Now open your Bibles with me
to Revelation chapter 17. I'm going to try to finish this
chapter out and it's very difficult. There's some things in here that
are really difficult but I want to focus on verse 14 mainly which
talks about how the harlot Babylon under the direction of Satan
who's signified by the red dragon in other passages of scripture
here. And the beast, which is ungodly governments, false religion,
all of that. Enemies of Christ, how they'll
make war with the lamb. They'll make war with Christ. And he's identified here as the
lamb. You figure anybody who'd make
war with a lamb's gonna win that war, don't you? Because lambs
aren't really terrifying creatures who are known for their strength.
But this is a different kind of lamb. This is a lamb who has
power. We read about it in Revelation
5. And his power is power to control all things according
to the good pleasure of his sovereign will. His power is the power
to create. Everything you see around you
created by God in the Lamb, Christ. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was made flesh, the Word tabernacled among us. The
same was with God in the beginning. Everything that was created,
nothing without Him. He has the preeminence in all
things. He's the Lamb with power. And the reason I had Brother
Mike read that 1 Peter passage because it talks about how we're
redeemed. The whole collective body of
Christ. Sinners, saved by the grace of,
we're redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. What power there is
in Him. And so they're going to make
war with the Lamb. And they think they can defeat
the Lamb. But here's the title of the message. It says, and
the Lamb shall overcome them. The Lamb's going to win. Somebody says, well, I want to
be on His side. Well, look here, for He is Lord
of Lord and King of kings. That means He's in control. He's
on the throne. And they that are with Him, are
we with Him? Well, who are they? They're the called, they're the
chosen, they're the faithful, and we'll get to that. But let's
go back up to verse 11. I ended at verse 10 last week.
It talks about the beast in verse 11. Now there's some difficult
things here, and I can't, there's a couple things that I really
can't pinpoint and say, now this is what it is, because if you
read even gospel commentators, reputable commentators, you'll
find as many different answers as you will commentators, so
understand that. But that's not important. What's
important is that when we talk about the beast here and the
woman, understanding that, when we talk about the kings and the
ten horns and all that, what we're talking about is a collective
body that is in opposition to Christ. That's what we need to
understand. That's the gist of it. Anybody
who's against Christ is part of this evil conglomerate, this
evil confederation. Whoever you identify, some people,
they go back to the Emperor Nero, because he had a lot of Christians
killed. Some go back to the Pope, all
of these things. I mean, there's just different
ideas. And I've always told you, you cannot interpret Revelation
through the lens of history. You have to interpret history
through the lens of Revelation. So don't be upset if you can't
identify particularly what one of these kings is. Most commentators
think that when Christ arrived on the scene, four have already
passed, five was there, the Roman Empire, and then there's others
that come along, and we're gonna see that. But look at verse 11,
the beast, Now that beast, that's ungodly, this beast, and it says,
and that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of seven
and goeth into perdition. The eighth kingdom's what that's
talking about, I believe. And I'm not sure if that, what
it's talking about, the way I see it now, and if you've got any
more insight on this than I do, feel free to tell me about it,
that's okay. But what it is, this eighth kingdom,
or this eighth that's coming about, is in the end time, and
eight being the number of a new beginning, what I believe it
is, it's ungodly government and ungodly religion promising people
a new beginning. And don't we have that today?
I think about the environmentalist who said, we can save the world,
all we gotta do is buy electric cars. or stop breathing, I don't
know what they want. Kill all the cows because they're... Ungodly religion. We promise
you a new beginning, but it's a lie. And that's the main thing
that I see. They goeth into perdition. They're
here for a short space of time. Now, if you wanna count kingdoms
and individuals and emperors, you may be able to figure this
out. This is a particular person. I don't see that in scripture,
but I do see this. Whoever stands in opposition
to Christ and his grace and his way of salvation, they're gonna
go into perdition. they're gonna be destroyed. And
that's the key here. He says in verse 12, the 10 horns
which thou sawest are 10 kings, 10 literal kings, or a conglomerate
of the complete conglomerate which have received no kingdom
as yet, but receive power as kings one hour with the beast,
short period of time. And we can talk about different
ones who rose up in power and history and fill your time with
that. I don't want to do that. I just
don't feel like it's edifying to us. Again, what is this? It's ungodly government and ungodly
religion standing in opposition to Christ the lamb and his people,
his church. And whoever they are, whatever
name you call them, whatever empire you think it is, it's
all the same, isn't it? And that's all we need to know.
He said they receive power as king one hour with the beast.
That's a short period of time. Remember he said that he must
continue a short space. The kingdom of Christ is forever
and ever. It'll never end. The gospel of
God's grace in Christ through the blood of the Lamb and His
righteousness is an eternal matter. You'll live forever in the glory
of the Son of God, standing before God, washed in His blood, clothed
in His righteousness. Isn't that what you want? That's
what I want. these rulers of the world, these
10 kings, that have yet to come in John's time. They're raised
up by Satan, but only for a brief period of time, and they will
make war. And look at verse 13. These have
one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. One mind. What is that one mind? You know, it's kind of like what
what was described in the book of Acts chapter four. I think
I referred to this last week, but it's something we need to
understand. In Acts chapter four, verse 26, it says, the kings
of the earth stood up and the rulers were gathered together
against the Lord and against his Christ. Who does this include? Look at verse 27. For of a truth
against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod, Pontius Pilate, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were
gathered together. And what were they gathered together
to do? To kill Jesus of Nazareth. But look at verse 28. for to do whatsoever thy hand,
God, thy counsel, the Lord, determined before to be done. You see, when
you read these things in Revelation, don't look up and say, boy, things
are just out of kilter. Things are just so messed up.
It's out of control, it's chaos. God is in control of everything
that is written right here. And I know unbelievers that they'll
come along and say, well, if that's true, then you're saying
God's the creator of evil and all that, blah, blah. Listen,
God didn't create evil, but it's here, and He controls it. If
He didn't, where would we be? Where would we be? We can't control
it. Try to. You'll fail. But Christ the Lamb overcame
it. Think about a man walking among
men and women, sinful men and women, and still had no corruption
or contamination of sin. That's our Lamb, that's Christ. He sat down and ate with publicans
and sinners, and he never had a sinful thought, a sinful motive,
or a sinful goal. The perfect God-man. He had to
be that. Oh, he had some tests that he
went through in the infirmities and weaknesses of flesh, being
a man, yet without sin. I can't imagine what that's like.
Can you? You can't, if you're honest. One day we'll be there when we
go to be with the Lord. Perfect body, no tears, no sorrow,
no pain. Oh my goodness, I'd like to have
a day without pain, let alone an eternity. Think about it. But they had one mind. Now you think about this, and
when you think about ungodly governments and false religion,
They've got so many differences, arguments, debates, but in one
area, they have one mind. They're all united 100% against
our Savior, our Lamb, our Lord, our Gospel, what we believe. They'll get together on that.
They'll be united there. But listen, they shall make war,
verse 14, they'll be opposed. They'll make war, they'll fight,
they'll fuss, they'll accuse, they'll criticize. How else,
you know, you say, well now this sounds like it's out of control.
How else could Christ make this statement to his disciples when
he said in Matthew 5, blessed are you when men shall persecute
you. accuse you and say all manner
of evil against you falsely. How else could he say that that's
a blessing for us? Except that he's in control of
it all. And he'll preserve us through it all. I think about
our brother Stephen, standing before the people of Jerusalem,
preaching truth, giving their history. And bringing it down
to where he said, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears, you do resist the Holy Ghost. That's the general call,
which all men and women by nature will resist, if left to ourselves. And they picked up stones to
stone him. And old Stephen said, Lord, don't
hold this against him. And he gave up the ghost. He
left this world. a justified, sanctified, regenerated,
called, preserved sinner. And the moment he opened his
eyes and beheld the glory of the Savior, the perfect man,
he was free of all sin and all hurt and all pain. And why? Because he was so bold? No. Because he was so moral? Courageous? No, it's because of the Lamb. So they'll make war with the
Lamb. They'll have on this earth what seems to be for them a victory. We talk a lot about our church
here. Wouldn't you love to see and hear and believe that the
gospel message would be preserved here until the Lord comes back?
I would, because I'll be gone. A lot of you all will be gone
by then. But you know, there's no guarantee
of that. This church may die with us. We don't know. Randy and Jim's all the time
trying to get me to say, get a young preacher in. Well, I
can't create one. I say, brothers, don't ask me
to do the impossible. But I would love to see it. May
not happen, I don't know what God has planned for the next
hour, let alone for years from now. But I know this, whatever
happens, it's according to God's will, it'll glorify God, and
the Lamb will overcome. Here's one thing I know about
God's people, chosen from the foundation of the world. I'm
getting a little ahead of myself here. Not one of God's people
will die and leave this world before God brings him or her
to believe the gospel. Now that's right. Well, look
back at verse 14. These shall make war with the
Lamb and the Lamb shall overcome them. Now, how's he going to
overcome? Well, he's gonna come riding on a white horse in the
clouds and he's gonna set up his kingdom on Jerusalem and
rule the world. No. He overcomes them in a lot
of different ways and it's all complete. It's a complete victory
for the Lamb. He overcomes them in providence
because not one thing is happening out of His control and out of
His sovereign purpose and predestinated plan. If you look down at verse
17, listen to what this says. For God hath put in their hearts
to fulfill His will Who's he talking about? He's talking about
the ten horns, those kings, the beast and the whore. And to agree and give their kingdom
unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled. That's
the God we worship. People can go around accusing
him of all kinds of different things, but he's in control and
he knows better than us what's right and what's wrong. The Lamb overcame the great red
dragon, Satan, on the cross. That's when he put down Satan.
Satan, who accused the brethren. Oh, look at that. Look at him. He's a sinner. Look at what he
did. Look at what he said, or she
said. They're not worth our time. Look at them. But you know what the Lamb says?
The Lamb says, who shall lay anything to the charge of God's
elect? It's God that justifies. Oh,
you look at that sinner, Lord. He deserves death and hell. And
God says, I will remember his sins no more. I won't hold them
against him. What'd he do with those sins?
He's a just God. He laid them to the charge of
the lamb. Made him sin. He who knew no
sin for us, who are nothing but sin usually, regularly, that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Wow. No charge can stick. Why? Because the Lamb overcame him. Now, does that mean victory for
me? Does it mean victory for you?
Well, look at it, verse 14. Now, he's Lord of lords, and
he's King of kings. He's the Lord over ungodly lords
and the Lord over ungodly king of ungodly kings as well as good
ones. And they that are with him, there's
your key. Are you with God? Well, who are they? Who are such
people that are with him? Well, they're called. Look at
it. What do you mean they're called?
They're summoned. That's what that means. It's
the same word as called when he talks about it in Romans chapter
eight, who are the called. They're summoned by the King
of Kings and the Lord of Lords. They're called, they're brought
irresistibly, invincibly in the power of the Spirit by the preaching
of the gospel. This is the effectual, invincible
call of the Lord. that brings sinners to Himself. He says, no man can come to Me
except the Father which has sent Me to draw him, and I'll raise
him up at the last day. And what happens? God brings
His sheep. Christ brings His sheep into
the fold. He calls them in. He gathers them in. It's against
their natural will, but He changes our will. That's the new birth. That's regeneration and conversion.
They're called. And it says they're chosen. Now
this is not in any order of time. In other words, well, they're
called and then God chooses them. No. They're chosen long before
they're called. We're chosen before the foundation
of the world. That's the elect of God. But that calling is what
identifies us as being chosen. How do I know I'm one of the
lamb's sheep? How do I know that I'm one of
God's elect? Look at 2 Thessalonians chapter
two. This is what the Bible tells
us now. And here in line with the second
coming of Christ, he talks about all who will be deceived because
of their own natural choices against the Lamb. And he says
in verse 13 of 2 Thessalonians 2, but we are bound to give thanks
always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because
God hath from the beginning, not after the fact, but from
the beginning, chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. That means the Spirit
set you apart in belief of the truth, whereunto he called you
by our gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's it. The preaching of the cross is
to them which are perishing foolishness, but those who are called. They
are called, they are chosen. And then verse 14 of Revelation
17 says this also. They're faithful. Now what does that mean? It means
they stay with Christ. They follow Christ. They're loyal
to Christ. They will never leave Him. Now
they can stray. We've seen it in Scripture. We've
seen it in life. Men and women who believe the
Gospel, they'll stray away a little bit. But as one old pastor said,
they're on God's leash. He will not let us go. What did
He say about His sheep? They hear His voice, they follow
Him. No one can pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my
Father are one. He's able to save to the uttermost
them that come unto the Father by Him. I know whom I have believed
and I'm persuaded that He is able to keep that which I've
committed unto Him against that day. And what have I committed
unto Him? My whole salvation. I've not listened. I have not
committed one part of my salvation to me. It's all committed to
Christ. And He's my surety. So this faithfulness
here is talking about perseverance in the faith. We will not leave
Christ. As I've said, if the Holy Spirit
does a work of grace within, you cannot ignore it, you cannot
deny it, and you cannot leave it because He will not let you
go. That's the reason. called and chosen and faithful.
What a blessing. Blessed with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly place. He that begun a good work in
you, he'll finish it. Work out your own salvation with
fear and trembling, for it's God that worketh in you to do
his good pleasure. You see, it's all attributed
to the Lamb. Well, look at verse 15. He saith unto me, the waters
which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and
multitudes, and nations, and languages, tongues. It's all
over the world. This false religion, this false
government, it's all over the world. and the ten horns which
thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall
make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and
burn her with fire." Now what's that talking about? It's talking
about in the end when Christ comes, or right prior to it, they're going to see the whore
for what she is. They're going to see that what she's promised,
she cannot deliver. and they'll turn against her.
And that which was united in that evil cause against Christ,
they'll turn against each other. They'll war with each other.
And he says in verse 17, and they'll eat her flesh and burn
her with fire, all of that. And it says, for God hath put
in their hearts to fulfill his will. This is the will of God. and to agree and give their kingdom
unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled. So
here you have the beast, that ungodly beast, turning against
Babylon. And we're going to learn in chapter
18 where it talks about Babylon is fallen, fallen, all of that. And it says in verse 18 here,
the woman which thou sawest is that great city, that's Babylon,
which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Now, right now
as we look, if you just look at things through the eyes of
the flesh, it sort of looks like that Babylon
has won. And all of her beauty, all that appealing,
it's appealing to the flesh, it's all out there. And that's the way people see
it. reigning over the kings of the earth, taking control, but
it's not going to last. It's doomed from the beginning.
Like brother Mike read there in first Peter chapter one, all
flesh is grass and the flower of the grass fadeth away. It's
all here just temporarily, but the word of the Lord endureth
forever. And that Word of the Lord is
the embodiment of the Lamb and the message of salvation that
is conditioned on Christ alone, who alone with His people overcomes
all evil opposition. And that's what this chapter
is talking about. We shall overcome. You remember
that song we used to sing in the 60s? We shall overcome. It's not we, it's the Lamb and
His people. And He shall overcome. You know,
every time He saves a sinner out of the darkness of idolatry
and unbelief, He overcomes, doesn't He? That's a victory. Every time
a child of God leaves this earth and goes to be with Him, that's
a victory. But when He comes back the second
time, just prior to that time, we're going to see His victory.
He shall overcome. All right, let's sing hymn number
216 as our closing hymn. Look to the Lamb of God. How
about that one? 216, let's stand.