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THE FIRST CHURCH Q. Was the Roman Catholic Church the first Christian Church? A. First, we call your attention to the statement in Acts 2:10, which tells us that among the “Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven” (Acts 2:5), there were “ stran gers from Rome, Jews and Proselytes.” Again, in Paul’s Epistle to the Ro mans we read these words: “ Salute Andronicus and Junia, my kinsmen, and my fellowprisoners, who are of note among the apostles, who also were in Christ before me” (Rom. 16: 7). Here we leam that there were some believers in Rome who were “ in Christ” before Paul was saved. Thus we know that there was a church in Rome some years before Paul wrote the Epistle to the Romans. But there was an assembly in the city of Jerusalem, and there was one in Samaria before there was an as sembly of New Testament saints in Rome. In this sense, therefore, the church at Rome was not the first New Testament church. The claim is made by the Roman Catholic Church that Peter was the first bishop of Rome, and that the present pope, recognized by the Ro man Catholics as the head of the church, holds this office by right of apostolic succession. In refutation of this claim, let us state that there is only one case of apostolic succession in the Scriptures. In Acts 1 we leam that Matthias took the place of Judas, in fulfillment of prophecy. In the case of James, the recognized leader of the church in Jerusalem (see Acts 15), n o ’ successor was chosen following his death, recorded in Acts 12:1, 2. The Apostle Paul did not succeed any of the twelve apostles. His special apostleship to the Gentiles is men tioned in Rom. 11:13, wherein he magnifies his Christ-given apostle ship. If you will read carefully Gal. 2:1-9, you will leam that the Apostle Paul did not receive his apostolic au thority from Peter or from the eleven;
priests in Roman Catholicism. Their school of cardinals, prelates, and re ligious dignitaries is altogether con trary to the plain teaching of the Word of God. There is not one line of Scripture in any of the writings of the apostles in support of the false teaching of Roman Catholicism concerning the special ministry of Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus; the worship of saints; purgatory; or penances. All their teaching concerning salvation by works, prayer for the dead, and the canonization of saints is unscrip tural. All of these erroneous teachings of Roman Catholicism are found in the footnotes and interpretations of their Roman Catholic Bible, not in their Bible itself. THE SAVED AT DEATH Q. Do the saved go immediately to heaven when they die? A. The Scriptures teach positively that a true child of God goes im mediately to heaven at the time of physical dissolution of body and soul. II Cor. 5:8 gives us that assurance: “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” (Cf. Phil. 1:23 and other passages of Scripture.) Luke 16:22 tells us that the angels receive the spirits of the departing saints — a comforting thought, that they take our spirits home to heaven and the presence of God. They are our “ministers,” you know, “minister ing spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Heb. 1:14). They guard us here on earth, and take us to heaven when we die. “ The angel of the Lord en- campeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them” (Psa. 34: 7). “ For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone” (Psa. 91:11).
but directly from God; and that the twelve disciples had no jurisdiction over him when he made known the truth concerning the church, which is the body of Christ. This truth was given to Paul by special revelation from God. In a very peculiar sense Paul — not Peter— was the Lord’s “ chosen vessel” to reveal the calling, program and destiny of the church, or body of Christ. Not one of the twelve apostles used the word “ body” in referring to the church, so far as we have any record in the Bible. In Gal. 2:1-9 we leam that Peter and his associates sat at the feet of Paul, and learned the Lord’s program for the church in this age of grace. While it may be claimed that, his torically, the Roman Catholic Church is the oldest of the denominations of Christendom today; yet it can easily be proved by comparing the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church with the Roman Catholic Bible that they are not the true Bible church of Christ. Let us take, for instance, Paul’s epistle to the Romans. That epistle was written to the assembly of saints, or the church, or churches, at Rome. It was written about 60 A.D. It was dictated by the infallible Holy Spirit. It should, therefore, be accepted by men who claim to be Christians, as the infallible Word of God, the divine instmction governing the Christian church. In that epistle every statement con cerning salvation by grace, and by grace alone, is contrary to the doc trine of salvation as taught and prac ticed by the Roman Catholics. Neither in the Epistle to the Romans nor in any other writing of Paul or any of the apostles is there a single intima tion that there were any archbishops, cardinals, popes, or a special order of priests in the body of Christ. The en tire papal system and priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church are al together unscriptural. This is true al so concerning the confessional and forgiveness of sins as practiced by the
THE KING'S BUSINESS
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