“According to the Book of Revelation, this time of tribulation will come at a time when the entire world worships the same religion. But this shared religion will not be one of the traditional religions of the world. It will be something much more subtle. It will be a religion based on desire.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n “This religion of desire will have an overwhelming appeal to men and women of every age and of every culture on the earth. It will not only attract individual people, it will attract entire countries. It will entice Kings, Presidents and rulers, just as much as it will lure the poor, the weak and the needy.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n “Although this religion will appeal to all the people of the earth, it will have no leader. It will not have any churches. It will not have any ceremonies or rituals. Yet it will qualify as a religion because the hearts and minds of men and women everywhere will be committed to it.”<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n According to the disciple Matthew, Jesus began his ministry by ascending a mountain and preaching to the assembled multitude. He began his sermon on the mount with a series of “beatitudes”, sayings which formed the essence of his spiritual message to mankind. His first beatitude was: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” <\/em>(Matthew 5:3) For those who did not understand the meaning of his words, he went on to explain:<\/p>\n “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21)<\/em><\/p>\n The message that Jesus brought to his followers was that the heavenly world of which he spoke was separated from the world of material\u00a0wealth by a vast gulf that could not be breached.\u00a0One could not gain the riches of this world and at the same time attract the blessings of heaven. As he went on to explain:<\/p>\n “No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon<\/em>.” (Matthew 6:24)<\/p>\n And when a young man approached Jesus asking him what he should do to gain eternal life, Jesus replied that he should obey the ten commandments. When the\u00a0man assured Jesus that he had adhered to these commandments since his youth, and asked what else he needed to do, Jesus replied:<\/p>\n “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had many possessions.<\/em><\/p>\n “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, verily I say unto you, that a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” (<\/em>Matthew 19:21-24)<\/p>\n Yet modern man has not heeded the words of Jesus. Rather than build up treasures in some heavenly world of the future, most men and women alive today\u00a0prefer to strive for material wealth, and to enjoy the\u00a0pleasures which this wealth can bring. In fact most of their waking hours are devoted to this quest.<\/p>\n So when the angel of God revealed to St. John the events that would precede the return of the Christ, it is hardly surprising that that the great economic system which now dominates our times, would be characterised as “the great whore that sitteth upon many waters”<\/em> (Revelation 17:1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
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