What Makes Jesus Unique? No one else made the claims that He did, He is alive...............
All the great religious leaders of history have one thing in common: they are dead. Only one man has risen from a grave never again to taste death. Jesus Christ died, was buried, remained in the grave for 3 days, then was raised to life again.
Jesus is unique. He is the only one proven to be the Son of God because God validated His Kingship and accepted His payment for our sins all with one incredible stroke: He raised Jesus from the dead!
Paul opens his letter to the Romans with this evidence about who Jesus is:
Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which He had promised before by His prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning His Son Jesus Christ our Lord, who was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, and declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead. Romans 1:1-4
Because Jesus Christ is very much alive, five things are true right now that wouldn’t be true if He were just another dead religious leader like Confucius, Mohammed or Buddha.
Because Jesus was raised from the dead and is alive…Prayers are answered, We can talk to Jesus 24/7
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We know why because the word of God tells us it's because the universe, including our bodies, is broken. We were made to live forever, and then we fell under the curse, and the evidence of that is scientifically observable. We're still under the curse of physical death. We're still trapped in fleshly bodies that war against the spirit every day. If you're a believer, your spirit longs to please the Lord, but your body longs to please itself. Have you noticed this? Paul famously talked about this in Romans chapter seven, and he wrote, we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal sold under sin for what I am doing. I do not understand what I will to do, that I do not practice, but what I hate that I do. If then I do what I will not do. I agree with the law that it is good. The law of God is right. In other words, when it tells me that my sin is sin. Paul keeps writing and he says, but now it is no longer I who do it but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me that is in my flesh nothing good dwells, for too well is present with me.
I've got the desire to do what is right but how to perform what is good. I do not find I just can't make myself do it. For the good that I will to do, I do not do but the evil I will not do, that I practice now if I do what I will not do, it's no longer I who do it but the sin that dwells in me. Paul is just describing this conflict that we all feel within ourselves. Right. If then I find a law that evil is present with me, the one who Wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members in my body warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members in my body. Oh wretched man that I am, who will deliver me from this body of death? Relatable relatable. Right. Even the great Apostle Paul lived under the curse of physical death and found himself trapped in a body that waged war against the Spirit of God within him who will deliver me from this body of death?
The answer? The same one who has delivered us from spiritual death. Paul says, I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord. And then Paul perfectly sums up the problem. So then with the mind, I serve the law of God, but with the flesh, I'm serving the law of sin. You and I are going to be at war with our flesh until we die or are raptured. That's just the truth. I don't know about you, but I am so tired of living in this fleshly body. My spirit belongs completely to the Lord Jesus. He's what I want more than anything. He's who I want to please more than anyone. And yet I find myself trapped in the flesh that is constantly working against who I longed to be as a follower of Jesus. My body never seems to grow tired, never seems to grow weary of resisting the Spirit. And that reality is so frustrating. It's so exhausting. That's why verse three is so precious to me. And there shall be no more curse.
We glimpsed some of these mysteries in the earthly life of Jesus, and we will experience them for ourselves in eternity with Him. How do you wrap your mind around a King who is also a servant or a master who is a servants? When I contemplate such things, I'm struck by how different the Kingdom of God is from the kingdoms of this world. When sin is out of the picture, when ego and insecurity and selfishness and greed and pride are banished, and the gape love just abounds in all things, it will result in a reality so much higher than anything we can imagine right now. Parenthetically, I should mention that God has built his type of leadership into his design for the family men. This is how we are supposed to lead our families. We're the lead as the head of the family, but that role includes girding ourselves and serving our families. Serving our wives and children and parents. Husband and wife are to be one as the Church in Jesus will be one in eternity. Jesus rules, but we rule with Him. We serve Jesus, but he serves us as well, and it's his joy to do so.
Marriage is intended to model that. The problem is that we're not in redeemed and resurrected bodies just yet, so we have to battle our flesh that considers the Word serve to be an expletive. At least we can look forward to heaven. We're behaving like Jesus will finally come naturally to us. I want to suggest something else that sounds blasphemous. I mean, since I'm doing it anyway, it sounds blasphemous. But again, until you read the words of Jesus in the Bible, I believe that in eternity we will be invited into the type of love and fellowship with God that the Trinity enjoys within itself. In his great High Priestly prayer, John 17, Jesus prayed these scandalous words. I do not pray for these alone. So in other words, Lord Father, I'm not only praying for the disciples that are with me right now, but also for those who will believe in me through their word that's you and me, that they all may be one as you, Father, are in me and I in you. That they also may be one in us, that the world may believe that you sent me. This stuff is crazy.
And the glory which you gave me, I have given them that they may be one, just as we are one. I and them and you and me, that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know. Here's the crazy thing again, that you have sent me and have covet them as you have loved me. That's unbelievable. I am not saying we will become God. I'm not claiming that we will have equal status with God or standing at all. He'll always be distinct and supreme and uncontested over all things. But I am suggesting that we will be invited into the fellowship that is enjoyed between the Trinity. I'm suggesting that we will be closer to God in every way, in a greater way than we would dare to believe. We know that God needs nothing because he's fully satisfied with himself, because of the fellowship he enjoys within the Trinity. I'm suggesting that we will be invited to participate in that fellowship and we will be fully satisfied by our fellowship with God, just as God is fully satisfied within the Trinity. If we can grasp just a little bit of what Jesus prays in John 17, just a little bit of what we're discussing.
Praise God for what he's going to do for us in eternity. It's going to be incredible. It's scandalous. It's so amazing. Verse Four they shall see his face. We're going to see the face of God. We're going to see Him, and his name shall be on their foreheads. God has marked us as his property. There shall be no night there. They need no lamp nor light of the sun, for the Lord God gives them light. We won't have to do anything to be full of joy and peace and eternity. Right now, I know that we all love to talk about how accessible God is. I preach it all the time. But the truth is, to experience God's joy and peace right now, we still have to appropriate it. We still have to seek the Lord, dig into his word, meditate, and focus on his promises. Pray. But in heaven we'll be illuminated by the glory of God. Joy, peace, and love will wash over us constantly as God's glory illuminates the new creation like the rays of the sun. And they that's you and me shall reign forever and ever. Unbelievable. There's that mystery of the Kingdom again.
We will be servants who rule and reign. We will follow the example of our Lord and brother. There's another Kingdom mystery, Jesus. And that concludes the description of the New Jerusalem and what a place it's going to be. The rest of the chapter is devoted to closing thoughts and comments. Verse six then he the angel who was introduced in chapter 21, verse nine. The angel said to me, These words are faithful and true. Jesus twice used the phrase faithful and true as a title for himself in the Book of Revelation. The point is that these words are as faithful and true and trustworthy as the Lord Himself. This is interesting to me. This next part and the Lord God of the Holy prophets underline that the Lord God of the Holy Prophet sent His Angel to show his servants the things which must shortly take place. Now here's why this is so interesting to me. John intentionally references the Holy prophets to claim that the revelation he has recorded in this book should be viewed the same way as the Old Testament prophets. Just as those prophets prophesied about things like the Babylonian exile and the Incarnation, John is claiming that he is prophesying about things that will happen, things that must shortly take place, John himself is telling us, I'm not writing poetry.
We are so close. We are so close. The Lord Jesus says Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Here at the book's closing, Jesus repeats what he told John to write back in Revelation chapter one, which reads, Blessed is he who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. Now we're at the end of the book, so we've obviously read it. So the Lord just simply says, Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. He says, now that you've heard it, keep it. In the original Greek, the word for keep is Terrell. It means to guard, to observe. In other words, live your life in light of what has been revealed in this book. Live as though you believe it. Observe this book by not saying, Well, I've studied that. Now I'm done with it. Keep going back to it. Keep filtering everything going on in your world through the lens of what Jesus has shared with you in this book. Let it continually realign the priorities of your life.
You and I are not finished with the Book of Revelation. We've just had our eyes and ears and hearts opened, and by the Grace of God, we will be affected profoundly by this book daily until we go to be with the Lord one way or another and guard this book by making sure that it doesn't get played down, dismissed, falsely, discredited, relegated, undermined, or ignored. I'm going to ask you to write a little number one in your Bible next to the phrase this book because we're going to find that Jesus wants here at the end of Revelation to underscore the importance of this book. The book of Revelation is referred to seven times in this final chapter, and you can write that down. The Book of Revelation is referred to seven times in this final chapter. I underlined in my Bible the phrase the prophecy. We've talked about this before, but this is so important. Other books in the Bible contain prophecies, many of them. Revelation is unique because it's the only book in the Bible that contains one massive single prophecy from beginning to end. And that's why it's so important that you learn.
This book is not called Revelations. It's Revelation singular. And Jesus himself refers to it as the prophecy a singular prophecy. And if you don't understand that, it's all one big prophecy, your understanding of this book is going to end up off track. We must recognize this book as a singular prophecy. Revelation begins by telling you you'll be blessed if you read and keep it. And Revelation ends by telling you you'll be blessed again if you keep it. Do you think Jesus wants us to remember what's in this book? Me to verse eight. Now, I John saw and heard these things.
You know, when people try to idolize me as a preacher, I do the same thing this angel does. I set them straight and I firmly tell them, Mom, I'm just a man. I'm just a man. In this earthly life, we will never outgrow our need to hear the word and allow it to sanctify us. Even at the end of his life and Ministry, John could not fully trust his emotions. That's sobering for me. When you find yourself thinking, "I thought I would be more spiritually mature by now." As I often do, just remember John. I'm sure he felt the same way about himself, but God still loved him. God didn't say, "That's it. You're out of the Apostles." This is a big deal. John accidentally worshiped someone other than Jesus twice, and the Lord's response both times is, let's not do that, John. There's no lightning from heaven. 'You know why? Because John is saved. He's covered by the blood of Jesus, and he's doing his best to serve the Lord. But like you and I, he can sometimes do something foolish, and our heavenly Father knows that. Do you know and understand that the Lord knew every sin you would ever commit before you were even born?
The dumb ones, the wicked ones, the intentional ones, the accidental ones, the carefully planned ones, the ones that you would do intentionally, even after you learn that he died for you to have that sin forgiven. Jesus knew them all, and Jesus died for you, knowing every sin you would ever commit. So if you still struggle with the thought, there's no way he loves me. I've screwed up way too many times. I need to be firm here. Stop it. Stop calling God a liar. If he says he loves you, then he loves you. If he says the cross covered all your sins, then the cross has covered all your sins. And if he says you're forgiven, then you're forgiven. God is not a liar. He loves you. Yes, still. And the same will be true tomorrow and next week and next month and next year until the day arrives when you're with him face to face. The Lord loves you, and you're just going to have to learn to deal with that. Now. The angel responds to John's worship in verse is. And then he said to me, See that you do not do that, for I am your fellow servant and of your brethren, the prophets.
There's that reminder again that John is a Prophet as he's writing the Book of Revelation and of those who keep the words of this book, write a little number two next to this book, worship God. And he said to me, underline this, do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book. There's a number three for you, for the time is at hand. Underline at hand, do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book in the original language. The idea is sealing up a document, marking it as secret, and taking it away somewhere hidden and out of view, sealing it inside a wall or something like that. How would someone in our day and age seal up the Book of Revelation? Well, I don't know if you know this, but some are going around the global Church claiming that the Book of Revelation is hard to understand. We joke about it at the beginning of each message in this series, but it's true. You know the churches you've been to; you know the churches that some of you grew up in. And you know that most churches do not study the Book of Revelation, especially verse by verse.
The Lord knew that people would naturally want to seal this book up because he knew Satan would desperately want to seal this book up. And so, Jesus said, Pastors churches, I want you to study the Book of Revelation and I'll go even further. I believe it's a sin for a Church to fail to teach the Book of Revelation. Jesus is clear that he blesses those who study it and he wants his Church to study it. So, thank you for being here. Thank you for loving God's Word and thank you for loving this book, which Jesus says is vitally important. We didn't choose this book to study because it's a great way to grow a Church. We chose to study this book because Jesus tells us plainly that he wants us to. And if Jesus is pleased with what we're doing at this Church, then we're a success. That drives the whole ethos of what we do at Gospel City. Our goal is really simple. We want to be everything Jesus says. He wants his Church to be in His Word. That drives everything we do at Gospel City. That's the mission, that's the vision. Those are the values.
We want to be everything Jesus says he wants his Church to be in His Word. Man, if a million people want to join us on that journey, praise God. If ten people want to join us on that journey, praise God. We are in this to please and honor Jesus. That's it. The Church exists for Jesus. Her destiny is to be the bride of Christ. We are obsessed at Gospel City with building and becoming the most beautiful bride that we possibly can for Jesus. By being what he has told us, he wants us to be in His Word. Verse Eleven he who is unjust, let him be unjust still. He who is filthy, let him be filthy still. He who is righteous, let him be righteous still.
He who is Holy.
Let him be Holy still. Here's what that means. When your earthly life ends, the state your soul is in will continue for eternity. If you're walking with the Lord, you'll walk with him forever. If you're an enemy, of God. You'll be an enemy of God forever. There's no purgatory, there's no next life where you can work out your Karma. It is not possible to graduate from Hades in the Lake of Fire. This verse may also be a reference to this point. If you're reading this at the end of Revelation, after the Lord has pulled back the curtain and revealed the true nature of reality to you where everything is headed, why there's pain and suffering in the world. Who's pulling the strings in world politics? If you've read through this book and heard all that and still don't believe it, then just do what you're going to do because you're never going to get it. If you refuse to believe after the Lord shows you all this, then he may choose in his mercy to make you unable to believe.
We saw that in the tribulation, didn't we? We saw miracles taking place all over the Earth, undeniable signs and wonders.
And we saw people.
For the most part, cursing God instead of repenting. Revelation closes with the Bible's final call to repent and turn to Jesus. Now Jesus speaks and he repeats what he said back in verse seven, almost as if he wants us to get this. "And behold, I am coming quickly..." Underline "quickly". "...and my reward is with me to give to everyone..." And then underline this: "...according to his work." Should the world fear Jesus coming for his Church? Absolutely. The tribulation is going to be horrific for them. Should the followers of Jesus fear him coming for his Church? Absolutely not. Because for us he is coming with rewards and to take us to his father's house. He is coming with the one accolade that I desire more than any other. Hearing the Lord Jesus say to me, well done, good and faithful servant. I want to hear that more than anything else. I want to make sure we all understand this. We do not have a works-based faith. We're not saved by anything we do, and there's nothing we can do to earn Salvation. It's a gift from God. However, the Bible clearly teaches works-based rewards.
What does Jesus say in the verses we just read? My reward is with me to give to every one according to his work. And not just any works, but the works our master has asked us to do. We can't just be like, I'm just going to try and accumulate good works. There's somebody I don't mind showing love, not them so much. There's someone I can put up with. I can serve them for a little bit. There's an active service I don't mind doing. It's not too inconvenient, it's not "Choose Your Own Adventure" good works. If a master asks his servants to paint the inside of his house while he's away and he comes back to find that they've renovated the garden instead. Are they going to be rewarded? Of course not. We are rewarded for the work we do that our pastor has asked us to do. That's it. We will not be rewarded for doing whatever good works we choose to do. We will be rewarded for doing the good works that our Master has called us to do. He sets the agenda. He gives the commands that are what it means for Jesus to be our Lord.
So make a note of this. Our future rewards will be determined by our present faithfulness. Our future rewards will be determined by our present faithfulness. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. Jesus was before the universe, and Jesus will be after the universe. Jesus created the heavens and the Earth, and Jesus will destroy the heavens and the Earth and make new ones. Ages begin with him and ages end with him. Verse 14 - Blessed are those who do underline who do, his Commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. The Bible teaches that we're not saved by any works we do as we just said. At the same time, the Bible also teaches that the presence of the Holy Spirit in a person's life naturally produces good works because the Spirit is always working to sanctify us, to make us more like Jesus. The idea of verses 14 and 15 is that in eternity there are only those who are inside God's new creation and those who are outside in the Lake of Fire.
It is a revelation for the Church. The phrase "I am the root and the offspring of David" means David came from me because I created him, but I also came from David because I was born on the Earth in a human body. In the family line that traces back to David, it's a statement that captures the mystical dual nature of Jesus, who is fully God and yet also fully man. Verse 17 and the Spirit and the Bride say, Come and let him who hears say, Come and let him who thirsts come. Underline these two words, I love them so much. Whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely in light of everything that has been recorded in the Book of Revelation in light of what the Lord has planned for those who love him, the Spirit that indwells the Church, the same Spirit that cries out Abba Father also cries out, Come, Lord Jesus, come, Lord Jesus. And it has been the prayer of the Church since Jesus returned to heaven. It is a prayer millions of believers are praying today, literally today. And the book of Revelation reveals God's plan to answer those prayers.
Jesus called his first disciples with the words Come and see. He cried out to the crowd, if anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. His Kingdom is an invitation not to the chosen few, not to the best and the brightest, not to the most righteous, but to whoever desires the gospel cries out to the world, Come and be part of the family of God. Come. I am not the best, I am not the brightest, I am certainly not the most righteous. But I do desire Jesus. And I am so thankful that his response to me is, I can work with that. I can work with that. Verse 18 for I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book, that's number four. If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book. That's number five. And if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, that's number six, God shall take away from his part. Sorry, God shall take away his part, from the book of Life, from the Holy City, and from the things which are written in this book, that's number seven.
Yeah, I do. The bottom line is this take this book seriously because Jesus sure does. Write this down. Jesus commands his Church to read, teach and respond to the Book of Revelation. Jesus commands his Church to read, teach, and respond to the Book of Revelation. Don't seal up this book. Don't hide this book. Don't be ashamed of this book. Don't lose focus on this book. Verse 20 he who testifies to these things says, Surely underline this, I am coming quickly. He who testifies to these things says, Surely, I am coming quickly. Jesus mentions that he's coming quickly in verses 7/12 and 20. I want to suggest you that what he's trying to communicate to us is that he is coming quickly. Are you getting that vibe too? I hope so. What should our response be to everything we've learned from this amazing book? Amen. So be it. Even so. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus, the Bible, the word of God. His message to humanity ends with these words. The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Be with you all. Amen. Amen. We're in the family of God because he called out to us and he said, Come and join my family.
And now we are all called to extend that same invitation to the world around us. Who are you praying for? Who are you asking the Lord to save? Specifically? Who are you investing in? Is there someone you have a relationship with that you know is ready to hear the gospel? Maybe you need to ask them out for coffee and ask if you're going to have 15 minutes to share with them. The most important thing in your life is there someone you need to plan that coffee with this week man, there's power. There's power in just speaking the gospel. There are seven Beatitudes in the Book of Revelation, and they serve as a good summary. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Yes, says the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors and their works. Follow them. Behold, I am coming as a thief. Blessed is he who watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame.
Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb. Blessed and Holy is he who has part in the first resurrection over such the second death has no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ and shall reign with Him a thousand years. Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Blessed are those who do His Commandments that they may have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. And thus concludes the Book of Revelation. Thank you again for loving God's Word enough to study along with us. It's been a joy for me. And I trust that God's Word has richly blessed you, too. Amen. Even so. Come, Lord Jesus. Come, Lord Jesus. The Grace of our Lord Jesus be with you al.
Thank you for loving us. Thank you that you have loved us and you love us as you love your Son, Jesus. As unbelievable as that sounds. And we know that whatever is waiting for us in eternity in the ages to come is so much scandalously better than anything we would dare think or even say out loud. Because Your Grace and kindness and goodness is absolutely scandalous. You lavish it upon us from Your endless and abundant supply. We cannot wait to fellowship with you face-to-face in eternity. Come quickly, Lord Jesus, we love you so much and we can't wait to be with you. But until that moment comes, would you empower us by your spirit afresh with boldness to send out your invitation to the world around us and invite others to join your family? Lord, just remind us of the power of having your spirit in us and give us your heart for the lost that many more may join us at the marriage supper of the Lamb. We love you, Jesus. We bless you. All the glory, all the honor, all the power, all the praise. All Dominion belongs to you and is destined to return to you.
And we've can't wait to be there and watch it all happen. We bless you in Your name. We pray. Amen.
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Passage: Revelation..........................................Speaker: Jeff Thompson
Before the Second Coming in chapter 19, John is shown the destruction of mystical and literal Babylon, beginning with religious Babylon
Well, can you believe it? There are still those who are claiming that the Book of Revelation is hard to understand but absurd. Say, we for you see, we all know that the word itself, Revelation, means something has been revealed. And the first words of this book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that blessing in Revelation, chapter one, verse three. Let's claim it together. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. But God knew there would still be people that would say, okay, so I look out my window and I see the Book of Revelation coming true in real time, but I still don't think I can understand the book.
And so to help those folks out, God also included a simple and easy to follow outline. And we find that in Revelation, chapter one, verse 19, Jesus gives John these instructions. He says, John, I want you to write the things which you have seen that was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Secondly, John, I want you to write the things which are that refers to the Church age, which began around 32, ad continues to the present day and is prophesied in chapters two and three in chronological order. And then lastly, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this, future events that will unfold after the Church age ends.
Now, where does the Church age end? This one's a little tricky. The Church age ends in Revelation chapter four, verse one. Let me read it to you. John says, after these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one, was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord. Jesus takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we don't miss the fact that the Church is with him in heaven before the wrath of God is poured out upon the Earth that has rejected him. And as that is happening, Revelation chapter six, verse 16, reveals that those on the Earth fully understand that they are being judged by God because they identify the source of their catastrophes as the wrath of the Lamb. Who's the Lamb?
In Scripture, it's Jesus. Chapter one introduces the focus of Revelation. Jesus Christ chapters two and three take us through the Church age. Up to the present day. Then the Church goes up in chapter four, verse one, we see her in heaven for chapters four and five, safe and secure with the Lord before wrath comes down in chapter six, and that wrath will continue for a period of seven years.
Known as the Tribulation, it's documented in chapter six through 19, at which point Jesus returns to the Earth with his Saints in the event known as the Second Coming. And that will be even more revealed later in our study through this incredible book in the final few chapters that we have almost reached. But here's what I can tell you for now. If you love Jesus, let me give you a sneak peek of how your story ends. It ends with the words and they live happily ever after.
Thank you Jesus, for that. Chapter 16 saw the final, bold judgment poured out, completing God's judgment of the Earth and leaving us right at the end of the Tribulation.
You might recall that in Revelation 14/8, as the back half of the Tribulation began, an angel flew across the skies declaring for all the world to hear. Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her.
Fornication we talked about how that was a proletic statement, a statement that refers to something that is yet to happen, but is so certain of happening that it can be spoken of as though it has already happened. The angel declared that Babylon's destruction was inevitable. It's so inevitable that it can be spoken of as if it's already happened.
We'll learn that Babylon's judgment and destruction began with the Angel's declaration and unfolded over the course of the Tribulation. In fact, some of it began right at the beginning of the Tribulation. When we were in Chapter 14, we explained the biblical concept of Babylon, but it's brief enough for me to repeat again here. The term Babylon can be a bit confusing because it's used in Scripture to refer to something literal, something abstract and mystical, and sometimes both simultaneously. Literally, Babylon is a city located in the present day country of Iraq.
It is one of the most notable cities of antiquity, serving as the capital of empires and the cultural center of the world for centuries. In the abstract and mystical sense, Babylon refers to the world system, all the systems established by the world's current ruler. Satan, economic, governmental, religious, s*xual, entertainment values, all of secularism. It's all Babylon mystically. So when we study Scripture and see Babylon referenced.
We need to slow down and figure out the context to determine if it's referring to the literal city, the mystical concept, or both. Chapter 17 and 18 describe the destruction of mystical and literal Babylon over the course of the Great Tribulation. Chapter 17 make a note of this. Chapter 17 focuses on religious Babylon, while Chapter 18 focuses on economic Babylon. If you've heard the message that I taught on this chapter in 20/15, you'll notice that this study will have some major differences from that message.
I'll address the reasons why when we get closer to the end of the message, but for now, don't be alarmed if you hear something different or something that surprises you. I'll address the elephant in the room closer to the end of the message. For those of you who've heard my previous version of this message, the text of Chapter 17 is structured in such a way that a mystery, a hidden truth is presented and then explained. In light of that, I think the most helpful way to work through this chapter is to read the mystery first, move right onto the explanation, which we'll go through in detail, and then come back again to the mystery, but hopefully with enough understanding to be able to interpret it the second time around. So let's start by reading through the mystery that's recorded in the first six verses of Revelation 17.
John writes, Then one of the seven Angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great Harlot, who sits on many waters, with whom the Kings of the Earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the Earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So we carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a Scarlet beast, which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. Hopefully thus far we can agree on one thing. That's a mystery. That is a mystery the first time you read through it, not a lot you can take from it. So let's start unpacking the explanation and see what we can learn.
Our explanation needs to start with who this great Harlot is. Side Note The last time I taught on this message in 2015 was a Mother's Day Sunday. That's a true story. Who is this woman? Well, after lots and lots of study into the different views.
I'll just let you know the punchline up front. It's my belief that the woman represents religious Babylon in the mystical sense. She represents religious Babylon in the mystical sense. She represents all religious and spiritual systems that are false. Now, what makes them false?
They don't point to Jesus as the way, the truth and the life. This woman's appearance in this chapter is to reveal her role in the first half of the Tribulation and her final judgment at the halfway point of it. Here's the idea we're going to see emerge in the text. There will be some type of unification religious movement that will emerge in the first half of the Tribulation. It won't be a one world religion.
We know that because there will be Jews worshiping at the rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem. Rather, it will be a new openness toward universalism belief systems that currently claim exclusive truth like Judaism and Islam will no longer do so. There will instead be a spirit of cooperation as all those on the Earth who have not turned to Jesus embrace all religions as equal. The only ones who will disagree will be those who will turn to Jesus and for refusing universalism, they will be hated and viewed as bigots, who are holding back humanity from glorious progress. The world will not tolerate such persons in the Tribulation.
They will almost certainly emerge some type of world Council of religious cooperation, and it will be led by the false Prophet. All of this, as we shall see, will be in preparation for the Antichrist cult that will emerge at the halfway point of the Tribulation. But why is this woman a harlot? Why is she presented as a prostitute? It's because throughout Scripture, God uses s*xual immorality as a metaphor for spiritual unfaithfulness.
Every man and woman were created to worship God, and when we don't, God likens it to a wife cheating on her husband. God views false religions idolatry, paganism, et cetera the way a husband would their wives going out and working as a prostitute. It is that awful, wicked, heartbreaking, and abhorrent to God. So make a note of this. God's word often uses harlotry, prostitution, adultery fornication, etc.
As an idiom for idolatry, an idiom for idolatry. To use that type of biblical imagery, the false religious system represented by this woman will be the embodiment of spiritual hoardem. With that in mind, let's dig into the explanation. Take a look at verse seven. It says, but the angel said to me, Why do you Marvel?
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. We just talked about who the woman is, and if you've been with us through our study of Revelation, you should recall that the beast is Antichrist. The seven heads and ten horns will be explained in a few verse the angel tells John the beast that you saw was and is not and will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. Perdition just means destruction. There are a few different views on this verse.
More specifically, it refers to the person when they are possessed by the spirit that will emerge from the bottomless pit. Until that happens, Antiochus the man is not the beast. Now when did the beast exist? In the past? I suspect it was in the form of a man named Nimrod.
In the Book of Genesis. He was the first version of the Antichrist, so to speak. Nimrod was possessed by the same spirit that will possess the Antiochus. We find a redemptive example of this concept. In Luke chapter one, verse 17, an angel comes to a man named Zechariah and tells him that his son will Minister in the spirit of Elijah.
That son would be John the Baptist, and the angel meant that the same anointing that was on Elijah would be upon John. And it was that's the idea with Nimrod and the Antichrist, but in a demonic sense. The beast was not on the Earth around 95 AD when John was recording the Book of Revelation, and the beast is not on the Earth today. However, the person who will become the beast is likely alive right now. At the halfway point of the tribulation, the spirit that possessed Nimrod will emerge from the bottomless pit and enter a rising global political leader who has just been assassinated and bring him back to life as the beast Antichrist.
Now, because we've got the time for today, I want to share a little more about this man named Nimrod. The Bible tells us that he was a great grandson of Noah. His name means we will rebel. And in Genesis chapter 10, we are told of Nimrod. He was a mighty Hunter before the Lord.
Therefore, it is said, like Nimrod the mighty Hunter before the Lord and the beginning of his Kingdom was Babel, Erech, Akad and Kalnai in the land of Shinar. The phrase before the Lord is a mistranslation. The original manuscripts and traditional Jewish understanding is that it should read Nimrod, the mighty Hunter in defiance of the Lord. Genesis 6/4 tells us there were Nephilim Giants on the Earth before and after the Flood story for another day. That same verse calls these Nephilim mighty men because Genesis 10/9 calls Nimrod a mighty Hunter.
Some believe Nimrod to be the first Nephilim giant to appear in Scripture after the Flood. Genesis ten and eleven tell us that Nimrod began his Empire with four cities, including Babel. We don't know if he founded them or conquered them, but after those first four cities, he founded another four, including Nineveh. The Bible presents Nimrod as the ruler of the first Empire in world history. And I'll show you in a moment that he was likely the world's first dictator.
Genesis, chapter eleven, verses one through nine, tells us that under Nimrod's rule, a great tower was built in Babel in defiance to the Lord's command to mankind to spread out across the Earth and multiply. Nimrod led people in defiance of God and said, let's stick together and build this great tower. It will Mark Babel as the world headquarters of those who do not fear the Lord. In the centuries that followed, the location of the tower of Babel would grow into a mighty city state named Babel on Babylon. And that's pretty much everything the Bible tells us about Nimrod.
There are many historical writings that aren't in the Bible, but talk about things related to the Bible. They are not divine truth like the word of God is. But they can sometimes help us understand how historians, scholars and Hebrews of the ancient world viewed the Scriptures.
For which reason they fell into calamities. When they flourished with a numerous youth. God admonished them again to send out colonies. But they, imagining the prosperity they enjoyed, was not derived from the favor of God, but supposing that their own power was the proper cause of the plentiful condition they were in, did not obey him. Nay, they added to this their disobedience to the divine will.
The suspicion that they were therefore ordered to send out separate colonies. That, being divided asunder they might be, the more easily oppressed. Now it was Nimrod who excited them to such an affront and contempt of God. He was the grandson of Ham, the son of Noah, a bold man and of great strength of hand. He persuaded them not to ascribe it to God, as if it was through his means that they were happy, but to believe that it was their own courage which procured that happiness.
He also gradually changed the government into tyranny, seeing no other way of turning men from the fear of God, but to bring them into a constant dependence on his own power. Now the multitude were very ready to follow the determination of Nimrod and to esteem it a piece of cowardice to submit to God. And they built a tower. Nimrod was a tyrant who ruled by making men fear him. More than they feared God.
In the Targam of Jonathan, we read from the foundation of the world, none was ever found like Nimrod, powerful in hunting and in rebellions against the Lord and the Jerusalem. Targum says he was powerful in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord, for he was a Hunter of the sons of men, not literally but spiritually. Here's how Nimrod hunted men, and he said to them, Depart from the judgment of the Lord and adhere to the judgment of Nimrod. There it is said, as Nimrod is the strong one, strong in hunting and in wickedness before the Lord. He was a bad guy.
A bad guy. For all these reasons and more, Nimrod is considered by many to be the first appearance of the Spirit that will possess the Antiochus in the Tribulation, making him, in a sense, Antichrist.
Nimrod II let's get back to the text. In verses eight, it says, and those who dwell on the Earth will Marvel whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world when they see the beast that was and is not and yet is. As we've discussed previously, everyone on the Earth who does not belong to Jesus and will never belong to Jesus will Marvel when Antichrist rises from the dead as the beast.
They'll say, this man must be a God. Let's keep going into verse 9 because all these bits and pieces are going to come together in a clear picture over the coming verses. Here is the mind which has wisdom. That's a way of saying, Think about this, meditate on what I'm about to say. Ponder it.
Use extra discernment. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. Now, the key to understanding this is found in Daniel chapter two. We find Daniel living in what city, Babylon? Not a coincidence.
He's a Hebrew exile serving as a counselor to King Nebuchadnezzar. The King has a dream, and only Daniel can interpret his dream. In that dream, the King saw a massive statue of a man, and Daniel describes it like this. This image's head was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its belly and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay. You watched while a stone was cut out without hands, which struck the image on its feet of iron and clay and broke them in pieces.
If you want to learn more about that, you can check out the Daniel Message series on our website.
Daniel wraps up his interpretation of the King's dream by explaining that the stone that destroyed the statue was Jesus to establish his Kingdom on the Earth. Daniel tells Nebuchadnezzar and in the days of these Kings. So, in other words, in the same season of history, where the final Kingdom is on the Earth, the God of heaven will set up a Kingdom which shall never be destroyed, and the Kingdom shall not be left to other people. It shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever. Inasmuch as you saw that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands and that it broke in pieces.
The pieces, the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver and the gold, the great God has made known to the King what will come to pass after this. The dream is certain and its interpretation is sure. So write this down. In Daniel chapter two. God uses a mountain as a metaphor for his Kingdom.
He uses a mountain as a metaphor for his Kingdom. And we see mountains used as a metaphor for a Kingdom in other scriptures as well. In the Psalms, in Isaiah, and in the Book of Jeremiah, Jesus is the stone. In the King's dream. Where does the stone come from?
He is cut out of the mountain without hands. Jesus came to the Earth as a man from the Kingdom of God, and he came willingly. He didn't have to be cut out forcefully using tools. He came of his own accord. He will return to the Earth, destroying Antichrist kingdoms and indeed all earthly systems.
The Kingdom of Jesus will stand forever and fill the whole Earth. All that to explain this, the seven mountains on which the woman sits are seven kingdoms. Seven kingdoms. Verse ten, it says there are also seven Kings. The angel continues to speak of the seven kingdoms, the seven mountains, and we learn something about them.
Five have fallen. One is and the other has not yet come. So make a note of this.
These seven kingdoms are the seven great empires who dominated the Israelites. The Bible is Israel centric. And so these seven empires are the ones that affected and will affect Israel. That's why there's no illusion in scripture to empires like the Maya or Inca or the Chinese dynasties. It's Israelcentric.
Five have fallen. This refers to the empires of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo, Persia, and Greece. One is. This refers to the Roman Empire that was in power when John was recording the Book of Revelation. The other has not yet come.
This refers to the revived Roman Empire that will ultimately be ruled by Antichrist. Verse eleven, the beast that was and is not is himself also the 8th and is of the seven and is going to prediction, this is a little tough, but hang with me and I'll walk us through it. The beast that's Antiochus that was and is not. We explained this back to verse eight, is himself also the 8th and is of the seven. It's a little convoluted in the verbiage, but the idea is that Antichrist will be part of the 7th Empire, the revived Roman Empire, before he is possessed and becomes the Beast.
He's one of the Kings of the 7th Empire, but he's also the 8th because he's going to take full control of that 7th Empire, morphing it into an 8th Kingdom, so to speak. Then it says, and he's going to perdition or destruction. God is reminded that Antichrist's ultimate destination, his destiny, is destruction. Unlike the preceding empires, Antichrist Empire will be directly destroyed by God himself. Verse eleven continues and we read, and when he Antichrist comes, he must continue a short time.
His Empire is going to be short lived. How short? Well, I mean, I can't be too precise, but I would say three and a half years, 42 months, 1260 days, time times and half a time. Verse twelve. The ten horns which you saw are ten Kings who have received no Kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for 1 hour as Kings with the beast.
Daniel 7/24 tells us that during the first half of the Tribulation, the revived Roman Empire will be divided into ten regions, ten nations, ten territories, so to speak, and each will have a ruler or King. As Antiochus is rising on the political scene, he will overthrow three of those ten Kings and rule over their regions. In the back half of the Tribulation, the Great Tribulation, Antichrist will appoint ten Kings to do his bidding across his Empire. So write this down. The ten horns are ten Kings who will serve under Antichrist.
In the Great Tribulation. The ten horns are ten Kings who will serve under Antichrist in the Great Tribulation. These ten Kings also appear in Daniel chapter two as the ten toes of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream, and in Daniel seven, also as ten horns. The phrase 1 hour does not refer to a literal hour, but rather a passage of time. We still use the word this way in verses like their finest hour.
In this instance, the hour refers to the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation. Verse 13 These the ten Kings are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. These Kings will be regional supervisors, with one job following Antichrist blindly. Verse 14 these the ten Kings will make war with the Lamb, that's Jesus and the Lamb will overcome them. So how is it possible that Jesus will overcome ten Kings?
The word Ford in this instance just means because he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings. And I love that. I love the juxtaposition of the ten earthly Kings. And then the introduction of Jesus as the King of Kings. We sometimes forget that's who he is in a proper old school monarchy, the King speaks and it is done.
He has absolute, unquestioned authority. The gap between a commoner and a great King was incalculable insurmountable. Think of how a commoner would have looked at a King. Think of how a Babylonian farm worker would have looked at a Nebuchadnezzar unassailable in his palace on his throne. Now understand this.
There is no other option. He commands and his will is done. He has absolute, unquestioned authority. He's the King of Kings and he's the Lord of Lords. It says, These will make war with the Lamb and the Lamb will overcome them, for he is Lord of Lords and King of Kings.
And then I love this too. And those who are with Him are called chosen and faithful. If you've given your life to Jesus, it was because he called you. It was because he chose you, and he's placed His Spirit in you to give you the power to live faithfully to Him. The word faithful is in here as an intentional contrast to those who reject Jesus.
Remember, God views them as engaged with the great Harlot, but he views those who belong to Him as faithful. It blesses me so much to hear God refer to Me as faithful, because that's not usually how I tend to view myself. But this precious word reminds me that just as Jesus makes us righteous, His Spirit empowers us to remain faithful. And for 2000 years, His Spirit has empowered believers to face persecution and even death and remain faithful to the end. If you belong to Him, he will make you able to stand no matter what you face.
He calls us faithful because he knows for a fact that he is able to make us faithful. Amazing. And if you want to practice some biblical righteous personal affirmations, start praying this to build yourself up in how God sees you. Lord, thank you that I'm called. Thank you that I'm chosen, and thank you that by Your power I am faithful.
Verse 15 Then he said to me, the waters which you saw, where the Harlot sits are Peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. Finally, a simple explanation. The whole world will be drawn into spiritual fornication in the first half of the Tribulation, as the world's religions unite in harmony, only those who do and will belong to Jesus will not participate. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the Harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill his purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their Kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.
Remember, the ten horns are the ten Kings who will serve under Antichrist in his Empire. At the halfway point of the Tribulation, Antichrist will rise from the dead as the beast. And you'll recall that he will enter the Holy of Holies in the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem and declare himself to be God. He will abolish all other religions and demand the worship of all Peoples. The false Prophet will facilitate this and direct the Empire to worship Antichrist, which they will.
The emergence of a revived Roman Empire and a spirit of universalism will pave the way for Antichrist the beast. That's what's being pictured here. Antichrist and the world's religions will peacefully coexist for the first three and a half years of the Tribulation. But then, at the halfway point of the seven years, Antichrist will become the beast and devour all other religions, replacing them with himself with the help of his ten Kings. And the false Prophet.
Verse 18. And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the Kings of the Earth. We'll read verse five again in a moment, but you might recall that the great Harlot has the title Mystery Babylon, the mother of Harlotte's written on her forehead. This chapter, the next chapter, and the title on her forehead make it clear that the great city this woman represents is Babylon. And I'll touch on why that matters in a moment.
And before I explain why that's the case, I just want to remind you that we try to be really open at Gospel City about the fact that there will be areas of Bible study where our views will evolve and change over time. And that should be the case for anyone who is studying the Bible consistently, whether for 20 minutes a day or 4 hours a day. As you spend time in the Word, you should find your understanding growing. And that will include sometimes changing and evolving your view on a specific passage of Scripture. That's what's happened here with me.
I'm not teaching the same series I taught in 2015, and I'm doing just as much study, if not more. And I'm studying different material this time around to try and grow in my knowledge as much as possible. And that journey has led me to changing my view regarding the identity of the woman. And I hope we all recognize that this is not an essential piece of doctrine. If you go to a Church and you want to find out if this is a biblically, solid Church, I hope you're not asking.
Do you understand, of course, that the woman in Revelation 17 is the Catholic Church? And if they say no, you're like, this Church is a joke. I hope we all understand this is not an essential piece of doctrine, because if you love Jesus, you're going to be in heaven. Let me explain how I came to this conclusion, though, and then, as always, you can come to your own conclusions. Now.
There are a few main reasons why many believe that the woman could be the Catholic Church in verse is we read the seven heads or seven mountains on which the woman sits. People will point out that the original Greek word translated mountains, Oros, can also be translated Hills. And Rome has been famously known throughout history and still is today as the city of seven Hills.
In verses 18 we read and the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the Kings of the Earth. People will point out that at the time John was writing, that great city which reigns over the Kings of the Earth would obviously be Rome.
Scripture and history teach us that Babylon was the birthplace of paganism, and it's Babylon where we see some of the most enduring pagan archetypes of the ancient world emerge. Specifically, the concept of the feminine divine and mother son worship. The feminine divine is essentially the concept that certain feminine traits are divine. At its root, it comes from men inspired by Satan who became sexually obsessed with women. And this is why traditional forms of the feminine divine tended to be highly sexualized in their mythology, the physical appearance of their deities, and their worship rituals.
The concept comes from a desire to worship sex and is of course, ultimately driven by Satan's desire to pervert God's design. Instead of having Yahweh as God men leading their families in righteousness and sex being sacred in marriage, Satan created a form of paganism where false gods are worshiped and womanhood is reduced to carnal sexuality, and all of society becomes driven by lust. It's also in Babylon that we see a mother son model of paganism emerge where the feminine divine has a son and both are worshiped because of their intimate connection. This model shows up in multiple ancient mythologies and indeed the Bible records Israel getting caught up in this type of paganism.
I believe that the pagan concepts of the feminine divine and mother son worship are alive and well today in Catholicism. I do believe that the Mary of the Vatican is not the mother of Jesus but the Queen of Heaven. This is why Rome teaches that Mary is divine, even though the Bible does not present Mary the mother of Jesus that way. And so, because of that Babylon feminine divine, mother son paganism that traces back to Babylon, there is a view that the woman of Revelation 17 is the Catholic Church. Let me share why I believe no longer that that's the case.
Verse five tells us she has mystery. Babylon the Great written on her forehead. Babylon and the Euphrates River which runs through it are the focus of chapters 17 and 18. Pretty much everything in this chapter is figurative. For example, the waters upon which the woman sits.
What is our justification for switching to a literal interpretation for the seven mountains? How do we justify doing that? Hermeneutically while the Greek word translated mountains in verse is Auros is translated as Hills. Three times in Scripture, it's translated as mountain, 41 times in Scripture and 21 times as Mount. If it should really be translated seven Hills, it would be glaringly obvious to John and his readers that the angel was referring to Rome.
It would be like me saying, now think about this. I'm going to give you a clue. If you can decode it, I'm going to the Big Apple. It would be that obvious to John and his readers what city this was, if it really was meant to be translated as the city of seven Hills. And if that was the case, the angel would not have needed to preface that revelation with the statement, Here is the mind which has wisdom telling the reader to exercise special discernment.
It wouldn't have been necessary. While the links to Babylonian pagan mythology are valid, many of the specifics that are used to draw parallels with Catholic doctrine are not verifiable. Most of them trace back to a book titled The Two Babylons written by Alexander Hislop in. For example, it was Hislop who first claimed that Easter derived its name from the ancient pagan goddess Ishtar. Unfortunately, it turns out, his lot based that claim on nothing more than noticing that the word sounded kind of similar.
We can check the claims that authors, speakers, and pastors make about essential theology by examining the Scriptures. However, historical and anecdotal claims like sermon illustrations, were often very difficult to verify. Before the Internet became widely available, Christians tended to believe the things they were told by authors, speakers, and pastors that they considered to be Godly men understandable, and those Godly men were often repeating historical and anecdotal claims that other men had made whom they also considered to be Godly men. Unfortunately, when we trace things all the way back to the source, we sometimes discover that the original author, speaker, or pastor was incorrect or subpar in their research, such as the case with many of the claims made by Alexander Hislop in The Two Babylons. And those claims have been repeated for over a century and a half by many authors, speakers, and pastors.
However, Babylon is also a literal city, just as Zion is also a literal city. Whenever there is a literal geographic location associated with Babylon in the Scriptures, it's always Babylon, just as whenever there is a literal geographic location associated with the Zion in scripture, it is always Jerusalem. Babylon is not literal geographic Rome, and the woman is not the Catholic Church, at least in my current view, although she is certainly part of religious Babylon. Let's wrap up by returning to the mystery of the first six verses, and let's see if we can wrap our minds around it. Now, verse one says, Then one of the seven Angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great Harlot, who sits on many waters with whom the Kings of the Earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the Earth were made drunk with the wine of her.
Fornication this angel says, John, I want to show you how the Lord will judge Babylon through the tribulation. Once the Church leaves the Earth in the Rapture, the Earth will rapidly descend into an orgy of ungodliness as the world unites in their hatred of God and their love of sin in every sphere of life. The judgment of religious Babylon is that when she reaches the state that every false religion envisions world harmony, unity, peace, and understanding. When John Lennon's "Imagine" comes to life, it will culminate in the Empire of Antichrist, which will usher in hell on Earth. That is how God will expose, judge, and destroy religious Babylon.
Verse three. So, he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy having seven heads and ten horns. The woman was arrayed in purple and Scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a Golden Cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written, Babylon the Great, the mother of Harlots and of the abominations of the Earth. I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the Saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. We should all understand this scene now. The woman is religious Babylon, whose Universalist spirit will intoxicate the world with the false promises of peace, unity, and financial prosperity during the first three and a half years of the Tribulation. She is ending the beast Antichrist as they partner together for the first three and a half years of the Tribulation to prepare the world for a single religion that will worship Antichrist alone during the Great Tribulation. One aspect of that partnership will be a frenzied persecution of Christians.
The world will hate righteousness to such a degree that they will want to kill it everywhere they find it. Antichrist will seize control of the final world Empire, the revived Roman Empire, and will appoint ten Kings under his rule, and he will lead the world into sin, darkness, and evil to a degree we cannot even imagine. Writing a closing thought for this message was not easy, and I don't really have a neat and tidy closing thought.
Universalism, the belief that all roads lead to God is not only logically incoherent, it's demonic. It will be used to unite the world in rejecting God and ultimately worshiping Satan. Our world romanticizes the idea of universalism and things like bumper stickers that read Coexist, but the reality is that there are only two kingdoms, the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Darkness. Satan loves universalism because he doesn't care what flavor of spirituality you choose. He just cares that it isn't Jesus, because if it's not Jesus, you're part of his Kingdom.
Universalism is indeed about unity, but only in the sense that Satan wants to deceive everyone into rejecting Jesus. As I said, no warm and fuzzy thoughts to close today. And so with that, let's pray. Would you bow your head and close your eyes? Father, thank you for giving us your word through your son, Jesus and Jesus.
Thank you for revealing to us the truth about where things like universalism are going. Father, I pray for any among us who are listening to this message or watching this message, who are holding on to any beliefs that are not of you, whether they are traditional beliefs or family heritage or to do with the people, group or anything like that. If there are any beliefs that we're holding onto that are not of you, Lord. We repent of that right now and we renounce those things and place all of our faith in Jesus. Thank you for sharing with us the truth, Lord.
We ask that you would protect our minds in a time of great deception, Lord that as your words said, you would renew our minds. Give us the mind of Christ and help us to keep our eyes on you. The way the truth and the life we love you, Jesus. It's in your name we pray Amen.
Date:3/13/22..............Series; Revellattion ........................Speaker: Jeff Thompson
Continuing God’s destruction of Babylon which began in Revelation 17, chapter 18 details the destruction of economic Babylon.
Welcome to our study of the Book of Revelation. And before we go any further, I just want to address an insidious rumor that I'm still hearing out there on the streets. It's the rumor that the Book of Revelation is hard to understand, but drivel say we for you see, the word Revelation means that something has been revealed. And the first words of this book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ.
And God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verse three, let's claim it together. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near, but God knew they would still be those who would say, It's just too hard to understand. So to make this book simple, to understand, the Lord also included an easy to follow outline. And we find that in Revelation chapter one, verse 19, let's read that the outline begins with these instructions.
Write the things which you have seen. That was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Then Jesus tells John, I want you to write the things which are that refers to the Church age, which began on Pentecost around 32. Ad continues to the present day and is prophesied in chronological order in chapters two and three. And then lastly, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which will take place after this events that will unfold after the Church age ends.
Now, when does the Church age end? In Revelation chapter four, verse is, Let me read it to you. John writes, after these things, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard that was Jesus in chapter one was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord.
And then Jesus takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we don't miss the fact that the Church is with Him in heaven before he pours out his wrath on the Earth. And that wrath begins to be poured out in Revelation chapter six, and continues all the way up to Revelation chapter 19. That time period is known as the Tribulation. It's seven years long, and Revelation 616 tells us that those on the Earth in that time who have rejected Jesus will understand that it is Jesus who is judging them, and they will refer to it as the wrath of the Lamb. So chapter one introduces the focus of Revelation Jesus Christ chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day.
I'll give you a little preview. If you love Jesus, here's how your story is going to end. And they lived happily ever after. Thank you Jesus, for that. Well, last time we learned that chapter 17 and 18 are parenthetical.
That means the pause button has been pushed on the main narrative so that an angel can reveal to John the Lord's judgment of Babylon through events of the Tribulation. And for the sake of clarity, if you missed our previous study, here's what you need to know about Babylon. The term Babylon can be a bit confusing because it is used in scripture to refer to something literal, something abstract and mystical, and sometimes both simultaneously. Literally, Babylon is a city located in the presentday country of Iraq. It is one of the most notable cities of antiquity, serving as the capital of empires and a cultural center of the world for centuries.
In the abstract and mystical sense, Babylon refers to the world system, all the systems established by the world's current ruler, Satan. We're talking about the world's systems of finance, government, religion, sex, entertainment, values, all of secularism. It's all Babylon. Mystically Babylon was the birthplace of paganism and the first world Empire. It was ruled by the world's first tyrant, who we talked about in our previous study as well.
It was a man named Nimrod. Last week, Chapter 17 detailed God's judgment of religious Babylon. This week, Chapter 18 will detail God's judgment of economic Babylon. The world's economic system is not impartial. It is not amoral.
God's judgment of it is going to reveal that he considers it to be a great evil. I believe the world's financial system is one of the clearest evidences that man is not good and cannot save himself. We mastered global travel and trade. Instead of using it to solve inequality and elevate the human race, we used it to exploit the poor on the other side of the globe, creating a new class of modern-day slaves, putting even children to work. And why?
Because we realized that thanks to these innovations, we could have more and pay less for it. While corporations became even wealthier and profit margins expanded, we created that system. We turned medicine into big business, creating a world where thousands of people die every day from diseases that we can cure but don't because the poor can't afford the medications. We created an agricultural economy where warehouses full of food rot in order to keep their market value inflated while people starve within a day's journey by boat or plane under Satan's influence. We, the fallen people of the Earth, created this system. Not God - us, collectively.
Socialism is not the answer. Capitalism is not the answer. Jesus is the answer. We need a good King. We need the only good King to come and reign over the Earth.
Write this down as your first fill-in, and then I'll explain it a little bit more before we get into the text. Revelation 18 details God's punishment of economic Babylon, the world's financial system. Revelation 18 details God's judgment of economic Babylon, the world's financial system. And as best we can tell, God will accomplish this by destroying the literal city of Babylon. Now, that statement can be a bit challenging for some to accept, because if you hop on Google Earth and take a look at the satellite view of Babylon today, you'll find that it consists of ancient ruins visited by less than 1000 Iraqis per year, farmland.
Because of its proximity to the Euphrates River and a few small towns, there is not a lot going on there right now, and there's nothing big currently planned. While several pastors and authors claim that Antichrist will rule his Empire from Babylon, there's nothing to indicate that in the biblical text. Rather, we see Antiochus occupying the rebuilt temple in Jerusalem, desecrating the Holy of Holies by using it as his throne room. And yet, I believe the text of Revelation 18 points to a literal Babylon being destroyed and her destruction resulting in the collapse of the world's economic system. Now, how is that possible, even hypothetically?
Well, I'm obviously speculating, but I think of the relationship between Washington, DC and New York. Washington, DC is the legislative capital of the USA, but New York City is essentially her financial capital. It's entirely feasible that Antichrist could designate Babylon the financial capital of his Empire. Imagine all transactions being processed through a software system headquartered in Babylon, a system that prevents anyone from buying or selling without the Mark of the beast. Imagine a new type of exchange being established, their exchange being established there as well, where all stocks and commodities trading, all global shipping transactions, all individual and corporate banking pass through Antichrist's financial servers.
But why would Antichrist build that in Babylon? Because, as we've discussed previously, while Jerusalem is God's sacred location on the Earth, Babylon is Satan's. The significance of both cities is far greater than we realize. Much, much more important, Revelation 18 describes a literal Babylon being destroyed and her destruction resulting in the collapse of the world's economic system, perhaps because the software systems controlling global trade will be wiped out. Think about this.
All currency will be digital at that time, and it will simply cease to exist. When God judges economic Babylon, it will be vaporized. I believe that's the kind of idea being presented in this chapter. But as always, you come to your own conclusions. In terms of the timeline, it appears the judgment of economic Babylon unfolds around the same time as the 7th and final bold judgment.
And there were noises and thunderings and Lightnings, and there was a great earthquake, such a mighty and great earthquake as had not occurred since men were on the Earth. Now the great city was divided into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and great Babylon was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath.
And with that, let's get into the details of the text, because while there are lots of theories about the end times, many of them fall apart. When you get into the details of Scripture, this chapter is certainly not black and white, but as always, the details give us greater clarity as to what's really going on. Let's read together. In verse one, it begins with after these things. So after being shown a vision of the destruction of religious Babylon, John is shown another vision.
I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the Earth was illuminated with his glory. If you'll recall the bold judgments we talked about, how they will likely unfold in rapid succession very close to the end of the tribulation, creating a cumulative effect rather than each judgment ending before the next one begins. That means that when this angel appears, Antichrist's Empire will still be in darkness because of the fifth bowl judgment. The appearance of this glorious angel will be even more striking as it pierces that overwhelming darkness. Verse two, and he the angel cried mightily with a loud voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a dwelling place of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird.
This is another pronouncement of judgment on Babylon, another proleptic statement, and everyone who dwells on the Earth will hear these words. The judgment pronounced back in Revelation 14/8 will soon be complete. In this context, the word bird is being used as an additional term for demons and foul spirits. It's intended to convey the filthy nature of scavenging birds who hang around places of death and destruction. And it's interesting that the angel calls Babylon a prison for every foul spirit and a cage for every unclean and hated bird.
It seems that at the end of the tribulation, God is going to gather all the demonic entities that have been permitted to roam the Earth in the tribulation and imprison them in the area of Babylon in preparation of their imminent destruction. Antichrist and the false Prophet will not be imprisoned in Babylon.
God has a different plan for dealing with them. Verses 3 For all the nations underline all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her, fornication the Kings of the Earth have committed fornication with her. Economic Babylon and the merchants of the Earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.
Here in chapter 18, he addresses the idolatry of material wealth. God addresses those who worship money, the God called Mammon. In the scriptures we see the phrase all the nations used. The whole world has been and will be seduced by economic Babylon and the lure of material wealth. The biblical event that best parallels this chapter is ancient Babylon on the night she was taken by Cyrus the Great.
The story is found in Daniel chapter five, and it documents Belchazar, a hedonistic and arrogant King throwing a lavish party. Despite being aware of Cyrus presence just outside the city walls, Belshazzar wasn't at all concerned because Babylon's walls were famously impregnable. A river ran through the city. They had so many supplies, it was said the city could survive a 20 year siege. Everyone in Babylon assumed they were untouchable.
Well, if you know the story, you know that God crashed the party, wrote his judgment with his own finger on a wall, and then inspired Cyrus to cut off the flow of the river, allowing his army to walk under the walls of Babylon. Bell Shazar and his pagan nobles were killed that very night, and Babylon fell. That's the picture here. Babylon will once again think herself impregnable indestructible, and God will bring it to nothing in just one day. Here's the Council God gives those who have turned to him in the tribulation and are still alive on the Earth at this time.
Verse Four and I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her. Come out of Babylon, my people, lest you share in her sins, unless you receive of her plagues. I have the words of God underlined in my Bible. There God says, Get as far away from Babylon as you possibly can because I'm about to destroy her. It's similar to the instructions that were given to Lot and his family to flee the city of Sodom.
God's call to his people to come out of Babylon is timeless. It applies to us today. We live in Babylon, yet we are called to not be of Babylon. I'll say that again. We live in Babylon, yet we are called to not be of Babylon.
The New Testament declares this over and over again, and I put some of those references on your outline for you to look up later. I'll highlight one example for you. When Jesus is praying for his disciples before he is arrested, he prays this to his heavenly Father: "They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by your truth."
Jesus' request of his heavenly Father on our behalf gives us the answer. He prayed, sanctify them by your truth. Your word is truth. In the tribulation, God's Word will give direction to believers just as it does today. It lays out a path, a way of living that allows us to live in Babylon without becoming part of Babylon.
How do you avoid getting caught up in religious Babylon? Believe and practice what the Word commands regarding financial matters. Make a note of this. God's Word illuminates a way to live in Babylon without becoming part of Babylon. God's Word illuminates a way to live in Babylon without becoming part of Babylon.
God says that if we embrace Babylon as our home, we will end up joining her in her sins and receiving the natural consequences of doing so. That's what God means when he says, "Lest you share in her sins, unless you receive of her plagues." Sin always leads to destruction and death, literally and mystically as well. So, if you embrace a culture that loves sin, destruction, and death, those things sin, destruction and death are going to show up sooner or later in your life, in your relationships, in your finances. This is the same warning God repeatedly gave the Israelites, and they never seem to listen.
God warned them, don't intermarry with the surrounding pagan cultures. Don't mingle with them because you will be seduced by their wickedness and join them in it. We talked about this a couple of weeks ago when we talked about how pastor fall don't think too highly of yourself. Don't think you can take fire in your lap and not be burned. Don't fall in love with Babylon because you won't change Babylon, but Babylon will change you.
Let me say that again. You won't change Babylon, but Babylon will change you. According to the Scriptures, Babylon will stand until Jesus tears it down. Therefore, until that day we are called out of Babylon. Verse five.
For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities underline that word remembered. When you give your life to Jesus, you receive forgiveness for every sin you've committed and will commit. That debt was paid by Jesus on your behalf on the cross. Those sins are not hanging over your life, and they will not follow you into eternity. Thank God for that.
But the sins of those who reject Jesus hang over them, never disappearing into the passage of time, but rather waiting for the inevitable day of judgment. The Lord says that the sins of Babylon have piled up like a tower reaching to heaven, demanding a response from him. God remembers every evil committed by Babylon and those who have fornicated with her. He remembers every genocide, every abuse, every disease that could have been cured, every slave traitor, every bit of human oppression and exploitation, and he will judge it all. He will judge it all.
Verse six render to her just as she rendered to you, and repay her double according to her works in the cup, which she has mixed, mix double for her. In other words, because Babylon's wickedness was extraordinary, it is just that her punishment be extraordinary as well. In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously in the same measure give her torment and sorrow, for she says in her heart, I sit as Queen and am no widow, and will not see sorrow. Therefore her plagues will come in one day, one day death and mourning and famine, and she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
It's the enticement of living luxuriously and having a life where wealth insulates and protects you from the trials of life experienced by ordinary people. It's the lure of glory and prestige feeding the insatiable appetite of one's ego. And yet the Lord declares that Babylon will be utterly burned with fire, and those who worship her are destined for a similar fate in eternity. Would you make a note of this? Verse eight tells us that economic Babylon will burn to the ground in a single day.
It will burn to the ground in a single day. Verse nine. The Kings of the Earth who committed fornication and lived luxuriously with her will weep and lament for her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance for fear of her torment, saying, Alas, Alas, that great city, Babylon, that mighty city, for in 1 hour your judgment has come. Notice that the Kings of the Earth and the merchants do not mourn in repentance or lamentation over their idolatry. They mourn over the destruction of Mammon, the God they devoted their lives to serving.
Verses nine and ten and 15 and 16 are the strongest indicators that we're talking about a literal city as the Kings of the Earth and the merchants are described, watching from a distance as Babylon Burns, fearing coming any closer lest they share in her fate. This is clearly describing the destruction of a literal Babylon, not just a mystical Babylon. We also see the word city used repeatedly in this chapter, and there are several Old Testament prophecies that foretell the permanent destruction of a literal Babylon. For example, I put it on your outlines. Isaiah prophesied Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the coldhean's pride will be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah.
It will never be inhabited, nor will it be settled from generation to generation. Nor will the Arabian pitch tents there, nor will the shepherds make their sheep folds there. How did God destroy Sodom and Gomorrah? By raining fire and brimstone from the sky. That's what's going to happen when Babylon is utterly burned with fire.
We also know Isaiah's prophecy hasn't been fulfilled yet because there are people living in Babylon right now. But when God is through judging her as described in Revelation 18, nobody will ever set foot there again. Verse eleven and the merchants of the Earth will weep and mourn over her, for no one buys their merchandise anymore. The merchants of the Earth, those who sell things, won't mourn over their sin, they won't repent. They'll mourn over the loss of their wealthy customers because the world financial system will be eviscerated, it will cease to exist.
Apparently, the elites of the world were the ones these merchants were selling to. We know that because we're told in the next two verses what kind of items these merchants were selling. It says, Merchandise of gold and silver, precious stones and pearls, fine linen and purple, silk and Scarlet, every kind of Citron wood, every kind of object of Ivory, every kind of object of most precious wood, bronze, iron and marble and cinnamon and incense, fragrant oil and frankincense, wine and oil, fine flour and wheat, cattle and sheep. Chariots and bodies and souls of men. This list includes things like gold and silver, diamonds, the finest fabrics, the most expensive and exotic building supplies, Ivory, specialty woods and metals, marbles, et cetera, the most expensive spices and fragrances, the best wines, the purest cooking and baking ingredients, livestock, exotic cars, private jets.
The items on that list are almost all highend items enjoyed by the world's elite, and we'll revisit that later in verses 14 God speaks this judgment over economic Babylon and those who worship her. The fruit that your soul longed for has gone from you, and all the things which are rich and splendid have gone from you, and you shall find them no more at all. Those who worship wealth will be left with empty hands and empty souls. Those who rejected Jesus longed for the fruit of material wealth. Those who love Jesus longed for the fruit of the Spirit which is love that produces joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and selfcontrol.
Verse 15 the merchants of these things who became rich by her will stand at a distance for fear of her torment, weeping and wailing and saying, Alas, Alas, that great city that was clothed in fine linen, purple and Scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls. For in 1 hour underline this such great riches came to nothing. Every shipmaster, all who traveled by ship, sailors, and as many as trade on the sea stood at a distance and cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, what is like this great city? They threw dust on their heads and cried out, weeping and wailing and saying, Alas, Alas, that great city in which all who had ships on the sea became rich by her wealth, for in 1 hour she is made desolate. And here's how the Saints, the Church, you and me are told to respond.
Verse 20 Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you Holy Apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her. Apparently if you love the Lord, if you love righteousness, then you will rejoice when the world economic system comes tumbling down. We will rejoice when the righteousness of heaven invades Earth and triumphs over evil. We will rejoice when Jesus is exalted and the way is made straight for his return to reign his King over the Earth. Verse 21 Then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying Thus with violence, the great city Babylon shall be thrown down and shall not be found anymore.
This angel is creating a visual metaphor of what Babylon's destruction will be like. A millstone was about four to 5ft across and about 1ft thick. And this angel throws a millstone into the ocean. There's a massive sudden impact, and then this millstone disappears beneath the waters, never to be seen again. So shall Babylon's final destruction be.
Verse 22 the sound of harpists, musicians, flutists, and trumpeters shall not be heard in you anymore. No craftsman of any craft shall be found in you anymore. And the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you anymore. If a rebuilt Babylon becomes the world's financial capital, it will certainly attract the elite. And from this verse we learn that until she's judged, Babylon will be filled with the sounds of parties and entertainment in the great tribulation much like Babylon while Cyrus was waiting just on the other side of their walls.
Verse 23 the light of a lamp shall not shine in you anymore, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you anymore. For underline this your merchants were the great men of the Earth. Now isn't this an interesting bit of Bible prophecy? Babylon will be destroyed in an age when the great men of the Earth are not Caesars emperors or Kings, but merchants, Titans of industry who acquire their wealth and power by fornicating with Babylon. I know it's hard to imagine such a time, but it's what the Bible says.
For your merchants were the great Amen of the Earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived. Everyone who doesn't belong to Jesus will fornicate with economic Babylon because they will be seduced by the appeal of material wealth. Verses 24 and in her was found the blood of prophets and Saints and of all who were slain on the Earth. If you haven't noticed by now, Babylon in all her forms hates God and those who worship him. I find verse 24 interesting because God declares that not only is Babylon guilty of the blood of the prophets and Saints, but also all who were slain on the Earth.
Babylon in all her forms is what stirs up humanity to hate and murder and destroy. It knows exactly how to manipulate our flesh and bring out the worst in us. You know, there's an old saying, public policy makes the world go round. I'm sorry I messed that up. I meant to say democracy makes the world go round.
That's not right either. Honest business makes the world go round.
Now I remember the saying, is it's money that makes the world go round? I think pretty much everybody now understands that the world we live in does not function as it appears on the surface. The direction of the world is not determined by democratically elected politicians. And if you're a Christian, you should definitely be aware of this because Scripture tells us that Satan is pulling the strings behind the scenes and he uses people to do it. One John 519 tells us the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked.
One, if you're concerned about powerful people trying to take over the world and seize control by fornicating with economic Babylon, you need to remember what the Bible says. Paul writes in Ephesians six, we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts, of wickedness in the heavenly places. Stopping evil people will not bring down economic Babylon because the driving forces behind it are spiritual. We must understand this. We need to learn how to fight in the spiritual arena using weapons like prayer and worship and the declaration of God's word.
I said this earlier, but I want to say it again. According to the Bible, according to God, Babylon in all her forms will exist and only grow in power between now and the end of the tribulation. She will not be stopped until Jesus steps in and destroys her. I can't think of anything more foolish than spending one's time, money and energy working against the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. If God has ordained it, it's going to happen.
It's going to happen. So what are you saying, Jeff? Are you saying we're just supposed to do nothing? Are we supposed to not resist evil? I'm not saying we're supposed to do nothing.
Far from it. I'm saying that Jesus has revealed in his word what we are called to do, how we're called to live, and how we're called to fight. Jesus told his followers, including you and me, do business until I come. In other words, Jesus said, be about my business until I come. That means don't check out, don't hide in a bunker, don't build a compound and disappear, no matter how appealing that might sound right now, live for Jesus according to his word and represent his Kingdom wherever you find yourself.
We are heavens, ambassadors, and we are called to shine the light of God's Kingdom in our little spheres of influence. We're called to bring mercy and Grace and justice to our little spheres of influence. Our relationships, our marriages, our families, our churches, our social circles, our workplaces, our schools.
And it gives light to all who are where in the world? No, it gives light to all who are in the house. In the house. When you're immature in the faith, you get frustrated when you hear that and think, Well, I want to do something bigger. I want to bring a revolution that changes everything.
I want to kick Babylon out of my country. When you become mature in the faith, you look at your relationships, marriage, your family, your Church, your social circle, your workplace, your school. And you think reflecting the light of Jesus in these places is more than enough of a challenge to keep me busy for the rest of my life. Every now and then, God calls us to walk through a door that leads to somewhere of incredible influence. But that's not the norm.
For 99 point 99% of the time. Our calling to represent heaven is in our little sphere of influence spiritually. It has been night on the Earth since Adam and Eve fell into sin. It's night right now. It's dark on the Earth, and it will only turn today when the light of the world Jesus Christ returns to usher in the new day of his millennial Kingdom.
Don't try to find a light switch that will illuminate the whole world. Try to let your light shine in the little sphere of influence that God has given you. That's the call. That's the call. In verses seven, we read of the arrogance of those who have placed their trust in the world in wealth.
She says in her heart, I sit as Queen and am no widow and will not see sorrow. That sounds a lot like the tone struck by the Last day's Church, the age we're living in back in Revelation 317 22. Do you remember what Jesus said to the Church at Laudicea, the Church that loved the world system? Turn with me if you would. Back to chapter three, verses 17 and let's read it together.
This is Jesus speaking Revelation, chapter three, verse 17. He says, you say I am rich, have become wealthy and have need of nothing, and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and anoint your eyes with Islam, that you may see as many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore, be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock.
If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with me to him who overcomes. I will grant to sit with me on my throne, as I also overcame and sat down with my father on his throne. He who has an ear led him here. Let me just remind you of some basic truths about material wealth. It cannot satisfy your soul.
It cannot bring you peace with God, and it's all going to burn in the end, and you can't take it with you. Jesus said, what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and he loses his own soul? And Jesus told this parable, the ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. And he thought within himself saying, what shall I do since I have no room to store my crops? So, he said, I'll do this, I will pull down my barns and build greater.
And there I will store all my crops and my goods. And I will say to my soul, soul, you have many goods laid up for many years. Take your ease, eat, drink, and be mercy seat. God said to him, fool, this night your soul will be required of you, then whose will those things be which you have provided? So is he who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.
How do you do that? By offering God everything in your life and asking Him, what do you want me to do with this? And as we hear Him answer in his word and by his Spirit and we obey Him, we store up for ourselves treasures in heaven. If you're worshiping material wealth, you are worshiping Mammon, and the destiny of your God is documented in Revelation 18. You may not expect the Book of James to have any connections to the judgment and destruction of Babylon, but it was undoubtedly inspired by the Lord to address everything we've been studying today.
Just listen to this. Let me read to you the first eight verses of James chapter five. Listen to this. Come now, you rich. Weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth eaten, your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Do you remember back in our study of Revelation chapter six, when the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, the first four sealed judgments, wrote out following Antichrist in war was famine and poverty across the Earth? And there was a strange verse, Is there, that said, do not harm the oil and the wine? We talked about how even in the midst of global poverty, the rich, the elite just get richer.
And James is talking when he says about your gold and silver corroding, the idea is that it's just sitting there unused. You don't even need to use it. And it testifies against you before the Lord, because while people are starving, you've got rooms full of gold and silver that you don't need. Those who fornicate with Babylon's economic system, are willing to get wealthy through the pain and suffering of everybody else. James continues, Indeed, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of the Reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Saba Oth.
That means the Lord of hosts. Isn't that interesting? God specifically takes note of the elite's practice of gaining wealth by mistreating and underpaying their employees. And God cares. China has hundreds of thousands of unjustly imprisoned men and women working in factories.
Places like India, Pakistan, Malaysia, and Vietnam have long ending practices of mistreating workers in factories. But you don't even have to go that far anymore. Just do some research into what's going on in our local Amazon warehouses. The abuse of workers, the exploitation of workers happens all over the world because greed is a global phenomenon, not a cultural phenomenon. And God sees it all.
He sees it all. James continues, you have lived on the Earth in pleasure and luxury. You have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. God says, you spend your life in the pursuit of luxury and ease. The truth is, you're like a pig who thinks he's ending a life of endless buffets when the reality is that you're just being prepared for the slaughter you have condemned.
You have murdered the just. He does not resist you. The just man does not take vengeance into his own hands. He leaves it to the Lord. The wicked, wealthy man thinks he's getting away with taking advantage of the just man.
I'm so thankful that the Lord has given us his word and made these things plain to us the secret knowledge that the world's elite believe they have. It's nothing compared to what God has revealed to his adopted sons and daughters. For you and me. God has pulled back the curtain and revealed to us how the world really works and where the world is really going. And I'm so thankful the Lord has revealed to me the emptiness of Babylon.
I'm so thankful that the Lord has invited me to instead store up treasure in heaven Church. Don't fall in love with money. Don't fall in love with money. God tells us that we will be rejoicing when this world's economic system is destroyed. Don't fall in love with something that will never satisfy and is destined for destruction.
Use money for the glory of God. Be generous. Do good in the midst of Babylon. If handling your money and your business with integrity costs you, it's only costing you here on the Earth. You're gaining treasure in heaven where moth and rust do not destroy.
Write this down. This is how I'd close this little thought, and then I've got one more for you. Christians view everything they have as belonging to the Lord. Christians view everything they have as belonging to the Lord. And Christians want God to use everything they have for his glory.
Christians want God to use everything they have for his glory. Let's live like that. Let's be light in the darkness of Babylon. Trust in the Lord, hope in the Lord, be fulfilled in the Lord. He is coming soon.
So store up treasure in heaven, do business until he returns and rejoice that the day will come when Babylon will be destroyed and we will watch it happen in the presence of the Lord. Hasten the day. Hasten the day. Jesus, come quickly. Here's the good news.
His Kingdom is coming next week because we're going to be studying chapter 19 which is the second coming in the Book of Revelation. And you don't want to miss the Second Coming, do you? You don't want to miss it. I can't wait. Here's what we've got left coming up in Revelation, the Second coming, the Millennium when Jesus rules on the Earth and makes all things new and heaven, heaven.
I want to personally invite you to some of the most lifechanging Bible studies you'll ever have the chance to be part of. Not because I think I'm amazing, but because what God's word is going to reveal is amazing. Would you close your eyes as I read one last bit of Scripture to you is the biggest obstacle for you in the area of money, trusting God to take care of you. And if so, you need to memorize what I'm about to read to you. Many of you know it, but many of you don't know it, if you get my meaning.
Jesus said, I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat nor about the body, what you will put on. Life is more than food and the body is more than clothing. Consider the Ravens, for they neither sow nor reap, which have neither storehouse nor barn, and God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds? And which of you by worrying can add one qubit to his stature?
Let's pray; Father as always thank you so much for your word and thank you for your promise and the reminder that you are a loving and good Heavenly Father who takes care of his children who knows what we need and loves to provide it. And Lord, we want to be children whose treasure is in heaven so I pray right now if there's just anything in any of us that is chasing after material wealth being hypnotized and seduced by Babylon Lord would he reveal it to us? Would you forgive us Would you lead us to repent and would you shift our focus back on you thank you, Lord that we are a blessed people Because we have you we are rich in the only ways that actually matter we have you so we're rich in love we're rich in Grace We're rich in peace thank you that you love to give good things to your children so Father, I pray right now and in this moment that by your spirit you would just touch every single one of our hearts and remind us that you are good and you are better then everything that the would he offering Jesus we love you thank you for loving us first keep our minds on you it's in your name we pray Amen.
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Passage: Revelation 19:1-10.............Speaker: Jeff Thompson
Heaven rejoices over the destruction of Babylon and prepares for the Second Coming, including the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Well, it is March 2022 when I'm recording this video. And despite all the crazy things going on in the world right now in the area of frivolity, there is a fascinating debate unfolding. The question at hand is, are there more wheels or doors in the world? The question, of course, is ridiculous, perhaps even as ridiculous as the rumor that the book of Revelation is hard to understand. But fatuity say we for you see, the word revelation means something has been revealed.
And the first words of this book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that in Revelation, chapter one, verse three, let's claim it together, as we always do at the beginnings of our studies. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads.
And those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near, but God knew they would still be those who would say, It's just too hard to understand. So to make it simple to understand, he also included an easy to follow outline. And we find that in Revelation, chapter one, verse 19, Jesus tells John, First, I want you to write the things which you have seen. That was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Secondly, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which are that refers to the Church age which began around 32 ad on Pentecost, continues to the present day and is prophesied in chronological order in chapters two and three.
And then third, and lastly, Jesus tells John to write about the things which will take place after this future events that will unfold after the Church age comes to an end. Now, where does the Church age end? That takes place in Revelation, chapter four, verse one. Let me read it to you. After these things, John says, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one, was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord. And Jesus takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we don't miss the fact that the Church is with Him in heaven before he begins pouring out his wrath on the Earth that has rejected Him. And as that wrath is being poured out, Revelation 616 reveals that those on the Earth will know and understand the source of their judgment, identifying it as the wrath of the Lamb. Who is the Lamb?
In Scripture, it's Jesus. So chapter one, introduces the focus of Revelation, Jesus Christ, chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. Then the Church goes up. In chapter four, verses one, we see her safe and secure in heaven for all of chapters four and five before wrath is poured out on the Earth, beginning in chapter six. That wrath continues for a period of seven years known as the Tribulation, and is documented in chapter six through 19, at which point Jesus returns to the Earth with his Saints in the event known as the Second Coming.
Passage: Revelation 19:1-10........................Speaker: Jeff Thompson
Heaven rejoices over the destruction of Babylon and prepares for the Second Coming, including the marriage supper of the Lamb.
Well, it is March 2022 when I'm recording this video. And despite all the crazy things going on in the world right now in the area of frivolity, there is a fascinating debate unfolding. The question at hand is, are there more wheels or doors in the world? The question, of course, is ridiculous, perhaps even as ridiculous as the rumor that the book of Revelation is hard to understand. But fatuity say we for you see, the word revelation means something has been revealed.
And the first words of this book tell us exactly who it is that's being revealed. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ. God wanted us to read this book so much that he promised anyone who would take the time to read and respond to it a special blessing. And we find that in Revelation, chapter one, verse three, let's claim it together, as we always do at the beginnings of our studies. It says, Blessed is he or she who reads.
And those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near, but God knew they would still be those who would say, It's just too hard to understand. So to make it simple to understand, he also included an easy to follow outline. And we find that in Revelation, chapter one, verse 19, Jesus tells John, First, I want you to write the things which you have seen. That was the resurrected and glorified Jesus in chapter one. Secondly, Jesus says, John, I want you to write about the things which are that refers to the Church age which began around 32 ad on Pentecost, continues to the present day and is prophesied in chronological order in chapters two and three.
And then third, and lastly, Jesus tells John to write about the things which will take place after this future events that will unfold after the Church age comes to an end. Now, where does the Church age end? That takes place in Revelation, chapter four, verse one. Let me read it to you. After these things, John says, I looked and behold a door standing open in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard, that was the voice of Jesus in chapter one, was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. And up John goes, serving as a picture of the Church who will be raptured to be with the Lord. And Jesus takes all of chapters four and five to make sure we don't miss the fact that the Church is with Him in heaven before he begins pouring out his wrath on the Earth that has rejected Him. And as that wrath is being poured out, Revelation 616 reveals that those on the Earth will know and understand the source of their judgment, identifying it as the wrath of the Lamb. Who is the Lamb?
In Scripture, it's Jesus. So chapter one, introduces the focus of Revelation, Jesus Christ, chapters two and three take us through the Church age up to the present day. Then the Church goes up. In chapter four, verses one, we see her safe and secure in heaven for all of chapters four and five before wrath is poured out on the Earth, beginning in chapter six. That wrath continues for a period of seven years known as the Tribulation, and is documented in chapter six through 19, at which point Jesus returns to the Earth with his Saints in the event known as the Second Coming.
The surviving Jewish population of Israel is hiding in Petra and our creation itself groans and longs for has arrived the return of the King, also known as the Second Coming. To help us keep the big picture in mind over our next few studies, I put this on your outline. I want to point out five things that will take place at the Second Coming. Firstly, Jesus will defeat all forces of evil, freeing the Earth of Satan's influence. Secondly, Jesus will reveal himself to Israel and their relationship will be restored.
Thirdly, Jesus will remove everyone on the Earth who has rejected him. Fourthly, Jesus will host the marriage supper of the Lamb, where he will be joined to his bride, the Church. And then Fifthly, Jesus will inaugurate. He will initiate the millennial Kingdom and begin his reign over the Earth from Jerusalem. And we'll discuss each of these developments in greater detail as we journey through the text of Revelation chapters 19 and 20 over these next few studies.
Let's start doing that right now. In Revelation, chapter 19, verses one, it says, after these things, after the destruction of literal and mystical Babylon, John says, I heard a loud voice of a great multitude in heaven saying, Alleluia Salvation and glory and honor and power belong to the Lord our God. For true and righteous are his judgments, because he has judged the great Harlot who corrupted the Earth with her fornication and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants shed by her. We saw that unfold in chapter 17 and 18. And here we see heaven rejoicing again at the demise of Babylon.
This great multitude of voices likely belongs to the Angels as it appears, the Church responds in verses four and is called to rejoice in verse. In verses three, again they said, Hallelujah, her smoke rises up forever and ever. That phrase just means her judgment. Babylon's judgment is final and it's irreversible. Verses four and the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sat on the throne saying Amen, Hallelujah.
You may recall from our study of chapters four and five that the 24 elders represent the Royal priesthood of believers, consisting of Old Testament Saints and the Church. The word Amen means so be it. The word Hallelujah or Alleluia is a compound word. Halal is the Hebrew word for praise, and yah is one of the Hebrew names or terms for God. So when you put them together as halalyah or Hallelujah, it simply means Praise God or praise the Lord.
The first time the phrase Praise the Lord, Alleluia Hallelujah appears in scripture is in Psalm 104, verse 35. I put it on your outlines. Take a look at what that verse is. It says, May sinned be consumed from the Earth and the wicked be no more. Bless the Lord, O my soul.
Amen. And Alleluia those are the words, the sentiments, the prayers that flow from the hearts of mature believers. Mature believers recognize that apparently when we have full understanding in heaven, we will approve of everything God does and everything that he's ever done. When we're shown the full picture, we will all say, True and righteous are your judgments, O Lord. And mature believers here and now are able to say, I have faith in the judgment of my God because I have faith in the character of my God.
So where I don't understand yet, I choose to simply say Amen, Hallelujah, because I know that sooner or later I'll end up saying that anyway, so I might as well say it right now. In faith, mature believers recognize the pattern of God's goodness and faithfulness in their lives when they doubt God and are proven wrong by his faithfulness. Mature believers actually take note. The immature believer never recognizes the pattern. It doesn't matter how many times they doubt God and are proven wrong by their faithfulness.
Immature believers never learn, never recognize that God is faithful. So in honesty, which description fits you? Are you confident in the character of your heavenly Father? You can be because he loves you more than you could possibly imagine. He's faithful, he's faithful.
He is faithful, and he deserves your trust. Would you make a note of this? Mature believers know God's character and are therefore able to say Amen and Hallelujah in faith. In every circumstance of life. I'll say it again, mature believers know God's character and are therefore able to say Amen.
So be it, and Alleluia praise God in faith in every circumstance of life. This chapter can be a bit awkward for some people because clearly we believers who are in heaven are glad that all this is happening. And this causes some to ask, how can a loving God and the Kingdom and the people of a loving God be happy about wrath being poured out on people like this? I don't want to shock you with horror stories in this message, but I will say this. You should get yourself a copy of Fox's Book of Martyrs and spend an evening reading about what those who have hated Jesus across the centuries have done to believers simply because they love Jesus.
I hope that you all have some idea of the atrocities that ISIS and their counterparts committed against Christians in the Middle East within the past decade and what's going on in places like Nigeria, China, and North Korea today. The Book of Revelation speaks of a coming time when God will say, Enough, my family is all accounted for. The only ones left are those who will never receive me. So all that justice we've been putting off, all that justice that has been delayed because of my mercy need no longer be delayed. And all of heaven, including you and me, won't say, oh, that's so unfair, or just wait longer.
Anyway, we'll say it's about time. Amen. And Hallelujah verse Five Then a voice came from the throne saying, Praise our God, all you, his servants and those who fear him, both small and great. And I heard, as it were, the voice of a great multitude, as the sound of many waters, and as the sound of mighty thunderings saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Handel's famous Hallelujah Chorus was inspired by this text, the moment when heaven roars with praise over Jesus destruction of Babylon and his imminent return to the Earth.