Fallen, Fallen: The Angel's Proclamation Over Babylon - Part 2

So we're in Revelation chapter 18 tonight. And, you know, last week when we

Revelation 18 · chapter mention

left off, we were talking about that chapter 18 here records seven aspects of

that judgment on Antichrist commercial empire, right?

And they were, we listed them out as judgment pronounced, judgment avoided, judgment defined.

Judgment lamented, judgment enjoyed, which sounds kind of weird there until you learn more about it.

Judgment completed, and then judgment justified.

So tonight, we're going to pick up as we dive in a little closer,

we're taking that closer view.

Remember last time, it was kind of that bird's eye view, the big picture.

Now we're diving into more of the meat here on judgment pronounced in Revelation

18, verses one through three.

So Revelation 18, one through three. Here we go.

After these things, I saw another angel coming down from heaven,

having great authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory.

And he cried out with a mighty voice saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.

She has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit

and a prison of every unclean spirit and a prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

We'll explain that more as we go on. For all the nations have drunk of the wine

of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed

acts of immorality with her,

and the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.

That's verses 1 through 3.

So this solemn opening, pronouncement of judgment, actually gives two reasons

for babylon's impending destruction did you see them in the text.

Pervasive demonic activity, you see it?

Pervasive demonic activity and then wretched sensuality.

Those are the two big reasons. And as it often does in Revelation,

the phrase after these things that we opened up with, it really marks the beginning of a new vision.

And while still discussing this general theme of Antichrist world empire,

destroyed finally by the seven bowl judgments that we talked about in chapter 16,

chapter 18 here actually moves from its religious aspects to,

like I told you last week, its commercial aspects.

As this new vision opened, John saw another angel.

It was distinct from the one in chapter 17, verse 1.

Now, I will tell you this. Some people view, some commentators view this as

this angel, as Christ, some of them do, but the use of this, of the Greek term.

Alas, it's another, it means another of the same kind instead of heteros,

which would mean another of a different kind.

It really indicates that this is an angel of the same type as the one in chapter 17, verse one.

And that's really why sometimes we wonder, you know, why is it important or

why do we need to know some of the Greek words or Hebrew, whatever happens to

be wherever we're at in the Bible, it really does open up and explain to us what it means.

And so we can interpret this by reading the original language there,

knowing what it says, right?

So we're able to see that, no, this is not Christ here.

This angel is not Christ, because it says another of the same kind,

literally, in the Greek. And so...

He may be, though, the angel who had earlier predicted Babylon's downfall.

For those of you that have good memories, that was back in chapter 14 that this angel predicted this.

And three features really here in this text tonight reveal his unusual power

and importance, this angel.

First, I don't know if y'all see it. Some of y'all may blurt it out.

I don't know. But he came down from heaven with what?

Great authority, right? He left the presence of God, in other words,

with delegated authority to act on God's behalf.

And then second, when he arrived, the earth was illumined with his glory. Did you see that?

He's going to make this, his dramatic appearance onto a darkened stage.

Why do I say that? Because for the fifth bowl, we'll have plunged the world

into darkness, as we studied in chapter 16.

And he's manifesting the flashing brilliance of a glorious heavenly being that's

coming against this blackness.

And the angel will be awe-inspiring as we look here, awe-inspiring sight to

the shocked and the terrified earth dwellers at the time, right?

I mean, this is not going to be mistaken. It's going to be a thing of awe.

And third, the angel cried out with what kind of voice?

A mighty voice, right? No one will be able to ignore him, in other words.

Everyone will hear him as well as see him. Kind of reminds you of that angel

flying in mid-heaven, right?

Proclaiming the gospel. And so his message will add to this,

what's that old word, consternation?

What does that mean? Let's see, that's like Dismay, probably more like dismay,

it's going to add to the dismay and terror that's caused by his appearance.

And it'll be a word of woe, if you will, ill tidings, you know,

bad news for Antichrist and his followers. Because as we see in the text,

fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.

The judgment predicted in chapter 14, verse 8, will now be carried out here.

And this will be a greater and more far-reaching judgment than the one that

was actually pronounced, in identical words, by the way, on ancient Babylon

all the way back in Isaiah 21.

So a comparison, if we look at this, a comparison of this passage with chapter 16,

verses 17 through 19 actually suggests to us that this judgment here takes place

when the seventh bowl is poured out.

That seventh bowl judgment, right? Because listen to this, it says,

Then the seventh angel poured out his bowl upon the air, and a loud voice came

out of the temple from the throne, saying, It is done.

And there were flashes of lightning, and sounds and peals of thunder,

and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth.

So great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into

three parts, and the cities of the nations fell.

Babylon the Great was remembered before God to give her the cup of the wine of his fierce wrath.

So the first cause that's given for Babylon's destruction, again,

is that she has become a dwelling place of demons and a prison of unclean spirit.

That's really a synonym for demons, right? And it was in the vicinity,

though, of Babylon, if you remember, we studied this,

that 200 million formerly bound demons was released,

if you remember at the sounding of the

sixth trumpet that was back in chapter

nine it's been a ways back but i'm we're pulling this together

here and they along with the demons that were released from the abyss if you

remember at the sounding of the fifth trumpet those cast from heaven with satan

as it talks about in chapter 12 and those previously that were on the earth will be confined,

guess where, in Babylon.

God will, so to speak, get this tonight, he'll gather all the rotten eggs in

one basket, Brother James, into one basket before disposing of them.

And so Babylon will also be a prison.

Remember that phrase there we looked at? A prison of every unclean and hateful bird.

That's kind of different language, right? That phrase actually symbolizes the

city's total destruction. It's prophesied back in Isaiah 34.

And if you think of it this way, like grotesque carrion birds, right?

The demons will actually hover over that doomed city waiting for its fall.

In other words, they're there. And the depiction of the demons as unclean and

hateful, that reflects heaven's view of them.

They're unclean and hateful birds. They're like those birds waiting for their

prey, waiting for the fall, right?

And so Babylon's destruction will also come, though, as we read here,

because all the nations have drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality.

And the kings of the earth, it says, have committed acts of immorality with her.

And the merchants of the earth have become rich by the wealth of her sensuality.

So Antichrist's religious and commercial empire will actually will spread its

hellish influence, y'all, to all the nations of the world. That's the picture.

And having drunk of the wine of the passion of her immorality,

the people of the world, get this, will fall into a religious and a materialistic stupor, if you will.

The all-encompassing terms here, all the nations, see it in the text,

the kings of the earth and the merchants of the earth actually show us that

Babylon will seduce the entire world.

The unregenerate people of the world. What do I mean by unregenerate?

Not saved. Saved is regenerate, right? You've been regenerated in the Holy Spirit, right?

So the unregenerate people of the world will actually lust for Babylon.

Passionately desiring to commit acts of spiritual immorality with her.

And so likewise, the merchants, it says, of the earth will have become rich

by the wealth of her sensuality.

So in the beginning, y'all, the world is going to want to cash in,

if you will, on Babylon's financial prosperity.

I mean, unregenerate, unredeemed, right?

I mean, we see the dollar signs, right? They want to cash in on this.

And having thrown off any semblance of self-control or self-restraint,

according to the text here, sinners will indulge, if you will,

in a wild materialistic orgy.

Did you get that picture? This is the materialistic empire here.

And so they're going to be drunk with that, if you will, right?

And like those in ancient Babylon, by the way, they'll be partying when the

city is destroyed. Right?

Isn't it interesting how ancient Babylon in the Old Testament and how this Babylon

empire here in Revelation, the similarities there, right?

James, actually, his condemnation of the ruthless wealthy could also apply to these people.

Let's go to the book of James really quick. Listen to this. It says,

come now, you rich. Y'all remember, it's a very familiar passage.

Weep and howl for your miseries, which are coming upon you. Your riches have

rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten.

Your gold and your silver have rusted and their rust will be a witness against

you and will consume your flesh like fire.

It is in the last days that you have stored up your treasure.

Behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, which has been withheld

by you, cries out against you. And the outcry of those who did the harvesting

has reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.

You have lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure.

You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter.

Wow. That's in James chapter 5, verses 1 through 5, y'all. In fact,

James 5:1–5

we also, that leads us to judgment avoided.

Listen to this. He says, I heard another voice from heaven saying,

come out of her, my people, so that you will not participate in her sins and receive of her plagues.

For her sins have piled up as high as heaven and God has remembered her iniquities.

Verses four and five of Revelation 18.

God's judgment on this commercially prosperous but morally bankrupt society

can be avoided, y'all, as another voice from heaven makes clear here.

In fact, the use of alas, which means another of the same kind we talked about

earlier, actually suggests that the speaker here is an angel like the one in verse 1.

And the message that he proclaims, come out of her, my people,

What is it? What is he saying?

It's a call, right? It's a call for God's people to disentangle themselves from that world system.

Don't we get that call today too, though?

Right? Come out from among them, be separate, right? But it may also be an evangelistic

call to God's elect to come to faith in Christ and come out of Satan's kingdom here,

because in both cases, the message is to abandon the system.

Right, this Babylon system. And so we know that God, as we'll see even more

here, God has been so gracious even throughout the entire tribulation of offering

chants after chants for people to repent, to come to faith in Christ.

And throughout the terrifying judgments here of the tribulation,

we've seen this. God will save people.

He will save people. The result of the gospel preaching by the 144,000 Jewish

evangelists, the two witnesses and an angel flying in midheaven, as I brought up earlier,

will be, y'all, we got to sit back and get this, it'll be the greatest harvest

of souls the world has ever known.

Even amidst there's so many that are still shaking their fists in God's face

and say no and don't repent, right?

And we know that from chapter seven, verse nine, because many of these believers

though, Many of them will be martyred for their faith in Christ when they refuse

to take the mark of what? The mark of the beast.

We've studied that in chapter 13. The survivors are going to face powerful temptations

to participate in the system, in this world system of Babylon, right?

Family and friends, think about it today. We talked about peer pressure in the

past, right? Things like that when you're growing up.

And even today, obviously, it doesn't go away when you're an adult,

does it? It's just different a little bit.

But family and friends will no doubt pressure them to save themselves by taking the mark of the beast.

Because after all, if you remember, the need to obtain the basic necessities

of life will also pressure them to conform to the system.

I mean, who wants to starve to death, right? I mean, who wants to face that

kind of hunger or that kind of difficulty?

But the exhortation to flee Babylon here from this angel, it finds an Old Testament

parallel too in the prophet's warning to actually flee ancient Babylon.

You know what he said? He said, go forth from Babylon, cried Isaiah.

Flee from the Chaldeans. So all the way back in Isaiah 48.

And Jeremiah also echoed Isaiah's warning.

He actually said, wander away from the midst of Babylon and go from the land of the Chaldeans.

Flee from the midst of Babylon and each of you save his life.

Do not be destroyed in her punishment for this is the Lord's time of vengeance.

He is going to render recompense to her. Come forth from her midst,

my people, and each of you save yourselves from the fierce anger of the Lord.

That's all the way back in the book of Jeremiah chapter 50, 51.

Jeremiah 50 · chapter mention

So let's come to present day. Believers in the present day, and that's you and

me, if you put your faith and trust in Christ alone for your salvation,

we must also avoid the temptation to get caught up in this world system. Do you hear me?

It's so easy to do. And believe me, you'll find other people who will pat you

on the back and say, it's okay.

It's okay for you to get caught up in the ways of the world.

It's okay for you to do this. and you ought to do it. That's right.

People will encourage you to do it.

Hey, you work hard. You deserve this, right?

You deserve to do whatever you want to do. It doesn't matter. God can take a back seat.

But what does Paul say? He says, do not be conformed to this world.

Paul commanded us believers at Rome there and to us today. But what did he say?

He said, but be transformed. How?

By the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is,

which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Y'all, today, we're still being called out of this world system,

and so many still gravitate to it and lead their families down that path.

To the Corinthians, he wrote this. He says, do not be bound together with unbelievers,

for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship

has light with darkness,

or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with

an unbeliever, or what agreement has the temple of God with idols?

For we are the temple of the living God.

Just as God said, I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their

guide, and they shall be my people.

Therefore, here's the verse, come out from their midst and be separate,

says the Lord, and do not touch what is unclean, and I will welcome you. That's 2 Corinthians 6.

Y'all, we're living in modern-day Babylon as far as this world system, right?

It's that same type of system. Now it's going to get worse, yeah.

But y'all, come out. We need our churches, our members, all of us who profess in Christ.

We have that call to come out from among them.

You see, when the world looks at the church and they just see a mirror image

of themselves, what a disgrace to the name of Jesus.

If they see us living just like they do and treating the things of God just

like they do, what a disgrace.

James wrote here that pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and

Father is to actually keep oneself unstained by the world.

Remember that in James 1.27?

And he sharply rebuked those who were caught up in the world system.

Listen to what he says. You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with

the world is hostility toward God?

Therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4.4.

This kind of reminds me of choose you this day whom you're going to serve, right?

But as for me and my house, we'll serve the Lord. And those are more than just words, by the way.

Believe me, your family knows if you're serving Jesus or not.

In his first epistle, the apostle John exhorted the believers there,

and he said this, 1 John 2, 15, he says, Do not love the world,

nor the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Don't y'all just love that God's word is just so honest?

Man, if you just look at his word, you don't have to second guess.

Yes, God said, if you love the world, his love's not in you.

You may not like those words. I may not like them, but take it up with God.

It's truth. And one day, those are the very words you and I will be judged by.

And apart from faith in Jesus Christ, that will be a rude day of awakening.

It'll be a judgment like no other.

The biblical truth that believers are not to be involved in the world system

will take on new urgency here as Babylon faces imminent destruction, right?

The angel's message here to the believer still in that city is the same as the

one that the angels actually brought to Lot back in Genesis 19.

Get out before you're caught up in God's judgment of that wicked place.

That's it. That's the message. believers are

to flee what does that word flee mean get

out i mean that's the one thing that one temptation

in the bible that we're commanded to flee from what is

it you remember that stands out flee

sexual immorality you don't negotiate with

it you don't try to talk something out of you

run think of joseph right you

go and here we're called to

flee this world system to run from

it y'all so that they will not participate in her sins it says so the materialistic

the the pleasure mad the demon infested city of babylon will exert an almost

irresistible influence on believers to actually participate in her sins.

Like Joseph, though, I brought him up, didn't I? In Genesis 39,

talks about him in 1 Corinthians 10, 1 Timothy 6, 2 Timothy 2.

They must flee to avoid succumbing to the lust of the flesh,

the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, 1 John 2, 16.

Y'all, the call is the same for us tonight.

God's people must also flee Babylon so they don't receive of her plagues.

You know, some view the plagues as a reference to the bowl judgments,

which are also called plagues back in chapter 15, 16.

But the bowl judgments, if y'all remember, are what? They're worldwide in scope.

Hence, there would be no place to escape to, no place to flee to if that were the case.

You hear what I'm saying there? So I think it's best here to see that these

plagues here are specific judgments on Babylon.

Perhaps maybe, as we talked about earlier, in conjunction with the outpouring of the seventh bowl.

This is part of that, that it talks about in chapter 16, verses 17 through 19.

And then finally, believers must flee Babylon because her sins have piled up

as high as what? The heavens.

That word piled there in Greek.

Kolao, it literally means, anybody know what it means? It literally means to

glue together or to join.

So Babylon's sins will pile up, glue together, joined like a new tower of Babel.

As high as the heavens though, right?

Because unlike that ancient tower, her sins here as we see in Revelation will

reach as high as heaven. And then the angel here adds that God has remembered

her iniquities. That was back in chapter 16.

He will take note. In other words, God will take note of them as he did that

earlier monument, Tower of Babel, to man's sinful, arrogant,

prideful rebellion that took place at Babel.

But the blessed truth tonight, y'all, is that God says of believers,

that's us, I will not remember your sins.

I will forgive your iniquity and their sin. I will remember no more.

Aren't you thankful? Those of you who are in Christ, but for defiant,

unrepentant Babylon, there will be no forgiveness.

There'll only be judgment. That's it.