The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his078/cath_31.arj/CATH-31.TXT

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   1. THE PERSON OF GOD

   A Christian boy in a secular school was being given a
difficult time by his non-Christian teacher. One day she
asked him, "Johnny, how many gods are there?
"There is only one God", Johnny replied.
She sneered at him, "And how do YOU know that?"
Johnny replied, "That's all there is room for."

   2. INFINITY

   We all know that God is the One Infinite Being in the
world. However, sometimes we mis-use the word "infinite" to
include those who are not truly worthy of this designation.
There may be a Sunday school teacher in our church who has
great patience with the children. In fact, she is so loving
that we might say, "She has infinite patience."

   However, when she gets home from church she might find
that her husband had dropped his dirty socks on the bedroom
floor that morning, and she loses her patience.
She had a lot of patience, but it was not infinite.

   Another way we mis-use words like "infinite" that have
an absolute meaning is the way it is common to use the word
"permanent". We sometimes say a lady goes down to the
beauty shop to get a permanent. However, what she really
gets is a "temporary", because she must go down again
several months later and get another one.

   Regarding God's salvation's being infinite, we have a
beautiful verse in Psalm 103:12 that illustrates this.

   "As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he
removed our transgressions from us."

   If this Psalm had been merely the product of a human
being, the author (David) might have thought about what he
could use as a good geographic contrast to give us the idea
of distance. Many would have thought of north and south,
because the difference between them is obvious - it is cold
up North and it is hot down South.

   However, if David had written these words, we would have
known that the Psalm was not inspired. From any part of the
world, you can only go a measurable distance North. Once
you've reached the North Pole, any step you take will be in
a southerly direction. Therefore, "as far as the north is
from the south" would have indicated that which was finite.

   God inspired David to write "as far as the east is from
the west", and even though David might not have understood
it fully, he was describing a span which is infinite, for
no one can measure that distance.

   Note too that the Psalmist goes on to say, "so far hath
he removed our transgressions from us." God has put our
sins so far away that no finite being (Satan included) will
ever be able to find them. They are completely and
infinitely removed.

   The only Person who could find your sins is God Himself,
and the Bible gives us God's promise that He would not
remember them (Hebrews 10:17).

   The only reason Satan can remind you of your sins is
that you keep them harbored in your mind. If you believe
God's Word that they are removed, and reckon them so, Satan
can not bother you over sins that have been forgiven.

   Isaiah 53:5,6 clearly tell of the substitutionary work
of Christ. The concept of substitution is an infinite
concept. Let me explain.

   Your church might have a softball team, and on this team
is a pitcher so good he always strikes out each opponent.
As you begin the game, the pitcher throwns the first pitch
in, and the batter hits a home run.

   Now, that's not a good way to start, but you figure it
is just a fluke and don't really worry about it. When the
second batter hits a home run, you start to get concerned,
and when the third batter likewise homers, your manager
decides your pitcher doesn't have his "stuff", so he elects
to take him out of the game.

   A substitute pitcher comes on, and the old pitcher goes
off the field and sits dejectedly on the bench.

   The substitute pitcher throwns the first ball in, and
the batter hits a little foul fly over by your bench. The
old pitcher sees the ball coming, jumps up, and catches it.
The question is, "Is the batter out?"

   The answer is, "Of course not". "Why," you might ask,
"Don't the rules state that if the ball is caught before it
hits the ground, the batter is out?"Yes, they do, but the
old pitcher is no longer in the game. He is out of the game
because a substitute has taken his place.

   When Jesus Christ became my Substitute, He said, "Bill,
get off the field; you have no further part in your
salvation. I have taken your place."

   When people think of giving a gift, they usually make
sure they have enough money to pay for it. If you men would
like the best December ever, promise your wife a mink coat
(or something else she would really like) for Christmas.
She is going to treat you like a King all month.

   However, if you don't come up with the coat, you are in
for a pretty miserable January.

   God, in His eternal Word, has promised the gift of
everlasting life to whosoever will. One might have thought
that, after making this promise, God could wonder how He
could ever pay enough for this gift to be man's.

   We know God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and the
wealth in every mine, so perhaps he could make a heap of
all that He has and purchase salvation out of this grand
total of wealth.

   Let us say that God, having ascertained all His wealth,
came to the conclusion that He could offer $1,000,000 worth
of salvation to each man. Every single human being who
trusted Christ was given $1,000,000 worth of salvation.

   Now, $1,000,000 is a lot of money. We might wonder how
much it would buy. Well, it would buy $1,000,000 worth and
no more. If you had just a million dollars, and you went to
the grocery store, filled cart after cart with groceries,

   and then proceeded to the check-out where the checker,
after tallying up your order, says to you, "That will be
$1,000,000.25" you would have to put something back. You
see, there is a limit to what $1,000,000 will buy.

   That is why Jesus Christ, when talking about the payment
that would be made for sin, said specifically in Matthew
20:28, "he would give his life a ransom for many." That is
why Peter, when looking back on this glorious payment, by
the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said, "You were not
redeemed with corruptible things, such as silver and gold
(imagine calling silver and gold corruptible) . . .but with
the precious blood of Christ."

   A finite payment procures finite results, and if you had
been redeemed with a finite payment, after you were in
Heaven about 10,000 years an angel might come, tap you on
the shoulder, and say, "Sorry, you time's up. $1,000,00
buys 10,000 years in Heaven; you will have to spend the
rest of eternity in Hell."

   If an evangelist came to a city and there proclaimed
that he had a message about a mighty, powerful God. "This
glorious God", he said, "is so mighty that He can forgive
you for 1,543 sins." Many heard his word, gladly listened
and trusted this great and powerful God Who is able to save
from 1,543 sins.

   After a few years, however, one of the disciples came
timidly to the great evangelist. "Sir", he said, "I am glad
that God can forgive 1,543 sins. My problem is that
yesterday I committed sin number 1,542 and it appears I
only have one to go. What will happen if I commit sin
number 1,544?

   The evangelist replied, "I am afraid, my friend, as the
English say, 'You've had your chips.' You see God only has
the power to forgive 1,543 sins; if you pass that limit,
you are without hope."

   What a sad message that would be, but what a glorious
truth that this is not the case. "Wherefore he is able also
to save to the uttermost all that come unto God by Him... "

   (Hebrews 7:25). There is no limit to His salvation.

   3. THE "CHRIST" OF THE UNSAVED

   On Saturday, May 12, 1979, in St. Brigid's Roman
Catholic Church, Las Vegas, Nevada, Rev. Despars was giving
his homily (sermon). He was talking about the death of
Jesus Christ on the Cross. He stated, "When Jesus died on
the Cross, He did almost all of the work for our salvation,
I would say about 90%."

   I have had several Catholic commentators who object to
my using Rev. Despars as an illustration because, they say,
"He is only one priest; he cannot speak for the official
Roman Catholic Church." However, these same men that object
to my using Priest Despars have admitted that, while they
do not preach any specific percentage, it is basically true
that Christ did almost everything for our salvation.

   St. Peter's Roman Catholic Catechism puts it this way,
"It is the sin of presumption to believe that we can be
saved by God alone without our own efforts."

   At the Fair Grounds in San Jose, California, we were
passing out tracts and witnessing one day. A Mormon and I
began a conversation which centered on the work of Christ
on the Cross.

   I made the statement, "When Jesus died on the Cross, He
did a perfect work for our salvation."

   "Yes", the Mormon said, "Jesus did a perfect work. But
we have to do our part."

   I thought of this possibility. If Jesus Christ is our
infinite Saviour, and He did a perfect work, how can
anything a finite being like myself does supplement that
completed work. You cannot add to that which is perfect.

   One day in San Jose I was witnessing to a Jehovah's
Witness lady. She had her two well-groomed sons with her,
and she was trying to make an impression about the kind of
life she lead. As she talked about her good living and her
hoping to get to the New Earth, I told her about the
perfect work of our infinite Saviour.

   Finally she said to me, "Mr. Jackson, I would like to
put my life down alongside your life to see which one of us
lives a better life."

   "That would be interesting", I said, "But I'll tell you
what I would rather do. I would rather put my Saviour down
alongsdide your Saviour to see which one of us has a
perfect Saviour."

   From SCIENCE AND HEALTH WITH KEY TO THE SCRIPTURES by
Mary Baker Eddy. "One sacrifice, however great, is
insufficient to pay for the debt of sin. The atonement
requires constant self-immolation on the sinner's part."

   The late Fulton Sheen, in a prayer to God in THE SEVEN
LAST WORDS OF CHRIST, "Reconciliation is Thy work;
atonement is mine."

   John Taylor, in the Mormon publication THE MEDIATION AND
ATONEMENT, "In the first place, according to justice, men
could not have been redeemed from temporal death except
through the atonement of Jesus Christ; and in the second
place, they could not be redeemed from spiritual death,
only through obedience to the law."

   Ellen G. White, THE GREAT CONTROVERSY, "We dissent from
the view that the atonement was made upon the cross, as is
generally reckoned."

   Also, "The blood of Christ, pleaded in behalf of the
penitent believers, secured their pardon and acceptance
with the Father, yet their sins still remained on the books
of record."

   Priest Bertrand Conway, THE QUESTION BOX, "Some well
meaning but unscholarly preachers of the Gospel have
suggested that Christ allowed Himself to experience the
torments of hell as if he were alienated for a time from
His Father. Such a view is utterly alien to Catholic
teaching. The guilt of actual sin cannot be transferred
from one soul to another. To assert that the guilt of men's
sins was transferred to our Lord dying on the Cross is
absurd and blasphemous."

   Jehovah's Witnesses, LET GOD BE TRUE, "The 'ransom for
all' does not give or guarantee everlasting life or
blessing to any man; but it does give to every man another
opportunity or trial for everlasting life."

   Also, "One unforfeited life could redeem one forfeited
life and no more."

   Rev. Vedder, FUNDAMENTALS OF CHRISTIANITY, p 191, "We in-
sist that the guilt of the guilt cannot be expiated, just-
ice cannot be satisfied by the punishment of the innocent."

   4. COUNTERFEITING

   I was in Wilkes-Barre, PA one day and actually heard
this report. Authorities were warning fast food restaurants
not to take $10 bills with a picture of Washington on them.
A counterfeiter was actually super-imposing a 10 over the l
of a one dollar bill and passing some of them.

   Most counterfeiters, however, are more careful to make
their bogus money look like the real thing. I might decide
to make some counterfeit $20 bills; the first thing I would
be sure to do was to call themn twenty dollars, not twenty
shillings or twenty pesos. Every counterfeiter calls his
sham product by the same name as the genuine.

   I might have a problem, however, as Andrew Jackson (no
relative), who is pictured on a $20 bill is really rather
homely. When I see a $20 bill I think, Why did they put
Andrew's picture there? Why could they not have found a
better looking Jackson? When I make my $20 bill, I'll put a
picture of Iaian Jackson, one of my good-looking grandsons.
Then I'll take this bill to the store to buy groceries.

   When I give this bill to the checker, she'll immediately
say, "That's not a genuine $20 bill." I will reply, "Well,
maybe it isn't, but I'll tell you what to do. You get one
of your 20s and compare it with my 20, and you will have to
admit that mine is a better looking $20 bill, simply
because Iaian is a lot better looking than Andrew. But of
course that would not work. I would have to sacrifice my
Jackson pride and put Andrew's mug on my $20 bill.

   The only worth of counterfeit money is the degree of
gullibility of those who accept bogus bills. Of course few
of us know what real money looks like. (Without getting out
your wallet, do you know what building is pictured on the
back of a $20 bill?)

   Let us look at Joe, who has five $20 bills - but all of
them, unknown to him, are counterfeit. He thinks he has
$100, but in reality he is broke.

   Joe wants to pay a bill, and he wants to have a
cancelled check as a receipt, so he desides to put the $100
in the bank. On his way to the bank, he is as happy as a
sand boy, whistling as he walks along. When he gets to the
bank, he fills out a deposit slip, indicating that he is
depositing $200 in his account.

   When he gives the money to the teller, even though she
is not a No. 1 expert in counterfeit bills, even the feel
of the bills tells her there may be something wrong. So she
asks Joe to wait a moment while she consults with one of
the bank officers.

   When she returns, she has the bad news for Joe, "Your
money is all counterfeit."

   "But," Joe protests, "I live a good life. Why just on
the way over here I helped an old lady cross the street. I
am a fine moral person."

   Of course that makes no difference. His sincerity does
not make his money genuine, for even though he sincerely
thought he had $100, Joe was broke. And he didn't find it
our until he came to the authority - to the bank.

   Satan is counterfeiting God's true religion. He makes it
look as much like the genuine as possible, and even calls
it "Christianity" Some sincere folks embrace this false
religion, but their sincerity does not make it genuine. And
many of them will not find out until they stand before the
Authority - before God.

   A pocketful of counterfeit money could land you in the
poor house; if you have a heartful of counterfeit religion,
you will spend eternity without Christ.

   Suppose the government established an agency where they
would change counterfeit money into real money. You heard
about the agency, and you found out your friend Joe has 5
bogus bills. You'd go out of your way to tell Joe about
this agency so you could save him from the poor house.

   The government is not going to start such an agency, but
God has already opened one where He will change counterfeit
religion into real Christianity. You know some friends who
have counterfeit religion. Do you ever go out of your way
to tell them the good news so they can be saved from Hell?

   How can we tell the difference between the Christ of the
Bible and the counterfeit "Christs" of other religions?

   1. The finite concept of Christ will always give man
something to do; the infinite Christ of the Bible has
already done the work.

   2. The finite "Christ" says, "Try a little harder; do
your best, sacrifice, do penance" The Christ of the Bible
says, "Trust me as your Saviour."

   3.Satan's "Christ" says "DO"; God's Christ says "DONE".

   5. MARY

   In 1890, Pope Leo XIII said, "As no man can come to the
Most High Father except through the Son, so, generally, no
man can come to Christ except through Mary."

   On March 22, 1918, Pope Benedict XV said, "She suffered
so much for us, almost to the point of dying with her
suffering and dying Son. Therefore we may rightfully say
that she has, with Christ, redeemed the human race."

   In 1954, Pope Pius XII said, "Mary is indeed worthy to
receive honor and might and glory. She is exalted to
hypostatic union with the Blessed Trinity."

   On St. Stanislaus' Roman Catholic Church, 524 W Mitchell
St., Milwaukee, Wisconsin: "Ascend mortals to this mountain
top for here through Mary all shall receivve salvation.

   Louis de Montford, TRUE DEVOTION TO MARY, commenting
upon Genesis 3:15, "God has never made and formed but one
emnity; but it is an irreconcilable one. It is between
Mary, His worthy Mother and the devil. He has inspired her
with so much hatred against that cursed enemy of God, with
so much power to crush that proud and impious rebel that he
fears her, in a sense, more than God Himself."

   Catholics think we dishonor Mary if we don't pray to
her. We can say, "I felt very sick last week. In fact, I
was so sick that I went down to see the doctor's mother."

   6. ROMAN CATHOLIC QUOTES

   Karl Adam, THE SPIRIT OF CATHOLICISM (1928), "A
religious historian of the fifth millennium A.D. will,
without difficulty, discover in Catholicism conceptions and
practices which will derive from India, China and Japan."

   Also, "We Catholics acknowledge readily without shame,
nay, with pride, that Catholicism cannot be identified
simply and wholly with primitive Christianity."

   Vatican II Council, "Those also can attain to
everlasting salvation who through no fault of their own do
not know the Gospel of Christ or his church, yet sincerely
seek God and, moved by grace, strive by their deeds to do
His will as it is known to them through the dictates of
conscience."

   Priest _________, Appleton, WI, (date),(commenting on
Jimmy Bakker), "The Roman Catholic Church does not
excommunicate anyone for immorality, but just for making
dumb intellectual statements."

   Dr. Ludwig Ott, FUNDAMENTALS OF CATHOLIC DOGMA,
"Theology, like faith, accepts as its source of knowledge
Holy Writ and Tradition (remote rules of faith) and also
the doctrinal assertions of the Church (proximate rule of
faith) - this latter means the day by day teaching ministry
of the Church through the magisterium. The magisterium is
the teaching authority of the Church in the pope and the
bishops united with the pope. It is designed to take things
from scripture and trradition and apply them in a living
way, hence its being called the proximate rule of faith."

   Richard McBrien, Notre Dame theologian, "The conversion
of Constantine also allowed the Church to be less defensive
about pagan culture, to learn from it and be enriched by
it."

   7. QUOTES FROM UNSAVED MEN

   Professor Toynbee, "The Western world must produce a new
religion, a universal cult, and it must be made up of
Christianity, Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. (See next
quote, from John Paul II)

   Speaking over Radio Veritas, Manila, pope John Paul II
said that the Roman Catholic Church accepted the truth and
goodness found in Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism. Paying warm
tribute to the many moral values enshrined in the three non-
Christian religions, the leader of the Roman Catholic
Church invited their adherents to common prayer that mutual
understanding may grow and moral values may be strenghened.

   Rahmah Azzam Pasha, Secretary-General of the Arab
League, quoted by AP on 1/15/61, "A spiritual alliance of
the Moslem and Christian world would group more than one-
half of the men of the earth against a common enemy. The
two religions are founded upon an exquisite high
spirituality and are menaced by the same enemy, athiestic
materialism."

   Elton Trueblood, "The chasm between a merely secular
conception of the world and any conception in which (God)
is recognized is so great and so crucial that those who
believe in the latter are foolish to let any particular
difference divide them. Moslems and Christians and Jews and
many more need to know that they have the greatest things
in common. The question of a particular banner is
secondary."

   Madame Blavatsky, "All world religions have a common
truth that transcends potential differences."

   Dean Inge wrote,"There is a cardinal affinity between
Buddhism and Christianity. There are differences but the
historical foundation of both is the same."

   8. CHRISTIAN QUOTES

   Chester Tulga, THE CASE AGAINST MODERNISM, 1950. "A
world religion is on the way, which will be religious
rather than Christian; it will be human rather than divine;
it will be natural rather than supernatural. Its God will
be its servant and not its sovereign; its Christ will be
its leader not its King; its political economy will be a
democracy not a theocracy; its saints will be its
socialists, not its seers; its goal will be a human utopia,
not the kingdom of the coming King. The coming world
religion is envisioned by liberals as the harbinger of the
'Kingdom', but by biblical writers as the fore-runner of
the Anti-Christ."

   J.A. Wylie, HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM, p 417, "If Luther
had not come, said a German [priest], the Pope by this time
would have persuaded men to feed themselves on dust."

   Dr. Bart Brewer, MISSION TO CATHOLICS, "No farmer plows,
sows and reaps in 20 minutes.

   Dave Breese, in KNOW THE MARKS OF CULTS. They are given
as: "Extra Biblical Revelation, False Basis of Salvation,
Uncertain Hope, Presumptuous Messianic Leadership, Doctrin-
al Ambiguity, Claim of 'Special Discoveries', Defective
Christology, Segmented Biblical Attention, Enslaving Organ-
izational Structures, Financial Exploitation, Denunciation
of Others, Syncretism." Note that Roman Catholicism has all
12 marks; Fundamentalism has three, perhaps four.

   9. SAVED ROMAN CATHOLICS?

   First we must ask, Are all Roman Catholics lost? The
answer to this is easy when we define what a Roman Catholic
is and what a Christian is.

   A Roman Catholic is a person, by dictionary and priestly
definition, who adheres to the Catholic system of religion.
He believes there is propitiation in the Mass, absolution
in confession, cleansing in purgatory. Even if he doesn't
understand or believe all that the Roman Church teaches, he
adheres to this system of religion.

   A Christian is one who has ceased trusting his good
works, or the ceremonies of his Church. He has trusted
Christ. Therefore, by definition, a Roman Catholic cannot
be a Christian and a Christian cannot be a Roman Catholic.

   Sometimes when a Roman Catholic is truly saved (and God
alone knows that), he might, because of his background or
insufficient teaching, go back to attend a Catholic Church.

   We might ask if he would lose his salvation by his going
back to the Church. The answer, of course, is no. If he is
truly saved, he will not lose his salvation.

   Does going back to the Roman Catholic Church make him a
Roman Catholic? Again the answer is no. If he has ceased to
adhere to the Roman Catholic system for salvation and has
truly trusted Christ, he is no longer a Roman Catholic. He
might still think he is, or others might think he is. But
attending a Roman Catholic Church does not make one, by
definition, a Roman Catholic.

   We can easily prove this by spending the night in the
garage and see if we become a car, or spending a week in
the zoo to see if we become a giraffe. You see, you are not
what you are because of where you are. You can live in a
fundamental church building and not even be a Christian.

   Years ago, when the late Alex Dunlap, founder of THE
CONVERSION CENTER, was speaking in a church, he made the
statement that all Roman Catholics were lost and needed to
be evangelized.

   After the service a lady came up to him and said, "Mr.
Dunlap, you made a mistake. You said all Roman Catholics
were lost and I have a Roman Catholic neighbor, and I know
she is a born again Christioan.

   Alex said, "How do you know she is a Christian?"

   The lady replied, "Some time ago I was very sick, and I
had six weeks of convalescence in my home. During that six
week period, every night my Roman Catholic neighbor came
over to my house and made me a bowl of soup. Just think, a
bowl of soup every night! She must be a Christian!"

   "I guess I must have made a mistake," Alex replied.
"Apparently your neighbor is a Christian IF the Bible says,
"God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son,
that whosoever bringeth soup to his neighbor shall not
perish but have everlasting life."

   One big problem is terminologies. Your Catholic friend
can use thew same words you use and mean something entirely
different than you mean. Here is a list of terminologies
and the Catholic definition to these:

   1. Born again. Baptism is the new birth and it makes a
person a child of God. Some charismatic RCs have post-
baptismal experiences they refer to as new births.

   2. Saved by Grace. God gives you the ability to do the
works that are necessary for salvation.

   3. Jesus died for me. Jesus opened the gate to Heaven to
make it possible for me to get to God.

   4. Justification by Faith. By faith in the operation of
God in the Sacraments (especially Baptism), we are brought
to a position in which we are able to accomplish the works
necessary for our salvation.

   5. Heaven is a Gift. Not only does God give Heaven as a
free gift to man, He also gives man the extra blessing of
allowing him to work for it.

   6. Saved. We were saved by our Baptism and the Roman
Catholic sacraments. We are being saved by our taking
advantage of the graces offered by the Church. We hope to
be saved in the future when we stand before God in the last
Judgment.

   7. Assurance of salvation. (a) Because God is doing so
many wonderful things in my life (Charismatic priest Larry
Quilici). (b) God is too loving to send anyone to Hell.
(c) I'll get to Heaven via Purgatory. (d) It is not really
possible to commit a mortal sin, because for the sin to be
mortal you must realize the consequences and have full
consent of your will. If you knew the sin could send you to
Hell for eternity, you wouldn't consent to it.

   8. Trusting Christ. We trust Him to help us to do
whatever is necessary for us to get to Heaven.

   9. Receive Christ. Take the Host into your mouth at
Mass.

   10. Real Presence of Christ. He abides with you for 10-
15 minutes after you have received the Host at Communion.

   10. TESTIMONY METHOD

   When we were missionmaries in Ireland, we asked the Lord
for a method whereby, without getting in to an argument, we
could present the Gospel the very first time we visited a
home. Often we would be welcomed the first time, but after
the priest found out about our visit, they were not as open
the second time.

   The Lord gave us the Testimony Method. We'd go door-to-
door, and would not start by saying, "I'm from the Baptist
Church." That would give them the oppor-tunity to say, "I'm
a Catholic" and close the door. We would merely say, "We're
Bible-believing Christians and we'd like to ask you a few
questions about the Holy Word of God."

   Before they had a chance to say if they wanted the
questions, we'd ask the first - "Do you have a Bible?"

   They would breathe a sigh of relief, for they were
expecting a difficult theological question. Most Catholics
will say that they have a Bible.

   The second question is, "Do you read your Bible?" They
would say that they do, even though they might read only a
few verses a month.

   Then we would ask, "Do you believe the Bible?" We would
not ask, "Do you believe the Bible or Tradition, as that
would get us into an argument, and we are going to get into
an argument soon enough without starting one ourselves.
When simply asked that question, I have yet to meet a Roman
Catholic who would answer "No". They believe that they do
believe the Bible.

   We would then tell them that the blessed and holy
Apostle St. John wrote five books of the Bible; one is
called his first Epistle, and in I John 5:13 it says,
"These things have I written unto you that believe on the
name of the Son of God, that ye may know that you have
eternal life."

   We would explain to our Catholic friend that "eternal
life" means a life that will never end. Then we will ask,
"Do you believe on the name of the Son of God?"

   "Don't you know that we are all good Catholics here in
Ireland? We all believe on His Name."

   "Good", we would reply. "Therefore we can put your name
in this verse, 'These things have I written unto Mr. Murphy
who believes on the name of the Son of God, that Mr. Murphy
might know that he has eternal life.' Now, Mr. Murphy, do
you know that you have eternal life?"

   He might say, "I hope so" or "I think so", or perhaps he
has recently been to Confession, hasn't committed a mortal
sin since, and feels he is in a state of grace, which he
equates with eternal life.

   "All right, Mr. Murphy. Let me ask you a question. If
you were to die three years from tonight, would you be
absolutely sure of going straight to Heaven?"

   (We never ask, "If you were to die tonight" for two
reasons. First, our friend might feel very sick that day,
and our abruptly asking that question might trigger a heart
attack. More important, our friend might feel very holy
that day, having just prayed a long prayer, and might
think, "If I died tonight, I would probably make it to
Heaven.")

   When we ask about his assurance in three years, he will
think if not say, "That is the stupidest question that
anyone ever asked anyone else. I might commit a mortal sin
and go to Hell; I might commit a venial sin and go to
purgatory. No one knows that."

   And, indeed, no Roman Catholic can know that. If he
speaks of assurance, ask him about three years from now,
and you will find that if he knows what his church teaches
about the sin of presumption, he cannot now be certain. If
he proclaims a definite certainty, he has committed a
mortal sin and is a candidate for hell.

   We start right there and give our testimony, hence the
name of the method. This does not mean that we take 45
minutes to tell him about all the wicked things we did,
like taking dope and pushing our grandmother down the
cellar stairs. We simply give him a testimony regarding our
blessed Saviour, Who is our assurance. It is quite simnple
to do this using any Bible verse the Lord has blessed you
with; the very context of this passage, I John 5:11,12 are
extremely good.

   That doesn't mean that he will automatically get saved
then, but you have been used by God to draw his attention
to a truth about salvatiuon in God's Word, and have been
able to give him a positive testimnony that this glorious
message worked for you.

   11. THE POWER IN THE WORD OF GOD

   God wants to use both the testimony of scripture and our
regenerate, enlightened minds to proclaim the Gospel. We
might be tempted to use one without the other.

   We could go to university, take courses in logic,
psychology, and argumentation so that we could win any
argument (a husband would pass the course by proving he
could win an argument with his wife). Then, based on that
superior ability to argue, we set forth in evangelism.

   Another option would be to buy a parrot, teach that
parrot how to quote John 3:16, and set him in a shopping
mall, where he could recite that verse all day. In actual
fact, the parrot would do more for evangelism than you
would, but God wants to get our regenerate, enlightened
minds used to using the Bible in our evangelism.

   I might pull what looks to be a toy pistol from my
pocket, aim it at your head and threaten to pull the
trigger. You would probably think that it is just a toy,
and you wouldn't be too worried. However, it is possible
for a toy pistol to look like a real pistol, and a real
pistol to look like a toy. It wouldn't be until after I
pulled the trigger that you would find out if it were real.

   In fact, your opinion of the pistol did not matter in
the slightest. The ONLY thing that mattered is the power
that was in the pistol,

   You might be in the Army, fighting for your country in
the trenches. One day an officer comes to you and tells you
that he is giving you a new rifle, with an unconditional
guarantee that it will shoot 16 rounds every 15 seconds,
the bullet will go for a mile and then be honed in by radar
to hit the enemy between the eyes.

   When you get the rifle, you jump on the top of the
trench and shout to the enemy, "Hey, you guys, I have bad
news for you. My new rifle has a written guarantee that it
will shoot 16 rounds every 15 seconds, the bullets will go
for a mile and they will hit you right between the eyes."

   Before you got half this sentence out, you would be shot
dead. You see, you don't have to convinve the enemy how
good your rifle is; you have to use it.

   Perhaps you have been given a treasure, and you pile it
up in your front yard. There are beautiful diamonds and
other gems, and you realize that someone might steal your
treasure, so you build a fence around it.

   You know that someone could climb the fence, and have
heard about a guard dog, but your treasure is special, so
you go and buy a guard lion from the zoo. Then one day you
see a man climbing your fence and approaching the treasure.

   "Wait a minute, mister," you call out as you run into
the front yard, "I wouldn't steal that treasure if I were
you, because I have a guard lion in my house."

   Now who do you think will believe that? No one has a
guard lion, so he thinks you are bluffing and starts to put
your treasure in his pockets.

   "Look here, mister," you say. "Here is a receipt from
the zoo saying that on May 19 I bought a guard lion."

   "Receipt for a guard lion", mutters the man. "What kind
of a nut is this?" And he continues to take your treasure.

   "I wouldn't touch any more of that treasure if I were
you; here is a certificate from a vet saying my guard lion
is very healthy. He has four paws; each one has five claws;
that's 20 claws to rip you limb from limb."

   The man is unimpressed. He has never met such a kook as
you, so he continues taking your treasure, even after you
show him the paper from the bureau of weights and measures
that says your guard lion weighs 300 pounds.

   "Right inside that door", you threaten, "is a guard lion
who weighs 300 pounds and is very healthy. You'd better
stop taking my treasure."

   By this time he has taken it all and it going back over
your fence.

   Now, of course, what you would actually do is as soon as
you saw the man starting to cross your fence, you would
just open the front door and let your guard lion loose. A
guard lion is much better able to prove his power than you
are.

   Hebrews 4:12 says, "For the word of God is quick
(alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged
sword." Many people might not believe the Word of God is
powerful, but God did not say, "When 51% of the people in
the world believe the Word of God is powerful, it will be."
The power of the Word of God doesn't depend on what people
believe about the Word of God.

   Therefore you don't have to go out and prove that the
Bible is powerful; that it is indeed the Word of God. All
you have to do is to use the Word of God, and God Himself
will prove what power there is in His Word.

   Psalm 119:130 says, "The entrance of thy words giveth
light." We know that unsaved people are blinded by Satan,
and we should understand the plight of a blind person - he
cannot see.

   You could hold a pencil in front of a blind man and he
could not see the pencil. You could bring him outside to
see the most dazzling sunset and he could not see. Blind
people do not need something more spectacular to look at;
they need some sight with which they can see.

   We sometimes think, "If we could only make the Gospel
message more spectacular. Maybe we could get a converted
murderer or someone really exciting."

   In fact, the only power to save from sin that is in the
testimony of a converted murderer is the Word of God that
he uses. Sometimes, the more spectacular the person is, the
more we look at the excitement of his past life and are not
as diligent to listen to the Word of God.

   We see two truths coming out boldly here:
(1) Everyone is as saved as everyone else, for every saved
person was brought from infinite loss to infinite life.
(2) Every testimony has as much power as any other
testimony, for the only power in the testimony is the power
of the Word of God which is used.

   12-DO OR DONE
(for more, write for DO/DONE: THE ULTIMATE CONTRAST)

   The contrast between DO and DONE is probably one of the
most complete contrasts in the English language.

   If you're doing, you're not done.
If you're done, you're not doing.
You do until you are done.
When you are done you cannot do.

   This truth is brought out in Romans 10:3,4 when God
shows us the difference between one who is trusting the
completed work of Christ (verse 4) and one who, because he
is ignorant of what Christ has done, is trying to perform
his own salvation (verse 3).

   This truth is likewise contained in many other parts of
the Bible. As far away as the Garden of Eden, we were
taught that man tried to do (cover himself with fig
leaves), but it was God who did a complete work of clothing
him with skins. The verses which we use to apply salvation
truths contain this glorious contrast.

   Not only is this in the Bible; we find the DO/DONE
principle at work in every one's life every day. Therefore
it becomes one of the easiest principles to work with in
illustrating the truth of Christ's finished work.

   How long do we eat our breakfast? Until we are done.
How long do we drive to church? Until we arrive
How long do we tie our shoes? Until they are tied.

   Even so simple a thing as sitting can be illustrated as
a DO/DONE principle. We start to sit, and we keep at it
until we are seated, and then we can't get more seated.

   Mr. Jones has his appendix removed on Monday. On
Tuesday, the doctor comes in and says, "How are we today,
Mr. Jones? We have planned to take out that nasty appendix
of yours today."

   Mr. Jones replies, "But I thouyght you took it out
yesterday."

   "Yes, we did, but we have you scheduled for an operation
every day this week to take that appendix out."

   Ridiculous? Of course. But it illustrates the DO/DONE
principle at work in our lives.

   My students in a Roman Catholic evangelism course were
asked to do a term paper on this glorious truth. Their
illustrations were excellent; one used an example which I
had never thought of.

   The paper was on Romans 10:3 and Romans 10:4, the
DO/DONE PRINCIPLE. He closed his paper,

   "Even in citizens band radio, when the message is
complete, the sender will say "10.4". We also as Christians
can say "Romans 10:4, over and out. The work is done."

   13. ROMAN CATHOLIC EVANGELISM

   Years ago, when I was ministering in Coleraine, Northern
Ireland, a young lady accosted me after the message.

   "Why", she asked, "do you go around picking on Roman
Catholics?

   As is so often the case, I could not come up with a
ready answer, but as I felt this question might be asked of
me quite a bit, in a few days I thought of one.

   It was, "Why does an eye-doctor pick on near-sighted
people?" Of course he does because they have a need, and we
"pick on" Roman Catholics because they need to hear the
Gospel.

   Can we use things we and Roman Catholics agree on as a
basis for evangelism? While there are many who advocate
this, in actual fact there is NOTHING we agree on.

   The Roman Catholic will profess to believe in the Deity
of Christ, but still holds to a concept of Christ to which
he must add his works and merits to complete salvation.

   The Roman Catholic will profess to hold to the
inspiration of scripture, and yet freely add Tradition and
the magisterial teachings of the Church.

   All Roman Catholics would profess to believe the
Trinity, yet to most, God the Father is so far off no one
can contact Him; God the Son is either a baby in his
mother's arms or a dead Christ on the Cross; the Holy
Spirit might be a dove floating around in a charismatic
church, but they have no biblical concept of the Trinity.

   In the 1932 Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland,
there was a big sign over the GPO building. It said, "GOD
BLESS THE TRINITY."

   What we must work on are contrasts, especially the
greatest contrast of all - DO/DONE, Romans 10:3 and 4 (see
Number 12, above)

   What should we do in case the Roman Catholic to whom we
are witnessing gets mad?

   First, we should not be surprised. Few Catholics get
saved without getting mad first.

   If he gets mad, we should honestly ask ourselves the
question, "Why did he get mad?"

   He might be mad because of something stupid that we
said. Perhaps we told him what we thought was a very funny
"pope joke", and he got mad. That wasn'y really very smart,
and, when we realize it was our stupidity that made him
mad, we go back and apologize. He will not say, "I accept
your apology and want to get saved", but your sincerely
admitting you made a mistake will help to build a bridge
back to him so that you can witness.

   If he got mad simply because you gave him the Word of
God, don't worry about. There is no wisdom in pursuing him
further until he calms down, but them go back and give
another witness, perhaps from a different angle.

   Even if he gets mad, when he cools off, the Word that
you gave him will be implanted in his heart, and God can
use that to bring conviction and conversion.

   We who are sure of salvation wonder how a Roman Catholic
can exist without having this blessed assurance. It really
is easy to understand.

   No one misses that which they do not know they could
have. If you were born with only one arm, and everyone in
your town only had one arm, you would feel very happy about
the one arm that you had. Your Mom has only one arm, as
does your Dad, your teacher and all your acquaintances. You
would often think what a blessing it is to have an arm.

   Then one day a one-armed bus driver drives you to a town
200 miles away where everyone has two arms. Immediately you
would say, "I only have one arm."

   Your Roman Catholic friend does not know he could have
assurance of salvation. In fact, his church consistently
teaches him that absolute assurance is a mortal sin.
Therefore he does not naturally desire it, but when you
give him a Bible-based message about assurance, he can
begin to realize that God has something for him that he
does not yet have.

   There are four important rules for Roman Catholic
evangelism. They will be helpful in any kind of evangelism.

   1. Be Clear. Make sure he knows what you are talking
about. He will often use terminologies that sound like
yours; make sure he knows what you mean (see page 15).

   2. Be Biblical. The Bible is the ONLY weapon the Holy
Spirit uses in evangelism (see #11, page 18).

   3. Be Loving. The tragedy of Roman Catholicism is that
so many good moral people are hopelessly lost.

   4. Be Patient. No farmer plows, sows and reaps in twenty
minutes. If all you have to spend in Roman Catholic
evangeism is 20 minutes, stay home and pray. You will do
more good.

   In evangelism, we are workers together with the Holy
Spirit. He it is Who is the expert; we are the learners.
Therefore it is good if we use the same instrument He uses,
and His only weapon is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).

   You might ask me to help you paint your house, and I
might know nothing about house-painting. In fact, let us
say I don't even know how to get the paint on the house.
After much thought, I come up with a solution. I can get a
ladle from the kitchen, reach down into the paint can, and
slap the paint on the house. Since I thought of it, it
seems like a good idea.

   Armed with the paint can and ladle, I approach your
house. You have already started, and are using a paint
brush to apply the paint. I can think one of two things:

   1. My ladle is faster than your paint brush. It is true.
I can get more paint on the house faster with a ladle than
you can with a paint brush.

   2. You are the expert and you probably know the best way
to paint a house. So I would hide my ladle behind my back
and get a brush to help you paint.

   Sometimes it might seems that our exciting gimmicks do
the work even faster than the sometimes slow process of
conviction of sins, testifying of Christ, and the complete
administration accomplished by the Holy Spirit when the
sinner has responded to Him. However, if we are really
interested in working with Him, lets use the one weapon He
wants to use - the Word of God.

   While the Holy Spirit is God, He has chosen to limit
Himself during this dispensation of grace. He has no feet,
so if He is to travel to where a sinner is, He needs to use
your feet. He has no vocal chords or voice, so He must use
your voice. But if your voice speaks the Word of God, He
will come alongside with His mighty power to apply that
Word to the heart of the unregenerate. What a glorious
working-together a Christian is invited to share.

   You might want to use a simple word to remind you of
Roman Catholic evangelism. The word is car. Next time you
drive in a car, or get run over by a car, think of these
three letters.

   C stands for capability. The Bible says, "I can do all
things through Christ which strengtheneth me."

   A stands for availability. Isaiah said, "Lord, here am
I; send me." We must be available and ready to go for Him.

   R stands for responsibility. Jesus said, "As the Father
sent me, so send I you." Therefore we have a responsibility
to be His representative in this wicked world.

   It is not ours to feel capable, but to rely on Him for
the power needed to do the job.

   I often think of the availability of my finger-nail
clipper. It waits, sometimes for days, for me to use it. It
doesn't complain because it does a menial task, unlike the
scissors, which seems to have a more exciting life. It only
waits, ready at any time for me to use it for the purpose
for which I bought it.

   You are bought with a price. Be available for whatever
the task your Master has for you.

   A responsible representative is one like an Ambassador
who represents his country overseas. The first thing he
does is to fly an American flag on his lawn; he wants all
to know he represents his country.

   If disparaging things are said about his country, he
will fly to his nation's defense. He will be eager to
disseminate information about his native land, for his
purpose in being an Ambassador is to represent his nation
well. "Ye are ambassadors for Christ..."

   A young man, walking along the beach at dawn, noticed an
old man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them
into the sea. Catching up with the man, the youth asked
what he was doing. The answer was that the stranded
starfish would die if left until the sun got hot.

   "But the beach goes on for miles, and there are millions
of starfish", countered the young man. "How can your effort
make any difference?"

   The old man looked at the starfish in his hand and threw
it to safety in the waves. "It made a difference to that
one", he said. (Hugh Duncan)

   One of the biggest obstacles I face in the ministry is
that there are many people who feel too untalented and
insignificant to make any difference. The above
illustration and the one that follows are used to help
people realize that their life can make a difference, and
that they must patiently learn how to evangelize Catholics.

   Many defer Roman Catholic evangelism because they do not
know how. Yet learning to evangelize Catholics is much like
learning to walk.

   To understand the process of learning to walk, we will
prop a child against the wall. This child has never
walked, but we want to teach him how.

   The first thing we will do is to read him a few books
about the mechanics of walking. Then we will bring in a few
other children who can give their personal testimonies
about how they learned to walk. Most helpful, however, will
be the plate of cookies we place on the table and promise
the child a cookie if he can walk there.

   This child is all geared to walk. He wants to walk more
than anything in the world. Then we tell him, "I absolutely
forbid you to take your first step until you are able to
walk all the way across the room."

   Given those instructions, that child would NEVER walk.
He would be 21 years old, leaning against the wall, because
the ONLY way children learn to walk is to take a couple of
steps, fall down, get up and take a few more steps, fall
again, etc. (That's why children are built so close to the
ground and have such thick diapers - so they won't hurt
themselves when they fall)

   This is the only way you will learn to evangelize
Catholics. You will try, then you will make a mistake. And
you'll think, "I'm so embarrassed; I made a mistake. I'll
never do that again.

   What if the child thought that. He takes one step and
then falls down. He thinks, "Everyone is looking at me. I
feel so embarrassed. I'm never going to try to walk again."

   But of course children are not smart enough to think
that. They walk, they fall, and they go right on trying. We
have to be more child-like in our evangelistic efforts. You
will try, and you'll probably fall flat on your face. Don't
worry about making a mistake - "He who never made a mistake
never made anything" (Sergeant). Next week you'll make
fewer mistakes, and although you'll probably never be
perfect, you will learn to evangelize Catholics.

   14. ROMAN CATHOLIC QUOTATIONS ON THE MASS

   From THE WHAT AND WHY OF CATHOLICISM with the Imprimatur
of the late Cardinal Spellman. "The Sacrifice of the Mass
forms a pivot upon which all else turns. If it is what
Catholics believe it is, then here is the greatest external
manifestation of the love of God for man and the most
magnificent testimonial to the validity of Catholicism; but
if it be false, it is the worse farce and blasphemy every
perpitrated upon God or man, and the Catholic faith
collapses into nothingness."

   From ST. PETER'S CATECHISM, (1972),page 48. "The Mass is
a real sacrifice because in it a Victim is offered by a
priest for the purpose of reconciling man with God."

   From THE CATHOLIC CATECHISM, John Hardin (1975). "The
sacrifice on the altar is no mere commemoration of Calvary,
but a true and proper act of sacrifice whereby Christ, the
high priest, by an unbloody immolation offers himself a
most acceptable victim to the eternal father, as he did on
the cross."

   From A CATHOLIC DICTIONARY OF THEOLOGY, Volume I, page
9. "Let any crumb of the Holy Body which falls to the
ground be searched for and if it be found, let the place be
scraped should it be of earth and the dust therefrom mixed
with water and given to the faithful as a draught of
blessing."

   15. ROMAN CATHOLIC QUOTES ON THE PAPACY

   In commenting on Matthew 16:18, Dr. Murray of Maynooth
Seminary, Ireland, said, "Christ thereby appointed Peter
the supreme head of His Church, and gave him full authority
to legislate for it; to teach, inspect and judge; to reject
and denounce all false doctrine, and to declare what is the
true faith; to appoint all its clergy and teachers and to
arrange their work; in short, the whole Church, its
officers, its constitution, its work, were entrusted to
Peter."

   Title of the Pope: "Bishop of Rome, Vicar of Jesus
Christ, Successor of the Prince of the Apostles, Supreme
Pontiff of the Universal Church, Patriarch of the West,
Primate of Italy, Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Roman -
Province, Sovereign of the State of the Vatican City, now
Gloriously Reigning." (Sometimes the last phrase is "Ser-
vant of the Servants of God.") - see I Pe 5:1; II Pe 1:1.

   16. MISCELLANEOUS

   If only a few prophecies had been given about the coming
Messiah, it would have been easier to envision all the
prophecies coming to pass in one man. The more stipulations
are given, the more difficult it is to meet them.

   I could ask you to wait on the sidewalk until a Mercury
came down the road and you might not have long to wait. If
I sent you back to wait for a brown Mercury, you would wait
longer. If finally I sent you to look for a two-toned brown
1986 Mercury Marquis with a Florida license plate 656 FJG,
you would say, "That is impossible"

   And yet there is a car with all those stipulations, but
only one. It is my car. So we can understand that some of
those who were looking for the Messiah were overawed at the
vast number of prophecies that all had to be minutely
fulfilled. Yet they all were in the matchless Person of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

   17 THE DROWNING MAN
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