One thing about Brother Pruitt,
he can pique my interest when he's dealing with a particular
passage and he teases you with these questions that he's not
asking you for answers because he's already got the answer.
And that's the case in Matthew chapter 14. Now, he will only
let me read the first 11 verses. Matthew 14, 1 through 11. At that time, Herod the Tetrarch
heard of the fame of Jesus and said unto his servants, this
is John the Baptist. He is risen from the dead. And therefore, mighty works do
show themselves in him. For Herod had laid hold on John. and bound him and put him in
prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife. For John said to Herod, it is
not lawful for you to have her, that is, as your wife. And when
he would have put him to death, the first time Herod decided
to kill John the Baptist, When he would have put him to death,
he feared the multitude because they counted John as a prophet. But when Herod's birthday was
kept, the daughter of Herodias danced before them and pleased
Herod, whereupon he promised with an oath to give her whatsoever
she would ask. And she being before instructed
by her mother, Herodias, said, give me here John Baptist's head
in a charger, a silver charger, no doubt. And the king was sorry. Nevertheless, for the oath's
sake and for them which sat with him at meet, he commanded it
to be given her. And he sent and beheaded John
in the prison. and his head was brought in a
charger and given to the young lady, and she brought it to her
mother." If you will, turn back with me to Matthew chapter 14. There's also another count of
this in Mark chapter 6, verses 14 through 28, and I may refer
over to that in time. And then just hold your place
there for a moment, and let me make some introductory statements. In Psalm chapter 2, the God of
glory declares His purpose in this world. It is the reason
for creation. Now, if you'll read Colossians
chapter 1, you'll see that plainly declared, all things made by
Him, John tells us, and so on. He is the reason for creation. It is the purpose behind His
providence. We want to question why this
happens and why that happens. Well, Psalm chapter 2 tells you
exactly why. And He also, in this Psalm, declares
the end for which all things are being preserved. God preserves
things. Oh, how the scientists and the
weathermen and all this want you to think that the world's
going to go up in a puff of smoke any minute. God preserves this
world, and He's going to keep on preserving it until the last
of His elect is called into the fold. Then you can worry. It's said in Psalm chapter 2
that God has purposed to set His King upon His holy hill in
Zion. That is, to manifest His mediatorial
King through the redemption of all His elect to the glory of
His great name. I'm not talking about that yet
expected Jewish man-king that natural Israel believes will
come someday and return them again to their former glory and
prominence in the world. But of him who now reigns in
the hearts of chosen sinners and rules from his redemptive
throne in glory." That's the king that he's talking about
over here in Psalm chapter 2. The Holy Ghost tells us in Psalm
chapter 2 that the heathen, and I want you to hear me, everything
to do with what I'm going to say tonight. This is God's purpose. I'm going to set my King on my
holy hill in Zion. That's the church. And His King
is going to sit there and He's going to rule all things from
that seat. Everything. For their good and
His glory. But the Holy Ghost tells us also
in Psalm chapter 2 that the heathen, the unregenerate, the unconverted,
and unwilling to bow to God's King in their rebellious rage
have imagined a vain thing. Having heard the will of God
concerning His Son, they took counsel against God and against
His anointing. You know what council is? They
had a business meeting. That's what that is. They had
a meeting, and they discussed it. And they said, here's what
we got to do. Here's what we got to do. We
have to stop this. We have to stop this. This can't
be. This can't be. Adam's sons, high
and low, reasoned among themselves, and reached a compromising proposal,
and they said, here's what we're going to do. Had that meeting,
and they discussed it. And now here's what we're going
to do. We're going to break his bands. What bands? The bands of God's eternal purpose
of grace in Christ Jesus. We're going to break those bands.
break those bands asunder, and we're going to cast away His
cords from us. The bands and cords of God's
sovereign, unchangeable purpose of redemption in the person and
work of Christ. They had another agenda and another
end in view. One that centers around their
own will and their own desires. And they will not allow the Christ
of God to take center stage. He can't have that place. That's
the problem. We'll give him a little part
in it. He can have a little part in it. We'll put a figure out
front with some semblance that somebody said, this is what he
looked like. So they'll make a statue. And
we may mention His name in the church from time to time. We
might even talk about Him as a great teacher, as a great healer,
as a good man in this world. We might give Him that, but not
the preeminence. We'll recognize Him, but we won't
give Him all the glory. Now here's what God says about
that. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh." He laughed. The Lord shall have them in derision. Anybody here know what that word
means? We're going to have another English
lesson tonight. That word derision means one
who is derided. To deride someone is to make
them a public laughingstock. And if my sources are correct,
it has a direct reference to those who went against the law
of the king back in the days of the sovereign, and they were
brought into the courtyard of the king's palace and put in
public stocks. And even the children, when they
went by, threw vegetables at them and mocked them and made
fun of them. They were made a public spectacle and an example to all
who oppose the authority of the king. And then, if you'll bear
with me just a little bit longer, in Colossians chapter 2, talking
about the death of Christ, talking about his resurrection and his
ascension back into glory, and the effectual calling of the
Holy Spirit upon the believer. I'm talking about all those things
in Colossians chapter 2. The very heart of the gospel
message. That in so doing, in this death
he suffered, and in this life he lived, and in that ascension
that he made back into glory, he spoiled principalities. That's what it says. And powers,
now listen, and made an open show of them. a laughing stock. That's what he did. Made a laughing
stock out of them, triumphing over them in it. And this public
derision of Satan and his demon spirits and all the deceit of
this world has been playing out over and over and over and over
from the fall of man and the introduction of the Gospel of
Christ. This story has been played out in the lives of men from
the beginning until this day. It's been played out and will
be played out from now to the end of time. And it's pictured
and typified all through the scriptures, and it's played out
in the lives of individual men and women in all generations. And our lives in this world will
either manifest this glorious work of God's sovereign purpose
of grace in Christ Jesus, or we'll manifest ourselves as vessels
of wrath which God endures and will, in His time, expose as
a public laughingstock. It's going on right now in your
life and mine. It's what's going on. This is
what I hope to show you in the story of Herod the Tetrarch,
who was deceived by his adulterous wife, aroused by her sultry daughter,
who causes him to destroy his only hope of salvation. The title
of my message tonight is, A Prophet, a King, and a Whore. That's what she was. The first
actor in this show is Herod the Tetrarch. Now, a tetrarch was
one who shared rule with another. That's what that word means. Actually, his name was Antipas.
But they called him Herod the Tetrarch because he shared rule
with his two brothers. They were all three sons of Herod
the Great. That's who had all those male
children killed and all those things. Now, he shared this rule
with his two brothers in an inherited kingdom, and that stands a symbol
to me of every fallen son of Adam. Every fallen son of Adam,
he's a man given certain privileges. Men, even fallen men, have been
given high privileges of God. And they'd be held accountable
for them, just like Herod was. Certain advantages. and a man
whom God will hold accountable for his gifts. Every fallen son
of Adam will have to give account to God for himself. He's going
to have to give an account to God for his actions, his affections,
his motives, and his work. Another thing about old Herod
is that he was the son of Herod the Great. And Herod the Great
was a ruthless man. Got any history readers in here? But he was nothing more than
a ruthless, heathen barbarian. That's what he was. He killed
the entire Jewish Sanhedrin over a dispute about his authority.
He got word that that Sanhedrin said that their authority was
higher than his and he killed the whole outfit. Killed every
one of them. And then one of his wives he
killed because he was just in a bad mood. She gave him a look
or said something to him, and that was the end of her. She's
gone. And then he ordered the death of all the male children
in Bethlehem, hoping to spoil God's purpose of raising up his
son to sit on the throne of Israel. Like father, like son. Now that's what the Bible says
about every one of us. Like father, like son. Herod
was a weak man, not physically, not even politically, but in
his character and in his heart. That's where the weakness of
the sinner is. It's not in his outward strength.
He could be very strong. He could be very healthy. He
could be very wise. He can do a lot of things, but
he's weak in character. He's fallen in spirit. He's fallen
in heart. This man was a greedy, compromising,
lustful man who was after everything he could get. And he allowed
his lustful nature to dictate all his ways. That's the way
the fallen son... If you'll read Romans chapter
3, you'll see exactly what I'm talking about. And in this also,
he stands a symbol of every man born of woman. Our Lord said,
out of the heart. Proceed evil thoughts, adulteries,
fornications out of the heart, covetousness. And he's got a
long, long list of wicked things that proceed out of the heart
of man. And then in Romans 3, verse 16, Paul describes what
it is to be under sin. And among 15 other things, he
says this, He said, destruction and misery are in their ways,
and there is no fear of God before their eyes. Are you getting a
picture, Herod? If you can get a picture, Herod,
you've got a picture of you. All around this man, Herod, and
in his very court, God was establishing His kingdom through a man named
John. right up in his very courtyard.
But Herod wasn't aware of it. He was so busy trying to satisfy
his lust for fame and riches and glory and pleasure, so busy
trying to make a name for himself, that he paid no attention to
the words of God's prophet. He kind of liked old John. John
was a plain-spoken man. He wasn't mamby-pamby. When those
Pharisees come out there expecting respect and commanding respect
from them, he told them, go back where they come from. We've about
killed ourselves if somebody strange comes on. Come on in.
Sit up. Not gone. John said, just go
on back to the house. When you come here, you come
with repentance in your heart. You come with a reason to be
here. not just to please mama. So busy
trying to satisfy his lust for fame and riches and glory and
pleasure, he couldn't listen to John. And this is how the
natural man operates. He gives God and God's means
and God's man a token of his time. A token. I might be able to show up one
time a week or once every other week I'll give you a token of
my time. I'll give you a token of my life.
I'll give you a little bit. That's how the natural man reasons.
That's how he thinks. I'll give you a token of my attention.
And then it's mostly for some personal end or goal. It has
nothing to do with his interest in the gospel. And so things
went on for a while like this. He'd have John over on occasion. You can read this into these
passages if you'll read it. Harriet had John over from time
to time, and John would come into the royal court and preach.
He preached to the court. And things went on for a while
like this, and then on a certain day, he and his brother Philip
decided they'd go to Rome on vacation. And Rome was then,
and is yet, the capital of barbarianism. That's what it is. This was the
place where lustful and greedy men could come and find fame
and fortune. Go to Rome. All roads lead to
Rome. And it was here that Herod Antipas
first saw his brother Philip's wife. Man, she was something
to look at. She had cold black hair hung
down to her waist. Big brown eyes and skin like
a copper-toned tan. You could see them signs going
down the road. And then she had on this little skimpy outfit,
cut low in the front and split from just below the waist all
the way to the ground. She had on jewelry. Jewelry of
a queen. Phillip was a terrier too. His
wife had on the jewelry of a queen. She had the look of a queen on
the outside. She had perfume on you could
smell a block away. Now listen to me. Here's the second actor in this
play. Herodias. Herodias. She plays the part of a sophisticated
harlot. Now you're not going to find
Herodias down on Bourbon Street. When I say she's a harlot, I'm
not saying she's not a cheap harlot. Let's put it that way.
She's sophisticated. This is the kind of harlot you're
going to find in Washington, DC, not down on Bourbon Street.
She's the kind who sells her favors for power and prestige. And you find her kind where she's
most likely to catch her prey. And historians tell us, if you
can give them any anything at all, any contribution into this,
they tell us that Philip kind of saw through what she was and
divorced her, according to Roman law, a year before this. But Herodias, on this occasion,
found a way to put herself back into favor with Philip, because
she wanted to meet his brother. put herself back in fellowship
with him just for this occasion. And then from the time Herod
saw her, he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. I mean, she
was ready for him. She baited him. She walked into
the room, and his mouth came open, and he was putty in her
hands from the time he saw her. And she was so friendly to him
and sat beside him and flirted with him until finally, in the
end, Herodias was in his chambers having an illicit affair with
her husband's brother. And Herodias, throughout time,
symbolizes the sophisticated whoredom of false religion. That's what it pictures. That's
what it symbolizes. And you find it from the beginning
of this book to the end. Solomon tells his sons and warns
his sons and sets her before his sons as the evil woman. She has a flattering tongue,
bragging on her victim's beauty and strength. And he warns his
son not to lust after her beauty, nor be taken in by her eyelids."
I wish I could blink my eyes like I picture in my head that
she did. Boy, she'd blink them eyes and
he'd just melt. He says she flatters with her
words and wears the attire of a harlot. And she's subtle of
heart. She's without on the street and
lithe and weighed on every corner. And when she finds her victim,
she kisses them and talks to them about peace offerings and
paying the vows. And she talks about how diligently
she searched for and how happy she was to find them. And then
she begins to tell them about her house. Oh, you'll see my
house. You need to come down here and
look at my house. In her house is everything a young man's heart
could fancy, everything a fallen man could want, everything a
deceived man could lust after. Her bed was decked with tapestry. pictures and statues to arouse
the senses, carved works and images to evoke the imagination. Does that remind you of anything?
Well, that is religion to a T. Everything about religion is
geared to arouse the senses. They even have a smell. I don't
know what they put in, but they smell different. You walk in
there and there's a smell. I don't know if they're burnt
incense or what it is, but you can smell it. And they've got
the candle lights, and then they've got all these fancy things and
crosses and emblems and pictures and statements and carved works,
and all these things are peeled. You sing in there, and you ever
sing when you was in the bathroom in high school, you was in there
by yourself or thought you was? And you'd sing in there, and
it'd echo around. Everything's geared in that place
for the senses. You go in there, and boy, 15
minutes after you're in there, you've got goosebumps on your
arm. And man, what a place this is. What a place this is. That's
how her house is. And her house is a hypnotizing
music to stir his feelings and a fragrance fill the place with
a sweet smile, until finally she takes him in her wicked embrace
and said, let's take our fill of love till morning. Let's solace
ourselves in love. For the good man is not around. But he's on a far journey. And I know when he's coming back.
Don't worry about that. I know when he's coming back.
And with her much fair speech and her alluring gesture, She
causes him to yield, and with her flattering lips she forces
him. Proverbs chapter 7, verse 22. And he goeth after her straightway
as an ox goeth to the slaughter, and as a fool to the correction
of the stocks. I warn you tonight that this
will be the end of all those who go in to the great whore.
They're going to go as a fool to the stocks. God's going to
make a public laughing stock out of you. To be made a laughing
stock by God, to be derided by the King of Glory, the bold and
lustful head now parades around in public with his harlot bride
as though it was the greatest thing that ever was. Now think
about this. He didn't do anything to inherit
this kingdom it was given to him. And along comes his brother,
which no doubt was tricked into this whole meeting. And then
he steals his wife, and they're joined together in an unholy
union. And now they're parading around
the kingdom and showing what a great thing this is, what a
great thing. this union is. They're parading
around in public. He was with his harlot bride
as if their union was honorable to God. Everyone joined to the
great whore of religion walk in public as though this union
were made in heaven, don't they? Huh? It's an ungodly union. It's a union not with Christ. Not with Christ, but with another
Jesus, by another spirit, by another gospel. And they'll make
that profession of faith, and that preacher will smile at it,
and tell them what great things, and begin to brag on you, and
tell you, oh, how fine you are, and all it, just like the great
whore that's talked about over there in Proverbs. And then you walk around in public
as though this union were just made in heaven. And be he priest
or preacher, no man can bring about a holy union between Christ
and his bride unless they be joined together by God himself. And when he does, it won't be
by a compromise of the law. It won't be by a compromise of
his holiness and his justice. When He brings that union in,
it will be honorable in all things. Over and over and over, Paul
talks about the bride of Christ being a chaste virgin. And she
is in Christ. What a sight it must have been to see this would-be king and
his whore parading around the kingdom. until one day he invited
John to come preach again. And there's not a doubt in my
mind that he invited John to sanctify that union. That's why he had him there.
He brought him there so John could testify to what a great
union this was and brag on him. So John was called by the king,
and I believe expecting him to honor their union. And John came
and told that proud rebel that he was an adulterer, a whoremonger,
and his queen, his beloved queen, was a whore. Now that's what
he told him. And boy, that place went up in
smoke. And we're talking about the whole
court was there. We ain't just talking about the
king and the queen. This wasn't a personal argument. This wasn't
something they did in a closet. The whole court, the whole royal
court was here. No doubt there were servants
and guards and soldiers and who knows who was there. Everybody
that was anybody was there. And he said, you're a whoremonger
and she's a whore. That's the third person in this
story, the messenger of God. The messenger of God, John the
Baptist. This was God's ambassador or God's preacher, God's messenger.
And he wasn't intimidated by Herod. And he wasn't intimidated
by his harlot bride. And he wasn't intimidated by
that whole court. Not the soldiers, nor armies,
nor anybody else. He served the king. The king
who sits on the throne. Not on that little seat that
he sat on, but on the seat in glory. He served him. He wasn't
intimidated. Everybody else in that place
was smiling and shaking the king's hand and congratulating him and
celebrating. Not John. John told it just the
way it was. And I'm telling you tonight just
the way it is. I'm telling you religion. Religion. I don't care what the name is.
Religion. This world's religion. Anybody
who does not preach the Christ of glory, the electing Christ,
the predestinating Christ, the sovereign Christ, the one mediator
between God and me and the man Christ Jesus. Anybody who don't
preach the sovereign grace of God is Antichrist. And she's
a great whore. That's what she is. And anybody
who joins himself with her is a whoremonger. Now you read the
Scripture, I'm telling you the truth. John told them in front
of the entire royal court that their union was an abomination
to God. It was unclean in God's eyes
and unhonored by His person. John stripped them of their pride
and arrogance. He strips them of their rejoicing
and puts a stop to their celebration. He slanders the king, he embarrasses
the queen, and he offended the whole royal court. And this is
exactly what happens when a natural man who believes he's the king
of his soul, and ruler of his life, and author of his destiny,
and who's been deceived by the great whore into an ungodly union,
and parades himself around in public boasting of his new union
and this new love of his life. And then he hears from the messenger
of God, and he has his new love put in its proper perspective.
And I'm telling you, there's a meltdown when that happens.
There's a meltdown. And he's exposed of God in his
wicked spiritual fornication and he's manifested as a spiritual
whoremonger and his bride is a harlot. And what happens next
is what happens every time this scene is played out. The preacher
is isolated in the kingdom. He says, John, you're not going
to preach in public anymore. They took him back and put him
in a jail cell. Now, the embarrassed queen wants
him dead. She don't want him hurt. She
don't want him whipped. She don't want him embarrassed.
She wants him dead. Now, I've been there, and so
have you. They want you dead. They want you dead. And so does this would-be king
to please his bride, but he fears the people. Because the people
count John a prophet. I'd count him a prophet, too,
if he stood up in that court and told the king those things,
wouldn't you? That must be a prophet of God, because nobody in religion
is going to do that. But the king settles for isolation. But the great whore is too wise
for her lover. She plots and plans until she
figures out a way to have his head. And so she plays along
with her husband. She plays along with her professed
husband and plays the faithful bride and abides her time. And pretty soon her husband's
birthday rolls around and the queen plans a day all around
him. Now you understand I'm talking
about religion. He's the center of the celebration. It's his
party, his rule, his achievements, his name, his kingdom. And she
makes sure that he's well furnished with spirits. Oh, yeah. I'll bet you his nose shined
like Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. He had enough wine in him that
night in this celebration, and she gets him full with spirits. And about the time that he's
so full of himself that he can hardly contain it, she pulls
out all the stocks. And the lights go dim, and the
music begins to play. And out from behind the curtain
comes this little girl, this young girl, in an outfit that
wouldn't make good wadding in a shotgun, Donnie Bell said. And she begins to dance a dance
before the royal court that would give a whole new meaning to dirty
dancing. And she captivates every man
at that table. And it wasn't no birthday dance.
And it wasn't no ballet. This was a dance designed to
arouse that would-be king to the point of losing his soul. And this is the fourth character
in the play, Salome, I believe is her name. And she represents
all that the great whore can produce. You know what the Bible
said, that they searched They encompass sea and land to make
one proselyte like unto themselves. And when they've made them, what
were they? Twofold more the child of hell than they were. She represents
everything that appeals to the natural man in his fleshly senses. Everything in natural religion
is geared to arouse the natural senses of fallen man to the point
where he is willing to give himself and all that he has to have what
his evil eye beholds. Mark chapter 6 verse 22 in Mark's
account, it said, When the daughter of said Herodias came in and
pleased Herod and all that sat with him, The king said unto
the damsel, ask of me whatsoever thou wilt, and I'll give it to
you unto the half of my kingdom. When religion does her song and
dance, are you listening to me? When religion does its song and
dance, everybody in the kingdom is pleased. Everybody in this
world is pleased. The Pope can stand up and give
a thank. Everybody, all the news media,
all the kings and presidents, everybody there is clapping and
cheering and saying amen. Billy Graham can stand up and
say a prayer, and they all get in a line, and they're all clapping
their hands, and everybody in the kingdom is pleased. And when religion does her song
and dance, everybody in the kingdom is pleased, governors, senators,
congressmen, and kings. This little girl got a standing
ovation when she finished her dance. But listen, it ain't over
yet. The daughter's just a pawn in
this play. She runs quickly to her mother
and said, what shall I ask of the king? You can read it over
there in Mark chapter 6. What shall I ask of the king?
And without any hesitation, she said, the head of that Baptist
preacher. That's what I want. That's what
I want. And I tell you folks around me,
they want the head of that Baptist preacher. That's what they want.
Give me his head. Give me his head. She wants him
dead. She wants him publicly demoralized. She wants him ordered slain at
her husband's command so she can come once again and parade
around in her pretended royalty and her pretended union. She
wants her reputation restored, not her sins forgiven. And because
of His public oath, His pride forces Him to destroy the only
hope He had. And I'm telling you this, I don't
know if you know this or not, but if God don't send you a preacher,
you're going to be in the same shape Herod was. And if He sends
you one and you won't hear Him, you're going to be in the same
shape Herod was. How shall you hear without a
preacher? And what the great horror does
is arrange everything she can to get rid of the preacher. Get
rid of him. Get rid of the messenger. Get
rid of him. That's how you can stop God's
promise back over there. Get rid of the messenger. Get
rid of the messenger. Because he made a public oath,
they aroused him to the point where his mouth overloaded what
he could produce. And he couldn't go back. He couldn't
go back. In Revelation chapter 17, the
religion of this world is set before us as Babylon the Great,
and she's described as the mother of harlots. Isn't that what that
says, Pastor? And all of the abominations of
the earth. God's messenger comes down then
in chapter 18 and reveals her as the habitation of devils.
And the hold, that is the stronghold, the hiding place of every foul
spirit and the cage of every hurtful and unclean bird. She's full of buzzards. praying
on the souls of men, praying on the dead. Religion despised
Christ when He came into this world in person, and so they
despise every faithful preacher of the gospel because their message
exposes their ungodly union with their harlot queen. That's where
the problem is. The problem is not so much in
the facts of the gospel as what the gospel does. I'll tell you,
you can go into most churches, not all of them, but you can
go into most churches, and as long as you just stand up here
and preach doctrine, they'll put up with it. They'll put up
with it. But when you preach doctrine
and say, this is what I mean and this is what I don't mean,
that's called comparative preaching. Comparative preaching. John the
Baptist didn't go in there and say, and give them a message
on marriage, he said, your marriage is ungodly. That's what he said.
And that's what I'm telling you about religion tonight. That
union is ungodly. It's ungodly in the eyes of God. In the end, the man of God lost
his head, but everybody else lost their eternal soul. What
I've tried to show you tonight in the lives of these four persons
plays itself out in the lives of men and women in this world
over and over and over again. May God be pleased to cause us
to hear the words which the Holy Ghost spake through John. He
said, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of
her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. For her sins
have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities,
and is even now filling up His cup with a double portion of
His wrath." I tell you, there was a time
when I looked on religion and knew it was wrong, but I didn't
do anything about it. I didn't say anything about it.
It didn't upset me. It wasn't up to me to tell anybody
about it. until I learn what it was, until
I learn what it'll do. I'm telling you, you say, well,
you couldn't deceive me. You better hope God don't pull
His hand off of you. She'll swallow you up so fast
you won't know what happened. You remember what I read to you
out of Proverbs? He went after her straightway
like an ox to the slaughter, and like a fool to the stumps.
Oh, may God give us an understanding of this and guard us against
it for Christ's sake.