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0:44Well, thank you, Thomas. Good evening, everyone. Thank you, praise team, for preparing our hearts to receive the Word of God. What a joy it is to participate in the worship of your praise to our Lord on this Lord's Day. I always look forward to the Lord's Day when we can gather as the body of Christ to worship our exalted head, to enjoy sweet fellowship. And we've really enjoyed the love of your fellowship this morning. And thank you so much for reaching out to us and making us feel so welcome.

1:18Yes, I would like to introduce my wife, who is a genuine helpmate. In fact, the slides that you're going to see this evening are her creative work. And so, Jane, why don't you stand? She has been the second most precious gift in my life for 36 years now, and you surely know the most precious gift, and that was the gift of eternal life. So, you can meet with Jane at the resource table afterwards. But this evening, we want to look at a brief historical background of Roman Catholicism and how it drifted into apostasy. And it's my prayer and desire that this lesson will help in your witness to Roman Catholics. You may know it represents the most neglected mission field in the world today, contains over 1.3 billion precious souls. And I say it's the most neglected because many of our evangelical leaders have declared it off-limits for the gospel because they have signed unity accords with Roman Catholics stating that they are our brothers and sisters in Christ. I think this evening you will see that that is the furthest thing from the truth.

2:35But one of the most frequent assertions we get from Roman Catholics as we witness to them is that they say they belong to the one true church and that you Protestants are the Johnny Come Latelys. Your church started only 500 years ago. And so when they let you know that they belong to the one true church or their church started 2,000 years ago, don't disagree with them. The Lord Jesus only started. Started one church. But what we need to encourage Roman Catholics to do is to study church history and to understand what apostasy is all about. And that's what we're going to look at this evening. Hopefully, this message will help you respond to Roman Catholics who give that assertion. And please know that this message may offend some that may not have looked at the errors of the Roman Catholic religion. But please know it's out of my deep love and compassion for Roman Catholics who are where I was for 35 years of my life that motivates me to bring this message to you for the purpose of being more effective witnesses to Roman Catholics.

3:43So let's look at what it means to become apostate. It is a departure from the truth. In Titus chapter 1, verses 14 to 16, we read: apostates are men who turn away from the truth. They profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed. So you can see that the departure from the true faith occurs both in doctrine and conduct. God's prophetic word teaches us and warns us that this apostasy that began 2,000 years ago will continue to grow and it will culminate at the midpoint of the tribulation when the great apostasy takes place.

4:30So let's look real quickly at the history of the church. You could classify the first 600 years as the ancient church where Scripture was boldly proclaimed, many were coming to faith. Then you have the medieval church, also known as the Dark Ages, where Scripture was hidden, the light of the gospel was hidden from people. And then, praise God, he raised up reformers. And so, for the next 1,500 years, well, actually, from the year 1,500 onward, we've seen what is called the Reformation Church, Reform theology, where Scripture has been restored, and so people now again are hearing the gospel and repenting and believing it. And then you have the modern or even the postmodern church in which we are in today, and that's where Scripture is often ignored. You are a very blessed congregation because churches such as Emmanuel Baptist are on the endangered species list. Most churches today are ignoring scripture. They've invited the world in. Pastors are making people happy rather than holy. And they're more concerned with their felt needs rather than their spiritual needs. So you are a blessed congregation.

5:50Let's look at two streams of Christianity that have been operating side by side for the last 2,000 years. And I want to make a distinction between the apostolic. Church and the apostate church. The apostolic church is made up of born-again Christians with the same faith as the apostles. We say in 1 Corinthians 12, 13 that we have all been baptized by one Spirit into one body. Jesus promised that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church, from Matthew 16, 18. But then we have the apostate church, and it's been flowing right alongside the apostolic church for 2,000 years. How do we know that? Well, you've just finished the study of 1 John, and you know that in chapter 2, the Apostle John said they went out from us because they were never part of us. Had they been part of us, they would have remained with us. Another way John could have said that, they went out from us because they were never born again. Had they been born again, they would have remained with us.

6:54So the apostate church is made up of those who departed from the faith of the apostles to follow doctrines of demons. And so apostasy is not only a departure from the faith of the apostles, but it's also a departure from the church. It's a departure from the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's a departure from his gospel. So let's take a look at a brief history of Roman Catholicism and see how it developed and how it gradually departed. From the authority of Scripture and started following pagan traditions and doctrines of demons.

7:37You may have heard of the early church fathers, and I must tell you that the early church fathers we're going to look at this evening are church fathers that, for the most part, embrace a lot of what Roman Catholicism teaches today. And so often, when we witness to Roman Catholics, they will not want to camp out in the Bible, but they want to take us to the early church fathers. And I want to share with you the best way to respond to them. But first, let's look at what each one of these taught. Tertullian elevated the authority of the church over Scripture. That's a practice the Catholic Church does today. Origin taught allegorical methods of interpretation, and he also taught baptismal regeneration, which simply means the Catholic Church says that when you pour water, efficacious water, over an infant or an adult, that water is said to cause the person to be reborn.

8:39Then you had Ambrose. He believed the Lord's Supper was a sacrifice and offered prayers for the dead. Jerome translated the Bible into Latin. He initiated venerating bones of dead saints and also praying to saints. Augustine taught the Saint Lord Saint Lawrence Baptism and the Lord's Supper were the means of salvation, and the church is the only valid interpreter of Scripture. Catholicism refers to these men as their early church fathers. And they say their teachings originated from the oral traditions of the apostles.

9:20Well, clearly, these teachings are not found in the written word of God, nor are they found in apostolic traditions. But when we witness to Roman Catholics, they want to point us to these early church fathers, and here's how to respond to them: The Apostle Paul warned that after his departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And even from your own numbers, men will arise for what purpose? To distort the truth, to lead disciples away.

9:51He warned them with tears. And so our response to Catholics who want us to believe the early church fathers is, how do we know that the very church fathers you want us to believe are not the ones that Paul warned us about? And then we need to respond. Our faith needs to be on the inspired word of God, not on the uninspired words of men. So let's look at how paganism entered the church. But before I talk about that, I want to say one of the major errors in the second century is some of the churches departed. From the plurality of elders. Instead, they elevated a bishop to rule over the elder board. And so the bishop was no longer accountable to the elders. And I hope you can see that it is much easier for Satan to deceive one person than to deceive an entire elder board. And this was a major flaw of the early church in the second century. But fortunately, there were the Lord's church that still maintained the plurality of elders. So when we look at paganism entering the church, it was the Roman Emperor Constantine who made Christianity the official state religion in the fourth century, and he actually ruled over the church, and he set up different conferences for the church and all the bishops to come. Pagans were now entering the church that was now free from persecution. See, the previous 300 years, the church was persecuted, but Constantine no longer persecuted Christians, and so now all the pagans were coming in. Most were false converts who were baptized with no repentance.

11:35Pagan temples became places of church worship. Tragically, the church gained the whole world but lost its soul. It should have learned from a similar offer that was made by Satan to the Lord Jesus. You may remember the offer given in Matthew chapter 4. It was there that the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain. And showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory, and said to him, All these things I will give you if you fall down and worship me. The Lord Jesus rejected the offer in order to fulfill his mission. Well, when Constantine offered the world to the persecuted church, she foolishly accepted. She accepted the offer instead of remaining sanctified and fulfilling her mission. So, in the first 300 years of the church, persecution reigned, and the church remained pure. In fact, it's been the greatest error in the church to become partners with the world. When the church departed from its biblical moorings, she morphed into a pagan religion. And so, many of the practices you see in the Roman Catholic Church came into the church during the fourth century. Many suggested that this was the origin of the Roman Catholic religion. It was during this time that many pagans came into the church because they were politically motivated but religiously indifferent. Constantine said, if you're a Christian, then you can be promoted throughout the Roman Empire. And so many of them came in for political reasons.

13:19So from the 4th through the 6th century, there were five provinces, and they were in Alexandria, Jerusalem, Antioch, Rome, and Constantinople. So, as the Roman Empire collapsed and imploded, the church gained more power, and bishops began ruling provinces where pagan governors once ruled. It was in 440 that the bishop of Rome, the bishop of the Roman province, Leo I, claimed to be a successor of Peter. So, he said that since I'm a successor of Peter, I should rule over all the other bishops and the other provinces.

14:00Well, you may already know that there's no evidence in Scripture that Peter was ever in Rome, so this was a faulty premise. The Roman Emperor Justinian I established the supremacy of the bishop of Rome, laying aside the legal foundation for the papacy. So, this was a major move by the Roman Emperor. During this time, we had Gregory I in 596, who became the first pope over all the provinces in the Roman Catholic Church. He became the first pope, and very quickly he established a papal government to rule over a decaying society. He also enforced celibacy for the clergy. He expanded the doctrine of purgatory. He established the Eucharist as a redemptive sacrifice with merit for the living and the dead. You can see the roots of Roman Catholicism starting to spread throughout the Roman Empire. In the 7th century, a sacrificing priesthood with mysterious powers was instituted, and Mary, along with priests, were declared mediators of divine grace. That still holds true today. Mary in the Catholic Church is said to be a sinless mediatrix where the grace of God must flow through her hands into the priest who dispenses the grace through the sacraments. Bishops began wearing costly garments and encouraged the veneration of worships and icons.

15:45Well, as you know from this morning, idolatry is condemned throughout Scripture. The making and worship of graven images is forbidden, but most people were being deceived out of ignorance. It was during this time where Roman Catholics began worshiping or venerating icons and different statues of saints. But here's the good news: the growing apostasy was not universal. The true shepherd of the church continued to protect his sheep from the wolves who were perverting his gospel. The Lord promised, the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church.

16:28Some During the period 867 to 1049, the Roman church became infested with wicked, corrupt, and immoral popes. Some were assassinated by their successors. Some had mistresses whose illegitimate sons became popes. One pope worshipped pagan gods and turned the papal palace into a house of prostitution. Another sold his papacy for money. In 904, Pope Christopher was murdered by Pope Sergius III. In 965, Pope John II died in an act of adultery. Finally, in 1059, the Roman people lost their privilege of electing the pope, because obviously they weren't doing a good job. And so this was when the College of Cardinals was established. And even today, it's the cardinals that elect the popes. So I'm reminded of how apostates profess to know God, but by their deeds they deny Him, being detestable and disobedient and worthless for any good deed.

17:39Now we have the Great Schism in 1054. There was an ongoing conflict between the Western Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church, and it all ended with the Great Schism. The main reason for the schism was the refusal of the Orthodox Church to submit to the authority of the papacy. They also refused. The Catholic Church's mandate to make all of their priests celibate. It was also in 1215 that the Lateran Council, where the Roman Catholic Church declared transubstantiation to be an infallible dogma. This is where the priest is said to have the power to call the Lord Jesus Christ back down from heaven and through the miracle of transubstantiation, change the inner substance of a wafer into the physical body and blood, soul, and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. Catholics believe that Jesus has become physically present through the beckon call of the priest. And so the priest lifts this up for Catholics to worship this as their Savior and Lord, and then he lays it on the altar to be offered up again for the sins committed by Catholics in the previous week.

18:55By the authority of Scripture, and we must tell Catholics this is the most serious sin of idolatry. We can point to Hebrews 9:28, where Jesus is said to be coming back a second time. We also read that it will not be in relation to sin. So he doesn't come back every day. He will come back a second time. We also know that the scriptures tell us where he will return, to the same place he left, to the Mount of Olives. He'll come in the same form that he came, in a Glorified body. He'll also come at the very point at the end of the tribulation. So we know when, how, where, and for what reason Jesus will return. This is the most serious sin of idolatry. As you heard this morning, it is a serious sin punishable by death. All we have to do is look back at the Israelites who worshiped the golden calf as the true God that delivered them out of Egypt. 3,000 were put to death. It is the most serious sin. In the 13th century, Innocent III ordered inquisitions and crusades to prosecute Christians.

20:15Two million Albigenses were subjected to the most horrendous kinds of torture, and many were burned at the stake. The Church of Rome had drifted into full-fledged apostasy, not only putting to death anyone who contended for the truth of God's word, but also tolerating sin and sexual immorality. I want to share a quote by W.C. Brownlee in his book, Letters to Roman Catholic Controversy. He said, and I quote, Thus the Church of Rome stands before the world, the woman in scarlet, on the scarlet-colored beast, a church claiming to be Christian, yet drenched in the blood of the Christian. Of 68,500,000 human beings.

21:05This is the history of the Roman Catholic religion. This is the religion that evangelical leaders want to have unity with. They must know the truth. It was in the 13th century, Thomas Aquinas claimed indulgences could be purchased to obtain merit. The selling of God's grace was one of the sparks that brought about the Reformation. In fact, here you see the stairs that Martin Luther climbed when he visited Rome in 1510. In the providence of God, he saw and was shocked at all the immoral corruption of the clergy that was taking place. But as he was climbing these stairs, believing that each step would take away one year in purgatory, he remembered Romans 1:17, the just shall live by faith. That verse never lost its impact on Martin Luther's soul. He sprang to his feet and ran off in shame and horror. He saw more clearly than ever before the fallacy of trusting human works for salvation. His eyes had been open, never to be deceived by the delusions of the papacy again.

22:25Did you know that the sale of indulgences actually financed? The building of St. Peter's Basilica. It was in 1516 Pope Leo financed the building of St. Peter's, selling indulgences for the forgiveness of sin. Ironically, this cathedral that was built to worship God was paid for by the wages of iniquity. Johann Tetzel was appointed to sell indulgences in Germany. His certificates for the pardon of sins were said to have the power to save the living and the dead. He assured people that the very moment their coin was dropped in the kettle, the soul would be released from purgatory.

23:13Well, that brought about October 31st, 1517. It was the eve of All Saints' Day, which was very important because, you'll see in a moment, Catholics would be going into the church to venerate their relics. So Luther posted his 95 thesis on the church door in Wittenberg, exposing the error of indulgences. He wanted the people going into the church the next day to venerate the relics and indulgences in there, that these were worthless. It was the castle church of Wittenberg that had over 1,900 relics of dead saints on display.

23:53Luther exposed the selling of indulgences as the most wicked method to extort money from gullible. People. It was a device of Satan to destroy the souls of those being deceived. The gross superstition that accompanied the use of relics originated in paganism. This idolatrous practice is just one of many traditions that reveals the great deception within the Catholic religion. Did you happen to know that every Catholic church in America has a relic of a dead saint in its altar? If you've been into a Catholic church, you'll know in the middle of the Mass, the priest bends over and he kisses the altar. He's kissing the relic that was embedded in the altar. Relics are fingernails of saints, or hair, skin, bones, fragments. I mean, anything from a quote-unquote saint is said to be a relic worth venerating and worshiping.

24:57Catholics were granted indulgence for the remission of sins if they venerated relics on All Souls' Day. Well, what did Martin Luther have to say about the papacy? He said the Pope is the very Antichrist who has exalted himself above and opposed himself against Christ because he will not permit Christians to be saved without his power. To lie, to kill, and to destroy body and soul eternally, that is where the papal government really consists. The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their own conscience. As with a branding iron, men will forbid marriage and advocate abstaining from idols, abstaining from foods. I'm sorry. 1 Timothy 4, verses 1 to 3. Paul said, in latter times, some will depart from the faith to follow doctrines of demons. When we were still worshiping a believer's chapel in Dallas, there was a couple of Roman Catholic nuns that came, and they were easily identifiable because they were wearing their habits. At the end of the service, I went up and engaged them in conversation. I said, What brings you to our church today? Well, we're taking a course in junior college, and we were told to go out as an assignment to find out what other religions teach. And so they began asking questions as to what took place in our service, and each time they did, I opened my Bible and I showed them why we did different things. After about 15 minutes, one of the nuns said, How is it that you know the Bible so well? Every time we ask you a question, you know right where the answer is. I said, Well, I was once a Roman Catholic like you for 35 years, and I never opened my Bible, and so I was easily deceived, and I never want to be deceived again.

27:00They were ready to leave. I said, before you leave, can I ask you a question? Is it true that you're forbidden to marry? Oh, yes, we've taken a vow of celibacy. Did you happen to know that that is a doctrine of the demons? They gasped. And so I opened the 1 Timothy chapter 4. I let them read it. One of the nuns said, Wow, we're going to have to talk to our priest about this. And I gave them a couple of our gospel tracts, but, you know, I told them, make sure your priest does what I have done for you. I've shown you in the scriptures the answer from God's Word. Make sure he uses the Word of God to instruct you also.

27:43Did you happen to know that the nature of deception is that people never know they're deceived until they're confronted with the truth? You and I are truth-bearers. Roman Catholics don't know they're deceived. They've been indoctrinated to believe they belong to the one true church, and eventually the church will get them to heaven. That's where I was for 35 years. Oh, I had a Bible, but it sat on the coffee table. It was set there collecting dust. I never opened it. You know why? The priest told me, don't even bother to read it. It's too difficult. You just keep coming back. We'll tell you what's in it. Well, when I opened it and I began reading, I had a crisis of faith. I saw that the plan of salvation that was revealed in Scripture was diamond. Diametrically opposed to what the Catholic Church had taught me. I had a crisis of faith. Who am I going to trust, Christ in His Word, or the teachings and traditions of my religion? I knew I could not believe both. It was then I cried out to the Lord, Show me the truth. He granted me repentance, He gave me eyes to see the glorious gospel of grace. He literally turned my life upside down. I've never been the same. And so I left the Catholic Church with a heavy burden to reach back to those who are deceived and they don't even know it. But I want to share with you another doctrine of the devil that the Roman Catholic Church practices. I have to take you all the way back to the garden because Rome adopted Satan's first lie. Remember, Satan said, if you break God's command, you surely shall not die? How do they do that? With their doctrine of venial sins. Speaking through deluded ministers of righteousness, Rome declares, lesser sins do not cause death, only temporal punishment. This is from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 1863. John MacArthur calls this the safety net for Roman Catholics. They don't believe they're bad enough for hell. They've just committed these venial sins, and surely after suffering in purgatory, they'll be on their way to heaven.

29:55Well, Rome's apostasy was complete in the 16th century. She deliberately and dogmatically departed from the gospel of Jesus Christ at the Council of Trent in 1545. Her apostasy is documented by over 100 infallible anathemas that condemn born-again Christians. I want to share with you one of the most important anathemas that the Roman Catholic Church condemns us with, and that has to do with the most important doctrine of justification. It was Martin Luther who said the gates of heaven open and close on the hinges of this important doctrine. He said, if you get justification wrong, you get the gospel wrong. So, what is the doctrine of justification? It declares the inflexible righteousness of God as the judge who must punish every sin that has ever been committed by everyone who has ever lived. The only way condemned sinners can be justified is through faith in the sin-bearing, substitutionary death and resurrection of Christ alone, who satisfied divine justice. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, for 35 years I never once heard of the substitutionary atonement of Christ. Oh, I was told Christ died for the sins of the world. That's history. But when I found out Christ died for me, that was salvation. When you witnessed to Catholics, Make sure you talk about Christ dying as a substitute for sinners. So let's look at the contrasting views between the Bible and Roman Catholicism.

31:42The Bible teaches that justification is the change of one's legal status before God, whereby a condemned sinner has been acquitted and declared righteous. That's from Romans 5, verses 12 to 21. That's why there's a gavel on the screen. It is a legal change and status. But Rome says, no, justification changes the inner man, not his legal status. Paragraph 2019 of the Catechism. The Bible also teaches that justification is instantaneous, when the gavel comes down, no longer condemned, but now declared righteous. Rome says justification is a process. It is the ongoing renewal of the interior man. Paragraph 2019.

32:33Rome also says that initial justification is by the sacrament of water baptism. Now this is perplexing because we know that justification is by faith. If you've ever had a seven-day-old infant, you know the infant cannot put their faith in anything. But yet this is where Rome says initial justification takes place. The Bible clearly says justification is by faith and what God accomplishes. In Christ, Romans 5:1 The Bible teaches that justification is permanent. It's never lost by sin. The legal status of a justified man is as unchangeable as the righteousness of Christ. I love sharing Hebrews 10:14. By one offering, he has made perfect forever those who are being sanctified.

33:27But Rome says, No, justification is temporal. It can be lost by sin and regained through the sacrament of penance and good works. That's why on the screen you see two arrows, one going up. Catholics believe whenever they do good works, their right standing before God increases, but when they sin, their right standing before God goes down. In fact, a mortal sin dejustifies them, and they've got to start all over. The Bible teaches that God justifies the ungodly, Romans 4, 5. But Rome teaches final justification is for those who become righteous. Thus they reject the testimony of the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 3, verses 4 to 9. You may be familiar with that passage. If anybody had reason to boast in his own righteousness, it was the Apostle Paul. But he considered it all dung. He exchanged his religion for a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, receiving his righteousness as a gift.

34:42That's what we must encourage all Catholics to do. The same thing Paul did: exchange your worthless religion for a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible teaches justification is the imputation of Christ's completed righteousness to be justified. Oh, how I love sharing 2 Corinthians 5:21. To me, it's the gospel in one verse. He that is Jesus, who knew no sin, became sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. That is the greatest exchange in human history. By faith, Christ takes all of our sin, all of our guilt, all of our punishment. What does He give us in return? His perfect righteousness. But Rome says, No, justification is the infusion. You see the difference? Imputation versus infusion? The infusion of righteousness which renews the interior man. It's like getting a blood transfusion. You're infused with more and more righteousness every time you do a good work or receive the sacraments.

35:52Well, justification is by grace apart from works, clearly stated in the Bible. Christ's righteousness is given as a gift. Romans 5, 17. But Rome says no, once again, justification must include good works. In fact, if anyone says that the sinner is justified by faith alone, let him be anathema. You and I are condemned by the Roman Catholic religion because we believe we are justified by faith alone. Rome says rejustification must be merited by making satisfaction for sins through penance and through works of mercy. Can you begin to see the contrasting views of this most important doctrine and why the Roman Catholic Church condemns those who believe what the Bible teaches about justification?

36:51The Bible teaches after justification, all sins are no longer taken into account or punished. I love 2 Corinthians 5.19. We read that God is reconciling the world to himself through Jesus Christ, not counting men's sins against them. Why doesn't God count our sins against us any longer? Because they were all imputed to Christ. Oh, so does that give us a license to sin? May it never be. Titus 2, the grace that brought us salvation teaches us to say no to ungodliness. No to worldly passions and to live a self-controlled, upright life. Saving grace becomes our tutor. We want to live a life pleasing to the Lord, not continuing in sin. Rome says, all sins committed after justification may be punished either in purgatory or in hell.

37:54God promises to glorify everyone He justifies because those justified can never be condemned. The great promise we see in Romans 8:1. And then in Romans 8.30, those God justifies, he what? Glorifies. I was teaching on a cruise to Israel and there was a Roman Catholic priest on board and I had an opportunity to sit down and have a conversation with him. And we came to Romans 8.30 and I asked him, is it true that your church teaches an infant is justified through water baptism? Yes. Is it true that if that infant grows up and commits mortal sin and dies in that state, he goes to hell? Yes, that's what we teach. I said, well, how do you explain Romans 8.30? Those God justifies, he glorifies. He scratched his head and said, you know, we just don't have an answer for that one.

38:53Rather than submit to the authority of God's inspired, infallible, authoritative word, we just don't have an answer. An answer for that? Trusting his religion rather than the word of God. Rome says, God will condemn to hell everyone who is justified but who dies in mortal sin. You see, Roman Catholics don't have eternal life, it's conditional life. I want to share you a contrast between the biblical gospel and the Roman Catholic gospel. This is where I had the crisis of faith when I began reading this in Scripture. We see that biblical salvation is by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 2:8, and 9 have set so many Roman Catholics free. But Catholic salvation is by faith plus the sacraments, plus the sacrifice of the Mass, plus purgatory, plus penance, plus indulgences, plus water baptism, plus keeping the law. If you've read Galatians 3, you know that anyone who attempts to keep the law for salvation places themselves under a curse. Because James 2:10 says, if you were to keep the law perfectly and yet stumble at one part, you're guilty of breaking the entire law. But biblical salvation is purely the gospel. Paul said, if you believe anything else, you believed in vain. 1 Corinthians 15, 2. And then he goes on to drive a stake in the ground in Galatians 1. Verses 6 to 9. If anyone comes preaching another gospel other than the one we preach, let him be accursed, which is let him be anathema, let him be turned over to God for destruction.

40:44The Judaizers only added one requirement for salvation, and Paul put them under a divine curse. Look at what the Catholic Church has added to the gospel. See how the divine curse applies to them as well. Can you see why we need to go on a search and rescue mission to reach Roman Catholics and bring them out from a church that's under divine condemnation? Well, you're familiar with the five solas of the Reformation. Do you know why they were so important? Because the Catholic Church taught that salvation was by grace plus merit, by faith plus works, by Christ plus other mediators, by scripture plus tradition. And glory went to God plus glory to Mary and the saints. That's why it's often called the plus religion. If a Roman Catholic wants to be saved, he must repent of all the pluses. That's why the Reformers said, no, you're saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, according to Scripture alone, all for the glory of God alone.

41:57Well, the perverted doctrine of justification. The Roman Catholic Church puts them on a different path to eternity than the biblical path. I want to share with you, because this is so important to realize, Roman Catholics believe, as we do, that we're born destined for hell, but that's where we part our ways. They say it's water baptism that puts them on the road to heaven. When they commit venial sins, they're losing some of their right standing before God. When they commit a mortal sin, they're once again destined for hell. They must be rejustified by doing good works and receiving sacraments that produce enough merit to qualify them for heaven. You see the treasury there? It's actually invisible. It contains the inexhaustible merits of Christ commingled with the merits of Mary and all the saints that died with more than enough merit to get them to heaven. The Pope is said to have the power to transfer these merits to those who are suffering in purgatory, but he refuses to do so unless people purchase indulgences. When my dear old dad died as a very devout Catholic, we were going through his mail. Over 100 mass cards, indulgences were purchased to get my dad out of a place that doesn't even exist. This is the wicked deception of the Roman Catholic Church. It's why it's become one of the richest institutions on the face of the earth, selling God's. Grace for indulgences. Well, at the end of a Catholic's life, if he's never heard the gospel or if he's heard it and rejected it, he will hear the most terrifying words anyone could ever hear when Jesus says, Depart from me, I never knew you, and they're cast into the eternal lake of fire.

43:50This is why I have such a burden for Catholics. They're traveling the same road I traveled for so many years. We need to present the truth of the gospel to them. Only then will they know they've been deceived about life's most critical issue. And we need to show them the biblical path. It's not by water baptism, it's by faith in Christ. And at that very moment, we are justified and we begin the process of sanctification through the power of the Holy Spirit, putting to death the evil deeds of the flesh and conforming our life to the life of Christ. There's that great promise in Romans 8:1, there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. And then at the end of a believer's life or at the rapture, hopefully we'll all hear the words, well done, my good and faithful servant. And then we'll sing the praises of our Lord forever and ever.

44:49Amen. What a contrast. Well, what is the message of the gospel? How are we to share the message of the gospel? I just want to say, Let you know there's four key parts of the gospel that you always need to include. Let's start with God's perfection. He is holy. And then you move to God, to man's problem. He is a sinner. And then we go to God's provision, and that is a glorious Savior. And then finally, to man's part. He must repent and believe the gospel. So, what do each of these parts of the message mean as far as from Scripture?

45:28We need to share the scripture. Our eternal Creator is majestic in holiness, Exodus 15:11. We need to share the righteousness and justice of the very foundation of his throne, Psalm 97:2. He is a righteous judge, and he cannot let the guilty go unpunished. Psalm 7:11. Divine justice must be satisfied. That is the perfection of our holy and righteous God. Well, what is man's problem? He's a sinner. In fact, the Bible says all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23. Your iniquities have separated you from God, Isaiah 59:2. The soul who sins shall die, Ezekiel 18, 4. And what is the second death? It is the lake of fire, Revelation 20:14. Well, God didn't leave us in our hopeless and helpless condition, He provided a glorious Savior. There's so much we could say about the Lord Jesus Christ as we present the gospel to those who have been deceived by a false counterfeit Christ. But here's just a synopsis of what we can share. The Lord Jesus Christ is God's eternal Son. He left the glory of heaven in God's foreknowledge to be conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin to take on human flesh. He lived in perfect obedience to God's law, then was crucified as the perfect sacrifice to satisfy divine justice for sinners. He bore man's sin. He suffered God's wrath. He died in man's place and was raised on the third day to show that divine justice was satisfied. What a glorious Savior we have to share with those who don't know about him.

47:23This is what they worship. This is the Christ they think will save them. They're putting their hope and their faith in the Catholic priest and in their religion rather than in the all-sufficient Christ. So what is man's part as we share the gospel? They must repent and believe the gospel. We see in 2 Corinthians 7, 10 that godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation. And then in Romans 10, 9 and 10, if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and with your mouth that you confess and are saved. My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, when you share the gospel, you must bring it to a close. What do I mean by that? Well, I was invited up to a church in Wisconsin, and the church asked me to preach on Saturday night. I gave a message entitled, Where Will You Spend Eternity? Well, there was a woman in the church that was married to a very devout Roman Catholic. She had asked the church to pray for his salvation for three years. When she found out I was coming, she begged him to come.

48:45So he came and he sat and he listened to Where Will You Spend Eternity. I shared what the gospel is and what the gospel is not. At the end of the message, she came up and introduced her husband to me, told me that he was a devout Catholic. And I said, Based on what you heard this evening, what is keeping you from repenting and trusting the Lord Jesus Christ as your all-sufficient Savior? He just looked at me with a blank look, and I wasn't going to say another word. About 45 seconds went by, silence. Finally, his wife blurts out, It's your parents. You don't want to offend your parents.

49:28He said, You know, she's right. I don't want to offend my parents. So I gave them a couple of gospel tracts. I said, please go home and read these scripture verses. Come back tomorrow morning. I'm going to be preaching again. Well, the next morning, we got to church early. They were the very first people in the church. They sat down with us and the pastor, and he started speaking. He said, I couldn't sleep at all last night. He said, I read what you gave me. I cried out to the Lord for salvation. And then I couldn't wait for my wife to finally wake up.

50:05Then we sat on the side of the bed, and I apologized to her for every time she invited me to church. I bit her head off. I said, please forgive me for how angry I got. But I'm now a Christian. I cried out to the Lord for salvation. I share that with you because we need to find out what's holding people back. We need to see if they're ready right now to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. You've given them the gospel. You've shared God's holiness. You've shared their sinful condition. You know that divine justice must be satisfied. Are you ready to put your trust in Christ and repent of every false way? And listen to what they say. Maybe they need some more scripture.

50:51Well, there's two principles for witnessing with Roman Catholics. The first one, you must. Establish the supreme authority of Scripture. Why? Because Rome rejects the supreme authority of Scripture by elevating its tradition and infallible bishops to be equal in authority. That's why you need to establish the Word of God as supreme. There's ways you can do that. Acts 17:11, Paul was preaching to the synagogue in Berea. As he was preaching, his listeners were searching the scriptures to test the veracity of an apostle's teaching. Every man's teaching must come under the same scrutiny. Another reason, Rome corrupts the Word of God by adding its traditions to it. Rome declares its bishops alone have been entrusted with the interpretation of God's Word. God didn't write the Scriptures to the bishops of any church, He wrote them to the saints of the churches that the letters were going to. Each person will be held accountable to what the Word of God says. We also establish the sufficiency of Jesus. The biblical Jesus provides eternal life, the Catholic Jesus, conditional life, the biblical Jesus, the complete forgiveness of sin, the Catholic Jesus, only partial forgiveness. The biblical Jesus provides a permanent right standing before God. The Catholic Jesus, a continuous striving to gain God's acceptance.

52:26The biblical Jesus provides peace and assurance. The Catholic Jesus, uncertainty, fear, and a false hope. Running out of time, I want to skip ahead to let's see. Bear with me one moment. What is our responsibility as Christians? What are we to do knowing the history of the Roman Catholic religion? We must stand firm on the truth of God's word and be sober and alert, lest we be swept away by the growing ecumenical movement. It is growing. The Lord Jesus has given us a great responsibility and an awesome privilege to proclaim his gospel. When he ascended into heaven, he finished his mission on this earth to seek and to save that which was lost. Passed the baton to his church. You and I are now to seek after those who will never seek after the true God. What a great responsibility and an awesome privilege the Lord has given us. Visit our website, proclaimingthegospel.org. We have a newsletter going out on the first of the month. I'm going to be comparing who Catholics believe was their first Pope with the current Pope Francis to show the contrast in their teachings. It will be a great newsletter to share with your Catholic friends. We really believe in literature evangelism, sowing the seed of God's imperishable word by passing out gospel tracts. We carry them with us wherever we go, always ready as we engage people to give them the greatest news they'll ever hear. I've written a book contending for the gospel because the ecumenical movement is really gathering steam. We need to defend the purity and the exclusivity of the gospel of Christ. What happens if we don't? The glory of our great God and Savior will be tarnished, the sanctity of his church, and the eternal destiny of those who have been deceived. I've also written a book, Preparing for Eternity, which is an excellent book to coach you and your evangelism to share these glorious truths of the gospel. It's also a good book to sit down and go through with a Roman Catholic. The first chapter is establishing the Bible as the support of the Authority, then we go through the assurance of eternal life. We began our ministry sharing gospel videos. Within three months, 17 Roman Catholics that came to our home exchanged their religion for a relationship with Christ. You can do the same thing. Thank you for the opportunity. Thank you for the invitation, Thomas, to come and share with you this evening. It is a huge mission field. One out of four Americans are Roman Catholics. Engage people wherever you go. Ask them, where are they hoping to spend eternity? Let them know from 1 John 5 that they can know with absolute assurance right here and now when they put their faith and trust in Christ. Father, we do thank you for this evening. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, our great and glorious Savior. Thank you for your inspired, inerrant word, that we can trust in this day and age where people are looking so earnestly for some place to find the truth. May we always be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have in Christ Jesus. And Father, if there be anyone here this evening that is still trusting what they must do for salvation, I pray, Father, that they would repent of that, that they would put all of their hope and trust in an all-sufficient Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and receive the peace that passes, surpasses all understanding. We ask this for the glory of Christ. And in the power of his name, amen.