Revelation Study Series 23 - God’s Mysterious Plan Fulfilled (Chapter 18)
05.15.22
Message…
Mukesh Ambani of India, an oil baron has the world's most expensive home coming in at over $1 billion. (400,000 sq. ft., 27 story, 168 car garage with its own gas station. It has 9 elevators, three helicopter pads, a room that produces snow, a movie theater, inside gardens, 3 Olympic size pools, etc. And, a staff of over 600 that maintains everything.)
https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/wealth/craziest-things-billionaires-spend-money-on/; and other internet sources
This might be a little extreme and a strange segway into today’s message…but, we are going to hit on the life of luxury a little.
Revelation 18
1 After all this I saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth grew bright with his splendor.
2 He gave a mighty shout:
“Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!
She has become a home for demons.
She is a hideout for every foul spirit,
a hideout for every foul vulture
and every foul and dreadful animal.
3 For all the nations have fallen
because of the wine of her passionate immorality.
The kings of the world have committed adultery with her.
Because of her desires for extravagant luxury,
the merchants of the world have grown rich.”
4 Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,
“Come away from her, my people.
Do not take part in her sins,
or you will be punished with her.
5 For her sins are piled as high as heaven,
and God remembers her evil deeds.
6 Do to her as she has done to others.
Double her penalty for all her evil deeds.
She brewed a cup of terror for others,
so brew twice as much for her.
7 She glorified herself and lived in luxury,
so match it now with torment and sorrow.
She boasted in her heart,
‘I am queen on my throne.
I am no helpless widow,
and I have no reason to mourn.’
8 Therefore, these plagues will overtake her in a single day—death and mourning and famine.
She will be completely consumed by fire,
for the Lord God who judges her is mighty.”
9 And the kings of the world who committed adultery with her and enjoyed her great luxury will mourn for her as they see the smoke rising from her charred remains.
10 They will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will cry out,
“How terrible, how terrible for you,
O Babylon, you great city!
In a single moment God’s judgment came on you.”
The last time we were in our Revelation Series we talked about the great prostitute that rode the beast. The Bible says that the great prostitute was a great city. We talked about her figuratively representing religious Babylon.
What we read today lays out very specific information about this city’s destruction. But, the identity of this city is debatable. (Rome, Babylon, even Jerusalem)…
Matt. 23:37 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! … 38 See! Your house is left to you desolate;
Maybe this is some future city that will rise to power in the last days?
However, just as Rev. 17 gave us a religious Babylon, Rev. 18 gives us a worldly commercial Babylon.
Revelation 18:11-24
11 The merchants of the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their goods.
12 She bought great quantities of gold, silver, jewels, and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk, and scarlet cloth; things made of fragrant thyine wood, ivory goods, and objects made of expensive wood; and bronze, iron, and marble.
13 She also bought cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle, sheep, horses, wagons, and bodies—that is, human slaves.
14 “The fancy things you loved so much
are gone,” they cry.
“All your luxuries and splendor
are gone forever,
never to be yours again.”
15 The merchants who became wealthy by selling her these things will stand at a distance, terrified by her great torment. They will weep and cry out,
16 “How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
She was clothed in finest purple and scarlet linens,
decked out with gold and precious stones and pearls!
17 In a single moment
all the wealth of the city is gone!”
And all the captains of the merchant ships and their passengers and sailors and crews will stand at a distance.
18 They will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there another city as great as this?”
19 And they will weep and throw dust on their heads to show their grief. And they will cry out,
“How terrible, how terrible for that great city!
The shipowners became wealthy
by transporting her great wealth on the seas.
In a single moment it is all gone.”
20 Rejoice over her fate, O heaven
and people of God and apostles and prophets!
For at last God has judged her
for your sakes.
21 Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone. He threw it into the ocean and shouted,
“Just like this, the great city Babylon
will be thrown down with violence
and will never be found again.
22 The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets
will never be heard in you again.
No craftsmen and no trades
will ever be found in you again.
The sound of the mill
will never be heard in you again.
23 The light of a lamp
will never shine in you again.
The happy voices of brides and grooms
will never be heard in you again.
For your merchants were the greatest in the world,
and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.
24 In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy people and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.”
Life Application…
Revelation 18:4
4 Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,
“Come away from her, my people. Do not take part in her sins, or you will be punished with her.
One commentator noted…
“...commercial Babylon, with its materialistic lure, is a constant threat to be guarded against.” - David Guzik
I want to talk with you about materialism and Living Separated, Holy Lives.
“materialism” - “...to consider material possessions and physical comfort as more important than spiritual values.”
In the NT while speaking with the disciples Jesus began to pray. And, His prayer reveals some tremendous truth to us about His purpose for us and His care for us…
John 17:9-21
9 “My prayer is not for the world, but for those You have given Me, because they belong to You.
10 All who are Mine belong to You, and You have given them to Me, so they bring Me glory.
11 Now I am departing from the world; they are staying in this world, but I am coming to You. Holy Father, You have given Me Your name; now protect them by the power of Your name so that they will be united just as We are.
12 During My time here, I protected them by the power of the name You gave Me. I guarded them so that not one was lost, except the one headed for destruction, as the Scriptures foretold.
13 “Now I am coming to You. I told them many things while I was with them in this world so they would be filled with My joy.
14 I have given them Your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.
15 I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.
16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do.
17 Make them holy by Your truth; teach them Your word, which is truth.
18 Just as You sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
19 And I give Myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by Your truth.
20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.
21 I pray that they will all be one, just as You and I are one—as You are in Me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in Us so that the world will believe You sent Me.
Jesus said that we are in the world, but not to be of the world. And, to add to that He told the Father…“I’m not asking You to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one.” (vs. 15)
You and I as believers would love to retreat to a place that is just for us! Just for believers! We get fed up with this world, and we want to run from it and have our own little thing!
We already have that…it’s called Heaven! You will one day be there!
Until then…you are here!
And, in this world you are right where God wants you to be until He takes you out of this world!
But, while you are here…He wants you to be different. Live differently! Think differently. Act differently. Talk differently. Be motivated differently! Love differently! Spend your money differently! Be excited about different things!
Be all about being different! (Not weird…different, holy, separated. In this world, but not of the world…be of Him!)
Love the world…just don’t love what the world loves!
And, while He said this of the disciples. He also clearly said…
John 17:20 “I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in Me through their message.
In Jesus' prayer…He called out some important things for those that are His (“for all who will ever believe in Me”)...
We are protected and guarded by Jesus name (vs. 12)
(specifically, protected from the “evil one”)
We are to be filled with His joy (vs. 13)
We do not belong to this world (vs. 16)
We are to learn His truth (vs. 17)
We are sent into this world just as Jesus was (vs. 18)
We don’t belong here…but, we are here…and we are here because He has sent us here!
What’s so wrong with the world? Why don’t we belong here?
Revelation 18
2 He gave a mighty shout:
“Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen!
She has become a home for demons.
She is a hideout for every foul spirit,
a hideout for every foul vulture
and every foul and dreadful animal.
3 For all the nations have fallen
because of the wine of her passionate immorality.
The kings of the world have committed adultery with her.
Because of her desires for extravagant luxury,
the merchants of the world have grown rich.”
4 Then I heard another voice calling from heaven,
“Come away from her, my people.
Do not take part in her sins,
or you will be punished with her.
What of the world (while we are in the world) are we to “come away” from?
Passionate Immorality, Extravagant Luxury (vs. 3)
This world only cares about pleasure - what pleases them. And, money - what it takes to acquire what pleases them!
Passionate Immorality -
Being motivated/captivated by anything that is not of God!
Rev. 18:3
“For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich through the abundance of her luxury.” NKJV
Extravagant Luxury (Wealth/Riches) -
1 Timothy 6:6-10
6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.
7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.
8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
Believer…
You should not love what the world loves!
You should not live how the world lives!
And you should not work for what the world works for!
Your passion should not come from what the world yearns for!
“Come away from her, my people.
Do not take part in her sins,
or you will be punished with her. (Rev. 18:4)
You cannot live in this world, for this world…and also, live for God! You can’t have it both ways!
Matthew 6:24
24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.
While you are in this world…you should be living for the world that is to come!
John 17:16-18
16 They do not belong to this world any more than I do.
17 Make them holy by Your truth; teach them Your word, which is truth.
18 Just as You sent Me into the world, I am sending them into the world.
As long as Jesus has you in this world…you have a choice to make about how you live in it!
Will you live for it? Or will you live for Him?
