christian-with-a-view: THE MASONIC LODGE AND CHRISTIANS
Learn from above link and the many comments, see the truth in Christ when compared with what the Masonic Lodge professes.
Whilst we as Christians believe in "love" of God and of neighbors that spell the greatest commandment through the love of Jesus, his words and his teachings, let us not forget that we have a duty to lighten the path of all unbelievers to the "Truth" in Christ, our Lord and Savior, as one that leads to salvation and eternal life.
And in
1 John 4:13-16, apostle and gospel writer John proclaims through the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit who Christ Jesus is,
“We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”
In the
second letter of St. Paul to the
Corinthians (4:1-6), he has challenged everyone to become steadfast in their faith and glorify Christ in his teachings in the face of the growing temptations in this material world of high rise buildings, highly computerized technology and things of the flesh,
“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways, we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.
"On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God… The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”
[Read further on this related enlightening link, a write up on
"The Plain Truth About the Lodge" - by James L. Melton]
And Jesus made it clear to all, in
Matthew 5:17-20, as he strongly asserted,
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law of the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them; I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
[Listen to Catholic evangelist, Fr. Robert Barron,
on his insights on above powerful verse and related verses for added inspiration]
In John 14:6 (Holy Bible) Jesus said to His apostles,
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me”. Further in John 3:16, Jesus said, “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
“I and the father are one”. In
John 14: 11-14 Jesus added,
“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me… I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”
And as in
Matthew 6:33,
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.”
In
John 8:31-32, to the Jews who have believed him, Jesus said,
“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Spiritual Warfare
This fast ever changing world has slowly alienated us from God and the truth in Jesus with the many evil practices that have engulfed ever doubting men who have little or no faith at all in Jesus.
This has been the main strategy of the evil one to veer us away from God in Jesus. Don't you think he has been successful?
Just look around you, can you not see the dwindling morals of society with abortion practices that kill being everywhere, bullying in schools and public places, racism, lack of freedom of religion in many countries, people promoting the sin of lust in pornography, prostitution, gay marriages, addiction to computer and video games, addiction to drugs, alcohol, gambling and smoking, excessive vanity to beautify oneself that eventually distorts ones natural beauty and inner harmony, curses and slander being a part of ones vocabulary that hurt not only humans but also God as man is made in his image and likeness, reluctance in allotting a day of worship for God on the Sabbath, rape and senseless killings, corruption in work, family and in the government, non-payment of debts from neighbors, lies and scams everywhere especially in the internet victimizing hapless and honest individuals for the sake of monetary gains and many more which have utterly disregarded love of God and of neighbors as embodied in the
Ten Commandments and in Jesus' greatest commandment and teachings in the New Testament?
In
Matthew 22:37-40, Jesus said to the Pharisees on the question of what is the greatest commandment,
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law of the Prophets hung on these two commandments.”
Beliefs in Freemasonry and the Masonic Lodge, on the other hand, are prone to disregard the truth that Jesus Christ is our true Redeemer with their own set of beliefs and practices.
Instead, they honor Hiram (Hiram Abif), believed to be the builder of King Solomon's Temple and is the Freemasons followers' epitome of "fidelity to one's word and the brevity of life," "murdered by three ruffians during an unsuccessful attempt to force him to divulge the Master Mason's secret password" (as sourced from Wikipedia).
Similar practices have prompted the Catholic clergy and many other Christian sect leaders and pastors to admonish their followers not to join these organizations because of their heretic nature.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5 exhorts us in St. Paul to remain faithful to Jesus and shun from ways that try to alienate us from Christ,
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
With this temporary life we have here on earth, even if we put the average life span to around 55 to 80 years, is it not too obvious to be too short compared to eternity?
Would we allow then the evil one to fool us still that it is better to be enslaved to sin and be happy in this material world than to be free from sin and gain life eternal in Christ?
In
1 John 2:15-17, St. John tells us,
“Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.”
[Read our Wikipedia link for your
educational consumption, "Christianity and Freemasonry."]
This has been made clear in the Holy Scriptures of the bible that there would be people who have ears but refuse to listen, have eyes but refuse to see as they are content of the worldly pleasures that this life has manifested on them and embedded in their minds and spirit as a rejection of the truth in the Holy Bible and in Christ Jesus as the true Son of God.
As Jesus has said to his apostles (Matthew 13:14-15),
“In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah,
“You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving; for this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.”
And may we not forget to strengthen further ourselves, especially our children, psychologically, physically, emotionally and spiritually from the
curses that resulted from immoral, pagan and heretic practices that even our forefathers may have unknowingly joined, participated in or entered into with the
"Armor of God" in the many challenges, trials and temptations that they may pass in this life, as we too, should wear every second, every minute, every hour in our life, to equip us with the tools to empower us through the Holy Spirit against evil forces in the unseen realm of
"spiritual warfare" ever present in this world.
By great faith and good works, and by using the mighty name of "Jesus", coupled with intense prayers invoking the presence of the Holy Spirit, of forgiveness and mercy for us all, together with the sins of our immediate and past or great ancestors, we will never fail in our quest against the evil one.
Roman Catholics do the powerful
Holy Rosary and the
Divine Mercy prayers for the forgiveness of sins, and for spiritual guidance and enlightenment as well.
The right tools to use are further emphasized in
Ephesians 6:13-16, "Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints."
St. Peter on False Teachers and Their Destruction
In
2 Peter 1:1-22, St. Peter writes of “False Teachers and Their Destruction:”
“But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them – bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
‘For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment, if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deed he saw and heard) – if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.
‘Bold and the arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings, yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord. But these men blasphemes in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.
‘They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed – accursed brood! They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaan son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. But he was reduced for his wrongdoing by a donkey – a beast without speech – who spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophets madness.
‘These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to lustful distress of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity – for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the cared command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”
Be wary though, as
St. Paul reminds us
, “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted,” (Galatians 6:1), as we pray for guidance and enlightenment in assertively showing our brothers the right path with works of love and in truth, and as we hold on ever strong in our faith in Christ Jesus, as he reveals the signs of this truth in this life whilst we learn to open our hearts to the Holy Spirit.
In
Philippians 1:21, Saint Paul writes as he rejoices in God’s words and in his overwhelming faith and love in Jesus,
“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
As usual, let's KJOH as we share the light.
[read on a related link for further enlightenment,
"God's Awesome Works in God's Awesome Creation."]
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