WEBVTT 00:04.420 --> 00:13.660 In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. 00:15.600 --> 00:16.400 Amen. 00:31.600 --> 00:38.100 About 2,500 years ago, God gave the prophet Daniel a vision of four strange 00:38.100 --> 00:42.480 beasts, representing the four world empires which are now history. 00:43.480 --> 00:45.680 The Babylonian, 00:48.800 --> 00:54.220 Medo-Persian, Grecian, 00:57.670 --> 00:59.070 and Roman. 01:02.860 --> 01:08.020 Daniel's vision foretold with such astonishing accuracy, numerous details of 01:08.020 --> 01:13.140 these empires, that critics were sure his prophecies must have been written after 01:13.140 --> 01:17.560 the events occurred, and tried unsuccessfully for years to prove it. 01:18.440 --> 01:21.060 The fourth beast alone concerns us. 01:22.080 --> 01:27.080 Symbolic of the Roman Empire, it retained characteristics of the three empires that 01:27.080 --> 01:27.800 preceded it. 01:28.220 --> 01:34.520 Yet it was far more dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly, and it had great 01:34.520 --> 01:35.560 iron teeth. 01:36.120 --> 01:41.380 It devoured the known world, breaking and trampling all that opposed it. 01:42.380 --> 01:47.220 That Rome fulfilled these prophecies, and the other details of Daniel's vision, 01:47.680 --> 01:48.220 is history. 01:49.420 --> 01:56.300 Nearly 700 years after Daniel, around 95 A.D., the Apostle John was given 01:56.300 --> 02:01.280 three further prophetic visions of this terrible fourth beast, as recorded in 02:01.280 --> 02:04.260 Revelation 12, 13, and 17. 02:05.140 --> 02:10.120 At that time, the world empires, represented by the first three beasts, 02:10.420 --> 02:13.680 had come and gone exactly as Daniel had prophesied. 02:14.220 --> 02:19.240 The fourth beast, the Roman Empire, was then at the height of its power. 02:20.400 --> 02:26.260 It too would fall, but unlike its three predecessors, and exactly as the Bible 02:26.260 --> 02:29.660 foretold, it would not be conquered by a successor. 02:30.660 --> 02:33.940 No fifth world empire would arise to take its place. 02:34.980 --> 02:40.460 Instead, Scripture prophesied that the Roman Empire itself would be revived, 02:41.000 --> 02:47.220 in a more powerful form, to control all of earth just before Christ's second coming. 02:48.220 --> 02:50.340 Numerous scriptures indicate this. 02:51.380 --> 02:56.480 The fourth beast's ten horns represented ten kings that shall arrive. 02:57.220 --> 03:02.060 Since ten kings were never part of the Roman Empire when it existed in the past, 03:02.440 --> 03:09.540 we know that fourth empire must be revived worldwide, composed of ten regions under 03:09.540 --> 03:12.900 separate sub-rulers accountable to Antichrist. 03:13.640 --> 03:18.520 Only then will the second coming take place with Christ returning to destroy 03:18.520 --> 03:24.220 Antichrist and his kingdom, and to set up his own millennial reign over the earth 03:24.220 --> 03:25.300 from Jerusalem. 03:27.140 --> 03:33.660 2 Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 8 and 9 states, And then shall that wicked be 03:33.660 --> 03:39.300 revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy 03:39.300 --> 03:44.740 with the brightness of his coming, even him whose coming is after the working 03:44.740 --> 03:49.180 of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders. 03:50.600 --> 03:56.100 Chapters 12, 13, and 14 of Zechariah prophesy these events quite clearly. 03:57.020 --> 03:57.860 So did Daniel. 03:59.220 --> 04:05.040 A stone, that is, Christ, was cut out without hands, which smote the image, 04:05.540 --> 04:11.020 which became like the shaft of the summer threshing floors, and the wind carried it 04:11.020 --> 04:11.320 away. 04:12.060 --> 04:17.400 And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, Christ's kingdom, 04:17.960 --> 04:19.620 and filled the whole earth. 04:21.180 --> 04:22.260 When will this occur? 04:23.160 --> 04:29.500 Verse 44 explains, And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up 04:29.500 --> 04:32.460 a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed. 04:34.740 --> 04:39.640 Antichrist's worldwide kingdom, the revived Roman Empire under ten heads, 04:40.000 --> 04:41.480 must be established first. 04:42.100 --> 04:45.740 Then Christ destroys it and sets up his own kingdom. 04:46.880 --> 04:52.700 Interestingly, today's world has already been divided into ten regions by the Club 04:52.700 --> 04:58.220 of Rome, a division which is now followed by mutual agreement in the banking and 04:58.220 --> 04:59.160 computer worlds. 05:00.500 --> 05:07.460 John saw this fourth beast three times, first as a red dragon seeking to destroy 05:07.460 --> 05:08.040 Israel. 05:09.300 --> 05:14.040 And behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, 05:14.360 --> 05:16.540 and seven crowns upon his heads. 05:17.120 --> 05:22.620 And the great dragon was cast out of heaven, that old serpent, called the devil 05:22.620 --> 05:26.440 and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world. 05:28.020 --> 05:33.880 In chapter 13, this dreadful beast appears again, representing the revived Roman 05:33.880 --> 05:36.940 Empire, whose deadly wound was healed. 05:37.660 --> 05:44.200 And also its ruler, the Antichrist, whom all that dwell upon the earth shall 05:44.200 --> 05:44.580 worship. 05:45.800 --> 05:51.260 Notice, the dragon gave him his power and his seat and great authority. 05:52.360 --> 05:58.980 So the red dragon, who is Satan, is actually building his kingdom and using 05:58.980 --> 06:01.600 Antichrist to his own ends. 06:04.200 --> 06:06.800 Prophecy for telling the future. 06:07.900 --> 06:11.620 Assorted psychics claim to do it, but fail miserably. 06:12.100 --> 06:17.500 Nor is prophecy found in the Koran, Hindu Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, the sayings of 06:17.500 --> 06:22.520 Buddha, Confucius or Muhammad, the Book of Mormon, or the writings of 06:22.520 --> 06:24.100 Mary Baker Eddy, and so forth. 06:24.680 --> 06:27.540 The Bible alone reliably foretells the future. 06:28.220 --> 06:34.840 About 30% of God's Word is comprised of hundreds of specific prophecies and a 06:34.840 --> 06:37.680 record of 100% accuracy. 06:38.520 --> 06:43.540 These are not clothed in the ambiguous language of the French quatrains of 06:43.540 --> 06:49.920 Nostradamus, but are clear declarations about world-shaking and history-making 06:49.920 --> 06:54.380 events hundreds and even thousands of years beforehand. 06:55.180 --> 07:00.600 For example, that the Jews would be cast out of the promised land and scattered to 07:00.600 --> 07:02.240 every corner of this earth. 07:03.040 --> 07:07.180 And today, the wandering Jew, as they are called, is everywhere. 07:08.160 --> 07:13.420 That they would be hated, persecuted, and slaughtered as no other people. 07:14.540 --> 07:21.300 The outrage of anti-Semitism is a phenomenon absolutely unique to the Jews, 07:21.680 --> 07:24.400 precisely as the Bible foretold. 07:24.660 --> 07:29.440 Yet the Bible also prophesied that in spite of being scattered worldwide for 07:29.440 --> 07:35.700 2,500 years since the Babylonian captivity, with every reason to intermarry 07:35.700 --> 07:40.960 and change their identity to escape persecution, and in spite of a thousand 07:40.960 --> 07:46.160 Hitlers determined to exterminate them, the Jews would be preserved as an 07:46.160 --> 07:51.960 identifiable ethnic people and brought back to their own land in the last days 07:51.960 --> 07:55.260 just before Antichrist would set up his kingdom. 07:55.920 --> 07:57.760 And so it happened in 1948. 07:59.060 --> 08:05.760 Even more astonishing, the Bible said that Jerusalem would become the key to world 08:05.760 --> 08:11.980 peace, and would be a cup of trembling, a burdensome stone around the necks of all 08:11.980 --> 08:12.440 nations. 08:13.260 --> 08:19.220 And today, exactly as it prophesied, Jerusalem is the United Nations' number 08:19.220 --> 08:20.360 one problem. 08:21.100 --> 08:26.780 And the world looks on in fear and trembling, knowing that the next world war 08:26.780 --> 08:30.480 could break out at any moment over that tiny city. 08:30.820 --> 08:36.360 The undeniable fulfillment of these and scores of other prophecies provides 08:36.360 --> 08:44.000 irrefutable evidence that God exists and that the Bible is His revelation to man. 08:44.740 --> 08:48.300 Prophecy is likewise unique to Israel's Messiah. 08:48.900 --> 08:54.080 There were no prophecies concerning Buddha, Mohammed, Confucius, Zoroaster, 08:54.680 --> 08:58.120 Joseph Smith, or any of the founders of the world's religions. 08:59.680 --> 09:03.460 Yet there are over 300 prophecies concerning the Jewish Messiah, 09:03.860 --> 09:09.740 that he would be born of a virgin in Bethlehem, a descendant of King David, 09:10.200 --> 09:15.260 that he would perform miracles, convert the Gentiles, that he would ride 09:15.260 --> 09:21.440 into Jerusalem on a donkey and be hailed as the Messiah, and that this would occur 09:21.440 --> 09:28.080 on April 26, 32 AD, now celebrated as Palm Sunday, and that four days later, 09:28.660 --> 09:34.180 having been betrayed for exactly 30 pieces of silver, he would be crucified, 09:35.020 --> 09:41.520 a form of execution unknown at the time of that prophecy in Psalm 22, and that three 09:41.520 --> 09:47.020 days later, he would rise from the dead, an astonishing event that separates 09:47.020 --> 09:53.040 Christianity from every religion and for which we have irrefutable evidence. 09:53.520 --> 09:58.160 These are but a few of the prophecies concerning the Messiah, prophecies so 09:58.160 --> 10:02.300 numerous and specific and their fulfillment in the life, death, 10:02.340 --> 10:08.940 and resurrection of Jesus Christ so indisputable that no one can honestly deny 10:08.940 --> 10:11.940 that he is the prophesied Savior of sinners. 10:12.720 --> 10:16.860 And the Bible says that he is coming back to earth in judgment. 10:18.520 --> 10:25.240 The 100% fulfillment of biblical prophecies right on schedule assures us 10:25.240 --> 10:29.660 that those still future will also be fulfilled. 10:30.400 --> 10:40.000 The last book in the series of visions given to the Apostle John. 10:40.600 --> 10:45.980 There are three visions of the fourth beast representing Satan, the Antichrist, 10:46.440 --> 10:50.120 and the revived Roman Empire that he will rule. 10:50.760 --> 10:55.880 There is another intriguing figure, however, which is given even more space 10:55.880 --> 11:00.280 and prominence than the beast, a mysterious woman. 11:01.500 --> 11:06.000 In John's third vision of this scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns, 11:06.660 --> 11:14.120 a woman rides the beast, and not as in a rodeo on a creature that is trying to buck 11:14.120 --> 11:21.380 her off, but sitting relaxed and comfortable, obviously a key player in the 11:21.380 --> 11:26.040 unfolding drama of Antichrist's rule over the revived Roman Empire. 11:26.780 --> 11:31.380 First of all, she's a city built on seven hills. 11:32.620 --> 11:39.540 The beast's seven heads are seven mountains, or hills, on which the woman 11:39.540 --> 11:40.080 sits. 11:41.210 --> 11:47.820 Several cities sit on seven hills, but John's vision eliminates all but one. 11:48.860 --> 11:53.920 Emblazoned on her forehead are the words, Mystery Babylon. 11:55.080 --> 12:00.540 Saddam Hussein began building Iraq's ancient city of Babylon, headquarters of 12:00.540 --> 12:01.660 the first world empire. 12:02.480 --> 12:07.400 Today, though Saddam is no longer in control of Iraq, and construction has 12:07.400 --> 12:15.320 ceased, many Christian leaders teach that the woman is that city, rebuilt as world 12:15.320 --> 12:17.020 headquarters for the Antichrist. 12:17.540 --> 12:23.140 But the Bible says that the fourth empire, headquartered in Rome, will be brought 12:23.140 --> 12:26.180 back to life, not the Babylonian empire. 12:26.920 --> 12:29.380 And Babylon was not built on seven hills. 12:29.900 --> 12:36.580 Rome was, and has been, known universally as the city of seven hills. 12:37.180 --> 12:41.980 The Catholic Encyclopedia states, quote, It is within the city of Rome, 12:42.500 --> 12:47.080 called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State 12:47.080 --> 12:48.520 proper is now confined. 12:50.040 --> 12:53.500 Interestingly, Rome was also known as Babylon. 12:54.280 --> 13:00.460 Catholic apologist Carl Keating writes, Babylon is a code word for Rome. 13:01.320 --> 13:06.980 It's used that way six times in the last book of the Bible and in extra-biblical 13:06.980 --> 13:14.020 works such as Sibling Oracles, The Apocalypse of Baruch, and Esdras. 13:15.020 --> 13:22.700 Eusebius Pamphilius, writing about 303, noted that Peter referred to Rome 13:22.700 --> 13:24.660 figuratively as Babylon. 13:26.240 --> 13:29.240 Could Rome be the woman on the beast? 13:29.480 --> 13:35.280 That would make good sense, because the beast she rides is the revived Roman 13:35.280 --> 13:35.960 Empire. 13:37.000 --> 13:44.040 This woman is also called the Great Whore, with whom the kings of the earth have 13:44.040 --> 13:45.880 committed fornication. 13:46.640 --> 13:50.880 Obviously, literal whoredom and fornication would be impossible for a 13:50.880 --> 13:57.520 city, but spiritual fornication would be possible if the city were a spiritual 13:57.520 --> 13:58.160 entity. 13:59.420 --> 14:01.380 Jerusalem is such a city. 14:02.160 --> 14:07.900 It is called the holy city and the city of God, having been chosen by God to 14:07.900 --> 14:09.600 represent him to the nations. 14:10.460 --> 14:17.380 Tragically, Jerusalem violated that relationship and was repeatedly accused by 14:17.380 --> 14:20.860 God's prophets of spiritual harlotry and adultery. 14:21.800 --> 14:27.740 Isaiah said of Jerusalem, How is the faithful city become a harlot? 14:29.160 --> 14:35.340 Jerusalem, however, can't be the woman riding the beast, because it wasn't built 14:35.340 --> 14:42.020 on seven hills, nor does it meet any of the other criteria in John's vision. 14:42.860 --> 14:49.700 One other city, and only one in the world, is a spiritual entity and could therefore 14:49.700 --> 14:55.000 commit spiritual fornication with the kings of the earth, and it is built on 14:55.000 --> 14:56.200 seven hills. 14:57.040 --> 15:04.740 Again, that city is Rome, the headquarters of Roman Catholicism, which declares 15:04.740 --> 15:07.620 itself to be the headquarters of the true church. 15:08.320 --> 15:11.400 Its pope claims to be the vicar of Christ. 15:12.200 --> 15:18.700 Moreover, the Roman Catholic Church asserts that its members have replaced 15:18.700 --> 15:24.760 Israel, the true people of God, and that Rome is therefore the new 15:24.760 --> 15:25.300 Jerusalem. 15:25.920 --> 15:31.140 Catholic Rome claims the very titles God gave to Jerusalem, the holy city, 15:31.660 --> 15:34.900 the city of God, and even the eternal city. 15:36.580 --> 15:42.340 We have already discovered from John's vision that these four criteria, 15:42.580 --> 15:47.960 being a city known as Babylon, built on seven hills, and committing 15:47.960 --> 15:55.180 spiritual fornication with earth rulers, have ruled out every city on earth except 15:55.180 --> 15:55.580 Rome. 15:56.100 --> 16:01.240 We are, of course, not talking about political civil Rome, but about religious 16:01.240 --> 16:06.760 Rome, and more specifically, the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church. 16:08.180 --> 16:13.440 John Paul II has gathered leaders of the world's major religions a number of times 16:13.440 --> 16:18.000 and embraced them all as worshippers of the true God, including Hindus, 16:18.380 --> 16:23.840 Buddhists, Muslims, Animists, Shintoists, shamans, witches, and others. 16:24.780 --> 16:29.400 He told Hindu audiences in India that he had not come to teach them anything, 16:29.840 --> 16:36.360 but to learn from their rich spiritual heritage to which the entire world ought 16:36.360 --> 16:37.140 to give heed. 16:38.020 --> 16:44.240 Everyone is embraced by Rome, except evangelical Christians, whom the Pope 16:44.240 --> 16:50.740 calls sects, and warns Catholics against their errors, as he did in Mexico City in 16:50.740 --> 16:54.480 May 1990, and elsewhere since that time. 16:55.360 --> 17:02.440 One need only read the quote ecumenical unquote documents coming out of the 17:02.440 --> 17:08.080 Vatican from the Pope and Cardinals, such as Cardinal Cassidy, President of the 17:08.080 --> 17:14.240 Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, and Cardinal Orrinze, President of 17:14.240 --> 17:20.720 the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, to realize that by ecumenism, 17:21.400 --> 17:25.480 Rome means all religions uniting under the Pope. 17:26.380 --> 17:31.880 This was clear in the general report of Cardinal Orrinze to the Extraordinary 17:31.880 --> 17:39.400 Consistory of Cardinals at the Vatican in April 1991, as it is in Orrinze's new 17:39.400 --> 17:41.620 book, Religions for Peace. 17:42.330 --> 17:47.620 The deception is such that the Lutheran World Federation signed with the Vatican a 17:47.620 --> 17:52.480 declaration saying that Lutherans and Catholics were now in agreement and 17:52.480 --> 17:54.640 basically renouncing the Reformation. 17:55.640 --> 17:59.860 Yet nothing in Catholicism's false gospel of works and rituals has changed. 18:00.960 --> 18:06.580 The prophesied world religion is in the process of being formed before our eyes, 18:07.020 --> 18:09.240 and the Vatican is the headquarters of the movement. 18:10.140 --> 18:12.340 Is this not spiritual fornication? 18:12.740 --> 18:18.440 Has spiritual Rome violated its claimed relationship with Christ, and thus been 18:18.440 --> 18:20.380 guilty of spiritual fornication? 18:21.240 --> 18:25.760 Christ said that his kingdom is not of this world, and that his servants do not 18:25.760 --> 18:26.140 fight. 18:27.080 --> 18:33.300 Yet the Popes, who included some of the greatest military commanders in history, 18:33.940 --> 18:38.560 fought with armies and navies in the name of Christ to build a huge kingdom, 18:39.180 --> 18:45.040 an unrivaled world-wide empire of property, wealth, and political influence 18:45.040 --> 18:47.660 that is very much of this world. 18:48.280 --> 18:53.100 And they have repeatedly engaged in partnership and thus spiritual fornication 18:53.100 --> 18:59.140 with emperors, kings, and princes, claiming to be the Bride of Christ. 18:59.740 --> 19:05.460 The Roman Catholic Church has been in bed with ungodly rulers down through history. 19:06.600 --> 19:11.740 In more recent times, there were even alliances with Mussolini and Hitler. 19:12.460 --> 19:15.060 The Vatican literally put Mussolini into power. 19:15.800 --> 19:22.100 Pope Pius XI and his cardinals praised him as a man chosen by God, and forbade Roman 19:22.100 --> 19:24.220 Catholics to oppose him politically. 19:25.280 --> 19:31.960 In turn, Mussolini signed the Concordat with the Vatican in 1929, making Roman 19:31.960 --> 19:34.840 Catholicism the sole religion of Italy. 19:35.380 --> 19:41.080 The Vatican received 750 million lire in cash and 1 billion in state bonds. 19:41.480 --> 19:44.060 Vatican money helped to start the Nazi Party. 19:45.180 --> 19:51.520 And in 1933, the Vatican made a similar Concordat with Hitler, resulting in its 19:51.520 --> 19:55.920 reception of hundreds of millions of German marks from the Nazi regime. 19:56.540 --> 20:04.360 During World War II, one could not ask for clearer examples of fornication with the 20:04.360 --> 20:05.100 kings of the earth. 20:05.300 --> 20:10.420 Christ never joined forces with Caesar, nor did Peter or Paul. 20:11.340 --> 20:16.740 But the Roman Catholic Church has continually engaged in illicit 20:16.740 --> 20:20.440 relationships with secular rulers right up to the present. 20:20.980 --> 20:27.520 The alliance between Reagan and Pope John Paul II, between the CIA and the alleged 20:27.520 --> 20:31.320 vicar of Christ, can only be called spiritual fornication. 20:31.780 --> 20:37.740 It violated everything Christ taught regarding his church not being of this 20:37.740 --> 20:38.140 world. 20:38.920 --> 20:44.760 Former Secretary of State Alexander Haig acknowledged that, quote, the Vatican's 20:44.760 --> 20:50.620 information was absolutely better and quicker than ours in every respect. 20:51.500 --> 20:51.960 Unquote. 20:52.880 --> 20:58.920 A Vatican liaison to the White House, Archbishop Pio Laghi, kept reminding 20:58.920 --> 21:02.960 Americans officials, quote, listen to the Holy Father. 21:03.880 --> 21:06.560 We have 2,000 years experience in this. 21:06.860 --> 21:07.200 Unquote. 21:08.120 --> 21:14.080 2,000 years of political intrigue, of which the Vatican is clearly the 21:14.080 --> 21:14.560 master. 21:15.680 --> 21:18.780 Hardly what Christ had in mind. 21:18.960 --> 21:23.640 Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has called the Pope, quote, the highest 21:23.640 --> 21:25.360 spiritual authority on earth. 21:25.540 --> 21:25.960 Unquote. 21:27.000 --> 21:32.420 Gorbachev summed up the earthly power of the Roman Catholic Church when he 21:32.420 --> 21:39.840 declared, quote, Pope John Paul II played a major political role in the collapse of 21:39.840 --> 21:41.900 communism in Eastern Europe. 21:42.360 --> 21:47.380 The events in Eastern Europe might not have been possible without the presence of 21:47.380 --> 21:52.920 this Pope, without the great role which he knew how to play on the world scene. 21:53.260 --> 21:53.720 Unquote. 21:54.760 --> 22:00.620 Such praise could never have been directed at Christ or his apostles who were 22:00.620 --> 22:05.940 martyred by the secular world, a world that the Popes have embraced in 22:05.940 --> 22:09.560 spiritual fornication and have even dominated. 22:09.780 --> 22:16.280 Papal worldly power has been wielded for centuries in fulfillment of another part 22:16.280 --> 22:18.480 of John's remarkable vision. 22:19.460 --> 22:23.960 In John's day, it was the Rome of the Caesars that ruled the world. 22:24.700 --> 22:31.520 After the Caesars lost their power, the Popes ruled in their place over even 22:31.520 --> 22:35.120 wider territories and often more ruthlessly. 22:35.600 --> 22:44.540 Pope Gregory XI's papal bull of 1372 in Cunea Domini claimed papal dominion over 22:44.540 --> 22:51.000 the entire Christian world, secular and religious, and excommunicated all who 22:51.000 --> 22:53.880 failed to obey the Popes and to pay them taxes. 22:54.460 --> 22:57.580 That bull was confirmed by subsequent Popes. 22:58.260 --> 23:05.580 And in 1568, Pope Pius V swore that it was to remain an eternal law. 23:06.560 --> 23:11.520 Pope Alexander VI drew a north-south line down the global map of that day, 23:12.280 --> 23:17.120 and in the name of Christ, who possessed nothing on this earth but his robe. 23:17.920 --> 23:23.440 He gave Africa, India, and Asia to Portugal, and the newly discovered North 23:23.440 --> 23:30.080 and South America he gave to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, on the condition that 23:30.080 --> 23:35.180 the native inhabitants of those lands must be made to join the Roman Catholic Church 23:35.180 --> 23:38.020 and pay taxes to the Popes. 23:39.200 --> 23:44.760 Rome's dominance in Latin America remains to this day, nor is empire building 23:44.760 --> 23:46.500 relegated to the past. 23:47.160 --> 23:53.440 The Second Vatican Council in Lumen Gentium on November 21, 1964 declared 23:53.440 --> 24:00.460 that, quote, the Catholic Church ceaselessly and efficaciously seeks for 24:00.460 --> 24:06.720 the return of all humanity and all its goods under Christ, unquote, meaning, 24:06.920 --> 24:10.580 of course, under the Pope's, Christ's alleged, vicars. 24:11.080 --> 24:16.020 Pope Alexander II decreed that Harold, the lawful king of England, was the 24:16.020 --> 24:16.540 usurper. 24:17.460 --> 24:22.160 He excommunicated him and his followers and gave the throne to William, 24:22.460 --> 24:23.360 Duke of Normandy. 24:24.240 --> 24:28.720 With the Pope's blessing, William the Conqueror killed Harold in battle, 24:29.200 --> 24:34.940 took over England, and was crowned in London on Christmas Day in 1066. 24:36.280 --> 24:41.180 He accepted the crown of England, quote, in the name of the Holy Sea of 24:41.180 --> 24:42.100 Rome, unquote. 24:42.740 --> 24:44.980 Hundreds of other examples could be given. 24:46.000 --> 24:51.860 There can be no doubt at all about Catholic Rome's identity as the city known 24:51.860 --> 24:57.540 as Babylon, built on seven hills, which committed spiritual fornication with 24:57.540 --> 25:01.620 the kings of the earth and which reigned over the kings of the earth. 25:02.220 --> 25:06.660 No other city even comes close to her in this regard. 25:07.120 --> 25:13.560 Not only is Babylon the code name for Rome, but Rome's connections to Babylon go 25:13.560 --> 25:14.140 much deeper. 25:15.320 --> 25:21.000 Ancient Babylon was built around the ruins of the Tower of Babel, from which its name 25:21.000 --> 25:21.920 was derived. 25:22.620 --> 25:27.120 That tower, designed to reach heaven, was the headquarters of the first world 25:27.120 --> 25:31.700 religion, just as Rome will be for the coming world religion of Antichrist. 25:32.500 --> 25:39.680 Furthermore, just as Babel's tower and city united church and state, so the popes 25:39.680 --> 25:42.300 wielded both civil and religious authority. 25:42.780 --> 25:47.680 And in like manner, the woman and the beast she rides will unite the coming 25:47.680 --> 25:49.560 world government and world religion. 25:50.120 --> 25:55.260 With its attempt to reach heaven by steps of its own making, Babel, Babylon, 25:55.260 --> 25:58.340 was the ultimate works religion. 25:59.420 --> 26:02.220 And so it has always been in Roman Catholicism. 26:02.760 --> 26:05.300 Salvation is unquestionably by works. 26:06.140 --> 26:12.160 Vatican II declares, to gain indulgences, the work prescribed must be done. 26:12.880 --> 26:18.200 From the most ancient times in the church, good works were also offered to God for 26:18.200 --> 26:19.520 the salvation of sinners. 26:20.100 --> 26:26.400 All men may attain to salvation through faith, baptism, and the observance of the 26:26.400 --> 26:26.900 commandments. 26:29.300 --> 26:34.500 Clearly, good works play a key role in earning salvation in Catholicism, 26:34.880 --> 26:37.340 as even the average Catholic would testify. 26:39.640 --> 26:47.760 The Council of Trent, as re-proposed by Vatican II, decreed, if anyone says that 26:47.760 --> 26:53.400 the sacraments of the new law are not necessary for salvation, and that without 26:53.400 --> 26:57.840 them, men obtain from God through faith alone the grace of justification, 26:58.780 --> 27:00.880 let him be anathema. 27:03.140 --> 27:07.520 Unquestionably, by its practice of salvation through good works and ritual, 27:08.080 --> 27:12.780 Catholic Rome fits the description of the woman whose name is Babylon. 27:14.280 --> 27:18.800 John tells us that the name Babylon, emblazoned on the woman's forehead, 27:18.980 --> 27:21.560 is preceded by the word mystery. 27:22.620 --> 27:26.260 And again, mystery is the very heart of Roman Catholicism. 27:26.820 --> 27:32.960 Pope Paul VI's encyclical on the Eucharist is titled Mysterium Fide. 27:33.840 --> 27:39.100 Vatican II refers repeatedly to the mystery of the Eucharist. 27:39.700 --> 27:44.860 The Vatican's new universal catechism declares that all of the church's liturgy 27:44.860 --> 27:51.800 is mystery, and that its aim is to initiate souls into the mystery of Christ. 27:52.320 --> 27:54.340 It is mystagogy, it says. 27:55.160 --> 28:01.920 By claiming to be the custodian of a mystery which only its priests and bishops 28:01.920 --> 28:07.260 can mediate, the Roman Catholic Church keeps its members dependent upon it, 28:07.460 --> 28:10.480 rather than upon Christ, for their salvation. 28:11.040 --> 28:16.040 John notes that the woman on the beast is clothed in purple and scarlet, 28:16.920 --> 28:22.340 once again the very colors of the Roman Caesars and also of the Roman Catholic 28:22.340 --> 28:22.980 hierarchy. 28:23.560 --> 28:30.160 The Catholic Encyclopedia declares cassock, also called soutane, the 28:30.160 --> 28:35.200 close-fitting ankle-length robe worn by the Catholic clergy as their official 28:35.200 --> 28:35.720 garb. 28:36.120 --> 28:41.640 The color for bishops and other prelates is purple, for cardinals, scarlet. 28:42.660 --> 28:46.380 The woman riding the beast has a golden cup in her hand. 28:47.040 --> 28:53.300 A golden chalice is used in the Eucharist or Mass and is the holiest instrument in 28:53.300 --> 28:54.640 Roman Catholicism. 28:55.200 --> 29:01.400 John perceives that this golden chalice is filled with the filthiness of her 29:01.400 --> 29:02.300 abominations. 29:03.260 --> 29:07.880 Could that be the Bible's view of the sacrifice of the Mass, which is the very 29:07.880 --> 29:09.460 heart of Roman Catholicism? 29:10.360 --> 29:15.460 Such was the conviction of hundreds of thousands of Christians throughout history 29:15.460 --> 29:20.760 who were burned at the stake for refusing to participate in the sacrifice of the 29:20.760 --> 29:25.860 Mass, which they earnestly believed was the greatest abomination conceivable. 29:26.900 --> 29:27.300 Why? 29:28.420 --> 29:34.020 Because it claims to be the literal sacrificial offering presented again and 29:34.020 --> 29:36.920 again of the Body and Blood of Christ. 29:37.480 --> 29:42.100 Whereas the Bible clearly states that Christ's sacrifice upon the cross was 29:42.100 --> 29:46.580 completed once and for all, never to be repeated again. 29:47.340 --> 29:53.640 Quote, Now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the 29:53.640 --> 29:55.040 sacrifice of himself. 29:55.180 --> 29:56.560 Hebrews 9.26. 29:58.000 --> 30:03.440 Catholicism claims that when at the Last Supper Christ said, This is my body, 30:03.680 --> 30:06.800 this is my blood, he had to be taken literally. 30:07.160 --> 30:13.020 The bread and wine he held in his hands had with those words become his literal 30:13.020 --> 30:13.960 body and blood. 30:14.780 --> 30:19.340 And when the priest speaks those words today, the bread and wine become again 30:19.340 --> 30:24.560 Christ's literal body and blood, to be sacrificed endlessly on Catholic 30:24.560 --> 30:28.440 altars, as truly as Christ was sacrificed on the cross. 30:28.920 --> 30:30.820 Yet no one takes it literally. 30:31.540 --> 30:36.780 When Christ said, I am the door, I am the light of the world, I am the good 30:36.780 --> 30:42.580 shepherd, or when he called his disciples sheep, Christ was obviously speaking 30:42.580 --> 30:47.500 figuratively when he referred to bread and wine as his body and blood. 30:47.880 --> 30:53.420 There is no way that the bread could literally be his body when he was sitting 30:53.420 --> 30:59.560 there in his physical body holding it, much less can millions of tiny wafers each 30:59.560 --> 31:06.560 be simultaneously Christ's literal body, soul, personality, divinity, whole and 31:06.560 --> 31:09.040 entire, as Catholicism claims. 31:09.720 --> 31:16.500 That is not literalism, but mysticism, the mystery emblazoned on one's forehead. 31:16.660 --> 31:19.680 Christ said, I am the bread of life. 31:20.280 --> 31:23.720 If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. 31:24.020 --> 31:25.960 John 6, 48 and 51. 31:26.820 --> 31:32.160 Yet he was not referring to physical bread, nor did he refer to physical life 31:32.160 --> 31:32.840 and death. 31:33.760 --> 31:35.580 There is another grave error involved. 31:36.160 --> 31:41.560 Vatican II declares, our Savior at the Last Supper instituted the Eucharistic 31:41.560 --> 31:43.920 sacrifice of his body and blood. 31:44.760 --> 31:50.600 The Council of Trent agrees that Christ, at the Last Supper, offered up to God the 31:50.600 --> 31:55.780 Father his own body and blood under the form of bread and wine. 31:56.100 --> 32:02.560 If so, then he was sacrificed for the sins of the world at the Last Supper before he 32:02.560 --> 32:05.460 went to the cross, which is rank heresy. 32:06.100 --> 32:12.200 Indeed, he didn't need to endure the literal physical suffering of the cross at 32:12.200 --> 32:17.780 all if Catholic priests, as they claim, can truly turn bread and wine into the 32:17.780 --> 32:24.260 literal body and blood of Christ and offer it as a propitiatory sacrifice on their 32:24.260 --> 32:24.780 altars. 32:25.700 --> 32:31.800 The Pocket Catholic Dictionary states, The Mass is a truly propitiatory 32:31.800 --> 32:37.940 sacrifice, by which the Lord is appeased, he grants grace, and he pardons 32:37.940 --> 32:39.620 wrongdoings and sins. 32:40.500 --> 32:46.140 The Council of Trent declared, The Eucharist is the true and only 32:46.140 --> 32:46.920 sacrifice. 32:48.020 --> 32:51.520 If so, the literal cross isn't needed. 32:52.560 --> 32:57.500 Of course, Catholicism teaches that the cross is essential, yet it reduces the 32:57.500 --> 33:02.840 cross to the same level as the Mass, declaring that Christ's sacrifice upon the 33:02.840 --> 33:09.060 cross is only effective in its repetition in the Mass and then only partially each 33:09.060 --> 33:11.380 time the Mass is repeated. 33:12.280 --> 33:17.040 It takes many repetitions of the Mass to take a soul to heaven. 33:17.760 --> 33:23.100 Indeed, the Pope himself cannot tell how many Masses may be needed, as the Pocket 33:23.100 --> 33:25.000 Catholic Dictionary explains. 33:25.940 --> 33:31.300 Finally, the Mass is the divinely ordained means of applying the merits of Calvary. 33:31.960 --> 33:37.360 These blessings are conferred gradually and continually since Calvary through the 33:37.360 --> 33:37.760 Mass. 33:38.210 --> 33:43.320 The priest is indispensable since he alone, by his powers, can change the 33:43.320 --> 33:46.340 elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. 33:46.760 --> 33:51.760 The more often the sacrifice is offered, the more benefit is conferred. 33:53.120 --> 33:59.060 In other words, Christ's sacrifice is not yet complete, but is still in process 33:59.060 --> 34:00.480 through the Mass. 34:01.300 --> 34:08.000 Vatican II says, For in the sacrifice of the Mass, our Lord is immolated. 34:08.640 --> 34:14.720 The Mass is a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated. 34:16.080 --> 34:22.860 The Pocket Catholic Dictionary explains that in the Mass, Christ offers himself as 34:22.860 --> 34:24.800 really as he did on Calvary. 34:25.860 --> 34:31.000 Then what did Christ mean when he cried in triumph, it is finished? 34:31.840 --> 34:37.900 The Bible declares that the very fact that the Old Testament sacrifices had to be 34:37.900 --> 34:42.160 repeated daily proved that they could never take away sin. 34:42.600 --> 34:48.440 But in contrast, this man, Christ, after he had offered one sacrifice for 34:48.440 --> 34:51.840 sins forever, sat down on the right hand of God. 34:52.240 --> 34:57.280 For by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. 34:57.740 --> 35:01.060 Therefore there is no more offering for sin. 35:02.060 --> 35:07.140 There is a vast difference between the Christ of the Bible and the Christ of 35:07.140 --> 35:11.920 Catholicism who is still being sacrificed and suffering perpetually. 35:12.740 --> 35:17.480 Trying to soften this error, Vatican II explains that in the Mass, Christ 35:17.480 --> 35:22.780 perpetuates in an unbloody manner the sacrifice offered on the cross. 35:23.420 --> 35:28.940 But the Bible plainly declares, Without the shedding of blood there is no 35:28.940 --> 35:30.180 remission for sins. 35:30.820 --> 35:35.840 So the unbloody sacrifice of the Mass, without real suffering on the part of 35:35.840 --> 35:38.240 Christ, can't take away sin. 35:40.000 --> 35:44.880 Catholicism explains that Christ is not really being sacrificed over and over, 35:45.320 --> 35:51.540 but that his sacrifice on the cross is being represented or made present. 35:52.340 --> 35:53.800 Such a statement is meaningless. 35:55.000 --> 35:59.300 An event that was completed in the past cannot be made present. 36:00.120 --> 36:06.440 Moreover, if the past event accomplished its purpose, then there is no reason for 36:06.440 --> 36:10.540 wanting to perpetuate it in the present, even if that could be done. 36:11.120 --> 36:16.060 For example, if a benefactor pays a creditor the debt someone owes, 36:16.380 --> 36:18.260 the debt is gone forever. 36:18.840 --> 36:24.560 It would be meaningless to speak of representing or reenacting or perpetuating 36:24.560 --> 36:26.580 the payment in the present. 36:27.100 --> 36:32.860 The debt has been paid by a transaction that was effected and completed in the 36:32.860 --> 36:33.380 past. 36:34.220 --> 36:41.120 One could well remember with gratitude the payment that was made, but no reenactment 36:41.120 --> 36:46.500 would have any virtue, since there is no longer remaining any debt to be paid. 36:47.460 --> 36:50.780 So it is with Christ's payment for our sins upon the cross. 36:51.280 --> 36:56.320 As he died, he said, It is finished. 36:57.660 --> 37:02.860 Using a Greek expression, tetelestai, which meant that the debt had been paid in 37:02.860 --> 37:03.200 full. 37:04.120 --> 37:10.240 Yet the New Catechism of the Catholic Church says, As sacrifice, the Eucharist 37:10.240 --> 37:15.220 is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead, and to obtain 37:15.220 --> 37:18.320 spiritual or temporal benefits from God. 37:20.060 --> 37:25.780 That is like trying to pay more installments on a debt that has been paid 37:25.780 --> 37:26.240 in full. 37:27.180 --> 37:32.220 Clearly, the Mass is a denial of the sufficiency of the payment Christ made for 37:32.220 --> 37:33.300 sin upon the cross. 37:34.100 --> 37:41.320 That is a grave error, and those who trust in the sacrifice of the Mass receive no 37:41.320 --> 37:46.880 benefit from Christ's actual sacrifice on the cross and are lost forever. 37:47.780 --> 37:53.040 In order to carry on the work of redemption, the Catholic priesthood claims 37:53.040 --> 37:57.900 to perform the miracle of transubstantiation, turning bread and wine 37:57.900 --> 38:04.260 into the body and blood of Christ, quote, under the appearance of remaining 38:04.260 --> 38:05.940 bread and wine, unquote. 38:06.760 --> 38:12.100 This is supposed to be a great miracle, even though the wafer and wine remain 38:12.100 --> 38:14.720 unchanged in physical appearance and taste. 38:15.660 --> 38:17.940 Yet there is no such miracle in the Bible. 38:18.660 --> 38:23.700 Did Christ ever give a blind man his sight under the appearance of the man remaining 38:23.700 --> 38:24.240 blind? 38:24.880 --> 38:30.020 Did he ever raise a dead man to life under the appearance of the man remaining dead? 38:32.040 --> 38:35.340 The dogma of purgatory is another abomination. 38:36.460 --> 38:40.780 Vatican II says that although Christ suffered to bear our eternal punishment, 38:41.420 --> 38:46.860 we must personally suffer to expiate the temporal punishment due for our sins. 38:47.580 --> 38:53.860 Quote, sins must be expiated through the sorrows, miseries, and trials of this 38:53.860 --> 38:59.880 life, or in the next life, through fire and torments or purifying punishments. 39:00.400 --> 39:06.760 In purgatory, the souls of those who died in the charity of God and truly repentant 39:06.760 --> 39:12.620 for their sins and omissions are cleansed after death with punishments designed to 39:12.620 --> 39:14.800 purge away their debt, unquote. 39:15.360 --> 39:21.760 Yet Peter himself declared that Christ has, quote, once suffered for sins, 39:22.380 --> 39:26.940 he the just for us the unjust, that he might bring us to God, 39:27.320 --> 39:29.140 unquote, not to purgatory. 39:29.940 --> 39:31.820 There is a further contradiction. 39:32.480 --> 39:37.540 Although Catholicism says we must personally suffer, it also says we don't 39:37.540 --> 39:38.040 have to. 39:38.940 --> 39:44.220 Masses and rosaries can be said, even after one's death, to reduce one's 39:44.220 --> 39:45.820 suffering in purgatory. 39:46.580 --> 39:52.140 For those who die wearing the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and 39:52.140 --> 39:57.040 fulfill certain other obligations, that apparition of Mary promised to go 39:57.040 --> 40:01.100 into purgatory the Saturday after their death and take them to heaven. 40:01.540 --> 40:05.000 Therefore, they don't have to personally suffer. 40:06.180 --> 40:10.720 Although they believe that Christ's sacrifice on the cross was not sufficient, 40:11.240 --> 40:13.340 it's alleged repetition in the Mass. 40:13.920 --> 40:16.900 If done enough times, we'll eventually get one to heaven. 40:17.920 --> 40:22.900 Moreover, good Catholics may offer their own sufferings to release souls from 40:22.900 --> 40:23.480 purgatory. 40:24.220 --> 40:30.260 Padre Pio, recently deceased and made a saint by John Paul II, manifested the 40:30.260 --> 40:36.180 stigmata, that is, bleeding from the hands and feet and side, for 40 years to pay the 40:36.180 --> 40:41.440 penalty for the sins of the world so that souls could be released from purgatory. 40:42.580 --> 40:49.100 Of such alleged saints, Vatican II says, quote, they have carried their crosses to 40:49.100 --> 40:52.960 make expiation for their own sins and for the sins of others. 40:53.560 --> 40:58.280 They were convinced that by their suffering they could help their brothers 40:58.280 --> 41:01.660 to obtain salvation from God, unquote. 41:02.160 --> 41:07.820 Again, we see the fatal denial of the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice on the 41:07.820 --> 41:08.240 cross. 41:09.320 --> 41:15.040 For centuries, the payment of money was to have brought deliverance from purgatory. 41:15.580 --> 41:20.620 That practice eventually troubled Martin Luther's conscience and sparked the 41:20.620 --> 41:21.140 Reformation. 41:22.340 --> 41:28.480 Who can forget the infamous sales pitch of the Dominican friar, Tetzel, commissioned 41:28.480 --> 41:35.320 by Pope Leo X to reap a fortune for Rome, quote, as soon as a coin in the coffer 41:35.320 --> 41:39.420 rings, a soul from purgatory springs, unquote. 41:40.280 --> 41:45.400 With such fraudulently obtained money, St. Peter's Cathedral was built and 41:45.400 --> 41:45.780 repaired. 41:46.860 --> 41:48.400 This was nothing new. 41:49.300 --> 41:53.860 Rome had consistently sold salvation for centuries. 41:54.620 --> 41:57.800 Pope Leo X, quote, said that popes published lists of every crime from incest 41:57.800 --> 42:03.820 to piracy to murder, and the price for which the church would give absolution for 42:03.820 --> 42:04.180 each. 42:04.840 --> 42:09.720 For example, a deacon guilty of murder could be absolved for 20 crowns. 42:10.240 --> 42:14.860 The anointed malefactors, as they were called, once pardoned by the church, 42:15.420 --> 42:20.460 could not be prosecuted by civil authorities because the church reigned 42:20.460 --> 42:21.160 supreme. 42:22.100 --> 42:26.760 Here is a further abomination, filling the woman's cup, selling tickets 42:26.760 --> 42:30.180 to heaven that actually send people to hell. 42:31.080 --> 42:35.120 Similar practices continue in Roman Catholicism to this day. 42:36.140 --> 42:40.000 This is a mass card, obtainable from any mortuary. 42:40.540 --> 42:42.500 Fill in your name and the name of the deceased. 42:43.440 --> 42:48.240 In exchange for an offering, the priest will place the card on the altar when he 42:48.240 --> 42:53.280 says mass, allegedly reducing the time of suffering for the deceased in purgatory. 42:53.980 --> 42:58.680 Of course, the church makes no guarantee as to how much the suffering will be 42:58.680 --> 43:03.280 shortened, nor how many more masses must be said before the gates of heaven can be 43:03.280 --> 43:03.600 opened. 43:04.400 --> 43:09.500 Consequently, multiple masses are purchased in the hope that eventually 43:09.500 --> 43:10.720 there will be enough. 43:11.240 --> 43:16.060 A friend told me that at his father's funeral more than $2,000 in mass cards 43:16.060 --> 43:16.980 were purchased. 43:17.980 --> 43:23.820 Vatican II declares, The Church teaches and commands that the usage of 43:23.820 --> 43:29.620 indulgences, such as mass cards, a usage most beneficial to Christians and 43:29.620 --> 43:34.460 approved by the authority of the sacred councils, should be kept in the Church, 43:35.180 --> 43:40.520 and it condemns with anathema those who say that indulgences are useless or that 43:40.520 --> 43:42.980 the Church does not have the power to grant them. 43:43.760 --> 43:49.040 Some Catholics claim they don't believe in purgatory and indulgences, regardless of 43:49.040 --> 43:49.940 what the Church says. 43:50.700 --> 43:54.320 But if they don't fear their Church's anathemas condemning them to hell, 43:54.660 --> 43:58.220 why do they still trust her promises to get them to heaven? 43:58.720 --> 44:02.560 There are 20 complex rules governing indulgences. 44:03.400 --> 44:10.520 Rule 17 explains that the use of a crucifix, rosary, scapular, or medal can 44:10.520 --> 44:12.340 gain a partial indulgence. 44:12.500 --> 44:18.000 But if this object of piety is blessed by the pope or any bishop, the faithful who 44:18.000 --> 44:22.620 use it with devotion can also gain a plenary, that is, a full indulgence, 44:22.960 --> 44:25.340 on the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul. 44:26.300 --> 44:29.880 Here's another abomination, filling that gold chalice. 44:30.420 --> 44:39.180 What kind of God grants special favors to those who possess a scapular or bishop and 44:39.180 --> 44:42.380 use it on a feast day of Peter or Paul? 44:43.160 --> 44:48.720 Keep in mind that the Catholic Church is saying that these objects have power to 44:48.720 --> 44:52.560 provide what Christ's sufferings on the cross could not. 44:53.620 --> 45:00.040 Speaking of abominations, the woman is called, quote, the mother of harlots, 45:00.140 --> 45:00.560 unquote. 45:01.480 --> 45:07.100 In addition to spiritual harlots, Roman Catholicism has created literal 45:07.100 --> 45:08.560 harlots by the millions. 45:09.380 --> 45:14.800 Innumerable celibate priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes throughout history 45:14.800 --> 45:16.400 have had their lovers. 45:16.980 --> 45:20.860 There were popes who were the sons of supposedly celibate popes. 45:21.720 --> 45:27.420 Pope Silvarius was fathered by Pope Ormistus and John XI by Sergius III. 45:27.900 --> 45:33.860 The list of bastards who ruled the Church includes Popes Boniface I, Galatius, 45:34.420 --> 45:38.100 Agapetus, Theodore, Adrian IV, and others. 45:38.640 --> 45:42.900 No wonder Pope Pius II, who himself fathered illegitimate children, 45:43.500 --> 45:48.180 said that Rome was, quote, the only city run by bastards, unquote. 45:49.620 --> 45:54.780 For centuries it was a favorite joke that Rome had more prostitutes than any other 45:54.780 --> 45:57.560 city because she had the most celibates. 45:59.000 --> 46:05.040 The sexual exploits of supposedly celibate priests and nuns, once hushed up, 46:05.420 --> 46:07.460 are increasingly being brought to light. 46:08.200 --> 46:13.640 Homosexual priests are dying of AIDS worldwide, with estimates that as many as 46:13.640 --> 46:18.380 70% of priests in some seminaries are practicing homosexuals. 46:18.820 --> 46:25.540 The Roman Catholic Church in America has paid out an estimated $1 billion in the 46:25.540 --> 46:31.120 past few years in out-of-court settlements to conceal sexual abuse among the clergy. 46:31.380 --> 46:36.740 I have a file more than two inches thick, filled with news articles involving sexual 46:36.740 --> 46:41.880 immorality of Roman Catholic clergy, just within the past five years. 46:42.560 --> 46:47.300 It's not that Catholic priests and nuns are any more lustful than the average 46:47.300 --> 46:47.780 person. 46:48.000 --> 46:52.800 They may have started out with higher ideals, but they have had imposed upon 46:52.800 --> 46:58.680 them the unbiblical rule of celibacy, which becomes a burden too great to bear. 46:59.780 --> 47:06.020 The woman in Revelation is also drunk with the blood of the saints and the martyrs of 47:06.020 --> 47:06.360 Jesus. 47:07.060 --> 47:12.160 For centuries, to disobey the popes was heresy punishable by death. 47:12.620 --> 47:12.820 J. 47:12.860 --> 47:13.200 H. 47:13.460 --> 47:18.900 Ignace von Dollinger, a leading 19th century Catholic professor of church 47:18.900 --> 47:26.120 history, confessed, "...since 1183, the view of the Church had been that every 47:26.120 --> 47:31.640 departure from the teaching of the Church must be punished with death, and the most 47:31.640 --> 47:38.860 cruel of deaths by fire." For one thousand years before the Reformation, there were 47:38.860 --> 47:44.600 Christians who refused to give allegiance to Rome, and who were slaughtered by the 47:44.600 --> 47:45.060 millions. 47:45.880 --> 47:52.580 Everyone knows of the Crusades to retake the Holy Land, but few know that even 47:52.580 --> 47:57.040 larger and more numerous Crusades were fought in an attempt to exterminate 47:57.040 --> 48:02.880 Christians all over Europe, who, out of conscience to God and obedience to 48:02.880 --> 48:07.840 the Bible, would not submit to the authority of the popes or embrace Rome's 48:07.840 --> 48:08.900 heresies. 48:09.240 --> 48:14.980 Of these martyrs, historian Will Durant wrote, "...the Roman Church, they were 48:14.980 --> 48:23.160 sure, was the whore of Babylon." Such was the opinion of the Reformers, written into 48:23.160 --> 48:24.580 the Reformation creeds. 48:25.120 --> 48:28.440 One could hardly come to any other conclusion from John's vision, 48:29.140 --> 48:34.960 yet that opinion is being abandoned and even ridiculed by evangelicals in the 48:34.960 --> 48:36.400 interests of ecumenism. 48:37.640 --> 48:42.540 The popes promised instantaneous entrance into heaven for those who gave their lives 48:42.540 --> 48:44.160 slaughtering the heretics. 48:44.560 --> 48:49.600 It took about a century to exterminate the Albigensian Christians, who at one time 48:49.600 --> 48:52.220 were the majority of the population of southern France. 48:52.780 --> 48:58.020 Among the cities wiped out by Pope Innocent III was Béziers, France. 48:58.260 --> 49:02.180 60,000 massacred there, including women and children. 49:02.840 --> 49:10.220 In the infamous St. Bartholomew's massacre in August 1572, 70,000 Huguenots were 49:10.220 --> 49:10.600 killed. 49:11.140 --> 49:17.300 Another 200,000 were slaughtered over a period of months, causing 500,000 to flee 49:17.300 --> 49:19.200 to Protestant countries for refuge. 49:20.100 --> 49:24.000 The Waldenses were all but exterminated, as were the Hussites. 49:24.480 --> 49:30.080 Here is an excerpt from Pope Martin V's letter to the King of Poland in 1429, 49:30.720 --> 49:33.520 100 years before the Reformation. 49:34.960 --> 49:40.260 Know that the interests of the Holy See and those of your crown make it a duty to 49:40.260 --> 49:42.100 exterminate the Hussites. 49:42.880 --> 49:47.880 Remember that these impious persons dare proclaim principles of equality, 49:48.220 --> 49:53.080 that all Christians are brethren, that Christ came on earth to abolish 49:53.080 --> 49:53.520 slavery. 49:54.020 --> 49:55.980 They call the people to liberty. 49:56.920 --> 50:00.960 While there is still time, then, turn your forces against Bohemia. 50:01.380 --> 50:07.260 Burn, massacre, make deserts everywhere, for nothing could be more agreeable to God 50:07.260 --> 50:12.000 or more useful to the cause of kings than the extermination of the Hussites. 50:13.120 --> 50:18.060 We haven't time to mention the horror of the tortures and murders of the 50:18.060 --> 50:21.340 Inquisitions that terrorized Europe for centuries. 50:22.240 --> 50:27.280 There is no city on earth that has shed more blood, both of Christians and Jews, 50:27.580 --> 50:28.220 than Rome. 50:28.740 --> 50:33.700 Pagan Rome threw Christians to the lions and killed them in periodic persecutions 50:33.700 --> 50:35.700 during the first three centuries. 50:36.380 --> 50:41.480 That was nothing, however, compared to the slaughter of both Christians and Jews by 50:41.480 --> 50:42.460 Catholic Rome. 50:43.040 --> 50:48.460 Historian Will Durant writes, candidly, quote, compared with the persecution of 50:48.460 --> 50:53.700 alleged heresy in Europe by the Roman Catholic Church, the persecution of 50:53.700 --> 50:59.760 Christians in the first three centuries after Christ by pagan Rome was a mild and 50:59.760 --> 51:01.620 humane procedure, unquote. 51:02.820 --> 51:09.360 Yes, this woman is indeed drunk with the blood of the saints and the martyrs of 51:09.360 --> 51:14.620 Jesus, and no other city comes even close to Rome in this regard. 51:15.240 --> 51:21.440 The fact that a woman rides the beast also points to Roman Catholicism in which the 51:21.440 --> 51:27.700 main figure is a woman, a supposedly sinless, perpetually virgin, and 51:27.700 --> 51:32.500 all-powerful Mary, whom Rome has invented and worships. 51:33.400 --> 51:38.800 Catholics deny that they worship Mary and insist that the devotion and honor they 51:38.800 --> 51:44.200 give her is of a lesser quality than that given to God the Father, Son, and Holy 51:44.200 --> 51:44.620 Spirit. 51:45.200 --> 51:48.380 Perhaps in theory, but not in practice. 51:48.960 --> 51:53.520 There are thousands of large and ornate shrines to Mary around the world, 51:54.100 --> 51:59.400 nearly 1,000 in France alone, visited by hundreds of millions each year, 51:59.900 --> 52:05.960 yet scarcely a handful of shrines to Christ, and those that do exist are 52:05.960 --> 52:08.860 generally very small, with few visitors. 52:09.860 --> 52:14.700 Pilgrims to Mary's shrines come to ask for her help and protection. 52:15.480 --> 52:20.040 Both the New Universal Catechism of the Catholic Church and Vatican II declare, 52:20.320 --> 52:25.340 quote, From the most ancient times, the Blessed Virgin has been honored with 52:25.340 --> 52:31.080 the title of Mother of God, to whose protection the faithful fly in all their 52:31.080 --> 52:33.220 dangers and needs, unquote. 52:34.260 --> 52:39.140 Why fly to her protection, when God's protection is available? 52:39.940 --> 52:45.800 And if this Catholic Mary can indeed protect all Catholics from all dangers and 52:45.800 --> 52:51.660 supply all their needs, then she must be at least as great as God, and is 52:51.660 --> 52:56.680 apparently more sympathetic, because at least 100 times as many prayers are 52:56.680 --> 53:02.120 offered to Mary, perhaps even 1,000 times, as to the Father and Christ combined. 53:02.400 --> 53:06.440 It is Christ, not Mary, who died for our sins. 53:06.860 --> 53:08.500 Has he not proved his love? 53:08.800 --> 53:15.280 He says, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink. 53:15.700 --> 53:18.460 Whoever comes to me I will not turn away. 53:18.820 --> 53:23.480 I give my sheep eternal life, and they will never perish. 53:24.000 --> 53:26.340 No one can pluck them out of my hand. 53:26.880 --> 53:30.420 He that believes on me has everlasting life. 53:31.260 --> 53:33.340 Yet the Catholic looks to Mary. 53:33.960 --> 53:39.020 The most recited Catholic prayer, the Rosary, cries out to Mary for help, 53:39.640 --> 53:45.580 calling her Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. 53:46.420 --> 53:51.900 The Bible says that Christ is our life and our hope, and surely God's mercy was 53:51.900 --> 53:56.640 extended to mankind before Mary was born, so she could hardly be its mother. 53:57.660 --> 54:03.320 The Catholic Mary is not the Mary of the Bible, but is in fact the woman who rides 54:03.320 --> 54:03.940 the beast. 54:04.560 --> 54:09.640 She is appearing around the world in thousands of apparitions, offering her 54:09.640 --> 54:15.900 plan of peace for the world, and millions are placing their trust and belief in her 54:15.900 --> 54:17.920 rather than in Christ. 54:19.000 --> 54:24.220 Antichrist is coming to establish his world government and world religion in 54:24.220 --> 54:26.640 partnership with the woman who rides the beast. 54:27.260 --> 54:35.020 This city on seven hills whose code name is Babylon, whose colors are purple and 54:35.020 --> 54:40.520 scarlet, who has committed fornication with the kings of the earth and has ruled 54:40.520 --> 54:46.280 over them, who calls her unbiblical doctrines mysteries to deceive her 54:46.280 --> 54:53.020 followers, who has a golden cup in her hand full of abominations, and who is 54:53.020 --> 54:58.840 drunk with the blood of the saints, she will play a vital role until God's 54:58.840 --> 55:00.100 judgment comes upon her. 55:00.860 --> 55:06.980 In the meantime, a voice cries from heaven, Come out of her, my people, 55:07.620 --> 55:10.600 that ye be not partakers of her sins.