Religion Gone Wrong – Part 1

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On today's edition of Pathway to Victory. Now today, false religions seduce people all of the time. It will be true in the final days, too. And to many people, it will appear that this false religious system is controlling the government of the Antichrist. But they are in an unholy alliance, this false religion of the earth and the government at that time. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress.

There's no doubt that we are living in an increasingly atheistic world, but the Bible teaches that one day the world will be united under a new false system of belief. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Robert Jeffress explains how that false religion symbolized by the harlot in Revelation chapter 17 will signal the earth's coming destruction. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David. And welcome to a new week of discovery on Pathway to Victory as we dig deeply into the closing chapters of Revelation. This teaching series called Final Conquest will come to an end next week, and so it's time to take advantage of the resources we've prepared for you. First, I'm eager to send you a brochure I've written called Bible Prophecy Made Simple. It's only 40 pages in length, so it won't take long to read, but my booklet will help you understand major events like the tribulation, the millennium, and the rapture. A copy of Bible Prophecy Made Simple is my gift to you simply for going online to ptv.org. And then second, when you give a generous gift with your request, I'll also be sure to include my bestselling book about Revelation as well.

It's called Final Conquest. Yes, understanding the strange symbolism in Revelation requires effort, but the most important aspect of John's Revelation is the glorious unveiling of Jesus Christ. By reading my book, you'll learn about Christ's humanity, his deity, his power, and his ultimate triumph. And I'm pleased to send you a copy when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory. I'll warn you in advance that the passage in Revelation 17 that we're looking at today, even though it's a short passage, is filled with bizarre imagery. To the first-time reader, it might feel overwhelming, but once you understand the key characters, this passage comes alive with meaning. You see, in the end, Revelation is a book of triumph. So let's get started with a message that was originally delivered during the COVID crisis.

I titled my message, Religion Gone Wrong. You know, one thing we've seen through this coronavirus pandemic is the uncertainty of life itself. You know, I remember so well on New Year's Day of this year, I sat down, as I do every New Year's Day, with my legal tablet and made all of the plans and goals for the new year of what I thought I was going to do. I imagine as I was writing down those plans, God was laughing his head off in heaven because I ended up not doing one of those things. God had something else for us to do. We think we know what's going to happen.

We have no idea what's going to happen. That's why James said in James 4, verse 13, Come now, those of you who say today or tomorrow we'll go to such and such a city and engage in profit and stay there for a year, you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. Isn't that true?

Haven't we learned that? But there's something else I've seen throughout this coronavirus pandemic, and it relates to our study of Revelation. To me, it's become so clear how fragile our world really is.

I mean, just think about it. This almost invisible virus has brought the world to its knees. This world can unravel very, very quickly. And although it hasn't unraveled yet, one day it is going to unravel completely. And that will set the stage for the world dictator, the world leader we know as Antichrist, who will precede the return of Jesus Christ himself. And that's where we are today in our study of the book of Revelation. If you have your Bibles, I want you to turn to the book of the Revelation. Now, I'm going to take five minutes and give you a five-minute summary of the book of Revelation. Remember, this book has one theme, and that is be obedient to Christ.

Why? Because Jesus Christ is returning to earth one day soon to reward the righteous and to punish the unrighteous. This is what the theme of Revelation is. When John wrote this letter, he was on the island of Patmos, exiled because of his faith in Christ. The world was beginning to go through persecution for their Christian beliefs. They were getting discouraged, and John said, don't be discouraged. Jesus is coming back again.

Remain faithful. And while he was on that island of Patmos, Jesus appeared to him. And in chapter 1, verse 19, he said, write the things which you have seen and the things which are and the things which shall take place after these things. And in that verse, chapter 1, verse 19, you see the threefold division of the book of Revelation. That's the outline when we come to chapter 4. The church has already been raptured into heaven.

That midnight cry has already been sounded. In chapters 4 and 5, you see the church worshiping Christ after being rewarded. But remember, in that picture of the throne of God, you hear the thunder. You see the lightning representing something terrible is about to happen on earth. And beginning in chapter 6, we get into the final seven years of earth's history. We call it the tribulation. And the tribulation is about the wrath of God being poured out upon the earth. And it comes in the form of three judgments. In chapter 6, the seal judgments. In chapters 8 and 9, the trumpet judgments. And then in chapter 16, as we looked at last time, the final judgments, the bowl judgments that are poured upon the earth.

And last time, we looked at those seven bowl judgments. And when we get to the end of chapter 16, we are at the very precipice of the return of Jesus Christ. Armageddon is occurring. The Lord is about to return. But when we get to chapter 17, Jesus hits the pause button in his message to John.

In chapters 17 and 18, John is going to describe something else he saw that was related to the Antichrist. And he does so using the term Babylon. Babylon. He's going to talk to us about Babylon. Now, Babylon is central, not only in the book of Revelation, but in the Bible. In the book of Revelation, 50 out of 404 verses deal with the judgment of Babylon. What is Babylon? Quickly, Babylon is used three ways in the Bible. Sometimes it refers to the actual ancient city of Babylon, the king of the Babylonian empire. Remember Saddam Hussein?

Remember that character? He wanted to rebuild ancient Babylon to the glory of the days of Nebuchadnezzar. There are some Bible scholars who believe that during the tribulation, the Antichrist will rebuild Babylon, and that will actually be the Antichrist headquarters.

I don't believe that for a number of reasons, but some Bible scholars do. So sometimes it refers to the city of Babylon. Other times, the word Babylon is a code for another city. For example, in 1 Peter 5, 13, the apostle Peter says, greet those who are in Babylon. He was referring to ancient Rome.

It was a code word for Rome, a corrupt city. But thirdly, and I think this is how John uses it here in Jesus, Babylon refers not to an actual city, but to a system. We talk about Wall Street. What's happening on Wall Street?

We're not just talking about a street in southern Manhattan. We're talking about the economic system of not only the United States, but of the world. Well, when we talk about Babylon, we're not just referring to the city. We're referring to a system, and in this case, it represents the empire over which Antichrist will rule. Now, there are two aspects to the Antichrist empire. There is religious Babylon, as we'll look at today. It is a false religious system that will aid Antichrist in his rise to power. But then there's a political and economic system of Babylon that we'll look at next time in chapter 18. But let's look at this religious system called Babylon over which the Antichrist will preside.

This false religious system is described as a harlot. Look at verses 1 and 2 of chapter 17. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls. Remember, those are the bowl judgments of chapter 16.

When we get to the end of chapter 16, they've already been all poured out. He says, let's go back to one of those 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 who sits on many waters. Now, you know what a harlot is. A prostitute. Somebody who seduces people for money with the promise of sexual fulfillment. A harlot.

And this is a harlot John is looking at who sits on many waters. That is, she presides over many people of many different nations. Now, it's interesting in the Bible, the Israelites are called, referred to as God's wife. Israel was so-called married to God. And when Israel chased after other gods, God accused her of adultery because she went after other gods, other lovers, so to speak.

But here, those who follow after these false religions are not accused of adultery. They were accused of engaging in prostitution. They go to bed, so to speak, with a prostitute. Israel had a relationship. She was married to God, so her sexual sin was adultery.

Here, it's prostitution. She goes to bed with the harlot. And notice that this harlot commits immorality with, first of all, the kings of the earth. As we'll see in just a moment, this false religious system seduces kings.

They use each other to achieve their own goals. 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, today, false religions seduce people all of the time. There are certain aberrations of Christianity itself that can be described as religious prostitutes. The prosperity gospel you hear so often today is a religious harlot.

It is immoral to tell people that if you just give enough money or pray hard enough, you will be spared from any problems in life, and you will be guaranteed health and wealth. That is religious prostitution, to seduce people with that kind of a lie. It will be true in the final days, too. She will seduce not just kings and those who led the kings on the earth. She will also seduce those who dwell upon the earth. Those unbelievers have rejected the truth of God. They missed the rapture, so they will be seduced by a lie.

In 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 11, Paul says, God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false. Now, when we get to verse 3, we're actually going to see this harlot in great detail. Verses 1 and 2, John was invited to see the harlot. Now, look at what he saw, verse 3.

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.

Look at the image of the harlot, how it's described. 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. This woman was beautifully dressed. She had a golden cup.

We'll see what was in that cup in just a moment. But the thing I want you to see about this woman is she is seen riding the antichrist. Now, to ride a beast seems to imply that you are giving direction to that animal.

You are in control of that animal. And to many people, it will appear that this false religious system is controlling the government of the antichrist. But indeed, as we'll see, it's the antichrist who is supporting her as well. They are in an unholy alliance, this false religion of the earth and the government at that time.

Now, let me just stop here and make an obvious point. Throughout history, there has always been an uneasy relationship between the church and the government. And that's led Christians to adopt one of three positions about what should our relationship as a church be to the government.

Some people have adopted the idea of isolation. Government is so dirty and I am so pure that I dare not get involved in government or politics lest I taint myself and become a sinner just like those politicians. And we've got some self-righteous Christians today who adopt that idea. The church should have no role in the government whatsoever. There needs to be this wall of separation between the church and the government. Of course, the left loves that idea, a wall of separation.

But to them, it is a one-sided wall. They don't want the church trying to influence them, but the government, especially the left, has no problem with trying to control the church. They are happy to tell us when we can and cannot be open.

They're happy to tell us who we can hire and can't hire. They love to control the church. They just don't want the church to have any influence on them. That is a totally unbiblical idea. Jesus said to Christians, you are to be salt and light in this decaying and darkening world. Yes, our primary mission is to win people to faith in Christ, but salt in Jesus' day was a preservative.

It didn't prevent decay, but it delayed the decay of the meat. And he said, I want you as my people to permeate, to penetrate, to influence every part of this world that I've made, and that includes the government. So this idea of isolating yourself, getting in your holy huddle until the Lord returns is completely antithetical to Scripture. Now, there's the other extreme. There are some people who isolate themselves from government. There are others who too closely identify with the government. And frankly, that's the problem with this world religion in the final days. She, the harlot, the false religious system will be so close to that beast, you can't tell one from the other. You can't tell who's controlling whom.

And that's an equally dangerous problem to be in. Now look, I make it very clear, I am not of any political party. First Baptist Church Dallas is not an extension of the Republican National Committee. We are not an extension of any political organization.

I never want us to be perceived as a political arm of anybody. We are the Church of Jesus Christ, not the Church of the Republican Party. We are the Church of Jesus Christ, and we have a unique mission and a unique message to share with the world. So, one extreme is to isolate, the other is to identify, but the biblical perspective is to influence government. That's what the church has been called to do. To influence government.

Because when you influence government, you're influencing the nation. And I believe it's better to have a God-fearing leader, or at least one who follows God's policies, than one who doesn't follow God's policies. And I believe that America is a better place to live.

It is a better country if we will stop the slaughter of the unborn, 600,000 a year through abortion. I think God will bless our country if we do that. I think America is a better place if we allow children to pray and to read the Bible in school and to teach God as someone to be feared and obeyed in our school as he was for 150 years. I think God blesses that kind of nation. I think our nation is a better place if we stand on the right side of Israel instead of against Israel and do what God says and support the eye, the apple of his eye, as the Bible calls the nation of Israel. You see, God is no respecter of people or nations. God will bless any nation that reverences him, and he will judge any nation, including the United States, that rejects him. That's why the psalmist said, Psalm 33, 12, blessed, happy is the nation whose God is the Lord.

Now, that is our role to influence. That's not what's going on here. This scarlet sits on top of the antichrist.

She uses him, he uses her. And notice the name of the harlot, verse 5. And on her forehead a name was written, a mystery. Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth. You have to understand a little history here. In the first century, when John wrote, if you went to a brothel, the prostitutes would wear a band around their head, and on that band would be their name.

You not only knew what they were, you knew who they were. Well, this image, this harlot, she has a name on her forehead. That name is Babylon the great, the mother of harlots. This woman is not just one of the other prostitutes. She is the madam of the brothel. 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 the 1800s, 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 the city Babel, Genesis chapter 11, 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 had 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 the Bible, 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. This is what is known as a cliffhanger, so please join us again tomorrow when I'll continue this important study in Revelation chapter 17. It'll be exciting to see how all the pieces fit together, culminating in a battle in which our God wins the final conquest. In a moment, I'm asking David to explain how you can receive my entire teaching series on Revelation on both CD and DVD so that you can absorb this comprehensive study in Revelation at your own pace without interruption.

This is also a great series for your Sunday school class or your small group model study. But first, I'm pleased to report that we have sent tens of thousands of copies of Final Conquest to our listeners, and I'm eager to get this helpful commentary on Revelation into your hands. For many, the book of Revelation feels daunting.

It's a strange narrative that contains peculiar characters and wild combative scenes. Well, in Final Conquest, I've condensed decades of personal study into one book so that you can easily follow the storyline throughout all 22 chapters of Revelation from start to finish. I'll help you see how the revelation given to John is relevant to your life today. And a copy is yours when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory.

One last thing. This daily program has drawn so many people like you into our circle of friends, but we rarely get a chance to meet face to face. Well, this coming May, I'll be hosting the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean Cruise. The dates are May 5th through 16th, and I'd love to meet you.

This is an exquisite 12-day vacation to some of the most beautiful locations in the world, including the Greek Isles, Ephesus, Rome, and other parts of Italy. The dates are May 5th through 16th, 2025, and you can reserve your spot today by going to ptv.org. David. Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. When you support the ministry of Pathway to Victory by giving a generous gift, we'll say thanks by sending you a copy of Final Conquest, a verse-by-verse commentary on the book of Revelation by Dr. Robert Jeffress. Simply call 866-999-2965 or go online to ptv.org.

And when you give a gift of $75 or more, you'll also receive the complete CD and DVD teaching sets for this month's series on the book of Revelation titled Final Conquest. One more time our phone number, 866-999-2965, or go to ptv.org. You could write to us, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.

Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins, inviting you to join us Tuesday for Part 2 of this message called Religion Gone Wrong, right here on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His Word. To become a Pathway partner, go to ptv.org slash donate, or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory.