 Chapter 17. We're looking today at Mystery Babylon. I mentioned to the first service that when I put together my notes, I usually have seven pages. Today we have nine that tells you something. So we'll be here for a while. Just get ready. I hope you brought your pillows and you with your bunny slippers and blanket. You're going to enjoy this. You'll get a good nap. But I'll be looking at a lot of, I'm actually read more of my notes to you because I want to stay on track because there's so many things that you see here. And I don't want to start traveling on down a trail I ought not to go. So you'll notice that a little more than usual, I will be looking at my notes just to make sure I keep myself on track. We're looking at Mystery Babylon, beginning at verse one, Revelation chapter 17, reading to verse six. John writes, 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 10 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 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. So as we've already seen, not all the events, for those of you who have been with us in this study, not all the events of Revelation are recorded in chronological order. We have been looking at judgments and we saw that there are going to be a series of three judgments that will take place on the earth. We saw how there was the seal judgment, which led itself to the trumpet judgment. And then you have the conclusion of God's wrath being poured out on the earth in what are called the final judgments or the bold judgments. So you have the seal, the trumpet, and the bold judgments. In chapter 16, that chapter gave us events that immediately precede the second coming of Jesus Christ. We'll be looking at the second coming in chapter 19. So the events that are found in chapter 17 occur chronologically prior to the bold judgments that we looked at in chapter 16. They're giving us more insight into what's taken place that was leading up, in other words, to what are called the bold judgments. Now when we look at this, I've been mentioning this, and I have to be quick to say that a lot of times when I'm speaking to my fellowship, I make assumptions that are probably not correct. I forget that there are people that are watching right now online in a lot of countries who perhaps have never been with us in even a single study. And then I forget that there are people perhaps who are visiting today for the first time who may not have ever read in the book Revelation. And I'm assuming that you all know the things I'm speaking in. And we used to call that language Christenies, but what happens is we're speaking amongst ourselves and not being polite or aware that some may be confused. And that's why I want to take my time a little bit more today to make sure that the things that I'm speaking are clear and all of that. And so when I speak of tribulation, we're speaking really of the seven-year period of God pouring out His wrath on a Christ-rejecting world. This tribulation period is called tribulation, the first three and a half years. The second three and a half years are called great tribulation. So it's actually divided into two segments of three and a half years or so each. And so we've been looking at this period called the tribulation. People's rejection of grace, their unwillingness to repent, will be harshly dealt with. You see, it's a time when God pours out His wrath on a world that has rejected Jesus Christ. When we read the Bible just this last week when we celebrated Easter together, I made a point of pointing out that Jesus Christ is accessible, that Jesus Christ is loving and caring and He forgives and all of that because that's core of our beliefs that Christ took upon Himself. Our sin died on a cross, was buried, but the third day arose for our justification. That's called the Christian, that's a gospel. But we forget that there's an other portion that we don't really touch on concerning God, which is His wrath. Because not only is God gracious in that He sent His Son, but He also has wrath or an anger that He pours out on those who rejected Jesus Christ. And so, in His righteous anger, He's pouring out His wrath on those who rejected Jesus and through unbelief and hardness of heart, these are those who prefer their sin over salvation. Well, in preferring their sin over salvation, they leave themselves open to judgment for their sin. And God will bring judgment on the world for this. And this judgment is spoken of both in the Old Testament as well as the New Testament. For example, in the Old Testament, Isaiah 26-21 says, Behold, the Lord is coming out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity, and the earth will disclose the blood shed on it and will no more cover its slain. So, God is bringing His wrath to punish the inhabitants for their wickedness, for their iniquity. Psalm 75-8 says, In the hand of the Lord there's a cup with foaming wine, well mixed, and He pours out from it. And all the wicked of the earth shall drain it down to the dregs. So, God's wrath in many places is shown in Scripture in the Old Testament as well as the New. In the New Testament, God's wrath is spoken of in Romans 118, for example, where it says the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who, by their unrighteousness, suppress the truth. So, the time of God unleashing His wrath on earth is clearly seen in what is called the tribulation. The outpoint of wrath is referred to in chapter 6 as the wrath of the Lamb. Now, Christians will not taste of God's wrath because we have trusted in Christ, because Jesus delivers us. He delivers us from the tribulation. We are present right now. And He will also be with those who convert to Him during that tribulation. But we ourselves, present believers, will be delivered from the tribulation. We will not go through it. We will not go through the wrath of God in His judgment. Romans 5-8 and 9 says, God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since therefore, we have now been justified by His blood. How much more shall we be saved by Him from the wrath of God? In 1 Thessalonians 1-10, it says that believers wait for God's Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. So, in this passage, we're introduced to Mystery Babylon. Mystery Babylon is the tool of Antichrist. In chapters 17 and 18, Babylon is used as a picture of man's kingdoms on earth. Babylon is intended to be more than a city in Iraq, though there obviously is a literal Babylon in Iraq. But Babylon is intended to be more than that. Babylon speaks of something beyond the name that represents something else. We speak of Hollywood. And when you speak of Hollywood, you don't speak of it as just the city. When they say it's Hollywood, we're talking about the movie industry. Wall Street speaks of commerce or the stock market. Madison Avenue speaks of advertising. Detroit, we speak of the automobile industry. And Chino, we speak of flies. I mean, it all represents something different. Mystery Babylon speaks of a system that dominates the world during this period called the tribulation. It is economic, it is political, and it's religious. And it's established by the Antichrist. Chapter 17 refers to Mystery Babylon, the religious Babylon, if you will. Chapter 18 speaks of commercial Babylon. And so, we're going to be looking in Chapter 17. Today, God's judgment on the Antichrist's false religious system. By this point, Antichrist has allowed religion to continue as long as religion has suited his purpose. But God is now judging his false religious system. You see, Satan has taken advantage of man's innate urge to worship something. Man has something within himself and herself, mankind, that desires to worship something. The 18th century French philosopher, a man by the name of Voltaire, once said, if God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him. You see, Satan is aware that humans desire to worship something great. Somebody said, every human has an innate desire to admire, praise, and to be part of something greater than himself or herself. And that's true. And so, Satan has set up, the seeds have already been planted. But he has set up a kingdom that is modeled after God, because the intent is for him to be worshiped. In Isaiah 14 and Ezekiel 28, it's made very clear he was the worship leader of heaven, but because he desired to be like the Most High, he has what are called the five eye wheels in Isaiah 14, I will be like the Most High. I will set up my throne. His desire is to be worshiped. And so, as we read the New Testament, we discover that he has demon hosts that are disguised as angels of light, that he has ministers who present themselves as true ministers. He has a counterfeit gospel that's called the doctrines of demons. He has a false Messiah, antichrist, and a false spirit. You can see this in Galatians chapter one, as well as 2 Corinthians chapter 11 and 1 Timothy chapter 4. And so, these are all outlined for us. So, he has a counterfeit kingdom that he's already been moving into place. And he has a promise that he gives in his false message, and his promise is freedom. But the promise that he gives to us is always a lie, and it's intended to bring people into bondage. And it says that very clearly in 2 Peter 219, speaking of false teachers, where the apostle Peter said, they promised them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity. He said, for people are slaves to whatever mastered them. And so, Satan has given power to the beast, who has a false prophet. We've been seeing this as we've gone through Revelation, and he has a false religious system. Now, we know that there are religious systems found throughout the world, and it is this that the antichrist will take advantage of. You see, during his reign, the diverse religions will combine into one great world religion. And there are so many differences that we have, you would begin to wonder, is that even possible? Well, it is possible. All you need to do is drive, and after a while, you will see a bumper sticker that says, coexist with all of these different emblems of religion used to spell the word coexist. Yeah, it's already possible. It's already here. The seeds have been planted. Now, there are those who think that religion is repugnant. It's an idea that they really don't like at all. They think that it's not worth anything. But we know that religious faith is what keeps societies like our own alive. It is shared beliefs that develop social, what are called social mores, the customs of our society, the customs of our community, they're called social mores, customs. It is shared religious traditions that keep societies stable and actually bring unity to people. It provides a faith fabric that establishes social contracts. It is religion and the belief in the supernatural that transcends the barriers in society. It unites people around a common core of essential beliefs. And that's what makes some things acceptable and other things not acceptable. And there may be some watching right now, perhaps even here, who are saying, I don't believe that at all. Yes, you do. You just don't realize it. Well, I don't believe in a faith. I'd have a faith. I'd have a religion. I don't think that's true at all. Really, okay, you're standing in line. And as you're standing in line, you've been there for a good 20, 30 minutes and it's not moving too much. And you're starting to get irritated. You have other things to do. And as you're standing in line, somebody decides to walk and cut in line a few people in front of you. Do you say, oh, please do? Or do you have something inside of you that says that's not right? Well, the question has to be asked. Why isn't it right? Why isn't that right? Because you have a social more. You have a, you have a cultural contract, a social contract, because it's not right for you to sit in front of somebody who's been waiting patiently. That's why where'd you get that from? You got that from Jesus Christ. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you is so much a part of our fabric. We don't even realize it. So, yes, religion has unified us. Every law that you have in the United States, every law that we have is really just an extension of the Ten Commandments. Is it right to kill people? No. Is it right to steal? No. Why not? Well, that's what created our culture. And there are certain things or certain elements that are within cultures, all cultures that are pretty much the same or very similar. And so what Antichrist will do is he's going to have a religious system that taps into the core desires of human beings. His system's going to have an appeal to all religious faiths. He'll unite the essential elements. He'll have a religious system that rejects the true God and worships him instead, but he's going to unite the essentials. He's going to concentrate on accentuate the things that bring people together. He'll lead people to put into practice common precepts for goodness embraced by all major religions. Those things include the desire for love or the desire to benefit others. The process of making people better, human beings by living a truly moral life. He'll unite prayer, spiritual discipline. All of those things will be part of his religious system. And since human beings have the desire to worship something greater than themselves, he's going to be the center. I mentioned a moment ago, as you've already seen, he has a false prophet. He makes sure that people follow and worship him. Revelation 1312 says that the false prophet exercises all the authority of the first beast, Antichrist, in his presence. He causes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose deadly wound was healed. When Paul was writing in 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 4, he said that Antichrist opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped so that he sits as God in the temple of God, join himself that he's God. So John gave us chapter 17 and chapter 18 to clarify for us what is being judged. These chapters show us that the world system under Antichrist is being judged. And they give us insight into why judgment has fallen and its destruction. We're looking at mystery Babylon, the mother of all false religions and her judgment. So in verses 1 and 2, that was your intro. Let's get into our study. One of the seven angels from chapter 16 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 we were introduced to seven angels in chapter 16 who pour out the bowl judgments. So this would mean that John ties in the judgment with the seven last plagues. And John is invited to see the judgment that God brings on false religion. Notice it's referred to as the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters. And you'll see in verse 15 how he says that. But what does he speak of when he speaks of sitting on many waters? I'll just give you a real brief touch on that. We know that in ancient times cities would be built next to oceans, rivers or streams. You can see in Rome that it's built on the Tiber or England's on the Thames. You have Paris on the Seine. Munich has the Isar. Moscow has the Moscow. And Egypt has the Nile and Babylon the Euphrates. And so ancient civilizations, even fairly recent modern civilizations, would build on water sources. So it speaks of a city that you could immediately think of Babylon on the Euphrates. But in this case many waters doesn't only speak of a geographic location because again in verse 15 we'll see that in about two hours. In verse 15 this phrase speaks of people's multitudes, nations and tongues. So what this is referring to is the incredible influence that Mystery Babylon has on the world, not in a geographic location. Notice how in verse two he says with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. And so Mystery Babylon is not only an influence. Mystery Babylon dominates. Mystery Babylon dominates the unsaved world. It's not bound to a single location in other words. It's worldwide because the world wonders after the beast as it says in Revelation 13.3 all the world marveled and followed the beast. So this is a worldwide influence. And these are the highest levels of government that's being spoken of, power and influence. And he says those of that high level will fornicate with her. When he says they're going to fornicate, the word fornicate speaks of them being spiritually involved. They're going to be what are called true believers. They're obsessed with the system. They're fully committed to false religion. And not only are the inhabitants influenced, but the rest of the unbelieving world will be too. All the inhabitants of the earth are taken by this system. So verse 2 says the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. It reminds us of something in the Old Testament the prophet Jeremiah said in chapter 51 verse 7 where he said Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine. Therefore the nations are going mad. So her influence does not begin during the tribulation. Her influence has actually existed throughout history. You see the influence of mystery Babylon has already invaded all nations of the world even as I'm speaking. The seeds are already there. It is a worldwide deception. It's the rejection of the truth in the Bible and the substitution of Satan's lies. It's like all the way back in the book of Genesis in chapter 3 where the question is asked. The first question mark is placed in Scripture. The first question is asked and it comes out of the mouth of Satan himself. The serpent and he says has God said. So all the way in the very beginning when the serpent went into the garden and began to attempt Eve and all of that the first thing he did is he called into question God's word and Satan has done that from the very beginning and this deceptive religious influence has existed since ancient times. Babylon has been used as a symbol in Scripture. It's mentioned in Genesis chapter 11 and is associated with rebellion and confusion. Babylonian worship has long permeated the world's religious system. It's an ancient false system of worship influencing religion throughout the ages. The Babylonian worship system will be the accepted system under the tribulation. So the atmosphere needed for the acceptance of a mystery religion, mystery Babylon is already here. In our day Christianity is losing its influence in the world. I was looking at this just this week and I went to look at some research by an organization called Pew Research and Pew Research estimates that today there are 1.1 million Hindus, 1.8 billion Muslims but they estimate there are 2.3 billion professing Christians in the world. So with that said Christianity though it is numerically large is actually losing its impact and it's losing its impact here in the United States. A recent Gallup poll found that 66% of American adults born before 1946 go to church. 50% of baby boomers go to church. 58 rather. 50% of generation X go to church. 36% of generation Y millennials go to church and it gets less as you continue on. According to researcher Ryan Burge, an assistant professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, pastor of the American Baptist Church said in the next 30 years the United States will not have one dominant religion. Christianity is rapidly losing its impact on the West. Great Britain is a great example. Great Britain once sent out missionaries throughout the world. Today it has a population estimated at 66 million and in Great Britain the place that used to send all through the world missionaries 66 million population 2 million what are called evangelical Christians out of 66 2 million evangelical. I am an evangelical Christian. What is an evangelical Christian? Well we we our faith is centered in Jesus Christ. We witness our faith. We're committed to the truth of Scripture. We live daily for Jesus Christ. We're waiting for his return. Those are five of the airmarks of an evangelical. There's only 2 million of them in Great Britain today. I was recently listening to somebody speak and he said that around one out of four churches have closed their door during this COVID COVID time permanently. One church out of four closed their doors permanently. Their people no longer come to church and there's a growing spiritual vacuum that will be filled by this religious system. The New Testament contains many warnings concerning that time in 1st Timothy 4 verse 1 Paul said the Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. In the book of Jude verse 4 Jude said I say this because some godless people have wormed their way in among you saying that God's forgiveness allows us to live immoral lives. The fate of such people was determined long ago. They have turned against our only master and Lord Jesus Christ. In 2nd Peter chapter 2 verses 1 through 3 the apostle said there were also false prophets among the people just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they've made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them and their destruction has not been sleeping. So mystery Babylon is waiting in the wings even as I'm speaking. In many American churches feel good theology prevails. Verse by verse studies are not the norm. The Bible is disrespected. Rebellion exists concerning biblical authorities. Signs and wonders are exalted. False love with no discernment is confused with the fruit of the Spirit and grace has been twisted into permission to continue to sin. There are many pastors who are aware of the fact that people get upset and will cancel them in their church so they try to walk a very very tight rope to make sure they don't offend people. And yet I think that what has happened is people just don't read the Bible because if they did they'd have to read what Jesus said in Matthew 23 when he was speaking to the religious leaders and he said you're whitewashed tombs. He spoke in a way that you wouldn't you wouldn't think how is I thought God was love. You know what he's also just and righteous. I mean he took a whip and he and do you think he was smiling when he cast people out of the temple. Hi there. Happy birthday. No. God has that side that we we ignore that we ignore and we have to give the whole counsel of God the grace as well as the judgment. You see so the seeds are already planted and during the tribulation they will fully blossom. And so he speaks of this great harlot in verse 3. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns. So notice he says I was carried away in the spirit into the wilderness. The wilderness speaks of a dry waste land. You go to Israel as I was mentioning earlier before I began to teach and you will go through these areas and you'll say also that's what the wilderness is and you'll see many places like that in Israel because Israel in many areas is very dry and you'll see that. So this is a picture of lifeless religion. It is dry and there is no living water. That's why Jesus would say if you drink from him you'll have living water water that you can drink and survive. Well as he's in this wilderness he sees a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. Notice which was full of names of blasphemy. So she's on the scarlet beast. That reveals that the beast is supporting her. And it's really speaking here of Antichrist. You've already seen that in chapter 13 and chapter 14 as well as chapter 16. So this reveals that Antichrist religion is the unifying force. And there's going to be a temporary alliance that at first unites. We'll see in verse 16 at the end that that religious system is going to be dissolved. But notice again in verse 3 the beast is full of names of blasphemy having seven horns. So Antichrist takes for himself names and titles that only belong to God and he's going to not only be called by those but he will also speak blasphemies against God. When you look into the Old Testament speaking of the same thing you see in Daniel 1136 something about what has been referred to as another title of Antichrist and he's called the king or the willful king. And in Daniel 1136 it says the king will do as he pleases. He will exalt and magnify himself above every God and will say unheard of things against the God of gods blasphemies. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed for what has been determined must take place. And so in verse 3 the scarlet beast has seven heads, ten horns. That speaks of his alliances. We'll see that in a moment in verses 9 and 10. But the seven heads are seven mountains. Seven mountains are kings, five fallen when existing one future. The ten horns are ten kings who will rule as subordinate to the willful king. Now notice how she's dressed. The woman was arrayed in purple verse 4 in scarlet. 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 so as you look at her she is she's called a harlot which is another word for a prostitute. And prostitutes could and often did and still do. Address dress in such a way as to draw attention. And mystery Babylon is no different. When it speaks concerning her the color she's arrayed in purple. Purple is the color in scripture of royalty. Scarlet scarlet is red. It's a picture of prosperity but it is also a picture of redemption. Gold and precious stones would just give to us the insight she's very successful in her work. She has a golden cup filled with an intoxicating drink. And that again was common in ancient mystery religions. A cup of drugged wine would be given to the person who was was worshiping. And that would be a picture of a false spirit. So she gives her followers wine because adults are senses it excites their passions and it renders them unable to discern truth from error. And that's what happens. I have a few people if I look out I I can tell you which ones who used to drink. I'm not looking at you John. And all I would need is a mirror really to be honest with you. And anybody who used to drink to excess knows this that at a certain point you're not able to think clearly. You just can't. You may think you are. You may think you're the sharpest knife in the in the box but you're not. You're just you're being dulled. Your senses are being dulled because that's what alcohol does. And so that's a picture of this that that that she has deceived them and put them into what would be called a spiritual stupor. They're dulled. They don't understand what's taking place. And early mystery religions that's what they would do with the practitioners. If you wanted to be initiated into a particular Greek will say religion they would also drug you because what it does is it makes you incapable of thinking and making good decisions. And that's the picture here. She's a seductress. There's a false spirit that is stupefying the people and they're being deceived. Verse 5 tells us on her forehead a name was written. Mystery Babylon the great. The mother of harlots and the and of the abominations of the earth. And so that's what she's known as. And so she's a picture of the world's resistance to God himself. Her influence great. But she is the source of all false worship in the last days. And as John is looking verse 6 I saw the woman drunk with the blood of saints with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus when I saw her I marveled with great amazement. She is a savage beast. She has a lust for violence. She destroys believers. Sometimes people in our day and it's not just our day. I'll be honest with you. It's been for as long as I've been a believer and I'm certain it's been for years long long before that that but I have had as a pastor many experiences with people who who get offended and angry because you present what the Bible says. We try to do a verse by verse and contextualize it presented properly. That's what we do. And then you have people some who get upset and angry. It wasn't that long ago that a friend of mine was telling me that he was works as a police officer and was being briefed by the whoever they call that guy before they go out on patrol. And he said that the guy said he used my name. This guy who told me goes to our church and he told me he said your name was mentioned in a briefing. He said really he said yeah that the guy who was doing the briefing said you're a teacher of hate and that you have hate speech. And I said really is that right. Well I've graduated really. But see that's what happens so see if you tell what is true if you try to be and I'm not I'm not asking you to admire me forgive me if it even sounds that way but I'm saying is when you teach the truth there are people who don't know how to respond to it and sometimes they do get angry and sometimes they will call your names and all of that and that happens and the reason that people like me will tell you what the truth is is because we want you free. We don't want you to be in bondage and the truth sets you free so we'll tell you the truth. See and that's what we do but not everybody appreciates that and so the real picture of this woman is that she's savage. She has a lust for violence. She destroys believers. But John is dazzled. He's shocked. He's astonished. He's even a bit confused at what he sees. You see on the one hand she's a picture of beauty but on the other she's filled with murder and so as he's looking and marveling in verse 7 it says the angel said to me why did you marvel. I'll tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her which has the seven heads and ten horns. Why are you confused? What is this that is puzzling you? What is it that you're seeing that you have trouble with? You see John knew that the woman was false religion. He knew that the beast was antichrist but what he seems to be puzzled at is the connection between the false religion and the antichrist and so in verse 8 it says the beast that you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition and those who dwell on the earth will marvel whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is and so he begins to speak to him and so when it says the beast that you saw was is not and will ascend that would speak of his supposed death and resurrection. The fake resurrection will be used to deceive the world and it's at that point in chapter 11 we saw this that antichrist will be possessed by a powerful demon from the abyss. The beast is of satanic origin. Chapter 13 of Revelation as you may remember reveals that Satan gives him his throne and power. The result was that the earth would marvel after and follow him. It says in verse 8 those who dwell on earth will marvel whose names are not written in the book of life. The ungodly are the ones whose names are not written in the book of life. Those whose names are written in the book of life are believers and so the unbelieving world will follow after the beast. The religious system will be their belief system. People who have been converted through the witnesses so many witnesses that are taking place during the time of the tribulation because there will be there will be 144,000 evangelists there'll be two angels there'll be an angel there'll be two witnesses there'll be a continuation of of witnessing to bring people to faith and they're going to come to faith in Christ they will not be deceived because they know the truth and it set them free but the rest of the world marvels and follows after the antichrist and are devoted to his religious system and so he says in verse 9 here's the mind which has wisdom the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits there are also seven kings five have fallen one is and the other has not yet come when he comes he must continue a short time the beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth and is of the seven and is going to perdition and so he begins to outline the angel begins to outline and explain to him and that's why in verse 9 here is a mind which has wisdom and the mountains the mountains represent seven successive kings and their kingdoms mountains in scripture are used often to represent a kingdom authority or an empire uh psalm 30 verse 7 is an example a lord when you favored me you made my mountain stand firm but when you hid your face i was dismayed in verse 10 he speaks of seven kings five fallen the other has not yet come etc one is and the other has not yet come that reveals successive kingdoms throughout history five great empires already existed and had ceased egypt and assyria babelon medle persia and grace one is would speak of the world government existing in john's day which was rome one empire is yet to come that's antichrists what would be called his initial coalition now in verse 10 notice the seventh empire which is antichrists will not last long it's short duration it will develop from the ten nation confederacy and so i'll say this briefly out of the seventh empire that's that ten nation confederacy will come the antichrists this will exist antichrists will receive his apparent mortal wound he's going to fake his own resurrection he'll become the leader of what is called the eighth empire verse 11 he will in himself be the eighth empire now verse 12 the ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast these are of one mind and they will give their power and authority to the beast these will make war with the lamb and the lamb will overcome them he is lord of lords and king of kings and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful isn't that refreshing after all we've been reading to see that praise the lord for that and so we'll look at that in verses 12 and 13 these are ten nations that are not in existence during the time of john they're not in existence these are what would be called end time empires under antichrist these are empires that will be a coalition that take orders from antichrist it's interesting how it says here he's going to have some effect on three of the kings and that's up for supposition not everybody knows exactly very few people would be able to speak with any authority and what exactly that means but in daniel chapter seven verse eight it says while i was thinking about the horns there before me was another horn a little one that's another name for antichrist he's also referred to as the little horn which came up among them and three of the first horns were uprooted before it this horn had eyes like the eyes of a man in a mouth that spoke boastfully so something's going to take place in the ten nation confederacy or three of those nations are going to be dealt with in a different way but what happens is verse 14 14 they will make war with the lamb and the lamb will overcome them he's lord of lords and king of kings and those who are with him are called chosen and faithful this is a war that we'll be looking at in a couple of weeks in chapter 19 we're going to be looking at armageddon it's when Jesus returns and when Jesus returns these evil forces will be arrayed against him but they will be destroyed we'll look at that in some detail obviously when we get to chapter 19 but i'm now closed by reading and kind of sharing a little bit then he said to me in verse 15 the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are people's multitude's nations and tongues the ten horns which you saw on the beast these will hate the harlot make her desolate and naked eat her flesh and burn her with fire in other words a religious system is going to go until antichrist doesn't need it any longer and will turn against the religious system for god verse 17 has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose to be of one mind to give the kingdom to the beast until the words of god are fulfilled and the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth are we ready for this i believe that in the united states and i'll kind of share a little bit with you and as i'm about to conclude are we ready for this we're living in a time when the seeds of this kind of religious system have already been planted and and people like myself and others who attempt to faithfully give the word of god are often not listened to because we're looked at as being kind of weird and and and you know uh just odd you know you believe that nonsense and all of that but all you have to do is look at the at the nation that we live in right now and ask yourself how did we get here how did we get here and and it's not as if you hate your your nation i love our nation i love the people of our nation i want to see god move in our nation i want to see the churches come alive and i want to see people saved i i i i served in the military of this nation i was willing to if i had been put in the position i would have died for this nation it's not that i don't love my nation i love my nation but i also see what's taking place in this nation listen when i grew up and yeah okay that's ancient history i might as well give you a little but i grew up in a time when listen we we grew up in a different way we grew up my my generation grew up in a different way we grew up in a time like i'll give you an example my dad i could not speak with disrespect to my father my my dad got angry at me on one occasion i still remember because he had called me i was maybe nine years old or so and my my dad called me said david and i said yeah and my dad said what did you say yeah to my father was almost swearing at him now does that make sense any here the older yes the younger are you kidding me you know but the older we understand that you do not disrespect your father i was taught that when you're in a bus and an older woman or an older man gets on the bus what's old anything older than you pretty much if you see gray hair in the face or they don't have any hair that's an old person you stand up and you give them your seat anybody get raised that way i was raised that way if an older person walked into the room if an older person walked into the room as a young boy i was told to stand up in respect because you rise in the presence of the agent that's what you do my parents taught me to do that did i call my neighbors by their first name no it was mrs jones mr jones why you show him respect even to this day i call my mother-in-law mrs lopez because that's respect for her that's how i was raised no i wasn't a perfect kid many of you know my testimony i did a lot of bad things but my dad and mom taught me certain things that i helped fast to because they were right grew up in a time when it's uh it's easter or it's christmas and during christmas you had jewish comedians like a guy named jack benny look him up you can google him he was a jewish comedian who had christmas specials and he didn't run off the stage holding his heart saying you said jesus he welcomed him to sing christmas songs why because america at that time actually believed that religion mattered you didn't steal from your neighbor you didn't swear in front of ladies you didn't act the way that people act today and have no concern over it if you were on a bus and an older person came i was taught to stand up and offer him my seat but you can see pictures today where this old woman's holding on to the the rail trying to stay up while these kids are in their iphone do i hate kids yeah no do i hate do i hate young people no of course it's a different world a different world somebody walks up to me and they did on occasion not many times and they want to talk to me about god because there were evangelical christians before i got saved and they would say can i talk to you about jesus i would respectfully listen to him i didn't say good out of here you're hurting my feelings give me a safe space i didn't do that and i actually went to college in a time when the professor wasn't trying to brainwash us but give us information to make up our own minds and so we were we had the right to to reject we didn't get canceled oh you you believe this is oh no no you can't believe this if you if you we won't buy your product or we won't say hi to you in the hallway and and i'll be honest with you you know i'm a i'm a pastor it is true people like me and my friends were canceled and i don't care what do i care if the world cancels i don't care jesus christ accepted me i don't care if the world and that's just the way you're not supposed to worry you're not supposed to it's not that you want to be hated you know it's not that you go out of your way to be hated is that you accept that that that that people don't always like you and that's okay it doesn't matter i'm not running for office what was it that jill biden said jill biden said something that made me laugh what was it she was speaking to cc cc pavadwe or something like that what what are you saying she said pavadwe i said what what what what anyway that that made me laugh i i i couldn't believe that what are you trying to say stop it just stop it we're not stupid come on anyway um that's the world that we live in so you can't go to church you can't worship you can't gather well if you had a tattoo parlor or a strip joint you can but you can't go to church because that's a super spreader and people accepted that i think it was wise for us to listen and to and to do what we could do to make sure that i didn't lead you into a place that could hurt you but after a while we began to realize you know what i care about my sheep if you want to come to church i'm not going to keep you from coming here if you want to get into the word i'm here to teach you if you want to have fellowship it's up to you i'm not forcing you but people like me and others are being called oh you guys hate you guys hate well wait a minute if it's a if it's a protest or a riot that's okay but getting together in church to worship jesus isn't no you're crazy i don't listen to crazy people i'm going to follow jesus christ and he says gather together we do we are careful and i don't want to come off weird and i and i'm moving in a direction i probably shouldn't go i understand but what we wanted to do is give you opportunity to make a choice we have we have places to to be seated with your mask on and i respect you i respect you any concerns you may have i respect you i'm not here to dominate your faith i'm to help your joy and if i can make it a place for you to feel safe and be able to get into the word of god that's why we're on on air right now online no you're not a lesser citizen in the kingdom we respect and love you but at the same time let's get together and worship jesus christ this is what we is what we're called to do right but i've watched how easily people are led just led and i see people drive by with their windows rolled up in a mask i want to grab the mask and let it go when i see him crossing the street to get away for me because i don't have a mask i just trip on that that's an old word it means that that confuses and amazes me the seeds have been planted to accept a religious system the church has already been put into a corner and the world is pressing you may not see it but it is you're living in a different day freedom of speech is still a protected right that we have and when people say you can't say this that's where the line is drawn and i say you don't tell me what i can say jesus christ tells me what i can say the line is drawn no and now that's that's not being that's not being rebellious no that's just being aware of our rights that god gave to us paul made use of his rights when he made his appeal to caesar he says to caesar i will stand he appealed to his rights as a roman citizen and so i'm not saying that we should rebel what i'm saying is the seeds are already planted pastors have already begun and happened for a while but more so now they've been aware that the churches are shrinking or disappearing entirely they're afraid to say something to cause the people discomfort but my dad was never afraid to tell me something that caused me discomfort why did he say it because he loved me he wanted to protect me and keep me from making mistakes as a pastor that's what god has called me to do to tell you the truth and i do some appreciate it some don't those who don't there are plenty of places you can go where they'll tickle your ear until you're giggling out the door there are other places like this one they'll say no this is what it says can we agree to obey jesus christ it'd be blessed by him because that's what he said that's how it worked and in the last days we're already seeing it and what happens and i'll close quickly here first seven in god has put it into their hearts to fulfill this purpose to be of one mind to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of god are fulfilled so god is going to destroy this evil satanic empire and god is even using satan as the instrument and though they may unite thinking that they're going to rule they're actually drawn together for their destruction and god ultimately and thrones himself as god and he is the world leader and those who are pretenders will be destroyed and antichrist fall system and antichrist evil rule will be destroyed and until that moment comes we must preach the truth of god do so with courage do so loving him do so with honesty get into god's word study his word come to bible studies get involved so you can grow be prepared and learn how to communicate the truth of god if you're able to be at a wednesday night come if you can come up to one of the women's things do so if you can be there at 6 30 for the men do so because we're living in the last days we want to be prepared we want to be ready because one of these days and isn't that long from now we will see Jesus christ face to face and i want to hear well done when i see that and father we ask that you would work within us today that you would have your way within us today our hearts are open to you lord and our desire is to honor you and so lord have your way and even as our eyes are closed and our heads about there may be some right now in this room we need to get right with god or perhaps one of the overflows are watching online obviously i can't see the overflow or those online but i can't see those who are here and if you need to be right with the lord if your heart is straight away or you've never even come to him before this will be your opportunity if you need prayer and you say god i want to be right with you as our eyes are closed right now would you raise your hand and let me pray for you right where you're at just raise your hand that i might see you father you see these hands you know the reason why they're being raised to you i ask in jesus name that you would reach down and touch every person whose hand is raised and father have your way in their life we would yield ourselves to you we will follow you we'll be in your word lord will learn to pray we'll fellowship with those who love you and lord will tell others we will learn and we will share so work with us now washes and cleanses lord fill us with your presence and lord we will follow you thank you lord for forgiving us of our sins we bless you you can put your hands down and jesus please work in us to your glory in your name amen