The Destruction of the Great Whore

Temple Baptist Church - 10-31-2021

Revelation 18:1-3

 

A.  In chapter 17, verse 16, we read that the revived Roman Empire or the political beast turn upon and destroys the religious beast.  Why did the great whore have to perish?  I believe that we can answer this from the Bible.  This destruction of the religious system had to happen for a couple of reasons: 1)  Because she had outlived her purpose and, therefore, her usefulness!  2)  Because of whom Satan is.  I want to look at these two reasons tonight.

 

B.  Because of whom Satan is first.  In order to understand this, we have to go back to the beginning.  I do not know for sure when God created the angels, but the Bible is clear that these creatures were created for God's purpose and pleasure.  I personally believe that the creation of Lucifer and other angels probably took place just before the creation of the universe.  My reasoning is that the sons of God were referenced in the Book of Job. 

 

Job 38:4-7  Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.  (5)  Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?  (6)  Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;  (7)  When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

 

C.  "Sons of God" is one of those phrases that can be interpreted differently within the context.  You and I that are saved are the "sons of God" according to 1 John 3:1-2.  I am not here to debunk the "Angel Theory" tonight, but the "sons of God" in Genesis, chapter 6, were the Messianic Line of Seth.  When the foundations of the earth were laid and the stars created and set in place, the "sons of God" shouted for joy.  Lucifer, the son of the morning, the anointed cherub that covereth, was mentioned as walking in "Eden the garden of God" in Ezekiel 28:13.

 

D.  Now, let us look at the person and character of Lucifer that led to the destruction of Babylon the Great in Revelation 17:16.  Lucifer: created in glory and corrupted by his glory.

 

Ezekiel 28:12-17  Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.  (13)  Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.  (14)  Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.  (15)  Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.  (16)  By the multitude of thy merchandise they have filled the midst of thee with violence, and thou hast sinned: therefore I will cast thee as profane out of the mountain of God: and I will destroy thee, O covering cherub, from the midst of the stones of fire.  (17)  Thine heart was lifted up because of thy beauty, thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness: I will cast thee to the ground, I will lay thee before kings, that they may behold thee.

 

The 5 "I will" of Lucifer.  Isaiah 14:12-14  How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!  (13)  For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north:  (14)  I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.

 

E.  When Lucifer (Satan) fell from his glorious position, he influenced a multitude of the angels with his rebellion who followed him.  But notice the first person pronoun that Lucifer used: I will, not we will.  Lucifer never wanted nor would he ever allow anyone or anything to take precedence over himself: angels, men, or a religious institution!  God said:

 

Exodus 20:3-5  Thou shalt have no other gods before me.  (4)  Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:  (5)  Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;

 

F.  As God said, Lucifer also said!  He would have no other "gods" before him.  He ALONE was to be exalted.  Therefore, the religious system of the end-time to which mankind would bow had to be destroyed by the "exalted one: Satan."

 

G.  Now, for the second reason that the religious system had to be destroyed: it had outlived its usefulness!  Satan authored the religious system because he hated all that God was and all that God had created, especially mankind—which was created to fellowship with God.  Why the development of the religious system: because man innately worships!  When God created man, He created man in the image of God (a Trichotomy): body (world conscious), soul (self-conscious) and spirit (God-conscious). 

 

John 1:9  That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.

 

H.  Because man was made to worship, Satan had to give man an alternative to the one true living God and that alternative was humanistic, idolatrous religion that denied the singularity of God's Son and His finished work for salvation.  Satan tried to destroy Jesus Christ at His birth, throughout His life, and His glorious gospel, a finished work.

 

2 Corinthians 4:4  In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

 

J.  Humanistic religion began in the Garden of Eden when Satan began to "challenge" the Word of God by questioning its accuracy: "Yea, hath God said?"  Satan began to set up an alternative to God's sacrifice in the Garden of Eden, which was the blood of atonement, to "Cain Worship" in Genesis, chapter 4: an alternative sacrifice base upon personal merit or the works of man.  He further developed his "religion" with the Tower of Babel from which all idolatrous religions sprang when the language was confused, and mankind scattered over the world.

 

K.  Today, the end-time religion has become the alternative to Christ alone but the system is worshipped.  When Satan has complete control of earth's inhabitants through the mark of the beast and virtually all remnants of true believers have been martyred, he will not allow anyone to worship anything but himself; therefore, the religious system served its purpose, and it will be utterly destroyed!