But we want to, you know, we
have seen Babylon last week. She is the great whore, the great
harlot, set upon a scarlet beast. And remember Babylon, she's called
a harlot, called a harlot. And you know Babylon is the world.
It's the world, that's all it is. It's great kingdoms, it's
power, it's wealth, all the things that allures people. allures
them, tempts them, seduces them, draws people away from God. It's
like when the days of Lot, they knew not, or the days of Noah,
they knew not till the flood came. And like in the days of
Lot, there was three people got out of Sodom and Gomorrah, just
three. And they had to be drug out. They had to be drug out. And now you want to understand
how awful the world is and how It's just, you know, you go through
the Old Testament, God mentions Babylon so many times, and how
he, what he's gonna do to it. But you look at all the big lakes
around here on Sunday, full of boats, everybody's out on their
boats. Go to a sports arena, go to a
big football game, basketball game, and they're packed out
with people, full to capacity. And why that is, is that they're
in Babylon. They're in Babylon. They've been
tempted. They've been allured. They've been drawn away. God's
not in their thoughts at all. And when we talk about Babylon,
Babylon is past. It has been. There was Babylon
in the Old Testament. There was the Assyrian Empire
in the Old Testament. And there was Babylon that took
Israel captive and had Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar and then you got
the Roman Empire that it raised up and it went all over the world
and all it was a wicked wicked wicked place and Then you had
the Grecian Empire that come up and the Grecian Empire. Oh my that was that was awful
the things that went on and Awful the things that went on in the
Grecian Empire and the Roman Empire. It's awful, just utterly
and absolutely awful. Christians were despised and
hated and that's why it says you're not going to abide the
blood of the saints on this woman. And not only is it in the past,
but it's present right now. The world as it stands right
now is Babylon. It's everywhere you go, Babylon's
here. I mean, there's more banks, and
it seems like there's more banks, and there's more people than
started in the banks. It seems like there's more of
them. And I go to the gym pretty often.
There's people just run up there and look all the time at the
stock market, see what the stock market's doing. Because their
future stands and falls and goes up and down with it. And then it's also going to be
in the future. Things ain't gonna change, they're
just gonna get worse. Just gonna get worse. Everything
and every abominable thing under the sun is going on right now.
Every abominable thing you can imagine. And it's going on in
churches, it's going on in the politics, it's going on in the
kingdoms, it's going on in America, it's going on in France, it's
going on in Germany, it's going on in China. I mean, you take
all these empires and put them together, and what do you got? Everybody wants to know where
their money's at, where their power's at, where their authority's
at, where their wealth is at. And I tell you, it changes form,
but it itself is always the same. Now look what John says here,
the first thing he says here. Verse one, after these things
I saw another angel come down from heaven, have great power
and the earth was lightened with his glory. Now look what he says,
a strong angel with a strong voice. Oh, he comes and he's
got something to say. And he comes down from heaven.
You know, if anything comes from heaven, God's got to send it.
Our new birth comes from heaven. Our salvation comes from heaven.
Christ came from heaven. So God said, this angel comes
from heaven. This is God's doing. God sent
this angel. And the scripture said, having
great power, great authority, great might, great power, great,
great power. And look what it says about him,
having authority. And then the earth was so, he
was so bright, And so full of glory, he lights up the whole
earth. He lights up the whole earth,
that's what he says. He lights up the whole earth. Now these
things happen, and we don't see them happening. But yet that's
what happens. And then look what else in verse
2. And so I'll tell you this angel with this strong voice
came down from heaven, had this great authority and his glory
was incredible. And then he cried with us, he
cried mildly, mildly with a strong voice, strong voice. Well, what do you say? Bible
and the grave is fallen, is fallen and has become the habitation
of devils in the hold of every foul spirit and the cage of every
unclean and hateful bird. You know what it's called? Babylon
the Great, Babylon the Great, Babylon the Great. Fallen, fallen,
fallen. It's become a habitation for
devils. Devils. Devils everywhere. The world's full of devils. George Whitfield said, man was
half beast and half devil. And it's full of devils. And
he said Babylon, as it's announced here, as if it's already fallen.
And this gives them a great, great warning of what this world's
gonna come to, and what the world and all its wealth and power
is gonna come to. And what a warning. And Babylon
becomes so desolate that the unclean spirits, the unclean
and ever foul spirit, Oh my. And the cage of every unclean
and filthy bird. Think about an old nasty buzzard.
Old buzzard, all he eats is dead things, rotten things. An old
crow. Old starlings. All the nasty unclean birds that
God said don't you eat. These old nasty birds that all
they know to eat is flesh, carrion, rotten, corrupt things, eating
maggots out of bodies. That's what he's talking about,
how bad it is. Now I'm gonna read you a couple
of verses here. You can look with me if you want
to in Isaiah 21. Look with me in Isaiah 21. Look
what God says over here about Babylon. God says something about
Babylon over here. He's got so much to say about
Babylon in the Old Testament. What he says here in verse nine. And behold, here cometh the chariot
of men with a couple of horsemen. And the answer says, Babylon
is fallen, is fallen. And all the graven images of
her gods he hath broken unto the ground. Broken it to the
ground. Now look over here in chapter
C, he just said the same thing, Babylon is fallen, is fallen.
Now look in chapter 13, verse 19 and 20. This is what God says about it, He
always talks about this. Babylon, the glory of kingdoms,
the beauty of the Chaldees, Excellency shall be as when God overthrew
Sodom and Gomorrah. Here's what he says about Babylon. It shall never be inhabited. Neither shall dwell in it generation
to generation, neither. Neither shall their Arabian pits
therein, neither shall the shepherds make their foal there. But the
wild beast of the desert, they shall lie there in Babylon. So God's got so much to say about
Babylon. Now back over here in Revelation,
look in verse three. Look in verse three. And he said, the reason is fallen,
for all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her
fornication. And the kings of the earth have
committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth
are waxed rich through abundancy of her delicacies. So that's
what that tells us, that it's the kings, it's the nations,
it's the merchants. And I tell you, all the nations,
all the nations go to her. All the nations drink at her
fountain. All the nations are drunk on
her wine. And when it says drunk here,
it means that they're drunk, infatuated with. Infatuated with
Babylon's pleasures and treasures. You know, you've heard people
say, boy, they're drunk with power. Drunk with their wealth. You remember, I'm gonna give
you an illustration in the scriptures about Babylon. Herod was having
a birthday party. And his wife's daughter came
in. took his brother Phillip's wife
and his wife's daughter came in and danced. And oh, she danced
so good he said, oh listen, you ask of me of anything you want
to have of my kingdom and I'm gonna give it to you. You know
what she said? Give me John Baptist's head. That's what babbling is. That's
what babbling is. Dances to another tune. dances
to a different music, lives for a different reason, lives for
pleasure, wantness, and all the wealth and things that they can
possibly get their hands on. And then he says, look what happens
now. So I'll tell you what, they're all, and this fornication means
that they were just infatuated with her. That it's a spiritual
fornication. They just were so in love with
the world and so in love and drunk on the pleasures of the
world and the wealth and the treasures and the power. And
then it look what it says in verse four. And I heard another
voice from heaven saying, come out of her, my people, that you
be not partakers of her sins, that you receive not the plagues,
her plagues. You know, This is addressed to
us, addressed to believers. Addressed to believers. And when
he's talking about this, this lets us know that this talking
about the world and all the pleasures of the world and all the allurement
of the world and all the treasures and power of the world and allurement
of it. He said, listen, you come out
of here. You're not gonna be in Babylon. I don't want you
in Babylon. I want you out of Babylon. I
want you to come out of Babylon. Come out of her all my people
and God's brought every one of us out of the world And he took
out of us when he takes us out of the world. He takes the love
of the world out of us He really truly does he really does and
I tell you what did you know? Let me let me show you something
over here in 2nd Corinthians 6 look over here in 2nd Corinthians
6 this is what you know Paul talked about this 2nd Corinthians
6 And God said, you know, come
out of her, come out of her. Go over here in 2 Corinthians
6 and verse 14. You know, you have so many people.
Demas hath forsaken us. Why do you forsake them? Having
loved this present evil world. You know why Judas sold Christ
for 30 pieces of silver? Because he loved money. He was
allured by power. He was allured by money. He was
allured by gold, allured by silver. So that's Babylon has always
been here. And it's always been against
Christ's people. It's always been against the Lord's people.
Always been against Christ. And look what he said here in
verse 14. This is what he's talking about here. Be ye not unequally
yoked together with unbelievers, For what fellowship hath righteousness
with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light
with darkness? And what concord or what unity
is there with Christ in Belial, or the devil? Or what part hath
he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple
of God with idols? Ye are the temple of the living
God. As God has said, I will dwell
in them and walk in them, and I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. And that's what God's saying
here. Come out of her, come out of her, come out of her. And
don't be a partaker of her sins. Oh, don't be a partaker of her
sins. Because if you do, you're gonna get her plagues. And then,
oh, this is an amazing thing to me. It said in verse five,
for her sins, have reached all the way to heaven. That's the difference between
the world and us. Our sins are gone. Our sins are gone. Christ put them all away. We
don't have any. Our sins can't reach to heaven.
Our sins can't even, God can't even remember them. Christ put
them away, sanctified us, cleansed us perfectly in them. But her
sins have reached all the way up to heaven. And listen to this,
God remembered every one of her iniquities. Remembered all of
them. Oh my, he remembered them. Boy,
ain't you thankful that the scripture says he remembers our sin no
more? He remembers them no more. I feel sorry for folks that go
through this world thinking that they can be saved one day and
maybe lost again. And then look what it says, verse
six. Reward her as she rewarded you.
She's gonna get just what she gave you, what she did you. And listen to this, how many
times he says double, and double unto her, double according to
her works. And in the cup which she had
filled, to her double. She's gonna receive double three
times. He's just gonna double it, and
double it again, and double it again. That's how wicked God
views this world and all that's in it. You know, just to give
you an illustration, God said in the days before the flood,
he said, I saw that the wickedness of man and his mind was only
evil continually. Now, when you've got a world
full of people, and there may be pretty close to as many people
on earth now as there was then, but anyway, God said, I looked
and the mind was only evil continually. So what did he do? He just shed
all flesh. So you think anything's changed
since then? You think man's changed, his
nature's changed, the world's changed? And that's what he said,
he said, I'll tell you what, I'm gonna double her sins, and
then I'm gonna double them again, and then I'm gonna double them
again. She's gonna pay dearly for what she's done. And the
world's gonna pay dearly for what they've done and what they've
done to the Lord's people. And oh my, the punishments, you
know, listen, she's gonna receive exactly what's coming to her.
And it's equal to the sin. And there in verse seven, it
says, you know, and that she's gonna receive double according
to the torment. She's gonna be tormented and
mourning, and it's gonna be awful, the things that's gonna happen
to her. Whatever her pride is, she's gonna receive double for
it. Whatever her glory was, she's gonna receive double for it.
Whatever her arrogance was, she's gonna receive double for it.
For her great glory in herself, she's gonna receive double for
it. Double for it. And in her pride and arrogance
and boastfulness, look what she says in verse seven. Oh my, this
is why God's gonna fill it up double, double, double. How must
she have glorified herself? Glorified herself. Glorified
herself. Bragged on herself. And oh my,
she lived this deliciously. Like that rich man who fared
sumptuously. And he said, you know, she said,
she said in her heart, so much torment and sorrow give
her, as that she glorified herself and lived deliciously, give her
that much torment and give her that much sorrow. For she has
said in her heart, I sat as a queen and am no more a widow and shall
see no sorrow. Oh my, I just see the world in
all of its glory and all of its pride and all of its arrogance
and then all the sorrow that they're gonna have to face one
of these days. I want you to see a couple of things. Look
with me in Jeremiah 58 real quick. Excuse me, Jeremiah 50. Look here with me. I was gonna
read, just look at this and then myself, but you know, you can
look at it with me. Sayings that God says about Babylon. Jeremiah
50. In verse 29, look what he says
here. Verse 29. And the land shall
tremble in sorrow, for every purpose of the Lord shall be
performed against Babylon, to make the land of Babylon a desolation
without an inhabitant. Oh my. Look over in Isaiah 14. Look at Isaiah 14. Paul kept talking about people
sitting as a queen. Sitting there as a queen. I was looking at something else
there. I tell you, my poor brain goes so fast, I can't keep up
on myself. Look here in chapter 14, verse
13. For thou hast said in thine heart,
I will ascend to heaven. I'll exalt my throne above the
stars of God. I will sit also upon the mount
of the congregation to the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the heights of the cloud. I will be like the Most High. God said, nope, you're gonna
be brought down to hell. Gonna be brought down to hell.
And that's what people do. That's what people do. That's
what people do. Now look in verse nine, back
over here in Revelations. Verse nine. Now here we have a threefold
lamentation, threefold mourning. There's the kings, the merchants,
and the shipmasters. First of all, you have the kings.
He said in verse 9, the kings of the earth, that's the rulers
of this world, the mighty men of this world, the powerful people
of this world, the wealthy people of this world, and the mighty
men that controls everybody else, the kings of the earth have committed
fornication and live deliciously with her, shall bewail her and
lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning,
see her burning up, And oh my, they stand to fall for fear of
the torment. And look what they say. Alas,
alas, whoa, whoa! That great city, Babylon, the
mighty city, in one hour, in one hour, thy judgment is come.
Oh, they enjoyed her luxuries. They enjoyed her pleasure. They
enjoyed her wealth. They enjoyed it. And then they
said, oh my, in a single hour, your judgment's come. And then
look at the merchants here, what the merchants say. Verse 11. And the merchants of the earth
shall weep and mourn over her. And here's the reason why. No
man buys their merchandise anymore. Ain't nobody to buy. Ain't nobody
to buy. They got all kinds of merchandise,
nobody to buy. Huh? Oh my, he goes on to say,
all who set their heart on goods, and look what he said. The merchandise
of gold and silver, precious stones, pearls, fine linen, purple,
silk, scarlet, and all fine wood, and all manner of vessels of
ivory, and all manners of vessels of most precious wood, of brass,
iron, and marble. Oh, my. These are the hearts
who set their hearts on their goods and the luxuries of the
world. They wail and moan because the merchandise is worthless,
worthless. You know, and when you think
about it, look at this list of things here that he's talking
about. You've got the mineral kingdom, gold and silver and
precious stones. You've got plant kingdom, fine
linen and silk. Vegetable kingdom, fine flour
and wheat. Animal kingdom, beast and sheep.
The kingdom of men were slaves, and he said, that's what he goes
on to say, and cinnamon, and odors, and ornaments, and frankincense,
and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, beasts, and sheep,
and horses, and chariots, and slaves. And here's what he saw,
slaves and souls of men. Slaves and souls of men. Selling
men, buying and selling men. And you know that goes on every
single day, still today. People are buying and selling
men, buying and selling their souls. There's no telling how
many people right here in America is held in bondage against their
will, and the most abominable things are being done against
them. And men are making, getting rich off of them, getting filthy
rich off of them. You think they care? No. You
think they care about their souls? No. You think they care about
what they suffer? No. You think they care about
how old they are, how young they are? No. No. No, no. They don't care. And
let me show you something. I want you to see this over in
Luke 12. This is what we're talking about
here. Nobody's going to buy their merchandise anymore. And look
in Luke 12. Luke 12. And the only people, they want
to, people like, they like boycotting things, you know. I don't want
to get political, but I mean people, I just, I'll just make
a social comment. Quit preaching, just tell you
my opinion again. People like to, you know, they
like to boycott things, you know. They say, well, if something
don't happen to suit them or there's something going on, people
got to boycott it. They say, well, we'll boycott
it. We'll get their advertisers to
quit. We'll get people to quit going to those stores and quit
going to that. And let me tell you something. Every single one
of them has something to do with religion. Every time they boycott
somebody, it has something to do either with religion or something
that the people who own the businesses has to do. Don't cook a cake
for some kind of a somebody and they'll boycott you and take
you to court. You close your business up on Sunday and they'll
boycott you. Say, I ain't going because they
say they worship God. I mean, that's just the way it
is. Hobby lobby. Because they call themselves
a Christian business. Where they are, I don't know.
But here's the thing about it. People boycott it because of
that. They don't boycott filth. They don't boycott these places
that just everything under the sun goes on in their places. Don't do that. Where was I at? Luke 12. Luke 12. But you know, that's just the
way it is, and it ain't gonna get, it's gonna get worse. It's
gonna get worse. And look what he said here in
verse 16. Well, our Lord said in verse
15, here's what he said. He said, out of them take heed
and beware of covetousnesses. For a man's life doesn't consist
in the abundances of things which he possesses. Over here it did,
in Revelation it did. Their whole life consisted in
what they had. What they was buying and what
they was selling. What they was buying and what they was selling.
And watch what happens now. And he spake a parable unto them,
saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully. Oh, I mean it brought forth abundantly.
And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do? Because
I have no room to bestow all my fruits. So he said, this is
what I'm gonna do. He said, I'll pull down my barns,
I'm gonna build me some greater ones, and I'll have enough room
to store all my fruits and all my goods, and now I'm gonna retire. I'm gonna retire, and I'm gonna
sit in my easy chair, I'm gonna take life easy, and I'm gonna
say to my soul, soul, you've got so much now, you're ready
for lots and lots of years. Take ease now. Eat good, drink
good, and be happy, be happy. But God said, you fool. God calls you a fool, you're
a fool. This night thy soul shall be required of them. Then who
shall those things be which thou hast provided? Sad, ain't it? Let me show you another one in
James. Let me show you another one in James. James chapter 5. This is what we're talking about.
This is what he's talking about here. This world is crazy. It's crazy. I mean it's utterly
and absolutely crazy. Just a man and a woman to build
a house for enough for 12 or 15 people to live in. And then everybody else raised
a half a dozen kids in three or four or five rooms. You know,
we had a bath. Because old Herman used to say,
a bath and a pair. But that's the way it was. But
oh, this world is going crazy. He said, go to now, you rich
men. and weep, and howl, for your
miseries is coming upon you. For your riches are corrupted,
and garments, your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver
is cankered, and the rest of them shall be a witness against
you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. You have heaped
together treasure for the last days. And he said, it's going
to burn you. It's going to just burn you up.
Now let's go back to Babylon over here. Go back over to Babylon. That
merchant, and he's upset, you know, no man can buy no more. They got all this stuff to sell,
and they don't have any buyers. Because Babylon is fallen. The
world is fallen. The kingdom is fallen. And these
are things that's yet to come, but he does it and shows us how
it's gonna really be. It's really be. And he said in
verse 14, and the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed
from thee, and the goods which were dainty and goodly are departed
from thee, and thou shalt find them no more. All the worldling,
And all the people who pin their hopes on this world and on everything
that's in it, his trust is perished. When Babylon falls, all their
wealth is gone with them. Everything he thought of is gone,
gone. Then in verse 15 and 16. And Babylon is helpless. The
merchants of these things which were made rich by her shall stand
afar off. for the fear of her torment,
weeping and wailing, and say exactly the same thing. And look what it says, saying,
Alas and alas, and look what they call her, that great city,
which was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet and decked
with gold and precious stones and pearls. Oh my, she's falling,
she's falling. And again, it says this, in verse
17, for in one hour, So great riches is come to absolutely
nothing, nothing, nothing. Now, so we've got the kings,
we got the merchants. Now look at these seafaring men,
people that's in the, that make their living in the sea. And
then in verse 17, and every ship master and all the company and
ships and sailors, as were many as made trade by the sea, stood
afar off. Oh, my. Saw her fall off. There's four classes mentioned
here. First of all, you got your captains. Ship master, the captains. Then the companies in the ships,
all the passengers. Intent on business, going on
business. And then you have the sailors, and those that made
their living by the sea. Fishermen, exporters, importers,
all those things that come by the sea. They're all going to
fit in, look what they said. And they cried, cried, when they
saw the smoke of her burning, saying, what city is like unto
this great city? And they were so upset, so upset,
that they cast dust on their head. Christ saying, weeping
and wailing, alas, whoa, whoa, whoa, that great city wherein
all were made rich, and the ships that in the sea, by reason of
her causelessness, in one hour, and every time it says this,
in one hour, is made desolate. Just takes an hour, showing us
how quick it's gonna happen, how quick it's gonna happen.
And they were so upset, they throw dust on their head. People
that was made to live by the ship, see, throwing dust on their
head. Then when the fashion of this
world passes away, the hopes, the trust, all is going to perish
with it. But look what God says for us
to do, the saints to do. Rejoice over her, thou in heaven, and ye holy apostles
and prophets. For God hath avenged you on her. God hath avenged you. You know,
vengeance, he said, vengeance belongs unto the Lord. Don't
take vengeance in your own hand. It belongs to the Lord. And oh
my, listen, he says, tell us to rejoice. The world's gone. The world's gone. I mean, it's
gone in all the fashion of it. And look what he says, boy. Oh,
the final paragraph. Shows us that the thorough, irrevocable,
irreparable character of Babylon's fall. Utterly and absolutely
felon. And look what she says. And a
mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone and cast
it into the sea, saying, thus with violence shall that great
city Babylon be thrown down and shall be found no more at all. I'm gonna read you something
over here. If I can find it real quick. If I can find it real quick.
I want to read you something. Just identical to this in the
Old Testament. Let me find it here. Just take me a minute. And this shall be. When thou
hast made an end of reading the book, that thou shalt bind a
stone to it and cast it into the midst of Euphrates, and thus
shalt thou say, thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise from
the evil that I will bring upon her, and they shall be weary
thus far. Jeremiah's words are finished.
Takes up a big millstone, throws her. And these are things showing
us how God's gonna do this world. He's not impressed with it, the
people in it are impressed with it. They're impressed with it. People
are impressed, but oh my, how impressed are you with the world? How impressed are you with its
automobiles and its wealth and its power? How impressed are
you with its clothes, with all of its emblems and symbols on
it? Sad, sad, sad. Then that strong
angel, look what it says, what's gonna happen. And it says, six
things that'll never be found in her again. The voice of harpers
and musicians. And oh, God's gonna bury this
and all the world is seducing power in the sea of God's wrath. But then he says, but all that,
listen, no more music. There'll be no more music. There'll
be no more harpers and musicians. There'll be no more pipers, no
more trumpeters. They'll not be heard no more
at all then. And he said, I tell you what, anything, anybody could
do anything. He said, they're not going to
be found in you anymore. And they're going, you'll not
ever hear a millstone. There'll never be another knife
sharpened. Never be another axe ground. Never be another corn
ground. No wheat, no more wheat ground
at a millstone anymore. And he said, you won't even have
no more light. He said, even the light of a
candle won't even shine in you anymore. And I tell you, absolute,
utter, absolute darkness is what they got to face. And look what
he says, and then the bride, the voice of the bridegroom,
the bride shall be heard no more at all. No love, no unity. There'll be no bride or no bridegroom
heard anymore. For thy merchants were the great
men of the earth. And they were deceived by your
magic, that's what it calls, deceived by your sorceries. All
nations were deceived. And her was found, and it says
this two places, the blood of prophets and of saints, and all
that were slain upon the earth. Babylon, you go back and just
read when you find it. And like I told you, Babel started
In Genesis 11, when Nimrod decided to build a tower to heaven. And that's what man's been trying
to do ever since. Do ever since. Well, I know it's
kind of a... It's not a good subject, but
I tell you this world is in darkness. Got no light in it. And God's
going to destroy it. Going to utterly throw it into
the depths of the seas of Israel. going to destroy it. And thank
God that we, like I said this morning, we got a new heaven
and a new earth where in dwelleth righteousness. We'll have to
live.