Transcript Babylon USA

What the Bible says * Pastor Brett Peterson
First, a Clarification….
Theories…
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Babylon is the UK or EU –
Babylon is Rome –
Babylon is the Catholic Church –
Babylon is the U.N. –
Babylon is the United States Babylon is the _______________
• Let’s see how the prophets describe Babylon!
Tale of Two Cities
Jerusalem
City of God
Babylon
City of Man
• In the first book of the Bible we read about the building of
the Tower of Babel & the first great city, Babylon, and in
the last book of the Bible we read about the fall of
Babylon. Is there any connection? To miss the obvious
would be spiritual blindness! The Tower of Babel in
Genesis was the effort of man, in defiance and
disobedience, to make a name for himself and exalt
himself above his Maker. The fall of Babylon in
Revelation will be the final judgment of God upon man
for his continued refusal to recognize the supremacy of
his Creator.
Babel, 2010, B.C.
America, 2010, A.D.
• After the Arc ran aground on mount Arat, mankind
multiplied quickly.
• About 100 to 150 years after they stepped off the arc,
man began to show his pride.
• They wanted to build a tower that reached heaven.
• They loved their own accomplishments…
• Genesis 11:1-9
1. Now the whole world had one language and a
common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found
a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3. They said to each other, "Come, let's make bricks and
bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone,
and tar for mortar. 4. Then they said, "Come, let us build
ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the
heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves
and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."
• 5. But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower
that the men were building. 6. The Lord said, "If as one
people speaking the same language they have begun to
do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible
for them. 7. Come, let us go down and confuse their
language so they will not understand each other."
8. So the Lord scattered them from there over all the
earth, and they stopped building the city. 9. That is why it
was called Babel--because the Lord confused the
language of the whole world. From there the Lord
scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Satellite Image of Babylon
Artificial hills
Hussein’s Palace
Palace of
Nebuchadnezzar
Ruins of
Tower of Babel
Canal following
the ancient city walls
Enmerkar and the Lord of Aratta 21st
Century BC (& we are in the 21st too)
George Smith (1840-1876) Translated the
Babylonian flood tablet also translated this
tablet
“The building of this temple offended the
gods. In a night they threw down what had
been built. They scattered them abroad
and made strange their speech. The
progress they impeded.”
• Modern day Tower of Babel ruins (on the outskirts of ancient
Babylon-current day Iraq) are currently 150 feet above the plain
with a circumference of 2300 feet. "The Greeks used the word
Borsippa, which means Tongue-tower." 1
Inscription of King Nebuchadnezzar on Tower of Babel (Borsippa)
ruins reads:
I have completed its magnificence with silver, gold, other
metals, stone, enameled bricks, fir and pine.
The first which is the house of the earth’s base,
the most ancient monument of Babylon;
I built and finished it.
• I adapted the circuits, I put the inscription of my name in the
Kitir of the portico.
I set my hand to finish it. And to exalt its head.
As it had been in ancient days, so I exalted its summit.
Reference: The Tower of Babel-Ancient Babylon Ruins Inscription
inscription
• is reported on Page 40 of Grant R. Jeffrey's book
• "The Signature of God/The Handwriting of God".
• Herodotus wrote in 440 B.C. "It has a solid central
tower, one furlong square, with a second erected on top
of it and then a third, and so on up to eight. All eight
towers can be climbed by a spiral way running around
the outside, and about halfway up there are seats for
those who make the journey to rest on."
• Sumerian tablets record the confusion of language as we
have in the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel
(Genesis 11:1-9). There was a golden age when all
mankind spoke the same language. Speech was then
confused by the god Enki, lord of wisdom. The
Babylonians had a similar account in which the gods
destroyed a temple tower and "scattered them abroad
and made strange their speech.“
• Kramer, Samuel N.
1968 The “Babel of Tongues”:
A Sumerian Version, Journal of
the American Oriental Society
88:108–11
• Walton, John
1995 The Mesopotamian Background of the Tower of
Babel. Bulletin for Biblical Research 5:155–75. Reprinted
in Bible and Spade 9 (1996): 77-96.
• Sumerian tablets record the confusion of language as we
have in the Biblical account of the Tower of Babel
(Genesis 11:1-9). There was a golden age when all
mankind spoke the same language. Speech was then
confused by the god Enki, lord of wisdom. The
Babylonians had a similar account in which the gods
destroyed a temple tower and "scattered them abroad
and made strange their speech."
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Babel or Babylon is all about man’s attempt to exalt
himself and defy God.
• It is all about telling God we don’t need Him.
• It is exactly what America is doing today and spreading
all over the world.
• Quote from one notable Hollywood big-wig:
• “Hollywood creates societal norms, h__, we influence the
world, and what we’ve created is a global community
that rejects God and exalts sex. Sex is our God.”
Not one city…
• Jeremiah tells us in chapter 50:32b…"I will kindle a
fire in his CITIES and it shall devour all round about
him."
• Jeremiah tells us in chapter 51:43 of the description
of Babylon after the judgment… "Her CITIES are a
desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness, a land
where no man dwelleth…“
• This can’t be the Catholic Church!!!
Babylon is referring to a nation
• Jer 50:12 Your mother will be greatly ashamed, She
who gave you birth will be humiliated. Behold, she will be
the least of the nations, A wilderness, a parched land
and a desert.
• Jer 50:13 "Because of the indignation of the LORD she
will not be inhabited, But she will be completely desolate;
Everyone who passes by Babylon will be horrified And
will hiss because of all her wounds.
• Another character trait for Mystery Babylon is that of being
the "engine of world's economy". Now the scriptural texts do
not specifically use those exact terms but those terms match
to the description of the activities described about Mystery
Babylon. Revelation 18:15-19 indicates that the world's
economy can't function without "Mystery Babylon". When
she is destroyed the lament goes up from the merchants of
the earth that "no man buyeth their merchandise any more."
Jerusalem & Babylon then…
Symbolic
Jerusalem in the last days is called….
Rev 11:8 And their dead bodies will lie in the
street of the great city which mystically is called
Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was
crucified.
In these last days, especially when the False
Messiah is embraced by the Jews, Jerusalem will
be symbolically Sodom and Egypt!
“the synagogue of Satan”
Rev 2:9 'I know your tribulation
and your poverty (but you are
rich), and the blasphemy by
those who say they are Jews and
are not, but are a synagogue of
Satan.
The Church is Spiritual
Jerusalem today
Jerusalem is all about the
Temple – a place to worship
1Pe 2:5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a
spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual
sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
1Co 3:16 Do you not know that you are a
temple of God and that the Spirit of God
dwells in you?
In these last days….
Geographic Location
Spiritual designation
Jerusalem
Sodom, Egypt, synagogue of Satan.
Rome
The world power that births the Antichrist
Babylon (Iraq)
Becomes the foremost world power and rides
to power on Rome, and helps the antichrist come to power, but then is hated
by the antichrist and destroyed.
Rev 17:7 And the angel said to me, "Why do you
wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the
woman(Babylon) and of the beast (Rome)that carries
her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
Thus, it is called ‘Mystery Babylon’
Rev 18:3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the
passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have
committed acts of immorality with her, and the merchants of
the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality."
Rev 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying, "Come
out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her
sins and receive of her plagues;
Rev 18:5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and
God has remembered her iniquities.
End time kingdoms
• The Bible describes two great kingdoms that will exist
upon the earth immediately prior to the Rapture of the
Church. These kingdoms are the kingdom of the beast
(Rome), and the nation known as Babylon the Great (the
world leader before the Antichrist). At first these two
kingdoms enjoy a special relationship with each other,
but at the appointed time the kingdom of the beast will
turn on Babylon and attack and defeat her. As a result of
this betrayal the Antichrist's kingdom will be established
as the dominant global political power.
• The Bible’s end-time prophecies do not only focus on the
kingdom of the Antichrist. The Bible also devotes a great
deal of attention to the other end-times power. This
power is introduced in Revelation as a mystery, and she
is named Babylon…
• Babylon will use the beast and his system, thinking it is
accomplishing it’s goal of world peace through him, thus
‘riding on the beast’.
• However, once the beast comes to power, he will hate
Babylon and God will give him the strength to defeat her.
• (Revelation 17:16-17):
• "The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the
prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her
naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his
purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to
rule, until God's words are fulfilled."
• The Antichrist and Babylon the Great will be bitter
enemies. Babylon will exercise global power before the
Antichrist, but after he appears the beast and the ten
kings will attack Babylon, shifting global power into the
hands of the beast.
• Babylon will be utterly destroyed…
• But what about the Christians in Babylon?
There will be a clear call to flee
prior to the destruction…
• Rev 18:3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of
the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth
have committed acts of immorality with her, and the
merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth
of her sensuality."
• Rev 18:4 I heard another voice from heaven, saying,
"Come out of her, my people, so that you will not
participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;
• Rev 18:5 for her sins have piled up as high as heaven,
and God has remembered her iniquities.
Let us now examine other
aspects of Babylon the Great, the
last global power before the rise
of the Antichrist
• Has a great voice; influences many (Jeremiah 51:55).
• Reigns over the kings of the Earth (Revelation 17:18).
Note: How many Kings and governments have been
propped up and/or removed by the various secret
agencies of the USA?
• Hammer of the whole Earth; world policeman
(Jeremiah 50:23). Note: Any need of elaboration?
• Land abundant in treasure (Jeremiah 50:37, 51:13;
Revelation 18:14,17).
• Merchants made rich by her (Revelation 18:3; 18:1719). Note: China, Taiwan, Japan, Saudi Arabia and
many other nations have been made rich by America's
consumerism.
• Leading center for commodity trade goods
(Revelation 18:11-13).
• A Great City (Revelation 14:8; 17:18; 18:10-21), but has
many cities (Jeremiah 50:32). Note: Just as Ancient
Babylon, she has chief cities which symbolically and
literally represent the empire, such as NYC and
Washington.
• Land of mighty men (Jeremiah 50:36; 51:30).
• Land of mixed peoples/immigrants (Jeremiah 50:16,
37).
• Land of farmers/agriculture (Jeremiah 50:16).
• Land of craftsmen/manufacturing (Revelation 18:22).
• Land of musicians/music (Revelation 18:22; Isaiah
14:11). Note: America's music industry flows to the entire
world.
• Land of vanity and pleasure (Isaiah 47:8; Revelation
18:7). Note: America's entertainment industry,
materialism, consumerism.
• Belief of immunity to invasion; dwells carelessly
(Isaiah 47:8). Note: Because of America's nuclear
deterrent, the majority of it military is hosted by other
countries. Other than Pearl Harbor and the 9/11 attacks,
it has been a very long time since America was on the
receiving end of an invasion... and the people commonly
pride themselves on this fact.
• Grown fat (Jeremiah 50:11). Note: which country's
population is the most over-weight in the world and
accumulates the most "stuff"?
• Land of liars and falsehood (Jeremiah 50:36;
51:17).
“situational ethics”
• Deceived by own wisdom and knowledge
(Isaiah 47:10). Note: uses science to
discredit the Creator
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When she is destroyed…
Nations will be horrified (Jeremiah 50:23).
Her cities set on fire (Jeremiah 50:32; Revelation 18:8).
Desolate and uninhabited forever (Isaiah 13:19-22;
Jeremiah 50:12-13; Jeremiah 51:26,29).
• GEOGRAPHICALLY, BABYLON IS A LAND “THAT
DWELLS UPON MANY WATERS” (JEREMIAH 51:13).
• BABYLON IS A COUNTRY THAT HAS DEFEATED
MIGHTY KINGDOMS THROUGH WAR (JEREMIAH
50:23, 51:20-21).
• BABYLON IS A MIGHTY MILITARY POWER
(JEREMIAH 51:53).
• BABYLON IS THE CHIEF OF TRADING NATIONS IN
THE WORLD AT THE TIME OF THE END
(REVELATION 18: 11-19).
BABYLON IS AN ARROGANT NATION, BELIEVING IT
WILL NEVER EXPERIENCE THE WRATH OF GOD
FOR HER EVIL WAYS (ISAIAH 47:5-11; REVELATION
18:7-8).
• Rev 18:23 and the light of a lamp will not shine in you
any longer; and the voice of the bridegroom and bride
will not be heard in you any longer; for your merchants
were the great men of the earth, because all the nations
were deceived by your sorcery.
• For by your sorcery all the nations were deceived:
Sorcery is the ancient Greek word pharmakia, which
means, “to prepare drugs.” The lure of commercial
Babylon is like a drug addiction, fed by intoxicating
advertising. It also alludes to amazing things, like
electricity, lights, vehicles, etc.
• Babylon will have a Space program like no other
nation…
• (Jer 51:53) "Though Babylon should/will ascend
to the heavens, And though she should fortify her
lofty stronghold, From Me destroyers will come to
her," declares the LORD.
• Strongs: “…and, + (forasmuch, inasmuch, where) as, assured [-ly], + but, certainly, doubtless, +
else, even”
• Babylon comes to power through Rome,
or the beast before he comes into power.
• Rev 17:3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a
wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet
beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven
heads and ten horns.
• Rev 17:4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet,
and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of
the unclean things of her immorality
Adultery tolerated by society..,
• "With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and
the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the
wine of her adulteries." Revelation 17:2
• "For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of
her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery
with her…" Revelation 18:3
• "When the kings of the earth who committed adultery
with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her
burning, they will weep and mourn over
her." Revelation 18:9
• Babylon’s worship of materialism is shown through
her emphasis on riches, luxury and the material
things of this world • "…her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has
remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has
given…Give her as much torture and grief as the glory
and luxury she gave herself." 18:5-7
• "…the merchants of the earth grew rich from her
excessive luxuries." 18:3
• Babylon is a great consumer of material goods and when
she falls the merchants mourn over their loss of revenue,
• "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over
her because no one buys their cargoes any more-
• "They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you.
All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be
recovered.’ The merchants who sold these things and
gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at
her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out:
‘Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple
and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and
pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought
to ruin!’" Revelation18:11-17
• "For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of
her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery
with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from
her excessive luxuries." 18:3
• "When the kings of the earth who committed adultery
with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her
burning, they will weep and mourn over her." 18:9
• "The merchants who sold these things and gained their
wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment."
18:15
• "Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the
sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she
has been brought to ruin!" 18:19
• "Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the
sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will
stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning,
they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city/ nation like this
great city?’" 18:17-18
• "The woman you saw is the great nation/ city that rules
over the kings of the earth." 17:18
Babylon of the last days is a
nation made up of people from
many nations (only America fits
this description) We are the
‘melting pot’.
• Babylon is also described as a power
whose population is made up of diverse
races and cultures: "…the great prostitute,
who sits on many waters… Then the angel
said to me, ‘The waters you saw, where the
prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes,
nations and languages.’" 17:1,15
Rev 17:4 The woman was clothed in purple and
scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones
and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of
abominations and of the unclean things of her
immorality,
Rev 17:5 and on her forehead a name was
written, a mystery, "BABYLON THE GREAT, THE
MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE
ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
A world Power like no other…
• Isa 13:19 And Babylon, the beauty of kingdoms, the
glory of the Chaldeans' pride, Will be as when God
overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
• Isa 13:20 It will never be inhabited or lived in from
generation to generation; Nor will the Arab pitch his tent
there, Nor will shepherds make their flocks lie down
there.
• Isa 47:5 "Sit silently, and go into darkness, O daughter
of the Chaldeans, For you will no longer be called The
queen of kingdoms.
• Isa 47:6 "I was angry with My people, I profaned My
heritage And gave them into your hand. You did not
show mercy to them, On the aged you made your yoke
very heavy.
• Isa 47:7 "Yet you said, 'I will be a queen forever.' These
things you did not consider Nor remember the outcome
of them.
• Isa 47:8 "Now, then, hear this, you sensual one, Who dwells
securely, Who says in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one
besides me. I will not sit as a widow, Nor know loss of children.'
• Isa 47:9 "But these two things will come on you suddenly in one
day: Loss of children and widowhood. They will come on you in
full measure In spite of your many sorceries, In spite of the great
power of your spells.
• Isa 47:10 "You felt secure in your wickedness and said, 'No one
sees me,' Your wisdom and your knowledge, they have deluded
you; For you have said in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one
besides me.'
• Isa 47:11 "But evil will come on you Which you will not know how
to charm away; And disaster will fall on you For which you cannot
atone; And destruction about which you do not know Will come on
you suddenly.
Internet , porn and Hollywood…
• Rev 18:3 "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of
the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth
have committed acts of immorality with her, and the
merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth
of her sensuality."
We live more sensuously than
any other nation on earth…
• Rev 18:7 "To the degree that she glorified herself and
lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment
and mourning; for she says in her heart, 'I SIT as A
QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and will never see
mourning.'
• Rev 18:8 "For this reason in one day her plagues will
come, pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will
be burned up with fire; for the Lord God who judges her
is strong.
Is the U.S.A. Babylon?
BABYLON THE HARLOT
17:2
JERUSALEM THE BRIDE
21:9
Splendor from exploiting
18:12-13
Glory from God
21:11-21
Nations corrupted by seeking
wealth from her
17:2; 18:3
Nations walk in light and
bring their glory to her
21:24-26
Full of impurity & deceit
17:4-5; 18:23
Nothing impure or false
21:27
Makes nations drunk on sin
17:2; 18:3
Water of life & tree of life
for healing the nations
21:1-5
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Many pre-trib scholars, including
the authors of the Left Behind
series think that Babylon is
geographic Babylon or modern
Iraq….
Is Iraq really the Babylon that
will be in the last days?
Notice Iraq does not have any ports except
one little one in Basra.
IRAQ FACTS
IRAQ
Population: 22 million
Capital: Baghdad
Major languages: Arabic, Kurdish
Major religion: Islam
Life expectancy: 66 years (men), 68 years (women)
Monetary unit: 1 Iraqi dinar = 1,000 fils
Main exports: Crude oil
Average annual income: US $593
Internet domain: .iq
International dialing code: 964
Rev 18:19 "And they threw dust on
their heads and were crying out,
weeping and mourning, saying,
'Woe, woe, the great city, in which all
who had ships at sea became rich
by her wealth, for in one hour she
has been laid waste!'
• Rev 18:16 saying, 'Woe, woe, the great city, she who was
clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with
gold and precious stones and pearls;
• Rev 18:17 for in one hour such great wealth has been laid
waste!' And every shipmaster and every passenger and
sailor, and as many as make their living by the sea, stood at
a distance,
• Rev 18:18 and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her
burning, saying, 'What city is like the great city?'
• Rev 18:19 "And they threw dust on their heads and were
crying out, weeping and mourning, saying, 'Woe, woe,
the great city, in which all who had ships at sea became
rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid
waste!'
Timeline - IRAQ
•
•
•
•
Iraq is a poor country that has no influence on the world at all.
It is a divided country – the Sunnis, the Shiites, and the Kirds.
They are not a world power, and they import almost no goods.
We are there to bring Democracy and our influence into Iraq.
•We now control Iraq
•America is the head of
Babylon today!
Iraq can’t be the Babylon of Revelation in it’s
current condition!
• However, let’s speculate:
• After we bombed Japan,
we helped it become a
major world power!
• Could we do the same
for Iraq?
• It’s possible…
Who is true Babylon Today?
• Revelation 17-18: Babylon is the world economic power
• Revelation 17-18: Babylon once again is a city of wickedness and
influences the world to partake in it’s enormities.
• Babylon is the most powerful nation on earth
• Babylon influences the whole world!
• The USA is the Worlds biggest Importer in the world (worth $
2,112,000,000,000)
Habakuk 1:5-7 “Look at the nations and watch—and
be utterly amazed. For I am going to do something
in your days that you would not believe, even if you
were told. 6 I am raising up the Babylonians, that
ruthless and impetuous people, who sweep across
the whole earth to seize dwelling-places not their
own. 7 They are a feared and dreaded people; they
are a law to themselves and promote their own
honor.
America seems to fit the Biblical
model for Spiritual Babylon
today…
British intelligence reports…
The British contingent will be
assigned its own sectors in an
American-dominated force that will
control the whole country, not just
Baghdad.
• Whoever controls Babylon becomes Babylon.
• Our nation abandoned God many years ago.
• We control Babylon!!
• The US and Sweden are tied for the highest divorce
rates in the world
• 54.8 %
• John, when he saw Babylon, said;
• Rev 17:6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of
the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus.
When I saw her, I wondered greatly.
Babylon – rich from the saints?
• Christian Products and Services Now a $4.5
Billion Business
• Drunk on the blood of the saints?
• ‘Christian’ Charities collect 1,384,473,268,066
per year
• Churches collect 100 Billion per year.
• This is more than the U.S. Government collects in
income taxes!
A disarmed, peaceful, transformed
Iraq that shines as a light of
democracy in the region is an
appealing prospect. Until—and
unless—that goal is achieved, the
Bush administration has the
problem of occupation and
transition. A large US military
footprint in Iraq seems the likely
consequence of the ecology of the
conflict and the goal of
transformation.
Iraq could be under American
control for years in the
transition.
America, influences the world.
It’s economy drives the world.
As goes America, so goes the world.
American currency is the world’s
currency
America buys our goods. Lady liberty is
the symbol of America and she gives us
pleasures like no other nation.
America has made every nation rich, and
apart from her, we would still be without
hope of world peace.
America exports entertainment, and
imports everything else.
"Babylon, the jewel of kingdoms, the glory of the
Babylonians’ pride, will be overthrown by God like
Sodom and Gomorrah. She will never be inhabited
or lived in through all generations; no Arab will
pitch his tent there, no shepherd will rest his flocks
there. But desert creatures will lie there, jackals
will fill her houses; there the owls will dwell, and
there the wild goats will leap about. Hyenas will
howl in her strongholds, jackals in her luxurious
palaces. Her time is at hand, and her days will not
be prolonged." Isaiah 13:19-22
Adultery literally and spiritually…
The church in America has mixed the ways of
the world with the ways of God, and no longer
see it. Material wealth, arrogance, a belief that
they are the natural leaders in the world, has
led the Christians to adopt much of the idolatry
that lies at the heart of the United States.
Christians have adopted secular America's
religion: patriotism. They take the symbols of
the world, and bring them into the church.
• "‘Babylon will be a heap of ruins, a haunt of jackals, an
object of horror and scorn, a place where no one lives.
Her people all roar like young lions, they growl like lion
cubs. But while they are aroused, I will set out a feast for
them and make them drunk, so that they shout with
laughter-- then sleep forever and not awake,’ declares
the LORD." Jeremiah 51:37-39
• And Revelation 18:2 records, "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon
the Great! She has become a home for demons and a
haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and
detestable bird."
Some ‘Christians’ are more American
than they are Christian.
Some think that their freedom comes
from the United States of America…
• (Galatians 5:1)
• It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore
keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a
yoke of slavery.
•
• (Galatians 5:13)
• For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do
not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the
flesh, but through love serve one another.
• It seems many ‘Christians’ are led by
their own flesh, rather than the Spirit.
• Rom 8:13 for if you are living according to the
flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are
putting to death the deeds of the body, you will
live. 14 For all who are being led by the Spirit
of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you
have not received a spirit of slavery leading to
fear again, but you have received a spirit of
adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba!
Father!“
America is driven by appetite…
• Php 3:18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now
tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of
Christ,
• Php 3:19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their
appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their
minds on earthly things.
• Php 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also
we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;
• 1Jn 3:1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed
on us, that we would be called children of God; and such
we are. For this reason the world does not know us,
because it did not know Him.
• 1Jn 3:2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has
not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when
He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see
Him just as He is.
• 1Jn 3:3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him
purifies himself, just as He is pure.
• 1Jn 3:5 You know that He appeared in order to take
away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
• 1Jn 3:6 No one who abides in Him sins; no one who
sins has seen Him or knows Him.
• 1Jn 3:7 Little children, make sure no one deceives you;
the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as
He is righteous;
• 1Jn 3:8 the one who practices sin is of the devil
Sin – “to fall short of God’s standards”
“To miss the mark”
Pro 14:34 “Righteousness exalts a nation, But sin
is a disgrace to any people.”
• Disgrace
• Dishonor
• Defeat
Where is your citizenship?
• Php 3:20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from
which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ;
• Eph 2:19 So then you are no longer strangers and
aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints,
and are of God's household
• 1Pe 2:11 Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers
to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against
the soul.
• 1Pe 2:12 Keep your behavior excellent among the
Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as
evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as
they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
• Are you the temple of God or a city of this world?
God’s Solution
-- For Myself, My Family, My Church
2 Chron. 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn
from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and
will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
2 Chron. 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive
their sin and will heal their land.”




To Know God personally
To Humble yourself
To Pray & Seek the Lord
To Repent of your sins
THEN
2 Chron. 7:14 “If my people, who are called by my name, will
humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from
their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will
forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
THEN…
 God will hear!
 God will forgive!
 God will heal The
Church – our ‘land’
Proclaiming Truth