If religious leaders
tamper with God's law,
00:00:01.36\00:00:04.27
is there any reason why
people can't do the same?
00:00:04.47\00:00:07.70
We've been talking
about the tragic heartache of
00:00:30.26\00:00:33.40
God's church, or
at least parts of it.
00:00:33.43\00:00:35.86
Betraying the Son of God
and becoming in a relationship
00:00:36.26\00:00:41.07
with people they ought not
to; the kings of the earth,
00:00:41.10\00:00:43.20
the power and wealth.
00:00:43.24\00:00:44.57
So we've talked
about the rise of Babylon.
00:00:45.14\00:00:47.18
And while Babylon
is not yet in place,
00:00:47.24\00:00:49.68
you can certainly see it rising.
00:00:49.71\00:00:51.28
And we've talked about
you can see all those things
00:00:51.31\00:00:54.28
coming together.
00:00:54.32\00:00:55.68
But the Bible also talks about
the epic failure of Babylon.
00:00:55.98\00:01:01.26
And so, this time we're
going to talk about its failure.
00:01:01.59\00:01:04.59
You know, there have
been some tremendous failures
00:01:05.09\00:01:07.26
down through history.
00:01:07.30\00:01:08.63
One of them I
think of is King Saul.
00:01:08.66\00:01:10.33
He started out so good,
but ends up in a witch's cave.
00:01:10.43\00:01:15.50
Failure; it's not
something that we want to see.
00:01:16.37\00:01:19.24
Unless it's something that
brings great evil in the world.
00:01:19.27\00:01:23.14
And Babylon is considered
by God and the heavens
00:01:23.18\00:01:26.72
as being something that
will be a terrible evil.
00:01:26.75\00:01:30.09
Even worse than Nazi Germany.
00:01:30.19\00:01:32.79
So let's go to the Scriptures
here, and we'll go to chapter 17
00:01:33.05\00:01:36.42
of the book of Revelation.
00:01:36.46\00:01:37.93
And we're going to see
here about the epic fail,
00:01:37.96\00:01:40.73
how the Bible
describes the epic fail.
00:01:40.76\00:01:42.53
We don't have time
to get into everything,
00:01:42.56\00:01:44.43
But actually not only 17,
but the whole chapter of 18.
00:01:44.53\00:01:47.84
We'll come back to
some of 18 a little later.
00:01:47.87\00:01:50.37
But let's look at right
now let's look at chapter 17
00:01:51.07\00:01:53.78
and we're going to look
at verse 9 from Scripture.
00:01:53.81\00:01:57.08
It says, "Here is the
mind that has wisdom."
00:01:57.18\00:01:59.98
And so in other
words it's saying,
00:02:00.38\00:02:01.72
think about this a little bit.
00:02:01.75\00:02:03.08
It's not hard
that you can't get it.
00:02:03.12\00:02:04.82
We want you to think
about it a little bit.
00:02:05.09\00:02:06.59
It's talking about Babylon.
00:02:06.62\00:02:08.06
Babylon that is sitting
on this multitudes, nations,
00:02:08.09\00:02:12.23
tongues, and people.
00:02:12.26\00:02:13.73
But God keeps
using different imagery
00:02:13.76\00:02:16.03
to help us get the point.
00:02:16.06\00:02:17.63
And He's been doing that
all the way down through.
00:02:17.67\00:02:20.90
Now I can't go through
those on every presentation.
00:02:20.94\00:02:24.24
So here we go, let's
just take a look at this.
00:02:24.27\00:02:26.68
"Here is the
mind that has wisdom:
00:02:27.58\00:02:29.01
The seven heads
are seven mountains
00:02:29.11\00:02:31.38
on which the woman sits."
00:02:31.41\00:02:33.08
Mountains are
usually places for kingdoms.
00:02:33.11\00:02:35.42
So we have seven churches,
seven seals, seven trumpets
00:02:35.45\00:02:40.29
from God's side.
00:02:40.32\00:02:41.66
And the Lamb that's
slain has seven eyes.
00:02:41.72\00:02:45.36
And those are opposed
to the great red dragon
00:02:45.39\00:02:48.80
with seven heads and ten horns.
00:02:48.90\00:02:51.57
And his other two phases,
three phases all together,
00:02:51.60\00:02:55.00
the phase of the leopard beast
has seven heads and ten horns,
00:02:55.20\00:02:58.37
and of course the scarlet beast
has seven heads and ten horns.
00:02:58.41\00:03:02.54
And again, these seven
heads represent the time period
00:03:02.78\00:03:06.55
from the time of John
to the coming of Jesus.
00:03:06.58\00:03:10.12
Just like the seven
seals, the seven trumpets,
00:03:10.15\00:03:12.79
and the seven churches all
cover this same time period.
00:03:12.82\00:03:16.83
So these seven mountains
are another way of saying
00:03:17.33\00:03:19.86
basically the same thing.
00:03:19.89\00:03:22.33
"There are also seven kings."
00:03:23.33\00:03:25.40
Another way of
saying the same thing.
00:03:25.43\00:03:27.34
"Five have fallen, one is,
and the other has not yet come.
00:03:27.54\00:03:32.21
And when he comes, he
will continue a short time."
00:03:32.31\00:03:35.01
So the focus is on
the final phase of this
00:03:35.04\00:03:39.55
as the great red dragon and
his final head, if you please,
00:03:39.58\00:03:43.42
or final time period in
this great controversy between
00:03:43.45\00:03:47.36
Christ and Satan takes place.
00:03:47.39\00:03:49.22
And then he goes on and
he says, "The beast that was,
00:03:49.32\00:03:52.13
and is not..."
00:03:52.33\00:03:53.80
Now that we know already
is the papacy who had the
00:03:53.83\00:03:57.67
mortal wound, the deadly
wound, and that wound is healed.
00:03:57.70\00:04:01.84
Helped by the
beast from the earth,
00:04:01.87\00:04:04.01
becomes extremely popular again.
00:04:04.04\00:04:06.98
And it says, "...is also the
eighth, and is of the seven..."
00:04:07.48\00:04:12.88
So that's not rocket science.
00:04:13.25\00:04:15.48
It's simply saying
there's not eight heads.
00:04:15.52\00:04:18.12
There's seven heads, but
the eighth is of the seven.
00:04:18.15\00:04:21.16
In other words, it's this
unique Babylon picture again.
00:04:21.19\00:04:26.23
And it's telling you
it's going to perdition.
00:04:26.26\00:04:28.93
So the seventh head is
also called the eighth head
00:04:29.16\00:04:31.90
because of this uniqueness
that we have with Babylon.
00:04:32.10\00:04:36.30
And then verse 12 says,
"The ten horns which you saw,"
00:04:37.01\00:04:41.61
on this scarlet colored
beast that the woman is riding,
00:04:41.64\00:04:45.81
those ten horns are
indeed ten kingdoms.
00:04:45.85\00:04:49.95
Now this is secular power.
00:04:49.98\00:04:51.59
There's nothing new here.
00:04:51.62\00:04:53.25
The great red dragon, pagan
Rome, united pagan religion
00:04:53.29\00:04:58.46
with state power.
00:04:58.49\00:05:00.16
Papal Rome, the popes do the
same thing with Christianity.
00:05:00.43\00:05:04.63
An apostate
form of Christianity,
00:05:04.67\00:05:07.00
not biblical Christianity.
00:05:07.04\00:05:08.90
They united it
with secular power.
00:05:08.94\00:05:12.54
And that's how we
got the Inquisition.
00:05:12.57\00:05:14.64
That's how we
got all the terrible
00:05:14.68\00:05:16.34
persecutions of the Dark Ages.
00:05:16.38\00:05:18.28
And in our last talk
together, we saw that Vatican II
00:05:18.31\00:05:22.75
really didn't change that
despite what everybody thinks.
00:05:22.78\00:05:26.35
Most people have been deceived.
00:05:26.55\00:05:28.46
Most people have
been hoodwinked on this.
00:05:28.49\00:05:30.63
They think that the papacy now
is endorsing religious liberty.
00:05:30.66\00:05:34.66
It's not.
00:05:34.70\00:05:36.03
It's only
endorsing a change of policy,
00:05:36.06\00:05:38.37
not a change of doctrine.
00:05:38.40\00:05:40.44
A change of policy means, "Well,
we're not going to require
00:05:40.47\00:05:45.27
secular governments to enforce
our religious teachings."
00:05:45.31\00:05:49.14
Well they can't, of
course, because there's a thing
00:05:49.68\00:05:51.78
called the
American Constitution.
00:05:51.81\00:05:53.78
But when you get
enough popular support,
00:05:54.02\00:05:56.69
they can either change or
make void the Constitution.
00:05:56.89\00:06:00.32
And then it's very clear at
that point they're going to be
00:06:00.52\00:06:03.32
quite willing to have the
state enforce their dogma.
00:06:03.36\00:06:06.59
Unfortunately, Protestantism
and evangelicals are beginning
00:06:06.63\00:06:10.80
to look and talk the same way.
00:06:10.83\00:06:13.30
Which is exactly
what the prophecy said;
00:06:13.40\00:06:16.10
that this great lamb-like
power that comes from the earth
00:06:16.14\00:06:19.67
with those two horns will
some day speak like a dragon.
00:06:19.71\00:06:23.18
Just like during the Dark
Ages, just like old pagan Rome.
00:06:23.91\00:06:28.05
And we're going to see
this union of church and state
00:06:28.15\00:06:31.92
come back into power again.
00:06:31.95\00:06:34.32
Because Vatican II and the
Catholic scholars that have
00:06:34.42\00:06:37.39
studied it said, "No, there's
no change in doctrine here.
00:06:37.43\00:06:41.50
It's only just a matter
of the needs of the moment."
00:06:41.53\00:06:47.04
And that's different than
the American Constitution,
00:06:47.07\00:06:49.87
as I've pointed out
before, that guarantees rights
00:06:49.90\00:06:53.78
of the minority.
00:06:53.81\00:06:55.21
So you don't get
tyranny of the majority.
00:06:55.24\00:06:58.18
You don't get the
tyranny of tyrants.
00:06:58.21\00:07:00.48
Those rights are
always protected.
00:07:00.52\00:07:03.42
But for the Vatican II
the scholars say, "Well, no,
00:07:03.65\00:07:09.12
that can come back and change
depending on if you can get
00:07:09.16\00:07:13.06
the majority to
agree with you again."
00:07:13.09\00:07:15.46
So Vatican II
never changes attitude
00:07:15.63\00:07:19.83
about religious liberty.
00:07:19.87\00:07:21.37
It only changed its policy.
00:07:21.40\00:07:24.04
So we've seen
that coming through.
00:07:24.14\00:07:25.97
And we talked about
that a little bit last time.
00:07:26.01\00:07:28.14
So these ten horns on the
beast, on this great red dragon,
00:07:28.41\00:07:33.58
and the leopard
beast, and the scarlet beast,
00:07:33.62\00:07:36.02
they represent
the secular power.
00:07:36.05\00:07:38.62
And that's always been united
in the great Rome apostasy
00:07:38.65\00:07:43.59
of paganism and papal Rome.
00:07:43.63\00:07:45.36
And now in the
end of time we see it
00:07:45.39\00:07:47.76
coming back to power again.
00:07:47.80\00:07:50.47
So we go now to verse 13.
00:07:51.50\00:07:53.67
And is says, "These," secular
powers, "are of one mind,
00:07:53.70\00:07:57.67
and they will give their power
and authority to the beast."
00:07:57.71\00:07:59.91
That's exactly
what they are saying.
00:07:59.94\00:08:01.64
They're saying that
these secular powers now
00:08:01.68\00:08:03.91
are going to
surrender their power
00:08:03.95\00:08:06.08
and they're going to
be guided and influenced
00:08:06.41\00:08:08.65
and directed by
this religious power.
00:08:08.68\00:08:11.29
So once again, we have
the union of church and state.
00:08:11.32\00:08:16.96
And every time you get that,
you're going to get persecution.
00:08:16.99\00:08:20.56
Now it says in verse 14, "These
will make war with the Lamb..."
00:08:21.03\00:08:24.93
And this is what the mark
of the beast is all about.
00:08:25.17\00:08:27.17
This is a great spiritual
war, but it also turns into
00:08:27.20\00:08:30.51
the persecution of people
who are faithful and true.
00:08:30.54\00:08:33.81
I think they're are
going to be millions of people
00:08:33.84\00:08:35.41
all over the world
that are going to embrace
00:08:35.44\00:08:37.15
the gospel of the Bible.
00:08:37.18\00:08:38.58
And I think, as I mentioned,
in the Jewish connection
00:08:38.75\00:08:41.18
I think we're going
to see many Jewish people
00:08:41.38\00:08:43.32
embrace the Savior.
00:08:43.35\00:08:44.69
I'm not talking
about what's happening
00:08:44.72\00:08:46.25
in the nation of Israel.
00:08:46.45\00:08:47.79
Nothing against the nation of
Israel, but we're going to see
00:08:47.82\00:08:49.62
some marvelous things
here in the end of time.
00:08:49.66\00:08:52.93
"And these," he says,
"will make war with the Lamb,
00:08:53.16\00:08:57.73
but the Lamb
will overcome them..."
00:08:57.77\00:08:59.67
And of course, that
overcoming is described.
00:08:59.70\00:09:02.00
We'll see more of that
in this epic fail of Babylon
00:09:02.04\00:09:05.57
as we go on here.
00:09:05.61\00:09:07.18
"...and He will
overcome them, for He," Jesus,
00:09:07.58\00:09:10.65
"is Lord of lords
and King of kings."
00:09:10.68\00:09:13.42
He's overcome Satan
and his hosts before.
00:09:13.45\00:09:16.32
And in this final conflict
of the great battle between
00:09:16.35\00:09:20.16
Christ and Satan, the Lord Jesus
is going to win this battle.
00:09:20.19\00:09:24.06
And then he says,
"And those who are with Him
00:09:24.29\00:09:28.90
are called,
chosen, and faithful."
00:09:28.93\00:09:32.70
You want to be
part of the called,
00:09:32.73\00:09:34.20
the chosen, and the faithful.
00:09:34.24\00:09:36.00
And then verse 15 he
said, "The waters which you saw,
00:09:36.20\00:09:38.67
where the harlot sits,
are peoples, multitudes,
00:09:38.71\00:09:41.14
nations, and tongues."
00:09:41.18\00:09:42.51
That's what gives the support.
00:09:42.54\00:09:44.18
This is not coming from kings.
00:09:44.28\00:09:45.95
It's coming
from popular support.
00:09:45.98\00:09:48.88
"And the ten horns
which you saw on the beast,
00:09:49.62\00:09:52.75
these will hate the harlot..."
00:09:52.79\00:09:54.12
That's what happened
over in that sixth plague.
00:09:54.32\00:09:57.23
Remember, the
Euphrates is dried up.
00:09:57.26\00:09:59.39
The water, the
support, dries up.
00:09:59.43\00:10:01.36
And with it, the
political support.
00:10:01.40\00:10:03.26
Well, what
happens when that happens?
00:10:03.30\00:10:04.97
When you've got all this clergy
that's been telling the state
00:10:05.00\00:10:08.14
what to do,
you've got these churches
00:10:08.17\00:10:10.81
telling the state how to go,
00:10:10.84\00:10:12.67
and all of a sudden
they come to the realization
00:10:12.71\00:10:14.84
that they've been
duped, they've been seduced,
00:10:14.88\00:10:17.75
then what happens?
00:10:17.78\00:10:19.21
Well, here's what
the Scripture says.
00:10:19.25\00:10:21.28
"And the ten horns
which you saw on the beast,
00:10:22.15\00:10:23.52
these will hate the harlot,
make her desolate and naked,
00:10:23.55\00:10:27.16
eat her flesh and
burn her with fire."
00:10:27.19\00:10:28.92
So the secular forces now
turn on the religious forces
00:10:28.96\00:10:34.50
that have led them down
this primrose path of seduction.
00:10:34.53\00:10:38.93
It's not a pretty scene.
00:10:38.97\00:10:40.54
Yes, Babylon wins huge, but
it fails even worse in the end.
00:10:40.77\00:10:46.94
And it just says that,
"God put it in their hearts
00:10:47.04\00:10:48.91
to fulfill His
purpose, to be of one mind,
00:10:48.94\00:10:52.98
and to give their
kingdom to the beast,
00:10:53.08\00:10:55.12
until the words of
God are fulfilled."
00:10:55.15\00:10:57.09
So the Lord is
watching over His people,
00:10:57.12\00:10:59.42
He's watching over
this whole situation,
00:10:59.45\00:11:02.76
this great controversy.
00:11:02.79\00:11:04.16
And so Jesus will tell us
again today, "Don't be afraid.
00:11:04.19\00:11:08.73
Don't be afraid."
00:11:08.76\00:11:10.43
That gives us
kind of a scriptural
00:11:10.47\00:11:12.23
overview of this failure.
00:11:12.27\00:11:13.84
Now we want to talk about that.
00:11:13.87\00:11:16.00
Let's go to
Protestantism for a moment.
00:11:16.37\00:11:19.27
When Protestantism arose out of
Europe in the terrible struggle
00:11:19.31\00:11:24.05
and the persecutions
that took place at that time,
00:11:24.08\00:11:27.05
eventually Protestantism
moved to this country.
00:11:27.52\00:11:31.05
This became, as I
mentioned earlier,
00:11:31.09\00:11:32.62
the great Protestant nation.
00:11:32.65\00:11:34.52
I think everybody in the
world has recognized that.
00:11:34.56\00:11:37.03
But there were five
points to Protestantism
00:11:37.53\00:11:40.26
that were so very important.
00:11:40.36\00:11:42.43
And those five points
I want to share with you
00:11:42.73\00:11:44.83
because we need to review them.
00:11:44.87\00:11:46.27
First of all,
there was Sola Scriptura;
00:11:46.60\00:11:49.00
meaning, by Scripture alone.
00:11:49.04\00:11:51.14
Meaning that
Scripture is the final authority
00:11:51.24\00:11:53.98
by which we judge our faith.
00:11:54.01\00:11:56.01
And of course, we should be
free to make those decisions.
00:11:56.11\00:11:59.11
Some people mourn
the fact that there's
00:11:59.15\00:12:01.02
many different denominations.
00:12:01.12\00:12:02.72
I don't mourn that fact at all.
00:12:02.75\00:12:04.59
Let people seek the
truth as it is in Jesus.
00:12:04.62\00:12:07.39
Let them have the
freedom to search the Scriptures
00:12:07.49\00:12:11.49
and to test
everything by the Scriptures.
00:12:11.59\00:12:14.36
If they don't have that freedom,
00:12:14.76\00:12:16.13
how can they
search for the truth?
00:12:16.16\00:12:17.57
So Sola Scriptura.
00:12:17.60\00:12:19.03
And then here's the next one.
00:12:19.13\00:12:20.87
Sola Fida; which
is, by faith alone.
00:12:21.20\00:12:24.37
So by Scripture alone, the
authority of Scripture alone.
00:12:24.41\00:12:27.28
And that we're
saved by faith alone.
00:12:27.38\00:12:29.91
That we're saved by grace alone.
00:12:29.94\00:12:32.48
In other words, we
don't earn our salvation.
00:12:32.58\00:12:34.48
We can't earn our salvation.
00:12:34.52\00:12:36.35
We're all poor
sinners and we need the
00:12:36.38\00:12:38.15
saving grace of the Lord
Jesus, both to forgive our sins
00:12:38.19\00:12:41.52
and to empower us
to become like Jesus.
00:12:41.56\00:12:44.69
And then Sola Christus.
00:12:45.63\00:12:47.46
In other words, by Christ alone.
00:12:47.66\00:12:50.30
The apostle Paul says
Christ is the end of the law.
00:12:50.87\00:12:53.70
He's the goal of the
law, the Greek word would say.
00:12:53.74\00:12:56.04
Doesn't mean He's
doing away with the law.
00:12:56.07\00:12:57.87
But Jesus is the
fulfillment of the law.
00:12:57.91\00:13:00.68
Listen, when you
bring Jesus into your heart,
00:13:00.71\00:13:02.81
you bring the Ten
Commandments into your heart
00:13:02.84\00:13:05.11
because He's the living law.
00:13:05.15\00:13:06.61
When you bring
Jesus into your heart,
00:13:06.72\00:13:08.35
you bring the
ceremonial law into your heart
00:13:08.62\00:13:10.45
because He's the forgiving
Lamb of God, if you please.
00:13:10.49\00:13:14.49
So everything rises, the sun
rises and sets in the Lord Jesus
00:13:14.69\00:13:19.36
by Christ alone.
00:13:19.39\00:13:21.43
And the last one is,
to the glory of God alone.
00:13:21.66\00:13:25.60
So that everything that
we do, whatever we teach,
00:13:25.63\00:13:28.94
whatever we are,
whatever we become,
00:13:28.97\00:13:31.97
we do that not for our glory.
00:13:32.07\00:13:34.74
And that's opposite of Babylon.
00:13:34.78\00:13:36.18
She wants worldly
power and worldly glory.
00:13:36.21\00:13:39.48
But true Christians
want to live their life
00:13:39.51\00:13:42.72
according to this
great Protestant teaching:
00:13:42.75\00:13:45.85
to the glory of God alone.
00:13:46.22\00:13:50.09