Participants: John Lomacang
Series Code: ASHF
Program Code: ASHF000104A
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00:20 Hello, friends.
00:22 Welcome to another Wednesday night Bible study 00:24 here at the 3ABN Worship Center. 00:26 We are continuing on the topic of the truth 00:28 about Spiritual Babylon. 00:30 It's very important topic, 00:32 so much so that there are warning bells 00:36 all throughout Revelation about Spiritual Babylon. 00:38 But many people are not aware 00:40 and don't know exactly what it really means. 00:43 And so, tonight, if you have your Bibles, 00:45 we like to encourage you to take the time 00:47 and sit down with us for the next hour 00:49 and walk through the Bible together 00:51 on this very important topic about Spiritual Babylon. 00:54 In just a moment, 00:55 I'll tell you where you can get a copy of the lesson 00:57 where you can download that and have a copy 01:00 so that you can follow along with us 01:02 in just a moment. 01:04 But before we do anything else, 01:05 we always like to begin with the word of prayer. 01:07 Let's bow our heads together. 01:10 Our gracious Father in heaven, 01:11 we thank You, Lord, for Your Holy Spirit 01:13 and for the message 01:15 that You've put upon our hearts 01:17 to understand more about. 01:20 We pray that as we study tonight, Lord, 01:22 that You'll send Your holy angels 01:24 to be our shield and our defense. 01:27 And also, we pray that Your Spirit 01:29 will teach us 01:31 and cause our hearts 01:32 to not only hear but absorb, 01:34 and to retain what we learn. 01:36 And so we give this time to You, 01:37 we pray in Jesus' name. 01:40 Amen. 01:44 If you like a copy of the lesson, 01:45 go to this website, asf.3abn.org, 01:50 and download lesson number 29, 01:53 how to know truth 01:55 or the truth about Spiritual Babylon. 01:57 Lesson number 29, download that. 02:00 And you can follow along with us. 02:02 But before we go into our lesson tonight, 02:04 we're gonna have our theme song. 02:06 And our theme song is "Victory in Jesus." 02:09 Let's sing this song together. 02:18 I heard an old, old story 02:22 How the Savior came from glory 02:26 How He gave His life on Calvary 02:29 To save a wretch like me 02:33 I heard about His groaning 02:37 Of His precious blood's atoning 02:41 Then I repented of my sin 02:45 And won the victory 02:48 O victory in Jesus 02:52 My Savior, forever 02:56 He sought me and bought me 03:00 With His redeeming blood 03:04 He loved me ere I knew Him 03:07 And all my love is due Him 03:11 He plunged me to victory 03:15 Beneath the cleansing flood 03:19 I heard about a mansion 03:22 He has built for me in glory 03:26 And I heard about the streets of gold 03:30 Beyond the crystal sea 03:34 About the angels singing 03:38 And the old redemption story 03:41 And some sweet day I'll sing up there 03:45 The song of victory 03:48 Key change. 03:49 O victory in Jesus 03:53 My Savior, forever 03:56 He sought me and bought me 04:00 With His redeeming blood 04:04 He loved me ere I knew Him 04:08 And all my love is due Him 04:12 He plunged me to victory 04:15 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:19 He plunged me to victory 04:23 Beneath the cleansing flood 04:29 Amen? Amen. 04:32 So good to be able to join you tonight 04:33 and have some people 04:37 that we have visited with there 04:39 in Florida, and in Australia, and in Africa, 04:43 and in various parts of the world 04:46 that we just wanna greet you 04:47 a welcome to this meeting tonight. 04:50 If you missed a moment ago, 04:53 go to asf.3abn.org, 04:57 and download lesson number 29. 04:59 Now some of you may say, 05:01 "I already did that." 05:02 But I added another page 05:04 to lesson number 29, 05:06 number 7, 8, and 9. 05:08 And this lesson is so concentrated 05:10 on the topic of Spiritual Babylon 05:12 that you can't rush through it. 05:14 I mean, you can't get three pages 05:16 and go through three pages 05:17 in one night or in three weeks even. 05:20 But what I like to begin with tonight 05:22 is Revelation Chapter 14. 05:27 I want to go to that very quickly. 05:29 And don't bring up the first question yet. 05:31 I just want to lay some foundation 05:33 about the importance of this topic. 05:35 Revelation Chapter 14. 05:37 Now there are three messages 05:39 in Revelation Chapter 14 05:40 referred to as three angels' what? 05:44 Messages. 05:45 Now, whenever the Bible uses the word 05:47 "Angels" in symbolic sense, 05:50 it's talking about importance. 05:53 In other words, 05:54 if an angel delivered a packet to you, 05:56 it'll be more important than FedEx. 05:59 And so the Bible talks about angels 06:01 flying in the midst of heaven, that is, 06:04 above the earth surrounding the earth. 06:06 And they are proclaiming these messages 06:08 with what kind of a voice? 06:10 Say that loudly. Loud. 06:12 What kind of a voice? Loud. 06:13 Okay, I thought so. 06:15 A loud voice. 06:16 Meaning, if somebody delivered a message to you 06:18 or banged on your front door and say, 06:20 "Hey, I got a package for you." 06:22 It must be important. All right. 06:23 Sorry about that audio, guys. 06:25 It must be somewhat important. 06:27 And so this message is a message 06:29 that has to be proclaimed to the whole world. 06:31 Look at Revelation 14. 06:33 We're going to begin with verse 7 06:35 before we go to question number one. 06:37 And the reason why 06:38 is because we spent a lot of time 06:41 on the truth about the judgment. 06:44 Now, when you travel around the world, 06:45 and maybe in various denominations 06:47 and various churches, 06:49 you don't really hear much about the judgment. 06:51 You know, they say, there's a judgment coming, 06:54 but you don't hear much about the judgment 06:55 as described in Revelation and in Daniel. 06:58 In other words, it's a broader picture 07:00 than just the judgment is coming. 07:02 But as we studied, 07:03 we discovered that we are living 07:05 in the time of the investigation phase 07:07 of the judgment, 07:09 which will lead us to the coming of the Lord, 07:11 and we'll find out more about that later on. 07:13 But look at Revelation 14:7... 07:15 Actually verse 6. 07:17 And the Bible says, 07:19 "Then I saw another angel flying 07:22 in the midst of heaven 07:23 having the," what kind of gospel? 07:25 "The everlasting gospel to preach 07:28 to those who dwell on the earth," 07:31 and how many people should hear about this? 07:33 Let's read this together, "To every," what? 07:35 "Nation, and tribe, and tongue, 07:39 and people." 07:40 That includes in one word, "everybody." 07:43 Everybody needs to hear about this message. 07:46 But let's look at verse 7. 07:48 What is the first message 07:49 that everyone needs to know about 07:51 which we covered? 07:52 "Saying with a loud voice, fear God, 07:56 and," do what? 07:57 "Give glory to Him, 07:59 for the hour of His judgment 08:01 has come or is come," 08:03 if you have the King James Version, " 08:05 And worship Him who made 08:08 the heaven, and the earth, 08:09 the sea, and the fountains or springs of waters." 08:13 King James says fountains of waters, 08:15 New King James says springs of waters. 08:17 In other words, 08:18 if you notice that the first message 08:20 is focused on not only the judgment hour, 08:22 but worship. 08:24 And because these are last days, 08:26 worship is going to be the issue. 08:28 In other words, the Lord is saying, 08:29 "Not everything that's titled worship 08:32 is acceptable worship." 08:35 So if you're going to worship the Creator, 08:36 worship the One who made 08:38 the heavens, the earth, the sea, 08:40 and the fountains of waters. 08:41 So God is saying, 08:42 "I want to be worshipped as Creator." 08:45 "I want to be worshipped as," what? 08:47 "As Creator." 08:48 And not everyone in this day and age 08:50 where evolution is challenging Christianity, 08:53 you'll find that in even many Christian churches, 08:57 the Lord is not being worshipped 08:58 as Creator. 08:59 There's something about creation 09:01 that has been forgotten 09:03 as to why the angels, are yelling this message 09:06 proclaiming this urgent message. 09:08 And by the way, the angels are not proclaiming it, 09:11 God's messengers are proclaiming the message, 09:13 saying, "Get back to worshipping God 09:15 as the Creator." 09:16 Now what singular thing, 09:18 and I'm going to use the word "thing." 09:21 What singular identity links us 09:24 to worshipping God as the Creator? 09:27 Say it again. 09:29 Sabbath. The Sabbath. 09:30 If you go back to creation, 09:31 someone asked me last night. 09:33 You know, Tuesday night is my basketball night. 09:35 And I feel pretty good considering 09:36 we play like nine games. 09:39 I mean, we really ran hard the last three games. 09:41 And I came home walking slowly. 09:43 But I feel good today. 09:44 But before we played, 09:46 a young man asked me, and he said, 09:47 "Can I ask you a question?" 09:48 He said, "How do you know 09:50 that the Sabbath is Saturday?" 09:53 And so we spent, 09:54 then he asked me a number of other questions 09:56 along those lines 09:58 because he was raised knowing about this message, 10:01 but then, he said, 10:02 what had kind of thrown him off 10:03 kilter was he wasn't sure 10:05 that Saturday was the seventh day, 10:08 and that Saturday was in fact the Sabbath. 10:10 So we talked about that. 10:11 And I believe there are many Christians 10:13 around the world 10:14 that are worshipping God, 10:16 but that question has never come up 10:17 in their congregation or their denomination. 10:19 So God is saying now, 10:20 now that we've come almost 10:22 to the end of time, 10:23 it's important to remind people 10:25 that God wants to be worshipped 10:27 as He was worshipped in the very beginning 10:29 as Creator. 10:31 And the Sabbath is that singular sign 10:34 between us and God. 10:35 Just quickly, go with me to Ezekiel Chapter 20. 10:38 Since I touched on it, 10:39 I was just gonna give you this very quick. 10:41 And it's not question number one, 10:43 but I'm going to just give you quickly, 10:44 Ezekiel Chapter 20. 10:49 'Cause a lot of times people say, 10:50 "Well, you know, as long as I remember the Lord, 10:53 that's really all that matters." 10:55 Well, 10:57 I beg to differ 10:59 because in remembering the Lord, 11:01 He asks to be remembered a particular way. 11:03 Here it is, Ezekiel Chapter 20. 11:06 All right. 11:07 And we're going to look at verse 12 and verse 20. 11:12 Ezekiel 20:12, 20. 11:18 All right. 11:19 Here it is. 11:22 And by the way, 11:23 this is in the context 11:25 of the wilderness journey 11:27 of the children of Israel. 11:28 He may remember when God 11:30 called the children of Israel out of Egypt, 11:33 the very first thing He reminded them 11:35 of was the Sabbath. 11:37 And so the question is, 11:39 "Why would he do that?" 11:40 "Why would God remind them 11:42 and test them first on the Sabbath?" 11:44 Well, first of all, there were slaves 11:45 in Egypt for 400 years, 11:48 430 if you count Joseph. 11:50 So as slaves, they didn't have the freedom 11:53 to honor the Sabbath. 11:54 So as soon as God brought them out in Exodus 16, 11:57 the very first test was the Sabbath. 11:59 Do you remember the Sabbath? 12:01 And so the question anybody would ask was 12:03 why would He do that? 12:04 So Ezekiel answers the question. 12:06 Here it is. 12:08 And I'll go ahead and look at verse 10. 12:10 We'll go from verse 10-12. 12:12 And recounting the journey, he said, 12:15 "Therefore, I made them 12:17 to go out of the land of," what? 12:18 Egypt. 12:20 "Egypt, and brought them into the," what? 12:21 "Wilderness. 12:23 And I gave them," get this. 12:24 "I gave them My statues, 12:27 I showed them My judgments, 12:29 which, if a man does, he shall live by them." 12:34 And then verse 12, 12:35 "Moreover, I also gave them My," what? 12:38 "Sabbaths, to be a sign 12:41 between me and them, 12:43 between them and Me, 12:44 that they might know 12:45 that I am the Lord who does," what? 12:47 "Sanctifies them." 12:48 And the word sanctifies means 12:50 set aside or made holy. 12:51 So how can we be made holy? 12:53 God said, "Well, there's a sign. 12:55 Now the sign between my wife and I 12:57 in our relation should be made holy is what? 13:00 Somebody tell me. 13:01 Marriage or our anniversary. 13:03 That singular day, every year, that's a reminder 13:05 that we are sanctified for one another, right? 13:08 It's called marriage. 13:10 Marriage is the sanctifying connection 13:12 between a husband and a wife. 13:15 Well, the Sabbath 13:16 is the sanctifying connection 13:17 between the Christian and his Lord. 13:20 Look at verse 20. 13:21 He said that I gave it to be a sign, 13:23 it's a sign. 13:25 Then look at verse 20. 13:26 All right. 13:28 Verse 20, he says, 13:29 and then he says... 13:31 Well, look verse 19. Let's go to verse 19. 13:34 He says, "I am the Lord your God," 13:36 and by the way, the word Lord right there 13:38 is Yahweh, 13:41 the self-existent one. 13:43 "I am the Lord your God, 13:46 walk in My," what? 13:48 "Statutes, keep My," what? 13:50 "Judgments, and do them." 13:51 And then he continues in verse 20, 13:53 "Hallow My Sabbaths, 13:56 that they will be a sign 13:58 between Me and you, 14:00 that you may know that I am the Lord your God." 14:03 So once again He says, 14:05 "You need to know who your Lord is. 14:07 You need to know who your God is." 14:09 So that very first message 14:11 of the three angels is saying to people, 14:13 "Hey, you may say 14:16 that God is your God, 14:17 but what sign do you have to prove it?" 14:20 Amen? 14:21 So God is looking for a sign, 14:23 He's looking for external evidence 14:25 of an inward connection. 14:27 The external evidence... 14:28 Somebody may say, "Well, 14:29 what you're doing on May 22nd?" 14:31 You can't have that day. 14:33 Why? 14:34 It's a sign between my wife and I. 14:36 It's our anniversary. 14:37 So in the very same way on a weekly reminder, 14:39 God is saying to those who serve Him, 14:43 to those who love Him, to those who honor that sign, 14:46 it's continually there that I will remember 14:48 that we are connected together. 14:50 Now, on that note, let's go to the second one. 14:52 Let's go to the first question. 14:54 And this is the truth about Spiritual Babylon. 14:56 Here is the first question for tonight. 15:00 What does the second angel's message of Revelation 15:05 bring into focus? 15:13 Right. 15:15 What does it bring into focus? 15:17 All right. Here it is. 15:18 Go with me to Revelation 14:8. 15:23 Revelation 14:8, 15:28 all right? 15:29 The first angel's already flown over. 15:33 Now, the second angel comes. 15:35 Remember, these messages are vitally important. 15:37 All right. 15:39 And I want you to notice something. 15:40 And we're going to notice 15:42 a difference between the first, and the third, 15:44 and the second angel's message. 15:45 I'll point that out in just a moment. 15:47 But here's the answer to question number one. 15:49 And the Bible says, 15:51 "And another angel followed saying, 15:55 "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, 16:02 because she made all nations," 16:05 how many nations? 16:07 "All nations drink of the wine 16:10 of the wrath of her fornication." 16:12 Now pause a moment. 16:14 Pause a moment to get this. 16:15 The first message that was being proclaimed 16:18 was to every nation, 16:20 every kindred, every tongue, and every," what? 16:22 "People." 16:23 In other words, all nations 16:25 were told how important it is to worship God. 16:28 And the second angel comes along 16:30 and gives us the reason why. 16:32 The second angel says the reason 16:33 why a man need to worship God 16:36 because all nations have been drunk. 16:39 They've been drinking the wrong stuff. 16:42 That's why they are now worshipping God. 16:44 All nations have drunk of the wine 16:46 or the wrath of her fornication. 16:47 In other words, 16:49 the reason we're calling you back to true worship 16:50 is because everybody's drunk. 16:55 And they cannot tell. 16:57 The hardest thing for a drunk person to do 16:58 is walk a straight line. 17:00 Have you seen them on television? 17:01 The police pull them over, 17:03 says, "Close your eyes, 17:05 find your nose?" 17:08 You can't find it. 17:10 And to get them to walk on the straight line 17:12 is almost impossible. 17:13 So what's happening now, 17:15 let's see if we can expand on that. 17:16 In the Christian world today, 17:18 one of the great challenges 17:20 that God is communicating here 17:22 is something has happened around the world. 17:27 Somebody has been giving Christians 17:30 the wrong thing to drink. 17:33 And it comes from a particular place. 17:35 It comes from Babylon. 17:38 And they have drunk what Babylon has produced 17:41 and the whole world has been affected by it. 17:45 I mean, it's a very vitally important topic 17:47 because now what condition are they in? 17:50 Somebody tell me. 17:51 Based on this, what condition are they in? 17:54 They're fallen and they're also what? 17:57 Come on, say it together, what? 17:59 They're drunk. They're drunk. 18:00 They can't tell. 18:02 So you will talk to somebody, and let me just expand on this. 18:04 I got time. 18:06 You can talk to somebody 18:07 about certain truths in the Bible, 18:08 and you know what? 18:10 They can't tell 18:11 'cause they're drunk. 18:13 So what has to happen in order for a person 18:16 who is drunk to be able to know the truth? 18:19 Okay. 18:21 Listen, this is some huge stuff. 18:23 That's why the Lord says in 1 Peter 5:8, 18:26 "Be sober." 18:28 See, they're drunk. 18:30 He said, wait a minute, 18:31 "Be sober, be vigilant," 18:33 because your adversary, 18:35 the devil walks around like a roaring lion 18:37 seeking whom he may devour. 18:38 In other words, 18:41 the wrong message has been going forth. 18:44 And God is saying, 18:45 "I don't want drunk people saying they're worshipping me, 18:48 spiritually drunk. 18:50 They've been swallowing the wrong thing. 18:52 I want them to be sober 18:54 because Satan is behind 18:56 the stupefying influence that has kept them 18:58 from understanding the truth. 19:00 So let's look at this now. 19:02 Now, what I want to show you the difference is, 19:06 just peek with me to verse 9 in your Bibles. 19:09 I want you to notice something. 19:11 Well, I'm going to ask questions 19:13 and I know that many of you gonna answer me. 19:15 I might be able to hear if you say it loud enough. 19:18 Here we go. 19:20 With what kind of voice 19:21 did the first angel proclaim his message? 19:23 Somebody tell me. 19:25 Okay, what kind of voice? 19:27 Loud! Loud, okay. 19:28 Now let's go to verse 9. 19:30 "Then the third angel followed them, 19:32 saying with the," what kind of voice? 19:34 "Loud." 19:35 But have you noticed 19:37 that when it came to the second, 19:38 it didn't say loud. 19:40 You know why it didn't say loud? 19:42 Because the effect of Babylon 19:46 has been going on for so long 19:51 that it's going to get to its pinnacle, 19:53 and then we have to proclaim it loud. 19:57 Now, let's follow this. 19:59 This is huge. 20:00 Babylon has been affecting the spiritual... 20:03 Babylon in its spiritual sense, 20:07 the messages of Babylon, 20:08 the teachings of Babylon, 20:10 Spiritual Babylon 20:11 have been affecting the world for so long 20:15 that it is going to get to the place 20:18 where it's got to be proclaimed loudly. 20:20 Now go to Revelation 18. 20:23 Well, you know, let's not run ahead of ourselves 20:26 because we're going to get there. 20:27 All right? 20:29 Just believe me. 20:30 So when it says, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, 20:32 one of the ways you can apply that spiritually 20:34 is Babylon is fallen once 20:37 in the eyes of God. 20:38 Secondly, 20:40 finally it's going to be fallen 20:41 in the eyes of men. 20:43 And when you read Revelation 18, 20:45 you'll see when men finally see the fall of Babylon, 20:47 they're going to stand back and say, 20:49 "Hey, it finally came down." 20:51 In one hour, this great city 20:52 came to nothing. 20:54 It's going to fall. 20:55 But there is the reason for this lesson is, 20:57 before it falls, 20:59 there is something that God wants 21:00 His people to do. 21:02 What do you think it is? Somebody tell me. 21:05 He wants them to get out of there. 21:06 If a building was going to come down, 21:08 and maybe I should use 21:10 World Trade Center as an example. 21:11 I'm a New Yorker. 21:13 I'm so connected, I was there when it was built, 21:15 I worked in the building. 21:16 My sister was there as a firefighter. 21:18 What they wanted to do more than anything else 21:20 is to get people out of that building 21:22 before it came down. 21:25 And the same thing is, 21:26 the same pulse is in the heart of God. 21:28 He wants to get people out of Spiritual Babylon 21:31 before it comes down. 21:33 So let's go through this very quickly. 21:36 Question number two. 21:37 Here it is. 21:39 How does the Bible describe the specifics 21:40 about Spiritual Babylon? 21:42 We're on Revelation Chapter 17. 21:44 Here we are. 21:45 Revelation 17, 21:46 we're going to look at verse 1, 2. 21:50 See, I know that it's not possible 21:53 to get through this whole thing. 21:54 So that's why I didn't fill the next page 21:57 all the way down to like 16 21:59 'cause we're not going to get through 16 22:00 for two more weeks. 22:02 All right. Here we go. 22:04 Question number two. 22:06 Revelation 17:1, 2, here it is. 22:09 And I'll read it on the screen. 22:13 Okay, the answer to number one is, 22:15 how does the second angel's message 22:17 in Revelation begin? 22:18 Babylon is fallen 22:20 is the answer to number one. 22:21 The number one, 22:22 the answer to number one is Babylon is fallen. 22:25 That's the answer to number one. 22:27 All right. 22:29 Question number two. 22:30 Revelation 17:1, 2, 22:32 let's read this together. 22:33 It's on the screen. 22:34 "Then one of the seven angels 22:36 who had the seven bowls 22:38 came and talked with me, 22:41 saying to me, 22:43 'Come, I will show you 22:45 the judgment of the great harlot 22:47 who," does what? 22:49 "Sits on many waters." 22:52 And then verse 2, 22:54 let's look at the broadening of this, 22:56 "With whom," 22:58 let's look at all the people that got drunk. 23:00 "With whom the," what? 23:02 "Kings of the earth committed fornication, 23:06 and the inhabitants of the earth were made," what? 23:10 "Drunk with the wine of her fornication." 23:13 Let's pause for a brief moment. 23:16 "Babylon is fallen, is fallen, all nations have drunk," 23:18 Revelation 14:8. 23:20 But now Revelation 17 tells you, 23:22 who has been drinking and who has been fornicating? 23:26 The word fornication 23:28 is a word of sexual origin. 23:31 And it goes back to the description 23:34 between Ahab, a king chosen of God 23:39 and Jezebel, 23:40 who is the daughter of Ithobaal, a false God. 23:45 An Israelite king married a harlot called Jezebel. 23:51 And it lead the children of Israel, 23:53 it lead many other false prophets, 23:55 450 prophets of Israel apostatized 24:00 and became false prophets. 24:02 That's how much it affected. 24:04 The whole nation was affected 24:06 because of this union. 24:07 Now, what's being said here, 24:09 the kings of the earth could be best described as governors, 24:12 presidents, political leaders 24:16 on all points of the earth, 24:19 north, east, south, and west. 24:20 You pick the country, 24:22 somehow they have been affected. 24:23 I believe the Bible, what do you say? 24:25 They've been affected. 24:27 The Bible saying, they all have been affected, 24:29 but how have the inhabitants of the earth? 24:32 And what I want you to see real quickly here 24:34 is when we get to Revelation 18, 24:35 you gonna see God is calling His people. 24:37 But right now, 24:39 He is not specifying His people. 24:41 He is saying people that live on the earth 24:43 and the leaders of the earth are affected by her, right? 24:47 He said, "They're affected by this harlot." 24:49 She sits on many waters 24:51 and we'll find out what the waters on 24:52 in just a moment. 24:54 But the leaders of the earth are affected, 24:55 and even the inhabitants of the earth are affected. 24:57 So this is a huge condition. 25:00 The whole world is messed up. 25:02 Isn't that true? 25:03 Well, 25:05 the majority of the world based on that. 25:07 Praise the Lord, somebody could preach the message. 25:09 So let's put the answer down. 25:11 How does the Bible describe the specifics 25:13 about Spiritual Babylon? 25:16 The leaders and the people of the earth are drunk. 25:21 The leaders and the people are affected. 25:23 And, you know, not only are drunk, 25:26 but are also in illicit relationship. 25:30 You could break that down 25:31 to fit it in the space you want. 25:33 The leaders are in an illicit relationship. 25:37 And the people are drunk, 25:40 are inebriated by this particular power. 25:44 Wow! 25:46 Huge. 25:48 Now let's go to verse 3. 25:50 Let's go to verse 3 to find out 25:53 how this power is identified. 25:55 All right. Continuing. 25:57 It'll be on the screen for those of you 25:58 that are watching. 26:00 All right. Here it is. 26:01 Revelation 17:3, 26:03 "So he carried me away 26:05 in the Spirit into the wilderness," 26:08 into the what? 26:10 "Wilderness. 26:11 And I saw a woman 26:12 sitting on a scarlet beast 26:15 which was full of names of blasphemy, 26:20 having," what? 26:22 "Seven heads and," what else? 26:23 "Ten horns." 26:25 So now the Lord brings another view. 26:27 Let's go and put the answer down to Revelation 17:13, 26:31 How does the Bible describes specifics about Babylon? 26:34 Okay, Revelation 17:3, okay. 26:37 It describes a woman on a red beast, 26:42 full of blasphemy, seven heads, ten horns. 26:44 Just put, look at red. 26:46 What you need to do is just put reverse 26:48 'cause there's so much to put in there. 26:50 I want you to break it down 26:51 how you can best understand that. 26:53 But the whole verse is significant. 26:56 The whole verse is vitally important. 26:58 What I also want to point out... 26:59 And remember, where did John find this woman? 27:02 Where did he find her? 27:04 Where did he point to? Where did he go? 27:06 Where did the spirit carry him? 27:09 Okay, now go with me to Revelation Chapter 12. 27:12 You want to see something 27:14 because I made this statement a moment ago 27:17 that Spiritual Babylon has been in development 27:21 for a long time. 27:22 It didn't just get there. 27:25 Not like the message of the judgment hour. 27:27 You know, fear God and give glory to Him, 27:31 for the hour of His judgment is come. 27:33 It wasn't like, boom, we arrived there kind of thing, 27:35 like the first message. 27:36 This has been a gradual buildup. 27:38 Spiritual Babylon has been information for some time. 27:41 And this is very important. 27:43 John is taken by the spirit into the wilderness. 27:46 And he sees the woman there. 27:48 But go to Revelation 12. 27:49 You're already there, 27:50 I want you to see something. 27:53 And I thank God that we don't have to just do this 27:54 all in one night 'cause we'll be messed up. 27:57 All right. Okay. 27:59 So Revelation Chapter 12, 28:02 and we're going to look at verse 13. 28:05 We're going to look at verse 13 28:06 because in prophecy, 28:08 a woman represents, say it together. 28:12 Talk to me, it represents what? 28:13 The church. 28:15 It's a symbol of the church. 28:17 Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. 28:21 Okay. 28:22 The church and the woman are synonymous in the Bible, 28:25 all right? 28:26 But now let's look, 28:28 because the woman that is talked about here, 28:31 I'm going to jump around Revelation 12 28:33 just to give context. 28:35 Remember, she is sitting on a scarlet beast, 28:38 full of names of blasphemy. 28:41 Now, what you're going to see 28:42 when I share the first verse with you 28:44 is you're going to see the woman 28:45 and the beast not on the same page. 28:49 They're going be in opposition to each other. 28:51 How does a woman 28:54 who is in opposition to the scarlet colored, 28:57 seven heads, ten horns beast, 29:00 how do they get in cahoots together? 29:03 How did that happen? 29:04 Look at Revelation 12:1. 29:06 Look at this. 29:09 All right. 29:11 Revelation 12:1, I'm going to read very quickly. 29:12 I'm going to read like a New Yorker, 29:14 you listen like a New Yorker. 29:15 Here we go, "Now a great sign appeared in heaven, 29:17 a woman clothed with the sun, 29:21 with the moon under her feet, 29:23 and on her head a garland or crown of," what? 29:25 How many stars? "Twelve stars." 29:27 Now, notice she's dressed differently, right? 29:31 Sun, moon, stars, this woman is dressed differently. 29:35 But what's going to happen? 29:37 Then verse 2, 29:38 "Then being with child, she cried out in labor, 29:41 and in pain to give birth." 29:46 That is through the woman, 29:47 the Christ child was to come in to the earth, to the world. 29:50 That is the deliverance of Jesus. 29:52 Both spiritually, 29:54 the church introduced Christ to the world 29:57 and physically, through Mary, Jesus came into the world. 30:01 All right. 30:02 But now let's go to verse 3, 30:04 "And another sign appeared in heaven, 30:06 behold a great, fiery," what color? 30:10 "Red dragon having," what? 30:13 "Seven heads and," what else? 30:15 "Ten horns, 30:17 and seven diadems or crowns on his heads." 30:20 All right. 30:22 So you see here the woman, 30:24 and then you see this beast seven heads, 30:26 ten horns, red. 30:28 And they're in opposition to each other 30:30 because you're going to see something happening here. 30:32 And what is he going to try to do? 30:35 Let's go ahead and look at verse 4, 30:38 "And his tail," that is the dragon's tail, 30:41 "Drew a third of the stars of heaven," 30:45 that's the angels in rebellion. 30:48 And what did he do? 30:49 "And threw them to the earth. 30:51 And the dragon stood before the woman 30:54 who was ready to give birth to do," what? 30:57 "Devour her child as soon as it was born." 31:01 Now, let's go and see how this happened. 31:03 Through pagan Rome, 31:04 when Mary was about to give birth, 31:06 Caesar sent out a decree to kill all children, 31:11 two years old and under 31:13 through pagan Rome. 31:16 But praise the Lord, he did not succeed 31:18 because Jesus even as a baby 31:21 had better national security 31:23 than the United States will ever have. 31:25 Come on, say amen. 31:28 He had universal security. 31:30 The angels were there to guide and protect 31:34 'cause He was on a mission from God. 31:36 All right. 31:37 So not to take too long, 31:40 the Lord said to Joseph Mary, 31:42 "Go to Egypt and hang out there until Pilate is dead. 31:46 When he's dead, you can come back. 31:48 And he stayed there till he died and he came back, 31:51 and then the prophecy was fulfilled. 31:52 Out of Egypt, I call my son. 31:54 That was fulfilled then. 31:56 But now up until this point, 31:59 they're not on the same page. 32:00 This fiery red dragon wants her dead. 32:04 And he keeps pursuing her. 32:06 But now let's go on and see how this pursue goes on. 32:09 Well, we know, he couldn't kill Jesus. 32:11 Can we say amen to that? 32:12 Amen. 32:14 He couldn't kill Jesus so he had to figure, okay, 32:15 if I can't get to the father, I'll go after the children. 32:20 So let's go. Look at verse 13 now. 32:22 I've given you a shortcut. 32:24 All right. Verse 13... 32:27 Well, matter of fact, verse 12. 32:29 He couldn't kill the father 32:31 so he turned on the children, all right? 32:34 Look at verse 12, 32:36 12:12, 32:38 "Therefore rejoice, O heavens, and you who dwell in them," 32:41 and what's the next word? 32:43 "Woe to the," what? 32:45 "Inhabitants of the earth, 32:47 and the sea, 32:48 for the devil has come down to you having," what? 32:52 "Great wrath because he knows he has a," what? 32:56 "Short time." 32:57 In other words, he's amping it up. 33:00 So now this is the time for him. 33:02 So if he knows he has a short time, 33:04 this is applying to what? 33:06 The end time. 33:09 We're not 6,000, not 5,000 years ago, 33:12 not in the time of Egypt, 33:13 not in the time of the Roman Empire, 33:16 He knew he had a short time. 33:17 He says, "I got to amp this up." 33:18 So what did he do? 33:20 This woman who up to this point 33:23 was just fine. 33:25 He said, "I got to do something." 33:27 Look at verse 13. 33:29 Now, this is amazing, 33:32 see it's almost like a scene unfold, now. 33:34 "When the dragon saw 33:36 that he had been cast to the earth," 33:39 he did what? 33:40 "He persecuted the woman 33:42 who gave birth to the male child." 33:46 But there's always God stepping in. 33:49 "But the woman was given two wings of a," what? 33:53 "Great eagle that she might fly into the," what? 33:57 "Wilderness to her place 34:00 where she's nourished for a time and times 34:03 and half a time, 34:05 from the presence of the serpent." 34:08 So God hid the woman for a time, 34:12 times and half a time 34:13 just to cut to the chase time, 34:16 360 times, 720 half a time, 34:20 180, add that up, 34:22 and that's the 1,260 years of Roman persecution 34:27 during the Dark Ages. 34:28 God hid His church. 34:30 Amen to that. 34:31 So the church didn't get wiped out, 34:33 God hid them. 34:34 But I asked you a moment ago, 34:36 and I left it on the screen for a reason 34:38 because where did the woman go 34:40 to be hidden from the serpent? 34:44 In the where? 34:45 In the wilderness, right? 34:47 Where did the spirit carry John to find the woman? 34:51 Graphic guys bring up 34:53 or graphic lady, whichever one, 34:54 bring up that verse, Revelation 17:3, 34:57 the last one we just... 34:58 I want the people that are listening and watching 35:00 to see this. 35:01 John said, the Lord lead her into the wilderness 35:04 to be protected. 35:05 And notice what it says, 35:07 "So he carried me away in the Spirit 35:08 into the wilderness." 35:10 Thank you. 35:11 That's all I needed the graphic. 35:12 So now the very woman that was in the wilderness 35:15 for 1,260 years known as the Dark Ages. 35:20 What happened to the Dark Ages? 35:22 Bibles did not exist. 35:24 So get this. 35:25 The truth that woman had at the beginning 35:27 of her journey into the wilderness, 35:30 something happened. 35:33 And except for God's sustaining grace, 35:35 the truth would have been almost well nigh obliterated. 35:39 But a lot happened to the church. 35:40 If you study about the church of the Dark Ages, 35:42 so much error crept 35:44 into the church of the Dark Ages 35:45 that this woman who went into the wilderness 35:47 clothed with the sun, moon, and stars. 35:50 Now, John goes back, 35:52 he disparages, 35:54 "Come here, let me show you something. 35:55 You remember that lady that went to the wilderness? 35:57 I got to show you what happened to her. 35:59 Now get this. 36:01 I'm going to blow your brains off. 36:03 Are you ready? This is powerful. 36:05 There are not two women. 36:08 It's one woman in two conditions. 36:11 Get this. 36:13 And the condition represents the two classes of worshippers. 36:18 In the day, 36:19 how many children did Cain... 36:21 I just gave you the answer. 36:23 There was Cain and there was what? 36:24 Abel. 36:25 Okay, right, representing the two worshippers. 36:28 You find from the very beginning 36:29 they were two types of worshippers. 36:31 In the very end, 36:33 they're going to be two types of worshippers. 36:35 So the question is this. 36:37 This is huge. 36:40 Your condition is the first consideration 36:44 than your location. 36:47 Now follow me carefully. 36:48 You can't say amen here because that's new to you. 36:51 The first thing God is concerned about 36:53 is your condition. 36:54 The second thing He is concerned about 36:56 is your location. 36:57 Now, let me expand that. 36:58 John 10:16, go there with me. 37:00 I got to qualify what I said. 37:03 John 10:16, all right. 37:05 I'm already there. 37:07 Yes, I am. Here it is. 37:09 John 10:16, look what the Lord says, 37:12 "He's first concerned about your condition, 37:15 then about your location." 37:16 Lot of people think, it's just location. 37:18 And this is huge. 37:20 To those who keep the Sabbath, don't fool yourself. 37:22 You may have the right location, 37:23 but the wrong condition. 37:25 Did you hear what I said? 37:26 There are some people boasting about keeping the Sabbath, 37:28 but they're in the wrong condition, 37:29 but they're in the right location. 37:31 There are some people in the wrong location, 37:33 but in the right condition. 37:35 God want the right people in the right condition. 37:37 Amen, somebody. Amen. 37:38 This is what the issue is. 37:40 So don't be calling on folk 37:41 that don't go to church on the right day, 37:43 the wrong people 'cause God doesn't even say that. 37:46 Let's look what He says in John 10:16. 37:49 He says, "And other sheep I have, 37:52 which are not of this fold." 37:56 Huge. I have other sheep. 37:57 They're not where I want them to be, 37:59 but notice what He says, 38:01 "Them also I must," what? 38:03 "Bring, and they will hear My," what? 38:05 "Voice." 38:07 What kind of voice will they hear? 38:08 "A loud voice." 38:10 They'll hear My voice, 38:11 and they will be, come one, together, 38:12 one flock or one fold, and," what? 38:14 "One shepherd." 38:16 Get this. 38:17 God is more concerned first about our condition, 38:20 secondly about our location. 38:22 This is a sobering message because there's some people 38:25 that are comfortable in the location, 38:26 but uncomfortable in the condition. 38:29 There's some people that are good Christians, 38:31 but they're in the wrong location. 38:32 Amen? 38:34 That's why this message about Babylon is, God said, 38:36 "I got people all over the place, 38:38 every nation, every tribe, every tongue, every people. 38:42 I got to get them all in the right location." 38:43 Isn't that true? 38:45 Was that the case in Noah's day? 38:47 He wanted to get the right people in the what? 38:50 Right location which was where? 38:52 In the ark. 38:53 It may sound like I'm preaching. 38:54 I'm just intensely teaching. 38:56 He want to get the right people in the right location. 38:59 Now, 39:01 did he love the people outside the ark? 39:03 Yes. 39:04 But did they want to get into the right location? 39:06 No. 39:08 So the Lord had no choice, 39:10 but to close the door before the judgment came. 39:14 So now let's go to the next verse. 39:17 So here it is. 39:19 Let me cap off my thought. 39:21 Go back to Revelation 17. 39:22 Here it is, 39:24 "During the Dark Ages, 39:25 the woman went through religious persecution, 39:29 more than a 50 million Christians 39:32 lost their lives 39:33 because the Roman church of the Dark Ages, 39:36 we now know as Roman Catholicism. 39:38 The church of the Dark Ages 39:40 under the leadership of pagan Rome 39:42 than papal Rome, 39:44 persecuted anybody who did not agree 39:46 with its dogmas. 39:47 And let me just share with you some of the wine they drank. 39:51 Purgatory, not in the Bible, 39:53 that was wine from Babylon, 39:56 Spiritual Babylon. 39:57 Limbo, wine from Spiritual Babylon. 40:00 Eternally burning hell, 40:02 they used that doctrine not supported by the Bible 40:04 to raise the money to build their cathedrals, 40:06 the wine of Babylon. 40:08 Eternally burning hell, all right. 40:12 The immortality of the soul, you die and go right to heaven. 40:16 This secret rapture, 40:19 Francis Ribeiro and Luis Luis de Alcazar, 40:21 preterist and futurist. 40:22 They develop that one. 40:24 When you go to the church of the Dark Ages, 40:26 something happened to the woman. 40:27 So by the time, the 1,260 years passed, 40:32 John could not identify the woman. 40:35 What happened to the woman? 40:38 He found her in the same place 40:40 where she went 1,260 years earlier. 40:44 And he found her now in harmony with the very beast 40:48 that was once against her. 40:51 He found her sitting on the beast 40:54 that was pursuing her. 40:57 Wow! 40:58 But God is not done. Amen, somebody. 41:01 Because you may wonder... 41:04 Wow! This is huge. 41:05 I got to slow down 41:07 because God was to yet establish 41:09 another movement called the Advent movement 41:12 to get the woman back to the right location. 41:15 Amen, somebody. 41:16 He want to get the woman 41:17 who had now been in the wrong condition, 41:20 in the wrong location to be the right woman, 41:23 in the right location. 41:25 That's what Christianity is today. 41:27 So... 41:28 But there are many who haven't heard the message yet, 41:30 so they have the right condition, 41:31 but they're on the wrong location. 41:33 And, you know what? That's divine inspiration. 41:34 My wife knows I'd never said that before. 41:37 Thank you Holy Spirit 41:39 for revealing that to me tonight. 41:40 Let's go to the very next question. 41:42 Verse 4. 41:45 Thank you, honey. 41:46 "So the woman now, 41:48 instead of being clothed with the sun, 41:50 moon, and stars, 41:51 she trades her garments 41:53 for purple and scarlet, 41:56 purple and gold, scarlet and purple. 41:59 Gold, red, and purple. 42:01 Now what you want to notice, 42:03 this is huge, 42:04 there's a color missing. 42:07 Dan, did I hear you say it? 42:09 What's the color, Dan? 42:10 Blue. Blue. 42:12 Blue represents the law of God. 42:16 Blue is not there anymore. 42:19 That had been deleted. 42:21 And when you follow the story further down 42:23 in Revelation 12, 42:24 this is why we got to end... 42:27 I'm sorry, we got to go back to Revelation 12 very quickly. 42:30 I know you all are there. You're already there. 42:32 If you're already there, 42:34 praise the Lord for that. 42:37 Revelation 12 42:39 and we looked at verse 13. 42:41 We looked at verse 14. 42:42 Now let's look at verse 15. 42:44 Okay, so now 42:46 John sees this woman 42:48 that was in her clean condition, 42:49 she went there, 42:50 hidden there for 1,260 years. 42:53 So the devil wasn't satisfied, in verse 15, 42:55 notice what it says, 42:56 "So the serpent spewed what out of his mouth?" 42:59 "Water out of his mouth 43:02 like a flood after the woman 43:03 that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood." 43:07 I want you to also notice something. 43:09 This is huge 43:10 because the woman in Revelation 17 43:13 is sitting on many waters. 43:16 The water that he used to go after her, 43:19 now she's sitting on it, 43:21 now she is floating above it, 43:24 now she is reigning over it. 43:25 The water he used to drown her 43:27 is now the water that she's floating on, 43:30 she's sitting upon, reigning above many waters. 43:32 We'll find out what the water is in just a moment. 43:34 And then verse 16, 43:36 and this word, God preserved the truth. 43:39 Although, and you see in the seven churches, 43:41 he said, I know that you have a little faith left, 43:43 hold what you have. 43:45 He said, you have a little faith, hold on to it, 43:47 don't let it go. 43:49 Verse 16, "But the earth help the woman, 43:52 and open its mouth 43:54 and swallowed up the flood 43:56 which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth." 44:00 Oh, this is huge. 44:02 Brother John Dinzey, he knows where we're going with this. 44:05 The earth. How did God... 44:07 This is history. 44:08 How did God rescue the church 44:12 from total obliteration in Europe? 44:16 He led them to... Come on, say it. 44:18 He led them to this good old land. 44:20 This land is your land, 44:22 this land is mine 44:23 from California to the New York Island, 44:25 from the Redwood forest to the Gulf, 44:28 this land was made. 44:29 God raised up a nation today, 44:31 and it's only support of freedom is religion. 44:35 The only thing we can boast in America 44:36 that we have above any other country 44:39 is religious liberty. 44:42 And that is being challenged already. 44:44 That's being chiseled away. 44:45 But God open the earth, the earth opened his mouth. 44:48 In the pilgrims, 44:50 you know, the word pilgrim is not a historical term, 44:53 as much as it is a religious term. 44:55 Gotten from the Book of Hebrews Chapter 11, 44:57 we are strangers in pilgrims. 45:00 The pilgrims as Abraham was, 45:03 he was looking for a city 45:04 which had foundations whose builder and maker is God. 45:07 So the pilgrims left, 45:09 the persecuting powers of Roman Europe 45:11 came to America, 45:12 and through Roger Williams established religious liberty, 45:16 religious free freedom, 45:18 which was Rhode Island, 45:19 the first religiously free colony 45:22 in the early development of America. 45:27 Today, now, Roger Williams, 45:28 let me just give you some history now. 45:29 This is on tape, so you can share 45:31 with your friends later on. 45:32 Roger Williams, 45:34 he saw among the early pilgrim settlers, 45:38 something that resembled the church of Europe. 45:40 And you know what that was? 45:42 They were so fearful that Rome would come over 45:44 and take over their new settlement, 45:48 that they made their own religious laws. 45:51 And so you have to believe a certain way, 45:53 think a certain way, worship a certain way 45:56 to be among the Puritans, the pilgrims, 45:58 the early, like we say, the forefathers, 46:00 you don't wanna go back 46:02 to the religion of your forefathers, okay? 46:04 When people say they do, 46:05 they don't understand the whole picture. 46:07 So Roger Williams said, 46:08 "No, no, no, no, no, 46:09 let us not do what Rome did. 46:11 Let us establish religious freedom." 46:14 And they ostracized Roger Williams. 46:17 And he went and lived among the Indians, 46:20 and taught them, 46:22 began to share with them the Word of God. 46:25 And then Roger Williams established Rhode Island, 46:28 that place that is Rhode Island today, 46:30 that's where religious liberty was born right in Rhode Island. 46:34 And we have it today in America, 46:36 became one of the foundations of our freedoms. 46:39 So that's why to be able to worship 46:41 according to your own dictates 46:42 is still a part of our Constitution 46:45 and a part of our Bill of Rights. 46:47 But you'll find that the devil is not happy with that, 46:52 because now the woman's no longer in Europe, 46:55 she's in America. 46:56 He got to find a way to get to her. 46:59 Revelation 12:17, 47:01 this is foundation but it's vitally important. 47:03 Foundation. 47:06 All right? 47:08 "And the dragon was enraged with the woman 47:11 or angry with the woman," 47:14 as the King James Version, "the dragon was angry, wroth," 47:17 as the King James Version, that's an angry word wroth. 47:21 "He was in rage with a woman and went," 47:24 get this now, he went, 47:27 where did he go? 47:28 He had to go where she is. 47:31 These words, and I put there incidentally, 47:34 "He went to make war with the remnant of her seed," 47:38 and who are they? 47:40 They keep the commandments of God, 47:41 worshipping God the way He wants, 47:43 and they have the testimony of Jesus Christ. 47:47 He went. 47:49 He sought after the woman to find her. 47:50 And that's why in America right now, 47:52 one of the hot button issues is religious freedom, 47:55 all these issues building itself around. 47:58 And you know what's chiseling away right that now? 48:00 Religious extremism in America is gonna do its job 48:03 to hinder our liberties here in America. 48:06 All this extremism that's taking place in America. 48:08 But I want to just say this 48:10 before we go on to the next question, 48:11 God is still sovereign, He's still in charge. 48:14 Amen to that? Amen. 48:15 That's some foundation. 48:17 Now, Revelation 17, let's go there. 48:18 So the woman is a new condition now. 48:21 The beast that once was in opposition to her, 48:24 he has diluted her so much 48:26 that God had to raise up another movement. 48:27 That's why at the end of the 1,260 year period, 48:31 just shortly after 1798, 48:33 another movement came into existence, 48:36 started by a man by the name of William Miller, a Baptist. 48:40 He began something called the Advent movement 48:43 that today now 48:45 is known as the Seventh-day Adventist Church, 48:48 more specifically, it's still a movement. 48:51 And God began to resurrect all these teachings 48:54 that were put to rest during the Dark Ages, 48:58 almost died, but he preserved it. 49:00 Praise God for His Word. 49:02 And now, the message now being resurrected 49:05 has to be proclaimed. 49:07 Get this, to the rest of His people 49:10 that may be in the right condition, 49:12 but in the what? 49:13 Wrong location. 49:15 You see, it is not about us being better than them 49:18 and then being worse than us, 49:20 it's about all of us are God's people. 49:21 What do you say? Amen. 49:23 That was kind of weak. 49:25 Can we say amen? Amen. 49:27 God loved, for God so loved the world. 49:30 And He loves people that no matter what denomination 49:33 they are part of, but He's saying, 49:35 "Although I have sheep 49:36 that are a part of another fold, 49:38 I can't leave them there, them 49:39 also I must bring." 49:41 That's what's so beautiful about it. 49:42 So let's see what else. 49:45 You know, we got, Bill, 49:46 we got to get past question number two. 49:48 All right? Let's go to that. 49:49 All right? Verse... 49:51 Now what verse are we up to now? 49:52 Revelation 17, what verse now? Verse 4. 49:55 Okay, let's look at verse 4 now. 49:57 Here we are on the screen. 49:59 And it said here, 50:03 continuing in the description of Spiritual Babylon, 50:05 it says, "The woman was arrayed in," what? 50:08 "Purple and," what else? 50:10 "Scarlet, adorned with," what? 50:12 "Gold and," what? 50:14 "Precious stones and pearls, 50:15 having in her hand 50:18 a golden cup." 50:21 Now, what's in that cup? 50:23 "Full of," what? 50:24 Abominations 50:27 and filthiness of her," what? 50:30 "Fornication." 50:31 Boy, and then he goes on, look at the next. 50:34 "And on her head, and on her head, 50:38 on her forehead, a name was written:" 50:41 let's read this together, 50:42 "MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, 50:46 THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS 50:48 AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH." 50:53 He said, she's not by herself. 50:57 She's not by herself. 51:00 Let's read verse 6. 51:01 Let's bring verse 6 up there, and then we'll go back 51:03 and cap it all off together. 51:04 All right? 51:06 And then in verse 6, it says, 51:07 "I saw the woman," what? 51:09 "Drunk with the blood of the saints 51:11 and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. 51:14 And when I saw her, I'm marveled with," what? 51:17 "Great amazement." 51:19 So now I must break this all down. 51:21 This woman, first of all, verse 4, 51:24 write this down, verse 4. 51:26 And here's what you put in verse 4. 51:29 "She no longer is clothed in Christ's righteousness." 51:33 This is huge. 51:34 Write that down, verse 4, 51:36 she no longer has on the robe of Christ's righteousness. 51:40 All right? 51:42 Write that down for Revelation 17:4. 51:44 The next one, verse 5, 51:48 "She is the mother of a worldwide system. 51:54 She's the mother of the head of a worldwide system." 52:01 Did you get that? 52:02 And in verse 6, 52:05 "She is guilty of the blood of the saints. 52:10 She historically has killed those 52:13 who have been allegiant to Jesus." 52:16 You know, we get all bent out of shape today over ISIS, 52:19 and surely we should, 52:20 because it's an extreme condition of a system 52:24 that has nothing to do with it. 52:25 And I want to reiterate, 52:27 and I feel badly for those who are Muslim in this sense. 52:31 Their religion has been hijacked 52:33 by religious extremists, 52:34 and they're getting the full blame for that, 52:37 and that's not something that they're responsible for. 52:40 But what has happened long before ISIS came to view, 52:44 the Dark Ages was a time 52:45 that was painted by the blood of the saints, 52:49 millions of Christians were martyred. 52:51 All because they wanted to be allegiant to Jesus. 52:55 If you have a strong stomach, 52:56 rent that book or download "The Foxe's Book of Martyrs." 53:00 It'll drive you nuts. 53:01 You better have a strong spiritual connection 53:02 with Jesus. 53:04 That's a serious book. 53:05 You know, that's the whole point of it. 53:07 You got to have a connection with the Lord that is strong. 53:09 So what's happening today 53:10 is God now through Jesus 53:12 and the messages of the three angel, 53:14 He's now saying, I need to recover my people 53:17 before we close this entire great controversy down. 53:21 Amen to that? 53:22 Amen. 53:24 He wants to recover His people. 53:25 So let's answer the next question. 53:27 We can do this. 53:28 We can bravely get to question number three, 53:30 He wants to recover His people 53:31 before it is ever too late. 53:34 What description does the Bible give to the beast 53:36 that empowers Babylon? 53:39 Revelation 12:3, you read that earlier. 53:42 We could just go ahead and put the answer in there. 53:45 And the answer is, the beast with 7 heads and 10 horns. 53:49 Write that down for question number three. 53:51 We could read that, and we will read it on the screen 53:54 because it's in proper graphic order, 53:56 and our guys are ready for that. 53:58 It says, Revelation 12:3, 54:00 "And another sign appeared in heaven, 54:02 behold, a great, fiery red dragon 54:04 having seven heads and ten horns, 54:07 and seven diadems or crowns on his heads. 54:10 So the great dragon," 54:12 this is now given identity to that, 54:14 "So the great dragon was cast out 54:16 that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, 54:19 who deceives," how much of the world? 54:21 "The whole world, he was cast to the earth, 54:23 and his angels were cast out with him." 54:25 Let me add a couple of components here. 54:27 So the answer, what description 54:29 does the Bible give to the beast 54:31 that empowers Babylon? 54:32 What specific description does it give? 54:39 The devil, the serpent of old, Satan. 54:44 This dragon with seven heads and ten horns, 54:47 so the great dragon was cast out. 54:49 Let's look at that on the screen. 54:51 That who? 54:52 Together read it. That who? 54:54 Serpent of old called the, who? 54:56 Devil and who? Satan. 54:58 The Bible clearly identifies this beast 55:01 before the woman with seven heads 55:02 and ten horns as Satan, 55:05 the serpent of old the dragon, 55:08 he was cast to the earth, 55:10 and his angels were cast out with him. 55:14 So in a broad nutshell, 55:16 what description does the Bible give to the beast 55:18 that empowers a woman? 55:20 Somebody tell me? Give me the answer? 55:21 Who is it? I just told it to you. 55:23 And it's on the screen over and over? 55:25 Say it again, Mike, Satan! 55:27 He gives this woman power. 55:30 And by the way, 55:33 he was also the power behind pagan Rome 55:35 in Revelation Chapter 13. 55:37 He was also the power behind 55:39 that fourth beast of Daniel Chapter 7, 55:42 pagan Rome. 55:43 So therefore, if he's behind Babylon, 55:46 if he's behind Medo-Persia, if he's behind Greece, 55:50 surely he carries on his onslaught 55:52 against God's people. 55:54 He's behind Rome, 55:55 and the biggest final force 55:57 against the people of God 55:58 and his message is the universal power of Rome. 56:04 Wow! 56:05 Here's a picture that I want to bring up on the screen. 56:07 Our guys can bring this up for us, 56:09 or whoever's running graphics on the truck, I appreciate it. 56:11 If you're lady, I apologize to keep calling you a guy. 56:13 But look at this picture that of the woman 56:15 on the scarlet beast. 56:17 Here's a graphic representation of it. 56:19 This scarlet color beast, 56:20 just go and bring the graphic up, 56:22 it's very next one. 56:23 She's sitting on a beast. 56:26 Here it is. That's an artist depiction. 56:29 That's the woman as she appears now. 56:31 Notice the waters, the beasts, 56:34 now, keep it up there, I'm describing. 56:36 The waters, the beasts 56:39 and the woman sitting on that. 56:40 Let's go and bring it back up. 56:42 Don't be dumped, to be nervous. 56:43 The woman on the scarlet beast sitting above the many waters. 56:49 All right? Okay. Let's look at this. 56:51 So clearly, you see that she is identified 56:56 as the one sitting upon the many waters. 57:00 And that's an artist depiction. 57:03 But now we're gonna hit the last... 57:04 Well, I don't think I have time for the very last question, 57:08 or number four. 57:09 But what I want you to stay tuned for next week 57:12 is something that's vitally important. 57:14 And that is, 57:15 we're going to see classically why in more detail, 57:20 why God wants His people out. 57:23 He wants them out 57:25 because first of all, they're His people. 57:28 He's the shepherd, 57:29 they are the sheep of His pasture. 57:30 Amen to that? Amen. 57:32 And we got to pray for our brothers and sisters. 57:34 No matter what the denomination 57:37 from Roman Catholic all the way Jehovah's Witness, 57:39 and Baptists, and Pentecost, and Methodist, and Presbyterian 57:41 and some Adventists who are in the right location 57:43 with the wrong condition, ain't that right? 57:44 Yeah. It's all very important. 57:47 And, friends, you know, this is a tight topic, 57:48 a difficult topic, 57:49 but what I would encourage you to do 57:51 is keep studying God's Word. 57:52 If you miss anything, go to the website, 57:55 download the lesson and invite your friends. 57:57 And I know, if it doesn't make sense, 57:59 keep on studying God's Word 58:00 because one day 58:02 it will come into A Sharper Focus. 58:04 God bless you. |
Revised 2019-06-14