The California Collection/TheCaliforniaCollection.cdr/his106/ill_quot.lzh/ILL&QUOT.TXT

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STU:Illustrations & Quotations  by Bill Jackson

   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 (Send for copy of this text in tract form)

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