Good afternoon everyone. As we close out this day, evidently the Pope has visited Cuba. Pope has visited Cuba. We're looking at a USA Today news story posted, let me get the exact time. updated six hours ago, so the time is 4.08, so 10 o'clock this morning, March 26th, Havana. As downtown Havana prepares for its first papal visit in 14 years, a man is playing chess outside his faded home in the immense heat of the central city. He said the Pope won't change this country's politics Only the people can change the politics. Benedict XVI is set to land in Cuba today for what will be a delicate exercise in diplomacy between the country's dissidents, those who are anxious for their voices to be amplified by a papal visit, and the historically atheist government that is in need of an air of legitimacy. The Pope was in Mexico on Sunday where he addressed hundreds of thousands of worshippers in an open air mass. On his flight Friday from Vatican to Mexico, Benedict offered some hope to the dissidents. Today, it is evident that Marxist ideology in the way it was conceived no longer corresponds to reality, he said, adding that he was ready to help Cuba find new ways of moving forward New models must be found with patience and in a constructive way. Told of the Pope's comments, Cuban Foreign Minister Rodriguez said, we will listen with all respect to His Holiness. Last weekend, 70 members of a dissident group, the Ladies in White, protesting on behalf of political prisoners were arrested as they marched in Havana. we only want a minute to communicate with the pope uh... solar the leader of the group said adding that many of them had been beaten before the release we are marginalized oppressed and the church must hear and protect us the ladies in white marched against sunday at the center rita church on havana's fifth avenue this time they did so in front of the world's news media and were not arrested priest rivera inside the church said that it Politicalization of any visit by the Pope was inevitable. It's important for us to conserve the meaning of the trip, he said. The Pope is the pastor of the church presenting Christ to the world. Do you hear the false doctrine? It's incredible as it's packed into this USA Today news report. What happened to the ladies in white is not an aberration, said Steinberg, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. There are thousands of arbitrary detentions like it every year, which represent one of the government's most effective tactics to silence its critics. Dissidents have also complained of threats from authorities. Peja claims that members of the Christian Liberation Movement have received threats from the state security. banning them from taking part in papal ceremonies. He was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2005 and is one of the country's foremost dissidents. The government is kidnapping the visit of the Pope, he said. It's a theater. The government, with all its mechanisms of repression, is pushing a culture of fear and there's a lot of pressure on the local church not to denounce what's happening. The trip comes 14 years after a visit from Pope John II when he promised religious tolerance in a country where Roman Catholicism had been severely repressed. Here's the problem. The pope doesn't bring Christ because Christ brings the gospel. And the gospel is all about the good news that forgiveness is made available through faith in Christ alone. And since the Roman Catholic Church adds sacramentalism to Christ efficacious work, there's no hope. There's no hope. These ladies who are appealing to the Pope need to be taught to appeal to God, and to appeal to God directly, and to pray directly to God, and God alone. Why is this so important? Why would we stop and stress this? Why would we need to emphasize this? Because in this article, the article is all about the Pope. It's all about the Pope. It's all about the Pope's glory. His holiness. We have a human being being addressed as His holiness. Don't we understand what happened when Those in the early Christianity, the first century, desired to worship apostles, they immediately corrected them when there was any hint of thinking of Paul or Peter or John as divine. These things were corrected immediately. We are men like you. Where does the Pope say, I am a man in need of a savior? Where does the Pope preach the gospel? He's talking about Marxist ideology. He brings hope. There is no hope in anything that man can deliver outside of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the only lasting hope. There's no hope in democracy, there's no hope in socialism, there's no hope in any form of government outside of a pure theocracy with Christ ruling, and that will not happen until He returns. The article only reinforces that which is not true. The article only reinforces misperceptions. The article only reinforces nonsense. It's so sad, it's so sad that millions upon millions of people have been duped into thinking that the Pope can forgive sins, that the Pope can pardon, that the Pope has any ability to intervene as a mediator between God and man. Paul, the apostle, communicates this truth so clearly, so effectively in 1 Timothy 2.5. For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. This is central to the teaching of the Reformation. This is precisely what every Anabaptist and every Radical Reformer and what Luther and what Calvin and what Tyndale understood as being fundamental to the Reformation, that it is Christ alone, and that the Pope has no authority to speak on behalf of God, and to speak to the Pope is to speak to a man, to speak to a man. And these people have been duped into believing that he has authority that he does not have. And it's unfortunate that this is the case. Ultimately, it can only be the work of an Antichrist. An Antichrist. Because it takes away from the glory of God in answering His people's prayers as they seek Him and Him alone. There are no plans for Castro to meet the Pope, though the Vatican spokesman Lombardi said the Pope would be available if the elder Castro, who was excommunicated by Pope XXIII in 1962, desired an audience. Support for Cuban authorities still remains strong in Parts of Havana pointing toward a picture of Fidel Castro on the faded green wall behind him, 45-year-old butcher Ismael Camacho proudly proclaims, this is our Pope. Sure, there we go. What's the difference? Pick a man. Ultimately, pick a man. That's the essence of the entire discussion. Pope? Castro? Obama? Or Christ? or Christ, Christ alone, the Lord Jesus Christ. Thanks for listening. Stay informed. Send me an email at pastor at bereanbaptistchurch.org, bereanbaptistchurch.org. This is Pastor Sean wishing you a great afternoon.