Next week is Superbowl Sunday,
and I was recalling the story Dr. Landrum Leavell, the president of New Orleans
Baptist Theological Seminary told about football when I was a student there. Dr. Leavell’s uncle Roland attended Southern
Baptist Seminary as a student during the tenure of the great theologian,
President E.Y. Mullins. One day during Roland's
first year as a student, he absentmindedly fell in step with the tall, stately,
and scholarly Dr. Mullins while walking down Fourth Street in Louisville. Roland was very nervous, at a loss to know
what to say to so exalted a person. What
he said was: It was football season, so in
my desperation I asked, 'Dr. Mullins, did you ever play football?' With a characteristic twinkle in his eye he
said, 'No, Brother Leavell, but I was in a stampede of mules once.’ Sometimes asking questions sets us up for the
answers of a lifetime! The question
before the house this morning is:
What will life be like in a world
that is totally hostile to God?
You might be thinking: Why ask that question, preacher? I know life isn't as genteel as it was back
in the fifties, but don't most people believe in God. Doesn't our Constitution and Bill of Rights
guarantee religious freedom?
At the present, those
questions deserve a qualified
yes. But the Bible tells us
that the Great Tribulation, with its accompanying rebellion against God (and God’s
imminent judgment) is going to change everything. The text today describes the very last
moments of the Great Tribulation, and the ultimate demise of Satan's ruler, the
Beast, and his worldwide domination – the whore, mystery Babylon.
As we pick up the text from
last week, where John had described the fall of Babylon, because of her
arrogant stand against God, the apostle now tells us about the judgment she
(the coming apostate church) will suffer.
Reasons for the Judgment on Babylon
1. REAPING
After all this I
saw another angel come down from heaven with great authority, and the earth
grew bright with his splendor. 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. 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.” Revelation 18:1-3
The ancient world was as full
as oppressive practices and people (if not more so) as our society. John is not telling us that business is
wrong, he is pointing at the rich and powerful who oppress the poor.
It is fruitless to pick on one form of laying up earthly treasures over
another; most can be either good and useful, or evil and oppressive. It is in the attitude. I know rich people who are a great blessing
to the Kingdom of God. They earn and use
money as a tool, with which to bless others.
I also know rich people who got and use their wealth in questionable
ways. The essence here is that of
reaping and sowing. What you get is
directly related to how and what you sow.
2. RENEWAL
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. Revelation 18:4
In God's Word there is always
a word for our time. This word John’s a
warning to believers to have nothing to do with oppressive Rome and the
judgment that would come in his day.
However, the fitness of these words for the future, and now
is timely as well. The apostle Paul
thought so:
Therefore, come
out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says
the Lord. Don’t touch their filthy
things, and I will welcome you. 2 Corinthians 6:17
The word used to describe
believers means different. In no way can we be true to the Great
Commission to go into all the world,
while trying to maintain our holy huddle, maintaining no contact with those trapped in sinful lifestyles. I think most people have missed the message
at this point. The people
are not the enemy, Satan and death are our enemies! You cannot witness without eyeballing people. So, ,what does Jesus mean about staying
away from those in Babylon?
While we may not be able to physically
get out of the modern Babylon society, we can certainly keep the Babylon out of
us. Jesus said we would be in the world,
but we don't have to be like the
world.
What do you do with yourself? Are there activities in your life that you
would feel uncomfortable having Jesus with you when you do it? Now don't get me confused with a
works-salvation preacher. I know God
forgives our sins, and we cannot become
Christian by being good. However, once
we have
become a part of God's family, He expects us to act like it.
A Christian believer, for
instance, who spends his time hanging around a bar will still go to heaven, but
he also is subject to cirrhosis of the liver, being arrested for drunken
driving, getting knifed or shot in a bar fight, and generally being a poor
witness for the unbeliever who sees that so-called
Christian, dragging bleary-eyed into church after an all-night Saturday
binge. The same can be said for any bad
habit you can name, beginning with over-eating, dear Methodist lover of dinner-on-the-grounds!
3. REMEMBERING
For her sins are
piled as high as heaven, and God remembers her evil deeds. Revelation 18:5
Genesis 6 is the account of
Noah's ark (well it was God’s ark; Noah was just the contractor). It’s recorded that God knew the heart
(intention) of all men. It doesn't take
a White House leak to the Washington Post for God to know about sin. He knew right where Adam was, and He knows
your sin, and those of ancient and modern Babylon. And He's got
a perfect memory! He remembers
every sin, except those covered in blood that's dripped from the cross.
4. RECOMPENSE
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. 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.’ 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.” Revelation
18:6-8
Ancient Babylon destroyed
Jerusalem, and God said through David that they would not get away with it:
O Babylon, you
will be destroyed. Happy is the one who
pays you back for what you have done to us. Happy is the one who
takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks! Psalms 137:8-9
God's principle of recompense
is recorded in both Old and New Testaments,
“The day is near
when I, the Lord, will judge all godless nations! As you have done to Israel, so it will be
done to you. All your evil deeds will
fall back on your own heads. Obadiah
1:15
For you will be
treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the
standard by which you will be judged. Matthew 7:2
Response of the
Heathen for the Judgment on Babylon
What will be the response of
the world, watching live by satellite, when Babylon's juggernaut of political
and economic rule comes crashing down around its ears?
1. POLITICAL LAMENT
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. 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.”
Revelation 18:9-10
The rulers of the lesser
nations, subject to Babylon, will have been dependent on the ruthless hand of
the Beast, and Babylon's feared practices of terrorism to hold everything in
check. When Babylon falls, the other
lesser rulers will be in hot water. They
will see how quickly the judgment falls, in just an hour (or season) and they
will know they, too, are subject to being judged.
2. PROFIT LOSS
The merchants of
the world will weep and mourn for her, for there is no one left to buy their
goods. 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. She also bought cinnamon,
spice, incense, myrrh, frankincense, wine, olive oil, fine flour, wheat,
cattle, sheep, horses, wagons, and bodies—that is, human slaves. “The
fancy things you loved so much are gone,” they cry. “All your luxuries and splendor are gone
forever, never to be yours again.” 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, “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! 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. They
will cry out as they watch the smoke ascend, and they will say, “Where is there
another city as great as this?” 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. Revelation
18:11-19
The merchant's howl! There are things you can mess with in this
life, and still be relatively safe. But
among the sacred cows is a man's wallet.
A preacher went to visit one of his members who was a farmer. He very rarely gave anything to the work of the
Lord. They sat and talked after supper, Artis, said the Preacher, that
was a mighty good dinner. Your own beef? The farmer replied with a smile, Yep; hand fed -- the best! The
preacher then asked, What do you
suppose 5,000 head like that would bring at the market? Oh, a
great deal of money, preacher. I just
wish I had me 5,000 of those. I'd give
half the money I got to the Lord. Said the preacher, Well, Artis, that's quite generous -- the
Lord only asks for 10% -- and you'd give half? Artis replied that he would. Truly,
if I had 500 sheep fer sale, I'd give the money for half of them to the Lord,
too. Remarked the preacher, My word, Artis, the Lord would sure be
pleased.
An' preacher, he continued, I wish I had a hundred Arabian stallions t'sell
-- half of that'd fetch a good offering for the Lord.
Said the preacher: And if you
had just two pigs...
Wait a minute, preacher, that ain't fair, you already know I got two pigs!
The fall of Babylon will be
worse than 1929 revisited. It will be
darker than Black Monday of recent recessions.
The kings, merchants, and masters of transportation will howl in lament,
not
for Babylon, but for their loss of profit. How do you feel about material things? The Scripture says that grass withers, and
flowers fade; well, portfolios can blow up in your face.
Rejoicing Because
of the Judgment on Babylon
1. VINDICATING RECOMPENSE
Rejoice over her
fate, O heaven and people of God and apostles and prophets! For at last God has
judged her for your sakes. Revelation
18:20
An interesting aspect of the
word rejoice is that it is a compound
word that literally says good
middle. It’s as if the angel
is instructing all of heaven to have a good belly laugh over
the fate of Babylon. It certainly
doesn't sound like pray for your
enemies, does it? However, this
simply recognizes the holy character of God.
He does exact vengeance on those who oppose him, and hurt His
children. God will never allow His name
to be dragged down.
I will rescue
you for my sake—yes, for my own sake! I
will not let my reputation be tarnished, and I will not share my glory with
idols! Isaiah 48:11
We serve a God who is high and
holy. He will vindicate His name.
2. VIOLENT RECOMPENSE
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. Revelation 18:21
What a picture. Babylon is picked up like one of the
millstones that were used to grind out its great wealth, and unceremoniously
dumped in the sea. It is a violent act
of vengeance. It is (as Jonathan Edwards
preached) a terrible thing to be Sinners In the Hands of an Angry God!
3. VAST RECOMPENSE
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. 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. Revelation 18:22-23
No more, no more, no more; what
a desolate ring! We imagine the return
of Christ and Armageddon to be noisy with battle. Have you ever stood at a battlefield the
morning after? No more is an appropriate description. There is a deafening no more breath,
no more cries, no more life. No more! In this passage I find poetic justice, and
fulfillment of God’s judgment, that today Babylon is a barren place, where
lights don’t shine, music is silent, and business is nowhere to be found. Sadaam Hussein was forbidden by God to
rebuild Babylon and be the new Nebuchadnezzar!
The place is a desolate ruin. One
commentator describes it in words of acute and painful reality:
One has the picture in this chapter of a grieving John walking among the
now silent wasteland of human arrogance.
Everything has collapsed in the crashing sounds of Revelation chapter
18. The lamps are out, voices are
silent, the flutes and minstrels are no longer playing. The scene is stark and hopeless. The city was powerful, rich, and cruel, and
now it has all come to this.
This is how the world ends, this is how the world ends, this is how the
world ends, not with a bang but a whimper.[2]
4. VIRTUOUS RECOMPENSE
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.” Revelation 18:24
The judgment of God is
righteous. No person will be able to
stand in that day, and say, I didn't
know. In any case, it is a good thing that
vengeance is a business for God…alone!
Only He can separate the tragedy of lost souls and judgment. It is enough for us to be sinners in the
hands of a loving, forgiving God, who has loved us for Christ's sake.
How, Then, Shall We
Live?
In this hostile world we
should live each day as citizens of Heaven, and not of Babylon. History, our hearts, and the Scriptures tell
us that this world is passing away.
Edward Gibbon's Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire, written in 1788, could have come off the
presses this morning. In it he gives
five basic reasons why Rome, and other great civilizations withered and passed
from the scene,
1. The undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the
home, which is the basis
for human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes; the spending of public
money for free bread and circuses
for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every
year more exciting, more
brutal, more immoral.
4. The building of great armaments when the real enemy
was within -- the decay
of individual responsibility.
5. The decay of religion; faith fading into mere form,
losing touch with life, losing
power to guide the people.[3]
This world is indeed hostile
to the person who would live truly in a Christ-pleasing way. But that's OK; it was hostile to the Master
as well. You, dear saint, are in good
company.
And you are not home yet. Keep living as a traveler; you're only
passing through this hostile territory!
In the name of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen!
T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men, Quoted by Earl F. Palmer, The Communicator's Commentary, Revelation Vol, (Waco, Tx, Word
Books, 1982), 231
J. Vernon McGee, Through
the Bible With J. Vernon McGee Vol 5, (Pasadena, Cal, Through the Bible Radio, 1983), 1042
