If you have your Bibles and would like to open them to Revelation chapter 17, we'll be reading verses 1 through 6, this Lord's Day. This will be our text that we'll be addressing. And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials. and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman, drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration." Having identified in the previous sermon two major problems with the Preterist interpretation of Nero as the sixth head of the beast in Revelation 17.10, which problems I submit completely dismantle the cornerstone of internal evidence upon which a pre 70 AD authorship of the book of Revelation rests. Let us this Lord's Day look once again at Revelation chapter 17 in order to identify three major characters in this chapter so that we can understand what this vision prophesies and what it is intended to teach. The three symbolic characters that we need to briefly consider are these. Number one, the great whore. Number two, the beast with the seven heads. Number three, the revived eighth head. And again, before we begin looking at these individual points, I encourage you to try to follow along with your Bibles open, the various places that we may turn, so that you can keep your mind engaged in what we're talking about. Because again, a sermon like this, If one is not following it closely, the mind will become very easily distracted. And so I encourage you just to have your Bibles ready and to follow as we go through the various points of the sermon today. The first point then, the great whore in Revelation 17, as we have read concerning this great whore in verses 1-6 just a moment ago. Let me simply add to verses 1-6 what is said in verse 18, Revelation 17-18 concerning this woman, this great whore. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. The symbol of a whore or harlot in this context is one that speaks of a woman who is unfaithful to her betrothed's husband and who commits spiritual fornication with the nations of the world by means of her idolatry, superstition, tyranny, and persecution of the faithful Church of Jesus Christ. this whore is contrasted with the faithful wife, the faithful betrothed wife found in Revelation chapter 12. This is not a faithful betrothed wife, this is an unfaithful betrothed wife. I submit that this great whore represents the Roman Church and particularly its clergy. For notice the following identifying marks of the great whore that we find here. Number one, this great whore sits upon many waters in Revelation 17.1, which waters represent according to Revelation 17.15, quote, peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues. In other words, this harlot church is not limited to a small geographical area in promoting its spiritual fornication concerning Christ and the true religion of the Bible, but is an international church that encompasses even whole nations. That certainly is true of the Church of Rome presently with over 1 billion members worldwide. Number two, a second identifying mark of this great whore. This great whore also is said to sit in a more specific way upon the beast with the seven heads and ten horns in Revelation 17.3 and by way of interpretation Angel tells John that this means that the harlot sits upon seven mountains or hills. Note what it says in verse 9, 17-9. It says the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. As indicated in the previous sermon, Rome at the time of the Apostle John was identified as the city built upon seven hills by various ancient sources. Thus the Great Whore has a specific relationship to the city of Rome and can be none other than the Roman Catholic Church and her clergy. In fact her headquarters are located in quote that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth according to Revelation 17 18 which once again identifies this harlot church with the city of Rome and its vast empire. A third identifying mark of the great harlot The great harlot was clothed in, quote, purple and scarlet, according to Revelation 17.4. Colors that speak of her claim to royalty, which emperors, kings, and nations have granted to her throughout her history. Even the bishops Archbishops and cardinals of Rome are found on official occasions clothed in such quote-unquote royal garments of purple and scarlet. A fourth identifying mark. This great harlot is further said to be quote decked with gold and precious stones and pearls. Revelation 17, verse 4, which wealth has been the reward of her spiritual fornication committed with the kings and nations of the world. Who is not impressed by the sheer value in gold and wealth that's found in just the many cathedrals found in Rome and found in in most major cities of the world. Unbelievable wealth and gold and precious stones. A fifth identifying mark. The great harlot is also said to have, quote, a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, end of quote. in Revelation 17.4 which I submit could not better represent the abomination of her mass wherein the priest by his words allegedly transforms mere bread and wine into the literal body and blood of Christ and then worships that bread and wine by the idolatrous mass in allegedly creating God and then worshiping its creation the clergy of Rome promote idolatry of every kind and of the worst kind not only in the alleged transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the actual body of the God-man Jesus Christ but as well in his bowing down to images and praying to departed saints all of these in violation of the first commandment and in violation of the second commandment of the Ten Commandments as we find in Exodus chapter 20 verses 3 through 6. But she is also called the Great Whore because she offers to the kings and nations of the world another head of the church than the Christ of the Bible. Christ alone is said in the scripture to be the head of the church. Not only the head of the church that is in heaven but the head of the church that is here upon the earth as well. As we see in Ephesians chapter 4 verse 15. Antichrist is not first and foremost one who is hostile or at least comes across as being hostile and opposed to Christ. If that's what you are looking for in Antichrist, that Antichrist is going to outwardly condemn and speak evil of Jesus Christ, you have the wrong impression as to what Antichrist in this context means. Antichrist rather is first and foremost one who supplants and stands in the place of Christ in taking up his seat in the temple or in the Church of Christ as its head claiming for himself titles and honor which belong only to the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ doesn't share with any human being his titles and his honor as head of the church. And yet Antichrist, that papal Antichrist, assumes these prerogatives that belong only to Jesus Christ. The Romish priesthood, dear ones, offers as head of the church upon earth a substitute Christ, namely Antichrist. to the kings and nations of the world rather than offering to the kings and nations of the world the only head of the church, Jesus Christ. And this too is one of the abominations that's in that golden cup from which the kings and nations of the world drink. A sixth and final identifying characteristic of the great harlot. Note concerning this great harlot that is revealed in Revelation 17 that she is, quote, drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, end of quote, in Revelation 17.6. I submit, dear ones, there is no ecclesiastical institution that has more blood of faithful Christians upon its hands than that of the hierarchy and clergy of the Church of Rome. It is stated by historians that literally millions upon millions of Christians have died by the complicity of the Pope and hierarchy of Rome working together with the civil beast to eliminate faithful witnesses of Christ who stood against the idolatry, superstition, tyranny, and usurpation of Christ's titles and honor established by the great whore. But also, dear ones, note that this great whore is not only identified by way of sitting upon the seven heads or seven mountains in Revelation 17 9. Notice that the great whore is identified by other symbolic characters in the book of Revelation as well. I submit this great horror of Revelation 17 is one in the same with the second beast that came up out of the earth who had two horns like a lamb and yet spoke as a dragon in Revelation chapter 13 verses 11 through 15. Remember in Revelation 13 there are two beasts, one comes from the sea, that beast has seven heads and ten horns. That is political Rome. The second beast is, I submit, ecclesiastical Rome. It's an ecclesiastical beast in contrast to the first beast which is a civil beast. For the second beast in Revelation 13 is in effect a lamb outwardly that appears to represent the Lamb of God. but it actually speaks on behalf of the dragon by means of deceiving the nations of the world by the lying miracles it performs in Revelation chapter 17 verses 13 through 14 or Revelation 13 verses 17 Revelation 13 verses 13 through 14 I'm sorry There it says concerning this second beast, and he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live. Interestingly, again, in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 verses 9 through 10. Likewise, the man of sin, the son of perdition, who sits in the temple of God, which is the church. That's Antichrist. That papal Antichrist, likewise, it says there, performs lying miracles so as to deceive and mislead those who are not of God's elect. One of the miracles that this second beast performs, as we just read, is that it gives life and breath to the image of the beast in Revelation chapter 17 verses 14 through 15. Furthermore, there are so many wonders and miracles associated with the holy sites and relics of the Roman Church that it would be hard to number them all. Which should remind us of what the Lord Jesus said in Matthew chapter 7 verses 21 through 23. Do you remember what the Lord said there? Cautioning us to beware Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me, ye that work iniquity. The Lord doesn't say I knew you at one time but now I don't but I never knew you. You were never one of my own even as Judas able to perform the miracles that the other eleven disciples were able to do because Christ gave the twelve that power and yet Jesus says he was never one of his own. He was a devil from the beginning. And so we must be careful because it is by way of deception, by way of misleading signs and wonders, that the great whore, the second beast of Revelation 13, the great whore of Revelation 17, gathers the nations, the kings of the world unto herself. I should note that the image of the beast that we just mentioned in Revelation chapter 13 verses 14 through 15 is given life, as I said, by the clergy and hierarchy, which is the second beast, just by way of gradually giving more and more honor to the Bishop of Rome, starting gradually, eventually giving more and more honor to where worship and reverence that belongs only to Christ was given to the papacy. And in fact, every time that a Pope comes into power, that Pope is elected by the Roman clergy, the cardinals. And so it is, again, the whore, the great whore, the second beast that gives life to the image of the beast, which is the papacy. The reason it's called the image of the beast, the image that is of the first beast, is because he, that is the Pope, acts as emperor over his ecclesiastical empire. I also submit that this great horror of Revelation 17 is also one and the same with the false prophet that is revealed in Revelation 16.3 I'm sorry, Revelation 16.13-14 and Revelation 19.20. Look with me very briefly at Revelation 16 verses 13-14. And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, that is the first beast, the civil beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, that is the ecclesiastical beast, the Church of Rome. Likewise you'll find in Revelation 19-20 the same thing. As a false prophet, the Roman church through her pope and hierarchy decrees false doctrine, corrupt worship, and tyrannical church government contrary to the revealed will of Jesus Christ that's found in Scripture. All the while claiming to be speaking on behalf of Christ. That's why only the discerning mind who is looking to the revealed will of God is able to distinguish between the true prophet and the false prophet. Now preterists interpret the great whore of Revelation 17 to be, as we noted in the last sermon, to be the apostate Jerusalem. which had indeed become, and I agree, Jerusalem had indeed become an unfaithful spouse to the Lord and had exchanged her loyalty to God for loyalty to idolatrous kings through her alliances and covenants with them, had rejected her own Messiah and had conspired to put him to death and to persecute those who followed him. However, I submit that it is not Jerusalem that is represented in Revelation 17 as the great whore, but is rather the Roman church for the following reasons. Following three reasons. First, the great whore, it is said, is that great city. Rome, which reigns over the kings of the earth in Revelation 17-18. And she sits upon the city of the seven hills. That is Rome in Revelation 17-9. I submit that could only be the Roman church. Second reason why this is not, the Great Whore is not Jerusalem. This great whore is burned and destroyed by the ten horns, or ten kings, as we see in Revelation 17 verse 16. And yet, according to the angel, these ten horns had not yet received their kingdoms so as to rule at the time of the Apostle John but were yet to receive their kingdoms in the future when a united Roman Empire became a divided Roman Empire overrun in the West by 10 barbarian kings and kingdoms as we note in Revelation chapter 17 verses 12 and 16 Thus the burning of the Great Whore could not refer to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD by Rome or by some alleged 10 provincial rulers of Rome because these provincial rulers of Rome had already received their kingdoms at the time of John, whereas the 10 kings of Revelation 17-12 had not yet received their kingdoms when John penned this vision. Thus the fulfillment of this prophecy of these 10 horns burning the great harlot, destroying the great harlot, yet awaits future fulfillment. It would happen after, as I said, after the division of the Roman Empire into 10 kingdoms, which 10 kingdoms became Europe, And after the original ten kingdoms joined with the revived eighth head of the beast, that is, with the revived Roman Empire, after that, sometime after that, there would be then the burning and destroying of the papal great harlot. And the third reason why I submit that the Great Whore is not Jerusalem. It is said of the Apostle John in Revelation 17-6 that, quote, he wandered with great admiration, end of quote. Literally, the Greek text says he wandered with great wonderment at the Great Whore who was drunken with the blood of the saints and of the martyrs. This would seem completely inappropriate for him to wonder with great wonderment at the fact that Jerusalem had slain martyrs for Christ, faithful witnesses for Christ. He knew that. It was revealed in the Gospels. He was privy to it, being an apostle himself. This would rather seem to refer to a wonderment of which he was previously not aware. Not of something he was already aware. And therefore, I submit it was not something John already knew that astonished him, but rather something he did not know. Namely, the slaying of many millions of faithful witnesses of Christ by the great whore of Rome that was to come yet in the future that astonished him. A great whore that actually, contrary to Jerusalem, the great whore that took the name of Christ upon her and yet murdered the faithful witnesses of Christ. This was an astonishment to John, which was to be fulfilled over hundreds of years as the Church of Rome conspired with kings and nations to destroy millions of faithful witnesses of Christ who have ever stood for Christ and his truth against the idolatry and superstition and tyranny of the great whore of Rome and against the man of sin, that is the papacy. that usurps the place of Christ over his church. Our second main point, having considered the great whore, let us now consider the beast with the seven heads. We read earlier Revelation 17 3 in our text, I want to also add to that verses 7 through 10 at this time. Revelation 17, 7 through 10. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not, and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit. and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings five are fallen and one is, and the other is not yet come, and when he cometh he must continue a short space." This beast of Revelation, I submit, is the same as Daniel's fourth beast, namely the political kingdom of Rome. In Daniel's vision there are four beasts, in Daniel chapter 7 there are four beasts that represent four political kingdoms, one succeeding the other after the downfall of each. First we have the first beast which was like a lion and was Babylon in Daniel 7.3. Number two, the second beast which was like a bear was Medo-Persia in Daniel 7.5. Number three, the third beast which was like a leopard was Greece in Daniel 7.6. Number four, the fourth beast was not described as looking like any particular animal, but it is said to be exceedingly strong in Daniel 7.7. This I submit as political Rome, the fourth beast of Daniel. Now as we turn to compare the fourth beast of Daniel with the beast of Revelation, it is clearly, I submit, the same political beast that is in view. Note that the civil beast of Revelation is described as having the same bestial characteristics of the three previous political kingdoms or Beast of Daniel. In Revelation 13 too, the Beast of Revelation is said to be like a lion, a bear, and a leopard. Furthermore, just as Daniel's fourth civil beast, that is the political kingdom of Rome, had ten horns, in Daniel 7-7, so the Beast of Revelation has ten horns as well. In fact, the only detail added to the political beast of Revelation that was not found in Daniel's fourth political beast, that one detail that seems to be so prominent in the Beast of Revelation is that this Beast of Revelation had seven heads in Revelation 13-1. seven heads, likewise in Revelation 17 3, seven heads, which are explained for us by the angel in Revelation 17 verses 9-10. So let's look at Revelation 17 9-10 and let us note the explanation given by the angel concerning the seven heads of this Roman political beast. First, the seven heads are said by the angel to represent seven mountains or hills in Revelation 17. As already indicated earlier in the sermon and in the previous sermon as well, that was a familiar designation among the ancients for Rome, the city built upon seven hills. Moreover, the great whore that sits upon the seven hills in Revelation 17.9 is likewise identified with quote that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth which refers again to Rome and its worldwide empire in Revelation 17.18. Thus I submit the beast of Revelation that has the seven heads is clearly identified as the political kingdom of Rome just as is the fourth feast of Daniel. But second, there's a second interpretation. It's a dual interpretation. The second interpretation given by the angel concerning the seven heads is mentioned in Revelation 17 10 where it says, and there are seven kings. five are fallen and one is and the other is not yet come and when he cometh he must continue a short space. And so the seven heads of this political kingdom of Rome are said by the angel to represent seven kings. Who are these kings? Since the Beast of Revelation is the civil political kingdom of Rome, the seven heads must all be identified powers of political Rome and not heads of other kingly powers or nations of the world. These need to be identified with Rome in particular. These heads don't represent other nations, other kingdoms, they represent powers related to that beast, that political beast of Rome. Therefore, the interpretation offered by some that the seven heads are seven different world powers cannot be correct for the simple reason that the seven heads are powers that govern the beast of political Rome alone. Thus Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece cannot be the five heads that have fallen in Revelation 17.10 with Rome being the sixth head that is presently reigning when John pens the book of Revelation Revelation 1710 and with the Gothic Kings being the seventh head that reigned for a short while in Revelation 1710 before the appearance of the eighth head of the beast in Revelation 1711. Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persian Greece though all world powers that are mentioned in the Bible did not reign over political Rome. How could five foreign kingdoms which existed some hundreds of years before Rome be said to reign as heads over the political kingdom of Rome? They could not. Because it has already been demonstrated in the previous sermon on Revelation 17, I encourage you to review that sermon or to listen to it the first time. I think the sermon I'm preaching today assumes a lot of information that was presented in that previous sermon, which if you're just beginning to hear and listen to the sermon today, I think you're going to be missing a lot of important information. But because it's already been demonstrated in the previous sermon in Revelation 17 that the individual Roman emperors, as explained by the preterist position, the individual Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Galba, Nero being the sixth head that is presently reigning, and Galba the seventh head that reigns a short while, That cannot be what the angel means by the seven heads. And for all the reasons that I mentioned in the previous sermon, which I won't elaborate on presently, otherwise we won't be going anywhere in the present sermon, but simply repeating the past sermon. So, again, I encourage you to go back, but I have already dealt with that particular position in great detail in the previous sermon. Thus, we now come explanation of what the seven heads are, the three basic positions, the first one we looked at as being the seven heads are world powers, the second that the seven heads are individual emperors, individual emperors beginning with Julius Caesar de Galba, that we've already looked at. Now we come to the historic Protestant interpretation of the seven heads of the civil beast of Rome. namely that the seven heads refer not to individual kings or to world powers but to a succession of kings or rulers that serve under seven different stages or forms of kingly rule within the political kingdom of Rome. Let me say that again. I believe that the seven heads refer to a succession of kings or rulers that serve under seven different stages or forms of kingly rule within the political kingdom of Rome. Identifiable stages and forms of kingly rule, as we'll see. First of all, in seeking to explain this position. Note that in Daniel 7 17 the four political kingdoms of Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome are called four kings. They are called four kings in the English text as well as in the Hebrew text. Whereas later on in Daniel 7 in verse 23 these four kings are referred to as kingdoms. in the English text as well as in the Hebrew text. Why is that significant? Well it demonstrates that the word king does not have to refer to a mere individual king but may actually stand for a kingdom or a form of kingly rule that includes many kings under that form of kingly rule. or many rulers under that kingly rule. Thus when Revelation 1710 says that the seven heads are seven kings, we likewise understand there to be a succession of kings or rulers under each of the seven kings or seven stages of kingly rule within the political kingdom of Rome from its beginning up until the time which John penned the book of Revelation. And the following six stages or forms of kingly rule in political Rome from its inception have been identified very clearly by two ancient Roman historians Livy who lived from 59 B.C. to about 17 A.D. and Tacitus who lived from 56 A.D. to about 118. Both of whom identified the first six stages or forms of kingly rule within the political kingdom of Rome as the following. Number one, Within the political kingdom of Rome, the first were kings, kings of Rome. Second were consuls, the consuls of Rome. Third, the Council of Ten ruled over Rome, the Council of Ten. Number four, military tribunes of Rome, ruled over Rome. Number five, dictators. And number six, emperors. Different stages of kingly rule within political Rome. Now these are well-known and well-documented stages or forms of kingly rule in Rome. These are not hidden somewhere secretly or in a corner. Thus when the angel states in Revelation 17.10 that five of these kings are fallen at the time in which John pens the book of Revelation, we should identify those five kings or five stages of kingly rule as these five that we just mentioned. The kings of Rome, the consuls of Rome, the council of ten of Rome, the military tribunes of Rome, and the dictators of Rome, the five that have fallen. When the angel explains that one king is presently reigning, five are fallen and one is, in Revelation 17.10, that would be the sixth head of rule. the sixth stage, sixth head, sixth stage of kingly rule within the political kingdom of Rome, namely the emperors of Rome, which was incidentally the stage of kingly rule at the time that John wrote the Book of Revelation. One is, John says. And furthermore, it's the sixth head of the Roman beast, that of the emperors of Rome that continued until Romulus Augustus was forced to abdicate the throne of the Western Roman Empire in 476 A.D. which I submit was the point in time in which the sixth head of the Roman beast received its deadly wound as indicated in Revelation chapter 13 verses 3 12 and 14. It says one of the heads had a deadly wound. We'll look a little more closely at that in just a moment. This deathly wound to the emperors of the Western Roman Empire left the divided Western Roman Empire and particularly Rome under continuous upheaval with various barbarian rulers or the Emperor of the Eastern Empire vying for power for over 250 years. And then the seventh head of the Roman beast appeared in 753, I submit, when Pope Stephen II conferred upon Pepin III and upon his son Charlemagne the title of patrician, that is, father, which means defender, which refers to being a defender, a father defending. So the title that was given to Pepin III and to Charlemagne, Patrician of the Romans. Now this seventh head of Rome continued for a short space as is indicated it would in Revelation 17, 10. he must continue a short space. The patricians under Pepin III in Charlemagne continued for a short space, about 47 years. But it was not until the revived 8th head of the Roman political beast that we see the Romish Church sitting upon a revived Western Roman Empire with its own emperor. Which leads us to the third and final main point. The revived or healed eighth head. Revelation 17 11 which says, And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. As we now come to consider the revived eighth head of the Roman beast, I must depart from those who identify the revived eighth head of the beast with the papacy of Rome for the following reasons. I have great respect for many of these who believe the revived eighth head to be the papacy. I simply do not share that conviction and let me give you the reasons why. I don't believe it is the papacy. First, as we noted earlier, the four beasts of Daniel represent political kingdoms, not ecclesiastical kingdoms, whether it's Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, or Rome. And since the fourth beast of Daniel, that is political Rome, is clearly one and the same with the beast of Revelation as was demonstrated earlier in the sermon, the beast of Revelation in its revived eighth head must also be an expression of political Rome, not ecclesiastical Rome. Second, the heads of the Roman beast are likewise strictly political and civil in nature rather than ecclesiastical in nature. Although the beast of Rome as a political and civil beast supports and carries the great whore that is the papal Romish church upon its back, there is clearly a distinction intended between the beast which is civil and political Rome and the great whore which is ecclesiastical and religious Rome here in Revelation chapter 17. The same distinction I submit is also seen between the political beast of Rome and the ecclesiastical beast of Rome in Revelation 13, the first beast and the second beast. The same distinction is also seen in Revelation 16-13 and Revelation 19-20 between the political beast of Rome and the false prophet. which is the Papal Church of Rome. You see, the political beast of Rome carries out the decrees of the great whore, the Papal Church of Rome, in warring against the saints. As we see is true of that first beast, that civil beast, the political beast of Rome in Revelation 13.7. There it says concerning that civil beast, And it was given unto him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And power was given him over all kindreds and tongues and nations. And the reason why the ecclesiastical or papal beast, that is the great whore, does not itself actually militarily war against the Saints is because it's the civil beast that has the military might to do so. It's not the Church of Rome itself. The Church of Rome does not have vast armies to be able to simply command to go into war against the saints but the great whore sits upon the back of the civil beast and the civil beast carries out the decrees of the great whore in making war against the saints. Dear ones, the papacy throughout history has joined hands with the political beast to war against the saints and to drink the blood of the saints. Certainly the great horror is complicit with the civil beast in shedding the blood of the saints, no doubt about that. But it is the civil beast that actually carries that out by way of its military might, by way of the kings and the nations that have the military ability to do so. Since the first seven heads of the Roman beast are political, and even those who believe the eighth head of the beast is the papacy agree with that, that the first seven heads of the beast are political. not ecclesiastical, but political. But they simply then look at the eighth beast and say, that's ecclesiastical, that's the papacy. But I would submit that since the first seven heads of the Roman beast are political and civil powers, as opposed to ecclesiastical powers, that likewise the revived eighth head of the Roman beast is also a political and civil power. Thus the revived eighth head of the political beast is I submit not to papacy. The third reason why I do not believe the revived eighth head of the Roman beast is the papacy is because Revelation 1711 states that the eighth head is of the seven or literally is out of the seven. It says, And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. The eighth head is out of the seven. I submit to you that the papacy is not out of the seven. the papacy as an ecclesiastical beast, because it's already been mentioned that the first seven heads are civil and political, is not one of the seven, but is an ecclesiastical head according to that particular view. In other words, the revived eighth head of the Roman beast follow this very closely. The revived eighth head of the Roman beast is the healing of one of the seven heads, namely the sixth head that had received the deadly wound. Which was the sixth head of the Roman beast? It was the Roman emperors which received the deadly wound when Emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed from the throne of the Western Roman Empire in 476. But the deadly wound of the sixth head in the Western or Latin Roman Empire was healed when the eighth head continued the Western Roman Empire with its own emperor. For when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne in St. Peter's in Rome, he crowned him as emperor of the Roman Empire. There had not been claimed an emperor after Romulus Augustus was deposed. There had not been an emperor in Rome reigning over the Western Roman Empire, the Latin Roman Empire, there had not been a ruler reigning as emperor over that empire of the West until Charlemagne was crowned as emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Charlemagne's official title was this, Most Serene Augustus, crowned by God great and pacific, that is peaceful, emperor, governing the Roman Empire. There began the list of emperors of the Holy Roman Empire, Charlemagne being listed as the first emperor. Thus, dear ones, I submit to you that is why we see or why it can be said that the Roman beast only has seven heads, rather than you see the Roman beast having eight heads. In other words, when we see the description of the Roman beast in Revelation 13.1 and in Revelation 17.3, why does it say that this is a beast that has seven heads? Why not this is a beast that has eight heads? It's because the 8th head is simply continuing and is the healed 6th head. So it continues. And so there aren't actually 8 heads. It's a continuation, a healing of the 6th head. It is this, dear ones, it is this relationship of the great whore, the papal church of Rome, riding upon the revived Roman Empire that is specifically in view in Revelation 17, and which subsequently brought about the mass slaughter of millions of faithful witnesses who stood against both the civil beast of Rome and the ecclesiastical beast of Rome. The revived Holy Roman Empire included in it most of Europe where the original Ten Horns had settled. And I would submit that the fulfillment of the destruction of the Great Whore by the Ten Horns or Kingdoms in Revelation 17-16, that is the burning of the Great Whore, I would submit is yet future. since the Papal Church of Rome and her hierarchy have not yet been destroyed. However, I would propose from what is said in Revelation 17-16 that when the Papal Church of Rome is destroyed, it will be the posterity of the original ten horns or kingdoms of Europe whose eyes are illuminated to see the abominations of the great whore and who will come to Christ as nations and kingdoms that will destroy her." This will be, I submit to you, a prelude to the fullness of the Gentile nations and the nation of Israel being brought into the visible church by the power the Holy Spirit has prophesied in Romans chapter 11 verses 25 to 26. In conclusion today, dear ones, Let's not forget, even in the midst of such political and ecclesiastical revolutions and upheavals, let's not forget who is in control. For we read in Revelation 17, 17, concerning the ten horns, which will destroy and will hate the whore, and make her desolate and naked and shall eat her flesh and burn her with fire. It is said in verse 17, for God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled. How is it that these ten horns that are united with the civil beast and the ecclesiastical beast, come to hate her. Come to make her desolate. Come to make her naked and burn her. Because God puts it in their heart to do so. This ought to be, dear ones, a great encouragement to us all. The heart of the king, dear ones, is in the hand of the Lord. and he turns it and directs it wherever he will according to his own holy and wise purposes according to Proverbs 21. And dear ones, if God is able to turn the hearts of these ten kingdoms in the future to destroy the great whore of papal Rome He is able also to bring these ten kings and kingdoms to Christ, along with all nations, including Israel, and to the visible church of Jesus Christ. God is able, regardless of how seemingly impossible it seems, that the papal church will be destroyed, will be burned. God is able, even to take those who once supported her, to turn them against her so that their eyes are opened, they see the abominations that she promotes, and to destroy her. God is able to do so. Now, if that's not encouragement, dear ones, to our faith, today, Regardless of the political situation and climate we find ourselves in, the hostility against God and against everything that is holy, to believe that God is able to direct the hearts of kings and of nations so that they reach out and embrace Christ, so that they as nations and kingdoms form national covenants and even Israel nationally renews her covenant with the Lord and become part, each of the nations become part of the visible Church of Christ. Again, I don't know what more encouragement we could receive for what we're going through in our own individual lives today, the opposition we now face the trials, the afflictions, and the tribulations that we now face. Their doings is our hope. God is able to turn even those enemies that war against him to war against and destroy one of the greatest enemies, the great whore, and to draw them into is visible kingdom. Certainly, if he's able to do that, there's no problem that you or I face, dear ones, that the Lord is not able to work mightily in. Let your confidence and your strength not be in the arm of flesh or in the resources of man, but in him who has said, it's not by might or by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Amen. Let us stand in prayer. Our Heavenly Father, we thank Thee and praise Thee this day for the illumination of the Holy Spirit, for a Lord causing, as it were, scales to fall off our spiritual eyes that we may behold be in thy glory and might even have the privilege of reading and understanding thy holy word and applying it to our lives and to our faith. Help us, O Lord, whatever may be our discouragement today, whatever may be the opposition that seems to be in our way, O Lord, we pray that we would look to that seeming mountain in our path, and trusting in the Lord and in his power, command it to be cast into the sea in thine own good and wise and appropriate time, to wait upon thee in the meantime, to trust thee, to know that, O Lord, there is no mountain that thou cannot move. Lord, we ask that thou would would encourage our faith today as we rest upon thy promises graciously bestowed upon us in Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen. The Puritan hard drive and the free online Puritan hard drive videos are available at puritandownloads.com along with many other Puritan and Reformed books for as little as 99 cents each. Hello, and welcome to this introductory video for the Puritan Hard Drive by Stillwater's Revival Books. You'll soon see why the Puritan Hard Drive is a technological revolution in Puritan, Reformation, and Covenanter studies. For over 25 years, Stillwater's Revival Books has provided the worldwide Christian community with the finest in Puritan and Reformation resources, including classic and contemporary printed works, inspirational sermons, audiobooks, and videos. In recent years our collection of great Christian works has more than doubled, growing to a library that would occupy nearly 130 CDs. The Puritan hard drive is a tremendous library of over 12,500 Christian resources on an external hard drive that fits easily in your pocket or purse. It features the works of more than 800 classic and contemporary authors including John Bunyan, Matthew Henry, Jonathan Edwards, Thomas Manton, Samuel Rutherford, and Charles Spurgeon. Timeless works like the English Hexafla, Fox's Book of Martyrs, Sketches of the Covenanters, and from the Puritan Divines, the complete 34-volume set of the Puritan Fast Sermons. Many of these books are rare and classic titles unavailable anywhere else. Over 25 years in the making, The Puritan Hard Drive is simply the most extensive Christian collection ever released. The Puritan Hard Drive comprises more than 12,500 Puritan and Reformation resources, over half a million pages of great Christian books, more than 10,000 sermons and audio books in mp3 format, providing years of listening enjoyment. over 70 videos. All in all, a library of thousands of exceptional works accessible and affordable to everyone. Included on the Puritan hard drive is a custom search engine that makes it easy to find, browse, and organize the resources in your library. And much easier than trying to wade through a typical file directory on your computer. Connect the Puritan hard drive to any available USB port on your PC or Mac. The drive is self-contained, so there's no software to install or configure. Within moments, you can begin exploring the library by running the custom search interface. It's also a knowledge base with information about each work, including the author, title, description, keywords, and subject category. For you techies, this database contains over four and a half million records of information. For all of us, that means we have an extremely powerful search and study tool. A list of all resources on the Puritan hard drive is available for viewing at any time. Here we see that the list of print materials contains over 2,100 works. This view is ideal for browsing all documents or media files in alphabetical order. by title or by author. The list is rather long, so using the search function of the Knowledge Base is the easiest way of finding resources of interest to you. For example, let's say that my pastor recommended a book by James Henley Thornwell. I can search the Knowledge Base by author by typing his name in this field or by selecting it from the complete list of nearly 800 authors provided at the click of a button. Clicking the search button executes the search and immediately returns a list of all resources by this author. In this case, I've quickly found the book that was recommended to me. Clicking on the green icon opens the resource, allowing me to begin my reading. Further details about any resource can be found by clicking on the book cover icon, which opens the resource detail page. From here, I can browse the details of this work, I can add and save my own notes about it and open the resource for reading, listening, or viewing. Your search capabilities don't end there. The majority of the rare, classic works on the Puritan hard drive now contain an embedded index. This means that the actual text of these resources is now fully searchable for the first time in history. Enter a search term in Adobe Acrobat Reader. In this case, a search for the word scripture yields instant results. Having searchable text also makes it possible to highlight, copy, and paste the text into another document, such as a sermon, a lesson plan, or a school paper. Less time spent on research means more time for reading, studying, and appreciating the resources in your library. Just another reason why the Puritan hard drive is a technological revolution in Puritan, Reformation, and Covenanter studies. Thank you for watching this introduction to the Puritan hard drive by Stillwaters Revival Books, serving Christians worldwide for over 25 years. Join us in our other videos as we demonstrate even more features and functionality For more information, visit us on the web at puritandownloads.com. Until then, be well and God bless.