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Christmas as generally celebrated today is one of many carry-overs from
Roman Catholicism that survived the Reformation.
Historian Will Durant reminds us that Roman Catholicism grew out of
the merger between paganism and Christianity that took place under
Constantine in the early 300s. Commenting upon the resulting
"Christianization" of the Roman Empire, which Reconstructionists such as
Coalition on Revival (COR) director Jay Grimstead look back to fondly as
a model of what they hope to achieve, Durant wrote:
Paganism survived...in the form of ancient rites and customs
condoned...by an often indulgent Church....Statues of Isis and Horus
were renamed Mary and Jesus...the Saturnalia [Festival of Saturn in
celebration of the winter solstice] was replaced by Christmas
celebration...incense,
lights, flowers, processions, vestments...which had pleased the people
in older [pagan] cults were domesticated and cleansed in the Ritual of
the Church.
In spite of its pagan/Roman Catholic origins and crass
commercialization, we can rejoice that Christmas annually brings a
reminder of the Savior's birth. Unfortunately, however,
Christmas festivities generally perpetuate the confusion concerning who
Jesus Christ really is, why He came, and what He accomplished. This is
not surprising, considering the misunderstandings even among His own
disciples at the first advent - and the far greater confusion that the
Bible warns will precede His second coming. Indeed, the whole world -
including millions of "Christians" - will follow and worship the
Antichrist, convinced that he is the true Christ.
Christmas celebrations remind us that the same misunderstandings that
prevented so many from recognizing Christ when He came to earth will
prevail when He returns. The causes of confusion 1,900 years ago remain
the key issues today: What is the Messiah's true mission - and the
nature of His kingdom? When, how, and by whom will the Kingdom be
established - and what is its relationship to Israel and the church?
Many "Christians" today are blind in the same way as those early
"disciples" who turned from Christ because He didn't meet their false
messianic expectations.
Even John the Baptist became so disillusioned that he demanded of
Christ, "Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?" (Mt
11:3). Such doubts seem impossible for the one whom God had sent to
"prepare the way of the Lord"! Already filled with the Holy Spirit as a
six-month-old embryo, John had leaped in the womb of his mother
Elizabeth upon hearing the voice of the virgin Mary, who had just
learned that she would give birth to the Son of God. Called and inspired
of God to be the "forerunner of the Messiah," John testified, "He that
sent me to baptize...said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit
descending, and remaining on him, the same is he...and I saw, and bare
record that this is the Son of God" (Jn 1:33-34). Confident in that
supernatural revelation, John boldly declared, "Behold the Lamb of God,
which taketh away the sin of the world!" (Jn 1:29). Yet the day came
when, in despair, he sent two disciples to ask Christ whether He really
was the Messiah after all!
Although given supernatural revelation as to His identity, John
completely misunderstood Christ's mission. Hadn't the prophets said that
the Messiah would set up His kingdom and reign in Jerusalem? Then why
was he, the herald of the Messiah, in prison!
John did not understand that Christ had come to die for our sins so that
both Jew and Gentile, united in one church, could go to heaven.
Nor did he comprehend that there had to be a Second Coming.
So it was with the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane. Amazed, they
watched the One whom they thought had all power, as, seemingly
powerless, He was arrested, bound, and led away. Obviously, Jesus of
Nazareth couldn't be the Messiah after all! Dreams shattered, they fled
for their lives. Likewise the two on the road to Emmaus: "We trusted
that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel...[but they]
crucified him!" (Lk 24:19-24). His death, which we recognize today is
the very heart of the gospel and without which we have no life,
convinced Christ's contemporaries that He could not possibly be the
Messiah, the Savior of the world.
"If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and
we will believe him!" (Mt 27:40-44) was the jeering taunt of the
bloodthirsty mob and the religious leaders gloating at the foot of His
cross. "If thou be the Christ, save thyself and us!" echoed one of the
thieves hanging beside him. Whom He came to save, from what, to what,
and how, was clearly not understood at the time by anyone - not even by
His closest disciples.
When Christ tried to explain that He must die for the sins of the world,
Peter rebuked Him for being so "negative." Yet Peter, only moments
before, had declared by revelation from the Father that Jesus was the
Christ (Mt 16:16-17). Obviously he didn't understand the Messiah's
mission, even though he knew who He was. "Get thee behind me, Satan!"
(Mt 16:22-23), Christ had retorted quickly to Peter, showing the
importance He put upon correcting such a gross misunderstanding of His
mission.
So it was with those in Jerusalem (Jn 2:23-25) who "believed in his
name, when they saw the miracles which he did." They believed He was the
Messiah, but they had a false view of what that meant. "Jesus did not
commit himself unto them" because He knew what was in their hearts and
that they would not believe the truth. We see the same error in those in
John 6, who, because Christ had healed and fed them, wanted to "take him
by force to make him [their] king" (Jn 6:15).
There were many who called themselves His "disciples" (today they would
be called "Christians") who had a false view of the Messiah, and when He
tried to explain the truth to them, would not hear it but "went back and
walked no more with him" (Jn 6:66).
We learn from Christ how to handle the multitudes who want to follow Him
for the wrong reasons. We must do today what He did then. Many came
"forward" to tell Jesus they believed in Him and would follow Him
faithfully. Contrary to today's methods, Christ didn't have His
disciples quickly sign up such persons as "church members" before they
changed their minds, and get them involved in the choir or some
committee in order to keep them active in the church. "The foxes have
holes and the birds have nests, but I have nowhere to lay my head" (Mt
8:20), Jesus told the eager would-be converts. "Are you certain you
really want to follow me?" Such "negativism"!
"So you want to follow Me?" Christ would say. "Then let Me tell you
where we're going. I'm heading for a hill outside Jerusalem called
Calvary where they'll nail Me to a cross. So if you would be faithful to
Me to the end, you might as well make up your mind: take up your cross
right now, and follow Me, because that's where we're going!"
Today we're far too sophisticated to present
the gospel in such negative terms. We've studied success motivation,
psychology and Dale Carnegie courses in "How to Win Friends and
Influence People" and consider such new techniques to be ideal for
"winning people to Christ." So we fill the churches with multitudes who
imagine that Christ's mission is to make them feel good about themselves
by building up their self-esteem, answering their selfish prayers and
fulfilling their self-centered agendas.
The Reconstruction/Kingdom/Dominionists are more confused than John the
Baptist, though their error is similar. They refuse to walk in the
rejection of Christ, bearing the reproach of His cross, because that
would be "defeatism." They imagine that we're in the Millennial kingdom
already and are supposed to act like "King's kids." They think that it's
our task to establish that Kingdom through taking "dominion" over the
media, educational institutions, and political leadership. The "signs
and wonders" promoters imagine that they are in the process of taking
dominion over all disease and even over death itself without the
resurrection and return of Christ.
It's all very positive and ecumenical. Christian lobbyists are willing
to work with Moonies and Mormons and all others who are in favor of
bringing traditional values back to America. And
at Christmas time, once again, being able to publicly display a cross or
a crèche becomes a rallying point - a very low common denominator indeed
for ecumenical agreement. In defense of such folly, Christian leaders
stoutly defend the correctness of working with all those "who call Jesus
'Lord.'" Seemingly forgotten are the words of Christ........
"Many will say to me...Lord, Lord, have we
not...in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess
unto them, I never knew you: depart from me..." (Mt 7:22-23).
There are multitudes, such as Mormons and Catholics (to say
nothing of many Baptists, Lutherans, Methodists, et al.) who call Jesus
"Lord", but are not saved.
On October 17 [1989], Paul and Jan Crouch welcomed three Catholics to
their Praise the Lord program: two priests and a woman lay leader. Paul
displayed his usual naïveté and incredible ignorance of theology by
smoothing over any differences between Protestants and Catholics as
"simply matters of semantics." In his eager embrace of
Transubstantiation, a heresy so great that thousands died at the stake
rather than accept it, he declared.............
"Well, we [Protestants] believe the same thing. So you see one of these things that has divided us all of these years [Transubstantiation] shouldn't have divided us all along because we were really meaning the same thing but just saying it a little differently....I [am] eradicating the word 'Protestant' even out of my vocabulary....I'm not protesting anything anymore...it is...time for Catholics and non-Catholics to come together as one in the Spirit and one in the Lord."
But Catholics have a different gospel of salvation by works and ritual
through the essential mediation of that Church.
Christmas, with its emphasis upon "baby
Jesus," tends to perpetuate another serious Catholic heresy: the
pernicious myth of Christ's subservience to His mother, which Roman
Catholicism has deliberately promoted for centuries. Mary certainly
should be called "blessed" as the mother of our Lord - but she is not
"Co-Mediatrix" and "Co-Redemptrix" as Romanism teaches.
In Catholic cathedrals throughout the world, for example, one quickly
notices that the paintings, statuary, and stained glass give Mary the
dominant role. She is even at times shown on the cross as our Redeemer.
Jesus is either a helpless babe on His mother's breast, a small child
between her knees, or a lifeless victim of the Cross in her arms. Never
is she in subjection to Him, and rarely if ever is He shown in the
triumph of His resurrection. She is the "Queen of Heaven," where Jesus
remains a child subject to her direction.
Typical is the beautiful thirteenth-century stained-glass window we
recently observed in a church in France. At the top are the words Le
Pergatoire, indicating that it is a depiction of "purgatory." Mary and
Jesus are shown on a cloud (i.e., in heaven), with the tormented souls
in the flames of purgatory below them, arms extended upward in
supplication. Are they crying out to Christ for help? No, they are
appealing to Mary. She wears the regal crown.
And Jesus, the Lord of Glory, who triumphed over Satan at the Cross and
now sits at the right hand of the Father - how is He depicted? As a
child about seven years old, standing between the "Queen of Heaven's"
knees! No wonder the souls in "purgatory" do not appeal to Him for help.
At the bottom of the beautiful stained-glass depiction of this
abomination are the words: Mère Marie, sauvez nous! ("Mother Mary, save
us!")
Such heresy does not originate in the
imaginations of the artists but in tradition and dogma not only
tolerated but promoted by the Roman Catholic Church. The
fear of purgatory is very real to a Catholic, and "Mary" has provided an
escape for those faithful to her. She allegedly appeared to St. Simon
Stock on July 16, 1251, and gave him what is known as "The Great
Promise".....
"Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular [two pieces of brown cloth containing Mary's promise on one, her picture with "Baby Jesus" on the other, worn one in front, one in back, connected over the shoulder by two strings] shall not suffer eternal fire."
Like the Mormon's magic underwear, the Catholic's scapular will supposedly accomplish what the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ could not. In 1322, Pope John XXII received a further promise from "Mary" known as "The Sabbatine Privilege".....
"I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death
and whomsoever I shall find in Purgatory [who died wearing the
scapular], I shall free."
St. Simon Stock's famous prayer ends thus: "O Sweet Heart of Mary, be
our salvation!"
Christmas offers a rare opportunity to share
the true gospel of Jesus Christ and to expose and correct the ecumenical
and confused picture it presents annually to the world. Millions are
seduced into thinking they are Christians because they have a
sentimental feeling for the "baby Jesus."
Let us remember what Christ said to those who believed on Him.....
"If ye continue in my word, then are ye my
disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make
you free" (Jn 8:31-32).