Participants: Ivor Myers (Host), James Rafferty (Host), Yvonne Lewis, Jason Bradley
Series Code: SISS
Program Code: SISS000066A
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00:30 So we are still in Revelation 17
00:31 I think it will be good for us 00:33 to just pick up where we left off 00:35 and summarize and identify the seven kings. 00:37 So we'll summarize 00:39 what we've learned about these seven kings 00:41 "that is... and is not... and yet is... " 00:43 and then we'll look at where there was and is not 00:46 and then we'll look at the identification... finish this up 00:49 and then, we're going to move right into 18... 00:51 remember now, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19... 00:54 all about the judgments, the plagues... the wrath of God 00:58 but explaining in more detail why, why, why, why, why... 01:02 and when we started Revelation 17 01:04 we looked at one of the reasons why 01:06 the blood of martyrs... the blood of saints... 01:08 the cup of fornication... 01:10 of the kings of the earth and the abominations... 01:12 the terrible things that this System has been involved in 01:16 is the reason why... 01:17 and God just says, "We're done with that... 01:20 that's got to go... there's a consequence to this evil, 01:23 I'm going to allow that consequence to come 01:25 and finish... that's what we're seeing... 01:27 the big picture of what we're seeing here in relation to God 01:30 and God's character is on the line... 01:32 is it okay for Him to deal with evil and take it out? 01:34 Are we okay with that? 01:35 You know God's love, God's mercy 01:38 is justice part of that love and mercy 01:40 and I think what the Bible is telling us is, "yes... " 01:42 the angels of heaven are saying, "yes" 01:44 and He wants us to say, "Yes" also. 01:46 All right, let's pray together, Yvonne, would you pray for us? 01:48 Sure, "Father God, what a privilege it is 01:51 to study your Word and to learn about the Plan of Salvation 01:55 through the book of Revelation. 01:57 We're just so grateful that you've given us this 02:00 so we pray that your Spirit would just enlighten us 02:03 and illuminate this information for us 02:06 and help us to not only be hearers... 02:09 but doers of the Word as well 02:10 we pray in Jesus' name, amen. " 02:12 "Amen. " 02:13 I think in a sense Daniel 2 helps us with this 02:17 in Revelation 17 there's a summary 02:20 really... of history... of powers that have cumulated 02:24 and given their... they've lost their military might 02:28 but they've given their... their... their culture... 02:31 they've passed their culture on. 02:33 When Daniel 2 and Daniel 7 talk about 02:35 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome... 02:37 all these ancient powers... kingdoms... 02:40 it talks about how their military might was taken away 02:42 but their lives were prolonged for a season and a time... 02:45 and so, in Daniel chapter 2, 02:48 when the stone which represents Christ 02:50 hits the image at the feet, it brings down the entire image 02:53 which includes Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, 02:56 and that's the 2nd coming of Jesus 02:57 and I think that's what we're talking about here, 02:59 that picture will help us with identifying these seven kings. 03:02 I think that picture will help us. 03:04 Pause... 03:06 So, let's... let's... go back to Revelation 17 03:11 and we're going to pick it right up in verse 8, 03:16 Revelation 17 verse 8 so Jason, 03:21 would you go ahead and read verse 8 again please? 03:25 Sure, "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; 03:29 and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, 03:31 and go into perdition: 03:32 and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, 03:35 whose names were not written in the book of life 03:38 from the foundation of the world, 03:39 when they behold the beast 03:41 that was, and is not, and yet is. " 03:43 Okay, so from our last Program, we saw that this beast 03:47 is the same as the one found in Revelation chapter 13, 03:52 right, the Bible talks about Revelation 13 verse 3 03:56 that one of his heads was wounded to death 03:59 and the deadly wound was healed, 04:00 we recognized that as the Papal power. 04:02 In 1798, it receives a deadly wound... 04:04 it still existed 04:06 although it did not have authority 04:08 to persecute as it did in the Dark Ages. 04:11 "So it was... is not... 04:19 and yet is... " 04:23 in other words, it is... and yet... 04:25 we're talking about the ... System right, 04:28 "it isn't and yet is... " right? 04:31 So, this is the beast in its wounded state 04:34 and then it shall ascend, 04:37 its wound will be healed 04:40 and it's healed when we have this three-fold union 04:43 of Dragon, Beast, False Prophet, 04:46 so when we see in Revelation 17:8, 04:48 that it was... is not... and is to... or shall ascend... 04:54 you know we're talking about the same power, 04:55 we also know that because right when this happens... 04:58 it says, "all the world... " 04:59 those who were not written in the Lamb's book of life 05:01 wondering... "Ah man, we go to Revelation chapter 13 05:04 verse 3... and right after the deadly wound is healed, 05:07 James: Everyone is wondering... 05:09 Ivor: actually in verse 4 what does it say 05:11 right after the wound is healed, "they worshipped the... " who? 05:14 "the dragon... " who were they worshipping? 05:18 The dragon... hey, the dragon, they worshipped the dragon 05:23 remember in Revelation 12 verse 11 and verse 12 or 13... 05:28 around there... we talked about 05:29 how the dragon has come down unto you 05:31 knowing he has but a short time... 05:33 so we're seeing these events line up... 05:37 God is showing us... like from Revelation 12 onward, 05:40 He's showing us, "Hey, I just want you to know 05:42 by-the-way, the dragon is going to appear. 05:44 He's coming... when this happens 05:46 the whole world is going to wonder, 05:48 when this happens... He has but a what time? 05:50 A short time. 05:52 Another thing there too, I think it's really important 05:54 because what we're doing is... we're identifying the 7th... 05:56 the 7th king... as a three-fold union... 05:59 so, Ivor is bringing out in Revelation 13, 06:02 that when they worship the beast they're worshipping the dragon 06:04 and also, the 2nd beast that comes out of the earth... 06:07 makes an image to the first beast and commands 06:10 that the whole world should worship the first beast, 06:12 the image to the first beast is to worship the first beast, 06:14 but it's done through this land beast... 06:17 so you have the land beast, America, United States... 06:20 you have the Papacy... the sea beast 06:22 and then you have the dragon 06:23 together it's a three-fold union in Revelation 13... 06:26 Revelation 17 is just summarizing that 06:28 so the seventh head... that ascends out 06:31 is going to be ascending up 06:32 because it has the support of the dragon 06:34 and it has the support of the land beast. 06:36 It's one power in that seventh head. 06:38 That's right and remember how we talked about 06:40 how the beast was and is... it was... is not... yet is... 06:45 and is to come... 06:46 that Jesus... that phrase, was... is... and is to come... 06:51 is directly related to Jesus Christ, 06:53 so what we see here is the fact that this beast 06:56 is actually counterfeiting the movement of Christ, 07:00 right, who was... and is... and is to come... 07:03 all right... so... we looked at those things to identify. 07:07 James: One more thing... Ivor: Go ahead. 07:08 James: One more thing... so... just to give our Viewers 07:11 a little bit more Biblical evidence for this... 07:16 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2 07:17 and this verse just came to me. 07:19 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, same thing... 07:20 you have the man of sin, right, 07:22 what is he trying to do? 07:24 Well, in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, 07:27 it says here, that... in verse 4... 07:29 "He opposes and exalts himself 07:31 above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; 07:34 so that he as God sits in the temple of God 07:38 shewing himself that he is God. " 07:40 Hmmm... hmmm... Yes, yes... 07:41 So, it's really important for us to recognize this... 07:44 this is a counterfeit of God... it's counterfeit of Christ... 07:46 Ivor: Yeah, hey, would you... 07:47 what does the verse right before it say? 07:49 James: The verse before it says, "Let no man deceive you... " 07:52 Ivor: Yeah. 07:53 James: Okay, "by any means: for that day shall not come, 07:55 except there be a falling away first, 07:57 and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition... " 07:59 Ivor: Okay, so that word... 08:01 we talked about that before... that word, "revealed" 08:03 "apokalupto" it means: the apocalypse 08:06 which is the very name of the book of Revelation 08:08 which points to the coming 08:10 or the revelation of Jesus Christ's second coming 08:13 so, what is... what is this power going to do? 08:16 It's going to seek to impersonate 08:18 the 2nd coming of Christ, 08:20 this is the thing that causes the whole world 08:23 to wonder, right, after the beast. 08:25 In fact, Jesus said it this way, 08:29 "when you see the abomination of desolation 08:32 standing in the Holy Place... " 08:34 right, "then know... that it's time for you to run. " 08:39 He ends that whole discourse about 08:43 "when you see the abomination of desolation" 08:45 which we understand to be the very same thing... 08:47 the healing of the deadly wound, 08:48 it's the same thing being explained in various ways. 08:52 The seventh king that is to come, 08:53 the healing of the deadly wound, 08:55 the abomination of desolation is there, 08:57 the man of sin sitting at the temple of God showing... 08:59 it's all the same thing 09:01 but in Matthew 24, He ends it by saying this, 09:05 "When you see the leaves of the fig tree growing 09:09 know... " He says, "know that, 09:11 understand the parable of the fig tree... 09:12 when you see the leaves of the fig tree coming to life, 09:15 know... you know that summer's nigh. 09:17 So, likewise... " He says, 09:20 "you will know that the end of all things is near... 09:23 when you... the generation that sees this, 09:25 this generation will not pass. " 09:26 Well, what happens to a tree in the winter? 09:30 It dies... supposedly... it goes dormant... 09:33 Yeah, it goes dormant right, it dies but it's not really dead 09:37 Hmmm... right, right, right. Come on now. 09:40 So when the leaves begin to come forth, 09:43 you see... oh life... yet... it's coming back to life... 09:48 right, He says, "the generation that sees this, 09:53 that generation is not going to pass. " 09:54 Couple more points here, Ivor, while we're here, 09:57 this is really incredible. 09:59 "The son perdition... " remember, goes into perdition... 10:02 goes into perdition... goes into perdition, 10:03 now check this verse out... 10:04 you've forgotten about this one but this is good. 10:06 it says, "Even him whose coming is after the working of Satan 10:11 with all power and signs and lying wonders. " 10:15 Okay, so you've got the man of sin here 10:18 and you've got Satan here okay 10:21 with signs and lying wonders 10:24 and then, I want to just read this because 10:26 this is what we talked about earlier 10:28 "he comes with all deceivableness 10:30 of unrighteousness in them that perish: 10:32 because they received not the love of the truth... " 10:33 And so God is going to do what? 10:35 "send strong delusion, 10:36 that they should believe a lie" because they... 10:38 "That they might be damned that believe not the truth, 10:40 but have pleasure in unrighteousness. " 10:42 Hmmm... That's right... that's right. 10:43 So, it's not that God is... is deceiving us... 10:47 it's see... we are deceived 10:49 because we refuse to love the truth, 10:51 we refuse to take ahold of righteousness 10:53 and therefore, the strong delusion takes us. 10:55 Yeah... Hmmm... 10:57 It's one or the other... 10:58 we have to make a choice for the truth 10:59 if not we're going to be deceived. 11:01 The strong delusion is the "wondering time" 11:04 let's call it that, "the wondering time" 11:07 when the whole world wonders, it's a strong delusion, 11:10 the "wondering time... " the short space... 11:13 the short time... God... the way that... 11:15 you know, in Math... we talked about this before, 11:17 in Math you can check your problem, 11:19 you know, you reverse it, you check... 11:20 that's what He's doing for us in the Scripture, 11:22 He's giving us these... different symbols 11:24 but talking about the very same event, 11:27 and He's saying, "If you get this right, 11:29 you'll see that all of this lines up. " 11:32 Right, so let's go back to Revelation 17 11:34 and we'll look at, now, verse 8, I'm sorry, verse 9 11:41 and verse 10. 11:44 Would you read that Yvonne? Hmmm... hmmm... 11:46 "Here is the mind which has wisdom. 11:48 The seven heads are seven mountains, 11:50 on which the woman sits. 11:52 There are also seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, 11:56 and the other has not yet come; 11:58 and when he comes, he must continue a short time. " 12:02 Okay, so here you have this, 12:04 okay, so now he's saying, "Hey, five are fallen... " 12:06 remember we talked about that's the "was... 12:09 one is... and the other is not yet come. " 12:12 So the one that's not yet come is Number seven. 12:14 Five... one is... six... 12:17 and seven is the one that is yet to come 12:20 right, we are waiting for the seventh king to come 12:24 in the meantime, we're in the time of the sixth king 12:27 right, and five have fallen. 12:29 So, what does this all mean? 12:31 Who were the five, the sixth and the seventh? 12:33 Well, what James mentioned earlier 12:35 about the book of Daniel helping us, 12:38 is that... in the prophecy of Daniel 12:40 we're very specifically told 12:42 that these four beasts that Daniel sees, 12:47 the angel says, "these four beasts are four kings. " 12:51 Daniel 7:17... and 23... 12:53 Yes, so that's Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome... 12:56 okay, so man! we got four of the seven down, 12:59 we know... these are four kings. 13:01 And we know that they apply to Revelation 17 because 13:04 the image in Daniel 2 is still standing 13:06 when the stone hits it at the 2nd coming of Jesus 13:09 so we know these kingdoms are still part of 13:11 the picture... part of the puzzle right here. 13:12 Absolutely, absolutely, 13:14 so you've got four kings down, right? 13:15 So, who is the king that comes after Rome? Okay. 13:20 Well, we know that because we've been studying that all along, 13:24 what power rose out of Rome? It is Papal Rome, right, 13:29 the Little Horn... 13:32 but we're actually told that the Little Horn is a King. 13:34 Yes, go over to Daniel chapter 8 13:37 just hold your place here we'll look at Daniel 8... 13:39 let's read... I believe it is verse 23... 13:44 Daniel 8 verse 23. 13:47 Pause... 13:49 "And in the latter time of their kingdom, 13:52 when the transgressors are come to the full, 13:54 a king of fierce countenance, 13:56 and understanding dark sentences, 13:58 shall stand up. " 13:59 Verse 24, "And his power shall be mighty, 14:01 but not by his own power: 14:03 and he shall destroy wonderfully, 14:04 and shall prosper and practice, 14:06 and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people. " 14:08 So, here's what we begin to do now, 14:10 when we read this stuff... you should be like... 14:12 "Ah... this is the woman of Revelation 17... " 14:15 you see what I'm saying? 14:17 The more connecting points you have, 14:19 the easier it becomes to understand. 14:22 "Oh, this is the little horn of Daniel 7." 14:24 "Oh, this is the first beast of Revelation 13... " 14:27 "Oh, this is the woman of Revelation 17... " 14:30 You're having more points of understanding. 14:33 You see what I'm saying? 14:34 You're seeing it from these different angles. 14:35 Yeah, verse 25, "He magnifies himself in his heart... " 14:38 and then in 2nd Thessalonians, 14:40 he stands up against the prince of princes, 14:42 counterfeits Christ, mediator, priest... it's all there. 14:45 The point is, he's called the king... 14:47 the point is, he's called the king. 14:49 Exactly, so now we've got five kings 14:51 and we know what happens to this fifth king. 14:55 He receives a deadly wound, right, from Atheism. 15:00 Okay, so now we've got five kings that have fallen, 15:04 right, or that were... we know, who is to come... 15:07 so, right now, we're in the time of the sixth king. 15:11 right, we're in the time of the sixth king, 15:13 now, the question is, "Who is the sixth king?" 15:15 and there is some debate about this 15:18 but I think there is a reasonable space 15:20 to conclude that 15:22 it can be one of... 15:24 any one of these two kings. 15:26 But we know it is the time of Atheism. 15:27 We know it is the time of Atheism. 15:28 Right, so... to make it plain, to make it very simple, 15:32 when the French Revolution occurred, 15:35 which... we're going to tell our readers this 15:38 but... "readers" our Viewers this 15:41 but we're asking you to just 15:43 kind of go with us on this 15:46 because we're going to cover it in the book of Daniel 15:48 in more detail by the grace of God, okay, 15:51 but in Daniel chapter 11 15:52 which is the calculus chapter of Daniel, 15:56 okay, that's the... yeah, that's the... 15:59 what is he talking about, right? 16:02 Daniel 11 is Revelation chapter 17. 16:05 Okay, but in Daniel 11, Atheism is described by a title, 16:13 "King of the South" okay, 16:16 it's called the King of the South 16:18 or the King of Egypt. 16:20 We know that in Revelation 11, Egypt is described 16:24 as the power out of which this... 16:26 I mean, the place out of which this power... 16:28 it is a power... right... which was France... 16:30 symbolically France. 16:32 And Exodus 5:2 also says, "Who is God that I should obey 16:36 to let His people go?" 16:37 It's an Atheistic principle and Atheistic power. 16:39 And it is that Atheistic power 16:41 that brought about the deadly wound 16:44 right, of the Papacy. 16:46 So, the reason that the Papacy is not... 16:49 is because this King of the South 16:52 took it down. Hmmm... 16:54 James: That's the sixth king. 16:56 Ivor: You see what I'm saying? Hmmm... 16:57 The sixth king involved the time where the woman is not... 17:01 James: Right... she is... 17:03 she's alive but she's not reigning. 17:05 Ivor: That's right and she's not reigning because Atheism 17:08 has taken her down. 17:09 Yvonne: Okay. 17:10 James: But she will be... she'll ascend out of that pit. 17:12 Ivor: She's going to ascend... 17:13 Atheism arose out of that bottomless pit, 17:15 Atheism... witness... the woman will come back... 17:19 right, but she's coming back with even more... 17:22 James: Hmmm... hmmm... three-fold Power... 17:24 Ivor: If she had power... think about the power... 17:27 the persecution she was able to do during the Dark Ages, 17:29 she's coming back with three-fold power. 17:31 James: And the horns... 17:33 the ten horns fully supporting her. 17:35 Ivor: Exactly, so the world wonders... 17:37 this is the 7th king that comes up, 17:40 let's go back to Revelation chapter 17, so now... 17:43 James: In fact, she has so much power 17:44 that she's going to make war with the Lamb. 17:45 Ivor: That's right. 17:47 James: We're going to get to that in a minute, 17:48 that's how much power she has. 17:50 Ivor: That's right, Revelation 17 and... 17:51 James: So we got six kings... 17:52 Ivor: Six kings and now, verse 10, let me read it again, 17:57 so there are seven kings: 17:58 five are fallen... who were the five? 18:01 Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece and Rome. 18:04 Okay, and the fifth? 18:06 The fifth one was... 18:07 Who comes after pagan Rome? 18:10 Oh, Papal Rome. 18:11 And then the sixth... what is that? 18:15 At least the time period we know is where 18:17 Atheism as the king of the south 18:20 has taken down the Papacy. 18:23 Right... 18:24 So, the Papacy is... but it is not... 18:27 it's wounded... 18:28 it still exists... 18:30 but not in the state of power that it had. 18:32 Right... 18:33 Well, we know the deadly wound is going to be... what? 18:34 Yvonne: Healed... 18:36 Ivor: Healed and he will come again. 18:37 He will come... 18:40 "He will come again" isn't that what Jesus does? 18:44 Jesus comes again, right? 18:47 He will ascend and come again 18:49 counterfeiting the second coming. 18:52 In fact, it is a second coming, because he came once before, 18:57 he's coming again 18:58 but this time with more power... 19:00 with more authority 19:02 because he's coming with a... 19:03 he's coming: Dragon, Beast, False Prophet... 19:07 three-fold power. 19:08 Okay, now, notice end of verse 11, 19:12 "The beast that was... " 19:15 oh I'm sorry... verse... we just read verse 10. 19:20 "when he cometh... " end of verse 10... 19:21 "when he cometh, he must continue a... " what? 19:24 "a short space. " 19:25 That's going to be that time of trouble 19:30 that short time that the dragon knows that he has. 19:36 That's going to be... yeah... "fig leaves" 19:39 fig leaves... okay... 19:42 so, now we get over... verse 11, 19:44 "And the beast that was, and is not, 19:46 even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, 19:50 and goeth into perdition. " 19:51 Okay, now what does this mean? "Eighth. " 19:53 James: There is no eighth... 19:54 there's only seven... there's only seven. 19:55 Ivor: Seven... but eighth? Huh? 19:59 So... 20:01 James: It's explained here because it says there, 20:03 "he is the eighth... and is one of the seven" 20:05 or comes out of the seven... 20:06 this is a unique power... 20:08 that's why it's identified as an eighth 20:10 but he's really one of the seven. 20:11 Ivor: Yeah, so the question is, "How is he the eight?" 20:16 Well, it says he goes into perdition 20:19 so what does that mean? "Goes into perdition?" 20:21 Yvonne: Destruction? 20:23 Ivor: Yeah, so what happens when Jesus comes again? 20:25 We're told that Satan is actually cast into where? 20:30 James: Lake of fire... 20:32 Ivor: Not lake of fire yet... to a bottomless pit 20:34 right? and so, they go down, 20:38 that whole power... the beast... the... 20:40 everyone dies... right? 20:42 but there's some... is that the end of them? 20:44 James: No... 20:45 Ivor: Is that the end of King Seven? 20:47 No, because King Seven is coming back, isn't he? 20:50 When does King Seven come back on the scene? 20:52 James: After the 1,000 years. 20:55 Ivor: At the end of the 1,000 years what happens to Satan? 20:58 He is loosed from his prison... 21:01 the Beast and the False Prophet come back to life 21:06 because that now represents the whole world. 21:09 Right? 21:10 All the wicked... 21:12 where are the righteous? They're in heaven, right, 21:15 they're in Mount Zion... 21:16 What happens at the end of the 1,000 years? 21:18 Mount Zion which is on the sides of the north... 21:22 is coming down... Satan is let out of his... 21:27 and he is the... 21:28 he is the... the Dragon, Beast, False Prophet reunite 21:32 at the end of the 1,000 years to launch their final assault 21:36 on the sides of the north. 21:38 Hmmm... 21:40 So, it's not an eighth king... it's the same seventh king 21:44 but he rises up once more for that final assault. 21:48 James: Good... he's one of the seven 21:50 but it's another assault so it's the eighth. 21:53 Absolutely. 21:54 Does that make sense? Yeah... yeah... 21:55 The Seven take place before the 1,000 years... 21:57 the eighth takes place after... 21:58 After the 1,000 years. 22:00 Yvonne: But it's the same, isn't it? 22:01 James: It's the same power. Yvonne: Wow! 22:02 Ivor: And what did he try to do in heaven? 22:04 He wanted to sit on the sides of the north. 22:05 What does he try to do on earth? 22:06 He wanted to sit on the sides of the north. 22:09 At the end of the millennium, what's he trying to do? 22:13 He's trying one last time to take the sides of the north. 22:17 Hmmm... hmmm... 22:20 Hmmm... wow! 22:22 "And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, 22:24 which have received no kingdom as yet; 22:25 but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. " 22:28 Short time... Yes... 22:29 God does not allowed this to go very long. 22:31 Yes. 22:32 It's a short time... because it's overwhelming 22:34 but it brings everyone to a point of decision 22:36 and then it says, "These have one mind... " 22:39 verse 13... 22:40 "they give their power and strength unto the beast. " 22:42 Now, notice this, read verse 14 for us, Jason. 22:44 All right, verse 14... 22:47 "These shall make war with the Lamb, 22:49 and the Lamb shall overcome them: 22:51 for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: 22:53 and they that are with him are called, 22:55 and chosen, and faithful. " 22:57 Can you imagine that? 22:58 Can you imagine the audacity, 23:02 he's going to make war with the Lamb... 23:04 he's making war with God... 23:05 he is making war with the King of the universe 23:09 but the Lamb will overcome them. 23:12 The Lamb will overcome them. 23:14 How does a Lamb overcome these kinds of powers? 23:17 See, here... right here we're talking about 23:20 the Lamb as in the Cross. 23:21 We're talking about the Lamb as in Calvary, 23:23 we're talking about the principles of unselfish love... 23:26 of other-centered love... 23:27 overcoming these powers 23:29 and that's the only way we can overcome. 23:31 Focus has to be on those principles... love... 23:33 believes all things... hopes all things... 23:36 endures all things... love never fails. 23:38 Even prophecy will fail but love will never fail. 23:41 So, when I was in the world, I was a Martial Artist, 23:44 Hmmm... hmmm... ditto... 23:45 We used to do all kinds of fighting styles right, 23:47 and what's interesting is that in the Martial Arts, 23:50 fighting styles are usually named after animals... 23:52 Hmmm... hmmm... 23:53 So, dragon style... 23:55 many of us fight dragon style right? 23:57 We shouldn't be fighting dragon style, 24:00 but we fight dragon style... 24:02 we follow the pattern of the dragon 24:03 and so, when you think about it, 24:05 whoa... this final conflict... 24:07 it's dragon style versus Lamb style 24:11 and we're like... "Wait a minute... can a... " 24:14 James: "Can a Lamb beat the dragon?" 24:16 Ivor: Master, can Lamb beat the dragon?" 24:19 Yes... the Lamb will beat the dragon. 24:22 we need to learn... "Lamb style. " 24:26 Yes... oh it's good. 24:28 Lamb style... 24:30 "He said unto me, The waters which you saw, 24:31 where the whore sits, 24:33 are peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues. " 24:35 This is a verse we refer to many times 24:38 and it's just a clarification for us, 24:39 this is talking about people, 24:41 it's not talking... the symbols here need to be broken down. 24:43 "And the ten horns which you saw upon the beast, 24:46 these will hate the whore... 24:47 will make her desolate and naked, 24:49 and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. 24:51 For God has put in their hearts to fulfil his will, 24:54 and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, 24:56 until the words of God shall be fulfilled. " 24:58 So, you have these powers of the earth giving their support 25:02 but then... drying up... 25:04 that's what we read in Revelation 16. 25:05 They support... the waters support Babylon 25:09 but then they dry up... 25:10 they dry up when they realize they've been deceived, 25:12 they dry up when they realize, 25:13 "Whoa, we have been completely taken 25:16 into this deception and this woman... 25:19 this System has led us to perdition" 25:22 and they get angry, 25:23 they manifest the natural consequences of their... 25:28 of the deception they've received. 25:30 So, God is putting it out here... 25:31 He's telling us... "this is... " 25:33 it says, "God has put this in their hearts... " 25:35 it means God... 25:36 we make decisions and choices against God 25:38 but God can still use us to fulfill His will. 25:41 Pharaoh was still used of God 25:43 even though he totally rejected God, 25:44 he was still used of God to fulfill God's will 25:46 and as an instrument... 25:49 where God could manifest His glory 25:51 and deliver His people out of Egypt 25:52 and then it says, and I'm just... 25:54 I'm moving through this because we've got two minutes left, 25:56 "And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, 26:00 which reigns over the kings of the earth. " 26:02 So the woman is that great city. 26:04 That was split up... it was divided into three parts, 26:08 Dragon, Beast, False Prophet. 26:11 So, basically, Revelation chapter 17, 26:14 is an explanation of why God is bringing these plagues, 26:19 why God is bringing these judgments 26:21 and the explanation takes us all the way back to Babylon, 26:24 Medo Persia, Greece, Rome... 26:26 what it's telling us... is that God has been longsuffering 26:30 toward thee in grace... and we haven't changed... 26:32 we're still selfish, we're still self-seeking, 26:34 we're still self-exalting, we're still magnifying ourselves 26:37 that's why we support the dragon and the beast, 26:40 we say, "Satan wants to sit on the sides of the north... " 26:43 we do... Hmmm... 26:44 We say, "Satan's the one that wants to take God's place" 26:47 but Adam and Eve were tempted and... 26:48 "You'll be like Gods... " so we bit into it. 26:51 That has been instilled in us from the fall 26:54 and God wants to remove it 26:55 because to be like God 26:57 is not to be self-seeking and self-exalting, 26:59 to be like God is to be selfless... other-centered 27:02 and so God is seeking to restore us to that eventual image. 27:05 Daniel 2... you know... in Daniel 2... 27:07 when a stone is cut out without hands 27:09 and strikes the image on the feet, we're not told why. 27:11 We're just like... "that's strange... " 27:14 everything from Daniel 2 onward... 27:17 the prophetic chapters... is answering that question, 27:19 this is why... the... 27:21 Daniel 7... "Oh... a little horn" 27:24 Daniel 8... "Oh, he does what?" 27:27 Daniel 11... and you go on... 27:30 Revelation... a whole book of Revelation... 27:31 is just showing, "Hey, let me show you why 27:33 that stone comes... " 27:34 Yeah, all these chapters on judgment... 27:37 we think, "Why... why so many chapters on judgment? 27:39 Is God really mad?" No... 27:40 every one of them unfolds a different perspective 27:42 of why it is... these judgments are coming. 27:45 It gives us another insight to the reasons. 27:47 I know people are going to have questions, 27:50 this is a tough chapter. 27:51 And that's exactly why they should send it to: 27:53 sss@3abn. org 27:55 Amen, so send your questions in... 27:57 we look forward to our next Program together, 27:59 Revelation 18 next. |
Revised 2017-05-11