The Scriptures vs. Catholicism

Worship

by David Lasseter

1. Worship:  Jesus tells us that God is a Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24).  Worship in spirit and in truth characterizes true worshipers of God.  Since Jesus tells us there are true worshipers of God, there must also be false worshipers of God.  There are three possible “varieties” of false worshipers:  One who worships in spirit but not in truth, one who worships in truth but not in spirit, or one who doesn’t worship in either spirit or truth.  We’ve discussed the coordinating conjunction “and” several times in our studies.  As you remember, “and” joins two words or phrases of equal grammatical value (Merriam-Webster’s dictionary).  To be a true worshiper one must worship in both spirit and in truth.  The Old Testament records examples of men who chose to worship God they way they wished and not according to His commandments.  Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10:1,2) chose to use an unauthorized kind of fire and paid dearly for it.  Cain must have known what God expect of him in worship, but chose to disobey.  Genesis 4:5-7 records the fact that God did not respect Cain’s offering, and telling Cain that he would be accepted if he did well.  Since we cannot look to the OT for religious authority, we must seek to understand how God commands us to worship Him today by studying the New Testament.  However, we can look to the examples of those in the OT who were disobedient to the commandments God gave them to learn God’s attitude toward those who disobey His commandments today.  We can do this because God doesn’t change!  He is just as displeased with those who disobey His commandments today as He was with those who were disobedient during the time of the Old Testament.

   1. Use of religious titles and garments:  The Catholic Church is known for its use of religious titles and garments among the leaders of that organization.

      1. Luke 20:47:  “Then in the audience of all the people he said unto his disciples, Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same shall receive greater damnation.”  Jesus warned them of the scribes, and one thing that characterized them was their desire to look religious in their long robes.

      2. Matthew 23:5-7:  “But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.”  Again, Jesus condemns the scribes and Pharisees for the works they did to be seen of men.

      3. Matthew 23:8,9:  “But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.  And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.”  This is the continuation of Jesus’ condemnation of the scribes and Pharisees.  He tells His disciples to call no man “Father” upon the earth, for they have one Father, which is in heaven.  As I understand it, even the lowest-ranking member of the Catholic clergy is called “Father”.

      4. Psalm 111:9:  “He sent redemption unto his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever: holy and reverend is his name.”  The name “reverend” belongs only to the Lord.  Again, it’s not at all uncommon to hear members of the Catholic clergy and many protestant denominations referred to as “reverend” by their peers and congregants.

   2. Music:  We spent a great deal of time considering the use of music in NT worship.  I’d like to review how we determined that the use of instrumental music in worship renders worship vain:

      1. Moses:  Again, we can use OT examples to determine how God expects us to respond to His commandments today.  Let’s consider a couple of points from Moses’ life:

         1. Exodus 17:1-7:  God commanded Moses to take his rod and strike the rock, after which water would flow from it.  Moses obeyed God’s commandment.

         2. Numbers 20:1-13:  God commanded Moses to take his rod and speak to the rock, after which water would flow from it.  However, Moses took his rod and struck it just as he did in Exodus 17.  Was God pleased?  Absolutely not!  In verse 12 we learn that Moses would not be permitted to take the children of Israel into the promised land because of his disobedience.  Numbers 27:12-14 says, “And the LORD said unto Moses, Get thee up into this mount Abarim, and see the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.  And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered.  For ye rebelled against my commandment in the desert of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify me at the water before their eyes: that is the water of Meribah in Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.”

         3. In these two passages we learn much about God and our response to His commandments.  When God gives us an explicit commandment (e.g. speak to the rock), it is accompanied by an implicit commandment (e.g. nothing else will do).

      2. Since God doesn’t change, if He’s given us an explicit commandment in the New Testament with regards to music in our worship to Him, it’s accompanied by the implicit commandment that He will not be pleased with anything else.  What commandment has He given us?

         1. Ephesians 5:19:  “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord”

         2. Colossians 3:16:  “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

      3. Both verses where music in NT worship is addressed commands the use of vocal music (specifically singing).  The Greek word laleo (translated “speaking” in Ephesians 5:19) requires the use of the voice to utter articulate sounds.  Again, notice where the “ands” are used in these verses.  The use of instrumental music in the worship of the Catholic Church renders its worship vain, since the authority for such use could come from only two places:  the Old Testament or the commandments of men.  As we’ve seen, we cannot look to the Old Testament for religious authority today, and Jesus stated plainly that the commandments of men taught as doctrine renders worship vain (Matthew 15:9).

   3. The Lord’s Supper:  We spent a good deal of time studying the New Testament passages that deal with the Lord’s Supper.  I’ll briefly review what we learned.

      1. Frequency:  Acts 20:7 reads, “And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”  In this verse Luke reveals a frequency and a purpose for the disciples meeting together.  They came together on the first day of the week to break bread.  Paul preached to them during this gathering.  As I understand the practice of the Catholic Church, the “eucharist” is made available to the members nearly every day of the week, if not every day of the week.  It may seem like an insignificant thing to us, how often we partake of the Lord’s Supper.  The Catholic Church is not the only religious organization that observes the Lord’s Supper on a day or days other than that authorized by scripture.  Many “Protestant” organizations observe it once a month or less often.  We have an example in the Old Testament of how the Lord feels about changing the commandments He has given us regarding what day to do some things.  Exodus 16 reveals the commandments God gave the children of Israel regarding the collection of manna.  They were to gather only enough for one day, except on Friday, when they gathered enough for two days.  If they gathered more than one-day’s worth of manna on any day other than Friday, the excess spoiled.  So God gave them a specific day to gather more than one-day’s worth of manna.  They couldn’t collect more than one-day’s worth on any day other than Friday.

      2. Who is to partake of the bread and the fruit of the vine?  Matthew 26:26-28 says, “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  Jesus states specifically that the disciples were to all drink of the fruit of the vine.  Likewise, each disciple was to partake of the unleavened bread.  This is contrary to the common practice in the Catholic Church for the members to partake of the bread, but only the clergy to partake of the fruit of the vine.

      3. Transubstantiation:  This was an interesting topic of discussion during our studies.  Again, I’d like to review the reasons why transubstantiation is not a scriptural doctrine:

         1. John chapter 6:  This is the passage that is commonly used to support the doctrine of transubstantiation.  In verses 51-53 Jesus says, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world.  The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”  Many of His disciples who were in His presence when He said these words misunderstood them.  Verse 60 says, “Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it?”, and verse 66, “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.”  The key to understanding this passage is found in verses 61-63:  “When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?  What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?  It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.”  Jesus Himself states that the flesh profits nothing.  We must consume the words Jesus spoke in order to have life.  He asks them a question, “What and if ye shall see the Son of man ascend up where he was before?”  If they were required to eat His flesh and drink His blood, when His body returned to heaven they would have no hope!  His body would no longer be available for them to consume.  He then tells them that it’s not the flesh that profits, but the spirit.  We will always be able to consume His words, even after His body returned to heaven.

         2. Matthew 26:26-28:  “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.”  You’ve most likely heard that Jesus’ use of the word “is” indicates that the bread and fruit of the vine were actually His body.  I used the example of a handwritten map to my home to illustrate why this isn’t the case.  If I were to draw a map to my house I’d likely draw some intersecting lines and rectangular shapes to represent the streets and buildings one would encounter along the way to my house.  However, after I drew the actual rectangle that represented my house, when I was giving directions to you I’d probably point to that rectangle and say, “This is my house”.  We all understand that the rectangle isn’t my house, but it represents my house and gives you directions to find it.  Paul speaks of the purpose of the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:23-25:  “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread:  And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me.  After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me.”  When we partake of the Lord’s Supper we remember the sacrifice Jesus made on our behalf.  We don’t actually consume his flesh and blood, but unleavened bread and grape juice that represent His flesh and blood.

         3. Acts 15:28,29:  “For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.”  The first century church was dealing with Judaizing teachers (i.e. men who said they had to follow certain tenets of the Old Testament in order to be saved).  The apostles and elders in Jerusalem sent a letter to them by Paul, Barnabas, Judas and Silas, instructing them on things to avoid.  These four things are found in verses 28 and 29 of Acts 15.  Note one of the things they were to abstain from:  blood!   It would have been impossible for the first century church (and for us today) to abide by these instructions if the fruit of the vine was changed into blood each first day of the week.  God isn’t going to give His children a commandment in one part of the scriptures that makes impossible keeping a different commandment in another part of the scriptures.  This is another proof that transubstantiation is a doctrine of men.

         4. Romans 6:9,10:  “Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.  For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.”  Paul said that Jesus died unto sin once.  His body was broken at His death.  If His body is broken on a weekly basis then He died to sin more than once.  Again, the doctrine of transubstantiation contradicts scripture and reveals itself to be a doctrine of men.

      4. Use of images:  I’ve gone “round and round” with several Catholics about the reason for the images one sees so commonly in Catholic churches.  I’ve decided that in most cases it’s not fruitful to address the reason for their presence, but it’s more effective to address why they’re there at all.  Romans 1:20-23 says, “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.  Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.”  Paul says that these people professed themselves to be wise, but became fools and changed the glory of God into an image made like to corruptible man.  Paul never addresses the reason for the existence of the image, he simply condemns its existence at all!  He says that those who make such images have become fools.  Nobody knows what Jesus looked like.  The only physical description we have of Him is found in Isaiah’s messianic prophecy in chapter 53.  Isaiah 53:2 says, “For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.”  Every picture or image I’ve seen of Jesus is that of an incredibly handsome man.  This is contrary to the sole physical description we have of Him in the scriptures, which gives us no details of His appearance other than it was one we wouldn’t consider beautiful.