An Oxford online dictionary definition of a saint is “a person acknowledged as holy or virtuous and typically regarded as being in heaven after death or a very virtuous, kind, or patient person. Often people casually comment, ‘He’s such a saint.’” Another definition is someone, “formally recognized as a saint or canonized.” 

In the Roman Catholic Church, someone must be dead to be officially declared a saint. According to the Catholic Church, a saint may be anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not, who forms the "great cloud of witnesses" (Hebrews 12:1). Are these ideas biblical or are they just made up by man? What is a saint?

Perspective    

The Encyclopedia Britannica under the topic “saints,” 11th edition, states: "In ancient inscriptions, it often means those souls who are enjoying eternal happiness, or, the martyrs. It was not until almost the Sixth Century that the word became a title of honour specially given to the dead whose cult was publicly celebrated in the churches. It was to the martyrs that the church first began to pay special honor." 

The Encyclopedia Britannica also states, honoring saints dates back to the second century and was soon widespread throughout the world. It was a practice devised by men, and as the practice spread, it became much abused. People began to worship saints rather than God.

Being declared a saint is one of the Vatican's highest honors—but sainthood is hardly a tenured position. The Catholic Church removed 93 saints from the universal calendar and revoked their feast days in 1969 when Pope Paul VI revised the canon of saints and determined that some of the names had only been alive as legends or not enough was known about them to determine their status.

If these ideas about being a saint are true, what happens to those who were demoted from being considered to be a saint? Were they quickly booted out of heaven? 

Cloud of witnesses wait for the better resurrection

Scriptures reveal such ideas are not true. The “cloud of witnesses” the apostle Paul spoke about were clearly witnesses while living, but they are now dead awaiting the fulfillment of the promises of eternal life and being in the Kingdom (Hebrews 11:13). Further, Jesus Christ stated clearly in John 3:13: “No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.”

Hebrews 11:39-40 also says, “And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”

King David was considered to be a man after God’s own heart and a prophet, and he was accounted as a righteous king. If anyone could be considered a saint, David would be on that list. Acts 2:29, 34-35 says, “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day… ‘For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself: “The LORD said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”’”

Human ideas of sainthood are proven wrong due to the error of their definitions. The Bible shows us plainly that no one is in heaven except God, Jesus Christ and the angels. There have been no saints who ever ascended to heaven, but all rest in their graves waiting for the better resurrection (Hebrews 11:35). There are no saints in heaven to which one prays! Our prayers should always be directly to God the Father according to Jesus’s words (Matthew 6:9), and we should pray in the name of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:18). We never pray in the name of a saint or an angel (Colossians 2:18).

What is a true saint?

How does one become a true saint? First, one must be called by God in this age of man. Second, one must be a part of God’s Church, the body of Jesus Christ. God sets us in the body as it pleases Him (Ephesians 4:4-6; 1 Corinthians 12:18). We are placed in the body when we are baptized and receive the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands.

When God calls someone to be a part of His body and they are converted, hold fast to their commitment and practice God’s ways, they are a saint. This is what Ephesians 2:19-22 shows us: “Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.”

A saint is someone who is set apart from this lawless world by the blood of Christ and living by the laws of God. Jesus said in John 17:17, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.”

This is reiterated by the apostle Paul when he wrote the Corinthians: “To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours” (1 Corinthians 1:2).

God is using normal human beings culled out of this world to help deliver the greatest message any human could ever hear or read. To the vast majority in the world, it is a mystery. Jesus Christ declared it the gospel of the coming kingdom of God. It is a much bigger story than the world can even imagine.

Anyone can come to know this mystery if they speak with a true saint. The apostle Paul said, “The mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints. To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Colossians 1:26-28).

This is my Perspective and the current edition of the Prophetic Times follows below: 

Prophetic Times

Hamas Leader Speaks in Iran of Israel’s ‘Political Isolation’

March 28, 2024 voanews.com reported:

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, on a visit to Iran on Tuesday, said Israel is experiencing ‘unprecedented political isolation,’ a day after the U.N. Security Council called for a cease-fire in the Gaza war.

‘Although this resolution came late and there may be some gaps that need to be filled, the resolution itself indicates that the Israeli occupation is experiencing unprecedented political isolation,’ Haniyeh told a news conference in Tehran after a meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian.

He added that Israel is ‘losing political cover and protection even in the Security Council’ and ‘the U.S. is unable to impose its will on the international community.’

‘The Zionist entity’ has ‘not succeeded in achieving any of its military or strategic objectives’ after more than five months of war, Haniyeh said.

Haniyeh and the Palestinian delegation also met with Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, according to a statement on Khamenei’s website.

Iran believes Gaza war will ‘shape new world order’ – analysis 

March 26, 2024 jpost.com reported:

Iran’s president Ebrahim Raisi believes that the war in Gaza will lead to a ‘transformation in the unjust order that rules the world.’ He made the claims at a gathering on Monday, according to Iran’s pro-government Fars news.

Iran’s president appears to believe that the war in Gaza will accelerate various processes in the global order. He said that after the war the new world order is ‘very close and achievable.’

In Iran’s view the war in Gaza is part of a larger process. It could be seen as a kind of first shot of a major war in the world. This war is not always being fought on battlefields.

It may be other types of struggles, such as Iran joining BRICS and the SCO, two economic groups that are linked to China or Russia, and which Iran wants to be part of in order to balance the western-led economies such as the G7.

Iran’s president’s statement matters. It shows how Iran is thinking about October 7 and the long term plans that Iran has. Iran sees the fighting in Gaza as a benefit. It also sees the suffering of Gazans as a benefit. What that means if that Iran believes it can use suffering in Gaza to take advantage of the war, and exploit it for its own interests.

Russian Activists Warn Putin Will Use Terrorist Attack to Tighten His Grip on Power

March 26, 2024 voanews.com reported:

Russian activists are warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin will use the deadly terrorist attack on a concert hall outside Moscow to tighten his grip on power and further repress society.

‘It truly scares me how this regime uses terrorism,’ said Evgenia Kara-Murza, a human rights activist and wife of political prisoner Vladimir Kara-Murza.

Addressing reporters at a press conference in Geneva, she warned that Putin would likely use Friday’s horrific event ‘to start new aggressions against our neighbors.’

‘And, of course, the fact that the terrorists were caught near the Ukrainian border raises many questions as to whether it is a provocation or whether the terrorist attack is being used as such,’ she said.

Though the militant Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed at least 137 people and injured some 182 others, the Kremlin has been trying, without any evidence, to link the attack to Ukraine.

Australia, Britain Criticize China for Actions in Hong Kong

March 22, 2024 voanews.com reported:

Australia and Britain on Friday criticized China for its actions in Hong Kong and the South China Sea and its support of Russia, after a meeting in which London and Canberra deepened their security ties.

The two countries called out ‘recent unsafe and destabilizing behavior by China’s vessels against Philippine vessels and crew near Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea,’ in a statement that contained unusually direct language on Beijing’s activities in the region.

In a joint statement earlier this month with Southeast Asian nations, Australia called for restraint in the South China Sea, without explicitly mentioning China.

Friday’s statement was issued after Britain’s foreign secretary, David Cameron, and defense secretary Grant Shapps met their Australian counterparts, Penny Wong and Richard Marles, in Adelaide.

The four ministers said they were concerned about Hong Kong’s new security law and the erosion of freedom and rights in the territory, a former colony of Britain, as well as human rights abuses in China.

Michigan Imam: We Muslims Will Yet ‘Slaughter’ the Jews ‘Like Sheep’

March 22, 2024 breitbart.com reported:

Muslims will yet ‘slaughter’ the Jews ‘like sheep’ when the opportunity arises, according to a Michigan Islamic cleric who appealed to Allah, seeking to become ‘soldiers’ for Islam in any form desired, including death.

In a sermon at the Islamic Center of Warren, Michigan, in January, Imam Abdou Zindani warned of the fate of Jews everywhere, pointing to a Palestinian businessman who told a Jewish New Yorker what Muslims have in store for the Jews. 

‘Don’t worry, don’t worry, Jewish man,’ he said. ‘One day will come, and we will slaughter you like a sheep and the stone and the tree will work… undercover for us, [saying:] ‘Hey Muslim, come, there is somebody hiding here, get up and kill him.’’

The Sheikh was apparently referencing a grisly passage in the Islamic text, known as the Hadith, that reads as follows: ‘Judgement Day will not come until the Muslims fight the Jews. The Jews will hide behind the stones and the trees, and the stones and the trees will say, oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew hiding behind me — come and kill him.’ The same excerpt is cited in the Hamas terror group’s charter.

China is building its military on a 'scale not seen since WWII' 

March 20, 2024 businessinsider.com reported:

China's rapid military build-up is more expansive than anything seen since World War II, which means it's on track with its 2027 goal to be ready for a Taiwan invasion, said US Navy Adm. John Aquilino.

"All indications point to the PLA meeting President Xi Jinping's directive to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027," Aquilino wrote in a testimony to the US Armed Services House Committee.

"Furthermore, the PLA's actions indicate their ability to meet Xi's preferred timeline to unify Taiwan with mainland China by force if directed," added the admiral, the outgoing head of the US Indo-Pacific Command.

"All indications point to the PLA meeting President Xi Jinping's directive to be ready to invade Taiwan by 2027," Aquilino wrote in a testimony to the US Armed Services House Committee.

"Furthermore, the PLA's actions indicate their ability to meet Xi's preferred timeline to unify Taiwan with mainland China by force if directed," added the admiral, the outgoing head of the US Indo-Pacific Command.

Notably, Aquilino told lawmakers in a hearing on Wednesday that he also believes China still hopes to assimilate Taiwan without war, though Beijing is fast approaching the capacity for an assault. He and Assistant Defense Secretary for the Indo-Pacific Command Ely Ratner both said the threat of direct conflict between the US and China is "neither immediate nor inevitable," but that the Pentagon must move fast to reduce the risk of war.