Notice the failure of the church in this Dispensation of Grace!
Those who embrace the catholic church embrace the "dark ages" in their conformity to organized religion.7. Failure -- threefold:
(1) The failure of Israel is seen in their rejection of John, Jesus, and the apostles; in the crucifixion of their Messiah; and in war on the early church. The gospel first went to Israel (Mt. 10:5-6) but they would not obey. So, it was taken from them and given to the Gentiles (Mt. 21:33-46).
(2) The early church began to fail God in the very beginning (Acts 5 -- Acts 6:15). All the epistles reveal divisions, strifes, heresies, unclean living, false leaders, and other evidences of backsliding and fallacy (1Cor. 1,3,5,11; Gal. 3; Eph. 4; Col. 3; 2Pet. 2; Jude 1:3; Rev. 2 -- Rev. 3).
(3) The post-apostolic church continued in failure -- not evangelizing the world, living clean lives, preaching the full truth, or being one as Christ had prayed (Jn. 17:21-23). The church entered the dark ages when popes and bishops lorded it over civil rulers and murdered millions who would not conform to organized religion. A reformation finally took place and Christianity has now been revived (in part) as in the New Testament, but the church as a whole is still slow to recognize its full rights and privileges in the gospel.
Finis Jennings Dake, Dake's Annotated Reference Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments of the Authorized or King James Version Text, (Lawrenceville, GA: Dake Bible Sales, Inc., 1997), WORDsearch CROSS e-book, Under: "OVERVIEW".
But to recognize our rights and privileges in Christ we must be OUT of the catholic church and embrace the reformation!
So to my catholic friends Ed and Billy.... Come on out of the dark and into the light of the glorious Gospel!