(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Alright we are in Revelation chapter 17 and now it's the much anticipated mystery Babylon. Now where are we on the prophetic timetable when dealing with the book of Revelation right now? If you remember from last week we were in chapter 16 and chapter 16 dealt primarily with the vials of God's wrath that were being poured upon the world. Now go back to chapter 16 if you would before we get into chapter 17 and go to verse 18. So right now we're in the section of the book of Revelation where we're nearing the end of Daniel's 70th week and at the end of Daniel's 70th week you have the very end of the judgments, the trumpet judgments along with the vial judgments. Then you have the destruction of Babylon, you have Armageddon, you have the establishment of Jesus Christ's millennial reign, the white throne judgment and then the new heaven and the new earth. Now chapter 17 and 18 are dealing primarily with Babylon. This is why it's such an important subject in the book of Revelation because two entire chapters are dedicating to describing and describing it as well as describing its destruction in chapter number 18. Now look at chapter 16 verse 18 it says and there were voices and thunders and lightnings and there was a great earthquake such as was not since men were upon the earth so mighty an earthquake and so great and the great city was divided into three parts and the cities of the nations fell and great Babylon came into remembrance before God to give unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. If we were to go according to the prophetic timetable we know that this is actually taking place at the latter end of Daniel's 70th week. So all this destruction and wrath is coming upon the world and then what does the Bible tell us? It tells us that Babylon comes into God's remembrance. He remembers them because she says that she sits as a queen and has no sorrow. Well he's about to multiply her sorrow you know a hundred fold because he's going to destroy that city and then we roll into chapter 17. Now go to 17 why is Babylon referred to as mystery Babylon? Why is that? In chapter 17 why is it referred to as mystery Babylon? Well Babylon has always had a specific identity throughout the Bible. You know when we think of Babylon you can go from Genesis chapter 11 all the way to Daniel chapter number 2 which we're going to do in just a bit but in John's time the final Babylon that he's writing about you know that was going to establish the Antichrist in his new world order was not known as of yet. You know this is something that's going to happen 2,000 plus years later. This is something that's still a mystery. Now it wasn't a mystery who Babylon was during John's time. You know Babylon during John's time was the Roman Empire okay and they knew that. I'm going to prove to you that they knew it in just a bit. Look at verse number 1 it says here and there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials and talked with me saying unto me come hither I was shown to thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters. So two factors that I want you to take into account here is that Babylon is described as a great whore and is describing her as sitting upon many waters. This is later defined in verse 16 as being peoples, multitudes, nations and tongues okay. Now what is this referring to? Well this is talking about the fact that Babylon the entity is not subject to one centralized geographical location but not just that. Obviously we understand that Babylon was an empire that existed and it overreached into different nations right. It subjected many nations, its influence was over many nations but not only that we see that when it says that she sits upon many waters it's referring to the fact that she transcends even eras. You see Babylon when we think of Babylon we think of Nebuchadnezzar right. Nebuchadnezzar you know in 530 BC when he ruled and reigned but here's the thing that Babylon had a beginning and end whereas the spirit of Babylon the entity that we're looking at here the mystery Babylon actually you know came before that empire in Genesis chapter 11 transcended it, passed it, surpassed it with the Medo-Persian empire, the Grecian empire and even in current days here with John in the Roman empire. So what is this referring to? Well her base of operations has basically varied throughout the ages okay. You say well why is it referred to as Babylon because Babylon is the antichrist or should I say the devil's plan to establish the new world order. It's needed, it's an instrument that Satan uses in order to establish that one world government, one world religion, one world superpower, one world financial system okay. So it transcends multiple generations and has had a presence in each super power. This is what Babylon is okay. Now go to Daniel chapter number 2, I'm going to read to you from Genesis chapter number 11. Daniel chapter number 2 and we're going to go back to Revelation chapter 17 and just a bit but let's look at the origin of Babylon. In Genesis chapter 11 we find the first mention of Babylon known as Babel. It says in verse number 1 the whole earth was of one language and of one speech and it came to pass as they journeyed from the east that they found a plane in the land of Shinar and they dwelt there and they said one to another go to let us make brick and burn them thoroughly and they had brick for stone and slime had they for mortar and they said go to let us build us a city and a tower whose top may reach unto heaven and let us make a name lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth. Now I'm not going to read the whole thing but this is the inception of the concept of Babylon. I mean this is where Babylon began here. Now what does it evolve into? Look at Daniel chapter number 2 and verse 31 of course this is the vision and the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had. He could not interpret the dream nor could he remember what the dream was. He hires all the soothsayers and the diviners to come and interpret the dream for him. None of them could except for Daniel and it says here in verse 31 thou O king saw us and behold a great image this great image whose brightness was excellent stood before thee and the form thereof was terrible. This image's head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, his legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou saw'st till that a stone was cut out without hands which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay and break them to pieces. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver and the gold broken into pieces together and became like the chaff of the summer threshing floors and the wind carried them away that no place was found for them and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain and filled the whole earth. So Daniel interprets the dream and he's basically telling Nebuchadnezzar hey you're the head of gold, the chest and the arms are referring to the Medo-Persian empire, the belly and thighs of brass is the Grecian empire, the legs of iron is that coming empire known as Rome and then you have the feet and the toes that are part iron and part clay. This is depicting the final empire known as the seventh one in Revelation chapter 17. This is mystery Babylon, this is the new world order. So we see Babylon being mentioned in Daniel chapter number 2. Now go to 1 Peter chapter 5. 1 Peter chapter 5. You see Babylon transitioned throughout the eras, it went from the Babylonian empire with Nebuchadnezzar, then it went to the Medo-Persian empire, went to the Grecian empire and went to Rome. I'm going to read to you from 1 Peter 1-1 it says, Peter an apostle Jesus Christ to the stranger scattered through Pontius, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, Bithynia. Skip down to go to chapter 5 and verse 11, it says to him be glory and dominion forever and ever amen by Sylvanus a faithful brother unto you as I suppose I have written briefly exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God wherein you stand. Look what it says, the church that is at where Babylon elected together with you saluteth you and so does Marcus my son. So where's Peter writing from? He's writing from Rome. This is telling us that even Peter himself understood that the one world superpower at that time that carried the spirit of Babylon was Rome. He understood it was Rome because he's writing from the church at Rome. This is why if you were to look into the writings of Peter in Greek you would see certain vocabulary and terminology that will not be found anywhere else in the Greek New Testament. Why is that? Well if you think about the fact that he's writing from Rome, Rome was a place that had inherited a lot of Greek literature, right? And in fact a lot of the vocabulary that you see in 1 and 2 Peter will not be found anywhere else in the New Testament but it will be found in other writings, other Greek writers, multitudes of times. Why is that? Well if he is in the epicenter of Greek writings and literature, obviously if he's reading these things it's going to have an influence on his writing style. And that's why it's obvious that he is in Rome and that validates in verse 13 that he's writing from the church that is at Babylon. Now that's not a wild idea because of the fact that we know that the empire that came after the Grecian Empire were the Romans, okay? This was that, those legs of iron, alright? Now go back to Revelation chapter 17, Revelation chapter 17. So we see that Babylon is referred to as a great whore. She sitted upon many waters. This is referring to the people's multitudes, nations, and tongues. This is something that is very true not only when the empire is on its conquest and conquering different nations but just in general it has transitioned and transcended multitudes of generations going from different empires helping them to succeed in their conquests, okay? The spirit of Babylon. Look at verse number 2. Now why does he call it the whore? He says in verse 2, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. This is pretty strong language that it's using here. Referring to Babylon as a whore, she's committing fornication with the kings of the earth. What does that mean? Well fornication is an unholy physical act absent of a legitimate covenant, right? So in other words, these kings are just simply using Babylon in order to establish their empire, their kingdom, and to succeed in their conquests. And why is it saying that she had committed fornications with the kings of the earth? What kings? Well the kings that we just previously mentioned, you know, referring to the Egyptian, Assyrian, you know, Grecian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire, et cetera, all of these kings have used and abused the spirit of Babylon in order to have preeminence amongst the nations in order to conquer, in order to succeed as an empire. So Mystery Babylon is basically an entity that has been embraced by all kingdoms, right? Major empires throughout the ages. They've committed fornication with her and used her to basically globalize and conquer. This is why she's referred to as a whore. She's not bound to one kingdom or one ruler, but rather basically makes herself available to any kingdom, right, in order for her to succeed. And look, this is one of the reasons why, if you look at the description of an actual whore in the Bible, in Proverbs chapter number five, what does it tell us? It tells us that her feet go down to hell, and it tells us that her ways are what? Moveable, that thou canst not know them. You know, just as the physical whore's ways is moveable, she's not faithful, she has multiple partners. I mean, when Jesus talked to the woman at the well, he says, thou has had five husbands, right? What does that mean? That means she gets around. In like manner, the spirit of Babylon, who's referred to and described as a whore who commits fornication with the kings of the earth, her ways are moveable, so you can't expect for her to stay in one centralized location. She moves where the spirit leads, so to speak, the unholy spirit, okay? Wherever there is conquest, wherever there is a king who is conquering, wherever the agenda of Satan is being carried out, Babylon is there. Verse number two goes on to say, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. The wine of her fornication is referring to her influence, the deception, okay? Verse three says, so he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. Now automatically, the thing that should pop out is the beast that she's referring to, which is likened unto the beast that we saw in Revelation chapter 13. But what do we see here in verse three? We see an unholy union between the whore and the beast, right? And what does the Bible tell us in chapter 13 regarding the beast? It tells us that John sees a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his crowns the name of blasphemy, right? Now here's the thing, now this is important, okay? Because when you look at these two entities, the whore and the beast, these are referring to literal nations, both of them are actual nations. And these two nations are imperative to end times Bible prophecy, the question is, who are they, right? Well, we know one for a fact is Israel. One of the nations is Israel. You say, well, how do you know that? Because of the fact that if the Antichrist represents the beast, and we see in Revelation chapter 13, he's being described as a beast, what does the Bible tell us? He sees one of his heads, as it were, wounded to death, and his deadly wound is healed, and the Bible says that all the world wondered after the beast, and said, who's able to make war with the beast, who's able to stand before him, who's able to make war with him? What are they doing? They're like a beast. Now, where does that take place in a prophetic timetable? It takes place when he dies, he comes back, and the Bible says that he opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped, so that he as God sitteth where? In the temple of God. Now where is that temple? Jerusalem. So one of the nations automatically we know is Israel, right? That's where his kingdom is gonna be, that's his headquarters, that's his throne, because that is where he's gonna be, where he's gonna claim to be God, okay? That is obvious. Now, here's the thing, is Israel capable, is Israel capable of conquering the world through its military? No. Economically? No. What does it need? It needs the whore. It needs the whore in order to establish itself throughout the world. The Antichrist, it's essential that the Antichrist has the whore in order to help him succeed in his conquest. Israel cannot do it alone. So what does it need? It needs another nation who has those resources, so he can carry that out. Now, what nation is Israel's greatest ally? The United States, folks. The United States of America is the nation that is Israel's greatest ally, okay? I mean, think about it, Netanyahu literally said that Donald Trump is like Cyrus the Great incarnate of 2,500 years ago, to the point where they're literally making coins with both Cyrus and Donald Trump in front, right? I mean, they're butt buddies is what they are, okay? I'm talking about Israel and the United States of America. It's an unholy union. I mean, think about this, folks. Why is it referred to as a woman with a beast? Because the union there is an abominable, unholy union, okay? But the beast needs the whore in order to establish its agenda of a new world order, okay? And so if end times Bible prophecy were to play out today, there's no way of cutting it. We know the fact that the United States of America would be Babylon. There's no other nation like America who has the capabilities of conquering and helping Israel and helping them and being their allies in order to establish that. I mean, Trump has an agenda to rebuild the third temple, right? To construct the third temple. Now, America has all the essential elements of a global empire and really echoes the practices, attitudes and the agenda of its imperial predecessor, the Roman Empire. I mean, think about this, folks. The last world empire was Rome, right? But here's the thing, America is basically like Rome. And I'm not just referring to its legislative branch, which is referred to as the Senate. I'm not just referring to the founding fathers who used Latin to create their mottos. I'm not just referring to their foreign policies and how they've conquered and conquest. I'm not referring to that. How about just their idolatrous pagan worship, right? The Romans were pagans who worshiped false gods. You say, what are you talking about? The United States of America does not worship false gods. Oh yeah, the common people don't. But hold on a second, the higher ups, those who are in leadership position, the politicians, those who are running the country, they worship false gods. If you don't believe that, go to Washington, DC, which is known as the District of Christ. No, District of Columbia, which is a false god. Go to the Library of Congress and in front of that Library of Congress, you'll find a a statue of the court of Neptune, which Neptune is your equivalent to Poseidon, the Greek god Poseidon. And he's there coming up out of the sea. What does that sound like? It sounds like the beast coming up out of the sea, having seven heads and 10 horns and upon his horns, 10 crowns. You know, he has the Titans right next to him, you know, proclaiming his coming with the shells, proclaiming his coming, blowing the trumpets for his coming. Folks, what is it? Why are there all these statues and idolatrous images doing in the capitals of our country? Go to Sacramento. If you go to Sacramento, California, to the state capital, you'll see all types of idolatry, wicked, naked statues everywhere. They're all Greek and Roman gods and goddesses. So yeah, the common people, obviously, the common people, you know, they were considered to be a Christian nation even from the inception of America up until now. But hold on a second. The people who run the country are pagans. They pattern themselves after the former Roman Empire still, okay? But how about the Trail of Conquest? If that doesn't convince you, what about the Trail of Conquest? The fact that the United States of America has conquered over 200 nations, has military in 150 nations, right? It has a dominant position all around the world, has the extensive ability to influence and project its power worldwide, has economic, military, cultural influence all around the world. I mean, it's the lone superpower of the world. It's Babylon. It's Israel's greatest ally. You say, well, yeah, but brother, Pastor, you need to chill out a little bit. Things are changing though. Pastor, I mean, I don't know if you've been watching the news lately, but you know, things are changing. You know, President Trump, man, he is for us. You know, he's changing things. You know, I even think that he's going to be able to impede the New World Order because we all know that the New World Order is working in cahoots with the UN and the UN is going to help usher in the New World Order. False, folks. Well, he's against vaccines, you know, and he is for Christians. He's going to help establish this and destroy globalism. And in fact, in his speech, he says, Americanism, not globalism, Americanism, not globalism. And here's the thing, folks, we have been duped into thinking that globalism is the agenda of the New World Order and of the Antichrist. It's a sleight of hand, folks. It's a sleight of hand. Donald Trump is looking to take that down. You see, and someone literally asked me, like, do you think that, you know, Donald Trump could potentially stop the New World Order from happening? Absolutely not. It's going to happen. But hold on a second. If he goes forth and establishes nationalism, patriotism, Americanism, who is that going to attract? It's going to attract Christians. It's going to attract believers who are in America. Why? Because Americans who are Christians have ardently fought against globalism, right? The liberals and the Democratic Party, globalism, Barack Obama, the UN. But hold on a second. Now what do you have? You have an emphasis not on globalism. In fact, you have an emphasis on destroying globalism and establishing nationalism. You say, well, how is that going to transition into the New World Order? You see, people think, like, the New World Order is when the Antichrist imposes himself and his government upon people. That's not what it is at all. The New World Order is when people are integrated into the New World Order willingly. They want to be Romans. You see, if you remember in the Roman Empire, it was a privilege to have Roman citizenship. This was something that was looked upon greatly. I mean, you hear Paul the Apostle talking about being a Roman. This is something that people wanted. And so in like manner, if you have Donald Trump propagating nationalism, patriotism, people are going to bite into that hook, line, and sinker. You say, well, I thought the world hated America, though. You know, I thought, you know, they're completely against America. Yeah, but hold on a second. What if you have a crisis of some sort with no solution, and then you have someone like Donald Trump who's for nationalism bring the solution? What if you have someone like Donald Trump coming in and establishing or promoting sovereign liberty for every nation? You'll gain fans quick. The New World Order is not going to be established by globalism. The New World Order will be established by nationalism because everyone's going to want a piece of the pie. Everyone's going to want to be a part of that New World Order. They're not going to be forced into it. People are going to want to be a part of it. It's sleight of hand. By the way, I'm not saying, obviously they're taking over the world. Globalists, right? They're going to take over the world. What I'm saying is the idea of globalism has evolved, is going to evolve. Okay? Because think about this. Who's the group in this world that Satan is trying to deceive the most? Is it Islam? Is it anyone, any other? Is it the Buddhist? No. Who does he want to deceive the most? Mainstream Christianity. Right? And you know what? We've seen a great change where even conspiracy theorists are for Trump. Even not just, we know the Fox News Baptists are for Trump, obviously. But now you're seeing conspiracy theorists for Trump as well. Why? Because now he's fighting for their rights as well, anti-bacts or whatever. He's appealing to that crowd. Why? Because he wants to deceive them. And wouldn't this, if he were to have these righteous exploits, so to speak, where he's stopping the pedophilia rings, he's doing all these great exploits, wouldn't that raise an eyebrow to some people to say, well, you know, maybe this Preterist view is correct. Maybe he's ushering in the kingdom because now we have someone in the White House as the president who is doing all these righteous exploits and we're going to have a righteous nation, a righteous world. Those who are promoting a, you know, ushering in the kingdom type of doctrine, they're going to bite into that hook, line, and sinker. But we know that it's sleight of hand. Okay? And look, folks, you have Clarence Sexton, for example, who literally made an entire video or something, a sermon, and he's talking about, he's talking about that Trump is here for such a time as this, and he's weeping, he's crying, he's like, this is what we need, it's the revival that we've been looking for. He's already bitten into the pie. He's emotionally driven to support Donald Trump because he feels as though he's going to establish righteousness. It's like, dude, you need to read the Bible, the book of Revelation, the New World Order is going to happen whether you like it or not. And if we're nearing the end times, you need to filter current events to what's taking place and possibly say, well, maybe it's not globalism, maybe it's nationalism. Now, Genesis 11, when talking about Babel, referred to as having one language and being of one speech. So the, you know, we often think of globalism as being a unity where everyone is different, but we all kind of just agree we coexist, but rather, it's going to, it's not going to be that type. It's going to be the type of coexistence that is centered around America, okay? Go back to Revelation chapter 17, look at verse number 4. Now look, whether you agree with that or not, no matter what, he will either use nationalism or globalism, no matter what, the New World Order is going to be established. And no matter what, if it were to happen in our lifetime, America is that Babylon. Whether America does it through globalism or nationalism, beyond a shadow of a doubt, America is Babylon, okay? Look at verse number 4, it says, and the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication, and upon her forehead was the name written, Mystery Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth. Now it's important to note that Babylon is not just a nation, but it also represents that one world religion as well. That's why when you read this automatically, you think what, the Catholic Church, which is a form of Babylon, just as Rome was a form of Babylon, okay? You know, you think of the precious stones, the pearls, the golden cup in her hand, being decked with gold, all these abominations that take place within the Catholic Church, this is very evident. But I don't think Catholicism is going to be like the main religion of the New World Order. What it carries with it is the ideologies of that New World Order being universal, okay? And so it's not just referring to that one world government, it's referring to that one world religion as well. Go to Daniel chapter number two, go to Daniel chapter number two, what religion is this going to be? Well, it's not going to be the Catholic Church, but it's going to be likened to it in the sense of the fact that it's going to be universal, okay? And this is one of the main reasons why Babylon will be destroyed. Why is that? Well, look at Daniel chapter two, verse number 40, it says, and the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, for as much as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueeth all things, and as iron that breaketh all these shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes part of potter's clay and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided, but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron for as much as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. Now again, clay in the Bible often is representative of God's people, but hold on a second, here we see that the clay is what? Miry. It's mixed, it's corrupted, right? And so what do we see from that? Well, we can see is that when it's referring to this end times empire as Babylon, the clay that is going to be present during that time, the religious group, so to speak, is going to be an apostate Christianity. It's a Christianity that has been mixed in and so duped and so filled with heresy that it's going to cause this empire to fall, because here's the thing, everything rises and falls upon the Christianity of a nation. Based upon what is it that they're worshiping, how is it that they're worshiping God, that is where the strength of the nation lies, you understand? What impedes the wrath of God upon a nation is if there's a remnant there. If there's a remnant of Christians that are preaching the word of God, they're seeing people saved, they're doing God's work, that impedes the wrath of a nation. And so if you see a religious group here that is mixed in, it's apostate, it's teaching false doctrine, then you know what? That's going to be the reason why it falls. That's why it's able to just be destroyed in one hour, okay? Verse 42 says, and as the toes of the feet were part of iron and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly broken. Why is it partly strong? Because of its military might, because of its conquest, because of the fact it has presence in 150 countries, but why is it weak? Because of its religious stance, okay? Verse 43, and whereas I saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men, but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And so the miry clay is depicting apostate Christianity, which has weakened the feet of the iron. Now go to Revelation chapter 18, if you would, go to Revelation chapter 18. So it tells us, you're in chapter 18, it tells us in verse 4 that the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colored, deck with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication. This is also referring to the fact that whatever nation this is, it's filled with luxury, right? And that's exactly what we see, what's being mentioned and emphasized in chapter 18. Look at verse number 11, it says here in Revelation 18 verse 11, and the merchants of the earth after its destruction shall weep and mourn over her, for no man buyeth their merchandise any more. The merchandise of gold and silver and precious stones and of pearls and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet and all thine wood and all manner of vessels of ivory and all manner of vessels of the most precious wood and of brass and iron and marble. These are luxuries, these aren't necessities. And cinnamon and odors and ointments and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and beasts and sheep and horses and chariots and slaves and souls of men. Hey, what does that sound like to you? It sounds like the human sex trafficking, right? And you know what, the United States is responsible for things like this. The pedophilia ring, the human sex trafficking, this is what it's referring to when it talks about the slaves and the souls of men. So when it talks about this, this is something that is happening today in 2020 in the United States of America. And this is why the Bible tells us that the sins of Babylon rise up into heaven and they're iniquities come before God. The reason God destroys Babylon in such a way as just with fire and with the destroying wind is because of these things. Why is it that America, they think we're just untouchable, nothing will ever happen to us, we're just invincible, nothing will ever happen to us, we can do no wrong while all this iniquity and filth is taking place here in the United States. God remembers these things and what is he gonna do? He's gonna destroy it in one hour, okay? Look at verse number six and I saw, or go back to chapter 17 and verse number six. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. Now sometimes this is why people think that Babylon is referring to the Catholic church, right? The Catholic church was responsible for martyring many Christians throughout the years, right? I mean if you even study what they would refer to as church history and you study different people groups such as the Waldensians, the Albigenzis, these people were martyred in mass numbers, I mean killed in some of the worst ways, okay? You know there's stories of the Waldensians who were persecuted by the Catholic church in such a way that they literally, the reason they're called the vadwa or the valley, the people of the valley is because they were chased basically outside of their homes. They lived in dens and caves. They would come down into the villages, you know, to sell different materials or things that they made of things that they created while they're living in the valleys and in the mountains and people would turn them in. They would turn them in and they would kill these people in some of the most gruesome ways. I mean there's stories of literally Christian martyrs, women who had, you know, melted metal poured down their throat and paled with sticks and just killed in the most gruesome ways. I mean the Catholic church has a lot of blood, Christian blood on their hands, martyred many people. But you know what, I don't believe this is what it's referring to. You say, well what is this referring to? Well if battle is America, America is going to be responsible for putting Christians to death. That's what that means. Now America was responsible for persecuting Baptists early on, okay. When the country was first established at its inception, there was a time of persecution when they were to arrest independent, or not independent Baptists, but just Baptists in general for preaching the gospel, but there's going to come a persecution when they do put them to death. You say, when does that take place? When they start establishing the mark of the beast. America is going to be a pool of just complete blood where Christians are going to be persecuted, they're going to be put to death for their faith, okay. And America is responsible for that. This is why it's important that, you know, we recognize that, because sometimes you have Christians who, they're all for the Bible, but they're all for the Constitution as well. Right? Well, my constitutional rights, well, let's hear about your biblical rights, you know, and I'm for the Constitution because of the fact that some of the Constitution is for us, but you know, the Constitution is also for Satanists, you know, the Constitution is also for every other religious denomination, even those who hate Christ, you know, the Constitution is also for the Jews who hate Jesus, right? That's why it's important that we recognize, hey, the battle that we fight is a spiritual battle and it needs to be fought with the word of God, not with the Constitution, okay. You know, and you know, people are going to come and say, well, you know, this is my constitutional right to do this. Well, you know what? If they tear up the Constitution and they throw it in the trash and they say, you have no rights, we say, yes, we do. And it comes from the Bible and if you tear up my Bible, I'll just pull out another one. Because the Bible tells me in Romans chapter 13 that we are to obey and be subject to the higher powers and the Constitution, though it's a high power, guess what? It's not the highest, this is the highest power, okay. Now use the Constitution, amen, but you know what? If they try to throw that in your face or say you have no rights, false. I'm born free. I have liberty and it's given to me by God himself. I can prove it to you from the word of God, okay. But unfortunately, you have a lot of Christians who depend a lot on that. You know, they depend greatly on the Constitution and here's the thing, you know, it's not going to help them at the end, okay. What's going to help them is they keep the word of his patience. And so it tells us there that the woman is drunken with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And I saw her wondered with great admiration. Verse 7, it says, I mean, doesn't Babylon, doesn't the whore Babylon also kind of depict Jezebel because she was responsible also for putting prophets to death as well, right. And it's almost as if Ahab used Jezebel to kind of get into power because she's the one who had that umph to kind of help him to get into power, right. You say, you know, what is you who represents you who represents Jesus who's going to trample the whore, right. And he uses the 10 kings who are the eunuchs, right, he uses the eunuchs to basically destroy her. A lot of parallels there. Verse 7, it says, and the angel said unto me, wherefore didst thou marvel, I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carryeth her which hath the seven heads and 10 horns. The beast which thou sawest was and is not and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. So sometimes there's confusion and there's speculation as far as how this takes place because they wonder, you know, the Antichrist receives a deadly wound to the head but it tells us here that he was and he is not and he ascends out of the bottomless pit. Well, this is what I believe, okay. What I believe is the fact that he dies, his soul descends into hell and then it comes back because it says that he ascends out of the bottomless pit. This is referring to the fact, because obviously the Antichrist is not saved, when he dies he goes to hell but he's permitted to come back out of the bottomless pit and to basically possess his own body. Now, he's not the only occupant of that body because we know that Satan also possesses him. I believe that that's what it's referring to, okay. Since the beast that thou sawest was, that means he is alive, he is not, he receives a deadly wound to the head and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit and go into perdition. And they that dwell on the earth shall wonder whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world. Now, who are the ones who are wondering? People who are not saved. You know, we're not going to be wondering. When we see the Antichrist being possessed by Satan, when he comes back to life and people claim that it's the resurrection of Christ, we're not going to wonder at that. What we're going to do is we're going to be like, oh man, this is it. This is the guy. This is the one who we need to watch out for. Now it's on, 75 days from here on out, it's great tribulation, okay. But the world will wonder from that. When they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is. Verse number nine says, and here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sitteth and there are seven kings, five are fallen, one is and the other is not yet come and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. So we see here that it's referring to seven kings and we know that the seven great empires referred to in the Bible can be described as the Egyptian empire, the Assyrian empire, of course, Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Grecian, Roman empire. And it says that one is, because during this time when John is writing this, the one that is, is the Roman empire. And the Bible says that the other is not yet come and when he cometh, so notice that it says the other kingdom is not yet come, but when he cometh, who's he, the antichrist, he must continue a short space. It says in the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seven and goeth into perdition. Now, it sounds kind of confusing, right? But what it is is that when the seventh kingdom is established, known as the new world order, this empire is ruled by a coalition of different kings, okay? It's not just one king, it's not the antichrist who's ruling this. It's various kings, in fact, more specifically, it's 10 kings. We know that for a fact because of the fact in Revelation chapter six, when the first seal is open, the antichrist goes forth conquering into conquer, but we know that he's not crowned a king as of yet, according to Daniel chapter eight, until later, until he comes back from the dead, right? And then he continues a short space. So when the antichrist comes back from the dead, at that point, that coalition of 10 kings actually give up their own power and they give it to the king and then he just becomes a dictator of the world. See initially he comes, he obtains, the Bible says, the kingdom by flatteries, right? He obtains the kingdom by flatteries, he is cooperating with the 10 kings to go forth conquering into conquer, but it is when he comes back from the dead that they decide to give their power unto the beast and at that point, he is of the eighth and is, or excuse me, he is the eighth and is of the seventh, okay? He said, well, what happens to the seventh? He says, Shroy, because what is the seventh? It's Babylon. What is the seventh? It's the United States of America. It's what he uses in order to get into power, at which point, he says, I have no more use for you. It's time to just discard you, okay? It says in verse 12, and the 10 horns which thou sawest are 10 kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings, one hour with the beast, and I believe this is referring to the fact that they're ruling as a coalition of kings, and this is why the identity of the antichrist is not revealed until he receives that deadly wound to the head. Verse 13 says, these have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. Now does it say that they're forced to do that? No. Bible tells us here that they have one mind and they give their power and strength unto the beast willingly, and by the way, they're not the only ones, everyone else in the world knows this too. People are not going to be fighting the mark of the beast, they want it. I mean, you have people today that are just dying to get the vaccine for COVID-19, like, oh, I can't wait till the vaccine for COVID-19 comes out so we can just end all this. Ignorant people, right, thinking that the answer is in the vaccine. These are the same people, they're children of the people who are doing that today are going to be the ones that say, give the power unto the beast, worship the beast, let him rule over us. Verse 14 says, these shall make war with the lamb, and the lamb shall overcome them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful. And he saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest where the horse sitteth are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues, and the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. So we see here that in verse number 14, it talks about them making war with the lamb. So after they give their power unto the beast, they destroy Babylon, they destroy the whore, and we see that they are actually present when they go to war with Jesus Christ in the Battle of Armageddon. And it's referring to that they shall make war with the lamb, and the lamb shall overcome them. Verse 17 says, for God hath put it in their hearts to fulfill his will, and to agree and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled. Now what can we learn from verse 17? We learn that throughout this time, this is a very chaotic time, right? And during this chaotic time, there's going to be Christians during this time, right? There's going to be people who are saved during this time. And they can easily think to themselves like, man, where's God in all this? But here's the thing, God is all over. Because of the fact that he's so in control of the situation that he wants to destroy Babylon, and he places it upon the heart of wicked men to carry out his bidding. He uses wicked men in order to destroy Babylon. He places it within their agenda to destroy it. What does it show us? It shows us that God is in control, even throughout all of this that's taking place. Until the words of God shall be fulfilled, and verse 18, and the woman which thou saw us is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth. So what is chapter 17 dealing with? It's dealing with the precursor to the destruction of Babylon, okay? It's explaining to us the spirit of Babylon, its origins, where it comes from, what is the purpose of Babylon, how it will be used, and how it will be discarded in the end times. And make no mistake about it, this is a very important issue here in the Bible, especially for us today, because we live in Babylon. And the things that we're going to look at in chapter 18, we can make direct application to things that are taking place today. So those of you out there who are nationalists, you're patriots, you're just all about America, well guess what? Your beloved America is going to be destroyed by God. And guess what? People are always wondering, man, is America in the Bible? Yeah, but not in a good way. Not in a good way. In fact, God hates Babylon. Well, hold on a second, all our money says in God we trust. Yeah, but here's the thing, what God are they talking about? And it's that same bill that has the Eye of Horus and an Egyptian monument of paganism. How can you have paganism alongside Christianity? You can't. Oh, wait a minute, Babylon can, it has, and it still doesn't. That's why it's a feat of iron and of miry clay. It's a convoluted, corrupted religion, right? So hey, if you're a nationalist, you're all about America, you're like, well if you don't like America, then go somewhere else. No, because this is where I was born. And you know what, here's the thing, I got California love, folks. I'm not here to be a nationalist, I'm here because I'm a Baptist and I want to see people saved. And I want to save people from the wrath of God to come. The reason why, and look, we're not of this world, period. And look, you need to turn off Fox News, you need to put away the patriotic preaching that you've been listening to, get into the word of God, because you don't want to be on the receiving end of that judgment. And look, if anybody's listening to this and you're not saved but you're a nationalist, well it's time for you to convert to be a Christian. Because nationalism has become the new religion. Well it's time for you to forsake that religion and to get saved and to become an actual Christian. Well I thought nationalism is Christianity. You know, it's the false religion of America that's going to cause the new world order to be established. You know, the Bible says we're the holy nation and it's not the holy nation, the royal priesthood is not referring to America, it's referring to those who are saved. Amen. Let's bow our heads in our word of prayer. Father we thank you so much for your word and Lord I'm thankful for the privilege I had to be born in this country because of the fact that we do have freedoms, but sometimes people can take that too far, to the point where they see the Constitution and being an American almost to the equivalent of being a Christian, someone who's saved. And I pray God that you'd help us, that you'd help us to continue to delve into the word of God and recognize that we could be living in these times, it is a possibility. I mean for sure we are in the latter days. Now I don't think that we're in the tribulation, but obviously the days that we're seeing now are days that are going to be leading up to those tumultuous times. And I pray God that you'd help us to continue to read the word of God, to pray, to walk in the Spirit, to win souls to Christ. Help us to win as many Americans as possible in order to save them from the wrath to come. And in Jesus' name we pray, amen. Amen. Amen.