Why Are There So Many Churches?

Revelation 17:1-3 And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 2 With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. 3 So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

Which One is Right?

 

I.  I have this question so many times in the past, it is obvious it is a great concern of people.

A.  It can become confusing for the average person looking for a church.

B.  Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Assemblies of God, Apostolic, etc…

C.  Why are there so many and which one is right?

II.  Revelation 17 and 18 deal with a woman and the judgement of God on this woman.

Revelation 17:18 18 And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

A.  The thing we need to determine is who this woman is and why she is about to be judged             so severely by God.

 

B.  Revelation 17:18 tells us:

1.  The woman is a great city.

C.  Revelation 17:9 tells us the seven head are seven mountains/hills on which the woman sits.

D.  There is no other place in the world that can boast of sitting on seven mountains/hills but Rome.

E.  Again, Revelation 17:18 tells us the woman reigns over the kings of the earth.

1.  Rome has ruled over kings and rulers for centuries.

2.  In 1951 the Roman Catholic Church had the right to guide the political thinking of all it’s members.

3.  Many heads of state are Roman Catholic.

4.  One pope declared, “Popes have the right to remove kings and emperors, since spiritual rules over temporal.”

5.  From 500 to 1,500 A.D. popes named, removed and replaced kings in Europe.

6.  European rulers, up to 100 years ago, went to the pope to be crowned the next monarch.

7.  In every papal coronation, the pope is pronounced as, “king of kings and ruler of rulers on the earth.”

F.  Keep in mind, the prophecies we read about in Revelation concerning this woman were written centuries before the Roman Catholic church was formed.

III.  Revelation 17:1 tells us the woman sits on many waters.

A. Revelation 17:15 reveals what the “water” represents

Revelation 17:15 15 And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.

B.  We know by this scripture, the many waters are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues.

 

C.  Roman Catholics claim 800,000,000 members or subjects. (catholics are referred to as subjects of the pope)

D.  Roman Catholicism has subjects in virtually every nation and part of the world.

E.  Since Catholics are expected to obey the pope without question, truly this woman sits on many waters.

Revelation 17:4 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:

IV.  Revelation 17:4 reveals more

 

A.  Cardinals where scarlet.

B.  Bishops and archbishops wear purple.

C.  The pope wears a crown of gold.

D.  They all wear gold crucifixes.

E.  Their rosaries are made of pearl.

F.  We’ve learned in our other lessons, Paul taught against wearing these as found in I Timothy 2:9.

Revelation 17:6 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.

V.  Revelation 17:6 speaks of persecution

 

A.  Of all persecutors of true christians, the Roman Catholic church ranks as number one.

B.  The Roman Catholic church has killed approximately 68,000,000 Christians in the name of the Church.

C.  If a person contradicted the pope or the teachings of the church, they were subjected to horrific torture and most times death.  (Describe some of them)

D.  If there was ever an entity that was drunk on the blood of the saints, it is the Roman Catholic

Church.

VI.  Revelation 17:5 refers to “Babylon the Great”

Revelation 17:5 5 And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.

A.  Let us look at a brief history of Babylon.

 

B.  There was a group of people wanting to build a tower that reached up to heaven.

C.  They wanted to make a name for themselves.

D.  They were showing their self sufficiency.

E.  According to their thinking they did not need God.

F.  This is true humanism.

G.  The very spirit and essence of Babylon is humanism.

H.  Nebuchadnezzar was the ruler of Babylon.

Daniel 4:30 30 The king spake, and said, Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?

I.  One night he is reminiscing of his great kingdom.

 

J.  He was assuming the position and power of the king of kings and ruler of rulers on the             earth.

K.  He was driven to the field as a wild animal, insane and not in his right mind until he acknowledged the supremacy of God.

L.  Belshazzar, the grandson of Nebuchadnezzar, was ruler now and having a big party.

M.  In his drunken state, he called for the vessels of the temple of God and began drinking alcoholic wine from them.

N.  While he was demonstrating his self will and great authority, a disembodied hand began writing on the wall.

O.  The message from God was, Belshazzar was weighed in the balance and found wanting.

P.  The spirit of Babylon will always bring the judgement of God.

Q.  Now for the name on her forehead:

1.  This is not a literal name but a description.

2.  It is a description fo the spirit of Babylon.

3.  Self will, self exalting, self reliant.

VII.  We derive from all this that the Roman Catholic Church is the Mother of Harlots.

A.  In Revelation 17:1 she is called the great whore.

B.  In verse 5 she is called the mother of harlots.

C.  A harlot with children is a woman who has had children with no husband.

D.  Throughout the New Testament, the true church is referred to as the Bride of Christ.

E.  The natural thing for a bride to do is to take on the name of her husband.

F.  If the true church of the New Testament is the Bride of Christ, that church will take on His name in baptism.

G.  We’ve already discussed the council of Nicea where the trinitarian format of baptism was adopted and Jesus name baptism was rejected.

1.  This is also the formation of the Roman Catholic Church.

H.  In the 16^th century, Martin Luther led the reformation leading millions to a “reformed”             doctrine.

I.  The Roman Catholic church held the council of Trent in order to attempt to prevent a mass exodus from their ranks.

J.  Many decrees were made condemning this Protestant movement.

K.  One decree was made stating that at least the Protestants had not forsaken the Mother Churches way of baptism.

L.  List the steps of reformation.  See attachment 1

M.  Tell the story of Bro Clark coming out of the hospital room and meeting the catholic priest.

IX.  Now, back to our original questions:

1.  Why are there so many churches?

Because of the daughters of the one mother harlot.

2.  Which one is right for me?

The one that baptizes in the name of Jesus.