Carnegie Auditorium, Pittsburgh, Pa.
Tuesday, March 19, 1963
Kathryn Kuhlman
- Revelation 17:1 to 9.
People are literally scared stiff regarding the future, but we have the brightest future. Our future is all planned for us. Whatever you do, DON’T BACKSLIDE. This is no time to backslide. We are living in the closing moments, the closing hours of this dispensation. At any cost, at any price, STAY TRUE TO JESUS!
We are now in this portion of the Word of God that is very deep, the 17th chapter of the Book of the Revelation. I the Holy Spirit shall open your understanding to the deep truths of the Word.
Remember something. This is God’s Word. You may walk down the steps of Carnegie Auditorium this evening and say all manner of things about me. I don’t care what your opinion is of me, but don’t get the idea that these are my words. THIS IS THE WORD OF GOD, AND GOD IS GOING TO KEEP HIS WORD. Your opinion will not change it; your own personal theology will not change it; all the forces of hell will not change it; all the powers of this world will not change it. Man will never change “THUS SAITH THE LORD.” This Word of Prophecy will be fulfilled. The very things I am giving you tonight will come to pass. THIS IS TRUTH! Know that. That which is given here in the 17th chapter of the Book of the Revelation will take place. It is prophecy now, but one day it will become history.
I will not be finishing this 17th chapter of the Book of the Revelation; I shall not finish this chapter, until I am dead sure that you know exactly what I am talking about, and you have it all straightened out and the Holy Spirit has made it very clear to your understanding.
In the first place, I want to give an introduction before we go deeper into this 17th chapter. As I told you over and over again that wherever there is a genuine, whenever it comes to spiritual things, whenever it comes to the things of the Spirit, wherever there is a genuine when it comes to God and the things of God, the devil has a counterfeit. I have told you that thousands of times. And right now, at the very beginning of the truth that is found here in the 17th chapter of the Revelation, you must understand that as surely as there is the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, as surely as He has His Church, and as surely as there is a genuine body of believers, the Church of Christ, so surely will the devil come along with a substitute because he has counterfeited everything else. Therefore, he counterfeits this also.
For just a few minutes let us consider the question as to just what is THE CHURCH; the genuine. You must first of all know what the genuine is like. If you didn’t know what the genuine was like, how in the world would you know the counterfeit from the genuine? Some people do not know the counterfeit from the genuine because they have had no connection whatsoever with the genuine. They would not know what you are talking about when you talk of the True Church.
There are many Presbyterians who feel whenever you say “the Church,” there is only one church, and that is the Presbyterian. I can take you to Baptists who absolutely believe, that if you are not a Baptist, you are going straight to hell. They are that narrow. You take any denomination, and you will find folk in that denomination who feel if you are not one of them – there are folk who are Greek Orthodox who believe that everyone in heaven will be Greek Orthodox. There are literally thousands and thousands of Roman Catholics living and breathing tonight who believe if you are Protestant, you are going to hell and only those in heaven are going to be Roman Catholics. There are Protestants living tonight who feel all the Roman Catholics are going to hell and only Protestants will be in heaven. They are sincere in their beliefs.
What is the Church? What is the genuine? You have to first of all know that before you can tell the difference between the genuine and the counterfeit. First of all, remember, THE CHURCH IS NOT A CONTINUATION OF THE JEWISH DISPENSATION UNDER ANOTHER NAME. Don’t you ever think for one minute the Church, His Church – when the Bible speaks of His Church, the Church, and there is just one – that that Church is a continuation of the Jewish dispensation under another name. It is not. Because I told you over and over again, the Old Testament saints, the prophets, never knew anything about the Church. It is never spoken of in the Old Testament.
It is not the kingdom. If you read the Word of God, the Church is compared to a temple, to a body. It is likened unto a body, but never a kingdom. You cannot find anywhere in the New Testament where whenever the Word speaks of the kingdom that it ever means the Church. They are two entirely separate things: the kingdom and the Church. They are not the same.
But one thing I can tell you, in the Word of God the Church is called “the mystery” by Paul. Turn to Ephesians, the 3rd chapter, verses 3 to 6. Paul now is talking about the Church. Get everything I say because I am talking about the genuine. There is no use to talk about the counterfeit until first of all you get a clear picture of the True Church. Paul said in verse 3:
“How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; …”
Ephesians 3:3
He calls the Church a mystery.
Verse 5:
“Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.”
Ephesians 3:5
Therefore, we know, it is not a continuation of the Jewish dispensation.
Verse 6:
“That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel.”
Ephesians 3:6
Oh, that is so beautiful. Therefore, we know from this portion of the Word of God that the Church is a mystery. I can’t understand it. I can’t tell you how. I cannot explain to you the mystery of being a part of the body of Christ. We are a called-out body.
Turn to Ephesians, the 1st chapter, verse 22:
“And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church.”
Ephesians 1:22
Who is the head of the Church? Christ. CHRIST IS THE HEAD OF HIS CHURCH. Write that down. That is all important. That is one of the most important things that makes the difference between the genuine and the counterfeit. This wonderful body of believers that we call the Church, His Church, it does not have some human being at its head. It doesn’t not have some minister, some bishop, some Pope at its head. The head of the Church of Christ is Christ Himself. That is the Word. “… and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22 and 23.)
I am giving you Scripture. I have got to back up everything I say tonight with Scripture, because I am giving you something that is most important.
Now, see something in I Corinthians, chapter 12, verses 12 to 20: “For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. Continue reading on down to verse 20: “But now are they many members, yet but one body.” Beloved, the Church is not an organization but an organism. The Church is not some great system. Oh, we have gotten to the place where everything is a system; a great organization. We are organized to death today. That is all we hear – system and organization. I believe in it. But when it comes to His Church, the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the church is not some great system. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is not an organization. HIS CHURCH IS AN ORGANISM, just as the human body is an organism.
When a man is BORN AGAIN, it makes no difference whether that one has had a Roman Catholic bringing up or background, whether that one is a Protestant, whether that one is Jew, whether that one is black or white. It makes absolutely no difference. When that one accepts Jesus Christ as his Saviour, it is what we call BORN AGAIN, regenerated. I like
that NEW BIRTH. When one has that new birth experience, he is born into the body of
Christ. He becomes a part of the body that Jesus Himself is head of. Jesus Christ is head of that body. I cannot tell you whether I am part of the feet – sometimes I think maybe I am. I can’t tell you whether I am a part of the little finger, but all of us, when we are BORN AGAIN, become a LIVING, VITAL PART OF HIS BODY. Therefore, His Church is not a system, His Church is not an organization, but it is an organism.
I Corinthians 12:15:
“If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?”
1-Corinthians 12:15
That is the reason the whole body suffers if one member of the body is not faithful or is not true.
Isn’t it amazing? You know, you get to the place where you feel it, too. For instance, if there is some precious child of God – you know they have been born again, and they do something that is not right, you feel it so within yourself because you know they have brought a reproach on the rest of the members of the body. You wonder why there is that oneness among us. It is like that.
I have met some folk that I never saw in my life before. And yet, when they came up to me and just shook my hand, I felt as though I had known them all my life. there was a oneness.
A system doesn’t do that to one. Organization doesn’t do that to one. It is when you are a part of a great organism. The Body of Christ is something that is LIVING, VITAL. It is something you are BORN INTO and you don’t join it. You have to know that because that is the genuine. You have to know what the genuine is like before you can understand the counterfeit.
This Church, this wonderful Church that I am talking about, His Church, is to be His Bride one of these days. At present, the Church is a virgin espoused. I’d better give you the Scripture on that, because you have to have it when it comes to the 17th chapter of the Revelation. Turn to II Corinthians 11:2:
“For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
2-Corinthians 11:2
To whom was he speaking? To His Church; to those of us who are a part of this great body, this great organism.
Now, today, this very time I am speaking to you, the Church. There are members of His Church in every church building in the City of Pittsburgh, but all the folks who worship in all of these church buildings are not members of His body. I have got to make this plain to you and just as simple as possible. Get that! I dare say there isn’t a church in the City of Pittsburgh, I don’t care what the denomination is, you name it, and I don’t care whether you name all the Catholic churches and all the Protestant churches, and some that may not come under the category of either one, yet you will find in them folk who are a member of this glorious organism that I am talking about. But just because you are a Catholic, and just because you are a Protestant, and just because you do belong to some church – and you may attend faithfully – does NOT mean that you are a part of this great organism and that you are in the Bride of Christ.
At present, this great organism is a virgin espoused. We are engaged to Him. And this Church will be the Bride of Christ and one day, after the great Rapture of the Church, there will be the Great Wedding Supper of the Lamb. I mean literally a big wedding.
I thought about that when they had that great coronation, when Elizabeth was made Queen. Oh, they made such a fuss over that coronation. I was so fascinated and intrigued by it. Then I thought that is nothing in comparison to the Great Coronation we are going to attend when we get home to Glory; the Great Wedding Supper of the Lamb.
This is real what I am talking to you about. Now, you must hold in mind that the Word of God, in referring to this wonderful organism, refers to the Church as a virgin.
Here in the 17th chapter of the Book of the Revelation, we see the counterfeit of that which I have just given you the Word of God on regarding the genuine, and I told you that wherever there is the genuine Satan always has a counterfeit, the harlot of Satan.
You talk about the Word of God, of proving the Word. The Spirit has been very careful to make it so very simple and reveal these deep truths to those who are hungry and have an open mind.
The genuine, the Bride of Christ, is subject to Him and under His control. The counterfeit, in the word of God, is spoken of as a harlot under the subjection of Satan, under his rule and under his domination.
Let’s read Revelation 17:1:
“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 judgement of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.”
Revelation 17:1
He is speaking to John. “… I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore…” An absolute contrast to the chaste virgin. The Church is the chaste virgin, a chaste virgin espoused to one husband. We are seeing the exact opposite. Therefore, we know, right at the beginning, it has to do with religion. It has to do with religion because the virgin in the Bible, always refers to the Church; and the exact opposite of a virgin is a whore. You know exactly it is the counterfeit.
Here comes the counterfeit. Revelation 17:1: “… I will shew unto thee (to you, John) the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters.” What does that mean? It means she rules and dominates the nations religiously just as the beast, who is the great world ruler, dominates and rules the world politically. You must keep that in mind. The great whore, the counterfeit church, rules the nations religiously and from the Word of God here, “… sitteth upon many waters,” shows that her following is almost universal.
Before I get through tonight, I will show you something that is the most thrilling thing. I will give you proof, before I am finished tonight, that every word I am giving you here in the 17th chapter of the Revelation is the truth. Don’t you say you don’t believe it. The Master, before I get through tonight, has given one verse of Scripture that gives proof positive of what I am giving you here.
Here we see the whore, the harlot of Satan, the counterfeit, ruling and dominating the nations. As she rules religiously, we have the beast and, as I told you before, those of you who followed me in the messages on the taking of the mark of the beast, there is coming a time in the future when no man or woman will be able to buy or sell without the mark of the beast, and the beast is the one who rules politically.
But here is something that I have never heard. To be perfectly honest, I have never heard anyone speak on the Word of Prophecy. You can understand why. I have been with you, lo, these many years so where could I have gone to hear anyone? But I will tell you, the best teacher in the whole world is the Holy Ghost when you seek knowledge. “Blessed is he who hungers and thirsts… ” Oh, how I hunger for the Truth of the Word, people. I have never known physical hunger as I have known the hunger for the Truth of the Word. I have been hungry in the sense of wanting food. I have known what it is to be hungry, but the greatest hunger I have ever known has been the hunger for the Truth of the Word. I have cried out to Him for the knowledge of the Word. The gift that I covet more than anything else in the world is the gift of the knowledge of the Word, because these are the things you don’t get out of books; these are the things you don’t get out of a seminary. They are only taught you of the Spirit. “FLESH AND BLOOD HATH NOT REVEALED IT UNTO THEE, BUT MY FATHER WHICH IS IN HEAVEN.”
These things that I am giving you tonight, I am giving you as they are spiritually revealed unto me. And believe me, even as I speak to you, I do not know everything. Maybe six weeks from now I can come to you and say – Let’s go back to the 17th chapter of the Book of the Revelation because He has given me more. For it is only as “we walk in the light, as He is in the light,” that He reveals these things unto us. And the closer we come to the last moments, the nearer we come to the end of the times of the Gentiles, the closer we come to the time when the door is opened in heaven, the more the Holy Spirit will reveal to us the deep Truths of the Word of Prophecy. He keeps revealing the deep truths, even as the sun shines upon the rose bud and the petals begin to open and the rose is in full bloom.
Watch something. We know that the whore, the false church, is religion, and she will rule religiously. We know that the beast is the great world ruler. We know his characteristics, we are acquainted with his personality, when no man can buy or sell without his mark, either in the hand or in the forehead. But here is something that is one of the most astounding things in the world.
As John sees the false church, as John sees this woman, as John sees this vision of the whore, where is she? “The great whore that sitteth upon many waters: 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.” (Revelation 17:1 and 2.) Watch it.
That is absolutely contrary to the espoused virgin. The espoused virgin, the Bride of Christ, keeps herself CLEAN for Him. She does not get entangled with the world. No. She does not get herself all messed up with the things of the world. She is still in the world, but not of the world, because she is keeping herself clean, and righteous, and pure for the One to whom she is espoused.
But the whore –
“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.”
Revelation 17:2
Verse 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
Revelation 17:3
horns.”
Where is she? She is “sitting upon the beast.” Watch that third verse. She is literally seated upon the beast. In other words, SHE RULES THE BEAST. The false church, this great harlot of Satan, the one who dominates the nations religiously, literally is dominating the politics of the world. There will come a time when a religious system will dominate the political things of this earth. You say, how do you know? It is here. He saw “a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” Who is the woman? The harlot of Satan, the one who rules the world religiously. Where did John see her? Seated upon a scarlet coloured beast. She rules religiously and rules the beast. It is there.
Verse 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.”
Revelation 17:4
It does not say one thing about silver. Do you want to know where the greatest amount of gold is today? In Rome. You ask any guide – even the guides who take you through the Vatican will tell you that in the Vatican they have some of the world’s greatest wealth. Not one will deny it. They are proud of it; they boast of it. It does not talk about silver. No. “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 abomination and filthiness of her fornication.”
Verse 5:
“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,
Revelation 17:5
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.”
Watch this. “Mystery.” And indeed she is a mystery. She is a mystery because is a mystery because she is not the Body of Christ. She is a mystery because she is not the Bride of Christ. She is a mystery because she is not an organism. Therefore, she is a mystery to God. This is something. A mystery – MYSTERY, BABYLON. Now, Babylon of old was the enslaver of God’s people. I told you to go back and read your church history. If you really want to get your eyes opened, go back and read your church history. You will find, in reading your church history, that the Babylon of old was the enslaver of God’s people. But as bad as it was, it will be exceeded by its religious counterfeit. That is the reason it is talking about MYSTERY, BABYLON, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS. In other words her offspring are numerous.
Do you want to know something? This is one of the hardest things I have had to do and yet, I have had to do it because it is God’s Word. Don’t you think for one minute it is easy for me to give this. But as a servant of God, I have got to be true in giving out the TRUTH. Watch now.
Verse 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.”
Revelation 17:6
Admiration here is not the meaning we know of the word. It means I wonder with great wonder.
Verse 7:
“And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.”
Revelation 17:7
Verse 8:
“The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”
Revelation 17:8
Next Tuesday evening I am going to tell you what that means, “The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; … “
I told you I would substantiate everything I said before you left tonight. Let me read:
“And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.”
Revelation 17:9
(Verse 9.)
“The seven heads are seven mountains, …” It is something that is very familien to anyone who studies history. In all of our literature Rome is always referred to as the seven-hilled city. The seven-hilled city here is indicated as the seat and center of the woman’s almost universal authority and influence. “The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.” Follow me.
Verse 18:
“And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”
Revelation 17:18
The Papacy and Rome cannot be disassociated. Rome is the city. The woman is the system which has its seat in Rome.
Watch. Go back to verse 15: “And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.” He substantiates and gives us the answer to everything that John saw in the beginning of the 17th chapter of the Book of the Revelation.
What I have given you is the Ward of God. Look up just now and thank God that you are born again. Oh, the security, the satisfaction, the peace. There is only one real life insurance policy. Thank God, we have taken it out. All the rest are death insurance. May we rejoice in the Lord knowing that WE BELONG.
PRAISE THE LORD!!!
