TPW 27 Pope Francis and His False Religion

There was a time when Christians understood theological errors which could be tolerated over against theological errors which were fatal to human salvation. There was a time when the true gospel of Jesus Christ was known, believed, and loved by those who claimed adherence to it.

And there was a time when Christians were willing to lose their lives, their friends, and their possessions in order to take a strong stand for that gospel. In short, there was a time when Protestants protested.

Coming to you here again from Gordwell Heights Presbyterian Church here in lovely Kingsport, Tennessee. I was thinking today about Reformation Sunday is coming up and I'm gonna preach a sermon, I just finished it, on the Reformation of Biblical Ecclesiology, the doctrine of the Church.

We talk a lot about justification by faith alone and the doctrine, the precious, precious doctrine of Sola Scriptura. And in the days leading up to the Reformation celebration that we all, hopefully all of us still love, I know Hank Hanegraaff doesn't really have anything to celebrate anymore, but those of us who still think the Reformation was a good thing and the gospel is not only the very lifeblood of our hearts and souls and of the Church but is worth fighting for and dying for if necessary.

I'd like to celebrate those precious truths as they're vitally important to me and have always been at the heart and soul of my ministry. I was thinking about my daughter. One of the things about my house, my house is a little bit like Noah's Ark, except we have more people in it than Noah's Ark did.

But we have lots of pests, my goodness. I was trying to think about the number of animals we've been through. You know one thing I encourage parents to do is, you know, you always have to tell your kids no because most of what they want to do is dangerous or foolish or whatever.

But when my kids have asked me for pets over and over and over again I usually have said yes. So we've been through, I mean, we've had, let's see, three dogs, we have two dogs right now. We've had I don't know how many bettas we've been through and then someone figured out that the cat was actually eating the bettas.

So we have, there's a new bowl for those little betta fish so the cat can actually get down in there with it to get it. We have, we've had I don't know how many hamsters, gerbils, rabbits, we had two rabbits once, parakeets, birds, let's see, I mean, I don't even know.

Lots of different animals. But I was looking at this bowl that my my fourth child, my precious daughter Maria, who is 14, she got a betta and got put it got in this real big bowl and it just looks beautiful.

You know the bowl is just all it's just perfect shiny glass and there's pure purified water in there and I was just thinking wow that's really beautiful. And as I was going to church I was thinking you know that bowl with it's you know crystal clear glass and the crystal clear water in it that's kind of like the the Christian faith.

It's the purity of the Christian faith. Sola Fide, Sola Scriptura, Sola Christa, Sola Gratia, Sola Deo Gloria. It's the pure Christian faith. But then things come along and you have all these ands, like I mentioned in the last podcast, you have things being added, you have stuff tacked on to justification by faith alone and then it's destroyed.

You have things added to grace alone and it's destroyed. So you have the perfect purity of biblical truth. God gives us Christ alone, we're justified by faith alone, we're saved by his grace alone, for his glory alone, and the source of our authority and the source of the voice of God today is the scriptures alone.

But then things come along to add to all of that and end up ruining it. And I was thinking about how beautiful that new glass bowl for that new beta is in the perfectly clear clean water and it seems like that that glass bowl and the clean water can only get dirty.

And so the church is constantly having to clean the bowl. It's constantly having to re-filter the water and clean off the inside and the outside of the of the fishbowl to keep things pure. And it's always a call back to the great solos.

How are we saved? We're saved by Christ. It's not Christ plus works, Christ plus Mary, Christ plus purgatory, Christ plus penance, or anything else. It's Christ alone. And I wanted to share some of my, some of my, I guess I would call them my greatest hits, Reformation sermons.

Over the years, this time of year, I've always tried to preach one or two sermons on just the heart of the gospel. And, of course, going through Romans, we did a lot of sermons on justification going through the book of Romans, especially Romans 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.

Those chapters hit that really, really, really, really hard. But this particular sermon, I think this is the one I actually, I actually preached this at our Presbytery's annual Reformation service, which is actually this coming Sunday evening.

I'm participating in that. I'm reading a prayer, thanking God for our Christian heritage. I'll have to make sure I don't make that too long. But there's so much to be thankful for with our Reformation heritage, for sure.

But this sermon, I called Pope Francis and his false religion. And I was kind of provoked to preach this one shortly after Francis, shortly after his pontificate got started, because Rick Warren had done that video where he was calling him our Pope and talking about what a great Christian he was and blah, blah, blah.

And it was just shocking. It was just absolutely shocking to listen to Rick Warren fawning all over Pope Francis. And so I preached this sermon and tried to give some historical information about who Pope Francis, you know, is, who he claims to be, what Rome says about the papacy.

And that Rome is not saying that the papacy is something you might want to consider believing. Rome is saying that this is something you must believe upon pain of the very anathema of God. And that hasn't changed.

And I don't know if Rick Warren is not aware of that, or if he is and doesn't care, because he knows our postmodern society doesn't care about truth anyway, or what. I don't know. I don't know if he's ignorant or what the deal is.

But I thought I'd go ahead and post a few podcasts here as we approach Reformation Day there on October 31st, celebrating the day Luther... He either mailed them or nailed them to the door there at the church in Wittenberg.

Either way, they got there. And to this day, we still don't know who it was that got the theses and then translated them from Latin into German, and then printed them and had them distributed all over the place.

But it certainly was the... It was the match that was dropped on a powder keg that had been building for a long time that really got the ball rolling. And of course, the invention of printing and the rediscovery of classical languages in the Renaissance, and lots of things precipitated the Reformation.

But today, in our country, there's not a whole lot of celebration of that. I'm so thankful. I'm part of a presbytery that does an annual Reformation celebration, and it's a privilege. I've gotten to speak at it once.

I hope they'll ask me to do it again sometime. I don't know. Maybe I offended somebody. I don't know. I don't think so. I don't think so. We have a really good presbytery. But I wanted to post this message on Pope Francis and his false religion.

I hope that you find it edifying. It's a vitally important topic, and so I hope you enjoy it. Let's pray the Lord's blessing on our time together in his Word. Dear Heavenly Father, we are in need of your help.

So we would ask that your Spirit would be our teacher, that you would enlighten our minds and help us to understand these very important issues we're going to talk about this morning, as there has been an incredible amount of deception, an incredible amount of unprecedented compromise and selling down of the truth.

We pray you'd bless us and help us this day to understand these issues better. In Christ's name, Amen. Please turn your Bible to Colossians chapter 1, verses 13 through 18. Colossians 1, 13 through 18.

And as you're turning there, this morning's message is going to be about Pope Francis. And so it's not really going to be an exposition of this passage I'm reading to you. We're going to look at a number of passages this morning, but seeing all the media, hearing all the pundits talking, I felt like a response was necessary to the phenomenon of the Pope of Rome being in America back in late September.

Colossians 1, 13 through 18. This is God's Word. He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers, all things were created through Him and for Him.

And He is before all things and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

May God bless the reading of His infallible Word. I've given you this morning a four-point outline if you'd like to look at that and follow along that way. The first point in that outline I've titled Introduction, The Ecumenical Trainwreck.

Now unless you have purposefully cut yourself off from all streams of news and media, you're well aware that Pope Francis, the Bishop of Rome, the so-called Vicar of Christ on earth and the head of the Roman Catholic Church, visited the United States of America from September 22nd through September the 27th.

The media coverage of his movements and activities has been astounding and he addressed a joint session of our Congress. It's been remarkable to see just how much press this man has gotten. The ostensibly, and I use that word very emphatically, the ostensibly Protestant pastor, Rick Warren, pastor of Saddleback Community Church in California and the author of the best-selling book, The Purpose Driven Life, has said of Pope Francis, quote, authenticity and humility.

Pope Francis is the perfect example of this. He is doing everything right. You see, people will listen to what we say if they like what we see. As our new Pope, he was very symbolic in his first mass of people with AIDS.

His love for children, his care for the poor, this is what the whole world expects us as Christians to do. And there was a headline in the news that said, if you love Pope Francis, you'll love Jesus, end quote.

And so Rick Warren calls Pope Francis our Pope. There was a time when true biblical Christians stood lovingly yet firmly against the purveyors of false Gospels, who derogated from the perfection and glory of Christ's cross work for the salvation of sinners.

There was a time when Christians understood theological errors which could be tolerated over against theological errors which were fatal to human salvation. There was a time when the true gospel of Jesus Christ was known, believed, and loved by those who claimed adherence to it.

And there was a time when Christians were willing to lose their lives, their friends, and their possessions in order to take a strong stand for that gospel. In short, there was a time when Protestants protested.

Those days are, very sadly by and large, a part of the past. True Christians in America have watched with broken hearts as Protestant leaders, and I use that phrase with a great deal of reservation, have betrayed the gospel of Jesus Christ and trampled underfoot his precious blood, and all in the name of joining common cause with Roman Catholicism.

What Rick Warren has done is nothing new. It's been going on for quite some time now. In 1994, a document was released called Evangelicals and Catholics Together, the Christian Mission in the Third Millennium, which was signed by such high-profile Protestant leaders as J .I. Packer, Bill Bright, Pat Robertson, and Oz Guinness.

There weren't all 20 Protestants and 20 Roman Catholics who signed this document. It contains such statements as the following, quote, as Christ is one, so the Christian mission is one. That one mission can and should be advanced in diverse ways.

Legitimate diversity, however, should not be confused with existing divisions between Christians that obscure the one Christ and hinder the one mission. Another quote, we together, Evangelicals and Catholics, confessed our sins against the unity that Christ intends for all of his disciples.

Another quote, in view of the large number of non-Christians in the world and the enormous challenge of our common evangelistic task, it is neither theologically legitimate nor a prudent use of resources for one Christian community to proselytize among active adherents of another Christian community.

And listen to this quote, those converted, whether understood as having received the new birth for the first time or as having experienced the reawakening of the new birth originally bestowed in the sacrament of baptism, must be given full freedom and respect as they discern and decide the community in which they will live their new life in Christ, end quote.

Clearly implied in these statements is that there is a unity of faith between Protestants and Roman Catholics, so much so that they're even calling upon Christians to stop evangelizing Roman Catholics.

ECT, the Evangelicals and Catholics Together document, also states, quote, we affirm together that we are justified by grace through faith because of Christ, end quote. Noticeably absent from this statement is that all-important word, alone.

What R .C. Sproul and many other theologians pointed out to the other Protestant signatories was this, every delegate to the Roman Catholic Council of Trent, which is the counter-reformation response to the Protestants, every delegate to the Council of Trent would have happily signed that statement because it's not clear enough and it leaves off the greatest biblical accomplishments of the entire Reformation itself.

If you modify that statement to say we are justified by grace alone, through faith alone, because of Christ alone, no Roman Catholic person worth their salt is going to sign it. In 2009, another document was released called the Manhattan Declaration, a call of Christian conscience.

It was put together by Protestants, by Roman Catholics, and by Eastern Orthodox believers. It contains the following statements, quote, like those who have gone before us in the faith, Christians today are called to proclaim the gospel of costly grace and to protect the intrinsic dignity of the human person and to stand for the common good.

Quote, it is our duty to proclaim the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. May God help us not to fail in that duty. Quote, as Christians, we take seriously the biblical admonition to respect and obey those of an authority, implying we're all Christians together.

Quote, going back to the earliest days of the church, Christians have refused to compromise the proclamation of the gospel. Quote, we confess with sadness that Christians and our institutions have too often scandalously failed to uphold the institution of marriage and to model for the world the true meaning of marriage, insofar as we have too easily embraced the culture of divorce and remain silent about social practices that undermine the dignity of marriage.

We repent and call upon all Christians to do the same. And then one more, and so it is out of love and prudent concern for the common good that we pledge to labor ceaselessly to preserve the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman and to rebuild the marriage culture.

How could we as Christians do otherwise? End quote. The clear implication in these statements is that Roman Catholics, Protestants, and Eastern Orthodox believers are fellow Christians who preach a common gospel of costly grace to the watching world.

We as Christians, me, Reverend Patrick Hines of a PCA church, and Father so-and-so from such-and-such a Catholic church, and Father so-and-so from Eastern Orthodox Church, we proclaim the gospel of costly grace.

The implication, of course, is that we have a common gospel, that we're fellow Christians. I'd like you to listen to some of the names of men who signed this document. Dr. Robert Canada, CEO of Reformed Theological Seminary, my alma mater.

Dr. Brian Chappell, President of Covenant Theological Seminary. Dr. James Dobson, Dr. Ligon Duncan, Tim Keller, Dr. Albert Moeller, Chuck Colson, J .I. Packer, John Stonestreet, Chuck Swindoll, Johnny Erickson-Tada, and Ravi Zacharias signed that statement.

Once again, Dr. R .C. Sproul, I don't know why they keep asking him to sign these documents, was asked to sign it for reasons I can't even begin to understand, and he wrote this following statement as to why he wouldn't sign it.

Listen to this wise and godly man whose love for the gospel is greater than his love for his friends and for approval. On November 20th, 2009, a document called the Manhattan Declaration was presented to the public by a coalition of co-belligerents.

The document is concerned primarily with three very important biblical cultural issues, the sanctity of life, the meaning of marriage, and the nature of religious liberty. Without question, these issues are up for grabs in our nation.

As anyone familiar with my ministry will know, I share the document's concern for defending the unborn, defining heterosexual marriage biblically, and preserving a proper relationship between church and state.

However, when the document was sent to me and my signature was requested a few weeks ago, I declined to sign it. In answer to the question, R .C., why didn't you sign the Manhattan Declaration? I offered the following answer.

The Manhattan Declaration confuses common grace and special grace by combining them. While I would march with the Bishop of Rome and an Orthodox prelate to resist the slaughter of unborn innocents in the I could never ground that co-belligerency on the assumption that we share a common faith and a unified understanding of the gospel.

The framers of the Manhattan Declaration seem to have calculated this objection into the language of the document itself. Likewise, some signers have stated that this is not a theological document. However, to make that statement accurate requires a redefinition of theology and serious equivocation on the meaning of the gospel.

The drafters of the document, Charles Colson, Robert George, and Timothy George, use deliberate language that is on par with the ecumenical language of the Evangelicals and Catholics Together movement that began in the 1990s.

The Manhattan Declaration states, Christians are heirs of a 2 ,000-year tradition of proclaiming God's Word, and it identifies Orthodox, Catholic, and Evangelicals as Christians. The document calls Christians to unite in the gospel, the gospel of costly grace, and the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness.

Moreover, the document says it is our duty to proclaim the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in its fullness, both in season and out of season. Without question, biblical truth must be proclaimed and the gospel preached prophetically to our nation, but how could I sign something that confuses the gospel and obscures the very definition of who is and who is not a Christian?

I have made this point again and again since the days of ECT.". I do not understand, and I pray I will never understand, how anyone could sign a document like this which so obviously and blatantly betrays the gospel of Jesus Christ.

If we love the Lord Jesus Christ, if the New Testament gospel is to be our message and our blessed hope, if the cross of Christ and Christ's righteousness is the very foundation of our hope of heaven, how could we ever make common cause with the Roman Catholic Church?

And how can Protestants like Rick Warren call Francis our Pope? I'd like to give you several doctrinal divides. There are many, many more. I'd like to give you several serious doctrinal divides which have historically always separated Christians from Roman Catholicism until now.

Until now. But I want you to know I'm committed to continuing to protest. I'm committed to it. Like Charles Spurgeon said, our Protestantism must continually protest against what he called, and I agree with him, the masterpiece of Satan.

The Papacy and the Claims of Vatican I

Number one, the papacy. Look at your outline there, just the papacy. Who does Pope Francis claim to be? Who does he claim to be? From the First Vatican Council in 1870, the following statements are considered to be official Roman Catholic teaching concerning the Pope.

They are considered to be infallible. They are irreformable. Listen closely. Who is Pope Francis? Who does he think he is? This is from chapter 3 .2 of the First Vatican Council. Quote, wherefore we teach and declare that by divine ordinance the Roman Church possesses a preeminence of ordinary power over every other church, and that this jurisdictional power of the Roman pontiff is both Episcopal and immediate.

Both clergy and faithful, or of whatever right and dignity, both singly and collectively are bound to submit to this power. Chapter 3 .4 of Vatican 1 says, this is the teaching of Catholic truth, and no one can depart from it without endangering his faith and his salvation.

Chapter 3 .8, since the Roman pontiff, by the divine right of the apostolic primacy, governs the whole church, we likewise teach and declare that he is the supreme judge of the faithful, and that in all cases which fall under ecclesiastical jurisdiction, recourse may be had to his judgment.

The sentence of the apostolic see, than which there is no higher authority, is not subject to revision by anyone, nor may anyone lawfully pass judgment thereupon. Isn't it amazing to think that what I just read to you is supposed to be the way that Christians look at the Bible?

In all cases which fall under ecclesiastical jurisdiction, recourse may be had to the Pope's judgment? No! Recourse may be had to the Holy Spirit, speaking in his Word. The sentence of the apostolic see is not subject to revision by anyone, nor may anyone lawfully pass judgment thereupon.

Friends, those are statements that Christians believe about God's Word, about the Scriptures. Chapter 4 .9 of Vatican 1, again I want to emphasize to you, these are irreformable statements. These are statements that they would hold to be on the same par in authority as the Bible itself.

Listen closely. Therefore, faithfully adhering to the tradition received from the beginning of the Christian faith, to the glory of God our Savior, for the exaltation of the Catholic religion, and for the salvation of the Christian people, with the approval of the sacred council, we teach and define as a divinely revealed dogma, that when the Roman pontiff speaks ex cathedra, that means that's Latin for, from the chair of Peter, that is, when in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all Christians, in virtue of his supreme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church, he possesses, by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed Peter, that infallibility which the divine Redeemer willed his church to enjoy in defining doctrine concerning faith or morals.

Listen closely. Therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff are of themselves, and not by the consent of the church, irreformable. This is why all of the joint statements, ECT, the gifts of salvation, the Manhattan Declaration, my friends, when Protestants sit down at the table and dialogue with Rome, Protestants lose.

Why? They're not reformable. They have exempted themselves from the possibility of error. The Roman Catholic Church has exempted itself from the possibility of error. She says about herself that the infallible definitions of the Pope are of themselves irreformable.

Now think about the very historical movement of which we are part. We call ourselves part of the Protestant what? Reformation. Meaning what? The church needed to be reformed by the Word of God, corrected by the Word of God.

The church needs to always be reforming itself. In fact, Paul told Timothy in 2 Timothy 3 .16 that one of Scripture's functions is correction. Years ago, I went out on a Roman Catholic web forum and posted the question, quoted 2 Timothy 3 .16, and I asked the question, how does Scripture correct the Roman Catholic Church?

I got no answer to that question because Scripture can't do that for them. That's why when Protestants sit down and try to do dialogue, we lose. Now in case you're wondering, in case you're wondering, are these just recommendations that the Roman Church is making that we probably should believe these things?

I'd like to read to you some of the anathemas from the First Vatican Council. The word anathema is borrowed from Galatians chapter 1. The word means damned and sent to hell. I'd like you to listen to this and remember when Pope Francis, the nice grandfatherly guy who talks about how much God loves everybody and accepts everybody, he affirms these anathemas.

Listen carefully. Therefore, if anyone says that blessed Peter the Apostle was not appointed by Christ, the Lord and Prince of all the Apostles, and the visible head of the whole church militants, let him be anathema.

So, maybe Rick Warren calls him our Pope because he doesn't want to go to hell. That's what they're saying. If you don't believe that, you're going to hell. If anyone says that the Roman Pontiff has merely an office of supervision and guidance and not the full and supreme power of jurisdiction over the whole church, let him be anathema.

I'd like to make a biblical response to these claims of Vatican 1. We just read one of them right there in Colossians chapter 1 verse 18. If you still got your Bible open, look at verse 18. Speaking of Jesus Christ, and he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence.

Who is the head of the church? Who is the head of the Christian church? Christ alone. Ephesians 1 .22, and he put all things under his feet and gave him to be head over all things to the church. The Westminster Confession in chapter 25 .6 says there is no other head of the church but the Lord Jesus Christ, nor can the Pope of Rome in any sense be head thereof.

Now how does Christ exercise his kingship and his headship over the church? How does Jesus rule over his church? He does it by his word and spirit through officers that he gives to his church. Listen to Ephesians 4 .11 and 12.

And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Another passage, 1st Corinthians 12 .28, and God has appointed these in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, varieties of tongues, etc.

And while we would understand that the miraculous gifts, the office of apostle and prophet, that those have expired with the death of the apostles, I want you to notice what's missing from this list. What's missing from these lists?

Popes, cardinals, priests. Where are they in the Bible? They are nowhere to be found. Christ gives these officers to his church, to shepherd his church. There is no one mega bishop over the whole church.

It is simply not found in Scripture. Who is the head of the church? Christ, alone, and he shares that with no one. Jesus rules his church through the Word of God, through the Scriptures. When Jesus was confronted with error, he very matter-of-factly quotes the Bible back to the people, as if all the Bible is able to be read and understood by all, that it's clear enough for us to get it.

Listen to the Word of God, Matthew 22, 29. Jesus answered and said to them, you are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. In verse 31 of that same chapter, but concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was spoken to you by God, saying, and then Jesus quotes from Scripture.

What's his assumption? Is that you and I can understand the Bible. You don't need a pope. Do you need teachers? Do you need elders? Do you need people to guide and help you? Of course. That's why Jesus gives those officers to the church.

Are they infallible? No. Should you obey everything they say? No, unless it's provable from the Word of God. Is anything I say, or anything the PCA General Assembly says, irreformable? Of course not. Of course not.

There is but one and only one infallible voice on earth, and it is the Holy Spirit of God speaking in Scripture. I'd like you to turn with me to this passage. Turn to Acts chapter 20, verses 29 to 32.

Acts chapter 20, verse 29 to 32. Acts 20, verses 29 to 32. As you're turning there to Acts 20, verse 29. Here you have the Apostle Paul getting ready to go to Jerusalem, not knowing for sure what's going to happen there.

He knows he's going to be persecuted. He knows his life's going to be in danger. He knows his life may come to an abrupt end in Jerusalem. And listen to what he says to the men who were weeping, who didn't want him to go.

Listen to verse 29 through 32. Paul says, For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.

Therefore watch and remember that for three years I did not cease to warn everyone, night and day with tears. So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the Word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Okay, stop right there. My friends, if ever there was a time when Paul, if he believed in the papacy, would have directed them to it, this would be that spot. This man knows his life may very well be coming to a swift end.

Why didn't he tell them, yes, savage wolves are coming, but know this, brethren, you need to be in line with Peter and his successors in the city of Rome until the end of time. Just stick with them and all will be well.

We find no such pronouncements anywhere in Scripture. What about Timothy? Remember the last things that Paul said to Timothy before his death? In 2nd Timothy chapter 4, Paul said, My life is already being poured out as a drink offering.

He knows he's going to be martyred soon. He knows the end is coming. Turn to 2nd Timothy 3, 15 -17. 2nd Timothy 3, 15 -17. 2nd Timothy chapter 3, verses 15 -17. Here you have Paul's final written words before his death.

Listen to what he directs young Timothy to. Verse 15, And that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Why is there no instruction about Peter's successors in Rome here? Because Paul did not believe in the papacy, my friends. He did not believe this. The claims were not even being made. It took hundreds of years later before the claims were even being made.

And so that's the papacy. Secondly, the Mass. Secondly, the Mass. I'd like to read to you a description of the Mass taken from a popular Roman Catholic writer named John O 'Brien in a book that he wrote about Catholicism called The Faith of Millions.

Listen to this quotation describing what is happening in the Roman Catholic Mass. Quote, When the priest announces the tremendous words of consecration, he reaches up into the heavens, brings Christ down from his throne, and places him upon our altar to be offered up again as the victim for the sins of man.

It is a power greater than that of saints and angels. The priest's power is a power greater than that of saints and angels, greater than that of seraphim and Indeed, it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary.

While the Blessed Virgin was the human agency by which Christ became incarnate a single time, the priest brings Christ down from heaven and renders him present on our altar as the eternal victim for the sins of man, not once, but a thousand times.

The priest speaks, and lo, Christ, the eternal and omnipotent God, bows his head in humble obedience to the priest's command. Of what sublime dignity is the office of the Christian priest who is thus privileged to act as the ambassador and vice-regent of Christ on earth?

He continues the essential ministry of Christ. He teaches the faithful with the authority of Christ. He pardons the penitent sinner with the power of Christ. He offers up again the same sacrifice of adoration and atonement which Christ offered on Calvary.

No wonder that the name which spiritual writers are especially fond of applying to the priest is that of Altar Christus, for the priest is and should be another Christ.". They believe that their priests are Altar Christus, another Christ.

That priest raises his hands to heaven and says in Latin, Hoc est corpus meum, and as John O 'Brien says, he speaks and Christ humbly obeys him. I'll tell you, it's hard to read things like this. This is blasphemy of the highest order, of the highest order.

How could anyone who knows these things sign documents saying, me and Father so-and-so are fellow Christians, knowing that this is what they claim to believe and do as a corollary to the mass, the doctrine of transubstantiation.

When the Catholic priest raises the bread and wine and utters the Latin words, Hoc est corpus meum, which means this is my body, sainted doctor of the church, Alphonsus de Liguri, tells us, quote, the priest conceives with his hands the Christ just as truly as Mary conceived him in her womb, end quote.

We are told that Jesus Christ is rendered present, body, soul, blood, and divinity upon that Roman altar and then is immolated in an unbloody manner for the sins of the living and for the dead, suffering and purgatory right now.

They believe that a true miracle takes place at every mass. That's what the word transubstantiation refers to. That term is what was used by the fourth ladder and council in 1215 when the dogma of transubstantiation was formally defined.

That term transubstantiation assumes the pagan worldview of the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle taught that everything that exists is made up of two things. It's outward accidents, like this, that what it feels like, smells like, it's what it looks like, that's the accidents, the outward appearance of something, but underneath it is the invisible substance, its essence.

That's invisible, you can't see it, you can't have any contact with it at all, but there's this underlying substance. It's a total pagan worldview. There's nothing Christian about that way of looking at anything, but they use that terminology to describe the miracle of the mass, because when the priest says those words, something happens to the bread and the wine.

It becomes Jesus, but it still looks, tastes, feels, smells like bread and wine. And so it's a miracle, but it's completely unverifiable. The invisible non-material essence or substance changes, so that now it's Jesus.