The Lamentation of The Great Whore - Part 2

Temple Baptist Church - 11-14-2021

Revelation 18:4-8

 

A.  Verse 4.   This verse is a call to the people of God who continue to be associated with the great whore to "Come out!"  Separation has always been God's will for His people.  Over the past few decades of compromise and the assimilation of God's people with the end-time religious system of Roman Catholicism, many biblically ignorant people, who have placed their faith in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, have listened to the liberals instead of biblically conservative Bible believers.  Those who remain true to the Bible have become the outsiders and enemies of the religious.

 

2 Corinthians 6:14-18  Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?  (15)  And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?  (16)  And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.  (17)  Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,  (18)  And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

 

B.  "It does not matter where you go to church as long as you trust Christ as your Saviour," has been around for a long time.  Trusting Christ will get you to heaven but going a liberal church will make you a liberal.  IT DOES MATTER WHERE YOU GO TO CHURCH because the Bible says, " Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you," which is a commandment of God, not an option of the individual.  It is the responsibility of God's people to seek the Word of God, not the religion of man.

 

Matthew 28:19-20  Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  (20)  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.

 

C.  Though the child of God more than likely would not bow to a statue or idol, there are many who evidently do not have a biblical problem with those who do use idols.  This is called "guilt by association!"  Images, statues, etc. are strictly forbidden by the First Commandment found in Exodus, chapter 20.  These verses are both concise (pointed) and clear (not ambiguous)!  It is a commandment to be obeyed, not ignored.

 

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;

 

Mark 13:22-23  For false Christs and false prophets shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were possible, even the elect.  (23)  But take ye heed: behold, I have foretold you all things.

 

You may also find it of interest that both government and Hollywood exalt Catholicism while mocking all other denominations by portraying their pastors as bumbling idiots and making fun of their churches.

 

D.  Verse 5.  Here we find the longsuffering of the Lord.  Though the Tower of Babel did not reach up to heaven, the sinfulness of Babel's people did!  God is patient and longsuffering, but there is a limit to both.  We often forget that God is neither early, nor is He late; God is ALWAYS on time!

 

1.  God was longsuffering with Sodom.  Genesis 18:20-21  And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;  (21)  I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

 

2.  God was longsuffering with the Amorites.  Genesis 15:16  But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

 

3.  God was longsuffering with Nineveh.  Jonah 1:2  Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.

 

Though longsuffering and patient, God will not forget nor forgive unrepentant sin.  In a moment of time, God will uphold His judgment in righteousness.

 

E.  Verse 6.  Here we find the reward of the end-time religious system doubled!  There is a two-fold reason for this found in chapter 17.

 

1.  Because of her abominations, idolatry, and spiritual fornication.  The end-time religious system openly disobeys the Bible.  Revelation 17:4  And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:

 

2.  Because of her drunkenness with the blood of God's children.  Revelation 17:6  And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

 

Again, though longsuffering and patient, God will not forget nor forgive unrepentant sin.

 

Revelation 2:20-22  Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.  (21)  And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not.  (22)  Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds.

 

F.  Verse 7.  The Delusion of the end-time religious system.  Because of her acceptance by both churches and government, in her pride, she glorifies self instead of glorifying God.  In her possessions, she has lived in luxury having need of nothing.  In her delusion, she has elevated herself to a position of royalty and exclusion as she is seemingly exempt from the sorrow of this present world.  God says that He will give a measured response to her delusion with as much torment and sorrow as she has afflicted upon others.

 

G.  Verse 8.  The judgment of God upon the end-time religious whore will come in one day!  Though she now rests in false confidence, the Lord is fully able to destroy her to the ground in a moment's time and she will not escape!

 

1 Thessalonians 5:3  For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.