If you’ve just tuned in, you are listening to a special UNIVERSAL NEWS BROADCAST. We are recapping the major past events, from Israel’s rebirth through the Tribulation and destruction of the world during the Battle of Armageddon.
Rome was a city that existed in the days of the apostles and still existed during the Tribulation.
Rome was a unique city with
musicians,
crafts and
craftsmen,
mills,
candles or lamps,
and marriages.
It was a beautiful city.
It had gold and precious stones.
The city of Rome was a
trading capital.
Both merchants and those that owned ships became rich through dealing with this city, during the first part of the Tribulation.
It was a great city, with
incredible riches and wealth,
and excessive luxuries and
delicacies, and many types of
merchandise.
Rome had gold and
silver,
gems,
pearls,
fine linen and
silk,
rare woods,
ivory,
brass,
iron,
marble,
cinnamon,
spices,
incense,
ointments,
frankincense,
wine,
oil,
fine flour,
grain,
cattle and food,
sheep,
vehicles,
slaves,
and the souls of men.
Rome had fruits that people lusted after, and
luxury and
splendor.
Indeed the merchants of the world, those that owned ships had grown rich through the excessive luxuries of Rome. Again, God’s Word had foretold these things, as it was written: AND EVERY SHIPMASTER (or sea captain), AND ALL THE COMPANY (who travel) IN SHIPS, AND (the) SAILORS, AND AS MANY AS TRADE (or make their living) BY (the) SEA, STOOD AFAR OFF (or at a distance)-Rev 18:17; ref 18:19. Note the words, “shipmaster, ships, sailors, and trade by the sea.” The city of Rome was near the Mediterranean Sea.
As this broadcast has already covered—of the 7 churches listed in the Revelation, 4 of them were present at the time of the Rapture. These were the church of Thyatira, the church of Sardis, the church of Philadelphia, and the church of the Laodiceans.
However, within the church of Thyatira, TWO CHURCHES ARE REVEALED.
The first part tells of a church of charity (or love), service, faith, patience and works-Rev 2:18,19. This was God’s church.
However, this church made a MAJOR mistake. It allowed the woman Jezebel that called herself a prophetess to teach its people.
The second part of the message to Thyatira mentions the Great Whore (the Roman Catholic Church). Her name is Jezebel. God gives the Great Whore this name for a specific reason.
The Great Whore is NEVER mentioned as being one of God’s churches, but rather it was a whore that tempted or seduced God’s people away from His church of Thyatira WITH HER BEAUTY, HER CHARM, ENTICING WORDS, AND SEDUCTIVE MANNERISMS. SHE SEEMED LIKE A GODLY WOMAN ON THE OUTSIDE, BUT ON THE INSIDE SHE WAS FULL OF ABOMINATIONS.
SHE MASQUERADED AS AN ANGEL OF LIGHT, BUT WAS REALLY AN ANGEL OF DEATH.
Jezebel taught in order to seduce and deceive God’s servants (those that were saved or clean escaped) to commit fornication (or to turn aside unto another way, from the right way of the Bible), and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.
Jezebel followed and knew the depths of Satan. She knew the things that men desired. She did not understand the things that were of God.
It may be said that at the heart of this church is seductiveness, deception, manipulation, domination, and control.
Jezebel glorified herself greatly. Her house was pure luxury. She lived luxuriously. She was as a queen that never believed she would see any sorrow. Her wine was passion. She enticed the world to commit fornication against Christ, and the world fell at her feet. Immorality was the delicious drink that many ran to get.
She clothed herself in pure white garments. To many, she was the way to heaven. She was the way to what every man wants. She knew what people wanted. She knew what is in people’s hearts.
What is in people’s hearts? Let us eat, drink, and be merry and live forever. Let us prosper and get riches and live in luxury. Let us do whatever our sinful heart desires to do, and then when our life on earth ends, let us forever be in heaven with eternal joy.
Why is Jezebel synonymous with the Roman Catholic Church?
Jezebel is portrayed as a beautiful, seductive woman. A woman whom men cannot resist.
However, she is a whore. She is laden with sin. She is unclean. She is diseased.
But she presents herself to be something that she is not. She masquerades as something pure, clean and holy. She appears to be a minister of righteousness.
And men that go in unto her do not suspect that she is anything other than what their eyes behold.
She is the most beautiful woman men have ever seen. Her sweet words are enticing and irresistible.
And once men go in unto her, she is everything they want. She knows how to speak sweet words of love. She knows what men want, and she gives it gladly. She does all the right things, and the men that go in unto her never want to leave. She spoils those that sought her with ecstasy and pleasure like they have never known before.
Indeed many, many, many do go in to her. Her doors are open to all the world, but her doors swing only one way. They lead to a one way street, and almost no one ever finds their way out.
And those that attend to her—her ministers are also transformed to be ministers of righteousness, but their end will be terrifying. Yet, during the first part of the Tribulation, they did prosper. After all, Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor 11:13-15).
No one suspects that under her bed are the words death and eternal damnation. But her beauty, her enticing words, the pleasure she offers ensnares them all.
God gave her (Jezebel, the Roman Catholic Church) a space to repent, but she did not repent.
Indeed, as time has revealed, the intoxicating, almost hypnotic teachings and spirit of the Roman Catholic Church had such a strong hold on people, few were ever able to break away and repent. Few ever surrendered their life to Jesus Christ that went in unto Jezebel.
Those of the Roman Catholic Church (those of Jezebel) cannot recognize or understand God’s Word, just as many of the Pharisees and Sadducees in Jesus’ time could not understand, because their heart was hardened.
Those that turned from the church of charity (or love), service, faith, patience, and works to follow the teachings of Jezebel—committed adultery. They were originally following Christ (Who is the Word of God), but then they changed to follow the teachings of another.
Those that followed the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church did not get raptured. They went into great tribulation. All that follow her children were guaranteed spiritual death.
Those that did not possess or follow the Catholic church (the teachings of Jezebel) and did not know the depths of Satan, God told them He would not put any other burden on them. They were admonished to hold fast until He came.
Thus, within the Thyatira church, there was the group that followed good, sound doctrine and were raptured. And there was the Roman Catholic Church, which was at work to tempt those that were clean escaped from sin through Jesus Christ. They tempted people to turn to what, on the outside, looked like a glorious, beautiful religion, which used some Scripture here and there, but was actually the pathway to hell.
It is written: Gal 5:1-Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not ENTANGLED again with the yoke of bondage. The yoke of bondage can be centered in two words—deception and sin.
2 Pe 2:20-22-(For) IF THEY HAVE ESCAPED THE CORRUPTION OF THE WORLD BY KNOWING OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST AND ARE AGAIN ENTANGLED IN IT AND OVERCOME, THEY ARE WORSE OFF AT THE END THAN THEY WERE AT THE BEGINNING. IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR THEM NOT TO HAVE KNOWN THE WAY OF RIGHTEOUSNESS, THAN TO HAVE KNOWN IT AND THEN TO TURN THEIR BACKS ON THE SACRED COMMAND THAT WAS PASSED ON TO THEM. OF THEM THE PROVERBS ARE TRUE: "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS (OWN) VOMIT (AGAIN)," AND, "A SOW THAT IS WASHED GOES BACK TO HER WALLOWING IN THE MUD."
Note the key word: ENTANGLED. The Roman Catholic Church was like a spider’s web. As the web entangles its victim, so the Roman Catholic Church does to its followers with its deceitful, dishonest, and hypnotic doctrine. Many never saw the web before they were snared. Once entangled, death and then hell awaited its victims. Few ever escaped the clutches of the spider’s web. Few ever escaped the clutches of the Roman Catholic Church. Only true repentance and obedience to God’s Word can free a person.
Within the city of Rome, there was a small, independent country called the Vatican.
This was the headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church.
God’s Word called, what was, the Roman Catholic Church, the Great Whore.
Not one saved person in this church was found in the entire world, when the Rapture came—not the Pope, not one cardinal, not one priest, no one throughout the entire world; unless they had repented. Indeed, this church was recognized by the world as good, but was just the opposite according to God’s Word.
This church did not understand even the most basic of things in the Bible, such as water baptism by full immersion. The Bible taught there was no water baptism prior to repentance and believing in Jesus Christ. There was no infant baptism. Did Christ baptize babies? Was a baby able to believe on Christ or confess their sins when in the water? Neither did this church understand coming out of the water of baptism into the newness of life. This also showed the followers of this church were also spiritually blind.
This church had combined a distorted view of Christianity and the Bible with the Babylonian cult and astrology.
It was a church that had its foundation long before Rome. Its foundation went back to the BABYLONIAN CULT—as it is written, they have “known the depths of Satan.”
Its hidden, dark secrets were stored in a little-known, secure place in the Vatican. Only the Pope and a few select people had access to these deepest dark secrets.
The signs of the Zodiac were found in St. Peter’s Basilica, even though Astrology was forbidden in the Scriptures. Astrology had been part of this church going way back in time. To those that understood the Bible, these things were clear. For those that did not, only repentance and the power of God could set them free through faith.
The Great Whore (the Roman Catholic Church) was shown to be a great, false religion during the first part of the Tribulation. None were raptured from this religion. It encompassed the entire world, including many nations, peoples, languages, and the kings of the earth.
The Bible depicted this false religion as being interwoven with a major, industrialized city: a city that was a trading center not far from the sea, which sat on seven hills and dated back to the time before the apostles. This is a perfect description of Rome and the Roman Catholic Church.
Spiritually, this great prostitute, ref Rev 17:1 NIV, is described as having a golden cup.
Every Roman Catholic should have been familiar with this cup.
The Bible portrayed this cup as being full of abominations.
Consider a golden cup. On the outside, it is beautiful and glamorous. It seems to illustrate something pure and elegant. The outside of the cup seems to reflect godliness and spirituality.
However, this golden cup of the Roman Catholic Church, which was held in the hand of the city of Rome, was not beautiful on the inside. It was full of death and poison. It was FULL OF ABOMINATIONS (or abominable things). The world accepted the golden cup as beautiful and true-ref Rev 17:4,2. However, God’s Word showed it was full of abominations and obscene and filthy things.
Consider a person that begins to drink. As he drinks more and more, he becomes numb to the truth. So it was with those that drank of the deceptions of this “Great Whore.” Their minds were taken captive. People all over the world became intoxicated with this “Great Whore” that corrupted the earth.
Note, its biblical name, AND UPON HER FOREHEAD WAS A NAME WRITTEN, (a) MYSTERY (or with a hidden meaning), BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS (or prostitutes) AND (of the) ABOMINATIONS (or obscenities) OF THE EARTH-Rev 17:5.
Those in league with this “Great Whore” (or great false religion) were referred to as fornicators or adulterers, as they had chosen to follow a false religion of deceit, rather than Jesus (Who is the Word of God) and the truth. They followed a religion that used the name of Jesus, but was a deception that had been responsible for seducing and killing multitudes of the true followers of Jesus. They were committing “fornication” or spiritual whoredom against Jesus—the true Bridegroom. God’s opinion of this great, false religion can be seen by the names He used to describe it. It is a GREAT WHORE or prostitute. Her sins did reach unto heaven.
Woe to those ensnared by her! Only those that obeyed God’s Word to separate from her and never look back, coupled with repentance and trusting in Christ alone, were set free.
THE “GREAT” WHORE (or prostitute)-Rev 17:1; 19:2;
THAT SITTETH UPON MANY WATERS-Rev 17:1. THE WATERS WHICH THOU SAWEST, WHERE THE WHORE (or prostitute) SITTETH, ARE PEOPLES, AND MULTITUDES (or crowds, or nations)-Rev 17:1,15. The Roman Catholic Church had many people throughout the world; and it grew even bigger during the first part of the Tribulation.
Once the Rapture of the true church took place, the Roman Catholic Church experienced a revival. The various religious institutions of the world, including the World Council of Churches, various cults and many others that were left behind united under the umbrella of this Great Whore and partook of her false and alluring doctrines, which were descended from Babylon.
It is written, THE GREAT WHORE...WITH WHOM THE KINGS OF THE EARTH HAVE COMMITTED FORNICATION (or adultery, or went whoring with her)-Rev 17:1,2. Many kings and rulers of the earth rejected Jesus in favor of this Great Whore, and were aligned with her during the Tribulation. Their minds were taken captive with her deceptive and intoxicating ways and doctrines; and they committed spiritual fornication with her.
It was written, AND THE INHABITANTS (or people) OF THE EARTH HAVE BEEN MADE DRUNK (or were intoxicated) WITH THE WINE OF HER FORNICATION (or adulteries, or whoring)-Rev 17:2. This took place during the first part of the Tribulation.
One might ask, why had this counterfeit church (the Roman Catholic Church) become so popular?
The answer may well lie in their doctrine. Anyone could be a Catholic and be in good standing
without repenting,
without thinking about God’s Word,
without having to read God’s Word,
and without having to obey God’s Word.
A person could attend a Roman Catholic Church, go home and get drunk, curse God’s name, live like the devil, smoke, do drugs, and still be a Catholic and be assured that the worse that could happen was purgatory, not hell; as the fear of eternal damnation in the lake of fire might have driven people away.
A Catholic did not have to worry about going to their church and hearing convicting messages about sin, repentance, obedience to God’s Word, and things that made them uncomfortable.
The teachings of Jesus Christ brought some to their knees in repentance and caused them to fear God; but regarding the unrepentant, the teachings of Christ often stirred up hatred and a desire to silence those that taught these things.
No such Bible teaching that would cause people to cry over their sinful condition was brought forth in the Catholic Church.
Reading the Bible could make many feel very uncomfortable, as it convicted people of their wrongdoings and their need to be born again and converted through faith. The concept of being born again, as Jesus taught, was not in the Roman Catholic Church.
So why did people love the Catholic Church?
Because a person felt comfortable there. It was a great place to go and not feel condemned. Afterward, they could go home and live however they wanted and feel good about themselves, no matter how much sin they committed. They never had to fear God or fear being judged by a Holy God, Who will judge all people by the Word of God.
Besides, going to the Roman Catholic Church made them feel refreshed and even holy. It led them to believe that everything would turn out all right in the end. After all, so many people went there, how can they all be wrong? It was the largest (so-called) Christian denomination in the world. Besides this, the Pope was descended from Peter, they believed; and there was no chance the Pope could be wrong! (they thought).
So the Catholic Church was the place to go, that is, until a person died and found they were then in a place called Hell, and in continual torment—awaiting the final Judgment, and then the eternal lake of fire. Oh, what a horrible, tragic mistake these people made; and even worse—there was no escape, there was no second chance! Nevertheless, before they found themselves in this place of torment, they were uncorrectable.
No Bible teacher, no not even an angel from heaven could have corrected them and made them understand they were on a fast track to eternal damnation. For if they would not believe the Bible, neither would anything else persuade them to turn from the way they were going.
This became a foundation for the Roman Catholic Church, which inherited the rites of the old Babylonian cult.
It may be said that one could take a golden cup and pour in the teachings of the Babylonian cult.
Add to this a distorted understanding of the Bible
and some other writings related to the Bible.
Make up some lies about certain events.
Finally, pour in the results of the many councils the Roman Catholic Church has had, in which they added other things to their teachings.
What emerged was a religion that used some Bible stories and other Scripture without correct understanding, mixed with other doctrines that directly contradicted God’s Word and deceived multitudes of people.
This mixture of deception and abominations, which was labeled “Christian,” was clothed in beauty (represented by the golden cup).
There was so much emphasis on outward adornment: the priests and others were clothed in fine apparel; there was beautiful music; majestic cathedrals; magnificent, well-planned rituals, pomp and majesty.
They called it the “Holy” Roman Catholic Church.
Then they deceived people by declaring the Pope was God’s representative upon the earth, and was therefore infallible.
Some priests molested children. Within this church, it was estimated that from 1 to 2 percent of the priests were involved. The church paid restitution to the parents of some of these children.
Many of those priests were allowed to continue in the priesthood, but were sometimes transferred to other locations.
How absolutely blind people were that attended the Roman Catholic Church.
Will this broadcast change even one Catholic’s mind and cause them to repent?
The result of what God’s Word refers to as the Great Whore. It was the great prostitute, the great impostor, the great deception. Did the priests, the cardinals, or the Pope believe they were deceived? No.
Did they understand they were following the devil? No.
None were raptured. Did they understand about the Rapture and Bible prophecy? No.
Did they understand how to become born again? No.
Did they understand God’s way to be baptized? No.
Did they understand when a person dies, they do not go to purgatory (a place that does not exist and was fabricated by the Catholic Church), but they go either directly to be with the Lord or to hell? No.
Did they understand astrology was forbidden and was sin? No.
This name, “Mystery, Babylon the Great,” does clearly denote the Roman Catholic Church.
It is written, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS (or prostitutes, or whores) AND (of the) ABOMINATIONS (or obscenities) OF THE EARTH-Rev 17:5. This was the biblical name of this great false religion.
Did they realize they are included, when it was written, SATAN WHICH DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD? No.
There are none so blind as those that refuse to see. Why was this?—because they did not want to see, if it revealed they were wrong. Correction was a way of life to those that followed Christ, but many were not humble and despised correction. God resisted the proud, but gave grace to the humble.