Catholic Teachings Examined After the Death of Pope Benedict XVI

All right, so I apologize to those who are expecting a lesson from Matthew chapter 3 at the last moment

I decided to do something else because there's a pretty big story in in the news concerning Christianity or the church or if you want to call it that what do you think

I'm referring to? Well, it's the death of Pope Benedict the 16th

Now the only reason I'm doing this is because many there have been many

Protestants and evangelicals who have come out and they have made statements about Pope Benedict Basically saying what a great man he was and that he is with the

Lord right now in heaven Now I don't want to come out and say that I know where he is or act as though I'm the judge of his soul, but For a person to say that a

Pope is in heaven like it's well, of course he is Of course, the Pope is in heaven

Tells you that things have really changed in Protestantism and evangelical

Christianity, what's the obvious problem with this? Well since the

Protestant Reformation in the 1500s Remember when we watched that movie a couple years ago on Martin Luther Remember that since the

Protestant Reformation? It's been understood that Rome has a different gospel they said about the

Protestants that the Protestants were damned and that the Protestants had a different gospel and the

Protestants said the same thing about Rome that Rome had a different gospel. So what is

The gospel let's just turn to the book of Romans This is kind of ironic

That Paul the Apostle Paul writes to the church at Rome, of course back in the first century it was not

The Roman Catholic Church, I believe that was a development that happened slowly over time

But of course they claim to be what they claim to be the one true Church If that's true, then we should all be

Catholic but The issue really is over the gospel.

So what does Paul say? To the church at Rome turn to Romans chapter 4

Paul says What then shall we say that Abraham our father has found?

according to the flesh For if Abraham was justified by works he has something to boast about but not before God For what does the scripture say?

Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. So how was

Abraham saved? By faith right was it by works

No, it was by faith turn back to Romans chapter 3 Romans chapter 3 verse 28

Paul after spending three chapters talking about the sinfulness of man He says therefore we conclude that a man is justified by what?

faith Apart from the deeds of the law so the major difference the issue of the

Protestant Reformation is that the Catholic Church said the gospel was salvation by faith

Plus works and then the Protestants said Martin Luther said no salvation is by faith alone, so that's the issue is

Salvation by faith alone. Is that the gospel or is the gospel salvation by faith plus works?

Now again, I I've heard people say Protestants and evangelicals they have said that the

Pope is a great man. He's he's with the Lord today He's in heaven. How on earth do they know that?

Correct me if I'm wrong But I would assume that the Pope if anybody that the Pope would believe the teachings of the

Catholic Church Now I don't want to come out and say that the

Pope isn't in heaven because I don't really know that either Theoretically, he could have repented on his deathbed

He could have I I don't see this as their teaching But maybe in his heart.

He truly was trusting in Jesus Christ alone for his salvation I think that would contradict much of his writings

But you know I can't point is I can't say that he's not in heaven any more than they can say that he is in heaven

But the deeper issue here is the gospel and I'm convinced that many

Protestants and evangelicals Don't really understand what the gospel is if they think it's an automatic that of course popes die and go to heaven

Do you see the concern? Something has happened. I want to read you some some statements from Protestant leaders throughout the centuries so things have obviously changed and if you have a question or comment, feel free to Raise your hand.

I want this to be a discussion. I think this is worth It's kind of a rare thing when a Pope dies, and of course he resigned

That's the first Pope in 500 years that resigned the new Pope the world loves the new

Pope So the Catholic Church is making serious inroads into evangelical

Christianity some of the top Evangelical leaders have praised the Pope and say he's saved.

He's a Christian. He's our Pope and just Surprising statements.

Okay. Here are some statements from Christian leaders throughout the century. You ready?

Remember? This is not me. I'm not anti Catholic I love Catholics Catholics are just like anybody else

Catholicism though as a belief system. I don't think it's in line with the teachings of Scripture But these are not my quotes

Martin Luther, we know Martin Luther He's the great Protestant reformer the one who started it all back in the 1500s

Martin Luther said that the papacy is the seat of the true Antichrist It's a pretty strong again, that was

Martin Luther. The papacy is the seat of the true Antichrist John Knox who is familiar with John Knox.

I believe he is the one who Founded or at least the Presbyterians descend from John Knox another great reformer of the church

He's considered that John Knox says if the Pope is not the

Antichrist then nothing is That was John Knox There's a statement by Charles Wesley Wesley made similar statements about the

Pope being The Antichrist not like the Antichrist of the end times

But like the seat of Antichrist like he's a false Christ And you know when the

Pope comes into a country people go and they bow down they get down on their hands and knees

They kiss his feet. They kiss his ring they If they bow to him, they that that is an act really that only

Jesus would deserve and then John MacArthur He said the Roman Catholic Church is a front for the kingdom of Satan That's John MacArthur.

Okay. Now I realize that some of you sitting here There might be one of you might be offended by some of this like this is this is just too much

So there might be somebody online watching Who thinks this is a little much? But these are the leaders of Protestantism fast fast forward until today

Man like Rick Warren who's familiar with Rick Warren when Rick Warren was interviewed after the election of Pope Francis he he said he was interviewed by the

Catholic network EWTN you've seen this on the cable channels. He said to the

Man Raymond Arroyo, who's now on Fox News? He said he referred to the

Pope as our new Pope And I when I heard that I thought what do you mean our new

Pope Rick Warren is a Southern Baptist So what does he mean by our new

Pope? But he said that Pope Francis he said is doing everything right?

so Rick Warren then flew to the Vatican and met with Pope Francis and shook his hand and they had a grand old time the clear implication by that meeting is that They think that each other are

Christians I mean, that's the way it would seem on the surface Joel Osteen has said similar statements the Pope.

This is a direct quote the Pope is Fantastic. So I just as a contrast the

Pope is fantastic Compared to Martin Luther the papacy is the seat of the true

Antichrist. Can you see the difference our new Pope? Spurge I think

I messed the Spurgeon quote up. I think it was if The papacy cannot be called the seat of Antichrist and nothing else can or say something along those lines

But all these guys basically are of the same Viewpoint now any what's your first impression about all this is your reaction like well

I didn't realize there's that big of a difference or are you like Well, yeah, obviously this is true, what's your reaction give me some of your input

Yeah And teach the Word of God and the only way for salvation is through faith

But God doesn't want us to do good works, right? Right, and that's the big difference

We would say that good works are the evidence of salvation But they believe that works are required for salvation

I think this may be the the biggest difference other than the gospel, which is obviously all that really matters in the end

When we talk about receiving Christ What are we talking about if you had to explain what it means to receive

Christ? How would you explain that? Okay, so you're receiving

Christ meaning you believe in him that he died on the cross for my sins He rose again, and I'm trusting in Christ.

I receive Christ in that. I believe in him. I think that's how Evangelicals would explain receiving

Christ. Do you know what the Catholic Church teaches? What does it mean to receive Christ?

As far as Rome is concerned Well, if you've seen the little wafer Where the priest hands out and they come up and he puts it in their mouth or in their hand when they eat the wafer

That is receiving Christ So we have a totally different idea of what it means to receive

Christ We believe it means you trust in him believe the gospel to them

Christ is in the wafer they believe that the Eucharist the bread and the wine contained the body soul and divinity of Christ that's why they bow when they come into the church and they do the genuflect

Before they get into the pew they believe God is in that little box and that that wafer that cracker that is literally

Christ and That's how they receive Christ and eternal life through the sacraments of the church

Again that's Totally different from what we believe. All right, let's turn to John chapter 3 and here's the thing if you say well

Yeah, we already get this Members of Morris Corner Church already understand all this it's not really necessary Well, if I never if I never said another word or whoever the next pastor is here

Whenever that is if they never said another word over time people would start to believe what everybody else in the world believes that well

Yeah, there's some differences, but really all just Christians, you know, it's there's not really that big of a difference.

That's the popular viewpoint today So it's necessary to spend a time like this and to discuss these things because if people are never taught this

Unless they're researching it on their own there. You're never gonna know So the only reason we believe the way we believe is this is what we've been taught

Or you just study the Bible for yourself. Maybe and you see the clear differences, but look at John chapter 3.

This is another Major issue of what does it mean to be born again? To us being born again is everything.

What does he say John chapter 3? Starting in verse 3

Jesus answered and said to him Nicodemus most assuredly I say to you

Unless one is what? Born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

So what does it mean to be born again? Well, it's the same thing as trusting in Christ or receiving

Christ you believe in the death burial and resurrection You trust in Jesus for salvation and you are born again by faith.

You are saved God through the Holy Spirit regenerates your dead spirit.

You become a child of God That's what it means to be born again that you now have the spirit of the

Living God Inside of you because you believe the gospel What does the

Roman Catholic Church teach and what it means to be born again Well, I'll give you a little hint and they would base this on verse 5

Jesus answered most assuredly I say to you unless one is born of water and The spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

So what did they say? It means to be born again. It means you're baptized So when the little two week old baby is you know

The spoon of waters drizzled on the baby's head that baby gets born again when it's baptized

So again, we have a completely different idea of what it means to receive Christ We have a completely different understanding of what it means to be born again

And we have two different Gospels one salvation by faith alone

Rome's gospel is salvation by faith Plus works.

I just want to read a statement from the Council of Trent This is the

Council the Catholic Church Formed brought together during the time of the

Reformation Here's what they said the Catholic Church said in the Council of Trent if anyone says that the faith which justifies is

Nothing else but trust in the divine mercy which pardoned sin because of Christ or that it is trust

Alone or faith alone by which we are justified. Let him be anathema or Let him be accursed

So in this declaration the Catholic Church officially and with their declarations

This is like written in stone. This can never be changed Rome Anathematized the gospel so just to paraphrase this if you believe that you're saved by faith alone in Christ You're damned you're accursed and and some of you are old enough to remember back in the 19 what?

50s 1960s Catholics pretty much hated Protestants and you're all going to hell and Protestants look the

Catholics and you're all going to wasn't that the way It was okay. Now. I'm glad it's not that way anymore.

I believe in being kind to people I don't I wouldn't want the the vicious nature of it.

And of course you go back even further Protestants and Catholics were killing each other and they were at war one nation

Protestant nation against the Catholic nation So I'm glad things have improved in that sense

But really this is a matter of eternal life This goes to the core of the gospel now when you hear or think of the

Catholic Church, what do you think of? We all know there's differences. But what do you think of?

What are some of the Some of the differences that come to mind Okay, so you have to go to the priest to get absolution and what do they call the priest

Father, okay Now can that priest forgive sin? See and here's another major difference when we seek forgiveness.

Where do we go? Yeah, we pray to God and we do it through Christ, but we ask for God's forgiveness

They're going to a man to receive forgiveness and they actually believe in that confessional booth that In a sense the priest acts as Jesus Christ And he's called father and the the

Pope, you know what the term Pope means Father yeah, Pope simply means father and he's called the

Holy Father, which is a title really only Well, it should be reserved for God.

I mean God is the only Holy Father, but what else do you think of? So there's the priest who forgives sins.

What else? Okay, the rituals right now there's nothing really wrong necessarily with if you want to have incest in your church and you want to kind of You know bow and go from place to I don't

I don't know there's anything wrong with that necessarily but the whole idea of the mat where you're referring to is the mass and the mass is

Believe they believe it is a real sacrifice so Jesus is being

Represented or re -sacrificed on the Roman altar when Jesus was killed the first time it was on a

Roman cross Now in the mass he's being re -sacrificed on The altar so the the cup is his literal blood the

The cracker is his literal body and he's being in a sense re -sacrificed for the forgiveness of sin

That's the teaching of the mass. So all the ceremony Revolves around the Eucharist and the

Lord's Supper What else do you think of? Praying to Mary. I mean this should be an

Obvious. No. No, Mary was the human woman. She's a great woman.

That's that's fine But how would Mary hear your prayers? Really?

She's not God. How would she hear your prayers? So they have to believe that Mary can hear

Probably thousands tens of thousands Maybe even millions of people all over the world day after day are praying to Mary They have to believe that she hears all these prayers.

How would she do that? Unless they gave to her the attributes of deity. That's the problem. They they venerate

Mary They really worship her they all bow to statues of her, but Mary is seen as a co -mediator

Or mediatrix with Christ. What does the Bible say? There is one mediator

Between God and man the man Christ Jesus, but to the Catholic Church They have many mediators

Mary's a mediator. The Pope is a mediator. Do you know when Popes die? There will be people now praying to Pope Benedict the 16th

You know whenever they canonize him maybe even before that people pray to dead Popes And Saints right?

Yeah, and the Saints are mediators. So they have all these different mediators So the priest is basically a go -between you can't go directly to God you have to go through him

And you have to go through their priests not just any minister any Christian minister has to be one of their priests

So they in that sense, they're kind of keeping people at arm's length You can't come to God which is totally untrue.

You can come to God through faith in Jesus But they have all these barriers and roadblocks set up Joyce you had a hand up.

What do you think of? Okay, Mary, right? I was thinking about idols. Right graven images, so we have a different list of ten commandments

Our commandments have no other gods before me. What's commandment number two?

Do not make unto thee any graven images well, they they skip that one and Then then you only have nine so they break coveting into two so you shall not covet your neighbor's wife nor your neighbor's goods but yeah, they they do not believe in that prohibition against graven images obviously because their churches are filled with Statues that people bow and pray to I mean that should be an obvious Issue what else what else do you think of?

Right, right and this is also Incorporated in the mass when a mass is held you if you give money you can get your deceased loved ones name attached to the mass and if you have enough

Masses held for that person that can get them at a purgatory that much quicker

You know where the Pope resides in st. Peter's Basilica that massive structure in Vatican City You realize that was built off the back of the poor in Europe People salesmen would go around Europe and say hey, you know your grandmother is suffering in the flames of purgatory right now

Don't you want to get her out? Well, if you get give so much money the more money you give they would give what is called an indulgence

And they were basically it's not buying your way into heaven But you're buying your loved ones way out of purgatory, which is

I mean, it's just sick I don't sorry. That's just all that is I Know this this isn't the popular thing to do the popular thing these days is to just hey, let's pray for unity

Let's all join together. Let's set aside our differences. But if you really believe the teachings of Scripture You can't look at Catholicism in biblical

Christianity and say it's the same thing Because it's not now does that mean yes, go ahead

Right crossing Right, yeah, and there's a special way to do it left to right or I think it's left to right or right to left

You know, I mean to me that's probably the least of my concerns But yeah That would identify somebody as a

Roman Catholic if they if they cross themselves But that kind of goes to the ritual thing that they think they're saved many

Catholics not all but many believe they're saved because I did This I crossed myself.

I go to church. I give money. I eat the bread. I do this I Well, that's not really how a person to say that's not the gospel.

You're saved by Faith alone. So in the Protestant Reformation, there were the five soul who's heard of the five solas of the

Reformation so there's grace alone faith alone

Christ alone Scripture alone in the glory and it's all to the glory of God Alone, so these are the five solas of the

Reformation What's another big difference? We believe it's all about the

Bible alone is our final authority they think they think the

Pope can make a decree in his words are just as authoritative as Scripture so they believe the

Bible they would say we believe the Bible too But we also have the Pope and what his what he teaches and the magisterium of the church so they have three sources of authority the

Bible the Pope and the magisterium of the church and We're going to look at a list where clearly the teachings of the church contradict the

Bible Larry and then mark and often The priest will tell the people not to read the

Bible But listen to what he says the

Bible means Right. Yeah, and I want to be fair I thought about Certain things to say and then well, well that applies to evangelicals too.

So I'm not going to give them a hard time That's true for a lot of Protestants and evangelicals

They listen to what the preacher says and they're not basing it off them. So that's that's something that's true for both but historically

Catholics were for a long time discouraged from reading the Bible the attitude is you can't understand it

Don't read the Bible for yourself. Just you know, believe what we tell you That's problematic mark

Right the the Catholic Bible contains the Apocrypha so I Forget if it's an extra 14 books.

I think it's an extra 14 or 12 or whatever it is. Yeah, they have several additional books

That we do not believe are inspired So, yeah, the Catholic Bible is bigger than Than our 66 books

I see another hand. Did you have? Okay. Let's look at some of the the differences And you know,

I I Think a person can hear enough truth in the

Catholic Church to be saved. I actually think that is possible They have many of the correct beliefs about Jesus and his person and his but at some point

It's either clouded by all of their tradition or there's some teachings that are just heretical

But in theory someone could go to a Catholic Church where they do read from the Bible they do say a lot of things that are true and They have a lot of teachings about Christ and the virgin birth and the resurrection that in theory a person could be saved

By hearing this truth in the Catholic Church. I just have to believe the Holy Spirit would lead them out

That's always been my position. I still believe that But okay, here are some obvious differences.

Let's compare What the Catholic Church teaches to the Bible? We already mentioned a couple of these

Catholics are instructed to call the priest father Well in Matthew 23 verse 9

Jesus said do not call anyone on earth your father for one is your father who is in heaven

So they say call the priest father Jesus says do not call anyone father

So, I mean, that's a clear Contradiction now, they'll respond and they have responses to everything.

Okay, they have professional Apologists who defend all of this stuff, but they will often respond.

Well Mike you call your dad father, right? Well, here's the difference. He actually is my father

The Catholic priest is not my father or anyone else's father. Matter of fact to them it's a sin for him to be a father and This is another thing that the

Catholic Church absolutely forbids Priests and bishops to be married

The Pope something everybody knows about the Pope he's not married He's well, they're supposedly celibate whether they're actually celibate only

God knows But that's the teaching that the bishops the Pope's the priest. They're not allowed to get married

What does the Bible say? Well, the Apostle Paul said in first Timothy 3 1 and 2 if a man desires the position of a bishop he desires a good work a

Bishop then must be blameless the husband of one Wife so according to Paul Not not only can they be married but Peter who was the first Pope supposedly

Correct me if I'm wrong didn't Jesus heal Peter's mother -in -law Well, what does that tell you and Paul?

Paul said at one point are not don't we have the right to take on take a believing wife with us?

see Paul and Barnabas were were celibate and He said all the other

Apostles are married Why couldn't we do that if we wanted to so Peter and all the

Apostles were married? So that's another difference and if you think of one Feel free to add it the priest

Claim to have the power to forgive sin. So when you go into the confessional they absolve you of your sin

What does the Bible say Mark 2 verse 7? Well, this is in question form but who can forgive sins but God alone

Well, that's a rhetorical question All the Jews understood everybody in the

Bible understood only God can forgive sin So, how is it that the priest claims to have this power to forgive sin?

Catholics pray and bow in front of statues Exodus 20 We already referenced this the Ten Commandments say you shall not make for yourself a carved image.

You shall not bow down to them The Catholic Church teaches you are saved by faith and works or faith working together with your works

Ephesians 2 8 and 9 says for by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

It is the gift of God Not of works lest any man should boast another

Contradiction when praying the rosary the same prayers are offered again and again and again

Have you seen someone pray the rosary? They're saying the same thing again and again and again and again and again.

What did Jesus say in? Matthew 6 verse 7 Jesus said and when you pray do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do so this is kind of a heathen or It's a pagan concept that you know, you think that God's gonna hear you because you

You say the same thing enough times or do these incantations to get God's attention.

That's not the way it works The Catholic Church. Here's the big one that well we alluded to it.

The Catholic Church teaches purgatory Does the Bible teach purgatory?

Well, I'd like to know where it is if it if the Bible does teach purgatory Well, what did

Paul say? 2nd Corinthians 5 verse 7 we are confident. Yes well pleased rather to be absent from the body and To be what present with the

Lord So according to the Apostle when a person dies when a believer dies, they go into the presence of the

Lord well, the Catholic Church teaches that no, you know if you are redeemed then

You go to purgatory and you might be there for thousands and thousands of years being purged

From your sin matter of fact, they would appeal to 1st Corinthians chapter 3

This is being saved through fire as it were through fire. Remember that passage They believe that the flames in purgatory

It's like gold in the refiners fire that all the dross comes off and you're purified in purgatory

Not what the Bible teaches Absent from the body present with the Lord. Okay, the

Catholic Church teaches that the Pope is what what is the Pope? he is the head of the church

That's a well -known title for the Pope. He's the head of the church. What does the Bible say Colossians 1 18 and He that is

Christ is the head of the body the church So all these statements that I read by Luther and I think there's one by John Calvin and Wesley and John Knox and Charles Haddon Spurgeon and John MacArthur and all these leaders throughout history, you know their issue and calling the

Pope the Antichrist or The papacy being the seat of Antichrist is that he is an imitation

Christ Matter of fact another title for the Pope is the vicar of Christ.

Do you know what the term vicar of Christ means? He is the one who stands in the place of Christ.

That's what Antichrist means And that Antichrist is not someone who's opposed to Christ.

Although the Antichrist is opposed to Jesus. That's true but the term anti Antichrist means one who is in place of Christ, you know when the end when the final

Antichrist comes, you know what he's gonna do He's gonna claim to be who? Christ he's he's gonna claim to be the

Lord and that's essentially what the Pope has done He is usurped the authority of Christ claiming to be the

Holy Father the head of the church He has the power to forgive sin and all the rest So the

Protestants weren't just being mean they weren't just trying to insult the guy. I mean, this is a matter of biblical

Doctrine now if you don't care about doctrine and all you care about is unity and getting along then You know, you're probably upset with me right now guys like me aren't supposed to exist anymore

You know, we've all supposed to have died and the next generation is gonna usher in this worldwide unity.

Well that day will come But there's still a few of us left So the if if I ever you mark this down if I ever

Affirm the Catholic Church as a true church or affirm their gospel as efficacious for salvation mark it down I have gone apostate.

I have departed from the vape Yeah Yes Yeah, but you would be surprised how many

Evangelical ministers in their heart of hearts they're getting a little squishy on this but It's because you really have to kind of stand against the tide it's much easier to just go with the flow or at least remain quiet and not address it, but If we really believe the truth of Scripture Again, we have to admit that this is not what the

Bible teaches All right, the Catholic Church claims that Mary remained a virgin for life

Well in Mark chapter 6 verse 3 they said about Jesus Is this not the carpenter the son of Mary and the brother of James?

Joses Judas and Simon and are not his sisters here with us as well

So according to the Gospels Jesus said brothers and sisters so the idea that they teach

Mary was a virgin for life is just bizarre and they have All sorts of weird teachings about that.

But why do they teach that because Mary is like a goddess Because Catholics refer to Mary as what the so the

Pope is the Holy Father He's got the title of God basically and what do they call

Mary? Holy Mother, right? Yeah There's another term though Queen of Heaven Queen of Heaven, but do you know the

Bible actually talks about the Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah 7 18

Jeremiah writes This is actually God speaking through the prophet the children gather wood the fathers kindle the fire and The women need dough to make cakes for the

Queen of Heaven And they pour out drink offerings to other gods that they may provoke me to anger

So this is what God says that they are they're worshiping the Queen of Heaven, which was a Babylonian Goddess and this is what

Catholicism is it is a they have a lot of truth I'll say that they have a lot of truth, but it's a blending of Christianity with pagan religion

So there's the Babylonian mystery religion Queen of Heaven and they just take Christianity and Paganism just mix them together when the

Emperor Constantine took power and he He can supposedly converted to Christianity and that point the

Roman Empire Started to adopt Christianity as the fish official religion of the Roman Empire All they did was take the

Greek gods And they just kind of baptized them and now they're called

Peter and Paul and you know The statue for the Queen of Heaven will call her Mary zoo that statue of Zeus.

That's now Peter All they did was baptize All these pagan beliefs and traditions and idols and now they just called it by Christian names.

That's all they did The Catholic Church teaches people ought to pray to Mary and the

Saints We already mentioned this first Timothy 2 5 for there is one God and one mediator between God and men the man

Christ Jesus We mentioned the Catholic Church forbids priests and bishops to marry and one last thing the

Catholic Church Has taught that certain foods are not to be eaten on certain days again

I don't know that they do this anymore, but it was pretty common You know what there's actually restaurants on Friday, they'll have the soup of the day and it's clam chowder or something

You know what why restaurants do that? Right fish on Friday who remembers this

Yeah fish on Friday You can't eat certain meats and they had all these rules about what you can and cannot eat

Well, wouldn't you know the Apostle Paul addressed that as well first Timothy 4 1 through 3

He says now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy having their own conscience seared with a hot iron for bidding to marry and Commanding to abstain from foods, which

God created to be received with Thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth So when the

Apostle Paul says that in latter days people are going to teach doctrines of demons What does he identify as these doctrines of devils?

Forbidding people to marry which is what they do to their clergy and abstaining from certain foods, which they do with fish on Friday so, you know at some point you just have to say this this is not

Christianity, this is a corruption of Christianity and God bless those

Protestant reformers who you know, we wouldn't agree with everything they taught and believed But I do believe that Luther and Calvin and all of these men.

I do believe they were right on the gospel so Is Luther in heaven is

Calvin in heaven is Wesley in heaven is Charles Haddon Spurgeon in heaven is John MacArthur Going to heaven when he'd listen.

I'm not the judge of anyone's soul, but if they at least believe the right gospel I do pray.

I do hope that the Pope is in heaven. I mean I I want people to be saved.

I Believe it's God's desire that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth But when somebody believes a false gospel or when they're a teacher of a false gospel

We simply can't just pretend like well, they have different outfits for their clergy and they'd sing different songs

But they're pretty much just like us Because they're not all right any final remarks

I tried to be as nice and as pleasant as I can without being too mean

I've been called anti -catholic before but You know that goes with the territory. So here's that.

Here's the application. Let's end with an application Right, we try always try to end with an application if you have a

Catholic Loved one Again, maybe there is that rare exception where somebody's in the

Catholic Church and they truly are saved I mean, I don't know why they would be there but In theory it could happen.

But generally speaking if you have a Catholic neighbor Family member.

It's kind of always been understood. We want to see them saved because the implication is they're not

So If you want to talk about this more You can get a hold of me we can talk about it, but we want them to be saved so if they're praying to Mary and They think the

Pope is teaching the truth. I mean, that's just not not a good sign All right, and pray for those evangelical leaders who are saying that the

Pope died and went to heaven because again I'm not saying he died and went to hell I'm not the judge of his soul, but I Don't know the state of his heart

All I know is what he said and what he taught but they don't know either so it's just kind of a it's a bizarre situation

But in the days we're living in Nothing surprises me anymore.

So any final remarks? I Think the fish on Friday thing was changed that it's no longer binding the stuff about Pope Francis made waves years ago when somebody asked him his view of Homosexuality and he said well, who am

I to judge remember that? And so he kind of dodged the question in it Here's the game they play because if he sits on his throne and makes a declaration that they call

Ex -cathedra, then it's binding and it's just as authoritative as Scripture. So if the

Pope came out and officially said Homosexuality is now Acceptable he'd be in a lot of trouble.

So he plays this game where he'll make public statements That basically say hey, it's no big deal

But when you bring that up to a Catholic, well, you didn't officially declare that so or you know

And of course he speaks another language. So they claim, you know, it's been mistranslated and all the rest There is a guy he was an atheist and he had his child baptized and the

Pope made the statement He said would God really forbid this man entrance from heaven?

This atheist had his child baptized Implication is the Pope is saying this atheist is gonna go to heaven

And of course, this is why the world loves him because he just kind of goes along with whatever But he doesn't make these statements officially

So that's how they kind of wiggle out of it because you never really know when it's official or it's just off the cuff and he's misunderstood so Pope Francis he knows what he's doing.

He's He's a pretty smart guy, but you know cunning I think is a better word