AWESTRUCK

   During the lifetime of Jesus, the Roman Empire occupied Israel and the Israelites were slaves to Caesar. 
   During the lifetime of Jesus, the Lord never addressed the issue of Rome, for Rome was not the centerpiece of His message, nor of His mission; therefore, Jesus never talked about the horror story that abided in Rome.  Jesus never made Rome's corrupted politics and religion one of His major talking points.  About the most attention Christ made to Rome was when He said:  Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.  (Mark 12: 17)
   Jesus was not awestruck by Rome.  Jesus was not impressed at Rome's pride, pomp, and luxurious splendor, nor of Rome's enslavement of people. 
   Jesus did not arrive in Israel to deliver people from the power of Rome; instead, Jesus came to earth to deliver people from the clutches of Satan. 
   As it is written, He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.  For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.  (I John 3: 8) 
  For it was not Rome that had power over people; rather, it was the devil, working through the minds of the Romans, that had power over people; and Caesar was simply a pawn in the hands of Satan. Thus, instead of fearing God, people feared Caesar.  And because Caesar had the minds of people, he also had their will:  because people were awestruck by Rome and by Caesar. 
   Today, people throughout the world are awestruck by Rome just as they were awestruck 2000 years ago.  The news organizations of the world have the attention of people on Rome through the media of television, newspapers, magazines, and radio.  These organizations are not focused on Rome to see what Rome will say about Christ, but rather that people will see and hear the new Caesar!  And just as the devil was the unseen power of Rome 2000 years ago, the same devil has the unseen power in Rome today. 
   In the future, Rome will fall; and when she falls, people will again be awestruck.
   How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her:  for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow.  And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city!  for in one hour is thy judgment come.  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!  (Revelation 18: 8, 9, 10, 16-18)
   And on this day that we call Easter Sunday, let us therefore be awestruck by the resurrection of Jesus Christ!
  
  

THE LOVE OF GOD

   Jesus brought the love of God to earth
      to reveal to us what we can be
   with the love of God in us.

   Religion is the absence of Christ
      which also means
   that religion is the absence
      of the love of God.
  
   Religion is the place where people are led to believe that they are in a tower that can reach heaven---and by-pass Almighty God.
   At the tower of Babel in ancient Babylon, Nimrod and his people were building such a tower, and this system in Babylon was transported by people and delivered to nations all over the world, so that---up to this very day---people still gather in towers, believing that they can reach heaven and by-pass Almighty God.  This is the reason people believe there are many ways to heaven because man has created many religions---or towers---that operate the same way as the tower of Nimrod.
   In ancient Babylon, the ministers of Nimrod were the priests of Baal, who represented Satan.  So it is today:  the ministers of man's religions are the priests of Satan, and they are teaching people that they can get to heaven and by-pass Almighty God.
   And in Jerusalem 2000 years ago, the priests of Satan arose and killed Jesus---believing that if they killed Jesus they would put an end to Emmanuel:  God with us.  They did not know, nor believe, however, that Emmanuel would arise from death.  Neither did they know that more people would come to believe in Chrsit after the Lord's resurrection than before Christ's death on a cross.  This is the reason people of religion have been at war with Christians up to this present day:  because this war is against Christ, which is against the love of God.
   For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.  He that believeth on him is not condemned:  but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  (John 3:  17-18)
   For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.  Then shall ye call upon me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.  (Jeremiah 29: 11)
  
   Jesus brought the love of God to earth
      to reveal to us what we can be
   with the love of God in us.
     

 

A SIMPLE PLEA

   Today, we are living in a world that is under the influence of the religious-political system of ancient Babylon, for it was in Babylon at the tower of Babel where Nimrod established the first organized system of religion and politics:  a system that was totally against God as well as against the people who believed in God.
   Babylon is the womb for all of man's religions because Nimrod planted a seed of corruption that became a tree whose branches of evil have spread all over the world. 
   Thus, we are living in a world with corrupted religions, corrupted governments, human traffiking, prostitution, pedophillia, pornography, drugs, witchcraft, sorcery, voodoo, the worship of the sun, moon, stars, planets, and the worship of things of the earth as idols of wood and stone as well as photographs and portraits, Satanism and Luciferianism, human sacrifices, and with certain religious leaders considered to be gods upon the earth.  For all of these elements of evil existed in ancient Babylon. 
   Yet amid this tidal wave of evil that circles the earth, there remains many, many people who believe in Almighty God and the Lord Jesus Christ!
   As stated before, Jesus did not come to earth to launch a new religion.  He came to redeem us from our sins, which also includes saving us out of the corruption from religion. 
   The Bible tells us that Babylon is:
      THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
   Which is to say that Babylon is the womb for all of man's religions, and man's religions are the same as harlots. 
   Which is why Jesus pleads for us in Revelation 1: 4-5):
      Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.  For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.

A NO-BRAINER

   By reading and studying the Holy Bible, the Lord enables us to clearly see and understand that Jesus did not come to earth to launch a new religion.  He never did that.
   The New Testament of the Holy Bible is all about Jesus.  The New Testament is not about the Roman Empire, the Catholic Church of Rome, Protestantism, Mormonism, nor any other ism known to man. 
  As the New Testament makes clear, Jesus is above all principalities, kingdoms, religions, and governments of man.  Jesus is a Prophet, Priest, and King.  Jesus is Almighty God and the Creator of the universe.  Why, then, would Jesus need a human principality, a human kingdom, a human government, or a human religion?  As far away and above man that Jesus is, He still remains only a breath away. 
   Knowing this, we can also believe that Jesus is not Catholic, nor is Jesus the founding father of the Catholic Church of Rome. 
   Neither did Jesus appoint Peter to be the first pope of the Catholic Church.  Peter was a Jew, and in the lifetime of Peter, Jews for Jesus were not welcome in Rome, nor in any province of the Roman Empire.  For this matter, neither were Gentiles for Jesus welcome in Rome, nor in any Roman province. 
   Jesus never said that His mother, Mary, would be be the Blessed Virgin, nor the Queen of Heaven and Mother of God. 
   Jesus never said that men can forgive sins. 
   Jesus never instituted infant baptism. 
   Jesus never said that people should pray to the souls of dead people. 
   To believe in God by faith, man must stop believing in man; for if man's faith is in himself, he will also have his faith in other men:  and in the religious systems invented by men.  In so doing, man believes that he is wiser than God, and that he has, in his arrogant way, pulled the wool over the eyes of God.  And with man engrafted to his religion, he believes that he is building his own tower to heaven, just like Nimrod attempted to do at the tower of Babel in Babylon. 
   When God created us, He made in us a brain that is capable of understanding Him.  Knowing God, therefore, is a no-brainer.  But if we use our brains without wanting to know God, what are we doing here?  What are we accomplishing?  And when our days of living are over, what will we say to God?
   Please remember:  heaven belongs to God.  And if we believe we can enter God's heaven without God's permission, we are the same as thieves and robbers, and trespassers on holy ground.  For if people do not want a relationship with God in this life, why would they want to be with God in heaven? 
   In truth, religion is a place of misery.  There is no joy, no excitement, no laughter, no fun.  No wonder people are bored in religion because it has no life.  Religion is like a morgue, or a funeral home, for it is the place for the living dead, and the place where mortitians are preparing people to die. 

BEYOND BABYLON

   The institution of religion began in ancient Babylon under the leadership of Nimrod and his wicked mother, Semiramis, and all of the teachings that were introduced at the tower of Babel have remained religious practices throughout human history, even to this present day. 
   Let us begin with a practice that is common knowledge in the world today, which is infant baptism.
   Infant baptism began in ancient Babylon when the priests of Baal washed babies before presenting them as human sacrifices on the altar of Baal, the sun god, and babies were burned alive.  The people were told that this rite of baptism was for the salvation of the babies and that the babies would go to heaven. 

   Today, people are told that infant baptism is for the salvation of the soul, and if people---even as adults---will submit themselves to baptism by water, their souls will be saved for heaven.  
   If we will honestly consider all of the evidence of ancient Babylon, we will clearly see and understand that the religion of Nimrod never went away, never vanished from the earth; instead, those practices have survived across thousands of years and remain in man's religions today, even within Christianity because of the power of Satan's deception.
   Nimrod hated God and he also hated the people who believed in God.  The Bible describes Nimrod as a "mighty hunter" because Nimrod was a hunter of people.  He hunted people to enslave them in his system:  not only to work for him, but also to convert their minds to his religion.  Nimrod also hunted people to become human sacrifices:  to be burned in the fire at the altar of Baal.
   Nimrod introduced sun worship:  that the sun is the giver of life, but also the father of heaven.  And sun worship exists even today.  When Nimrod died, his mother said Nimrod went to reign with his father, the sun.  When Nimrod's mother gave birth to a baby boy, Tammuz, she also said that Tammuz was resurrected after his death to reign with his father, Nimrod, along with the sun, thereby creating an unholy trinity with father, son, and son of god. 
   When Semiramis died, she became the moon goddess along with the title "mother of god and queen of heaven".  And now with the sun god, her son Tammuz, and herself, another unholy trinity was invented---as Nimrod became virtually forgotten. 
   Centuries later, however, all of the religious elements of ancient Babylon arose again in Rome within a new religion, Roman Catholicism.  But Catholicism was nothing new:  it was a reincarnation of something old from ancient Babylon with a new name and in a new place, for it only appeared to be something new:  just as infant baptism was reintroduced as if it was something new. 
   In ancient Babylon, Satan was given a place in which to hide in the Babylonian religious system, and the priests of Baal, in reality, were the priests of Satan.  Satan wants adults and babies to die, and the priests of Baal killed adults, children, and babies. 

  Thus, the popes of Rome became as Nimrod---hunters of people throughout the provinces of the Roman Empire.  They hunted people to enslave them in Rome's religious system and to convert the minds of people to Roman Catholicism, thereby making people slaves to religion.  As for the people who refused to believe in this Roman way, however, they were considered to be infidels, which meant they must die, just as Nimrod killed people in ancient Babylon. 
   Hiding behind the banner of Christianity, the Catholic Church emerged as an institution for the confusion of nations:  teaching people that they must be Catholic in order to be Christain; teaching infant baptism; teaching that priests can forgive sins; and incorporating witchcraft and sorcery as methods of casting spells on the minds of people.  Thus the Catholic Church, just like Babylon, became a snare in which to trap people and to hold them captive all the days of their lives---until the day they died---without ever knowing the truth of Jesus Christ; for even Jesus became part of the disguise of pagan Catholicism.  And the pope, like Nimrod, became a god-man.
      And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pears, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:  And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
   The blueprint of modern Babylon was written by Nimrod, his mother, and the priests of Baal at the tower of Babel in ancient Babylon, which is Satanism. 
   Today, we are surrounded and engulfed in these Satanic rites and rituals throughout the world.  But because of the grace of God, the Lord gives us a plea:
      Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.  (Revelation 18: 4)

  
  

MAN WITHOUT GOD

   A man without God is a god unto himself. 
   As such, his greatest desire is for himself, and his greatest pleasure is for himself.
   As a god, he wants to be served and not to serve others. 
   He wants attention, he wants praise, and he will do whatever he must do to get both.
   He wants to be noticed first, seated first, served first. 
   He wants to ride in the chariot and not walk on the ground.
   He wants to sit in the big chair, the high chair, the oval office, and on the king's throne.
   He wants maids and butlers to clean his clothes, clean his house, and polish his shoes.
   As a god, it is natural for him to control and dominate others.  He likes that.  He likes being in charge and being in control.  He likes being boss and bossy.  In his own mind, he believes that others should naturally do as he says do.  If he does not like the rules of life or the rules of games, he changes the rules to fit himself because, as a god, he has executive privilege. 
   As a god, he will get angry if he does not get his way, or get what he wants. 
   If you disagree with him, watch out.  He will puff and he will huff, and he will stomp the ground.  Yes, he will!
   As a god unto himself, a man without God does not want God in his life although there is something about religion that a man without God likes because religion is all about man and not about God; and in religion the man can still be god:  for his external behaviour is the same as his internal attitude. 
   A man without God is like a roaring lion, never satisfied; unleashed and untamed.
   Let us not forget that every religious and political empire throughout human history has been the work of a roaring lion:   a man without God. 
      AGAIN there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.  And the LORD said unto Satan, From whence comest thou?  And Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.  (Job 2: 1-2)
  
  

EMMANUEL

   The name Emmanuel means "God with us".
   To believe that Jesus is Emmanuel, we can also believe that God is not out to get us, but rather God is out to be with us. 
   God is not out to crush us, nor to destroy us, but rather to uphold us and lift us out of unbelief. 
   Like Abraham, God wants to be our friend. 
   Jesus came into this world to redeem us with God by the shedding of His own blood. 
   God wants to be part of our daily lives in all of the days we live upon the earth.  God wants to be included in our families, in our homes, as we work and as we play.  He wants to help us to be better children, better parents, better employers and employers, and to help us in our creativity to create things that are good for us. 
   God also wants to prepare us for life beyond the grave and to be with Him in Heaven. 
   Religion, however, is not Emmanuel because religion is the place to hide from the face of God:  while God, on the other hand, wants us to come out of religion and walk with Him.
   Religion is darkness and Christ is Light; therefore, to know Christ, come out of the darkness.
   The life we live now is simply a prelude of eternal life that is to come.   If we accept Christ in this world, we will be with Him in the eternal; but if we reject Him, we will be without Him in the eternal. 
   Please remember:  Jesus did not come into this world to launch a new religion.  He came to be Emmanuel:  God with us.