Latest / Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago / The Great Prostitute | Revelation 17:1-6 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Bible Study Series)

Transcript

The Great Prostitute | Revelation 17:1-6 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (Bible Study Series) · Bible Study with Pr. Daniel Batarseh | Verse by Verse Series | Maranatha Bible Church - Chicago

• 0:01
  I'm not sure if you're aware, but we have two Sundays left in
• 0:04
  this building after the service. Can you believe it?
• 0:11
  And then we get a new address with many blessings with it.
• 0:16
  Well, I'd like to begin by asking you a question that you
• 0:18
  can answer in your mind. What city do you believe is most
• 0:25
  referenced in the Bible? Well, some of your minds are
• 0:31
  loud. I heard some answers.
• 0:35
  If you said Jerusalem, you're correct.
• 0:36
  Now let me follow it up with another question.
• 0:39
  What city is second most referenced across the
• 0:43
  scriptures? If you guess Babylon, you are
• 0:48
  right again. Babylon is referenced
• 0:51
  approximately 280 to 300 times in our Bibles, depending on your
• 0:55
  translation, and most of those times are found in the Hebrew
• 0:59
  Scriptures, the Old Testament. That being said, we can count a
• 1:03
  total of 12 instances in which Babylon is found in our New
• 1:07
  Testament, and six of those times, exactly half of that
• 1:11
  number are located in the Book of Revelation.
• 1:15
  It's safe to say that if we want to know our Bibles well, we have
• 1:19
  to be familiar with Babylon. We have to understand what it's
• 1:23
  all about and by God's help we will seek to do that today.
• 1:28
  Now we have already seen Babylon mentioned twice in our study of
• 1:31
  the Book of Revelation, once in Revelation 14 verse 8 and the
• 1:35
  second time in Revelation 16, verse 19.
• 1:38
  And in both instances it is the fall or the destruction of
• 1:43
  Babylon that is briefly mentioned.
• 1:46
  But now as we approach Revelation chapter 17, we are
• 1:50
  going to see the Holy Spirit providing us a detailed
• 1:55
  breakdown of the background and the ruin of future Babylon.
• 2:04
  If you have ever wondered what ancient Babylon is doing in the
• 2:08
  prophetic Book of Revelation or what this future depiction of
• 2:12
  Babylon is going to be in the days to come, it is this chapter
• 2:17
  and the next that is going to provide answers.
• 2:20
  And while I desire for this message to stir our hearts,
• 2:24
  which every message to do in one way or another, I want to admit
• 2:28
  my goal today, my aim today by God's help is to provide
• 2:32
  clarity, clarity with this passage.
• 2:37
  It's the most dense passage in all of the Book of Revelation
• 2:41
  concerning symbolism. It's very heavy.
• 2:45
  And so my prayer has been, Lord, allow us to be enlightened.
• 2:49
  And as a result of that illumination, we would leave
• 2:51
  here encouraged and equipped because we have greater
• 2:56
  confidence in Bible prophecy. So we need to really be
• 3:01
  attentive today if we're going to benefit from what we're going
• 3:03
  to hear. And we're going to begin by
• 3:05
  reading the 1st 6 verses of Revelation chapter 17.
• 3:08
  Can we do that together? Then one of the seven angels who
• 3:12
  had the seven bowls came and said to me, Come, I will show
• 3:17
  you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many
• 3:20
  waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual
• 3:24
  immorality, and with the whine of whose sexual immorality the
• 3:27
  dwellers on earth have become drunk.
• 3:30
  And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness.
• 3:33
  And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of
• 3:36
  blasphemous names, and it had 7 heads and 10 horns.
• 3:41
  The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with
• 3:44
  gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup
• 3:48
  full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual
• 3:51
  immorality. And on her forehead was written
• 3:54
  the name of Mystery Babylon, the Great mother of prostitutes and
• 3:59
  of earth's abominations. And I saw the woman drunk with
• 4:04
  the blood of the Saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
• 4:10
  When I saw her, I marvelled greatly.
• 4:14
  Let's pray, Lord, we know that John with this vision, marveled
• 4:20
  because he did not understand. Help us marvel as we understand.
• 4:26
  Help us see your incredible wisdom and love and power in
• 4:31
  these verses. And Lord, we are aware that this
• 4:34
  is a difficult passage to unpack, so we pray for extra
• 4:38
  help. We pray that you would assist us
• 4:42
  and that Lord, even such truths would cause us to worship You
• 4:45
  the way you deserve. We pray these things to the
• 4:48
  glory of the name of your Son, our Master and Friend the Lord
• 4:52
  Jesus Christ. Amen.
• 4:56
  I'm aware, I'm very aware that with a text like this, so filled
• 5:01
  with imagery and symbolism that we can feel overwhelmed, this
• 5:04
  can seem intimidating. So here's what we're going to
• 5:06
  do. We're going to look at these
• 5:08
  verses and focus on the major details and peel them one by one
• 5:14
  until we get more clarity. And by the end of this message,
• 5:18
  we will have at least 5 insights, 5 insights about
• 5:22
  Babylon, the way it's presented here in the Book of Revelation.
• 5:26
  So we have to understand first that everything that we read
• 5:29
  here in verse 5 is about Babylon.
• 5:31
  That's what we are told that this is about, a mystery
• 5:33
  Babylon, the great mother of prostitutes and of Earth's
• 5:36
  abominations. And so with that in view, we can
• 5:41
  understand the first thing. This is the the foundation, the
• 5:44
  establishing force of our study of this exact mystery Babylon.
• 5:50
  Number one, if you're a note taker, this would be very
• 5:51
  helpful. Babylon presented to us here is
• 5:55
  a false religious system. It is a false religious system.
• 5:59
  And we know that John here is describing something in the
• 6:02
  future because he tells us that it was one of the seven angels
• 6:06
  who poured out the bowls of God's wrath who approached them
• 6:08
  with this revelation. So this information here deals
• 6:12
  with Babylon not of the past, but in the future, Babylon in
• 6:18
  the last days. And before she is explicitly
• 6:21
  named, we read it. But before we see it, in the
• 6:23
  beginning of this prophecy, we are given a description of her.
• 6:28
  And what is that description? It's very graphic.
• 6:31
  It's very scathing. The great prostitute.
• 6:35
  Now you might have a translation that says harlot.
• 6:37
  You might have another translation that actually says
• 6:39
  whore. And because of this detail,
• 6:45
  because of this portrayal, we can be very confident that this
• 6:49
  great prostitute who is also Babylon, is actually referring
• 6:53
  to a religious system that is evil and wicked and false.
• 7:01
  Why? Because in Scripture there is a
• 7:04
  consistent metaphor for spiritual unfaithfulness and
• 7:08
  religious apostasy and is that of a prostitute.
• 7:13
  And John is borrowing that imagery here.
• 7:16
  And so there's a consistent thread throughout the Bible that
• 7:19
  when nations or cities or a people group is pursuing
• 7:24
  idolatry or false gods, they are referred to in such shameful
• 7:30
  ways. And the prophets, unfortunately
• 7:33
  use this kind of language for Jerusalem, for Judah, for
• 7:37
  Israel. But more than that, we even see
• 7:40
  the prophets using this kind of language for places like Tyre in
• 7:44
  Lebanon. You find that in Isaiah chapter
• 7:46
  23, or even places like Nineveh and Nahum chapter 3 verse 4.
• 7:52
  So over and over again we see that this strong vocabulary is
• 7:56
  employed in order to express that when a person or people
• 8:00
  group pursues something apart from God, at its core it's
• 8:06
  relational betrayal. And as sobering as this is, we
• 8:12
  actually find similar things in the New Testament.
• 8:16
  We find some places in the New Testament where leaders of the
• 8:19
  church confront the church for abandoning her love for Christ.
• 8:24
  With this kind of prophetic tone.
• 8:26
  One of the clearest ones is James chapter 4, verse four.
• 8:29
  What does James say to this dispersion of believers?
• 8:32
  You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the
• 8:37
  world is enmity with God, and whoever wishes to be a friend of
• 8:40
  the world becomes an enemy of God.
• 8:43
  Now, you would think that that's language for the unsaved.
• 8:45
  No, He's speaking to the church. You're flirting with the world.
• 8:50
  Your affections are more towards the things of this life.
• 8:53
  Sin compromise the things that defy God, and at its core,
• 8:57
  you're cheating on the Lord. And again, the reason why God
• 9:02
  wants to present this kind of language is to show what it
• 9:05
  feels for Him when we veer off. And when we look at other
• 9:09
  things, other ideas and other ideologies and other pursuits
• 9:13
  and other entertainments that hurt his heart, it's adultery.
• 9:19
  So with this background in mind, now we come to Revelation and we
• 9:21
  realize something, that this great prostitute is a symbol
• 9:25
  that represents a system that practices and promotes idolatry
• 9:32
  and it will have massive influence.
• 9:36
  Why is that? Because in verse 1, John tells
• 9:38
  us that she seated on many waters.
• 9:41
  Now we know that this is not a literal body of water.
• 9:44
  Why? Because Scripture interprets
• 9:46
  scripture and later in this chapter John is going to receive
• 9:49
  explanation for much of the symbolism here.
• 9:52
  Here's one of them. Look at verse 15 of Revelation
• 9:54
  17 and an Angel, the Angel rather said to me, the waters
• 9:58
  that you saw, where the prostitute is seated are peoples
• 10:02
  and multitudes and nations and languages.
• 10:06
  So this great prostitute, she's going to have influence by
• 10:12
  seducing kings and tribes and cultures.
• 10:19
  It's not going to just be local. It's not going to be reduced to
• 10:22
  just one region of the world. It's going to be global.
• 10:27
  And not just global. We see here that it's going to
• 10:29
  attract rulers, high-ranking officials, down to the ordinary
• 10:33
  folk. That's what we find.
• 10:34
  What we find here in verse 2. So this kind of system that's
• 10:39
  going to be prevalent in the last days is going to draw in
• 10:43
  widespread commitment and fascination all across the
• 10:47
  planet. It's going to be an incredible
• 10:50
  movement. It's going to be so popular.
• 10:53
  In fact, the enchantment with this prevailing form of false
• 10:56
  worship will be so strong that John relates it to the sensation
• 11:00
  and reality of intoxication. Look down at verse 2, Revelation
• 11:05
  17, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual
• 11:08
  morality, and with the whine of whose sexual morality the
• 11:12
  dwellers on earth have become drunk.
• 11:18
  To be physically drunk is to be under the control of another
• 11:20
  substance. To be inebriated is to surrender
• 11:23
  yourself control to an outside source.
• 11:28
  And what this verse is revealing is that this world religion will
• 11:34
  promote false values, wrong ideas about God so persuasively
• 11:41
  that when people accept it that it will reorient them in every
• 11:46
  way possible. It will change the way they
• 11:51
  live. It will shape their values and
• 11:53
  their convictions even though it contradicts the truth.
• 11:57
  It will call for them to abandon self-control.
• 12:00
  It will lead them to walk away from clear logical thinking.
• 12:06
  It's almost like a spell is going to come upon these people
• 12:09
  when Babylon resurfaces on the scene with a brand new package
• 12:15
  religion. And one of the reasons why this
• 12:19
  new world religion will be so attractive and so effective is
• 12:23
  because of the second point. The first point is that Babylon
• 12:25
  is a false religious system. But here's the second point that
• 12:27
  we need to take note of. Babylon is linked.
• 12:30
  You ready for this? Babylon is linked, connected to
• 12:34
  global politics. What do we see here in verse 3?
• 12:42
  And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness.
• 12:45
  And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of
• 12:49
  blasphemous names, and it had 7 heads and 10 horns.
• 12:53
  So John now was taken to get another perspective, vantage
• 12:57
  point of this woman, this prostitute.
• 13:00
  And here we read the woman sitting yet again, but not on a
• 13:03
  body of water, but on a scarlet beast, a hideous looking
• 13:08
  creature, but one that we've seen before.
• 13:11
  Who is this beast? This is none other than the
• 13:13
  Antichrist, the one that we were introduced to back in Revelation
• 13:17
  chapter 13. Here he is yet again.
• 13:21
  So this is the one world political ruler who under his
• 13:25
  leadership, will seem to promise to the nations that he can be
• 13:29
  their savior from all the chaos that will erupt in the last
• 13:32
  days. Read your Bible slowly.
• 13:36
  This great prostitute is sitting on the beast, which means she is
• 13:44
  distinct from the beast. She's not the same as the beast.
• 13:48
  She is a separate entity. This is something very important
• 13:53
  to understand and clarify. When we are speaking about
• 13:55
  Future Babylon, we're referring to an independent reality that
• 13:58
  will be prominent yet again in the last days.
• 14:02
  For months, I'm aware that you and I have been hearing what
• 14:04
  that in the final moments of history, Antichrist will rise
• 14:08
  and he will demand worship for himself.
• 14:10
  And while that is true, it will not happen right away.
• 14:16
  There will be something else that will precede that.
• 14:18
  There'll be something else that comes before.
• 14:20
  There is a Babylonian religion that will initially seduce
• 14:24
  everyone, and it will be a voluntary thing.
• 14:28
  You see, when the Antichrist will demand worship, it will be
• 14:30
  forced. But Babylon is not forced.
• 14:35
  It's going to be so winsome, it's going to be so charming,
• 14:38
  It's going to cause people to abandon their former beliefs and
• 14:42
  join themselves to its appealing message.
• 14:47
  And there is debate about what this religion will be exactly.
• 14:50
  Some feel very strongly that this is going to be Roman
• 14:53
  Catholicism at the height of its influence.
• 14:57
  More and more now we're hearing and we're seeing it.
• 14:59
  People are saying this is going to be Islam.
• 15:03
  And others are more comfortable arguing that this is going to be
• 15:06
  a convergence of all these world religions.
• 15:09
  It's going to be this brand new kind of idea that's going to
• 15:13
  say, well, we all worship the same God, so let's all get
• 15:15
  along. We are just different paths to
• 15:18
  the same being. We don't know for certain, but
• 15:23
  one thing is clear, it will be something that the Antichrist
• 15:28
  will initially support and allow to have influence in his
• 15:32
  political regime and empire. He allows this great prostitute
• 15:37
  to sit upon him, so there's double meaning there.
• 15:41
  He is supporting her and she is benefiting from him, which tells
• 15:46
  us something so incredible. The success of this global
• 15:49
  effort for people to worship in this new way, this fraudulent
• 15:53
  spirituality, will be driven by the promotion of the Antichrist.
• 15:59
  In other words, as unthinkable as this may be, the Bible
• 16:03
  predicts the rise of a false religion with the endorsement of
• 16:07
  a one world government. But why?
• 16:14
  Why is there going to be this alliance that the Antichrist
• 16:17
  will allow between politics and religion?
• 16:20
  And there are at least two reasons.
• 16:23
  First, the Beast is willing to encourage the world to follow
• 16:27
  the Babylonian religion because he hates the true God.
• 16:30
  Remember, the beast that we just read about is full of
• 16:33
  blasphemous names, and so in his understanding, he will allow
• 16:40
  people to worship what is false as long as it's not the truth.
• 16:43
  And here's what we have to remember.
• 16:44
  Satan has always created and spread false expressions of
• 16:48
  faith as a way of robbing God of glory and leading souls astray,
• 16:53
  and his game plan is not going to change near the end.
• 16:57
  Moreover, this is so important to understand.
• 17:00
  The enemy is clever, and Satan understands that he cannot
• 17:06
  immediately demand worship for himself through the Antichrist.
• 17:11
  So what will happen instead? There will be this Babylonian
• 17:16
  facade, this one world kind of thing that will invite people to
• 17:22
  believe it and worship in it and get along through it.
• 17:27
  And over time that will weaken the consciousness of men.
• 17:33
  And at the right time, as we're about to find out later on in
• 17:35
  this prophecy, Antichrist will come in and then demand worship
• 17:39
  for himself because the peoples of the world have been prepped
• 17:44
  for it. They've already compromised so
• 17:46
  much with Babylon. You see, Satan is a master at
• 17:49
  desensitizing us. He introduces one idea.
• 17:52
  At first it's kind of uncomfortable, it's kind of
• 17:54
  wrong. We know it, but people get used
• 17:57
  to it. And then he introduces another
• 17:59
  level of wickedness and evil and vileness, and then we accept it.
• 18:02
  He's very clever in this way and he's going to do the same thing
• 18:05
  concerning the worship for himself in the last days.
• 18:08
  It's almost like a two stage strategy.
• 18:10
  Here's Babylon and everybody's wow, this is great.
• 18:13
  This is what's going to bring the world together.
• 18:14
  This is exactly what we need as humanity.
• 18:17
  And over time even this man is going to capitalize on it, the
• 18:21
  Antichrist, and he's going to show I support this as well
• 18:24
  until the strategy changes. And when humanity is ripe, he
• 18:29
  will step in and say, now worship me and they will do it.
• 18:34
  So the the, the first reason why there will be this alliance is
• 18:37
  because Antichrist hates God and Antichrist is going to use
• 18:41
  Babylon for his purpose. But secondly, and close to that
• 18:46
  point, is that the beast will partner with the great
• 18:49
  prostitute for his own political agenda.
• 18:52
  And that should not be surprising to us.
• 18:55
  Politicians today have no issue walking and stepping into
• 18:58
  religious fears in order to win the support and admiration of
• 19:03
  faith-based groups. An Antichrist will be no
• 19:06
  different. There will be this revival of
• 19:09
  false spirituality. He will present himself as a
• 19:11
  strong supporter of it until things change in his political
• 19:16
  goals. There's something interesting
• 19:19
  that happens later on Revelation 17 that confirms the great
• 19:24
  prostitute is separate from the beast.
• 19:26
  Look at verse 16. Verse 16 And the 10 horns that
• 19:34
  you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute.
• 19:38
  Hold on for a moment. What do you mean?
• 19:40
  You, you let her ride the beast, But something's going to change.
• 19:44
  The 10 horns are 10 kings. We know that they will hate the
• 19:47
  prostitute. They will make her desolate and
• 19:50
  naked and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.
• 19:53
  For God has put it into their hearts to carry out His purpose
• 19:57
  by being of one mind and handing over the royal power to the
• 20:00
  beast until the words of God are fulfilled.
• 20:03
  So you see, once the beast achieves his own goals, he will
• 20:07
  persuade others to reject the ideology of the great prostitute
• 20:13
  and even demand worship to be directed to him.
• 20:16
  All royal power will go to him. And this confirms what we've
• 20:20
  been learning up to this point. There is going to be a come
• 20:22
  coming, a time that the Antichrist will demand worship.
• 20:25
  And in doing so, he will silence all forms of faith, not just
• 20:27
  Christianity, all forms of faith, including the Babylonian
• 20:33
  1 so that he alone can be idolized.
• 20:38
  You know, I was meditating also the other day and I thought to
• 20:39
  myself, even though this is so, so specific and so obvious about
• 20:44
  the future, there is principle here.
• 20:47
  There is warning here for the church.
• 20:51
  This prophecy is something for us to learn and it is this.
• 20:56
  The true Church of Jesus Christ has to be discerning and how it
• 20:59
  engages with politics. More specifically how politics
• 21:05
  forces itself and seeks to engage with the church.
• 21:11
  I take no issue with Christians being involved in legislative
• 21:14
  arenas in government. I think it's needed.
• 21:17
  But I'm concerned that some churches, especially in the
• 21:19
  West, have lost their heavenly identity along the way.
• 21:26
  And there are many ministries, some of the most popular
• 21:29
  assemblies in America, that are more known for being platforms
• 21:35
  for political parties than embassies for the Kingdom of
• 21:38
  God. You've lost your voice.
• 21:42
  You've lost your prophetic voice to be the conscience of the
• 21:47
  culture and you allow yourself in many ways to become a puppet
• 21:52
  for something that will not remain forever.
• 21:56
  Then fact in some ways will use you as the great process was
• 22:00
  used for worldly endeavors and goals, and will have no issue to
• 22:05
  discard you once you have fulfilled their desire.
• 22:10
  So the church and even individual Christians need to be
• 22:13
  on guard and vigilant. Protect your mind and draw a
• 22:18
  clear line. The church is not a branch of a
• 22:23
  political party. The church is the body of Jesus
• 22:26
  Christ. The church is the voice for the
• 22:31
  nations about a Kingdom that is to come and will rule and reign
• 22:35
  forever. And politicians need to hear
• 22:38
  that as well. And we should seek to be good,
• 22:42
  loving neighbors by getting ourselves involved to some
• 22:45
  degree with these things. But don't lose your identity.
• 22:52
  Pulpits have now become exegetes of headlines.
• 22:57
  Here's what's happening. Here's what.
• 22:59
  Give me the Bible. What does God say?
• 23:05
  That's what my soul needs more than anything else.
• 23:11
  Are there times where we have to answer things and clarify things
• 23:15
  biblically with what's happening in culture?
• 23:17
  Absolutely. But be very careful.
• 23:21
  There is a spirit that seeks to sabotage the church, and it will
• 23:26
  divert the church away from what it's called to do, and that's to
• 23:29
  expound the words of God. Babylon will be linked to global
• 23:36
  politics. That's why it's going to be so
• 23:40
  attractive, so winsome, and seen as such a beneficial thing.
• 23:48
  But now we come to the Third Point.
• 23:51
  Babylon will be deceptively attractive.
• 23:56
  Look at verse 4. The woman was arrayed in purple
• 24:00
  and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls,
• 24:03
  holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the
• 24:07
  impurities of her sexual immorality.
• 24:11
  So this, this thing, Babylon is going to be a future world
• 24:15
  religions religious system. It's going to be promoted by
• 24:18
  global leaders in a way that we've never seen before.
• 24:19
  But thirdly, it's going to be deceptively alluring.
• 24:24
  And that's clearly depicted but the, the adornment of this
• 24:28
  woman. Remember, this is this is
• 24:29
  symbolism. There's a deeper meaning here
• 24:32
  and what we find here, the overall message is that the
• 24:34
  coming One World religion will be outwardly elegant and
• 24:36
  impressive. It will appeal to the senses in
• 24:40
  an overwhelming way. It will also seem wealthy.
• 24:43
  It will it will look and on the surface seem influential, with
• 24:48
  its humanitarian efforts and spiritual experience presented
• 24:51
  as highly valuable, offering aid to others while promoting global
• 24:57
  unity. It's going to be so refreshing
• 25:00
  for people. Its presence will be difficult
• 25:03
  to ignore. It's not going to be some fringe
• 25:06
  cult, it's going to be mainstream.
• 25:08
  You're going to have people testifying how it changed their
• 25:12
  lives, how it move them, how this is exactly what again
• 25:17
  mankind requires for its healing.
• 25:21
  It's going to be packaged so well and for most, they'll be
• 25:26
  willing to join it. That's what the golden cup
• 25:30
  actually speaks to. Remember we heard how the
• 25:33
  dwellers of the earth will be drunk, will be drunk because of
• 25:37
  what the woman is able to present them.
• 25:38
  And the golden cup now appears and it's extended to them,
• 25:42
  right? This is the the connection being
• 25:43
  made here. It's golden, it seems again,
• 25:46
  divinely inspired. Good.
• 25:50
  But look at what's the substance.
• 25:53
  Look at what's in the cup. It's impure it, it's abominable
• 25:57
  things. In other words, it's outwardly
• 26:00
  going to be beautiful, but what it offers is evil.
• 26:08
  And I'm afraid today there are many people who are making
• 26:12
  choices for their faith, their spirituality, being influenced
• 26:18
  by similar dynamics. They are drawn by the bells and
• 26:25
  smells. They're intrigued by aesthetics.
• 26:30
  They are moved by the apparent emphasis of justice and
• 26:33
  compassion. But in reality, what is being
• 26:36
  promoted in those systems are at odds with what God's Word says.
• 26:43
  People don't dig in enough. They don't look into the cup,
• 26:46
  they just look outside. And they sign up for it.
• 26:52
  And it has a form of godliness, but it denies its power.
• 26:57
  They may even acknowledge a a form of Christ, but not the true
• 27:01
  Christ. It doesn't present salvation as
• 27:09
  a work of Christ. It doesn't speak about how we
• 27:11
  can be delivered from the penalty and power of sin.
• 27:15
  Many religions today, many cults, acknowledge of Christ,
• 27:17
  but not the real 1. And so notice what John is doing
• 27:21
  for us here by giving us the details of this vision.
• 27:24
  Outwardly, externally, it's, it seems like this is it.
• 27:29
  But inwardly it's deadly. It's poisonous for your soul and
• 27:35
  people will ignore it. Now, if you've read Revelation
• 27:38
  before, then you would know that the church, the bride of Christ,
• 27:43
  is depicted in a very different way in comparison to the great
• 27:46
  prostitute. And if you've never read
• 27:48
  Revelation before, if you've forgotten what I'm referring to,
• 27:51
  look over to Revelation 19 and notice what John tells us about
• 27:56
  the church, the people of God. Revelation 19, verse 7.
• 28:04
  Let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory.
• 28:08
  For the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made
• 28:13
  herself ready. It was granted her to clothe
• 28:16
  herself with fine linen, bright and pure.
• 28:20
  For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the Saints.
• 28:25
  This is a symbolic description of the attire, the adornment of
• 28:30
  the church, and it's presented to us with such simplicity.
• 28:35
  Fine linen, bright, pure, that's it.
• 28:44
  However, she possesses something that the great prostitute does
• 28:48
  not with all her bejeweled, decked, glittering outfits and
• 28:54
  items. The church has righteousness.
• 28:59
  The great prostitute does not. And I want to remind you today
• 29:06
  of a very simple truth that as precious as the churches is in
• 29:10
  the sight of God, as much as she is a treasure to Him, her
• 29:13
  expression on the earth is very simple.
• 29:18
  The church is very simple. It's not this elaborated,
• 29:20
  sophisticated system. It's a group of people who
• 29:23
  regularly come together under the headship of Christ and
• 29:26
  worship him through the word of God being revealed and obeyed.
• 29:30
  That's the church. That's the church.
• 29:35
  But unfortunately for many people, that's not enough.
• 29:40
  They want the gold, they want the royalty, they want the
• 29:44
  appearance, they want the physical, aesthetic, surface
• 29:49
  level components, even if it lacks the substance that only
• 29:52
  the true Christ and true church possesses.
• 30:01
  Unfortunately for many today, in the days to come, the church is
• 30:04
  not attractive enough. They want and need more and
• 30:09
  listen. That is exactly what Satan has
• 30:13
  been and will continue to offer. Counterfeit churches and
• 30:18
  distorted expressions of faith to people's own damnation.
• 30:26
  Babylon will be deceptively attractive.
• 30:32
  But #4 Babylon is the mother of all spiritual prostitution.
• 30:37
  That's a long one, but probably the most important point out of
• 30:41
  all of them. Look at verse 5.
• 30:44
  And on her forehead was written a name of mystery Babylon, the
• 30:47
  great mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.
• 30:52
  So I hope things are becoming a little bit more clear about our
• 30:54
  understanding of of Babylon. But why Babylon?
• 30:59
  Maybe that's a question you've been having all this time.
• 31:02
  I get what Babylon will be and how it will work and how it will
• 31:05
  function, but why Babylon? Why that identification?
• 31:08
  Why not Egypt? Why not Assyria why not any
• 31:15
  other ancient empire to speak about what is to come in terms
• 31:20
  of the system and this movement and John clarifies Babylon the
• 31:27
  great mother of prostitutes. This is a 2 part meeting.
• 31:34
  First, this Babylonian system in the last days will be the source
• 31:36
  of much of the moral filth and spiritual discussion in the
• 31:39
  final days. But also being the mother of
• 31:42
  prostitutes. It's it's something that is
• 31:44
  historic. In other words, this suggests
• 31:48
  that ancient Babylon was the starting point of
• 31:52
  institutionalized and corporate defiance against God.
• 31:58
  If you want to know how important Babylon is, remember
• 32:00
  that it appears in the book hands of the Bible.
• 32:03
  It's there in Genesis and it's here in Revelation.
• 32:07
  So for John to bring this up to us by the Spirit is to hint at
• 32:11
  us, hey, the reason why Babylon will make a reappearance is
• 32:14
  because it was the starting place of this whole movement, an
• 32:20
  idea. And that's what we find clearly
• 32:24
  in Genesis 11. Let's turn there for a moment
• 32:27
  because we need to see it with our own eyes to confirm what's
• 32:30
  taking place here in Genesis 11 verse one.
• 32:45
  Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
• 32:50
  And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain of the
• 32:53
  land of Shinar and settled there.
• 32:55
  And they said to one another, Come, let us make bricks and
• 32:58
  burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone and
• 33:02
  beuterment for mortar. Then they said, Come, let us
• 33:06
  build ourselves a city and a tower with its tops in the
• 33:09
  heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be
• 33:11
  dispersed over the face of the whole earth.
• 33:14
  If you read this in isolation, you would think this is an
• 33:16
  encouraging text. Here you have humanity coming
• 33:19
  together, and they are showing how we can unite and we can
• 33:24
  create and we can achieve impossible feats.
• 33:29
  But the careful reader will note that there is rebellion written
• 33:32
  all across this passage. This is seeping with evil.
• 33:37
  This is vile and despicable on multiple layers.
• 33:42
  What is the motive for building this massive structure?
• 33:45
  Look at verse 4. Lest we disperse, we be
• 33:48
  dispersed over the face of the whole earth.
• 33:51
  So they had they had a goal here.
• 33:53
  We're we're building this permanent thing so that we can
• 33:56
  be anchored in this one place. And that doesn't make any sense
• 33:59
  to any of us unless we remember the neighboring text.
• 34:02
  What did God tell Noah after the flood?
• 34:05
  Look at Genesis 9 verse one and God bless Noah and his sons and
• 34:12
  said to him, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,
• 34:19
  fill the earth, cover the earth, populate it, move, disperse.
• 34:30
  And the descendants of Noah in this chapter decided, no, we're
• 34:35
  not going nowhere. We're going to stay right here,
• 34:41
  and we're going to do what we can to ensure that we will stay
• 34:44
  here. This is disobedience to God's
• 34:47
  command. But there's even more.
• 34:50
  You even have unbelief towards God's promises.
• 34:56
  What I mean by that, this scene takes place after the flood.
• 35:00
  And after the flood, the Lord made a promise that He would
• 35:02
  never cause the world to be deluged by water again.
• 35:07
  Did you notice the kind of material that the people used to
• 35:10
  fortify the structure? What do they use for mortar?
• 35:16
  Butam. And that's the translation here.
• 35:18
  What is that? It's a liquid binder that is
• 35:21
  applied to a structure in order to protect it from any kind of
• 35:25
  infiltration of water. It's a seal.
• 35:28
  It makes something waterproof and they're applying that here.
• 35:32
  It's actually the same material that Moses mother used when she
• 35:35
  put her little boy in that basket.
• 35:37
  You can read about an Exodus 2 verse 3.
• 35:40
  She DOB it with the same kind of thing in order to protect it.
• 35:48
  And for them to use this kind of thing is sending an indirect
• 35:51
  message. We know that God promised that
• 35:54
  He would never flood the world again, but just in case, we're
• 35:59
  going to do what we can so that we don't have to experience what
• 36:02
  our forefathers did. This is unbelief.
• 36:06
  So not only do you have disobedience towards God's
• 36:09
  commands, you even have a greater form of defiance.
• 36:13
  We don't believe what you say, even if it's for our good, even
• 36:18
  if it's an expression of your love and faithfulness.
• 36:23
  So here you and I have the earliest picture.
• 36:26
  Listen very carefully of a global effort.
• 36:29
  Remember, it was the whole world, a global effort to defy
• 36:32
  God's command to dismiss His promises.
• 36:35
  And for what reason? Let us make a name for
• 36:39
  ourselves. What does that mean?
• 36:44
  The pursuit of self governance, a rejection of the rule of God
• 36:51
  and an attempt to be independent of Him.
• 36:57
  And you know the rest of the story.
• 36:59
  The Lord sees this, He comes down, he investigates and he
• 37:03
  determines, OK, you don't want to disperse, I'm going to make
• 37:06
  you disperse. He changes their languages, they
• 37:10
  go their separate ways, and this project of resistance comes to a
• 37:13
  screeching halt. And because of this miraculous
• 37:19
  event and how it would change the course of history, a
• 37:21
  specific name was given to it, the place where it all happened.
• 37:25
  Look at verse 9. Therefore, its name was called
• 37:29
  Babel because the Lord confused the language of all the earth.
• 37:34
  And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of
• 37:36
  all the earth. So This is why the Holy Spirit
• 37:41
  uses Babylon to describe this future system, because it's
• 37:45
  rooted in this one. And although the Tower of Babel
• 37:48
  was brought to an end, the spirit behind that has continued
• 37:53
  and it will reach a crescendo in the last days where there will
• 37:58
  be another attempt to dethrone the true God through self-made
• 38:02
  religion and for a time it will have great success.
• 38:09
  And so again, this is important to note for the future, but we
• 38:13
  have to understand that Babylonianism has taken on many
• 38:16
  forms since then, and it will until this full manifestation
• 38:22
  will take place. Do you want to know how you can
• 38:24
  determine if something is operating under the spirit of
• 38:26
  Babylon? It's very easy.
• 38:29
  Take your clues from Genesis 11. Which one challenges the
• 38:34
  authority of God's Word who seeks to elevate other
• 38:39
  authorities above or to replace the Word of God altogether?
• 38:44
  I don't care how it looks. It doesn't matter how long it's
• 38:48
  been standing, doesn't matter how beautiful you think it is,
• 38:54
  if it defies God's clear word, it's Babylon.
• 38:59
  It's Babylon. It may have a different name,
• 39:02
  but there's a spirit working behind that system.
• 39:07
  Anything that makes man the centre point and takes the glory
• 39:12
  away from God and seeks to put it on the performance of us
• 39:17
  humans has a Babylonian DNA in it.
• 39:24
  You know what's amazing? In Genesis 11, the people said,
• 39:27
  let us make a name for ourselves.
• 39:29
  We're going to achieve this on our own.
• 39:31
  We're going to do this in our own strength and our own wisdom.
• 39:34
  And then you go to Genesis chapter 1211.
• 39:38
  They were saying that in chapter 12, what happens?
• 39:40
  The Lord recruits Abraham and he says, I will make your name
• 39:44
  great. That's grace.
• 39:48
  And we know that through the line of Abraham, true religion
• 39:52
  would come, and it would start at the point of mercy, and that
• 39:56
  mercy would reach its full manifestation in the person and
• 39:58
  work of Jesus Christ. So you want to know if
• 40:01
  Babylonianism at work today? Look at systems that push aside
• 40:05
  God's word. Look at systems that put man
• 40:09
  front and center instead of God and you may have a Babylonian
• 40:18
  reality right before your eyes. When we come to the final thing
• 40:21
  of what Babylon is all about here in verse 6, and I saw the
• 40:27
  woman drunk with the blood of the Saints, the blood of the
• 40:29
  martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marvelled
• 40:32
  greatly. So while the world will be
• 40:35
  intoxicated with the lies and the seductions of the great
• 40:38
  prostitute, this world system will be drunk with the blood of
• 40:47
  Christians. We're talking about persecution
• 40:51
  here. And the fact that she is drunk
• 40:54
  means that she's not going to harass believers in moderation.
• 40:59
  It's going to be excessive. It's it's going to be sweeping.
• 41:05
  It's going to be ugly. This is graphic, but it's the
• 41:10
  truth, and you and I have to come to terms with it.
• 41:13
  The Bible's preparing us, and the Bible is doing so by way of
• 41:17
  prophecy that there is coming A1 world religious system even
• 41:21
  before the one that the Antichrist will establish for
• 41:24
  himself, that will not only be supported by world leaders, but
• 41:30
  will also seek to viciously silence those who hold to the
• 41:34
  true faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
• 41:39
  We've seen episodes of that throughout history, but this one
• 41:43
  will be the greatest before the Antichrist does his work.
• 41:48
  And as hard as that may be to digest, you have to understand
• 41:52
  the some of the greatest and most cruelest attacks carried
• 41:55
  out against true followers of Jesus Christ were performed by
• 41:58
  those who claim to do so in the name of God, and even some in
• 42:03
  the name of the Church of Christ.
• 42:07
  Didn't Jesus prepare us for this in John chapter 16, that they
• 42:10
  will banish you from synagogues there in verse 2 and they will
• 42:14
  kill you thinking that they are doing so in service to God.
• 42:20
  You think why are why is Islam slaughtering people by the
• 42:24
  thousands? Why do they have that
• 42:25
  reputation? Well, one, it's ingrained in
• 42:26
  their ideology and their doctrine, but they actually
• 42:30
  believe that doing service to God.
• 42:32
  They believe that, and that's why some believe Babylon is
• 42:37
  going to be Islam. But it doesn't have to be.
• 42:40
  This spirit isn't limited to that.
• 42:43
  There will be something new, something fresh, and it will be
• 42:48
  extremely violent. You think that can't be?
• 42:51
  We're look how sophisticated we are.
• 42:52
  Are we sophisticated? It's not the 21st century, the
• 42:57
  bloodiest century in all centuries.
• 43:01
  We're sophisticated. Yeah, I'm sure we drive nicer
• 43:04
  cars, we have better medicine, we have greater services, but we
• 43:07
  also finding creative ways of becoming more destructive.
• 43:10
  And you have to understand that there is a spiritual reality
• 43:17
  with any development. There are forces at work beyond
• 43:22
  our sight, beyond our sound. How do we apply this?
• 43:28
  What do we do with this information?
• 43:30
  This is prophecy. Sure, but here's how we can
• 43:35
  understand how it works for us today.
• 43:40
  If there's going to be a world that's going to get drunk off of
• 43:42
  the lives of a false religious system, and this religious
• 43:46
  system is also going to find great satisfaction and joy in
• 43:51
  drinking the blood of Christians, that's symbolism,
• 43:54
  obviously. What's the charge of the church?
• 43:57
  What do we do in that mix? I think what we do is what Peter
• 44:01
  told us exactly to do in light of the last days.
• 44:04
  Here's our final text. And if you want to turn that,
• 44:06
  you can. If you want to sit back and
• 44:07
  listen, you're welcome to do that as well.
• 44:09
  But listen to what Peter says in first.
• 44:11
  Peter 4, verse 7. The end of all things is at
• 44:15
  hand. Therefore, be self controlled
• 44:21
  and sober minded for the sake of your prayers if you think people
• 44:31
  lost their minds now and what they believe and propagate and
• 44:36
  what's infiltrating our education system and even some
• 44:38
  churches. The Bible's telling us that
• 44:40
  there is going to be a great harlot who's going to take over,
• 44:46
  and when that great harlot takes over, there is going to be a
• 44:49
  spiritual intoxication like we've never known.
• 44:57
  And Peter in his own way is speaking to Christians and he's
• 45:02
  showing us here by this instruction that the return of
• 45:05
  the Lord is imminent. There is a surprising factor
• 45:08
  about it. So he says the end of all things
• 45:11
  is at hand. Therefore, be self controlled
• 45:14
  and sober minded, clear headed, aware, vigilant, watchful.
• 45:23
  And one of the ways you know that you are not spiritually
• 45:25
  foggy or asleep or inebriated is that you have active, conscious
• 45:35
  fellowship with God. That's why he mentions prayer in
• 45:39
  the same verse. If you want to know if you're
• 45:48
  not drunk this afternoon. One symptom of sobriety is that
• 45:56
  you are walking in fellowship with God.
• 45:59
  Not in theory, not in desire merely, but in actuality.
• 46:07
  You talk to Him, you let Him talk to you.
• 46:12
  You are aware and conscious of His return.
• 46:15
  You're not just aimless in this life.
• 46:18
  You're not just drinking whatever is presented to you,
• 46:20
  even if it's in a golden cup. And maybe maybe God is using the
• 46:28
  service to sober some of us who are getting dizzy and you're not
• 46:34
  even realizing it. The great prostitute Babylon
• 46:42
  will be a false religious system.
• 46:45
  It's a symbol of future Global 1, supported and promoted by
• 46:48
  world leaders that embodies the ancient spirit of rebellion
• 46:51
  against God and unites people in defiance and deception while
• 46:54
  opposing those who follow Christ.
• 46:55
  That's what Babylon is all about.
• 46:59
  Rejoice in the Enlightenment, but also lean in.
• 47:02
  And now ask the Lord if your spirit is clean, and if it's
• 47:08
  not, He is gracious enough to help you and to protect you from
• 47:14
  what's to come. Let's ask Him for that.
• 47:38
  Father, we asked this afternoon that You would help us believe
• 47:47
  your word in its entirety. We may not know how this truth
• 47:56
  about Babylon helps us in life today, but we believe that it
• 47:58
  does. And so low.
• 48:01
  We ask this afternoon that you receive glory in our
• 48:07
  enlightenment, that our minds being illumined would produce a
• 48:13
  worship towards you because you have brought us that much closer
• 48:16
  to the truth. Although we also understand the
• 48:19
  call that Peter and others have made for us, that the end of all
• 48:24
  things, the study of it, the awareness of it, the signs of it
• 48:27
  in our own time calls us to be sober.
• 48:33
  So help us be sober if we've allowed ourselves to lose sight
• 48:38
  of You and what you're going to do in the last days.
• 48:42
  Forgive us and make us ready. If we are not near you.
• 48:51
  Use these truths in a way to draw us back.
• 48:53
  Only you can do that, Lord. We've done our part today.
• 48:58
  So may all of us walk out of this place saying thank you
• 49:00
  Lord, for reminding me to stay close to You and protect me from
• 49:07
  the things around me, the Babylonian spirit that will seek
• 49:10
  to seduce me away from God's word.
• 49:15
  And may I never fear the threats that may come my way to remain
• 49:20
  faithful to you and you alone. In Jesus name we pray these
• 49:24
  things. Amen.
• 49:26
  Amen. Let's stand Church.
• 49:28
  Let's give him thanks.