Honest Look at Catholicism - No.4 Should we pray to Mary

I want to speak to you, and it's not very often that I take topical addresses, really, for subject matter, here in the tabernacle, but I want to speak to you tonight specifically on the subject, should we pray to Mary. And it's pretty obvious the reason why I want to try, by God's grace, to humbly and lovingly, but I hope clearly and biblically, tackle this particular question. Because of the advent in our country during these last few days of one of the, indeed the most widely travelled Pope of all time.

And he has been saying one or two things that bear in on our subject, and he stands for a great deal that has a lot to say in regard to the question that I bring to your attention this evening. If anyone should presume to think in their hearts otherwise than as it has been defined by us, let them know and understand that they are condemned by their own judgment and that they have suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith. Those words were written in 1854, and they went alongside a papal decree which said that the Virgin Mary, the title being one given by the Catholic Church, was immaculately conceived.

We will go into that in a moment or two. But I read that particular pronouncement because it carries with it a warning that unless you believe Catholic dogma in this particular area, then again to quote the condemnation, condemnatory statement, you will suffer shipwreck in regard to your faith. Now what we're looking at this evening is not a theological quibble.

It's not just a secondary matter that perhaps could well have been left on one side because there are more basic things to be declared. I fully acknowledge and endorse the fact that my task in this pulpit is to proclaim the gospel. But the gospel is to be proclaimed clearly, and it needs to be proclaimed sometimes over against the back cloth of what other people are saying is basic to the gospel message.

Now we have come under pressure in these days, not only in this country but around the world, with the teaching of the Catholic Church that basic to our salvation is our recognition of Mary and the particular position that she has in the estimation of Holy Almighty God. There is a German theologian by the name of Hans Kung. He's a very radical individual to the extent that he quite recently was carpeted by the present Pope because of the extreme, quote, views that he is now teaching.

And yet this radical theologian, not so long ago, in a book that he wrote, puts this question. Can we really be Christian without being Marian? Can we really acknowledge the historic gospel as contained within the Bible without realizing that Our Lady Mary is the Mother of God and contributes to the redeeming work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now you may be aware that the present Pope, Pope John Paul II, is very committed to the idea of Mary, of praying to Mary, of acknowledging who she is in his understanding.

It wasn't that long ago, just over a year to be precise, when an astonishing and cruel, despicable attempt was made on the Bishop of Rome's life. Mercifully, it was unsuccessful. And you may be aware that in giving thanks to God for the preservation of his life, he traveled to Portugal.

And there in Portugal, as in many of the continental countries, as well as our own, there is a shrine to the Virgin Mary. A place where Mary was reckoned at the outbreak of the Second World War to have appeared, to have manifested herself to three Portuguese children. The shrine that was built at a place called Fatima is a center of Catholic pilgrimage.

In many senses, it outpaces Lourdes as being the main center of attention on the continent for pilgrimages. Why did John Paul go there? Well, he wanted to thank Mary for the preservation of his life. He sincerely, I do not question this at all, nor do I question the sincerity of millions of Catholics around the world, believes Mary to have a unique position, being a mediator before the Lord Jesus Christ, and helping in his work of redemption.

John XXIII, that amiable Pope who seemed very loving indeed, and was partly responsible for calling a big council known as Vatican II, which was held in the 1960s, commended that council to the presidential office of Mary. And by the time that council, which lasted for quite a number of years, had concluded, Mary was awarded another title, one more amongst many. She was affirmed to be the Queen of Heaven.

And when you look through Catholic teaching, you discover that bouquet upon bouquet is presented to Mary. She is, in other writings, looked upon as being the Gate of Heaven. She is referred to as the Ark of the Covenant, the Tower of David, and many other ascriptions of praise and adulation are heaped upon her.

Wherever you go around the world, you will find that statues and images have been constructed in her honor. In the Council of Trent in the 16th century, a very important Catholic council, it was said that statues were to be made to Mary, and they should be obtained by all the Catholic family, and Mary should be adored, revered, and worshipped. Well, wherever you go, you discover these things.

Perhaps not so obvious in England unless you go into a Catholic cathedral or into a Catholic church, but around the continent, particularly in Austria and Italy and Spain, you find them scattered around the countryside. I well remember in my tour of Latin America, and particularly in Mexico, being confronted with, well, if not hundreds, certainly sites of dozens of dolls, which were constructed to depict Mary. Perhaps not the most artistic piece of expertise went into the creation of many of these shrines, but nonetheless, whether artistic or otherwise, around the globe, you are confronted, in Catholic-dominated countries particularly, with the sight of the Virgin.

So if you put all these things together, it becomes very, very obvious that in Catholic theology, Mary has a dominant central place. And the question that I put to you this evening is not just to be contentious. I love Catholic people.

I have respect for the present Pope as a man, and as a thinker, though I believe his premise is completely unfounded in a great deal of his theological speculation. But I approach this question because I am concerned to know if Protestants have got it wrong. If I am teaching you wrongly, then I need to apologize.

And so what I want to do this evening as I address myself to our subject, Should We Pray to Mary? is first of all to engage in a historical review as to how it is that in these days, a large proportion of the so-called Church gives her a position which some of us might tend to question. And then I want to engage in a biblical appraisal and test what I have found historically over against what the Word of God says. And then thirdly and finally, I want to make some personal comments which I hope will make the whole position clear and show us to whom we are to pray and who is the Redeemer and the Mediator on whom we can trust for our salvation.

Well then, that's my program. Stay with me, and I trust that what I have to share will be expressed simply enough for all to understand and lovingly enough that none shall misinterpret my objectives in bringing this to you. As for a historical review, well, it has to be said that within the history of the Church, that is the writings and the practices of the Church down the centuries, very little is discovered relevant to Mary for the first 400 years.

There happened to be at Ephesus in the 5th century a council that was held. The reasons why it was held are interesting, but time doesn't allow me to go into them. And at that council, Mary was given the name the Mother of God.

That became a sort of snowball. You know what happens when you get a snowball if you're at the top of the hill and the snow is thick? You start to push it down and gradually it gathers more and more snow and that little snowball, which was quite small in size when it commenced its journey downhill becomes almost like a boulder. It grows as it rolls.

And it seems to me that that's a fair analogy historically when you try to discover how this doctrine has developed in the first 400 years. Very little is said about Mary in the story of the Church. But after being called Mary, Mother of God, certain other additions were quickly made.

By the year 600, prayers were offered to Mary. No reference to that before that particular date. And then in the year 1090 there was the ministry of a man by the name of Peter.

Peter the Hermit. I wonder if you've ever heard of him. He's very interesting in church history because he really was the first person to suggest that one could make a rosary.

Now some of you may not know what a rosary is. It's like a necklace. It's a string of beads.

And there are a number of beads on this string. Some are small and some are large. And when you start to thread these beads along your rosary you say certain prayers.

And one of the prayers that you have to say is the Ave Maria or the Hail Mary. Hail Mary full of grace. The Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women. Blessed is the fruit of thy womb. Holy Mother of God.

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of death. That is the Hail Mary. You get ten beads, small beads.

Send them over. Pronounce your Hail Mary. You come across a big bead.

Then you've got an Our Father. The prayer that our Lord taught us. You say that.

Then you say the Gloria. And then you're back on the Hail Marys. Hail Mary beats the Lord's Prayer by ten to one in the frequency of using the rosary.

But this became very, very important in Catholic practice and worship and is very sincerely adopted by Catholic people around the world. Well, as Mary becomes more and more dominant so she gains other titles and has gradually a position of rank paramount importance in Catholic belief and understanding. But the snowball, if they can accelerate, picks up pace particularly in more modern times.

What do I mean by that? Well, you remember that little condemnatory statement that I read out right at the beginning. That followed a papal bull. A papal decree known as In Efarbalis Deus.

And that particular decree pronounced that Mary was not only a very great outstanding woman but she is preserved from sin in her birth. Like the Lord Jesus Christ who was born sinless. So according to that decree in 1854 offered by Pope Pius IX is Mary.

We declare, pronounce and define that the most blessed Virgin Mary at the first instant of her conception was preserved immaculate from all stain of original sin by the singular grace and privilege of the omnipotent God in virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ the Savior of mankind and that this doctrine was revealed by God and therefore must be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful. So Mary, according to the decree of the church coming out in 1854 is sinless in birth like our Lord Jesus. But then the theologians started to think about the logical consequences of this.

And in part it had been discussed in centuries gone by. Wasn't Mary such a virtuous holy woman that not only was she conceived sinless she preserved her sinlessness. In other words, again, like Jesus her son she never stained her character.

There was nothing wrong that she ever did. She is a pure lady absolutely holy before God. Well, if that's the case then it would logically seem that something spectacular must happen to Mary at her death her passing into the next world.

So in 1950 by someone known as the Marian Pope because he was so convinced about Mary and her position came out another papal decree Munificentissimus Deus and it's declared by Pius XII. And that decree, let me quote him exactly as I wouldn't want in any way to be inaccurate 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. So, you see what has happened.

In the passing of time after the 400 years of church history and the declaration of Mary at least the title given to her as Mother of God the snowball just grew bigger and bigger and more and more teaching was added to the extent that when you start to read the papers of Vatican Council II in the 1960s you find that Mary has a very key role to play not only in the fact that she is sinless and was conceived pure and maintained her purity but at the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ she makes contribution towards the redemption of mankind. You may have heard sometimes preached from this pulpit or elsewhere that what Adam lost Jesus regained. We think of Adam the first man and of his crime, his folly, his failure then we think of Jesus as the second Adam.

He repaired what the first Adam did. He made it possible for men and women to be reconciled to the Father. So Jesus the second Adam repairs the work of the first Adam.

Ah! But by the time this snowball has got if it is at the bottom of the hill I'm not too sure maybe there are other promulgations that have to be announced but by the time it's got towards the bottom of the hill we find Vatican II saying that what Jesus was to Adam so Mary was to Eve and as Mary was partially responsible for sin coming or as Eve was partially responsible for sin coming into this world so Mary the second Eve will contribute towards the redemptive work of our Lord Jesus Christ. The sword would pierce her heart at Calvary and this woman with her empathy her sympathy for her son will make the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross to the Holy Father God and as a result of the corporate work of Mary and Jesus redemption will come. The supreme work is that of the Lord Jesus but additional work is that of Mary.

And so you discover the present Pope writing his commentary before he became the pontiff writing his commentary on Vatican II and saying Mary enters the history of the salvation of mankind as mother of us all and goes on to say the mother of God fulfills her universal maternity as a mediatrix in the economy of grace. So what does all this mean? Well Mary obviously has a very wonderful position if this is right. It is Mary that we are told in the 1891 Rosary Encyclical that was issued by I get the right Pope this time Pope Leo XIII which declares that as the Lord Jesus introduces us to Almighty God so it is Mary who introduces us to the Lord Jesus.

So we are back to what Hans Kung was saying in a statement that I made 10 minutes ago outside of commitment to Mary you cannot really be a Christian you got a Mary who takes you to Jesus who takes you to Almighty God that is the basis you see. And it is Mary who Hans Kung tells us has the ability to show love and compassion in a way that Jesus the man never did. It is Mary who causes Jesus the Son of God Jesus the wrathful Son to become the merciful Son.

And as you go to Mary who in turn goes to Jesus and pleads your case then the frown on the Saviour's face turns to a smile and because of the intercession of his mother he accepts you. Now that is not just my oversimplification I could turn you to a book written by Bishop Liguria if I pronounced his name correctly one of the great devotional writers of the Catholic Church he is to the Catholics what A.W. Tozer is to me and he on one occasion speaks of a metaphor in terms of two ladders and there is a sinner and he wants to get into the presence of God so he climbs up one ladder and it is very difficult for him to ascend and when he gets to the top he is repulsed by the stern face of the Lord Jesus Christ so he slips down the ladder again but there are two ladders you remember and he walks along and he tries to climb the second one and it is much easier the ascent and when he gets to the top there he is embraced by Mary who in turn takes him to the Son who ultimately takes him to the Father now you see why I am bringing all these things to your attention I am underlining the Catholic case that we are to pray to Mary because she has such remarkable potentials and powers well if that is the historical review of the Catholic situation what biblically can we say about all this what sort of person are we looking for in scripture if what I have just said before you is accurate well we are looking through the pages of the gospels to discover someone who is sinless someone also who was perpetually a virgin we are also looking for someone who has unique honour done to them by the rest of the disciples we are looking to someone who has an intercessory ministry and from time to time will pray to the Lord Jesus on behalf of those who come along and ask for her assistance so that is the sort of thing that we are engaged in endeavouring to discover from God's word to see whether or not there is any truth behind some of these promulgations and practices well when you come to the New Testament what do you discover about Mary I suppose the short answer is surprisingly little the last words recorded by Mary in the gospels are the words at Cana of Galilee which happen to be in the second chapter of the fourth gospel then afterwards she only appears on the pages of the gospels and the acts of the apostles on two occasions and she is not reported as saying anything at all but where you do find that Mary comes into a great degree of prominence for she is indeed a most remarkable woman is in the narratives of the birth of our Lord Jesus as found in Matthew's gospel and also in Luke's gospel now when you look through those particular accounts do you find evidence to suggest that this remarkable woman was absolutely sinless and the answer to that question is no it's rather a speculative conclusion that is somewhat hesitantly made by Catholic teachers why do I say that well you know the prayer the Magnificat we sometimes sing it here at the tab don't we my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour for he who is mighty has done great things for me that's Mary's response when she is told that she uniquely is to conceive the Lord Jesus the Son of God and be the medium by which he comes into this world but did you listen to that Magnificat my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour who needs to be saved a sinner not someone who is absolutely holy and clean when Mary takes the infant child along with Joseph into the temple they present before the priests a double offering a poor offering giving thanks to God for the safe delivery of the child one of those offerings is a praise offering the other one is a sin offering now I don't want to read too much into that but it strikes me as being exceedingly interesting that Mary if she is sinless continues this practice of all women folk in her day but I wouldn't rest my case simply on that if Mary is sinless then will she ever die because the Bible says the wages of sin is death the reason why you will die physically while I will die physically is because of sin within our lives the wages of sin is death now the Catholic Pope tells us in 1950 in his latest declaration as far as bulls are concerned authoritative statements are concerned that Mary was assumed after death into the presence of almighty God now my difficulty is this why did she have to die in the first instance before she was assumed why physically does she die the logic of this you see needs to be re-examined because what you've got is speculation you certainly haven't got the application of scriptural principles don't misunderstand me I hate preaching in this fashion in as much as a Protestant it might seem that I'm devaluing this wonderful woman Mary I'm not doing that at all I am trying as the Lord is my judge to do justice and honour to her because if she knows in heaven what is being done as far as her reputation is concerned then as I said last week she alongside Peter must be the saddest people in Emmanuel's land what about the Virgin Mary even Catholics sometimes retain that adjective virgin when they're speaking of Mary was her virginity perpetual well if that is the case it seems to me very strange and here I haven't time to go into the scriptures I'll give you references those who want to jot down notes for you to look up afterwards it seems very strange that in Matthew 13 and verse 54 and also Mark chapter 6 and verse 3 and prophetically in Psalm 69 and verse 8 references made to the brothers and also the sister of our Lord Jesus Christ now what do Catholic theologians make of all this well you remember how when Mary is accosted by Gabriel and said that she is to be the medium whereby Christ shall be born she responds how can this be I've not known a man I'm not married and written into that statement if you please it is the understanding and it's twisted I'm not accusing people of perverting scripture deliberately but here is a colossal misunderstanding that she is claiming perpetually to be a virgin she's not saying that at all she said I'm not married how can I have a child biologically it is impossible and then you remember how when Joseph gets to know the situation in which Mary is in Gabriel comes along and he says to her he says to him don't be afraid to take Mary as your wife at the moment she's pregnant not because she's played fast and loose with you but by the direct operation of the Holy Spirit and there is every indication that the natural relationship between a husband and a wife ensued after the birth of our blessed Saviour I don't understand sometimes in reading the history of Catholic theologians why they have such a hang up about marriage as though a woman becomes unclean when she conceives as though marriage itself is something that is cloudy the council of Trent says that celibacy and virginity are much better purer states so to speak it doesn't use the word purer but it certainly contrasts those states with that of matrimony as though the former is higher than the latter nowhere does the Word of God say this and there is no indication at all as to the perpetual virginity of this remarkable woman Mary what about Jesus and Mary there's a lovely study in the Word of God contrasting the relationships between our Lord Jesus Christ and Mary and what do you discover as you move through the pages of the Gospels well you find that gradually the Lord Jesus has to distance himself so to speak from Mary at least as far as the intimacy of a son and a mother is concerned you get the beginnings of this when our Lord Jesus only a young lad of 12 is at Jerusalem you remember how he seemingly gets lost and Joseph and Mary go back from the Nazareth party to look for him and how the Lord Jesus Christ with a somewhat pained surprise says to Mary don't you know I should be about my father's business and then later on at Cana of Galilee when he speaks to Mary who almost seems to be interfering with his ministry and suggesting that he does certain things in the area of the miraculous he rebukes her and he uses that most unusual word for a son to address his mother with he calls her woman and even in the Catholic version of the Bible, the Knox edition of the Bible it is rendered, leave me alone don't interfere with what I am doing later on in Mark's gospel you get the incident of the Lord Jesus Christ preaching and his mother and his brothers come alongside and people they say to him, don't you know your mother and your brother is there why don't you stop your preaching and Jesus says, who is my mother who are my brothers those who obey those who accept the words which I am teaching, they are my brothers they in effect are my mother those who are obedient to what I have to say but perhaps the whole cult of Mariolatry is shipwrecked more than anything else on one statement of scripture which to ensure the accuracy of retelling it to you now, I turn and it's in the gospel of Luke and the 11th chapter and the 27th verse as you are finding it, I will spell out the context Luke chapter 11 verse 27 our saviour has been engaged in preaching he has had some activity to indulge in as far as casting out demons is concerned and healing the sick and presenting the good news of the kingdom and as he gets involved in his ministry, there is a particular woman in the crowd who is most impressed with the eloquence and the authority of the saviour and she says this, Luke 11 27, as Jesus was saying these things a woman in the crowd called out, blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you and Jesus who at that point could have given authority to the Ava Maria, could have singled out his mother as being unique and sinless and having incredible characteristics rejoins in this way blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it, I put it to you logically, I put it to you as sensible people, if ever there was a time in the ministry of our gracious saviour when he was to make clear the authoritative unique almost godlike character of Mary his mother it was here and he bypasses it completely and says blessed rather is not the woman who gave birth to me or who offered me her breasts blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it what do you find our lord Jesus Christ doing at the cross of Calvary, well there we discover him in the gospel of John enduring the agony of great pain and torment and alongside our saviour as he spies a little company of faithful people is discovered his mother and our lord has concern for her, for her well being and we read from the 26th verse of John 19 when Jesus saw his mother there and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby he said to his mother dear woman here is your son and to the disciple here is your mother, from that time on this disciple took her into his own home is there any indication of the position that later bible teachers in the catholic church have ascribed to Mary there are those teachers in that denomination who say that in effect Jesus is entrusting the church now to the care of Mary here is John, John he is your son, Mary take care of him, John standing for the church, well again if ingenuity gets good prizes then whoever dreamed that one up should be well rewarded it really just will not hold water here is a literal statement of the sensitive son of God concerned for the woman whose womb brought him into the world and he entrusts her care to his disciple and literally we are told John took her home and the implication is he looked after her now when again in scripture do you find any reference to Mary well in the Acts of the Apostles Acts chapter 1 she is amongst the number that are there on the day of Pentecost and after that no reference at all you can read through the rest of the Acts, you can go on to Paul's epistles Peter's epistles, James's epistles and you will discover no reference to Mary I find this incredible remember what I said earlier on the teaching is that we pray to Mary because she is a co-redemptrix, she is the one who alongside the Saviour though his work is superlative according to the present Pope's commentary on Vatican II, she is the one who helps to contribute towards our redemption now where do you get the best statement in the whole of the New Testament about the Gospel of Jesus Christ well you find it in Romans Romans chapter 1 right through to chapter 5 in particular, ransack those verses and there isn't a reference to Mary at all I can save you the trouble because I've read it so many times, take my word for what I have just promised you but I find it singularly significant that not only is there no reference to anyone praying to Mary in the epistles that I've listed but when you read John's epistles John the man who has been entrusted with the care of Mary there's no reference to her there either, John who authors the final book of the Bible the revelation, he doesn't refer to Mary, this is incredible really logically, honestly, sincerely from the depth of my heart I argue this please tell me if I'm wrong, how on earth do you explain the fact that John who has Mary entrusted to him, Mary who is according to Catholic teaching to become the Queen of Heaven and the Mother of the Church Mary who is a co-redemptrix Mary who is the mediator between us and the Lord Jesus Christ why oh why didn't John tell us about Mary and the answer is this, because he had nothing to say apart from what had previously been said that this wonderful Jewish lady, probably no more than a teenager, was selected in the economy of God as the medium by which our Lord Jesus shall come into the world so what about my question should we pray to Mary well you can't pray to anyone who doesn't have the qualities, the characteristic of God, can you? if it be true that Mary can receive prayers as we are told by Catholic theologians, then she must be omniscient, do you know what that word means she must have all knowledge I told you that in the rosary for every one hour father, you get ten prayers to Mary now I'm not too sure how many million Catholics there are in the world but it runs into hundreds, let's say that just half of them offer a Hail Mary every day, she's got an awful amount of activity that she's going to be engaged in, in heaven, in responding to those prayers, I speak seriously not humorously she must be omniscient you see but where in scripture do you find that Mary is omniscient, where do you find that she is omnipotent you don't find that at all, in fact there is evidence that is completely and utterly to the contrary so any thought of my praying to Mary may be a pleasant suggestion but it's speculative and has no biblical warrant whatsoever well let me bring all these things to a head and conclude this evening what is my personal reaction to Mary and indeed to the whole subject of who we are to pray to who is the mediator between man and God, that's really what I'm trying to get out, well the bible says this, there is one mediator between man and God who is it, the man Christ Jesus on another occasion Jesus preaching, I am the way the truth and the life, no man comes to the father but by me, here is the anonymous writer of the Hebrew epistle and he's speaking of the Lord Jesus whoever lives to make intercession for us, he has a lot to say about the intercessory ministry in heaven of our Lord Jesus but not one word about Mary interesting isn't it do you ever find in the old testament permission to pray to the patriarchs or to the prophets, no do you ever find in the new testament permission to pray to the apostles or to the so called saints, no there is only one person to whom you can pray and that is God himself and if you start to pray towards a woman referring to her reverently and lovingly as our lady, you are postulating you are suggesting that she has characteristics that are little short of deity and indeed that's the position that I find the catholic church in to this very day Mary does not have gilt edged stock in heaven that she can transfer to the account of people like you and me who are defective sinners and need her intercession there is only one person who has gilt edged stock who can transfer the benefits of his life to our situation and that is our blessed Lord Jesus Christ catholics will tell us and the pope is here very plain in his brilliant explanation of vatican 2 that the worship that you offer Mary is different from the worship that you offer almighty God and he takes us into the latin terms for worship and I'm sure that in his own mind he's got it clear that God is there and the Lord Jesus Christ his son and then Mary and the saints and there are different ways in which you can worship intense ways in which you can express this in the latin but I think of those primitive peasants there in Mexico, those dear Indians as they make their way sometimes on their knees going for three miles to the particular shrine of our Mary, of our lady just outside Mexico city itself and they don't know latin they don't know the distinction between worshipping Mary and worshipping the Lord Jesus, worshipping the saints and almighty God what?