Soul Killers
Let us continue with Revelation 16:3. And the second angel poured out his vial upon the sea; and it became as the blood of a dead man: and every living soul died in the sea. That sea was the one this first beast came up out of (Revelation 13:1). Now here is a vial of judgment that is poured out on the sea. According to our previous studies, this sea is the foundation principles out of which Papalism arose to rule the world.

In Revelation 12:16, when the dragon, symbolizing the Pagan Roman Empire, Christianity's first opposer, was cast down by Christ and the ministry of truth, he was wroth (angry) at the woman, the True Church, and he shot a flood out of his mouth. We have proved to you by the Bible that that which came out of the mouth of the dragon was the false doctrines and all those other heresies which he used to carry away The Church.

My friend, those heresies moved many of the True Church until there was a falling away. Revelation 8:8 shows you a mountain on fire, Mount Zion, falling into the sea and the sea putting out the fire. Out of that very sea rose up this beast, Papalism. Now that sea is made up of these many erroneous doctrines and commandments of men that Rome, in its Papal state, rose up out of. So when this vial is poured on the sea, it is poured on those foundation principles out of which Papalism rose up to rule the world.

When they poured out this vial on the sea, it became as the blood of a dead man. Now what does that mean? Until Truth is poured out, people think Roman Catholicism is all right, that it is "just another faith" and that it has life-giving qualities to it.

My friends, there is NOTHING about ANY of the teachings of Roman Catholicism that can give you life. How much life can you get from the blood of a dead man? This thing is NOT life-giving-it is life-taking! It kills souls!

You will notice back in the 8th chapter of Revelation when the trumpets were blown, that just a third of the sea became blood and only a third part of the creatures died. It had developed by the time these vials were poured out until the whole sea was as the blood of a dead man. Every living soul in it died.

Of what is it a picture? According to the Bible, until every little child comes to the age of accountability, he is alive unto God (Romans 7:9). The very first living souls that are killed by the Roman Catholic Church are little children. They start with them in pre-school age and begin to teach them this doctrine of devils. Little by little, they bring spiritual death upon them and cause them to sin against God.

We Need To Fear Dead Religion
I am going to show you how the devil has deceived us. Now think about this: if a doctor opened up a practice next week in our city and started shooting dead men's blood into your children, you know what would happen. I'm saying, if he took the blood out of a dead man's body, and transfused it into a living person, we all know what would happen. We'd have him out of town and out of practice right quick, wouldn't we? Well, this thing is not killing bodies-it is killing souls, living souls.

My friends, there in NOTHING in this sea, NOTHING in the doctrines of Rome's teachings, that will lead you to Jesus Christ. Catholic teachings will lead you to the pope, the priest, Mary, Joseph, DEAD saints of every name you can imagine, but NOT to Jesus Christ. So when the truth is poured out on this sea, that which looked like it was "just another faith" along with all the other faiths, became as the blood of a dead man. My friends, please let me remind you: there is ONLY ONE DOOR to salvation: Jesus Christ. There is NO OTHER WAY! Remember the essence of our study: God is saying, "Turn My people loose so that they can serve Me!" Why does it say it is as the blood of a dead man? There are no life-giving qualities in it!

In John 6:53, Jesus said, …Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. Then He came right on down in verse 63 and said, …the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. Brothers and Sisters, we "eat" (partake) of His flesh when we "eat" (consume) His Word. We "drink in" of His blood when we "drink in" of His Spirit. The life that was in the blood was His Spirit. He not only shed His blood, but He also laid His life down on Calvary so that you and I can partake of His life through the Spirit of God. Catholicism cannot offer you the Word or the Spirit; it is as the blood of a dead man. Not only can it NOT give you life-it will also corrupt your life just as surely as we are here today.

I want to tell you that people today are NOT afraid ENOUGH of false teachings. It is right where so many get affected. The morning-time Church of God preachers warned their people to stay away from false teachings. When somebody comes to your door, don't let him (or her) in, nobody which route he (or she) chooses to use: the tv, radio, pamphlet, whatever. Don't let him (her) in!

Oh, the "big kick" NOW in this world, ANOTHER FALSE and DANGEROUS teaching is "tolerance" for all beliefs. Never has there been anything more dangerous, more subtle, than this. Let me tell you, there is NO tolerance for lies, perversion, deception, of any kind concerning the Gospel of Jesus Christ! I'm telling you, folks, get your heads out of the sand and your ears and eyes open to what tricks the devil is trying to get you to fall for!! Tolerance for sin? You know how much tolerance God gives sin? If you don't repent of your sin, you will die and go to a sinner's hell-there's tolerance for you! It is NOT God's will that ANY should perish, but He's not going to soften up on sin just because modern-day man thinks He ought to!

We need to give heed to what Paul said: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some. II Timothy 2:15-18.

Paul said that false doctrine would eat on you like a canker. It will eat on your spiritual soul just like a fast-moving cancer until it takes every bit of spiritual life out of you. So when John talked about the sea turning to blood, and of people who had life going down into it, he was telling us what false doctrine will do to our souls.

Fountains Of Waters
Now let's read Revelation 16:4. And the third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and fountains of waters; and they became blood. What are the "rivers and fountains of waters"? He is talking about Protestantism with the many offers that they make mankind for salvation.

Rome offers salvation by her many formal rites and rituals, or ceremonies. In the realms of Protestantism, they offer salvation to man through their many formal rites, too. There are Protestants who honestly believe they are already saved because their mother had them christened when they were seven days old. Where did that come from? Roman Catholicism, right back to the image. There are others who think they are saved because they were sprinkled and took a catechism class. Where did that come from? That is exactly what Rome does.

Rome's dogmas, creeds, and formal rites which she offers man as a way of salvation are called the sea that this beast rose up out of. Protestantism, operating in a smaller degree and more diversified manner, is called the fountains of waters, or the springs. The third angel poured out his vial upon the rivers and foundations of waters.

Jesus likened the water to The Word. He told Nicodemus: …Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:5,6. He was NOT referring to "water baptism" there. If that was the case, then Simon the Sorcerer would have been saved because he was baptized in water, but his heart was not right. He was still in the gall of bitterness. When Jesus told Nicodemus that he must be born of the water AND of the spirit, He was using the water just as it was used in the Old Testament.

God promised through the prophet that He would …sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Ezekiel 36:25-27. The first thing you must be born of is The Word. I Peter 1:23 says that we are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

Paul says the same thing in Ephesians 5:25,26. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. So when we talk about the fountains of waters, we are talking about the multiplied ways of salvation offered by false religion. However, the Bible teaches ONLY ONE way.

The Fountain
The prophet Zechariah prophesied that there would be "a" fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, just one (Zechariah 13:1). Mr. Webster says that a fountain is "a natural or artificial spring of water, the head of a river". There is ONLY ONE fountain for salvation, and there is ONLY ONE river of the pure water of life, JUST ONE. Protestantism, however, offers many fountains, many waters, many rivers, many ways to Heaven, many modes of salvation, but there is ONLY ONE.

Zechariah said, In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness. The fountain was opened when Jesus hung on the cross. When the soldier went by and ran the sword in His side, out flowed blood AND water. The blood cleanses us from ALL sin and the water is the water of life which comes into our lives through the Spirit of God, the application of real salvation. So there is only ONE fountain for sin and for uncleanness.

False religion also purports that there are many waters, but Jesus says there is ONLY ONE. When He met the woman at the well, He said,

If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water. The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water? Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle? Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life. John 4:10-14.

Hallelujah! Never thirst again! Everlasting life! Glory to the LAMB that was slain!

My friends, this is the "water", water that Jesus Christ alone can give. There are not "many" waters; there is ONLY ONE. There are not "many" fountains; there is ONLY ONE. There are not "many" rivers (in the truest sense); there is ONLY ONE. On the last great day of the Feast of the Passover, the priest would always go to the pool at Siloam, get a pitcher full of water, pour it out and quote Isaiah 12:3, Therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.

Now the priest(s) did that year after year, but ONE DAY, Jesus stepped up and said, "If ANY man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." Thank God, that scripture has been fulfilled. Praise God, we never have to go for long stretches of thirsting; we have a Savior, our Redeemer, who is our living water! Jesus said that day, …If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. (But this spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive: for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet glorified.) John 7:37-39.

So the fountains and waters are the many ways that false religion offers salvation to mankind. Well, when this third angel poured out the truth on them, they became blood. When he poured it out on the sea, it became as the blood of a dead man.

Again, it is just as the plagues were back in Egypt. When Moses stretched out his rod upon the fountains and rivers in Egypt, they became blood. Exodus 7:24 tells us, And all the Egyptians digged round about the river for water to drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.

This is a picture of people today, digging around, trying to find something "fit to drink". Brothers and Sisters, you will NEVER find it among the rivers of water that God has laid judgment upon and turned into blood. You will never find "the" water that satisfies the thirsting soul in the realms of Babylon (false religion) and the confusion out there. God has laid judgment on it. When the water was turned to blood, it was not fit to drink. Verse 21 of that same chapter in Exodus tells us that …the river stank…. Babylon today is a stench in the nostrils of God.

Now here again, we see divine retribution. What did God do with Pharaoh? God had Moses get the ashes out of the furnace where Pharaoh had made God's children sweat. No doubt, the Israelites had shed much blood at the end of the Egyptians' whips. Well, the Egyptians were, apparently, "after blood", so God turned their fountains and rivers into blood. False religion has shed the blood of the prophets and killed countless Christians.

The blood of Jesus Christ was shed by false religion. Oh yes, it was! Someone might contend, "Oh, the Roman soldiers killed Him." Yes, but it was at the Jews' insistence. We read in John 19:6 and 7: When the chief priests therefore and officers saw him, they cried out, saying, Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Take ye him, and crucify him: for I find no fault in him. The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. That is just as it is today: many things are not done by the "Law of God"; false religion has many laws unto themselves, with little, if any, regard for the Law of God.

Revelation 16:5,6 says, And I heard the angel of the waters say, Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

God Will Deliver
Let's read Isaiah 49:24-26. Shall the prey be taken from the mighty, or the lawful captive delivered? But thus saith the Lord, Even the captives of the mighty shall be taken away, and the prey of the terrible shall be delivered: for I will contend with him that contendeth with thee, and I will save thy children. And I will feed them that oppress thee with their own flesh; and they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine: and all flesh shall know that I the Lord am thy Saviour and thy Redeemer, the mighty One of Jacob.

The first thing he lets you know is that God will deliver you if you will allow Him to. He can even deliver a lawful captive. A lawful captive is one who has been confined by his own sin. He has been taken captive lawfully; he deserves captivity. God will even set him free. My friends, He will take the prey away from the mighty one. It makes NO difference how strongly Satan and spiritual death, the mighty conquerors of man, may try to hold him, God will deliver him from the mighty if he will allow Him to.

Of those who refuse to let God deliver them, he says that "they shall be drunken with their own blood, as with sweet wine". Sweet wine (new wine) is so mild that it requires a large quantity of it to cause intoxication. It is just as we learned about Jesus; that we partake of His blood when we partake of His Spirit. He is saying here, in prophetic language, that He will cause you to eat your own flesh and drink your own blood. He will cause you to follow your own sayings, your own ideas and get drunk on your OWN SPIRIT. When that happens to you, there is a good possibility that you will never get help.

I have met a lot of people who have become drunk on their own spirit. You can tell them what the Bible says, and they will tell you: "I don't feel it is that way. I feel that man can do this or that and still please God. I just don't believe you have to live as closely as you say you have to live."

We Must Face God
Let's now consider Romans 2:4-9.

…despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance? But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Who will render to every man according to his deeds: To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil…

What are we going to do with these plain Scriptures? Some people do not believe that God plagues people in order to wake them up. So what are we going to do with these Scriptures? Everybody wants to leave all of that "Old Testament stuff" in the Old Testament because we are now over here in the "New Testament". Thank God for the New Testament. Thank God for the blood of Jesus Christ that speak better things than that of Abel. Thank God for the power of the Holy Ghost, but all this only makes us more responsible and causes God to be stirred at us in a greater way when we rise up against a greater light than the morning-church ever had!

Verses 8-11 tell us: But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, of the Jew first, and also of the Gentile; But glory, honour, and peace, to every man that worketh good, to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile: For there is no respect of persons with God.

The Bible tells us that God is angry with the wicked EVERY day (Psalm 7:11). Every one of us, sooner or later, has to face the wrath of God. Friends, if you will face Him, humble yourself and sincerely, genuinely ask forgiveness, Thank God, He WILL make you a new creature! He will bring you from the side where the plagues are over to where the blessings are!

On the other hand, if we "stubborn up" against Him and refuse to give in to Him, mark it down, there is going to be tribulation, anguish, sorrow, heartache, and misery (just to name a few!!). Then we are going to face a final judgment seat where the wrath of God is going to be poured out without mercy upon us. So, we have to face the wrath of God.

Don't EVER let the enemy make you feel that you are just not going to have to face up to it. Oh yes, everybody has to face up to it. The only difference is, some do it now and their sin goes on ahead to the judgment. They know if they die today that when they come up to the judgment, Jesus will say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Enter into the full joy of the Lord."

Other men's sins follow them to the judgment, when they refuse to repent and confess. They have to be dealt with one by one at the judgment. He will render unto every man according to his deeds, and there is NO respect of persons with Him.