A Sermon on the True Eucharist and the Roman Eucharist

It is said by Roman apologists that a non-Catholic approach to the biblical understanding of the Word-grounded Eucharist is an “attack of anti-Catholicism.”  No one is able to read the heart of a sinner.  Rather all we can do is test all things and hold fast to which is good (1 Thess. 5:21).  We are called to “search the Scriptures” (Jn 5:39; Acts 17:11) because they are all-sufficient (1 Tim 3:16-17) and supremely His Word (Jn 8:47).

It is also said by these same theologians that there was no figurative understanding of the Eucharist among the early church fathers.  Such is a grave lie and a complete fabrication of a demonstrating-ignorance in willful submission to a blind tradition devoid of the written Word (1 Pet 2:15) and church history (for example, Augustine taught a figurative approach to the Eucharist).  For example in early Christian history, church fathers like, Tertullian, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius of Caesarea interpreted the Eucharist as a “symbols or figures” that show the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  For Augustine wrote:

Augustine (Faustus 6.5): "while we consider it no longer a duty to offer sacrifices, we recognize sacrifices as part of the mysteries of Revelation, by which the things prophesied were foreshadowed. For they were our examples, and in many and various ways they all pointed to the one sacrifice which we now commemorate. Now that this sacrifice has been revealed, and has been offered in due time, sacrifice is no longer binding as an act of worship, while it retains its symbolical authority."

Augustine (Faustus 20.18, 20): "The Hebrews, again, in their animal sacrifices, which they offered to God in many varied forms, suitably to the significance of the institution, typified the sacrifice offered by Christ. This sacrifice is also commemorated by Christians, in the sacred offering and participation of the body and blood of Christ. . . . Before the coming of Christ, the flesh and blood of this sacrifice were foreshadowed in the animals slain; in the passion of Christ the types were fulfilled by the true sacrifice; after the ascension of Christ, this sacrifice is commemorated in the sacrament.

Augustine interprets the author’s intended meaning!  That is, it is important to understand that in the written Word the Eucharist is not a propitiatory sacrifice.  Rather the real-time event of the complete atonement of Jesus Christ was alone a propitiatory sacrifice.  This means the Holy Eucharist was merely meant for sharing in communion (1 Cor. 10:16), breaking holy bread (Acts 2:42-46), described as the “Lord’s Supper” (1 Cor. 11:20), and the holy giving of thanks (Lk 22:17-19).  For Rome says against Augustine:

…Canon III. If any one saith, that the sacrifice of the mass is only a sacrifice of praise and of thanksgiving; or, that it is a bare commemoration of the sacrifice consummated on the cross, but not a propitiatory sacrifice; or, that it profits him only who receives; and that it ought not to be offered for the living and the dead for sins, pains, satisfactions, and other necessities: let him be anathema.  (The Canons and Decrees of the Council of Trent, in Philip Schaff, The Creeds of Christendom (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1919 ed.), pp. 176-180, 184-185).

It was instituted by the Incarnate Creator (Mt 26:26-29), memorial of Christ’s appeasing death (Lk 22:19-20), introduced the new covenant (Mt 26:28), instrument of Christ in friendship and fellowship with His people (Acts 2:42-46), memorial celebration (1 Cor. 11:23-26), a necessity for Christian preparation (1 Cor. 11:27-34) and spiritually understood (Jn 6:26-58).  The Eucharist means Christ is spiritually present, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (Jn 6:63 NASB).  We are called to worship God “in spirit and in truth” (Jn 4:24).  We are called to have faith in the Truth (2 Thess. 3:13).  The Eucharist is meant to remind us of the divine truth of Jesus at His complete and finished bitter passion.  The Orthodox alleged that it is a mystery.  Rather the Eucharist is a holy meal “set apart” by God for fellowship with the Triune Godhead and the bond of friendship with His chosen friends in Christ. 

The written Word says that Jesus made an appeasing sacrifice at His Cross alone not a ceremonial institution made with hands.  I suggest to you that the “work of human hands” (read Heb. 9:11–12) cannot be used of God to propitiate sin.  It takes a radical God.  That is, God in human flesh to propitiate sin!  That is, it is like the idol of gold that cannot do anything (Ps. 115:4-6).  It is the Cross alone that propitiates and expiates the greatest sin.  I wonder why the Roman Eucharist is so essential in Romanism when the Papists do not believe it completely purifies an individual because upon commission of mortal sin that individual may die unclean outside of Christ and His grace:

1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the justice and mercy of God.

For the divine Word clearly says that once the Spirit of God applies the unified righteousness of Christ alone the Christian can never fall out of God’s sovereign, divine and all-sufficient grace:

1 Peter 1:18-19 NASB:  ^“knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Romans 3:25-26 NASB:  “whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.”

2 Corinthians 5:19 NASB:  “namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.”

2 Corinthians 5:20-21 NASB:  “Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

The OT sacrificial system pointed to the supremacy of Christ alone.   The Bible says without the blood there is no remission of sin:

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood and I have given it to you on the altar to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement” (Lev. 17:11).

“Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” (Heb. 9:27)

“Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29).

Here is the absolute nature of Jesus’ atonement:

“Knowing that Christ, having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death no longer is master over Him. For the death that He died, He died to sin, once for all; but the life that He lives He lives to God” (Rom. 6:10).

“Who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself” (Heb. 7:27)

“Nor was it that He should offer Himself often...otherwise He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Heb. 9:25–26).

“By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Heb. 10:10).

We know that the Bible’s Eucharist is a non-sacrifice, non-propitiation and a non-appeasement celebration of the death of our Friend and Savior and Creator.  Let us now examine what the Roman Church teaches about the nature of their tradition-based Eucharist:

1264. How is the Sacrifice of the Cross continued on earth?
The Sacrifice of the Cross is continued on earth through the Sacrifice of the Mass.

1265. What is the Sacrifice of the Mass?
It is the Sacrifice in which Christ is offered under the species of bread and wine in an unbloody manner. The Sacrifice of the altar, then, is no mere empty commemoration of the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, but a true and proper act of sacrifice. Christ, the eternal High Priest, in an unbloody way offers himself a most acceptable Victim to the eternal Father, as he did upon the Cross.

1269. How does the Mass re-present Calvary?
The Mass re-presents Calvary by continuing Christ’s sacrifice of himself to his heavenly Father. In the Mass, no less than on Calvary, Jesus really offers his life to his heavenly Father.

1277. Does the Mass detract from the one, unique Sacrifice of the Cross?
The Mass in no way detracts from the one, unique Sacrifice of the Cross because the Mass is the same Sacrifice as that of the Cross, to continue on earth until the end of time...The Mass, therefore, no less than the Cross, is expiatory for sins; but now the expiation is experienced by those for whom, on the Cross, the title of God’s mercy had been gained.

1279. How are the merits of Calvary dispensed through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?
The merits of Calvary are dispensed through the Mass in that the graces Christ gained for us on the Cross are communicated by the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

1294. Is the Sacrifice of the Mass of infinite value?
The Sacrifice of the Mass is of infinite value, no less than that of the Cross (John Hardon, The Question and Answer Catholic Catechism (Garden: Image, 1981).

Trent says,

...We, therefore, confess that the sacrifice of the Mass is one and the same sacrifice with that of the cross...That the holy sacrifice of the Mass, therefore, is not only a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving, or a commemoration of the sacrifice of the cross; but also a sacrifice of propitiation, by which God is appeased and rendered propitious, the pastor will teach as a dogma defined by the unerring authority of a General Council of the Church (The Catechism of the Council of Trent, Published by Command of Pope Pius the Fifth (New York: Christian Press, 1905), pp. 173-175).

The Bible says to worship God alone (Ex. 20:5; 32:8).  However, Rome says to worship the host made with human hands:

1378 Worship of the Eucharist. In the liturgy of the Mass we express our faith in the real presence of Christ under the species of bread and wine by, among other ways, genuflecting or bowing deeply as a sign of adoration of the Lord. "The Catholic Church has always offered and still offers to the sacrament of the Eucharist the cult of adoration, not only during Mass, but also outside of it, reserving the consecrated hosts with the utmost care, exposing them to the solemn veneration of the faithful, and carrying them in procession."

The Bible forbids worship of man-made things.  We are called to exclusively worship God alone through His dear Son.  The purity of worship is revealed in the written Word.  It is not revealed in man-made tradition of idolatry. 

The Roman Mass is propitiatory.  For we read:

1367 The sacrifice of Christ and the sacrifice of the Eucharist are one single sacrifice: "The victim is one and the same: the same now offers through the ministry of priests, who then offered himself on the cross; only the manner of offering is different." "And since in this divine sacrifice which is celebrated in the Mass, the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and is offered in an unbloody manner. . . this sacrifice is truly propitiatory.”

We see that the Roman Mass contradicts the Bible (see Hebrews 7, 9, and 10).  The Bible says Jesus was offered up once-and-for-all (Heb. 7:27; 9:12; 10:10).  The Bible no where says that an “unbloody sacrifice” can atone for sin.  Rather ONLY a bloody sacrifice of the Cross alone can expiate, propitiate and atone for sin of God’s people by faith alone (Heb. 9:22; Eph. 2:8-9) and no offering for sin provides remission (Heb. 10:18) except the Cross (Jn 19:30).

The question is the honor of God.  Will you honor God in rejecting man-made tradition?  Will you honor God in embracing the simplicity of the Eucharist?  Silence will not save us.   Rather the tyranny of Rome in its doctrine has corrupted the hearts and minds of men.  It will take the divine intervention of God to awaken people to His precious truth (Titus 3:5).