Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
I John 4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
This week there was a heading that came across my computer, suggesting that any non-Catholic that hears one particular message will become a Catholic. I thought, that is a bold statement. I wonder what message that would be. So I clicked on it.
The priest that was speaking was using John 6 to try to justify their ‘wafer to flesh’ false doctrine and that it is essential for believers in Jesus Christ to eat His flesh.
In John 6 Jesus was teaching on the fact that He is the Bread of Life. He contrasted Himself as the living bread with the manna of the Old Testament.
John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.
From there He spoke of the necessity of believing in Him. He spoke of the necessity of eating His flesh. Before He spoke of eating His flesh He emphasized the importance of believing on Him.
The Catholic priest noted that from verse 53-58 Jesus spoke of eating His flesh 6x. He was very careful to mention these, of course from a perversion. Then he skipped over the key portion of this passage and went to the fact that many disciples left Jesus over what He said and how Jesus asked if the twelve would leave Him as well.
The key to understanding this passage is found in the verses prior to Jesus talking about eating His flesh, which in fact deal with believing on Him, and then verse:
John 6:63 It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.
Those who left Jesus in chapter 6 assumed He was telling them they needed to literally eat His flesh. The Catholics think they have solved that problem by teaching the heresy that when the priest takes the wafer and holds it up and chants some words, it literally becomes the flesh of Jesus Christ. They teach, that by partaking of that wafer, the sins of the participant can be forgiven.
That is utter heresy, but they teach it and thousands of people believe that lie. In Catholicism, you can go to confession and do what the priest tells you to do to pay for your sin, and then you can go back out and sin again. It is a cash cow for the church and a worthless endeavour for those who believe the lie. You can also go to the ‘mass’ and have your sins removed through their heretical teaching on the wafer and the cup.
Of course none of that helps anything. However, spiritually dead people are content to follow the lie because they feel they are doing something to momentarily get rid of their sin. Of course, they also believe that at death they must spend some time in purgatory. There they will suffer somewhat, but if their families will pay the priests enough money to pray for them, then they might get out of purgatory sooner.
The sad reality is that all Catholics will go straight to Hell at death. Their rejection of the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ condemns them to Hell and eventually to the lake of fire.
As our opening verses tell us, Satan is very subtle. He was able to deceive Eve into thinking that God was unjust. She was able to convince Adam to forget about what God had commanded him to do and he accepted her lie. Adam knew better and he was held accountable for his sin.
We are warned not to believe every spirit that comes to us with some “spiritual” insight. We have a Bible. We can and must examine every teaching in the light of God’s sure Word. Of course, if you do not believe we have an absolute word from God, then you will accept lies like Adam did.
If you are currently a Catholic, I invite you to read the entire chapter 6 of John’s Gospel account. You will see that you have been lied to. Then read John 14:6 ad you will see that Jesus Christ is the only way to the Father. Turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ alone as your Saviour and Redeemer. If you do that, you will know you have done the right thing. The Holy Spirit will indwell you and He will confirm your salvation through God’s Word. He will also guide you to go to a true local church where you can be further taught the Truth.
Don’t settle for deception. Don’t follow the crowd. Follow the Lord. Remember, of all the Jews that were in Israel at the time of Christ, He had twelve disciples of which one was a devil. Crowds followed Him. They liked to witness the healings and the free food. They did not like the clear and absolute teaching. They eventually allowed the chief priests to convince them that Jesus Christ needed to be killed to get Him out of the way.
The reality is that He laid down His life and shed His blood so that people could be saved. Nobody gets rid of God/Jesus Christ. All will answer to the Lord Jesus Christ one day. The saved will meet Him in heaven. The lost will meet Him at the great white throne judgment. Each one reading this has the opportunity of asking God to check your heart to make sure you are one of His children. If you are, you will want to follow Him. If you are not, you will continue on your path of darkness. The good news is that God, through the Holy Spirit, is working on your heart to help you to see your need to submit to the truth. Don’t fight Him. You cannot win. You will suffer for all eternity if you reject the Truth.
Pastor Bartel