1 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:14,480 And our Bible reading this evening is coming from Revelation 2 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:18,320 chapter 18 and verses 1 to 8. 3 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:28,570 So Revelation chapter 18, verses 1 to 8. 4 00:00:33,610 --> 00:00:34,250 After this. 5 00:00:34,250 --> 00:00:39,530 I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority. 6 00:00:40,890 --> 00:00:43,210 And the earth was made bright with his glory. 7 00:00:44,090 --> 00:00:48,490 And he called out with a mighty voice, fallen, fallen, is 8 00:00:48,490 --> 00:00:49,450 Babylon the Great. 9 00:00:50,330 --> 00:00:54,800 She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every 10 00:00:54,800 --> 00:01:01,240 unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every 11 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:03,160 unclean and detestable beast. 12 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:07,640 For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual 13 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:12,280 immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed an immorality 14 00:01:12,280 --> 00:01:12,840 with her. 15 00:01:13,960 --> 00:01:17,200 And the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of 16 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:18,680 her luxurious living. 17 00:01:20,570 --> 00:01:23,690 Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, 18 00:01:23,690 --> 00:01:29,650 my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her 19 00:01:29,650 --> 00:01:30,330 plagues. 20 00:01:30,970 --> 00:01:35,570 For her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered 21 00:01:35,570 --> 00:01:36,410 her iniquities. 22 00:01:37,690 --> 00:01:42,090 Pay her back as she herself has paid out back others, and repay 23 00:01:42,090 --> 00:01:43,530 her double for her deeds. 24 00:01:44,740 --> 00:01:47,860 Mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. 25 00:01:48,580 --> 00:01:53,580 As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like 26 00:01:53,580 --> 00:01:55,540 measure of torment and mourning. 27 00:01:56,020 --> 00:02:01,900 Since in her heart she says, I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and 28 00:02:01,900 --> 00:02:03,540 mourning I shall never see. 29 00:02:04,660 --> 00:02:07,620 For this reason, her plagues will come in a single day. 30 00:02:08,500 --> 00:02:10,180 Death and mourning and famine. 31 00:02:10,960 --> 00:02:12,800 And she will be burned up with fire. 32 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,640 For mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. 33 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:18,080 Amen. 34 00:02:20,800 --> 00:02:23,920 But moving from Matthew's gospel, we're coming to revelation, 35 00:02:24,000 --> 00:02:24,880 chapter 18. 36 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:26,599 We're getting closer and closer. 37 00:02:26,599 --> 00:02:27,440 The countdown is on. 38 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:30,400 It's almost like a big jar of marbles. 39 00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:33,000 There was a certain number put in, and every week I'm pulling one 40 00:02:33,000 --> 00:02:35,720 out and I can see the jar getting less and less. 41 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:38,480 But we will be looking at Revelation over the summer, because 42 00:02:38,480 --> 00:02:41,120 it's going to take that long just to get it finished off before 43 00:02:41,120 --> 00:02:41,760 September. 44 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:48,000 But as we come to Revelation 18, I wonder, have you ever seen 45 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:52,320 an old shopping centre, or maybe an old factory? 46 00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:56,600 Or maybe you've visited a town that once was full of life but is 47 00:02:56,600 --> 00:02:57,200 now empty? 48 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,800 My own hometown of Katy being a perfect example of that. 49 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:05,000 I don't know what my particular algorithm is on YouTube 50 00:03:05,000 --> 00:03:08,440 or Instagram, but I seem to get a lot of abandoned building videos 51 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:09,440 where people break in. 52 00:03:09,440 --> 00:03:13,000 Not that I condone such actions, but they go in and they 53 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,540 go around and see what that building's now like, telling you 54 00:03:15,540 --> 00:03:16,540 it's been closed for 10 years. 55 00:03:16,540 --> 00:03:18,420 It's been closed for this long, and there's Two recently that 56 00:03:18,420 --> 00:03:18,940 I've seen. 57 00:03:19,020 --> 00:03:22,660 In fact, there's been three, but two I distinctly remember. 58 00:03:22,660 --> 00:03:25,700 One is Waterworld in Port Rush now closed. 59 00:03:25,700 --> 00:03:27,620 That was news to me just a year or two ago. 60 00:03:27,620 --> 00:03:31,300 I thought it was still going, but Waterworld, to see it now and 61 00:03:31,300 --> 00:03:32,460 to see what it's like. 62 00:03:33,740 --> 00:03:34,900 The Dunluce Centre. 63 00:03:34,900 --> 00:03:37,620 Do you remember the Dunluce Centre in Port Rush where you used 64 00:03:37,620 --> 00:03:40,100 to pay a pound and you could go up and you used to think you were 65 00:03:40,100 --> 00:03:42,740 very tall, but you now look at it and think, wasn't really that 66 00:03:42,740 --> 00:03:43,220 high at all. 67 00:03:43,220 --> 00:03:45,810 The Big Dipper in Barry's was higher than the Dunluce Centre. 68 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,600 Or what about the flagship shopping centre, Bangor? 69 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:51,600 Do you remember it? 70 00:03:51,600 --> 00:03:52,360 On the main street? 71 00:03:52,760 --> 00:04:00,120 It was to be a thriving place for commerce, all three, two of which 72 00:04:00,120 --> 00:04:01,800 I remember very distinctly as a child. 73 00:04:01,800 --> 00:04:05,400 And Bangor and Waterworld just decaying and nothing in them. 74 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:07,880 Actually, the flagship shopping centre is hoping to get 75 00:04:07,880 --> 00:04:12,520 a new bit of life brought back into it as news this week has said. 76 00:04:13,520 --> 00:04:17,840 But there was a time when people thought that all of the joys 77 00:04:17,840 --> 00:04:21,960 of Waterworld, the Dunluce Centre and the flagship shopping 78 00:04:21,960 --> 00:04:23,680 centre in Bangor would never end. 79 00:04:24,320 --> 00:04:29,280 Shops thriving, money flowing, crowds gathering, good times never 80 00:04:29,360 --> 00:04:29,920 ending. 81 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:34,440 It all felt very permanent then. 82 00:04:34,440 --> 00:04:39,600 The businesses closed, people left, and now all that remains are 83 00:04:39,950 --> 00:04:46,670 empty units, faded signs, decaying buildings and silence. 84 00:04:48,270 --> 00:04:51,390 And when you stand in a place like that, you realize something 85 00:04:51,630 --> 00:04:52,510 unsettling. 86 00:04:53,870 --> 00:04:58,510 What once looked powerful and permanent was actually fragile all 87 00:04:58,510 --> 00:04:58,830 along. 88 00:05:00,670 --> 00:05:03,590 I had the opportunity one summer's evening with two colleagues 89 00:05:03,590 --> 00:05:06,430 that I worked with in Armagh City and District Council to go around 90 00:05:06,430 --> 00:05:08,430 the old jail in Armagh. 91 00:05:09,070 --> 00:05:12,430 It's so old that they spell it with a G rather than a J. 92 00:05:13,070 --> 00:05:17,270 And it enclosed in 1984 after being a women's prison for so many 93 00:05:17,270 --> 00:05:17,430 years. 94 00:05:17,430 --> 00:05:22,470 But it was actually built around 1790 and it was all part of 95 00:05:22,470 --> 00:05:25,950 Archbishop Richard Robinson's great development of Armagh. 96 00:05:26,110 --> 00:05:29,070 Now, I didn't break in, we were happily given the keys. 97 00:05:29,790 --> 00:05:34,110 But here's an old Georgian building still standing, still looking 98 00:05:34,110 --> 00:05:34,510 strong. 99 00:05:34,510 --> 00:05:38,740 But you walk in and the chapel floor had completely disintegrated 100 00:05:38,740 --> 00:05:39,980 and there was just a big hole. 101 00:05:40,860 --> 00:05:44,860 You went out into the exercise yard and there was just weeds everywhere. 102 00:05:45,180 --> 00:05:49,580 These places that were strong, these places that once held prisoners. 103 00:05:50,620 --> 00:05:54,300 And indeed, could we argue we were prisoners of commerce, perhaps 104 00:05:54,300 --> 00:06:00,300 in the flagship or prisoners of pleasure in Water World. 105 00:06:01,830 --> 00:06:05,230 What looked strong, what looked unbreakable, what looked like 106 00:06:05,230 --> 00:06:08,590 it would never end, eventually does. 107 00:06:08,590 --> 00:06:12,710 And sadly we're even seeing that with church buildings, once 108 00:06:12,790 --> 00:06:17,870 thriving congregations of a thousand Buildings having to be sold 109 00:06:17,870 --> 00:06:19,670 because you can't even get two together. 110 00:06:21,990 --> 00:06:25,470 At the beginning of Pilgrim's Progress, Christian is living comfortably 111 00:06:25,470 --> 00:06:26,790 in the city of destruction. 112 00:06:27,440 --> 00:06:31,760 Nothing outwardly seems wrong, but once he reads the book that is 113 00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:36,240 the Bible, he realizes judgment is coming and the city that 114 00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:39,280 everyone else thinks is secure is actually doomed. 115 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:42,320 And Christian is the only one who can see it. 116 00:06:44,080 --> 00:06:48,200 In Revelation 18, certainly the first eight verses give us the 117 00:06:48,200 --> 00:06:51,520 same warning when it comes to the great city of Babylon, because 118 00:06:51,920 --> 00:06:53,840 Babylon looks glorious. 119 00:06:54,980 --> 00:07:00,500 Babylon looks as if it will never fall, but the reality is heaven 120 00:07:00,900 --> 00:07:02,900 already sees its ruin. 121 00:07:03,860 --> 00:07:06,660 Last week in chapter 17, we were introduced again to the great 122 00:07:06,660 --> 00:07:11,580 prostitute, confirmed to us in verses 5 and 18 of chapter 17 as 123 00:07:11,580 --> 00:07:14,580 the great city of Babylon and the beast, who throughout Revelation 124 00:07:14,580 --> 00:07:16,260 is known as the devil and his agents. 125 00:07:16,580 --> 00:07:21,390 In chapter 17 we saw how sin is self defense destructive, and 126 00:07:21,390 --> 00:07:23,590 the beast actually turns on the prostitute. 127 00:07:23,590 --> 00:07:27,870 Having lured the prostitute this great city, now the beast turns 128 00:07:27,870 --> 00:07:28,390 on it. 129 00:07:28,710 --> 00:07:32,830 And verse 16 told us, and the 10 horns that you saw, they and the 130 00:07:32,830 --> 00:07:34,870 beast will hate the prostitute. 131 00:07:35,190 --> 00:07:39,590 They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and 132 00:07:39,990 --> 00:07:41,430 burn her up with fire. 133 00:07:42,950 --> 00:07:46,680 Now this is not the treatment of friends, but rather the hostilities 134 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:47,520 of an enemy. 135 00:07:48,320 --> 00:07:52,320 But this is an action of God, as verse 17 confirms that evil and 136 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,960 sin would be seen for what it truly is. 137 00:07:55,440 --> 00:07:58,720 And so, as we come into chapter 18, John sees another angel 138 00:07:58,720 --> 00:07:59,760 coming from heaven. 139 00:07:59,920 --> 00:08:03,840 And this angel is described in verse one as having great authority 140 00:08:03,840 --> 00:08:04,720 and glory. 141 00:08:05,120 --> 00:08:08,960 And through its glory the earth was made bright. 142 00:08:09,920 --> 00:08:14,230 The coming of the angel from heaven, showing us its transcendent 143 00:08:14,230 --> 00:08:18,230 authority, tells us of the beauty and power that the angel has, 144 00:08:19,670 --> 00:08:23,910 and that this angel is about to introduce a matter of weighty 145 00:08:23,910 --> 00:08:24,470 importance. 146 00:08:25,430 --> 00:08:30,470 And as we hear these words, we can jump to great celebration because 147 00:08:30,470 --> 00:08:34,070 of what they mean for God's people, because verse two tells us, 148 00:08:34,150 --> 00:08:37,950 and he called out with a mighty voice, fallen, fallen is Babylon 149 00:08:37,950 --> 00:08:38,310 the Great. 150 00:08:38,990 --> 00:08:42,950 She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every 151 00:08:42,950 --> 00:08:48,750 unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every 152 00:08:48,750 --> 00:08:51,390 unclean and detestable beast. 153 00:08:52,510 --> 00:08:56,350 This is the outcome of what we saw at the end of chapter 17. 154 00:08:57,310 --> 00:08:59,790 Babylon, the great prostitute has fallen. 155 00:09:00,670 --> 00:09:05,800 Everything unclean, everything unholy, now know it as their haunt. 156 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:08,800 It is the place of desolation. 157 00:09:08,800 --> 00:09:12,520 As she is punished, she's lost her glory, she's lost her power. 158 00:09:12,760 --> 00:09:16,640 And at the end of the age, all the Babylons of this world that have 159 00:09:16,640 --> 00:09:21,240 stood for evil and sin and persecuted God's people will face 160 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:22,360 the same punishment. 161 00:09:23,560 --> 00:09:26,920 This Pronouncement of Babylon's fall echoes the words of 162 00:09:26,920 --> 00:09:31,960 Isaiah in Isaiah 21:9, where he said, fallen, fallen is Babylon. 163 00:09:32,430 --> 00:09:36,950 And all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the 164 00:09:36,950 --> 00:09:37,230 ground. 165 00:09:38,110 --> 00:09:41,150 Now, as we know, Babylon in the Old Testament was the great enemy 166 00:09:41,150 --> 00:09:41,950 of God's people. 167 00:09:42,430 --> 00:09:46,470 It was Babylon that sent Judah into exile in 586 BC. 168 00:09:46,470 --> 00:09:49,750 And Babylon is the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in 169 00:09:49,750 --> 00:09:50,750 Daniel chapter two. 170 00:09:50,750 --> 00:09:53,710 And the lion in Daniel's vision in chapter seven. 171 00:09:54,670 --> 00:09:57,590 And the Old Testament announced God's judgment on Babylon 172 00:09:57,590 --> 00:10:00,610 for its evil and its idolatry. 173 00:10:01,570 --> 00:10:07,770 And Babylon was destroyed and judged in 539 BC, but its fall became 174 00:10:07,770 --> 00:10:12,130 a type or a pattern for the kingdoms and the cities of this world 175 00:10:12,130 --> 00:10:15,010 opposed to God and his rule. 176 00:10:15,490 --> 00:10:19,410 And so what we're told Here in verse 2 forecasts the final judgment, 177 00:10:19,650 --> 00:10:23,890 when the city of man will be desolated and destroyed forever. 178 00:10:24,910 --> 00:10:28,470 Now, in John's time, Rome was that great city of sin and that great 179 00:10:28,470 --> 00:10:33,590 city of persecution, and that too ultimately and finally faced 180 00:10:33,590 --> 00:10:35,230 the same fate as Babylon. 181 00:10:35,790 --> 00:10:40,670 And so what John is seeing here is the final Babylon destroyed 182 00:10:40,670 --> 00:10:43,390 and punished for its disobedience against God. 183 00:10:44,750 --> 00:10:48,310 And verse three presents to us the fundamental reason for Babylon's 184 00:10:48,310 --> 00:10:48,830 judgment. 185 00:10:49,230 --> 00:10:52,530 The nations of the world have drunk the wine of her immorality. 186 00:10:52,930 --> 00:10:55,730 And this is something the prophet Jeremiah spoke of. 187 00:10:56,290 --> 00:10:59,330 Now, John's not talking primarily about sexual sin here, 188 00:10:59,330 --> 00:11:02,250 even though he uses language of sexual unfaithfulness. 189 00:11:02,250 --> 00:11:04,570 And again, in the Old Testament, Israel's defection from 190 00:11:04,570 --> 00:11:08,210 the Lord is described as whoredom or harlotry. 191 00:11:08,930 --> 00:11:12,890 And so too the root of sin of the city of man, be it Babylon or 192 00:11:12,890 --> 00:11:17,020 Rome or whatever we know it today or in the future, are cities 193 00:11:17,020 --> 00:11:21,420 that abandon God, pursuing other gods instead of him. 194 00:11:22,140 --> 00:11:26,060 The great city has influenced the nations of the world so that 195 00:11:26,060 --> 00:11:30,420 they too have turned away from the one true God and gone after the 196 00:11:30,420 --> 00:11:32,140 things of sin and evil. 197 00:11:33,180 --> 00:11:36,980 The kings of the earth have followed the same path, and their 198 00:11:36,980 --> 00:11:40,140 sin is also described in terms of sexual deviance. 199 00:11:41,020 --> 00:11:45,420 Once again, the metaphor here communicates spiritual adultery, 200 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:50,360 which is rejection of the lordship of God and of his son Jesus 201 00:11:50,360 --> 00:11:50,680 Christ. 202 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:55,680 But verse three also speaks of the merchants of the earth and says 203 00:11:55,680 --> 00:11:58,120 of them towards the end of this verse that the merchants of 204 00:11:58,120 --> 00:12:01,959 the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living. 205 00:12:02,520 --> 00:12:06,080 So the merchants of the earth are indicted for growing rich from 206 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,800 the luxuries afforded by their alliance with Babylon and all the 207 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,290 sin and evil of the fallen world. 208 00:12:12,930 --> 00:12:16,530 Now, John's not saying that riches bring judgment. 209 00:12:16,770 --> 00:12:18,010 That's not what he's saying. 210 00:12:18,010 --> 00:12:22,210 But those riches gained by participation in the same idolatry 211 00:12:22,530 --> 00:12:28,250 and evil as Babylon, well, they do face judgment because they 212 00:12:28,250 --> 00:12:32,170 ultimately have rejected God and followed the immorality of whichever 213 00:12:32,170 --> 00:12:33,570 Babylon they have lived in. 214 00:12:34,930 --> 00:12:36,850 But verse four gives us another voice. 215 00:12:37,660 --> 00:12:40,060 We presume this is the voice of another angel. 216 00:12:40,140 --> 00:12:43,820 And this voice is a calling voice to God's people. 217 00:12:45,100 --> 00:12:47,980 Notice what is said then. 218 00:12:47,980 --> 00:12:52,660 I heard another voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my 219 00:12:52,660 --> 00:12:58,620 people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues, 220 00:13:00,540 --> 00:13:01,180 my people. 221 00:13:02,870 --> 00:13:05,990 This is God's message to his church. 222 00:13:06,550 --> 00:13:08,230 And what is he telling us to do? 223 00:13:08,870 --> 00:13:10,550 Come out of her. 224 00:13:11,670 --> 00:13:14,630 Those who have remained faithful to Jesus Christ are called 225 00:13:14,630 --> 00:13:15,750 to come out of Babylon. 226 00:13:16,390 --> 00:13:19,230 They're called to come out so that they won't participate in her 227 00:13:19,230 --> 00:13:19,670 sins. 228 00:13:20,710 --> 00:13:24,390 And for those who do sin, like Babylon, in forsaking the Lord will 229 00:13:24,390 --> 00:13:26,630 face the coming final judgment. 230 00:13:27,430 --> 00:13:31,340 And John here is telling God's people that they must not participate 231 00:13:31,660 --> 00:13:33,180 in the idolatry of Rome. 232 00:13:33,660 --> 00:13:37,020 Now this may not necessarily be a physical leaving of the city, 233 00:13:38,540 --> 00:13:41,700 but rather they must not give their allegiance to the emperor and 234 00:13:41,700 --> 00:13:43,820 forsake Jesus Christ, their first love. 235 00:13:44,460 --> 00:13:47,420 They must be willing to renounce the wealth and reputation 236 00:13:47,420 --> 00:13:49,420 of the world to follow Jesus Christ. 237 00:13:49,740 --> 00:13:53,020 And yes, it may mean leaving the temptation of the city. 238 00:13:54,460 --> 00:13:58,530 The sins pursued by Babylon should be forsaken, for those who 239 00:13:58,530 --> 00:14:03,090 participate in such sins will also receive the plagues coming upon 240 00:14:03,090 --> 00:14:03,690 Babylon. 241 00:14:04,570 --> 00:14:08,250 And here's a stern warning for Christians today. 242 00:14:08,330 --> 00:14:11,770 We continue to have Babylon present all around us. 243 00:14:12,410 --> 00:14:16,930 It may not be the ancient Mesopotamian city or indeed the imperial 244 00:14:16,930 --> 00:14:18,850 capital of Rome as in John's day. 245 00:14:18,850 --> 00:14:23,530 But Babylon still influences and Babylon still entices and will 246 00:14:23,530 --> 00:14:29,360 continue to do so, enticing people to sin and enticing them to 247 00:14:29,360 --> 00:14:31,080 reject God and his ways. 248 00:14:32,440 --> 00:14:36,600 And the devil wants nothing more than to snatch believers away. 249 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:41,640 That's why Peter writes what he does in 1st Peter 5:8. 250 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:44,120 He warns us to be sober minded, to be watchful. 251 00:14:44,440 --> 00:14:48,280 Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion 252 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,330 seeking someone to devour. 253 00:14:52,210 --> 00:14:55,330 So Peter warns us to be on our guard. 254 00:14:56,610 --> 00:15:01,930 It's easy for us to get pulled into talk that's not appropriate 255 00:15:01,930 --> 00:15:03,090 for the children of God. 256 00:15:03,570 --> 00:15:06,890 Or we focus more in our conversations and in our actions 257 00:15:06,890 --> 00:15:10,450 on the things of this world rather than on the things of Christ. 258 00:15:12,770 --> 00:15:17,570 We seal quite easily into inappropriate or even illegal business 259 00:15:17,650 --> 00:15:18,290 practices. 260 00:15:19,070 --> 00:15:22,830 Or we fail to live to the standard of Christ in our homes. 261 00:15:23,710 --> 00:15:30,030 It's amazing Truly amazing how cunning the devil can be to snatch 262 00:15:30,030 --> 00:15:32,750 us away, to pull us away. 263 00:15:33,710 --> 00:15:35,630 So be on your guard. 264 00:15:35,710 --> 00:15:40,390 Christian verse 5 warns us that the sins of Babylon are not 265 00:15:40,390 --> 00:15:41,070 forgotten. 266 00:15:41,150 --> 00:15:45,390 And she, along with those that she has lured and enticed, will face 267 00:15:45,470 --> 00:15:48,060 the punishment for sin. 268 00:15:49,340 --> 00:15:52,140 So this truly is a stern warning to God's people. 269 00:15:53,340 --> 00:15:55,860 Beware of Babylon. 270 00:15:55,860 --> 00:16:01,420 Come out of her and be on your guard so that the devil will not 271 00:16:01,420 --> 00:16:02,380 snatch you away. 272 00:16:03,180 --> 00:16:05,100 And you may think that's impossible. 273 00:16:05,500 --> 00:16:06,700 How could he do that? 274 00:16:07,820 --> 00:16:11,420 Well, over these past 10 years we have seen one Christian leader 275 00:16:11,500 --> 00:16:14,430 after another and fail, and fail again. 276 00:16:15,550 --> 00:16:20,670 The devil is active and he will take whoever he can away from 277 00:16:20,670 --> 00:16:21,070 Christ. 278 00:16:22,430 --> 00:16:26,270 He will presume glory for himself where there is actually no 279 00:16:26,270 --> 00:16:27,310 glory at all. 280 00:16:28,509 --> 00:16:32,790 But he will make shipwreck of faith and that is the work that he 281 00:16:32,790 --> 00:16:34,430 is intent on doing. 282 00:16:35,550 --> 00:16:37,630 So be on your guard. 283 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:42,440 The angel continues in verse 6. 284 00:16:43,160 --> 00:16:47,200 Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her 285 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:48,600 double for her deeds. 286 00:16:48,680 --> 00:16:52,840 Mix a double portion for her in the cup she has mixed. 287 00:16:53,160 --> 00:16:55,800 So now we're talking about the punishment that Babylon deserves. 288 00:16:55,800 --> 00:16:58,800 And John tells us that God remembers Babylon's sin because he 289 00:16:58,800 --> 00:16:59,400 is just. 290 00:16:59,800 --> 00:17:01,480 And we must know that about God. 291 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,240 God is just and if he is just, then he is a God of justice. 292 00:17:06,430 --> 00:17:11,510 So what he does is right and it's fair because his justice is 293 00:17:11,510 --> 00:17:14,990 proved true in the saying the punishment fits the crime. 294 00:17:14,990 --> 00:17:18,390 And if you recall, just a matter of chapters ago, wasn't that 295 00:17:18,390 --> 00:17:21,390 the complaint that people were saying the punishment's too harsh 296 00:17:21,390 --> 00:17:22,190 for the crime. 297 00:17:22,670 --> 00:17:26,390 But yet here we have the repetition that in fact when it comes 298 00:17:26,390 --> 00:17:28,750 to Babylon, the punishment fits the crime. 299 00:17:29,870 --> 00:17:34,860 The Babylons of the world will not remain unscathed for the evil 300 00:17:34,860 --> 00:17:38,940 that they do will turn back upon them again because of that self 301 00:17:38,940 --> 00:17:44,740 destructive nature of sin, but because a fair and just God will 302 00:17:44,740 --> 00:17:49,020 punish sin because it deserves to be punished. 303 00:17:50,140 --> 00:17:54,940 You see, Babylon is a great prostitute that has glorified herself 304 00:17:54,940 --> 00:17:59,100 with a life of luxury, giving no thought to truth. 305 00:18:00,450 --> 00:18:07,330 And as we know this most ancient of ongoings with prostitution, 306 00:18:07,330 --> 00:18:09,410 isn't that a perfect description? 307 00:18:10,290 --> 00:18:18,090 Luring people away for self glorification to gain money so that 308 00:18:18,090 --> 00:18:21,730 a life of luxury may be lived with no thought to truth and honesty. 309 00:18:22,130 --> 00:18:28,610 Babylon has gained her wealth through her idolatrous and adulteress, 310 00:18:28,690 --> 00:18:32,820 idolatry and adultery, that is her behavior. 311 00:18:33,460 --> 00:18:38,500 So she sits thinking she is untouchable, but she's not. 312 00:18:39,300 --> 00:18:42,780 Once again the punishment fits the crime she has committed in her 313 00:18:42,780 --> 00:18:44,660 deceit, in her evil and in her sin. 314 00:18:44,660 --> 00:18:46,900 And this is confirmed for us in verse 8. 315 00:18:47,460 --> 00:18:51,260 For this reason, her plagues will come in a single day, death 316 00:18:51,260 --> 00:18:54,660 and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire, 317 00:18:54,660 --> 00:18:57,300 for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her. 318 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:03,400 The sin Babylon has pursued will come quite literally cascading 319 00:19:03,720 --> 00:19:08,800 suddenly upon her, just as Isaiah told us in chapter 47 and 320 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,040 verse 9, where he said, these two things shall come to you in a 321 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:17,400 moment, in one day, the loss of children and widowhood shall come 322 00:19:17,400 --> 00:19:22,400 upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and 323 00:19:22,400 --> 00:19:24,750 the great power, your enchantments. 324 00:19:25,710 --> 00:19:28,910 And isn't that what we hear, the cry of Babylon? 325 00:19:29,870 --> 00:19:31,710 Isn't this what we hear her say? 326 00:19:32,350 --> 00:19:37,030 She boasts herself that she's not widowed, that she is strong and 327 00:19:37,030 --> 00:19:37,470 mighty. 328 00:19:37,470 --> 00:19:41,990 But yet in a single day, Scripture tells us, her confidence 329 00:19:41,990 --> 00:19:45,070 will vanish as plagues descend upon her. 330 00:19:45,550 --> 00:19:49,470 And the plagues are identified as death, mourning and famine. 331 00:19:50,140 --> 00:19:53,380 The prostitute, in a punishment reminiscent of the penalty 332 00:19:53,380 --> 00:19:57,060 for a priest's daughter who turns to prostitution in Leviticus 333 00:19:57,060 --> 00:20:01,260 chapter 21, verse 9, will be burned with fire. 334 00:20:02,060 --> 00:20:06,860 God personally judges her, showing his lordship and mighty power, 335 00:20:07,100 --> 00:20:12,020 for no one can triumph over him, nor can anyone give himself 336 00:20:12,020 --> 00:20:16,470 over to evil without facing God's wrath. 337 00:20:18,310 --> 00:20:22,230 So in these first eight verses of chapter 18, which is part of this 338 00:20:22,230 --> 00:20:26,110 ongoing telling of what's going to happen at the end of the 339 00:20:26,110 --> 00:20:29,910 punishment that will come towards Babylon the great and towards 340 00:20:29,910 --> 00:20:34,790 the beast and those who follow the beast, we have in our hearts 341 00:20:34,870 --> 00:20:38,470 a truth that fallen, fallen is Babylon. 342 00:20:39,430 --> 00:20:44,200 There will be a day when the evil of this world will be gone and 343 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:50,400 the punishment will fit the crime, because God is a just God. 344 00:20:51,600 --> 00:20:54,560 So as we finish this section of chapter 18, we learn the reason 345 00:20:55,280 --> 00:20:59,399 why we're called to come out of Babylon, why we're called to live 346 00:20:59,399 --> 00:21:03,200 differently from the world in its sin. 347 00:21:05,520 --> 00:21:06,960 And we do it in two ways. 348 00:21:07,600 --> 00:21:09,360 First, we do it for God's sake. 349 00:21:10,180 --> 00:21:12,820 And second, we do it for the world's sake. 350 00:21:13,940 --> 00:21:18,580 Our world desperately needs the testimony of a lived Christianity 351 00:21:18,820 --> 00:21:22,980 that bears witness to the God of salvation, his judgment on sin, 352 00:21:22,980 --> 00:21:25,380 and the forgiveness he offers through the blood of Jesus Christ. 353 00:21:26,100 --> 00:21:29,340 This gives the most important answer to the question of Christianity 354 00:21:29,340 --> 00:21:33,260 and culture, as commanded by Jesus himself in Matthew, chapter 355 00:21:33,260 --> 00:21:37,460 28, where Jesus tells us, he commands us, go therefore and make 356 00:21:37,460 --> 00:21:40,220 disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the 357 00:21:40,220 --> 00:21:43,880 Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to 358 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:45,920 observe all that I have commanded you. 359 00:21:46,640 --> 00:21:52,200 You see, we live differently for God's sake, so that we will demonstrate 360 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:55,800 that there is a life worth living, a life that is greater than 361 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:56,880 the world around us. 362 00:21:57,600 --> 00:22:00,920 But we also live it for the sake of the world, so that they will 363 00:22:00,920 --> 00:22:04,960 hear and they will see a living testimony of what it means 364 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:09,120 to know Christ as we fulfill what is commanded to us by Jesus 365 00:22:09,120 --> 00:22:10,400 in His last words to us. 366 00:22:10,400 --> 00:22:13,420 To go, therefore, and make discip of all nations. 367 00:22:14,060 --> 00:22:15,660 Discipleship is evangelism. 368 00:22:16,060 --> 00:22:19,340 It's instruction, it's correcting, it's growing in faith. 369 00:22:21,340 --> 00:22:24,940 It's all of these things that we will make disciples of all nations, 370 00:22:25,180 --> 00:22:28,579 bringing them into the sacrament of baptism in the name 371 00:22:28,579 --> 00:22:30,620 of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. 372 00:22:31,100 --> 00:22:34,620 It's teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded us 373 00:22:35,420 --> 00:22:39,850 so that they will know there is hope and hope in Christ. 374 00:22:42,410 --> 00:22:46,090 John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress I started with it, so I'm 375 00:22:46,090 --> 00:22:49,610 going to finish with it, provides a model for sinners who 376 00:22:49,610 --> 00:22:53,130 learn of impending judgment and their need of a savior. 377 00:22:54,010 --> 00:22:59,610 Pilgrim called Christian heard the warning and he fled to the cross, 378 00:22:59,610 --> 00:23:02,490 crying, life, life, eternal life. 379 00:23:03,700 --> 00:23:05,180 And that is what we must do. 380 00:23:05,180 --> 00:23:08,820 Not looking back to the world, but looking only to Jesus in faith 381 00:23:08,820 --> 00:23:12,180 and fleeing to him for forgiveness and for life. 382 00:23:13,140 --> 00:23:16,500 But Pilgrim's Progress also provides a model for those who have 383 00:23:16,500 --> 00:23:20,340 believed and found salvation, and who for a time have an opportunity 384 00:23:20,340 --> 00:23:23,580 to help others to know this truth of the gospel, so that they 385 00:23:23,580 --> 00:23:24,740 too may be saved. 386 00:23:25,700 --> 00:23:29,810 For Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, he met evangelists, and 387 00:23:29,810 --> 00:23:35,170 it was evangelist that gave Pilgrim a verse from the Gospel he 388 00:23:35,170 --> 00:23:39,530 quoted Matthew 3:7 Flee from the wrath to come. 389 00:23:41,450 --> 00:23:46,850 Evangelist directed the endangered sinner Christian to the 390 00:23:46,850 --> 00:23:50,650 shining lamp of God's Word, where he would learn of salvation 391 00:23:50,650 --> 00:23:53,610 through the narrow gate at the cross of Jesus Christ. 392 00:23:53,930 --> 00:23:58,790 And however unpopular it may be, and however unpopular the world 393 00:23:58,870 --> 00:24:04,350 considers the Gospel to be, well, Evangelist quotes the words 394 00:24:04,350 --> 00:24:09,670 of Hebrews 12:25 see that you do not refuse him who is speaking. 395 00:24:10,070 --> 00:24:13,430 For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned 396 00:24:13,430 --> 00:24:18,630 them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns 397 00:24:19,110 --> 00:24:19,910 from heaven. 398 00:24:23,680 --> 00:24:27,680 Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great. 399 00:24:28,320 --> 00:24:30,400 The unthinkable has happened. 400 00:24:30,960 --> 00:24:35,200 The world is self destructing because of its sin. 401 00:24:36,240 --> 00:24:42,200 A day is coming when judgment will be brought upon the Babylons, 402 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:46,800 the nations, the peoples of this world who have rejected God. 403 00:24:47,360 --> 00:24:50,920 And as the writer of Hebrews tells us, as highlighted by the evangelist 404 00:24:50,920 --> 00:24:56,080 in Pilgrim's Progress, we need to pay attention, because how much 405 00:24:56,080 --> 00:24:59,240 less will we escape if we reject him who warns us from heaven? 406 00:25:00,200 --> 00:25:04,560 How much less will we escape if we continue to reject Christ the 407 00:25:04,560 --> 00:25:07,960 risen Savior, who has proved his victory over death in the grave 408 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:10,280 with arms open wide, receiving us. 409 00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:17,520 If we will but come and turn away from the world and live in the 410 00:25:17,520 --> 00:25:19,380 life that he gives us. 411 00:25:23,220 --> 00:25:30,100 We may say, well, we don't live in the city physically or metaphorically. 412 00:25:30,980 --> 00:25:32,100 Babylon's gone. 413 00:25:32,340 --> 00:25:35,220 She's been gone for 2000 years and so is Rome. 414 00:25:35,940 --> 00:25:37,540 So what's all this talking about? 415 00:25:39,220 --> 00:25:43,380 This is telling us the reality in which we live as well as the reality 416 00:25:43,380 --> 00:25:44,340 of what is to come. 417 00:25:45,560 --> 00:25:50,920 Quite literally, what will happen at the end of time when all 418 00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:55,800 the sins of this world will be punished fairly and justly. 419 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:01,840 But those who are in Christ will know their sins already paid 420 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:05,000 for and atoned for because of what Christ has done. 421 00:26:06,520 --> 00:26:08,600 So why wouldn't you want Christ? 422 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,640 And why Christian, wouldn't you want to live for him rather than 423 00:26:13,640 --> 00:26:15,440 putting yourself in Babylon? 424 00:26:15,440 --> 00:26:22,260 Come ye out of Babylon and live for him so that you will know 425 00:26:22,260 --> 00:26:24,180 his great truth. 426 00:26:28,100 --> 00:26:32,820 The message of the gospel is one that presents us with glorious 427 00:26:32,820 --> 00:26:33,140 hope. 428 00:26:34,500 --> 00:26:37,940 It is a hope that takes us from this world and into eternity. 429 00:26:38,340 --> 00:26:42,780 It's an assurance that we will never be snatched from the hand of 430 00:26:42,780 --> 00:26:47,790 God as we continue to trust in him day by day, as we continue to 431 00:26:47,790 --> 00:26:49,150 read and as we continue to pray. 432 00:26:49,150 --> 00:26:51,910 It's not a works righteousness, it's not a bartering 433 00:26:51,910 --> 00:26:55,910 system, but what it is demonstrating is a dependency on 434 00:26:55,910 --> 00:26:56,310 God. 435 00:26:57,510 --> 00:27:03,110 This is what believers are called to not to have our ears tickled 436 00:27:03,110 --> 00:27:07,910 by whatever wind is in the world, to go down roads of falsehood, 437 00:27:08,310 --> 00:27:15,010 of second guessing, of untruths, but to stand firmly in 438 00:27:15,010 --> 00:27:21,170 the gospel of Jesus Christ and to live clearly to the kingdom by 439 00:27:21,170 --> 00:27:21,970 which we belong. 440 00:27:23,570 --> 00:27:25,330 So this message is a radical one. 441 00:27:26,130 --> 00:27:31,570 The Book of Revelation is about radical discipleship because 442 00:27:31,570 --> 00:27:36,290 it calls the church to live sincerely and urgently for the kingdom, 443 00:27:37,380 --> 00:27:39,060 because Christ will return. 444 00:27:40,100 --> 00:27:43,940 And when he does, those who belong to him will be taken to a 445 00:27:43,940 --> 00:27:49,580 glorious heaven and those who don't trust in him will face the 446 00:27:49,580 --> 00:27:51,860 punishment that they deserve. 447 00:27:52,980 --> 00:27:58,060 May you be found in heaven's kingdom as you trust in Christ. 448 00:27:58,060 --> 00:28:00,180 This night let us pray. 449 00:28:01,700 --> 00:28:06,190 Our Father God, your Word teaches us to pay attention to what 450 00:28:06,190 --> 00:28:07,030 is around us. 451 00:28:07,830 --> 00:28:13,870 It challenges us to live for Christ, not to be taken to the swamp 452 00:28:13,870 --> 00:28:17,750 of idle conversation, of talking about things that really 453 00:28:17,750 --> 00:28:21,550 don't matter in the light of eternity, but rather that while there 454 00:28:21,550 --> 00:28:25,150 is yet time to continue to proclaim this good news of the gospel 455 00:28:25,150 --> 00:28:29,190 for your sake and for the sake of the world, so that your truth 456 00:28:29,190 --> 00:28:33,100 will be known and that the world will know there is hope in 457 00:28:33,100 --> 00:28:34,700 Christ and in him alone. 458 00:28:36,140 --> 00:28:40,700 So help us to live fervently for you in the light of Revelation 459 00:28:40,700 --> 00:28:47,340 18:1 8 May we know the day that is coming when Babylon will 460 00:28:47,340 --> 00:28:49,980 be defeated, when she will be punished. 461 00:28:50,620 --> 00:28:53,340 But may we not be lackadaisy about it. 462 00:28:53,740 --> 00:28:59,000 May we urgently respond to the commission of Christ to go into all 463 00:28:59,000 --> 00:29:03,040 the world and to proclaim the good news of the Gospel, so that 464 00:29:03,040 --> 00:29:08,120 indeed we will see the nations coming to Christ for salvation. 465 00:29:09,240 --> 00:29:12,280 So Father, help us to respond well this night to your word. 466 00:29:12,520 --> 00:29:15,000 In Jesus name, Amen.