The Great Prostitute | Revelation 17:1-6 | Pastor Daniel Batarseh (5/10/26)

Oh, grace and peace to you from God our father in the in the Lord Jesus Christ. Welcome to Maranatha Bible Church for this Lord's Day service. It is so good to see all of you here as we worship and exalt the name of Jesus Christ today. Begin our service from Psalm 145. And may it truly set our hearts to focus on him this afternoon.

May it set our minds to worship him and and live for him and give our all to him today because he alone, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, God Almighty is worthy of all praise. Psalm 145. A song of praise of David. I will extol you, my God and king, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day, I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall commend your works to another and shall declare your mighty acts On the glorious splendor of your majesty and on your wondrous works, I will meditate. They shall speak of the might of your awesome deeds, and I will declare your greatness. They shall pour forth the fame of your abundant goodness and shall sing aloud of your righteousness. The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding and steadfast love.

The Lord is good to all and his mercy is over all that he has made. All your works shall give thanks to you, oh Lord, and all your saints shall bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power to make known to the children of man your mighty deeds and the glorious splendor of your kingdom. Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and your dominion endures throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words and kind in all his works.

The Lord upholds all who are falling and raises up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food in due season. You open your hand. You satisfy the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways and kind in all his works.

The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him. He also hears their cry and saves them. The wicked he will destroy. My mouth will speak the praise of the Lord.

And let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever. Let's pray. Father, this afternoon, my mouth, this afternoon, our mouths will praise your holy name. Father, we give all to you. We give our thoughts.

We give our feelings. We give our emotions. We give our intellect, and we give our joy and our delight to you. And may it be found only in you today. You are great, and you are worthy to be praised.

Lord, we could sing your praises for a million years and not come close to giving what you deserve. And father, satisfy us today. Satisfy us in your love today. Open the eyes of our hearts to see you and love you. May we proclaim your majesty in your goodness and illuminate us.

Illuminate our minds and our hearts by the power of the holy spirit. To you be the glory and to your people be the joy this afternoon. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Church, will you please stand and sing to the Lord?

To Jesus, all you are weary. Come to the mercy seat. Take up your cross. Life everlasting. He offers to us.

Come to Jesus.

I have to admit, some of these songs that we sing, I feel like I can fly while singing them. It's so good to sing truth as a church. Let's thank God for the truth. We thank you, Lord, that we're gathered here because we are commanded to. And where we obey you, we find blessing.

We believe that you will bless us today, but we've come to bless your name. And we pray that every song that we sing and every word that we hear and every experience that we have in your presence would cause us to worship you with greater intensity and devotion, not just in this moment, but leaving this place. Enable us to see your glory. Help us, Lord. We pray that by your power, you would chase away all distraction in our hearts, all unbelief, all indifference.

Even now, Lord, may it all flee. We love you and we trust you today. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen. We'll turn to somebody.

Welcome them to this Lord's Day service. If you see a mother, say happy Mother's Day. So great for all the moms that are ignoring the lies of the culture and are choosing to believe what God says about children, that they are an inheritance from the Lord. They are a blessing. They are a reward.

I'll give you more thoughts on that in a brief moment here. But if it's on your heart, as much as it's a delight to sing and to hear the word of God, it is possible to find delight in a diva. And, if you want to experience that, you can do so at this time as the ushers assist us. Our contributions to the things of God, ultimately to the kingdom of God and the advancement of the you're gonna hear me say this almost every week, leading up to our opening service in the new building, but I wanna just say another giant thank you to all those who have been sacrificing their time and energy this past week. Many of you were there yesterday.

Some came eight, 09:10 in the morning and stayed until eight, 09:10 at night. And just working and laboring. Yes. You have given me more reasons to give thanks to God for you. As Paul gave thanks to the Lord for the churches that he served, my heart is overwhelmed by the love and the support of the people here.

It's just I'm just stunned when I get pictures from those who are there or pull up to the parking lot myself, and I just see people serving with all of their hearts. If it moves my heart, if it moves your heart, how much more the heart of God as he sees us stewarding this resource well, as he sees us taking this blessing seriously. Ministry as more than just a drive through service once a week. You see this as your home. You see this as a family.

You see this as an investment for the future. Every effort that you've put into this season. I believe it with all of my heart, and I hope you believe it too. Well, listen. We've already made the announcement to our dedication service least.

And we're going to add this to our announce. The Friday night Bible study before that, so two days before on the twenty ninth, there will be no service. There will be no Bible study here, and there will be no study there. It will be canceled altogether because we're just going to be giving all that we have to get everything ready for that first Lord's Day service in a new building. So please let others know that there will be no Bible study on that, particular Friday, but the services will resume after that, opening service on the thirty first.

Invite whoever you want. We have so much space. So bring whoever you want. And we have parking, and we have everything. We have the seats.

It's all there. So, you can invite as many people as you'd like. You know, we've heard some people who've come to this very building and felt embarrassed almost to take up a pew. And so they'll go they'll leave or they'll, you know, go downstairs. And we're so grateful for your cooperation over the years.

God has now given us great relief in this new chapter. And I'm so excited to experience it with you. That's all I have to say. In terms of announcements, I'm sure there'll be many more once we enter into that new chapter. But allow me to read something that came into my heart this morning, praying for the service, mindful that many people are celebrating their mothers.

Some of your mothers are still here with us. Some mothers have passed on into glory. And so there's mixed emotions in times like this. Holidays and designated days like this tend to do that. But I want to point your eyes to the Lord.

Listen to what the Lord says to the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 49 verse fifteen and sixteen. Can a woman forget her nursing child that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. See what the Lord is saying? There is something so powerful about the love of a mother, especially for a nursing child.

There's some intuition, instinct. There's this strength that is unlocked. There's this sacrifice that is enjoyed in many ways. And yet the Lord reminds us that even with a a mother of a nursing child, they can forget. They can even abandon.

We've seen things on the news where we think and wonder how is it that a mother can do that to a baby. It's possible. Human nature is scary in many ways. But what the Lord is saying here generally is that as wonderful and as moving and as healing as the love of a mother is, his love is greater than that. You know, I gotta tell you something.

Being years in ministry, I think one of the most difficult things for people to believe, even in the church, though they believe it and they've tasted it at one point, is to really grasp how deep, how strong the love of God is for us individually. I'm telling you, the most devout Christians admit, in many ways, that's the hardest thing for them to believe. That God really loves me. I mean, they almost think that God's love for them is just this devoted kind of, corporate covenant kind of commitment to his people because he put his word on it. I'm gonna take care of you.

And down deep inside, they think, does does he like me? Does he actually delight in me though? And here's one of the instances where we read that his love eclipses the love even of a mother. And he goes on to say in verse 16, behold, I have engraved you on the palm of my hands. Your walls are continually before me.

I can't separate you from me. I'm always surveying you. I'm always watching over you, speaking about Jerusalem. Now why is the Lord saying this here? I'll tell you why.

Because Zion was saying something about God right before it. Many people quote this, but they don't quote the verse before. What does it say in Isaiah 49 verse 14? Listen to this. But Zion said, the Lord has forsaken me.

My Lord has forgotten me. If you believe that about God, he's very quick to correct that kind of thinking. And one of the ways that he wants to dispel such a lie that I'm walking through this life on my own, I'm figuring out things on my own, is that his love is greater and stronger and more profound than that of a mother over her baby. What do we do with this kind of information? Well, we can nod our heads and say amen.

That'd be good, I guess. Here's my desire, like Paul in Ephesians three, to bow down before God and ask him to help us experience it. This kind of love is experienced. You can put it on the blackboard and study it, but unless it's felt in the heart, you will not know the power of it. Love in theory can't go very far.

Love experience transforms. And God wants us to experience his love. And Paul understands that there's so much caked in our heart. There's so many crazy ideas that we develop and believe that it's gonna take the power of God from heaven to deal with it and to convince us. And so if you are one who says, I can't imagine anybody who's loved me more than my mother.

Maybe you have a different experience that's a different thing to tackle at another time. Whatever love you've tasted from a parent, know that God's is infinitely greater, more powerful, more supportive, more healing. Lord, only you can make us believe that and we pray that you would help us believe that. For those who are hurting, for those who are, lonely this time of the year, we pray that your love would captivate them afresh and that it would ground them and anchor them and that they would feel the hope and peace that only you can provide. Thank you, Lord, for all the mothers.

Thank you for the mothers that are indeed holding their babies even as we speak now. May the love that they funnel to their children be sourced in you, and may they also know of your love for them. Lord, as we continue in the service, we pray that you would shower us us over and over again with something that we need to be convinced of over and over again and that is your affection set on us. Make it real leaving this place so that we can give you glory and testify to others. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Amen. Let's stand church. Let's celebrate the Lord and his love for us because it is a true love.

The Lord and

and for gathering us again in this place. We come here today, Lord, with hearts and thanksgiving. I'm grateful for so much that you have graciously given us both individually and as a church family, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Hear your word, as we fellowship in

all

of it. Your spirit would have his way. Have your way in us today, Lord.

Help us leave this to a

with just greater faith, greater belief in who you are. Help us a that it would draw us even closer to you all the more that we would love. We want to love it with our whole being each day of our lives. Continue to prepare and equip us, Lord, for this next season. We believe you have great things in store, not because of us, Lord, but because of your name and who you are.

Be glorified in our midst today. We pray this in Jesus name. Amen.

And so, we pray this in Jesus name. Amen. And so, we pray this in Jesus name.

Amen. And so, we

do And then we get a new address. Many blopps. Well, some of your minds are loud. I heard some answers. If you said Jerusalem, you're correct.

Now let me follow it up with another question. What city is second most referenced across the scriptures? If you guess Babylon, you are right again. Babylon is referenced approximately 280 to 300 times in our bibles depending on your translation. And most of those times are found in the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament.

That being said, we can count a total of 12 instances in which Babylon is found in our New Testament. And six of those times, exactly half of that number, are located in the book of Revelation. It's safe to say that if we want to know our Bibles well, we have to be familiar with Babylon. We have to understand what it's all about. And by God's help, we will seek to do that today.

Now, we have already seen Babylon mentioned twice in our study of the book of Revelation. Once in Revelation 14 verse eight, and the second time in Revelation 16 verse 19. And in both instances, it is the fall or the destruction of Babylon that is briefly mentioned. But now as we approach Revelation chapter 17, we are going to see the Holy Spirit providing us a detailed breakdown of the background and the ruin of future Babylon. If you have ever wondered what ancient Babylon is doing in the prophetic book of Revelation or what this future depiction of Babylon is going to be in the days to come, it is this chapter and the next that is gonna provide answers.

And while I desire for this message to stir our hearts, which every message should do in one way or another, I want to admit my goal today. My aim today by God's help is to provide clarity. Clarity with this passage. It's the most dense passage in all of the book of Revelation concerning symbolism. It's very heavy.

And so my prayer has been, Lord, allow us to be enlightened and as a result of that illumination, we will leave here encouraged and equipped because we have greater confidence in Bible prophecy. So we need to really be attentive today if we're going to benefit from what we're going to hear. And we're gonna begin by reading the first six verses of Revelation chapter 17. Can we do that together? Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, come.

I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk. And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and 10 horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual morality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery, Babylon, the great mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.

And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. Let's pray. Lord, we know that John with this vision marveled because he did not understand. Help us marvel as we understand.

Help us see your incredible wisdom and love and power in these verses. And Lord, we are aware that this is a difficult passage to unpack. So we pray for extra help. We pray that you would assist us and that Lord, even such truths would cause us to worship you the way you deserve. We pray these things to the glory of the name of your son, our master and friend, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Amen. I'm aware. I'm very aware that with a text like this so filled with imagery and symbolism that we can feel overwhelmed, this can seem intimidating. So here's what we're gonna do. We're going to look at these verses and focus on the major details and peel them one by one until we get more clarity.

And by the end of this message, we will have at least five insights. Five insights about Babylon, the way it's presented here in the book of Revelation. So we have to understand first that everything that we read here in verse five is about Babylon. That's what we are told. That this is about a mystery, Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.

And so with that in view, we can understand the first thing. This is the the foundation, the establishing force of our study of this exact mystery. Babylon, number one, if you're a note taker, this will be very helpful. Babylon presented to us here is a false religious system. It is a false religious system.

And we know that John here is describing something in the future because he tells us that it was one of the seven angels who poured out the bowls of God's wrath, who approached them with this revelation. So this information here deals with Babylon, not of the past, but in the future. Babylon in the last days. And before she is explicitly named, we read it, but before we see it in the beginning of this prophecy, we are given a description of her. And what is that description?

It's very graphic. It's very scathing. The great prostitute. Now you might have a translation that says harlot, you might have another translation that actually says whore. And because of this detail, because of this portrayal, we can be very confident that this great prostitute who is also Babylon is actually referring to a religious system that is evil and wicked and false.

Why? Because in scripture, there is a consistent metaphor for spiritual unfaithfulness and religious apostasy and it is that of a prostitute. And John is borrowing that imagery here. And so there's a consistent thread throughout the Bible that when nations or cities or a people group is pursuing idolatry or false gods, they are referred to in such shameful ways. And the prophets, unfortunately, use this kind of language for Jerusalem, for Judah, for Israel.

But more than that, we even see the prophets using this kind of language for places like Tyre in Lebanon. You find that in Isaiah chapter 23 or even places like Nineveh and Nahum chapter three verse four. So over and over again, we see that this strong vocabulary is employed in order to express that when a person or a people group pursue something apart from God, at its core, it's relational betrayal. And as sobering as this is, we actually find similar things in the New Testament. We find some places in the New Testament where leaders of the church confront the church for abandoning her love for Christ with this kind of prophetic tone.

One of the clearest ones is James chapter four verse four. What does James say to this dispersion of believers? You adulterous people. Don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God And whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God? Now you would think that that's language for the unsaved.

No. He's speaking to the church. You're flirting with the world. Your affections are more towards the things of this life, sin, compromise, the things that defy God. And at its core, you're cheating on the Lord.

And again, the reason why God wants to present this kind of language is to show what it feels for him. When we veer off and when we look at other things, other ideas and other ideologies and other pursuits and other entertainments that hurt his heart, it's adultery. So with this background in mind now, we come to Revelation and we realize something that this great prostitute is a symbol that represents a system that practices and promotes idolatry. And it will have massive influence. Why is that?

Because in verse one, John tells us that she see it on many waters. Now we know that this is not a literal body of water. Why? Because scripture interprets scripture. And later in this chapter, John is gonna receive explanation for much of the symbolism here.

Here's one of them. Look at verse 15 of Revelation 17. And an angel, the angel rather, said to me, the waters that you saw where the prostitute is seated are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages. So this great prostitute, she's going to have influence by seducing kings and tribes and cultures. It's not gonna just be local.

It's not gonna be reduced to just one region of the world. It's going to be global. And not just global, we see here that it's going to attract rulers, high ranking officials down to the ordinary folk. That's what we find what we find here in verse two. So this kind of system that's going to be prevalent in the last days is going to draw in widespread commitment and fascination all across the planet.

It's going to be an incredible movement. It's going to be so popular. In fact, the enchantment with this prevailing form of false worship will be so strong that John relates it to the sensation and reality of intoxication. Look down at verse two of Revelation 17. With whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual morality and with the wine of whose sexual morality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.

To be physically drunk is to be under the control of another substance. To be inebriated is to surrender your self control to an outside source. And what this verse is revealing is that this world religion will promote false values, wrong ideas about God so persuasively that when people accept it, that it will reorient them in every way possible. It will change the way they live. It will shape their values and their convictions even though it contradicts the truth.

It will call for them to abandon self control. It will lead them to walk away from clear logical thinking. It's almost like a spell is gonna come upon these people when Babylon resurfaces on the scene with a brand new package religion. And one of the reasons why this new world religion will be so attractive and so effective is because of the second point. The first point is that Babylon is a false religious system, but here's the second point that we need to take note of.

Babylon is linked. You ready for this? Babylon is linked, connected to global politics. What do we see here in verse three? And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names and it had seven heads and 10 horns.

So John now is taken to get another perspective, vantage point of this woman, this prostitute. And here we read the woman sitting yet again, but not on a body of water, but on a scarlet beast. A hideous looking creature, but one that we've seen before. Who is this beast? This is none other than the Antichrist.

The one that we were introduced to back in Revelation chapter 13. Here he is yet again. So this is the one world political ruler who under his leadership will seem to promise to the nations that he can be their savior from all the chaos that will erupt in the last days. Read your Bible slowly. This great prostitute is sitting on the beast, which means she is distinct from the beast.

She's not the same as the beast. She is a separate entity. This is something very important to understand and clarify. When we are speaking about future Babylon, we are referring to an independent reality that will be prominent yet again in the last days. For months, I'm aware that you and I have been hearing what?

That in the final moments of history, Antichrist will rise and he will demand worship for himself. And while that is true, it will not happen right away. There will be something else that will precede that. There will be something else that comes before. There's a Babylonian religion that will initially seduce everyone and it will be a voluntary thing.

You see, when the Antichrist will demand worship, it will be forced, but Babylon is not forced. It's gonna be so winsome. It's gonna be so charming. It's gonna cause people to abandon their former beliefs and join themselves to its appealing message. And there is debate about what this religion will be exactly.

Some feel very strongly that this is gonna be Roman Catholicism at the height of its influence. More and more now, we're hearing and we're seeing that people are saying this is gonna be Islam. And others are more comfortable arguing that this is going to be a convergence of all these world religions. It's going to be this brand new kind of idea that's going to say, well we all worship the same God, so let's all get along. We are just different paths to the same being.

We don't know for certain, but one thing is clear. It will be something that the Antichrist will initially support and allow to have influence in his political regime and empire. He allows this great prostitute to sit upon him. So there's double meaning there. He is supporting her and she is benefiting from him, which tells us something so incredible.

The success of this global effort for people to worship in this new way, this fraudulent spirituality, will be driven by the promotion of the Antichrist. In other words, as unthinkable as this may be, the Bible predicts the rise of a false religion with the endorsement of a one world government. But why? Why is there going to be this alliance that the Antichrist will allow between politics and religion? And there are at least two reasons.

First, the beast is willing to encourage the world to follow the Babylonian religion because he hates the true God. Remember, the beast that we just read about is full of blasphemous names. And so in his understanding, he will allow people to worship what is false as long as it's not the truth. And here's what we have to remember, Satan has always created and spread false expressions of faith as a way of robbing God of glory and leading souls astray. And his game plan is not gonna change near the end.

Moreover, this is so important to understand, the enemy is clever and Satan understands that he cannot immediately demand worship for himself through the Antichrist. So what will happen? Instead, there will be this Babylonian facade, this one world kind of thing that will invite people to believe it and worship in it and get along through it, and over time that will weaken the consciousness of men. And at the right time, as we're about to find out later on in this prophecy, Antichrist will come in and then demand worship for himself because the peoples of the world have been prepped for it. They've already compromised so much with Babylon.

You see, Satan is a master at desensitizing us. He introduces one idea. At first, it's kind of uncomfortable, it's kind of wrong, we know it, but people get used to it. And then he introduces another level of wickedness and evil and vileness, and then we accept it. He's very clever in this way and he's gonna do the same thing concerning the worship for himself in the last days.

It's almost like a two stage strategy. Here's Babylon and everybody's, wow, this is great. This is what's gonna bring the world together. This is exactly what we need as humanity. And over time, even this man is gonna capitalize on it, the Antichrist, and he's gonna show I support this as well until the strategy changes.

And when humanity is ripe, he will step in and say, now worship me. And they will do it. So the the first reason why there will be this alliance is because Antichrist hates God and Antichrist is gonna use Babylon for his purpose. But secondly, and close to that point, is that the beast will partner with the great prostitute for his own political agenda and that should not be surprising to us. Politicians today have no issue walking and stepping into religious spheres in order to win the support and admiration of faith based groups.

And Antichrist will be no different. There will be this revival of false spirituality. He will present himself as a strong supporter of it until things change in his political goals. There's something interesting that happens later on Revelation 17 that confirms the great prostitute is separate from the beast. Look at verse 16.

Verse 16. And the 10 horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. Hold on for a moment. What do you mean? You you let her ride the beast.

But something's gonna change. The 10 horns are 10 kings. We know that. They will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire, for God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over the royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.

So you see, once the beast achieves his own goals, he will persuade others to reject the ideology of the great prostitute and even demand worship to be directed to him. All royal power will go to him. And this confirms what we've been learning up to this point. There is gonna be a come coming a time that the Antichrist will demand worship and in doing so, he will silence all forms of faith, not just Christianity. All forms of faith, including the Babylonian one so that he alone can be idolized.

You know, I was meditating also the other day and I thought to myself, even though this is so so specific and so obvious about the future, there is principle here. There is warning here for the church. This prophecy is something for us to learn and it is this, the true church of Jesus Christ has to be discerning in how it engages with politics. More specifically, how politics forces itself and seeks to engage with the church. I take no issue with Christians being involved in legislative arenas and government.

I think it's needed but I am concerned that some churches, especially in the West, have lost their heavenly identity along the way. And there are many ministries, some of the most popular assemblies in America that are more known for being platforms for political parties than embassies for the kingdom of God. You've lost your voice. You've lost your prophetic voice to be the conscience of the culture. If you allow yourself in many ways to become a puppet for something that will not remain forever, then in fact, in some ways will use you as the great prostitute was used for worldly endeavors and goals and will have no issue to discard you once you have fulfilled their desire.

So the church and even individual Christians need to be on guard and vigilant. Protect your mind and draw a clear line. The church is not a branch of a political party. The church is the body of Jesus Christ. The church is the voice for the nations about a kingdom that is to come and will rule and reign forever.

And politicians need to hear that as well. And we should seek to be good, loving neighbors by getting ourselves involved to some degree with these things, but don't lose your identity. Pulpits have now become exegetes of headlines. Here's what's happening, here's what happened. Give me the Bible.

What does God say? That's what my soul needs more than anything else. Are there times where we have to answer things and clarify things biblically with what's happening culture? Absolutely. But be very careful.

There is a spirit that seeks to sabotage the church and it will divert the church away from what it's called to do and that's to expound the words of God. Babylon will be linked to global politics. That's why it's gonna be so attractive, so winsome, and seen as such a beneficial thing. But now we come to the third point. Babylon will be deceptively attractive.

Look at verse four. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. So this this thing, Babylon is going to be a future world religions religious system. It's going to be promoted by global leaders in a way that we've never seen before, but thirdly, it's going to be deceptively alluring. And that's clearly depicted, but the the adornment of this woman, remember this is this is symbolism.

There's a deeper meaning here. And what we find here in the overall message is that the coming one world religion will be outwardly elegant and impressive. It will appeal to the senses in an overwhelming way. It will also seem wealthy. It will it will look and on the surface seem influential with its humanitarian efforts and spiritual experience presented as highly valuable.

Offering aid to others while promoting global unity, it's gonna be so refreshing for people. Its presence will be difficult to ignore. It's not gonna be some fringe cult. It's gonna be mainstream. You're gonna have people testifying how it changed their lives, how it moved them, how this is exactly what, again, mankind requires for its healing.

It's gonna be packaged so well and for most, they'll be willing to join it. That's what the golden cup actually speaks to. Remember we heard how the dwellers of the earth will be drunk, Will be drunk because of what the woman is able to present them and the golden cup now appears and it's extended to them. Right? This is the the connection being made here.

It's golden. It seems, again, divinely inspired. Good. But look at what's the substance. Look at what's in the cup.

It's impure. It's abominable things. In other words, it's outwardly going to be beautiful, but what it offers is evil. And I'm afraid today, there are many people who are making choices for their faith, their spirituality being influenced by similar dynamics. They are drawn by the bells and smells.

They're intrigued by aesthetics. They are moved by the apparent emphasis of justice and compassion, but in reality, what is being promoted in those systems are at odds with what God's word says. People don't dig in enough. They don't look into the cup. They just look outside and they sign up for it.

And it has a form of godliness, but it denies its power. It may even acknowledge a form of Christ but not the true Christ. It doesn't present salvation as a work of Christ. It doesn't speak about how we can be delivered from the penalty and power of sin. Many religious today, many cults acknowledge a Christ but not the real one.

And so notice what John is doing for us here by giving us the details of this vision. Outwardly, externally, it's it seems like this is it, But inwardly, it's deadly. It's poisonous for your soul and people will ignore it. Now if you've read Revelation before, then you would know that the church, the bride of Christ is depicted in a very different way in comparison to the great prostitute. And if you've never read Revelation before, if you've forgotten what I'm referring to, look over to Revelation 19 and notice what John tells us about the church, the people of God.

Revelation 19 verse seven, let us rejoice and exalt and give him the glory for the marriage of the lamb has come and his bride has made herself ready. It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure, for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. This is a symbolic description of the attire, the adornment of the church and it's presented to us with such simplicity. Fine linen, bright, pure, that's it. However, she possesses something that the great prostitute does not.

With all her bejeweled, decked, glittering outfits and items, the church has righteousness. The great prostitute does not. And I wanna remind you today of a very simple truth that as precious as the church is in the sight of God, as much as she is a treasure to him, her expression on the earth is very simple. The church is very simple. It's not this elaborated sophisticated system.

It's a group of people who regularly come together under the headship of Christ and worship him through the word of God being revealed and obeyed. That's the church. That's the church. But unfortunately for many people, that's not enough. They want the gold.

They want the royalty. They want the appearance. They want the physical, aesthetic, surface level components even if it lacks the substance that only the true Christ and true church possesses. Unfortunately for many today in the days to come, the church is not attractive enough. They want and need more and listen, that is exactly what Satan has been and will continue to offer, counterfeit churches and distorted expressions of faith to people's own damnation.

Babylon will be deceptively attractive. But number four, Babylon is the mother of all spiritual prostitution. That's a long one, but probably the most important point out of all of them. Look at verse five. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery, Babylon the Great, mother of prostitutes and of Earth's abominations.

So I hope things are becoming a little bit more clear about our understanding of of Babylon. But why Babylon? Maybe that's a question you've been having all this time. I get what Babylon will be and how it will work and how it will function, but why Babylon? Why that identification?

Why not Egypt? Why not Assyria? Why not any other ancient empire to speak about what is to come in terms of this system and this movement? And John clarifies, Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes. This is a two part meeting.

First, this Babylonian system in the last days will be the source of much of the moral filth and spiritual dissension in the final days, but also being the mother of prostitutes, it's it's something that is historic. In other words, this suggests that ancient Babylon was the starting point of institutionalized and corporate defiance against God. If you want to know how important Babylon is, remember that it appears in the bookends of the Bible. It's there in Genesis and it's here in Revelation. So for John to bring this up to us by the Spirit is to hint at us, hey, the reason why Babylon will make a reappearance is because it was the starting place of this whole movement and idea.

And that's what we find clearly in Genesis 11. Let's turn there for a moment because we need to see it with our own eyes to confirm what's taking place here. In Genesis 11 verse one, Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the East, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, come let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.

And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, come let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its tops in the heavens and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth. If you read this in isolation, you would think this is an encouraging text. Here you have humanity coming together and they're showing how we can unite and we can create and we can achieve impossible feats. But the careful reader will note that there is rebellion written all across this passage.

This is seeping with evil. This is vile and despicable on multiple layers. What is the motive for building this massive structure? Look at verse four. Lest we disperse, we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.

So they had a they had a goal here. We're we're building this permanent thing so that we can be anchored in this one place and that doesn't make any sense to any of us unless we remember the neighboring text. What did God tell Noah after the flood? Look at Genesis nine verse one, and God blessed Noah and his sons and said to him, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth. Fill the earth.

Cover the earth. Populate it. Move. Disperse. And the descendants of Noah in this chapter decided, no.

We're not going nowhere. We're gonna stay right here and we're gonna do what we can to ensure that we will stay here. This is disobedience to God's command, but there's even more. You even have unbelief towards God's promises. What do I mean by that?

This scene takes place after the flood and after the flood, the Lord made a promise that he would never cause the world to be deluged by water again. Did you notice the kind of material that the people used to fortify the structure? What did they use for mortar? Butaman, that's the translation here. What is that?

It's a liquid binder that is applied to a structure in order to protect it from any kind of infiltration of water. It's a seal. It makes something waterproof. And they're applying that here. It's actually the same material that Moses mother used when she put her little boy in that basket.

You can read about in Exodus two verse three. She daubed it with the same kind of thing in order to protect it. And for them to use this kind of thing is sending an indirect message. We know that God promised that he would never flood the world again, but just in case, we're gonna do what we can so that we don't have to experience what our forefathers did. This is unbelief.

So not only do you have disobedience towards God's commands, you even have a greater form of defiance. We don't believe what you say even if it's for our good, even if it's an expression of your love and faithfulness. So here you and I have the earliest picture, listen very carefully, of a global effort. Remember, it was the whole world, a global effort to defy God's command, to dismiss his promises. And for what reason?

Let us make a name for ourselves. What does that mean? The pursuit of self governance. A rejection of the rule of God and an attempt to be independent of him. And you know the rest of the story.

The Lord sees this, he comes down, he investigates and he determines, okay, you don't want to disperse, I'm gonna make you disperse. He changes their languages, they go their separate ways and this project of resistance comes to a screeching halt. And because of this miraculous event and how it would change the course of history, a specific name was given to it. The place where it all happened, look at verse nine. Therefore, its name was called Babel because the Lord confused the language of all the earth and from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

So this is why the Holy Spirit uses Babylon to describe this future system because it's rooted in this one. And although the Tower Of Babel was brought to an end, the spirit behind that has continued. And it will reach a crescendo in the last days where there will be another attempt to dethrone the true God through self made religion and for a time it will have great success. And so again, this is important to note for the future but we have to understand that Babylonianism has taken on many forms since then and it will until this full manifestation will take place. Do you wanna know how you can determine if something is operating under the spirit of Babylon?

It's very easy. Take your clues from Genesis 11. Which one challenges the authority of God's word? Who seeks to elevate other authorities above or to replace the Word of God altogether? I don't care how it looks.

It doesn't matter how long it's been standing. Doesn't matter how beautiful you think it is. If it defies God's clear word, it's Babylon. It's Babylon. It may have a different name, but there's a spirit working behind that system.

Anything that makes man the center point and takes the glory away from God and seeks to put it on the performance of us humans has a Babylonian DNA in it. You know what's amazing? In Genesis 11, the people said, let us make a name for ourselves. We're gonna achieve this on our own. We're gonna do this in our own strength, in our own wisdom.

And then you go to Genesis chapter 12. 11, they were saying that in chapter 12. What happens? The Lord recruits Abraham and he says, I will make your name great. That's grace.

And we know that through the line of Abraham, true religion would come and it would start at the point of mercy. And that mercy would reach its full manifestation in the person and work of Jesus Christ. So you wanna know Babylonianism at work today? Look at systems that push aside God's word. Look at systems that put man front and center instead of God and you may have a Babylonian reality right before your eyes.

But we come to the final thing of what Babylon is all about here in verse six. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. So while the world will be intoxicated with the lies and the seductions of the great prostitute, this world system will be drunk with the blood of Christians. We're talking about persecution here and the fact that she is drunk means that she's not going to harass believers in moderation.

It's going to be excessive. It's it's going to be sweeping. It's going to be ugly. This is graphic but it's the truth and you and I have to come to terms with it. The Bible is preparing us and the Bible is doing so by way of prophecy that there is coming a one world religious system even before the one that the Antichrist will establish for himself that will not only be supported by world leaders, but will also seek to viciously silence those who hold to the true faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

We've seen episodes of that throughout history, but this one will be the greatest before the Antichrist does his work. And as hard as that may be to digest, you have to understand that some of the greatest and most cruelest attacks carried out against true followers of Jesus Christ were performed by those who claim to do so in the name of God and even some in the name of the Church of Christ. Didn't Jesus prepare us for this in John chapter 16? That they will banish you from synagogues, there in verse two, and they will kill you thinking that they are doing so in service to God? You think why are why is Islam slaughtering people by the thousands?

Why do they have that reputation? One, it's ingrained in their ideology and their doctrine, but they actually believe they're doing service to God. They believe that. And that's why some believe Babylon is going to be Islam, but it doesn't have to be. The spirit isn't limited to that.

There will be something new, something fresh and it will be extremely violent. You think that can't be. Look how sophisticated we are. Are we sophisticated? Is not the twenty first century the bloodiest century in all centuries?

We're sophisticated. Yeah, I'm sure. We drive nicer cars. We have better medicine. We have greater services.

But we also finding creative ways of becoming more destructive. And you have to understand that there is a spiritual reality with any development. There are forces at work beyond our sight, beyond our sound. How do we apply this? What what do we do with this information?

This is prophecy, sure, but here's how we can understand how it works for us today. If there's gonna be a world that's going to get drunk off of the lies of a false religious system and this religious system is also going to find great satisfaction and joy in drinking the blood of Christians, that's symbolism obviously, What's the charge of the church? What do we do in that mix? I think what we do is what Peter told us exactly to do in light of the last days. Here's our final text and if you want to turn there, you can.

If you want to sit back and listen, you're welcome to do that as well. But listen to what Peter says in first Peter four verse seven. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be self controlled and sober minded For the sake of your prayers, if you think people lost their minds now, and what they believe and propagate, and what's infiltrating our education system and even some churches, the Bible is telling us that there is gonna be a great harlot who's going to take over. And when that great harlot takes over, there is gonna be a spiritual intoxication like we've never known.

And Peter in his own way is speaking to Christians and he's showing us here by this instruction that the return of the Lord is imminent. There is a surprising factor about it. So he says the end of all things is at hand, therefore be self controlled and sober minded, clear headed, aware, vigilant, watchful. And one of the ways you know that you are not spiritually foggy or asleep or inebriated is that you have active conscious fellowship with God. That's why he mentions prayer in the same verse.

If you wanna know if you're not drunk this afternoon, One symptom of sobriety is that you are walking in fellowship with God. Not in theory, not in desire merely, but in actuality, you talk to him. You let him talk to you. You are aware and conscious of his return. You're not just aimless in this life.

You're not just drinking whatever is presented to you even if it's in a golden cup. And maybe, maybe God is using this service to sober some of us who are getting busy and you're not even realizing it. The great prostitute, Babylon, will be a false religious system. It's a symbol of future global one supported and promoted by world leaders that embodies the ancient spirit of rebellion against God and unites people in defiance and deception while opposing those who follow Christ. That's what Babylon is all about.

Rejoice in the enlightenment but also lean in and now ask the Lord if your spirit is clean. And if it's not, he is gracious enough to help you and to protect you from what's to come. Let's ask him for that. Father, we ask this afternoon that you would help us believe your word in its entirety. We may not know how this truth about Babylon helps us in life today, but we believe that it does.

And so, Lord, we ask this afternoon that you receive glory in our enlightenment, that our minds being illumined would produce a worship towards you because you have brought us that much closer to the truth. But Lord, we also understand the call that Peter and others have made for us. That the end of all things, the study of it, the awareness of it, the signs of it in our own time calls us to be sober. So help us be sober. If we've allowed ourselves to lose sight of you and what you're going to do in the last days, forgive us and make us ready.

If we are not near you, use these truths in a way to draw us back. Only you can do that. Lord, we've done our part today. So may all of us walk out of this place saying thank you, Lord, for reminding me to stay close to you and protect me from the things around me, the Babylonian spirit that will seek to seduce me away from God's Word. And may I never fear the threats that may come my way to remain faithful to you and you alone.

In Jesus' name, we pray these things. Amen. Amen. Let's stand church. Let's give him thanks.

To follow your commands could never come from me. Oh, father, use my ransom ransom life. In any way, you choose. Oh, father, use my ransom life. In any way,

I know we heard a lot of bible today. I want to present you just a final thought from Paul's own words. While people are saying there is peace and security, then sudden destruction will come upon them as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman and they will not escape. But you are not in darkness, brothers, for that day will not surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light, children of the day.

We are not of the night nor of darkness, so then let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober. It's amazing how much in the new testament we're told to be sober, spiritually sober. Verse seven of first Thessalonians five, For those who sleep, sleep at night and those who get drunk look at that are drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God has not destined us for wrath.

Don't you love that? I'm not destined for wrath, neither are you, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us. Why did Jesus die for you? To forgive me of my sins? Yeah.

But is that the end? No. Who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep, we might live with him. Why did Jesus die for you? So that you can live with him.

And not just when you're asleep and you die and you enter into eternity, but even now while you're awake. See, it boils down to fellowship. Does it not? Peter, be sober minded for the sake of your prayers. Christ wants your heart today.

If the book of Revelation doesn't shake somebody's soul, I don't know what will. It's one of the most startling things in all of the Bible. I pray that week after week, if you're not saved and you're you're still here, that you would not wait any longer and you would respond to this truth. God has it all figured out. It's all determined.

Nobody's gonna be able to change what he has in store for the last days, but you can change how you experience it. You can change whether you obtain his wrath or you receive his salvation. That's up to you. And I pray that today you would say, I want his salvation. Why would I refuse it?

He'll give it to you now if you receive it. If you repent and believe, he'll give it to you now. Help us, Lord, believe that there is no power like the power of the gospel. For those who are saved, keep us faithful. For those who are unsaved, sitting and hearing this, maybe even online, may today be the day where they cry out to you and they say, save me.

And may you save them, Lord, because you are faithful. You will never cast out those who come to you. Lord, for the rest of this week, keep us sober and keep us strong into this next chapter as a church should you tarry. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen and amen.

There is things for fellowship downstairs. If you need to be with your mom, go and enjoy your time with your mothers. And if they ask what you learned today, you can tell them. We learned about the great prostitute, Babylon on Mother's Day. And I'm sure that will strike up a conversation.

God bless you. We'll see you. Take care.