April 19, 2019 -- Proverbs 19:9 -- Relics, Lies and True Religion
/A false witness will not go unpunished,
and he who breathes out lies will perish.
Proverbs 19:9 ESV
Let me vent, briefly. Thanks. If you don’t want to hear it/read it, then pause, reflect on the text again and tune out.
I don’t care that Notre Dame was on fire. In the French Revolution the statue of Jesus was removed and a statue of reason was put there instead. Hardly a place of worship and the honour of God. Notre Dame also is supposed to be the reliquary for “the crown of thorns” placed on Jesus’ head. Hmm. Whatever.
The practice of the Roman Catholic Church has been to house “relics” (these are bones, hair, teeth etc of saints, or objects considered to be precious related to the Christian faith) in monasteries and churches as objects for veneration. All kinds of churches claimed to have pieces of “the true cross of Christ”. Erasmus stated something like: “There must have been enough of the pieces of the true cross to rebuild Noah’s Ark.” One of my history professors was even more graphic. His statement was: “There are enough vials of the breast milk of Mary to float a Noah-sized Ark constructed from all the slivers of the True Cross of Christ.”
All of this trickery and flummery is despicable. Worse than that, these relics are lies. They are a gross distraction from the Gospel. The Good News of Jesus Christ is this: at the cross God punished our sins upon the Person of Jesus. He voluntarily stood in our place and withstood the full blast of God’s just and holy anger against sin. When Jesus said, “It is finished” what He stated is that the punishment for our sins has been fully meted out. Those who believe in Jesus Christ receive His righteousness.
The Roman Catholic Church is breathing out lies about what is important or not. Such supposed relics are meaningless. What is important is knowing Jesus Christ and following Him. The French people and their horror at the damage to Notre Dame, I suspect, is really rooted in the fact they are truly aghast at the loss of revenue from tourist dollars. Recall the French Republic is not very Christian nor does it celebrate its Christian past. The dollar (or the Euro) is really what is being worship. No wonder their president wants Notre Dame rebuilt—it is a cash cow for them. And in that respect, the Roman Catholic Church is also fleecing the people for money by showing such fake relics. These relics are not important.
The Word of God is important. The Word of God is trustworthy and true. The Word of God is attested to by the Holy Spirit. Creation itself also bears witness to God as the Creator of the universe. And the Word of God helps the believer interprete creation and understand all that has been made has been made from nothing at the Word of God.
Pray for the people of France that there will be a revival in the faith.
Pray for the Roman Catholic Church that they will not mislead people with these false relics but will speak what is true.
King Jesus, Your blood poured out is the True Testimony to what is good and right. May fellow believers in France speak against the lies of relics and testify to the Truth of Jesus Christ. Forgive us, King Jesus, for whatever lies we repeat or initiate. Help us to walk in the Truth as You are Truth. Amen.
