, nay, what he never knew.