Latest / The Uncensored Catholic / Show 31: No, Catholics do not worship Angels and Saints, part 2

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Show 31: No, Catholics do not worship Angels and Saints, part 2 · The Uncensored Catholic

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Hey, y'all, welcome to today's show. Wow. Who would have thought
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yesterday's show would have brought the Protestants out of the woodwork to be turning back
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flips and throwing hissy fits because I said that Catholics don't worship angels and saints.
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I mean, think about this. We've now done this year. I
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think the thirty first show, we've talked about the authority of the Catholic Church.
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We've talked about the Sacraments, We've talked about the Bible, We've talked
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about really everything that dispelling every myth that Protestants have against Catholics and showing that
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the Catholic Church is right and that Protestantism is very wrong. And this would
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be the subject that makes what would William F. Buckley juniors say, it
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drives him into paroxysms of obloquy, paroxysms obloquy that means sputtering fits almost like
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an epileptic seizure. Or they're so angry but it's true, but they say,
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no, no, Catholics. Catholics worship saints and angels because that's what
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we believe. This is what we've been told. You ever talked to a
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Catholic about it. No, you only know what Protestants say about Catholics.
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You're a Baptist, you're whatever, and all you know is what Baptists tell
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you that Catholics believe. You don't know what Catholics believe. Have you picked
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up a copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church? Do you only believe
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the hate filled lies of bigots or the genuinely mistaken people who have written things
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that are still false. If you want to know the truth, I'll help
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you. A lot of the problem with the whole thing comes down to the
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peculiarators of English, the peculiarities of English, the English language. For some
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reason, Protestants who do not necessarily always know Latin. Very few, too,
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unfortunately, too few Catholics do these days as well. They hear the
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word pray and they confuse it with the word worship. To pray to a
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saint, it's not to worship a saint. Well, I'm now they're totally
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spinning on their heads because I just said, to pray to a saint is
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not to worship a saint. Worship is reserved for God and God alone.
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What does the word pray mean? Well, it actually comes from the Latin
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word pracada, and as we know it now, it is Old English for
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ask. That's it to ask not to worship. If you were to go
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to even today in year twenty twenty three, a British court high court in
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England, you know, the most what we call it formal court that one
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is going to find in the Western world. You may you may hear the
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phrase pray silence. In our American courts, we say silence. In the
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court in England they say pray ladies and gentlemen silence, something along those lines.
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They may actually say pray lords and ladies silence. That means I am
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asking you to be quiet. And you'd be probably even more surprised to hear
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the bailiff or whomever refer to the judge as my lord. Yeah, that's
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right. Another peculiarity of Old English in America and American English. We reserve
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the title of lord for Jesus Christ in our traditional English language. That would
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have been practiced here in America in our own courts up until only about one
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hundred and fifty year years ago, these words had more meaning than they do
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now. Our vocabulary has shrunk dramatically in the last hundred years. People think
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we're becoming more educated and all that. No we're not. We're becoming stupid.
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And when a Catholic prays to a saint, the Catholic simply says,
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Saint so and so, Saint Joseph, Saint you know, Blessed Virgin Mary,
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Saint Padre Pio, you know a recent saint whom I quote every show.
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Please pray for me. We believe the Saints are alive in heaven,
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and just as we ask our living relatives and friends to pray for us,
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we ask them too, because the Bible says we are surrounded by a great
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cloud of witnesses. The Bible says that the Saints in heaven becomes some what
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like in nature to angels and to God. A Catholic Bible that still includes
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all the books, a legitimate Bible, not the one that has had the
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books of say Maccabeees and Tobit and Wisdom and see Irac and such stripped out
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of it simply because it didn't agree with Protestant doctrine. Will show that these
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angels hear our prayers and advocate on our behalf. And even a Protestant Bible.
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As I said yesterday, will tell you that Jesus said, each of
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these little ones, these children, has an angel that advocates for them before
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the Father. The angels hear our prayers. As people die and go to
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heaven and become more alive than we hear on earth, they hear our prayers
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and they pray for us. So when we say pray for me, that
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is a request. It's an ask, that's all it means. Look at
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the word. If you don't believe, you look at the etymology at the
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word pray. It goes back to the Latin pracada. It means to ask
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or in some senses, some tenses of the word to question. You may
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if you speak Spanish sort of see with the similarity the etymology of the word
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in pregunta, which means a question. Either way you look at, it
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means to ask. We never ever worship a saint. We talk with them
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as living people because they are more alive than we are in heaven, and
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we ask them to pray for us. By these simple words, which I
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can back up with the Bible of the Catechism, two thousand years of Christian
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history and writing. I have apparently thrown the Protestants into hissy fits. That's
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a shame, you know. If all Christians are supposed to be the body
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of Christ, and there's not supposed to be a division in the body of
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Christ, how can someone's bigotry so blind them that they will not accept the
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simple truth of the Catholic Church, of Catholic belief and embrace fellow Christians of
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a different denomination. The answer is, they have become bigoted by what they
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have been taught, and until we as Catholics, explain this to them,
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that bigotry will only get worse. I don't like disagreeing with Protestants. I
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don't it's usually generally fruitless to debate them. But someone has to stand for
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the truth. So now let's look at what the Bible says about angels and
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saints. Yesterday we did the Gospels. If you haven't heard yesterday show,
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you'll see Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John quotes from the Gospels actually
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that validate the Catholic doctrine prayers to angels and saints. And now we'll get
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into we'll start with the acts. We'll start with the acts of the Apostles,
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and we'll move forward as long as time permit, so Acts nineteen eleven
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through fifteen. So remarkable were the miracles worked by God at Paul's hands,
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that handkerchiefs are aprons which he had touched, were taken to the sick and
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they were cured of their illness, and evil spirits came out of them.
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But some itinerant Jewish exorcists tried to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over
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people who were possessed by spirits. They used to say, I adjure you
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by Jesus, whose spokesman is Paul. Among those who did this were Sekva
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Skeva. I guess Skeva, a Jewish priest. The evil spirit replied Jesus,
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I recognize, and Paul, I know, But who are you?
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The apostles had great power and they are great saints. So right here in
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Acts nineteen we said we were told by the Bible, which we all believe,
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that a handkerchief that was held by Paul would cure a sick person or
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drive out a demon. Do you think that was only true during Paul's life?
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Why would you think that the Bible says that God is the same today
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as tomorrow and you know a thousand years as one day. A relic from
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a saint, A saint who has the God given power to heal people is
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just as power to full today as it was two thousand years ago. That's
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why the Catholic Church collects the possessions of saints such as Saint Paul, and
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in many sights and many shrines, in many churches throughout the world, you
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can walk in you can see a fragment of the original cross, the actual
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cross Jesus didog. You may go to lords and see the water that was
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blessed by the blessed Virgin Mary. You may see a piece of clothing or
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a crucifix, or something that was owned by a saint, and in touching
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it, miracles happened, just as they did when the saint was alive,
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because that saint is more alive. Now you think it's fantastic, Well,
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it says right here a cloth that was owned by Saint Paul, that was
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touched by Saint Paul killed people. That cloth has the same power, not
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give him through the human being, but through the favor of God to this
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day. In the Old Testament, was that Elijah. I believe it's Elijah
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and Alicia one was taken up into heaven. I always get him confused.
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It said that he was buried right, and that a dead man was buried.
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I mean he died, he was buried. A dead man was put
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in the same tomb. Because they were in a hurry, they dug up
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an existent grave. When the dead man touched his bones, he came back
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to life. If we had his bones today, they would still raise the
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dead. Because God is the same today and tomorrow and yesterday. There is
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no such thing as time in heaven. And when Heaven intersects on earth,
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yes, it can be through a holy person. That's what we call a
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saint. Don't take my word for it, don't. I mean, you're
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always a Catholic. He believes all kinds of crazy things. Read your Bible.
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Read your Bible. There are certain people who are considered saints, who
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particularly holy lives, who are favored by God, to whom God gave the
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power to heal and raise the dead, and whom and cast out demons.
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And that person is more alive right now in heaven than they ever were on
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earth. And you can just start talking to them, you can ask them
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for something, and that's called praying to a saint. It's not worshiping a
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saint. We use the word venerate. That confused people, You say,
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I say we venerate saints. What does that mean? To venerate is to
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show respect. That's another term we have an old English we call someone venerable.
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That means worthy of respect. Look it up, get your dictionary,
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your Webster's dictionary. Venerable means to respect. To venerate is to respect.
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It's not to worship. And for the ridiculous argument that one process that made
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to me today, the Bible forbids talking to the dead. We just went
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through four Gospels yesterday in which Jesus said God is the God of the living,
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not the dead. The Christian in heaven is more alive than you are
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now because from the moment you were born, you began to die the wages
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of sin or death. That's the effect of original sin. The Christian who
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is living in heaven with Jesus Christ is full of life and has no trace
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of sin or death, because nothing impure can inner heaven. We're gonna get
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a lot more into that, but I mean, this is a biblical concept
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and the only reason Protestants don't understand it is bigotry, and whether they're bigoted
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on their own or they were just taught lies by people. You know,
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there are a lot of many, many well meaning Protestants, and I talked
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with them every day. And when I explained this to, you know,
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some of my most evangelical, devout Protestant friends, They're like, oh,
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you mean Catholics actually mean this? Well, that makes sense. See I
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was taught you know something else. And I'm like, yeah, I know,
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you know you were, because so was I. And then I've found
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out what Catholics actually believe. You know, Others persist in their ignorance and
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they just get angry, and that's not godly. The ancient Church never doubted
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that not only did the saints in heaven pray for us on earth, but
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that in this life we could pray and do other acts that benefit the souls
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in purgatory. Never did the early Church doubt the unity of the living body
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of Christ and prayer, love, and charity toward all its members. The
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denial of the doctrine of this doctrine is why Lutheran and other early Protestants stripped
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out the Book of Maccabee's get a legitimate Bible get one that was you know,
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Saint Jerome's Bible that you know was put together about three d and you're
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gonna find the book of Maccabee's and it's going to say pray for the dead.
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I mean, seriously, it's only through ignorance that there is any division.
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Let's just see if we can dispel ignorance bring unity back to the body
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of Christ. Corinthians, fifteen twenty nine. Otherwise, what are people up
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to who have themselves been baptized on behalf of the dead. If the dead
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are not raised at all, what is the point of being baptized on their
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behalf. Now we don't do baptism for the dead anymore, but this is
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important because in Corinthians it explains very very strongly the early Church believed that being
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baptized on behalf of a dead person would help secure their salvation. If there
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was no relationship between the living on earth and the living in heaven, why
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would the early Church believe that? Well they did. They did it to
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the point that it's mentioned in the Bible. And actually the only church I
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know that still does that is the Mormons. Yeah. Odd, but you
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know, that's one passage of the Bible that they actually take very literally.
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They're to be commended for that, even if it's not efficacious. It's you
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know, modern that has not been believed by any Christian church to be efficacious
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for the past I don't know, twelve hundred years or so, fifteen hundred
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years, I mean, but it was a practice among early Christians. And
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at least, you know, the Mormons, even though they don't fully believe
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in the divinity of Jesus Christ, do care that much about their relatives,
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their ancestors, their living hopefully in heaven Christian ancestors. Okay, they also
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believe it will help their salvation. There's a lot to unpack in Mormonism.
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As I've said, Mormonism is sort of a Christian adjacent church. It's not
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in any way Orthodox Christian, and really not even Christian because they don't believe
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in fully in the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ, and they believe they
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can become gods like us essentially. So well, we'll lay Mormonism aside for
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a while, but it does at least point out that anyone who actually does
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take the Bible literally without the baggage of the bigotry, the anti Catholic bigotry
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would take that verse at face value. Corinthians fifteen twenty nine. What we
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just said in back, going back to the Gospels, our Lord called us
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to be perfect as God is perfect, nothing imperfect or impurican in her heaven.
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Therefore, as first John chapter three through chapter three, Verse two through
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three tells us, the saints become like God. That would seem to be
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an outrageous claim. But because we become brothers and sisters of Christ, He
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through his sacrifice, raises our humanity and makes us wholly through the sacraments.
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You remember when Jesus said, unless you eat of my body and drinking my
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blood, you have no life in you. Remember when you said you must
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be born again through the water of baptism and His blood. And you know,
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the sacraments, every time we partake in them, make us holy and
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more like God, because that's the only way to redeem humanity from original sin.
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To see, the only way we can actually get into heaven, because
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Jesus said we must be perfect and nothing impure can enter Heaven. We become
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through the sacraments and belief, which is absolutely necessary. Because God give us
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free will, we in faith of course, faith is belief in practice,
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belief in things not seeing. We become immortal, and as such we become
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outside of time and unlimited by our merely human capacity. Once we're in heaven,
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the saints are not held to the bonds of a physical world because they're
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completely freed from it. They become like Jesus in that well I put.
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I'll give you an example. I don't think he may could disagree with.
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You know, if you're a Christian and you actually believe in traditional Christian principles
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that the devil was once an angel, right, that all the demons were
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once angels that rebelled against God, you know that the devil knows your weaknesses.
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The devil knows your thoughts enough to know how to tempt you and to
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lead you astray. Those are beings that were once angels who are now demons,
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and they are very confused. You know, even the Devil himself,
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the king of all the demons, was not completely sure Jesus was the son
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of God, was the Messiah. That's why he took him out in the
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desert to tempt him. He made Jesus prove to him that he was the
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son of God, that he is the Messiah, and the devil quoted scripture
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for his own purposes. Right, Just imagine how much more the angels have,
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with their clarity of thought and their union with God. Know exactly what
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you're thinking every moment of every day. You know, again, we quote
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Yesterday of the Bible. Do you not know that we are surrounded by such
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a great cloud of witnesses Jesus saying, the angels advocate for the children before
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the face of the Father. The angels know your thoughts. The angels certainly
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hear your prayers, whether vocal or in your mind silent. The saints have
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become like angels, and like God, unbounded by the physical world and time
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and space. When you pray to a saint, the saint is essentially sitting
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right side, listening to every word, and will then go and add his
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prayers to yours before Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit. The unity
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of the Trinity in three persons, and the Bible says God, here's the
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prayers of the righteous man. I don't know about you, but I'm not
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perfect. I sin, Yeah, every day. Surely the saints in heaven
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are freed from sin. They're pure they're perfectly righteous. When I pray to
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us the saints in heaven, my prayers are magnified. That's only logical given
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the foundational principles of Biblical Christianity. I'm not really sure why this should be
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a bane of contention or a bone of contention. That's an interesting saying.
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Actually, bain Okay, I'm not going to get into that, but bain
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essentially means a poison and bone, of course is a bone that came from
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an animal, and a bane will hurt somebody and dogs will fight over a
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bone. So it can actually be bane of contention or bone of contention because
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it could be something that makes somebody sick, or it could be something people
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argue and fight over. So it can be used different ways. And that's
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just just a total tangent. So just lay that to the side. But
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I may use it one way or the other. And now you know what
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I'm talking about. If I say it again, let's get into when I
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say John Chapter one. First, John, dear friends, we are already
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God's children, But what shall we be in the future has what we shall
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be in the future has not yet been revealed. We are well aware that
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when he appears, we shall be like him because we shall see him as
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he really is. Whoever treasures this hope of himself purifies himself to be as
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pure as he is. When we see Jesus, we shall be like him,
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as I said, very well, many protestantly he took issue when I
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said that people in heaven become like God. It's like God is so much
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higher. So yes he is. But if you believe the Bible, you
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believe we will become like him. We will be perfected. As he said,
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you must be perfect as your father in heaven is perfect. It's not
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humanly possible. It's only through God's grace and the sacraments. The first verse
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of this chapter proves of the saints in heaven are witnessed to our actions.
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The second proves that the saints in heaven had become like Jesus and are no
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longer limited by time and space. They are eternal and have all knowledge,
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and certainly here our prayers. Hebrews twelve one and twenty two through twenty four.
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With so many witnesses, this is one you know, I've referenced several
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times now, with so many witnesses in a great cloud all around us,
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We too, then, should throw off everything that weighs us down, and
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the sin that clings so closely, and the perseverance to keep running the race
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which is ahead of us. But what have you come to? But what
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you have come to is Mount Zion and the city of the Living God,
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the heavenly Jerusalem, where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival,
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with the whole Church of the firstborn Son enrolled the citizens of Heaven. You
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have come to God himself, the Supreme Judge, and to the Spirit of
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the Upright, who have been made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator
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of a new covenant, and to purifying blood, which pleads more intensely than
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aples'. Those are the saints in heaven. They've been purified, they've been
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made perfect, and they are now part of the great cloud of witnesses all
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around us, the angels and saints. You know, maybe part of the
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problem is processes tend to think of Heaven is being out there somewhere away from
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life on earth, you know, as if it were literally somewhere beyond the
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sun, existing in our space. God is not bound by time and space,
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literally heaven and is right here with us we are surrounded by that cloud
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of witnesses. We are limited and unable to see. And that's probably a
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very comforting thought for most people. They don't realize that everything they do and
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say and think is being seen, heard and observed and understood because we are
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so sinful. But the very truth is the only thing separating us from heaven,
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as opposed in terms of perceiving it. We shall say is our limited
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mortal perception when we die, if we go to heaven, I should never
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say, when we go to heaven, I should say. If someone will
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go to hell, many of us will spend time in purgatory. Most of
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us, God willing, will have that opportunity so that we can be purified
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before entering heaven. Then we will be perfect, and we will become like
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Jesus and like the angels, and we'll spend the rest of attorney praying for
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our family. It's still on earth, trying to work it out and praising
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God. That's the Christian mission, that's the body of Christ. Hebrews thirteen
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one through two tells us that the angels interact with us far more than we
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know. Continue to love one and continue to love each other like brothers,
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and remember always to welcome strangers, for by doing this some have entertained angels
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without knowing it. How many people in your life, how many people have
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you interacted that may have actually been angels? Was that Catholic superstition? Well,
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the Bible says it. The Bible says it Hebrews thirteen one through two.
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You're a Christian, you believe in the Bible. Believe what the Bible
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says. Revelations one through twenty. Revelations will take a little time. The
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secret of the seven stars you have seen in my right hand and the seven
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golden lamp stands is this. The seven stars are the angels of the seven
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churches, and the lamp stands are the seven churches themselves. Every church has
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an angel that looks over and protects it and helps the people in that church.
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Says it in the Book of Revelations. Are you talking with your angel?
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You know, if I go to Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pinehurst,
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North Carolina, where I have a relative, and I go sometimes, you
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know, it's never once occurred to me to pray to the angel of the
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Church of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Pinehurst, North Carolina, that's a failure
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on my part. There is an angel that is in charge of that church
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and looks over every single person in that church, just as Jesus said,
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every child had an angel that was before the face of the Father, praying
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and advocating for that child Revelation one twenty, while we just do that Revelation
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three one through twelve, right to the Angel of the Church of Sardis and
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say, here's the message of the one that holds the seven spirits of the
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seven Stars. I know about your behavior. How is reputed to be alive
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and yet are dead? Think about this, okay. First of all,
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he's referencing the Angel of the Church of Sardis and says, I know about
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your behavior. Now, why deprisants think that saints and angels can't hear our
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prayers? When right here in the Book of Revelation, the angel who's speaking
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to Saint John says, right to the age Jewel of the Church and sorrities
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and say, here's the message of the one that holds the seven spirits of
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God and the seven stars. I know about your behavior. How are you
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are reputed to be alive and yet are dead? Wake up? Put some
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resolve in what little vigor you have left, it is dying fast. So
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far I have failed to notice anything in your behavior that my God could possibly
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call perfect. Remember how you first heard the message. Hold on to that
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repent. Okay. He goes on exhorts him quite a bit, quite a
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bit. And what is he saying. I know what you're thinking and doing.
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I am telling you, I am at prayed for you, I'm advocating
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for you. But God's not happy with you. If you can have a
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relationship with angels and saints, you may be vented or warned about when you
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are going to error. I cannot tell you in the two thousand years of
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Christian history, how many people have said they have been spared from making terrible
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mistakes because they were warned by angels, or had a dream where a saint
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told them, or just heard a nudge of voice. It's happened to me,
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It's happened to everyone I know, actually, and Protestants and Catholics alike.
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If you don't see the influence of angels and saints in your life,
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you're just not listening. And he also warned them that if they didn't go
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back to their original faith and hold fast to the teachings of the apostles that
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their crown of salvation may be taken from them. That's yeah. I mean,
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if I'm going that far astray, I want to be warned. So
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I mean, I am going to absolutely do my best to have a firm
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relationship, certainly with Jesus Christ, certainly with the Holy Spirit, certainly with
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a father, but also his family, the angels and saints, because we're
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all part of one body. Revelations four, four, four, and ten
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through eleven, round the throne in a circle were twenty four thrones and twenty
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four elders sitting dressed in white robes with crowns on their heads. Those are
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saints, those are martyrs. The twenty four elders prostrated themselves, prostrated themselves
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before him to worship the one who lives forever and ever, and threw down
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their crones in front of him, saying, you are worthy, our Lord
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and God to receive glory and honor and power, for you made the whole
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universe by your will, when it did not exist, it was created.
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Those are Christians who have died or faithful Jews. Even they may be martyrs,
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as the various levels in heaven, as it says in the Bible in
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several places, especially in Revelations, But those are certainly some of the most
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righteous of the saints. Revelations five, five, seven through eight. But
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one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Look the lion
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of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed, and he
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will open the scroll. And at seventh seal, the lamb came forward to
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take the scroll with his right hand, one sitting on the throne. And
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when he took it, the four living creatures prostrated themselves before him, and
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the twenty four elders, each one of them holding a harp in a golden
33:44
bowl full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. First of
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all, this isn't Jesus talking to Saint John. This is not one of
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the angels talk to Saint John. This is one of the elders, one
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of the twenty for saints that probably represent a great multitude of saints. We
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know the symbology of numbers in the Bible, and the prayers. The golden
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bulfull of incense is the prayers of the saints. If the prayers of the
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saints were not efficacious. If they had no meaning, they would not have
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been written about and given to Saint John. In this vision, who are
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the saints? They are those who are with God in heaven. Who are
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they praying for? They have no need of everything, they have complete fullness
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of everything. But like in the parable of the rich Man and Lazareth,
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the rich Man is asking Abraham, a saint, please help my family on
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earth. Please send Lazarres and the Abraham. The saint says, you know
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what, if they wouldn't listen to Moses, they're not going to listen to
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someone who raised from the dead. And of course Jesus was raised for the
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dead. So it's a very deep meaning parable when we think about it.
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The saints are praying for us on earth. Who else could they be praying
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for? Everything is perfected in heaven. They're not praying for themselves. They're
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already in heaven. They had the beatific vision, the full vision of God.
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They're blessed. They're not praying for the angels. The angels have no
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need of their prayers. They are praying for those on earth, and right
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here in the Book of Revelations, chapter five, is enough to dispel all
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Protestant belief about angels and saints and should convince anyone with an open mind the
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role of the saints in heaven and Remember Revelations is one of the books that
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Martin Luther wanted to cut out of the Bible. You tell me if he
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was an agent of God or an Antichrist. I believe fully he was a
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very evil man. Check an upset some people, Sure it will, but
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get a Catholic Bible, compared it to a Protestant Bible, and then read
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his own writings and see what you think. Don't just believe what you've been
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told. What you've been told is probably a lot of lies, a lot
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of lies, anti Catholic, bigoted lies. Revelation six nine through eleven.
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We're told that the martyrs are saints. When he broke the Fifth Seal,
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I saw underneath the altar the souls of all the people who had been killed
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on account of the word of God for witnessing to it. They shouted in
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a loud voice, wholly true, Master, how much longer will you wait
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before you pass sentence and take vengeance for our deaths on the inhabitants of the
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earth. Each one of them was given a white robe, and they were
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told to be patient a little while longer until the role was completed of their
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fellow servants and their brothers who were still to be killed as they had been.
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Not only are martyr saints, but they are certainly very concerned with what's
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taking place on earth. Then, Revelation seven nine through seventeen tells us of
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the huge numbers of Christian saints in heaven. After that, I saw that
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there was a huge number, impossible for anyone to count, of people from
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every nation, race, and language. They were standing in front of the
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throne, in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms
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in their hands. They shouted in a loud voice, salvation to our God
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who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb and all the angels,
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who were standing in a circle round the throne, surrounding the elders and the
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four living creatures. Prostrated themselves before the throne and touched the ground with their
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foreheads, worshiping God with these words Amen, praise and glory and wisdom,
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thanksgiving, an honor and power and strength to our God forever and ever where
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they amen and one of the elders then spoke to me and ask, who
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are these people dressed in white? And where have they come from? I
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answered them, can you tell me, sir? Then he said, these
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are the people who have been brought through great trial. They have washed their
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robes white again in the blood of the Lamb. That is why they are
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standing in front of God's throne and serving him night and day in this sanctuary.
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And the one who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.
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Then would never hunger or thirst again, sun and scorching wind would never
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plague them, because the Lamb who is at the heart of the throne will
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be their shepherd and would guide them to springs of water, and God will
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wipe away all tears from their eyes. That is the mass of believing Christians,
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the saints in heaven where we hope to be one day, where if
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we persevere and pray to the living and those living more abundantly in heaven,
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to all those in those white robes to help us and guide us, we
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may one where day be with them. Revelation eight three through four. Another
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angel who had a golden censor came and stood by the altar. A large
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quantity of incense was given to him to offer with prayer, with the prayers
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of all the saints, on the golden altar that stood in front of the
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throne. And so from the Angel's hand the smoke of incense went up in
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the presence of God, and with it the prayers of the saints, the
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prayers of the saints. He looked, my Southern Baptist friend, who was
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you know, all angry with me earlier because I dared say there was such
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a thing as the prayers of the saints. Grab your book, your bible.
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Grab go to the Book of Revelations, Chapter eight, Revelations one sixteen
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through eighteen. It's probably ten sixteen through eighteen. I think I left off
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the zero twenty four Elders and Throne to the presence of God, prostrated themselves
39:58
and touched the ground with the foreheads, worshiping God with these words, we
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give you thanks, Almighty God, who is who he was, He who
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was, for assuming your great power and beginning your reign. The nations were
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an uproar, roar. And now the time has come for your retribution and
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for the dead to be judged, and for your servants, the prophets,
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for the saints, and for those who fear your name, small and great
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alike to be rewarded. The kid has come to destroy those who are destroying
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the earth. More saints, more saints. The next passage is actually specifically
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about the blessed Virgin Mary, the Queen of Heaven. She is the mother
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of God, which makes her, by title and right, the Queen of
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Heaven. Now, a great sign appeared in heaven. A woman rode with
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the sun standing on the moon on her head a crowd of twelve stars,
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you know, twelve apostles. She was pregnant and twelve house says it means
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the culmination, the fulfillment of time. It goes on. She was pregnant
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in labor, crying aloud in the pangs of childbirth. The second sign appeared
41:08
in the sky, and there was a huge red dragon with seven heads and
41:13
ten horns, and each of the seven heads crowned with a coronet. It's
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till swept away a third of the stars in the sky and hurled them to
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the ground. It said that a third of the angels turned against God and
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followed the devil. Yeah, it's pretty plain when you actually understand the context,
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and the dragon stopped in front of the woman as she was on the
41:35
point of giving births, as you could kill the child as soon as it
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was born. The woman was delivered. The woman was delivered of a boy
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and the son who was to rule all nations with an iron scepter. The
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child was taken straight up to God to his throne. The woman escaped to
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the desert, where God had prepared a place for her to be looked after
41:52
for twelve hundred and sixty days. That's a visionary, allegorical story of the
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birth of Christ, who would defeat the devil and redeem mankind. As soon
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as the dragon found himself hurled down to earth, he sprang in pursuit of
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the woman, the mother of the male child, but she was given a
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pair of great eagles wings to fly away from the serpent to the desert.
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This isn't even just allegorical about the flight into Egypt when Mary and Joseph and
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the infant Jesus had to escape from Herod. Mary is the mother of God,
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is the mother of the Church, and this we are seeing that the
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devil persecutes the church, but he can't succeed, so the serpent vomited water
42:37
from his mouth like a river, half of the woman, to sweep her
42:40
away in the current. But the earth came to rescue her. It opened
42:45
its mouth and swallowed the river that was spewed from the dragon's mouth. Then
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the dragon was enraged with a woman and went away to make war on the
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rest of her children, who obey God's commandments and have in themselves the witness
42:58
of Jesus, God being outside of time. You could even say that was
43:01
an allegory to the Jews crossing through the Red Sea. I mean, you
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know many allegories, many symbolic messages there. But the mother of Jesus,
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the woman who gives birth to the son who defeats the devil. Who else
43:17
could he be but married the mother of God Revelation at chapter eighteen. They
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threw dust on their heads and said, with tears and groans, more and
43:27
mourn for this great city, whose lavish living has made a fortune for every
43:31
owner of a seagoing ship ruined with a single hour. Now heavens celebrate her
43:36
downfall. And all you saints, apostles and prophets, God has given judgment
43:40
for you against her. The saints are celebrating at the fall of the Great
43:52
Pagan City. Revelation nineteen went through ten. After this, I heard what
43:58
seemed to be the great sound of a huge crowd in heaven, singing Allelujah,
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Salvation, glory and power to our God. He judges fairly, he
44:07
punishes justly, and he is condemned the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with
44:12
her prostitution. He has avenged the blood of the servants which are shed.
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And again they sang, Allelujah. The smoke of her will, the smoke
44:20
of her will rise forever and ever. Then the twenty four elders and the
44:23
living creatures threw themselves down and worship with God. Praise God, your youth,
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servants of his and those who fear Him, small and great alike.
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And I heard what seemed to be the voice of a huge crowd, like
44:37
the sound of an oceanally the great roar of thunder, answering allelujah. The
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reign of our Lord, God Almighty has begun. Let us be glad and
44:44
joyful and give glory to God. Because this is the time for the marriage
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of the Lamb. His bride is ready, and she has been able to
44:51
dress herself in dazzling white linen, because her linen is made of good deeds
44:55
of the saints. Her linen is made of the good deeds of the saint.
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The Angel said, right this, blessed there are those who are invited
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to the wedding feasts of the Lamb. Then he added, these words of
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God are true. I nawed his feet to worship him, but he said
45:09
to me, never do that. I am your fellow servant, and the
45:13
fellow servant of all your brothers, who have in themselves the witness of Jesus
45:17
God. Alone, you must worship the witness of Jesus's spirit of prophecy.
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There's a lot here, okay. First of all, and this one.
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In the last verse, we talked about the great, the allegorical city of
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Babylon. At this time, the apostles used the word Babylon as a code
45:37
word for Rome, because if they were caught speaking against Rome, they would
45:42
be executed. This was pagan Rome before Rome became Christian. This is the
45:50
vision of Rome becoming Christian and the Church spreading throughout all the world through the
45:55
Holy Roman Empire under Charlemagne and Constant Team. It has many other allegorical allusions
46:07
going back to Israel and Babylon and Egypt and all that. But this is
46:14
what was beginning to take place as Rome was being Christianized through the charitable works
46:22
of Christians who were caring for the poor, taking babies off the trash heap
46:25
and raising them as their own, adopting them. And we hear this interesting
46:34
phrase about the wedding garment. Remember when Jesus gives his parable of the wedding
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feast in which some would come and the master of the feast would say they
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were not dressed in their wedding garment and would be thrown out into suffering,
46:52
wailing and nashing of teeth. To receive your wedding garment is to be baptized
46:59
and confirmed into the Catholic Church. There's a lot in this verse that's Revelations
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nineteen went through ten. Well, of course, the church is the bride
47:09
of Christ. So you see that when we began to understand the Book of
47:15
Revelation in context as well through the tradition that can tell us what Saint John
47:23
actually meant, it actually makes a lot of sense and isn't as hard to
47:29
figure out as so many people think. I mean, how many nutball cults
47:37
have predicted the end of the world through false interpretations of the Book of Revelation.
47:45
And all them said they were guided through the Holy Spirit to their understanding,
47:49
which turned out to be false. So you know, without the tradition
47:53
of the Church, how do you understand it? You can't Revelation twenty fourth
48:00
through six. Then I saw thrones where they took their seats, and on
48:04
them were conferred the power to give judgment. I saw the souls of all
48:08
who had been beheaded for witnessing for Jesus and for having preached God's word,
48:14
and those who refused to worship the beasts or his statue and would not accept
48:19
the brand mark on their forehead or hands. They came to life and reign
48:22
with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come
48:27
to life until a thousand years were over. This was the First Resurrection.
48:30
Blessed and holy are those who shall share in the first resurrection. The second
48:36
death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and
48:39
of Christ and reign with Him for a thousand years. So you don't think
48:45
the saints in heaven have power. God has actually delegated them power to judge.
48:53
It says it in the Bible. Maybe you want to be talking with
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them. I'm just saying, what does he also say? What does Jesus
49:04
also say? Go and try to work things out before you go to the
49:12
judge, Otherwise the ruling may be more harsh. Yes, there are saints
49:19
alive in heaven. Yes, they know our thoughts, every thought. Indeed,
49:23
they see every deed we do. They know every thought we have,
49:25
They hear every word. We are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses.
49:30
What does a witness do? A witness is not a title, It's an
49:35
action. A witness sees, a witness observes. Saint Paul said, we're
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surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses. We see in the Book of
49:44
Revelation that they're not only witnesses, but they are given some of God's authority
49:49
to judge us here on earth. You know, it's like Reverend the Venerable,
49:57
he should be saints, God willing soon will be. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
50:01
said, there's not I don't know. He said, not twelve people or
50:06
not one hundred people on earth who actually hate the Catholic Church, but there
50:09
are million people, millions of people who hate what they believe the Catholic Church
50:15
to be. If you think the Catholic that Catholics worship angels and saints,
50:23
you're wrong. You're just playing flat on its face wrong. But if you
50:30
don't take the time to realize the reality of angels and saints as explained in
50:36
the Bible and more fully explained in the Catechism the Catholic Church and two thousand
50:40
years of Christian writing, you're missing out on so much. You know.
50:47
If you don't want to be the one that comes to the wedding feast without
50:52
wearing the wedding garment, ah, maybe you ought to talk to the experts
50:57
about it. Maybe you'll talk to those that are in heaven and who can
51:04
grant you some guidance and advocate on your behalf and help you get a little
51:09
leeway when you get it wrong. And you know, you don't have to
51:14
take my word for it. That's what the Bible says. So I hope
51:21
Protestants and Catholics can begin to see eyed eye on this. Like I said,
51:25
the relationship of the Christian to the saints and angels is not exclusive to
51:30
Catholics. Every single Protestant can take advantage of the advocacy of angels and saints
51:37
and can have a relationship with them, and it will help build up the
51:40
Body of Christ. You are missing out on so much if you persist in
51:51
ignorance and bigotry. All right, y'all, in the words of Saint Padre
51:59
Pio, who is advocating for me right now in heaven because I've asked him
52:04
to, and for anyone else who will ask him to, and for many
52:09
of you probably don't ask him to. He's a great saint, and in
52:14
his words, pray, hope, and don't worry. And Lucia's Thursday night.
52:21
I don't normally do a Friday show, so I'll probably talk to you
52:23
on Monday, but who knows, maybe i'll talk to you tomorrow. We'll
52:27
see how it goes, y'all, have a go one