Let's take our Bibles this morning
and turn to Revelation 17. Revelation 17. Let's have a word of prayer. Our Lord, it's so good to be
able to be here and be here with you. And to think that by your
mercy and grace that you've granted us another opportunity to spend
some time in your word. Lord, we ask you to bless this
study this morning. Help us to behold the wonder
of your grace, compassion to us. Lord, we pray for those that
are in our midst and those that are even not of this fold that
are sick and pray that You would bless even that sickness to Your
glory and to our good. We ask these things for Christ's
sake. Amen. Revelation 17. picking up right where we left
off. We left off and stopped in verse
11. John, the Apostle John, he's
on the Isle of Patmos. You know that. God is teaching
him and teaching us through some revelations concerning the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ, the unveiling. When we see the word
revelation, actually this is what it's telling us. This is
a mystery that is only known by God revealing it to us. We
could not know this. These are the things of God.
And in the 11th and the 12th and the 13th verse, I just want
to look at these three verses for a moment. John is seeing
this beast. And this beast that has, actually
in the 12th verse, ten horns. And the thirteenth verse says,
these ten horns from that beast has got one attitude, one mind. Let's read 11, 12, 13. And the
beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the
seven, and goeth into perdition. This, in just a very general
summary, is what John just said, the beast. Now, you know that
the beast, from looking at what we've looked at, it talks about
this world, this world's government, this world's attitude. This is
a beast, and this beast is It's spoken of here. It says that
this beast that was there has been. We looked at this last
time. There's been governments that have oppressed God's people. I can read about Egypt and Assyria
and Rome. I understand that there has been
some tangible things that I can see. But when it talks about
this beast that was, you know, and is not, apparently at this
time there appears as though that there's not an open governmental
oppression against God's people in particular. There was against
Israel for a while. But at this moment, there doesn't
appear to be an open tangible, but this beast, this world, it's
actually an intangible. That means you can't really just
look at it and say, there it is right there. Look, look at
it. See there, it's got that certain, it's an intangible thing
that is actually tangible. Does that make sense? It's real. It's, I don't, I can't
see it. I can't, this is a pulpit. I
know that's a pulpit. I can touch that. I feel that. That's a tangible something. But this world is an intangible
something to this eye here. But I see it with this eye. It's
real. It's real. He says, John says,
that beast that was and is not, Even he is the eighth and is
of the seven. Now, that seven, remember this,
that word number seven, it is a number that means the completeness
of, the completeness of rebellion. This world, it says, this world,
this beast, he is the eighth. He is of the seven. Let me explain
this this way I'm going to use. I think I use this same illustration
last time I used it as a football game. The fans at a football
game. I. You ever heard of the expression
the 12th man at a football game? You know what I'm talking about?
It means this. Scott, you know what this is.
This is there's 11 men on a football field. It's actually playing. There's 11 men. OK. The twelfth man is actually,
they refer to that as the fans. All of the fans. They're the
twelfth man. They're the ones that's kind
of rooting them on, backing them, you know. The twelfth man. This beast, that's the, looking
at the illustration and looking at the wording and what it means,
that's the best illustration that I can think of right now.
This beast, he is the eighth. And he is of the seven, is what
it says. The seven kings, they're tangible only to the
new man that sees them and knows this world. We talk about this,
you know, the world. The world. And when I say the
world to you that believe and have been taught concerning this
world. You know exactly what I'm talking
about. This world. But try to touch
it. Show it to me. Show me when I say the world. You understand what I mean? That
which is rebellious against God, touch it. Pull one out. Pull one out of your back pocket.
The Scripture says concerning this beast. He is the eighth. He is of the seven. And here
is His final destruction. He goeth into perdition. Now,
verse 12. The ten horns which thou sawest,
or ten kings. The ten areas of power. The horns. That horn is power. That thou sawest are ten kings
which have received no kingdom as yet, but received power as
kings one hour with the beast." Now, these ten horns, ten kings,
emblems of power. Now, you understand that this
is all symbolic, completeness of, totally of. Daniel spoke
of these kingdoms. They're powerful for a while. They disappear. Whether they're
actually kingdoms as Egypt, Rome, they might be. I know people
have done big backdrops, you know, when they're teaching through
the Book of Revelation. It always shows, they're always named specifically. You know, that has to be Assyria
and, you know, and Babylonia and has to be this and this.
How do you know? How do you know exactly? But
suffice it to say, the Scriptures reveal that there are kingdoms,
powers, exalted areas in this world that are oppressive toward
God's people. If you tried to name every area
of oppression against yourself, you can't do that. Tell me areas
of power against you. But you know they're there. You're
aware of them. But the Scripture is revealing
that these areas, they're powerful for a while. But I'll tell you this, this
power, these kingdoms, the Scripture says they receive power as kings
for one hour. It's a limited power. There's
only one all-powerful one. Verse 13 says they have one mind,
one attitude, one root, one desire, and they give their power and
strength unto this world, this beast. Now, knowing what that
Scripture has said, in a vision. I want to look at
three truths to try to bring this all down to where we're
sitting right here this morning. I can speak of generalities,
generally speaking, and just kind of leave you out there somewhere
and you say, well, what's he talking about? Three things. Number one, The greatest threat
to you and me. What's the greatest threat to
us? Well, I can sum it up. This one
word right here, sin, is the greatest threat. How is this
sin manifested? What is it that manifests itself? to be my greatest threat. I want you to turn to 1st John. Let's turn back a few pages there
from Revelation to 1st John. 1st John, chapter 2. 1st John, chapter 2. 1st John, chapter 2, verse 15.
Let me tell you something. This is what John's been talking
about all this while. When he's in the book of Revelation,
God has been revealing something to him, and it's a beast, and
it's got ten horns, and it's got power, and it's got kingdoms. What are you talking about, John?
What is it, John, that is my greatest threat? First John 2. Verse 15. Love not the world. The man that
wrote this book right here is the man that was sitting on the
Isle of Patmos. Love not the world. The beast. The beast of ten horns. Love not the world, neither the
things that are in the world. If any man loved the world, The
love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world,
the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of
life is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world
passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of
God abideth forever." Now, I'm going to tell you something.
I'm going to tell you three things. This is the first one. the greatest
threat, sin, that manifests itself in the love of this world. I'm going to show you a couple
of other things in just a minute. And every one of the times that
the word world is used, it's the same word. It is the order
of. Like the order of man, God so
loved, I'm going to read that in just a minute, God so loved
the world. Now listen, every time I look this up, every time
that word, they're different words for world, but every scripture
that I'm reading this morning, it's the same word. Now here's
the greatest threat. John's been talking about a beast
and he's powerful up and down. What's the greatest threat? We're
in a moment of time. Here's some believers that's
right here. But there's been believers in every area, in every
area of time since Adam. This has been the greatest threat,
sin that manifests itself in this world, the order of, the
arrangement of. Love, not the world. A believer's interest This is
what he's talking about when he says, love not the world.
Don't let the things that are perishing be your interest. That's what he's saying. Love
not the world. In a few weeks, Lord willing,
we're going to look at in the book of Acts, I think Paul, Paul
the Apostle, it says, and he came preaching the kingdom of
God. He came preaching the kingdom.
I thought, that's an interesting statement. I wonder what that
means. Came preaching the kingdom of
God. Well, the kingdom, it means the
rule of. What he was doing, Jeff, he was
preaching the sovereignty of God. He came preaching the rule
of God. God's in control. But, Scott,
you said, who's running this show anyway? That's a good question. Who's in control here? Who's in control of all these
things? He came preaching the kingdom. There's a kingdom. There's a
king. And the king's word is final. He came preaching the
rule of God. Do you know that that's the one
thing that man by nature, the carnal heart, hates? God's rule. What is the greatest threat?
Love, not the world. If any man loved this world,
if any man prefers this world over the Father, the love of
the Father is not in him. That's pretty plain. What is my greatest threat? Secondly,
what is the greatest act of mercy that has ever been displayed."
Now remember, every time this word, world, is used, it's the
same word. Love not the world. John 3.16, I quote this, "...for
God so loved the world." Same word. For God so loved the world that
He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him
should not perish, but have everlasting life." Are you telling me that
the Bible says, tells you to love not the world, the arrangement
of, the order of, the order of this world, the order of man,
all that's involved. How can that be so? God told me not to love the world, but the Scripture says God so
loved the world. Now that just doesn't sound consistent
to me. Well, that may be so that it
doesn't sound consistent to you, but here's the deal. God loved
this world, and He loved some ungodly out of this world. And God dealt with them in absolute
justice. And you can't. God dealt with it in a substitute. God dealt with it in absolute
justice. If I find I love this world,
and the things of it, the things that are in this world, the lust
of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.
If I find that to be in me with no love of the Father in me,
I'm going to perish. What did God do? God loved the
order and purposed that He was not going to allow some that
had fallen in Adam to perish. He loved the order of it. That's
the greatest act of mercy that I ever heard. Mercy, Brother
Scott, is for those that are guilty, isn't it? They're guilty. God told me, don't love the world.
But you mean to tell me that God would show mercy to me? When
it says that God so loved the order of, what that's saying
is, I'm guilty. I'm guilty. Christ Jesus came
into this world to save sinners. Guilty sinners. Don't love the
world. But God showed mercy. Oh my. God, you mean, did what I'm commanded
not to do? That's right. But God dealt with
it in a substitute. God didn't allow it to go unchecked. He punished. God's judgment was
shown. God's a just God. That's the
greatest act of mercy that I've ever heard. That's the greatest
act of mercy that I ever heard, that God Almighty would love
a sinner. Christ Jesus came into this world
to save sinners. Now, you find a man or a woman
that's a sinner. Now, that's a great act of God's
mercy. Thirdly, and in closing, the
greatest news that I ever heard. It's the greatest news that I
ever heard. That He showed mercy to me. That He showed mercy to me. You
say, God's going to save sinners. Yeah, but is He going to save
this sinner? What about me? Turn with me to John 17. John 17, here is the recorded
great high priestly prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ bearing
His heart to the Father. John 17, 6, I have manifested
Thy name unto the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world. Well,
obviously, God gave them. to Him out of the world than
they were in the world. Thine they were, and Thou gavest
them Me. They have kept Thy Word. They
have known that all things whatsoever Thou hast given Me are of Thee.
For I have given unto them the words which Thou gavest Me. They have received them, have
known surely that I came out from Thee. They have believed
that Thou didst send Me. I pray for them. I pray not for
the world, but for them which thou hast given me, for they
are thine." Look at verse 11. Now, I am no more in the world,
but these are in the world. And I come to thee, Holy Father,
keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that
they may be one as we are. While I was with them in the
world, I kept them in thy name, those that thou gavest me, I
kept. None of them is lost. but the
son of perdition that the Scripture might be fulfilled." Look at
verse 14, "...I have given them thy word, and the world hath
hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am
not of the world. I pray not that thou shouldest
take them out of the world, but thou shouldest keep them from
the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the
world." What did John say? This is the bottom line. The
greatest threat that I have, the greatest threat that I have
is that this world, the manifestation of sin, has a man. The lust of the eyes,
the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and it manifests itself
in the care of this world. That's what man by nature loves. And he goes after it. I'll have
these things, this beast, these ten horns, emblems of power. They're mine. They're mine. And don't you touch them or I'll
kill you. You try to take this away from
me, I'll kill you. Almighty God, Loved. Unbelievable as this thought
is. Loved the world. The order of. Fallen creatures. Yeah. Yeah, that's right. But fallen creatures that was
redeemed by the precious blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. Chosen
in Him before the foundation of the world. Everlastingly loved
by Almighty God and in time are brought into existence that I
can know it. God always knew it. God so loved
the order of it. And then for Him to reveal to
me and for me to perceive it by faith that He loved me. That's an amazing thing. It never
ceases to amaze me that I can look around And I behold and
see some that apparently to me have no interest in the gospel
of Christ. And it stops me, Ben, and makes
me think, why would God show mercy to me? Why would Almighty
God? Why is it that the beast that
John sees on the Isle of Patmos has no power, no lasting power,
over God's elect because God sealed them. Kept them. Used to have this. I guess they
still do. Get a little cut on your arms.
Wash it. Take this spray. I can spray
it. Invisible Band-Aid. I don't even
have to put a Band-Aid on that. Why? It's a seal. It seals. It's got some kind
of seals it. No dirt can get in. Look at that.
Throw some dirt on there. It didn't get in me. It didn't
affect me. Why? It's sealed. What is it
that keeps the things of this world, the lust of the eyes and
the lust of the flesh and the pride of what keeps it from gripping
my heart and taking me away under the justice of Almighty God? God loved me. God sealed me by
Spirit, kept me. That's some good news. That's
some good news. John saw this beast, but this
beast didn't have any power over the people of God because God
kept him. Well, let's stop for just a few
minutes and we'll come back and look in the book of Romans.