My title is Mystery Babylon Identified.
About 2,500 years ago, God gave the prophet Daniel a vision of four strange
beasts, as we all know, representing the four world empires which are now history,
the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, and Roman.
Yes, there were other empires, large empires, based in Egypt,
China, Central and South America, Arabia, and so forth, but Scripture gives
them no prophetic significance because they will not rise again.
Only Rome will.
Symbolic of the Roman Empire, the fourth beast retained characteristics of the
three empires which preceded it, yet it was far more, quote, dreadful and
terrible, strong exceedingly, it had great iron teeth, it devoured the known world,
breaking and trampling all that opposed it, and so forth, Daniel 7.7.
This fourth beast had ten horns, corresponding to the ten toes on the huge
image seen in Daniel chapter 2, an image which depicted the same four
world empires.
The image's two legs foretold the split of the Roman Empire.
Politically, when Constantine moved his capital to Constantinople in 330 A.D.,
and religiously, between Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy, when in 1054 Pope
Leo IX in Rome excommunicated Michael of Seviartius, patriarch of Constantinople.
The ten toes of iron mixed with clay signified ten kings who must reign when,
quote, the God of heaven shall set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed,
Daniel 2.44.
Nearly 700 years after Daniel, around 95 A.D., the Apostle John was given
three further prophetic visions of this same terrible fourth beast, as recorded in
Revelation 12, Revelation 13, and chapter 17.
At that time, the world empires represented by the first three beasts had
come and gone exactly as Daniel had prophesied.
The fourth beast, the Roman Empire, was then at the height of its power.
It too would fall, but unlike its three predecessors, and exactly as the Bible
foretold, it would not be conquered by a successor.
No fifth empire would arise to take its place.
Instead, scripture foretold that the Roman Empire itself would be revived in a more
powerful form to control all of earth just before Christ's second coming.
Numerous scriptures indicate this, since the Roman Empire was never ruled by
ten kings at one time, as foreseen in the images Ten Toes and the fourth beast Ten
Horns, it must be revived worldwide, divided into ten regions under separate
sub-rulers accountable to Antichrist, in my opinion at least.
Ten nations in Western Europe could hardly represent the revival of an empire which
included far more in its day.
Moreover, we're clearly told that, quote, power was given him over all
kindreds and tongues and nations and all that dwell upon the earth shall worship
him, Revelation 13 7 and 8.
Interestingly, today's world has already been divided into ten regions by the Club
of Rome.
Only when Antichrist's position and power had been fully established, 2
Thessalonians 2 8 and 9, will the second coming take place with Christ returning to
destroy Antichrist and his kingdom and to set up his own millennial reign over this
earth from Jerusalem.
It says, whom the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.
John saw this fourth beast three times.
First as a red dragon seeking to destroy Israel, quote, and behold a great red
dragon having seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns upon his heads,
Revelation 12.
In chapter 13, this dreadful beast appears again, representing the revived Roman
Empire whose, quote, deadly wound was healed, in my opinion at least,
and also its ruler, the Antichrist, whom, quote, all that dwell upon the earth
shall worship.
Now, John expresses no shock at the sight of the beast, but in his third vision of
this scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns, he's staggered to see a woman
on his back, Revelation 17 6.
A woman rides the beast, and not as in a rodeo on a creature which is trying to
buck her off, but sitting relaxed and comfortable, holding the reins,
obviously a key player in the unfolding drama of Antichrist's rule over the
revived Roman Empire.
Who is this woman?
John's vision provides at least 14 specifics which identify her, I think,
beyond question.
First of all, she's a city, verse 19.
Secondly, the city sits on seven hills, verse 9.
Several cities sit on seven hills, of course.
John's vision, however, eliminates all but one, as we shall see.
That the seven heads also signify seven kings doesn't take away from the fact that
they represent seven hills upon which the woman sits.
Thirdly, emblazoned on her forehead is her name, Mystery Babylon.
Saddam Hussein has been rebuilding Iraq's ancient city of Babylon, headquarters of
the first world empire.
The woman could not be that city, however, rebuilt for the Antichrist for
several reasons.
First of all, it's the fourth empire headquartered in Rome, which is to be
brought back to life, not the Babylonian Empire.
The ten toes and ten horns belong to Rome, and Babylon was not built on seven hills,
nor does it meet any of the other identifying criteria.
Rome, however, was and has universally been known as the city of seven hills.
The Catholic Encyclopedia states, quote, it is within the city of Rome,
called the city of seven hills, that the entire area of Vatican State
proper is now confined, unquote.
Charles Dyer counters, the seven heads are associated with the beast, not the woman.
It doesn't identify the location of the prostitute because she's not an organic
part of the beast, unquote, nor is any cowboy an organic part of his horse.
The seven heads are associated with the woman.
They are specifically stated to be seven hills on which she sits.
That's the location.
Interestingly, Rome was also known as Babylon.
In his book Catholicism and Fundamentalism, Catholic apologist Karl
Keating writes, quote, Babylon is a code word for Rome.
It is used that way six times in the last book of the Bible.
I would agree with him there.
And in extra-biblical works, such as Sibling Oracles, the Apocalypse of Baruch
and Esdras, Eusebius, Pamphilius, writing about 303, noted that Peter
referred to Rome figuratively as Babylon, 1st Peter 5, 13.
The church that is at Babylon greeteth you.
The Bible often addresses a person or city under another name.
For example, Jerusalem is called Sodom in Egypt, Revelation 11, 8, and Satan is
addressed as the king of Babylon in Isaiah 14 and as the prince of Tyrus in Ezekiel
28.
Could Rome be the woman on the beast?
That would make good sense, because the beast she rides is the revived Roman
Empire.
Fourth, this woman is called, quote, the great whore, with whom the kings of
the earth have committed fornication, verses 1 and 2.
While Nineveh and Tyre were associated with prostitution because of their rampant
sexual immorality, literal whoredom and fornication would be impossible for a
city.
Spiritual fornication, however, would be possible for a city if it were a
spiritual entity.
Jerusalem is such a city.
It's called the Holy City, the city of God, having been chosen by God to
represent him to the nations.
Tragically, Jerusalem violated that relationship and was repeatedly accused by
God's prophets of spiritual harlotry and adultery.
Just one verse of many.
Isaiah said of Jerusalem, quote, how is the faithful city become a harlot?
Chapter 1, verse 21.
Jerusalem, however, can't be the woman riding the beast because it wasn't built
on seven hills, nor does it meet any of the other criteria in John's vision.
There is one other city in the world, and only one, which is a spiritual entity
and could therefore commit spiritual fornication with the kings of the earth,
and it is built on seven hills.
Again, that city is Rome, headquarters of Roman Catholicism, which claims to be the
true Christianity.
Its Pope claims to be the vicar of Christ.
Moreover, the Roman Catholic Church claims that its members have taken the place of
Israel as the true people of God, and that Rome is therefore the new
Jerusalem.
Catholic Rome claims the very titles God gave to Jerusalem, the Holy City,
the city of God, even the Eternal City.
Let me state right now, I have no desire to attack Catholics.
I'm not a Catholic basher, as I've been accused of being.
I love Catholics.
I want them to know the truth.
Let's set the record straight.
The canons and decrees of the Council of Trent, which Vatican II re-proposed,
this sacred council proposes again the canons and decrees of the Council of
Trent, understand, contain more than 100 anathemas damning me and every evangelical
Christian for our beliefs and our unwillingness to accept Catholic dogmas
and authorities.
So who is really bashing whom?
We've already discovered from John's vision that these four criteria,
being a city known as Babylon, built on seven hills, that committed
spiritual fornication with earth's rulers, have ruled out every city on earth except
Rome.
We're of course not talking about political civil Rome, but about religious
Rome, and more specifically the Vatican and the Roman Catholic Church as the
worldwide leader of a false and anti-Christ Christianity.
The Pope is currently leading the greatest ecumenical movement in history in order to
unite all religions under Rome's leadership.
As only one example, in 1986 Pope John Paul II gathered in Assisi, Italy,
the leaders of the world's major religions to pray for peace.
There were snake worshippers, fire worshippers, spiritists, animists,
Buddhists, Muslims, Hindus, North American Indian witch doctors.
I watched in astonishment as they walked to the microphone to pray.
The Pope said they were all praying to the same God, and that their prayers were
creating a spiritual energy that was bringing about a new climate for peace.
On that occasion John Paul II allowed his good friend the Dalai Lama to put the
Buddha on the altar in St. Peter's Church in Assisi, and with his monks have the
Buddhist worship ceremony there, while Shintoists chanted and tinkled their
bells outside.
The prophesied world religion is in the process of being formed before our eyes,
and the Vatican is the headquarters of the movement.
Is this not spiritual fornication, such as no other city either has committed
or could commit?
The objection is raised that Vatican City is only a small part of Rome, and is not
itself built on seven hills.
Historically, however, the Pope ruled as kings over all of Rome and the surrounding
area, as well as over large territories across Italy known as the Papal States.
Pope Innocent III abolished the Roman Senate and placed the administration of
Rome directly under his control.
It wasn't until 1870 that Rome and the other Vatican controlled territories were
finally captured by the army of the newly united Italy.
The Jews were liberated at last from Rome's shameful ghetto, and Pope Pius IX
took refuge in Vatican City, which has been the headquarters of the Roman
Catholic Church ever since.
Today the Vatican still owns about one-third of Rome, and its influence is
everywhere through its monuments, churches, and other institutions scattered
throughout the entire city of Seven Hills.
That church proudly identifies itself as the Roman Catholic Church.
A recent article in National Catholic Reporter titled, quote, Rome where the
pontiff reigns supreme, declared, no city comes close to being so suffused
with religious culture as Rome is with Catholicism.
What has emerged over the centuries is unmistakably a culture of the papacy,
unquote.
The article goes on to refer to the monuments to Roman Catholicism found
everywhere in Rome, and states, quote, all roads lead sooner or later down
the Via della Consolazione to the Vatican.
Rome is the world's spiritual crossroads, unquote.
Our Sunday Visitor's Catholic Encyclopedia adds, quote, hence one understands the
central place of Rome in the life of the church today and the significance of the
title Roman Catholic Church.
Since the founding of the church there, Rome has been the center of all
Christianity.
World's spiritual crossroads, center of all Christianity.
This is the one city in the world built on seven hills and known as Babylon,
which is undoubtedly a spiritual entity.
The popes have repeatedly engaged in partnership and thus spiritual fornication
with emperors, kings, and princes.
Claiming to be the bride of Christ, the Roman Catholic Church has been in bed
with godless rulers down through history.
Hundreds of examples could be given, not just from centuries past, but from
recent times as well.
Consider, for example, the alliances with Mussolini and Hitler.
The Vatican literally put Mussolini into power.
Pope Pius XI and his cardinals praised Mussolini as a man chosen by God and
forbade Roman Catholics to oppose him politically.
In turn, Mussolini signed the Concordat with the Vatican in 1929, making Roman
Catholicism the sole religion of Italy.
The Vatican received 750 million lire in cash and one billion in state bonds.
Four years later, in 1933, came a similar Concordat with Hitler, resulting in the
Vatican's reception of hundreds of millions of German marks from the Nazi
regime all through World War II.
Similar Concordats with many other governments have made the Roman Catholic
Church the only religion allowed in those countries and have brought persecution and
death upon thousands of evangelicals.
One could not ask for clear examples of fornication with the kings of the earth.
Ancient Babylon doesn't meet this criteria, nor does any other city.
Christ never joined forces with Caesar, nor did Peter or Paul.
But the Roman Catholic Church has continually engaged in adulterous
relationships with secular rulers right up to the present.
The cover of Time magazine, February 24th, 1992, declared, quote, holy alliance,
how Reagan and the Pope conspired to assist Poland's solidarity movement and
hastened the demise of communism, unquote.
The alliance between Reagan and Pope John Paul II, between the CIA and the alleged
vicar of Christ, could only be called spiritual fornication.
Vatican liaison to the White House, Archbishop Pio Laghi, kept reminding
American officials, quote, listen to the Holy Father.
We have 2,000 years experience at this, unquote.
2,000 years is an exaggeration, but there have been centuries of political
intrigue at which the Vatican is clearly the master.
And this is the true church?
No, this is the whore.
Mikhail Gorbachev, who has called the Pope, quote, the highest spiritual
authority on earth, wrote in his syndicated column, quote, Pope John Paul
II played a major political role in the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe.
The events in Eastern Europe might not have been possible without the presence of
this Pope, without the great role which he knew how to play on the world scene,
unquote.
Such praise could never have been given to Christ or to his apostles, who were
martyred by the secular world, which the Popes have embraced in spiritual
fornication and have even dominated.
Or we could give many other examples.
Fifth, this city on seven hills, quote, rules over the kings of the earth,
verse 19.
In John's day, of course, it was the Rome of the Caesars that ruled the world.
After the Caesars lost their power, the Popes ruled in their place and over
wider territories and often more ruthlessly.
Christ said that his kingdom is not of this world and his servants are not to
fight.
In direct disobedience, the Popes, who included some of the greatest military
commanders in history, Pope Innocent III, never lost a battle.
They fought with armies and navies in the name of Christ to build a huge kingdom,
an unrivaled worldwide empire, property, wealth, and political influence,
which is very much of this world.
Papal worldly power has been wielded for centuries in fulfillment of John's
remarkable vision, while ancient Babylon has been in ruins.
Hundreds of examples could be given.
Here are a few.
Pope Alexander II decreed that Harold, the lawful king of England, was a usurper,
excommunicated him and his followers, and gave the throne to William,
Duke of Normandy.
With the Pope's blessing, William the Conqueror killed Harold in battle,
took over England, and was crowned in London on Christmas Day 1066.
He accepted the crown of England quote, in the name of the Holy See of Rome,
unquote.
As the Pope's agent, William the Conqueror, now their king, was required to
teach the English people due obedience to Christ's vicar and to pay their taxes to
the Pope punctually.
Pope Alexander III excommunicated the Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa,
Frederick I.
The latter came for revenge with his armies against the Pope and was soundly
defeated.
Frederick I, the Emperor, came to Venice where he groveled at the Pope's feet with
his face in the dust, begging forgiveness.
The Pope put his heel on the Emperor's neck while the cardinals chanted,
thou shalt tread upon the lion, and adder, and so forth.
Papal Rome has ruled the kings of this earth for centuries, while ancient Babylon
lay in ruins.
Pope Gregory VII's claim to be King of Kings was no idle boast.
In 1077, Gregory forbade Henry IV, heir of Charlemagne, by the way,
Charlemagne had been crowned Emperor by Pope Leo III.
He forbade Henry IV, heir of Charlemagne, supreme head of the Holy Roman Empire,
to rule the kingdoms of Italy and Germany and threatened to excommunicate anyone who
would serve him as king.
Henry journeyed across the Alps in winter to beg the Pope's forgiveness.
The humbled Emperor had to stand three days in penitence, barefoot and in a hair
cloth shirt outside the Pope's castle at Canossa before he was granted an audience
to express his repentance.
In 1155, Pope Adrian IV gave the crown of Ireland to the King of England,
consigning the Irish to the merciless cruelties of Henry II.
A later King of England, John Lackland, tried to break free from Rome and Pope
Innocent III forced him to surrender his crown, thereafter allowing him to rule
only as a vassal of the Holy See.
One 18th century Catholic historian counted 95 Popes who claimed to have
divine power to depose kings and emperors.
Historian R.
W.
Southern declared, quote, during the whole medieval period there was in Rome a single
spiritual and temporal authority exercising powers which in the end
exceeded those that had ever lain within the grasp of a Roman Emperor, unquote.
Pope Gregory XI's papal bull of 1372 in Condomini claimed papal dominion over the
entire Christian world, secular and religious, and excommunicated all who
failed to obey the Popes and to pay them taxes.
The bull was confirmed by subsequent Popes and in 1568 Pope Pius V swore that it was
to remain an eternal law.
Surely no other city at the present or in history can rival the way in which Rome,
especially Catholic Rome, qualifies as the city on seven hills which reigns over
kings.
Hundreds more examples could be given covering centuries when Babylon lay in
ruins.
Nor is empire building an abandoned feature of the past.
The Second Vatican Council declared that, quote, the Catholic Church ceaselessly and
efficaciously seeks for the return of all humanity and all its goods under Christ,
unquote.
Meaning, of course, under the Pope Christ's alleged vicar.
The sixth point.
Not only is Babylon the code name for Rome, but Rome's connections to Babylon go
much deeper.
Ancient Babylon drew its Semitic name, Babylou, Gate of God, from the Tower of
Babel around whose ruins it was built.
That tower, designed to reach to heaven, was the headquarters of the first world
religion, just as Rome will be for the coming world religion of Antichrist.
Furthermore, just as Babel's tower and city let us build us a city and a tower
whose top may reach to heaven, just as Babel's tower and city united
church and state, so the Popes wielded both civil and religious authority.
And in like manner, the woman and the beast she rides will unite the coming
world government and world religion with its attempt to reach heaven by steps of
its own making.
Babel, Babylon, was the ultimate works religion.
And so it is in Roman Catholicism.
Salvation is unquestionably by works.
Vatican II declares, quote, to gain indulgences, the work prescribed must be
done.
From the most ancient times in the church, good works were also offered to God for
the salvation of sinners.
All men may attain to salvation through faith, baptism, and the observance of the
commandments, unquote.
The Council of Trent, as reproposed by Vatican II, decreed, quote, if anyone says
that the sacraments of the new law are not necessary, talk about Galatianism and the
Judaizers, if anyone says that the sacraments of the new law are not
necessary for salvation, at that without them, men obtained from God through faith
alone the grace of justification, let him be anathema.
That's one of more than a hundred anathemas.
Clearly, good works play a key role in earning salvation in Catholicism,
as the average Catholic would testify.
Thus, by its practice of salvation through good works and ritual, Catholic Rome once
again fits the description of the woman whose name is Babylon.
The seventh identifying feature, John tells us that the name Babylon
emblazoned on the woman's forehead is preceded by the word mystery.
Here again, mystery is the very heart of Roman Catholicism.
Pope Paul VI's encyclical on the Eucharist is titled Mysterium Fidei.
Vatican II refers repeatedly to, quote, the mystery of the Eucharist,
unquote.
The Vatican's new universal catechism declares that all of the church's liturgy
is mystery, and that its aim is, quote, to initiate souls into the mystery
of Christ.
It is mystagogy, unquote.
By claiming to be the custodian of a mystery, which only its priests and
bishops can mediate, the Roman Catholic Church keeps its members dependent upon it
rather than upon Christ for their salvation, which it has historically sold
for money, and still does so today, and thus trades in the souls of men,
as Revelation 18.13 says.
The eighth point, John notes that the woman on the beast is clothed,
quote, in purple and scarlet, unquote, verse 4.
These were the colors of the Roman Caesars, became those of the Roman
Catholic hierarchy, and remains so today.
The Catholic Encyclopedia declares of the ankle-length robe worn by Catholic clergy
as their official garb, quote, the color for bishops and other prelates
is purple, for cardinals, scarlet, unquote.
This may seem a small point, but as one identifying feature after another falls
into place, the case becomes overwhelming.
Catholic Rome meets all the criteria.
No other city comes close, certainly not a city lying in ruins for the past 2,000
years.
The ninth identifying feature, the woman is wealthy beyond calculation,
quote, decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in
her hand, unquote, Revelation 17.4.
The Roman Catholic Church is by far the wealthiest institution on earth.
Every cathedral, you've traveled to Europe and South America and so forth,
you know, every cathedral has its treasury, where priceless objects are
displayed for those who pay the price to see them.
The value of innumerable sculptures by such masters as Michelangelo, paintings by
the world's greatest artists, and countless other art treasures,
and ancient documents which she possesses, not only at the Vatican, but in cathedrals
around the world, the value is beyond calculation.
Nino Lobello, former Rome correspondent for Businessweek, calls the Vatican the
tycoon on the Tiber because of its incredible wealth and worldwide
enterprises.
His research indicates it's probably the largest holder of stocks and bonds in the
world to say nothing of its ownership of industries, from electronics and plastics
to airlines and chemical and engineering firms.
There is no city, past or present, which even comes close to possessing the
incalculable wealth of the Roman Catholic Church.
The rich clothing adorning the woman reflect the fact that the robes worn by
popes in the regalia used in pomp and ceremony were inherited from the Caesars.
One Catholic historian has written, quote, the Bishop of Rome looked like
Constantine, lived like him, dressed like him, inhabited his palaces, ruled over his
lands, had exactly the same imperial outlook.
The popes had become obsessed with power and possession.
Peter's successors became not the servants but the masters of the world.
They dress in purple like Nero and call themselves Pontifex Maximus.
Tenth, the woman riding the beast has a golden cup in her hand.
This is the holiest instrument in Roman Catholicism, the golden chalice used in
the Eucharist or Mass.
The Roman Catholic Church possesses literally hundreds of thousands of gold
chalices.
If there's any mark of the Catholic Church, it would be the gold cup.
Eleventh, John perceives that this golden chalice is filled with, quote,
the filthiness of her abominations, unquote, reflecting the Bible's view of
the sacrifice of the Mass at the very heart of Roman Catholicism.
Such was the conviction of hundreds of thousands of Christians throughout history
who were burned at the stake for refusing to participate in the Mass, which they
earnestly believed was the greatest abomination conceivable.
Why?
Because it claims to be the literal sacrificial offering again and again of
the body and blood of Christ, whereas the Bible clearly says that Christ's sacrifice
upon the cross was completed once and for all, never to be repeated again.
Catholicism claims that when at the Last Supper Christ said, quote, this is my
body, this is my blood, he had to be taken literally.
The bread and wine he held in his hands had with those words become his literal
body and blood.
And when the priest speaks those words today, the bread and wine become again
Christ's literal body and blood to be sacrificed endlessly on Catholic altars as
truly as Christ was sacrificed on the cross.
No one takes it literally when Christ said, I'm the door, I'm the light of the
world, I'm the good shepherd, or when he called his disciples sheep, Christ was
obviously speaking figuratively when he referred to bread and wine as his body and
blood.
There's no way that the bread could literally be his body when he was sitting
there in his physical body holding the bread.
Much less can millions of tiny wafers each be simultaneously.
Christ's literal body and blood, soul, personality, divinity, whole and
entire, as Catholicism claims.
That is not literalism but mysticism, the very mystery emblazoned on the woman's
forehead.
Compounding the error, Vatican II declares, quote, our Savior at the Last
Supper instituted the Eucharistic sacrifice of his body and blood,
unquote.
The Council of Trent agrees that Christ at the Last Supper, quote, offered up to God
the Father his own body and blood under the form of bread and wine, unquote.
If so, then he was sacrificed for the sins of the world at the Last Supper before he
went to the cross.
Indeed, he wouldn't have to go to the cross at all if Catholic priests,
as they claim, can truly turn bread and wine into the literal body and blood of
Christ and offer it as a propitiatory sacrifice on their altars.
This is the great mystery at the heart of Catholicism.
The Pocket Catholic Dictionary states, quote, the Mass is a truly propitiatory
sacrifice by which the Lord is appeased, he grants grace, he pardons wrongdoings
and sins, unquote.
The Council of Trent declared, quote, regarding the great mystery of the
Eucharist, it is the true and only sacrifice, unquote.
Then the cross is unnecessary.
Of course, Catholic apologists would say that the cross is essential, yet in
Catholicism, Christ's sacrifice upon the cross is only effective in its repetition
in the Mass and then only partially each time the Mass is repeated.
It takes many repetitions of the Mass to take a soul to heaven.
Christ won for the world all the graces it needs for salvation and sanctification,
but these blessings are conferred gradually and continually since Calvary,
mainly through the Mass.
The priest is indispensable since he alone, by his powers, can change the
elements of bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ.
The more often the sacrifice is offered, the more benefit is conferred,
unquote.
In other words, Christ's sacrifice is not yet complete, but is still in process
through the Mass.
Indeed, Vatican II, page 1 says, quote, for it is the liturgy through which
especially in the divine sacrifice of the Eucharist the work of our redemption is
accomplished, unquote.
Hebrews 9.12 assures us that Christ obtained eternal redemption for us.
Ephesians 1.7, Colossians 1.14 both state, in whom, in Christ, we have redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins.
Yet Vatican II insists, quote, for in the sacrifice of the Mass our Lord
is immolated.
He's still suffering.
The Mass is a sacrifice in which the sacrifice of the cross is perpetuated,
unquote.
The pocket Catholic dictionary explains that in the Mass Christ, quote,
offers himself as really as he did on Calvary, unquote.
Then what did Christ mean when he cried in triumph, it is finished.
Indeed, that golden cup is full of abominations, as Revelation 17 foretold.
Playing a semantic game, Catholicism suggests that Christ isn't really being
sacrificed over and over, but his sacrifice on the cross is being
represented or made present.
Such a statement is meaningless.
An event that was completed in the past can't be made present.
Moreover, if the past event accomplished its purpose, then there's no reason for
wanting to perpetuate it in the present, even if that could be done.
For example, if a benefactor pays a creditor the debt someone owes,
the debt is gone forever.
It would be meaningless to speak of representing or reenacting or perpetuating
the payment in the present.
One could well remember with gratitude the payment that was made, but no reenactment
would have any virtue, since there no longer remains any debt to be paid.
Yet the New Catechism of the Catholic Church says, quote, as sacrifice the
Eucharist is also offered in reparation for the sins of the living and the dead
and to obtain spiritual or temporal benefits from God.
That's like trying to pay more installments on a debt that's been paid in
full.
Clearly the mass is a denial of the sufficiency of the payment Christ made for
sin upon the cross.
At the heart of this error, the Catholic priesthood claims to perform the miracle
of transubstantiation, turning bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ,
quote, under the appearance of remaining bread and wine, unquote.
This mystery, they call it, is supposed to be a great miracle, even though the wafer
and wine remain unchanged in physical qualities.
There's no such miracle in the Bible.
Did Christ ever give a blind man his sight under the appearance of the man remaining
blind?
Did he ever raise a dead man to life under the appearance of the man remaining dead?
Under those circumstances, it wouldn't be unbelief but common sense to deny that the
alleged miracle had occurred at all.
Suppose the water turned to wine by Christ at the wedding in Cana had been this kind
of miracle.
The servants poured out to the governor of the feast and he exclaims, I asked for
wine, this is water.
The servants insist, sir, it is wine.
Angrily the governor shouts, it looks like water, tastes like water, it is water.
You need faith, the servants insist.
This is a miracle.
Christ turned water into wine but under the appearance of remaining water.
That's not a miracle, that's a fraud, would be the governor's response and he
would be right.
And so it is with transubstantiation.
The golden cup is full of abominations.
The dogma of purgatory is another abomination in the golden cup.
Vatican II says that although Christ suffered to bear our eternal punishment,
we must personally suffer to expiate the temporal punishment due for our sins.
And you're anathematized if you deny that.
Sin, I'm quoting Vatican II now, sin must be expiated through the sorrows,
miseries, and trials of this life or in the next life through fire and torments or
purifying punishments.
In purgatory the souls of those who died in the charity of God and truly repentant
for their sins and omissions are cleansed after death with punishments designed to
purge away their debt.
Yet in blatant contradiction, at the same time out of the other side of its mouth,
Catholicism says, well but we don't really have to suffer.
Masses and rosaries can be said even after one's death to reduce one's suffering in
purgatory.
For those who die wearing the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and
fulfill certain other obligations, she promises to go into purgatory the
Saturday after their death and take them out to heaven so they don't have to
personally suffer.
Christ's sacrifice on the cross was not sufficient but it's alleged repetition in
the Mass, if done enough times, will eventually get one to heaven.
Moreover good Catholics may offer their suffering to release souls from purgatory.
Padre Pio manifested the stigmata for 40 years to pay the penalty for the sins of
the world so that souls could be released from purgatory.
Of such alleged saints, Vatican II says, quote, they have carried their crosses to
make expiation for their own sins and the sins of others.
They were convinced that by their suffering they could help their brothers
to obtain salvation from God, unquote.
Catholicism has indeed filled that golden cup with abominations.
For centuries the payment of money brought deliverance from purgatory and passage
into heaven.
That practice eventually sparked the Reformation, as you remember.
Who can forget the infamous sales pitch of the Dominican friar Tetzel, commissioned
by Pope Leo X to reap a fortune for Rome, quote, as soon as the coin in the coffer
rings, a soul from purgatory springs, unquote.
This was nothing new.
Rome had consistently sold salvation for centuries.
Again we say she has, quote, made merchandise of souls of men, unquote,
Revelation 18.13.
Popes published lists of every crime from incest to piracy to murder with a price
for which the church would give absolution for each.
For example, a deacon guilty of murder could be absolved for 20 crowns.
The anointed malefactors, as they were called, once pardoned by the church could
not be prosecuted by civil authorities because the church reigned supreme.
Here's a further abomination filling the woman's golden cup, selling tickets to
heaven that end people up in hell.
Similar practices continue in Roman Catholicism today.
Here's a mass card.
One may obtain a mass card from any mortuary when the names of the deceased
and the donor have been filled in an offering given to the church.
The priest places the card on the altar during mass, allegedly reducing the time
of suffering for the deceased in purgatory.
Of course, the church makes no guarantee how much suffering will be shortened or
how many more masses must be said before the gates of heaven can be opened.
Consequently, multiple masses are purchased, hoping that eventually enough
will be celebrated.
A friend's father died recently and he told me that $2,000 in mass cards were
purchased at the funeral, and of course many more will be in following years.
Some Catholics claim they don't believe in indulgences, but Vatican II declares,
quote, the church condemns with anathema those who say that indulgences are useless
or that the church does not have the power to grant them, unquote.
Vatican II provides 20 complex rules governing indulgences.
Just give you one.
Rule 17 explains that the use of a crucifix, rosary, scapular, or medal,
quote, can gain a partial indulgence, but if this object of piety is blushed by
the Pope or any bishop, the faithful who use it with devotion can also gain a
plenary indulgence on the Feast of the Apostles Peter and Paul, unquote.
Here's another abomination filling that gold chalice.
What kind of God grants favors depending upon whether a priest or a bishop has
blessed some scapular or medal and whether it is used on a Feast of Peter or Paul,
and favors, remember, which the sufferings of Christ upon the cross could not
procure.
Twelve, the woman is called, quote, the mother of harlots, unquote,
as well as spiritual harlots.
Roman Catholicism has created literal harlots by the millions.
Throughout history and today, priests, bishops, cardinals, and popes without
number who claim to be celibates have had their lovers.
There were popes who were the sons of supposedly celibate popes.
Pope Silvarius was fathered by Pope Hormistus and John XI by Sergius III,
by his favorite mistress.
The list of bastards who ruled the church includes Popes Boniface I, Gelasius,
Agapetus, Theodore, Adrian IV, and others.
No wonder Pope Pius II, who himself fathered illegitimate children,
said that Rome was, quote, the only city run by bastards, unquote.
For centuries it was a favorite joke that Rome had more prostitutes than any other
city because she had the most celibates.
The sexual exploits of supposedly celibate priests and nuns, once hushed up,
are increasingly coming out in the open.
For example, the National Catholic Reporter recently stated, quote,
seven French women, companions of priests, who are forced to live clandestinely for a
lifetime, the love they share with the priest and who represent thousands of
women in similar relationships, arrived at the Vatican August 20th.
They asked the Pope, of course they couldn't get near him, but they asked the
Pope to look into the reality faced by thousands of priest companions who live in
the shadows, often with the approval of church superiors and by the children who
are raised by their mothers alone or are abandoned, unquote.
Just to give you some recent examples, the Archbishop of Vienna recently stepped
down after being charged with sexual abuse of minors.
The Bishop of Basel, Switzerland, too, resigned after admitting an affair
with a woman whom he made pregnant.
The resignation of Ireland's Prime Minister and the collapse of the Irish
government was recently precipitated by the exposure of 40 years of the Catholic
Church and Catholic government officials covering up the continued priestly sexual
abuse.
Homosexual priests are dying of AIDS worldwide, with estimates that as many as
70% of priests in some seminaries are practicing homosexuals.
The Roman Catholic Church in America has paid out an estimated $1 billion in the
past few years in out-of-court settlements to cover up its clergy's sexual abuse.
The Franciscan seminary in Santa Barbara, California, recently had to shut down
because of the sexual involvement of its priests.
The Milwaukee Archdiocese is in serious financial trouble due to payments it has
had to make for out-of-court settlements involving its priests' sexual affairs.
The Archdiocese of Santa Fe, New Mexico, is on the brink of bankruptcy because of
lawsuits against it for priestly sexual abuse.
I could go on and on.
I have a file nearly two inches thick of news articles involving sexual immorality
of Roman Catholic clergy just within the last two years.
It's not that Catholic priests and nuns are any more lustful than the average
person.
They may have started out with higher ideals, but they've had imposed upon them
the unbiblical rule of celibacy, which becomes a burden too great to bear.
One Spanish ex-priest writing in the early 1700s said that of one million priests in
Spain, he estimated 500 were celibates.
The woman is literally, quote, the mother of harlots, unquote.
Thirteenth, the woman is drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of
the martyrs of Jesus, verse 6.
For centuries, to disobey the Popes was heresy punishable by death.
J.H.
Ignace von Dallinger, a leading 19th century Catholic professor of church
history, confessed, quote, since 1183, the view of the church had been that every
departure from the teaching of the church must be punished with death and the most
cruel of deaths by fire.
For 1,000 years before the Reformation, there were Christians who refused to give
allegiance to Rome and who were slaughtered by the millions.
Everyone knows of the crusades to retake the Holy Land.
Not for the Jews, by the way, but for the church.
But few know that even larger and more numerous crusades were fought to
exterminate Christians all over Europe who, out of conscience to God and
obedience to the Bible, would not submit to the authority of the Popes or embrace
Rome's heresies.
The Popes promised instant entrance to heaven for those who died in the slaughter
of the heretics.
It took about a century to exterminate the Albigensian Christians who at one time
were the majority of the population of southern France.
Among the Albigensian cities wiped out by Pope Innocent III was Béziers,
France, for example, in 1208 AD.
60,000 massacred there, including women and children, which the Pope called,
quote, the crowning achievement of my papacy, unquote.
In the infamous St. Bartholomew's Massacre, as you know, they were promised
safety.
70,000 Huguenots were slaughtered.
Another 200,000 were slaughtered over a period of months, causing 500,000 to flee
to Protestant countries for refuge.
The Waldenses were all but exterminated, as were the Hussites.
Let me read you just part of Pope Martin V's letter commanding the King of Poland
in 1429, this is a hundred years before the Reformation, to exterminate the
Hussites.
Quote, know that the interests of the Holy See and those of your crown make it a duty
to exterminate the Hussites.
Remember that these impious persons dare proclaim principles of equality,
that all Christians are brethren, that Christ came on earth to abolish
slavery.
They call the people to liberty.
While there is still time then, turn your forces against Bohemia,
burn, massacre, make deserts everywhere, for nothing could be more agreeable to God
or more useful to the cause of kings than the extermination of the Hussites,
unquote.
We haven't time to mention the horror of the torture and murder, murders of the
Inquisitions, which terrorized Europe for centuries.
There is no city on earth which even comes close to having shed as much blood,
both of Christians and Jews, as has Rome.
Pagan Rome's killing of Christians during periodic persecutions in the first three
centuries was nothing compared to the slaughter of both Christians and Jews by
Catholic Rome.
Historian Will Durant writes candidly, quote, compared with the persecution of
religious heresy in Europe by the Roman Catholic Church, the persecution of
Christians in the first three centuries after Christ by Pagan Rome was a mild and
humane procedure, unquote.
Yes, this woman is indeed, quote, drunk with the blood of the Saints and the
martyrs of Jesus, unquote, and no other city even comes close to Rome in this
regard, certainly not ancient Babylon, which lay in ruins while Rome slaughtered
the Saints.
Fourteenth, the fact that, this is the final point, fourteenth, the fact that it
is a woman who rides the beast also points to Roman Catholicism.
Its main figure is a woman, a false, sinless, perpetually virgin and
all-powerful Mary whom Rome has invented and worships.
Catholics deny they worship Mary and insist that the devotion and honor they
give her is of a lesser quality than that given to God in Christ, perhaps in theory,
but not in practice.
There are thousands of large and ornate shrines to Mary around the world,
nearly a thousand in France alone, visited by hundreds of millions each year,
but scarcely a handful of shrines to Christ in the entire world and generally
very small with few visitors.
I found my first shrine to Christ in Portugal just a few weeks ago.
Pilgrims to Mary's shrines come to ask for her help and protection.
Both the New Universal Catechism, the Catholic Church, and Vatican II
declare, quote, from the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored
with the title of Mother of God, to whose protection the faithful fly in
all their dangers and needs, unquote.
Why fly to Mary's protection when God's protection is available?
And if this Catholic Mary can indeed protect all Catholics from all dangers and
supply all needs, then she must be at least as great as God.
And apparently she's more sympathetic because at least 1,000 times, I'm not
exaggerating, ask your ex-Catholics, at least 1,000 times as many prayers are
offered to Mary as are offered to God in Christ combined.
Yes, prayers to Mary, not just asking her to pray for us, but asking her to do what
she would have to be God to do.
Even asking her to provide the salvation and forgiveness of sins that Christ has
already provided and offers freely in grace.
In his prayer for the Marian year, there was a Marian year and a special
prayer, Pope John Paul II asks Mary to comfort, guide, strengthen, and protect
the whole of humanity.
To do so she would have to be all-powerful, all-knowing, and
omnipresent.
His prayer ends, quote, sustain us, O Virgin Mary, on our journey of faith and
obtain for us the grace of eternal salvation, unquote.
Christ offers salvation freely to all who will believe in him and cries out to
mankind, come unto me.
The Catholic is taught, however, that the way to Christ is through his
mother, whose pleas the Lord can't resist.
I would be insulted if friends whom I love, instead of coming directly to me,
asked my mother to influence me on their behalf.
But the idea that Christ's mother can prevail upon him for favors is a major
belief among Catholics.
The most recited Catholic prayer, the Rosary, cries out to Mary for help,
calling her, quote, mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope,
unquote.
The Bible says Christ is our life and our hope, and surely God's mercy was extended
to mankind before Mary was born, so she could hardly be its mother.
Another popular Catholic prayer to Mary says, quote, in thy hands I place my
eternal salvation, and to thee do I entrust my soul, for if thou protect me,
dear mother, I fear nothing, not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the
pardon of them, nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all
hell together, nor even from Jesus my judge himself, because by one prayer from
thee he will be appeased.
But one thing I fear, that in the hour of temptation I may neglect to call on thee,
and thus perish miserably, obtain for me then the pardon of my sins, unquote.
The Catholic Mary is not the Mary of the Bible, but the woman who rides the beast.
She's appearing around the world in thousands of apparitions, offering her
peace plan for the world, and millions are believing in her instead of in Christ.
Revelation 17 and 18 refer to the same city, mystery Babylon.
I consider these chapters to be among the most remarkable prophecies in the Bible,
foretelling with absolute accuracy the rise of Roman Catholicism to world
dominion and its religious abominations.
The woman riding the beast can't be the literal city of Babylon being rebuilt in
Iraq for many reasons, while Babylon could seem to meet some of the criteria in
Revelation 17.
She falls far short of meeting them all.
She's been in ruins for 2,000 years, meeting none of the 14 criteria given to
John, while the Vatican has been fulfilling all of them.
Even if, as Dyer argues, Babylon has never been completely without inhabitants,
she has certainly not played any role in world affairs during that time.
Furthermore, that a rebuilt ancient city would somehow become such a great city as
to rule the world in a brief time, and make up for having been in ruins ever
since John penned these lines, is rather far-fetched.
It also would seem to argue against imminency for the rapture.
Considering the great length of time it would take not only for ancient Babylon to
be rebuilt, but to be inhabited by hundreds of thousands of people,
and to become dominant in world affairs, that it would happen to a city in Iraq
makes it even more unlikely.
What we have attempted to show from the Bible in history is not some new theory
lately dreamed up, but has been the conviction of untold numbers of
evangelical Christians who down through the ages existed independently of Rome,
and would not give allegiance to her, and were therefore slaughtered by the
millions.
Martin Luther himself referred to them when he said, "...we are not the first to
declare the papacy to be the kingdom of Antichrist, since for many years before us
so many and such great men, whose number is large and whose memory is eternal,
have undertaken to express the same thing so clearly and plainly." Of these martyrs,
historian Will Durant wrote, "...the Roman Church, they were sure, was the whore of
Babylon." Such was the opinion even of many leading Roman Catholics in the Middle
Ages.
For example, St. Bonaventure, Cardinal and General of the Franciscans, said that Rome
was just like the harlot of the apocalypse.
The reformers were certain of this, and it was written into their creeds.
Thus D.
Martin Lloyd-Jones declared, "...I would not hesitate with the reformers of the
16th century to say that Roman Catholicism is, as the scripture puts it, the whore."
One could hardly come to any other conclusion from John's vision.
This has been the view of the evangelical church for 1,500 years, yet that opinion
is lately being abandoned by evangelicals in the interest of ecumenism, or because
ancient Babylon is now being rebuilt by Saddam Hussein.
Thank you.