Good morning, church family. Turn open in your Bibles to Revelation chapter 17. Revelation chapter 17. And as you are turning there, I want to make a few comments. First of all, happy Veterans Day to the veterans that are gathered here and on live stream. We cannot thank you enough for your service of sacrifice to our country. Number two, I want to remind everybody that on December the 3rd, which happens to be the first week of Advent, we will be celebrating baptism of several members, new members of our church family. And so that will happen on December 3rd. It's the first week of Advent. Thirdly, I want to just point your attention to this table before the pulpit, and I just want to thank the Flower Committee headed up by Belinda Buck Easter and others. This is a beautiful cornucopia, and the word cornucopia literally means horn, of blessing, horn of thankfulness. And so I am grateful for this beautiful display of our thanksgiving as a congregation. And so this is a period, a time of thanksgiving. And so I am thankful for all of you. And I pray that you're thankful for me and Susan, well, maybe Susan, and maybe me, I get thrown in. But I want to personally say to you, church family, I am thankful for every single one of you. Thankful for your prayers. Thank you for your partnership in the gospel of Jesus Christ. But most of all, thankful for the opportunity that we have to minister here to this community in West Ashley. So let's look at Revelation 17. And before I ask you to stand for the reading of Scripture, I do want to walk through our timeline. We are getting close to the end of the tribulation period. As you've seen week after week, I've shown this timeline. We are currently still sitting in the church age. In our future is the rapture of the church. The rapture is the catching away of those who are dead in Christ first. followed by those who are alive and are remaining. We will be caught up together with Jesus in the air, and He will take us back to heaven where He has been working on our behalf, according to John 14. He's been building our house, and we will be carried away with Him there. Our bodies will be transformed. and we will be in heaven during this last seven-year tribulation period. We will be with the Lord Jesus Christ. In fact, next week we will look at Revelation 19 and 20, and Revelation 19 actually talks about the wedding supper of the Lamb of God, and that we will all be gathered at that beautiful wedding, those of us who are in Christ Jesus. But then there's that period of time in Revelation 6, chapter 6, all the way to 18. We're going to finish up 18 today. And it is known as Daniel's 70th week. The angel Gabriel came and gave him the prophecy that there are 490 years determined for the Israelite people and for the nation of Israel. And so that 490 years has all elapsed except for the final seven years. 483 have already ticked off the clock. of God's prophetic fulfillment of Israel. But there is this final seven years, and we've walked over the last several weeks through this final seven years, known as the Tribulation, or the time of Jacob's trouble. And it's really characterized by three series of judgments. The seal judgments, followed by the trumpet judgments, and then there's this long period in the middle of the week, three and a half years in, and then following that is the seven bowl judgments. In the middle of the week, we learned several things. We learned, first of all, that the 144,000 evangelists that had been marked and sealed by God on the earth were to evangelize the world during that first three and a half years, and that they would then be caught up or raptured, as it were, and we find them in heaven with the Lamb in chapter 14. Furthermore, we know that the gospel, the eternal gospel, will be proclaimed to all of the earth during the middle of the week, enabling people to be able to come to Christ, to repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. And then, of course, we see in the middle of the week the beast out of the sea, the Antichrist, comes on the scene. And we'll talk a little bit more about the beast in chapter 17 here. And then he is also accompanied by the false prophet, or the beast out of the earth. And then, of course, we see that this beast out of the earth will give all of the accolades and worship and render everyone to worship the beast on the earth. And, of course, that beast has a number and his number is 666. And, of course, people cannot buy or sell without the number of his name or the mark on their forehead. hand and so we see here that during the middle of the week there's a shift and the Antichrist will violate his covenant with the Jewish people and he will then become this beast who actually wants to take over the world And there are 10 kingdoms that he sets up, and those 10 kingdoms, they will give their power to the beast, this Antichrist, and he will rule until the second coming of Jesus Christ. And so we are on the cusp of the last part of the three and a half years in Revelation 17. When we get to Revelation 19, we then see the Lord Jesus Christ coming with great power to the earth. to the Mount of Olives and he will destroy the enemies once and for all. And so that's really the timeline that we have before us. So if you can and are able to stand, please stand for the reading of God's word, Revelation chapter 17. And I'll just read the first several verses and then we'll pause and we'll talk about them and we'll continue on. One of the seven angels, who had the seven bowls, came and said to me, come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute who sits on many waters. With her, the kings of the earth committed adultery, and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries. And then the angel carried me away in the spirit into a desert. And there I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand filled with the abominable things in the filth of her adulteries. And this title was written on her forehead, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth. I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished. And then the angel said to me, why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and 10 horns. Father, this is your word. Lord, as we read these words, it's hard for us not to be overcome by the sheer abomination of it all. that in fact this will come upon our world as we know it. But Lord, we rest in the hope of Jesus Christ and his return. And so, Lord, as we study these two passages, these two chapters of Revelation, which culminate the tribulation period, I pray that you will give us a heart for evangelism now, that you will give us a sense of urgency of the gospel, and that, Lord, you will help us to rest in the hope of the coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen, amen. So, this morning I want us to just look at this. If you see in verse 5 there, the title on this woman's head, obviously this woman is a symbol, and the title given her is Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and of the Abominations of the Earth. And so, we see here Babylon itself. is identified with the woman. Well, what is Babylon? Let's do a little history lesson here. Babylon is the second most mentioned city in the entire Bible. In fact, it follows only one other city, and that is Jerusalem. Jerusalem. And so Babylon is a very important city in biblical prophecy and history. Number two, it was founded by Nimrod. If you remember, Dylan read Genesis chapter 11. Well, in chapter 10, It's often referred to, that chapter, as the table of nations, whereby the nations, the people spread out. And so we see here that Nimrod is the person who is identified, he's the great-grandson of Noah. He's the great grandson of Noah, and it says that Nimrod was a mighty warrior or mighty hunter before the Lord. Now, when it says before the Lord, it literally means in God's face. It's not of the Lord, it's before the Lord. He is in contrast to God, and he, of course, will lead the building of this tower in Babylon, for he founded it. It's interesting to note also that when God called Abram, Abram was the name of the man that God called. We know him more accurately as he became the father of many nations, Abraham. But Abram was called out of this area of the world, which is modern-day Iraq. If you remember from your school days, you remember the cradle of civilization is a place called Mesopotamia. And Mesopotamia literally means, the word literally means, between the rivers. And we see that two of those rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates. And that's the cradle of civilization, Sumeria or Mesopotamia, or as it's referred to in the Bible, the Ur of the Chaldeans. The Chaldeans is another name for the Babylonians. And so Abram was called out of this pagan, anti-God culture, and God was going to bring him to a new land. And so it's Abram, the father of our faith, who actually was called out of the city of Babylon. And, of course, we know that the seven heads of this beast, the Antichrist, the seven heads represent seven kingdoms that opposed God and oppressed the nation and people of Israel. And we know that the Neo-Babylonian Empire was one of those heads. In fact, it was the third head. And we'll talk about that in just a moment. But the Neo-Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar the Great was, in fact, from 605 BC all the way down to 539 BC, where they were overrun and attacked and destroyed by the Medes and the Persians, who joined forces against them. And it was Cyrus the Persian who would allow the Israelites to return after being exiled in Babylon for 70 years. years. They were allowed to return to Jerusalem. And then Babylon will be rebuilt. Every prophecy, future prophecy in Revelation and other books of the Bible point to the fact that Babylon will be a prominent city in the end times. It will be rebuilt. If you remember several years ago, 20 some years ago, it was Saddam Hussein who was the the premier or the king of Iraq, he wanted to resurrect Babylon. In fact, he had even minted coins with an inscription or a picture of Nebuchadnezzar on one side and him on the other side to represent the return of the Babylonian kingdom. If you know anything about the seven wonders of the ancient world, you know that one of the wonders was in Babylon. The hanging greens of Babylon was one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. And so we see here that Babylon figures prominently. But what is this woman? That leads us to this idea of asking, who is this woman and what does she represent? The first thing we see is that she sits on many waters. Do you see it there in verse two? At the end of verse one, she sits on many wonders. If you skip down to verse 15, you see here, it says that the angel said to me, the waters you saw where the prostitute sits, The waters where the prostitute sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. So you see here that this is again where prophecy again interprets itself. We don't have to ask the question, what are the waters and what do they represent? It specifically tells us. It's the keep reading principle. And so here we find that this is the global influence of this woman upon the world. She influences many peoples, multitudes, nations, and languages. Secondly, we see that she is riding the beast. We have already identified the beast as the Antichrist. Why is she connected to the Antichrist? Because he represents a political kingdom, a political power. She is riding him. Whenever you're riding something, you are going with them into another place. And so the woman is a spiritual influence upon the Antichrist himself. It also says that she is, in fact, dressed in purple and scarlet. This would symbolize wealth and royalty. And that she is drunk with the blood of saints and that she will be hated by the Antichrist and the ten kings. Look down there with me, if you will. Verse 12, it says, The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. And they have one purpose, and will give their power and authority to the If you skip down there to verse 16, it says, the beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. Do you see that? They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked, and they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish His purpose by agreeing to give the beast the power to rule until God's words are fulfilled. And then, of course, we see that the woman is actually identified in verse 18. Verse 18 says this, "'The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.'" Well, she is Babylon the Great, and she is the city that will rule over the kings of the earth. And so this woman riding the beast is nothing more than spiritual Babylon, a false religion that has influence over the world, spiritual Babylon. I think it's interesting too that a lot of people over the years have interpreted chapter 17 and the woman specifically with the Roman Catholic Church. I don't know if you've ever heard that before, that this was a an attempt to identify the Roman Catholic Church and the papacy as the woman who rides on the beast, noted by its wealth, noted by its persecution of those they considered heretics during the Inquisition, etc. However, I would argue that this is an anti-Christ religion, and our Roman Catholic friends do exalt Jesus Christ as the Son of God. They honor the Trinity And while there are many issues with the Roman Catholic Church down through the ages, there are issues with pretty much every single denomination because we're imperfect. People are imperfect. But I would not be in the camp of saying this woman represents Roman Catholicism. Instead, I would say that she is even more demonic than even that. The seat of pride and idolatry is found in Babylon. In fact, the Tower of Babel was a ziggurat. It went as high as 700 feet in the air, archaeologists tell us. Just to give you a frame of reference, The Washington Monument is 555 feet tall. So it was taller than the Washington Monument, 700 feet in the air. And it's a ziggurat. It is a stepped or a tiered pyramid, if you will. And it's, as Dylan mentioned earlier, they wanted to make a name for themselves. This is what the people in Babylon wanted to do. They wanted to become their own god. The idea of building this ziggurat was not to reach up to God, but to reach up to the heavens, to the stars. And this, of course, if you do any research, you'll find that Babylon is the seat, is the founding city of astrology and the zodiac. And it's interesting that the worship of creation rather than the creator is what God calls out in Romans chapter 1. We see here also that Babel means confusion. It means confusion or chaos, and that Babylon is the seat of a false religion, a false religion. And so we see here that the woman on the beast represents an anti-Christ religion. It's a way for us to worship the created rather than the creator. And, you know, if you think about the Bible this way, the Bible really has, it's a tale of two cities. First you have Jerusalem, the most mentioned city named in the Bible, and then you have Babylon, the second most mentioned city in the Bible. Well, Jerusalem means city of peace. Whenever you meet a Jewish friend or someone on the street and they say shalom, shalom is the word that they use, it means peace, peace to you. So the word Jerusalem literally means city of peace. This, of course, is God's city. This is how he came into the world through Jerusalem and he planted or chose a people for himself. Babylon literally means, as we have already determined, city of confusion, city of chaos. Can I share with you today that we see chaos and confusion in our world today? It is real, it is rampant, it is pervasive, and it is abominable. Where there is confusion, where there is no order, where there is no God over all things. When God has put on the sideline in society, then confusion will reign. The city of Babylon will rear its ugly head wherever we take God and put him on the shelf. Sadly, in America, that's what we're doing and have been doing. We're putting God on the sideline, and we're allowing ourselves to become our own gods. We are more interested in how we are than we are asking God to make us his own and to use us for his grand purposes. We see it. And when you have a culture like Babylon, where it's all about human achievement and elevating human status, It is in direct contradiction to God's loving plan for humankind. And I see it. Where there is confusion, there's an increase in crime, there's an increase in violence, there's an increase in lostness and darkness. The world that we live in is becoming darker, and I don't mean to be heavy today, but let's call a spade a spade. It's becoming heavy. It's becoming dark. People are more worried about what they are achieving versus surrendering to the Almighty God of the universe. Our church needs to be a light in the midst of this dark world. We need to hold up the Son of God, Jesus Christ Himself. We need to elevate the light that He brings to all men. We need to share the gospel that Jesus is on His throne and He is coming again. But we see that this woman represents a spiritual religion. You've heard it in the news over the years, a one-world religion, an ecumenical council that will bring everybody together. Well, we would maintain that there is no other faith, there is no other name given among men by which we must be saved than Jesus Christ our Lord. And that is the key. And so we come to the beast now, because if the woman is a false religion, and we talked about the beast a few weeks ago, but he says here that in verse 8, the beast, which you saw once was, now is not, and will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction. He has seven heads and ten horns. The seven heads are these seven empires, over the world's timeframe that have oppressed Israel. The first was Egypt, the second was Assyria, the third was Babylonia, the fourth is Media Persia, the fifth is Greece, and the sixth, when John is writing, is Rome, and so the Roman Empire. And then, of course, Israel ceased to be a nation in 70 AD as the Romans overran them. And so Israel didn't become a nation again, acknowledged by the other nations until 1948. And so now we're waiting on this final week of Daniel's prophecy, whereby the seventh kingdom to oppress Israel will emerge. And so this seventh kingdom is the seventh head. That's what the best explanation of the king once was, now is not, and will come up out of the abyss. The beast represents not just a man, the Antichrist. a human, he also represents the demonic influence and possession of Satan and demons in his life. He will seek to bring glory to himself. He is prideful, just like Satan was prideful. He was idolatrous, just like Satan was idolatrous, and so this Antichrist who comes up out of the abyss will be influenced by Satan. And then finally, it's the kingdom itself. The beast itself is the kingdom. It has a piece and part of every single kingdom that came before him. And then, of course, we see that they will form a political confederation because here we have the Antichrist becoming the head of the ten kingdoms. As I read earlier, the ten horns, verse 12, the ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received the kingdom, but who for one hour, that is a short period of time, will receive authority as kings along with the beast. They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. And that's what they do. They will assemble, they will confederate, and then they will give their political power to the beast. They will then wage war against this false religion because the beast, he is bent on power. And he will suppress everyone who opposes him or doesn't go along with his agenda. and then He will go and He will make war against the Lamb, Jesus Christ. Look at what it says there in verse 14, and this, incidentally, is our memory verse for the day. Verse 14 says this, they will make war against the Lamb, that is Jesus Christ, but the Lamb will overcome them because He is Lord of lords and King of kings. And with Him will be His called, chosen, and faithful followers." These are the saints. All of us gathered in this room who have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be with Him when He comes His second time, the second coming of Jesus Christ, because He is King of kings and Lord of lords. And so now we see what the beast will do. He will assemble himself and set himself against Jesus and all that is good. But then the woman who is destroyed or ruined by the Antichrist, that's just one aspect. The second aspect of Babylon the Great is not just a false religious system, but it is a world economy. It's a physical Babylon, or as it were, a commercial Babylon. A commercial Babylon. Who's affected by it? These sectors of society. Government, commerce, and maritime. Look with me in verse 1 of chapter 18. After this, I saw another angel coming down from heaven. It had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice, he shouted, Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great. She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit. A haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her. And the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries. Then I heard another voice from heaven say, come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues. For her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. don't know about you, but over and over and over in the Psalms we see the psalmist pleading to God, how are you going to make all things right? Why do the wealthy and the wicked prosper so much? Why is there so much victory for those who are against you? When will you bring justice? When will you, O Lord, punish the wicked?" And God continues to tell the psalmist, He continues to tell the prophets, my timing, Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord. And he does this over and over and over again. Well, we see the culmination of that judgment, that vengeance of the Lord Almighty here in chapter 18 on the city of Babylon. We see here three pronouncements of woes upon that city. The first one is found in verse 10. Terrified at their torment, they will stand far off and cry, Woe, woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power, in one hour your doom has come. And then down in verse 16, they will weep and mourn and cry out, Woe, woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls, in one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin. And then again down in verse 19, they will throw dust on their heads and with weeping and mourning cry out, woe, woe, oh great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth. In one hour, she has been brought to ruin. You see, the pronouncement of three woes is a symbol of completion, that in fact, government and commerce and the maritime will all be affected by the judgment upon this great city. The government is that which overrules or oversees all peoples. Commerce is that which allows for the buying and selling of goods and services between people and businesses. And the merchants, of course, the maritime merchant mariners, are the ones who deliver those goods and or services across the waters to various places around the globe. The Antichrist's kingdom will be plunged, it says in the sixth bowl, into darkness. Fifth bowl, I should say, into darkness. and the Antichrist himself will be brought to ruin. And so we see here that this is what will happen. This is a pronouncement of judgment upon Babylon, and we see very clearly why. Look at what it says there, beginning in verse 20. Rejoice over her, O heavens! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you. Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a millstone and threw it into the sea and said, with such violence, the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard you." Again, do you see the emphasis here that it is full and final, the judgment of God upon this city? And then he says in verse 23, the light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of a bridegroom and the bride will never be heard you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and the saints and all who have been killed on the earth." No, Babylon will fall because of her pride. Babylon will fall because of her idolatry. Babylon will fall because of her rebellion against God and oppression of Israel, God's chosen people. Because of the satanic influence. Notice what it continues to say that the satanic influence of this city is great. And it's insidious and it infiltrates every aspect of that city and its influence on the world. And then finally, the persecution of the saints. The woman was drunk on the blood of the martyrs. And we see here the city of Babylon will stand up against all of those who call Jesus Christ their Lord. And so we see the final destruction of Babylon is full and final. Babylon will fall, Babylon the great. The Bible is truly a tale of two cities. Are you part of the city of peace or are you a part of the city of confusion? Are you wedded to the bridegroom Jesus Christ or are you wedded to the harlot, the prostitute who sits on the beast? Are you in fact looking forward to the coming of your bridegroom? For he alone is worthy." Today, we have a decision. If we've never trusted Jesus Christ, then these pages of chapter 17 and 18, if the Lord comes during this time, there will be great judgment. But if you are part of Him, if you're part of Jesus Christ and His kingdom today, you won't even be here. Praise God. Hallelujah. I don't plan to be here. Where will I be? Where will you be? We will be with the Lamb of God at His wedding banquet. Amen? Next week, I want us to read these verses of Scripture. I want you to read chapters 19 and 20 of Revelation, as well as Isaiah 65 and 66, and then answer these questions. Who is invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb? Who comprise the armies of heaven? Who will reign in the Millennial Kingdom? And then finally, how will the dead be judged and what is their reward slash punishment? You know, one of the biggest questions I get when we get to this part of Revelation is the Millennial Kingdom. What's the purpose of it? I will identify the four reasons why the Millennial Kingdom is a reality, and why it is important in the plan of God and how we will play a part in it. That is next week. Believe it or not, we have only two more weeks of the book of Revelation. How many of you thought we'd never get here? Don't answer that question, okay? Because I could keep on going. But nevertheless, let's go to the Lord in prayer. And if you have never trusted Christ, you come and respond as we sing this hymn of invitation. And if you want to join our church, today is a perfect day to join our fellowship here at Ashley River. So let's pray. And as we pray, Ann Marie will come up and begin to help us, lead us in song. Father, we love you. We thank you for your son, Jesus Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords. And Lord, I confess that as I read these chapters of Revelation and the chapters before it, indeed, the whole of the tribulation period, it burdens my heart. I know, Lord, that you are just, and I know that you will punish the wicked. My prayer, Father, is that those that are in my life, I will never cease to tell them about Jesus. I know that my job is not to be the judge, praise God for that, but my job is to tell. And so, Father, I pray that today, as we read these passages of Scripture, that it will compel us, as it compelled Paul, to be ambassadors for Christ. to invite people into a relationship with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They will escape the wrath to come and they will participate in the wedding supper of the Lamb of Almighty God. We pray this in His name and for His sake and all of God's children said, amen, amen. Please stand and sing as we respond.