1. Months ago there were many stories in the newspapers and other media about the RCC "elevating Mary" to the level of God.
2. Of course, for a Bible-believing Christian this is not only unscriptural but absurd. Unfortunately, most Roman Catholics do not read the Bible. Therefore, they are very confused theologically.
3. In the Roman Catholic religion, there is a tremendous amount of emphasis on Mary, the mother of our Lord. They refer to her as "the Mother of God," the "Co-redemptress," the "Queen of heaven," and many other strange and unscriptural titles.
4. Actually, the title "Queen of heaven" is Scriptural, but not in a way that is honoring to the real Mary, the mother of out Lord (cf. Jer.44:17-19).
5. This pagan Queen of heaven is the same heathen goddess referred to in the book of Acts as Diana (Acts 19:23-41). In other lands she was worshipped as Isis or Aphrodite or Venus. Did you ever wonder why Mary is called "the Mother of the Sea"? After all, there is absolutely no connection in the Bible between Mary and the sea. Well, the Phoenicians called their mother goddess "the Mother of the Sea."
6. Roman Catholics pray to Mary, worship statues of Mary, and exalt her in a way that is offensive to fundamental Christians. She supposedly appears all over the world – in Lourdes, France; in Fatima, Portugal; in Medjugorje, Yugoslavia; even in Flushing Meadow Park! I met some of these Flushing Meadow Park Mary-worshippers in a diner one Sunday afternoon.
7. Today, as we draw near to Christmas, I would like to preach about Mary.
8. But most importantly, I would like to preach about her Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who came into the world to save sinners. It is the Lord Jesus Christ that we wish to magnify, and exalt, and worship.
9. Someone said that Socrates taught for 40 years, Plato for 50 years, Aristotle for 40 years, and the Lord Jesus Christ taught for only 3 years. Yet the influence of His teaching infinitely transcends the impact of these great philosophers.
10. Jesus painted no pictures; yet, some of the finest paintings of Raphael, Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Rembrandt received their inspiration from Him.
11. Jesus wrote no poetry; but Shakespeare, Dante, Milton, and scores of the world’s greatest poets were inspired by Him.
12. Jesus composed no music; still Haydn, Handel, Beethoven, Bach, and Mendelssohn reached their highest perfection of melody in the hymns, symphonies, and oratories they composed in His praise.
13. It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is worthy of all praise. Let us exalt His name together this Christmas and always.
14. And now, let us move along in our study on Mary, the mother of our Lord.

I. MARY WAS "BLESSED AMONG WOMEN" (LUKE 1:28).

1. Notice that the angel Gabriel did not say, "Blessed art thou above women," but, "Blessed art thou among women" (Luke 1:28; cf. 1:42,48).
2. The RCC interprets "highly favoured" (1:28) to mean "full of grace."
3. There is a woman in the Bible who is called "blessed above women" and that is Jael the wife of Heber the Kenite (Judges 5:24). She is honored because she drove a nail through Sisera’s head (Judges 4:17-24; 5:24-31).
4. In the Bible, Mary always took a subordinate role (cf. John 2:1-5).
5. When a certain woman praised Mary, our Lord corrected her. I believe this passage was deliberately put in the Bible to refute Mariolatry (cf. Luke 11:27,28).
6. It is interesting to note that after our Lord’s resurrection, as far as we know, our Lord never appeared to Mary during those forty days before His ascension into heaven.
7. The only time Mary is mentioned after the ascension occurs during the prayer meeting in the upper room. She and her children are mentioned last, after the eleven apostles, and other women. There they prayed with her, not to her (Acts 1:13,14).

II. MARY WAS A SINNER SAVED BY GRACE (LUKE 1:46,47).

1. Only sinners need a Saviour (Luke 1:47; cf. Rom.3:23).
2. Only sinners brought a sin offering to the temple (Luke 2:22-24; cf. Lev.12:6-8).
3. Do you recognize that you are a sinner? Have you been saved by God’s grace? If not, repent of your sin and ask the Lord to save you.
4. A Christian was out soulwinning one day and he went by the racetrack and started witnessing to the jockeys. He walked into one of the stables and started talking to a jockey about salvation. The jockey said: "Stop it right there – this is no place to talk about religion!" The Christian said, "On, no sir. Christianity began in a stable. Jesus Christ was born in a stable. And you can be born again in a stable!"

III. MARY WAS A VIRGIN BUT NOT A "PERPETUAL VIRGIN".

1. Only an infidel could question the virgin birth of our Lord (Matt.1:18-23; cf. Isa.7:14).
2. However, the Bible clearly states that Joseph "knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son…" (Matt.1:25).
3. The author of the epistle of James is the Lord’s half-brother (cf. Gal.1:19). Jude, the author of the little book of Jude was another half-brother of our Lord.
4. Mary had other sons and daughters as well (cf. Matt.13:54-56). There is no Scriptural basis for the RC doctrine of the perpetual virginity of Mary. In fact, the RCC did not declare it an official doctrine until 451 at the Council of Chalcedon.

CONCLUSION:

1. During WWII, a father and his little boy were out walking one night in London, England. It was the custom back then for a family to put a star up in the window when they lost a son in the war.
2. The little boy was curious and asked his dad about this. His dad explained to him that whenever a family gave a son in the war, they put a star in the window.
3. The little fellow thought this over for awhile, and then later on he saw a big bright star up in the sky and said: "Look, Dad! God must have given His Son!"