Pope Benedict XVI has captured the world’s headlines by claiming again that no one can be sure of eternal salvation in the kingdom of God except by coming through the Roman Catholic Church.
Doubtless he is sincere in this belief, having been trained from boyhood to believe it. The immense wealth and prestige of the Roman Catholic Church headquartered in the Vatican at St. Peters in Rome are impressive; but a still small voice of the Bible story of Jesus of Nazareth intrudes upon the conscience. The immense prestige and power asserted in the Temple in Jerusalem also commanded the devotion of the multitudes when Jesus faced them and said, “Behold, your house is left unto you desolate” (Matt. 23:38).
The teachings of Jesus call for our reverent attention today:
He waited until very near the end of His three and one-half years of ministry before He challenged His disciples with the ultimate question: “Whom say ye that I the Son of man am?” (16:13-15, KJV). They were clear that He is the long-awaited Messiah, but who is He? Peter was the first to voice the conviction: “Thou art the Christ [Messiah], the Son of the living God” (vs. 16). Jesus congratulated him for the courage of his convictions, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but My Father which is in heaven” (vs. 17). “And I say unto thee, That thou art PETROS, and upon this PETRA [rock solid truth as massive as Pre-Cambrian granite] I will build My church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
PETROS is a little stone one can throw around; PETRA is the foundation rock which is Christ Himself. After poor unstable Peter had denied Christ three times and thus disqualified himself from being an apostle, he repented. Any thought that he was important was given up: he told the church of his day that Christ only is “the Rock” (1 Peter 2:8, PETRA). He knew he was nothing more than a PETROS.
Jesus urged us to study and “understand” Daniel’s prophecies (Matt. 24:15), and assured us He would “bless” us as we study and understand Revelation (1:1-3). There is an assurance that someone high up in the Curia will repent and join the 144,000 when the “everlasting gospel” is finally proclaimed so clearly that the earth will be lightened with its glory (15:2; 18:1-4). Perhaps it may be the present Pope! Don’t discount the power of the Holy Spirit to bring conviction, and to lead to Christ in repentance. Many things will happen when Laodicea chooses to repent.
Be sure to check your e-mail for "Dial Daily Bread" again tomorrow.
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