Mary the Mother of Jesus

The Ecumenical Mary

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: Pr. Stephen Bohr

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Series Code: MMJ

Program Code: MMJ000008


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.


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Revised 2015-04-29