God's Call to be Faithful

Guest (Male): So just before the coming of Jesus, there will be men and women who turn from the teachings of men, turn from every worldly man-made system of religion. Their hearts and minds will be filled with Christ, filled with the glory of his grace. This is HopeLives365 with Pastor Mark Finley. Today's message: God's Call to be Faithful. Enjoy and remember you can always catch up with past messages and stay up to date with HopeLives365 and Pastor Mark by going to HopeLives365.com. And stay with us for a free Bible study offer later in this program. And now, Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: Welcome back to our journey through the book of Revelation. We've discovered in Revelation chapter 1, verse 1, that this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass, and He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John. So the book of Revelation is the revelation of Jesus. Revelation chapter 17 and 18 are two of the most powerful chapters in the entire Bible. Remember that earlier in the book of Revelation, we were introduced to a woman. Do you remember when we were introduced to her? That's right, in chapter 12. The Bible talks about a woman standing upon the moon, clothed in the glorious righteousness of Christ, with a crown of 12 stars upon her head. In Revelation chapter 12, that woman is described as being with child. The Christian church is now going to be born through Jesus Christ. The woman stands on the moon, just as the moon reflects the glory of the sun. So the Old Testament reflects the glory of the righteousness of Christ. Just as the Old Testament reflects Him in shadow through lamb sacrifices, the New Testament reflects Him in all of His beauty. The Old Testament church reflected in the glory of the moon is now fading away. There is a new church that's being born in Revelation 12, the church of the child, the church of Jesus Christ. She has 12 stars upon her head because this church will be guided by the 12 apostles through the ages of history in the writings and teachings of these apostles. She's clothed with white, indicating apostolic purity, total commitment to Jesus. She is the bride of Christ. She's the true lover of Jesus. She'll stay faithful to her husband under any circumstances. This bride of Christ, this church, commits itself to be faithful to Him through the ages. But Revelation 17 introduces us to another woman. This woman is decked in all kinds of lavish jewelry. This woman is clothed with purple and scarlet. This woman wants to attract. She wants to attract the world to her attention. She's riding on a beast and she has in her hand a wine cup. She passes around that wine cup and the world becomes intoxicated. Who is this woman? Why does the Bible call her a harlot? Why does she ride upon the beast? What's in the cup that she passes around? Why is she decked out in scarlet and purple? Why so decked out in those jewels? We're going to discover answers to those questions in this program. Revelation 17:1: "Then one of the seven angels who had seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me..." Now, what was in the seven bowls? In Revelation 15 and 16, we see what was in the seven bowls: the seven last plagues. So the angel that had the seven last plagues and just described the devastation that would come to earth in Revelation 15 and 16, comes to appeal to the people of God who have been mesmerized and intoxicated with false doctrine. The reason the angel is doing this is because he wants them to see clearly the message of God and the message of truth so they can respond to it. God's judgments are always tempered with God's warnings. God's invitations of mercy always come to a society and a world that will face judgment. But let's go on and continue in our reading at Revelation 17, verse 1 and onward. "Then one of the seven angels who had seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, 'Come, and I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.'" He calls her the great harlot. This must be some great church. If the bride of Christ is represented as a pure, chaste woman, what do you think a harlot would represent? A church that's loyal or a church that's disloyal? In the Bible, a woman represents what? The church, a religious system. A pure woman represents the true church. A harlot woman represents a church that has drifted from her true lover, a religious system that has made compromises of its faith and its fidelity to scripture. What does it mean that the harlot woman sits on many waters? In Revelation 17, verse 15, we read the answer to that question. "He said to me, 'The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.'" It's the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. The waters represent people. The harlot sits upon or dominates over or controls many people. What have the kings of the earth done with her? It says the kings of the earth have committed what? Fornication with her. What's fornication? Is fornication faithfulness or unfaithfulness? It's unfaithfulness, of course. Fornication is an illicit union. So here, rather than the bride of Christ getting its direction from Jesus, this harlot woman who's drifted away from Christ, this second woman in Revelation chapter 17, this harlot woman unites with the world and the Bible calls that fornication. Where does the woman of Revelation 12, the bride of Christ, get her authority from? The bride of Christ gets her authority from Jesus Christ. The bride of Christ is loyal to Jesus. The bride of Christ has intimacy with Jesus. As a husband and wife enter into intimacy, so the church of Christ on earth has an intimacy with Jesus. There is a loving relationship between Jesus and His bride. But this harlot woman, this fallen church system, does not have intimacy with Jesus. She commits fornication with the kings of the earth. She finds her strength in political powers and human legislative enactments rather than divine decrees that come from God. The inhabitants are made drunk with the wine of her fornication. Just as wine affects the forebrain, so the inhabitants of the earth are confused with the false doctrines from a large, powerful religious system that is united with the state. Now let's look at these symbols in scripture. In Revelation 17, verse 3, it says, "So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness." A very important expression. Who's carrying him away? The Spirit. Where does God carry him to? The wilderness. Can anybody remember in the entire book of Revelation when we have the expression "in the wilderness"? Where did God lead His people in the Middle Ages? Into the wilderness. Come back to Revelation chapter 12 because here you find some keys to understanding Revelation chapter 17 and 18. In Revelation chapter 12, as we look at verse 14, it says, "But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle." Who is this woman in Revelation 12:14? Is she the pure church or the false one? The pure church, of course. "That she might fly into the wilderness to a place prepared for her by God." Now notice, she would be there for a time, times, and half a time. She would be there in a place prepared for her by God. You know, when we're facing trials, difficulties, challenges in our life, there is always a place prepared for us by God. Now, she'd be there for a time, times, and half a time. How long is that? It's a 1260-year period. Now, how do we know that? A time is 360 days. Times are two times. Some translations say 720. And then a half a time would be 180. So if you look at 360 and 720 and 180, that would add up to 1260. You also see that when it says she would be in the wilderness for 42 months. Again, 1260 prophetic days or literal years. So in Revelation 14, the true church goes into the wilderness. She's in this wilderness for a period of 1260 years. The Dark Ages go from about 538 AD to 1798 AD. So when John sees the pure bride of Christ in the wilderness, this period of the Dark Ages where there's spiritual wilderness because the church has united, he also sees a woman, a second woman, that's the false church in the wilderness period. And in this period, she's sitting on a scarlet-colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, that has seven heads and ten horns. During this 1260-year period, there are two women. One woman is the bride of Christ who's faithful to Him. She leads God's people through the ages to be faithful. She is part of the remnant mentioned in Revelation 12:17 that keep the commandments of God and draw their nourishment from the true woman, the church. And the woman, of course, draws her nourishment from Jesus Christ. But also, there'll be a harlot woman, a fallen system that John sees in the wilderness that passes her wine cup of false doctrine around. Not only during this 1260-year period, but this wine cup intoxicates many people at the end time. The harlot woman of Revelation 17 represents a fallen system of religion. The beast upon which she rides represents the state. There's a wonderful Bible commentary by Fausset and Brown and on page 593, it makes this significant statement: "Church and state are precious gifts of God, but the state being desecrated becomes beast-like and the church apostatizing becomes the harlot." The state being desecrated becomes beast-like. And when the church drifts from its true lover and commits fornication with the world, it becomes like the harlot. In Revelation 17, verse 4, we read, "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." How are we to understand this? This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills upon which the woman sits. We'd expect a church-state union to arise that would be identified in purple and scarlet. Purple and scarlet are always a symbol of royalty. Her priests wear largely purple and scarlet from time to time at their special ceremonies. And this would usurp, of course, the priesthood of Jesus, who's the only one from the royal line whom we are to worship. This church-state system would come out of a city that has seven hills. Is there any city that has seven hills in which a church and state are united, with purple and scarlet are used regularly? The fallen church system of Revelation 17 has these colors of purple and scarlet representing royalty that only can be clothed upon Jesus, our Great High Priest. She sits on a city of seven hills. The golden cup of wine in her hand represents the wine of false doctrine, represents error. Just as wine intoxicates, so error intoxicates. She passes around her wine of false doctrine. What is in the wine cup? What's in the wine of false doctrine? Maybe we can learn something about it.
Guest (Female): We'll be right back with Pastor Mark Finley. We thank you for listening and hope you're enjoying today's message. Our mission is to attractively present the Christ-centered biblical truths of scripture in a practical, relevant way to people around the world, so that they may experience the abundant life that Christ offers. If you want to learn more about the Bible, check out our free Bible series at GlobalBibleSchool.org. That's GlobalBibleSchool.org. Discover answers to your deepest questions straight from God's word. And now, back to Pastor Mark Finley.
Mark Finley: Revelation 17, verse 5 says, "On her forehead a name was written." When you have a name written upon the forehead, it identifies you. "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and the abominations of the earth." So here we have a great mother church system out of which other churches have come, but they've drunk of her wine cup too. So they're called... she is the great harlot, but they are many harlots. So here is a religious system filled with confused religious doctrine, is what the Bible's talking about. Why is the Mystery Babylon the Great on her forehead? By the days of John, the city of Babylon had fallen. So why does she have this on her forehead? Certainly Babylon indicates confusion. But I have a question for you. Could it be that a church-state system would arise that there would be apostasy from the truth? Error would take place of truth? And in this church-state system, the ancient doctrines of Babylon would be revived? You say, Pastor Mark, is that even possible? Well, let's go back to ancient Babylon because if we can identify ancient Babylon and we can see what her teachings were, we can then see how modern religious systems have become confused with her teachings as well and we can avoid the error, the falsehood that's not found in scripture. If you solve the mystery of the teachings of Babylon, you'll know what's in the wine cup of false doctrines that are being passed around and you can keep from drinking of the wine and becoming intoxicated in those false doctrines. So let's go back to ancient Babylon because remember, 404 verses from the Old Testament are found in the book of Revelation. Remember as well that all the books of the Bible meet and end in Revelation. Often people come to me and say, "Revelation is so difficult for me." The reason it is, is because of the fact that these people have not studied the Bible intensely and so the symbolism is difficult to understand. When you study God's word, things begin to pop out clearly. Now, 1 Timothy chapter 4, verse 1 says, "Now the Spirit expressly says..." Spirit does what? Expressly says. "That in the latter times, people will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons." The doctrines of Babylon would actually influence religious institutions today. Some in the latter times would depart from the biblical faith. The time will come, according to 2 Timothy 4, verse 3, that they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires will live. I thank God that men and women today still have honest, open hearts. And those of you listening to this broadcast, you want to know Bible truth. That's why we come to study the word of God here on HopeLives365 radio. A lot of people, even in churches today, don't want sound doctrine. All they say to you is, "Well, you know, give me a little fluff, a little potato chip, popcorn religion. Give me a little salt, let me lick it, and I'll go on my way." It's a superficial gospel that will not stand in the latter days. It's a superficial approach to religion which leaves you feeling good with a consumerism mentality, but it doesn't give you solid spiritual meat that'll see you through. When you study the book of Revelation, you have a solid faith in a solid Christ, who is the rock of ages, who will never let you down, who is going to be... enable you to be secure. It's sound doctrine, but it's according to our desire to read, study the word of God, not according to our own desires, not according to our own wishes to please the carnal heart. You know, the Bible says that this group in 2 Timothy just before the coming of Jesus, have itching ears. What does that mean? It means they want you to tell them only what they want to hear. They heap up for themselves teachers, not riches, but teachers, and they turn their ears from the truth to fables. These people who want to be pleased, seek out those churches that'll only preach a superficial gospel, not a life-transformational gospel. They want a superficial gospel because it doesn't demand incredible changes in their lives. Did Matthew preach a superficial gospel? Did Matthew or Mark or Luke or John preach a superficial gospel? Did Jesus preach it? When Jesus said to Matthew, "Leave your tax collecting booth and come follow Me," or to Peter, "Leave your fisherman's boat and follow Me." One thing about Christianity in the New Testament is that it costs something. People were invited to make decisions that required their whole heart, their whole life, their whole soul. Jesus was not only their savior of the past, but He was the Lord that sat on the throne of their life. In the last days, we're called from the superficiality of a consumerism gospel of Babylon to the depth of Christ's love and the riches of His grace and the beauty of His character. We're called back to the teachings of the Bible. Let's go to the Mystery of Babylon the Great. If we really want to understand what the Bible teaches about Babylon, we need to go back and unfold the mystery of Babylon the Great. We need to go back to the book of Genesis and find the first mention of the Tower of Babel or Babylon. The city of Babylon, mentioned in the Bible, was built on the site of the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11. How was Babel built? The Tower of Babel was built after the flood because there was this idea that we don't want to be destroyed by a flood again. They disregarded the word of God and they built the Tower of Babel. The Tower of Babel was a man-made system. The church of Jesus Christ is built on the word of God. It's not built on a man-made system. Nebuchadnezzar wrote on one of the clay tablets that was now discovered in ancient Babylon by the archaeologists: "Babylon, the delight of mine eyes, the excellency of my kingdoms, may it last forever." The true church of God is the only organization so big that its body is on earth but its head is in heaven. Any organization that looks to an earthly head to get its doctrinal base from falls into the category of Babylon. Babylon is man-made religion. Babylon is a religion based on my thoughts and my ideas. It was human beings that built the Tower of Babel, contrary to and in violation of the clear instructions that God had given them. You know, a lot of people come up to me and say, "I think," or "I believe this way." I always smile and tell them, "You know what? It's not important what I think, it's not important what I believe, it's important what the word of God teaches." Babylon is confusion. People run all over the place to listen to this preacher. They run all over the place to listen to that preacher. They build their whole religious experience on their favorite preacher. If all I've done in this broadcast is to get you to like what I've said, I've totally failed. My goal is to get you into the word of God, to look at what the word of God says verse by verse, chapter by chapter. Get out the book of Revelation, start reading it in chapter 1. If you don't understand some things, just keep reading. Look at the big picture in Revelation so that you develop for yourselves in the privacy of your own home, a deep spiritual faith, a faith that'll make a difference, a faith that'll transform your life. So what is Babylon in the broad strokes? Babylon is confused man-made religion. It is a man-made system based on human religious teaching. It claims that tradition can take the place of truth. It has a distorted view of the word of God. Remember what Jesus has said: "Sanctify them through Thy word, Thy word is truth." And Jesus said in John 17, verse 17, Jesus added to that in John 8, verse 32, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." So here Jesus says, "Come, open your heart to the word of God. Let God's word shape your thoughts. Let scripture, not tradition, not man-made teachings, not the errors of Babylon shape your mind." I love that old poem that says, "What says the Bible? The blessed Bible to me? The teachings of men so often mislead me, but what says the Bible? The Bible to me." My goal is to lead each one of you into a deep study of the word of God and a deep study of the Bible because, look, my friend, the teachings of men so often mislead us. Unless we have a personal knowledge of the word of God ourselves and unless our hearts and minds are filled with God's word, we will be deceived by the enemy. In Revelation 18, verse 1 to 4, I read, "After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority; the earth was illuminated with his glory." So just before the coming of Jesus, there will be men and women who turn from the teachings of men, turn from the traditions of men, turn from every worldly man-made system of religion. And they will turn to the word of God. Their hearts and minds will be filled with Christ, filled with the glory of His grace, and they will go out to light the world with the glory of God. But notice: "And he cried with a loud voice saying, 'Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen.'" Babylon representing confusion in religion, Babylon representing a church-state union in religion, Babylon representing falsehood and error in tradition. "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, the habitation of demons." In other words, the devil has influenced the teachings of this church-state union at end time. "A prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." So here you have the nations of the world uniting with a false religious system, Babylon. And it says, "The kings of the earth have committed fornication with her." So you have Babylon, false religious system, uniting with the kings of the earth, that is the political systems, and "the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her delicacies." So you have three groups here: you have false religious systems, you have the political system, the kings of the earth, and you have the merchants of the earth, the economic system. So you have an economic, political, and religious union. But God has a group of people that stand firm for Him. And it says, "And I heard another voice from heaven saying, 'Come out of her, my people, lest you share of her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues.'" Come out of her who? My people. Jesus is making an appeal to honest-hearted men and women everywhere today to come back to the truth of His word. Any church that teaches, any religious system that teaches, any teacher that teaches that it's not necessary, if you're saved by grace, to be obedient to God, beware, my friend, beware. Would you like to say to Jesus, "Lord, reveal to me the truth of your word. Help me to be loyal to the bride of Christ and to Jesus Christ. And enable me, Father, by your grace to live an obedient life." Let's pray. Father in heaven, we know there are many deceptions in the last days and we've just scratched the surface of this subject today. But I pray Thee that You'd help us to understand that a time is coming when church and state will unite, when the economic powers of the earth will place their finances and money behind this church-state union. But help us always to be faithful to You, to stand for Jesus, to stand for the truth of His word, and never yield our conscientious convictions. We thank You, Lord, that we can live righteous, obedient lives to reflect Your love before our world today. Enable us to do that, I pray in Christ's name. Amen.
Guest (Male): You've been listening to Pastor Mark Finley. We hope you enjoyed today's message and that it increased your faith in God and His word. If you'd like to learn more, Pastor Mark invites you to visit GlobalBibleSchool.org for an inspiring, interactive Bible study experience. That's GlobalBibleSchool.org.