For more information about our teaching and preaching ministry, you can find us online at cornerstoneorlando.org. The following sermon has been brought to you by Cornerstone Orlando. Making disciples for the glory of God. The title of our sermon this morning is The Abominations of Babylon, Revelation chapter 17, verses 3 through 6. In our study of Revelation now, we are currently in this sixth cycle of the book, and John has focused our attention on the very end of the age, before the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, where we will be given, as we work through this cycle, will be given a depiction of the final temporal judgment of God poured out upon this world, poured out upon the harlot Babylon. In the opening verses of this cycle, we are presented here with imagery that shows us what our world is really like. This is imagery in the book of Revelation that shows us what this world is really about, what this world is really like, this world system with its entertainments, with its education, with its politics, with its governments, with its economics, this world system characterized by worldly wisdom, worldly ideologies, and worldly philosophies. It is portrayed to John, this world system, portrayed to John as a despicable and deceptive whore. She spreads her diseased influence by seducing kings of the earth, by seducing those in authority, and through her seductions, through seducing kings of the earth, by seducing those in authority, she seduces all those who dwell on the earth, and all those who dwell on the earth are made to drink of the wine of her intoxicating temptations. They are made drunk with her temptations. In the words of Romans 1, They suppress the truth of God in their unrighteousness. They drive out God even from their thinking to fulfill their lust for this harlot. And she has such global influence, such a pervasive influence that she sits as counterfeit queen over multitudes, nations, peoples, and tongues. Last week, last week we saw that she is nothing but a whitewashed tomb. She may tempt you with the lust of the eyes. She may tempt you with the lust of the flesh, the pride of life. But behind the painted and plastic exterior is a desolate wilderness. Behind that vanity fair is death and hell. She carries the name Babylon the Great because from the very beginning, That name is associated with this world in opposition to God, this world in opposition to his people, this world as a persecutor of his people. And she dwells in a desert. Described in chapter 18, verse two, this desert is the dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hated world. That's why this world throughout the book of Revelation is portrayed as filled with demons. That's what the Bible, attributes the deceptions of this world to. This world portrayed in the book of Revelation is a world that is swarming, teeming with demons and doctrines of demons, errors and deceptions. What comes out of the mouth of the serpent? Lies. What comes out of the mouth of the dragon? Lies. What comes out of the mouth of the beast? Lies. What comes out of the mouth of the false prophet? Lies. What comes out of the mouth of these fuming demons? Lies, deception, error, false teaching, seeking to persecute the people of God and lead them astray into apostasy. This world is a place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. Demons are often associated in the book of Revelation with deception and idolatry. Deception and idolatry. Their aim is to lead people away into apostasy. Their aim is to lead people away from a knowledge of the true and living God. Now describing her place, her dwelling place as a wilderness in verse three should remind us of the threat that she poses to God's people. We have plenty of examples in the Bible of God's people dealing with life in the wilderness. Adam was exiled for sin into the wilderness and that wilderness became a place of death or a path of death for Adam. He would die from dust to dust. He walked through the valley of the shadow of death. And now all those born in Adam walked through the valley of the shadow of death. God called Israel, his son, out of Egypt into the wilderness of this world to be tested by God and tempted by the devil. God called true Israel, his only begotten son, out of Egypt, in Matthew 2, verse 15, to be tested by God and tempted by the devil. And where Adam, the prodigal son, failed, Where Israel, the typological son, failed, Jesus Christ, the true and eschatological son, prevailed. And now, you and I, brothers and sisters, the Israel of God, his adopted sons through faith in Jesus Christ, the seed of Abraham through faith in Jesus Christ, are now called outside the camp into the wilderness of this world, bearing his reproach to be tested by God and to be tempted by the devil and his brazen harlot. Revelation chapter 12 alludes to a time in church history at the martyrdom of Stephen, where the Bible says that a great persecution arose against the church, the early church in Jerusalem. There was a great diaspora. The church was dispersed as it were. In Revelation 12, it says that the church fled into the wilderness. And she flees into the wilderness with a bloodthirsty dragon on her heels. And she flees into the wilderness where there is a brazen harlot living. That bloodthirsty dragon, that harlot, pursue her and persecute her, making war, as it says in Revelation 12, with those who have the testimony of Jesus Christ. She has been there ever since. The dragon has been pursuing this woman ever since, and that's where we live now. That's where we live now. We live in the wilderness of this world, a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hated bird. The only hope that we have, the only hope that woman has in the wilderness is faith in Jesus Christ. If anyone is gonna preserve her, it's going to be God who preserves her. And God will preserve her, why? Because the true son Israel has won her victory. He's secured for her, her perseverance. And we're assured by John himself that faith is the victory that overcomes the world, amen? Faith is the victory that overcomes the world. So he has brought us now, in the words of Revelation 12, he has brought us to our place out here in the wilderness. And it's a place, by God's grace, in his wisdom, where we are nourished and fed and cared for by God, away from the presence of the serpent, that's his church, And through the means which he has appointed, we are preserved. Through the means which he has appointed, he preserves and protects and prospers us. Namely, those means, the preaching, teaching, and studying of his word, the ordinances, the fellowship of his people, the worship of his name. And that's what our confession refers to, brothers and sisters, as the ordinary means. Not that they are common, but these are the regular means that God has appointed for the protection, the preservation, and the prospering of his people. preaching, teaching, and study of his word, the ordinances, the fellowship of his people, and the worship of his name. The hymnist says that through dangers, toils, and snares, many of them, we have already come, right? And in the wilderness, there will be danger, toils, and snares around every turn. That is what has been appointed. It has been granted to you as a gift of God's grace, right? It has been granted to you, not only to believe in his name, but also to suffer with him, to suffer for him, It's in these graphic terms, then, that the Spirit of God is describing reality to us. In the words of the Old Testament, we live in paneled houses, as it were. We have it pretty easy. It gets above 78 degrees, we're turning on the air conditioning. cover gets a little bear, we just jot down the road to publics. We've got it pretty easy. You have jobs to work at in the grand scheme of things. You're not having to skin your own animals and prepare a meal. We have it pretty easy. And in that kind of comfort and ease, we can easily forget that what we are living through, what we're living in is a prison for every foul spirit, a dwelling place of demons. We're living in a wilderness and we have a bloodthirsty dragon on our heels and a brazen harlot seeking to seduce us. We live in a wasteland. We live in a wasteland, and we live in a wasteland with the devil and his whore. And there are dangers, snares, and toils that seek to, there are spiritual forces arrayed against you, seeking to bend you to their will. There will be no relief, no deliverance from their assaults in this life, only when Jesus Christ comes back or he calls you home. It's like, brothers and sisters, the reason I paint it for you is because we can be so easily deceived, thinking we've got it easy. We go to work, we come home, we eat our food, we pay our taxes, we watch the news. It's like breathing air in a tuberculosis ward. It's like living in a leper colony. It's like living in a ninja assassin colony. Romans 12, verse one, you can turn there with me. Romans 12, verse one. There are spiritual forces arrayed against you on every side. And those spiritual forces, in the words of Romans 12, in the words of the Bible, the New Testament, those spiritual forces arrayed against you are continually exerting a pressure to shape and mold your thinking, your patterns of thought. and they shape and mold your thinking, your patterns of thought with ideologies and philosophies of this evil age." And all of that in concert with an enemy in your own members, an enemy in your own breast. Paul says we have this other principle in our members that wages war with the law of our mind that we understand to be wholly just and good, We not only fight an enemy from without, we fight an enemy from within, indwelling sin, remaining corruption. And Paul says, Paul says that you and I must resist. And the way that you resist, the way that you resist is by being transformed by the renewing of your mind. Think with me about what Paul is saying. Why has God given to us the book of Revelation? Why has God given you the book of Revelation? Why has this been handed down to the church? Why has John, the Apostle John, written these things to us? Among many reasons, among many reasons. One is so that you know what you're up against. so that you can take stock, take heed of what you're up against. This is what the Spirit of God, this is authored by the Spirit of God. This is the Spirit of God's assessment of our wicked world. This is the Spirit of God's assessment, his description of what we're up against. And why would it benefit us to know what we're up against? It benefits us so that we can persevere, so that we can endure, so that we may overcome. And John himself remembers the value of this very important lesson. In John chapter 16, the Lord Jesus Christ is about to die. The Lord Jesus Christ is going to depart from them. He's no longer going to be with them, and he's going to depart from them by his own crucifixion. And he tells the disciples in the upper room that they're going to be fiercely and mercilessly persecuted. They're gonna be delivered up to kings, those in authority. They're gonna be those who kill them, thinking that they offer God's service. And he says to them, in John chapter 16, verse one, these things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. Why am I telling you these things? Why are we speaking of the persecution that the church faces? Why are we speaking of the slanderous assaults of the enemy against us? Why do we speak of these things? We experienced them. Why do we speak of these things? So that you may not be made to stumble. So that you know what you're up against. Why? So that you may persevere, so that you may endure. You'll remember that the Lord Jesus Christ told us of these things, so that we might not be made to stumble. He gives us a profile of our enemy. He shows us the kind of world that we are living in, all so that we may endure adversity. so that we may endure persecution and overcome. We're charged to be overcomers. God has promised to preserve us. He is with us. Lo, he is with us even to the end of the age. Amen. But the Lord's preservation, the Lord's preservation comes through means. It comes through means. And chief among those, preeminent among those means is faith in his son fueled by knowledge of his word. Faith in his son fueled by a knowledge of these things, a knowledge of his word. Romans chapter 12, verse one. Paul begs them, therefore, brethren, By the mercies of God, in consideration of the mercy that has been poured out on you through the person and work of Jesus Christ, verse one, present your bodies now a sacrifice that is living, holy, and acceptable to God, which is your reasonable. It's a reasonable, rational, service. It's a rational response of worship, a reasonable response of worship, verse 2. And do not be conformed to this world. Do not be pressed into this, literally in the language there, do not be pressed into the mold of this evil age, its philosophies and its ideologies, but rather be transformed by the renewing of your mind. How are our minds renewed? Through the means of his word. So that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Now think of this with me from Romans chapter 12, verse two. On the one hand, you have a pattern of life, that is shaped and fashioned and molded after the ideologies and philosophies of this evil age. On the one hand, you have a life, a pattern of life that is being constantly shaped, molded, and fashioned after the ideologies and philosophies of this evil age. On the other hand, you have a pattern of life that is shaped and fashioned by the will of God revealed in his word. That will which is good, acceptable, and perfect. Notice the contrast set up in the text, right? Two patterns of life. What is implied by the text? is that you will only prove in your experience what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God to the degree that you resist the molding, fashioning influences of the harlot, of this wicked world. And instead, renew your mind after his revealed word. You're going to be renewed. You're gonna be transformed to the degree. You live one pattern versus the other to the degree that you resist the molding influences of the harlot. The harlot is pulling you away. His word is drawing you near. There are many texts like this, many texts like this in the New Testament. What does it communicate to us? His word is important. We need his word. We need our minds renewed. We're not in a neutral position. You were born in Adam. You were born with a fallen mind, a fallen heart, a fallen nature. You have indwelling corruption, another principle at work in your members. We're not in a neutral position. What do we need? We need to be renewed by the word of God. We need his word to wash us and to transform us. 1 John 2, verse 15, brothers, sisters, do not love the world or the things in the world. Do not be fashioned and molded by the ideologies and philosophies of this evil age. If anyone loves the world, John says, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And this world is passing away. That harlot is going to be judged. And the lust of it is passing away, but he who does the will of God, as revealed in his word, abides forever. I can't impress upon you enough our need to know his word, to know and understand this book, to take heed according to his word, to study his word. There were times, to my shame, there were times in my own Christian life when I'd read the Bible like the back of a cereal box. You get nothing out of it. We need to know this is our life. He is our life. Neil Moody once said that sin will keep you from this book, or this book will keep you from sin. to adapt a phrase from D.L. Moody, love for the world will keep you from this book. Or love for this book, a love cultivating in your heart, a love for the truth. Love for this book will keep you from the intoxicating seductions of this world. That's bottom line, bottom line. Love for this world is going to keep you from this book. You'll profess to be a Christian 10, 20, 30 years from now and know nothing about the Bible. You're compiling over time knowledge of his word. We need to put in effort with this means now that will benefit you the rest of your life. The reason I'm emphasizing this point is that we can easily find ourselves content in our ignorance. And that makes us vulnerable to the harlot, vulnerable to demonic deception, fleshly deception. How many times have you talked to someone who's compromised some truth in God's word, and then they turn around to you and justify their compromise by twisting the scripture? Are you content in your ignorance? Are you content in your ignorance of God's word? We all are to one degree or another. Are you content in your ignorance? It makes you vulnerable to the deceptions of demons. It makes you vulnerable to the harlot. You make excuses for why you don't know his word, understand his word, understand basic theology. I was listening to a sermon from Albert Martin this last week. I highly commend the sermons from Albert Martin. And Albert Martin was making the point in the sermon that I was listening to that it's often said that someone will say, I know these things, I just can't articulate them. I can't speak clearly about them, but I know them, they're in my mind. And Albert Martin's point was, well, then you don't know them. If it's clear enough that you can articulate them and speak of them to someone else, then you've got an apprehension of those things. The Lord didn't give us his word so that we could comfort ourselves that we have it. The Lord gave us his word that we would know it, that we would know it. And much of the entire Bible, written to people without the education that most everyone in this room has. written to an early church that had no benefit of hundreds of years of scholarship and information at the clack of a few keys on a keyboard. They didn't have the resources that we have. And yet Paul is writing very deep theology to simple people like you and me. He didn't give us his word so that we can comfort ourselves with the fact that we have it. He gave us his word that we would know it. And that knowing, has impact in your life. Knowing it requires hard work and listening. It is. It takes expository listening. It requires diligent hard work in preaching and teaching. We don't need to sit up on the 30,000 foot superficial cotton candy level of platitudes from his word. If we're gonna know it, we've gotta dig in. It requires hard work, diligent work. It requires hard work in listening. It requires hard work in study. Abiding in his word is how we are transformed. It's through resisting. Romans 12, verse 2, in accord with his word, resisting the molding influence of the harlot by means of his word, and that is what fuels our faith as we walk through the wilderness of this world. And with that, to the text. Stay with me. Revelation chapter 17, verse three, John, and he's laying this formative foundation, this formative work in the text. These are things that we need to understand that help us to understand as we're going through the chapter. And in chapter 17, verse three, John begins to describe the harlot's appearance. Verse three, this angel having one of the bowls of wrath, He carried John away in the spirit into the wilderness where the harlot lives. And in verse three, John saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns. There's a lot there. Verse four, the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet. and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication, and on her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth." The mother of harlots and the earth's abominations, you might say. One way for us to understand this harlot world is in her relationship to the beast from Revelation chapter 17, verse three. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and 10 horns. And notice with me, the woman is arrayed in purple and scarlet, right? Woman is arrayed in purple and scarlet. The beast is scarlet. She rides atop a scarlet beast. The devil is described in chapter 12 by the same word, the same color, And I would ask you, is that significant? The fact that the harlot is arrayed in scarlet, the beast is scarlet, and the devil is scarlet, that's significant. They're identified with one another by the color. These three are in league together. They work together. They hang out at the water cooler after work together. They're doing their evil work together. That is significant. Scarlet is a deep red. Red and purple were often associated with royalty, used to signify royalty. This woman herself considers herself to be a queen over many nations. But those colors in particular, that deep red color, used to signify blood. The use of red here to describe our enemies implies their joint persecution of God's people. the persecution of the saints. Now later, we're gonna see this woman drunk, verse six, drunk with the blood of the saints. Chapter 18, verse 24, in her was found the blood of prophets and saints. She is arrayed in red, she rides a red beast and serves a red devil. They're persecuting the people of God and that red used to signify the blood of the saints. We're gonna look next week, if the Lord allows, we'll look at certain passages in the prophets where Israel herself is referred to as a harlot. and in her, on her, stains of the blood of God's people. This is painted this way to remind us that we're dealing with a vicious enemy. This refers to persecution. Their joint aim is the blood of the saints, the death of the saints, the apostasy of the saints, the persecution of the saints. And we were first introduced to this beast in Revelation chapter 13. Flip there with me, Revelation 13. Stay with me, I wanna remind us of the identity of this beast. Revelation chapter 13 verse one. The apostle John said that he, this beast, or that John, stood on the sand of the sea, and he sees this vision. I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and 10 horns. Do you recognize the reference? Same words from Revelation 17. This beast described as having seven heads and 10 horns. And on his horns, 10 crowns, those are symbols of authority, and on his head's a blasphemous name. That blasphemous name identifies him with the dragon, identifies him with Satan, okay? Now notice this description of the beast in verse two. The beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were the feet of a bear, his mouth like the mouth of a lion, and the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. Now, everywhere you see, In apocalyptic literature, you see the use of this symbolic language. There is symbolic language being used here to describe spiritual realities. And as we've seen many times now, John is given this vision. He sees the vision as he sees it. Texts of scripture are coming to his mind. Why? Because the vision is using raw material from prior revelation to inform the vision that John sees. So texts of scripture are coming up in his mind, and he's making connections with prior prophecy. As you and I learn the Bible, that should happen with us. You read a text of scripture, there should be other correlating scriptures that come to mind that support that, that help you understand what you're reading. The analogy of faith, Scripture is a unified whole. Ultimately, one great author, the omni-sapient God who wrote the Scriptures, all of Scripture is God's Word, so text should come to mind as it does for John. So as John writes then, and these texts of Scripture are coming to mind, he relies upon that prior prophecy to help him understand what he's seeing, to make sense of what he's seeing, and then he writes what he sees. knowing here in Revelation 13 that what he's seeing in verse 2 is connected with the prophecy of Daniel. So turn back with me to Daniel chapter 7. Daniel chapter 7. This is where we find apocalyptic literature, apocalyptic texts that are filled with religious symbolism, in the prophecy of Daniel, given as a vision to Daniel, so that Daniel could understand the end times, or last days. So in Daniel chapter seven, what does Daniel see? Daniel sees beasts rising up from where? Rising up from the sea. Again, this is apocalyptic literature. There is symbolism in the language, look at verse two. Daniel spoke, saying, I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea, and four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from one another. Now, listen to the way the beasts are described. Verse four. The first was like a lion. He had eagle's wings. You recognize the reference to the lion in Revelation 17 and 13. I watched till his wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the earth and made to stand on two feet like a man, and a man's heart was given to it. Verse five, suddenly another beast, a second, like a bear, was raised up on one side, had three ribs in its mouth, between its teeth they said thus to it, arise, devour much flesh. There's all manner of truth set behind these visions and these images. We don't have time to get into the details this morning, but I commend the study of Daniel 7, 8, 9, 10 to you because of that. Verse 6, after this I looked, there was another, like a leopard. So we have a lion, a bear, and a leopard. which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads, and dominion was given to it. Verse seven, I saw in the night visions, behold, a fourth beast, dreadful, terrible, exceedingly strong. It had huge iron teeth. It was devouring, breaking in pieces, trampling the residue with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had 10 horns. The reference to 10 horns. Again, in scripture, in particular, apocalyptic literature, we see numbers used as symbols. And very often through Revelation, even here in Daniel, we see references to seven and 10. Seven and 10 are symbols of completeness, completion, perfection, wholeness, complete. This beast had 10 horns, which means it has complete authority, complete authority. Why are the pictures being used? Because a picture is worth a thousand words. Some pictures worth thousands of volumes. These pictures are worth Volumes. It had 10 horns. Now, in our previous study of this passage, we identified these beastly, these beasts in Daniel as beastly world kingdoms of men. Look at verse 15. I, Daniel, I was grieved in my spirit, within my body, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by and asked him the truth of all this. You see the similarities with John, right? Talking to the angel with the bowl. What is going on here, John asked. Daniel, what is going on here, Daniel asks. So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things. Verse 17, those great beasts, which are four, are four kings which arise out of the earth. Four, often used in reference to the four corners of the earth, the whole globe. The four winds of the earth, you notice in the beginning of Daniel's vision, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea, means this impacted the entire globe, okay? Four kingdoms which rise out of the earth, verse 18, but the saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even forever and ever. I think he means forever when he says it, right? But Daniel, Daniel is going to later identify these beastly kingdoms for us. This is Babylon. the Medo-Persian Empire, Greece, and the Roman Empire. Before these empires, those latter were even a flicker in anyone's imagination. What about those 10 horns? What's that reference all about? Drop down to verse 24. The 10 horns are 10 kings who shall arise from this global kingdom. It's a reference to complete authority. It means that the authority of this world system is going to encompass the entire globe. It's going to be complete in its authority. Everywhere, 10 and seven used as a reference to completeness. So now think with me about what Daniel saw, what was explained to Daniel, and when we come back to John's vision in Revelation 13, look at Revelation chapter 13, and look at verse two. See if you remember what John references here. Revelation 13, verse two. We don't have to speculate about this. In other words, we don't have to speculate. We understand from God's word what these things are, what they mean, what is being told and communicated to us. Verse two. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. In other words, this particular beast that has global authority is a combination, if you will, of all those wicked, evil, earthly, beastly kingdoms that Daniel saw that have passed into history. The Babylonian kingdom, the Medo-Persian empire, the Greeks and the Romans. And now that's been replaced, that Roman empire replaced, with this global beast that incorporates all the evils of the ones that came before it. What about those 10 horns? 10 kings, complete authority. As we work through the imagery of chapter 13, we determine that this beast from the sea represents global, worldwide, political, or state authority. What is referenced often in Revelation as kings of the earth? Those in authority, kings of the earth. A reference to Psalm 2. Why do the nations plot a vain thing? The rulers have taken counsel together. The kings of the earth, so to speak, have come together against the Lord and against his anointed. Isn't that true of our day? This worldwide system is as though in league with one another and their 10 kings with their complete global authority stands in opposition to everything that God stands for and everything that his people stand for. They stand in opposition to Christ. When we come to Revelation chapter 17 then, verse three, the harlot Babylon, this world system, is pictured riding atop this beast. this global governing authority, this global political state, if you will. I saw a woman sitting on that beast, the scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having complete authority. Seven heads, 10 horns. What's being pictured here? Think with me now. What's being pictured here? Babylon the harlot seduces with economic influence. She's seducing in her temptations with wealth, comfort, security, prosperity. She rides the beast that coerces with the power of the state. Babylon tempts men to idolatry with wealth and comfort and security. The beastly state persecutes and punishes those who don't go along. They work together. standing at the water cooler plotting the demise of those who have the name of their God written on their foreheads. They're out for blood. If you remember from Revelation 13, listen to this, the beast causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads. The mark on their hand means they're identified with the beast in what they do. The mark on their forehead means that they are identified with the beast in the way that they think. so that no one may buy or sell, so that no one may buy or sell. No one can enter into the fornication of the harlot, if you will. No one can benefit from her trade except one who has the mark or the name of the beast or the number of his name. If they didn't worship the beast, if they weren't identified with the beast, Revelation 13 says, they'd be killed. They'd be killed, they're out for blood. So the harlot seduces people with an empty promise of wealth and security and prosperity, while the beast, as her enforcer, will only allow it for those who are identified with him. It's happening before our eyes today. If you don't agree, you're canceled. Wicked people getting rich in collusion with the government. It's astounding. You know, on one side you have I read about this billionaire governor of Illinois who has all his family members, guy's a billionaire, all his family members have 64 NGOs receiving millions from the federal government, getting rich off the government dole. So you have people who are making their billions off of the state. They're in the harlot's back pocket. And then you have all the way down to the person who is receiving benefits, not working at all. The Bible has a lot to say about those who don't work. She's not working at all, and she's living off the government dole and upset when they cut funding to some agency that's giving her money, right? It's happening before our eyes today. When we were studying the Lord's address to the seven churches in Revelation chapter two and three, We saw a glimpse of this evil coordination in the church at Pergamos in Revelation chapter two. Turn back with me to chapter two. I want you to look at this. Hang in there with me now. We see this exact coordination, if you will, exemplified in the experience of Pergamos. Pergamos was tempted to compromise with this world. And I want you to see how they were tempted to compromise. The Lord rebukes them for having Balaamites in the church. Balaam, remember with me now, Balaam was an Old Testament prophet for profit. He was a prophet for money, wanted to get rich off being a prophet, right? Balaam taught Balak, the king at the time, to put a stumbling block before the people of Israel to cause them to stumble into idolatry, to cause them to stumble into sexual sin. He put a stumbling block before the children of Israel to tempt them, and it's exactly what the harlot does in Revelation 17. She puts temptations, stumbling blocks before the people of God to cause them to stumble into sin. This is what's happening in Pergamos. There were two ways, two ways that this idolatry was evident in the church at Pergamos. One, they were committing sexual immorality. Two, they were eating things sacrificed to idols. Both of those things, committing sexual immorality and eating things offered to idols were associated with cult idolatry. There were cult prostitutes in the temples in Pergamos. And in the temples in Pergamos, they were sacrificing meat to idols, which I would say if you participated in those things, you were participating in demon worship. What the Gentiles offer, they offer to demons and not to God. And everywhere, this is something that the Bible refers to as fornication. By the time we come to Revelation 17, it's fornicating with this harlot world system. Now it's thought, it's thought that many of the church at Pergamos compromised in feasts that were sponsored by the trade guilds. Look at verse, chapter two, verse eight. I'm sorry, chapter two, verse 12. To the angel of the church at Pergamos, to this messenger, to the church at Pergamos, write, these things says he who has the sharp two-edged sword. I know your works and where you dwell, where Satan's throne is. You're dwelling in a dwelling place of demons, a foul prison for every bird and unclean thing. You hold fast to my name. You did not deny my faith, even in the days in which Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was killed among you where Satan dwells. They didn't turn away when he was murdered. Verse 14, but nevertheless, I have a few things against you, because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balak to put a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, one, and to commit sexual immorality, two. Thus, you also have those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. Nicolaitans and the Balaamites would have been one standing around the water cooler plotting together how to bring down the church at Pergamos. Repent, verse 16, or else I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. I will give him a white stone, on the stone a new name written, which no one knows except him who receives it." The church at Pergamos was compromising with the trade guilds in Pergamos. The trade guilds were essentially unions. They were labor unions, if you will. Those trade guilds filled with tradesmen, craftsmen, workers who were joined together to work and to earn a living. If you wanted to earn a living in Pergamos, you had to be a member of the trade guilds. If you weren't a member of the trade guilds, you were on the outs. You were outcast from society. You couldn't earn a living. You couldn't provide for your family. Notice the economic temptations of the harlot. It was intentionally done that way. It was a system of control, if you will. Notice the temptations of the wicked harlot. These feasts that they would hold at the trade guilds were sanctioned, supported, even mandated by the state. Who's the state? The beast. Political state governing authority. These festivals that the trade guilds would put on were mandated by the beast. They involved the worship of Caesar. Who's that? The false prophet. the beast that arises from the earth in Revelation chapter 13, the one that speaks deceptive lies, getting all those who dwell on the earth to worship the first beast. They were involved in the worship of the gods. And although cult prostitution at these feasts was extremely common, even participation in the festival itself would have been considered spiritual adultery. It's what the Lord would call it. Incidentally, The economic state, the religious and worldwide power at that time was Rome. And Christians referred to Rome at that time as Babylon the Great. Even extra biblical literature referred to Rome at that time as Babylon the Great. Now those in the church, there were those participating in these trade guilds, and they may have been justifying their participation in those guilds by saying, I've got to make a living. I've got to provide for my family. I don't believe in that stuff. I'm just going to go because I've got to, right? Justifying their participation. There were those in Pergamos who taught that this compromise with paganism was entirely fine. They were the Balaamites and the Nicolaitans leading others into idolatry and into spiritual adultery. The Lord, however, rebukes Pergamos for this compromise. Notice, the church is compromising with the harlot, compromising with the beast and the false prophet. She's compromising with the world. The Lord says, he who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. In other words, who are you serving? Who are you serving? Who is it that you, where do you go for security? Where do you go for the food on your table and the roof over your head and the clothes on your back? Where do you find your joy? Where do you find your peace? Where do you find your hope for the future? Who is the one filling your bank account? Who is the one who gave you that job? Who is the one who gave you your mind, your strength, your members with which you work and labor and serve? Where do you go for those good gifts? And here you are running off to demons. I am your provider. The Lord says, I will give you some of the hidden manna to eat. He reminds them. He was the one who dropped manna out of heaven for those in the wilderness at the time of their testing. Do you see? If he provided for Israel in those ways, will he not provide for you? Of course he will. Of course he will. Why do we worry and fret and run off to the demons? Don't compromise merely to put food on the table. That's what the Lord is reminding them of. Don't give in to the temptations of the harlot to simply meet your temporal, material, physical needs. Don't do it. Even if the state kicks you out of the guild, even when the beast refuses to let you buy or sell, even if it means your very life, you are not identified with him. You have the mark of your God on your forehead. And your soul is of far greater worth. Jesus said, Jesus said, to all those who followed, waiting for him to feed them, Jesus said, I am the bread of life. He who comes to me shall never hunger. He who believes in me shall never thirst. He's speaking of true spiritual food and spiritual drink. This life does not consist in the food we eat or the clothes that we wear or the place where we live. Having described the relationship of the harlot to the beast, John then continues back in Revelation 17 with a description of the woman herself. In 17 verse four, the woman was arrayed in purple. She's arrayed in scarlet, adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. You picture her, on her forehead a name was written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, mother of harlots, of the abominations of the earth. This woman is portrayed as very wealthy. She's associated here with a very prosperous trading system. Notice, she's seducing with the very clothes that she's wearing. She's seducing others with what she is peddling. What she's wearing is what she's peddling. Chapter 18, verse 12, she's selling merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen, purple silk, and scarlet, and so on. That's what we find on this harlot. She's committed fornication, which is idolatry herself. She has become rich herself, and now she seduces others, making them drunk. on idolatry with this world, making them drunk with these very same temptations. Notice in verse four, she has in her hand a golden cup. Looks great on the outside. She promises wealth, security. So the nations come to her to drink from the cup, to drink from the wine which is in her cup. When they drink, all they get is the wine of her fornication. They get the filthiness of abominations the filthiness of her fornication. Wealth and security, true wealth, true security, are only to be found in the Lord our God, not in this wicked harlot. All you get there is death and hell. God tells, we'll look at this next week if the Lord allows, God tells of Babylon's eventual destruction, literal, physical, temporal Babylon. He tells of Babylon's literal destruction in Jeremiah 51, verse seven. And it's described there as God's judgment upon the nations. Literally, listen, Babylon was a golden cup in the Lord's hand that made all the earth drunk. The nations drank her wine, drank Babylon's wine, therefore the nations are deranged. That's in the prophecy of Jeremiah. In the prophecy of Jeremiah, this harlot is pictured as the judgment of God upon the nations. Notice the words being used. Fornication is a word that is often used figuratively for idolatry. The word translated abominations is a word used for idol sacrifices. And the word translated filthiness or uncleanness is a reference to demon spirits. All of that is a reference to idolatry. In reference to idolatry, the idolatry of the Gentile nations, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10, verse 20, that what they offer, they sacrifice to demons and not to God. What is being referred to here? Idolatry, love for this world. The fact is further confirmed by the name on her forehead in verse five. Mystery, meaning formerly hidden, now revealed. Babylon, the great mother of harlots and of the earth's abominations. Again, here, these two words, harlotry and abominations, two words used together in reference to idolatry, in particular Babylon's idolatry. We're gonna spend more time on the nature of that idolatry and the nature of her name next week. This world appears on the surface in many ways to be acceptable. It's like Eve looking at the forbidden fruit, right? good for food, desirable to the eyes, desirable to make one wise. Everywhere you look, there are sensual enticements offered to you in a golden cup, offered to you on a silver platter, as it were. And this world offers every kind of perversion, every kind of pornography. They offer it to you as though it were a virtue. And every virtuous person who refuses to be identified with that beast is mocked as a bigot. She is shameless, shameless in offering you every foul and unclean thing, even those things that you may not see as all that foul or unclean. And this world will heap shame on you if you refuse to approve The Lord said that this world hates him because he testifies of it, that its deeds are evil. And if this world hated him, what's the implication? It's gonna hate you too. Ultimately, they may kill you for it. Verse six, I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. We have to see this world as it really is. We have to see this world as it really is, not as this world has been pressuring you to see it, not as we would see it born in Adam with a fallen brain and a fallen heart, remaining corruption dwelling within us. We must see this world as it really is, the way that God portrays it to us in his word. That so that we may come out from her. and touch no unclean thing, that you may come out from her, lest you share in her sins, lest you receive of her plagues." We must see it, that we may endure her temptations, endure her persecutions. so that we may, as the people of God, in union with Jesus Christ, overcome, through faith in Jesus Christ, as a worshiping witness in this world. We'll see in the cycle of the book that this world system is doomed to destruction. This harlot will soon fall. And God's people all say, even so, come quickly, Lord Jesus. Amen. Pray with me. Father in heaven, thank you, thank you for your word. Thank you for this picture of the world that we, wouldn't come to ourselves apart from your gracious, special revelation to us, that we wouldn't understand apart from your gracious revelation to us, that we wouldn't understand apart from the person and work of our Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for revealing these things to us. Help us. Help us, Lord, to grow in our discernment as we grow in your word. Help us to grow in our understanding as we grow in our knowledge of who Jesus Christ is and what he's done. Help us, Lord. knowledge of your word to fuel our faith that we might persevere as overcomers as worshiping witnesses for our Lord Jesus Christ in this the time of our wilderness sojourn. We need you Lord as we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we place our trust in you knowing that you are faithful to your word and knowing that you have promised to preserve us. We walk in victory But we walk, Lord, circumspectly in wisdom, knowing we must cling to your word. We must cling to Jesus Christ, who is our life. Help us, Lord, as we do that. May it be in the strength of your might, and not in feeble attempts at doing that in our own strength. And please, Lord, we pray, preserve us, help us, protect us, and prosper us in the saving of your name, and the glory of your name, for the exaltation of the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name we pray. Amen. Hello and thanks for listening. My name is Mark Brashear and I have the blessed privilege of serving with the saints at Cornerstone Church near Orlando, Florida. We're so grateful that you've connected with us through the sermon that you've just heard. For more information, visit us at cornerstoneorlando.org or better yet, come and see us on the Lord's day at 3370 Snow Hill Road in Oviedo, Florida. We're just east of Orlando and about 15 minutes from the campus at UCF. It would be a joy to have you worship with us.