That Prophet

That Prophet

John the Baptist, the one who Jesus said: Matthew 11: 9  But what went you out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. For this is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who shall prepare your way before you. Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist:

What an amazing statement!

Now we see where John is asked:

John 1:21: And they asked him: What then? Are you Elijah? And he said I am not. Are you the prophet? And he answered, No.

They were asking him if he were THE PROPHET mentioned by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15: Yehowah your God will raise up unto you A PROPHET from the midst of you, of your brethren, LIKE UNTO ME; unto him ye shall hearken;

Deuteronomy 18:18: I will raise them up A PROPHET from among their brethren, LIKE UNTO YOU; and I will put MY WORDS IN HIS MOUTH, AND HE SHALL SPEAK UNTO THEM ALL THAT I SHALL COMMAND HIM. SO WHO WAS THE PROPHET LIKE UNTO MOSES FROM THE MIDST OF ISRAEL, OF YOUR BRETHREN?

Notice: Peter speaking to the people of Israel.

Acts 3:22-23: Moses indeed said, A PROPHET shall the Lord - YHVH God raise up unto you from among your brethren, LIKE UNTO ME. To him shall you hearken in all things whatsoever he shall speak unto you. AND, IT SHALL BE, THAT EVERY SOUL THAT SHALL NOT HARKEN TO THAT PROPHET, SHALL BE UTTERLY DESTROYED FROM AMONG THE PEOPLE.

Stephen speaking to the Hellenic Jews:

Acts 7:37: This is that Moses, which said unto the children of Israel, A PROPHET shall the Lord – YHVH your God raise up unto you of your brethren LIKE UNTO ME; him shall you hear – a command.

We understand from these scriptures that THE PROPHET LIKE UNTO MOSES IS JESUS GOD’S ANOINTED ONE.

We know that THE PROPHET LIKE UNTO MOSES WILL SPEAK THE WORDS THAT GOD PUTS IN HIS MOUTH TO SPEAK TO THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL, and so Jesus says:

John 12:49-50: For I SPOKE NOT FROM MYSELF; BUT THE FATHER THAT SENT ME, HE HAS GIVEN ME A COMMANDMENT WHAT IS SHOULD SAY AND WHAT I SHOULD SPEAK. And I know that His commandment is life eternal: THE THINGS THEREFORE WHICH I SPEAK, EVEN AS THE FATHER HAS SAID UNTO ME, SO SPEAK I.

John 14:10: Believe you not that I am in the Father and the Father in me? THE WORDS THAT I SAY UNTO YOU I SPEAK NOT FROM MYSELF: but the Father abiding in me does His works.

John 14:24: He that loves me not keep not MY WORDS: and THE WORD WHICH YOU HEAR IS NOT MINE, BUT THE FATHER’S WHO SENT – COMMISSIONED ME.

John 17:14:  I HAVE GIVEN THEM YOUR WORD; and the world hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.

John 17:17: Sanctify them in the truth: YOUR WORD IS TRUTH.

John 17:20: Neither for these only do I pray, but for them also that believe on me through THEIR WORD;

John 5:24:  Verily, verily, I say unto you, HE THAT HEARS MY WORD, and believes Him that sent me, has eternal life, and comes not into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.

John 8:51: Verily, verily, I say unto you, IF A MAN KEEP MY WORD, HE SHALL NEVER SEE DEATH.

John 14:23: Jesus answered and said unto him, IF A MAN LOVE ME, HE WILL KEEP MY WORD: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Now we can conclude from what is written above that when Jesus was speaking to Israel during his 3 ½ year ministry he was speaking forth the words his God and Father gave him to speak to Israel and later through his disciples and follower they preached his message to the world.

Now, the vital question is: What words did God give to Jesus to give to Israel?

Jesus begins his message by using these words:

Matthew 4: 23: And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel – good news of the kingdom.....

The disciples ask him how to pray and he gives the following guideline:

Matthew 6:9-10:  After this manner therefore pray you: Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come.

After giving God praise that very first thing the disciples are told to do is ask for God’s kingdom to come!

Jesus follows that up with this command to his disciples:

Matthew 6: 33: ... seek you first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; ....

If we go through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John and later the writings of Paul we notice that the one topic spoken forth is a message about the kingdom of God and how to prepare to enter into that Kingdom!

So all the word that God gave unto His anointed one Jesus had to do with the message he preached about the coming Kingdom of God to this earth.

Why is this message so important to Jesus and his disciples and apostles?

Jesus said: John 6:63: It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: THE WORDS THAT I HAVE SPOKEN UNTO YOU ARE, SPIRIT AND ARE LIFE.

Jesus also said:

John 6:44: No man can come to me, except the Father that sent me draw him: and I will raise him up in the last day.

John 6: 65: ... he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it was given unto him of my Father.

Now how does the Father draw a person to come to the lord Jesus?

Paul answers:

Romans 10:15: and how shall they preach, except they be sent? even as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that bring glad tidings of good things!

1 Corinthians 1:17: For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not in wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made void.

What gospel did Paul preach?

Acts 20: 24-25: But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify THE GOSPEL OF THE GRACE OF GOD. And now, behold, I know that you all, among whom I have gone PREACHING THE KINGDOM OF GOD, shall see my face no more.

Acts 28:30-31: And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, PREACHING THE KINGDOM OF GOD, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him.

The things he taught concerning the lord Messiah Jesus would surely have been how he would return to establish the Kingdom of God on this earth and rule over the nations from Zion – Jerusalem.

So the message – words that Jesus spoke were words given to him by his God and Father to give to Israel and eventually to the world through his disciples, apostles and all his followers to the end of this age!

The words of that message give by Jesus are words that bring with them spirit and life to those who hear and accept the message as coming from the one whom God has sent.

Jesus said: John 6:63: It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: THE WORDS THAT I HAVE SPOKEN UNTO YOU ARE, SPIRIT AND ARE LIFE.

Jesus is now to those who will hear and obey his message of the good news of the Kingdom of God a life-giving spirit!

1 Corinthians 15:45: So also it is written, the first man Adam became a living soul. The last Adam became a life-giving spirit.

When we receive the words of the lord Jesus into our hearts and minds his life-giving spirit enters into us and we come to him as drawn by the Father, for the words that Jesus spoke were words given to him by his God and his Father and they are words that bring with them spirit and life!

Now we can see that the message that needs to be proclaimed to the nations, to all men and women on this earth is the message of the coming glorious Kingdom of God! It is through that message that God will draw people to His anointed one Jesus and lead them to trust in him and obey his words!

John 14:23: Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my word: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

Luke 6: 47-48: Whosoever comes to me, and hears my sayings, and does them, I will show you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and dug deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.

We see here that hearing is followed by doing which means committed obedience to the words of Jesus. In doing this we shall live in the soon coming Kingdom of God and rule with him over the nations during his 1,000 years rule:

Revelation 1:6: and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation 5:10: and made them to be unto our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon earth.

Revelation 20:6: Blessed and holy is he that has part in the first resurrection: over these the second death has no power; but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.

What an amazing future is available to all who will hear and obey the words that God gave Jesus to give unto all those that are his! Amen, soon come lord Jesus.

Is the Roman Catholic Church Christian?

The Roman Catholic Church contends that its origin is the death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ in approximately AD 30. The Catholic Church proclaims itself to be the church that Jesus Christ died for, the church that was established and built by the apostles. Is that the true origin of the Catholic Church? On the contrary, even a cursory reading of the New Testament will reveal that the Catholic Church does not have its origin in the teachings of Jesus or His apostles. In the New Testament, there is no mention of the papacy, worship/adoration of Mary (or the immaculate conception of Mary, the perpetual virginity of Mary, the assumption of Mary, or Mary as co-redemptrix and mediatrix), petitioning saints in heaven for their prayers, apostolic succession, the ordinances of the church functioning as sacraments, infant baptism, confession of sin to a priest, purgatory, indulgences, or the equal authority of church tradition and Scripture. So, if the origin of the Catholic Church is not in the teachings of Jesus and His apostles, as recorded in the New Testament, what is the true origin of the Catholic Church?

 For the first 280 years of Christian history, Christianity was banned by the Roman Empire, and Christians were terribly persecuted. This changed after the "conversion" of the Roman Emperor Constantine. Constantine provided religious toleration with the Edict of Milan in AD 313, effectively lifting the ban on Christianity. Later, in AD 325, Constantine called the Council of Nicea in an attempt to unify Christianity. Constantine envisioned Christianity as a religion that could unite the Roman Empire, which at that time was beginning to fragment and divide. While this may have seemed to be a positive development for the Christian church, the results were anything but positive. Just as Constantine refused to fully embrace the Christian faith, but continued many of his pagan beliefs and practices, so the Christian church that Constantine promoted was a mixture of true Christianity and Roman paganism.

 Constantine found that, with the Roman Empire being so vast, expansive, and diverse, not everyone would agree to forsake his or her religious beliefs to embrace Christianity. So, Constantine allowed, and even promoted, the "Christianization" of pagan beliefs. Completely pagan and utterly unbiblical beliefs were given new "Christian" identities. Some clear examples of this are as follows:

 (1) The Cult of Isis, an Egyptian mother-goddess religion, was absorbed into Christianity by replacing Isis with Mary. Many of the titles that were used for Isis, such as "Queen of Heaven," "Mother of God," and theotokos ("God-bearer") were attached to Mary. Mary was given an exalted role in the Christian faith, far beyond what the Bible ascribes to her, in order to attract Isis worshippers to a faith they would not otherwise embrace. Many temples to Isis were, in fact, converted into temples dedicated to Mary. The first clear hints of Catholic Mariology occur in the writings of Origen, who lived in Alexandria, Egypt, which happened to be the focal point of Isis worship.

 (2) Mithraism was a religion in the Roman Empire in the 1st through 5th centuries AD. It was very popular among the Romans, especially among Roman soldiers, and was possibly the religion of several Roman emperors. While Mithraism was never given "official" status in the Roman Empire, it was the de facto official religion until Constantine and succeeding Roman emperors replaced Mithraism with Christianity. One of the key features of Mithraism was a sacrificial meal, which involved eating the flesh and drinking the blood of a bull. Mithras, the god of Mithraism, was "present" in the flesh and blood of the bull, and when consumed, granted salvation to those who partook of the sacrificial meal (this is known as theophagy, the eating of one's god). Mithraism also had seven "sacraments," making the similarities between Mithraism and Roman Catholicism too many to ignore. Church leaders after Constantine found an easy substitute for the sacrificial meal of Mithraism in the concept of the Lord's Supper/Christian communion. Even before Constantine, some early Christians had begun to attach mysticism to the Lord's Supper, rejecting the biblical concept of a simple and worshipful remembrance of Christ's death and shed blood. The Romanization of the Lord's Supper made the transition to a sacrificial consumption of Jesus Christ, now known as the Catholic Mass/Eucharist, complete.

 (3) Most Roman emperors (and citizens) were henotheists. A henotheist is one who believes in the existence of many gods, but focuses primarily on one particular god or considers one particular god supreme over the other gods. For example, the Roman god Jupiter was supreme over the Roman pantheon of gods. Roman sailors were often worshippers of Neptune, the god of the oceans. When the Catholic Church absorbed Roman paganism, it simply replaced the pantheon of gods with the saints. Just as the Roman pantheon of gods had a god of love, a god of peace, a god of war, a god of strength, a god of wisdom, etc., so the Catholic Church has a saint who is "in charge" over each of these, and many other categories. Just as many Roman cities had a god specific to the city, so the Catholic Church provided "patron saints" for the cities.

 (4) The supremacy of the Roman bishop (the papacy) was created with the support of the Roman emperors. With the city of Rome being the center of government for the Roman Empire, and with the Roman emperors living in Rome, the city of Rome rose to prominence in all facets of life. Constantine and his successors gave their support to the bishop of Rome as the supreme ruler of the church. Of course, it is best for the unity of the Roman Empire that the government and state religion be centralized. While most other bishops (and Christians) resisted the idea of the Roman bishop being supreme, the Roman bishop eventually rose to supremacy, due to the power and influence of the Roman emperors. When the Roman Empire collapsed, the popes took on the title that had previously belonged to the Roman emperors: Pontifex Maximus.

 Many more examples could be given. These four should suffice in demonstrating the origin of the Catholic Church. Of course, the Roman Catholic Church denies the pagan origin of its beliefs and practices. The Catholic Church disguises its pagan beliefs under layers of complicated theology and "church tradition." Recognizing that many of its beliefs and practices are utterly foreign to Scripture, the Catholic Church is forced to deny the authority and sufficiency of Scripture.

 The origin of the Catholic Church is the tragic compromise of Christianity with the pagan religions that surrounded it. Instead of proclaiming the gospel and converting the pagans, the Catholic Church "Christianized" the pagan religions, and "paganized" Christianity. By blurring the differences and erasing the distinctions, yes, the Catholic Church made itself attractive to the people of the Roman Empire. One result was the Catholic Church becoming the supreme religion in the Roman world for centuries. However, another result was the most dominant form of Christianity apostatizing from the true gospel of Jesus Christ and the true proclamation of God's Word.

 Second Timothy 4:3-4 declares, "For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."