“I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to distort the gospel of Christ. But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” (Galatians 1:6-8 NAS)
In 1987 was the first time I had ever heard of a place called Medjugorje. It happened while I was working at the home of a lady who had made a visit there, and brought back pictures and videos of the supposed appearances of Mary. The Holy Spirit, knowing that I would be approached with this story that day, spoke a word to me beforehand that “satan was a lying serpent”. Again that afternoon, after hearing about Medjugorje, the Spirit spoke and said “It is the same serpent that deceived Adam and Eve in the garden”.
“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that procedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4). Even Jesus in Matthew 4 used the word of God to keep himself from being deceived by the devil. We too must use every word, the written word
of the bible and the spoken word by the Holy Spirit to our spirit, to prove and test every spirit, if it be from God or not.
“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, yea hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden
... and the serpent said unto the woman, ye shall not surely die: For God knows that in the day that ye eat, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:1-5 KJV)
Notice how, first, the devil appeared to them in the form of something they both were familiar with - an animal they knew and had even named. And second, he did not tempt them to do something that was obvious and wicked, but something that would make them wise, and be as gods (or in today’s time, he would say, “to be as Christ” - a Christian) in some way other than by eating of the tree of Life only, the way God had ordained.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the fold of the sheep, but climbs up some other way, he is a thief and a robber ... I am the door; if anyone enters through me, he shall be saved.” (John 10:1,9 NAS)
“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid, lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds should be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. ... For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even satan disguises himself as an angel of light.” (2 Corinthians 11:2-4,14 NAS)
And so today at Medjugorje, as well as other places, the devil is saying again "Has God really said ... That Jesus Christ is our only Mediator - our only Redeemer - our only Healer - the only name given for salvation - the only One without sin - our only Intercessor in Heaven - the only one risen from the dead and seated in Heaven for you?” The answer is YES, He is! For God has declared so by His Word.
“Who desires all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5 NAS)
“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me.” (John 14:6 NAS)
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12 NAS)
“Hence, also, He is able to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.” (Hebrews 7:23-25 NAS)
It is Satan, therefore, and not Mary, who is appearing disguised as an angel of light, preaching a different gospel than Jesus and the first apostles preached, leading millions of deceived souls into prayers and devotions to Mary. But in reality, he is leading them in prayers and devotions to himself.
This is nothing new for Satan, however. For even in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 44:15-26) he had God’s people deceived into prayers and devotions to the “Queen of Heaven”, which God called and evil abomination. It is no coincidence that this same title is given to Mary today, by those who promote and participate in her adoration.
Statues
“Queen of Heaven” and “Mother of God” are titles that were given to Semiramis, the wife of Nimrod and mother of Tammuz (the sun god), who was worshipped as a god in the pagan world, starting in ancient Babylon and spreading throughout the world. Archeological finds of images and statues of the Queen of Heaven have been discovered all over the world. [Looking at a picture of any of these finds, it is obviously the same image that is worshipped as Mary today.] This type of statue, and many others, were also in Rome and worshipped under another name. In 313 when Constantine (Roman Emperor) legalized Christianity, he gave the pagan temples to Christian to meet in. The pagan statues remained and the names were simply changed to Christian saints, one being Mary [1].
“In that ye provoke me unto wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the earth? ….
Then all the men which knew that their wives had burned incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the LORD, we will not hearken unto thee.
But we will certainly do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem: for then had we plenty of victuals, and were well, and saw no evil.” (Jeremiah 44:8-19)
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them …” (Exodus 20:4)
“Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands: So that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at nought; but also that the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all Asia and the world worshippeth.” (Acts 19:26-27)
Tradition vs. Scripture
“Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”
(Matthew 15:3)
“Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.”
(Mark 7:9)
Catholic Church tradition teaches that Mary was without sin, yet the Word of God says that all have sinned (Romans 3:23).
Catholic Church tradition teaches that Mary is another mediator between man and God, yet the Word of God says that Jesus is our only mediator (1 Timothy 2:5).
Catholic Church tradition teaches that Mary has already ascended, body, soul and spirit, into heaven. Yet, the Word of God says that Jesus was the first and only one to rise from the dead and that no one else will rise from the dead until His return (1 Corinthians 15:20-23).
Jesus would say today, as He said to the Pharisees in His day, that one transgresses the commandment of God by keeping these traditions.
The Rosary
The practice of praying the rosary beads is not something that the Catholic church came up with themselves. The practice of praying with prayer beads had long before been used by Hinduism, Buddhism and other ancient pagan religions. It is just another example of the Catholic church mixing pagan customs into Christianity, which God calls an abomination [2].
“Don’t follow their example in worshiping their gods. Do not ask, ‘How do these nations worship their gods?’ and then go and worship as they do! You must not insult the Lord your God like that! These nations have done horrible things that he hates, all in the name of their religion. They have even roasted their sons and daughters in front of their gods.” (Deuteronomy 12:30-31)
“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do …” (Matthew 6:7)
Jesus told His disciples that He would send them the Holy Spirit after His departure. He (the Holy Spirit) would teach them all things, including how to pray (John 14:26 and Romans 8:26).
Jesus sent us the Holy Spirit, and not Mary, to teach us how to pray. Praying to Mary and praying the rosary is a counterfeit for the real prayer-life Jesus gives us through the Holy Spirit.
I too was once caught up in this empty, false way of approaching God. But when I surrendered my life to Jesus, He opened my eyes, and His truth set me free. He will do the same for anyone who truly wants to follow Him.
“I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life … And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:12,32)
Devotion to Mary
The following two items are what I ran across in the home of one of my customer's home while I was working there. One was a prayer card with a picture of Mary on the front and a prayer to her on the reverse. The other was a scapular of Mary hanging on the wall by the front door. Let us read what both of these said.
The prayer card to Mary said:
"The safest and fastest route to our Father is to consecrate one self to our heavenly Mother. She is the chosen path to come to us, and imitation is always the highest form of Praise.
Mary is the freeway versus the scenic route, which may seem more pleasing in its quaintness, but without a map, one often gets lost and always arrives late. Arriving at the destination is key! So let us go to out Lady, and knocking on the door of her immaculate heart, ask her to enclose ours within and transport us to out heavenly kingdom in quick order! Amen."
On the scapular it read:
"Anybody wearing this scapular at the time of death will be spared the fire of hell."
Like the prayer card said, "without a map, one often gets lost and arrives late." Well, God left us a map to show us the only true way of salvation. That map is the Bible, and that way is through Jesus Christ alone and no one else.
"Enter in at the straight gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way (a 'freeway'), that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7: 13-14 KJV)
"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6 NAS)
"I am the door; If anyone enters through Me, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." (John 10:9 KJV)
God also tells us in His word, the only way to be transported (translated) into His kingdom was through the Blood of His Son and not through the Bleeding Heart of Mary.
"Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin..." (Colossians 1: 13-14 KJV)
Jesus said in John 3:3 that the only way into the kingdom was to be Born Again, through repentance of sins and to be filled with His Holy Spirit (See also Matthew 3:11, Acts 2:38). The only life we are told, in God's Word, to imitate is the life of Christ, and not Mary.
"In Him was life, and His Life was the light of Men." (John 1:4 KJV)
"For we who live are constantly being delivered over to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus may be manifest in our mortal flesh." (2 Corinthians 4:11 KJV)
It is His death and His life that is the only thing that can spare us from the fires of hell and not wearing a scapular with Mary on it.
"But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." (Romans 5: 8-10 KJV)
Therefore let us go to Jesus Christ for help (not Mary) and ask Him to transport us into His kingdom. Through repentance, total surrender to Him, being Born Again and filled with His Holy Spirit.
"Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sin" (Hebrews 4: 14-16 TLB)
"Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." Acts 20:30
Paul warns us in Acts 20:30 that after his death men shall rise up from among them, to draw away disciples unto themselves: false apostles, who will preach another Jesus, another gospel and another spirit.
"For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him." 2 Corinthians 11:4
In Leviticus 20:6 and Deuteronomy 18:11, God forbids His people to have anything to do with anyone who communicates with the dead, or prays to the spirits of the dead. Mary did not ascend body, soul and spirit into heaven. She died and is waiting for a new body at the resurrection, like every other saint. It is a lie of the catholic church that has made her into an idol and a false god. Most catholics pray to her, more than to Jesus himself.
In the rosary, there are 50 prayers to Mary, only 5 prayers to our Father, and not one to Jesus. In the rosary prayer to Mary, one says, “Holy Mary, mother of God…”. Mary is not the mother of God.
In the Trinity, there are 3 persons in one God: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Mary was not the mother of God the Son, who was always here since the beginning with the Father and Holy Spirit, when all things were created (Genesis 1:26; John 1:1-4). She was only the mother of Jesus, who came in a human body for a short time, to live and to die for our sins. Then returned to Heaven, back to His Father, where He came from.
God has no beginning. Therefore, God (Father-Son-and Spirit) has no mother.
[1] The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop [2] The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop