"The Great Whore"

Revelation 17:1

The standing symbol of false religion in the Word of God is whoredom. When men and women worship for God that which is not God, give their hearts to false gods, or institute doctrines, ordinances and practices into the church to replace what God has revealed and appointed, they have begun to practice adultery and fornication. Their religion is whoredom. Their church is a whore. And when they go to their places of worship in the name of God, they are going to a brothel to buy gratification for their carnal hearts (Jer. 3:6-9; Ezek. 16:28-37; Hosea 1 and 2; Rev. 2:22). The woman which John saw in his vision is called "the great whore", because she represents all idolatry, false doctrine, and false religion in the world. This old whore was not born yesterday. She has been around for a long, long time. She is the mother of all harlot churches and abominable doctrines that have ever existed in the world. They all come from the same womb.

I would be remiss in my responsibility to God and to you, if I did not plainly identify the most prevalent and most damning form of idolatry this great whore has produced in our day. It is not the worship of stocks, stones and statues. The whorish religion of our day and our society is the worship of a god who is weak, frustrated and defeated, the worship of a redeemer who tries but fails to redeem, and the worship of a spirit who seeks but is not able to save. The time for pretty speech and polite words is gone. The souls of men, the gospel of Christ, and the glory of God are at stake! With Solomon of old, I warn you to stay away from the strange woman "which flattereth with her words." Free-will, works religion is the house of the great whore. "Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death." "Let not thine heart decline unto her ways, go not astray in her paths."

Don Fortner