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