The Seduction of the Prostitute and the Beast

Good morning, everyone. It's great to worship with you. If you don't know me, my name is Sean.

I'm one of the pastors of Trinity Cambridge Church, and it is my joy and privilege to preach God's

Word to you this morning. If you have your Bibles, please open it to Revelation. It's the last book

in the Bible. If you don't have a Bible, please raise your hand. We'd love to give you a copy

that you can have and use while you're here and take home with you. Revelation chapter 17.

Revelation 17 · chapter mention

Let me pray for the reading and preaching of God's Word. Father, we humble ourselves again

and incline our ears and our hearts to you so that you might address us, speak to us from your Word,

so that our perspectives that are so pervasively and thoroughly enculturated in this

sinful world might be renewed and transformed and aligned with your purposes and priorities.

So to that end, God, minister to us by the power of your Holy Spirit in the reading and preaching

of your Word for the glory of your name and fill your people this morning with the hope of the gospel.

in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

If you are able, please stand and join me as I read Revelation 17.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bulls came and said to me,

Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters,

with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality,

and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.

And he carried me away in the spirit into a wilderness,

and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names,

and it had seven heads and ten horns.

The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls,

holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality.

And on her forehead was written a name of mystery,

Babylon the Great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.

And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

When I saw her, I marveled greatly.

But the angel said to me, Why do you marvel?

I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her.

The beast that you saw was and is not and is about to rise from the bottomless pit and go to destruction.

And the dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in the book of life from the foundation of the world

will marvel to see the beast because it was and is not and is to come.

This calls for a mind with wisdom.

The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated.

They are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen.

One is, the other has not yet come.

It is an eighth, but it belongs to the seven and it goes to destruction.

And the ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power,

but they are to receive authority as kings for one hour together with the beast.

These are of one mind and they hand over their power and authority to the beast.

They will make war on the lamb and the lamb will conquer them.

For he is Lord of lords and king of kings.

And those with him are called and chosen and faithful.

And the angel said to me,

the waters that you saw where the prostitute is seated are peoples and multitudes and nations and languages.

And the ten horns that you saw, they and the beast will hate the prostitute.

They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and burn her up with fire.

For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose by being of one mind

and handing over their royal power to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled.

And the woman that you saw is the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.

This is God's holy and authoritative word.

You may be seated.

I came across a fascinating list that WalletHub, a finance company, put together entitled

The Most Sinful Cities in America.

It ranked 182 major cities in the U.S. based on how sinful it is according to their estimation.

And they used 37 different metrics with corresponding weights to determine how sinful the city is

across seven different categories of sin, broad categories of sin.

So the first category was anger and hatred.

So they used rates of violent crimes and assaults to assess the city's level of sinfulness in that category,

among other metrics.

Secondly, the rate of fraud and theft was used to assess its level of jealousy.

The instances of driving under the influence and drug use was used to assess its excesses.

The number of casinos per capita and to assess its greed.

And the number of adult entertainment establishments per capita and Google search interest index for porn to assess its lust.

And then the number of tanning salons per capita and Google search interest index for plastic surgeries to assess its vanity.

And the average time spent watching TV, among other factors, to assess its laziness.

And this is no definitive list.

It's not the Bible, obviously.

But still fascinating.

And unsurprisingly, at the top of the list is, you might guess, Las Vegas, which has been nicknamed Sin City since the early 1900s.

Houston, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Atlanta round out the top five.

Boston is ranked 95th.

But we break the top 50 in the greed category, which is not surprising.

A city is where there's a high density of people.

And for that reason, there is a concentration and synergy of human creativity and wealth and intellect.

However, that also means that there is, in cities, a concentration of human sin and pride.

And that's also one of the reasons why we are here as a church in the city.

Because those who are well have no need of a physician.

But those who are sick.

And Jesus came not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.

Ever since the tower and the city of Babel in the land of Shinar in Genesis 11,

when people said to themselves,

Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens.

And let us make a name for ourselves.

It was the first city.

Cities have since then been a monument to human hubris.

Don't people move into cities nowadays for the exact same reason?

Let us make a name for ourselves.

Let us build a city to reach to the top of the heavens.

Living life apart from God.

Living life without reference to God.

That, at its heart, is what sin is all about.

Seeking to make a name for ourselves rather than praising the name of God.

And wanting to reach the heavens so that we can, in a sense, be gods ourselves.

That sinful human hubris is succinctly captured in the final stanza of William Ernest Henley's defiant poem, Invictus.

Which goes like this.

It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll.

I am the master of my fate.

I am the captain of my soul.

He's making two biblical allusions here that you may be catching on to already.

The straight gate, S-T-R-A-I-T.

He's referring to the narrow gate that Jesus speaks of when he commends us in Matthew 7, 13.

Enter by the narrow gate, or the straight gate.

For the gate is wide, and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many.

For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

That's the first illusion.

The second one, when he talks about the scroll that is charged with punishments,

he's speaking of the scroll with the judgment seals in Revelation 5.

So then the poet is saying here,

I don't care how narrow the gate is, or how hard it is to get to heaven.

I don't care what kind of standards of obedience I have to, I'm required to follow.

I don't care what kind of fearful punishments await me in the scroll of God's judgments.

I'm going to do what I want to do, and I'm going to go where I want to, where I please to go,

because I am the master of my fate.

I am the captain of my soul.

It's such a bare-faced declaration of human rebellion that it's shocking,

but that's what's at the heart of sin, and that's what the heart of the city of man.

From the ancient city of Babel to Babylon,

from the ancient city of Rome to modern-day metropolises,

cities have been incubators and stewards of human culture,

the good, the bad, and the ugly.

And therefore, cities have been a monument to human hubris.

This is what Babylon, the great prostitute, represents,

the center of the sinful world's cultural and economic power.

Revelation portrays three main enemies of God's people

as the beast, the false prophet, and the great prostitute,

and they're all under the authority of Satan, the ancient dragon.

And they use different tools to attack and oppress God's people.

The beast's primary tool of offense against the people of God is persecution.

Oppressing the people of God.

And the false prophet, the second beast's main tool, the primary tool,

is deception.

False religion.

He gets people to worship the beast.

But the third, the great prostitute,

her primary tool is perhaps the most insidious and subtle of all.

That's seduction.

Revelation 17 to 18 both deal with the fall of Babylon, the great prostitute.

And the main point of chapter 17 is that as the bride of the lamb,

we must resist the seductive power of the prostitute and the beast.

First exhortation, verses 1 to 8, is do not marvel at their debauchery and dominion.

And the second exhortation, verses 9 to 18, is keep in mind their destruction and desolation.

And the third and final exhortation in verse 14, is be faithful to the lamb who chose you.

In order to resist the seductive power of the prostitute,

we must take care not to marvel at her debauchery and dominion in this world.

An angel invites John to come and see the judgment of the great prostitute

who is seated on many waters, in verses 1 and 2,

with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality,

and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.

We are told in verse 5 that the name of this great prostitute is Babylon the Great,

mother of prostitutes and earth's abominations.

And so the downfall of Babylon was already proclaimed early in chapter 14,

and the seventh bull that Charlie preached on last week from chapter 16

also talked about the fall of Babylon.

And in chapter 17 to 18, we see in great detail how it actually happens.

She is called Babylon the Great, and the great prostitute,

much like the great red dragon that she serves from chapter 12,

to indicate the enormous scale and power and influence that she wields.

Verse 18 calls her the great city that has dominion over the kings of the earth.

Ancient Babylon was the biggest city in the world in its heyday,

and because the Babylonian empire sacked Jerusalem

and carried Judah into captivity and exile,

and because King Nebuchadnezzar tried to assimilate the Jews,

their culture and their religion into Babylonian culture and religion,

and lead them to apostasy,

the name Babylon became synonymous in biblical literature

with worldly powers and influences that persecute God's people

and seduce them into compromise.

That's what Babylon represents.

In the first century AD, when Revelation was written,

the main Babylon would have been Rome,

because in the same way that Babylonian empire destroyed Jerusalem

and its temple in 586 BC,

so the Roman empire destroyed Jerusalem and its temple in 70 AD.

Later in verse 9, we're told that the seven heads of the beast

are seven mountains on which the woman is seated.

Rome was popularly called a city on seven hills,

city of seven hills.

In the ancient world, you can see actually a coin

that was produced in 71 AD under Emperor Vespasian's reign,

which depicts on the left,

I think I have a picture of this to show, Gary.

It shows the picture of goddess Roma,

who is a personification of the city of Rome,

and she is sitting on seven mountains or seven hills.

And to the right of her, you see the water, the river Tiber.

And Babylon, the great prostitute,

cannot be understood, however, as only referring to Rome.

Even though it does refer to Rome,

it's not referring only to Rome.

And John makes that clear here in Revelation 17 to 18,

because Rome already fell.

It was already sacked many hundreds of years ago.

But this Babylon will finally fall only at the end of the age.

So she is called Babylon here, not Rome,

because Babylon is the type and the pattern

that represents all cities that are at the center

of the sinful world's cultural influence and economic power.

So what modern sociologists call today global cities,

or world cities, or alpha cities,

I didn't even know these terms existed until this week,

such as New York and London,

which function as hubs of the global economy

and international politics,

as well as cultural centers featuring world-renowned theater,

museums, and landmarks,

can also be appropriately called Babylon.

Verse 1 says that this great prostitute

is seated on many waters.

This is an expression that is taken from Jeremiah 51.13,

which prophesies of the fall of Babylon,

who dwells by many waters, rich in treasures.

The idea of dwelling by many waters

is connected to the fact that she is rich in treasures

because of the bodies of water that enrich the cities

by making them centers of trade and commerce.

Ancient Babylon was famously built upon

the Tigris and Euphrates rivers,

the rivers,

thrived as the economic center of the ancient world.

That's why that whole geographic region

is called Mesopotamia,

which means between two rivers,

between the rivers.

Similarly, ancient Rome,

seated on the Tiber River,

and by the Tyrrhenian Sea,

was the commercial center of the world.

An angel later explains in verse 15,

the waters that you saw

where the prostitute is seated

are peoples and multitudes

and nations and languages.

Both Babylon and Rome

teamed with multitudes

and nations and peoples

from all cultures

going in and out of them all the time.

And this is an apt picture

of the great prostitute

seated on many waters

and her whoredom,

her sexual immorality.

Proverbs 5, 15, 16

counsels young men

to flee from the adulteress

and to be faithful to his wife

with these words.

Drink water from your own cistern,

flowing water from your own well.

Should your springs be scattered abroad,

streams of water in the streets,

let them be for yourself alone

and not for strangers with you.

But Babylon and Rome

and all major metropolitan centers

of cultural and economic power,

they drink,

not from one source of water,

but from many waters.

And they share their streams of water

with strangers,

scattering their springs abroad.

So verse 2 says,

with her,

the kings of the earth

have committed sexual immorality

and with the wine

of her sexual immorality,

the dwellers on earth

have become drunk.

And if you've been with us

through our series

in the book of Revelation,

you know that the phrase

dwellers on earth

is John's characteristic way

of referring to

the unrepentant,

people who in this world,

unbelievers,

who are unrepentant of their sins

and continue to rebel against God.

And these people are drunk

on the wine of Babylon's

sexual immorality,

which we find out in verse 6

is the blood of the saints,

the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.

Babylon's prosperity

and intoxication

come at the expense

of the lifeblood

of the people of God

because her cultural

and economic prowess

lead to the oppression

and marginalization

of God's people

who do not participate

in their idolatrous agenda.

And this prostitute

is fertile.

Verse 5 says

that she is a mother

of prostitutes

and of earth's abominations.

She produces offspring

that are also prostitutes

and our abominations

fill the earth

with even more abominations.

And this is figurative language

because obviously people

don't commit sexual immorality

with cities.

They do so all the time

in cities,

but they don't do it

with cities.

So this is a metaphor

for partaking in

and coming under

the influence

of Babylon's worldliness

and sinful idolatry.

Because sexual immorality

is such a shocking

betrayal of true love

within marriage,

the Bible often uses it

as a metaphor

for spiritual idolatry.

In what ways

have the self-sufficient arrogance,

the self-absorbed vanity,

the liberal sensuality,

and the boundless greed

and ambition

of the city of man

rubbed off on you?

Maybe you're not committing

blatant adultery

and spiritual idolatry

against God.

But imagine a married woman

who is infatuated

with a man

who is not her husband.

She hasn't had sex with him,

but they're in each other's DMs

sending flirty texts

and emojis.

She fantasizes about him

and her mind and heart

are more occupied with him

than with her own husband.

When she is talking to him

in person,

she gets,

her eyes get all,

you know,

oogly-googly

and she giggles

in a way that she never does

when she's with her husband.

Yes, she hasn't slept with him,

at least not yet,

but would you call that faithful?

Faithful?

Even if there isn't

physical adultery,

there is certainly

emotional adultery,

adultery of the heart.

And in what ways

are we trying to do

exactly that with Babylon,

the city of man?

Babylon exerts

its sinful influence

upon people of God

even today.

Are you consumed with zeal

for the glory of God?

Or are you consumed

with lust

for the glory of man?

Do you live

with an eternal,

heavenly perspective?

Or do you live

with a temporal,

earthly perspective?

Are the purposes

and priorities

of your life

governed by

and grounded

in God's word

in the scriptures?

Or have you adopted

the world's agenda

of health

and wealth

and sex

and success

at all costs?

Are your relational

impulses

driven by

the principles

of scripture?

How you treat people?

Or is it determined

more by Taylor Swift lyrics

than TikTok videos?

Is your perception

of beauty

shaped by the virtues

described in scripture?

Or is your view

of beauty

motivated

or shaped

by the style trends

on Instagram?

Are you motivated

and constrained

by the love of God?

Or do you live

primarily for the love

and approval

of man?

When John actually

sees

Babylon the great

prostitute

in his vision

in verse 3

he sees that she

is sitting

on a scarlet beast

that was full

of blasphemous names

and it has 7 heads

and 10 horns.

This description

is a tip off

that we've seen

this beast before.

In Revelation 13.1

we saw a beast

with 10 horns

and 7 heads

with 10 diatems

on its horns

and blasphemous names

on its heads.

And when I preached

on chapter 13

I explained to you

that this beast

is a hybrid beast.

It's a combination

of the four beasts

that are prophesied of

in Daniel 7

that represent

the Babylonian Empire

the Medo-Persian Empire

the Macedonian Empire

and finally

the Roman Empire.

So then this beast

is not primarily

a representation

of a single antichrist

as much as

it is a composite symbol

and a corporate representative

of all antichrists

of the worldly kings

and kingdoms

that oppose God

and persecute his people.

The beast in short

represents political power

and Babylon in short

represents cultural

and economic power.

And there is an unholy alliance

between the two.

We are told in verse 7

that this beast

carries Babylon around

meaning this beast's

political authority

serves as a pedestal

for Babylon's cultural

and economic prominence.

the political powers

of this world

ensure the ascendancy

and dominance

of sin and worldliness

in our culture.

Remember the beast's policy

in chapter 13 verse 17

no one can buy or sell

unless he has the mark

of the beast

that is the name of the beast

or the number of its name.

Unless you pledge allegiance

to the beast

and commit idolatry

you cannot buy

and sell and prosper.

So then people

who would grow rich

people who would grow rich

must prostitute themselves

with Babylon

and they also must

prostrate themselves

at the feet of the beast

and worship him.

And there's something

about this dominion

that the beast

and the prophet

have over the world

that's alluring.

I will elaborate on this

a little further later

but the beast

and the prostitute

both imitate Christ

and his church respectively.

Three times we are told

here that this beast

was and is not

and is to come.

This is a crude imitation

of God and Christ.

God is repeatedly described

in the book of Revelation

as the eternal one

chapter 1 verse 4

chapter 1 verse 8

chapter 4 verse 8

as the one who was

and is and is to come.

Moreover we are assured

repeatedly

all throughout Revelation

that Jesus is the one

who is coming soon.

So then this beast

is imitating that.

It says in verse 8

that the world

will marvel

to see the beast

because it was

and is not

and is to come.

This is alluding back

to chapter 13 verse 3

which talked about

how the beast

was one of its heads

seemed to have

a mortal wound.

It died basically

but it was raised

to life again.

It was healed

and the whole world

marveled at it

and followed it.

Notice the word marvel

is used there

as well as here.

in parallel.

So one of its heads

the beast's heads

one of the kings

that seemingly dies

and is raised to life again

is making a mockery

of Jesus

a parody of Jesus

who was described

in chapter 5

as having been inflicted

with a mortal wound

and yet standing

risen.

Irish poet

Oscar Wilde

popularized the proverb

imitation is the

sincerest form

of flattery

that mediocrity

can pay to greatness.

Another proverb says

hypocrisy is

an homage

that vice

pays to virtue.

This is what's

going on here.

The dragon

and the beast

cannot fix

their mediocrity

so they imitate

God and Christ

in their greatness.

The beast

can only produce

cheap knockoffs

of the real thing.

so everything about him

his kingdom

and his glory

his name

it's all bootleg

bogus

and this beast

derives

its plausibility

its credibility

by imitating

the true king

Jesus.

But this imitation

is alluring.

Verse 8 says

that the world

will marvel

to see the beast.

Similarly verse 6

says that

when John saw

the great prostitute

he marveled

greatly.

John is obviously

not worshipping

Babylon

in the same way

that the earth dwellers

are following

after her

and marveling

at the beast

because he knows

exactly what she is.

The angel tells him

exactly what this

woman is.

John can see

the name

the profanities

the blasphemous name

on her head

but when he still

sees this woman

this Babylon

all rayed

in purple

and scarlet

a beautiful

seductive

nightgown

adorned

with gold

and jewels

and pearls

holding in her hand

a golden cup

and he sees her

sitting on this

powerful beast

writing

John marvels

greatly

prompting the angel's

implicit rebuke

in verse 7

why do you marvel?

Don't be amazed

by her

don't be dismayed

by her

I will explain

to you

her full identity

and faith.

There's something

about the rule

and authority

of the beast

and the Babylon

the prostitute

something about

the beast's rule

and authority

and power

resembles God's

rule and authority

and power

something about

the beauty

and the diversity

of Babylon

resembles the beauty

and diversity

of the people

of God

the church

of Christ

there's something

about the productivity

and prosperity

of Babylon

that resembles

our heavenly

inheritance

and labor

for the Lord

in the kingdom

of God

but don't marvel

at the great

prostitute

what makes you

marvel at the city

of man

is it its

cosmopolitanism

with its

various languages

and cuisines

the world

is your oyster

does it make

you feel cultured

not boxed in

by the narrow

bigotry

and prejudice

that you attribute

to your parents

or the small town

that you grew up in

or is it the city's

prosperity

cities generate

so much wealth

people living

in urban areas

earn significantly more

and have higher

living standards

than people in rural areas

or is it the city's

intellectualism

are you drawn

to the air

of sophistication

and academic rigor

that permeate our city

or is it the many

sensual pleasures

and delights

that the city

of man promises

Babylon

the city of man

is only a crude

imitation of the

new Jerusalem

the city of God

so do not marvel

at the debauchery

and dominion

of the prostitute

also keep in mind

the eventual destruction

and desolation

of the beast

in Babylon

I've said to you before

that the description

of the beast

as the one who was

and is not

and is about to rise

is John's creative use

of the Nero legends

that were popular

during his day

Nero Caesar

was the emperor of Rome

from 54 to 68 AD

but when he was

eventually deposed

by the Roman senate

he killed himself

but because his death

was shrouded in mystery

and there weren't

many witnesses

there were really

no witnesses

many people refused

to accept the rumor

of his death

and believed that

Nero had taken refuge

among the Parthians

who lived in the north

and that he would return

that Nero would return

to exact vengeance

on those who had deposed

him in order to

retake the kingdom

so this was a myth

that was very popular

called Nero returned

or Nero living again

two related myths

and this myth

was so widely believed

that historically

there were three

Nero imposters

emerged in the coming years

after Nero's death

all trying to lead

a rebellion

trying to claim

to be this return of Nero

and John is making

creative use

of this Nero legend

because he's using Nero

as the type

or the pattern

of the antichrist

because of Nero's

notorious persecution

of Christians

second century

Christian author

Tertullian

calls Nero

the first

that persecuted

the Christian doctrine

third century

Lactantius

also wrote

that Nero

was the first

that persecuted

the servants of God

so he's the first

great persecutor

of the church

and in that sense

becomes the prototype

and the archetype

of all those

who would come

as antichrist

to persecute

God's people

and that's why

Tertullian later

calls Emperor Domitian

who also persecuted

Christians

the second Nero

in this way

this beast

who has been healed

of his mortal wound

appears in the

repeated rise

and fall

of states

and kingdoms

that oppose God

and oppress his people

in scripture

first it was Egypt

and then Babylon

then Persia

then Macedonia

and then Rome

and so on

right down

to our modern age

but I think

at the end

of the end times

there will also be

a singular

antichrist

who will conquer

the people of God

like never before

that's why

verse 8 says

that the beast

that was

and is not

and is about

to rise

from the bottomless pit

and go to destruction

it talks about

how he is not

during John's time

this beast

is not

but he's about

to rise

from the bottomless pit

this final beast

is a part

of this beast

in chapter 13

but according

to verse 11

it is an eighth head

that comes

at the end

of the end

though it belongs

to the seven

it is an eighth head

and it goes

to destruction

people have tried

to decipher

verse 10

the meaning of it

in so many different ways

seven kings

five of whom have fallen

one is

the other is not yet to come

and when he does come

he must remain

only a little while

people have tried

to pin

these exact

exact words

on individuals

historical figures

but there

has been no consensus

because I don't think

John intended

for us to pin

these people

on exact historical figures

there are seven kings

because as John does

all throughout the book

seven is the number

for completeness

and the seven kings

represent all

of the worldly rulers

that persecute

God's people

during the church age

and this eighth one

is the final one

the end of the end

the ultimate antichrist

who will reign

with the ten horns

in verse 12

who are called

the ten kings

who have not yet

received royal power

and they are to receive

authority as kings

for one hour

together with the beast

but these ten kings

will eventually

hand over their power

and authority

to the beast

and together

they will make war

on the lamb

it says in verse 14

notice just how many times

this passage reminds us

of the final destruction

of the beast

and the prostitute

it's ironic

that the beast was

and is not

and is about to rise

from the bottomless pit

but for what

what does

what purpose

and to what end

does he rise

from the bottomless pit

verse 8 tells us

the beast was

and is not

and is about to rise

from the bottomless pit

and go to destruction

that's the destiny

of the beast

when this eighth king

finally comes

what will happen

to him

verse 11 tells us

it goes to destruction

again

these ten kings

will reign

with the final antichrist

and hand over

their authority

to the beast

how long will

their reign last

verse 12 tells us

only for one hour

indicating a short

defined

limited period of time

this is in stark contrast

to our lord jesus

the lamb of god

who is the lord of the lords

and king of kings

unlike the beast

and these kings

who come

rise only in order

to go to destruction

the resurrected jesus

says in verse

chapter 1

verses 17 and 18

fear not

i am the first

and the last

and the living one

i died

and behold

i am alive

forevermore

and i have the keys

of death

and hades

jesus died

for our sins

on the cross

and he was raised

from the dead

so that death

no longer has

dominion over him

unlike this beast

who will come

and only go

to destruction

likewise with babylon

it says in verse 16

the ten horns

and the beast

will hate

the prostitute

they will make her

desolate and naked

and devour her flesh

and burn her up

with fire

that's the sad fate

of all prostitutes

eventually they're

discarded

when they're no longer

useful for the pleasures

of the man

that they serve

at the end of the end

the great prostitutes

unholy alliance

with the beast

will fall apart

and the great prostitute

will be abandoned

left desolate

and naked

by the very kings

that ravaged her

for their pleasure

the three descriptions

of babylon's

ultimate fate

fit the metaphors

that are in this chapter

like a discarded prostitute

she will be desolate

and naked

like an animal

that is preyed upon

she will be devoured

her flesh will be devoured

by the beast

and like a city

that is conquered

she will be burned up

with fire

the political side

of the world's

anti-god system

will turn against

the center

of the world's

cultural and economic

influence

and they will together

become undone

because as Jesus said

in Mark 3 26

if Satan has risen up

against himself

and is divided

he cannot stand

he cannot stand

but is coming

to an end

that's how

the beast

and the prostitute

and Satan

the great dragon

will all come

to an end

the sovereignty

and providence

of God

in all of this

should give us

much comfort

notice in verse 17

the reason why

the beast

and the ten kings

turn against Babylon

it says

for God

has put it

into their hearts

to carry out

his purpose

by being of one mind

and handing over

their royal power

to the beast

until the words

of God

are fulfilled

that's an amazing

verse

the Bible

never paints

a dualistic

picture

of God

pitted against

Satan

as if they're

equals

kind of

in a do or die

match

Satan

is never

God's

equal

to suggest

it is blasphemous

and insulting

to the glory

of God

Satan

will always

and forever

do God's bidding

no matter how hard

he tries

to rebel

it's God

who puts it

into the heart

of the antichrist

and his puppets

to unite

in their desolation

of Babylon

it's God

who puts it

in their heart

so that they

together wage

war against the lamb

and his saints

so that he can

fulfill the word

of God

that's so much

power

so much majesty

authority

glory

and that

ought to give us

hope and endurance

when we know

that our victory

is assured

in the end

in 2017

Super Bowl 51

the New England

Patriots

accomplished the

largest comeback

in Super Bowl history

how many of you guys

there for that

yeah

not many

I wasn't there

either

I mean I was there

in front of TV

is what I mean

they came back

from a 28-3

deficit

in the third quarter

to win the game

it was an incredible game

it's the only football game

that I've watched

more than once

and when I talked

to a friend of mine

Toby

after the game

he told me how

he told his kids

to go to bed

during the third quarter

because it's over

you know

they're not coming back

from this

so go to bed

and they went to bed

and they missed

the greatest comeback

of the greatest game

in NFL history

I'm not biased at all

and they lost hope

and they despaired

but imagine later on

if they're re-watching this

the recorded game

do you think that they will

stop watching

in the third quarter?

of course not

that's when the fun starts

right

because you know

what the outcome is

you know they come back

and win in the end

they can endure

the three quarters

of thumping

by the Atlanta Falcons

because they know

what's coming

in the end

I hesitated to use

this illustration

because

even though there are

good

good things

about sports

and in sports

that we can enjoy

responsibly

it also appeals

to the vanity

and pride of man

like all things

that are of Babylon

and they tend

toward idolatry

unless checked

by the redeeming grace

of God

but it illustrates

the importance

of faith

and hope

when you feel

downtrodden

by the sinful world

and the flesh

and the devil

when you're weary

from your spiritual battle

when you're on the verge

of despair

when you begin to wonder

if it's

is it worth

following Christ?

is it worth

bearing all this cost?

keep in mind

the destruction

of the beast

and the desolation

of Babylon

they will make war

on the lamb

and the lamb

will conquer them

for he is lord of lords

and king of kings

and those with him

are called

and chosen

and faithful

it's this hope

for the end

the triumph

of the lamb

that will enable us

to be overcomers

instead of suck-comers

and that brings me

to my final point

verse 14

reminds us

that we

who belong to the lamb

are called

and chosen

and faithful

the words called

and chosen

both refer to

God's unilateral

act of choosing us

his election

and his effectual call

of his people

out of all the nations

and out of all the peoples

of the world

God chose us

to be his people

and God called us

to be his witnesses

and to belong to him

and as such

we should be set apart

for God

as the bride of the lamb

as his bride

we should be faithful

to him

and resist the seductive

power of the prostitute

there's an implicit

command there

in describing

God's people

as faithful

the word faithful

is reminiscent

of Jesus' command

in Revelation 2.10

be faithful

unto death

and I will give you

the crown of life

be faithful

trustworthy witnesses

just like Jesus

but God is not

commanding us here

to earn his favor

by our faithfulness

rather

the people of God

are faithful

because they are called

and chosen

as you saw earlier

in when describing

the people of the world

the dwellers on earth

who marvel

and follow after the beast

it said that they were

specifically those

whose names were not

written in the book of life

it's because

we are called

and chosen

that we do not marvel

at the beast

and follow him

but instead remain faithful

to the bride

of the lamb

Babylon the great prostitute

serves as literary foil

to the church

the bride of the lamb

in several important ways

notice how John

is carried away

in the spirit

into the wilderness

in verse 3

where he sees a woman

do you remember

when another time

when John was carried

in the spirit

into a wilderness

to see a woman

in chapter 13

or chapter 12

verse 6

and in there

he saw a woman

in the desert

and it was

the woman

that represented

the church

the people of God

and she was nourished

by God

in the wilderness

but that's contrasted here

with this woman

who is a prostitute

in the wilderness

and she instead

of being nourished

by God

is nourished

by her sexual immorality

intercourse

with the people

the nations

in the languages

the contrast

is reinforced

by the way

Babylon is introduced

in verse 1

it says

then one of the

seven angels

who had the seven bowls

came and said to me

come I will show you

the judgment

of the great prostitute

now compare that

to Revelation 21 9

where it says

then came

one of the seven angels

who had the seven bowls

full of the last plagues

and spoke to me

saying

come I will show you

the bride

the wife of the lamb

it may be

the exact same angel

that's introducing

both of these women

they're both

the angel

that had the bowl

of the wrath of God

and they both

use the same formula

to introduce them

come I will show you

the prostitute

or the bride

the great prostitute

is the city of man

but the bride of the lamb

is the city of God

the holy city of Jerusalem

it says

in chapter 21 verse 10

the prostitute

was drunk

with the blood

of the saints

the blood of the martyrs

of Jesus

but the bride of the lamb

is washed clean

in the blood

of the lamb

Revelation 7 14

Babylon

has written

on her forehead

the name

Babylon the great

mother of prostitutes

and of earth's abominations

but for new Jerusalem

the name of God

and of the lamb

will be on their foreheads

it says in Revelation 21 4

at the end

of the end

the great prostitute

will be desolate

and naked

but the bride of the lamb

will be clothed

in white garments

it says

throughout Revelation

no we will not

be desolate

and abandoned

God will dwell

with us forever

and wipe every tear

from our eyes

are you desperate

and discouraged

this morning

because of your own

sinfulness

do you feel defiled

by your spiritual adultery

do you feel

that you're more

like the whore

Babylon

and less like

the pure

virgin bride

of Christ

there's hope

for you

and for all of us

because

Jesus Christ

our bridegroom

is also our redeemer

contained within

the genealogy

of Jesus our savior

in Matthew chapter 1

Matthew 1 · chapter mention

is not one prostitute

but two prostitutes

in the ancestry

of Jesus

Tamar

who prostituted

herself

and Rahab

the prostitute

in the book

of Hosea

in order that

God might

show

the Israelites

what his relationship

with them is like

he commands

prophet Hosea

to take

and marry

a wife

of whoredom

and have children

of whoredom

for the land

commits great whoredom

by forsaking the Lord

then in Hosea

2.23

God promises

that he will redeem

his unfaithful

whoring people

saying

I will have mercy

on no mercy

and I will say

to not my people

you are my people

no mercy

and not my people

are respectively

names of the daughter

and son

of Hosea

and Gomer

his unfaithful wife

his whoring wife

he will say

to them

to no mercy

I will have mercy

to not my people

you are my people

and he shall say

you are my God

that's what we read

in our assurance of pardon

from 1 Peter 2.9-10

today

but you are a chosen race

a royal priesthood

a holy nation

a people for his own possession

that you may proclaim

the excellencies

of him who called you

out of darkness

into his marvelous light

once you were not a people

but now you are God's people

once you had not received mercy

but now you have received mercy

this is

a staggering reality

God out of his love for us

arranged for his only son

to marry a prostitute

in God's grace and mercy

the whore

becomes the pure virgin

bride of the land

isn't that why God commands

us husbands

to love our wives

as Christ loved the church

and gave himself up for her

by washing her

with the water of the word

that she might be

set apart

so he might present

the church to himself

in splendor

without spot

or wrinkle

or any such thing

that she might be holy

and without blemish

we were all

once prostitutes

in league with Babylon

but Jesus

sanctified us

for himself

by dying on the cross

for our sins

and being raised

from the dead

Jesus called us

and he chose us

to be his holy bride

so how can we be faithful

to this bridegroom

it's by

abiding in

Jesus

the faithful one

he's described

again and again

throughout revelation

as the faithful

and true one

by believing

in this gospel

of what Jesus

has done for us

by putting

all our faith

in Jesus

and not in our own

righteousness

we cling to Jesus

and abide in him

and in abiding

in the faithful one

we ourselves

are strengthened

and enabled

to be faithful

to him

let's pray

that God

will help us

to do that

Father thank you

for your mercy

for sending your only son

to take for himself

a wife of whoredom

so that we might be

rescued

redeemed

cleansed

called

chosen

and what glorious

future

what glorious

reality

you

impart to us

that we get to be

the bride of the lamb

pure and without blemish

because of Jesus

and his

sacrifice

on the cross

Lord

fill us with

the renewed

sense of wonder

help us instead

marveling at

the beast

and the prostitute

help us to grow

in our

in marveling at

in worshiping

our Lord Jesus

and his wondrous gospel

what he has done

help us

fill us with

thanksgiving

in response

to that

in Jesus name

we pray

amen

exhale

so

receiving

induction

prayer

JEFF

you

okay