Resurrection Life of Jesus Church

START OF ROMANISM
Satan has opposed the church started by Jesus since its fiery inception on the day of Pentecost. It became clear that the Holy Spirit must be removed from the churches in order to hinder God’s work on earth because the Devil could not match the power of the third person of the Godhead. However, the assault on the Holy Spirit had to be carried out indirectly, serving as the means to push Him out of the churches.

The persecution and murder of Christians produced immediate success, but the blood of the martyrs became the seed for a new crop of believers in Christ. Though millions were slain, the Holy Spirit replenished their number swiftly and multiplied them even more.

After making Christianity the endorsed religion of the empire in AD 325, Emperor Constantine invited the bishops to make him the leader of the united church and the persecution would also stop.

SCRIPTURAL CONTROL
The Old Testament was recorded on scrolls that were up to three feet in height. The same was true for the New Testament books.

In the early second century, Christians began using a “codex,” which was a primitive type of book which employed sheets of writing material stacked, folded, and bound along one edge. This allowed for writing on both sides of each page and made it easy to flip quickly between different sections.

Bishops of the different city churches started the process of having the scrolls converted into codex books. Scrolls were no longer used by the fourth century. All books were handwritten since the printing press would not come into use until 1450.

The Roman Catholic Church controlled the distribution of Bibles written in Greek and later in Latin. It was common for each church to have one Bible under lock, accessible to only the priest.

Lucifer was slowly able to neuter the Holy Spirit by ensuring Bibles were kept from the common people and priests followed the official doctrine of Romanism which involved no teaching on the Holy Spirit.

CHURCH OF THE EAST
Most Christians in Europe and the United States are ignorant of the Church of the East.¹ It is known by the following names:

• East Syriac Church
• Church of Seleucia-Ctesiphon
• Persian Church
• Assyrian Church
• Babylonian Church
• Chaldean Church
• Nestorian Church

The Roman Catholic Church claims to be founded by the apostle Peter even though he lived and ministered for some time in Babylon, which later became part of the Church of the East.

“The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

Greet ye one another with a kiss of charity. Peace be with you all that are in Christ Jesus. Amen.” (1 Peter 5:13-14)

The Bible does not explicitly state that Peter traveled to Rome or died there. That belief comes from church tradition and the early church writings:

1. Clement of Rome (AD 96): Speaks of Peter and Paul suffering martyrdom but does not name the city.
2. Ignatius of Antioch (AD 110): Mentions Peter and Paul connected with Rome’s church.
3. Irenaeus (AD 180): States that Peter and Paul founded the church in Rome and passed on leadership to Linus. (Against Heresies 3.3.2)
4. Eusebius (4th century): Claims Peter was crucified upside down in Rome under Nero. (Ecclesiastical History 2.25)

In conclusion, I cannot state with any certainty that Peter ever traveled to Rome and died there because there is no record of his death and burial in the New Testament.

OTHER CHURCHES
There is also an ancient church in the Indian state of Kerala, located on the west coast of southern India. Tradition states that the apostle Thomas traveled to India in AD 52 to reach the Jewish diaspora and its heathen population. The Thomas Christian Church boasts some one million members.²

The Church of the East grew out of the outreach by the apostles. It had limited interaction with the west and also features no teaching on the Holy Spirit and the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

The same holds true for the church in Ethiopia that was founded by the Ethiopian eunuch after his interaction with Philip on the road to Damascus. Acts 8:26-39

There is no human explanation to the fact that all the first century churches eventually stopped preaching on the Holy Spirit and the nine gifts. Churches stagnated, added false doctrine to their belief system, and lost the spiritual power bestowed on the day of Pentecost.

Jesus voiced His concerns about the longevity of the church and its ability to still exist until the end times.

“…Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8b)

LITURGIES
Jesus did not set up any liturgies during His three and a half years of ministry on earth. Worship was simple and it involved prayer, preaching/teaching and singing praises.

The Roman Catholic Church and the Church of the East use swing censers to send clouds of incense wafting through the air. Below is a condensed overview of the Catholic Mass.

1. Introductory Rites

◦ Entrance
◦ Greeting
◦ Penitential Act
◦ Gloria (when prescribed)
◦ Collect (Opening Prayer)

2. Liturgy of the Word

◦ First Reading
◦ Responsorial Psalm
◦ Second Reading (on Sundays/feasts)
◦ Gospel Acclamation
◦ Gospel Reading
◦ Homily
◦ Profession of Faith (Creed)
◦ Prayer of the Faithful

3. Liturgy of the Eucharist

◦ Preparation of the Gifts (Offertory)
◦ Eucharistic Prayer (Preface, Sanctus, Epiclesis, Consecration, Anamnesis, Offering, Intercessions, Doxology, Great Amen)
◦ Communion Rite (Our Father, Sign of Peace, Lamb of God, Communion, Prayer after Communion)

4. Concluding Rites

◦ Announcements (if needed)
◦ Blessing
◦ Dismissal
◦ Recessional

A full description of the Mass, as observed in the Roman Catholic Church, is provided in the appendix.

GOSPEL PERVERSION
While Jesus did not set up a liturgy for His church, He did institute the ordinances of water baptism by immersion, communion, and foot washing.

Water baptism is the practice of fully submerging a person in water, reflecting the symbolism of death, burial, and resurrection with Christ.

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.

Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.” (Matthew 28:18-20)

Communion is where believers share bread and wine in remembrance of Jesus’ death.

“And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body.

And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it.

And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many.” (Mark 14:22-24)

The foot washing done by Jesus was an act of humility and love, instructing believers in Christ to serve one another.

“Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself.

After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?

Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.

Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

Jesus saith to him, He that is washed needeth not save to wash his feet, but is clean every whit: and ye are clean, but not all.

For he knew who should betray him; therefore said he, Ye are not all clean.

So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?

Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet.

For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.” (John 13:3- 15)

CLOTHING
The priests performing temple service at the time of Jesus were dressed in robes and turbans. In comparison, the priests of pagan religions wear special headgear and robes as they officiate.

The first generation of Christians (the 120 disciples in the upper room) did not dress in such a manner. The second generation followed the first generation, but the third generation was influenced by the pagan religions which had crept into the Christian community.

When Roman Catholicism was founded in AD 325, the Christian leadership started to wear elaborate robes and headgear.

DOCTRINE DILUTION
The command by Jesus to pray for the sick, cast out demons, cure the lepers, heal the lame, and open the eyes of the blind died out. No one mentioned the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the associated nine gifts that come with baptism of the third person of the Godhead.

Water Baptism through immersion was replaced with sprinkling on the head. According to historical documents, this was done in many areas because they had no access to lakes or rivers. It was also convenient since the person officiating did not have to get into the water.

As the liturgy became more sophisticated, there was no place where the Gospel of Jesus was presented to the people attending a church service. The born-again teaching faded with time, people became church members, but their names were not found in the Book of Life when their time on earth came to end. People were sprinkled and this became synonymous with being a Christian.

Few people were born again in the churches by the fifth century. The born-again teaching was abandoned a hundred years later. Christianity was just another dead religion by the year 1000. There was no more power; just religious liturgy.

The falling away from the faith was complete and the church of Jesus was neutralized. The irony is that Roman Catholicism became the persecutor of the precious few who did not follow its skewed doctrine.

Was there a remnant from AD 500 to 1500? Yes, but these isolated remnants were not influential and did not break out of their geographical environment with the Gospel.

The advent of the printing press would allow Bibles to be mass produced, but until 1450, they would continue to be slowly and painstakingly written by hand. There were precious few Bibles in existence and generally only the rich could afford to own one.

The Holy Spirit had to wait for men like John Wycliffe (1330-1384) and John Hus (1369- 1415). Wycliffe’s writings on the supreme authority of the Bible over the pope and church tradition laid the foundation for Hus, who also preached on the new birth.

Satan mobilized the Roman Catholic Church and representatives of the great whore condemned these godly men at the Council of Constance (1414-1418). Hus was burned at the stake and Wycliffe’s bones were exhumed and burnt as well.

Satan could not defeat the Holy Spirit, so he slowly infiltrated the church and influenced church leaders to move away from the teachings of Christ and turned the church into a spiritual showcase with extensive liturgy. The ignorant people who bought into this charade perished and their fate is the Lake of Fire.