Lesson #43

REVELATION AND THE SECOND COMING
LESSON #43
APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY AND MYSTERY BABYLON BLENDED

• MEMORY VERSE: COL 2:8

• IN OUR LAST LESSON WE EXAMINED THE ROOTS OF MYSTERY BABYLON, THE WORLD FALSE RELIGION. WE LEARNED THAT IT HAS BEEN IN THE WORLD SINCE THE TOWER OF BABEL IN GEN 10. IT IS THIS FALSE RELIGION THAT WILL DOMINATE THE WORLD IN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD.
• IN THIS LESSON WE WILL EXAMINE HOW THIS RELIGION APPEARS IN OUR PRESENT-DAY WORLD TODAY.

• READ LUK 18:7-8 JESUS’ IMPORTANT QUESTION
• THE ANSWER TO JESUS’ RHETORICAL QUESTION IS, “PROBABLY NOT”. WHY WILL JESUS NOT FIND MUCH FAITH ON EARTH WHEN HE COMES THE SECOND TIME?
• WE CAN FIND THE ANSWER IN OTHER SCRIPTURES CONCERNING THE LAST DAYS:
• READ 2THE 2:3-4
• READ 1TIM 4:1-2
• ACCORDING TO THESE SCRIPTURES, THERE WILL BE A GREAT APOSTASY IN THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION IN THE LAST DAYS. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?
• THE WORD “RELIGION” COMES FROM A GREEK WORD, religio, THAT MEANS = TO RETURN TO BONDAGE.
• RELIGION IS A SYSTEM DESIGNED BY MAN IN AN ATTEMPT TO CONTROL PEOPLE AND THEIR ENVIRONMENT IN THE NAME OF GOD.
• A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS CHRIST AS YOUR SAVIOR IS NOT A RELIGION. IT IS A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP THAT TRANSFORMS YOU AND PUTS YOU INTO THE SPIRITUAL KINGDOM OF GOD.
• THE WORD “APOSTASY” MEANS = TO STAND OFF OR AWAY FROM A PREVIOUS STANDARD.
• THIS STANDING OFF OR AWAY FROM TRUE DOCTRINE OCCURS FIRST IN DOCTRINE AND THEN IN PRACTICE.
• HOW DOES IT OCCUR?
• READ DEU 4:2
• READ REV 22:18-19
• THESE TWO SCRIPTURES TELL US THAT BY ADDING TO OR SUBTRACTING FROM THE WORD OF GOD MEANS YOU HAVE LEFT THE STANDARD THAT GOD ESTABLISHED IN THE BIBLE. (NOTICE THERE IS AN OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE AND A NEW TESTAMENT SCRIPTURE.)
• THE WORD OF GOD IS THE STANDARD ESTABLISHED BY GOD. THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH THAT GOD ESTABLISHED IN THE BOOK OF ACTS WAS BASED ON A STANDARD DOCTRINE INHERITED FROM THE OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES AND FROM THE FOUR GOSPELS AND CARRIED BY THE ORIGINAL DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES.
• THAT BIBLICAL STANDARD INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING BASIC DOCTRINES:
• THE SINFULNESS OF MAN.
• THE INFINITE AND ETERNAL NATURE OF GOD WHO IS TRANSCENDENT, OUTSIDE OF TIME AND SPACE.
• THE TRIUNE NATURE OF GOD (THE TRINITY).
• THE OMNIPRESENT NATURE OF GOD. (PRESENT EVERYWHERE)
• THE OMNIPOTENT NATURE OF GOD. (ALL POWERFUL)
• THE OMNISCIENT NATURE OF GOD. (ALL KNOWING)
• GOD’S NATURE OF INFINITE LOVE, MERCY, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS.
• THE GOD, JEHOVAH, AS THE ONLY TRUE GOD.
• SALVATION FOR MAN IS GIVEN BY THE GRACE OF GOD THROUGH FAITH IN GOD’S SON, JESUS CHRIST, WHO WAS BORN OF A VIRGIN, WAS CRUCIFIED TO PAY FOR MAN’S SINS, WAS RAISED FROM THE DEAD, ASCENDED INTO HEAVEN, AND COMING AGAIN TO EARTH.
• MAN CAN BE “BORN AGAIN” BY THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD TO RECEIVE A NEW NATURE IN JESUS CHRIST.
• ANY DEVIATION FROM THIS BASIC BIBLICAL STANDARD ENDS IN APOSTASY.
• THIS DEVIATION OCCURS BY ADDING TO OR TAKING AWAY FROM THE WORD OF GOD.
• WE SEE IT TODAY WITH ALL THE NEW BIBLE VERSIONS ON THE MARKET. EVERY TIME A NEW VERSION OF THE BIBLE IS PUBLISHED, IT FALLS FARTHER AWAY FROM THE TRUE STANDARD OF TRUTH. JUST BECAUSE A BOOK SAYS “BIBLE” ON THE FRONT DOES NOT MEAN IT CONTAINS THE BASIC ORIGINAL STANDARD.
• WE WILL CONSIDER JUST ONE SMALL EXAMPLE:

• THE KING JAMES VERSION CLEARLY TELLS YOU IN WHOM YOU MUST BELIEVE, IN JESUS, WHO SPOKE THOSE WORDS. THE NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION SEEMS TO INDICATE THAT YOU CAN BELIEVE IN ANYTHING OR ANYONE AS LONG AS YOU SINCERELY BELIEVE.
• THIS DEVIATION FROM TRUTH OCCURS GRADUALLY. IT IS A SLIPPERY SLOPE THAT CONTAINS ANY OF THE FOLLOWING STEPS:
• A DENIAL OF THE INSPIRATION OF THE BIBLE AS THE WORD OF GOD.
• ADDING TRADITIONS OF MEN, “NEW” REVELATIONS, OR WORLDLY COMPROMISE TO BASIC DOCTRINE.
• SUBSTITUTING MODERN WORDS FOR THE ORIGINAL WORDS IN THE BIBLE THAT CHANGE THE MEANING.
• TAKING AWAY CERTAIN PARTS OF THE BIBLE. FOR EXAMPLE: REMOVING THE FINAL VERSES FROM MARK 16 BECAUSE IT DOES NOT APPEAR IN SOME OF THE OLD GNOSTIC MANUSCRIPTS.
• EXCLUDING OLD TESTAMENT SCRIPTURES THAT TREAT CERTAIN BEHAVIORS AS SIN SO AS TO INCORPORATE THOSE BEHAVIORS INTO MODERN DAY PRACTICE.
• HAVING AN EXALTED CONCEPT OF MAN WHERE MAN CAN BECOME A GOD, OR HAVING A LIMITED CONCEPT OF GOD WHERE MAN MUST WORK HIS WAY TO HEAVEN.

• HOW FAR HAS THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH FALLEN AWAY FROM THE BASIC STANDARDS OF THE WORD OF GOD ENTRUSTED TO THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES?
• TO THE AVERAGE CHRISTIAN IN TODAY’S CHURCHES, IT DOES NOT SEEM VERY FAR. IT DOES NOT SEEM FAR BECAUSE WE SEE ONLY THE SPAN OF ONE GENERATION. HOWEVER, WHEN YOU EXAMINE HISTORICAL WRITINGS OF EARLY CHRISTIANS WHO WROTE ABOUT THEIR FAITH, WE LACK THE DEPTH OF FAITH THEY HAD.
• WHEN YOU COMPARE TODAY’S “STATEMENT OF FAITH” AND “VISION STATEMENT” PUT OUT BY MANY CHRISTIAN ORGANIZATIONS WITH THEIR “STATEMENT OF FAITH” AND “VISION STATEMENT” WHEN THEY WERE FIRST FOUNDED, YOU CLEARLY SEE THE EROSION.
• WHEN CHURCHES IN YOUR OWN COMMUNITY USED TO PREACH REPENTANCE FROM SIN AND SALVATION BY THE BLOOD OF CHRIST NOW NO LONGER MENTION THE WORDS, “SIN”, “REPENTANCE”, “SALVATION”, OR “BLOOD”, WE HAVE DEPARTED A GREAT DISTANCE FROM THE BASIC STANDARD.
• WHEN PASTORS SEE NO DIFFERENCE IN USING THE NEW VERSIONS OF THE BIBLE AND DO NOT WARN THEIR CONGREGATIONS ABOUT THEM, THE FLOCK IN THE LAST DAYS WILL FALL PREY TO A GREATER EROSION OF THE TRUTH.
• ARE WE IN THE LAST DAYS OF APOSTASY? ABSOLUTELY YES, WITHOUT DOUBT!

• THE BLENDING OF APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY WITH MYSTERY BABYLON:
• THIS IS THE SITUATION THAT WILL BE PRESENT IN THE LAST DAYS JUST PRIOR TO THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH:
• A RELIGIOUS FORM OF CHRISTIANITY WEAKENED BY APOSTASY.
• HAVING THE FORM AND NAME OF CHRISTIANITY BUT WITHOUT THE POWER OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.
• READ 2TIM 3:5-7
• WE HAVE JUST DISCUSSED THE EVIDENCE OF APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY IN OUR CHURCHES TODAY.
• A REVIVAL OF THE OLD MYSTERY BABYLON CULT:
• DO WE SEE EVIDENCE OF THIS TODAY? YES, ABSOLUTELY. WHAT KIND OF EVIDENCE?
• IN THE LAST 50 YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN A GRADUAL MOVE TO GLOBAL PANTHEISM. WHAT IS GLOBAL PANTHEISM?
• DEFINITION OF PANTHEISM IS ANY RELIGIOUS BELIEF OR DOCTRINE THAT IDENTIFIES GOD WITH THE UNIVERSE OR SAYS THAT THE UNIVERSE IS GOD.
• WHAT IS THE EVIDENCE OF GLOBAL PANTHEISM IN SOCIETY TODAY?
• WE CAN BEST SEE IT IF WE COMPARE IT WITH BASIC CHRISTIANITY AND THE HUMANISM OF 40 YEARS AGO.

• SOME OF THE EVIDENCE OF OTHER FORMS OF GLOBAL PANTHEISM TODAY:
• THE NEW AGE BELIEF IN MAN’S BASIC NATURE BEING GODLY INSTEAD OF SINFUL AS THE BIBLE TEACHES.
• AN INCREASE OF INTEREST IN SPIRITISM, BLACK SATANIC PRACTICES, OCCULTISM, ETC. (IT IS EVIDENT IN MANY OF TODAY’S TELEVISION PROGRAMS.)
• A REVIVED BELIEF IN “MOTHER EARTH” (BY VARIOUS NAMES)
• A REVIVAL OF PAGAN CELEBRATIONS OF THE “SUMMER SOLSTICE” AND THE “WINTER SOLSTICE” REPLACING CHRISTIAN HOLIDAYS.
• MANY ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS BELIEVE IN A FEMALE GODDESS OF THE EARTH.
• A WORLD-WIDE INCREASE IN APPARITIONS OF A FEMALE QUEEN OR GODDESS:

• WORLD-WIDE APPARITIONS OF A FEMALE QUEEN OR GODDESS:
• APPARITIONS OF A FEMALE FIGURE ARE INCREASING AROUND THE WORLD IN VARIOUS LOCATIONS AND IN MANY RELIGIONS INCLUDING, CATHOLIC, PROTESTANT, HINDU, BUDDHIST, ISLAM, ETC. THE INCREASE IN A BELIEF IN A FEMALE FIGURE THAT WILL UNITE ALL RELIGIONS IN ALL THE WORLD IS A GROWING TREND. THIS FEMALE FIGURE GOES BY MANY DIFFERENT NAMES AROUND THE WORLD:
• (CATHOLIC NAMES) MARY, MOTHER OF GOD, BLESSED VIRGIN, OUR LADY, OUR LADY OF FATIMA, LADY OF GUADALUPE, IMMACULATE MOTHER, IMMACULATE HEART, QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, QUEEN OF ROME, MADONNA, MOTHER OF THE EUCHARIST, PERPETUAL VIRGIN, CO-REDEEMER, MEDIATOR, ADVOCATE.
• (GENERAL INTER-DENOMINATIONAL NAMES) MOTHER OF ALL NATIONS, MOTHER OF THE EARTH, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH, MOTHER FROM HEAVEN, QUEEN OF HEAVEN, QUEEN OF PEACE, QUEEN OF ALL, QUEEN OF NATIONS, MOTHER OF ANGELS, LADY OF KINGDOMS.
• (ISLAMIC NAMES) IL-SITTNEH OR SAYYIDA = OUR LADY, OUR LADY OF FATIMA, OUR LADY FROM HEAVEN, MARY THE MOTHER OF JESUS, QUEEN OF HEARTS
• A CHAPTER IN THE BOOK OF ISLAM, THE KORAN, IS NAMED AFTER HER.
• SHE IS MENTIONED 34 TIMES IN THE KORAN.
• (NEW AGE NAMES) SOPHIA, MOTHER EARTH, GAIA.
• (HINDU, BUDDHIST, AND TAOIST NAMES) GODDESS TARA, VISHNA, KWAN-YIN, KANNON, MOTHER OF THE WEST, MADONNA OF THE WORLD.
• HOW DO WE KNOW THIS FEMALE FIGURE IS THE SAME SPIRIT WITH SO MANY DIFFERENT NAMES?
• THE MESSAGES GIVEN BY THE APPARITIONS ARE ALL THE SAME:
• WORLD UNITY.
• PEACE THROUGH HER.
• SALVATION THROUGH HER.
• THE APPEARANCE OF A FALLING SUN OR A SUN BURST ACCOMPANIES THE APPARITIONS OF HER.
• HOW DO WE KNOW THIS FEMALE FIGURE IS THE SAME AS SEMIRAMIS FROM BABYLON IN GEN 10?
• READ ISA 47:1-15
• SHE IS CALLED “VIRGIN”. (1)
• SHE IS CALLED “DAUGHTER OF BABYLON” AND “DAUGHTER OF THE CHALDEANS” WHICH RELATES HER TO BABYLON. (1)
• SHE IS CALLED “LADY ” AND “LADY OF KINGDOMS” WHICH RELATES HER TO TODAY’S APPARITIONS. (5, 7)
• SHE IS A “MOTHER” WHICH RELATES HER TO BOTH SEMARAMIS AND TODAY’S APPARITIONS. (8)
• SEMIRAMIS WAS KNOWN AS “THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN”.

• SUMMARY:
• YOU WILL NOTICE IN ISA 47:4 IN THE MIDST OF THE EXTENSIVE DESCRIPTION OF THIS WOMAN, GOD TELLS US WHO IS THE TRUE REDEEMER. “As for our redeemer, the LORD of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel.” (4)
• THE TRUE REDEEMER IS NOT MARY OR ANY OTHER FEMALE FIGURE.
• THE TRUE REDEEMER IS NOT FROM BABYLON, HE WAS BORN A JEW.
• THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL IS JESUS CHRIST.
• WE HAVE EXAMINED THE ROOTS OF THE WORLD FALSE RELIGION FROM BABYLON THAT HAS EXISTED SINCE GEN 10.
• WE HAVE EXAMINED THE EVIDENCE OF THE APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY IN THE LAST DAYS BEFORE THE RAPTURE OF THE CHURCH
• WE HAVE EXAMINED THE EVIDENCE OF THE BLENDING OF APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY WITH MYSTERY BABYLON OF GEN 10.
• IN OUR NEXT LESSON, WE WILL SPECIFICALLY IDENTIFY MYSTERY BABYLON IN THE TRIBULATION PERIOD BY IDENTIFYING THE SYMBOLS OF REV 17.

HOMEWORK
REVELATION 17
THIS IS A SELF-STUDY. PLEASE DO NOT SEND HOMEWORK ANSWERS TO THE TEACHER FORCORRECTION.

• APPLICATION OF A STUDY OF APOSTATE CHRISTIANITY AND MYSTERY BABYLON BLENDED:
• IF YOU HAVE BEEN GUILTY OF LETTING SLIP THE TRUTHS OF BASIC CHRISTIAN BELIEF, ASK GOD TO FORGIVE YOU AND MAKE A DETERMINATION TO STAY CLOSE TO CHRIST.
• IF YOU HAVE EVER BEEN INVOLVED IN ANY OF THE FALSE WORSHIP AND EVIL PRACTICES MENTIONED IN THIS LESSON REGARDING MYSTERY BABYLON, GOD WILL FORGIVE YOU IF YOU REPENT AND ASK HIM FOR FORGIVENESS.
• WRITE YOUR PROMISE AND DETERMINATION TO REMAIN FAITHFUL TO CHRIST AND HIS WORD FROM THIS DAY FORWARD.

• PREPARATION OF REV 17:

• READ REVELATION 17:1-13
• WHAT IS THE ANTI-CHRIST’S RELATIONSHIP TO THE “HARLOT”? DESCRIBE THE MANY DETAILS OF THEIR RELATIONSHIP AS YOU SEE IN THIS CHAPTER.

• MEMORY VERSE: REV 17:14