Today's message is entitled,
Babel, the Cursed Religion, and I want to be reading out of Genesis
chapter 10 and then some out of Genesis chapter 11. So I want
to begin reading in Genesis chapter 10 beginning in verse 6. It says,
the son of Ham, Cush, Mizraim, Put, and Canaan. Now, Ham was
one of the sons of Noah, and God put a curse upon that man. He said, and the sons of Cush
were Saba, Hevlah, Sabat, and Ramah, Sebkoth, and the son of
Ramah, Sheba, and Dedan. And Cush beget Nimrod, and he
began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter
before the Lord, or that should be read, he was a mighty hunter
against the Lord. Wherefore, it is said, even as
Nimrod, the mighty hunter, against the Lord. And the beginning of
his kingdom was Babel. Now turn over to chapter 11.
Let's read in verse 1 through 9. And the whole earth was of
one language and of one speech. 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. And they said one to another,
go to, let us make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they
had brick for stone and slime they had for mortar. And they
said, go to, let us build a city and a tower whose top may reach
into heaven. And let us make a name, lest
we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. And
the Lord came down to see the city and the tower with the children
of men built it. 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. Go to, let us go down, and they
confounded their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad
from thence upon the face of all the earth, and they left
off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called
Babel, because the Lord did confound the language of all the earth.
And from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the
face of the whole earth." Most people when they come to Chapters
like this chapter 10 and chapter 11 of Genesis and most of the
time they just skip over them or if they just skip over them
they just read it very hurriedly because I understand that these
these names are very hard to pronounce and it just seems like
whether there's nothing here and there's It's just filling
up space, but it's not God had a purpose in Recording this about
this man named cush who had a son named Nimrod and what he did
And we see this, that this we have here, we have the first
recorded instance of organized rebellion against God. And this
is displayed in their organized religion. God told Noah and his
sons to go forth and replenish the earth. But instead in doing
what God commanded, they wanted to stay in one area. One of Noah's
sons was cursed, as I've already mentioned, by God, and his name
was Ham. Ham had a son named Cush, and Cush had a man, a son
named Nimrod. That's who he's talking about
here. So let's first look at the man, Nimrod. His name means
rebel. He rebelled against authority
of God. He said, I will do my own thing, and I'll do something
new. I'm not going to do what Noah
told His son, Ham, and then Ham told Cush, he said, I'm just
not gonna do that. And in doing that, he rebelled
against his father, he rebelled against his father, and he rebelled
against God. But it says here, back in chapter
10, that he was a mighty man. Now this is the same thing when
it's mentioned in Genesis chapter six, how it was before the flood.
When it said they were mighty men, which were men of old, men
of renowned. They were mighty in the world's
eyes. Now today we see people and we look at them and they
seem like they're mighty in authority, mighty in strength and power
and might. And that's what this saying here,
he was a mighty man, he was an exalted man. People were looking
to Nimrod and that's what he wanted. But Nimrod brought all
these people together and came up with this scheme to make a
name for not only himself, but for themselves. And for man to
be able to convince people of that, that's a pretty mighty
man. And that's what he did. And this is what all this is
about. It says he was a great hunter. Now he was not a hunter
of animals. Now he maybe could have been,
but that was not his main object. His main object, he was a hunter
of men. Nimrod was a mighty hunter, as
I said, or against the Lord. His whole life, his whole objective
was against God. He was a rebel. He pursued his
own ambitions, his own designs, in open defiance against Almighty
God. That's what Nimrod did. He is
in essence saying, I am God and I ought to be worshipped as God.
Men love to have the attention. Do we still see this today? Men
like to be mighty men. Why? They want people to look
up to them. They want people to respect them.
And they want people to listen to what they say. Nimrod was not just a powerful
man on the earth at that time. He was a ruthless leader of men. Having hunted men, he would enslave
them and have a ruthless hold upon them. That's what this man
did. How did he control these people?
How did he manipulate them? He was ruthless. Ruthless. And this was done in direct opposition
to God. God never instructed him to build
this tower. God never instructed him to build
this city. He took it upon himself. He was
ruthless. He would use brute force to bring
men under subjection under his will, and we see that today.
We'll force them to do what we want. He was a mighty ruler. It says he had a kingdom, and
his kingdom was Babel. Nimrod instituted here this new
idolatrous worship. He said, what image, what idol?
He worshiped himself. Idolatry. From this point on,
now you'll see it all the way through the scriptures. It speaks
of Babel, Babylon, come through into the book of Revelation.
Where did this begin? It all began right here. go back
to its source, go back to its foundation, and we find it out
right here what this spirit of Babel is. It's a spirit of rebellion. It's in opposition to God. Nimrod,
his aspiring mind, he couldn't just rest here. He was resolved
to tower above his neighbors, not only to be imminent among
them, but to be Lord over them. He wanted people not only to
just look to him and admire him, he wanted people to worship him. Listen. In 2 Peter 2, verse 1,
we see this same spirit of Nimrod. But as there were false prophets
also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers
among you, who privilege and bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves
swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious
ways. by reason of whom the way of
truth will be evil spoken of. And through covetousness, which
is idolatry, shall they with feigned words, impressive words,
telling people what they want to hear, they would make merchandise
of you. They use people to get rich.
Now, does this not sound familiar? Anybody that sees anything that's
going on in religion today can see exactly this is what was
going on here is what's going on now. They use men to line
their pockets. Isn't that what religion does?
And men love to have it so. And they tell people what they
want to hear. Tell them exactly what they want to hear. That's
how they deceive them. And this is what was going on
with Nimrod. God had commanded them to go
into all the world and to replenish the earth. And that would have
meant separation from each other. And they imagined that by binding
themselves together, they would be able to organize themselves
and become strong enough to overthrow God. That's what's going on here. Nimrod 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 whom or how many he
had to kill, he's going to do his will. He's not interested
in men. He's interested in himself. And
people, men today, false prophets today, they're not interested
in sinners. All the reason they're interested in them is to line
their pockets. to make themselves well known, to build a name for
themselves. The sheer power of Nimrod's wealth, his influence,
his following, and his terror caused the whole world except
for God's chosen elect remnant to follow him and to unite with
him. Everybody followed this man,
this man. And the name of God and the worship
of God was rejected. Why? He said, we're going to
worship ourself. And this is the first record
we have in the scriptures where men organized together in an
organized rebellion against God. And they worked together in it.
So we see the man Nimrod. Now we see the city or the empire
that this man Nimrod built. Its name was Babel. Originally
it means the gate of God. Nimrod was determined to worship
God on his own terms, not God's terms. We see this in the book
of Colossians where it talks about this is what, this is will
worship. This is how we're going to do
it. We're going to worship man's free will. This is what we're
going to do. In building this city, they thought
that they would save themselves from the wrath and judgment of
God. That's what they thought. They thought by their efforts,
by their scheming, and by their planning, and by their working
together, we can protect ourselves against God's judgment. But all
they built was a refuge of lies. Now, this city had, if you go
back and read and study about the old cities like Nineveh,
they had massive walls around those cities. And on top of those
walls, they had all these high towers. Why did they do that?
It was impressive. And they did those things to
protect themselves from other people. And why did these people
build this city? And why do people wrap themselves
up in religion today? They think they've saved themselves
from the wrath of God. But all they build is a refuge
of lies. A refuge of lies is any refuge
where men try to secure themselves from the wrath of God and they
convince themselves that they've accomplished it. We're not afraid
to die. But this city, this refuge, was
built by rebels. Everybody in it, everybody that
had anything to do with it, rebelled with Nimrod. And they said, this
is what we're going to do. And they set out to do it. This
city was built upon man's wisdom. They said, we believe that this
is right and this will work. They had no revelation from God.
God never told them to sit down here and build this city. God
never told them. They had no direction from God.
And they discovered a new way of doing things. Man today, he
wants something new. He says, well, let's try something
new. What's old just won't work. What did they do? It said in
chapter 11, Verse three, and they said one
to another, go to let us make brick and burn them thoroughly
that they had bricks for stone and slime they had for mortar.
Oh, we can make these bricks. We can make our own stones. We
can make this firm and solid. Listen, these bricks represent
their self-righteous works and they are held together by the
slime or the mortar of man's free will. That's what they say
holds it all together. And we're going to build us a
tower. They are building a city or a church house with man-made
materials for the honor of man, and they called it the gate of
God. Don't you see? They did all this
in the name of God. They did all this saying that
they were worshiping God, but it's all man's efforts, man's
works, man's material. It was the most splendid city
and the most impressive temple in the world that they'd ever
seen. But God held it in contempt. This is where we are today. All
false religion, 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's why men are religious.
They're trying to save themselves. But notice how many times it
says, let us, let us, let us. Ham must have understood that
the curse that God pronounced upon them meant that they must
be dispersed throughout the whole world. But they said, no, we
won't do it that way. We're going to stay right here
and do what we want. We're going to protect ourselves.
We're going to protect our rights. We're going to do our own thing.
But what they did? was cursed by God. He wasn't blessed, he was cursed.
False religion has always been God's curse upon men and women
who refuse to worship God and Him alone. The worst curse God
can send upon any community is to leave them to their own self.
And you know what they're going to do? They're going to build
them a tower. They're going to build them a wall, a refuge of
lies. All religion is man-centered, flesh-pleasing, and it's a religion,
it is a religion of works. Look at what's going on today
in religion today. Now when I say religion, what
do I mean? That is anything that is being
done in the name of God, whatever it is, and they say that they're
doing it for God's honor and for God's glory. That's religion. I don't care what brand it is,
what name it goes under, and there's, it's not telling how
many names there are just for Baptists. There's Baptist, Southern
Baptist, Free Will Baptist, just go on and on. You've got Methodists,
Catholics, Mormons. I mean, we could go on, and all
this is under the heading of religion. But all the time, what is going
on here, what went on here and what is going on today is nothing
but man worshiping himself. I don't care what they call it.
It's worse. They have no basis or authority
for anything they say or do from God's word. Ask them. They do
things and there's no scripture whatsoever to confirm what they're
doing. But they say, it sounds right, so let's do it. This is
just man's wisdom, his own invention. It's our new thing. They say
we think it'll work. Listen, it's all just superstitious,
ritualism, free willism, worshipping man's will. I don't care what
name it goes under. I'll give you just a few instances.
And I challenge you to find it in the Word of God where it was
ever done or they ever did or God ever commanded it to be done.
Altar calls. Why do people have altar calls?
Why do people feel like they have to go to the front of a
church? And they say they get saved or rededicated or whatever
it is. It's superstition. Find it in the Word of God. When
Peter stood on the day of Pentecost, he preached to those people.
He never said, can I get somebody to make Jesus their Lord? He
said, God made him Lord. They were pricked in their hearts.
He never invited them to the front of no temple. Deacon boards. gimmicks to try to get people
to come or to try to get them to stay. We've got to have ball
teams. We've got to have gimmicks. We've
got to put on plays. We've got to put on puppet shows.
We've got to put on films. We've got to have a contemporary
service and a regular service. Why? Why? Show me that in the
Word of God. It's just superstition. This
is what Babel is. It's confusion. It's rebellion. rummage, bake sales, car washes. It's just a bunch of garb, stained
glass windows, steeples, crosses and robes and we could go on
and on and on. That's all it is. It's just show. You can't find this anywhere
in God's Word, so why do it? I remember a preacher, he was
a pastor in the church one time. They were, the members wanted
to try to get the church to grow. They wanted to try some new thing.
And they said, well, we need to do something for the youth.
He said, it's not, no, we're in the word of God. God commanded
the preaching of the gospel to the old and to the young, one
message. And they said, well, we know
it's not in the scriptures, but we think it'll work. That's the
mentality of people today. Why would anybody want to do
something that God didn't command? And if God didn't command it,
it's rebellion. Most people have no idea what
God's word says. I tell you, you better be finding
out what God's word says. Don't take my word or anybody's
word for it. Search the scriptures. If you can't find it in the word
of God, why do it? Ask him. They say, we thank you
to work. Everything they do in the name
of God is not done for God or for his honor and for his glory.
It's done to impress and build up the flesh so this group can
look bigger than that flesh. So this group can look bigger
than that group. All to make a name for themselves. If anybody
ever finds out that you attend church somewhere, here's the
first question that they ask you. How many do you have come
into your church? What does that matter? Most people
have them aboard up in the front of the church and they're going
to tell you how many they had in Sunday school, how many they had in
preaching, what they give, how many came last year, the most
they've had in Sunday school. What does that matter? None of
that matters. Everybody is trying to outdo
somebody else and they do it all in organized religion. God ordained a local church.
God works through his local church. That's how God saves sinners
is through the preaching of the gospel, through his servants,
and through his church, not some organized religion. But like
what Nimrod did, it was all cursed. And everything that goes on in
religion today is cursed by God. Everybody, anything that's cursed,
and it brings a curse upon a nation and upon a community. Oh yeah,
they're busy. They're busy trying to build
their church. Listen, here's what our Lord said. Matthew 23,
15. Woe unto you scribes and Pharisee.
They were the religious, the bunch in his day, the organized
religious group. He called them hypocrites. He
said, for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte. He
said, you'll go across land, you'll go miles, you'll even
across oceans to make one proselyte, one convert to your religion.
And he said, when you've made him, you have made him twofold
more the child of hell than yourself. That's what God called it. You
say, well, preacher, how do you know that that's what this scripture
means? You always compare scripture with scripture. You always interpret
scripture in light of another scripture. That's what it means.
It doesn't contradict itself. That's why most people don't
understand. They don't know what the book says. Listen. In Revelation, the book of Revelation,
the last book of the Bible, And most people don't read the book
of Revelation. They say, I can't understand it. It is a revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But here we find out again where
it speaks about Babylon, or Babel, which was later changed to Babylon,
which was a city. Now listen. And upon her forehead
was a name written, Mystery Babylon the Great. Now listen to this.
The mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth. Who
is this Mystery Babylon? It began here in Genesis. It's
organized religion. And it's organized against who?
Everybody that believes and trusts in the true God. They're against
them. It's the seed of the woman against
the seed of the serpent. It's Cain against Abel. That's
where it's at. Everybody is described in God's
Word under one or two women. His church, which is pictured
as a chaste virgin, or the false church, which is pictured as
a harlot. And everybody knows what a harlot
is. It says Babylon the Great, the mother of all harlots. I know some would say, oh, that's
talking about just the Church of Rome. It's just one of them. There's no different than a Baptist
preacher trying to get somebody to the front of a church than
the Catholic church trying to get somebody to go in a confessional
booth and confess their sins. There's no difference. No difference. I don't care what they say. This
is what this church produces, a bunch of harlots. Now, you know what a harlot is?
Before I came down here to do this message, I saw on TV in
Huntington, West Virginia, where they were cracking down on harlots.
They walk the street. They paint their eyes. They wear
something that's flattering to the flesh. They want people to
look at her, to be attracted to her, and that's the same thing
religion does. It plays on men's emotions. It plays on their lust. Listen, in Proverbs, and I challenge
you to go and read Proverbs chapter 7, read the whole chapter, and
then read Proverbs chapter 30. Proverbs chapter 7 talks of a
whorish woman. It says, with her much fair speech,
she called him to yield. And with the flattering of her
lips, she forced him. Did you see that? With the flattering
of her lips, she told him exactly what he wanted to hear. He goeth
after her straightway. as the ox goeth to the slaughter. She leads it just like a dumb
ox to be slaughtered, or is a fool to the correction of the stocks.
What Nimrod wanted was worldwide acceptance and dominion. Idolatry
is not the gradual decline from truth by well-meaning but unenlightened
men. It began at Babel, an intentional
rebellion. Nimrod and the people of Babel
refused and despised God's sovereignty. Why do men hate God's sovereignty?
Because God's God. Man's not God. God is God. God does what He wills, with
whom He wills, when He wills, as He wills. How can He do it?
He's God. People say, well, I don't like
it. It doesn't matter whether you like it or not. He's God. Now you can go keep
playing religion and worshiping your God who's not sovereign.
He's only God because you let him be God. They intended to
build a tower to heaven by the works of their own hands with
no regard, with no regard whatsoever for God's glory. They're not
interested in God's glory. They're interested in their glory.
So what did God do to this city? In Revelation chapter 14 verse
8 it says, And there followed another angel, saying, Babylon
is falling, is falling, is falling, that great city, because she
made all nations drunk with the wine of the wrath of her fornication. If you'll read Revelation chapter
17, 18, and 19, you'll see that John describes the judgment of
all false religion here represented by Babylon. God came down and
confounded their language and brought their religion to confusion. Everybody spoke the same language.
But God came down and now everybody speaks different language. And
this guy says, bring me a brick. And this guy says, what did you
say? They don't understand. It's confusion. God confused
them. God came down. God stopped their
little plan. And he did. He didn't ask their
permission. He did it. All religions come from the same
source. Whatever false religion gains popularity and acceptance,
moral corruption follows. It doesn't change society, it
makes it more corrupt. Look at our nation. Look at our
nation. It's telling how much more corrupt
it is than when I was just a little boy. Why is it so bad today? We got churches and religion
on every hand. Don't blame the government. I
blame churches that won't preach God's word. Say, well, if I preached
that right there, everybody would leave. That's the problem. They're
afraid. Look at our religious nation. Third world countries
look at our nation and they laugh. They left off to build the city. Those who go their own way will
always end in frustration. There's no real peace except
in the way of the Lord's direction and leading. How many men could
testify that the things they grasped at became a bubble in
their hands, and the fruit they sought turned into ashes in their
mouth? God has many ways to make bitter
the things for which men give their lives, and he must also
do it. He'll always do it when something
is prized more than him. My prayer for you is that God
would make your religion better. Get into God's word and ask God
to reveal to you the truth and the truth will set you free. Amen.