"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, 5 and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” 6 And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly."
In the last two years, life has dramatically changed for many people with the arrival of the corona virus, our lives seem to have been hijacked. We have lost loved ones, jobs, homes, our financial security has become uncertain. Churches, schools and businesses were shut down over night. With the failure of employees returning to work, vaccine mandates, the ability to restart our lives and return to some level of normalcy has become an uphill daily struggle. Today, with the long-term impacts of the pandemic, everyone seems to be wondering what the future holds.
As Christians, we are blesses to have what I believe that everyone in the world wishes they had. A perfectly accurate picture of what the future holds for the world. And, as a result, we know we have victory over everlasting death. The church needs to be ready. Moreover, we must be faithfully committed to sharing this life saving truth with a perishing world. That means there is an urgency to reach the lost, those who are at risk of losing their souls.
God created us to be worshipers, therefore, we are worshipers by nature. Because of our desire, our longing to worship, we continuously reach beyond ourselves. The reality is, people will worship something, more often than not, man worships the gods of his own inventions. Professing to be wise men have become fools. With his desire to worship perverted, he looks for any god, no longer seeking the One true God.
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we thank You for Your Word and for the clarity of Your truth. We are so privileged to have the future clearly laid out for us. We are grateful that You have chosen to save us from Satan’s lies and deception, that has captivated the minds of the lost. Lord, we cry out on behalf of anyone who does not know you and we pray that You would by Your grace soften their hearts, that might receive the truth and confess their need for a Savior. WE ask that You would rescue many from the wrath and judgement that is to come.
In Christ's precious name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: The Mother of Harlots
Preying upon his twisted desire, to accommodate his corrupted longing to worship, without bringing him under the authority of the true God, Satan and his demons then propagate his false religion and a myriad of false deities. Thus, people have been lured into and trapped in false religious systems. In the days just prior to the return of Jesus Christ, false religion will reach its culminating climax, in the form of all the satanic religions will come together in one great world religion. While these false religions today
"The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings; five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast which was and is not, is himself also an eighth and is one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast."
Before we can understand the Babylon religion of the future, we have to comprehend the Babylon religion of the past, where they were building a monument to man. Babylon is mentioned 260 times in Scripture, and is second in importance only to Jerusalem. Turn with me to Genesis chapter 11. Follow long with me as I read.
"Now the whole earth used the same language and the same words. It came about as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. They said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” The Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of the whole earth."
I'd like you to notice, it was more than just humanistic; it was religious. Look at verse 4, "Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name." This tower they were building was called a ziggurat. Would you believe, that on top of the ziggurat was a sign of the zodiac. The priests who were ordained, by the use of the ancient zodiac were supposed to chart the course of the stars, gaining spiritual wisdom to read the future. Even though God drowned the whole world, except for Noah and his family, it doesn’t take very long before the sinfulness and the rebellious heart of man began seeking false religion. For the first time, demons were impersonating the true God. This was the first form of false religion, invented by men, seduced by demons. This abomination against God was led by a man by the name of Nimrod. You can read more about him in Genesis chapter 10.
Let's look at verse 1, "And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and
spoke with me, saying, ‘Come here, I shall show you the judgment of the
great harlot who sits on many waters.’" Notice how this this connects this judgment, with the last seven plagues being poured out in chapter 16. Here, one of those angels comes and tells him about this great harlot religion.
I want you to understand, I’m not saying this to be unkind to people who are Roman Catholic. However, in dealing with the Word of God, I am bound to speak the truth. In a book published in 1976, in a book written about the life of Mother Teresa, this is what she is quoted as saying "If in coming face to face with God we accept Him in our lives, then we
become a better Hindu, a better Muslim, a better Catholic, a better
whatever we are. What God is in your mind you must accept."
The Roman Catholic Church has always embraced disobedience. Transubstantiation was the belief that the priest literally turns the cup and the bread into the actual
blood and body of Christ, and when they eat, they’re eating Christ. Thousands have died fighting that heresy. Mother Teresa, whose place for the sick and dying was right next to the most gross, unimaginable worship place in all of Hindu India.
There are innocent people who are being deluded by this kind of false religious system. I was watching a special on one of the largest Christian networks, and the host said something that actually shook me to my core. He said "The Roman Catholic doctrine is no different than that of evangelicals. The difference between Protestant and Catholic doctrine is merely a matter of semantics. It’s time for Catholics and non-Catholics to come together as one in the Spirit and one in the Lord." End quote.
For Catholics, the church is the primary extension of God's authority
because Jesus founded the Christian church through St. Peter. and the Bible supports what the church teaches. The Catholic Church is governed by the pope, who is sometimes known as the vicar
of Christ to Catholics and the bishop of Rome to non-Catholics, and
authority is delegated through a patriarchal line of archbishops,
cardinals, and priests. Both faiths recognize that salvation begins with the acceptance of Jesus Christ. However, the Catholic Church believes that while the possibility of salvation is
given through faith, actual salvation is maintained through church
rights and personal acts. The Roman Catholic Church is more focused on law, logic and under the central authority of the Pope. History is replete with documented evidence of popes who were notoriously evil.
This is contradictory to what the Holy Scripture teaches, Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church and salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. God saves us by His grace. Works are a result of salvation not a requirement. In John 14:6, Jesus said "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me."
Martyn Lloyd-Jones said "There are movements afoot which are trying to bring a kind of
rapprochement between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism. The Roman Catholic system is altogether
more dangerous than is Communism. Roman Catholicism is the devil’s greatest
masterpiece. It is such a departure from the Christian faith and the New
Testament teaching, that her dogma is a counterfeit. She is, as the
Scripture puts it, the whore. Let me warn you very solemnly that if you
rejoice in these ecumenical approaches to Rome, you’re denying the blood
of the martyrs. There are innocent people who are being deluded by this
kind of falsity, and it is your business and mine to open their eyes."
The idea that we were really meaning the same thing, just saying it a little differently is nothing less than heresy!
Back to verse 1, the angel is no longer describing the judgements in the seals, trumpets and bowls, but describing what and who is being destroyed by those judgments. This is a marvelous invitation to a great insight. Not only for John, but for all of us as well.
The angels says "Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality." It takes us a while to get there, but the theme of the chapter is judgement. The great harlot is really a metaphor for spiritual false religion, spiritual defection, idolatry, religious apostasy. This verse is speaking to her character, her intoxicating seduction. In other words, the world will become inebriated with her deceptions.
Historically, we see the mother of harlots eventually settled in Rome and when Constantine
conquered Rome around 300 AD he mixed a perverted form of Christianity
with the pagan myths. This is what forms the Roman Catholic Church.
A very interesting read is a book entitled Vicar’s of Christ: The Dark Side of the Papacy by Peter De Rosa, a former Jesuit. The Roman Catholic church will continue in the future to be a major player in the religious system of the Antichrist and the false prophet. I must confess, that is staggering to me to see how many evangelicals who "claim" to be Bible
believing Christians are trying to get people to believe that somehow
the Roman Catholic Church is just another form of Christianity, which is positioning itself today at the very center of the current movement towards globalization and an emerging world government.
I believe this certainly helps to explain why so many politicians and world leaders today are united in trying to
come up with a political system as well as a religious system that
brings us all together. Just as with all apostate churches throughout history, she will align herself with the
political power brokers of the nations who will need her as much as she
will need them. Notice the "great harlot who sits on many waters." Sitting is a mark of distinction, this is the authority of the harlot, this religion will be authoritative in the world. This is the scope of her influence, it is immense. All of the leaders of the world are come together, prostituting themselves for one solitary religion. We can certainly see that talking place today.
In the Old Testament, several cities are called harlot cities because their population was involved in idol worship. The harlot city societies mentioned in Scriptures all have certain common
characteristics that are reflected in John’s description of the
great Babylon.In ancient times, cities were seated by water, no great city could exist apart from water. In fact, one of the Seven Wonders of the World was the city of Babylon. Babylon was built by many waters.
Verses 2 and 3, "with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.” And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness; and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns."
Here, John is not speaking about real wine or literal sexual immorality, such as fornication, he's talking about becoming a part of the worldwide form of false religion. They are all intoxicated by passion for this false religion. Notice "and he carried me away," here the Holy Spirit shows John something else to give more richness and more comprehension to the vision. He took him into the "erēmon," meaning the desert, a place to the east and south of Palestine.
Notice then, what John sees, "I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns." This is the harlot Babylon. The beast is speaking of the Antichrist. This religious power is the controlling power, at least initially, because that's what pulls the whole world together. When everything in the world, the economy, military and politics are crumbling by the powers of heaven, this religious system begins to take charge. The beast and the religious system will coexist, because of the immense power and influence of this religious system but only for a while. Then, when the Antichrist rises up and devours the religious system, I believe that’s when the world turns toward the worship of the Antichrist. The seven heads are of course, the seven mountains on which the woman sits. Literally speaking, Rome is known as the city of seven hills. The Vatican sits on one side of the Tiber River, facing the seven hills. In ancient times, the hills were scared high places, used to worship and offer sacrifices to deities.
That's why we see "full of blasphemous names," the world is identifying him as god. He's taking every name for the True God, this is his self-deification. Then, in verses 4 and 5, "The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality, and on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, “BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH."
Notice her clothing, "The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls," Back in Isaiah, he would tell you this is the color of sin. She is flaunting the success of her whoredom, just as an expensive prostitute would do. In other words, this is a high-class prostitute, if you will, if there is such a thing! By the way, the Vatican City is the world’s smallest independent nation-state and the
residence of the spiritual leadership of the Roman Catholic Church. In fact, Pope Paul II made it illegal for anyone but a cardinal to wear a scarlet hat, scarlet has always been the color used by popes and cardinals, and they include a vest of pearl, gold, and precious stones. By the way, you can read more about that in Ezekiel chapter 16.
I'll just read a bit of that to you, "You also took your beautiful jewels made of My gold and of My silver, which I had given you, and made for yourself male images that you might play the harlot with them. Then you took your embroidered cloth and covered them, and offered My oil and My incense before them."
Notice then "having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality" this is used to describe the blasphemous practices of idolatry that are reprehensible to God. Her repulsive arrogance and wickedness is displayed in her hands by what she holds. This is the evidence of her wealth, this parallels with Jeremiah 51. Verse 7 says "Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going mad." Her golden cup is very luring, it's inviting, but notice it’s filled with abominations and the unclean things of her immorality. The contents of her cup are deadly. You’re literally drinking filth. It's a very deceptive illusion.
Proverbs 7 says of the harlot, "Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, do not stray into her paths. For many are the victims she has cast down, and numerous are all her slain. Her house is the way to Sheol, descending to the chambers of death."
It might interest you to know that in a Newsweek article, published on September 21, 1987, "The jewel in the Pope’s
international design is a utopian vision of a unified and
rechristianized Europe, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural
Mountains. Phase one would be to end divisions between Eastern and
Western Europe. Phase two, the reconciliation between Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians of the Soviet East." The pope has stated numerous times the only hope for unifying Europe; is a common religion that can tie them together. I believe there’s no question about the representation here. This immense false religious system is inspired by Satan and utterly opposed to Christ and all who belong to Him. The imagery is most insightful.
That brings us to verse 6, where John sees her exposure. Listen as I read, "And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly." In the original language it literally says, "I marveled a marvel." This is an overwhelming scene. John is shocked at her utter contempt for Christ, and that this is where religion is headed. Like most prostitutes, she drunk. The point here is she is a murderer. This false religion has always been the murderer of the true saints.
In Closing..
I believe the world is poised to follow a charismatic leader who will offer them change they can believe in. The people of the world ready to believe absolutely anything. We see that in the pulpits today, as they preach a Christ-less Christianity. The church today is more concerned about immoral and political crusades, utterly bereft of Bible doctrine than proclaiming the gospel of grace.
I believe that we can already see the political, economic and military components of a satanic Babylon beginning to emerge. That's why Iran and Russia are strategic allies. That is why they hate the United States and Israel. This
man centered blasphemous gospel is attempting to silence the voice of
true Christians who believe the gospel. The seduction of “the mother of
harlots” is already gaining influence in all of the religions of the
world. Tragically, people who are trapped in these false religions who will just blindly,
blissfully, under the deception of Satan, go on their way to hell.
We can see the apostasies gathering all around us, if you do not know the Lord, Jesus Christ, my cry is to you, that today would be the day, that you would confess your sin, repent and turn to Him for forgiveness. Please do not be deceived, there is only one road that leads to heaven. In
Matthew 7, Jesus said, "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is
wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many
who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that
leads to life, and there are few who find it. "
Love
speaks the truth, preaches the truth, to draw people out of these
damning false religions. I do not speak in judgement or condemnation but
in genuine love for you.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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