2 Critical Things Catholicism Gets Wrong | Mike Gendron

two years ago Ligonier Ministries conducted a survey of 3 000 Americans to examine the state of theology in our country the statistics are surprising 30 percent of evangelicals reject the deity of Christ 42 percent of evangelicals believe God accepts the worship of all religions including Christianity Judaism and Islam 25 percent believe that God counts a person as righteous because of his works not because of one's faith in Christ never before has there been such a need to preach the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ that is so gloriously revealed in Scripture that's because the greatest attacks on Christianity Today are on the sufficiency of our Lord Jesus Christ and the exclusive exclusivity of his gospel there are many who say they believe in Christ but they say that's not enough it has to be Christ plus good works or sacraments or keeping the law they do not realize they are insulting Christ by adding to his perfect fittest all-sufficient work of redemption clearly they have not studied the Bible to know the true Jesus as he is so gloriously revealed from Matthew to revelation we see the sufficiency of our Lord Jesus Christ and so since you live in a community that is dominated by Roman Catholicism this morning I want to look at the sufficiency of our Lord Jesus Christ and if you were here yesterday I shared with you the two most important truths to share with Roman Catholics one would be the supreme authority of God's word and the second would be the sufficiency of our Lord Jesus Christ for every Christian Christ has become to us all wisdom from God righteousness sanctification and Redemption the words of Paul in First Corinthians 1 30. the scriptures speak of the total sufficiency of Jesus Christ for every spiritual need time for this time and all throughout eternity there is no clear statement of this in Colossians 2 10 you are complete in him in Christ we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing as we see in Ephesians 1 3 and in second Corinthians 3 5 Paul writes not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything is coming from us but our sufficiency is from God to have Jesus Christ is to have everything not to have him is to have absolutely nothing all joy and peace and purpose and hope and fulfillment in life is found in Crea Jesus Christ Alone when we look at our glorious savior we see deity and Humanity came together in perfect Unity man's perfect God became God's perfect man to satisfy Divine Justice for his people the uncreated infinite and eternal nature of God was fully integrated with the finite created nature of man deity and Humanity came together in Perfect Harmony so that Jesus could become the Kinsmen Redeemer for his people like the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3 8 we must preach the unfathomable Riches of Christ to correct all the faulty depictions of him with all the false christs that are being preached today the awe-inspiring Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ is diminished when false teachers Rob him of his Supreme sufficiency to save his people completely and forever we must Proclaim Christ Alone admonishing every man teaching every man with all wisdom so that we may present every man complete in Christ lost people must come to the true Christ and they must come with empty hands of Faith bringing nothing but their sins when you look at the Christ of the Gospel he is the Eternal Lord God and savior he cannot be divided some people say that you can take him as Savior but not as Lord Jesus Christ is both Lord and savior he is also our Prophet priest and King and he cannot be divided there either he is the last prophet who represents Gods to his people instructing Us in the things of God he is also our exalted high priest who represents his people to God and as our high priest he is able to say forever those who come to God through him because he always lives to make intercession for his people Christ is also our Eternal King who governs Us by his holy word and His Holy Spirit he is the one mediator between God and man he is the only one qualified he is God's perfect man and man's perfect God there are no other mediators Roman Catholics choose to go through Mary as another sinless mediator but she is not qualified only the Lord Jesus Christ and the Lord Jesus Christ is the only head of his church Roman Catholics believe the pope is the head but he has stolen that title given to the Lord Jesus who purchased his church with his own blood well Jesus Christ is the only hope for Sinners and that's because he did for us what we could never do for ourselves he lived a sinless life of perfect obedience then he offered himself the Eternal God man and canceled the Eternal sin debt for those who repent and believe his gospel please don't miss this no one will appreciate what the Lord Jesus Christ has done until they realize how utterly hopeless and helpless they are to do anything about their lost condition no one will seek a savior until they know they are destined for the torments of hell no one will be reconciled to God until they first know that their sin has separated them from God no one will seek a substitute to die in their place until they realize they are condemned on death row no one will receive the righteousness of Christ as a gift until they are first stripped of their own righteousness no one will try to get on the narrow road that leads to life until they realize they are on the wide road that leads to destruction and no one can be saved by grace until they recognize the sufficiency of Jesus Christ and repent of all they are doing to try to save themselves Jesus right before he gave up his Spirit he cried out in Victory it is finished what did Jesus accomplish why did he speak those words well let me share with you what Jesus accomplished before he gave up his spirit prophecy was fulfilled righteousness was perfected substitution was offered Divine Justice was satisfied blood was shed Redemption was paid sins were forgiven reconciliation was achieved death was conquered and salvation was secured what a great savior we have in the Lord Jesus Christ the sufficiency of Christ is summed up in his victory cry it is finished the work of redemption that the father gave him to accomplish was complete everything necessary to save Sinners completely and forever had been accomplished so as we look at each one of these accomplishments by Christ we can only wonder how people can insult the Lord Jesus Christ by adding to his perfect finished work with their filthy rags of righteousness when we look at the righteousness of Christ and how it was perfected we see that from the cradle to the Cross Jesus lived his life in perfect obedience to the law he now offers his righteousness as a gift to those who trust in him as we witness to Lost sinners we must tell them that she can never be good enough that God's righteousness that is revealed in the gospel can only be obtained through the righteousness of Christ that is our passport and to Heaven whatever God demands God provides and he provides the righteousness of Christ as a gift by one offering he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified every requirement of God's righteous law has been satisfied by Christ he is man's Only Hope and only passport into heaven when we look at Jesus our righteousness in Romans 5 17 he gives his righteousness as a gift to every believer as our perfect high priest Jesus offered himself the perfect sacrifice to satisfy Divine justice of a holy God who demands Perfection his perfect righteousness is man's only hope well I can tell you as a Roman Catholic for 35 years I never once heard of the penal substitution of Christ as a Catholic I knew that Jesus died for the sins of the world that was history when I found out Jesus died for me that was salvation so when we see and look at the Lord Jesus Christ we see that substitution was offered to those who will come to him with empty hands of Faith the innocent Son of God died the death of guilty Sinners deserved and he bore the righteous wrath of God for all the sins of those who trust in him alone as Peter wrote in First Peter 3 18 the just died for the unjust this is the greatest news that a condemned sinner on death row could ever hear the Glorious Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest revelation of the manifold wisdom of God that whereby he can be both the just and the justifier of the unjust there is nothing more important and nothing more necessary for the promotion of God's glory in the Kingdom of Christ than the gospel his manifold wisdom it is the greatest of all Treasures that have been entrusted to the church it must be guarded for the Next Generation and it is under attack like never before the Purity and the exclusivity of the Gospel it is the primary reason God leaves us here after we're born again before the Lord ascended into heaven he passed the Baton to the church and he has commanded us and commissioned us to go and seek after those who will never seek after the true God we also see that Divine Justice was satisfied God the righteous judge cannot let the guilty Go free we must witness and let people know that every sin that has ever been committed by every man and woman that has ever lived must be punished by a holy and righteous judge Justice was satisfied when God provided a sinless substitute Jesus bore the sins of his people and he was crushed for their iniquities all the righteous demands of the law were upheld so that Believers could be acquitted ours substitute satisfied the wrath of God and as we witness we can share that Divine Justice will be satisfied in one of two places either at calvary's Cross for Jesus satisfies Divine Justice For Those Who trust in him alone or those that say no thank you or reject his offer of forgiveness one day we'll meet him at the great white throne and near Divine Justice will be satisfied when Jesus says depart from me I never knew you and they're cast into the Eternal Lake of Fire Divine Justice must be satisfied we also know that blood was shed in fact we read in Hebrews 9 22 that according to the law without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness the Scarlet threat of blood started in the garden when the first sin was committed an animal had to be slayed and then he had the animal sacrifices all the way through the Old Testament and that Scarlet thread ended at calvary's Cross where Jesus shed his blood and we see in first John 1 7 the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin we also know that Redemption was paid what was the price the Precious Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ that makes the blood of Jesus Christ the most valuable commodity the world has ever known in First Peter 1 18-19 Peter writes you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold but with the precious blood the blood of Jesus Christ since everyone is born enslaved to sin and under the curse of the law Christ had to pay for our Redemption we see that in Galatians 3 13. and don't miss the verb tense of this verse that we find in Hebrews 9 12. he entered the holy Place once for all having obtained past tense Eternal Redemption we'll see why that's important in a moment when Jesus cried out it is finished we know that our sins were forgiven in Colossians 2 13-14 he made you alive together with him having forgiven us all our transgressions having canceled out their certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which was hostile to us he's taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross blessed is the man whose sin God does not take into account the words of Paul in Romans 4 5. what a glorious savior we have in Christ Jesus let us make the most of every opportunity to share his gospel I'm always seeking to make the most of every opportunity and sometimes the spirit moves me to give the gospel when I think I've embarrassed my wife on occasion we had just finished a three-day conference and we got on the airplane to fly back to Dallas and I was just ready to just lean back and fall asleep but while we're on the tarmac there is a man conducting his business on his cell phone so loud that five people up five rows up and five rows back and hear everything he was saying and I was just getting more and more agitated because he's going on and on and on and then I realized I've got business to to conduct as well so I pulled out my cell phone and I started giving the gospel I said did you know that God is Holy he is righteous and he must punish every sin about five minutes into the gospel my wife elbows me and said you better hope your phone doesn't start ringing well we also know that reconciliation was achieved God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them never to be separated again do you see why second Corinthians 5 19 God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself not counting their trespasses against them isn't that good news to know that all of our sin all of our guilt all of our punishment was placed on Christ you know so often when I share that with Catholics they say so all you have to do is believe and then you get to keep on sinning well now the grace that brought us salvation teaches us to say no to ungodliness know the worldly passions and to live a self-controlled upright life no because I know that the sinless Savior went to the cross and was immersed in the wrath of God on my behalf I want to live my life pleasing to him out of love and gratitude for having been saved Christ died for sins once for all the just for the unjust so that he might bring us to God death was also conquered in First Corinthians 15 verse 55 to 57 we see that death is swallowed up in Victory The Sting of death is sin and the power of sin is the law but thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ the resurrection was an affirmation that Jesus is who he said he was he said that Divine Justice could be satisfied in him and we know that death was conquered when he was raised from the dead you know anybody could say that I'm going to die and three days later be raised from the dead but there's only one person that said that it was actually raised from the dead his resurrection proved he is who he said he was tragically Rome still has Jesus on the cross because they do not believe the work of redemption is finished and they do not believe that God has made Believers perfect forever when I was on a mission trip down to Mexico we went into the cathedral in Acapulco and it just broke my heart to see Roman Catholics coming up to a glass coffin with the statue of Jesus laying on his back and in front of the coffin was an offering box and in Spanish it said for the holy burial of Jesus and these poor gullible Catholics were donating money so that Jesus could be buried well from Death To Life three days after Jesus finished his perfect work of redemption God gloriously raised him from the dead to prove he is who he said he is the Eternal Son of God and Victorious savior he who was delivered over because of our transgressions and was raised because of our justification we know that we have been justified by a holy and righteous God because of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead salvation is secured by the power and the promises of almighty God to every believer the Good Shepherd says I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will snatch them out of my hand the Lord Jesus protects his flock and he loses not one as we say in John 6 39 salvation is secured by the power and the Very Promises of almighty god listen to the words of Peter in his first epistle chapter 1 verses 3 to 5. blessed be the God and father of our Lord Jesus Christ who according to his great Mercy has caused us to be born again to a Living Hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the very power of God through faith for a Salvation ready to be revealed in the last time there is no greater power than almighty God in our inheritance is reserved in Heaven by him I was asked to go up and equip the body of Christ in Munster Texas that's a predominantly Roman Catholic town about 90 percent were Roman Catholics so after teaching all day Saturday we got up Sunday morning to go and do the Sunday morning message and we were in a restaurant there in Munster there was only one lighthouse in the town the Baptist Church everything else was Roman Catholic and as we finished our breakfast I looked over the restaurant there was about 50 people and I quickly did the math math 90 percent that means about 45 people and hear a Roman Catholic well something came over me and I picked up a spoon and I banged a glass and the whole restaurant became quiet and I said now that I have your attention I want you to know that I've come all the way up from Dallas to show all of you how you can have your sins forgiven and be reconciled to God and I'm going to give that message across the street at the Baptist Church all of you are welcome to come well we walked out of that restaurant and my wife looked at me she said Munster Texas no problem but if you ever do that in Dallas I will kill you foreign you know I've never done it in Dallas the victory Cry of Jesus tetelestai as Jesus cried out it is finished the curtain of the temple was torn open giving Believers direct access to God there is no need for priests offering the same sacrifices repeatedly which can never take away sin several years ago I was asked to represent a family at a Roman Catholic funeral their dad had made a profession of Faith after living his whole life as a very staunch and devout Catholic and so as I went up to the pulpit to represent the Catholic Family during the sacrifice of the mass I was pointing to the Altar and to the priest who was sitting there I said when Jesus Christ gave up his Spirit the Dale of the temple was torn open from top to bottom showing that now we have direct access to the father through the shed blood of Jesus Christ I said there is no more need for sasserole priests and I pointed to the priest and I said there's no longer need for altars because Jesus finished the work of Redemption on the cross and this work of redemption that the priest is carrying on is Superfluous it's unnecessary well the priest got up and he came over and said you need to get out of the pulpit and I politely said go sit down I'm not finished yet and I continued on sharing the truth of scripture and the truth of the Gospel with all those who would listen after I sat down the priest got in the pulpit and he pointed to the casket he said we do not know where this man is he could be in some deep dark place in outer space for all we know well at the end of the mass is everybody exited the church the Catholics came up to me and thanked me he said they said you were the only one that gave us hope the priest gave us no hope at all so we just need to make sure that every opportunity we have to give the Glorious gospel of grace people want to know that they can have the Assurance of eternal life by trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ we have to also look at the exclusivity of Jesus Christ Peter said there is salvation and no one else for there is no other name under Heaven given among men by which we must be saved his message in Acts chapter 4 verse 12 and then Paul said for there is one God and there is one mediator between God and Men the man Christ Jesus and then Jesus said I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me he is the way for those who are lost he is the truth for those who are deceived and he's the very life for those who are dead in their sin he is the only way to God there is no other mediator there is no other savior in any other religion that's why there is a Great Commission we must Proclaim to the world that there is only one way and that's through Christ when you look at the exclusive exclusivity of Christ he said that the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life and only a few find it there are many false teachers standing in front of the narrow way saying it's not this way it's the Broadway and so many gullible people follow the words of men rather than the inspired word of God that's why very few find the narrow gate very few of us who know the narrow way are pointing them to the narrow way we have to recognize there is much opposition to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ people never know they are deceived until they are confronted with the truth and you and I are truth-bearers we've been given that responsibility to lovingly confront people with the truth of God's word only then will they know that they are deceived so which Jesus do you trust we have a gospel Track by that title and in the gospel track I contrast the Jesus that is gloriously revealed in scripture with the Jesus that I once worshiped and trusted as a Roman Catholic the true Jesus provides eternal life the Catholic Jesus provides only conditional life Roman Catholics do not know where they're going to spend eternity because the Jesus of the Catholic Church merely opened the Gates of Heaven now each Catholic must do their part that's why as you witness to them first John 5 13 is such an important verse John writes to those who believe in the name of the son of God that you may know that you have eternal life you can know right here and now that you have in your possession Eternal everlasting life that Jesus of the Bible offers complete forgiveness whereas the Jesus of the Catholic church only partial forgiveness that's why they have a place called Purgatory where Catholics go to have their venial sins purified the true Jesus provides a permanent right standing with God remember Hebrews 10 14 by one offering he is made perfect forever those who are being Sanctified the Catholic Jesus provides a continuous striving to gain God's acceptance as a Catholic for 35 years it was like being on a treadmill always trying to do my best to gain God's approval but going absolutely nowhere the true Jesus provides peace joy and assurance the Catholic Jesus only uncertainty fear and doubt and yes even a false hope whenever I see a Catholic wearing a crucifix I always go up and say who is that man hanging on the cross around your neck and they will say well Jesus of course they say no it can't be Jesus Jesus died was raised from the dead and ascended into heaven and he will remain in Heaven until his enemies have been made his footstool well when you look at the Christ of Rome he is a counterfeit he is a false Christ he did not save Sinners completely he did not give the Assurance of Salvation he did not pay sin's complete punishment he did not purify all sins that's why they need purgatory he returns physically every day to the Earth at the beck and call of a priest he did not finish the work of redemption he did not redeem man from The Curse of the law one of the requirements for Catholics to obtain eternal life is to obey the law if they would only look at James 2 10 anyone who obeys the law perfectly and stumbles at one part is guilty of breaking the entire law and he's not the only sinless mediator they also have Mary as a sinless mediator and he's not the only way in paragraph 841 of the catechism of the Catholic Church it says Muslims are also part of God's Plan of Salvation now I want you to understand this you and I as born-again Christians in Christ are condemned over 100 times by the Council of Trent and yet Muslims who deny that Jesus went to the Cross Muslims who deny that Jesus is the only savior they are said to be part of God's Plan of Salvation where you and I are condemned by this religion and yet we have Evangelical leaders today saying we should have Unity with Roman Catholics because we share a common faith in the gospel as you can see that is the furthest thing from the truth Rome's Jesus did not finish the work of redemption in paragraph 1405 it says every time this mystery is celebrated the work of our Redemption is carried on do you remember the verb tense that I shared out of Hebrews 9 when he obtained past tense Redemption he entered into heaven Council of Trent Canon 3 if anyone says that the sacrifice of the mass is not a propitiatory one let him be anathema I don't believe it is I don't think you believe it is one of the condemnations against us from the Catholic Church Redemption continues on Catholic altars according to paragraph 1367 of the catechism it reads the sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice the victim is one in the same in this Divine sacrifice the same Christ who offered himself in a bloody manner on the altar of the Cross is contained and is offered in a non-bloody manner isn't this amazing that the one element that is efficacious and purifying sin and forgiving sin that is the shed blood of Jesus they say it's the same sacrifice but it's offered in an unbloody manner we must ask Catholics why do their priests continue on an altar what Jesus finished on the cross well is it the same sacrifice Calvary was offered by the sinless Son of God the mass is offered by a sinful priest Calvary was for the living only the mass is offered for the living and the dead when a Roman Catholic dies their family comes together and purchases Mass cards indulgences to get their loved one out of purgatory the priest lays the mass card on the Altar and that's masses offered on behalf of the soul and Purgatory Calvary was one perfect finish and all-sufficient sacrifice the mass has offered thousands of times and is insufficient Calvary was for all sin the mass is only for past sins by the way this is why Catholics are mandated to go to the sacrifice of the mass every week under the penalty of mortal sin that they don't because the mass that they attend takes care of the sins they committed in the previous week so that's why they have to keep going back week after week Calvary was Bloody the mass was bloodless Calvary unrepeatable one sacrifice for all sin for all time the mass must continue every day I want to share with you a quote that really Grieves my heart every time I have to share it but I want you to know what Catholics believe takes place every time they attend the mass this has got the official impromater of the Catholic church this is what the Catholic Church teaches when the priest announces the words of consecration he reaches up into the heavens and brings Christ down from his throne and places him Upon Our altar to be offered up again as the victim for the sins of man it is a power greater than that of saints and Angels the priest speaks and lo Christ the Eternal and omnipotent God bows his head in Humble obedience to the priest's command as Preposterous and unthinkable as this may sound the Catholic priest is said to have the power to call almighty God down from heaven to continue on an altar what he finished on the cross over two hundred thousand times throughout the world on Catholic altars Catholic priests present Jesus as a victim we know Jesus went to the Cross willingly he was not a victim the Lord Jesus endured in excruciating pain and torture for Sinners once for all time he was pierced for our transgressions it is unconscionable that Catholics would want to continue his sufferings on an altar but this is Roman Catholicism I hope you see why Catholics need to be evangelized don't believe your Evangelical leaders that are signing Unity Accords saying that their brothers and sisters in Christ they worship another Jesus which always leads to another gospel we know that Jesus is not physically present in the way for Jesus warned he said if anyone says to you behold here is the Christ do not believe him and yet that's what every priest does when he holds up the Eucharist this is the body of Christ Envoy magazine a popular Catholic periodical had the Eucharist on the front cover it says this looks like bread tastes like bread and feels like bread is this God and then you open the magazine and it tries to convince you that this truly is the physical body and blood soul and Divinity of Christ I hope you understand the Roman Catholics are committing the most serious sin of idolatry because this is indeed a false Christ it is no different than the Israelites who worship the true God that delivered them out of Egypt when they formed a golden calf what was the Fate of the Israelites that worshiped the golden calf as the true God put three thousand of them to death that's why if you hear of a Roman Catholic who has been converted to Christ who has been born again you must disciple them in the truth and call them out so they won't continue the sin of idolatry that's why the Great Commission is to go and make disciples teaching them to observe everything Christ has commanded you cannot stay in a false church God seeks worshipers and spirit and in truth so discernment is needed more than ever today because a counterfeit is an imitation created to deceive and there are not only false Christ in the Catholic church but as you know there are false Christ and other religions as well every religion has a Christ the Mormons have won the Jehovah Witnesses the Muslims as well so the Eucharist is a false Christ and we can say that by the authority of God's word listen to the scriptures that make it so clear in Hebrews 9 28 he does not return every day he will appear a second time and not to deal with sin so the Eucharist is clearly not Christ because he is being offered as a sin offering in Acts 3 21 we read he must remain in Heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything and then in Matthew 24 we see when he will return it'll be immediately after the tribulation there's more more proof that the Eucharist is a false Christ he will return to the same place he ascended in that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives Zechariah 14 4. we also know how he will return with power and great Glory there will be no doubt that the Lord Jesus has returned to set up his Earthly Kingdom he will also return in a body in Acts chapter 1 this Jesus who was taken up from you into heaven will come in the same way as you have seen him go into heaven God's word says he appeared once to do away with sin then he entered the holy Place once for all having obtained Eternal Redemption the body of Christ was offered once as one sacrifice for all sin for all time if you ever have an opportunity to witness to Roman Catholics take them to Hebrews chapter 10 and let them read verses 10 12 14 and 18. it totally destroys the Roman Catholic Mass his offering made perfect forever those who were Sanctified there are no more offerings for sin Ron's Jesus did not cancel the Eternal sin debt this is a very troubling statement and catechism paragraph 1459 The Sinner must make satisfaction for or xb8 his sins by doing penance Jane and I have ministered in the Philippines oh it's heartbreaking because that country is so dominated by Catholicism upwards of 80 percent of Roman Catholics every Holy Week Filipino men come forward to be nailed to a cross so they can expiate their own sin they don't leave them up there to die only to suffer so they can make satisfaction for their sins If Only They Knew of the all-sufficient savior in the Lord Jesus Christ indulgences are said to remit temporal punishment for sin for the living and the dead the confessional box is another way that Roman Catholicism controls its people its people if only they would look to Peter who they believe was their first pope remember what Peter said to Simon the Sorcerer who tried to buy the gift of God with his money he said go directly to God and confess that sin and perhaps God will forgive you now that's what we do when we sin we go to God we confess our sins we don't need another mediator Jesus Christ is our only mediator scripture says he made you alive together with him having forgiven us all our transgressions having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us and which were hostile to us he's taken it out of the way having nailed it to the cross the Catholic Jesus did not purify all sin here you see a mass card we attended a funeral and Catholics believe that their loved ones are now in purgatory and you can see the suffering going on at the bottom of a card and then the priest offering the Eucharistic Christ to the Father in heaven the catechism teaches all who die in God's grace but still imperfectly purified are assured of salvation but after death they undergo purification through a purifying fire in purgatory so as to achieve the Holiness necessary for heaven we can thank our Sovereign Lord for raising up the reformers who boldly exposed the lives of the Roman Catholic Church Martin Luther as you know hung the 95 thesis to the church door in bittenberg protesting the selling of God's forgiveness through indulgences but the Roman Catholic Church continues that practice today God's word says when he made purification of sin he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high he gave himself for us that he might purify for himself a people for his own possession Titus 2 verse 14. the blood of Jesus purifies us of all sin yesterday some of us went out to the Mission San Juan Capistrano right before the mass was said I had a chance to talk with a Catholic lady named Mary and I asked her why would you believe in purgatory when first John 1 7 says the blood of Jesus purifies us from all sin she said well we can be doubly purified rather than giving God all the honor all the glory they believe in a fictitious place called Purgatory that robs Christ at his glory well Rome's Jesus is not sufficient to secure salvation there is a invisible treasury that contains the prayers and good works of all the saints in this way don't miss this they attain their own salvation and at the same time cooperate and saving their brothers why do you need Jesus if you're a Catholic clearly you can attain your own salvation we can Merit for ourselves and for others All The Graces needed to attain eternal life paragraph 2027 how can we Merit the unmerited favor of God and yet this is what Catholics believe so let me just warn you when you approach Catholics they believe they're saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ the word alone is so important we are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone according to scripture alone all for the glory of God Alone God God's word says no man can by any means redeem his brother or give to God a ransom for him for the Redemption of a soul is costly and he should cease trying forever Psalm 49 7-8 can you see that every lie of the devil can be exposed and reproved and corrected by the authority of God's word if only we could get Catholics to read God's word you see the devil holds Roman Catholics captive the devil holds every unbeliever captive and Paul said we are to pray for those in opposition to the gospel that God would grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth so they can escape the snare of the devil that holds them captive to do his will and then the Lord Jesus said the only way you can be set free is to prove yourself to be a true disciple of Mine by abiding in my word then you will know the truth and that truth will set you free free from religious deception free from the bondage of the devil John chapter 8 verse 31 and 32 did you know that Roman Catholics attribute to Mary many of the attributes of Christ Jesus is said to be the Prince of Peace the Catholic Mary is the Queen of Peace Jesus is the son of God Catholics believe Mary is the mother of God Jesus ascended into Glory the Catholic Mary was assumed in the glory Jesus is the king of Heaven marries the Queen of Heaven Jesus is the one mediator but Catholics say no Mary is also a sinless media actor mediatrics Jesus is the Redeemer but Catholics look to Mary as co-redeemer both claim to be Advocate Jesus was sinless Catholics believe Mary was sinless Jesus is the source of Grace Mary is said to be the channel of all Grace Jesus is said to be the second Adam as we see in Romans 5 Mary is the second eve even though they have not elevated her to godhead to the fourth person of the Trinity they give many Divine attributes to Mary so Jesus is sufficient every believer is set free by his truth every believer is Born Again by the seed of his word every believer is purified from sin by his blood every believer stands forgiven by his substitutionary atonement every believer is Justified with his imputed righteousness every believer is saved on the basis of his grace and every believer is reconciled to God through his mediation that's the role of a mediator a mediator comes between two warring parties before we were Believers we were at enmity with God our relationship was one of hostility with God but through the mediation of God's perfect man and man's perfect God he has changed our relationship to one of peace and harmony every believer is eternally secure by his promises so in closing we must tell Catholic something finished does not continue we must tell Catholics across as not an altar a debt forgiven is not still owed I mean think how foolish it would be if some benefactor came and paid off your mortgage wouldn't it be foolish to continue to send in your payment every month Jesus canceled the sin debt we must tell Catholics all sin are purified by the blood of Jesus there is no need for Purgatory we must tell Catholics a gift cannot be merited or earned and something false cannot be true so what must we do as Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ I hope you know that we need to have a sense of urgency I really believe we're living in the last days the Lord Jesus could come for his church at any moment we need to be bold and courageous we need to contend for the sufficiency and the exclusivity of our Lord Jesus Christ we need to reprove those who Embrace Catholicism as a valid expression of Christianity stand up for the glory and honor of our great God and savior for the sanctity of his church we also need to evangelize Catholics by sharing the true Christ and his gospel and call them to repentance I'd just like to close with the testimony of God's Amazing Grace I was invited up to a church in Modesto California and the pastor encouraged the congregation to invite all of their Catholic loved ones at the end of the service a young Catholic couple approached the pulpit and said Mike you've really provoked our faith we'd like to take you to lunch and ask you some questions so we went to lunch and we sat down and he started asking questions he had his Catholic Bible every time he asked a question I let God answer the question in his Bible the more questions he asked the more questions he had this went on for three hours finally he was satisfied he was ready to leave I said Sergio before you leave can I ask you one question remember this morning I gave an illustration that as Roman Catholics we are told if we hang on if if we imagine there is a a ladder suspended over hell and if we hang on to all these rungs we will keep ourselves from the fires of Hell the rungs of baptism and sacraments and good works and keeping the law on the sacrifice of the mass yeah I remember and you remember I said imagine that Jesus is standing between you and hell and he's saying if you'll let go of those things that cannot save you and put all of your hope and trust in me I promise to save you yes yes I remember and remember I said if you're still clinging to those rungs when you die you will lose your grip and you will fall into the Eternal Lake of Fire yeah yeah I remember well Sergio are you ready to let go and Trust Jesus to save you he said well what do I need to do and before I turned another page in the Bible his wife blurts out I'm ready and so I turned to mark 115. listen to the words of Jesus you need to repent and believe his gospel and then I took him to Romans 10 I said read verse 9 if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead you shall be saved I said Sergio look at verse 13. he read it whoever calls upon the Lord will be saved he bowed his head and cried out Jesus save me but praise God he stood up and wrapped his arms around a few months later I was teaching at a conference in Southern California I hear this voice Mike Mike do you remember me and there was Sergio we said we drove all the way down from Modesto I wanted you to meet my brother because the same verses you shared with me that afternoon I shared with my brother and he's now exchanged his religion for a relationship with Christ well you're probably thinking yeah Mike you're an evangelist you know where all the answers are in God's word but what about me well that's why I wrote the book preparing for eternity it's a book that you can not only give to Roman Catholics to show them how they can be saved because it lays alongside scripture versus Catholic tradition and the Catholic catechism and it forces them to choose should I trust Christ in his word or the teachings and traditions of my church it also will help you know the verses to share with Roman Catholics we also have the book available in Spanish and because it's a great expense to send this to Spanish-speaking countries we make this available free for the asking all you have to do is send us your email and we will send you this book in PDF form I know you have a lot of Spanish-speaking people in your community so take advantage of this and if people have an email address you can forward this book to them I shared a little bit about our gospel cards some of you may feel like I need to know the gospel better and deeper before I can share it with confidence well I put together the 12 most important words of the gospel and it all begins with God who created man perfect but he fell into sin and now he needs the Lord Jesus Christ and his work on the cross and his resurrection from the dead and only by grace through faith in Repentance can you receive salvation and the righteousness of Christ by believing the truth and on the back of each card there's four bullet points explaining and defining what each word means so this enables you to go deeper into the gospel you can also use it as an excellent Evangelistic tool as you're witnessing to somebody just lay these out in front of them and ask them knowing that your eternity hangs in the balance which one of these cards would you like to know more about that way they control the conversation after they pick up a card do you believe with what the Bible says about that word would you like to pick up another card so I encourage you we want to equip you to be faithful Witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ and I just want to thank the Elders of the church for the invitation to come and share a great burden that I have the Lord has given me a burden for all those Roman Catholics who are where I was believing I was in the one true church but destined for hell so may God give us all a greater compassion for those who do not know the true Christ and his gospel

Channel: Revolve Bible Church

Views: 85,435

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Id: B1iGYGtkjWQ

Length: 56min 8sec (3368 seconds)

Published: Mon Sep 26 2022