1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,120 in our first of two weekend intensives on three angels, one message. We're taking a rather specific 2 00:00:09,120 --> 00:00:14,160 look at a particular passage from the book of Revelation. What does it mean for us today? 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:21,840 Last night we started off with connecting the passage in Revelation 14 uniquely to the Seventh 4 00:00:21,840 --> 00:00:28,320 Day Adventist Church. It's our rallying call. It's our profession of faith. There are not many, 5 00:00:28,320 --> 00:00:34,400 if any, other denominations that preach specifically on this passage. So we feel 6 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:42,240 like we are compelled to do so because we recognize its importance in today's day and age. It is a call. 7 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:49,040 It's a call from God to us that extends from way back then all the way until now. I believe it will 8 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:55,280 carry us through until Jesus comes back. Last night we looked at how the gospel is presented 9 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:59,440 in the book of Revelation. A lot of people shy away from the book thinking that it's too scary 10 00:00:59,440 --> 00:01:04,640 or hard to understand, but rather we came to conclude that you can find Jesus. You can find 11 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:11,920 salvation. You can find grace connected in that book in large part because these angels start off 12 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:19,120 being described as carrying the everlasting gospel to the whole world. So if that is a character 13 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:24,160 description of the angels, then you cannot divorce the gospel from the book of Revelation. 14 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:32,560 This morning we looked at Revelation's greatest issue and we considered how the first angel was 15 00:01:32,560 --> 00:01:40,640 a call back to worshiping our Creator, acknowledging Him as Savior. There are options out there, 16 00:01:40,640 --> 00:01:45,360 but the first angel says, be faithful to the one who formed you, shaped you, and called you into 17 00:01:45,360 --> 00:01:52,480 being. In a nutshell, that's the first angel. Tonight we're going to look at angel two. I have 18 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:58,000 titled this Revelation and the End to Confusion. Before we get into it though, let's have a word of 19 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:03,760 prayer. Loving Heavenly Father, we thank you for the good news in your word. More importantly, 20 00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:09,200 we thank you for the good news embodied in Jesus Christ Himself. Tonight as we consider what 21 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:15,760 confusion is, the implications it could mean for us, its fall and its demise, we would ask and 22 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:21,120 invite the presence of your Holy Spirit to help us consider these important thoughts. As we pray in 23 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:30,080 Jesus' name, amen. When I started considering cults, oh my goodness, that went in reverse order, 24 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:38,640 so you get to see the end first. Cult and confusion. There's often a lead up to cultic activity, 25 00:02:38,640 --> 00:02:45,600 and mind you, that's not occultic as in paganism. This is cults. For example, Heaven's Gate. Those 26 00:02:45,600 --> 00:02:49,600 were the people that were looking for the spaceship on the back of, I believe it was Halebob. Do you 27 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:54,960 all remember that? I remember that. I think I actually got up one night to look for it. I didn't 28 00:02:54,960 --> 00:03:02,160 see a UFO. Sadly, that resulted in a lot of people killing themselves, expecting the aliens to take 29 00:03:02,160 --> 00:03:08,400 them home. It was very sad and tragic. We can think of the Manson clan led by Charles Manson himself. 30 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:14,800 That was cultic behavior. The man gathered a following, and we know that it involved 31 00:03:14,800 --> 00:03:21,040 heinous murder. It certainly was cultic. We can think of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, 32 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:25,600 and how they hold themselves up. Whether you are on this side or that side, and how the government 33 00:03:25,600 --> 00:03:32,400 handled it, when we look at the Branch Davidians, they certainly display cultic tendencies. 34 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:41,200 Then maybe one of the most famous ones, Jim Jones. There was one time that I actually listened to 35 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:51,760 the Jim Jones tapes. I don't recommend it. It's very disturbing. He recorded his entire final 36 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:59,520 sermon, if you will, to the group in Jonestown as they drank the Kool-Aid. You can hear the cries 37 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:06,720 and the screams and the pleadings as the man is encouraging them to go through with it. It's very 38 00:04:06,720 --> 00:04:14,400 sad. It's very tragic. Maybe we can think of more. When we look at cults, though, sometimes a question 39 00:04:14,400 --> 00:04:23,520 comes up. What leads to cultic gatherings or the figurehead at the front? What has been studied and 40 00:04:23,520 --> 00:04:30,160 what has been determined? There's no reliable personality factor. Maybe you can find some 41 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:37,360 overlapping in the cluster B groups in psychiatry, the narcissistic tendencies, but by and large, 42 00:04:37,360 --> 00:04:42,080 there's no reliable personality factor. What the studies have demonstrated, though, is that there 43 00:04:42,080 --> 00:04:48,480 are certain situational elements that make people more vulnerable to cult recruitment. 44 00:04:49,280 --> 00:04:55,200 That would be loneliness, i.e. moving somewhere new, depression, like a failed relationship, 45 00:04:55,200 --> 00:05:00,720 or just a general uncertainty about how to proceed in life. In other words, you're looking for 46 00:05:00,720 --> 00:05:07,520 direction. You're looking for a focal point. Your world feels like it's turned upside down. 47 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:16,080 Where do I go? Well, that breeds the perfect kind of situation for a person or a grouping of people 48 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,720 to come forward and provide what you are looking for. What are those things that people often look 49 00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:27,600 for? Well, the myriad of solutions can include structure, often strict with penalties. You can't 50 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:36,000 leave or else. Drink the Kool-Aid if you... It's a structure. That's a harsh penalty. Close social 51 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:43,440 contacts, what you find consistently is that there's often a strong intention in distancing you from 52 00:05:43,440 --> 00:05:50,640 longtime friends or family. They don't want you to maintain those long-held relationships. You need to 53 00:05:50,640 --> 00:05:57,760 only find your close-knit connections in the group. And then authority, of course, is often centralized. 54 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:04,560 Regularly, we see a singular individual, sometimes a collection of other people, but often 55 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:10,880 it's one, very centralized. This is all according to psychologists and cultists, 56 00:06:10,880 --> 00:06:17,760 this is all according to psychologist and cult expert Margaret Thaler Singer. She says that cults 57 00:06:17,760 --> 00:06:24,320 flourish during periods of social and political turbulence, that during breakdowns in the structure 58 00:06:25,200 --> 00:06:32,800 and rules of the prevailing society. That's where you see cults flourish. Or where have we seen this? 59 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:38,720 Cults were prevalent during the fall of Rome. They were prevalent during the French Revolution 60 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:45,200 in Japan after World War II and in Eastern Europe after the collapse of communism. Very turbulent 61 00:06:45,200 --> 00:06:50,560 times. Lots of people didn't know what had happened and what was going to happen and how to proceed 62 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:56,800 from here. Often families had died, people had been moved either by choice or against their will, 63 00:06:57,600 --> 00:07:04,960 and so cults flourished. Well, what about in America? Cults in America flourished during the 1960s 64 00:07:04,960 --> 00:07:13,280 counterculture movement. This was, I guess, emphasized or highlighted in part by civil unrest. 65 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:20,880 We know that was prominent during the 60s. The drug culture really came to the forefront. The sexual 66 00:07:20,880 --> 00:07:26,240 revolution, of course, put the pedal to the metal in the 60s. And then the weakening of the family. 67 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:34,320 So we have to ask ourselves, can we see at least some of these elements present today? Well, I would 68 00:07:34,320 --> 00:07:41,920 suggest yes, we can. One, civil unrest. Summer of 2020 comes right to my mind where we had race 69 00:07:41,920 --> 00:07:47,680 related riots that resulted in more than two billion dollars in damage across our nation. 70 00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:54,000 Violence ran rampant. There were murders and blindings and assaults of people just walking 71 00:07:54,000 --> 00:08:01,040 by trying to go to work. There were autonomous zones set up in at least two of our very prominent 72 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:08,000 cities. By doing that, they declared, we don't want to be a part of the United States. That is treasonous 73 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:15,440 unrest kind of language and activity. It was awful. January 6th of 2021 has been in the headlines. 74 00:08:15,440 --> 00:08:20,000 We saw a riot on Capitol grounds. It's not the first time the Capitol has come under attack, 75 00:08:20,000 --> 00:08:24,480 but this was unique in what led up to it, what happened that day. And I praise God, it got 76 00:08:24,480 --> 00:08:31,040 settled in five hours instead of six months and two billion dollars of damage. I'm grateful for that. 77 00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:37,280 I am. And then if you pay attention to any kind of news, if you dig a little bit, you can see that 78 00:08:37,280 --> 00:08:43,200 uncivil protests continue. Well, what do I mean by that? Well, we have laws that allow it. Blocking 79 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:48,560 roads are not one of those laws. Roadways are routinely blocked and people have to be forcefully 80 00:08:48,560 --> 00:08:56,400 removed. There is looting associated with many of these uncivil protests or just simply because of 81 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:04,160 a serious increase of crime. You can see it across our nation. It's awful. The numbers are very 82 00:09:04,160 --> 00:09:10,800 startling and it's very sad. Well, what about the drug culture? Well, decriminalization of marijuana 83 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:17,760 is moving very rapidly. In fact, in recent months is the first time I've seen THC things advertised 84 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:23,120 in Tennessee. Now, I have no idea where Tennessee stands, but the fact that they're advertising 85 00:09:23,120 --> 00:09:28,880 products now with THC, the active ingredient to marijuana, makes me think the laws are about to 86 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:34,880 change if they haven't already. We know it's no longer considered okay just for medical use. 87 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:43,440 People want it recreationally and the evidence that it is addictive continues to stack. It is 88 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:50,160 addictive in nature. Forget the claims that it is a safe drug. It is not and it's often found at the 89 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:57,040 beginning of people who go on to harder drugs. It is. Opiate use and addiction continues to rise. 90 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:03,600 We all know that. My wife is a nurse in the ER. She tells me about the frequent flyers that come. 91 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:10,720 They're looking for Tylenol 3. They're looking for fentanyl. They're looking for anything 92 00:10:10,720 --> 00:10:20,800 and she's gotten good at spotting them. It's awful. States. I haven't heard anything in Georgia or 93 00:10:20,800 --> 00:10:26,960 Tennessee. Some of our other friends in other locations have set up what they like to call 94 00:10:26,960 --> 00:10:33,360 safe injection sites for heroin addicts. I cannot imagine injecting heroin to be safe under any 95 00:10:33,360 --> 00:10:40,160 description, but for them it's safe. And there are some states that got caught sending out drug kits 96 00:10:40,160 --> 00:10:45,040 to users. If you look hard enough you can find the pictures. You can find the evidence. It's there. 97 00:10:45,760 --> 00:10:51,760 Now this is all rather important and good to know and it should catch our attention because drug 98 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:57,120 overdoses topped a hundred thousand people last year. That's for the first time ever in our 99 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:07,040 country's history. Of those, 79,000 were fentanyl related for the age range 18 to 49, making it the 100 00:11:07,040 --> 00:11:13,840 number one killer in that age range in our nation. And it's not close. It outpaces I think the next 101 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:24,960 three or four combined. That's terrible. There are now pastel colored fentanyl pills coming by the 102 00:11:24,960 --> 00:11:30,880 pallet load from Central and South America. Maybe they're coming from other countries via those 103 00:11:30,880 --> 00:11:36,240 countries, but they're finding them. If you've ever seen the candy Smarties, they are colored 104 00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:42,640 and shaped to look just like Smarties. It's very dangerous because a kid is attracted to colorful 105 00:11:42,640 --> 00:11:51,120 looking candy shaped pills. That's awful. Well what about the sexual revolution? Well right now men 106 00:11:51,120 --> 00:11:58,800 can be women who can be non who can be who knows? Who knows? When it started with a woman needs a 107 00:11:58,800 --> 00:12:05,120 man like a fish needs a bicycle, that there is zero difference between men and women. And we 108 00:12:05,120 --> 00:12:11,520 don't mean that in the women are as capable, but we are meaning that in the literal literal literal 109 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:17,120 sense. Zero difference. Well this is the inevitable result of it. This is the logical conclusion. 110 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:24,240 Everybody can be anybody can be everybody. There's no difference. Biological realities today 111 00:12:24,240 --> 00:12:31,680 are ignored or altered. And notice I put quotes on the altered because as you are born, so you are. 112 00:12:31,680 --> 00:12:38,400 Attempts can be made, but they never completely change what you start out with. The stories of 113 00:12:38,400 --> 00:12:46,480 D transitioning mount right now. Contrary to efforts to keep them quiet, you can find them. 114 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:52,160 They're horrendous tales of what these surgeries and what these alterations do to people at 115 00:12:52,160 --> 00:12:57,680 increasingly younger ages. In case you weren't aware, Vanderbilt University just up the road 116 00:12:57,680 --> 00:13:03,840 from us is currently going under state investigation because on camera they admitted to double 117 00:13:03,840 --> 00:13:11,040 mastectomies on girls as young as I believe 13, 14. Falloplasties on girls as young as 15, 16. 118 00:13:11,040 --> 00:13:18,800 And hormone blockers at about 10 or 11. And the most scary part about it is on camera. The lady 119 00:13:18,800 --> 00:13:26,480 that was proposing it said we're doing this for the almighty Moby Dollar. You can you can fund 120 00:13:26,480 --> 00:13:31,600 a hospital based on how expensive these surgeries are. And it's all caught and they're going to be 121 00:13:31,600 --> 00:13:37,520 investigated. We see and we are told now that pornography is not just something to overlook, 122 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:44,800 but that it is good to engage in. It's good to consume and it's a positive benefit to a marriage. 123 00:13:45,680 --> 00:13:50,960 Well if you ask the millions of people who are addicted to it with the 124 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:56,240 unsurprising psychological and physical results, not to mention the relational 125 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:02,880 harm that it comes, I would encourage us not to consider it good, but it should be relegated back 126 00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:09,520 into behind the curtain and the darkness and a shame-filled room. That's how strongly I feel about it. 127 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:17,360 And then of course maybe you have noticed that obscene material in schools as long 128 00:14:17,360 --> 00:14:23,040 as young as kindergarten all the way through the university has made it to parents attention. 129 00:14:23,040 --> 00:14:28,640 And you can you can see them confronting the school boards. You can find the imagery involved 130 00:14:28,640 --> 00:14:34,240 in some of these books. These books are promoted as school reading lists or they are placed in 131 00:14:34,240 --> 00:14:43,760 libraries. They depict pedophilia positively or and they also graphically show how young children 132 00:14:43,760 --> 00:14:52,640 minors can engage in sexual acts with one another and it's in our schools. I would like to see it 133 00:14:53,120 --> 00:14:59,040 out of there and this is before we even get into the ever-growing number of neo pronouns like z, 134 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:08,080 zir, zem, they, them, and theirs. Cake, you can identify as a cake, a cat, a demon, or a lower case 135 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:16,800 a cake, a cat, a demon, or a lower case g, god. And how you say that's how people are supposed to call you. 136 00:15:18,320 --> 00:15:24,320 It's it's rather startling that list grows. I actually tried to just look up just a definite 137 00:15:24,320 --> 00:15:31,120 number. No one said it but someone said very very very long list to choose from go shopping and pick 138 00:15:31,120 --> 00:15:38,400 what you think fits you. That's how one website advertised it. It leads to confusion amongst the youth. 139 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:45,280 I find it startling that the most controversial question of 2022 is what is a woman? 140 00:15:47,280 --> 00:15:53,600 People avoid it. People don't like to hear it. You get circular reasoning answers even if someone 141 00:15:53,600 --> 00:15:59,520 dares to try and give you an answer and if you ask it you are shunned, you are silenced, and you can 142 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:07,680 get kicked off of major online platforms. That's that that's just crazy to me. It leads to confusion. 143 00:16:07,680 --> 00:16:15,040 It leads to an unsettling of society. It leads to the increase in in anxiety and depression that we 144 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:22,480 see in our young ones. It leads to thoughts of self-harm because who am I? As a teenager that's 145 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:27,840 the biggest question that that people think and when you are just here's a million options. 146 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:33,360 How confusing is that? I've raised three boys. Well I'm working on my third and I'm working on my 147 00:16:33,360 --> 00:16:39,760 second. My first one's gone. A little bit of experience raising kids has taught me definitively 148 00:16:39,760 --> 00:16:47,520 young children developing children work best in allowable parameters and by that I mean safe 149 00:16:47,520 --> 00:16:52,800 parameters that sometimes they can lean against like a rubber band. They can stretch it a little 150 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:58,400 as they explore their identity but it's your it's the parent's responsibility to make sure they don't 151 00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:04,480 just break open the boundaries and go a wandering in the wilderness. So what we find in our society 152 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:09,840 what about the weakening of the family? Oh this one's going to work. Marriages decline while 153 00:17:09,840 --> 00:17:16,080 divorces increase. This is inside the church as well as outside the church. I believe it's pushing 154 00:17:16,080 --> 00:17:23,360 55 percent divorce rate in our nation and that's at the same time that people are getting married less. 155 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:33,120 We have more fatherless homes now than ever before. Some communities within roughly a two to three 156 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:40,800 decade time span went from a 17 percent fatherless rate to a 71 percent fatherless rate. 157 00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:48,640 That's a breaking apart of the family. It is. Both parents work. Now you might find this interesting 158 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:57,840 but there is I'm fairly traditional in that I think kids need their parents more rather than less. 159 00:17:58,800 --> 00:18:04,720 That's basically the long-held understanding in parenting with children. More interaction with your 160 00:18:04,720 --> 00:18:12,960 kids is better than less but now it is the norm for both parents to work and ask someone else to 161 00:18:12,960 --> 00:18:17,840 raise their child and then you pray that they are teaching your kid ideals that match up with your home. 162 00:18:20,320 --> 00:18:26,320 Maybe you have to. Maybe you're not able to have a single parent working in your household 163 00:18:27,360 --> 00:18:31,520 but it it does affect how the family operates. It does affect it. 164 00:18:31,520 --> 00:18:36,560 Now you might find that it's interesting I have this here happy wife happy life. Have we ever heard 165 00:18:36,560 --> 00:18:45,920 this phrase? I've heard it. I hate it. Here's why I don't like it. I don't like it because it's purely 166 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:55,440 one-sided. This phrase means that as long as one spouse 100 percent in a joint union if they are 167 00:18:55,440 --> 00:19:04,000 content everybody else should be content. I would rather see happy spouse happy house. 168 00:19:05,280 --> 00:19:10,720 That's what I would rather see because when both husband and wife are giving a hundred percent 169 00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:18,080 into the relationship and into the home that's better. That's good. The moment one regardless of 170 00:19:18,080 --> 00:19:25,360 who it is said you take the back seat all the way down to zero give me the hundred percent. No one's 171 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:34,800 happy. No one's happy. This is a lie that has harmed marriages. It's harmed families. Well what about 172 00:19:35,360 --> 00:19:40,960 COVID? I'm going to throw in an extra one that they didn't include in the cult but I see 173 00:19:40,960 --> 00:19:50,240 some similarities in aiding to confusion. That's the point aiding in confusion. Well one masks if 174 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:59,600 you follow the timeline January of 2020 the virus isn't even a concern. March 2020 no one needs to 175 00:19:59,600 --> 00:20:04,640 wear masks. It was in our country blowing through communities in March 2020. That's when everything 176 00:20:04,640 --> 00:20:10,880 shut down. So I'm going to throw in an extra one that they didn't include in the cult but I see 177 00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:18,080 masks are unnecessary. It might make you feel better but no need to wear them. Then June July 178 00:20:18,080 --> 00:20:26,400 2020 roughly it's now masks are a necessity not even an option a must capital M must. 179 00:20:27,520 --> 00:20:35,200 Then you get to January of 2021 and it's well now two is where you should be layering up 180 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:42,960 and putting on goggles and so on and so on. It's very confusing. Well why is that confusing? Well 181 00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:48,320 because at the same time that we were hearing that businesses and houses of worship were shut down 182 00:20:48,320 --> 00:20:58,720 but not universally. Walmart, Target, Amazon, Apple, Google they stayed open and raked in 183 00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:06,800 billions. Small businesses didn't have an option and tens and tens of thousands of small businesses 184 00:21:06,800 --> 00:21:13,520 were shuttered permanently. It was the greatest transfer of wealth in the business economy that 185 00:21:13,520 --> 00:21:19,360 this nation's ever seen from the small to the large. Well it didn't make any sense if you could 186 00:21:19,360 --> 00:21:24,240 catch if you could catch COVID at a small business where maybe 15 people are there at once 187 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:29,280 why should Walmart stay open where you could put 200 in there at once. It's just confusing. I'm 188 00:21:29,280 --> 00:21:35,120 just I'm just pointing out some of the the just confusing houses of worship were closed. You could 189 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:43,200 not practice your faith as you had defined it according to your inspired writings but casinos 190 00:21:43,200 --> 00:21:52,240 were open pot dispensaries were open strip clubs were open the porn stores were open. There was an 191 00:21:52,240 --> 00:22:01,040 there was an obvious interest in closing one and letting the other stay open. Very confusing 192 00:22:01,040 --> 00:22:07,440 highly inconsistent. I'm just pointing out it's very confusing. What about restaurants? Did we go 193 00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:17,680 to a restaurant during the time where I have never noticed a virus, pardon my cheekiness for a moment 194 00:22:17,680 --> 00:22:23,040 I've never noticed a virus that only stayed suspended five feet or higher in the air. 195 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:27,600 What do I mean by that? You had to wear your mask from the door to the table, 196 00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,880 sit below that suspended threshold and then you could take your mask off and converse 197 00:22:32,880 --> 00:22:40,720 like it was any other day. Very confusing very inconsistent and lots of people noticed it and 198 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:46,400 they said why are we doing this? If I can catch it if I'm safe at the table why can't I be safe 199 00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:51,280 walking to the restroom? That was the general question and I can't fault people for asking that 200 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:58,880 and then the 2020 riots basically put the nail in the confusion coffin if you will 201 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:07,520 or shined the spotlight on it because the riots happened right at the end of a couple of months 202 00:23:07,520 --> 00:23:14,560 of everything being closed. You were going to kill grandma was the rhetoric if you went to church 203 00:23:14,560 --> 00:23:20,080 but the tens of thousands of people shoulder to shoulder screaming spitting throwing bricks 204 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:27,120 were not going to catch COVID because this was a righteous virus. It understood the cause 205 00:23:27,120 --> 00:23:33,120 and you weren't going to catch it in those crowds but you could in a church pew. That was the rhetoric 206 00:23:34,400 --> 00:23:43,760 I remember it I was frustrated with it that basically in many many people's minds kind of 207 00:23:43,760 --> 00:23:49,680 highlighted the confusion to such a point they said what are y'all doing and then forget all the 208 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:56,160 videos and pictures of those who enforced the rules but didn't follow the rules again confusion 209 00:23:56,160 --> 00:24:06,160 abounded. What about religion? We are a religious institution it's good that we also turn our 210 00:24:06,160 --> 00:24:13,360 turn our attention to us. A recent study released by Lifeway Research the Christian book is called 211 00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:20,880 Christian Bookstore they also do research in other publications they found this in response to these 212 00:24:20,880 --> 00:24:26,160 statements on a survey I'm going to share with you the results one religious belief is matter of 213 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:35,520 opinion not objective truth just for context. I want to say 90 percent of the respondents 214 00:24:35,520 --> 00:24:41,120 identified themselves as evangelical Christians. There were a couple of outliers I said no I'm just 215 00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:47,040 American but I'm not evangelical I kind of have a belief but I'm not really that. In case you're 216 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:53,440 wondering how that relates Seventh-day Adventist Church is a part of that camp if you will. 217 00:24:54,240 --> 00:25:00,560 In response to this statement religious belief is matter of opinion not objective truth 54 percent 218 00:25:00,560 --> 00:25:07,360 agreed to that statement amongst evangelical Christians. 34 percent disagreed and 12 said 219 00:25:07,360 --> 00:25:13,520 they weren't sure that's confusing evangelical Christians should be able to answer to this. 220 00:25:15,120 --> 00:25:22,640 One true God in three persons the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit as three unique persons 221 00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:34,160 but they operate as one singular God okay 72 percent agree sounds good what about the other 28 222 00:25:34,160 --> 00:25:39,760 amongst evangelical Christians but when you break it down this is where the confusion rises to the 223 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:47,280 surface 59 percent of the 72 that agreed with this said that the Holy Spirit is a force not a personal 224 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:54,560 being perfectly contradicts very confusing 19 percent said that the Holy Spirit can tell them 225 00:25:54,560 --> 00:25:59,760 to do something that is forbidden in the Bible that God can tell you to violate his word. 226 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:05,360 55 percent said that Jesus is the first and greatest created being 227 00:26:07,120 --> 00:26:12,240 52 percent said that Jesus was a great teacher but not God. Do you notice how when you when you 228 00:26:12,240 --> 00:26:21,040 break it down it doesn't line up it's very confusing what about this one multiple religions 229 00:26:21,040 --> 00:26:27,040 or beliefs are accepted by God you would think evangelical Christians would say I'm not sure 230 00:26:27,040 --> 00:26:38,560 about that 64 percent said that God accepts worship of all religions all Islam Buddhist Protestant 231 00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:47,200 Catholic the list can go on all forms of worship are accepted by God 64 percent everyone sins a 232 00:26:47,200 --> 00:26:52,400 little but most people are good by nature I'm actually surprised that the number of people who 233 00:26:52,400 --> 00:27:00,400 agree with this is as low as it is 64 percent of evangelical Christians believe that mankind has an 234 00:27:00,400 --> 00:27:09,200 inherently good nature completely the opposite of what the Bible explicitly tells us that the Bible 235 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:17,440 is authoritative 51 percent only 51 percent believe that the Bible has the authority to tell us what 236 00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:24,560 to do and then our last one Christians and politics 24 percent of Americans believe that 237 00:27:24,560 --> 00:27:32,640 Christians should remain silent on political issues there is a growing move towards you can believe 238 00:27:32,640 --> 00:27:41,280 what you want inside the privacy of your home or your church but it cannot come beyond those 239 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:48,080 boundaries that is becoming the interest just so you know a little bit of nerdism when it comes to 240 00:27:48,080 --> 00:27:56,480 languages the word for political or politics comes from the same root word police in the Greek where 241 00:27:56,480 --> 00:28:06,640 we get city public in other words if you have an opinion at all about public things you therefore 242 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:13,760 have a political opinion everyone's got him a fourth of the nation would like Christians to stay 243 00:28:13,760 --> 00:28:24,960 silent about them well why why the confusion since the focus of our studies have been on the 244 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:32,000 Bible and spiritual matters we will primarily focus on the last one on the religion we will turn to 245 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,880 our passage for tonight and we will look at confusion as its detail but first let's ask this 246 00:28:36,880 --> 00:28:43,200 well one I believe that human nature looks for stability from confusion I don't believe human 247 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:52,640 nature as God's created us is content happy or well off inside of confusion and chaos humans strive 248 00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:59,680 for the stability wherever they can find it sometimes that's in unhealthy avenues and sometimes 249 00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:05,680 that's an unhealthy avenues like addictions or volatile relationships and I don't understand 250 00:29:06,240 --> 00:29:11,040 some of that but people look for it there's a there's a desire for stability and then why the 251 00:29:11,040 --> 00:29:17,200 confusion well because with greater confusion it is easier to gain control as we saw from the cults 252 00:29:17,200 --> 00:29:24,160 at the beginning the greater the confusion the easier it is for a person or a groupings of people 253 00:29:24,160 --> 00:29:30,480 or an institution to come to the front and say I will give you the stability that you want come to 254 00:29:30,480 --> 00:29:39,440 me it's very easy for that well when that happens I think history has given us some lessons on it 255 00:29:40,880 --> 00:29:45,520 let us look to the book of revelation then since we're looking at confusion in the religious realm 256 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:53,200 the book of revelation describes two systems it presents us with one of two choices it doesn't give 257 00:29:53,200 --> 00:30:00,000 doesn't give a middle ground this is not one of those how you feel it subjective kinds of matters 258 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:07,760 in revelation there is only one or the other the book contains a strong appeal to men and women in 259 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:14,320 the last days of earth's history an urgent call to what commitment that's what we looked at 260 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:22,960 I believe it was this morning earth's greatest revelations greatest issue the commitment who are 261 00:30:22,960 --> 00:30:29,440 we worshiping who's first in your life this appeal is summarized in the symbolism of two women in the 262 00:30:29,440 --> 00:30:34,560 book of revelation one we're going to go through some of this rather quickly in revelation 12 you 263 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:40,640 will see a woman depicted in white with stars and a crown and the earth and so on beautiful and 264 00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:47,200 gorgeous she is also a pure woman she is pregnant with a baby and if we want to know what a woman 265 00:30:47,200 --> 00:30:53,600 stands for we can let the bible define itself jeremiah tells us that i have likened the daughter 266 00:30:53,600 --> 00:31:02,080 of zion to a lovely and delicate woman that is god calling his people my people in the image of a 267 00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:08,640 delicate woman you read through the rest of the bible and it's usually the chaste lady the pure 268 00:31:08,640 --> 00:31:17,280 woman the faithful lady in the relationship so white symbolizes that the woman in white in 269 00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:23,520 revelation 12 that we see is faithful to jesus and she is undefiled with false doctrine that's the 270 00:31:23,520 --> 00:31:30,800 purity of the white with the stars she's faithful to her true lover jesus she is undefiled with the 271 00:31:30,800 --> 00:31:38,400 corruption of false doctrine she is described as christ's bride his church throughout the centuries 272 00:31:38,400 --> 00:31:44,480 satan has persecuted and attempted to destroy the people of god because we see that the dragon was 273 00:31:44,480 --> 00:31:51,200 enraged with this woman he went to make war with the rest of her offspring that is those that follow 274 00:31:51,200 --> 00:31:57,440 after her as being faithful to christ her offspring who keep the commandments of god and have the 275 00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:04,480 testimony of jesus christ the bride of christ his church it's faithful to him in every generation 276 00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:12,160 but the dragon that serpents of old the devil and satan doesn't like that you can expect his attacks 277 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:20,560 to come in a couple of ways direct and with options if you will it is good news though that 278 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:26,480 god has always had a people who are faithful to him the purpose of heaven's last day message in 279 00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:34,720 revelation 12 and 14 is to produce a people so filled with the holy spirit so committed to christ 280 00:32:34,720 --> 00:32:41,200 that they take up the call to share the everlasting gospel with the world that's the people that god 281 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:48,240 is calling the revelation 14 is also a warning against the confusion of popular religion 282 00:32:48,240 --> 00:32:55,600 why because what we see is that apostasy arises there is a fountain of truth grounded on the word 283 00:32:55,600 --> 00:33:02,240 of god grounded in his law grounded in his truth but then there is also a fountain of error 284 00:33:03,200 --> 00:33:13,120 confusion untruths near truths meant to distract or take away the devil's counterfeit system that 285 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:19,520 fountain of error has been termed babylon in the new testament it is a distortion of truth and it 286 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:27,120 originates with the father of lies so let's look now at our second angel this is this is where we 287 00:33:28,080 --> 00:33:33,760 we've transitioned from the intro to the first angel and now another angel a second followed 288 00:33:33,760 --> 00:33:41,040 after the first saying fallen fallen is babylon the great she who made all nations drink the wine 289 00:33:41,040 --> 00:33:47,840 of the passion or in your maybe your translation the wrath of her sexual immorality that's the 290 00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:54,640 second angel or what do we know about babylon well john wrote the book of revelation at the 291 00:33:54,640 --> 00:34:00,160 end of the first century he was the oldest of the apostles to live he was the last one to die 292 00:34:00,160 --> 00:34:06,000 he also died a natural death contrary to the attempts of the romans the stories go that he was 293 00:34:06,000 --> 00:34:12,800 uh the stories go that he was they tried to to boil him alive in oil and like the three hebrus 294 00:34:12,800 --> 00:34:17,280 in the furnace he just kind of walked around and had a bath and they pulled him out and they sent 295 00:34:17,280 --> 00:34:24,000 him away in exile but he didn't die in exile he died in ethos many historians believe that he 296 00:34:24,000 --> 00:34:30,400 lived out his days with mary the mother of jesus as many historians believe that to be how he spent 297 00:34:30,400 --> 00:34:38,400 his last days we know then that at that time actual historical babylon hadn't been in existence 298 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:46,960 for centuries in 539 bc the meads and the persians conquered babylon the city was attacked on multiple 299 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:55,120 occasions it was ultimately laid waste it wasn't around in john's time revelations prediction of 300 00:34:55,120 --> 00:35:00,240 the fall of babylon then cannot possibly be referring to the ruins of the ancient city of 301 00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:07,920 babylon it was already fallen on the euphrates in what is today modern iraq so it must mean 302 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:15,520 something else instead we find that revelation is a book of vivid symbolism in the prophecies of 303 00:35:15,520 --> 00:35:24,800 revelation babylon represents a false religious system confusion we will discover john describes 304 00:35:24,800 --> 00:35:33,440 this more extensively in revelation 17 you have to go forward a page or so then one of the seven 305 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:39,360 angels who had the seven bulls came and said to me come i will show you the judgment of the great 306 00:35:39,360 --> 00:35:45,680 prostitute who is seated on many waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed immorality 307 00:35:45,680 --> 00:35:52,400 and with the wine of whose immorality the sellers on earth have become drunk this harlot has departed 308 00:35:52,400 --> 00:36:00,080 from the faith of jesus because if a white chased virgin bride is the pure church one would think 309 00:36:00,080 --> 00:36:09,120 that an unfaithful red harlot would be an unfaithful church a confused church one not adhering to clear 310 00:36:09,120 --> 00:36:17,360 doctrine here is a picture not of the true church but of a fallen church this apostate religious 311 00:36:17,360 --> 00:36:24,480 system has compromised the truths of scripture so what do we see in a nutshell a woman equals a church 312 00:36:25,520 --> 00:36:30,080 now because we don't have time to cover all of the other references i put it there in the parentheses 313 00:36:30,080 --> 00:36:35,680 a beast equals a nation and a kingdom because this is a woman pictured sitting on top of a beast 314 00:36:36,880 --> 00:36:42,080 the white woman equals the faithful church the harlot equals the unfaithful church so what do we 315 00:36:42,080 --> 00:36:49,200 have what do we have well our church founders warned us about this the founders of the united 316 00:36:49,200 --> 00:36:55,200 states clearly understood that if a church drew its authority and power from the state 317 00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:02,080 intolerance and persecution often follows it often follows for those who don't conform to the 318 00:37:02,080 --> 00:37:08,400 church's mandates because now the church has the sword or the gun of the state in its back pocket 319 00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:15,120 if you will these early american leaders had experienced the tyranny of the state church union 320 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:20,880 in europe that's how we got so many of our early immigrants here into this new world they were 321 00:37:20,880 --> 00:37:26,560 fleeing religious persecution and they found a room to practice according to the dictates of their 322 00:37:26,560 --> 00:37:38,720 own conscience here in america that's why enshrined in our constitution out the gate is this that 323 00:37:38,720 --> 00:37:45,280 congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 324 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:54,080 thereof as a side note that right there is why i was personally cranky that churches were closed 325 00:37:54,080 --> 00:38:00,960 the free exercise thereof i understood to mean if in hebra's god says come together as a religious 326 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:10,320 community i should be allowed to do it that's just a side note this is important because what this 327 00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:15,920 means is that at the federal level the united states was not intended to copy that of europe 328 00:38:15,920 --> 00:38:21,440 and more specifically england in those days the united states was not going to follow in those 329 00:38:21,440 --> 00:38:28,160 shoes was rather going to allow men and women the room to practice their religion again according 330 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:35,920 to the dictates of their own conscience not as elected bureaucrats or unelected bureaucrats decided 331 00:38:39,760 --> 00:38:45,920 it was said this by george washington says i beg you be persuaded that no one would be more 332 00:38:45,920 --> 00:38:51,680 zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual 333 00:38:51,680 --> 00:38:59,520 tyranny and every species of religious persecution you can read our early letters and you can read 334 00:38:59,520 --> 00:39:06,800 what our founding fathers wrote on the side and they were religious men and and originators of 335 00:39:06,800 --> 00:39:11,760 our country it's all over the place we recognize the creator and the creator gives the rights and 336 00:39:11,760 --> 00:39:16,160 it's the government's job to protect the rights but there was a limit to what the government could 337 00:39:16,160 --> 00:39:23,280 do when it comes to religion and george washington states it wonderfully no one would be more zealous 338 00:39:23,280 --> 00:39:29,680 than myself to establish barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny and every species of 339 00:39:29,680 --> 00:39:36,880 religious persecution thomas jefferson is the one who coined the expression a separation of church 340 00:39:36,880 --> 00:39:44,000 and state that was in one letter in one phrase under one circumstance just a part of your history 341 00:39:44,000 --> 00:39:48,880 you can google this you can look for it it was not enshrined in the constitution it was the 342 00:39:48,880 --> 00:39:57,360 opinions of thomas jefferson in response to a baptist church's inquiry but the idea remains 343 00:39:57,360 --> 00:40:05,440 that there is a healthy distance between how the state and the church work together 344 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:13,360 can they yes my example and i like to use it is the abolition of slavery churches preached in the 345 00:40:13,360 --> 00:40:21,200 union states all men are created equal we should free the slaves what they're doing is a sin against 346 00:40:21,200 --> 00:40:26,720 god the southern states should not be allowed to do that at the time that they were encouraging 347 00:40:26,720 --> 00:40:33,520 people go support the abolition movement that's a good way for people to work together but no one 348 00:40:33,520 --> 00:40:37,440 didn't mean that the government told the church is what to say 349 00:40:41,280 --> 00:40:49,520 what do we see then in revelation 17 what has happened where now we see a woman and a beast 350 00:40:50,240 --> 00:40:56,400 together in unity well that woman made the inhabitants of the earth drunk with the wine 351 00:40:56,400 --> 00:41:03,440 of her fornication she passed around her false doctrine and let others drink deeply of the 352 00:41:03,440 --> 00:41:12,640 confusing ideas including let's work together to accomplish a common end in an unhealthy and 353 00:41:13,440 --> 00:41:20,560 a false way the fallen church passed around her wine cup of erroneous doctrine the world became 354 00:41:20,560 --> 00:41:26,880 intoxicated with these false religious ideas and you can hear them echo you can hear people taking 355 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:36,320 up the call this is why we see things like this where where the flags are put at a same or perhaps 356 00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:42,480 one is the other or so on there are differing opinions about it but some will preach from the 357 00:41:42,480 --> 00:41:49,280 pulpit you need to go and they will endorse a politician and they will be able to do that 358 00:41:49,280 --> 00:41:55,440 and they will say go for that person because that person is that should stay out of the pulpit it 359 00:41:55,440 --> 00:42:02,400 really should i would also say the churches should not invite politicians to speak from their pulpit 360 00:42:02,400 --> 00:42:09,760 and let's practice in places i i would discourage it i think that can certainly at least give the 361 00:42:09,760 --> 00:42:18,320 appearance of an endorsement but we see this the church has gained outward recognition by leaning 362 00:42:18,320 --> 00:42:25,840 on the world power which in its turn uses the church for its own objects such is the picture 363 00:42:25,840 --> 00:42:35,440 here of christendom ripe for judgment and please note that our our first angel said that judgment 364 00:42:35,440 --> 00:42:45,600 has come right now i believe this statement is is being carried out in the present when a nation 365 00:42:45,600 --> 00:42:51,760 turns its back on the principles of god's kingdom it becomes beast-like when the church leaves her 366 00:42:51,760 --> 00:42:57,120 true lover and looks to the state for power and support it compromises biblical principles and it 367 00:42:57,120 --> 00:43:04,640 becomes the harlot but what about christian nationalism have we heard the phrase recently 368 00:43:05,520 --> 00:43:13,760 is it being discussed i would propose two definitions for it i would propose two one 369 00:43:13,760 --> 00:43:21,680 simple and straightforward loyalty to your native country nationalism and you prefer to see christian 370 00:43:21,680 --> 00:43:29,440 ideals shape the culture that could be a meaning of christian nationalism because that's just simply 371 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:34,640 taking the words as they say it because we have to wonder what is the alternative to the meaning of 372 00:43:34,640 --> 00:43:39,760 number one well the alternative would be something like atheistic globalism 373 00:43:39,760 --> 00:43:45,440 are we in favor of atheistic globalism well one-fourth of the nation believes that christians 374 00:43:45,440 --> 00:43:52,160 should be quiet and go along with increasing movements in that direction as evangelical 375 00:43:52,160 --> 00:43:57,200 christians should we be in favor of a country that we love all of a sudden becoming 376 00:43:57,200 --> 00:44:08,480 what in opposition to this islamic hindu wiccan what are the alternatives because as christians 377 00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:14,480 i believe it's healthy for us to want to see christian ideals implemented in our culture 378 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:21,360 if we didn't want it to be a part of our lives we wouldn't be christians if we didn't want it to 379 00:44:21,360 --> 00:44:27,680 also be a part of other people's lives we would not be evangelical in nature 380 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:35,600 all right i would be in favor of the first meaning is what i'm trying to say the second one though 381 00:44:36,320 --> 00:44:42,480 is that church and government violate the intents of the constitution by establishing a federal 382 00:44:42,480 --> 00:44:49,680 religion you all of a sudden wield the bible in one hand and you wield a second hand and you 383 00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:56,160 one hand and you wield a secular law in the other and you hold them together jointly and you say 384 00:44:56,720 --> 00:45:01,680 this is what we need to do i would say that would be a violation that would be this next one 385 00:45:02,400 --> 00:45:09,280 god has called us to run rampant across the land and capture and take over things it is god's 386 00:45:09,280 --> 00:45:16,960 directive that we do this go vote i would encourage us to shy away from that kind of language 387 00:45:16,960 --> 00:45:22,480 i would encourage us to be okay with the first meaning and certainly not the second and then i 388 00:45:22,480 --> 00:45:30,560 would caution asking for a little discernment because these two meanings are regularly conflated 389 00:45:30,560 --> 00:45:38,240 in our conversations they are regularly conflated someone like me might be meaning the first one 390 00:45:38,240 --> 00:45:44,320 but i am accused of the second one they're conflated i would pray for some discernment when 391 00:45:44,320 --> 00:45:49,360 you're talking with others that we differentiate between the two be mindful 392 00:45:52,640 --> 00:45:57,440 why the warning well because those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it 393 00:45:57,920 --> 00:46:04,000 we've heard this this is this is a good saying well let's look at really quickly an appeal to 394 00:46:04,000 --> 00:46:09,440 remember in ancient babalon because that's where we get this word in ancient babalon the world was 395 00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:17,360 commanded to bow in worship to a god of gold including captured israelites hebrus bow to the 396 00:46:17,360 --> 00:46:24,080 god of gold we know that disobedience to the commands of that pagan religion was enforced with 397 00:46:24,080 --> 00:46:32,080 the death decree it is sad that out of the whole grouping of men there or or women i'm not sure but 398 00:46:32,080 --> 00:46:39,360 people three hebrus said i'm going to stay faithful to the god of my upbringing to the god of my 399 00:46:39,360 --> 00:46:47,280 fathers to the god of my faith three that's a very tiny minority my friends but that's what it was 400 00:46:48,000 --> 00:46:54,240 the union of church and state in ancient babalon and its propagation of religious falsehoods 401 00:46:54,240 --> 00:47:02,320 reveals how the devil will deceive multitudes in the future because in revelation 17 five we can see 402 00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:07,360 the connection from ancient to present on her forehead that's the same harlot on the beast 403 00:47:07,360 --> 00:47:13,360 the name was written mystery babalon the great the mother of harlots and of the abominations of 404 00:47:13,920 --> 00:47:19,600 the earth she's a mother that means she has daughters that means religious confusion is 405 00:47:19,600 --> 00:47:28,480 everywhere there's multiples of them don't chase down a singular source we should pray for discernment 406 00:47:28,480 --> 00:47:38,480 but here we see the name of this unfaithful bride babalon the great our passage cannot possibly be 407 00:47:38,480 --> 00:47:47,280 talking about literal babalon it is instead talking about spiritual babalon spiritual confusion not 408 00:47:47,280 --> 00:47:54,160 the the middle of iraq that's what we're talking about today an apostate religious system 409 00:47:54,160 --> 00:48:01,360 departing from the pure teaching of god's word it will introduce it has introduced into christianity 410 00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:09,680 many of the teachings of old testament babalon the paganism the confusion the the intoxicating 411 00:48:09,680 --> 00:48:16,400 smells and bells and sounds and and actions and sweet words that fall upon the ears and it makes 412 00:48:16,400 --> 00:48:24,640 us feel so good and then we leave and we go i'm just as empty as when i walked in we find it today 413 00:48:25,600 --> 00:48:32,080 it's true sometimes truth is stranger than fiction this prophecy is talking about a departure from 414 00:48:32,080 --> 00:48:37,680 the faith of scripture and false doctrines would enter the church through false religious systems 415 00:48:37,680 --> 00:48:46,800 identified as babalon where do we get this word babalon from and why do we connect it to confusion 416 00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:54,640 well in in ancient history after the flood genesis records that when the people of that day 417 00:48:55,760 --> 00:49:02,000 did not trust the god who sent the flood to then be true to his promise i won't flood the earth 418 00:49:02,000 --> 00:49:09,040 again they took matters into their own hands and said we will build a tower to the heavens it was 419 00:49:09,040 --> 00:49:16,400 a direct challenge to god their trust in him and his promise to them but when god came down and 420 00:49:16,400 --> 00:49:23,280 investigated what they were doing he was not pleased and so what he did to halt their progress 421 00:49:23,280 --> 00:49:30,240 was to mix up the languages that started what has now led to all of the hundreds of languages and 422 00:49:30,240 --> 00:49:36,960 dialects we have today it started right there the tower of babel therefore its name is called babel 423 00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:43,520 because there the lord confused the language of all the earth they had turned from god's promise 424 00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:51,040 of protection to a human plan to protect themselves are we making the same mistake today is what i want 425 00:49:51,040 --> 00:49:59,280 to know are we making the same mistake when you think of babalon think of confusion in the same 426 00:49:59,280 --> 00:50:05,680 way that we call little toddlers that are learning how to say mama and dada they are babbling right 427 00:50:06,480 --> 00:50:12,560 when someone is speaking nonsense for a host of reasons we use the same phrase they are babbling 428 00:50:13,200 --> 00:50:18,560 that's the root to our word babalon because when religion becomes confused 429 00:50:19,360 --> 00:50:26,160 babalon truth becomes distorted and human opinions are then elevated above god's word 430 00:50:26,160 --> 00:50:35,680 it's nothing more than babbling or babalon i would encourage us instead of allowing our religion to 431 00:50:35,680 --> 00:50:43,680 become confused rather than looking for the distorted truths out there we should instead 432 00:50:43,680 --> 00:50:52,640 look to have truth stand and start contrast to the error truth stands in contrast when god's truth 433 00:50:52,640 --> 00:51:00,880 is clearly preached it's not babbling it is proclaiming there is a major difference between 434 00:51:00,880 --> 00:51:06,240 proclaiming truth and babbling falsehood part of that is where is the emphasis coming from 435 00:51:06,240 --> 00:51:15,840 is it the person or is it god's word is it tradition or what god has inspired the writers 436 00:51:15,840 --> 00:51:22,640 to record it's a good place to start this is why we have been so focused on studying from the bible 437 00:51:22,640 --> 00:51:27,360 about what god wants to teach us we aren't just taking someone at their word and i would say 438 00:51:27,360 --> 00:51:34,080 not even pastors it was one of the early churches i believe it was beria was congratulated because 439 00:51:34,080 --> 00:51:38,640 they listened to what was preached and then they searched the scriptures to confirm it 440 00:51:39,680 --> 00:51:45,760 we should be following their example follow their example don't just take someone's word 441 00:51:45,760 --> 00:51:53,200 as gospel truth read and study the gospel for yourself it's wonderful spiritual babalon 442 00:51:53,200 --> 00:51:58,160 represents a religion that is based on human teachings established on human ideas and it is 443 00:51:58,160 --> 00:52:06,240 supported by human traditions there is a form of man-made religion that is built by brilliant 444 00:52:06,240 --> 00:52:12,320 human religious leaders many of them are well spoken very charismatic in their appearance 445 00:52:12,320 --> 00:52:18,560 and their mannerisms and their talk sometimes i like the cadence of how they speak i've tried 446 00:52:18,560 --> 00:52:25,040 to learn from some of the the good orders of our day but that's not what should attract us to them 447 00:52:26,000 --> 00:52:29,440 that's not why we pick our faith or don't pick our faith 448 00:52:31,840 --> 00:52:36,080 sometimes what we find is that these human religious leaders stand in opposition 449 00:52:36,080 --> 00:52:43,600 to the power of the gospel and the truth of god's word but does that mean that all churches are false 450 00:52:45,040 --> 00:52:49,920 well i would say that we should trust jesus at his word in matthew where he says i will build 451 00:52:50,640 --> 00:52:56,960 my church and the gates of hades shall not prevail against it if there is a my church for jesus 452 00:52:57,520 --> 00:53:04,080 that means there is a true church there is a true faith there is the lack of confusion somewhere 453 00:53:04,080 --> 00:53:10,720 are we searching for are we seeking after it are we striving to find it is our call and our challenge 454 00:53:10,720 --> 00:53:17,760 today it is built on a solid foundation a church built by jesus or a man-made system of religion 455 00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:24,320 those are the choices we are facing that's what the bible means when it talks about the the fountain 456 00:53:24,320 --> 00:53:31,200 of truth versus the fountain of error the two women represent this the church built by jesus 457 00:53:31,200 --> 00:53:35,280 or a man-made system of confused religion 458 00:53:37,440 --> 00:53:43,360 paul speaks again of the church that he that is jesus is the head of the body the church 459 00:53:44,240 --> 00:53:49,600 who is the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in all things he may have the preeminence 460 00:53:49,600 --> 00:53:56,160 jesus christ is the only head of the church there are some church leaders who dare to claim that for 461 00:53:56,160 --> 00:54:03,920 themselves i'm the head of the church i am the replacement for jesus while we are here on earth 462 00:54:03,920 --> 00:54:09,040 and oh by the way earth is going to last forever that makes me the leader forever there are some 463 00:54:09,040 --> 00:54:14,800 who say this i am paraphrasing of course they express it more eloquently and soothing to the 464 00:54:14,800 --> 00:54:23,360 ears but that's what they mean look to me instead of jesus my church will last forever don't seek 465 00:54:23,360 --> 00:54:33,200 after the true head of the church well how does babalon fall as we read from our second angel 466 00:54:33,200 --> 00:54:41,040 tonight that fallen fallen is babalon how does babalon fall one you choose a faith that places 467 00:54:41,040 --> 00:54:50,960 jesus as supreme in your life no alternatives no job no preacher no family member no practice 468 00:54:50,960 --> 00:54:59,600 no journeying no repeating prayers off of beads none of that don't take an additional book in 469 00:54:59,600 --> 00:55:06,960 place of the bible jesus should be supreme in your life no alternatives well we have to ask 470 00:55:07,760 --> 00:55:13,920 have you heard that preached so far i hope we have i hope i've been faithful to that have you 471 00:55:13,920 --> 00:55:20,480 heard it don't get caught in the confusion of the world and take your priorities off of him a lot of 472 00:55:20,480 --> 00:55:26,640 confusion out there we went through the list in the midst of it look to jesus choose to accept 473 00:55:26,640 --> 00:55:34,000 the bible as the inspired word of god different than those respondents to the survey accept that 474 00:55:34,000 --> 00:55:41,840 the bible is god's inspired word and has authority in your life if not you might as well put it next 475 00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:48,880 to tolkien you might as well put it next to some of our other writers spurgeon and the like if you 476 00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:56,480 don't believe that it is god's inspired word and authoritative in your life use it as a coaster 477 00:55:57,360 --> 00:56:00,560 because that's about all it amounts to it should be both 478 00:56:02,960 --> 00:56:12,320 seek truth instead of error challenge what you hear jesus says i am the way 479 00:56:12,320 --> 00:56:19,520 the truth and the life truth is not only expressed by jesus it is embodied in jesus 480 00:56:20,320 --> 00:56:27,440 you can't seek after truth without seeking after him him and his teachings are what you should 481 00:56:27,440 --> 00:56:33,200 adhere to challenge what comes your way and see if it lines up with the bible 482 00:56:33,200 --> 00:56:43,040 with the bible jeremiah says in 29 verse 13 a promise you will seek me and you will 483 00:56:43,920 --> 00:56:50,480 find me when you seek me with all of your heart would you like to have the most successful 484 00:56:50,480 --> 00:56:57,840 treasure hunt anyone has ever experienced seek jesus with all your heart he's promised you will 485 00:56:57,840 --> 00:57:04,640 find him you won't get to the x on that map and dig down deep and go where is he he has said i'll 486 00:57:04,640 --> 00:57:14,400 be there when you look for me and then finally babalon's time is running short how does babalon 487 00:57:14,400 --> 00:57:20,080 fall well it eventually just runs out of time it won't last forever the bible tells us 488 00:57:20,080 --> 00:57:27,200 revelation 148 says babalon fallen fallen is a babalon the great she who made all nations drink 489 00:57:27,200 --> 00:57:34,960 the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality babalons fallen it's sealed it's doomed it's 490 00:57:35,600 --> 00:57:41,600 it's inscripted on that death certificate already babalons not going to last forever 491 00:57:42,160 --> 00:57:48,240 do you want to be with something that doesn't last forever do you want to be a part of an 492 00:57:48,240 --> 00:57:54,240 institution or a part of a belief system or a part of a practice that has an expiration date 493 00:57:54,240 --> 00:58:03,920 and your name's written beside it i would hope not i would hope not this is stated again in 494 00:58:03,920 --> 00:58:12,240 revelation 18 the angel says again fallen fallen is babalon the great now you should notice when 495 00:58:12,240 --> 00:58:18,800 things are repeated this many times in the bible she has become a dwelling place for demons do you 496 00:58:18,800 --> 00:58:25,760 want to be engaged in that kind of practice i would hope not and then a plea come out of her 497 00:58:26,640 --> 00:58:33,680 my people if you have found yourself surrounded by religious confusion or tripped up in the past or 498 00:58:33,680 --> 00:58:42,080 you're struggling today there is a plea god calls you his come out of the confusion and you're 499 00:58:42,080 --> 00:58:48,880 and into the truth come away from the distractions and into the stability of jesus christ the rock 500 00:58:50,480 --> 00:58:59,040 get away from all of that mess and get into his loving arms that's a call for you and for me 501 00:59:01,680 --> 00:59:07,120 there is another warning cry that call do you find yourself in confusion 502 00:59:07,120 --> 00:59:12,400 you desire confusion to fall and truth to reign in your life 503 00:59:13,440 --> 00:59:21,840 i think those are good questions to consider we've identified what babalon is we we recognize it as 504 00:59:21,840 --> 00:59:27,440 religious confusion we've seen that it's every place and we've considered a few of the tests 505 00:59:27,440 --> 00:59:34,800 you can apply to it i would challenge you that if you answer yes to that second question 506 00:59:34,800 --> 00:59:43,440 to that second question follow some of those guidelines open up genesis to revelation if you 507 00:59:43,440 --> 00:59:50,800 don't know where to start would i recommend to you the gospel of matthew or john you can start in 508 00:59:50,800 --> 00:59:57,520 genesis it's a great history sometimes people get bogged down in genesis read the gospels if you 509 00:59:57,520 --> 01:00:02,640 want to know about the church after jesus goes back to heaven read the book of acts it reads like a 510 01:00:02,640 --> 01:00:09,120 story it's powerful what god did in the early church and you read that he wants to do it today 511 01:00:09,120 --> 01:00:17,840 in his church right now if you don't know where to start ask me ask one of our other church members 512 01:00:17,840 --> 01:00:24,640 we have resources we can share with you we will give personally of our time to open the bible 513 01:00:24,640 --> 01:00:30,160 and study the truth we're not going to just sit here afterwards in the back or in the aisle 514 01:00:30,160 --> 01:00:34,080 and i'm going to tell you something and then expect you to just believe me 515 01:00:36,320 --> 01:00:44,080 nope won't do that come study the bible with us we would love to do that our interest here at the 516 01:00:44,080 --> 01:00:49,760 ring old seventh day of ennish church is to lead you to jesus through a study of the bible 517 01:00:50,880 --> 01:00:58,240 not because you're just coming here we want to introduce you to jesus and then finally how will 518 01:00:58,240 --> 01:01:05,680 you respond to that last call to come out of that alone it's going to fall we can hurry along the 519 01:01:05,680 --> 01:01:13,680 falling process time is of the essence there is an urgency to this call how will you respond to it 520 01:01:15,520 --> 01:01:22,400 i pray that each one of us here can respond affirmatively we can say yes lord i want to 521 01:01:22,400 --> 01:01:29,760 follow you give me spiritual blinders so i'm not looking at the hot mess out there it's a 522 01:01:29,760 --> 01:01:36,240 dumpster fire in our worlds friends don't be distracted by the flames save that for camping 523 01:01:37,520 --> 01:01:44,400 don't let it get into your spiritual walk answer the call come out of confusion and into truth 524 01:01:44,400 --> 01:01:52,240 seek jesus let's pray heavenly father we thank you so much for this message of hope 525 01:01:52,240 --> 01:01:58,080 and a challenge for us we thank you that in the second message we still continue to see 526 01:01:58,080 --> 01:02:05,920 the gospel portrayed in stark contrast to the falsities of what the world or other religious 527 01:02:05,920 --> 01:02:12,960 institutions have to offer we long to find truth in you and in the bible lord i pray that you would 528 01:02:12,960 --> 01:02:19,120 inspire us today motivate us to be faithful to you and your word may we be counted among those whom 529 01:02:19,120 --> 01:02:26,000 you call my people and may we follow after you faithfully until you come to take us home we 530 01:02:26,000 --> 01:02:52,880 praise you and we thank you for loving us for we pray in jesus name amen you