SPECIAL PROPHECY UPDATE NUMBER 242ASeptember 25, 2005
Armageddon – Not in the Far Distant Future – Part 8
An Exposition of Revelation 16:13 to 18:24
Ezekiel 33:3-6 – If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; [4] Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. [5] He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. [6] But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.
The primary Scripture, among those on which I will be expositing in this series, specifically warns those setting under false teachings to break away from the religious “her” that is teaching them today.
Revelation 18:4 – 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.
This Scripture lets me know there are saved men and women who are in the “her” of this verse, because it calls them “my people.” The primary purpose of this series is to specifically identify the “her” and to implore those “in her” to come “out of her,” and to warn those not in “her” to stay “out of her.”
Now, I shall continue expositing from where we left off in Part 7.
Revelation 18:11 – And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more:
The Catholic Church is the greatest merchandiser of religious objects in the faiths dominated by salvation by Jesus plus works. Her sales of a multiplicity of statues of Mary, Jesus, the saints, and countless other objects impregnated with their pictures, have made billions for those who merchandise them and the Catholic Church that authorizes such sales. Her sales of religious relics, indulgences, rosaries, praise objects, and other objects of adoration have brought billions into her coffers down through the ages. All these profits will be cut off from her merchandisers abruptly in one hour.
Revelation 18:12 – The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble,
All of these items have marked Catholic Church history in the character of her sales for profit down through the ages. They have been floated up the Tiber and carried over land from many ports into her storehouses.
Revelation 18:13 – And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men.
These were the things that were brought up from the port at the mouth of the Tiber River from the ships on the Mediterranean Sea, during the reign of the Roman Emperors from Constantine onwards, and from which the early Catholic Church enjoyed the carnal fruits thereof.
Revelation 18:14 - And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all.
All of her carnal benefits received because of marriage with the state will be ended in one hour by a geological holocaust.
Revelation 18:15 – The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing,
All the merchant ships of the Mediterranean Sea will stand afar off from the mouth of the Tiber River, and see the fire and smoke of her burning.
Revelation 18:16 – And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls!
One has but to take a tour through the Vatican City to see the picture painted by this verse. If you watched the recent Pope’s funeral, you got to view a small part of it.
Revelation 18:17 – For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off,
In one hour God’s judgment comes upon her for almost 1700 years of spiritual adultery from the faith once delivered to the saints.
Revelation 18:18 – And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city!
Rome was the city that ruled the known world when John wrote these words and, indeed, there was no city like her.
Revelation 17:18 – And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.
Revelation 18:19 – And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
It is indeed absolutely shocking to believe that, in one hour, almost 1700 years of history, religious tradition, and heresy will suddenly end.
Revelation 18:20 – Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
In order to properly portray this very short verse of Scripture, please allow me to quote from “The Trail of Blood” by Dr. J.M. Carroll. The history of churches that have maintained “the faith” once delivered to the saints left a trail of martyr’s blood, which was extracted from them by the Roman Catholic Church during the Dark Ages.
BEGIN QUOTES FROM “THE TRAIL OF BLOOD!”
“17. I again call your attention to those upon whom the hard hand of persecution fell. If fifty million died of persecution during the 1,200 years of what are called the Dark Ages, as history seems positively to teach, then they died faster than an average of four million every 100 years. That seems almost beyond the limit of human conception. As before mentioned, this iron hand, dripping with martyr blood, fell upon Paulicians, Arnoldists, Hendricians, Petro Brussians, Albigenses, Waldenses, and Ana-Baptists much harder than upon others.”
“Sad and awful was the fate of these long-suffering Ana-Baptists. The World now offered no sure place for hiding. Four hard persecutors were now hot on their trail. Surely theirs was a Trail of Blood.”
“18. But persecutions did not cease. The hatred Ana-Baptist (called Baptists today), in spite of all previous persecutions, and in spite of the awful fact that fifty million had already died martyr deaths, still existed in great numbers. It was doing this period that along one European highway, thirty miles in distant, stakes were set up every few feet along it, the tops of the stakes sharpened, and on the top of each stake was placed a horrid gory head of a martyred Ana Baptist. Human imagination can hardly picture a scene so awful! And yet this thing was perpetrated, according to reliable history, by a people calling themselves devout followers of the meek and lowly Jesus Christ.”
END QUOTES FROM “THE TRAIL OF BLOOD!”
On one day in one hour all the martyrs of Revelation 18:20 will surely be avenged by God, and will rejoice in heaven to see the end of Vatican spiritual apostasy.
Revelation 18:20 – Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye holy apostles and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her.
Lord willing, in the next Update of this series, I will exposit on 18:21 to 18:23.
Revelation 18:21-23 – And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. [22] And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; [23] And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived.
The Catholic Church, some of her offspring, and many of the organizations rising out of the Great Evangelical Movement since 1730, have become the Pharisees of today.
Matthew 15:8,9 – This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. [9] But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
II Timothy 4:1-4 – I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; [2] Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. [3] For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; [4] And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
John 4:24 – God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
I Timothy 3:14,15 – These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto thee shortly: [15] But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.