In the epistle to the church in Thyatira in Revelation, there is a self-proclaimed prophetess called Jezebel. She teaches God's servants and leads them astray to commit fornication and to eat idol sacrifices. Who is this Jezebel? She was the wife of Ahab, a king of Israel in the Old Testament. Ahab married a woman from the Gentile land of Sidon. She seduced the people of God to worship Baal (1 Kings 16:30-32). Baal is a Gentile god, not the God of Israel. Jezebel not only taught the people about idolatry but turned Baal into their god and told the people to worship him (v. 31). Ahab was joined to the world through the help of Jezebel. The present-day Jezebel is the Roman Catholic Church. Catholicism is the self-proclaimed prophetess Jezebel. It has joined itself to the world and has filled itself with idolatry and heresies. Everywhere we go, we can see the heretical teaching of the Catholic Church and its alliance with the world. The teaching of the Scriptures is clear about this. In the parable of the leaven in Matthew 13:33, the Lord said that the kingdom of the heavens is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal. The three measures of meal refer to the genuine word of God, the woman signifies the Catholic Church, and the leaven signifies heretical teachings. When leaven is added to the word of God, its nature changes and becomes corrupt. The Lord did not say that the meal has been cooked with the fire; rather, it says that the meal has been mixed with leaven, and the whole lump is leavened. This is what happened to the Roman Catholic Church. Heretical teachings are mixed in with God's word, and the word is leavened.
Let us consider various heretical teachings in the Catholic Church. First, there is baptism. Article five of the decree of the Council of Trent (fifth session) says, "Through baptism, a man's original sin is forgiven." Based on this teaching, a man becomes sinless, clean, guileless, and loved by God through baptism. He becomes an heir of God together with Christ, and no one can deny him. The Church believes that as soon as a man is baptized, he is regenerated. But this is not what the Bible teaches. Ananias said to Paul, "And now, why do you delay? Rise up and be baptized and wash away your sins, calling on His name" (Acts 22:16). He was baptized only after he had believed in the Lord and was saved. This is contrary to the teaching of the Roman Catholic Church. The Church says that even a baby can be baptized and thus be saved. The Council of Trent's catechism says, "All babies, whether born of Christian or non-Christian parents, will suffer eternal pain and perdition, unless they are regenerated and consecrated to God through the grace of baptism." The Church teaches that a man can wash away his sins and receive the Lord through baptism, but the Bible says that a man receives baptism only after he has received the Lord. This is totally different from the Catholic teaching.
Second, concerning justification, the Catholic Church emphasizes human work. It says that works justify a man. Its priests exhort men to do good works. Of course, this teaching is not written down in black and white. The theology expounded at the Council of Trent represents that held by the Catholic Church as a whole. It says that anyone who says that good work does not guarantee the enhancement of the grace of justification or who says that good work is the mere fruit or evidence of justification must be anathematized. If the justification that the Lord has granted us has to be enhanced through our labor, this justification from the Lord is no longer complete. We know that the gift from God is complete and eternal justification. There is no need to add anything to it, and man cannot add anything to it. When some told the Galatians to enhance their fruit by good work, Paul pronounced that such teachers should be accursed (Gal. 1:8-9). The Bible does not have a teaching of justification by work. In addition to many heresies found in its theology, the Catholic Church contains many heresies touching the matter of justification by work. It believes that a man can be absolved of his sins through prayer, fasting, almsgiving, self-mortification, and purgatory. It does not understand the salvation of Christ at all. We can find positive and explicit verses on justification in the Bible such as Romans 3:22 and 28 and Galatians 3:8 and 11.
Third, the Roman Catholic Church believes in the absolute power of the priest to forgive sins. It bases its teaching on John 20:23: "Whosever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whosever sins you retain, they are retained." It believes that the power of forgiveness of sins was first committed to the twelve apostles. The fact is that only ten apostles were present when the Lord spoke these words. The Lord's appearing in John 20:22-23 and His appearing in Luke 24 are the same incident. Luke 24:13 says, "And behold, two of them were going on the same day to a village named Emmaus, which was sixty stadia away from Jerusalem." Verse 33 then says that these ones went to the others and those who were assembled together with them. While they were relating these things, the Lord appeared to them and said, "Peace to you." The Gospel of John goes on to say that the Lord breathed upon them and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit." Then He said, "Whosever sins you forgive, they are forgiven them; and whosever sins you retain, they are retained" (20:23). Here the Lord gave the disciples authority to forgive men, but He gave them the authority not to carry it out in themselves, but in the Holy Spirit. The Roman Catholic Church however, assigns the priests to carry out this work. When the priests say that a certain person is forgiven of his sins, his sins are supposed to have been forgiven. The church pays no attention to whether or not the priests are in fact in the Holy Spirit. The main point of the Lord's word is that those who execute forgiveness must be in the Holy Spirit. They must have the power of the Holy Spirit and the manifestation of life within them before they have the authority to forgive sins. This forgiveness is a kind of indirect forgiveness; it can only be carried out in the authority of the Holy Spirit.
The Gospel of John says that the Lord forgives whom we forgive and retains the sins of those whom we retain. But in the Acts of the Apostles, we do not see such power of forgiveness executed. Had the Lord entrusted such authority to the church, every apostle would have had the power to forgive. The Lord's word shows us that the church is merely a vessel, through which the Lord forgives men. When a man genuinely repents and confesses his sins, we baptize him and declare that his sins are forgiven in the name of the Lord. This is a declaration of a fact. When a man confesses his sins, the Lord forgives his sins. This is a fact. But the one who is forgiven may not know that he is forgiven because he has been a heathen all his life. Therefore, we have to declare the fact of his forgiveness to him. No man can forgive another man's sins. No one on earth has the authority to forgive sins except the Lord. No one on this earth can forgive another person's sins.
In the sixteenth century the Catholic Church wanted to build the great St. Peter's Cathedral, but it did not have enough money. Pope Leo X introduced the selling of indulgences. He declared that when a man bought an indulgence, he would be spared from punishment, even though he might have been sinful. For example, twelve indulgences would absolve the sin of murder or four indulgences would absolve the sin of fornication. Martin Luther was one of the fiercest attackers of the Catholic indulgence system. He pointed out strongly that it is heresy to try to avert punishment with indulgences.
The mass is the centerpiece of all Catholic heresies. This is the most serious heresy of all. No lover of the Lord can tolerate this heresy. The Catholic mass is equivalent to the breaking of bread. The Bible shows us by clear example that we have the bread and the cup in breaking the bread. In the Catholic mass, the element received by common believers contains only the bread, not the cup. The Catholics insist that during the mass, the bread is no longer bread but is changed into the flesh of Christ. Roman Catholics say that every time they conduct the mass, they offer a fresh sacrifice of Calvary for our redemption. Pope Pius IV proclaimed in his decretal: "I confess that in the mass, a real, proper, and propitiating sacrifice is offered to God for the living and the dead. I acknowledge that in the most holy sacrament of the holy communion, our Lord Jesus Christ's real, true, and physical body and blood are present, together with His soul and His divinity. The bread is fully and actually transformed into His body, and the wine is fully and actually transformed into His blood." The Catholic Church calls this the doctrine of transubstantiation. It also says that as long as one accepts one of the two elements — the bread or the wine — he has received the complete undiluted Christ. What a heresy!
The thirteenth session of the Council of Trent anathematized anyone who considers the bread of the communion a mere symbol. Even if one considers only a small part of the elements as mere bread and wine, he is anathematized. The Roman Catholic Church says that even though the mouth partakes of a little piece, it is the complete whole because it embodies the complete whole. That little piece is the body and blood of Christ. It says that these sanctified elements are to be revered and should be regarded as the very holy Son of God, and they should be praised. The Catholic Church believes that the bread is the very incarnation of His flesh.
Concerning the sacrament, the same council quoted Philippians 2 which says that the Lord Jesus was obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (v. 8). The Catholic Church declares that in the holy mass, the Lord's obedience is so extraordinary that He becomes not only obedient to the Father but to men as well. He is willing to come down from heaven and to remain on the altar in obedience to man. It says that in the sacrament, the Lord lies still and allows men to carry Him to the righteous as well as to the sinners. He was obedient to His parents on the earth. Now He is obedient to men, and His obedience will last for eternity. The Catholic Church goes on to say that the most wonderful thing about this obedience is His willingness to obey the creature, that is, the priests. What an insult this is to God's glory! How deep and great is this indescribable offense! The basis of its teaching about the mass is John 6:55, in which the Lord said that His flesh is true food and His blood is true drink. Actually, when the Lord said that His flesh is food, He was referring to receiving His life, not to the bread in His supper. The Catholic Church says that whoever partakes of the bread is saved and that whoever does not partake of the bread is damned. This is a great confusion of the gospel. When the Lord spoke such a word in John 6, He was still alive on the earth. He had not died yet, and His words could not have referred to the bread of His supper.
On the night the Lord instituted His supper, He said, "Take, eat; this is My body." The Roman Catholic Church makes the bread the physical body of the Lord. But the Lord also says that He is the door (John 10:7). According to the Catholic interpretation, this must mean a real wooden door. The Lord also says that He is the vine. According to the Catholic Church's interpretation, this would mean that He is a physical vine. But we cannot become a physical branch even if the Lord becomes a physical vine. This twists the Scripture; it has gone beyond the boundary of proper biblical interpretation. There is no such thing as transubstantiation in the Bible. I hope that we will all see through such a serious heresy as transubstantiation in the mass.
Let us consider the reason the Catholic Church holds back the cup when it administers the mass to ordinary believers. In the catechism of the above mentioned council, several reasons are given for holding back the cup: 1) to avoid the embarrassment of spilling "the Lord's blood," 2) to enable anyone to receive such life, even if he is sick, 3) to accommodate those who cannot take wine, 4) because wine is harmful to the human body, and 5) because wine is not available in some places.
We have to understand that transubstantiation is not the greatest heresy; the greatest heresy is the teaching concerning sacrifice. In one decree of the above mentioned council, it says that the body and blood of Christ are daily presented on the altar by the priests, together with His soul and His divinity. It says that there is no substantive difference between the holy sacrifice offered at mass and the sacrifice offered on Calvary. It considers the worship conducted by the Church during the mass the same as the sacrifice Christ offered to the Father. The reason it considers the mass to be a sacrifice is because the Roman Catholic Church is run by a priesthood, and this priesthood requires the offering of sacrifices. The mass is the result of its search for a valid sacrifice.
In the New Testament we are told in Hebrews that the Lord accomplished eternal redemption when He offered up Himself once. In the Old Testament the priests stood to minister. In the New Testament our Priest has sat down. By offering Himself once, He became the source of eternal salvation. Hebrews 7:26 and 27 say that Christ is a priest to Himself; He is both the priest and the sacrifice. No one can offer Him to God. Hebrews speaks of the Lord offering Himself up four times. In the Old Testament we find the altar, the laver, the table, and the lampstand in the tabernacle, but we do not find any chair. This means that the priests offered sacrifices by standing up. How could the priests sit down and rest when sin was still present outside the sanctuary? As long as there are sheep in the pit, the Sabbath cannot be maintained. Today, at the consummation of the ages, the Lord has offered Himself once and has accomplished the eternal redemption. He has sat down at the right hand of the Father; He has rested. Yet some people are saying that the redemption at Golgotha is not complete and that man must go to God with the help of the priests. From this we can see what a heresy this teaching concerning the sacrifice is. The priesthood is even a greater heresy. No one is qualified to be a priest to the Lord, and no one can be the Lord's priest. The Lord has offered Himself up once, and redemption has been accomplished. There is no more sacrifice for sin. Besides Him there is no other priest. Without Him no one can come to God. We have to tell the priests, "You lowly creatures, what makes you think that you are qualified to be the Lord's priests?"
We have to show the new ones what Hebrews 10:1, 4, and 11 say about Old Testament sacrifices. The Old Testament priests stood daily in their service to God, offering the same sacrifices. These sacrifices could never take away sin. But Hebrews 9:28 says that the Lord offered Himself once and bore the sins of many. Verse 12 says that the Lord entered once for all into the Holy of Holies through His own blood, obtaining an eternal redemption. Hebrews 7:27 says that He does not need to offer sacrifices daily, as the high priests did, because He did it once for all when He offered up Himself. Since the Lord has done it once for all, it is useless for anyone to continue to offer more sacrifices. The redemption at Calvary is completed once for all; there is no need of a second offering. We have to be clear about Hebrews 9:26. If the Lord's work was not complete, the sacrifice at Golgotha would not have been enough and there would have been the need of repeated sacrifices on Golgotha. The first sacrifice would have been insufficient, and there would have to be additional sacrifices. If this were the case, the Lord would have to suffer many times since the foundation of the world. But by offering Himself up once at the consummation of the ages, He has accomplished everything.
The same decree also states that the mass is a true sacrifice. Every time the priests consecrate the mass, the Lord is once more being offered up. As the people receive the elements, the priests meditate on the Lord's death and His love. This sounds nice, but this is an offense to the Lord. The blasphemers who wrote these things wrote out of their natural sentiments; these words are worth nothing. The Catholic Church tries to make men believe that the bread they receive is transformed, that it is the Lord's flesh and body. It teaches men to worship it as they would worship the Lord. As the priests lift up the bread, they call upon the worshippers to worship it as they would worship the Lord!
Another thing associated with the teaching of Jezebel is the Catholic Church's ties with earthly politics. Since 1913 Rome has been advancing these ties vigorously. By 1949 great developments have been made in this area. In 1913 fourteen nations had diplomatic ties with Rome. By 1949 seventy nations had diplomatic ties with Rome. We will see the power of the Roman Catholic Church greatly increase. During the above same period, the number of Protestants in China decreased by a third, while the number of Roman Catholics increased six times. The number of converts in the Catholic Church increased by a hundred thousand people. This shows us that the Roman Catholic Church will be greatly revived one day. This is prophesied in Revelation 17 and 18. We have to be watchful and to be on the alert concerning the heresies of the Roman Catholic Church. We have the prophetic word made more firm, to which we do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place (2 Pet. 1:19). We should not live as though there was no prophetic word. We cannot allow the Catholic teachings of Jezebel to defile us.
