Does Anyone Have a Lent Brush?
Grace and peace, Saints.
The following announcement appeared in the February 5, 2012 program for the church that I attend:
All Church Fast
Here we go again!
Our 40 day fast for the Lenten Season will begin on Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2012 and will end on Palm Sunday, April 1, 2012.
As many of you may know, a few months ago, I joined a local assembly close to my home, after having not attended church in almost three years. I did this even though they are a Church of God, which I have always suspected was ecumenical; that is, they are essentially a denomination of the Roman Catholic church. This suspicion was based on my having once attended a Church of God congregation for about a year; in fact, it was that experience which caused me to leave off attendance of any organized congregation whatsoever.
But as I related, I joined them out of obedience to God, because He says that we “should not forsake the gathering of ourselves together.” As part of church procedure, I had to attend a 12-week “Newcomer’s Class,” which, as the name implies, is a mandatory class for all new church members, whether they be newly converted or saved people looking for a church home. Of course, I fell into the latter category.
By the end of the first class, I knew that this church was charismatic. I was the only one in class, so it was just the pastor and I on a one-on-one session. Because I am already saved, but still had to attend the class, I knew that, besides church history and rules and regulations, the only thing that could possibly occupy fourteen hours was doctrine. This was to be an indoctrination.
During the first and second briefings, the pastor seemed to be feeling me out to see whether what they believed was going to conflict with my beliefs. So he gave me their doctrine indirectly and in very minute doses. I sensed what was going on, and so, to allay the pastor’s fears, I told him that I was not there to play the dissembler. I explained that my purpose for joining myself to any congregation was simply because church attendance is commanded by the Lord Jesus. Therefore, I would not be troubleshooting their beliefs and practices unless they were a clear heresy, and even then, I would rather leave than become contentious.
This had no effect at all, and I could tell that he hesitated to tell me what they really believed when, after he made a side comment concerning tongues, I told him what Paul said concerning the same: that if a trumpet maketh an unclear sound, how will one know when to go into battle, or, if one gives thanks to God in tongues, how would another know when to say, “Amen,” if he can’t understand what you’re saying (1 Corinthians 14).
At this, he balked somewhat, and I knew instinctively that this man believed in the tongues movement. As a matter of fact, he repeatedly referred to the Church of God as a “movement,” which was a dead giveaway. Yet, I held my peace. At about the halfway point in our discussion, he asked me about my writing, as I had written on the visitor’s card that I was a writer. After telling him what I do, he asked if he could one day read one of my tracts. Since he wanted to know what I believed without disclosing what he really believed, I took this opportunity to give him the URL of this blog, so he could find out what I believed without exposing himself. Yes, I threw him a lifeline.
Well, that was our last meeting. The first time he didn’t show, he called to say that he would not be coming. But after that, he didn’t say anything: he just stopped showing up. This is the first time I have gotten on the bad side of a charismatic preacher without opening my mouth. Sigh.
Though this is a charismatic church, I continue to attend, because I told the Lord Jesus that I was not going to search anymore for a church home, as, in my experience, virtually all Protestant churches in St. Louis, a Roman Catholic city, are charismatic, or at least ecumenical. Though I don’t know for sure if this church is charismatic, it is definitely ecumenical, as the announcement in the church bulletin clearly demonstrates. Saints, Lent is not Christian. It is Roman Catholic.
Webster’s Dictionary defines Lent as:
“the 40 weekdays from Ash Wednesday to Easter observed the Roman Catholic, Eastern, and some Protestant churches as a period of penitence and fasting.”
There is only one Christian celebration authorized in the Bible, and that is the Lord’s Supper. Christmas has come to be celebrated because of the Roman Catholic church (Christmas = Christ Mass), but it is found nowhere in Scripture: neither are Ash Wednesday, Palm Sunday, or Fish Friday. These things are not Christian, they are Catholic.
While I have no problem with Christmas other than the fact that it is pagan, commercial, and has nothing to do with the Lord Jesus, I do have a problem with Christians celebrating what is clearly not Christian. And a holiday during which Roman Catholics make an outward show of penitence and piety after having celebrated a weeklong pagan festival of debauchery and licentiousness called Carnival and Mardi Gras (during which many participate in sexual orgies) IS NOT CHRISTIAN.
The celebration of Lent by the Protestant Church is one of the most visible signs of the Ecumenical Movement, which has all but absorbed the visible Christian church into the Roman Catholic church; so much so, that Roman Catholic terminology (and holidays) has become a permanent part of the Christian lexicon. For example, Protestants used to say we “accept” the Lord Jesus as our Savior, when we got saved. But now it is common to say that we “receive” the Lord Jesus. Nowhere in the Bible is this terminology used.
As we wrote in The Charismatic Movement, The Lord’s Supper, and the New Age, this is one of the most visible examples of the Roman Catholic Ecumenical Movement in the Christian church, for “receiving” Jesus Christ is a Roman Catholic concept. You see, the Roman Catholic doctrine of the Real Presence holds that the actual body, blood, and divinity of Jesus Christ are contained in the communion wafer. So for the Roman Catholic, the communion wafer is not the symbolic body and blood of Jesus, but His actual body and blood. Former Catholic priest, Charles Chiniquy, writes about this in his book, 50 Years in the Church of Rome.
So, when the Roman Catholic eats the communion wafer, he truly believes he has eaten the body and blood of Jesus Christ and can, therefore, say that he has “received” Christ. That is why, oftentimes, when a Roman Catholic is talking to a Protestant, he will not reveal that he is a Roman Catholic, but instead will say that he has “received” Christ as his Savior. The undiscerning Protestant will take this to mean that the Roman Catholic is also a Christian, which is not the case. Early Protestant Reformation Christian churches did not use this term, as they knew full well what Roman Catholics really believed and practiced. But today, thanks to Charismatic preachers, this is no longer true.
Today Roman Catholics enjoy a much better reputation as Christians than true Bible-believing Christians (Protestants). Protestants are seen by the unbelieving world as judgmental and dogmatic because we stress sanctification and holiness. Because the Roman Catholic is permitted to sin indiscriminately and then ask forgiveness of another sinful man rather than of God, who demands holiness, he is more readily accepted by the world, while Protestants are seen as hypocritical.
Be that as it may, the Protestant Church is not to compromise. We are to stand for God’s truth. We are to stand for holiness, for God said, “Be ye holy, as I am Holy.” We are not to join with an harlot, for Scripture says that we are not to be “unequally yoked with unbelievers.”
The Great Whore of Rome has all so-called Christian denominations comfortably tucked away into her bra. So it is folly to expect that the visible Christian church will ever separate from her. But I appeal to all true saints, the true Body of Christ, the true, Bible-believing priesthood of all believers, to “come out of her” that we receive not of her plagues.
“He that hath an ear, hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”
“Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils” (1 Corinthians 10:21).
Be encouraged and look up; for your redemption draweth nigh.
The Still Man
Copyright © 2012 Anthony Keeton, The Still Man ®. All rights reserved.