10 May, 1998

Dear Children,

As promised, this week we’re going to get back on the topic of Vampires In The Church and pick up the discussion with Part V. Now I realize that this sermonet series has been both a little long and drawn out, but getting to the bottom of these Catholic beliefs takes a whole lot of digging. And since we still haven’t dug deep enough into this subject of Holy Communion to uncover enough "truths" for me to be able to say "I rest my case" we’ll just have to keep on shoveling away.

So in order to refresh your minds as to what we have already uncovered, let’s read from the Handbook For Today’s Catholic and check out the Catholic very own description of the "The Most Sacred Mystery of the Eucharist". And this is what they have to say: "At the Last Supper, on the night when he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of his Body and Blood. This he did in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the ages until he should come again, and so entrust to his beloved Spouse, the Church, a memorial of his death and resurrection... In every Mass, Christ is present, both in the person of his priest and especially under the form of bread and wine. In every Mass, his death becomes a present reality, offered as our sacrifice to God in an unbloody and sacramental manner. As often as the sacrifice of the cross is celebrated on an altar, the work of our redemption is carried on... At Mass we offer Christ, our passover sacrifice, to God, and we offer ourselves along with him. We then receive the risen Lord, our bread of life, in holy Communion. In so doing, we enter into the very core of the paschal mystery of our salvation---the death and resurrection of Christ..."

Now reading is a lot like eating, and if we eat too fast we can end up with a pretty bad stomach ache. So likewise if we read too fast we can end up with much more than just a pain in our stomachs. Understand? Well let’s take for example what we have just read from the Handbook For Today’s Catholic. It all sounded pretty holy right?... Wrong!!! The key words to pay close attention to are perpetuate (which means to keep it going) and present reality (which means real today). So putting it all together this is what we get: The Catholics believe that when Jesus started the practice of the Last Supper He did it so that the crucifixion could be carried on forever (perpetually) even after His resurrection and departure to Heaven (a present reality). They must believe that Jesus has to do it over and over again, day in and day out, in order for it to be effective.

And that my friend answers the question that I have always had as to why the Catholics still show Jesus nailed to the cross. You see in their minds that’s where He’s still at because each time they hold Mass He’s being sacrificed all over again (or so they believe). And it’s because, as we stated in the very first sermonet on Vampires In The Church, the Catholics whole heartedly believe that the justification for the Sacrament of the Eucharist (the continuation of The Last Supper as they believe it) is found in John 6:22-71, where Jesus says four times that we must eat His flesh and drink His blood in order to have everlasting life... and that’s exactly what they continue to try and do on an ongoing basis (eat His flesh and drink His blood).

But just as I have showed you in previous sermonets on this subject, this practice of consuming anyone’s or anything’s blood is strictly forbidden in both the Old and the New Testament of the Bible. God said without a shadow of a doubt "don’t do it". And of course Satan, being the rebellious angel that he is, just had to follow up with his very own command which just so happens to be in complete and direct opposition to God. So God says "don’t do it", Satan says "do it", and that’s where we ended up with the story of real life vampires becoming Catholic priest so that they can drink the miraculous blood made from wine. Got it?

OK, so with all that in mind let’s go on with the Scripture for today. Reading from Hebrews 2:9-18, "But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one; for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren. Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee: And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me."

As always it’s very important to have a proper understanding of God’s plan in order to pick up on the rest of what He’s trying to tell us. So the fact of the matter is that Jesus Christ existed way before the time He came to earth as the little baby Jesus. You see He has always existed although not in the same type human bodies that we have. Sounds kinda mysterious? You bet it does! And that’s why Paul said in his writings to the Ephesians in chapter 3 verse 9, "For this cause I Paul... Wherefore I was made a minister... And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ..."

There ain’t no doubt about it, trying to understand the Godhead (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost) is like reading a mystery novel. But the good thing about this mystery novel is that God gives us a lot of clues to solve it. So Who was this mysterious man called Jesus Who was before He was? Well it’s just like John said in chapter 1, verses 1-14, of his book: "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shinneth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe... That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not... And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."

Jesus was and has been in Heaven forever. He has always been and He will always be. But He gave up the position that He had as the Word in order to take on a very special project. And likewise it’s this very special project that we see described in Hebrews 2. So picking it back up with verse 14 and reading, "Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham. Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people. For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is able to succour them that are tempted."

You see this is the way it all happened: Jesus, Who in the beginning was the Word of God, made Adam and Eve... and He made them perfect without sin to live forever... and they stayed that way until Satan convinced them to partake of sin (the tree of the knowledge of good and evil)... and that’s when the entire perfect design of everlasting life came unraveled real fast. Adam and Eve had mess up big time, Satan had won a very important victory, and because of the whole rotting mess Satan gained control of God’s very special children. So after the mess up Adam and Eve were no longer the children of God but the children of Satan instead. But all was not lost, because Jesus as the Word of God had a plan that could take care of the problem. But keep it in mind that this plan to get Adam and Eve out of their mess didn’t consist of many different solutions; there was one and only one plan that would work.

And it was this one and only means of correcting the problem (corrective measure) that made it necessary for the Word of God to put on a different form. You see in order for this plan to succeed it meant that the Word of God would become human (flesh and blood) just like the rest of us. He would have to give up His heavenly body, be born an earthly baby, live a very short perfect life, and be killed for the sins (the sin of the world) that He never committed. And in His new form and new position His new name would be Jesus. And as we all know that’s exactly what He did. He gave up His heavenly body to take on an earthly body (flesh and blood) so that once again the children of God, who had become the children of Satan, could get back to the place they started from. In other words the Word of God became Jesus the Christ in order to whoop up on Satan.

All right, so continuing on with our digging let’s turn to and read from Matthew 16:13-20. "When Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am? And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ."

So here we have Jesus telling of the single most important step necessary for anyone to become a follower of Christ. You see each and every one of us must come to grip with the fact that Jesus Christ was God in the form of flesh and blood before we can obtain salvation; and believe you me, for the most part, that’s pretty hard to do. So here were the disciples (flesh and blood) following a man called Jesus (flesh and blood) Who said that He was the Son of God. He claimed to be God yet He was only human (flesh and blood). So how in the world could they believe that He was God when all the evidence (including what the world had to say) tended to prove that He wasn’t. Well they had to believe the same way we all have to believe; through faith in God. They had to spiritually "hear it" from God the Father that this man called Jesus was the Son of God. They had to hear it from God that this man called Jesus would bring life everlasting back to the children of God.

So now we should all understand that Jesus was The Word before He became the flesh and blood Jesus... and then He was crucified and died... and it was only through His death that His plan (the process of salvation: children of Satan becoming the children of God) would work. Because as we go on to read the writings of Paul (after the death and resurrection of Jesus) as found in I Corinthians 15:12-50, we will see him saying the same thing: "Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen: And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not. For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable. But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept."

OK, so once again we can only be saved from the death grip of Satan if God became flesh and blood and died for our sins. And it is through His death and resurrection that He became the "firstfruits of them that slept." And them that slept were none other than those God fearing Holy Ghost believers who had trusted in the coming of Jesus before He even came. You see "them that slept" had actually died and gone on to Hell (although not the suffering Hell) before Jesus did what He did by giving His life on the cross. And the very first thing that Jesus did after His death was to kick down Satan’s prison door in Hell and set the Jesus believing Christians free. Jesus was the first to escape Satan’s death grip in Hell and then the rest followed.

And that’s exactly how it was done. In the beginning Adam (flesh and blood) was made perfect... but then he messed up big time and became unperfect. God’s first plan failed because of man but His second plan was going to be a little different. So after Adam #1 we get Adam #2, and this second Adam (the flesh and blood body of Jesus) was also made perfect but He didn’t mess it up. And it was because of this fact that the #2 Adam didn’t mess it up that verses 20- 26 will shortly become reality: "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death."

Now I’m sure this entire process (the Word of God becoming the flesh and blood body of Jesus until He dies and goes back to Heaven) is all perfectly clear by now. And if you think you’ve got it all down pat then let’s go on into verse 35 and make sure. Reading, "But some man will say, How are the dead raised up? and with what body do they come? Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die: And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body. All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of beast, another of fishes, and another of birds. There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory."

Do you still think you understand? Oh yea? Well then how did you like that one statement "All flesh is not the same flesh"? You mean to tell me that the body we will get after our resurrection will not be the same body that we left on earth at death? Nope! And as we can see Paul explains this process of human resurrection by using a comparison of what happens when a seed becomes a plant. The way the seed starts out is definitely not the way it ends up, because the two are as different as night and day. You see our flesh and blood body is what you might call earthly (terrestrial) but our resurrected body will be a very different celestial one (Heavenly).

But let’s not stop here; it’s just starting to get interesting. So what do you think our heavenly bodies will be like? Let’s read on and see: "So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonour; it is raised in glory: it is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which was spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly. Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption."

Well do you have a headache yet? I mean this kind of mental exercise can smoke brain cells if you ain’t careful. But just hold on because we are almost finished with the first of three points that I intended to make in this week’s sermonet (only 1 out of 3 and we are already on page 6?). So Adam #1 was a living soul, he was natural, and he was made out of flesh and blood. And likewise #2 Adam (Jesus) was a living soul, He was natural, and He was also made out of flesh and blood until He was crucified and died. And that my friend is when the two Adam’s became different. That’s when the part about "...the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. Howbeit that was not first which was spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual" came into play. You see #2 Adam (Jesus) was (and still is) a spiritual body, but He hasn’t always been that way. Because when He came to earth as the Christ Child (baby Jesus) He was in a natural body (flesh and blood) just like the rest of us. And it was only after his death and resurrection that He took on His spiritual body that He will never give up again.

And it’s this same spirit body that we must all have before we can get into the pearly gates of Heaven. Because in his closing statement Paul went on to say that "...flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God." And since we all know that Jesus is now in Heaven, sitting at the right hand side of God the Father, I think you could safely say that He has met the requirements. And if He has met the requirements of inheriting the kingdom of God then He no longer has a body of flesh and blood. His new body is a spirit body, but just what is the difference?

Boy am I glad you asked! The answer is found in Scripture that we read just a few weeks back. So turning to and reading Luke 24:30-45, "And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them, Saying, The Lord is risen indeed, and hath appeared to Simon. And they told what things were done in the way, and how he was known of them in breaking of bread."

Remember this one? As this real life story goes, Jesus has been crucified, He has died, and He has risen, but He’s having a hard time getting people to believe it (unbelief). And this body that He now resides in is none other than the promised spirit body we have been talking about. So as we continue on with the reading we will be able to see the difference between the natural and the spiritual body: "And as they thus spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit. And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when he had thus spoken, he shewed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them, Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb. And he took it, and did eat before them. And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the Psalms, concerning me. Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures..."

You see Jesus’ new resurrected body was no longer called "flesh and blood". What He now had was a new and different body of "flesh and bones". So what’s the difference you might ask? Well the very obvious difference between the two is the blood!!! Jesus’ new body doesn’t require life giving blood to be running through His veins. Jesus’ new spirit body doesn’t contain any blood at all!!! So what keeps it going?

Well first of all let’s determine what type of spirit body this resurrected body will be. Reading from Philippians 3:17-21, "Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample... For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself."

Now for those meeting the requirements, their new spirit body will be a glorious body. OK that’s great. We will get a spirit body that’s a glorious body, but that still doesn’t explain what’s going to replace the life giving blood that will no longer be pumping through our veins. So for those details let’s turn to and read from Colossians 3:1-4: "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."

So then that’s the answer? Jesus will become our life giving blood? Well just to make double sure that’s the answer let’s read it again from John 5:2-29: "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool... And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. When Jesus saw him lie, and... Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made whole... The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day. But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."

So what we have here is another great story in the life of Jesus when He conducted the miraculous healing of the lame man. He did the impossible that caught the eyes of the unbelieving Jews and resultantly got them a little upset. And if that wasn’t enough, the thing that really got them uptight was that this miracle working man called Jesus claimed to be the Son of God. Because Jesus told them flat out that the miracles that He did were only done because His Father had already done them. And that was the one statement that couldn’t handle; it blew them away.

So Jesus did what He did because the Father had already done it. But that’s not all because Jesus goes on to say, "For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will... For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself. And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man. Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."

So now do you see where the life comes from in the spirit body of flesh and bones? It’s simple! You see Jesus shed His life’s blood on the cross in payment for our sins. His life’s blood poured out on the ground, then He died, and then He came back to life again. But the new life that He had was not because of a blood transfusion. His new spiritual body didn’t need to be powered by blood because it now had a much better power source. Jesus’ resurrected body now lives because of the life giving power of His Father.

So that finishes up point #1 of our little discussion. And with all that having been said it brings up an interesting question: If the Catholics claim to continue on with their daily crucifixions of Christ, and they use this blood in the service of The Mass, then where are they getting their blood from? You see if they are really turning the wine into blood, then it can’t be the blood of Jesus, because Jesus no longer has any blood!!! And since we didn’t get through with points # 2 and 3 we will just have to do it again next week. So stay tuned till then when we will continue on with Vampires In The Church Part VI. [See Their Drink Offerings Of Blood Will I Not Offer, Nor Take Up Their Names To My Lips! (5/17/98).]

And until then... keep right on a digging... and discover all those hidden treasures... that will allow you not to get tripped up... but to keep the faith!!!

Love,

Dad (Bruce Hallman)