Well, go to Revelation chapter 17, and I'm going to also suggest, if you're not real good with finding things in your Bible, that you also find 2 Thessalonians 2. Just stick a piece of paper or your finger in there, because we're going to turn there, and I want to be able to get to it quickly so we can then look at it. One of the ways I did learn my New Testament and how it's laid out, this might be helpful to some of you who are newer with the Bible, is the epistles that start with a T all are together. And it starts with the biggest word, Thessalonian, then the middle word is Timothy, and the smallest is Titus. And so it goes 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, 1st and 2nd Timothy, and then Titus. So if you find a book of the Bible starting with a T, you're right there. And just start going one way or the other. If you're looking for Thessalonians, it's gonna be going to the left, because these are the first ones. So find that as well, and that'll speed things I'm going to read specific portions out of Revelation 17 for us today. So hear now the word of the Lord. Revelation 17.3 says, And He carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast, full of blasphemous names, having seven heads and ten horns. in verse 8 down to the end of the chapter. The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to come up out of the abyss and to go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth will wonder whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they see the beast and that he was and is not and will come. Here is a mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. And they are seven kings. Five have fallen. One is, the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must remain a little while. And the beast, which was and is not, is himself also an eighth, and one of the seven, and is one of the seven. And he goes to destruction. The 10 horns which you saw are 10 kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they receive authority as kings, with the beast for one hour. These have one purpose, and they give their power and authority to the beast. These will wage war against the lamb, and the lamb will overcome them, because he is the Lord of lords and the king of kings. And those who are with him are the called, and chosen, and faithful. And he said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. The ten horns which you saw and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire. For God has put it in their hearts to execute his purpose by having a common purpose and by giving their kingdom to the beast until the words of God should be fulfilled. And a woman who you saw is a great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. May the Lord bless his word. This is a challenge for me. The challenge is to balance the many details that are in this chapter and the temptation to go off and chase some of them to their fullness is very strong, but also the need to proclaim the central message of this chapter, which is God's sovereignty over everything, which includes even Satan and his evil. And so my goal is to give you enough of the details not lose you in those details and then show you how this chapter is in fact a wonderful chapter showing us how God's sovereignty truly is present and real and how it affects even entire world movements. Now we have two characters. I introduced them to you the last message. There's the harlot and the beast. I jokingly said that in that sermon you would hear the word harlot more than you've ever heard in your life. And I think I was right. You're going to hear the second most number of times the harlot. today. So just get comfortable with that word. The characters are the harlot and the beast, but what it's really about, and we saw it, is that God is judging the harlot and also promising the eventual destruction of the beast. So all of this is not about just cool prophetic details that you can write down in your notebook and think, well, this is fascinating. It's really all about you seeing that God is going to bring about justice. He's going to fix everything that you and I see as broken, or as Matt would say in his series in Ecclesiastes, all that havel, that twisted brokenness that is part of the human experience. Last week, we focused on the harlot specifically, and we learned several things. This is just to bring you up to speed, so we'll go fast here. The first and most important is that this chapter is showing the judgment of the harlot. So it's not about the harlot just for the harlot's sake. It's to show you that God will destroy her. Second, we learned that the harlot is identified as being Babylon. That's specifically stated in verse five. Knowing that not all of you agree with how I approach the book of Revelation, I just acknowledge that, but I want you to acknowledge that. That it expressly calls her Babylon, and then later on in verse 18, it calls her a city. And so, one thing or another, I am simply taking this to be a city, but also a spiritual force that ultimately is personified and embodied in this city called Babylon. And that's how I approach this. She is actually a spiritual influence that goes through the ages and manifests itself in false religions. And it comes in many, many different forms and shapes and sizes. So if you're in Africa, in the bush, it's gonna look like one thing. If you're in Tibet, it's gonna look like another thing. And if you're in India, it's gonna look like many different things. And if you're in America, it's gonna look like another thing. But they're all the same package. They're all being driven by this one who is known as the Mystery Babylon, the harlot, who brings with her all of these spiritual corruptions. The third thing in her is that there is a fullness of idolatry and all of the evil that accompanies that idolatry. She is defined that way. That's what she is described. That's what's meant by, in fact, the word harlot. The Old Testament uses that, adulterous or harlot, as a way to describe the spiritual state of nations, especially Israel. that when Israel abandons God as the true God and they go and worship in the various idolatrous practices of the nations around, he calls them that they are acting as a harlot or as an adulteress, either way or both of them. And one of the things that comes with that is as they go and begin to pursue those idolatrous practices invariably, they also partake in the evil deeds that are attached to that practice. And so I made this simple point that wherever you see broken, twisted living today, where good is called evil and evil is called good, there you find her influence at work. So what's going on right now in our federal government with the FBI and the presidency and all of the other aspects Involved and you starting to see the levels of corruption and and the kind of twisted thinking that's going on there And you say what's going on well what's going on is you're seeing a group of people across the aisles who have essentially sold their soul for the purpose of gaining more power and behind all of that is the working of the harlot and That's all it is. That's what's going on. That there's much more than just simple plans and plotting of humanity doing their own thing. There's something far greater working that and moving all of that along for a greater end that they see, even though they will not ultimately achieve what they desire. Fourth, we saw that the earthly powers then are essentially selling their souls to gain even greater power. So the kings of the earth literally essentially worship her and come to her and they pay homage. And we've talked about this in various ways. I've encouraged you to read a book by Lutzer called Hitler's Cross. I think it does an excellent job of showing historically how this looks. She uses that lust for money. She uses the lust for power to her purposes so that her influence can flow freely. And that's all you see. Every single human institution ultimately becomes corrupted because there is something pressing them, along with their own fallen, broken sinfulness, to move in a direction where truth ultimately falls apart. And that's what you just see all around the world. Yesterday I watched a video that was disgusting and heart-rending where there was a fundraiser for a pro-abortion non-profit and a girl who is a well-known, fairly well-known comedian, she was up there joking about the foolishness of making any type of abortion legislation that would limit that. And she was joking about she would be happy to eat the fetuses of aborted children. And everyone's laughing and hooting and hollering. Where does that come from? Where do you end up where that becomes your punchline? What happens? Well, it's this. It's this woman. It's this harlot, this spiritual power that's working where everything continues to roll into the state of corruption. And when that ultimately is fully corrupted, they destroy themselves. They fall in, they collapse. And she just simply, behind the scenes, discards it and moves on to the next one. And that's all you see, is a rise and fall of kingdoms and kings throughout the ages, and she continues right through as this thread. Now the greater message in all of this is that God is tearing down the kingdom of Satan, and He is establishing His kingdom. We're going to see that established in chapters 19 and 20, and it's going to be wonderful. I hope you'll be really encouraged. But what's happening is he is just systematically dismantling these things, and he's prophesying through John that these are what will happen. So he's already said in chapter 13 that Babylon has fallen, and now we're with Babylon in 17 and 18, and we're watching him dismantle Babylon in its broadest sense and in its most narrow sense. Next week will be in its narrow sense in chapter 18. This is all part of the overarching picture of the Bible. In Matthew 6, don't turn there, but in Matthew 6, 9 and 10, the Lord says, this is how you ought to pray. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. He's not saying that Your name is holy. He's saying, may Your name become holy on earth. And then He says, may Your kingdom come And you will be done where? On earth as it is in heaven. The acknowledgement by the Sovereign Lord Jesus that in fact His will is not accomplished on earth in one sense. Another sense it is. And a yearning for that. And it's tightly tied to His Kingdom. It's tightly tied to His name being holy. And that's what we'll begin to see when God establishes His kingdom. And so what He's doing is He's dismantling all of this here in Revelation before our very eyes. Through Jesus Christ, already these powers are defeated. Already, right now, God is declaring His victory through His church. As you and I, as a church, stand faithful to the faith, to the doctrines, to the truth of the gospel. Across this world, men and women forming the church simply stand each Sunday and they proclaim their rebellion against the works of Satan as they stand and say, my hope is somewhere else. And so when you read the letters of the New Testament, there's this reminder of what a citizen of a kingdom looks like. We spent a lot of time doing that in Ephesians. All of that is saying you don't live in conformity to this world. And to the degree any one of you in this room right now is living in conformity to the philosophy and the passions of this age, you are literally rebelling against your father. You are fighting an uphill battle. And if you think you'll win, you're a fool. You'll lose. You can't. Any more than your four-year-old will ever win, ultimately, against you. God calls us to be a unique people, a different people with a different set of convictions and a different set of desires. But it's not simply to fix us, it's because we belong to a whole different realm and age. And all of this will culminate in the book we've been studying in Revelation, where ultimately the earthly reign of Jesus, and then from there the renewing of all things into eternity. This is also a story of sovereignty. So many people stumble over this word. Here's the fancy word for it, theodicy. But all it really is, and many of you have heard people talk about it, is if God is good, why is there evil? Why does God allow evil and why are there wars and sicknesses and why are there types of things that can just destroy the lives of human beings mentally and physically? This is not a God I want. And so it's something that theologians debate and discuss and there's all kinds of books written on it, but it's really not a big issue. The reality is there is evil. God has allowed evil and uses evil and works with evil. But only God, being good and perfect and infinite, is able to take that and use it for His own purpose. From Genesis to Revelation, there is definitely a message that is clearly stated over and over and over again. And that is that God will take evil and it will become His tool for His goodness. Always and this chapter talks about that but you can see it starting in Genesis all the way through you see Satan come and deceive Eve and then and then Adam Sins and willfully brings sin and death into the world. He's like, oh my goodness But then you read Ephesians 1 4 and it says that before the foundations of the earth were laid Meaning there was an Adam and Eve before there was a Garden of Eden before there was a serpent before there was anything God chose us in Christ Jesus. That means that before sin ever entered the world, God had already determined sin would enter the world. And that not only sin would enter the world, but He would use it for His purposes and that He would choose out from among humanity those who are His that would be safe in Jesus Christ. And why? For His glory and to display His glory. The real problem is not the problem of evil. The person who says that either there is no God, or the God that is, is not a good God. That's the common way. There's no God, or if there is a God, He's not a good God. Either way, I don't want Him. Those people are not stumbling over that. What they're really stumbling over is the sovereignty of God. They do not believe, and they do not want to believe, that God really has the utter, absolute, total right to do what He wants, when He wants, to whom He wants, and never have to explain Himself. Yet the Bible says, who are you, O man, to answer back to God? And that offends us. But if you'll let the Bible just simply say what it says, you'll find that the Bible is not embarrassed over it. The Bible just simply lays it out and we are to call to accept it. So over the centuries in countless ways, the powers of the spiritual realm and this physical realm has sought their ways and continues to do that. And each and every time it ends up working out for the plan of God and for his glory. I often think how frustrating it must be to be Satan. You hate God. You seek to work your evil against God. You have massive power in this universe and in creation. You can work unseen by the humanity. You get to do all of this, and yet every time you work your plan, it ends up backfiring on you. And so for the last several millennia, all he has watched is time after time after time, it doesn't work out the way he wants it to work out. And it's just hurtling that way to the end, and that's what we're watching here in this chapter. Now, with that all in mind, let's look at the meaning of the beast. We're going to be dealing with a lot of details here. All I can say to you is if at some point you're like, okay, I'm done, I've lost it, just hang with me and then listen to it again and have your Bible open and follow along and we'll work with it. A lot of this has been stuff I've already taught before in Revelation, it's not brand new, so in many ways I can just simply point you back, especially to chapter 13. Some of you I've asked you As a pastor you should read the book of Daniel And some of you have done so I trust and so this will also make a lot more sense because you've been reading Daniel For those of you that heard me say you should read Daniel and you know, uh-huh, but you haven't read Daniel I'll say it a few more times in this sermon you really should read Daniel and You will start to see where John is drawing a lot of this information and where I'm drawing a lot of this information plus it's just a It's just a cool book. I mean, where else do you get people thrown into fiery furnaces and lion's dens and stuff like that? I mean, come on, you gotta admit, that's not like an everyday occurrence. So it's just a fun book to read anyhow. I jokingly tried to assign it to Matt Miller to preach to next. He said no. We'll work on his rebellious spirit. So, the meaning of the beast. In chapter 17 here, the first thing you want to understand and keep is just like the harlot, the beast is both many and one. He's many in the sense that there are multiple political powers described here. There's these horns and kings. Just understand that at times when John is looking at the beast, he's going to be looking at multiple kingdoms across centuries. And so you have to just see that, that there's this political power going on, and it's working with and under the harlot. But at the same time, there comes a point where it stops being many and becomes one, one entity, one person actually, who also is one power and one city known as the Antichrist. In chapter 13, verse 1, that's your introduction to this beast. It says there, I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, the same image as here. And on his horns were ten diadems, and on his head were blasphemous names. And so, there's your introduction in chapter 13, and now we're having an extended dealings with it in chapter 17. Again, I would recommend that if you're really unclear on some of this, that you just go back and reread my notes online or listen to the sermon on chapter 13. It's a two-parter. You only need to read or listen to the first part. But suffice it to say that the person that this is talking about is the one the Bible says is the Antichrist. In fact, in chapter 13, that's where the unholy trinity was revealed, where we saw the dragon, who is Satan, and we saw the first beast, which was the Antichrist, and the second beast, who is then described as the false prophet. And these are the unholy trinity. In chapter 13, the idea of many and one is still present because he describes then again with this image in verse 1, the multiple kingdoms, but they're all being driven by one power. Same way with the harlot. There's all of these religious systems flowing around and false doctrines and idolatrous practices, but they're all flowing from one source. Same thing here. So here is where you wanna turn to 2 Thessalonians and you'll see another passage that fascinates people and where it dovetails into what we're doing. In 2 Thessalonians 2, 1 through 12, I'm gonna take you just verse by verse through it and make some quick comments. In verses one and two, we see the reason for Paul's writing this. He says, now we request you, brethren, With regard to what? The coming of the Lord. So he's now going to talk to him about the coming of the Lord. And secondly, what? What is it? Our gathering together, right. So there's two points here. He says, I wanna talk to you about Christ's return and also our gathering, notice the word, together to him. And so those are the two topics that he's gonna focus on. And notice that there's a why. So that, in verse two, you may not quickly be shaken from your composure or disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. So now we have another term, the day of the Lord, which is a key passage or term throughout the Old Testament leading up to the New Testament and looking to the final days. So he's clearly talking about the end of time, last things, and he wants them to be stable. He doesn't want them messed up. People have come in and are telling them other things that are not true, and he is correcting them. Now verses 3 and 4, he then does some clarifying. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come, what's the if, It's the day of the Lord. So He now gives us markers. Unless the apostasy, not just a general apostasy, but the apostasy comes first. And second, the man of lawlessness is revealed. What is He also known as? The Son of Destruction. So these two things have to happen. Don't worry about it. You didn't miss the second coming. That's what's going on with them. Did we miss it? Were we left behind? Did we not gain? I mean, we're in trouble. What do we do? And he's like, look, it's okay. Two things got to take place. The apostasy and this one called the man of lawlessness must be revealed. What is he like? Well, it goes on in verse four, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called God or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. So he's saying that this one will actually establish himself in the temple and proclaim himself to be above all other gods. So, we have liars teaching lies to the church, messing them up, getting them up, and he says, look, these two things must occur. So, what we're seeing there, frankly, if you compare what's going on there with chapters 13 and 17 and 18 of Revelation, you just see it's the same thing. Then in verses 5 and 6 it gives him a reminder. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now. So again, he's now talking about that son of destruction. What is restraining him? so that in his time he may be revealed. So he said, look, I've already taught you all of this. Just remember that. I say that only because there are some people who think you shouldn't teach on prophetic things or last doctrines or last things because they're divisive in some way. And Paul would say, well, I did. Why don't you? I taught you, you should remember these things and you should know them well enough that you're stable. And then in verses seven through 12, he says this, for, and now he's gonna go extend it into some details, for the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Now notice, he doesn't call it a man or a person. Right now it's the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Here we see that many, that also will become one. There's a spirit, if you will, of lawlessness. And it's already at work, only he who now restrains it, that is likely speaking of the spirit, will do so until he is taken out of the way. So what is restraining that complete lawlessness and complete evil? It is the spirit of God at work, even there holding back that full work of evil. And then it says, and then, when he's taken out of the way, then that lawless one will be revealed. Now we go from the spirit of lawlessness down to one person. And then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will slay with the breath of his mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of his coming. So this lawless one who will be revealed will be destroyed when? Right at the end of the verse, shout it out. Not just Jesus. His coming, right. So we're given time periods and markers, and so now there's a spirit that's working right now that's lawlessness. The spirit is resisting that and holding that back. God will pull that back, and when that happens, the spirit of lawlessness will now become a person. You will see him as a being, and that is the Antichrist, and then Christ himself will destroy him. And when will he do it? He'll do it at his coming, and you're gonna see that in Revelation 19. That is, the one, verse 9, who's coming is in accord with the activity of Satan. So now we see that it's not Satan either. It's somebody who is brought along by Satan. And we saw that in chapter 13, that when the beast came up out of the abyss, that Satan gave him the power. Satan gave him the ability to be this great religious power where everyone then abandons all of the other aspects of religion and they come and worship him alone. He has all the power and the signs and the false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. In other words, God will give them their king. God will give them the one they want. He will give them the Jesus they think they want. All of you in this room who are currently saying, I don't want Jesus, I don't want this, I don't believe it, I reject it, I don't think it's fair, I don't, that's fine. It's not fine, it breaks my heart, but it's fine. That's between you and God, and what you will find is if you're living during this time, God will be glad to unveil for you your God. He will give you Antichrist, and he will be everything you want, and you will flock to him, and you will bow to him because he fulfills your desires. He fulfills what you think God should be, and then he'll destroy you because you are rejecting the true God. And for this reason, God will send upon them. And you say, well, I'll think about it. I'll think about it. I've got time. No, you don't. For this reason, God will send upon them, those who are saying, I don't like this. I don't agree with this. I got a different view. I believe different things. He will send upon them a diluting influence for what purpose? So they might believe what is false. There will come a point for some, they will get to the point where they think they got it all together and then they will find out that all has happened is that God has taken their heart and he has sent this deluding influence and they cannot discern truth anymore. They will just simply believe the lie until they perish. Why? in order that they may all be judged who did not believe the truth but took pleasure in wickedness. May God have mercy on those souls. This passage is describing what we're looking at here in chapter 17. So go ahead and go back there. That there's this lawless one who is both a spirit, a deluding influence, and a spirit of lawlessness who then becomes one person who then ultimately Jesus slays when he comes. Back in chapter 17 in verse three. We see that he's under the power of the harlot at this point, and that's the idea of her sitting on him. And so she is the one working through him, and he is essentially in servitude to her, but he hates her. And of course, with all things evil, all things wicked, ultimately it all falls in on itself because hate never supports or loves. He is also, in verse 7, part of the mystery Upon her forehead an angel said, Why do you wonder? I shall tell you the mystery, both of the woman and of the beast. Together they represent this mystery. They're not two separate mysteries, they're just one. They're inextricably linked. In fact, for you and I to try to discern where one ends and the other begins is something we cannot do. nor should we try. Just understand that as you're watching the various political powers rise and fall, and you're watching the spread of lies and false teaching and idolatrous practices, it's just the harlot and the beast, that spirit working right now among us, that's all that's happening. Remember, when the Bible uses mystery in the New Testament, it's very simple. It just means it's something that up to that point has not been revealed and now is revealed. In verse 8, the beast is given, as we learn now, is a false image or an imitation of Jesus Christ. He says, the beast that you saw was and is not and is about to come up. Now what's he talking about? Now I dealt with this image already in 13, so again, go back and listen to that sermon and it'll make a lot more sense. But in a nutshell, in verse three it says this of chapter 13. I saw one of his heads, talking about the beast, as if it had been slain and his fatal wound was healed. And the result of that, it says, is the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast. So we're not talking about a system anymore. We're talking about something where they see wound that is fatal and he recovers from it and it's such an incredible event that the world just says He's the one he's the one and they go after him and it's right there that you have God sending a deluding influence upon humanity and when they see all of that after countless of Yeah, centuries of the gospel being proclaimed, of Jesus Christ both dying and rising again, and people laughing at it and rejecting the resurrection and rejecting Jesus. They see it happen and they go right after it. But now it's a false one. So this person is going to suffer what appears to be a death blow. and yet will live, and that's the idea of this term, that he lives, he dies, and then he lives again. Right now the Antichrist is working in and through various world powers, just as the harlot is. This makes it hard to discern the individuals involved. But what Satan does is uses this key event of the resurrection of this beast, this person, to launch the Antichrist from the background into a position of power and worship, and it's there that he then turns around and attacks the harlot and destroys her. The seven heads and the ten horns, what are they? Again, this is like, what's up with all of that? Well, it's very easy because John, like he does most of the times, will explain the imagery. John tells us in 9 through 14 what they are. So he redirects his focus away from the beast and now he goes back to multiple kingdoms and the power. So this is where it gets hard. At times, and you just have to watch the pronouns and just read slow, but sometimes in this chapter he's looking at the individual, the Antichrist, and then he'll turn around without any trouble, the very next sentence, be looking at him from a historical view where he's influencing the various kingdoms. And then he'll zoom back down to him as a person again, and then pull right back out. And you just have to sort of hold on and follow him. It's not hard. if you just slow down and let the passage say what it's saying. So he's moving from the beast that's yet future, that person called the Antichrist, and he moves back into this bigger picture. So first, who are the seven heads, or what are they? Well, they're described, first of all, as seven mountains. So that helps, right? I mean, you're like, well, what are the seven heads? Oh, that's easy, the seven mountains. But if you know your Old Testament, you'll know that the mountains are frequently used as a reference to the capital city of a major kingdom. And so you'll go to my holy mountain and you'll see that a lot. That's speaking of the temple in Jerusalem, in Israel. And that's what you're supposed to think. So here is seven mountains. There's all kinds of views on it and I don't want to get locked into them because they just don't hold water. There's a lot of ideas about these mountains. Some see it as different Roman empires, seven, or emperors, seven different ones. And that sounds great. The problem is none of them can agree which seven. And so you're like, well, it's good, but you can't point to which ones. So how do you know it's that or not? The most popular one over the centuries has been that speaks of Rome because it's famous for its seven hills. And so they say this is a hidden code, that this is gonna be bound up in the Rome, and more importantly is the Roman Catholic Church, and then the Pope becomes the Antichrist, and it just goes from there. Now I am not remotely a fan of the Roman Catholic Church. I do not believe that it is in fact truly Christian. They reject the gospel. There's just all kinds of things there wrong, but I'm not going to say that that's what's in view here. What you're just looking at here is the seven horns, which are seven mountains, are seven kingdoms in history. And that fits with what, first of all, Revelation 13 says, but also good old Daniel. Read Daniel 7-12, where all of this imagery is pulled out of. When you read those chapters, you'll say, oh, I see where John's getting this from. You can also look in Daniel 2, 4-27. Now, again, I'll just sell this, try to sell this once more. I talk to you all the time at the first of the year, the need to read through your Bible, read your Bible, read your Bible, read your Bible. There is no secret trick to growing as a Christian. The means by which God will grow you as a Christian is Bible. That's it. So if you have come up with some other plan that doesn't involve you sticking your nose in your Bible, consistently reading it, I will promise you you're going to be the same place next year as you were this year. Because you cannot read your Bible. You have to. And the better you know your Bible, especially your Old Testament, the better you're going to understand things like prophecy. Because all of Revelation is drawing out of the Old Testament. And so the better you know your Old Testament, the more you'll be comfortable with what is going on here. In verse 10, it describes then the history of these kings and kingdoms. It says that five have fallen, one is, and one is yet to come. Well, what's that? Well, again, if you know Daniel, it's very simple. The five that have fallen are kingdoms that have come up in history, were dominating, and then fell away. The first is Egypt, after that was Assyria, after that Babylon, Persia, and Greece. Now, these are all kingdoms that have fallen away since in the time of John's writing. But also, you have the one that is. And who is that? Well, that's Rome. And that's the one that in fact has actually banished him to the Isle of Patmos where he's writing this letter. And then there's one yet to come. Now this is the part where it gets a little weird. I'm going to try to say it in just a few words. There's a coming future kingdom. That's easy to see, that there's one yet to come. And it will have a short time of influence. You see that in verse 10 at the very end. He must remain a little while, but notice how it's now personified. That's a he. And then in verse 11 it says, and the beast which was and is not is himself also an ape. And you're like, huh? All that is, it's saying this. that he is both a kingdom and a king. He is this seventh and final kingdom, but he's also the king of the kingdom. That's all it means here. In verse 12, then we'll focus on the horns again. It tells us that what is being meant here, the 10 horns which you saw are what? 10 kings, see, again, symbolic language is not hard unless you make it hard. John is very faithful to tell you the important symbols, what they mean. And if you try to make ones that aren't explained to be the key point of the text, you're probably messing up. John, under the power of the Spirit, gives you symbolic language and then he interprets it for you. Your job is just to read it. These are 10 kings. who have not yet come on the scene. So don't try to identify them. They will be part of the early portion of the final king and his rise to power. He's going to gather them around him. Notice that the power they receive is directly from the beast. Now what's interesting is in 13, Satan gives his power to the beast so that the world might worship him. The beast now gathers these ten kings around him and he gives them the power and now they become basically his strong arms. They're the ones that are going to do his bidding and his will. Now, their reign is but for a short time, one hour. Some people say, well, see, that's not a literal use of time, so we shouldn't take anything else in Revelation as literal. But that one hour fits very well with the idea that he must remain a little while back in verse 10. And so even there, there's no compelling reason to abandon some kind of a literalness. And in verse 13, we see that they are basically working for the Antichrist. So now in verse 14, it talks about they're gonna be part of this final war against the Lamb. More on that in a second, and a lot more on that in chapter 19. So he will use them, and they are designed to come up and battle the Lamb. Who's the Lamb? It's Jesus Christ. And again, if you haven't gotten my hint, Daniel 7 deals with this whole thing itself. Now look at verses 14 through 16, or 14 and 16. These will wage war against the Lamb. The Lamb will overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords, the King of kings. Those who are with Him are the called, and the chosen, and the faithful. And then verse 16. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot, will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her up with fire. And we made reference, the last message, so I just wanted to draw on that. There's this old saying, that there's no honor among thieves, and it's true. As a cop, the simplest thing you could do when you caught multiple people doing something wrong is split them up. And so you immediately just split them up, stuck them in the backseat of various patrol cars, and then you go and talk to each one. And you would intimate that their little Jose over here has already told them Some stuff, what do you say, what do you say? Yo, no, no man. And then pretty soon he's giving it up. And the next guy's giving up. And you're just writing them all down. And it's like nobody gave anything up. But they can't believe that they're just thieves. They have no honor. They don't trust each other because they're criminals. And so it's one of the police officer's best friends. And that's what's going on here. The harlot and the beast have been working together. And the harlot has been the position of strength at this point, but there comes a point when finally it's no longer being spread over kingdoms, but it's now the power has been given to the beast, specifically the Antichrist by Satan. That point in time, now he's got the power. And he looks at her and he says, I don't need you anymore. And so he turns upon her. And what it's describing is that there is this place where the Antichrist gathers all world religions, removes them, and makes one religion. It's him. And the world worships him. And so right now we still see this flurry of new religions and old religions all functioning happily and at each other's throats. but at some point all of those will go away. He won't tolerate them. That's the harlot. He'll just be done with them and he will insist that he alone will be worshipped. And the means by that is through that fatal wound and then his resurrection. And so the fallen world where sin is dominating, it's wise to always remember when dealing with others. We don't know the fullness of their plans. We don't know their plots. There's always more going on behind the scenes. They're wicked. It's broken. So don't be shocked when your director who you thought had your back in your corporation doesn't have your back. He or she has your back as long as it's for their good. Don't be shocked when your friends betray you. Of course they're going to betray you. They're sinners, and they're trapped and dead in their sins. Now I taught you last week, or two weeks ago, how the harlot and the beast, or the harlot used the beast to gain influence throughout the ages, and now it's payback. There's only room for one power, there's only room for one religion, and it will be the Antichrist, and it's gonna be ugly for it. So to do this requires he destroy all the false religions that make up the influence and the power of the harlot. So that at the end, as chapter 13 says, the whole world will come and worship Him alone. Now we either accept that as the word of God or we try to make that something else. I accept that. So we know now, having looked at all of this, that what we think at times is something that we can't win, Everything is a veil, everything is broken, everything is twisted, everything seems to go against us. We're trying to stay faithful, we're trying to put away sin, and new sins creep, and we're always having this power of the age pressing on us, and sometimes we just get tired resisting it, that we give in, we become conformed in ways we didn't plan. Well now we know in chapter 17 that the whole power plan of Satan is unraveling and it will continue to unravel until Jesus destroys it all. So I want to end this with two observations. Just to kind of settle the dust of all those details I gave you and remember the real goal. And that's our hope is in Christ and our Father. First of all, the imagery given to us in 14. Notice who the beast is going to fight. What's he called? The lamb, just a little lamb, a cute lamb, a cuddly lamb, a defenseless lamb. And that's done on purpose. The beast, mighty and powerful, evil and wicked and ravenous. It's hideous and it's gonna be filled with the power. It's got kings and kingdoms at his disposal. And here's this little lamb and he's gonna fight him. And once again, what you're reminded of is the power of God is always going to be seen in weakness. here's this weak little lamb and all of the power of this age, not just of the physical age, but the spiritual age, the satanic power is going to come against this lamb. Right now we live in a world where we are surrounded, Jesus says, by ravenous wolves. Peter says that Satan is like a ravenous lion looking to whom he might devour. Paul warns the Ephesian elders that there's gonna be people who will rise up in the midst of the church like wolves so they might destroy the people of God whom God purchased. Over and over again. We are like lambs or sheep being led to the slaughter We are in a position of weakness yet Paul says that in that weakness the power of God in his gospel is made known Because we keep allowing ourselves to go into the slaughterhouse and die for the name of Jesus be ridiculed for the name of Jesus to not partake in activities that demean the name of Jesus And all of that is there, seen by the world as foolish and weak and stupid, and you have to bear up under the laughter and the mockings and the eye rolls. And if you live in certain parts of the world, the beatings and the starvations and the imprisonments and the beheadings. And we're weak, and yet the gospel keeps moving forward. It just keeps going in weakness. The world can't figure out why we would do it that way, but that's God's way. But in the end, The beast, in all of his power, goes up against the lamb, and he finds out that the lamb is not a lamb, but the lamb is the Lion of Judah. He's God's lamb, and it's not even gonna be a battle. I mean, when you get to chapter 19, it's sad. It's just a sad fight. He's our true king, it says. that He has won that day because on the cross He laid His life down for His sheep. He bore our sins away, He took our death upon Himself, and then He took those simple fetters that bound Him and pushed Him into the grave, and He shook them aside in the power of the Spirit, and He shrugged off sin and death, and He rose again victorious. And now here in chapter 17, we are reminded that the lamb shall overcome all the powers of the age that we grow weary of. Why? Well, because as verse 14 says, they may be kings, but he is what? He's the king of kings. They may be lords, but he is the Lord of lords. And so we are safe because our king fights for us and with us. And at the end of verse 14, it says that not only will he fight, but who will be with him? We will. His church will be. And we'll see all of that in just a few weeks. We'll be with him, and we won't be weak anymore. As Colossians 3 says, that when he is revealed in his glory, we too shall be revealed in glory. All of those weaknesses are gone and all that stands is the perfection of immortality in Jesus Christ. If that doesn't give you some level of chills, you're not listening. The second thing I want you to see, God is ever and always present in this age. Verse 17, for God has put it in their hearts to execute his purpose, to destroy the harlot. Why? By having a common purpose. Now, if you were to ask the beast, hey, are you working for God? He would say, no, I'm working for me. And God would just say, yeah, he is. He just doesn't know it because he's who he is. And by giving their kingdom to the beast, all of this is God's work. He's the one giving the kingdom to the beast. How long? Until the words of God should be fulfilled. If you will learn to grasp verse 17, it will help you. It will help you in hard times. God is powerful, and he gives us powerful and hope-filled promise in these kinds of words. We watch right now how much evil is done in the world, and we see it on a micro and even a macro level. Just horrendous things that take place in nations and also just in our individual lives. And yet God controls even the hearts of the most evil and the most powerful of this age. So you do not need to fear you who are given to fear. They may slay your body. If that's what you're afraid of, I can't help you. If you're afraid that they're gonna kill you, if you stand for what is true, then you've missed Jesus's point. Do not fear those who can kill the body. Right? He orders you. He doesn't suggest, hey, it might be good for you. It might help you out a little bit, make you sleep better at night. He just says, you are not to fear the ones who can kill your body. You are to fear the one who can slay both the body and the soul. That's me. And you say, I fear you. Then you're fine. You're fine. You will be raised again and you will fight by my side when I slay them all. You cannot lose. But there's one thing that is certain, the word of God. This is why I get very angry when I see people deal with the word wrong, but more importantly, that they ignore it in the church. And they instead, they teach silliness and trite things that will never cause you to stand firm in the end. At the very end of verse 17, we see that God will not allow his word, his promises, his purposes to be thwarted, not ever. not a single tiny jot or tittle, as Jesus says, that little tiny mark on a word or letter. Not one will fail. We can be certain that the will and the wishes of this age will fail. So why buy into it? Why? Why would you want it? Why do you think you can taste a little bit of it, touch it, cuddle it a little bit, make friends with it just a bit, because, hey, look at what it might give me. Look at what it might give my kids. What do you care? It is to fail. They can't stand against His will, because they actually are running parallel to God's plan. and the whole time that they think they're accomplishing what they think. In fact, those of you here who don't know Jesus Christ, If you're trying to understand this, I just say, keep asking God to open your eyes and to understand. But for the rest of you who are playing light and loose, and you're just like, well, I want Jesus, but I don't wanna follow him. I want to continue to live out the way I want. All you understand is that you're running with God toward his perfect end, but that may not involve you. For you, all that will end is that he will send upon you a diluting influence where you will believe the lie to your eternal damnation. unless you repent. And repent is not sticking your toe in the water. It's diving in all the way toward Jesus. So I say to you who love the name of Jesus, can you find rest in all of this? I do. With all this craziness and weird stuff that's being described, I find it very comforting. We're being told who wins. and we're being told how it is, and we're being told how to see what's going on around us. I don't know all of your struggles, I don't know all of your fears, but I can tell you this, that they're nothing when compared to the faithfulness of your King. And then to you who find all of this to be maybe a bit of a bother or an intrusion into your personal pursuits, remember the words and heed them. There's only two paths, the Bible says, just two. So whatever path you think you're on, if it's not squarely with Jesus, you're on the other path. And Jesus says that there's only two ends and only two. One path is with Jesus, and only Jesus as your Lord and King. The Bible says it's long, it's hard, it's narrow, it's filled with tribulations, and the only way you'll make it to the end is by going through all that. It looks foolish, and it looks weak. It violates everything this world would say you look for. But it ends with life eternal. And the other one, it's the easy one, you just live. Just keep breathing. Keep telling yourself that you're okay. Keep telling yourself it'll work out. Keep telling yourself that if this happens, it'll be better. Keep telling yourself, just do it. They're just lies. You say, well, I don't think so because I've been telling myself and it's coming true. I'm getting more money than I ever dreamed possible. Great. There'll be a day that you'll gag on that money. when you sold your soul for the money and never knew that the harlot was working in and through all of that. It's an easy path, a broad one. It's filled with amusements and pleasures that promise the world, but will never deliver it. And in its end is the wrath of God and destruction.