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Now if you would flip over to Luke chapter one, I'm gonna come back to Matthew chapter one, but go to Luke one, just a few pages to the right in your Bible, Matthew, Mark, Luke. And I wanna preach tonight on Mary, the mother of Jesus. And let's begin reading in Luke chapter one, verse 26. The Bible reads, and in six month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee named Nazareth to a virgin, espoused to a man whose name was Joseph of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored. The Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. Now, Mary is an important character in the Bible, by no means the central character of the Bible or the most important character in the Bible. Now there's a town about two miles away where pretty much every door that you knock in the city of Guadalupe, there's a picture of Mary, some kind of a statue of Mary, and they make a really big deal about Mary, and I'm gonna talk about that a little bit later in the sermon. But Mary is a biblical character, and I'm gonna talk about some of the things that Mary did that were right, and some of the good things about Mary that we can learn from, but then some of the ways that Mary is misused and misunderstood by Catholics and other false religions. But notice, first of all, in verse number 29, after she received that salutation that said that she was highly favored and that the Lord was with her, and that she was blessed among women, it says she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. So the first thing I want you to see is that she was a very humble woman. She was surprised and didn't really see herself as highly as what she was being told that she was. It bothered her, and she was wondering why in the world am I being greeted in such a way? Why am I so blessed? Now let me point this out first of all. In Hebrews chapter seven, the Bible says without all contradiction, the less is blessed of the better. She is on the receiving end of a blessing from God because she has the privilege of being allowed to be the mother of the Lord Jesus Christ. She's gonna be the human instrument that's going to bring the Lord Jesus Christ who is God manifest in the flesh into this world. That's a privilege, that's an honor, that's a great blessing that she received, and that's what the salutation had to do with. Look at verse 30. It says the angel said under fear not Mary, for thou has found favor with God. So she was a righteous woman. God did choose this woman. He could have really chosen any woman that he wanted. He chose her because she found favor with God. She was righteous, she was a virgin. She kept herself pure and clean. It says in verse 31, and behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then said Mary unto the angel, how shall this be? Seeing I know not a man. So we see here that the emphasis is on Jesus Christ. He's the one who's gonna be great. He's the one who's gonna be ruling and reigning. He's the one who's the son of the highest, the Lord God, and so forth. Look at verse number 35. And the angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, because she said I know not a man. She's a virgin. The angel answered and said unto her, the Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the son of God. Why was he called the son of God? Because he had no earthly father. And a lot of people will try to take away from the deity of Christ and basically use the fact that Jesus called the son of God to say that he is not God. Well we know that of course the Bible teaches that there's the father, the word, and the Holy Ghost and these three are one. Jesus Christ was God manifest in the pledge. Many scriptures on the deity of Christ such as Hebrews 1.8 where the Bible says unto the son he saith, thy throne, oh God, is forever and ever. That's called Jesus Christ God in Hebrews 1.8. First Timothy 3.16, without all contradiction, or I'm sorry, without controversy, greatest but mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. Even the name Immanuel means God with us. You say well then why is he called the son of God? Well because he had no earthly father. And so he had a mother but no father. The Holy Ghost overshadowed Mary. The power of God came upon her. That's why that thing which was born up or was called the son of God. And of course in eternity past there was the father, the word, and the Holy Ghost. The father, the son, and the Holy Spirit. We find that many times in scripture. I preached on that a few weeks ago. So that explains right there in Luke 1.35 why Jesus is called the son of God. Look at verse 36. And behold thy cousin Elizabeth. She hath also conceived the son at her old age and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible. And Mary said behold the handmaid of the Lord. Be it unto me according to thy word. And the angel departed from her and Mary arose in those days and went into the hill country with haste into a city of Judah. And entered into the house of Zacharias and saluted Elizabeth. And it came to pass when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and she spake out with a loud voice and said, blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb. And whence is this to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy. Boy, tell that to these people who think that the child in the womb is not even alive or that it's not even human. It leaped in the womb. John the Baptist in Elizabeth's womb leaped for joy just because Jesus in the womb of Mary was nearby. And somehow he could sense that, that the power of Jesus Christ being in that womb and he leaped and was filled with the Holy Ghost even in his mother's womb. And so it's this garbage that says that a child's not alive when it's in the womb. It's definitely not biblical. It says in verse number 43, or I'm sorry, verse 45, and blessed is she that believed, and that's Mary that believed. Because Elizabeth is talking to her. For there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord. And Mary said, my soul doth magnify the Lord and my spirit hath rejoiced, and this is a key part right here, in God my Savior. See, that proves right there that Mary was not sinless as the Catholic Church teaches. They teach that Mary had no sin, was completely sinless, never sin, wait a minute, then why does she need a Savior? What's she being saved from if she has no sin? Because if you remember the passage that we read at the beginning of the message in Matthew chapter one, it said, thou shall call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. That's what Jesus saves us from. He saves us from our sins. The punishment for our sins is hell. The power of sin over us. He delivers us from that. That's what we're being saved from. If Mary was sinless, she wouldn't need a Savior. But she did have a Savior, according to verse 47, because there's no verse in the entire Bible that says that she was sinless. She was a virgin, she was highly favored among women, she was blessed. That doesn't mean that she was perfect and without sin. She was not without sin, or she wouldn't have needed a Savior. And then look at verse number 48, the Bible reads, for he hath regarded the lowest date of his handmaid, for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is mighty hath done to me great things, and holy is his name. And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. He hath showed strength with his arm, he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away. He hath opened his servant Israel in remembrance of his mercy, as he spake to our fathers, to Abraham, and to his seed forever. And Mary abode with her about three months and returned to her own house. Look, you can see the emphasis here. Mary is not putting the emphasis on herself. She's not saying, look at me, I'm so wonderful. I'm in charge. No, she's praising and thanking God, saying, hey, I'm blessed here. I'm the one that's being blessed by God. He's the one who gets all the glory. He's the one who gets all the praise. He's done everything. Now, look at chapter two, verse number 25. Chapter two, verse 25. Now, it's interesting because if you look at chapter two of Luke, verse 25, and the subsequent verses, it's interesting because I don't know for sure, and I've studied the Bible for a long time, and I've read the Bible over and over again, and I've looked at this, and I'm not 100% sure how to interpret this, but in this passage, it appears that Mary may have died as a martyr. Now, the Bible doesn't record that because we stop hearing about Mary at the beginning of the book of Acts. At the very beginning of the book of Acts, we see Mary's there with the early church, and she's in the upper room, and they're all choosing who's gonna replace Judas Iscariot. That's the last time we see her, and so we don't really know how she ended up. Now, the Catholic church, of course, says that she ascended up to heaven in a cloud like Jesus. Now, of course, that's not true. I believe that because the Bible says nothing else except what we see in Luke chapter two here, what I'm about to show you, I think it's probable that she died as a martyr, and let me read the passage to you and give you some supporting evidence. Like I said, I'm not 100% sure on that, but let me just expound it to you, and then you be the judge. Look at Luke chapter two, verse 25. It says, Behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him, and it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ, and he came by the Spirit into the tent. Well, when the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him after the custom of the law, then took him up in his arms and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people. You mind, this is just a baby. He looks at this baby, and God reveals to him, hey, that is the Messiah, that is Jesus Christ, and he said in verse 31, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people, a light to lighten the Gentiles and the glory of thy people Israel, and Joseph and his mother marveled at those things which were spoken of him, and Simeon blessed them, and watch this, this is key, and said unto Mary his mother, so he blessed both Joseph and Mary, but now he's speaking to Mary. Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. So he's predicting right here, he's prophesying the Holy Ghost upon him, and he's predicting, hey, Jesus Christ is going to be spoken against, and of course we know later on Jesus is persecuted and hated. They set out to kill him over and over again, and eventually, finally, when he says, my hour has come, they take him and arrest him and crucify him and kill him, but he says, he's set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against, yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. So here we see that part of his statement about this being a sign that's going to be spoken against, referring to persecution or people being against the Lord Jesus Christ. He says, in fact, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also. Now, let's look at some other times in the Bible when the Bible talks about a sword piercing the soul, because that term is used, because we want to understand, you say, what does that mean, though? A sword shall pierce thy own soul also. Well, what you have to understand is that a lot of times when the Bible used the word soul, it's not talking just about the soul, it's just talking about the person. Let me show you that. Go back to Joshua 11, 11. Joshua 11, 11, let me show you why I believe that Mary was probably slain with a sword, according to the Bible here, in Luke chapter two, verse 35. Go to Joshua 11, 11. Bible says in Joshua 11, 11, and they smote all the souls that were therein with the edge of the sword, utterly destroying them. There was not any left to breed, and he burned Asor with fire. So this is referring to slaying the souls with the sword. Basically, it's the same that they killed them all with the sword. Same type of terminology that was used with Mary. Go to Jeremiah chapter four, verse 10. Jeremiah, toward the end of the Old Testament, three long books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel. Go to Jeremiah 4, 10. While you're turning there, I'll read for you from the famous passage, Psalm 22, verse 19. But be not thou far from me, O Lord. O my strength, hasty to help me, Psalm 22, verse 20. Deliver my soul from the sword, my darling from the power of the dog. Look at Jeremiah 4, 10. The Bible says, Then said I, Ah, Lord God, surely thou has greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace, whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. From what I can see, looking at this in the Old Testament, it appears that the sword, slaying the soul with the sword, or slaying every soul with the sword, or the sword reaching unto the soul. Yeah, it seems to all of you referring to killing people with the sword. That's an interesting fact about Mary, is that not only was she a pure, righteous, and godly woman, but she may have also died the death of a martyr and actually given her life for the cause of Jesus Christ later on. It's now recorded in the Bible. We just see it predicted in Luke chapter two. You be the judge. I showed you the evidence on that. Look at verse 48 of Luke chapter two where we are. I'll be back in Luke chapter two. In Luke chapter two, if you remember, this is where they're worshiping in Jerusalem. Remember Mary and Joseph were there, and they lose Jesus. And they just figure, oh, he's with one of the other relatives. Well, pretty soon a whole day goes by. They haven't seen him. They can't find him. Now, don't you hate him when you lose your kids and you can't find him? Yeah, that's really inconvenient, especially when whole days go by and you just can't find him again. But anyway, no, that's never happened to me, thankfully. But anyway, so they lost Jesus. And it took them three days to find him. First it took a whole day to realize that he's even gone because they figure, oh, he's with other family or whatever, this is when he's 12 years old, okay? Finally, they find him after three days and they find him in the temple and he's speaking with some very intelligent people. He's speaking with the doctors and the lawyers and he's asking them questions and he's discussing the word of God with them. And they're just completely amazed, these men, at his understanding, his knowledge. They can't believe his level of comprehension as he talks to them at age 12. Look at verse 48, this is talking about Mary and Joseph. It says, and when they saw him, they were amazed. And his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou dealt thus with us? Behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. Now, that isn't true because guess what? Joseph isn't Jesus' father. So Jesus corrects her in verse 49 and said unto them, How is it that ye sought me? Whist ye not that I must be about my father's business? Because Joseph is not his father, God's his father. And they understood not the saying which he spake unto them and he went down with them and came to Nazareth, look at the next phrase, and was subject unto them. But his mother kept all these sayings in her heart and Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in fable with God and man. Go to John chapter two because the next thing I want to show you is that Mary does not have authority over Jesus, okay? So we saw, okay, we showed you some great things about her. Yeah, she was righteous, she's pure, she's a great woman, she had fable with God, she was a virgin until she was married and so forth. And she may have even given her life for the cause of Christ is what it seems to indicate in Luke 2.35. Great, but she does not have authority over Jesus as his mother. You see, when Jesus was a child, when he was 12 years old, he was subject unto his parents, right? Because all children are subject unto their parents when they're 12. He was obeying the commandments. Jesus said that he came to fulfill the law. So he fulfilled the law and in obedience to the law, he honored his father and mother, he obeyed his parents as the Bible commanded him to do so. Okay, but as an adult, no, his mother did not have authority over him. And of course, seated at the right hand of the Father in heaven, his mother does not have authority over him. Now first of all, the Bible does not even teach that mothers have authority over their adult children even when they're not the Son of God. My mother was here this morning in the service. She wasn't telling me what to do, grabbing me by the ear, and spanking, she didn't give me a spanking after the service. She's not getting authority over me. Now when I was 12, she was in authority over me. Then she was grabbing me by the ear, poking me in the chest. I think that was around the time when I stopped getting spanked, thank God, but anyway. John chapter two, verse three. Notice Jesus and his mother. Now Jesus is an adult. Now Jesus is 30 years old, he's my age now. Okay, so right at the beginning of his ministry, he's about 30 years old. It says in verse three, they're at a wedding of course, and it says when they wanted wine, the mother of Jesus saith unto him, they have no wine. And he said, yes ma'am, whatever you say, yes mama, I'll do it. No, look what it says in verse four. Jesus saith unto her, woman, now you don't say that when you're 12, but when you're 30, now you can say it. Woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. So who's the boss here? Pretty clear, isn't it, who's in charge? Jesus is the boss, she's not the boss. He says, woman, what have I to do with thee? Mine hour is not yet come. And watch Mary's attitude change. Watch her take the correction. She said in verse five, his mother saith unto the servants, whatsoever he saith unto you, do it. So look, she's submitting to his authority and saying, okay, Jesus, you do what you want, and she says to the servants, hey, whatever he tells you to do, just do it. It's between you and them. And she steps out of the way there. Go to Matthew chapter 12. Matthew 12, just go back to the first book in the New Testament, Matthew chapter 12, verse 46. Bible reads in Matthew 12, 46, while he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without desiring to speak with him. So Mary is there, and also Joseph and Mary's other children are there, his brethren. Then one said unto him, behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without desiring to speak with him. So basically, he's in the middle of preaching. It says, while he yet talked to the people, so he's still talking, he's still preaching, and while he's preaching, somebody comes up and taps him on the shoulder and says, excuse me, your mother and your brethren are out there and they want to talk to you right now. While he's still preaching. But he answered and said, verse 48, unto him that told him, who is my mother and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples and said, behold, my mother and my brethren, which behold means look at. He points out and says, hey, take a look at my mother and my brethren. He points to the people that he's preaching to, his disciples. For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother and sister and what? Mother. Now, did he say he's my father? No. He's only got one father, okay? But he said, hey, if you do the will of God, you're my brother, you're my sister, and you're my mother. I mean, it doesn't sound to me like there's just this one mother figure that we need to have statues to and burn candles for and build a shrine to. He said, no, just whoever's my disciple and does the will of God, that's my brother, that's my sister, that's my mother. That's what Jesus said. He's not gonna, oh, let me stop everything and go see what mama needs. No, he is in the driver's seat here clearly as an adult in the scriptures. Go to Luke chapter 11, Luke chapter number 11. So we saw that Mary does not have authority over Jesus. While you're turning there, let me give you some statistics. Do you know how many times Mary is mentioned in the Bible? About 20 times. Approximately 20 times Mary is mentioned in the Bible. Do you know how many times Jesus is mentioned? About 1,000. Do you know how many times the word Christ is used? 571. Do you know how many times the word God is used? 4,470. Do you know how many times the word Lord is used? 7,970. Does the Bible emphasize Mary so much as the Roman Catholics do and the citizens of Guadalupe, Arizona do and the citizens of Mexico do? No, it doesn't. 20 mentions when Jesus and the Lord, God, these different names for him, that's mentioned thousands of times. I'm not trying to downplay Mary. I'm not saying that she wasn't a great person, but that's all she was, a great person just as Elijah was a great person or just as Moses was a great person or Abraham. You know, Joseph was really a great person if you read the Bible. He was a great guy. Daniel. Daniel, well, yeah, if you start naming names, we're going to like it. I mean, Joseph, the husband of Mary, he was a great guy. He was a righteous man. He was a just man. He was really a commendable person, and you can see a lot of good things about him. But that's all. She's a person. She is not to be worshiped. So first of all, we saw she has no authority over Jesus, and Catholics will literally pray to her to tell Jesus to do what we want him to do. Now, you remember King Solomon? King Solomon is a picture of Jesus Christ. Really, everything that happens throughout the Old Testament, it's all pointing toward Jesus, all the sacrifices. You know, you look at the story. You know, you want to bring out blood, or you brought out Daniel, but Joseph in the Bible, he was a picture of Jesus. He was, his coat was dipped in blood just like Jesus. He was thrown into the pit. He was betrayed of his brethren. He was, you know, basically in prison between two criminals. One was pardoned, the other was executed sort of like he was crucified, Jesus between two thieves, and one of them was saved, and one of them was not saved. You know, there are all these parallels, and really, you know, you think of Samson, you know, dying for his people, and that's a picture of Jesus Christ. You can go through the Bible and see all these different pictures of Jesus Christ. Well, Jesus is called the son of David, and Solomon was the son of David, and Solomon, in his kingdom, ruling over a peaceful, righteous kingdom, is a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ ruling and reigning for a thousand years someday, and you know, I'm not gonna go on and on, but Solomon pictures Jesus Christ in many different ways. The book, there's a whole book, Song of Solomon, you know, that basically there's a lot of symbolism there with the Lord Jesus Christ, and if you look at it, Solomon's mom stepped in and tried to ask him for something. You remember what it was? Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, came in and said, hey, I want you to give Abishag the Shunammite to your brother Adonaija, and before, this is what always cracks me up about that story, and if you know the Bible, you know what I'm talking about. Adonaija says to Bathsheba, you know, can you ask Solomon for me if I can add this woman to wife? Speaking of, for he will not say, nay. And then Bathsheba says, okay, she goes to Solomon and she says, you know, can you give me my request, and please don't say me nay. And he says, speak, mother, for I will not say thee nay. And then he says, you know, give Adonaija Abishag life, and he says, nay. And he says, you know what, in fact, bring Adonaija, he's gonna be killed today. Because it was, and I'm not gonna explain to you right now the whole reason why that was such a bad request, but Adonaija was a traitor, he's trying to plot to take over the kingdom, he's trying to strengthen his position by taking his father's, you know, not his concubine, but what was considered to be his concubine, and again, a whole nother sermon done itself. This thing of mothers, you know, mother bossing around Jesus is ridiculous. Even Solomon's mother couldn't tell him what to do, okay? And Jesus' mother is not gonna tell him what to do when he's 30 years old or when he's up in heaven on the throne. Mary has no authority over Jesus, we saw that clearly in the Bible. But the next thing is this, Mary is not to be worshiped. Look at Luke 11, 27. To me, this is the most powerful scripture, you know, for the Mary worshipers. I mean, it just blows it out of the water. I don't see how anybody could read this and not understand what's wrong with worshiping and praying to Mary. Look at Luke 11, 27. And it came to pass, as he said these things, this was the first Catholic in the Bible. It came to pass as he said this thing, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice and said to them, blessed is the womb that bare thee and the paps which thou has sucked. Who's he referring to? Who's the womb that bare him? Mary. Well, whose paps did he suck? Mary's. But he said, yea, rather blessed are they to hear the word of God and keep it. This verse is saying you could be more blessed than Mary. You know, they say, aye, oh, Mary, blessed art thou. Yes, Mary was blessed, but you know, you could be rather blessed. You could be even more blessed than Mary if you'll hear God's word and do it. So Mary was not some super human here. You can excel Mary if you just, that's what Jesus is saying. Don't, you know, he's basically saying, why are you blessing the womb that bare thee and the paps that I suck? Why don't you bless the one who hears the word of God and does it? That's who you ought to be blessing. Look at Matthew chapter one. So number one, Mary does not have authority over Jesus. Number two, Mary is not to be worshiped. Number three, Mary did not remain a virgin. Now the Catholic church will teach that Mary is still a virgin, that Mary was always a virgin. And when they say the virgin Mary, they're not referring to before she gave birth to Jesus. They think she's still a virgin. That is not biblical. The Bible is very clear that she was only a virgin until she brought forth her son Jesus. Let me prove that to you from the Bible. It says in verse number 22 of Matthew one, now all this was done that in my people filled, which was spoken to the Lord by the prophet saying, behold, a virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a son. And they shall call his name Immanuel, which being interpreted as God with us. Then Joseph, being raised from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him and took unto him his what? His wife. Now they were married, but they had not consummated the marriage. They had made their vows. They had been espoused to one another, but they had not consummated the marriage. They were in the process of, basically they would make their vows and then they would celebrate. And so they were in that process and he did not consummate the marriage yet. It says it knew her not till she had brought forth her first born son. So it doesn't say that he never knew her. It just says he knew her not until she had brought forth her what? First born son. Now, in order to have a first born son, you gotta have a second born. You know, you don't just have one kid and this is my first born son. Okay, that wouldn't make any sense. And he called his name Jesus. You know, in order to have a part one, you gotta have a part two, right? Otherwise it's just your son. Now, isn't that why the NIV takes out the word first born? And all the New American Standard takes out the word and the Catholic Bible takes out the word first born from that verse. But it still clearly says that he knew her not until she had brought forth her first born son. You don't have to turn there. Go to Matthew, actually go to Matthew 13. Turn to Matthew 13. While you're turning there, I'll read you from Luke 2.7. Even in Luke 2.7 it says she brought forth her first born son and wrapped him in swabbing clothes and laid him in a manger because there was no room for them in the end. Matthew 13.54, the Bible reads, when he was coming to his own country, he taught them in their synagogue. This is in his hometown. And it's so much that they were astonished and said, when's had this man this wisdom and these mighty works? Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And his brethren James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And his sisters, are they not all with us? When's then had this man all these things? So the Bible lists here four of Jesus's brethren. And it even says, and his sisters, are they not all with us? Now a lot of people will try to say, well, you know, the Catholics will try to say, wait a minute, when it says his brethren, it just means his cousins or just his relatives, just his extended family. And then they'll try to say that, you know, brethren is a term that can be used loosely. But wait a minute, they're naming off dad. I mean, it's so clear because they're naming off dad. Isn't this the carpenter's son? Mom and his brethren and his sisters. But here's the thing, you'll never find an instance in the Bible where the word sisters is used in a generality. You know, you might find a term brethren just to refer to like maybe everybody in that family or that clan or that tribe. The word sisters is never used that way. You just didn't feel this great kinship with every female of your tribe. These are my sisters. You know, you might say, these are my brethren. But the Bible's clear here, it names the brethren. It names four men. And it says his sisters, are they not all with us? Now, let me teach you something about the word all, okay? It's not two, because there's another word for that, both. Right? Because if you only had two sisters, it would have been his sisters, are they not both with us? So all means three or more. Could have been three, four, whatever. So that means that Jesus had at least seven half-brothers and sisters. So there were eight children minimum in that family. But it could have been four sisters or five. Minimum of eight children in that family. Jesus was the oldest. He was, of course, not the carpenter's son. He was the son of God. But his half-brothers and sisters numbered at least seven. She did not remain a virgin. He knew her not till she brought forth the firstborn son. And then she brought forth at least seven other children that Joseph fathered. And it says in verse number 57, they were offended in him, but Jesus said to them, a prophet is not without honor, save in his own country and in his own house. And he did not let many mighty works there, because they're unbelief. Turn, if you would, to Matthew 22. While you're turning there, I'll read for you from Mark 6-3. Same thing I just showed you, but it says in Mark 6-3, not just the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joseph and of Judah and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us, and they were offended in him. Go to Matthew 22, and I want to show you this. I've already showed you that Mary does not have authority over Jesus. I've already showed you that she's not supposed to be worshiped. I then showed you that she did not remain a virgin, but she, and by the way, there's not some kind of a glory if she would have remained a virgin. The Bible says marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled. But foremongers and adulterers, God will judge. If she's married, of course she needs to consummate that marriage. But first, she had to be used as the instrument to bring forth Jesus Christ into this world. But you say, well, why did God work it out that way? Obviously, God did not want Jesus to just be this bastard son of a single woman, because then the world would look at that and say, hey, he's an illegitimate son here. So he allowed the timing to be right where she married Joseph, but before they had consummated the marriage, the angel could come in and say, hey, you are not to know her until she brings forth his son because the Holy Ghost is gonna conceive his child. That was God's plan. And so, yes, everyone thought that Joseph was his father. And Joseph was his legal guardian. Joseph was his adopted father or stepdad, if you will, but he was not his father, and the Bible doesn't call him his father. And that's why it's significant in Matthew chapter one, it gives the genealogy of Joseph, that he descended from the kings of Judah, just basically showing Jesus Christ being born into a family that was in the kingly line. And then, of course, Mary was also a descendant of David from a different line, not the kingly line, not the line of Solomon, but a different son of David named Nathan. But the last thing I wanna show you here is that Mary is not the mother of God. Now, this is a blasphemous thing that the Catholics will say. They'll say, hail Mary, mother of God. She is not the mother of God. Now, people sometimes use faulty logic, and here's the faulty logic they used. Well, Mary is the mother of Jesus. Well, Jesus is God, therefore, Mary is the mother of God. Wrong, bad logic, okay? Because what you have to understand is that Jesus Christ, while being 100% God, was also 100% man. He was not just God, he was God and man, okay? He was both man and God. See, why can't I say that? It doesn't matter whether you understand it. That's what the Bible says. Jesus Christ was a man. Jesus Christ was a human being. He had human emotions, how he was born as a baby. He grew up. He had limitations where he even said in Mark chapter 13 that he didn't know when he was coming back, only the Father knew. Of course, he knows now. But when he was on this earth, he took upon him the form of a servant. He took upon him the form of a man. He was hungry, he was tired, he was thirsty. He went through, he was tempted at all points, like as we are yet without saying. Not taking away from the fact that he was God in the flesh, but he was also man. Okay, so Mary was the mother of the man, Jesus, okay? But long before Mary ever existed, Jesus existed in the beginning with God. The Bible says in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God, and the word became flesh and dwelled among us. And then we beheld his glory, the glory is that the only begotten of the Father is full of grace and truth. So we see, Mary is not the mother of God. She was the earthly mother of the man, Jesus Christ. The physical mother, but not the mother of God. That is false doctrine. Let me prove it to you. Jesus, I think, sums it up here in Matthew 22, verse 41. While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, saying, what think ye of Christ? Whose son is he? They say unto him, the son of David. Now, stop for a minute. Was Jesus the son of David? I mean, over and over, the Bible does call him the son of David, right? Because he physically descended from David. Mary, okay, was a descendant of David, and so out of the loins of David did come the Messiah, Jesus Christ. He was born of that lineage. But watch this. Jesus is basically showing the Pharisees that they're doctrinally wrong about who the Messiah is. They say, what, he's the son of David. But they don't realize that he's the son of God, and that's what Jesus is trying to show them. He saith unto them, how then doth David in spirit call him Lord? Saying, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word. Neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions. So my question is this. Jesus' question was, well, if David then called Lord, how has he done his son? Here's what I say. If Mary calls God Lord, then how is she his mother? You see what I mean? It's the exact same logic here. Jesus descended physically from David. He descended physically from Mary. But God is supreme, and Jesus Christ is supreme over both of the two, according to what Jesus is trying to teach here in Matthew 22. Same thing as from Luke chapter 20, but go to Hebrews chapter seven, Hebrews chapter seven, verse three. Hebrews chapter seven. Same thing as in Luke 20 where he saith unto them, how saith they that Christ is David's son? And David himself saith in the book of Psalms, the Lord said unto my Lord, sit thou at my right hand till I make thine enemies thy footstool. David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son? And I would say, you know, Mary therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then her son? That doesn't make any sense. But go to Hebrews chapter seven. Here's the most clear scripture on this. Let me turn there myself. Let's begin reading in verse number one, actually, Hebrews chapter seven. Hebrews seven says, for this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the king that blessed him, to whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all, first being by interpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of Salem, which is king of peace. Look at the next words in verse three. Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like unto the son of God, abided a priest continually. So, according to the Bible, Jesus Christ, in the sense that he was a human being on this earth, yes, he had an earthly mother, Mary. Yes, God was his father, because that was how he was conceived by the Holy Ghost. But in the sense of the fact that he is eternal, and that he was eternally in the beginning with God, he says in Hebrews seven, three, without father, without mother, having neither beginning of days. So, did Jesus ever begin to exist according to this? Can you ever say this is where Jesus started in Bethlehem? No. Jesus had no beginning of days, nor end of life, but made like unto the son of God, abided a priest continually. So, just because Mary was his earthly mother as a human being, she is not the mother of God. Because in the beginning was the father, the word, and the Holy Ghost, and Mary. One big happy family. No. Mary was not there. There was no Mary. It was the father, and the son, and it was the Holy Ghost. Those three were in the beginning. And when I say in the beginning, I'm talking like in the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That's the beginning I'm talking about. There's only one beginning, but just in case you were confused, that's the beginning I'm talking about. Genesis 1, one. And the father was there, Jesus was there, and the Holy Ghost was there, but Mary wasn't there. She was created thousands of years later, and if she's calling God Lord, she's not his mom. And she did not give birth to God. She gave birth to Jesus Christ, who was God in the flesh, but that's the key word, in the flesh. She was the human instrument brought forth into this world. So all that to say this. Should she be a role model to young ladies? Sure. Should they try to emulate her righteous character and godliness, and her purity, where she stayed pure until she was married? Hey, that's great. She oughta be commended for staying pure. Hey, we oughta commend her for being humble. She was a very humble person. When she believed she was a person of faith, she believed the Lord, she believed God, she did right in the sight of God, and she also might have even given her life for the cause of Christ, is how dedicated she was. That's what I believe took place according to Luke 2.35. But, do we worship her? No. Should we have a whole religion based on her? We don't worship a female god. We worship God, the Father, the masculine God. And that might not be politically correct, but it doesn't matter, it's the truth. And so, don't get mixed up on this, and when you have a Catholic that's confused on this, you can use some of these verses to illustrate to them their false religion, where they're worshiping a woman instead of worshiping God. And the Bible says, thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve. Not serve him and Mary. And how many times, I've given the gospel to a Catholic and gone through the whole plan of salvation, and said, do you believe this? Do you believe on Jesus Christ? And they say, yes I do, but I also believe in Mary. And I said, wait a minute. I mean, I believe Mary existed. I believe she was a virgin and she gave birth to Jesus, but I don't believe in her as in, whosoever believeth in him should not perish but have eternal life. You can't believe in her as your savior. If you think it's somehow Jesus and Mary saving you, you're not even saved, because you have to believe on him with all your heart, the Bible says. You can't believe part on Jesus and part on Mary or any other saints that you're praying to or worshiping. We should only bow down and worship one person. And you'll never see anybody bowing down to Mary in the Bible. But you'll see Catholics bowing down to Mary or images of Mary. And so we need to only worship God Almighty. Mary's a great person, but that's it, a great person. Let's bow your eyes and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for the clarity of your word. Thank you for teaching us the truth and giving us so much information that we could use to combat these cultic religions that have really for thousands of years where a man has worshiped women and called them a goddess and made statues of women and worshiped them, we know that you are not a woman. And thank you for teaching us the truth in your word. Thank you for the Lord Jesus Christ, our savior, that saves you from our sins. And help us to study your word and know the truth and not to be confused or misled on these things. Jesus' name we pray, amen.