Let's open our Bibles to Revelation
17. Continuing through this book
that is so full of symbols, pictures, types, and we don't want to get
bogged down in all of these things to the point to where we miss
the message. And that's why I had Robert read
Romans chapter 11 there. When Elijah prophesied in Israel,
it was a bad, bad day for those people. Most of their existence
under the old covenant, from Mount Sinai to the cross, were
pretty bad days as far as their relationship with God under that
covenant, that conditional covenant. And anyone who came along and
told the truth was hated by the majority. And Elijah himself,
he was being pursued because he told the truth about God's
true character and what God required. And he also, just like all the
prophets, pointed to the promise of the coming Messiah for the
salvation of their souls. And the majority rejected And
that's why Elijah felt like he'd say, am I the only one? He felt
like he was totally alone. And God then comforted him by
revealing to him that he had 7,000 men who had not bowed the
knee to Baal. Now was that a literal 7,000
people? I don't know, it doesn't matter.
But here's what God's telling Elijah, I've got more than just
you. Sometimes in our little congregation, we wonder, is there
anybody else, you know? And over the years that I've
been preaching the gospel, I've met many people, but we're still
in the minority. And that's what's happening here
in Revelation in the last days. Now the last days, remember,
refer to the new covenant age that we're in today, that span
from the first coming of Christ to the second coming of Christ.
And here in this sixth vision, he's showing the mystery of what
he calls Babylon. Now Babylon, you know what Babylon
is. It was a foreign government,
a foreign empire back in the days of Jeremiah and the prophet. who came down through a king
named Nebuchadnezzar and destroyed Jerusalem and destroyed the temple
and took the people of Judah, the southern kingdom, into captivity. And Babylon, which was a symbol
of false religion. And you know, that word Babylon
stems back from the Tower of Babel, where men were trying
to work their way up to God. It's like people today who try
to be saved by their works. That's what Babylon represents. And God sent confusion of languages. And that's what Babylon is, false
religion, which is a big ball or mass of confusion among people. And it's gotten so bad that people
today, well, everybody's got some truth. Everybody's right.
And that's not the case. And that's really the bane of
true Christianity. When we say that Christ is the
only way of salvation, the one and only way to God and there
is no other and all other ways are false, idolatry, that brings
on the hatred of the natural man. Well, here John was being
given a vision of these last days and how they would progress
even after his death. And it's told to him that this
woman, there's a woman mentioned here, verse 5 of Revelation 17,
upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery Babylon. This
is a revelation from God, that's what that mystery is. It's not
a, I told you last week, this mystery is not something that
we, by natural human rationale and gathering clues, can figure
out. This is something God has to
reveal to us. And he reveals it in his word.
So here's a woman symbolizing false religion. Mystery Babylon,
the great, the mother of harlots, and he's talking about spiritual
harlotry, and abominations of the earth. And this woman represents
false religion that stands opposed to the true religion of Christ,
the gospel. What is the gospel? You say,
well, we already know that. Go on and listen. Let me tell
you something. Don't ever, don't ever assume
that everybody you're talking to knows the gospel. Don't ever do that. the good
news of how God saves sinners. And that's what Robert was reading
in Romans 11 there. It's by His grace, not by the
works or the wills of men. It's God's salvation conditioned
on Christ, who is none other than God manifest in the flesh. And it's based upon the work
that He accomplished in His obedience unto death as the surety, the
substitute, the redeemer, the life giver, the preserver of
His people. It's His blood that washes away
our sins. It's not the priest who exonerates
us, it's God through Christ. His death on that cross put away
all the sins of God's chosen people, those sins that were
charged, accounted, imputed to Him. and he died and paid that
sin debt in full. Men and women cannot forgive
sins before God. It takes the blood of the God-man
and his righteousness, the righteousness of God revealed in the gospel,
Romans 1, 16, 17. is our justification before God. That's how I stand
accepted with God, not in my own works, not in my own efforts,
not in my own sincerity, but in Christ, clothed in His righteousness
alone. And that's grace, that's God's
riches at the expense of Christ. That's what it is, at Christ's
expense. And it's not by works. And that's
what Paul was writing there. Paul said, Elijah, I've got 7,000
men who have not bowed the knee to Baal, and they're saved by
grace and not by works. It's a remnant, a small part
of this nation. Few people. You say, well, 7,000
sounds like a lot to me. Not compared to the whole population. But it's a remnant according
to the election of grace. Now, who did the election there?
God did. And it's not of works, else it
can't be of grace. I've heard people say, well,
this preacher down the road here, he kind of mixes grace and works.
No, he doesn't. Because you can't mix grace and
works. If you say he's mixing grace and works, you know what
he's preaching? He's preaching works. If it's by grace, it's no more
of works. If it's by works, it's no more of grace. That's what
Paul said. So there's a remnant. Well, this great harlot, when
John saw the future as given to him by the angel here through
Christ, look at verse six. He says, I saw the woman drunken
with the blood of the saints. This false religious harlot,
this false religion, went after God's people and killed them.
False religion. You can think about it. Think
about the unbelieving Jews in the New Testament, how they went
after the apostles. Saul, before he was converted,
made havoc of the church. On his way to Damascus to arrest
and have Christians killed. Think of the Catholic church
that went after the reformers, the ones who believe the gospel,
and murdered them. Drunken with the blood of the
saints. What is a saint? That's a sinner saved by grace.
You believe in Christ, you've repented of dead work, you're
a saint. Sanctified, what that means, set apart by God. And
with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus, and when I saw her,
I wondered with great admiration. Now that word admiration does
not mean that he admired her as if to esteem her. That word
admiration means I was astonished. And what John was astonished
with, look at verse 7. And he says, Tell thee the mystery of the
woman. I'm gonna reveal to you the reality of this woman that
symbolizes false religion and of the beast that carrieth her.
Now what is that beast? Remember back in Revelation,
I think it's 13, you had the beast that came out of the sea,
the beast that came out of the land. Well this is the beast
that comes out of the sea. It refers to ungodly governments,
ungodly nations, ungodly empires. in ungodly political entities. And what he's saying here is
this, that this false religion rides or is supported and carried
by these false ungodly nations, political governments. And you
can see that in history, if you study history. But it carries
her, which had the seven heads and 10 horns. Now, seven heads. All of this, this language, we're
not left to ourselves to figure all this out. God reveals it
to us in his word. And everything has to be interpreted
as it relates to Christ and the glory of God in Christ, his person,
his finished work, as it aligns with Christ or as it is opposed
to Christ. And that's how we have to interpret
it. And these things, they stand in relation. All religions that
do not point sinners to the one and only way of salvation and
forgiveness and righteousness and eternal life and glory by
the sovereign grace of God, based upon the blood and righteousness
of Christ, are false religions and damning to men. Seven heads. That means the completeness
of natural religion, natural opposition. That's what it's
talking about. This is a complete opposition
to Christ. Ten horns. That has to do with
their ungodly judgment. They have power, but it's limited. It's limited. And in the end,
it'll be put down. Look at verse eight. The beast
that thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless
pit, go into perdition, and they that dwell on the earth shall
wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the
foundation of the world when they behold the beast that was
and is not and yet is. Now these are difficult things
to understand. I agree with some of the commentators
In that culture, you understand in that time, Israel, Judah,
was under the domination of Rome. And you know Rome sat on seven
hills. And that's probably a reference to the ungodly Roman
Empire which hated Christianity, that ungodly government. And
it says it was, that refers to the past, when this beast was
open and evident to all, no claim of truth, as seen as the ungodly
systems like the Roman Empire, where you worship Caesar. You
don't worship Jesus. And then it says it was, and
then it says it is not. That probably, I think, refers
to what appears to be the death of the beast in the fall of Rome. Rome fell. People rejoiced. But then it says, it shall ascend
out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. This is the
reappearance of the beast to lead men to eternal death. And
I believe it's shown in the resurrection of Rome in the Catholic church. This is the beast under the guise
of false religion, coming in the name of Christianity, spread
all over the world, coming in the name of Christ, but denying
the truth of Christ. This deception would be implemented
by the great harlot, Babylon. And all they that dwell on earth
shall wonder. They that dwell on earth refers
those who are so connected to this world, who are content to
be tied to this fallen sinful world, they'll stand in all of
false religion. They'll think that this is something
that is so awesome that it's of God when it's not. This deception
of the beast and the great heart will not be revealed to them.
It'll be hidden from them. And those who remain deceived
are those whose names, listen to it. Listen to what it says. Those whose names that will not
be revealed are those whose names were not written in the book
of life from the foundation of the world. Now what is he telling
us here? He's telling us that it's God
who makes the difference. This electing grace of God. God's chosen, redeemed, and regenerated
people. The book of life is a book of
God's purpose of election before the world began. The Bible teaches
that. It's God's record in his eternal
mind of his purpose to save his people in Christ. To glorify
himself. This is what the gospel's all
about. It's about the glory of God. It's not about the glory
of man. Those who come to Christ plead
his righteousness alone that he worked out and established
on the cross. And the only distinction made
in the Bible as to the ground of salvation between those who
perish in their sins and those who are saved unto eternal life
and glory is the sovereign grace and mercy of God in Christ. And
if we're truly saved, It's not due to our works, it's not due
to our wills, but of the mercy of God. He said, I'll have mercy
on whom I will, I'll be gracious to whom I will. And it says here,
when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is, again,
this symbolizes the ungodly governments, the ungodly empires that were
prominent and then appeared to be dead, but which reappear in
a more deceptive religious form, it gets worse and worse. The
beast is not yet dead, but he's doomed. He's doomed. Look at verse nine. And here's
the mind which hath wisdom. Now that's what we need. We need
the wisdom of God. And where is the wisdom of God
found? Look over at 1 Corinthians chapter one. And look at what
God's word says about this. 1 Corinthians chapter one. Verse 29, now what he's saying
here is that God has set salvation up so that no flesh, no human
being could glory or boast in his presence. In other words,
if I'm a sinner saved by grace, I don't have any reason to boast
in myself. I don't have any reason to brag
about my decision or what I did or what I decided to do. It's
set up so that, verse 29 of chapter one, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. And then he says in verse 30,
but of him, of God, are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. If you're gonna boast in your
salvation, don't boast in yourself, boast in the Lord, Christ. And
that word glory means to boast. Paul wrote in Galatians 6, 14,
God forbid that I should glory, boast, save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. And so that's the mind of wisdom.
Christ is our wisdom. Religion's not our wisdom, philosophy's
not our wisdom, government's not our wisdom. Don't look to
the government to save you. That's just the beast. And upon
the beast rides the great harlot. And look at verse nine, he says,
and here is the mind which hath wisdom, the seven heads and seven
mountains on which the woman sitteth. Verse 10, these are
seven kings, five are fallen, one is and the other has not
yet come, and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Now most commentators will point you to history for this, and
I wanna caution you, you don't interpret the Bible by looking
at history, but you do interpret history by looking at the Bible.
These five kings that are fallen, that could refer to the kings
and the empires that Daniel referred to. Could be Egypt, could be
Assyria. These are all empires that stood
against Israel during the Old Covenant and up until the time
of Christ. Like Egypt, Assyria, Babylon,
the literal Babylon, the Medo-Persian Empire, the Grecian Empire, and
here's the Roman Empire. And he says they're fallen. at
the time whence they fall. And the present kingdom would
be the Roman Empire in John's day. The one yet to come is Rome
under false Christianity, existing in a short space of time called
the Gospel Age. A short space, verse 10. Yet
to come, when he cometh, he must continue a short space. That
little amount of time. Now it seems to us like it's
a long time, but it's a short time. Christ is coming again. He may come in my lifetime, he
may not. But given the time span of this earth and eternity, it's
a short space of time. Remember what Peter wrote in
2 Peter 3? A day is of a thousand years
to God and a thousand years is to... God doesn't measure time
like we do. And here's the point. We who
know Christ, we have nothing to fear. That's what you said,
Robert. There's a remnant according to
the election of grace. There's some whose names have
been written in the Lamb's book of life before the foundation
of the world. Somebody said, well, how can you say that? Because
God says it. It's right here in his book.
Why is it the Lamb's book? Because Christ is the Lamb of
God that was slain, slaughtered for the sins of his people on
that cross. That's our salvation. That's
our hope. Christ died for the ungodly. Christ gave His life to put away
my sins, to establish righteousness. And all these empires and all
these false religions that come together cannot overcome Him,
cannot defeat Him. It's all of God's grace. It's
all of Christ. There's no other hope. He is
the one way of salvation. He is the one way to God. There's
no other way, and all other religions are false. Somebody says, well,
that's awful, awful egotistical. No, it's not. It's just what
the word of God says, and I challenge people all the time. Show it
in the word of God. Somebody says, well, I believe
everybody from all religions. There'll be a lot of people from
all religions who end up in heaven. The Bible doesn't say that. I
used to believe that. But I didn't claim to believe
the Bible at that time. But when God showed me the truth
by revelation, by the Spirit, then I was convicted of truth.
You know, when you want to find that which is unique to true
Christianity, where do you go? You don't go to other religions
and say, well, let's find out what we all have in common. Somebody
says, well, we all have in common that we want people to be good
people. We want people to be moral, responsible. We want people
to be good to each other, to forgive one another, to help
one another. That's common to all religions. Well, what sets
Christianity apart from that? Here's what sets Christianity
apart from it. Yes, we want us to be good and
charitable and all that, but that will not make us right with
God. That will not save us. That will
not make us righteous. It takes the righteousness of
God to do that, and that's what Christ is. It's His obedience,
His goodness, His works, His blood. that saves us from our
sins. And every person on this earth,
born of Adam, fallen in sin, who seeks salvation by their
works, by their efforts, by their sincerity, by their rituals,
that's dead works, that's death. For by grace are you saved. Through faith, but even that's
not of yourselves, Faith is not natural to you and me. Faith
is the gift of God, not of yourselves. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Is that what it says? So if you're
saved, what are you? I'm the workmanship of God. It's
what God made me. It's not what I made myself.
Created in Christ Jesus. How did God create me as a sinner
saved by grace? In Christ Jesus. Christ my surety,
who took my sin debt and paid it in full. Christ my substitute,
who died in my place. Christ my redeemer, who bought
me lock, stock, and barrel. Christ my preserver, who keeps
me faithful to him. Christ my life giver, who gave
me life from the dead. Do you understand that? And that's
the only way it is. Well, verse 10, he says, there
are seven kings, five are fallen, one is, the other's not yet come.
Talking about the future, where we live and beyond until Christ
comes again. And he says it's just a short
period of time. You know, We must not become trapped into
trying to pin all these details and miss the message of the revelation
of God. That's that mind which hath wisdom.
Oh, we need the wisdom of God. I read this earlier in a 10 o'clock
message, 1 Corinthians 2, how man by nature cannot figure these
things out. He can't do it. And if you read
history and study the cultures of the world, you'll know that
nothing, nothing even close to gospel truth has been found by
man in his natural way. The smartest man. The best of the best. But that one verse, and I'll
refer you to that, and this is what I'll close with. Look at
1 Corinthians chapter one. This is the verse I referred
to in the last message. And this is the wisdom, this
is the mind of God. That's what it says here. And he says here that these things
of salvation, These things of the gospel that God, look at
verse 10, God hath revealed them unto us by spirit. For the spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. And the deep
things of God is not some kind of a high theological issue. It's the things that only God
knows that we don't know by nature of how he saves sinners. And
he reveals them in his word. And so he says in verse 11, for
what man knoweth the things of a man save the spirit of man
which is in him? That's just simply saying that human beings
can only know that which comes to them naturally. Even so the
things of God knoweth no man but the spirit of God. The spirit
reveals them. Now how does he reveal them?
Through the word of God. And what does he reveal? Now
look at verse 12. Now we have received not the spirit of the
world, What is the spirit of the world? That's works religion. Decisional regeneration. Man's efforts to gain access
to God, to gain a right relationship with God. But the spirit which
is of God, verse 12, that we might know the things that are
freely given to us of God. Now what are those things freely
given to us? Look at Romans chapter eight. And I'm not just piecemealing
scripture here. You put it in its context and you'll see what
I'm telling you is true. Look at verse 32 of Romans chapter
eight. What things, when the Spirit
of God reveals salvation to a sinner, God's salvation, Through Christ. That sinner comes to see the
things that are freely given. Unconditionally given. Things
that I didn't earn. Things that I don't deserve.
What are those things? Well look at Romans 8.32. He
that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. Now that's not all without exception
or all who have ever lived or will ever live. That's all those
whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life. How shall
he not with him, with Christ, also freely, same word, give
us what? All things. All things. And what are the all things again?
Let me go to one more scripture and then I'll quit, I promise.
Ephesians chapter one. What are the all things? Go to
Ephesians chapter one. If I can get there. And it says in Ephesians chapter
1 verse 3, blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ. according as he hath chosen us
in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be wholly set apart, that's what that means, and without blame
justified before him in love, having predestinated us unto
the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in
Christ. All spiritual blessings. That
means every blessing of God's grace, every benefit is freely
given to his people in Christ. And that's what sets Christianity
apart from this Babylon and this beast that come in the last days
under the guise of false religion and government. And I pray the
Lord will bless this to our hearts. Let's turn in our hymnals