Revelation 17 (One-World Religion, Jeff Kliewer)

♪♪ ♪

Come into your breath out so freely from above.

♪ ♪ Gratitude and praises for compassion so amazing.

♪ ♪ Lord, we come to give you thanks for all you've done. ♪ ♪

Forever we're changed because of your love.

♪ ♪ Come into your presence, we remember every blessing.

♪ ♪ That you poured out so freely from above. ♪ ♪

Lifting gratitude and praises for compassion so amazing.

♪ ♪ We come to give you thanks because of your love.

♪ ♪ Hearts are cleansed because of your love.

♪ Good morning and welcome to Cornerstone Church.

As we gather together for our virtual worship service, we are excited and privileged to be able to come into your family room and to be able to share with you the love of God, to be able to share with you a time of worship, and to be able to share with you as Pastor Jeff gets to open scripture, and we are taught and we are brought into his very, very presence.

So welcome. Psalm 29 is a Psalm of David, and it's a Psalm that proclaims the sovereign glory and power of God.

It starts out in verse 1, Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name.

He is Yahweh. He is the King of kings. He is the Lord of lords. And if there's anything that would be deserving of glory, it is him.

And so ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. And then it ends in verse 11.

May the Lord give strength to his people. And it's this God who is so amazing and is so deserving of glory that actually works in the very lives of his people, giving strength.

Well, in the middle of this Psalm is a section proclaiming the extent of his sovereignty, the power of God.

Even as it reaches over the waters, as it reaches into the cedar trees, as it reaches into all creation, the absolute power of God is made evident in this section.

In verse 4, it says this, The voice of the Lord is powerful.

I want to make three observations about that. First, is that God speaks. And when he does, it's with authority and it's with power.

Of all the things that we have that get our attention, there is one that is assured to be authoritative and to have power.

And that's the word of God. The second observation is that all of creation hears and obeys.

Put into context of that section of the Psalm. It's not speaking about his children who come.

It's put in the middle of all of creation, all aspects of creation. The voice of the

Lord is powerful and is heard and is responded to by all of creation.

The third observation is it's foolish to try to ignore God. He is speaking.

He does speak. And he speaks. And when he speaks, it's with power. It's foolish to try to argue against God because his word is authoritative.

His word is true. In the upper room, it's recorded in John, we know that Jesus taught, abide in me and I in you.

This is how we get to bear fruit, by abiding in him. Well, a large part of abiding in him is listening.

Not just hearing, but actually listening to his word because the voice of the

Lord is powerful. So our challenge to you this morning is listen to the

Lord. Listen because he is speaking. His voice is powerful. Listen to him and find the joy that comes in residing in the power from the

Lord. Amen and amen. A couple of announcements and the first one is to get you started because I'm going to encourage you right now that if you haven't already come prepared, this is the first Sunday of the month, we do the

Lord's Supper. We will be having Lord's Supper in just a few moments. So if you have not yet brought the elements, the bread, the juice,

I encourage you to put us on pause for a moment, gather the elements, and then come back and we'll resume with the announcements.

So welcome back again. The Lord's Supper coming in just a few minutes. But what a great, amazing

Sunday this is because not only the Lord's Supper, but baptism. I encourage you to come back.

We will be gathering outside on the church property about 12 o 'clock. Right now we are having service at 9 o 'clock outside and we are having a 10 .30

service predominantly here inside. And after the 10 .30 service, we congregate outside for a time of fellowship and sharing food.

Because of social distancing, it's a bring your own picnic. So I encourage you, come back here about 12 o 'clock for a time of fellowship and breaking bread together.

And as a special treat, we are going to be celebrating baptism this afternoon during that time of fellowship and that picnic.

We have two individuals who have prepared. Their testimony is going to be powerful. Their proclamation of their faith is going to be powerful.

Be there and witness as they proclaim to the world their faith, their life made new, and it will impact you also.

So come back. A reminder that the women's ministry is going to have their time together tonight in prayer and in study at 6 .30.

Pastor Jeff is putting out today, I'm recording this on Thursday, so you will have already gotten it, his weekly announcement.

And there will be a link for the women to join in by Zoom or come here to the church in person.

Kimberly is excited to fellowship with you 6 .30 tonight. And a reminder to the men for our fellowship, get up early tomorrow, guys.

It's the first Monday of the month. We're gathering and we are relighting off our prayer breakfast time at 6 o 'clock.

We won't be in a restaurant. We will be here in the church building. Bring your own. We will have some light refreshments for those who need 6 o 'clock.

Come together, guys, for our time of fellowship. And the last announcement is it's a little bit of an advanced warning, but we have a congregational meeting coming up at the end of the month.

It's the 27th of July. So this is an advanced warning. Put it on your calendar. We will be meeting in person and we will have a

Zoom in parallel. So now let's pray. As God teaches us to call on him, to abide in him, to love him, to worship him, our prayer this morning is that our lives would be described in this way.

Lord, help us by your grace, by your spirit to say no to the world.

Help us by your grace, by your spirit to listen to God, to his powerful voice and help us to see that the voice of the

Lord is both powerful and true. And it is beautiful. Be with us today,

I pray, Lord. This week, as we live in a world that desperately needs to hear this truth, desperately needs to hear this voice of God, give us courage to proclaim this world.

Be with the men, the women, the families that have answered the call as missionaries throughout the world.

Give them your closeness today. Give them your strength. And we pray for your power to go through them to a world that needs it for the glory of your kingdom.

But let us remember, Lord, that we are all missionaries. We are all placed right where you want us.

And there is a mission field for all of us. Now, Lord, we pray for Pastor Jeff as he opens up revelation and we look at the extra woman and we understand that there is really only one true faith in you.

Give your Holy Spirit to him. Let him speak with power. Prepare our hearts to hear.

We pray in Jesus' name. Amen. ♪

Love opened the door for us ♪ ♪ He said, come to the table ♪ ♪

Come join the sinners who have been redeemed ♪ ♪

Take your place beside the Savior ♪ ♪

Sit down and be set free ♪ ♪ Come to the table ♪ ♪

He dismounted the crew of misfits ♪ ♪ These liars and these thieves ♪ ♪

There's no one unwelcome here ♪ ♪ And that sin and shame that you brought with you ♪ ♪

You can leave it at the door ♪ ♪ And let mercy draw you near so ♪ ♪

Come join the sinners beside the

Savior ♪ ♪ Sit down and be set free ♪ ♪

Come to the table ♪ ♪

To the doubter, to the hero and the coward ♪ ♪

To the prisoner and the soldier ♪ ♪ To the young and to the older ♪ ♪

All who hunger, all who thirst ♪ ♪ All the last and all the first ♪ ♪ All the paupers and the princes ♪ ♪

All who fail, you've been forgiven ♪ ♪ All who dream and all who suffer ♪ ♪

All who loved and lost another ♪ ♪ All the chained and all the free ♪ ♪

All who follow, all who lead ♪ ♪ Anyone who's been led down ♪ ♪

All the lost you have been found ♪ ♪ You've been labeled right or wrong ♪ ♪

To everyone who hears this song ♪ ♪

To the table, come join the sinners ♪ ♪

You have been redeemed ♪ ♪ Take your place beside the

Savior Lord ♪ ♪ Sit down and be set free, oh ♪ ♪

Sit down and be set free ♪ ♪ Come to the table, come to the table ♪ ♪

Sit down and be set free, come to the table ♪

So now we gather in front of the table. We gather as brothers and sisters before the very throne of God.

We gather to share the Lord's Supper. We gather to remember, to celebrate, and to praise

Him for all that He has done for us. In John 15 .9

it's recorded, Just as the Father loved me, so I also have loved you.

We need to note the extent of God's love. We need to note the extent to which that His love is poured out on us.

The way that His love is poured out on me, undeserving. In the very beginning, as John says, was the

Word. And the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And we read in John 15 .9,

Just as the Father loved me, such a close fellowship that the Son has with the

Father. Contrast that with ourselves. If you describe, if you understand how we are described by Paul.

In Ephesians, we're described as dead in our trespasses and sins, following Satan.

In Romans it says that we are sinners, falling short. And so when

Jesus promised, Just as the Father loved me, so also

I have loved you. We should be absolutely in awe. This love is totally undeserved.

It totally comes from the nature and the blessings and the grace of God shared upon us.

What's amazing about this proclamation that Jesus made, it's in the upper room, and in the context, he has just declared that he was going back to his

Father. He has already been preparing himself to be betrayed by Judas and by Peter.

And he's instituted the Lord's Supper as a celebration of the sacrifice which he made in atonement for our sins.

So as we gather together here at the Lord's table, we celebrate in remembrance.

And what we need to do is take a moment and meditate on this love so great.

We need to meditate and confess our sins. And in our meditation, come rejoicing at his table, rejoicing in his love, rejoicing in the cleansing blood poured out for us, rejoicing that we have the privilege of being in the very presence of God at his table.

So let's pray. Father, we come to you with hearts that can only be cleansed by your blood, with a heart that only can be drawn to you by your spirit and through your grace.

We come to you with gratitude and appreciation. We come to you in remembrance.

It is written in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, For I received from the Lord that which

I also delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread.

And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, This is my body, which is for you.

Do this in remembrance of me. And so join with me as we take of the bread and as we partake in remembrance of him.

The passage continues to say, In the same way he took the cup after supper, saying,

This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, and as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.

For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the

Lord's death until he comes. Take and drink. Amen.

Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you.

Father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you.

Once your enemy, now seated at your table.

Jesus, thank you. Perfect sacrifice,

I've been brought near. Your enemy, you've made your friend.

Pouring out the riches of your glorious grace.

Your mercies and your kindness knows no end. Your blood has washed away my sin.

Jesus, thank you. Father's wrath completely satisfied.

Jesus, thank you. Once your enemy, now seated at your table.

Jesus, thank you.

Lover of my soul,

I want to live for you.

Lover of my soul, I want to live for you.

Lover of my soul, I want to live for you.

Your blood has washed away my sin. Jesus, thank you.

Father's wrath completely satisfied. Jesus, thank you.

Once your enemy, now seated at your table.

Jesus, thank you.

Good morning, and welcome to Cornerstone Church. Thank you for gathering with us here for the online worship service this week.

Let's go before the Lord in prayer, and then we are going to dive into Revelation chapter 17 today.

God, this morning we come before you recognizing our desperate need.

We need you, God. We are not independent people. We depend on you.

We must abide in you to have life in ourselves. We need to be nourished by your word, and so we pray that your word would nourish us today.

Give us strength. Help us to stand. We also live at a time when the world is departing from you.

The world is mounting an attack against us, the true church.

And we pray that you would make us strong in this day. That we would never turn our backs on you, but that we would be found faithful until the end.

Lord, make us faithful until the end, and I pray that you would accomplish this through your word.

I pray for myself as I preach the word that I would be found faithful to the text, to exposit what's here, not to import meanings from my own mind, but to draw out from the text what you have written.

And Lord, you please do the work of changing us and strengthening us on the inside, by your word, in Jesus' name, amen.

A very sad phenomenon in our day is so many professing

Christians who apostatize, who leave the faith. There was a prominent evangelical who was in fact the president of the

Southern Baptist Convention at one point. I won't mention his name or the name of his son because I don't want to dishonor the father, who was a faithful preacher of the word.

But his son, as he grew up, has apostatized from the faith. At age 26, you could already see kind of the handwriting on the wall, because rather than going humbly to seminary to learn the word of God, he went and wrote a declaration against his own denomination, called a

Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change, where he criticized the SBC for being so timid in acknowledging the mounting scientific evidence linking human activity with global warming.

It reminds me of a meme I saw on Facebook where a guy took a taco and put the taco in that little overhead compartment in the car, and then he took a picture of it, the taco in the little sunglass holder, and he said,

I've been putting my sunglasses in here like an idiot, which is a funny little meme, but it makes the point that sometimes your new discovery is not as brilliant as you think it is.

And the 2008 declaration of this son was not as brilliant as he thought it was.

There he was, lecturing the Southern Baptist Convention about climate change, telling the

SBC that they need to focus more on man -made climate change rather than the preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

So he lectured, and you could see some arrogance so early on, but it wasn't until eight years later at age 34 that he wrote this.

This is last year, 2019. Like many, evangelicalism provided me with some wonderful gifts for a season, but I feel like I have grown beyond it in many ways.

Its tools and frameworks are no longer sufficient to sustain me in this phase of life. While I honor my heritage,

I'm mostly seeking God elsewhere. And so we have yet another apostate.

Now, at 35 years old, a couple weeks ago, he wrote against evangelicals and pointed out that evangelicals have been party to many boycotts.

For example, boycotting Disney when they've become more and more gay -promoting, and when evangelicals have canceled those who have stepped outside the bounds of orthodoxy.

For example, when John Piper said farewell to Rob Bell because he questioned hell.

Here's what this son of the prominent evangelical wrote. Now the tables have turned.

You see how not only has he become an apostate from Christianity, but the tables have turned. He's come full circle.

Something shifted in the 2016 election. The rapidly proliferating groups evangelicals had been marginalizing and attacking women, people of color, feminists, immigrants,

LGBTQ people, recognized that they had their own pulpits on social media.

They began to sermonize back. This great awokening has flipped the script on cancel culture, and white evangelicals are calling for a rewrite.

There is a celebratory tone in the words of this apostate. He sees the marginalization and the persecution of Christians.

For example, he writes about the pastor whose lease was taken from him because he simply affirmed or he posted a

Charlie Kirk turning point video on his own Facebook. And so he lost his lease and suffered the outcry of the public.

There will be one thing excluded in this new system that is arising. I think that the son here is right that something shifted around 2016, probably earlier than that, but it's been accelerating since then.

And that is a turning away from evangelicalism toward a new social religion.

It's called here the great awokening. His words, not mine.

The great awokening. What is a great awokening? Well, last week

I spoke about a new definition of justice as diversity, inclusion, and equity.

Being woke is to follow the religion of diversity, inclusion, and equity, and especially that middle word inclusion.

The word inclusion well defines the rise of a one world religion.

It is a religious system that's sweeping over America and the world and taking the place of so -called

Christianity in the world. It also incorporates Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam and many other religions all wrapped together with a pretty little bow on top called inclusivism.

Inclusivism. Here's how some would describe this religion.

They describe it as being like a blind man feeling an elephant. One blind man might touch the side of the elephant and notice that it's strong and describe the side of an elephant, describing that elephant as a wall.

Some other blind man might come to the elephant but happen to grab hold of the trunk and describe the elephant as a tree.

And a third blind man might touch the tail of the elephant and describe it as a brush of some sort.

But in each case the blind man is coming through their own experiences by their own reality describing something that's bigger and invisible to themselves.

A divine reality. And so however you describe the elephant, whether it's a wall or a trunk or a tree or a brush, in any case it's just the same elephant.

In other words, it's like different roads leading up a mountain to the same peak.

So they describe Hinduism and Buddhism and Islam and Christianity.

These are just different paths up the mountain to the same peak.

These are just different ways of describing the elephant that is God by one's own subjective experiences.

And so the religion that arises from that is tolerance, inclusivism.

We should tolerate any other point of view except evangelical Christianity. We should tolerate any point of view and recognize that they're all equally valid and come together in a one world religion.

That is called ecumenism. Ecumenical tradition is to bring together different peoples who have different religious beliefs and unite, whether around a purpose, which is usually the case, such as global warming or some kind of end to some perceived oppression, or even to worship

God by a different name. And so you see a pope kneeling down and worshiping with a

Muslim mullah. And Christianity and Islam are blended as Chrislam, a one world religion just coming to God with different names, but acknowledging that they're all approaching the same

God. The danger of this new one world religion is precisely the opposite of what the world has seen for so many thousands of years.

This is the first time in history where the world is uniting around one religion.

200 years ago, during a true awakening, the second great awakening, there were dangers of a different sort.

The danger would be that you would fall in behind a cult leader. The movement at that time was called restorationism.

The idea is that Christianity had been perverted through traditions and there is an element of truth in that because there was a blending of traditions, especially in the

Roman Catholic Church. Things brought in from paganism to form a syncretistic system that they're still calling

Christianity, but no longer was. But follow me here. During the second great awakening, the restorationists like Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell said, let's get back to the

Bible, which is great. Let's get back to the Bible. The problem is they threw out everything and said

Presbyterianism and Methodism and the Baptists and the Episcopalians and the

Congregationalists. These are all wrong. All the religions are absolutely wrong. Even the ones that continue to have the core of the

Christian faith may have differences in some secondary issues, but there was truth in those denominations.

These restorationists were saying, no, Christianity, the biblical version was lost and there has been an apostasy for thousands of years.

And so in the 1820s and 1830s, you have a rise of the cults where each one is saying we have the genuine that was lost.

And here I am the restorer of the genuine. And so Joseph Smith claims to be the restorer in these latter days.

And the Millerites, Seventh -day Adventists and the Jehovah's Witnesses and many other cultic groups grow up at this time.

So the danger would be to fall in behind a leader who's claiming to go back to the

Bible, but is actually bringing his own traditions and his own lies. Even 20 years ago, if you were to go to the temple, quote unquote, that whitewashed building in Salt Lake City that says holiness to the

Lord and all lit up beautiful, and you stood outside of the temple, so -called, in Salt Lake City and you evangelized

Mormons who were going there, you would find that they would fight you tooth and nail.

They would argue with you about the truthfulness of the claims and the virtue of Joseph Smith.

If you were to say, well, he was a polygamist that had 30 -some wives, they would find a justification for that.

If you were to say, well, Joseph Smith copied 14 chapters of the

King James Version of the Bible and anachronistically included that in the

Book of Mormon. Plagiarism! And not only did he include the King James Version, which is an

English translation from 1611, he also included the errors of that translation in his

Book of Mormon. So clearly this isn't from God. Back then, 20 years ago, the

Mormon would fight you on those substantive points. They would debate the matters of truth to defend their religion.

Not so today. Mormons today will readily agree with you that Joseph Smith was a sinner.

Not only a sinner, a blatant polygamist, that he married a 13 -year -old and multiple young girls who were married to other people at the time and who were sisters to one another.

They won't even argue these points with you. What they will say is, listen, Mormonism works for me.

I want my family to be Mormon and have an eternal marriage with my wife.

They will say, it works for me. Pragmatism. They will say, it feels good for me.

I felt the burning in the bosom. And I know what I know. I asked for wisdom and God showed me.

And in my heart of hearts, I know what I've been shown. And so, the Mormon today, which comes out of restorationism, which fundamentally began in the 1820s with Joseph Smith's declaration that all the denominations are wrong.

Ironically, here we are in 2020, 200 years later. Even the Mormons have come full circle and are saying, you have your religion.

I have mine. Your Christianity is equally valid for you. And a

Muslim's worship of Allah is equally valid for that person.

And so, I stand in my chosen path of Mormonism. They are uniting with the one world religion.

Even Mormonism, which began as a restorationist cult, is joining the one world religion.

Catholicism, which anathematized the Protestants at the Council of Trent in 1545 or 1546 in the persecution of Protestants for those first couple hundred years.

After Vatican II in the 1950s, and now especially with this new Pope, has become increasingly and completely ecumenical.

They are joining the one world religion. This is the state of affairs in the world today.

Don't be quickly shaken, in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word or a letter seeming to be from us to the effect that the day of the

Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way, for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first.

2 Thessalonians 2, verse 3. That word for rebellion is apostasia.

Apostasy. We are living in the day of apostasy. The falling away from the faith.

And those who fall away are not claiming to be atheists, by and large. They're still claiming to be

Christian or religious in some other way. But they're coalescing in one religion that's opposed to Christianity.

Long introduction, but very important because I want you to understand. Revelation 17, as we come to it now, is about the fall of that one world system.

The one world religion, pluralism, where there's multiple religions that are actually united in their purposes and in their core belief, which is postmodern, that all roads lead to the same

God. This one world religion will fall. God will bring it down.

The ushering in of a one world religion, this inclusiveness, which is attended by the value of quote -unquote tolerance, which is interesting because they champion this idea of tolerance except for evangelicals.

But if you were to ask them about this so -called tolerance, you would recognize that no matter how they slice it, it's a self -defeating claim.

Ask a person who is claiming tolerance as the core value of their religion, are you sure about that?

Are you sure that tolerance is the value that you think it is? If they say, yes,

I'm sure about it, then you have the grounds to say, then why are you opposed to my exclusive claim?

If they say, no, I'm not sure about it, the question becomes, then why should I listen to you? What do you have to teach if you're not even sure about your own belief and tolerance?

So tolerance cannot be the core. It's basically just anything but certainty, anything but being certain of a truth.

Of course, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ involves certainty. Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the certainty of things not seen.

Okay, that's just a little aside. Now we get into Revelation 17. We're gonna learn about the one -world religion, a description of it, and we'll see the fall of it.

First of all, the one -world religion is adulterous with the world.

The world system, politically, Hollywood, government, television, all of the world system that walks in lockstep is compatible with the one -world religion.

There is an adultery happening between the world and this pseudo -religion.

Of course, pure religion is undefiled. It is to show mercy to widows and orphans and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

That's pure religion, which springs from genuine faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and him alone.

But let's look at the substitute, the false one -world religion. Chapter 17, one to three.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bulls 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 ten horns.

So this point in the text is not chronological. In chapter 16, we see the last days leading into Armageddon, and the world has become darkened and overheated, and all of the common grace of God has been withdrawn, and it's just days before Christ will come and judge the world.

Here in 17 and 18, we pan out again, and we see the religious system and the political system of Babylon.

The woman, the prostitute, is the religious system, the one -world religion that rides on the beast, which is the empire, headed by the

Antichrist, who, up until this point in the text, has been clearly identified as the Antichrist, the beast.

So we see, first of all, that this is prostitution. It is adultery, spiritual adultery.

The great analogy we have for this is one of the books of the Old Testament, the book of Hosea. God says to this prophet, this faithful man, faithful being the key word, he says to faithful Hosea, go and take a prostitute,

Gomer, for a wife. Amazingly, God commands him to do this, and he does.

He obeys God faithfully. But this woman, Gomer, is unfaithful to her husband,

Hosea. And the reason that God told Hosea to do this drastic, terrifying thing is to demonstrate to the world what

Israel is like to him as a wife. Israel has been an unfaithful wife, not faithful to the covenant promise that God made, the covenant that they entered into.

She has gone off after other men. And the case we learn from Hosea was

Moloch worship and Baal worship, worshiping the gods of the nations, the

Babylonian gods, which at this time are situated in Pergamum. Hosea is a picture for us of a faithful husband and Gomer of an adulterous wife, bringing false religion together, syncretizing that with their worship of Yahweh.

And God found it despicable. Here again, we have a religious system like the days of Hosea, which intoxicates men and women.

That's the imagery of drunkenness. And we see the beast is the political system that this religious system is united to.

So the first thing, it is adulterous with the world. The one world religion, which is coming now and is even here on the earth, it will only intensify and grow, but it's here now.

James 4 .4 describes it, you adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity toward God?

So to be worldly, to be united with the ethos of the world and to participate in its practices is actually hatred towards God.

Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. Second point, one world religion has an outward appearance of godliness.

The smells and bells. You go to a Roman Catholic church in New York City and you see the idols, the icons, the statues.

You see the burning candles and you smell the incense. And if you were there for a mass and you saw the priest swinging his whatever it is and the smoke rising and you smelled the aroma, the smells and bells have an outward sense of grandeur.

In the high cathedrals of the building, the echoing of the priests' prayers and the chanting of the people.

There is a sense of holiness, but it's outward holiness, not genuine holiness.

An outward appearance of godliness. Second Timothy 3 .5 says, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power.

Avoid such people. So in Revelation 17, verse 4, look at the outward appearance.

The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls.

Stop there and you say, oh good, this is a good picture. But no, we know this is the adulterous woman and behind that veneer, she's holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

The young man that I introduced you to this morning, the son of the great evangelical leader, former president of the

Southern Baptist Convention, whose name I will not mention so as not to dishonor him, but the son who has disgraced himself.

This young man wrote this this last week. Good morning, church.

As we approach the last week celebrating pride, may you remember that the sign over the door to God's kingdom declares, whosoever will may come.

That means whether you're rich or poor, you're welcome here. Whether you are black, brown, or white, you are welcome here.

Whether you are male or female, you are welcome here. Doesn't that sound good?

Doesn't the language of this young man sound good, welcoming? Whether you are gay or straight, cisgender or transgender, you are welcome here.

Your seat at God's table is not up for discussion or debate. It is ever and always yours.

You are welcome. You are accepted and you are held by the

God who made you and loves you just as you are and not as somebody else says you should be.

Let's worship together. The words of this young man are evil.

They're deceptive. They take some of the truth of God's word, whosoever will, if you translate, there's actually particularity in John 3 .16,

but if you take the language of the text and twist it the way he does, it sounds as if God does not require repentance.

And repentance is that word that makes people recoil. Wait, repent? Change? Turn from sin and come follow

Christ? Take up my cross and follow Him daily? Die to myself? The world says, oh, no, no.

Just as you are. You're fine. Change nothing. Just as you are.

Not as somebody else says you should be. And then he invites the church to worship together.

We're all in this together. Let's worship together.

Explicitly affirming LGBTQIA plus behaviors.

He himself being gay, he came out of the closet because he was outed by somebody who he had an encounter with.

This young man is deceptive. The flow of his words, the rhetoric, the repetition.

Oh, he's polished, isn't he? And it makes it look from the outside to a watching world like this is true religion.

This is compassion. This is genuine. When in fact, Revelation 17 .4

describes this one world religion, which does not require repentance, which denies the sexual ethic of the

Bible. It describes it as a golden cup. So it's got the outer cup looking golden.

Good. Full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

Third, one world religion will one day be seen for the adulteress that she is.

That outer veneer, when you go up to the temple, quote unquote, in Salt Lake City and you see the whitewashed building, holiness to the

Lord, the amazing architecture, the amazing landscaping and the lighting at night.

Surely this must be of God, says those who look on outward appearances rather than what's on the heart.

One world religion will one day be seen for the adulteress she is. Look how John sees it.

On her forehead was written a name of mystery. Babylon the Great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.

I don't think that's written on the building. So the building that you go to to worship says holiness to the

Lord, but God sees this and points this out to John. This is the name written all across her.

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. What astonished John the most is that this outwardly peaceful, this outwardly loving institution hates, hates, hates

Christians and persecutes the genuine Christians. That's why there are 81 dead

Nigerians last week because Boko Haram, under the banner of Islam, not false

Islam, but these are men who have memorized much of the Quran, who have read the

Hadith, who have read the Sunnah of the Prophet. Unless you have read those things, you don't know what genuine

Islam actually is. But these Boko Haram adherents do and they practice their religion and it results in the death of Christians.

And where's the world outcry against that? It's almost like it didn't happen. The news isn't covering it.

The media has no interest in dead Christians. But you see, the blood of the martyrs cries out to God and he sees and he hears.

And John was marveling greatly. Verse 7, But the angel said to me,

Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

So I deliberately waited to tell you what this beast is that she rides on. The woman is the religious system.

But what is the beast? Well, that's the political empire headed by the Antichrist.

One world religion works symbiotically with one world government. So you have the government, this one world government that, it's not here yet, but you can see the globalists trying to bring it here now.

It will one day rise and this one world government will work hand in hand, symbiotically, each helping one another with the one world religion.

It says in verse 8, The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.

And the dwellers on earth, whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel to see the beast because it was and is not and is to come.

Now this is a reference back to what we saw earlier, both the Antichrist and his world empire.

It looked like it was dead. The Roman Empire was gone. It was a relic of history, but it rises again.

The beast, who is the Antichrist himself, he is killed. It looks like he has a mortal wound, but he rises, seemingly miraculously, and the world is marveling at the recovery of the empire, the recovery, or even the apparent resurrection of the

Antichrist. This beast system comes back up. Notice that everybody's gonna join it except those whose names have been written before the foundation of the world in the

Lamb's book of life. We thank God for his electing grace and his calling us, his effectual call, in order that we would believe the

Bible, believe in Christ, the one that God has sent, to worship him and him alone, to be faithful to him unto the end, his saving grace.

Grace has protected us because we would be deceived, but for the grace of God, there go

I. But for the grace of God, I would be deceived like anybody else.

Thank you God for your grace saving me. And if you're listening to this, thank him for the grace that you do not follow the one world religion.

And if you have been following, just beg him for mercy to open your eyes that you can see the truth of God's word.

Verse nine, this calls for a mind with wisdom that must be given from the Lord. James, if you lack it,

James, the book of James says, if you lack wisdom, ask the Lord who gives without finding fault. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated.

Now the earliest commentary on the book of Revelation identifies that by, it was

Victorinus, Victorinus wrote the first commentary on Revelation. He identified the seven hills as Rome, Rome.

And of course, even to this day, the seven hills represent Rome. So I think there is an identity there, but not completely because keep reading.

It says, this is verse nine. The seven heads are the seven mountains on which the woman is seated.

I do think that the religious system is headed in Rome. The point for it all is

Rome and the pontiff there, so -called pontiff, which we'll get to in a minute. They are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen.

One is, the other has not yet come. And when he does come, he must remain only a little while.

Who are the seven kings? Five of whom have fallen. One is, and the other has not yet come.

Remember, John is writing this about 95 AD. So who is the head of the empire in 95

AD? Answer, Domitian. He is the emperor of Rome at that time. He is the one who is.

So who are the five that have fallen? Well, Walvard kind of proposes that it was five prominent

Roman emperors leading up to Domitian. So from Caesar Augustus, I don't know,

Caligula, and Nero, and whoever else went before Domitian, these are the five who have fallen.

I think maybe even more likely than that, it represents the heads of each of the empires spoken of in Daniel.

So the first one would be Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian. And then the Persians conquered

Babylon. So the second one would be Xerxes. And then the Medes came. So Darius the

Mede would be next. And then Alexander the Great conquered the world. So he would be the fourth, the Greek empire.

And then when Rome conquers Greece, you have, who is that? Caesar Augustus.

So you have the rise of the first empire of Rome. So I would see those five as probably the most likely that have fallen.

But clearly, Domitian is the one who is at the time of the writing. And the final one to come is the

Antichrist. The Antichrist, the beast who's been spoken of so often leading up to here.

Verse 10, they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen. One is, the other has not yet come.

When he does come, he must remain only a little while. Remember, Christ shortens the time because it's so evil.

And the Great Tribulation, the second half of the Tribulation, is only three and a half years. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven and it goes to destruction.

So the Antichrist per se, as the world ruler, comes out of an empire that's already arisen.

That's the seven. The Roman Empire arises and then he eventually takes the head of that and is the world ruler.

So as you see globalism taking over the world, you see the rise of the seventh and the beast himself as a part of that will be the emperor, the world ruler at that time.

Goes to destruction. Isn't that good news where this ends up? Verse 12, and the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power.

So these are people who have not yet come. These are rulers of the Middle East, rulers of nations.

I don't know which ones, but particular nations that surround Jerusalem, probably including many

European powers, maybe including Gog and Magog, Russia, Iran, down to Saudi Arabia.

Somehow the uniting of the nations around Israel in opposition to Christ, they put themselves under the authority of Antichrist.

So the ten kings, they're the ten horns, who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour together with the beast.

So they're his kind of like underlings for the short period of time.

Verse 13, these are of one mind and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.

It's all coming together in a world empire, a one world government, and who rides on that one world government?

The one world religion, symbiotic relationship between the two. They will make war on the lamb.

Well, before I go there, I did want to mention another thing about these kings, these seven heads, verse 9.

I think the first of them is Nebuchadnezzar. And in the whole study of Babylon, which is here, remember if you look back up at verse 5,

Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations, Babylon is the title of this whole religious system.

Okay? Babylon is also the birthplace of mystery religion.

So if you go back to Genesis chapter 10 and 11, you find Nimrod founds

Babylon. And what we have learned from extra biblical sources, he had a wife named Semiramis, who was the founder of the

Babylonian mystery cults. Babylon exists for 3 ,000 years before Christ.

And it kind of falls out of prominence and then rises again. Hammurabi was one of the Babylonian leaders.

But all the while, the Babylonian mystery religions are in effect. Once Persia conquers

Babylon, those priests are sent to Pergamum. And they, in Pergamum, have their seat of authority.

These are people that had crowns on their heads. The priests would wear crowns. It would have a fish symbol.

And it represented their mystery cult from Babylon. These priests were called

Pontifex Maximus, keepers of the bridge. It represented a bridge between mankind and Satan.

The secret bridge, the mystery religion to get to them. Later, the

Roman, as the seat of authority moved out of Persia's hand and eventually resides in Rome, the seat of this authority and many of the emperors took that same title,

Pontifex Maximus. And then finally, the popes also became called

Pontiffs, keepers of the bridge. There is a demonic, mystery, secret religion that resides in all of these things and gets passed down from generation to generation.

You must be initiated into it to go into its depths. And this is where we see the rise of masonry, which also comes from the same

Babylonian mystery religion. So masonry has secret handshakes and different rites and rituals to get to higher and higher levels of enlightenment until finally the highest levels are kind of that bridge to Satanism itself.

Mormonism, for example, took the temple rituals of masonry and incorporated them into their path, the bridge to get to the celestial kingdom where they can become gods like Satan who wanted to be

God. A lot there, but recognize that the issue of Babylon as mystery religion is that Nimrod and Semiramis began it way back when and it has been persisting even to this day.

Secret knowledge, like the book of Jasher. The book of Jasher was referenced in the

Bible, but false mystery religion in the 14 and 1500s came and a pseudo author claiming to write the book of Jasher wrote an anti -Trinitarian

Jewish work in the 1500s. It's getting passed around the internet today, but it's part of this mystery religion.

What we can trust and what we know is the 66 books of God's holy word. The mystery

Babylonian religions will all push people into an anti -Trinitarian, anti -gospel, anti -Bible position.

So stay away from that stuff. One world religion. Next, we go into the final couple points.

I know we got a lot here today, but verse 14 says, one world religion will be conquered, but we must conquer now.

Look at the fall of it. Verse 14, this is good news. They will make war on the lamb and the lamb will conquer them.

Christ will conquer one world religion and one world government for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.

The chosenness, our names written before the foundation of the world, the calling is the effectual call when grace quickens the heart that we would believe the outward call of the gospel to repent of sin and to turn to Christ for salvation.

This call will be manifest in faithfulness. The true

Christian will remain faithful to the end. He will not be deceived, but will continue in the true faith, the true religion of Jesus Christ.

Good news, but remember that call to conquer. It appeared seven times in chapters two and three of the book of Revelation.

The one who conquers, Christ will conquer, but in this, our day, we must conquer the lies.

No, do not succumb to the seductive, drunken appeal of one world religion, of inclusivism and ecumenism and pluralism that draws you in.

Don't succumb to it. You must conquer that in Jesus' name. You must repent of sexual immorality.

You must turn to Christ for the forgiveness of sin and the gift of eternal life. This is conquering in Jesus' name.

Next, verse 15, we're almost done. One world religion will cover the earth like waters cover the sea.

In case you've wondered, how do I get that this is a one world where everything comes together in this religion?

It's from verse 15. It identified, if you look back at verse one, this prostitute is seated on the waters.

Now in verse 15, you get an explanation of what the waters are. The waters that you saw, the angel says, where the prostitute is seated are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.

So Walvard, from the Bible Knowledge Commentary, commentates and says, this indicates that there will be one ecumenical world religious system embracing all nations and languages.

Of course, it's a lie. It's a pseudo religion that glorifies the Antichrist and ultimately

Satan with his false prophet, the unholy trinity. But the genuine

God of heaven will conquer this system. And what Satan is trying to emulate is

Habakkuk 2, verse 14. For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the

Lord as the waters cover the sea. There's coming a day when like the waters cover the sea, the earth will be filled with faithful, called, chosen, worshippers of the

Lord Jesus Christ. The genuine. This is coming. So verse 15 is the counterfeit.

The waters which uphold the false religion. Finally, lastly, verses 16 to 18.

One world religionists get devoured by the world that they serve. And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute.

Interesting, the one world government eventually turns and hates the one world religion. They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh.

They just used her and burn her up with fire.

The Roman pontiff who claims since Vatican II that all religions meet together and worship the same

God, he caters to them. He panders to the one world system.

But in the end, all of that will be devoured. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind.

He uses the one world government just like he used Assyria to judge Israel in Isaiah chapter 10.

He has a purpose in now using government to break that symbiosis, to turn around and use the one world government to judge the one world religion, handing her over, handing over their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.

And finally in verse 18, this is a preview now to political Babylon which is the city, the political system which is also going to fall.

The woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. So this woman can be spoken of as the system, the one world religious system or the one world government which is coming next week.

So in closing, be willing to be called no friend of Caesar.

That's John 19, 12. The religious establishment was pressuring Pontius Pilate saying, you're no friend of Caesar unless you crucify the

Christ. Now they didn't call him the Christ, they didn't believe he was, but the religious establishment of the world, of Jerusalem at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus was crying crucify, crucify, crucify.

Pontius Pilate wanted to be a friend of Caesar, wanted to be part of the system and so he washed his hands of it unwilling to identify with Christ.

What is required of those who serve the Lord of Lords and King of Kings? It is required that we be chosen and called and faithful.

Do not commit adultery with the world religious system even though the mob is crying out for you to do it.

The mob is against you and would crucify you if it were allowed.

You would be strung up the way Christ was, but you must be willing to take up your cross and follow even if it means that.

Pontius Pilate was not willing to suffer the consequences of rejecting the system. Reject the one world religion, the ecumenism, that is the religion of today.

The inclusiveness, which sounds and looks so good. We're including people.

No, you are an abomination to the true religion of Jesus Christ.

In that outer veneer of inclusiveness, in that golden cup that you hold, you have all forms of sexual immorality and every abominable thing.

And brother and sister in Christ, I address you now to say, hold fast to the word of truth.

Do not compromise in these last days. Hold fast to the word of truth.

Let's pray. God, we see it. It's as plain as day when the entire continent of Europe once claimed to be

Christian and now less than 1 % of them identify as evangelical. When our numbers in America are dwindling, as people apostatize away from the true faith in favor of inclusiveness, a false one -world religion that's rising in our day.

We ask in Jesus' name that you would strengthen us to be faithful until the end. We pray that we would never, never bow the knee to the mob.

We pray that we would never, never turn our backs on the

Christ, Lord, we ask for strength in this hour even to die with Christ if need be.

That the blood of the martyrs would be a testimony that you are worthy even of our very lives.

We lay them down now, Lord. We count the cost and say, Jesus, you are worthy. In this dark hour, in these last days, we thank you that by your word we know that Babylon, mystery, religion will fall.

And those who stand with you, though we may be killed, yet we will stand.

Help us now to conquer in your name. We pray in Jesus' name, amen. ♪

Who holds our days within his hand ♪ ♪ What comes apart from his command ♪ ♪

And us to the end ♪ ♪ The love of Christ in which we stand ♪ ♪

Oh, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪

Our hope springs eternal ♪ ♪ Oh, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪

Thanks Christ, our hope in life and death ♪ ♪ The troubled soul,

God is good, God is good ♪ ♪ Where is his grace and goodness known ♪ ♪

In our grave, redeemer's blood ♪ ♪ Who holds our faith when fears arise ♪ ♪

Who stands above the stormy trial ♪ ♪ Who sends the waves that bring us nigh ♪ ♪

Unto the shore, the rock of Christ ♪ ♪

Oh, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪

Our hope springs eternal ♪ ♪ Oh, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪

We confess Christ, our hope in life and death ♪ ♪

And there we sing ♪ ♪ Christ, he lives, Christ, he lives ♪ ♪

And what reward will heaven bring ♪ ♪

Everlasting life within ♪ ♪ There we will rise to meet the

Lord ♪ ♪ Then sin and death will be destroyed ♪ ♪

And we will feast in endless joy ♪ ♪ When Christ is ours forevermore ♪ ♪

Forevermore ♪ ♪

And eternal, oh, sing hallelujah ♪ ♪

We confess Christ, our hope in life and death ♪ ♪

And eternal, oh, sing