Worthy is the Lamb: Beauty and the Beast

Text: Revelation 17:1-18:3

Theme: Babylon the Great and the false religious system that supported it have fallen. The Great Babylon and the false religion that prostituted itself in the Antichrist's service is about to be judged.

Date: 10/21/2018 File name: Resurrection35.wpd ID Number:

The seven last plagues of Revelation 16 represents the outpouring of God’s wrath upon the Beast and those who have given him their loyalty. The angles of God pour down catastrophic calamity after catastrophic calamity upon the earth in the closing days of the Great Tribulation. Chapter 16 opens with the Apostle John hearing, “ ... a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”” (Revelation 16:1, NASB95). These plagues are world-encompassing in scope and brutal in nature. And yet twice in the chapter, (vs. 9, 11) we are told the humanity refused to repent and glorify God, and three time in the chapter, (vs. 9, 11, 21) we read that men cursed God. Then, in the middle of the chapter we hear the voice of Christ himself ... “ (“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his clothes, so that he will not walk about naked and men will not see his shame.”)” (Revelation 16:15, NASB95). It’s an encouragement to believers who have escaped martyrdom to stay strong and to keep an eye on the Eastern sky, because the time of his advent is near.

Finally, the seventh plague is poured out. With it the peoples of the earth experience something akin to what Israel experienced at Mt. Sinai when God appeared. A voice announces “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder; and there was a great earthquake, ... ” (Revelation 16:18, NASB95). History has drawn to the end that God has always planed for it. Evil is vanquished, Satan and his followers are throne down, and the righteous are vindicated. Amen and amen.

The seventh plague hastens us to the end — the destruction of Great Babylon. An angel invites John to witness the destruction of the great whore. That destruction is described in detail in chapters 17-18, and that’s our focus for this morning. The Great Babylon and the false religion that prostituted itself in the Antichrist’s service is about to be judged. That false religion is pictured as a woman ... arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication.

In these chapters John tells us about this woman ...

Her Mysterious Character

Her Mischievous Children

Her Murderous Conduct

Her Monstrous Consort

Her Momentous Calamity

At the very beginning of our text, an angel tells John what this next vision is all about. It’s all about the punishment of the great prostitute that has just been revealed in chapter 16. All of the catastrophic calamities of that chapter are the punishment of the Great Whore of the following chapters.

I. THE WOMAN AND HER MYSTERIOUS CHARACTER

“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. 2 With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” 3 Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. 5 This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:1–5, NIV84)

1. the first thing I want you to see is the woman and her mysterious character

a. the big question, of course, is who or what does this woman represent?

2. the fact that the whore of Babylon is referred to as a mystery (vs. 5) means that we cannot be completely certain as to her identity

a. the passage does give us some clues, however

1) Revelation 17:9 explains, "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits"

a) many commentators immediately link this passage with the Roman Catholic Church because in ancient times, the city of Rome was known as "the city on seven hills" because there are seven prominent hills that surround the city

ILLUS. This became the dominant view of Luther, Calvin, Knox and other Protestant reformers of the 16th century. It remains the dominant view of many fundamentalist Christian groups, including a lot of Baptists.

2) however, vs. 10 goes on to explain that the seven hills represent 7 kings or kingdoms, five of which have fallen, one that is and one that is to come

a) therefore, the "whore of Babylon" probably does not refer to Rome or the Roman Catholic Church

3. so, can the mystery of the whore of Babylon be solved? Yes, at least partially

a. the whore of Babylon represents an evil apostate worldwide religion or pseudo-religion, controlled by the Antichrist, during the last days before Jesus' return

b. what John sees is a world humanity in total rebellion against God

1) they are more than willing to worship the great idol that the False Prophet has set up with the beast being the focus of an ungodly, end-times religious system

2) even though God has repeatedly revealed Himself as sovereign Lord over creation and over humanity, men choose to worship the creature rather than the Creator

A. THE GREAT PROSTITUTE WILL SEDUCE THE NATIONS

1. her character, is to say the least, questionable

a. vs. 2 tells us “ ... the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication”

2. John has already introduced mystery Babylon to us before, but here we get a detailed portrait of a world ruled by the Antichrist from one of the world’s great mega-metropolises

a. it’s a city that will become the political, commercial, and religious center of the world, and it will be such an enticing city that it will be like a seductress, draw all the world to her

ILLUS. Throughout the history of the world certain great cities have been synonymous with the empire they represented. Consider six of the great ancient cities of the past:

Memphis - capital of the Egyptian kingdom.

Nineveh - capital of the Assyrian Empire.

Babylon - capital of the Babylonian Empire.

Persepolis - capital of the Persian Empire.

Antioch - capital of the Seleucid Empire (Hellenistic power after Alexander the great).

Rome - capital of the Roman Republic and the Empire.

Each of these cities was the "Babel" of its own day. Each rose as an expression of engineering ingenuity, supported by military might and political scheming. Each was a commercial, religious, and cultural center. Each was profoundly opposed to God and the people of God. Roll them all together, and they become the perfect forerunner for one future final great city and civilization opposed to God — John calls it "Babylon the great," mistress of the world. And God will judge her directly and dramatically.

3. the woman John sees is false religion in service to the Antichrist, and that includes apostate Christianity

II. THE WOMAN AND HER MISCHIEVOUS CHILDREN

“And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT,”—now watch this—“THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:5, NIV84)

1. many students of prophecy are convinced that during the seven-year Tribulation period that there will emerge a one-world religion

a. I think that’s entirely possible

2. however, I think what John sees in this vision is simply religion in service to the state, and in particular, religion in service to the Antichrist

a. the Mother of Harlots is simply false religion in general and she has spawned many children across the ages and throughout the world

3. what are some of these children she has given birth to?

a. New Age religion, Satan worship, Mother Earth worship, Globalism, Secularism, Hinduism, Islam, and Apostate Christianity

b. all of these “daughters” are false religions

1) false because they point people away from Christ who is the way, the truth and the life

c. unfortunately, I am convinced that an apostate Christianity will become one of the chief supporters of the Antichrist

ILLUS. There are those within the Church who would move Christianity toward religious syncretism — a blending of two or more religious faiths into a new system of belief. Those are the folks who say, “Yes, God revealed Himself in Jesus, but He also revealed Himself in Buddha, Krishna, and a host of others.” In America this is fast becoming the dominant view. A religious poll taken two years ago included the statement, “When Christians, Jews, Buddhists, and others pray to their god, all of those individuals are actually praying to the same god, but simply using different names for that deity.” Forty percent of adult Americans agreed with it.

ILLUS. In a Christian Post newspaper article this week, one headline read, “Christian Witch Claims Christ Followers Can Practice Witchcraft, Despite Biblical Warnings.” The article is about the Rev. Valerie Love describes herself as a practicing witch, and an ordained “minister of spiritual consciousness.” In the article a defiant Love said, “Stop thinking you can tell people how to worship ... how to pray ... how to connect with the Devine.” And, for a mere $5,000 a year subscription (or $444 @ month), you can join her “Enlightenment Circle” to receive daily encouragements.

d. if you know the Old Testament, you know that the Prophets never accused any of Israel’s pagan neighbors of spiritual harlotry

1) they do accuse Israel — God’s people — of this grave sin

2) spiritual harlotry was Israel’s frequent and persistent fault which led them to worship other gods which the Bible refers to a spiritual adultery

3) during the Tribulation a great portion of Christianity will apostatize and support the Antichrist

a) they’ll do this to remain in power and to enrich themselves

ILLUS. History has already given us a foretaste of such apostasy. In 1930's Germany there were 45 million Protestants split between three primary denominations — Lutheran, Reformed, and United churches. When Hitler came to power a few openly opposed the Nazis, while others saw themselves as neutral. Still others actively supported Nazism, calling themselves “storm troopers of Jesus Christ.” In an amazingly short period of time, the Nazi government ushered in key changes to the Protestant churches in Germany. First, the Nazi leadership supported the German Christian movement, a group of Protestants who wanted to combine Christianity and Nazism into an all-encompassing religious movement. Second, the Nazi leadership urged Protestants to unite all regional churches into a national church under the centralized leadership of Ludwig Müller, a well-known pastor and Nazi Party member, who was appointed as Reich bishop. The vast majority of German Protestants embraced these changes. The result was the Nazification of Protestant Christianity in Germany.

e. if it can happen in one nation, it can happen world-wide, and during the Great Tribulation it will

4. this woman that John sees stands for false religion, and her offspring are many, and during the Tribulation they will all serve the Antichrist

III. THE WOMAN AND HER MURDEROUS CONDUCT

“And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.” (Revelation 17:6, NASB95)

1. on the outside this woman is beautiful and wonderful — she comes with all the pomp and resplendence of royal character

“The woman was clothed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a gold cup full of abominations and of the unclean things of her immorality,” (Revelation 17:4, NASB95)

a. on the inside she is hideous — she is full of hate for the true people of God

2. false religion has always been a bloody thing

a. think back to Revelation 13

“And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.” (Revelation 13:15, NASB95)

b. forced conversion always leads to bloodshed

ILLUS. We see it’s unholy fruit even within the history of Christianity. One of the mistakes that has blackened the pages of our faith is the Crusades. We are still today reaping the bitter fruit of the Crusades, where people that we call knights were trying to enforce Christianity, and to conquer the Holy Land with the sword. Hundreds of thousands of Muslims and Jews died because they refused to convert at the point of a sword. On the other hand, Islam learned the lesson well, and practices jihad against those who will not convert. It’s “convert or die.” We all know from recent history that ISIS, the Taliban and Al Qaeda have no reservation in killing those who will not convert to their brand of Islam.

3. the Antichrist will be into forced conversions, and he will use the religionists who follow him to accomplish it

a. those who do not convert will die

IV. THE WOMAN AND HER MONSTROUS CONSORT

“Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns.” (Revelation 17:3, NIV84)

1. the great whore of Babylon has a consort — a partner in apostasy, that John describes as a scarlet beast covered with blasphemous names

a. now at this point we have some good news, but some bad news

1) the good news is that this is one of those places in the Book of Revelation where we are given an explanation of what John sees

a) the angel says to John in vs. 7, Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides

2) the bad news is that once the angel gives an explanation we’re even more thoroughly confused

“The beast, which you saw, once was, now is not, and will come up out of the Abyss and go to his destruction. The inhabitants of the earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the creation of the world will be astonished when they see the beast, because he once was, now is not, and yet will come.” (Revelation 17:8, NIV84)

2. the description of this scarlet beast links it with the beast rising out of the sea in Revelation 13, and is just another description of the Antichrist

a. both have seven heads and ten horns

1) when the angel says that this beast once was, now is not, and yet will come it is a similar way of describing the Beast of chapter 13

“One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was astonished and followed the beast. 4 Men worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, “Who is like the beast? Who can make war against him?”” (Revelation 13:3–4, NIV84)

3. what the passage tells us is that during the Tribulation period religion will dominate and control politics — at least while religion is useful

4. but in the end the Antichrist will turn against the false religion that has helped raise him to the pinnacle of power

“The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire.” (Revelation 17:16, NIV84)

V. THE WOMAN AND HER MOMENTOUS CALAMITY

“After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. 2 With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. 3 For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.”” (Revelation 18:1–3, NIV84)

1. Revelation 12-14, is a brief intermission between the last of the Seven Trumpet Judgments and the beginning of the Seven Bowl Judgments

a. in that intermission it is prophesied that Babylon the Great will fall

b. in chapters 17-18 that destruction is given in detail

c. and amazingly, mankind will lament over the destruction

2. the world will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will be triumphant

“They will make war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will overcome them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”” (Revelation 17:14, NIV84)

3. Revelation 18 is all about the great fall of a rebellious mankind who has given its loyalty to a False Christ instead of the True Christ, and used religion to raise that false Christ to power

VI. APPLICATION

1. while scholars may debate some of the fine details of this particular vision, the main points of application seem abundantly clear:

A. CULTURE IS NOT NEUTRAL

1. in any society there will always be ideological winners and losers

a. someone, or some group or some ideology will always be prevailing at any single time in our culture

b. that was not much of an issue when competing ideologies have more similarities than they do differences

ILLUS. If you were to compare the party platforms of the Democrats and the Republicans in the 1960 presidential race between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon, the differences would have been relatively minor.

2. American society is no longer the consolidated and cohesive culture it once was, but a diffuse assortment of subcultures, each vying for influence

a. one of those subcultures is the Confessing Church — those denominations and believers who are still convinced that the Scriptures are the Christian’s only source of faith and practice

b. while numerically strong, our culture is experiencing a “squeezing out” of Christianity from national life, despite public expressions of support

1) this is especially true in the fields of higher education, and the arts and media

2) the squeezing out is happening considerably faster in Europe and Canada

c. the result is that the Christian community will have less and less influence upon the culture

3. the winners in this culture war, unfortunately, will be the secularists

a. they feign a neutrality toward religion, but privately loath it — especially Christianity, and especially conservative Christianity (or should we just call it Biblical Christianity)?

b. this is seen in simple things like the call to remove Christian symbols from public life

4. this should remind us that cultures that had once been pervasively — and even officially — Christian such as much of Europe, can become very, very non-Christian and very, very secular in a short matter of time

a. it should also remind us that a post-Christian society is not neutral toward historic Christianity; it grows increasingly hostile to historic Christianity

5. during the Tribulation period, the Antichrist will gladly use religion to further his agenda

a. this will not include the Confessing Church

B. THE DEVIL ATTACKS GOD’S PEOPLE VIA THE FRONT DOOR THROUGH GOVERNMENTAL PERSECUTION

1. this is true in many parts of the world now, and will be increasing true when the Antichrist rises to power

C. THE DEVIL ATTACKS GOD’S PEOPLE VIA THE BACKDOOR THROUGH SEDUCTIVE, IDOLATROUS CULTURE

ILLUS. One of the great pieces of Christian literature is John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress. It’s the story of a man named “Christian” who is on his way to the Celestial City. During his pilgrimage he has many experiences, some good and some bad. One of the worst was his journey through a town called Vanity where every year they hold a fair — Vanity Fair. Bunyan writes that Vanity Fair is a place where they would sell all sorts of vanity: houses, lands, trades, places, honors, promotions, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures, and delights of all sorts, such as prostitutes, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, pearls, and precious stones. Christian and his friend Faithful are determined not to buy any of the wares the fair has to offer. It’s this that infuriates the residents of Vanity. Bunyan writes: "Christian" and "Faithful" are eventually dragged off by the men of "Vanity Fair" who are astonished and indignant at the disinterest the pilgrims show to worldly things. How dare they! Bunyan reminds his readers that 1. We are all Drawn to Vanity Fair, 2. We are all Despised In Vanity Fair, and 3. We must all be Delivered from Vanity Fair.

1. culture is seductive

D. NO ENEMY OF GOD’S PEOPLE WILL FINALLY STAND — THE LORD HAS A DAY AND THAT DAY IS COMING

1. thanks be to God!

Title and outline are taken from an Adrian Rogers message. Most of the contents is my own.