Ten Commandments: Protestant vs. Catholic

Did you know that the Catholics have a different version of the Ten Commandments than Protestants? I am a former devout Catholic, who never knew this until today, so this is news to me, but is certainly no surprise. 

	Protestant	Catholic
1.	You shall have no other gods before me.	I am the Lord thy God. Thou shall not have strange gods before Me.
2.	You shall not make for yourselves an idol or a graven image.	Thou shall not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
3.	You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God.	Remember to keep holy the Lord's day.
4.	Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.	Honor thy father and mother.
5.	Honor your father and your mother.	Thou shall not kill.
6.	You shall not murder.	Thou shall not commit adultery.
7.	You shall not commit adultery.	Thou shall not steal.
8.	You shall not steal.	Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
9.	You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.	Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's wife.
10.	You shall not covet.	Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's goods.

Please note that the Catholics removed the second commandment against making an idol or a graven image, and they split the tenth commandment into two commandments about coveting, which is completely unnecessary, since God forbids coveting in all forms. It’s no wonder they have all those graven images that they bow down to, because they removed the commandment prohibiting that practice. 

Ten Commandments Passage in Scripture

Here is what the Bible actually says in the King James version (I have added the commandment numbers beside the Bible verses below):

I. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. (Exo 20:3)

II. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Exo 20:4-6)

III. Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. (Exo 20:7)

IV. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exo 20:8-11)

V. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee. (Exo 20:12)

VI. Thou shalt not kill. (Exo 20:13)

VII. Thou shalt not commit adultery. (Exo 20:14)

VIII. Thou shalt not steal. (Exo 20:15)

IX. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. (Exo 20:16)

X. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's. (Exo 20:17)

Catholic Ten Commandments Bible Passage

Here is what it says in the Catholic Douay-Rheims version, in which they have added a footnote justifying graven images, as long as they are not adored or served as divine:

1 And the Lord spoke all these words:  2 I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  3 Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.  4 Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of those things that are in the waters under the earth.  5 Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them: I am the Lord thy God, mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:

[4] "A graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing": All such images, or likenesses, are forbidden by this commandment, as are made to be adored and served; according to that which immediately follows, thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them. That is, all such as are designed for idols or image-gods, or are worshipped with divine honour. But otherwise images, pictures, or representations, even in the house of God, and in the very sanctuary so far from being forbidden, are expressly authorized by the word of God. See Ex. 25. 15, and etc.; chap. 38. 7; Num. 21. 8, 9; 1 Chron. or Paralip. 28. 18, 19; 2 Chron. or Paralip. 3. 10.

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep my commandments.  7 Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain.  8 Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day.  9 Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works.  10 But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: thou shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that is within thy gates. 11 For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day: therefore the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.  12 Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayest be longlived upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee.  13 Thou shalt not kill. 14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.  15 Thou shalt not steal.  16 Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.  17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house: neither shalt thou desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is his. [End of Bible quote].

You will notice that in their footnote, they had to add to the Word of God, since any thinking Catholic person reading this would otherwise wonder how they could have so many images in their churches and homes that they bow down to, when the Word of God clearly forbids it. In their footnote, they say, “All such images, or likenesses, are forbidden by this commandment, as are made to be adored and served; according to that which immediately follows, thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them. That is, all such as are designed for idols or image-gods, or are worshipped with divine honour. But otherwise images, pictures, or representations, even in the house of God, and in the very sanctuary so far from being forbidden, are expressly authorized by the word of God.”

Grave Errors or Intentionally Misleading

I want to draw your attention to three grave errors they have made in this Bible. Or are they intentionally misleading people?

First, they teach in this footnote that all graven images are forbidden that are “made to be adored and served; according to that which immediately follows, thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them. That is, all such as are designed for idols or image-gods, or are worshipped with divine honour.” They are teaching here that a graven image is only forbidden if it is “made to be adored and served…such as those that are designed for idols or image-gods, or are to be worshiped with divine honour.” In saying this, they teach here that only graven images designed as such are forbidden, and only if you adore them and serve them, but that is not what the Word of God says. God said, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them.” God did not make exceptions to this commandment.

Secondly, not only did they add a misleading footnote to the Word of God, they also changed a word in verse 5 and in their footnote about it. They changed the expression “bow down” to “adore”, and by doing so, they allow people to bow down before graven images, as long as they don’t adore them. But the original Hebrew language of Scripture uses the word “shâchâh” (pronounced shaw-khaw'), a primitive root meaning “to depress, that is, prostrate; bow (self) down, crouch, fall down (flat), humbly beseech, do (make) obeisance, do reverence, make to stoop, worship.” The Hebrew word “shâchâh” clearly means to bow down, as it is correctly translated in the King James version. But the Catholic Bible changes that to be “adore” instead. Adore means “worship; venerate.” So the Catholic Bible only forbids the worship or veneration of graven images in certain cases, such as those that are designed to be idol-gods, for example. It’s no wonder many Catholics kiss icons, such as statues of Mary and Jesus, as well as Jesus on the cross. In fact, during Catholic mass on Good Friday, venerating (kissing) the feet of Jesus on the cross is an actual ceremony they practice.

Thirdly, they teach in the footnote that using certain types of graven images in worship is expressly authorized by God in Scripture. They use references to verses that actually do NOT authorize any such thing, like Exodus 25:15, which states: "The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed." Another verse they falsely claim authorizes such things is Exodus 38:7, which says: "They inserted the poles into the rings so they would be on the sides of the altar for carrying it. They made it hollow, out of boards."  

Another verse they cited is Numbers 21:8-9, which says, "The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, they lived." As Google AI correctly says of this: "God did not command the creation of an idol, but a symbol for healing that was not meant to be worshipped, thus it did not violate the second commandment. The bronze serpent was a specific, divinely appointed tool for a temporary situation, meant to be a symbol of faith and healing, not a deity. Looking at the serpent was an act of faith, not idolatry...The problem arose later, when the people began to worship the bronze serpent as an idol. King Hezekiah eventually destroyed it to correct this misuse. This later misuse does not make the original command a violation of the commandment."

They also cite 1Ch 28:18-19 in the footnote, which in no way violates the second commandment, but speaks of the gold cherubim over the ark of the covenant. While there were gold cherubim that God directed Moses to make over the atonement cover of the ark, they were not to be bowed down to, worshiped, or served in any way. They were simply made after the pattern in heaven, whereby there are actual cherubim around the throne of God, since the ark of the covenant represented the presence of the Lord. It's atonement cover had what was called a mercy seat where the glory of God would appear when God would speak to Moses, and this is where the high priest would sprinkle blood once a year to make atonement for his own sins and the sins of the people.

Of course, most people would not bother to look up those verses to see that in no way do they authorize the practice of anything that God has forbidden in the second commandment, which forbids bowing down to graven images. Those verses don't even have anything to do with what God forbids in the second commandment.

Scriptures

"But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death." (Rev 21:8)

"Outside are the dogs, those who practice magic arts, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters and everyone who loves and practices falsehood." (Rev 22:15)

"Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God." (1Co 6:9-11).

"But now I am writing to you that you must not associate with anyone who claims to be a brother or sister but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or slanderer, a drunkard or swindler. Do not even eat with such people." (1Co 5:11)

"Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written: 'The people sat down to eat and drink and got up to indulge in revelry.'" (1Co 10:7)

"Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry." (1Co 10:14)

"What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people.'"  (2Co 6:16) 

"The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God." (Gal 5:19-21)

"Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived. The second beast was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that the image could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed." (Rev 13:14-15)

"Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar." (Pro 30:5-6)

Closing Words

As I have proven in this article, the Roman Catholic Church is not based on the solid foundation of God's Word. Rather, it has literally changed the Word of God to make it say what they want it to say, in order to allow people to commit blatant idolatry in violation of God's commandments. They've also added a footnote into the text of the Bible to justify certain forms of idolatry, by saying that such practices are not idolatry and are not forbidden. They've even deleted one of the Ten Commandments (the second one) in their catechism that is used to teach Catholics their beliefs. 

All of this is a cover or excuse for the fact that they can’t resist falling down before a statue. The devil loves idolatry, because he wants to take as many people to hell with him as possible, and he knows that no idolater will enter the kingdom of God (1Co 6:9-10; Rev 21:8;22:15). He also knows how prone man is to worshiping images that he can see. His demons get into those idols and steal worship from God. In fact, this is going to be one of the ways the antichrist will rule the world by compelling everyone in the world to commit idolatry. His false prophet will force everyone, except those whose names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life, to worship his image or be killed if they refuse to do so (Rev 13:14-15).

I close with the words of the apostle John in the New Testament, with which he closes his first epistle. "Dear children, keep yourselves from idols." (1Jn 5:21).

Attribution notice: Except where otherwise noted, most Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission.  

Author's note:  I also recommend reading Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshipping Idols, The Truth About the Roman Catholic Church, Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, and Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell. You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Truth About the Roman Catholic Church

Pagan phallic symbol at the Vatican

I am a formerly devout, confirmed Roman Catholic, who served as an altar boy for several years, and later as a lector (reader) at mass. I have visited the Vatican and stood there in the crowd as Pope John Paul gave a general address to the audience back in around 1982. In my previous articles, I have revealed the shocking truth about the Roman Catholic Church from a theological, doctrinal, practical, traditional, and moral perspective. As an insider with first-hand knowledge and experience, I write these things in love, with the hopes that those who are still in that religion would know the truth that will set them free. In this post, I would like to make all those past articles available in one place for those who want to do some in-depth research or share this information with a friend or loved one for their information.

Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church

Why Infant Baptism is Not Scriptural

Pagan Symbols of the Popes

Pope Frances Supports Homosexuality

Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshiping Idols

Former Pope in Hell Declared a Saint

New Age-New World Order

Pope Establishes One World Religion

Catholic Priests Molesting Children

False Prophet Pope Pushing for the Mark of the Beast?
The Marine Kingdom and Queen of the Coast

Ten Commandments: Catholic vs. Protestant

If you will take the time to read each of these posts prayerfully, and do your research in the Bible, in Church history, and in other authentic, verifiable sources to see if these things are really true, you will discover that what I am telling you is the honest truth. When I say prayerfully, I mean you need to pray and ask God to show you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and the door shall be opened.

The Roman Catholic Church is corrupt from top to bottom and is run like the mafia, which I can say based on reliable sources within the Catholic Church itself. I am not referring to some isolated incident or some trifling doctrinal difference that I have with the church. This is an occult, Babylonian religion that will lead you down to hell. It is not the true Christian Church that was started by Christ, and which we read about in the New Testament. It's a phony imitation of the Church -- a whore church -- that has satan's fingerprints and designs all over it. It certainly has enough documented, factual evidence of systematic sexual abuse going back over the past thousand years to be considered a perverted sex cult.

Therefore, in my opinion it is not something that we should seek to reform, since its leadership has already had many opportunities to do so in the past and failed miserably. Despite all the precious, sincere, well-meaning people who are a part of it without knowing any better, and who may consider themselves to be true lovers of God, the fact is that it is a satanic sect, which you need to escape from for the sake of your own soul and the souls of your family members. God loves each one of you and doesn't want you to perish.

Think about it. If I am wrong, then when you do your research, beginning with the links above, you can prove to your own satisfaction that I am wrong based on Scripture and historical facts. In that case, you would have nothing to worry about. But if I'm right, which I know I am with God as my witness, then the stakes are high and your soul depends on what I have presented to you here. If you really want to know the truth, then you will not be disappointed. Either way, no matter what you do, you will find out the truth at the judgment seat of Christ. Find out now before it's too late!

Author's note: If you enjoyed this article, I recommend Angelica Zambrano's First Visit to Hell and Angelica Zambrano's Second Visit to Hell. I also recommend watching Sister Charlotte- A Nun's Testimony.I also suggest visiting the Ivarjed website that has a photo journal of some horrible acts of paganism in the Catholic Church, and Jack Chick's page on Catholicism. My testimony of how I came to know Christ is found in my article called The Truth Set Me Free!. I also recommend my daughter's poem, The Dazzling Wine of Deception. You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Messages from the Lord for Catholics Worshiping Idols

Today I would like to post a collection of messages that people have received from the Lord Jesus Christ for Catholics worshipping idols.  These people also received messages for others, not just Catholics worshipping idols.  But I would like to highlight this particular topic, so that you can see the strong warnings that Lord has been giving them.

Crushed and Cast From His Sight
In Visitation of Jesus to Samuel Oghenetega, I documented that the Lord gave brother Samuel a message for Catholics worshipping idols.  He said, "Tell those worshipping idols, especially the Roman Catholics, that they should stop doing that or I will crush them and cast them from my sight into the lake of fire where there shall be gnashing of teeth and their smoke shall rise forever."

Idolatry Will Not Save Anyone

In Angelica Zambrano Hell and Heaven, I documented that sister Angelica saw many famous people in hell, including a past pope, John Paul II. She said the Lord showed her this man's life on earth and the reasons he is in hell today (I have covered some of these in a previous post already).

Here is an excerpt of her testimony, Prepare to meet your God! The Kingdoms of Heaven & Hell, and the Return of CHRIST (aka. 23 Horas Muertra):

Then the Lord took me to place where there was a very well-known man.  Before now, I used to live as a double minded young Christian girl.  I used to think that any person that died would go to Heaven; that those who celebrated mass, would also go to heaven, but I was wrong.  When Pope John Paul II died, my friends and relatives would tell me that he had gone to heaven.  All the news on TV, on Extra and many other places would say, "Pope John Paul II has died, may he rest in peace.  He is now rejoicing with the Lord and his angels in heaven" and I believed all of it.  But I was only fooling myself, because I saw him in Hell, being tormented by flames.  I looked at his face, it was John Paul II!  The Lord said to me, "Look, Daughter, that man that you see there, is Pope John Paul II.  He is here in this place; he is being tormented because he did not repent."

But I asked, "Lord, why is he here? He used to preach at church." Jesus replied, "Daughter, no fornicator, no idolater, no one who is greedy and no liar will inherit My Kingdom." (Eph 5:5) I replied, "Yes, I know that is true, but I want to know why he is here, because he used to preach to multitudes of people!" And Jesus responded, "Yes, Daughter, he may have said many things, but he would never speak the truth as it is.  He never said the truth and they know the truth and although he knew the truth, he preferred money over preaching about salvation.  He would not offer reality; would not say that hell is real and that heaven also exists; Daughter, now he is here in this place."

When I looked at this man, he had a large serpent with needles, wrapped around his throat, and he would try to take it off.  I pleaded with Jesus, "Lord, help him!"  The man would scream, "Help me, Lord; have mercy on me; take me out of this place; forgive me!  I repent, Lord; I want to return to Earth, I want to go back to Earth to repent." The Lord observed him and said to him, "You very well knew.  You knew very well that this place was real...It's too late; there is no other opportunity for you."

The Lord said, "Look, Daughter, I am going to show you the life of this man."  Jesus showed me a huge screen on which I could observe how this man offered mass many times to the multitudes.  And how the people who were there were so idolatrous.  Jesus said, "Look, Daughter, there are many idolaters in this place.  Idolatry will not save, Daughter.  I am the only One who saves, and outside of Me, no one saves.  I love the sinner, but I hate sin, Daughter.  Go and tell humanity that I love them and that they need to come to Me."

As the Lord was speaking, I began to see how this man received multitudes of coins and bills; money, all of which he would keep.  He had so much money.  I saw images of this man seated on a throne, but I was also able to see beyond that.  While it's true that these people do not get married, I can assure you, I'm not making this up, the Lord showed it to me, those people do sleep with nuns; with many women there!

The Lord showed me these people living in fornication, and the Word says that no fornicator will inherit His Kingdom.  As I was watching all of this, the Lord told me, "Look Daughter, all of this which I am showing you is what goes on, what he lived and what keeps on happening among many people, among many priests and popes existing." Then he told me, "Daughter, go and tell humanity that it's time to turn to Me."

Mary Worship in Photos
Here are some photos from around the web that depict this sin. Some images may be copyright protected.  No copyright infringement intended.

Other Forms of Idolatry
The worship of Mary is not the only form of idolatry found in the Catholic Church.  There are many other types of idolatry practiced as well.  For example, Catholics greet the Pope and Bishop by kneeling or bowing and kissing the ring.  When they bow down to kiss this gold ring, they break the Second Commandment. There are also many statues and images of the Pope that Catholics pray to.  They bow before many relics, including human skulls and pieces of human flesh.  For example, they bow and kiss ornate boxes containing human hearts, human tongues, and other objects supposed to have come from saints. In Hungary they have the right hand of saint Stephen in a box.  Pope Benedict XVI was photographed kissing a container with tapped blood of the dying late pope John Paul II.

There is an overwhelming amount of evidence of this kind of idolatry in the Catholic Church around the world, and I strongly urge you to visit the Ivarjed website that has a photo journal of these horrible acts of paganism, so you can see for yourself what they do.  They even have a photo of the pope kissing the Muslim Koran.  

Another example is their worship of the eucharist, which is the man-made communion element used in taking the Lord's Supper.  The Catechism says, "The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession."

They enclose the bread in an ornate container made of gold and expose it on an altar or carry it in a procession (parade) for people to adore.  They call it the Blessed Sacrament and even pray to it.  In fact, they even have Perpetual Adoration 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.  Where in Scripture does it say to do this?  Praying to an object encased in gold violates Scripture.  Those who worship God must worship in Spirit and in Truth.

My Personal Deliverance from Idolatry
I recall when I first gave my life to Jesus Christ as a young soldier in the US Army in 1986.  Having been raised Roman Catholic, I repented of my sin and called upon the Lord to save me.  He came to live in my heart and set me free from many forms of bondage, including drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, sexual immorality, and even idolatry.  Nobody had to tell me these things were wrong, because the Holy Spirit living inside me convicted me.

I remember when I sat alone in my room in the barracks, and held my plastic statues in my hand, as I prepared to throw them in the trash.  I contemplate what I was about to do.  I knew I was either about to commit the greatest act of sacrilege, and a bolt of lightning was about to strike me if I followed through with it, or else I was about to break away from a lifetime of horrible bondage to idolatry.  I threw them away, and no lightning bolt hit, but I was definitely set free from idolatry and never went back.  The Lord has been faithful to reveal Himself to me over the past twenty-eight years through His Word and by His Spirit.  I have received many wonderful answers to prayer, and never once had to commit idolatry to do so.

Scripture Meditations
"You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me," (Exo 20:4-5)

"But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler--not even to eat with such a one." (1Co 5:11)

"Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God." (1Co 6:9-10)

"Do not be idolaters, as some of them were; as it is written, "'The people sat down to eat and drink, and stood up to play.'" (1Co 10:7)

"You know that when you were pagans, you were led astray to the mute idols, however you were led." (1Co 12:2)

"Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.'" (2Co 6:16)

"Little children, guard yourselves from idols." (1Jn 5:21)

"The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so as not to worship demons, and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk;" (Rev 9:20)

"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." (Rev 21:8)

"Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the immoral persons and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices lying." (Rev 22:15)

Putting it All Together
Dear friend, this warning is for those worshiping idols of any kind in any way, especially Catholics, but not only for them.  If you are worshiping idols in any way, please do not dismiss these very serious warnings.  Don't think these are simply words spoken by people whom you think hate Catholics, or that the messages are too harsh and could not be coming from Jesus.  Nobody here hates you.  The Lord loves you, and that is why He is warning you.  Do not resent His rebuke.

These are woes spoken over you by the Lord, just as he spoke over the hypocrites in Matthew 23.  To those people, he also said things like, "...you shut off the kingdom of heaven from people; for you do not enter in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." (Mat 23:13b). He said, "...you will receive greater condemnation." (Mat 23:14).  He said to them, "You serpents, you brood of vipers, how will you escape the sentence of hell?" (Mat 23:33).

Do those sound like gentle words to you?  No, they are a rebuke spoken from the Lord's heart that is full of love for these people.  Just look at how the Lord spoke of Jerusalem in this very same passage of Matthew 23: "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling." (Mat 23:37)

Can you hear the Lord's aching heart crying out to you to repent, as He rebukes you for your idolatry and lawlessness?  He longs to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her young, but you must be willing to let Him do so.  Please do not kill the prophets or stone those sent to you in the Name of the Lord, as the religious leaders of Jerusalem did. 

In Luke's account of another such incident when Jesus prophesied over Jerusalem, he recorded that the Lord wept over the city : "As he approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it and said, ‘If you, even you, had only known on this day what would bring you peace-but now it is hidden from your eyes. The days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side. They will dash you to the ground, you and the children within your walls. They will not leave one stone on another, because you did not recognize the time of God's coming to you.’" Luke 19:41-44 

I pray this message will not be hidden from your eyes.  Receive this warning, understand what will bring you peace, repent, and turn to the Lord.  Amend your ways before it is too late.  Produce fruit in keeping with repentance by burning your idols, destroying them, or throwing them away if you cannot destroy them.

Renounce your acts of idolatry and ask the Lord to break off of you every curse you have brought upon yourself through this terrible sin.  There is still hope for you yet, as long as you have breath, because God is merciful.  I am living proof of this, because He set me free, forgave me, and changed my life!

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Most other Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®, unless otherwise noted. Image of people kneeling before statue of Pope John Paul II courtesy of New Age Dogma. Image of Pope John Paul II worshipping statue of Mary courtesy of Lion and Lamb Ministries.

Author's note:  Please prayerfully view these people's testimonies, and use the Testimony Review Process adopted by this blog, as you decide for yourself whether the Lord has spoken to them.  For issues and concerns, each person must confirm with the Lord, whether something is valid or not.

I also recommend reading Unbiblical Practices of the Catholic Church, Michael Thomas Sambo's Revelation of Heaven and Hell, The Holy Fires of Hell, Baptized by Blazing Fire -- a Korean church's testimony, Blasphemy of the Holy Spirit and Discerning the Things of the Spirit. You may access more of my articles on the Main Directory of this blog, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.