Religion Gone Wrong – Part 2

Hi, I'm Robert Jeffress, and I'm glad to serve as your Bible teacher every day on this great radio station. On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. You know, for thousands of years, people have been abandoning the one true God for false idols. And in Revelation chapter 17, the story repeats itself once again.

This time, it's on a global scale. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress describes a false religion that will emerge in the last days and ushers in the Earth's destruction. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to Pathway to Victory. Let me begin today with a question. Have you ever stood on the deck of a luxury cruise ship and witnessed God's masterpiece of Alaska? Well, I can remember the first time I laid eyes on the opulent coastline populated with towering pine trees and bald eagles.

And when I saw my first glacier, it literally took my breath away. This coming June 15th through 22nd, Amy and I will be hosting the Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska and would love to show you the magnificent sights as we glide through the calming waters of the inside passage. Joining us will be musical guest Rebecca St. James and Michael O'Brien and comedian Dennis Swanberg. I'll also be teaching from God's word. The dates are June 15th through 22nd, 2024.

Go to ptv.org. Look at the itinerary we've planned for you and reserve your spot today. On this 18th day of September, we find ourselves in the final stretch of our verse by verse study through the Book of Revelation we're calling Final Conquest. And while there's still time, I'm hoping you'll contact Pathway to Victory to request your copy of my latest book called Mysteries of the End Times. In my new book, I address five common questions about biblical prophecy, such as America's role in the end times and questions surrounding the day of the Lord. I'm happy to send you this brand new book, Mysteries of the End Times, when you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory. I'll say more about my new book and other resources later on, but right now, let's open our Bibles to the 17th chapter of Revelation. Today, I want to help you unravel the mysteries contained in this colorful passage in the Bible.

I titled today's message Religion Gone Wrong. If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the Book of the Revelation. Look at verses one and two of chapter 17, then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls before they were poured out. And one of those angels spoke to me saying, come here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot. And notice that this harlot commits immorality with, first of all, the kings of the earth.

But not only that, she seduces those who dwell on the earth. Remember that phrase in the Book of Revelation? It refers to unbelievers, people who have their minds on worldly things instead of heavenly things.

And because of that, they miss the rapture of the church. They are still on the earth and they are seduced by this harlot. Now, when we get to verse three, we're actually going to see this harlot in great detail. Look at what he saw, verse three.

And the angel carried me away, John said, and the spirit into a wilderness. And he saw this vision of a woman sitting on a scarlet beast full of blasphemous names having seven heads and ten horns. Now, that's a description of the beast. We'll see in a moment who that beast is.

I'll give you a heads up. It's the antichrist, the world leader. But first of all, John's going to describe this woman who was sitting on the beast himself. The woman was clothed in purple, that denotes royalty, and scarlet, that's luxury, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality. And notice the name of the harlot, verse five. And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth.

This woman is not just one of the other prostitutes, she is the chief prostitute. She is not just another false religion, she is the mother of all false religions. Her name is Babylon. That fascinating name Babylon denotes the source of every false religion in the world today.

I don't have time to get into it, but in 1862 a Scottish minister named Alexander Hislop wrote a book called The Two Babylons. And he started and traced Babylon where it started back to Genesis 11. Remember the story of Babel? After the flood God commanded the people to scatter throughout the world and to form different nations. They were to scatter.

They said, no, we're going to found this city Babel. And they created their own religion. They tried to build that tower to reach into the heavens. And throughout history those towers, those ziggurats, were edifices that were made to pagan deities. And it angered God that they had created their own system, their own religious system to worship the God of their imagination rather than the God of the Bible. Anyway, Alexander Hislop traced the beginning of Babylonianism throughout history all the way to the first century. It had infected the church at Pergamum, we see in Revelation chapter 2, throughout the Middle Ages and even today. Now, Alexander Hislop believes that this religion, this false religion, is a particular brand of Christianity we find in the world today. I'm not going to mention it in case I'm going to get more angry emails, but he postulates that it's a particular church you're very familiar with.

The more I study it, the more I believe that's probably not the case. I think this is going to be a brand new religious prostitute that's created for the final seduction. I think this false religious system will probably be one part evangelical Christianity, one part Catholicism, one part Islam, one part New Age movement, one part positive thinking, and a little bit of patriotism sprinkled on top. And I believe this concoction, this religious brew, will be so inclusive that it will offend nobody and attract everybody.

That's the only way you can do it. And by the way, the spirit of Babylonianism is very apparent today. We don't call it Babylonianism, nobody would join the first church of Babylon probably, but it's nevertheless very pervasive.

We don't call it Babylonianism, you know what we call it? Inclusivism. Pluralism.

Nobody has a market on the truth, they say. There are many ways to God. All the different world religions are just different paths up to the same mountain that reached to God himself. Have you ever noticed that those who cry for tolerance and inclusivism are the most intolerant people when it comes to conservative Christianity? They can tolerate any belief except the belief that there is one way to God and it's through his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the way it will be in this final concoction of religious heresy. The final form of Babylonianism will invite everybody to come.

It will teach everything except the right thing. And that's why this woman is pictured as drinking from the cup the blood of the saints. She, the false religious system, will work with the antichrist to persecute those who become Christians during the great tribulation.

That is the image that we see of the harlot. Now we'll talk about her judgment in just a little bit. But let's look at verse 7. He first of all deals with the judgment of the beast itself. The judgment of the beast. Now we're going to read a lot about beast in the book of Revelation. Remember there are three beasts.

They're part of the satanic trinity. The beast of the abyss, that's Satan, who is the power behind all of it. There's the beast out of the sea, that's the antichrist, the final world dictator, a human leader. And then there's the beast out of the earth, the false prophet, who assists the antichrist. Now notice what he says in verse 7. And the angel said to me, why do you wonder, I will tell you the mystery of a woman and of the beast that carries her which has the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction.

You'll see this used repeatedly. He was, he is not, and he's about to be. What is that talking about? Remember the antichrist comes to power at the beginning of the great tribulation, Revelation 6. He's assisted by this false religious system.

They work together. But early on, he appears to be assassinated, a mortal head wound. People will think he has died, but he will be miraculously, or at least it will appear, be resurrected. It's a counterfeit resurrection. Satan counterfeits every truth, including the resurrection of Jesus. But when this beast is resurrected, this leader, people all over the earth will go crazy and follow him because of the miracle he's presumably had performed, his own resurrection.

That's what it's talking about here. Verse 8, and those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast that he was and is not and will come. Now, look at the seven heads of this beast. Here is the mind, which has wisdom. The seven heads are the seven mountains on which the woman sits, and they are seven kings, five have fallen, one is and the other has not yet come.

And when he comes, he must remain a little while. Remember, John is writing in 90 AD. These seven heads represent the seven world empires. Five of them have already occurred and disappeared from the earth. What are those five?

Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece. They were already in the dustbin of history by the time John wrote this. Five have already fallen.

One is. That's Rome. Rome was currently the world power when John wrote these words. And the other, the seventh, has not yet come. That's the kingdom of the antichrist that is yet to come.

And when he comes, he must remain a little while. The beast, which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, but he's also one of the seven, and he goes to destruction. Well, how could he be the leader of the seventh kingdom and the final eighth kingdom?

Remember what I said? While he is in charge of that final kingdom, he will appear to die. And then he'll be resurrected, and he'll come back in an even stronger form in the eighth and final kingdom. That's the seven heads that were on the beast. Now, let's look at the ten horns. The ten horns, which you saw, are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as with kings, with the beast, for one hour.

And they have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. Apparently, the antichrist will have ten assistants, if you will, governors who rule over various aspects of the antichrist kingdom. People often ask, well, where is the United States of America in all of this? We're probably one of these ten, one of these ten nations that have lost all individual national distinction. We're just a part of this group, this ten-nation confederacy over which antichrist rules. You see the beginning of that.

You've seen it for decades now. You have the World Health Organization, the World Council on Churches, the World Bank. There's this attempt at globalism, to lose all national distinctions. By the time this happens, America will no longer have a constitution that we follow. There'll be no longer any freedom of worship. There'll be no freedom of speech.

There'll be no freedom of commerce. All of those things will have been usurped by the leader of this global enterprise, the antichrist himself. Now, look at the defeat of the beast. Verse 14, and these, that is, the kings of the earth will wage war against the lamb, Jesus, and the lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and kings of kings, and those who are with him are called the chosen and the faithful. John is fast-forwarding to chapter 19. He said, these ten kings, they're going to assemble together at Armageddon. They're going to wage war against the antichrist, but suddenly the Lord will appear in heaven. We will appear with him, and the lamb will overcome them. That is the defeat of the beast. Now, let's look at the defeat of the harlot. That's the final thing John saw in verses 15 and 18.

And he said to me, the waters which you see where the harlot sits, these are the people and multitudes of nations and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw in the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. Halfway through this great tribulation, the antichrist, after using the harlot for his own purposes, will discard her and destroy her. He will decide he no longer needs the church, this false religious system. He has all the power he needs, and so he will turn on the church, this false church, and completely destroy her. And why will the kings do that? Verse 17, for God has put it in their hearts to execute his purpose by having a common purpose and by giving their kingdom to the beast until the words of God will be fulfilled.

Isn't it interesting? The reason the ten pagan kings destroy the harlot is because God puts it in their heart to do so. Could I just remind you, God is able to work in the hearts of non-Christians just like he is the hearts of Christians. Don't think that that maid of yours has to be a Christian for God to use them in a positive way.

They have to be a Christian to go to heaven. But God can still speak through that ungodly husband. He can speak through ungodly rulers. God's purpose will be accomplished, and you see that even in these final days. God will use false religion, in a sense, to accomplish his ultimate purpose. False religion will play a key role in the final seven years of earth's history, but false religion is all around us today as well. In fact, in 1 John 4, in verse 1, remember the warning, Beloved, don't believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

How can you keep from being seduced by false religion? How can you know if a religion is really from God or not? John gives us three tests, three questions to ask about any religion. First of all, what does that religion teach about Jesus?

What does it teach about Jesus? Look at verses 2 and 3 of 1 John 4, By this you know the Spirit of God. Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.

This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and it's now already in the world. There are many religions that profess to believe in Jesus. Do you talk to Muslims?

Oh, I talk to them in the tab all the time, back when I was traveling, talking to Muslims, and I would talk to them about Christ. Oh, yes, we believe in Jesus, great prophet of God. They believe he was a great prophet of God. They will even say he was a son of God, one of many sons of God.

Yes, he died on the cross, but he was miraculously delivered before he actually died on the cross, so he didn't have to experience death. But that's not the Jesus of the Bible, that's the Jesus of Mohammed's imagination. You talk to Mormons, oh, yes, we believe in Jesus. We're the church of Jesus Christ, he's even in our name. But the Jesus they believe in is not the Jesus of the Bible, it's the Jesus that appeared to Joseph Smith. It's the Jesus, well, I'm not even going to get into all of it, but it's not the Jesus of the Bible.

To believe, to confess that Jesus is Lord means to believe that Jesus is the unique son of God, who came to earth in human form, who died on the cross for the redemption of our sins, who was buried and rose again on the third day, who ascended into heaven, and is coming back one day to reclaim this earth for himself. That's the Jesus you have to believe in in order to be saved. What does the religion teach about Jesus? Secondly, ask yourself the question, what does this religion believe about salvation? Paul said, even if we are an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, that person is to be accursed.

Paul was writing to the Galatians. They were falling for a doctrine that said, oh, yes, faith in Christ is important, but it's not enough. We need to have faith in Christ plus be circumcised. Faith in God and keep the Ten Commandments. Faith in God and be whatever, whatever.

It is faith and. What did he say about that kind of religion? Paul said, if anybody tells you that kind of message, let that person be anathema, literally accursed, literally damned forever.

Anybody who adds to Christianity, it's faith in Christ and something else is teaching a false truth. The other night, this week, I was watching an interview on CNN. Please don't ask me why, but I was watching an interview on CNN. And they were interviewing this episcopal bishop. And she was going on and on and on with so much religious gobbledygook.

I mean, I can't tell you, she wouldn't stop saying all of these buzzwords and so forth. And I just, actually, I yelled at the TV. I said, lady, just stop and tell me, what do I have to do to go to heaven when I die? Just make it clear.

What do I have to do? She couldn't tell you if her life depended on it what you have to do to go to heaven when you die. When you talk to somebody from another faith or a religious leader from another faith, if you want to cut to the chase, just ask them that question.

What do I need to do to go to heaven when I die? And if they say anything other than trust in Christ and Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins, you know they're espousing a false religion. What does that faith teach about salvation?

And finally, ask yourself, what results does this religion produce? You know, in 2 Timothy 3, 5, Paul described a form of godliness. They hold to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.

He said, avoid men such as these. You know, my concern for a church like First Baptist Dallas that has 152 years of standing on the truth of God's word is that we can know God's word backward and forward. We can identify the harlot in Revelation 17. We understand the importance of Israel in Bible prophecy.

We can give you the 10 reasons that the virgin birth is important. We can spout off all of these things. But we still can't forgive those who wrong us. We still can't overcome sin in our life.

We still can't overcome racism, hating somebody because of the color of their skin. That religion is just as wrong and hollow as the other religions I mentioned. True faith in Christ will result in a transformed life through the power of the Holy Spirit. And if that transformation isn't taking place in your life, then your religion is just as worthless as the other religions. John is telling us, avoid all kinds of false religions.

Avoid any faith that denies the person of Christ, that denies the provision, the only provision of God for salvation, and denies the power of the Holy Spirit to transform a life. The deeper we dig into the revelation given to John, the more we recognize the need for a broader understanding of this final book in the Bible. Revelation represents the unveiling of Jesus Christ in all of his glory. But you could miss that point if you don't keep the book of Revelation in context with the other 65 books that precede it.

That's one of the many reasons I want you to own the complete collection of audio CDs and video DVDs for this final conquest series. This series represents my comprehensive teaching on this important topic. I'll help you understand how Revelation fits into the overarching theme of the entire Bible, the glory of Jesus Christ. And in a moment, David will explain how you can receive my teaching series. Remember, too, that time is running short to request your copy of my brand new book called Mysteries of the End Times, Five Little Known Truths About God's Plan for the Future. In my new book, I'll answer five common questions about the last days. What is America's role in the end times? Second, I'll describe an apocalyptic event called the day of the Lord. I'll then explain what's called the marriage supper of the lamb.

Fourth, we'll look at the appearance of Gog and Magog and what nations they may represent. And finally, we'll talk about the tree of life. When you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'll make sure to send you a copy of my new book, Mysteries of the End Times. In closing, let me thank our Pathway partners and all those who give generously and often sacrificially. We couldn't possibly provide this daily program without your partnership, and we're winning the battle as more and more people hear the truths about Jesus Christ. Together, we are piercing the darkness with the light of God's Word.

David. Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. Today, when you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending you a copy of Mysteries of the End Times. That's the brand new book by Dr. Robert Jeffress. Just call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org.

And when you give an especially generous gift of $100 or more, you'll also receive the complete CD and DVD teaching sets for this month's series on the book of Revelation. Plus, we'll send you a copy of the bestselling book by Dr. Jeffress called Final Conquest. One more time our phone number 866-999-2965 or go to ptv.org. You could write to us if you'd like at P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas 75222. Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas 75222.

I'm David J. Mullins. When times are uncertain, we often experience the negative effects of a rocky stock market. But Revelation chapter 18 describes an even worse time when the entire world economy will completely crumble. Hear a message called The Day the Dow Jones Hits Zero. That's Tuesday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas.