You are listening to a message from Sound Words. To find information about our ministry, please visit our website at soundwords.org. You can also download our free app from iTunes or Google Play to access more great sermons. Well, as you're aware, most of the attention of our country has been focused on the coming of the Pope of the Catholic Church. to the United States to address our governing leaders. and then to conduct masses and meetings, go to the UN. Striking times. Well, I was gone this summer. I was reading material related to the time of the Protestant Reformation and what is sometimes called the Catholic Counter-Reformation, which we'll refer to a little bit later. And just to see. Here is a man who is a religious leader. Why would he be addressing the political leaders of our country? But yet he is political as well as a spiritual leader. Almost all the news I've watched or read has been favorable. In fact, people can't gush enough on how wonderful he is. And one person I thought brought an important point, and I'll mention it now and then we'll look at it in a little bit. As the commentator, it was a Catholic priest, and I wasn't watching it, I was listening, but it was a Catholic priest and the news person mentioned to him about how wonderful it is, the Pope, and the changes he's bringing to the church. And the priest immediately corrected him and said, Pope Francis is bringing no doctrinal changes to the Church. He believes and teaches the same doctrine that the popes before him have taught. That was an important point of clarity because doctrine has not been raised hardly at all during this time. And some of what has been said has been misunderstood as though there has been a change in the Catholic Church and its dogma. So I just want to look at that with you and some of their teachings and where and why we disagree. The material I'm using for the Catholic Church, sometimes criticisms come that we just quote from those who are critical of the Catholic Church. This is the Catechism of the Catholic Church. I think it's the most recent. It was done in 1994, and it was done under the oversight of Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who went on to become Pope Benedict, who is the Pope Emeritus now. So this is official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. We also perhaps time the Catholic Encyclopedia. And Roman Catholic works that are authorized by the Church as being doctrinally pure and morally pure have the imprimatur and the nihil obstat. In terms, nihil obstat, nothing objectionable. The imprimatur, it's something that can be printed. But here's what they say about this. The nihil obstat and imprimatur are a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free from doctrinal or moral error. So the priests or bishops or archbishop, in this case here, one of those giving an imprimatur as an archbishop, it is a declaration that a book or pamphlet is considered to be free from doctrinal or moral error. Now just as an aside, I'm always interested, they add the next statement. It is not implied that those who have granted the Nehilobstat and Imprimatur agree with the contents, opinions, or statements expressed. Now if it's free from doctrinal moral error, you put your stamp on it, I can't quite understand why they don't have to agree with it, but at any rate. So I do draw on that because it's a Catholic encyclopedia, so you can come here and look up Mary. And it will give you a summary of the Church's teaching on Mary, or the Mass, or Baptism, or whatever. One other work I'll be referring to comes from the Creeds of Christendom, edited by Philip Schaaf. It's three volumes. This is volume two. But it's an interesting work. It contains all the creeds of the Church, down through its history. And the ones who would be interested in come from the 16th century, the 1500s. That's when the Protestant Reformation was really going. Men like Luther and Calvin. The Catholics responded to the Protestant Reformation with the Council of Trent. which met from 1545 to 1563, I believe. And then their decisions and so on are recorded. Now one thing to keep in mind, and I'll come back and refer to this, sometimes you talk to people and they say, if you refer to the Council of Trent or earlier doctrines or dogmas, they'll say, oh well, the Catholic Church has changed, some of its doctrines have changed, so that's old stuff. I think it's important you understand Roman Catholic doctrine does not change. It has not changed. It cannot change. The word they keep using is irreformable, especially where the Pope speaks. Vatican II, oh, it brought such changes to the Church. But Vatican II changed no doctrines of the Church. For example, the change was made that the Mass did not have to be conducted in Latin any longer. It could be conducted in the vernacular of the people, their various languages. That's not a change in doctrine. The doctrine of the Mass and transubstantiation was not altered one bit. The exact same doctrine that's recorded in the Council of Trent in its decisions. Before we go further, I want to look at something that we as evangelicals, Bible-believing Christians, I'm just going to use the word evangelical in the narrow sense that we would of biblical Christians, and the Roman Catholic Church. There's something that we'll start out agreeing on. And there are points of agreement we have with Roman Catholicism, but a foundational agreement. All religious activity is supernatural. We have spiritual forces at work. I believe we see that with the present visit of the Pope. I mean, people, non-Catholics. I saw a non-Catholic being interviewed who's written books and very intelligent and in his 60s. I've never experienced anything like it. I've never seen an individual have the impact that this one has. It is supernatural. Now, it's either supernatural because it comes from the one true and living God in the ministry of His Spirit, or it comes from the devil, and his demons who are promoting false religious activity. Those are the only two options. From what I read from Catholic theology, they agree. Those who don't agree with their theology are anathema, devoted to destruction, cursed to hell. We would say those who don't believe the biblical doctrine, salvation by grace through faith alone, That's the only way of salvation. So we're agreed. I want to look at just a couple of passages. We're presupposing a lot, but go to John 14. John's gospel, chapter 14. This would be the ministry of the Holy Spirit. He is the spirit of truth. Jesus said in John 14, 16, I will ask the father. He will give you another helper that he may be with you forever. The spirit of truth. And as truth it is brought to man by the ministry of the Spirit. He's going to come in a special way. But it was this Spirit who inspired and instructed Old Testament prophets as Peter wrote. Holy men of old spoke as they were moved by the Spirit of God. Come down to verse 26. But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. So God communicates His truth by the ministry of the Spirit of God. Where that's truth, that's true worship. We say that's the scripture. What is the other side? Come over to 1 Corinthians. We'll just take these in order through the New Testament. 1 Corinthians chapter 10. And he started in chapter 8 of 1 Corinthians talking about idols and sacrifices to idols and food sacrifice to idols. Then in chapter 10, as he wraps this up, He tells him in verse 14, Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. You come down to verse 19. What do I mean then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything or that an idol is anything? The physical food they sacrifice to idols is just physical food. Nothing changes. The idol is just an idol. Jeremiah chapter 10, Jeremiah mocked the idols that were carved out of wood. And you cut down a tree and you use part of it for firewood or to heat your dinner, and the other you carve into an idol and worship as your God. What kind of silliness is that? So, an idol is just a piece of wood, a piece of stone, And those things offered to idols are just physical things. But, that's not the last word. Verse 20. But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. What is at issue is the spiritual worship that is going on. And all false worship is a worship of demons. It is a fellowship with demons. Look at the last part of the verse. I do not want you to be sharers. Become sharers. Fellowshippers with demons. Become involved in their work. That's what false worship is. Come over to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. And Paul, we'll get here if I don't keep taking side trips in our study of 2 Corinthians. He says in verse 3, I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. Now you know, Satan deceived Eve. I am concerned he might deceive you. And then it's the teaching that's being taught. Where does it come from? If it's not truth from God, it's error from the devil. So you come down to verse 13. For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder. For even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Now note this. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves You know, these are the servants of the devil, false religious teachers, disguised as servants of righteousness. Their end will be according to their deeds. Come over to Ephesians chapter six. Keep going back after Galatians, 1 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, chapter six. Verse 12, our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenlies. You know, our struggle is against these spiritual powers. It's ongoing. One other passage. Come over to 1 Timothy chapter 4. 1 Timothy chapter 4. Verse 1, but the Spirit, this is the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith. Depart from the faith. Note this, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons. Now human instruments are used, just like the Holy Spirit uses human instruments to convey truth. So the devil uses human instruments to convey his error, his lies. They're called deceitful spirits. promoting teachings or doctrines of demons. Now keep this in mind, because we're impacted. You have to be impacted as you watched the response to the Pope. And it's overwhelming. I mean, I couldn't find any news commentators. Well, to be objective, we'll have to say the Roman Catholic Church has been the persecutor of those who disagree with them. Nobody said that. Nobody mentioned, as the Pope talked about how important it was that we spread our wealth, that he then left Washington and went to New York to visit St. Patrick's Cathedral and to appreciate the recent renovation completed at the cost of $175 million. See, the church can take in money. If some of you have visited South America, you can visit these cities and towns, and poverty is characteristic of it, but there will be a majestic cathedral there. Now, we have to talk about who is right, who is wrong. Roman Catholic Church, and I hope I read it, if not tonight, says that evangelical Protestants are in error. And when you're in error about salvation and the way of salvation, they have to be condemned to hell. We as evangelical Protestants, Bible-believing Christians, say we believe the Catholic Church is in error. And that means they are promoting a way to hell. So we both agree spiritual forces are at work. We both claim to be representing the living God. We need to be careful we're not carried along by emotions. You know, the Pope did not talk about the doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church. He talked about we all need to come together. We need to have religious freedom for everyone. We need to be concerned for the poor. the downcast. We need to welcome the immigrants. And these aren't the issues that I want to disagree with the Pope on. I can disagree with some of those, I can agree with some of them, whatever. But we have to come down as what distinguishes the Roman Catholic Church And those of us who claim to be Bible-believing Christians, that the Roman Catholic Church has our anathematized, and we see the Roman Catholic Church is in error. This is a summary, and some of it I'm gonna talk about, and some of it then I'll read from their writings, and we'll see how far we get. Roman Catholic Church is built on the magisterium and the liturgy. In other words, when you hear the Pope talking about Christ, and His sacrifice, His grace, faith in Him. We say, well, that sounds like evangelical Christians. And we talk that way. That's where it's confusing. The more alike we are, the more difficult it is to recognize the error. That's why Paul said those infecting and affecting the Corinthian church were masquerading as angels of light. They were enough alike, the truth. So the Roman Catholic Church, you know, well, he's talking about the gospel. And we're bringing the gospel to the world. I understand you start out with Christ, his sacrifice, we agree in grace and faith. That is mediated. You don't get that directly. That's mediated. The best way is to go through Mary. Through Mary, the Mother of God, that they're strong on. She's co-mediatrix, co-redemptrix. So you go through her because Christ will always listen to His Mother. So things are mediated. Grace is mediated through her to us for our salvation. But then we get down to the human realm. And you have the Pope. And the Pope talked about spreading power and sharing power. But one of the commentators noted, and it's in Roman Catholic doctrine, there is nothing to compare to the Pope for absolute power. What other religious system has one man? You understand, no one, no cardinal, no bishop, no counsel of the church. Vatican I, Vatican II, no one can overrule the Pope. He has the final last say. Then through him the grace that comes that brings salvation comes from Christ, through Mary, to the Pope. And with his authority you have bishops under him. And under the bishops are the priests. Those are the three main categories that they deal with in their catechism and so on. Now under the priest are the people. Now the important thing is you do not have direct access to God's grace and His salvation by just going directly to Christ. That has to be mediated through the magisterium. It comes down to you. Most contact will be with the priest. He has the authority from the bishop who gets it from the pope to forgive sins. Baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist. Those are the three foundational matters in the Catholic Church. You get baptized into the church. That cleanses you from sin. There is no salvation apart from that. You have to be baptized. Let me read from the catechism. The celebration of the mystery, the mysterium. This is the mysterium of the church and its liturgy. This is, they give you, what does the word liturgy mean? comes to mean a service in the name of or on behalf of the people. Through the liturgy of Christ, our Redeemer and High Priest continues the work of redemption in and through his church. So you see the connection. They can talk about redemption, they can talk about the work of Christ. We would say, tell people, you just, you know, bow your head, acknowledge your sin, place your faith in Christ. In the church, it is mediated through the church. Through the liturgy, Christ, our Redeemer, High Priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through His Church. It's coming down through that line. The importance of sacraments. There are seven sacraments in the Roman Catholic Church. The three I mentioned are the key. And they mention that the faithful are born anew by baptism, strengthened by the sacrament of confirmation, and receive in the Eucharist the food of eternal life. Now I'm not saying the other sacraments are not important, but those are the three, the main ones. And you see the importance of the Mass, the Eucharist, the Mass, referring to the same thing. The Eucharist, the giving thanks, the blessing. The Mass comes from a Latin word for mission, missio. After they had the meal, when Christ did it, they went out. After partaking of the Mass, we go out to the world. So they call it the Mass or the Eucharist. So we're talking about the same thing. The Pope is going to celebrate Mass in Philadelphia. for a million and a half people, they say today. They saw the one that he celebrated earlier on his trip, when he holds up the wafer, and they have the cup, and then people come and get the wafer. But you start out with baptism. Holy baptism is the basis. Again, I'm reading from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Holy baptism is the basis of the whole Christian life, the gateway to life in the Spirit. The door which gives us access to the other sacraments. Through baptism we are freed from sin and reborn as sons of God. We become members of Christ, are incorporated into the church. Baptism is the sacrament of regeneration. And they have a number of pages here about it. You know, the Catholic Church is adaptable. And it will draw in practices, we would say, well, they're connected with paganism, but they'll stay in here. In mission countries, in addition to what is furnished by the Christian tradition, the Catholic Church, those elements of initiation rites may be admitted which are already in use among some of the peoples, as long as they can be adapted to the Christian ritual. In other words, as long as you will accept The sacramental rites of the Catholic Church, you can bring in other things that you might be comfortable with in your religious practice. These sacraments are everything. They're called sacraments because they bring God's grace into your life. Without them, you are excluded from God's grace. That's why they said that baptism is the foundational one that provides the opportunity and opening for you now to partake of the other sacraments. And just to mention it, to put it in line, the sacraments can only be administered by the representative of the Pope. He is the vicar of Christ. He mediates Christ to the creation. And so the priest can do it because he's received authority from the Pope. And this includes children. So here's what the baptism of infants, and you know how important this is in the Catholic Church. It's important in Protestant churches. Lutherans. I've had parents call on the phone that were Lutheran crying when their college-age student who had professed Christ was getting baptized here. We had them baptized as a baby in the church. in the Roman Catholic Church. You baptize once, that's it. It's important. Children have the need of the new birth in baptism to be freed from the power of darkness and brought into the realm of the freedom of the children of God. Now listen, the church and the parents would deny a child the priceless grace of becoming a child of God were they not to confer baptism shortly after birth. If you don't get your newborn baby baptized quickly, they die. You've denied them the priceless grace of becoming a child of God. Now as they develop, they'll add things and they say, well, we can maybe, they'll baptize an aborted fetus. Maybe dead, but maybe God's grace will extend over to that. But it's all tied in baptism. Some of you come out of Catholic backgrounds and were saved as an adult. Then when you had children, it becomes an issue in your family if you don't get the child baptized. Parents are terribly concerned. Those kind of things. Now note this. It is only within the faith of the church that each of the faithful can believe. It is only within the faith of the church that each of the faithful can believe. You can have faith, but it's only in the context of the Roman Catholic Church that that faith is really saving faith. So begin to understand that when we talk about saving faith and they talk about saving faith, we're not on the same page. They go on to say in here, the necessity of baptism for salvation. Then they say, the church does not know of any means other than baptism that assures entry into eternal blessing. Now you see what we have, some of you are familiar with the Bible. In the New Testament times, Paul had to deal with the Judaizers, the Jerusalem Conference in Acts chapter 15. They did not disagree. that Christ was the Messiah of Israel. These are Jews. They did not deny you had to believe in Him. But they said that is not enough. They must be circumcised. And then they must keep the law. We're right back to the Judaizing heresy. Only they say it's not enough to have faith in Christ. You have to be baptized. And just to be baptized into the Roman Catholic Church Because that's the only area where faith is operative. Where your faith really results in God's grace coming into your life. We are justified by faith in baptism. Baptism not only purifies from all sin, but it also makes the neophyte a new creature, an adopted son of God who's become a partaker of the divine nature, members of Christ, co-heir with him, a temple of the Holy Spirit. The baptized receive from the Trinity, the most holy Trinity, sanctifying grace, the grace of justification. So you can say, yeah, we're justified by faith. but there's no justification by faith apart from baptism. It's when you are baptized into the church that you have saving faith. You say, well, it sounds like baptism is the end. It is. There is no grace outside this system. There is no salvation outside this system. This is crucial. I'll read you from the councils that they anathematize anyone who would say you could be saved outside the Roman Church. Now, they mellowed that when they presented, I thought it was interesting, one of the Roman Catholic officials being interviewed in connection with Pope Francis, said, well, you know, he has his whole vast group working for him at the Vatican, and when he's going to travel someplace, they research exhaustively that area, what's going on there, What should be said? What should not be said? He was saying it positively. You realize the Pope comes knowing what you better not get into and what will be acceptable to get into. And so he comes to his various areas to where he stands up and says, I must tell you that unless you receive the sacraments that are provided only in the Holy Roman Church, you are doomed to destruction, consigned to hell. No, it's come across soft, help the poor, the needy, do these things, and everybody, non-Catholics alike. Okay, he'll say, oh, whatever your beliefs, whatever your religion, pray for me. But he is the defender of the Roman Catholic doctrine that you can't get to God outside the Roman Catholic Church. So why would you say these things? Why would you talk about like we need freedom of religion when anyone who says there should be freedom of religion in Roman Catholic countries is guilty of heresy? I'll read that to you. All right, let's move on. Baptism is birth into the new life in Christ. It is necessary for salvation, as is the church itself, which we enter by baptism. This is why all this is formed. This is where the Jews came to. They were still going through their sacrificial system, still remembering the holy days, still going and having the priest represent them. But they were living like the devil. In Isaiah 1, God says, don't bring these sacrifices to me anymore. It's a sacrilege. So here, that's why Roman Catholics, as long as you're baptized into the church, as long as you go take the sacraments, the other things don't matter. And they make clear here, we've had issues with Roman Catholic priests' conduct. The character and conduct of the priest doesn't affect your receiving grace through him. That's why the Roman Catholic Church is not quick to kick people out. People thought that the Pope ought to come and condemn abortion. He's not looking to push anybody out of the church or offend anybody because as long as you partake of the sacraments, And then don't go against the system. We can live with you. You may practice abortion, but that's all right. Go to confession. And you understand only the priest who's been given the authority by the bishop and the pope can forgive sins. That's in their catechism here. We may get to it. Then you come to the Sacrament of Confirmation. That follows baptism. In the Catholic Church, it's when you get to the age of being responsible or accountable. The effect of the Sacrament of Confirmation is the full outpouring of the Holy Spirit, like it came on the day of Pentecost. So you were saved and cleansed in baptism. Now you receive the Holy Spirit in confirmation. And interesting, confirmation is only given once. These are single acts. It should be given by the bishop, not the priest, unless there are exceptional reasons. You see what they're doing? They tie the person into the system. You're reminded. You get baptized by the priest. You're confirmed by the bishop. You must stay in the system. And both of these receive their authority from the Pope. And this is why you don't have priests going out and starting their own Catholic churches. There's no authority. They're cut off from the ability to offer sanctifying grace to anyone. I'm not saying people don't get off track there, but by and large, it keeps the unity of the church. But you can have a diversity of doctrine, and they do. Why don't they just kick him out of the church? Well, they don't need to. As long as he recognizes the Pope as the head and recognizes the sacraments of the church, these other things will work themselves out. That's the point. Like baptism, which it completes, confirmation is given once. For it, too, imprints on the soul an indelible spiritual mark, the character which is the sign that Jesus Christ has marked the Christian with the seal of his spirit, clothing him with power on high that he may be his witness. Now, even if you don't get confirmed, you got baptized, but you get off, and your parents got saved, and you never were taken up to be confirmed. That's all right, but your life is incomplete, and you need to get back to the church so you can get back on track and be sure. that your salvation will be brought to completion. See, the Roman Catholic Church is a system of works. There is no final salvation. You get in by a physical rite that the church performs. But that's not permanent salvation. You must keep partaking of the grace, confirmation, that'll give you the Spirit, that'll move you along, and you should do penance before you do confirmation. Because that cleanses you from any sins you've done up. Because baptism only cleanses you from original sin, or sins you may have done to that point. You need to be cleansed, and it's a work, because you go confess to the priest, and he's the only one with the authority to declare you forgiven. Say this many Hail Marys, say the Rosary so many times, or do this work of contrition to pay the penalty for sin. And when you die, you'll still have some debts you owe. And that's where you get in purgatory, and why you can offer masses for the dead, and so on. It's a work system for beginning to end. The major sacrifice of the Roman Catholic Church is the Mass or the Eucharist. Note here what it is. Thousands of people have died at the hands of the Roman Catholic Church because they would not agree that the Mass is the actual literal sacrifice of the Body and Blood of Christ. As often as the sacrifice of the Cross, in the Mass here, by which Christ our Passover has been sacrificed is celebrated on the altar, the work of redemption is carried out. The Eucharist is a sacrifice, the sacrifice of the cross. Now, this can only be done through the ministry of priests. That's what it says here, through the ministry of priests. In this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. It is a re-sacrifice of Christ. So what happens when the priest says those words, over that bread and wine, an actual physical change takes place. The wine still looks and tastes like wine, but it is literally, truly the physical blood of Christ. And each of those wafers, and we'll try to get the exact reference, they say, each individual species Each individual wafer is fully and completely the body of Christ. You're not just getting a part of the body of Christ, you are getting the full body of Christ. And once it has been consecrated by the priest, it cannot change back to bread or cracker or whatever. So in other words, I don't want to be gross, but if you eat that wafer and all of a sudden you get sick and you throw up, you must sort through the vomit and get the wafer out and re-eat it. That's why at the front of the Catholic Church, usually, they have what they call the monstrous or the sanctitarium. All the wafers that have been consecrated by the priest have been turned into their literal, physical body of Christ. That can never change. They are placed in that little, we'll call it a box. That's why when Catholics go into the church, they genuflect, down sometimes do the sign of the cross. That's because the body of Christ, Christ is bodily present there in the front. And then those wafers can be used to offer a mass at the last rites if someone dies or a special mass that might come up. Important, this is the issue. The Eucharist sacrifice is also offered for the faithful departed who have died in Christ but are not yet wholly purified. So they maybe enter into the light and life and peace of Christ. In other words, the person dies, you can offer a Mass for them. Because every time you're partaking of this grace, you're drawing grace. You're getting more like Christ. That's why it becomes an emotional experience. an environment of the emotion. That's why the cathedrals, and the pomp, and the priest coming down into the garments, and everything, it conveys a feeling, in a sense, of you're in the presence of God. And then they quote the Council of Trent. Some Catholics don't know their own doctrine. The Council of Trent is still in force, and here you can quote the Council of Trent on the doctrine. because Christ our Redeemer said it was truly his body was offered under the species of bread. It's always been the conviction of the church and this Holy Council now declares again that by the consecration of the bread and wine there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of the blood. This change the Holy Catholic Church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation. The Eucharistic presence of Christ begins at the moment of the consecration, endures as long as the Eucharistic species subsists. As long as that wafer that's been consecrated is in existence, it is fully and completely the body of Christ. Christ is present whole and entire in each of the species and whole and entire in each of their parts in such a way that the breaking of the bread does not divide Christ. That's the heart of the system. The Pope will offer a Mass and to receive it directly. We've cut out intermediaries here. I'm in the presence of him offering the Mass. There's greater blessings. And the blessings the Pope gives are special. Catholic Church gives indulgences. You know, in the part of the Reformation, there were battles over the sale of indulgences by the Catholics. Indulgences, you can get them for yourself, or you can get them from someone who died. You can't get an indulgence for another living person, just for yourself and someone who died. They're only through the Church. And indulgences cut off time in purgatory. Purgatory is where sins are purged. The consequences of sin. You can have a plenary indulgence or you can have a venial indulgence. A plenary indulgence is a full absolution from the sin consequences of that sinful act. The provenial is just partial. So the priest may absolve you, but also say there are certain things you have to do. When the Pope gives you a blessing, you get a plenary indulgence. So you'd like to get as many of those as you can, because you're taking off time in purgatory. The Mass. I mentioned indulgence. Just let me read this in. I want to read you some from the Council of Trent. We won't get any further than that. This treasury of grace for forgiveness, indulgences. Includes the prayers and good works of the blessed Virgin Mary. They are truly immense, unfathomable, even pristine in their value before God. And then included are the prayers and good works of the saints. In this way, they attained their own salvation and cooperated in saving their brothers. In other words, Mary had so many overflowing good works and graces, they could be stored up, and they are unfathomable. They're almost bottomless. Now you see, we've gone beyond what Christ has done. And some of the greatest saints, they had extras too, because they said so many good works, they didn't need it. They had enough to take care of all the consequences of their own sins. So you have this treasury of the saints, treasury of Mary, and that has been given to the church. Don't come to me for it, I'm not a priest. I can't give it to you. Only priests can grant indulgence. So you can see everything's tied into the church. All right, I gotta read a little more here. You came to study the word, right? Well, you have to know the difference. I'm bothered. There are leading evangelicals, I may read some testimonies tonight, who have converted to Catholicism because they were overwhelmed with the emotional impact of being in a Catholic mass. I realized I had to be able to eat the body of Christ, too. I've got to say something else. This is a doctrinal heresy of magnitude. Jesus Christ is fully God. As God, he is omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent. As man, the God-man in a physical body, that physical body is not omnipresent. He is seated in that body at the right hand of the Father in heaven. It is a lie from hell to say that he is bodily present. Their doctrine says this is the way we can have Christ bodily present with us. That denies the reality of the humanity of Christ. Even in a glorified body, we will never be omnipresent. We are only one place. In his physical body, Jesus Christ is seated in heaven at the right hand of the Father. Period. As God, he is omnipresent. But to say that this wafer become fully and completely the real physical body of Christ, it's a lie. It's worse than a lie. The church tells me it is. I'm partaking of the body of Christ. All right. Now here, this is from the Canon and Decrees of the Council of Trent. This is an official Roman Catholic doctrine down to today. In fact, if anyone denies that it is, they are anathematized. So no one down until today does that. If anyone says that in the Mass a true and proper sacrifice is not offered, let him be anathema. devoted to destruction, cursed to hell. If anyone says that the sacrifice of the Mass is only a commemoration of the sacrifice consummated on the cross, but not a propitiatory sacrifice, It's not a minor matter. The sacrifice of Christ in the Mass is a propitiatory sacrifice. Remember 1 John? He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world. A propitiation is a sacrifice which is turned the wrath of God away from us. If anyone says that it is not a propitiatory sacrifice, that it ought not to be offered for the living and for the dead, for sins, pains, and satisfaction of necessity. Let them be cursed to hell." I mean, they say, well, we bash Catholics. Catholics bash us. That's pretty strong language. If you deny that the sacrifice of the mass is a propitiatory sacrifice, they're using the same language as the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. And it will take away sins. You see why you're trapped in that system. I may come to this in the reading here. If you say you'll be justified by faith completely, you're cursed to hell. Because that would mean you didn't need the ongoing sacraments of the church to guarantee your salvation. These are serious letters. That's why I start out by saying these are serious matters to the church. If anyone denies that in the venerable sacrament of the Eucharist, the whole Christ is contained under each species and under every part of each species when separated, let him be cursed to hell. That is word for word for what it read in the Catechism. Nothing's changed. Roman Catholic doctrine has not and will not change. So be careful. And some Roman Catholics don't know this. They say, well, the Church has changed. The doctrine of the Church has not, cannot change. The Pope talked about freedom of religion because Christians are being persecuted in Syria and places. You know, it's interesting to me, he talks about this not when he's in South America, when he talks about it about other countries. But here's what the official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church is. Anyone who says every man is free to embrace and profess the religion he shall believe true is heretical. You have no freedom of religion. And anyone who says that every man is free to embrace and profess the religion he'll truly believe, this is the quote from the papal syllabus of errors. These are errors that cannot be accepted or tolerated. But the Pope can come and say, we need freedom of religion in our world. Talk to Roman Catholic religions who have ministered in South America and Latin America. My cousin was in France in Roman Catholic areas, written a book on Roman Catholicism. How oppressed and strongly opposed you are to Roman Catholic doctrine. Anybody who says you're free to embrace and profess the religion you believe, that's an error that cannot be tolerated. If anyone says we may entertain at least a well-founded hope for the eternal salvation of those who are in no manner in the true Church of Christ, that's a heresy not to be tolerated. There is no hope of salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church. Whatever your religion or your belief, pray for me. But he is a defender. a promoter of the Roman Catholic doctrine. The Roman Catholic doctrine says there is no hope. And if you even say there may be a well-founded hope that someone outside the Catholic Church will be saved, that's a teaching that cannot be tolerated. Another error that cannot be tolerated. If anyone says the Church has not the power of defining dogmatically that the religion of the Catholic Church is the only true religion, that's an error that cannot be tolerated. Now here's an interesting one, since the Pope talks about power and force. If anyone says the Church has not the power of availing herself of force, or any direct or indirect temporal power, that's an error that cannot be tolerated. That's why it's different when he comes and addresses the United States. We're going to Revelation 17. That's why it's, ah, the Pope here, leaders of our country in awe with him and really says, there's coming together. And this apostate church will join together with the political leaders in the Western world and we'll have the system. There'll be an existence for the first three and a half years of tribulation. Couldn't believe it, there's the Pope addressing the Congress. Why would they have him? He's the Holy Father. The President of China comes, and he's a back-page news story. The Pope comes and talks, we ought to be caring for the poor. And everybody's, ah, we've never had anything like him. He's awesome. It's supernatural. You're right. I don't believe the Pope is the Antichrist. I believe he'll work in concert with the Antichrist. Here's another from the papal syllabus of errors that are not to be tolerated. In the present day, if anybody says, in the present day, it is no longer expedient that the Catholic religion be held as the only religion of the state to the exclusion of all other modes of worship. That's an error that cannot be tolerated. The Pope talking about freedom of worship, official doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. Is that anyone who would say that it's no longer expedient that the Catholic religion be held as the only religion of the state to the exclusion of all other modes of worship? That's an error and heresy that cannot be tolerated. Because see the Pope, and I'll read it maybe tonight, their doctrine says he has universal power. He's the leader of the church, but he's God's representative on earth, and who rules the earth? God, who's his representative on earth, the Pope. And the last one, anyone who says it has been wisely provided by law in some countries called Catholic that persons coming to reside therein shall enjoy the public exercise of their own worship. It's an error and heresy that cannot be tolerated. You should not be allowed to come into a Catholic country and worship in your own way. That's why the Pope comes and says, we need freedom of religion in our world today. Freedom to practice. Why? Because Catholics are being persecuted. But when Catholics are in charge, we have the true religion of Christ. Now we don't tolerate any error. And they go back, of course, you can go back to the Old Testament. Did Israel tolerate false worship? No. And you mix all of this All comes down to some Christians were hoping even that the Pope would address homosexual marriage and that. I was glad he didn't. Well, some people see it in what he said. I don't take anything from the Pope because we're coming from a totally different foundation. I'm coming from a foundation which they declare means I should be consigned to hell for eternity. I believe that salvation has been accomplished fully by the one time sacrifice, by one sacrifice for all time. He has perfected those who believe. Book of Hebrews. They say anyone who teaches that should be devoted to destruction. The foundation we come from is totally different. That's why you better be careful. The Pope's here. How many of you like conservative commentators? Do you know how many of them are Roman Catholic? And the Speaker of the House who just resigned. He's a Franciscan, was trained in Franciscan schools. He's been trying since the day he entered Congress to get the Pope to come and address Congress. Being controlled by their religious convictions. We need to be careful that we're clear on ours. It's not because we hate Catholics. We believe Catholic doctrine is wrong, and like the Judaizing doctrine, you believe that anyone who teaches any other gospel than the one that has been revealed is anathema. The devil's turned that around and said anyone who doesn't hold and promote the doctrine that I teach should be anathema. but they will join him in the hell prepared for the devil and his angels. All right, I want to look at a few more things tonight with you. Let's pray together. Thank you, Lord, for your word. How important it is that we be solid and clear on the truths of your word. Lord, we've taken time to look at some of the error being promoted in this system, its popularity. And Lord, we do that so that we might be clear with the Gospel. That we might not be like the Corinthians, who were in danger of being led astray from the purity of devotion to Christ. We would not minimize the power and influence of the God of this world, Satan. The work that he accomplishes. The impact that he has. Lord, we're called to be faithful to you, to be separated from the world and the world system and its religions and doctrines. May we be faithful. Thank you for your word. Thank you for your salvation. In Christ's name, amen. Thank you for listening to this message from Sound Words, a ministry of Indian Hills Community Church. Make sure to download our app from iTunes or Google Play for more messages like the one you just heard. If you would like to contact us, please email soundwords at ihcc.org or give us a call at 402-483-4541.