In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. You may be seated. I ask that you would turn to Revelation chapter 17, picking up at verse seven. We will treat the verses from Revelation 17 a little different than usual. We are going to walk through this section verse by verse, a little bit like a Bible study, and then we'll get into what needs to be proclaimed. So Revelation 17, picking up at verse seven, but the angel said to me, why do you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the 10 horns. So the angel notices John marveling at the woman drunk with the blood of the saints. And we said last week that she represents false teachers who persecute those who teach and believe truth. And she deceives all who would listen to her. The angel gets John to snap out of it, marveling, in order to tell him what the vision of the woman and the beast mean. The beast has seven heads and 10 horns. The number seven and 10 are symbolic of completion, as God completed his creation of the heavens and earth in six days while resting on the seventh, and the 10 represents his perfect law that is summarized in the Ten Commandments. Verse 8, the beast that you saw was and is not and 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 and yet is. The most plain meaning here is that there was a time when the devil was made manifest and was prior to this vision John is having and could easily refer to the time when Christ was on the cross. The present time for John was when the devil is not, meaning that Jesus overcame sin and death and the powerlessness of the devil is revealed. In the future, there will be a moment when the devil ascends from the bottomless pit and goes to perdition. And that will be a marvel to those who do not believe in Jesus, allowing them to see their affection on the beast. The difficulty when interpreting this section is the mentioning of perdition, for perdition is final judgment in the abyss. For it seems that the unbelievers marvel at the beast going to perdition, which I don't think it means. If put in a different order, it means that they marvel at the beast ascending and that same beast will ultimately go to perdition. Verse nine, here is the mind which has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits. The opening of this verse tells us to prepare to think more deeply and wisely. The classic description of the city is of the city of Rome, which was a city known as a city of seven hills. So the identity of where the woman sits is now very clear. 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. The seven kings are not specific people, but represent kingdoms that rise and fall. The number seven is not specific either, but symbolic of the number of completion. The number of kingdoms that rise and fall will be according to God's will as his will is assured to be complete. Verse 11. The beast that was and is not is himself also the eighth and is of the seven and is going to perdition. Here is confirmed the order I described from verse eight. The numbering is because the rising of the eighth is really a continuation of the previous seven. Making sense? Yes. Verses 12 through 14, we'll read this together. The 10 horns which you saw are 10 kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast. They 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. These verses describe and explain one longer theme. The 10 horns are 10 kings to come who will combine their authority and devote themselves to the devil and the result will be making war with the lamb who we know is Christ Jesus. The war will be short and the victory of the lamb is assured because again, he is king of kings and Lord of lords. Those who are with him at his victory are called chosen and faithful, for they believed in the lamb, no matter the miracles or displays the devil placed before them. Verse 15. Then he said to me, the waters which you saw where the harlot sits are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. The many waters upon which the woman sits is a reference back to verse one of chapter 17. We recall that water has symbolized nations of the earth, both in the Exodus and in the Psalms. Verses 16 and 17. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put into their hearts to fulfill his purpose to be of one mind and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God are fulfilled. Such verses have to be read together in order for them to make sense. What is being described is evil turning on itself to destroy itself. Falsehood and lies eventually have to turn on themselves. And the kingdoms of earth are going to turn to destroy the falsehoods and lies they have been deceived by, which in turn is turning on themselves. And God has planned this all along. Evil will destroy itself. Verse 18, and the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth. Here is confirmed our interpretation for Rome is symbolic of the lies and deception that take over the unbelieving world. So as I said, in summary, what we have just read is evil coming to a crescendo as it turns on itself for that is what evil has to do. It hates so much that it hates itself, but doesn't realize it yet. Eventually it will turn and thus on itself destroy itself. What Christians are to learn from this is really quite simple. We are to know the end, we are to know the end that evil has ahead of it, and we are to be convinced that evil is not something to be redeemed, but something to be destroyed. Now notice that I did not say that people who attach themselves to evil aren't to be redeemed, I didn't say that. Again, we remind ourselves that God takes no pleasure in the suffering of sinners. God's heart is that all men would repent and be saved, but not all men will. And the why of that we will have to get to in another sermon. What I want to address today is the seriousness of evil and to point out where it is manifesting itself today. And I don't think I am being overdramatic when I say that where it is manifesting itself is the most sinister that evil has ever been. I say that not because the atrocities that are going on today are worse than atrocities in the past, but I think it is safer to say that such atrocities have never been so blatant and obvious and no one in power, no one in power, political or otherwise, seems to care. To get you to agree with my assessment, I point you to the passage in the book of James, where James is talking about what a true religious person does. And by religious, he's not talking in general. He's talking in the context of Christianity. People who truly believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will first, according to James, bridle their tongue. and in doing so will prevent a great deal of damage within the Christian community because what we say can be offensive and unfaithful when we do not take control of what we say to ensure that it is helpful to our fellow Christians and pleasing to God. James next says that a religious person, a Christian person, a true faithful Christian person will next care for widows and orphans. Now you may ask, why are widows and orphans the standard for Christians? Well, the answer is likely obvious to you. They are the most vulnerable in society. And we're the most vulnerable in the first century. For you will recall that there was no financial security nets such as we have today in social security. If a woman was widowed with no adult children to care for her, she was on her own and then subject to the wills of men who could treat her as they wished. An orphan was the same and usually homeless while also being treated at the wills of men. To care for such persons who were cultural outcasts and according to Roman thinking were likely cursed by the gods and therefore were to be mistreated To care for such persons was truly to care for the least of these, as Jesus called them. And Christianity at its heart is to care for the least among us in society. Disgustingly and quite the opposite, our culture has chosen to be at war with women and children, for it is women and children who make up the widows and the orphans. And while our culture is at war with women and children, it is also convincing women and children to be complicit in their own demise. What do I mean? What is my proof? One proof is the documentary hosted by political commentator Matt Walsh titled, What is a Woman? What is discovered in the documentary is that no political leader, no social leader, and no doctor who considers himself or herself or itself to be progressive will define what a woman is. They have this trance-like mantra of saying that the word woman is essentially meaningless because the word can mean whatever a particular person wants it to mean. And as such, they are essentially wiping out the category of a particular gender altogether. And there are women who are perfectly fine with not being able to define their own gender. And it has become laughably ridiculous. Again, it has been as if the minds of certain women have been shut off A clear example of this is men entering women's sports and few women seeming to have a problem with it. Competitive swimming and track and field are the most prominent examples of men who say they identify as a woman and are given the opportunity to compete against other women. There's not really other women, because they're a man. And then trouncing the average competitor, and then going into the woman's dressing room and proving that there is a great deal difference between men and women. I was in middle school. when Title IX took effect and was applied to public schools. Part of Title IX allowed women, including young girls, to have access to the same funding for sports as men and young boys did. When in physical education class in the gym of Illahee Junior High, where I attended, there was a very large curtain, some of you will remember, that divided the gyms. And the girls would play on one side, and the boys would work out on the other side. Well, that curtain symbolically and actually lifted, and girls and boys physical education classes were combined. And it was supposed to be a liberating event. There was not then, however, a belief that boys and girls or men and women should actually compete against each other, but it was a gesture, the lifting of the curtain was a gesture, that the girls and women would be given access to compete more fully into sports. Such was to be the beginning of the end of patriarchy, where boys and men received all the funding for their sports, and girls and women had second-class citizen rate. And here we are so many years later with the concept of a category of women being wiped out so that men can compete against women because they are psychologically broken and they want to identify as a gender they are not and crush the competition so that patriarchy wins again. And some women are applauding it all. Such is baffling at best, but it doesn't end with sports. On July 8th of this year, a trans woman, which is not a woman at all, but a man who wants to be a woman, was crowned Miss Netherlands at a beauty pageant by the same name. Patriarchy again for the win. Before that, the ad agency that chose a trans woman, who again is no woman, to be a spokesman for a particular beer and now has lost millions of dollars in boycotts because of that choice, that same ad agency was given an award in June for being the ad agency of the year. Patriarchy again for the win. What both men and women and the its of the world are saying is that men are better at being women than women are being at women. Patriarchy for the match. And then there is this war on children. The war on children is both in the womb and outside the womb. Regarding abortion, I talk about it enough. Let me simply argue, by way of question, What is the difference, DNA-wise, what is the difference between a fertilized egg in its mother's womb and a child who is two years old? What is the difference, DNA-wise, what is the difference? And the answer is nothing. When a woman's egg is fertilized, that embryo is everything, DNA-wise, that it is going to be. Its hair color is determined, its height is determined, its eye color is determined. The only thing that needs to take place is for it to grow, which is the same as a two-year-old, where all of his DNA, her DNA is determined, and the only thing that needs to happen is for it to continue to grow. As Horton says, a person is a person no matter how small. The war on children outside the womb is just as sinister as the one inside the womb. The sexually immoral have never been satisfied with their queer and homosexual agenda being ratified by law and by the culture. They have always been about sexualizing children. What was on the fringe of society and only stated in anonymous chat rooms is now mainstream as children are being taught how to have sexual pleasure even before their teen years. I trust many of you have seen the videos or audio clips of people reading pornographic books that have been placed in their public school libraries that describe children being sexual. When parents take these books and read them in public in front of school boards, the parents are quieted, their microphones are silenced because the content is too graphic for the school board to hear. And does the school board do anything about it? They do nothing. I recall teaching an ethics class in college. I tried to make the point that there is morality that is universal, meaning that it is common to all. And I gave the example of child rape. I said, we can all agree, can we not, that child rape is wrong? And only half the class agreed by the nodding of their heads and the rest remained silent. Today, progressives, news feeds are trying to convince us that a movie that is a true story about child sex trafficking, titled Sound of Freedom, is right-wing propaganda. Beloved, I have heard the testimony of the man the movie is based upon. The movie doesn't come close to getting into the graphic horrors witnessed by those who fight such trafficking of children. It is a true story and yet media outlets and announcers speak their talking points as if they are under a spell so that evil prevails. Beloved, as Christians, we are to identify evil as evil. We are to identify it and point to it and call it out when it rears its head. The war on women is evil. We are to appreciate the differences between the sexes and defend women, defend women against men who try to overcome them and control them and steal away their dignity as women. The war on children is evil. Any sexualizing of children, any exposing them to the perverted is from the pit of hell. And any chance we get to prevent such exposure and speak up for those who do not have a voice, any chance we get should be taken. And we are to pray against these evils. We are to use those imprecatory Psalms that seem so out of place because they call for the demise of God's enemies rather than praying for their repentance. But men who cling to evil are men who need to be taken to the deepest pit with evil and be seen no more. This is from Psalm 5. Psalm 5, verse 10, make them bear their guilt, O God. Let them fall by their own counsels because of the abundance of their transgressions cast them out for they have rebelled against you. From Psalm 79, verse six, pour out your anger on the nations that do not know you and on the kingdoms that do not call upon your name. From Psalm 9, Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail. Let the nations be judged before you. Put them in fear, O Lord, that the nations know that they are but men. From Psalm 140. Grant not, O Lord, the desires of the wicked. Do not further their evil plot, or they will be exalted. As for the head of those who surround me, let the mischief of the lips overwhelm them. Let burning coals fall upon them. Let them be cast into fire, into miry pits, no more to rise. I close by simply saying amen. Amen to such prayers, for amen means let it be. Let evil destroy itself. Let us pray. Our God, we take passages such as Revelation 17, the description of the beast turning on the harlot, evil turning on itself. and we recognize the end. We see it from your eyes. We see how you will bring evil to naught by having it destroy itself. And so we ask, dear Lord, that you would give us the courage we need to take stands where stands need to be taken, to defend the powerless, to defend the fatherless, to defend the woman who cannot defend herself, that we might be a people that do not fear men, but fear only you. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.