Jesus Christ came down from heaven to establish his church on the earth, which is the body of believers who accept him as Lord and Savior. The temple of God is the body of each believer and not some church building or a particular denomination. After Jesus ascended back to heaven he sent the Holy Spirit back to earth 50 days later, at Pentecost, to indwell all believers from that day forward. If you’re a believer you are the church of God and you carry Jesus Christ inside you as you live your life. All believers are inseparably linked to God for all eternity. Jesus came to earth to destroy the works of the devil. Jesus defeated eternal death by his resurrection. Satan didn’t take this lying down. Satan fought back by inciting men to violent acts against all Christians. Many thousands of Christian believers were persecuted and killed. Many Christians were fed to the lions in the Roman coliseum just for sport. God’s purpose cannot be thwarted so the more the Christians were persecuted the more their numbers grew.
Matthew 20:28 – (Jesus speaking) – Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.
Matthew 26:28 – (Jesus speaking) – For this is my blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
Satan realized he couldn’t stamp out Christianity so he changed his tactics. Satan decided if you can’t beat them join them, and destroy them from within. Rome was the largest city in the world and the early Christian church was headquartered there. At the time Rome was also filled with pagan temples worshipping a host of fake religions and false gods, all sponsored by Satan to divert man away from the truth of God. When the Emperor Constantine declared Christianity to be the official faith of the Roman empire in 313 AD all these pagan temples didn’t go away all of a sudden. They just switched to being Christian houses of worship and all the pagan priests simply put on new robes and became Christian priests. You have to understand that because pagan gods aren’t real there was no spiritual truth to be had so their priests had to sell the “sizzle” of religion to fool everyone into thinking they were worshipping a real god.
Matthew 6:7-8 – (Jesus speaking) – And when you pray do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. for your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.
Matthew 7:22-23 – (Jesus speaking) – Many will say to Me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?” and I will then declare to them, “I never knew you, depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.”
How did the pagan temples accomplish this? First of all, all pagan temples were very ornate. If it looks good it must be true, right? Wrong. The pagan temples used vain repetitions in their worship services so a god must be impressed, right? Wrong. There were many idols everywhere that people could worship as gods. If statues in the temples looked like a god then they must be a god, right? Wrong. All the pagan priests were dressed lavishly. If they look impressive they must represent a god, right? Wrong. Elaborate music was an integral part of the pagan worship services. If the music sounds good then it must represent a god, right? Wrong. Since pagan worship had no real truth or substance they had to make it look good by coming up with ceremonies and rituals that gave the appearance of worshipping a god. I’m referring to the many sacraments and doctrines that defined a pagan worship service. Busy work before a nonexistent god.
Matthew 10:28 – (Jesus speaking) – And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Matthew 7:13-14 – (Jesus speaking) – Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
These pagan priests in Rome were in the business of religion because religion sells and there was money to be made. So when Rome became Christian the priests merely exchanged their pagan robes for Christian ones and then changed the signs on the doors of their temples and then they were open for business as Christian churches. These new Christian priests converted to the faith in name only. They didn’t change their beliefs at all. It was merely a business decision to incorporate their pagan beliefs and rituals into the new Christian church. This early church in Rome grew to become the Catholic church and under the influence of Satan they adopted many of the pagan temple rituals that existed at that time. Satan managed to corrupt the church in Rome over time and as a result the Roman Catholic church eventually became totally Satan’s church from about the time of Pope Gregory the Great in the sixth century (590-605AD) and probably long before then.