Jesus said, “For many will come in my name saying I am the Christ and deceive many.” Matthew 24:5. What do you think He was talking about? Have there been people calling themselves Jesus Christ? Unless they’re lunatic’s, probably not. So, what was he referring to when He said, “many will come in my name”?
Answering that question is easy. First contemplate how many Christians are in the world today? When I researched this question, I didn’t find a definitive number, but there are anywhere from 2 – 2.6 billion. The Christians being deceived today is approximately 1.2 billion. Would you consider that number many? Of course! That’s a staggering amount. Jesus knew what he was talking about. The people deceiving many are the people that have strayed from the one true church founded by Jesus Christ. These people use Christ name to start new churches. Today in the world there are over 38,000 denominational churches and many more non-denominational churches opening every day.
First, I want to back up to the reason I’m writing this blog post. I recently read an article on the internet: “Why I went back to church.” The man writing the article told his life story. Starting with going to Catholic school as a child. He stated that he didn’t like all the rules Catholic school imposed on his life and he considered going to mass boring. He went on to Catholic high school which reenforced his beliefs that Catholicism was a religion of stupid useless rules that had no place in his life, and he’d rather be an atheist than practice the catholic religion. Then this man went to college where he says he met a professor in ethic’s class that made him think about God and Jesus. He and his wife were both atheists, but he decided to give church a try after being invited by a relative to attend a church service. He said he liked the message the pastor gave and told how he learned that Jesus was all about love and that there were no rules as long as you love Jesus. After a time, he and his wife joined the church, and they lived happily ever after.
This article was deceiving to say the least. It was obvious to me the only reason this article was published was to purposefully bash the Catholic church and not to endorse any change in his beliefs and why he went to a non-Catholic church. It had nothing to do with the title of the article. The article never even gave the name of the church he says he’s now attending. Why would that be? You would think that he would want to tell people where the church is that turned him and his wife away from atheism.
Being Roman Catholic, it always frustrates and bewilders me as to why other Christian denominations speak terribly of the Catholic church. Yet I rarely hear the Catholic clergy, or the faithful speak bad of other Christian denominations. Maybe it’s because Catholic’s understand them much better than they understand Catholicism. The lack of understanding and fear is usually the reason for distain and hatred.
I’ll tell you that even though I was born Catholic I never truly knew my faith. (Not unlike many Catholics). I received the sacraments of Baptism, Communion & Conformation, but didn’t understand the importance of these sacraments. The reasons given to me at a young age were vague and without substance. Mom and Dad told me this is what I needed to do, and I did it and there was always some kind of celebration afterwards.
I also strayed away from the Catholic church, had people invite me to other churches. I never felt comfortable in those churches, but I would listen to pastors of televised churches. The main message of these other churches and pastors were to try and make you believe Jesus is all you need. They will tell you, about the prosperity and that you never have to worry about going to hell, as long as you tell Jesus your sorry and you love him. Tithe to the church, love Jesus and your life will be wonderful.
They make it sound easy which is the first deception. Thier main tool is the bible. They decipher the bible 38,000 ways to make up 38,000 denominations and that doesn’t count the non-denominational churches. Which interpretation is right? Can they all be right? Of course, not. Each analogy of the bible is another deception. They will tell you that the Catholic church is a bunch of manmade rules, and that the bible is all you need to learn about Jesus.
Most of the people that put bible scripture above all else don’t even know where the bible came from or when it was first introduced. Did you know:
1- If not for the Catholic church there would be no bible. It was the gathering of ancient text and gospels by the Catholic church that provided the text for the first bible.
2- The bible was first published 400 years after the conception of the one true church, foundered by Jesus Christ.
3=The apostle Peter was the first pope of the Catholic church.
4- According to Jesus the Catholic Church (the rock) can never be destroyed. “Upon this rock I will build my church and hell will never prevail against it.” Mathew 16:18. It is the only Christian church that has prevailed for more than 2,000 years.
5- All other Christian denominations were started by men who manipulated bible text to start their own church, using the name of Jesus. Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Smith and 37,997 more
6-Because Jesus founded the first church, and the bible was first introduced by the Catholic church other Christian churches are the deceivers Jesus spoke about and indeed there are many.
If you never noticed, the Catholic church is the only Christian church that has an altar. Other denominations have only a podium. The Alter is the place where at each mass the bread and wine are turned into the body and blood of Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of the Catholic faith and the one thing many Catholics and non-Catholics don’t fully grasp. This is what Jesus told us to do in memory of him at the last supper. The Eucharist is the great blessing Jesus gave the world. It is the only way to true salvation. (And don’t be deceived, it’s not easy) The rules of the Catholic church are there to teach us how to honor the Eucharist and to have the Eucharist be the way to our salvation. There is no other way and the 38,000+ churches that tell you different are deceptive and preventing you from true salvation.
I found out about the wonders of the Catholic faith later in my life: The Virgin Mary, the rosary, the saints, and the confirmed miracles, etc. I will be sharing more post about the Catholic faith in the future, but for now just know that everything in Catholicism is based on the Body and Blood of Christ and that when you believe the consumption of the Eucharist is God’s body and blood entering your sanctified body for your salvation all the rest will make total sense.