Was This a Real Mary Miracle?!?
00:35 - 07:02 Was This a Miracle?
07:02 - 09:47 Was Mary a perpetual virgin?
09:47 - 14:18 was Mary sinless?
14:18 - 19:30 Do Catholics pray to Mary?
19:30 - 24:08 Is Mary a Mediator?
24:08 - 28:20 Does Mary intercede for us?
28:20 - 37:47 "Mass" Confusion
37:47 - 49:04 Purgatory
49:04 - 01:02:01 The Gospel
➡️➡️➡️ Find all of Justin's essential links here: https://linktr.ee/justinpetersmin
Transcript
Fox News alert the death toll rises to 16 across LA County and those Returning home find their possessions left in ruins and one,
California family is going viral singing in prayer after finding the only thing left standing on their property a statue of the
Virgin Mary Was this a real miracle from Mary? Welcome to the program ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Justin Peters I hope that this finds you and your family doing well today. I want to thank you so much for joining me
We've all heard about the horrific fires in, California Palisades and surrounding areas and as of this recording, they're still burning
Thousands and thousands of homes have been destroyed Thousands upon thousands of people are are now homeless and been displaced
Businesses burned to the ground. I mean, it's it's a hellscape in California it is just hard to even wrap your mind around and all of our hearts go out to all of the people there who have been affected and have
Have lost everything if not most of everything But this particular story is making a lot of news because there's one home and it wasn't the
Palisades area but near there, of course and This this family the
Halpin family Had their house burned down except for two things a statue of Mary and apparently also a statue of Joseph and there's a couple of other stories like this to other houses that this has happened to in fact
Here's a screenshot of yet another house in California and they're circled highlighted
There is a statue of Mary that was was left intact despite the entire rest of the house being burned to the ground and people are calling this a miracle
Catholic news agencies and EWTN some other
Catholic outlets Fox News and this is really kind of making headlines even some international outlets have picked this up and so Is this a miracle
Well, it might seem to be but I want us to talk about that and I know probably the very title of this video and the thumbnail will draw a lot of Catholics in watching this video if You are a
Catholic and watching this video, please Please please do watch this with me all the way towards the end because I want to deal with not only this this
Alleged miracle, but also want to talk about some of the aspects that the
Beliefs about the Virgin Mary that Catholics hold and I want to hold that up to Scripture.
I want to talk about Mary and is is the Mary of the Catholic Church the real
Mary and then we'll also talk about salvation the gospel itself
Okay, so Beginning with the statue was this a
Miracle. Well, let me show you a little bit more of this video clip. Watch this
This was from Fox News a couple of days ago. It was it was healing for us to get onto our property and What happened there?
We were so lucky we had to sneak up there. I'm sorry to say We had to break the law to get back to our property
But all our children who live in the area were able to join us there our adult children
And all those adult children combined we have 14 grandchildren and one on the way
But when we got up there, we all just stood around and it was remarkable That how everything had gotten fried but the statue of the
Virgin Mary and another statue of st. Joseph Were in perfect condition.
Obviously, they were a little singed Okay, so was this a miracle dear friends know this was not a miracle for a couple of rather obvious reasons
Concrete doesn't burn Okay, so it's not surprising that the Mary the statue of Mary and apparently of Joseph as well
Did not burn concrete doesn't burn and here's another here's a screenshot of them standing and what's left of their home and you see the concrete
Little, you know gateway thing there. It's still standing too, but by his own admission
Even though it didn't burn it was singed and they apparently cleaned it up So friends, this is not a miracle.
This is actually what you would expect to happen in fact, you look around the ruins of all of these homes that burned and pretty much the only thing that is left standing is
Concrete or bricks or some combination of all of that. So this is not a miracle and Here's another reason why it's not a miracle now as a
Protestant I do not believe that Mary is the queen of heaven I believe she's in heaven right now, but she's certainly not the queen of heaven, but let's think about this logically
And again, I'm so sorry for this family and they seem like really sweet people They truly do when you watch this interview.
They seem like very sweet people but to think that Mary Protected a statue of herself and Let their home
Be reduced to ashes Does that make any sense?
I? mean you want to talk about something that would be like the height of Vanity and the height of callousness
Would be for Mary to do something like this to protect an inanimate concrete statue basically an idol of herself and Yet let this sweet family's home burn to the ground.
Why didn't she protect the home? But she protected a concrete statue of herself
That makes no sense to your friends I don't I don't revere Mary the way you as Catholics do
But I have no doubt that Mary right now is in heaven. She was a very nice lady on earth
The last thing the real Mary would do Would be to protect a concrete statue of her house and let the actual house of people who pray to her
Burn to the ground that doesn't make any sense. That makes no sense Now I want to draw some contrast between what
Catholics believe about Mary and what the Bible actually teaches about Mary one
Catholics believe that Mary remained a virgin all throughout her life but scripture says otherwise
Matthew chapter 1 beginning of verse 24 and Joseph got up from his sleep and did as the angel of the
Lord commanded him and took Mary as his wife But kept her a virgin
Until she gave birth to a son and he called his name Jesus cedar ones
Mary was a virgin when Jesus was conceived and when Jesus was born
Indeed, but notice that Joseph says the Bible says he kept her a virgin until she gave birth to Jesus and Then after Jesus was born
Mary and Joseph had other children the old -fashioned way Matthew 13 beginning in verse 55 is not this the carpenter's son is not his mother called
Mary and his brothers James and Joseph and Simon and Judas and his sisters.
Are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? So you see dear ones
Jesus had other siblings he had four brother four half brothers and of course half brothers because Jesus was conceived of the
Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary and Jesus was Jesus was born the same way.
All babies are born. There was nothing miraculous about his birth. What was miraculous was his
Conception the way he was conceived but either after Jesus was born Mary and Joseph had other kids they had four boys and at least two girls because it says in his sisters
Are they not all with us and kind of implied in that? You would think it's are they not both with us if it was just two so in all likelihood
He had it. He probably had three or more sisters So you're talking about on the very conservative in as conservatives we can get it he was one of seven and Probably one of eight or more
Mary was not a perpetual virgin. I'm sorry and Catholics say they try to say.
Oh, well, these were his cousins No, no, there's an entirely different word that would be used if they were cousins.
These were his siblings These were his brothers and sisters. Mary was not a perpetual virgin, sorry
Catholics also believe that Mary was sinless You've probably heard of the term the immaculate conception a lot of non
Catholics think that that is referring to the Conception of Jesus, but it's not it's actually referring to Mary that God preserved her as a sinless human
So that she could give birth to Jesus who of course was also sinless and Catholics would of course agreed to that but No, Mary was not sinless there's nothing in the
Bible that indicates that she was sinless in fact there's quite a bit in the Bible that indicates that she was a sinner and Coming from the mouth of no less than Mary herself.
So let's look at this in Luke chapter 1 this is what is often referred to as the
Magnificat Luke chapter 1 beginning in verse 46 and Mary said my soul magnifies the
Lord and my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior for he has looked upon the humble state of his slave for behold from this time on all
Generations will count me blessed Well as a
Protestant I do agree with that I do count Mary as someone who is indeed Blessed by God and blessed by God in a very unique way
But she was not sinless. She herself says my spirit has rejoiced in God my
Savior Dear friends if Mary was sinless Then she would not need a
Savior, but she did Mary needed a Savior just like everyone else
Needs a Savior Just like the Bible itself says we all need a
Savior Romans chapter 3 verse 23 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God Your friends there are no exceptions to that The only sinless person who has ever lived was
Jesus Christ himself 2nd Corinthians 5 21 He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us
So that we might become the righteousness of God in him Christ is the only one who was ever sinless
Let's look at 1st. John chapter 1 beginning of verse 8 John says if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves
And the truth is not in us if we confess our sins He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
If we say that we have not sinned we make him a liar and his word is not in us
Dear friends anyone who would say that he or she has no sin is a liar is
Deceiving himself for herself and when you say that you that is tantamount to making
God out to be a liar Because God himself says all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God and that includes
Mary The Immaculate Conception this doctrine was not even adopted by the
Roman Catholic Church until the year 1854 if memory serves so before 1854 everybody believed that Mary was a
Sinner like she was but the Roman Catholic Church changed that in the mid 1800s and now all of a sudden she wasn't
This is one of the things about the Catholic Church that should trouble people so much is that the doctrine of the
Catholic Church? Changes regularly, I mean the they're constantly adding new doctrines new
New Penalties for sins new gradations of the seriousness of various sins they're adding new people that you can pray to through the
Once they canonize someone, you know, they canonized mother Teresa. When was that?
I don't know some not too long long ago They canonized her and now you can pray to her because she's been canonized as a saint couldn't pray to her before but now you can
It's just it's this constant flux But Mary absolutely was a sinner.
So do Catholics pray to Mary? Absolutely, they do now some
Catholics try to hedge on that a little bit and they'll say well we don't pray to Mary We pray with Mary and the reason they do this is because they understand that prayer is
An act of worship and it is right. Absolutely. It is prayer is Absolutely an act of worship
So ergo if you are praying to Mary then you are worshiping
Mary and Catholics really don't like That accusation when it comes from Protestants and it comes pretty regularly rightly, so they're very sensitive that they say no
We do not worship Mary. We revere Mary But we don't worship her well
Actually you do you do worship Mary? Partly because you pray to her now, we'll get in just a few minutes
More of why Catholics worship Mary, but we'll begin with this. They do pray to her and they don't merely pray with her
They pray to her. Let me show you this from the Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church 2nd edition if you would like to get your copy of it part 4 da da da paragraph 2 6 7 9
When we pray to Mary We are adhering with her to the plan of the father who sends his son to save all men
Like the beloved disciple we welcome Jesus mother into our homes for she has become the mother of all the living we can pray with her and to her
So yes, Roman Catholics do pray not only with her they pray to her
Mary is the object the recipient of Their prayers.
Let me show you this. This is from a Roman Catholic prayer Says and I quote remember most loving
Virgin Mary Never was it heard that anyone who turned to you for help was left unaided.
I run to your protection for you are my mother I Run to you for this is addressed to Mary And I run to you for protection for you are my mother.
Mary is not my mother. My mother is named Sandra not Mary This is a prayer to Mary She is the recipient of prayers.
She is the object of prayers. Therefore. She is the object of worship
Now I'm going to show you another Catholic prayer, this is the titled hail Holy Queen This one's really bad.
Let me show you this hail. Holy Queen mother of mercy Hail our life our sweetness and our hope
Your friends my hope is in Christ not Mary I have nothing against Mary, but my hope is not in Mary.
My hope is in Christ and Christ alone To you we cry the children of Eve to you we send up our sighs
Mourning and weeping in this land of exile Turned in most gracious advocate your eyes of mercy toward us lead us home at last
Your eyes of mercy dear friends only
God can extend to us mercy You cannot understand the mercy of God until you first understand the wrath of God The wrath of God is incurred because we have sinned we have transgressed
Against God we have sinned against him. We have transgressed his laws and because we have broken his laws
There is a penalty to be paid we owe a debt to God Not to Mary.
I don't owe Mary anything She doesn't owe me anything
I Owe God everything I've sinned against God not against Mary But it says her eyes turn your
Mary Talking to Mary turn your eyes of mercy toward us. I don't need any mercy from Mary.
I haven't done anything to her. I Have done something against God. I've transgressed
God you see this You can tell me all day long
My dear Catholic friends that you don't worship Mary, but you absolutely do
I mean this is a This is a soft deification of Mary And I say soft only in the sense that I think a lot of Catholics haven't connected the dots
But this is deep defying Mary if Mary owes me Mercy then that means she's
God Mary does not owe me mercy God for that matter doesn't owe me mercy, but God graciously gives me mercy
Through his sovereign grace. This is a deification of Mary. This is
Mary worship Catholics also believe that Mary is a mediator on our behalf.
She mediates between us and God in Christ so she's kind of like a go -between
Between us and the Lord they refer to her some Catholics refer to her as a co -redeemer or a co -redemptrix
Along with Christ. I don't think that's been adopted officially yet yet as Roman Catholic doctrine
But there's a lot of people within the Roman Catholic Church that are trying to make that official doctrine again another example of how the
Catholic doctrine and theology is in a state of flux, but is she a
Mediatrix a co -redemptrix now, they do say that she is the mediatrix of all graces so she participates along with Christ in Dispensing grace.
So we're gonna look at a couple of things here is Mary a mediator or mediatrix and is she an
Intercessor and we'll look at that in just a moment. So this is kind of like a Two sides to the same coin here in a sense mediator and then intercessor in just a minute, but first mediator well first Timothy 2 verse 5 kind of puts the end of this for there is one
God and one mediator also between God and men the man
Christ Jesus so I Mean, that's pretty pretty self -explanatory.
Is it not? There's only one mediator Between us and God and that is the man
Christ Jesus Jesus is truly God and truly man. He is one person with two distinct natures
He is the God man and as the God man, he is the only one who can mediate
Between God and man. There's only one mediator and that is Jesus now
There's another interesting passage that sheds further light on this and I want us to look at Matthew chapter 12
Matthew 12 Jesus seemingly has an opportunity to kind of elevate
Mary to a higher status than other people, but he
Interestingly does not do so. Let me read this to you Matthew chapter 12. We'll begin in verse 46
While he was still speaking to the crowds behold his mother and brothers were standing outside Seeking to speak to him now.
Someone said to him behold your mother and your brothers are standing outside Seeking to speak to you but Jesus answered the one who was telling him and said who is my mother and who are my brothers and Stretching out his hand toward his disciples.
He said behold my mother and my brothers For whoever does the will of my father who is in heaven.
He is my brother and sister and mother difference
This could not be more clear Jesus is saying whoever does the will of God Whoever is within the family of God in other words every
Christian whether Jew or Greek male or female Slave or free we are all one in Christ Jesus if you are a
Christian if you have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord you have been adopted into the family of God and That's exactly what
Jesus is saying here so none of us is elevated above the other
As I said a moment ago, I have nothing against Mary, but Mary is not Above anyone else
She was a human. She was a sinful human who needed a
Savior and Jesus had the perfect opportunity here to elevate excuse me to elevate
Mary Above other people and he did not do that. He he Decidedly kind of leveled the playing field if you will
If you're a human if you have trusted Christ as Savior and Lord you've been adopted into the family of God There is only one mediator in his name is
Jesus. Now. We will look at intercession Very much related to the
Catholic belief that Mary is a mediator is their belief that Mary intercedes for us she is an intercessor between us and God so therefore we can pray to her we can ask for her protection
We even as we just saw a moment ago even need her mercy, which is call it what you will
That's a deification of Mary But does she intercede for us?
Well, let's go to the text Romans chapter 8 beginning of verse 26 and in the same way the
Spirit also Helps our weakness for we do not know how to pray as we should but the
Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the
Spirit is because he intercedes for the Saints according to the will of God So here we see that the
Holy Spirit Intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words the
Holy Spirit This is this is the third person of the triune Godhead and he is
Interceding for us. Not only is the Holy Spirit interceding but so is
Jesus let's look down just a few verses same chapter Romans 8 in verse 33
Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies who is the one who condemns
Christ Jesus is he who died? Yes, rather who was raised who is at the right hand of God who also intercedes for us?
So according to Romans chapter 8 Jesus is our intercessor.
He is interceding for us Hebrews chapter 7 affirms this Hebrews 7 verse 25
Therefore he is able also to save forever Those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them
So dear ones we see in Romans 8 We see in Hebrews 7 that the
Holy Spirit intercedes for us the person of God's Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ intercedes for us so let me ask you this if Jesus is interceding for us if the
Holy Spirit if God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are interceding for us Why do we need
Mary? Why we we have literally we have deity interceding for us with deity
There's no need for Mary and to say that there is Implies that somehow the intercession of the
Holy Spirit in the intercession of Christ himself is not sufficient In the only way that their intercession could not be sufficient is if they are not
God and yet they are the Holy Spirit is God Jesus Christ is
God so there is no need For anyone to intercede for us
Mary or anybody else this is again when you when you carry I know Catholics would never say
We worship Mary, but you do and I know Catholics would never say
We don't deify Mary, but you do When you carry these doctrines out the positions of the
Roman Catholic Church when you carry these positions out to their logical conclusion It absolutely leads to the deification of Mary I Now want us to turn our attention to the
Roman Catholic Mass now this will not be a full treatment of the subject
But I do want to hit a few of the the high points the most important points here dealing with the doctrine of the
Mass Okay dear ones let us talk a little bit about the
Roman Catholic Mass now we could spend hours and hours and hours talking about This I just want to hit a couple of the high points but most of you probably already know that when
Catholics have mass one of their standard doctrines is that of Transubstantiation they believe that the elements the bread and the wine literally not symbolically
Literally turn into the actual flesh and blood of Jesus respectively and this gets to their view of Infused righteousness now there as a
Protestant we believe in what is called imputed Righteousness.
This is the biblical teaching imputed righteousness. So in other words our sins the sins of the elect
God's people were Imputed to Christ on the cross. They were counted towards him and God treated
Christ as though he were a sinner even though he himself Was not this is 2nd
Corinthians 5 21 He made him who knew no sin to be sin for us so that we might become the righteousness of God in him
So our sins imputed to Christ and then Christ's Righteousness is imputed to us when we place our trust and faith in Christ and what he accomplished on the cross
So that is imputed Righteousness, this is this is the biblical position but Catholics believe in what's called infused righteousness that basically
You get a shot of Jesus when you go to mass and when you take the bread and you drink the wine you're eating and drinking the
Blood the flesh and blood of Jesus respectively. I Here's an illustration.
It's the it's the theological equivalent of spinach to Popeye. You remember the old
Popeye Cartoons and Popeye is just kind of this average old Joe kind of a weak guy actually
But Baludo the the big bad guy, you know, he's always after Popeye and Popeye he was he would beat up on old
Popeye and Popeye would be down for the count looks like he's a goner and then right at The last second, you know and somehow he gets some spinach in his pipe spinach makes him all big and strong and he beats up Bluto or whoever the bad guy is and but then after a while It wears off right and then
Popeye gets himself in another fix and he needs some more spinach That's kind of like the
Roman Catholic view of righteousness You go to mass and you take the elements and you get a little infusion
Kind of like almost think of like an IV you get a little infusion of righteousness and you're good to go for a while But then inevitably like we all do we commit some more sins
I'm more so than others and then you got a confession and then you got to say your Hail Marys and do your our fathers
And you got to do this and then you got to go back to mass and get another shot of Jesus Oversimplified yes, but that is basically
What it comes down to and there is a difference as wide as all of eternity between imputed and infused righteousness
Infused is the Roman Catholic view imputed is the biblical view, but let me show you this
I'm going to read to you from the Catholic Catechism paragraph 1367. It says this of the mass
The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist are one single sacrifice
The victim is one in the same now. I want to pause right there Dear friends.
Jesus never was is not now nor will he ever be a victim. He is the ultimate victor
But I digress The victim is one in the same the same now offers through the ministry of the priests
Who then offered himself on the cross only the manner of offering is different This sacrifice is truly propitiatory
Now what that means is Propitiation the word propitiate propitiation means to appease wrath
Repeal wrath Satisfy wrath. So in other words when when the biblical view is that when
Christ was on the cross He propitiated the wrath of God God's wrath was fully satisfied in Christ's once -for -all sacrifice that we'll talk about in just a second
Christ fully propitiated Remove the wrath of God satisfied God's wrath appease
God's wrath satisfied it once for all never to be repeated but in the
Catholic view Christ is basically Resacrificed every time they have mass.
I mean I read it to you right out of their own catechism They believe it is a it is the same sacrifice and this sacrifice is also propitiatory
In essence, they are Resacrificing Jesus over and over and over and over Every single time they have mass.
The only thing that is different by the own reading here is the manner is different But it's one single sacrifice.
It's truly propitiatory. So they are They are appeasing Satisfying the wrath of God in the mass and yet God's wrath was satisfied once for all at the cross
Let's look at this. Let's go to the book of Hebrews Hebrews 10 10 by this we will have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all
Hebrews 10 12, but he Jesus having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time
Sat down at the right hand of God Difference. This is a once -for -all sacrifice never to be repeated when
Jesus satisfied God's wrath on the cross Died on the cross raised from the dead ascended into heaven.
He sat down at the right hand of God His his atoning work was completed
Hebrews 10 14 for by one offering. He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified
You see dear friends. This is a once -for -all act He perfected for all time those who are sanctified who are set apart for God's glory
Hebrews chapter 7 and verse 26 for it was fitting for us to have such a high priest holy innocent undefiled
Separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens who does not need daily like those high priests who offer up Sacrifices first for his own sins and then for the sins of the people because this he did once for all
When he offered up himself Difference how much more clear can you be the text says he does not need daily like those
Old Testament priests To go in and constantly offer up sacrifices for himself and then for the people know that Jesus did this one time once for all never to be repeated
The book of Hebrews it has been said and I heartily agree with this The book of Hebrews is a systematic theology
Against Roman Catholicism. I honestly don't know what Catholics do with the book of Hebrews because it is like It's almost like the
Holy Spirit knew that this aberrant movement would come about that would distort the gospel
That would keep the scriptures hidden away from people for hundreds and hundreds of years and so the
Holy Spirit inspired the biblical writers the author of the book of Hebrews to basically write a systematic theology refuting
What would become? Roman Catholicism and the theology of the
Roman Catholic Church. The book of Hebrews is a theological tour de force Against Roman Catholicism.
It says over and over and over. This is a once -for -all sacrifice never to be repeated and yet the
Roman Catholic Mass repeats the sacrifice of Jesus over and over and over and over again and untold thousands of Roman Catholic churches all over the world.
The book of Hebrews stands in a towering testimony against that the only way that Jesus's Sacrifice could not have been sufficient was if his person was not sufficient a perfect person offers a perfect Sacrifice it does not need to be repeated
Okay, dear ones now I want us to look at the doctrine of purgatory this is a staple
Doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, I think it could be rightly said that the entirety of the
Roman Catholic system Hinges hangs on the doctrine of purgatory
This is what makes the whole thing work in a sense and yet There is absolutely no mention of the doctrine of this fictitious place anywhere in Scripture Purgatory is not real there's more evidence for the existence of Candyland than there is purgatory, but I Don't want to be too
Sarcastic here, but this is this is such an offense to the gospel I want us to go let me read to you again right out of the
Catechism of the Catholic Church paragraph 1030 and 1031 purgatory is defined as final purification for all who die in God's grace and friendship the elect but still
Imperfectly purified so that they may quote achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven
So purgatory is this place you go as a Catholic when you die
To have all of your remaining sins that Jesus somehow did not cleanse
Guess you didn't have enough theological spinach in your pipe have all those remaining sins purged
Hence purgatory. It's where the name derives from The Roman Catholic Church has amassed fabulous wealth
You've seen the huge mass of cathedrals and the ornate You know buildings and decorations and paintings and the
Vatican and all of that And you know how the Roman Catholic Church has amassed a lot of its wealth wealth
It's all off the doctrine of purgatory by the selling of indulgences
And it is a corrupt system always has been now the Catholic Church has tried to clean it up a little bit
But there was even a famous or infamous rather Catholic priest
Back in the Middle Ages who would go around selling indulgences and the in the
Jingo was a little Rhyme was for every coin into a coffer rings a soul from purgatory
Springs his name was Tetzel and he would go around selling indulgences and the
Catholic Church has tried to distance itself from Tetzel admitted he was a Kind of a bad guy, but nonetheless the
Catholic Church would sell indulgences and You could get your loved one out of purgatory more quickly the more money you gave
To the Catholic Church and that is one of the ways that the Catholic Church has amassed such incredible wealth and this the the the system of indulgences continues
To this day, so it's not like they've completely gotten rid of it or anything but I mean
Tetzel was just especially like he was kind of like the I hate to say it but the the the
Benny Hinn of the Roman Catholic Church in a sense just a Huckster a charlatan and even
Catholics have to admit that but this system continues purgatory absolutely continues
There's so much wrong with purgatory a it's not found in Scripture You you have to you have to invent this place
You have to invent this doctrine because there is no biblical support for it at all
But think about this what a what a terrifying thing as a Catholic so I'm off if I'm a
Catholic and even the the best of Catholics Go to purgatory for at least a while how long who knows nobody knows because there's nothing in Scripture So who knows how long it is years decades hundred centuries, maybe millennia, maybe
I mean who knows but the the more indulgences
Then the less time the person has to spend in Purgatory and you can you know use there's masses for the dead and prayers for the dead to try to pray them out of there a little bit more quickly, but what an absolutely hopeless system as A Catholic even the
Pope I'm even Catholic. I've talked to a lot of Catholics They say yeah, even even Propes probably have to spend some time in purgatory.
Well, how long I don't know So as a Catholic you're dying you're on your deathbed
Your loved ones on the deathbed and you and you know as a Catholic you've been told the first thing you're going to experience
Is flames you're going to go to a place of Punishment and you don't know how long you're gonna be there.
I would be absolutely terrified to die as a Catholic And it's just it's such a horrible horrible system and it's absolutely a gospel
Denying system. I want us to look at just a few verses that irrefutably refute
This doctrine of purgatory, let's go to Hebrews Chapter 1 referring to Jesus Jesus having accomplished cleansing for sins sat down at the right hand of the
Majesty on high Titus chapter 2 verse 14 Jesus who gave himself for us so that he might redeem us from how much lawlessness all
Lawlessness and purify for himself a people for his own possession zealous for good works
Difference Christ has redeemed us not from some lawlessness not from most lawlessness all
Lawlessness, and he is purified for himself a people Don't let that miss you
Christ has purified for himself a people notice the past tense
He is not purifying. It's not that he will purify. He has purified
Judicially speaking if you are in Christ You have been cleansed from all sin
Not some not most All you have been purified by the once -for -all sacrifice of Jesus on the cross first John chapter 1
But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light We have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his son
Cleanses us from some of our sin. Nope from most of it. Nope from all of our sin all of it if You are in Christ.
You have been cleansed from all of your sin past present and future
Judicially speaking you have been cleansed you have been forgiven for all of your sins
Past present and the ones that you have yet to commit in the future Well, what does that mean? I don't have to ask for forgiveness of our of my sin
No, you do But that is once you become a Christian once you are
Made a new creature in Christ once you have been adopted into the family of God You've been forgiven of all of your sins judicially now we continue to commit sin and we so we ask for forgiveness, but not not to Escape the wrath of God we ask for forgiveness.
This is a relational forgiveness. Once you become a Christian that is a relational Forgiveness Lord, I sinned against you.
I'm sorry. I Know I did this. I know I shouldn't have please forgive me. This is a this is a relational forgiveness.
This is a Just a to have to keep a short sin account with the
Lord to keep that relationship Vibrant and healthy so you can be used for the glory of God this does not mean that if you you you pray you commit some sin and you ask the
Lord for forgiveness and Okay, so I've asked for forgiveness good to go Then you get in the car go to the grocery store and on the grocery store someone crosses over into your lane you see it and you you yell out a like a four -letter word and boom head -on collision you die and You don't have a chance to ask for forgiveness, you know, you let fly a four -letter word, you know in a panic
But then now you're dead and you didn't have a chance to ask for forgiveness what happens you go to hell no No, you don't go to hell
You see once you become a Christian The the forgiveness we seek is a relational forgiveness not a judicial the judicial forgiveness has been settled
Because we have been cleansed from all sin one more verse
Romans chapter 8 verse 1 There is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus Difference that Romans 8 1 there's there's other verses
We looked at a few of them. We could look at others. But this one Romans 8 1 this is a purgatory killing verse
There is now therefore no condemnation For those who are in Christ Jesus So if you are if you are in Christ Jesus, how much condemnation still hangs over your head none?
None You've been forgiven. It's gone nailed to the cross and So if there is no is if there is now no condemnation
What's the purpose of purgatory there is none There is not the doctrine of purgatory is a wicked evil
Doctrine it has been it is a fabrication of the Roman Catholic Church. This place does not exist
The Roman Catholic Church has held this imaginary made -up place held it over the heads of its followers for centuries and centuries
Used as a threat To enrich itself. It is an evil evil doctrine and For all those reasons, it's evil.
But what is it makes it especially evil is that it is an insult to Jesus Christ It is an insult to his completed work once for all sacrifice
You kill purgatory you kill the whole Roman Catholic system it collapses
So If you're a Catholic, I hope that this has been helpful to you and I just want to close
With the true gospel the good news of Jesus Christ There is good news in the gospel
But before we can understand the good news We must first understand the bad news and the bad news is that we are all sinners
All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. What is sin the transgression of God's law?
His moral law the Ten Commandments thou shalt not lie. Have you ever told a lie? Yes, you have so have
I all of us have So if you have told a lie you are a what you are a liar thou shalt not steal
Have you ever in your life taken something that does not belong to you? I bet you have therefore you are a thief doesn't matter the value of the item that you take
So we are liars. We are thieves. We are blasphemers We have taken God's name in vain in both word and deed and taking
God's name in vain is a lot more than just saying OMG or some form of that we blaspheme the name of God in word and deed and in thought
Thou shalt not commit adultery And don't let yourself off the hook too quickly because Jesus said if you look at a woman with lust
You've committed adultery already in your heart If you have ever looked at another person with lust you are an adulterer
So go through the moral law of God. We are all sinners. We have broken
God's laws thousands of times in word and deed and in thought in just like when we
Break laws on earth. There is a penalty to be paid how much more so when we break the laws of God But because we have sinned against God who is eternal the punishment of that sin is also eternal
We have sinned against God who is eternal and of infinite value therefore the punishment is eternal and it is
Infinite our sins have incurred the righteous wrath of God and there is nothing that we can do to earn
God's favor There is no amount of good works that we can do. Isaiah 64 says our works are as filthy rags
Before a thrice Holy God, you can't earn your favor with God You can't have any mixture of faith and works because if you mix
Faith and works as a and as a Catholic Church says grace can be merited.
There's no such thing as merited grace Grace by definition is unmerited.
It is the unmerited favor of God if you add any Any little scintilla of works to grace grace is no longer grace
Grace is the unmerited favor of God. You can't work your way into heaven Don't bother going to confession and confessing your sins to a priest who is just as sinful if not more so than you are
Don't bother with your Hail Marys and your our fathers and you're doing this and you're doing that and go into mass
And if you miss mass, you've got to pay for that. You got that's a hope This is the Roman Catholic system is this endless?
hopeless hamster wheel of Trying to earn the favor of God, no
God's grace is unmerited. We can't earn his favor And we all stand condemned before him
And if we die in our sins, we will very rightly and very justly go to a very real place.
The Bible calls hell There is no purgatory When we die each and every one us one of us will go to one of two places and we will be there for all of eternity
If you die in your sins, you'll very rightly very justly Go to a very real place.
The Bible calls hell where the worm will not die. The fire will not be quenched There will be wailing weeping gnashing of teeth and the full undiluted fury of God's wrath
Will be poured out for all of eternity And it will never end
That's the bad news That's what you deserve. That's what I deserve But there is good news in the good news of the gospel
Is this is that God has made a way for you to escape his wrath God sent his son
Jesus Christ to this earth Jesus was one person with two distinct natures truly
God truly man and As the God man Jesus could stand in our place
He is our intercessor he is our mediator he could stand in our place you see dear ones
Because we have sinned against God the only one who? Ought to pay for sin is man the only one who can pay for sin is
God an infinite offense against an infinite God Requires an infinite payment and only
God can make an infinite payment So Jesus one person two distinct natures the
God man Stood in our place Jesus willingly gave his life on the cross
His life was not taken he gave it in this perfect person Offered his perfect life as a perfect sacrifice to perfectly satisfy the perfect wrath of God He drank in every drop of the full fury of God's wrath that that pours out against sin he satisfied it
He was our propitiation Jesus Was our propitiation on the cross satisfied
God's wrath quenched it Died on the cross and on the third day Bodily raised from the dead proving himself to be who he said he was
God in human flesh and the only way to be saved is To have the righteousness of Christ We have no righteousness on our own.
We must have the righteousness of someone else we must have an alien righteousness to us and that righteousness is found in Christ and When we turn from our sin repent of sin place our trust in Jesus His righteousness is imputed to us our sins were imputed to Christ on the cross
His righteousness is imputed is counted towards us and When when that exchange happens when the old is passed away behold all things are made new 2nd
Corinthians 5 17 when God takes out our heart of stone gives us a heart of flesh that transaction takes place then judicially speaking
When God looks at us He sees the righteousness of his own
Son Jesus Christ and that is a perfect righteousness Practically do we still sin?
Yes, but our sins have been forgiven Washed away now.
I've heard some Catholics pick up on that and they say oh that just that's um, that's
That's easy grace. You know, that just means you can just pray the sinner's prayer and live. However, you want to live
No, no, no, no, no For one thing the sinner's prayer isn't even in the Bible as it's often
Thought of it's not even in the Bible But if God grants you faith and repentance and true faith and true repentance are both granted by God their gifts of God When God grants those things to a person when
God takes out your heart of stone gives you a heart of flesh That new heart has new desires
That new heart has new affections and you will begin to love what
God loves and you'll hate what God hates and There's nothing that God hates more than sin
So if you have a new heart if you're a new creature in Christ, you will hate sin It doesn't mean that you won't still sin you will but here's the difference a true
Christian We stumble into sin, but we don't swim in it You see a
Christian doesn't relish sin a Christian doesn't enjoy sin A Christian doesn't look for opportunities to sin a
Christian doesn't plan out his sin When a true Christian sins it grieves him.
He has what Paul describes in 2nd Corinthians chapter 7 a godly sorrow Paul says that a worldly sorrow leads to death but a godly sorrow leads to repentance unto salvation a
Godly sorrow is when we grieve over our sin because we understand that our sin grieves God I'm a
Christian by the grace of God. Do I still sin? Yeah But I stumble into it.
I don't swim in it when I do sin it grieves me because I Know that my sin grieves
God and I don't want to grieve him. He has been so good So kind so gracious so gentle so faithful so merciful so patient towards me
That when I do sin, I know it grieves him and why would I want to grieve my Savior? Why would
I want to grieve the one who has done so much for me? So so Being saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
That's not a license to sin. No as a Christian I hate sin and I hate my own sin so Does your sin grieve you?
If you're not certain of where you are in your relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ I would encourage you to get real honest before God cry out to him
And if you cry out to him confessing your sins if you will come to him empty -handed Trusting not in yourself trusting not in your works trusting not in the church not in taking
Mass and eating a piece of bread and drinking a little wine. That's not no trust Lay all that stuff down come to Christ empty -handed and if you are seeking
Christ seeking him You see just as much as we should want to save you from hell. We should want to save you from our sin
The person who wants a Savior from hell, but does not want a
Savior from sin Has a Savior from neither But if you will come to Christ seeking him, he will save you
Jesus says the one who comes to me I will in no wise cast aside. He will not refuse you trust
Christ and if you are After hearing this gospel presentation,
I Hope and pray especially if you're a Catholic, but whoever you are I hope and pray that the gospel that has just been presented.
This is the true gospel. It will pierce your heart I hope and pray it'll find good fertile soil and bear good fruit
And if you truly want to follow Christ find a good doctrinally sound church
Not the Catholic Church, not any Catholic Church Not any
Catholic Church Find a church that is committed to what's called expositional preaching seek that out
Expositional preaching that's just opening the Bible and preaching the Word of God verse by verse you let the text
Determine the direction and the meaning of the content of the sermon Exposition you just preach the
Word of God Read it explain it. That's what a church should be doing a Church that is led by what's called a plurality of elders biblically qualified men elders meet the biblical qualifications found in 1st
Timothy chapter 3 committed to expositional preaching and A church who also practices church discipline per Matthew 18 and that's another discussion
But that's one of the commands that Jesus gave to his church. So don't don't search after a church.
That's flashy and has Worldly services worldly music, you know lots of Smoke and mirrors and strobe lights and fog machines and you know hip kind of stuff
No, just just preach a church. Look for a church that preaches the Word of God has biblically qualified men leading it
Practices church discipline per Matthew 18 15 through 20. That's what you want to find.
All right, dear ones I hope this has been helpful for you. And if you're a Catholic, please know I don't hate
Catholics at all I wouldn't be doing this video if I did I love Catholics I do hate the system of Roman Catholicism because it keeps people in spiritual bondage
But I love Roman Catholics and I love them enough to tell them the truth so May God bless you.
Thank you for watching Until our next time together. May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ the love of God and the fellowship of his