Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr
Series Code: MMJ
Program Code: MMJ000008
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00:36 Shall we bow our heads for prayer?
00:38 Father in heaven, we thank You once again for the awesome 00:42 opportunity of being in this place to open Your Holy Word. 00:45 We ask for the guidance of Your Holy Spirit. 00:48 I ask, Father, that You will give us clear minds, 00:51 that You will give us tender hearts to receive 00:54 that which You have for us. 00:56 And as we enter the last stages of the history of this world, 01:00 we ask that You will give us the strength to remain 01:03 firm and loyal to You. 01:05 And we thank You for hearing our prayer 01:07 for we ask it in Jesus' name, Amen. 01:11 The title of our study today is, The Ecumenical Mary. 01:16 And I'd like to begin with a couple of verses that probably 01:21 most of us are very well acquainted with. 01:24 They come from Matthew 24. which is known as the chapter 01:30 of the signs of the coming of Jesus, 01:33 verses 23 and 24 specifically. 01:37 These verses are speaking about the great deceptions which 01:41 will exist in the last days. 01:43 And it says there: Then if anyone says to you, Look, 01:49 here is the Christ, or there; do not believe it. 01:55 For false Christ's and false prophets will rise and show 02:01 great signs and wonders; to deceive, 02:05 if possible, even the elect. 02:08 There have been, in the last few years, a series of super natural 02:17 events taking place at different places on Planet Earth. 02:23 And these signs and wonders involve the Virgin Mary. 02:28 They're known as apparitions of the Virgin Mary. 02:34 I'd just like to begin by mentioning some of these 02:38 as we begin our study today. 02:41 First of all, you have the appearance of Mary, purportedly 02:48 anyway, in the city of Fatima, in Portugal. 02:53 You have the appearance of Mary in the city of 02:57 Garabandal in Spain. 02:59 You have her appearing in Akita in Japan, in Naju, Korea, 03:07 in Medjugorje, which is in Bosnia-Herzegovina, 03:12 what used to be Yugoslavia. 03:15 Even in Sacramento, California, if you remember 03:19 a year or so ago, there was this statue that supposedly 03:25 oozed oil out of it. 03:28 And so all over the world there are these phenomena taking place 03:32 which involve the Virgin Mary. 03:35 Now I would like to mention more specifically some of these 03:39 events that are taking place. 03:41 I'd like to begin by mentioning a woman called Julia Kim. 03:47 She's from Korea. Starting on June 30, 1985, she began to 03:57 experience some very interesting phenomena. 04:01 For example, she started experiencing the stigmata, 04:06 the signs of the crucifixion of Jesus on her body. 04:10 Just all of a sudden, momentarily, statues around her 04:16 started oozing oil and water, and red blood. 04:24 She also, purportedly, when the host was placed on her tongue, 04:32 they would examine the host, and the host actually had 04:36 flesh and blood as being part of the host. 04:40 Then we could talk about Myrna of Damascus. 04:44 She experiences the stigmata on Good Friday. 04:49 And, once again, her body, according to eye witnesses, 04:53 oozes 100% olive oil. 04:56 People, according to witnesses that have been there, 05:03 say that she has been instrumental in performing many 05:08 miracles of healing, as well as not only through the statues, 05:15 but also through her prayers. 05:17 Then we could talk about the Marian Order of Priests, 05:22 or Marian Movement of Priests. 05:24 There are actually around 300 bishops and cardinals that have 05:28 belonged to this movement. 05:30 Actually, there are 55,000 priests, 300 bishops 05:37 and cardinals that belong to this organization. 05:41 It was started by Don Stefano Gobbi. 05:44 Since May 8, 1972 Stefano began having interior locutions. 05:55 In other words he started experiencing inner voices 06:00 that were speaking to him. 06:01 And, according to him, it was Mary who was speaking to him. 06:06 And, basically, she assured him that through her Immaculate 06:11 heart the problems with the priests, and the problems with 06:15 the Roman Catholic Church, were going to be resolved. 06:20 Fr. Gobbi wrote two books which contained many of the locutions, 06:27 or many of the voices that he heard, purportedly, 06:31 of Mary speaking to him. 06:33 The names of the books are: Our Lady Speaks to Her Beloved 06:38 Priests, and the second one is, To the Priests, 06:42 Our Lady's Beloved Sons. 06:45 We could speak about Fr. Bruce who is from 06:48 Lake Ridge, Virginia, who also has seen statues surrounding him 06:56 weeping, oozing oil, bleeding, and changing colors. 07:02 This has led a reporter in U. S. News and World Report 07:06 for March 25, 1993 to say this: Something that would normally 07:12 have taken place over a lifetime is taking place for many people 07:18 over a short period of time. 07:20 Along with the convergence many healings also have 07:26 been taking place. 07:27 There have been reports of healings of cancer 07:31 and other diseases. 07:33 The most important changes, however, have been the changed 07:37 lives, the inner conversions. 07:40 Not only do you have these supernatural experiences, 07:45 but I'm sure that you've heard about Mary, for example, 07:49 appearing on a grilled cheese sandwich that sold for, 07:53 I believe, close to $20,000. 07:56 I'm sure you've heard about Mary appearing on the frozen 08:00 surface of a freezer. 08:02 The formation of the ice looked like the face 08:05 of the Virgin Mary. 08:06 Recently I heard about an under pass, where a very important 08:14 highway went over, where, supposedly, the face of the 08:18 Virgin Mary was stamped on the wall. 08:20 Now I would like to share with you what this Virgin Mary, 08:28 is actually saying. 08:30 Because she's saying some very extraordinary things. 08:34 And I'm going to use as my primary source the book, 08:39 The Thunder Of Justice. 08:41 It's written by a couple whose last name is Flynn. 08:45 And, actually, what they do is they gather together 08:48 the locutions of Fr. Gobbi, as well as many other sources, 08:54 where Mary, supposedly, has been speaking in these last days. 09:00 What exactly is Mary saying? 09:04 What is this Mary saying? 09:06 Well, first of all, she's condemning the social ills 09:12 which exist in the world today. 09:14 Notice, for example, this statement. 09:18 And this is purportedly Mary who is speaking. She says this: 09:48 Now notice these social ills. 09:54 It's called pornography today. 10:03 That is using artificial contraceptives. 10:08 It's interesting that these are the very issues that 10:11 conservative Protestants are addressing today as well. 10:15 In another statement, purportedly by Mary, 10:19 she says this... And now she's speaking directly about the 10:23 governments who are legislating these things. She says: 10:31 By the way, this was said in 1992. 11:06 Interesting that Mary would be saying that governments 11:11 of the world, congresses, and parliaments would be 11:16 legitimizing many of these immoral practices in society. 11:21 And by implication she's saying that the government, 11:24 on the other hand, should actually legislate morality. 11:28 And this is exactly what has been happening in the world 11:32 today, primarily by Right Wing Protestant movements. 11:38 Now Mary also is having a lot to say about prayer, 11:44 interestingly enough. 11:46 You know, there's a lot of emphasis in the 11:48 world today on prayer. 11:50 Now notice, for example, what she said on July 25, 1990. 12:16 And then here's the quotation: 12:44 And I'm reading only certain statements. 12:47 There are many other statements where she's 12:49 telling people, pray. 12:51 Of course, we're going to find a little bit later on that the 12:54 favorite prayer is the prayer of the rosary. 12:56 And, of course, that is a serious problem. 12:59 Interestingly enough, this Mary is also encouraging people 13:06 to keep the ten commandments. 13:07 Notice, for example, this statement: Sons and daughters 13:13 of the world, I beg you to recite and keep 13:18 the ten commandments. 13:20 The only thing is a little bit later we're going to find that 13:23 she's saying that one of the commandments has been changed, 13:27 and it's no longer the Sabbath which needs to be kept 13:30 but Sunday, interestingly enough. 13:33 Also this purported Mary is speaking a lot about peace 13:38 and about love. Notice this statement: 14:21 So you have a great emphasis on peace and on love. 14:25 And you're probably saying by now, All of these things are 14:28 very laudable things which she's saying. 14:31 I mean, who would say that it's wrong for her to 14:34 encourage people to pray? 14:35 And what would be wrong with her saying that we need to 14:38 emphasize love, and we need to emphasize peace, 14:42 and that we need family values, and that we need to better the 14:46 morality of society? 14:48 You say, certainly these are very good things. 14:52 And they are. But we need to recognize that in 14:55 1 Thessalonians 5:3 we are told: 15:03 Did you notice that? 15:15 Do you know that the devil can also talk about love? 15:19 Do you know that the devil can also talk about peace? 15:23 And he can also encourage people to keep the ten commandments, 15:27 as long as you don't keep one of them. 15:29 Because the Bible says that he who keeps all of the 15:32 commandments, and yet refuses to keep one, is guilty of all. 15:37 The devil doesn't mind if you just violate one of 15:40 the ten commandments. 15:42 Another interesting thing, which this Mary is saying, is she's 15:45 emphasizing family values. 15:47 Notice this statement where she's speaking to some mystics 15:52 in Lubbock, Texas on September 26, 1988. She said this: 16:17 Interestingly enough, this Mary also says that one of Satan's 16:21 deceptions in the end time is that he is going to make 16:27 his demons disguise themselves as departed relatives. 16:33 Now allow me to read you this interesting statement 16:36 which is found in The Thunder Of Justice, page 113. 16:40 It's actually a message which was spoken to Melony. 16:43 This was way back in 1846 in La Salette. 16:47 Here's the quotation: 16:52 Mary's speaking, supposedly. 17:28 So what this Mary is saying is that the devil is going to 17:32 appear with his spirits disguised as relatives who 17:36 passed away, and they're going to teach heresy. 17:40 Now I don't know whether you're hearing something 17:44 very interesting here. 17:46 This is what we've heard all our lives as Seventh-day Adventists. 17:49 But the difference is that these entities, most likely, 17:56 as you look at the Biblical scenario, are going to come and 18:00 they're going to say that it's necessary to keep the Sabbath. 18:03 And, of course, for that reason they will be considered 18:07 evil spirits, because they're not saying that you're supposed 18:11 to observe Sunday. 18:12 The devil, in other words, is preparing everything. 18:15 He's setting everything up in order to deceive humanity. 18:20 This Mary is also speaking about apostasy in the Roman Catholic 18:26 Church, which is very, very rampant these days. 18:32 Notice this message: 18:35 The Catholic Church. 19:00 You know, that could have been written 19:02 pretty much by Ellen White. 19:04 Those of you who have read her writings; The Great Controversy. 19:07 It sounds almost identical. 19:09 You know, that the man of sin is going to sit in 19:11 the temple of God. 19:12 And there's going to be a little remnant 19:14 which remains faithful to God. 19:16 And they are going to suffer trials and persecutions. 19:18 This Mary also makes great ecumenical pleas. 19:23 In other words, she wants to bring the whole 19:25 human race together. 19:27 For example, she said this: I am mother to all of you. 19:33 Come closer to me, overcoming differences in nationality. 19:41 In another statement she said this: 20:11 And then she says: 20:16 That raises a red flag immediately. 20:20 We'll come back to that a little bit later. 20:22 This purported Mary also said this: 20:43 What she's saying is that she's going to perform a supernatural 20:46 miracle in the heavens, in the skies, that everybody will see. 20:50 And she's saying that this will lead to the conversion 20:55 of the whole world to Jesus Christ. 20:58 This purported Mary also said that the fall of communism 21:02 was not due to political and economical factors. 21:05 You know, usually people take the credit by saying that it was 21:08 Ronald Reagan, and that it was John Paul II, 21:11 and through political maneuvering, and Poland, 21:13 that communism was actually overthrown. 21:16 But this Mary is saying that she was the one who actually brought 21:22 the Soviet Union down, because John Paul II dedicated, 21:26 or consecrated, Russia to her. 21:28 Notice this statement: 22:12 Do you know that this Mary also speaks about the death 22:17 and resurrection of the Papacy? 22:20 Notice this statement: As Good Friday comes before 22:25 Easter Sunday, we will see the death of the Catholic Church 22:30 before its resurrection in a new form 22:34 in the glorious era of peace. 22:37 Now we all know that prophecy in Revelation 13 where it speaks 22:42 about this beast which receives a deadly wound, 22:46 but its deadly wound is healed. 22:48 It resurrects to power, and all of the world 22:52 wanders after the beast. 22:54 It sounds very similar to this prophecy. 22:57 Once again, as Good Friday comes before Easter Sunday, 23:01 we will see the death of the Catholic Church before its 23:04 resurrection in a new form in the glorious era of peace. 23:09 It's interesting that many of these phenomena have taken place 23:14 during the pontificate of John Paul II. 23:18 Allow me to tell you a few things about Pope John Paul II. 23:22 Even though he's dead now, it's interesting that most of 23:27 these phenomena have taken place during his pontificate. 23:31 I don't know whether you're aware of the fact that he 23:34 dedicated his pontificate to the Virgin Mary. 23:38 In fact John Paul II called the 20th century 23:43 the century of Marian times. 23:46 In other words, the century of Mary. 23:49 You're probably aware that on May 13, 1981 the exact 23:54 anniversary in which Mary had appeared to those three children 23:59 in Fatima, John Paul II was in the Pope mobile going through 24:05 Saint Peter's Square. 24:07 75,000 people were gathered there. 24:11 11 million people were watching on television. 24:13 And John Paul II, as he tells this story, saw this little girl 24:18 who had a picture of the Virgin of Fatima around her neck. 24:21 And he bent over to give this little girl a kiss. 24:26 And as soon as he bent over, the shots rang out. 24:32 And those who were able to see the film state that if he had 24:38 not bent over at that very moment the shot would have 24:43 hit him in the head. 24:44 And he probably would have been instantly killed. 24:46 And so he believes that his life was spared by the Virgin Mary. 24:51 In fact while he was in the hospital he claims to have had 24:54 several visions of the Virgin Mary; the same vision that 24:58 these three kids had in Fatima in 1917. 25:02 Interestingly enough, Malachi Martin wrote a book called, 25:07 The Keys Of This Blood, where he said that there was a life 25:11 and death struggle between three systems in this world. 25:15 One system was Roman Catholicism. 25:18 The other system was soviet communism. 25:22 And the other system was the capitalism of the West. 25:25 And in this book Malachi Martin predicts that the 25:31 Roman Catholic Church will be the victor in this struggle, 25:34 and to a great degree it will be due to the aid 25:39 of the Virgin Mary. 25:40 John Paul II had embroidered on the inside of his pontifical 25:47 robes the words Totus tuu, which means all yours; 25:53 I am all yours, Mary. 25:56 Basically he believed that he was a pope of destiny. 25:59 Because he had been called to establish a New World Order 26:04 under the moral and political direction of the 26:08 Roman Catholic Church. 26:09 Now you might be saying, a lot of the things that you've read 26:13 that this Mary is speaking about 26:16 are very laudable, very nice things. 26:19 Who couldn't agree with family values, with keeping the 26:24 ten commandments, with the need to have a moral society, 26:27 with the need to pray, with the need to have peace, 26:31 with the need to have stability in society. 26:34 We would all agree that those are very good goals. 26:38 But the question is, Is this really Mary who is speaking? 26:45 I want to share with you now some of the things 26:50 that Mary is teaching, that this Mary is teaching. 26:55 You know, the Scriptures say that if you want to know if 26:59 something is true, you check it out and you 27:02 compare it with Scripture. 27:03 Isaiah 8:20 says, To the law and to the testimony: 27:09 if they speak not according to this, it is because there 27:14 is no light in them. 27:15 Let me ask you this: Would it be possible to make a chocolate 27:22 candy that has 99% chocolate, and 1% arsenic? 27:29 Would that kill you? 27:30 Obviously it would. 27:33 Well, is it just possible that all of these wonderful things 27:37 that this Mary is saying are actually the chocolate, 27:42 and what we're going to notice now is the arsenic? 27:46 You know, I hate to have to say it so clearly, but this Mary is 27:51 teaching things which are not in harmony with Scripture. 27:55 This Mary says many beautiful things, but she also is teaching 27:59 things which are clearly contradictory to Scripture. 28:02 Allow me to share some of those with you. 28:04 For example, notice this statement. 28:08 And this is Mary speaking. 28:41 Now I don't know if you have some theological problems with 28:45 that statement that this Mary is making. 28:47 She's saying subject yourself to the church, 28:50 to the leaders of the church. 28:52 She's saying, that the priesthood has the power to 28:57 forgive sins, and that even Jesus, when He's called down 29:01 into the Host, He obeys the orders of His priests. 29:05 That presents serious Biblical and theological problems. 29:11 She also says that God doesn't mind if you're converted 29:17 out of love, or you're converted out of fear. 29:19 Notice this statement: 29:31 Did you notice that? 29:57 The Scripture says that perfect love casts out fear. 30:02 God cannot accept a service of fear; and yet this Mary is 30:06 saying that God doesn't mind if you serve Him out of love, 30:09 or if you serve Him out of fear. 30:12 Do you know that this Mary is also saying that she is the 30:16 authorized interpreter of the book of Revelation? 30:19 Notice this statement. She says: 30:27 In other words you don't have to study. 30:29 Just listen to Mary. 30:57 I'd like to know where in the book of Revelation is the 30:59 victory of Mary foretold. 31:02 And I would like to know, also, where we are told in Scripture 31:06 that Mary is the authorized interpreter of the 31:09 book of Revelation. 31:10 It's not in Scripture. 31:12 The Bible says that we are all to study 31:14 Scripture for ourselves. 31:16 Blessed is he who reads, who hears, and understands, 31:21 we are told in the book of Revelation. 31:23 This Mary is also saying that we are to have confidence in her 31:28 for salvation, and that we're supposed to pray the rosary. 31:31 Where in Scripture do you find praying with the rosary? 31:36 Notice this statement: 31:57 Scripture says that there's no other name given under heaven 32:03 whereby we might be saved. 32:05 And it is the name of whom? 32:07 It is the name of Jesus, according to Acts 4:12. 32:12 She also says that we can be saved from God's 32:17 wrath by our works. 32:18 Notice this statement: We should avoid the wrath of God on us 32:24 by our good efforts. 32:27 And she actually says that she intercedes with Jesus, and Jesus 32:33 appeases the wrath of His Father. 32:36 Notice this statement: 32:56 Is that the picture that Scripture presents? 33:00 Absolutely not! The Bible tells us that we have access 33:04 to the Father through Jesus His Son. 33:07 The Bible also tells us that God loved the world, that He gave 33:11 His only begotten Son. 33:12 God's anger does not need to be appeased. 33:14 God's wrath does not need to be appeased, because when Jesus 33:18 died on the cross He appeased the wrath of His Father 33:21 by paying the full debt for sin. 33:24 Notice also that this Mary is saying that we should 33:28 participate in the Mass. 33:30 Here's the statement: 34:01 Scripture does not say that Jesus is present literally in 34:07 the wine and in the host. 34:11 Jesus was speaking symbolically. 34:14 He was saying that this represents My body. 34:17 This represents My blood. 34:19 And yet this Mary is saying time and again in this statement 34:23 that we should exalt, and we should participate in the Mass. 34:28 Do you know that she's also saying that we should use 34:31 amulates to be protected from the power of Satan? 34:34 Notice this statement: 34:54 No place in Scripture do you find that by having a holy 34:58 object, or an amulet, you are going to be protected 35:02 from the power of the devil. 35:03 Furthermore, this Mary is saying that we should pray for the 35:09 souls who are in purgatory. 35:11 Now the Bible doesn't say anything about a purgatory. 35:16 The Bible says that God places before us life and death. 35:20 There is no intermediate place where people go to burn, 35:25 or to purge themselves from temporal punishment, 35:29 to then go into bliss. 35:31 This is a doctrine that is found no where in Scripture, 35:35 and yet, purportedly, this Mary says, Today I invite you to pray 35:40 every day for the souls in purgatory. 35:44 She also teaches that the church must use the state 35:49 to accomplish it's purposes. 35:50 Jesus said, Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, 35:54 and to God that which is God's. 35:55 Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. 35:58 But notice what this Mary is saying: 36:23 In other words she's saying that the destruction of the 36:25 Roman Catholic Church is going to come because the state 36:29 enacts ungodly laws. 36:32 By implication what she's saying is that the laws of the state 36:37 should be in harmony with the principals of the 36:40 Roman Catholic Church. 36:41 By the way, she also says that she will appear in various forms 36:48 in a New Age in this world. 36:50 She actually uses the expression, New Age. 36:52 Notice this statement: 37:05 And, by the way, that one fold and shepherd; the one shepherd 37:08 is the Pope, and the one fold is the Roman Catholic Church, 37:11 in her view. She continues saying: 37:28 This Mary also says that she's going to crush 37:31 the head of the serpent. 37:32 Genesis 3:15 says that Jesus is the one who crushes 37:36 the head of the serpent. 37:37 Notice this statement. 37:39 And this is Jesus speaking. 38:06 Revelation speaks about God putting His seal on the 38:09 foreheads of His people. 38:10 And it speaks about the beast putting its mark on those 38:15 who are followers of Satan. 38:16 Notice that this Mary says that she's the one who is 38:19 marking God's people. 38:20 Here's the statement: 38:56 Do you see the number of times that these themes come through 38:59 from the book of Revelation? 39:00 Mary is applying them to herself, when the book of 39:04 Revelation applies them to Jesus and to the Lord. 39:07 Do you know that this Mary even says that she has power to bring 39:13 the dead to speak with the living? 39:15 Notice this very interesting statement. 39:18 There's an individual who died, a Roman Catholic priest. 39:22 His name was Father Luis Andreu. 39:25 And I'm going to read the statement after his death. 39:35 Told four people. 40:12 Who is the priest who was alive at this point. 40:21 Because he wasn't there. 40:42 Is this what the Bible teaches? No! 40:46 The Bible says the living know that they will die, 40:49 but the dead know not anything. 40:53 The Bible calls death a period of unconsciousness, 40:57 a period of sleep. 40:58 The dead cannot appear to the living. 41:02 I admit that in the world today there are many entities 41:06 that are appearing in different places of the earth 41:10 to the living; purportedly they're the 41:12 spirits of the departed. 41:14 But they are not the spirits of the departed. 41:17 They are actually spirits of devils that are disguising 41:23 themselves as spirits of the dead. 41:26 In fact there's an interesting statement here. 41:29 I won't take time to read it, but I'll give you the reference 41:33 if you would like to pick up a copy of The Thunder of Justice, 41:36 page 389. Mary says that most of the problems that we have 41:44 in society today are due to the desecration of Sunday 41:49 as the day of worship. 41:50 And she actually condemns the commercialism, 41:54 and the entertainment that goes on Sunday, instead of people 41:58 observing Sunday as the day of rest. 42:01 Now I'm sure that that rings a bell with those who have read 42:05 the book, The Great Controversy. 42:07 Now it's interesting to notice that this Mary also is 42:11 predicting great calamities in this world. 42:15 Allow me to read you this paragraph from Kenneth Woodward 42:20 in the magazine Newsweek, August 25, 1997, page 53. 42:28 He had an interview with Mother Angelica. 42:30 Maybe you've seen her on the Roman Catholic channel. 42:34 This is the statement. She says: 42:42 Particularly the one we talked about last time, 42:45 which is that Mary is coredemptrix, advocate, 42:48 and mediatrix of all graces. She says: 43:14 By the way, this network reaches 55 million 43:17 people in 38 countries. 43:20 And so basically, what Mother Angelica is saying is that 43:24 when the Pope or the Roman Catholic Church gives this 43:30 final dogma of Mary as coredemptrix, advocate, 43:35 and mediatrix of all graces, the world will be 43:39 spared great calamities. 43:41 Interestingly enough, Saint Alphonsus Liguori, in his book, 43:45 The Glories of Mary, page 131. 43:48 This was many centuries ago. 43:52 ...Had this to say about the reason for calamities and how 43:56 to make sure that the calamities are steered aside. 43:59 He says about her: 44:31 So the way to steer aside calamities and problems 44:36 is by coming to Mary, and particularly coming to her 44:41 statues, and to the shrines that have been dedicated to her. 44:44 Now before we draw this to a close, I would like to mention 44:48 another woman who, primarily at the end of the 19th century, 44:57 had some very interesting things to say about what was 45:00 going to happen in the end times. 45:02 In fact she wrote a book which I've referred to previously 45:06 in this lecture, called The Great Controversy. 45:09 And I'd like to read some statements from 45:12 this magnificent book. 45:14 And you'll see that many of the things that Mary has been 45:18 saying actually are not the work of the Spirit of God. 45:24 They are the work of another spirit. 45:26 The Great Controversy, page 554. 45:29 Ellen White is speaking about the devil appealing to love; 45:34 talking about love. 45:35 See the devil can talk about love also. 45:37 She says: He appeals to the reason by the presentation 45:42 of elevating themes. 45:44 He delights the fancy with enrapturing scenes. 45:49 And he enlists the affections by his eloquent portrayals 45:56 of love and charity. 45:59 See, the devil can talk about love, he can talk about charity, 46:02 as long as he talks about other things that are not 46:06 in harmony with Scripture. 46:07 Because the most dangerous aspect is not pure error, 46:11 it's a mixture of error and truth; 46:14 primarily when you have a great degree of truth, 46:16 and only a small element of error. 46:19 Notice also in the following statement that this author, 46:24 Ellen White, speaks about the spirits of devils, 46:29 which disguise themselves as departed relatives, 46:33 lamenting the wickedness in the world at the end of time, 46:36 and saying the church and state should be united, 46:38 and that Sunday should be observed by everybody 46:41 to steer away the calamities. 46:43 This is on page 590: 47:01 See the state imposes the laws, and everybody has 47:05 to obey the state. 47:06 She continues saying, notice: 47:13 But they're spirits of devils, and they're lamenting 47:17 the wickedness in the world. 47:42 In another statement, which is found in The Great Controversy, 47:46 page 590, we find this very interesting concept. 47:51 Speaking about calamities being caused by Sunday 47:57 desecration, she says: 48:45 Notice the idea that because Sunday is desecrated 48:48 there are going to be calamities. 48:49 And the only way to get rid of the calamities is by forcing 48:56 everyone to keep Sunday as the day of worship. 48:59 It kind of reminds you of the days of Elijah. 49:02 Remember the experience of Elijah? 49:04 He went to Ahab and he said, I have not troubled Israel, 49:08 but you and your father's house have troubled Israel. 49:11 Because you have forsaken the commandments of God, 49:13 and you are worshipping Baal. 49:15 And, by the way, Baal was the sun god. 49:17 So Ahab was blaming Elijah for the calamities: there was no 49:22 rain, there was hunger, all of the crops had died, the animals, 49:28 the livestock were dying. 49:29 And Elijah was blamed for the calamities, because he did not 49:33 worship Baal, the sun god. 49:35 History is going to be repeated. 49:37 Notice also that Ellen White describes the fact that the 49:42 Christian world is going to want to unite 49:46 under one umbrella. 49:47 Do you remember what this purported Mary had to 49:49 say about ecumenism? 49:50 Notice this statement: The Great Controversy, 588, 599. 49:54 She says: 50:19 Sounds very much like the statements that we've read 50:23 from this purported Mary; in fact the conversion of the world 50:28 theme we noticed a little while ago. 50:31 Notice two other statements very quickly about the role of 50:36 spiritualism; the idea that the dead can come back 50:39 and speak with the living. 50:40 The Great Controversy, page 552. 50:43 Ellen White speaks about the power of the devil. 50:46 She says he has power: 50:53 And then this is the scary part. She says: 51:00 What is a perfect counterfeit? 51:03 It's when the U.S. government can't even recognize 51:06 a counterfeit $100 bill as being counterfeit, 51:09 because it is so much like the genuine. 51:13 So she says, The counterfeit is perfect: the familiar look, 51:18 the words, the tone are reproduced with 51:24 marvelous distinctness. 51:26 On page 560 she warns in these words: 51:54 Now I would like to conclude by asking the question: 51:58 How can we know whether this Mary, who is professing 52:05 to speak, is really Mary or not? 52:09 It all boils down to whether you believe that Mary 52:14 is alive today or not. 52:17 If you believe that Mary is alive today, you would be prone 52:22 to accept these messages as coming from Mary. 52:25 And in Roman Catholicism they believe that Mary died, 52:29 she was buried, on the third day she was resurrected after her 52:33 body saw no corruption. 52:34 She was assumed to heaven, and she sat at the right hand 52:39 of her son as queen of heaven. 52:41 And so what would prevent her from coming back 52:45 to speak to the living? 52:47 It's a very important question. 52:49 On the other hand, if we go by what the Bible says, 52:53 and the Bible says nothing, absolutely about the death 52:58 of Mary, the burial of Mary, the non-decomposing body 53:03 of Mary, the resurrection of Mary, the assumption of Mary, 53:07 and the sitting of Mary as queen of heaven next to her son. 53:11 The Bible is absent from all of these things. 53:13 If we believe that Mary today is in the tomb resting, 53:18 then we must as the question, Who is it that is appearing 53:22 and is speaking these things? 53:24 It's a very important question. 53:28 And the answer that we give to this question will determine 53:33 whether we are deceived, or whether we will not be deceived. 53:36 In fact what we need to do is what Jesus did. 53:42 You see, when Jesus was tempted by the devil in the wilderness, 53:50 the devil used powerful arguments. 53:53 He says, If you're the Son of God 53:56 turn these stones into bread. 53:58 And how did Jesus answer? 54:01 Jesus said, It is what? It is written. 54:09 When the devil asked Him to jump from the temple tower, 54:12 because God had promised in Scripture to take Him in His 54:15 arms and save Him before He hit the ground, 54:17 how did Jesus answer the devil? 54:20 It is written! When the devil showed Jesus all of the kingdoms 54:27 of the world, and offered Him all of the kingdoms of the world 54:30 how did Jesus answer the devil? 54:32 He said, It is written! 54:36 In fact we've already noticed that Jesus never quoted 54:41 the rabbi's of His day. 54:44 He never went to the rabbinical schools. 54:46 He wasn't caught up in their traditions. 54:49 Because Jesus was seeped with the word of God, 54:54 every controversy, every teaching was based on the 54:59 Scriptures of the Old Testament. 55:01 In fact after He resurrected and He spoke to these two 55:04 disciples on the road to Emmaus, we're told that beginning with 55:08 Moses, and from all the prophets, He declared in all 55:11 of the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. 55:14 And later on when He appears to the disciples 55:17 in the upper room, in Luke 24: 44, 45 it not only says that He 55:22 spoke to them from Moses, and from the prophets, 55:25 but it also says there that He spoke to them the things 55:29 concerning Himself from the Psalms. 55:32 In other words, the Psalms were centered in Jesus. 55:35 In other words, the church is based on Scripture. 55:41 Our only protection at the end of time will be to know 55:46 our Bibles, to accept the truths of the Bible, and to live by the 55:53 truths of the holy Scriptures. 55:55 And so any voice that purportedly is speaking 56:00 we need to compare what these voices are saying 56:04 with the Holy Word of God. 56:06 And as we've seen, this purported Mary speaks 56:10 many beautiful things: family values, the ten commandments, 56:14 peace, love, prayer. 56:17 She condemns the social ills of society. 56:20 You know, she says that the anti-Christ is going to 56:22 sit in the church. 56:24 I mean she says a lot of things that are contained in Scripture. 56:27 But the problem is she has a lot of teachings, as we noticed, 56:33 that are in open contradiction to the Bible, and God does not 56:38 contradict Himself. 56:39 You would expect that if Mary is in heaven with her Son, 56:45 she has a direct access to the total truth. 56:48 So the question is, if she's sitting next to her Son who is 56:52 the truth, we would expect her to come down to this earth 56:56 and to speak the unvarnished, and the untarnished truth. 57:00 But the fact is that many of these teachings are not 57:05 contained in the Holy Word of God. 57:07 Isaiah 8:20 is a text with which I would like to conclude. 57:15 The prophet Isaiah said to the Israelites in his day, 57:18 To the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according 57:23 to this word it is because there is no light in them. |
Revised 2015-04-29