Participants: Pr. Kenneth Cox
Series Code: RJC
Program Code: RJC000019
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00:23 And good evening.
00:24 Welcome you tonight back to our series on 00:28 The Revelation of Jesus Christ 00:30 as we continue our study of Revelation the 14th chapter. 00:36 So far we've taken a look at the first angel's message. 00:40 Tonight we're going to take a look 00:42 at the second angel's message. 00:44 And so those of you that are joining us by television 00:48 we welcome you. Glad that you've tuned in. 00:52 Or if you're listening to the radio or watching it on 00:56 the Internet, we're just glad that you're tuning in 00:59 and we hope that what we are studying together on the book 01:03 of Revelation will bless you in a special way. 01:06 Because there's no book in all the Bible 01:11 that's important to the people that are living today 01:16 as the book of Revelation. 01:18 You need to understand the prophecies of Revelation 01:22 to understand where we are 01:24 and what's happening and where we're going. 01:27 So if you've been watching - following the series - 01:30 we hope it's blessed you. 01:32 If you haven't, we hope you can go back and pick up 01:35 some of the subjects and understand them 01:37 and have an opportunity to look at them. 01:40 As I mentioned, this evening we're taking a look at 01:43 The Second Angel's Message. 01:46 The first angel declared to the whole world with a loud voice 01:50 "Fear God; give glory to Him 01:52 for the hour of His judgment has come. 01:56 Worship Him who made heaven and earth and the sea... 01:58 the earth and the springs of water. " 02:01 That was the first angel's message. 02:04 Tonight the second angel's message is a call 02:07 about Babylon and its fall. 02:11 That's what we'll be looking at tonight. 02:14 We're going to have to go back and pick up some history 02:18 so you'll understand what's involved in that fall. 02:22 So we hope you can follow along. 02:24 Our subject... our next presentation is the third angel. 02:29 There's three angels in Revelation 14, 02:31 and the third angel has a special message 02:34 particularly for people right down at the end of time. 02:39 That you and I understand clearly 02:42 what the third angel's message is about. 02:45 And that's our next presentation 02:47 and we know that if you understand it 02:51 it will be a great, great blessing to you. 02:54 So be sure and follow. Get your Bible! 02:56 Get your Bible. Get you some pencil and paper and 03:00 sit down and follow carefully as we go through this subject. 03:05 I'm very happy tonight to continue to have with us 03:09 the His Voice quartet. 03:14 They have blessed my soul. Have you enjoyed them? 03:18 I have very much... they've been great. 03:21 Tonight they're going to be singing 03:24 a medley of What a Friend We Have in Jesus. 03:28 And they will be accompanied at the piano by Janelle Dixon, 03:33 and I know that you're going to enjoy this very very much. 03:37 I've heard them practice 03:38 and I think it's just a very, very beautiful song. 03:42 But before they do, Chuck Allgaier is going to come 03:46 and read our scripture at this time. 03:51 Good evening. Good evening. 03:54 If you have your Bibles with you tonight, we're going to 03:56 continue on with Revelation chapter 14 03:58 and we're going to read Revelation chapter 14 verse 8. 04:02 So if you have your Bible, let's read together... 04:04 Revelation chapter 14 verse 8: 04:07 the second angel's message. 04:21 May God add His blessing to His Word. 04:34 Jesus is all the world to me, 04:38 my life, my joy, my all; 04:43 He is my strength from day to day, 04:48 Without Him I would fall. 04:55 When I am sad 04:57 to Him I go, 05:01 No other one 05:04 can cheer me so; 05:09 When I am sad 05:13 He makes me glad - 05:19 He's my 05:23 friend. 05:26 Jesus is all the world to me, 05:30 And true to Him I'll be... I'll be; 05:35 Oh how could I this friend deny, 05:40 When He's so true 05:43 to me... to me? 05:49 Following Him 05:51 I know I'm right, 05:57 He watches o'er me 06:00 day and night; 06:05 Following Him 06:11 by day and night - 06:17 He's my 06:22 friend. 06:25 Jesus is all the world to me, 06:30 I want no better friend; 06:35 I'll trust Him now, 06:37 I'll trust Him when 06:40 Life's fleeting days shall end. 06:46 Following Him 06:49 I know I'm right, 06:55 He watches o'er me 06:58 day and night; 07:03 Following Him 07:09 by day and 07:11 night - 07:16 He's my 07:22 friend. 07:27 What a friend we have 07:31 in Jesus, 07:35 All our sins and griefs to bear! 07:42 What a privilege 07:46 to carry 07:49 Ev'rything 07:52 to God in prayer! 07:57 O what peace we often 08:01 forfeit, 08:04 O what needless pain 08:08 we bear, 08:12 All because we 08:16 do not carry 08:19 Ev'rything 08:22 to God in prayer! 08:27 Have we trials and 08:32 temptations? 08:35 Is there trouble 08:39 anywhere? 08:43 We should never be 08:47 discouraged - 08:50 Take it to the Lord 08:54 in prayer. 08:57 Can we find 09:00 a friend so faithful 09:04 Who will all our 09:08 sorrows share? 09:13 Jesus knows our 09:17 ev'ry weakness - 09:20 Take it to 09:23 the Lord in prayer. 09:29 What a friend we have in 09:35 Jesus, 09:40 Jesus, 09:47 Je- 09:52 sus. 09:59 Amen! 10:17 Our gracious Lord, 10:20 we come to You tonight to thank you 10:25 for being our friend, 10:28 our Savior, 10:31 our Redeemer. 10:36 Thank you, Lord, for all the things that You do 10:41 for each one of us. And we pray, Lord, that our 10:45 hearts tonight may be open, 10:49 that they may be soft. 10:53 We pray that the Holy Spirit may be present 10:58 and that we might be sensitive 11:02 to Your guidance and Your leading. 11:05 That as we study Your Word that we may sense 11:11 where we are... that we might know how to follow You. 11:15 For this we ask in Christ's name, Amen. 11:25 The second angel's message as you have seen 11:29 is very short and one verse... all it is. 11:34 But that verse is extremely important. 11:50 So this angel is declaring across the whole world 11:54 "Babylon is fallen, is fallen. " 11:58 And the reason is because she has made all nations drink 12:02 of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 12:07 A man by the name of Charles Dickens 12:10 wrote a book entitled A Tale of Two Cities 12:16 which deals with the cites of Paris and London 12:21 during the late 1700's 12:28 telling about the upheaval and all that was taking place 12:31 in those two cities and what happened. 12:34 When you pick up your Bible and you begin to read through it, 12:39 particularly as you get into prophecy, 12:41 you find a tale of two cities. 12:44 And that tale of the two cities 12:46 is a tale of Jerusalem and Babylon. 12:51 Those two cities are contrasted over and over 12:56 as you go through the Word of God. 12:59 So much of the things that happen to Babylon 13:02 as you approach the end of time 13:05 the apostle John pulls on that 13:10 and makes this application that we're looking at tonight. 13:15 So it becomes important that you and I go back 13:19 and take a look at the history of Babylon 13:22 see what took place - as we make the application to what 13:27 is happening today when it refers to Babylon. 13:31 So that's what we're going to do: we're going to go back, 13:33 take a look, and see what it has to say about the fall 13:37 of Babylon. The first record we have 13:40 of Babylon is found in the book of Genesis. 13:44 And in Genesis the 10th chapter and verse 8 it says: 13:56 So Cush gave birth to Nimrod, 14:00 and Nimrod began to be a mighty individual on the earth. 14:05 If you'd like to do some study in this area, 14:10 particularly with ancient history, I would recommend 14:13 that you go and read a book called The Two Babylons 14:17 by Hislop. He'll give you a lot of the background 14:20 of what's happened here. 14:22 But let's go on, it says: 14:31 So Nimrod who was a mighty individual was a mighty hunter 14:35 before God. 14:42 Now this is the first reference we have to Babylon. 14:46 Babel refers to Babylon of old in the land of Shinar 14:52 and so forth. What happened here? 14:54 Well, after the flood was over 14:58 and people began to live different places 15:01 the animals were no longer tame. 15:07 They became vicious. 15:09 And many of these people feared for their lives because 15:12 of the animals. And you can read the scripture 15:15 where God even said: "I'll drive out the animals ahead of you" 15:19 because the animals were ferocious and all. 15:22 And so the people were concerned about them. 15:24 Any individual that became a great hunter 15:30 was revered by the people. 15:33 And they thought a lot of him because he protected 15:37 their lives. And this is what he did. 15:39 And therefore Nimrod - who was a mighty hunter - 15:43 began to be revered by the people. 15:47 When he set up these cities that are mentioned here, 15:50 and Babel or Babylon being one of them, 15:53 for the first time they began to build walls 15:57 around the city for protection and so forth. 16:01 And this is the reason the people began to place him 16:05 on a pedestal, and they began to consider him 16:09 more than human. 16:12 In fact, because of his greatness 16:16 they began to worship him as a god. 16:22 Began to look upon him as more than human. 16:26 Ancient history tells us that he married a woman 16:30 by the name of Semiramis. 16:33 And they began to worship him - Nimrod - 16:39 as the sun god. 16:42 The sun god to them was the great, great god. 16:46 You see, he was the god that always went forward... 16:51 never went backwards. 16:53 He was the god of conquest. 16:55 And if you go different places like if you go to Europe 16:58 and so forth, watch and you can see them. 17:01 And you can see this man driving these horses 17:04 in a chariot coming up, and that is this god 17:08 that they worshiped as the sun god that always went forward 17:12 and never went backwards. He was the god of conquest. 17:15 And they worshiped Nimrod as this. 17:19 They believed that his wife was a goddess, 17:24 and they worshiped her as a goddess of fertility. 17:29 This is how they looked upon him. In fact, 17:32 when Nimrod died, she told the people 17:37 that her husband had gone back to the sun 17:40 and there he was the god of sun. 17:42 And they worshiped her as a goddess of fertility. 17:48 So this is the beginning of the city of Babylon. 17:52 And as you read through the scripture 17:55 you'll find that Babylon continually - over and over 17:59 and over - worshiped the sun. 18:02 It was their god. 18:05 And you find that this was constantly a problem 18:08 that they had. 18:10 So this is the beginning of Babylon. 18:14 All right. Babylon as as city was built, was destroyed 18:19 and so forth. But when you come along to the time 18:23 of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar's father 18:27 Nabopolassar is the one who really began to make 18:33 Babylon into the city it became. 18:35 He started it, but it was Nebuchadnezzar 18:39 who enriched it and made it the great city it was. 18:44 Built walls around it and lavished it 18:47 with all kinds of wealth. 18:49 Nebuchadnezzar made the city of Babylon. 18:52 And the people in the city of Babylon worshiped god... 18:57 the god of the sun. 19:00 Well, you remember Nebuchadnezzar came down 19:03 and made a raid on Israel. You remember that? 19:06 Carried off the people of Israel, and among those 19:10 that he carried off were some young men... 19:13 one by the name of Daniel. 19:17 Now folks, this is the beginning 19:20 of God's effort - over and over and over - 19:25 to get the city of Babylon to recognize Him 19:30 as God. 19:32 And so you're going to see effort after effort 19:36 made by God to help these people understand 19:40 that He was God and to get them to accept Him. 19:45 And so one of the first things you read in the book of Daniel 19:48 is where Nebuchadnezzar has a dream. 19:52 And in the dream God shows him all the nations 19:57 and all that took place. 19:58 And Daniel as he interprets that dream 20:01 tells Nebuchadnezzar all that's going to happen. 20:04 And when we come to the end of the dream, it says that 20:08 Nebuchadnezzar said: "Oh, there's no God like 20:10 Daniel's God. " But... 20:14 you don't hear any part on Nebuchadnezzar saying that 20:18 he accepts Daniel's God. 20:20 Just said: "There's no God like Daniel's God. " 20:24 Well, you find it's not too long after this 20:29 that Nebuchadnezzar sets up this image out on the plains 20:32 of Dura and decides that he's going to have the people 20:36 come and worship it. 20:38 They came there, and he told them that when they heard 20:41 the sound of music they were all to bow down and worship it. 20:46 And they all did except 20:49 three Hebrew young men... 20:53 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego... 20:56 and they refused, and you remember the story. 20:59 Because they would not bow to it, Nebuchadnezzar 21:03 had them thrown into the fiery furnace. 21:07 And instead of burning them up 21:10 it just burned the ropes off of them 21:15 and there they were walking around in the furnace. 21:19 It says one other person was walking around with them 21:23 like unto the Son of God. 21:26 And when Nebuchadnezzar got through with that 21:30 he said "there is no God like these" 21:33 and you hear all the praise that he had for the God of 21:37 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. 21:42 Nebuchadnezzar continues to worship the sun. 21:48 And no... no change here 21:51 as they continue over and over. 21:54 We come on down and God gets very personal 22:00 with Nebuchadnezzar, 22:02 and He talks to him very, very seriously. 22:07 He has this to say to him: 22:16 I mean things were nice in Babylon, folks. 22:20 They were flourishing... I mean it was good! 22:23 OK? 22:49 I want you to listen to this. 22:52 Here's this tree. Height of it is great. 22:57 Listen: 23:09 Huge tree. 23:20 I mean this is describing how that all that could see it 23:25 were fed, OK? 23:39 I mean Babylon at this time, folks, is flourishing 23:44 and the people are cared for and fed and all. 23:47 And so this is a real problem. 23:50 It's a problem... particularly for the Jewish people 23:57 because when God called them out of Babylon 24:02 things were nice in Babylon... 24:07 not nice at Jerusalem. 24:10 OK, so here they're being fed. Watch: 25:22 Said: "Take him, give him the heart of a beast; 25:29 let him eat grass with the cattle. " 25:35 Nebuchadnezzar could not comprehend 25:37 what was going on here. 25:39 Could not understand it, and finally after the wise men 25:44 were not able to tell him he called in Daniel 25:49 and Daniel told him what it meant. 25:53 These are Daniel's words to him: 26:08 He said: "This is what's happening. " 26:21 Terrible. 26:23 "Make you eat grass like an oxen. " 26:41 Said: "Never tells us what's going to happen to you 26:45 until you wake up, until you realize that God 26:49 is the One that rules in the affairs of man. " 27:12 Said: "King, change... repent, change your ways. 27:18 Don't continue going the way you are. " 27:22 Well, sadly to say, folks, 27:27 so often when we're shaken 27:32 we feel that we must do something. 27:37 We've got to change... we need to make a change. 27:40 But give us a month or two and we're right back 27:44 in the same old rut. 27:49 When the catastrophe took place in New York 27:54 and it shook the whole nation, 27:59 I will never forget the advice that was given. 28:02 After a few weeks they said: 28:05 "Well go back to like you were before. " 28:09 No, that isn't what we needed to do. 28:12 That isn't what we needed to do. 28:14 That's what we do all too often, 28:16 and that's what Nebuchadnezzar did. 28:19 Shaken to the very core 28:22 but a few months passes and he's back to exactly where he was. 28:38 Here he is walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 28:59 Said: "Isn't this great Babylon? " 29:02 Listen to those words, folks, because they're repeated 29:05 in Revelation. 29:07 "Is this not the great Babylon that I have built? 29:12 All that I've set up here. " 29:29 Left him. That very day it left him. 29:35 And that very day 29:38 his heart was changed to that of a beast 29:42 and he began to eat grass like an oxen. 29:49 Seven years... seven years 29:53 until he woke up. 29:57 And there you find the conversion of Nebuchadnezzar 30:02 took place. 30:04 But unfortunately, 30:06 it didn't convert the city of Babylon. 30:11 The city of Babylon continued to worship the sun. 30:16 Didn't change that city. 30:20 They were still opposed to God, 30:24 and thus here in this chapter - 30:27 the 4th chapter of Daniel - 30:30 you have the fall of Babylon. 30:35 The destruction of Babylon 30:38 doesn't take place until the 5th chapter. 30:42 And in the 5th chapter it says: 31:06 That very night Babylon was destroyed. 31:21 So here in the 4th chapter of Daniel 31:24 you have the fall of Babylon. 31:28 In the 5th chapter you have the destruction of Babylon. 31:32 So when you get to the book of Revelation 31:34 and you're studying the book of Revelation 31:37 and you get here to the 14th chapter, 31:40 you have the fall of Babylon. 31:45 That's what we're looking at. 31:46 The destruction of Babylon does not take place 31:50 until the 18th chapter. 31:52 You need to understand when we're talking about the fall... 31:55 And in the fall of Babylon God gave the people 32:01 an opportunity to what? To repent. 32:07 Change their ways. 32:08 He had pled with them. He had given them ample evidence 32:12 over and over and over again 32:14 of His power and His might and His greatness. 32:17 And they had seen that but they refused to accept it. 32:20 And it wasn't till you get to the... 32:24 years, several years later, 32:27 that you have the destruction of Babylon. 32:31 OK. 32:45 Please notice that this message that this angel is proclaiming 32:50 to all of them... he's not saying Babylon is going to fall. 32:57 He says "Babylon IS FALLEN. " 33:00 It's already happened. 33:02 This is not a case of something saying 33:06 "Well, you know, maybe she'll turn; maybe she'll change. 33:09 Maybe this will take place. " 33:11 No, that's not the case here. 33:13 SHE HAS FALLEN. 33:15 But you must understand when it says that Babylon 33:18 has fallen that means that she has fallen in the eyes 33:24 of man... excuse me... in the eyes of God 33:29 she has fallen... not in the eyes of man. 33:34 Babylon has fallen in the eyes of God, 33:38 but she has not fallen in the eyes of man 33:42 because you find that she leads them contrary to God 33:46 very much in a different way after this. 33:49 So it's important that we understand this when he's 33:53 talking about... 33:56 And I would say to you tonight, folks, 34:00 very, very important that you establish who Babylon is 34:06 because that helps you see the whole picture 34:11 as we take a look at it. 34:13 It says here in Revelation 13: 34:38 Now there's many people down through the years 34:41 that have taken and said that Babylon 34:45 was papal Rome. 34:49 But no... Babylon is not papal Rome because 34:54 the beast that came out of the sea 34:56 God has assigned as papal Rome. 35:00 He said she is papal Rome. 35:03 So God has assigned that to this beast in the sea. 35:07 Talks about papal Rome and its rise. 35:11 So when we're talking about this beast here 35:14 in the sea it describes that as papal Rome. 35:17 And we gave you 7 points of identification the other night 35:21 so you can know exactly who that was. 35:24 All right. 35:30 Therefore this power must be a world wide power 35:36 because it says she has made "all nations drink. " 35:40 So you can't... you can't take Babylon 35:44 and assign it to some little part or power or something 35:49 somewhere. It's got to refer to something 35:51 that has influence over the whole world. 35:55 That has to be that. OK. 36:00 Without question, folks, the papal power had world wide power 36:06 and the world has followed her. 36:10 But you must understand that when the Bible talks about 36:16 the beast it's talking about 36:19 a political, secular power. 36:25 OK? And so when we're talking about 36:29 papal Rome it refers to it as the beast. 36:35 That is talking about a political power. 36:39 And by the way, papal Rome is a political power. 36:43 You have to understand that. 36:45 So she's a political power, and that's what its referring to. 36:49 It talks about the false prophet 36:53 which we found out the other night the scripture identifies 36:57 as the United States. 36:59 Which when you take a look at it 37:01 it is a political, secular power. 37:05 It talks about the dragon... 37:07 which the dragon represented pagan Rome. 37:11 And you're going to see the influence of pagan Rome 37:14 on it here as we take a look. 37:16 These are the things that are involved here, 37:20 and you need to understand how they all fit together 37:23 as we take a look at it. 37:42 So we've got these three that make up a trinity - 37:46 if you please - that goes contrary to the Word of God. 37:52 They are opposed to God's Word. 37:55 They are opposed to God's people. 37:58 This is what they set out to do: 38:14 So it speaks of these three. 38:18 These three are the political 38:21 backbone of this union. 38:25 Now I hope you understand: 38:28 churches do not have power. 38:34 Do you understand that? 38:36 Churches do not have political power. 38:40 They are churches... they are organizations. 38:44 Any time in history that you have read 38:49 about a particular church 38:54 persecuting... this type of thing... you will find that 38:59 she always uses a political power to do that. 39:03 She always uses a political power. 39:06 She cannot of herself do that. 39:09 So this is the reason you need a political power 39:13 here involved in this. 39:16 And it's very important that you and I understand that 39:20 as we take a look at it. 39:22 It talks about the false prophet and the beast. 39:38 So you have the beast, you have the false prophet, 39:42 and you have the dragon... those three. 39:45 Watch... if you've got your Bible, 39:49 turn with me over to the 39:54 the 16th chapter I think is what I want... 39:58 the 16th chapter of Revelation. 40:08 Yes, verse 19. 40:13 Revelation 16 verse 19, 40:16 listen to what it says: 40:19 "And the great city was divided into... 40:25 three parts. " See? 40:28 "The great city was divided into three parts, 40:31 and the cities of the nations fell 40:34 and Great Babylon was remembered before God 40:37 to give her the cup of the wine 40:39 of the fury of His wrath. " 40:41 So here it's talking about Babylon being divided 40:45 into 3 parts. And those 3 parts that we have just looked at 40:49 is that of papal Rome, 40:54 the false prophet, and the dragon. 40:56 And you're going to see in just a little bit how that all 40:59 comes together and fits together 41:02 and works, because this is a confederacy, folks... 41:08 this is a confederacy of false belief. 41:12 That's what you have here that makes up Babylon: 41:16 a confederacy of false belief. 41:19 And so it's divided into three parts. 41:31 You see, made means enforcement. 41:35 Going to make people do that. 41:37 And in order to make somebody do that 41:40 you have to have... you have to have the arm of the state 41:46 to do that. You've got to be able to enforce it. 41:49 And so she's going to make the people drink of the wine 41:53 of the wrath of her fornication. 41:56 Very, very important. Now... 42:05 So how does that become a confederacy of false belief? 42:11 Simply this way: 42:14 Out of the dragon you have paganism. 42:18 OK? 42:21 Out of the false prophet you have Protestantism. 42:26 And out of papal Rome 42:30 you have Catholicism. 42:33 Those are the three. 42:36 We're talking now about belief. 42:38 You see, this is what is there. 42:41 So this is a union 42:45 of taking all three of those things 42:49 and putting them together. 42:52 And this is what the scripture refers to as Babylon. 43:00 Babel. You know what that meant? 43:03 Confusion. 43:06 In other words, it's taking these three beliefs 43:10 and trying to bring them all together. 43:13 And God refers to that as Babylon. 43:17 And this is what we're looking at here: 43:20 these three that have been put together. 43:34 You see it's the enforcement of this that brings about 43:39 what the scripture refers to as the mark of the beast 43:43 because it's taking these three, putting them together. 43:47 And out of that enforcing... making the world follow it... 43:51 and this brings about the enforcement of what 43:55 the scripture refers to as the mark of the beast. 44:01 So when we say: "Who is Babylon? " 44:04 Babylon is a system of false beliefs 44:10 made up of paganism, 44:14 Protestantism and Catholicism. 44:18 That's what it's made of. 44:20 And in the last days it says that is going to figure 44:25 into the overall scheme in a very, very definite way. 44:31 And by the way... put it down... 44:35 when we read about the fall... I mean the collapse of Babylon 44:41 Babylon is doing very, very well. 44:46 I don't know if you're catching what I'm trying to tell you, 44:49 but the scripture pictures that she is doing well. 44:55 She falls in the eyes of God 44:59 but not in the eyes of man. 45:02 And so she is doing well. 45:05 Financially things are going very good... 45:09 until she collapses. 45:11 When she collapses, then it doesn't go well at all. 45:15 But until then... yes, she's doing well. 45:20 So you can see as you watch 45:24 and you watch the things that are taking place 45:26 you're going to see this whole process take place. 45:30 But it's the false beliefs that we need to follow. 45:45 Hmmm... made drunk 45:49 with the wine of her fornication. 45:53 Let me ask you something: 45:55 can you reason with a drunk man? 46:00 No! You can't reason with a drunk man. Impossible. 46:05 I can remember when I was young 46:09 just starting in the ministry. We were going to hold a meeting 46:14 in a place called Raton, New Mexico. 46:17 And in this little town where I lived we had a drunk. 46:22 He... you know... everybody knew him. 46:26 We all called him Moose is what we called him. 46:30 And he had showed up at the church a time or two 46:35 wanting help, and we had given him some help 46:38 from time to time. But, uh, he... 46:41 I can remember showed up at the church talking to us. 46:46 And so we decided that we were going to really 46:50 do something for Moose and try to get him to 46:53 change his way and his life and all, you know. 46:56 And so... So we went up to Raton, New Mexico, 46:59 and we were pitching a tent to prepare for the meeting 47:03 and get all things ready and Moose was helping us. 47:06 And he worked there with us and helped us and all. 47:09 And being young and not understanding some basic things 47:15 that I probably needed to understand 47:17 but since he had worked for us and helped us there 47:19 I decided that I should pay him. 47:22 See? Bad decision, folks. 47:25 See? But anyway, I paid Moose for helping us there. 47:30 Well, he took the money and went out and got drunk. 47:34 You know? And all... 47:36 Well, that night he came to the meeting. 47:39 And not too unusual for me to have somebody drunk 47:44 come to the meeting. But anyhow, he came to the meeting. 47:47 But here I was up there preaching 47:50 and right during the sermon he got up and came walking down 47:54 the aisle there yelling "Eve came from an apple. 47:57 Eve came from an apple. " 47:59 You know? And I just 48:02 finally looked at him and said "Moose, sit down and be quiet. " 48:05 So he did; didn't say any more. 48:08 But you can't reason with a drunk, folks. 48:12 And these people are drunk with the wine of the wrath 48:16 of this woman. 48:18 They're drunk with these beliefs, 48:20 and so the question of reasoning or getting them 48:24 to understand the Word of God is almost out of the question. 48:27 They can't understand because they're drunk 48:29 with the wine of this woman. 48:33 This is where they are. 48:35 And this is what it's talking about, what it's referring to. 48:38 So you have... 48:44 Now if you've got those three beliefs - 48:50 religious beliefs - 48:53 and they're all going to be coming together, 48:57 what do they have in common? 49:03 What do they have in common? 49:06 What do they believe that they can unite together 49:09 and form a system of false belief? 49:13 Well... they all have Sunday worship. 49:22 See? They all have Sunday worship. 49:27 Came from Babylon - paganism. That's where it came from, 49:30 folks, their worship of the sun god. 49:33 They went out and worshiped the sun. 49:36 And so it was handed... handed to Catholicism. 49:42 And Catholicism took the belief of Sunday 49:47 as a day of worship and bequeathed it to Protestantism 49:51 as a sacred legacy. And so today 49:54 you have those three all believing 49:59 in worship on Sunday. 50:02 This is one point they can unite on. 50:07 Another thing they believed was the immortality of the soul. 50:13 And again, comes directly from paganism. 50:18 Greek mythology that taught 50:23 that the body was the prison house of the soul 50:28 and when a person died the soul was set free. 50:33 In fact, that's even where they got Spartan soldiers, folks. 50:36 When a baby boy was born, they took him and put him... 50:41 took him up on top of a mountain, laid him on a shield 50:46 and went off and left him for 24 hours. 50:50 And if he survived, he became a Spartan soldier. 50:55 This was part of their belief. 50:57 This again was given to Catholicism, 51:03 and Catholicism handed it to Protestantism... 51:06 and so all of them hold the immortality of the soul, 51:10 the natural immortality of the soul, as a belief. 51:13 And so these are points that they can unite on 51:17 and come together and say "This is what we believe. " 51:20 And the scripture says that as they unite 51:24 this will be looked upon as something that will 51:28 bless them and cause them to prosper. 51:32 And thus they place their blessing and ENFORCE 51:36 certain beliefs. Now, let me tell you something: 51:40 what do you have to do when it comes to belief 51:44 to be able to enforce it? 51:48 Do you know? 51:50 Well, yeah, you have to have law. 51:52 But if I believe in something 51:57 that I accept in my mind, 52:02 you don't know whether I believe that or not. 52:05 That's just between me and the Lord. 52:07 But when I believe in something that changes lifestyle 52:12 you can enforce that. 52:16 You follow me? 52:19 So this is what it's talking about: enforcement of it. 52:32 You see, this is Babylon. 52:36 Those that follow her beliefs the scripture classifies 52:41 as her daughters. 52:43 This is where we are... where we stand. 52:46 And so here you find that as we get into scripture 52:49 God gives an invitation and says here: 53:03 You see, Babylon has fallen, 53:05 but God says there's people in Babylon 53:11 that are His people that He is calling out. 53:16 Calling them to come out of her. Not to be part of it. 53:20 Not to receive of her sins and what she's done. 53:25 And so you and I must be faithful to God's Word. 53:30 We must stand solidly upon the Word of God 53:35 and make sure that what we believe 53:38 is where we stand and not be willing to be swayed 53:44 by the conditions and the things that are taking place. 53:47 Let us pray. 53:50 Father in heaven, 53:53 we ask tonight that we might 53:57 make sure that our hearts are surrendered to God. 54:03 That we follow Him. 54:08 That we stay true to Your Word. 54:11 That we don't permit 54:16 the things of this world to attract us. 54:20 Even though it may be nice in Babylon, Lord, 54:25 and it may be rough outside, 54:29 help us to trust You, be willing to stand for You, 54:34 and to follow You. Bless each one we pray 54:39 in Your name, Amen. 54:45 Well tomorrow we'll be going into the third 54:50 angel's message... something that is very, 54:55 very much involved in what we talked about tonight. 54:58 All three of these angel's messages are together 55:02 and so we have to understand what it's talking about. 55:04 So be sure and join us. Good night; God bless you. 55:15 All around us we see want and suffering. 55:18 In large cities, millions of human beings 55:21 do not receive as much care and consideration 55:24 as we give beasts of the field. 55:26 Families are herded together in miserable projects. 55:30 Children are born into these terrible places. 55:33 They see nothing of the beauty God has created 55:36 to delight their senses. 55:38 They are left to grow up molded and fashioned by 55:41 wretched and wicked examples all around them. 55:44 They hear the name of God only in profanity. 55:47 Impure words and fumes of liquor and tobacco 55:51 and immoral behavior of every kind 55:54 pervert their tender senses. 55:57 Wretched and pitiful cries for food and clothing are heard 56:01 by parents who know nothing about prayer or a loving Savior. 56:05 But these cries do not go unheard in heaven. 56:09 God sees... God hears. 56:13 Friends, our loving Father has entrusted us 56:16 with abundance to supply the necessities of all. 56:19 But sadly, we're not always faithful stewards. 56:23 Many who have taken on the name of Christ 56:26 spend His money for selfish pleasure, 56:29 extravagant homes and clothing. 56:31 They hardly give a suffering human a look of pity 56:35 or a word of sympathy. 56:37 We are to show the kindness of the Samaritan 56:40 in food, clothing, and shelter for the poor. 56:43 As Christians, our work is to reach the people who 56:47 are neglected and win them to Christ. 56:49 That's the goal of this ministry. 56:52 We want them to know that He is able to save to the uttermost 56:56 and restore them to His image. 56:58 But in order to do this, we need your help. 57:02 Please consider what you can do for those 57:05 who still don't know about Jesus. 57:07 As the Holy Spirit impresses, 57:09 please send your tax-deductible gifts to: 57:24 Thank you for helping us spread the light of God's Word 57:27 through television. Your gifts bring the blessed hope 57:30 of salvation to millions around the world. |
Revised 2014-12-17