Participants: Pr. David Asscherick
Series Code: DP
Program Code: DP000021
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00:16 Our presentation this evening is entitled Babylon is
00:17 alive and well, but we have to finish this up before 00:20 we get into our presentation tonight. 00:21 So we are on the back page there on how was the 00:24 Roman church state originally formed? 00:25 That was the question we asked here on the screen. 00:27 And the answer is it worked through secular governments. 00:31 It worked through what kind of governments? 00:33 Secular governments. 00:34 Notice right here in your study guide. 00:35 The Roman state church has no standing army. 00:37 It has always worked through existing secular 00:41 governments to achieve its purposes. 00:44 So that is what you would write in there on that line. 00:45 Secular governments. 00:47 So the image of the beast will not be a literal image. 00:51 Let's go to Revelation chapter 13 so that we can 00:53 get our fingers wrapped around this idea of 00:55 the image of the beast. 00:56 There are some people do have the anticipation that 00:59 end of time there is going to be a literal image set up 01:02 and that people will be compelled to worship a literal 01:05 image such as we find in Daniel chapter 3. 01:07 I think a closer examination of the text will reveal 01:10 something a little different than that. 01:11 Revelations chapter 13, beginning in verse 11. 01:14 Revelation 13:11, this is where we find the 01:17 second beast coming up. 01:18 We have already identified this second beast and 01:21 we will begin in verse 11. 01:22 "Then I saw another beast coming up 01:24 out-of-the-where, everyone? 01:25 "Out of the earth and he had two horns like a Lamb. " 01:28 But who did he speak like? 01:29 "He spoke like a dragon. " 01:31 "He exercises all the authority of the first beast 01:33 in his presence and causes the earth and those who 01:35 dwell in it to worship the first beast whose 01:37 deadly wound was healed. " 01:38 So the primary objective of this second beast is to 01:41 cause the earth to worship the first beast. 01:43 That is why sometimes he is called a false prophet. 01:45 He's like a spokesperson for the first beast. 01:48 Verse 13, "he even performed signs, wonders so that he 01:52 makes fire come down from men on earth insight of men. " 01:55 We will talk about that just a moment. 01:56 "He deceives those who dwell on earth by those signs which he 01:59 was granted to do in the sight of the beast. " 02:01 "Telling those who dwell on the earth," now notice this, 02:03 "to make an image to the beast who was wounded by the sword," 02:07 and what? "And lived. " 02:09 So what happens with this second beast is that his 02:11 primary objective is to cause the earth to worship 02:14 the first beast and then it says 02:16 that he even sets up this image of the beast. 02:19 Let's look at that again here in verse 14. 02:21 It says, "telling those who dwell on the earth to make 02:24 an image to the beast who was wounded by 02:26 the sword and lived. 02:27 He was granted power," I'm in verse 15, "to give breath". 02:30 To give what everyone? 02:32 To give breath, that is the New Testament word, Numa. 02:34 "That he would give his spirit," or breath, 02:36 "to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast 02:39 should both speak and cause as many as would not 02:41 worship the image of the beast should be killed. " 02:43 Now the imagery here is actually very interesting. 02:45 It is straight out of the book of Genesis. 02:47 Your remember that God said, see if you can remember 02:49 this with me, God said, 02:50 "let us make man in our," what? "Image. " 02:55 And after He made man in His image, the Bible says, 02:57 "he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life 03:00 and man became a living soul. " 03:01 That is exactly the imagery you find here. 03:03 Does everybody see that? Yes or no? 03:05 It says that he creates this image and then he breathes 03:09 into this thing, so really what you find here is a 03:11 counterfeit of what God did in the book of Genesis. 03:13 So this figure, this form, this image is set up and 03:17 then, he breathes into him his breath and this 03:20 thing comes alive. 03:21 We picked up in verse 15. 03:23 "He was granted power to give breath to the image of 03:25 the beast that the image of the beast should both 03:27 speak and cause as many as would not worship 03:29 the image of the beast should be," what? "Killed. " 03:31 Verse 16, "he causes all, both small and great, 03:33 rich and poor, free and slaved, to receive a mark on 03:36 their right hand or in their foreheads and that no man 03:38 might buy or sell except him who has the mark of the 03:41 beast or the number of his name. 03:42 Here is wisdom, let him who has understanding 03:44 calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number," 03:47 of a what? "Man," and what is that number? "666." 03:52 Six, six, six, that is exactly right. 03:54 So we find here is that at the end of time there is 03:56 going to be an image of the beast. 03:58 There is going to be a what everyone? 04:00 An image of the beast. 04:01 Well an image is a copy, or a likeness. 04:04 There will be a likeness of the beast, 04:06 or a copy of the beast and notice that it says, 04:09 that this image of the beast is created because 04:12 the first beast had received a deadly wound. 04:14 We see that a Revelations 13:3. 04:17 That he received a deadly wound and began to go down. 04:19 As this beast was going down the second beast was 04:22 coming up, but the second beast turns 04:24 and breaths breath back into the first beast 04:27 and here it comes again. 04:28 The image of the beast is created right down 04:30 to the end of time. 04:31 We will talk about that in a moment. 04:32 Historically we need to ask the question, 04:35 how has the Roman Church State functioned? 04:38 We have already said that it worked 04:39 or what kind of government? Secular governments! 04:41 Again the Roman Church state does not have a standing 04:44 standing army the same as the United States 04:46 has a standing army. 04:47 They have always worked through a secular government. 04:49 Whether it was England or Italy or France or Germany. 04:51 So we are back to our study guide here. 04:53 So it says the image of the beast will not be a 04:55 literal image, rather it will be the resurgence 04:59 of the kind of power and influence the 05:01 Roman Church had in the dark ages. 05:05 As the church worked historically through secular 05:07 governments, to achieve its ends, so too, 05:10 at the end of time. 05:11 The resurrected beast will work through secular 05:13 governments to achieve its ends. 05:16 The United States will sadly play them very role, 05:19 this is what the prophecy means in Revelation 13:11 says, 05:22 "it will speak like a dragon. " 05:26 And a dragon is who? 05:28 Who is the dragon? 05:29 It is the devil. 05:30 So what we are contending here is that we are seeing 05:32 that deadly wound spoken of, in Revelation 13:3, 05:35 we are seeing that deadly wound being healed right 05:38 before our very eyes. 05:39 When the most powerful rulers, 05:40 the most powerful leaders, 05:41 the most powerful governing official attended that 05:44 papal funeral, at least in the case of the 05:47 United States of America, it was the first time in 05:49 history that any President had ever 05:51 attended a papal funeral. 05:53 Here was not just one, but the current President 05:55 and two former Presidents, not to mention many other 05:58 Prime Ministers and Ambassadors, all kneeling. 06:00 All what everyone? All kneeling. 06:03 Not before God, they are kneeling before the 06:06 dead body of Pope John Paul, 06:08 who incidentally is just a sinner 06:10 like everyone of us in this room. 06:12 Do you believe that? 06:13 Absolutely, God loves Pope John Paul II, no question 06:16 about that, but to kneel before him is highly unusual. 06:20 Particularly highly unusual for the most powerful men 06:24 and women in the government. 06:26 So we're beginning to see this secular wound, pardon me, 06:28 this wound healing as the secular governments are aligning 06:31 themselves more and more closely with this papal power. 06:35 We are seeing this wound heal right 06:37 before our very eyes. 06:38 Now there are good Christian folks who want to 06:41 make a change in the world. 06:43 They see the moral decadence, they see the moral 06:45 democracy that is taking place. 06:47 Unfortunately many of these good Christian people are 06:49 going to try and make a good change in the wrong way. 06:53 Dr. James Dobson, do any of you know this man here? 06:56 Of course! 06:57 Listen, I have several books my library that I love, 06:59 Dare to Discipline, Bringing Up Boys, there is no 07:01 question that the man has a special connection with 07:05 Christ, particularly as it relates to being able to 07:08 communicate, great counseling and psychological truths, 07:12 in a spiritual way, no question about that. 07:14 My concern is that when good men, like a James Dobson, 07:18 or a Ralph Reed, or a Ted Hager, or a hundred others 07:22 that could be cited. 07:23 When these men get involved in politics as a mean 07:26 to push their Christian agenda, I get a little 07:28 nervous because I see the union of church and 07:31 state coming closer and closer and closer together. 07:34 If we know anything from the old world experiments, 07:38 church and state do not make good bed partners. 07:41 If you believe that say Amen! 07:42 That is why when the forefathers and foremothers came 07:45 to this land, they said things like we are going to be free 07:48 from a King and they set up civil liberty. 07:50 We are going to be free from the dictates of the Pope 07:52 and they set up a religious liberty. 07:53 They said church and state would remain separate. 07:56 Now what that means is not that we do not want 08:00 Christian people, or moral people, or good natured 08:02 people in governing offices, 08:03 but that none of them should be enforcing, 08:05 or legislating their particular version or 08:09 interpretation of the faith, what ever faith that is. 08:12 Amen? Amen! That is really the point. 08:15 Now I am back in your study guide here. 08:17 Second paragraph. 08:18 God made man in his own what? Image! 08:21 Then he breathed into him, so to the image of the 08:25 beast, which comes to life, when the second beast 08:27 breathes his power into the Roman Church. 08:30 The image of the beast, which looks just like the 08:33 beast did in the dark ages, 08:34 will suddenly be brought back to life. 08:38 The United States will work with the Roman Church to 08:41 bring this nation, quote: "back to God!" 08:43 This seemingly noble experiment climax and run 08:48 amuck when Sunday, the mark of the Roman churches authority 08:52 and religious matters is enforced, 08:54 first with economic sanctions, and then, finally, 08:57 on pain of death. 08:59 You say do you really believe that it's going to 09:01 happen Pastor Asscherick? 09:02 I believe that with every fiber of my being and not 09:05 because I am looking at headlines, not because I'm 09:07 looking at the newspapers, but because I'm looking at 09:09 Revelation Chapter 12 and 13 and 14. 09:12 God has His seal, the beast has his mark. 09:14 We asked the beast what is your mark? 09:16 He says the mark of our ecclesiastical authority is 09:19 that we changed that day of worship, 09:20 the day of solemnity, from the biblical Sabbath 09:23 to the Catholic Sunday. 09:26 That is going to be enforced, I believe that with 09:29 every bit of my being and believe that we are headed, 09:31 very rapidly, in that direction. 09:32 Now you are sitting there thinking, it is not possible. 09:35 But I will remind you again, that already 36, 09:37 what did I say everyone? 09:39 36 states in this union already have Sunday laws. 09:44 They are already on the books, these are not laws that 09:47 have to be passed and written and legislated, 09:49 these are laws that need to be enforced. 09:51 What were did I say everyone? Enforced! 09:54 You can do a little research on it. 09:55 You can go to any Google search engine and type in 09:57 Sunday blue laws and find out what comes up. 09:59 The laws are already there. 10:01 Now notice that it says that the 10:04 deadly wound would heal. 10:06 You say how is this going to happen? 10:07 How is this radical shifting of the paradigm, 10:10 here in America, from religious protector, and religious liberty 10:14 and religious freedom to religious tyranny. 10:17 It is going to happen as the Catholics are extending 10:19 their arm to the Protestants. 10:21 The Protestants, I am talking about leadership here, 10:23 because God loves people but hates systems that are 10:25 not consistent with His word. 10:27 If you believe that say Amen! 10:29 so what we see here is the Catholic leadership 10:31 reaching out to the Protestants. 10:32 The Protestants reaching out to the Catholics and both 10:35 of them clasping hands and reaching out 10:37 to the secular government. 10:39 Now I want to notice this very interesting from the 10:41 Washington Post, Monday, November 1, 1999. 10:44 This is not ancient history beloved. 10:46 Six years ago, and I want you to notice there the 10:49 title of this headline news article. 10:52 Lutherans and Catholics unite to, what is that word? 10:56 Heal 482-year-old division. 10:59 A very interesting choice of words. 11:01 Sounds exactly like Revelation 13:3. 11:03 "That he is deadly wound," would be what? "Healed. " 11:08 And basically what happened is this man here, 11:10 a representative Christian, a representative of the 11:13 Lutheran World Federation sat down with this man here, 11:15 Edward Casey, and a signed document that said in 11:18 essence that the whole Protestant information was 11:20 a great big misunderstanding. 11:24 Well I can just imagine that Martin Luther did 11:27 somersaults in his grave at hearing that. 11:30 A misunderstanding? 11:31 Sure to the tune of 50 million, 60 million, 70 million, 11:34 and some say as high as a 100 million people dead, why? 11:38 Because of a misunderstanding, you wish it was more 11:42 than a misunderstanding, radically different systems. 11:45 One says that you are saved by grace alone, 11:47 through faith alone, to the glory of God alone. 11:50 And the other says you are saved by faith plus abiding 11:54 by the traditions and sacraments of the Church. 11:57 These are radically different systems. 12:00 The Reformation was not a mistake, it was genuine, 12:03 it was real, and it was substantive. 12:05 The fact that people some 5 hundred years later can 12:08 sit down and write a document that says it was 12:09 a mistake, shows that number one they are not 12:11 historians, and number two they are driven 12:12 by an agenda, not by truth. 12:14 Very interesting isn't it? 12:18 These groups are rushing together. 12:21 I just got this off the Internet today. 12:22 This is just happening recently. 12:24 First it was Lutherans, 100 million Lutherans, 12:27 now it is the Methodist. 12:28 This is taken from Reuters say News Agency, 12:30 July 23,2006. 12:33 Notice the title of the article. 12:34 Historical rift mended. 12:37 You could change that very easily to say, 12:39 historical wound healed. 12:42 Notice! 12:55 All that they are doing is joining on to that same 12:57 document that the Lutherans have signed 12:59 some 6 years before. 13:14 Oh they solved it, there really was no difference 13:17 between the Protestants and Catholics, 13:18 it has all been solved now. 13:20 So the Methodist can say now we can come back 13:21 home to the mother Church. 13:23 And the Lutherans can say oh we can come back 13:24 home to mother Church. 13:25 They have solved it? 13:26 I'm sure that John and Charles Wesley are doing 13:28 somersaults, circles, and cartwheels in their graves 13:30 thinking what has happened to people? 13:33 They do not know their Bibles anymore. 13:34 Of course in the case of Methodists, if you're 13:35 a Methodist today, I sincerely apologize, but I do not 13:38 apologize for what I'm going to say. 13:39 I just apologize for the fact that your church has 13:41 so terrifically abandoned the faith. 13:43 I mean they are having huge council to decide 13:46 whether or not it is biblical to ordain, openly, 13:49 homosexual ministers. 13:50 When you have left the Bible so far that you have to 13:54 convene a council to decide if it is okay to ordain an 13:57 openly homosexual minister, it is just a matter of time 14:00 before you say, you know what? 14:01 We do not know our way anymore, we have lost our anchor, 14:04 we have lost our direction and so you will go back 14:06 to the mother Church. 14:07 I mean if you have left this thing and you are willing 14:11 to say with a straight face, you know what we solve 14:13 the whole problem of the Protestant Reformation. 14:15 Whoop! It was all a big misunderstanding. 14:18 That tells me you do not know your Bible. 14:19 Not only do you not know your Bible, 14:20 you do not know history. 14:21 The Protestant Reformation it goes on to say, 14:44 That was an official statement released 14:45 by the Methodist church. 14:46 Notice that a common understanding of justification. 14:49 Now for those of you today who are not theologians, 14:50 justification means how you are saved. 14:53 So let's just substitute that. 14:55 A common understanding of how you are saved. 14:58 Beloved, did John and Charles Wesley have a common 15:01 understanding of how they were saved as compared to 15:03 the Popes in the Catholics and the pre-lattés? 15:05 No! I mean it was radically different, 15:07 night and day, oil and water, up and down, 15:10 forward and backwards, zig and zag. 15:12 To say that these two are the same is like saying 15:15 that black is white. 15:16 You can say all you want, but it is not true. 15:19 Just because you get people who do not know their 15:21 Bibles are biblically illiterate sit down and sign 15:23 a document that says it was all a mistake does 15:25 not prove that it was all a mistake. 15:27 What it does prove is that you do not know your Bible, 15:29 and you do not know history, and you are driven 15:31 by a larger political agenda to unite the Christian world, 15:35 to get this nation and this world 15:37 back to God, despite the costs. 15:40 But beloved, it is far, far, far better to be 15:44 divided by truth then united by error. 15:47 We do not live in that world anymore, we live in 15:51 a world where it is politically incorrect to suggest 15:52 that somebody is wrong, but beloved, you are going to 15:55 stand on what the Bible says. 15:56 Your life is going to be a rebuke to people who would 16:00 rather accommodate a political position and agenda, 16:04 than to stand for Jesus Christ and His end-time truth. 16:07 If what I am saying makes sense I want you to say Amen? 16:10 Amen! Now look at this. 16:12 Just tonight, somebody handed me this document here. 16:14 It is dated, November 30, what is today? 16:19 November 30, and I am reading here is an AP article 16:23 Istanbul, Turkey? Pope Benedict XVI called divisions among 16:27 the Christian Church a scandal to the world. 16:30 Whoa, Whoa, Whoa, let's read that again. 16:33 Today the pope called divisions among the 16:35 Christian Church a scandal to the world. 16:38 Do you know what he is saying is? 16:39 He is saying that the church should not be divided. 16:42 The church should not be what? 16:44 He says it is a scandal. 16:46 Of course, listen, I was one of those people that 16:49 look at Christianity and thought wait a minute, 16:50 we have one Lord, we have one baptism, 16:52 we have one Bible. 16:53 How come we have 1300 different 16:54 Christian denominations? 16:55 I mean that is confusing, someone say Amen? 16:57 But God is not the author of confusion and I will 16:59 take you the solution is not running back to Rome. 17:02 The solution is running back the Bible, 17:05 someone say Amen? 17:06 So when the Pope says, oh it is a scandal that the 17:10 church is divided, you are right it is a scandal. 17:12 But going back to the mother, is not the solution. 17:16 You know what is happening, when the Methodist, 17:18 come back to town with the Catholics, and the Lutherans, 17:21 and again we are talking about systems, 17:23 not people! 17:24 I want to say that again, can someone say Amen? 17:25 We are talking about systems, systems, systems, systems. 17:28 God loves Catholics, God loves Protestants, 17:30 God loves Muslims, God loves atheists, 17:33 God loves the agnostics, God loves black, 17:35 God loves whites, God loves males, God loves female. 17:37 Is that clear everyone? Yes or no? 17:38 The point is when the leadership of the Methodist 17:41 come back to the Catholic Church, and the leadership 17:43 of the Lutherans come back to the Catholic Church, 17:45 I will give you one guess who is making the biggest 17:48 concessions to bring about unity? 17:50 Do you think the Catholics are saying, 17:51 you know what? 17:52 Let us change all the teachings for 100' s of 17:54 1000' s of years, do you think they are doing that? 17:56 Do you know who is making the concessions? 17:57 The Protestants are making the concessions beloved. 18:00 Rome is not changing, Rome cannot change. 18:03 Rome has built into its doctrinal structure something 18:06 called Ex Cathedra, and that is when the Pope speaks, 18:09 out of the cathedral, what he says is infallible. 18:12 When something is infallible it can never be changed. 18:16 So when it comes time to start making concessions and 18:19 saying I guess we were wrong about that. 18:20 The ones that are making the vast, majority of changes, 18:24 and concessions, are not the Catholics. 18:27 It's the Protestant leadership. 18:29 So when the pope stands up and says, hey it is a 18:32 scandal to the world that the church is divided. 18:34 Do you know what you should be hearing? 18:36 The churches should be united, oh, but wait, 18:38 if the church is going to be united we need a head. 18:40 Well, who should that be? 18:42 The article goes on. 18:46 "At a joint ceremony Thursday with the spiritual leader 18:50 of the Orthodox Christian Church which split from 18:52 Catholicism nearly a thousand years ago. 18:54 Reaching out to the world 250 million 18:56 Orthodox Christian is a centerpiece of Benedict's 18:59 papacy, he has set the difficult goal of full unity 19:02 between two ancient branches of Christianity. " 19:04 Look at that, full unity. 19:06 "Which divided over disputes including 19:08 the extensive papal authority. " 19:09 Last one here, "the divisions which exist among the 19:11 Christians are scandal to the world, 19:13 said the pope after joining the ecumenical patriarch 19:15 Bartholomew I, to mark the feast days of St. Andrew, 19:19 a priest across Asia minor, who believed to ordain 19:22 the first Bishop of Constantinople in Istanbul. " 19:24 So we have reached out to the Lutherans and got them. 19:27 We have reached out to the Methodist and got them. 19:29 Now we reaching out to who? 19:30 The Orthodox! 19:31 While he was in Turkey he made several steps to 19:34 reach out, several stops to reach out to the Muslims. 19:37 Beloved, you are seeing a coming together, 19:39 a conversion of religions. 19:41 What did I say everyone? A conversion, 19:44 or a coming together of religions. 19:45 There is a technical term for this and 19:47 it is called Ecumenism. 19:48 Ecumenism, now if you are sitting here today and 19:50 you are Methodist, I hope you are not offended. 19:52 I mean if you are offended, 19:54 you should not be offended at me. 19:55 You should be offended at your church for 19:57 abandoning the Bible and is refusing to stand for up a 19:59 thus saith the Lord. 20:00 Someone say Amen? 20:01 Don't be offended at the pastor. 20:02 If you are sitting here today as a Lutheran, 20:04 you should be offended, 20:05 but don't be offended by Pastor Asscherick. 20:06 Be offended by your churches total abandonment 20:09 of truth when it comes to justification. 20:11 Oh, it was all a big mistake when Martin Luther 20:13 nailed his 95 theses to the door at Wittenberg and a 100 million 20:16 that died in the process. 20:17 Whoops, made a mistake, No! 20:19 There is a mistake that is being made, 20:21 and that mistake is trying to gloss over and put a 20:24 nice veneer over a huge theological difference 20:28 between Catholicism and Protestantism, 20:31 between traditions of man and biblical Christianity. 20:34 Do not say they are the same. 20:36 You know what, you can already begin to see 20:40 how it is going to look. 20:41 When someone stands up and says, it is a mockery, 20:43 it's a lie, it's not biblical, it's not true, 20:47 the emperor is naked, that person is going 20:49 to be very popular isn't he? 20:51 Is that person going to be very popular? 20:53 You know what he is going to be labeled? 20:55 You are anti-unity. 20:56 You are anti-unity, you are anti-the truth, 20:59 we are trying to being everybody together 21:01 and you are the bad guy. 21:02 You are a terrorist. 21:03 Beloved, are you seeing this? Yes or no? 21:07 You have to be half asleep not to see it. 21:10 We are going to continue on here. 21:11 Look at this! 21:12 All roads lead to Rome. 21:13 "Protestant churches are beating Rome's door down 21:16 to be allowed back into the mother Church. " 21:19 "This phenomenon is called ecumenism and is 21:22 happening at an alarming rate. " 21:23 "This coming together of the church strengthens 21:26 the Roman Church's plans and potency," more on 21:29 this in a future lesson we are actually compiling 21:30 so you won't get any more on it tonight. 21:32 "Just like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, 21:35 God's last day people will be forced to choose 21:37 between forced worship and God's", 21:40 God's what? "Commandments. " 21:42 Daniel Chapter three we find them standing strong, 21:44 by God's enabling grace, refusing to bow down to that 21:47 great golden image that Nebuchadnezzar had instructed. " 21:49 "May Jesus Christ grant us the grace, courage and 21:52 power to do the same. " 21:53 "May we say with Peter that we ought to obey God 21:56 rather than men. " If you believe what I have said, 22:00 I want you to say Amen? Amen! 22:01 It is not because of me either. 22:03 This book was released several years ago. 22:05 Evangelicals and Catholics Shared A Common Mission. 22:07 Written by two men, Charles Colson, a man who have 22:10 a great deal of respect for, no question about that. 22:13 I am concerned about the direction that some of 22:17 these people are going when they start laying aside 22:18 biblical truth for political expediency and agenda. 22:21 It says here: 22:28 That is just facts now. 22:29 The Houston Chronicle reported on this book: 22:47 You see there is an agenda. 22:48 There is an agenda, they are not coming together 22:50 because they want to get in bed together, 22:52 they are coming together for a purpose. 22:54 You have heard this, there is no better way than 22:56 to get to people that are at odds together than 22:59 to have a common enemy. 23:00 Isn't that true, yes or no? 23:01 They say secularism is the common enemy. 23:03 Moral decadence that is the common enemy. 23:05 What ever you want to say is the common enemy. 23:07 So people start uniting and they are 23:09 not paying attention to truth. 23:10 I was at a promise keeper rally one time, 23:12 and I have nothing against the promise keepers, 23:14 it is kind of faded. 23:15 I get a little concerned when you start having 23:18 these radical political agendas taking place. 23:20 I was at a rally with some twenty thousand people and 23:22 Max Lucado got up in front, he said to everybody 23:24 I want everybody to say their denomination 23:27 on account of three so, 1, 2, 3, and everybody says 23:29 their denomination at once. 23:31 Presbyterian, Methodist, Seventh-day Adventist, 23:33 Catholic, Mormon, blah, blah, blah. 23:35 He said, sounds like confusion to me, and everybody laughed. 23:39 Then he said on the count of three I want everyone 23:43 to say Jesus Christ. 23:44 And then 1, 2, 3, and of course it sounded so nice. 23:46 Jesus Christ! 23:48 He said, that is the way it is supposed to be. 23:50 And everybody went! 23:53 they were all cheering, but listen beloved. 23:55 Listen, listen, listen! 23:56 We can say the words. 23:58 The question is what the words mean? 24:00 Does that make sense? 24:02 Listen if the devil gets a hold of language, 24:06 the game is over. 24:07 Does that make sense? 24:09 Listen, my Jesus Christ is not the Jesus Christ 24:12 of the Mormons, can we be clear on that? 24:15 I can say the same word you are saying, 24:17 but the Jesus Christ that I believe in is not 24:19 the same Jesus Christ that the Mormons believe in. 24:21 Our picture of Jesus is informed by correct 24:24 biblical teachings. Amen? 24:27 I do not believe that Jesus Christ was 24:28 the brother of Lucifer. 24:29 I do not believe that he is one of a 24:30 multiplied million spirit being. 24:32 He is blah, blah, blah! Nonsense! 24:34 You can say Jesus Christ and someone else to say 24:37 Jesus Christ, we can all say it together and 24:38 it sounds so good. 24:39 But beloved, if it is not biblical. 24:40 It may sound good but all you have to do is lift 24:43 the lid and look underneath and there's cancer 24:44 under there, there is garbage under there. 24:46 Does that make sense? 24:48 So beloved it is not going to work for us all just 24:50 to get together in one room and raise our 24:52 hands and say Jesus Christ and suddenly 24:54 everything is okay, beloved? 24:55 It has to be according to truth. 24:58 Jesus Himself said, I am the way, 25:01 and the truth, and the life. 25:03 He did not say I am a way. 25:05 There are many ways and I am one of a multitude 25:07 in these ways. No! 25:08 I am a way, a truth, and am a light. 25:11 The way singular, definite article. 25:13 The truth, singular, definite article. 25:14 And the life. 25:16 So yes I do believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 25:19 and you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, 25:20 but the only way that we can be sure that language 25:22 has meaning and we are saying the same thing is 25:24 if we have some objective thing that tells us 25:27 what Jesus Christ is. Amen? Amen! 25:31 Maybe you have heard people say this is absolutely 25:32 ridiculous thing, that it doesn't matter the doctrine. 25:35 Doctrine doesn't matter, the teaching doesn't matter, 25:36 only Jesus matters. 25:38 Wait a minute, how do you know what Jesus is like? 25:40 Do you believe that Jesus died, 25:42 was buried, and resurrected? 25:43 Well that is doctrine beloved. 25:46 Do you believe that Jesus was the son of God? 25:48 Oh yeah I've believe, that is doctrine. 25:50 It is one thing for us all to sound good, 25:53 and sound unified, and blah, blah, blah. 25:55 Beloved we had to be unified on Christ, 25:58 and in Christ, in truth. 26:02 So here we are. 26:04 Back to the statement from the Houston Chronicle. 26:16 So they come together for political means. 26:26 And that is the point where this whole thing is going. 26:28 The archbishop of New York said: 26:49 Church and state will unite to enforce 26:51 religious practices. 26:53 Be crystal clear on it, for Bible says that 26:56 is what is going to happen. 26:57 It is not going to happen because of what we see 26:59 in the news headlines. 27:00 It is going to happen because that is what 27:01 Revelation says is going to happen. 27:02 Worship will be compulsory, worship will be enforced, 27:07 and unfortunately it is not going to 27:09 be biblical worship. 27:10 It is not going to be Bible-based worship. 27:12 Is going to be based on the teachings of the 27:14 mother Church, which are not biblical. 27:16 So people like myself, who say no, I am going to 27:20 stand on the plain thus saith the Lord and not the 27:22 tradition and canons of men, I am going to be put 27:24 in a very awkward position, when the laws of land 27:27 intersect the laws of God. 27:29 But for me and my house, we are going to serve the Lord. 27:33 Whether we can't buy or sell, whether it causes pain. 27:36 Listen beloved, it doesn't matter. 27:39 I will serve the Lord with Job, "though he slays me, 27:45 yet I will trust Him. " 27:46 Now we are on the second study guide. 27:49 Let's talk about Babylon. 27:50 Many people wonder why there are 27:53 so many Christian denominations. 27:54 How many people in this room have ever wondered, 27:56 why are there so many Christian denominations? 27:57 I'm going to tell you tonight why there are so many 27:59 Christian denominations. 28:00 This is a fair question after all there is 28:02 just one Bible, one Savior, and one God. 28:04 So what is it difficult to understand why there 28:06 should be so many different, what? Churches! 28:09 The purpose of this lesson will be to understand both 28:12 the cause and the solution of this phenomenon. 28:14 Let's begin by asking this question, 28:16 how many churches did Jesus establish? 28:19 I give you Matthew Chapter 16:13-19. 28:22 I would just quoted quickly for you, 28:23 "who do men say that I am son of man, 28:25 some say John the Baptist, some say Jeremiah," 28:26 some say this or that. 28:28 Jesus said, "who do you say that I am?" 28:30 Peter speaks up on behalf of the rest of 28:32 the apostles and says, "you are the Christ, 28:33 the son of the living God. " 28:34 Jesus says, "Blessed are you Simon Barjona 28:36 for flesh and blood has not revealed this unto you, 28:38 but My Father which is in heaven. " 28:40 Then he says something very fascinating. 28:41 He said Peter you are little Rolling Stone but 28:43 upon this petra, large monolithic unmovable rock, 28:46 I will build my churches. 28:49 No, no, no, I will build my what? 28:52 My church, and then he says, "the gates of hell will 28:56 not prevail against" what? 28:58 "It", he did not say, them, he said, "it. " 29:01 Jesus established a single church. Amen? Amen! 29:07 Now I will give you another text there. 29:09 For example in Ephesians chapter 5, it says that Jesus 29:11 gave Himself for the church, not the churches. 29:16 Today there are many different flavors of 29:18 Christianity, it is like going into 29:19 a Baskin-Robbins or in to a cold Stone. 29:21 What do you want? 29:23 You can find a church that fits your needs. 29:25 You can find a church that fits you just right. 29:27 You say I don't really go for the double chocolate 29:29 fudge, and I do like the praline pecan, 29:31 but mmmm! Coconut mint, give it to me. 29:34 You can have your own little flavor. 29:36 You say well I don't really like the Presbyterians. 29:38 I'm not really a Methodist kind of guy. 29:40 I'm more of a Pentecostal. 29:42 All of us have our little different flavors of 29:45 Christianity, but beloved, beloved, 29:46 beloved we have bought into a huge deception. 29:48 Jesus established one church. 29:52 Then he said the gates and you will not prevail 29:54 against what? "It"! 29:56 We continue on here. 29:57 Jesus established one church. 30:00 Here is an essential point to grasp. 30:01 Over 1000 separate Christian denominations in the 30:04 world today, yet Jesus established one church. 30:07 What happened? 30:08 Revelation holds the key. 30:09 Of course the Catholics are going to say, 30:10 well I will tell you what happened, you all left 30:12 the mother church. 30:13 Um, that is not what happened. 30:15 What happened is that people left the Bible. 30:17 And you go to Revelation 12, let's go there together. 30:21 Let's see if we can look at Revelation Chapter 12, 30:24 beginning in verse 1. 30:25 Here we see Revelation 12:1, a true church. 30:30 God's true people, now I know some people say this is 30:34 only Israel, Revelation 12 is only Israel. 30:38 Beloved, it is not only Israel. 30:39 We are going to spend the whole time on that when we 30:42 get together on Saturday, entitled: Who Is Real Israel? 30:45 The only reason you would think this woman was only Israel, 30:48 if you were based on a radical misinterpretation and 30:52 misunderstanding of the book of Revelation that 30:53 basically says only up to Revelation 3 is for the 30:56 church and everything after that is for Israel post-rapture, 30:59 I mean you have got to be kidding me beloved. 31:02 If ever there was egregious, dangerous teaching, 31:05 that is it. 31:06 Because we are all going around saying oh ho, 31:07 I'm so glad I'm not going to be here when the mark of 31:09 the beast crisis comes. 31:10 High five, no Antichrist, I'm not going to be around, 31:12 and even if I was, second chance baby. 31:15 Come on beloved, the devil has pulled a fast one. 31:19 The devil has pulled a huge fast one. 31:22 I mean you really want to look me in the eye and tell me 31:24 that Revelation 5-22 has nothing to do with you? 31:28 Are you kidding beloved? 31:31 So anyone who says, Ahhh this is only Israel is based 31:33 on a huge misunderstanding and we will deal 31:35 more with that on Saturday. 31:36 If "is now a great sign appeared," where every one? 31:38 "In heaven, a woman clothed with the Sun and 31:41 the Moon under her feet, and on her head 31:43 a garland of twelve stars. " 31:44 A woman in Bible prophecy represents what? 31:46 A church, or the true people of God. 31:48 Now want you to notice that she is clothed with 3 things, 31:50 the sun, the moon, and the stars. 31:52 You go back to Genesis 1 and 2 and God ordained the Sun, 31:55 the Moon, and the stars to bring light to this world. 31:58 So this woman is clothed with light giving things. 32:02 Someone say Amen? 32:04 So she will be bringing light to the earth. 32:07 Isaiah says, "that darkness covers the earth and gross 32:09 darkness the people, but the Lord will arise upon Thee 32:13 and his glory shall be seen upon thee. " 32:14 so this woman, this true church who stands on the Bible thy word 32:17 is a lamp unto my feet, and a light into my path. " 32:19 This woman powerfully, will be bringing light to a dark world. 32:23 But there is another woman and she is in Revelation 17, 32:27 go there with me if you would. 32:28 Revelation 17:1, "one of the seven angels who had the 32:35 seven bowls came and talked with me saying, to me, 32:37 come and I will show you the judgment of the great harlot. " 32:40 Some versions say whore or prostitute, 32:43 "who sits on many waters with whom the kings of 32:45 the earth have committed" What everyone? Fortification's. 32:48 So she had illicit relations with the kings of the earth. 32:50 "And thee inhabitants of the earth were made drunk 32:53 through the wine of her fortification. " 32:54 "So he carried me away in the Spirit into the 32:56 wilderness: and I saw woman sitting on a 32:57 scarlet beast which was full of the names of blasphemy 32:59 having seven heads and ten horns. " 33:00 "The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and 33:03 adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, 33:05 having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations 33:07 and the filthiness of her fornication:" 33:10 "and on her forehead with the name written, MYSTERY, 33:13 BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS 33:15 AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." 33:16 "And I saw the woman", the woman in Bible prophecy 33:18 is what everyone? A church, or God's people. 33:20 "And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of 33:22 the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: 33:25 and when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. " 33:28 So when we come to the book of Revelation we do not 33:30 find one church, even though Jesus had established 33:32 just one church, we find many churches. 33:34 You say many I thought there was only two. 33:36 No look there again, it says that her name is mystery, 33:39 Babylon the great, the mother of what? Harlots! 33:44 Harlots is plural, so you have at least 4 women, 33:46 because you have the woman at Revelation 17, 33:49 and she has at least two daughters, 33:51 otherwise it wouldn't be in a plural. 33:52 And then you have the woman of Revelation Chapter 12. 33:54 What John is trying to show you here is that 33:56 there are many people at the end of time 33:58 claiming to be God's bride. 34:00 But you can be sure about this, 34:01 Jesus is not a polygamist! Amen! 34:07 He is not a polygamist, he has a single bride 34:11 and we will pick that up there in our question, 34:12 Is Jesus a polygamist? 34:14 One of our attendees came in tonight and said, 34:15 I have learned so much in these meetings, 34:17 I don't think I can handle this one. 34:21 Beloved we are not going to teach you that polygamy is okay! 34:23 No such thing! 34:24 Revelation 12 depicts a chaste, beautiful, virtuous woman. 34:27 This woman represents God's true church, 34:30 His faithful people. 34:31 Remember a woman in Bible prophecy represents 34:33 the church and I have given you 2 text there 34:35 Many others could be cited. 34:36 Revelation 17 we find an unfaithful adulterous woman 34:38 the Bible calls a what? A harlot! 34:41 Verses 1 to 5 she is accused 3 times of 34:44 having adultery, adultery, adultery. 34:47 She has numerous lovers who themselves 34:48 are adulterers and unfaithful. 34:50 Notice that there are many different women, 34:52 or churches here in Revelation. 34:53 This is especially incredible when you remember 34:56 that we have already learned that 34:58 Jesus Christ established how many churches? 35:00 One church prior to His ascension. 35:02 So why do we have multiple women, 35:04 multiple churches in the book of Revelation? 35:06 Because the devil is muddying the waters. 35:10 Because what did I say? 35:11 The devil is muddying the waters. 35:14 How many people here are converts to Christianity? 35:16 In other words you are not raised in a Christian home. 35:18 You are converts to Christianity? 35:20 Okay me too! 35:21 Raise your hands nice and high, okay! 35:23 How many of you found it difficult to become 35:24 a Christian, because you say where do I go? 35:26 There are so many options? 35:28 How many found that confusing? 35:29 Listen, that has to be one of the most confusing 35:32 things in the whole Christian experience, 35:34 and that is why John Paul says, not John Paul pardon me, 35:36 but Benedict says, it's a scandal to the world. 35:38 Well sure it is a scandal to world, but the solution 35:41 is not running back to Rome, the solution is running 35:43 back to Bible truth. 35:45 Amen? And by the way I have just say this, 35:48 do not come up to me and say 35:50 that it's just your interpretation. 35:52 Beloved, that will drive me crazy and 35:53 it should drive you crazy too. 35:55 Maybe you have heard somebody say, 35:56 well that is true for you and this is true for me. 35:58 Beloved, beloved, beloved that is an effrontery 36:01 to the English language. 36:02 Something is either true or it is not true. 36:05 You know I can say 2 plus 2 is 7 for you, 36:08 and 2 plus 2 is 17 for me, and that is true for you. 36:11 No, no, no, something is either true, 36:13 or it is not true. 36:14 Amen? Don't think that you can just say, 36:18 well that is Pastor Asscherick's interpretation. 36:20 Beloved it is not about Pastor Asscherick's 36:22 interpretation is about what the Bible says, Amen? 36:24 I'm doing my best, night by night, to present to you 36:26 what the Bible says. 36:28 That is why say to you listen, 36:29 if you show me where I am 36:30 in error from the Bible, from the what? 36:32 The Bible, I will stand up and tell you, 36:35 I will stand up and say I was wrong about something. 36:37 I have no problem with that. 36:39 I just want to know what is true. Amen? 36:42 We are not out to make fun or anything here, 36:45 but when I say will give you $10,000 if you can show 36:46 me were the Sabbath was changed. 36:48 I am not just whistling Dixie. 36:49 I had a young man come up to me tonight and said, 36:51 I think I have your Sabbath thing here, 36:53 listen if your arguments are valid, 36:56 I'll give you 10,000 bucks. 36:57 Beloved we want to know what is truth. Amen? 37:00 So that is what is happening, this movement that 37:06 basically says we are going to unite upon error. 37:09 You have all these different churches, 37:11 that is true for you in this is true for me. 37:13 You are Methodist and I am a Presbyterian. 37:15 You are Baptist and I'm a, listen beloved, 37:17 we should be a Christian standing on Bible truth. 37:19 If someone was to say, Ah, David is a member of a cult. 37:22 Listen, beloved, beloved, beloved the Bible says in 37:25 Luke 6:26, it is when Jesus was speaking and said, 37:29 "woe unto you when all men speak well of you!" 37:32 They say Jesus was Beelzebub. 37:36 Do you know what that means? 37:37 The devil, so if Jesus could be called the devil, 37:41 you can call me whatever you want. 37:42 You can say cult, you can say crazy, 37:44 you can say insane, 37:45 you can say whatever you want to say, 37:47 but if my conscience is clear and I'm standing on a 37:49 plain and thus saith the Lord. 37:50 You call me what you want, I am just interested 37:52 in what God thinks. Amen? 37:54 And my father said oh Lord have mercy, 37:56 because I was studying medicine at the University 37:58 of Wyoming and said dad, I have to take some time 38:01 off to think these things through and 38:02 I'm going to become a Christian. 38:03 He said, ah, I'm not so sure about that. 38:04 I'm going to start keeping the Sabbath. 38:05 Ah, I'm not so sure about that. 38:06 My father loves me very much, but he was concerned. 38:10 He was throwing out a few words there, you know cult, 38:13 and be careful, religious intolerance, and extreme, 38:18 and all of that. 38:19 But beloved, what my father thought, 38:20 even though I love my dad with all of my heart, 38:23 what my dad thought had to be secondary to what 38:25 my Heavenly Father thought. 38:27 Okay, so do not worry about what people are going to say. 38:30 If your family says, ah, you are going up to those 38:32 meetings where they are talking about the Sabbath, 38:34 Blah, blah, blah, blah, listen don't worry about what 38:36 your family says, worry about what your 38:38 Heavenly Father says. Amen? 38:42 We're going right along tonight, 38:43 I'm telling you that right now. 38:47 A Babylonian bride, at the bottom of the page. 38:49 Revelation 17:5 tells us the name of this unfaithful 38:53 woman, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother harlots, 38:55 and the abominations of the earth. 38:56 This reference to Babylon is an important one and 38:59 we must not overlook it. 39:01 We must not overlook it. 39:03 Genesis 11, let's go there together. 39:07 The first reference to Babylon, very quickly if you would. 39:10 Genesis 11 and I'm beginning to read verse one. 39:14 What verse everyone? Genesis 11:1. 39:19 "Now the whole earth had one language and one speech 39:21 and it came to pass as they journeyed from the East 39:23 they found a plain in the land of Shinar, 39:25 and they dwell there. " 39:26 "Then they said to one another, 39:27 come on let's bake bricks, and bake them thoroughly. 39:29 They had brick for stone and they had asphalt for mortar, 39:31 and they say, let us build ourselves a city and a tower 39:33 who's top is into the heavens and let us make a name for 39:35 ourselves lest we should be scattered abroad over the face 39:37 of the whole earth. " 39:38 "But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower 39:40 which the sons of men had built. " 39:41 "And the Lord said, behold the people is one and they 39:43 have one language; and this they began to do: 39:45 and now nothing they have proposed to do will 39:47 be withheld from them. " 39:48 Come now on let's go down there and confuse their 39:52 language, that they may not understand 39:54 one another's speech. " 39:55 "So the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of 39:57 the whole earth and they ceased building the city. " 39:59 Therefore its name is called," what? Babel or Babel! 40:03 because the Lord confused language of all the earth: 40:05 and from there the Lord scattered them abroad 40:07 over the face of all the earth. " 40:09 This is the first reference we have to Babel or Babel. 40:12 The idea here is that... 40:14 oh, the 666 thing, I've got to come back to that. 40:18 Let me just pick this thing up here very, very quickly. 40:22 The idea of Babel or Babylon is that it has 40:25 to do with confusion. 40:26 Has to do with what? Confusion! 40:28 The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14, God is not the author 40:33 of what? Confusion! Very interesting isn't it? 40:36 So here you have this confusion that is resulting, 40:39 and at the end of time it says this woman called mystery, 40:42 Babylon of great, and Babylon stands for many things. 40:44 A great many things. 40:45 But one of the things that Babylon 40:47 stands for is confusion. 40:49 It is what everyone? Confusion! 40:51 That is why I said what I had you raise your hands 40:53 and looked out across the religious landscape at the 40:55 Christian world, it looked confusing. 40:57 Amen? Yes or no? 40:59 I mean it is totally confusing. 41:01 God is not the author of confusion, so who is responsible 41:03 for creating this confusing situation? 41:06 Well beloved it is not God. 41:07 And I want to be clear about something, God has people 41:12 in the Baptist church, if you believe that say Amen? 41:14 God has faithful people in the Methodist church, Amen. 41:18 God has faithful people in the Catholic Church, Amen. 41:20 God has faithful people in every denomination and that 41:24 is not what we are talking about, we are talking about 41:25 systems, somebody say Amen? 41:27 No question I skipped over the 666 thing and want 41:30 to cover this with you, and I told you I was going 41:32 to do it twice in a row. 41:33 Let's just call quickly about this idea of 666. 41:36 It says in Revelation 13:18 that he has this 41:39 mysterious number 666. 41:43 That it is the number of his name. 41:46 The number of his what, every one? Name! 41:49 Is just a further identifier of this power. 41:52 Now it is very interesting that one of the titles of 41:55 Romans Pontiff is Vicarious Fili Dei, that is in Latin. 42:02 One of the official titles, in fact one of the 42:03 best known official title. 42:05 I know that it is very interesting when you go on the 42:07 Wikipedia and look this up the church is actually trying 42:11 to distance themselves, but Catholic Church trying to 42:13 distance themselves from this title, but there is 42:15 incredible documentation from the time of the donation of 42:19 Constantine which is sometime around 750 to 850 A.D. 42:22 This s was a very common well-known title of the 42:27 Bishop of Rome. 42:28 The fact that they are trying to distance themselves 42:30 from it today, is not because it is not true, 42:32 but because they have gone a lot of grief over what 42:34 I'm about ready to show you. 42:36 So this idea of the Vicarious Fili Dei, is common 42:39 practice, in the days of Rome, to take the 42:42 Roman numerals and to add those Roman numerals up 42:45 to equal a favorite number, or a specific number, etc. etc. 42:49 This is well known, numerology. 42:51 In fact our modern day numbering system did not come 42:55 into practical use until probably the better part of 42:58 less than a thousand years ago really. 43:00 We started using our number one and numeral 2 and 43:02 numeral 3, it was always Roman numerals prior to that. 43:04 So you take this official title here, one of the 43:08 best known titles, and probably one of the most 43:10 presumptuous titles of the Roman Church. 43:12 That is of the Roman Pontiff, Vicarious Fili Dei, 43:17 that is Vicar of the Son of God. 43:20 That is what it means, Vicar of the son of God. 43:22 I want you to think about this for just a moment. 43:24 A Word vicarious, how many of you have heard that 43:27 word before, vicarious? 43:29 For example it is a theological term. 43:30 If I say to you Jesus paid the penalties for my sins, 43:36 vicariously, how many of you have heard that before? 43:39 If I could say that and was preaching a sermon and 43:41 said beloved Jesus has paid the price for your sins. 43:44 He died your death in a vicarious manner. 43:47 Do you know what that means? 43:48 He means He died as your substitute. 43:49 He died is or what? Substitute! 43:53 It comes from the Latin word vicarious, 43:54 which means substitute. Substitute. 43:58 Now I want you to look up one of these official 44:00 titles here, Vicarious Fili Dei. 44:03 Dei is God, Fili is son, and vicarious is substitute. 44:06 Now they use the term and soften it as representative, 44:10 but the Latin word is substitute. 44:12 Substitute for the son of God. 44:15 It is very interesting when you take those names and 44:18 the numbers, pardon me, those letters that actually have 44:22 numerical values and add them up. 44:24 What do you guess they will come up to? 44:27 Exactly 666. 44:29 So you take one of the most presumptuous titles of 44:32 the Roman Church, the representative of God on earth. 44:36 The substitute of God on earth and you add up all 44:39 the Roman numerals, 666. 44:42 The Bible says in Revelation 13:18, 44:44 that it is the number of a man. 44:46 The number of a what every one? A man! 44:48 And it says let him that have wisdom calculate. 44:50 The Greek word literally means to add up 44:53 and figure it out. 44:54 Add it up and figured it out. 44:57 It is right there and by the way you think Pastor Asscherick 45:00 is so smart that he came up with this. 45:01 Beloved I didn't come up with this. 45:02 Protestants were teaching this from 1616 and onward. 45:07 This has been around for almost 500 years, 400 years. 45:11 Pardon me, 1616 and onward. 45:14 If you want documentation I would be glad, glad, glad 45:17 to get you some documentation, but I do not want you to think 45:18 that this is something Pastor Asscherick invented. 45:20 Not at all! 45:22 One of the most presumptuous titles of the man of sin, 45:26 is the substitute for God's Son and is right there, 666. 45:30 Incredible beloved. 45:32 You can see why the Roman Church would want to distance 45:34 themselves from that title, can you see that yes or no? 45:36 Sure where there is smoke there is fire. 45:39 Never forget that, where there's smoke there is fire. 45:41 So I'm asking you tonight, and I am asking you 45:44 every night to make a choice between Rome and Christ. 45:46 What are you going to choose? 45:47 Someone is bound to say while I am learning so much 45:50 in the seminars I do not know what is true. 45:51 I had one person said to me, I'll read the whole Bible all 45:52 the way through, and then I will decide. 45:54 Let me tell you something, God allow this truth 45:59 to come into your life right now before 46:01 you have read the whole Bible. 46:02 Does that make sense? 46:04 And don't think that you have to go back to school 46:06 and get a Ph. D., or a Th. D. or any sort of degree 46:09 before you can follow Bible truth. 46:11 Jesus said, that except you become as little children 46:13 you shall in no wise enter the Kingdom God. 46:15 It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out 46:17 the basics of what we are telling you in these meetings. 46:19 That is this, there is going to be a division between 46:22 the Commandments of God and the 46:23 Commandments of the church. 46:24 God's true people are going to stand on the Commandments 46:27 of God and the faith of Jesus, is that confusing to anyone? 46:29 Hopefully that is not confusing and don't think that 46:32 you can wait and put it off until I understand all 46:34 these things better. 46:35 Beloved, God allowed these things to come to you 46:38 right now, and God has the expectation that when He 46:40 reveals truth to you, you will walk in the truth He 46:43 has revealed to you, Amen? 46:44 Some people say well, I'm not so sure about this. 46:46 I am going to wait it out and see how it goes. 46:48 Beloved, it is never safe to wait. Amen? 46:51 It is never safe to delay, delayed obedience is 46:55 disobedience, never forget that. 46:58 Delayed obedience is disobedience. 47:00 It is never safe to disobey one command of God, 47:04 can you say Amen? 47:05 Absolutely a we can spend even more time on that but 47:08 let's get back here to this idea of who this woman is. 47:10 I want to get right straight to the heart of this issue 47:13 before this evenings meeting is done. 47:15 It says they are, I am on the second page. 47:18 We looked at Genesis 11 and we read that verse 47:21 on the Tower of Babel. 47:22 Genesis Chapter 11, it was basically a center of 47:24 man made religion. Genesis 11:9 47:31 Many scholars have said they were going to build a 47:33 tower to reach up into the heavens. 47:35 That tower that would reach up into the heavens, 47:38 in case God ever destroy the Earth by a flood again, 47:41 what would happen is they can basically save themselves. 47:44 That is what the thinking was. 47:46 So this becomes a classic example of salvation by works. 47:50 Salvation by what everyone? By works! 47:53 We will save ourselves. 47:54 God says confusion, and so confusion comes, 47:59 and Babel represents confusion. 48:01 And Daniel 4:30, we find Nebuchadnezzar looking out 48:04 over his vast estate, there in Babylon, and it says: 48:19 the Bible says and Daniel 4 he was stricken at that 48:21 moment with a terrible disease called lycanthropic insanity 48:24 and he lived in the field for 7 years and thought 48:26 he was a beast. 48:27 So Babylon represents not just confusion, 48:30 Babylon represents to the glory of man. 48:33 To the glory of what? To the glory of man. 48:36 Is this not great Babylon that I have built from 48:39 my royal dwelling, from my, my, my. 48:40 Who does that sound like by the way? 48:43 It sounds like Satan, doesn't it? 48:45 I will exalt and I will be, and I, I, I. 48:47 of course Satan is the one that is right behind 48:50 this great Babylonian enterprise. 48:52 Never forget we have already told you in Revelation, 48:54 you had that counterfeit motif. 48:56 God has woman, Satan has a woman. 48:58 God has a city, Satan has a city. 48:59 God has a Trinity, Satan has a Trinity. 49:01 I mean you did go right down the list counterfeit 49:03 after counterfeit after counterfeit after counterfeit. 49:05 Let's just take a very quick look here at Babylon 49:09 the great, it is a man-made system of religion. 49:12 Okay, that is what it is, they built that tower, 49:15 it's right there in your study guide. 49:16 A man-made system of religion, here we are. 49:22 This is taken from Wherry's Church History Pg. 54. 49:25 Christianity had now become popular, look at this! 49:28 It is talking about the third and fourth century. 49:46 Beloved never forget this, just because Christianity 49:48 is popular that does not mean that 49:51 good things are happening. 49:53 Cancers also grow very rapidly. 49:55 Rapid growth is not necessarily an indication 50:00 of something that is good. 50:01 So what happened is that Constantine wanted to broaden 50:04 his wings and invite all the pagans to come in as well. 50:07 Well a pagan start coming in and there is a problem, 50:10 they did not leave their paganism at the door. 50:12 They brought their paganism into the church and so 50:14 this new relation, this popular religion became popular. 50:18 But people were not leaving behind the lifestyle, 50:20 they were not leaving the old man 50:21 be crucified with Christ. 50:22 They were just saying I am now a Christian, 50:24 but they had not left anything behind and they hadn't 50:27 added anything new, if that makes sense Amen? 50:28 Beloved, that is happening in churches today. 50:31 You put rock 'n roll bands up front and call it 50:33 Christian rock, yet we are rocking out for Jesus. 50:36 Here's our Christian movie festival. 50:39 We have a Christian pizza party. 50:40 And a Christian this in a Christian that. 50:42 Beloved listen to me very carefully. 50:43 Just because you have people in a building does 50:45 not mean that you have Christ in people. 50:47 Amen? Amen! 50:49 You can get all kinds of people in a building, 50:51 but the question is do you have Christ in people? 50:53 Well some people say what is wrong with Christian rock? 50:56 What is the problem? 50:57 Listen, let me just say something about that. 50:58 Just adding the word Christian to something, 51:00 doesn't make it Christian. 51:02 Can you imagine if I say to you, hey I have this 51:04 incredible magazine and you have to check it out. 51:06 If the new Christian pornography magazine and you 51:07 are going to love it. 51:09 It is done totally to the glory of God. 51:11 All the actors are Christian, like this lady here, 51:14 she is Christian. 51:15 This guy here, oh, it is a Christian pornography. 51:17 You would say what? Christian pornography? 51:20 That is some a counter diction in term. 51:22 Adding the word Christian to something doesn't make 51:23 it Christian, Amen? 51:25 What I said I have got the good stuff, 51:27 it is Christian marijuana! 51:29 Whew, let me tell you the spirit has blessed this stuff. 51:33 The guy that owns it, let me tell you everybody that 51:36 works in his fields, they are all Christians. 51:38 He pays tithe on what he, I mean this is the goods. 51:42 They anoint their fields and you have to smoke out. 51:45 This is, what is this guy insane, Christian pornography, 51:49 Christian marijuana. 51:50 Beloved calling something Christian, 51:51 doesn't make it Christian. 51:53 You can call it Christian rock and roll, 51:54 it doesn't make Christian Amen? 51:56 We are rocking out for Jesus, you are rocking out 52:00 is what you are doing. 52:04 You are rocking out, and the fact that you can 52:06 get a bunch of young people to a rock concert, 52:07 well surprise, surprise! 52:09 It's not difficult to get young people to go to a rock 52:12 concert, what is difficult is to have young people turn 52:15 their backs on the attractions and distractions of this 52:18 world and make a firm decision for the Lord Jesus Christ. 52:20 That is a horse of a different color. 52:23 Now I am not down on creative Ministry. 52:26 I am not saying that everything has to be done 52:28 exactly my way come but what I am saying is there 52:30 is a huge difference between something being branded 52:33 as Christianity and something actually being Christian. 52:35 Amen? Amen! 52:38 I am not going to stand up here and make a set of rules 52:39 and say, this is in and this is out. 52:41 God has given you a brain the same way He has given 52:44 me a brain, Amen? 52:45 I am responsible to God for my choices and you are 52:47 responsible to God for your choices, but ultimately 52:49 not everything that is called Christian is Christian. 52:52 If that makes sense say Amen? Amen! 52:53 that is what was happening in the 52:55 third and fourth century. 52:56 Look Christianity had now become what? Popular! 52:58 W W J D, what would Jesus do? 53:01 A large proportion though, perhaps a large majority of 53:04 those, that embraced it only assumed what? The name. 53:07 They were as much heathen as they were before. 53:11 Error and corruption now came in upon 53:12 the church like a flood. 53:13 This is history beloved, this is history. 53:16 Very quickly here, Babylon the great is the center 53:19 of image worship, image worship. 53:22 Dr. Alexander Hyslop, in his marvelous book, 53:24 The Two Babylons, said: 53:30 every stream of idolatry that exist today found its 53:34 watershed, it's fountain, 53:38 its original streams in Babylon. 53:43 There are examples of this incidentally. 53:46 You can go to Rome today and go to the Vatican today, 53:49 and there are statutes of Jesus in Rome that existed 53:53 before Jesus was incarnate. 53:55 You say how's that possible, did they know He was coming? 53:58 No, these statues were to pagan gods and pagan goddesses. 54:01 Then when the Romans became Christian they said, 54:04 this is such a pretty statue. 54:06 I mean I don't really want to throw it out. 54:08 Oh I have a great idea, we will take this 54:09 Christian statue of Semiramis and her little baby, 54:12 and say it is Jesus, Mary and Jesus and 54:16 start putting Christian stickers on everything. 54:19 Beloved calling something Christian doesn't 54:22 make it Christian. 54:23 If that makes sense say Amen? 54:25 But this is what is happening, it is absolute history. 54:27 Look at this from John Cardinal Henry Newman. 54:29 Development of Christian doctrine: 54:49 you see he just basically widened Christianity, 54:52 real wide, and said you all just come in and join 54:55 the party and you can be Christians too. 54:57 But they were Christians only in name and 54:59 that is the point. 55:15 Yeah just bring it all in, come on in, it is a great 55:18 big party and the church was happy because 55:20 it look like evangelism. 55:22 It look like what everyone? Evangelism! 55:24 The problem was is that the heathen were coming into 55:27 the church not for the purposes of conversion, 55:30 but for the purposes of political expediency. 55:33 For the purposes of uniting Constantine's kingdom. 55:37 Constantine looked out and he had about 80% that were 55:40 your run-of-the-mill pagans, and the other 20% were 55:42 Christians and they were constantly in conflict. 55:45 He said can we all get along and supposedly had a 55:47 vision of the cross and lined a few soldiers up 55:49 along the River and march them through the river 55:51 and said, now you are baptized. 55:53 They were all baptized because 55:55 they had marched through River. 55:56 What was happening was that Christianity 55:59 was basically been overtaken by paganism. 56:02 You had this weird amalgamation, half paganism, 56:06 half Christianity and he put a big stamp on it and 56:09 call it evangelism. 56:11 Babylon the great is also the center of false 56:15 teachings about death, about what everyone? Death! 56:24 Said The Watchman in April of 1940. 56:26 I just don't know how I can say this more plainly, 56:29 immortality is something that God gives you as a gift, 56:31 not something that you process innately. 56:33 If that makes sense, say Amen? 56:35 The idea that you are naturally immortal is a pagan teaching, 56:39 or a pagan doctrine. 56:40 It comes from the Babylonians and the Egyptians. 56:42 Now look at the sermon by Amos Phelps. 56:44 It is absolutely remarkable. 56:45 His sermon was entitled, Is Man By Nature Immortal? 56:49 Now I love this quotation, it was too good to leave out. 57:25 In other words he is saying, where did this all come from? 57:27 I will tell you where it came from beloved, it came from the 57:30 serpent who passed it on to paganism, 57:33 who passed it on to Judaism, 57:35 who passed on to Catholicism, 57:36 who has passed it on to Protestantism. 57:38 The Bible teaching is this, "for God so loved the 57:42 world that he gave his only begotten son, 57:44 that whosoever should believes in him, 57:46 should not perish. " 57:49 But have the opposite of perishing? "everlasting life". 57:53 Immortality is a gift that God gives you when you 57:57 except Jesus Christ as your Savior, Amen! |
Revised 2014-12-17