If you care to take notes, and
I encourage you to do so, the title of my message tonight is
False Religion, The Great Whore. The wise man Solomon warned his
son to carefully avoid the strange woman, the harlot, with a subtle
heart. This is what he said, Many strong
men have been slain by her. Her house is the way to hell,
going down to the chambers of death." Now, without question,
those words are applicable to the street-corner prostitute,
and the man who goes to the prostitute to find sensual gratification
is not wise. He is surely to be ranked among
the simple ones void of understanding. But Solomon's warning is far,
far, far more important than just a warning to avoid prostitution. He is warning his son, and he
is warning us of the danger of false religion, comparing it
to a beautifully arrayed, enticing whore. He is telling us that
those who embrace false religion sleep in the arms of the great
whore, and they will wake up in hell. It is the great whore
of false religion which John saw and describes for us in Revelation
17. When John was carried away to
see the judgment of the great whore, he tells us that he was
carried away in the spirit into the wilderness. Now that description
of her dwelling place is very expressive. Wherever false religion
occupies the place of the true worship of God, there is desolation
and emptiness. A hungering and a thirsting,
not for bread or water, but for the words of the living God. Barrenness, emptiness, and desolation
is the place of false religion. There may be great worldly wealth
and glory. There may be a fullness of power,
of influence, and of approval. There may be gorgeous purple
and scarlet gems and gold, pomp and luxury, everything to gratify
the sensual desires of carnal hearts. These may even be worldwide
in acceptance and in dominion. And yet, where the word of God
The gospel of His grace and the worship of Christ in all the
fullness of His redemptive glory are despised. Where these things
are trampled underfoot, there is a black, barren, empty, desolate
wilderness. Who can doubt that the day in
which we live is such a wilderness? The political, the governmental
powers of the world Both the free world and the communist
world are ruled by the beast of hell. The only law recognized
and honored in this generation anywhere in the world, just read
your newspaper, is the hell-inspired self-will of every man. Your
children are taught in school, our educators, the wise acres
of the world, folks who know best, they say. They teach your
children that nothing's wrong except what they esteem to be
wrong, and nothing is right except what they esteem to be right.
There is no law of right or wrong, no law of uprightness or evil,
no law of righteousness or corruption, except the law of every man's
self-will. And that is the result not of
education, but of religion. That philosophy is the result
not of corrupt government, but the corrupt government is the
result of the religion of the day. This great whore of false
religion is called by the name Babylon the Great. We've heard
that name twice already in chapter 14 and in chapter 16. In both
places the name is mentioned as an object of God's great judgment. In Revelation 17, 18, and 19,
John describes the judgment of that great whore, assuring us
of the fact that all false religion here represented by Babylon will
be destroyed and the truth of God will prevail at last to the
glory of Christ. The picture that's given is a
picture of horrible woe for those who have been deceived by the
harlot. But it is a picture of indescribable joy for those who
worship the Lamb. Now listen carefully to this
next statement. Blessed be God, Babylon shall
fall. Babylon shall fall. And if you
care to read chapter 19 before we get to it, you'll find that
in the day that Babylon falls and the truth of God is established
universally in God's glorious world, Our Lord Jesus Christ
shall be praised, and the saints of God shall shout hallelujah,
Babylon is fallen, and the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. The
truth of God, the church of God, and the Lamb of God shall prevail
and conquer over all false religion. I'm not going to discuss tonight
the many fanciful interpretations given by men about this Babylon. the beast, and the kings of the
earth. Let me only remind you that any
attempt to interpret the book of Revelation literally must
be forced and will inevitably lead to terrible absurdities.
The vision which John describes in this chapter was of significance
and instruction in his generation, and it shall be of significance
and instruction in the last generation. It is the Word of God to us right
now, and it was the Word of God to John in his day. It is a message
that is spiritual, and being spiritual, altogether spiritual,
it is a message to the Church of God in every generation of
the world. It must not be limited to one
age or to one place or to one event. We must not miss the forest
for the trees. That is to say, we must not allow
ourselves to become so involved in looking at the various symbols
of this chapter that we miss the message of the vision itself.
So tonight I want to try to answer three questions. I'll spend the
bulk of my time on the first one. First, who is this woman? If we would understand the vision,
we've got to answer that question. Who is this woman? She's called
the Great Whore. She's called Babylon, the Mother
of Harlots. Without question, there is in
this vision a representation of Rome in its pagan culture,
in its pagan government, and in its pagan worship. Without
question, Roman Catholicism, the superstitious, idolatrous
religion of papacy, is also involved in the picture before us. But
it would be a serious mistake to limit, as many in the past
have done, to limit this picture to Rome and Romanism. It happens
to be that Rome and Romanism were the prevalent demonstrations,
the prevalent revelations, the prevalent outworkings of Babylon
in the day in which John lived. This woman is called the great
whore that sitteth upon many waters in verse one. In verse
5, we are told that upon her forehead was a name written,
Mystery, Babylon the Great, mother of harlots and abominations in
the earth. Not the mother of a single harlot,
not the mother of a single abomination, not the mother of a single blasphemy,
but the mother of all harlot religion, the mother of all abominable
doctrine, the mother of all blasphemy in the world. That woman, Babylon,
the great whore, represents then all false religion, no matter
what name the religion bears. And I am quick to inform you
that it bears every name of every religion in the world at one
time or another, and perhaps at all times. This name Babylon
includes paganism and Judaism. Protestantism and Catholicism,
Islam and conservative religion of our day. It includes liberalism
and fundamentalism. It includes mysticism and Pentecostalism. It includes every religion that
is contrary and opposed to the gospel of Jesus Christ. In reality,
there are only two religions in this world. If you learn this,
it'll help you to understand what's going on around you. There
are only two religions in the world. All religions, when reduced
down to their essential elements, must be categorized under one
of these two things, the religion of free grace or the religion
of free will. That's all there is. You study
Islam, you study mysticism, you study the various mystic religions
that arise in the East, you study Judaism in this day, you study
what's called Christianity in our day, Romanism, Pentecostalism,
Protestantism, Liberalism, Conservatism, Fundamentalism, study them. You'll
find out that all religion is reduced to these two things,
free will and free grace. The religion of God and the religion
of man. The religion that centers in
and brings honor to God, and the religion that centers in
and brings honor to man. All religions are reduced to
those two. And these two religions, the
true and the false, are represented to us in the book of Revelation
by two women. In Revelation chapter 12, I'm
not going to turn back there and read the chapter, but I encourage
you to compare as we shall in just a minute. In Revelation
chapter 12, we saw the Church of God, the religion of free
grace, that religion which proclaims salvation by the blood and righteousness
of Christ, the man-child born to the woman in Revelation 12.
It is represented by a woman clothed with the Son. That is,
the Church of God is represented by that woman who is described
in the 12th chapter. Here in chapter 17, we see the
religion of Satan, the religion of free willism, man-centered
works religion, represented by the great whore, Babylon. Now
take a minute to compare. If you recall what was said in
Revelation 12, compare and contrast these two women as they're set
before us in the scriptures. The true church of God is represented
throughout the Bible as the bride, the lamb's wife, A pure, spotless,
clean virgin arrayed in white garments of salvation. All false
religion is represented throughout the word of God as a harlot,
arrayed in the garments that are dyed red with the blood of
the saints. And in Revelation chapters 12
and 17, these two are distinctly described. Both of these religions
are called mothers. The church brought forth the
man-child, the Messiah, into the world, that one who must
rule the world. And that speaks, of course, of
the incarnation of Christ. The harlot is the mother of harlots,
the mother of abominations, the mother of blasphemy. Both of
these women are dressed with gorgeous attire. The Church of
Christ in chapter 12 is clothed with the sun. Her garment is
light, the light of heaven. The harlot is arrayed in purple
and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones
and pearls. All her ornaments are from below. They are all the gaudy tapestry
of the earth and the sea. Both of these women are very
influential in their position. The church has the moon under
her feet. So as to indicate that the powers
of darkness are brought in subjection to her and have no power over
her. The harlot holds her influence
by deception over the kings and the inhabitants of the earth.
Both of these women meet with opposition and are made to suffer. The church in Revelation 12 was
persecuted by the dragon. Satan drove her into the wilderness
and tormented her. The harlot here becomes the object
of hatred in the eyes of those who have been deceived by her
and mocked by her. Ultimately, she is to be destroyed
by the power of God himself. Both of these women live upon
the earth at the same time. They both fill the space of history
from beginning to end. In all ages and in all places,
both are to be found. And at all times the Church,
the pure woman, is hated and persecuted by the powers of the
earth, while the harlot is loved, flattered, and caressed by them.
That is, true religion is despised, mocked, and derided, and false
religion is loved and flattered and caressed by the powers of
this world. The woman clothed with the sun
is God's symbol of the Church of Christ, the Lamb's wife. bone
of our bone or bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, born
out of his wounded side, washed in his blood, robed in his righteousness. The great whore Babylon is the
rival, the false church, the antichrist church, a universal
congregation of false believers and false worshipers gathered
by the power of Satan to the destruction of men's souls in
every age. Now, the character of all false
religion, is described in John's vision of this great whore. Remember,
the picture is a symbol. It is a symbol of false religion. Do not try to get a picture,
a literal vision in your mind of a woman sitting upon a beast
and arrayed in this gaudy tapestry. Don't try to get that kind of
picture. That's not the intention of this vision. But rather, we
are given here these features that characterize this woman,
that characterize false religion. And we're given these features
in a symbol, in pictures. The features of this woman that
are given in this chapter are seven. Seven features by which
we are instructed and warned, lest we be deceived by the great
whore, who with her much fair speech and flattering of her
lips has called so many to follow her as the ox goes to the slaughter. The first thing we see here is
that this woman is called a whore. Now that's strong language, but
it's the language of scripture. And I think perhaps we do great
harm in our society when we accept the polite words that are used
to describe corruption. The woman is here called a whore. One of the most prominent features
of the woman is the fact that she's a whore. The angel calls
her the great whore. Not only is she a harlot, she's
the mother of all spiritual harlots and abominations in the world.
Now, whoredom is the standing symbol in the word of God for
false religion. When men and women worship God,
They worship in purity and in truth. They're called in the
Scriptures virgins, pure, the bride of Christ, clothed with
garments of white. When men and women worship for
God, that which is not God, when they give their hearts to false
gods, when they institute doctrines, ordinances, and practices into
the church to replace the worship of the living God, to replace
that which God has appointed, then they begin to practice adultery
and fornication. Their religion is whoredom. The
church they attend is a church of the whore. And when they go
to worship in the name of God, now I'm not talking about folks
who lived 5,000 years ago. I'm talking 20th century America. When they attend their church
in the name of God, They're going to a brothel and they buy with
their ties and offerings and attendance, gratification for
their carnal hearts and no more, no more. Let me show you in the
scriptures. Turn over to the book of Jeremiah
chapter three. Jeremiah three, I'll just give
you two examples. There are many in the scriptures
and Jeremiah chapter three. The prophet of God is here told
how to speak to the children of Israel concerning what they
have done in verse 6. The Lord said unto me in the
days of Josiah the king, hast thou seen that which backsliding
Israel hath done? She's gone up upon every high
mountain and under every green tree and there hath played the
harlot. And I said, after she had done
all these things, turn thou unto me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister Judah
saw it. And I saw when for all the causes
whereby backsliding Israel committed adultery, I had put her away
and given her a bill of divorce. Yet her treacherous sister Judah
feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And it came
to pass through the likeness of her whoredom that she defiled
the land and committed adultery with stones and with stocks. What did she do? She went up
into the groves of the idolatrous and she worshipped the sticks
and the stones that they had whittled and carved out and made
to be gods over them. Idolatrous Israel and idolatrous
Judah went up and worshipped the sticks and the stones. Turn
over to the book of Ezekiel, chapter 16. Ezekiel 16, and verse
28. The Lord God not only calls this
spiritual travesty, this worshiping of false gods, he not only calls
it adultery, but here he tells us that it's worse than adultery.
Because in adultery and in fornication and in harlotry and prostitution,
The man goes and he is enticed in a physical way for money that
he pays. But look here in chapter 16 in
verse 28. The Lord charges his people,
says, Thou hast played the whore also with the Assyrians, because
thou wast unstable, insatiable, and yea, thou hast played the
harlot with them, and yet couldest not be satisfied. Nothing would
satisfy you. Thou hast moreover multiplied
thy fornication in the land of Canaan unto Chaldea, and yet
thou wast not satisfied herewith. How weak is thine heart, saith
the Lord God, seeing thou doest all these things the work of
an imperious, whorish woman. In that thou buildest thine eminent
place in the head of every way. That is, you build your statues
and your gods in the head of every grove. And thou makest
thy high place in every street. And thou hast not been a harlot
in that thou scornest higher. But as a wife that committeth
adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband, they
give gifts to all whores, but thou givest thy gifts to thy
lovers, and hirest them, that they may come unto thee on every
side for thy whoredom. And the contrary is in thee from
the other women in thy whoredoms. Whereas none followeth thee to
commit whorehams, and in that thou givest a reward, and no
reward is given unto thee, therefore thou art contrary. Wherefore,
O harlot, hear the word of the Lord." Hear what I'm saying.
Hear what I'm saying. All false religion is harlotry. It is the religion of the great
whore. And I would be remiss in my responsibility
to God. I would be remiss in my responsibility
to the souls of men, in particular to you who hear me tonight, if
I did not plainly identify the most wicked and damning forms
of idolatry in the day in which we live. I don't know anybody
here who worships a statue. I don't know anybody here who
has gods in their homes sitting on shelves and they worship.
I don't know anybody here who has crosses and pictures of Jesus
and statues of Mary and all those. I don't know anybody here who
does that. If I were speaking to another congregation, I might
deal with those things a bit more because all of it is idolatry. All of it is idolatry, sheer
pagan idolatry, nothing else. I'm talking to you and I'm talking
to men and women who will be hearing these tapes, watching
the video and hearing the tape and reading what I've written.
And I'm saying to you that in our day, the most pressing and
most damning and most prevalent forms of idolatry is not the
worship of stocks and stones. It's not the worship of stocks
and stones, but rather it is the worship of a God who is weak,
frustrated and defeated. Now, let it sink in, let it sink
in. A God who is weak, frustrated,
and defeated. That is a God who wants to do
what he can't do for any reason. I don't care what the reason
is. A God who tries to do what either the demons of hell or
Satan or man by his free will prevents him from doing is no
God at all. He is the idolatrous figment
of man's imagination. And those who worship him worship
in the temple of the great whore and they do nothing but gratify
their sensual passions by their worship. Now that's what I'm
saying. To worship a God who cannot save, a God who is weak,
frustrated, and defeated, a God whose purpose can be overturned,
a God whose will can be thwarted, a God whose desires cannot be
satisfied is to worship a pagan God. To worship a Redeemer who
has failed to redeem is to worship a false God. The vast majority
of people I know in my family and in yours My friends and neighbors,
your friends and neighbors. My relatives and kin, your relatives
and kin. Worship a Redeemer who tries
to redeem but fails to redeem. I'm talking about, they talk
about worshiping Jesus Christ, the Lord, the Son of God. They
call Him that. But He's the Son of that God
who can't do anything. The God, the Savior they call
upon is the Son of that God whose power is defeated, whose will
is overturned, whose work is frustrated. They say that He
came, and He poured out His life's blood, and He did what He could
to redeem and to save and to justify all the world. But His
blood is shed in vain, and His work is meaningless for the vast
majority of the people for whom He died. Now you tell me, is
that the Savior we worship? Or is it a pagan, idolatrous
figment of man's imagination? I can't tell you how many times
I've heard preachers make the statement that Christ died in
vain for so many. I'm not talking about fellas
who got long tails and pitchfork horns on their head either. I'm
talking about renowned, prominent, conservative Baptist preachers. They say that it would be such
a shame and a travesty when everything is ended, that Jesus shed his
blood in vain for so many who suffer the wrath of God in hell.
Yes, sir, if that were true, it would be a shame and a travesty,
and the Son of God would have to bear the reproach for his
miserable failure forever. And I'm telling you that to worship
a Redeemer who tries to redeem, who dies for folks who suffer
the wrath of God, who tries to justify, who tries to save but
cannot do so, is to worship at the temple of the great whore.
And to go and do service to that Redeemer is nothing but to go
and by your works and by your tithes and by your deeds, satisfy
the gratifications of your carnal heart. To worship a spirit who
has no power to save. How many times people say to
you that we recognize the spirit has to draw a man, but he draws
many who resist his drawing. He calls many who do not come. He seeks to save many whom he
fails to save because man is not willing. Now that's sound. in the minds of uninformed, weak-minded,
feeble people who don't know God, that sounds most reasonable. But we're talking about God.
We're talking about God. Are you going to tell me that
God Almighty says, come, and you decide whether or not you
come? You're going to tell me that God Almighty reaches His
hand into the heart of a man and draws that man with the cords
of love, and that man may or may not come to Christ? You're
going to tell me that God Almighty sets out to seek and to find
and to save, but His purpose, His will, His work is frustrated,
His hands are tied by the almighty, omnipotent power of man's free
will? I'm telling you that such worship
is the worship of the great whore, and it is to go to the temple
of the great whore. It is to go in the name of God
to a brothel and call it the worship of God. This great whore
is very old. She was not born yesterday. This
old gal's been around a long time. She's the mother of all
harlots and all abominations in the world. The imagery goes
back to the beginning. It goes to show us that it includes
much more than one religious system at one time. It includes
all false religion, all false worship, all abominable doctrine. It all comes forth from the womb
of this great whore. Here's another thing. To give
an indication of her age and her vileness, she's given this
name Babylon the great in verse five. Now this is not a prophecy
that the ancient city of Babylon will be reconstructed one day.
Babylon will no more be rebuilt by God or in God's providence
than the Jewish temple will be re-established by God and the
Jewish priesthood will be established. You read Isaiah chapter 13 and
you'll find out that God destroyed the ancient city of Babylon with
wrath and desolation and declared that the city would never be
inhabited again. So he's not talking about the
rebuilding of a physical city of Babylon. He's not talking
about the rebuilding of the ancient city of Rome or Babylon or any
other city. He's talking about Babylon and
declaring that it is any and all religious systems that are
opposed to God. Babylon is the religion of man.
It is that religion which teaches salvation by the works of man's
hands and by the power of man's will. And I show you that from
the scriptures. Turn back to Genesis chapter
10. Genesis chapter 10. Now this thing of false religion
is seen in Cain's sacrifice. But it began to be an organized
religious system, an organized religion in those days in the
fourth generation after Noah. It began with a man by the name
of Nimrod, the cursed grandson of Noah's cursed son, Ham. Look
in Genesis chapter 10 and verse 8. And the Cush and Cush begat
Nimrod. He began to be a mighty one in
the earth. He was a mighty hunter before
the Lord. Wherefore, it is said, even as
Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord. And the beginning of
his kingdom was Babylon. If you have a marginal reference,
you'll read it Babylon. The beginning of his kingdom
was Babylon. The Bible tells us that this
man, Nimrod, was a mighty hunter before the Lord. That's a very
poor translation. Literally, it means Nimrod was
a mighty rebel before the Lord, the mightiest rebel before the
Lord in the earth. His name, Nimrod, means a rebellious
panther. And it was this rebellious panther,
Nimrod, who built the city of Babel, or of Babylon, and began
the religion of confusion. Look in chapter 11 and verse
1. And the whole earth was one language and one speech. And
it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found
a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. And they said
one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone,
and slime had they for mortar. And they said, Go to, let us
build a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven. And
let us make us a name. lest we be scattered abroad upon
the face of the earth.' And the Lord came down to see the city
and the tower which the children of men built it. And the Lord
said, Behold, the people is one, and they have one language, and
they begin to do, and now nothing will be restrained from them
which they have imagined to do. Go to, let us go down. And there
confound their language, that they may not understand one another's
speech. So the Lord scattered them abroad
from thence upon the face of all the earth, and they left
off to build the city. Therefore the name of it is called
Babel. Because the Lord did there confound
the language of all the earth, and from thence did the Lord
scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth. Now, idolatry. as we see it here, is not a gradual
decline from the true worship of God. It is not a gradual apostasy
by well-meaning but uninformed men and women. Idolatry, as it
began at Babel, is the intentional rebellion of man's heart against
God. It was the invention of a proud
race who refused to come to God by that substitute whom Noah
had declared to them, and refused to trust the grace of that God
alone, but rather was determined to reach up into heaven itself
and bring themselves up to God's throne and make themselves enjoy
eternal happiness and immortality, not by the grace of God, Not
by the works of God, but by the works of their hands. And that's
idolatry wherever it's found. That's the religion of this world.
Babylon was born in defiance of God and in defiance of his
word. The men of Babel despised God's
sovereignty. They despised blood atonement
as Noah had set it forth. They despised salvation by grace. They attempted to build a tower
to heaven by the works of their hands with no regard for the
glory of God. And that's the key issue in our
day. The key principle thing that we're concerned with in
the gospel of Christ, the key principle thing which the gospel
of Christ reveals is the glory of God. The religion of works,
the religion of man, the religion of Babylon has no regard for
God's glory, His righteousness, His justice, and His truth. The
religion of the world says, come, bring everybody up to heaven,
to hell with God's glory. We'll get glory for ourselves.
God scattered these men and brought their religion to confusion. And yet, wherever these idolaters
have spread through the earth, their religion is essentially
the same. I don't suggest that you do it, but those who study
the religions of the world will find out that the pagan mythologies
the idolatrous images, the religious rituals of this world, no matter
how much they differ. Now listen to me, it does not
matter whether you're talking about First Baptist Church, or
whether you're talking about St. Peter's Basilica, or whether
you're talking about the Mormon Tabernacle out in Salt Lake City,
or whether you're talking about a barbaric tribesman in the most
remote corner of Africa, going down and kneeling at some totem
pole that he's whittled out with his own hands. It doesn't matter
what you're talking about. The religion of this world has
one underlying sameness. I want singular sameness that
shows that it has a singular original source. And that source
is Babel, or Babylon. It was Nimrod's plan to defeat
the purpose of the God of Noah. And the foundational tenant The
one thing that always remains the same in the religions of
this world, wherever and whenever you find them, is this. Man's
salvation is ultimately dependent upon and determined by man himself. That's it. That's it. The salvation
of a sinner is not the work of God alone. I know people say
it is. They say it and then turn right
around and deny it. You listen to them. You're not fooled by
them. They turn around. They say we believe in salvation
by grace. But election depends on you. God chose to save everybody. You make the final decision.
They say we believe in salvation by grace alone, redemption by
the blood of Christ alone. But redemption is really determined
by you. You see, Christ died to redeem
everybody, and He paid the price. But only you, by your mighty
will, can make the blood of Christ effectual for the salvation of
your soul. They say we believe in regeneration,
the new birth, by grace alone. The Spirit of God gives life
to sinners, but He can only do so if the sinner will allow Him
to do so. They say we believe that God's
saints persevere. We believe they're saved and
secure forever. But their salvation and their
security is dependent upon them. We believe in the glory of heaven
as the gift of God's grace. But the gift that God bestows
upon you in heaven's glory depends on what you do. Lindsay Campbell,
is it Babylon or is it the worship of God? Babylon. Babylon. It is the doctrine of the great
whore. idolatry, blasphemy and abomination. Fourthly, we're
told that this woman has made the inhabitants of the earth
drunk with the wine of her fornication. In verse two, the religion of
old Babylon is not limited to one race or one time or one place,
or even one religious order. It encompasses all. The kings
of the earth and the inhabitants of the earth from one generation
to the other commit fornication with her and drink of her cup
until they are thoroughly drunk beyond the reach of reason. Did
you ever try to reason with one who is drunk with a cup of religion? You ever try to reason with one?
You can't reason with them. You can't talk with them. They're
beyond the scope and the reach of reason. They will not hear
what you say. Their minds are made up. Their
hearts are blocked. Their hearts are hardened with
the drunken stupor of freewillism and the drunken stupor of works
religion. The cup which she holds out is
a golden cup. In verse four, we see how this
cup from which they drink this strong wine is a golden cup. That is to say to the carnal,
sensual heart, the world's religion is very appealing. It's bright. It's glittering. It's full of
blessings. It's full of promises of happiness,
health, peace and prosperity to all who drink from its cup.
Has everything to appeal to the flesh. Have clubs for old folks
and clubs for kids. Have clubs for women and clubs
for men. Have ball teams and soccer teams
and basketball teams and gymnasiums. We call it family life centers.
Nice fancy gymnasiums, swimming pools, spa. Even have exercise
classes for the gals, you know. Got everything going. Got stained
glass windows and pictures. Nice pews. Beautiful orchids. robes, crosses, lights that are
in certain shapes, windows with certain images in them. And when
the sun shines just right, it looks so beautiful. The halo
on the heads of the women is, oh, that's impressive, impressive. It's a golden cup. Riches, never
lack for riches. Always got money. Always got
money because it got plenty of folks willing to pay to get in
on the whoredom. Always got money. Plenty of money. Money to burn. Got wealth, prosperity,
and a name. You know, he's Reverend Dr. So-and-so, pastor of Big Shot
Baptist Church. Oh? Well, he knows. He knows,
he's an authority. He's the right reverend, doctor,
fool. But he's got his degree, and
he's been doing it a long time. We'll ask his opinion. Got a
name, influence, been at it a long time, and numbers. Everybody
wants to hear them. Why they have their stadiums
and can't get folks in the stadium? They're full! damn pack all over
the world it's a beautiful cup but the cup is full of abomination
and filthiness and fornication the most vile thing in this world
now you listen to me I've been I've been saying this for 20
years now, and I plan to go on saying it. God helping me. I
hope you'll hear me. I hope God will give me somebody's
ear. The most vile, abominable thing in this world is not the
house of prostitution. It is not the pimp on the street
selling drugs to your kids. It is not the liquor store on
the corner. It is not the pornography shop.
It is not the prison house. It is not the bar room. The most vile, abominable, dangerous
thing in this world is godless religion. The religion of free
willism. The religion of works. And it
produces nothing but vileness and corruption. You go to any
country, any country in the world, I've been to a few. You go to
any country in the world where paganism runs rampant. You've
been to some of them, buddy. You go to any country in the
world where Roman Catholicism has power. The way of life is
cheating bribery. Is that the way it was where
you was in Puerto Rico? Cheating bribery, cheating bribery. Mexico,
the only way you live down there is pay somebody else. Pay somebody
off. Cheating, bribery, fornication
and adultery. Those things just rampage way
of life. Nothing but degradation. Works religion always produces
it. They tell us that preaching free grace is licentiousness
and leads men to evil. The fact is that the greater
power and influence free willism and good works has in the world,
the greater evil it produces. I'll exemplify it by our own
society. In this day, 1988, United States
of America. We have what has been categorically
described by the religious leaders of the day, the greatest revival
in history. Now that's what they say. That's
what they say. Hundreds of thousands of people
are making decisions for Jesus every week. Every week. Hundreds of thousands. Why they
build their auditoriums. Seek 20,000 people. 20,000 people. In a city, little
old city the size of Lynchburg. And thousands. Why am I so? That's a revival going on. If
that's so. How come it is that the more
converts they get, the worse this world becomes? Huh? How come it is? I'll tell you
what, these fellas rant and rave about AIDS and homosexuality
and moral perversion. I'm telling you that the homosexual,
the pornographer, the prostitute, the drug addict, the murderer,
the thief, is doing only what his religious leader tells him
he has the right to do. He's exercising his free will,
regardless of what God says. That's what his preacher tells
me you've got a right to do. Got a right to. You got your free
will, that's your right. You got a right to do whatever
you want to. God won't take, God won't violate that. The cup she gives is always the
same. The old harlot has only one cup
and it's always filled with the same wine. The head spinning
wine of free will, self-righteousness, and good works. You hear fellas
talk about You hear fellas talk who've been drinking from this
cup? You can spot them. I heard Gary Hart, old Mr. Hart. He finally fessed up, didn't
he? He finally fessed up. I heard him on campaign trail
a few weeks ago. And he was defending himself
now. Yes, I've committed a terrible thing. But I'll tell you the
sin I committed was nothing to compare with the sin of this
administration in building up a nuclear arsenal and letting
people go hungry on the streets. Mr. Baker, he and Tammy Fade,
they got caught. They lied about it, but finally
reports are just too much. Evidence is too great. They finally
had to fess up. Jimmy said yes. I had a problem in the past.
Had a problem. Well, he's drunk. He's drunk
on the wine of his goodness. You see, he thinks that the problem
is out there. The problem is something that
he did in the past. He doesn't know the corruption
of his heart. That's the wine of this day. The wine of this religion. The
wine found in the cup of this whore. And the woman herself
is drunk. We're told in verse 6 that she's
drunk with the blood of the saints, with the blood of the martyrs
of Jesus. In chapter 18, verse 24, we're told that in her was
found the blood of the prophets and of the saints and of all
that were slain upon the earth. In other words, throughout history,
past, present, and future. Everybody! who has been persecuted,
imprisoned, and put to death for the cause of Christ, has
been put to death by this harlot. And she did it in the name of
Christ. She did it in the name of God. False religion seeks
power by any means. Seeks to control men by fear
and intimidation. It seeks power by political persuasion,
or by legislative power. And once it gets it, it'll use
the power of the sword to bring everybody into objection. Next, we're told that this woman
sets upon many waters, verse 1. But in verse 15, the angel
tells us plainly that those waters are not literal bodies of water. They're people in nations and
tongues. That is to say, The false religion
signified by this great whore is a religion of universal acceptance
and universal approval. That man who preaches free will
and good works can go anywhere in the world, in any church in
the world, in any religion in the world, and preach it. He
can preach it. Billy Graham and the Pope of
Rome get along fine because they preach the same thing. They preach
the same thing. Jimmy Swaggart and Jerry Falwell
get along fine because they preach the same thing. Oh, but Jimmy
believes in speaking in tongues and Jerry doesn't. Yeah, but
the essence is the same. They believe in free will and
good works. They believe that God waits on
the will of the sinner. They believe that God's power
is under the dominion of the sinner's will. And they believe
that salvation ultimately is determined and accomplished by
the sinner. And then John describes this
woman as sitting upon a scarlet beast full of the names of blasphemy,
having seven heads and ten horns, in verse 3. The beast is the
same one we saw in Revelation 13. It tells the woman, tells us
that this woman, the religion of this world, is inspired by
and empowered by Satan himself. Don't be surprised, Paul said,
if Satan transforms his ministers into angels of light. Don't be
surprised by that. These fellows come along and
they preach righteousness and moral goodness, and they preach
against pornography, and they preach against prostitution,
and they preach against drug addicts, and they preach for
a strong family and a strong America, and wave their Bibles,
and everybody shouts, Hallelujah, Amen. And I'm for all those things. I'm for every one of them, for
every one of them. But these fellows are preaching
man's righteousness, not God's righteousness. They're preaching
man's goodness, not God's glory. They're preaching man's dignity,
not God's power. The seven heads of the beast
are the kingdoms and empires of this world by which false
religion is both protected and advanced. The empires of Greece,
Persia, Assyria, Rome, and Egypt. There is another to come. which
shall stand but a short time. And I think perhaps the significance
is this. There are seven kingdoms, implying
all the kingdoms of the world. And in this last short space,
we call the gospel age. All the kingdoms of the world
are described here by this beast. And the seven horns that this
beast has are the seven heads. All the kingdoms of the world are under the power and dominion
of Satan himself, of the beast. The entire political world is
now, always has been, and shall forever remain until the coming
of Christ under the influence of Satan, the prince of this
world. I don't get too excited about Democrat or Republican. I don't get too excited about
either one. They're under the influence of
the beast, all the kingdoms of this world. Are you saying all
politicians are lost? No, no, no. Thank God they're
few. God's placed in high positions.
But I'm telling you that the religious systems and the political
systems of this world are under the beast. The ten horns of the
beast are kings, rulers of the world raised up by Satan for
brief periods of time. to make war with Christ and with
his church. And verse 12, the 10 horns which
thou sawest are 10 kings which receive no kingdom yet, but receive
power as kings one hour just for a little space of time with
the beast. They have one mind and they give
their power and strength to the beast. What is their one mind? They make war with the lamb.
They make war with the lamb. They're not mighty emperors,
not these kings. They're just little presidents
and senators and congressmen and governors and legislators
and prime ministers, little dictators to whom Satan gives power for
a little season to accomplish his purpose to oppose Christ
and his cause. The woman is the great whore.
the religion of the world, which reigns over the kings and people
of the world, the nations of the earth, and stands in opposition
to Christ and his church. What shall become of her? When
John saw her in verse six, he said, I wondered with great admiration. Literally, I wondered with astonishment
and terror. And well, he might. But then
the angel explained to him what was going on and comforted and
encouraged him by the revelation that this great whore shall be
brought to destruction by the will of God. And that even she
is under the dominion of our great God and Savior, and she
shall serve his purpose. Look at verse 16. And the ten
horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the
whore and shall make her desolate and naked. and shall eat her
flesh and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts
to fulfill his will and to agree and to give their kingdom unto
the beast until the works of God be fulfilled. Take courage, children of God.
Christ shall prevail, and in him we shall prevail. for we're
more than conquerors through him that loved us. The great
whore with all her hellish power shall have no influence over
the church of God's elect because our names are written in the
book of God from old eternity. Immutability has established
our name in heaven. We've been called of God and
the gifts of God are without repentance. We've been chosen
of God as the objects of his mercy, love, and grace, and his
purpose in election must stand. God makes his elect to be faithful,
faithful to Christ and faithful to his cause by the power of
his grace. And faithful men and women cannot
be turned away from their master. They can't be. They can't be
turned away from Christ by terror, nor by isolation, by the vast
majority of opinion, nor by the bribery that men may offer. They
can't even be turned away by death. They're faithful. And
our Redeemer and our Savior is Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God,
the Lord of Lords, and the King of Kings. I know whom I have
believed. Blessed be God, He is able to
keep what I have committed to Him and to establish His kingdom
in this world, and His truth shall prevail. In the end, by
the will of God, this woman shall be destroyed. It seems at times
that Antichrist prevails. God knows this is a day of darkness. And I perish. I recall when I left Piedmont
Bible College in Western Salem. Dean of the school called me
in, president of the school now, called me into his office and
he said, now Don, we've had our differences, You know, we worship
the same God. We serve the same Savior. And
we're in this world for the same purpose. What he was saying is,
we don't want you to be too upset. We'd like you to go and support
the school. And I said to him, Mr. Drake, I don't know whether
you believe what you say you believe or not. I don't know
whether you believe what you preach or not. But if you do,
and you can mark this down, I do believe what I say I believe.
I do believe what I'm preaching to be the truth of God. And if
what you say is what you believe, and what I say is what I believe,
then one of us is on the road to heaven, one of us is on the
road to hell. One of us is preaching truth,
one of us is preaching a lie. One of us is seeking the salvation
of men's souls, one of us is seeking the destruction of men's
souls. And there's no agreement. No agreement. No agreement between
light and darkness. No agreement between free will
and free grace. No agreement between salvation
by Christ alone and salvation mixed up with man's will and
man's doings. And in the day of judgment, we'll
find out. In the day of judgment, we'll
find out. Why draw the line so plain, so clear, so bold? Because
my soul men are perishing. Men are perishing. Men are perishing. Drunk. Drunk. Drunk. With the wine of the great whore. But blessed be God in that last
day. Everybody shall bow before the
throne of the sovereign king. And confess that's the way it
is. And that's the way it ought to be. That's the way it ought
to be. I got to quit. There are some
things we should learn from this picture. Many things. Learn this. God's in sovereign
control. He's in sovereign control. Did
you read in verse 17? This whore And these kings and
this beast, all of them fulfill the will of our God. That's right. They all do. They
all do. Explain that. I can't explain it, but man,
I can sure jump up and down and rejoice in it. Our God's in control. He's in control. And even the
wrath of man shall praise Him. And God's saints are secure. Those whose names are written
in the book will not be deceived by this beast or by this woman. And in the end, all false religion
will prove to be a terrible, frustrating, empty vexation to
your soul. so that in the end, those who
were deceived by the harlot turn upon the harlot and fight against
her. Oh, I don't know, I suspect the torments of hell for many will have something
to do with that right there. For in hell, the lost mama will look her lost son in the
eye. She led him to the harlot. And
she taught him how to play games with the harlot. And taught him
how to drink from the harlot's cup. and he will despise her
forever. And the lost preacher will look
his lost congregation in the eye. He led them to the harlot. He taught them how to sing the
harlot's praises. He taught them how to enrich
the harlot. He taught them how to drink from the harlot's cup.
and taught him how to get everybody else to drink from the harlot's
cup. And he shall for all eternity,
under the wrath of God, as he deserves to be, he shall be the
object of men's barbaric insatiable hatred and malice and wrath. But in that last day, the truth
of God shall stand. And as a shining light through
all the vast empire of God's new creation, men and women gathered
from all the four corners of the earth by the power of God's
grace shall sing the praises of Jesus Christ and rejoice that
our God has accomplished his will. And those whose names he
recorded in the book of life before the world began shall
then and forever be at peace with joy and satisfaction around
the throne of God. May God make us faithful in this
generation to Jesus Christ, his truth, and
his glory. I've got to quit, but I've got I've got this on my heart. Somehow, somehow in this day, we've got to make men see and
understand that only one Savior is Jesus Christ, the sovereign,
saving, redeeming Son of God. And you'll either trust this
Savior or you'll perish in your sins. And everybody who is opposed
to his character, everybody who denies his accomplished work,
everybody who despises his free grace is under his wrath. And somehow we got to make it
known. We got to make it known. If God gives me breath to go
on for the next 20 years or the next 40 years, God helping me,
I plan only to draw the line a little clearer. and a little
bolder, and proclaim it a little plainer, I never intend to back
up not one inch. For the glory of God and the
souls of men are at stake. Amen.