Come out of Her, My People

[Music] well we have kept the Feast of Trumpets and now we are anticipating the Day of Atonement and it's so refreshing to be observing these days that are representing Christ's intervention on earth which we so desperately need we're hearing about what these days represent but I wanted to talk about perhaps today an issue which is or a subject which is related sort of take an offshoot one of the themes that we are talking about during these days of the fall holy days something that's going to happen at Christ's return but has roots that go back a couple of thousand years so to start off let's turn to revelation 17 and we read something in the book of Revelation from from John about a conversation that he had with one of the angels that was opening to blowing the trumpets opening the seals etc Revelation chapter 17 and verse 1 then one of these seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me saying to me come I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication so first of all let's take a step back for a moment and get a bigger perspective about the book of Revelation the book of Revelation is full of symbols for example stars sometimes represent angels floods sometimes represent people or armies horns represent governments or political powers and a woman in this context represents and symbolizes a church a woman symbolizes a church revelation 17 is describing a woman and as we're going to find out that woman is a church now let's go over to Revelation 19 and we'll we'll hop back and forth here for a moment just to get again a little context of what we're talking about here that a woman represents a church John was also inspired to see envision the glorified Saints entering God's kingdom the glorified Saints marrying Jesus Christ as his bride and of course we understand that that's when it happened after Christ returns after the seventh trumpet is blown and what a joyous time that will be let's read it revelation 19:7 how did John describe how did Christ describe his church his Saints verse seven let us be glad and rejoice and give him glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his wife has made herself ready so Christ is going to marry a woman he's going to marry his wife his church is symbolized by a woman verse 8 and to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen clean and bright for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints so Jesus inspired John to see his precious church his people who are faithful to him and zealous and are worshipping Him in spirit and in truth he inspired them hid John to see that church symbolized as a woman preparing to meet Mary her husband so what a contrast the the righteous and in a woman of character and integrity an upstanding woman of Revelation 19 as opposed to the woman of revelation 17 the bottom line is a one symbolizes a church let's go back to revelation 17 and we will read on about this church or religious system we might say that John prophesied of who which in God's eyes would be immoral and corrupt and decadent and abominable you know all of the adjectives you could possibly think of this church it is is it's you know it is that way is personifies that a revelation 17 in verse verse 3 so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns the woman again a church a religious system was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication what a description just about as far of a contrast to the woman that we were reading about in Revelation 19 as you could imagine here we see a woman who's living in luxury who's rich who's involved in worldly politics very blunt very candid not a very favorable description of this woman and the Bible is very open and doesn't mince words about it so why is it important that we talk about this why does it matter and even in this context of the fall holy days about Christ intervening in world affairs is it only an academic exercise is it to just figure out what this symbolizes and what that symbolizes well no it actually is pretty important for us revelation 18 revelation 18 and verse 1 after these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great Authority and the earth was illuminated with his glory and he cried mightily with a loud voice saying Babylon the Great is fallen is fallen and has become a dwelling place of demons a prison for every foul spirit in a cage for every unclean and hated bird so now we read of this system being demonic and full of demons and full of full of the uncleanness of Satan the devil and of his demons for all verse 3 the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury so it's talking about the same thing we were referring to before this woman who is a church who is a religious system who is not pleasing to God who is actually going to be judged by God as we're going to see verse 4 and I heard another voice from heaven saying come out of her my people lest you share in her sins and lest you receive of her place for her sins have reached to heaven and God has remembered her iniquities render to her just as she rendered to you and repay her double according to her works in the cup which she is mixed mixed double for her so a judgment coming on this system and an admonition God is giving to his people regarding this church verse 8 therefore her plagues will come in one day death and mourning and famine and she'll be utterly burned with fire for strong is the Lord who judges her so why is this important because whoever is alive whoever is a round of God's people whoever is a part of the the pure and chaste and good woman a woman of integrity and God's character and faithful and zeal whoever is a part of that is going to be faced with I mean to deal with this other woman and there's all even given the admonition don't be a part of her come out of her don't have anything to do with her or else you'll be punished as well so since we live and we find ourselves living in this generation it concerns us it's going to affect us and the call and the challenge is for us so let's talk about that today in a time we have about this system what's going to happen to it and how we must prepare for the times ahead and if you want a title it is come out of her my people come out of her my people now who would voluntarily be a part of a system like this that is blasphemous that is adulterous that is demonic you know who in their right mind would ever want to be a part of that and yet we understand and I won't turn to every scripture that we refer to today but in Matthew 24 verse 24 it says that in the end time as these things are happening just before Christ's return even if it's possible even the elect will be deceived because it will be so confusing and the deception will be so strong so there's a warning for us and that's why God John has given us the warning Christ has given it through John that even if the elect if it's possible could even be confused by this system John wasn't the only one who gave this warning as well notice in 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 Paul talked about a warning for his people a warning for the church and guess what he used the same symbolism of the church being a virtuous woman 2nd Corinthians chapter 11 and verse verse 1 oh that you would bear with me a little folly and indeed you do bear with me for I am jealous for you with godly jealousy for I have betrothed you to one husband that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ same symbolism that John used decades later when he wrote the book of Revelation but I fear lest somehow is the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ verse 4 for if he comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received or a different gospel which you have not accepted you may well put up with it Paul was saying I fear I'm concerned because there already was already beginning to see a a movement even within the church among those who were beginning to to corrupt and change and alter and pervert the truth within the church and he said I'm worried I'm concerned that some of you aren't going to be able to recognize this when this blossoms witness flowers and I can see the signs already on the wall same symbolism same message same warning and this is way even before John wrote in revelation Paul explained that just because some come in the name of Christ doesn't mean they are true followers are true servants of Christ he said in verse 13 verse of chapter 11 of second Corinthians for such are false apostles deceitful workers transforming themselves into apostles of Christ and no longer for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness whose end will be according to their worse so Paul said look it's not surprising Satan has a count fit of Christianity and he has his servants who are his servants not God's servants he has his ministers who are his ministers not God's ministers and so he said watch out just because people use the name of Christ doesn't mean they're of Christ so this holy day season in the fall and about trumpets and about atonement and about the Feast of Tabernacles this is so important for us knowing and understanding what is going to happen within most of our lifetimes we understand that the signs are on are already there we are in the days leading up to these events and we know that this system that Paul was talking about that John was talking about is going to put tremendous pressure on God's people and on anyone who will try to get in its way before the end comes so we need to be ready and that's why God has given us this book why he has given us a book of Revelation with a description of things that are going to happen so we can be warned so we can be prepared so we don't have to be frightened and how thankful we are for that so let's look at a few identifying markers of this system this woman the adulterous woman of Revelation 17 so so we can make sure that we come out of this system in every possible way number one number one some identifying markers number one the harlot woman the great harlot represents a politically influential religious system the harlot woman represents a politically influential religious system let's go back about 1500 years to the end of the Roman Empire around 476 ad we understand in the 6th century the eastern Emperor named Justinian dreamed of reuniting the East in the West and he did it to some degree but how did he do that well a British author and speaker adrian hilton explained it in his book principality and power of europe and he wrote back in 2000 or so he said he that is Justinian saw himself as God's agent destroying barbarian heretics winning back the lost provinces of the West and healing the divisions inflicted on Rome by barbarian invaders in 476 he acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope in the West he acknowledged the supremacy of the Pope in the West and effectively restored both legs of the empire east and west this became known as the Imperial restoration in quote so Justinian very cleverly gain the loyalty of the bishops and of the Pope in Rome in order to reconquer Rome and with that alliance a new sort of a new sort of configuration was born and political reality was born in Europe and that was the union of temporal kings and a religious system made up of religious leaders these these kings and these religious leaders and that became the story of Europe for a thousand years and more again remember in Revelation 17 it speaks of a beast that has seven heads those seven heads and the woman is riding this beast those seven heads represents seven successive governments and we can talk about what those governments were well who those kings were Justinian we take as being the first in this in this restoration of the Roman Empire the so-called Holy Roman Empire the second was Charlemagne crowned by the Pope by the Pope think about it this this alliance between religious leader and the King and the political leader Charlemagne that was in the year 800 then Otto the great was crowned in 962 AD and Charles the fifth and 15 30 and then Napoleon Napoleon the Pope was about to crown him in 1804 and as we are told the story napoleon grabbed the crown and put it on his own head he did not want to come under the authority of the Pope in that sense but he still recognized that the Pope had the crown to hand to him you know to one degree or another so clearly there was this this alliance that they both needed each other the Pope and the the religious system needed the Kings and these leaders and these leaders needed the religious system as well so these are the five and then we can identify the axis alliance between Italy and Germany in the late 1800s and early 1900s as the sixth head so what does this mean but there are seven heads and only six have occurred it means there's one more coming the point is this is an old system this has been around for now what is that over 1,500 years and yet it's going to rear its head one more time and there are forces behind the scenes pushing for it to do so we're familiar with Pope John Paul's call back in the 1980s for Europe to rediscover its roots but back in 2006 Pope Benedict said in an address he said it is not surprising that Christianity despite its origins and some significant development in the east that's an interesting way to put it origins and some significant development in the East you know as if you know all the things that happen in Asia Minor were really sort of insignificant what really was important was in Rome you know just a strange strange thing there but he says it finally took on its historically sysop character in europe the church we can also express this the other way around this convergence with the subsequent edition of the Roman heritage created Europe what a statement and remains the foundation of what can rightly be called Europe so in the Pope's eyes Pope Benedict sighs you don't have Europe you don't have the what we see is Europe without the this religious system underpinning and being the foundation even the current Pope although he has soft pedaled it he has he has still talked about this Christian so-called Christian system being an important thing in Europe he said back in not long ago I think it was a year or two ago yes Europe has Christian roots and it is Christianity is responsibility to water these roots interesting but this must be done in a spirit of service as in the washing of the feet Christianity's duty to europe is one of service it must not become a colonial enterprise it's interesting how you know when this woman is revived and blossoms again probably at first it will seem like a positive a peaceful enterprise but at the end of the day it's going to bring devastation and it's going to be a very harsh system for any of those who oppose it let's turn over to revelation 17 again we're in second Corinthians let's go back to revelation 17 and we find here as we were talking about the seven heads in Revelation chapter 17 and verse verse 9 here is the mind which has wisdom the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits there are also seven kings now again seven kings successive Kings all the way from Justinian up into the last one which has not appeared but notice it says five have fallen one is and the other has not yet come now we understand this as referring to five heads have come had five had fallen beam before the 1930s or so one is that was the one that mr. Armstrong when he became aware of this and we he understood this that was the Mussolini Hitler axis axis and one is and yet one is to come now some may say well that's very convenient for you to for us or the church to say ah this scripture had to be understood only from the perspective of the early 1900s well let's think about it for a moment when we understand that a whole third one third of the Bible is prophecy and a good portion of that is in time prophecy leading up to the return of Christ the biggest event that will ever happen in history at least you know in that sense I mean Christ directly intervening in the earth he came the first time to die and be a servant that the second time he'll come back to take control of the kings and kingdoms of this earth certainly up to that point that will be the the most dramatic point in human history and and so and also the fact that the tribulation is going to be the worst time of trouble ever that will have ever come upon the earth would it not make sense that whoever is living in that generation just before that time that God would give them and would unfold and unveil an understanding of where they are and even in a unique way so they could be prepared why wouldn't he give that generation our generation an understanding of what's coming when we're going to face the worst time of trouble that has ever come on the earth or ever will come on the earth but we understand that this is talking about our time and one is still yet to come revelation 17 and verse verse 12 read that the ten horns again that we read about on the Beast that the woman is writing the ten horns which you saw are ten Kings who have received no Kingdom as yet but they receive authority for one hour as Kings with the Beast these are of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the Beast so we understand that from this that there will be ten different leaders in Europe which are going to voluntarily give their allegiance and their power to this beast power who is in league with the woman and that's why of course we watch for this we watch for a hard inner core of ten nations or ten Kings or ten leaders in Europe that are really going to drive drive what's happening here so the point is we are in for some interesting times Europe will rise again as a world superpower and crucial to her ascent will be the growing strength of this religious power that is centuries old we need to be ready so we're not taken by surprise so first of all the this system this woman the harlot woman is a politically active and influential religious system number two number two the harlot woman is a religious system which is openly against the laws of God the harlot woman is a system that is openly against the laws of God you know in confusing times and according to Christ according to Jesus Christ the times ahead there are going to be some confusing times because of the the deceitfulness of this system because of the deceitful signs that are going to be done and we'll talk about that in a little bit it may be very confusing but in confusing times it's always important to go back to the beginning what is true what is right who can I trust and what does God expect of me what are some things that we can hang on to when times get rough you know I remember back in the time of when our former Association Worldwide Church of God was going through and entering an apostasy and entering a time when when doctrines were being overthrown and when things were in in flux and things were very confusing I was a college student at that time and I had friends who were going in very different directions and who were very excited about some of the new changes in the church at that time and you know it really felt like the church which I had grown up in and I had been a part of and I had trusted was really being dissolved right underneath my feet and I remember talking to those who I trusted those who I looked up to and those who I respected and one of them was my dad and talking to him about this and hearing him in talk just in personal conversations as well as to sermons etc about the commands of God who teaches the law of God who teaches the commandments of God when it's confusing when it's difficult when you have the fog of war you go back to the beginning you ask who is teaching the commandments of course there are other other parts you know that who is observing the right government and and doing the work etc but who is observing the laws of God Isaiah chapter 8 verse 20 says to the law and to the testimony if they do not speak according to this word it is because there is no light in them so if someone comes along and starts teaching contrary to God's laws and God's commandments it cuts through the confusion to do to look at who or where are the commandments beam taught now let's go back into history a little again and see how this system that we're talking about approached God's laws author William Manchester describes what the main dominant church of the Middle Ages was like in the book a world lit only by fire he says as mass baptism swelled its congregations the church the mainstream Church the visible Church the the the church which had grown in power in Europe at that time as mass baptism swelled its congregations the church further indulged the converts by condoning ancient rites or attempting to transform them in the hope never realized that they would die out so this author he doesn't have an axe to grind he's just describing as a reporter what was happening at that time and he said these ancient rites they never died out they were transformed they were put on a veneer of respectability but but they were just brought in right into the church what were some of them he goes on he says fertility rituals and augury were sanctioned in other words telling the future by various means and having these rights from ancient times which are festivals and and practices that really were just giving excuse for sexual promiscuity with a religious veneer and yet God told his people many times in the Old Testament he warned them against observing the practices of the nations around him many of which practiced ritual prostitution and practiced these fertility observances which were again obscene and frankly just promiscuous you know what what does God say in his word he's very clear then not only are we to avoid adultery and fornication but he says even in Matthew five and verse 27 avoid the thought in your heart of doing that of even thinking that they've even lusting after another person so you know as we are thinking about how to avoid certain traps in the future we must not be pulled into practices that are ungodly and immoral and unclean in an our day they're all around us the temptations are bombarding us and bombarding our children we must be ever vigilant by what we see and what we do what we think our entertainment you know these things don't really change what was the draw in those times in ancient times well the same draw that we have today I mean their sexual lust was a powerful draw so wide if Satan include those in the religious system of the day well of course it would be attractive to people and it would appeal to their their baser natures if they weren't following if they weren't responding to God things don't change and that's that's again a prime area where Satan in snares human beings so we must beware it it's interesting that this system we're talking about today is being rocked by scandals day of hundreds and even thousands of children being abused by priests I think in a recent court case there in Pennsylvania I think it was about a thousand victims of sexual abuse by priests over a 15 or 16 year your period is horrifying it's horrible and again as the news reports are saying even some high officials in this church are are being implicated in this scandal of the church that is involved in us it's interesting that the Pope even in the last couple of days has come out and has been quoted as saying the accuser is attacking us the accuser is attacking us now you know the God says you who bare the vessels of the Lord be clean and he's very clear about that and very emphatic about that this is this is a system which is unclaimed and we must not in any way shape or form be following that or even be following the the spirit of that system obedience to God's laws matter it matters to God it matters in our personal life the Messiah was prophesied to in Isaiah 42 verse 21 to exalt the law and make it honorable God is not against law Christ is not against the law it matters to him and it's a mark of this system we're talking about that the law of God is thrown out of the window and at least in terms of how they perceive it first Timothy chapter 4 verse 1 let's turn over to a passage here in first Timothy chapter 4 and verse 1 Paul again is writing here and Paul said now the spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons so there are demonic doctrines and this is a demonic system that we're talking about so what are some of their doctrines that are demonic speaking lies in hypocrisy having their own conscience seared with a hot iron forbidding to marry and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with Thanksgiving you know it's interesting that even one of the doctrines of demons is that that when God says marriage is good it's something that is natural is something that he designed it's something that he he ordained it's something that is even a part of him reproducing himself and and bringing children into into positive and and nurturing families then this system says no the priests should not marry it's in direct contradiction of what God says when when God says marriage is a beautiful thing and a wonderful thing in a natural thing and what young men and young women desire and what they want and it just is one example of how this system you know even if something like this goes against what God says and isn't it the truth and human nature all too often when we are not guided by God's Spirit if God says left we want to go right if he says go right we want to go left so whatever he says humanly we we say I I just want to do the opposite whatever it is we must have a different way of thinking again the point is this system is one this woman is one who will be over live system that that absolutely goes in contrary to God's law way Manchester continues in the book world lit only by fire he says statues of Horus the Egyptian sky God in Isis the goddess of royalty were rechristened Jesus and Mary they were just they were the same statues they were just called Jesus and Mary instead of the Egyptian Gus craftsman turned out other images and pictures to meet the demands of Christians who kissed them prostrating themselves before them and adorned them with flowers so there were people who were so hung up on idolatry that there was this outcry for images and what could the church do but satisfy the outcry of of the masses and that's of course what this this dominant visible church did nothing like what the Bible says nothing like what God says he said when when there are observances by the nations around you stay away from them don't do them break down their images don't be a part of that and and of course that's that's you know that's still valid today that we don't want any part of any type of idolatry and we want to give our lives totally to God and his laws and his commandments and it clarifies so much when we just understand that God's laws don't change God's commandments don't change so this system will be powerful will be politically influential influential it will be one that tries to do away with God's laws number three this is a system which will have lying wonders and deceitful signs lying wonders and deceitful signs let's go to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 3 real quickly here 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 in verse 3 Paul said verse three let no one deceive you by any means for that day in other words Christ's return will not come unless the fall in a way comes first and the man of sin is revealed there's this individual who is who is called the man of sin that's how he's labeled that's his name in that sense that's describing him the son of perdition who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called or that is worshipped so that he sits as God and the temple of God showing himself that He is God and then later down in the verses it describes him as the lawless one the lawless one and he is one who's coming according to the working of Satan with all power signs and lying wonders so we already read and we were talking about in the second point this system will be contrary to God's laws now we're reading again that this is a man of sin the lawless one and what's he going to do he's going to bring power signs and lying wonders and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish because verse 10 they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved and for this God will send them strong delusion that they should believe the lie so there's going to be this man of sin the lawless one who is going to bring strong delusion Revelation chapter 13 let's go back to revelation now Revelation chapter 13 and this now describes this chapter is talking about describing the same system but just from a different angle it's describing this system religious system as another beast as a second beast in contrast to the first beast which is the political entity verse 11 I saw another beast coming up out of the earth and he had to like a lamb but spoke like a dragon to horns like a lamb symbolic is this someone or something that is that is having the face or having the name of Jesus Christ the lamb but speaking like a dragon clearly what's coming out of his mouth and what he's teaching and what he's professing is not from God this is from the dragon this is from Satan the devil so this is clearly a deceitful system that as we're going to see is a religious system a church verse well he exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence and causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed verse 13 he performs great signs so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on earth in the sight of men and he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the Beast so again there's going to come on the scene a great leader of a church who's going to do powerful miracles now these don't appear to be sleight of hand they don't appear to be done by mirrors they don't appear to be fakes they appear to be real that he is going to have limited power certainly influenced by Satan the devil who has limited power you know he saved can't overthrow God but he has certain power so he's going to give certain power to this individual who is going to be performing actual miracles and you stop and think about it for a moment imagine that the TV stations the TV cameras imagine the people with their cameras with their uh you know FaceTime Facebook live on you don't even need the TV stations to be there anymore there will be a lot of people who will be very excited about this and that the buzz and the stir all over the war we'll be amazing this guy's performing miracles he's calling fire down from heaven nobody can do that unless they have power can you can you imagine the wave of a pressure it will be even among God's people to think wow this guy is doing signs and wonders and maybe some of the signs and wonders are even done for good you know to some limited extent whatever we don't know but but Christ said it's going to be so powerful and so deceitful we have to be weary can you imagine that but he also said don't be to see this is not a man of God and hold your place there because I do want to go back to a a chapter in Deuteronomy chapter 13 because this is really important Deuteronomy 13 and verse verse 1 I think there's a passage here which is crucial for us to understand in light of these events coming on and in light of the prophecies of a deception coming from this this individual Deuteronomy chapter 13 and verse 1 if there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams and he gives you a sign or a wonder and the sign or the wonder comes to pass notice God is not surprised or shocked you know if a false prophet is able to do limited signs why because they can have demonic health if the sign or wonder comes to pass of which he spoke to you saying let us go after other gods which you have not known and let us serve them you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul you notice the words of that individual are let us go after other gods let us serve other gods and God was saying through Moses look even if they the sign comes to pass if what they say and what they teach doesn't match up with my commandments don't follow them for I am testing you I am testing you you know again back in worldwide and the days when when things were starting to get very crazy and confusing I remember having a conversation with a class below classmate of mine and I was expressing some of my frustration with which with what was happening and and how you know how could this be how could we you know about God's laws and about what the church has taught for so many years and what the Bible says and and I remember one of my friends saying yeah but God would never allow that to happen God would never allow the leadership of the church to be taken over in this way into to teach in to throw a curveball at us no I mean look at it right there God says sometimes someone will come and that doesn't mean that we should look for loose bricks that doesn't mean that we should be super picky of God's servants but again according to the law and testimony if they don't speak according to these words and God's commandments there's no light in them and sometimes he allows us to be tested so that our loyalty can be tried and tested he says he's testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul you shall walk after the Lord your God and fear Him and keep his Commandments and obey his voice so God is going to allow our generation to be tested like we've never been tested before when this system raises its ugly head and we're going to be tried we're going to be tested to know if we really love God and really are going to obey Him and submit to him above all else and it doesn't matter if the signs come to pass that's the point because this system will have limit limited power to do deceitful signs that's number three it'll be politically influential it will be contrary to God's laws and it will be doing deceitful signs number four number four this system the harlot woman is a system which will have harlot daughters this system is one that will have harlot daughters let's go back to revelation 17 revelation 17 and verse 5 we'll pick up where we were reading before where we stopped after it talks about this woman being arrayed in purple and scarlet being very rich and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and filthiness of fornication you know corrupting God's laws and corrupting God's ways spiritual harlotry then notice verse 5 and on her forehead a name was written Mystery Babylon the Great the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth so clearly this church had again through compromise absorbed pagan rites ancient pagan rites that's what's talking about Mystery Babylon the great estate resurgence of the ancient mystery system Babylonian mystery religion but not only that what is one of the great legacies of this woman of this church simply put this church is not only a woman but she is a mother this church is not only a woman but she is a mother there are other churches that have come out of they may not look exactly like her they may have a different veneer a different finish a different facade a different name but when you break it down the DNA is exactly the same and that's the point now why is that important to us let's go back to revelation 13 let's unwrap this a bit and see something here in Revelation 13 picking up talking about this this religious system again in Revelation 13 that is going to rear its head just before Christ's return and notice one of the things that's going to happen verse 16 he causes all both small and great rich and poor free and slave to receive a mark on the right hand and on their foreheads and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name so what is that mark we understand all you have to do is go on the internet and you can find a whole bunch of different explanations of the mark of the beast you know whether it's some sort of implant or winter whether it's some sort of number that we're given whether you know your social security number or whatever there are all kinds of crazy ideas but most likely as we have learned for many years and taught and been taught in the church it is referring to the mark of the beast referring to people swearing allegiance to doctrines that are in contradiction to God's laws the mark of the beast is a mark of not obeying God's laws and it's talking about their hand and their head what they do with their hand and what they believe and profess in their head now even more specifically this is probably talking about Sunday worship as opposed to keeping the seventh-day Sabbath because you know that again that is the the one commandment that a lot of people can't take they they will keep nine of them but they cannot stand that fourth commandment and again the keeping of the Sabbath has to do with what we do with our hand we work on that day and also it has to do with what we think and profess and believe and are in our mind and in our heart so probably the mark of the beast is having to do with Sunday worship as opposed to keeping the seven day seven so let's stop and think for a moment it's not only the rich and powerful and influential church in the city of Rome that keeps sunday as a day of worship right there are a lot of other churches that identify themselves not as Catholic at all but keep Sunday all over the world why do they do it Sunday was never observed by Jesus Christ or the Apostles the the Apostle Paul never taught his brethren to keep Sunday and we can show that so clearly so easily Acts chapter 13 verses 42 through 44 talks about how when when Paul came out of the synagogue and was talking to the Jews and then he the Gentiles begged him to - to come back the next Sabbath and and teach them what a great opportunity he could have said look you guys you don't have to come wait a whole week list we're gonna have Sunday morning services right here tomorrow morning you come back to tomorrow I'll be here he didn't say that why because he didn't keep Sunday and and even the Gentiles were not keeping Sunday when as they came into the truth they were keeping the Sabbath the seventh day Sabbath you know I think I this may have been told before but I had it what an interesting conversation with a a gentleman who called several months ago some of us when mr. Aiman is taking the phone calls in PCD and when when he's on another line some of us will take some of the calls that that are forwarded and there was a gentleman who called up and he was sort of taking us to task for some of the things that we believed and taught that he had seen in the in the writings in the articles and he was fairly assertive and in his demeanor and we were talking a while and he just was not in agreement with what we taught and so we taught a while and and we talked for a while and I wasn't sure how how profitable this would be because he was pretty much set in his ways and then but as we talked I said okay let's talk about what we have in agreement you know we both agree that the Christ died for our sins we are sinners we we need forgiveness okay we both need agree that that we cannot keep the law without God's Spirit without its Christ keeping it in us okay he agreed with that okay you know we both believe that we we can't murder our grandmother right yeah okay we agree with that so we went through all of the different Commandments that we agreed on and I said finally you know so really it's only the Sabbath that we don't agree on right he said well yeah yeah that seems to be and so I said look can we just look at one passage and I said can you turn to acts 13 verse 42 and we read it together and after we read that he there was a long pause he says yeah I think you're right I think you're right I said okay that's amazing I didn't expect it because so many times is not about getting to the truth it's about defending your position but this man was amazing because when he saw it in black and white he he he didn't see it before but once he saw it in black and white he said you're right so just just an amazing phone call and I'm so glad that that I didn't cut it short B before we came to that ending that was pretty exciting who changed the Sabbath who changed the Sabbath Daniel chapter 7 verses 23 through 25 talks about a little horn who would displaced three horns it's talking about the the Pope who in league with Justinian was able to displace three barbarian tribes that had been ruling over Rome and then shall intend to change times and law this is a religious system that was prophesied to come and was against God's laws and for in particular it would change some of the times that that God's Way taught he having the audacity to change the day of worship that God ordained the point is the daughters have gone right along that's the point the daughters of Babylon have gone right along dr. Meredith explains this in his booklet which day is the Christian Sabbath page 35 he says the Catholic Church oh this is this is quoting let's see here oh no this is dr. Meredith the Catholic Church will gladly mention that it changed the day for it shows that the Protestants are not relying on the Bible is their only rule of faith as they claim but are instead acknowledging the authority of the Roman Church to change God's law the Catholic mayor explains it and this is a quote from 1893 quote the Protestant world at its birth found the Christian Sabbath or Sunday too strongly entrenched to run counter to its existence now again this is the Catholic source writing but just think this through it was therefore placed under the necessity of acquiescing in the arrangement thus implying the church's right to change the day for over years the Christian Sabbath Sunday is therefore to this day the acknowledged offspring of the Catholic Church without a word of protest from the Protestant world what a quote dr. Meredith says incredible yes of course the Catholic had no right to change the day nevertheless that is just what they did and the Protestant churches churches have followed suit meanwhile the true church has continued in keeping the true Sabbath just as it did in apostolic times so as we're thinking about marks of this woman she has harlot daughters untold millions of professing Christians think they are following the Bible and they may have respect for the Bible and they may be following parts of the Bible and many are sincere many are our neighbors and friends and relative relativism maybe many profess love of Christ and many to some degree do love Christ they they just don't know the whole truth yet and maybe they try to live good lives but we should never be confused the good people can be dead wrong on doctrine and on beliefs I think our young people need to really understand this that if you're growing up at in the church at this time you are in the true Church of God and you have an opportunity to learn the truth first to not be confused by the lies and deceptions of this false church and not have to wade through that don't take it for granted you know Satan doesn't arrive in in a pitchfork and a tail in a suit in a red suit he comes in a counterfeit you know I think that's again one thing that in our in the apostasy years ago I think one thing that those who overthrew God's way and what the church had been following for many years they they sort of preyed on the assumption that some fell into that you know everybody in the church is good and everybody out in the world is is evil and bad and decadent and you know you don't want any you don't want to touch them you don't want to be around them and you know we have to understand that that there are good people out in the world and I think a lot of young people got tripped up by that argument thinking wow you're right you know my neighbors are actually nice people you know and they don't keep this Evan but they're nicer than I am so you know maybe they're better Christians than I am and that that line of thinking really got a lot of people I'm confused we have to understand not everybody who doesn't understand the whole truth is mean and nasty we have some wonderful neighbors and we should we should help our neighbors as we have opportunity you know right now in this storm we should as opportunity if our neighbors need help we should be willing to help we should pitch in with those who who are around us and we can help or our unconverted relatives you know we they're not all mean and nasty but that is different than being true Christians and we need to understand that heresy is heresy no matter how nice that people are who espouse it you know mr. Weston has brought this out in his recent article in the September October 2018 LLC an article master of misdirection what I mean one of the headings is were we ever a Christian nation this is doctor referring to America the United States he explains that our friends and our neighbors are worshipping a false Christ and while they believe certain parts of the Bible and while they may be good people and why that's good to the degree of whatever they follow in the Bible that's good but the whole basic concepts of mainstream Protestantism came from a false counterfeit Christianity and as much as we care for our unconverted relatives and our neighbors we must never get confused about that because Sunday worship came straight out of this system we're talking about and the Protestants are a part of that system they have the marks of that system Sunday worship is one of them what's another mark and these are sort of sub heads of this point I think that's point for another mark that the daughters will have from the mother is the acceptance of the Trinity doctrine you know the Trinity can be in a lot of our minds something that is just technical and it's just theoretical it's just what theologians write about and that sort of thing matter of semantics we don't feel that way don't get me wrong I don't mean that but it can come across like well it's just a technical issue but when you start talking in the Protestant world about who is a real Christian when when you really get down to brass tacks for those who understand doctrine if you don't believe the Trinity they do not consider you a real Christian it's a big deal to to the Protestant world and the the leaders who took the church into apostasy back in the late 80s and early 90s they knew that they knew that the Worldwide Church of God would never really be accepted in the in the community of mainstream Protestantism Christianity if worldwide did not expose the Trinity doctrine that's why they changed it that's why they pushed it that's why they pushed it forward and yet where did it come from again the same source as Sunday worship going back to dr. Meredith's booklet and the pamphlet faith of our fathers by written by James Gibbons back in 1876 he wrote this this is James Cardinal Gibbons quoting the Catholic Church now this is a Catholic saying this so don't get me wrong it's not me saying as a saint as he says this the Catholic Church correctly teaches that our Lord and His apostles inculcated certain important duties of religion which are not recorded by the inspired writers now think about this for a moment when we talk about what the Bible says and what how we respect the Bible and uphold the Bible is God's Word he says this is the the Cardinal speaking for instance most Christians pray to the Holy Ghost a practice which is nowhere found in the Bible is that interesting but he says we must therefore conclude that the Scriptures alone cannot be a sufficient guide and rule of faith because they cannot at any time be within the reach of every Enquirer because they are not of themselves clear and intelligible even in matters of the highest importance and because they do not contain all the truths necessary for salvation now stop for a minute and think about that first of all he's saying the Bible is not the source of truth you can't understand it and frankly not everything required for salvation is there but the other point he makes is that most Christians pray to the Holy Ghost which is not found in the Bible therefore we don't trust the Bible you see the reasoning it's upside down but he's admitting that that practice is nowhere found in the Bible so where did it come from well you know you just do a little bit of research and you find the Trinity goes way way beyond the time of Christ it was a part of ancient pagan systems and the Catholic Church absorbed it just like they did a lot of things but again who just went along the product churches just went along because they didn't they wanted followers and they didn't want to rock the boat in a time when they were really locked in a political maneuver with the Catholic Church the German princes is dr. Meredith has explained in the in the articles about the Protestant Reformation it was a it was a political maneuver to to upend the power of the papacy what's another one number three in these sub heads of correlations between the Catholic Church and the Protestant churches is the doctrine of the immortal soul of heaven and hell' going to heaven going to hell but try to talk a good Baptist out of ever burning Hellfire and and see how far you can get you don't get very far where did that come from and what's the point well the point is when it comes down to what they really believe in doctrine many the Protestants are are really not that far removed from the Catholic Church you know other than the authority that papacy and and a few minor things which frankly have been erased in our recent years recent history some of you remember back a few years ago an evangelical minister Tony Palmer gave an address to a group of leaders in a Protestant Church and he referred to a movement of the Roman Catholic Church bringing back the daughters into the fold and he referred to a document signed in 1999 by the Catholics and the Lutheran's a new it's called the joint declaration on the doctrine of justification by the Lutheran World Federation in the Catholic Church so this is almost twenty years ago already but this is the joint declaration in faith we together hold the conviction that justification is the work of the triune God Catholic Lutheran they both signed this document the father sent his son into the world to save sinners the foundation and the presupposition of justification is the Incarnation death and direction of Christ justification thus means that Christ himself is our righteousness in which we share through the Holy Spirit in accord with the will of the Father together we confess by grace alone in faith in Christ's saving work and not because of any merit on our part we are accepted by God and receive the Holy Spirit who renew our hearts while equipping and calling us to good works now there's just a lot of words there you know it sounds all good but the point being is that they found the Catholic Church found a way to massage the wording so that the Lutheran's would agree to it and they signed it and the statement was met with applause and then Tony Palmer said the protest is over so why the Protestant Church good question what is left for the daughters of Babylon the daughters of the mother church to come back we are truly living in historic times the step for the daughters to come back to the mother is not that far I remember back a few years ago in the early 90s when I was visiting a relative of mine and in my hometown a great aunt and a friend of hers had died and they had a funeral and while I was there so I attended the funeral with her and we sat in the back the service was Catholic the my aunt was a Lutheran so we didn't take part in the in the in a service but at the end of of course we didn't take part of the service but at the end of the service the Catholic priest said now we'll have the mess and we invite all our Lutheran friends to come join us we wouldn't and couldn't have done this a few years ago now you know about four hundred five hundred years ago Protestants and Catholics were slitting each other's throats to the tune of mil were dying in the 30 Years War we are truly living in historic times and there's not much space not much of a step for the daughters to go back to the mother that's the point so the fourth point is that the in the major points here that the harlot the great harlot has harlot daughters so what are the four we've talked about so far she'll be a powerful influential political influence number two she will be in contradiction to God's laws number three she will have signs lying wonders and number four she will have harlot daughters number five number five this system will persecute the Saints this system will persecute the Saints Revelation chapter 17 and verse six let's read here I'll just read it I saw the woman drunk with a blood of the Saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus and when I saw her I marveled with great amazement there is persecution there has been persecution in the past and there will be persecution again in the future we we have to be courageous we have to be strong we'll need protection we can't depend on our own selves we have to have God's protection but it is also interesting that this system yes has persecuted the Saints but is persecuted and put to death a lot of others as well millions and millions of people have died because of the ravages of this system Satan is an indiscriminate killer you know he will he will try to destroy anyone that he can that's his goal there's even a story of one of a king during the Middle Ages this is brought out in the book war only by fire a king that has had displeased one of the Pope's and then as penance he apologized but as penance he was required to walk with chains on his feet all the way to Jerusalem and all the way back and then required to do it again I mean this is a cruel system this man walked with changed walked step by step as a way of penance thousands of miles and I if I remember the story he died not long afterward because of just the the his health was absolutely broken this system is a cruel system that will will persecute anyone that stands in its way dr. Meredith writes in who or what is the Antichrist he says historically do we read about a great church that did persecute millions of people during the Middle Ages did a church exist in his well-documented book a woman right the Beast author Dave hunt describes what the woman did for hundreds of years during the Middle Ages quote thus Roman Catholicism became quote the greatest the most persecuted faith the world has ever seen commanding the throne to impose the Christian Catholic religion on all its subjects innocent the third would a named and it sent the third murdered far more Christians in one afternoon than any Roman Emperor did in his entire reign you think about that for a moment we think about the Romans being a cruel taskmaster and yet nothing like this system will durant writes candidly compared with the persecution of heresy in Europe from 1227 to 1492 the persecution of Christians by Romans in the first three centuries after Christ was a mild and humane procedure making every allowance required by a historian and from to a Christian we must rank the Inquisition along with the wars and persecutions of our time as among the darkest blots on the record of mankind revealing a ferocity unknown in any beast so when John this is dr. Meredith writing so when John saw this woman or apostate Church drunk with the blood of the saints he was certainly not exaggerating so this system is going to be very very harsh and cruel on a lot of people and we have to be prepared but there also is some very encouraging things about the woman that is God's true church and is going to marry Christ let's turn over to Revelation chapter 12 because we aren't left to fear we aren't left to wonder God wants us to trust him God wants us to be faithful to him and yes there will be persecution and yes some of us may have to give our lives for this way of life but God shows that by and large his faithful and zealous church will be protected from the face of this serpent revelation 12 and verse 12 therefore rejoice o heavens and you who dwell in them what happens to the earth and the sea for the devil has come down to you having great wrath because he knows that he has a short time now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male child but the woman was given two wings of a great Eagle that she might fly into the wilderness to her place where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time from the presence of the serpent so we understand this not to be the rapture not to be you know people being being being lifted off into heaven somewhere but dr. Meredith explained so many times heaven is not described as a wilderness this is somewhere on earth and three three-and-a-half years comes out to a time that's one year times that's two years and half a time three and a half years the time of the of the tribulation all the way including the day of the Lord but God's people God's zealous people and faithful people those were really on fire and really close to him really walking this way not just talking the talk but really walking the walk will be protected verse eight verse 15 so the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood a flood being symbolic of of men of an army after the woman that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood but the earth helped the woman dramatic miracle which protects the church at this time and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon is spewed out of his mouth and the dragon was enraged with the woman and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ so this is not talking about the Jews this is talking about Christian through Christians because they keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Christ but notice not only commandment-keeping is important and not only believing in Christ is important but going all out being close to God changing growing being willing to be corrected being willing to be right in the center of God's will not somewhere off on the periphery not so somewhere sort of compromising with his way of life God will protect his people who are zealous and faithful are we zealous brethren because that's the warning for today not to work that God has given us for our time not to scare us out of our boots but but to understand this is coming and being ready and be warned just like the the type super typhoon in the Philippines and the hurricane coming off the Atlantic you know if if a week ago the state officials government officials would say why we don't want to scare anybody we know what I say anything about this hurricane coming we're not going to we're not going to talk that'll be scary well no we want them to tell us what's coming so we can prepare so we can make sure we have the things we need during a difficult time the same way God is telling us not to scare us but to understand what's coming and to know how we can escape it but the question we have to ask ourselves is are we really on fire are we really focused on what's important are we really putting first things first and none of us does it perfectly nobody does we all have to overcome but overcoming in itself is a major theme in the book of Revelation and if we don't have enough zeal if we sense that you know I'm really not doing what I know I need to be doing in my life we need to cry out to God for help he's not expecting us to do it on our own we need to ask him for help ask him for the encouragement ask him for the strength ask him for more of his spirit ask him to help help us use his spirit ask him to help us to draw him to draw us close to him and even to be asking and to teach us what we need to learn these holy days that are coming up the day of atonement in a few days and then the Feast of Tabernacles a tremendous time to think and meditate and absorbing and get all the craziness of this world sort of on the shelf and put that on the shelf and not worry about how it's getting crazier every day and to really soak up what God has for us and this time and in the message about the future and where our focus should be and what we should be doing right now to prepare a tremendous opportunity have in the next week and a half two weeks to do that so let's look at one one thing here as we get closer to finishing here in Revelation chapter 17 what will happen to this harlot woman what's the end what's the endgame well God reveals the end from the beginning and he says in verse 14 in revelation 17 after we read of the ten kings giving their power and authority of the Beast these will make war with the lamb but the lamb will overcome them that's the end of the story that that's how it ends it's not the end of the story yet for he is Lord of lords and King of Kings and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful so if we understand it we are even given an opportunity to be a part of the system and be a part of God's system God's Way of life God's church and be a part of those who are resurrected and changed and have a part to play - to put this system to its end forever what a tremendous opportunity that when we really understand how corrupt and how abominable and how much it has hurt people through the centuries that will be an honor to be a part of God's team that is putting this to an end notice in in verse verse 15 then he said to me the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are people's multitudes nations and tongues and the ten horns which you saw on the Beast knees will hate the harlot you notice how these turn on each other at the very end make her desolate and naked and eat her flesh and burn her with fire for God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose to be at one mine and give their Kingdom to the Beast until the words of God are fulfilled notice and turn over to Revelation 19 and verse 19 it says and I saw the Beast the kings of the earth and their armies gathered together to make war against him who sat on the horse and against his army and then the Beast was captured and with him the false prophet who worked signs in his presence by which he deceived those who received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped His image these two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone how does it end God tells us how it ends these two leaders are going to be destroyed and they never will impact humanity again and this system will never be allowed to impact humanity again let's turn over to a revelation 1 and it will close here God will restore the true worship will allow it to be flourish and spread all over the earth we're going to be talking about that in the Feast of Tabernacles and we can have a part of that but we have to overcome and we have to not be a part of this system in any shape or form either in an official form you know actually as a a member of it or even in spirit in taking on different aspects and attitudes of the the different attributes we've been talking about we need to be on God's team when all of this comes down we need to be on God's team and firmly in his camp that's the bottom line Revelation chapter 1 and verse 1 going back to the beginning of the book why was the book written we read the revolution revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave to him to show his servants things which must shortly take place it's for our good so we understand and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John who bore witness to the Word of God into the testimony of Jesus Christ to all that he saw you know it's accurate it's true it's good we can take it to the bank we can depend on it we can stake our lives on it verse 3 blessed blessed blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy it's a blessing to be able to read this book and understand what's happening and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near brethren there is a tremendous amount of truth as we look at these scriptures that we've read about the harlot woman who is going to rear her head one more time but God is going to win mr. Armstrong used to say that in the end he says I've read the end of the book and in the end we win what a tremendous blessing it is to be a part of the true church that pure woman who is faithfully and zealously following Christ all the way let's make sure we are a part of that woman as he says my people all my people come out of Babylon [Music]

Channel: Living Church of God

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Length: 89min 8sec (5348 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 04 2019