Adrian Rogers - The Coming Kingdom of Christ
Would you take God's Word, please, and turn to Genesis chapter 10? And in just a moment we're going to begin reading in verse 8. And we're going to be reading primarily from Genesis chapter 10 and chapter 11. You say, "Well, Pastor, what does that have to do with The Second Coming of Jesus Christ and the coming kingdom of Christ". Well, stay tuned and you'll find out, because this Scripture is of great prophetic significance. You know the Bible is not merely up to date, it's centuries ahead of time, and it tells us back here in the dawn of civilization what is going to transpire, and what is going to take place. Now what we're going to study today is the story of a colossal and an amazing building project.
As a matter of fact, this is Satan's civic masterpiece, a great tower that was built by these people after the flood. It was a high rise, but it was a high rise to Hell. What is was, was a center of world religion and world government. It has great, great prophetic significance for you. If you want to know what's going on, lay down your newspaper. Pick up your Bible. Now look, if you will, in Genesis chapter 10 verse 8 to 10, "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the Earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord: whereof it is said," here's a proverb, "'Even as Nimrod, the mighty hunter before the Lord.' And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel". Now just underscore that, "The beginning of his kingdom was Babel".
Now, let's go to chapter 11, and I'm going to read the first 9 verses of chapter 11. "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. And they said one to another, 'Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, 'Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto Heaven,'" literally "'whose top unto Heaven.'" "May reach," is supplied by the translator.
"And let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, 'Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they began to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. Go to, let Us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.' So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the Earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore, is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the Earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of the Earth".
Now what you have here is a history and a prophecy, because Genesis is the seed bed of all Bible prophecy, and these stories literally happened. But God records them in the Bible, because they are a preview and a prefiguring of what is to come. And you'll see very clearly that this man Nimrod is a picture of the beast who is going to come, the anti-Christ who is going to come, and this city that was built, Babel, which was really Babylon as we will see, is the cradle and the grave of all false religion. I preached not long ago that we don't need religion. We need Jesus Christ. Most people have too much religion, and not enough Jesus.
There are two great cities in the Bible. One is Jerusalem, and one is Babylon. Jerusalem is the Holy City. Babylon is the hellish city. There are two great leaders in the world, Christ and anti-Christ. And there is a battle between Babylon and Jerusalem, Christ and anti-Christ. And folks, we're right in the middle of it. And we dare not be ignorant. Now I want you to see the coming kingdom of Satan, and I want you to see the coming kingdom of Christ. First of all, I introduce you to someone that I want to call the Babylonian beast, the Babylonian beast. Go back now to chapter 10, and here's a man named Nimrod. Look, if you will, in verse 8, "And Cush begat Nimrod". Now these are people that actually lived back in the dawn of civilization. A man named Cush had a son, and he named his son Nimrod. Do you know what the name Nimrod literally means? It means "let us rebel". This man was a rebel by birth. Let us rebel.
Now look again, if you will. And it says here, "He was a mighty hunter before the Lord". Do you see that in verse 9, "A mighty hunter before the Lord"? That doesn't mean that God just merely saw him do it. But it means that he was in the face of God. As we would say today, "In your face". That's what he's saying to God. He's not a hunter of animals, not a hunter of deer and antelope. He's a hunter of the souls of men, and he is a rebel against almighty God. It speaks of his arrogance.
Now put in your margin, right by that, Second Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4, Second Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 3 and 4. And I want you to see how there is coming another Nimrod, in the last days, in the days in which I believe we're living. And, the apostle Paul is speaking of the coming kingdom of Christ, and he says concerning the coming kingdom of Christ, "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come," that is the day of the Lord, "That day shall not come, accept there come a falling away first". The word falling away is the word we get our word apostasy from. There's coming an apostasy first, "And the man of sin be revealed". Now Jesus is the Man of Sorrows. The anti-Christ is the man of sin. The man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition. Jesus is the Son of God, but there's coming an apostasy; there is coming a man of sin. He is the son of perdition, which means unmitigated wickedness. And now let's see what this man of sin is going to be.
Notice in verse 4; this is Second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 4, it's, "One who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God". Now learn what the word anti-Christ means. Anti means against, and it also means instead of. The prefix anti means against, and it means instead of. The anti-Christ will be against the true Christ. He will present himself instead of the true Christ. It's very important that you understand this. The word anti means against, and it means instead of. "Who opposeth," that is against, "and who exalteth himself," that is instead of. Notice this, who, "This man of sin who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God".
And so here is a rebel against the true God way back in Genesis. He is a hunter of souls in the face of God. Now notice not only his arrogance, but I want you to notice his abilities. You're back in Genesis chapter 10 now, and look in verse 9, "He was a mighty hunter before the Lord," underscore the word mighty, "wherefore it is said, 'Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.'" Notice back up in verse 8, "And Cush begat Nimrod: and he began to be a mighty one". Mighty in verse 8, and mighty twice in verse 9. He is called mighty, mighty, mighty. Now our Lord is holy, holy, holy. But this man is called mighty. That is he is a man, don't; not an ordinary man. Three times it is mentioned by divine inspiration that this rebel in the face of God, this Nimrod, this founder of Babel, the cradle of all false religion is called mighty, mighty, mighty.
Now with that in mind, again Second Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 9, where the man of sin, the lawless one, the son of perdition is mentioned. Notice how he is described. Notice his might. This is Second Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 9. It speaks of this man and it says, "Even him," that is the man of sin. "Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders". Get ready. Get ready. There is coming to this Earth such devilish deception. Jesus said in Matthew 24:24, "It will be so strong, if it were possible, Satan would deceive the very elect". Don't you think that intellect would keep you from being deceived! Don't you think that you're good intentions keep you from being deceived! Only the Holy Spirit of God'll help you to see clearly and straightly in these days in which we live.
Satan is coming. He is going to take a man and put into that man such incredible power. He will be Satan in human flesh, as Jesus Christ was God in human flesh. Listen to that verse, Second Thessalonians 2 verse 9, "Even him, whose coming is after who, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders". You say, "Well I saw it must be true. It must be true". And you will be deceived if you do not have a spiritual anchor. You see this man Nimrod. The first thing you see about him is his arrogance. The second thing you see about him is his ability, and here's the third thing I want you to see about him, his ambition.
Look, if you will, in Genesis 10 verse 10, "And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel". This is the first man who ever said, "I'm going to be king," the beginning of his kingdom. He didn't just want to build a city. He was not just an entrepreneur trying to build a high rise. This was the beginning of his kingdom. He wanted to rule. Now remember what Second Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse 4 says of the coming anti-Christ? "He opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God so that he as God that is worshiped. So that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God". Learn this about the devil. The devil is not against religion; he uses religion. The temptation in the Garden was not for Adam and Eve to fall down; it was to fall up. He said, "You can be like God. You'll be like God".
Satan has always wanted to be like God. He always puts that into the hearts and minds of people. As a matter of fact, all of New Age religion is based upon the lie there in Genesis chapter 3. "You can be like God". You are your own God. And here was a man, Nimrod, who said, "I want to be worshiped like God. I'm going to exalt myself above God". It's the spirit of Satan. It's the spirit that's in this world today that speaks of the so called divinity in man. Learn this about Satan. Satan does not want casualties. He wants converts. Satan wants worship. So you see this Babylonian beast, Nimrod.
Now people say, the evolutionist said, "We have come from the beast". They've got it backward, friend. We're headed toward the beast. I mean, there is coming, there is lurking in the shadows of this world, a beast, the anti-Christ, the man of sin, the son of perdition who is Satan's superman. He may be alive on planet Earth right now. Now move to the second thing. Not only the Babylonian beast, but I want you to notice the Babylonian builders, these people who said, "We're going to build this city". Begin in chapter 11 verses 1 and 2. First of all, notice what I'm going to call their disobedience. "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there".
Now what they did was to say, "We're going to centralize power". Now God had told them to replenish the Earth; if you go back to Genesis chapter 9 after the flood. Look in Genesis 9 verse 1, "And God blessed Noah and his sons and said unto them, 'Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth.'" God did not tell them to gather up in one place. God's plan was not for a centralized, one world government. But this is what they wanted to do. They were looking for somehow to centralize and consolidate the governments of this world. A one world government is what Satan is after. We're headed toward a one world government, a new world order, it's being called today, and a new world order, a one world government will be a disaster. Why? Because that one world government will be headed up by someone.
Power corrupts. Total power totally corrupts. All the liberals today and all of the humanists today, they all have a running romance with big government. Have you noticed that? They all believe in big government. You see. They have failed to understand that freedom is always in direct reverse proportion to the size and the power of government. The more government, the less freedom. There's coming an enforcer in this world one of these days that's going to turn this world into a worldwide system, the kingdom of Babylon, the kingdom of anti-Christ. Now many of today's liberals are one-worlders first; they are Americans second. Now this is not by chance. This is well thought out.
Have you ever heard of the humanists? Do you know who the humanists are? Now don't get the word humanist and humanitarianism confused. The humanists are a small cadre of highly intellectual and highly motivated persons who are steering this world toward a one world government. And many of our national and international leaders are avowed card-carrying humanists. The humanists said back as far as 1966 this, quote, "Internationally what do the humanists purpose? Nationalism rooted, as it is, in arbitrary geographical units must be superseded by a globalism based on the oneness of man. There must be a worldwide organization to which national sovereignty could be relinquished in all international affairs".
That is give up America as a sovereign nation, and be a part of a world nation. Let our boys fight under the banner of the UN, no longer under the command of American commanders. We're coming to this one world government. In an editorial in the Humanist said this, quote, "If there is one principal upon which all humanists are united, it is the continued commitment to a world order based upon world law". So what we have to do is lay down our arms, set aside our laws, let people go over to Beijing, China and other places and tell us how we're going to raise our children, how we're going to have families, what we're going to do, put our troops under the control of somebody or something else, and join up with atheists, bandits, cut throats, and murderers, and all of the rest of it, and have a global village.
Now folks it is coming. It is coming everywhere. Monetarily it is coming. Organizationally it is coming. Militarily it is coming. Philosophically it is coming. It roots back in the same thing that motivated old Nimrod so long ago. I wish I had more time to talk about that, but notice their disobedience, and notice their depravity. Look in Genesis 11 verses 3 and 4, "And they said one to another, 'Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, 'Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto Heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of the whole Earth.'" That's exactly what God said to do. "Be scattered. Replenish the Earth," but they said, "We're not going to do this".
Now what you have here, listen to me folks, listen to me brothers and sisters. What you have here is the beginning of all organized forms of false religion and apostasy. They said, "Let us build a tower, whose top may reach unto Heaven". If you have the King James' version like I'm reading from, you notice the words, "may reach," are italicized. That is, they're not in the original, only supplied there by the translator to make it read more smoothly. In this case, it doesn't make it read more smoothly. What it literally says is, "We're going to build a tower, whose top unto Heaven". That is, this was, "The top of this tower was given to the Heavens". It was a place for worship. They would go up on top of these towers to worship their false god. It was dedicated to the worship of the stars. This is the beginning of astrology. Zodiacs have been found on top of these ancient ziggurats. That's what these towers were called in Babylon, where they there worshiped the stars.
The very name of the place Babel, means "gate to God". El is the Hebrew word for God. For example, Bethel means "the house of God". Israel means "prince of God". Emmanuel means "God with us". Babel was the "gate to God". They said, "This is the Gate to God. We're going to show people how to get to God". Of course we know that there's only one gate to God and His name is Jesus. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. And no man cometh unto the Father but by Me". John 14:6. But here is new age religion. Learn this about new age religion folks. It ain't new. It's one of the mustiest things around. It goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, when Satan first came. And we have a world today that is getting ready for the coming kingdom of anti-Christ and the spirit of anti-Christ is already in the world. Now this was the beginning of astrology. Are you so foolish as to pick up your newspaper and read the astrological comments concerning you, so they say? You, my friend, are practicing witchcraft when you do that.
You say, "Pastor, that makes me angry". Well come up to me after the service, and apologize, and I'll forgive you. Now listen to me, listen to me; I say, listen to me. Astrology is idolatry. The word astrologos, which we get this word from, means astrology. Astra is a star. Logos is the word. It's the word of the stars. That's why they call it astrology. You have substituted the word of the stars for the Word of God. Rather than getting into the Bible, you've gotten into new age religion. The purpose of the stars is to declare the glory of God, not the destiny of man. Put this in your margin, Isaiah chapter 47. God is speaking about Babylon and Babylonian religion. Isaiah 47 verses 12 through 14, "Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries".
Now what he's doing here, let me say this. He's showing Babylon that all of her new age religion will not save her. This is a challenge that God has given to Babylon. That had its inception here at Babel. "Stand now with thine enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, wherein thou hast labored from thy youth". That is, way back to the tower of Babel you've been doing this. "If so be, thou shalt be able to profit, if so be thou mayest prevail. Thou art wearied in the multitude of thy counsels. Let now the astrologers, the stargazers, the monthly prognosticators, stand up, and save thee from these things that shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall be as stubble; the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame: there shall not be a coal to warm at, nor fire to sit before it".
Now what is God saying? God is saying, "These things are wrong". Deuteronomy chapter 18, God knew. God knew of the abomination of the Canaanites. God knew of all this new age garbage, that was not new, way back in that time. And this is what God said in Deuteronomy chapter 18 verses 9 through 12, "When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abomination of those nations". Now notice God calls it a national abomination. "There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or daughter to pass through the fire," that is they were murdering their babies, sound familiar? "Or he that useth divination," that is they were going to fortune tellers, "or an observer of times," that friend, is astrology, "or an enchanter or a witch". That's a channeler. That's all new age religion, "an enchanter, or a charmer, or a consulter with familiar spirits".
Shirley McLain or anyone else. "Or a wizard, or a necromancer," that is contact with the dead. "For," listen in verse 12, "For all that do these things are an abomination unto the Lord". Can't you read my precious friend? Actually the seed bed of all satanic, demonic religion, all false religion, is found in Babylon. It's the seed bed of all of it. Now Babylon from the outside may seem beautiful, but take your Bibles now. Keep your thumb where we are in Genesis chapter 11, and turn with me to Revelation chapter 17. In case you get carried away with new age religion and cultism, listen to Revelation chapter 17 verses 1 through 6. John the apostle has a vision. "And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, 'Come hither; and I will show thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.'"
In the Bible, an impure woman is a symbol of false religion. The many waters we're told speak of peoples, nations, and kingdoms. "'With whom the kings of the Earth have committed fornications.'" Now how can the kings of the Earth commit fornication? This is the marriage of church and state. This is a world church and a world state. "'The kings of the Earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the world have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication.'" This wine has been bottled and fermented for over 6,000 years. It goes all the way back to the tower of Babel. "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and there I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of the names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns".
Seven is the number of perfection. Ten is the number of completeness. The heads speak of wisdom. The horns speak of power. "And the woman," she speaks of false religion, "was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: and upon here forehead was a name written," watch it, "Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and the Abomination of the Earth". Babylon is the mother of all false religion. We heard of the bully of Baghdad, old Sadaam Hussain, talk about the mother of all battles. Friend, it's out of that area comes all filthiness of false religion. "Mystery, Babylon the Great, The Mother of Harlots and the Abominations of the Earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of saints, and with the blood of martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration".
It doesn't mean he thought she was wonderful. He says, "I just stood back, and I could not take it in". You talk about a classic story of beauty and the beast. Here is the Babylonian mother and the Babylon monster. The Babylonian mother is false religion. The Babylonian monster is the beast, and they come together. Now as she looks outwardly, she's beautiful, but beneath her smiles is a heart that is wicked, unspeakably wicked. Her hands drip with blood, and her intoxicating wine has been brewing for 6,000 years. Well go back to Genesis chapter 11. We've talked about these people: we've talked about their disobedience, we've talked about their depravity. I want you to see their defiance.
Look, if you will, again in Genesis 11 verses 3 and 4, "And they said one to another," now folks I want to remind you, listen, we're not just talking about ancient history; we're talking about what is happening in our world today. This is history and prophecy at the same time. "And they said one to another, 'Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly.' And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. And they said, 'Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top unto Heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of the whole earth.'"
Now I want you to notice the personal pronouns there. Six times they use pronouns like: they, us, and we. Six is the number of man. This is religion with man at the center and man in the circumference. That is humanism and new ageism. Rather than saying, "Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be Thy name," they're saying, "Our brothers who are on the Earth, hallowed by our name. Let us make for us a name". Now, they're in sheer defiance against God.
I heard a lady speaking the other day on a talk program and she was talking about, are you ready for this term, the gospel of self-effort. Another contradiction of terms, but she was saying, "Well it's fine if they're preaching the gospel of self-effort". You see. These are the Babylonian builders who are trying to make for themselves a name. And so, what they do is they pool their ignorance as we're going to see. We've talked about the Babylonian beast and the Babylonian builders. Let's talk about the Babylonian blunder. What is their blunder? Well, look again, if you will, in Genesis 11 verse 4. And they said, "'Go to, let us build us a city and a tower whose top unto Heaven; let us make us a name.'" And go back to verse 3, "And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar".
Now when God builds His church, does He build it of brick or stone? He builds it of stone. Stone is not hand made. The Bible says we're, "Built up as living stones," but these people took mud with their own hands and they fashioned brick, and then they put that brick together with slime that oozed out of the ground there in the plain of Shinar. And there they began to build this high rise to hell, fashioned from their own wit, their own wisdom, their own ingenuity. And you notice as verse 3 begins, "And they said one to another". They don't consult God. What they do is they pool their wickedness, and they pool their ignorance. They have dethroned God. They have enthroned their own intellect.
Now you say, "Well that's them". Well, folks we're still trying to do it with brick and slime, only our slime and brick today are computers. We are traveling down the information superhighway, getting the idea that somehow we are going to build our utopia. And we've substituted our own wit and wisdom for God, and we're trying to build a golden age with minds, and machinery, and money, and it can't be done. Now what were they trying to do? They said, "Let us build us a city and a tower whose top unto Heaven". What they're saying is this, "We're going to start here and we're going to build toward Heaven".
Now that is completely, totally, antithetically contradictory to all that God does. What is the difference between manmade religion, new age religion, humanism, and the true salvation that comes from God? Man tries to build from Earth to Heaven. True salvation reaches down from Heaven to man. That's the difference. You could just sum it all up in that. Whether it begins with man and builds toward Heaven, or whether it begins in Heaven and reaches down to man. You see. God moved in mercy by the pitiful plight of sinful man, said, "I will go down," and God became a man to lift us to Heaven. And the Bible says, "We must be born again". Literally that says in the Greek language, "We must be born from above, born from above".
Now the new agers say, "Man needs a boost from beneath". God says, "Man needs a birth from above". Here was the Babylonian blunder. They just took their own wit, their own wisdom, their own words. They pooled their ignorance. They pooled their wickedness. They began to make brick and slime to build a tower, and, folks, the world is full of that today. Now I have talked to you about the Babylonian beast, and he pictures the anti-Christ that's going to come. And he may be alive, and well, and in the world today. I've talked to you about the Babylonian builders, how they, in defiance against God, are trying to build a new world order. And it is coming. One day it will be here, and this will be an amalgamation of the new world order and a one world church. And everybody will say, "Isn't it wonderful".
I've talked to you about the Babylonian blunder against the idea that man can lift himself by his own boot straps, and by his brick and slime build his tower to Heaven, and in that he inculcates all false religion. Now I want you to see what I'm going to call the Babylonian burial. I want you to see what's going to happen to it. You say, "Pastor, I thought you were talking about the coming kingdom of Christ". I'm getting there. I'm almost there. I want you to notice now, beginning in chapter 11 and verse 5 on through verse 7, "And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. And the Lord said, 'Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.'"
You know in the Bible it says, "In the last days knowledge shall increase," and, friend, we're seeing it. We are amazed at what is happening, what comes out of the imagination of man. And, we're being told today what man can imagine, man can achieve. And for the first time we're really believing it. Well, God says in verse 7, "Go to, let Us go down". Now who's God talking to? This is God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit in counsel together, and God says, "Let Us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech". How did this tower of blunders end in Genesis, and what does it prophesy or what's going to happen in our day? Well it climaxed, it ended with the coming down of almighty God to Earth.
The thing that we're waiting for is the coming of the Savior. The only hope, the only hope for this world is the coming of Jesus Christ. And when Jesus Christ, the true Christ comes, He is coming to destroy the kingdom of anti-Christ. As I've told you before 777 is going to deal with 666. And you can put it down, and be certain there's coming a time when lawlessness comes to its climax that in Heaven God is going to say, "It is time. Let Us go down". Now, not only the coming of the Savior, but the confusion of the speech.
Notice again in Genesis 11 verse 7, "Let Us go down, and there confound their language". Now these people had one language at this time. They all spoke the same language. But God always, when He judges, sends confusion into the camp of the enemy. When God's people pray even in this day, if we will pray, we don't have to go to war against the enemies. God goes to war against the enemies. When we pray, God sends confusion into the camp of the enemies. And so God confounds their speech. They can't understand one another. They're building this tower and a man says, "Hand me a brick". He says, "What did you say"? He says, "What did you say"? "What did you say"? He says, "What did you say"? And the boss says, "Will you two quit babbling"? And they say, "What did he say"? And nobody understands anything.
They whole thing begins to get confused, and it really would be comical. And the Bible says in Psalm chapter 2 verse 4, "He that sitteth in the Heavens shall laugh. The Lord shall have them in derision". And we're going to see the false unity of the ecumenical movement, and United Nations, and all of this. It's going to come apart, and then there's going to be the collapse of the whole system. And so the Bible says in Genesis 11 verse 8, "So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of the Earth: and they left off to build the city". And there they set, in the crumble ruins, in the unfinished tower of their high rise to hell, their tower of blunders.
Well, what does this mean to us? Go to Revelation chapter 18 verses 1 through 5. There are three things I want to lay on your heart. The first, listen here very carefully. The very first word is the word separation. Begin with me, Revelation 18 verse 1, "And after these things I saw another angel come down from Heaven, having great power; and the Earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the Earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the Earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.'"
Now here's God's word to you; are you listening? Folks, are you listening to this? "And I heard another voice from Heaven saying, 'Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.'" If you're practicing any kind of the occult, any kind of new age religion, any astrology, any dabbling with witchcraft, get out and get out quick. For God says concerning Babylon, "Her sins have reached unto Heaven". She's thinks she's going to bring a tower to Heaven. God says, "It's her sins that have reached to Heaven". "And God hath remembered her iniquities".
So the first thing I say to you is separation. Get out. Get clean. Repent. Renounce. Get rid of all of that. The second thing I want you to see is anticipation. Jesus Christ is coming, and He's coming soon. Look in Revelation chapter 19 verses 1 through 3, "After these things I heard a great voice of much people in Heaven, saying, 'Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honor, and power, unto the Lord our God: for true and righteous are His judgments: for He hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the Earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants at her hand.' And they said, 'Alleluia.' And her smoke rose up for ever and ever".
What is happening is this, friend, we need to anticipate the time. The time is coming soon when our Lord is going to step down from glory, and God is going to come down, and He's going to judge Babylon. So there's separation, anticipation, and here's the part I love, jubilation. Look in chapter 19 verses 5 to 8, "And a voice came out of the throne, saying, 'Praise our God, all ye His servants, and ye that fear Him, both small and great.' And I heard as it were," oh, I love this, "the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, 'Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.'"
Now if you can't understand everything I've said today, and I don't think any of us understands all of this perfectly. Just understand this, folks. There's only way to God, only one gate to God, and it's not Babylon, it's Jesus. And understand this, that the devil's tower of blunders, his high rise to hell, his gate to God is really the door to disaster, and you need Jesus. You need to be saved. And in these days, if you don't get saved, anti-Christ is going to come and you'll buy his lies, you'll take his mark, you'll take his brand. You'll be condemned and lost forever. These are days to get right with God.
Let's bow our heads in prayer. Heads are bowed and eyes are closed. If you're not saved and you want to be saved, I want you to pray this prayer, right now:
Dear God, I am a sinner. I acknowledge my sin, I deserve judgment, but I want mercy. I want to be saved. Jesus, right now, I receive You as my Lord and my Savior. I believe You paid for my sin with Your blood on the cross. I believe that God raised You from the dead and now, Lord Jesus, I trust You to save me. Take my life; I give it to You, I turn from sin, I bow at Your feet. You're my Lord and my Savior. Lord Jesus, by Your grace, I will love, serve and follow You all the days of my life. In Your holy name I pray, Amen.