1. Did Jesus Christ speak of false ministers deceiving many in the time of the end? Matthew 24:11. Would they be able to perform signs and wonders? Same verse.

2. Would these false ministers outwardly appear in the guise of "Christianity," but all the while actually be wolves seeking to devour God's people? Matthew 7: 15.

3. Did Jesus say some would call Him "Lord," yet not enter God's Kingdom? Matthew 7:21 Do some actually preach in Christ's name, yet work iniquity? Verses 22-23.

Comment: The word iniquity means "lawlessness." This doctrine of lawlessness is the same as that which Nimrod preached - rebellion against God's government.

4. Did God warn His people not to pollute His name by applying it to pagan worship? Ezekiel 20:39, last part.

5. Who is it that has perpetuated the lies of paganism calling them by the name, "Christianity?" Jeremiah 14:14. Does God promise these lying ministers will be rewarded with captivity, famine and death? Verse 15.

6. The Apostle Paul constantly had to battle the inroads of false teachers who sought to unsettle the Church of God. What was he forced to say to the Thessalonians? 2 Thessalonians 2:1-2. Were some sending epistles -letters that were forged with Paul's own name? Verse 2.

7. Was a mystery system of lawlessness already at work in the time of Paul? 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Would this same system continue down to the coming of Christ? Verse 8. By whose power did this mystery system work? Verse 9.

8. Did Paul warn the Galatians about false ministers preaching a false gospel? Galatians 1:6-9. Were the Galatians in danger of slipping back into the pagan rites they had observed as unconverted Gentiles? Galatians 4:8-11. Were these same pagan days condemned by God in the Old Testament? Leviticus 19:26 and Deuteronomy 18:10-14..

Comment: Paul was writing to Gentiles who wanted to return to observing "days"- holidays of the world.

The Catholic Church "father," Chrysostom, admits that these superstitious times which Paul forbids were practiced by "Christians" in his day, but without the idols as in days of old. He says, "Many were superstitiously addicted to the observance of times, and made divination and conjectures upon them . . . In celebration of these times they set up lamps in the marketplace, and crown their doors with garlands." (Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, pp. 1123, 1124.)

Besides times, the Greeks observed special days in honor of the dead. "The rites took place on the . . . unlucky days accompanied by complete idleness and cessation of business" (Webster's Rest Days, p. 79).

During the months of the year, festivals were held in honor of the Greek gods, Apollo [April, October], Zeus [February, June], Artemas [April], Bacchus [January]. (Encyclopedia Americana, article "Festival.")

Also certain years were set aside quadrennially and biennially during which were national idolatrous feasts and the celebration of the Olympic and Pythian games.

9. Did Paul say these pagan days and seasons they had observed before they knew God had put them in "bondage"? Galatians 4:8-10.

10. Did Paul warn the Church of God in Colossae about false teachers? Colossians 2:4, 8. Were these false ministers teaching the ways - the rudiments and traditions - of the world? Verse 8. Were they teaching the worship of angels? Verse 18. Did they advocate ordinances of asceticism? Verses 20-22.

11. Aren't all these false teachings to perish since they are only the commandments of men? Colossians 2:22.

12. Were the false ministers of Colossae criticizing God's people for keeping His Holy Days? Colossians 2:16. But didn't Paul say no man should judge true Christians for keeping God's days, including the weekly Sabbath? Same verse.

Comment: Colossians 2:14-16 is a clear proof that Christians today should keep God's Holy Days regardless of what men might say. Men are not our Judge. God is!

13. Were men creeping into the true church in the time of Jude -men who were turning the grace of God into "lasciviousness" license to disobey God? Jude 4.

14. Had some in Pergamos accepted the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes? Revelation 2: 15. Were the false ministers of Satan organized into a church or synagogue? Verse 9. Did some in Pergamos adopt the doctrine of Balaam? Verse 14.

Comment: The doctrine of Balaam was a doctrine of compromise with paganism. Read about it in Numbers 25. Notice there how the Israelites compromised by attending the worship service of the Midianites who worshiped Baal-Peor.

15. Did Christians of Thyatira follow this theme of compromise and allow a "woman," whose character was like that of Jezebel, to commit sin in their midst? Revelation 2:20.

16. Who is this modern Jezebel? Isn't the great false church pictured as a woman? Revelation 17: 1-2, 5. Didn't Jezebel have children-more than one? Rev. 2:23. Compare Isa. 47:8-9 with Rev. 18:7-8. These are daughter churches who came out of the great false church but still have the character of their mother!

17. What does God say will befall those who follow the way of Babylon and worship according to this ancient pagan mystery system? Revelation 18:1-8.

18. Who is her Judge? Revelation 18: 8. Will she receive double punishment for her iniquities-the doctrines of lawlessness-she has committed? Verses 5-6.

19. What is God's command to those who have not yet forsaken her pagan ways? Revelation 18:4.

20. Will the apostles who fought her pernicious lies and the prophets who lamented her wicked sins, rejoice when this mother of paganism is destroyed? Revelation 18:20.

Conclusion: Will you be a partaker of God's plagues upon modern Babylon? (Rev. 18:4.) God has put the decision to you, just as He did to Israel in the days of Elijah. "How long are you going to waver between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow Him: but if Baal, then follow him" (I Kings 18:21). The answer is up to you!

1. (Matthew 24:11 NKJV) "Then many false prophets will rise up and deceive many.

2. A Tree and Its Fruit

(Matthew 7:15 NKJV) "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

3. (Matthew 7:21-23 NKJV) "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. {22} "Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' {23} "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!'

4. (Ezekiel 20:39 NKJV) "As for you, O house of Israel," thus says the Lord GOD: "Go, serve every one of you his idols; and hereafter; if you will not obey me; but profane My holy name no more with your gifts and your idols.

5. (Jeremiah 14:14-15 NKJV) And the LORD said to me, "The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. {15} "Therefore thus says the LORD concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, whom I did not send, and who say, 'Sword and famine shall not be in this land'; 'By sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed!

6. The Man of Lawlessness

(2 Thessalonians 2:1-2 NKJV) Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, {2} not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.

7. (2 Thessalonians 2:7-9 NKJV) For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. {8} And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. {9} The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,

8. No Other Gospel

(Galatians 1:6-9 NKJV) I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, {7} which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. {8} But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. {9} As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.

Paul's Concern for the Galatians

(Galatians 4:8-11 NKJV) But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. {9} But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? {10} You observe days and months and seasons and years. {11} I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain.

(Leviticus 19:26 NKJV) 'You shall not eat anything with the blood, nor shall you practice divination or soothsaying.

(Deuteronomy 18:10-14 NKJV) "There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, or one who practices witchcraft, or a soothsayer, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, {11} "or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. {12} "For all who do these things are an abomination to the LORD, and because of these abominations the LORD your God drives them out from before you. {13} "You shall be blameless before the LORD your God.

The Prophet

{14} "For these nations which you will dispossess listened to soothsayers and diviners; but as for you, the LORD your God has not appointed such for you.

9. Paul's Concern for the Galatians

(Galatians 4:8-10 NKJV) But then, indeed, when you did not know God, you served those which by nature are not gods. {9} But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? {10} You observe days and months and seasons and years.

10. (Colossians 2:4 NKJV) Now this I say lest anyone should deceive you with persuasive words.

(Colossians 2:8 NKJV) Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.

(Colossians 2:18 NKJV) Let no one cheat you of your reward, taking delight in false humility and worship of angels, intruding into those things which he has not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,

(Colossians 2:20-22 NKJV) Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations; {21} "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle," {22} which all concern things which perish with the using; according to the commandments and doctrines of men?

11. (Colossians 2:22 NKJV) which all concern things which perish with the using; according to the commandments and doctrines of men?

12.(Colossians 2:14-16 NKJV) having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. {15} Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it. {16} So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,

13. (Jude 1:4 NKJV) For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

14. (Revelation 2:9-15 NKJV) "I know your works, tribulation, and poverty (but you are rich); and I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. {10} "Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. {11} "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death."'

To the Church in Pergamum

{12} "And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write, 'These things says He who has the sharp two-edged sword: {13} "I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. And you hold fast to My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days in which Antipas was My faithful martyr, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells. {14} "But I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality. {15} "Thus you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.

15. (Revelation 2:20 NKJV) "Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.

16. The Woman on the Beast

(Revelation 17:1-2 NKJV) Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, {2} "with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

(Revelation 17:5 NKJV) And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

(Revelation 2:23 NKJV) "I will kill her children with death, and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts. And I will give to each one of you according to your works.

(Isaiah 47:8-9 NKJV) "Therefore hear this now, you who are given to pleasures, Who dwell securely, Who say in your heart, 'I am, and there is no one else besides me; I shall not sit as a widow, Nor shall I know the loss of children'; {9} But these two things shall come to you In a moment, in one day: The loss of children, and widowhood. They shall come upon you in their fullness Because of the multitude of your sorceries, For the great abundance of your enchantments.

(Revelation 18:7-8 NKJV) "In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.' {8} "Therefore her plagues will come in one day; death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

17 & 18 & 19. The Fall of Babylon

(Revelation 18:1-8 NKJV) After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illuminated with his glory. {2} And he cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! {3} "For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury." {4} And I heard another voice from heaven saying, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. {5} "For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. {6} "Render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. {7} "In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, 'I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.' {8} "Therefore her plagues will come in one day; death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.

20. (Revelation 18:20 NKJV) "Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!"

(1 Kings 18:21 NKJV) And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.