My wife Junith, our son CJ and I want to greet all the brethren in the Church of Christ (Iglesia ni Cristo) a…

Happy 95th Anniversary!!! Glory be to God!!!

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17Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. (John 17:17, NIV)

If the words of God is the truth, then what is the word of God with regards to this world?

31For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead.” (Acts 17:31, NIV)

What’s the proof that the dayof judgment will really happen?

27Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, (Hebrews 9:27, NIV)

Is there anyone who knows about the day and hour of judgment?

36″No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son,[a] but only the Father. (Matthew 24:36, NIV)

If now one knows about it, then we should be prepared for it. But how we prepare ourselves for the coming of the judgment day?

14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. (2 Peter 3:14, NIV)

Where can we find the peace of God which is important in preparing ourselves for the coming of the judgment day?

And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. (Colossians 3:15, NKJV)

If we can find the peace of God in one body where those who are preparing themselves for the judgment day found, what is this body?

And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18, NKJV)

What do you call the members of the body of Christ, the church?

Greet one another with a holy kiss. The churches of Christ greet you. (Romans 16:16, NKJV)

What is the name of the church of which its members are called “churches of Christ”?

Take heed therefore to yourselves and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers, to feed the church of Christ which he has purchased with his blood. (Acts 20:28, Lamsa)

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1) The Catholic Church protected its scandalous priests:

For decades, the Catholic Church shielded and protected child-molesting priests. As complaints would come pouring-in from parents threatening to involve the police, the church would simply ship the offending priest off on a sabbatical, eventually pawning them off on another unsuspecting parish where the process would begin again. That practice is nothing more than aiding and abetting known criminals. The enormous toll of lives destroyed by this disgusting and cowardly exercise by the Catholic Church will never be fully known.

2) 65 churches in Boston were closed due to the decline of parishioners

The Catholic Church has been forced to pay-out millions to the victims of pedophile priests. Fed up with the hypocrisy and disregard for the lives of innocent children, many Americans have fled the Church. In the Boston Archdiocese alone, 65 churches have been forced to close their doors due to a sharp decline in parishioners.

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So, before I will answer the question, let us first quote the words of God regarding this issue. Is it really a doctrine of devil to abstain from meat?

In I Timothy 4:1-3, this is what we can read:

1Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;

2Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;

3Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. (King James Version)

From that verse, you’ll notice that Apostle Paul, the apostle who wrote the letter to Timothy, mentioned two doctrines of demons or devil and they are:

1. Forbidding to marry
2. Commanding to abstain from meats

It doesn’t say that “abstaining from meat” is a doctrine of devil or demon. Apostle Paul’s declaration is clear that the doctrine of demon or devil is the “commanding to abstain from meats“.

What does it mean?

For example, if I will abstain from meat because of my personal reasons or maybe my doctor advised me to do so for the sake of my health, then it’s not a doctrine of devil or demon because I was not following a doctrine but just a personal decision or just a doctor’s advice.

It’s similar to the situation recorded in I Corinthians 13:8:

13Wherefore, if meat make my brother to offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth, lest I make my brother to offend. (King James Version)

It only becomes a doctrine of devil or demon if abstaining from meat has been made a commandment, or a rule, or a policy, wherein members of the organization are bound to follow it.

Catholic Doctrine

Is it really true that the Roman Catholic Church upholds the doctrine of devil which is “commanding its members to abstain from meat?”

The blogger behind the blog, “Random Thoughts and Musings“, talked about it and even posted the snippet of the canon law regarding the abstinance of meat. This is what has been written:

Canon 1251

Abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays, unless a solemnity should fall on a Friday. Abstinence and fasting are to be observed on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

From that you learned that the Catholic Church commanded that “abstinance from meat” should be observed on particular days.

So, since abstinance from meat has been made commandment commanding all the members of the Roman Catholic Church to observe it, then it is clear that the Roman Catholic Church do uphold the doctrine of devil or demon.

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In my article, “The False Prophets“, I quoted the verse Matthew 7:15-20 and from that verse we got 2 signs of the false prophets:

1. The false prophets wear the sheep’s clothing.
2. The false prophets are likened to the bad trees that bear bad fruits.

Read the article here.

In my other article, “The Second Beast, The False Prophet“, I also quoted the verse Revelation 13:11 where we found another signs of the false prophets which are:

1. The beast has two horns
2. The beast is looked like the lamb.
3. The beast speaks like
   the dragon.

To understand the signs, please read the article here.

From that two articles, you’ll learn the signs in identifying the false prophets. However, there’s another thing that you need to know about the false prophets, and it is the time when did they start to exist. I talked about it at my article, “The Start of the Existence of the False Prophets” which you can read here.

And if you want to know who are those followers of the false prophets, the Bible gave signs on how to identify them too. Read my article, “The Followers of the False Prophets“.

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But according to Christ himself, what should we do to be saved on Judgment day?

9 I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. (John 10:9, New King James Version)

Christ said that He is the door and those who will enter by him will be saved. But how can we enter Christ? Those who enter by Christ, what happened to them?

4 For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, 5 so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another. (Romans 12:4-5, ibid)

Apostle Paul explained that those who enter Christ became members of Christ’s body? What is the body of Christ where people who enter Christ became part of it? Is it the physical body of Christ which was crucified? Let Apostle Paul answer our question:

18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. (Colossians 1:18, ibid)

The body of Christ is the Church.

Became Members of the Church of Christ

In other words, it is Christ’s teaching that those who want to be saved on the judgment day, on his second coming, should enter Christ’s body. Christ body is the Church. It is not any churches but the Church of Christ.

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When Catholics learn about this accusation, they immediately get insulted. They couldn’t accept this accusation because for them, they are worshiping the true God.

However, the only problem is when you’ll ask them what is the teaching of Christ about the true way of worshiping God they couldn’t answer you based on the truth. Their answer would base on what they think is right.

The Catholics answer this accusation by asking what are the bases that they use to accuse the Roman Catholic Church worship as the worship of Demon?

Before we will answer the question by our thoughts, let us first ask the Bible, how should we worship God?

You might wonder if the answer could be found in the Bible. And I will tell you now that the answer is really there. We could find it in the book of John 4:24 which says:

“God is Spirit, and those who worship HIm must worship in spirit and truth.” (NKJV)

The answer, if you will worship the true God, you need to worship Him in Spirit and in truth. Actually, it was Christ who said that.

Now, we already know that the Catholic worship God in images of those they called Saints. Is it how should we worship God in spirit and truth?

Well, Apostle Paul could answer that question. He said:

20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

21 because, although they knew God, they did not glorify HIm as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened

22 Professing to be wise, they became fools

23 and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man -  and birds and four footed beasts and creeping things. (Romans 1:20-23, NKJV)

Everybody knows that the Catholics really worship images. They might deny this fact but their actions speaks louder and truthful than their words. The images that they worship are those mentioned by Apostle Paul like images of man with birds, or with four footed beasts, or with creeping things. We could find a lot of these images. For example, the image of a man with a bird is St. Peter; the image of a man with four footed beasts is St. Isidore; the image of a man with creeping things is Virgin Mary sa Regla (Virgin Mary of Mentruation).

And according to Apostle Paul, this kind of worship is foolish. This is not a worship of God.

So, since it is not a worship of God, then we are sure that it is the worship of Demon.

In other words, the accusation that the Roman Catholic Church is worshipping the Demon is true and the bases is biblical.

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When my classmate told me that my Church, the Roman Catholic Church is the church of devil, I failed to control my self and hit him in his abdomen. I took his accusation an insult to my faith and to myself as a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

But my classmate was so patient. Even if he was hurt already, he even tried to explain to me why he called my church, Roman Catholic Church, the church of the devil. And his explanation enlightened me. I found bases why he called the Roman Catholic Church the church of the devil and it made me sorry for hitting him.

The Roman Catholic Church teaches  the doctrine of devil

Apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy mentioned two doctrines of the devil or demon.

1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. (I Timothy 4:1-3, NKJV)

These doctrines are: (1) forbidding to marry; and (2) commanding to abstain from eating meat. These two doctrines of demon or devil are upheld by the Roman Catholic Church.

Ang disiplina ng Iglesia (Katolika) ay ipinatupad buhat pa sa pasimula, sa pamamagitan ng pagbabawal sa mga saserdote na mag-asawa pagkatapos na sila’y maordenan. The discipline of the church (Catholic) has imposed since the beginning by forbidding the priests to marry after they’re ordained. (My rough English translation) (Ang Pananampalataya ng ating mga Ninuno, p396)

Sa ikalawang utos ay ipinaguutos ng Santa Iglesia (Katolika) sa atin na magayuno at huwag kumain ng anomang lamangkati o karne sa mga araw na ipinagbabawal niya. The second commandments of the Holy Church (Catholic) is to abstain from eating meat during the forbidden days. (My rough English Translation) (Ang Aral na Katoliko, p139)

Now, since the Roman Catholic Church upheld the teachings: forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from eating meat; and these teachings are the teachigns of demon or devil; therefore, it is true that the Roman Catholic Church upheld the teachings of the devil.

If the teachings upheld by certain church is the teachings of Christ, then we can say that that certain church is the church of Christ. But if that certain church upheld the teachings of demon or devil then we can also say that that church is the church of the devil.

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3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (NKJV)

Short Review of the Past Articles

We learned from the previous articles that the Beast mentioned in the book of Revelation does not only have the three identifying marks like:

1. two horns (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)
2. like the lamb (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)
3. speaks like the dragon (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)

The Beast also

1. gave the people the mark on their right hand or on the forehead (read my article, The Followers of the False Prophets)
2. has the number 666. (Read my article, The Beast and his number 666)

And these identifying marks of the Beast or the False Prophet are all found in the Pope of the Catholic Church.

The number of Man

However, another visitor of our blog argued that the number 666 is the number of the man not of the office. According to him, Pope is an office not the particular man, so it’s not the Pope that is referred to by the book of Revelation as the Beast that has a number 666.

Well, it is true that the number 666 is the number of man and I agree with that because it was really written as stated:

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:18, NKJV)

The number 666 which is the number of the name of the Beast is also the number of a man.

17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:17-18, NKJV)

The Man of Sin

But the question is: who is this man who has the number 666?

Actually, this man is the one referred to by the Apostle Paul as the Man of Sin:

3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,

4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (II Thessalonians 2:3-4, NKJV)

Again, Apostle Paul did not mention the name of that man, but he gave us the identifying marks for us to identify who is this man who is the Man of Sin.

The identifying marks are:

1. Man of Sin.
2. Exalt himself above all
3. He sits as God in the temple of God
4. Showing himself that he is God

We all know that sin is the transgression of law, as taught by Apostle John:

4 Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law. (I John 3:4, KJV)

Since, it is said that that man is the Man of Sin. So, it is also true that that man committed sins. And did you know that there is a law of God that if you disobeyed it, you are already exalting yourself above all, and showing yourself as if you are God? Well, this law states:

9 “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. (Matthew 23:9, NKJV)

According to Christ, we should not call anyone on earth our Father. Why? Because according to Christ, we only have one Father who is in heaven.

Is calling our father in flesh bound by the said law? No, because there is also another law that tells us to honor our father and mother as stated:

4 “For God commanded, saying ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘He who curses father or mother, let him be put to death.’ (Matthew 15:4, NKJV)

In other words, the only forbidden thing is calling anyone here on earth as Father similar to the fatherhood of God.

So, what kind of father is God? In the book of Ezekiel, we could read this:

4 “Behold, all souls are Mine;
The soul of the father
As well as the soul of the son is Mine;
The soul who sins shall die. (Ezekiel 18:4, NKJV)

It was stated that all souls are of God. In other words, God is the father of all souls.

Therefore, the Man of Sin exalts himself above all, and showing himself as if he is God by claiming that He is the Father of all Souls.

The Pope is the Man of Sin

And just like what I mentioned already, we already identified who the beast is. The beast (second beast) mentioned in the book of Revelation is the Pope because the identifying marks of the Beast are all found in the Pope, like:

1. two horns (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)
2. like the lamb (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)
3. speaks like the dragon (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)
4. he gave the people the mark on their right hand or on the forehead (read my article, The Followers of the False Prophets)
5. His name is equivalent to 666, The Beast and his number 666.

Now, let us again examine if the Pope is the Man of Sin because the Beast is also the Man of Sin. So, since the identifying mark of the Man of Sin is his claim that he is the “father of souls”, then let us ask, is it true that the Pope claims to be the father of all souls?

In the book entitled, “Iglesia Ni Cristo”, written by Juan Trinidad, a Jesuit Priest, in page 12, we could read this:

At ang Santo Papa (Ama) ay ang pinakamataas na ama ng ating kaluluwa dito sa lupa dahil sa siya ang kahalili ng ating Panginoon.

At dahil sa ang mga saserdote ang nagbibigay sa atin ng buhay ng ating kaluluwa, sa pamamagitan ng pangangasiwa sa mga sacramento, sila man ay tinatawag na ‘ama ng ating kaluluwa’.

(And the Holy Pope (Father) is the highest father of our souls here in earth because he is the vicar of our Lord.

And because the priests give life to our souls by administering the sacraments, they are also called ‘father of our souls’.)

Our question is: Is the pope exalting himself above all and showing himself as if he is God by claiming that he is the ‘Father of all souls”? The answer according to the Jesuit Priest, Juan Trinidad, is “YES”.

The pope claims that he is the Holy Father. He claims to be the Father of the souls. He is claiming the titles that should not be called to anyone here on earth. He is claiming the titles of God in Heaven.

And one more thing: The other identifying mark of the “Man of sin” is that he sits in the temple of God. And this identifying mark is also true to the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.

So, we are sure now that the Pope is really the “Man of Sin” who has the number 666.

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On my previous article, I promised that the next article that I would write would talk about the first members of the church of the false prophets (which is the Catholic Church) which started to exist right after the death of the apostles (see my article, “The Start of the Existence of the False Prophets”). However, I decided that I would be writing about that topic on my future articles because I want to tackle first on this article the truth about the Second Beast and its number, 666.

We already had learned that the Second Beast mentioned in Revelation 13:11 has identifying marks. Three of these identifying marks are: (1) has two horns; (2) like the lamb; and (3) speaks like the dragon. And these identifying marks are all found in the Pope of the Catholic Church (see my article, “The Second Beast, The False Prophets”).

I thought that these three identifying marks are already enough for us to be convinced that the Pope of the Catholic Church is really the Second Beast or the False Prophet. But a reader of our previous articles argued that the Second Beast has the number 666. And according to her, if the Pope is really the Second Beast, then the Pope should have the number 666.

The number 666

The book of Revelation mentioned the number 666 as the number of the Beast. This is what has been written:

Here is a wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. His number is 666. (Revelation 13:18, NKJV)

Well, there are lots of people whose names are equal to the number 666. For example, the name “Juan Avinas De la Cruz” is equal to 666. That’s the name of my classmate.

J=0
U(V)=5
A=0
N=0
A=0
V=5
I=1
N=0
A=0
S=0
D=500
E=0
L=50
A=0
C=100
R=0
U(V)=5
Z=0

Summing them all: 5+5+1+500+50+100+5 is equal to 666.

However, I am sure that my classmate, Juan Avinas De la Cruz, is not the false prophet or the beast mentioned in the book of Revelation because he only has the number 666 but the other identifying marks are not in him.

Remember that the number 666 is not just the identifying marks of the beast given on that book of Revelation. Even if a certain person’s name is equal to 666 if he doesn’t have the other identifying marks of the beast, then he couldn’t be the beast referred to by the book of the Revelation.

Now, since the Catholic Pope have these three identifying marks of the Second Beast, then let’s examine if the Catholic Pope has the number 666.

Of course we knew that there are several dozens of Catholic Priests who became the Catholic Pope. So, our focus is not on the particular person who became the Pope of the Catholic Church but on the Pope itself. In other words, we’ll be dealing here the title of the Pope and let’s find out if it is equal to 666.

But Catholics might argue that what was mentioned in the book of revelation is that the number 666 is the number of the beast’s name as stated on Revelation 13:17 which says:

And that no one may buy or sell except on who has the mark of the name of the beast, or the number of his name. (Revelation 13:17, NKJV)

It might be true that what was written was that the number 666 is the number of the name of the beast. However, the term “Name” mentioned on this verse doesn’t always refer to the proper name of a man. Take note of this verse:

And he has on his robe and on his thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, (Revelation 19:16, NKJV)

The quoted verse uses the term “Name”. But then the name that was written is not the proper name but the title. In other words, the term “Name” also means title.

And just like what I already said earlier, we are talking here about the Catholic Pope. So our focus will not be on the proper name of the Catholic Priests who became the Catholic Pope, but on the titles used by the Catholic Pope.

And according to the Catholic Encyclopedia the Catholic Pope used several titles like “Vicar of Christ”, “Vicar of St. Peter”, “Vicar of the Apostolic See”, etc..

In the course of the ages other vicarial designations have been used for the pope, as Vicar of St. Peter and even Vicar of the Apostolic See (Pope Gelasius, I, Ep. vi), but the title Vicar of Christ is more expressive of his supreme headship of the Church on earth, (www.newadvent.org/cathen/15403b.htm)

The titles “Vicar of St. Peter” and the “Vicar of the Apostolic See” could not be equated to 666. We should also take note that the title “Vicar of Christ” is equivalent to the titles: “Vicar of Jesus Christ”, “Vicar of God” and “Vicar of the Son of God”. “Vicar of Jesus Christ” and “Vicar of God” in Latin couldn’t be equated to 666. However, the title “Vicar of the Son of God” in Latin, “Vicarius Filii Dei” could be equated to 666.

Why should we translate first the title “Vicar of the Son of God” to Latin before summing their equivalent numbers? Well, the reason is: Latin is the official Language of the Roman Catholic Church and also of her version of the Bible, Vulgata.

But Catholics might argue that “Vicar of the Son of God” is not the official (word for word) title of the Pope.

Well, they can deny it but the fact that “Vicar of the Son of God” is the same as “Vicar of Christ” which is the one of the official Pope’s (word for word) title, is already clear that the Pope is really claiming to be the “Vicar of the Son of God”. It was even written in book of Pope John Paul II, “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” in page 3 that he (Pope) “represents the Son of God”.

Now, if the Pope represents the Son of God, then it is true that he is the representative of the Son of God. In other words, he is the Vicar of the Son of God. Since “Vicar of the Son of God” or “Vicarius Filii Dei” in Latin is equal to 666, therefore, the Pope really has the number 666.

The identifying marks of the Beast

With the addition of the number of the Beast, 666, we now have found 5 identifying marks of the beast that are all found in the Catholic Pope:

1. two horns (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)
2. like the lamb (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)
3. speaks like the dragon (read my article, The Second Beast, The False Prophet)
4. he gave the people the mark on their right hand or on the forehead (read my article, The Followers of the False Prophets)
5. number 666

Actually, there are many identifying marks of the false prophets that we haven’t yet taken up. But I will be writing about them on my future articles. And just like these 5 identifying marks that we already had taken up, those other identifying marks that we will be talking on my future articles are all found in the Catholic Pope.

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