The horizon of history is darkened by the towering shadow of a system that claims the keys of heaven while locking the gates against the simplicity of the Gospel. As we stand in these terminal days, watching the gathering clouds of the Great Falling Away, we must discern the spirits to see if they be of God. There is a cup held out to the nations, gilded with the aesthetic of antiquity and the perfumes of ritual, yet it is a cup filled with the wine of spiritual fornication. We are warned by the Spirit that “the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2). This searing of the conscience is most evident where the Word of God is subverted by the traditions of men, and where a human priesthood attempts to stand between the sinner and the only true High Priest, Christ Jesus.
The Roman system has long sought to obscure the finished work of Calvary with a repetitive, bloodless sacrifice that can never take away sins. They have built a labyrinth of Purgatory, a treasury of merit, and the idolatrous elevation of Mary, the mother of Jesus, into a co-redemptrix that the Scriptures never authorized. To look upon the Roman Pontiff and accord him the titles of “Holy Father” or “Vicar of Christ” is to commit a grave theological treason against the Father of Lights and the Holy Spirit, who alone is the Comforter sent to guide us into all truth. We must remember that “there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). Any system that inserts a priest, a saint, or a ceremony into that sacred, singular mediation is not a bridge to heaven, but a barrier to the soul.
The true Remnant is called to come out from among her and be separate, for the light of the Lord’s Return cannot fellowship with the darkness of a counterfeit kingdom. The Reformers knew this; they saw the smoke of the martyrs as a testimony against the tyranny of the Triple Crown. They understood that “by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9). Today, the ecumenical siren song calls for a “return to Rome,” suggesting that the protest is over and the differences are merely semantics. But truth cannot negotiate with error, and light cannot strike a bargain with the night. We watch, we wait, and we warn, knowing that when the King returns, every knee shall bow—not to a throne in the Vatican, but to the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who alone is worthy to open the seals.