Avoid this False Church System | Mark Finley (Revelation 17)

i'm glad you're back and if this your first time joining us for three cosmic messages a series on bible prophecy specifically focusing on the book of revelation thank you for joining us during this series we have been taking a journey a journey through three messages in the book of revelation that are urgent and vital for this generation we've pointed out that these messages are carried symbolically by three angels in the middle of heaven we've studied and explored the first of these angels messages and in this presentation we're going to study the second angels message so let's pray father in heaven thank you so much that you have not left this world without a message to prepare it for your return and we sense that as we study these vital messages that your spirit has been with us we ask that the holy spirit would come illuminate our minds open our hearts and help us make eternal decisions in christ's name amen my title in this presentation is a city called confusion the book of revelation is a book of contrasts there's the dragon and the beast two leaders there are two signs the seal of god and the mark of the beast there are two harvests the harvest of golden grain the saved and the harvest of gory grapes the lost there are two cities jerusalem from above and babylon from beneath there are two spirits the holy spirit inspiring god's people and spirits of demons there are two types of miracles genuine authentic miracles that come from god and false miracles that come from satan there are two times of trouble in the book of revelation there is the little small time of trouble before the close of human probation when the seven last plagues come and then there's that great time of trouble so throughout the book of revelation there are multiple contrasts one of those major contrasts in the book of revelation is the description of two women we find that in revelation 12 and revelation 17 first you have the woman in white in revelation 12 verse 1 this woman in white is described now a great sign appeared in heaven a woman clothed with the sun with the moon under her feet and on her head a garland of 12 stars verse 2 then being with child she cried out in labor in pain to to give birth now notice this woman in white is standing on the moon the moon reflects the light of the sun representing the old testament you remember what jesus said in john 5 39 he's speaking about the old testament prophecies he said these are they that testify of me so the entire old testament was a lesser light like the moon shining to testify of christ now the other thing you notice about this woman is that she has a garland of 12 stars on her head that is to say that she's going to be guided by the 12 apostles the other thing you notice is that she's pregnant she's with child christ is to be born the messiah of the new testament church but one of the predominant symbols here is that she's dressed in white what does that represent and what does a woman represent in bible prophecy when you look at the bible going back as far as to the old testament jeremiah chapter 6 verse 2 he says i've likened the daughter of zion now who's the daughter of zion the people of god in the old testament to a lovely and delicate woman so god likens his church he likens his people to a beautiful woman adorned in white having pure true doctrine so do you get the picture in revelation 12 1 a woman is emerging from the old testament era she is with child the new testament church is to come forth christ the child the messiah of that shirt she's guided by 12 apostles the woman in white in revelation 12 is described as faithful to jesus she's undefiled with false doctrine she is clothed with the righteousness of christ the bible describes the faithful followers of jesus the offspring of this woman that would appear at end time in revelation 12 17 and the dragon who's the dragon everybody satan was enraged what does that mean angry roth with the woman what is the woman it's the church you know in the new testament ephesians 5 the bible talks about the woman as the bride of christ he satan goes to make war with the rest of her offspring that is the offspring the children the remnant of the seed of this woman who keep the commandments of god and have the testimony of jesus christ so down through the generations god has always had a faithful group who followed him committed to christ they have obeyed christ so in revelation chapter 12 you have the royal line of believers you have the heritage of this woman you have the offspring of this woman faithful believers committed to christ saved by grace obeying christ because they have been in love with their savior the scene though changes the new testament church is radiant with the son of righteousness jesus christ but as time goes on that scene changes and although god has always had a people faithful to him the devil has always been working the devil's been working to bring in deception the devil's been working to bring in false doctrine the devil has been working to distort the truth of god a contrast to woman the woman of revelation 12 dressed in white the woman in revelation chapter 17 these three angels describe this conflict between these two women this crisis between these two women this has to do with the fountain of truth and the fountain of error it has to do with two religious streams the woman dressed in white representing the pure true church in revelation 12 the woman in scarlet in revelation 17 representing the fountain of error revelation chapter 14 verse 8 that second angel's message describes this second woman dressed in scarlet as babylon and it says in another angel followed saying babylon is fallen is fallen that great city because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication three angels fly in heaven the first angel's message i saw another angel flying in the middle of heaven having the everlasting gospel the woman dressed in white the pure true church preaching the gospel to go to every nation kindred tongue in people the woman dressed in white the angel's message saying with a loud voice to the entire world fear god that's obey god give glory to him in your lifestyle because we're living in a unique time reverse history the hour of his judgment has come and worshipped the creator so the first angel's message calls us to true worship to be followers of the woman in white in revelation chapter 12 and be part of those who have faith in christ and the faith of christ living in their hearts and keep the commandments of god the message of the second angel is to flee from the woman in scarlet titled as the false babylon a religion of confusion and humanism babylon is fallen is fallen is the second angel's message and that's a warning now revelation 17 picks up on that second angel's message now when you look at this term babylon in the bible and when revelation 14 verse 8 says babylon is fallen is that possibly speaking of ancient babylon ancient babylon ruled the world from 605 bc to 539 bc the babylonians were overtaken and overthrown by the medes and the persians there in 539 when john writes he writes 600 years after that at the end of the first century so babylon has already fallen john is speaking not about literal babylon the little literal city but he's speaking about a force that would be called spiritual babylon let's unfold that let's unpack that what is spiritual babylon revelations prediction of the fall of babylon cannot possibly be referring to the ruins of the ancient city of babylon on the euphrates river in modern-day iraq that had long been destroyed as i mentioned 600 years before in the prophecies of revelation babylon represents a false religious system this babylon of revelation 14 8 this false religious system would have similar characteristics in its very philosophy and teachings to ancient babylon we find this further developed in a woman in scarlet and purple riding on a scarlet colored beast in revelation the 17th chapter now this is an amazing and absolute amazing description it is an absolute amazing revelation to us in this generation of truth as it stands in contrast to falsehood these messages called the three angels messages and this message of the second angel is a message of vital absolute importance for this generation let's go to revelation 17 verse two then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me saying to me now what are the seven bowls the seven bowls the seven bowls of god's judgments upon the world the seven last plagues before those plagues an event takes place then one of the seven angels where the seven bulls came and talked with me saying to me come let us come let's hear the message of the angel come and i will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters here this woman is not the faithful bride of christ this is certainly not the woman of revelation chapter 12 with the pure undefiled garment she according to scripture is a harlot she's left her true lover christ who has she committed fornication with she sits on many waters what does that mean it says then with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication in the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication so here in this picture symbolically there is a woman scantily dressed in scarlet or ornamented with jewels riding on a scarlet colored beast what does this woman represent not the true church certainly but a fallen church system it says then one of the seven angels who had seven bulls came and talked with me and she sits where we're gonna see the judgment of the great heart what did she sit on many waters in the bible it also says the kings of the earth committed fornication with her what does this symbolism mean what's the significance of this symbolism well what about waters revelation 17 verse 15 then he said to me the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples multitudes nations and tongues so you have a false religious system that dominates over multiple peoples we do not have to guess at the meaning of bible prophecy god who has given prophecy reveals that meaning he unfolds the symbol of prophecy so in the bible the harlot woman the fallen religious system has left her true lover jesus and she dominates over many peoples of the world she commits fornication who does she commit fornication with the kings of the earth and so that's why the scripture says that you have this fallen religious system this woman riding upon the beast that beast power represents a political system in the bible according to daniel chapter 7 verse 17 the beast represents kings or verse 23 kingdoms and so you have the church riding on the state or church and state united now if history tells us anything it tells us that when church and state unite there is often oppression and persecution on those who fail to go along with that church state union there's the restriction of religious liberty what is fornication fornication is an illicit union so the people of god the church of jesus christ the bride of christ is united to her true lover jesus christ and gets her direction from him the fallen church system is united to the state and looks not to jesus for its authority or power but looks to the state for its power in the true church system the church is united to jesus he she finds him as her true head when the church leaves its true lover jesus christ and looks to the government for power it loses spiritual authority the true authority for the church comes from jesus the true power for the church comes from jesus the true strength of the church comes from jesus but when the church the fallen church looks to the state for its power looks for government authorities for its power it loses its spiritual power and it becomes babylon it becomes a fallen church system now the founders of the united states and the founders of all democratic governments have written into their constitution that important doctrine of the separation of church and state for example the first amendment to the constitution that our founders here in america recognize was so important reads this way congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof they were very very clear that there should be no government interference in the individual liberties to express religious belief the founders of our nation were very clear on this point in fact in the writings of george washington in one of his speeches and messages to congress i read washington said this i beg you be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny in every species of religious persecution when the founders of the united states left the old world one of the prime reasons they left europe was because church and state united state churches dominated europe and as they did the rights of the minority to express their religious values were curtailed and the minorities often were persecuted so the founders of america came to this nation because they longed for religious freedom they longed to be in a land where they could worship in harmony with the dictates of their conscience and thank god for that freedom but revelation predicts that a time will come when religious liberty will erode again it predicts that this fallen church system riding upon the beast power of the state will withdraw religious liberty and that religious laws will be passed to coerce and force worship again thomas jefferson coined the expression the separation of church and state what did he mean by that expression he meant precisely this that the church should not superimpose its will upon the state and legislate worship and the state should not superimpose its laws upon its citizenry to enforce religious decrees that every human being whether we accept what another believes or not should have that freedom that choice that opportunity to make decisions in harmony with their conscience we see in revelation chapter 14 verse eight in the second angels message of babylon has fallen is fallen we see a description of a church state union that is united to enforce its religious laws now notice what scripture says going on to describe this babylon this woman of revelation chapter 17 dressed in purple and scarlet riding on the beast notice what it says revelation 17 2 the inhabitants of the earth are made drunk with the wine of her fornication in the bible wine is a symbol of doctrine and wine here is a symbol of false doctrine in the gospels it talks about the cup of salvation jesus offers freely the pure juice of the grape the wine of salvation you know in the bible jesus says i'll not drink in the communion service of the wine again with you that's the pure juice of the grape in other words representing his blood but here is the wine of fornication here is a religious system that challenges the very authority of christ and puts man in the very place of christ the wine of false doctrine the intoxication of the teachings of babylon so the teachings of ancient babylon where human beings are exalted above the dominion of christ where the authority of man and the opinion of man takes the place of the opinion of christ and when the doctrines of man are substituted for the teachings of scripture this indeed is represented in the wine of babylon the fallen church passes around her wine cup of erroneous doctrine and the world becomes intoxicated with false religious ideas on one occasion i was speaking to a group in a large meeting outside the city of chicago and as i was speaking i was talking about the wine of babylon and there as i was talking about the wine of babylon i said wine affects the conscience it affects the forebrain when you drink excessively you can't think you become intoxicated and as i was saying that a drunk man had walked into the meeting and i was a young man at the time he's sitting in the back row and he was half asleep and i started talking about wine confuses the thinking and wine distorts your process of of understanding and it defiles your conscience the guy stands up you know he's half drunk he begins waving that's enough young man that's enough young man well you know it is true that wine does affect deeply the brain and the wine of false doctrine distorts our thinking so no longer does the truth of god's word penetrate our hearts you know jesus said in john 17 verse 17 sanctify them through thy word thy word is truth it is the word of god the wine of the gospel the pure juice of god's word that sobers us up so that we don't become drunk with the false doctrines indeed of babylon revelation 17 verse 3 we continue in this amazing story so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and i saw a woman sitting on a scarlet colored beast which was full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns notice the woman is full of names of blasphemy doctrines contrary to the biblical doctrines of truth you see politicians the bible talks about in the last days eager to retain their positions yield to the influence of the majority who've drunk the wine of babylon's false doctrines once again there is this union of church and state once again religious decrees are enforced to and superimposed upon the minority once again persecution comes in jameson faucet in brown it's an old bible commentary that i happen to read volume 4 and revelation 17 3 it makes this amazing comment the church has gained this is the church in the days of spiritual babylon the church in the days earth's last history when church and state unite the church has gained outward recognition by leaning on the world power which in its turn uses the church for its own objects such is the picture here of christendom ripe for judgment just before the final judgment just before the coming of christ there is a church ripe for judgment because the doctrines of god's word have been compromised the doctrines of the bible have been substituted for the traditions of man human tradition has replaced the clear plain truth of scripture and the church becomes ripe for judgment god says babylon is fallen is fallen come out of her my people god is appealing in the second angel for his people drunk with the wine of babylon to make a step to come out of babylon the woman notice is arrayed in purple and scarlet so the colors of this fallen religious system this system that is the mother church that has many daughters the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet in adorned with gold in precious stones and pearls she is lavish with her ornamentation she is dressed in purple and scarlet she has in her hand a golden cup full of abominations you know the golden cup the bible talks about the cup of salvation but this cup although it appears to have salvation does not it's full of abominations of false doctrine she's united with the state her colors are purple and scarlet do you know any religious system whose colors are purple and scarlet who is the great mother church now friends it's not our intent in this lecture series to unnecessarily point fingers at or condemn any religious organization in every church there are people who are committed to christ but it is our responsibility under god to open his word to share the truth of his word and when god gives clear identifying characteristics of a fallen church system that becomes the great mother church of our world and he clearly identifies that in the bible it becomes our responsibility whether it's popular or not whether it's the majority's opinion or not to graciously share that and so we do not condemn individuals we simply share what the bible says now there's an amazing statement made by eusebius on the life of constantine eusebius is one of the great historians of the early centuries and as church in state united in the fourth and fifth century eusebius makes this observation in order to attach to christianity great attraction in the eyes of the nobility the catholic priests adopted outer garments in ornaments which were used in pagan cults in other words the pagan cults very very often very often would use the garments and very often purple and scarlet and as the result of that these were brought into christianity brought into the roman church in the early centuries now revelation 17 verse 9 says this calls for mind with wisdom if we're going to clearly identify babylon and understand it it calls for mind with wisdom the seven heads are seven hills upon which the woman sits so what have we discovered so far we have discovered that babylon is represented by the figure of a woman a woman represents the church a pure woman represents the true church a fallen woman represents the harlot church or a church that's left christ we've discovered that this fallen religious system known as the fallen church known as babylon rides upon a scarlet colored beast we've noticed that this fallen religious system is united with the state commits fortification leaves her true lover so there's a union a church and state we've noticed as well that she has a wine cup that she passes around of fallen doctrine or false doctrine we've noticed that her colors are purple and scarlet we've noticed as well now in this prediction that she would her capital would be on a city of seven hills there are a number of cities in the world that have seven hills but if you look at every aspect of this description there is only one that fits this particular description in the context of revelation chapter 17. professor ernest martin when he's talking about the prominence of rome in the roman empire and he's talking about the prominence of the roman church makes this amazing this incredible statement the fact that rome was designated the seven-hill city was significant enough to render it as a sacred and holy city that was designated to have world power and authority so professor ernest martin describing the history of rome and the roman empire talks about the fact that there was a belief in the ancient world that when you have your capital on a seven healed city that that in itself put that city into prominence he goes on he says this is one of the reasons professor martin says the ancient people of the world always respected the city of rome whether they were its archdefenders and supporters or its enemies and were alien to its political and religious concepts so professor martin points out that the city of rome indeed had unusual prominence in those early years now there's something on this woman's head that gives us the entire clue to the identification of the woman on her forehead a name was written mystery babylon the great the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth this great woman has a name on her forehead what is that name on her forehead do you see what that name is mystery babylon the great that is leading us back to old testament babylon so that we can understand new testament babylonian revelation so we can understand spiritual babylon we need to go back and say what was the essential philosophy of old testament babylon what was at its heart what was at its foundation so let's go back you know santana the historian once said those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it so we need to go back and look at old testament babylon and an appeal to remember remember what old testament babylon was like so you can understand new testament babylon you remember in ancient babylon one thing you notice very clearly is god gave to daniel a great vision of the history of the world and an interpretation of the vision that nebuchadnezzar had nebuchadnezzar was the king of babylon nebuchadnezzar though wanted to rule the world so although god gave to nebuchadnezzar a image with a head of gold breast and arms of silver thighs of brass legs of iron the toes of the image of clay that was in daniel the second chapter representing the great nations that would rule the world babylon media persia greece and rome the breakup of the roman empire and then the coming of christ but nebuchadnezzar contrary in an opposition to that vision notice here on the screen he makes a vision a an image all of gold totally absolutely of gold and he passes a decree that everybody must worship that image so if we learn anything from babylon we learn that in ancient babylon church and state united in ancient babylon decrees were for were enforced to lead men and women the followers of christ contrary to the word of god to bow down to that image in violation of the second commandment we learn that we also learn that human beings and their opinions as leaders were exalted above god there's an appeal that god gives us disobedience to the commands of pagan religion was enforced with a death decree and as we'll see as we continue our studies here in revelation chapter 14 when we come to two studies on the mark of the beast that once again a death decree will be enforced but let's go back to ancient babylon and try to discover what is at its very heart remember in revelation 17 verse 5 there is something written on the forehead of this fallen church system babylon the great the mother of harlots a fallen church system whose doctrines would go to the world a fallen church system that would have many daughter churches as well revelation reveals the past it leads us back to ancient babylon so we can understand something about this second angel's message babylon is falling so we can flee babylon leave the intoxication of the wine of babylon and come to the truth of god's word what does it mean mystery the babylon the great well let's go back to ancient babylon see in this presentation if we can learn a little about ancient babylon literal babylon had fallen spiritual babylon rises but we learn some great lessons what are some of babylon's falsehoods in ancient babylon that we can then understand would be super imported into the christian church today the central issue here is believing or disbelieving god's word that's the real central issue in ancient babylon human opinion was exalted above god's word you remember in genesis 11 verse 19 we have the origin of babylon it says therefore its name is called babel because there the lord confused the language of all the earth so right after the flood human beings in disobedience to god human beings in disbelief of god's word human beings in defiance of god's word built a temple a temple that rose to heaven because they thought if there's another flood coming we don't want to be destroyed so this tower of babel was the very foundation of the city of babylon this tower of babel was a monument to humanism it was a monumental human ideas it was a monument to human teachings it was a monument to human philosophy and so they turned from god's promise of protection to a human plan to protect themselves so in the last days of first history church and state unites they say you cannot buy or sell unless you follow the beast power babylon the woman with her false doctrine unites with the state but here there are a group of people that say we believe in the word of christ the word of christ is predominant in our lives we'll live by god's word and we believe in the promise of his protection we turn from human plans and ideas you know notice the first four letters of the word babylon what are they b a b y baby why do you call baby a baby you call a baby a baby because it has what confused speech so babylon has confused values when you think of babylon think of confusion when religion becomes confused truth becomes distorted and human opinions are elevated above god's word when that happens it's nothing more than babbling or babylon so in babylon there's the distortion of truth in babylon human opinion is exalted above god's word when somebody says well i know that's what god's word teaches but that's not what i think i know what god's word teaches but that's not what my pastor says i know what god's word teaches but that's not what my church teaches when we go for human opinion and look let me take that a step further when in the name of scholarship even and i thank god for godly scholars but when in the name of scholarship we superimpose our will upon the teachings of god's word we become confused in our understanding that creates more confusion than it does light god speaks in his word what is babylon when religion becomes confused when truth becomes distorted and human opinions are elevated above god's word it is nothing more my friend than babylon truth stands in stark contrast to error and hear the wise man puts it this way proverbs chapter 23 and verse 23 and the wise man speaks to this generation and his words come echoing and re-echoing down the centuries of time proverbs chapter 23 verse 23 he says buy the truth and sell it not also wisdom and instruction and understanding buy the truth and sell it not what is the fundamental problem with babylon babylon has sold out truth for popularity it sold out truth for convenience its teachings have amalgamated the teachings of the paganism and brought them into subtly into the church the books of daniel and revelation are complementary books and when daniel talks about the babylon he is providing lessons and a foundation to understand revelation you go back to daniel chapter 4 verse 30. what's the heart of babylon the babylonian king nebuchadnezzar speaks saying is not this great babylon that i have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty so babylon is a system of truth that unites church and state i said a system of truth they think it is truth it's really a system of error where the true church is based on the teachings of god's word on the authority of jesus christ spiritual babylon represents a religion based on human teachings established on human ideas and supported by human traditions on the other hand jesus said in matthew 16 verse 18 i will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it thank god jesus has a church as described in revelation chapter 12 verse 1 and 2 the woman in white pure undefiled doctrine as described in revelation 12 17 the dragon is roth angry with the woman the true church goes to make war passes a death decree under the fallen church system church and state unite no man can buy or sell but there god's people stand firm the dragon satan is angry with the true church goes to make war with the remnant of her seed the rest of her offspring that keep the commandments of god and have the faith of jesus saved by grace charmed by his love redeemed by the cross they live obedient lives and they keep the very commandments of god the church built by jesus will triumph at the end and so the choice really is will we live in harmony with jesus instructions his commands will we be part of the church built by jesus or part of a man-made system of religion that has confused religious values in colossians chapter 1 verse 18 the bible says he christ is the head of the body the church who's the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have preeminence there are some people today who have the idea well i don't want anything to do with authority sure i don't want to be part of the fall system but i want nothing to do with authority i don't want to be part of any man-made system the church the truth of the matter is jesus doesn't want you to be part of any man-made system but the church of christ on earth is not a man-made system because according to matthew chapter 16 verse 18 jesus says i'll build my church and according to colossians 1 christ is the head of the church so the alternative is not leaving babylon and being out here wandering in some kind of nether nether world it is rather accepting christ's appeal being part of the body of christ and being part of the church that he has established the true church of god is the only organization so big not a man-made organization but a divinely crafted organization so big that his body is on earth but his head is in heaven the question is will i follow a human leader or human leaders oh i accept jesus christ as my only leader jesus christ as the divine head of his church you know in daniel chapter 3 verse 4 and 5 when nebuchadnezzar set up that golden image and i mentioned it a little bit earlier but i want to develop that thought he said to you it is commanded notice not to you it is suggested to you it is commanded there was a human command o peoples nations and languages to all humanity to fall down and worship notice the issue that took place in daniel chapter 3. the issue was the union of church in state under babylon the issue that took place in daniel chapter 3 was a king who created an image that was a counterfeit to the image of daniel chapter 2. the issue in daniel chapter 3 very clearly in this image was one of worship a church state union under nebuchadnezzar of babylon passed a decree contrary to the second commandment that says thou shalt not make of thee any graven image thou shalt not bow down thyself to them who worship them this decree was passed to command false worship so in the last days of earth's history based on revelation 14 based on revelation 17 based on revelation 13. there'll be something very precisely the same church and state again will unite the fallen church will pass around the wine cup of its false doctrines the world will be enamored and intoxicated with those false doctrines in a time of economic political and social chaos there'll be an attempt to bring the world together they'll be forced religious decree and decrees that forbid man to buy or sell ultimately a death decree under the auspices of this false union known as the antichrist when that indeed takes place there will be compelled worship but once again god will have a group of people that are strengthened by his spirit that are empowered by his spirit that stand for him they stand for the one who hung on the cross for them filled with his grace empowered by his spirit they keep his commandments just as the second commandment was a test question in the days of ancient babylon in these last days the issue will be over worshiping the creator or worshiping the beast we're going to unpack this more in future presentations you see throughout the centuries the roman pontiffs have declared that they stand in the place of god on earth and they have the authority to pass decrees and to compel men and women to follow those decrees now let me give you some examples i'm going to go back to some roman catholic sources and look at the authority that the papal power claims that it has here's pope leo the 13th in an encyclical letter of june 20 1894. he said we hold upon this earth the place of god almighty notice this one this is on the authority of the councils of the church book 2 chapter 17. all names which in scriptures are applied to christ by virtue of which is established that he is over the church all the same names are applied to the pope or notice this one frias ecclesiastical dictionary the pope is of so great dignity and so exalted that he is not a mere man but as it were god the vicar of god or notice this one pope pius ix 1848-1878 in virtue of the promise of jesus to peter the pope is preserved from the possibility of error in the exercise of his office as shepherd and teacher of all christians in virtue of his notice this word supreme apostolic authority he defines a doctrine concerning faith or morals to be held by the whole church notice this statement says that the pope of rome has the authority to command and compel doctrine the new catholic encyclopedia that has come out says this infallibility it's defining infallibility it's more than a simple de facto absence of error it's a positive perfection ruling out the possibility of error so here you have it revelation predicts union of church and state it predicts that a church power will usurp the authority of christ and hear the church the roman church by its own acknowledgement it claims that it has that authority spiritual babylon the church of rome has taken on many many of the characteristics of ancient babylon 2 thessalonians chapter 2 verse 4 says who opposes and exalts himself above all that's called god of its worship so that he sits as god in the temple of god showing himself he is god in other words any earthly power that usurps the authority of christ claiming that it can pronounce doctrinal truth that power becomes an antichrist power the westminster confession originally published in 1647 states this philip schaff the creeds of christendom great historian there is no other head of the church but the lord jesus christ do you agree with that nor can the pope of rome in any sense be head thereof but is that westminster confession antichrist that the man of sin and son of perdition that exalted himself in the church against christ and all that is called god you see spiritual babylon is a power that has an earthly head that speaks for god in the place of god the image was set up in the plains of babylon and these three hebrew worthies were compelled to bow down to the image babylon was the center of idolatry the babylonians believed that carved in wooden stone images were representatives of their deities spiritual babylon is a system with the human head introduces human teachings brings in idols for its worship services babylon is a system of religion that places emphasis on worshiping christ and mary and the apostles and the varied so-called saints through the images exactly like took place in ancient babylon god is calling us back to his word god is calling us back to the truths of his word he said in exodus 20 verse 4 and 5 you shall not make to yourself a carved image of any likeness of anything that's in heaven above or that's in earth beneath or that's in the water under the earth you shall not bow down to them or serve them for i the lord your god am a jealous god psalm 115 verse 4 to 8 says their idols are of silver of gold they're the work of man's hands they don't speak they don't see jesus calls us to worship him directly not through counterfeit images not through idols that have hands and feet but they do not feel tor talk edward goodwill puts it this way he spoke about religious tradition and myth from harvard university he says page 56-7 the church did everything it could to stamp out the pagan rights that's the pagan rites of babylon but had to capitulate and allow the rights to continue with only the name of the local deity changed to some christian saints name you see what happens this great historian at harvard says that the fallen church system brought into its system into its religious belief pagan images but they just changed the names to the names of the saints the honor which has shown them the images good now says is referred to the prototypes which they represent so that by means of the images which we kiss and before which we uncover the head and prostrate ourselves we adore christ and venerate the saints whose likeness they bear wow absolutely amazing historian at harvard says images would come into the church and they would replace christ the bible says that we have one mediator between god and man jesus christ that christ is our image of the invisible god he is the one we worship jesus invites us to be done with all the traditions of man he invites us to step out from the majority and follow him completely to have nothing between our soul and our savior is that the decision you would like to make today nothing between my soul and my savior not of this world's delusive dream listen as charles sings nothing between my soul and my savior not of this world's dreams i have renounced or sinned before pleasure jesus is mine there's nothing between nothing between my soul and my savior so that his blessed face may be seen nothing preventing the least of his favor keep the way clear let nothing between there's nothing between like worldly pleasure habits the lie though harmless they seem must knock my heart from him ever silver he's my old there's nothing between nothing between my soul and my savior so that his blessed face may be seen nothing preventing the least of his favor keeps awake clear there's nothing between jesus is appealing to you right now [Music] his appeal to you is to step out from all tradition to anchor your life in his word his appeal to you is to make christ number one in your life as we pray to say jesus i want nothing between dear lord the desire of our hearts is to have nothing between us and christ although at times it's challenging and other times it's difficult to step out from the majority deep within our hearts we ask you for that strength to follow you now and forever in christ's name amen may jesus enable you to follow him today and always you

Channel: HopeLives365

Views: 603,290

Rating: 4.7422757 out of 5

Keywords: Revelation, Three Angels Messages, Jesus, God, Mark Finley, three cosmic messages, earth's final conflict, hopelives365, babylon, end times, last days, false doctrine, harlot, the bride of Christ, bible, seventh day adventist, catholic church, papacy, revelation 17

Id: Dm2RK0aFkys

Length: 56min 46sec (3406 seconds)

Published: Fri Aug 07 2020