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Series Code: IIWSS
Program Code: IIWSS023021S
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00:00 (upbeat music)
00:16 >>Welcome to "Sabbath School," 00:18 brought to you by It Is Written. 00:20 We're glad that you could join us again, 00:21 this week we are looking at lesson number nine, 00:24 "A City Called Confusion." 00:27 Now, if you don't think that's an interesting subject, 00:30 you're not gonna get much outta this week's lesson, 00:32 but I think you're gonna get an awful lot out of it. 00:36 Interesting subject. 00:37 Let's begin with prayer 00:39 and then we're going to dive right into it. 00:41 Father, we thank You for being with us again this week 00:44 as we continue our journey through three cosmic messages. 00:48 We ask that You'll bless us as we seek to understand 00:50 the "City Called Confusion" this week. 00:53 We thank You in Jesus' name, amen. 00:56 Well, our guest this week, as every week this quarter, 00:58 is Pastor Mark Finley, international speaker and evangelist. 01:02 We're glad to have you back again this week. 01:04 >>Thank you, Eric. 01:05 It's such a delight to be here 01:06 at It Is Written, so many wonderful memories 01:09 and I have such confidence in this ministry. 01:11 >>We're encouraged by what God is doing 01:13 and seeing what God is doing in your life 01:15 as you continue to spread the Word 01:16 and not the least of which through this quarter's lesson. 01:20 This has been quite a journey, 01:21 we're now on lesson number nine. 01:23 So we're edging closer to the end of our 13 weeks together, 01:26 but there's still a bit of a distance to go, 01:29 and this week, "A City Called Confusion." 01:33 You know, when you take a look at the book of Revelation, 01:35 there are a lot of contrasts in the book of Revelation, 01:38 and one of those contrasts is these two women 01:42 that you see, one in Revelation 12, 01:44 one in Revelation, chapter 17. 01:46 Unpack this contrast for us a little bit. 01:49 >>Well, in the book of Revelation, 01:51 a woman represents the church. 01:55 A pure, chaste woman represents the bride of Christ, 01:59 she is loyal to her true lover Jesus, 02:02 who's done so much for her. 02:04 A harlot woman is one who's left her true lover, Christ, 02:08 committed spiritual adultery with the world, 02:11 and united with the kings of the earth 02:13 and the financial leaders of the earth. 02:16 In Revelation, chapter 12, 02:18 we have a beautiful picture in verses one and two. 02:23 Would you like to read Revelation 12, verse one and two? 02:25 >>"Now a great sign appeared in heaven: 02:28 "a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon 02:30 "under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. 02:34 "Then being with child, she cried out in labor 02:37 and in pain to give birth." 02:39 >>What a beautiful picture. 02:40 You have the sun in heaven, a woman is clothed with the sun, 02:44 she's iridescent with the glory of God, 02:46 she has come from the very presence of God, 02:49 the moon under her feet. 02:52 There are many New Testament scholars who believe 02:54 of course, that the woman of here is the church, 02:57 the true church, clothed with the glory of God, 03:00 the moon under her feet, 03:02 the moon reflects the sun and the Old Testament reflects, 03:06 only dimly and faintly, the glory of Christ 03:10 as we see in the New Testament. 03:11 So the New Testament church arising here, 03:14 she has on her head a garland of 12 stars. 03:17 Could that be the 12 apostles? 03:20 So here you have a picture of the church that's rising 03:24 in the New Testament, that would be faithful 03:26 to God's truth, that would champion His Word, 03:29 go out and proclaim Jesus' grace and goodness, 03:33 and that would be persecuted by the enemy. 03:36 This faithful line of believers 03:39 would continue till end time. 03:43 That's why you read in Revelation 12, verse 17, 03:45 "The dragon is angry with the woman." 03:47 So the church that has risen in the New Testament 03:50 has always had a faithful remnant, 03:52 always men and women have been faithful to it. 03:55 The dragon becomes angry with the church 03:58 and goes to make war with the rest of her offspring, 04:01 and we've talked about those who keep the commandments 04:03 of God and the testimony of Jesus. 04:05 So God would have a faithful remnant. 04:07 So that's the bride of Christ in Revelation 12. 04:11 When you come to Revelation, chapter 17, 04:14 there is a totally different picture. 04:17 Revelation 17, and Pastor, 04:19 why don't you go and read verses one and two. 04:23 >>"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came 04:26 "and talked with me, saying to me, 'Come, 04:28 "'I will show you the judgment of the great harlot 04:31 "'who sits on many waters, 04:33 "'with whom the kings of the earth 04:35 "'committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth 04:38 were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.'" 04:41 >>So here is not the pure bride of Christ, 04:44 she's not decked out with the iridescent glory of Christ. 04:48 Look at how she's decked out in verse four. 04:52 >>"The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, 04:54 "and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, 04:58 "having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations 05:01 and the filthiness of her fornication." 05:04 >>So the true church of Christ, united to Christ, 05:07 the bride of Christ, 05:09 passes out the pure, undiluted wine 05:13 of the gospel, the unfermented wine of the gospel. 05:19 But here, this harlot woman who's drifted away from Christ, 05:23 who unites with the kings of the earth for power, 05:25 she doesn't unite with Christ for power, 05:28 she unites with the kings of the earth. 05:31 Verse two says she commits fornication, 05:33 she is adorned not in the simplicity 05:37 of the righteousness of Christ, 05:39 but she's adorned with, her colors are purple and scarlet, 05:43 she's adorned with all kind of pearls and costly array 05:47 and she passes out, around the golden cup 05:51 full of abominations, 05:52 the false doctrine that the world becomes intoxicated with. 05:56 So you have this picture of the true 05:58 and false systems of worship. 06:00 >>So very, very clear contrasts between the two. 06:05 And then when we get down a couple of verses later, 06:07 we see an interesting name. 06:09 It says, "On her forehead a name [is] written," 06:12 in verse number five. 06:13 After that very vivid description of the colors 06:16 that she's wearing and what she's adorned with and so forth, 06:19 and her activity. 06:20 It says that her name is, "Mystery, Babylon the Great, 06:24 the Mother of Harlots and...the Abominations of the Earth." 06:28 So a very interesting title that's given here. 06:31 What do we make of that? 06:33 What can we gather about her 06:35 and her character from that title, that name? 06:37 >>You know, every word in the Bible has significance. 06:41 It says that, "On her forehead, a name was written." 06:45 Name in the Bible indicates character, 06:48 forehead has to do with for brain, 06:50 it's not simply that the word B-a-b-y-l-o-n 06:54 when it's written across here, 06:55 but it's rather deep within the recesses of her mind. 06:59 There's a thought process in Babylon's thought process. 07:02 Just as when the seal of God is placed in the forehead, 07:06 that indicates a thought process of total 07:09 absolute commitment to Christ. 07:11 Here there's a thought process in Babylon 07:15 and she's called, "Mystery, Babylon the Great." 07:17 In other words, the principles of Babylon 07:20 in the Old Testament have influenced her thinking. 07:23 By the time John wrote in the first century, 07:25 Babylon had been destroyed, 07:27 it would never be rebuilt again. 07:29 539 BC the Medes and Persians attacked Babylon, 07:35 overthrew it, and it has been in ruins since that time. 07:37 So "Mystery, Babylon the Great" cannot be speaking 07:41 of Old Testament Babylon, 07:43 it has to be a spiritual Babylon. 07:46 But it takes the principles of Old Testament Babylon, 07:50 applies them to a church-state union 07:53 with a woman unites with the kings of the earth. 07:55 She is the "Mother of Harlots." 07:57 So here is the great mother religion 08:00 that is the mother of other religions that too have embraced 08:04 the principles of Babylon in the abominations of the earth. 08:07 So that would have to lead us to a question, 08:10 what was Old Testament Babylon like? 08:12 >>So what was it like? 08:13 We know that it was an enemy of God, 08:16 it was an enemy of God's people, 08:17 we read about it of course, in the book of Daniel. 08:20 It was, we'll call it wayward, perhaps is a good word. 08:23 What were some ways that it was wayward 08:25 that we might see reflected here also in Revelation 17? 08:29 >>Let's go back to Daniel, chapter four. 08:33 One of the first principles, I think, 08:35 of Old Testament Babylon, is that was built 08:39 on a very shaky foundation. 08:41 It was built on the principles of man 08:43 rather than the principles of God. 08:45 It was built on human foundation 08:48 rather than a divine foundation. 08:50 You find that, you know, in Daniel, chapter four, 08:54 and we're looking there at verse 30, and you can go ahead 08:57 and read that, if you would, please, Daniel 4 and verse 30. 09:03 >>"The King spoke, saying, 09:04 "'Is not this great Babylon, that I have built 09:07 "'for a royal dwelling by my mighty power 09:10 and for the honor of my majesty?'" 09:12 I see some very self-centered words in that passage. 09:16 >>Yeah, exactly. 09:18 So when you look at ancient Babylon, 09:22 it was built on the glory of man, 09:24 it was built on a philosophy that was human. 09:29 It did not take the divine scriptures, 09:33 which are the basis of truth, seriously. 09:37 It wasn't based on the prophetic word, 09:40 the prophets of Isaiah, Jeremiah, you know, 09:44 it was rather based 09:46 on the thought patterns of Nebuchadnezzar. 09:48 Incidentally, 09:50 Nebuchadnezzar also claimed himself 09:54 to be a representative of deity. 09:58 He sat on his throne ruling his subjects, 10:01 both from the political and the religious aspect. 10:05 He actually commanded worship. 10:09 We find that in a number of places in the book of Daniel, 10:12 particularly in Daniel, chapter three, 10:15 where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 10:17 the three Hebrew worthies, 10:19 are compelled to worship the golden image 10:23 representing Babylon and its glory and its kingdom. 10:28 You know, the archeologists have discovered 10:31 an interesting tablet in Babylon that says, 10:34 "Oh, Babylon, the delight of mine eyes, 10:37 the excellency of my kingdoms, may it last forever." 10:40 So Nebuchadnezzar wanted to build an earthly kingdom 10:44 that would last and be preserved forever. 10:48 He sat on the throne commanding 10:52 not only political allegiance, 10:54 but religious allegiance to his empire. 10:57 We find this principle 11:00 carried through the book of Daniel. 11:03 Nebuchadnezzar's kingdom collapsed. 11:07 Belshazzar brought the vessels 11:09 from the sanctuary in Israel, 11:13 the very vessels that were dedicated to God, 11:18 that were used in the worship of the sanctuary 11:20 that reflected the Shekinah glory of God. 11:23 He brought those vessels including the golden candlestick 11:26 that reflected and illuminated the wall. 11:29 "Mene mene tekel upharsin," now weighed in the balances 11:31 and found wanting. 11:33 So what was Babylon like? 11:35 It was a system based on human philosophy, 11:40 the pride of man that defied 11:43 the principles of God's Word 11:45 and turned their backs upon it. 11:47 >>So ancient Babylon ultimately came to an end. 11:51 Its clock ran out, 11:53 and the Bible of course, records how that happened, 11:56 but there is an element of Babylon that continues 11:59 and we're going to be delving into that here very shortly. 12:03 One thing I want to encourage you to do 12:05 and you've heard me recommend it before, 12:07 and you will not hear me stop recommending it right now. 12:10 If you have not yet picked up the companion book 12:14 to this quarter's Sabbath School lesson, 12:16 this is one you really want to pick up. 12:19 It is called "Three Cosmic Messages" 12:21 by Pastor Mark Finley. 12:24 And Pastor Mark, you've shared a little bit before 12:26 what's in this book, 12:28 give us a few more insights into what we can expect to gain 12:31 from this companion book beyond what's in the lesson study. 12:35 >>When an author writes the lessons for Sabbath School, 12:40 the author spends hour after hour in research. 12:43 We only have a limited space of what we can put 12:46 in each lesson, and each day, in fact, 12:48 we're given word counts. 12:50 You know, I have to count my words, 12:51 let my computer do that, of course. 12:53 And so in the companion book, Pastor Eric, 12:57 we actually have much, much more material, 13:00 much more research. 13:02 And so for somebody who might be teaching Sabbath school 13:06 in a local congregation, 13:07 the book provides them resource material. 13:10 For serious Bible students who really want 13:12 to delve more into the subject, 13:13 the book reveals that. 13:16 One of the things I've done in the book as well, 13:18 is given you a lot of illustrations. 13:20 So if you're a Sabbath school teacher, 13:22 you'll have illustrations. 13:24 If you want to see the book highlighted, 13:27 the lessons highlighted, 13:28 there are aspects that we don't cover in the lessons, 13:32 filled with stories, filled with illustrations, 13:34 filled with deep Bible truth. 13:36 In fact, I've done a lot of work on the meaning of the text. 13:39 We unpack the text in much more detail, 13:41 so it'll really round out your understanding 13:44 of the three cosmic messages and the three angels' messages. 13:46 >>Fantastic, thank you Pastor Mark. 13:48 So if you want to get more out of your lesson 13:51 make sure you pick up that companion book. 13:53 Where can you do it? 13:54 It's very easy. 13:56 Go to itiswritten.shop, again, that's itiswritten.shop. 14:01 And look for the book "Three Cosmic Messages" 14:03 by Pastor Mark Finley. 14:05 We're going to be back in just a moment 14:06 as we continue our journey through the study 14:09 of the three angels' message, focusing on Babylon. 14:13 We'll be right back. 14:14 (upbeat music) 14:19 >>December 21, 2012 was when the Maya calendar 14:23 was set to expire. 14:25 Many said with the expiration of this calendar would come 14:28 the end of the world. 14:32 The Maya were remarkable builders, 14:34 but they did not predict the end of the world. 14:37 So where can we find predictions that we can trust? 14:40 Recent reports state that more and more people 14:44 are embracing witchcraft, 14:45 tarot card reading, and astrology. 14:48 People are grabbing onto this even though 14:51 there's absolutely no evidence that it's valid 14:54 and they're rejecting the Bible. 14:56 Now the Bible isn't simply a book of predictions, 15:00 it's the story of God's love for the human family. 15:03 But it's true that the Bible does contain predictions, 15:06 in fact, God stakes His reputation on His ability 15:11 to forecast the future. 15:13 "Predictions You Can Trust," watch now on It Is Written TV. 15:19 (upbeat music) 15:24 >>Welcome back to "Sabbath School," 15:25 brought to you by It Is Written. 15:27 We are taking a look at this woman called Babylon, 15:31 historically and in our day. 15:34 Pastor Mark, thank you for helping us to understand 15:37 and unpack this a little bit more. 15:39 So let me ask you this question. 15:40 We've covered a little bit about the history of Babylon. 15:43 Refresh us a little bit, 15:45 summarize about how Babylon is based 15:49 on the teachings of man, the focus of man, 15:51 and then let's kind of take that 15:53 and move into where we are today. 15:55 >>There are multiple identifying characteristics 15:57 of Babylon in the Old Testament. 15:59 We've looked at just one of them. 16:00 We're gonna proceed to look at a second one in this lesson, 16:03 and then next week we'll look 16:05 at some more identifying characteristics. 16:07 One identifying characteristic is that Nebuchadnezzar sat 16:12 in what he believed was the temple of God 16:16 or the temple of his gods, 16:19 ruling from his throne as god, 16:22 passing laws that govern both political 16:25 and religious nature. 16:27 So one characteristic of Babylon is that its leader believes 16:32 that they are almost an incarnation of God, 16:35 they're speaking for God and they are-- 16:41 have the authority to speak 16:45 in direct terms, 16:49 compelling worship, at times. 16:51 And so we see that in the coming crisis. 16:54 The spiritual Babylon has a leader who speaks, 16:59 he believes, in behalf of God, compels worship 17:04 just like ancient Babylon did. 17:07 >>So some very clear parallels 17:08 between ancient and modern Babylon-- 17:10 >>Exactly, exactly. >>...spiritual Babylon. 17:12 Now we also see in Revelation, 17:14 that there is a great struggle, a great conflict, 17:16 that goes on between these two systems, 17:19 these two religious systems, 17:20 the one built on truth and the one built on error. 17:25 It might, to human eyesight, 17:28 look as if truth is in trouble, 17:32 that error is stronger, is more powerful, 17:35 is more influential, that more people are following, 17:37 but it's not so much a battle of numbers, I'm guessing. 17:41 How do we--how can we have confidence 17:43 that God is going to be victorious, 17:46 that we can be victorious in the end, 17:48 in the face of this kind of opposition and deception? 17:50 >>You know, we bring that out actually in Wednesday's lesson 17:54 in "A Call to Commitment." 17:58 Christ promised that His people would be victorious. 18:01 If you go to Revelation 17, 18:04 we've been looking through that 18:06 and we see this great battle between Christ and Satan, 18:09 this great battle between good and evil. 18:12 And in Revelation 17, verse 14, 18:17 you have this battle 18:19 that comes into the forefront. 18:23 And why don't you read Revelation 17, 18:25 and you can go ahead and read verse 14. 18:28 >>"These will make war with the Lamb, 18:30 "and the Lamb will overcome them, 18:32 "for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; 18:35 "and those who are with Him are called, 18:37 chosen, and faithful." 18:39 >>You know, just before that it talks about, in verse 13, 18:43 "these," that is the woman 18:47 who unites with the beast 18:48 and the beast power, et cetera. 18:51 It says, "These are of one mind, 18:54 and they will give their power and authority to the beast." 18:58 So there is this one-mindedness, 19:00 there is this universal sense of unity 19:05 with the powers of hell. 19:07 There is false religion that unites 19:10 with the political powers, 19:11 that unites with the financial powers 19:14 in an attempt to bring peace to the world. 19:17 They pass laws and legislation 19:20 like Nebuchadnezzar did 19:22 in ancient Babylon to oppress the people of God 19:25 and compel worship. 19:27 But it says, verse 14, "These will make war with the Lamb." 19:31 Remember in Revelation 12:17 it says, 19:32 "The dragon was wroth [or angry] with the woman, 19:36 ...went to make war." 19:37 Well, this is the fruition of that war, 19:38 "These...make war with the Lamb." 19:40 Now, if a dragon fought with a lamb, 19:41 you would think the dragon's gonna win. 19:44 I mean, that dragon breathing out fire, 19:48 great paws with claws to gobble up the lamb 19:52 and chomp it up and eat it up. 19:54 But the lamb wins, 19:56 the lamb wins 19:58 because Jesus has never lost a battle with Satan yet. 20:01 It says, "These...make war with the Lamb, 20:03 and the Lamb will overcome them." 20:05 Why? 20:06 He is Lord of lord and King of kings. 20:08 Christ is gonna be victorious, 20:10 Christ is gonna vanquish all the powers of hell, 20:14 Christ is gonna defeat all the powers of evil. 20:17 And here's the good news, 20:18 "Those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful." 20:22 What does it mean to be called, chosen, and faithful? 20:25 We are called by God, every human being. 20:28 You know, in Ecclesiastes, chapter three, 20:30 I think it's verse 11, it says, 20:32 "Christ has put eternity in every heart." 20:35 In John, chapter 1, verse 9, it says, "Christ is the light 20:40 that lights every man that's born into the world." 20:43 And when we are born, 20:45 the Holy Spirit begins drawing us to Christ, 20:47 we are called, every human being is called. 20:51 As we respond to that call, we are chosen, 20:55 chosen for a particular purpose, 20:57 chosen to be lights in the world, 20:58 chosen to be ambassadors for Christ, 21:01 chosen to reveal His love and goodness. 21:03 And this group is called, chosen, and faithful. 21:06 Faithful to what? 21:07 Faithful to His plan, faithful to His way of life, 21:11 faithful to His commandments, faithful to His truth. 21:14 And so here is the assurance, His church will not flicker 21:18 like some candle and go out, 21:20 His church is gonna triumph; 21:21 the gates of hell will not prevail against it 21:23 according to Jesus. 21:24 >>So that's fantastic news. 21:26 Even though the odds are against, 21:28 it looks like God's church is the underdog, 21:30 it looks like you've got a dragon versus a lamb 21:32 and the lamb doesn't stand a chance other than being lunch. 21:36 The lamb is victorious because, of course, 21:39 God is on the side of the lamb, 21:42 God is on the side of His church. 21:44 On Thursday's lesson, 21:47 you make an interesting observation here. 21:49 It's called, "Babylon: The Center of Idolatry." 21:54 So it's another one of the characteristics of Babylon, 21:56 both ancient Babylon and modern-day spiritual Babylon. 22:00 What role does idolatry play in this? 22:03 >>In the early ages of the church, 22:07 from about 313 AD to about 538 AD when Constantine, 22:13 the pagan Roman ruler, united with the powers of the church, 22:16 when church and state united back then, 22:18 and the church grew large, drifted away 22:22 from the plan and purpose of God, 22:24 idols were brought into the church as a form of worship. 22:30 Now let's go back and see the link of idols coming 22:32 into the Christian church with ancient Babylon. 22:35 We're gonna go to Jeremiah, chapter 50, 22:39 Jeremiah, chapter 50, 22:41 and we're going to look there at Jeremiah 50, verses 33-38. 22:47 We'll look at the link between ancient Babylon 22:50 and modern or spiritual Babylon. 22:53 And go ahead Pastor, 22:54 and read Jeremiah 50, verse 33 and onward. 22:58 >>"Thus says the Lord of hosts: 'The children of Israel 23:01 "'were oppressed, along with the children of Judah; 23:04 "'all who took them captive have held them fast; 23:07 "'they have refused to let them go. 23:09 "'Their Redeemer is strong; 23:11 "'the Lord of hosts is His name. 23:13 "'He will thoroughly plead their case, that He may give rest 23:16 "'to the land, and disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 23:20 "A sword is against the Chaldeans,' 23:22 "says the Lord, 'Against the inhabitants of Babylon, 23:24 "'and against her princes and her wise men. 23:28 "'A sword is against the soothsayers, 23:30 "'and they will be fools. 23:31 "'A sword is against her mighty men, 23:32 "'and they will be dismayed. 23:34 "'A sword is against their horses, against their chariots, 23:36 "'and against all the mixed peoples who are in their midst; 23:39 "'and they will become like women. 23:41 "'A sword is against her treasures, and they will be robbed. 23:44 "'A drought is against her waters, 23:46 "'and they will be dried up. 23:48 "'For it is the land of carved images, 23:50 and they are insane with their idols.'" 23:53 >>Is that amazing? 23:54 >>That's a powerful passage. 23:57 >>So Jeremiah predicts, at the height of Babylon, 24:00 that it would fall. 24:01 And it's interesting too, 24:03 it says the rivers would be dried up. 24:04 You know when Cyrus came down, 24:06 he diverted the river Euphrates, 24:09 his troops marched under the outer gates, 24:11 in through the inner gates, 24:12 in that drunken feast that Belshazzar had. 24:14 But what I'm interested is this phrase, 24:16 "They were insane with their idols." 24:18 >>It's an interesting choice of words-- 24:19 >>It really is. >>...that Jeremiah came with. 24:23 >>Yeah, and so we have this linkage 24:26 between ancient Babylon idols being brought into the church. 24:29 Jeremiah also mentions this 24:31 in chapter 51, 24:33 verse 17 and verse 47. 24:38 >>"Everyone is dull-hearted, without knowledge; 24:41 "every metalsmith is put to shame by the carved image; 24:45 "for [t]his molded image is falsehood, 24:47 and there is no breath in them." 24:50 And then 47, "Therefore behold, the days are coming 24:54 "that I will bring judgment on the carved images of Babylon; 24:57 "her whole land shall be ashamed, 25:00 and all her slain shall fall in her midst." 25:03 >>So here we see that one of the characteristics of Babylon 25:07 is image worship. 25:09 So what would we expect in spiritual Babylon? 25:12 We would expect that they would have a man claiming 25:17 to be a leader, claiming to speak for God at times, 25:20 passing oppressive laws against the people of God 25:24 and oppressive laws, 25:27 that if the people of God did not obey, 25:30 they would ultimately be persecuted 25:32 just like ancient Babylon. 25:34 We would expect Babylon to be a religious system uniting 25:38 and getting currying favor 25:39 with the political kings of the earth, 25:41 and we would expect it be filled with idolatry. 25:44 There is a statement that I've put in the lesson 25:50 that talks about this 25:54 idea of Babylon and idolatry. 25:57 It's a statement from Jane McIntosh who wrote the book, 26:02 "Ancient Mesopotamia: New Perspectives," 26:05 and it says, "In [Babylonia] religion, the ritual care 26:10 "and worship of...statues [or] deities 26:12 "was considered sacred; 26:13 "the gods lived simultaneously in their statues 26:16 "in [their] temples and in the natural forces 26:18 "[that] they embodied. 26:20 "The pillaging or destruction of idols 26:22 "was considered to be [the] loss [of] the people 26:25 of divine patronage." 26:27 So that is quite remarkable and we're gonna see that again. 26:31 Just think of the idols that have been brought 26:33 into the Christian church, particularly the Roman church, 26:37 that are so venerated. 26:38 If you go to St. Peter's Cathedral you see Peter, 26:41 and people coming in and kissing his feet, 26:44 in fact, the feet are almost worn off from the kisses. 26:46 And I was driving here to Chattanooga, 26:49 we happened to be in Florida, 26:51 and I drove past the shrine of what they call 26:56 the "Blessed Virgin," 26:57 and she was a blessed virgin, but no shrine to her. 27:02 And but-- people going to that shrine and they say, 27:04 for miracles, and you kiss the virgin, 27:07 and you give offerings to the virgin. 27:09 So this frankly, and I wanna say it very reverently, 27:16 this frankly was paganism that came into the church 27:18 to give these images sacredness 27:20 because they bore Christ, they take the place of Christ. 27:24 And these images shape your mind in different directions 27:28 than the living Christ. 27:30 >>These images, I think, can bring Christ down 27:34 rather than lift Him up, 27:36 and ultimately we as Christians are called to lift Him up. 27:40 We've looked this week at "A City Called Confusion," 27:43 and by God's grace, we are less confused. 27:47 Want to thank you for joining us again this week. 27:49 We look forward to having you back again with us next week 27:52 as we continue our journey through three cosmic messages 27:56 here on "Sabbath School" brought to you by It Is Written. 28:00 (upbeat music) 28:26 (music ends) |
Revised 2023-05-17