{"id":19006,"date":"2019-10-27T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2019-10-27T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sugar-land-bible-church.local\/sermon\/revelation-057-the-myth-of-invincibility\/"},"modified":"2019-10-27T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2019-10-27T05:00:00","slug":"revelation-057-the-myth-of-invincibility","status":"publish","type":"sermon","link":"https:\/\/slbc.org\/es\/sermon\/revelation-057-the-myth-of-invincibility\/","title":{"rendered":"Revelation 057 – The Myth of Invincibility"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","book":[111],"series_event":[490],"sermon_service_type":[472],"speaker":[6],"class_list":["post-19006","sermon","type-sermon","status-publish","hentry","book-revelation","series_event-revelation","sermon_service_type-main-service","speaker-dr-andy-woods","no-post-thumbnail"],"acf":{"sermon_title":"Revelation 057 - The Myth of Invincibility","sermon_date":"20191027","sermon_month":"10","sermon_year":"2019","sermon_notes":7183,"sermon_slides":7193,"sermon_mp3":7187,"sermon_id":"102719345166110","series_or_event":490,"service_type":[472],"speaker":6,"books_of_the_bible":111,"chapter_and_verse":"18:1-8","sermon_transcript":"Andy Woods\n\nThe Myth of Invincibility\n\nRevelation 18:1-8\u00a0 Lesson 57\n\nGood morning everybody.\u00a0 The title of our message this morning is The Myth of Invincibility.\u00a0 And as you\u2019re turning there one of the things that we strive for here at Sugar Land Bible Church is not just to be a internally focused Bible teaching church, we want to teach the Bible, but we don\u2019t want to forget our calling to be evangelists and witnesses outside the four walls of the church.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a couple of things coming up that are going to help us there with that ladder, understanding that we are evangelists as well as Bible teaching.\u00a0 This afternoon, I think it\u2019s at 3:00 o\u2019clock we\u2019re going to have a baptism and we\u2019ve got give people, if I have that right, that are going to be baptized this afternoon at Wayne Pitman's\u00a0 home; if you\u2019ve ever been over there for one of our baptisms there you kind of feel like you\u2019re on the Sea of Galilee, it\u2019s just a wonderful place to do that.\u00a0 And we\u2019re going to be doing that at 3:00 p.m. and I\u2019m hoping that we have maps in the foyer available.\u00a0 It\u2019s at 3:00 p.m. and I want to get there a little bit earlier just to get a parking space.\n\nBut what is baptism?\u00a0 Baptism is an outward expression of an inward reality.\u00a0 So baptism doesn\u2019t save but it\u2019s a testimony to the world in front of witnesses that you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. \u00a0And so it\u2019s kind of hard to do that unless you have witnesses so the more witnesses we can get there this afternoon the better.\u00a0 So we invite you to that at 3:00 p.m.\n\nAnd there\u2019s also a ministry that we have taken on here in terms of supporting called DM2 and it\u2019s run by a friend of mine, Brett Nazworth who has come up with a method of intense Bible teaching and he takes this method, not only does he take it all over the country in terms of evangelism but he takes it really all over the world, into Latin America, and countless places.\u00a0 When I look at Brett Nazworth\u2019s website and Facebook page and twitter and all that, I get tired \u00a0just figuring out where the guy is, he\u2019s doing so much evangelism and work.\u00a0 And you might be saying to yourself, well, you know, I feel really called to get more involved in evangelism and maybe get more involved into the teaching of [can't understand words].\n\nAnd so we actually have a training session that we\u2019re going to be putting on here Friday the 8th<\/sup> (if I have that right) and Saturday the 9th<\/sup>, Friday evening, all day Saturday and he is basically going to be training people on how to do the kind of ministry that he does, which I can guarantee is very special and it\u2019s very unique.\u00a0 So if you have an interest in that,\u00a0 a calling for that, we would ask you to sign up for that; there\u2019s a signup sheet there on the table in the foyer.\u00a0 And these are things that we do just so we don\u2019t become so internally focused that we forget the world out there that needs Jesus.\u00a0 So just a\u00a0 couple of opportunities in that regard.\n\nSo taking a look at Revelation chapter 18 and verse 1, and the title of our message this morning is The Myth of Invincibility.\u00a0 You know, a lot of people the very last thing they think about is death; they think they\u2019re going to be here forever.\u00a0 They think their health is going to last forever.\u00a0 They think their resources are going to last forever. \u00a0And we can see very clearly in our passage this morning concerning the things of God, how God condemns that attitude and He wants us to remember that our lives are like mist, as the Book of James says, chapter 4, verse 14, which is here for a little while and then it\u2019s gone.\u00a0 [James 4:14, \u201cYet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.\u201d]\n\nWhat a deception or a delusion it is into thinking that we are somehow invincible.\u00a0 That\u2019s what Babylon thought.\u00a0 And we\u2019ve been taking a look at\u00a0 Babylon because the seventh bowl judgment has been poured out, Revelation 16, resulting in the destruction of Babylon.\u00a0 In fact, Revelation 16:19 says this: \u00a0\u201c\u2026 Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 So since Babylon has been destroyed in our chronological sequence of the Book of Revelation we read these words in chapter 17, verse 1.\u00a0 \u201cThen one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came to me\u201d that\u2019s John, \u201cand spoke with me, saying, \u201cCome here, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters.\u201d\n\nSo Babylon has been destroyed but there are times in the Book of Revelation where the chronology will pause momentarily to give us more insight into something happening in the chronology.\u00a0 This happens in the Book of Revelation five times where there\u2019s a momentary halt to give additional information and we are in the fifth and final, what I would call non chronological parenthetical insertion in the Book of Revelation, the most in depth discussion that you get anywhere in the Bible and in Bible prophecy concerning the role and ultimate destruction of future Babylon.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s happening in chapters 17 and 18.\n\nIn chapter 17 we saw the woman, who was the city of Babylon, riding the beast.\u00a0 And here we get the description of exactly how Babylon is going to be destroyed.\u00a0 You get to the end of chapter 16 you know that Babylon is going to be destroyed, you just don\u2019t know how she\u2019s going to be destroyed.\u00a0 And in chapter 17 we learn that God is actually going to put it into the heart of the beast to turn on Babylon, the beast resenting Babylon\u2019s influence in the last days.\u00a0 And in fact last week we saw that it was actually God that put that ambition to destroy Babylon in the heart of the beast or the antichrist.\n\nAnd in the process we got a wonderful, I don\u2019t know if I\u2019d want to call it wonderful, but in depth to say the least, prophetic treatment of the city of Babylon on the Euphrates in the last days.\u00a0 And what was highlighted for us is the religious aspect of that city.\u00a0 This city is going to be the headquarters of a religious system that will have influence over the entire world.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what we saw in chapter 17.\n\nAnd now this morning we move into chapter 18 which is not a different city, it\u2019s the identical city and identical destruction of that city that\u2019s described but it\u2019s narrating the same story from a slightly different angle.\u00a0 And the angle that\u2019s coming out here in Revelation 18 is the commercial side of the city, the business side of the city, the industrial side of the city.\n\nAnd what we can do is we can take this chapter and we can divide it into four parts.\u00a0 Verses 1-3 is the prediction of Babylon\u2019s fall, followed by number 2, the appeal to separate from Babylon, verses 4-8, and if we\u2019re fortunate we\u2019ll get through perhaps verse 8 today.\u00a0 And then we\u2019ll move next week into Roman numeral III, the reactions to Babylon\u2019s fall, verses 9-20, as the merchants of the earth weep while heaven itself celebrates.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that God celebrates the very thing that the world weeps over and you see that very clearly in verses 9-20.\u00a0 And then finally at the very end of the chapter, chapter 18:21-24 we\u2019ll get a prophetic description of the destruction of this city and her commercial side.\n\nBut notice first of all chapter 18 verses 1-3, notice the prediction that is given of Babylon\u2019s fall.\u00a0 We can divide these verses as follows: the proclamation or prediction itself, Babylon is going to fall.\u00a0 And then we get a description, the second part of verse 2 into verse 3 four reasons why God is going to bring down this city.\u00a0 And I have to tell you reading this chapter this week, studying this chapter this week, seeing the trends in our own culture and in our own civilization how we are essentially flirting with the very sins that will bring Babylon down in the last days.\u00a0 I really have to begin to wonder about the future of the United States and wonder if fifty years from now the United States will even be here because to a very large extent history is repeating itself.\n\nBut notice, if you will, the proclamation of Babylon\u2019s fall.\u00a0 Notice, if you will Revelation 18:1, it says, \u201cAfter these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority and the earth was illumined with His glory.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Now the dominant view that\u2019s taught in our circles concerning Babylon is we have two Babylon\u2019s here; Revelation 17 is a religious system that is destroyed midway through the tribulation period.\u00a0 Revelation 18 is a completely different entity, it\u2019s a commercial city destroyed at the end of the tribulation period.\n\nIn fact, I\u2019m reading here from the Ryrie Study Bible and he says this in chapter 18.\u00a0 He says, \u201cA different event from chapter 17 verse 16 where the political power destroys religious Babylon in the middle of the tribulation period. Here the kings of the earth lament of this destruction which will apparently occur at the end of the tribulation period.\u201d\u00a0 The two Babylon\u2019s view.\n\nThis is a view also taught by Dr. John Walvoord in his Revelation commentary.\u00a0 He will take the \u201ccity\u201d in chapter 17, as allegorical or non-literal or symbolic of a religious system, but then he\u2019ll turn around and take the identical word \u201ccity\u201d in chapter 18 as a literal city.\u00a0\u00a0 You probably have heard this view, the two Babylon\u2019s view.\n\nOne of the things I\u2019ve tried to communicate as we\u2019ve entered this somewhat controversial section of the Bible as I\u2019ve tried to communicate that there are not two Babylon\u2019s here.\u00a0 Both chapters are talking about the same event, the destruction of Babylon in the seventh bowl judgment and both chapters are talking about the identical city that\u2019s destroyed.\u00a0 Chapter 17 is a literal city with the religious side explained.\u00a0 Chapter 18 is the same city with the commercial side explained.\n\nAnd one of the things I\u2019ll do as we go through these chapters together, I won\u2019t be able to get through all of these arguments today but I\u2019ll make you aware of some of the arguments that people use to drive a wedge in between these two chapters.\u00a0 One of the arguments that they use, I have a list of six, I\u2019m not going to give you all six here but I\u2019ll give you a couple.\u00a0 They say well, there\u2019s a chapter division here, it no longer says Revelation 17, it now says Revelation chapter 18 and obviously the chapter division signals the fact that you\u2019re dealing with a different Babylon here.\n\nMy response in the right-hand column is simply this: God didn\u2019t put that chapter division there!\u00a0 I know that\u2019s sort of is unsettling for people to learn but when the Bible was originally written there were no chapter divisions in the Bible.\u00a0 These chapter divisions were created by a man named Stephen Langton in the 1600\u2019s who took a long and bumpy carriage ride, horse and carriage, and that\u2019s where our chapter divisions come from.\u00a0 And many times the chapter divisions in the Bible are very helpful but other times I think they\u2019re not helpful because they bifurcate unnaturally in our minds one section from another.\u00a0 And this is one such case.\n\nI don\u2019t think this chapter division should be here because as I\u2019ll try to explain it\u2019s talking about the identical city.\u00a0 Another argument that\u2019s used here is this expression \u201cafter these things\u201d meta touta<\/em>, \u201cafter these things\u201d and people say well, every time that that expression \u201cafter these things\u201d is used \u00a0it\u2019s used to describe a different event.\u00a0 That\u2019s not necessarily the case.\u00a0 If you\u2019ll look under number two, you may be able to see this, hopefully you can, on the right hand side of the screen I\u2019ve got many examples where the phrase \u201cafter these things\u201d meta touta, is used in the Greek text but it doesn\u2019t signal a different event. \u00a0What it signals is a new facet of the same event that John is now being shown.\n\nAnd\u00a0 you know that the latter is in play because it will say \u201cI saw and I heard.\u201d\u00a0 So whenever you see the expression meta touta<\/em>, \u201cafter these things,\u201d with a verb of\u00a0 perception \u201cI saw and I heard,\u201d John is not describing something different that is going to take place eschatologically, he\u2019s simply showing a different facet if the same vision, a different angle.\n\nAnother argument that people use to bifurcate these chapters is it says there \u201canother angel.\u201d\u00a0 And they say well every time it says \u201canother angel\u201d in the Book of Revelation you\u2019ve got a new scene. That\u2019s not necessarily the case though.\u00a0 The bottom right hand side of the screen, there are many examples where another angel is used and it\u2019s the exact same scene; it doesn\u2019t signal automatically the beginning of a brand new scene.\n\nSo all of that to say this is the same destruction, it is the same event that\u2019s described in chapter 17, however we\u2019re being given a different lens, if\u00a0 you will, in chapter 18 of the identical event that we just read about in chapter 17 and these things are given to us as an expression of the seventh bowl judgment.\u00a0 You have to keep the chronology of the Book of Revelation clear in your mind.\u00a0 We\u2019re at the seventh bowl judgment, Babylon has been destroyed, and now we\u2019re given a description of Babylon and how she will be destroyed, chapter 17 bringing out the religious side of the city; chapter 18 bringing out the commercial side of the identical city.\u00a0 So as much as I respect Charles Ryrie and John Walvoord and many others I think this is an area where they\u2019re interpretation is not exactly accurate.\u00a0 Both chapters are an explanation of the seventh bowl judgment.\n\nSo having said all that what does this angel say here. \u201cAfter these things\u00a0 I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority and the earth was illumined with His glory.\u201d\u00a0 [Revelation 18:1]\u00a0 So here comes an angel, not to describe a different event but a different facet of the same scene; the angel is descending, this angel doesn\u2019t have a little bit of authority, this angel has great authority and this angel has he shows up in John\u2019s vision appears to illuminate the entire earth.\n\nAnd having said that, take a look at verse 2.\u00a0 \u201cAnd he\u201d that\u2019s the angel, \u201ccried out with a mighty voice, saying, \u201c Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!\u201d\u00a0 That is a direct quote from Isaiah 21:9.\u00a0 Isaiah 21:9 say this: \u00a0\u201cNow behold, here comes a troop of riders, horsemen in pairs.\u201d And one said, \u201c Fallen, fallen is Babylon; [And all the images of her gods\u00a0 are shattered on the ground.]\u201d\u00a0 Isaiah 21, the whole chapter is about the destruction of Babylon and since Babylon means Babylon, as we\u2019ve tried to argue, the literal city that will emerge one day on the banks of the Euphrates River, as Babylon is about to meet her demise it\u2019s not accident that Isaiah 21:9 is referenced here.\n\nAnd in fact as you go through this you\u2019ll see clue after clue after clue after clue that John is pulling Scriptures in his vision together as he\u2019s being given these Scriptures by the Holy Spirit to describe, and if you look at the original meaning of these Scriptures you\u2019ll see John is not describing Jerusalem, he\u2019s not describing Rome, he\u2019s not describing Las Vegas, he\u2019s not describing the United States of America.\u00a0 He\u2019s describing literal Babylon and that\u2019s why he\u2019s quoting here Isaiah 21:9, the whole chapter concerns literal Babylon.\u00a0 So we have a reference to Isaiah 21:9 that Babylon is going to be destroyed.\n\nNow this becomes very interesting; why is God going to destroy this city, the headquarters of a religious system and a political system in the last days.\u00a0 Why is God doing this?\u00a0 And what we have at the end of verse 2 into verse 2 are four reasons for this coming destruction.\u00a0 Number one, Babylon is involved with demons or the realm of the demonic.\u00a0 Notice verse 2, [Revelation 18:2] \u201cAnd he cried out with a mighty voice, saying, \u201c Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great!\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s Isaiah 21:9, \u201cShe has become a dwelling place of demons\u201d plural, \u201cand a prison of every unclean spirit, and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.\u201d\u00a0 Notice the reference to demons and spirits.\u00a0 That is a tremendous description of Babylon as it existed in Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s time period.\n\nNebuchadnezzar presided over it one time, over Babylon.\u00a0 And he one night, according to Daniel 2:1-3 had a dream from God.\u00a0 [Daniel 2:1, \u201cNow in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar had dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his sleep left him.\u201d] \u00a0The giant dazzling statue that we studied and read about in Daniel 2.\u00a0 And he is troubled by this particular dream to the point where his sleep left him, it caused him anxiety and you always know what spiritual caliber people are when they\u2019re troubled.\u00a0 Who do they turn to for assistance?\u00a0 When an emergency or a difficulty hits someone\u2019s life I\u2019ll tell\u00a0 you exactly what their spiritual caliber is and their spiritual quality is based on who they turn to immediately for help.\u00a0 Do they turn to the God of the Bible?\u00a0 Do they turn to Jesus Christ?\u00a0 Do they draw upon the riches and wealth of the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 Or do they turn to some other foreign source for insight.\n\nWho does Nebuchadnezzar turn to?\u00a0 It says in Daniel 2:2, \u201cThen the king gave orders to call in the magicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.\u00a0 \u00a0[3] The king said to them, \u201cI had a dream and my spirit is anxious to understand the dream.\u201d\u00a0 Nebuchadnezzar immediately turns to the dark side, the realm of the demonic, perhaps not even knowing it\u2019s the dark side because Satan masquerades as an angel of light.\n\nYou look today at the United States of America and you see things people turn to for assistance and help.\u00a0 It\u2019s amazing to me how the paranormal has now been normalized.\u00a0 Horoscopes, palm readers,\u00a0 all of these kinds of things are the things that people turn to when difficulty hits their lives.\u00a0 I was watching some detective shows not too long ago and I was astonished at how many of these detective shows about missing persons and missing children and unsolved murders, how many of these shows revolve around people turning to the dark side, sorcerers, psychics, the psychic hotline for assistance and help.\u00a0 And when a society goes so far in its rejection of the things of God that it begins to tap into the dark side in moments of emergency you know that that society and\u00a0 you know that culture is ripe for destruction.\u00a0 And this is the first reason that God is going to bring Babylon down.\n\nIt describes demons and spirits and it describes unclean and hateful birds.\u00a0 And you might cross reference that with Daniel 4:12 when Nebuchadnezzar was shown a tree of the Neo Babylonian Empire that he presided over and it says in Daniel 4:12, \u201cIts foliage was beautiful and its fruit abundant, And in it was food for all. The beasts of the field found shade under it, and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches, and all living creatures fed themselves from it.\u201d\u00a0 Clue after clue after clue after clue (as you move through these chapters) point back to literal Babylon on the Euphrates River.\n\nWhy else is God going to destroy Babylon?\u00a0 Number two, she has corrupted the nations.\u00a0 Look at verse 3, \u201cFor 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.\u201d\u00a0 Why is God going to destroy Babylon?\u00a0 It\u2019s very simple, she has corrupted the nations.\u00a0 She\u2019s intoxicated with the nations.\u00a0 Now that expression \u201cintoxication of the nations\u201d you\u2019ll find it in Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies, Jeremiah 50 and 51, also dealing with the future destruction of Babylon.\u00a0 Jeremiah 51:7 says, \u201cBabylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, intoxicating all the earth.\u00a0 The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going mad.\u201d\n\nBy the way, that same concept of intoxicating the nations through drunkenness is used in Revelation 17:2.\u00a0 [Revelation 17:2,\u201d with whom the kings of the earth committed acts of<\/em> immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.\u201d\u2019]\u00a0 So you\u2019ll notice once again that the forces that unite these two chapters are greater than the forces that bifurcate these two chapters.\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice that Babylon is intoxicating all the nations.\n\nAt some point you have to ask yourself what city in world history has, in the past at least, intoxicated the entire world?\u00a0 And it has to do with the tower of Babel, built in the lines of Shinar, built between the Euphrates and the Tigris.\u00a0 Because when the tower of Babel was coming together it says in Genesis 11:1, \u201cNow the whole earth used the same language and the same words.\u201d\n\nSo the sin that took place at the tower of Babel, and we in prior sermons have identified that sin as the mother\/child cult or the mother\/child system.\u00a0 If you don\u2019t have much of an understanding of what that is please go back and review some of the material we\u2019ve covered on this.\u00a0 But it was a very real religious system that existed at the tower of Babel and when God confounded the languages that system went into every single culture that followed because all cultures, all ethnicities owe their root and their origin back to the tower of Babel.\u00a0 The tower of Babel was sort of like taking a rock and throwing it into a placid pond with the wake reverberating outward in all directions.\n\nThat\u2019s what the tower of Babel did, it was a global impact, and the mother-child system that existed there went everywhere.\u00a0 Rome can\u2019t claim to be that system, she absorbed it, she didn\u2019t create it.\u00a0 Jerusalem can\u2019t claim to be that system, she absorbed it and didn\u2019t create it.\u00a0 But the tower of Babel could easily claim this mantle of intoxicating all the nations.\u00a0 And so because of this intoxicating influence the nations had become drunk it says, they have in essence lost their rational faculties.\n\nThat\u2019s what happens to people when they come under the influence of false teaching, and let me tell you folks, there\u2019s a lot of it out there to come under the influence of.\u00a0 When we, as God\u2019s people, are no longer absorbing God\u2019s truth but we turn to alternative spiritualties, twisted Scripture, and you start to buy into that twisted Scripture it\u2019s like\u00a0 you\u2019re stumbling around, you\u2019re reeling around as a drunk person.\u00a0 You\u2019ve lost your ability to rationalize, just like alcohol\u2019s inebriating influence causes people to not think clearly.\u00a0 That\u2019s what happens to human beings, and even the Christians when they come under the sway of false doctrine or false teaching.\n\nIt\u2019s also analogized here to immorality.\u00a0 We are the bride, Christ is the groom. When I come under another form of teaching, other than that of Christ, and I\u2019m no longer walking in orthodoxy, correct belief, and orthopraxy, correct practice, the Lord looks at me as His bride that is supposed to be in white, he looks at me as if I actually committed the act of sexual immorality against Him.\u00a0 How would the spouse that\u2019s cheated on feel when their fianc\u00e9 or their husband or their wife wanders away and becomes involved with somebody else?\u00a0 Think of the pain that inflicts on the human heart of the non-transgressing party.\u00a0 That\u2019s how God feels when we embrace false teachings and false ideas.\n\nBabylon also is under the judgment of God because she has corrupted the kings.\n\nYou see there in verse 3 something very interesting, I\u2019ve been studying this for a long time and yet I didn\u2019t see this until this week.\u00a0 \u201cFor all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her <\/u>\u00a0immorality.\u201d \u00a0\u00a0In fact, there in verse 3 it says \u201cher,\u201d the pronoun \u201cher,\u201d feminine in Greek is used three times.\u00a0 When you drop down to chapter 18:24 it says, \u201cAnd in her was found the blood of the prophets [and of saints and of all who have been slain on the earth.]\u201d\u00a0 They keep saying her over and over again.\u00a0 Why do they keep saying her?\u00a0 Because it\u2019s connecting this city to the woman that we saw in chapter 17.\u00a0 It wouldn\u2019t keep saying her, her, her, her over and over again unless these two chapters are united, chapter 18 and chapter 17, same event but a slightly different angle, this time bringing up the commercial side of Babylon.\n\nThe concept of Babylon fornicating with kings is found, not just in chapter 18 verse 3 but it\u2019s also found in chapter 17, verse 2, further solidifying these two chapters as a unit.\u00a0 [Revelation 17:2, \u201cwith whom the kings of the earth committed acts of immorality, and those who dwell on the earth were made drunk with the wine of her immorality.\u201d]\u00a0 And why else is God going to destroy Babylon?\u00a0 Because she not only has corrupted kings and corrupted the nations but she\u2019s actually corrupted the merchants.\u00a0 The merchants actually play center stage in this chapter.\u00a0 It says, \u201cFor 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.\u201d\n\nThe reason that Babylon was so popular and will be so popular over the peoples of the earth is she provided materialism, greed, that people began to worship.\u00a0 People love and will love Babylon because Babylon has allowed people to make their money god.\u00a0 The Bible is not against owning possessions; the issue is do your possessions own\u00a0 you?\u00a0 The Bible is not against having goods; the issue is do your goods have you?\u00a0 Have they become sort of an idol?\u00a0 Have they become sort of a false god?\u00a0 Are they something that you turn to for identity or security instead of the living God.\n\nAnd money itself and the pursuit of money and the love of money actually can become a god which dethrones the real God, Jesus Christ, in your life.\u00a0 This teaching is very clear in the ministry of Jesus.\u00a0 In Matthew 6:24 Jesus says, \u201cNo one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and\u00a0 wealth.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s an impossibility.\n\nOne of my favorite chapters in the Bible is 1 Timothy 6 which deals specifically with this issue of materialism. 1 Timothy 6:6-10 says, \u201cBut godliness actually<\/em> is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s sort of interesting to look at the studies that are done of people across the economic spectrum, the poor, the middle class, the super-rich, and the question in these studies is how much more do you need or do you want to make you happy?\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting to look at the results of these surveys because everybody, regardless of their socioeconomic status quotes a sum or a figure about ten percent greater than what they currently have.\u00a0 The poor just want ten percent more; the middle class just want ten percent more, the super rich just want ten percent or more.\n\nAnd I wish we would read verse 6 of 1Timothy 6 which says \u201cgodliness actually<\/em> is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment.\u201d\u00a0 Verse 7, \u201cFor we have brought nothing into the world and we can take nothing out it either.\u201d\u00a0 Have you noticed that there are no \u00a0U-hauls behind a hearse.\u00a0 You\u2019re going to take absolutely nothing with you, not if you die, when you die!\u00a0 Verse 8 says, \u201cIf we have food and covering, with these we shall be content.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The apostle are the basics, the essentials of life covered, has God met our needs, then we\u2019re happy with that, we\u2019re content with that.\u00a0 That\u2019s not the heart of Babylon though; that\u2019s not the heart of the United States.\u00a0 Everybody seems to want just a little bit more.\n\nVerse 9, \u201cBut those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.\u201d\u00a0 Example, Judas Iscariot who sold out the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver.\u00a0 Foolishness!\u00a0 Verse 10, \u201cFor the love of money,\u201d now notice this, it doesn\u2019t say money, it says \u201clove of money.\u201d\u00a0 \u201cFor the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil, and some people by longing for it have wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many griefs.\u201d\u00a0 And then later on in the chapter, verses 17-19 read, \u201cInstruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. [18] Instruct them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, [19] storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.\u201d\n\nWe\u2019re not demonizing money and wealth; we\u2019re advocating as the Bible is instructing us is to hold onto those things with a very loose grip because number one, you\u2019re not going to be here forever and number two, you don\u2019t want your grip on those things to become so tight that there\u2019s no longer room in your life and in your heart for the living God.\n\nAnd consequently God says Babylon is going to come down.\u00a0 Fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great, she\u2019s involved with demons, she\u2019s corrupted the nations, she\u2019s corrupted the kings and she\u2019s corrupted the merchants because of crass materialism.\u00a0 And so consequently verse 4-8 is an appeal for people that are living on the earth during this time period to separate themselves from Babylon; come out from among her my people, because the very city in which your hopes rest is about to be destroyed by God.\n\nSo what we have in verses 4-8 is the appeal for separation, that\u2019s in verse 4, and then verses 5-8 are the reasons God\u2019s people should separate themselves from this city and this system,\u00a0 Notice first of the appeal, take a look at \u00a0[Revelation 18] verse 4, notice what is said here.\u00a0 \u201cI heard another voice from heaven, saying, \u2018Come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;\u201d now if you\u2019re a student of the Old Testament and you\u2019re a student of the prophecies of the Book of Jeremiah, Jeremiah 50 and 51, also being a prophecy about Babylon\u2019s destruction, what you\u2019ll see in Jeremiah\u2019s writing is the need for God\u2019s people to \u201ccome out\u201d of Babylon.\n\nJeremiah 50:8, \u201c\"Wander away from the midst of Babylon And go forth from the land of the Chaldeans\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 Jeremiah 51:6, \u201cFlee from the midst of Babylon, and each of you save his life and do not be destroyed in her punishment.\u201d\u00a0 Jeremiah 51:45, \u201cCome forth from her midst, My people, And each of you save yourselves [from the fierce anger of the LORD.]\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 The reality of the situation is Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies have never been fulfilled.\u00a0 There are many people today that will tell you that Jeremiah 51:6 and Jeremiah 51:45 was already fulfilled in the ancient past when the Persians overthrew Babylon in the handwriting on the wall chapter, Daniel chapter 5.\u00a0 That\u2019s when the head of gold was replaced by the chest and arms of silver happening about 539 B.C. and people say that\u2019s when Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies were fulfilled.\u00a0 They were not fulfilled then.\u00a0 How do I know that?\u00a0 Because Jeremiah specifically says, under God\u2019s anointing and message that God\u2019s people are to come out of Babylon because Babylon is about to be destroyed.\n\nWe\u2019ve studied the Book of Daniel, haven\u2019t we, in this church?\u00a0 You probably know more about the Book of Daniel than\u00a0 you\u2019ll ever want to know, ever about it, we were in it so long.\u00a0 And you recall Daniel chapter 5, you recall when the Persians got the upper hand over the Babylonians.\u00a0 Can I just ask you a very simple question?\u00a0 When that happened did God\u2019s people flee out of Babylon?\u00a0 No they did not!\u00a0 Daniel himself in 539 B.C. stayed behind in the empire of Persia and he served under Cyrus, Darius I, Cyrus, Persian kings.\u00a0 Daniel\u2019s ministry goes through two administrations, two empires, four successive administrations.\u00a0 Daniel served under Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, Belteshazzar of Babylon, and then the title wave took place politically where the Persians, Daniel 5, handwriting on the wall chapter, 539 B.C. when the Persians defeated the Babylonians in a single night Daniel did not flee.\u00a0 Daniel continued to serve in the empire of Persian, first under Darius, secondly under Cyrus.\n\nYou can try to massage Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies all you want to try to make it sound like they\u2019ve already happened but Jeremiah prophecies themselves when literally understood demand that Babylon be brought back to life so she can be destroyed exactly as those prophecies entail.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I keep referring to this chart where so much of Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies keep showing up in the Book of Revelation, chapters 17 and 18 right down to the people fleeing.\u00a0 Revelation 18:4 is found in Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies.\u00a0 [Revelation 18:4 , \u201cI heard another voice from heaven, saying, \u201cCome out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues;\u201d]\n\nWhy is it that God\u2019s people are called to come out of Babylon in the events of the tribulation period?\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice in verse 4 the word \u201cparticipate.\u201d\u00a0 In that word \u201cparticipate\u201d when\u00a0 you study it in Geek you\u2019ll find the following word, the noun form is koinonia<\/em>; koinonia<\/em> means fellowship.\u00a0 And we are not living in the tribulation period itself so this command does not directly apply to us but you can sure make an application from it, can\u2019t you.\u00a0 God\u2019s people are not to put themselves in a position where they are participating in sin.\n\nThe Bible is very clear that we are to be in the world but we are certainly not of the world.\u00a0 And if I find myself in some sort of relationship where I am intimately involved with somebody, a business decision, a marriage, countless things we can think of, I\u2019m not to put myself in that position because we go into those intimate relationships thinking that we\u2019re going to save the other person or be a good influence on the other person but generally what happens is the other person, that\u2019s ungodly, starts to influence us away from the things of God.\u00a0 If you sleep with dogs too much you\u2019re eventually going to get fleas.\u00a0 And that\u2019s the warning in Scripture and that\u2019s the application that comes to us from this specific passage.\n\nProverbs 22:24-25 says, \u201cDo not associate with a man given to anger; or go with a hot-tempered man,\u201d why? \u201cOr you will learn his ways and find a snare for yourself.\u201d\u00a0 [25] A good name is to be more desired than great wealth, Favor is better than silver and gold.\u201d]\u00a0 You know, if I\u2019m standing on a chair, let\u2019s say I\u2019m standing on a chair right up here in front and I ask Eric Wasik \u00a0to pull me off the chair, he\u2019s standing on the ground, I\u2019m a little bit bigger than Eric Wasik but the reality of the situation is who is going to win that contest; who is going to win the battle?\u00a0 He\u2019s going to win because the law of gravity is on his side.\u00a0 And this is what happens when we become intimately involved in some sense with the unbelieving world around us; we think we\u2019re going to influence them but they end up negatively influencing us.\u00a0 That\u2019s why God says come out, don\u2019t fellowship with that, don\u2019t participate with that..\n\nJesus said in Luke 17:32, \u201cRemember Lot\u2019s wife.\u201d\u00a0 Genesis 19:26 says, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>But his wife, from behind him, looked back<\/em>, and she became a pillar of salt.\u201d\u00a0 This is the problem with sojourning too long in Sodom; you can take people out of Sodom but you can\u2019t necessarily take Sodom and Gomorrah out of people after they leave the city.\u00a0 So we\u2019re not to sojourn in that direction to begin with.\n\n1 Corinthians 5:9-10 Paul says, \u201cI wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; [10] \u00a0<\/sup>I did<\/em> not at all mean<\/em> with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world.\u201d\u00a0 I mean you have to have some contact with people or you couldn\u2019t circulate in society,\u00a0 you couldn\u2019t go to the store, you couldn\u2019t go to the bank, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc.\u00a0 The Bible is not unrealistic; it doesn\u2019t say cut yourself off from society and go live out in a cabin somewhere in the wilderness.\u00a0 That\u2019s not what the Bible is teaching.\u00a0 What it\u2019s warning us against is becoming intimately involved.\u00a0 Friendship wise, dating wise, marriage wise, business wise with the unsaved world.\u00a0 Be careful about those types of unions and those types of connections.\n\nPaul says in 1 Corinthians 15:33, \u201cDo not be deceived, \u201cBad company corrupts good morals.\u201d\n\nEphesians 5:11 says \u201cDo not participate,\u201d now that\u2019s the same word used here in Revelation 18:4, \u201cDo not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness but instead even expose them.\u201d\n\n2 Corinthians 6:14-17, \u201cDo not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? [15]\u00a0<\/sup>Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? [16] \u00a0<\/sup>Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, \u201cI will dwell in them and walk among them; And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.\u00a0\u00a0 [17] \u201cTherefore, come out from their midst and be separate,\u201d says the Lord. \u201cAnd do not touch what is unclean; and I will welcome you.\u201d\n\n1 John 2:15-17, same exhortation, \u201cDo not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [16] \u00a0<\/sup>For all that is 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 the world. [17]\u00a0<\/sup>The world is passing away, and also<\/em> its lusts; but the one who does the will of God lives forever.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Same idea here, why are you involved with Babylon, she\u2019s going to be destroyed?\u00a0 She\u2019s going to be destroyed on account of her many sins.\n\nAnd I think so much grief that we experience in life we despair\u00a0 ourselves from simply by being cautious and careful regarding who exactly we are partnering with.\u00a0 You talk to young people today, those that are dating in hopes of future marriage, and some of them are involved tragically in what we used to call missionary dating, getting involved with an unbeliever.\u00a0 People that are church goers, people that are Christians, people that have the Holy Spirit inside of them yet they\u2019re making a decision that\u2019s going to affect them their whole lives and they don\u2019t even realize it.\u00a0 And you say well, you\u2019re a Christian.\u00a0 Yes I am, and why are you dating so and so, is he a Christian?\u00a0 No he\u2019s not.\u00a0 Well then why are you dating?\u00a0 Well, we have so much in common.\u00a0 Really?\u00a0 You\u2019re a sheep, he\u2019s a goat, [laughter], you\u2019re weak, he\u2019s a terror, you\u2019re going to heaven, he\u2019s going to hell, you\u2019re a son of an heir of God; he is a child of the devil.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got the Holy Spirit inside of\u00a0 you, he doesn\u2019t.\u00a0 What exactly do you have in common?\u00a0 Do you like the same crossword puzzles?\n\nThe reality is you have nothing in common with an unbeliever.\u00a0 You have absolutely nothing in common with an unbeliever!!!\u00a0 And so think twice about partnering with such a person.\u00a0 \u201cCome out from among them\u201d the Bible says, \u201cand be ye separate.\u201d\n\nWe now run into the reasons why God calls for this separation, first of all Babylon\u2019s sins.\u00a0 Look at Revelation 18 and notice if you will verse 5. \u201cFor her sins have piled up as high as heaven.\u201d\u00a0 Now I don\u2019t know how that imagery strikes you but it reminds me of the tower of Babel which was a stairway to heaven, was it not?\u00a0 They said, come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, built there in the land of Shinar on the banks of the Euphrates River, and that\u2019s what Babylon represents.\u00a0\u00a0 In fact, this word Callao<\/em> that\u2019s used here means to increase enormously the number of something with the implication of reaching or calling the attention of God.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s just like the builders were building that tower into heaven to such a point that it finally got God\u2019s attention; the sins of Babylon are stacking up and finally it calls for the attention of God.\n\nAnd what does it say there in verse 5?\u00a0 It says, \u201c\u2026and God has remembered her iniquities.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 16:19\u00a0 you\u2019ll recall says this: \u201cBabylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath.\u201d\u00a0 Every time Babylon is described in Scripture God keeps saying I remember.\u00a0 Babylon represents the time in history where man engaged in his first formal revolt against God, building a one world system, we call it the New World Order, of economics, politics, and religion whereby God\u2019s judgment was invoked.\u00a0 That\u2019s the imagery that\u2019s described here.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost like God is saying I remember what you did on the plains of Shinar in Genesis 11; I haven\u2019t forgotten it, and now that you\u2019re trying it again the judgment of God is coming, the long awaited overdue judgment of God on the city of Babylon tracking back to the days of the tower of Babel.\n\nAnd so why would a child of God have anything to do with that?\u00a0 They should just come out of that system, separate themselves from that city.\u00a0 Not only are they to remove themselves from Babylon because of Babylon\u2019s sin but because of her coming retribution.\u00a0 Look at verse 6, \u201cPay her back even as she has been paid.\u201d\u00a0 The concept of retribution you\u2019ll see in Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies concerning Babylon.\u00a0 Jeremiah 50:15 says, \u201cFor this is the vengeance of God, take vengeance on her as she has done to others so do unto her.\u201d\u00a0 Jeremiah 50:29, \u201cRepay her according to her work, according to all that she has done so do to her.\u201d\n\nAnd it is interesting here in verse 6 it talks not just about recompense but about double recompense.\u00a0 \u201cPay her back even as she has been paid and give back to her double according to her deeds.\u201d\u00a0 Everything Babylon has done in the world in terms of rebellion against God and deception and deceiving others God says I\u2019m paying you back double.\u00a0 God sometimes did this with ancient\u00a0 Israel as He severely disciplined His people.\u00a0 Jeremiah 16:18, God says,\u00a0 \u201cI will first doubly repay their iniquity and their sin, [because they have polluted My land; they have filled My inheritance with the carcasses of their detestable idols and with their abominations.\u201d]\n\nIt\u2019s interesting at the end of verse 6 it talks about Babylon\u2019s cup, \u201cin the cup which she has mixed, mixed twice as much for her.\u201d \u00a0[Revelation 18:6, \u201cPay her back even as she has paid, and give back \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 You might recall the cup, the cup also is found in Jeremiah\u2019s prophecies concerning Babylon.\u00a0 Jeremiah 51:7 says, \u201cBabylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD, Intoxicating all the earth. [The nations have drunk of her wine; therefore the nations are going mad.\u201d]\n\nIn fact you say this cup that Babylon has I remember it and\u00a0 you\u2019d be correct on that; it\u2019s also in Revelation 17:14, it\u2019s connected to the woman riding the beast, holding a golden cup.\u00a0 We see the cup in chapter 17 verse 4.\u00a0 The cup is in chapter 18 verse 6, arguing that there are greater forces that unite these chapters together than divide them, sort of here seeing the sarcasm of God.\u00a0\u00a0 [Revelation 17:14, \u201cThese will wage war against the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, because He is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those who are with Him are the called and chosen and faithful.\u201d\u00a0 Revelation 18:6, \u201cPay her back even as she has paid, and give back to her double according to her deeds; in the cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her.\u201d]\n\nYou like the cup?\u00a0 You like the cup that causes intoxication?\u00a0 I\u2019m going to give it to you double back in judgment.\u00a0 And so why would God\u2019s people have anything to do with this wicked system and this wicked city?\u00a0 Why should they separate?\u00a0 Babylon\u2019s sins, Babylon\u2019s retribution, number three, they should separate because of Babylon\u2019s arrogance.\u00a0 And that\u2019s why I entitled this sermon The Myth of Invincibility<\/em>.\u00a0 Look at verse 7, \u201cTo the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, \u2018I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and I will never see mourning\u2019\u201d\n\nIt\u2019s interesting what Babylon has done here, she has glorified herself.\u00a0 She\u2019s not a city and a system that glorifies God; she\u2019s into self-glorification and that puts a person on very dangerous grounds because Isaiah 42:8 God says, \u201cI will not give My glory to another.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 42:8, \u201cI am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.\u201d]\u00a0 The greatest sin a person can ever commit is eclipsing the glory of God, taking unto one\u2019s self the glory that God rightfully deserves.\u00a0 This is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon did, Daniel 4:30-31, \u201cThe king reflected and said, \u2018Is this not Babylon the great, which I<\/u> myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my<\/u> power and for the glory of my<\/u> majesty?\u2019\u201d \u00a0This guy has a bad case of the \u201cI\u2019s\u201d doesn\u2019t he.\u00a0 [31] While the word was in the king's mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying, 'King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you.\u201d\n\nHe couldn\u2019t get the words out of his mouth before God moved in with discipline and this is what is happening with this city of Babylon.\u00a0 God is opposed to the proud but He gives grace to the humble.\n\n[James 4:6, \u201cBut He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, \u201cGOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.\u201d]\n\nNotice it says, verse 7, \u201cTo the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment and mourning; for she says in her heart, \u2018I SIT as A QUEEN AND I AM NOT A WIDOW, and I will never see mourning.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s interesting what Babylon has done here; she has glorified herself.\u00a0 She\u2019s not a city in a system that glorifies God; she\u2019s into self-glorification, and that\u2019s when the person is on very dangerous ground, because Isaiah 42:8 God says, \u201cI will not give My glory to another.\u201d\u00a0 [Isaiah 42:8, \u201cI am the Lord<\/strong>, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to [ a ] graven images.\u201d]\n\nThe greatest sin a person can ever commit is eclipsing the glory of God, taking unto one\u2019s self the glory that God rightfully deserves.\u00a0 This is exactly what Nebuchadnezzar of ancient Babylon did, Daniel 4:30-31, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>The king reflected and said, \u2018Is this not Babylon the great, which I<\/u> <\/strong>myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my<\/strong> power and for the glory of my<\/strong> majesty?\u2019\u201d\u00a0 This guy has a bad case of the \u201cI\u2019s\u201d doesn\u2019t he.\u00a0 \u00a0[31]\u00a0<\/sup>While the word was<\/em> in the king\u2019s mouth, a voice came from heaven, saying<\/em>, \u2018King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is declared: sovereignty has been removed from you.\u201d\u00a0 He couldn\u2019t even get the words out of his mouth before God moved in with discipline and this is what\u2019s happening with this city of Babylon.\u00a0 God is opposed to the proud but He gives grace to the humble.\u00a0 [James 4:6, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>But He gives a greater grace. Therefore it<\/em> says, \u201cGod is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.\u201d]\n\nYou\u2019ll notice it says, \u201cTo the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously<\/u>, to the same degree give her torment and mourning\u2026\u201d\u00a0 lived sensuously, what does that mean?\u00a0\u00a0 It means really to live for the wanton pleasures of life, the basic desires of the sin nature and in the process live a life that excludes the Creator of the universe.\u00a0 People think that\u2019s the meaning of life, live for sensuality.\u00a0 And yet 1 Timothy 5:6 says, \u201cBut she who gives herself to wanton pleasure is dead even while she lives.\u201d\u00a0 And it\u2019s interesting here in verse 7 you get a quote from Isaiah 47:7-9.\u00a0 You go back home today and you read Isaiah 47 and you\u2019ll see that that whole chapter, like Isaiah 21, is aimed at the city of Babylon.\n\n[Isaiah 41:7, \u00a0\u00a0<\/sup>\u201cYet you said, \u2018I will be a queen forever.\u2019\u00a0 These things you did not consider\u00a0 nor remember the outcome of them.\u00a0 [8] \u00a0<\/sup>\u201cNow, then, hear this, you sensual one, who dwells securely,\nwho says in your heart, \u2018I am, and there is no one besides me.\u00a0 I will not sit as a widow, nor know loss of children.\u2019\u00a0 [9] \u201cBut these two things will come on you suddenly in one day: Loss of children and widowhood.\u00a0 They will come on you in full measure in spite of your many sorceries, in spite of the great power of your spells.\u201d\u00a0 (NASB)]\n\nIn fact, when the queen is saying I won\u2019t see\u00a0 morning, I won\u2019t see widowhood, that\u2019s a direct citation from Isaiah 47:7-9. She sees herself as invincible, I\u2019m getting ahead, I\u2019ve prospered, I have power, I am going to live forever.\u00a0 Many people are like that aren\u2019t they?\u00a0 They just think their lives are going to go on and on and on and on and on without the intervention of God.\n\nJesus told a story about this, didn\u2019t He, in Luke 12:16-21.\u00a0 \u201cAnd He told them a parable, saying, \u201cThe land of a rich man was very productive. [17] \u00a0<\/sup>And he began reasoning to himself, saying, \u2018What shall I do, since I have no place to store my crops?\u2019 [18]\u00a0<\/sup>Then he said, \u2018This is what I will do: I will tear down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. [19]\u00a0<\/sup>And I will say to my soul, \u201cSoul, you have many goods laid up for many years to come<\/em>; take your ease, eat, drink and<\/em> be merry.\u201d\u2019\n\nAnd you know, it\u2019s the verses stopped right there I would think this guy would probably be featured in Forbes Magazine<\/em>.\u00a0 I mean, here\u2019s a guy that has achieved the American dream.\u00a0 He had so much wealth and he had so much opportunity that he didn\u2019t know what to do with himself; his mind was not on the things of God.\u00a0 He thought he was going to live forever, just like Babylon thought that she would live forever but the story doesn\u2019t end there.\u00a0 Verse 20 of Luke 12 says this: \u201cBut God said to him, \u2018You fool!\u201d\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it interesting that the people that we celebrate most in the culture are the most foolish in the eyes of God.\u00a0 \u201cBut God said to him, \u2018You fool!\u201d\u00a0 This very<\/em> night your soul is required of you; and now<\/em> who will own what you have prepared?\u2019\u201d \u00a0You didn\u2019t count on that did you?\u00a0 You didn\u2019t count on your life being suddenly terminated.\u00a0 Verse 21 says, \u201cSo is the man who stores up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.\u201d\u00a0 This is why God is bringing down Babylon; this is why God\u2019s people are to separate from Babylon.\n\nAnd finally we end here, verse 8, with her anticipated destruction.\u00a0 Look at verse 8, it says, \u201cFor 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.\u201d\u00a0 You\u2019ll notice that she\u2019s coming down in a day it says.\u00a0 Revelation 18:8 says a day; verse 10 says an hour.\u00a0 [Revelation 18:10, \u201cstanding at a distance because of the fear of her torment, saying, \u2018Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come.\u2019\u201d]\u00a0\u00a0 Verse 21 says, Babylon\u2019s destruction is like taking a millstone and throwing it into the Euphrates.\u00a0 [Revelation 18:21, \u201cThen a strong angel took up a stone like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, \u201cSo will Babylon, the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.\u201d]\n\nThe dimensions of those millstones in the ancient world were incredible.\u00a0 And think how long it would take a millstone to sink into the ocean.\u00a0 That\u2019s how fast Babylon is coming down.\u00a0 It ought to remind us of ancient Babylon.\u00a0 Daniel 5:30 and verse 31, how long did it take for the Persians to overthrow Nebuchadnezzar\u2019s Babylon.\u00a0 Daniel 5:30 says, \u201cThat same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. [31] So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2019s Belshazzar at the end of Neo Babylonia drinking out of the vessels of God, partying as if there was no tomorrow, think his life would never end.\u00a0 And then he saw the handwriting on the wall!\u00a0 And it terrified him so greatly that his knees, the Bible says, started to melt together\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know what the handwriting on the wall mean, and he brought Daniel, an 80 year old man, back to the forefront of the kingdom to interpret it.\u00a0 And Daniel said this very night you\u2019re going to lose your kingdom.\n\nDaniel 5:30-31 describe that very night, not only was the kingdom lost to the Persians but Belshazzar himself was slain. [Daniel 5:30-31, \u201cThat same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain. [31] So Darius the Mede received the kingdom at about the age of sixty-two.\u201d]\u00a0 This is the imagery that we\u2019re to be thinking about when we see these prophecies about Babylon\u2019s destruction in a day, in an hour as God brings upon Babylon plagues and pestilences and mourning and famine and verse 8 says she is burnt by fire.\u00a0 [Revelation 18:8, \u201c\u00a0<\/sup>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.\u201d]\n\n\u00a0<\/u>Does that ring a bell?\u00a0 That\u2019s in Jeremiah\u2019s prophecy too.\u00a0 Jeremiah 51:31 of the destruction of Babylon, Jeremiah says, \u201cTheir dwelling places are set on fire.\u201d\u00a0 [Jeremiah 51:31, \u201cThe mighty men of Babylon have ceased fighting, They stay in the strongholds; Their strength is exhausted, They are becoming like<\/em> women; Their dwelling places are set on fire,\u201d]\u00a0 Does that ring a bell?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that how Babylon was destroyed, by fire, in Revelation 17:16.\u00a0 [Revelation 17:16, \u201cAnd the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, these will hate the harlot and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh and will burn her up with fire.\u201d]\u00a0 It\u2019s not really surprising then if these two chapters are talking about the same city that she would be destroyed by fire.\n\nOh pastor, you\u2019re just too literal with this, we all know it\u2019s not a city, it\u2019s just a religious system.\u00a0 Have you ever tried to light a religious system on fire?\u00a0 But lighting a city on fire, that makes sense doesn\u2019t it?\u00a0\u00a0 Here\u2019s something I\u2019ve learned in my years of trying to teach the Bible and understand the Bible.\u00a0 When I\u2019m making a mistake with the Bible it\u2019s because I don\u2019t take God at His face value.\u00a0 The more symbolic, the more non-literal, the more allegorical I become the more I\u2019m prone to mistakes in interpreting God\u2019s message.\n\nAnd how does this whole thing end?\u00a0 With this we\u2019re finished.\u00a0 The end of verse 8, \u201c\u2026she will be burned with fire\u201d watch this, \u201cfor the Lord God who judges here is stronger.\u201d\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t matter how big and how powerful and how popular Babylon becomes, and she will become that in these last days.\u00a0 God is always bigger, He\u2019s always more powerful and He\u2019s always stronger.\n\nYou say well, pastor, I\u2019ve been sort of convicted by this message and I believe that if I pull back from this group or separate myself from that person I\u2019m going to suffer.\u00a0 And no doubt when we do that kind of thing we do incur temporal suffering to s certain degree.\u00a0 But what you have to remember is the Lord is stronger than the person inflicting the suffering on you.\u00a0 That\u2019s how\u00a0 you look at all of your problems\u2014the Lord is stronger!\u00a0 And so next Lord\u2019s day we will be taking a look at the reactions to the destruction of Babylon, basically emanating from four groups.\n\nBut you may be here today and under the conviction of God in some sense, and what we want to communicate it the reason you\u2019re under the conviction of God is because that\u2019s what the Holy Spirit does; that\u2019s His\u00a0 job.\u00a0 He comes into the world, John 16:7-11 to convict us of sin, righteousness and judgment.\n\n[John 16:7-11, \u201cBut I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. [8] And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; [9] concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; [10] \u00a0<\/sup>and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; [11]\u00a0<\/sup>and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged. But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.\u201d]\n\nIn fact, being under the conviction of God is not necessarily a bad thing, an uncomfortable thing but it\u2019s become a very good thing if you reach out for the cure.\u00a0 And what is the cure?\u00a0 The cure is the gospel; the cure is the good news that Jesus stepped out of eternity into time to bridge the gap between the sinfulness of humanity and the holiness of God.\u00a0 His final words on the cross were \u201cIt is finished!\u201d\u00a0 Not it\u2019s 95% done, you kick in the remaining 5%.\u00a0 IT IS FINISHED!\u00a0 Now what the Lord wants us to do to gain salvation is to rest exclusively, totally, only, Latin word sola<\/em>, by itself, sola fide<\/em>, faith by itself in Jesus.\u00a0 You at some point despair of\u00a0 your good works to gain admittance unto God but you trust in what God has done for you.\n\nThe story of the Bible is not man reaching upward to get to God, the story of the Bible is God reaching down to man in the person of Jesus Christ, through the gospel.\u00a0 And the Lord says trust in that, believe in that.\u00a0 Becoming a Christian is something\u00a0 you can do in the privacy of your own mind and the quietness of your own heart as the Spirit of God places you under conviction and you trust exclusively in what Jesus has done for you.\u00a0 That\u2019s what makes you a Christian.\u00a0 It\u2019s not a matter of joining a church, walking an aisle, filling out a form, trying to do better, that has NOTHING to do with it!\n\nIt has to do with trusting what Jesus has done and the moment you do that all of a sudden your ledger is filled with spiritual wealth and you\u2019ll spend the rest of your life trying to figure out what you own; that\u2019s how rich you are!\u00a0 And one of the things that you own is\u00a0 you\u2019re a citizen of the kingdom that\u2019s coming whose builder and maker is God that cannot be shaken.\u00a0 Babylon is going to be shaken; the world system is going to be shaken but not your kingdom.\u00a0 And we\u2019ll be seeing that kingdom manifest itself on the earth when we get into Revelation 19 and 20 after a few more sermons (I can\u2019t guarantee you how few) on Babylon.\u00a0 But that\u2019s the deal, that\u2019s as simple as I know how to make it; it\u2019s the gospel!\u00a0 Trust in Christ, even where you are, for salvation.\u00a0 Even people listening online can trust in Christ and gain personal salvation.\u00a0 If it\u2019s something you need more information I\u2019m available after the service to talk.\n\nShall we pray.\u00a0 Father, some of these passages are difficult for us to study but at the same time they revolutionize our\u00a0 priorities and remind us of how temporary this world is and how we need to not be foolish but to trust in things that are eternal and spiritual.\u00a0 Help us to walk these things out this week, live these things out this week.\u00a0 We\u2019ll be careful to give you all the praise and the glory.\u00a0 We ask these things in Jesus\u2019 name, and God\u2019s people said\u2026. Amen!","series_sermon_number":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t