Imperial Rome is that part of Antichrist political government. It's its economic system, its military system, it's all the secular part. And then the religious part, of course, as we covered, led by papal authority. but joined by Presbyterian dupes. They're all in it together.
So when you drive and you see one of those defective rainbow flags on church property, what you're looking at is an apostate church. This is Cross-Reference Radio with our pastor and teacher, Rick Gaston. Rick is the pastor of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville. Pastor Rick is currently teaching through the book of Revelation. Please stay with us after today's message to hear more information about Cross-Reference Radio, specifically how you can get a free copy of this teaching.
But for now, let's join Pastor Rick in the book of Revelation chapter 17 with today's edition of Cross-Reference Radio. Back in Revelation chapter 17. How? How does a pastor knowing that there are people listening who are burdened by heavy stuff, Just things in their life that won't go away that gnaw on them, hound them, How how do you take a section from Revelation seventeen and find something to preach to the broken hearted.
Well, I think you don't. I think you leave it to God. You stay faithful to his word and let him do what only he can do. Because nobody does it. as well.
And I'm reminded in talking about this or thinking about it, Acts chapter. fourteen in the twenty second verse He says this: Paul, strengthening the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and saying, We must. through many tribulations Enter the kingdom of God. And so I find encouragement about that, and it might be a surprise to you that there are many times. That I'm struggling with some burden, but I have no right to infect you with that from the pulpit.
What I do have a right to do is encourage you. The just shall live by faith. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. I don't want to hear Jesus say to me, Oh, you of little faith, oh, I know I got little faith. At least I've got that.
So, as we come to this 17th chapter in Revelation. Understand that these are predictions that are going to come true. Most many of them have. and be encouraged by the God who holds the future in his hands. If he can predict what the rulers of the world are going to do and tell you how they're going to be dealt with.
And it is true. then the heaven that he has gone to prepare for me is true also, and I will keep my eyes on that.
So This consideration from the seventeenth chapter. Earth's Last Kings. Revelation 17. And if you have your Bibles, turn to the 14th verse of Revelation 17 because that's our text.
Well, that's the kingpin. that holds everything else together. In what we're going to look at. If you would, please stand for the reading of God's Word. Thought I'd never get to that, did you?
In verse fourteen. Very short. Passage. These will make war with the Lamb. and the Lamb will overcome them.
for he is Lord of lords and king of kings And those who are with him, are called chosen and faithful. Please be seated. You might not see yourself as faithful. Gideon didn't see himself as a mighty man of valor, but God saw him that way because God saw the potential. Satan sees that too.
It terrifies him, so he invests in bringing us down. This seventeenth chapter about Earth's last rulers who are removed By Christ himself. This 17th chapter tells us about that. Peter said, They will give an account to him. who is ready to judge the living and the dead.
That is how awesome he is. The 18th chapter gives us the collapse of the system that these rulers used to dominate the world. And then the 19th chapter starts off with a hymn. Celebrating their destruction, and then, of course, it gives us the return of Jesus Christ. Knowledge of Daniel's prophecies, as I've been saying going through this, helps us identify who the participants are, who's who.
Where does this idea of the revived Roman Empire come from?
Well, it Western civilization. is the revival of the Roman Empire. And It has a secular ruler, Antichrist. And it has for a while. an apostate church.
That is also possible. part of his uh Babylonian rule on the earth. Mystery Babylon, mother of harlots That's the religious Babylon. versus secular Babylon. I said, well, now you're confusing me.
Well, understand this. There's going to be an apostate church going to the Great Tribulation period. And Satan's going to use them, and so is Antichrist. And then, Antichrist, when he's done with them, he's going to turn and destroy them, which we'll get to. And then there is also this.
Babylonian Culture. full of the occult. and things that are an abomination to God. And so looking at the seventh verse, But the angel said to me, Why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns.
Well, what is he talking about?
Well, we cover that in 17, verse 6, Revelation 17, 6. And this is what John writes, he says, This is what I saw, the woman drunk with the blood of the saints. With the blood of the martyrs, of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with great amazement. When the angel says, Why does this blow you away?
The angel wasn't surprised to find such behavior Sneaking into Christendom, using the name of Christ while persecuting the people of Christ? How does that happen? Such a woman is associated with Christ, yet violently opposed to him and his people. And she's very comfortable. Riding on the beast.
This baffled John. How can she be in such partnership and still have some verbal Association with Jesus. Donald Great Barnhouse said, Imperial Rome. and religious Rome. Work like two thieves helping each other over a wall.
Imperial Rome is that part of Antichrist political government. It's its economic system, its military system, it's all the secular part. And then the religious part, of course, is we covered, led by. Papal authority. But joined by Presbyterian dupes, They're all in it together.
So when you drive and you see one of those defective rainbow flags on church property, what you're looking at is an apostate church. And the children of that church will enter into the great tribulation. And they will be part of This mother of harlots, this um this Jezebel of the faith.
So again, the angel's not surprised. The woman that uh shares the great city. Which is going to be Rome. That again, that religious arm of it and the abominations that go along with it. I will tell you the mystery of the woman.
I'll tell you what's going on. It won't be a mystery to you anymore, John. and the beast that carries her. The beast is a fearful composite of cruelty. and brutality.
Power. seductive ability. to turn the world upside down. The beast fully supports the harlot at this point because she's useful to him. And together they seduced the globe.
Arrayed in scarlet, bedecked with gold and precious stones and pearls. She is a personification and the symbol of corrupted Degenerate Christianity. Not true Christianity, false Christianity. her comfort and her wealth on the monster. is a parable.
Of how false Christianity partners with evil rulers, and we see this today. As I mentioned. The churches that fly those flags are telling this generation: do you understand that this is what? God is talking about. Don't scratch your head when you come to the revelation and say, I don't believe that can happen.
That's why d the pastors give you scenarios as we go through it. Verse 8. The beast that you saw. And is not will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to perdition. And those who dwell on the earth will marvel Whose names are not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world.
When they see the beast that was and is not, Yet is.
Well, some tie this into the Assassination of the Antichrist. He will be. Though there'll be an assassination attempt on his life, he'll be severely wounded, and miraculously he will recover. The beast is the incarnation. of the powers of iniquity.
But I don't think that's what this is saying. And it's okay to have different pastors have different views. Because You know, it's all future still. But you should be able to back it up, your views. with the other scripture verses.
which is what we are encouraged to do. By the Lord. John would not say to you, yeah, I was given this revelation. For you not to read. He gave it to us to read.
and promised a blessing. And one of the blessings is: if you're going to dig into the Revelation, you're going to dig into other parts of the Bible. There's no way around it. And you will be blessed by that. But it's a lot of work, it is a grind.
Well, the Lamb will make war and defeat. this, but where it says the beast that you saw Was and is not, will ascend out of the bottomless pit and go to. perdition end up in hell. The Christless world will be enthralled with this character. Revelation 21, verse 27.
Those who are Written in the Lamb's Book of Life versus those who are going to perdition. the world who follow this monster. And I'll get into a minute. The was and the is not and the will of sin, but I want to color in some of these other parts of the verse. From the foundation of the world.
Well, God has settled this. None of this is a surprise to God, He's not caught off guard. When they see the beast that was and is not and yet is.
Well, that part about that was It matches with the disposition of Antiochus Epiphanes, who was a Syrian ruler who hated the Jews. Committed abominations, tried to destroy them. Antiochus lacked the ability to conquer the world. But Antichrist is going to have that same disposition: the hatred for the Jews, the hatred for anybody that's chosen of God, the true God. And he's going to try to destroy them.
And so that covers the beast that was, the one that was. That character will transfer into the one that is coming. He says, and is not.
Well, at the time that John wrote this, No, there was no Antichrist yet. Evil figure that's coming. He's still not known to us, maybe alive. But not known, not revealed. And he will ascend.
He will. come from Satan's work. Revelation 13, 2 Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard. His feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. Of course, these are attributes that belong to his behavior.
He doesn't look like this. He said, the dragon, it says, gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.
So, this one's going to be energized directly by Satan. and the unsaved will be impressed with him. And those incidentally, those ant the bear though, they're they're in They're in Daniel. And Daniel assigns those to kingdoms. And Daniel says, but there is coming a kingdom that's worse and more powerful than all of those.
You're going to trample everybody. The unsaved, as I mentioned, will be impressed. They will adore the Antichrist, they will adore this world system. Not understanding where all this is going because they don't care to. He performs great signs, it tells us.
They're called lying wonders. because they are used to move people away from the truth about God. The spirit of Satan Includes imitation, not creation, and there are going to be people comfortable with that. Verse 9, here is the mime which has wisdom, the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. Here is the mind which has wisdom.
Well, that's the mind receptive to God's truth, hopefully, us. Many will realize that these are apocalyptic days they're living in. that the Bible is right. And not only will they respond to the prophecies that will Just excite them for more of the Bible, but they will respond to the gospel of Christ. about sin.
about being forgiven for the sin because of Jesus. And of course Most will be martyred. The Jews as a nation will not realize it until it's late into Antichrist's work when he. Commits the abomination of desolation, then all of a sudden the lights will turn on. It will be too late for many, but then they will come to Christ as a people.
The seven heads Are seven mountains. This is Western civilization because it's rooted in ancient Rome. In John's day, there was a festival called Septimontium, and that celebrated the fact that Rome was on seven hills. Italy's Prime Minister Maloney. She says this.
for Europe to rediscover its civilizations. roots and resists decline. And then she went on to mention that their roots included Greek philosophy, Roman law, and Christian humanism. My point is The revival of the Roman Empire will not be that of ancient Rome. But Western civilization that is built on the philosophies of ancient Rome.
Rome took in the Grecian philosophies and made them her own. took the Grecian gods and renamed them. rebranded them. Zeus became Jupiter. Mercury became Hermes.
They did this down the line. And they developed Western civilization as we Well, the foundation for it is we have it today. Vastly different from Asia and Africa and the Americas. Distinct. As you read the scriptures, you don't say, Boy, I wonder if Antichrist will be.
From Asia. It's ruled out. As you read about the nations that Daniel says are coming on the scene, and he uses animals to describe them: the leopard, the bear, the lion. Etc. He talks about the body of the statue that Nebuchadnezzar dreamt of when Daniel gives the interpretation, the head is gold.
The chest is silver. And then it, you know, it becomes until it's bronze, and then it's bronze mixed with clay, and they don't mix well. But a stone not made with hands hit the statue in the feet. Which are the ten horns in Revelation 7. And the whole thing collapsed, and that, of course, is Christ bringing down this kingdom.
When you think of Antichrist, you don't, I wonder if he'll be African. I wonder if he'll be from South America. No, you read it and you put the pieces together and you say, he's coming out of Europe. The kingdoms of Europe Namely, Where Rome is. The Ten Toes of Daniel in Daniel chapter two.
I hope I haven't lost any of you. If nothing else, maybe you'll be excited to say, I didn't come to church to do homework.
Well, you should. Yeah. You know, to think that you're just going to understand it all and get it is quite arrogant. But to understand that you're an empty vessel that you need the Spirit of God to fill. And that you have to work for it, that's where the fruit is.
And so he says here in verse 9, The seven heads are seven mountains.
Now that is Rome, as I mentioned, the holidays which the woman sits.
So not only is Antichrist going to be centered in Western civilization, But so is this apostate. Christianity. And here she sits on the seven hills, meaning her headquarters are geographically in Rome. This indicates that the seat of the religious power will be geographically in Rome. not ancient Babylon.
Of Iraq, as many good commentators do think it's going to be. But those scenarios don't pan out. I don't think they're even necessary. In verse 1, this woman sat on many waters. In verse 15, we're told these are the peoples of the world, the global influence through religion.
Europe is beginning to Resist and build up a defense against. the invasion of Islam. Europe's been fighting Islam since the days of Hannibal. And before And it will come to a head under Antichrist. The question is Is this the Roman Catholic Church?
The seat of power. Joined with in or in partnership with Antichrist. That system that is Revealed to us in Revelation 13. Does not Western civilization fawn over? The Pope's election?
We just saw this in May. early part of May. Oh, what when's what color's the smoke today? Have they picked a new pope? Just to drive home this point that there's one Apostate Christian entity.
that has global influence like no other. This is from 2005 when their Pope John Paul's So his at his funeral. And this is one of the articles. I I kept it from back those days. Num.
bringing it up. This is what the reporters reported. Attending today's funeral mass for the Holy Father were reigning monarchs of 10 countries, 57 heads of state, 3 hereditary princes, 17 heads of government, the heads of three international organizations, and representatives from 10 others. Three spouses of heads of state, eight vice-heads of state, six vice-prime ministers, four presidents of parliament. 12 foreign ministers, 13 ministers, and ambassadors from 24 countries.
There's more. This isn't the Baptist. The Baptist's not going to get this kind of attention. Calvary Chapel won't get this kind of attention. There's only one.
one entity linked with Christianity. that has this kind of world clout. It continues. Former Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton, as well as Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, will join President George W. Bush at Pope John Paul II's funeral the White House has announced.
Bush, who met three times with Pope John Paul II, was to become the first sitting US president to attend a papal funeral. Handwritings on the wall. when we try to identify who are these characters. And why do I need to identify them? Because I need to know where I stand in this world.
And who stands against Christ? And where this is going. Bible believing. Fundamental Bible-believing Christians, they know better. By verse 16, the ten horns of Antichrist world system will turn on the apostate and corrupt religious system and destroy it.
Those ten horns are the ten toes. In Daniel's vision of iron, represent that iron in Daniel, in its prophetic context, represents the iron eagles of ancient Rome. But when it's in the future, it's mingled with clay. Humanity embraces this Western civilization, but is weak. and will be destroyed.
And so these, the Antichrist and his regime is called the beast because it encompasses behavior prophesied by men like Daniel. The ten horns, as I mentioned, belong to that Daniel chapter 2, verses 32 to 33, if you want to look that up. On which the woman sits.
So, this links this religious Babylon, mystery Babylon, the mother of harlots. It links her to the Western civilization's rule and headquarters of Antichrist. The beast gives her permission to sit with him. He holds all the power and will yield none of it, and that's why he will turn. Verse 10.
Yeah. What did you learn in church today?
Well, it's going to be a mess in the end. That there's a way that seems right to man, but its way leads to death. and that we should pay attention. And that God has put together a record of the future for us. Verse 10, There are also seven kings.
Five have fallen. One is and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. You see the personal pronoun that is associated with the coming king.
So this is prophetic. In connection? With uh the Seven-headed Monster?
So we look back at Let's revisit this language. There are also seven kings, five have fallen. One is and the other has not yet come. Well, the other kingdoms, the five, Egypt, Syria, Babylon, the Medo-Persian. And the Greek or Grecian Empire started with Alexander the Great, and when he died, it divided it into four.
So there's your five kingdoms, and then there's the Rome that is presently the ruler. Paddle. Western world and into North Africa and in parts of Asia Minor at the time that John wrote this. Um This has been Cross Reference Radio with Pastor Rick Gaston. This program is a radio outreach of Calvary Chapel, Mechanicsville, in Mechanicsville, Virginia.
Pastor Rick has been teaching through the book of Revelation, but if you're interested in learning about a different book of the Bible, we have hundreds of past episodes available to listen to on demand. Just visit us online at crossreference radio.com and you'll find an archive of Pastor Rick's past teachings. While you're there, you can also find links to follow our program on your favorite podcast app, as well as links to get connected with us on Facebook and YouTube. There's also an interviews tab where you can learn more about Pastor Rick's heart for ministry.
Well, we hope you'll join us next time here on Cross Reference Radio. Hello.
