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Fred R. Coulter—February 25, 2012
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services! I was just going through this book, The Day Jesus the Christ Died, and it slipped my mind that I had an appendix in here covering the Eucharist.
It's interesting that the Indians in Latin America also had a Eucharist, which they said if you take this in dedication to their gods, that they acquired the characteristics of the gods. When the Catholics saw that they were dumbfounded; same way with child baptism.
Then when you go to the book, The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop, and you read that, you find almost everything in Christendom today was done in ancient Babylon. Today the world accepts the lies as if they're true, and the truth as if they're lies. So, you know, the world's really upside down.
Revelation 17 tells us the system. A lot of people have wondered why it talks about that great city Babylon, Babylon the Great. It's talking about the world at the end-time. The world at the end-time is patterned after ancient Babylon.
I was astonished when I saw a documentary on China. All their buildings are like they are in America and Western Europe; same way with South America; same way with any big city in the world. It's patterned the same way. That's Babylon the Great. What has it done? It has done it:
- through religion
- through government
- through economics
We have to watch all three of those things. I think part of the thing concerning the 666: one 6 stands for religion; one 6 stands for government; one 6 stands for economics. Then if you draw a little cube, you can go 666 across, 666 down, 666 diagonal, and 666 across the middle. Either way you go, it's the same thing. Likewise here in Rev. 17, which gives us the expansion of the religious aspect of Babylon the Great.
John, who was given the vision of the book of Revelation and was told to write, Revelation 17:1: "And one of the seven angels who had the seven vials came and spoke with me, saying to me, 'Come here; I will show you the judgment of the great whore who sits upon many waters.'"
When people first read that, it's hard for them to understand what that means. Who is the great whore? When you understand the relationship between God and Israel, God married ancient Israel. When Christ died, that terminated that marriage. Now He is waiting to marry the Church. The great whore is a woman who is a 'religious' figure, who has gone away from God.
Now, the many waters;this tells you she's not sitting in a bathtub, v 15: "Then he said to me, 'The waters that you saw, where the whore sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.'" It shows that it is a worldwide thing.
Verse 18: "And the woman whom you saw is the great city that has royal power over the kings of the earth." There's only one city that this fits, that is a religious city, and is also a sovereign city meaning that it is treated like a state. That city is found in Rome and that city is the Vatican. The religious system that they practice is a system of the Babylonian Mystery Religion. The systems that all the other religions practice are also systems of the Babylonian religious practices.
It says it has power over the kings of the earth. And isn't it interesting, every nation on earth has diplomatic relations with the Vatican, every nation. Why would a religious organization have that? Because it is the Babylonian system which is part and parcel of this world! If it were the true Church of God, they wouldn't have that. Because Jesus said of His people that 'you are not of this world, just as I am not of the world.' Let's see something else that God commands all people and this is part of the Gospel at the end of the age.
Let's see what else happens. The judgment is going to come and it's going to come in a way and a time that they will not expect. John writes, Revelation 18:1: "And after these things I saw an angel descending from heaven, having great authority; and the earth was illuminated with his glory. And he cried out mightily with a loud voice, saying, 'Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hated bird; because all nations have drunk of the wine of the fury of her fornication...'" (vs 1-3).
All nations of the world are involved in this system, and it's only going to become more global, more worldwide as we see everything develop. It's going to form a combined religion. It's going to form a world government, and it's going to form a world economic system.
Just a little sidebar here: Everyone is worried about what's happening in Iran and if the Jews are going to bomb Iran. Someone sent me a little memo saying, 'Remember March 7.' March 7th is the Feast of Purim, which the Jews celebrate. Why do they celebrate that day? God delivered them from the Persian dictator, the religious dictator, Haman the Agagite. The Jews were to be all exterminated on that day. Instead, God reversed it and all the enemies of the Jews were exterminated on that day. What does Mahmoud Ahmadinejad want to do to Israel today? Exterminate them! Memo said, Watch March 7. You can look back and see. Wouldn't that be quite a day to stage the attack against Iran, which is Persia?
Let's see what else has happened here, v 3: "...and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the power of her luxury." Look at the whole economy of the world. What is the cycle of holidays that makes them rich? Halloween—and that's beginning to rival Christmas in the money spent—Christmas, New Years, Valentine's Day, and Lent—just happened last week.
The new Cardinal Dolan of New York, he showed up on television with a big cross on his forehead and everyone was wondering, well, what is that. That signifies taking the mass to begin Lent. Lent is a pagan forty-days that they had leading up to Easter. And Easter, though the King James Version tried in vain to put it there, could not be made to agree with the original Greek.
What I'm doing, I'm covering the forces that have brought all the pagan holidays into this world that they call Christian, and everyone accepts them as Christian.
Another little sidebar: I found out, when you see the pope going through his ceremonies and they have this big gold overlaid book, everyone thinks that's the Bible. I did! I didn't know it. That contains all the pagan prayers, not the Bible! Which substantiates what the Catholics say: 'We can preach the Catholic religion'—which they consider the Gospel, which it is not—'without the Bible.' And most people don't know that. Most people think they're representing Christ. Most people think that that book is the Bible. Most people think that when they are talking about Jesus Christ, they're talking about things in the Bible. But they're not! They're talking about their own traditions.
So, you have the governments, they follow along with it. Aren't those days holidays in the world? Yes, indeed! 'They wax rich through the power of her luxury.' As a matter of fact, some businesses say if they have a poor Christmas, they don't make any money. That's why they call Friday after Thanksgiving in America 'Black Friday.' That doesn't mean that it's a gloom and doom day. That means it's the beginning of profit for the year, because if they have a poor Christmas season, it's going to be a red Friday, meaning they're in debt.
Here's the command for the people of God, right here, v 4: "And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, 'Come out of her, My people, so that you do not take part in her sins, and that you do not receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached as far as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities'" (vs 4-5). The judgment is going to come, so we have to come out of this 'religious' system. We have to look into the Bible to find out:
- What does God say?
- What days does God command us to keep?
And lo and behold when you go in the Bible, all of the holidays of this world are condemned.
- nowhere does it say keep Easter
- nowhere does it say celebrate Christmas
- nowhere does it say keep Halloween
- nowhere does it say Jesus rose Easter Sunday
Easter is for the goddess Ishtar of Babylon.
- What does Christ have to do with that?
- What does Truth have to do with boiled chicken eggs, died and tattooed, laid by bunnies?
If you can show that live, actually happening, you'll make yourself millions of dollars.
- What does that have to do with Jesus?
- What does that have to do with the resurrection?
Now come back here to Revelation 17. God identifies it, so if we believe the Bible and follow what God tells us to identify, we can understand.
Revelation 17:3: "Then he carried me away in the spirit to a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, full of names of blasphemy. And the woman was clothed in purple..." (vs 3-4). What I want you to do when Easter comes around, you watch on television—or maybe you go back to where they ordained these 22 cardinals recently—all the colors were there.
The pope was sitting on his throne before the great canopy and there are four pillars. Those pillars are twined like serpents through the top. It has bees and flies on it, and on the top of it is a big sunburst. Keep your eyes open when they show that. Look at what it is or if there's a documentary you can watch concerning the Vatican, that'll be something!
Here's my theory on that: All the artwork, all the statues that they have, all of those—because they come from all the ancient civilizations—show the history of Satan's religion in art. There are only one or two books in the whole world—actually two, Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons and The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer. They show the whole thing. Other than that, hardly any information on it. We need to go to the Bible to get the identification.
Back to the colors, v 3: "...a scarlet beast that had seven heads and ten horns, full of names of blasphemy. And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and was adorned with gold and pearls and precious stones... [Isn't it interesting, all these men wearing women's clothing?] ...and she had a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominations and the filthiness of her fornication; And across her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF THE HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (vs 3-5).
That's how God looks at all of these things. We covered a little bit about the Passover last week, but let's cover this week starting with: Should we observe those days? One of the things that men like to do, they like to improve on God.
- Is God perfect? Yes!
- Is His Law perfect? Yes!
- Is His way perfect? Yes!
- How are you going to improve on that, since all human beings are imperfect? They're not!
Remember when you come to the New Covenant, the New Testament, everything from the Old Testament is raised to a higher spiritual level. It's not done away. It's raised to a spiritual level so that it's going to be conversion within the heart and within the mind, with the Spirit of God.
Deuteronomy 4:1, here's what God told Israel; this applies today. "And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes and to the judgments which I teach you, in order to do them, so that you may live and go in and possess the land which the LORD God of your fathers gives to you. You shall not add to the word which I command you; neither shall you take away from it..." (vs 1-2).
What does that mean? It means exactly what it says, and yet men have added all kinds of things, especially when you consider they have changed the Sabbath to Sunday. Now because they have done that, they're beginning to come out with more and more calendars that show Sunday is the seventh day of the week. In order to teach the true Sabbath, you've got to qualify it, and say, 'They have changed the calendar.' Of course, that was prophesied that they would do it. That's a calendar that they have in Europe, but it's coming more and more in America now, too.
'Shall not add to it or take away from it.' So, what do men do? They add to it and take away from it! How do they do that? God also covered it (Deut. 12)! God makes it clear. This is why we are to use the Word of God, follow the commandments of God, and what God has said and told us, because this is what He wants us to do.
This is after they get into the land, He told them this, Deuteronomy 12:30: "Take heed to yourself that you do not become ensnared by following them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not ask about their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods that I may also do likewise?'" They do it to the Lord. As we found there, remember Exo. 31 when Moses was on a mountain getting the Ten Commandments. Aaron built the golden calf and he said, 'Let's have a feast to the Lord.'
I don't think there is any misunderstanding what God says, v 31: "You shall not do so to the LORD your God, for every abomination to the LORD, which He hates, they have done to their gods; even their sons and their daughters they have burned in the fire to their gods…. [offered them as a burnt sacrifice] …Whatsoever thing that I command you, be careful to do it. You shall not add to it, nor take away from it" (vs 31-32).
Let's see what the children of Israel did. Right after they got into the land, after Joshua died and the elders died and the new generation always comes along and says, 'You know, we've got to improve on our moms and dads. We've got to make everything better.'
Constant lesson for us, Judges 2:10: "And also all that generation were gathered to their fathers. And there arose another generation after them who did not know the LORD, nor even the works which He had done for Israel…. [forgot all about it] …And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim" (vs 10-11). When you see Baal—B-a-a-l with the 'im' on the end of it, that is plural. That means they were serving many Baals, and Baal was a version of the sun-god. The sun-god was none other than worshipping Nimrod. That's what Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons talks about.
Most people who profess Christianity today, would not know that this is in the Bible, or had anything to do with that, v 12: "And they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt. And they followed other gods... [What was the first commandment? You shall have no other gods before Me!] ...even the gods of the people who were around them, and bowed themselves to them, and provoked the LORD to anger. And they forsook the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth" (vs 12-13).
I'm going to read the next couple of verses here so this helps us understand what's happening in the world and to United States today. Because just to make a little summarizing statement: The United States and Britain and the Commonwealth nations and Northwestern Europe are all the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel. They didn't just disappear. You don't take some 15-20-million people and they just disappear off the face of the earth. God brought them into the land for the end-time. As we're reading this, this will help us understand what is happening in the world today.
- Have we forsaken the Lord?
- Have we turned our back on God?
- Have we rejected His Word?
- Yes, we have!
That's exactly what they did!
So what happens? Verse 14: "And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and He delivered them into the hand of spoilers who spoiled them.…"
- Do we have terrorists among us?
- Do we have those who hate us?
- Do we have those who want to annihilate us?
- Rob us?
- Steal from us?
- Drug us?
- Bring us false religion?
- Yes, because the people left the Lord!
"...And He sold them into the hand of their enemies all around, so that they could not any longer stand before their enemies. Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for evil, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who spoiled them. And yet, they would not listen to their judges, but they went lusting after other gods, and bowed themselves to them. They turned quickly out of the way which their fathers walked in, for they had obeyed the commandments of the LORD; these however, did not do so" (vs 14-17). That's an indictment of our nation today.
- With the Constitution of the United States, did we rely on God?
- Did we enter into an agreement with God?
- Have we left that agreement?
- Have the churches left the Bible?
- Yes!
- Do we have troubles?
- Do we have enemies?
- Who is behind it then?
Now let's see what they're indicted for. History repeats itself and the history of Israel is just like a cycle—repeats itself. Leaves God, gets in trouble, cries out to God. Just like 9/11, what did the president say? Everybody go to your churches and synagogues and pray! God bless America!
- No repentance!
- No turning to God!
Jeremiah was a man alone. Remember, numbers does not make it right. Is the whole world going astray? Yes! Does that make it right? No! Jeremiah was a man alone, hated by everyone, threatened to be killed many times, actually arrested a couple times, but God said that his life would be spared.
One time he was thrown down into a sewer tank of human manure. Wonder what someone would think down there in the manure? 'God, why am I down here in this filthy stench?' No one had mercy on him but a stranger, a Cushite, and he tied some rags together and made a rope and pulled him out.
This is what he had to do, Jeremiah 7:1: "The Word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying, 'Stand in the gate of the LORD'S house... [right at the temple] ...and proclaim there this Word, and say, "Hear the word of the LORD, all Judah, who enter in at these gates to worship the LORD"'" (vs 1-2). Right at the temple of God that Solomon had built.
Verse 3: "Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, 'Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place.... [So again, God always calls for repentance. God always gives a chance.] ...Do not trust in lying words... [Do we trust in lying words? Oh, Yes! Where is Truth?] ...saying, "The temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD, the temple of the LORD are these"'" (v 3-4).
What do we trust in? 'Oh, we're Americans. We have ingenuity. The reason that we are so good is because of our ability.'NO! You are the way that you are because of the blessing of God. Don't rely on the temple of the Lord. Don't rely on things that cannot help. You've got to rely on God.
Verse 5: "'For if you thoroughly amend your ways and your doings; if you thoroughly execute judgment between a man and his neighbor; if you do not oppress the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place, nor walk after other gods to your hurt'" (vs 5-6).
They followed the pagan practice of burning their children in the fire to Moloch. God condemned them for killing the innocent children. Today, it's done in the womb before they are ever born. We have a president who agrees with infanticide that if a baby survives an attempted abortion and lives, that he voted for a law and had it enacted when he was a senator in Illinois that another doctor could be called to finish the job, so the man would not be held liable for not taking care of the abortion.
I tell you, God is going to bring judgment and vengeance upon all the innocent blood of all the aborted babies. It's going to come on this generation and that's why the end-times are going to be so devastating and so slaughtering and such an upheaval of a magnitude that is almost beyond comprehension. And if you think that things in WWII were bad, you haven't seen anything. You have not seen anything!
Now if you haven't heard the sermon by Michael Heiss about the blood avenger—God's Justice System, Redeemer and Blood Avenger—you listen to it. God is going to avenge the blood of all those innocent children—millions and millions and millions killed in the womb.
God says if you do, v 7: "Then I will cause you to dwell in this place... [So He gave them a chance to repent.] ...in the land that I gave to your fathers, forever and ever. Behold, you trust in lying words that cannot profit…. [now I'm going to read to you the nightly news]: …Will you steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense to Baal, and walk after other gods whom you do not know; And them come and stand before Me in this house which is called by My name, and say, 'We are delivered to do all these abominations'?…. [that's exactly what's going to happen] …Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of robbers in your eyes? Behold, even I have seen it,' says the LORD." (vs 7-11).
Let's see what they were doing, right before God, at this time of year, v 30: "'For the children of Judah have done evil in My sight,' says the LORD. 'They have set their abominations in the house which is called by My name, to pollute it….. [They put in there idols for Baal, idols for the sun, idols to the goddess Ishtar.] …They have built the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire; which I did not command them, nor did it even come into My mind'" (vs 30-31).
Now let's see how bad this was; let's see what God told Jeremiah, v 16: "Therefore, do not pray for this people, nor lift up cry, nor prayer for them, nor make intercession to Me; for I will not hear you." When that day arrives, you go read the book of Lamentations. The book of Lamentations is one of the most difficult books in the Bible to read of the utter desolation that came to Jerusalem.
Verse 17: "Do you not see what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem? The children gather wood..." (vs 17-18). Satan always likes to have a family affair. And when you first bring up about, 'I don't want to keep Christmas.' Well, the family, the children. Should you lie to your children? You remember the first time you found out Christmas was not true? And the first time that you knew that your parents lied to you? So it's a family affair.
"'...and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven... [Ishtar or Easter. Is this something God approves of? or Disapproves of? He rejects it!] ...and to pour out drink offerings to other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger. Do they provoke Me to anger?' says the LORD. 'Do they not provoke themselves to the confusion of their faces?'" (vs 18-19). Yes! Did He give them chance to repent? Many!
You read the book of Jeremiah. He probably gave them at least a dozen major times to change and repent. He says, 'Jeremiah, run around Jerusalem and if you can find one man, just one man, Jeremiah, who will do justly, I'll forgive the whole work' (Jer. 5:1). Couldn't find any. Sound like today? Very much! Yes, indeed!
Verse 20: "Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD; 'Behold, My anger and My fury shall be poured out on this place, on man, and on beast, and on the trees of the field, and on the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be put out.'"
Let's see what else has been done. Here we find quite a few interesting things, Ezekiel 8:4: "And behold! The glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. And He said to me, 'Son of man, lift up your eyes now to the way of the north... [the north gate] ...So I lifted up my eyes toward the way of the north, and behold, northward at the gate of the altar the image of jealousy was at the entrance" (vs 4-5). That was the image of none other than the sun-god who was actually Nimrod.
Have you seen that Mayan calendar with Quetzalcoatl? And in the middle of it, there's a face of a man. That man happens to be an African man. He's got his mouth open with his tongue out. Remember that? Quetzalcoatl: That is defying God and that's a picture of Nimrod. It was something like that that he was seeing right there.
Verse 6: "And He said to me, 'Son of man, do you see what they do; even the great abominations which the house of Israel is doing here, that I should go far off from My sanctuary?.… You want God to be with you? Do what God says! Simple! You want to have troubles and difficulties? Do what God says don't do, and He's going to be far off from you. You won't find Him.
"...But turn again, and you shall see greater abominations.' And He brought me to the opening of the court; and I looked, and behold, a hole in the wall. And He said to me, 'Son of man, dig in the wall now.' And I dug in the wall, and, behold, an opening. And he said to me, 'Go in and see the evil abominations that they do here'" (vs 6-9).
What is this? We're going to see this is symbolic of—and it was actual that they were doing—but this is the prophecy of the secret elite organizations that worship Satan the devil. They do it today. They do it every year at the Bohemian Grove up in Northern California.
Verse 10: "And I went in and saw. And behold, every kind of creeping thing, and hateful beast, and all the idols of the house of Israel, were carved on the wall all around." You look at some of the things that are carved on the government buildings, especially in New York City.
I saw a documentary where it was absolutely incredible that so many things of the way that things were built, that were structured, that had idols and statues and carvings and pictures and dimensions of buildings, and so forth. And the conclusion was that this was all involved in the secret societies, including the Masons and the Knights of Columbus, and the different secret organizations that they have.
The conclusion was made, right on History Channel, that New York City is dedicated to Satan the devil. Let's finish a couple verses and then we'll take a break.
Verse 11: "And seventy men of the elders of the house of Israel... [the leaders, not the common people] ...and Jaazaniah the son of Shaphan, standing in front them, these were before them, and each man with his censor in his hand. And the sweet smelling cloud of incense was rising…. [that's exactly what happens in the Masonic worship] …And He said to me, 'Son of man, have you seen what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark, each man in his room of idols? For they are saying, "The LORD does not see us; the LORD has forsaken the earth"'" (vs 11-12).
That's what they have done. They act as if God is not here. That's all part of it. If you've never read anything about the Masons, go online and look up about the Masons. That'll blow your mind.
Track 2: or Download
Now we're going to see some other Scriptures of how all the things that the world accepts in so-called Christian religion is actually condemned in the Word of God. And furthermore, it's also condemned in the New Testament, too, but not specifically like the Old Testament. Is it any wonder that they say that the Old Testament has been fulfilled, that you don't have to read it. They wouldn't want people reading about it—would they? No!
Verse 13: "He also said to me, 'You shall see greater abominations that they are committing.' And He brought me to the opening of the gate of the LORD'S house, toward the north. And behold, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz" (vs 13-14). Who is Tammuz? A pagan god who supposedly was resurrected by Ishtar on Easter! He was supposedly killed on 'Good Friday' and rose from the dead at midnight on Easter. Women would weep for him. Then when midnight come, they would all get cheerful and joyful and say, 'He's risen, he's risen.' And you know, that is a practice of the Roman Catholic Church to this day. Amazing—isn't it?
Verse 15: "And He said to me, 'Have you seen this, O son of man? You shall see greater abominations than these.' And He brought me into the inner court of the LORD'S house, and behold, at the opening of the temple of the LORD, between the porch and the altar, were about twenty-five men with their backs toward the temple of the LORD and their faces toward the east; and they worshiped the sun toward the east" (vs 15-16). Sun-worship!
Now what do they have every Easter Sunday morning? Easter sunrise services! Isn't that true? What do they have with most of the main Catholic cathedrals? They have a big round circular window up high on the front of the temple that is facing east. And at the time of the high mass, when the sun is out, a beam of sun will come right down to where the priest is, while he's holding up the wafer. Sun-worship!
Let's come back to Jeremiah 10, here's a great one. This is God's description of the Christmas tree. If people really knew what the Christmas tree symbolized—well, I don't know. People know that Christmas is pagan, 'but it's so much fun we don't care. It's so much fun spending this money and lying to our children. Besides all the things I get.'
I know Dolores and I were watching on the news on the 'Black Friday' when they opened the doors. Some of them opened at midnight. Oh, no, five o'clock in the morning's too late. You've missed out on half your sales. Open at midnight. They rushed in, trampled over people. Last year there were several killed because people were just crazy.
And you sit there and think as you watch it, 'Where's Christ? How can this be honoring Christ?' When you're going hell-bent after your own lusts and worked up into a frenzy because of the advertising and things like this. To get and to acquire that you crash into the stores and run over people. That's bad enough. How about this:
Jeremiah 10:1: "Hear the word which the LORD speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the LORD, 'Do not learn the way of the heathen...'" [That's pretty clear; you can't get it any better than that—right?] ...and do not be terrified at the signs of the heavens; for the nations are terrified at them'" (vs 1-2). This year toward the end of the year, everybody's going to be in a frenzy about the Mayan calendar. Because the Mayan calendar ends at the end of 2012, now whatever their year is, they quit counting after that.
One man asked someone in the Church of God, I think it was a minister, 'What do you think about that? What do you think about the Mayan calendar? They're going to quit counting time and the end of the world is going to come in 2012 because they're quitting counting.' And he just looked at him and said, 'Well, Jesus hasn't.'
Verse 3: "For the customs [traditions] of the people are vain; for one cuts a tree out of the forest with the axe, the work of the hands of the workman." They make it easy today. You just have to go to a Christmas tree farm. They even make it easier. You can order Christmas trees online and they'll come in a big giant box, delivered to your door.
And most of the businesses, like the bank where we bank over here, across the street from the office, they think it is a beautiful Christmas tree. All the ornaments are on it. All the lights are on it. It's all artificial. No more cutting, none of that. So they just store it away for next year, bring it out, plug it in, it's ready to go.
Verse 4: "They adorn it with silver and with gold... [that's different that overlaying it with silver and gold as an idol] ...they fasten it with nails and hammers, so that it will not move." Nothing could describe a Christmas tree any more accurate than that.
What is used most of the time in the northern parts of the northern hemisphere for a Christmas tree? A fir tree or a spruce tree—right? Those are called what kind of trees? Evergreen! It is a counterfeit of eternal life, and it stays green. When you get it in the house it smells wonderful. 'Oh, I love the smell of the Christmas tree in the house.' All the decorations on there. Now, follow me on this one. They have the decorations that go around the tree in a spiral, clear up to the top. Up at the top is a star. The star is symbolic of Satan, and the wrappings that go around the tree are serpentine. This is Satan. All of the bulbs hanging on there are sex symbols or fruit. What do people really place in their homes? What does this have to do with Jesus Christ? Nothing! The fact is, everyone who puts a Christmas tree in their house are celebrating man's fall, going Satan's way—eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That Christmas tree is symbolic of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Of course, they don't know it. It's fun to do. Family does it. Kids hang all this stuff up there. Kids look at it and say, 'Oh, wonderful Christmas tree. Wonder when Santa Claus is coming.' Never ask why are there Santa Clauses in every department store. How can there just be one?
Verse 5: "They are upright as the palm tree, but cannot speak... [It was symbolic of a god. Does Satan want to be worshiped as God? Yes, indeed!] ...They must surely be carried because they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them; for they cannot do evil nor good, for it is not in them."
Now then, someone will read that and say, 'Well, see, it's not evil to do it.' No, it is saying that the tree of itself is incapable of doing good or evil, so why do you worship it as a god? That's what is intended there, v 6 will verify it. "Therefore there is none like You, O LORD; You are great, and Your name is great in might."
Let's see what God says. Typical of those who want to do away with the Sabbath and Holy Days and things of God, they turn to Isa. 1[corrected] and say, 'God doesn't want His own Holy Days. He doesn't want His new moons. He doesn't want His Sabbaths.' Because they attribute where it says, 'Your Sabbath,' referring to the Jews.
Isaiah 1:11: "'To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?' says the LORD; 'I am full of the burnt offerings of rams, and the fat of fed beasts; and I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of he-goats. When you come to appear before Me, who has required this at your hand, to trample My courts?'" (vs 11-12). This is reflecting right back to Jer. 7 about all of the pagan practices they were doing at the temple.
Verse 13: "Bring no more vain sacrifices... [because they'd bring sacrifices that God did not command] ...incense is an abomination to Me... [because it was to other gods] ...new moon and Sabbath, the calling of assemblies; I cannot endure iniquity along with the solemn assembly!…. [these were not God's Sabbaths that He's talking about] …Your new moons and your appointed feasts My soul hates; they are a trouble to Me; I am weary to bear them." (vs 13-14).
Every year, what do you hear? It's all to the Lord. Put Christ back in Christmas. Celebrate Easter, Christ is risen. We've got to get one for Halloween.
Verse 15: "And when you spread forth your hands, I will hide My eyes from you; yea, when you make many prayers, I will not hear; your hands are full of blood." Again, He calls them to repentance. Notice that every time God condemns them for what they're doing, He calls them to repentance. God wants repentance. He will forgive.
He says, v 16: "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes; cease to do evil." The things they were doing were evil. They weren't honoring God. Even if they kept the seventh-day Sabbath, but if they did it in a way which was not according to the way God wanted it, or have a heart that isn't right before God, that's not what God wants. Here's a principle: You must cease to do evil.
Verse 17: "'Learn to do good... [because you weren't doing that] ...seek judgment, reprove the oppressor. Judge the orphan, plead for the widow. Come now, and let us reason together,' says the LORD. 'Thought your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool. Ifyou are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; But if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured with the sword'; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken it" (vs 17-20).
Every Word of God will come to pass. It does not fail, it will happen. God gives them an opportunity. But will they? Wouldn't it be interesting—I don't know how much protection a person might need, but I think of this many times. What if someone went to St. Peter's Basilica and stood there and did like Jeremiah and like Isaiah and told them to repent? All of them, beginning with the pope! He would be escorted out of there or trampled and killed by the mob. Wouldn't work.
Now let's come to Isaiah 8, and here we get something concerning spiritism. Because Halloween is seeking after the spirits and that is a day dedicated to Satan and the demons, dedicated to death. And isn't it interesting, that's the first holiday as they move on in through the cycle of the holidays of the year. You start out with celebrating death and that is exalting the wages of sin.
Isaiah 8:19: "And when they shall say to you, 'Seek unto them that have familiar spirits and to wizards who peep and mutter...'" Today they have television programs about haunted houses. They have television programs, reality shows, where they go to places where they know there are demons and they try and connect with them. Is the Bible relevant today or not? Absolutely.
Here's what they say: "...but should not a people seek unto their God? Should the dead be sought on behalf of the living?.... [here's the answer; here's how you separate yourself from all of these things]: ...To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this Word, it is because there is no light in them" (vs 19-20).
I just saw an advertisement for a movie on Disney Channel. And what it was, girls gathered around a Ouija Board and levitating. In Disneyland they've got a whole section to Harry Potter. So we have a whole generation that has been inoculated with the occult, with witchcraft. There you have it. 'No light in them.'
Let's see something else; let's see God's summary of all of these things. What you need to do is think about how they say how much fun they have, how great a time they have, and then remember Amos 5 and what God says. People say, 'Put Christ back into Christmas.' Was never there! 'Celebrate the resurrection of Christ.' No command to do so!
Amos 5:21, here's what God says: "I hate... [for God to hate something, that's pretty strong] ...I despise your feast days, and I will take no delight in your solemn assemblies. Though you offer Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them…. [So, you have long prayers, Christmas, Easter. You have the Eucharist. We could talk about the Eucharist. That's another one of those false things that reject the Passover.] …Nor will I regard the peace offerings of your fat animals." (vs 21-22).
Verse 23—I think of this every time I hear a Gregorian chant. That has got to be the most awful music. I think the only thing worse than that is rap music. No, there's something worse than rap music. It's a car that's booming and vibrating. Every house down the block as it goes down is going like this. I pulled into gas up here yesterday and here comes this guy in this car, the music booming. It was vibrating everything. I got out of the car and my body was shaking. It was something. Dolores would have been proud of me. I restrained myself from saying a word and consoled myself by saying, 'This guy has got to be a deaf and dumb idiot.' But it was, the whole place was shaking.
He says, v 23: "Take the noise of your songs away from Me; for I will not hear the melody of your harps. But let judgment roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream" (vs 23-24).
Now think of this: All during the 40 years of wandering, how many were really faithful to God? Moses and Aaron—Aaron overcame his first unfaithfulness—basically, Moses and Joshua and Caleb! That is about it. Notice what the rest were doing. That's why God had the tent of the meeting set up outside the camp, get away from these sinners.
Verse 25: "Have you offered sacrifices and offerings to Me forty years in the wilderness, O house of Israel?.... [Did you really?] ...But now you have carried the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun, your images, the star of your gods which you made for yourselves.... [v 27 did happen] ...So, I will cause you to go into exile beyond Damascus,' says the LORD, Whose name is the God of hosts" (vs 25-27). He sent them 1,500 miles away over to the Caucuses.
This is what God says about these days. Now when you come to the New Testament, it says nothing about observing any of these days. What we will do in the next sermon, next week, we'll go through and we'll summarize the Holy Days of God. We will look at some things in the Old and New Testament, but we will focus mostly on the New Testament. What did the New Testament Church really do?
One of the mottos that we have is: Restoring Original Christianity for Today, which means this: we are going to examine the Scriptures of God to know
- what Jesus did
- what the apostles did
- what they wrote
and we will find not one word about Halloween or Christmas or Easter or Lent or any of those things. We will find out about the:
- Passover
- Unleavened Bread
- Pentecost
- Tabernacles
- Last Great Day
All of those are in the New Testament and they are commanded in the Old Testament!
Scriptural References:
- Revelation 17:1, 15, 18
- Revelation 18:1-5
- Revelation 17:3-5
- Deuteronomy 4:1-2
- Deuteronomy 12:30-32
- Judges 2:10-17
- Jeremiah 7:1-11, 30-31, 16-20
- Ezekiel 8:4-16
- Jeremiah 10:1-6
- Isaiah 1:11-20
- Isaiah 8:19-20
- Amos 5:21-27
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Exodus 31
- Jeremiah 5:1
Also referenced:
Sermon: God's Justice System, Redeemer and Blood Avenger (Michael Heiss)
Books:
- The Day Jesus the Christ Died by Fred R. Coulter
- The Two Babylons by Alexander Hislop
- The Golden Bough by Sir James George Frazer
FRC:lp
Transcribed: 03-06-12
Formatted: bo—3-7-12
Copyright 2012—All rights reserved. Except for brief excerpts for review purposes, no part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means without the written permission of the copyright owner. This includes electronic and mechanical photocopying or recording, as well as the use of information storage and retrieval systems.
