The End of All Our Babylons: Punishment for a Rebellious World - Glorious Hope | Studies in Revelation

And our Bible reading this evening is coming from Revelation

Revelation 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18 and verses 1 to 8.

So Revelation chapter 18, verses 1 to 8.

Revelation 18:1–8

After this.

I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority.

And the earth was made bright with his glory.

And he called out with a mighty voice, fallen, fallen, is

Babylon the Great.

She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every

unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every

unclean and detestable beast.

For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual

immorality, and the kings of the earth have committed an 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 out 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.

Amen.

But moving from Matthew's gospel, we're coming to revelation,

Revelation 18 · chapter mention

chapter 18.

We're getting closer and closer.

The countdown is on.

It's almost like a big jar of marbles.

There was a certain number put in, and every week I'm pulling one

out and I can see the jar getting less and less.

But we will be looking at Revelation over the summer, because

it's going to take that long just to get it finished off before

September.

But as we come to Revelation 18, I wonder, have you ever seen

an old shopping centre, or maybe an old factory?

Or maybe you've visited a town that once was full of life but is

now empty?

My own hometown of Katy being a perfect example of that.

I don't know what my particular algorithm is on YouTube

or Instagram, but I seem to get a lot of abandoned building videos

where people break in.

Not that I condone such actions, but they go in and they

go around and see what that building's now like, telling you

it's been closed for 10 years.

It's been closed for this long, and there's Two recently that

I've seen.

In fact, there's been three, but two I distinctly remember.

One is Waterworld in Port Rush now closed.

That was news to me just a year or two ago.

I thought it was still going, but Waterworld, to see it now and

to see what it's like.

The Dunluce Centre.

Do you remember the Dunluce Centre in Port Rush where you used

to pay a pound and you could go up and you used to think you were

very tall, but you now look at it and think, wasn't really that

high at all.

The Big Dipper in Barry's was higher than the Dunluce Centre.

Or what about the flagship shopping centre, Bangor?

Do you remember it?

On the main street?

It was to be a thriving place for commerce, all three, two of which

I remember very distinctly as a child.

And Bangor and Waterworld just decaying and nothing in them.

Actually, the flagship shopping centre is hoping to get

a new bit of life brought back into it as news this week has said.

But there was a time when people thought that all of the joys

of Waterworld, the Dunluce Centre and the flagship shopping

centre in Bangor would never end.

Shops thriving, money flowing, crowds gathering, good times never

ending.

It all felt very permanent then.

The businesses closed, people left, and now all that remains are

empty units, faded signs, decaying buildings and silence.

And when you stand in a place like that, you realize something

unsettling.

What once looked powerful and permanent was actually fragile all

along.

I had the opportunity one summer's evening with two colleagues

that I worked with in Armagh City and District Council to go around

the old jail in Armagh.

It's so old that they spell it with a G rather than a J.

And it enclosed in 1984 after being a women's prison for so many

years.

But it was actually built around 1790 and it was all part of

Archbishop Richard Robinson's great development of Armagh.

Now, I didn't break in, we were happily given the keys.

But here's an old Georgian building still standing, still looking

strong.

But you walk in and the chapel floor had completely disintegrated

and there was just a big hole.

You went out into the exercise yard and there was just weeds everywhere.

These places that were strong, these places that once held prisoners.

And indeed, could we argue we were prisoners of commerce, perhaps

in the flagship or prisoners of pleasure in Water World.

What looked strong, what looked unbreakable, what looked like

it would never end, eventually does.

And sadly we're even seeing that with church buildings, once

thriving congregations of a thousand Buildings having to be sold

because you can't even get two together.

At the beginning of Pilgrim's Progress, Christian is living comfortably

in the city of destruction.

Nothing outwardly seems wrong, but once he reads the book that is

the Bible, he realizes judgment is coming and the city that

everyone else thinks is secure is actually doomed.

And Christian is the only one who can see it.

In Revelation 18, certainly the first eight verses give us the

same warning when it comes to the great city of Babylon, because

Babylon looks glorious.

Babylon looks as if it will never fall, but the reality is heaven

already sees its ruin.

Last week in chapter 17, we were introduced again to the great

prostitute, confirmed to us in verses 5 and 18 of chapter 17 as

the great city of Babylon and the beast, who throughout Revelation

is known as the devil and his agents.

In chapter 17 we saw how sin is self defense destructive, and

the beast actually turns on the prostitute.

Having lured the prostitute this great city, now the beast turns

on it.

And verse 16 told us, and the 10 horns that you saw, they and the

beast will hate the prostitute.

They will make her desolate and naked and devour her flesh and

burn her up with fire.

Now this is not the treatment of friends, but rather the hostilities

of an enemy.

But this is an action of God, as verse 17 confirms that evil and

sin would be seen for what it truly is.

And so, as we come into chapter 18, John sees another angel

coming from heaven.

And this angel is described in verse one as having great authority

and glory.

And through its glory the earth was made bright.

The coming of the angel from heaven, showing us its transcendent

authority, tells us of the beauty and power that the angel has,

and that this angel is about to introduce a matter of weighty

importance.

And as we hear these words, we can jump to great celebration because

of what they mean for God's people, because verse two tells us,

and he called out with a mighty voice, fallen, fallen is Babylon

the Great.

She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every

unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every

unclean and detestable beast.

This is the outcome of what we saw at the end of chapter 17.

Babylon, the great prostitute has fallen.

Everything unclean, everything unholy, now know it as their haunt.

It is the place of desolation.

As she is punished, she's lost her glory, she's lost her power.

And at the end of the age, all the Babylons of this world that have

stood for evil and sin and persecuted God's people will face

the same punishment.

This Pronouncement of Babylon's fall echoes the words of

Isaiah in Isaiah 21:9, where he said, fallen, fallen is Babylon.

Isaiah 21:9

And all the carved images of her gods he has shattered to the

ground.

Now, as we know, Babylon in the Old Testament was the great enemy

of God's people.

It was Babylon that sent Judah into exile in 586 BC.

And Babylon is the head of gold in Nebuchadnezzar's dream in

Daniel chapter two.

And the lion in Daniel's vision in chapter seven.

And the Old Testament announced God's judgment on Babylon

for its evil and its idolatry.

And Babylon was destroyed and judged in 539 BC, but its fall became

a type or a pattern for the kingdoms and the cities of this world

opposed to God and his rule.

And so what we're told Here in verse 2 forecasts the final judgment,

when the city of man will be desolated and destroyed forever.

Now, in John's time, Rome was that great city of sin and that great

city of persecution, and that too ultimately and finally faced

the same fate as Babylon.

And so what John is seeing here is the final Babylon destroyed

and punished for its disobedience against God.

And verse three presents to us the fundamental reason for Babylon's

judgment.

The nations of the world have drunk the wine of her immorality.

And this is something the prophet Jeremiah spoke of.

Now, John's not talking primarily about sexual sin here,

even though he uses language of sexual unfaithfulness.

And again, in the Old Testament, Israel's defection from

the Lord is described as whoredom or harlotry.

And so too the root of sin of the city of man, be it Babylon or

Rome or whatever we know it today or in the future, are cities

that abandon God, pursuing other gods instead of him.

The great city has influenced the nations of the world so that

they too have turned away from the one true God and gone after the

things of sin and evil.

The kings of the earth have followed the same path, and their

sin is also described in terms of sexual deviance.

Once again, the metaphor here communicates spiritual adultery,

which is rejection of the lordship of God and of his son Jesus

Christ.

But verse three also speaks of the merchants of the earth and says

of them towards the end of this verse that the merchants of

the earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living.

So the merchants of the earth are indicted for growing rich from

the luxuries afforded by their alliance with Babylon and all the

sin and evil of the fallen world.

Now, John's not saying that riches bring judgment.

That's not what he's saying.

But those riches gained by participation in the same idolatry

and evil as Babylon, well, they do face judgment because they

ultimately have rejected God and followed the immorality of whichever

Babylon they have lived in.

But verse four gives us another voice.

We presume this is the voice of another angel.

And this voice is a calling voice to God's people.

Notice what is said 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,

my people.

This is God's message to his church.

And what is he telling us to do?

Come out of her.

Those who have remained faithful to Jesus Christ are called

to come out of Babylon.

They're called to come out so that they won't participate in her

sins.

And for those who do sin, like Babylon, in forsaking the Lord will

face the coming final judgment.

And John here is telling God's people that they must not participate

in the idolatry of Rome.

Now this may not necessarily be a physical leaving of the city,

but rather they must not give their allegiance to the emperor and

forsake Jesus Christ, their first love.

They must be willing to renounce the wealth and reputation

of the world to follow Jesus Christ.

And yes, it may mean leaving the temptation of the city.

The sins pursued by Babylon should be forsaken, for those who

participate in such sins will also receive the plagues coming upon

Babylon.

And here's a stern warning for Christians today.

We continue to have Babylon present all around us.

It may not be the ancient Mesopotamian city or indeed the imperial

capital of Rome as in John's day.

But Babylon still influences and Babylon still entices and will

continue to do so, enticing people to sin and enticing them to

reject God and his ways.

And the devil wants nothing more than to snatch believers away.

That's why Peter writes what he does in 1st Peter 5:8.

He warns us to be sober minded, to be watchful.

Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion

seeking someone to devour.

So Peter warns us to be on our guard.

It's easy for us to get pulled into talk that's not appropriate

for the children of God.

Or we focus more in our conversations and in our actions

on the things of this world rather than on the things of Christ.

We seal quite easily into inappropriate or even illegal business

practices.

Or we fail to live to the standard of Christ in our homes.

It's amazing Truly amazing how cunning the devil can be to snatch

us away, to pull us away.

So be on your guard.

Christian verse 5 warns us that the sins of Babylon are not

forgotten.

And she, along with those that she has lured and enticed, will face

the punishment for sin.

So this truly is a stern warning to God's people.

Beware of Babylon.

Come out of her and be on your guard so that the devil will not

snatch you away.

And you may think that's impossible.

How could he do that?

Well, over these past 10 years we have seen one Christian leader

after another and fail, and fail again.

The devil is active and he will take whoever he can away from

Christ.

He will presume glory for himself where there is actually no

glory at all.

But he will make shipwreck of faith and that is the work that he

is intent on doing.

So be on your guard.

The angel continues in verse 6.

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 has mixed.

So now we're talking about the punishment that Babylon deserves.

And John tells us that God remembers Babylon's sin because he

is just.

And we must know that about God.

God is just and if he is just, then he is a God of justice.

So what he does is right and it's fair because his justice is

proved true in the saying the punishment fits the crime.

And if you recall, just a matter of chapters ago, wasn't that

the complaint that people were saying the punishment's too harsh

for the crime.

But yet here we have the repetition that in fact when it comes

to Babylon, the punishment fits the crime.

The Babylons of the world will not remain unscathed for the evil

that they do will turn back upon them again because of that self

destructive nature of sin, but because a fair and just God will

punish sin because it deserves to be punished.

You see, Babylon is a great prostitute that has glorified herself

with a life of luxury, giving no thought to truth.

And as we know this most ancient of ongoings with prostitution,

isn't that a perfect description?

Luring people away for self glorification to gain money so that

a life of luxury may be lived with no thought to truth and honesty.

Babylon has gained her wealth through her idolatrous and adulteress,

idolatry and adultery, that is her behavior.

So she sits thinking she is untouchable, but she's not.

Once again the punishment fits the crime she has committed in her

deceit, in her evil and in her sin.

And this is confirmed for us in verse 8.

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.

The sin Babylon has pursued will come quite literally cascading

suddenly upon her, just as Isaiah told us in chapter 47 and

verse 9, where he said, these two things shall come to you in a

moment, in one day, the loss of children and widowhood shall come

upon you in full measure, in spite of your many sorceries and

the great power, your enchantments.

And isn't that what we hear, the cry of Babylon?

Isn't this what we hear her say?

She boasts herself that she's not widowed, that she is strong and

mighty.

But yet in a single day, Scripture tells us, her confidence

will vanish as plagues descend upon her.

And the plagues are identified as death, mourning and famine.

The prostitute, in a punishment reminiscent of the penalty

for a priest's daughter who turns to prostitution in Leviticus

Leviticus 21:9

chapter 21, verse 9, will be burned with fire.

God personally judges her, showing his lordship and mighty power,

for no one can triumph over him, nor can anyone give himself

over to evil without facing God's wrath.

So in these first eight verses of chapter 18, which is part of this

ongoing telling of what's going to happen at the end of the

punishment that will come towards Babylon the great and towards

the beast and those who follow the beast, we have in our hearts

a truth that fallen, fallen is Babylon.

There will be a day when the evil of this world will be gone and

the punishment will fit the crime, because God is a just God.

So as we finish this section of chapter 18, we learn the reason

why we're called to come out of Babylon, why we're called to live

differently from the world in its sin.

And we do it in two ways.

First, we do it for God's sake.

And second, we do it for the world's sake.

Our world desperately needs the testimony of a lived Christianity

that bears witness to the God of salvation, his judgment on sin,

and the forgiveness he offers through the blood of Jesus Christ.

This gives the most important answer to the question of Christianity

and culture, as commanded by Jesus himself in Matthew, chapter

Matthew 28 · chapter mention

28, where Jesus tells us, he commands us, go therefore and make

disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the

Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to

observe all that I have commanded you.

You see, we live differently for God's sake, so that we will demonstrate

that there is a life worth living, a life that is greater than

the world around us.

But we also live it for the sake of the world, so that they will

hear and they will see a living testimony of what it means

to know Christ as we fulfill what is commanded to us by Jesus

in His last words to us.

To go, therefore, and make discip of all nations.

Discipleship is evangelism.

It's instruction, it's correcting, it's growing in faith.

It's all of these things that we will make disciples of all nations,

bringing them into the sacrament of baptism in the name

of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

It's teaching them to observe all that Christ has commanded us

so that they will know there is hope and hope in Christ.

John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress I started with it, so I'm

going to finish with it, provides a model for sinners who

learn of impending judgment and their need of a savior.

Pilgrim called Christian heard the warning and he fled to the cross,

crying, life, life, eternal life.

And that is what we must do.

Not looking back to the world, but looking only to Jesus in faith

and fleeing to him for forgiveness and for life.

But Pilgrim's Progress also provides a model for those who have

believed and found salvation, and who for a time have an opportunity

to help others to know this truth of the gospel, so that they

too may be saved.

For Christian in Pilgrim's Progress, he met evangelists, and

it was evangelist that gave Pilgrim a verse from the Gospel he

quoted Matthew 3:7 Flee from the wrath to come.

Matthew 3:7

Evangelist directed the endangered sinner Christian to the

shining lamp of God's Word, where he would learn of salvation

through the narrow gate at the cross of Jesus Christ.

And however unpopular it may be, and however unpopular the world

considers the Gospel to be, well, Evangelist quotes the words

of Hebrews 12:25 see that you do not refuse him who is speaking.

Hebrews 12:25

For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned

them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns

from heaven.

Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.

The unthinkable has happened.

The world is self destructing because of its sin.

A day is coming when judgment will be brought upon the Babylons,

the nations, the peoples of this world who have rejected God.

And as the writer of Hebrews tells us, as highlighted by the evangelist

in Pilgrim's Progress, we need to pay attention, because how much

less will we escape if we reject him who warns us from heaven?

How much less will we escape if we continue to reject Christ the

risen Savior, who has proved his victory over death in the grave

with arms open wide, receiving us.

If we will but come and turn away from the world and live in the

life that he gives us.

We may say, well, we don't live in the city physically or metaphorically.

Babylon's gone.

She's been gone for 2000 years and so is Rome.

So what's all this talking about?

This is telling us the reality in which we live as well as the reality

of what is to come.

Quite literally, what will happen at the end of time when all

the sins of this world will be punished fairly and justly.

But those who are in Christ will know their sins already paid

for and atoned for because of what Christ has done.

So why wouldn't you want Christ?

And why Christian, wouldn't you want to live for him rather than

putting yourself in Babylon?

Come ye out of Babylon and live for him so that you will know

his great truth.

The message of the gospel is one that presents us with glorious

hope.

It is a hope that takes us from this world and into eternity.

It's an assurance that we will never be snatched from the hand of

God as we continue to trust in him day by day, as we continue to

read and as we continue to pray.

It's not a works righteousness, it's not a bartering

system, but what it is demonstrating is a dependency on

God.

This is what believers are called to not to have our ears tickled

by whatever wind is in the world, to go down roads of falsehood,

of second guessing, of untruths, but to stand firmly in

the gospel of Jesus Christ and to live clearly to the kingdom by

which we belong.

So this message is a radical one.

The Book of Revelation is about radical discipleship because

it calls the church to live sincerely and urgently for the kingdom,

because Christ will return.

And when he does, those who belong to him will be taken to a

glorious heaven and those who don't trust in him will face the

punishment that they deserve.

May you be found in heaven's kingdom as you trust in Christ.

This night let us pray.

Our Father God, your Word teaches us to pay attention to what

is around us.

It challenges us to live for Christ, not to be taken to the swamp

of idle conversation, of talking about things that really

don't matter in the light of eternity, but rather that while there

is yet time to continue to proclaim this good news of the gospel

for your sake and for the sake of the world, so that your truth

will be known and that the world will know there is hope in

Christ and in him alone.

So help us to live fervently for you in the light of Revelation

Revelation 18:1

18:1 8 May we know the day that is coming when Babylon will

be defeated, when she will be punished.

But may we not be lackadaisy about it.

May we urgently respond to the commission of Christ to go into all

the world and to proclaim the good news of the Gospel, so that

indeed we will see the nations coming to Christ for salvation.

So Father, help us to respond well this night to your word.

In Jesus name, Amen.