Friday, January 23, 2009

The Whore, Satan, You, and Me

This is the first part of what will be a larger discussion of the rationale behind Brothers in Arms Ministries (BIAM). It is said that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step; therefore, let us take the first step on our journey...one that will introduce us to four important characters in this earthly life our ours. We must know these four before we can talk of the aims behind BIAM.

Our journey might be a little sinuous, but it perchance must be so, since we will, in the main, be traversing a battlefield. Onward!

We'll first speak of the Whore.

The Whore is Revelation's "Whore of Babylon", and this Whore is the World itself - this sex-without-consequence, kill-the-elderly-and-infirm, dispose-of-the-unborn, it's-all-about-me, if-it-feels-good-do-it, let-them-eat-cake, step-over-the-homeless-guy-in-the-gutter, live-for-the-now, everything-is-relative, he-who-dies-with-the-most-wins World. To be clear, I am referencing this modern society of ours...NOT the physical globe of the Earth...which was created by God, and is good.

Enemies of the Catholic faith have sometimes asserted that the Whore is in fact the Catholic Church, arguing that the seven hills on which the Whore sits refer to Rome, and therefore the Vatican. This is rubbish. Consider that the world HAS SEVEN CONTINENTS...could the seven hills represent the seven continents of this world? Modern society - the Whore - is atop it. The nations are drunk with her wine, i.e., lawlessness, sin, debauchery. (Revelation 18:3). Food for thought...

And now the Whore's prince: Satan. Satan is...well, Satan. The Devil. As Jesus tell us in John 8:44, Satan is a murderer and the father of lies. He is God's enemy - and therefore, our enemy. Satan is also the Revelation's Anti-Christ...the antithesis of Christ. Christ sowed peace; the Anti-Christ (Satan) sows hatred. Christ came to save us; the Anti-Christ (Satan) seeks to doom us. Christ is the spouse of the Church; the Anti-Christ (Satan) is the spouse of this world. As the Church leads us to the loving embrace of Christ, the World leads us to the rapacious jaws of Satan. And so few will there be that end up in Christ's embrace! We are told in Matthew 7:13-14 that we are to "enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!" How can we tell the narrow gate from the wide gate? Rather simply - the majority...the world...will be on the road leading to the wide gate, i.e., Hell...so it's a good bet that what is commonplace, customary and a matter of course will doom you.

That brings us to you and me...and therefore "we." We are Brothers-in-Arms. That does - and should - evoke the image of a company of soldiers...soldiers fighting a war. This is precisely what we are doing! We will in our next installment talk of the land mines, grenades, artillery fire, sniper fire, etc., that daily assaults us.

We are foot-soldiers of the Ecclesia Militans - The Church Militant. The Church Militant is the Church sojourning here on earth and battling the Devil for souls. Let us not underestimate our foe - he is powerful, crafty, cunning, malicious, and malignant. But Christ, our General, has provided arms for those who will take them up. St. Paul tells us that we have at our disposal "the whole armor of God" (Ephesians 6:11), and to "stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God)" (Ephesians 6:14-17).

There you have it - you now know the Whore, Satan...and us. My next post will talk about the battlefield and the seemingly endless array of powerful weaponry that we are confronted with...and how from minute-to-minute, our life is in the gravest jeopardy.

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