The 19th century British historian, Lord John Dalbert Acton, rightly analyzed human tendency. As a sincere Roman Catholic, he took issue to Pope Pius IX's proclamation of the dogma of papal infallibility. It was in this context that in a letter he wrote to Bishop Mandel Creighton dated 1887, that Acton made his most famous pronouncement. He writes, I cannot accept your canon that we are to judge Pope and King unlike other men, with a favorable presumption that they did not wrong. If there is any presumption, it is the other way, against the holder of power, increasing as the power increases. Historic responsibility has to make up for the want of legal responsibility. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. You know, even before Lord Ashton made that astute observation from history, Our founding fathers understood the corrupting nature of power and thus sought to diffuse the power of government among many, instead of us having a strong presidency. And so built into our Constitution is a separation of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government. The legislative branch are supposed to make the laws, the executive branch implements them and enforces the laws, and the judicial branch interprets the laws, each branch serving as a check and balance on the others so that no one branch of our government seizes absolute power. But, you know, even in our representative republic like ours, over time, power tends to corrupt. So each branch of our government has overstepped their boundaries envisioned by the founding fathers so that today we have judges making laws, we have Congress trying to make foreign policy, and the executive branch making decisions without congressional approval. Each branch is trying to strengthen its position of power. Now, Lord Acton made another astute observation that rarely gets mentioned. In fact, it's in the next sentence in the letter that he sent to Bishop Creighton. For he not only says that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely, but he adds these words, great men are almost always bad men. Great men are almost always bad men. Great men and women come to power may use it wisely and bring peace and prosperity, but too often in history, the real kings and queens have truly been tyrants who oppress the people to gain personally in wealth and prestige. We are seeing it today in the conduct of Vladimir Putin, who in recent months has become increasingly isolated from his advisors around him. He has absolute power in Russia. And he is recklessly destroying his own country by an unprovoked invasion of the sovereign nation of Ukraine. He doesn't appear to care. He doesn't appear to care as long as he hangs on to his power. Power, indeed, tends to corrupt. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now in Daniel chapter 11, God reveals to his servant Daniel the human expression of the great conflict between the powers of darkness and the power of light, between God and Satan as kings fight against kings, with God's people Israel in the middle. And while all of chapter 11 was still future to Daniel, when he received the revelation for you and I, much of it is history. for it has been accurately and precisely fulfilled by actual kings and people in the Persian-Grecian wars, and then a series of battles between the kings of the north and the kings of the south, the Egyptian-Syrian conflict. The storm of conflict approaches the land of Israel, completely engulfing it with the tyrannical, mananical oppression of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the madman who sought to destroy the Jewish faith by desecrating the temple, erecting an idol to his god Zeus Olympian in the temple, and offering a pig on the altar erected to his god. But Antiochus IV was met by an army of the righteous. And in the end, the ones who sought to destroy the Jews and the religion was himself defeated and destroyed. But you know, that's not the end of the great conflict. For there is still to come one more ruler, a man who is definitely corrupt, who will be reaching for power, who will consolidate all power under him, and absolute power will absolutely corrupt. He enters the picture beginning at verse 36 of Daniel chapter 11. Follow along as I read. Daniel 11 verse 36. It says, then the king shall do according to his own will. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the god of gods, and shall prosper until the time of wrath has been accomplished. For what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the God of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any God, for he shall exalt himself above all. But in their place he shall honor the God of fortresses, and a God which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign God, which he shall acknowledge and advance his glory. and he shall cause them to rule over many and divide the land for gain." Now, it says here that absolute power is going to reside in the king. No, this is not Elvis, but the king. Who is he? Some suggest that this is Antiochus Epiphanes and that these verses just merely give additional information about the excursion of his into the land of Israel. And so they see no break in the action, no reason to fast forward into the future. So they believe that the remainder of this chapter is history too, and not a prophetic statement about a future world ruler. But look at our text for some clues as to his identity. First of all, I want us to note the time marker in verse 35. Daniel 11, 35 says in some of those, of understanding shall fall to refine them, purify them, and make them white until the time of the end, because it is still for the appointed time. The time marker here is the time until the time of the end. God is processing of using suffering and persecution to refine his people, and it's going to continue to do so until the time of the end. Clearly a reference to a future period beyond the time of the Maccabees who fought Antiochus Epiphanes. Note also the time marker in the beginning of verse 40. It says, and at the time of the end. Again a future period. Now when is the time of the end? Well notice the time marker in Daniel 12 verse 1. It says, at that time Michael shall stand up the great prince who stands watching over the sons of your people and there shall be a time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation even to that time at that time your people shall be delivered everyone who is found written in the book and many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake some to everlasting life and some to shame and everlasting contempt so the time of the end is clearly the period of time at the end the tribulation period is over, the time of Jacob's troubles have passed, and so it includes also the very end, the resurrection, the judgment that occurs when Jesus Christ returns the second time. So note secondly that the distinction that is made between the king and the kings of the north and the kings of the south in verse 40. Daniel 11 verse 40 says, at the time of the end, the king of the south shall attack him and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind. Now, who is the him? In verse 40, the nearest stand of Sedan is the king that described in verses 36 through 39. So the king of the south and the king of the north are gonna attack the king of verse 36 and verse 39. Now Antiochus Epiphany, he was the king of the north. So if the king of the north attacks the king, the king cannot be Antiochus Epiphany. What we know about the career of him from historical records simply does not fit the wording of the last section of this chapter. While he flirted with the idea that he might be a god, he did not forsake the gods of his father, but just the opposite. He erected in the temple a statue of his god, Zeus Olympus, and demanded that the Jews worship the god of his father. Plus, there is no record of additional excursions that Antiochus made against Israel. So who is the king? Well, we've already met him. We've already met him in our studies so far. This coming king is the little horn of Daniel chapter 7 verse 8 who will sprout among the 10 horns, the final expression of the last Gentile world power of the Rome of the West. The little horn will uproot three and he's going to take power. He is the ruler who will come in Daniel 9, 26, who will make and then break a covenant with Israel, set up the abomination that causes desolation on the wings of the temple. He is the beast of Revelation 13, 1 through 8, who rises to prominence by satanic power. He is the Antichrist, the final ruler of the Western world. In fact, the ancient Catholic scholar, Jerome, commenting on Daniel 11, 36, writes this. He says, the Jews believe that this passage has reference to the Antichrist. And we too, this is to refer to the Antichrist. According to him, just as the Savior had Solomon and the other saints as types of his advent, so also We should believe that the Antichrist very properly had a type of himself that utterly wicked king Antiochus who persecuted the saints and defiled the temple. So the king is the Antichrist. a future ruler of the Western world. And as he grabs power, he seeks to exercise absolute power over the world in three specific realms. First of all, the realm of politics, the realm of religion, and the realm of the military. The power of politics, religion, and the military are combined and concentrated in one person. And when a person has control over all three, they are wielding absolute power. That's what he does. That's the picture that splashed on the screen here Daniel chapter 11 verses 36 through 39. The king who wields absolute power. Look again at verse 36. It says, and the king shall do according to his own will. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the god of gods, and shall prosper till the wrath has been accomplished for what has been determined shall be done." First of all, look at the power politics here. The king shall do according to his will. In other words, he's going to do whatever he pleases. He will exercise such control over the Western world that the other 10 leaders will have no power over him. No say. There's no checks and balances here. He will call the shots, make the policies, carry out his own whims against mankind. And he will do what he wants to do, and no one's going to stand up and say no, no more. That's absolute power. the world dictator. Now, we know that's a dangerous place to be for one person to have all that power with no checks and balances, because it leads to all kinds of abuse of that power. Their selfish, self-centered hearts find full expression as they trample on and over everyone standing in their way. And the Antichrist will be strong-armed and force his will upon the world, especially during the last half of this tribulation period. Now as he is successful politically, he's going to turn his attention to the religious realm. And he will secondly exercise the same absolute authority over religious practices. So we have the power of religion. Look at our text beginning again at verse 36. He says, then the king shall do according to his own will He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the god of gods, and shall prosper until the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the god of his father, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall exalt himself above all. Now after the rapture of the church when Jesus comes for his true followers, and while the Antichrist is consolidating his political power, the world at that point is going to be under the guiding hand of a one world religious system, an ecumenical church. It's been the aim of the Consultation of the Church Union, or the CCU, of the National Council of Churches, to bring together 25 million church members in America from nine different denominations to form one Church of Christ, uniting. And the goal of the Protestant churches, to unite, they would, in time, reunite with the Roman Catholic Church to form one large church. And during the first half, part of the tribulation period, the professing church will be united together And the Antichrist is gonna use this one world church as a means of ascending to power. He will ride the coattails of the one world religious system. Now his or her story and fate is found in Revelation chapter 17. If you have your Bibles turn to Revelation 17, and I wanna introduce you to what the Bible calls the great harlot, the great harlot of Revelation 17. And follow along as I read, beginning at verse one. It says that one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me saying, come and I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written, mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and the abomination of the earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. Now I want us to note first of all, the description of this woman. She is the great harlot or the great prostitute, verse one. Throughout the Old Testament, the figure of a whore or a prostitute described a false religious or apostate religious system. I've just been reading my devotions to the Book of Jeremiah. First couple chapters, he talks about the adultery of Judah and how they had gone after other gods. And he used it in the form of them being prostitutes. And so on occasion, apostate Israel who had gone after other gods and worshiped Baal. He's described as an unfaithful wife or a prostitute. It says here that he sits on many waters. In other words, it's going to be worldwide. Revelation 11 verse 15 states that the waters which you saw where the where the harlot sits are people, multitude, nations, and tongues. In other words, This false religious system is going to be worldwide and is dominant over the nations and ethnic groups and all different language groups. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. Kings have always used religious systems as a means of consolidating and expanding their power over their people. In fact, even today, politicians use religion to get elected. They side up with religious people that look like they're religious so that people vote for them. And so this false religious system has been in bed with the political leaders of this world. She's going to be sitting on a scarlet beast. The scarlet covered beast is identified in Revelation 13 verse 1 as the one world government headed by the Antichrist. And so the Antichrist is going to ride the back of this professing church, or maybe the professing church is going to ride the back of the Antichrist and this false religious system in order to rise to power. It's also described in verse 5, it's that on her head, is written, mystery Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and the abomination of the earth. I will explain this in just a few minutes, but there is one more descriptive phrase that relates to this false religious system, and that is she has drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. In other words, this false religious system has been and will be involved in persecuting and killing genuine followers of Jesus Christ. The Antichrist, during the first half of the tribulation, is going to use this false ecumenical church in order to seek out and destroy those who believe the message of the true messengers. There are going to be two, and then there are going to be 144,000 Jewish messengers that have been sealed. Now this is the biblical description of this great whore, an ecumenical religious system that will wield tremendous political power during the first half of the tribulation, as the Antichrist is solidifying his own authority as a world leader. But is it possible to identify exactly who this great harlot might be? Well, I think her identity is wrapped up in the inscription that's found on her head. For it says on her forehead, a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abomination of the Earth. The false religious system. The false religious system will be a derivative of the Babylonian mystery religions. The Bible depicts Babylon as the source of false religions, beginning back in Genesis 11 with the building of the Tower of Babel. According to the biblical account, Nimrod, the grandson of Ham, was the founder of Babylon, Genesis 10 verses 8 through 12. And from Nimrod came not only Babylon, but also the Assyrian city of Nineveh as well. According to secular Babylonian sources, Nimrod had a wife by the name of Samarimus, who was the founder of a secret religious rites of the Babylonian mystery religion. And according to ancient writings, Samarimus had a son by an alleged miraculous conception, a virgin birth, who was given the name of Tabuz. This son was no ordinary son, but according to Babylonian tradition, the husband of Samarimus, or Nimrod, became the son, or the father becomes the son. In effect, it was a satanic substitute for the promise of the seed of the woman given to Eve. Now various religious practices were observed in connection with this false Babylonian religion, including the recognition of the mother and child as God, and of creating an order of virgins who would become the religious prostitutes. Tammuz, according to tradition, was killed by a wild animal, but then restored to life a satanic anticipation and counterfeit of Christ's resurrection. But Tammuz, after being raised to life, was cradled in the arms of his mother. And so all the statues that we have depicting Samaritaness shows her holding her infant Tammuz, or Nimrod, in her arms. And even though Tammuz was the all-powerful one who was raised to life, the Babylonians worshiped Samaritaness, whom they called the Queen of Heaven. The Queen of Heaven. Now this Babylonian mystery religion formed the basis of all pagan false religions. Hinduism, Buddhism, Greek mythology, gods, Roman paganism, Baalism, the worship of the Assyrian god Moloch, the Egyptian idolatrous system, all of these trace their origin to the Babylon and the mother-son team of Samaritans and Tammuz. In Old Testament times, Israel as a nation turned her back on Jehovah and worshiped these pagan gods. Jeremiah 7, 8, 18 says, the children gathered wood, the fathers kindled the fire, the women kneaded dough to make cakes for the queen of heaven. And they poured out drink offerings to other gods that they may provoke me to anger. The bread mentioned here was a bloodless sacrifice offered in a pagan mass to the queen of heaven who would intercede with her son for the forgiveness of their sins. And may I say in the context of Jeremiah 7, God condemns it. God condemns it. The mystery religion of Babylon was alive and well in Israel. You know, after the Persians took over Babylon, the Babylonian cultists moved their headquarters to Pergamon. And according to Revelation 2, 12 through 17, Satan's headquarters was located there. And the church located there was guilty of assimilating idolatry and paganism into their worship. At Pergamum, crowns in the shape of fish heads were worn by the high priest of the Babylonian cult to honor the fish god. And on the crown were these words, Keeper of the Bridge. Keeper of the Bridge, symbolic of the bridge between man and Satan. The title was later adopted by the Roman emperor, who used the Latin title, Pontifex Maximus, or the Major Keeper of the Bridge. When the teachers of the Babylonians, a mystery religion, later moved to Rome from Pergamon, and when Constantine became the emperor of Rome in 4th century AD, made Christianity the state religion, these pagan teachers were brought into the church. And they were influential in paganizing Christianity. The Church of Rome accommodated these pagan teachers. adopted many of their rituals and teaching. The Bishop of Rome adopted the title Pontifex Maximus, and so the Pope today is called the Pontiff, after this Pontifex. As I thought about today, the Roman Catholic Church doctrine is so much different from what we believe. And I've listed just a few of our differences in our note. They believe in baptismal generation, that is, when infants are baptized in the Catholic Church, they believe that it washes away original sin. They also believe in the veneration of Mary, the Madonna with the child. This includes the immaculate conception of Mary, the assumption of Mary into heaven, the praying to Mary to intercede with her child Jesus. Currently, there's a movement of declaring Mary as a co-redemptric, that is, through her suffering as a mother, salvation is provided just as through the suffering of her son. And currently, they're very close to proclaiming Mary as the fourth person of the Godhead. In fact, some Catholic theologians believe that she is the incarnation of the Holy Spirit, so that today we have God the Father, God the Mother, and God the Son as the Trinity. We have the bloodless sacrifice of the mass performed daily in which the bread or the host is offered as a sacrifice to God. We have a separate class of priests who have special access to the power with God and religious orders of the nuns. We have also confession to the priest who has the power to forgive sins and absolve of guilt. penance and sometimes you have to buy your way into it, sales of indulgences, extreme unction or last rites, praying to the dead and to angels, purgatory, the place where you pay for your sins through the prayers and monies of their relatives so that one day they might make it to heaven, so they sell mass cards so that masses can be sold, said on behalf of your dead loved one, holy water, the sign of the cross, the worship of images and relics, And then we have also the last one, the canonization of dead saints. They're made saints by the church. You know, these are a few of the differences between what we believe and what Roman Catholics believe in practice. But have you ever wondered where these doctrines and practices have originated? You can scour the word of God, the Bible, and nowhere do you find one shred of biblical evidence to support any of these doctrines or practices. None of them are taught in the Bible. So where did they come from? You know, Catholic theologians readily acknowledge and admit that much of what they believe does not have biblical support. But they don't need scriptural support. Why? Because the Council of Trent in 1547 declared that tradition has equal authority with the scriptures for belief and practice in the church. And also at the Council of Trent, there were 100 anathemas or curses pronounced against anyone who would dare question the teaching of the church or the authority of the pope. So if these teachings and practices do not come from scripture, but from tradition, then what traditions? Dr. Alexander Hislop, in the late 19th century, wrote the classic book, The Two Babylons. I have a copy of it in my library at home, in which he painstakingly documents how that much of what Roman Catholicism taught in his day was nothing more than an adaptation of the pagan Babylonian religious system. Everything from praying to the saints, the veneration of Mary, the belief in purgatory, to the use of holy water, rosary, even the mass, all find their root in Babylon as the mystery religion had a corresponding belief or practice. In fact, one Roman Catholic scholar has estimated that over 75% of what Roman Catholicism teaches today has pagan roots. So it is easy to see. how the religions will reunite together under the big banner of Roman Catholicism one day, the early part of the tribulation. In fact, even today, the pope is trying to get all the churches to come together and trying to get all the world religions to come together into one world religion. Now, the Antichrist will use the ecumenical church headed by the Roman Catholics as a vehicle for power. But once he holds absolute power politically, he will no longer need the assistance of the church. And Revelation 17 reveals in verse 16, it says, the ten horns, which you saw in the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, and eat her flesh, and burn her with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose. to be of one mind and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. No longer needing her support, the Antichrist is going to turn on her, strip her bare, rob her of her riches, and then destroy her. And at the same time, he will also turn his hatred against the Jews. And he's going to break his covenant with Israel, and a new wave of anti-Semitism is going to break out on parallel in human history. But he will also consolidate all the religious worship under his power, and he's going to demand that the entire world worship him. For look again at our text to see that progression in the absolute power. It says, shall do according to his own will. He shall exalt and magnify himself above every god, shall speak blasphemies against the god of gods, and shall prosper until the wrath has been accomplished, for what has been determined shall be done. He shall regard neither the god of his fathers, nor the desire of women, nor regard any god, for he shall exalt himself above all." First of all, he's going to exalt himself. He's going to be the ultimate egotist. He's going to be a somebody that's just wholly absorbed in himself. And so he's going to do what he wants. He's going to claim to be God. Secondly, he will magnify himself above every God. He's going to demand to be worshipped as God. 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 4 says, Who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. In doing so, it says here that he will neither regard the God of his father, the God of his father. Now, the NIV translates this, the God's, plural, of his father. Now, the two renderings illustrate the dilemma of translating the Hebrew word for God, Elohim, which is a plural noun, but when used to the true and living God, it's a plural of majesty. And that's translated simply as a single God. You know, in the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth. God created the heavens and the earth. But the question that's raised many times is, will the Antichrist be Jewish? Will the Antichrist be Jewish? Does God of his fathers refer to the Jewish God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or is it to be translated God's, plural, small g, referring to the pagan gods of the Antichrist's father? The phrase God of his father is used in the Old Testament of God and Israel, but it's usually prefixed with the word Lord God, the Lord God of our fathers. However, not always, because in Daniel chapter 2, verse 23, Daniel addresses his God as the God of my fathers. So it's possible. If the Jewish people think that the Antichrist is the Messiah, they would be more likely to accept him as such if he were Jewish. And if the Antichrist is Jewish, it might shed some light on why they trusted him and to make a covenant with him in the first place. It's certainly possible for a secular Jew to rise to power in a Gentile nation. Today, we have two Jewish leaders, the one in Israel and the one in the Ukraine. Both of them are Jews. So it's possible for them to rise to power. We even have men and women in our own government, senators, and congressmen who are Jewish in race and some by religion as well. But it could very also mean that this anti-Christ grew up in a Christian home. who had a Christian father who worshiped the true and living God. But he turns from his Christian roots, denounces his faith of his father's, has no regards for what his father believed. We're seeing it today. We're seeing it today with prominent Christian leaders not only leaving the church, but they're renouncing their conversion to Christ. I know I have some personal, I have some relatives of mine who grew up in Christian homes, nieces and nephews, grew up in Christian homes, went to Christian schools, went to Christian colleges, who later have renounced their faith and embraced atheism and agnosticism. So it can happen. So whether it's Jewish or not, we cannot know for sure. But we know that he will have no respect at all for his religious heritage, the god or gods of his father. Neither have he regards for the desire of women. Now who's the desire of women? I think the desire of women probably refers to Haggai chapter 2, verse 7, where God says, and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the desire of all nations, and I will fulfill this temple with this glory, says the Lord of Hosts. It's a reference here to the filling of the temple with the glory of the Lord at the second coming of Jesus Christ. So Jesus Christ is the desired of all nations. And he is also the desire of women, for it was the hope of all Jewish women to become the mother of the promised Messiah. And so the expression, desire of women, probably becomes a symbol of messianic hope. And so this king, therefore, hates God, hates his blessed son, Jesus Christ. But it doesn't stop there, because it says, he has no regard for any gods, for he shall magnify himself above all. He will reject and oppose any God that man might make. He will be atheistic, menanical, narcissist, who will compel people to worship him. But he will have a God. He will have a God. Everybody worships something or someone. Man is incurably religious. Paul makes that point in Romans chapter 1 when he charts the course of man as he walks away from God. And what happens is man makes gods out of sticks, stones, whatever, and makes mortal men and birds and animals and reptiles. And thus is the case of the Antichrist. Now who will he worship? He's going to worship the god of fortresses. Look at verse 37 of Daniel 11. He says, but in their place he shall honor a god of fortresses, and a god which his fathers did not know he shall honor with gold and silver, with precious stones and pleasant things. Thus he shall act against the strongest fortresses with a foreign god, which he shall acknowledge and advance his glory. And he shall cause them to rule over many and divide the land for grain. What will be completely different about religion at the end times will be first of all complete destruction of all previous religions and then the worship of the world leader without reference to any other divine power except that of Satan. For this world leader who already claims to be God, this God of fortress cannot be another person but must be his own power to make war. Thus, the sole confidence that the Antichrist will have is that he will dominate or wield absolute power militarily. In other words, he is a complete materialist in contrast to all previous religions and all previous men who claimed to be divine. This is blasphemy to the ultimate, the exaltation of human power and attainment. Now, although most regard communism As primarily a political movement, it is actually a practical expression of philosophic dialectical materialism which knows no deity, no supernatural god, and religiously is similar to the materialism of this final world leader. When the twin forces of communism and world religion are combined in this king, a third force evident in our modern world will also come to its culmination, namely the trend of a one world government foreshadowed today by the United Nations. Political power, religious power, military power, all combined and concentrated in one man, the king. And they end. He will display that power primarily through military force, which will come to the final battle, the Battle of Armageddon at the end. See, power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. And that statement will find its ultimate fulfillment when the Antichrist wields his power politically, religiously, and militarily. Now, as I close this morning, let me just say a few things. First of all, what I said this morning, some might accuse me of hating Catholics. I don't hate Catholics. I don't hate Catholics at all. I love Catholic people. But I have a strong disdain for what I consider to be a false religious system, known as Roman Catholicism. My heart goes out to Catholics today who are trapped in a religious system that keeps them in spiritual bondage through the fear of excommunication and death. They're trapped in a system where they are threatened by curses to blindly accept the teachings of the church without questioning their source or without scriptural support. They know nothing of the assurance of salvation. All they can hope for is that their relatives are going to give enough money, buy enough mass cards so enough masses can be said, or that their friends or relatives will pray for them so that they will eventually make it to heaven. They do not have the assurance like we have, who have humbled ourselves before the Lord, have repented of our sins, have trusted in Christ for our salvation that we pass from the realm of death to life. We know that we have eternal life. We know that our sins are forgiven. We know that we've been declared right with God. We've been justified, not on the basis of our works, but on the basis of the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross as he paid in full for our sins. And we know that if we should die today, to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. We have hope. They do not have that hope. How tragic it is for a person to sincerely practice their faith all their lives in hope of making it to the end, when we know for certain that we have eternal life. I trust that you know that this morning. I trust you can point to a time in your life where you humbled yourselves before God and realized you were a sinner on the way to hell, unable to save yourself, and you called upon the name of the Lord in order to be saved. Trusting in Jesus and Him alone for salvation. Not our works. Trusting in Christ. Not trusting in this church. But trusting in Jesus and Him alone. You're listening to the sound of my voice this morning here or through the internet? If not, I encourage you to trust Him today. Humble yourselves before Him. Admit your sin or unable to save yourself. Put your trust in the one who came to save you. Call it a day upon the name of the Lord in order to be saved. And then you will know for certain that you have eternal life. That's found in the word of prayer. Our loving Father in heaven, we this morning looked at a lot of things and a lot of information was given. And Father, you know my heart. It's really a hard message to preach because I don't like to feel like i'm judgmental or coming down hard on some other people and other religions but lord what i see in the in the roman catholic church and what they teach is just not true it's it's not based on the bible and and the the the history of it where the the teachings come from and lord i know that there are a number of people in our church that have come out of roman catholicism you've saved them from that and i praise you father for that And they've come to see the light and to see, Father, that the teachings of the church were not biblical. But Lord, I know that there are many other people, people that I know and people that I love who are still caught in that. And I do pray for them that you would open their eyes to the truth, that they might come out of that, and that, Father, that they might embrace Jesus Christ as their Savior, not be trusting in the church for their salvation. Father, I praise you, Father, that we can know today for certain that we have eternal life. We can know that our sins are forgiven, that, Father, we don't need to pray, we don't need to confess to a priest in order to be absolved of our sin. We can go directly to you. We can come before the very throne of grace to find mercy and grace to help us in time of need. And Father God, we have a once for all sacrifice for our sins by Jesus Christ. He doesn't need to be offered over and over and over and over again, any bloodless sacrifice, but his body was offered once and his blood was shed once forever for the forgiveness of our sins. Thank you, Father, for all that you've done for us. Lord, we look forward to what you're going to do in our lives. And Father, I pray that you would use us to spread your good news to others, to share your love, and to share the gospel. Because Father, we know ultimately only Jesus can save. And Father, I pray that indeed we would share that news with the people that we come in contact with. Thank you, Lord, again for the privilege to open your word today. Pray that your spirit will take it and use it in our lives. We pray these things in Jesus' precious, most wonderful name. Amen.