Sunday, February 23, 2020

The Revelation of Christ – Part 38: The Punishment of the Great Prostitute I


The Revelation of Christ – Part 38:
The Punishment of the Great Prostitute I
Pastor Bruce A. Shields
House of Faith Church | www.PS127.org | www.TruthDigest.org

This Document is a Sermon Outline, you may hear the full audio of the actual sermon by following the link Online Audio Files located above for this, and other Full Sermon Audios.  For a complete list of Sermon Outlines, visit TruthDigest.org or Truth Digest on facebook; for our Official Church website, visit PS127.org, or find us on facebook at House of Faith Church

SERMON INTRODUCTION
The Book of Revelation, or the Revelation of Christ, is the most challenging book in the bible.

Because of this fact, many avoid it or ignore it altogether. Some fear lack of understanding; others afraid to misinterpret, which I guess it is better to avoid than dive in and get it completely wrong.

Many times, when a new believer comes to me for direction, they want to jump right into Revelation and find out what’s to come.

This is equivalent to deciding one day to learn Mandarin and sitting down to author a novel in Chinese that very same day.

Or, a kindergartner learning how to count, and then trying to calculate quantum mechanics calculations.

The words in Revelation have caused much debate on rapture, judgment, even some who claim John was writing about the events in his day in code rather than Jesus Christ revealing to him about the coming events and Judgment.

A special blessing is promised to those who read Revelation.

Although it may be a difficult book, we could all use a special blessing, reading this is good for us all, and with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will take the Revelation of Christ in small portions and gain understanding, little by little.

 
SERMON SERIES

THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 10 – The Throne of God
Part 11 – The Scroll and Seven Seals
Part 12 – The Lamb is Worthy

Part 13 – The First Seal

Part 14 – The Second Seal
Part 15 – The Third Seal
Part 16 – The Fourth Seal
Part 17 – The Fifth Seal

Part 18 – The Sixth Seal

Part 19 – The 144,000 Sealed
Part 20 – The Great Multitude
Part 21 – The Seventh Seal

Part 22 – Trumpets 1-4
Part 23 – The 5th Trumpet (1st woe)
Part 24 – The 6th Trumpet (2nd woe)

Part 25 – The Mighty Angel
Part 26 – The Two Witnesses 
Part 27 – The 7th Trumpet and 3rd Woe 

Part 28 – The Woman and the Dragon I
Part 29 – The Woman and the Dragon II

Part 30 – The Beast out of the Sea
Part 31 – The Beast out of the Earth

Part 32 – The Lamb and the 144,000

Part 33 – The Three Angels
Part 34 – Harvesting the Earth

Part 35 – The Seven Angels with the Seven Plagues
Part 36 – The First Bowls
Part 37 – The Last Bowls


TODAY’S SERMON - THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE – The Coming Judgment
Part 38 – The Punishment of the Great Prostitute


SCRIPTURE READING

Revelation 17:1-6

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits by many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.”

3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 The name written on her forehead was a mystery:

Babylon the great

the mother of prostitutes

and of the abominations of the earth.

6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus.

 
          I.      ONE OF THE 7 ANGELS WITH THE BOWLS SAID, “COME, I WILL SHOW YOU THE PUNISHMENT OF THE GREAT PROSTITUTE”

a.   The Great Prostitute sits by many waters
                                     i.   Water (as in “spring of life”, “The Word”, “The Holy Spirit”)

                                    ii.   But here, this is referring to what we read in Revelation 12:15, “And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.”
1.   This “flood”, or “torrent”, “deluge”, is Satan’s “water”
2.   His false teachings
3.   Since Satan could not stop the woman, stop Jesus’ birth, stop the woman’s children or other offspring (Christian’s), he would try to drown them in a flood of false teachings, false doctrines, false religions, in hopes they would be carried away in their confusion about the Truth.

4.   John 8:44 “…He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

5.   1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.”
a.   Using basic inference, we can conclude that God is not the one causing confusion in the churches

b.   He also is not causing the fighting, bickering, grumbling, back-biting, problems within the churches

6.   Satan’s last-ditch effort was to create confusion about what the Truth is, or what the Church is, through lies, false doctrines, teachings of men, cults, religions, etc.

b.   With her, the kings of the earth committed adultery
                                     i.   Kings of the lands who chose to follow the Beast (666) accepted this false religion as truth, practiced it, and gave it to their people.

                                    ii.   This is “Spiritual Adultery” we read about in 1 John 2:15-17; 1 Corinthians 10:6-11; Colossians 3:5; Hebrews 3:12-14; Hebrews 10:26-31; James 4:4-5, 1 John 5:21; Judges 2:11, and so on.

                                   iii.   This is why God divorced Israel in Jeremiah 3:8 “I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries. Yet I saw that her unfaithful sister Judah had no fear; she also went out and committed adultery.”

1.   But doesn’t the Lord say in Malachi 2:16 “For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “and him who covers his garment with wrong,” says the Lord of hosts. “So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously.”?

2.   He does hate divorce, and he hates adultery, or any sin for that matter
a.   And guess what sin does? Separates us from the Lord!

3.   When we commit Spiritual Adultery, WE are at fault against our covenant with God (as it states inn Malachi), and when WE are at fault, a divorce can take place.

4.   This doesn’t mean God doesn’t “hate” divorce…it means He HATES that a covenant with Him was broken and so severed the relationship between us and Him!


c.   The inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries
                                     i.   Intoxicated means someone received something TOXIC (poison)

                                    ii.   It can also mean to exhilarate, thrill, elate, delight, captivate

                                   iii.   This was the state of the people of earth who were “poisoned” with false teachings, yet, were thrilled to believe so.

                                   iv.   2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”


d.   The angel carried me away in the spirit to the wilderness
                                     i.   Here we see another time & space travel at the hands of an angel
1.   Taking John to another time and space in the Spirit realm
2.   Why in the spirit?
3.   Because he is witnessing Symbolic Images
4.   There is no “literal” Whore of Babylon personified, rather, an symbolic image of Satan’s kingdom of false teachings in imagery John could understand…Spiritual Adultery=the Whore
5.   Teachings, not from God’s Truth, but Satan’s Kingdom, the New Great Babylon

                                    ii.   Babylon: Revelation 13:3 “One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast.”

                                   iii.   The Wilderness = in scripture means a location of “intense experiences”
1.   The Jews during Exodus (needing Manna from God)
2.   Moses and the burning bush (for renewal and to meet God)
3.   Elijah in isolation (to hear God’s still small voice)
4.   Hagar and Ishmael (needing divine deliverance)
5.   Jesus in the desert (needing the Holy Spirit)


         II.      THERE, I SAW A WOMAN
a.   Sitting on a scarlet beast
                                     i.   This is the beast from Revelation 17:18 that rules over the kings of the earth.
                                    ii.   The Beast (666)

                                   iii.   Scarlet is also often associated with immorality and sin, particularly prostitution or adultery

                                   iv.   This “scarlet” beast offers sin to mankind through the false teachings of the whore

b.   The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet
                                     i.   This is a little different from the beast though

                                    ii.   Revelation 17:4 “The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls.”

                                   iii.   Sound familiar?
1.   Exodus 26:1 “you shall make the tabernacle with ten curtains of fine woven linen and blue, purple and scarlet thread.

2.   Exodus 26:36 “You shall make a screen/curtain for the door of the tabernacle, woven of blue, purple and scarlet thread”

3.   And so on through the building of God’s Tabernacle

                                   iv.   Satan, wanting to “be” God, imitates the Holy Trinity, has his own unholy communion (Revelation 16:6 “for they have shed the blood of your holy people and your prophets, and you have given them blood to drink as they deserve.") and now, the Whore of Babylon is the false teachings of Satan’s church.

                                    v.   Adorned as God’s Holy Tabernacle!


c.   In her hand a golden cup
                                     i.   The golden cup mimicking our cup through Christ in Communion

                                    ii.   Luke 22:20 “after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”

                                   iii.   However, Satan’s church also has communion

                                   iv.   The golden cup filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries.

        III.      THE NAME WRITTEN ON HER FOREHEAD WAS A MYSTERY

a.   Babylon the Great
                                     i.   This is the new Babylon, Satan’s rebuilt kingdom on earth

b.   The mother of prostitutes and the abomination of the earth
                                     i.   Through Satan’s deluge (flood of water, false teachings) ALL OTHER false religions and cults, false doctrines and false teachings come from this original spilling out from Satan

c.   I saw the woman was drunk
                                     i.   With the blood of God’s holy people, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus

                                    ii.   Remember what drunk (or intoxicated) means?

                                   iii.   She was exhilarated, thrilled, elated, delighted, captivated
1.   By what?

                                   iv.   The BLOOD of God’s Holy People and the BLOOD of those who bore testimony to Jesus!

CONCLUSION –
The whore of Babylon, the great prostitute poisoned the leaders of the world with false teachings, and longed and desired for the blood of God’s people, especially those who preach Christ.


NEXT WEEK: The Punishment of the Great Prostitute II

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