The Final Satanic Empire

Transcript

GRM 832
1/19/2003
The Final Satanic Empire
Revelation 17:1-5
Gil Rugh

We've talked a little bit about the revived Roman Empire. The Antichrist will lead that empire and I just pulled a couple of articles off my desk that were laying there on the European union. A situation in Europe. One came from this week's U.S. News and World Report. "Euro Zone Grown. A common currency has proved no panacea for the continent's woes." It's a one-page article with a picture and chart. Talking about the difficulties that Europe is facing. Anything new people think this is going to be the panaceas. We'll dive into it. When we get a common currency, we're going to explode and there have been difficulties and economic setbacks and so on. But in all of this, "A closer look at the Euro Zone," the last part of the article, "in fact reveals that the situation is far from uniformly dire." Then it talks about areas of growth and positive developments and so on and then they say, "And the Euro Zone's troubles haven't discouraged want-a-be members of the common currency club. In December the European Union approved the admission of ten new entrances, largely central European states, hungry for a boost in trade and political clout in 2004." Even in Britain they are getting ready. There's a move to move to Euro. "Tony Blare is planning a major a pro Euro propaganda campaign an advance of a referendum this year."

These kinds of articles as you read them are just a reminder of all that is going on in the mix. We keep moving toward a direction that's consistent with what the Bible says is going to take place in a Revived Roman Empire. Even the problems and struggles they have, you understand, are problems and struggles that come from creating, if you will, a unified Europe.

Someone passed on to me a copy of paper from Chicago. This came from the second week in December. So, it's a month or so old. The title of the article, "Could a united Europe now mean a revival superpower to the U.S. Later." This author is writing, and he is presently in Istanbul, Turkey and Turkey has applied for admission to the European Union and has created some concern among European union nations because of it being so predominantly Muslim. If you are aware Turkey has a little bit in Europe but most of its country considered part of the Middle East. I'll just pick it because he mixes it in comparison with local events in his Chicago community where he normally writes. He's an investigative reporter at ABC news in Chicago. "Istanbul straddles Europe and Asia just the northern tip of Turkey rests in Europe while the rest is in an area considered to be the Middle East. Such a fusion of boundaries causes great confusion for Turks and outsiders to try to figure out how to classify them and the country." We know where Turkey is going to come down because remember in Ezekiel 38. Several of those countries mentioned in Ezekiel 38 are really part of what is now the country of Turkey, and it ultimately is a major part of the alliance in Ezekiel 38 of other countries predominantly Muslim joined with Russia that are going to attack Israel in the middle of the seven-year Tribulation. But for right now they would like to become a member of the European union.

Then he goes on to talk about the fact, "But now the 15 European Union countries are talking about joint control of some other things that should cause Americans to take notice." He's talked about some things that have taken place that make it nicer for Americans to travel in Europe and so on. But now some other things are being talked about. "The European Union is planning one source of control over European airspace by 2005. There is a growing voice in favor of unified financial markets for all of Europe. There are mounting moves in European capitals for a collective military defense. For now, European Union national leaders are asking for the right to unify their defenses to protect against the attack from the outside. The U.S. Influence NATO coordinates that kind of mutual defense. By putting a European coalition military in the hands of a unified Europe, the United States would suddenly be removed from the mix. As long as Europe is on our side such an amalgamated military is no problem and could be helpful in some situations. Former president of France has said that the European union ought to rename itself the United States of Europe and create an American style Secretary of State to represent all of Europe. Such an integrated Europe seems engaging to Americans because since World War II Europe has been on our side for the most part." But he raises the question, "What happens if some day a cohesive European continent were to find reason to line up against the United States. With the coordinated militaries of Europe currently funded and supplied by the United States constitute a superpower opponent." Another example if countries were joined together that way. "And leaders of Germany and France last week said they would join the United States and send a positive on Turkey's bid for membership in the European Union."

That seems to be a reasonable request today. What is interesting again is the gist of the article seeing Europe becoming a greater and greater superpower and he can see it becoming a rival to the United States. Real problems if someday it would be an opponent. I'm not saying that we anticipate it would be an opponent even in biblical prophecy. We are saying that now it's common for people to talk about Europe; its struggles and that, but they also see the potential that it could become a world power including a world military power. Now we say well there's no one to revival the United States. But this author writes and could see the time when Europe could revival the United States as a military power. All these things are interesting, and you think it wouldn't have been too long ago when people would have thought bring together France and Germany and all these other European countries and federate them and have them even somebody suggesting we are going to become the United States of Europe and have a Secretary of State acting on our behalf and we've already got the common currency and then have a common military. Things move along. We don't get our theology from the newspaper. But we know biblical theology and we know where we are going, and we want to have our eyes opened to see the unfolding of events in the world around us.

I want to take you to Revelation 17. Just pick up on an event that takes place in the first half of the Tribulation that we didn't develop in our summary considerations. Religion plays a key part in the world. It plays a key part in the western world. It's interesting to note it will play a key part right through the seven-year Tribulation in the western world. Not religion that honors God and is pleasing to Him but religion will be a dominant factor. All the move to say we want to be plurals. We want to include everyone. Those who say well, even those who don't believe in anything religiously we want to accept them and move. But the Bible is clear atheism will not rule the day. Religion will rule. Now for us from a biblical perspective the religion that will rule is no advance on atheism. It's just another form of the rejection of the true God. We want to understand that. False religion is not an improvement. We sometimes say well at least they're religious, at least they go to church. Meaning what? I mean what would you say in Israel in the Old Testament. At least they worship idols. At least they sacrifice their children to false gods. What do we say? That's terrible. That wasn't a plus. We understand all of the variations outside of true biblical faith in the living God are just other forms of rejection of Him and opposition to Him.

In Revelation chapter 17 we get into a religious dimension that is going to be in existence during the first three and half years of the coming seven-year Tribulation. This is part of a final series of judgments that God brings upon the earth. The bowl judgments. This involves the destruction of Babylon. The announcement was made back in chapter 14 verse 8, "Another angel, a second one, followed saying, 'Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great." She has made all the nations drink of the wine of the passion of her immorality.'" In the next verse there is doom pronounced upon those who worship the Beast and his image. During the first half of the Tribulation the worship will focus in the Babylonian system itself. The last form of that religious system ultimately is going to be the Antichrist himself. We're talking about the coming destruction of Babylon the Great.

Now when we come over to chapter 17 and 18, we deal with the destruction of Babylon and Babylon and all its dimensions. Babylon as a religious power, as a political power, as a commercial power. Babylon is the center of the satanic empire. He's going to focus on a revival of the city of Babylon, which will suffer its destruction in the context of Revelation 17 and 18. My understanding is Babylon is represented in Revelation 17, portrays a religious dimension of that city and that movement. Babylon is focused on a city but its tentacles are what reach out. It is the Satanic system, the God of this world, in its religious, political, commercial dimensions that all come to focus again where it began in Babylon back in the book of Genesis. We came back to where we began. I take it with ultimately a rebuild Babylon that becomes the focus of what the Devil has been doing on the earth during these times.

Look at chapter 17 verse 1, "And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, 'Come here, I shall show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. And she is the one with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality. And those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality." So here is an unfolding of the angel to John of the judgment on the great harlot. The judgment of the great harlot really is the theme from chapter 17 verse 1 really down to chapter 19 verse 10. This woman, the harlot, is said to be in verse 18, "The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth." So, we have identified here the city but it's more than just a city. As we'll see. It's not just a literal physical city and that's it. There is a mystery related to this city. That means there are facts about this city you would not understand apart from divine revelation on the subject.

This is the harlot, according to verse 1, who sits on many waters, and verse 15 says, "The waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, and multitudes and nations and tongues." Again, things are interpreted for us. The woman, that's the city. We're going to see in chapter 17 a particular aspect of the city. In chapter 18 another aspect of the city is mentioned. She sits on many waters. It's a city which is ruled over peoples and nations, reigns over those people.

The kings of the earth have committed immorality with her. Since she's pictured as a great harlot, which is not uncommon for a city to be portrayed in such a way. Five times in chapter 17 she's going to be identified as a harlot. We get the word "pornography." "Pornay" is the Greek word, a fornicator, one guilty of immorality of all kinds. Here it's going to be spiritual immorality. Obviously, the picture here represents something.

Representing a major city as a harlot draws again from the Old Testament. In Nahum 3:1,4 Nineveh, capital of Assyria, is pictured as a harlot. Tyre in Isaiah 23:15-17. What I want you to do is go back to Isaiah and you'll see Babylon pictured this way. Isaiah 47:5, "Sit quietly, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans." And we're talking about the judgment on the Babylonians. Verse 1 began, "Come down and sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon." The Chaldeans are the Babylonians as most of you are aware. Down in verse 5 again, "You will no longer be called the queen of kingdoms." Because of judgment God gave them into the hands of the Babylonians. That resulted in pride and arrogance. God brought judgment on them.

In verse 9, "But these two things shall come on you suddenly in one day: Loss of children and widowhood. They shall come on you in full measure in spite of your many sorceresses, in spite of the great power of your spells." You see Babylon pictured as guilty of sorcery. Down in verse 12, "Stand fast now in your spells and in your many sorceresses." Verse 13, "You are wearied with your many counsels, let now the astrologers, those who prophesy by the stars" act and so on.

Now down to verse 15, "So have those become to you with whom you have labored, who have trafficked with you from your youth." Note this picture of spiritual godlessness taking place in the nation Babylon.

Turn over to Jeremiah just after Isaiah. Jeremiah chapter 51 and you see some of the language here picked up in Revelation chapter 17. Jeremiah 51 long chapter dealing with the judgment of Babylon. Verse 7 of chapter 51 of Jeremiah, "Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD, intoxicating all the earth, the nations have drunk of her wine. Therefore, the nations are going mad." Down to verse 17, "All mankind is stupid, devoid of knowledge; every goldsmith is put to shame by his idols, for his molten images are deceitful. They are worthless, a work of mockery. In the time of their punishment, they will perish." This picture is of the sin of Babylon. The key role that Babylon has played in influencing the nations and corrupting them and corrupting them spiritually as Babylon has been a center of what we would call paganism of all kinds of religious activity in opposition to the worship of the living God.

Back to Revelation 17. Jerusalem is also a city called a harlot in Isaiah 1:21. In chapter 17. We read similar to this verse in Jeremiah 51. "The kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality, were drunk with the wine of her immorality." So that picture how involved the peoples of the world became in the sins of Babylon. Babylon became a key in involving them in this kind of corruption.

Verse 3, "Carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns." This woman now, as John unfolds his development concerning her, is seen in a key prominent role, a dominant role in the empires of the world. Remember the seven heads? They are set down for us in verses 9 and 10 of chapter 17 we looked at. Refer to the seven empires of the world starting in Egypt and ending with the Antichrist, the ten-nation confederacy and then the Antichrist who will be the eighth. He sees this woman sitting on this scarlet beast. Same one . . . the beast that was described in Revelation 13 that really pictures the Antichrist who is the culminating figure of world empires. Remember he is the eighth, the last. The one who will be destroyed by the coming of Christ. All the world's empires, all the satanic system, all the work of the god of this world comes to culmination now here.

Verse 4, "The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality." She's prospered in her godlessness. One of the things that troubles us, and troubled Old Testament saints as well is why do the wicked prosper and the godless seem to do well. You see this woman has prospered. She's got a gold cup. She's arrayed rather spectacularly, tremendously wealthy. Yet the cup is full of abominations, the unclean things of her immorality. Interesting to see how different it is when you see it from God's perspective and when you see it from man's perspective. Here the gold cup, the jewels, the wealth, the splendor, things so attractive to the world and God sees she's got a cup full of abominations, the unclean things of her immorality. She is repulsive to God for she is opposed to him in every way. Now she's identified.

The name on her forehead is a mystery. It means it can only be understood by divine revelation. That's the mystery, something that now is being revealed. This is more than just a physical city but there is an unfolding mystery. This is "Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abomination of the earth." This woman is the city but it's the city particularly here in chapter 17 with the religious corruption she has spread through the world. I take it this would encompass all the aspects of religious corruption that has pervaded the world; and they can all be traced back in their major forms to Babylon. We'll say more about that in a moment.

"She is the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth." Come back to Genesis 11. We have here the beginning of earthly empire, the beginning of a centralized religious system and really it starts here, and it will end here. All of this corruption can be connected with this Babylon and all parts of the satanic activity.

"The whole earth used the same language, the same words. They came and found the plain as they journeyed east in the land of Shinar." We are in the land of Babylon, the city of Babylon. "They said, 'Come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.' They used brick for stone. They used tar for mortar. They said, 'Let us build for ourselves a city.'" So now they are going to become a centralized people if you will with the city. What unifies them? A tower in the city that will reach to heaven. Usually identified with what they've discovered as ziggurats where they were high towers. The top of the tower was used for worship and the tower lifted you closer up to heaven and the top of the tower was for religious purposes. "The top will reach to heaven. 'Let us make a name for ourselves lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.'" They are going to keep themselves together as a unified people. The development if you will of a unified empire centering in this city. The Lord sees what they are doing and in verse 6 he says they have the same language. They are using the common things. The language becomes a key thing. Now they want to develop . . . really a worldly empire and that will be united with a common religion.

God says he's going to frustrate their plans because if he leaves them on their own what will Satan do? He'll build his counterfeit kingdom. Now Satan still strives to do that, but he has not been able to bring the unity that he so desires. Now remember God's intention is that His Son rule and reign over creation in a kingdom. Satan's opposition to God is he wants to do that. He wants to have the worship and rule in such a kingdom. He goes down. God confounds their languages and scatters them over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building. “And it was called Babel because there the Lord confused the language and scattered them over the whole face of the earth.”

That's the start and from here the corruption spreads out. While you are in chapter 11, back in chapter 10 verse 8, "Cush became the father of Nimrod. He became a mighty one on ththe earth." He was a mighty hunter. Some would translate that a mighty rebel before the Lord. But he's a mighty dominate man. "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, Calneh in the land of Shinar." You see what's happening here. Under Nimrod now you have that powerful central figure, recognized for his might and now things begin to solidify around him. With at now you are going to have a city that will dominate the world and be the center of, if you will an empire and a center of worship. That becomes the foundation and development of the Babylonian system as it's unfolded through the rest of Scripture, culminating in the events we're talking about in Revelation 17.

We've talked about this Babylonian system. It's not just Roman Catholicism. We sometimes identify it with Roman Catholicism but some of the elements of that Babylonian system are carried down into our day. Why do we call it Babylon? What continues? There is the city but what has characterized this city and some of its worship things goes back to Nimrod. Nimrod through extrabiblical things is said to have a wife named Semiramus and she was supposedly the founder of the Babylonian mystery religions. She was supposed to have born a son who had been miraculously conceived. His name was Tamus, and he was to be a redeemer and deliverer. That becomes the beginning of the worship of mother and child and that becomes spread throughout the world. What happened when the people were spread out of Babylon in chapter 11, they took with them their religion. They couldn't communicate with one another, but they had all been part of the same system, coming out of chapter 10, associated with Nimrod, his wife Semiramus and the miraculous child Tamus. You find even in times, centuries, before Christ you know the woman with the sun around her head. We call it a halo and a baby in her arms is an object of worship. They say the worship of mother and child is the oldest form of worship in the world. Spread into different countries. In Egypt they worship Isis and Orus or Syrus, in Greece they worship Afrodit and Arrous. In Italy they had Demus and Cupid. In Foneia they had Ashterus and Damus.

This is just one example of the Babylonian system that they were implementing in chapter 11 of Genesis to honor and worship the mother and the child in that system. While now they couldn't talk to one another so people spread to other places in the world but what did they take with them? The worship of the mother and the child and this corruption of what God had planned with the coming of His Son.

It comes up in the Old Testament. Why don't you look at Jeremiah 7. This Babylonian worship plagued Israel and one of the examples, and just one of the examples, where Jeremiah addresses the sin that infiltrated Israel in chapter 7 of Jeremiah verse 18. God instructs him don't even pray for this people. Verse 16, "As for you, do not pray for these people, and do not lift up cry or your prayer for them, don't intercede with me. You see what they are doing in the cities of Judea, the streets of Jerusalem. The children gather wood, the fathers kindle the fire, the women knead dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven." Worshipping the queen of heaven is not something that developed after Mary conceived Christ as a virgin and it was born. The worship of the queen of heaven is a pagan concept.

When I was in another city, we drove by a church and what was it called "The Queen of Heaven." I said I'm going to take a picture of that, and I did. Here's the church in honor of the queen of heaven. That's not from Mary the mother of Christ. It's part of the Babylonian paganism. Israel was being condemned. God found it so repulsive He even commands Jeremiah not to pray for the Jews as they have become so degraded that they are involved in the worship of the queen of heaven.

Look in chapter 44 of Jeremiah. Now keep in mind Jeremiah is writing 500 years before Christ. You'll note how repeatedly the queen of heaven is mentioned in this. Verse 17 of Jeremiah 44, "Rather we will certainly carry out every word." The people are saying that they did better when they worshipped the queen of heaven. They did better when they worshipped other gods. Look at verse 15, "Then all the men who were aware that their wives were burning sacrifices to other gods, along with all the women." The women played a key part in leading the false worship here. Verse 17, "We will certainly carry out every word that has proceeded from our mouth by burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pouring out libations to her, just as we ourselves, our forefathers, our kings, our princes did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem; for then we had plenty of food, and were well off, and saw no misfortune." You know what the people tell Jeremiah? We have a long history of worshipping the queen of heaven. As long as we honored the queen of heaven, we did well but since we stopped burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven, pouring out libations to her, we have lacked everything. The queen of heaven, Semiramus, the wife of Nimrod, miraculously gave birth to Tamus. Back in Genesis 10 and 11. This is not a new religion that came up in Israel just because it is not addressed in quite this kind of terminology all the time. The Jews themselves said we've been doing this for a long time. Our forefathers practice this kind of worship.

Verse 19, "And said the women, 'When we were burning sacrifices to the queen of heaven, and pouring out libations to her, was it without our husbands that we made for her sacrificial cakes in her image and poured out libations to her?'" The women came before and say we didn't do this on our own. Our husbands were part of it. Down in verse 25, long verse there but about two-thirds of the way. "'We will certainly perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn sacrifices to the queen of heaven and pour out libations to her.'" Do you get the idea the queen of heaven was the key part of pagan worship and that was true hundreds of years before Mary gave birth to Christ and all the Babylonian system did was incorporate the worship of the mother and child. It would have moved to any country, any area of the world. It's adaptable. But at the heart of that pagan worship is the same thing. Never does the Scripture anywhere indicate that Mary ought to be an object of federation or worship. I believe we honor her. She's honored of God. She was chosen to be the mother of the Messiah of Israel. She is the most blessed among women. Nowhere does Scripture call her the queen of heaven, make her an object of worship; the Babylonian system did. This is just an example of how paganism comes down. Part of what happened, you see Satan developing a counterfeit long ahead of time. The miraculous son of Semiramus died and was supernaturally brought to life. The context of the worship of the queen of heaven and her miraculous son. There was 40 days of weeping for Tamus.

Turn past Jeremiah to Ezekiel. Ezekiel chapter 8 verse 14. Ezekiel is the contemporary basically of Jeremiah. They are prophesying at the time of the Babylonian captivity. Ezekiel 8:14, "Then he brought me to the entrance of the gate of the LORD's house,” Now here we are at the temple. "Which was toward the north and behold women were sitting there weeping for Tamus." That is the virgin-born son or the miraculous son of Semiramus going back to Genesis 10 and 11. Here you have at the temple in Jerusalem the Jews are involved in weeping for Tamus because there was a 40-day period of weeping for Tamus that concluded with him supposedly being brought from the dead. Where do we get the concept of Lent from Scripture? What are you going to give up for Lent, for 40 days leading up to Easter. We didn't get it from the Bible. You know where it develops? Just another part of the Babylonian system that's associated with the worship of the mother and the child.

This example, when he talks about mystery, Babylon, the mother of harlots. Why is it the mother of harlots? Well, you see go all the way back to Genesis 10 and 11 you find the source. All this pagan, false worship that permeates under different names and so on in different parts of the world. It has become dominant in the western world religion. We talk about Roman Catholicism is wrong because they become just a clear dominant purveyor and conveyor of Babylonianism and there's a whole list of things that were associated with that.

The sign of the cross was sacred to Tamus as symbolizing the life-giving principle because it was the first letter of his name and so you find it marked on the foreheads on those who were baptized in the Babylonian mystery religions. You find it marked as a symbol in places. The vestal virgins of pagan Rome wore it as necklaces around their necks, various aspects we don't have time to go into all the details.

What do we have when we read Revelation 17? Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots has been the corrupting influence of the world. It comes out of this city in Genesis 11. It would come out of that city as it spread throughout the world. Corrupting all over and we are going to come back where that city will become the center of the final and greatest corruption and doing what God prevented in Genesis 11. It will ultimately be His intervention that will bring the final crushing blow to Satan's attempt here.

What I see happening in this mystery religion while pursuing this is you take the Rapture of the Church, you take all the believers out of the world, all you have now are those who are comfortable with the Babylonian form of Christianity, if I can mix those two. Christianity has been Babylonianized. Catholics and Protestants join together and there have been books and you are aware of the movement among evangelicals and Catholics but now and quoting here from a book and this was written by an evangelical. "The church has been plagued by wars within her walls crippling her in her battle against the encroaching armies of secularism. But at root those who are called of God whether Catholic or Protestant are part of the same body." That's a quote from Chuck Colson. As I read that I believe I look at Roman Catholicism and it is in many ways the epitome of Babylonianism. Now he says that those who are Protestant, now I realize pagan Protestant are not any different than pagan Catholics; but he is writing as an evangelical encouraging us to overlook our differences because we have a common battle against secularism. “Our real problem is not secularism; our real problem is the Babylonian religion. That's so abominable to God.” He calls it an abomination. “I can overlook it because the biggest danger is secularism.”

"It's high time that all of us who are Christians come together regardless of the difference of our confessions and our traditions that may come and cause to bring Christian values to bear on our society." Who wants to bring Christian values to bear on our society? Not me. I want to bring the Christian Gospel to society to transform hearts. Since when are Christians called to bring Christian values to society. "With the barbarians are scaling the walls there is no time for petty quarreling in the camp." He's writing this as an introduction to a book written by a Roman Catholic. Since when is the battle over salvation by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone a petty quarrel? Now again somebody would write this, but they haven't been written by someone who has been recognized as a leading evangelical. You see what happens, we prepare the way for what we call the Apostate church which will be prominent and dominant in the first three and half years of the Tribulation. We will have removed all believers, and everybody will be ready to get rid of their petty quarrels. Because who else but true Bible-believing Christians are ready to fight and die for the truth of the Gospel and the Word of God. This Roman Catholic, he stands in the breach. The Roman Catholic who writes the book. He's writing the introduction.

"Truly orthodox in its adherence to Roman Catholic doctrine and truly evangelical in his relationship to Christ and creation." I saw that as an oxymoron. It cannot happen. I mean when Roman Catholics are on television on their own station saying that salvation is not by faith alone and that is Roman Catholic doctrine and dogma; salvation is not by faith alone. Then I'm not saying you cannot be truly orthodox in adherence to Catholic doctrine and fully evangelical. How can you even get away with talking like this. He is building - this Roman Catholic - alliances against our mutual enemy. Who's our mutual enemy? I'll tell you who my enemy is. It's those who are the enemies of the Gospel. Oh no, we have a greater enemy. We have secularism to deal with. Have we read the Scripture? The Babylonian system is the greatest enemy to the work of God, and so we get confused.

"We have much to forgive, much to relearn. But this book can help us do both so we can band together against the rising tides of secularism which threaten to engulf us." Now here's the people that he's saying we should band together with. This is a quote from a Roman Catholic book. It has the nihil obstat and the imprimatur on the front. The nihil obstat and imprimatur are official declarations that a book or pamphlet are free of doctrinal or moral error. That comes Roman Catholic catechism. This book has the nihil obstat of John G. Hogan and the imprimatur of Richard Cardinal Cushion. The nihil obstat means nothing objectionable as far as Roman Catholic doctrine is concerned.

Let me read you now. Remember these are the people we just read . . . an evangelical saying we join hands against an enemy. Our differences are petty. Here's what they say about Mary. Now keep in mind what we read about the queen of heaven. "Mary is the ark of salvation built by God on the deluge of our fault so that whoever desires may enter and be saved." Where do you enter to be saved? Mary. She's the ark of salvation. "It's as important to be devoted to Mary as it is to enter heaven. Because no one can enter paradise who is not devoted to Mary. She herself is the book of life from God. She herself is the book of life from which God will read the names of the elect on the day of judgment." Mary is the book of life. Your name is either in her or not. I thought we were in Christ. But the Babylonian system says we're in Mary. Because it has always all the way back to Genesis 11 worshipped the woman and the child.

"Mary herself will introduce these elect souls to Him as her masterpiece and he will endow them with happiness." You note those who are elect, those who are going to be in heaven are her masterpiece so her son will give them happiness. "Love Mary because she transforms us into Jesus. No one can acquire an intimate union with Jesus and a perfect fidelity as the Holy Spirit without being greatly united to Mary. It is necessary for us to have a mediator besides Jesus mediator. We will never find one more qualified than Mary." I thought the Bible said, "There is one God and one mediator between God and men the man Christ Jesus." Roman Catholic dogma says it's necessary for us to have a mediator besides Jesus.

"When God loves a soul and finds it stained with sin, He covers it with a beautiful mantle that makes it precious to Him." That mantle is Mary. "Man becomes what he loves. If he loves the earth, he becomes earth. If he loves God, he becomes God. If he loves Mary, he becomes her son, that is another Jesus." Get the idea? That Mary is everything here. In our honoring of Mary, she is our salvation. She's the one that enables us to become another Jesus. Remember the queen of heaven being worshipped by the Jews? "The queen stood on the right hand in quilted clothing surrounded with variety." They say they are talking about Mary. They are talking about the woman of Revelation 17. "All graces pass from God to Jesus, from Jesus to Mary, from Mary to us. Mary is the complement of the Holy Spirit." Now get this. "Before God she asks not. She commands. No true devotee of Mary will be damned because she is the terrible conqueror of the Devil." I thought Jesus said as He anticipated the cross now His judgment, now the prince of this world is cast out. I thought Hebrews 2 said that He came to destroy the works of the Devil. Now I find out that Mary is the terrible conqueror of the Devil.

"Mary is our co-redemptrix with Christ. She ransomed mankind from the power of Satan. Christ redeemed us with the blood of his body, Mary with the agonies with her heart. We were condemned through the fall of one woman. We were saved through the merits of another woman." That's the Babylonian system of the worship of the queen of heaven. We were saved though the merits of Mary? Where in the world in Scripture could you find such a thing. But it's Babylonianism. "Mary is our co-redemptrix because she suffered in her heart whatever was lacking in the passion of Christ." Christ couldn't get the job done.


"As mother of the word in incarnate," listen to this, "Mary was elevated to a certain equality with the Heavenly Father." Mary was elevated to a certain equality with the Heavenly Father. "No grace will be granted to us except through Mary. No grace can come to us from heaven without passing through Mary's hands. No one will be saved nor obtain mercy except through you oh heavenly lady. No one will enter heaven without passing through Mary as one would pass through a door." I thought Jesus Christ was the door that we had to enter through to come to life. "She is co-redemptrix of the human race. The church and the saints greet her thus. You, oh Mary, together with Jesus Christ redeemed us. The angels in heaven sang." Listen. "Queen of heaven, rejoice. Hail Oh queen of paradise, the glory of heavenly Jerusalem. As the stars are illuminated by the sun so is heaven illuminated by you, oh Mary." See what has happened? Who do we find illuminates heaven in Scripture? We looked at this in Revelation 21. The presence of God is the glory. There's no need for the sun because of His presence . . . But not in Roman Catholic doctrine. It's Mary. The heavens are illuminated by Mary.

Now what do we do? The people were saying petty quarrels separate true Protestants who brought the reformation over salvation by grace through faith in Christ. Petty quarrels. You know what in effect that is saying? Our differences with Babylonianism are petty and minor. You know what we are preparing the way for? There is another preparation for what? When you remove all true believers from the earth, who has any problem with Babylonianism? Note secularism is not the problem because when we get to Revelation 17, we find the woman in a position of dominance in this empire. For three and a half years the Apostate church is going to play this Babylonian religious system, it is going to play a dominant role. Until in Revelation 17 in connection with other events we're talked about, the antichrist decides he's done with the Church. He and he alone is the object of worship, and he destroys the Apostate church. Preparation for then the destruction the commercial and political dimension of Babylon as well with the destruction of the city in chapter 18 which brings us to chapter 19 and the second coming of Christ.

So just another thing going on in the world. Did you see in the paper, and both papers we get had it in, that the Pope has declared that politicians must submit and put into practice Roman Catholic doctrine; and allow the Roman Catholic politicians to say well the church teaches this but as a politician I am free to vote this way on this. The Pope says that can no longer be, and we see who else? I mean what other religion do we have an ambassador to represent us? What other religious leader do we give such acknowledgment to and respect to? The tentacles go out and it's everywhere, the wealth, the power, the influence. It's dominant. It's overwhelming.

I was talking with someone who has to compete with Roman Catholics in an area that is supposed to be in a neutral area. He says we are not able to compete with the billions of dollars that they are able to bring to the table as resources. It just purveys society. It pervades the world. Particularly we are talking about the western world. It will become a dominant element of the Antichrist’s community. You know what they are debating in the European constitution? What role religion should play and how that should be structured in the European union's constitution. There are some who say religion has no part, but others are arguing religion has been a part of our heritage. I don't see Roman Catholics any worse than apostate Protestants. It's just another form of pagan religion. But they exemplify more clearly perhaps the Babylonianism that they have been careful to hold on to and bring down.

We shouldn't anticipate it's going to get easier for us as evangelical believers. We are getting more and more out of step. I didn't bring an article in connection with another study I want to do but it was one of the news magazines I believe last week. The editor of the magazine not a believer but writes that the whole purpose of this action was to attack evangelical Christians who believe in the Bible. They even see this going on in the activities of secular organizations. We need to be careful we are bold in love with truth of the Gospel in these days because we are on the brink of the coming of the Lord and people need to hear the truth and the issue is the Gospel not bringing Christian values to a secular society. This secular society, this secular world is doomed to become part of the empire of the Antichrist. The only salvation is in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. God forbid that we waste the time He's given to us doing futile, frivolous things that turn people's attention away from the issue of sin and salvation by grace alone in faith alone in Christ alone. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for Your grace. Thank you for the power of the Gospel that saves a soul and makes a person new. Thank you, Lord, that this world will be transformed and changed only when Jesus Christ Himself comes to take possession. Lord, we are not discouraged. We are not disheartened. We rejoice in the privilege of standing for you and proclaiming Your truth in these crucial days. May we keep our attention focused and pray for Your church in the world in these days. May we see our responsibility is the proclamation of the Gospel. May we not be drawn into alliances with those which You say are guilty of abominations and immoralities. That we would be faithful. That we might be presented to You as a pure virgin. We praise You for such a redeeming salvation. We pray in Christ's name, amen.