Worship and False Religion

Then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides. The tablets were God's work and the writing was God's writing engraved on the tablets.

Now when Joshua heard the sound of the people as they shouted, he said to Moses, "There is a sound of war in the camp."

But Moses said, "It is not the sound of the cry of defeat, but the sound of singing I hear."

It came about as soon as Moses came near the camp that he saw the calf and the dancing. And Moses' anger burned and he threw the tablets from his hand and shattered them at the foot of the mountain. He took the calf which they had made and burned it with fire and ground it to powder and scattered it over the surface of the water and made the sons of Israel drink it.

Then Moses said to Aaron, "What did these people do to you, that you have brought such great sin upon them?"

And Aaron said, "Do not let the anger of my lord burn. You know the people yourself that they are prone to evil. For they said to me, 'Make a god for us and we will go, for this Moses, the man who brought us up from the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.' I said to them, 'Whoever has any gold, let him tear it off.' So they gave it to me, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf."

Now when Moses saw that the people were out of control, for Aaron had let them get out of control, to be a derision among their enemies, then Moses stood in the gate of the camp and said, "Whoever is for the Lord, come to me." And all the sons of Levi gathered together to him.

He said to them, "Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, 'Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp and kill every man his brother, and every his friend, and every man his neighbor.'"

So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed. About 3,000 men of the people fell that day.

Then Moses said, "Dedicate yourselves today to the Lord, for every man has been against his son and against his brother, in order that he may bestow a blessing upon you today."

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Prayer for Congregation and Ministry

Father, we continue to worship you and give you praise and adoration that is due you alone. We declare your holiness and your righteousness, Lord.

We saw last week how when the people of Israel, those that you called out, those that you led out of Egypt miraculously, had their hearts moved to idolatry. Your word tells us your anger burned against them, Lord. Your righteous wrath and anger was stirred against their idolatry. We see so clearly in these passages how holy and righteous you are, and that you justly would destroy them.

We also learned that Moses interceded, coming before you on behalf of the people pleading for your mercy. That is a picture of our great high priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. We are the idolaters, Lord. We are the ones who have lived our lives making idols of the things of this world, worshiping the false gods of this world. Your word tells us your anger is against us, Lord. But we praise you for the Lord Jesus Christ, that he bore your wrath, that we who look at him in faith are forgiven and adopted into your family, and that he intercedes for us even now, Lord. Your wrath was turned because of his mediation, his work on the cross.

Even as we see in this account, Aaron's blindness to his own sin. As your children, we can seek to blame others. Aaron would say that he just threw the gold in and somehow this calf came out, as if he had no responsibility for what happened. Lord, we can deceive ourselves as well. We pray this morning, Lord, that we would be men and women who confess our sin before you. We thank you for the blood of Jesus Christ that cleanses us from all unrighteousness.

Father, we continue to pray for those in our congregation who are suffering with sickness. We pray for your mercy, for your comfort, your peace, and your presence. Most of all, may you sustain their faith, strengthen their faith. May they grow closer to you through these trials, and may you have mercy and bring about healing upon them.

We lift up the Gas family before you. We thank you for their years of faithful service in Zambia, thank you for their love and sacrifice for the kingdom of God. We believe that lives were changed and touched, and we pray that the ministry they've begun would continue, that you'd raise up leaders, that the gospel would go forth, that lives would be transformed.

We pray as Matt prepares for this workshop, this sermon preparation workshop where he will teach men how to construct a sermon from your word expositionally, Lord, would you lead him? May this be fruitful. Prepare these men well, Lord, to be men of the word, men who will rely upon your spirit and your power to proclaim the truth of your word. Bless their time and bless their travels back to the United States at year end and the new ministry they will embark in.

Father, we turn our hearts to your word. Prepare us as you bring your servant up to preach. We thank you for bringing the Labanics back safely from a restful vacation, Lord, and it's with great anticipation we look to hear from you as your word is unfolded to us this morning.

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The Doctrine of Last Things

Let me invite you to turn in your Bibles to Revelation 17.

Last January, we started and continued a series on the various doctrines of scripture. We've been through many of them: bibliology, the theology of God, theology proper, soteriology, the doctrine of Christ and his offices and person, angelology, demonology, and more. This past January, we started a study in eschatology, the doctrine of last things. We continued it to the middle of June and then took a break as we always do during the summer.

I'm getting ready to start up again this Thursday. I thought it would be good to begin this week coming back with this first lesson, in part simply as a way to whet your appetite for the study of last things. Another reason is to capture your world view and refine your world view a little bit.

We started back in January on death. We took four weeks on that. Then we talked about the intermediate state—what happens the moment a believer dies. We were four weeks on that. Then we went to the rapture, which was three or four weeks. Somewhere after Easter, we started the tribulation, what the Bible calls the tribulation, a final seven years of human history before Jesus comes and sets up his kingdom. We are still in the middle of that.

What will follow is:

• The return of Christ
• The millennial kingdom
• The great white throne judgment
• The eternal state

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Revelation 17: Worship

Revelation 17 is a chapter about worship. Worship is the ultimate human priority. From the beginning, man was created to worship.

Now a person can respond to that reality in different ways. He may be an atheist and simply deny the reality of God. Or he may claim to stay away from all religious affiliation. They could claim to be agnostic—there may be a God but no one really could know who he is. So how can we worship him?

But what every human being can never do is change what they are hardwired to do by their creator, and that is to worship.

What Happens When Humans Refuse to Worship the Creator

What happens when a creature who was created to worship refuses to worship his creator? He doesn't stop worshiping.

The apostle Paul talks about that in Romans 1:21. Even though they knew God, man knows there's a God through creation. Even though they knew God, they did not honor him, they did not worship him as God nor give him thanks. They became futile in their speculations. Their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and they exchanged the glory or the worship of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible men and birds and four-footed creatures and crawling things. In other words, instead of worshiping the true God, they decided to worship the creation.

That's what always happens when humans who were created to worship refuse to worship the true God. They end up worshiping false gods. Idolatry in all of its forms has two compelling attractions.

Two Attractions to Idolatry

First: Self-centered gratification. If I could take you back to the gods of the Old Testament or even the gods of the Greco-Roman world in the New Testament, I could show you that at the very root of idolatry is self-centered gratification. Seeking some combination of power, authority, self-exaltation, sexual fulfillment, or financial prosperity. That's always the first appeal of idolatry.

You go back in the Old Testament and study the worship of Baal. That's what it was all about. The people were motivated by their own selfish indulgences.

Second: Self-rule. A second appeal to idolatry is perhaps even greater, and that is simply self-rule. Author David Wells puts it this way:

"Why do people choose to substitute idols over God himself? Probably the most important reason is it averts accountability to God. We can meet idols on our own terms because they are our own creation. They are safe. They are predictable. They are controllable. They are like scarecrows in a cucumber field. They can be carried about and they're completely under the user's control. They offer nothing like the threat of a god who thunders on Sinai and whose providence in this world so often seems to us to be incomprehensible and dangerous. People who remain in the center of their lives need only to face themselves."

That is the appeal of idolatry.

False Religion

False religion knows this: it's not for people who are seeking God. We tend to think as Christians, "I meet somebody and they have a bible and they go to church and they're involved in some religion and we think to ourselves, here's a person really seeking the true God. They just became misdirected and they can't find him." Beloved, nothing could be further from the truth.

False religion is not for those who are seeking the true God. It's for those who are running from the true God, and they hide in false religion.

That's why Paul says in Romans 3:11, "There is none who seeks after God." The only seeker is God, and thank him for that because none of us sought him on our own. Jesus says, "I came to seek and to save those who are lost." So the only true seeker in the universe is God.

When it comes to false religion, Karl Marx was right. It is the opium of the people. In other words, it's often used to control people and make them feel good about the difficulties of life that they're experiencing.

John 8:44. Satan himself is the father of lies. Every false religion is built upon a foundation of lies, which Satan uses to draw people to worship him and demons.

2 Corinthians 11:14. Both Satan and his demons disguise themselves as messengers of truth that they may persuade people through the lies of false religion.

False Religion at the End of History

Because false religion is one of Satan's greatest weapons, its power, its influence, its apex will reach its height at the end of human history. It'll be under antichrist and the false prophet that all of the religions of the world will gather together into one final world religion during the first half of the tribulation. They will probably remain a little bit distinct in their own ways, but they'll come together as one great ecumenical force.

That false religion, that final false religious system, will play a prominent role in antichrist building his final world empire.

John MacArthur writes this: "During the tribulation, people will seek religion because of what'll be happening in the world. Think rapture. And also because of the hammer of God's judgment that's devastating the earth and terrorizing its inhabitants. Thus, people will..."

Turn in desperation to antichrist as their savior, aided by the false prophet and hordes of deceiving demons. Antichrist will establish a dominant worldwide religion.

So this morning, as we launch out again into our study of eschatology—the doctrine of last things—we come to Revelation 17 and 18. In these chapters, we see the power of false religion, its future worldwide domination, and at the same time, its destruction by the Lord.

For those of you who participate either on Zoom or come live on Thursday, you may remember that we left our spring teaching giving a jet tour through Revelation 6 through God's judgments upon a world that rejects him during the tribulation. We saw the seven seal judgments, the seven trumpet judgments, and the seven bowl judgments.

Now let me set the stage for these two chapters. Revelation 17 and 18 is a detailed account of antichrist's final false world religious system as well as a detailed account of its final political empire and its great headquarter city. These chapters step away from the chronological flow in the book of Revelation and enlarge upon a theme that John has been giving us in these last few chapters.

Let me show you the theme. Look back at Chapter 14, verse 8. Another angel, the second one, followed saying, "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great." That's antichrist's final political religious empire. "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. She who has made all nations drunk with the wine of the passion of her immorality." So we begin to get the first hint that antichrist's final world empire is going to come crashing down.

Look over at Chapter 16. This is the middle of the pouring out of those bowl judgments. In verse 17, the seventh angel poured out his seventh bowl upon the air. Look at verse 19: "And when that happened, that judgment came upon the earth. The great city was split into three parts. All of the cities of the nations fell. And Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of his fierce wrath."

The end of chapter 16—the final bowl judgment of God's wrath—is poured out upon the world, and antichrist's great empire begins to crumble.

Now as we come to Chapter 17 and 18, John steps back in this vision. He receives it from the angel, and he blows up that final judgment and gives us a more detailed account of the fall of the empire of antichrist.

If I could entitle these two chapters:

• Chapter 17: Destruction of Religious Babylon
• Chapter 18: Destruction of Political Babylon

All I want to do this morning is introduce this city of religious Babylon. We're going to begin with the title that John gives it. He entitles it the great harlot.

Let me read our passage this morning, Chapter 17, verses 1-6:

"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls of judgment came and spoke with me, saying, 'Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. With whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell in the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.' He carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, and having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and things of her immorality. And on her forehead, a name was written: A mystery. Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus."

In this passage, the angel describes for John this final one-world false religious system that will blanket the earth during these final years of what we call the seven-year tribulation. Notice the angel describes this final religious system as a prostitute. That's the angel's description of the final world religious system, and it's for good reason.

The Extent of the Harlot's Influence

Let me begin to walk you through the passage. My first point is the extent of the harlot's influence.

Verse 1: "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me." This is one of the angels who poured out one of the bowls of God's judgment upon the earth during the final half of the tribulation period. He comes and begins to explain this vision that John has seen. By the way, this becomes the first of what will be several times in the last few chapters where God gives John a vision he doesn't understand, and the angel comes and explains what it means.

"So one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying, 'Come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot.'"

Now there is a fascinating parallel here. Look over at Chapter 21, verse 9. Different vision, almost identical wording: "Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls filled with the seven last plagues came and spoke with me and said, 'Come here, I will show you.'" Almost exactly the same. But this time: "I will show you a bride—not a harlot, a bride, the wife of the Lamb."

You see the parallel. It's not by accident. The Lord intends there to be an intentional contrast here between the harlot—who represents all false religion in the world—and the Lamb's bride, who represents true Christianity, all true religion in the world.

Back in Chapter 17, notice the angel will show John this great harlot sits on many waters. The angel invites John to come with him so John could witness the judgment. The word "judgment" means the final verdict and the sentence that will be carried out in these chapters—that is, the judgment on the great harlot.

Now I want you to know this: the harlot here is not an actual person. It is a metaphor for false religion, religious idolatry. We see this throughout the Old Testament. Nahum Chapter 3, verse 4, Nineveh is called a harlot because of her idolatry. Isaiah Chapter 23, verse 15, same for the city of Tyre—they are called a prostitute because they worship idols. Even the city of Jerusalem is referred to as a harlot when they begin to worship the gods of the pagans. Isaiah Chapter 1, verse 21: "How the faithful city of Jerusalem has become a harlot." Even the nation of Israel as a whole, when they turn to idolatry: Jeremiah Chapter 3, verses 8-9: "I saw that for all the adulteries of the faithless nation of Israel—because of her harlotry, she polluted the land and committed adultery with stones and trees. She worshiped idols."

All of that helps us make it clear that the harlotry here, or the prostitution, is spiritual in nature. It is spiritual idolatry.

Back to our passage in Revelation 17, this city, this final world empire referred to as a harlot, seduces the entire world to a worship of false gods, false religion. Now what would this include? Well, it would include all the pagan idolatry that you see out in the world today—all of that which makes it to the final seven-year tribulation. No doubt it will also include a perverted, apostate, kind of pseudo-Christianity that's dominant in the Western world.

Seven times in this chapter, John uses the word prostitution or harlotry. And the angel's point to John is this: this final ecumenical world religion uniting all of the religions of the world together into one will be like a spiritual prostitute.

Notice, by the way, she's sitting on many waters. This is the scope of this one final world religion. In the ancient world, you only really built cities you wanted to be influential—you built them by water. The ancient city of Babylon was built by the Euphrates River so that there would be canals bringing water into the city, irrigation ditches to bring water to the crops. Jeremiah Chapter 51, verse 13 describes the ancient city of Babylon and its inhabitants: "You who dwell by many waters."

Now the angel explains what he means here by many waters. Look down at verse 15, Chapter 17: "And he said to me, 'The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.'"

So the harlot is sitting on many waters, meaning that her influence will blanket the world much like the oceans, lakes, rivers, and streams blanket our planet today. The entire world would begin to feel the power of the final false world religious system, and her influence will dominate every level of society.

Look at verse 2: "With whom, this harlot, the kings of the earth commit acts of immorality." As is often the case with false religion throughout history, this final world religious system—this kind of ecumenical amalgamation of religions across the world—will exercise political influence over various governments. In this case, referred to as the kings of the earth, the leaders of the nations of the world. They'll be willing, for political expediency, to align themselves with this final one-world false religion.

And not just the kings, but you see in verse 2, "those who dwell on the earth." Whenever you see that phrase in the book of Revelation, it's simply referring to all of the unbelievers in the world during this time. The unbelieving world will join in—either for personal advantage or maybe out of genuine passion and faith—and they will all buy into antichrist and his final one-world religious system. They'll be so committed to it, so enamored with it, that it will seem like they're drunk or intoxicated on it. They'll be made "drunk with the wine of her immorality."

How will this happen? I mean, how will an entire planet of people who have been warring for centuries over different religions unite in this one world religion? Well, when we saw the extent of the harlot's power, it will blanket the entire world. This false religious system.

But what is the source of the harlot's power? Well, look at verse 3: "And he, the angel, carried me, John, in the spirit into the wilderness."

So now the location of the vision changes. John is out in the wilderness. It's desolate, deserted. And in the wilderness, John saw "a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns."

Now the woman here—and we're going to say this in what's to come on Thursday evening—the woman is clearly the prostitute whom the angel was talking about in verses 1 and 2. This final one-world false religious system. And in this case, she is sitting on a beast, which implies she is supported by a beast.

Now, we're not going to do this today, but the description of the beast as it unfolds makes it clear that the beast is actually the antichrist—this final world political ruler who will dominate the tribulation period. So we're talking about antichrist, who's described as a beast. He's beastly in character. He's beastly in his rule. And we're told he has a certain color to help describe him. He is scarlet.

Now if you look throughout scripture, scarlet has some interesting associations. Most of all, scarlet or purple is associated with luxury, with affluence, with royalty. It's also identified with sin. Isaiah Chapter 1, verse 18: "Though your sins be as scarlet." It's also associated with blood shedding.

I would say, as we look through the life of antichrist—this beast—all three would be implied here. Antichrist will be a king. He will be royalty. But his royalty, his kingliness, will be characterized by sinfulness, by luxury, by brutal violence.

John goes on to describe him in other ways. You notice in verse 3, he is "full of blasphemous names." In Chapter 13, verse 1, he has on his head blasphemous names. Now they cover his entire body.

Why is the antichrist described as one who is full of blasphemous names? I think at least two reasons.

Number one: During the final seven years of human history, he will take on for himself the title of deity—that he is the one true God. Second Thessalonians Chapter 2, verse 4, Paul says that antichrist destroys the worship in the Temple of Jerusalem during the middle part of the tribulation. He sets up an image or an idol of himself in the Temple and calls upon all of the world to worship him as God.

I think another reason he is described as full of blasphemies is that he is going to speak arrogant words against the one true God. See, he not only claims to be God, but he will denigrate the true God. Daniel Chapter 7, verse 25: "He speaks out against the Most High." Daniel 11, verse 36: "He speaks monstrous things against the God of gods."

So every once in a while, we hear our politicians say something and we cringe. It is blasphemous. That will be nothing like this ruler. He is covered with blasphemous names.

John goes on to describe antichrist in verse 3 as having "seven heads and ten horns." It describes his political power, his political alliances. We're going to see it Thursday in verses 9 and 10. Seven heads are described as seven mountains, which are upon which the woman sits—likely seven kings over seven kingdoms all under the harlot's influence. Again, we'll talk about that.

The ten horns in verse 12 describe ten kings who will rule in a political alliance in the end times with the antichrist. But however you take that, the point is you'll see it in verse 13: all of these alliances have one purpose. And that is to give their power and their authority to the antichrist, the beast.

So in antichrist, there'll be no separation of church and state. He will rule through religion, and he will rule through politics. And what verse 3 is describing for us is this: he will coexist with this false religious system, supporting each other—that will be during the first three and a half years of the tribulation. There will be confusion in the world because of the rapture. There will be the judgment of God starting to come upon the world.

The Harlot's Strategy and the False Prophet

People will be panicking. He will create this false religious system that will unite people together and it will help him come to the apex of power in the world. A kind of all religions come together, let's say, hands, let's be friends, kind of one world faith. And he will use it to his advantage to build his empire. He supports the harlot and uses the harlot to build a name for himself. But during the midpoint of the tribulation, he's gonna change his tune.

Look at chapter 17, verse 16. The ten horns which you saw and the beast—these are the ten horns, the ten kings who rule under antichrist. The ten horns which you saw and the beast, these eventually will hate the harlot, the false religious system. And they will make her desolate and naked and they will eat her flesh and burn her up with fire. They're gonna turn on the false religious system.

This false religious system will be used by antichrist to bring in power. Once he gains power, he will want to display himself as the one true God, so he'll have to do away with this false religious system. So they finally all get together. They unite themselves, by the way, all the religions of the world in a hatred against the one true God, hatred against his people, many of which will get saved during the tribulation. And they will bring antichrist to power and then he will tear this false religious system down and replace it with himself.

The harlot rides around on the beast, the antichrist. He supports her. He gets her power. At the midpoint of the tribulation, he does a bait and switch. He appears to have been killed. He seems to be resurrected. At that point, he turns against the false religions of the world. He mimics what Jesus does, in a sense. He turns against the false religion. He sets himself up as the one true Christ.

The False Prophet

Turn back to chapter 13, just for a moment. Chapter 13, verse 11. Then I saw another beast. Now this is not the antichrist. This is another beast. This is a description of what we call the false prophet. The false prophet is the right hand man of antichrist. He is the one who heads up the false final world religious empire for antichrist.

Verse 11: I saw another beast, a false prophet coming up out of the earth. He comes from hell just like the antichrist. And he had two horns like a lamb. He looks pretty innocent. And he spoke like a dragon. And he exalts all the authority of the first beast, the antichrist, in his presence. He makes the earth and those who dwell on the earth to worship the first beast, the antichrist, since it happens in the middle of the tribulation whose fatal wound was healed.

He performs great signs so that even he makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men. He has the ability to do miracles through Satan's power. And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs, the miraculous signs which are given to him. And as a result of all of that, verse 15: it was given to him to give breath to the image that is antichrist, seemingly resurrection from the dead, the image of the beast, so that the image of beast would even speak and cause many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

So what you have is for three and a half years—the first three and a half years—you have this bizarre amalgamation of world religions coming together: likely Islam, the Mormons, the Hindus, all of this pseudo Christianity that seems to fill the Western world. All of these false religions joined together in what seems to be one great happy family and antichrist uses them to build his political empire.

But at the middle of the tribulation, it appears that he suffers a fatal wound. It appears that he's resurrected from the dead. Then him and the false prophet will say enough with these people, enough with this amalgamation, ecumenical religion. The antichrist will set up an image of himself in the temple. Second Thessalonians chapter two talks about that. Daniel chapter seven, Daniel 11, Matthew chapter 24. He does away with all false worship, and he insists he alone be eventually worshiped as God.

But until he turns against this worldwide ecumenical religious system, verse three tells us he'll be the source of its power. The harlot will ride on the beast.

The Harlot's Prosperity

So we have the extent of the harlot's power: the whole world. We have the source of the harlot's power: the antichrist, who we will see in the future is empowered by Satan himself.

The picture of the harlot's prosperity. Prostitutes then and now, they have a tendency to be abusers. Today, drugs. Today, alcohol. The same was true or will be true with this harlot of Babylon.

Notice verse four, chapter 17: And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet. Because of the difficulty of dying fabrics in that day, back then everybody kinda had the same color clothing. And if you were able to get a dye, you could dye your clothes, but the most difficult colors to come by were purple and scarlet. You'd have to have a certain berry, live in a certain place, have a certain berry, or live where there's a certain snail. You would crush the snail. There'd be a certain amount of dye, and then you could get kind of a scarlet purple color. So because it was so difficult to come by, it was rarely had, so it was used for the nobility, in other words, the royalty, the kings. They would clothe themselves with purple and scarlet. It set them apart as the elite. They were wealthy colors, wealthy garments. They represented prosperity and nobility. That's what the dress of the harlot indicates.

Verse four: She is ordained with gold. Literally, she is gold, made out of gold. So she wears so much gold—this final false religious system, maybe her cathedrals around the world—characterized by gold. She appears to be golden. In addition, she adorns herself with precious stones and pearls. So these fine jewels not only indicate her desire to make herself attractive, kinda alluring to her victims. You know, we are the prosperous religion. But it also implies that she's been very successful in building her affluence off the backs of the common people of the world.

By the way, compare that to the clothing of the bride in chapter 19, verse eight. It was given to Jesus' bride to clothe herself in common fine linen, bright and clean, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.

John notices something else about this woman, this final false world religious system: having a hand in her hand a golden cup. Of course, underscoring her wealth, her nobility. If you lived back in the first century and you had a cup in your home, it would be a clay cup. It would often break. You'd often have to remake it, make another one. But this harlot has a golden cup. And notice the disgusting contents. It is full of abominations and of unclean things of her immorality.

Take yourself back to the first century. What we know about the pagan worship in temples like this: it would be all of this orgy, drunken, drug-induced, perverted worship with the priests and the priestesses. In other words, the idea here is idolatry and all the acts of worship that are associated with this final false world religious system is all an abomination to God. The religious system will literally do everything they can that is offensive to God. And through that, by the way, they're gonna gain wealth. Why? Because they're gonna feed into the lust and passions of sinners.

The future false world religious system will be no different really than all the false religious systems throughout history. Its power and its influence will enrich itself off the backs of the common people who they duped. So whether you think about the scribes and pharisees of the first century, or, for instance, Roman Catholicism today: I looked it up because I was curious. You could look it up. What is the wealth of the Roman Catholic church? Here's the answer: no one knows. No one knows because they have so much wealth. But what we do know is they are either the wealthiest institution on or one of the wealthiest institutions on the planet. See, that's what false religion always does. It builds itself on the backs of poor, desperate people, promising to give them things. False religion today, it'll appear very prosperous on the outside.

The Mystery of the Harlot's Name

Which brings us to our final description of this religious harlot, and this one's the mystery: the mystery of the harlot's name.

Look at verse five: And on her forehead, a name was written. Now this would have been common if you look in the first century world. Harlots in Rome tended to take names for themselves. They would either get that name tattooed somewhere on their body or often they would just wear kind of a headband, and they would write out that name on the headband. So this prostitute identifies herself, has a name on her forehead.

And her name was written—it was a mystery. Then we studied this out before in Ephesians. Whenever the Bible uses the term "mystery" in the New Testament, it's referring to something that nobody knows, nobody can know, nobody would ever know, unless God reveals it to them. The fact that Babylon the Great—there's final false world religious empire, political empire—the fact that it's called a mystery at least in this context, it implies to us that we're not really talking about the ancient city of Babylon because it wouldn't be a mystery if we were. We're not talking about a geographical location. There wouldn't be a mystery if it names the location Babylon.

So here's this false religion. It's referred to as Babylon the Great. Now, you know, in the Old Testament often, when you wanted to refer to false religion, you called it Babel or Babylon. This one's referred to as the Great or later the mother of all false religions, because it is the greatest false religion ever put together.

So who would we ask, or what would we ask, or where is Babylon the Great? How much time do you have? There's been so much ink spilled on this subject. It started way back with Tertullian in the second century. He identified Babylon, the headquarters of this final world political religious empire, as Rome. And we understand that even at Clusum, the chapter, in verse nine, it said to have seven hills and even to this day, Rome is known as the city of seven hills. In verse 18, it's known as a great city. During Tertullian's time, Rome was the great city. So many throughout the ages—meaning Luther, meaning Augustine—they have identified this as the Roman Catholic church.

And listen, I am not saying that's impossible. Wow. Clearly, the Roman Catholic church is apostate. Clearly, it is a false religious system. Clearly, it is, if not the most powerful false religion in the world today, one of the most powerful on the planet today. And I would say it will undoubtedly be part of this greater ecumenical world religion in the time of the end.

I just think as we go through the chapter and the next chapter, we're gonna find out that it's more than just one religion. It's false religions, all of them brought together into one system. In other words, there is still a mysterious element as to exactly what this false religion is gonna be. It's like nothing we know today exactly.

Understanding Babylon's Origin

Now let me stand this future false religious system called Babylon the Great. I think what we need to do, without turning there for time, we need to go back to the Old Testament. And you remember that Babylon or Babel played a key role in all false religions throughout history.

Now you know the story, right? All false religion finds its source in chapter 11, the Tower of Babel. It was after the flood that Noah's descendants got together, began to multiply, multiply, multiply, multiply. Pretty soon, they became a big population and they moved around until finally they came to what the Bible says, the land of Shinar. And they entitled their capital city, Babel.

Now there was a man. We meet him. His name was Nimrod. He is a mighty tyrant who lived in rebellion against the Lord. And that was the beginnings of his kingdom. It was entitled Babel in the land of Shinar.

Now in chapter 11, verses one through nine, Nimrod decides that he is going to build a religion. So all the people come together and they build this Tower of Babel to worship false gods. And if you're familiar with Scripture, you're familiar with it. So they made their own religion. They built this tower, later known as the Ziggurat. They would build them all over that part of the world—these step temples, which you finally get to the highest step, and you were said to be close to the gods and you worship them.

Of course, God wasn't pleased with that. So in a very humorous way, he decided to send his judgment. One day, they woke up. They all had different languages. They couldn't communicate with each other. So those who spoke this language, they would be in to get together. Those who spoke this language, those who spoke this language, and then they scattered along the planet, and they took their false religious systems with them. And thus, we have all these false religions around the world.

So God decides to give a name to this final world of false religion that exists at the end. It's only appropriate that the name is Babylon, Babel, Babylon the Great. Because just as the ancient city of Babel spawned all false religion, future Babylon will be the mother of all false religion.

The Harlot's Intoxication with Blood

Look at verse six: I saw a woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. Sadly, like I said, then and now, prostitutes often find themselves addicted—drugs, alcohol. No different with this prostitute. This prostitute represents all of false religion at the end of the age. She will not be addicted to alcohol but to the blood of the saints and those who testify of Jesus.

Want you to get the picture of drunk with blood. It implies she would have an unquenchable thirst for blood and for violence. And she will carry it out—this final world religion on a worldwide scale. And all of those who are involved, the entire world with this final worldwide religion, they will be irrationally out of control. It'll be like they're intoxicated in the persecution of two groups with two names: the saints and those who testify of Jesus.

There's a great irony here, by the way. This harlot will unite everyone from every religion across the planet, except those who truly belong to Jesus Christ. Who are those they persecute? Number one, the blood.

be drunk in the blood of the saints—saints, the Haggaias. Those who have been separated unto God to live godly lives. See, the ungodly can't live godly lives and they hate those who do.

Secondly, the same group: those who are witnesses of Jesus. They faithfully speak of Jesus and his gospel and they are constantly confronting the false religious and the evil lives of those who are under it.

The description should surprise us, by the way, because in John chapter eight, Jesus says Satan is a murderer. He's been a murderer from the beginning. So everyone under his control potentially is a murderer. And they love to murder those who love God.

You know, our hearts break when we see violence in our world. I want you to understand this. Just a little time out. Every time you see violence, you wake up tomorrow, you look at whatever news feed you look at, some innocent person dies. Don't think that is God. Violence originates from Satan. He's a liar. He's a murderer. He was from the beginning. So when you see someone murdered, God's a giver of life. He is the only one who has the right to take life, by the way, and he does. But Satan is a usurper and he always tries to take what belongs to God.

So under Satan's directions, the promoters of false religions have killed countless throughout the centuries. And during the tribulation, there'll be the greatest martyrdom ever throughout history. He'll be drunk with hatred. Listen, false religion—and I mean those who survive Islam into the tribulation, those who survive Hinduism, Mormons, Buddhists, all this pseudo Christianity that's floating around, all the false religions of the world that will exist until that day—and then come together as one. They will be falling down drunk on the blood of truth believers. They will identify those who live holy lives. They will identify those who speak up of Christ and his gospel. And they will seek to kill men.

Come on. I mean, what is all of this information that you're giving us this morning? I mean, is there any lessons for us? Let me briefly give you a few.

Number One: You Were Made to Worship

You were made to worship. It never stops. God made you to be a worshiper and you and I are worshiping. Now you may not be worshiping the true God. But you and I are worshiping something or someone. It may be something God made, like your car, your house, or maybe yourself. But you are worshiping something because God has hard wired you to worship, and nothing will ever change that.

So you're either worshiping Jesus Christ and you belong to his bride, or you're engaged in some form of worship of false gods and false religion, and you belong to the harlot. Those are the only two options.

So just to be clear about people in our world, because we get a little sentimental in our thinking. You know, this person's a seeker. They just found themselves over at this religion over here. Now I'm not saying God can't be working in someone's heart and we see and they're seeking and we've seen this really up until, you know, this past summer with people. And God doesn't open their eyes, and they don't get saved. But understand, those who are involved in false religion are not seeking God. They are running from God, hiding under the umbrella of false religion, which makes them feel good about themselves.

Number Two: The Broad Road

In every generation, the broad road that leads to destruction is always more easy to find and more heavily traveled than the narrow path that leads to eternal life. It's true during tribulation, and it's true today with the people who live around us. The truth is until Jesus returns, most people will be on the broad road. They will go through the wide gate that leads to destruction. And we need to understand that.

Number Three: False Religion Is More Powerful

False religion is generally more powerful and more wealthy and more influential than the true church, than true Christianity. Now don't be concerned about that. Don't think somehow you're not on the winning end here because we don't have gold, golden statues, golden cups. Don't look at the glitz and glamour. You know, don't go to Europe and watch your son some cathedral and some apostate religion and say somehow I'm missing out. Apostate religion is always celebrated in affluence, by smoke and mirrors.

Number Four: False Religion Works With Governments

False religion often works with fallen governments to persecute the people of God. Two of the greatest persecutors throughout the history of the world are false religion working together with fallen governments to persecute the people of God. It's happening. It's gonna happen.

Number Five: Jesus Christ Wins

Finally, and this is a good way to end. Jesus Christ is the king of kings. He is the lord of lords. He will one day destroy all of those who stand as his enemies or the enemies of his people.

Let me show you this and we'll be done. Chapter 17 verse 14. These beasts, they will wage war against the lamb. And the lamb will overcome them. Because he is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And those who are with him are the called, the chosen and the faithful.

Don't be discouraged, beloved. Jesus wins. Amen.

Let's bow for prayer.

Father, we are so grateful this morning that you have rescued us from false religion. Once we were blind, but now we see. Once we were drunk on lies, and now we see the truth. We praise you for your son, the great rescuer, the great savior, the captain of our salvation. Lord Jesus, we thank you that you pray for us and our faith perseveres in the midst of lies, in the midst of hatred. You keep us to yourself. And one day you'll rescue us out of this world. We thank you, and we praise you. We give you glory.

Well, let me give you a few announcements.

We'd like to invite all of you downstairs to our fellowship lunch after the service. I know there was a sign-up sheet passed around during Sunday school. It's been going online. We are grateful for those of you who signed up, certainly for those who've been ministering to us in this area for many, many months and years, in fact. So this will be the last time there's a sign-up sheet out, and you could see it in the foyer. If you did sign up, whichever way, you'll be contacted by someone. We'll get you with the team and in a rotation, and we look forward to benefiting from your ministry to us.

This Thursday night, we are meeting again starting up eschatology. That's 7PM here at church or Zoom. If you can't make it, get the Zoom link. If you're not getting the Zoom link, you could see Pastor Steven, and he'll set you up for that.

Fridays, we start a school year. Specifically, our children's program. It's starting up this Friday, ages three through twelve. This is 6PM to 7:45. Elias Garcia is in charge. It's gonna have a table out in the foyer when you leave, just for questions and information so you can see him. If you don't know about this, want to see Elias or Claudia, they'll fill you in.

Youth group also meets every other Friday, 6PM here at church. There's a schedule if you have children in that age group. I think it's 6 to 7:45. Jamie Kilmer is in charge. He is here. You can see him, contact him. If they come, it'll be beneficial for them and for the group.

And then finally, the young adult group also meets Friday at church from seven until around nine. Pastor Steven has set it up. You could see him. We have many young adults kind of floating around here. It would be a good opportunity for you to encourage others and to be involved in spiritual sanctification and ministry.

Alright. Last but not least, our ladies ministry. A little bit different this year, but it's gonna kick off Saturday, October 3. Saturday, October 3 at 9:30AM here at the church. I think it's a ladies brunch, and ladies, could put that on your calendar.

Alright. Let's stand to be dismissed in prayer. James, will you come, please?

Heavenly Father, we come before you thankful that you are true. And it's only through you, Lord, your son, Jesus Christ, that we're able to have eternal life. I ask, Lord, that as we go through our day, that we will abide with you. That we will seek your truth, that we will look to gain knowledge. But let this knowledge not puff us up thinking that we're better than any man. But knowing that it's only because of you that you've established truth within our hearts, Lord, that we're able to have relationship with you. Let us depend on you, Lord. Let us continue to look for opportunities to serve one another. Build us up in the faith, Lord. And allow us to be an example of what it means to serve faithfully. I pray this Lord in Jesus' name, Amen.