The Roman Catholic Mass Clarified | Mark 7:1-13 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Series}

Thus, making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and many such things you do. Thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and many such things you do. These are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ found in Mark chapter seven verse 13, And they were directed to the spiritual leaders of his day who questioned him about his disregard for man made tradition that dominated his culture back then. And that stinging statement that was made by Jesus Christ still has resounding relevance to our spiritual climate today. Because as you know, there are many customs and there are many rituals that are being honored and handed down in the name of God, and as a result, are directing people away from the liberating truths that are found in God's revelation.

And, we have been lingering here in Mark chapter seven for some time for the sole purpose of addressing some of those prevailing traditions that we are familiar with in Christendom. Familiar with, but maybe not acquainted with, maybe not knowledgeable in. And we want to address some of these things in the spirit of Christ. Now I know that for some, this may seem like an unnecessary or an uncharitable approach, but understand that even the Lord here, you you have read with me through this chapter many times. He addressed specific errors from different systems of belief, sometimes by name, and the apostles followed.

And those who would occupy the the office of a preacher are required from time to time to also follow in the example of Christ. It's not an easy thing. It's not a comfortable thing, but it is a necessary thing. You know, I was reading in the book of Lamentations in my personal reading, and I came across a verse that ministered to me in this area, and I prayed that it would encourage you. So I quoted Mark chapter seven, but if you have your Bibles with you, turn with me to Lamentations Right after Jeremiah, Lamentations chapter two, and look with me at verse 14 for a moment.

Lamentations two fourteen. Jeremiah is speaking here and he says, after the fact after the fact that judgment has come to Judah, Lamentations two fourteen, your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive visions. They have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes, but I've seen for you oracles that are false and misleading. They have not exposed your iniquity to restore your fortunes. Now depending on your translation, if you have a a good solid faithful translation, some would say to turn away thy captivity, or to turn or to bring back your captives, or to restore you from captivity.

Whatever translation you hold, the principle is still the same. The Holy Spirit through the lips of Jeremiah makes a connection between uncovering or on disclosing, making known the sins of the people, and then being liberated from captivity. The captivity in this context is literal. Right? They literally went into captivity, but it was the fruit of a spiritual captivity.

And so God puts blame on those who are self appointed representatives in Jeremiah's day, those who are self acclaimed prophets. And they refuse to address the errors of the people of that time. And in refusing to expose the errors, they kept the people bound. They kept the people in darkness. They kept the people in falsehood, and that ultimately led to led to their own discipline and their own chastisement.

And so what's the what's the point here? Here's the point. That if there are things in Christendom, right, that are deterring people, hindering people from coming to saving faith, then surely there is some sort of responsibility, especially for those who are leaders in the true church of Jesus Christ, to say something about it, to address it, to confront it. And if there's any confusion about what the goal of these messages are, please don't be confused any further. We wanna see people set free.

We wanna see people liberated. We wanna see people be restored to their fortunes, restored to the true blessings that are in Christ that are only available when the truth is faithfully presented and when that same truth is responded to with repentant faith. And so this is the heart posture behind what have what has been presented and what will continue to be presented. Now with that being said, I know that last week you were here, some of you were here at least, and you heard some discussion, some insight concerning the doctrines, the false doctrines pertaining to Mary. And we did so by examining namely what the Roman Catholic church teaches about her.

And I I have to say, we received great encouragement from last Sunday. And one of the common responses from people here and beyond is, I didn't know that. I I just I understood that there was differences, but I didn't know the depth of the distinctives. I didn't know that this is what people believed. And and that's what we're trying to do, to make people aware of these differences for the sake of restoring and reaching out to others.

Now with the great encouragement, with some testimonies, as you can imagine, there's a little bit of pushback. Right? And not from here, thank God. Maybe in your heart. I don't know.

But namely from people who, who have who watch us online, who visit our channel from time to time, I guess. And there were some objections, and I'm not gonna take the time to address every single one of those objections, but I think I wanna make mention of one thing because it will only confirm the main point of all of this, the central idea, the driving desire of what's being communicated here. There is truth in this that some of the reformers, Martin Luther, right? John Calvin, Zwingli, and other prominent thinkers like John Wesley, also affirmed and hold to the perpetual virginity of Mary. They did believe that.

And and quotes were provided in response to what was presented yesterday of how they did hold firm to that view of her. Now I don't understand why that was brought forward, but here's the thing that I wanna say. Regardless of the intention, regardless of what's what was trying to be done in presenting these men and what they believed to us, I think that attempt missed the whole point of the message. Because you see, whether it's Luther, whether it's, Calvin, whether it's Wesley, regardless of who the person is, we don't look to the authority of man. We look to the authority of the Bible.

That's the point. That's why we're doing what we're doing, whether it is a pope or it is a reformer. Whatever any man claims as being revelation from God must subject himself and every single one of those statements must be subject to the evaluation, the commendation, or the condemnation of what God has written. That's the truth. And I think even some evangelicals have to be careful here because I hear some evangelicals quote these guys as though they were authoritative.

What does the Bible say? What does God's word say? What does God's word say through the men that he has placed his hand on for a special purpose revealing divine truth? That's the goal here. That's what we're saying.

And so this isn't evangelicals and Protestants versus Catholics and Eastern Orthodox in the world. This is about claiming what the word of God has to say about itself and then calling people to observe the truth of the scripture as supreme authority. That's the point. So let there be no confusion here. Again, this is not denominationalism here.

This is not camps here. This is the bible, the word of God that has been preserved and kept by sovereign will has been granted to us to know what he desires from us. Alright. There's a lot of things I can say, but I won't because this will turn into mariology part two, and we don't have time for that. My desire here is to communicate something else.

I wanna take the time to examine yet another instance of what can occur when scripture alone is no longer regarded as absolutely authoritative, when it doesn't have the final say. Last week, you heard some disturbing things, and this week, we're going to look at how some traditions have misinterpreted the meaning and the practice of the Lord's supper. Again, for the sake of making this a digestible session, I'm not gonna exhaustively teach on this, nor am I going to pull from what every single ancient and traditional church believes about this. What I'm gonna do is stay consistent with what we did last week, and that's pull from the Roman Catholic teaching, and then bring that before your attention. And then hopefully, you'll be stirred enough to look deeper and then to look at what other people believe and other traditions and other institutions hold to concerning this subject because the spectrum is quite wide.

And over the years, it became apparent to me that some professing Christians do different things and and and with that, they can find ease regularly participating in different settings that offer the bread and the cup. And among those people, you have some who do things like attend a Roman Catholic church in the morning and then go to a faithful evangelical church in that same day and and partake of the mass while also partaking of the communion that's presented in the evangelical expression, and it doesn't seem to bother them, and it doesn't seem to irk them, and it doesn't seem to encourage them to think a little bit deeper about if there are differences here. Now listen. I'm fully aware that some of you might be thinking, brother, why? Again, I said this last week.

Why? Is this really important? Why are you making such a big deal of this? There's enough in our bible to discover. Why are we going this way?

And I understand. Right? And I understand that some would even say, leave people alone. I mean, can we just not excuse them and excuse what they're doing as simple devotion to the Lord that they wanna express in different kind of ways? Why do we have to nitpick this?

Why do we have to point these things out? Is it really important? To which I will respond, listen, it's it's not about what's important to you and me. Here's the question. Is it important to God?

Is it important to the head of the church? It's not enough to say we worship. It's not enough to excuse any kind of practice or engagement as worship. God wants us to know how to worship, not just if we worship. K?

More than that, we have to understand what do we believe about our spiritual disciplines? What do we believe about our expressions of devotion and adoration? And with that, we have to understand what do we understand to be this massive monumental ordinance that Christ has established for his people for all generations until his very return? What truths do we ascribe to that? What is it that we're actually doing when once a month you come forward here and you you engage in this corporate act of thanksgiving and recognition?

And I hope you have a grasp that. I hope you yourself are aware of why it is you do what you do. And if you don't, then hopefully you'll know it now. You know that we do this in remembrance of him. We know that we do this in proclaiming the Lord's death until he comes.

But what do others believe? What do others believe about the table? What do others believe about the supper? What do other people believe about this ordinance? Well, to Roman Catholics according to their own catechism.

And my intention here is not to misinterpret anything, and so everything I'm going to claim, and I as I said last week, I don't prefer this kind of delivery, but my head's gonna be down more than it might be up. But it's because I wanna quote the sources for you so that I would not be labeled as deceptive or misleading. I want you to hear what they have to say for themselves, and I want that to stir your heart. Stir your heart to have a greater zeal for God's glory and a greater zeal to reach out people who might not know what they're even doing, which is very common. Very, very common.

Their own catechism. Their own statement of faith that is binding, that is universal. In the Catholic catechism in paragraph number one three two four, the Eucharist, which they call it, which really just means Thanksgiving. The Eucharist is the source and summit of the Christian life. It is the source and the summit of the Christian life.

Source meaning that all spiritual life flows from the partaking of the Eucharist, And the summit meaning that it is the pinnacle of the Christian experience. You can't get any higher than partaking in mass. To claim this is quite astounding. And just from that statement alone, you can make the obvious observation that the Eucharist is absolutely vital and central to the faith of Rome. There's no question about it.

But here's a question to ask. Why? Why is the mass so primary? Why is it so defended? Why is it so cherished?

Why is it worshiped? Yes. Worshiped. It's an important question because once you understand the attributes, once you understand the attributes, once you understand the implications of what is being taught with the Eucharist, then you'll get why it is so loved, cherished, and defended, and unfortunately, deceiving. And here, I'm gonna make it so easy for you, I hope.

That's my goal is to break down everything that is learned in the week and to present it to you in a way that you can understand and and apply it. All you have to remember is two main aspects. Just two. Two main distinctives that makes Rome's understanding of the Lord's supper different than ours. And the first one is this, that the mass, the Eucharist.

Right? The mass is the partaking of the literal body and blood of the Son of God. The mass is the partaking of the literal body and blood of the Son of God. Here's a summary from their own documents that lays a clear foundation and an overview of their belief in this. Be patient with me, please, as I read a lot.

In their catechism number one three seven six, one three seven six, for you taking notes, the Council of Trent summarizes the Catholic faith by declaring because Christ our redeemer said it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread, it has always been the conviction of the church of God and this holy council now declares again, pay attention, that by the consecration of the bread and wine, there takes place a change of the whole substance of the bread into the substance of the body of Christ our Lord, and of the whole substance of the wine into the substance of his blood. This change, the holy Catholic church has fittingly and properly called transubstantiation. You've heard the term. Transubstantiation. That fancy term simply means a change, a transformation in substance.

It's real, it's literal, it's not metaphorical, it's not spiritual, it's not allegorical, it is material. And this is a miraculous event by their own claim that the actual elements become the physical body of Jesus and the physical blood. This is again, something to be understood as real and tangible. Here it is from their own catechism. I quoted to you one three seven six.

Here's paragraph one three seven four. This is astounding. In the most blessed sacrament of the Eucharist, the body and blood together so the body and the blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore the whole Christ is truly, really, substantially contained. You're gonna hear me quote later on from Catholic Answers that in the same way Jesus Christ was here two thousand years ago, he is with us daily when the Eucharist is presented. Now before I unpack what that implies, we have to understand that this notion according to the catechism is a teaching that they believe to be from the very lips of the master.

You might be wondering where? Where did they get this understanding? Right? And you remember how I quoted the first paragraph? Because Christ, our redeemer, said that it was truly his body that he was offering under the species of bread.

He said it. So the claim is we didn't get this out of thin air. We didn't even we didn't attribute this to sacred tradition or to the magisterium. Our basis for this is Christ. And what's their go to passage?

You know it. John chapter six. And I want you to turn there to the collection of verses that is often referred to to justify this teaching. In John chapter six in verse 53, So Jesus said to them, truly, truly I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.

For my flesh is true food and my blood is true drink. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him. Seems straightforward. Seems clear. Right?

Here's the problem. Here's the first problem of going to John chapter six to try to justify this massive teaching with massive implications, and it is catastrophic when you break it down. Was the Lord's supper even instituted at this point in the ministry of Jesus Christ? Answer, no. There is quite some time to go before the institution of the Lord's supper even takes place.

So what you have here is a teaching that has no connection whatsoever to the ordinance that Christ will establish after he is going to serve his disciples and make and before he makes his way to the cross. There is no illusion here whatsoever that Jesus is providing some kind of commentary of what takes place at the table. Nothing of the sort. And so to take a a teaching that uses similar terminology, but then to apply it to something that you and I engage with as an ordinance is a dangerous stretch to make. So then how do we understand this?

How do we make sense of what Jesus is saying? The way you try to understand anything that is being said in the Bible, you investigate the immediate context. And as you investigate the immediate context without your presuppositions, without any kind of authority telling you otherwise, but just with the word of God in John chapter six, you have to make the honest conclusion, is in the simple reading and evaluating Jesus implying that we should gnaw on his body and drink his actual blood? Well, let's look forward because thankfully, what Jesus says in the very same chapter clarifies what he meant by this. So I want you to again look at verse 54.

Look at the promise associated with eating and drinking him. Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has what? Eternal life. Has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. What a glorious promise.

You eat of me, you drink of me, you will have eternal life, and I will raise you up on the last day. You know what's fascinating about that? That's not the only time in this context Jesus gives that promise. He gives it back here in verse 40. Look at John six forty, and what do you read?

For this is the will of my father, that everyone who looks on the son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day. It parallels perfectly. One difference. The precondition is different. The prerequisite is different.

Look back at verse 54. What was the prerequisite? If you feed on my flesh, and if you drink my blood, you have one eternal life, and two, you have the promise that I will raise you up on the last day. Hold on to that. That's the reward.

That's the assurance. But you you go back to verse 40 and you realize that the rewards are still there, the same ones. But what what is required before that? He says it. Who looks on the son and believes in him.

Who looks on the son and believes in him. Same promise? Yes. Different precondition? It seems so unless Jesus here, when you join these two statements, proves that in this parallel, the feeding and drinking is not a literal command to feast on him physically, but it is a metaphor for receiving him and believing in him by faith.

To Christ, eating is believing. That's all it is. To eat means to receive him by faith. And by receiving him by faith, you receive the nourishment and the sustenance that he provides through that channel of simple trust and who he says to be. And this is the emphasis in John chapter six.

So wait wait, why is he using the language of eating and drinking? Because why are the people there there? They want actual bread. He he just multiplied bread, fed thousands of people, and here they are again. They want a refill.

And so Christ meets them there and he takes their physical desire and he parallels it with a spiritual truth. He's meeting them where they're at. And he's challenging them through this metaphor, through this figure of applying it spiritually. Look at verse 35 of John chapter six. Jesus said to them, I am the bread of life.

Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. Believe. Believe. Verse 29. When the same crowd asked them, what are the works of God that we need to do?

How does Jesus respond? This is the work of God that you believe in him whom he sent. Believe. Receive. Comes by faith, not by feasting.

Comes by trust, not by transubstantiation. Now, if this is not the true meaning of Jesus' words, then we have more problems than just transubstantiation. We do. Because I want you to think about it. If we're consistent with Rome's interpretation here, then you also have to understand that when Jesus says you have eternal life and I will raise you up on the last day, then and just by simple equation, me eating him and drinking him means I will have eternal life.

Eating him and drinking him is by faith. That's consistent with the whole scripture. That's in harmony with the rest of the Bible. But if eating him and drinking him means that after the priest bread and and the wine and it transforms into Christ's body and I am to eat of him, then naturally, we have to understand that it is the Eucharist that gives me eternal life. It's the mass that ultimately saves me.

That's a different gospel. And not only is that a different gospel, which I'll get to in a moment, it's inconsistent with scripture because we know that the Lord instituted the Lord's supper not for people to become Christian, but for people who are Christians. So even the very purpose and definition of the Lord's table is is is obliterated because we know that it's for the church that we come in remembrance of him. We don't come to the table to be in him or for him to be in us. No.

Because we are in him, we now can and have the right to partake in that table. And so there are a lot of problems here. And this is why it can't be according to how our Roman friends claim it to be. And a common objection that that is often given, it's really a foundational objection to what I just said to you, is that if Christ really was speaking here metaphorically, then why didn't he make the effort to clarify that he was speaking in figurative language to those that were there because they interpret it literally and they even walked away assuming that what was being said was literal. Why didn't Jesus say, woah, wait, hold on.

No, no, no. Let me understand. This is actually talking about faith and this is the Although he already talked about belief, belief, belief over and over and over again. So this is what's usually brought forth as an obstacle. And here's a simple answer.

Apart from the fact that Jesus uses metaphor a lot, especially in John, how many I am statements? I am the door. I am the light. Right? How many of them?

There's seven, including this one. Apart from that, is it foreign to us to actually see in Jesus' preaching and teaching that he does not elaborate on what he had said to his audience keeping them in the dark? It's not a foreign idea. In fact, Jesus did that, and we learned that in Mark, especially through his parables. That when he discerned the heart of the people, that no matter how many miracles and how many truths were brought forth to their attention, that they were still willing to deny and not apply the truth that was given to them.

He was still willing to engage with them, but in a way that would solidify their darkness and keep them away from the truth as an act of discipline and judgment. Is it any different here? It's pretty obvious. Here you have these people fixated on the fact that Jesus provided them food, and that's all they wanted him for. They saw him as the king that can overthrow Rome, that can make their lives a little bit easier, and so they they wanna crown him, and Jesus sees right through them.

And so every time, if you read that lengthy chapter, every time Christ tries to divert them to spiritual truths and eternal life, the people became more and more hostile, more and more upset, more and more disturbed. And when Christ claimed his heavenly origin, you can just you can tell just by the reading that they're becoming more distant to who Christ truly is, not more attracted. To the point where Jesus makes these very graphic claims about himself and what is required of them and they walk away. And guess what? He doesn't chase them.

He doesn't run after them. And this isn't the only time that he does that because Christ knows the heart. And that's why in that same chapter, he talks about the father drawing. Right? He he talks about what needs to happen in the heart.

Something needs to happen in that heart. There needs to be disposition of your heart to to receive who Christ is and his claims and not to ignore, to misinterpret it with your fleshly understanding. And so it's clear, but tradition has a way of skewing and confusing what is clear. Have you ever wondered how, not the whys, not the whats, but how transubstantiation takes place? Because it's spelled out in great detail, and it's actually very important for you to know.

And here is from their catechism number 11 o five, one one zero five. The invocation upon so when the priest makes invocation is the intercession in which the priest begs the father to send the Holy Spirit, the sanctifier, so that the offerings may become the body and blood of Christ and that the faithful by receiving them may themselves become a living offering to God. John O'Brien, who was a Catholic priest, wrote a book called The Faith of Millions, The Faith of Millions, the Credentials of Catholic Religion. And in his work, which is very popular, not just popular, it is often referred to as a theological guide for serious Roman Catholics. He expands on what is in the catechism here.

He expands on it and he gives us even more specific details of what actually takes place when the priest yes, that same priest that's there daily. When the priest is ready to consecrate the elements, what actually takes place? Pay attention, this is disturbing. I'm just giving you a heads up. It's disturbing.

This is in his book from the 1933 publication date and it's found on page two seventy and two seventy one. And this is again, this is not some peripheral thing. I was just kind of scrolling through different websites and apologies from the the Roman Catholic faith, and I found John O'Brien being referred to as a as a as a reference in one of the arguments. This is not the same reference, but it just goes to show that he's still being referred to. Quote, you ready for this?

When the priest pronounces 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 monarchs and emperors. It is greater than that of saints and angels. Greater than that of seraphim and cherubim. Indeed, it is greater even than the power of the Virgin Mary.

For 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. End quote. You almost gotta take a few breaths before you dissect this. Right? It's jarring.

It is jarring. Because according to O'Brien, the priest is the one who has the authority by his command to bring Jesus Christ out of heaven and to be in our midst. And so great is the office of the priest according to O'Brien that his authority surpasses the prerogatives that are uniquely bestowed upon who? Who we learned about last week, the Virgin Mary, Which is another startling thing because of all the praise and the veneration and the worship that goes to her, it makes you wonder, really? There's something that actually challenges Mary?

The inconsistencies in a false system are not surprising. And if you think about it deeper, what you have here is actually an imitation. You have an imitation here of the Levitical priesthood. So we believe what Christ did on the cross is suffices. Right?

It's finished. But what you have with the Levitical priesthood was what? You had priest, you had an altar, you had daily sacrifices. Priest, altar, daily sacrifices. That is mirrored perfectly with Rome's version.

You have priest. The front there is not just a nice table decorated. It's an altar where sacrifices take place. There is an altar and instead of goats and instead of oxen, you have Christ being sacrificed. And this is not my interpretation, that's from his very same book on page two sixty two.

We believe that the sacrificial system of old points to a new covenant with a greater sacrifice and a greater high priest. But to Rome, it foreshadows their priesthood, and it gives them some kind of license to justify their priesthood, their altar, and their sacrificing. Not of animals, but of the son of God. That's a whole different conversation, but let me continue from my original quote going into page two seventy one. K.

If you thought what I quoted to you was hard, get ready for this. 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 the vicegerent 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 called is that of alter Christus, for the priest is and should be another Christ. For the priest is and should be another Christ. Funny.

I remember Jesus warning about false Christ that would emerge in the last days. Do you remember? That people who claim the authority and the power of Christ would be in our midst. And so what you have in the system is not just a false interpretation of communion, you have false Christ who are offering it. Clergy actually claim and believe that they have the ability to pull Christ down from heaven and to become elements that can be consumed by others, which results in what exactly?

Think about it. Think about the order of thought. Think about the implications. Think about what can happen. If you have Christ actually literally being here in our very presence in close proximity, then you have the Son of God in your midst.

And if you have the Son of God in your midst with people who love God or their God, love their Jesus, then what does that invoke? What does that provoke at least? Worship. Christ is here. And if Christ is here, we're gonna worship him.

Worship God? No. Worship the sacrament because the sacrament is God with us. If you don't believe me, if you think this is exaggeration, let me quote from Catholic Answers. This is not an ancient text.

This is modern apologists who clarify what they believe. Quote, since Christ is present in the Eucharist, God is truly present. This means that we give the blessed sacrament the worship and adoration that we give to God alone. We see this especially in our liturgies when we kneel and genuflect only before the blessed sacrament. These are postures that are due to God and only to God as signs of adoration.

So what do you have here? You don't have the elements before in which we give thanks to God for what he has done. You have the worship of the actual elements because they're no longer bread and wine. It's the body and blood of Christ here with us. And how does that happen?

When a man who has been ordained in the priesthood makes the command, Christ humbles his head in obedience to that command and makes his way down. This happens every single day all across. How do they explain that? Well, they say it's a miracle. It's a miracle.

Only the only the Holy Spirit can make Christ physically appear in thousands of thousands of their churches or thousands thousands of wherever they celebrate this at the same time, and it's just as real as he was here two thousand years ago. Now, here's what they say. The main reason Catholic answers for so greater confidence resides in the meaning of the Eucharist. Jesus Christ is here on earth again in the Eucharist, just as he was two thousand years ago. He's not just present in memory, he is not just spiritually present, he is on earth.

Body and blood, soul and divinity. But is that the only reason why? Is that the only reason why Catholics believe that bread and wine become the actual presence of Jesus Christ? No. That's not the only reason why.

It's not so that they can worship him in closer proximity. It's not so that they can have some euphoric, you know, experience, this mystical kind of thing. It's more than that. Here's a simple question. If Christ is being brought down, not just to make a show, not just to make some kind of dramatic demonstration, But if he is coming down as a sacrifice, the question is, a sacrifice for what?

Which is the second point. Remember, all of that was under the first point. The point that the mass is the literal body and blood of Jesus Christ. It's the partaking of him physically. Secondly and lastly, the mass is recognized as an actual sacrifice.

Perhaps some here you you haven't heard that. Maybe this is you hearing it again, but it's very important to understand here. When Christ comes down in the Eucharist, it's not so that he can be merely worshiped or adored. It's so that a real sacrifice can take place, that something can actually take place in your life as a result of you participating that sacrifice. And you and I understand the Lord's table to be an act of remembrance.

We reflect on what he has done. We even in some measure look forward to what will come to pass when he does return and feast with us, and we reflect as we enjoy and we rehearse to one another of his saving faith, of his grace. That's what we do. But Rome cannot accept the simplicity of this. To them, it's much more.

It's it's there's something else happening in mass and we have no intention to misrepresent them. So again, forgive me. I must read what they say and I hope you understand what they're saying. So this isn't their catechism. I I brought the book last time, but you can look this up.

This is recorded. You can you can you can look this up yourself. It's free on a PDF online. And number one three six seven of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Here's what it says.

The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice. Very, very important. The Eucharist and what happened on Calvary is one single sacrifice. The victim Christ is a victim. Right?

The victim is one and the same. The same now offers through the ministry of priest who then offered himself on the cross. Only in a manner of the offering is different. And since in this divine sacrifice, which is celebrated in the mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. The sacrifice is truly propitiatory.

So let's break that down. It's one sacrifice. So when the mass is taking place, this isn't additional sacrifices that are happening. The claim is what happened on the cross through the mass is being repeated again and again and again and again, over and over and over and over. And so, what happened two thousand years ago?

It's happening every single day by the power of the priest who commands Christ's body to come down and for a sacrifice to take place. Now, what's the difference? And they highlight the difference. The only difference is two thousand years ago it was a bloody sacrifice. And what happens daily is an unbloody sacrifice.

What does that mean? Here's what it means. The bloody sacrifice means that we don't see the mass as what they saw that day when Jesus Christ died. We don't see the the the the the gruesome, bloody, bruised Jesus. No.

It's the same sacrifice, but it's under the appearance of bread and wine. It's unbloody. Same sacrifice though, just different appearance. And that's why in number one three six six of the catechism, we're told that the Eucharist makes present. They use the word represent, but then they they clarify it.

Represent meaning that they make present. Not symbolically, they make what happened then is now happening before your very eyes. I'm sure you can sense the the troubling realities of this, and it sounds strange, but it's more than strange. It's blasphemous. Blasphemy.

There's no other way to put it. Call me what you want. Kill me if you want. I say it as it is. It's blasphemy.

And all you have to do is read the book of Hebrews to understand and know how off this all is. And ironically, in the theme of the book of Hebrews, what is the author doing by the spirit? He is promoting Christ as being so much greater than the Levitical system, which includes their priest and their sacrifices. Christ is better. Don't go back to it.

He's better. Don't go back to it. He's sufficient. And no, you know the verses. I'm sure there's so many of them.

I'm just gonna pull out a collection of two, and I'm just gonna read it. I don't even need to expound upon it for it to absolutely obliterate what you just heard. Oh, turn with me in your Bibles. I don't wanna quote the catechism more than the Bible. Hebrews seven twenty six.

May this refresh your soul. May this bless you. May this secure you. May this create a praise in your heart this afternoon. Hebrews seven twenty six, for it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

He has no need like those high priest who offer sacrifices daily. First for his own sins and then for those of the people since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. Once for all. Amen. Amen indeed.

I'm glad you're awake this afternoon. Hebrews 10. Turn with me. Hebrews ten ten. What a lovely sound.

And by that, will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. I apologize. I said I wouldn't comment on it, but I must. By that we will have we have been, past tense. We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus.

When? Every single day? When? When the priest commands it? No.

Once for all. Verse 11. And every priest stands daily at his service offering repeatedly the same sacrifices which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemy should be made a foot footstool for his feet. Hallelujah indeed.

Yes. Amen. Now can you confidently and honestly say that as you read these scriptures, can you reconcile them with what the catechism teaches? Can you? Can you truly look at these and and say, we need an altar, and we need priest, and we need repeated sacrifices, and the priest has the ability to pull Christ down from heaven onto earth again, when we are told here that he sat down at the right hand of God waiting from that time until his enemies should be made his footstool.

Are these the same? They're not. They're not the same. Because it's a different version of the Lord's table. It's a different Christ.

It's a different gospel. Woah. Woah. Woah. Woah.

Brother, you got me saying amen and hallelujah a few moments ago, but I I understand there's differences brother, but for you to make a claim that it's a different gospel, that's a very very serious statement, and I stand by it. I do stand by it. Because although it is one offering, you have to ask the question, why? Why is it being offered again? Why is what Christ did two thousand years ago being represented, made present over and over and over?

I won't tell you. I'll let them tell you. From their own catechism, did you hear the final words of one three six seven? This sacrifice is truly propitiatory. It appeases.

It satisfies. It accomplishes something. What does it accomplish? Well, in paragraph number one three six six, its salutary power be applied to the forgiveness of the sins we daily commit. If that's not clear enough, let me read to you paragraph one four one four.

As sacrifice, the Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living. Pay attention. In reparation for the sins of the living and the dead, and to obtain spiritual and temporal benefits from God. You heard that right. So I'm not just approaching the mass to receive forgiveness for my sins now, I can actually partake of the mass on behalf of somebody who has died so that they can be forgiven for their sins.

Is this the Bible? Is this what Christ taught? You heard this correctly. And forgive me because I'm gonna give you now just in bullet bullet fashion quotes because I know where this is gonna go and I want to be no mistakes. In the twenty second session of the Council of Trent, in the second chapter under that, the title is the sacrifice of the mass is propitiatory both for the living and the dead.

And I'm just gonna read some of it. Here's what it says. For appeased by the sacrifice, the Lord grants the grace and gift of penitence and pardons even for the gravest crimes and sins. For the victim is one and the same. Whenever they say victim, they mean Jesus.

So in their view, Jesus is an eternal victim because he's continually being sacrificed. For the victim is one and the same, the same now offering by the ministry of priest who then offered himself on the cross. The manner alone of offering being different. The fruits of that bloody sacrifice, it is well understood are received most abundantly through this unbloody one. The fruits of that bloody sacrifice are applied and experienced in this unbloody one.

Are received most abundantly through this unbloody one so far it is the latter from derogating anyway from the former. Wherefore, according to the tradition of the apostles, this is where I want you to pay attention, it is rightly offered not only for the sins, punishment, satisfactions, and other necessities of the faithful who are living, but also for those departed in Christ but are not yet fully purified. So if you wanna come to the table and you know a loved one that claimed to believe in God but didn't really live a Christian life, didn't really love God, where do they go? They go to purgatory. And so they're in purgatory.

They're being purged. And if you wanna accelerate that process, you can take the mass on their behalf, and it would be applied to them. And you wanna be upset with me. Here's the one of the canons under that same session, the twenty second session of the Council of Trent, canon three. What does this mean for you?

What does this mean for you? I'm almost done here. What does this mean for those who don't believe this? If If you do believe this, I hope that you come to the truth of the the the scriptures. If you don't believe this, what does that mean for you?

I'll tell you what they say. If anyone says in canon three of the sec twenty second session of the Council of Trent, if anyone says that the sacrifice of the mass is only of praise and thanksgiving, or that it is a mere commemoration of the sacrifice consummated on the cross, but not a propitiatory one, or that it profits him only who receives and not be offered for the living and the dead, For sins, punishment, satisfactions, and other necessities, let him be anathema. You're excommunicated. You're not part of the true church. You're not a real Christian.

If you don't believe that this is more than just remembering, if you don't believe that this is more than just a reason to give thanks to God, if you don't believe that it actually can forgive sins, not just for the living but for the dead, you are anathematized. And you wanna get angry at me. You wanna think I'm divisive. Here's the thirteenth session of the Council of Trent, canon one. If anyone denies that in the sacrament of the most holy Eucharist are contained truly, really, and substantially the body and blood together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and consequently the whole Christ, but says that he is only as in a sign.

If you believe that it's just a sign, and you don't think it's body, blood, soul, divinity of Christ here on earth, if you don't believe that, if you only believe it's a sign of figure or force, let them be anathema. So there's condemnation here. Condemnation for those who don't believe what is being taught by the system. I can end it here, but I don't wanna end it with you being condemned. I don't wanna end it with you leaving with that.

I've quoted this verse many times and I can't help it, so forgive me. And when I was thinking about what's a way that we can end this with a final exclamation mark that would hopefully boost your heart and rejoicing in the truth that you're in. How can you move forward from Hebrews? And maybe you have a more accurate way of ending this, but I can't think of anything else other than Hebrews ten fourteen. For by a single sacrifice, by a single offering, he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

For by a single, not a repeated, not an unbloody, not by the authority of any priest, not by Christ coming to this earth again and again and again, not by taking what he did two thousand years ago and performing that sacrifice again and again for by a single offering. We have been made perfect. Amen. I appreciate your applauses this afternoon. I appreciate your amens.

I appreciate your attention. I want us to pray. And how I want us to pray, I want you to join me in sincerity of your heart. Maybe you have a Roman Catholic mother, father, brother, sister, friend, and maybe and I'm I'm sure you love them very much. Maybe this disturbed you because in my presentation, you're thinking of them and you might have associated what I'm saying as an attack on people that you know and that you see who supposedly love God and serve him.

And again, I'm not pointing out people. I'm pointing out this system and I'm fully aware that there are people who are in that system, even priests who don't really know what they're doing, who don't really know what the church teaches, their church teaches. I want us to pray for our family this afternoon. I this is not just some lesson to to to provide shock value. We wanna hear this and then we wanna bring our prayers to God through the mediator Christ Jesus.

That God would give us opportunity to share what we've learned in the spirit of love. And that God would open the eyes of those that we know and those that we don't even know to come to the truth and to embrace the simplicity of the gospel. Let's pray. And and let's really posture our hearts seriously and attentively. Father, we are shaken, and perhaps we even feel a righteous indignation.

But again, Lord, we acknowledge in your presence, we too were once lost, And we too have done and said and maybe even believe things that are contrary to your word. And so, Lord, we do not sit on the high seat of self righteousness this afternoon. If there's any anger, it is towards the evil one who has deceived many, who seeks to viciously veil the glory of Christ, to minimize the sufficiency of the cross, to make less of what you have already done. And we thank you that your word is clear. We thank you that we are in the truth.

We pray for those who are not. We pray for those who might be uneducated, unaware, and even worse, who are aware but believe what Rome has to say to be true. And for those who might not be part of the Roman Catholic church, but different traditional churches that have very similar views of the Eucharist, Lord have mercy on them. Give us opportunity to speak kindly to them, but without fear of what is true. We pray that you would convict those who are actively participating in something that you do not approve of.

We pray for those, even those who claim to be evangelical, who don't see the differences, who don't care to see the differences, who don't see the significance of what participating in a different table actually means. Lord, we are humbled. We have much to think about. But for now, Lord, we are humbled and grateful for all that we heard, all that was accessed. Thank you that we live in an age where these things can be accessed so freely and quickly.

Surely, you are coming soon, where your gospel is being proclaimed to the nations at a rate that we've never seen before. Lord, use us until you do come. Help us honor you in everything. The Lord's supper, in our baptism, in our preaching, in our daily lives, help us honor you. And again, with all that we learn may not puff us up, may it not make us arrogant, may it not make us abusive or unnecessarily offensive.

May it soften us, or may it break us. May may it make us more loving and compassionate and yearning for people to be saved. Lord, we we we say amen in a moment, and we pray that you would receive worship even through a heavy session like this. May you receive pure, holy, clean, faithful worship. In Jesus' name, amen.

Amen. Amen. Saints, let's stand and worship the Lord.