“Mariolatry”: The Idolatrous Worship Of Mary | New Covenant Baptist Church

Mariolatry: Idolatrous Worship of Mary

Luke 1:30-38

So what I want to preach about today is Mariolatry, which is basically just a word which describes the idolatrous worship of Mary.

First of all, let me say this. Nowhere in the Bible does anyone ever call Mary, “The Virgin Mary” or the “Blessed Virgin Mary” or “Holy Mary Mother of God” …

Now it’s true that in Luke 1:48, The Bible says: “…behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.”

But Catholics take this to an extreme.

Catholics say that they don’t worship Mary, that they “venerate” Mary … And if that was true, that would be fine. We ought to venerate Mary! But that’s now what they do.

As Christians reacting to Catholics’ idolatrous behavior, we have a tendency to de-emphasize Mary, the mother of Jesus, to the point that we don’t even want to talk about her.

There’s very few non-Catholic sermons about Mary. And I think that’s wrong.

Jesus did obviously choose Mary for a reason, Jesus obviously had great love for Mary as His mother. And we ought to respect and venerate Mary.

But that’s not what Catholics do. Praying to Mary is not veneration, or they’ll say things like, “Well, we’re not praying to Mary, we’re asking Mary to pray for us.” That’s how they spin it …

And we’ll say things like …

… But when I ask a brother in Christ to pray for me, I don’t BOW MY HEAD IN PRAYER, CLOSE MY EYES,

GET ON MY KNEES, & START COUNTING THE ROSARY!

OK, that’s prayer!

Pope Francis has said: “Without Mary, there would be no Jesus Christ; without the Church, we cannot go forward … these two women – Mary and Church – carry on the hope that is Christ, they give us Christ, they bring forth Christ in us”.

Now, I thought w/out JESUS CHRIST there would be no church.

Jesus said, “Upon THIS rock” – speaking of Himself – I will build my church” in Matthew 16:18. Not speaking of Peter or the Pope or Mary. Without JESUS, there would be no church!

If Mary wasn’t available, God could have picked someone else!

The plan of salvation didn’t hinge on Mary.

And you also have to understand that God did not force Mary to bear Jesus.

Luke 1:38: “And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her.” Mary gave her assent!

And I have to say, I love Pope Francis. And I’ll tell you why. Every time, I’m preaching on the Catholic, Pope Francis opens his mouth and says the stupidest thing that you could think of.

Pope Francis was recently asked if all Muslims are terrorists. And his answer was this:

“You can’t say that … just as you can’t say that all Christians are fundamentalists. We have our share of them (speaking of fundamentalists). We all have these little groups …”

Now, the purpose of this sermon is to twofold: To educate Christians about what Catholics actually believe in hopes of:

Saving Roman Catholics. Christians need to be preaching the Gospel to Catholics and showing them from the Bible how they can go to heaven by putting their faith in Jesus Christ alone and forsaking the false teachings of Roman Catholicism.

I also want to educate Christians who encounter Catholicism, not to be deceived into thinking that we are all one & that we should united w/ Catholics.

There’s a push today by so-called Christians leaders and evangelical pastors like Rick Warren, Joel Osteen, Billy Graham,

And even by the Mullah of all Catholicism, Pope Francis himself, to push for a one-world religion that will usher in the Anti-Christ.

Revelation 13:8 speaking of the Anti-Christ

⁸ And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

When Revelation says that “all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him” – that means that the Anti-Christ will have a religion. He’ll have a religious system in place.

That’s the religion of the anti-Christ, and his false prophets who have bowed the knee to Baal, like Rick Warren, like Joel Osteen, like Pope Francis, are all going around and preparing the way, like little forerunners to the Anti-Christ.

So we have to be prepared as the REMNANT CHURCHES OF JESUS CHRIST, to “mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.” (Romans 16:17).

Notice the Bible doesn’t say to mark them which cause divisions & just stop there. It’s not about causing division in & out of itself.

Romans 16:17 says that we are to mark them which cause divisions and offenses CONTRARY TO THE DOCTRINE which ye have learned”.

That’s what I’m doing today. I’m MARKING false teachers. I’m MARKING false prophets, I’m marking false religions. I’m marking those who pervert the Gospel of Jesus Christ!

1 John 4:1: “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

OK, so there are at least four Catholic heresies when it comes to Mariolatory, the idolatrous worship of Mary:

The Perpetual Virginity of Mary: that Mary remained a virgin her entire life and never consummated her marriage with Joseph.
The Immaculate Conception of Mary: that Mary was born without sin.
Mary as Co-Mediatrix with Christ: that Mary intercedes on our behalf to God.
The Assumption of Mary: the heresy that Mary ascended both body and soul into heaven.

Let’s look at some Titles of Mary by way of introduction:

“The Queen of Heaven”, referring back to Jeremiah 7:18:

“The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the QUEEN OF HEAVEN, and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger.”

So we have “The Queen of Heaven” title right there in Jeremiah 17.

“The Immaculate Conception” – now keep in mind, when Catholics talk about the “Immaculate Conception”, they’re talking about MARY, NOT JESUS.

The Immaculate Conception is the idea that Mary was born without sin – even though she had two biological parents – the sin nature, somehow skipped Mary.

Catholics believe that God kept her soul immaculate at conception and free from “Original Sin”.

The Bible ascribes sinlessness to Jesus alone.

1 John 3:5 says: “And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.“

Where does the Bible say that Mary had no sin? SHOW ME THE VERSE, if you can.

1 Peter 2:22 says of Jesus: “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:”

The Bible NEVER says that about Mary.

In fact, in Luke 1:47, the famous passage that’s referred to as “the Magnificat”, MARY Says: “And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.”

· You only need a Savior if you are a sinner!

· I’m here to tell you that MARY WAS A SINNER, like you & like me, like King David, like Paul, like anyone born of Adam. The Bible says: “For there is none righteous, no not one …”

But about Jesus, the Bible says 2 Corinthians 5:21: “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Never says that about Mary.

Look also at Luke chapter 11 where Jesus corrects a woman for praising Mary.

²⁷ And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed [is] the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

²⁸ But he said, Yea rather, blessed [are] they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

The final proof that Mary was a sinner is in Luke 2:22 concerning the purification of Mary after giving birth to Jesus.

This was a requirement of the Mosaic Law.

Luke 2:22:

Jesus had just been circumcised.

²² And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present [him] to the Lord;

²³ (As it is written in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the Lord;)

²⁴ And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

The purification laws are found in Leviticus 12:1-4.

Mary offered a sacrifice because of her impurity.

Why would she do that, if she was immaculate or without sin?

“The Mother of God”: This is the most popular, well-known of all Marion titles. It comes from the Greek word: “theotokos” and literally means, “bringing forth God” or “God-bearer”.

Nowhere in Scripture does it ever say that Mary is the Mother of God.

That would be like saying she’s the Mother of the Godhead. But she was only the human mother of the human aspect of Jesus.

Colossians 2:9 that Jesus is the manifestation of God in bodily form: “For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.”

Mary is the earthly mother of Jesus, the incarnation of God, the manifestation of God, God in the flesh.

She’s his biological mother, not his heavenly mother.

Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, I am.”

When Jesus was doing God’s work in the temple as a young man, and Mary & Joseph were looking for Him, He said, “Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?”

When Mary entreated him to turn water into wine, He said: “Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

This shows that when Jesus was focused on His heavenly work, Mary stood outside the confines of that work, because she was not his heavenly mother in any way.

And you have to realize that Jesus is not only fully God but also FULLY MAN.

& To say otherwise is a heresy.

It’s heresy to say he’s only man & it’s heresy to say he’s only God. Jesus is completely both.

Hebrews 2:16: “For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.”

Mediatrix

This is the idea that Mary intercedes on our behalf to God as co-Mediatrix with Christ or that she carries our prayers to the Trinity.

But The Bible says that Jesus is our only Mediator.

1 Timothy 2:5: For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Hebrews 9:15: “And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”

Hebrews 7:25: “Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.”

The bible never says that Mary intercedes on our behalf.

“Star of the Sea” – This is a title you may not have heard. This was supposed to be a sign of hope and a guiding star for Catholics, as a reference to Polaris or the guiding star for seafarers. In the same way that Polaris is a guide for those navigating the seas, Mary is alleged to be our guide in the tribulations of life.

A 9^th century French Catholic theologian, Paschasius Radbertus, wrote that Mary, “Star of the Sea”, is a guide to be followed on the way to Christ “lest we capsize amid the storm-tossed waves of the sea.”

But the Bible says in Isaiah 58:11: “And the LORD shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones …”

The BIBLE says: “I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” Psalm 32:8

The Bible SAYS: “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth:” John 16:13.

“Ark of the New Covenant” – This is the idea that just as God’s glory and Holy Spirit dwelt with the Israelites in the Holy of Holies, Mary is now the new dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.

Here is a quote from Catholic.com: “It’s easy to miss the parallel between the Holy Spirit overshadowing the ark and the Holy Spirit overshadowing Mary, between the Ark of the Old Covenant as the dwelling place of God and Mary as the new dwelling place of God.

What Does 1 Corinthians 3:16 say? “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

The Bible teaches that ALL believers are the temple of the Holy Ghost.

1 Corinthians 3:16: “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?”

The Second Eve – Just as Jesus is proclaimed the Second Adam in Scripture, Mary is considered the Second “Eve” by the Catholics because of her obedience to God through the Angel Gabriel.

1 Corinthians 15:45-47:

⁴⁵ And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit.

⁴⁶ Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

⁴⁷ The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven.

Just as Jesus is the Second Adam or Last Adam, they say, Mary is the Second Eve, sharing in man’s redemption.

But what does the Bible say?

Romans 5:19: For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

False Teaching #1: The Perpetual Virginity of Mary

This is the false teaching that Mary remained a Virgin her entire life and did not have any other children other than Jesus.

Yes, Mary, the mother of Jesus, remained a Virgin until AFTER the birth of Jesus – we do believe in the Virgin birth – but Roman Catholics want you to believe that she stayed a perpetual Virgin her whole life; that she is “Ever Virgin”.

And this is just another idolatrous way of artificially elevating Mary to a prominence that supersedes humanity!

Think about it. It’s like saying that Mary has only one begotten Son, because she had no other children, just as God has only One begotten Son.

But Mary did consummated her marriage with Joseph!

They key is in Matthew 1:25 which states that Joseph “knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son”.

Now obviously, if you say “he knew her not til” [ which means until ] then obviously he knew her after that point, which the word “til” clearly indicates.

HE DIDN’T KNOW TIL. It’s just basic English grammar.

There’s also Matthew 13 starting at v. 55, which speaking of Jesus, says:

⁵⁵ Is not this the carpenter’s son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

⁵⁶ And his sisters, are they not all with us? …

The same names are mentioned also in Mark 6.

We see from this passage, when read plainly, that Jesus had four brothers and at least two sisters, if not more … because sisters is plural.

So Jesus was not an only child.

Mary & Joseph consummated their marriage, as the Bible commands for a man & wife to do.

The Bible says: “Be fruitful, and multiply”.

The Bible says: “Defraud ye not one the other, except it be with consent for a time, that ye may give yourselves to fasting and prayer; and come together again, that Satan tempt you not for your incontinency.” 1 Corinthians 7:5.

In Galatians 1:9 Paul also refers to James as Jesus’ brother: “But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.”

But Catholics will say that Paul was speaking spiritually. They say that James was Jesus’ “spiritual brother”.

But Paul makes a point of singling out the other apostles and James “the Lord’s brother”. So a clear distinction is made.

We could talk also about Jude ….

Jude 1: “Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James …”

The Bible is clear. Mary did not remain a virgin her whole life.

False Teaching #2: The “Immaculate Conception”.

When Catholics talk about the “Immaculate Conception” they are not referring to Jesus, but to Mary! They’re saying that Mary was conceived without sin!

Catholics teach that even though Mary was conceived by two sinful parents, that the sin nature miraculously skipped her.

They teach that Mary was miraculously kept from being conceived in sin, even though SHE WAS NOT conceived by the Holy Ghost, but by two sinful parents.

Here’s a quote from the dogma of the “Immaculate Conception” by Pope Piux IX: “And indeed it was wholly fitting that so wonderful a mother should be ever resplendent with the glory of most sublime holiness and so completely free from all taint of original sin that she would triumph utterly over the ancient serpent.”

So they’re referring back to Genesis 3:15:

And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

OK, but Genesis 3:15 was referring to Jesus not to Mary. Jesus is the Seed that would bruise the serpent’s heel.

“And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Colossians 2:15).

#3 Mary as Co-Mediatrix.

Mary as Mediatrix is the concept that Mary plays an intercessory role in the salvific work of redemption through Jesus Christ, that she’s a co-Mediator with Christ.

There’s a prayer in the 4^th century by a so-called deacon named “Ephrem the Syrian”, in which he says: “after the mediator [speaking of Christ], you, Mary, are the mediatrix of the whole world”.

The Second Vatican Council of 1965:

“Taken up to heaven she did not lay aside this saving office but by her manifold intercession continues to bring us the gifts of eternal salvation. … therefore the Blessed Virgin is invoked in the Church under the titles of Advocate, Helper, Benefactress, and Mediatrix” …

I thought Christ is our Advocate!

1 John 2:1 – “My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous”

I thought the Lord is our Helper:

Hebrews 13:6 – “So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me”

Hebrews 12:24: And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

If you’re turning to Mary instead of Jesus as your mediator, that’s damnable! As a Catholic you need to repent of idol worship and turn to Jesus Christ alone as your intercessor!

LAST FALSE TEACHING #4: The Assumption of Mary

The Bodily ascension of Mary into Heaven.

In the same way that Jesus ascended into heaven both body and soul, Catholics teach that upon her death Mary ascended to heaven as angels carried both her body and soul to heaven.

But 1 Thessalonians 4:16 says:

¹⁶ For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

Nobody is going to resurrected bodily until Jesus returns. Our souls go to heaven when we die, but our bodies await redemption at the first resurrection.

“We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 5:8

Notice Paul says, to be ABSENT from the body is to be present with the LORD, because when believers die, their spirit goes to heaven to be with God, but there body remains in the earth, waiting to be redeemed.

Corinthians 15:54: “So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

Some Catholics even claim that Mary did not die but ascended body and soul into heaven.

In 1950, Pope Piux XII, declared:

“By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostle Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.”

By what authority? By their OWN authority.

So in this final decree Mariolatry is fully realized. All the false teachings converge into one and Mary is essentially declared co-equal with Jesus.

Jesus was a virgin His whole life, Mary was a virgin her whole life, Jesus is without sin, Mary is without sin, Jesus intercedes on our behalf, Mary intercedes on our behalf, Jesus ascended body & soul into heaven, so did Mary! That’s what the Catholics teach!

This is one of the devil’s most evil, most dirty tricks to play on the Son of Man, by taking someone beloved like his own mother Mary, and exalting her to a position of godhood and idolatry akin to the worship of Baal, Ashtoreth, & the Queen of Heaven!

Ask Mary to pray for you is a slap in the face of the Son of God!

The title “Virgin” has been applied to heathen goddesses since the beginning, creating a perpetual gateway for Mary idolaters to worship Lucifer.

There’s the Babylonian Rhea, the Egyptian Isis, “the Universal Mother, the Hindus’ Gaia, the Greco-Roman Vesta, Diana of Ephesus, Artemis, Juno, and so on …. They just change the names…

The Bible says in Acts 4:12: “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.”

Mother Goddess worship is the first major stone upon which the foundation of occultist Luciferianism is built. Occultists consider Lucifer the “Virgin” through whom the universe was created.

Helena Blavatsky or as she is called by Lucifeareans, Madame Blavatsky, called Lucifer the Mother of devils.

She wrote in the 1800s: “The celestial Virgin which thus becomes the Mother of Gods and Devils at one and the same time; for she is the ever-loving beneficent Deity … but in antiquity and reality Lucifer …”

Occultists believe that divine motherhood is responsible for mankind’s rebirth, Mary as the “Second Eve”.

This is the age-old belief that motherhood is a cosmic order upon which the world was established.

This is akin to the shekinah, female manifestation of god.

This is the principle that motherhood & childbirth are to be revered, even worshipped, thereby promulgating the never-ending cycle of life.

Worshipping Mary, praying to Mary, asking her to pray for you – whatever you want to call it … is nothing less than female goddess worship.

As Bible-believers, we are not to supposed to pour out drink offerings to the Queen of Heaven!

When Catholics ask Mary to mediate on their behalf, they’re declaring that Jesus lacks compassion, is lacking in knowledge, and depends on Mary for His information. It’s an insult to Jesus’ divinity.

It’s like saying He’s unwilling to help unless Mary intercedes on our behalf. It makes Jesus appear aloof and disinterested and callous.

Mariolatry is a Popish lie and a damnable heresy!

And if you’re a Catholic, I beg you to forsake Catholicism and turn to Jesus Christ alone by faith alone!

You must forsake idolatry. Simply admit you’re a sinner and ask Jesus to save you!

The Bible says: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: [it is] the gift of God:⁹ Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9.

There’s nothing that you can do to earn your salvation!

The Bible says that we must be born again.

Jesus said in John 3:3: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Nicodemus asked Him, How can that be?

⁵ Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

⁶ That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

The Bible says that we have to repent.

Matthew 4:17 says: “From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

But what does it mean to repent?

Jesus wasn’t talking about repenting from sins (as in turning from sins), that would be a works-based religion all over again! And that’s what already has you trapped!

The Bible calls the principle foundations of Christ “repentance from dead works and of faith toward God” in Hebrews 6:1.

It is only the blood of Jesus that saves.

Hebrews 9:14 says: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”

It’s the idea that we have to forsake all false religion, all false devotion and idolatry, and turn to Jesus alone as the only Savior.

The Bible says in Exodus 20:3: “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”

This is the very first commandment!

1 Timothy 2:5: “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;”

The Bible says that once you put your faith in Jesus Christ, you can never lose your salvation, because He gives you ETERNAL LIFE.

1 John 2:25: says: “And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.”

You see if you think that you can lose your salvation, then you are not trusting in Jesus by faith alone – you are not trusting that He finished the work of redemption for you – you are trusting in your own ability to save you!