RESISTING BABYLON AND THE BEAST

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"Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord? Therefore the wrath of the Lord is upon you." 2 Chronicles 19:2
 
New World Order
The first attempt to establish a New World Order was by the people who came to the land of Shinar (present day Iraq) and built the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:2-4). Others have tried since. Revelation 13 describes a beast with many heads and horns. The dragon gave the beast power, a throne and great authority. The beast mouthed blasphemies against God, blaspheming His Name, His Tabernacle and those who dwell in Heaven. The beast made war with the saints and gained authority over "every tribe, tongue and nation." ​

​"All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." Revelation 13:8

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Global Deception
The beast will kill and capture the people of God. There will also be another beast, with a religious function who will also have worldwide authority and "causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast… he deceived those who dwell on the earth…" Revelation 13:11-14. This Scripture makes clear that this devilish power will work to bring about a One World government, a One World religion and a One World economic system. Those who refuse to follow this One World religion will be persecuted and killed (Revelation 13:15).
 
"He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand, or on their foreheads and that no one may buy or sell, except one who the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: his number is 666." Revelation 13:16-18

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Throughout the years there have been many interpretations and applications of these verses. The important thing is for us to see the big picture. The Word of God is warning us of a devilish system that will seek to impose a One World government, a One World religion and a One World economic system. It will be further identified by its blasphemies and hostility towards God and His Name. As well as by its hostility towards believers of the past, those who are in Heaven now.

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Marks of the Beast
We can certainly see that the world is dominated today by many forces working towards a One World government, a One World interfaith religious system and a unified economic system. Hollywood is spewing out a vast amount of blasphemies in a great variety of films. There is also an abundance of films which seek to rearrange reality and rewrite history, by slandering great Christians of the past.

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Sinister Forces
The United Nations is the most visible attempt to create a One World government. Behind it one can discern the manipulations of the Council on Foreign Relations, the Freemasons, the Bilderbergers, the Rothschilds and the Illuminati. Working parallel to the United Nations one can see the World Council of Churches working for a One World religion. The interfaith movement is being promoted aggressively by non-governmental organisations, charity foundations, prominent politicians worldwide and by the WCC.
 
"Do not be deceived: evil company corrupts good character." 1 Corinthians 15:33

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Idolatry Command
​When the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, attempted to achieve world domination and impose an idolatrous religion on all his subjects, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood firm. On the plain of Dura, a massive statue of gold, 90 feet high, was set up and it was commanded that all peoples, nations and languages fall down and worship the golden image set up by Nebuchadnezzar. "And whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast immediately into the midsts of a burning, fiery furnace." 
 
So, we read that: "When all the people heard the sound of the horn, flute, harp and lyre, in symphony with all kinds of music, all the people, nations and languages fell down and worshipped the gold image which King Nebuchadnezzar had set up." Daniel 3:7
 
But Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego stood up straight and would not prostrate themselves before this idol. "Then Nebuchadnezzar, in rage and fury, gave the command to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego… 'is it true… that you do not serve my gods, or worship the gold image which I have set up? ...If you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace and whom is the God who will deliver you from my hand?'" Daniel 3:13-15

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We Will Not Bow
The answer of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego was simple and straightforward: "Our God, whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up!" Daniel 3:17-18
 
The three courageous young men were bound hand and foot and cast into the midst of the fiery furnace. The men who cast them into the flames were incinerated by the intensity of the blaze. Yet, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego walked unharmed in the midst of the flames and Nebuchadnezzar saw a fourth person with them "like the Son of God!" Daniel 3:21-25

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The king ordered them out: "'Servants of the most High God, come out and come here!' And the satraps, administrators, governors and the king's counsellors gathered together and they saw these men on whose bodies the fire had no power; the hair of their head was not singed, nor were their garments affected and the smell of fire was not on them. Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying: 'Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who sent His angel and delivered His servants who trusted in Him and they have frustrated the king's word and yielded their bodies that they should not serve, nor worship, any god except their own God… there is no other God who can deliver like this!'" Daniel 3:26-29

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Roman Edict
Throughout history there have been others who have attempted to impose their political and religious rule on the world. Caesar Nero of Rome commanded everyone in the empire to worship him. They were to place the ashes of the incense they had burned before his image on their forehead before they were allowed to trade in the market places.

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Muhammad's Rule
Muhammad, the founder of Islam attempted to impose his religious and political system on all. Men were not permitted to trade in the market place until they had bowed to Mecca. Many would leave some dust on their forehead to indicate that they had performed their Muslim duty. The Hadith records an incident where Muhammad challenged an old man whether he had bowed in prayer that day. The man bent down picked up some dust and rubbed it on his forehead, by way of a joke, mimicking the practise of so many others in Arabia at that time. Yet the Hadith records that Muhammad did not appreciate his sense of humour and ordered this man to be executed.

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Revolution
During the French Revolution there was an attempt to impose a blasphemous secular humanist religion on all. The Soviet Union also attempted to eradicate all expressions of Christianity. Over 48,000 churches were confiscated, demolished, or destroyed, under the dictatorship of Lenin and Stalin. Tens-of-millions of Christians were slaughtered in the territories controlled by the Soviet Union to consolidate political control and enforce religious conformity to the will of the state.

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Satanic Strategy
All of these are examples of how satan works. From Babel to Babylon, from Rome to the French Revolution and from the Soviet Union to Red China, those who seek to impose a One World government and a One World religion, also seek to control the economy and they pour out blasphemies against God and His people, persecuting those who refuse to bow to their political and religious will. They make war on the saints and attempt to stamp their mark on all that they have power over.

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The Mark
Many people have focussed on how the mark would be placed on the right hand, or on the forehead, perhaps by a tattoo, or more recently, as the technology has become available, by a microchip. These methods may be possible, but the emphasis in the Scripture is on our way of thinking and our actions. We are commanded in the Word of God to bind His Law on our hands and on our foreheads. This surely is speaking about having our way of thinking governed by the Word of God and having our actions governed by the Word of God (Deuteronomy 6:5-8). Many people have the mark of the beast on them, without any tattoo or microchip. When one allows one's way of thinking to be conformed to the world and one's actions to be in conformity to what satan wants, then we have the mark.
 
"You shall not follow a crowd to do evil." Exodus 23:2

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Resisting Indoctrination
During a Mission to Albania, I encountered an example of how resilient believers resisted the beast. When I was working in Durres, each day I would walk down the hill, past the coliseum where Titus was martyred. A kind Albanian man would greet me each day with an ice-cream. One day I asked him why he was giving me an ice-cream. He said: "You are from South Africa; you have a very good country!"
 
The next day I asked him why he thought that South Africans had a great country and he said: "Because our newspapers were filled with articles attacking you year after year." I was a little puzzled, so he explained: "The communists controlled the media in Albania. We were a one-party dictatorship. So, we knew whatever the media said were lies. So, if the communist hated you, God must have a great plan for your land!"
 
I was impressed at his refusal to be brainwashed by propaganda. Whatever the state media told him, he took a 180º position from it and found that to be a very accurate rule of thumb. The truth is the exact opposite of what the communist controlled media said it was!

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We Are Christians!
One day I asked this man how he came to make ice-cream? The man became very animated. He explained: "My father made the best ice-cream in Albania! When the communists took over this country, he called my brothers and I together. He explained: 'This communist scum is going to destroy this country. We must dismantle our machinery and bury it before they come and confiscate it. But before we do, I want you to learn again how to assemble this later when the communists are overthrown.' Then he told us with great intensity: 'Sons, never forget: We are Christians! We are capitalists! We hate communism! And we make the best ice-cream in Albania!'" Here this man was, over 45 years later, honouring his father as a Christian capitalist making the best ice-cream in Albania!
 
"Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in his Law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in season, whose leaf also shall not wither and whatever he does shall prosper." Psalm 1:1-3

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Confronting Compromise and Cowardice
When the communists took over Romania they bullied and intimidated the church leaders to line up and come onto the platform to endorse communism. One after the other, ministers stood up to proclaim that communism was actually Christianity in practise and all Christians should support the Communist Party of Romania.
 
A young Lutheran minister, Richard Wurmbrand, walked up to the podium and quoted this passage of Scripture from 2 Corinthians 6:14-18: "Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? What part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the Temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the Living God. As God has said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be My people. Therefore come out from among them and be separate', says the Lord, 'Do not touch what is unclean and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you and you shall be My sons and daughters', says the Lord Almighty." 

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Richard Wurmbrand reported that he ended up in jail very quickly after that. Then he added, all the other ministers who had compromised and lied and twisted the Scriptures in order to please their communist masters ended up in the same prison cells, just a little bit later. However, Richard Wurmbrand observed, the difference was that he was there with a clear conscience. Their consciences were tortured by their cowardice and compromise.
 
"Therefore do not be partakers with them." Ephesians 5:7

​Resistance
To resist the New World Order, we need to fear God, refuse to be conformed to the world and have our minds renewed daily by the Word of God. We need to devote our lives to obeying the Cultural Mandate and the Great Commission. As the Apostle Peter declared: "We must obey God rather than men!" (Acts 5:29).
 
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Psalm 111:10

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Daniel's Vision
Daniel had a vision of all the kingdoms of the world: the head of gold, the chest of silver, the stomach of bronze, the legs of iron and the feet of iron and clay. "And in the days of these kings the God of Heaven will set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed; and the Kingdom shall not be left to another people; it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms and shall stand forever." Daniel 2:44
 
Daniel described a stone that smashed into pieces the iron, the clay, the bronze, the silver and the gold and how that stone would grow to become a mountain that would fill the whole earth. The Kingdom of God will destroy and replace all these human attempts to create a New World Order. Those who promote a One World religion and a One World government are doomed to defeat and disgrace. Those who faithfully serve the King of kings and the Lord of lords will be vindicated.
 
"But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain." 1 Corinthians15:57-58
 
Dr. Peter Hammond
Frontline Fellowship
P.O. Box 74 Newlands 7725
Cape Town South Africa
Tel: 021-689-4480
[email protected]
www.FrontlineMissionSA.org

This message was presented to the Christians For Truth Conference at KwaSizabantu Mission, 1 September. An audio CD is available of the presentation, with the translation into Zulu. An all English audio version of this presentation, as delivered to the Reformation Society, is also available from: Christian Liberty Books (CLB), PO Box 358, Howard Place 7450, Cape Town, South Africa, Tel: 021-689-7478, Fax: 086-551-7490, Email: [email protected] and Website: www.christianlibertybooks.co.za.

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