[Sermon from Hyde Park Vineyard Church]

I hope that this study that we've been doing on the book of Revelations has been good for you. I hope that this study has not only helped you better understand this difficult book, but that you have really been challenged in your personal walk with Jesus. You know, we can stand up here and be as interesting, funny, and exciting as we possibly can, but none of that means anything if our lives are not changed by the word of God. We read in 2 Timothy Chapter 3 that "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

We are not studying Revelation to grow smarter or even wiser. We are studying Revelation because we believe that God has breathed life into these words, and that as we study these words that we would be "thoroughly equipped for every good work." We believe that lives should be changed as we encounter God in these words. That is my high expectation for this time. I hope that you will encounter God here this morning. I hope that you will feel His presence here this morning. I pray that none of us here would leave without being touched by the life-changing power of God.

We have been studying the book of Revelation for the past two months now. There are 22 chapters in the book of Revelations and today we are on chapter 17. So we are really close to finishing up our study on this book. To get us on the same page, let me give you a quick overview.

General Outline of Revelations

I. Prologue (1:1-8)
II. Churches Addressed (1:9-3:22)
III. God in Majesty and Judgment (4:1-16:21)
IV. Final Judgment at the Arrival of the Eschaton (17:1-20:15)
V. New Heaven and New Earth (21:1-22:5)
VI. Epilogue (22:6-21)

The book of Revelation can be divided into 6 sections which consist of 4 major sections with 2 sections that serve as bookends, which are the Prologue and the Epilogue. The first section of the book, from chapter 1 versus 1-8, is the prologue of the book which includes a very brief intro to the book by the author himself, and then he follows the prescriptive format of an epistle found throughout the New Testament which contains three elements: the sender, which in our case is John, the recipient, which in our case is the 7 churches of Asia, and the greeting, or "grace and peace."

In the second section, rest of chapter 1 through chapter 3, we saw John address the 7 churches of Asia with both praise for their good deeds ("I know your works") and admonition for the bad ("but I have this against you").

And last week, Jonathan did a phenomenal job teaching on chapters 15 and 16. And with those 2 chapters, we concluded the third major section of the book of Revelation, which dealt with the majesty and the judgment of God. As John pointed out last week, we saw the sovereignty of God in his judgment and that this judgment was finite and was designed to bring glory to God.

So today, as we study the 17th chapter of this book, we begin the 4th major section. In chapter 17 we will see the great prostitute and the scarlet beast, which stand in stark contrast to the glorious lamb. Before revealing the ultimate victory of God in the final sections of this book, chapter 17 deals in depth with the enemy whose destruction is eminent and complete. So if you will, think of this section as the darkness that must fade before the morning light.

And with that, I would like us to get started by reading this passage out loud together. Don't worry, there are only 18 verses. One of the things that I remember as a child going to some of the more traditional churches was that the congregation stood together when they read from the scripture as a symbol of their reverence for the Word of God. So if you don’t mind, please stand if you are able, as we read this chapter together. Let us read together from the Word of God that is alive and powerful.

The fall of Babylon has already been announced in Revelation 14:8. Its doom has already been certified. Now the prophet fills in the details, taking all of chapters 17-18 to do so. Both ecclesiastical and political Babylon comes into view in the passages that follow. The city itself is pictured as a drunken prostitute who is about to fall into judgment. She drains the cup of Gods wrath, only to be deceived by the very beast that carries her.

John is summoned by one of the angels to view the judgment of the great prostitute. By contrast, later he will be summoned to view the bride of the Lamb. And this correlation is very deliberate. It sets forth the contrast between the kingdom of the Antichrist, the city of the great prostitute, and the city of the bride of Christ, the New Jerusalem.

VERSES 1-6
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. 6 I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her, I was greatly astonished.

The angel promises to show John the punishment of the great prostitute (v. 1) with whom the kings of the earth committed adultery (v. 2). The angel's language, focusing on the prostitute's punishment, confirms the notion that the vision extends beyond chapter 17 through 19:10. Her punishment is not specified until 17:16, and it then goes on to occupy chapter 18 and the beginning of chapter 19. The angel begins by carrying John in the Spirit to a desert, where he is shown an image of the woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns and on this beast is the seated woman, who is dressed in purple and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls (v. 4). She is a picture of wealth, extravagance, and luxury. John's attention is intently focused on this woman, and he identifies her by the name written on her forehead: BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH, which we read in verse 5. This name, he tells us, is a mystery. He has used the name "Babylon" before (14:8; 16:19), but now he explains that it is a figurative or symbolic name, like "Sodom and Egypt" applied earlier to the city where the two witnesses died, which we see in chapter 11 verse 8.

1. John's imagery of this great prostitute appears to be drawn from Jeremiah 51:7-8, where Babylon is referred to as a "golden cup" that made the nations drunk with the intoxicating desire for power. Thus, John takes the name of Israel's ancient enemy, Babylon, and uses it for Rome. The prostitute is Rome. Adorned in luxury and intoxicated with the blood of the saints, she stands for a dominant world system based on seduction for personal gain over and against the righteous demands of a persecuted minority.

2. The great prostitute is not only depicted riding the scarlet beast but also riding upon "many waters," which 17:15 describes as "peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues." This depicts the worldwide control and influence the woman has over the earth's population. She is seen as promoting a world religion that engulfs the world political system. One scholar writes the following: “After the rapture of the true church, all that will be left in Christendom will be apostate, be it Catholic, orthodox, Protestant, evangelical, or charismatic. False religion will easily and quickly preempt the hollow structures of the religious systems that remain. Pragmatic considerations of economic, social, and political survival will overrule all religious preferences in favor of a global religious system among the Western nations. The religion of the last days will be materialism and commercialism of the worst sort. What is frightening is that we are already on the verge of it now!”

“The religion of the last days will be materialism and commercialism of the worst sort.” You and I here today live in the wealthiest country in the history of mankind. Never before have the people been so rich and filled with such greed as today, that storage centers are becoming a booming business. We have so much stuff that we need to rent out space just so that we can have a place to keep them all. Materialism and commercialism are destroying lives. We know in our head that money can’t buy us happiness, but we sure can’t stop trying, can we?

John D. Rockefeller said the following:

I have made many millions, but they have brought me no happiness.

One pastor writes the following:

A checkbook and financial statements are theological documents, they will tell you who and what you worship.

Martin Luther, the German reformer and theologian wrote:

I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all. But whatever I have placed in God’s hands, that I still possess.

And if you want a quote from the original material girl, here it is. It’s a quote from Madonna:

Take it from me. I went down the road of ‘be all you can be, realize your dreams,’ and I’m telling you that fame and fortune are not what they’re cracked up to be.

Another pastor writes:

The principal hindrance to the advancement of the kingdom of God is greed. It is the chief obstacle to heaven-sent revival. It seems that when the back of greed is broken, the human spirit soars into regions of unselfishness. I believe that it is safe to say there can be no continuous revival without ‘hilarious’ giving. And I fear no contradiction: wherever there is ‘hilarious’ giving there will soon be revival!

I hope that those of us here today at the Hyde Park Vineyard Church can lead the way in using the many blessings that God has given us to expand his kingdom here on earth. I hope that many us here today can live a life of “hilarious” giving!

3. As we continue with our passage for today, we read in verse 6 that John was “greatly astonished” when he saw the great prostitute and the scarlet beast and this catches the attention of the angel who asks him, "Why are you astonished?" What exactly is the emotion here? One scholar describes John reaction here as sheer surprise. Here is what he writes: "The Seer had been invited to see the downfall of Babylon; the angel had offered to show him her sentence executed. He expected to see a city in ruins. But instead of this there had risen before him on the floor of the desert the picture of a woman gilded, jeweled, splendidly attired, mounted on a scarlet monster, drunk with blood. It was a complete surprise. Who was this woman?" John is on the brink of yielding to temptation, but the temptation is not sexual. John's astonishment is more dangerous than that, for it is closer to worship. It recalls the earlier account in which "the whole world was astonished and followed the beast.” John is taken in by the beast as much as by the woman. It is not "erotic power" that momentarily beguiles him, but the power and wealth and magnificence that ruled the world in which he lived.

VERSES 7-13
Then the angel said to me: "Why are you astonished? I will explain to you the mystery of the woman and of the beast she rides, which has the seven heads and ten horns. 8 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. 9 "This calls for a mind with wisdom. The seven heads are seven hills on which the woman sits. 10 They are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come; but when he does come, he must remain for a little while. 11 The beast who once was, and now is not, is an eighth king. He belongs to the seven and is going to his destruction. 12 "The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast.

In these verses the mystery of this vision explained.

1. This beast was, and is not, and yet is, and this of course parodies the designation of God as the one "who was, and is, and is to come", in such a way as to make the beast sound ridiculous. The "Lord God Almighty" is from eternity to eternity, while the beast moves from being to nonbeing to being again and finally to destruction. God is the one who deserves astonishment, admiration and worship.

2. We see that this beast has seven heads, which appears to have double significance.
a. The first is that it refers to the seven mountains, or the seven hills on which Rome stands.
b. The second is that it refers to the seven kings, or the seven sorts of government. Rome was governed by kings, consuls, tribunes, dictators, emperors who were pagan and emperors who were Christian.

3. The ten horns of the beast are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. The word kingdom is here defined by the phrase authority as kings. At the time John writes, the ten are not yet kings because they have not yet received kingly authority. Like the seventh king and like the eighth, they belong to the future, and they too will hold sway for an unspecified time, represented by the phrase one hour. These kings have one purpose. Instead of receiving their authority from the beast, as we might expect, they give their power and authority to the beast.

VERSES 14-18
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." 15 Then the angel said to me, "The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16 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. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to give the beast their power to rule, until God's words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth."

Here we have some account of the downfall of Babylon, to be more fully described in the following chapter which will be covered next week.

1. Here a war is begun between the beast and his followers, and the Lamb and his followers. The beast and his army, to an eye of sense, appear much stronger than the Lamb and his army: one would think an army with a lamb at the head of them could not stand before the great red dragon. But, the Lamb is victorious. Christ must reign till all enemies are put under his feet; he will be sure to meet with many enemies, and much opposition, but he will also be sure to gain the victory.

2. I believe that it is important to note here that the words “called”, “chosen” and “faithful” are conditions for participating in the victory, each more specific than the one before: first “called”, then not only called but “chosen”, and finally, not only chosen but “faithful.” The purpose of these adjectives is similar to that of the seven messages of chapters 2-3: to encourage John's readers to be faithful so as to "overcome.”

3. Earlier it had seemed that the forces of evil had summoned the kings to battle at Armageddon. John had seen "three evil spirits that looked like frogs" coming from the mouths of the dragon, the beast and the false prophet. These he had defined as "spirits of demons performing miraculous signs," going out "to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty" (16:13-14). Now, as he is allowed to look more deeply into the same events, John is reminded of the sovereignty of God superintending even the thoughts and purposes of the enemy. Armageddon turns out to be a trap, and God has led them straight into it. In other words, God is in absolute control! Even when things appear to be going for the enemy, our God was and is and will always be in absolute control. And in that we can have confidence today!

So what can we take away from this passage today? Let me give you two applications that I hope you will start putting into use right away.

1. Resist the allures of this world by doing the following:

• Remember that everything in this world will fade away
• Voluntarily deny yourself good things in this world
• Trust that God will provide for all of your needs

2. The second application isn’t specific to this particular passage as much as it is to the entire book of Revelation, but I really felt strongly about sharing it with you this morning. And it’s this: Remember that our ultimate hope is in Christ. As Rand pointed out a couple of weeks ago, one of the major thrusts of the book of Revelation is one of hope. In the book of Revelation we’re given the meta-story of what was, what is, and what will be. The reader is supposed to read this book and realize that life is hard, but there is hope. There will be pain. There will be suffering. There will be tears. It’s part of life. But the pages of this book echo again and again that there is hope because there is God. So I want to ask all of you here today what is it that you hoping for? What is it that you are in need of today? What is it that you need God to come through on? Is there something that you’ve been offering up to God in prayer for years? If we can all be honest with ourselves for just a minute, I believe that there is a silent cry in all of us. But we don’t want to acknowledge that its there because it hurts too much to want something when you don’t think that God will it to you. Well, I want to plead with you this morning to not give up. Keep on hoping! Keeping on seeking! Keep on praying to God! Hope is powerful. Here is an excerpt from Chuck Swindoll’s “Hope Again”:

Hope is a wonderful gift from God, a source of strength and courage in the face of life’s harshest trials.

1. When we are trapped in a tunnel of misery, hope points to the light at the end
2. When we are overworked and exhausted, hope gives us fresh energy
3. When we are discouraged, hope lifts our spirits
4. When we are tempted to quit, hope keeps us going.
5. When we lose our way and confusion blurs the destination, hope dulls the edge of panic
6. When we struggle with a crippling disease or lingering illness, hope helps us persevere beyond the pain
7. When we fear the worst, hope brings reminders that God is still in control
8. When we must endure the consequences of bad decisions, hope fuels our recovery
9. When we find ourselves unemployed, hope tells us we still have a future
10. When we are forced to sit back and wait, hope gives us the patience to trust
11. When we feel rejected and abandoned, hope reminds us we’re not alone
12. When we say our final farewell to someone we love, hope in the life beyond gets us through our grief

Put simply, when life hurts and dreams fade, nothing helps like hope.

Don’t ever forget that! Let's pray.