The Destruction of the Final False Religion Part 6
The Book of Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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Introduction:
Introduction:
There seems to be a tremendous aim among religious leaders to join forces with those who do not accept the truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
There seems to be a grand desire for all the religions of the world to unite in one big religious melting pot.
Let me give you some quotes from some well known religious leaders; hailed my some to be great spiritual leaders.
Speaking to a gathering of ecumenical leaders in Calcutta, India; one leader said:
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 4
“My dear brothers, we are already one but we imagine that we are not. And what we have to discover is our original unity.”
Other religious leaders have said:
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 4
“We should not hesitate to take the fruit of the aged-old wisdom of the east and capture it for Christ. Many Christians who take their prayer life seriously have been greatly helped by Yoga, Zen, TM, and similar practices,”
So the leaders have no problem mixing their belief with Buddhism and Hinduism.
Another leader said:
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 4
“Buddhism and Christianity are alike in making use of ordinary every day human existence as a material for a radical transformation of consciousness,”
Another Religious leaders said of the Dalai Lama, who is a Muslim
John MacArthur Sermon Archive The Destruction of the Final World Religion, Part 4
“Both of us have the same aim.”
We have made our society rip for the final false religious system of the AntiChrist.
I. The Exposure of the Harlot
a. The Authority of the Harlot (vs. 6b, 15)
Revelation 17:1
And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters:
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.
And he saith unto me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues.
b. The Alliances of the Harlot (vs. 2-3)
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
Revelation 17:2-3
c. The Apparel of the Harlot (vs. 4a)
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication:
d. The Abominations of the Harlot (vs. 4b-5)
And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.
e. The Accusations of the Harlot (vs. 17:6)
And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.
II. The Explanation of the Harlot (vs. 7-14,18)
a. The Perplexity (vs. 7)
And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns.
b. The Pit (vs. 8a)
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and 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.
c. The People (vs. 8b)
revelation 17:8
The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and 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.
d. The Powers (vs. 9-13)
Revelation
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
As the angel explains to John the vision of the woman, a interesting phrase is added.
“here is the mind which hath wisdom”
In other words, this is a way of saying to Hohn that something is about to be reveled to him about the Beast and the Woman that is not self-evident.
That it can only be explained through spiritual understanding.
Only the mind that has been enlightened spiritually will he able to understand these truths.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
1 Corinthains 2:14
In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
So these truths can only be understood by careful study and by dependence on and the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
We have no ability of ourselves to understand these things, only as the Lord revels them to us can we understand, that is the idea.
And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth.
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Now, remember that the beast that the harlot woman, the false one world religious system, is sitting on is described in our previous verses as having seven heads and ten horns.
Some modern commentators see the seven mountains at the city of Rome.
Because Rome was widely known in the ancient world as the city built on seven hills.
And so they attempt to identify the final world religion as from the Church of Rome.
The problem with such an interpretation is that it is far too narrow and given the fact that verse 10 really gives us the identity of the seven, such a narrow interpretation is unnecessary.
Verse 10 makes it clear to us that the seven mountains are; in fact, representative of Kings.
Just a note: Sometimes in the OT mountains are used metaphorically to represent rule or power
The angel describes the kings as:
And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space.
Some people see the Seven kings as representing the seven Emperors of Rome.
Show Slide with names and dates of Emperors
Ending with the last Emperor as believed to be the AntiChrist.
But that does not make much sense that John would see it that way because, during the life of John, there would have been about 11 different Emperors that reigned.
So, I think that it is something different than that.
What helps us to understand what John is saying is that if we do not interpret the “five have fallen” as kings, but as kingdoms.
The word “fallen” is much better applied to the fall of a kingdom versus the death of an Emperor.
A Commentary on the Revelation of John 1. The Mystery of Babylon (17:1–18)
The great harlot who seduces the nations and persecutes the saints finds her support from the beast who appears in history in a succession of secular, godless kingdoms; five belong to past history; a sixth kingdom—Rome—ruled the world when John wrote.
This goes back to the great image that Nebuchadnezzar saw and that Daniel interpreted for him in .
That image spoke of the first 5 world empires that have, during John’s vision, already fallen.
So, you have five that have fallen, one that is, and the other is yet to come.
These are the kingdoms of AntiChrist.
So see this has been building for Millenia.
The five Gentile kingdoms that John saw as fallen and also the ones that Daniel saw are:
Show slides of Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece.
What about the “one that is”.
That is the kingdom in power during the life of John.
That would be Rome.
The one that is “yet to come” is AntiChrists’ final world empire.
Henry Morris, says this regarding the significance of the first six world empires.
Revelation 12–22: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Explanation of the Harlot
Though none of these empires ever actually ruled the whole world, each was the greatest kingdom of its own time, particularly in reference to the land and people of Israel and these kingdoms’ opposition to the proclamation of God’s Word and the accomplishment of His purposes in the world.…
These, of course, have not been the only kingdoms that have been at enmity with God and His purposes. In this category could also be placed such kingdoms as Syria, Edom, Moab, Midian, and many others, but none of these were empires of great size and influence. On the other hand, there were other great and powerful empires in the ancient world—China, India, and the Incas, for example—but these had only peripheral contact with the Word of God and the chosen people. There were only six kingdoms that met both criteria up to the time of Christ and the apostles. Furthermore, all six of these were not only legitimate heirs of political Babel but also of religious Babel as well. Babylonia, Egypt, Assyria, Persia, Greece, and Rome were all strongholds of the world religion of evolutionary pantheism and idolatrous polytheism. Thus, they appropriately are represented as six heads on the great beast that supports the harlot. (Morris, Revelation Record, 337. Italics in the original.)
The angel further explains that when the AntiChrist does come, that his empire will be short lived.
He will only reign for 42 months (that last half of the tribulation).
Now notice verse 11.
And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition.
How can the beast be the eighth and also one of seven?
To key to understanding that is the phrase, “the beast, that was and is not....”
AntiChrist will be one of the seven kings before his supposed demise and resurrection.
And the eighth afterwards during the second phase of his rule.
But just like noted before, he will go into destruction.
Eternal punishment in Hell.
Unlike the first six kingdoms, the kingdom of AntiChrist will be personally destroyed by God.
And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast.
We are cannot identify who these kings are since “they have received no kingdom yet”.
But they are part of AntiChrists’ final empire.
Perhaps the empire of AntiChrist will be divided into ten regions of which these kings will rule under him.
But just like the AntiChrist, their rule will be short lived; they will have power for one hour.
That is just a figure of speech that is used to described the brevity of their authority.
These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.
They have one purpose and one purpose only; totally devoted to the AntiChrist.
They will do his will and his will alone.
e. The Purpose (vs. 14)
These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful.
This is, of course, a reference to the Battle of Armageddon.
Three deceitful, powerful demons will be agents that will gather them to the battle.
And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.
For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.
And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.
Revelation 16:
John will further describe their demise in chapter 19, but just a note that he puts here is that the “Lamb will overcome them”.
The battle will really be a slaughter as Jesus Christ completely destroys the empire of AntiChrist at His second coming.
The reason that the empire of AntiChrist is not able to defeat Jesus is because He is “King of kings and Lord of lords”.
Coming with Christ will be the “called, chosen and Faithful”.
All terms referring only to believers.
Chosen in the Son before the foundation of the world.
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
Called, or summoned by the Father in time to repentance and salvation
No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:44
Faithful, Demonstrating the true saving faith, demonstrating the true spiritual life that is empowered by the Spirit.
Romans
But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
III. The Extermination of the Harlot (vs. 16-17)
Revelation 1
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
a. AntiChrist’s Shattering (vs. 16)
And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire.
The alliance between AntiChrist and the Harlot will not last too long, it will be short lived.
Eventually, the ten horns (the 10 kings that ruled under AntiChrist) and the Beast (the AntiChrist himself) will grow to hate the woman (the false religious system).
Revelation 12–22: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Extermination of the Harlot
Having used the false religious system to help him gain control of the world, Antichrist will discard it. In his rampant megalomania, he will want the world to worship only him. He will also no doubt covet the vast wealth of the false religious system.
The graphic imagery that is used here described the way in which AntiChrist and his henchmen will utterly devastate and destroy the woman.
They will completely obliterate every vestige of false religion.
AntiChrists’ self-serving acts not by his doing alone.
b. God’s Sovereignty (vs. 17)
For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil his will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.
Revelation 12–22: The MacArthur New Testament Commentary The Extermination of the Harlot
God’s power is behind the destruction and consolidation of the evil empire; as always, Satan is the instrument of God’s purposes. The one-world unification government so long sought by the humanists will have finally arrived, only to be destroyed in one great act of divine judgment.