The Fall of Commercial Babylon

Evening. Would y'all stand? I want to welcome you to Calvary Chapel this evening. Welcome those of you who are joining us online. Would you join me in prayer? Father, we thank you for this opportunity, Lord, to gather this evening to worship in song and to study your word. Father, we ask that by your Holy Spirit you would move in this place tonight, Lord. Fill us afresh, Lord, tonight. As we're in the middle of the week and whatever's gone on has gone on,

and whatever will, that's profound, I know, Lord, but we know that through it all you're in control and we want the leading and guiding of your Holy Spirit, Lord. We want to seek you, Lord Jesus. Before even time began, it was in his hands. Close my eyes, close my eyes, each tear, each tear. Thank you, Jesus. You hear us. That's a wonderful thing to remember and realize.

We can come to you with everything and all things. We want to rejoice in that, Lord. We thank you. You may be seated.

Thirsty in the stream, let the pain and the sorrow. I still have mercy on those who are thirsty. Come to the fountain and the song of mercy.

Amen. As I we sing this look to you tonight, as we do every day, Lord, we thank you. Thank you for your love, your faithfulness, Lord.

Mercy never fails me.

Moment that I will sing.

I've been faithful. I've been so, so breathed that of the goodness. Hit me through the fire. Darkest nights. Like you as a father, as a friend.

I'm gonna sing. I'm gonna sing of the goodness of God.

After me, goodness is running after. It's from, I'm surrendered now. I give you everything. It keeps running.

Of the goodness of God.

Of the goodness.

Of the goodness.

We praise you. We love you. We thank you. You are so good to us all the time. Father, as Pastor Ryan comes up to teach from the book of Revelation, would you move upon him by the power of your Holy Spirit? As well as move upon each one in this sanctuary. That your work would be done tonight in each heart. And I also lift up the children's church class, the nursery, the youth group.

Anoint it. Bless it. Strengthen us to live for you in the world in which we're living, Lord. And we give you all the thanks in Jesus' name. Amen. Lord bless you all. Good evening. If you would open up in your Bibles. To the book of Revelation chapter 18. Revelation chapter 18. Tonight we continue on with a theme that we began last week. With the fall of Babylon.

We've come through all of the judgments that God has been pouring out upon the earth. And now we really come to the end of not only the tribulational period. But we come really to the end of life on earth as anyone really knows it at that point in time. Because what takes place in chapter 18 ultimately happens right before the second coming. The second coming of Jesus.

And so what we saw in chapter 17. Is we saw the fall of what we call religious Babylon. And what we look at tonight is the fall of commercial Babylon. Some have equated it both as political and economic. And I agree with that. The interesting thing about chapter 17 and 18 is depending on who you read and who you listen to. Some will say that this is just one pronouncement of judgment upon Babylon in general.

That 17 and 18. Show no differences between each other. 18 is just a continuation of 17. Others say that chapter 17 is religious Babylon. Chapter 18 is commercial Babylon. And if I'm being honest as I study it. The more I go. Yes. Because all three of them are so closely tied together. That it is a little bit hard to separate them out. But if you think about it.

And I want you to go with me. For just one quick minute here. If we think about what our world is made up of. Religion. Economy. And politics. Those are the three big things that life is made up of. Right? How easily can we separate those things out? How easily can we really make those things different from each other? Because our religion plays into our politics.

And our politics plays into our economy. And our economy plays into our religion. If you really think about it. They're all very closely tied together. So while I do see these as two completely different sections. Partly because chapter 17 speaks of the harlot Babylon. And I believe that's more religious. Whereas chapter 18 speaks of the city Babylon. I think that's more economic, political, commercial in nature.

They're all very closely tied together. So with that as a little bit of a backdrop. We come into chapter 18. And there's three things that we see. We'll see the fall. The lamentation. And then the rejoicing. And so we start off in verse 1 of chapter 18 with the fall. It says this. After these things. Verse 1. I saw another angel coming down from heaven. Having great authority.

And the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with a mighty voice saying. Fallen. Fallen is Babylon the great. She has become a dwelling place of demons. And a prison of every unclean spirit. And a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality. And the kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her.

And the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality. I heard another voice from heaven saying. Come out of her my people. So that you will not participate in her sins. And receive of her plagues. For her sins have piled up as high as heaven. And God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as she has paid. And give back to her double.

According to her deeds. And the cup which she has mixed. Mixed twice as much for her. To the degree that she glorified herself. And lived sensuously. To the same degree give her torment and mourning. For she says in her heart. I sit as a queen. And I am not a widow. And I will never see mourning. For this reason. In one day her plagues will come. Pestilence and mourning and famine.

And she will be burned up with fire. For the Lord God who judges her. Is strong. For she is to be raised from the dead. To her heart you have broughtνη You are now time and death. Please respond. Amen.

So long in the name of Jesus Amen. Like würde it's, there's something interesting that's said about this angel. It says that I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority. The last part's what I want you to take note of. And the earth was illumined with his glory. Now that's kind of an interesting verse that sort of stuck out to me as I was studying this, because it appears as though that when this angel shows up,

the whole earth sort of glows a little bit because of the illumination that comes off of this angel. And so you should ask yourself, why is this angel glowing? Why is the earth illumined with the glow that comes off of this angel? Well, once you think about something, where did this angel just come out of? This angel just came out of heaven, if you will, from the very throne room of God. And where

is our greatest source of light? Well, we're told that he is the light of the world, right? And so this angel, as it comes from the throne room of God, is illuminating the light of God upon the world. So if you'll allow me quickly to just draw a little bit of personal application to us here from what we see from this angel, the only reason this angel has any light to give is not because of who this angel is, but because of who this angel has been spending time with, because of who this angel has been in the presence of, and because this angel has been in the very presence of God, it is illuminated with light that shines on the people that are all around us. Sunday morning,

we talked about the works of the flesh, and we talked about the fact that the works of the flesh are evident. That when we live according to the flesh, it's evident to all the people around us. Well, on the positive reverse side of that, the exact same thing is true. When you have been spending time with the sun, when you have been spending time with the very source of light, people around you take note of it. Because whether you intend to or not, you tend to shine the light of Jesus, because that's

what's been shining into you. It's sort of like the moon, right? The moon doesn't have a light source of its own. It reflects the light of God. It reflects the light of God. It reflects the light of God. And you can tell how much the moon has been soaking in the light of the sun based upon how brightly the moon shines. The only time the moon doesn't shine brightly is when something gets

in between the moon and the sun. And you know what the only thing that gets in between the moon and the sun is? The earth. And just like us, the only thing that will keep us from shining the light of Jesus is if the things of this earth get in between us and our Savior. And so this angel shows up and the earth was illumined with his glory. And this angel cries out with a loud voice,

fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. Now you'll notice that the way that Babylon is mentioned here is just a little bit different because the first time Babylon was a mystery. We said that spoke of something spiritual. This time there's something a little bit different. Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, right? And so it's mentioned twice because it speaks of the sure nature of the

fact that Babylon will fall. And then it begins to describe Babylon for us. She has become a dwelling place of demons and of every unclean spirit and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird. Why? Because all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality. The kings of the earth have committed acts of immorality with her and the merchants of

the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality. Now in its direct context, I believe that this speaks of the economic system that will be established during the tribulational period, the economic system that if you remember will be dependent upon you having the mark of the beast because this mark of the beast will allow you to buy and sell. It will allow you to be a part of the economy and government of the time. But in a more indirect context, I want to point out the fact that this same sort of economy, this same sort of political system has been around since the beginning of time, has been around since the fall of man. Because since the fall of man,

this is the time when the government has tried to establish a government apart from the peace of God, apart from the rule and reign of God, apart from the security of God, a government that will establish its security and its wealth, that will establish its glory and its pride, that will make a name for itself and direct disobedience to God. Sound familiar to the tower that we talked about last week? See how these things are almost very intertwined, that the religion and the politics are so intertwined with each other that it's hard to separate the two? That's why every time I hear somebody talk about the fact that we need to separate politics from religion in the world

today, I say, but you can't do that. Because your religious beliefs will affect the way that you vote politically. Your religious beliefs will affect the way that you live your life politically. It's true for us as believers in Jesus Christ, and it's true for the average pagan on the street, because they too are affected by their religious views. It's just that their religious views are

opposed to the God of the Bible. And that religion, that economic and political system is nothing new, but it will find its greatest fulfillment during that tribulational period, where they will finally find their own Messiah, who they will follow. They will finally find their own God, who they will follow. And so we see that what happens in this political system is that it's a dwelling place of demons, meaning it's very evil and demonic in nature. It's a prison of every unclean spirit,

speaking of the sin that will take place, and a prison for every unclean and hateful bird. Now, I also took note of that, because you remember a parable that Jesus told? Jesus said that the kingdom of heaven is like a tree, like a mustard seed that grows into a tree that the birds of the air come and dwell in, because every time birds are mentioned in Scripture, there's an evil connotation with it, meaning that the kingdom of God, as glorious as it is, will also deal with the corruption of the world that's around us. Well, that same corruption is also in this political system.

And, of course, everyone will be involved in the corruption of it, all the nations, all of the kings, and all of the merchants, because they've all become rich by the wealth of her sensuality. It's translated sensuality here, but other places it's translated luxury. Interesting interchange of words, is it not? That sensuality and luxury are interchangeable in their translation? It sort of makes you think of something, right? Because,

what do we all want to live in? Luxury. No, Ryan, I want to live a simple life. That's great, but I bet somewhere deep inside of you, you want to live in luxury. You know how I know that? HGTV exists, right? That's how I know everybody ultimately wants to live in luxury, because even if they want to live in a tiny house, they still want to live in a luxurious tiny house, right?

Because that's who we all are as human beings. But interestingly enough, in the New American Standard, they translate the same word sensuality. And it's going to be translated that way every single time. It's kind of interesting, isn't it? It's almost like when we get past what we really need and start living our life according to what we really want, we're actually giving in to the sensuality of our flesh. And if there was ever

a period of time where we could stand to hear this, it would be living in 2023 in the Western culture, where all of a sudden, sometimes our wants might not be met, and we've thrown a fit about it. Our luxurious desires might not be able to be fulfilled, and so we've thrown a little bit of a fit about it. Well, he says that this corruption is pretty much all encompassing every nation, every king, every merchant. But then we see a warning come out. So we've seen the pronouncement

of the fall, but now there's this warning. In verse four, it says, I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues, for her sins have piled up as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. This warning is given, and I believe that there's, again, a direct context to the warning, and then an indirect context that speaks to us. The direct context of the warning, I believe, speaks to anyone who comes to the truth of Jesus Christ during that tribulational period. We've often referred to them as tribulation saints.

Those who, though the church has always been a part of the tribulation period, gone home to be with the Lord, they have realized their error and have come to know Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. But there's always the temptation. There's always a temptation to be a part of the world's economic and political system, because after all, that's where the power dwells, and that's where the wealth dwells, and that's where the luxury dwells, is in the world's political and economic system. And so a voice cries out from heaven and says, come out of her, my people. Speaking of what? The fact that there's a temptation for the

tribulation saints at that point in time to want to give into that political system, to want to give into that economic system. And so, lest you give into all the same things, come out from amongst her. Come out of that system and be separate. That's the direct context of this warning. But may I say there's an indirect context that I think speaks to us. The indirect

context is the exact same. Come out of her, my people. As a matter of fact, I think if there was ever a statement that could be made to the Western culture church, it would be, get yourselves out of the political and economic system of this world and make sure that you're about the business of the kingdom of God. I've thought about this quite a bit, and I'm going to try to handle this as well as I possibly can, although you know me, I'm just going to say it. There is a sense in which

we realize that we are not alone. We are not alone. We are not alone. We are not alone. We are not alone. There is no such thing. I'm going to say this properly. Oh, well, there really is no such thing as a godly government unless God is the one who is in charge. Because government is run by men, meaning that it's run by imperfect people, meaning that sin is involved. And as good as it can

possibly be, it still is not perfect. That's why when God established the nation of Israel, he said, you don't need a king because I'm your king. You shall live with me as your king. And that's why when Jesus comes back, he will be the one that rules and reigns because he will be the ultimate perfect leader and will set up the ultimate perfect government and the ultimate perfect economy. So the world that we live in right now, we do the best that we can. But ultimately,

our goal is not to set up the perfect government here on earth. Our goal is to bring people to the kingdom of God. Our goal is the growth of the kingdom of God, not the governments of the earth. Now, don't get me wrong. You should vote for godly people, at least the most godly of the opportunities that we have. Sometimes there's not a godly person. And so I remember my grandma saying

when I was a kid, and I think it was I think it was G.H. Dubb that was running against against old B.C. Bill Clinton. And she said, I guess we're just going to have to vote for the better of two evils. And of course, the more I know about G.H. Dubb, the more I'm like she was right because he probably wasn't that much. Better than Bill Clinton. Right. And so because ultimately, that's how it is. We're dealing with

fallen people. And while I absolutely believe in capitalism, while I absolutely believe in free markets, those two can be used for evil. And so it's our job to make sure that we vote for the people that are going to best fit into biblical bounds with the understanding that our hope is never in a leader. Our hope is always in Jesus. So he says, come out of her, my people. Why? So

that you don't participate in her sins and receive her plagues. And once you notice what he says in verse five, because this is really important for her sins have piled up as high as heaven. And God has remembered her iniquities. Now, if you hear that, that should sound a little bit foreign to your ears, because as believers in Jesus Christ, we know that God does not remember what he does not remember our iniquities, your sins. I have forgiven. I remember them no more. But you see,

if you don't come to Jesus, we have to realize something. He remembers the iniquities. As a matter of fact, we're told in Romans chapter two, verse five, that we are piling up wrath for ourselves. If you don't come to Jesus as your Lord and savior. And that's exactly what's happening in this world system right now. Wrath is being piled up. And listen, we can find a little bit of hope

in that because I don't know about y'all, but when I see these corrupt governments, especially in some of these third world countries where we send them money to do good things, to feed people. And what happens instead is that government leaders take that money and fill their own pockets with it and don't ever get it to them. And that's what we're seeing. And that's what we're seeing. And

actually need it. And you go, Lord, that is such evil. And he says, don't worry. I'm piling up their iniquities. I remember them. God did not forget what some of these leaders have done in the name of their own power. He says, come out of her. Why? Because her sins have piled up as high as heaven and God has remembered her iniquities. Therefore knows what it says in verse

six, pay her back even as she has paid and give back to her double. According to her deeds in the cup, which she has mixed, mixed twice as much for her. Can I just tell you that whether it's a government that dwells on this earth right now, that's doing evil or the ultimate evil government, evil political system that will take place during the tribulational period, ain't nothing about that verse that sounds healthy to me. If I'm one of those people that's, that's living that way, if I'm one of those governments, that's doing that, because if I have to mix twice as much as what they're giving out, that's bad. So he goes on to say to the degree that she glorified herself and lived. There's that

word again, sensuously to the same degree, give her torment and mourning. Why? Because this is what she says in her heart. I sit as queen and I am not a widow and will never see mourning. What does she mean by that? It means that she lived luxuriously and she glorified herself. Pride, and luxury. It's the thing that you see with every evil government that's taken place

over the centuries that will find its ultimate culmination in the Antichrist. So it's for this reason, in one day, her plagues will come, pestilence and mourning and famine. She will be burned up with fire. One day speaks of the speed with which this judgment will come at the very end. And then it knows what it says at the end of verse eight, for the Lord God who judges her is strong.

Again, I just think that's a really important thing for us to remember as believers in Jesus Christ, because I'm a part of all the conversations too, where we talk about the corruption going on in our own current government right now, right? Like you, you need a program to keep up with every scandal that's going on right now in our own personal or in our own government here in the United States of America. And listen, we're still probably not as bad as some. And you go, Lord, when are you going to judge? And he says, don't worry, the Lord's going to judge because

the Lord who judges is strong. The world builds themselves up. The Antichrist will build himself up and talk about how powerful he is. But ultimately, no one's as powerful as God. The one who judges is strong. Well, so we see the announcement and the warning of the fall. But the next thing that we see is the lamentation. And there's two different groups that are going to

lament. Over this fall of Babylon, the kings and the merchants. Notice what it says in verse nine and the kings of the earth who committed acts of immorality and live sensuously with her will weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance because of the fear of her torment saying, whoa, whoa, the great city, Babylon, the strong city for in one hour. Your judgment has come. And so the first thing that we see in this lamentation is we see the

kings lamenting. Now, who did we already say that these kings were? These kings were the ones who drank of the wine of her immorality. They were involved in the governmental system. They were involved in everything that was going on. In other words, they had a vested interest in this political system. And now they're wailing and lamenting for this world government that's opposed to God. This one world government that they had established. But

notice what it says. They wail and they weep and lament over her when they see the smoke of her burning, but they stand at a distance for fear of her torment. Many people believe that when this city is destroyed and we'll talk about the city in just a minute, when this city is destroyed, it could potentially be with some sort of a some sort of a nuclear fallout, which is why the kings stand at a distance for fear of the torment over her burning. And it's kind of interesting that nuclear weapons all of a sudden have really come back into play in the news. I feel like we didn't talk about that for a really long time. Fear over what nuclear

weapons would do. But now with this current situation that's gone on between Ukraine and Russia, all of a sudden it's become a real fear again. And I think it's kind of interesting and maybe timely that we've started talking about this again, because perhaps that is what's going to take place when this great Babylon is destroyed, this city. Now, this is one of the times where we realize that this speaks more of a political city or system than a religious system, because it refers to this Babylon as the great city and the strong city. And everybody wants to know the same

thing. What city? What city is Babylon? Is it a city? Is it a government? Is it actually Babylon? Is it Rome? Is it the United States of America? Let's talk about some options for a minute, shall we? So first of all, I do. Lean toward maybe this being a city, perhaps a capital of where the Antichrist will set up or the city where the Antichrist will set up his capital. Perhaps it really could be a city,

but that raises another question. Where will this city be located? Will the city be located in Washington, D.C.? At this point in time, I doubt it, right? Nothing good is coming out of Washington, D.C. right now. I think everybody wants to distance themselves from Washington, D.C. right now. So I don't think that it's going to be in America. That leaves us with a couple of

options based on some of the commentators that I've read. A couple of the other options are perhaps it's actually the city of Babylon, which is modern day Iraq, right? I remember one of the first times I really remember paying attention to anything political. I was about 11, 11 years old, 10 years old-ish, somewhere in that range. It was when the first Gulf War happened and Saddam

Hussein invaded Kuwait. I remember the day that it happened because I was down here at the church with my mom and dad like I always was because it was summertime. It was right at the end of the summer. If I remember correctly, it was like August, late August, maybe early September type time frame. I don't know. It's been a long time ago. But I remember Pastor Mark coming in and

saying, Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait. We're going to war. You know how geeked up he got about things, right? So he got pretty geeked up about it. But again, the more I know, the more I realized why that was kind of exciting because if you don't know very much about Saddam Hussein, his goal was to rebuild Babylon. That was basically what he set out to do. He actually had been in the

process of rebuilding and recovering and restoring perhaps Babylon's ancient glory. So could this Babylon, could this city that we're going to see destroyed, could it actually be modern-day Iraq that they'll set it up there? Well, that's one option. But the interesting thing is, we'll read in just a minute about the merchants, that they will look from their ships and be able to see this city burning. So maybe not because I don't know very many places that

you could look from a ship and see into Iraq. Perhaps you could, but it was a little bit more difficult to do that. Other people believe that since a lot of what Rome could potentially be is the rebuilt Roman Empire, that maybe Rome is actually where it will be established. Therefore, Rome is the city which you could easily see from the ships, from the merchant ships, burning.

Perhaps. Ultimately, I'm going to end with the same answer I always end with. I have no idea. it refers to it as a great city so i think it's probably a city but what's most important is that it represents a government opposed to god and listen it will be destroyed so they look on this city and they weep and they wail and lament why because they had a vested interest in it but it wasn't just the kings the the political leaders that had a vested interest notice who else does and the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargos anymore cargos of gold and silver well we'll get into these cargos in just a minute um the merchants

wail but why do the merchants wail and weep and mourn oh because so many people are destroyed because it's such a sad time to know that the judgment of god has come no why why are they upset nobody buys their stuff they quit making the cash right the merchants aren't making money anymore i feel like we've watched this happen over the last three years too right like all of a sudden people couldn't buy and everybody's like open things back up i'm not making any money it's kind of what's going on here they got destroyed and they're like no one's buying our cargos anymore nobody's buying things anymore now john corson his commentary did a fantastic job and jay kind of did the same thing so i thought it was kind of interesting that they both took the same

line they said when you look at what they're weeping and mourning over the cargos that people are not buying it's almost like walking through the floors of a shopping mall so let me let me read this to you it says cargos of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls first floor jewelry right they're not buying the jewelry anymore why because it's destroyed and then fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet floor two clothing no one's buying the clothing anymore and then it goes on to uh every kind of citron and wood and every article of ivory and every article made of very costly wood and bronze iron and marble third floor home furnishings right it's kind of interesting

to see what all he points out here then it goes on to say it's cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and gold and silver and gold and silver and gold and gold and silver and incense fourth floor cosmetics that's right girls the mac store is destroyed goes on from there and it says and the wine and the olive oil and the fine flour and the wheat and the cattle and the sheep fifth floor fine foods actually john corson put it like this he said fifth floor food court destroyed and then he goes on from there and says and horses and chariots the automotive section everything's destroyed now there's one last thing i want you to pay attention to this because given our current culture i think it's kind of interesting

it says and slaves and human lives and actually one of the uh one of the translations i think it was the esv even used the word trafficking and human trafficking interestingly enough the new king james and the old king james both translate to human trafficking and human trafficking that uh slaves and souls of men that kind of interesting all of those are very interesting translations because what is one of the greatest commodities that's being traded right now people what are one of the greatest commodities the greatest sicknesses the greatest illnesses that have been traded for centuries people listen it's one of the most horrific things that you can imagine that we would look at people and think that they were property

and think that they can be bought and sold like property i can't imagine anything being as detestable to god as taking an individual that has been created in his image and selling them as property it took place with the slave trade in england it took place with the slave trade in africa it took place with the slave trade in england it took place with the slave trade in the united states and just when we thought we were rid of it now every young girl has to be careful and every father of a young girl has to watch out for her because now it's young girls that are being trafficked do you know that when the super bowl happens in a town that human trafficking increases by i think 80 percent because young girls are brought there for listen the luxurious

sensuality of the human trafficking that's being traded in the united states and just when we thought we were rid of it now every young girl has to be careful because now it's young girls that are brought there for listen it's the world that we're living in right now that is so captured by sin and our world's economic system is built upon the backs oftentimes of human trafficking and again i'll say it i can't imagine anything being as detestable to god as that but i was thinking about something else as well because in the translation of the old and new king james where it says the slaves and the souls of men i looked up the word uh that in here is used as uh slaves in human lives well that phrase human

lives when you look at it in the original greek it carries with it the idea of the breath of life which is where they get the translation for soul it's the very being of an individual but i want you to think about something i want you to think about what people do when they fall into sin what are they doing when they fall into sin and what are they doing when they fall into sin are they willing to sell their soul brothers and sisters we can look at the politicians in washington and think how corrupt they are and we can remember the fact that they started off as idealists that eventually figured out that to stay in power they had to sell their soul we can look at hollywood stars and think how can they be as corrupt as they are

and then we realize that there's harvey weinsteins in the world that told them in order to succeed you have to sell your soul and it's going to mean you have to do things with your body we can look at businessmen who at one point in time started off just with a desire to build something for themselves and their family and found out that if they wanted to succeed in the business world the easiest way to do it was to sell their soul but rather than talking about all of the people that are wealthy and well-known let's talk about the individual who in order to keep their job is willing to sacrifice their family and their religion and their walk with jesus christ it's almost like selling your soul

that's what this world economic system does to us and that's what's being destroyed and that's what these merchants are wailing over notice what it says in verse 14 the fruit you long for has gone from you and all the things that were luxurious and splendid have passed away from you and men will no longer find them the merchants of these things who became rich for her will stand at a distance because of the fear of her torment weeping and mourning saying whoa whoa the great city she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls in one hour such great wealth has been laid waste and every ship master every passenger and sailor and as many as make their living by the sea

stood at a distance and were crying out as they saw the smoke of her burning saying what city is like the great city and they threw dust on their heads and were crying out and weeping and mourning saying whoa whoa the great city in which all who had ships at sea became rich by her wealth by her wealth for in one hour she has been laid waste and so let's talk about the fruit you long for has gone from you but rather than selling your soul so all of the people of the earth will mourn over this you know why because that's what their hope was in because that was their god this world's system was their god but while the world laments i want you to notice what he tells the saints to do verse 20 he says rejoice over her oh heaven

and you saints and apostles and prophets because god has pronounced judgment for you against her then a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and he threw it into the sea saying so will babylon the great city be thrown down with violence will not be found any longer and the sound of the harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will not be heard in you any longer and no craftsman or any craft will be found in you any longer and the sound of a mill will not be heard in you any longer and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer and the sound of a lamp will not shine in you any longer the voice of the bridegroom and the bride will not be heard in you any longer

for your merchants were the great men of the earth because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery and in her was found the blood of the prophets and of the saints and of all who have been slain on the earth interesting while the while the whole world is lamenting the fall of babylon the great city the saints are rejoicing matter of fact he calls us to rejoice it says rejoice over her oh heaven and you saints and apostles and prophets why because god has pronounced judgment listen for you over her why because we're told in the very last verse that the blood of the saints is found in her brothers and sisters we find ourselves too tied to this world system especially considering the fact that this world system

listen hates us and wants to destroy us because if you stand for the blood of the saints if you live according to the things of god if you live according to the things of god listen it makes us completely opposite from the system of the world from every system of the world i think sometimes we think certain things are just kind of benign right oh well well that's neither good nor evil it just exists no if it's of this world it's opposed to the things of god if it's of this world it hates you we have to realize that and so he says rejoice over her why because god has pronounced judgment for you against her verse 24 he says rejoice over her why because god has pronounced judgment for you against her verse 24 he says rejoice over her why because god has

because says an angel took a strong stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea and so babylon sunk into the sea never to be seen again now that's a fascinating thing and hopefully should make you think just a little bit there's two different places in scripture that reference something similar to this oh i don't think i had to put those up there this one is the first one is jeremiah you don't have to turn there jeremiah chapter 51 verses 61 through 64 because in jeremiah chapter 51 god pronounces judgment upon babylon and he's supposed to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's going to be the one who's

says that in a prophetic way babylon will have a millstone tied around her neck thrown to the bottom of the sea all very similar language is used prophetically speaking jeremiah said babylon will be destroyed in that way but you know what there's something very practical about this too because you remember what jesus said write this one down to matthew 18 verse 6 he says it's inevitable that stumblings will come but woe to the one who stumbles any of these little ones it would be better to be the one who stumbles any of these little ones it would be better to be the better if a millstone were hung around their neck and they were drowned in the bottom of the sea because what has this world system done it has sought to stumble the little ones it has

sought to it has sought to stumble to pull down all of those who put their faith in jesus christ and then he talks about the fact that this judgment is complete nothing is found in her any longer not the music of the world not the craftsmanship of the world but the not the jobs of the world not the light of the world not the joy of the world not the emergence of the world everything is destroyed because all of those things as it says in the end of verse 23 because all the nations were deceived by your sorcery now there's that word again we talked about it sunday morning because the word sorcery can also is translated or is the greek word pharmakia which is translated pharmacy

you see they were all they were all taken down by her sorcery now i think there's a couple of things to pay attention to when it says that first of all all of the world will follow this political system because they will drink a strong delusion right they will be given a strong delusion almost like they've been drugged in order to follow which by the way i've always struggled with understanding how everybody would end up following something so blindly like that i don't wonder that anymore i know exactly how people will follow blindly they'll just be promised the circus right they'll be promised free food they'll be promised uh free alcohol and they'll be promised all of the pleasure that they can

possibly indulge in and they'll say perfect we'll follow you send us another stimulus check too soon that's how they'll be deceived by the sorcery of the world but you know there's something else that's involved here too because again i mentioned this sunday morning and it was interesting because john corson and his commentary mentioned the same thing and that's how have you noticed how drug addicted our world is right now and i'm not i'm not talking about prescription things listen i get it if your doctor's giving you a prescription take the prescription i i listened to uh uh a pastor from the east coast whose name i can't think of i can see his face right now i can't think of him

right now and he was talking about this same thing he said some of y'all are going to come to me and you're going to say pastor said quit taking my pills so i quit taking my antidepressants and now i'm so depressed he goes pastor did not say quit taking your prescriptions because that's not what i'm talking about talking about the fact that our culture is drugged up all the time because they're constantly trying to numb the things of this world and listen you can get anybody to do what you want to do if they're unaware of what's going on if they are completely drugged up with the things of this world because they've been deluded by the sorcery of the world and of course in her was found the blood of the prophets and the saints

and all who have been slain on the earth now i want to pull a little bit of personal application out of this chapter because there's a verse that's been resonating in my mind for the past couple of days and it's that verse come out of her my people i'm actually a friend of mine in bible college wrote a song about this and it was it was a pretty good song and it's actually one of my favorite ones that he wrote and so the verse of that song as well as this verse has just been kind of running through my head so i did just a little bit of of uh research on some verses that talk about coming out from amongst them and so so there's three verses i want you to go to because my takeaway for tonight is we're to come out and

be separate we are to come apart and be separate from this world's system because there is such a temptation for us as believers in jesus christ to try to be a part of it and so i want you to go with me three places in scripture go first of all to second corinthians chapter 6 verse 17 second corinthians chapter 6 verse 17 and just for context sake we are going to start in 16 it says oh i hear pages turning i'll give it just a second okay uh or what agreement has the temple of god with idols for we are the temple of the living god just as god said i will dwell among them or i will dwell in them and walk among them i will be their god and they shall be my people therefore come out from their midst

and be separate says the lord and do not touch what is unclean and i will welcome you i will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me says the lord almighty now direct context that's speaking of sexual purity but i believe that indirectly it speaks of any aspect of purity in our lives god is telling us that if we are the temple of god and he has promised to live in us and dwell among us therefore we must come out and be separate from the things of the world now i don't know what that means for you i don't know what areas of your life you feel like the world listen has come between you and the sun and you're not shining the light of jesus anymore but perhaps there's some of those ways where even

though god lives in you and he wants to dwell among you he's calling you listen come out from among them and be separate okay go with me the next place second peter second peter chapter 3 and i want you to look at verses 10 through 14. second peter 3 verses 10 through 14. says this but the day of the lord will come like a thief in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat and the earth and its works will be burned up feels like we just read that since all these things will be destroyed in this way what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness looking for and hastening the coming of the day of god because of the day of the lord and the earth will come like a thief in

which the heavens will be destroyed by burning and the elements will melt with intense heat but according to his promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells therefore beloved since you look for these things be diligent to be found by him in peace spotless and blameless friends it's all going to burn up everything in this world is going to burn up therefore what are you holding on to and what are you holding on to and what are you holding on to what is your hope in because if your hope is in the things of this world if the greatest joy that you're finding in the things of this world if the greatest peace you're finding is in the things of

this world you need to know something your hope and your peace and your joy they're all going to go away therefore what manner of men ought we to be what manner of people ought we to be well paul told us in second corinthians what we need to be we need to be the people that have an eternal perspective that if our home is in heaven if we are seated in heavenly places then let's seek those things which are above one last one we'll close with this first john chapter 2 verses 15 through 17 first john chapter 2 verses 15 through 17 and it says this do not love the world nor the things that are in your heart but love the things that are in your heart but love the things that are in your heart

and the world if anyone loves the world the love of the father is not in him for all that's in the world the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life is not from the father but is from this world the world is passing away and also its lusts but the one who does the will of god lives forever all these things are going to pass away isn't it interesting that the bible basically just says the same thing over and over again with different words quit being interested in this world start setting your mind on that world because what's here is going to pass away what's there is going to live forever i'm going to close with this because it's

written on the front of the church one life will soon be passed only what's done for christ will last would you bow with me father we come to you and we thank you for what your word has to say lord i thank you that this garbage world is going to go away and that you have something brand new for us so lord would you help us to keep our eyes focused on you lord would you help us to turn our eyes upon you so that we can see you more clearly and lord draw us near to you we pray father help us to come apart and be separate and be who everything that you've called for us to be not by our own power or might but by your spirit declares the lord in jesus name amen be blessed