Babylon, the Bride and the Bridegroom

We're going to start in verse 21 this evening because that's about how far we made it last

time.

We're nearing the end here, so we'll have this message and then next week Lord willing

will get to the section on the rider on a white horse and then we'll have the very

fun one probably in two weeks which is all about the millennium and the thousand years

and that's going to go over great because no one has any disagreements about that at

all so it will be very, very straightforward.

So if you're interested in just hearing a very straightforward, uncontroversial message

make sure you're here in two weeks for that.

But last week we were looking at the fall of Babylon and the judgment that is coming

upon Babylon and this week as we get into this section we see the finality of that

judgment and the interesting thing is when Babylon does ultimately fall you see that

there's rejoicing over it, that heaven is rejoicing over it, that the elders in heaven

are rejoicing, that the angels are rejoicing, that God's redeemed are rejoicing, that even

the four living creatures are rejoicing.

So you have this great destruction and this great judgment and the response is the people

of God rejoicing because of the triumph of the Lamb.

Now I want to start in verse 21 so if you have your Bibles the Bible says, then a mighty

angel took up a stone like a great millstone and 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 you no more

and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more and the sound of the mill will

be heard in you no more and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more and the voice

of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more for your merchants were the great

ones of the earth and all nations were deceived by your sorcery and in her was found the blood

of prophets and saints and of all who have been slain on earth.

Now here's something I want you to notice when you're reading these first few verses

in verse 21 especially it's interesting to notice how the judgment that comes upon Babylon

at the end is very similar to God's judgment of the Egyptians.

So if you keep in mind when God was leading the people of Israel out of Egypt he parted

the Red Sea, come on guys this is Sunday school right?

Red Sea, he parted the Red Sea and so they start walking through but the Bible says that

the Egyptians pursued them right?

And so once the Israelites made it through to the other side what happened?

Yeah, waters closed back up and God swallowed up the Egyptians with the sea in judgment

and what makes this even more interesting is if you look back I think it's in Exodus

Exodus 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7 when Moses and Aaron go before Pharaoh Aaron throws down his staff and it becomes

a snake, a serpent and then Pharaoh's magicians are able to do the same thing right?

They have their staffs, they throw them down, they become snakes but then the staff of Aaron

that became a snake what did it do to the other two?

It swallowed it up.

The same Hebrew word that's used for swallowed up there is used for the Red Sea in Gulf and

the Egyptians and the reason that's important is because the Pharaoh was associated with

the serpent.

Pharaoh's used to wear a diadem that had a serpent and so you see that God's serpent

is swallowing up in victory the serpents that the Egyptians were able to make and then

at the end of the Egyptians God swallows them up, swallows the snake of Egypt up with the

waters of his judgment and then you get here to Babylon and what happens?

God swallows up the serpent once again with great waters.

It says that Babylon will be like this millstone that's thrown into the sea and this will be

its fall, it's engulfed in the judgment of God and if you notice the picture here is

pretty bleak especially I think the worst part is in verse 23.

If you look back at verse 23 it says, and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more

and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more.

Now the light of the lamp of God I think is saying will no longer shine on this world

when the final judgment comes and I believe that this is referring to the light of Christ

and the reason I think that is because the Bible says just two, three chapters later

in Revelation 21 and the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it for the glory

of God gives it light.

And its lamp is the lamp and by its light will the nations walk and the kings of earth

will bring their glory into it.

So later Jesus is literally described as a lamp and so I think what these verses, what

they're saying is that when the end comes the light of Christ is going to be removed

from this world and they will be left to the darkness of their sin and rebellion and then

it only gets worse from there because it literally says that the voice of the bridegroom and

the bride will be heard no more.

So what do we think that means?

The voice of the bride and the bridegroom will be heard no more this time.

What is that telling us?

So what does it mean that their voice is heard no more?

God doesn't speak to them?

Yeah, I think what it's saying is that the time for grace and the time for repentance

is over.

That we have this short time and when the end comes it will be too late to repent.

There will be no voice going out to proclaim the good news or to warn at that point because

the judgment has come.

And Jesus kind of gave us a picture of this too when he told the story of the rich man

in Lazarus.

Y'all remember that one?

Yeah?

So he says once the rich man dies he realizes his sin and he realizes what's happening to

him and it's horrible but he finds no opportunity for repentance, does he?

And then he hates it so much that he says well let me just go back and let me tell my friends

and my family so that they don't have to suffer the same thing.

And Jesus says well they already have the word of God.

They already have the words of Moses.

If they're not going to listen to Moses they're not going to listen to me either.

And the whole point that Jesus is saying there is that hey once you die or once the judgment

comes that's it.

There is no opportunity to repent after this and it reminds us as we read this that there

is an urgent need for repentance.

We need to make sure that we take the opportunity to repent because our time here on earth is

very very short.

And nobody in this room and nobody in the rest of the world knows how much time we have

left.

God may give us another 50 years, praise be to God.

But God might only give us another five years.

God might only give us another five months.

I mean you could be like this little boy that we have been praying for where his life was

fine and his parents thought his whole life was ahead of him and now the doctors are

saying he could go at any second.

So we don't know how much time we have left but the Bible is saying there is coming a

time when grace is cut off and all that's left is judgment and so you need to repent

while you have the chance to repent.

And this also tells us as Christians that we need to urge people to repent while they

still have time.

The church cannot be lax on this.

I know that we live in a world today where people want to say you're okay, I'm okay,

we're okay.

You believe what you want to believe, I believe what I want to believe, we all just can do

or believe whatever we want.

And we live in a world where we don't want to call people out on their sin, right?

Because we don't want to offend anyone.

We don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.

We don't want to have people not like us.

But it's not loving to not warn people about judgment that's coming for their sin.

In fact, not only is it not loving, I would say it's just downright hateful.

Because if you knew that what someone was doing and the way that they were living was

going to lead to eternal damnation, how much do you have to hate someone not to tell them?

How much do you have to despise someone not to warn them of something that you know for

certain is going to happen?

And so the Bible is telling us here, you need to make sure that you repent, but as a Christian

you need to make sure you're calling other people to repentance too.

Because you are an ambassador for Christ here on earth, and if you don't tell them, no one

else is going to tell them.

And there is coming a day when it's going to be too late.

And notice here, it says not only is the lamp of Christ removed, but it says that the voice

of the bridegroom and the bride will be heard no more.

And frankly, this is just terrifying.

I think every child of a parent can relate to this.

I think every married person can relate to this.

Sometimes silence is more terrifying than shouting.

Yeah?

You've been there before?

I know that I have.

I remember one particular incident for me.

I got in trouble one time in high school.

Sorry, I said that wrong.

That made it sound like I only got in trouble one time in high school.

So one of the times I got in trouble in high school was in English class, and I had this

professor or teacher, we had to do a senior project.

And I did great on the verbal oral aspect of it, always kind of been gifted at communicating

in that kind of way.

And so I did great on that.

I got 100%.

And on the written aspect of it, I got a 50, and I was not okay with that.

And so my English teacher at the beginning of class gave us this assignment.

She gave us one sheet of paper.

She said, I want you to fill up this entire sheet of paper with just your thoughts.

This is a free writing assignment.

So you tell me whatever you want to tell me, how you think the project went, how you think

I did as the teacher and with the grading and all that kind of stuff.

And I said, you got it.

So I told her exactly how I felt.

And I was like, how do I get 100 on the oral part, but on the stuff it's based on, I get

a 50.

Something's not mesh in here.

You know, I think you've got it out for me.

You've always had it out for me.

And so I just, I mean, a full page of this, right?

Just unsaved degenerate Alex at his finest.

So I did this.

And I turned it in.

I'm like, next time you won't tell us to do a free writing assignment.

And that was wrong because later that day I got a call to come to the principal's office.

And I walk into the principal's office and there are multiple principals there.

And there's my teacher and she's got my assignment.

And I noticed that she's laminated it too at this point.

So she wanted to save it because it was such good writing.

And so she laminated it.

And I'm looking and one of the people that was in there was my band director, Patrick

Menari.

You might be wondering, well, why was your band director there?

Because he was kind of my advocate.

He was a guy who was like a father figure to me and really invested in me.

And he's still like that today.

I still talk to him and keep in touch with him after all these years.

And so he was always advocating for me at school.

And so I see him there.

And when I see him there, I'm like, this is really bad.

And I look at him and he just looks at me and shakes his head disappointed.

And he doesn't say anything.

And I was like, Patrick, why are you here?

And he didn't say anything.

And I was like, are you going to do something?

Are you going to help me here?

And he doesn't say anything.

And I even said at one point, it's like, Patrick, say something.

And he just looked down and remained silent.

And in that silence, I knew I was in big, big trouble.

And that is kind of the picture that is being painted here in Revelation.

When it says that the voice of the bride and the bridegroom has been removed, it's leaving

the world to silence.

And in that silence, they realize just how bad their situation is and how bad this judgment

is.

Because God has placed His people here in the world to be lights in the world and to

be ambassadors for Christ and to call people to repent and to proclaim the good news.

And if you ask our world, one of the things they want, they want Christians to be silent.

Do they not?

They want us to keep our mouths shut and just go away.

They think it would make them happy.

They think the world would be a better place without Christians, but they don't realize

just how dark and bleak this world would be without the light of Christ and His bride.

They think it would be a better place, but it would not.

I can show you an example of this.

You can take North Korea, for instance, right?

Picture North Korea is a very localized glimpse of this future judgment that's coming upon

the world when the bride and the bridegroom, their voice is removed.

Because in North Korea, they have essentially eliminated the light of Christ and the voice

of Christians.

Christianity is illegal in North Korea.

It is illegal to own a Bible.

In fact, there have been many cases in which North Korean soldiers have killed Christians

and they have received the North Korean Medal of Honor for killing Christians.

If a Christian is practicing their faith, owning a Bible, or attending an underground

secret church, he can be imprisoned or most likely publicly executed in that country.

And so they have tried to eliminate Christianity entirely.

And what has it done for their country?

Has it turned them into a better country?

Have they begun to prosper because of this getting rid of Christianity?

No, not at all.

You look at North Korea and the people are oppressed, they're starved, they're controlled,

they're manipulated.

There is no freedom, there's no ethic or morality which only comes out of Christianity.

There's no human dignity or charity.

And so the world thinks it'd be in their best interest to just get rid of the church and

get rid of all the Christians, but you look at North Korea and you go, this is what the

whole world would look like if we got rid of Christians.

We got rid of the light of Christ and the voice of Christ in the world.

That's exactly what our world would look like.

The really interesting thing is that the nations that do the best in the world historically

and are the most prosperous historically are the nations that have had a strong Christian

influence.

These are the nations that have strong economic policies, strong political development and

cultural development.

I mean, you look at an example, some European nations that have had a strong Christian influence

have helped develop modern democratic institutions, legal systems and human rights principles.

And it's interesting, you can do studies on this.

The countries that were most influenced by the Protestant Reformation were the countries

that saw the greatest strides in literacy and work ethic which led to a prosperous economy.

In fact, if you look at the countries with the most Christian influence throughout history,

you'll find that these countries were leaders in scientific, economic and political advancements.

And so all of that is to say, despite what the world is telling us and despite what the

world thinks they want, Christianity is good for the world.

It is actually the best thing for the world because in Christianity we see the kingdom

of God and we see the light of Christ going out into the world and we hear the voice of

the bridegroom.

And when you remove that, you're left with a world of darkness.

And so for all of those reasons, you see the unbelievers in the world, they look to Christians

and they benefit from Christians being in the world.

Because as long as we're here, we can call them to repentance.

As long as we're here, we can proclaim the good news of Jesus.

As long as we're here, we can warn them of the judgment that is to come and we can tell

them to turn in faith to Jesus.

So when the world goes dark, it goes silent and God brings this judgment upon the world

and then they finally get the thing that they always thought they wanted, which is a world

without Christians.

And at that point, they are going to realize just how bad that world is and it will be

too late.

And in this judgment, you see that God is repaying Babylon for her sins.

And you see there in verse 24, it says, and in her was found the blood of prophets and

saints and of all who had been slain on earth.

It's interesting, this is a fulfillment of what we read about in the opening of the

fifth seal.

So if you look back to Revelation chapter 6, verses 9-11, it says, when he opened the fifth

Revelation 6:9–11

seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and

for the witness they had borne.

They cried out with a loud voice, O sovereign Lord, holy and true, how long before you will

judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth?

And they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer until the number

of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete.

They were to be killed as they themselves have been.

And so you look at this chapter, Revelation chapter 6, and you see that the martyrs and

Revelation 6 · chapter mention

the saints who have been slain for their witness, they're crying out for God to avenge them.

How long, O Lord, until you avenge our blood?

And then you see here in Revelation 18-24, the fulfillment, the time for vindication

and judgment has come.

And then we read about how the great multitude in heaven respond to this.

If you look at Revelation 19, verses 1-5, it says, after this I heard what seemed to

Revelation 19:1–5

be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven crying out, hallelujah, salvation and

glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just, for he has judged

the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her immorality and has avenged on her

the blood of his servants.

Once more they cried out, hallelujah, the smoke from her goes up forever and ever, and

the 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated

on the throne saying, amen, hallelujah.

And from the throne came a voice saying, praise our God, O you, his servants, you who

fear him, small and great.

So what's the repeated word here?

It's repeated three times.

But I notice it, hallelujah, yeah, right?

So you see three times, hallelujah, you hear it from the multitude twice, you hear it once

from the 24 elders and the four living creatures, all of creation, the host of heaven, all of

God's people are shouting hallelujah because they have witnessed God's vindication of

his people and God's judgment upon the wicked and they are praising God for the glory that

he has displayed in both salvation and judgment.

So notice they praise him for the salvation that he's brought about for them.

And the fact that they are praising God alone is a clear indication that salvation is entirely

of the Lord.

I mean, why else would he alone deserve all the praise and all the glory unless he alone

is responsible for salvation?

Notice here you do not see this multitude saying hallelujah, praise God for salvation

and man for being so wise as to figure it out.

Or praise God for salvation and man for being good enough to achieve it or striving hard

enough to earn it or being discerning enough to choose it.

The reason that only the Lord is mentioned is because salvation is of the Lord entirely

of God from start to finish.

And so he alone is deserving of our praise and our glory.

And it's easy to praise God for salvation.

Amen.

Amen.

Should we praise God for his wrath and judgment?

Yeah, and that's where it gets hard, right?

It's very easy to praise the Lord for salvation.

But the Bible would teach us that anything God does is deserving of praise and worship

because God is good all the time and he does nothing wrong.

And his judgments here are just and true and even in judgment God displays his glory.

And so listen to me.

God deserves glory even for his wrath and for his judgment upon sinners.

Anytime God displays his glory, he deserves praise and worship from his people.

In fact, the Bible tells us that one day every knee will bow.

And every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God, which means the

most staunch atheist on earth right now who hates God and denies God's existence.

And I'm already thinking of so many in my head right now who make their entire living

bashing God and economically prospering because of their hatred for God and writing books

against God.

One day those same people are going to be on their knees confessing that Jesus Christ

is Lord to the glory of God.

Because when they see Jesus for who he is, the only thing they will be able to do is

give him the glory he deserves.

In fact, on that day of judgment, even the most hardened atheist when God sentences

him to an eternity in hell will have no other response than to say, this is right.

I deserve this because God's judgments are just and true.

And notice that this punishment is not just a singular one time punishment.

The Bible says here that the smoke goes up forever and ever.

And this once again confirms to us that hell is a real place and it is a place of eternity

eternal torment.

And we have to say that because we've talked about this in here before, but there's a growing

belief in our day of annihilation.

And many of you have heard of that.

Many of you might not have, but annihilation is basically the belief that hell is not eternal.

God will put people in hell for a set amount of time depending on their sins.

And then after they have suffered for the appropriate amount of time, God will annihilate

their souls and they will cease to exist.

Now the problem with this is if this were true, why would the smoke go up forever and

ever?

If there's smoke, there's fire.

And if there's fire, there's something kindling that fire.

Is there not?

So the reason the smoke goes up forever and ever is because the fires of hell are eternal

and last forever.

And there is no way to just be in hell for a certain number of years and pay off a penalty

that deserves eternity.

We've said it many times in here before.

God is infinitely holy.

And the Bible tells us that every sin is an offense against him, which means every sin

is infinitely offensive against an infinitely holy God.

And the only right punishment for an infinitely offensive offense is an eternal punishment.

That's the only way you can pay it all.

And so this is saying that this is a reality and that God's glory is revealed in both salvation

and judgment.

And yet God calls his people to praise his name in both of these acts.

And the beauty of this is that it all culminates in this marriage feast.

You see this in verses six through 10.

Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters,

like the sound of mighty pearls of thunder crying out, hallelujah, for the Lord our God,

the almighty reigns.

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory for the marriage of the lamb has come

and his bride has made herself ready.

It was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure.

For the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints and the angels said to me,

write this, blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the lamb.

And he said to me, these are the true words of God.

Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, you must not do that.

I'm a fellow servant with you and your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Worship God.

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

So isn't it interesting that the Bible begins with what?

A marriage, right?

Isn't it beautiful?

The Bible begins with a marriage in the garden and it's actually really beautiful in Hebrew

because the way it's written is after God had created Eve, the way it's written is that

he walked her to Adam, much like a father walks his daughter down the aisle to give her away

in marriage.

And so the man and the woman are united in this marriage and they have this perfect harmony

with God, this perfect unity with God and communion with God.

And then that's interrupted because of sin.

And so then the whole Bible is this story of God going on a rescue mission to rescue

and redeem his people back to himself.

And it in the Bible ends with a marriage begins with a marriage, it ends with a marriage.

And here you see the marriage of the Lamb and His bride.

And they're celebrating this marriage with a marriage feast and you have these beautiful

words that are just so treasured.

Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Isn't that beautiful?

Because it reminds us yet again that this is a work of God.

Not blessed are those who attend a church every Sunday or who served as deacons or

taught Sunday school or always wore a suit to church and had a tie.

Blessed are those who are invited by God to this marriage supper.

And so then we look at this passage and we can make three conclusions very quickly is

that we can be sure that there is coming a day when God will vindicate the righteous

and bring about a righteous judgment on the wicked.

So if you look around the world today and you hate the evil in the world and you see

the wickedness in the world and you desire it to be gone, your hope and your assurance

here as a Christian is one day God will rid this world of evil.

He will rid this world of wickedness and He will restore it to the way it should be.

And also given that certainty we must make sure that we are warning everyone of the judgment

that is coming and telling them to repent of their sins because when the final day does

come there will be no opportunity for repentance after that.

And so we need to be urgent in this cause as Christians.

We need to make sure that we're taking evangelism seriously and sharing the good news of the

gospel with everyone we come in contact with.

And then we are to praise God for his glory displayed in both salvation and judgment.

And most of all as Christians we look forward to that day when we get to celebrate the marriage

supper of the Lamb and how sweet that day will be.

When after all of the sufferings of this life and all the trials of this life and all the

hardships we get to glory and we see our Savior face to face and we get to celebrate that feast

with him and remain in perfect unity and harmony with him for all of eternity.

It is coming today and it will happen and we look forward to it.

Alright Gene, you give us our word of wisdom this week.