What Do Roman Catholics Believe About Mary? | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Gospel of Mark Series)

Well, again, it's so good to be back with you all. I've seen some of your faces just not too long ago. And so from Joelle and I, thank you for all those who are able to make it to the wedding. And we know that some couldn't that really want to be there, but your love and your support, even from a distance, was felt. And so we're just so blessed that, we can be part of a church family that is so supportive in so many ways.

And so thank you from the bottom of our hearts. I don't wanna take too much time talking about that, though. I want us to go to the word of God. And so meet me in Mark chapter seven. And let's go to a few verses that we already covered together, but it's gonna help us springboard into a specific topic that is worthy of our time this Sunday afternoon.

Let's go to verse 10 in Mark chapter seven. Here's what the word of God reads. For Moses said, honor your father and your mother, and whoever reviles father or mother must surely die. But you say, if a man tells his father or his mother, whatever you have gained from me is Korban, that is given to God, then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down, and many such things you do. Lord, we pray.

Give us grace for this message, unmistakably clear, free from confusion, free from error. Even with a subject like this, may the presence of Christ be felt. May our hearts be wooed to love him and adore him with greater devotion and greater zeal. Lord, set the captives free, those who might be confused or deceived. Bring clarity.

Bring guidance. Bring deliverance. Be exalted and be honored. Lord, our hearts are ready for what you have to say, and we trust in your wisdom and in your wisdom alone. Amen.

I draw your attention to this passage again because I wanna remind you that the elevation and the indoctrination of man made religious or spiritual tradition is something that Jesus, during his earthly ministry, often confronted and exposed. And the leaders and the perpetrators who pushed often man made tradition during the time of Christ were the Pharisees. And here we see the Lord not only addressing the error of their ways in a general sense, but he specifically points out a flaw in their belief system and even calls it out by name. The Lord here speaks about one of the things that they were pushing and teaching and discipling that was actually eclipsing the word of God. And Jesus goes on to tell exactly what commandment this teaching was overshadowing, and it was obviously concern to him and it should be concern to us.

That's what we see here in verse 11, is it not? The Pharisees implemented what was known as Korban. It was a pseudo spiritual vow that enabled them to avoid the responsibility ordained by God in the fifth commandment in honoring your father and your mother, which was a lifelong commitment even until their old age to watch over them and to help them in every way possible, including financially. But this core bond, this this supposed principle made it seem as though in piety, what was supposed to be given to them was actually given to God, when in reality, they could do whatever they wanted with that charitable cause. This is just one.

This is just one of the traditions. Jesus tells us at the end of his statement here of verse 13, and many such things you do. This teaching was only one of the many errors that the Pharisees were promoting to an undiscerning people. Many such things you do. With that being said, my aim today, and I have a very specific goal, is to bring forward to you and to unpack a core bond of our day, so to speak.

More specifically, I want you and I to look at a man made tradition that is still being imposed on the masses in the name of God and is effectively making void the word of God in the lives of many as it was in the days of the Pharisees. And my intention in doing this is to make one simple and crucial point that you would never forget and it relates to what we discussed in our last time together. And that point is this, that there is a serious spiritual danger and deception that awaits anyone, anyone who does not uphold the scripture as a supreme authority regarding all matters of faith and practice. In other words, if the bible does not reign sufficient concerning your convictions about the revelation of who God is and what he demands of us, then know this, the possibilities of embracing erroneous beliefs are inevitable. And you will hear one of the most heartbreaking examples of that in a few moments.

But before before we proceed, allow me to lay a groundwork from the word of God. Turn with me to the book of Revelation. Book of Revelation is filled with wonder, filled with amazing truths and observations. You're aware of that. It has caused people to study and wonder and for some to speculate.

It's just from cover to cover overwhelming with so much rich revelation and content. And in this book, though, I believe there is one observation that many have missed, even those who are eager to master its content. And it's found here in Revelation 19 verse nine. What do we read here? Revelation nineteen nine says, and the angel said to me this is John the apostle writing.

And the angel said to me, write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb. And he said to me, these are the true words of God. Verse 10, then I fell down at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, you must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Worship God for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Go to chapter 22 of Revelation verse eight. Revelation 22 verse eight. I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when I heard and saw them, I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel who showed them to me.

But he said to me, you must not do that. I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers, the prophets, and with those who keep the words of this book, worship God. If you were to ask the apostle John, brother John, who alone is worthy of praise and honor and glory? Who alone is worthy to be ascribed this adoration, this love, this devotion? Will there be any doubt in your mind that he would answer correctly?

The same John who saw, touched, felt, and heard the living word made flesh. The same John who penned the words of the masters. Statements like I am the way, the truth, and the life. The same John who has given us the gospel of John, the epistles of John, and even this very glorious book. Is there any doubt in our minds that he would be completely faithful to answering that question?

There shouldn't be. Yet at the same time, the same John who gave so much glory and honor to the Lord Jesus Christ, not once, but twice felt the temptation and the urge to worship an angel. To worship a creature. To worship a messenger of God. There are many things that we can take from this.

Many things that we can absorb, but let me make one point that's relevant to the message today. Mankind is very capable of giving equal, if not more glory to a creature than the creator who alone is worthy to be praised. Mankind can feel that pull, can be a lord to give inappropriate glory to an object apart from the only one who deserves it. Now I want you to think about this more deeply. This is John.

This is the apostle John. And if the apostle John himself felt that impulse to bow before a creature, should it surprise us that there are millions across this globe who do not have a true fidelity to the word of God, who do not have an adequate understanding of the scriptures? Is it any surprise to us that the masses would feel the urge and would even live in a way in which they give in proper adoration and tribute to a created being rather than the creator? It shouldn't surprise you. It shouldn't surprise any of us, but it should still break our hearts to know that there are many today who like John are misplacing their worship and have never been challenged for it.

Even by those who know the truth. And I believe one main main reason is because they're afraid and they have a false understanding of unity, a false understanding of love. But my goal today is to be a simple messenger and echo the exhortation that this heavenly messenger urgently gave to John. You must not do that. Worship God and God alone.

Some of you perhaps know where I'm going with this, but let me be clear from the beginning that we are going to spend our time today to deal with a very common elevation of a creature, not an angel, but an instrument that God has used two thousand years ago in a special way. One who has chosen to fulfill a very specific and unique role in redemptive history, but who has unfortunately been esteemed on a pedestal in a manner that is completely foreign to the Bible. I'm speaking about Mary. And there are different traditional churches who propose various views about Mary, though many of them overlap. But what I'm going to do for the sake of order and a flow of thought, I'm going to focus on what the Roman Catholic church teaches about Mary.

And I know what you might be thinking, why? Why are you doing this, man? Why don't you just stick to what you believe and what we believe? No need to do this. And I wouldn't be surprised if some of you might think that I'm being inflammatory or I'm loving by taking this approach.

But let me tell you, what I'm doing is the most loving thing I can do. It's the most loving and most compassionate thing to do. And I'm not here to give you something that came from my own imagination, or my own ideas, or from some random blog that I read online to give me some ammo to attack unnecessarily people who might hold to a different understanding of this person. Now my prayer and my preparation is to, one, equip the believer. Is to equip the believer to know how to reach out to those who are in deception.

And second to that, if somebody who might claim and confess to venerate Mary, that in light of what is going to be presented today to be open enough in heart and mind to reevaluate what the Roman Catholic church actually teaches and even your own devotion to her and to see if it lines up with the word of God. So just be open. Be honest. If you're hungry for the truth, I'm not here again to present my own ideas. In fact, this is gonna be a very different message at least for me.

At least for me. Because what I want to do is quote as many sources as possible. I I'm going to give you what Rome says. I'm not gonna give you what I think or my understanding or what I heard from what this person said without any credible reference. So my head is gonna be down a lot.

It might not be the most engaging or emotionally stirring message this afternoon, but absolutely vital. I wanna follow the master. We go verse by verse, chapter by chapter throughout the bible. We're in Mark chapter seven, Jesus dealing with tradition, and I wanna deal with tradition too. Jesus called out a specific false tradition and I endeavor to do the same.

There's a lot of confusion out there. A lot. And there are even good hearted people who who know this to be the true word of God, but don't understand differences and don't understand nuances. And my goal here is to make you more confident in what you believe. And for those who might hold to this tradition, I want you to also see.

Perhaps you don't understand the depths of this tradition and what it really implies, and I want you to see that something perhaps that you've grown up with or something that you've been sharing with your family, something that's very familiar to your culture is in fact dangerous. How are we going to do this? Well, let me start by saying, if I give you everything, we'll be here for three hours. I don't wanna overwhelm you. At the same time, I want this to be sufficient enough for you to have a basis of understanding.

And so I always have to give this disclaimer. This is not exhaustive because I'm prepared for people to perhaps approach me after and ask about this or about that. I'm prepared for that beyond this pulpit. But for the sake of our time and for the sake of your tolerance and mine, this is a very focused message that will deal with specific things. And what we're specifically going to deal with at this time are the main dogmas of Mary in the Roman Catholic church.

The main dogmas. Right? The main teachings. And let me remind you what dogmas are. They're infallible and obligatory beliefs that are binding on all professing Christians.

They are non negotiable. They're irrevocable, and they are absolutely a part of the core tenants of the Catholic faith. So when you hear the word dogma, that's what you're hearing. These are not just fringe things, these are sensual things. So believer, be ready to be equipped.

And and and the person here who doesn't understand the merits of mariology, be prepared to digest some things that might not be easy to hear. How are we going to do this? Let's deal with the four main dogmas. Actually, three. There are four.

There are four of them and the one that I'm going to exclude is the belief that Mary is the mother of God. That's a very specific title. May I add a very misleading and unbiblical title? The mother of God. It's a very loaded title, and it's not just a nice way of referring to her.

It's not just an honorable way of identifying her. It is loaded with application and implication concerning devotion and perception of her person. That is exaggerated and violation of the word of God. But I'm not going to touch on that one. Instead, I'm gonna touch on the three other ones.

And these are the three that we're going to look at in this short time together. The first one the first one, if you're taking notes, if you can memorize this stuff, God bless you. The immaculate conception of Mary. In 1854, Pope Pius the ninth solemnly established what is known as the Immaculate Conception as a universal dogma. This article of faith was issued under the title of Infallibus Duis, which translate as God's Ineffable.

God ineffable. The immaculate conception is the teaching that Mary was conceived without original sin or stain. Let me say that one more time. Immaculate conception is not the belief that Jesus was conceived in the womb of Mary without sin, but that Mary herself, when she was conceived in the womb of her mother, was conceived without a trace, without any pollution of original sin. In essence, it is the belief that God has granted a specific grace over her from the moment that she was conceived that preserved her from the curse of Adam, protecting her from the original curse and stain of sin that affects us all.

And why would they believe that? Well, because in their idea, if Mary hosted the presence of Jesus Christ, who is God, who is perfect, then she herself in sharing flesh with them cannot be contaminated with sin. Here's the exact definition from that document that I quoted. Right? God ineffable from 1854, Pope Pius the ninth.

Quote, we declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most blessed virgin Mary is the first instance of her conception. And the first instance of her conception by singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God, and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful, end quote. There's a lot being said there and it's very straightforward. It's unmistakably clear. But did you catch a specific phrase?

It is a doctrine revealed by God. Now your reflex should be, well, where does it say it in the word of God? But that reply doesn't apply to Roman cath Catholicism. Why? Because in their understanding, it's not just scripture.

The magisterium, the church has equal authority and if they're honest, more authority than the word of God. And that kind of authority that they claim to have enables them to receive divine revelation and define divine revelation regardless if it's found in the scriptures or not. See, it comes down to authority. That's why I taught on is the bible enough before we begin this. Because that's where it all stems from.

Is the bible sufficient? And if not, then you open ways to embracing things such as this. And in the same document that defines this doctrine, you have a warning issued to those who choose not to adhere to it. Quote, hence, if anyone shall dare, which God forbid, to think otherwise that has been defined by us, let him know and understand that he is condemned by his own judgment. That he has suffered shipwreck in the faith.

That he is separated from the unity of the church. And that furthermore by his own action, he incures the penalties established by law if he should, are to express in words or in writing, or by any other outward means the errors he thinks in his art. End quote. Do you doubt this? Do you question this?

Do you publicly criticize it in writing or in speech? You deserve to be punished by law. You've made shipwreck of your faith. You are not part of the church. If you do not believe that Mary was conceived without sin, anathema.

Is this some fringe document? No. This was declared by a pope infallibly. This is central. This is what they believe.

And if you don't believe it either, you're not a Christian. This is serious. If you expect if you express any resistance or question, you're in danger. And we think here that this is again something that is out there, but let me prove it to you from this. This is the catechism of the Catholic church.

You can purchase this. You can find this online. This is a book that summarizes the doctrines of their faith. I'm gonna be quoting from this book a lot because I want you to see exactly what they believe, not again my opinion or my interpretation of their principles, and their rituals, and their ceremonies, and their doctors. No.

Straight from the book. Straight from the horse's mouth. From the catechism, paragraph 508, here's what we read. This is doctrine again. This is theology.

From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the virgin Mary to be the mother of his son, full of grace. Mary is the most excellent fruit of redemption. From the first instant of her conception, she was totally preserved from the stain of original sin, and she remained pure from all personal sin throughout her life. The reason for this belief, again, as I said is because if Jesus is sinless, then surely the one hosting Jesus should be sinless, the one carrying him for nine months. And so what's this belief that God predetermined, chose Mary to be the first to be redeemed in a sense, to be redeemed before even existing so that she can be the proper carrier of the son of God?

What does the Bible say about Mary's moral condition? Well, it's fascinating because the Holy Spirit gives us the very words of Mary. And in Luke one forty six to 47, it says, and Mary said, my soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God, what? My savior. My savior.

Here's this humble servant of God who gladly and willingly confesses what many cannot accept, that she was aware of her need to be saved. She was aware of her need of the saving grace of God regardless of her privileged role in God's program. She knew she was not exempt from the need to be redeemed, to be saved, to be transformed. But like many false teachings, when you introduce error, and all it takes is a little leaven, oftentimes you're gonna need more error in order to keep the original thought afloat. And so we have a strong dogma, the immaculate conception of Mary, but it is followed by another, which is a second very important pillar in this idea of who she is, the perpetual virginity of Mary.

The perpetual virginity of Mary, something that I'm sure you've heard, that you're familiar with, but we need to unpack it still. June, Pope Martin the first at a Lateran council, again, he clarified and solidified this doctrine, not as an opinion piece, but again, as a teaching sanctioned with divine authority. The statement ever virgin came from this pope. And what does that affirm exactly? Well, that Mary was not just a virgin before she conceived Christ.

That's something you and I agree with. We believe that Mary was a virgin before she conceived Christ. But it goes beyond that. That she was a virgin during and after the birth of Christ. And that's where we have contention.

That's where we have an issue. That's where we disagree. We know that in scripture, there are many evidences that say the contrary. And I know that there every single verse I bring up, I'm fully aware that the traditional churches has a response to almost every one of them. But let me let me just give it to you regardless.

We have Jesus' siblings mentioned, his half brothers and sisters, even by name, by Mark, even by Matthew, but in Mark six three, we're told, is not the this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us, and they took offense at him. Now Roman Catholics attempt to refute this simple reading of the text by going to the original Greek word and saying, well, the original Greek word for brothers is a is a wide thing. It can it can include distant relatives. It can include cousins. But if Mark really wanted to convey that it was Jesus's relatives or his cousins, then why wouldn't he use the Greek words for those very things?

Because in Luke one thirty six, where we're told about Elizabeth, I know the King James says cousin, but in other word for word translations, you have the word relative. The original Greek word is which actually means of of of kin, the same kin, of being of the same family, the same blood, though distant or close. It's a more general understanding of relatives. Sugenes, Elizabeth was that kind of person to marry in a human relationship. But in Colossians four ten, you have Paul telling us about Barnabas' cousin in Colossians four ten.

I know again the King James says the son of his sister, but if you go to the original of Barnabas' cousin, the Greek word is there, anepseos, which actually means cousin. Cousin. So you have a Greek word for distant relative. You have a Greek word for cousin. When it comes to Mark six three here, the Greek word is aldelfos.

For my Greek speaking friends, I apologize for the way I'm pronouncing these words. It speaks of someone related to you with the same parents. It's the closest word that you can use to refer to a brother or a sister. So why not sugenes? Why not enepsios?

Why use a word that brings you closer to the meaning of Jesus having a half brother or half sister? But Roman Catholicism can't accept this. They can't. They they have to rely on strange analogies and illustrations to prey on those who don't have a proper way of interpreting the word of God. Let me give you the most famous one.

Mary is the ark of the covenant in its fulfillment. What do I mean by that? Well, in the same way that the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament hosted the presence of God, that was a shadow of Mary who was to host the glory of God in the person of Jesus Christ. Sounds nice, sounds poetic, sounds deep, but what's the practical and theological implication? This, that in the same way that no man could touch the Ark of the Covenant, in like manner no man could touch Mary.

No man could touch Mary by virtue of her role as hosting the presence of God. And so with that train of logic, no man touched Mary, including her husband, Joseph. Just like the ark of the covenant refused to allow. Here's a statement from this book again, paragraph number four nine nine. Quote, the deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving birth to the son of God made man.

In fact, Christ's birth did not diminish his mother's virginal integrity, but sanctified it. And so the liturgy of the church celebrates Mary as the ever virgin. What does this mean exactly? Well, there's debates even among Catholics of the implications of this, but a common view is that the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary was not the only miraculous thing that that occurred in relation to her body. Not just the conception, listen very carefully, but the very event of the birth itself was a miracle.

Did you hear what the statement of faith said? Even in the act of giving birth to the son of God made man. So here's the belief and it's it's spelled out clearly. Mary remained a virgin, not obviously before conceiving Christ, but during and after. Now I've always understood it as the after.

But no, it goes deeper than that, even during. What does that mean? Well, here's the argument. Because Mary was sinless, she escaped the experiential curse that was issued to Eve and her descendants, which according to Genesis three sixteen deals with pain and bringing forth children. But again, you have to connect it.

She was conceived without sin. And so as a result of that privilege status, when it came to this occasion, the pain was not present. But it's even more than that. It's more than just a painless labor. No.

No. No. Because in seeking to defend the integrity of Mary's sinless body, the belief is this, that during the natural arrival of the savior, some believe that Jesus did not even enter through the birth canal at all. Here's a quote from article three from the Catechism of Trent, which expands on the details of the birth of Christ. Quote, you can hear me say that a lot.

And speaking about Jesus, here it is. Quote, just as he afterwards went forth from the sepulcher while it was closed and sealed, the tomb, and entered the room in which his disciples were assembled, the doors being shut, or not to depart from everyday examples just as the rays of the sun penetrate without breaking or injuring in the least the solid substance of glass. So after alike but more exalted manner did Jesus Christ come forth from his mother's womb without injury to her maternal virginity, end quote. The case that's being made here is that in the same way that Jesus escaped the tomb without tampering with the seal in the mouth of that tomb. And the same way Jesus appeared in that room where the disciples were fearfully hiding without engaging with the door, so in the birth of Christ, there was no obstruction of the body of Mary when he entered into our world.

Her frame was untouched. There was no wound. There was no scar. And think this is silly. Why are these details even important?

Well, it's silly to you, but it's very important to them. Because it's just an edge in the grand fabric of her being, of promoting her and complimenting her distinct nature from all other creation. All of these details matter because it protects and promotes the skewed perception of who she is concerning her person, her position in the kingdom of God. But even in this, we know that the Bible provides clarity of what happened to Mary's body during the birth of Christ. What did Mary do after she gave birth to Christ?

What does the New Testament tell us in Luke chapter two? Let me read it to you in Luke two twenty two. And when the time came for their purification, according to the law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord. Verse 23 of Luke two, as it is written in the law of the Lord, every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. So Mary herself honored the Levitical law by going through the rites of purification that occurs after you give birth to a firstborn male child.

And she went through the whole process of cleansing as an act of devotion to the God that she loved and honored. And I know there are objections. One of the common objections is this. Well, if Jesus did have half siblings, then why on the cross did he bestow the honor and responsibility to John the beloved? Why not one of his many siblings?

You probably heard it yourself. Right? There's a very simple answer to that. You know this, and this is why it's important to know our Bibles. Did the brothers of Jesus believe Jesus for who he was before his resurrection?

Answer? No. They didn't. And what did Jesus say about who his mother and his brothers were? Those who do the word of God are my mother and my brothers.

And so being consistent with his teaching, he gave that grace to a brother, John. And what Catholics do with that reference in John 19 is say that in the same way that John received Mary into her home, that was symbolic for what the church should do and every single one of you must embrace Mary into your home. See, it's not just a matter of recognizing the Bible, it's a matter of how you interpret the Bible. You can make the Bible say anything you want if you come with your preconceived notions and ideas. The perpetual virginity of Mary.

Now, you would think, okay, well, if if if Rome has something to say about the birth of Mary, if Rome has something to say about the life of Mary, then surely Rome has something to say about the death of Mary, and they do. And you've heard me refer to this not too long ago, but I'm gonna bring it up to you because it's important to understand. We know that Pope Pius the twelfth, right, in 1950 codified another dogma. And that dogma is what? The assumption of Mary, the bodily assumption of Mary.

And it's a very simple belief that at the end of her life, and you can believe whether she died or not died, but at the end of her life, Mary assumed Mary was ascended into heaven, not just in her soul, but with her body. And it makes sense. Right? You were sinless from birth. You were sinless throughout your life.

And so naturally, the effects of death do not apply to you. Death has no claim on you, so to speak, and so you are able to experience this miracle. And this is what this book says. In the catechism of the Catholic church, paragraph number nine six six, this is a lengthy one, but I'll make it as engaging as possible. Quote, finally, the immaculate virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as queen over all things.

So that she might be the more fully conformed to her son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. The assumption of the blessed virgin is a singular participation in her son's resurrection and an anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians. Hold up. Jesus is the first fruits of the resurrection. In anticipation of the resurrection of other Christians.

In giving birth, now they turn it and now they're addressing Mary. In giving birth, you kept your virginity. In your dormition, you did not leave the world. Oh mother of God, but were joined to the source of life, you conceived the living God and by your prayers will deliver our souls from death. End quote.

Why is the bodily assumption of Mary important to Rome? Because it is her exaltation. It is her exaltation by the Lord, listen as you heard, as queen over all things. And in her exaltation, she was not only honored with some adornment, she was not just crowned with a beautiful identity. No.

She was granted a startling position in heaven that still applies today. And what is that role exactly? Well, look, I can tell you, but let me just read it. This is a general idea. This is an overview of what Mary is doing according to Catholicism at this very hour.

And this is found from Catholic Answers, one of the most reputable and sought after apologetics for Roman Catholicism. Quote, understanding Mary as queen mother sheds light on her important intercessory role in the Christian life. Just like the queen mother of the Davidic kingdom, Mary serves as an advocate for the people in the kingdom of God today. Thus, we should approach our queen mother with confidence knowing that she carries our petitions to a royal son and that he responds to her as Solomon did to Bathsheba, I will never refuse you. Do you know why there's such an emphasis on praying too with the language of the Catholics with praying through Mary?

Do you know why that is? Because Mary has a certain influence over Christ just like any mother would over her child. So go to Mary. You have a better chance of having your prayers answered if you bring your prayers first to her and then her bringing it to the royal son. And what text did they use for that?

John chapter two, wedding at Cana. When Mary approached Jesus about the issue of their lack there being a lack of wine, Jesus responds to Mary, and Mary turns and says to the servants, do whatever he tells you. And then the miracle came came about. Do you see? Bring your need to Mary.

Mary will bring it to Christ, and and Christ will be more willing to hear your petition and plea and answer it. What a misreading of that text. If anything, let's let's let's actually honor it. Mary said, do whatever he tells you to do, then do it. What does he tell you to do?

And so this is really the heart of the matter. And this is why if you've ever engaged with a Roman Catholic and you touch on married men, you really touch your nerve. Because she's a mediator. So many graces flow from her. And this is this is why this personally disturbs me and I see this as a perverse and demonic doctrine.

I'll tell you why. Because whether it's willingly done, and I don't think anybody would confess that it's willingly done, but it's being it's being done regardless. To see Mary in this position puts Christ in a place where he seems less compassionate, less understanding, less willing to engage with you and your need and in your pilgrimage. Mary with her maternal affection is much more understanding. And because of her position as mother of God, as queen of heaven, like Bathsheba, She will sit at the right hand.

She will come to the royal son and she will be more convincing and effective with your request if you rather choose to go directly to him. So this now this this affects the person of Jesus Christ. This now touches on his personality and his character and his nature toward us. And this belief makes the Lord seem indifferent, it makes him seem distant, makes him seem reluctant, whereas Mary seems more tender and open hearted, and more than that, more influential. Don't believe me?

Here's another quote from paragraph nine six nine. Quote, taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside the saving office, but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal life or eternal salvation rather. Therefore, the blessed virgin is invoked in the church under the titles of advocate, helper, benefactress, and mediatrix. Those are her titles. Advocate, helper, benefactress, and mediatrix.

Remember Pope Pius who established the Immaculate Conception, Pope Pius the ninth? In that lengthy document, you have you have a confirmation of what I'm saying and even a command of how Roman Catholics or in their language Christians should perceive and engage with Mary. I'm sorry I'm reading all of this to you, but I think it's more effective than me just saying things from memory. Listen to this. This this is painful.

Quote, let all the children of the Catholic church who are so very dear to us hear these words of ours. With a still more ardent zeal for piety, religion, and love, let them continue to venerate, invoke, and pray to the most blessed virgin Mary, mother of God, conceived without original sin. Let them fly with utter confidence to this most sweet mother of mercy and grace in all dangers, difficulties, needs, doubts, and fears under her guidance, under her patronage, under her kindness and protection, nothing is to be feared. Nothing is hopeless. Because while our salvation, she is solicitous about the whole human race, and since she has been appointed by God to be queen of heaven and earth, and is exalted of all the choirs of angels and saints, even stands at the right hand of her only begotten son, Jesus Christ our Lord, she presents our petitions in a more efficacious manner.

When she asks, she obtains. Her pleas can never be unheard. Now if you ask somebody who hosts the Roman Catholic faith and you inquire, do you do you guys worship her Without hesitation, no, no, no. We venerate. We venerate her.

Call it what you want. What does this sound like? Just be honest. What does it sound like? Now this all makes sense to why there's such an emphasis on prayer to or through Mary.

It's your best option. This is what this is what makes your prayer life more effective. Your your walk with God. Now that's what man says, but what does God say? What does the Holy Spirit tell you and I according to Hebrews four fifteen?

Here's what we're told. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are without sin. Therefore, let us with confidence draw near to the throne of grace. Let us with confidence draw near to that sympathetic high priest who has been tempted in every single way. And unlike the king of Esther's time, his scepter is continually extended to us, and we have all access to him at all times for all things and all manners.

That's Christ. That's Christ, and that glory belongs to him alone. Oh, that we may receive and find grace to help in time of need. What more can be said? What more can be shown that what is called veneration is actually something more and dare I say atrocious in the sight of God?

What more? Not only do these beliefs have no basis in the word of God, so many of the attributes that are exclusive to God are shared with her. And among the many, one of the most disturbing to me in my studies is her being referred to as all holy. All holy. Pope John Paul the second who was pope in 1978, he wrote a book called the book of Mary.

And I just want I'm just gonna read the table of contents and it's gonna give you an idea. I'm not even gonna read the content. I'm just gonna read to you the table of contents. And he obviously wrote this in honor of Mary, and here's some of those chapter titles. Gate of heaven, Mediatrix of All Graces, Mirror of Perfection, Mother of Mercy, Pillar of Faith, Queen of All Saints, Queen of Peace, seat of wisdom.

Veneration, respect. What do we make of these titles? What do we make of these statements? In their own catechism, paragraph nine seven one, quote, the church's devotion to the blessed virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship. The church's devotion to the blessed version, it's intrinsic to Christian worship.

That is why you'll find prayers and hymns given to Mary. That is why you will hear things like from, Pope John Paul the second and Totus Tusk. This is a prayer. I'm gonna read this prayer. I'm gonna try to stomach while I read it, but I'm gonna read this to give you an idea.

To challenge what people claim to be mere respect and reverence. Here it is. Totally yours. Immaculate conception. Marry my mother, live in me, act in me, speak in me and through me, think your thoughts in my mind, love through my heart, Give me your dispositions and feelings.

Teach, lead me, and guide me to Jesus. Correct, enlighten, and expand my thoughts and behavior. Possess my soul. Take over my entire personality and life. Replace it with yourself.

Incline me to constant adoration. Pray in me and through me. Let me live in you and keep me in this union always. Amen. No.

No. Amen. Here's another prayer from pope Pius the twelfth. It's called the consecration to the blessed virgin. Most holy virgin Mary, tender mother of all, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart and the request of the vicar of your son on earth.

We consecrate ourselves and our families to your sorrowful and immaculate heart, oh, queen of the most holy rosary, and we recommend to you and all the people of our country and all the world, please accept our consecration, dearest mother, and use us as you wish to accomplish your designs upon the world. Veneration. I'm going straight to the source. Veneration or something more? We can continue, but I won't.

I just wanna say these thoughts in conclusion. Is this the tone that you read of in the New Testament? Is this the language that is ascribed to her? In fact, it's not. Scripture has very little to say about her.

It Says great things about her. Says wonderful, honorable things about her, but very little. There's no elaborate description. There's no adorning of these different attributes and titles. There's nothing about her life beyond what we see in Acts chapter one.

And what we see in Acts chapter one is that she was present with Jesus' have brothers in the upper room. And her being present in the early church, you would think that you would see something echoed. You would see some kind of foundation. Right? You would see some kind of basis for why these things are being taught and tolerated and promoted, but she has no influence of leadership in the church.

None. She's not venerated in any way even close to this. She's not honored in some special manner. She's in the background. And even when Paul and all of his wonderful thesis of the the gospel and all his discussions and writings about the depths of justification by faith, when he defines redemptive history.

I'm thinking of one example in Galatians chapter four four where he tells us about Jesus who is born of woman, born under the law. Like how much more general can you get than that? Born of woman. Does he even give the name? Born of woman.

You would think that if, Rome is trying to be faithful to the word of God that those things would be found. Things that I just read to you. Mother of all, mother of God, queen of heaven, nothing of the sort. What about Jesus? I can't think of a better way to close this session than to go to the very words of Jesus.

Interestingly, somebody makes an attempt to bestow honor to to Mary. And if you wanna turn there before we close our bibles, it's in Luke 11 verse 27. Luke eleven twenty seven. As he said these things, a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to him, blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast at which you nursed. Now pause.

You you would think that at this point, Jesus would take advantage of this moment and expand upon the glories of Mary, the privilege of Mary, the role of Mary, but he doesn't. No. Look at verse 28, but he said blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it. He doesn't. He turns this woman's attention and our attention away from that and puts our focus on the blessing that is available to all of us.

And that blessing comes through obedience to the word of God. Moreover, by by what he is saying, he clarifies that obedience to the word of God is of greater prominence and importance than any veneration given to Mary. Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it. It's a shame. It's a shame that millions, even today, are doing the very opposite of what this text presents.

Instead, they emphasize the blessedness of Mary to the point where they have robbed themselves of the blessing that comes from adherence to the word of God because in their praise and veneration and honor and tribute to Mary, they have made void the word of God. I know that this isn't an easy sermon to hear on a Sunday, but I think it's absolutely necessary, especially with what's happening in our climate, culturally speaking. I just praise God for his providence that even in these past two, three weeks, even on political platforms, there are discussions about Roman Catholicism and Protestantism and and soulless scripture and all these different things. And I just thought to myself, wow. It's amazing that we're touching on these things at this time.

Here's what I wanna say to you in closing before we prepare our hearts to partake of the Lord's supper. Pray for our Roman Catholic friends. Pray for them. The reason why I'm bringing this up to you is because we have to determine, are are these people who believe these things, are they partners with us in the gospel or are they in need of the gospel? That's what we have to determine.

Do they need the gospel or do they have the same gospel? Are we extending our hand to them to reach them with the truth or are we putting our hand in their hands and reaching others with the supposed same truth? This is what we have to decipher. Pray. Equip yourself.

Know the word of God more. Familiarize familiarize with your with the truth, and be loving enough to engage in serious conversation for those who are willing to have those conversations. Secondly, if you grew up if you grew up with this view of Mary you know, what's so fascinating is that I think this is one of the strongest strongholds for people when they want to come to Christ. They can't shake off devotion to her. And I understand why when reading into this because so much is dependent on her.

So much is accessed through her. It's it's no wonder to me how people are fearful of moving on and giving appropriate honor to her instead of the exaggerated one that they've lived with for so long. But I wanna assure you, this book you can rely on. This truth will set you free. If you just come to this book and this book alone concerning what you believe about God and what he asked of you, you will know true freedom.

You will know true liberty, true faith, true experience of God, true relationship with the living Christ. Come to the word of God. And if you have any questions, come to us. We wanna sit with you. We wanna answer you.

We wanna we wanna look at what's going on in your heart and and your history and your research even. But know this, if if our conversation is gonna go anywhere, we have to determine what is final authority. And I'll tell you from now, we believe it's this book and this book alone. As we prepare to come to this table, how do we transition? Here's what we transition with.

I pray that you're more motivated than ever to give all glory to Jesus Christ. That's what we're motivated with. Satan wants to rob that glory. Satan wants to veil that glory. He's willing to give it to anybody else, even if it's a saint, if it's an angel, doesn't care, doesn't have to be to him, but he hates Christ so much that he's willing to put any obstacle in front of him so that he doesn't receive what is his due.

But we will not let that happen today. No. We will give him maximum glory. If anything, we will attribute to him what belongs to him alone. Would you pray with me before we sing?

Oh, Lord, the true Christ, the true savior, the true deliverer, the true refuge, the true sanctuary, the high priest of mercy, the lover of our souls, the sympathetic shepherd, the kind and merciful one, the all knowing, the all seeing, the king of the universe who does not share his throne with anyone. Lord, we give you the glory and we give you the honor and we give you the praise alone in this place. And Lord, we recognize that you are the one mediator and we recognize that because of what you've done, we have been given and we are showered with grace upon grace. Lord, as we come to this table, we reflect on the exclusivity of the gospel, And we remember that it's by your blood, by your body alone that we are saved, that we are sanctified, and that we will be redeemed forever and ever. We thank you that you are the way, you are the truth, you are the life, and there is no one who can come to the father except through you and you alone, oh God.

Lord, you are infinitely beautiful, infinitely majestic. Oh Lord, help us to exalt you with our lives. Help us to exalt you with our understanding of the truth. Help us to honor you in our defense of the truth, but that defense to be done in love and compassion and understanding. We too were once in darkness.

We too are once blinded. We too are once deceived, but you set us free. You set us free and we pray that there would be more freedom as a result of this time. Lord, cleanse us of all sin. Cleanse us of all unforgiveness.

There's anything that contradicts our devotion to you as we come to this table and declare our unity not just with you, but with one another. Show it to us so that we can honor you at your table. Oh, Lord, our hearts are heavy, but help us help us lift our heads now to look at the wonderful grace that is ours in Christ Jesus. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Amen.