I am sure that it is superfluous to say that ‘The Burning Bush’ is opposed to Roman Catholicism. We have many articles and sermons posted here which denounce the teaching of that organisation and that SOLELY on the basis of what the Bible teaches.
Our witness is one exclusively given over to setting forth the TRUTH of the BIBLE in opposition to all the base inventions of men, new and old!
However, I believe I can say that we have striven to say to our Roman Catholic neighbours that our denunciations of Roman Catholicism is not to be seen as a personal attack on them. I have often said that the actions of the surgeon when he cuts into a patient is not an evidence of any animosity toward that patient on his part but rather it is a kind and helpful attempt to remove from the suffering one that which likely will kill them.
False doctrine damns souls! That is what the Lord Jesus taught us. If we BELIEVE the Bible we shall enjoy eternal life in glory. If we REJECT the Bible, and embrace an alternative to its truth, we will be lost forever under God’s judgment.
Listen to what the Saviour said on this matter.
“That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved,” John 3:15-17.
“He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him,” John 3:36.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life,” John 5:24.
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life,” John 6:47.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand,” John 10:27-28.
It can be seen that eternal life simply is the result of ‘believing’. Now that needs a little explaining for there is believing and BELIEVING!
Many believe in the existence of the Lord Jesus Christ and would accept the Bible’s record of events as true BUT they do not BELIEVE in Christ and rest in Him ALONE for salvation.
Judas Iscariot BELIEVED in the existence of the Lord Jesus. He talked with Him, he heard Him preach, saw Him work innumerable miracles, far more than those we read about in the gospels, for John tells us: “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name,” John 20:30-31. Yet, for all he saw and experienced ,Judas did not SAVINGLY believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. He rejected His invitations to rest in His work of atonement on Calvary as the basis of his pardon and reconciliation with God.
In the Old Testament times, when the faithful came to worship the Lord, they often were required to show their faith in the promised Messiah, of Whom the animal sacrifices were but pictures or ‘types’ as they are termed, by placing their hand on the head of the sacrifice they were offering. Here is one example.
“If his offering be a burnt sacrifice of the herd, let him offer a male without blemish: he shall offer it of his own voluntary will at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him,” Leviticus 1:3-4.
THE LAMB OF GOD
This action of putting his hand upon the head of the sacrifice was a gesture whereby the worshipper demonstrated that he was making this sacrifice his and offering it as a manifestation of his faith in a coming Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ.
That is why, when John the Baptist saw Christ, just as He was beginning His ministry, he announced Him in those very telling words: “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world,” John 1:29.
The Lord Jesus was THE SACRIFICIAL LAMB, of which all the Old Testament sacrifices were representative. By His death at the cross He paid the price of our redemption from the penalty of sin that the holy law of God demanded.
BUT knowing ABOUT these things is not enough, as the case with Judas illustrates. We must, like the Old Testament worshipper, make Calvary’s sacrifice ours and that is done by a resting, a depending on Christ, by a believing in Him ALONE. We must place our hand of faith, as it were, upon the Saviour’s head and so identify Him as our hope and dependence!
The Saviour asked a man on one occasion — “Dost thou believe on the Son of God?”. The man answered: “Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him,” John 9:35-38.
The word ‘worship’ means ‘to kiss the hand’. That was a gesture amongst Orientals that denoted reverence and submission. That man’s faith was one accompanied and marked by a surrendering of himself to Christ as His Lord and Saviour and from thenceforth living in submission to His will.
The Bible says that: “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new,” 2 Corinthians 5:17.
That is what the Saviour meant when He said: “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God,” John 3:3. A true Christian is one who has experienced a ‘new birth’ and as a result has embraced Christ by faith and become “a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
HOLINESS
Bible Christianity is a religion of true holiness. “Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord,” Hebrews 12:14.
In the light of this truth, what is to be made of these two newspaper reports, first from the Irish News and the other from the Belfast Telegraph? Neither of these two publications can be classified as ‘zealously’ Protestant in outlook! That is all the more cause for Roman Catholics to give deep thought what is said. It is also to be noted that the articles reveal that the Republic of Ireland’s ‘state broadcaster’ RTE, will be screening a full and most disturbing programme about this bishop who remained a bishop, despite his crimes, until he died!
RTE, the national broadcaster in the Republic of Ireland, has a video on its website called : “Bishop Casey’s Buried Secrets”. It is an appalling exposure of the wickedness and the utterly abominable actions of one termed, ‘a prince of the church’ by Popery.
The hypocrisy of Rome at every level and the abuse suffered by myriads of the most vulnerable within its fold is highlighted in this programme.
The video, restricted to adults only, provides a vivid explanation and illustration of Paul’s words of warning to the Church in Corinth.
“For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works,” 2 Corinthians 11:13-15.
Sadly, the video also exposes the continuing hypocrisy and the baffling blindness of many of the laity within the Roman Catholic Church, who are ready even yet to make excuses for the actions of this devilish reprobate!
One RTE headline states: ‘Bishop Eamonn Casey was a ‘sexual predator’, documentary told.’
Can we not say that these reports reveal the unspeakable wickedness of a high ranking Roman Catholic cleric here in Ireland? But it also reveals the connivance of the Irish hierarchy and the Vatican to conceal his evil and also the failure of the Irish civil authorities to prosecute one guilty of the most heinous crimes against children!
I ask my Roman Catholic neighbours: Can these actions really be consider the behaviour of those who claim to be the true ‘representatives’ of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is called “the Holy One and the Just,” Acts 3:14?
Were not the Reformers correct in seeing that the claims of Rome were utterly false and that it was not the ‘Church of Christ’, as it claimed, but the ‘Church of the Antichrist’, as its past histories and its present ongoing corruptions and perversions demonstrate?
As there came a time for many in Israel, in the days that followed the crucifixion of the Saviour, to recognise that their religious leaders were utterly wrong in acting as they did and in continuing to persecute the disciples of Christ, so it is time for Roman Catholics to face the truth concerning the ‘Roman Catholic’ institution that is the absolute opposite to what it arrogantly claims to be!
Read these words: “And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith,” Acts 6:7. God’s blessing upon the preaching of the apostles signified that the the chief priests had been wrong in rejecting and crucifying the Lord Jesus.
The hand of God must be seen in the exposings the corruptions within the Roman Catholic organisation. Is it not time to follow the example of those new Testament priests we have just mentioned?
I sincerely trust it will be so for many!
Sincerely in Christ’s name,
Ivan Foster