In this sermon, the preacher discusses the symbolism of a woman sitting on a scarlet colored beast in the book of Revelation. He explains that this woman represents Satan's counterfeit and strategy to lure people to destruction by presenting something alluring and desirable. The preacher also mentions that this counterfeit is supported by false religion, which has become the basis of morals, government, and social structure in society. He further highlights the influence of atheism in destroying faith, citing a report from communist students who studied in American universities and returned to Russia with their faith in God destroyed.

Last Wednesday I said that I hoped we would be able to consider three chapters, Revelation 18 and 19, 17, 18, and 19. I am forced, however, to confine our consideration tonight to chapter 17. I wish you would turn, Revelation chapter 17, and I shall read the entire portion, eighteen verses, as a background for our thinking. And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters, 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. 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. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and 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 head was the name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. 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 or wonder. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carried her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was and is not, 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, when they behold the beast that was and is not and yet is. 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. And the beast that was and is not, even he is the eighth and is of the seventh, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet, but receive power as kings, one hour with the beast. These have one mind and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. 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 whore sitteth are peoples and multitudes and 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. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfill his will and to agree and to give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city which reigneth over the kings of the earth. Now, with this portion, as in all of Scripture, we must understand that there have been a great many interpretations, and I would not have you suppose for a minute that I claim infallibility or that I am suggesting to you that the last word has been said about Revelation. I do not know how many books have been written on the theme, and probably all of them are right, and I'm not making conflict with anyone by what I've been saying, but I've been simply seeking to bring to you what I understand to be the significance of large portions of this book, meaning which has been enriching to my own heart and life and experience and has changed some of my attitudes, and I trust the same is true in your experience. Now, Babylon. What does this word Babylon mean? Where does it take us? Where does it carry us? Right back to that tower which you found there early in Genesis that was erected by Nimrod. You recall that God judged the world, the generation of Noah, because of their sin. Now, the sin of Noah's generation was that of lasciviousness or immorality on the mental level, and of course this would inevitably result in immorality in act as well. But he said their imaginations were only evil continually. And so he saved Noah, who was perfect in his generation. We saw last year in studying Noah as a type of Christ that this seemed to speak of the fact that he had not commingled with the cursed line of Cain, but had descended with the pure strain of family tree from Seth through Adam, and that he was in that sense perfect in his generation. He hadn't mingled with this cursed line. But nevertheless, as righteous as Noah was and as blessed as he was and as sure as God might have been that through him he could get a line that would begin afresh anew, within just a few generations men, the sinfulness of the human heart and the rebellion of the race was clear. They united under Nimrod, and incidentally your King James Version mistakenly says Nimrod was a mighty hunter before the Lord, but that word is actually rebel. And he led men in an open rebellion against God and crystallized anti-Christian or anti-God sentiment in idolatrous form that was religion connected with government. Now this is where it occurs the first time. He wanted to rule and unite all people in opposition to God. The tower that was built was a temple dedicated to the worship of Semiramis. And as you've heard me say, Tislip declares that Semiramis was the wife of Nimrod's father, but he took her in an incestuous relationship and made her the god. You remember Satan had said to worship me, believe what I say and do what I command and order, and ye shall be as God. And so wherever he has had an opportunity, he has encouraged the deification of woman. And here was the first place that occurred publicly and openly. But it was the union of two things. It was the union of religion and government under an idolatrous form. And Babel became the word we associate with what God said when he confused or did when he confused the languages and broke down the tower and dispersed the people. But this word Babylon has its roots right back there in this idea of confusion and this idea of the union of anti-God religion with governmental power. The next occurrence we find of religious empire is under the Assyrians. There again we find it connected with the worship of Ashtarte or Ashteroth, Baal, and Moloch. And you recall what we've said in the past regarding these, that the worship of Baal had actually to do with the worship not of a god Baal, for there were innumerable Baals. The Baal simply means owner, and it had reference to the particular demon in a particular area that made particular demands of sacrifice and worship in order that there should be prosperity. We see this happening in the fetishism of Africa where they worship different demons by name very frequently. And this worship of Baal was for the purpose of placating an angry spirit who, when satisfied, would allow the crops to grow, the children to grow, the cattle and herds and so on to increase and to prosper. But it was essentially for the purpose of getting things. The worship of Ashtarte was twofold, to ensure progeny and and also to give license to immorality and to allow men a religious cover for their lust and their sin. The worship of Moloch was to secure position corresponding to the three things that are in the world, the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. Now all of the idolatry of all the ages in all the countries until the present have somewhere these three things as the issue or as the point and the purpose. Satan, you see, is the god of this world. He's been so called by our Lord Jesus. He said, the prince of this world cometh and has nothing in me. And he is said to be the god of this world if blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the gospel should shine unto them. And he also said to Christ, if you will bow down and worship me, I'll give you the nations of the earth. All right? This was what he promised and he could produce it. Because these nations, this governmental organization, was under his control. Now this is the thing that you need to see if you're to see the significance of that which is set forth in this seventeenth chapter. Well, from Assyria, this ancient Semitic kingdom which was the successor to Babel, you add the development in a higher form of idolatry in these three areas under different local names, of course, but nevertheless covering these three areas and linking the worship of the idols with governmental rule and control and power. Then it came, actually, to Babylon under such kings as Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, where there was, again, idolatry linked with civic power and control. On down to the Medes and the Persians, parallel to this under Egypt and so on. But inevitably what has been seen in these great empires is the joining of religious authority with civic control or anti-god religion with empire. Now we're brought down to Babylon. Same word, it goes clear back to the tower, clear back to Assyria and to that city which continued so many centuries there at the Ur of the Chaldees, Babylon. Now we have seen previously in other chapters that there were two wild beasts. The first wild beast had reference to anti-Christian power. This was ferocious. It had the feet of a bear and the body of a leopard and so on. It was a ferocious beast. All of the lethal killing power of wild animals gathered in this one thing describing to us power with the ability to destroy. Then there was a second wild beast that we saw. This one had horns like a ram, mild, meek, seemingly innocuous and harmless, but it spoke the words of the first wild beast, had the same arguments, the same lying thing, the same devouring purpose. And so we have called this anti-Christian propaganda. One is power, which is for the purpose of destroying, but if the beast that was like a leopard and a bear and a lion were to come, people would be frightened. And so the one that actually comes is the one that has horns like a ram that seems harmless and innocuous, but speaks the word, the same idea. And so we've called this anti-Christian propaganda. And then Babylon the Great has been set forth previously in other chapters, and we have called this, as I've just described, the historical reason for our so-denominating Babylon the Great as anti-Christian empire. And so you have the three, anti-Christian power, anti-Christian propaganda, and then anti-Christian empire. So we come to the question of the evening in the 17th chapter. What is meant by mystical Babylon? What do we mean by this figure? What does this have reference to? What does it mean to us? It's verses 3 to 6 that we see. I read them for you. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, and having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornications. And upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery or Mystical Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth. Now we'll stop there. What is this figure? What does this figure, the fallen woman, mean to us? Well, first may I say it still is Babylon. Just as we saw the beast manifest in two forms, the one power and the other propaganda, so we find the Babylon is manifest as empire. But in order that there can be empire, there has to be some inducement. And so I suggest to you that the woman that is seen here will speak to us of Babylon but clothed in anti-Christian seductiveness. There is something so enticing, so alluring, something so appealing about this woman as she's described as having such a tremendous effect upon the people of the earth. She is sitting upon a scarlet-colored beast and she's arrayed in purple and scarlet color and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls and having a golden cup in her hand. Now John saw that it was full of abominations and filthiness, but the earth dwellers don't see this. Actually what they see is just something that's very alluring, very beautiful, very seductive, very enticing, something that seemingly is so worthwhile, so desirable, so much to be sought after. May I suggest to you then that this represents the same thing we've seen previously, Satan's counterfeit, Satan's strategy to lure men to destruction by holding up something that's beautiful and attractive, lovely to look upon with so much promise of fulfillment and satisfaction. Now we will see elsewhere, I state it, that this is empire supported by false religion. And if you will go back and study the various empires that I've described to you in such a source as the Encyclopedia Britannica, you will see that with each of these empires, religion played a tremendous part. This wasn't done just on the basis of organization and force. You don't do that. People have to want, they have to desire something. And so here is set forth the fact that Satan has secured empire by appealing to the appetites and the desires of earth dwellers of people and engaged their loyalty and actually engaged their enthusiasm. For instance, take the progress of communism during the last 40 years, and you will find that it's very few countries that have been conquered, made communist by force of arms. Oh, it's been true, but you can't describe, for instance, the conquest of China as a military victory. There had to be something else. So what has happened? Well, on the one hand, you have what is known, and I don't believe this is critical, I certainly don't mean it that way, and that there was self-seeking and bribery in the government, of the people that were there, that were in charge of the government. There was just a common knowledge that there was a great deal of, shall we say, taking of bribes and dishonesty, not only of that country, but of our own for that matter. If you pick up the newspapers, you're appalled as I am by the unscrupulous conduct of our officials, but it was true. But how is this? How comes this to be a factor? Well, there again, you have men that are looking out saying, well, I'll get rich, I'll get wealth, I'll get money, and so entrusted with responsibility, instead of serving with integrity, as they ought to do, they begin to see the apple or the fruit held out by the enemy, and they say, well, I'll take a little bribery here, and I'll take a little dishonest money there, I'll take a little here, and so the very ones that are the custodians of government and protectors of freedom compromise themselves by their selfishness. So here is this terrible, seductive woman leading the officials into small, petty politics, which repulse the people, and the very ones that ought to be the protectors of freedom now have become the takers of bribes led by this seductive woman that's drawn them on. Then while this thing we are studying here, this woman Babylon, which is anti-Christian empire in its seductiveness, so the people are prepared. They're prepared to accept some other form. Someone comes in and says, well now, you know the dishonesty, the bribery, the cruelty, you know this and that about the country and your leaders. What you need is men that have integrity and honor, and so while they turn away from one, they're emotionally prepared to turn to another. It's always this way. There's always this preparation. Empires aren't built simply by somebody saying he's going to be, for instance, a Napoleon. This is a great debate among students of history. Do men make conditions, or do conditions make men? Did Napoleon make history, or did history, the culture, and the conditions make Napoleon? Well, obviously, the answer is both. They're dependent upon each other. Probably if Napoleon had been born a hundred years sooner, he'd have been just another farmer. If Hitler had been born a hundred years sooner, he might have been just another paper hanger. He happened to come at the proper time when there was a ripeness in culture for the kind of personality that was represented. The kings of France, as you know, were gluttonous, selfish, proud, cruel monarchs, ruling for the most part without regard for the interests of their subjects, ruling by invested divine right of kings, and their abuse was notorious, and so when you find the king of France, or the king of France, the philosophy beginning to develop, minds of men beginning to awaken as the Renaissance progressed, and then there comes that crystallizing thing, that catalytic thing that's thrust into it. In the case of France, it was Jean-Jacques Rousseau's little book, The Social Contract, which defended his immorality and leaving his wife. He simply said that no contract is void or is holding unless both parties agree and continue to agree, and what it was taken by the people to mean, that divine right of kings didn't exist any longer, and if they didn't want kings, away with the kings. And so, supported by royalty, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, writing this little book, thrusting it out, having it printed, precipitated that action which resulted in the French Revolution. Now, there had to be an abuse here. Well, who led the kings into this selfishness? Of course, their own appetites, but here again, you see it's the working of Satan through ideas and through this machination of evil, and so the thing is going on two ways at once. On the one hand, working this way, pulling, and the other sending something in. The same thing is happening here in America. You can see this as something that's taking place at the present time here. You find, for instance, you go back a hundred years, the introduction of the teachings of evolution, find that at first was just a scientific theory that was postulated, and then it was brought on as a basis of philosophy of humanism without God. It struck right at the root of responsibility to God, and the next development of this thing was that it became itself a religion, a religious foundation for communism and so many other things. And also, it became the grounds for a throwing over of the restraint of the Ten Commandments, because if man had, as Schmalhausen said in his book Why We Misbehave, if man has ascended from an animal, all right, he's an animal, so all you need to do if you don't like the way he behaves is just build a fence around him, but don't try to change him. Remember his origins. He's after all, and so now what are we finding today? That our high schools and grade schools, for that matter, are teaching evolution as a fact. It's just taught and accepted, and any parent that challenges the right of the school officials to saturate the minds of their children with this is looked upon as being an ignoramus. I remember when I was in the University of Minnesota, one of the professors said in the course of a lecture three times, the fact of evolution, the fact of evolution, and the fact—this was 25 years ago, students, and perhaps they've changed their terminology since then. And finally, I couldn't stand any longer, and I waited to appropriate time and raised my hand. I said, now, professor, I thought I heard you say the fact of evolution. Since when has it been proven? The last I knew it was the theory of evolution. He began to stutter and to stammer and to swallow his tongue because he knew that he had been making the assumption that because there were certain facts that he felt supported it, that he could know—he now could deal with it as though it were a proven scientific fact. Well, it isn't. It isn't yet. It's still a theory, but nevertheless it's accepted as the basis of morals and the basis of government and the basis of social structure and of our whole present sociology, or at least in large measure, is founded upon it. So what happened? A few years ago, the Communists sent over about a thousand students to take advanced work in our universities, and when they came back to Russia, the report was this. This is marvelous. We're going to try to send more of our students there because you did in one and a half years what we couldn't do in 40 years. You've destroyed the faith of our students in God by exposing them to your education. And so they—consequently what's happened? We find that our morals have decreased, we find that our social structure, we find the increase of crime, and all of these concomitant deterioration of our culture are carrying on because of the philosophy that's creeping out like a flood tide that's inundating the land. Well now, what's the source of this? You certainly wouldn't say it isn't God. No, it certainly isn't of God. You can't attribute it to him by any means because it's anti-God in all of its effect and all of its impact. What is it? Well, it's the seductiveness that comes. A young person comes from a home to a school, and there's a brilliant teacher with several degrees after his name, and he ridicules the faith of the student and mocks at these young people that were forced to go to church. And he himself is so cultured and so refined and so intelligent, and the student is soon intimidated, and he begins to look upon mother and father as old fogeys, and if he hasn't had a real experience with God, the first thing you know, he has been beguiled by what? By the seductiveness of anti-Christian empire in its propaganda effect, trying to draw and trying to seduce and trying to destroy. And so this is what you're seeing. It's called the great whore. It's called Babylon, mystical Babylon. It's the seductiveness. Now, it speaks of kings here, the kings of the earth. I don't personally think they're individual kings. I don't even think they're political entities as kingdoms. But I think there are various parts of anti-Christian empire. For instance, he speaks of the ten kings one place and the seven horns, and elsewhere the seven kings and the ten horns. And they have crowns and they have diadems. May I suggest to you that these kings represent divisions that are enticing and are deluding and destroying. For we've seen education. And oh, how effective this has been, because it's gotten right in with the grade school. In the first grade, the children are exposed to so many things. Cavemen are just as real as Santa Claus in the minds of most of the children. It's all taken so for granted. It's just from the very first days, they're just hit with it all the way, continuously hit with it. And so it isn't surprising that with the education they get in school and in so many of our churches. When I was a child, our denominational Sunday school literature was just rank. And my parents looked at it and others and pointed it out and said, look, look, this is what they're saying. This is what it means. But we see this happening and I would suggest to you that these kings represent divisions of this empire, as education and art, as commerce and manufacturing and labor. For instance, we have found that in the Industrial Revolution, with our capitalistic system, that there were abuses bred, selfishness developed. And we know that. There's no question but what there was terrible abuses by men who were getting rich at the expense of the people that worked for them. But who led them in this way, in this selfishness, in this greed? Well, obviously it was Satan that was leading them that way. So what happens? Then there develops a cruel and brutal reaction. One end, there's selfishness and brutality. And so this develops another reaction in labor. Until today, we find that we are told by Robert Kennedy that there's an enemy within our gates, which is uncontrolled, unrestricted labor. Now, I'm not anti-labor in any sense of the word, but I do believe that this too has become a part of the seductiveness, part of this thing which entices and draws and crystallizes sentiment around points of view and about private interests, commerce and manufacturing and labor, government and politics, amusement and pleasure. We could call all of these things kings or as divisions of this empire of which we've been speaking. What is it that controls people? What's the true government of man? You say, well, it's Hitler in Germany. But wait a minute, you don't, you can't, that's too simple. You've got to go back and study the philosophy of Schmalhausen and Nietzsche in order to understand the mind of young Germany that responded to Hitler. You can't, it isn't, just a man isn't enough. You've got to understand the climate that's produced by ideas. And so we would say today that it's a climate that, here is where the rain is, in philosophy, in ideas. These are the kings. Today in America, for instance, we are a generation of people that are amusement mad and pleasure crazy. You go to our stands just on your way home, if you pass a newsstand, look at what's there. Don't buy it unless it's the morning paper, but just notice what's there and do it once and then you won't need to do it again. And see the kind of thing that's being spread and disseminated to the American public and the kind of thing they want. Apparently there's an insatiable demand for it. Now what control, what is the true government? I say it's that which appeals to amusement, that satisfies, that which appeals to pleasure, that education. These are the kings that rule art, commerce, manufacturing, labor, government, politics. And these are the kings and they're part of Babylon. They're the kings that have power from the beast. All right, verse 15. I want you to look at that because I think it's important that you should see those that are affected by this seductive thing. And he saith unto me, the waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues, the earth dwellers, the anti-Christian multitude that are seduced by this woman, this terrible creature that's here. This anti-Christian seduction which promises delight. Oh my, how our hearts ache when you realize how terribly successful it's been. Promises delight, promises satisfaction, but is bound to disappoint and disgust. This is always the case. Always is true. We talk about people being free. Today there's a great deal of talk about being free from the shackles. World Health Organization through its present leader said that they would not be satisfied until they had destroyed the last vestige of servitude to the Ten Commandments and to the superstition of God and set men free to do what they want to do. But man is never free when he throws off the God and he throws off the Ten Commandments. Never free because having said that there's no God and having said I am, he's not governed by the Ten Commandments. He still has a conscience. And when he does something that violates that conscience, he puts himself in bondage to his conscience. This is the reason why the people that are so free in their moral conduct, in their ethical life, are the first to often do, to need, become mentally sick because they're so bound by the fact that that inner light that they violated has just snared them and bound them and holds them. It's impossible to be free that way. The only freedom that truly is to be used, defined by that word freedom, is when a person has come to understand that the law of God and the rule of God is in accord with the nature of man and the demands of his conscience. And my dear, if you want to be free, then you give yourself wholly and unreservedly to God and do what He wants you to do. And when you do what He wants you to do, you do what your conscience wants you to do, and you're free within and without. This is true freedom. Nothing else is. Everything else is bondage. But here this great, seductive empire, sitting there like the lewd, fallen women that beguile, says to young people and old alike, you come with us. You do this, take this, try this, go there, and do the other, and you'll be happy. Well, it's always the same. Eve listened, you shall be as God, you'll be fulfilled, you'll be happy. And what happened? She was plunged into darkness, hid in the bushes along with Adam. Their first son was a murderer, and grief ruined the race. It's ruined it up until the present time. And so listen to these words that I read from chapter 17, verse 16. 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. That's exactly what's been happening, is happening until the present. God always uses sin to devour and to punish sin. This is an inevitable law of life. God uses sin to devour and to punish sin. For instance, you go to those that you find on the street, lying there in their drunken oblivion, and when they're sober enough to talk intelligently, ask them if they're happy and fulfilled and complete lying there, you know what the answer is going to be. But they thought, you know, that it was smart to drink and smart to escape from the pressure of their problems by this cheap, shallow means. And now sin is devouring, punishing its sin. And so we discover that one anti-Christian force is used to destroy and to punish another anti-Christian force. And it's this way that God seemingly has been able to keep a measure of checks and balances upon the iniquity of men. And so you'll find the philosophies of men coming up under Hitler. Then you'll find that other philosophies and other interests are there, and they attack it, and so it is, and on it goes this devouring, the anti-Christian empire, this fallen woman beguiling, saying to one group, do this and you'll be happy, and then to another group, you can't let them be happy. And so they come on it, and God is using one anti-Christian force to destroy and to punish another. Well, what a picture. You're living in that kind of a world, a world that's governed by Satan, a world where the power is wielded not by God. Oh, in his sovereignty as he sits upon the throne, yes, he has all power in heaven and earth. But here's this beast that was and was not and is. This beast that was and then met Jesus Christ and was defeated and was wounded, and then when Christ ascended into heaven, the beast was allowed to come up and to reign again. And now what's the answer? Men look out and say, well, if it's true that Jesus Christ conquered Satan at Calvary, he certainly didn't do a very good job of it. And so if he was able to conquer the Son of God, then perhaps the thing for us to do is to line up with him. He's invulnerable, wounded as he was, he's come back to power. And so men, seeing this power of Satan, follow it and forget that it's just for a little while, just for a little time. And the vision that John had was the time when this process of the beast in his power and in his lying words and propaganda and his empire and his great seducing, enticing power had done all that God would allow it to do. And then God would say, it's finished. No further. It's all over. All done. Not going to permit this any longer. It's gone too far as it is now. It's finished. And so we find that God says, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen. And it's going to come a time when this will exactly be fulfilled, literally exactly and completely fulfilled. So I bring you back to the 14th verse. In every chapter with every revelation of the machinations of hell and the powers of darkness, he gives us this solid ground on which to stand. And here I have it now again, this note of triumph, this note of victory, this note of the prevailing conquest of God through his Son. 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. Oh, the wonder of it. You see, the Lord Jesus wants to gather his church out of this kind of a world that's controlled by the beast and the little beast and by Babylon and by this great fallen woman, this seductive thing. And so he's allowed Satan for a little while to want himself and to rage, but it's all temporary and it's all permitted. And he's calling. And there are those that are called, those of the elect, those that are hearing, those that are listening. And they're looking at all the world has to offer and all the delights it presents and all the enticements that it holds. They say, I can't go that way, can't go that way. And so there are with him kings. You see, it's the King of kings. Remember what we read back in the first chapter, unto him who loved us and washed us in his blood and made us to be kings and priests unto God. And so he is the King of kings. These that are his, these that reign with him, these that he'd given to share in his victory and triumph. And he's the Lord of lords. Little capitalized. He's the great Lord of men who've no longer been driven and drawn and whipped and scourged by their appetites and their lusts. Lord of their own appetites, Lord of their own lives, because they've submitted to his sovereignty. And of course, we know that he is the King of all these other things and all these anti-Christian powers as well. But here he's talking about his own. He's talking about the elect. He's talking about those that are his. King of kings and Lord of lords. They that are with him are called and chosen and faithful. What about you? Are you one of those called, chosen, faithful? Are you one of those that have heard him say, if you come to me and be my disciple, you're going to have to hate your father and your mother and your husband, your wife, and your brothers and sisters, yea, and your own life also. Have you come to him, though you knew it might cost everything, and put him first over all family relationships? Have you turned your back on the idolatry of people, of Ashtoreth? Have you? Have you heard him as he's spoken to you saying, take up your cross, come follow me? And you have no career, no ambitions. The only desire you have is to take the stigma and the ignominy of being a follower of Christ. Are you called and chosen and faithful? It's a tremendous cost. We've got to make it clear that when you come to Christ, it puts you in direct opposition to all of Babylon and all of this fallen woman and this whole world system. These make war with the Lamb and with those that are the Lambs. Is this what it's going to cost? It's going to be misunderstood. Just this week, just today, I heard the testimony of one of our young men who was called in by his boss and was said, now we're pleased with your work, we're satisfied with what you've done, but you've been talking about your religion and we can't have your fanaticism. Now if you'll sign this paper promising never to talk about Christ or talk about religion, talk about God. You can stay and work on. The young man said, no, I can't do that. I can't do that. And so though his work had otherwise had been satisfactory, yet because love for Christ, right into conflict with this empire, with this system that's there, and it's on every hand. You meet it all the way, every step. These make war with the Lamb and with those that belong to the Lamb. But those that are called and chosen and faithful are prepared to recognize that this is what it costs. No compromise. You can accept nothing else. You've got to go just this way. You say, well, how many will he have? He's going to have all the fathers given to him, all of them. He's going to have them all because he's the King of kings and he's the Lord of lords. And they that are with him are called and chosen and faithful. They're going to turn their back on the beast, turn their back on the empire, turn their back on the fallen woman with all the seductiveness. Just give up. Give up. Give up this. Compromise here, compromise there. No, sorry. But like the rich young ruler, they've sold all, unlike the rich young ruler, they've sold all that they have and have given it to Christ. In the back in our hymnals number 88, there's a hymn that Thomas Kelly wrote that I think brings everything I'm saying tonight into lovely focus. Let me read the words. I'm not going to ask you to sing it. Hark, ten thousand harps and voices sound the note of praise above. Jesus reigns and heaven rejoices. Jesus reigns, the God of love. See, he sits on yonder throne. Jesus rules the world alone. Jesus, hail, whose glory brightens all above and gives it worth. Lord of life, thy smile enlightens, cheers, and charms thy saints on earth. When we think of love like thine, Lord, we own it, love divine. Savior, hasten thine appearing. Bring, oh, bring the glorious day, when the awful summons hearing, heaven and earth shall pass away. Then with golden harps we'll sing glory, glory to our King. Yes, Babylon, Babylon the great, is fallen. But right now, still reigns, still rules, still pulls, still draws. And it's where this vile, vicious, seductive thing, pictured here as a woman, controlling government and politics and commerce and business and labor and education and art and amusement, pleasure, all under the control of the God of this world. And God asks you to go out with an eye singled to the glory of Jesus Christ, to walk in that world and live in that world and not to hear the enticing voice. You'll hear it before you get home, before morning. It'll be this way, do this to get that. The temptation to steal, temptation to lie, temptation to cheat, temptation to lust, temptation to compromise, you'll hear it before morning or before tomorrow night. But there are those that have seen the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and they've committed themselves wholly and unreservedly to him. And while the siren sitting upon the rocks would lure them to their doom, they've been tied to the cross with Jesus Christ like Ulysses of old. And they can't turn because they came and put their hands with his into the noose of God's purpose. And they'll listen because they can't help it. But from their heart of hearts, they'll say, no, I'm going through, Lord, I'm going through. They're called and chosen and faithful. Are you one of them? Washed in the blood with a new heart, a new nature, a new spirit, prepared to brook all the antagonism and hatred of a world that says, if you won't conform, we'll condemn. Are you prepared to stand for Christ tomorrow, this week, cost all that it may? I'm speaking to a sinner tonight. I'm saying you've got to give up everything to come to Christ. All your sin, all the world holds out and offers, going to cost you everything. But you know, it's going to cost you so much more if you don't come. Then it will cost everything. So all I can do is be honest with you. Meet him on his terms. He'll meet you. Let's pray. Think about it for just a moment. We're not going to have an extended invitation, a direct invitation. If you have need, if you're caught up, some compromising relationship, if you want deliverance, if you feel that somehow you've listened to the seductive voice of the world, you've gotten yourself in some problem, some difficulty, some relationship that's dangerous to your eternal welfare and your spirit and heart, and you want to break with it, then we give you an invitation. You want to come to Christ for cleansing, for deliverance, for forgiveness. We want you to come. And if, as we've been saying, this woman, so voluptuous, so enticing, so alluring, isn't a woman at all, but it's this world system, all of which is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, luring, drawing, beguiling, enticing, seeking to get you to turn your back upon him who loved you and washed you in his blood, then I submit to you that perhaps you do need to come tonight, find a quiet place, and there to just commit all you are and have to Christ. Perhaps I'm speaking to someone that's never broken with the world, and you say, well, this costs everything, doesn't it? And I'll have to agree with you, it costs everything. It's worth everything. For when you're prepared to turn your back, turn to God from idols, to serve the living and true God, and to wait for his Son from heaven, then God, for Jesus' sake, will forgive your sin, make you a new person, and give you a new heart. And so I would invite, professing Christian that has need, an unsaved man or woman who has need, to make known your need, stay and find a place of prayer. While our heads are still bowed, eyes closed, are there those here who would say, as I feel that I've been enticed and beguiled, there are those areas in my life where the talons of this terrible thing have gotten into my life, and I want to be free. Would you raise your hand? Say, why raise my hand? What good will that do? Well, first of all, it'll bring the issue to a point in your heart. And secondly, it puts you in the place of seeking God. It's the first step in seeking Him. So I'm going to ask you to raise your hand and say, yes, there's a need. I see that unconsciously unknown or even known, as the case may be, I've allowed myself to get involved. Would you put your hand up and take it down again? I'm breaking tonight. I'm breaking. Anyone, anywhere? You're here tonight unsaved, and you'd say, yes, tonight I'm coming to Christ. Quit-claim deed is His. I'm giving Him everything. I want Jesus Christ to be Lord and Savior. I'm coming to Him tonight. Would you put your hand up? God bless you. Yes, I see that. Another, anywhere? I'm coming to Him tonight. We thank Thee, Our Father, for the one who's raised the hand, saying, by it, yes, I'm coming tonight. I'm just giving Christ a quit-claim deed to all I have and am. It's absolutely everything's His. We pray for this heart, Lord. Thank Thee for this intention, this purpose, this commitment, this decision, and pray that Thou will make it wonderfully real. O God, seal it, we pray Thee. We think of others that ought to have responded tonight. Perhaps they haven't seen. Perhaps the enormity of this terrible thing hasn't gripped their hearts. But, O, as the week goes on, give us insight to see and behold, first, the world in which we live and the government of it, and then to see above it and sitting upon the throne, the Lord Jesus, His promise to care for us and protect us and keep us and see us safely through from earth to glory. So, Lord, we pray for the one that ought to have raised the hand, that ought to have met Thee. Might they still stay. Find a place, quiet place, prayer and do business with Thee tonight for Jesus' sake. Amen. Let us stand for the benediction. Now unto Him who is able to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, the only wise God, our Savior, be glory and honor, dominion and majesty now and forever. Amen.