MESSAGE God’s work in Men’s hearts-And faithfulness to His Word
Revelation 17:12 “The ten horns you saw are ten kings who have not yet received a kingdom, but who for one hour will receive authority as kings along with the beast. 13 They have one purpose and will give their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will wage war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will triumph over them because he is Lord of lords and King of kings—and with him will be his called, chosen and faithful followers.”
15 Then the angel said to me, “The waters you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations and languages. 16 The beast and the ten horns you saw will hate the prostitute. They will bring her to ruin and leave her naked; they will eat her flesh and burn her with fire. 17 For God has put it into their hearts to accomplish his purpose by agreeing to hand over to the beast their royal authority, until God’s words are fulfilled. 18 The woman you saw is the great city that rules over the kings of the earth.”
God put it in their hearts
The Ten Horns (Daniel 2, 7) Nebuchadnezzar had a dream with a tall statue with a gold head & silver arms & chest, a midsection of brass, legs of iron & toes (yes, 10 toes) of iron mixed with clay-because they are strong as iron, but their connections are weak like clay. God gives the interpretation of the dream as the Babylonian, Medo-Persian, Greek and Roman Empires. Daniel had a vision of the same from God’s perspective, and the same kingdoms are wild animals running around and devouring each other.
& The United Nations:
The Waters
The Prostitute (Any religious system which prostitutes itself by using the influence of the belief of people in order to gain political and financial benefit. This would include, but may not be exclusive to, the Apostate Church, Islam, RSS (Hindutva), Ancestor Worship). In case you question whether or not this is a proper way of looking at the universality of the Prostitute, I think Paul’s perspective may be helpful:
Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God. 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4
GOD’S WILL REVEALED IN THEIR HEARTS
1. God planned all of this to take place before he fashioned the Universe.
2. He is above the Universe, yet He is very much present-The “Wholly Other” of Karl Barth is also Imminent. If you are God, and your presence cannot fit into this vast universe, how do you communicate yourself to minuscule humanity? God has, certainly, revealed Himself most fully in our Lord and Savior, Jesus. He also continues to communicate Himself to us in our hearts-our mind, our thoughts, our emotions.
3. I was sharing with one of my students something which happened last week-We live about five minutes walk from the Bible College and Music School, so i normally walk every day-it's part of how i can work a little exercise into the regular part of each day. But one day last week i just felt that I should take the car, so I did. My wife had an excessive amount of foot and leg pain because of an injury that day. She asked if I had brought the car. When I said "yes" she said "you just have a sense about things like that". I said, The Lord told me. He should get the credit.
4. We often give credit to “a 6th Sense” or some kind of special ability when really what is happening is God is speaking to us. He wants to talk with us as a friend speaks to a friend, but on a level much deeper and more intimate.
5. He is also speaking to those who do not acknowledge Him-he speaks to kings and rulers (as He did with Pharaoh and Nebuchadnezzar) even if they are hesitant to acknowledge it is God speaking, or may even perceive themselves to be standing against the God of the Bible, or in conflict with Him. He still works among them and works out His plan and will.
6. He will work this way in the last days as well, motivating rulers to move toward a One-World system of government and One World Religion.
7. But when the World Religion, that which claims to worship God but truly only uses religion as a means of political power (therefore called a prostitute), becomes a hindrance to the political ambitions of the Beast, he will turn on the Prostitute and destroy her.
8. The Prostitute is called a City-Babylon. Babylon is a symbol of all religious systems in rebellion against God. (For more on this, please see the message “Iraq in Prophecy” by Elmer Towns http://www.sermoncentral.com/sermons/iraq-in-prophecy-lesson-1-elmer-towns-sermon-on-second-coming-57715.asp
9. All of this occurs in order to accomplish God’s will-a will which He will place within the hearts of those who do not believe in Him as He is revealed in the Bible.
GOD’S WORD FULFILLED
He remembers his covenant forever,
the promise he made, for a thousand generations,
the covenant he made with Abraham,
the oath he swore to Isaac.
He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree,
to Israel as an everlasting covenant:
“To you I will give the land of Canaan
as the portion you will inherit.” Psalm 105:8-11
This refers to Genesis 15-the promise God made to Abraham that the people of Israel would go into captivity in Egypt, then He would deliver them with a might hand, and bring them into the land “flowing with milk & honey”.
[God] who says of Cyrus, 'He is my shepherd and will accomplish all that I please; he will say of Jerusalem, "Let it be rebuilt," and of the temple, "Let its foundations be laid." ' Isaiah 44:28
Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 23 “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”).
(Concerning procurement of the donkey and the triumphal entry intro Jerusalem) Matthew 21:4 This took place to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet: “Say to Daughter Zion, ‘See, your king comes to you, gentle and riding on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey.’”
Matthew 2655 In that hour Jesus said to the crowd, “Am I leading a rebellion, that you have come out with swords and clubs to capture me? Every day I sat in the temple courts teaching, and you did not arrest me. 56 But this has all taken place that the writings of the prophets might be fulfilled.” Then all the disciples deserted him and fled.
John 1923 When the soldiers crucified Jesus, they took his clothes, dividing them into four shares, one for each of them, with the undergarment remaining. This garment was seamless, woven in one piece from top to bottom. 24 “Let’s not tear it,” they said to one another. “Let’s decide by lot who will get it.” This happened that the scripture might be fulfilled that said, “They divided my clothes among them and cast lots for my garment.” So this is what the soldiers did.
Luke 24: 44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.” 45 Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47 and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
John 13: 18 “I am not referring to all of you; I know those I have chosen. But this is to fulfill this passage of Scripture: ‘He who shared my bread has turned against me.’ 19 “I am telling you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe that I am who I am.
Time doesn’t allow us to discuss the hundreds of other explicit fulfillments of God’s promises in the Bible. Predictions concerning the destruction of the city of Tyre, The location of the birth of Jesus, the miraculous birth of children, the betrayal of Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, the avoidance of breaking Jesus legs, the piercing of His side, His burial, and resurrection-or of the early Church’s preparations for an impending famine, Philips directions to meet a man who was seeking God, God’s revelation to Peter of a Centurion seeking God, predictions of Paul’s imminent arrest and demise, as Jesus said
“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16:12-13
God’s Word is always faithful. And if we are willing to listen, He speaks to us today.
His word to previous generations has been completely reliable. His promises to us are completely faithful as well.
Earlier we sang the wonderful old hymn “How Firm a Foundation”. We sang the common verses.
How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent Word!
What more can He say than to you He hath said,
You, who unto Jesus for refuge have fled?
There are a few less common:
When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
Even down to old age all My people shall prove
My sovereign, eternal, unchangeable love;
And when hoary hairs shall their temples adorn,
Like lambs they shall still in My bosom be borne.
The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to its foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.
