耶穌基督的啟示─啟示錄  

接下來我們將來看啟示錄十七章1-6節： 

拿著七碗的七位天使中，有一位前來對我說：你到這裡來，我將坐在眾水上的大淫婦所要受的刑罰指給你看。 

地上的君王與她行淫，住在地上的人喝醉了她淫亂的酒。 

我被聖靈感動，天使帶我到曠野去，我就看見一個女人騎在朱紅色的獸上；那獸有七頭十角，遍體有褻瀆的名號。 

那女人穿著紫色和朱紅色的衣服，用金子、寶石、珍珠為妝飾；手拿金杯，杯中盛滿了可憎之物，就是她淫亂的污穢。 

在她額上有名寫著說：奧祕哉！大巴比倫，作世上的淫婦和一切可憎之物的母。 

我又看見那女人喝醉了聖徒的血和為耶穌作見證之人的血。我看見她，就大大的希奇。 

貫穿整個教會歷史，許多人認為此『大淫婦』指的是在教會和羅馬帝國結合後所興起的機構性教會。此教會嫁給世上的權力，採取地上的方式，組成一大行毀壞可憎的機構，逼迫忠心的教會。 

此假冒的教會『穿著紫色和朱紅色的衣服，用金子、寶石、珍珠為妝飾』，似乎貼切地描述羅馬教會，她很快成為世界最浮華有錢的機構。直到今日，她比大部分國家都還富有。 

而她『喝醉了聖徒的血和為耶穌作見證之人的血』，似乎貼切地描述對忠心信徒的猛烈攻擊，例如一切不服在羅馬教會之下，不願承認教皇是教會的頭之人。 

正如歷史上每位對羅馬教會持有這種觀點的改革者，當我們知道時該如何做呢？我已經表達了我的立場，這可能真的應驗教會與世界權柄的結合，但也比那更大。可能每個新教運動都在某種程度上在做同樣的事，或者陷入其中的一些陷阱中。我們可能對某個機構宣稱教皇地位是教會的頭，如同基督合法地位感到義憤填膺，但又有哪間教會沒把其領袖放在同樣位子上呢？至少在教義上。我們可能對向死去聖徒禱告感到震驚，但許多教會甚至還沒有等到他們死，就讓領袖成為基督中保的位子。『在神和人中間，只有一位中保』（參考提摩太前書2:5）。因此，很重要的是我們不譴責其他運動或教派，而是在他們的錯誤中學習並擁抱歷史的教訓，好讓我們不繼續重蹈覆轍。 

我們也必須謹記在心，在羅馬天主教會中興起一些最偉大的運動、佈道家、使徒與真正的聖徒，持守對主的真理。一些我認為與主最親密同行的人都是羅馬天主教徒，在整個教會歷史中，羅馬天主教似乎對聖靈敞開的程度不亞於或多過任何教會或宗派。

我的重點是，我們不能掩飾或掩蓋教會的歷史，但我們必須為導致這些歷史悲劇而悔改。我們也應當嚴肅看待導致教會機構化，走向『巴比倫─大淫婦』的原因。我們必須學習這些功課，好讓我們不在我們個人的生命、教會或運動犯同樣的錯誤（請參考哥林多後書5:16-17）。 

所以，我們從今以後，不憑著外貌（原文是肉體；本節同）認人了。雖然憑著外貌認過基督，如今卻不再這樣認他了。若有人在基督裡，他就是新造的人，舊事已過，都變成新的了。 

 (摘自喬納 word for the week, Week11, 2018)

 
The Revelation of Jesus Christ—The Book of Revelation
       Next we will cover Revelation 17-1-6:  

       Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters,

      with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication."

   So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

   The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication.

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

    I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement (NKJV). 

       Throughout church history, many considered this “great harlot” to be the institutional church that arose from the union between the church and the Roman Empire. This church married the powers of this world, taking on earthly ways and forming a great abomination that would persecute the faithful church.

       That this counterfeit church would be “arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold, precious stones, and pearls” seems a fitting description of the Roman church that quickly became one of the most ostentatiously wealthy institutions in the world. To this day, it is wealthier than all but a few nations.

       That she was “drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” seems an apt description of the onslaughts against the faithful, such as The Inquisition that was against any who did not submit to the Roman church and acknowledge the Pope as the head of the church.

       As virtually every reformer in history held this view of the Roman church, what should we do with this knowledge? I have already shared my position that this may have been literally fulfilled in the church that joined itself to worldly authority, but it is also much bigger than that. Possibly every Protestant movement went on to do the same thing on some level, or to fall to some of these traps. We may be outraged that an institution such as the papacy would claim to be the head of the church in Christ’s rightful place, but which church has not placed leaders in that position, even if not doctrinally? We may be appalled at the practice of praying to dead saints, but many churches do not even wait for them to die before making them mediators in the place of Christ, the only mediator between God and men (see I Timothy 2:5). Therefore, it is crucial that we not condemn other movements or denominations, but rather that we learn from them and embrace the lessons of history so that we do not continue to fall to them.

       We must also keep in mind that some of the greatest movements, evangelists, messengers, and true saints emerged from the Roman Catholic Church and remained true to the Lord. Some of the people that I think may have the closest walks with the Lord are Roman Catholics. There are now over 100 million born again, Spirit baptized Roman Catholics. Throughout history, the Roman church seems to have been open to the Holy Spirit as much or more than any other church or denomination.

       My point is that we cannot gloss over or cover up the history of the church, but we must repent of what led to these great tragedies of history. We should also take seriously what led the church to institutionalize and then go down the road to the point where it became “Babylon, the great harlot.” We must learn these lessons so we do not make the same mistakes in our own lives, churches, or movements (see II Corinthians 5:16-17).