Revelation 18:4-24 Series

Revelation 18:4-24

We ended last week with an angel speaking to John in verse 3 telling him how all the nations and all the kings have “drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality”.

Being drunk on her (Antichrist) wine, really just means that the world has become intoxicated by sin, that they lust for sin. Yes there was sexual immorality as it says but there was much more than that going on I can assure you. Every imaginable sin against God was in full flow.

18:4 ~ Then I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sin”

There are Christians still on earth even still now at the end of this great war against evil. Imagine how strong these Christians must be to endure everything that they have lived through.

Now being we don't know the length of time of everything that transpires in Revelation, we don't know if these believers were there at the beginning or were born somewhere along the way.

But for sure this group of believers who are still there have been a part of the army of Christ fighting to the point of victory. I can assure you they are not in any way weak or soft Christians. They are the strongest of the strong both physically and spiritually.

This is what we should be striving for

18:8 ~ 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 day has come, God calls out His people, away from the final destruction so they don't get caught up in it.

The kings mentioned and their kingdoms who all followed the Antichrist will see there last, and they will suffer the torment along with their master.

Read v18 again ~ “ her plagues will come in a single day” is this a literal single day? Did all these plagues happen in one day? I'm not sure, can famine happen in one day?

18:9-10 ~ 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. 10 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.”

All these kings, the rich, the false churches, the politicians who all took part in the sins of the world under the Antichrist will run off to the outer areas where they will watch it all burn. I bet they think they are safe on the outskirts, but they are not. They may have momentarily escaped God's wrath but their final judgment will happen, they can't escape it.

18:11-13 ~ And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn for her, since no one buys their cargo anymore, 12 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, 13 cinnamon, spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, oil, fine flour, wheat, cattle and sheep, horses and chariots, and slaves, that is, human souls.

There is this saying that I remember, it says “he who dies with the most toys wins”, the stuff we put value on will be worthless, no one buys it anymore, and I can assure you no one will care about it anymore. Reality has hit everyone, what is of true value no matter if that be survival if you are the lost or Christ for the believer, comes to complete clarity.

Romans 3:16-17 ~ in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known This is the life of the unbeliever.

18:17-18 ~ For in a single hour all this wealth has been laid waste.”

And all shipmasters and seafaring men, sailors and all whose trade is on the sea, stood far off 18 and cried out as they saw the smoke of her burning

Anyone who was a part of making or selling all these things and that have become wealthy from this stuff that clutters up peoples lives will see it all burn.

You see all this stuff takes us away from Christ and Satan knows it, so he brings stuff into our lives to distract us from what's important. Satan brings stuff into our lives and he makes us busy with things that are meaningless to God.

What if we did away with most of the stuff and most of the things that pull us away from God and instead put our time and our efforts in to serving Christ and the church? What if instead of the stuff our money went to the offering plate and to missions and ministries that desperately need help. What if the majority of our time was was spent in this building praising and worshiping and building each other up? What if we spent our timeout in the world sharing the gospel as God?