THE EVIL EFFECTS OF DEVILISH DOCTRINES

Red Deer Advocate, December 17^th, 2011. Sins and crimes covered up for decades are finding the Roman Catholic priesthood out. A Scripture promise we are glad to see fulfilled where the most evil cloisters are concerned!

Devout Roman Catholics confess that the Bible is the word of God. Evangelicals who visit the Roman Church and participate in popish services confess the same. But these two groups are either spiritually blind or brazenly stubborn in the face of what the word of God teaches.

What if the Bible clearly predicted that the Church you attend entertains ‘doctrines of devils’? Would you close your ears to that and continue attending there? The Holy Spirit himself warned that ‘doctrines of devils’ would come, and that one of these would be the forbidding of marriage. “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils…forbidding to marry” (1 Timothy 4.1, 3.) Other churches have imposed this unbiblical rule. But the Roman Church is the most infamous one who has done it.

John Calvin on 1 Timothy 4: “Accordingly, although Papists laugh at us, when we censure their tyrannical laws about outward observances, yet we know that we are pleading a cause of the greatest weight and importance; because the doctrine of faith is destroyed, as soon as the worship of God is infected by such corruptions. The controversy is not about flesh or fish, or about a black or ashy color, or about Friday or Wednesday, but about the mad superstitions of men, who wish to appease God by such trifles, and, by contriving a carnal worship of him, contrive for themselves an idol instead of God. Who will deny that this is revolting from the faith?…Not unjustly, therefore, do we maintain that this prediction was uttered against the Papists, since celibacy and abstinence from certain kinds of food are enjoined by them more strictly than any commandment of God.”

Albert Barnes on 1 Timothy 4.3: “This does not necessarily mean that they would prohibit marriage altogether, but that it would be a characteristic of their teaching that marriage would “be forbidden,” whether of one class of persons or many. They would “commend” and “enjoin” celibacy and virginity. They would regard such a state, for certain persons, as more holy than the married condition, and would consider it as “so” holy that they would absolutely prohibit those who wished to be most holy from entering into the relation. It is needless to say how accurately this applies to the views of the papacy….”

It seems clear that the ‘seducing spirits’ are the devils (or demons) and that ‘forbidding to marry’ is one of the their doctrines that they seduce persons (priests) into believing, teaching, and imposing. So this is not about doctrines concerning devils merely, but doctrines arising from them. The worship of idols is rampant among Roman Catholics. Though an idol is nothing, a sacrifice to one, like putting petals before a statue, may result in ‘fellowship with devils’ (1 Corinthians 10.19, 20.) It is no outrageous supposition, then, to assume that fellowship with devils through idolatry may glean doctrines of devils, like clerical celibacy.

Demons (or devils) want what Satan their master wants. The fellowship coveted by demons is to the purpose of causing evil effects. They are no less pragmatic than your modern politician! They have it as their aim to cause something wicked by the devilish doctrines they pass on to idolatrous priests. Demons work within the bounds of what works best. The celibate priest is their perfect match for vulnerable children under priestly care. Some applicants sign up with the Roman Institution fully intending to do good works as priests while remaining celibate. Then temptations collide with opportunities, and sex-mad priests become molesters of children. Others sign up because their proclivities are already perverse, and they are not long in finding opportunities to satisfy what they are tempted to perform.

Now you may deny that there is a union between devils and clerical celibacy. But to do this, you will also have to deny that 1 Timothy is part of Scripture. And you might refuse to allow this evil association between priests and devils to disaffect you from the Roman Church. You might just want to go back to your Roman atmosphere, with its beads, and frosted windows, and statues to kneel down to. Do you not fear that superstitious practice might be the doorway to fellowship with demons? Think, my friend, you might never become a child molester, but what effect will fellowship with devils have on you in the end? Should you not be anxious about that? Should you not be anxious about adhering to a Church that teaches and practices doctrines of devils to such wicked effects? You should be. Your Roman stand might just be a sign that you stand not with Christ, after all. “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” (2 Timothy 2.19.) Supporting the Roman Church, either by tithes or attendance, is to support the doctrines of devils that the apostle, through the Spirit, warned Timothy about. Through that support, the evil effects of these doctrines come to pass.