Well, I invite you to turn tonight, if you have your Bibles, to Revelation chapter 17. Revelation chapter 17, and you'll know that we went through this book a few years ago now, in 2017, 16, 17, I believe. It's been that long. I've forgotten what I said, so I'm kind of excited to preach some of this again. But we are airing it currently on Abounding Grace Radio, and we've never had so much response. And I think it really speaks to the moment where I said that oftentimes the way that we hear the word, think of this morning, and the circumstances of life and the things that happen, we hear something differently depending on what we're facing. And in 2020, hearing the book of Revelation could be heard a little bit differently in light of the chaos on the earth. And sometimes we forget exactly what has been said to us, that none of this should be surprising. None of this should be confusing for the Christian. And that's often what I hear from believers. What in the world is going on? And the basic answer is God's told you. That's what the whole book of Revelation is telling us about the conflict. So I thought for a few weeks here it would be helpful to go back and look at 17 and 18 of the book of Revelation to consider a few of these things. The challenge with this is that it's a little bit difficult since I realized working through it again that Revelation does, even though they're separate, what you call sections or pericopes that are looking at history from different vantage points, they do build and the themes that are introduced. So hopefully it's not a little bit of an overload tonight and I'll try to make it as clear as possible to kind of jumping in midstream here to show you what this intention is in chapter 17 of the Spirit. So we'll read chapter 17. You'll remember in chapter 16, God has poured out upon the earth bowls of wrath. And now chapter 17, we're getting a different perspective of the effect of these bowls on the earth, the effect of his judgments on the earth. And now we look at that to have a greater perspective. Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk and he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness and i saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. And on her forehead was written a name of mystery, Babylon the Great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations. And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. When I saw her, I marveled greatly. But the angel said to me, why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. Remember at the beginning, Revelation says of him who is and who was and who is to come. This one's completely false. He's a counterfeit. We're being presented a counterfeit system, just to keep that in your minds as we go. And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast because it was and is not and is to come. This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated. They are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen. One is, and the other has not yet come, and when he does, he must remain only a little while. As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour together with the beast. These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. they will make war on the lamb and the lamb will conquer them for he is Lord of Lord and King of Kings and those with him are called and chosen and faithful. And the angel said to me, the waters that you saw where the prostitute is seated are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages and the 10 horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute. They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind and handing over their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. And that is Revelation chapter 17. I don't have to make the case that things are massively confusing right now in our earth and in the world, it seems that an entire spirit of confusion has fallen on everyone. And I don't know how anyone cannot think that this is some form of chastisement or judgment when the Lord has told us that one of his judgments that he sends on the earth is strong delusion. That's 2 Thessalonians 2. The church has the great problem of not really knowing at times how to process the things that are happening and forgetting that there are things that are happening and that things are not sort of willy-nilly spiraling out of control, but that what we're experiencing are the acts and judgments of God upon the earth as he is preserving his people and preparing his kingdom to come in all of its fullness. This is one of the perspectives of the book of Revelation. We, of course, are so tied to a system of the world and have enjoyed such prosperity in the system of the world, such prosperity in the United States, that it's been confusing for us to know how to process all of this, because when it's been that good, it's really hard to have it all taken away. And that can be rather confusing for us living in this world, knowing that we don't belong to it, and yet still have to live in it and provide and work and supply for our families. But what Revelation 17 is particularly doing is giving us a history lesson. History lessons are always good. A history lesson of Satan's greatest tool to try to overcome the people of God. All that you read, remember how you try to read Revelation. When you zero in too closely, you get lost in the details. The best thing you can do reading the book of Revelation is take a step back and look at the big picture. And that's exactly what this is showing us tonight. It's helping us to understand through all the things that are happening, why is the world the way it is? What in the world is going on right now? And the Bible's saying a lot's happening in the world. A lot is happening in the world. At times, it's going to get really crazy in the world. And there's a reason it's in such confusion right now. There is a reason it's in such confusion, but it's not probably the reason that we often think about. We tend to think we have all these things figured out. And we tend to think that the evening news is telling us why things are the way they are. And I can tell you right now, the evening news doesn't have a clue. Doesn't have a clue. So what we have before us is a short history of Babylon. Remember the first time kingdom was ever mentioned in the Bible is Nimrod's kingdom way back, which was called Babel in Genesis chapter 5. And then you have the Tower of Babel, and you saw that spirit that came out of arrogance, and we will build this kingdom and this city that will reach up to God, and we will offer everything to the inhabitants of the world who are in this alienation and shouldn't be. Defying God's banishment from the garden, and defying his way of coming back on his terms, which is through the gospel, right? It's through the gospel. But this world has fallen into great confusion. And as we look at this right now, let me preface by saying what's difficult about this is that I'm not looking at this in Romans 13 sort of categories. In other words, we believe in submission to governing authorities. We've done all that we can, really. I mean, look what we're doing right now. The governing authorities have said things, and we've done all that we can to try to honor those governing authorities. The governing authority has not told us, even though that's been said in evangelical churches, that we can't worship. They've said we can't meet in walls. But we've done everything. Our elders, I think, and I don't say this to pat us on the back, but I think our elders have been commendable in their leadership to try to honor the governing authorities. I think they've worked hard to do this. We always want to do our best to do that. We always want to maintain a good witness with that. We do our best that we can in these times. So I'm not looking at this in terms of Romans 13 and the calls to submission. We're looking at what is behind governments. What happens in the cosmic realm? What happens with Satan's realm? It's satanic developments in governments. We're looking at what you call beastly developments in governments. When they go awry, when they go way outside the design, There's a spirit of antichrist that's always developing in the governments of the world. You can see it. And you've got to know that. We can't be naive about it. So that's what we're briefly looking at tonight. This brief history of Babylon, her purpose as she's used by the dragon and the beast and the false prophet, and then her judgment and her downfall. So that as you see the downfall, you're not confused. That's what this purpose is. As you see the downfall of Babylon, you're not confused because you belong to a different city. That's really the heart of this passage tonight. But we lose sight of that. I lose sight of that all the time. Our great struggle is we've lived in one of the most fantastic countries this world has ever known. And we're seeing it morally bankrupt crumble. People have fought. People have shed blood. I have a father-in-law who fought in Vietnam for this. and to see this thing go down like it is, it's troubling. We have to be sensitive to that. It's really hard, really hard. So, still, there's good news. Jesus is saying, my city's much better. My city is where you, your ultimate allegiance belongs and you haven't seen anything of the glory that is to come. So understand what's happening in Babylon. Understand what's happening in Babylon. Now, a great sign, you remember, actually, verse 3. So he carried me away into the wilderness, and I saw a woman. I saw a woman. That is meant to, again, as I said earlier, it's a little challenging here. It's meant to be in contrast with chapter 12, where another woman was presented. And this woman was radiant and beautiful. And you remember, she symbolically represented something. She's called a pure virgin. She's a city. She's the Lamb's people. She's God's people. She was beautiful and radiant, light-bearing, clothed with glory. And the Lord has always described his people in the most encouraging and upright terms. I mean, you stand back and say, we're sinners. No, you're covered by the blood of the Lamb. You're a pure virgin in his eyes. You are his pure, spotless, beautiful bride. And you're a city. As a matter of fact, if you go to Revelation chapter 22, when you open up chapter 22, the people are the city. That's the new Jerusalem. You are the city. You are the people. We are a people made precious unto the Lord, saved by his grace and his mercy without spot or without wrinkle. And all of a sudden now in chapter 17, you get introduced to another woman and she is in stark contrast, set in stark contrast to the woman of chapter 12. And here this woman stands for the earthly city. You'll notice that said in verse 18, the woman that you saw is the great city. Augustine was absolutely right to write about the city of God and the city of man. And here we're looking at Babylon. Everything that is said of her is opposite of the pure virgin of chapter 12. The people of chapter 14 were redeemed in the earth who are virgins and not defiled with women, as the text says. But this one gives us an entirely different picture. It's really, really graphic. One of the angels said to me, who had the seven bulls talked with me, said, come up here and I'll show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. And the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. The tie here is important. In the last section, you had all these bowl judgments that are hitting the earth. You've had three sort of cycles that have gone on of judgments on the earth, all the way back from the seals and the bowls that are here. And the kingdom of darkness, these bowl judgments that have come from the throne, have thrown the world into confusion. And those things were answers to the prayers of the saints when they're persecuted and when they're martyred. And nobody has looked at it the way that they should. God is actually answering in the earth and protecting his people in ways that you don't realize. But Revelation has presented a counterfeit system in the earth. It has presented a dragon and a beast and a false prophet and now another woman, all which is really a counterfeit trinity to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and his bride. So there's all these contrasts going on to really unmask the lie that is happening in the earth. The world and its system. This is why, boys and girls, you're told, don't love the world and the things in the world. Anyone loves the world. The love of the Father is not in him. There's a counterfeit system of the world and what it's offering us and what it's promising us. So the angel comes and he says, let me show you, let me show you exactly what the bowls are being poured on. Let me show you a prostitute. How do prostitutes dress? Well, they dress terribly, don't they? She has on purple and scarlet. Rome would have known all of this. Seductive dress. She's covered in gold. She's wearing precious stones and pearls. she rides on this ugly beast you can see in her hand as she's sitting there she's holding up to all the peoples this beautiful golden cup of abominations and if you ask what's in that cup it's the two twin sins that israel always fell to idolatry and sexual immorality offering it drink of it drink of it graphic description of this woman that is provided in Revelation 17 and when John first saw her the first thing that was said of her is what he saw is all the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her they're in alignment with this system they love this woman they like what she offers on her forehead is a great name mystery Babylon the great mother of harlots and of abominations in the earth can you get a more strong imagery that's given to you of a most disgusting woman. Again, chapter 12 is beautiful, beautiful woman. Disgusting is what you should read. Foul. But that's not how you see her. That's not how you see her. You couldn't take your eyes off her. She is absolutely stunning. She is beautiful. She is powerful. This woman, not like the heavenly woman, this woman, though, is a prostitute. A great whore. A great harlot, as she's called. If these two women stand for the two cities, the woman of chapter 12, the Jerusalem that is above, you'll notice here that this woman stands for Babylon the Great, the city of the earth and everything that the system of this world offers us and promises us. And that's what John sees, is that John sees that the woman is drunk with the blood of God's people. That's a startling statement. The imagery of drinking their blood. Again, all symbolic. She's martyred saints throughout history. Babylon has been a great martyr of saints. The angel now begins to explain how this happened because she's riding on this other figure. She's riding on a beast. This beast is really a gross-looking beast. Verse 7 says, I want you to understand their history together for just a moment. You need to know their history together, the woman and the beast. Let me explain to you this beast that carries her. I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. The beast was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. The beast is here presented, and you'll notice that he's presented as having authority. He's symbolic of something. He's given a throne. And what we have in this description is all that is characterized throughout the history of man in this world, what we have is all antichrist history throughout all time. Throughout history. And that the beast has always been representative of taking authority structures and using them to have people bow down to the beast and worship his image as a counterfeit to people bowing to the one on the true throne. and giving true worship to him. So this is a contrast that is greatly given here that the beast has often used and is represented by the political powers of this world. That's why everyone, if you ever wonder, why is everyone so gripped by politics? Ever wonder why? Why are we so gripped by, why are we all experts on this? Why is everyone into this? Because there's great power here. And there's something behind this. And think of all the energy and worship. I'm not talking about bowing to a little Buddha. Worship is giving all your devotion to a system. Think of all the political commentators, their whole life. Think of the Rush Limbaugh's and the Sean Hannity's. Their whole life has been to fight for the political powers of this world. Whatever side you're on, there's a real power there. There's a real devotion there. There's a gripping there. This is exactly why Paul said, listen, nobody entangled in the, anyone who wants to be a soldier of Jesus doesn't get too entangled in the affairs of this life. That's such an important verse for today. That is such an important verse. But here we are in this particular section and the angel wants to explain this history to understand the beast's ways of trying to destroy the people of God. That's his purpose here. He has two ways he's done it throughout history. One is flat out persecution. One is to flat out and come after Christians and martyr them and kill them. And at times, it has risen up throughout history where we've seen some of the worst persecutions of the church. In the first century, Christians face this. But a much more common tool that he uses is the seduction of the prostitute. This is what Revelation, she's writing on him. Revelation shows us this is the crafty work of the beast. And what is the crafty work of the beast? It is to seduce you into a kingdom and win the loyalty of your hearts to something else other than Jesus. That's the basic thing this is saying. John sees this. The woman is doing everything that she can to hold out a cup to us. Come over here. Come to me. Drink of this cup. Think of our poor little lambs, our poor children in these times. Think of the cup that's held out to them. That cup is full of all kinds of abominations and all of them they want to drink. This is exactly what's being described. She's another city. She's another system. She's another offering of another alternative way of promised happiness that ends in death and destruction and woe and misery. She's everything that seduces us away from the true city. She's the lie. She's the lie of Satan in the garden. She's the lie of everything in this world that wants to hold you and take you captive and to say the kind of things and we're all in this together. No, we're not. No, we're not. That is not true. We will beat this. No, you won't. That's not true. With the best of our collective minds, we will overcome. No, you will not. There's only one who overcomes, and that's the lamb. This is why the imagery is so strong. What do we think of when we see a prostitute? Well, we think of one word, and that is seduction. Seduction. How powerful is seduction? How powerful is seduction? Think of the most powerful terms of it being sexual. That's what's being presented here. There's a reason the Bible says that you don't even try to fight sexual morality. You turn around and you run from it as far as you can. Just like idolatry. Those are the only sins that they never say stop and fight. They say run the other way like Joseph. Because you can't stop. This seduction is so powerful. The whole world says John lies under this seductive sway of the evil one. So the beast has a throne. And demands our worship and our loyalty. And if he decides not to force it with persecution, what he does is hold out the cup, the cup of the woman. One pastor said, the symbol indicates that which allures, tempts, seduces, draws people away from God. Look at the city of the world. Look at its culture. Not all culture is evil, is it? No, of course not. Look at its power. Look at its influence. Look what can happen. Look what can begin to happen in people's lives. The tempting, and the culture, the music, the industry, and all that you are offered through it. She has a golden cup in her hands. What captures your hearts? Whatever captures your hearts away from Jesus is in that cup. You see? The beast filled that cup with idolatry and sexual immorality. Pornography, everything that lures us powerfully away. You have to be really realistic, don't you? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. I'm going to make my name great. I'm going to be something. Lust, a desire. Remember Achan? My son, give glory to the Lord God of Israel and praise him and tell me, now what you've done, don't hide it from me. And Achan answered, truly I've sinned against the Lord God of Israel. And this is what I did when I saw among the spoil a beautiful cloak from Shinar. You know where that is, right? That's Babylon. This is what I did. I had 200 shekels of silver and a bar of gold weighing 50 shekels. I coveted them and I took them. This is Proverbs 7. For at the window of my house, I looked through my lattice and I've seen among the simple, I've perceived among the youths, a young man lacking sense, passing along the street near her corner, taking the road to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, at the time of the night and darkness, and behold, a woman meets him, dressed as a prostitute, wily of heart, she's loud and wayward, her feet don't stay at home, now in the street, now in the market, and at every corner she lies in wait, so she seizes this youth and kisses him, And with bold face, she says to him, come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight ourselves with love for my husband's not at home. That's Revelation 17. That's the cup. It takes the shattering power of Christ, which is all powerful, to grab you and to hold you. And I'm gonna end with this thought, don't worry. And to take your desires and change them. That's why you need a new birth. That's why Nicodemus was so important. And that your whole loyalties change. And then you say, that is no longer the desire of my heart. That takes a radical change in work of the Spirit. I just want to say that so we're not losing focus here. But she has martyred the saints by turning the world against the church. And by holding the world captivated by her lust, she turns people against the bride of Jesus, the true woman. She's a mystery. She's Babylon the Great, mother of harlots. And the Lord is saying, open your eyes. See it. Is it really so hard to see? Is it? Can you see it now? He says, this beast that you saw that was and is not and will ascend, contrary to him who is and who was and who is to come, has always been working in history to take people down with the lure of Babylon. The beast's seven heads and powers have been shown in this world. And then he describes what Rome knew on these mountains. Rome was a political beast and its great attraction was all that it offered to seduce its citizens away from Jesus. And it even mentions the mountains here. That's what sat in Rome, seven mountains. The kings of the earth have committed fornication with this woman. They use her lusts and all her things to seduce the world into the worship of them. Do you know what they were doing in Rome? They were demanding that you worship Caesar. Now, I don't know any president yet who's demanded that. But Rome Christians heard that. You will bow down to Caesar or else. And you see why this is so important. And then Rome had everything to offer those who bowed down to Caesar. Had every luxury under the sun to give to them. Now, this is the encouragement tonight, and I'll close on this thought. There's a massive cosmic battle in the background trying to destroy the church's witness. All this is going on in the background, and we have prayed, Lord, help us. That's chapter 8. Lord, help us. Save us and our children. Protect us in these times. We don't know how to process all this. These things are too high for us. Psalm 131. Here come the bulls. Here come the bull judgments. And then Revelation 17 says, let me tell you something else the Lord is doing that you've forgotten. This is really fascinating. The waters that you saw, verse 15, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. She's holding sway over them all. And I think verse 16 is the most interesting in this passage. Notice what it says. The ten horns that you saw on the beast, these political powers, they will hate the harlot and make her desolate and marked and eat her flesh and burn her with fire. What? For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose to be one mind and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. Let me help you understand what was just said. I think that is the most important encouragement in this passage. The beast and his kingdom will turn on the woman. They will turn on the prostitute. And the beast and his persecuting power will put down the prostitute, take away her lure. The beast will take away all her gold and jingling bracelets and everything. He'll stop the luxury in the world. and then everyone will see it for what it is. A false kingdom with promises that are all lies. In other words, can't you see it? God has thrown the kingdom of this world into complete chaos. He has. He throws the kingdoms of this world into confusion, fulfilling Jesus' very word. A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. That's what he's telling you. This kingdom won't stand. He used a little virus to throw confusion. And it didn't take much, did it? The beast is not after your comforts in this life. The beast is not after giving you the American dream. The beast is not after giving you a big home and a nice life. The nations and the governments of this world are about loyalty and ultimately, in their worst form, control. Control. It ultimately wants even to destroy its own citizens and have the harlot allure you in, and when he's done using her, he throws her out and takes the worship that belongs to the Lord. I don't know if the song Hotel California is true. Remember Hotel California? If you go there, you can never get out, the Eagles song. Some of you like the Eagles. I was always told there was a satanic implication in that song, right? If you go into Hotel California, you're never going to get out. I think that's a pretty powerful imagery to what's being said here. The woman is Hotel California, and the beast is saying, once you enter, you're not getting out. That's his modus operandi. And here's the word of encouragement tonight. Verse 14, they make war with the wrong one. They make war with the wrong one. They make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb overcomes them. For he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. And those who are with him are called, chosen, and faithful. Isn't that the best news ever? That the Lord is in charge of this all. That the Lord is King of kings. There is no other on the throne. The system's lying in its worst forms. Don't love the world. Don't think this is your home. And the Lord just said, I will keep you. They can't beat you because they can't beat me. And that's the promise of this. Some of you remember when I first started the book of Revelation, somebody asked me, what's the main point of the book? Jesus is going to win. That's Revelation. Jesus has one, and he's going to show it in all of his glory. So to our young adults tonight and our young people, I hope this was clear. Don't believe the lie. It's a lie that's being presented to you. It's a cup being handed to you. Listen to the truth of what you know as the beautiful thing that Paul told Timothy, your mother Eunice and your grandmother Lois. I think I got those backwards. But you've been handed a precious faith. a deposit of truth in the scriptures that are able to make you what? Wise for salvation. That's what's been given to you. Don't trade it for the lie. Don't trade it for the world and its lie. All this is coming down and the confusion that you're seeing right now should be proof of that. I said at the Kachi service just this last week for Conley, hasn't the Lord got our attention with all this? Hasn't he got our attention yet? Look at things. You want this world? Who wants it? I don't think anyone here would want it. Now, maybe back five years ago, it would be easier to say, I still want it. But I hope all of us are now saying, I'm seeing really clearly this thing's under judgment. And the only way out is a savior. And Jesus is the king of kings and Lord of lords. The one who sits enthroned is the one who came down here to die for us and save us and take us to a kingdom that cannot be shaken. And that's the promise he has given. Oh, worship the king, all glorious above. Gratefully sing his power and his love. Our shield and defender, the ancient of days, pavilioned in splendor and girded with praise. Let's praise him tonight. We do worship the King, O Lord, and thank you for such an encouraging word in our time. We need these words, we need these encouragements for the confusions happening in the earth. For we so often fall in thinking, like the world does, we have no idea what's going on, and how do we stop this, and how do we fix this? And you've been very clear that all these birth pains that are happening are leading up to the final judgment. And yet you've announced to us the victory and you've exposed the lie. Thank you for exposing and unmasking the lie all the way back in the Garden of Eden that Satan presented who was a liar from the beginning. You are the one who is true. We will go forward in your light. Only keep us, O Lord, for we're weak and we so often love the things of the world and hate that we do. Forgive our sins. Keep us this week in your promises and let us worship the king and never lose heart in the things happening in the earth. In Jesus' name, we pray these things. Amen.