Admonition Podcast

Let's open with a word of prayer and then we'll get into our study.

Gracious Father in heaven, we bow before your throne, grateful for the day that you've
blessed us with, grateful for the opportunity that we have to assemble together, to open

your word, to study your word, and to know what you would have for us to know from this
scripture.

Lord, we pray that we might always strive diligently to focus on the things that are in
the text, to not

Focus entirely upon the things that others have said about the text, but rather to read it
and to understand it for itself.

Lord, we pray that you be with those who are striving throughout the world to preach and
to teach the gospel, some in hardship, some in comfort, we pray that you will give them

all the faithfulness and soundness that you would desire for them to have.

recovering from surgeries or from illnesses, we pray that you give them strength, give
them the ability to endure the hardships, to overcome and be restored back to their

desired health.

We pray for this country and we pray for the leaders of it.

We pray that they make wise choices.

We pray also for this congregation and we pray for open doors of opportunity to reach the
lost, to find those who are seeking the truth.

And to lead them to the Word of God and to help them to open it, to understand it for
themselves that they might be converted by it.

Lord, we pray all of these things and ask these things in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Revelation chapter 17, as we discussed last week, John is going to look in depth as the as
he is guided in the vision to look in depth at this beast and the harlot who sits upon the

beast.

We began last week and we noticed the first few verses of chapter seven and we discussed
the correlation between

Revelation seventeen, Daniel chapter seven.

Chapter seventeen opens, then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and
talked with me, saying, Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on

many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the
inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.

So he carried me away in the spirit of the wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a
scarlet beast which was full of

Full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.

And now notice verse 18, John identifies the woman whom you saw is that great city which
reigns over the kings of the earth.

So whatever we believe about the text, whatever interpretation we take, we must be
faithful to the principle we've established from the beginning of Revelation forward.

And that is when John tells us what something means, that's what it means.

When John shows us a picture and doesn't tell us what it means, we're supposed to ask,
what does it mean?

But when John tells us what it means, we know what it means.

So when John is writing the book, and uh as we get into our study today, we're gonna
discuss some of the

ideas about when some believe he wrote the book and ideas that others believe as far as
when he wrote the book, but it doesn't matter.

When John wrote the book, no matter whose opinion it is on who you when you think it is,
the early date, the late date, Rome was the city reigning over the kings of the earth at

the time.

So no matter what date you apply to the writing of the book, the early date in the
sixties, the late date in the nineties, or the date that I believe it actually is based

upon Romans 17, which is in the

late 70s, no matter what date you apply, you are going to end up with Rome as the city
that reigns over the kings of the earth.

No one's in disagreement on that.

And the harlot is described as the great city.

Consider as well Romans chapter Revelation chapter 17, verse 7, but the angel said to me,
Why did you marvel

So he sees the sees the beast, he sees the woman, says, Why do you marvel?

I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which had
seven heads and ten horns.

So in verse 7 of chapter 17, the angel that had the seventh bowl that is speaking to John
and says, Here, let me unravel this for you.

Let me give it to you in a way where you do not have any confusion at all.

Concerning what we're talking about.

And so, verse seven through the next few verses, John is being clearly told, with no doubt
whatsoever.

Who's being discussed?

And as he's told who's being discussed, we're going to be told when the book is written.

Okay?

And when we're told when the book is written, we're going to understand clearly what the
book is about, who it's written to, and what's coming.

Okay?

Verse 8: The beast that you saw.

Now, remember before he said the woman is what?

The great city that rules over the kings of the earth.

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.

So a parallel that I want you to hold on to for a moment.

If you remember all of the judgments, the bowls that were poured out, and the partial
judgments that were poured out, you remember that as those events occurred, we had a

strong connection between Exodus and Revelation, between the plagues in Egypt and the book
of Revelation and the visionary language that's being used.

Well, interestingly, one of the things that you notice when Moses and Aaron go in to
Pharaoh, so back in Exodus, Moses and Aaron go in before Pharaoh.

And what is the very first thing that they do by way of performing a miraculous action to
prove that they were sent by God?

Alright?

Aaron's rod's the the rod is thrown down and it turns into a serpent.

But what did the uh magicians of Egypt do?

They did the same thing.

Which one was done by the power of God?

Aaron's was.

How did God establish that what they had done and what he did were not equal?

All right, Aaron's rod turns into a serpent, eats all the other serpents.

Everybody else gets to walk home without a walking stick.

God says, you might be able to do something that looks like you're who I am, but let's be
clear, you're not who I am.

When it comes to the second plague, what do the magicians do?

Copy the plague.

The third plague, what do they do?

Copy the plague.

You see, every time in the very beginning of this experience,

Every time God does something to prove He's God, here come the magicians going, We can do
that too.

Our gods are gods too.

Right up until the plague where it occurs, and the magicians come to Pharaoh and say, This
can't be by the hand of anyone but God.

We can't do this.

There reached a point where the mimicry of who God is by the magicians reached a level
they they could no longer keep the facade up.

In Revelation, the reason why I want you to hold on to this Egyptian this this Egypt
period picture of Satan and Satan's henchmen, as it were, making a thing that looks like

what God does.

is because in Revelation, as we've already discussed, everything that's good has an evil
counterpart.

In Revelation chapter one, notice this.

Revelation chapter one.

Verse 17.

John is in the Isle of Patmos.

It's on the Lord's Day.

He hears a voice from behind him.

He turns to hear to see the one who is speaking to him.

He describes the one who is speaking to him.

And verse 17, and when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead, but he laid his right hand
on me, saying to me, Do not be afraid.

Now, here's the very first declaration from Christ about who he is.

As his representation in the book of Revelation.

He says, Do not be afraid.

I am the first and the last.

I am he who lives.

Now, which tense is that in?

Present.

Was dead.

What tense is that in?

Past.

And behold, I am alive forevermore.

Now, what tense is that in?

Not actually future.

It's present continual.

All right.

This is actually a tense that doesn't really exist in English.

All right.

This is a I'm alive present tense forever.

Okay?

But he's making it clear by identifying his who he is: I'm the one who is alive, who was
dead.

And I'm alive for evermore.

Could that describe the Holy Spirit?

No.

Could it describe God the Father?

No.

If you understand the was alive to mean was always alive.

You remember in Exodus when Moses says, Who am I going to say has sent me?

What was God's answer?

I am that I am, the self-existing one, the one who has always been alive.

Jesus said to the Jews when they questioned him concerning whether or not he was greater
than Abraham, he said, Before Abraham was, I am.

um

So Jesus was alive forever prior to going to the cross.

Went to the cross, was dead.

I'm alive forevermore.

Okay?

Now you come over here to the beast and you read, they marvel at the beast.

Those who dwell on the earth, they marvel whose names are not written in the book of life
from the foundation of the world.

When they see the beast that was, is not, and yet is.

There's your parallel, there's your counterpart.

This is the beast that is representing himself to be like Christ, to be ruling over the
kings of the earth, to be the king of kings and lord of lords.

This is the imposter.

But the beast looks like in his persecuting form, someone who was alive, it was not alive
for a period of time, and is about to come back.

Now, let's deal with the tenses here.

When they see the beast that was, what tense is that?

Past.

Is not.

Present and yet is.

Okay?

So either the yet is is a future state or a not, but is simultaneously.

Alright, we're we're gonna deal with that.

John's going to explain its future state.

Okay?

But the present time that is clearly stated, what state is the beast in?

He is in an is not state.

In the present, John says, the beast is not.

Right now, as I'm writing this book, as I'm delivering this message, and this revelation
is coming to me, the beast is an is an is in and is not state.

In other words, not that Rome didn't exist, but Rome wasn't persecuting the Christians
when John writes the book.

Now that doesn't surprise us because John is going to write in all of the letters as he
writes to these seven churches and tell them persecution is coming.

He doesn't say it's right on you right now and you're going through it.

So John has already been clear that the persecution is not present, it's shortly to come
to pass.

The reason why that matters for when the book is written are the main ideas for when the
book is written.

The scholars on the book of Revelation are split generally into two camps.

One camp is that it was written sometime before AD 70.

That it was written s AD sixty four, sixty five, sixty six, sixty eight, so somewhere in
there when Nero is on the throne persecuting the Christians.

What's the problem with that date if Nero is on the throne?

But John says the beast is in an is not persecuting state.

Absolutely.

The Christians in Rome are being mounted up as street light poles and lit on fire in the
days of Nero.

The beast was persecuting in the days of Nero, which makes the was fit better with Nero.

Not the is not present tense.

The other camp.

will say, well, there's a quotation from Irenaeus, who was a student of John's, and that
quotation has come down to us.

And the general generally agreed upon understanding of that quotation was that the vision
came in the days of Domitian.

And so because of the quotation that exists from Irenaeus, many have held to the belief
that

The vision came in A.D.

96, 97, 98, somewhere near the end of the first century in the days of Domitian, who is
going to reign and is also going to be a persecutor of the Christians.

As a matter of fact, Domitian is going to be the one who takes the persecution from being
something localized in Rome to being a standard policy for the entire government.

You find Christians, you persecute Christians.

Okay?

What's the problem with the date of AD ninety six, ninety seven when Domitian is on the
throne who's persecuting Christians?

The problem is John says the beast present tense is not.

He's not persecuting right now, which means putting it during the date of Domitian's
reign, when Domitian is a persecutor, and putting it in the date of Nero, where Nero's a

persecutor, neither of them work.

as far as the writing of the book, and not rather the persecution being fulfilled in the
book.

Okay?

But we have more than just verse eight.

We have Daniel chapter 7.

Because John deals with the Roman kings as he gets them from Daniel.

Daniel, if you remember, we read Daniel chapter 7 last week.

We're going to read it again because we we need this context to really understand what is
going on.

Daniel sees the vision.

You remember he saw the vision of the four beasts.

Very similar in its identification and interpretation of

as the vision that Nebuchadnezzar saw.

Because it's talking about the same four kingdoms.

It's talking about Babylon.

It's talking about the Medo-Persian Empire.

It's talking about the Grecian Empire.

And the the beast that is indescribable, the fourth beast, is discussing Rome.

But notice what we read.

We start in verse 15.

I uh Daniel seven, verse fifteen.

I, Daniel, was grieved in my spirit within my body, and the visions of my head troubled
me.

I came near to the one

to one of those who stood by and asked him the truth of all this.

So he told me and made known to me the interpretation of these things.

These great beasts which are four are four kings which arise out of the earth.

But the saints of the Most High shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever,
even forever and ever.

You remember in Daniel two, in the vision, as Daniel interprets it

There's how many kingdoms total in the vision?

Five.

Four originate on earth.

One originates with God.

The first kingdom is who?

Babylon represented in Nebuchadnezzar.

Because Daniel doesn't say in the interpretation, Babylon is the head of gold.

He says, You, O King Nebuchadnezzar, are the head of gold.

Okay?

So it's represented, the nation is represented in that king.

But then you notice the second kingdom is like unto it, and it is the Medo-Persian Empire.

And the third kingdom is

Is Greece and the fourth kingdom is Rome.

Okay?

Now, Daniel in the passage in chapter 2 does not identify all of the kingdoms by name.

But later on in Daniel 8, the two middle kingdoms, he does identify by name as the
Medo-Persian Empire and the Grecian Empire.

Okay?

So we have clear, unequivocated perspectives on.

Who these kingdoms are.

The fourth kingdom that arises unquestionably from history is Rome.

So the four kings that are being dealt with in this vision are the same four kings being
dealt with in chapter two.

Now, he says the people of God, the saints, they're going to receive a kingdom which will
last forever.

They're going to receive a kingdom that's not going to be given over other men.

They're going to receive a kingdom that's not going to be destroyed.

They're going to receive a kingdom that's not going to be usurped by another kingdom.

But when you go back and look at the vision and you look at the things that are going on
and the things that we're about to read, the fourth beast is persecuting the saints.

Watch this.

He says, verse 19, that I wish to know the truth.

about the fourth beast, which was different from all the others, exceedingly dreadful,
with its teeth of iron and nails of bronze.

It devoured broken pieces and trampled the residue with its feet, and the ten horns that
were on its head, and the other horn which came up, before which three fell, namely that

horn which had eyes and a mouth which spoke pompous words, whose appearance was greater
than his fellows, I was watching.

And the same horn was making war against the what?

Against the saints and prevailing against them.

When Daniel sees the beast, he sees a persecuting beast.

When Daniel sees a horn that is the eleventh in Daniel's vision, he says, that horn was
responsible for.

Directly for the persecution of God's people.

So Daniel says, I saw ten horns, I saw three taken away, and I saw one come up.

All right, we did this exercise last week.

Let's do it again, one more time.

If you've got ten and you remove three, how many do you have?

If you've got one more added to the original seven, what do you have?

Eight.

Now, when we get over to John's Revelation 17, John's gonna say.

We have eight.

Okay?

He deals with the kings as he gets them from Daniel.

Now, he says, I was watching, verse 21, and the same horn was making war against the
saints and prevailing against them until the ancient of days came, and a judgment was made

in favor of the saints of the Most High, and the time came for the saints to possess the
kingdom.

Thus he said.

The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom on earth, which shall be different from all
other kingdoms, and shall devour the whole earth, trample it and break in pieces.

The ten horns are ten kings.

You don't get to interpret what the horns are.

Daniel tells you what the horns are.

Each horn is a what?

King.

He says the ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom, and another shall
arise after them.

What does that make the eleventh horn?

A king.

Okay?

He, oh, it's a he.

He shall be different from the first ones, and shall subdue three kings.

He shall speak pompous words against the most high, shall persecute the saints of the most
high.

And shall intend to change times and law, then the saints shall be given into his hand for
a time and times and half a time.

Now we've noticed the time, times, and half a time before.

What did we say that equals?

Three and a half.

All right?

As if you were to say a year, two years, half a year.

Three and a half is half of what?

Seven.

Seven is perfect.

Three and a half is half of perfect.

Daniel's being told, as Revelation makes clear to us throughout the book, the persecution
is temporary.

The appearing victory of this horn and of this beast is momentary.

It is temporary.

It will come to an end.

It doesn't originate with God.

And so as we step over.

To look at the text.

Verse 27: the ten horns are ten kings who shall arise from this kingdom, and another shall
arise after them, the eleventh, he shall be different from the first ones and shall subdue

three kings.

These three kings are gonna go out of the way, and you're gonna end up with eight.

Okay?

Eight in total.

Here's the perspective.

You begin with Augustus.

Now, a lot of people argue, no, you can't begin with Augustus with Rome, you gotta begin
with Julius Caesar.

No, you can't.

Number one, you can't because Rome is not considered an empire until after Julius Caesar
is dead.

It is not until AD twenty seven when the Senate establishes Octavius, also known as
Augustus, as the first emperor of Rome.

There is no debate and no discussion, no disagreement whatsoever among historians.

Rome is not an empire until they have an emperor.

And they have an emperor when the Senate establishes an emperor, and that never happened
with Julius Caesar.

He was a dictator and he was self-appointed.

And the Senate voted to kill him.

That's not an emperor.

That's a usurper.

You cannot begin with Julius Caesar.

But historians could all disagree on that, and all the history books could disagree on
that, and it wouldn't matter.

Because what really matters is.

That Daniel doesn't begin with Julius Caesar.

And John is dealing with the kings of Rome as he gets them from Daniel.

And if Daniel doesn't begin with Julius Caesar, it's because God didn't begin with Julius
Caesar.

And so I don't really care what the historians have to say.

I care about what God said, what Daniel said, what John said.

Just so happens all the history agrees with God, John, and Daniel.

Augustus is the first emperor of an empire that is Rome.

Tiberius will come up next.

He will reign, then Caligula will reign, then Claudius will reign, then Nero will reign.

Now notice as we go back to Revelation.

I'm gonna keep this up on the screen as we read this.

Revelation

Chapter seventeen, verse nine.

Here is the mind which has wisdom.

There's this momentary phrase here, like, hey, pay attention.

And if you if you know something, you're gonna understand what I'm talking about.

You're going to clearly identify what I'm telling you.

Here is the mind that has wisdom.

The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.

All right?

Here's the great beast.

The beast has seven heads and ten horns.

Okay?

Now,

Watch this.

As you notice this, the seven heads are what?

Seven mountains.

Now, the people who take the early date say it's written in the days of Nero, claim the
book is about Jerusalem and the persecution from the Jews.

That the book doesn't have anything to do with the Roman Empire, that it is fulfilled in
the same prophecy as Matthew chapter 24, when Jerusalem falls and the persecution from the

Jews ends.

Question: How many hills does Jerusalem sit on?

Some consider it to be five, all all told when you take the the greater area, but not
seven.

Nobody says seven.

You you've got Mount Zion, you you've got these areas around it, but you don't have a city
sitting on Seven Hills.

Rome, on the other hand, the city of Rome, is from its beginning known as the city that
sits on seven hills.

So you have.

A clear definition that the heads are indicative of the city of Rome.

But then he says, The seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman sits.

There are also seven kings.

Five have fallen.

If you have kings who have fallen, what is their current state?

They're dead.

Okay?

They're not presently here.

So let's count.

Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero.

Here's the thing that happens when Nero comes and his reign comes to an end.

Nero was so fanatical and so disruptive to the nation that by the time Nero comes, dies,
and and his power, his authority, and his reign are over.

Rome as a nation and Rome as a city are embroiled in civil war for the next two years.

In the next two years, three kings, three emperors come and go.

Ortho, Galva, Vatilius.

In two years, they're up, they're down, they're gone.

Now, as this civil war is ongoing, Vespasian is off, because he was a general, he is off
with his son Titus, and the army of Rome.

And they are besieging the city of Jerusalem.

And so Nero falls, civil war is ongoing, and Vespasian leaves the besieging of Jerusalem
to go back to Rome.

Vespasian will come back to Rome and he will regain power.

During the time that Vespasian is gone, Titus and the army, Titus his son, and the army
will withdraw from Jerusalem.

Anybody know what happens when the army of Rome withdraws from Jerusalem?

What happens in Jerusalem?

Matthew 24, Jesus takes the prophecies of Daniel and delivers to his disciples what
they're supposed to do when they see these prophecies being fulfilled.

Now, not the Daniel 7 prophecies.

The prophecies concerning the 70 weeks and concerning the other events concerning the fall
of Jerusalem.

And Jesus tells them when you see

the abomination of desolation, come and arrive at Jerusalem.

And then you see them withdraw, you get out.

If you're on the housetop, don't go down into the house.

If you're out in the field, don't go back to get anything.

You get out when you see the army withdraw.

Because they're coming back.

And not one stone will be left upon another, speaking of the temple.

So Vespasian arrives at Jerusalem to quell the Jewish revolt.

He besieges the city.

Titus is there.

Nero falls.

The civil war is ongoing.

Emperor comes, falls, emperor comes, falls, emperor comes, falls, Vespasian goes back to
Rome, takes over power, sends Titus back to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is destroyed in

eighty-seven.

And not a single Christian, according to history, dies.

Why?

Because Jesus told them what was going to happen, when it was going to happen, how it was
going to happen, and they understood it.

And when Rome removed the siege against the city, every Christian left.

And the city of Jerusalem was razed to the ground, and the temple was destroyed.

Just the way Daniel said it would be, just the way Jesus said it would be.

But Vespasian's going to reign from AD 69 to AD 79.

Now notice the text.

Five are fallen.

Let me get back to where I am.

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.

Okay?

So let's do the math here.

We've got five have fallen, and one is.

Now, some would say, well, wait a minute, you can't have Vespasian being the sixth,
because if Vespasian is the sixth, then he's ortho, Otho.

Except that Daniel has already said those three, they're out.

In the vision in Daniel chapter 7, the one who comes up kicks three kings out.

Okay?

So the sixth is not Otho, it's not Galba, it's not Vitalius, it's Vespasian.

And what is the present tense statement in this verse?

One is.

At the moment that John is receiving the vision, the sixth is on the throne.

That means the book is written in the days of Vespasian.

Okay?

Now, interestingly.

He doesn't just say that one is.

You say, okay, it could be 8069 still.

He says, one is, and one is not yet come.

Number seven is Titus.

But he specifically identifies the one that is not yet come will only remain or continue
for a short time.

Now, Brother McGuigan.

Mentioned that a a particular Greek scholar said that the is has not yet come here is
indicative of it's shortly to happen.

All right.

That that would indicate, if that is correct, that the time of Titus is near, which would
put the writing at the end of Vespasian's reign.

Okay?

If Vespasian's on the throne, he's number six, number seven is not yet come, but is near.

Titus is about to come to the throne, then you've got the writing of the book somewhere in
around A.D.

78, 79, when Titus is about to come to the throne.

Titus is going to come to the throne and he's going to rule for two years, two months, and
two days.

He is going to be short-lived.

And when the seventh is gone, the eighth comes up.

And the eighth is Domitian.

Now notice what the text says: there are also seven kings.

Five have fallen, one is, and the other is not yet come.

And when he comes, he must continue a short time.

The beast that was, John says, go back and look in the in the history of Rome, and you're
gonna find the beast.

He's already been here.

The beast that was, where was the beast back in the first seven?

It was Nero.

It was the one who was persecuting the Christians.

It was the one who was killing the Christians.

He says, The beast that was.

And is not, is himself also the ape.

And he is of the seven.

eh He says, you can go find him back there in the seven.

The Roman historians, when they would write concerning Domitian, would call him a little s
a little Nero.

They would call him an offshoot of Nero.

They would directly tie Domitian and his atrocities to the actions and the uh behavior of
Nero as he was on the throne.

He says that.

Beast that was and is not is himself also the eight, and is of the seven, and is going to
perdition.

The ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but they
receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast.

You go back to Daniel chapter two.

Daniel chapter two, you see the vision and you see the iron of legs and the feet of iron
mixed with clay, and there's ten

Kings that are described as the ten toes, right?

Rome would subjugate a nation and they would install kings under them and they would give
them power from Rome.

Just the same way Herod had power from Rome.

Herod was a king installed by Rome.

And so you would have these client kings.

But these same client kings will also be part of the downfall of Rome.

Because

As long as they're getting rich, they're allied with Rome.

The moment they're not getting rich off of Rome, they're going to become a problem.

Okay?

So you've got seven heads, which represent seven hills.

The seven heads also represent seven kings, and the eighth head comes up.

It looks like here's this beast that died.

It's dead right now and is about to be resurrected, and all the world's going to be amazed
at the resurrection, and they're going to say, This must be God.

John says, No, it's not.

I know who God is.

He's the one who talked to me in chapter one.

He's the one who was alive, was dead, and is alive forevermore.

The beast might look like, he might appear to emulate God.

He's not God.

Okay?

So when is the book written?

The book is written according to John.

It is written in the days of Vespasian.

It is written when Titus is approaching his position on the throne because the days of
Vespasian are nearly over.

It is written AD, 77, 78, 79.

It is written about the persecution under Domitian.

It is fulfilled as Domin is going to be fulfilled in Daniel's prophecy.

It is fulfilled in God judging Rome in the person of Domit.

And the proof and the point is the point of Daniel.

Okay, so go back to Daniel chapter 7, because this is the thing which the vision in
Revelation is supposed to communicate to us with prophecy.

Perfect clarity.

Daniel chapter seven.

Verse seventeen.

Those great beasts which are four are four kings which arise out of the earth, but the
saints of the most high shall receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, even

forever and ever.

The vision of Revelation is the fulfillment of the vision of Daniel 7, which is to remind
us with practical application in the first century, in the embodiment of Rome, that no

matter what earthly power comes up in all the future generations from the first century
forward, no matter what persecutor of the church arises, no matter what king sits and

rules over the kingdoms of men.

That God can do to them what he did to Rome, and that God's kingdom will never fall.

Now there may be times that it looks like God's people are gone.

There may be times when it looks like God's people are going to be destroyed and
annihilated and will never survive.

But God says, nope, not.

The point of revelation is the church wins every time.

It doesn't win by taking up arms, it wins by preaching the gospel.

It doesn't win by allying itself with the right kingdom or the right ruler.

It wins by being the church, by being incorruptible, undefiled, and that which does not

fade away.

Revelation says Jesus is victorious.

And Rome never was God.

Thank you for your attention.