Church of England - It is time to come out of it! Pat Franklin writes.


This British idol, a small statue called Our Lady of Walsingham, has been carried in processions through many towns in England.

Another version of the Walsingham idol. The 2nd Commandment says: 'Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image...Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God...' Exodus chap 20, verses 4,5.

'My hat's bigger than yours!' Good buddies - the late Pope meets the head of the Church of England, the Archbishop of Canterbury

Someone has passed on to us a Church of England prayer book. Inside we were shocked to find that it included several prayers to Mary, even though the Lord Jesus made it clear that we are to address our prayers to His Father.

Here is what we found inside. ‘Mary’ prayers in the Church of England ( see No. 1 in footnotes below - all footnotes are in parentheses) The ‘Hail Mary’ (under ‘Evening Prayers’) Hail, Mary, full of grace; the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God (2), pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen. I confess to almighty God, to blessed Mary ever-Virgin (3) and to all the Saints(4), that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word and deed, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault. Therefore I beg blessed Mary ever-Virgin and all the Saints to pray for me (5) to the Lord our God. The Angelus. ‘The Angelus bell is run at morning, noon and evening, to remind us of our Lord’s Incarnation.’ The service begins: ‘V(6). The Angel of the Lord (7) brought tidings unto Mary.’ There are three ‘Hail Mary’ prayers that follow. Regina Caeli (8) ‘The following is said instead of the Angelus from Easter until Trinity Sunday. ‘Joy to thee, O Queen of heaven (8), alleluia; He whom thou wast meet to bear, alleluia, As he promised, hath risen, alleluia; Pour for us to him thy prayer, alleluia. V. Rejoice and be glad, O Virgin Mary, alleluia. R. For the Lord hath arisen indeed, alleluia. Let us pray O God, who by the resurrection of thy Son our Lord Jesus Christ, hast vouchsafed to give joy to the whole world; grant, we beseech thee, that through the help of his Mother (9) , the Virgin Mary, we may obtain the joys of everlasting life. Through the same Christ our Lord. R. Amen. For the Prayers of the Saints ‘Defend us, we beseech thee, O Lord, from all dangers, whether of body or soul; and by the intercession of the blessed and glorious ever-Virgin Mary, Mother of God, blessed Joseph, the holy Apostles Peter and Paul, blessed N. my Patron )saint) and all the Saints, graciously grant us health and peace… May blessed Mary, blessed N.(name of) my Patron Saint, and all the Saints pray for me, and may my holy Guardian Angel (10) guide and protect me this day and always. Amen.

Comments: The Anglican Church (the Church of England – the same as the Episcopal church in America) is about to align itself with the Roman Catholic Church, coming under the Pope of Rome. The Church of England calls itself ‘a broad church’, meaning that it contains sections holding a range of biblical viewpoints, from evangelical (which they call ‘low church’) to virtually Roman Catholic (‘high church’).

These terms in themselves raise the hackles of Bible-believing Christians. There is nothing higher than the simple gospel, but the evangelical wing of the Church Of England is considered ‘low’. It is clear from books and prayers like the above prayers to Mary that a sizeable part of the Church of England, the ‘high church’, has always been Catholic. They pray to Mary and they worship at the ‘sacrifice of the mass’. The real Mary would be horrified if she knew that people were making statues of her and praying to her. Like all good Jews, she would recognize it as idolatry and would hate it. Now the Church of England as a whole is going ‘back to Rome.’ When asked how they feel about their church joining with Rome, some evangelical Anglicans shrug and say things like: ‘It is only for pastoral co-operation.’

As if anyone who revered the Bible could possibly co-operate pastorally in any way with clerics who worship the ‘Queen of heaven’. The only possible communication one can have with Catholics or ‘high’ Anglicans is to tell them the simple gospel, and that they are involved in error and gross idolatry. Another terrible error in the Anglican prayer book was in a section on 'Bible Reading'. Even here, urging people to read the Bible, they managed to get it dangerously wrong. The book advises people to 'picture the scene' as if you were present and could actually see it. This is the technique of visualisation. It is an occult technique, and it is spiritually dangerous. It is one way the occult has come into the church, by people 'visualising'. Nowhere in the Bible does it tell us to visualise anything. Faith comes by hearing, not by visualising. Witch doctors visualise when they cast their occult spells. It is an open door to demonic activity. Some today call it using your 'sanctified imagination', but they are wrong.

They are playing with fire and they will probably get burnt. Please read our ‘Table of Truth: the Catholic Church vs the Bible’ on this website, and also ‘Why I Left the Catholic Church’ by Pat Franklin. It is time to come out of the false churches which pretend to be holy and pious, but are leading people astray. ‘Come out of her, my people, that ye be no partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.’ (11) Amen! Time to come out! This goes for Christians who may call themselves Anglicans, Episcolpalians, Roman Catholics, etc. How can you stay in churches that tolerate idolatry, when God hates it? FOOTNOTES: 1) From ‘The Sanctuary of God’, ‘A simple prayer book for members of the Church of England’, published by the Church Literature Association, fourth edition 1953. 2) God is eternal and is spirit. He had no mother. 3) For Mary to have remained a virgin throughout her married life is unthinkable. God makes clear in the Bible that marriage is an honourable state of life and that the couple are to give their bodies to one another in sexual union. 1 Corinthians 7:4 states: ‘The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.’

This means they are not to withhold sexual union from one another. Then verse 34 of the same chapter states: ‘There is difference also between a wife and a virgin.’ If Joseph had not consummated the marriage, it would have been a travesty. 4) This prayer to dead ‘saints’ is a grievous offence to Almighty God, who expressly forbids all communication with the dead in the Bible. In the New Testament ‘saints’ are living people, ordinary believers, as in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, ‘to the saints which are at Ephesus.’ Paul was not writing to the dead. 5) The dead cannot help the living, as the Lord Jesus made clear in the parable of the rich man in hell and the beggar Lazarus, who was being comforted. The parable was clear: people must believe the scriptures and act accordingly. 6) V for vicar. The vicar of the church speaks these words. The R. is for ‘response’ of the congregation. 7) In fact Luke says in Luke 1:26 that the angel was Gabriel. Gabriel is not 'the angel of the Lord'.

The term ‘angel of the Lord’ is incorrect in this context, since it is a term used in the Old Testament scriptures for the pre-incarnate appearances of the Second Person of the Trinity. 8) Regina (Queen) Caeli (of heaven) is a Latin term. ‘Queen of heaven’ is in fact not Mary at all, but a pagan idol which was worshipped in ancient Israel and before that in Babylon, source of all false religion. The prophet Jeremiah, chapter 7:18, tells us that the Israelites offered cakes to the ‘queen of heaven’ idol. That is one reason the nation was exiled to Babylon for 70 years.

There is no ‘queen of heaven’. But there IS a King of kings, and He will take vengeance on all who worship idols, including the ‘queen of heaven’ idol. In our book Goodbye America, Goodbye Britain, we picture an idol of the "Queen of Heaven" that Catholics have had the nerve to install on top of Mount Carmel, where Elijah slew the prophets of Baal. 9) The Bible teaches clearly that we are saved and obtain everlasting life through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The words of Jesus Himself in John’s gospel, chapter 6 verse 47: ‘Verily, verily I say unto you, he that believeth on me HATH everlasting life.’ Mary had no part to play in our redemption. She was honoured to be Jesus’ earthly mother. That is all. 10) The term ‘guardian angel’ is not found in the Bible and it is by no means certain that every person has a ‘guardian angel’.

Even if you did have a guardian angel, there is no biblical precedent for praying to or about such a being. Our Father in heaven protects and guides believers. This prayer gives glory to an angel, glory which belongs to God alone. 11) The Bible clearly teaches that the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus at Calvary was the once and for all sacrifice. No further sacrifice is ever required, yet the Catholic Church has millions of ‘sacrifices of the mass’ every year. This is a terrible insult to the Lord Jesus, who died once for all. ‘For by ONE offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.’ Hebrews Chapter 10, verse 14. Also, ‘The just shall live by faith’, (Hebrews 10:38) – not by continually offering more sacrifices, which displays a total lack of faith. 12) Book of Revelation 18:4


01/12/2009

 
 
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John 14:27

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