An Unhappy Ending For Beauty And The Beast

Take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to Revelation chapter 17. Although it may seem to you that we have been in Revelation a long time, this is actually only sermon number 42, so we haven't even really preached it for an entire year. and yet I hope that as we have made our way through this book that the promises that were made at the beginning of the book that you would be blessed by the reading of it as coming true for you that God is blessing you as you see this book come alive I frankly have considered this one of the best Bible studies I've had in my years here I'm going to read the entire chapter you follow along as I read Revelation chapter 17 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. This calls for mind with wisdom The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated. There are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen. One is and the other has not yet come.

And when he does come, 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 lords and king of kings and those with him are called chosen and faithful. And the angel said to me, city that has dominion over the kings of the earth. Let's pray. Father, open this text to us now. We are your people ready to hear you. We ask that you would encourage us, warn us, help us, give us hope as we understand what exactly you mean here.

Father, we come to this utterly dependent on your spirit to teach, not just to teach us the truth of this text, but to penetrate our hearts with truth that each individual needs to hear. Give me words to say, Father, the right words for this congregation, for each individual here. Give me those words that will help them. Father, we do this out of worship for you.

We worship you by listening now. Speak to us. Give us ears to hear. Help us, we pray. We desperately need it. In Jesus' name, amen.

When you think of the end of the world and all the events that you think might take place at that time, I would guess that you have a whole stew of emotions ranging from perplexed to astonishment to shock to fear If that the case you in good company then because that what the Apostle John felt when one of the angels with the bowl pulled back the curtain and revealed to him the vision of that attractive yet repulsive prostitute called Babylon the Great. And as he looks at her, he marvels at her as she sits on that horrifying seven-headed, ten-crowned, blasphemous scarlet beast. And it says that he marvels.

He is awestruck. No doubt terrified, yet attracted and at the same time confused. And the angel says to him, there's really no reason for you to be frightened or shocked or confused about what you're seeing because, he says in verse 7, I'm going to tell you what it's all about. And so through the rest of this chapter, all the way through chapter 19, verse 10, the angel shows us pictures of the end.

The end which involves the end of this prostitute, Babylon the Great, and the end of the great adversary, the beast. Now you remember that John reveals that Babylon the Great is the economic religious world that seduces you with promises of economic security and comfort and the idolatry of opulence. And you remember that in this book are two great dangers arising from the alliance of our two great enemies, the beast and the prostitute. those dangers are the persecution of God's people by the political powers that exist the political powers that express the beast and then there is the seduction of God's people by the economic system that promises so much ease and prosperity and God calls us to do two things in this book if you recall as we've moved through this book little by little, verse by verse you recall that God has called us his people to persevere in the face of persecution and to resist the seduction of the culture around us And he calls us to flee seduction by coming out of Babylon and escaping the judgment that he has planned for her Now as we look at these chapters, beginning in chapter 17, going through chapter 19, verse 10, we have a vision of the end of that economic system that promises us so much, that allures us so greatly.

And part of that is to give us the, what's the word I want, to give us the brains to see that that which allures us is temporary and is going to be destroyed. So come out of her. Don't be allured. Don't be seduced. Get out while there's still time. but he also tells us of the end of the beast and even though the subject of this whole prophecy this whole vision is the end of Babylon the great yet in verses 6 through 14 we spend some time with the beast because we'll understand her end if we understand a little bit about his end and so we get a glimpse of not only the end of Babylon, but the end of the beast, the end of everything.

Why does God do that? So that his churches will gain a heart of wisdom, that by seeing the end of these enemies, you will gain the power to persevere and to resist. Now, my intention was to get all the way through the end of chapter 17. As I started hammering this thing out, it became obvious yesterday afternoon that that was not going to happen. And I was going to spare you, and I did, spare you another 20 minutes.

You see, and don't count the pages as I turn them. When you get to page 13 in a sermon, you're about at the end of your endurance. So, you know, it was obvious I was heading real fast to 13 pages before I ever got to verses 15 through 18. You can thank me later for my mercy to you. So today, we're going to look at what this chapter reveals about the end of the beast, and then next week, or the week after, the end of Babylon the Great.

But here's the point. You can gain the power to persevere in persecution by understanding the beast. He reveals the end of the beast here so that we will gain a heart of wisdom. We will see the end of the beast and we will not submit to its blasphemous claims of loyalty from us. We will resist him. We will not give in. we will take whatever the beast has to give because we know his end.

We know what he's about. And I want to do this today in four headings, okay? We're going to gain this power as you understand the mystery of the beast's history, as you understand the mystery of the beast's heads, as you understand the mystery of the beast's horns, and as you understand the mystery of the Lamb's triumph. so as we look go through that we'll see aha here is what's going to happen here is what God has said is going to happen and by knowing that we will be prepared for what is coming our way and we will be able to resist we will be able to persevere in light of what the beast is in light what the beast does.

So first, understand the mystery of the beast's history. Now it's important to see that in this chapter, there's a particular phrase used three times. It's used three times. You see it in the beginning of verse 8, the end of verse 8, and verse 11. All right, here's what it is. Look at the beginning.

Verse 8. The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction. And then at the end of verse 8, that the dwellers on earth are going to marvel at this beast because it was and is not and is to come. And then drop down to verse 11 As for the beast that was and is not it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven and it goes to destruction Now you see that there that phrase used three times in this chapter The beast was is not and then a third element Always three elements in each one of those Now why is that there It kind of gives us the history of this beast It sounds like the phrase used of God in chapter 1.

Turn back there. Chapter 1, verse 8. It echoes with this. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty. You see the same thing in chapter 4, verse 8. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within.

And day and night they never cease to say, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come. And then verse chapter 11. beginning in verse 16 in the 24 elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worship God saying we give thanks to you Lord God Almighty who is and who was for you have taken your great power and begun to reign you see that phrase used and you recall that the beast demands allegiance that belongs only to God he wants to take the place of God here we see the beast as God. The beast who was, who is not, and is to come.

This is the beast that demands your allegiance that belongs only to God. He mimics God, as it were, demanding only that which belongs to God. But not only does he mimic God, but it mimics the resurrection of Christ as well. When you read about Jesus, we read about the one who was not. And we'll turn back to chapter one, the verse 18. Again, we see Jesus described.

When he's described this way. I died and behold, I am alive forevermore. So we see Jesus described as dead and then alive. Again, this sounds like the beast, the one who was and who is not and is about to rise or is about to come. This is the beast not only as God. This is the beast as savior, mimicking the resurrection and the return of Christ.

I think this phrase then symbolizes the beast's history. In every phrase, he's described this way. The one who was He had an existence The wicked kingdoms of the past We can look at the wicked kingdoms of the past We can look at Babylon Assyria Egypt All of those that persecuted the wicked kingdoms that persecuted the people of God. He was. He is not. The beast or the state or the kingdom with its power has been defeated at the cross.

It cannot touch those who have been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. It cannot get their allegiance. They are redeemed. They have been purchased by God. Again, that is why I say we have to see the death of Jesus as something that is very powerful. And for his people, because his death has accomplished not the possibility that we're saved.

His death actually accomplishes our salvation so that we remain untouched. We will not give our allegiance. All the blood brought people of God will not give their allegiance to the beast. So he's the one who is not. But notice, but he is also the one that is about to rise. The first part of verse 8.

And is to come. The last part of verse 8. Like Christ, he rises, it seems. And he will come to bring judgment against his enemies. Christians. And victory to his people.

Dwellers on the earth. At the end of the age, the beast in his final incarnation of earthly power will mount an attack against God's people and seek to obliterate them. See, it mimics the return of Christ as he comes to obliterate his enemy, so the enemy, so the beast, is going to rise and is about to come. For what purpose? To obliterate the people of God.

The church will be brought to the verge of annihilation. Now why do we see that? We've seen this in different pictures before. We've seen the same thing before in chapter 11. Turn back to chapter 11. You remember?

We were there quite a while ago, even though it may not be that many sermons ago. Chapter 11, the story of the two witnesses. Remember, the two witnesses represent the church and the witness of God, the two prophets who are witnesses of God in this age. What do we read about them? You remember what we read about them in verse 7 and 8? and when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit, you see that phrase again?

The beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt where their Lord was crucified You see, remember, we looked at that and said, aha, we see here a picture of near the end. The beast is going to rise and with great power is going to nearly obliterate the church or it will appear that way. There'll be dead in the street.

All right. He rises to conquer them and appears successful. Again, look at chapter 16. We were just there a few weeks ago. Chapter 16, verse 12. The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and his water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the east.

And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs, for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty, the day of the Lord. Verse 16, and they assembled them at the place that in Hebrews called Armageddon. Again, the picture of the beast gathering forces to defeat the people of God.

So we have a picture here of a beast that was, who is not, but is about to rise and is about to come. however please note the pictures of chapter 17 also declare the ultimate destruction of the beast the ultimate destruction of the beast verse 8 he comes from the bottomless pit and goes to destruction verse 11 after he after the 8th it belongs to the 7th and it goes to destruction. When Christ's end time final coming well his final coming consists in his victory the judgment of his opponents and the establishment of his reign the beast's final manifestation will be his attempt to establish his sovereignty and his defeat and judgment will happen. Okay?

Look back again at chapter 11. chapter 11 verse 16 and the 24 elders who sit on their thrones before God fell on their faces and worship God saying we give thanks to you Lord God Almighty who is and who was free have taken your great power and begun to reign the nations raged but your wrath came and the time for the dead to be judged and for the rewarding your servants the prophets and saints and those who fear your name both small and great and for destroying the destroyers of the earth. And again we've seen it already in chapter 16 verse 4 that when the beast finally gathers his forces to do that final battle to overcome his opponents to bring in his kingdom he in fact is defeated and the kingdom of God comes. chapter 11 the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ and he will reign forever and ever now you see this history repeated in verse 11 once you look at verse 11 I'll be honest with you this is the one that I just banged my head against for two weeks I'm trying to figure this thing out and you can see why in verse 11 it said as for the beast that was and is not. It is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven and it goes to destruction.

Now what is that all about? I want you to see again that there's that three-fold formula. Notice, the beast that was and is not and it is an eighth. Now the last element, the third element of every one of those phrases has changed for each one. Remember, he was and is not and is about to rise. Beginning of verse eight, the last part of verse he it was and is not and is to come.

Now we have that was and is not and is is and it is an eighth. So was and is not is about to rise is to come is the eighth. That says something to me. It says, first of all, don't start counting kings and empires. Try to figure out who the first seven are so that you can figure out who number eight is. Others have tried that.

They've tried to say, well, this is John writing and he's counting seven Roman emperors. And then the eighth emperor is going to come. Well, the problem with that is, do you start with Julius Caesar, the first real emperor? Or do you start with Augustus, the first declared emperor? And do you count only the emperors that the Roman Senate deified Made them gods And what about Galba and Otho and Vitellius who reigned in an 18 period between Nero and the next one Okay?

There was 18 months where there were three different episodes. Do you count those? And I've looked at the different charts, and there's gaps in them. 1, 2, 3, 4, skip, 5, 6, 7, or 1, 2, skip, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. And to do that is to forget how the book is written. Remember our phrase?

These are symbols, not photographs. Symbols, not photographs. This has to be, this ink has to be symbolic of something. Well, here's what I think. Notice, the beast who was, who is not, and is to rise, the beast who was, who is not, and is to come, the beast who was, who is not, and is the eighth. The eighth must also be parallel with the third element of the other two.

So it has to have something to do with this mimicry of Christ's resurrection. and his coming. The eighth. The eighth is a figurative way of saying resurrected form. Let me illustrate it this way. Was Jesus the son of God while he lived his life on earth? What would you say to that?

This is not a trick question. Of course he was. He claimed to be the son of God while he was alive. He did miracles while he was alive to show I am the son of God and yet when you look at Romans chapter 1 verse 4 it says this that Jesus was declared to be the son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness by his resurrection from the dead here is the same Jesus same person only in a different form in another form in his resurrected form of existence the full embodiment of the son of God was he always the Son of God here?

Yes, but there's something different. Now, here's the full, clear embodiment of Jesus as the Son of God. Same person, yet a little different. Are the seven kings, verse 10, are the seven kings mentioned there There are also seven kings five of whom have fallen One is the other has not yet come and when he does come he must remain only a little while As for the beast that was and is not it is an eighth but belongs to the seven Are the seven kings the manifestations of the beast and his evil throughout history?

And the answer is yes. But in that final stage, the eighth or the resurrected stage, the beast will be the full embodiment of satanic power. He belongs to the seven means that he's a descendant, if you will. He comes out of the seven as in family, coming up, being born of, if you will. That is, he has the same evil characteristics of his family. He will also be evil.

So here's what I'm saying then. He's the same evil governmental power, yet different. He is the full embodiment of satanic evil. So the final incarnation of beastly earthly power, the seventh king, will also be the eighth. Because he will be the full embodiment of satanic power. He is the resurrected form, if you will.

He is the one who will be declared with power. Satanic. Alright? Did all that make sense to you? because of where it is in that element that every one of those three phrases are the same, all of them historical, all of them making us think of a mimicry of Christ's resurrection and return, that's what eighth means. That's what it means. And notice verse 11, yet he ends up in destruction.

Now let's get an idea of what John has just said. do not look for a beast as a person do not even though he's called the beast don't look for a person as we've seen all the way through the book of revelation the beast spans the entire age of the church the entire time between the ascension of jesus and the return of jesus so the beast is the satanic inspired governments or nations who persecute the people of God. Alright? That's the beast.

But at the final stage of history, there will be this universal government inspired persecution of God's people that will be unheralded in its scope and its success. There will be something that happens that will bring that beast which is now expressed in all the different persecuting political entities that are out there, where it will become unified some way. It will be the embodiment of satanic power and success.

But the point is, do not lose hope. Because although it will seem unbelievably successful in crushing the people of God, the nations who ally themselves against the church will face destruction at the hands of the Lamb. He's trying to picture for us, look, this is coming. but notice in every one of those in the first one he goes to destruction in the third one and it goes to destruction it's clear don't lose hope he goes to destruction he is unsuccessful in what he wants to do and what they want to do and what it wants to do alright then he says this calls for a mind of wisdom I believe that that phrase in verse 9 should go with verse 8.

What I've just said calls for a mind of wisdom. Wisdom that says, Be wise. Don't be fooled by the unbelievable power of the beast for it's demonically inspired from the abyss and his rule ends in destruction no matter how successful he appears. Be wise. Don't be fooled. Folks, we can be fooled by power.

We can be drawn in by power. I think of Nazi Germany. When I was a kid, when I was a kid, I thought Adolf Hitler had stolen the election that made him the Chancellor of Germany. He didn't steal it. He won it fair and square. those people got what they wanted and listen as it says, notice in verse 8 the dwellers of the earth marvel at the power of this beast and they willingly They give themselves to it.

And so, John is telling us, be wise. Don't let the power of the beast suck you in. When you look at him and say, who can stand? Remember we read this early in the book of Revelation? Who can stand against the power of the beast? Chapter 13, I believe.

Who can stand against the power of the beast? Don't say we can. because it will only be, that last installment will only be for a short time, and then there will be destruction. Be wise in this way. Know that the Lamb will triumph. Know that the Lamb will triumph. They'll make war on the Lamb.

And the Lamb, verse 14, will conquer them. be wise. You'll gain power to resist when you understand the mystery of the beast's heads. Verses 9 and 10. It says right off the bat, the seven heads of the beast are kings. And we saw in chapter 13 that the beast from the sea has seven heads with blasphemous names written on them. Now we come back to that.

Those seven heads are mountains. Seven mountains. This is a clear reference to kingdoms or kings. we have a tendency sometimes to look at that and say, she sits on, the woman sits on seven mountains or seven hills and automatically think, aha, he's talking about the Roman Empire. He's talking about the Roman Empire because it used to be said, Rome sits on seven hills.

No, that's not what he's saying. Because the word mountain here has been used as a reference to kingdoms. She sits on seven kingdoms. All right? We saw that in chapter 6 where that burning mountain goes into the sea. Mountain, we saw, is a reference to a kingdom.

We see this all the time in the Old Testament, that he often uses that word mountain to refer to kingdoms. For example, Ezekiel 35, verses 3 and 4. Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir, and I will stretch out my hand against you, and I will make you a desolation and a waste. I will lay your cities waste, and you shall become desolate, and you shall become a desolation Okay Mount Seir isn just one mountain that has a bunch of cities It is the kingdom of Edom called Mount Seir We see the same thing in Daniel chapter 2 where this rock, you remember in Daniel chapter 2, this rock comes and crushes the image and then it grows into a mountain that's in the whole world.

Well, what was that vision saying? That the kingdom of God, the kingdom of God is like a mountain. And so we see this all through the Old Testament. So the seven heads are seven mountains or seven kings. The woman sits on those mountains. She depends on the military might and power of the state to help her in her seduction.

The original readers who heard this, they would see the great economic power of the Roman Empire and know that it was because of the peace of Rome that was enforced by the Roman legions. That's why there was such economic prosperity in the world. But you can see the same thing today. You can see the same thing today. What's the most prosperous, most mighty military might in the world today?

Us. See, you're afraid to say it because you don't want to equate your country with Babylon the Great. We live in a culture that's Babylon the Great because of our might and our economic prosperity. The whole western world is that. You see? Now again, the number seven is figurative.

Symbols, not photographs. And you know that. How do we know that this is a figurative number when it says that she sits on these mountains, these kingdoms on which the woman is seated? There are also seven kings. Well, remember, the seven kings, the seven heads are part of the beast. What have we learned about the beast before in this book?

We've learned that as you look at the Old Testament, put everything together, the beast is not an entity, not a single person. The beast is this state power motivated by the dragon that exists all the way through this entire age. So instead of trying to count off certain kingdoms or empires that must exist before Jesus returns, what you must see here is the oppressive power of earthly governments throughout this age that seek to gain allegiance that belongs only to God and will persecute anyone who does not give it that allegiance The seven kings symbolize all the kings and nations of this age who persecute God people But notice, he says, you see the history again.

Here again, we have a history lesson because he says there are seven kings, five are gone, one is this, and there's one more coming. okay five heads of this age-old beast are gone they are no more and again don't start counting which kings or nations does he mean okay did you mean the roman empire then charlemagne's empire then napoleonic empire then the nazis then the soviet union let's see that's five okay let's go back and count again maybe we can come up with seven don't do that it's a figurative it's a figurative thing. He says, this is just to say, you're in the next to last stage of history. Why?

Because we're right now, who is? The sixth head is now. We're now living under the reign of the sixth head. Now for those Christians in Asia Minor, the ones who got this letter, those in Philadelphia and Smyrna and Thyatira and Ephesus and so on, they knew it included their present Roman emperor. But that sixth head continues to rule today. We're under the sixth head.

Now how do I know that? Because he says what? There is one, what? Yet to come. There is one yet to come. The final and the greatest manifestation of satanic power in earthly government bringing about the final horrifying persecution of God's people.

But notice what he says. that final ruler, that final expression of the dragon inspired beast when he does come he must remain only a little while. We have this idea here John is essentially saying look there's only one more left and then the end. There's only one more left and then the end. And when he comes it'll be for a short time. Don't lose hope.

You're near the end when the triumph of the land explodes onto the stage of human history Be warned there yet to come an age of intense persecution but it will be short and then your vindication will come Then your vindication, your rescue will come. You have the power to stand if you know that your Savior knows the times and seasons, and has revealed it to you and has told you, don't lose heart. It's only for a short time.

And that he will come at the right time to rescue his people. Are you going to gain power to resist when you understand the mystery of the beast's horns? Are you still with me? You know, I got to admit to you, I was going to say, Lord, this is not going to be a barn burning sermon. I mean, you know, God, you know that I wrestle with that. I wrestle sometimes saying, God, this is not going to fire everybody up to go out and witness to all their neighbors.

You know, but here's what it is. Understand the mystery of the beast's horns. You find that in verses 12 through 14. 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. They hand over their power and authority to the beast.

They'll make war on the lamb. God gives you here the picture of the final battle against God's people. Now the horn. A horn is a figure used throughout the Old Testament as a metaphor for power. It's used of kings. It's used of powerful individuals.

It's even used of salvation. The horn of my salvation. The horn of your salvation. The power of it. Horn means power. Here, royal power.

Here are ten horns. Once more, I will say it again. These are symbols, not photographs. So don't start counting down what ten nations are involved. Can I tell you something? growing up I was clearly told that the ten horns are revived Roman Empire and then the economic year the European Union that's falling apart today that was the revived Roman Empire that was the ten horns and that was going to be where Antichrist came and all kinds of stuff I mean it was wild I'll tell you that several years ago we had a speaker who had a little thing out here with the little flag of the European Union and that whole thing was all displayed for you out there.

I remember seeing that. You know, the problem with that, the problem with that, and I remember looking at that saying, oh man, you know, seventh grader, you're going, oh Lord, I haven't kissed a girl yet. I don't want Jesus to come yet, you know. But you know what? The older I got, the more I thought, wait a minute, this doesn't make sense. The Roman Empire wasn't just Europe.

It came all the way around to North Africa and included Israel, included Turkey and all that. Where are you going to get your ten nations now? The whole thing started falling apart in my mind. But the point is, the problem with that is you're seeing ten horns as a photograph and not as a symbol. What is it a symbol of? It's a symbol of completeness, of complete power, complete unified power.

All right. And as you see here, it's power that is unified towards one goal. To make war on the Lamb. now I believe that the ten horns symbolize completeness and is symbolizing all the kings of the earth now why do I say that because there are two other parallel passages that say the same thing as this one let's look at it these ten horns are going to do what they are of one mind to hand over their power and authority to the beast they will make war on the lamb all right so let's turn back then to chapter 16 chapter 16 verse 14 for they are demonic spirits performing signs who go abroad to the kings of the whole world to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

Now who's assembling for the battle on the day of God the Almighty? All the kings of the earth. All right now look at chapter 19 verse 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth with their armies gathered to make war against him who was sitting on the horse and against his army Now if you read the whole context, it's Jesus sitting on the horse.

It's the Lamb, if you will. And then we come to chapter 17, verse 14, we see the exact same scene. All of them, the ten horns, gathered to make war. Well, what's the point? The ten horns represent the kings of the earth. He uses the idea of ten horns to give you the idea of complete, unified.

They are together on this, you see. So, the ten horns then are identical to the kings of the earth in the other two passages. That's what this is. Now, this persecution leading to the final battle is yet future, verse 12. and the ten horns of Usar 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.

They've not yet received royal authority. The implication is, now listen, the implication is they haven't received that authority from God. They haven't received that authority from God. God will move providentially in the events and the history of our world to invest those earthly powers with their authority along with the beast. in some sense it appears that the nations will form a beast-inspired, ungodly coalition or confederation of the world's nations or governments so that they will act in unison against the people of God.

How will that happen? I don't know. I have no idea, and he doesn't give us the details. He's just trying to make the point. There's coming a time of intense persecution. Be ready. and it's not going to be scattered like it is now.

There's going to be some sort of a unified persecution somehow. And listen, I'm sure we could write a whole series of novels on that subject. I'm sure we could line out how that happens, and it'll be really cool and everyone would buy it. in fact I can tell you right now as I was studying this and thinking about that I came up with a few scenarios on my own I got the United Nations involved in mine that possible may not be the United Nations I not going to see the second I say here what going to happen the United Nations is going to get together and they're going to say Christianity is just a pox on the earth and it's the reason for all environmental problems and all the persecution in the world.

And so we as a United Nations are going to say that da-da-da-da-da. And so, right? And I can say that and I can write a book on it and 10 years down the line the united nations dissolves right god doesn't give us the details but in some fashion all the kings of the earth are going to do battle against god by attacking his people that's all we know they'll have one mind they'll have one purpose to make war on the lamb and i believe to make war on the lamb not as if they're gathering together to say let's get Jesus.

They're gathering together to destroy the people of God. But again, notice the assuring little footnote. What does it say? It says... I'll find it here. Okay, there it is in verse 12.

They have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings for what? One hour. Again, again, symbol, not photograph, not 60 minutes, but what? A short time. It'd only be short. One hour.

And again, this refers to the little while that we saw previously. Okay? Okay? We just read it a few minutes ago. There it is in verse 10. And when he does come, that final manifestation, it only lasts a little while, one hour.

Be assured, this great conspiracy will not last but for a short time before rescue arrives. But our hope doesn't lie in just knowing history. You'll gain the power to resist when you understand the mystery of the Lamb's triumph. verse 14 they will make war on the lamb and the lamb will conquer them for he is Lord of lords and king of kings and those with him are called chosen and faithful now I want you to notice something look at verse 8 in verse 8 it says The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.

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. Now, do you notice something? As they see what seems to them like irresistible power, as they see the beast as God and Savior in the way it rises to its unheralded power, they will fall into line.

They will give their allegiance to the beast. To those powers, whatever they will be, they will give their allegiance to them. but I want you to see something it takes the supernatural work of God to keep anyone from falling to the dragon inspired sovereignty of earthly power why? why will they fall prey? because their names are not written in the Lamb's book of life they're not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world it takes God to keep anyone faithful it takes God to keep us from following our own delusions of power it takes God to keep us from giving our allegiance to something that seems so attractive but listen be careful that you don't spend so much time staring at the beast that you forget the lamb now I've told you stories of how I grew up and the things we heard every year we would have a prophetic conference Bible conference at our church and every year I heard the same things about the ten European nations becoming the seedbed of Antichrist and I heard all these things and the thing I never heard was Jesus I heard a lot about what the newspapers were saying I heard a lot about how all these things are coming to pass I heard a lot how the Iraq and Babylon is going to do this and how Israel was going to do this and how Egypt and us all sorts of things how I'll never forget the night hearing that I have a friend whose uncle's brother works in the Treasury Department and he told him and he told his uncle and that uncle told me that they're not going to be issuing any more money after 1975 because we're going to an identification an identification where everyone's going to get a mark on their hand and we won't need money anymore. So no more money after 1975.

Alright? And I heard a lot about marks and I heard a lot about great weapons that are going to neutralize tanks so that the Russians can invade Israel with cavalry. And I heard all kinds of things, but I never heard about Jesus. John doesn't do that. After he tells us about the beast, what does he tell us about? The triumph of the Lamb. your hope is not going to be found in understanding all the different things that go into bringing the beast and all those ten horns and all the alliances that are going to happen or may not happen we not sure what he wants you to see is that ultimately the beast fails Because he will line up to conquer the Lamb and he will be conquered instead.

Why? Because the Lamb is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. The Lamb sits on the throne. Chapter 5, right? the Lamb sits on the throne and it's the Lamb who unfurls and breaks those seals so that His plan comes to fruition. It is the Lamb who is the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and not even the beast who will evidently in some fashion get all this power on this earth will not be able to conquer the Lamb.

That's what we have to see. And do you see what else it says there? You will be with him. It's interesting to me that it says that they will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him, you will be with him when he comes to conquer. Okay? There's going to be something that happens, that when Jesus comes, we will then be with him.

We will go up, I believe is the way it's going to happen. we will be going up and we will be with him and we will come back in that conquering force and we will be part of that. And please note how we are described. And those with him are what? Called and chosen and faithful. You see we can get so myopic and see the beast that we don see the lamb and we don see that it the lamb who at the cross bought us and that is why we will be faithful Now I can tell you this, I don't know if this is true of you or not, but maybe after this sermon you might be frightened about what might be coming even in our lifetime. there is coming a time of unprecedented universal persecution i believe that's what this text is telling us it is coming the storm clouds may already be gathering for the final push to eradicate the people of god i don't know yet again the great persecution to come may not happen for generations i don't know that either we don't know that but you see our hope is not in figuring everything out.

Our hope is in the Lamb who is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. God tells us not so that we will involve ourselves in useless speculations about what's going on in the world. He gives you this revelation so that you can stand faithful in the midst of persecution and that you find your hope in the Lamb who conquers and not in yourself. the powers of this age may act like god and act like a savior and exercise incredible power power but they are not god we have a savior who overcame the beast already centuries ago at the cross when he purchased the people for himself so that there will always be a faith a faithful people who will be untouched by the beast and his power because the sacrifice of Jesus purchased a people that will remain faithful to God It doesn ultimately depend on you It depends on a Savior who has bought you and redeemed you from the powers of this age.

And we have a Savior who will yet overcome the beast so that the kingdom of this world will become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. And He will reign forever and ever. Father, we have learned from Your Word what is yet to come. We do not know all that is going to happen and yet we are convinced that You want Your people prepared. But above all, Father, You give us hope because our hope is always centered on the Lamb of God slain before the foundation of the world.

Our hope is upon the Lamb who sits on the throne, who is Lord of lords and King of kings. God, help us to remember that. Keep us from useless speculations. Keep us from fear. Give us a faith that depends upon the Lamb who will ultimately conquer. give us a vision of what that will be like you have given us that in this book so we pray that our eyes fixed on the lamb we will remain faithful as he has purchased us and guaranteed us God thank you for your word help us now to live in the lamb's power in Jesus name Amen Thank you.