The sermon analyzes the symbolic heads and horns of the Beast in Revelation, evaluating various historical interpretations to identify the revived Roman Empire. It critiques Futurist and Preterist views for their inconsistencies before proposing that the ten horns represent barbarian kingdoms dividing the Western Roman Empire after 476 AD. The text argues that these kingdoms united with the Papacy under Charlemagne in 800 AD to form a persecuting alliance against faithful witnesses. This union is described as fulfilling prophetic timelines, ultimately leading to divine judgment and the eventual conversion of these kingdoms. The message concludes by encouraging believers to trust in Christ's ultimate sovereignty over history.

Message from the 2026 John Bunyan Conference by Dr. Tony Costa, about the History of the Church from 400 A.D. to just before the Reformation.

2026 John Bunyan Conference, Session 4, Teaching Slot 1, Tony Costa, Imperial Church to Middle Ages: Ecumenical Councils to Papacy & Theological Decline 6/29/2026

A study of Paragraph 4 of the 1689 Confession's chapter on the church, drawing from Ephesians 1. The lesson defends the sole headship of Christ over His church against historical claims by Roman Catholicism (the Pope) and the Church of England (the monarch) to that office. It walks through the Reformers' reasoning for identifying the papacy as the Antichrist — clarifying that they meant the office and its succession rather than any single man — and closes with the practical weight of Christ's kingship: that His people must submit to His Word alone in the government, worship, discipline, and ordering of the church, rather than doing things their own way.