Is God Your Father Or Is It the Roman Catholic Pope?
Written by Keith Green
According to the scriptures, there is only one person who deserves the title of “Holy Father” and he is sitting on a throne in Heaven, not on a throne over in the Vatican. Peter is often referred to as the “first Pope” of the Roman Catholic church, but when you study the scriptures you will find that Peter was just another Christian who refused and disdained the praise which came from man. If Peter were to walk through St Peter’s Square, and visit the Vatican in Rome he would be appalled by all of the gaudy idolatry and man-made traditions of the Catholic church. If you study the scriptures you can get the true picture of Peter fairly easily. In the book of Acts Peter rebuked a man who fell down on the floor to worship him, because he knew that he was merely a redeemed sinner, who was saved by the mercy and grace of God:
And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and WORSHIPPED HIM. But Peter took him up, saying, STAND UP; I myself also am a man. (Acts 10:25-26)
Peter would NOT put up with such idolatry, and he let that man Cornelius know right away. Fast forward to modern times, and you will see people bowing down like little puppy dogs before the Catholic Popes, kissing their rings, and paying homage to them wherever they may go. This is actually something that has been going on for centuries. The Catholic Popes, including the current Pope Francis, are often referred to as the “Holy Father” or “His Holiness” when the true Christian knows that those titles are reserved only for God himself. The apostle Peter walked side by side with the Lord Jesus Christ, so he would have have heard, and known the instruction which the Lord gave addressing any man as Father!
And call NO MAN your FATHER upon the earth: for ONE is your FATHER, which is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for ONE is your MASTER, even CHRIST. (Matthew 23:9-10)
Roman Catholics are taught to address their local parish priest as “Father” from the time they are a small child. They will continue to address their Catholic priests as Father until the day they die, unless of course they get saved, and are delivered out from that deceptive system. This whole idea of multitudes of people bowing their knee to a man, and calling him “Holy Father” or “His Holiness” is demonic in origin, and rotten to the very core. People by the millions have been ensnared over the centuries, because they are worshiping and following a man, and not the Lord. Not only that but “Protestant” pastors and ministry leaders have also addressed the Pope as the “Holy Father” and basically telling Jesus that HIS words mean nothing to them! You must also be aware of the possibility that there are Roman Catholic “plants” throughout the worldwide Christian church.
The word DEIFY is defined as “to make a god out of, to glorify as of supreme worth” and that is exactly what is done regarding the Roman Catholic Popes.
Cornelius was a humble man, and at the Lord’s request Peter (through a vision) was sent to instruct him. When Peter arrived at the place where Cornelius and his friends were gathered, Cornelius threw himself down on the floor to worship him, and Peter rebuked him because he knew that in and of himself he was nothing but a hell deserving sinner like the rest of us. Peter knew his place and he knew that the Lord was using him as a simple vessel to bring the truth of the gospel to Cornelius and his friends. Peter was a Jewish man who knew that he was purchased and redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and you can rest assured that Peter would bring that message to Cornelius and his friends. Here is a passage from the Bible from one of Peter’s letters
And if ye call on the FATHER, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear: Forasmuch as ye know that ye were NOT REDEEMED with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received BY TRADITION from your fathers; But with the precious BLOOD of CHRIST, as of a LAMB without blemish and without spot: (1 Peter 1:17-19)
Peter knew that it was the blood, the blood, and nothing but the blood, that redeemed his wretched soul from a fiery hell, and that is the message that Cornelius and friends needed to hear. Peter knew that there was a connection between the Jewish passover sacrifice of an unblemished male lamb, and the perfect sacrifice of the unblemished (sinless) Lamb of God, which speaks of Jesus Christ. Peter knew full well that this man Cornelius needed to be corrected quickly, lest that type of thinking would get deep into his spiritual system. Trust me folks, I am a former Roman Catholic, and I have been REDEEMED and JUSTIFIED by the BLOOD of Jesus Christ. It is time to forsake the man-made traditions of the Roman Catholic church for the sake of your OWN soul, and for the sake of YOUR loved ones. Jesus Christ paid the price in FULL, and you do not have to have your sins JUSTIFIED at the Roman Catholic Mass! I have been SAVED since 1989, and the Lord Jesus Christ has never let me down! Call upon the Lord from YOUR own heart, and in your own way. You do not have to be fancy with the Lord because he truly does LOVE you. He will SAVE you right now! Yes, right now! Do not put it off!
“For when we were yet without strength, in due time CHRIST died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his LOVE toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, CHRIST died for us. Much more then, being now JUSTIFIED BY HIS BLOOD, we shall be SAVED from WRATH through HIM.” Romans 5:6-9
“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the LORD shall be SAVED.” Romans 10:13
Jesus Christ who has REDEEMED us by his BLOOD, and he will flood your soul with his peace AFTER you have been truly SAVED!. You do not have to worry about going to Purgatory either, because that place never existed in the first place. Trust me now, you can go directly to the Lord for salvation, without any other mediator but Jesus Christ!
“For there is one God, and ONE MEDIATOR between God and men, the man CHRIST JESUS;” 1Timothy 2:5
It is either Heaven or hell, with nothing in between! If a person has been truly born again of the Spirit, they are fully aware that they have received the mercy of God, and have been snatched from the highway to Hell by the grace of God. Any person who has been born again of the Spirit, also realizes that CHRIST, and Him alone, will always get ALL of the glory. That is the reason why Peter stopped this man from paying any homage to him. There is not one person on this earth who can be called HOLY outside of JESUS CHRIST and do not ever forget that. We are all on the same level ground, with no exceptions. It is true that the Lord will use people in different capacities, such as teachers, evangelists, preachers and other things, but that does not make them any “holier” than others. Do not ever forget that. The true Christian understands that their true Holy father is in heaven above (Matthew 23:9-10), and they know that by the Holy Spirit that dwells in them.
The SPIRIT itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we ARE the CHILDREN OF GOD: And IF CHILDREN, then HEIRS; HEIRS of GOD, and JOINT-HEIRS with CHRIST; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also GLORIFIED TOGETHER. (Romans 8:16-17)
The true Christian knows that every person on planet earth is as lost as can be without salvation in Jesus Christ and that would include every Roman Catholic Pope. You have a choice to be a child of the TRUE “Holy Father,” and eternal God in HEAVEN, or to be a child of the earthly Roman Catholic Pope, who masquerades as the “Holy Father” on earth! Countless millions of Roman Catholic people are still subject to the man-made traditions of Rome, the Magisterium (Catholic teaching office) with the Pope at the head of it all. If you take a look in the book of Revelation you will see where an angel from Heaven absolutely refuse to be worshiped, after the apostle John fell down before him.
And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou DO IT NOT: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the TESTIMONY OF JESUS: WORSHIP GOD: for the TESTIMONY OF JESUS is the spirit of prophecy. (Revelation 19:10)
Then saith he unto me, See thou DO IT NOT: for I am thy fellowservant, and of THY BRETHREN the prophets, and of them which KEEP THE SAYINGS of this book: WORSHIP GOD. And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand. (Revelation 22:9-10)
Keep those passages of scripture in mind, as you recall the centuries of praise and homage being paid to Roman Catholic Popes over the centuries. It is plain and simple idolatry when a person gives worship to any person [including angels] except the true and living God. We can see how the apostle John simply wanted to pay respect to this angel, whom he knew lived in the very presence of God, but the angel knew better than to receive worship from anyone. He knew that “the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” and it was the Lord who sent him to minister to John in the first place!
The current Pope Francis was in the USA in the Fall of 2015, and as expected, there was the usual pandering, and bowing down to the Pope when he arrived. The Pope also visited Mexico and paid homage to the IDOL of “Our Lady of Guadalupe” in February of 2016. While he was there he visited the city of Chiapas, Mexico, the very same place where true born again Christians were tossed into jail, after they had their property confiscated and REFUSED to convert to Roman Catholicism! As expected the “anointed” preachers of America said absolutely nothing about this. The Pope did not do anything to help the true Christians either! The Bible has a term for ALL of them, and Jesus Christ my redeemer called them “ravening wolves in sheep’s clothing.”
“Beware of FALSE PROPHETS, which come to you in SHEEP’S CLOTHING, but inwardly they are RAVENING WOLVES.” Matthew 7:15
The wolves can be found preaching in pulpits all over America, and the rest of the world too. They will attempt to convince you that the Pope is a true Christian, and the Roman Catholic church is just another Christian denomination. Do not listen to them folks, because they are not telling you the truth. I told the story before of how my wife Cathy and I met a Christian lady in church one day and had a nice conversation with her. She knew that we were ex-Catholics, and we happened to meet her again in the same spot almost a year later. She told us that she joined a Charismatic Catholic prayer group. I looked her straight in the eye and I told her to be careful, because they would have her praying the rosary before long. The woman looked at me and said “I feel sick, they already have me praying the rosary” The Catholic “rosary” is a set of beads, which represent different prayers. The majority of those beads represent “Hail Mary” prayers (50) and the Catholics repeat them over and over and over again! I attended Charismatic Catholic “Healing Masses” for almost three years, and the Charismatics still believe all of the doctrines of Rome, or they could not remain a true Roman Catholic! Folks, you are going to have to make a decision sooner or later whether you are going to listen and follow your deceived and compromising Pastor or whether you are going to follow the Lord Jesus Christ and his word! I hope that you make the right choice. You can expect to be slandered, and misrepresented but praise the Lord, because you are on solid ground with Jesus Christ!
What does all of this pandering to the Roman Catholic Popes have to do with the TRUE gospel of Jesus Christ? Absolutely NOTHING! I can remember waiting for the arrival of Pope Paul VI at Kennedy Airport in October of 1965. The Catholic school class went there early in the morning, and I was right in the front along the roadway, with thousands of others, as the Papal limousine with the bubble back window passed by. It lasted no more than a few seconds, and I saw the the little white cap on the Pope’s head as he rode away. Thousands of the deceived, (including myself), waited to catch a glimpse of the “Holy Father.” Why? Because all of us were taught to believe that the Pope was the “Vicar of Christ” on Earth,” from the time that we were little children. I am so grateful that I know the real Holy Father in Heaven now. I am so grateful that I am no longer deceived and on my way to Hell as I was all those years ago. It is good to remember where you came from, and I will never forget that for sure. Here is actual quote from Jesus Christ my redeemer:
“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. He that believeth on him is NOT condemned: but he that believeth NOT is condemned ALREADY, because he hath NOT believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that LIGHT is come into the world, and men LOVED DARKNESS rather than LIGHT, because THEIR DEEDS were evil. For every one that doeth evil HATETH THE LIGHT, neither cometh to the LIGHT, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth TRUTH cometh to the LIGHT, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” John 3:16-21
“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I AM the LIGHT of the world: he that followeth me shall NOT walk in DARKNESS, but shall have the LIGHT of life.” John 8:12