The common denominator that runs among the
sects I have named in the latest editions of the Lakesider is their aversion to Rome. They
have not ever been part of Rome, they have never held hands with Rome as many of the
Protestant based faiths are doing today, and they have been the brunt of Rome’s
persecutions. The historian may come to the aid of the Romish church, but the Scriptures
do not and true history bears this out.
Common phrase then was "He
who dips gets Dipped."
The book of Revelation gave notice of this brutal adversary of the true
church, though they go about claiming to be the one true and catholic, meaning universal,
church. Revelation 17 describes her as the MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF
HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH (Rev 17.5). The fact that this is Rome is
clearly stated in the 9th verse: "And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven
heads ARE seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth." Is there any other
geographical location so depicted as Rome as a city built on seven hills? The Bible says
of her that she was "drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the
martyrs of Jesus (Rev 17.6)." Revelation 18.24 says that "in her was found the
blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."
Jesus warned His disciples in His day that "the servant is not
greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they
have kept my saying, they will keep yours also (Jn 15.20). What was it that so enraged
Rome that she sent out crusades to put down these so called heretics? Doctrine!
"When
the hierarchy began to canonize monks as saints, and to exalt a mode of life which, with
its vow of chastity, reflects upon the divine order of the family, and favours unlawful
and unnatural passions; with its vow of poverty, encourages the slothful and impoverishes
the industrious with their support; and, with its vow of obedience, dethrones reason and
conscience, and makes of man an abject slave of his superiors — the Donatists
condemned monasticism as unscriptural. When the Byzantine church so far forgot the ten
commandments as to decree the worship of images, the Paulicians utterly opposed such a
bold attempt to overthrow the Scriptures. When the Lord’s Supper was perverted from a
simple memorial symbol to an actual sacrifice, and adored as the real presence of Christ,
the Bogomiles denounced the Mass as a sacrifice of devils. |
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When the doctrine of purgatory was announced, and prayers were offered for
the dead, the Petrobrusians declared such intrusion of man into God’s sphere as
totally unwarranted by Scripture. When Pope Hildebrand made that mighty effort to reform
the morals of the Clergy, by enforcing celibacy, and filled Europe with wailing women and
children suddenly deprived of their natural protectors, Henry of Toulouse denounced
celibacy, not only as unscriptural, but also as a perpetual source of evil, a cure worse
than the disease. When the return of the crusaders from the Holy Land, the land of relics,
gave an impulse to relic worship, the most absurd form of idolatry, the Albigenses rebuked
the popular delusion. All these and other errors that had accumulated by their day, were
swept away by the Waldenses. These communities were children of the Bible, and as such are
descended from the same ancestry as modern Baptists — from the churches of the
apostles."
Though we can not expect the line of true churches of baptized
believers to be absolutely free of error, their lives will still provide ample testimony
that even their fiercest of persecutors will acknowledge their Christian character. The
Petrobrusians believed in the spirituality and holiness of the Church. A cathedral is not
a church, they said; the word does not mean a structure of walls, but a congregation of
the faithful. A church does not consist in a multitude of cohering stones, but in the
union of a company of believers. Of the Paulicians one of Rome also pays them tribute:
"They were commanded to fast and keep unspotted from sin; to live pure and holy
lives; to owe nothing, and yet show mercy; to be humble, studious of the truth, and
charitable one toward another." And for this they suffered a far worse fate than
those of the Jewish holocaust, who are remembered year after year, who by their denial of
the Holy and Just One, and by their continued disobedience brought the judgment of God
upon their own heads as they were warned in the Old Testament Scriptures: "And it
shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply
you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you. (Dt 28.63)."
I have been asked as to why I separate Christianity from Protestantism. The Harlot is
also called a MOTHER. Martin Luther is said to be the father of Protestantism
because of his PROTEST against the church of Rome with his 95 theses. But though Luther
left Rome, Rome never fully departed from Luther and hints of Catholicism remain in the
Harlots offspring today. John Calvin, the founder of modern Presbyterianism, also came out
of Rome and brought with him the corrupted doctrine of baptism, and with Luther muddied
the waters of salvation by grace. This is but to name a couple. Ask yourself, "Who is
trying to reconcile with Rome today?" This is nothing more than a true family reunion
and helps identify the Harlot’s offspring! |
