" 7 And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns. 8 “The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come."
Let us pray
Heavenly Father,
Father, we are so grateful the rich truth of Your Word, we ask that You would prepare the hearts of the lost to hear and believe that they might be saved. Grant us the boldness and courage to speak the truth, to draw people out of these damning false religions. Lord, we bless Your name that You have saved us from Satan’s deception. Make us faithful to discharge the ministry of reconciliation that we've been given. May it be for Your glory and Christ's sake
In Jesus' name we ask and pray
Amen
Today's Message: The Mother of Harlots - Part II
What a tremendous privilege and joy it is to return to our study together of God's Word. As we return to the book of Revelation, we continue our study of the false religious system that will one day dominate the world. I believe that we've been able to learned so much. We have seen a glimpse of how man's final years on earth will be lived, the terrifying holocausts of judgments, the earthquakes, pestilences, and famine. It's a frightening picture for those of us who have loved ones will may likely be facing this horrific time. We have learned about the 144,000 Jewish preachers and the two witnesses, evangelizing the people of the earth. We've also learned about how Satan and millions of his demons will operate in the last days. Today, this is all in the future, however, the time is soon coming when it will become a stark reality to those who will remain on the earth.
I believe now, more than ever, it is vital that today’s sermons must be biblically relevant, because we find ourselves in a time where Gospel of Jesus Christ is not preached. The sermons of today must be "culturally relevant", rather than biblical, people want to be entertained with jokes and props, focusing on the agenda of the enemy, sexually immoral and political crusades. Pastors are beginning to sound more like Dr. Phil rather than the Apostle Paul. In fact, if Christ is mentioned at all in many churches, He is typically portrayed to be more of a genie than a Savior, who came to die as a substitute for our sin. A personal sidekick rather than Lord. This new gospel is all about what we need God to do for us to make us happy, wealthy and wise. Nearly 65% of Americans identify themselves as Christians, however, they are having virtually no impact on our culture. In fact, the current culture is influencing the church. Christ has become an invisible friend that is willing to help us find out potential in life, if we will only learn the "tricks" to enlist His help. Modern Christians fail to understand sin is that which has rendered us guilty before a holy God. Instead, they see it as a mistake, that everyone makes, and keeps us from living up to our full potential. Sin must be exposed and the offense of the cross must never be diminished.
That's why I believe it is imperative that we go out into the world, who is being terribly deceived and tell them what we know to be true. This "Christ-less Christianity" today is what led our former president to say,
and I quote, "I believe that all the world, whether they be Muslim, Christian
or any other religion, prays to the same God. That is what I believe," close quote.
So, as we come back to our study of chapter 17, we are examining the religious side of Satan’s final world empire. Open your Bibles with me to Revelation chapter 17. Revelation 17, verses 7 and 8. I invite you to follow along with me as I read, to set the text in our minds, while we prepare our hearts for what the Spirit of God is saying to us. Listen for the voice of our Lord.
"And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
“The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come."
As we noted previously, the world is not going to become more irreligious; in fact, it is going to become more and more religious. Not the true religion, of course,the false religion of Satan himself. Looking back at verse 5, we see the name of this false religious system, "Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth." Roman Catholicism which is headquartered in the ancient city of Rome and is spread practically all over the world. As I have said before, this is undoubtedly the religious Babylon. God has gone to incredible lengths to get this word to us, it's important that we understand it.Verse 7, "And the angel said to me, “Why do you wonder? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns." The angel is saying no need to wonder, I’ll tell you the mystery; I’m going to explain it to you. Perhaps the angel was reminding John and all of us, of the principle of prayer, "ask
and you shall receive …" and "if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of
God." The mystery to John is how does this religious system relate to this scarlet beast. Not that this is a religious system.
Notice the phrase "that carries her," to explain to you their relationship. Though there already been many, this is final Antichrist, which is the most heinous and powerful of all. Described as having seven heads and ten horns in the vision. So, the question in John’s mind is how does this harlot religious system
work together with this beast that the whole world is worshiping. To better understand this, let's look at the harlot first. Stay with me, we're going to jump ahead to the end of verse 18. The angels tells John "The woman whom you saw is the great city, which reigns over the kings of the earth."
The exposure of the woman was in verses one through six, now in verses 7 through 17, we come to the explanation of who this woman is. This woman, this religious system, is the great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. This the final form of world religion connected to the Antichrist’s political,economic, spiritual and religious empire. I have been asked numerous times, "Is this an actual city?" While it may well be a city involved, I do not believe that it's limited to that, this is a worldwide system of satanic rule, described as Babylon here in the text.
This evil religious system will come home to the place where it started as well as to the ideology that it started with. At some point, it will reach its zenith in the kingdom of Antichrist where there will be a rebuilt city of Babylon. We'll affirm that when we get to chapter 18, Feel free to go ahead and read that on your own at some point. What role it will play we can't be sure. I believe it will be emblematic of an entire world empire.
The prophets of old, had much very detailed to say about the final destruction of Babylon, you can look that up on your own as well, you can find it in Isaiah 13 and 14, Jeremiah 50 and 51. Much of they predicted only partially happened in history past to this day. By no means have all the aspects of the prophecy against the city of Babylon ever been completely fulfilled.
In Isaiah, it says the destruction will take place in the time that the stars and the sun are darkened. And, according to both Isaiah and Jeremiah, the city will become as desolate as Sodom and Gomorrah, burned completely, with no remains whatsoever. It shall become desolate forever with neither man nor beast entering it anymore. This will be a time of judgment not only for Babylon but for all the
nations of the world, and it’s destruction will be followed by
universal rest and permanent peace. It’s destruction is directly associated with the casting of Lucifer into Sheol. Lastly, Babylon's stones will never be used again in any future construction. I believe this indicates that Babylon is being rebuilt. Strategically at the crossroads of Asia, Europe, and Africa, and it has an immense water supply. A great location from which to rule the world.
So in verse 8, the angel says "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction." In other words, the beast that you saw, that is the world ruler that rises in the last
days, Satan’s man embodying all the powers of human genius and
leadership and is eventually energized by hell itself, this one who is
portrayed in the book of Daniel.
Now, back to out text, before the angel explains the relationship between the harlot church and
the political empire of the Antichrist, he offers a very important
digression in verses eight through 14. Today, we will look at verse 8. "The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come."
This guy is like a thousand Adolf Hitler's, combined with a thousand Joseph Stalin's. The Apostle Paul describes him as a religiously oriented man, who is a kind of royal blasphemer against God and the son of destruction That’s who the beast is. The phrase "who was and is not and is about to come up," is really a parody on the name of God as the One "who is and who was and who is to come." He is the co conspirator to the harlot church. "Was," refers to the old Roman empire of John’s day, "is not" refers to the fall of Rome. "And is about to come up …" refers to the future, the revived Roman empire in its final form in the days of the Tribulation. The rival of the Rome Empire is not a natural phenomenon, the force behind its rise is none other than Satan himself.
Also, remember, this man had been slain, and his wound was apparently fatal. The "miraculous healing" of the fatal wound causes those who rejected the Lamb to be amazed and follow after the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast?" This beast is the personification imperial power. As I have stated many times before, I believe that is a counterfeit resurrection satanically empowered, when the Antichrist reaches a certain level of power, he
has to be catapulted to the next level. He is intolerant of the religious system that coexisted and he wants to destroy it.
Notice the phrase "is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction." The abyss is the word "abussou," this is hell, the abode of the dead and of evil demons. It is possible that he is no longer purely human. This man whom we call Antichrist rises as a world ruler, conquers the world without war.
I believe, he does this by aligning himself with the religious system that has come together and gathered the entire world. He takes advantage of this one worldwide religion. He is then energized into the final form of his satanic enterprise.
Before we close, look at verse 16, "And 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." In other words, he will end this co existing religious system.
So at the end of verse 8, "And those who dwell on the earth, whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will wonder when they see the beast, that he was and is not and will come." Those who are enamored with the beast do not understand that he is on his way to hell, They are so deceived, they identify themselves with their allegiance to him. These people are those "whose name has not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world." Only the believers will escape this deception. That's how great this deception will be.
In Matthew 24, Jesus said "For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect." It’s not possible. This verse makes that abundantly clear. Only those who do not fit into the category of "those who names were written in the Lamb’s Book of Life from before the foundation of the world," will be deceived. Don't allow anyone to tell you anything different. It's right there in this verse.
In Closing..
I'd like to point here here, they don’t perish just because they weren’t elect. They perish because they refused to accept the truth, they rejected Christ as their Lord and Savior, so as to be saved. This is where the world is headed. That's why we must share the truth of the gospel with as many people as we can, snatching them out of the fire. Before they fall into the deception of wickedness and their hearts are hardened permanently.
Remember, we were once enemies of God, were it not for His amazing grace and someone planting the seeds of Salvation. Let us sow the seeds of truth for the great harvest. All for His glory and increase in the kingdom.
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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