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[0:00] here we are take out your Bibles with me please oh yeah she believes I will be falling over that no faith she's seen me fall before you know when she kicked the ladder out from under me right no no no but she's not that just like the Lord trying to keep me from falling we come to Revelation chapter 18 wow right been a journey I don't know if it gets any more real than chapter 18 we see this beginning to happen the fall fall

[1:13] Babylon which is a code word for worldliness code word for consumerism code word for prosperity or at least not not not the hope of it the love of it right the love of money not money itself so we want to read the text then we'll ask the Lord to give us some insights and not just insight but then to pierce our hearts with it because in this message is two calls to the church it's not just about the fall of Babylon but it's about believers as well we're called to come out of it to get away from it and then to rejoice in her fall so interesting so we're going to look at that pray for that and then we'll dig in so if you're able please stand as I read from God's word

[2:15] Revelation chapter 18 after this I saw another angel coming down from heaven having great authority and the earth was made bright with his glory and he called out with a mighty voice fallen fallen is Babylon the great she has become a dwelling place for demons a haunt for every unclean spirit a haunt for every unclean bird a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast for all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality and the kings of the earth have committed immorality with her and the merchants of the earth have grown rich rich from the power of her luxurious living then I heard another voice from heaven saying come out from her my people lest you take part in her sins lest you share in her plagues for her sins are heaped high as heaven and God has remembered her iniquities pay her back as she herself has paid back others repay her double for her deeds mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed as she glorified herself and lived in luxury so give her a like measure of torment and mourning since in her heart she says

[4:09] I sit as queen I am no widow and mourning I shall never see for this reason her plagues will come in a single day death and mourning and famine and she will be burned up with fire for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her and the kings of the earth who committed sexual immorality and lived in luxury with her will weep and will wail over her when they see the smoke of her burning they will stand far off in fear of her torment and say alas alas you great city you mighty city Babylon for in a single hour your judgment has come and the merchants of the earth are weeping and mourning for her since no one buys their cargo anymore cargo of gold silver jewels pearls fine linen purple cloth silk scarlet cloth all kinds of scented wood all kinds of articles of ivory all kinds of articles of costly wood bronze iron and marble cinnamon spice incense myrrh frankincense wine oil fine flour wheat cattle and sheep horses and chariots and slaves that is human souls the fruit for which your soul longed has gone has gone from you and all your delicacies and your splendors are lost to you never to be found again the merchant of these wares who gained wealth from her will stand far off in fear of her torment weeping and mourning aloud alas alas for the great city that was clothed in fine linen in purple and scarlet adorned with gold and jewels and with pearls for in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste and all the ship masters and seafaring men sailors and all those whose trade is on the sea stood far off and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning what city was like the great city and they threw deaths on their heads as they had been weeping and had been mourning crying out alas alas for the great city where all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth for in a single hour she has been laid waste rejoice over her oh heaven and you saints and apostles and prophets for God has given judgment for you against her then a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea saying so will

[7:38] Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence and will be found no more and the sound of harpists and musicians and flute players and trumpeters will be heard in you no more and craftsmen of any craft will be found in you no more and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more and the voice of a bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more for your merchants were the great ones of the earth and all nations were deceived by your sorcery and in her was found the blood of prophets and saints and of all who have been slain on earth so reads the word let us pray father grant us your holy spirit today to illumine us to convict us to encourage us to clarify to us oh father the danger the danger of the world we are so easily tempted oh father naturally by the desires of the flesh the desires of the eyes the pride of life these things naturally appeal to us and so father grant us eyes to see the danger behind them in fact the lethality of them this we pray in Jesus name amen please be seated two hunters were out in the woods when one of them collapsed he doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed the other guy whips out his cell phone and quickly calls emergency services he gasps my friend is dead what can I do the operator says calm down

[10:04] I can help first let's make sure he's dead there's a silence then a shot is heard back on the phone guy says okay now what you don't appreciate hunter humor life is like that not literally like that but we are under stress and confused and think what do I do Charles Dickens begins his famous book a tale of two cities with these famous words it was the best of times it was the worst of times it was the age of wisdom it was the age of foolishness it was the epic of belief it was the epic of incredulogy incred skepticism

[11:18] I had to look it up it was the season of light it was the season of darkness it was the spring of hope it was the winter of despair we had everything before us we had nothing before us we were all going direct to heaven we were all going direct the other way in short the period was so far like the present period that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received for good or for evil in the superlative degree of comparison only these words could be spoken of any age these words could be spoken of our age same today isn't it there is wisdom and foolishness there is belief and skepticism there is hope and despair there is light and darkness everything is just fine nothing's good we live in an age of contradiction see what what is the best of times what is best what is your best life now sorry like pick on him low low flying low hanging fruit what is best what's worst how do we define that how do we measure that so it is the best of times it is the worst of times revelation 18 brings out these very contradictions here we have groups of people who think believe hope they are living in the best of times and in a single hour find out they're in the worst of times because their best was not the best their best was the worst contradictions in revelation 17 as we looked last week we saw the identity given of the woman the city that

[13:55] Babylon the great that code word that word that could not just be Babylon could be Sodom could be could be Jerusalem could be Egypt put your own could be Paris could be New York City could be Denver I mean put your worldly city there right so Babylon it's just a name it's not literal it's a code word right it had become Jerusalem at one point so we saw her identity she's really she's like a prostitute she's like a great city she's one that deceives and seduces the world to drink her wine and fall with her in this worldliness right so chapter 17 identified we saw her guilt we saw why she's guilty right so we had two revelations given to us in chapter 17 he showed us what he meant by this picture of the woman the woman right is this she's that temptress and then he revealed who the beast was the beast is is just a picture of all worldly rulers and the worldly rulers work with worldliness to deceive the world and there will be a time when the world rulers will irrationally turn on worldliness like today when they mortgage our future when they bankrupt society by their foolishness because they're in it for themselves not for us so that's 17 now chapter 18 now describes the results of her judgment here we're kind of looking at the announcement that she's fallen that the world economy that the world worldliness all of what we have worshipped in this world has crashed and the reasons for it and then there's kind of one last call get out my people get out because here comes the judgment and then we hear the reflections of all those who were with her the kings and the merchants and the mariners who are with her who made their living their luxuries from her who got rich from her who prospered from her now they mourn because she's fallen and because she's fallen they've fallen so we hear their their impact right so we hear all the results so what

[17:02] I want to do as we come to this chapter first of all I want to talk about the theme of idolatry even though the word is not in this chapter it's described in this chapter Babylon is a picture of idolatry it's false worship so I want to define or describe what idolatry is how it's described in this chapter idol if you just look it up it means you idolize something you worship it you desire it you exalt it you adore it right so it's really something that takes God's place so let's just look briefly at two places Exodus 20 God defined with his very first commandments idolatry was the first and second commandment the first commandment thou shalt not have any what gods before me small g other gods before me or literally in the

[18:05] Hebrew shall not have any other gods over me okay replacing me second commandment you shall not make any images any likenesses things that you bow down to things that you serve things that you worship in other words replacement gods okay so an idol is something that takes God's place so things of the world take God's place for us okay things that we bow down to things that we depend on for what for security for identity for value for meaning all the things that God is supposed to be to us God is who gives us our identity God is the one we are to bow down to to depend on to adore to enjoy that's our purpose what is the great chief end of man does anybody know the famous statement what's the chief end of man what is the purpose of our existence to what?

[19:11] to glorify God and enjoy him forever know him that's part of it to glorify him whatever you do whether you eat drink whatever you do do all to the glory of God that's the chief end that's the end result that's why we live to glorify him to live for him to serve him right to make him known to and then and then these wise men who put this catechism together said not just to glorify him but to enjoy him they captured something there that gets away from Phariseeism to enjoy him and I love how Mr.

[20:02] Piper Mr. John Piper my favorite preachers has redefined just tweaked it just a little bit he says it's to glorify God by enjoying him what most glorifies God not just that I obey him but I enjoy him I know him I walk with him I adore him he is my all we just sang right to adore you to glorify those are just words so anything that replaces that is idolatry if I live to glorify anything else if I live to enjoy anything else above him not that we can't enjoy things of this world we certainly can and should and created for our good but we don't put that over him in fact we say thank you that I can enjoy this wonderful steak today oh bless you

[21:17] Lord right or ice cream or lasagna whatever whatever floats your boat thank you for the boat right we enjoy right that we thank him that's what sanctifies those things it's always in connection it's his glory right and then Matthew 6 so Jesus takes it this way he talks about don't lay up earthly treasures but lay up treasures in heaven and then he gives the reason why why is where we have treasure so important that's where your heart is wherever your treasure is that's where your heart is see it's not about the checklist of do's and don'ts it's about where's your heart where's your heart it's not that riches or wealth or things are bad they're not they're neutral it's where your heart is it's not about having things things are neutral they're fine

[22:25] God gives us things but do I treasure the things or do I treasure him is it about accumulating things or is it about turning it to him putting it in heaven right so Jesus says you can't have two masters it's just impossible you can't love things and God if you love things you will hate him if you honor things you will resent him because in your conscience you know you've replaced him you've settled for less you've settled for less he's the highest joy he's the highest satisfaction you've settled for this quick fix that always disappoints got a new truck just a few months ago it's got a scratch man it's all gone it's done it's over it's over can't put my treasure there so idolatry really robs

[23:52] God of his glory he deserves all the glory so when we give it to something else we're stealing it from him and putting it on something that doesn't deserve it so Babylon is this image of idolatry we're talking about Babylon has fallen this image this idolatry this worldliness has fallen things that we set our hope in we seek to find security in the things that drive us the things that we enjoy more than God those are the things that fall and so Revelation 18 shows us the devastation for idolaters it's not just the fall of the concept of idolatry the concept of worldliness it's the fall of everyone connected to that if that's where my love is as the kings and the merchants and the working class guys all say it's gone she's gone

[24:59] I'm gone if she's gone I'm toast God's taken that away and revealed what I really have this is what's shown today so there's two things here this passage is you know as you outline it as a literary piece it reminds me of Old Testament prophecy and Old Testament poetry because there's a structure and a balance to it it begins with an announcement of judgment it ends with an announcement of judgment begins with the reason for the judgment it ends in the chapter last few verses with the reason for judgment at the beginning there's a call verse four a call to come out of her at the end verse 20 just before it ends there's another call to the saints rejoice over her so it begins!

[25:59] in the middle there's this lamentation that's reflected in three different groups the kings and the merchants and the mariners kind of goes from the kings to the movers and shakers and then the peons the workers people trying to get by goes from top down so it's just a beautiful structure you kind of see the structure you kind of see okay it begins and ends the same way but it's a chiasm so it's like a big arrow pointing to here's the point right in the middle those merchants in fact they get the biggest section seven verses of emphasis here's the point okay so that's where we'll go so we're going to structure today we're going to look at it in terms of those two exhortations that's how it applies to us so the first one in verse four come away from her and then verse 20 rejoice over her so let's look at the first eight verses that kind of structures our first section first exhortation

[27:13] I would put it this way flee the idolatrous love of the world so flee the love of the world to put it simply but but the love of the world is idolatry so flee the idolatrous the false godism of the love of the world and as an and implied is you're also fleeing the judgment of God because if you don't flee the world you will be caught in her judgment okay so come out of her it's kind of like kind of reminds us of of lot right God's gonna gonna come and crush Sodom and Gomorrah but first he warns lot get him out and he literally literally had to be dragged out didn't he he and his wife and his wife didn't make it did she it's hard to it's hard to leave it's hard to leave what you've become accustomed!

[28:16] to and depend on it's it pictures you know the flood the flood God's gonna wipe out the world but first he's gonna take Noah and his family and rescue them and in fact in the midst of the judgment save them in this ark this ark save them in the judgment right they're saved through he remembers them so this is another picture of that come out let me save you flee before the judgment come which by the way this is the end very end time guess what believers are still there oh still there so flee the idolNINGNING!

[29:14] NING!NINGNING!NING!NINGNING has been building, right?

[29:32] So he sees another angel. This is a very glorious angel. Lots of authority, lots of brightness. He calls out with a mighty voice, verse 2, fallen, fallen is Babylon.

[29:43] It's done. Because she has become, look at it, a place for uncleanness, for demons and spirits and birds and detestable things. And then the reason given in verse 3, why does she fall?

[29:57] Why is she judged? Why is she taken down? Because she's influenced everyone. She's influenced the nations to drink of her immorality.

[30:07] She's influenced the kings to use her for immorality. She's influenced the merchants of the earth to grow rich by her.

[30:18] There's the theme, by the way. Riches, riches, riches, prosperity, luxury. Things that are taken to excess.

[30:30] So it's a building theme. We saw it back in chapter 14, verse 8. There was already an announcement there. Fallen is Babylon. She's the seducer of the world.

[30:42] Chapter 16, when the seventh bowl is poured out, which is the very last plague, it says God remembered Babylon. Babylon. So it's kind of been a building theme since chapter 14.

[30:53] Who's this Babylon? The city that falls. So she's announced in chapter 16. And then again, we saw last chapter 17, verse 5.

[31:05] Babylon is the mother of all prostitutes and abominations. So she's the source of all kinds of evil, all kinds of temptation.

[31:16] She is worldliness. She is the love of the world. She is that false God that we look to.

[31:27] She's an idea. She's a thing. She is that concept. She's that temptation. But she's defined here and described as, oh, sometimes it's luxury.

[31:41] Sometimes it's, oh, making a profit. Sometimes it's just trying to get one up, get to the next step so you can become more prosperous.

[31:53] So picture the kings and the merchants. And it's just, it's different things to different people. What this luxury is, what this riches are, this desire to get secure, this desire to get forward by something other than God.

[32:13] Trust in other things. So we've seen that, okay? Then second in verse four, then suddenly we see another voice from heaven calling his people.

[32:29] Come out from her, my people. Lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues. So two reasons there. Come out, why?

[32:41] Lest you take part in her sins, lest you fellowship with, literally fellowship with her, lest you participate with her, lest you become like her.

[32:52] And secondly, lest you share in her plagues. In other words, if you don't come out of her, you're going to experience her plagues. You're going to experience her judgment. You're going to prove that you're not really my people.

[33:05] Come out, my people. My people will hear this call. Those who say they're my people won't hear this call because they'll be the lot's wife.

[33:21] They'll be, you know, Noah's friends. Or whoever, I don't know. Right? So there's a danger.

[33:32] There's a danger. We get too close to the world. Right? Come out, lest you take part, lest you fellowship, lest you buy into it.

[33:45] So it means not being conformed to the world's mold. It means not compromising what our real values and treasures are, where we draw our life from.

[34:03] These are all things, you know, that we are naturally tempted by. Aren't they? I mean, these things appeal to us.

[34:15] Quick fixes appeal to my soul. My soul doesn't feel secure. I want secure now. Well, will God give me that?

[34:26] Absolutely God will give me that, that he's gonna, you know, you know how God works. Keep coming. Come on. Just a little front. Come on. And when I persist and I follow him, I get security like nothing else.

[34:42] But when I get discouraged and faint and weak and, right, I don't persevere, what do I do? I look for something quick. I look for something quick. 1 John 5 says, guard yourself from idols, from them.

[35:07] Doesn't just say run away from them. He says, guard yourself from them. Be careful because they're everywhere in this world. They can just be something simple.

[35:24] Naomi, in the story of Ruth, what was, what did she want? She didn't want much. We find out what her idol is when God takes away her husband and then takes her two sons.

[35:40] I mean, that's all she had. The hope of grandchildren. She didn't have big dreams. She just wanted her family. And she's so, I love her because she's honest.

[35:55] She said, God, you did this to me. You took away my happiness. You made me bitter. It's your fault. She had a great view of God's sovereignty.

[36:06] Yeah, at the end of the story, she's holding what in her lap? Obed, who was the father of Jesse, who was the father of, let's see, who was that guy?

[36:23] First king. David, David. We read that, we go, oh, this was bigger than Naomi. This was, God takes our dreams away and gives us his vision for our lives, which is maybe not bigger for us and maybe not the dream we had for us.

[36:45] Maybe not about my family so much as impacting others because that's more important than me. So Naomi gets to be part of this much bigger story.

[36:58] Ruth gets to show up in the genealogy of Jesus. This little unknown servant girl. Nobody from Moab becomes, oh, we love her.

[37:09] She's just this awesome, Christ-like person. Right? Anyway, what's our idol?

[37:20] It could be as simple as that, simple as just family. I just want this. I don't want a big house. I just want this. But when that becomes all I want and I want it more than God, when I was in depression, all I wanted, all I wanted was relief.

[37:39] That's all I wanted. God wouldn't give it to me. It wasn't wrong to pray for it, but I prayed for it, prayed for it, and he showed me finally after 12 years, oh, you want that more than me?

[37:53] Yeah, I can't give you that. Kind of figure out, oh, he's not giving me any relief because I want that more than him. I'm an idolater.

[38:07] When I gave it up, then he relieved it. God. Surrender, he's got this mysterious way that he works.

[38:19] It's not a human way. So then verse 5 through 8 tells us there's a payback. There's the judgment. God's going to remember. God's going to give her what she deserves.

[38:31] Her sins are heaped as high as heaven. God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back as she herself paid back others. See, there's that principle of judgment. Eye for an eye. Life for a life.

[38:43] Pay her back as she paid others. And then it says repay her double for her deeds. Mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. So again, mixture for mixture.

[38:55] So what's the double? That's not justice. Justice is eye for an eye. Not you did one, I give you two. Well, that's not what it means here. It's not double like two.

[39:05] It's double like duplicate. Duplicate for her what she's done for others. Equivalent. So in the movies, what do they call it?

[39:17] I have a double. I got a body double. I got a duplicate. Right? And it's not two. It's just he stands in. That's what it means. That kind of double is just a duplicate.

[39:29] It's an equivalent. Give her exactly what she gave others. Justice. Eye for an eye. Right? This is just justice. So he gives an example at verse 7. As she glorified herself and lived in luxury.

[39:41] Two things. She glorified herself. She lived in luxury. Give her a measure of torment and mourning. Self-glory. Luxury.

[39:53] Okay? You get torment and mourning. Eye for an eye. Eye for an eye. So yeah, he's just being just. Since in her heart she says, I sit as queen, I am no widow.

[40:05] Morning I shall never see. I'm good. No one will touch me. I will live forever. I will succeed forever.

[40:17] So said Rome. Rome was untouchable, wasn't it? What about the United States?

[40:29] We'll live forever, right? We got it right. Already we see the decline. We've been seeing the decline for some time. Not even close. Yes. So, um, what's this mean for us?

[40:53] The call of the New Testament has been God is first. The call of the Old Testament is no other gods before me, no images, me first, it's about me.

[41:05] Right? New Testament, same thing. Jesus reaffirmed the great commandment. Right? Which wasn't from the covenant list, it's from the, uh, uh, uh, it was from Deuteronomy.

[41:19] You went in, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, your soul, and your strength. That's, that's kind of exhausting to do that, by the way. I've tried that.

[41:30] All your heart, all your soul, soul, soul, I can't even control my soul. All my soul, and all my mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. So, God's first.

[41:44] Right? So, here's Romans. Romans 12. Romans is the great book. Right? The great book of the gospel. Tells us what the gospel. First 11 chapters defines how God has worked in our lives.

[41:54] How God has been merciful. Though we're sinful, He has saved us. He has redeemed us. He has justified us. And then He's reconciled us. And then He's sanctified us.

[42:05] And He's given us the life of the Spirit. So, for 11 chapters, Paul is just unfolding all of these mercies that God has thrown out to you.

[42:17] It's just what God has done for 11 chapters. Chapter 12 starts with, therefore, how should I then live? Since God has done all of this, what do you think I should do?

[42:31] So, he says, here's the great hinge of Romans 12. 1. I appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, 11 chapters of mercy, of gifts, of undeserved grace, here's what I appeal to you to do.

[42:52] It's a little thing, not big. Present your bodies as a living sacrifice to God. That's all. Just present your bodies as a living sacrifice.

[43:07] Lay down everything. Sacrifice everything for Him. Why? Sacrifice, holy and acceptable, which is your spiritual worship.

[43:23] That's a terrible translation. It is your logical worship. The word is logicon. We get our word logic and ration and reason from that.

[43:34] It is reasonable since He has done all of this for you to do all of this for Him. You owe Him everything.

[43:49] That's reasonable. And what does that look like? So I lay down my body as a sacrifice, holy and acceptable to Him. This is my logical worship. So how do I live in the world?

[43:59] Well, don't be conformed to it. Don't be molded by it. But be transformed by the renewal of your mind that by testing you may discern what the will of God is.

[44:13] See, it's His will, not mine that matters. What is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought like Babylon thinks of herself but to think with sober judgment each according to the measure of faith God has assigned and he goes on to talk about spiritual gifts.

[44:34] You've been given a gift not for you but for others. You've been given a gift so use it. Everyone has a gift not for yourself but to serve the body because the body is important because the body is Christ's presence.

[44:52] How you treat the body is how you treat Jesus. So sacrifice note the devoutness here sacrifice all you're all in it's reasonable it's a life of renewed transformation.

[45:09] See why do we need this continual renewal? Because we're easily drawn by the world. We hear it every day at work we well I hope I don't but we hear it from the media we hear it from the music we hear it from TV we hear it from everywhere if you're going out into the community you're seeing it you're hearing it all these enticements right make your life better oh you got a body egg buy our product we get it in the mail we get it in our spam you know oh this you you're lucky you Ed McMahon used to write us remember that you may have won and for a while we're like oh we want to be free you know we had nothing I had a desk right she had some stuff I had a desk and an 8 track player and a dog no but I had to get my dog away so in this pit in this pit

[46:13] I got that that's why we need continual renewal we say it all the time we need to hear the gospel every day because I still am a sinner I still fall for it I still believe my own stuff think I'm okay I love Jesus I'll be fine Peter yeah get you so far Petey little girl taps you you know so John says it this way 1st John he says do not love the world or the things in the world if anyone loves the world here's a statement John's so black and white if anyone loves the world the love of the Father is not in him wow what if you know can a little of both no Jesus said you know can't can't have both for all that is in the world now he's going to define what the love of the world looks like all that is in the world the desires of the flesh the desires of the eyes and the pride in possessions is not from the Father but it's from the world those three things do you love the world do you have a desire for things that are fleshly in other words things that feel good feel good we overeat we over whatever

[47:47] I got that I got a problem with chocolate at night that's really bad pray for me seriously because then I get restless leg and I can't sleep lust for beauty lust of the eyes lust for things that look good or pride pride oh yeah pride of accomplishments pride of success right see this whole chapter just gets real when we narrow it down because we're all enticed by some or all of those I like things that feel my soul likes things that feel good now we lust for beautiful that we want things to look good now that's that's not a bad thing but if I lust for it if I want it to be about beauty and about showing myself off which takes a lot now more than it used to we want to be successful that's natural see that's the problem all of this is natural

[48:58] God has created us in his image he's given us beautiful things to enjoy and sin isn't about these things are bad and these things are good sin is about taking these good things and over indulging see wine's not bad wine is good too much wine no that's not good right food is good too much food not good it's just that simple but it's not easy we're easily tempted so come away from the world second exhortation comes in verse 20 where he says rejoice over her he describes her downfall and then calls the saints right verse 20 rejoice over her oh heaven and you his saints and apostles and prophets rejoice over her why because God has given judgment for you against her so that's the call so rejoice that God will be glorified as just and right that's our second summary there if you're wanting to take some kind of notes rejoice that God will be glorified as just and right not glorified that that that not rejoice that oh he knocked her down like vengeance yeah but that God is glorified as just and right that God is who he is

[50:36] God vindicates himself and in that process us he vindicates all our sacrifice all of our all of our giving up the world for him he vindicates that okay so I want you to notice some things here first of all there's a pattern to these to this section verses 9 through 19 there's three groups here represented he they each respond to her fall so verse 9 it's the kings of the earth right then verse 11 it's the merchants of the earth and then verse middle of verse 17 it's it's the ship masters the seafaring men the sailors all those who make trade on the sea in other words all the all the workers the working class so you got the kings start at the top and then you got the merchants they're the they're the world movers those are the guys that are making things happen they're they're making it they're crossing the world they're trading it's not just on sea by the way that's just a picture they're also on land it's not just about ships it's also about trucks it's also about e-commerce whatever kind of commerce there is that's what it's about those are the movers and shakers now they're moving bitcoin right gotta get some bitcoin because you'll get rich if you do it right nothing wrong with investing

[51:58] I'm not picking on investing where's your heart and whatever you do we all have to do business in the world don't we we gotta buy inside that's just part of life that's nothing wrong with that what's my heart what's my desire what's my goal find thread so three these three groups and each of them are weeping and wailing notice each of them are say alas alas for the great city each of them mention how for in a single hour she's done they're amazed that it is so sudden everything was fine and then it's not about a trend it's not about I didn't see it coming see the end!

[52:44] Jesus said will be just like the days of Noah you'll be eating drinking everything looks fine everything's fine I don't see anything going wrong and then boom arc's full see ya unicorn didn't make it sorry just like lot we're not going to be able to pick the day it's going to be so sudden they're going to be like we were just getting rich we were just getting rich and the bottom fell out the stock market crashed the bank shut down whatever whatever we see it in little ways right we see it when the stock market crashes we see oh we see when the when housing goes up or down or whatever it does we see small ways we see when the government keeps making more money and devaluing our dollar keep putting our future in mortgage what are they doing passing the buck we won't have to pay for that kids will pay for that right

[53:51] I mean knuckleheads not knuckleheads they're driven by something else we see it we see this will be big time this will be done he'll just pull the plug however that looks we see it from the king's perspective we see it from the merchant's perspective we see it from the regular person's perspective here sudden the other thing I want you to notice in verse nine it's the kings it's in the future tense they will weep and wail so it's so that they don't see it yet and then when you come to the merchants in verse 11 they are weeping and mourning they're in the present tense so they're in the middle of it and then when you come to the ship masters in verse 17 they're in the past tense they've already seen it they have already been weeping and wailing so in other so the guys at the top are the last ones to see the fall and feel the impact because they're in luxury there they don't have you know then the merchants then they're seeing when it's happening they're seeing it because they're the movers and shakers they know what's going on it's the little guys it's the workers that see it first why because the paycheck is gone and I'm living week to week and

[55:06] I notice it really fast right just interesting the way it kind of it's like huh why did he do that well that's how it goes world rulers the kings are the last ones to kind of see the downfall they will see it at some point then here's the next thing I want you to see what's the point it's not just that it all happens in a single day notice that each one of them say that well actually it says in verse eight her plagues will come in one day but then in the morning in verse ten the kings say it's in a single hour and the merchants say verse seventeen it's in a single hour and again the workers in verse nineteen say it's in a single hour so it's so quick and sudden not only is but each of them suffer a loss each of them lose something so you see it from different perspectives for the kings the kings lose luxury verse nine they committed sexual immorality with her and lived in luxury with her by the way it doesn't mean literally that they committed immorality it just means they're using her the kings the world rulers use worldliness to bring about their own luxury to make them secure and safe and happy everything they want they just use worldliness they use the economy they use all of that to get what they want so merchants do the same thing they use it to make commerce to make money to make it go so they lose luxury verse eleven the merchants what do they lose look at interesting no one buys our products anymore verse eleven the merchants weep and mourn for her why since no one buys their cargo anymore no one buys our stuff that's deadly we need people to buy our we got all this stuff interesting look at so they lose consumers what do they got they got some great stuff verse twelve gold silver jewels pearls pearls by the way in greek is margarita margaritas look like pearls it's been a long time

[57:25] I like that that's pretty good glad I didn't say that fine linens purple cloth silk scarlet all kinds of nice wood nice wood and articles of ivory costly wood bronze iron marbles all the different spices the flowers and the wheat the sheep and the horses the cherries and the slaves which are defined as human souls which means I mean we have that today human trafficking they'll sell anything they always have they always will it's for profit what's interesting about this list is there anything wrong with anything on the list besides the last two they're just nice things and if you remember the description of the temple a lot of those things are in the temple priests wear fine linen with scarlet and purple and there's blue and purple in the temple there's gold everywhere there's you know so in other words what it's telling us is all these things are are good things that glorify God in his temple and also by the way they describe the bride in Revelation 21 same thing you know pearl gates and gold streets and you know all that so God uses those things to glorify himself and to glorify his bride but when people of the earth use those things they're using it for what purpose glorify me glorify me make me pretty make me attractive make me oh make me coveted oh I wish

[59:21] I was like her wish I was like him look at him look what he's doing see what that's about it's just kind of again a picture of this idolatry this false worship using good things for the wrong purpose anything wrong with having a pearl necklace no you know what is it Peter says to the brides right don't make it all about the appearance what's more important is the inner person right that's what matters so again it's where your heart is it's not about the things it's about what your heart is it's okay to have good things that's fine the rich are not told to sell all their riches they're told be careful be careful because you can most easily be tempted by those things to think you're okay right so again I just want to emphasize that and then the mariners verse 17 and 18 they they lose riches too so they oh verse 19 were all who had ships at sea grew rich by her wealth so they're looking to grow rich they're looking to get prosperous they lose that so the all these things are not bad things they but they are non essential things they're not things we need to get by there are things we may desire they may there are things that are good but I don't think Jesus had any of those things well he did have the frankincense and myrrh didn't he oh gotcha but again it's kind of a list of non-essentials so then how does it all apply verse 20 so rejoice over her because it's for you the judgment verse 20 rejoice over her oh heaven you saints apostles prophets why for

[61:30] God has given judgment for you against her so he's vindicating you he's vindicating your faith he's vindicating your sacrifice he's vindicating that you have you know Paul said hey if we don't resurrect if we don't go what let's eat drink and be married for tomorrow we die if there's nothing then let's do it now so he's kind of you know he argues why do I die daily if if the resurrection isn't real why would I sacrifice every day so here's why because you will be vindicated and even though you suffer you don't have everything you don't you know you let go of things for this short lifetime which for me is getting shorter and shorter for a lifetime and eternity as Paul says there's no comparison but we we got to think out of the present to remember that so it's about God too it's about him verse 20 it's God has given justice he makes things right his justice as she did to you he gives her back we think today right that evil prosper bad people get away with things good people suffer we see it all the time right we we why why why well God will make it all right so we have that sense from our image of God we have that sense of justice we know when things are wrong they're run and they're not right

[63:18] God will make it right so he gives her payback verse 20 look at look at this description 21 22 23 so Babylon will be thrown down she will be no more look at the effects of it no more music harps music flute players trumpeters gone so in other words when it goes away what's the impact what is that really like well suddenly there's no music you guys like music I love worship music imagine no music silence silence silence void then what else oh well no more music so silence your craftsman of any craft will be gone the sound of the mill will be you know your trade your skills your work that's good I love to do work in the garage and pretend I'm a carpenter and stuff

[64:19] I like that I like a sense of a comment it's just you know sawdust everywhere Rick's always doing that making noise across the street imagine not being able to do that anymore idleness just we're created to work right we're created to do things imagine just idleness and then he says oh the lights are out lights are up party's over it's kind of a picture right so instead of light you get darkness so you got silence you got idleness you got darkness and then add to that no more bride and groom voices so now you're alone you're alone in the dark in silence and idleness that's what it's like that's quite a description why verse 23 for your merchants were the great ones of the earth all the nations were deceived by your sorcery she used sorcery pharmacy literally mixing of poison it's often called sorcery witchcraft it's what the magi did in

[65:37] Egypt right it's deceptive it's demonic sorcery so they used sorcery to deceive and then ultimately why is she punished well it's the blood of the prophets and the saints and everyone else who's been slain is because of the world and the love of the world so Isaiah excuse me Revelation 18 is almost an echo of Jeremiah 51 the words the descriptions the actual judgment of Babylon in Jeremiah 51 historic the actual time of the fall of Babylon was then Jeremiah was there through the process he was warning before he's calling the people out before you know they go to exile and here's the thing about

[66:40] Babylon see what Muslims call America what we are the great Satan right that's what the Jews called Babylon they're the great Satan they're the idolater they're the prostitute they're the world so when Israel fails God right they commit idolatry they worship other gods God says okay enough Judah and by that time it's just the southern part of Israel that's left the northern tribes are gone right the southern tribes are all that's left so they go to Babylon Babylon comes and destroys Jerusalem knocks down the temple takes them away for 70 years so 70 years they're in captivity they're slaves they're exiled they're not home but after 70 years they kind of get used to it and after 70 years they kind of see oh there's some

[67:40] Babylon has some nice stuff oh they live easier than we used to live oh they have bright and shiny things so by the end he has to tell Jeremiah has to tell the people of God get out because Assyria is coming Babylon is going to go down historically and they do he's got to warn them to get out why they're comfortable everything's fine Babylon who's going to take Babylon Babylon's the great city Babylon will live forever have you seen this place who's going to knock it down yeah same kind of picture so he says in Jeremiah 51

[68:40] I'm just going to take a few verses from there he says the same two same two exhortations to them as he says as Revelation says to us he says go out of the midst of her my people come out from her my people why let everyone save his life from the fierce anger of the Lord let not your heart faint and be not fearful at the report heard in the land when a report comes in one year and after a report comes in another year and violence is in the land and a ruler is against ruler therefore behold days are coming when I will punish the images interesting the images the idols of Babylon her whole land shall be put to shame and all her slain shall fall in the midst of her then then the heavens and the earth and all that is in them shall sing for joy over Babylon rejoice over her for the destroyer shall come against them out of the north declares the

[69:45] Lord Babylon must fall for the slain of Israel just as Babylon just as for Babylon have fallen slain of the earth in other words justice for justice life for life they slew Israelites they will be slone slain slounded slewed thank you when you finish and then it's a message to Jeremiah actually when you finish reading the book tie a stone to it and cast it in the midst of the Euphrates just like at the end of Revelation 18 throw a stone into the water and say thus say thus shall Babylon sink to rise no more it's the same same!

[70:24] picture! that! was historical and Revelation 18 is historical too just hasn't come yet be just like that it's a similar call flee from the wrath to come against the idolatrous worldliness if you stay in it believer saint here if you're struggling with worldliness if you're and who hasn't if you're tempted if you're enticed if you're struggling against that depending on the world those quick fixes those get out don't play with it get out don't linger get out not out of the world out of worldliness right out of the love of things that feel good out of the love of things that look good out of the love of things that make me look prosperous so will you rejoice in the fall of worldliness worldliness!

[71:50] Ooh kind of too real isn't it let's pray where's my book I'm going to borrow the words from have thine own way Lord let us pray father we pray that you would have your own way in us you are the potter we are the clay mold us and make us after your will while we are waiting yielded and still have your own way Lord search us and try us master today whiter than snow Lord wash us just now as in thy presence humbly we bow have thine own way Lord wounded and weary!

[72:44]  Help us we pray power all power surely is thine touch us and heal us Savior divine have thine own way Lord hold over our being absolute sway fill with thy spirit till all shall say Christ only always living in us Amen