She rides in opulently, comfortably. Supported by this monster, careful not to spill her drink. Only this religious harlot could pull this off. Only through abandoning allegiance to Christ could sheep enjoy such comfort with such a beast as the Antichrist. She should have been the bride, but she chose to be the harlot.
This is their doctrine. especially as you move Up the pyramid with the Roman Catholicism, Catholics doctrine, and the neo. Protestant behavior. Um This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Ricky is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville.
Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the last book of the Bible, Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about cross-reference radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching. And now here's Pastor Rick in the 17th chapter of the book of Revelation with this edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Let no one deceive you by any means, for that day will not come, that is the rapture, unless the falling away comes first. The Greek word for falling away is Apostasy.
The apostasy will come. When the church is removed, and then it continues, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of hell. The man of sin being the beast, the antichrist. He has many other names than just antichrist. But that one fits The easiest.
So we see these facts. Leading up to this great apostasy. But proof means very little to those who refuse to accept it because they don't like it. And that is very dangerous. Listen, in 1999, May 14th, Pope John Paul the Second kissed a copy of the Koran.
That was delivered to him By a delegation from Iraq. as a gift. And of course, they cover that over well. It was a gesture of kindness. It was a gesture of.
Blasphemy. Again, look it up. It's online. It's not a secret. At the Vatican, when a Muslim delegation Arrive there, they're treated.
like they belonged to Mother Rome.
Well, verse 2, With whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.
Well, again, according to verses one and two, the harlot is a distinct figure from the kings of the earth. You have the kings of the earth, which would be the Antichrist and his regime, and all through history. and popes have wielded great power over kings of nations in history. But she is distinct from them. Her political influence for religious unfaithfulness.
Help us identify just who this is. There's nobody else that comes close. You can't say, oh, that's the Methodist. The Neo-Methodists would enter, will line up. They will be the crew.
Of this ship that Rome is going to captain. And so Rome Roman Catholicism is an unholy political religious system. And all her alliances are corrupt. Of all the apostates in Christendom, She is the most wealthy by far, even though the Mormon Church has incredible wealth. in the billions.
Rome calls that pocket change. It's depicted in verse four. The woman was arrayed in purple, scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup. That's helping us identify Who is this mysterious figure, because she's mysterious no more. John, he couldn't figure it out.
The Roman Church didn't exist back then, Neoprotestants didn't exist back then. It says here in verse 2, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. There's nothing about her that is faithful, trustworthy, or righteous. That's what the language of this. Uh Revelation is telling us Vast numbers have come under her evil influence.
And have also been reduced to wretchedness. Verse 3.
So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beech, beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The woman doesn't have the seven heads and ten horns, the woman's not the scarlet beech, she's just very comfortable riding in on this beast. She rides in opulently, comfortably. supported by this monster. Careful not to spill her drink.
Only this religious harlot could pull this off. Only through abandoning allegiance to Christ could she enjoy such comfort with such a beast as the Antichrist. She should have been the bride, but she chose to be the harlot. This is their doctrine. Especially as you move Up the pyramid.
With the Roman Catholicism, Catholics doctrine and the neo. Protestant behavior. She should have rebuked Antichrist and suffered the judgment. but instead she joins them.
Now, blasphemy, what is blasphemy? Blasphemy is a direct attack on God. That's what blasphemy is, a direct insult. an attack on him.
Now, the having seven heads and ten horns, we covered this in chapter 13 in verses 1, 9, and 12. The seven heads With The ten horns indicate the global control and the ability to enforce. the will of its rulers, those with Antichrist. By the way, the seven heads, there are seven continents. Uh officially.
Australia, Asia, Africa, North America, South America. and then Antarctica and Europe. Verse four The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.
Now again, it's got to be hard hearing this. If you once were a Roman Catholic, you're either delighted you're out of it and you say, oh, thank you for your word, Lord, or you might still, you know, have some sort of hidden allegiance there and you're building up a resentment towards hearing these things. Or again, if you have loved ones still in this church or have had loved ones who've left this life and you might be a little conflicted, well, you default to Christ in those circumstances. The Lord does right. The Lord knows what He's doing, and And in the end, His people will be totally at peace with whatever outcome there is.
And that's why this angel's not upset. None of them were upset as God dispensed. Judgment.
So here in verse 4, The woman arrayed in purple and scarlet. adorned with precious stones, pearls, Having the golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. Again, blunt, no words minced. Why would I want to come along with a black magic marker and edit that out of my Bible? Why would I want to redact God because I don't care for it?
Here she is. With luxury And royalty be debt. with lavish ornamentation. Colour coordinated with the scarlet beast. She has amassed great wealth.
And Her sins only have increased This is the kind of opulence In her position, That is is or does belong to the Vatican Beginning in the fourth century through the Dark Ages, which, you know, there are a lot of revisionists in history. They don't want history past to be history past, so they try to go back and try to rewrite things and clean it up. Uh they scrub it. Try to sterilize. But you can't you can't hide it, it's too much.
These are signs of moral bankruptcy. materialistically successful, but spiritually spiritually a failure. Having in her hand a golden cup full of the abomination of the filthiness of her fornication. This is a full jug. of uh filled to the top.
The Babylonian label on the jug. points to the occult. to the paganism. that is has infested or leavened the Roman Catholic Church. Jeremiah had to deal with this with the Jews.
He had to deal with Jews in name only. just like we have to deal with Christians in name only. who had no passion for the Lord, no burden for lost souls, no loyalty to What God has said. They just want to be counted as Christians. But they'd be very comfortable counting as anything else also.
Jeremiah dealing with them, he says to Babylon, Jeremiah fifty one seven, that made all the earth drunk The nations drank her wine, therefore the nations are deranged.
So I'm purposely bringing it up because Scripture ties in. It's giving us our Lesson on what Well, what is Babylon about in Scripture?
Well, Babylon is about the occult. The Chaldeans.
Well, notorious For their witchcraft For their sooth saying, They're seances. And those who don't like that try to go back and pretend that it isn't true when it is, and there is Jeremiah dealing with it, and he's saying, because of You're wrong gods, you're out of your mind. That just Tells us what Antifa is all about, does it not? They're just insane. And they're not the only ones, mm not at all, nor are they There's plenty of them that have been around for a long time.
So efforts to restrain paganism collapsed under this Theodotus I in 380 AD by this edict declaring that Christianity was the official state. religion of the Roman Empire, and mandating all subjects to adhere to the Niocene Christian faith. which was their council of bishops that were selling themselves out. to the state for position and for wealth, and they did get position and wealth, and they have built on it unto this day. If you Well just leave it at that.
The fornication, of course, speaks of the intimate relationship with forbidden religious views.
So if you say, well, I'm a Christian. But let me tell you what my zodiac sign is. That's fornication, that's spiritual fornication. and that will lead to great harlotry. Verse 5, and on the forehead Her name was written Mystery Babylon, the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.
Written on the forehead for everybody. willing to read. Can read it, can see it again. Jeremiah dealing with the same type of behavior. That the true church has to deal with the apostate church.
Jeremiah had to deal with the apostate Jews. He says, you have polluted the land with your harlotries and your wickedness. You have had a harlot's forehead. You refuse to be ashamed. Yeah, I'm a little afraid of people who would Driven emotionally, that will just go with their emotions, impetuous all the time.
We all have some degree of that, but they always have that. But I'm more afraid of those who cannot be shamed. We call them narcissists, we call them politicians. It just can't shame them. No matter what they do, they're not bothered by what they did.
And that's what God is saying: the behavior of these apostate Jews, and will be the behavior of this great harlot. Go to the Vatican and point out these things in the scripture that they do wrong, there'll be no shame. In fact, they'll turn on you. Religious Babylon as apostate Christianity. and it is a sacred cow.
In many circles. You can't say anything about them. sacred. Again, I'm not saying if you use Easter eggs at Resurrection time Sunday time that you're A pagan. But I am saying that's where it comes from.
Mystery Babylon the Great Harlot This is not historical Babylon. It is not political Babylon. Historical Babylon is the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar.
Well, there were no Christians at that time. That Babylonian empire has been wiped out. It's gone. And long before Christ came.
So, it's not historical Babylon, nor is it political Babylon of Antichrist, because again, That cult-infested regime that worships through the false prophet will destroy. This competitor religion. When He's done using them. Babylon, not identified as Rome, but in Rome. And that comes out in verse 17, which Revelation 17, 17 For God has put into their hearts That's not the verse I wanted.
Well yo I'm not going to stand here looking for it either. We're going to move on. But it's in there. We'll come to it. Eventually.
So It is Apostate Christianity drunk with the poison of ancient Babylon's occultic, idolatrous ways, and that's why this. Apostate church, the great harlot, is associated with ancient Babylon because of the occultic practices, and it is saying to us, this is spiritual. They're not just out there conquering other nations with their armies and claiming their territories. They're preaching gods. That are against the true God.
This is spiritual. This shrouded in secrecy. That's the mystery. And it it's worked for it. It's good.
They've gotten away with this for centuries. And so from ancient Babylon's idols And goddess worship. It was born there. That's where Nimrod built his city. And these things begin to spread.
Throughout the earth.
So John uses Rome metaphorically. for the secular powers of Antichrist's regime with its occult practices. And then John also uses Babylon metaphorically for the Great Tribulation Apostate Church Led by Rome, she has the power. Oh, I'm here's the verse. It's come to me.
Verse 9. Here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which. The woman sits So The woman associated with the beast, the beast sits on. The city associated with the seven mountains.
Well, many cities have that in their history. Ancient Babylon has that in their history, many of them. But only one is known to be the city set upon seven hills, In Western history today, and that is Rome. Just like Paris is a city of lights, New York is the big apple, Los Angeles is the city of Kooks, uh angels. these things.
We know who who who these characters are. There are signatures as we move through the scripture. The mother of harlots.
Now calling a person a mother means They also reproduce and they nurture. Holatry is bad enough. But this one is the mother of harlots.
So from this. Edict To make the church the state church and everybody to join, and all the pagans flooded in. From that came into the church again an infestation of paganism that is there to this day, that allows them to pray to Mary, because they were praying to other goddesses before she even showed up. And they just integrated it. Christmas, this is a celebration of statinalia, the worshiping of the sun.
And the change of the season, the winter solstice, and all that's factored into the holiday. We Christians have come along. And Sort of Overruled them, and it's become a cultural victory in many senses. And so, I'm not saying to you, if you celebrate Christmas, that you are a A pagan. But I am saying though, and there's no denying.
that the images that many of the images that belong to Our celebration of the Incarnation are Born in paganism.
Now, what you do with that. You'll stand before God. Even Paul had to deal with certain things like that. Those are not. The big fish to fry.
the mother of harlots, and the abominations of the earth So this source of the earth's organized spiritual obscenities within Christianity, that's who's being talked about. The abominations are the idols themselves. And Rome is loaded with her idols. And if you you know, they'll pray to them, they'll wear them around their neck, and they'll They have them in bead form. There's a variety of them, all of them left over from that ancient world of the Chaldeans.
And so we move forward to verse 6. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and I saw her, I'm when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. I should point out, I am pointing out these things with one hand tied behind my back. As I mentioned, this is the easiest Pseudo-church. to point out in Christendom As False.
It's the easiest one. They make it easy. It's like shooting ducks in a bathtub. I don't need ten reasons. To identify a false church.
It only takes one. And so if you tell me, yeah, we pray to Mary, you've just satisfied the criteria. of being a cult. A not being a true church. That's a violation of the first commandment.
You have no other gods before me. Mary's not God. Mary would slap the snot out of them for praying to her.
So let's not vilify her. She is an incredible woman. to have to deal with the social stigma of having a child out of wedlock. And telling the story, the Holy Spirit did it. And thank God he sent Elizabeth.
Zacharias to work through that with her. Anyway, she is one of the most remarkable characters in all the Bible. Male or female, and the fact that she plays such a low-key role. Yes. adds to her beauty.
History knows of no other character except Romanism that can fit these descriptions. I've pointed that out a few times. From their hostility to The Bible and the believers of the Bible, and Rome is burned at the stake. men for daring to translate the Scripture. And to the language of the people, Jan Hus, William Tyndale.
I mean, they dug up William Tyndale's body some 78 years after his death and dragged it to the street to show their hatred for having the audacity. to think that anybody but the popes and the magisterium and the fathers, could handle the word of God. They were committed to hiding the Scripture from the people, so their Mass was done for centuries in Latin.
So you couldn't understand, you couldn't challenge, you couldn't say, hey, wait a minute. You just read that from the scripture. How come you're behaving contrary to that?
Well, you're too stupid to know the Bible. That's only the Pope that has in infallible, and you have to line up with him. and they've had a lot of power over the centuries. What do you do with this? If you come out of Roman Catholicism, well, I'll put it, I'll make it for myself.
I have a chip on my shoulder that I hope I never lose. For withholding the scripture. I almost went to hell because Christians, people who said they were Christians, were not giving me the scripture. And the other ones who were in love with Christ weren't being fed by their churches enough to know how to give me the scripture.
So I have a resentment. For Protestant and non-denominational churches. That Either twist the scripture, suppress the scripture, or run around like loons in the name of Jesus, drawing a full-blown attention to themselves. Have you seen them running across the sanctuary back and forth, screaming and cackling? Like, oh yes, sign me up.
I want some of that.
So yeah, I have a grudge.
So I can identify, if you come out of Roman Catholicism, I would have the chip on my shoulder too. I say, you know what? I'm never going to forget that they almost sent me to hell playing this religious game, scaring me into allegiance to follow them, making me line up against anybody who dared tell me the truth about them. And I had the only Physical persecution I almost ever faced was from a Roman Catholic that hated the fact. that we were sharing the gospel.
with co-workers.
Well I could go on and on and on, but I think I've made the points, and I hope I've made them from Scripture. There's more to come in the next session. But I will not side with them. I will not cover up for them. I will not side.
With anyone against Christ, so help me, God. And I will not be intimidated by those who don't care for what the Scripture says. Going back to Revelation 2. You have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars.
Well, that was the church's sardis. That lines up with the Reformation age, but was also a dead church because she didn't go farther with that. She stopped right there. But there's nothing wrong with finding those Within the church to be liars.
Well, I mentioned the Inquisitions, the Crusades targeting the Waldensians, the Huguenots, the Jews. And others Killing Christians by the hundreds of thousands. That alone should stir someone to look into that if you're ignorant of it. The mother of all harlots. As Babylon is the cradle of idolatry, and sorcery So is Rome.
of these things within Christendom. and when I saw her I marvelled with great amazement. John couldn't believe what he was seeing. his beloved church, even in this late stage, in the at the end of the first century. the levels of apostasy and violence and an entity calling itself Christian.
while killing Christians.
Well, may God help us to be merciful. May God help us to be firm. And may God help us to be loving in spite of these things without backing down from what the truth says. Yeah. This has been Cross Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston.
This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia. Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreference radio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
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