Every Wednesday I post the sermon of the week. After hearing this message I could barely wait till Wednesday to share this one with you.
This week’s sermon is an absolute must-hear. It is entitled Unmasking the Pope and the Catholic System by John MacArthur. It is–hands down–the best message I’ve ever heard on Roman Catholicism . . . bar none.
Even if you have a minimal interest in understanding what Roman Catholicism is about, or no interest at all, I expect this sermon will change that. I also encourage those Roman Catholics who read this blog (I know you’re out there) to seriously listen to this. If you have the truth, then you have nothing to fear.
I’ll be moving this sermon into my “Top Ten” favorites.
Click on the link to listen streaming, or right click on the link and click “Save As” (Internet Explorer) or “Save Link As” (Mozilla) to save to your computer. From there you can burn this to a CD or upload it to your MP3 player.
If interested, you can read the transcript of this message here.
Christ Alone Wyoming 
Excellent post. It seems true believers can always rely on John MacArthur for preaching the true Gospel. Thanks for posting this sermon!
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Pastor McArthur is an intelligent man, I knew him when I was younger, read many of his books and commentaries and heard many many of his sermons.
I can only assume, then, that this egregious characiture of the Catholic Church is not mere misunderstanding but a willful distortion of the truth.
There are numerous resources available on what the Church actually teaches, first among them the Catechism of the Catholic Church. It’s available online for free.
You can believe the outright lies in this sermon (by a man who would be out of a very lucrative job if people understood the truth about the Church) or you can find out the truth of yourself.
In the love of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Matt
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Dear Matthew:
Thank you for your comment.
I’m presuming by your comment that you listened to at least a portion of the sermon (if not the whole thing) instead of simply seeing that it was critical of Catholicism and then assumed everything said thereafter was a lie about the RCC.
If this is the case I want to thank you for taking the time to listen to it and I’d like to ask you–using the Word of God as the standard (if you believe it’s infallible and the final authority)–what exactly did John MacArthur say in this message that is not true?
Respectfully,
– The Pilgrim
P.S. Can you provide the link to the CCC that you recommended?
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Sadly, many people have been caught up in believing the traditions of various churches and denominations instead of following the truth of God’s Word. Having an extensive family background within the RCC, I know the extensive lies that have been taught by this organization which claims to be the “only” true church of the living God.
Much of what is now being taught (even within the RCC) is being done to counter the damage that has been done by evangelicals preaching the truth of God’s Word. They have assumed identities, labels, phraseology, and even “doctrines” to attempt to assure their blinded followers that they are “Christian.” Yet, nothing could be further from the truth.
I do not hate those in the RCC, but I do hate the lies, deceit, false doctrine, and heresy that has been held by a huge organization that is truly concerned about where their followers will spend eternity. Any organization that lifts up anything but the Word of God as its rule, and anybody but the Lord Jesus Christ as its head is an abomination before the one true, holy, righteous God of the universe.
By the grace of God,
The Desert Pastor
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If not for Roman Catholocism… Your christian religion wouldn’t exist!
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You are partially correct, in that, if not for Roman Catholicism, “christian” religion would not exist. Fortunately, what I believe has nothing to do with religion. It has to do with a risen Lord Jesus Christ who came and died to my sin bearer 300 years before the RCC even came into existence.
As one hymnwriter put it, “My faith is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness!” My faith is not in man-made traditions or being required to pray to saints or popes, but in the fact that the Word of God is infallible and without error. Either Jesus Christ is Who He claims to be, or He was nothing but a fraud. He cannot be both. He told the world that He was the ONLY way to heaven and the ONLY way to the Father.
The question – “Who do you say Christ is?”
The answer will make the difference between a Christ-less eternity or a blessed eternity where we will know the full joy of being with the One Who loved us and gave Himself for us. The One Who knew no sin and became sin so that we who were sinners might become the righteousness of God in Him! Praise the Lord that true biblical faith is NOT based on man-made religion, but on the Risen Christ!
By the grace of God,
The Desert Pastor
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Dear godless1:
Your comments are being regulated and deleted because you are not discussing the issues in a civil manner, but (as most Atheists) just attacking for the sake of attacking because of your vitriolic hatred for God and Christians. Here’s an example of one of your deleted comments:
You Christians want to pretend that you are innocent?
I’m not buying’ it!!!!
If you can accuse the Catholics…
If you can accuse the Mormons…
If you can accuse Islam…
Then I can accuse YOU!!!!!
If you think you are entitled to post whatever you want, then I encourage you to consider whose blog this is, then I encourage you to read this post before wasting one more keystroke.
As I clearly stated before (which you must have missed or ignored or failed to comprehend) I don’t hold any church responsible for the actions of their followers if those actions are separate and not sanctioned by their particular church. I encourage you to read what I already said about this here.
If, however, atrocities are committed because of the direct instruction or teaching of said church or sanctioned and overlooked by said church, then that church is responsible for those actions.
Let’s do a quick run down of four major groups:
Christians
The final authority for Christians is the Bible. We follow the Scriptures and the true Church patterns itself after the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles as they gave the instructions and example of how the Church is to run, including the spread of the Gospel. If professing Christians commit evil acts, they did not get their direction from the Scriptures and thus, you can’t blame the true Church and it’s authority and its Head (the Bible and Christ respectively) for their rouge actions. They were acting outside the Bible and Christ.
Catholics
The final authority in th RCC is the Pope. He is considered the Holy Father and Catholics take their direction from Him. During the Reformation (and the Inquisition) many countless people were tortured and put to death because they would not submit to the Catholic Church. This was sanctioned, endorsed, and forwarded by the Catholic Church. Therefore these crimes against humanity were committed by the Catholic Church. (Crimes such as daring to print the Bible in English, possess an English Bible, or not bowing to the authority of the Pope.) The fault lies at the feet of the church that sanctioned and approved this type of behavior; those people were following the orders of their church.
Mormons
The Mormon’s final authority is their Prophet/President whom they teach would never direct the church in error or lead them astray. Brigham Young, their Prophet/President taught repeatedly the doctrine of Blood Atonement. And guess what, some followers believed this teaching and acted on it. So people were murdered because of the teaching of the LDS church through its infallible prophets. The fault lies at the feet of the church that sanctioned and approved this type of behavior: those people were following the orders of their church.
Good old Atheists
Since the Atheist’s final authority is his own self, who can be held responsible for his actions but himself? Well, no one. And let’s see, Marxism, Socialism, Communism has killed an estimated 100 million + people in the last century alone. So sir, before you decide to camp on this blog to offer your venomous attacks, you may want to begin by cleaning your own house.
– The Pilgrim
P.S. You also wrote “If not for Roman Catholocism… Your christian religion wouldn’t exist!” Yet another statement stemming from your hatred for Christians and made with limited understanding. The Apostles and early Church fathers were Christians, not Roman Catholics and I believe God was strong and capable enough to sustain His Church without the need of an apostate religion.
And just keep in mind, If not for God, you wouldn’t exist!
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Everything John MacArthur said is true. I watch programs on EWTN to see what they teach. Programs like “The Journey Home”, John Corapi teaching the catechism, and “Web of Faith”. “The Journey Home” program has former protestants and cultists on the show who made their way either to, or back to the Catholic church. John Corapi obviously teaches their catechism, and the “Web of Faith” has two priests/scholars answering questions posed them on the internet. Initially, I watched these programs to see if what they taught is actually what I heard about the Catholic church. I quickly realized everything I heard about them is true.
On “The Journey Home”, guests often intimate that they wished Catholics weren’t so ignorant of the Word of GOD. People who call and email the show often have the same wish. However, they rarely talk about the scriptures, and choose to reference the early church fathers, the catechism, some book that either some saint wrote, or a book that someone wrote about a saint. This is the same argument I will use for the “Web of Faith” program. The one Scripture Marcus Grodi (the host of “The Journey Home”) most often quotes is John 6:53-58. This amazes me, because at mass (I will not capitalize) the people do not drink the wine/BLOOD. The priest drinks it all, which to me is ludicrous. So, I was on YouTube one day and brought this fact to a catholic believer’s attention. He called me a heretic, because a pope, I don’t know which one, called John Hussite – the name he gave me – the man who brought this very same question up a heretic. He further said that the laity have no need to drink the wine/BLOOD, because the, “holy omniscient church” (my sarcasm), said that there is blood in the bread/FLESH. I wonder which Protestant took that out of the Holy Bible? JESUS never says to the disciples, you don’t actually have to drink the wine/MY BLOOD, because it is in the bread/MY FLESH. I was hoping to hear John MacArthur bring this point up, because it is so crucial for people to hear how this church is so arrogant and deceiving. Especially when it comes to their most blessed sacrament, which is no sacrament at all if believers are not allowed to fully partake of such a Blessing.
That is all for now. If someone would like to dialog with me great. If not, that is all I will comment on for this post. Thank you for such a great site.
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James Pratt said: “This amazes me, because at mass (I will not capitalize) the people do not drink the wine/BLOOD. The priest drinks it all, which to me is ludicrous.”
James, you are mistaken about this. There are many Masses where congregants do drink the wine.
You sound quite angry and sarcastic in your post. Why are you so worked up about the Catholic Church? If you don’t believe it, go elsewhere. I suspect you watch EWTN more with an intention of finding something to criticize rather than with an open mind. Catholicism is a Christian faith. We all need to focus on glorifying Christ, not looking for denominational differences that distract us from Him.
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D. Walle,
Thank you for responding. I am angry about some of the things the rcc teaches. If there are congregants who drink the wine, I have never seen them. Why is this fact not shown on EWTN? And why not all the people at each and every mass? It seems to me that in order to follow what you’ve been taught, you should always drink it. If of course, there is nothing between you and your brother. And I get angry when a catholic tells me I’m a heretic for bringing up the question. How is a question heretical? The really sad part is, I believe the person was a priest. It is a clever thing the rcc has done. GOD’S Word is not the proving ground and authority of all spiritual teaching, but the “church fathers”, tradition, taking Scriptures out of context and extrapolating ideas out of them that are nowhere to be found in them, and the catechism are far more integral to spirtual teaching. This is utter foolishness. Read the letters to Timothy, and what they reveal about Scripture. You will never convince me that the rcc is right. It bothers me that the rcc deceives so many, as I was once deceived by a church that would align itself with Protestants.
I have also seen the priests on EWTN preach CHRIST and HIM Crucified. Which is a great thing. However, HE died once for all. It is finished. Paid in full. There is nothing we have to offer HIM. Ephesians 2:8-9, HE does it all for us.
I don’t just disagree with catholics. I watched a video on youtube last night where someone teaching on tongues said to offer utterances to GOD and then you will be speaking in tongues in no time. We have nothing to offer GOD that HIS Work and Blessings need. We don’t receive a spiritual gift from GOD because we offer HIM a mere elementary form of the gift HE Bestows. This is utter foolishness. Should I utter bits of knowledge; bits of teaching; and bits of prophecy? So that GOD will send me one of those gifts. It doesn’t say in my Holy Bible that when the Baptiam of the SPIRIT came upon the people at Pentecost, they then offered utterances to GOD, so HE gave them the gift of tongues. I had a girlfriend for nine years that attended an Assemblies of GOD church, and she never once witnessed to me. However, by GOD’S Glorious Grace HE drew me unto HIMSELF that I have Faith in HIS SON.
Can a catholic know that he/she has eternal life? What is the church’s teaching on this matter? Who or what would they refer one to for an answer?
That is all for now.
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The bible was written after there had been a church in existance for some time, and that church was catholic, Since God is a living God and his church is a living church, he promised to stay with his chuch til the end of times. The authority he gave his church is not the authority he gave the bible, through his church he assembled his bible, and gave the living Holy Spirit to the Church for it’s interpretation. He did not want 35000 churches, he calls us to be one
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randy,
I am afraid that your comment shows a distinct lack of knowledge of church and biblical history. The Bible was written by approximately 40 men over a period of about 1600 years. The last book to be written was the Revelation of Jesus Christ which was about 90-96A.D.
The RCC did not actually start until the Roman Emperor Constantine ate too much pizza with anchovies one night and supposedly saw a sign in the sky. Promptly commanded all of his soldiers to be sprinkled en masse and declared the Roman Empire to be “Christian”.
Sadly, the heresy of syncretism (mixing pagan idolatrous worship with bits and pieces of true Biblical Christianity) has continued for the last 16-17 centuries by godless men called popes.
The Word of God is to be the final authority on all matters pertaining to life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3). As for the Holy Spirit, He was given solely to individuals who have by grace through faith alone placed that faith in Jesus Christ alone for their eternal salvation. NOT in the RCC, or in their godless and unbiblical traditions.
Standing on the Authority of Scripture,
The Desert Pastor
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Amen, DP.
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randy said of God: “He did not want 35000 churches, he calls us to be one”
And there is only one church, the church invisible, the true Body which is comprised of those who come to Christ by grace alone through faith alone in Him alone to the praise of His glory alone.
This is a spiritual reality even though myriads of wicked men are willing and eager to compromise scripture and make a shipwreck of their faith in order to achieve a false temporal “unity” so-called which is purchased at the expense of the truth.
There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. (Ephesians 4:4-6)
The true church was, is, and always will be one.
In Christ,
CD
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The Jehovah’s Witnesses & the Roman Catholics do have one thing in common, they both find it hard to comprehend that God’s church isn’t under one denomination. I had one Jehovah’s Witness come to my house several Saturdays in a row. He wanted to know which organization was God’s representative here on earth. To him it had to be a single visible denomination. When I explained that God’s people were comprised of the invisible body of believers throughout the world, he looked at me incredulously & said, “Aw, com on Ed, you can see them!” I think he took me a little too literally & thought I meant they were invisible, like the invisible man. Anyway, that was to illustrate how the Roman Catholics & Jehovah Witnesses think.
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The Pilgrim, the Vatican has passages of the Catechism on its website. I reverted to Catholicism after a period of agnosticism thanks to an angelic visitation and studying the Holy Bible and the Catechism. It has many paragraphs that ring true for Christendom in general. Churches must have dogma so that their congregants do not run astray by their temptations and by false teachers as 2 Peter 2 describes.
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