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Apparitions of Mary and the Word of God
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1981 to PRESENT “HOW HAS YOUR GARDEN GROWN?”
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OF all Marian shrines none is more contentious than Medjugorje. From Rome’s point of view it is a bit too hot to handle at present and so the Vatican has refrained from giving it the official seal of approval and in fact the ex local Bishop of Mostar refused point blank to accept the apparitions as genuine. Yet on the other side of the coin the local Franciscan parish priest Father Jozo and the Archbishop of Split are enthusiastic supporters. What is all the fuss about?
The best way to clear the fog is to go back to the very beginning of the problem in the year 1981 when the area was still part of Yugoslavia and thus still under the iron grip of General Tito’s communist regime. In June of that year first two, then six children from the Bosnian village of Medjugorje reported seeing a luminous bright light followed by a vision of the Virgin.
The children, four girls and two boys ranging in age from ten to sixteen saw several apparitions over a period of time. This eventually brought them to the attention of the authorities who, it is said, questioned them using doctors and psychologists. Apparently interrogation did not reveal any illnesses, psychiatric disorders, below average intelligence or evidence that they were lying or that it was some kind of hoax.
The children were released and the visions continued and apparently are still occurring to the original six, four have daily apparitions and messages the remaining two once per year.
Interestingly ten secret messages were given to each child and to date only one secret has been revealed. In that one it is claimed there will be three warnings given to humanity followed by the appearance of some sort of permanent sign on the mountain where the apparition was first seen. So what does this vision look like?
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Objections to Mary" ... most Protestant objections to the Catholic Virgin are all based upon Scriptural misinterpretation... there is no reason to hold that Mary was a sinner. |
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On a personal note it has been reported that one woman’s rosary turned into 24 carat gold whilst others only managed a gold or copper colour. Now that has a familiar ring to it. Like Alice’s trip into wonderland this whole affair gets “curiouser and curiouser”. But one thing for sure it has done great things commercially for Bosnia-Hercegovina and in particular Medjugorje. Official tour guides now have to pass an exam by the bishops before they can operate, and a ninety page quar terly magazine, The Medjugorje Sentinel, keeps the faithful fully informed. Added to that are numerous websites offering the latest messages, commentary, online bookstores and how to travel to this amazing place. And amazing it seems to be with apparitions apparently occurring every day for the last 23 years with messages also pouring forth on a daily basis.
Wayne Weible a Protestant devotee takes annual pilgrimages to Medjugorje and has written a book on the phenomenon in which he enthuses, “My hope is that it will find its way into the hands of people of all faiths and more importantly, those with no faith.”
For certain this place is not your run of the mill Marian shrine and neither are the messages simply because they often mention our Lord. For example on December 25th 2003, “Dear children! Also today, I bless you all with my Son Jesus in my arms and I carry Him, who is the King of Peace, to you, that He may grant you His peace. I am with you and I love you all. Thank you for having responded to my call.”
Superficially this sounds impressive as it appears to point to Jesus, but does it?
A brief analysis shows several unbiblical points: we are God’s children not hers; she has no capacity to bless us; Jesus is not in her arms. He is at the right hand of the Father; she does not carry Him, He is the Creator; He is the Prince of peace and she has no power to urge Him to grant us His peace; she is not with us but has departed this world and it is God who loves us and calls to us. So what we have here is another clever deception and not a genuine Word from the Lord and we need to be aware of such.
Little children guard yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21).
It is most interesting that the messages of late have taken on a sense of urgency and it is claimed that the ninth and tenth secrets yet to be revealed refer to chastisement for the sins of the world. The chastisement it is stated can be lessened by praying and doing penance, but it cannot
be entirely thwarted. This is all very intriguing and has a smattering of truth but one of the real problems is that it projects the idea that Mary has her finger on the pulse of God’s timetable for this world and indeed is going to reveal to us the times of the climax of history. Yet the Lord Jesus tells us,
But of that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone (Mark 13:32).
I know who I believe. Medjugorje which is strongly supported by the Franciscans1 is not without its critics in and outside the church. Unity Publishing a Roman Catholic website is scathing in its censure claiming that the whole thing is a money making scam that was originally set up to help finance the purchase of arms for the Croatian war of independence and that millions of dollars collected in the name of Medjugorje have just disappeared into thin air. It also censors the so called visionaries themselves for the opulent lifestyles they lead, the beautiful mansions they own, mostly overseas, and the luxury cars they drive, all cour tesy of the donations they personally receive and the huge engagement fees they demand for appearances.
On top of that Unity also takes the Franciscan order to task for claimed illicit sexual activity with pilgrims including the now familiar paedophile problems regularly being exposed. It all sounds a bit fishy doesn’t it? Even Rome is showing concern over the petty politics, money grabbing and sexual licence going on.
Recently a Franciscan priest was defrocked and the Order has been told tohand over all their Croation operations to direct Vatican control. Considering the income from pilgrims in 1990 amounted to 200 million dollars that’s a pretty shrewd move. But all is not plain sailing. A class action lawsuit was filed in the federal court in San Francisco in 1998 against the Vatican and the Franciscans in particular accusing them of 2nd world war atrocities against the Serbs, and the deliberate setting up of a false Marian religious shrine in Medjugorje in 1981 to milk pilgrims of funds. (There is much documentation of this shameful period when the Ustase2 SS were in operation.) This all came about with the declassification of CIA documents, a US State Dept Report and the 1998 book Unholy Trinity by Mark Aarons and John Loftus.
Since the lawsuit started the solicitors have sought permission to include the Swiss National Bank on the list of accused.
Also they attempted to get the court to force the Vatican Bank to reveal who owns it and the nature of how it operates. Their chances of success in that area were definitely zero and proven so when in October 2000 the Vatican responded in the negative. Rome keeps her secrets secret and no one to date has managed to alter that situation.
“Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.”
No wonder the Pope has refused to give Papal sanction to Medjugorje although privately he seems to have given it his blessing. In 1987 he told Mirjana Soldo one of the visionaries in a private audience, “If I were not pope I would already be in Medjugorje confessing”, and many other favourable statements have been made by him over the years. But publicly he and the Magisterium3 don’t want to get involved here. So they haven’t said its not a genuine shrine or that it is, they just haven’t said anything. I somehow feel we haven’t heard the last of this demonic shrine and the circumstances surrounding it.
DOWN TO EGYPT
But still more fruit to suit Rome began budding and indeed flowering in unexpected quarters. In Egypt a series of apparitions of Mary appeared between 1968-71 on Saint Mary’s Coptic church in Cairo. The somewhat blurred visions did not appear regularly but always manifested at night for up to two hours at a time in absolute silence and were surrounded by glittering light and on occasions a dove shape could be seen above her head. The figure appeared to move across the domes of the church bowing in silent greeting to the crowds and sometimes she carried a child on her arm.
On other occasions dove shaped apparitions appeared from nowhere flying at high speed and then suddenly disappeared. I have photo images on file, which quite frankly look like an aerobatic team doing high speed manoeuvres. Estimates say up to 250,000 witnessed these events during the three years and that her presence influenced Muslims, Copts, Roman Catholics, Orthodox, Evangelicals and others to pray together.
So effective has been this phenomena that the Coptic Church recognizes it as a genuine manifestation of the Blessed Virgin Mary as does the Coptic Catholic Church, and the Heads of the Protestant Churches of Egypt. Even the government minister dealing with religion gave it the seal of approval. Food for thought eh, especially in regard to Islam who already have a tentative link with Rome because of Mohammed’s favourite daughter who was named Fatima(h).
It certainly appears that the Blessed Virgin has a keen interest in the Arab world and Egypt in particular. For she again paid
a four month visit in 1982 appearing inside a Coptic church named after her in the city of Edfu south of Cairo. Then again starting in 1986 she began a five year showing of herself at the Coptic Church of Saint Demiana in Shoubra a poor area of Cairo. There were several unusual features about the displays, which lasted a full five years.
Firstly they weren’t restricted to any one area, sometimes they were between the roof domes, others inside the tiny church and sometimes high up on the inside of the dome.
Secondly the Virgin would appear surrounded by flames or tongues of fire, that eventually turned into a very bright light.
Thirdly some of the saints would appear first in preparation for Mary’s appearance who on occasion carried the infant Jesus on her arm. Fourthly she would sometimes move towards the onlookers on the balcony and then would slowly drift upward towards the sky until she disappeared.
According to the church and local papers numerous miracle healings have occurred thanks to the apparitions. In 1991 the phenomena ceased and all was quiet until 1997 when new and spectacular appearances occurred in a small town called Menufiya inland from Cairo. Father Wisa Baqi describing the events spoke of “Fireballs, glowing falling stars, unbelievable lightning, circles of fire around the cross and moving sparkling wings.” On another occasion the local bishop said, “I saw her three times...and the third time I saw her transforming into a huge silver dove piercing the sky.”
What’s going on here?
Some sort of paranormal pyrotechnics display, because this unscriptural load is not the Lord’s doing, but unfortunately it sucks people
in. Jesus told His hearers, “Unless you people see signs andwonders, you simply will
not believe” (John 4:48) and nothing seems to have changed. It is the perfect set-up for
Antichrist’s arrival, “that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity
of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders” (2 Thess 2:9).
I believe this world “ain’t seen nothing yet”.
Further strange displays have taken place in upper Egypt and still more at a monastery
in Assuit also in Upper Egypt occurring in 2000-2001 and all have had a very potent effect
upon the religious society in this ancient land.
CONTAMINATION IN THE CHURCH
Strange as it may appear, when one considers all that the reformation accomplished, many denominations are turning from the Word of Life and bit by bit
beginning to think as Rome does. Compromise has now gained such a hold in many churches, particularly in the west, that they are actively looking at Mary with a Catholic slant.
Tom Small an Anglican minister told a gathering of shocked Reformed Evangelicals at Aberdeen University he had received a visitation from Mary who told him, “you are not paying enough attention to my Son.”
John De Satge— an Evangelical suggests that the Orthodox and Roman Catholic views of Mary are not a distortion of Scriptural truth but rather legitimate extensions of it.
Pat Robertson a high profile TV evangelist has described Marian apparitions as, “manifestations of God”. In an interview with The Catholic Wanderer back in 1986 when he was asked about the supposed miracles at Lourdes he replied, “I understand there have been some tremendous miracles...The nice thing is that so many Roman Catholics believe in miracles. They believe in a God who answers prayer”. In other words Robertson sanctions Marian apparitions as genuine manifestations of God and agrees He heals through her pagan shrines. No wonder he joined with Francis Frangipane to put his signature on the Evangelicals and Catholics Together document.
Lutheran theologian Harding Meyer, a keen ecumenist, sees
Mary as the bridge builder between Roman Catholics and Protestants and suggests,
“In all these efforts, the Blessed Mother of Our Lord waits with open arms
for her children to cease their quarrels and become a family again. She truly is the
bridge to Christian unity.”
Protestant leaders are certainly giving
Mary much more consideration than
previously and Joel Green, Methodist Dean
of Asbury Theological Seminary thinks that
is a good thing. He suggests “The
Protestant Church has thrown out the
baby with the bathwater...have not taken
seriously enough the resources available
to us in the stories of Mary.” Resources,
sounds like a case of new extra biblical
truth to me. Better to stick to the eternal
Truths:
It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Matt 4:4).
But not all agree: Christ Church
Episcopal cathedral in Louisville has
commissioned the painting of a large icon
of Mary for its chapel. The Cathedral Dean
Rev Keith Marsh stated that the painting, “ in a very quiet way,
is becoming a source
of spiritual focus for individuals of the
parish...several have commented how
they have enjoyed sitting quietly in the
chapel and having her presence join
them.” Two church members Taylor and
Charles Wright said they sometimes say
the rosary. Wright a former Roman Catholic
said, “I don’t feel any more discomfort in
asking her to pray for me than I would
one of my relatives or one of my fellow
church members.” How strong is the power
of deception and how easily one is drawn
back if the root is not exposed and
exorcised totally.
Then it goes and takes along with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there, and the last state of that man is worse than the first (Matt 12:45).
How many are the doors to Mary worship
and how easily she finds a way into our
hearts if we are not on our guard. A Baptist
lady who lost a friend went to stay at a
Roman Catholic retreat house near her
home to try and get over her anger at God
over her friend’s death. One night as she
walked in the retreat gardens she came
upon a moonlit statue of Mary and she
says, When I looked into her face, I saw
a kind of mercy,...I felt connected with
God through her outstretched arms and
just her presence.” This lady said she
doesn’t believe Mary is divine but
suggests, “she represents the feminine
side of God that does not get portrayed
often enough in our rituals.” What feminine
side? Even the demonic realm recognize
that is sheer nonsense.
What have I to do with You, Jesus, Son of the Most High God (Mark 5:7).
And did not our Lord always speak of His Father in Heaven?
There can be no doubt about the growing
power of Catholic Mary in all her guises
over large segments of the global Church.
Within The Church of England this is to be
expected as she already has 180 shrines
dedicated to the Virgin. The most famous
of these is Our Lady of Walsingham (which
has the Pope’s blessing) where an annual
>procession involves the carrying of a statue
of the Virgin Mary through the streets of
the town, adoration of the blessed
sacrament, blessing with holy water, and
the veneration and kissing of a claimed
relic of the true cross. In 1988 a special
pilgrimage involving some sixty Anglican
bishops was performed and seen by some
eight million on the BBC programme “Songs of Praise.” But such goings on are not just in Britain. just in Britain. Here in Australia a new shrine has popped up at Christ Church (Anglican) in Yankalilla, South Australia.
In 1994 the local parish priest Fr Andrew Notere (one website spells it Nutter, which was his original name before it was changed) noticed an image of the Virgin Mary high up on the wall behind the altar. He reported it to the Bishop a keen Marian supporter who gave it his blessing and since then it has taken off, drawing pilgrims galore, and there has even been a claimed appearance of Mary in the usual garb with appropriate lighting effects. To complement this folly a new prayer has been created to “Our Lady of Yankalilla” which is quite interesting because it says in part “Hail Mary, Mother of Christians, Birth giver of a new age...Bring us to gaze upon Jesus...And with you give birth to the true likeness of Jesus in our hearts. O Mary we are yours. O Jesus we trust in you.”
It is becoming very obvious that Canterbury is not far from Rome in so many ways and given the chance would happily reunite with her. Rest assured when she does others will follow helped along by Mary. The latest news from the front is very intriguing. A pan-religious conference was held at Paul VI centre involving Roman Catholic leaders plus Anglican and Eastern Orthodox representatives. Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims were also in attendance at the gathering which was held in October last year with the aim of establishing an interfaith shrine at Fatima. According to the Hindu representative in the Far East millions of Hindus are getting “positive vibrations” from visiting Marian shrines without endangering their faith.
Jesuit theologian Father Jacques Dupuis a keen advocate of spiritual unity of faiths stated, “The religion of the future will be a general converging of religions in a universal Christ that will satisfy all.” He further argued “The other religious traditions in the world are part of God’s plan for humanity, and the Holy Spirit is operating and present in Buddhist, Hindu and other sacred writings of Christian and non Christian faiths as well.” Whilst true Believers recognize this as a further step toward the one world church prophesied in Scripture, a large section of the Roman Catholic populace see this potential shrine as an act of desecration of a most holy place.
Even it seems some Pentecostal groups are getting in on the act. Dave Wilkerson in his sermon The Reproach of the Solemn Assembly mentions that some are now suggesting “it’s time to add Mary to our worship.”
What next?
Well the congregation of a black Pentecostal church, Maranatha Christian Church in West Detroit, has voted to seek entry into the Roman Catholic Church. This wasn’t without controversy. In fact the congregation dwindled from 200 to 80 as the pastor Rev Alex Jones changed the worship service to a virtual carbon copy of a Catholic Mass.
But it is amazing what you can accept if you stay around heresy long enough and so bit by bit this little fellowship was drawn into Rome’s web of deceit, and finally on Easter Sunday 2001 they were swallowed up by the Vatican behemoth.
The ex pastor now runs a web site on matters Catholic and in an article Ten Objections to Maryhe suggests that most Protestant objections to the Catholic Virgin are all based upon Scriptural misinterpretation. Thus he suggests that she lived a sinless life because the references to sin in the Bible refer to ongoing sin and not original sin and therefore there is no reason to hold that Mary was a sinner. Hum! Sheer Romanist unjustifiable babble as King David made clear,
Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me (Psalm 51:5).
Likewise Paul,
for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23).
And Mary herself tells us,
My soul exalts the Lord, And my spirit has rejoiced in Godmy Saviour (Luke 1:46-47).
How foolish we become when the doctrines of men are granted higher authority than the living abiding Word of the Lord. It appears that the deceptions of Rome have penetrated all areas of Protestantism including those already deceived prosperity groups on the fringes.
Benny Hinn, probably the best known of them all, claims that as a child he attended a Roman Catholic school in Jaffa, Israel and thus is still basically Roman Catholic in his mentality, which probably accounts for his endorsement of Fatima and Lourdes. In an interview on Larry King Alive on September 23rd 2003 discussing healing power Hinn stated, “Look, God has given us, Larry, many sources of healing. Look at Lourdes, people have been healed going to Lourdes and Fatima.”
FURTHER REFLECTION
The Marian appearances we have examined in this series are but a small proportion of those claimed to have occurred over the centuries but they are significant. The majority of those not overviewed are occurring in our day many of which are to say the least unusual.
Visions of Mary have apparently turned up on relics, clothing, windows, walls, ceilings, trees, a white fence post and even in theshadow created by a security light on an apartment block in Chicago. The USA seems to be a centre of such activity these days, Chicago’s a particularly favoured area with statues weeping, paintings shedding tears and even an icon of Mary at St George Antiochian Orthodox Church crying. In the suburb of St Charles the owner of a religious store said that as he unpacked six plastic statues of the Virgin they each bowed their heads as he placedtheir rosaries around their necks. Isn’t that exciting, I wonder where they were manufactured, China perhaps? What next!
Well in Bayside New York it is claimed Mary is offering photographic proof of her existence to some lucky pilgrims who take snaps at the right time with the right type of camera. Apparently she likes people to use Polaroid style cameras to avoid any accusations of tampering by unbelievers.
I hasten to add that the Vatican has not given its blessing to this particularly strange series of events. It certainly is all happening and north of the border in Saskatchewan Canada in a greenhouse window it is claimed an image of the Virgin has appeared through the steam condensation. All hot air? Not to the faithful who have visited the site, sadly
“The naîve believes everything” (Prov 14:15).
As for weeping icons they are now starting to appear within Orthodox churches from Johnson City in Texas to Ramallah on the West Bank in Israel. Even we in secular Australia haven’t missed out with weeping Madonnas in Rockingham West Australia and on the Gold Coast Queensland. No doubt there are others, as, like mushrooms, they keep popping up.
There is no denying Mary’s star is ascending at a quite phenomenal rate. By 1995 there had been over 700 claimed apparitions of the Blessed Virgin worldwide plus some 40 statues and icons weeping fragrant oils, tears, or blood. Add to that the fact that Mary has around 110 titles of honour none of which she is entitled to and many of which in truth are directly referring to the Saviour Himself. So popular is the Blessed Virgin Mary that she is venerated far more than the Saviour by the faithful of Rome and many others, but there is one title she has not been granted that of co redemptrix. But it is definitely on the cards.
To date over 6 million signatures have been sent to the Vatican seeking Mary’s ultimate promotion, included on the list are promotion, 550 bishops and 42 cardinals (at least 12 being in Rome) from some of the most powerful diocese. Does the Pope agree with such a move? Indeed he does. On at least five occasions he has referred to her by the title “Co-redemptrix” in his papal teachings and in an audience in 1997 he said in regard to the crucifixion, “she co-operated during the event itself and in the role of mother; thus her co-operation embraces the whole of Christ’s saving work...In God’s plan, Mary is the ‘woman’, the New Eve, united to the New Adam in restoring humanity to its original dignity.
Her co-operation with her Son continues for all time in the universal motherhood which she enjoys in the order of grace. Trusting in this maternal co-operation, let us turn to Mary, imploring her help in all our needs.” In other words she is equal to Christ so it is only a matter of time until it is infallibly declared as dogma by Rome.
That shocking blasphemy I believe will be the crowning achievement for the Papacy to see their beloved idol granted god like status, absolute equality with Christ in every sense. As a result a billion unsuspecting Roman Catholics and many separated brethren willfind Mary their singular focus and what littlehonour they previously granted to our Lord Christ Jesus will be fully transferred to this evil idol.
What will that do to Catholic Protestant dialogue?
Some suggest it will be a bombshell but I suspect it will be a minor hiccup that in time compromise will overcome, but I guarantee it won’t be from Rome’s side. The awful tragedy of this is that they will not realise the one they will really be idolizing will be Satan. And how he longs for that.
I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13-14).
MARY AND THE NEW AGE
These are interesting but darkening days we are living in where so many groups are being drawn together by the tentacles of this false entity called the Madonna even those of New Age persuasion. A so called Ascended Master, one Sananda who refers to himself as the Cosmic Christ, says that his mother Mary is very powerful and that the Karmic Board (whatever that is) granted her the title Lord Mary making her the first Lord in a feminine body. Does this sound laughable? Maybe so but many followers of the New Age don’t think so. They take it very seriously indeed.
Another false Christ the Lord Maitreya refers to her as “The Master Lady Mary”. At a meeting in Nairobi in 1988 a reporter of The Kenya Timesclaimed Maitreya and Mary just suddenly appeared out of thin air then he told the people Mary had an important mission to unify people of all races and tribes under the umbrella of God through Jesus. Question is of course which Jesus?
The Cutting Edge website has a most interesting and insightful article entitled Virgin Mary and Pagan Goddess Worship. One of the subjects discussed is The Armageddon Script a blasphemous book written by Peter Lemesurier in which he speaks of worshipping the Great Mother Earth. He describes her as clad in the same flowing robes of shimmering blue and white and showing herself in her most recent reincarnation as the Virgin Mary herself. Interestingly Lemesurier is a pagan worshipper but has no problem seeing Catholic Mary in that light.
Recently within the New Age much emphasis has been laid on a black Madonna seen in Switzerland simply because the Hindu goddesses Durgan and Kali are themselves depicted as dark, as is the Buddhist deity Tara.
Another writer China Garland an American Buddhist tells in her book Longing For Darkness of one of her meditation sessions. She says, “As I continued to sit, Christ began to appear in my meditation , then Mary...I began to let myself see Christ, to visualize Him behind me. I accepted Him into my practice. As I continued the daily meditations, Mary gradually took a place on my left, the Buddha on my right...Mary and Jesus were my witnesses at first; then, over time, beloved friends. The Buddhist Tara was always in front of me.” What the article makes abundantly clear is that goddess worship including Roman Catholic ties together at least 4.5 billion of the world’s population. That should stir us to some serious evangelism.
LAST THOUGHTS
Dear friends we live in a day of growing apostasy within the Protestant churches, a place Rome has been in for centuries and we ignore Scripture warnings at our peril.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires; and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths (2 Tim 4:3-4).
So many people today are “experience driven” and biblically ignorant, more interested in a buzz than the Good Book, and that is a very dangerous place to be in because it leaves you wide open to be duped by the enemy of our souls. The Lord Jesus warns us of the dangers.
For false Christs and false prophets will arise and show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect (Matt 24:24).
Much of what we have considered in this three part series appears to be of a supernatural nature, the apparitions in their many forms, healings of sick individuals, bizarre events in nature, bodies strangely remaining uncorrupted, objects flying around above churches and so on, all of which give the appearance of being genuine.
But I am clearly reminded of the Lord’s warning to Israel prior to their entry into the promised land, a land full of pagans and surrounded by pagans who worshipped demonic idols.
If a prophet or a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder comes true concerning which he spoke to you, saying ‘Let us go after other gods (whom you have not known) and let us serve them’, you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God is testing you to find out if you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul (Deut 13:1-3).
Nothing has changed and God’s people need to be equally aware today. Just because it works doesn’t make it right no matter how attractive it may appear. Only the Lord is truly supernatural and all else is either natural or paranormal as are all these ungodly goings on and thus they cannot be the Lord’s doing.
Let us remember friends, Satan is not in the habit of showing his true colours. He didn’t in Eden and nothing has altered in his game plan,
And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14).
We should never take things at face value particularly in regard to our faith. Such gullibility has been the shipwreck of many, so we must heed the Scriptural warning,
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).
This spirit that identifies itself as Mary is most definitely a false prophet. It consistently lies, contradicts the Word of God and rather than point people to Christ it draws attention to itself verbally and by false signs and wonders. It can be no doubt that Satan is behind this lot and indeed it may well be him in person.
Helen Blavatsky a demon channelling spiritualist founder of the Theosophical Society made this chilling comment about him, “He is the mysterious personage about whom legends are rife in the East, especially among occultists. It is he who changes form, yet remains the same. He is the nameless one...who has so many names...He is the initiator.” So what we see may not turn out to be what we think.
Long before the Lourdes affair began visions were being seen in the vicinity of the grotto. One Marie Bernard saw a bearded old man holding a set of keys, stroking his moustache, with a young woman and child beside him, all making obscene gestures.
Jean-Pierre Pomies saw many a strange happening at the grotto which instilled much fear in him. He said he told the village women he saw the Blessed Virgin for fear of their response but the truth he eventually revealed is quite different, “but it was really a man that I saw. The face wasn’t always the same. There was sometimes a beard. Once I saw this being dressed in white, but I don’t remember noticing any feet or hands.” Just a vivid imagination stirred up by heightened emotions? Maybe, maybe not!
Consider this vision described by Mirjana Dragicevic one of the Medjugorje seers that she had on April 14th 1982. She informs us that in it Satan transformed himself before her eyes. She says, “He was ugly, horribly ugly. You cannot imagine how ugly, he almost killed me with his gaze, I almost fainted. Then Satan went away and Our Lady came and said to me:... ‘renew the use of holy water, wear blessed objects and holy objects and put them in your homes.”
On another occasion the same visionary states that while waiting for Gospa (Croatian word for Madonna) to appear she saw a light and out of the brightness came the devil in the features and clothing of Mary, but with a dark hideous face. Yet in their spiritual blindness they still persist following and listening to this devilish phantom.
In whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they may not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor 4:4).
This is not an isolated incident.
According to an Irish newspaper, The Sunday Tribune,a manifestation occurred at Mitcheltown in County Cork, “Twenty thousand pilgrims are said to have visited the town since some children claimed they had seen black blood flowing from a statue of Our Lady and an apparition of the devil with horns behind the statue.” In seven other Irish cities similar manifestations of the devil merging into the Virgin have been seen.
It all sounds like a case of vivid childish nonsense, a flight of fancy born of childish imaginations, doesn’t it? Perhaps it is but let us remember that Satan is the master of disguise and an expert at the sensational so this kind of thing is certainly in keeping with his character. After all whatcould be more sensational than the intriguing variations in the counterfeit Madonna’s manifestations and the stream of enticing lies and Scripture quotes (out of context) that have poured out of her mouth that we have considered in this series? It is all so in line with the characterof the Lord of the Flies.
Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar, and the father of lies (John 8:44).
CONCLUSION
The authentic picture of Mary revealed in Scripture is the very antithesis of the elevated presumptuous version worshipped by Rome and those who are gradually being drawn into her corrupt web. The biblical Mary is demonstrably a background figure, a humble quiet Jewish servant of God and genuine follower of Christ. The great tragedy is that one billion Catholics, out of ignorance of the facts, cling to the exalted Vatican version, a glamorous, powerful, influential demonic counterfeit that propagates lies claimed as truth and thus keeps the laity in bondage to mother church.
The latest elevation is cleverly put across in Mel Gibson’s film The Passion of Christ where Mary is portrayed as protector of her Son, as suffering with Him and like Him able to see Satan. In that film she is referred to by Peter and John as mother and she hears Peter’s confession that he has denied Christ and by implication offers him her forgiveness. This evil film has been lauded by Roman Catholic and Protestant leaders alike as a true enactment of what occurred at the crucifixion and resurrection.
Evangelical and even Pentecostal church leaders actively encouraged their congregations to go and see it. What a tragedy!
How far we have fallen from trusting the veracity of the treasured Word of God, and how desperately we need to return to the fountain of all knowledge. There we are inspired by the majestic facts that Jesus Christ alone is the Saviour of the world, the Lamb that was slain, the Resurrection and the Life, our High Priest and Mediator before the Father, and the seed of the woman who crushed the serpent’s head.
It’s in the glorious pages of Scripture we are reminded Christ is David’s descendant and sits on the throne of His Father. He is the Messiah, born of a virgin, crucified, raised from the dead and ascended into glory. He and He alone is the genuine article who deserves our full and undivided attention and adoration.
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high (Heb 1:3).
My dear friends, this is what Roman Catholics and others uncertain of what is truth need to hear before it is too late. It is useful to understand the power this malevolent spirit, calling itself the Virgin Mary, has over them but please don’t use that as an attack weapon or for that matter
any other false teaching they hold. To take such a tack is not the Lord’s way.
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
We are here to point them to Christ not point out their errors. There will come a time for dealing with their false beliefs as they begin to walk in the Truth. Let us give them the Good News in love and respond honestly to their questions or comments in that same love, then pray for them and don’t give up on them.
Recently I visited a lady in hospital who was a lapsed Roman Catholic. She had terminal cancer and very little time to live. She quietly informed me, “I am ready to go and I am trusting in Mary, because her influence as a mother over her Son will get me there”. Although away from Rome for many years still she clung to the disgraceful lie that Mary was her avenue to heaven. Never underestimate the power of this deception friends yet always be ready to share the Truth and pray that it will take root by God’s grace. I gave her a tract to read in her own time and spoke about the precious gospel and she listened the precious gospel and she listened carefully. She has since died and I do not know if the good seed took root or not. But that is not the point. We have a great commission to obey so let us be diligent to use our time wisely in sharing the genuine gospel with those under the control of Rome.
Amen.
God bless you.
CHRIS POLLARD
Appeared in Issue CETF NR 30 2004
"...contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints" -- Jude v3
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