Participants: Steve Wohlberg
Series Code: HVT
Program Code: HVT000017A
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00:09 Mystery Babylon... what's it all about?
00:11 You'll find out on His Voice Today. 00:13 Welcome to another His Voice Today 00:16 with Steve Wohlberg. 00:24 I heard a story once about two masked men 00:27 dressed in black with sub-machine guns, 00:29 they burst into a large church 00:30 in the middle of a church service 00:31 went up to the front and pointed their guns at the crowd 00:34 and of course, everybody was just terrified, 00:36 and these men then shouted out, and they said, 00:39 "Whoever is willing to die for Jesus Christ, 00:41 stay in your seats, 00:42 if you're not willing to die... then leave," 00:45 there was a huge shuffle and most people left 00:48 and after they were gone, these men took off their masks 00:51 they sat down in the pews, they took out Bibles, 00:54 then they looked at the Pastor and they said, 00:56 "Pastor, we're ready to hear a good sermon now, 00:58 all the hypocrites are gone. " 00:59 Remember that story as we get into our topic, 01:04 the title is called, "Mystery Babylon... Part 1" 01:09 In the book of Revelation, chapter 14, 01:12 we have three power-packed messages 01:15 represented by three angels 01:17 giving messages to the whole world 01:19 before the coming of Jesus Christ. 01:20 In Revelation 14 verse 8, 01:23 we have the message of the 2nd angel 01:27 and it's about Babylon. 01:28 Verse 8 says, 01:44 So here we have a powerful text about Babylon, 01:48 now there are a lot of opinions and interpretations 01:51 about who is this Mystery Babylon 01:54 that has fallen and that has made the whole world 01:56 drunk with her wine. 01:58 Some people think that the literal city of ancient Babylon 02:01 will be rebuilt in the sands of Iraq, 02:04 other people think that it's America... 02:06 America is Babylon... 02:08 others think that it's the United Nations 02:11 some think it's a symbol of apostate Israel 02:15 I've heard that interpretation 02:16 there are others that strongly believe 02:18 that the Mystery Babylon described in Revelation 02:21 represents the Roman Catholic Church. 02:23 So there are a lot of opinions 02:26 and we're going to try to unravel this mystery 02:29 and find out by putting the clues together 02:32 as to who this Babylon really is, 02:34 now one of the big clues is found in Revelation chapter 17 02:38 that tells us that Mystery Babylon 02:41 represents a woman. 02:43 Babylon is a woman, Revelation 17 describes 02:47 all about this woman, 02:49 we have a lot of details about her, 02:51 and one of the things that we need to realize 02:55 is that a woman... specially in symbolic prophecy 02:59 in the New Testament, often represents 03:02 those who profess to be the people of God, 03:05 professed followers of Jesus 03:07 and it's significant in Revelation 14 and in Chapter 17 03:11 that this woman is represented as a fallen woman, 03:15 the Bible says again, 03:17 "Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen," 03:20 and the fact that she's a woman and that she's fallen 03:24 shows that at one point she was upright, 03:28 she was noble and virtuous but then she fell 03:33 and this is a clue that will help us 03:35 to put the pieces together ultimately as to who 03:38 this woman represents. 03:40 One of the most significant chapters 03:43 dealing with the fall is in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 03:47 so if you have a Bible, 03:49 I'd like you to open with me 03:51 and we'll take a look and I'm going to attempt 03:54 attempt to prove, as we go along from text to text 03:57 that the fall of Babylon is actually connected 04:01 to a falling away from Jesus Christ 04:04 inside of His church. 04:07 That's what I will show you from the Bible 04:10 so, Second Thessalonians chapter 2 04:13 is probably one of Paul's greatest apocalyptic chapters 04:17 dealing with the rise of Antichrist, 04:19 dealing with things that are going to happen 04:21 before the return of Jesus. 04:24 Second Thessalonians chapter 2 starting with verse one 04:28 Paul talks about the coming of Jesus 04:31 and our gathering together to Him. 04:34 Verse 1, Paul said, "Now, we beseech you Brethren," 04:37 he's writing to the Thessalonians' Church 04:39 "... by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 04:42 and by our gathering together to Him... " 04:44 and so Paul is urging the church to listen up, 04:48 he's got very important counsel, 04:49 he said, "Jesus is coming 04:51 and we are going to be gathered together 04:53 to be with Jesus forever. " 04:56 Now, if you go down to verse 3 04:59 Paul tells us about something very significant 05:02 that is going to happen inside the church 05:05 before Jesus returns to gather His people. 05:09 In verse 3, Paul warned, 05:15 referring to the day when Jesus will come 05:17 to gather his people, 05:18 "that day shall not come except there come a falling away" 05:25 and the next word there is "first" 05:28 except there come a falling away... first 05:31 now, this is very significant, 05:33 Paul is telling us that before Jesus comes 05:36 to gather His people, something is going to happen 05:38 there's going to be something first... 05:39 there's going to be, what he calls... 05:41 "a falling away" 05:42 now, you don't have to be a 05:44 Greek Scholar to understand the Bible, 05:45 but sometimes knowing a little bit of Greek 05:48 which underlies the English that we read in our Bibles 05:50 it's helpful and this word, "falling away" 05:54 these two words, "falling away" 05:56 actually comes from an original Greek word... 05:59 and the word is "Apostasia" Apostasia... 06:02 which literally means apostasy 06:04 which has to do with a departure... 06:07 and an apostasy... from Jesus 06:10 and that is going to be happening 06:13 inside of the Christian Church, 06:15 now this may be a shocking concept to you 06:18 probably... maybe you've never thought about this, 06:20 apostasy... within the professed church of Jesus Christ, 06:23 but this is actually a major New Testament theme 06:27 as we'll see... 06:28 we're going to look up a lot of different verses, 06:30 Paul talked about it, Peter talked about it, 06:32 Jesus talked about it in the book of Revelation 06:34 Jude talked about it, 06:36 and the New Testament is loaded with Scriptures 06:38 that warn God's people about apostasy 06:42 taking place inside the professed church of Jesus Christ 06:46 so let's look at some of these verses 06:48 let's go to the book of Acts, 06:50 Acts chapter 20... 06:51 during one of his missionary tours, 06:55 Paul did a lot of preaching, 06:57 God changed his life and he was out there, 06:59 preaching... raising up churches... 07:02 talking about Jesus, just about wherever he went 07:05 and in Acts chapter 20, 07:06 we find Paul meeting with a group of Elders 07:12 who came from the church of Ephesus 07:15 that had been established 07:16 and in Acts chapter 20, it says in verse 17 07:20 that... "From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus 07:22 and he called for the elders of the church" 07:25 now remember this... these are the Leaders of the church 07:28 they came from Miletus, they came to meet with Paul, 07:30 verse 18 says, "When they were come to him 07:33 he said to them," so here's the context, 07:36 Paul is talking to them... the Leaders of the church, 07:39 the Christian church in Ephesus 07:40 and in verse 28, 07:42 Paul said, "Take heed, therefore... 08:04 Verse 29... Paul said, 08:16 So, again, here Paul is talking to the Elders 08:20 of the church of Ephesus and he's warning them 08:23 that wolves are going to enter... 08:25 and that word is... "in" this is verse 29 08:34 On verse 30 Paul said, 08:44 In verse 31, he said, 08:55 People cry for a lot of reasons, babies cry, 08:58 My wife and I have two small children, 09:00 well, they're getting bigger now Abby is almost 5 and Seth is 8, 09:05 but when they were little... 09:06 even... just little babies, obviously they cried 09:09 and when people get hurt, they cry... 09:11 if you fall off a bike, people cry, 09:14 if you have a major problem with a loved one, 09:18 even something bigger than that... like a divorce... 09:22 you know, or, probably the worst thing 09:24 is to lose someone that you love" 09:26 someone that dies... you know, people cry... 09:28 and the tears flow for many, many reasons 09:31 in this world of sin, 09:32 but Paul is telling us, in Acts chapter 20 verse 31 09:37 that he cried and not just for one day 09:39 but he said, he cried for three years... 09:41 three years... and his tears were because of what he saw 09:45 was going to be happening inside of the church of Jesus. 09:50 He said, "For three years, 09:52 I ceased not to warn everyone night and day with tears. " 09:57 Paul had a major burden about this subject 09:59 because he saw that something was going to happen 10:02 inside the church of Jesus Christ. 10:05 There are many other verses that we can look at. 10:08 Let's just take a look at a few more, 10:10 1st Timothy chapter 4 verse 1, Paul wrote to young Timothy 10:15 he was a young pastor and Paul wrote that the Spirit 10:24 they'll be in the faith for a while 10:26 but then they will depart from it 10:29 and they will give heed to seducing spirits 10:31 and doctrines of devils. 10:33 So there's going to be a detour 10:36 that many, who start out following Jesus, 10:40 they are in the faith but then they depart from it 10:42 and they start listening to the doctrines of the devil 10:45 and to seducing spirits 10:47 and they are suddenly and slowly led away 10:49 from Jesus Christ, 10:51 from His love and from His gospel. 10:53 Paul warned about the same thing in 2nd Timothy chapter 4, 10:57 he talked about the day when Jesus would come 11:00 to judge the quick and the dead, the living and the dead, 11:03 verse 2, here, Paul urged Timothy to preach the Word 11:07 this was his counsel to all ministers and pastors 11:11 and church leaders to preach the Word of God 11:13 not the traditions of men and then in verse 3, he said, 11:39 itchy ears... it's like a disease, 11:42 "itching ear disease," 11:43 it's not a real disease of the ear 11:45 but it's a spiritual disease 11:47 that leads people to have an itch 11:49 for something new, something different, 11:51 that really is a sound, according to the Bible, 11:54 and Paul knew that this was going to happen 11:57 even right inside the church of Jesus Christ 12:00 and so he warned young Timothy, he warns Pastors, 12:03 and Church Leaders, Bible Workers, 12:06 Bible Instructors, to follow the Word of God 12:08 to preach the Word, to stick with Scripture 12:11 and not to be turned away, 12:13 just like in 2nd Thessalonians 2 verse 3, 12:16 Paul talked about a "falling away" 12:18 in Acts chapter 20, 12:20 he talked about the wolves that would come 12:22 and that would turn away the disciples... 12:24 so they go after them... instead of after Jesus 12:26 and here he talks about how people will turn away their ears 12:30 from the truth and they will be turned to fables 12:34 so all of these verses, basically, say the same thing, 12:37 and there are others, just to prove my point 12:41 let's look at a few more, 2nd Peter chapter 2 verse 1 12:45 and now it's not Paul but now it's Peter 12:47 and in verse 1 Peter said, 13:04 Verse 2 says that, 13:09 so, many... Peter said, would be led astray 13:12 by false teachers that come right among you, 13:15 among the professed believers of Jesus Christ. 13:18 Jude warned about the same thing. 13:22 Jude is the last book of the New Testament 13:24 right before Revelation, which is really the last book 13:27 but it's the book before the last book, 13:28 and Jude... only has one chapter and in verse 3, Jude wrote, 13:49 Verse 4: 14:06 So, here Jude is doing the same thing, 14:09 he said that there were certain deceivers 14:11 who were coming right in among the early believers 14:15 and Jude urged them and warned them, 14:18 he said, "Hold on to the original faith 14:20 that was once and for all given to the saints" 14:24 don't let these seducers lead you away from Jesus. 14:27 Now, let's go to the book of Revelation. 14:31 The last book of the Bible 14:32 and we're going to discover some amazing things. 14:35 In Revelation Chapter 1, we find John having a vision 14:42 on the Island of Patmos, most scholars believe 14:45 that the book of Revelation was written, 14:47 somewhere around 96 A.D. 14:50 and John was the last living follower of Jesus Christ 14:54 all the others had died, 14:55 the Roman Empire tried to kill John 14:58 because he was such a faithful preacher, 15:00 there's a tradition that the Emperor of Rome 15:04 threw him into a vat of boiling oil, 15:07 but he just popped up, 15:08 just like Daniel in the lions' den, 15:11 the lions' mouths were shut and he wasn't hurt 15:14 and the same thing with John, 15:15 God protected him and so the the Romans couldn't kill him 15:18 so they banished him to an island... 15:20 called the island of Patmos... and it was on that island, 15:23 as old man... that John received the book of Revelation 15:27 in chapter 1 verse 12 John's vision begins 15:32 and he turns around and he sees seven golden candlesticks 15:38 and verse 13 says, 15:43 and this was Jesus Himself 15:45 and Jesus was walking in the midst of these candlesticks 15:48 and this is when John saw Him 15:51 and then Jesus began to speak to John 15:54 and to explain the mystery of the seven candlesticks 15:57 and the seven stars that were in His hand 15:59 and then he starts to explain what this is all about. 16:01 In verse 20 of Revelation chapter 1, 16:06 Jesus explains that the seven candlesticks 16:09 which you saw are the seven churches 16:13 these are seven churches, 16:15 there's Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, 16:17 and it goes on explaining what these seven churches are. 16:22 The first church of the seven was a church called Ephesus 16:26 and in chapter 2, Jesus begins to give a message 16:31 that He tells John to write down to this Ephesian church now, 16:36 take a look at this, this is very important. 16:39 In verse 1, "To the church of Ephesus write:" 16:42 and then Jesus begins to give counsel, 17:02 so here Jesus is talking to the first church, 17:05 the Ephesus Church and He said that 17:07 they were doing a lot of good things 17:09 and that there were people that had come in among them 17:11 that claimed to be apostles of Jesus but they weren't, 17:14 they were false apostles 17:15 and they were able to detect some of these apostles 17:18 and found them liars. 17:20 Verse 3 says, "You have borne, you have had patience, 17:22 and for my name's sake 17:23 you have laboured and you have not fainted... " 17:25 They were doing good for a while... but then in verse 4, 17:29 Jesus becomes very pointed and he said, 17:32 he said, "Nevertheless I have somewhat against you 17:37 because you have left... you have left your first love. " 17:42 Left your first love... 17:44 just like Judas who was a follower of Jesus, 17:49 but then he apostatized, he departed from Christ 17:53 and he ultimately betrayed Him with a kiss 17:55 and Jesus said that many inside the church of Ephesus 17:59 were losing their first love for Him 18:01 and then in verse 5, 18:03 He said, "Remember therefore from where you have fallen;" 18:07 notice that word "fallen" 18:08 "and repent and do the first works; 18:10 or else I will come to you quickly 18:12 and I will remove your candlestick 18:15 out of its place- unless you repent. " 18:17 So here's a problem that's going on in the early church 18:21 of Ephesus... the believers, originally, they loved Jesus, 18:25 they loved Him with all their hearts, 18:27 they followed Him, they tested the false apostles, 18:29 they found them liars, they did a lot of good things, 18:32 they helped spread the gospel but a problem started developing 18:36 and little by little, step by step... slowly... 18:39 they started losing their love for Jesus... 18:43 it's a little bit like a marriage, 18:45 now people get married and they're excited, 18:47 they say, "I do," they commit their own lives, 18:49 they have their honeymoon and everybody is so happy, 18:51 and they hope that they'll live happily forever after, 18:53 but as time goes on, character defects come out 18:59 and maybe they have kids 19:01 and the kids become a real trial 19:03 and who knows what happens, all kinds of things happen 19:05 it may be another person, another man or another woman 19:08 who works his way into their lives 19:12 or the lives of one of them, 19:13 and step by step the husband or the wife loses 19:18 his first love for his spouse, she loses her love for him, 19:23 he loses his love for her, and they fall, 19:27 they fall away from their vows 19:29 and this is what Jesus was warning about 19:33 and it was happening right there 19:36 among the professed followers of Jesus Christ 19:39 that's very clear, again, I'll read it, 19:42 "Nevertheless, I have somewhat against you, 19:44 because you have left your first love, 19:47 remember therefore, 19:49 from where you have fallen 19:51 and repent and do the first works. 19:55 It reminds me of heart disease, 20:00 heart disease is one of the biggest killers, 20:03 in fact, it's the number one killer, 20:05 in developed societies, 20:06 what's happened... 20:08 I think a lot of it has to do with 20:09 just all the garbage that people are eating, the junk food, 20:11 too much fat, too much cholesterol, 20:13 and these fat cholesterol eventually start to clog 20:18 the coronary arteries that supply blood to the heart 20:23 and as the walls thicken, cardiovascular disease increases 20:29 and blood circulation is lessened 20:33 the amount of oxygen getting to all the cells of the body 20:36 is cut down and little by little 20:40 the person develops a very dangerous condition 20:43 which could lead to a fatal heart attack. 20:46 And in the light of what we've read in the book of Acts, 20:52 First Timothy, second Timothy, First Peter 2:1, 20:56 Jude verses 3 and 4, and the book of Revelation, 21:00 Jesus' message to the church of Ephesus, 21:03 it's pretty clear that Jesus and the New Testament were warning 21:08 that as the train of the church was going down the track 21:14 of church history, that very, very serious problems 21:19 were developing... not outside of Christianity, 21:21 not out there, 21:22 but inside of the church of Jesus Christ, 21:25 it's like heart disease, a heart condition was developing 21:28 a couple of arteries were getting clogged, 21:31 and the believers were losing their first love 21:33 and they were falling away, 21:34 falling away from the Lord, let me clarify, 21:37 that the New Testament is also clear 21:39 that the true Christ of Jesus Christ 21:41 is going to weather the storm, 21:43 that no matter what happens inside the church, 21:45 God is always going to have a people 21:46 that the gates of hell cannot prevail against that church. 21:51 But in the light of prophecy, 21:53 in the light of all these verses, 21:54 it's pretty clear that something was going to happen 21:58 very insidious and very dangerous 22:00 inside the Christian church and this was described as a fall, 22:05 Jesus said to the church in Ephesus... 22:08 He said, "Remember, from where you have fallen 22:10 and repent and come back" 22:12 as you keep reading the book of Revelation, 22:15 you go on from chapter 2 to 3 22:19 and you keep reading step by step, 22:22 eventually, you get to chapter 14 22:24 and to chapter 17 22:30 and these chapters describe the rise of a mysterious woman 22:37 called Babylon 22:39 and Revelation 17 says her name is, "Mystery," 22:43 17:5... "Mystery Babylon the great 22:47 the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. " 22:52 Revelation 14 verse 8, we have a message from an angel 22:57 and he says that Babylon is fallen, 23:00 there's that word "fallen," the same word that we saw 23:03 in 2nd Thessalonians 2, "there would be a falling away" 23:06 same word we see in Revelation 23:09 chapter 2... where the church... people within the church, 23:12 have fallen away from their first love 23:14 and need to repent and come back, 23:15 and now we have "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, 23:19 that great city, because she... " 23:22 this woman, this professed... 23:24 claiming to be a follower of God, 23:26 this professed follower of Jesus, 23:29 "she has made all the nations 23:32 drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. " 23:39 You know, we're going to continue this subject 23:41 in Part 2 and as we do, 23:44 I'm going to get into more details from Revelation 17, 23:48 there's actually at least a dozen clues in Revelation 17 23:52 and we're going to put together point by point 23:53 to actually identify this woman, 23:56 you'll need to hold on to your seats 23:58 but you'll have to come back or tune us in 24:00 when we get to our Part 2 of this Program 24:03 because we're not ready to do it now 24:04 we're just laying the foundation 24:06 but the foundation is pretty clear, 24:09 the foundation of Babylon, Mystery Babylon, 24:12 that a falling... that she's a fallen woman 24:16 and that this is a fall away from grace, 24:19 a fall away from God which we find over and over 24:23 and over and over and over again, 24:26 warned about... in the New Testament. 24:28 Paul warned about it, Peter warned about it, 24:31 Jude warned about it 24:33 and Jesus warned about it in the book of Revelation 24:36 and I will prove to you in Part 2 24:39 as we identify this mystery woman 24:41 that this is definitely a fallen woman 24:44 that is connected to a departure from Jesus Christ 24:49 inside the professed church of our Lord and our Savior 24:54 so you don't want to miss that meeting 24:56 but as we wind this up... to wind this up, 24:58 we all need to search our own hearts 25:02 and ask ourselves, "Lord, is it me?" 25:05 We need to search our hearts daily 25:08 and make that... that we don't fall away 25:10 Paul warned that there would be an apostasy 25:12 in the church before Jesus comes... 25:14 before Jesus comes to gather His people 25:16 and those that are going to be gathered 25:18 are going to be those that don't fall away, 25:20 those that are faithful, those that stick to the Bible 25:23 that stick to Jesus, that stick to the gospel, 25:25 that stick to the truth, that don't have itching ears 25:28 and that don't let themselves be turned away 25:31 from the truth to fables. 25:32 I heard a story once about a father who had a little boy 25:36 and he told this little boy to climb the ladder 25:38 and the little boy did, the little boy was about five... 25:41 and as the boy climbed the ladder, 25:42 that dad said to him... he said, "Now jump, jump, I'll catch you" 25:46 and so the little boy trusting his dad... he jumped, 25:49 and then the father backed up 25:50 and let the boy hit the cement hard 25:53 and the kid started crying and the father picked him up 25:56 and the boy was crying 25:57 and he looked at the boy and he said, 25:59 "Son, let that be a lesson to you... 26:00 never trust anyone... never trust anyone. " 26:04 What a horrible dad, and the good news is that 26:08 our heavenly Father is not like that 26:09 that even if we do fall, 26:11 and even if we do hit the cement, 26:12 and even if we have problems and sins that... 26:15 Jesus will pick us up and he'll catch us, 26:18 He'll hold on to us, he'll get us back on track, 26:22 in Jude... in one of the last verses in the book of Jude, 26:24 says that God can keep us from falling 26:27 and get us ready for His coming. 26:29 Revelation chapter 8, or, chapter 14 verse 8, 26:33 warns about Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen 26:36 that great city, because she made all nations 26:39 drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication. 26:42 By God's grace, let's make sure that we don't fall, 26:45 let's be faithful to Jesus Christ. 26:48 You have just heard His voice today. 26:51 Will Christians soon disappear, 26:53 raptured before seven years of tribulation 26:55 when the Antichrist makes war against the Jews? 26:57 Jesus Christ gave the special warning about the last days. 27:01 "Take heed that no one deceives you!" Matthew 24:4. 27:04 Find out the truth about these end-time prophecies 27:07 by ordering Steve's popular book, 27:09 "End Time Delusions" for only $13.95. 27:11 To order, call 1-800-78 BIBLE or write to: 27:15 White Horse Media, P.O. Box 1139 Newport, WA 99156. 27:20 We hope you've enjoyed this timely message 27:23 from Pastor Steve Wohlberg and we want you to know 27:26 that White Horse Media is deeply committed 27:28 to bringing you many more simple messages 27:31 straight from the Bible designed to educate the mind, 27:34 inspire the heart and help bring our Viewers 27:36 and their families closer to God. 27:38 To learn more about White Horse Media 27:40 or to watch more of 27:42 Pastor Steve's television programs online 27:44 including his powerful new series of two-minute talks, 27:47 visit hisvoicetoday. com. 27:50 If you've been blessed by today's program, 27:52 and would like to help White Horse Media 27:55 with your financial support, 27:56 you can call our toll-free number listed on the screen 27:59 or donate online at whitehorsemedia. com. 28:02 We solicit your prayers for our ministry 28:05 and we thank you for any gift large or small 28:08 to help us reach people with the gospel. |
Revised 2016-03-02