Mark chapter 3, the Gospel of Mark chapter 3 verse 31 introduces us to what I like to call ultimate questions. Ultimate questions, there are two of them. Last week we looked at the first one. The first ultimate question of this passage is, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? Do you? Not just your wife, your husband, your mother, your father, or your children. Do you? And Jesus addresses that. He says, the ones who are in my family are the ones who are doing the will of my Father. And the whole scripture explains that relationship coming to Christ. The second question, which follows right on this passage, which is so vital to look at, is the question, is there another way to God? Is there another way to God? To get that relationship that is so important, is there any other way than the way God laid down? And you say, where do you get that? I don't see those words in there. Well, look at the context, and I'll point it out to you. Jesus is stopping the middle of his teaching, and he's stopping his teaching when the word comes to him that outside was his family. And his family members outside were beckoning to him, and they were saying, hey, come on out to us. We looked at that last week. And Jesus stops everything and says, wait a minute, the way to get to me is not to stand out there and be in my physical family, not to be Mary or my four brothers or my two sisters. That's not the way in. The way in and the way to God. is through what I do inside of you, a personal relationship. So these two questions, these two ultimate questions are related. Do you have a personal relationship, and do you get to God any other way than the way Jesus explains here? And that's what we're going to look at, the second of those this morning. This second vital question this week, is there another way to God, reminds me of the fact that on this planet today, The largest religious group in the world are called Christians. And the largest subset, in fact the dominant portion of people on the planet called Christians, are the 1.2 billion Roman Catholics. Roman Catholics, a sect or a portion or a division or denomination or a part of Christianity or Christendom, is the largest piece. And this morning, there are 1.2 billion people, a part of a church that calls itself the Holy Roman Catholic Church, that is built, according to all their documents, on the foundation of Christ and his apostles. And so this morning, I would like to examine with you probably one of the most well-known facets of the Roman Catholic Church. It has to do with the verses we're going to look at this morning. And that is the role Mary plays in getting us to God. Does she play a role? According to Roman Catholic dogma, she plays a co-mediator role. She is co-equal with Jesus Christ. in the mediation of the work of Christ on the cross. That is the official doctrine. In fact, I checked yesterday one last time to make sure it hadn't changed. There are 16,600 different Roman Catholic sites that contain what I'm going to read to you this morning. This is not something I dug up from the Middle Ages that they have turned away from in recent years. This is the current promoted, believed by the third longest standing Roman pontiff of all time. The current one is today, the third longest reigning Pope. This is what he believed in Poland, this is what he believes today, and this is what the Roman Catholic Church teaches. So, you know, don't think that we're trying to, you know, get off on some side issue. But as you, before we read, starting verse 31, who is presented in the Scripture as perhaps the most honored woman in all the Bible? Mary. Why don't you say that with me? Who? Mary. Number two, who was chosen out of all the women on the whole earth to raise God's Son? Mary. Good. And who is the greatest living, breathing example in God's Word of the Proverbs 31 woman in everyday life? Who do you think that would be? Mary. Yes, she was. God says, your life is greatly favored by me. without exception, who is probably the most beloved, the most best-known, well-known woman in the world from the Bible. It's Mary. But, even as we say all that, the veneration of Mary, as going on today, and as has been going on for over 1,500 years in the name of Christianity, is not in God's Word. I'm going to show you. Not only is it not in this passage, But it's nowhere in the Bible, this idea of elevating Mary to the level that Roman Catholic doctrine and dogma calls co-mediatrix. That's their theological word, co-mediatrix. That means a co-mediating role. The examples we see around the world of what is called Mary worship. Now, I don't believe every Roman Catholic worships Mary. I don't believe that at all. But I believe that it is wrong that the Roman Church does not declare that that is wrong and turn from the veneration of Mary that has led to multitudes of people worshipping her, adoring, sacrificing to her, praying to her, calling out to her. Those are all elements of worship and that goes on around the planet. All the false teaching about Mary that goes on around the world starts with the three primary teachings about Mary. There are just three of them that are foundational that the Roman Church presents as doctrine that isn't in the scripture. The first one is the Immaculate Conception. You know what Immaculate Conception is? I'll read from their doctrine. In the first instance of Mary's conception by a singular privilege and grace granted by God, in view of the coming merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, Mary was preserved, exempt from all original sin. That's what Immaculate Conception is. It means that when Mary was conceived, in her mother's womb she was sinless. That's not in the Bible. Second thing they teach is the perpetual virginity of Mary. That didn't start until A.D. 553, and this is what the Fifth Ecumenical Council said, the holy and glorious Mary, Mother of God, ever virgin. It means that she was a virgin at Christ's birth, and she remained ever a virgin, which makes the miracle amazing, not only of Christ's virgin birth, but that she had six other children that way, if that's true. And it's not. She had six other children. Now, their own Catholics say they're nieces and nephews and stepchildren, but the Bible never presents them that way. The third doctrine is the bodily assumption. And that one didn't come around until the year 1950. And this is what Pope Pius XII declared in the year 1950. He said, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the Immaculate Mother of God, the Ever-Virgin Mary, I already talked those two. See, this is all building. Having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed bodily and soul into the heavenly glory. In other words, she just actually kind of had her own personal rapture right up to heaven because she was so important. And I don't say that to be at all, although how can I say I'm not being critical when I'm being critical, but I'm just pointing out. It's not in the Bible. So if my tone of voice sounds at all critical, I'm just saying, everywhere we are so far, you notice we haven't looked in the Bible. In fact, I went to the official Roman Catholic doctrinal site, and it actually says on there that there are not verses for these things. It actually says that, coming right out of Rome. There are no scriptural verses for Immaculate, Perpetual, and Bodily Assumption, but they said that we believe and teach these things. So I'm glad they're honest, that there aren't any verses. Okay, looking down at our scripture before we read it, Jesus never taught any form of elevation of Mary. In fact, this text we're going to read this morning, he teaches the opposite. Jesus repeatedly made sure that no one elevated Mary. In fact, in one context, in Luke's Gospel, when this event is recorded and someone says, your mother and brothers are outside, Jesus says, uh-huh, that's true, but you are my brothers and sisters because you do my will and the will of God. And a woman stood up, the first married worshipper, prefigured and said, blessed is the womb you came out of and blessed is the woman that got to nurse you as a baby and Jesus said, no, you're blessed because you know me. He was putting Mary in her role as a normal believer just like us. Jesus never taught And to be perfectly clear, it is actually a form of idolatry to bestow on Mary the honor, the titles, or the attributes that give her a co-equal status in the redemptive work that Jesus accomplished. What does Roman Catholic doctrine say? They say that we were saved through the work of Christ on the cross and the agony of Mary in her soul. Mary was agonizing and Jesus was actually on the cross. Amazing. Jesus never elevated Mary to a special place during his earthly ministry. Jesus never allowed others to elevate Mary to a special place. Only Jesus is to be worshipped. Only Jesus is declared by Paul to be the mediator, the go-between, the one who brings to us the salvation that God has offered to us. Only Jesus brings that to us. And that's what we'll see as we go through our study this morning. Let's stand together for the reading of God's Word. The Gospel by Mark, chapter 3, and I'm going to read 31 to 35. Here we go. Then his brothers and his mother came And standing outside, they sent to him, calling him. Verse 32, And a multitude was sitting around him, and they said to him, Look, your mother and your brothers are outside seeking you. But he answered them, saying, Who is my mother? Remember we saw last week, he never called her that, ever, recorded in scriptures, never called her. He said, Who is my mother? Who are my brothers? Verse 34, and he looked around in a circle at those who sat about him, and he said, Here, here are my mother and my brothers, for whoever, the universality of the gospel, whoever, Jesus said, does the will of God, is my brother and my sister and mother. Let's bow together in prayer. Father, I pray that we would see this ultimate question that we must answer in our hearts. Not only do we have a personal relationship with you, O God, through your Son, Lord Jesus, but is there another way that we can come to you? There are literally millions of people that think falsely that there is. And they do so in the name of Christ, and they do so declaring that they believe almost everything that we believe. They believe in your word, they believe in your deity, they believe in your wonderful atoning sacrifice, but they have added to the gospel. And as your word says, if anyone adds to the gospel, that they have negated the gracious offering of salvation. Help us to be affirmed in our hearts of what we believe and know from your word, and help us to be filled with the love of God that is shed abroad in our hearts by your Spirit. And with such loving knowledge, may we have compassion to those who live and work around us, who sincerely with all their heart are seeking another way. And may we, by your word, by prayer, by our consistent witness, and by the living relationship we have with you that they do not have, may we be able to point them to how they too might have a personal relationship with you the only way. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen. You may be seated. As you're seated, In rapid form, let's look at about 50 verses. Okay, turn back to the Gospel by Matthew chapter 4. And I'm going to just take you on a journey through the Scriptures. Matthew 4 and verse 10, because only Jesus is to be worshipped, elevated, venerated, prayed to. Okay? And when I say Jesus, I mean the triune God, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. There is no distinction between the three. We may address our prayers to all three because they are one. But nobody else gets in that. Look at chapter 4 of the Gospel by Matthew in verse 10. Then Jesus said to him, Away with you, Satan, for it is written, You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only. shall you serve." Now what I'm going to show you briefly, and just briefly this morning, is that it is the official printed doctrine of the Roman Church that you may also venerate and pray to others. In the Bible, Jesus said no. Look at Acts chapter 10, and this is another one, especially those who want to logically present this from the Scriptures. You might note Matthew 4.10, and here's the second one, Acts chapter 10. Here's what Peter said. Peter who is looked upon as the first pope. Peter who is looked upon as the rock on which the church is founded. Look what Peter said in chapter 10 of Acts, verse 25. But Peter was coming in, and Cornelius, this is a man who had been praying and seeking God, and now the answer to his prayer arrived, which is Peter coming to bring him the gospel. And Cornelius met him, verse 25 says, and fell down at his feet. and worshipped him. Now look at this. But Peter lifted him up. Peter reached down and lifted him up and said, Stand up. Don't bow at my feet. Don't worship me. I also am a man. So Peter says, Don't worship me. Jesus said, Don't worship anyone but God. Now let's go to the end. Look at the ending of your Bible, all the way to Revelation 19. How about other elevated people? If we can't worship Peter, and we're only supposed to worship Jesus, how about saints in heaven? Or how about mighty spiritual beings? Or how about angels? We look at Revelation 19, in verse 10. And this, now this is the Apostle John. And the Apostle John was so overwhelmed by the power and the grandeur and the splendor of this angelic messenger that came to him. It was just so awful, just overpowering to him. Look what he does in verse 10. And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, see that you do not do that. I am a fellow servant of you and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. Emphasis on, don't worship me. Don't worship anybody in the celestial court, as it's called in Roman Catholic dogma. Don't worship anybody up there. No angel, no saint, no mother or relative of Christ. Worship God. Worship Jesus. Don't worship a man. Don't worship anybody else. Well, what's the role that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is to have in the church? Well, to answer that, what was the role she had in the first century? What was the role Mary had back then, when the apostles were there regulating everything going on? Well, you know what's interesting? The last time she shows up in all the scripture is before the birth of the church. She was enlisted in Acts chapter 1 and 2 at that prayer meeting with 120 as they were praying and as that prayer meeting exploded into the coming of the Spirit beginning the body of Christ on this earth, what we call the day of Pentecost, Mary is never mentioned again. Ever. Ever. Not once. Not at all. Not at all. You understand? That's a very powerful statement. You say, well, you don't want to argue from silence. Well, what did the early church do? They prayed to Jesus. They sought Him, and they listened to the apostles. They never had this, this... Well, in Italy today, there's a famous church that has a crucifix on it, if you've ever gone around and seen the art of Europe. And on one side of the altar, there's Jesus hanging dead on the crucifix. On the other side of the altar is another cross, and Mary is hanging on the other cross. on the other side of that altar. How could that be? Well, it's Roman Catholic dogma. The dogma is that Mary is the co-redemptrix of the human race, because with Christ, listen, she ransomed mankind from the power of Satan. Now, I don't have one criticism of Mel Gibson's movie. I think it's a marvelous presentation. I don't think it does anything erroneous, but it is the most graphic illustration of Romanism, if you've seen it. walking to the cross as Jesus is stumbling, Mary is going through the crowd like this. Who is parallel to Mary? Who is Mary warding off the whole way? Satan. Why? Because Roman Catholic doctrine says this, with Christ, Mary ransomed mankind from the power of Satan. That's not just a clever work of art, that is, you're seeing in film Roman Catholic dogma. It was Mary warding off Satan so that Christ would make it to the cross. That's what that little scene was all about. She ransomed mankind because Jesus redeemed us with the blood of his body, I'm reading their doctrine, and Mary redeemed us with the agonies of her heart. They both had to do their part to save us according to Roman Catholic dogma. By the way, this is not reading from a polemic. This is reading from the printed literature, what they recite, what they read, what they teach. This is not from a bash the Catholics site. This is just reading what they teach. And in our hearts, we're repulsed by that. But we don't think it's that serious because they're such nice people. But think about it. The salvation that they receive is a salvation that Christ did not accomplish alone. He accomplished it in tandem. with Mary, the co-mediatrix. Well, to help everyone understand this subject, five years ago I stood over at our other facility and spent a long time preaching through Revelation, and within that study I presented what I called the seven reasons why I'm not a Roman Catholic. And actually, It took a long time and it's all in the library and it's in the tape center and everywhere else and it's online. But I'd like to just pull out this morning the second point. of that, and I want to just briefly survey it with you, because some of you weren't here five years ago, and you might want to mark this in your Bible. And I want to read to you probably the most well-known Mary veneration thing. It's called the Fifteen Promises of Mary to Christians who Recite the Rosary. And if you've ever been a Roman Catholic, I'm sure you've seen those. And if you have a Roman Catholic family, I'm sure they've got one in their house. It's a little card, and it's got the official mark of the Roman Church on it, and it has a little picture of the sacred heart, you know, Mary's heart of agony. in their redemption. And these are her 15 promises. And I'm going to read them to you. This is exactly verbatim what is taught in every Roman Catholic Church around the world. Not constantly and not by all, but this is the heartbeat of this underlying belief in Mary that goes on, which you can't find in the Bible. Number one, the first promise of Mary to Christians who recite the Rosary is this, whoever shall faithfully serve me I have to stop right there. Serve me? Wait a minute. What was the first verse I took you to? Matthew 4.10. Jesus said, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou what? Serve. So it's already, we're off the charts already. I mean, we're just, we're not following this. Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary. Rosary comes from a Latin word, means bouquet of roses. And so it's giving bouquets by this recitation. You're kind of offering love to her and you throw these roses, bouquets. Shall receive, this is what it says, signal graces. Now I didn't know what signal was, so I went to the Catholic Encyclopedia online from the Vatican itself, and it says this, the Roman Catholic Church defines signal graces as those special and unique graces that sanctify us in life. Well, immediately I know what sanctification is, so let's back up to chapter 17 of the Gospel by John, okay? So, John 17 This is scripture. Instead of emphasizing the negative, I want to affirm the positive, okay? And that is really what we're supposed to do. And so I'm going to teach you what we believe in contrast to what is taught in this setting of the 15 promises to Mary. It says, if you'll recite the Rosary, Mary says, you'll get signal graces. In other words, graces that sanctify us in life. Here's what John 17, 17 says. Jesus said that the way we're sanctified is through God's Word, verse 17. Jesus was praying in his high priestly prayer, the legacy of Christ just before the cross, his last time with his disciples, he's praying, and this is what he says, speaking to God, sanctify them by your truth. He's talking to God, very clearly, the whole 17th chapter, talking to God. He says, God, you sanctify them, his disciples and us, who shall believe, he mentions that, by your truth. God's truth. Your word, God's word, is truth. So what's the means of sanctification? Is it signal graces that those who faithfully serve Mary, reciting, repeating over and over again. Remember what Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount? They think they'll be heard by their constant repetitions. This is an encouragement to constantly recite throw these rose bouquets, love, that if you keep showing love to Mary, you'll get sanctified. And the Bible says, John 17, 17, that's not true. What did Paul say? Well, if you want to go to the right, look at 1 Thessalonians 5.23, one of the most definitive statements on sanctification in the Bible. 1 Thessalonians 5.23 says this, Now may the God of peace himself, same one, doing it. God, not the church, not the saints, not anyone, but God himself. Now may God, the God of peace himself, 1 Thessalonians 5.23, sanctify you completely. And may your whole spirit, soul, and body. Look how God looks at us. He looks at us opposite to the way we look at ourselves. Most people, if you ask them about themselves, they say, well, my body, and my soul, and my spirit. But God says, no, He looks at us from the eternal part, your spirit. and then soul, then body. It's interesting God's direction that he names things. But may your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. How do you assure a safe arrival in heaven? Point one, those who faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary shall receive signal graces, sanctification. God says I will sanctify you through my word, which is truth, and me, the very God of peace, will do the sanctifying, you holy, and you'll arrive safely. Okay, point two, what's the second promise of Mary to Christians who recite the Rosary? Mary says, by the way, where did this come from? In the 13th century, a guy named Saint Dominic, in the monastery of Dinan in Brittany, in France, was an eminent theologian, and he said that Mary appeared to him in the 13th century and told him this, and the then sitting Pope should have said, you're wrong, she didn't, she couldn't, and she shouldn't have said that, don't repeat it. But he didn't, he imprimatured it, and that's where this huge, for the last 700 and some years, huge Mary thing has grown since Saint Dominic. had a vision of Mary where she said all this, and his spiritual leader should have said, don't do that, that's wrong, it's off the charts, it's not in the Bible, don't do that, it's unbiblical, but they didn't. Okay, so her second promise is, I promise my special protection and greatest graces to all who shall recite the rosary. Now wait a minute, who's saying this? Mary is saying this, and Mary says, to you in Hong Kong on the seventh floor of a packed out apartment in 1943, during the height of the Japanese fighting and the Chinese response of World War II, if you are huddling in that apartment reciting the Rosary, I, Mary, will give you special protection and the greatest graces." And that means, too, that in 2004, if you're somewhere in Tulsa and there's a tornado, Do you understand what I mean? Wait a minute. How would Mary know that you're on the 7th floor of a crowded apartment in Hong Kong? How would she know where you are? in Tulsa, or in Broken Arrow, or in your car, or on an airplane, or in Africa somewhere. Do you know what this 15 promises bestows on Mary? Omniscience, omnipresence. Not only does she know it, but she can actually do something about it. She can come to your aid. It's amazing that nobody thought of that when they imprimatur this because she said, I promise my Mary's special protection and the greatest graces to all who shall recite this. Now I admire Mary. She's probably one of the godliest women that ever walked the planet. And I think sometimes Protestants are afraid of her. But Mary is not omnipresent. She's not omniscient. She's not omnipotent. She does not know what we're discussing here right now. You can pray through all the beads in the world and she won't hear even one of them. Because she, like us, is involved around the throne right now. She is not sitting up in the supernatural hub of the universe receiving all these prayers. And what we do is we say, well, they shouldn't think of that, they shouldn't believe that. But they do! And they pray! Omnipresence of God means God is everywhere present. More specifically, omnipresence may be defined as God is in the totality of His essence without diffusion or expansion or multiplication or division, penetrating and filling the universe in all of its parts. That means that God is equally present everywhere. It's not God is everything, or that's pantheism, or panentheism, God is in everything, but God Now for a minute look at Psalm 139 because this is the promise I have and I would not ever lower my sights down below this to a person. God says this in Psalm 139 through David in verse 7, where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I ascend into heaven, verse 8, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, you are there. By the way, the word hell in the Old Testament is not Gehenna, it's Sheol, it's the place of the grave. It is Hades, it is the place of the departed where everyone went. There was a happy side and an unhappy side, but everyone went there, so this is not saying purgatory, this is saying where the dead went until Christ took them and led captivity captive and all that, so don't worry, this is not purgatory. If I make my bed in hell, in other words, if I die, I'm in the grave, behold, you are there! If I take the wings of mourning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there, your hand, who? The first word of the psalm, the Lord God of heaven and earth. The Lord himself is who we're talking about here and he doesn't delegate that omnipresence to anyone else. That is why he is God and that is who he is as God. He is omnipresent and no one else, not even the devil, who is the greatest created being of all. He was the highest of all the created order. Even he is not omnipresent. When you say the devil made me do it, he probably didn't, because he can't be everywhere all the time. You either did it or a demon helped you, but the devil probably didn't. But to think that a human could say, I will give you protection if you recite this rosary, is ascribing one of God's attributes to a human. And that's called idolatry. And that's not acceptable worship. Well, let me read the next one. By the way, I could go through omniscience and omnipotence, but I won't. The third promise of Mary to Christians who recite the Rosary is, the Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell. The Rosary will destroy vice. The Rosary will decrease sin. And the Rosary will defeat heresies. Promise number three. Do you see anything wrong with that? Is the rosary our armor against sin? Let's look at several. Let's start in Ephesians chapter 6. Let's look at the real armor and then back up and define it. Ephesians chapter 6 tells us the real armor. The armor against hell is found in Ephesians 6 verse 13 where the Apostle Paul says, therefore take up the whole armor of God. that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all to stand." Verse 14 of Ephesians 6. Stand therefore. And then he describes this armor. Having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness. Verse 15, having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith. with which you'll be able to quench all the fiery darks of the wicked one. And, verse 17, take the helmet of salvation, the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Now that's a long list, and you might not remember it, so to shorten it down, did you know that the whole armor is summarized in just one verse? So let's turn back to Romans 13, 14. And by the way, this is repeated all the way through the Bible. Even this listing starts in the Old Testament. These concepts of this armor of God is back there. But we're going to look just at the last verse of Romans 13. Because if you want to be sure that you have the powerful armor against hell put on, make sure that you're putting on the right armor or else you won't make it. out of hell, because that's the danger. The most ominous thing in this is there's going to be some very well-intentioned, sincere people who are going to wake up in the flames of Hades, in the vestibule of hell, awaiting the final judgment. They're going to wake up in the flames, and they're going to have recited countless times this rosary. And they're going to be hoping, this is only a temporary stop called purgatory, but when they stand before the Lord Jesus Christ himself, and he says, depart from me, I never personally knew you. Remember the first ultimate question, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ? And he'll say, you decided to come to me another way, which was not my way. You decided to come to me with the rosary as a powerful armor against hell to destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies, and that was the wrong way. What does it say in Romans 13 and verse 14? But put on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the armor. We are saved. We get all of Him. When we put on the armor, every piece we put on, He gets all of us. Now the reason there are a lot of defeated Christians is not because Christ is impotent. He is omnipotent. But He doesn't have yet all of us. And that part of us He doesn't have gets defeated. If it's our tongue, it gets defeated. If it's our mind, we get defeated. If it's our fleshly desires, it gets defeated. He hasn't got all of us. We have all of Him. That's one of the foundational truths of salvation. You don't receive the Spirit by measure. You get all of Him. You get all of God. fullness of the Godhead dwelling bodily in Christ, and you are complete in Him. We have all of Him. He doesn't have all of us. So what's the armor? Well, here's another one. You're in Romans. Turn over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look at the last two verses of chapter 1. 1 Corinthians. You're in Romans. Next book's 1 Corinthians. Look at the first chapter, the last two verses. This is what it says. But of Him, verse 30, Are you in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption? As it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord, not in the rosary, not in the saints, not even in Mary. Let him glory in the Lord, and there's only one way to glory in the Lord, and that is through Jesus Christ. And so if you're going to put on anything as a powerful armor against hell, put on the armor God set, and that's Jesus Christ. Let me just read through the rest of these. The fourth promise of Mary is, it will cause virtue and good works to flourish, it will obtain for souls abundant mercy of God, it will withdraw hearts of men from the love of the world and the vanities of the world, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things, if you recite the Rosary. Actually, the scriptures say we are sanctified by the Word of God, and it says in Romans 8.2 that the law of the Spirit of life and Christ is what set us free from the law of sin and death. The way we are sanctified and the way that we are set free from the love of the world and the vanities and the vices is through the power of the Holy Spirit, not through the recitation of bouquets of roses to a human. The fifth promise is, the soul, and this is the worst, and I'll end with it. There are ten more, this is the worst. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the rosary shall never perish. Let's go to the most familiar verse in the Bible, John 3.16. We don't even need to turn there, but I want to emphasize it. That this is the most blatant false gospel that is possible. I read it again. The fifth promise Mary made in A.D. 1300 to Saint Dominic was the soul, which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish. Jesus said, verse 16, for God so loved the world that God gave his only begotten son, singular, that's who he gave, by one sacrifice, not by two, by one, gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him, again, the uniqueness of that belief must be placed in him, only those should not perish, but have everlasting life. I thought only Jesus could give everlasting life, but Saint Dominic said, if you recommend yourself to Mary by reciting the Rosary, you will not perish. John 11, while you are in John, turn over to chapter 11, he says it over and over again, Jesus said to her, verse 25, this is a different Mary, this isn't his mother, this is Mary and Martha, Lazarus' sisters, but he said to her, to Martha there, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, shall live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die, never perish, never face eternal destruction. Do you see why the presence of such a false teaching? I mean, I can understand where it could come in. I mean, we get, I walked through the church this week and people with our doors open to construction, I found stuff taped up around, you know, people just kind of taking advantage of this to promote all their stuff, you know, and they drop off their little booklets here in the doorway, you know, those giveaway ones, and they put up, you know, free this lessons and free, you know, selling these bowls or vitamins or whatever, and so I walk around, it's one of the jobs I have around here, I pick all this stuff up and throw it away. But someone dropped off a deadly toxin in the 13th century, dumped it right into the church. And instead of being quickly picked up and thrown out, quickly disavowed, quickly repudiated, quickly declared to be damnably dangerous, it became elevated. So that now it is almost synonymous with Roman Catholic worship, the veneration of Mary. Last verse, look at 1 John chapter 2. This is who will never perish. 1st John, that's the last book just before Revelation. 1st, 2nd, 3rd John, Revelation. Go to 1st John, that little tiny, just before Revelation set of books. And I want you to see chapter 2, because verse 17, the end of it says this, and this is the bottom line, because the error is, the soul that recommends itself to me by recitation of the rosary shall not perish. This is the truth. Verse 17 of 1st John 2, and the world is passing away, and the lust of it, But he who does the will of God will last forever. Not he who joins a church, not he who gets baptized by that church, not he who makes a testimony in that church, not he who prays a prayer, not he who has always gone to church, and not he who especially recites repeatedly the Rosary. But as Jesus said all the way through his ministry, John picked up the message. It's not those that say, Lord, Lord. That pray, Lord, Lord. That serve, Lord, Lord, in the church. But those that, verse 17 of chapter 2, do the will of God. And what is the will of God? That you believe in the one he has sent. The one, not the two. Not the many. The one, Jesus Christ. Let's stand before the Lord Jesus Christ this morning and let's affirm Him as our Lord and Savior, the one we worship. Bow with me before Him. Father in heaven, I thank you that neither is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven, given among men, not any other name by which we may be saved. And that name is the name of Jesus, the One who became sin for us, the One who gave Himself, just Him. Only He gave just Himself for me. And even as I say those words, if there are any here who have not yet said, Lord Jesus, you gave yourself for me. You alone can absorb the wrath of God against my sin, and I have sinned, and you are my only hope of salvation. I pray that right here, as they stand before you, that they would affirm and confess and bow believing in you, Lord Jesus, as their only hope. And then, those who believe in you, you give a new heart and a new spirit and a new capacity, and we can turn from our sin, and we can live pleasing to you. And for any who have not yet believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, may they today. And I pray that we would lovingly, biblically, consistently stand against this other way to God. It's clothed in the scriptures, it's clothed in the names we know, it's clothed in a church that has so much truth, and yet truth added to in the realm of salvation. becomes damnable heresy. And I pray we would resist at every level any addition to the pure simplicity that's in Christ. And we thank you that we know whom we have believed and we are persuaded that you and you alone are able to present us faultless before God's presence with exceeding great joy because we worship you, the only wise God. to whom be glory, and majesty, and dominion, and power, both now and forevermore, and all of God's saints said, Amen. And God bless you as you go.