Let's think about the Roman Catholic church for a second.
Roman Catholic church
sets Mary forth
as a mediatrix.
The Roman Catholic Church.. .
This isn't even in question.
I'm a former nominal Catholic.
But it's not even in question,
if you have once
walked in the Catholic ranks,
(Any of you former Catholics?)
that Mary is
honored and worshiped way above Christ.
She is counted
more special,
more worthy of honor.
She's counted as the one who is gracious and merciful
and the tender one
that you can go to.
And that's the way I viewed her.
Mary
is not a co-mediatrix.
Christ alone is our Savior.
And the thing is
the Roman Catholic church does not
teach salvation by grace through faith.
They teach
salvation
by works.
And you do
have to,
you have to do things
to earn your way to heaven.
It is diametrically opposed to the gospel.
The Roman Catholic Church has
sought to
take the Bible
throughout history.. .
The Dark Ages were called the Dark Ages
because the Roman Catholic Church
took the Bible out of the common man's hand.
They gladly put everything into Latin,
so the common man could not understand,
could not interpret,
could not read for himself.
Througout history the Roman Catholic Church
has put to death Christians who were found
possessing the Bible in their own language.
I mean if we look at the
the wickedness of the priesthood
even as it's become
clearer just in our own country in these last years.
But if you study the history.
You look at the Inquisition.
You look at the Christians
that they have put to death
through the years.
If you look at the way they've tampered with the Word of God
and their doctrine of purgatory.
Their doctrine of purgatory says that
even after all the good that you have done in this world,
if you get to the end,
you still have to go into the flames
and pay the remainder.
That is such an attack
on the finished and complete
work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
If I trust in Christ
and it is finished.
And His one sacrifice
has justified me in the sight of God.
There is no place for purgatory whatsoever.
Purgatory is self payment.
It is not Christ payment.
It is at odds
and diametrically opposed
to true Christianity,
Biblical Christianity,
at numerous major points.
Yes they might claim they believe in a trinity.
But they really don't.
I mean they,
they believe in
Father, Mother, Son and Holy Spirit.
And that mother is,
I mean she is worshiped
in the top spot,
in the top place.
She's given preeminence
and she's prayed to.
And they pray to the saints.
They've messed around with the second commandment.
And they would have us to believe that
it is okay to worship graven images.
And they fill their churches full of it.
And that's why Wendy is even in the predicament that's she's in.
Wendy is the same kind of predicament
that you can find they were in in the New Testament
when they were bowing down
before the Greek and the Roman Gods.
Why?
Because you basically have the same thing going on.
You have statues.
Statues that people worship.
Statues that people fall down before.
You know Richard Bennett,
is a friend of mine,
converted Catholic priest.
He said
he and a bunch of other priests and nuns
were at Madri Gras
in New Orleans.
And they were getting drunk
in a strip club
when it hit him,
"I think something's wrong with Catholicism."
It's like, " You think so?"
But that's not a fluke situation.
That is Catholicism.
Catholicism is all about
living in your sin
and then coming to certain times of the year
and abstaining from certain things
and trying to pay your way
and do your abstinence
so as to get credit with God
so that in the end
your time in purgatory is reduced
to the greatest minimum.
And it's horrible.
We have a truth
that is given to us.
That Jesus Christ,
He earned our lawkeeping.
He earned our righteousness.
By the obedience of one.
And He obeyed His Father.
And He obeyed Him without blemish and without spot.
Without defect.
Without sin.
He kept the law in our place.
"This is my Son in Whom I'm well pleased."
He was pleasing.
There was no defect in Him.
He obeyed the Father.
He prepared a body for Him.
And He came
and took upon Himself
humanity.
And He walked in sin.
"He who knew no sin," scripture says.
And He
came under the law.
And the law had nothing on Him.
The law had nothing on Him.
By His obedience.
By His righteousness.
God declares us, by faith in Him
God declares us
righteous.
God declares us
perfect.
God forgives all of our sin.
His shed blood is payment.
His death.
What He did on that cross.
He was forsaken.
God bruised Him.
God smote Him.
God afflicted Him.
In our place.
Our chastisement
He bore.
And by that one offering,
by His suffering,
we've been reconciled to God.
And that's the beauty.
If there's any purgatory
then Christ failed.
Christ failed to do what Christ came to do.
And what did He do?
What did He come to do?
He came to save
sinners.
And no sinner
is saved
by Christ
who goes to purgatory.
Because that's
saying that Christ's payment
is not sufficient
and I have to pay more.
And so we reject Catholicism as damnable error.
When I got saved
I got saved
out of Catholicism.
I got saved from Mary worship.
I got saved from my own works,
which were only "filthy rags",
is what scripture said.
I got saved from that.
I was rescued.
That's God's salvation.
Saves us.
Every false religion can be known by this,
it's a work's based.
Christianity is the only thing that says
its not by works of righteousness that we've done.
And so
the Mass
has been considered through the centuries,
the Mass has been considered an abomination
by our brethren who have gone before us.
And do you know why it has?
You know what happens in the Mass?
They re-sacrifice Christ
all over again.
They don't deny that.
They lift up their wafer
and they claim that it becomes Christ
and the sacrifice all over.
Scripture repeatedly says,
"once"
One sacrifice.
He suffered once.
There is no repeat sacrifice.
What the Catholics do in their Mass is an abomination.