Sermon #1414 Miscellaneous Sermons

Title: BabeL

The Religion of the Cursed

Text: Genesis 10:6-10 and 11:1-9

Subject: Nimrod and the Tower of Babel

Date: Sunday Morning – August 6, 2000

Tape # V-94b

Reading: Revelation 12: 1-17 and 17:1-18:4

Introduction:

In this age of superstition and spiritual ignorance, it is fairly easy to convince educated fools that when we die we float around in the air looking for a new body to inhabit and come back in some animal form, or as another person. It is not difficult to persuade well read, well educated people that there are highly intelligent little green men from Mars or Pluto flying in and out of the earth’s atmosphere in UFOs looking for friendly faces with whom to communicate.

Yet, it is next to impossible to persuade men of the most self-evident, undeniable facts revealed in Scripture. Among the many things which men choose not to believe because they wish not to believe is the fact that Satan is real, that his influence is real, and that his most cunning, powerful, deceptive influence has always been in the area of religious deception. This is a fact men and women ignore to the peril of their souls and to the peril of the souls under their influence.

Satan is today what he has been throughout the history of this world. He is the avowed enemy of God, the enemy of Christ, the enemy of the gospel, and the enemy of our souls. In his pride, the fiend of hell longs for the place of God. He longs to sit upon the throne of total sovereignty. Because God has from eternity given that place to his Son and to chosen sinners in his Son, Appollyon has been bent upon the destruction of Christ and his people from the beginning. The red dragon of hell is determined to destroy Christ and the woman of his choice, his bride, the church.

· No other explanation can be given for the serpent’s attack upon Adam and Eve in the garden, except the serpent’s hatred of God and his people.

· We see this in Genesis 3:15 -- "And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

· We see Satan’s rage in Cain’s murder of his brother, Abel. Cain murdered his brother for only one reason. Abel confessed that the only way a sinner could approach God is by the blood and righteousness of the Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. – Abel was the first disciple of Christ persecuted and murdered for righteousness’ (the righteousness of Christ) sake.

· It was Satan’s hellish influence that swelled Ham’s heart with pride and hypocrisy, causing him to despise his father Noah and gleefully expose his father’s sin.

Satan’s master plan by which he seeks to dominate the world, by which he strives to destroy the souls of men, by which he toils night and day to do what he knows he cannot do (topple the throne of the Almighty and destroy the people of his love), is deception, hellish religious deception.

Satan is the master of deception. The prince of darkness is the great imitator. It is not now and never has been his aim to destroy the souls of men by drugs, alcohol, pornography, adultery, fornication, abortion and murder. By these things men and women destroy their lives and the lives of others. Satan’s devices are far more crafty. He seeks to destroy the souls of men by religion and righteousness.

· He cannot destroy the Christ of God. – So he raises up false—christs, antichrists.

· He cannot keep sinners from Christ by making them ever so wicked. – So he transforms himself into an angel of light and sends preachers from hell to teach sinners how to make themselves righteous (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

(2 Corinthians 11:13-15) "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. {14} And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. {15} Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works."

· He cannot destroy the church and kingdom of God, the woman of Christ’s choice, his virgin bride (made holy, unblameable, and unreproveable by his grace and righteousness). – So the destroyer has, from the beginning, raised up and maintained a religion to rival the worship of God, a woman to rival and seek to destroy the church of God.

This rival religion, this rival woman, by whom the prince of darkness rules over the minds of men and women throughout the world is referred to throughout the Scriptures as Babylon, the great whore, the mother of all harlot religion (Pro. 7:1-27; Rev. 16-18).

· The wine of this old, old whore’s fornication, by which she keeps the heads and hearts of men in the spin of a drunken stupor is self-righteous, freewill, works religion.

· We are warned and commanded of God to come out of and have nothing to do with the blasphemous, soul-damning charms of Arminian, freewill, works religion.

· (Proverbs 6:23-26) "For the commandment is a lamp; and the law is light; and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: {24} To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. {25} Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids. {26} For by means of a whorish woman a man is brought to a piece of bread: and the adulteress will hunt for the precious life."

· (Isaiah 48:20) "Go ye forth of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, with a voice of singing declare ye, tell this, utter it even to the end of the earth; say ye, The LORD hath redeemed his servant Jacob."

· (Isaiah 52:11) "Depart ye, depart ye, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing; go ye out of the midst of her; be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the LORD."

· (Jeremiah 50:8) "Remove out of the midst of Babylon, and go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, and be as the he goats before the flocks."

· (Jeremiah 51:6) "Flee out of the midst of Babylon, and deliver every man his soul: be not cut off in her iniquity; for this is the time of the LORD'S vengeance; he will render unto her a recompense."

· (Jeremiah 51:45) "My people, go ye out of the midst of her, and deliver ye every man his soul from the fierce anger of the LORD."

· (2 Corinthians 6:14-18) "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? {15} And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? {16} And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. {17} Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, {18} And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

· (2 Corinthians 7:1) "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

· (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."

Proposition: The religion of Babylon, Arminian, freewill, works religion, is the religion of the damned. – The religion of this world began as an organized religious system way back in Genesis 10 and 11, during the days of Nimrod and the building of the tower of Babel.

I hope I have said enough to make you sit up and pay attention. And I pray that God the Holy Spirit will give me your attention and speak to your hearts through these lips of clay as I endeavor now to show you these things from Genesis 10:6-10 and 11:1-9.

· (Genesis 10:6-10) "And the sons of Ham; Cush, and Mizraim, and Phut, and Canaan. {7} And the sons of Cush; Seba, and Havilah, and Sabtah, and Raamah, and Sabtechah: and the sons of Raamah; Sheba, and Dedan. {8} And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. {9} He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. {10} And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."

· (Genesis 11:1-9) "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. {2} And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. {3} And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. {4} And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. {5} And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. {6} And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. {7} Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. {8} So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. {9} Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

The story of Nimrod and the great tower of Babel was very prominent in medieval folklore. Regretfully, most of what people think about Nimrod, Babel, and the great tower of Babel arise, not from the account given by divine inspiration, but from medieval folklore. The myths and legends of dark ages still linger. We are told by many, based only on these myths and legends, that the walls of Babel were nine miles high.

Men and women commonly pass over the account given in Scripture with little notice and learn nothing from it, simply because they mistakenly picture a huge tower reaching upward toward heaven, so high that men hoped to walk into heaven by climbing a brick tower. How easily Satan blinds us to the warnings and teachings of Holy Scripture. The city of Babel (Babylon) was built by cursed Ham’s grandson, Nimrod, in rebellion against God, as a fortress to protect unbelieving rebels from the wrath and judgment of God. The religion of Babel is the religion of the cursed, the damned, the reprobate.

Let me wrap this message up by showing you what that religion is. I have already stated that it is all Arminian, freewill, works religion. Now, I want you to see this in the text before us. Here are five things I want you to see.

I. The man who built this city was Nimrod, a mighty rebel against God.

· (Genesis 10:8-10) "And Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. {9} He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. {10} And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar."

A. The name “Nimrod” means rebel, and a rebel this man was.

He was the cursed son of a cursed son. Nimrod knew the curse of God upon Ham and Canaan. He knew the reason for the curse. He knew what Ham had done to Noah. But being the proud man he was, Nimrod dared sit himself up as the judge of God’s judgment.

B. Nimrod was a mighty rebel.

He was a hunter, but not just a hunter of game. This man was a bloodthirsty man. He wanted all men to be put in subjection to him. And he was determined to make it happen, no matter who he had to kill or how many.

God said, “The sons of Ham will serve Japheth and Shem.” Nimrod said, “We’ll see about that,” -- “began to be a mighty one in the earth,” – and took possession of the land of Shinar and all the peoples of the East.

C. Nimrod was a mighty rebel against God.

When we read in verse 9 that “he was a mighty hunter before the Lord,” the word “before” would be better translated “against.”

D. The beginning of this God hating rebel’s empire was Babel.

It had been at least 300 years since the flood. The terror of God’s judgment was forgotten. The people were of one language, doing great, impressive things. Nimrod made himself powerful. The words and counsel of Eber were ignored. The gospel he learned from his grandfather Noah through his godly father Shem, was held in contempt. The worship of God was trampled under foot.

The sheer power of Nimrod’s wealth, influence, following, and terror caused the whole world, except for God’s chosen remnant to follow him and unite with him, in the name of God fighting against God and his people.

II. The city of Babel, which Nimrod built, was more than a place of government. – Babel was a religious refuge.

Today, we all associate the word “Babel” with confusion. That is what the name has come to mean because God turned the place into confusion. But the word “Babel” originally meant something far different. Nimrod named the city Babel because Babel meant “the gate of God.” Nimrod was, in the name of worshipping God, like Cain of old, determined to worship God only on his own terms. In other words, he was in reality worshipping himself and calling it the worship of God!

· (Genesis 11:1-4) "And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. {2} And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. {3} And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. {4} And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth."

It was a refuge of lies, but a refuge in which men tried to secure themselves from the wrath of God and convinced themselves that they had done so.

A. Babel, like all false religion, was built by a confederacy of rebels -- “They said one to another…”

Honest, faithful, believing men do not try to gain the approval or amass the strength of others in worshipping God. They just worship God, obeying his will and his word. Rebels need the reinforcement of other rebels.

B. Babel, like all false religion, was a religious refuge built according to man’s wisdom.

The followers of Nimrod discovered a new way of doing things. They made bricks and mixed mortar (the bricks of their self-righteous works, held together by the serpent-slime of their free will) to build a church house and a city with man-made material, for the honor of man, and called it the gate of God. –It was the most splendid city and the most gorgeous temple the world had ever seen; but God held it in utter contempt; and so did those men and women who worshipped him.

C. Like all false religion, the city and tower of Babel were built by men, for men, to protect them from the judgment of God.

That is the meaning of verse 4. “Go to, LET US BUILD US A CITY AND A TOWER, whose TOP MAY REACH UNTO HEAVEN – LEST WE BE SCATTERED ABROAD upon the face of the whole earth.”

Obviously, the sons of Ham understood that the curse God placed upon them meant the dispersion of their race through all the earth, the destruction of their family. They said, “No sir. We will stay right here and protect ourselves from God’s judgment, by building a house and religion which he will have to approve of, by which the whole world will know our names forever!

The tower reaching to heaven implies no more than a very high, massive wall (Deut. 1:28; 9:1), a fortress.

Hear me, my friend. It matters not what your refuge is, if it is not Christ and him crucified, it is a refuge of lies and will be swept away in the day of God’s wrath (Isa. 28:14-21).

· (Isaiah 28:14-21) "Wherefore hear the word of the LORD, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. {15} Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: {16} Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. {17} Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. {18} And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. {19} From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report. {20} For the bed is shorter than that a man can stretch himself on it: and the covering narrower than that he can wrap himself in it. {21} For the LORD shall rise up as in mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as in the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act."

D. The religion of Babel was exactly the same as the religion of this perverse generation, the religion of the curse.

False religion has always been God’s curse upon men and women who refuse to worship him. All false religion is man centered, flesh pleasing, freewill, works religion, religion by which man makes himself acceptable to God (2 Thess. 2:11-12).

· (2 Thessalonians 2:11-12) "And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: {12} That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness."

1. This was the mark of Cain.

2. This is the mark of the beast.

3. This is the religion of our age.

In ancient Babylon, in the days of Nimrod, in defiance to the God of Noah, men said, "Let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name." That is the creed of all false religion.

The religion of Babylon is any religion which centers in man, depends upon man, and gives man a name of honor. It matters not what name the religion wears, any religion that makes salvation dependent upon something man does, rather than what Christ has done, is the religion of Babylon. Any religion that makes salvation to be determined by the will of man, rather than the will of God, is the religion of Babylon. Let me be unmistakably clear.

Election -- No one can deny that the Bible teaches the doctrine of election. But most say that election is determined by God responding to what he "foresaw" man would do. Others say, "God chose to save whosoever will, and if a man wills to be saved he makes himself one of the elect." In either case, election is dependent on the will of man. That is Babylonian! The Word of God declares that election is by God's sovereign will alone (Eph. 1:3-6; 2 Tim. 1:9).

Redemption -- All religions, which claim to be Christian, profess to believe in redemption by the blood of Christ. But most declare that the blood of Christ was shed to redeem those who perish as well as those who are saved. Such doctrine means that Christ shed his blood in vain for those who perish in hell! And such doctrine declares that it is man who makes the blood of Christ effectual for redemption by the power of his free-will. That is Babylonian! The Word of God declares that Christ has effectually accomplished the redemption of his people (Gal. 3:13; Heb. 9:12).

Regeneration -- Regeneration, the new birth , is declared to be the result of man's choice only by those whose religion is Babylonian. The Word of God plainly declares that man's will has nothing to do with the accomplishment of the new birth. It is the work of God's will and power alone (John 1:12-13; Rom. 9:16).

III. The cause of divine judgment was then as it is now and ever shall be – the wilfull rejection of divine revelation!

· (Genesis 11:5-9) "And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. {6} And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. {7} Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. {8} So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. {9} Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth."

The words at the end of verse 16, (“now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do”), are not a suggestion that God was fearful these men might actually get to heaven by their inventions! These words are a declaration of the basis of divine judgment. – Nimrod and the sons of Ham would not, by any means, be turned away from their delusion.

The more I read these verses, the more frightful God’s judgment here appears. Look what happened whem the Lord God came down to Babel, to visit them with his wrath and vex them with his sore displeasure.

A. He confounded their language so that they could not understand one another.

B. He sealed them up in confusion and reprobation.

God fixed it so that those who would not believe could not believe. The sons of Ham could no longer understand the speech of Shem’s sons. -- The sons of God speak a language the world cannot understand.

C. The Lord God scattered the rebels.

1. He scattered them from place to place over the earth.

2. He scattered them in enmity against one another.

IV. Now, be sure you learn this – Nothing and no one shall ever overturn God’s purpose, destroy his church, or even slightly hinder his purpose.

As Satan and the demons of hell are God’s unwilling and unwitting vassals, so too, the sons of Ham can do nothing but serve God’s elect.

V. The confusion of divine judgment is forever ended in Christ.

A. The Lord God sent confusion in his wrath, to foil the schemes of hell. – But when God pours upon us the Spirit of grace and supplication and turns our hearts to Christ, as he did on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2), the confusion is over.

· (Colossians 3:10-11) "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: {11} Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all."

B. If we would know, worship, and be saved by God, we must come out of Babel – The religion of the cursed.

(2 Corinthians 6:14-18) "Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? {15} And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? {16} And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. {17} Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, {18} And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."

· (2 Corinthians 7:1) "Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

· (Revelation 18:1-4) "And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. {2} And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. {3} For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. {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."