Participants: Steve Wohlberg
Series Code: HVT
Program Code: HVT000018A
|
00:09 Revelation Chapter 17 describes a mysterious woman
00:12 named Babylon the Great. 00:13 I hope you're ready for the truth about this woman 00:17 on His Voice Today. 00:19 Welcome to another His Voice Today 00:22 with Steve Wohlberg. 00:29 Mystery Babylon Part 2. 00:32 I heard a parable once about "Truth" 00:35 and he was taking a walk 00:36 and he was heading toward the city of Humanity, 00:39 and it was a hot day and as he was walking along 00:42 the scenery was quite attractive and he looked over on his right 00:45 and he saw a nice, clear, blue, beautiful lake 00:50 and it was hot and he decided to take a swim 00:52 so he took his robes of truth off 00:54 and put them on a tree branch 00:57 and then... took a dive and went swimming in his birthday suit. 01:00 and as he was just enjoying the day, 01:03 he didn't realize, while he was in the water, 01:05 that his ancient enemy "Lie" had been following him 01:09 and Lie looked around the corner... 01:10 and saw Truth swimming in the lake 01:12 and he decided to pull a trick on him 01:15 and so he went over to that tree when Truth wasn't looking 01:18 and he grabbed Truth's robe off that limb, 01:22 and he dropped his old, dusty robes of Lie 01:25 he put on the robes of Truth and then he went on his way 01:28 and he got to the top of a hill and he looked down 01:31 and he saw the City of Humanity with all these people 01:34 and he gave a shout and the people looked up 01:37 and they saw who they thought was Truth 01:40 and they all shouted, 01:41 "Yeah, yeah, Truth is coming 01:43 to teach us the way to heaven" 01:45 and so he came down and they all surrounded him 01:47 and Lie dressed like Truth, 01:49 began to give them his messages. 01:52 Well, meanwhile, back at the lake, 01:55 Truth... the real Truth finally got out of the water 01:58 and went to grab his robe from off the limb 02:02 and discovered that it wasn't there 02:04 and he looked down and there he saw 02:05 his old enemy's raggedy robe... 02:10 Lie, on the ground 02:11 and he knew, "Ah ha, Lie is up to his old tricks" 02:15 and so... then Truth had to make a decision, 02:17 should he keep going in his birthday suit 02:19 as he was... 02:21 or should he put on the robes of Lie 02:24 so at least he'd be covered. 02:25 Well, he decided he couldn't wear the robes of Lie 02:29 so he kept on going and he got to the top of the hill 02:32 and he looked down to the City of Humanity 02:35 and he saw all these people surrounding Lie 02:38 thinking that Lie was Truth. 02:39 And so Truth did what he had to do 02:42 and he gave a big shout 02:44 and he started heading down the hill 02:46 and the people looked up and one man shouted and he said, 02:50 "Look, look, here he comes, it's the naked Truth. " 02:54 Are you ready for the naked truth. 02:58 We're going to get into some very powerful things 03:02 today that my conscience tells me... need to be taught 03:06 and so, I hope you're ready for it 03:08 as we, again, dive in to Mystery Babylon Part 2. 03:13 In the book of Revelation Chapter 14 verse 8 03:16 we have a message, a very special message 03:20 to all the world before the coming of Jesus Christ. 03:22 In verse 8 "there followed another angel and he said, 03:25 'Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 03:29 because she has made all the nations 03:32 drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. '" 03:37 We've also studied in Part 1 that this Babylon is actually 03:44 described in Revelation 17 as a woman 03:47 and she's a fallen woman verse 14:8 says, 03:50 "Babylon is fallen is fallen... " 03:52 and we talked about it in the last Program. 03:54 How, a woman in the New Testament 03:57 represents a professed body, 04:01 at least those that profess to follow Jesus Christ 04:04 and so we have a woman in Revelation 14 04:07 and Revelation 17 called "Babylon" 04:09 and she is a fallen woman 04:11 representing the fact that she was upright at one point 04:14 but she has fallen 04:16 and she is a professed follower of Jesus 04:20 but she is actually fallen away from the truth of the gospel 04:24 and the truth of the Bible. 04:26 In our last Program we looked at many New Testament prophecies, 04:33 many New Testament statements, many New Testament Scriptures 04:39 that prove, beyond a shadow of a doubt, 04:41 that the New Testament writers including Jesus Christ Himself 04:44 looked into the future and recognized 04:47 there was going to be a falling away, 04:50 an apostasy that was going to happen 04:52 in church history 04:53 from inside the professed church of Jesus Christ 04:58 and let me just go over some of these texts with you, 05:01 we're not going to look them up right now, 05:03 we did that in Part 1, 05:04 but I'll just give you a quick review. 05:06 In 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, verses 1 and 3, 05:10 Paul talked about the coming of Jesus 05:12 and our being gathered together to Him, 05:14 and he said, "Let no man deceive you 05:16 by any means for that day when Jesus comes 05:18 will not come except there come a falling away first... " 05:22 there would be a falling away and we talked about it in Part 1 05:26 that the Greek word for falling away is Apostasia 05:30 which means an apostasy or a departure from within 05:35 and that was something that Paul knew had to happen 05:39 before Jesus comes to gather His people. 05:41 In Acts chapter 20, 05:43 Paul was speaking to a group of the Elders 05:46 of the church in Ephesus who had come down from Miletus 05:49 to listen to his counsel and in verse 30, 05:52 Paul warned them about wolves that would come in 05:56 among the Leaders after He departed 05:58 and that they would lead people away from Jesus 06:02 to follow them, Acts chapter 20 verse 30. 06:06 1st Timothy 4:1, Paul said that in the latter times 06:09 many would depart from the faith 06:12 giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils... 06:15 this would be a departure from the faith 06:17 inside of the professed church of Jesus Christ. 06:21 In 2nd Timothy 4 verses 3 and 4 06:23 Paul warned about those who would have itching ears 06:26 and who would have teachers gathered around them 06:28 and these teachers would 06:30 turn the ears and the hearts and the mind 06:34 of professed followers of Jesus away from the truth 06:37 and they would be turned to fables 06:40 instead of sound doctrine. 06:42 In 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse 1, Peter warned about 06:46 false prophets that would come right in among the believers 06:50 and that many would follow their deceptive ways 06:53 leading away from the gospel of Jesus Christ. 06:55 In Jude verses 3 and 4, Jude urged the early believers 06:59 to contend earnestly for the faith 07:01 that was once and for all delivered to the saints 07:03 and Jude said that there would be false teachers 07:06 who would creep into the church, 07:08 certain men who would turn the grace of God 07:11 into a license for sin and they would lead people astray. 07:15 Finally, in the book of Revelation chapter 2, 07:18 Jesus gave a special message to the church of Ephesus... 07:20 the first church of the seven in Revelation 2 and 3 07:23 and he urged the early believers 07:26 to repent and to come back to Him 07:28 because He said, "You have fallen, 07:31 you have fallen away, you have left your first love. " 07:35 So, all of these verses... and we have them again, 07:39 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, Acts chapter 20, 07:41 1st Timothy 4:1, 2nd Timothy 4:4, 07:44 2nd Peter 2:1, Jude1:3 and 4, 07:47 Revelation 2 verse 5... they all predict 07:50 that there will be a departure, an apostasy, a falling away, 07:54 that would happen inside of the professed church 07:57 of Jesus Christ. 07:59 I don't know if we have any... 08:01 if you happen to be a Sherlock Holmes fan 08:04 any Holmes' fans out there but if you are, 08:06 we need to solve a case and it's a big one 08:10 and the issue is, "Who is the fallen woman 08:14 that is described in Revelation chapter 14 verse 8 08:17 and in Revelation chapter 17?" 08:20 Her name is: Mystery Babylon, Babylon the great. 08:24 Well, let's start looking up the clues 08:29 and these are shocking but they're in the Bible. 08:31 I'm going to turn in my Bible to chapter 17. 08:34 Revelation 17 is the great chapter that describes 08:39 the details about this woman. 08:42 17:1, the Bible says, 08:55 speaking to John, "... and I will show you 09:03 Okay, clue number one, this woman, whoever she is, 09:06 the Bible says, "she would be sitting on many waters. " 09:09 Now we don't have to guess what these waters represent. 09:13 In verse 15, the angel said to John, 09:16 he said, "The waters which you saw, 09:19 where the whore sits, are peoples, multitudes, 09:24 nations, and tongues. " 09:26 So, Babylon... this woman sits upon many waters 09:30 which represent people around the world. 09:33 So, clue number 1 is 09:34 this woman has global influence, 09:37 she has support from peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues 09:41 all over the world, and if that's the case, 09:44 which it is, then to identify this woman 09:48 who has global influence is probably not going to be 09:52 an overly popular identification but somebody once said, 09:56 "What is popular is not always right 09:59 and what is right is not always popular" 10:01 and I'm not here to try to win a popularity contest... 10:05 any true follower of Jesus Christ 10:08 should be willing to hold on and to share 10:11 the naked truth no matter where it leads 10:14 so that's clue number one. 10:16 Clue number two is found in the next verse, 10:20 verse 2 says, "with whom... " talking about this woman, 10:23 "with whom the kings of the earth 10:26 have committed fornication... " 10:28 this woman is involved with the kings of the earth, 10:31 she has diplomatic relationships with rulers and with kings 10:37 according to the Bible, fornication has to do with 10:40 an illicit involvement with these kings 10:43 and that's what she's involved in. 10:44 Clue three, 10:47 going on in verse 2 it says, 10:49 "... and the inhabitants of the earth 10:51 have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. " 10:55 The wine refers to her doctrines, 10:58 the doctrines of this woman that are the result of her 11:01 mixing with kings and her mixing with the world 11:04 and the inhabitants of the earth 11:07 have become drunk with this wine. 11:10 So, this tells us that the wine of this woman, 11:13 the doctrines of this woman... they belt the world. 11:18 Clue number four, in verse 3 Revelation continues 11:23 and the angel... the Bible says, 11:40 this woman has particular color characteristics 11:45 and these colors are purple and scarlet. 11:49 Another clue is that it says that she is decked 11:52 with gold and precious stones and pearls, 11:55 she is an extremely wealthy woman 11:59 that has lots and lots of gold. 12:02 Continuing on, the Bible says, 12:13 Verse 5: 12:26 Here's another clue that this woman... 12:27 she's not just a woman but she's a mother... 12:31 she claims to be a mother, she is a mother 12:35 she's the mother of harlots and of abominations of the earth. 12:38 Next clue, verse 6, 12:49 Whoever this woman is, 12:51 she eventually becomes a persecuting woman 12:55 and she has killed saints, she has persecuted saints, 13:01 she has led to the spilling of their blood 13:04 and she's drunk with the blood of the saints 13:07 and with the blood of the martyrs... 13:09 martyrs of Jesus refer to those who have given their lives 13:13 standing up for their faith, against apostasy, 13:16 against deception, 13:18 against a falling away from the truth 13:20 they held on to the truth no matter what 13:23 and this woman is drunk with their blood, 13:27 so that's another clue going down to verse 9, another clue, 13:39 She is sitting upon seven mountains 13:43 going down to verse 18, 13:58 So here are all the clues 14:02 and let me just repeat them for you again... 14:06 actually I forgot one, one more clue, 14:09 chapter 18 and then I'll give you the summary. 14:12 Chapter 18 verse 4, this was a very important clue, 14:15 it's amazing and it's very enlightening. 14:18 In Revelation 18 verse 4, we have a voice 14:21 that is heard from heaven, 14:23 "I heard another voice from heaven 14:25 saying, 'Come out of her... '" out of this woman, 14:28 and then God says, "my people, 14:32 let you be not partakers of her sins, 14:34 and that you receive not of her plagues. " 14:36 Now, here we have God talking to His own people 14:39 and He says, "My people, come out... " 14:42 and that tells us something very important that 14:44 inside of this woman are true followers of Jesus Christ. 14:50 Those that really do love the Lord, 14:53 those that really are sincere, 14:54 those that are doing the best that they can 14:56 based upon the light that they have 14:58 they are inside of her... but they need to come out of her 15:03 and therefore, it just makes a lot of sense 15:05 that we need to know who this is, 15:07 we need to identify who this is, 15:09 in order for God's people to have additional help 15:14 and additional light so they know 15:16 that they need to exit, 15:17 they need to come out, 15:19 so, let me summarize these facts... 15:23 twelve facts... from Revelation chapter 7... 15:27 twelve identifying clues about Mystery Babylon. 15:30 Number 1... she is a woman which represents a church 15:35 or at least a professed church of Jesus Christ. 15:38 She is fallen... which shows us that at one point 15:41 she was upright but she has fallen away 15:43 from Bible truth and from the gospel of Jesus Christ. 15:46 Next point is that she has global influence, 15:50 people around the world support this lady. 15:54 Point number 4 is she has involvement with kings, 15:58 she commits fornication with kings 16:00 she has diplomatic relations with kings. 16:03 Number 5, her doctrine... her wine... circles the world. 16:08 Number 6, she has particular colors... purple and scarlet. 16:13 Number 7, she's also extremely wealthy 16:16 gold... lots of gold... precious stones and pearls. 16:20 Number 8, she is a mother, 16:22 the Bible says, the mother of harlots 16:25 and abominations of the earth, she's a mother church. 16:27 Number 9, she has been involved 16:29 in the persecution of God's people, 16:32 the persecution of saints and martyrs, 16:35 the martyrs of Jesus, 16:37 she's also a city... a great city, 16:40 the Bible says, that sits... Point number 11, 16:43 upon seven mountains, 16:45 and the last point is that there are, 16:49 in spite of her flaws, 16:50 nevertheless, God Himself has true people 16:53 that are inside of her and these people... 16:56 he is calling them to come out. 16:59 Now here are 12 facts about this woman 17:02 who is this lady? 17:03 If I were to have a white board here 17:07 I wrote down with a pen or a marker 17:10 and I put down three figures 17:12 let's say it was 27 or 62 then 95 17:15 and I asked you to add them up, 17:18 to look at the evidence, 17:20 to add up and come to the right conclusion, 17:23 how many wrong conclusions could there be? 17:26 How many wrong answers could there be? 17:29 Obviously, the options are endless 17:32 but how many right answers would there be 17:35 if you add up the three figures 17:36 just like you add up the 12 points 17:38 that we've just looked at, 17:39 how many right answers are there? 17:42 I think the answer is obvious that ultimately there are only.. 17:46 there is only one right answer 17:48 as to who fits all of these clues 17:51 everyone... precisely and exactly. 17:55 If you were to go back... back in time 17:58 to the 1500s and 1600s and 1700s 18:02 and if you were to ask Martin Luther 18:05 who founded the Lutheran Church, 18:06 who is this woman of Revelation 17? 18:08 Luther would tell you. 18:10 If you were to ask John Calvin 18:12 who founded the Presbyterian Church, 18:13 Calvin would tell you. 18:15 If you were to ask John Wesley who founded the Methodist Church 18:17 Wesley would tell you. 18:20 If you would have asked Charles Spurgeon, 18:21 the most famous Baptist Pastor who ever lived, 18:24 he also would tell you, 18:27 they would give you the naked truth, 18:29 the naked truth. 18:31 Truth isn't easy sometimes... 18:36 sometimes truth is hard, 18:37 sometimes truth is like medicine 18:39 that doesn't taste good 18:40 but you need it and I've committed myself to truth, 18:46 think about the phrase, 18:47 "Give me the truth... the whole truth 18:50 and nothing but the truth so help me God," 18:52 and that's what I've committed myself to 18:55 I've been a Christian for 33 years 18:58 and when I first started studying my Bible... 18:59 and studying Revelation, 19:01 I never dreamed where it would lead me 19:03 but as I put the pieces together, 19:05 as I read about these 12 points, 19:07 it's very clear to me and to a lot of other people 19:11 who these points... point to... 19:15 and that is the church, 19:17 I'll just tell you, the naked truth. 19:19 The church sitting on the seven-hilled city of Rome 19:24 fits every single point that is described 19:28 in Bible prophecy, 19:30 I have an article in my hand that came out 19:33 a number of years ago during the Persian Gulf War 19:36 it came out in Time Magazine, this is February 11, 1991, 19:41 it's an essay in the back of Time Magazine 19:43 and it talks about how... 19:44 because of what Sadaam Hussein was doing 19:46 trying to rebuild the ancient city of Babylon, 19:48 how all kinds of prophecy books 19:50 were streaming off the presses, that were saying, 19:52 "Prophecy is being fulfilled, prophecy is being fulfilled, 19:55 and the ancient city of Babylon is rising again, 19:58 Sadaam Hussein... he's fulfilling the Scriptures" 20:01 and this article and analyzes this 20:03 and basically takes issue with the trend toward thinking 20:10 that the Babylon in Revelation 20:12 is going to be a resurrection of the ancient city 20:15 over in the Middle East and at the end of this article, 20:20 Time Magazine, February 11, 1991, 20:23 this is what it says, "The temptation to secluse 20:26 to the second coming on CNN is easy to understand 20:29 since Sadaam Hussein has proclaimed himself 20:31 a successor of Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonian king 20:35 who enslaved the Israelites of old" 20:37 and then it says, "this makes it deceptively easy 20:41 for prophecy mongers or prophecy proponents 20:45 to identify Iraq with Babylon, somewhat awkwardly 20:50 it also undercuts a long-standing 20:54 Protestant tradition that this symbol of corruption 20:59 in the book of Revelation refers to the church of Rome. " 21:05 Now, I didn't write this but this man... 21:08 he's got his information correct 21:10 because it was a long-standing Protestant tradition, 21:12 the Lutherans, the Baptists, the Methodists, 21:14 the Presbyterians, the Mennonites, 21:16 the Congregationalists, 21:17 the list just goes on and on and on... 21:19 the teachers and the scholars who taught exactly 21:24 what I am sharing with you right now, 21:27 probably one of the most famous books 21:30 in Christian history, is this book, 21:33 Fox's Book of Martyrs, 21:34 Fox's Book of Martyrs describes the Martyrs and the sufferings 21:37 what has happened to... as Revelation says, 21:41 "the saints and the martyrs of Jesus" 21:43 I don't really recommend that you read this book 21:47 unless you have a very strong stomach, 21:49 you can get it at any Christian bookstore 21:51 if they don't have it, they can order it, 21:52 and you can read the facts. 21:54 All the information also... 21:56 that I'm sharing with you right now, 21:57 is documented in my book, "End Time Delusions. " 21:59 End Time Delusions goes into the history 22:02 and there's just a lot of... there's a wealth of information 22:05 so that you'll know that I'm not making this up 22:07 these are just historical facts. 22:10 Revelation chapter 17 tells us about this woman, 22:16 I saw the woman in verse 6 22:19 and she was drunken with the blood of the saints 22:22 and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus 22:25 Fox's Book of Martyrs goes into great detail 22:28 about these different Martyrdoms. 22:31 Probably one of the most famous martyrdom in Christian history, 22:36 was a man named Jerome... Jerome of Prague. 22:39 He was brought before a big Council in Constance, Germany, 22:43 in the year 1415, 22:45 he was arrayed before this tribunal 22:47 to answer for his faith, he was pronounced a heretic 22:52 because he believed in the Bible 22:54 as the sole rule of faith and practice 22:56 because he believed in the gospel of Jesus Christ 22:59 because he believed that he was saved 23:01 by the grace of God... not works... 23:03 because he didn't believe that he had to go through the church 23:06 to get to God and he also put the pieces together 23:09 and he came to understand what prophecy taught 23:13 about the woman in Revelation chapter 17 23:16 and so he was brought before the Council, 23:18 he was condemned and he was finally led out 23:21 to the place of execution and there were... 23:24 what they called "fagots" that were put all around him 23:29 and an executioner finally came up with a lighted torch 23:34 and he was about to light the fire, 23:36 and these are the words of this famous martyr 23:41 who was willing to give his life for God... no matter what. 23:44 He said, "Come forward boldly" to the executioner, 23:49 "... come forward boldly and light the fire 23:53 if I had been afraid, I would not be here. " 23:57 And so they did, 24:01 the executioner came forward 24:03 and he lit the fire and the flames began to rise 24:07 and this... this faithful soul 24:11 who was willing to give his life for Jesus Christ, 24:14 he thought about Jesus who gave His life for him, 24:17 he thought about the one who came down from heaven 24:20 and gave everything, He was willing to be betrayed 24:22 by one of His own disciples, 24:24 He was willing to be beaten by Roman soldiers, 24:29 He was willing to suffer with thorns on His head, 24:34 He was willing to be taken out to a place called Calvary, 24:38 and His arms were stretched out, 24:40 He was willing to have Roman nails 24:41 pounded inside of His hands and into His feet 24:46 and as He hung upon the cross, it wasn't just bodily suffering 24:50 that Jesus was suffering with... 24:52 but it was the suffering and incredible anguish 24:56 of suffering for sin... for the sin of the world 25:00 the sin of the whole lost world that ultimately has fallen away 25:04 from God and from its Creator 25:07 and from the original plan for humanity 25:10 ever since the days of the Garden of Eden 25:13 and Jerome thought about Jesus, 25:16 how Jesus not only died physically 25:18 but He died because of the sins of the world 25:22 and Jerome knew that no matter what happens to me, 25:25 no matter if I have to die and get burned at a stake 25:28 I will follow my Lord, 25:31 I will follow Jesus no matter what 25:33 even if truth is unpopular, even if I lose my life, 25:37 I will follow Jesus Christ, I'll follow His grace, 25:40 I'll follow His book, 25:42 I'll follow His truth... no matter what. 25:46 There had been many noble martyrs like Jerome 25:51 and the list just goes on and on 25:52 and may God help us to be among that group 25:57 who follow Jesus no matter what. 25:58 The book of Revelation chapter 17 verse 6 26:03 says, "I saw the woman 26:04 and she was drunk with the blood of the saints 26:07 and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. " 26:10 May God help us to be true followers of Jesus 26:13 and I know that there are a lot of people 26:16 inside the woman that I've just referred to 26:18 and there are people all around the world 26:20 who love the Lord and are doing their best to follow Him 26:23 but now is the time for His voice to be heard, 26:26 now is the time for the prophecies to unfold 26:28 and God wants us to take a stand for Jesus Christ 26:32 in these last days... no matter what it costs. 26:35 You have just heard His voice today. 26:39 Will Christians soon disappear, 26:42 raptured before seven years of tribulation 26:44 when the Antichrist makes war against the Jews? 26:46 Jesus Christ gave this special warning about the last days, 26:50 "Take heed that no one deceives you!" Matthew 24:4. 26:53 Find out the truth about these end-time prophecies 26:56 by ordering Steve's popular book, 26:58 "End Time Delusions" for only $13.95. 27:00 To order, call: 1-800-78-BIBLE 27:02 or write to: White Horse Media 27:06 P.O. Box 1139 Newport, WA 99156. 27:09 We hope you've enjoyed this timely message 27:12 from Pastor Steve Wohlberg and we want you to know 27:15 that White Horse Media is deeply committed 27:17 to bringing you many more simple messages 27:20 straight from the Bible 27:21 designed to educate the mind, inspire the heart 27:24 and help bring our Viewers and their families, closer to God. 27:27 To learn more about White Horse Media 27:29 or to watch more of Pastor Steve's 27:31 television programs online 27:33 including his powerful new series 27:35 of two-minute talks, visit: hisvoicetoday. com. 27:39 If you've been blessed by today's Program 27:42 and would like to help 27:43 White Horse Media with your financial support, 27:45 you can call our toll-free number 27:47 listed on the screen or donate online 27:49 at whitehorsemedia. com. 27:51 We solicit your prayers for our ministry 27:53 and we thank you for any gift large or small 27:56 to help us reach people with the gospel. |
Revised 2016-03-03