TEXT:
Revelation 2:24-25 24 But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. 25 But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.
In addition to private and personal adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, ornate and ostentatious public ceremonies are calculated to promote fervid devotion to the Eucharist.
On such occasions the larger host is brought out from behind the altar and inserted in a glass - fronted receptacle within a monstrance
The monstrance is a portable, ornate, and expensive device of previous metals (and sometimes jewels), which is shaped vaguely like a cross but with a prominent sunburst effect around the area where the host is displayed.
Because of the glass front, a person can actually see Jesus (or the host) as it is transported about the premises by a priest.
The monstrance routinely is paraded through churches during Benediction (usually after the last Mass on Sunday morning), during which a ceremony of sprinkling holy water and shaking vessels of incense accompanies the Lord's trip around the church.
The monstrance is also the vehicle for transporting the host for veneration during many festivals in Latin American countries.
This is how Catholics "worship" and "accept" Jesus
They are in adoration and fear - because they are told it was Jesus, fear because he was terrified that he might dishonor the sacrament through some carelessness, and continuing apprehension that he might at some time receive th sacrament unworthily in communion.
To the convicted Catholic, transubstantiation means that the bread and wine no longer remain; they have actually become the body and blood of Christ.
In addition, during the Mass, a true sacrifice is constituted when the priest pronounces the words of consecration.
Calvary is renewed, restored, and replayed before the eyes of the assembled congregation.
A person is physically there at the foot of the cross as Jesus serves as propitiation for his sins.
In Roman Catholicism the Eucharist is central to all worship.
It is an integral part of salvation.
What it amounts to is that this is the basic Catholic relationship with Jesus Christ.
IS THIS IDOLATRY?
The Catholic Catechism (the basic guidebook on Catholic doctrine) defies "idolatry" as rendering to any creature the honor and adoration that are due to God alone."
SUMMARY: the worshipping of a piece of bread that a person has become convinced is the Lord Jesus Christ Or a glass of wine IS SPIRITUAL IDOLATRY.
Hebrews 6:6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame.
The seven churches were chosen by the Holy Spirit! And portray the entirety of the church age.
Ephesus
Smyrna
Pergamos
Thyatira
Sardis
Philadelphia
Laodicea