Catholic Topics by John MacArthur

Please take the time to listen to or read these sermons by John MacArthur. 


Explaining the Heresy of the Catholic Mass Part 1   LISTEN or READ
-He talks more about the Mass of 50 yrs ago, such as how the communion is dispensed, but the meaning behind the mass is the same. The verse he is referring to when he comments that all Christians are priests unto God is 1 Peter 2:9, "But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."

Explaining the Heresey of the Catholic Mass Part 2 LISTEN or READ

Exposing the Idolatry of Mary Worship Part1 LISTEN or READ

Exposing the Idolatry of Mary Worship Part 2 LISTEN or READ

Exposing the Idolatry of Mary Worship Part 3 LISTEN or READ
-What the Bible says about Mary 

False Christian Movement- New Apostolic Reformation

On Aug 9th Gov Rick Perry is hosting The Response, a prayer event, that on the surface sounds great.  But the leadership team behind the event is a group known as the New Apostolic Reformation (also known as Joel's Army).  Take a moment to educate yourself about who this group is, and what they believe, before you consider supporting this event.

False Preachers

I'm sure at some point while flipping through tv channels you passed by TBN or another such 'Christian' channel with preachers promising to send you something holy if you send a donation.  Or telling you that if you give them $100 God will multiply your donation and you'll receive back $300.  Or even telling you that God wants you to be rich, so if you aren't then you just don't have enough faith.   Some say that if you 'name it you can claim it!', or just focus on what you want to happen then declare it will happen and that gives God permission to do that work in your life.

These men (or women) are not teaching Biblical ideas.  The Bible clearly teaches, "For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." (1 Tim 6:10).  When we give money at church (whether you tithe or not), we are simply giving back to God what He has given to you.  We give to God without expecting anything in return.  We give to God because we want to contribute to doing His work on earth through the different ministries our churches support.

God doesn't need our permission, or our visualization, to accomplish anything.  The Bible says, "But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible." (Matt 19:26)

Preachers that make false claims about money are called Prosperity Preachers.  And those that teach we need to give God permission to work, or that we need to speak certain words to release God's power are called Word-Faith Preachers. Even if you don't watch TBN, these preachers often write bestselling books, are invited onto talk shows, have celebrity friends, and author chain emails that you may be passing around.  Please take a moment to look through these names and see if you recognize any. 

Here are some of the big names in these false Christian movements. It can be easy to be deceived because they sound very Christian (because they use the same 'Christian' language), but listen to the messages they speak.

Prosperity Preachers:
Kenneth Copeland
Creflo Dollar
Rod Parsley
Benny Hinn
Paula White

Word of Faith Preachers:
 Joyce Meyers
Joel Osteen
Cindy Trimm
Pat Robertson (700 club)

Aren't All Religions Basically the Same?

Have you ever wondered why there are so many religions?  Where did the religions come from?  Well, all religions on the Earth are from the same source...except Christianity.

A really interesting video series tracing the beginnings of the different religions is called The Fuel Project. You will see why so many religions are so similar today, and what makes Christianity different.

But lets look at some of the similarities between the world religions:

Prayer Beads:  Many religions use beads to pray repetitive prayers.  (They are being sold for the upcoming World Interfaith Harmony Week in September, where all religions are going to work toward peace.) 

Catholic's pray the Rosary to Mary

Muslims pray subhah beads to Allah

Hindu believers pray Mala beads

Buddhists also pray Mala beads

The Bible has no reference about praying with beads.  Prayers are to said to God asking for things, praising God for His Holiness, etc.
 "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God." (Phil 4:6)
Jesus gave us an example of how to pray: "And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. Give us day by day our daily bread.  And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil." (Luke 11:2)


A "Holy" Person- Many religions claim to have a man with direct access to God / god that others don't have:

Dalai Lama leads Tibet

The Pope leads Catholics

Thomas S Monson leads Mormons

The Bible says each person who trusts in Christ as their savior receives the Holy Spirit.  There are no longer prophets, we no longer need someone to talk to God for us.  We have the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to tell us what God says. 
"Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God; Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." (2 Cor 3:5)



Mother and child religious figures:  All around the world throughout history a woman and her child have been worshiped. 

Isi and Iswara worshiped in India

Isis and Horus were worshiped in Egypt

Shing Moo and child worshiped in China

Mary and Jesus worshiped by Catholics

"Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." (Matt 4:10)

Awaiting the return of a Holy One: Many faiths are waiting for their deity to return. 

Muslims expect the 12th Imam (the Mahdi) to return soon.
Jews expect the Messiah to appear any day (they are ready to rebuild the temple).
New Agers and Buddhists expect that the Maitreya is already born.
Hindus await the reincarnation of Krishna.

Of course, Christians are awaiting the return of Jesus Christ to return to earth, judge the righteous and unrighteous, and rule for 1000 years as the King of Kings before Satan is eternally thrown into hell.  But before Jesus returns the Bible (Revelation, Daniel, and Isaiah) prophesies a man who will arise to rule the entire world, promising peace to everyone, then he will cause the worst holocaust in history.  The Antichrist.  Doesn't it make sense that so many religions are waiting on a man to come and bring peace, when the Bible says that is exactly what the Antichrist will do?

Discernment Article

This article can be found at Apprising Ministries:

WE NEED DISCERNMENT MINISTRIES? YES, ABSOLUTELY.

By Ken Silva pastor-teacher on Jul 1, 2011 in Current Issues, Features

In a day of pluralism and tolerance, apologetic and discernment ministries are viewed by some as anti­quated, unneeded, and in the way of getting together and getting along.
In a day when unity is put far above truth, counter-cult ministries are seen as passé and even obstructionist.
Televangelists and Word Faith teachers can draw tens of thousands to their meetings while discernment confer­ences struggle to get a hundred. Truth, dear thinking, and biblical precision are definitely not in, and heresies are gaining popularity. Orthodoxy is out and false doctrine is in vogue.
Of course, there are many reasons for this: Men love darkness rather than light. We have an unseen enemy who goes about like a roaring lion. And liberalism has so eroded confidence in Scripture that many are turning to mysticism and experience. Subjectivism is the drug of choice. Many of the religious are addicted to their own adrenalin.
Truth be known, the deception is getting deeper and more subtle. This only underscores the need for organi­zations such as Personal Freedom Outreach. Someone needs to sound the alarm. Without discernment minis­tries, who will do it?
The evangelical Church has tried so hard to be relevant to the world that it is becoming irrelevant. Rather than compromise with the dominant culture, we need to stand more strongly for our distinctives and distinctiveness.
The Apostle Paul warned us in 2 Timothy 3 that deception would be as alluring and impressive as the magicians of Moses’ day (v. 8). The antidote, Paul says, is to carefully follow doctrine (v. 10), but few are listening. Paul further warns that “evil men and seducers will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” (v. 13).
Deception has multiple masks. Deception is hard to spot. Deception is covered with religious clichés de­signed to deceive and that is why we need all the help we can get from those with discernment. Deceivers are tricky and most times wear disguises. Deceivers may even say they believe in Jesus, so we fail to stay alert to what they layer onto the name of Jesus. Some may not even ask, “Which Jesus?”
Take, for instance, the following testimony. Read it slowly and see if you can find anything wrong with it:

“…today’s society makes me constantly wonder if anyone knows what it’s like to give your heart and mind to the truth of Christ and Yahweh, and to be hated and ridiculed for those beliefs, especially by people that don’t even know me. I’m always trying to make sense of everything I read and everything I see going on around me and holding back my disgust for those that I feel are responsible for the lies that my people so easily accept as truth. I see drug dealers, gang members and other criminals killing and being killed all the time with no sign of fear from these individuals. But we Christians that are promised life everlasting seem to stand back and let things get out of control because of our fear and because of the Judeo-Christian preachers and the government constantly telling us that these prob­lems will be taken care of. But they never are. My hateful thoughts toward my enemies sometimes consume my logic.
But I am always mindful of the mistake and great wrong it would be to take any kind of action out of hate or ignorance. As a messenger of Yahweh I am always praying that what I have expressed to my people will make them thirst for more knowledge. And that what I have told them will never escape their minds. As a Christian I don’t need to see what will take place in the future because Yahweh has told me what will happen, therefore I know it will be. But knowing what the future holds doesn’t make it any easier living in the present. So, when I’m asked, don’t you get depressed or do you ever feel like giving up, my answer is ‘yes.’ But it is my faith that sustains me and I start out every morning with the thought that every new day means one more day of Satan’s rule behind me and one day closer to the second coming of Christ. My wife also reads Psalm 91 every morning, which I suggest that everyone should read for spiritual fortification.”

On some level the words are challenging and would resonate with most Christians. The deception, however, is not the words, but the real interpretation given by the speaker. The one who spoke these words is Charles Lee, Grand Dragon, White Camelia Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. The quote is from Soldiers of God by Howard Bushart, John Craig, and Myra Barnes (pp. 171-172).
On the basis of Lee’s words alone, most anyone would consider the speaker a dedicated Christian. However, a discernment ministry would pick up on all the baggage that so denies Christ as to nullify Lee’s testimony. It would know about the “seed line” theory that gives the white supremacist the liberty to persecute Blacks and Jews. Remember: The Pharisees were fundamental and believed the Old Testament. However, the traditions they added made their religious system void in the eyes of God (Matthew 15:8-9). Whatever they had right was nullified by their endless traditions and additions. A religion may offer the name Christ and even have a correct Christology, but then offer a plan for salvation by works. A proper Christology does one no good if Christ is put out of reach by a defective doctrine of salvation. One correct doctrine is not enough if another totally ignores the pattern of the Apostles’ teachings (Acts 2:42, 2 Timothy 1:13).
The above is almost a no-brainer, but there are others less obvious and more deceptive. The Word Faith movement may superficially speak of Christ, but their Christology of a born-again Jesus who suffered in hell, denies the Christ of the Bible and is rank heresy. Using Christian words and defining them in non-Christian ways is the essence of deception and cultism.
There are many reasons we need organizations such as PFO. We need to help one another spot deception. We need to help one another be more discerning overall.
Pray for PFO — support it with your prayers and gifts. It is a ministry that is desperately needed as the darkness and deception deepens. There are men who want to be thought of as evangelical who sit on the boards of organ­izations of New Age gurus, and who endorse New Age teachers and a Catholic contemplative web site. Someone needs to sound the alarm on the fence-straddling.

“Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple” (Romans 16:17-18, NKJV).

G. Richard Fisher

________________________________________________________________________________
End Notes:
[1] G. Richard Fisher, “Is PFO Really Needed Or Should We Quit?,” The Quarterly Journal, Personal Freedom Outreach, Vol. 25, No.3, July-September 2005 , 2, 24, 25.