1 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,960 Welcome to the Liberty Baptist Sermon Archives. 2 00:00:06,200 --> 00:00:09,040 The message you're about to hear was preached at Liberty Baptist 3 00:00:09,040 --> 00:00:13,040 Church in Easton, MA. You can find out more about us 4 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,280 or contact us at my libertybaptist.org or just look 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:19,760 us up on Facebook. And now we hope that this 6 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:22,080 message from God's Word will be a blessing to you. 7 00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:26,400 Glad to be back with you here today. 8 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:28,200 And if you would turn your Bibles, please, to Matthew 9 00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,600 chapter #16 We're at an interesting spot in our series 10 00:00:32,600 --> 00:00:36,120 right now because we're looking at world religions and cults. 11 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:39,360 We have now for really almost a year, but we're getting 12 00:00:39,360 --> 00:00:42,240 ourselves to the place where we're kind of tailing to the end 13 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:44,400 of our series. And we have to ask ourselves a 14 00:00:44,400 --> 00:00:46,920 question this. So as we study world religions 15 00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:49,480 and cults, what exactly is the Catholic Church? 16 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:53,560 But many have who are here have had experience with the Catholic 17 00:00:53,560 --> 00:00:55,400 Church. Maybe growing up in the Catholic 18 00:00:55,400 --> 00:00:58,120 Church or having extended family of which are part of it, 19 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,160 certainly is very much part of the culture here in New England 20 00:01:01,160 --> 00:01:03,200 where we are. Every town has a parish, or you 21 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:05,480 could be like Easton, which has two different parishes in 22 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:08,520 Northeastern and Southeastern. And so there is much in our 23 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:12,080 culture that is steeped in Catholicism here in New England. 24 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:14,920 And so we do have to ask ourselves, when it comes to 25 00:01:14,920 --> 00:01:18,960 world religions and cults, where exactly does the Roman Catholic 26 00:01:18,960 --> 00:01:20,880 Church fall? Now I understand, and this may 27 00:01:20,880 --> 00:01:24,200 be a sensitive issue for some, I do want to talk about it in a 28 00:01:24,200 --> 00:01:27,520 way that is, I hope, as we have done with all of the world 29 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:29,960 religions and cults, that is compassionate. 30 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:32,760 But yet at the very same time, we must proclaim the truth of 31 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,920 God's word for what it is. We must speak the word for what 32 00:01:35,920 --> 00:01:37,600 it is. And as the Bible says, we speak 33 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,520 the truth and love, Amen. And so it's important for us to 34 00:01:40,520 --> 00:01:43,440 be able to do so to not hold back on the truth, but yet also 35 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:46,280 to present in such a way that I hope that you could share this 36 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:49,160 video and maybe the next few videos that we do, the next few 37 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,920 lessons with friend, the neighbor, a family member, and 38 00:01:52,920 --> 00:01:56,120 to be able to show them what the Bible says about Catholicism. 39 00:01:56,480 --> 00:01:58,960 And so really the issue comes down to this. 40 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:02,880 And this is what we'll look at today when it comes to the issue 41 00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:06,600 of faith in Christ. Is it all about the Scripture or 42 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:11,360 is it Scripture plus tradition? Because as we as Bible believing 43 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:14,160 Baptist, we would say today that it's all about the Scripture, 44 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:15,840 isn't it? If the Scripture says it, we 45 00:02:15,840 --> 00:02:17,320 believe it. If the Scripture doesn't say it, 46 00:02:17,320 --> 00:02:20,880 well, then we don't believe it. But for the Catholic Church and 47 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:24,960 for our Catholic friends, it is Scripture plus tradition that 48 00:02:24,960 --> 00:02:29,320 all come together to make up what is the faith for the 49 00:02:29,320 --> 00:02:32,080 Catholic Church. And so we want to approach this 50 00:02:32,080 --> 00:02:34,600 with discernment and charity, not contempt. 51 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:39,120 It's not my desire to make fun of those that are part of the 52 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:41,920 Catholic Church. That's not my desire in any way, 53 00:02:41,920 --> 00:02:44,840 shape or form. But at the same time, we do need 54 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,560 to address what is the Catholic Church and where does it fall 55 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:51,720 within our studies. Now by the Catholic Churches own 56 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,960 tally, we don't know exactly how many Catholics there are, but 57 00:02:54,960 --> 00:02:57,800 some estimate that it's somewhere around 1 billion 58 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:02,160 adherence to the Catholic faith out of the 8 billion or so who 59 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:05,040 live here on this earth. And there are some things that 60 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:06,760 we have in common with Catholicism. 61 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,560 Quite honestly. We think about the Trinity, we 62 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:11,960 think about the bodily resurrection of Christ. 63 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:14,880 We we say the inspiration of Scripture that even the 64 00:03:14,880 --> 00:03:17,280 Catholics would say that scripture is inspired. 65 00:03:17,280 --> 00:03:19,920 It's what they say after that that is problematic. 66 00:03:19,920 --> 00:03:23,520 But there are many similarities to where we could sit down and 67 00:03:23,520 --> 00:03:26,680 talk with a Catholic and be able to find some common ground. 68 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:30,640 We understand that, that even in the most grossest of errors, 69 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:34,000 we've looked at things like Hinduism and we've looked at 70 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:39,160 things like the Muslim faith that we find that, well, yeah, 71 00:03:39,160 --> 00:03:41,840 there is some kernels of truth that are able to be found and 72 00:03:41,840 --> 00:03:43,280 there. And certainly when it comes to 73 00:03:43,280 --> 00:03:45,760 the Catholic Church, there are certain doctrines that we could 74 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:48,760 talk about and find that we have so much in common. 75 00:03:49,080 --> 00:03:53,960 But yet the issue is that Rome over the years has added to 76 00:03:54,000 --> 00:03:59,840 Scripture a body of tradition of Sacramento, theology of the 77 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:04,520 doctrine of worship and prayer to Mary, papal authority, the 78 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,840 Saints and prayers to Saints, all of these different things 79 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:10,120 that have been added on top of the word of God. 80 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:13,160 And that's just a very short list that we could present to 81 00:04:13,160 --> 00:04:15,560 you this morning. So the central issue really 82 00:04:15,560 --> 00:04:19,839 comes down to authority. What is the final authority for 83 00:04:19,839 --> 00:04:23,560 Christian faith and practice? So this morning we are going to 84 00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:27,880 look at the issue of is Catholicism A cult or a false 85 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:30,200 religion? This is the question of which we 86 00:04:30,200 --> 00:04:34,760 will ask ourselves this morning. The Catholic answer again is 87 00:04:35,000 --> 00:04:38,400 Scripture plus sacred tradition, that which has been passed down 88 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,200 from the Church fathers, that which is dogma coming from the 89 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:45,480 Pope who speaks ex cathedra, meaning that he speaks on the 90 00:04:45,480 --> 00:04:49,080 behalf of Jesus Christ when he speaks in such a way. 91 00:04:49,600 --> 00:04:52,960 But maybe we ask ourselves where do we find the foundation of the 92 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:55,200 Catholic Church? And the answer is it's actually 93 00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,800 found in Scripture, but it's actually Scripture that is 94 00:04:57,800 --> 00:05:00,280 interpreted in error. And so I want us to look at that 95 00:05:00,280 --> 00:05:03,200 this morning to get a better understanding of exactly where 96 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:06,480 this tradition comes from. So Matthew chapter 16 is where 97 00:05:06,480 --> 00:05:09,800 we'll start here this morning in verse #13 I've double checked 98 00:05:09,800 --> 00:05:12,800 all my references today, so hopefully we're in good shape. 99 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:17,120 I'll write Matthew chapter 16 and beginning in verse #13 Now 100 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:19,800 this is a text we looked at just recently in our Sunday morning 101 00:05:19,800 --> 00:05:21,440 services. And we're looking at a little 102 00:05:21,440 --> 00:05:25,200 bit of a different light today, again with the thought process 103 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:29,440 of the foundation of the Catholic Church being assigned 104 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:31,920 to this text. But yet that has been assigned 105 00:05:31,920 --> 00:05:34,440 incorrectly. So look at verse #13. 106 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:39,200 It says when Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he 107 00:05:39,200 --> 00:05:42,320 asked his disciples, saying, whom do men say that I, the Son 108 00:05:42,320 --> 00:05:44,680 of Man, AM? And they said, some say that 109 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:49,160 thou art John the Baptist, some Elias and others Jeremias or one 110 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,280 of the prophets. He saith unto them, but whom say 111 00:05:52,280 --> 00:05:54,760 ye that I am? And I'll remind you here again 112 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,800 this morning that really the issue of who Jesus is is not who 113 00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:00,560 your parents thought he was, or what family you got born into or 114 00:06:00,560 --> 00:06:03,240 what family grow up into. It really comes down to this. 115 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,680 What think ye of Christ that all of us are personally accountable 116 00:06:06,880 --> 00:06:09,520 for the faith. And so here is Peter in one of 117 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,160 those moments where you just say, Peter, you said it good 118 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,880 this time he says this, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 119 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:17,640 living God. Now I want you to focus here on 120 00:06:17,640 --> 00:06:21,520 Peter for just a moment because there is is a thought process 121 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,720 that Peter was the first Pope. This is a question or rather 122 00:06:25,720 --> 00:06:28,720 this is a doctrine of which the Catholic Church believes that 123 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:32,360 what is taking place here in just a moment in Matthew chapter 124 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:37,240 16 is Peter becoming the first Pope because Jesus answered 125 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:40,480 verse 17 and said unto him, Blessed art thou sign in 126 00:06:40,680 --> 00:06:44,160 Barjona, for flesh and blood had not revealed it unto thee, but 127 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:48,880 my Father, which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, thou 128 00:06:48,880 --> 00:06:52,080 art Peter. And a on this rock I will build 129 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:55,280 my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 130 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,080 And I will give unto thee the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. 131 00:06:58,360 --> 00:07:01,080 And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in 132 00:07:01,080 --> 00:07:03,880 heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be 133 00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:06,840 loosed in heaven. So here is Jesus according to 134 00:07:06,840 --> 00:07:09,640 the Catholic Church, being ordained as the first Pope of 135 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:11,680 what will be the Catholic. And by the way, the word 136 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:15,080 Catholic simply means universal, meaning that they just look at 137 00:07:15,080 --> 00:07:17,560 the Catholic Church as the only true church. 138 00:07:17,800 --> 00:07:21,240 That the Catholic Church will be headed up very first by Peter, 139 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:24,840 who will be considered the first Pope, that he will be the rock, 140 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,680 the foundation of the church. But then also he will have the 141 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:31,760 keys to the Kingdom as well, as you can see represented there in 142 00:07:31,840 --> 00:07:34,360 a picture by that large key of which he's holding. 143 00:07:34,360 --> 00:07:37,600 Now there's several problems with the Catholic Church 144 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:40,560 founding being assigned to Matthew chapter 16. 145 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:45,160 The 1st is this, that Jesus Christ was not saying that Peter 146 00:07:45,160 --> 00:07:47,880 would be the rock of which the church was built upon. 147 00:07:47,880 --> 00:07:49,600 That is not what is being said here. 148 00:07:49,880 --> 00:07:53,240 He says, I will say also unto thee, that thou art Peter. 149 00:07:53,240 --> 00:07:57,760 Now the Greek word for Peter is Petrus, which means a very small 150 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:02,000 stone or a Pebble. So Peter, thou art Peter. 151 00:08:02,000 --> 00:08:04,640 Remember this is the name has been assigned to him by Christ. 152 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:08,680 Thou art Peter, you are a Pebble, and upon this rock I 153 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,800 will build my church. Now the Greek word for rock in 154 00:08:11,800 --> 00:08:17,080 verse #18 is Petra, meaning a bedrock or a massive foundation. 155 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:21,200 So Jesus is not saying that Peter is the rock that the 156 00:08:21,200 --> 00:08:23,080 church can be built upon, because if that's the case, 157 00:08:23,080 --> 00:08:25,800 you're building upon a Pebble and you can't build a whole lot 158 00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:26,600 on a Pebble. Amen. 159 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,320 But what he is saying is this, thou art Peter, you are a small 160 00:08:30,320 --> 00:08:33,919 rock and upon this rock I will build my church. 161 00:08:33,919 --> 00:08:37,360 And I believe when Jesus saying upon this rock, he is saying the 162 00:08:37,360 --> 00:08:41,080 bedrock principle of what Jesus just or whether what Peter just 163 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:44,000 confessed, what was the confession that thou art the 164 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:45,440 Christ, the Son of the living God. 165 00:08:45,680 --> 00:08:47,880 Is the church built upon Peter? No. 166 00:08:48,000 --> 00:08:50,880 Is the church built upon the fact that Jesus Christ is the 167 00:08:50,880 --> 00:08:54,080 Son of the living God? Yes, that is what our church is 168 00:08:54,080 --> 00:08:55,960 built upon. That's what all true churches 169 00:08:56,120 --> 00:08:58,640 are built upon. Thou art Peter, you are small, 170 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,360 but your confession is great. And this confession is what the 171 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,680 church will be built upon. Now Peter himself that that's 172 00:09:06,680 --> 00:09:10,280 the first problem, is that Jesus is not saying that Peter will be 173 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:12,200 the Pope. He is saying that Peter is the 174 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:16,600 Pebble, and that his declaration, his confession, was 175 00:09:16,600 --> 00:09:20,040 great and large, that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living 176 00:09:20,040 --> 00:09:22,840 God. The second problem that we have 177 00:09:22,840 --> 00:09:26,480 here is this. Peter himself did not consider 178 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:30,960 himself to be the foundation. We find in first Peter chapter 2 179 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:35,880 verses #4 and 4 through 6 that Peter makes very clear that 180 00:09:35,880 --> 00:09:40,960 Christ is the chief cornerstone. Peter does not take this upon 181 00:09:40,960 --> 00:09:44,400 himself. You can go back to to even in 182 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:47,520 Galatians chapter 2. We talked about this a few weeks 183 00:09:47,520 --> 00:09:52,400 ago when Peter was with stood in the face by Paul and Paul told 184 00:09:52,400 --> 00:09:56,280 him you're doing wrong and that what you are doing an infallible 185 00:09:56,280 --> 00:10:00,800 Pope does not get corrected by a fellow apostle. 186 00:10:00,800 --> 00:10:04,000 But yet here's Peter or who is corrected by Paul. 187 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:10,280 We see that Paul was in error and he was not infallible in any 188 00:10:10,280 --> 00:10:11,760 way. In fact, in first Peter chapter 189 00:10:11,760 --> 00:10:14,520 5, verse 1, he calls himself a fellow elder. 190 00:10:14,520 --> 00:10:15,600 This is the way he looked himself. 191 00:10:15,600 --> 00:10:17,920 I'm just a pastor like other pastors. 192 00:10:17,920 --> 00:10:20,640 I'm not holding myself to a higher standard than other 193 00:10:20,640 --> 00:10:24,000 pastors and I'm over other pastors in a papal way. 194 00:10:24,000 --> 00:10:28,880 No, I'm simply just Peter, a man who is a servant of Christ. 195 00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:30,600 So, so there's several problems here. 196 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,520 There's the problem of the, the issue of, of what the church was 197 00:10:34,520 --> 00:10:37,320 built upon and it was built upon the confession of Peter. 198 00:10:37,320 --> 00:10:39,320 There's the issue of Peter himself saying, I'm not the 199 00:10:39,320 --> 00:10:41,480 foundation of the church. There's also the issue of the 200 00:10:41,480 --> 00:10:45,960 keys, the Kingdom verse #19 it says, and I shall give unto thee 201 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:47,240 the keys of the Kingdom of heaven. 202 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:49,960 And whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in 203 00:10:49,960 --> 00:10:51,560 heaven. And whatsoever thou shalt loose 204 00:10:51,800 --> 00:10:53,320 on earth shall be loosed in heaven. 205 00:10:53,320 --> 00:10:56,000 And the Pope's of the day. And there have been hundreds of 206 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,040 popes that have taken place and the numbers of popes that can't 207 00:10:59,040 --> 00:11:01,200 really be reckoned properly because there were sometimes 208 00:11:01,200 --> 00:11:03,880 splinter popes and there was at some time three different popes 209 00:11:03,880 --> 00:11:06,160 at the same time, each one claiming different authorities. 210 00:11:06,440 --> 00:11:08,440 And so it was very hard to be able to pin down exactly how 211 00:11:08,440 --> 00:11:10,880 many there were. And all of them claim to have 212 00:11:10,880 --> 00:11:13,800 these keys, the Kingdom, that whatever they say that they are 213 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:16,680 saying on behalf of Jesus Christ, in fact, they would 214 00:11:16,680 --> 00:11:20,760 consider themselves to be the very vicar of Christ. 215 00:11:20,760 --> 00:11:23,320 You say, what does that word the vicar of Christ mean? 216 00:11:23,560 --> 00:11:28,000 That on earth they are Christ. Christ is not here right now, 217 00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,160 but in Christ's place is the Pope. 218 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:33,880 Now you don't have to know a lot about the Bible to know that 219 00:11:33,880 --> 00:11:37,880 that should bother you, that that is blasphemous, that a man 220 00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:42,600 could claim to be the very representation of Jesus Christ 221 00:11:42,600 --> 00:11:46,920 on earth, that Jesus Christ is basically embodied in this man. 222 00:11:46,920 --> 00:11:49,000 Now there's Catholics who will say that's not what we believe. 223 00:11:49,200 --> 00:11:51,360 They may not believe that, but that's what their church 224 00:11:51,360 --> 00:11:53,760 teaches. And that's the issue, that there 225 00:11:53,760 --> 00:11:57,480 are many good Catholics in the sense that they don't believe 226 00:11:57,480 --> 00:12:00,600 those kind of things. But yet at the same time, that's 227 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:03,360 what their church teaches, whether they realize it or not, 228 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:05,600 that He is the very representation of Christ, that 229 00:12:05,600 --> 00:12:09,520 He can forgive sins just as Christ forgave sins. 230 00:12:10,560 --> 00:12:14,240 This blasphemy in the highest order, but he's the vicar of 231 00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:15,400 Christ. This is what's taught. 232 00:12:15,400 --> 00:12:18,160 But he has these keys to the Kingdom, it said, but really the 233 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,560 keys, the Kingdom can be assigned to the fact that when 234 00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:25,240 you look in the book of Acts that there were three different 235 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:28,480 times the Holy Spirit came down in a very major way. 236 00:12:28,720 --> 00:12:31,200 You look at the day of Pentecost, that the day of 237 00:12:31,200 --> 00:12:34,080 Pentecost when all those folks were saved, the Holy Spirit came 238 00:12:34,080 --> 00:12:36,480 down. You find in Acts chapter 8 that 239 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:40,640 when Peter was there that the Samaritans received Christ in 240 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,840 the first time in a very major way and the Holy Spirit, it came 241 00:12:43,840 --> 00:12:46,720 down in a unique way. And then later on while Peter 242 00:12:46,720 --> 00:12:50,120 was talking to Cornelius, the man who had the Italian band, 243 00:12:50,120 --> 00:12:52,960 remember that was not a band like playing instruments, but 244 00:12:52,960 --> 00:12:56,200 that was the the soldiers that were together and and the Holy 245 00:12:56,200 --> 00:12:59,240 Spirit came down again. Every time you see the Holy 246 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:03,520 Spirit come down to the Jews, to the Samaritans, to the Gentiles. 247 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:05,600 Those are the three people groups because remember you have 248 00:13:05,600 --> 00:13:08,720 Jews and Gentiles and Samaritans are a mix of Jew and Gentile. 249 00:13:09,080 --> 00:13:11,080 Every single time that that was the case. 250 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:12,600 Who was there? Peter. 251 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:15,840 I would say that he was exercising those keys to the 252 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:19,480 Kingdom at that point, showing that the gospel being given to 253 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:22,800 the Jews, the gospel being given to the Samaritans, the gospel 254 00:13:22,800 --> 00:13:24,960 being given to the Gentiles. I'm not saying that no one was 255 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,320 saved before that, but I'm saying that the Holy Spirit came 256 00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:31,400 down and filled those believers at that time, and Peter was 257 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:34,160 there for each of those things. It would seem to me that that 258 00:13:34,160 --> 00:13:37,160 makes more sense of what is taking place with the keys to 259 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,680 the Kingdom than saying that he becomes an infallible vicar of 260 00:13:40,680 --> 00:13:44,560 Christ when we show that, well, he was very fallible and still 261 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:47,160 made mistakes. Because if you're a person, you 262 00:13:47,160 --> 00:13:49,200 are fallible and you make mistakes. 263 00:13:49,560 --> 00:13:52,800 And so, no, we would disagree with the fact that Peter was the 264 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,760 first Pope there. There is no historical evidence 265 00:13:55,760 --> 00:13:59,000 that Peter was ever in Rome. There was no historical evidence 266 00:13:59,000 --> 00:14:01,040 that he ever claimed to be the first Pope. 267 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:03,680 These are things that have been assigned to him hundreds and 268 00:14:03,680 --> 00:14:08,080 hundreds of of years later. So we ask ourselves going into 269 00:14:08,080 --> 00:14:09,600 where does these things come from? 270 00:14:09,880 --> 00:14:12,360 You say, pastor, you mentioned some of these things already 271 00:14:12,360 --> 00:14:14,920 that we would disagree with our Catholic friends about. 272 00:14:14,920 --> 00:14:16,200 Where does this teaching come from? 273 00:14:16,200 --> 00:14:19,240 You say tradition, but is that encoded anywhere? 274 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:20,640 Is that can that be found anywhere? 275 00:14:20,640 --> 00:14:24,960 And the answer is yes, that you find that the Catechism, the 276 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,760 Catholic Church Catechism, the CCC, the Catechism of the 277 00:14:28,760 --> 00:14:34,280 Catholic Church holds the doctrines of which the Catholic 278 00:14:34,280 --> 00:14:37,720 Church believes. And in many ways the Catechism 279 00:14:37,720 --> 00:14:40,680 of the Church holds the same authority as the Bible. 280 00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,600 Now again, there will be some of our Catholic friends that would 281 00:14:43,600 --> 00:14:47,400 hold their their heads and maybe scream and say that's not what 282 00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:49,880 we believe. But the proof is in the pudding 283 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,280 whether they actually believe that or not that the Church, the 284 00:14:53,280 --> 00:14:56,800 Catholic Church teaches that what you find in the catechism 285 00:14:56,840 --> 00:14:58,960 is equivalent to the Word of God. 286 00:14:58,960 --> 00:15:01,280 Why? Because tradition holds the 287 00:15:01,280 --> 00:15:06,000 same, and I would even argue holds higher standard to 288 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:09,320 Catholics than the Word of God. Now, the Catechism of the 289 00:15:09,320 --> 00:15:13,400 Catholic Church states that Scripture and tradition must be 290 00:15:13,400 --> 00:15:17,080 accepted with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence. 291 00:15:17,080 --> 00:15:18,760 I'm going to say that again, because again, that's a 292 00:15:18,760 --> 00:15:23,920 blasphemous statement. Scripture and tradition must be 293 00:15:23,920 --> 00:15:29,000 accepted with equal sentiments of devotion and reverence. 294 00:15:29,600 --> 00:15:31,360 But what do we find that the Bible says? 295 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,200 Well, the Bible makes clear in second Timothy verse chapter 3, 296 00:15:34,200 --> 00:15:36,880 verse 60 and seven. All Scripture is given by 297 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:40,800 inspiration of God is probable for doctrine, for reproof, for 298 00:15:40,800 --> 00:15:43,600 correction, for instruction and righteousness, that the man of 299 00:15:43,600 --> 00:15:49,440 God may be perfect or complete, fully thoroughly furnished unto 300 00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:53,000 all good works. Meaning that everything that you 301 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:55,640 need can be found in this book right here. 302 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,040 No pastor, there's things that go on in this world today that 303 00:15:59,040 --> 00:16:03,080 can't be found in the Bible. Everything that we need for our 304 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:07,800 life can be found in precept or in principle in the word of God. 305 00:16:08,000 --> 00:16:10,440 Sure, the Internet, I mentioned this a few so sure the Internet 306 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,240 is not found in the word of God. Gambling. 307 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:14,800 Oh, I guess gambling is found in the word of God. 308 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:16,360 Online gambling is not found in the word of God. 309 00:16:17,400 --> 00:16:20,120 There's some gambling in the Word of God that gambled for 310 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:24,720 Jesus, garments, nicotine, marijuana. 311 00:16:24,720 --> 00:16:26,560 Where do you find these things in the Bible? 312 00:16:26,560 --> 00:16:29,040 Well, you don't find them necessarily in precept, but you 313 00:16:29,040 --> 00:16:31,560 find them in principle. And so we always go to the Word 314 00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:34,720 of God, that it's not the word of the pastor and the Word of 315 00:16:34,720 --> 00:16:36,400 God. It's the word of God. 316 00:16:36,680 --> 00:16:39,400 It's not the word of the Pope. It's not the latest tweets from 317 00:16:39,400 --> 00:16:44,280 the Pope and the Word of God. It is the word of God and the 318 00:16:44,280 --> 00:16:47,040 word of God alone. Now again, according to the 319 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:51,520 Catholic Church Catechism, the Roman Pontiff, the Pope when 320 00:16:51,520 --> 00:16:57,400 speaking ex cathedra enjoys infallibility, meaning that when 321 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:03,320 the Pope speaks ex cathedra, he speaks without error and speaks 322 00:17:03,320 --> 00:17:06,160 on behalf of God. Now, I want to be clear about 323 00:17:06,160 --> 00:17:08,040 this. The Pope, as he speaks, you say, 324 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:09,920 pastor, I hear the Pope saying all kinds of things, not just 325 00:17:09,920 --> 00:17:12,400 this Pope, but the other Pope's. So every time he speaks, he's 326 00:17:12,400 --> 00:17:14,240 perfect. To be clear, that's not what 327 00:17:14,240 --> 00:17:17,520 Catholic doctrine teaches because I know the Pope's been 328 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:19,400 in the news for comments he's made the last few weeks. 329 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:22,200 That doesn't mean that every time that he speaks, he speaks 330 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:25,000 with the words of Christ in their own doctrine. 331 00:17:25,319 --> 00:17:29,160 The last time that Pope has spoken ex cathedral was actually 332 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:34,480 back in 1950, and it was in part about Mary Ology, including the 333 00:17:34,480 --> 00:17:36,560 Assumption of Mary, meaning that Mary didn't die in the 334 00:17:36,560 --> 00:17:39,200 traditional sense, but that she was just assumed up. 335 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:42,040 And that because she is, we'll see in just a little while, 336 00:17:42,240 --> 00:17:47,480 worshipped as Christ in many ways that the last spoken ex 337 00:17:47,480 --> 00:17:51,240 cathedra, the last time the ex cathedral was spoken by the Pope 338 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,520 was in reference to Mary Ology. Now you say, well, 1950 pastor, 339 00:17:55,520 --> 00:17:57,760 that's 76 years ago. So it can't be that big of a 340 00:17:57,760 --> 00:18:00,800 deal. The fact that that's even on the 341 00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,640 table, the fact that there could even be the thought that the 342 00:18:04,640 --> 00:18:07,920 Pope speaks and if he says so that it's equivalent to the 343 00:18:07,920 --> 00:18:11,000 Bible ought to be enough to make a Catholic head for the hills. 344 00:18:12,640 --> 00:18:15,520 Could you imagine if I got up here today and said, I know what 345 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:18,800 your Bible says, but listen to me as your pastor because what I 346 00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:24,680 say is as true as the Bible and I say it and it comes from Jesus 347 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:29,960 Christ himself, from him to me, to you, that you need to leave 348 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:33,120 and I need to sell shoes for a living or insurance instead of 349 00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:37,720 being a pastor because I speak with authority when I preach, 350 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:42,880 but it's not my own authority. It's the Lord through his word 351 00:18:43,640 --> 00:18:47,480 to me, to you. And when I bypass that and teach 352 00:18:47,480 --> 00:18:49,840 something that's on my own without it being in the word of 353 00:18:49,840 --> 00:18:54,160 God, I lose my authority because my authority is found in that 354 00:18:54,160 --> 00:18:56,400 which God has called me to do. But truly, where does that call 355 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:58,680 even come from? The word of God? 356 00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:02,240 First, Peter chapter 5 makes that very clear what the job of 357 00:19:02,240 --> 00:19:04,560 the pastors do. That's when Peter called himself 358 00:19:04,600 --> 00:19:08,920 a fellow elder that that we're to be elders and and shepherds 359 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:10,640 of the flock and examples of the flock. 360 00:19:10,840 --> 00:19:16,280 This is what God calls us to do. But Galatians one verse 8 says, 361 00:19:16,280 --> 00:19:19,400 though we are an Angel from heaven, preach any other gospel 362 00:19:19,400 --> 00:19:21,600 unto you than that which we have preached unto you. 363 00:19:21,840 --> 00:19:26,160 Let him be accursed. Mark 713 making the word of God 364 00:19:26,160 --> 00:19:30,000 of none effect through your tradition which you have 365 00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,800 delivered, and many such like things, do ye? 366 00:19:33,400 --> 00:19:37,240 What did the Pharisees do? Well, they had added on top of 367 00:19:37,240 --> 00:19:39,640 the word of God. They had the written law, but 368 00:19:39,640 --> 00:19:43,040 they'd also had the oral law. So where did that oral law came 369 00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:44,520 from? The Pharisees. 370 00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:48,440 They said that it was passed down from Moses through them all 371 00:19:48,440 --> 00:19:50,880 the way to the people. Now here's the problem. 372 00:19:51,440 --> 00:19:54,280 How were you able to find out the moral law or the oral law? 373 00:19:54,280 --> 00:19:56,320 Rather well, because it wasn't written down. 374 00:19:56,320 --> 00:19:59,280 The only way you could find out was to have a Pharisee teach 375 00:19:59,280 --> 00:20:00,640 you. Well, how do we know if the 376 00:20:00,640 --> 00:20:03,440 Pharisees teach you right? You just have to trust them. 377 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,600 Don't compare it to the Word of God, just listen to the 378 00:20:08,600 --> 00:20:10,480 Pharisees. They'll tell you what you need 379 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,200 to know. Does that not sound a lot like 380 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:15,960 the Catholic Church of today? Well, where do we find the 381 00:20:15,960 --> 00:20:17,320 Bible? Don't worry about it. 382 00:20:17,760 --> 00:20:19,440 There's some other things that you need to know too. 383 00:20:19,520 --> 00:20:20,920 Where can I find out these other things? 384 00:20:20,920 --> 00:20:22,040 You can't find them anywhere else. 385 00:20:22,520 --> 00:20:23,600 You can only find them through US. 386 00:20:23,600 --> 00:20:24,880 Well, should I read it for myself? 387 00:20:24,880 --> 00:20:26,120 Don't worry about reading it for yourself. 388 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,000 We'll tell you that what you need to know. 389 00:20:29,000 --> 00:20:31,360 And the Catholic Church for years has discouraged people 390 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:33,080 from reading their own Bible. Why? 391 00:20:33,320 --> 00:20:37,280 Because you don't need to know. The priest will tell you what 392 00:20:37,280 --> 00:20:39,640 you need to know, and you follow along. 393 00:20:39,880 --> 00:20:44,600 Can you see how damaging that type of doctrine is when you can 394 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:46,920 listen to a message here at Liberty Baptist Church by the 395 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:50,640 grace of God and what's my job? To do well, to preach the word 396 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:52,560 of God. And then you can go home like 397 00:20:52,560 --> 00:20:55,600 the Bereans in Acts chapter 17. And you know what you can do? 398 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,920 You can search the scriptures for yourself to see if that 399 00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,800 which I said is so there have been times that people have come 400 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:03,600 up to me over the years. I try to be careful in that 401 00:21:03,600 --> 00:21:06,120 which I preach. I try to be very careful to to 402 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:07,880 divide rightly the word of truth. 403 00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,160 But there have been a few times over the years that someone 404 00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:12,320 said, pastor, when you said this, did you really mean this 405 00:21:12,320 --> 00:21:14,840 or pastor when you said this? I think the Bible says this. 406 00:21:15,120 --> 00:21:17,240 And I can tell you at least a couple times where I've had to 407 00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:19,920 go through and some study on my own and say, you know what? 408 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,960 I'm wrong about that. And when people bring those 409 00:21:22,960 --> 00:21:26,000 accusations to me, and I don't mean an accusatory manner, but 410 00:21:26,000 --> 00:21:28,160 they bring that to me, it's something I take very seriously. 411 00:21:28,160 --> 00:21:29,880 I don't say, well, I'm the pastor, just listen to me. 412 00:21:31,040 --> 00:21:35,080 Well, who does that sound like? We got to be very careful that 413 00:21:35,080 --> 00:21:38,280 we let the word of God speak. And those are things that take 414 00:21:38,280 --> 00:21:39,720 seriously. And sometimes I have to study 415 00:21:39,720 --> 00:21:42,400 some of those issues for a while to be able to make sure I 416 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,600 understand exactly what's being spoken of. 417 00:21:44,600 --> 00:21:49,000 But it has to be the word of God that stands not what we believe 418 00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,400 in and of ourselves. But it's all this tradition and 419 00:21:52,400 --> 00:21:56,680 it makes things so confusing. You don't even understand how to 420 00:21:56,680 --> 00:21:58,720 be able to move ahead, to move forward. 421 00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:02,360 What is it to be in the faith? You know, we had this 422 00:22:02,360 --> 00:22:04,520 conversation and some of you have asked and even just 423 00:22:04,520 --> 00:22:06,600 recently, you know, pastor, how do I join the church? 424 00:22:07,280 --> 00:22:09,240 How do I join the church? I'm so glad that the answer, 425 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:10,640 it's in your bulletin this morning. 426 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:13,320 I covered it this morning in my article for this week. 427 00:22:13,880 --> 00:22:15,800 But the answer is pretty simple. We go to Acts chapter 2. 428 00:22:15,800 --> 00:22:17,480 They were saved, they were baptized, they were added unto 429 00:22:17,480 --> 00:22:20,680 them, which is the church. Now, is there more nuance to 430 00:22:20,680 --> 00:22:22,480 that that we can explain through the word of God? 431 00:22:22,480 --> 00:22:24,080 Of course. But it really just comes down to 432 00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:25,680 this. You got to get saved the Bible 433 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:29,040 way, you got to get baptized the Bible way, and then you were 434 00:22:29,040 --> 00:22:31,320 able to join the church. And we saw what a wonderful 435 00:22:31,320 --> 00:22:33,800 picture of that last week. And to see four that were 436 00:22:33,800 --> 00:22:36,640 baptized and that was awesome. I'm still thankful to the Lord 437 00:22:36,640 --> 00:22:40,000 for that. But when you have tradition and 438 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:43,480 dogma and church fathers and the catechism that are all speaking 439 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,400 on top of the Bible, something that's exceedingly simple 440 00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:48,160 becomes something very complicated. 441 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:51,200 And that's pretty much the summary of the Catholic Church 442 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:53,440 in a nutshell. Something is very simple becomes 443 00:22:53,440 --> 00:22:56,080 something very complicated. So I would ask maybe this 444 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:59,200 morning to the Catholic Church, how does someone become a member 445 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,760 of the Catholic Church? Now, believe it or not, we're 446 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:04,320 going to need about a 6 minute video to be able to show you the 447 00:23:04,320 --> 00:23:08,080 answer to that. And you say, Pastor, is it going 448 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,560 to be simple? You just need to watch, All 449 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:12,440 right, So why don't we go ahead and show that now and then we'll 450 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:13,800 get back to our study here in a moment. 451 00:23:13,800 --> 00:23:15,560 So. How does someone become 452 00:23:15,560 --> 00:23:17,240 Catholic? In this video, I'm going to give 453 00:23:17,240 --> 00:23:20,640 you the full breakdown from the first practical step to your 454 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,080 final moment of initiation into the church. 455 00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:24,960 Let's get into it. Hey guys And Father David 456 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:27,440 Michael Moses, I'm a Catholic priest and if you join these 457 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:29,240 types of videos or if you're joining the Catholic Church, you 458 00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:31,360 might want to subscribe so you don't miss out on future 459 00:23:31,360 --> 00:23:33,400 informative videos. So First off, I would have 460 00:23:33,400 --> 00:23:35,280 thought this was obvious, but I just realized some people don't 461 00:23:35,280 --> 00:23:37,360 know this. We do allow converts in the 462 00:23:37,360 --> 00:23:38,960 Catholic faith. I've seen people saying, oh, I 463 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:41,280 wish I could join the Catholic Church and it's like, you 464 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:43,080 totally can. And actually not only do we 465 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,440 allow converts, we want converts. 466 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:48,600 Jesus said go to all the nations and baptize them in the name of 467 00:23:48,600 --> 00:23:50,760 the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 468 00:23:50,760 --> 00:23:54,120 So the church exists to bring people to communion with Jesus 469 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:57,200 Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life. 470 00:23:57,200 --> 00:23:59,840 So I have no problem saying I want you to be Catholic. 471 00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,360 I want you to have confession and the Eucharist and the 472 00:24:02,360 --> 00:24:05,400 fullness of the truth. One thing I will say is that for 473 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:08,520 someone joining the Church, we want them to actually want to be 474 00:24:08,520 --> 00:24:11,760 Catholic, not just to do it because other people are doing 475 00:24:11,760 --> 00:24:13,760 it or because it's convenient in some way. 476 00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,480 I hope you love the liturgy. I hope you love the Catholic 477 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:18,840 devotions. I hope you like the Church and 478 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:22,280 the people, but we really want to be united in what we believe. 479 00:24:22,280 --> 00:24:24,760 So this video is more geared toward an adult who wants to 480 00:24:24,760 --> 00:24:28,080 convert to Catholicism. A baby who is baptized Catholic 481 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:30,240 is a different story. So if you want to become 482 00:24:30,240 --> 00:24:33,320 Catholic, the first step would be to call your local parish. 483 00:24:33,360 --> 00:24:36,040 It doesn't have to be the parish closest to where you live, but 484 00:24:36,040 --> 00:24:38,520 it would make sense that it is because it would probably be 485 00:24:38,520 --> 00:24:41,360 where you want to go to in the future when you call the Church. 486 00:24:41,360 --> 00:24:45,240 You can ask them about the OCIA program. 487 00:24:45,240 --> 00:24:49,760 OCIA stands for Order of Christian Initiation for Adults. 488 00:24:49,760 --> 00:24:52,520 It was just recently changed from RCIA, so you might hear 489 00:24:52,520 --> 00:24:54,600 that term as well. Now you might wonder why the C 490 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,600 stands for Christian and not Catholic, and that's because we 491 00:24:57,600 --> 00:24:59,920 believe Catholics are the original Christians. 492 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:02,960 We trace our history right back to Jesus himself. 493 00:25:02,960 --> 00:25:05,960 So what is OCIA? Well, it's a gradual process 494 00:25:05,960 --> 00:25:09,400 within the community of becoming Catholic and it can depend on 495 00:25:09,400 --> 00:25:12,720 the specific situation, the person, the church, and what God 496 00:25:12,720 --> 00:25:15,960 is doing in their life. But here's the basic outline up 497 00:25:15,960 --> 00:25:17,800 front. There's basically 2 tracks. 498 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,720 There are catechumens who have never been baptized, and there 499 00:25:20,720 --> 00:25:23,560 are candidates who have been baptized in another church. 500 00:25:23,640 --> 00:25:26,240 So if you're a catechumen who hasn't been baptized, then the 501 00:25:26,240 --> 00:25:30,560 ultimate end of OCIA will be Baptism, Confirmation, and 1st 502 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:32,440 Communion. One kind of cool note is that 503 00:25:32,440 --> 00:25:35,360 because baptism forgives all of the sins of your life, 504 00:25:35,360 --> 00:25:38,840 catechumens don't actually need to go to confession prior to 505 00:25:38,840 --> 00:25:41,040 their entrance in the church, but after baptism. 506 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:43,000 Of course they would want to make a regular confession. 507 00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:45,480 Because candidates have been baptized into the church, they 508 00:25:45,480 --> 00:25:46,840 would go to confession ahead of time. 509 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,240 Then as they received into the church, they would be confirmed 510 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:50,840 and received their first communion. 511 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,280 The reason this works is that the Catholic Church recognizes 512 00:25:54,280 --> 00:25:57,840 the baptism of other faiths as long as they did it according to 513 00:25:57,840 --> 00:26:00,680 the biblical formula saying I baptize you in the name of the 514 00:26:00,680 --> 00:26:02,800 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 515 00:26:02,800 --> 00:26:05,120 If you aren't sure, they will help you figure out in the OCA 516 00:26:05,120 --> 00:26:07,000 program. Funny story, my dad was actually 517 00:26:07,000 --> 00:26:10,040 a convert to the faith from the Lutheran Church and he said when 518 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:13,520 he made his first confession, he was convinced the priest was 519 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,600 going to tell him at the end. Rex, I appreciate that you want 520 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:19,880 to join the Catholic Church, but with all your sins, we just 521 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,800 can't have you here. To his surprise, instead the 522 00:26:22,800 --> 00:26:25,320 priest just forgave him. So don't be afraid of your first 523 00:26:25,320 --> 00:26:27,800 confession. So the first phase of OCIA is 524 00:26:27,800 --> 00:26:30,800 the inquiry phase or the pre catechumenate phase where you're 525 00:26:30,800 --> 00:26:33,040 getting acquainted with the church teachings and the 526 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:34,920 community. This is a really great time to 527 00:26:34,920 --> 00:26:39,120 be asking questions, getting more information, exploring, 528 00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:41,120 learning. There isn't a set time for how 529 00:26:41,120 --> 00:26:44,440 long this takes, so people can really move at their own pace 530 00:26:44,600 --> 00:26:46,560 while having the support of the community. 531 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:49,440 I promise we're not offended by questions at this stage. 532 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:51,320 We want to get you the right answers. 533 00:26:51,320 --> 00:26:55,000 We could say this is a time to meet Christ, to get to know Him, 534 00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,080 to learn who He is. If I could take it back to the 535 00:26:57,080 --> 00:27:00,360 time of Christ, this phase would be kind of like being someone in 536 00:27:00,360 --> 00:27:03,880 the town who's hearing about what Jesus is doing and wants to 537 00:27:03,880 --> 00:27:06,080 get to know Him better. At the end of this phase, you 538 00:27:06,080 --> 00:27:09,480 have the right of acceptance when you're formally accepted 539 00:27:09,600 --> 00:27:12,040 into the process. The next phase is called the 540 00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:15,640 catechumenate phase, which is a period of formation where 541 00:27:15,640 --> 00:27:19,760 candidates and catechumens break open the word being proclaimed. 542 00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:22,720 At this stage, you're usually meeting for weekly classes to 543 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:25,840 learn more about why the Church teaches, what it does, to go 544 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,880 deeper into what prayer is, to learn more about the sacraments, 545 00:27:29,880 --> 00:27:32,480 the Catholic devotions. These meetings will have talks, 546 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:36,040 discussions, small group time, and fellowship as you learn more 547 00:27:36,040 --> 00:27:38,040 about the faith. This is also a time to better 548 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:41,680 understand Scripture, so people in this stage will often go to 549 00:27:41,680 --> 00:27:44,960 Mass and stay while the Scriptures are being proclaimed, 550 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,080 which we call the Liturgy of the Word. 551 00:27:47,400 --> 00:27:50,240 Then, before the Liturgy of the Eucharist and Communion time, 552 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:53,520 they will often be dismissed to go off by themselves to go 553 00:27:53,520 --> 00:27:56,360 deeper into the Word of God. At my parish, we do both of 554 00:27:56,360 --> 00:27:58,720 these back-to-back. Participants go to Mass for the 555 00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:00,920 Liturgy of the Word, then they are dismissed for a time of 556 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:03,320 discussion. Then they go for their weekly 557 00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:05,800 meeting where they go deeper into elements of the faith. 558 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:09,000 This is a time to follow Christ. It's like the moment when the 559 00:28:09,000 --> 00:28:13,000 apostle were called by Jesus to be his disciples. 560 00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:14,360 They didn't have it all figured out. 561 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:17,320 There was a lot for them to learn, but they were locked in 562 00:28:17,400 --> 00:28:19,800 on following Christ. Around this time you will 563 00:28:19,800 --> 00:28:22,880 probably get settled on who your sponsor is. 564 00:28:23,120 --> 00:28:26,120 This is basically a Catholic whose faith you admire, who can 565 00:28:26,120 --> 00:28:29,720 be a companion and an example and an encouragement to you in 566 00:28:29,720 --> 00:28:31,280 the faith. They can be there during the 567 00:28:31,280 --> 00:28:35,080 initiation process, but they're especially helpful afterwards. 568 00:28:35,080 --> 00:28:37,400 You really want someone who isn't afraid to challenge you to 569 00:28:37,400 --> 00:28:39,760 stay on track. This phase concludes with the 570 00:28:39,760 --> 00:28:42,960 Right of sending, which is performed by the local Bishop. 571 00:28:43,000 --> 00:28:46,200 Next, you have the Purification and Enlightenment stage. 572 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,160 This often happens during the season of Lent. 573 00:28:49,200 --> 00:28:51,880 It's a time of continued reflection and deep prayer. 574 00:28:51,880 --> 00:28:55,160 Part of this stage is public ceremonies called the 575 00:28:55,160 --> 00:28:57,440 scrutinies. Now I know that word scrutiny 576 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:00,800 sounds kind of intense, but we don't need it in the sense that 577 00:29:00,800 --> 00:29:03,800 anyone is judging you. Instead, we're scrutinizing 578 00:29:03,800 --> 00:29:07,600 ourselves for places where we've been wounded and asking for 579 00:29:07,600 --> 00:29:09,880 God's healing. Part of the scrutinies is a 580 00:29:09,960 --> 00:29:13,920 minor exorcism, which is a casting out of any evil 581 00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:15,800 influence over you. This should actually be a 582 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:19,160 consolation for all of us that no matter what your history is 583 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:23,160 like or what baggage you have, the church has a system for 584 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,320 setting you free. At this stage you're referred to 585 00:29:26,320 --> 00:29:29,360 as the elect because you're responding to God's call in a 586 00:29:29,360 --> 00:29:31,840 concrete way. This phase concludes with the 587 00:29:31,840 --> 00:29:34,680 rites of initiation, which is probably what you've been 588 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:36,800 looking forward to. Usually these happen at the 589 00:29:36,800 --> 00:29:40,080 Easter Vigil, which is a long mass that happens the night of 590 00:29:40,080 --> 00:29:41,720 Easter. The whole church gathers 591 00:29:41,720 --> 00:29:45,080 together, we hear the readings, basically the whole story of 592 00:29:45,080 --> 00:29:49,120 salvation and that we celebrate together the resurrection, Jesus 593 00:29:49,120 --> 00:29:53,080 coming back to life, which is fitting because each person in 594 00:29:53,080 --> 00:29:56,840 the church is being brought back to life spiritually through the 595 00:29:56,840 --> 00:29:58,520 sacraments. This is when those entering the 596 00:29:58,520 --> 00:30:01,960 church are baptized, confirmed, and received their first 597 00:30:01,960 --> 00:30:03,800 Eucharist. It's a really, really exciting 598 00:30:03,800 --> 00:30:05,960 night. Just super, super joyful as the 599 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,440 community welcomes in our new members. 600 00:30:08,520 --> 00:30:10,160 At this point, you're a Catholic. 601 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:13,920 You are part of the family. This puts you in the final phase 602 00:30:14,040 --> 00:30:17,400 called Mr. Goji, which is a Greek word meaning to lead 603 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:20,200 through the mysteries. It's basically a kind of 604 00:30:20,200 --> 00:30:22,840 continuing formation. It's like after you get married, 605 00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:24,960 you don't just stop learning about your spouse. 606 00:30:24,960 --> 00:30:27,680 In fact, you're maybe more excited than ever to discover 607 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:29,440 more and more about who they are. 608 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:32,320 At this point, you're referred to as a neophyte, which is 609 00:30:32,320 --> 00:30:34,160 basically just means someone who's new. 610 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:37,360 This is also a time when you're now being sent on mission 611 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:39,680 yourself. You've become a follower of 612 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:43,560 Christ, now you need to help others become followers as well. 613 00:30:43,640 --> 00:30:46,240 You might be wondering, how long does all of this take? 614 00:30:46,240 --> 00:30:51,160 So there isn't a set time, but on average it usually goes about 615 00:30:51,160 --> 00:30:53,320 a year. It could take two years or more 616 00:30:53,320 --> 00:30:56,600 if needed, or less time if there are extenuating circumstances. 617 00:30:56,600 --> 00:30:59,920 So there's the basic structure. If you are feeling drawn to the 618 00:30:59,920 --> 00:31:02,880 Catholic faith, please, please act on it. 619 00:31:02,880 --> 00:31:05,920 Call a church, get involved and make it happen. 620 00:31:05,920 --> 00:31:10,800 The Catholic faith is such a beautiful gift and I absolutely 621 00:31:10,800 --> 00:31:15,000 believe it is the best way to encounter Christ and to become 622 00:31:15,000 --> 00:31:17,320 the person He has called you to be. 623 00:31:17,320 --> 00:31:19,720 Let me know what other topics you guys think might be helpful 624 00:31:19,880 --> 00:31:21,080 and we will see you in the next one. 625 00:31:21,360 --> 00:31:28,840 God bless. Saved, baptized, added unto them 626 00:31:30,320 --> 00:31:33,720 or that. Now the production value of that 627 00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:36,400 video was excellent, except for that one video for that one 628 00:31:36,400 --> 00:31:38,920 little clip where the guy had that huge bouquet of flowers 629 00:31:38,920 --> 00:31:40,200 behind it. That was like that was a huge 630 00:31:40,200 --> 00:31:42,440 bouquet of flowers. That was a that that got me 631 00:31:42,640 --> 00:31:45,040 every time I watched it. But you, you see that and you 632 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:49,920 go, that's so confusing. None of that was found in 633 00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:51,560 scripture. On top of the fact that how does 634 00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:56,040 someone come to be saved nowhere. 635 00:31:56,200 --> 00:31:58,080 Do you see any information on that? 636 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,600 There's a reason for that. And we'll get to that probably 637 00:32:00,600 --> 00:32:02,640 next week. But there was one phrase that I 638 00:32:02,640 --> 00:32:06,320 want you to really focus in on. And I, I, I, it's the third time 639 00:32:06,320 --> 00:32:09,000 I've watched that, but I just, I, I want to write it down 640 00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:12,000 because I, it just really stuck out to me this last viewing. 641 00:32:12,680 --> 00:32:16,120 The church has a system that will set you free. 642 00:32:17,600 --> 00:32:21,040 That one phrase that he said, the church has a system. 643 00:32:21,040 --> 00:32:22,960 That's after he talked about the mini exorcism. 644 00:32:23,840 --> 00:32:26,440 The church has a system that will set you free. 645 00:32:27,400 --> 00:32:30,440 What's so important for you to understand about the Catholic 646 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:35,160 Church is they believe that they are the very gatekeepers of the 647 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:37,800 faith. That there is no coming to the 648 00:32:37,800 --> 00:32:40,800 faith without going through the Catholic Church to get to 649 00:32:40,800 --> 00:32:42,800 Christ. The difference between that and 650 00:32:42,800 --> 00:32:47,600 the Bible is this, that Christ is the one who will set you 651 00:32:47,600 --> 00:32:50,040 free. Not that the church has a 652 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:54,440 program that will set you free. Christ will set you free. 653 00:32:54,800 --> 00:32:59,680 He who is free is free. Indeed, the Word of God says the 654 00:32:59,680 --> 00:33:03,440 Baptist Church is not the gatekeeper of salvation through 655 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:05,880 Jesus Christ. We are simply what I believe is 656 00:33:05,880 --> 00:33:09,840 The Proclaimers of what the Word of God says about Christ. 657 00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,600 But being a Baptist will not get you to heaven. 658 00:33:13,040 --> 00:33:15,240 Now the Catholic Church will say being a Catholic won't get you 659 00:33:15,240 --> 00:33:17,880 to heaven. But yet again, if it talks over 660 00:33:17,880 --> 00:33:21,400 the walks like a duck and it quacks like a duck, as I say, if 661 00:33:21,400 --> 00:33:23,840 it talks like a duck, that'd be a talking duck. 662 00:33:24,320 --> 00:33:28,840 But it is a duck. And there's so many things of 663 00:33:28,840 --> 00:33:32,160 which the Catholic friends that we have would say we don't 664 00:33:32,160 --> 00:33:34,040 believe that. Or maybe the Catholic priest 665 00:33:34,040 --> 00:33:36,480 says, well, that's not what we believe. 666 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:39,400 But yet, if you follow the logical progression of the 667 00:33:39,400 --> 00:33:42,920 teachings, you will find that that's absolutely what they 668 00:33:42,920 --> 00:33:46,480 believe in practice, even if it's not what they think that 669 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,560 they believe in their day-to-day life. 670 00:33:49,960 --> 00:33:52,920 So really, we ask ourselves this question, and this is probably 671 00:33:52,920 --> 00:33:55,480 where we will focus and, and end here today. 672 00:33:55,720 --> 00:33:58,400 And what doctrines do the Catholics hold beliefs that 673 00:33:58,400 --> 00:34:00,880 differ from the Bible? We'll cover just one this 674 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:03,240 morning and we'll get into more of them, including the 675 00:34:03,240 --> 00:34:07,600 Sacramento system next week. But the first is this salvation? 676 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:11,560 Is it by faith alone or faith plus works? 677 00:34:11,920 --> 00:34:16,679 Is salvation by faith alone or is it faith plus works? 678 00:34:16,679 --> 00:34:20,520 This is the most critical doctrinal divide between Rome 679 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:23,600 and the Bible. This is what the Catholic Church 680 00:34:23,600 --> 00:34:26,000 teaches. The Catechism of the Catholic 681 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:31,880 Church #1129 says the Church affirms that for believers, the 682 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:36,840 sacraments of the New Covenant are necessary for salvation to 683 00:34:36,840 --> 00:34:39,560 be saved. They affirm that the sacraments 684 00:34:39,560 --> 00:34:41,719 of the covenant are necessary for salvation. 685 00:34:41,719 --> 00:34:44,679 The Catholic Church believes there are 7 sacraments. 686 00:34:44,840 --> 00:34:47,520 You ever wondered why, if someone is close to passing away 687 00:34:47,520 --> 00:34:50,040 in the Catholic Church, why they call for the priest? 688 00:34:50,400 --> 00:34:52,520 Maybe you've heard that before. We got a call for the priest. 689 00:34:52,520 --> 00:34:55,360 Why? One of the sacraments is the 690 00:34:55,360 --> 00:34:59,720 last rites, and that is a giving of grace to the one who is 691 00:34:59,720 --> 00:35:01,560 passing away. If the priest is not called and 692 00:35:01,560 --> 00:35:04,720 they're going to miss the grace that they need because they have 693 00:35:04,720 --> 00:35:09,200 no real hope of eternal life. They have a hope so salvation, 694 00:35:09,200 --> 00:35:11,480 but they don't have the hope of salvation. 695 00:35:11,840 --> 00:35:14,480 Any Catholic you talk to and you ask them, are you going to 696 00:35:14,480 --> 00:35:15,920 heaven? If they're being honest about 697 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:18,520 what they believed, and they usually are, they'll say this. 698 00:35:18,520 --> 00:35:22,760 I sure hope so. I, I hope I'm going and you go 699 00:35:22,760 --> 00:35:24,960 to a Catholic funeral, a funeral mass. 700 00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:26,800 What do you see? That there are prayers being 701 00:35:26,800 --> 00:35:30,920 offered, that they hope that this one will be able to go to 702 00:35:30,920 --> 00:35:33,320 eternal salvation and eternal life. 703 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:38,120 To them, justification is an ongoing process initiated by 704 00:35:38,120 --> 00:35:43,240 baptism, maintained by the sacraments, acts of penance, and 705 00:35:43,240 --> 00:35:45,960 their own cooperation with grace. 706 00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:49,480 Now this is important. The Council of Trent, which was 707 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:56,200 spoken in 1547, says this. If anyone saith that by faith 708 00:35:56,240 --> 00:36:01,320 alone the impious is justified, let him be anathema. 709 00:36:02,440 --> 00:36:04,480 They say, what is this in reference to? 710 00:36:04,480 --> 00:36:06,440 It would be the Protestant Reformation. 711 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,440 The fact that there were those who were saying that it was the 712 00:36:09,440 --> 00:36:13,240 Scriptures alone, Sola scriptura was the call the Protestant 713 00:36:13,240 --> 00:36:14,800 Reformation. And certainly there would be 714 00:36:15,040 --> 00:36:17,520 disagreements I would have with the Protestant Reformation being 715 00:36:17,520 --> 00:36:19,720 a Bible believing Baptist. We're not Protestants. 716 00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,120 We never came from Rome. And I think it's important you 717 00:36:22,120 --> 00:36:24,400 understand this morning people say, well, if you're a Baptist, 718 00:36:24,400 --> 00:36:26,240 you're a Protestant. My answer is no, I'm just a 719 00:36:26,240 --> 00:36:29,120 Baptist. Protestants were protesting Rome 720 00:36:29,120 --> 00:36:30,880 and separated from Rome as Baptist. 721 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:33,920 We've never identified with Rome anytime in history. 722 00:36:33,920 --> 00:36:36,960 In fact, often times very much persecuted by Rome, whether 723 00:36:36,960 --> 00:36:39,800 Baptist or our Baptist forefathers in different groups 724 00:36:39,800 --> 00:36:42,120 that came before, you know, identified with Rome. 725 00:36:42,120 --> 00:36:46,120 We never protested being part of Rome and so we are simply Bible 726 00:36:46,120 --> 00:36:49,080 believing Baptist. But in reference to the calls of 727 00:36:49,080 --> 00:36:53,440 Sola Scriptura in reference to salvation by grace through 728 00:36:53,440 --> 00:36:56,960 faith, they said in the Council of Trent, if anyone saith that 729 00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:01,040 by faith alone the impious is justified, let him be anathema 730 00:37:01,040 --> 00:37:04,880 meaning this let him be cursed. Now understand the implications 731 00:37:04,880 --> 00:37:08,960 of this this morning. The Catholic Church has taught 732 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:13,640 that anyone who is outside of the Catholic Church that teaches 733 00:37:13,640 --> 00:37:19,920 salvation by grace through faith that they are not saved and they 734 00:37:19,920 --> 00:37:23,480 will spend an eternity in hell. Now again, there will be 735 00:37:23,480 --> 00:37:27,160 Catholics that will have their hair on fire and say we don't 736 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:32,320 believe that the Council of Trent is still in force today. 737 00:37:33,000 --> 00:37:36,120 The Catholic Church has had multiple opportunities to 738 00:37:36,120 --> 00:37:39,920 overturn the Council of Trent. They've talked around the 739 00:37:39,920 --> 00:37:42,120 Council of Trent. They've made dialogue about the 740 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:44,120 Council Trent. I would encourage you to look 741 00:37:44,200 --> 00:37:47,600 this up on your own, from reliable sources, both from the 742 00:37:47,600 --> 00:37:50,320 Catholic Church itself and from others. 743 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:54,160 And it's quite clear that the Council of Trent is still in 744 00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:58,120 force today, meaning that the clear teaching of the Catholic 745 00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:02,040 churches, unless you are anything but a Catholic, you 746 00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:04,840 will not go to heaven. You said, why is it important 747 00:38:04,840 --> 00:38:06,680 that we know that? You need to know where the lines 748 00:38:06,680 --> 00:38:09,240 are drawn. You need to know where they are. 749 00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,280 Now, again, many of your Catholic friends don't know 750 00:38:12,280 --> 00:38:16,960 this, don't understand this, and certainly it's very likely not 751 00:38:16,960 --> 00:38:19,040 being taught in their local parish. 752 00:38:19,560 --> 00:38:22,240 But just because they don't know it, and just because it's not 753 00:38:22,240 --> 00:38:25,560 being taught doesn't mean that that's what the hierarchy of the 754 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:29,800 Catholic Church stands for. And that is their clear belief 755 00:38:30,120 --> 00:38:33,760 that if you believe that you're saved by faith, that you're 756 00:38:33,760 --> 00:38:36,240 accursed and you're outside of the faith. 757 00:38:36,240 --> 00:38:38,880 Now Needless to say, that's not what the Bible teaches. 758 00:38:39,400 --> 00:38:42,200 The Bible teaches it's not by our works of righteousness. 759 00:38:42,280 --> 00:38:45,840 It's not by that of which we do. Let me just give you a sampling. 760 00:38:45,960 --> 00:38:50,280 Romans 328 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith 761 00:38:50,280 --> 00:38:52,280 without the deeds of the law. That ought to solve it right 762 00:38:52,280 --> 00:38:55,120 there. Romans 4, verses four and five. 763 00:38:55,120 --> 00:38:58,640 Now to him that worketh is the reward, not reckoned of grace, 764 00:38:58,640 --> 00:39:01,440 but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but 765 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:04,880 believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, His faith is 766 00:39:04,880 --> 00:39:07,680 counted for righteousness. If you have to work for it, then 767 00:39:07,680 --> 00:39:09,280 you are the one that has paid the debt. 768 00:39:09,280 --> 00:39:13,440 There's no grace involved. Ephesians 289. 769 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:16,800 Probably the most quotable of all these verses. 770 00:39:17,120 --> 00:39:21,000 For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of 771 00:39:21,000 --> 00:39:25,120 yourself. It is the gift of God, not of 772 00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:27,440 works, lest any man should boast. 773 00:39:28,880 --> 00:39:31,880 I don't know how a Catholic gets around those two verses. 774 00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:37,360 And I think the answer is when it's not just scripture but also 775 00:39:37,360 --> 00:39:41,160 tradition, that it really doesn't matter what the 776 00:39:41,160 --> 00:39:44,080 Scriptures say. It really matters what the 777 00:39:44,080 --> 00:39:47,160 interpretation of man of the scriptures say. 778 00:39:47,440 --> 00:39:49,600 What do we say? Let the Scriptures speak. 779 00:39:50,680 --> 00:39:53,800 The purpose of Bible preaching is this, to find the true 780 00:39:53,800 --> 00:39:56,960 context of the Word of God, to make sure we're preaching it 781 00:39:56,960 --> 00:39:59,800 straight and true as it is. So you know what the Word of God 782 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:01,600 is. The purpose of the Catholic 783 00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:04,400 Church is. Let's explain what we want the 784 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:07,000 Bible to mean. And you need to believe our 785 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:11,360 explanations even more than you believe the Bible. 786 00:40:12,040 --> 00:40:16,000 It's a damnable heresy. And so where do we consider 787 00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,840 Catholics? Is it a world religion? 788 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:20,360 Is it a cult? And we'll look at this more next 789 00:40:20,360 --> 00:40:22,480 week. But the answer is I don't know. 790 00:40:23,720 --> 00:40:26,520 I don't know. But I don't know that I need to 791 00:40:26,520 --> 00:40:28,320 categorize it as one or the other. 792 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:30,720 Here's what I know. It's error. 793 00:40:31,760 --> 00:40:37,600 And those who believe it truly follow it are not saved. 794 00:40:39,040 --> 00:40:41,560 Now, there are some people that have attended Catholic churches 795 00:40:42,080 --> 00:40:45,440 that don't believe what the Catholics say about salvation 796 00:40:45,440 --> 00:40:48,920 and believe what the Bible says. And again, it's not about where 797 00:40:48,920 --> 00:40:51,160 you go to church, it's about the fact that you believe the 798 00:40:51,160 --> 00:40:53,120 gospel. Do I understand all of that? 799 00:40:53,120 --> 00:40:55,120 Why would you attend the Catholic Church and not believe 800 00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:56,520 with the Catholic Church? I don't know. 801 00:40:57,320 --> 00:41:00,320 But I do know this, that again, we don't get our cards checked 802 00:41:00,520 --> 00:41:02,440 of what denomination we were when we get to heaven. 803 00:41:02,920 --> 00:41:04,320 And that's just the Baptist to get in. 804 00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:09,080 It's really about this. It's about do you believe the 805 00:41:09,080 --> 00:41:12,200 gospel message? And so I'm not here to tell you 806 00:41:12,200 --> 00:41:14,560 that every single one of your friends who have ever attended a 807 00:41:14,560 --> 00:41:16,560 Catholic Church are going straight to hell. 808 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:19,040 That's that's not my call to make. 809 00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:22,240 I thank the Lord is not my call to make that Christ is the 810 00:41:22,240 --> 00:41:25,200 righteous judge. But I will say this, if they are 811 00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:29,040 to believe everything that the Catholic Church teaches, it is 812 00:41:29,040 --> 00:41:32,440 not a doctrine that will send anyone to heaven. 813 00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:37,240 And this ought to burden us about our Catholic friends, our 814 00:41:37,240 --> 00:41:39,320 Catholic neighbors, maybe even your Catholic family. 815 00:41:40,160 --> 00:41:42,640 Now, the good news is you probably have some that you're 816 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:46,240 close to that are Catholics, but it's just because their family 817 00:41:46,240 --> 00:41:49,200 was before them, they don't really have a lot of regard for 818 00:41:49,200 --> 00:41:52,240 the Catholic Church. They may even have some disdain 819 00:41:52,240 --> 00:41:54,720 for the Catholic Church because of the abuses that have taken 820 00:41:54,720 --> 00:41:57,120 place and have been uncovered in the last several years, which, 821 00:41:57,120 --> 00:41:59,920 by the way, go back generations and generations. 822 00:42:01,960 --> 00:42:08,160 My goal today is not to try to mock those who believe in 823 00:42:08,160 --> 00:42:10,760 Catholicism. My goal today and in the next 824 00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:15,480 couple weeks is not to try to to talk down to them, but rather to 825 00:42:15,480 --> 00:42:19,320 plead with them. What does the Bible say? 826 00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:23,520 Believe the Bible. Do not trust the word of man, 827 00:42:23,960 --> 00:42:28,320 Trust the word of God. Thank you for listening to the 828 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:30,920 sermon from the pulpit of Liberty Baptist Church. 829 00:42:31,240 --> 00:42:34,560 If this message was a blessing to you, or if there's any way we 830 00:42:34,560 --> 00:42:37,680 can serve you, please let us know by contacting us at 831 00:42:37,800 --> 00:42:42,560 info@mylibertybaptist.org. Or you can visit us this Sunday 832 00:42:42,760 --> 00:42:46,440 at 800 Washington St. in Easton, MA. 833 00:42:46,720 --> 00:42:49,520 May the Lord bless you as you grow in His Word.