Religion Gone Wrong

2:55 So, let's get started with today's study. I titled my message, Religion Gone Wrong. To me, it's become so clear how fragile our world really is. This world can unravel very, very quickly. And although it hasn't unraveled yet, one day it is going to unravel completely. And that will set the stage for the world dictator, the world leader we know as Antichrist, who will precede the return of Jesus Christ himself. And that's where we are today in our study of the book of Revelation. If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the last book of the Bible, the book of the Revelation. let's look at this religious system called Babylon over which the antichrist will preside this false religious system is described as a harlot look at verses 1 and 2 of chapter 17 then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls and one of those angels spoke to me saying come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.

4:13 Now, you know what a harlot is. A prostitute, somebody who seduces people for money with the promise of sexual fulfillment. A harlot. And this is a harlot John is looking at who sits on many waters. That is, she presides over many people of many different nations. As we'll see in just a moment, this false religious system seduces kings. They use each other to achieve their own goals. But not only that, she seduces those who dwell on the earth. Remember that phrase in the book of Revelation? It refers to unbelievers, people who have their minds on worldly things instead of heavenly things. And because of that, they missed the rapture of the church. They are still on the earth and they are seduced by this harlot. Now today, false religions seduce people all of the time, whether it's Islam or Mormonism. Those are religious prostitutes that seduce people and keep them from the truth of God. There are certain aberrations of Christianity itself that can be described as religious prostitutes. Now, when we get to verse 3, we're actually going to see this harlot in great detail. Verses 1 and 2, John was invited to see the harlot. Now, look at what he saw, verse 3. And the angel carried me away, John said, and the spirit into a wilderness. We don't know if the spirit actually took him to Saudi Arabia, to the Sahara desert or if this was a spiritual experience. But wherever it was, the angel took John into the wilderness and he saw this vision of a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names having seven heads and ten horns. Now that's a description of the beast. We'll see in a moment who that beast is. I'll give you a heads up. It's the antichrist, the world leader. But first of all, John's going to describe this woman who was sitting on the beast himself. Look at the image

6:23 of the harlot, how it's described. The woman was clothed in purple, that denotes royalty, and scarlet, that's luxury, 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. this woman was beautifully dressed. She had a golden cup. We'll see what was in that cup in just a moment. But the thing I want you to see about this woman is she is seen riding the Antichrist. Now to ride a beast seems to imply that you are giving direction to that animal. You are in control of that animal. And to many people, it will appear that this false religious system is controlling the government of the Antichrist. But indeed, as we'll see, it's the Antichrist who is supporting her as well. They are in an unholy alliance, this false religion of the earth and the government at that time. And notice the name of the harlot, verse 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. You have to understand a little history here in the first century when John wrote, if you went to a brothel, the prostitutes would wear a band around their head and on that band would be their name. You not only knew what they were, you knew who they were. Well, this image, this harlot, she has a name on her forehead.

8:00 that name is Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots. This woman is not just one of the other prostitutes. She is the Madam of the brothel. She is the chief prostitute. She is not just another false religion. She is the mother of all false religions. Her name is Babylon. That fascinating name Babylon denotes the source of every false religion in the world today. I don't have time to get into it, but in the 1800s, 1862, a Scottish minister named Alexander Hislop wrote a book called The Two Babylons. And he started and traced Babylon where it started, back to Genesis 11. Remember the story of Babel? The founder of Babel was Nimrod, and they created their own religion. They tried to build that tower to reach into the heavens. And throughout history, those towers, those ziggurats were edifices that were made to pagan deities. And it angered God that they had created their own system, their own religious system to worship the God of their imagination rather than the God of the Bible. Anyway, Alexander Hislop traced the beginning of Babylonianism throughout the Bible, throughout history, all the way to the first century. It infected the church at Pergamum, we see in Revelation chapter two, throughout the middle ages and even today. And by the way, the spirit of Babylonianism is very apparent today. We don't call it Babylonianism. Nobody would join the first church of Babylon probably, but it's nevertheless very pervasive. We don't call it Babylonianism. You know what we call it? Inclusivism. Pluralism.

9:59 Nobody has a market on the truth, they say. There are many ways to God. All the different world religions are just different paths up to the same mountain that reach to God himself. Have you ever noticed that those who cry for tolerance and inclusivism are the most intolerant people when it comes to conservative Christianity? They can tolerate any belief except the belief that there is one way to God, and it's through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way it will be in this final concoction of religious heresy. The final form of Babylonianism will invite everybody to come. It will teach everything except the right thing. And that's why this woman is pictured as drinking from the cup, the blood of the saints. She, the false religious system, will work with the Antichrist to persecute those who become Christians during the great tribulation. That is the image that we see of the harlot. Now we'll talk about her judgment in just a little bit. But let's look at verse seven. He first of all deals with the judgment of the beast itself, the judgment of the beast. Now we're going to read a lot about beast in the book of Revelation. Remember there are three beasts. They're part of the satanic trinity.

11:15 I have it on your outline. The beast of the abyss, that's Satan, who is the power behind all of it. There's the beast out of the sea. That's the antichrist, the final world dictator, a human leader. And then there's the beast out of the earth, the false prophet who assists the antichrist. Now notice what he says in verse seven. And the angel said to me, why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of a woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the 10 horns. The beast that you saw was and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. You'll see this used repeatedly. He was, he is not, and he's about to be. What is that talking about? Remember the Antichrist comes to power at the beginning of the great tribulation, Revelation 6. He's assisted by this false religious system. They work together.

12:14 But early on, he appears to be assassinated. A mortal head wound. People will think he has died, but he will be miraculously, or at least it will appear, be resurrected. It's a counterfeit resurrection. Satan counterfeits every truth, including the resurrection of Jesus. But when this beast is resurrection, this leader, people all over the earth will go crazy and follow him because of the miracle he's presumably had performed, his own resurrection. That's what it's talking about here. Verse 8, 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. Now, look at the seven heads of this beast. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are the seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings.

13:13 five have fallen. One is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must remain a little while. Remember John is writing in 90 AD. These seven heads represent the seven world empires. Five of them have already occurred and disappeared from the earth. What are those five? Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece. They were already in the dustbin of history by the time John wrote this. Five have already fallen. One is, that's Rome. Rome was currently the world power when John wrote these words. And the other, the seventh, has not yet come. That's the kingdom of the Antichrist that is yet to come. And when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast, which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, but he's also one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. Well, how could he be the leader of the seventh kingdom and the final eighth kingdom? Remember what I said? While he is in charge of that final kingdom, he will appear to die, and then he'll be resurrected, and he'll come back in an even stronger form in the eighth and final kingdom. That's the seven heads that were on the beast.

14:36 Now let's look at the 10 horns. The 10 horns, which you saw are 10 kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as with kings, with the beast for one hour. And they have one purpose and they give their power and authority to the beast. Apparently the Antichrist will have 10 assistants, if you will, governors who rule over various aspects of the Antichrist kingdom. Now, look at the defeat of the beast. Verse 14, and these, that is the kings of the earth will wage war against the lamb, Jesus, and the lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and kings of kings, and those who are with him are called the chosen and the faithful. John is fast forwarding to chapter 19. He said, these 10 kings, they're going to assemble together at Armageddon. They're going to wage war against the Antichrist.

15:31 But suddenly the Lord will appear in heaven. We will appear with him and the lamb will overcome them. That is the defeat of the beast. Now, let's look at the defeat of the harlot. That's the final thing John saw in verses 15 and 18. And he said to me, the waters which you see where the harlot sits, these are the people and multitudes of nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw in the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. Halfway through this great tribulation, the Antichrist, after using the harlot for his own purposes will discard her and destroy her. He will decide he no longer needs the church, this false religious system. He has all the power he needs. And so he will turn on the church, this false church and completely destroy her. And why will the Kings do that? Verse 17, for God has put it in their hearts to execute his purpose by having a common purpose and by giving their kingdom to the beast until the words of God will be fulfilled. Isn't it interesting?

16:46 The reason the 10 pagan kings destroy the harlot is because God puts it in their heart to do so. Could I just remind you, God is able to work in the hearts of non-Christians just like he is the hearts of Christians. Don't think that that maid of yours has to be a Christian for God to use them in a positive way. They have to be a Christian to go to heaven, but God can still speak through that ungodly husband. He can speak through ungodly rulers. God's purpose will be accomplished. And you see that even in these final days. God will use false religion in a sense to accomplish his ultimate purpose. How can you keep from being seduced by false religion? How can you know if a religion is really from God or not? John gives us three tests, three questions to ask about any religion. First of all, what does that religion teach about Jesus? What does it teach about Jesus?

17:51 Look at verses two and three of first John four. By this, you know, the spirit of God, every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God this is the spirit of the antichrist of what you've heard that it is coming and it's now already in the world there are many religions that profess to believe in Jesus you talk to Muslims oh I talk to them in the cab all the time back when I was traveling talking to Muslims, and I would talk to them about Christ. Oh, yes, we believe in Jesus, great prophet of God. They believe he was a great prophet of God. They will even say he was a son of God, one of many sons of God. Yes, he died on the cross, but he was miraculously delivered before he actually died on the cross, so he didn't have to experience death. That's not the Jesus of the Bible. That's the Jesus of Muhammad's imagination. You talk to Mormons. Oh yes, we believe in Jesus.

18:53 We're the church of Jesus Christ. He's even in our name. But the Jesus they believe in is not the Jesus of the Bible. It's the Jesus that appeared to Joseph Smith. It's the Jesus. Well, I'm not even going to get into all of it, but it's not the Jesus of the Bible. To believe, to confess that Jesus is Lord means to believe that Jesus is the unique son of God who came to earth in human form, who died on the cross for the redemption of our sins, who was buried and rose again on the third day, who ascended into heaven and is coming back one day to reclaim this earth for himself. That's the Jesus you have to believe in in order to be saved. What does the religion teach about Jesus? Secondly, ask yourself the question, What does this religion believe about salvation? Paul said, even if we are an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, that person is to be accursed. Paul was writing to the Galatians. They were falling for a doctrine that said, oh yes, faith in Christ is important, but it's not enough. You need to have faith in Christ plus be circumcised. Faith in God and keep the Ten Commandments. Faith in God and be whatever, whatever. It is faith and. What did he say about that kind of religion? Paul said, if anybody tells you that kind of message, let that person be anathema, literally accursed, literally damned forever. Anybody who adds to Christianity, it's faith in Christ and something else is teaching a false truth. The other night this week, I was watching an interview on CNN, and they were interviewing this Episcopal bishop. And she was going on and on and on with so much religious gobbledygook. I mean, I can't tell you, she wouldn't stop saying all of these buzzwords and so forth. And I just, actually, I yelled at the TV. I said, lady, just stop and tell me,

20:58 what do I have to do to go to heaven when I die? Just make it clear. What do I have to do? She couldn't tell you if her life depended on it, what you have to do to go to heaven when you die. When you talk to somebody from another faith or a religious leader from another faith, if you want to cut to the chase, just ask them that question. What do I need to do to go to heaven when I die? And finally, ask yourself, what results does this religion produce? You know, in 2 Timothy 3, 5, Paul described a form of godliness. They hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. He said, avoid men such as these. You know, my concern for a church like First Baptist Dallas that has 152 years of standing on the truth of God's word is that we can know God's word backward and forward. We can identify the harlot in Revelation 17.

21:54 We understand the importance of Israel in Bible prophecy. We can spout off all of these things, but we still can't forgive those who wrong us. We still can't overcome sin in our life. That religion is just as wrong and hollow as the other religions I mentioned. True faith in Christ will result in a transformed life through the power of the Holy Spirit. And if that transformation isn't taking place in your life, then your religion is just as worthless as the other religions. John is telling us, avoid all kinds of false religions. Avoid any faith that denies the person of Christ, that denies the provision, the only provision of God for salvation, and denies the power of the Holy Spirit to transform a life. The deeper we dig into the revelation given to John, the more we recognize the need for a broader understanding of this final book in the Bible. Revelation represents the unveiling of Jesus Christ in all his glory. That's one of the many reasons I want you to own my comprehensive commentary through the entire book of Revelation. It's called Final Conquest. This best-selling book represents my life's work on biblical prophecy.

23:23 By reading Final Conquest, you'll begin to understand the signs and symbols John used and why we should take them seriously. And together we'll explore the historical context that illuminates the meaning of revelation. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'll make sure to send you a copy of Final Conquest with my thanks. In fact, when you respond right now, I'll be sure to include a popular booklet I've written called The Major Characters of the End Times. This is a quick reference guide on bizarre characters like the Harlot of Babylon and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In my booklet, I explain why these characters are important. In closing, let me thank our Pathway partners and all those who give generously and often sacrificially. We couldn't provide this daily program without your partnership.

24:20 Together, we are piercing the darkness with the light of God's Word. Here's David with all the details.