And Great Was Her Fall

Well, if you have your Bible with you this morning, I hope you do. Turn to
Revelation chapter 18.
A couple weeks ago was Marianne's birthday and because I'm a guy who knows how to
show a woman a good time on her birthday, we went thrifting. Now, I didn't know
that thrift could be used as a verb until recently, but actually thrifting is kind
of like going on a treasure hunt to different places and just going in and seeing
if there are any treasures that you can find, and while we were out on this
treasure hunt, it just so happened we walked into one store and I saw not a
treasure for Marianne, but one that immediately caught my eye. I'm going to show
you, show it to you in just a minute, but let me tell you the story behind it.
Our grandson, Lyle, who lives in Brooklyn, who's five years old, has recently He's
six years old, excuse me, six years old. When did he turn six? In January, he
turned six, okay, so. So he's six, anyway. And Lyle has become fascinated with the
story of the Titanic. He's pretty obsessed with what's going on with the Titanic.
And knowing that, when we walked in to a Goodwill store on a Saturday morning, I
saw on display a Titanic and I said I must get this for a while.
In fact, I asked Matt if he would bring it here and just bring it up to me. I
want you to see this, yeah.
Yeah, right, oh wow, it's right, huh? So this four and a half foot long Titanic
that you can actually take apart and reassemble, which I've not tried to do yet
'cause I would have no idea how to put it all back together but the smoke stacks,
as you can see, pop out and I saw this and I said I must get this for Lyle and
my wife saw me looking at it and she said you must not get that. We don't need
this around the house. This is four and a half. Where are we going to put this?
No. Bob, don't get that. And I said no I must get that. I called my daughter and
said should I get it and she said oh you must get it for Lyle. So she was on my
team. So I walked through the store at the Goodwill holding this. And as I walk
through holding it, everybody in the store was like, "Ooh, look, ooh, what is that?
That's the Titanic." They were all amazed. We got up to the counter and I said,
"I'd like to buy this." And the cashier said, "Oh, I haven't seen that before." And
she checked the sticker and said, "Yes, it was just put out this morning." And I
said, "Divine Providence that we are here on this day to get this." And then even
as we were walking through the parking lot, people were stopping their cars and
looking at me carrying this Titanic through the parking lot. So it is quite the
treasure. It's not put together perfectly, I think you can see here,
that should not be sticking out like that, but I'm not taking it apart, I'll let
Lyle do that anyway. So that's the Titanic that we now have as a part of our
home. Now Marianne and I both grew up going to summer camp and we sang a song
about the Titanic at summer camp. Do you know the old song about the Titanic? Oh,
they built the ship Titanic. Any of you know this song? Oh, they built the ship
Titanic. We sang it with different lyrics and different tunes. And anytime we sing
it together, Mary Ann says, you're singing it wrong. I say, I'm singing it
different. Every camp sings it differently. And she says, no, it's wrong. Oh, we
built the ship Titanic to sail the ocean blue. And they thought they had a ship
that the water could never go through. But the good Lord raised his hand said that
ship will never land. It was sad when that great ship went down. Anybody know this
song? Raise your hand if you know this. A handful of you know this song.
There were people who believed, when the Titanic was built, there were people who
believed that the Titanic was unsinkable. In fact,
from Britannica .com, did anyone really think the Titanic was unsinkable. Yes, while
it's hard to say whether people thought the ship was absolutely unsinkable under any
circumstances, it is clear that people believed that the passenger liner's safety
design was state of the art. Some described it as unsinkable before it ever set
sail. Reportedly, the claim was enough to keep many passengers calm even as the ship
started to sink. A vice president of the company in charge of the voyage told told
the US Congress that initially he did not believe reports that the ship was sinking
because he thought it was unsinkable. And of course we all know what happened on
the night of April 15th in 1912. It took two hours and 40 minutes for the
unsinkable Titanic to go under. And what we're going to be looking at this morning
in Revelation 18 is the sinking of Babylon the great.
The great empire that everyone looked at and said there's no way Babylon the Great
can ever be destroyed. It is impenetrable. The final destruction of that great
empire, designed and built by people who rejected God and and his ways and instead
invested in their own city for their own glory in their own enjoyment. It goes down
in an hour. And as we'll see in this chapter, what seemed to everybody to be
unsinkable, went instantly as God poured out His wrath on the earth on the day when
the Son of Man comes. We talked about this last week, but I want to say it again.
When we think about Babylon, the great, we're talking about Babylon as a symbol of
something both past, present, and future. So when you think about Babylon past,
you're thinking about a kingdom, a Middle Eastern kingdom, that lasted for 1 ,500
years, that finally sank in 539 BC when they were defeated by the Medes and the
Persians. The great Babylonian empire that people thought would never be defeated, and
that ultimately captured and conquered the Jews and destroyed Jerusalem and enslave
God's people, it went down in 539 BC, never to rise again. And there have been
present -day Babylonians. In John's day, when he's writing Revelation, the Babylon he's
thinking about is Rome. Again, a great and powerful kingdom that people look at and
say, "This will never go down," but of course from the perspective of history, we
know that in the fifth A .D., Rome was destroyed by the barbarians.
So actually Babylon is kind of a code name for any earthly kingdom, any empire,
that ushers, tries to usher in prosperity and power and try to do it all without
any acknowledgement of God, in fact, with hostility toward God. When you think about
Babylon, you're thinking about an earthly kingdom that is in opposition to the things
of God. In fact, I heard somebody this week say that Babylon is what people are
looking for with Babylon. They're looking for the kingdom of God without the king
having to be there. They want everything that God promises without having to worry
about God. They want to be in charge of their own Babylon. So yes,
we want the kingdom, we just don't want the king. That's Babylon. And it goes back
to the original temptation in the Garden of Eden. When the serpent came to Eve, he
said, "If you eat this, you can be like God, knowing good and evil. What he's
really saying is you won't need God anymore." And she thought, "I'd like to run my
own kingdom." And Adam with her agreed, and that's the original fall. So this
Babylonian idea, this Babylonian mindset is what's deep in each one of us.
We want what God has promised, we just don't want God in the process.
And throughout the church age, there have been earthly kingdoms that have been
established that have had this Babylonian identity, like Rome, like the Ottoman
Empire, like some of the dynasties in China, the Ming dynasty or the Han dynasty,
like the Soviet Union, like the British Empire in some ways, the United States is
like a Babylonian culture to the extent that we turn our back on God and reject
Him and His authority over us. If Jesus doesn't come back soon,
He will come back. If He doesn't come back soon, we might expect that the United
States will not remain an earthly power. no kingdoms last forever except one,
the kingdom of God. Kingdoms rise, they become dominant, their leaders see what
they've built as being invincible, they become arrogant, they see themselves and their
greatness apart from anything that God has done and then they all eventually fall.
So what we see happening in chapter 18 is something that has happened throughout the
church age, but the Babylon that's being talked about in Revelation 18 is a future
Babylon. It is a future great king, a kingdom, a future final empire that will rise
to power, that will reject God, that will oppress and put to death God's people,
will dominate life on earth, appearing invincible until the hour when Jesus returns,
and that Babylon is destroyed. And this chapter serves to remind us that while
earthly kingdoms may look prosperous and dominant and invincible, God will judge every
kingdom that dismisses or rejects him or aligns itself against him.
Ultimately, he will judge this final Babylonian empire that not only rejects him and
his people, but seeks to do away with God and his people altogether. So That's
chapter 18, the final fall of Babylon, the sinking of the Babylonian Empire. Let's
read it together before we do. Let's ask for God's help. Father, we need your help
as we come to this chapter. Anytime we open your word, we need your spirit to open
our eyes, and so we ask that you would do that this morning, especially in these
difficult chapters, Lord, give us wisdom, and we pray that your spirit would direct
our thinking this morning. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. All right,
Revelation chapter 18, beginning at verse 1. You follow along as I read, "This is
the Word of God for the people of God. After this I saw another angel coming down
from heaven, having great authority,
and he called out with a mighty voice, "Fallen, fallen is babble on 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.
The kings of the earth have committed immorality with her and the merchants of the
earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living. Then I heard another
voice from heaven saying, "Come out of 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, and 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, "I sit as a 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 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 weep and mourn 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 you longed has gone from you,
and all your delicacies, all your splendors are lost to you, never to be found
again.
The merchants 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, with jewels and with pearls. For in a single hour, all this
wealth has been laid to waste. And all shipmasters and seafaring men,
sailors, and all 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
dust on their heads and they wept and mourned 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, O heavens,
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, threw it into
the sea, saying, so will Babylon, the great city be thrown down with violence,
and will be found no more. And the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute
players and trumpeters, will be heard in in you no more, craftsmen of any craft
will be found in you no more, the sound of the mill will be heard in you no
more, and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more. The voice of the
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 of saints and all who have been slain on the
earth. Amen. May God bless this reading of his word. The grass withers and the
flower fades. The word of God will last forever. I read through this chapter what
comes to mind for me is like one of those breaking news stories on TV, like when
you see the anchor desk come up and here's the new battle on the great destroyed
empire completely wiped out in one hour. And in this chapter it's like the anchor
person is going to six sources. So we hear first from the first angel at the
beginning, the first voice from heaven. This is like the press secretary who is
announcing to the world what has just happened. Here's the news. Babylon has fallen
summarizing everything that's coming in this chapter in those first three verses. And
Then the second voice that comes, starting in verse four, is the king himself. This
is God himself speaking. He addresses the audience. We know it's him because he
says, "Come away, my people." So he's calling to his people. He has instructions for
what his people are to do as Babylon is falling. And then we hear from three
different groups of people who are all commenting on and lamenting the fall of
Babylon. The first group are the kings of the earth who were allies of Babylon.
They had staked their claim on Babylon, they were allied with it. Then we hear from
the merchants who had gone all in on Babylon. They had become rich providing goods
and services for the people of Babylon and in the process they were endorsing what
that city stood for. And then the third group of people we hear from are the
seafarers and shipmasters who were also economically aligned with Babylon. They made a
living off of Babylon's excess. And then the last voice of the sixth that we hear
in this chapter is from the mighty angel who sings at the end of this chapter a
song of lament. And you could title the hymn that he sings or the lament song that
he sings at the end, "No more," because he says that's six times over. No more, no
more, no more. Babylon is no more. So that's,
those are the six voices we hear from as we go through this chapter. And I want
to, I think there are some major themes that will stand out for us, some things we
need to look for as we work through this chapter, key lessons we can learn. One of
them is that those who abandon God may prosper for a season, but will ultimately
find themselves abandoned by God.
You abandon God, you may prosper for a season, but He will ultimately abandon you.
You've left Him, He leaves you, they will be laid to waste, devastated, destroyed.
And second thing I think we see in this chapter is that it's foolish to lay up
treasure on earth.
It's the pursuit of a fool. You can work a lifetime For what will all be gone in
one hour and then I think there's a third Major theme and that is that we have to
consciously make the decision to separate ourselves from Babylon And that's something
we have to do every day That we have to come out of Babylon, which is trying to
pull us in every day So we're gonna put ourselves at the anchor desk here at the
fall of And we're going to hear from the first voice, the angelic press secretary,
the angel in verse one who speaks with great authority. And it's clear that this
angel comes representing the king, representing God. The whole earth is aware of the
glory of the one who is coming. His brightness shines over the whole earth. And we
know this angel comes representing God because of the glow that's on him it's like
when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and his face glowed. The radiance of God's
glory was still on the face of Moses. This angel has come from the presence of God
with the announcement of the fall of Babylon and the radiance of God is on his
face and the whole earth sees it according to this. This is not a regional
pronouncement about one city. This is something that covers the whole earth. It's a
global declaration and the declaration is not a new one. We've seen before in this
book fallen, fallen is Babylon the Great. It's back in chapter 14. We saw it at
the end of chapter 16. So this is a recapitulation. We're zeroing in.
The image that John is seeing here is an image that is zeroing in on what we've
already heard about. And last week in chapter 17, we saw the fall of Babylon from
one angle. This week we're looking at it from a different angle, but 17 and 18 are
describing the same event. And the poetic picture that's painted by this angel of
this post -apocalyptic scene of the destruction of Babylon, it looks like some of
those post -apocalyptic movies you've seen where everything is desolate. It's a
dwelling place for demons. It's a place, it's a haunt for every unclean spirit,
a haunt for unclean birds, a haunt for unclean and desolate beasts. It's like a
ghost town where there's nothing left and the wind blows through and all you see
are the coyotes and the birds that are feeding on the dead bodies.
The language that's used here In this, if you want to do your cross -referencing,
Isaiah 13 describes the fall of Babylon, and John's vision is straight out of Isaiah
13. You can go back and read what is described there, and you'll see it's the same
picture as we have here. Also Isaiah 23 describes the fall of Tyre,
and Tyre was like a Babylon of its day, a rich, prosperous coastal city. And again,
what's described in the fall of Tyre in Isaiah 23 is similar to what we're reading
here. This angel in John's vision announces that the reason for the fall of Babylon
the Great is that the defining characteristic of Babylon, what makes Babylon Babylon,
is the rejection of God and the pagan embracing of idolatry,
which is manifest in two in two ways. Widespread sexual immorality and also opulence
and over -consumption, luxurious living is what's described here.
So the fall of Babylon comes because when they reject God they turn to other idols
and those idols are sexual immorality and opulent living. And This chapter focuses
mostly. Last chapter was about the harlot. This chapter is about the luxurious living
that was dominant in Babylon. When you reject God, when anyone rejects God,
what moves in in the place of God is your own appetites, your own desires, your
own passions. That's now what's controlling your life. Instead of God being in
control, your appetite's desires and passions are in control. They're at the center
of everything. Life is all about your indulgence, your pleasure, whatever brings you
happiness in the moment.
And it even means, as it did in John's day, that there may be slaves who have to
suffer and die in order for you to enjoy this. But that's okay. If somebody dies
in a shop far away, why should that bother you as long as you can get things
cheap? That's the Babylonian thinking that's at play here. So this first angel is
announcing the fall of Babylon and giving the reason for the fall. And I think it's
fair to say here that the whole middle section of this, when you hear the comments
of the kings and the comments of the merchants and the comments of the shipmasters,
they are Reflecting on how this fall of Babylon has affected their lives and their
own economic prosperity, they've all been supported by Babylon, so when Babylon goes,
everything crumbles for them as well. Their good life is gone. In fact,
if you look at verse 9, the kings of the earth, those rulers who had aligned
themselves with Babylon, those who have committed sexual immorality and lived lives of
luxury with her, they will weep and wail when Babylon falls. They will be in fear
and in torment. They will say, "Alas, alas, you great city, in a single hour your
judgment has come." The merchants, you look at verse 11, they weep and mourn. No
one buys their cargo anymore. And along with that list of goods that they no longer
will be trading with are slaves, human souls. You know that these merchants were
made wealthy by ships that brought their goods across the Roman Empire,
and in the galley of those ships were slaves who were being beaten and who were
dying and being tossed aside, and they got their own economic wealth from what was
going on there. And verse 17, "The ship masters and the Seafaring men,
sailors, and those who trade on the sea, who carried the cargo and the goods to
these other ports, they cry out, they throw dust on their heads, they are mourning
a last for the great city in a single hour she's been laid waste. The fall of
Babylon destroys the economic interests of the world. When the city's no longer there
and people are no longer buying anything, then the autonomy of the world, it begins
to crumble. These people had all bet on the wrong team. Babylon looked like a sure
bet, couldn't be defeated, too big to fail,
too strong to overcome, but now it's all over in an hour.
One of the things I think we need to see in this passage is that the love of
money is the root of all kinds of evil. Have you heard that before? That's in the
Bible. That's in 1 Timothy 6. Now let me just make sure some of you have heard
that money is the root of all evil. That's not what the Bible says. Money is not
the problem. The love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.
Money is a tool. It's the love of money that's the problem. The love of money is
a root of all kinds of evil, it is through this craving that some have wandered
away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. That's a warning.
You understand that for us. The craving for, the lust for, the love of money is a
root of all kinds of evil, and your craving for it can lead you away from God.
From what I can tell in reading Revelation 17 and 18, the two main evidences of
pagan idolatry that were most pronounced when you try to create your own Babylon,
what will emerge is sexual immorality and a lust for things, a desire for money and
stuff, a love of money. Here's what living in Babylon looks like. You don't love
God. You love you.
You love pleasure, you love power, you love money, you love stuff, and as long as
you have what you love, why worry about God or anything else? That's a Babylonian
mindset.
And I want us to think about this idolatry of money and stuff for a few minutes
because I think that's what's primarily in view here in chapter 18.
What are the four words that all of us have on every coin in our pocket and every
bill in your wallet? Four words that say, "In God we trust." Have you ever wondered
about those four words being on our money? It actually happened back in the 1950s
that that was added to our currency. And I don't know all the story. There was a
Presbyterian pastor who was kind of behind the movement to get that put on our
money. But I think it It's it's there in part to remind us that when you look at
that dollar bill if you're trusting in if you're hoping in That money to be your
savior Which some of us are you need to remember it's not in your money. You trust
it's in God. We trust That money is there to say don't trust me. Don't trust this.
Don't think this is gonna save you It's in God that we trust
I remember back in 1982, I was there, some of you weren't,
in 1982, interest rates, if you went to get a mortgage for your house in 1982,
the going interest rate for a house mortgage was 16 percent, 16 percent to get a
loan to buy a house. Gas was Gas was being, there were lines for gas stations.
You went and you were being rationed only five gallons at a time. And there were
long lines to get your five gallons. And we started to think at that point, could
it be that the United States is headed toward another great depression? My mom and
dad lived through depression. My mom had told me many stories. She said, "You
wouldn't survive the depression like we did." She said, you softies. I mean, she
said, "We had this kind of rationing, and that kind of rationing, and you had to
look at what you were going to eat, and it might be beans again today, or it
might be rice again today." It was hard. And I remember living through this time
and thinking, "We might be headed for another great depression." And then I had this
other thought that would pop in my head, and I knew the right answer to the
question I was asking myself but I did not like the question and I did not like
the answer. Here's the question I remember asking myself, the thought I had. The
thought is what if another great depression would be used by God to bring spiritual
renewal to our country? What if another great depression was the tool God would use
to bring a widespread spiritual awakening? Would I, if I had the choice, God came
to me and said Two paths, an economic depression, a great depression that leads to
spiritual renewal, or you can stay moderate and happy and things will stay
spiritually lethargic. Which would you pick?
I did not like that question because I did not like what my first impulse was.
I still don't like the question. I don't like how if I'm honest I tend to lean in
the direction of yeah I don't want to lose the house.
I don't want to lose my job. I don't want to stand in a bread line. I mean how
humiliating would that be? I don't have to move in with somebody else and we share
a house 'cause we can't afford it. The kids come to live with us 'cause that's
all.
Money is a tempting, powerful idol.
Money says I can give you peace. I can give you hope. I can meet your needs. I
can make you happy. And it will for a season. Do all of those things. But what
happens when the money goes away.
What happens, or what happens when you have plenty of it? Do you quit looking to
God for joy and peace and hope and happiness? Do you start to trust in your money?
Now, I'm not trying, as I talk about this, I'm not trying to minimize the real
issue of financial hardship. Some of you are going through real financial hardship. I
know your stories. I know that it can be anxiety producing, stress inducing.
You look at this and go, my financial situation, it's hard to sleep at night.
You're having to fight for joy and contentment in the midst of financial hardship.
But most of us are in a different place. We're more like the kings and the
merchants and the shipbasters in Revelation chapter 18. We have allowed money and
stuff to make us more spiritually numb, more spiritually dumb,
adult, we may pray and give us this day our daily bread,
but none of us is really worried about our daily bread. We've got a closet with
supplies. I mean, we could go for a couple of weeks with what's in the pantry,
right? We had to eke it out. We have brothers and sisters in the world, by the
way, who when they pray that prayer, they're praying for today's bread. They don't
know where it's going to come from. Lord, we don't know where we're going to get
this.
Most of us suffer from a condition known as pleonexia. Pleonexia.
I don't know if you've heard of that. It comes from two Greek words. Greek word
echo means to have or to possess, and the word plione in Greek means more.
Pleonexia means you always want more. You need more.
It's having or wanting more, not being satisfied with what God gives you. And I'm
going to help you diagnose whether you have pleonexia with a series of diagnostic
questions we'll give you. Actually, this was in the newsletter about a year ago, but
we'll go through these. These are good. Do you ever sin against God or others to
acquire money or possessions like Ahab did when he took Nabob's vineyard.
He killed him so he could get the vineyard first thing. Do you ever sin against
somebody in order to get more money or possessions? Do you ever sacrifice your
health or your family or your relationships so you can acquire more money or stuff?
Do you store up or hoard stuff? Do you hope in your financial resources more than
you hope in God?
Do you show care or concern for the poor and the needy around you?
Does your desire for something or is your enjoyment of that thing disproportionate to
the worth of the thing you desire? Do you want something more than the payoff it's
going to bring you? When you Enjoy things. Is your enjoyment saturated with gratitude
to God? Or do you think, "I just deserve this?" Do you find yourself thinking,
"I deserve this," or "I've earned this," instead of seeing the good things you have
as a blessing that come from God?
When you get what you, or when you don't get what you want, or the thing you
think you deserve, do you lose your joy or your contentment?
we've had toddlers around the house they they know they when they don't get what
they want they lose their joy in their contentment pretty quickly but I'm like that
too you found yourself loving the gift more than the giver the creation more than
the Creator the stuff more than the Savior if any of that's true then you may be
infected with pleonexia you may have the spirit of Babylon living in your heart.
William Goudge, who was a Puritan preacher, said it is the blindness of a man's
mind that makes him place a kind of happiness in the things of this world.
He said we need to be rightly instructed in three things that real happiness is not
something the world can offer, that the things of this world cannot provide solid
comfort especially in times of spiritual distress, and that the riches of this world
are uncertain and can be suddenly taken away. But we just need to keep all three
of those things in mind. If we were so instructed, Goud said, we would surely,
surely our immoderate desire of riches would subside.
The kind of idolatry that we're seeing, God talk about in Revelation 18, the
idolatry that was true for Babylon, that was true for the kings, that was true for
the merchants, true for the shipbuilders, all of these things occur when we give to
money and stuff what God alone deserves,
which brings us to the second voice that we hear in this chapter.
So this is the condition of Babylon, this pleonexia that has infected, that has led
to its fall, which leads us to what God says to his people in verse four when he
says, come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins. This command
from God to his people to come out of Babylon does not mean you have to change
your address and move somewhere. It's about changing your heart. It's about changing
your priorities. It's about not being conformed to this world, but being transformed
by the renewing of your mind.
We are called to separate ourselves from the priorities of this world that doesn't
necessarily mean you have to relocate, but it may mean that you have to unplug the
TV or the internet for a while. Again, it doesn't mean it's not the internet that's
the problem. It's when it's what your heart gets drawn to. The bigger issue is
whether, it's not whether you're in Babylon, it's whether Babylon's in you. Is
Babylon in your heart? Less about you getting out of Babylon, it's more about you
getting Babylon out of you.
Some people mistakenly think that the way to avoid sinning is to try to move away
from where sinners are. The problem is you can't. Because everywhere you go, guess
what follows you? Your sin goes with you You can't think well, we'll be safe if we
just get away from all these sinners Because your sin goes with you Now there are
times when it's wise to move away from where the sinners are students listen to me
There are times when the smart thing to do is get away from the sinners The people
who are leading you into practices that you not ought not to be a part of
Sometimes it's wise to physically separate yourself from that group. But even when
you separate yourself from the people who are openly sinning, you're not immune from
sin. It follows you where you go. It's in your heart. And that's where we need to
be focused. We've got to get Babylon out of our hearts.
So when it comes to the Babylonian idolatry of loving money and stuff, how do you
get that out of your heart? How do you cleanse your heart from the Babylonian
influences. What's the cure for pleonexia? Well, here's cure number one. Don't love
riches. Don't love riches. Psalm 6210. If riches increase,
set not your heart on them. Doesn't say there's a problem if riches increase. I
hope riches increase for everybody in here. But I hope you don't set your heart on
that. I hope it doesn't grab your affections. I hope you don't lust after it. I
hope it doesn't begin to control you.
Don't put your trust in riches. That's the second thing. 1 Timothy 6,
17 says, "As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty,
nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly
provides us with everything to enjoy." You may look and go well,
I'm okay. I'm set because my 401k or my IRA or don't put your hope in that Don't
set your hope on that. We don't know what's gonna happen with that
God will take care of you. He's promised to take care of you. Whatever happens to
your bank account Don't put your hope in riches and don't glory in your riches.
Don't glory in your riches. That's what Jeremiah says. Say not, thus says the Lord,
let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his
might, or the rich man boast in his riches. Let him who boasts boast in this, that
he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love,
justice, and righteousness for the earth. For these things, these are the things I
delight in, says the Lord. So don't make your boast in the fact that you got
money, or for that matter, wisdom or power. Your boast is in the Lord. Don't glory
in your riches. And then this is key too. Don't despise or oppress the poor. That
was happening in Babylon. In order to get rich, the poor were being oppressed. James
2, the Bible says, has not God chosen to make those who are poor in the world to
be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he promised to those love him.
Now I'm just going to stop right here. This is not teaching us that poor people
get to heaven and rich people don't. But we know that Jesus says that it's
difficult for a rich man to get into the kingdom, like a camel through the eye of
a needle. It is easier for those who are poor to depend on God than it is for
the rich person to depend on God. That's what it's saying. You have dishonored the
poor Then James says, "Are not the rich ones the ones who oppress you and the ones
who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by
which you were called? The rich tend to become arrogant and haughty, the poor are
humble and dependent.
There's not an inherent virtue in poverty and an inherent evil in wealth." James is
just pointing out what is often true about what wealth does. And then the last
thing is be rich in good works. First Timothy six, the rich in this world are to
do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up
treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, that they may take hold
of that which is truly life.
If you're a rich person and a part of your thinking is not how can we demonstrate
generosity, how can we use what God has entrusted to us to advance the work of His
kingdom, how can we give so that the needs of others are met.
If that's not a part of your thinking as you look at your wealth, you need to
check your heart. You may have a little Babylonian pleonexia in your heart where
your treasure is, your heart will be also.
You also have to be ready to let go of what you have. That's really the last
thing. Remember Job? Job was rich, houses, lands, animals,
kids, and it was all gone in an instant. And how did Job respond when God took
away what Job had? Here's how he responded. He arose and tore his robes and shaved
his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, "Naked I came from my
mother's womb, naked I shall return, the Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be
the name of the Lord." We have to be ready, if God should remove from you your
stuff, is your joy removed or is your joy in him? Paul says I've learned the
secret of being content in any circumstance, Whether I'm high up or brought low,
whether I'm in a palace or in a prison, the secret of being content is, I can do
any of this through Christ who strengthens me. I can do all things through Christ
who strengthens me. That's not a T -shirt for an athlete on a Saturday afternoon. I
mean, that's fine if he wants to put it on there. But what it means is, if I'm
in prison, I can endure it because Christ strengthens me. If God takes everything
away, I can endure it because Christ strengthens me.
Whatever you cannot easily let go of is an idol in your life
So when God speaks to us in Revelation 4 or 18 4 and he says come out from
Babylon come out of them What he's saying is don't have a Babylonian view when it
comes to money and stuff Don't be like the Kings and like the merchants and like
the ship masters Life is not about the pursuit of money and stuff. Joy is not
found in money and stuff, peace is not found in money and stuff. A love of money
and stuff is a symptom of a heart that has drifted from God and begun to embrace
a pagan view of life. And it's all going to burn anyway.
We looked at this briefly this morning, how the kings and the merchants and the
ship masters lamented the fall of Babylon. But this chapter ends with a final
lament, as a mighty angel laments the fall of Babylon over the whole world.
Look at verse 21, "The mighty angel took up a stone like a millstone, threw it in
the sea, saying, 'So will Babylon the great be thrown down with violence.'" Just
like you put a millstone that goes to the bottom, Babylon's going to be destroyed
like it's got a millstone around it, be found no more. In the sound of harpists
and musicians, flute players, trumpeters will be heard no more, craftsman no more,
sound of the mill no more, light of the lamp no more, bride in the bridegroom no
more. It's really a simple point to make from all of these verses from this song
that's being sung. Babylon is no more. The musicians who produce and the joy that
musicianship produces, that's gone. No one is singing and celebrating. Craftsmen are
not making their craft anymore. That's on, so you can no longer buy a custom -made
piece for the family room. The mill is not grinding out flour any longer,
the delight of food is gone, the lamps are gone, so it's gone dark, and the joy
of human love is extinguished in marriage. It's all gone when Babylon is destroyed.
No more, no more, no more. It's over when Babylon is destroyed. No more,
no more, no more. But guess what? When you get to Revelation 21 and the Bible
talks about a new heaven and a new earth, those same two words, no more,
shows up there too. Here's what it says, he will wipe away every tear from their
eye and death will be no more. Neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain
for the former things have passed away. And then it says in Revelation 22, "Night
will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun,
for the Lord God will be their light, and he will reign forever and ever." I read
those verses as I was preparing this week, and I couldn't help but think of Kelly
Rackley again.
Death will be no more. sorrow, mourning, pain, suffering will be no more.
Babylon holds a false promise. It says, "I can give you what you're looking for."
But when Jesus comes and brings the new heavens and the new earth, He brings with
it a whole set of no mores, a new set of no mores. No more sorrow, no more
tears, no more crying, no more mourning, No more death, no more pain, no more
night.
Those are the no mores for which your soul longs. There's one more no more that is
hinted at in this chapter, in chapter 18, look back at Revelation 18,
at verse five. God says that the sins of Babylon are heaped high as heaven and he
has remembered her iniquities. But you know what the Bible says about those who are
in Christ who have surrendered their lives to Him, those who worship Him, who follow
Him, who serve Him, who tell others about Him. Here's what it says about our pile
of sin. It's in Hebrews 8 it says, "For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,
I will remember their sins no more. The omniscient God who has never forgotten
anything in his life will choose to remember your sins no more if you're in Christ.
In Babylon they're heaped up and God remembers them. In Christ they're heaped up and
God forgets them. Why does God forget them? How can God forget them? He forgets
them because his son on the cross bore them paid the price for them and closed the
books on them and Said no more No more these sins will not be paid for again.
I've paid for them Has your debt been paid have your sins been forgiven by Do you
know that you will be with Him in eternity? Do you know that you will one day
live in a place where there's no more sorrow, no more mourning, no more pain, no
more night?
If you don't know that, you can know that this morning. You can surrender your life
to God and say that's what my heart longs for. And I've been trying to find it in
money and stuff or in the things that this world offers and pleasure, whatever it
is. I've been approaching life from a Babylonian perspective. I'm ready to approach
life from a Jesus perspective. All you have to do is cry out to him and say,
"Lord, I need you to save me for myself, "save me for my sins." And he'll hear
that prayer and he'll respond to that prayer. He'll come into you, he'll give you
new life, a new heart.
And you can look at death and the future and say, "No more, I don't have to worry
about that anymore." Pray with me, Father.
We acknowledge to you today that our own hearts have been influenced by
the world around us in a way that causes us to think that we will find joy,
peace, hope,
in money and stuff, in immorality. We can find it on our own,
we don't need you.
Lord, we thank you that you have come to rescue us from ourselves and to give us
the gift of eternal life. Lord, I pray for any here this morning where money and
stuff has become a stronghold and idol,
where the pursuit of wealth has choked off a desire to serve you and to love your
kingdom,
and I pray that you would weed out that idolatry in each of our hearts, that we
would be kingdom -minded, generous people with whatever you give us and that we would
be content people with whatever we don't have.
And Lord, for any who need to surrender their lives and hearts to you today, I
pray that your spirit would be at work in this room and their hearts as you draw
them to yourself, that they would see their need and that they I pray out to you.
I ask these things in Jesus' name. Amen.